RTHK: Queen's coffin arrives in Edinburgh

Tens of thousands of mourners lined the route of Queen Elizabeth's funeral cortege on Sunday as it left the Scottish retreat where she died, to bid farewell to their longest serving monarch.

The hearse carrying the 96-year-old's oak coffin, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, was driven from the Balmoral estate through Aberdeen and Dundee to the capital Edinburgh, where the streets were packed with well-wishers.

Some applauded, some cried, and then they fell silent as the coffin reached the Palace of Holyroodhouse, met by senior royals including the queen's daughter Anne, who curtseyed as it was carried inside.

"It was a very big sense of loss, but a sense of closure as well when you saw the coffin go past," said onlooker Lucy Hampshire, who came from the northern English city of York.

The queen died on Thursday after a record-breaking seven decades on the throne, her son Charles immediately taking over as king of the UK and 14 other realms.

Her coffin will be held overnight at Holyroodhouse  the monarch's official residence in Scotland  and on Monday, Charles III will lead it in procession to the nearby St Giles' Cathedral.

It will be flown to London on Tuesday for four days of lying-in-state before the funeral on September 19, an event expected to be attended by heads of state and watched by millions of viewers worldwide. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2022-09-12. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Considering what is being reported as the most divisive presidential speech - September 1, 2022 - in modern American history, where over 74,000.000 people, many of whom are OUR greatest patriots, were named as fascists by inference or otherwise: Is Joe Biden clearly capable of governing all of the American People to the betterment of this Representative Republic?

Yes, it is important that Haters are named.

No, Joe Biden cannot accept criticism when the real truth is his cruelest taskmaster.
A former officer at the Pickens County Detention Center has been arrested and accused of sexual misconduct with an inmate.

Chester Pierce Ouzts, 58, allegedly had a relationship with an inmate that included writing letters, kissing, providing money and engaging in sexual acts while he was employed at the Pickens County Detention Center, according to the warrant for his arrest, issued Sept. 8.

Ouzts allegedly maintained the relationship between Oct. 1, 2021, and Jan. 2, 2022, according to the warrant. The inmate could not legally consent to the actions, the warrant adds.

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division has charged Ouzts with misconduct in office, misconduct in office by a public official and first-degree sexual misconduct with an inmate. The detention center requested the investigation by SLED.

Ouzts has been booked into the Pickens County Detention Center, where he was formerly an officer.
MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's former king Juan Carlos will pause his self-imposed exile in Abu Dhabi to attend Queen Elizabeth's funeral.

Juan Carlos and his wife have communicated their intention to accept the British Foreign Office invitation to attend the funeral on Sept. 19, the Spanish Royal House said on Monday.

The former monarch left Spain for Abu Dhabi in August 2020 after prosecutors started looking into allegations of fraud in Spain and Switzerland. The investigations were later dropped due to insufficient evidence and the statute of limitations. Juan Carlos has declined to comment on the various allegations of wrongdoing.

Juan Carlos could also face trial in Britain in a harassment case brought against him by his former lover, Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein. He has strongly denied the allegations.

Once revered for his role in the country's transition to democracy, the popularity of the former king fell drastically after a series of scandals. He abdicated in 2014 and now keeps his permanent residence in the Gulf state.

(Reporting by Yann Morell Y Alcover, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
PROVIDENCE  Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, campaigned Sunday for Helena Buonanno Foulkes, giving the Democratic gubernatorial hopeful reason to believe that her campaign, once left for dead, has a chance of success in Tuesday's primary.

Speaking with reporters after the campaign event, Foulkes thanked the speaker  a close college friend of her late mother  for making the time for a Rhode Island stop amid a busy season of midterm campaigns.

Final TV debate: RI Democratic candidates for governor trade barbs

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, left, waits with Democratic candidate for governor Helena Buonanno Foulkes on Sunday to headline a get out the vote rally for Foulkes at Farm Fresh Rhode Island in Providence.

In the last week, Foulkes' campaign has seen a surge in momentum, thanks to a strong performance in last week's debate on Channel 12 WPRI-TV and to missteps by Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea and her supporters.

The surge was palpable among supporters at Sunday's event, who expressed concern that it could be too little too late to overtake incumbent Gov. Dan McKee.

Speaking to reporters, Foulkes said that she is encouraged by her internal polling numbers, which she declined to share.

"They're saying we can win this race, we're going to win this race," she said.

Rhode Island Primary Voter Guide: Everything you need know to about the candidates

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks at Sunday's rally for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Helena Buonanno Foulkes.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi encouraged the crowd to vote

Pelosi took the stage in front of a raucous crowd of about 200 at Farm Fresh RI, in the city's Valley neighborhood.

"I just want to say one word to you," the speaker began her remarks. "Helena."

That prompted raucous applause.

Pelosi went on to describe Foulkes as an able businesswoman and mother focused on bringing more and better jobs to Rhode Island while improving the state's schools.

RI governor race: Candidates are trying to score last-minute points. Here's how

"If I didn't think Helena could win this, I would never have encouraged her," she said.

She encouraged the crowd to vote on Tuesday, to work for the campaign however they can and to get others to vote.

"Every step you take, every call you make ... is a step in the direction of progress for all Rhode Island families," Pelosi said.

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She drew extended applause when she asked, "Are we ready for a great Helena Foulkes victory?"

Political Scene: When Assembly races get tight, the dirt flies. Primary contests to watch

Helena Buonanno Foulkes outlines campaign

Foulkes invoked her late mother, who had gathered her family at her bedside as she was dying. "She said, 'Take care of each other,' " Foulkes said, adding that that's what Rhode Islanders are looking for from their public officials. "What can we [do] to make your lives better?"

Improving education, eliminating co-pays for lifesaving insulin and asthma drug prescriptions and focusing the Ocean State on the "blue economy," industries related to the sea, were among her answers.

She outlined the arc of her campaign, from "Helena who?" last October, to some saying she should drop out a month ago to make way for others, to the last week when, she says, her poll numbers have offered renewed hope for that campaign.

"The momentum is incredible," she told the crowd. "We are converting the undecideds."

After asking the crowd for its help in the final days of the campaign, she told them:

"It is going to be amazing. We are so excited."

Patinkin: Whatever happened to Claudine Schneider, the only woman to serve RI in Congress?

Brown commencement: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi talks politics and unity

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Speaker Pelosi campaigns for Helena Foulkes RI candidate for governor
The New York Times

LONDON  All Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, did was put on a somber outfit and a sympathetic expression and walk around in public with three other people for 45 minutes. But the pointillistic armchair analysis of that brief event  a surprise outing outside Windsor Castle last Saturday featuring Meghan and her husband, Prince Harry, and Prince William and his wife  has gone on ever since. The incident, for those following this particular saga, represented a brief cessation of, or maybe presaged
Daytona Beach police say some students coordinated a plan to create panic at Mainland High School on Friday.

Investigators say an employee hit the school panic button after a student told her someone had a gun.

Police said it was a cruel prank that could now end with expulsion or criminal charges for some students.

Cellphone video captured students from running in a panic because of a threat of a gun on campus

>>> STREAM CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS LIVE <<<

This goes beyond a prank this is a lot more serious than that, said Volusia County Schools director of communication Angel Gomez.

Police said surveillance video from inside the cafeteria shows two groups of students working together.

They said a group of girls walked up to a staff member to report the gun, causing the others to run from their spots.

The staff member immediately triggered her alarm.

Read: Volusia County deputies on the lookout for armed robbery suspect who pistol-whipped clerk

That staff members response was right on point. Theres no questioning. When you hear something like that you go for it and we treat it as such, Gomez said.

Police are declining to release the video due to the active investigation.

Police said theyve spoken to all the students involved and when confronted with the video, the students could not point to a gun or when shots were fired, and their stories changed.

The school district says those students could be suspended with a recommendation for expulsion.

Read: CDC warns against enterovirus D68: What is it and what are the symptoms?

They may also face criminal charges.

Making a false report about a firearm used in a violent manner is a second-degree felony under Florida law.

Police have not said how many students could face charges.

The state attorneys office says it will evaluate whether those students will be charged as adults if it gets the case.

Read: NASA continues work toward late-September launch for Artemis I

Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
Sweden's right wing looked set to oust Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson's left-wing bloc in Sunday's general election on strong gains by the far-right, clinging to a slim lead with 94 percent of electoral districts counted.

The right wing bloc was credited with a majority of 176 of 349 seats in parliament, with the left bloc trailing with 173.

With the vote deemed too close to call, election authorities said they did not expect a final result until Wednesday when the last ballots from abroad and from advance voting had been counted.

"We're not going to have a final result tonight", Andersson, 55, told her cheering supporters as the outcome hung in the air, calling on Swedes to "have patience" and "let democracy run its course".

Andersson's challenger Ulf Kristersson of the conservative Moderates and the leader of the right-wing bloc, said that while the election results could still change, "I am ready to build a new and strong government".

The Moderates and two other smaller right-wing parties have for the first time tied up with the anti-immigration and nationalist Sweden Democrats, which looked set to post their best election score yet.

The far-right party, which entered parliament in 2010 with 5.7 percent of votes and have long been treated as "pariahs" by other political parties, was seen garnering around 20.7 percent of votes.

That makes them the country's second-biggest party for the first time, overtaking the Moderates, the traditional leaders on the right.

The election campaign was dominated by issues close to right-wing voters and especially the far-right, including rising gang shootings, immigration and integration issues.

While Andersson's Social Democrats looked set to remain the country's biggest party with 30.5 percent, the Moderates slipped to third position, at 19 percent.

That is a setback for Kristersson, who orchestrated a major shift in Swedish politics by initiating exploratory talks in 2019 with the Sweden Democrats.

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The two other small right-wing parties, the Christian Democrats and to a lesser extent the Liberals, later followed suit.

- 'Looking good now' -

"Our goal is to sit in government. Our goal is a majority government," Sweden Democrats party leader Jimmie Akesson told a crowd of cheering supporters on Sunday evening.

"It's looking pretty damn good now", he said.

Party secretary Richard Jomshof told public television SVT he "didn't believe" other parties would be able to freeze out the Sweden Democrats again and expected to have a strong influence on the country's politics.

"We are so big now... it is clear we should have a spot on parliamentary committees", he said.

He said the party had "a chance to be an active part of a government that would move politics in a completely different direction".

Prime Minister Andersson, a former finance minister, campaigned on building a government with the support of the small Left, Centre and Green parties.

The Social Democrats have governed Sweden since 2014 and dominated the political landscape since the 1930s.

"We Social Democrats have had a good election", she told party members late Sunday, adding: "Swedish Social Democracy stands strong".

- 'Enormous shift' -

Both blocs are beset by internal divisions that could lead to lengthy negotiations to build a coalition government.

On the right wing, the Liberals have said they are opposed to the Sweden Democrats being given cabinet posts, political scientist Katarina Barrling noted.

They would prefer for the far-right to remain in the background providing informal support in parliament.

But for a number of reasons there is "pressure to have a united and effective government" in place quickly, she said.

Sweden faces a looming economic crisis, is in the midst of a historic NATO application process and is due to take over the EU presidency in 2023.

The end of the Sweden Democrats' political isolation, and the prospect of it becoming the biggest right-wing party, is "an enormous shift in Swedish society", said Anders Lindberg, an editorialist at left-wing tabloid Aftonbladet.

Born out of a neo-Nazi movement at the end of the 1980s, the party's rise has come alongside a large influx of immigrants. The country of around 10 million people has taken in almost half a million asylum seekers in a decade.

It also comes as Sweden struggles to combat escalating gang shootings attributed to battles over the sale of drugs and weapons.

Crime was one of far-right voters' top concerns.

jll-bur/po/it
BERLIN (AP)  Switzerland's nuclear waste authority has proposed building the country's permanent waste storage site close to the border with Germany, a decision viewed warily by its northern neighbor.

The choice of the Noerdlich Laegern site ends a 14-year search for a preferred location, itself preceded by previous failed attempts. The head of waste authority Nagra, Matthias Braun, said on Monday that the geology has spoken and Noerdlich Laegern is the best location with the biggest safety reserves.

Two other locations had been under consideration for a site that is meant to be the permanent home for all Switzerland's nuclear waste, which is currently kept at temporary storage facilities.

A thick level of opalinus clay, which is very dense and binds radioactive material almost like a magnet, is key to the choice of the site, Braun told reporters in the Swiss capital, Bern.

Nagra's choice is only the start of a long process. It's expected to be years before the government can sign off on the site, which would still need approval from parliament and possibly face a referendum. Construction could start in 2045, with the first waste being stored around 30 years from now.

The site is very close to the border with Germany, which is at best ambivalent toward nuclear power. The last three German nuclear power plants are due to shut at the end of this year, though the government wants to keep the option of reactivating two of them in case of an energy shortage in the following months.

A deputy German environment minister, Christian Kuehn, told news agency dpa after news of the choice first emerged over the weekend that the site would put a great strain on nearby areas. The mayor of the nearby German town of Hohentengen, Martin Benz, made clear that he wants information on possible accident scenarios and plans to deal with them.

Germany hasn't yet chosen a permanent storage site for its own nuclear waste and isn't expected to until 2031. A new search for a storage site, which authorities hope to start using in 2050, was launched two years ago.
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Taxes are "an often misunderstood" tool of social justice and should not be seen as an example of a government overstepping its powers, Pope Francis told an audience of Italian business leaders on Monday.

The Argentine-born pope spoke ahead of a general election on Sept. 25 in Italy, a country noted for endemic tax evasion, where a right-wing coalition promising major tax cuts is on course for a clear victory.

"What taxes and duties are in the modern world and democracies is very important, [they are] an often misunderstood form of sharing," Francis told members of Confindustria, Italy's main business lobby.

In his speech, the pope also urged business leaders to share their wealth in other ways, including through charity, sticking to fair wage policies and creating new jobs, particularly for young people.

"Taxes must be just, fair, set on the basis of each person's ability to pay, as stated in the Italian constitution, Francis said.

"The tax system and administration must be efficient and not corrupt. But taxes should not be considered as usurpation," he added.

(Reporting by Alvise Armellini; Editing by Keith Weir)
PRIDE GUIDE for Brands by TBWA\Chiat\Day, Suzy and equalpride

PRIDE GUIDE for Brands by TBWA\Chiat\Day, Suzy and equalpride

Another summer of Pride, another slew of brands tipping their rainbow hats in support of the LGBTQ+ community. Messages and brand acts that were once exceptional have since become expected; initiatives that used to feel meaningful have in many cases come to feel like just another marketing calendar box to check.

Thats why we created this Pride Guide, a go-to resource for how brands can be authentic and impactful with their words and actions supporting the LGBTQ+ community. We surveyed 1,000 LGBTQ+ consumers through Suzys market research platform and spoke to several of the community leaders deemed 2022 Advocates for Change by equalprides iconic publication, The Advocate.

The result? Five principles to inspire your brand to show up, break through and, ultimately, throw your support to a community that still needs it, day in and day out.

4 in 5 say its important brands show commitment beyond major moments like Pride

1. COMMITMENTS OVER CALENDARS.

Lets start with the obvious, support means going beyond just talking the talk, youve got to walk the walk - and thats a year-round commitment. Roughly 4 in 5 survey respondents (79%) at least somewhat agreed that its important for brands to show a commitment to the LGBTQ+ community beyond major moments like National Coming Out Day, Transgender Awareness Week, and Pride Month. One survey respondent said, Especially during [Pride Month], a lot of brands [add] LGBTQIA+ people to advertisements to gain media attention and its more performative than actual support. As marketers, we know this should come as no surprise. The question is, how to commit?

While donating and volunteering are welcome gestures in solidarity with the community, these actually ranked lower for survey respondents than creating inclusive and equitable workplaces and standing up for political and legal issues affecting LGBTQ+ people. These are long-term commitments to make equality for the queer community part of a companys culture. As LGBTQ+ activist Jillian Orr said, Advertising is the company displaying their standards and what they support. Let that reflect inclusion and diversity. If a brand is a genuine ally, queer representation in advertising will be appreciated rather than seen as pandering to help make the company more money - which 48% of respondents were concerned or very concerned about. Finally, always include reference to your actions. With a community on high alert to sniff out the rainbow-washing, any talk that doesnt appear paired with actions may invite backlash.

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2. COLLAB, DONT CO-OPT.

Brands often find their inspiration from influencers and leaders of the communities they are targeting, which is a helpful way in. However, messaging that targets specific identity groups - especially those that have been subject to discrimination and marginalization - should always seek to add more than it takes. Activist and Vogue Fem ballroom dancer Miles Mugler sums this one up nicely, Always pay. As members of the LGBTQ+ community, we know we have some great, exciting, and different ideas. We are trendsetters, and for good reason, but please do not rip our content without proper compensation and hopefully not without a long conversation about how we can make it more unique to you and your brand.

Furthermore, for a lot of community members, Pride Month can often mean one thing, work. Tons of it between the panels, the articles, and the overall work required to educate the straight and cisgender community. Thats not a bad situation to be in, we love to contribute. However, if this is content marketing for your organization, then we ask that you please, if you can, pay your panelists.

Finally, survey data shows an interesting caveat to collaborations. At the end of the day, participants say that including influencers or celebrities who identify with the LGBTQ+ community in campaigns is far less important than representing authentic moments, lifestyles, and stories that feel like theirs. Of course, the two dont have to be mutually exclusive, and celebrities and influencers who are part of a given community can be crucial to unlocking a campaign, but remember authenticity is key.

Only 37% feel their LGBTQ+ identity is well-represented in advertising

3. EXPAND QUEER INCLUSION.

Historically, the queer community has had a problem bias. Before 1993 the community had marched on Washington twice, under official titles only in support of lesbian and gay rights. The bisexual community was eventually included in the April 25, 1993 March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation - though the march fought in part for transgender equality[1]. Officially embracing the transgender community however took some more time. The T was finally included in the late 1990s and it wasnt until 1999 that certain major organizations adopted all of the letters in the acronym, like the GLBT Historical Society, formerly the Gay and Lesbian Historical Society of Northern California[2, 3]. Since that time, a lot of new individuals have come to fall under the LGBTQ+ umbrella, and over the last year the new Progress Pride Flag, representing the large breadth of us, has been widely adopted[4]. Media and advertising on the other hand, is still mostly stuck in the 80s.

Representation these days extends far beyond the cis white male or female experience. While representation in television and film have done wonders for the community, a few of those queer storylines have been told time and time again. Queer personality Reema Therani, and owner of the Queering Desi podcast about the South Asian LGBTQ+ experience, told us, Lots of advertising has concentrated on gay men and drag queens specifically. We need to reach beyond that. Theres more fluidity in identification [Its] not just glitz and glamor. Were more than that. The numbers reflect that sentiment.

While sexuality representation was very important to all in the community, gender representation was especially important to trans, non-binary, and genderqueer survey respondents. In this group, 55% ranked their gender as one of the two most important aspects of their identity that they'd like to see represented in advertising and marketing. These groups were also the least likely to agree with the statement, I personally feel well-represented as an LGBTQ+ individual in advertising and marketing.

Trans author and activist Sameer Jha echoed this sentiment, I wish I saw trans girls who dont look like every cisgender girl on the street I want to see all the ranges of queerness, of existence, of life. Whether they are new in their transition or theyve been transitioning for years. I want to see everyone and not just who makes the best fit for TV. Inclusion is imperative.

57% agreed advertising played into stereotypes and cliches

4. SHOW EVERYDAY EXPERIENCES.

The best way to show up for the queer community in marketing is by showing up authentically. Once year-round commitments have been made, and your company can start thinking about campaigns, there are a few ways to maximize success and avoid pitfalls. Among those surveyed, 56.8% at least somewhat agreed that advertising meant for the LGTBQ+ community played into stereotypes and cliches. Playing into expected tropes, even well-intentioned ones, can wind up limiting the full humanity of how the community is represented.

Mugler told us, the best way to meet queer people where they are is by actually meeting them. If you want to work with a community, attend the community meetings, attend the community functions, he continued, meet the people that youre trying to work with so [that] you have a specific connection that you can now capture through media, as opposed to on the outside looking in. When asked what ranked highest in importance for feeling represented in LGBTQ+ advertising and media, respondents agreed it was seeing authentic moments and lifestyles that felt like their real lives. Having first hand context, either through experience or by real relationships with LGBTQ+ individuals, or a companys own LGBTQ+ employees, will help achieve that. A reminder here that one way to ensure you are on the inside speaking out, rather than the outside looking in, is through commitments in hiring - a diverse environment will be much more likely to beget strong, culturally relevant campaigns.

Another way to tap into queer culture is by looking at trending work already in the space. Across all groups, those surveyed said they felt the most pride at the Pride Parade of course, but also when watching queer films and television shows. Is there room for a collab? If youve done your homework to make sure brand values align with any shows or celebrities you may be wanting to work with (queer representation here please), this could be a great way to show support for the community. Giving queer actors real space to be active participants in a collab would add an extra layer of legitimacy.

55% say advertising can feel like talking the talk without walking the walk

5. GET THE GUT CHECK, END-TO-END.

Authentic, accurate, and compelling connections with the queer community start with queer leadership and influence on the idea from the get-go. Making sure there is queer talent on both sides of the camera or microphone, like writers and producers can help ensure bias stays on the cutting room floor. In fact, respondents placed this at the top of their list for LGBTQ+ media that stood out as the best and most authentic. Mugler told us, I think in order to reach the LGBTQ+ community, you have to include and understand the LGBTQ+ community. So that means bringing in LGBTQ+ people to be a part of the campaigns. These masterminds can create relatable moments, which when paired with LGBTQ+ talent  both of which ranked second and third on the list respectively  should make for some exceptional work.

CONCLUSION

Remember commitments are year round, collaboration can unlock potential (always pay!), queer inclusion still has a ways to go, authenticity is key, and LGBTQ+ representation is needed from the get-go on any campaign. Once your brand has made the right in-roads with the community and youve done your homework, the skys the limit. Until next Pride, we hope you have a very gay year!

1) Schmalz, Jeffery. MARCH FOR GAY RIGHTS; Gay Marchers Throng Mall in Appeal for Rights. New York Times. April 26, 1993. Accessed June 12, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/1993/04/26/us/march-for-gay-rights-gay-marchers-throng-mall-in-appeal-for-rights.html?searchResultPosition=1

2) Blakemore, Erin. From LGBT to LGBTQIA+: The evolving recognition of identity. National Geographic. October 19, 2021. Accessed July 11, 2022. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/from-lgbt-to-lgbtqia-the-evolving-recognition-of-identity

3) GLBT Historical Society. Our History. Accessed June 12, 2022. https://www.glbthistory.org/timeline

4) Aouga, Keely and Taylor Romine. LGBTQ groups across the US consider a new flag meant to be more inclusive of the transgender community and people of color. CNN. August 16, 2021. Accessed June 12, 2022. https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/16/us/lgbtq-progress-pride-flag-debate-trnd/index.html

About TBWA\Chiat\Day LA

TBWA\Chiat\Day LA is the original Disruption company. Shunning the conventions of Madison Avenue, Chiat\Day kick-started the West Coast ad boom in 1968 and has been disrupting for more than fifty years. As stewards of the brand, TBWA\Chiat\Day LA has spawned some of the world's most iconic brands by finding the white space through its Disruption methodology and driving dramatic business results through brave creativity. Specializing in brand strategy and creative strategy, design, social, data and analytics, multicultural, purpose, user experience and production, TBWA\Chiat\Day's client roster includes Gatorade, Discover, Jack in the Box, QuickBooks, Principal Financial, Behr Paint, The Recording Academy and more. TBWA has been named one of Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies for the past four years and was Adweek's 2021 Global Agency of the Year.

About Suzy

Founded in 2018, Suzy is an end-to-end consumer insights platform that integrates quant, qual, and high quality audiences into a single connected research cloud. Suzy lets teams conduct iterative research, with agency-quality rigor, in hours not weeks, and at a fraction of the cost.. Many of the biggest brands in the world use Suzy to deliver breakthrough products and experiences backed by data-driven decisions. Suzy has been recognized on Forbes list of Americas Best Startup Employers in 2022, Inc. Magazines list of Best Workplaces of 2022, and as a GRIT Top 50 Most Innovative Supplier in Market Research. Suzy has raised over $100 million in venture capital funding from investors that include Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, Foundry Group, H.I.G. Capital, North Atlantic Capital, Tribeca Venture Partners, Triangle Peak Partners, and Kevin Durants 35 Ventures. Learn more at www.suzy.com.
A Texas woman has been arrested and charged with making death threats against the judge presiding over former President Donald Trump's court fight against the Justice Department over national security documents seized from his Florida resort.

Tiffani Gish was arrested last week in the Houston area after she admitted to federal marshals that she had left three threatening voicemails telling U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon that she was "marked for assassination" and that she planned to shoot her in front of her family, a federal criminal complaint says.

Gish also made a number of outlandish comments in the Sept. 1 calls, saying that she is "in charge of nuclear" for the country and that she has a "license to kill," the court filings say. At one point in the voicemails, she said she is working for Trump as his "hitman"; at another point, she accused Trump of having orchestrated the Sept. 11 attacks and claimed that he is marked for assassination, as well, they said.

She identified herself in the calls as a federal agent named "Evelyn Salt"  the name of a spy character played by Angelina Jolie in the 2010 movie "Salt," the filings allege.

U.S. marshals were able to identify Gish by tracing her cellphone number, the criminal complaint says. Prosecutors said that she has a history of "delusional conduct" and that she has "claimed to be a CIA agent, a Navy SEAL, an Army Ranger, and someone familiar with nuclear weapons or war, all while intermixing threats to public officials such as former President Donald Trump or former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton."

She has also "contacted the CIA several times since 2021" offering "un-credible, nonsensical information related to nuclear weapons," the filings say. Gish's mother told Secret Service agents in March that her daughter has "suffered from severe bipolar disorder and is borderline schizophrenic," they say.

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A lawyer for Gish did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

She has been ordered held pending trial on charges of influencing a federal official by threat and one count of interstate communications with a threat to kidnap or injure. Gish's attorney argued that she hadn't acted on any of her threats, but U.S. Magistrate Judge Peter Bray of Houston found "the threats themselves to be harmful" because they are "designed to place the victim in fear and cause distress and apprehension."

Gish is due in court in Houston on Tuesday for a hearing on the government's request for a mental competency exam.

Cannon, a Trump appointee, last week granted his request to have a special master review the evidence the FBI seized under a search warrant at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, last month, and she temporarily blocked parts of the Justice Departments investigation.

Police have said the federal magistrate judge who authorized the search warrant, Bruce Reinhart, also received a number of threats last month.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
BANGKOK (AP)  A court in Thailand on Monday sentenced an activist to two years in prison for allegedly insulting the countrys queen by wearing traditional Thai attire at a demonstration for reform of the monarchy two years ago, a legal aid group said.

Jatuporn New Saeoueng wore a pink dress while a fellow protester held an umbrella over her as she walked down a red carpet at a mock fashion show held in the street in downtown Bangkok on Oct. 29, 2020.

The rally was billed as a counterpoint to a fashion show being held by Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana, a daughter of King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

Vajiralongkorns wife, Queen Suthida, dresses in elegant silk fashions for formal and public occasions. Members of the royal family have attendants often holding ceremonial umbrellas over them on such occasions.

The group Thai Lawyers for Human Rights said Bangkoks Criminal Court initially sentenced Jatuporn to three years imprisonment for violating the lese majeste law  which makes defaming the monarch or his immediate family punishable by a prison term of three to 15 years per offense  and the Public Safety Act. She was also fined 1,000 baht ($27.50). The sentence was immediately reduced to two years.

Jatuporn was sent to the Central Womens Correctional Institution pending another courts ruling on her request to be freed on bail.

The protest was one in a series in 2020-2021 that originally demanded political changes, including new elections and a more democratic constitution, but expanded to call for reform of the monarchy.

Protesters charged that King Vajiralongkorn wields an inordinate amount of power in what is nominally a democracy under a constitutional monarchy. The monarchy has long been considered an untouchable institution, revered by a large part of the population.

The protest movement later lost momentum due to controls imposed to fight the coronavirus pandemic and a government legal offense against protest leaders.

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According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, since November 2020 there have been 210 people charged with a total of 229 violations of the lese majeste law. Thirteen cases have come to trial, and charges were dismissed in three of them.

I have no intention to mock anyone. I dressed for myself on that day, for a version of myself in a Thai traditional dress, Jatuporn said in an interview posted online ahead of Mondays court ruling, "And today, I dress the same way to show that this is just me, in a Thai traditional dress and to ask -- whats wrong with that?(asterisk)

Jatuporn, who faces six more charges related to her protest activities, said she would appeal her case all the way up to the Supreme Court if necessary.

The mock fashion show was a satirical take on the political situation of the country  a peaceful public event akin to a street festival with music, food and dancing, Kyle Ward, deputy secretary general of the human rights group Amnesty International, said in an emailed statement. "Participants should not be punished for participating in a peaceful assembly.(asterisk)(asterisk)

"We urge the authorities to immediately drop all charges against those who have merely exercised their human rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, and release those arbitrarily detained.(asterisk)(asterisk)

-

Associated Press writer Grant Peck contributed to this report.
Pro-democracy protestor Jatuporn New Saeoueng was sentenced to two years in prison for insulting Thailand's queen through her attire.

A court in Thailand finalized the sentencing for Jatuporn on Monday. The activist was accused of insulting the countrys queen after she wore traditional Thai attire at a pro-democracy demonstration. She was charged with violating the lese majeste law, which addresses the defaming of the monarchy a punishable crime, and the Public Safety Act.

The demonstration  which took place in downtown Bangkok on Oct. 29, 2020  called for the monarchys reform and mimicked a fashion show that was held by Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana, daughter of King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

During the performance, Jatuporn wore a traditional pink dress and was accompanied by another protester who held an umbrella over her as she walked down the red carpet. On formal and public occasions, members of the royal family are accompanied by attendants who hold ceremonial umbrellas.

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The protest was part of a movement in 2020 and 2021 that emphasized political change in the country, calling for democracy and reform. The protestors argued that King Vajiralongkorn and the monarchy held a disproportionately large amount of power to be considered a constitutional monarchy. The protests quickly lost momentum due to the COVID-19 pandemic and government action against the movement.

Although Jatuporn was initially sentenced to three years of imprisonment, the sentence was reduced to two years and a fine of 1,000 baht (approximately $27.55). However, Jatuporn still faces six additional charges, which she is prepared to appeal up to the countrys Supreme Court.

I have no intention to mock anyone. I dressed for myself on that day, for a version of myself in a Thai traditional dress [...] Whats wrong with that?, Jatuporn stated in an interview.

Story continues

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The mock fashion show was a satirical take on the political situation of the country [...] Participants should not be punished for participating in a peaceful assembly, Kyle Ward, the deputy secretary general of Amnesty International, shared in an email. We urge the authorities to immediately drop all charges against those who have merely exercised their human rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, and release those arbitrarily detained.

As of this writing, Jatuporn remains in the Central Womens Correctional Institution awaiting ruling for her bail request.

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Feature Image via South China Morning Post

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We can readily understand why investors are attracted to unprofitable companies. For example, although software-as-a-service business Salesforce.com lost money for years while it grew recurring revenue, if you held shares since 2005, you'd have done very well indeed. Nonetheless, only a fool would ignore the risk that a loss making company burns through its cash too quickly.

Given this risk, we thought we'd take a look at whether Deltic Energy (LON:DELT) shareholders should be worried about its cash burn. In this article, we define cash burn as its annual (negative) free cash flow, which is the amount of money a company spends each year to fund its growth. First, we'll determine its cash runway by comparing its cash burn with its cash reserves.

See our latest analysis for Deltic Energy

When Might Deltic Energy Run Out Of Money?

A cash runway is defined as the length of time it would take a company to run out of money if it kept spending at its current rate of cash burn. In June 2022, Deltic Energy had UK7.6m in cash, and was debt-free. In the last year, its cash burn was UK3.4m. That means it had a cash runway of about 2.3 years as of June 2022. Arguably, that's a prudent and sensible length of runway to have. Depicted below, you can see how its cash holdings have changed over time.

How Is Deltic Energy's Cash Burn Changing Over Time?

Because Deltic Energy isn't currently generating revenue, we consider it an early-stage business. So while we can't look to sales to understand growth, we can look at how the cash burn is changing to understand how expenditure is trending over time. The skyrocketing cash burn up 100% year on year certainly tests our nerves. That sort of spending growth rate can't continue for very long before it causes balance sheet weakness, generally speaking. Clearly, however, the crucial factor is whether the company will grow its business going forward. So you might want to take a peek at how much the company is expected to grow in the next few years.

How Easily Can Deltic Energy Raise Cash?

While Deltic Energy does have a solid cash runway, its cash burn trajectory may have some shareholders thinking ahead to when the company may need to raise more cash. Companies can raise capital through either debt or equity. Commonly, a business will sell new shares in itself to raise cash and drive growth. By comparing a company's annual cash burn to its total market capitalisation, we can estimate roughly how many shares it would have to issue in order to run the company for another year (at the same burn rate).

Deltic Energy has a market capitalisation of UK56m and burnt through UK3.4m last year, which is 6.0% of the company's market value. That's a low proportion, so we figure the company would be able to raise more cash to fund growth, with a little dilution, or even to simply borrow some money.

So, Should We Worry About Deltic Energy's Cash Burn?

Even though its increasing cash burn makes us a little nervous, we are compelled to mention that we thought Deltic Energy's cash burn relative to its market cap was relatively promising. Considering all the factors discussed in this article, we're not overly concerned about the company's cash burn, although we do think shareholders should keep an eye on how it develops. Taking a deeper dive, we've spotted 4 warning signs for Deltic Energy you should be aware of, and 3 of them are significant.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies, and this list of stocks growth stocks (according to analyst forecasts)

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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A Tokyo train station employee is facing backlash for an announcement he made instructing passengers to take the rear train cars if they do not want to be groped.

In a video taken on Aug. 30 at Shinjuku Station in downtown Tokyo, a station worker is seen making an announcement via the P.A. system, stating: We have many security cameras installed, but there are many chikan. Passengers who do not want to be groped, please make use of the rear carriages.

During the evening rush hour, gropers, also known as chikans in Japan, are typically seen in the front cars, which are the most crowded. Train stations in Japan often have posters stating that groping is a crime.

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The East Japan Railway Company issued an apology on Thursday explaining that the announcement did not have any negative intentions.

The intent was to guide passengers towards less crowded carriages, but a portion of the announcement was inappropriate. We deeply apologize to those who were made uncomfortable by the announcement, JR East stated.

The employees choice of words prompted backlash, as many Twitter users pointed out that the announcement was inappropriate.

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They say, People who dont want to be molested should move, but they dont say, People who dont want to be suspected of being molested, please move, one user wrote.

Lack common sense, another user commented.

I think there could be a better way to say, another user wrote.

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Featured Image via ANNnewsCH

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Sep. 12COLUMBUS  Ryan Day liked what he saw from his Ohio State football team on Saturday.

The Buckeyes piled up 538 total yards, including 370 through the air and 168 on the ground, while beating Arkansas State 45-12.

They averaged 10.0 yards per play (tied for third-best in school history for a single game) while allowing just 3.6.

Arkansas State had 276 yards, and the Red Wolves needed 76 plays and more than 37 minutes of possession to get those.

Ohio State sophomores C.J. Stroud threw for 351 yards and four touchdowns while Miyan Williams averaged 5.8 yards per carry and TreVeyon Henderson went for 8.7.

But the coach of the 2-0 Buckeyes said he wants more.

"I'd like to see the film before we start grading because coming out of the game sometimes you think you see things and then you kind of step away and you see it through a different lens," Day said. "But there are certainly things in this game that I would like to see done better."

Ohio State had a pair of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, and the defense had three offside penalties. The Buckeye defense also kept an ASU drive alive with a third-down pass interference, something that would have happened twice if not for a circus catch by the Red Wolves.

On offense, Day took issue with four three-and-out drives, including two in the third quarter that prevented the offense from getting even more done.

"When we're playing with toughness, we're playing on an edge, we're taking care of the football, those are all real positive things, but the negative things get us off schedule," Day said. "We just don't quite execute at a high level and then it throws us off."

Thanks in part to Arkansas State's playing primarily man coverage on Ohio State's young receivers, the passing game showed the explosiveness it lacked in the season-opening win over Notre Dame.

By reducing the number of players Ohio State ran, the big plays from the passing game also limited the work for the running game, which saw Henderson and Williams combine for 18 carries while third-stringer Dallan Hayden had four and receiver Emeka Egbuka got one.

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"We want to be able to control the game, so that's the balance that we need," Day said. "Now, depending on what a team is doing, sometimes they force your hand a little bit. And that's where if you want to be a good offense, you have to be able to do that.

"Part of only having 54 plays is because we had those three-and-outs, so we're just going to really take a lot of pride in our execution, keep growing on it and keep building on it and figuring out as we go through this year where we're at, but I think you can see the potential, sure."

Next up is a visit from Toledo, a team that is 2-0 and was projected to be better than a handful of Big Ten teams (not to mention much better than ASU).

Phil Steele ranked the Rockets 66th in the nation in his preseason power poll, and they are 2-0 with lopsided wins over Long Island University (an FCS team) and Massachusetts.

Defense is Toledo's calling card, so the Saturday night showdown could be an interesting clash of styles.

"What you don't want to do is take winning for granted and take a lot of really hard work and good performances for granted either," Day said. "But I know there's gonna be a lot of things that we need to look at tomorrow, and then we got to keep building on it, keep growing on it and make improvements."

SATURDAY'S GAME

Toledo at Ohio State, 7 p.m., Fox, 1410
OAKLAND, Calif.  Tony La Russa was back at a ballpark Sunday, participating in a ceremony honoring former pitcher Dave Stewart at Oakland Coliseum.

The Chicago White Sox manager is awaiting the OK from doctors to return to the dugout.

A lot of it is going to depend on the experts, La Russa said before Sundays game against the Oakland Athletics when asked about his expectations to be back. Reading the situation, theyll ask how I feel, could I do a little more. And how you respond to the little more affects it.

Its uncertain. In the meantime, it will be fun to watch (the Sox) stay in contention.

La Russa jokingly added, I know if we lose (Sunday), first game in person, I wont be on that plane (returning to Chicago with the team).

The Sox were unable to complete a four-game sweep Sunday, losing 10-3 in front of 11,701.

The As scored six runs in the fifth as the Sox lost for just the fourth time in 13 games since Aug. 30.

What can I say, just a bad outing, Sox starter Johnny Cueto said through an interpreter. It wasnt my day.

The As had more hits in the fifth (6) than the Sox had in the game (4).

The loss, combined with Clevelands 4-1 victory against the Minnesota, drops the Sox to 2 games behind the first-place Guardians in the American League Central.

The Sox went 5-2 on the trip, winning two of three at Seattle and three of four against the As.

Theyve been without La Russa, 77, since Aug. 30, when the Sox announced less than an hour before a game against the Kansas City Royals that he would not manage that night at the direction of his doctors.

The next day the Sox said La Russa was out indefinitely and would undergo further testing with doctors in Arizona.

The way it happened, you come off the field (on Aug. 30) and they tell you  I had an issue in spring training  so when they had some information that needed to (be) addressed and they make it serious enough to where they say, You get out of uniform, you cant watch the game, La Russa said. I said, OK, right. So I watched the game at home.

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Health aint nothing to mess with. I got checked in Chicago and the reason I flew to Arizona is because thats been the place since the 90s Ive had physicals. They addressed it, they fixed it, now its just a question of regaining strength. Dont mess with health.

La Russa told Janie McCauley of The Associated Press he had a pacemaker inserted for his heart.

He was scheduled to travel to Chicago with the team after Sundays game, but his doctors have not yet cleared his return to the dugout as an active manager.

Asked if he plans to be with the team the rest of the way no matter what, La Russa said: It all depends. Im here (Sunday), flying back with them. And well see what they say. I dont plan to be in uniform until they say its time to be in uniform.

The most important thing is you dont want to be a distraction. Thats why its best to let it run its course and in the meantime, what theyre doing, concentrating and the game theyre playing, if I think Im distracting being upstairs like (Sunday), then I wont be up there watching.

La Russa said he has watched them all.

Its been outstanding, he said. I always said weve got a really good staff. I think they united and picked each other up. I talk to (acting manager) Miguel (Cairo) at least twice a day. Talk to (pitching coach) Ethan (Katz).

But exciting games. Two of those comeback wins (against the Mariners and the As) have been critical. The key is theyre having the fun of contending. Its from here to the end now. Its been fun to watch.

La Russa received handshakes and pats from players and coaches Sunday.

Im glad to see him, Cairo said before the game. He looks really good. Ive been talking to him, so I know how he feels and hes feeling good. Hes smiling and Im glad to see him. I know the whole team is glad to see him.

The Sox led Sundays game 2-1, with Jose Abreu driving in a run with a double in the first and scoring a run in the fourth on AJ Pollocks sacrifice fly to center.

The six-run fifth for the As included three singles, two doubles and Ramon Laureanos two-run homer. The home run came one pitch after third baseman Leury Garcia ran into the spacious foul territory but couldnt catch a popup near Oaklands dugout.

Cueto allowed seven runs, five earned, on eight hits with three strikeouts and a walk in 4 innings.

Just one bad inning, Cairo said. We got the loss, (but) it was a really good road trip for us.

It was awesome to see the guys battle every day. Hit, coming back from being down. We did everything the right way. Good pitching. It was a really good trip.
If you're a Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band fan, keep Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, 2023, free on your calendar.

Tickets for a Springsteen and the E Street Band concert, with backstage passes, for one of those two dates were auctioned off Saturday, Sept. 10, at the Visiting Nurse Association Beach Ball at the Chapel Beach Club in Sea Bright.

A MetLife show has not been announced, but it is anticipated as a second North American tour leg was cited as starting in August 2023 after arena shows in the United States and stadium shows in Europe.

Honestly, I expected those dates to be out by now, but obviously they're narrowing it down, said Audrey Hunn of the Calling All Bruce Springsteen Fans! Facebook page. Hunn posted the auction link on the Calling page. The MetLife tickets auction was in person only on Saturday.

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The ticket package was donated by The Springsteen Family. A Dinner by Bruce Springsteen's Private Chef, Jacob Varela, was also auctioned off.

The onsale for the bands U.S. arena tour drew headlines as some fans were upset that a portion of tickets were sold in the $5,000 range due to dynamic pricing, which adjusts prices according to supply and demand.

In the big picture I'm really over this already because let's move on, Hunn said. I wasn't thrilled, but I decided I wasn't going to as many as I thought and they were becoming more in line with the bigger name shows. He has been keeping the prices down for a really long time, so I resigned myself to that.

More:Springsteen ticket prices tests faith of fans

Springsteen, and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, publicly thanked the Visiting Nurse Association of Central Jersey when the group announced that it would provide health services for uninsured or underinsured Jersey Shore musicians and artists during the height of the COVID-19 outbreak in early 2021.

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The Visiting Nurse Association Central Jersey Community Health Centers provides primary healthcare for individuals and families at its four centers in Asbury Park, Freehold, Keyport and Red Bank, serving without discrimination and regardless of the patients ability to pay, according to the group.

Subscribe to app.com for the latest on Bruce Springsteen and the New Jersey music scene.

Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers music and entertainment for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at @chrisfhjordan; cjordan@app.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Bruce Springsteen tour MetLife tickets auctioned for charity
By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Former President Donald Trump's attorneys on Monday opposed a U.S. Justice Department request to immediately resume examining the contents of classified documents seized by the FBI from his Florida estate last month in an ongoing criminal investigation.

His lawyers in a filing also asked U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to make those roughly 100 documents - among the more than 11,000 records found in the court-approved Aug. 8 search - part of a review that an independent arbiter, called a special master, will conduct to vet all the materials.

The special master, requested by Trump and approved by the judge last week, could deem documents privileged and wall them off from investigators.

Trump is under investigation by the Justice Department for retaining government records - some of which were marked as highly classified, including "top secret" - at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach after leaving office in January 2021. The department is also examining possible obstruction of the probe.

Trump's lawyers on Monday also told Cannon they opposed two retired judges - Barbara Jones and Thomas Griffith - proposed by the government to serve as special master. Trump's team has proposed federal judge Raymond Dearie and Paul Huck, Florida's former deputy attorney general.

In its own filing, the department said it could support the appointment of Dearie, but not Huck. It said Huck did not appear to have the type of "substantial" experience presiding over federal criminal and civil cases, including cases involving national security, as did Dearie and the two other candidates.

In another development, the Justice Department has charged a Texas woman who prosecutors accused of making phone threats against Cannon, including saying the judge was "marked for assassination." The incident marks the latest example of threats reported against various federal authorities in recent months.

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Cannon previously blocked the department from immediately using the seized records in the investigation, a move that will slow down the work of prosecutors and make it harder for them to determine whether additional classified materials could be missing.

"In what at its core is a document storage dispute that has spiraled out of control, the government wrongfully seeks to criminalize the possession by the 45th President of his own presidential and personal records," Trump's lawyers wrote.

"The government should therefore not be permitted to skip the process and proceed straight to a preordained conclusion," they added.

Trump's lawyers in Monday's filing disputed the department's claim that the roughly 100 documents at issue are in fact classified, and they reminded Cannon that a president generally has broad powers to declassify records. They stopped short of suggesting that Trump had declassified the documents, a claim he has made on social media but not in court filings.

"There still remains a disagreement as to the classification status of the documents," Trump's lawyers wrote. "The government's position therefore assumes a fact not yet established."

The Justice Department has asked the judge to let investigators immediately resume going through the documents marked as classified. If the judge rules that the department cannot continue relying on the classified materials for its criminal probe or insists on letting the special master review them, prosecutors have vowed to appeal to a higher court.

The documents probe is one of several federal and state investigations Trump is facing from his time in office and in private business as he considers another run for the presidency in 2024.

Following the search, Trump's attorneys sought the appointment of the special master to review the seized records for materials that could be covered by attorney-client privilege or executive privilege - a legal doctrine that can shield some presidential records from disclosure.

In ruling in favor of Trump's request last week, Cannon rejected Justice Department arguments that the records belong to the government and that because Trump is no longer president he cannot claim executive privilege. Cannon was appointed to the bench by Trump in 2020.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Will Dunham and Rosalba O'Brien)
(Reuters) -Perrigo Co Plc said on Monday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has scheduled a meeting of external experts on Nov. 18 to review the application of its daily birth control pill for over-the-counter (OTC) use.

Contraception access has taken the spotlight since the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in June to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion nationwide.

The FDA meeting for Perrigo's prescription drug, Opill, is set to happen about four months after unit HRA Pharma's application to the health agency. If approved, it will be the first daily OTC birth control pill in the United States.

"While this (the review) is moving quickly, FDA confirmed this is still within timelines of a standard review," a spokesperson for HRA said. Perrigo's unit had earlier said a period of about 10 months is typical for such requests and that it was expecting a decision from the health regulator in the first half of 2023.

"I'm hopeful that the FDA will get to a point where they will agree with the evidence that already exists to show that over-the-counter birth control is safe and effective," said Dr. Kristyn Brandi, a member of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Abortion rights activists have also stepped up calls to make abortion drug mifepristone available without a prescription. Mifepristone in combination with misoprostol induces an abortion up to 10 weeks into a pregnancy.

Opill, a non-estrogen contraceptive, has been used with prescription since its approval in 1973.

(Reporting by Bhanvi Satija and Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Devika Syamnath)
By Suleiman Al-Khalidi

AMMAN (Reuters) - The repatriation and reintegration of thousands of families of Islamic State militants languishing in a Kurdish-run detention camp in northeast Syria should be speeded up, the top U.S. general in the Middle East said on Monday.

General Michael Erik Kurilla, who leads U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), said many of the residents of al Hol camp were families of IS members who had fled Islamic State's final enclave of Baghouz in Syria in 2019. A majority of the residents are women and children.

"We have to look at this with empathy because there is no military solution to this. The only solution is to repatriate, rehabilitate and reintegrate those members in the camp," he added.

Almost half of the camp's residents were adherents of IS ideology while the others were families who wanted to go back to their homes, Kurilla said.

Of the 54,000 residents, half were Iraqis, 18,000 were Syrians and the remaining 8,500 came from other countries, said Kurilla, who visited the camp in recent days.

The United Nations, rights groups and others have decried the resistance of many countries toward repatriating their citizens, whom they say are held in inhumane conditions without due process.

They say some states have balked at reclaiming their citizens, citing security concerns.

"What's needed is for countries to step up and do their job. It's needed to have them take on and bring their citizens back home," Kurilla told a news conference in Amman, where CENTCOM is holding one of the largest military exercises in the region.

He said the current pace of repatriation, of 125 to 150 Iraqi families per month, is too slow and would take four years to complete.

"We have got to accelerate that," he said.

Along with helping Iraq speed the transfer of IS detainees held in Syria to face trial in their country, CENTCOM was also working to bring back home the families of the Iraqi IS detainees, Kurilla said.

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A three-week security campaign in camp waged by Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to clamp down on record violence this year turned up hidden weapons and explosives, Kurilla said.

He said two SDF personnel were killed in the camp.

"This confirms what we have known all along - that there are IS in the camp," he added.

(Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi in Amman; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
(Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department on Monday said it would support Raymond Dearie, a candidate backed by former President Donald Trump, for the role of independent arbiter, known as a special master, to examine the contents of classified documents seized by the FBI from Trump's Florida estate last month.

It backed either of its own two candidates or Dearie, it said in a court filing, but rejected a second Trump pick, Paul Huck.

(Reporting by Caitlin Webber; writing by Costas Pitas)
Lawmakers want to know how airlines have spent billions of dollars in pandemic-related funds.

>>> STREAM CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS LIVE <<<

Members of congress recently sent a letter to the treasury department expressing concerns that those funds have been used to encourage people to retire, leading to a pilot shortage thats impacted flights across the country.

READ: CDC warns against enterovirus D68: What is it and what are the symptoms?

Just last week, another wave of canceled flights left travelers stranded.

Now, members of congress are raising serious questions about how government funding for the airlines is being used.

It comes after an aviation audit found some discrepancies.

We are concerned that some airlines have used federal funds obtained during the pandemic to provide buyouts and early retirement packages for pilots, which may be exacerbating a shortage of commercial pilots, lawmakers from the House Oversight Committee wrote in the letter.

NEW: Chairs @RepMaloney & @WhipClyburn sent a letter to @USTreasury OIG requesting a review of airlines use of pandemic relief funds, raising concerns that federal funds were used for buyouts and retirement packages, resulting in a pilot shortage & delays.https://t.co/z7lcXf4tzj  Oversight Committee (@OversightDems) September 9, 2022

The companies in question received $60-billion in pandemic relief funds.

READ: Wall Street rallies ahead of high-stakes inflation report

Lawmakers say after that funding came in, three of the leading U.S. airlines cut a substantial share of their workforce and urged employees to take early retirements.

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Airline leaders have tried to fend off criticism before on how theyve spent the money.

We are doing our part as an industry to support the economy, American Airlines CEO Doug Parker said.

Some members of Congress say theyre still not buying it, and are now calling for an Inspector General to look deeper.

Industry analysts estimate approximately 42-percent of current airline pilots will retire by 2026, and some pilots say theyre already being stretched to their limits.

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Were exhausted out there, Pilot Dennis Tajer said. The schedule is falling apart. They dont have enough pilots connected to the airplanes.

Members of Congress say they expect answers in the next 10 days. Its not clear how far the Inspector General might take things next.

Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
(Bloomberg) -- Uganda made the first payment of what will be a total of $325 million in reparations ordered by the International Court of Justice for crimes committed during its invasion of Democratic Republic of Congo more than two decades ago.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The $65 million was sent Sept. 1, according to minutes from a Sept. 9 meeting of Congos council of ministers.

Jim Mugunga, a spokesman for Ugandas Finance Ministry, said he couldnt immediately comment on Congos assertion that the payment had been made.

The ICJ decision resolved a legal dispute that began in 1999 when Congo filed suit against Uganda for its occupation of part of the Central African country. The reparations cover $225 million for damage to people, $40 million for damage to property and $60 million for damage to natural resources, according to the courts February ruling.

Read more: Uganda Must Pay Congo $325 Million in Reparations, ICJ Says

Uganda and neighboring Rwanda invaded Congo in 1998 after the two countries fell out with its then-president, Laurent Desire Kabila, who theyd previously supported in his rebellion against dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. The war eventually engulfed several other African nations, left millions dead and sparked conflicts in eastern Congo that persist today despite an official end to the hostilities in 2003.

The money has been put in a transitional account with Congos justice ministry while the country creates a fund for the compensation for victims of the illicit activities of Uganda in Congo, according to the minutes from the ministers meeting.

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STORY: Firefighters battled a fire at a thermal power plant in Ukraine's Kharkiv on Sunday, following Russian missile strikes that caused widespread blackouts.

Ukrainian officials have accused retreating Russian forces of attacking civilian infrastructure in retaliation to the weekend offensive by Ukrainian troops which drove Russia out of its key stronghold in the Kharkiv region.

Local authorities said at least one duty officer was killed in the strikes.

"No military facilities, the goal is to deprive people of light & heat," Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy tweeted late on Sunday.

He said the attacks caused a total blackout in the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, and partial blackouts in several other places.

Moscow denies its forces deliberately target civilians in what it calls its special operation.

The Russian strikes came after Ukrainian's army said its forces had made more gains in the Kharkiv region.

Video released on social media by a district mayor shows him and Ukrainian soldiers being embraced by some residents, as they shout glory to Ukraine.

The video is said to be taken in a village near the Russian border, about 27 miles north of Kharkiv, though Reuters is unable to verify it.

Ukraine says its forces have regained more than 1,100 square miles since the start of this month, releasing images of Russian equipment that has now fallen into their hands.

Defence Minister Olkeksii Reznikov struck a cautious tone, telling the Financial Times that Ukrainian forces could be encircled by fresh Russian troops if they advance too far.

Still, its the worst defeat for Russias forces in the war since they were repelled from the outskirts of Kyiv in March.

Reznikov said the offensive went far better than expected, saying, It's a sign that Russia can be defeated.

Reuters / 107 Separate Brigade of the Bukovyna Territorial Defence Forces / Twitter/ZelenskyyUa / Territorial Defence of the Ukrainian Armed Forces/Handout via REUTERS / UKRAINIAN ARMED FORCES / Telegram @V_Zelenskiy_official / Facebook/Vyacheslav Zadorenko
Firefighters put out the blaze after a Russian rocket attack hit an electric power station in Kharkiv, Ukraine (Kostiantyn Liberov/AP) (AP)

Ukraine needs more and more arms from the West to keep the pressure up on Russia after regaining swathes of territory from Moscow, the former head of the British Army has said.

Lord Dannatt said Russian troops have pretty much turned and fled from the Kharkiv area, representing a significant reverse of their position.

But while this is a great success for the Ukrainians, he said they continue to need more and more Western arms and ammunition in order to keep the pressure up.

We are witnessing some incredible scenes, he told Sky News.

Although the Ukrainians have made significant advances, theres a lot of their country still in Russian occupation. So theres a long way to go.

It comes as Ukraine has managed to recapture Russian-occupied areas in the Kharkiv region.

Significant quantities of weapons and munitions were left behind as Moscow hastily withdrew its troops to prevent them from being surrounded.

Lord Dannatt said Russia was responding to Ukraines recent success in a typically heavy-handed way, and blindly lashing out by targeting the countrys power supplies.

In Kharkiv, the few pedestrians who could be seen outside on Sunday night used torches or mobile phones to guide them through darkened streets following the bombardment of a power station on the citys western outskirts.

The former army chief said: They (Russian officials) know that theyve had a significant reverse on the battlefield, so theyre lashing out in other ways to try and restore their position.

The resistance and the attitude that youre seeing from the Ukrainian people is yes, no, we dont like the darkness, we dont like the lack of water, but we will win through, they will not break our spirit.

And I think that is the other critical issue. Morale in Ukraine and morale amongst the Ukrainian forces is sky-high.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to liberate the Kharkiv Oblast from the invaders

The enemy flees in haste, retreating deep into occupied territory  or to Russia, said Synehubov.

Read also: Russians fleeing village 5 km from Russian border in Kharkiv Oblast, say local authorities

Russians have abandoned Velykyi Burluk and Dvurichna (near Kupyansk) yesterday. At some places, our troops have reached the international Russian border.

Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi said that Ukrainian forces have liberated over 3,000 square kilometers of land in Kharkiv Oblast, since Sept. 1, and are now within 50 kilometers of the Russian border.

Read also: Ukrainian counteroffensive went better than expected, but its too early to celebrate, defense minister warns

Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged the retreat from Kharkiv Oblast, but alleged it was regrouping its forces, aiming to bolster the Donetsk Oblast front. That is a lie.

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
A group of Ukrainian civil society leaders on Monday called sweeping electricity cuts part of a Russian strategy and urged the United States to ramp up support to maximize recent gains before winter.

Much of eastern Ukraine was plunged into a blackout on Sunday, with President Volodymyr Zelensky blaming deliberate attacks by Moscow as Kyiv made startling gains on the battlefield.

"Their approach is to have more cold before the winter season starts by destroying all critical infrastructure," said Hanna Hopko, who heads the International Center for Ukrainian Victory, an umbrella group of civil society organizations.

Hopko, the former head of the Ukrainian parliament's foreign affairs committee, noted that the power cuts came on September 11 and reiterated Kyiv's calls, not embraced by President Joe Biden, to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Hopko, addressing reporters at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, is part of a group from Ukrainian civil society on a week-long visit to Washington that will include talks with the State Department and Congress.

Also on Sunday, Kyiv said that the sixth and final reactor was shut down amid safety concerns at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia power station, which once provided one-quarter of Ukraine's electricity.

The energy supplied "the south and the east, the war-torn regions that are already on the edge of humanitarian catastrophe," said Alyona Getmanchuk, director of the New Europe Center think tank.

The aim is to "make European states suffer even more" through a flow of refugees and incentive the West to pressure Ukraine into a negotiated settlement, she said.

"Putin really thinks that neither Ukraine nor Europe will survive this winter. That's what he really hopes and that is actually the central pillar around which he now is developing his threats," she said.

According to Russia's narrative, troops can withdraw and return in the spring with greater advantage, she said.

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"That's why we keep saying it's very important to be ready to get back as much of our land as possible before the winter comes," Getmanchuk said.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on a visit to Kyiv last week unveiled new military funding, bringing the US contribution to $15.2 billion since Russia invaded in February.

But the United States has balked at some items on Ukraine's wish-list including missiles with longer ranges, fearing a wider conflict with Russia.

Hopko, while voicing appreciation for the support, said that initial offers were not enough for Ukraine "to fight the second-largest army in the world."

sct/wd
Ethical and equitable scientific collaboration could help increase the genetic diversity of genomic data. gmast3r/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Mental illness is a growing public health problem. In 2019, an estimated 1 in 8 people around the world were affected by mental disorders like depression, schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. While scientists have long known that many of these disorders run in families, their genetic basis isnt entirely clear. One reason why is that the majority of existing genetic data used in research is overwhelmingly from white people.

In 2003, the Human Genome Project generated the first reference genome of human DNA from a combination of samples donated by upstate New Yorkers, all of whom were of European ancestry. Researchers across many biomedical fields still use this reference genome in their work. But it doesnt provide a complete picture of human genetics. Someone with a different genetic ancestry will have a number of variations in their DNA that arent captured by the reference sequence.

When most of the worlds ancestries are not represented in genomic data sets, studies wont be able to provide a true representation of how diseases manifest across all of humanity. Despite this, ancestral diversity in genetic analyses hasnt improved in the two decades since the Human Genome Project announced its first results. As of June 2021, over 80% of genetic studies have been conducted on people of European descent. Less than 2% have included people of African descent, even though these individuals have the most genetic variation of all human populations.

To uncover the genetic factors driving mental illness, I, Sinead Chapman and our colleagues at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard have partnered with collaborators around the world to launch Stanley Global, an initiative that seeks to collect a more diverse range of genetic samples from beyond the U.S. and Northern Europe, and train the next generation of researchers around the world. Not only does the genetic data lack diversity, but so do the tools and techniques scientists use to sequence and analyze human genomes. So we are implementing a new sequencing technology that addresses the inadequacies of previous approaches that dont account for the genetic diversity of global populations.

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Global partnerships for global data

To study the genetics of psychiatric conditions, researchers use data from genome-wide association studies that compare the genetic variations between people with and without a particular disease. However, these data sets are mostly based on people of European ancestry, largely because research infrastructure and funding for large-scale genetics studies, and the scientists conducting these studies, have historically been concentrated in Europe and the United States.

One way to close this gap is to sequence genetic data from diverse populations. My colleagues and I are working in close partnership with geneticists, statisticians and epidemiologists in 14 countries across four continents to study the DNA of tens of thousands of people of African, Asian and Latino ancestries who are affected by mental illness. We work together to recruit participants and collect DNA samples that are sequenced at the Broad Institute in Massachusetts and shared with all partners for analysis.

Prioritizing the voices and priorities of local communities and scientists is foundational to our work. All partners have joint ownership of the project, including decision-making and sample and data ownership and control. To do this, we build relationships and trust with the local communities we are studying and the local university leaders and scientists with whom we are partnering. We work to understand local cultures and practices, and adapt our collection methods to ensure study participants are comfortable. For example, because there are different cultural sensitivities around providing saliva and blood samples, we have adapted our practices by location to ensure study participants are comfortable.

We also freely share knowledge and materials with our partners. There is a two-way exchange of information between the Broad Institute and local teams on study progress and results, enabling continual learning, teaching and unity between teams. We strive to meet each other where we are by exchanging practices and training scientists to support the development of locally grown and locally led research programs.

Our collaboration with African research groups provides a prime example of our model. For example, our African research colleagues are co-leaders on the grants that fund the lab equipment, scientists and other staff for projects based at their study sites. And we help to support the next generation of African geneticists and bioinformaticians through a dedicated training program.

Analyzing variation

Collecting samples from more diverse populations is only half of the challenge.

Existing genomic sequencing and analysis technologies do not adequately capture genetic variation across populations from around the world. Thats because these technologies were designed to detect genetic variations based on reference DNA from people of European ancestry, and they reduce accuracy when analyzing sequences that arent derived from the reference genome. When these tools are applied to genetic data from other populations, they fail to detect much of the rich variation in their genomes. This can lead researchers to miss out on important biomedical discoveries.

To address this issue, we developed an approach to genome sequencing that can detect more genetic variation from populations around the world. It works by sequencing the exome  the less than 2% of the genome that codes for proteins  in high detail, as well as sequencing the 98% of the genome that does not code for proteins in less detail.

This combined approach reduces the trade-offs geneticists often have to make in sequencing projects. High-depth whole genome sequencing, which reads through the entire genome multiple times to get detailed data, is too costly to do on a large number of DNA samples. While low-coverage sequencing reduces costs by reading smaller segments of the genome, it may miss some important genetic variation. With our new technology, geneticists can get the best of both worlds: sequencing the exome in depth maximizes the likelihood of pinpointing specific genes that play a role in mental illness, while sequencing the whole genome less in depth allows researchers to process large numbers of whole genomes more cost-effectively.

Personalizing medicine

Our hope is that this new technology will allow researchers to sequence large sample sizes from a diverse range of ancestries to capture the full breadth of genetic variation. With a better understanding of the genetics of mental illness, clinicians and researchers will be better equipped to develop new treatments that work for everyone.

Genomic sequencing opened a new era of personalized medicine, which promises to deliver treatments tailored to each individual person. This can be done only if the genetic variations of all ancestries are represented in the data sets that researchers use to make new discoveries about disease and develop treatments.

This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Hailiang Huang, Harvard University. Like this article? subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

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Hailiang Huang receives funding from the National Institutes of Health and the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. He is a member of the board of directors with the International Society of Psychiatric Genetics.
MEXICO CITY (AP)  Mexico and the United States plan to take advantage of the Biden administration's massive investment in semiconductor production to push the integration of their supply chains and cooperate on expanding the production of electric vehicles through Mexico's nationalized lithium industry, officials from both countries said Monday

Both efforts seek to eat into Asia's advantage in semiconductors and batteries needed for electric vehicles and promote North American production.

They were among the main topics discussed within and on the sidelines of the two countries' High-Level Economic Dialogue in Mexico's capital.

Major elements of the semiconductor supply chains are already well established in Mexico, with U.S. based companies like Intel and Skyworks conducting research and development, design, assembly and test manufacturing in parts of Mexico, U.S. Secretary Antony Blinken said.

Blinken and U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimundo had spoken earlier in the day with Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador about the opportunities for Mexico to take advantage of recently passed U.S. legislation that would provide $28 billion in incentives for semiconductor production, $10 billion for new manufacturing of chips and $11 billion for research and development.

Lopez Obrador, for his part, explained his plan to make the northern border state of Sonora a leader in lithium, electric vehicle and solar energy production, Mexico Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said. Lithium is a key component of batteries for electric vehicles. The president said last month he had already discussed the idea with U.S. President Joe Biden.

Blinken said another piece of new U.S. legislation aims to incentivize the shift to electric vehicles and the production of the batteries they need in North America.

Ebrard said it was a big opening for Mexico's economy.

This means more jobs for Mexico, more integration, Ebrard said. We think Mexico could grow twice as much with what was proposed to Mexico today and this means we can reduce poverty even faster in our country and that the infrastructure of Mexico can grow faster.

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The dialogue, which was launched by then-Vice President Biden in 2013, resumed last year in Washington after stopping during the Trump administration.

The global shortage of semiconductors has slashed into production of autos, household appliances and other goods, fueling high inflation. Biden appeared at the future site of a massive Intel plant in Ohio on Friday.

Last month, Lopez Obrador said the government had created the state-run lithium company that would be in charge of the exploration and extraction of the mineral. Mexico nationalized lithium production in May.

Asked about ongoing trade disputes between the U.S. and Mexico in the energy sector, officials from both countries downplayed the disputes and emphasized that there was a separate process for resolving those disagreements under their trade accord and that it was not an agenda item for these meetings.

Ahead of the talks, Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols, who is also attending, said one of the priorities for the talks was promoting development in southern Mexico and Central America.

U.S. border agents encounters with migrants from the Northern Triangle countries -- El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala -- have been running lower this year than last, despite overall encounters at the border being up this year, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data. Encounters with Mexican migrants have also been higher for most of the past year.

Mexico has more recently avoided direct clashes with migrants moving across its territory, instead regularly offering them temporary documents to relieve pressure at its southern border.

Lopez Obrador has come under fire from some international and domestic organizations for transferring the recently created National Guard to the Defense Ministry. In many ways, the military already ran the force -- and filled its ranks -- but it had been created as a civilian force. Lopez Obrador criticized the U.N. and the Organization of American States for expressing their concern over the move.

Mexico continues to struggle with high rates of violence. On Friday, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons said at that violence related to Mexicos drug cartels was the main force causing internal displacements. She called on the government to create an official registry of the displaced, but said data collected from non-governmental organizations suggested there are some 400,000.

The talks come just days before Mexico celebrates its independence day, to which Lopez Obrador has invited figures such as the daughter of revolutionary leader Ernesto Che Guevara and the father of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

At Lopez Obradors daily news conference Monday, the president said he planned to submit a proposal to the U.N. aimed at ending Russias war in Ukraine. Lopez Obrador, who did not join other countries by imposing economic sanctions on Russia, proposed creating a mediation commission made up by Pope Francis, the U.N. secretary general and Indias prime minister that would open talks between the presidents of Russia and Ukraine.
A Utah school bus driver has been placed on leave after video surfaced of the driver threatening to shoot children when they notified her that she took a wrong turn.

The incident took place Friday and involved a bus from Alpine School District in Lehi about 30 miles south of Salt Lake City, the district confirmed to USA TODAY.

One more person says 'Where are we going,' I'm going to shoot them," an unidentified female driver is heard saying through the bus intercom in the video, which was sent to local news outlet Fox 13 in Salt Lake City by a parent of a student who was reportedly on the bus.

The driver, who took a wrong turn is heard saying, "OK, now listen. I missed the stop. I'm trying to turn around. Do you understand? OK. Sit down and be quiet."

"We are aware of a situation on a bus [Sept. 9]. The employee is on administrative leave pending an investigation," Alpine School District Executive Director of External Relations & Communications David Stephenson told USA TODAY Monday. "We strongly condemn any threatening action or language directed toward others. We expect all employees to create safe and nurturing environments free of verbal or physical threats"

Stephenson said "appropriate action" will be taken to ensure the matter is addressed and not repeated.

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The district did not release the driver's identity or say if they were on paid or unpaid leave.

In a letter directed to Dry Creek Elementary School's parents, Rex Brimhall, the director of Transportation for Alpine School District, wrote that the school district has taken immediate action to make sure students were safe and a full investigation is underway, KSLNewsRadio reported.

Saratoga Springs Police Lt. Zach Robinson told NBC News on Monday police are investigating the incident and looking into whether she possessed a weapon at the time.

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The police department could not immediately be reached by USA TODAY.

Second incident in a matter of days

Just two days earlier, on Sept, 7, another video obtained by Fox 13 taken by a student on a bus in the Tooele County School District, shows another driver yelling at children, who told the driver that she was going on the wrong route.

"I know! OK? Shut up! I'm gonna turn around, OK? Shut up," the driver tells the children on the video.

"It was apparent the students were trying to be helpful, and her response was not acceptable or conducive to our district values," a spokesperson with the Tooele County School District said in a statement to USA TODAY.

The spokesperson said the driver, who has been employed with the district since 2017, was placed on administrative leave, pending an investigation.

Natalie Neysa Alund covers trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Utah school bus driver suspended for threatening to shoot kids on bus
Bartley Hall at Villanova School of Business. Courtesy photo

Joyce E. A. Russell, the William OToole dean of the Villanova School of Business, plans to step down in May at the end of this academic year, the school has announced. She will remain at VSB as dean emeritus and professor of management and operations.

Russell came to VSB in August 2016, making this her seventh year leading the school. Last month, she welcomed students back for the 100th First Day of classes.

She is the business schools first female dean in its 100-year history. In 2018, she created the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and has made a special effort to hire and promote more women and underrepresented minorities into leadership positions during her tenure.

When I first came, there were very few endowed professors or chairs who were women. We had a smaller percentage of women faculty, smaller percentage of women students. So weve really made concerted efforts to get more women into the business school as well as students of color, she tells Poets&Quants.

I have placed a number of women on my leadership team who were never leaders before, so I think the school certainly has transformed in that regard. Weve really tried to say, What are we doing to help you get yourself promoted? We encourage women to look at their credentials, and put their name in if theyre qualified.

A RETURN TO THE CLASSROOM

In August, Russell told Poets&Quants that she loved and missed the classroom. This year, as dean, she will teach negotiations to undergraduate seniors. Her transition to professor of management and operations will allow her to focus on her professional passionsteaching students, working on research and writing projects.

Joyce E. A. Russell took over as dean of the Villanova School of Business on August 1, 2016. She is the first women to lead the school in its history. Courtesy photo

I also absolutely love our teacher-scholar model. I take a lot of pride in the fact that at Villanova, I know the other leaders across campus, were all working collaboratively, she tells P&Q. We care so much about teaching, scholarship, and service, that its how we recruit people, as well as how we reward and promote people.

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Prior to VSB, Russell was senior associate dean of the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland where she led both undergraduate and graduate business programs as well as corporate and global partnerships. Before that, she was full professor in the Department of Management at the University of Tennessee.

Villanova will conduct a national search for the new dean.

VSB HAS FLOURISHED

Russell will take a year-long sabbatical to work on several leadership books she is writing. She was recently elected chair of the Women Administrators in Management Education, an affinity group within the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) that seeks to transform business schools and business education. She serves on other important AACSB committees as well as on the boards of other business and leadership organizations.

During Dr. Russells seven years as the Helen and William OToole Dean, VSB has experienced tremendous success, says Villanova President the Rev. Peter M. Donohue in a statement. From receiving top rankings for its undergraduate and graduate programs to building a strategic vision that has enabled the school to grow in prominence and reputation, VSB has flourished throughout Dr. Russells tenure. I am grateful for her service and contributions to Villanova and congratulate her as she transitions to her new role at the University.

As VSB dean, Russell oversees an undergraduate program with about 1,700 students and graduate and executive programs with about 1,000. VSB has an undergraduate job placement rate of 98.9%, a 25% average salary increase for MBA students, and an alumni network of 31,550. The school recently refashioned its part-time MBA program,offering more flexibility as well as a modernized curriculum.

It has been such an honor and blessing to serve as the Helen and William OToole Dean of the Villanova School of Business. Working with such talented and dedicated colleagues, alumni, employers, families and students in VSB and across Villanova has been incredibly rewarding, Russell says in a release.

After this year, I am excited to continue this collaboration in my new role  Im energized to spend more time teaching our undergraduate, graduate and executive students and working on research projects with companies and business boards. I am so proud of all that we have accomplished together and am excited to see what the future holds for VSB and Villanova.

DONT MISS: VILLANOVA SCHOOL OF BUSINESS CELEBRATES 100 FIRST DAYS and AT VILLANOVA, HELPING TO PROPEL RESEARCH WITH IMPACT

The post Villanova School Of Business Dean To Step Down At End Of School Year appeared first on Poets&Quants.
The since-arrested naked madman accused of terrorizing women and girls on a popular Virginia walking trail over the past several months will eventually be extradited back to New York where he faced pending charges of attempted rape and sexual assault, law enforcement officials revealed on Monday.

Juan Alfaro Rodriguez, 42, is accused of assaulting and exposing himself to women and girls along the 45-mile Washington and Old Dominion (W&OD) Trail in at least 13 cases being investigated out of Fairfax County, as well as an additional eight cases specific to the town of Herndon since July 15.

At a press conference on Monday, Fairfax County police Lt. Ryan Lazisky said Alfaro Rodriguez, who was nabbed as an out-of-state fugitive at a Herndon business on Thursday evening, had been facing attempted rape and sexual assault charges in Suffolk County, New York, since about a year ago.

But Alfaro Rodriguez is believed to have been living in Virginia since at least January.

VIRGINIA POLICE ARREST NAKED MADMAN ALLEGEDLY TERRORIZING WOMEN, GIRLS ON POPULAR WALKING TRAIL

"Over the last two months, a predator victimized over a dozen people and shook an entire community," Lazisky said. "There was no rape in these cases, but he did assault victims  He does have similar motives, and he does have an extensive history."

Alfaro Rodriguez remains held without bond at a Fairfax County jail.

So far, he has been charged with three counts of indecent exposure, as well as an additional two counts of obscene sexual display and sexual battery for an Aug. 18 incident.

"Its important to note that there is still significant investigative work to be done in order to ensure successful prosecution of this subject," Herndon Police Chief Maggie DeBoard said in a video statement on Sunday. "A police to community partnership based on trust must always exist in order for us to help keep our community safe. We cannot do it without your help, and we appreciate all of the information you have provided us in order to ensure we have safely put a predator behind bars."

DeBoard said officers responded to an Aug. 26 incident involving a victim who was jogging and said she was approached by an unknown male. The suspect was engaging in obscene sexual behavior and grabbed the victims genitals before fleeing the area. Police obtained video from a residents backyard camera showing a suspect fitting the description fleeing the area.

Eventually, the U.S. Marshals Service contacted local agencies saying they had information that a suspect wanted out of state also could be the same person sought in the sexual battery and assaults along the trail. Detectives received tips from citizens who witnessed the suspect while exercising. A victim who came forward after Alfaro Rodriguez was already in custody regarding a previously unreported assault provided detectives with a close-up cell-phone video of the incident and suspect, leading to positive identification, DeBoard said.
A protester before the Accession Proclamation Ceremony at Mercat Cross, Edinburgh, publicly proclaiming King Charles III as the new monarch on 11 September 2022 (PA)

The wonderful thing about free speech is it fosters public discourse and debate. That is certainly true of my piece from last Friday, in which I critiqued Dr Uju Anyas tweet about the late Queen. The college professor wrote that she wished the Queen pain in death, which caused huge consternation online.

The Queen is dead, one commenter wrote, in response to my article, but the right of people to express their opinions isnt.

Hear, hear. Whether it surprises you or not, I agree with that sentiment. As an opinion journalist, I firmly believe in what we Americans call First Amendment freedoms  that is, the right to free speech and expression as well as the right to a free and independent press. I am privileged to frequently share my opinions with the public, and I do not take that freedom lightly.

Which is why I am appalled that, on Sunday, at least two people were arrested for protesting against the monarchy during proclamation ceremonies for now-King Charles. The first, a 22-year-old woman, was arrested in Edinburgh for breach of the peace. She was holding a sign that read F*** imperialism, abolish the monarchy, though the sign is not understood to be the reason for her arrest, the Independent previously reported.

In Oxford, 45-year-old Symon Hill was arrested under the Public Order Act for causing harassment, alarm, or distress. Hill  who shouted about not supporting the monarchy  claims he remained quiet for the portion of the proclamation concerning the death of the late Queen, and that he doubts most of the people in the crowd even heard me when he did speak.

The Politics Home editor Alan White  who witnessed the incident  said that possible harassment, alarm, or distress were not born out of what I witnessed. Some in the crowd told Hill to shut up, which was their right. People are, or ought to be at any rate, free to protest. But that does not mean others are not free to respond to their protest or other speech.

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Indeed, that is what I was doing in responding to Dr Anyas tweet. I disagreed with her, and I believe she is factually wrong. In a free and democratic society, this is exactly how things should be: Someone says something, someone else disagrees and respectfully explains why. This is how progress happens, by debating even charged and emotive topics in a deliberate and constructive manner.

I am an American. We have a very different culture of free speech here than in the UK, where hate speech and libel laws are much more aggressive  so much so that, to my mind, they are unforgivably draconian.

In 2009, as a budding student journalist, I wrote a blog about a Norwich grandmother who was visited by the police after complaining to her local council about a gay rights parade near her home. She was upset about the perverted sexual practices of sodomites, which she claimed were responsible for the downfall of every empire.

I admit, I wrote at the time, if I saw Mrs Howe, I would tell her exactly what I think about her opinion and where she can put that Bible. Because thats my right, the same as it is Mrs Howes right to express her odious views. Freedom of speech doesnt just protect those you agree with. More importantly, it protects the rights of those you disagree with.

As a gay man, I find Howes comments and opinions bigoted and repugnant. As a small-d democrat, however, I find the fact the police investigated her even more offensive. Any society which begins to legislate thoughts and feelings  no matter how disgusting  is a society dangerously on the verge of losing its liberties, I wrote at the time.

A lot has happened in the ensuing 13 years. Strict hate speech laws in the UK have led to fierce public debates about what should and should not be a criminal offense. In 2010, a Christian preacher was arrested for preaching against homosexuality outside a shop in Workington. Charges were, however, eventually dropped. Last year, Scottish gender-critical feminist Marion Millar, from Airdrie, was charged for allegedly tweeting homophobic and transphobic comments. Again, the case was eventually dropped.

Still, the damage was done. Both cases have had a chilling effect on free speech. Whether one agrees with either of these people is beside the point. One cannot claim they are a supporter of free speech and expression while also wishing that those who disagree with them are arrested and prosecuted for thought crimes. It is literally Orwellian.

All of this brings me back to the events of yesterday. The young woman in Scotlands sign was in poor taste. I do not like signs with swear words on them, personally. I drove past one such sign, proclaiming F*** Joe Biden, for months in my home town. It sat close to a church playground, and all I could think is that children would see that sign. Though I disagreed with the sentiment and the swearing, however, it never occurred to me to call the police. That person has a right to express their opinion, however crassly they chose to do so.

Likewise, people have a right to campaign for the abolition of the monarchy. At least, they must if Britain continues to claim to be a liberal democracy. You do not have to agree with their beliefs, of course, but to be anything other than an authoritarian you must support their right to express such beliefs. That is what makes liberal democracy so special and so different to the repressive regimes in Russia, China, and elsewhere.

The police have no business policing thought or speech. You cannot, or rather should not, legislate against hate or against republicanism because both are thoughts and feelings  not actions. In a free and democratic society, thoughts and feelings ought to be allowed expression, not prosecution.

So too should we understand exactly what free speech entails. Freedom of speech protects your right to your opinion. It does not shield you from criticism or rebuttal. I had every right to respond to Dr Anyas comments, but it would not have been right for me to insist she be arrested for them. Similarly, the people who told Symon Hill to shut up were well within their rights. It is the police who crossed the line.

No one should be arrested for an unpopular view, regardless of whether theyre a homophobe or a republican. As the nation swears allegiance  or not  to its new sovereign, may the British people and government also renew their commitment to free speech and expression. We can only do that if we commit to protecting the rights of those with whom we profoundly disagree.
An unattended 2-year-old was found wandering in a road after being abandoned outside a Family Dollar store in Louisiana, authorities said. Now, the childs mother is charged.

Ouachita Parish sheriffs deputies responded to the area Sunday, Sept. 11, after someone called to report a child walking alone in the road near an intersection in Monroe, according to an arrest affidavit.

A witness told deputies they saw a red car pick up the child on a nearby street before dropping her off at the Family Dollar on Colonial Drive and West Elmwood Drive. The witness tried talking to the child in hopes of finding their parent, police said.

A short time later, the childs mom showed up.

The 23-year-old woman told deputies she walked to a friends house for a little while but had someone watching her kids at home, according to the affidavit. Her 1-year-old son was also left home alone, deputies said, and was found asleep when authorities went to check on him.

The woman told deputies she was only gone about 20 minutes and provided the name and number of the person she left in charge  who deputies couldnt locate.

She was booked into jail on two counts of criminal abandonment and interfering with a law enforcement investigation, records show. She was released Monday, Sept. 12, after posting $2,500 bond.

Monroe is about 100 miles east of Shreveport.

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Residents collect their belongings from a building damaged by a Russian missile strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Monday. (Sergey Bobok / AFP/Getty Images)

The scenes are jubilant ones: Ukrainian troops raise their blue-and-yellow banners in towns and villages that Russian troops controlled for nearly seven months. Elderly residents emerge from sheds and cellars, nearly bowling over young soldiers with headlong hugs. Abandoned Russian tanks and armored vehicles lie marooned in fields and streams.

The stunning battlefield successes of recent days in Ukraine's northeast are raising hopes inside and outside the country that the tide of war may be turning. Ukraine says it has liberated more than 1,200 square miles of territory since the start of September, including the seizure of 20 settlements in one 24-hour span.

Western military analysts cautioned that Ukrainian forces lightning offensive in the province of Kharkiv  resulting in Russias biggest military setback since its failure to capture Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, in the wars earliest weeks  might not translate into durable gains there or elsewhere.

And Kremlin watchers generally agree that Russian President Vladimir Putins grip on power remains largely unchallenged, despite rare domestic criticism of the war he launched with the aim of subsuming a smaller sovereign neighbor into a resurgent Russia.

Nonetheless, its a highly consequential juncture in a conflict that for months has been mired in costly, bloody attrition that has played out mainly in the eastern industrial heartland.

Russia still holds one-fifth of Ukrainian territory. However, the latest assessment from the Institute for the Study of War, which monitors battlefield developments, said recent events suggest that unless Russia can again seize the initiative, Ukraine would increasingly dictate the location and nature of the major fighting, and Russia will find itself increasingly responding inadequately to growing Ukrainian physical and psychological pressure.

With the numbers of Russian troops killed and wounded easily reaching into the tens of thousands, some Western analysts said ordinary foot soldiers  and not only those who witnessed or took part in the disorderly flight in the northeast  were becoming increasingly demoralized.

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The already limited trust deployed troops have in Russias senior military leadership is likely to deteriorate further, Britains Defense Ministry said Monday in its daily intelligence report on the Ukraine conflict.

Still, it's hard to know exactly what to make of this latest wartime twist.

War inevitably throws out unexpected moments, said Mark Galeotti, a Russia expert and public policy fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center, a think tank in Washington.

Ukraine, he said, had notched a serious and impressive victory by routing Russian troops in the region south of Kharkiv, the countrys second-largest city, which Ukraine regained control of in May.

But that triumph is far from decisive. A separate Ukrainian offensive in the south, aimed at recapturing the city of Kherson, is making much more limited progress.

Never underestimate the importance of momentum, Galeotti said. But momentum gets exhausted at a certain point.

For Ukraine, notching high-profile wins feel particularly crucial now, as several important allies in Europe look to be headed into a winter of punishing fuel shortages and war-triggered recessions.

The Kremlin, which does not call the war in Ukraine a war, insisted Monday that all was going to plan.

The special military operation is ongoing, and will continue until its goals have been achieved, Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a conference call. Over the weekend, Russias Defense Ministry described the loss of territory and pullback of troops as regrouping.

Putin himself did not address the military situation, but state television showed him chairing an economic meeting on Monday and repeating his contention that Western sanctions had failed.

The economic blitzkrieg, the onslaught they were depending upon, did not work, he said. This is already obvious to everyone, and to them too.

But Ukrainian troops drive deep into what had been Russian-held territory, in some cases pushing right up to the border with Russia, caused a wave of consternation among some of Putins most unflagging cheerleaders  Russian military bloggers, some with large followings on the social media platform Telegram. Most were careful to direct their ire at military commanders rather than the president himself.

One particularly hawkish and influential Russian-language Telegram account, which calls itself War Gonzo and boasts nearly 1.1 million subscribers, openly called for a shake-up of the top military command.

We know a dozen lieutenant colonels and colonels, and even captains and majors, whose command, tactical and strategic abilities are far less trivial than those of their superiors, it said in a weekend posting. So give them a job  they are ready to take responsibility.

In a notable burst of criticism, one of Putins biggest supporters, Kremlin-backed Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, posted a Telegram audio message on Sunday complaining that senior commanders had made mistakes. He suggested that Putin might not have been fully briefed on what had happened.

If today or tomorrow no changes are made in the strategy of the special military operation, I would need to speak to the Defense Ministrys leadership, and to the countrys leadership, to explain to them the real situation on the ground, Kadyrov said.

Official Russian media outlets, meanwhile, reiterated months-old messaging that Russia is at war with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, not Ukraine, and is in fact something of an underdog in the fight. One of the highest-profile television commentators, Margarita Simonyan, invoked comparisons with Russian heroism in confronting the Nazis, declaring that the Great Patriotic War was won by our sense of duty, and we see this sense of duty everywhere now.

In fact, many battlefield accounts, including intercepted calls home from Russian soldiers, have depicted a force that is badly undersupplied, underequipped and underfed  but also extremely undisciplined, posing enormous peril to Ukrainian civilians in occupied areas.

The civilian toll, of course, continues to rise even in the midst of overall military gains. As its troops were fleeing the area around Kharkiv, Russia launched missiles that Ukraine said targeted civilian infrastructure, knocking out water and power systems in parts of the battle zone. Much of the damage was quickly repaired, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskys office said fresh strikes on Monday killed at least four civilians.

Zelensky, whose defiant daily messages are widely credited with rallying compatriots since the wars earliest days, struck a particularly impassioned tone in remarks on Sunday aimed squarely at Russian forces  but also at Putin.

Do you still think that you can frighten, crush and bend us into submission? You really understand nothing  you dont realize who we are, what we are for? he asked. But history will arrange everything.

Special correspondent Ziener reported from Berlin and staff writer King from Washington.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Story at a glance

Alaska Airlines dress code likely violates state law, the Human Rights Commission of Washington state said Monday in a reasonable cause finding.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and its Washington state affiliate last year sent a letter to the airline on behalf of a nonbinary flight attendant asking Alaska Airlines to stop enforcing its stringent uniform policy.

Under new uniform guidelines announced in March, certain restrictions have been lifted, but there are some exceptions.

An Alaska Airlines policy that requires flight attendants to wear either masculine or feminine uniforms is likely discriminatory, the Human Rights Commission of Washington state, where the airline is headquartered, said Monday.

According to the commission, Alaska Airlines had forced employees, including Justin Wetherell, a nonbinary flight attendant, that identify as neither male nor female to fit into a binary uniform system, likely violating a Washington state law that prohibits discrimination based on gender identity, appearance, behavior or expression.

A preponderance of evidence supports a claim made by Wetherell in 2021 that the airline had discriminated against them, the commission wrote Monday in a reasonable cause finding. The finding notes that the stringent uniform policy violates a state law barring employers from requiring an individual to dress or groom in a manner that is not consistent with that individuals gender expression or gender identity.

Alaska Airlines in March announced updates to its uniform policy, which had previously required flight attendants to adhere to a rigid set of male and female dress and grooming standards.

America is changing faster than ever! Add Changing America to your Facebook or Twitter feed to stay on top of the news.

Under the airlines new uniform guidelines, restrictions on fingernail polish, tattoos and piercings have been relaxed, and male and female uniform kits have been renamed to masculine and feminine kits to be inclusive of all gender identities.

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There are some exceptions to the new policy, and flight attendants with facial hair, for instance, may not wear pieces from the feminine kit, no matter their gender identity. Details related to dress or grooming standards for a promised gender-neutral uniform kit have not been released.

Wetherell argued  and the state Human Rights Commission agreed  that the airlines updated dress code is still discriminatory because employees like Wetherell are only able to wear the masculine look because they have facial hair.

The illegal and discriminatory uniform policy maintained by Alaska Airlines forces employees like me to dress and groom in a manner inconsistent with our gender identities and gender expressions, Wetherell said Monday in a statement released by their attorneys at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

There is no reason for the airline to continue to enforce this illegal policy  other than to maintain an outdated and discriminatory ideal of gender, they said.

The ACLU and its Washington state affiliate in a letter sent to Alaska Airlines last year on Wetherells behalf urged the airline to abandon its previous dress code, which the groups said was inconsistent with state and federal law.

These rigid, binary uniform requirements are more than a mere inconvenience, they wrote in the letter. By forcing our client and countless other employees to adhere to Alaska Airlines preferred vision of how men and women should appear, the uniform policy demeans employees who do not conform to gender stereotypes and materially interferes with their ability to do their jobs under equal terms and conditions as other employees.

In a responss posted posted to the airlines website soon after the letter was published, Alaska Airlines said it has been a longtime supporter of the LGBTQ+ community and a leader in the industry when it comes to uniform and grooming standards.

We are committed to making Alaska a place where everyone feels respected and belongs and proudly celebrate the diversity of our employees this Pride month and all year long, the airline wrote, referring to LGBTQ+ Pride Month, celebrated in June.



The ACLU on Monday pushed back on that claim, arguing that the airlines uniform policy reinforces archaic and harmful gender stereotypes that affect anyone, regardless of gender identity, that does not fit Alaska Airlines preferred image of either male or female.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
WBAL - Baltimore Videos

A police pursuit started late Friday morning in east Baltimore and ended in the Timonium area of Baltimore County. While on the Beltway, it appeared the suspect vehicle side-swiped another car and get a flat tire. Three people bolted from the car around 12:15 p.m., when the car stopped in the northbound lanes of Interstate 83 near the Beltway interchange. SkyTeam 11 reported police officers apprehended all three occupants. SkyTeam 11 video showed an occupant of the car throw an object out of the window.
The Recount

On Late Night with Seth Meyers, Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton commented on Trumps possession of classified documents and having them at his country club. In early August, Donald Trumps country club Mar-a-Lago was raided by FBI agents due to his possession of classified top secret documents, some dealing with nuclear security measures. This is a threat to our national security that somebody would actually have in his country club storage room, his desk, his bedroom top secret information and you have to ask yourself, why?
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) - The White House said on Monday that it "welcomes" a statement by forces in northern Ethiopia's Tigray region that they would accept an African Union-led peace process.

"It's high time for both sides to stop fighting and turn to dialogue to resolve their differences," said White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre to reporters aboard Air Force One.

She said Ethiopia should "seize this moment to give peace a chance" and that "Eritrea and others should stay out of the conflict."

(Reporting by Nandita Bose and Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
A panel of high-ranking Kansas City Police Department officials that reviews fatal police shootings and other serious incidents has not met for more than a year and a half.

In that time, KCPDs officers have been involved in six fatal shootings, including one last month.

The Notable Event Review Panel (NERP) has included the police chief, training unit commanders, internal affairs officers and department attorneys, among others. The group can make policy and training recommendations to the police chief, who then presents the suggestions to bureau commanders. It is one of the main ways that, in theory, police leaders make formal judgments on officers use of force.

The police department attributed the span between meetings to the pandemic and changes in investigation procedures including the so-called police bill of rights, which went into effect across Missouri over a year ago.

Lora McDonald, executive director of MORE2, a local social justice organization, said that the 18 month gap was outrageous.

If something happened in my workplace where someone got physically injured and one of my staff members was involved in it, if I waited a year and a half and still didnt have a meeting scheduled  the public should be outraged.

In 2019, NERP convened a dozen times and in 2020, it met six times. It last gathered March 5, 2021, according to the department.

Mayor Quinton Lucas office said he hopes the gubernatorially-appointed board members share his view that the board should seek at their next meeting an update from department commanders on where the lengthy review of the notable events policy currently stands.

The next regular Board of Police Commissioners meeting is scheduled for Sept. 27.

Capt. Leslie Foreman, a spokeswoman for the department, said NERP does not meet on a set schedule and that the pandemic has caused several delays.

The panels policies are also being reworked because of changes to investigative procedures, said Officer Donna Drake. That includes calling in the Missouri State Highway Patrol to investigate police shootings in Kansas City, a change that was announced in June 2020.

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And in August 2021, a state law dubbed the police bill of rights enacted procedural protections for officers facing disciplinary investigations.

McDonald said she was concerned that changes from the police bill of rights would hinder transparency.

Anytime they tell us that theyre retooling or changing something, it seems like its to the detriment of the public and in favor of some kind of protection of police officers, especially those who are engaged in wrongdoing ... like protect and serve who? McDonald said.

Drake said there is no time frame for making the changes to NERPs protocols and no panel is scheduled.

She added that prior to the NERP analysis, cases undergo an internal review and a criminal investigation.

We recognize there are lessons to be learned from each officer involved shooting in our agency. We take this responsibility very seriously when deadly forced is used by an officer, the department said in a statement.

There are still multiple levels of review and accountability.

Destiny Carrillo said she wants to see the panel convene to discuss her brothers case. Dario Dominguez, 25, was fatally shot June 20, 2021. Four of the officers at the scene of the shooting were with KCPD and one was with the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department. No charges were filed in the criminal investigation, according to Jonathan Carter, spokesman for the Wyandotte County District Attorneys Office.

But Carrillo said her family is still searching for answers and have not been able to get much information about what happened.

Its not right, she said.

NERP has also been criticized for making few recommendations. The past 43 incidents have resulted in nine training recommendations and zero policy recommendations.

When the panel met in 2021, it reviewed seven incidents including a Westport shooting dating back to 2016.

Officials also discussed a Sept. 2, 2017, encounter at a Kansas City Walmart where a man was tackled by an officer. Brian Prince landed face-first on the tile floor. He ended up on life support and later died. His parents have sued the police department in a wrongful death lawsuit scheduled to go to trial in October.
In 2018 more than 64% of Florida voters chose to amend the state constitution, providing for the automatic restoration of voting rights to felons. The amendment excluded violent crimes and sex crimes, it also left other details up to the legislature, such as the repayment of fines and fees.

Now almost four years later, 20 Florida felons are facing new felony charges for voting in the 2020 election, with almost all saying they thought they had their rights restored.

The state is responsible for verifying the information on these individuals and then notifying us, says Orange County Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles citing Florida Statute 98.075 which says, the department shall protect the integrity of the electoral process by ensuring the maintenance of accurate and current voter registration records.

The state was supposed to put something in place, says Former State Legislator Dwight Bullard.

Read: Orange County woman pleas not guilty to voter fraud in 2020 election charge

In February, 9 Investigates showcased a half dozen felons who tried to vote in Lake County in 2020, even though their rights had not been restored. The cases were reviewed by the 5th Judicial Circuit, with attorneys declining to bring charges writing, In all of the instances where sex offenders voted, each appear to have been encouraged to vote by various mailings and misinformation. Each were given voter registration cards which would lead one to believe they could legally vote in the election. The evidence fails to show willful actions on a part of these individuals. Therefore, the State is unable to file charges.

Watch: 20 arrested in Florida for voter fraud, state announces

So why were Lake County felons not charged, but Floridas new election police has brought charges against 20-other felons, nobody seems to know. When asked for a response to that question, Governor Ron DeSantiss office directed us to the Secretary of States office (which reports to the Governor). The Secretary of States office said it had received our question but has yet to provide a statement.

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Meanwhile, the three Orange County felons arrested for voting in 2020 have pled not guilty.

Watch: 3 Orange County residents among 20 arrested, charged with voter fraud in Florida

Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
The wife of a security guard who was repeatedly punched in Vancouvers Chinatown, challenged the citys mayor to walk its streets to see what it is like amid rising attacks in the area.

Harold Johnson, a 64-year-old security guard, was previously attacked on Aug. 12 by a stranger, identified as 44-year-old Kevin Aaron Hibbard, while patrolling the Chinese Cultural Center.

Johnson, a beloved resident of Chinatown, suffered a concussion, broken nose and cheekbone. The suspect is currently wanted in British Columbia after he failed to appear in court.

Community members have raised almost $30,000 to help Johnson, who is currently unable to work. The Vancouver Chinatown Merchants Association also donated $8,800 to the victim and his wife, Brandy La Rocque Johnson. On Friday, he was also given a $20,000 check from a GoFundMe campaign organized by the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden.

More from NextShark: University in China bans professor whose wife alleges he beat her over 1,000 times

The neighborhood, including Brandy, is fed up with the violence in Chinatown that has worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. She has called on merchants to stand in solidarity and expressed her anger toward Mayor Kennedy Stewart.

I am angry, Brandy told Global News. What in the world is the mayor doing? I am going to turn around and challenge Mayor Kennedy to come down here by himself to walk with me on the streets. Walk and see whats really happening here, its time he woke up.

When the mayor was asked if he would walk with her, Stewart did not directly answer the question.

More from NextShark: Elderly Filipino woman 'punched without provocation' by female attacker in New York City

Everybody needs to feel safe in Vancouver, he responded. Were doing everything we can. Im very happy to reach out and talk to anybody that would like to discuss this, including the members of [Harold Johnsons] family.

Stewart reportedly walked through the 100-block of East Hastings Street west of Main, where he passed some tents. He did not make any promises, but he said that public safety is his top priority.

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Chinatown celebrated its second annual Light Up Chinatown outdoor celebration over the weekend. The event included live entertainment and food trucks, which brought visitors to the historic neighborhood.

More from NextShark: FBI warns Asian business owners in New Jersey of sophisticated criminal enterprises' targeting them

I do feel brighter days are ahead for Chinatown and a lot of its to do with events like this, Stewart told Global News.

Featured Image via Global News

More from NextShark: Extradition considered for Florida man in China accused of child porn possession
A new Winter Park bagel shop is offering free bagels to customers this Saturday.

The Bagel Shop, located at 211 W. Fairbanks Ave., is offering bagels, sandwiches and coffee for free and bulk orders of bagels at 20% off.

Alex Tuccio, who owns The Bagel Shop along with his brother Hunter, said the offer is an attempt to connect the community that they serve.

The Winter Park location, which opened three weeks ago, is the family-owned chains first shop outside of Massachusetts.

Read: Queen Elizabeth II dies: King Charles III leads royal family in procession

Alex said the shop specializes in New York-style bagels and 25 types of coffee. He said iced coffee is really where they shine, but in Massachusetts thats really only a big seller in the summer.

We went on a hunt to find year-round summer and it wasnt hard to land on Florida, he said.

Read: CDC warns against enterovirus D68: What is it and what are the symptoms?

Alex said they hope to expand with additional locations across Central Florida, including near the University of Central Florida and Stetson University.

The Winter Park shop is open daily from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
A worker was hospitalized after a three-alarm fire broke out at Worcesters Doherty High School Monday afternoon.

According to acting Deputy Fire Chief Adam Roche, the first began shortly after 3:00 p.m. The City of Worcester advised the public to stay away from the area around 20 minutes later.

Traffic Advisory: Motorists are advised to avoid the area of Doherty High School (Highland Street and Newton Square). WFD is on scene.  City of Worcester (@TweetWorcester) September 12, 2022

The fire began in an area of the school that was under construction for the new high school. According to Roche, workers were installing pieces of roofing earlier in the day.

The workers injuries are not considered serious, according to Roche.

School was not in session at the time the fire began.

Combatting the fire was made more difficult by the height at which the blaze began. According to Roche, fire crews used aerial equipment to fight the fire on the construction projects fifth floor.

Video sent into Boston 25 shows large plumes of thick, black smoke ascending into the air.

Welp this doesnt bode well pic.twitter.com/vgiVX3oh8c  Bill Shaner (@bill_shaner) September 12, 2022

Joan Dunn likened the large black plume of smoke to a Hollywood effect.

It was a black plume of smoke but there was actually red in it. You could see flames in it, said Dunn. Like something in a movie.

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Dunn told Boston 25 that a worker told her how the fire began.

He said it was a welders spark that hit the roofing material which was very flammable, Dunn said.

According to the Worcester Fire Department, its possible that insulation for the roof caused the fire.

The construction project for the new Doherty High School is estimated to be more than 400,000 square feet and will cost more than 300 million upon completion.

Its like a punch in the gut a little bit, said Worcester Mayor Joe Petty. You put in a lot of time and effort. A lot of time went into the planning of this school over several years. Its supposed to be 2024 and hopefully that will continue to be the case.

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BEIJING (AP)  China's leader Xi Jinping will travel to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan starting Wednesday in his first trip abroad since the early days of the pandemic two years ago.

Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a short statement Monday that Xi will attend a meeting of the heads of state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Samarkand while on a state visit to Uzbekistan. He will also be making a state visit to Kazakhstan, the statement said.

Xi's trip will take place from Wednesday to Friday, it said.

Xi is expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin at the summit of the SCO, an economic, political and security forum that China and Russia dominate. The two last met in Beijing in January, just weeks before Russias invasion of Ukraine.

The leader of China's Communist Party last traveled abroad in January 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, on a state visit to Myanmar before countries closed off their borders and imposed lockdowns.

Since then, Xi left mainland China to make a one-day visit to the semi-autonomous city of Hong Kong on July 1 to speak at a ceremony commemorating the 25th anniversary of its handover from British rule.

The trip comes just weeks ahead of the 20th Communist Party congress, a major political meeting that occurs every five years where future leaders are unveiled. Xi is expected to receive a third five-year term as party leader.
The Yakima Police Department is seeking the publics help in finding a missing 4-year-old boy.

Lucian was last seen Saturday around 7:15 p.m. near the play area at Sarg Hubbard Park in Yakima. He was wearing blue shorts and a blue shirt with a shark on it.

This is Lucian wearing the shirt he was last seen in. His hair will be slightly longer.

YPD is requesting if the public has pictures or video from last night at Sarg Hubbard Park between 6:45PM-9:00PM, please provide to YPD at: YPD@yakimapolice.org

Any tips please contact 911. pic.twitter.com/GNmoOytdB8  Yakima P.D. (@yakimapolice) September 12, 2022

Yakima County Search and Rescue is in charge of the search. According to YPD, drones and a dive team have been involved in the search.

Search efforts for Lucian continued overnight Sunday and detectives with the YPD worked late into the night investigating leads.

Several agencies including authorities from King and Kittitas Counties, the Gleed Fire Department and the Air Force branch in Spokane have provided resources and personnel to assist with the search efforts.

YPD is asking members of the public to submit any pictures or videos they may have from Sarg Hubbard Park on Saturday between 6:45 p.m. and 9 p.m. to YPD@yakimapolice.org. Others with tips are asked to call 911.

MISSING CHILD: 4 year Lucian was last seen at approx 7:15pm near the play area at Sarge Hubbard Park @yakimagreenway. He was wearing blue shorts and blue shirt with a shark on it. Large police presence in the area, please call 911 if you see Lucian. pic.twitter.com/w2yQNdPHSR  Yakima P.D. (@yakimapolice) September 11, 2022

YPD also announced that there is an active statewide alert similar to an Amber Alert for Lucian. The alerts use the same network, but as of now, the case does not meet the criteria for an Amber Alert, according to YPD.

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A candlelight vigil was held at Martin Luther King Park in Yakima on Sunday night for the community to pray for Lucians safe return.

The chief of the Yakima Police Department provided an update on the search for Lucian on the YPD Facebook page on Sunday night.
Russian search giant Yandex has confirmed the completion of the sale of two of its flagship media properties, News and Zen, to local social media giant, VK, following regulatory approvals.

As we reported back in March, Yandex began looking for ways to offload its news aggregator and blogging recommender platform in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine as the Kremlin has cranked up control of the media and freedom of expression -- seeking to shape the narrative around what it only ever refers to as a "special military operation". The Russian state has also sought to clamp down on anti-war sentiment, raising risks for media owners. And we understand Yandex insiders had come to refer to News and Zen as "toxic assets".

In a statement today, the Dutch registered company announced its Russian operating subsidiary had completed the sale of the news aggregation platform and Zen "infotainment" service to VK -- confirming too the acquisition of 100% of the food delivery service, Delivery Club, which had been owned by VK.

The transaction received approval from the Federal Antimonopoly Service, Yandex added.

Following closure, Delivery Club becomes part of Yandexs 'E-commerce, Mobility and Delivery' segment. And Yandex's statement notes that, as of today, the brand be consolidated in the groups financial results -- with these changes due to be reflected in its third quarter financial results.

As we reported last month, the sale includes the Yandex.ru homepage which will pass to VK -- with visitors to that site being redirected to a renamed version of the page, dzen.ru, which is controlled and developed by VK.

The redirect is expected to begin happening later today.

We understand that the deal to sell News and Zen to VK was a pure asset swap -- with no financial component to the transaction.
By the time Anthony Andrews got to Donna Park on Church Street at 10 a.m. on a recent Tuesday, hed already been awake for six hours.

The hours of 4 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. are his time.

He starts by going for a run and then completes some weight training, which is essential not only for his job as a captain of the Lynchburg Fire Department but also for his own mental health.

I dont check email, I dont get on social media; its my time to invest in myself and pour into me before I start divvying things out to others throughout the day, he said. Sometimes if I dont get a workout in, I feel sluggish. Mentally Im not there.

Though Andrews, 42, could make a conversation interesting with just about anyone, he is a self-proclaimed introvert and enjoys time to himself working on his lawn and spending time with his family.

Born in Diamond Hill, Andrews has never lived outside of the Hill City and still doesnt live far from his childhood home. His wife of 18 years, Stephanie, and their two children, Alaya, 15, and Sean, 10, live in a neighborhood off Rivermont Avenue.

When I was in high school, I couldnt wait to get out, the 1999 E.C. Glass High School graduate said. But then I stayed around because I helped my mom with bills and I was working some dead-end jobs. And by the time I realized that I really wanted to leave is when I met my wife and that kind of helped keep me here.

Andrews, 22 at the time, began to see Lynchburg changing and he wanted to be a part of it.

I wanted to be a part of the community and so thats kind of where it all started, he said. I have no regrets about staying here and seeing the transformation. Im excited about downtown transforming and having some more reinvestment in this community because I remember back in the days, it used to be the only time youd come downtown is to pay a water bill or something.

Andrews said he used to be busier and had more responsibilities and endeavors but decided he wanted to invest his time in a few things that he could be truly dedicated to.

You only get 24 hours in a day and I didnt want to be good at a bunch of different things, I want to be great at a selection of things, he said.

His primary passion is early childhood education. Growing up dyslexic, he personally knew the struggle of mastering sentence structure and learning how to read and write, so literacy is extremely important to him.

I want to be able to help those kids get over that hurdle of not having the confidence to be able to read in front of others and sit down and read a book and really comprehend whats in it, Andrews said.

And where he felt he could impact education the most was within the Lynchburg City School Board, to which he was appointed this year.

Additionally, he is the president of the greater Lynchburg chapter of the Virginia Association for the Education of Young Children (VAAEYC) and plans to launch his own preschool in August 2023.

Andrews knows parents truly care about their childrens education and there is a lot happening in school systems across the country, which is why theyre paying more attention to boards and committees.

I think people are paying attention because coming out of a pandemic, theres a report from the state that says children have been affected by the loss of learning just by being out of school and doing virtual learning, so I think that plays a huge role, he said.

And the other thing that were dealing with is teacher retention. Teacher pay is always going to be a challenge because we havent been paying teachers enough over the last several years and now were trying to catch back up. And then, of course, student enrollment, which is starting to drop, but thats been a trend over the years; its not something thats just brand new. Its been going on for the last 10 to 12 years.

Joining the school board was a way for Andrews to be part of the solution.

And I dont have any desire right now, of course, to run for any political office. Im a city employee, so Im not eligible to be a part of politics in that way anyway, but I care about kids. I have two kids in the Lynchburg City Schools and education is at the core of who I am. And I want to be part of the solution to the problem. This is my community. This is your community, he said.

I want everyones kids to have an opportunity to thrive and I do that by not taking sides, not have alliances but asking myself whether it benefits kids. Any conversation that we have, if its not about kids, we dont need to have it.

Andrews has been a city firefighter for 19 years and attributes the job to having opened many doors for him throughout his career.

It allowed me to be in the room, it allowed me to meet some amazing people and allowed me to be out in the community and just having fun and doing some really cool things with kids and learn some skills that I never would have learned anywhere else, and the guys at the fire department taught me how to start a chainsaw and how to climb a ladder and how to put a hole in the roof, what a fire hydrant was and how to properly use it, he said. And all these different skill sets to were to my advantage, and so I just kind of held on and then I just kind of worked my way up through the ranks and Ive loved every minute of it.

Daryl Calfee first met Andrews through Young Professionals of Central Virginia several years ago, when Andrews was introduced to Calfee as the man who made bow ties.

At the time, Andrews had founded Twenty23, a mens haberdashery company specializing in custom, artisan mens neckwear and accessories.

That was just one layer, Calfee said. I went on to find out he was a firefighter, early childhood development expert and fantastic member of the community. Hes creative, kind and thoughtful. Ive always thought of him as a service-minded man I can trust with my family and children.

Even as an introvert, Andrews said he loves pouring into others and loving them, even if it takes more energy.

I constantly work at it. I dont think you ever perfect being a good husband or being a good dad; youre always learning. I challenge people to not be transactional; instead really sit down with people and really listen to them and talk to them, he said.
In Algeria a news article or investigation on the problems facing the exports of dates could lead to jail. This was the case of Belkacem Houam, a reporter with Echourouk who was sent behind bars for a story on the export ban of Deglet Nour dates.

He is facing charges of undermining public order and causing price hikes under a new speculation law, his lawyer told AFP.

France in particular has recently sent back 3000 tons of Deglet Nour dates for non-conformity with health and safety standards.

The Algerian agriculture ministry has itself banned the export of these dates without offering details.

The article was withdrawn from the website of Echourouk and the paper vanished from kiosks on Thursday.

Although reporters under the Algerian law should not face incarceration because of their work, the Algerian regime has trumped up charges to give the case a character of commercial dispute.

The Algerian press union and some few voices who still dare to challenge the military regime condemned the arrest.

Algeria has imposed a media blackout on the situation of human rights as many journalists and dissidents are increasingly thrown into pre-trial detention to stifle a Hirak movement that seeks a clean break with the current military regime.
The members of the Africa Regions Forum (FORAF), convened in Saidia, committed to implement the mandates of regional governments, by releasing the full natural and human, tangible and intangible potential of regional territories in Africa to create wealth, jobs and opportunities for people.

In the Saidia Declaration, adopted at the end of this first Forum held Sept. 8 to 10, FORAF members expressed their willingness to improve the attractiveness and economic performance of their territories and to manage the links between rural and urban areas so as to maintain an appropriate balance with the ecosystems and protect biodiversity.

They expressed their determination to contribute to the localization of national public policies of African countries, as well as to global and continental agendas (UN Agenda 2030 on Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Climate Agreement and the African Union Agenda 2063, among others), for an effective and better impact on the ground.

They called on national governments and development partners to ensure that the financial means to implement these national policies and global agendas can reach the budgets of regional governments.

Forum members strongly supported the African Continental Free Trade Area as an important step in building an integrated Africa and pledged to work with the AfCFTA Secretariat and Afreximbank in its implementation.

Stressing that the Covid-19 pandemic has acted as a gas pedal for the digital transformation of societies, they expressed their readiness to embrace the digital transformation of regional governments, the performance of operations and services to the people, and the relationship between public authorities and citizens.

However, they mentioned the existence of basic conditions for this digital transformation, mainly access to energy, information and communication technology equipment and qualified personnel in the digital field.

They encouraged FORAF members to join the open government initiative and called, in the same context, on UCLG Africa to sign a memorandum of understanding with the open government initiative.

The participants in the Forum expressed deep gratitude and consideration to King Mohammed VI for his commitment to African local and regional authorities.

They also highlighted Moroccos gesture of friendship and fraternity towards African countries to support their efforts during the COVID-19 and in the face of the current shortage of agricultural inputs.

The presidents of the African regions participating in this Forum expressed their deep gratitude to the Sovereign for the constant and multiform support that the Kingdom of Morocco has never ceased to provide to their organization United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa), since the body was headquartered in Rabat in January 2008.
Cote dIvoire authorities have accused their Malian counterparts of hostage-taking after Malian leader colonel Assimi Goita tied the release of Ivorian soldiers to the handover of people who have been on its territory since 2013 and who are wanted in Mali.

No release of Ivorian soldiers without extradition of Malian politicians in return, Goita said in a statement issued on Friday. We now consider this to be hostage taking and blackmail, a source close to Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara said in a reply.

These two questions cant be linked, its all about settling scores, the source added. It is unclear who the people wanted by Bamako are.

Malian authorities arrested in July at Bamako airport 49 Ivorian troops on the charge of coup plot but Abidjan slammed the charge arguing that the forces were on a routine rotation for personnel who provide back-up services for the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, MINUSMA.

President Ouattara called for their immediate release. Togo intervened to broker the release of the held soldiers. Last week, Lome announced the liberation of three soldiers, all of them women, by Malian authorities on humanitarian grounds.

Togo also indicated that talks for the release of the remaining soldiers were ongoing.
Benin has turned to Rwanda for the supply of logistics and expertise in the fight against terrorism in the West African country.

Talks are ongoing, government spokesperson Leandre Houngbedji told local media Banouto. The state official also indicated that no date for the signing has been determined yet.

Benin is seeking logistical support as well as expertise from the eastern African country, Houngbedji said. Benin, according to the spokesperson, has engaged in similar talks with Burkina Faso and Niger.

Hougbedji however ruled out any possibility for the presence of Rwandan forces in the North of the country in the framework of the future deal.

Benin is reeling against incursion of terror group in the country, mainly in the North. Several attacks, blamed on terror groups, have caused mayhem and casualties in security forces.
Lieutenant General Belkhir El Farouk, the Inspector General of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces (FAR) and Commander of South Zone, flew to Israel to participate in an international conference on defense innovation organized by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), held in Tel Aviv Sept. 12 to 15, said the FAR General Staff in a statement.

Lieutenant General Belkhir El Farouk, who is accompanied by a large military delegation, is making the trip at the instructions of King Mohammed VI, Supreme Commander and Chief of Staff of the Royal Armed Forces.

Moroccos participation in this international conference, along several army chiefs and agencies of defense innovation, is part of a multilateral framework to promote the exchange of knowledge and know-how between the participating armies. It also aims to lay the foundations for a solid collaboration in the field of multidimensional defense and military innovation, added the statement.

On the sidelines of the Conference, talks and official meetings are scheduled between the Inspector General of the FAR and the Israeli Defense authorities, according to the statement.

The conference is expected to be attended by military delegations from 25 countries, including Italy, Poland, Finland, India, Greece, Canada, Cyprus, the United States, the Netherlands, and others.

The Jerusalem Post had quoted the Israeli military as saying that the conference will enable the deepening of cooperation in the areas of strategy and defense, as well as for the expansion of in-depth mutual learning and international cooperation when developing and operating military capabilities.

The IDF Spokesperson for Arab Media, Avichay Adraee, had said that the conference is an additional milestone in strengthening the cooperation between the IDF and other countries worldwide, and aims to boost regional security and stability.

Following the normalization of ties between Rabat and Tel-Aviv within the frame of the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords, the two countries ramped up efforts to boost bilateral cooperation in several areas, including cybersecurity and military matters.

Last July, Israels army chief Aviv Kohavi paid a three-day working visit to Morocco during which he discussed with senior Moroccan defense officials military and security cooperation between the two countries.

In March, senior Israeli military officials visited the North African Kingdom and signed an accord on military cooperation as Moroccan-Israeli economic, commercial and cultural relations are gaining momentum.

Last November, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz visited Morocco. The visit was crowned with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for the exchange of experience & expertise, technology transfer, training and cooperation in the fields of defense industry, cyber-security and intelligence.
Africas volatile Sahel region risks becoming a forgotten crisis because of the many competing emergencies around the world, a senior United Nations official has warned.

The head of the regional office for West and Central Africa for the Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Charles Bernimolin, noted that millions of people in six Sahel countries  Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria  need international support to survive. The UN official, based in Dakar, Senegal, said he drummed this message home in meetings with donor countries in Geneva, stressing there are currently as many as 18.6 million people facing acute hunger, including 7.7 million children under the age of 5 who malnourished, out of which nearly 2 million are severely malnourished and risk dying without prompt treatment. Sahels growing needs, he said, are largely ignored because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and other crises around the world that distract attention from the worsening crisis in the region.

Meanwhile, echoing Bernimolins words is the latest warning by the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, that the displacement crisis in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa is getting worse as the impact of climate change and conflict are forcing more people to flee in search of safety and humanitarian assistance. With climate shocks like floods and droughts becoming more frequent and intense in Africa, millions of people in countries like Somalia and Ethiopia are struggling to find enough food, water and income to survive four consecutive years of drought. To that end, the UNHCR representative in Somalia has recently warned that Somalia is on the verge of a catastrophic famine, while the UNHCR representative in Ethiopia, says 8 million people out of 20 million needing humanitarian assistance are affected by the ravages of climate change and insecurity. Unlike the drought-stricken Horn of Africa, heavy rains have inundated Burkina Faso, where the UNHCRs representative says attacks by armed groups have displaced 10% of the population.
Zambia had launched talks with Saudi Arabia to secure cheap oil supplies, while also seeking support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Zambian Minister of Energy Peter Kapala noted an attempt at a deal with Saudi Arabia by the previous government, but said there was a change of approach. Rather than buying the petroleum goods itself, the minister said, the government will bring together oil marketing companies and negotiate great prices for petroleum products in a government-to-government deal. Securing fuel supplies will help reduce price fluctuations, he said. Zambian government has also entered in talks with neighboring Angola on the Lobito refinery with the aim to secure a stake in the proposed Angolan plant in order to secure products.

The IMF, meanwhile, has announced a $1.3 billion credit arrangement for Zambia, running for 38 months. Zambia is in debt distress and needs a deep and comprehensive debt treatment to place public debt on a sustainable path, Kapala said. The need for action is becoming more pressing. Zambia stopped fuel subsidies and reduced tax on petrol and diesel in 2021. The tax cuts are due to end this month. In a recent report, the IMF warned that while such a move was necessary, higher fuel and electricity prices may lead to social unrest. This could slow down much needed reforms and dent investor confidence. Zambia is facing a tough economic climate. The country had US$1.3 billion of principal arrears at the end of 2021, out of which US$597 million was in fuel arrears, including US$169 million in late payment interest.
Radius, a new residential complex for troubled youth under construction at 50th and Grand Avenues, shares about 10 acres with a separate nonprofit, Metro Area Youth Services, which is in the former St. Paul Lutheran Church and school. (Courtesy of HDR)

OMAHA  A $25 million residential youth treatment center rising in North Omaha aims to fill a service gap in the metro area, one that has had courts and families sending some troubled teens off to other states to get help.

The new Radius nonprofit will feature a 24-bedroom facility for residents ages 12 to 18 years, along with behavioral, recreational and education programs and a stand-alone health clinic open to families and community.

Poised to open next summer at 50th and Grand Avenues, the alternative to more restrictive juvenile detention is designed to strengthen the entire family.

$25 million capital campaign

While a private philanthropist-driven campaign paid for construction, Radius is to operate with help from government funding via referrals from the state juvenile probation system and courts.

Staffed by Charles Drew Health Center, the partnering clinic will accept Medicaid and different insurance coverage plans.

Radius CEO Nick Juliano said the combination of a residential program with clinical support that can involve entire families will help Douglas County take care of its own youth and improve odds of long-term success as they grow in their community.

Where we will be unique is that we will start that family work on the day of admission and have someone working with family throughout the youths stay, said Juliano, previously director of Boys Town regional advocacy and public policy.

Currently, he said, youths who cross the law but are deemed better served outside of traditional jail too often are placed in residential treatment outside their home county or even out of Nebraska. He said that while there are local facilities addressing the need, those often are full. He said Radius supporters want to avoid keeping a youth in jail until a residential treatment spot opens.

Radius intends to be a gap-filler, he said, allowing local youths to get intense treatment nearer to family members who ideally become part of the antidote that propels the youths onto a more productive path.

Nearly 30,000 square feet of new space

Juliano said the typical Radius resident may suffer from a combination of extreme behaviors beyond law violations. Their needs may call for a place less intense than a psychiatric hospital but more than a traditional group home.

They may have co-occurring mental health and substance abuse treatment needs. Our program is designed to deal with all of those as well as to have services that can continue on after they leave our programs.

We have a continuum of services. ... Even with that, we had this group of youth that were not getting what they needed right here in Omaha.  Nick Juliano, chief executive of Radius

Chris Rodgers, a Douglas County commissioner heavily involved in juvenile justice reform, said the county lauds Radius. He called it one of the core tools that could help fulfill a goal of keeping the population in the new downtown Omaha juvenile justice center only for those who need to be jailed.

That county detention facility, poised to open in 2023, has fewer beds than the current youth center, and Rodgers said the vision always was to have additional community resources to reduce reliance on jail for nonviolent youths.

The Radius campus plan, which includes nearly 30,000 square feet of new building space, was earlier met by concern and opposition from area residents when presented to the City Council. Security features were added before the council approved the project.

A next-door neighbor to Radius is Metro Area Youth Services (MAYS)  which is a separate nonprofit that recently moved to the former St. Paul Lutheran Church and school. Together, the youth-focused entities occupy about 10 acres.

Radius, formerly known as the Nebraska Youth Justice Initiative, emanated from an advisory committee assembled in 2019 to look at the shortfall of residential services for youths with trauma, mental health and substance abuse problems.

Radius name tells a story

On the advisory committee were government, mental health and other professionals, along with a parent and a young person who at one time had to leave the state to access the type of services that Radius will provide.

By then, much attention and time already had been spent in state and county government exploring justice reform.

We have a continuum of services for these young people. Its a very good continuum. Even with that, we had this group of youth that was not getting what they needed right here in Omaha, Juliano said. We are now filling that gap, very intentionally and focused so were not duplicating with others.

The Radius name was designed to tell its story: Trauma-informed care begins at the center, where the causes of personal struggles are identified then radiates toward healing and redemption.

Youths likely will live on-site for nine months to a year, Juliano said, taking classes and earning credits under a program approved by the Nebraska Department of Education. Theyll receive therapies and recreational programming.

It is a ripple effect that will benefit our youth, families, neighborhood and community, he said.

Juliano emphasized that youths and families who are not involved in the juvenile justice system also can get help at the Charles Drew Health Clinic. He said the clinic services also aim to prevent problems and court intervention.

Lasting success

Radius is backed by philanthropic foundations. Board members include key representatives of the University of Nebraska Medical Centers psychiatry department, Charles Drew centers, Sherwood Foundation, Security National Bank and the legal profession.

Long-term success, said Juliano, is returning rehabilitated youths back home and keeping them and their family connected to a health provider.

So they can be there safely without any more law violations. They can graduate high school and eventually are employed in our community.
The Auburn Police Department arrested an Auburn man on a felony warrant charging him with distribution of a controlled substance including Fentanyl.

On Friday, police arrested Cameron Howard Campbell, 26, after conducting a narcotics investigation.

During the investigation, police said, Campbell was developed as a suspect who distributed an illegal substance containing suspected Fentanyl.

The APD obtained an arrest warrant for Campbell, who was located and arrested on Friday. He was transported to the Lee County Jail and held on a $25,000 bond.

The case remains under investigation by the APD.

Police warn citizens that Fentanyl is being used to lace other narcotics, which can result in overdose deaths involving victims who unknowingly encounter the dangerous drug from illicit sales.

According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50-100 times stronger than morphine, the police release said. The DEA has also provided multiple resources describing the potentially deadly effects of the drug, which can occur from intentional use, as well as accidental skin contact and airborne exposures.
Nigeria continues to battle oil theft, pipeline vandalism, and, most critically, high gasoline prices, which the country subsidizes.

Petro-Logistics, an oil analytics firm, says that the countrys exports have essentially halved over the past three years.

Crude oil exports out of Nigeria plunged to below 1 million barrels per day (bpd), their lowest level on record, last month, oil export analytics firm Petro-Logistics said on Monday.

Over the past three years, Nigerias crude oil exports have essentially halved, according to Petro-Logistics.

Persistent underinvestment in the Nigerian oil industry and the perennial problem of oil theft from pipelines have plagued the sector in recent years. Oil majors are not investing in Nigerian supply, and many foreign firms have either sold assets or signaled they would pursue divestments in Nigerias oil industry.

Crude oil production slumped to below 1 million bpd last month, the lowest level since at least 1990, according to data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission cited by Reuters last week.

The data showed that combined crude oil and condensate production fell to 1.18 million bpd in August, the lowest so far this year.

Per OPECs latest figures in the August Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR), Nigerian oil production in July was at 1.183 million bpd, nearly flat compared to 1.176 million bpd in June. Nigeria is underperforming the most among the OPEC+ members bound by the production pact. For July, Nigerias crude oil production target was at 1.799 million bpd, which means that the African OPEC producer was more than 600,000 bpd below its target.

Unlike other crude oil producers, Nigeria has found it impossible to reap the benefits of the high oil prices, with oil revenues coming in 61% below target during the period. Thats despite crude oil trading at highs not seen in years. Instead, Nigeria continues to battle oil theft, pipeline vandalism, and, most critically, high gasoline prices, which the country subsidizes.

On Monday, a Nigerian official said the country was losing $700 million every month because of oil theft.

Still, low Nigerian oil exports havent pushed oil prices up in recent weeks as the market is focused on potential losses in demand that could come from a global economic slowdown and a possible recession in Europe.

By Tom Kool for Oilprice.com

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The value of Germanys imports from Russia jumped by 10.2% to $2.94 billion (2.9 billion euros) in July, compared to the same month a year ago, mostly as a result of soaring oil and gas prices, the German Federal Statistical Office said on Monday.

In terms of volume, however, German imports from Russia slumped by 45.8% in July compared to a year earlier, the statistics office noted.

The value of crude oil and natural gas imports from Russia rose by 1.6% to $1.42 billion (1.4 billion euros), the data showed, despite the much lower volumes of those energy products compared to the same month of 2021.

The value of German imports of coke and petroleum products from Russia jumped by 72.5% while coal imports doubled in value a month before the EUs embargo on Russian coal imports kicked in in August.

Meanwhile, Germanys exports to Russia plunged by 56.8% in July from a year ago.

Germany, Europes biggest economy, and other countries in the EU such as the UK, are looking to reduce and replace their imports of Russian energy after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The UK, which was much less dependent on Russian energy than Germany at the start of the war, has already succeeded. The UK did not import any fuels from Russia in June for the first time since records began, the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) said last month, meaning that Britain managed to phase out oil and gas purchases from Russia as it had pledged in the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine six months ago.

According to the Finish think tank Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), of the $160 billion (158 billion euro) in energy exports that Russia has earned in the past six months, over half of it was bought by the European Union. The EU imported 54% of all Russian energy exports in the first six months of the war in Ukraine, which is worth approximately $86 billion (85 billion euros).

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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With civil unrest growing, energy prices climbing, and winter looming, the EU will have to act uncharacteristically fast to deal with this crisis.

The only thing the group agreed upon was putting a ceiling on the revenue of non-gas power generators, a move that by itself cannot solve the energy crisis.

Last week, the EU considered a price cap on Russian natural gas imports, a cut in energy consumption across the bloc, and a cap on some power utilities revenues.

Last Friday, the energy ministers of the 27 EU members met for an emergency discussion of the energy supply situation in the bloc. The one thing they agreed on was implementing a ceiling on the revenues of power utilities that do not use gas to generate power.

What they did not agree on was everything else the Commission suggested last week, including a price cap on Russian gas, a cap on final energy prices, and a direct intervention in EU electricity markets. It's hard to get 27 countries to agree on so many things without any compromise. This is why the EU's survival plans for the winter may never work as intended.

Last week, the European Commission, headed by Ursula von der Leyen, proposed that EU member states impose a price cap on Russian natural gas imports, a mandatory cut in energy consumption across the bloc, and a cap on the revenues of power utilities that do not use gas.

The Russian gas price cap was one of the items that divided the EU at the Friday discussions after Russia's President, Vladimir Putin, warned that any country imposing a price cap on Russian oil or gas would stop receiving them.

Some EU members argued in favor of a gas price cap for all gas imports into the bloc, following a similar suggestion made by Poland earlier this month. Some 15 members of the EU were in favor of such a move, but others were skeptical. And they were right to be skeptical: Norway, the EU's gas savior, has signaled it would not accept a cap on the price it gets for its gas.

"That's not a solution we'd propose, we don't think it answers the EU's challenges," Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said, adding, "I tell my European colleagues that I'm not the one who sells the gas."

The problem is that the European Union does not have all the time in the world to discuss how to go about saving its economy and its citizens from blackouts this winter. And as Bloomberg pointed out in a recent analysis of the situation ahead of the energy ministers' meeting, speed is not among the things the European Union is known for.

Belgium's Prime Minister put it bluntly. "A few weeks like this and the European economy will just go into a full stop. Recovering from that is going to be much more complicated than intervening in gas markets today," he told Bloomberg last week. "The risk of that is de-industrialization and severe risk of fundamental social unrest."

Protests are already a fact. Tens of thousands took to the streets in the Czech Republic earlier this month to protest the energy and foreign policy of the government. Thousands are protesting against high energy prices in Germany and Italy, too. In France, police broke up an illegal protest this weekend, arresting several dozen people.

As the weather begins to get colder, these protests might grow and multiply, too. This makes the task of the EU governments all the more urgent. Yet there are already internal differences that would be difficult to resolve in a short time.

Croatia, for instance, plans to ban natural gas exports, which has set its neighbor - and gas client - Hungary on edge. Germany's neighbors are not happy, either, after Berlin declared it would not change its mind about its remaining nuclear reactors and will retire them as planned.

"I want to make sure that we can provide everything to pass the winter," the EU's internal markets commissioner Thierry Breton said last week. "I think it's important that every country, which has a capacity to do it for this very period, that they do whatever they can. And that's also a matter of solidarity."

Germany clearly does not see things the same way, and it seems the only one currently seeing things the way Germany does is its neighbor France: the two sealed a deal that will see France send Germany gas and Germany send electricity back. The rest of Germany's neighbors, however, remain reluctant to ink solidarity deals with the EU's largest - and currently most vulnerable - economy.

Even at the best of times, decision-making in the European Union takes quite a while. This is perfectly understandable: getting 27 states with their own national interests to agree on one course of action is often a challenge, and compromises need to be made.

This time, there is little space for compromise and even less time to settle on a course of action. Agreement on a gas price cap appears to be off the table if the EU wants to move fast. The only thing left that can be agreed upon quickly would be an intervention into energy markets to cap prices because consumption caps would be a challenge to negotiate.

"This is not the moment to have principal debates on energy markets. We just need solutions right now," Marco Mensink, director general of the European chemical industry association Cefic said, as quoted by Bloomberg, last week. "The situation is very alarming  this is about the future of industry in Europe. Companies are shutting production down as we speak, and with these prices, they will not reopen."

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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Delfin says that it is on schedule to make the FID on the first FLNG vessel by the end of this year.

Devon Energy, (NYSE: DVN), announced a deal with Delfin Midstream (privately held) on Monday September, 5th, to buy into a Floating Liquefied Natural Gas-FLNG vessel, yet to be FID'd and constructed. The financial terms were not released, but this certainly involves a major cash commitment from Devon. In what amounts to a delayed reaction, in the absence of other news, the market didn't seem to like it at first in Fridays trading, and Devon stock sagged for much of the day. A day when other E&P stocks were rising on what turned into a good day for WTI (up $3.00+) in the oil markets. DVN managed to stage a late-day rally Friday, of modest proportions, rising 1.71% as the market closed. Suggesting that investors were taking a longer view of this transaction and realizing why it might pay out for the company a few years hence. Any story that doesn't involve debt pay down, stock buybacks, or dividend news is unwelcome conceptually, as investors grow used to huddling around the mailbox at dividend distribution time. A sentiment that surely accounts for the temporary softness in the companys shares last week.

In this article, we will look a little deeper than the trading response, from which shares have since recovered, and look at the strategy behind this decision on the part of Devon management.

The LNG market

As I have noted in past OilPrice articles, and what has been relentlessly documented over the last couple of years, is that the world is having an energy crisis. Short-sighted, climate-related decisions by EU and UK policy makers over the last couple of decades have put the energy security of the continent at risk. What this has meant as renewable energy sources have been unable to meet demand, is that new and unanticipated demand is coming simultaneously from Asia and the EU, and pushing up prices for LNG. As recently as a couple of weeks ago natural gas was trading at the equivalent of $410 per barrel.

An Offshore article describes how one aspect of the FLNG market is developing.

Delfin LNG is a brownfield deepwater port requiring minimal additional infrastructure investment to support up to four FLNG vessels producing up to 13 million tonnes of LNG per annum. Delfin purchased the UTOS pipeline, the largest natural gas pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico, in 2014 and submitted its deepwater port license application in 2015. The port will be located approximately 40 nautical miles off the coast of Cameron Parish, Louisiana.

As a modular project requiring only 2.0 to 2.5 MTPA of long-term contracts to begin construction, Delfin says that it is on schedule to make the FID on the first FLNG vessel by the end of this year.

Related: Why Europe Wont Exploit Its Huge Gas Reserves



Delfin says that it has completed front-end engineering and design with Samsung Heavy Industries and Black & Veatch, which puts it on pace to execute the project this year and to commence operations in 2026.

The beauty of the FLNG vessel concept is it moves the liquefaction process onto a mobile platform that can be moved at will on a global basis. As practical matter the few FLNG vessels that have been deployed to date, GLNGs Hilli Episeyo, and Gimi have been contracted for long term assignments with Perenco in Cameroon-West Africa, and in BPs Senegal and Mauritania project, Greater Tortue-Ahmeyim. This will likely be the case with the yet unnamed vessel that will be owned in-part by Devon.

That 2026 start-up date happens to coincide with a severe projected supply gap in LNG on a global basis. The EU countries are frantically building import infrastructure-Regasification terminals, to receive these supplies, as they spurn Russian gas.

The world's demand for LNG is durable and growing.

What's DVN's interest in fractionally owning an FLNG vessel?

Devon produces about 610K BOEPD, of which 51% is gas. So gas has a big impact on their profitability. Two years ago gas was selling for <$2.00 mmbtu, now look at it, selling above $8.00 mmbtu. The NYMEX strip isn't as encouraging though, showing pricing in the mid-$5's by this time next year. Right now DVN's domestic future gas sales realizations are controlled by sales points in West Texas-WAHA, and Henry Hub, and by buying derivatives contracts-something they are doing less of in 2023.

I think making this move to get export pricing is a smart one, and justifies the risk in taking on a project like an FLNG vessel. The volatility of the domestic market makes it hard to forecast, and while there is no guarantee, the extreme pricing now being paid by the EU will last...there is always that demand shortfall that will set the pricing in the end. By having this output exposed to EU pricing for LNG, Devon in-effect is hedging future production to a price several multiples above current and anticipated domestic pricing with its investment in the Delfin project. There are risks to this thesis though.

Delays could poke a hole in this thesis, and FLNG vessels are notorious for them. As noted in linked article above, there is a window for new LNG projects to gain traction beginning in the mid-2020s. Delays in construction could result in all the choices contracts being snapped up on the European side. According to the press release, this project appears to be "shovel-ready" with no permitting hang ups to run the meter up whilst waiting on some government agency to stamp an application. From the press release it appears that with Devon on board, this project will meet FID sanction later this year.

As a modular project requiring only 2.0 to 2.5 MTPA of long-term contracts to begin construction, and with all necessary permits in hand, Delfin is on schedule to make FID on its first Floating LNG vessel by the end of this year.

Still, things can go wrong and this is a new era of risk for Devon. Hopefully, they are hiring experienced people who can oversee their interests in this project.

Your takeaway

If DVN does begin exporting 1 mpta to the EU the upside could be huge. 1 mpta = about 48.7 BCF. At today's pricing that would equate to $500 million per year for just six weeks of their current annual production.

That would certainly seem to justify the gamble to me. With costs running around a billion USD for an FLNG vessel, Devons contribution of a few hundred million USD (guessing) is a well-managed risk that managers of an already risky business are well positioned to take. With the cash flow-$10 bn on an annualized basis, it is risk they can certainly afford.

It should also be noted that Delfin is currently the prettiest girl at the dance with recent contracts signed by Vitol for a 15-year SPA, and Centrica, (OTCPK:CPYYY) for a 1 mpta HOA, similar to Devon's.

Nor is Devon alone in shale players wishing for exposure to export LNG pricing. Shale giant, EOG Resources, (NYSE:EOG) noted their plans for this exposure in their Second Quarter, 2022 filing, detailing a 15-year modular pricing agreement with Cheniere Energy, (NYSE:LNG)

In my view, this is a move that will be viewed as accretive to shares of Devon Energy, and should provide further lift to shares as it becomes properly recognized by the market.

By David Messler for Oilprice.com

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After days of a withering Ukrainian counteroffensive, the Russian defense ministry announced that it was withdrawing its forces from two areas in Ukraines Kharkiv region. In a video statement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky quipped, The Russian army in these days is demonstrating the best that it can do  showing its back. Ukrainians celebrated, and rightly so. While Russian spokesmen said that Russian forces were repositioning ahead of a new offensive, reporters on the ground cast doubt on such pronouncements both because they mirror Russian statements as it abandoned its drive toward Kyiv and also because Russian forces left in such great haste that they left numerous arms and equipment behind. Western officials are understandably happy. This [Ukrainian progress] shows the bravery, skills, and determination of Ukrainian forces, and it shows that our support is making a difference every day on the battlefield, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said at a September 9 press conference. On his recent trip to Ukraine, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken observed at the same press conference, Even as President Putin threw as much as he could against Ukraine earlier this summer, Ukraine absorbed the blow and is pushing back.

While it is right to celebrate the Russian rout, the war may be entering a far more dangerous phase.

Consider: If Russian President Vladimir Putin tired of attrition and decided to use tactical nuclear weapons, how would Russian behaviora rapid withdrawal and even leaving key equipment behindbe different? The answer: It would not be.

The Biden administration allowed fear of Russian nuclear weapons to self-deter and to limit deliveries of the weaponry that Ukrainian forces needed in the first weeks of the war. Fortunately, against the backdrop of Ukrainian perseverance, they recognized how unbecoming a policy governed by fear and weakness could be. That does not mean, however, that the United States and NATO should not have a contingency plan both to head off Russian use of nuclear weapons and respond to their use should Putin now cross the line.

The White House and U.S. intelligence community may feel confident that they will have forewarning should Putin give the order to deploy tactical nuclear weapons. They may believe that satellite photographs, signals intelligence, and human intelligence will provide a clear picture. The nature of intelligence, however, is that there is always doubt and deception. Just as late Al Qaeda leader Usama Bin Laden used old-fashioned messengers rather than email or cell phones, so too might some core Russian commanders. During its 2006 war with Israel, Hezbollah successfully demonstrated the ability to conceal long-range missiles, thanks both to diversions designed to be discovered as well as other underground facilities, all built by North Korean engineers. This is not to suggest a North Korean angle to Ukraine, but certainly, Russian strategists look at lessons learned from every conflict.

Nor is it necessarily true that Putin would try to hide in advance tactical nuclear warhead use. In 2012, President Barack Obama drew a redline around the use of chemical and biological weapons in Syria. When Syrian President Bashar al-Assads forces subsequently used chemical weapons against a Damascus suburb, Obama stood down. Partisans subsequently questioned the existence of a redline. This was disingenuous as senior Obama officials had supplemented press reporting at the time with background press calls to think tankers and opinion leaders to enunciate how serious Obama was about his redline. When that wordplay did not work, many opposed to enforcing the redline shifted tack and argued that from the perspective of the bombs victims, it mattered little whether their death came from gas or explosive maiming. After all, the result was the same. Lost was any appreciation for what the end to the stigma associated with chemical weapons might mean for future warfare.

Putin might count on proponents fearful of any robust reaction to resurrect the post-chemical redline arguments in the aftermath of a tactical nuclear strike. He might calculate that Washington and Brussels will always look for a reason not to act or escalate and that both will be willing to engage in logical somersaults to do so. Simply put, Putin might calculate that Washington will paralyze itself until the danger of retaliation passes.

It is for this reason that the White House and NATO should make clear upfront that this will not work. They should detail the pain Russia will suffer should withdrawal be a feint ahead of tactical nuclear use against Ukrainian forces and cities. Such pain should not only include truly crippling sanctions rather than cosmetic half-measures but also include enhancing the ability of Ukraine to expand the zone of hostility to the entirety of Russia, from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean. They should also detail the eventual financial and territorial reparations owed to Ukraine and all countries downwind from any radioactive exposure as well as those countries long victimized by the Russian informal empire.

Related: Putins Energy Weapon Is Backfiring

The free world owes Zelensky a debt of gratitude for refusing White House advice to evacuate ahead of the initial Russian invasion. Biden, to his credit, overcame that mistake and allowed Ukraines president to do more than any leader since Winston Churchill to defend freedom and democracy in the face of evil. Zelensky deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.

The policy decisions now looming for Biden may be as great. Celebrations may be premature if Putin seeks to achieve through nuclear weapons what he could not with manpower. To remain silent now, downplay the threat that Russia might use its tactical nuclear weapons, or let fear govern policy will mean the end of the post-World War II liberal order.

As the Ukraine war enters a crucial new phase, it is time both to step up deterrence and plan for what comes after Russian first use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

By Zerohedge.com

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At the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) foreign ministers meeting in late July, which included China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, Peoples Republic of China (PRC) State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi exhorted member states to uphold the Shanghai Spirit (????, Shanghai Jingshen) of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, mutual consultations, diverse civilizations, and the pursuit of common development (Gov.cn, July 29). He then presented a five-point proposal for building an SCO community with a shared future (CGTN, July 30). In doing so, Wang echoed President Xi Jinpings call in his four-point proposal at the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) summit in June albeit via a rather elemental poetic allegory of fire, wind, and water to embark on a righteous course toward a shared global future premised on inclusive, comprehensive and close win-win cooperation (Qiushi, June 24). BRICS already has a Plus mechanism and is mulling an expansion to include like-minded partners.

The PRCs claim to be advancing a more inclusive model of international relations through SCO, BRICS and other multilateral groupings in which it plays a leading or central role accords with Beijings stringent criticism of the West in general, and the U.S. in particular, for unilaterally targeting or isolating states on normative ground (i.e. the universal values of liberal democracies). Under Xi, the PRC has promoted its own networks of multilateral and bilateral strategic partnerships as positive-sum correctives to U.S.-led formal alliances, which Beijing consistently asserts drive world politics toward zero-sum competition (China Brief, July 15). This narrative has become even more prominent of late with Beijings sharp reaction to the North Atlantic Treaty Organizations (NATO) identification of China as a systemic challenge for the first time at the Madrid summit this June, where Indo-Pacific states were invited as observers. As a result, the PRCs fears of NATO spreading its tentacles in Asia (or a similarly modeled Asian NATO) have intensified. Beijing has responded with a series of tirades against NATO referring to the Western security bloc as a gangster, a war machine, and a butcher (Global Times, March 16). Concurrently, however, the language of Xi, Wang and other leaders invokes the Communist Partys Chinese characteristics while ironically addressing diversity in forums that are decidedly multipolar. The key question is: how far will emerging and developing nations with a distaste for the West favor China as an international leader?

It is in this context that Chinas recent relentless pursuit of India to join its ranks against what it calls the exclusive cliques, zero-sum games, and new Cold War thinking of the U.S. becomes all the more significant (CGTN, November 26, 2021). A rather unexpected consequence of the Ukraine war, wherein China and India maintained a strategic silence toward Russia when the war initially began, is that each states respectively cordial relations with Moscow has become a point of concord. What no one would have predicted was that this unwitting support would lead to the point of China enticing India to coalesce forces. What does this mean for the Russia, India, and China (RIC) trilateral? Will the cooperation flounder or proceed under the aegis of the China-led multilateral organizations like the SCO and BRICS?

Changing Global Contours: The RIC Conundrum

The RIC has long been touted as one of the most influential high-level (foreign minister level) trilaterals in Eurasia. It was dubbed Primakovs strategic triangle in deference to the former Russian prime minister who envisioned the concept as an anti-US triad in the late 90s. However, by the time the grouping came into being in the early 2000s (China and India were initially hesitant because of the anti-West connotation), its buzzwords were cooperation, trade, economic expansion, and stability (China Daily, June 2, 2005; Pravda, December 2, 2002).

Over the years, RIC has been continuously showcased as a significant non-Western platform for dialogue and cooperation that was set to shape a new multipolar order (Valdai club, May 14, 2012; China Daily, June 29, 2019). However, the potential was never utilized, although the optics continued to generate attention, as the grouping was bogged down by a range of issues: differing political systems; increasing China-Russia convergence; limited India-Russia economic engagement; growing India-China hostility following Xis ascent to power in 2012, which culminated in two significant recent stand-offs along the disputed China-India land border and rising rivalry in the maritime domain; and perhaps the most significant reason, which is Indias embrace of the US-led Indo-Pacific construct that both Russia and China abhor. These factors have certainly combined to limit prospects for trilateral engagement and by extension the development of the RIC format.

Even the Chinese state media narrative around the RIC has only indulged in standard platitudes of strengthening cooperation and jointly facing issues, calling the 2018 and 2019 leaders summit meetings informal; CGTNs 2018 in Review does not even include the 2018 RIC summit, which was held after a gap of 12 years (CGTN, 2018). An interview in the Global Times with Liu Zongyi, a senior fellow of Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, indicates the likely cause of such indifference is Indias strategic partnership with the U.S. and bonhomie with the Indo-Pacific allies, as well as residual tensions from the 2017 Doklam faceoff (Global Times, June 26, 2019).

Nevertheless, following the 2020 Galwan border clash and crisis, there was a consistent thread in the Chinese media suggesting that the trilateral had improved Indias status in the global arena through association with the giants China and Russia, casually appeasing India while also threatening to terminate the trilateral (Global Times, August 27, 2020). In 2020, the three foreign ministers met virtually in June, when the conflict was at its peak, and then gathered in Moscow in September at the behest of Russia, which refused to take side in the fracas and did to an extent, act as a multilateral balancer for the two sparring sides (South China Morning Post, January 9). Although these discussions helped calm tensions, the meetings ended without any concrete action plan (Ministry of External Affairs [MEA], September 10, 2020; FMPRC, June 23, 2020; ISPI, March 26). Interestingly, although the Russian side declined to playing any further role as an intermediary, former Global Times Editor-in Chief Hu Xijin, in justifying Russias continuing weapon sales to India as not a betrayal of China, claimed that Russia is actually serving as a mediator in this China-India border conflict (Business Standard, June 23, 2020; Global Times, September 15, 2020).

For China, the RIC is a means to advance its Eurasian strategy with Russia as a partner, especially as both authoritarian powers are aligned on criticisms of the Quad as an elitist grouping and oppose the free and open Indo-Pacific construct (The Strategist, July 1, 2021; The Hindu, November 26, 2021). While this emerges as an area of convergence for Russia-China, it equally becomes a major medium of contact for the Russia-India partnership (The Interpreter, March 3, 2021).

China has sought to build its importance in the RIC over that of India. This will serve two purposes in the present climate: firstly, it would allow China to wield greater power over India vis-a-vis discussions on the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Importantly, by strengthening the Russia-China connection, it may seek to check or limit Moscows arms exports to Delhi, thereby limiting Indias defense capabilities, particularly around the LAC. Secondly, it would allow China to market its own Central Asia strategy over that of Indias by using the RIC as a stepping stone to exert greater influence in other forums such as the SCO, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and BRICS. For this purpose, China will present itself as the more reliable and important partner for Russia, as well as its lifeline against US sanctions (Xinhua, June 17; Business Standard, June 21).

Keeping such a goal in mind, Chinas strategic balancing has been delicate. For instance, the AIIB suspended financial activities with Moscow and Belarus in March due to Western sanctions, citing spillover effects (e.g., economic and financial risks to businesses) on its members while extending solidarity with the victims of the Ukraine war without any castigation of Russia (AIIB, March 3). At the same time, strengthening speculations of Yuan (RMB) use in international settlements, Chinese experts have slammed the Western narrative on AIIB as a smear campaign, highlighting that the bank is a credible institution whose actions have followed a market mechanism that is not intended to punish Russia but reduce the risk impact (Global Times, March 4). In this context, Chinas balancing strategy may be  at least to some extent  a limiting factor in China-Russia relations and impact their interactions within the RIC strategic triangle.

Chinas New Game Plan

Even as the date of the next RIC leaders summit remains undecided, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has reiterated Moscows belief that the dialogue is essential to building trust between China and India (Tribune, January 15). Although mutual illiberal values have been a viable source for developing ties for years, the Sino-Russian pseudo-coalition is a recent phenomenon that has coalesced as both powers are increasingly enmeshed in intensifying strategic rivalries with the U.S. Such a friendship of convenience between strongmen-Putin and Xi has led to a delicate diplomacy on sensitive bilateral issues. For instance, Moscow has wholeheartedly supported China on Huaweis 5G rollout, Hong Kong, and the COVID-19 pandemic; China while taking a seemingly neutral stand on Ukraine, has repeatedly asserted Russias legitimate concerns, rallied against NATO, rejected unilateral sanctions, and included Moscow in all its multilateral forums (China Daily, July 3, 2020; Moscow Times, June 6, 2019; CGTN, February 23).

Beijing and Moscow do not agree on all international issues. For instance, China does not consider Crimea a legitimate part of Russia, and Moscow maintains neutrality on Beijings South China Sea claims (Global Times, March 22, 2014; TASS, June 10, 2016). Hence, in the context of the RIC, China attempts to ensure that such divergences do not impede the otherwise growing Sino-Russian partnership. Owing to Russias consistent belief and portrayal that RIC remains viable as it maintains stability between India and China, Beijing has downplayed tensions with India as low-key issues, stressing that common interests far outweigh differences (China Daily, June 24).

Ultimately, even as China seeks to check the rise of India by asserting economic and military strength, it is taking care to ensure that its efforts to reshape regional and global security architecture are not impacted as a result (Stimson, May 4). For example, China and India have reached a four point consensus after 16 rounds of commander-level talks that have recently taken on a more amicable tone that coincides with Chinas outreach to India at the SCO and BRICS meetings (Peoples Daily, June 29). Thus, by gaining traction in the RIC, China hopes to not only strengthen its relationship with Russia on other platforms, but also to demonstrate to emerging and developing countries that it is a responsible power that, unlike the United States, cooperates effectively even with a traditionally antagonistic strategic competitor like India. Marginalizing or demonizing the US in global affairs and dwarfing the West as a whole is the ultimate ambition.

Will RIC Fade or Come Full Circle?

Until Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine, it appeared as if Russia was more invested in the RIC than the other two partners. For India, the RIC has limited attraction as an avenue to increase its linkages to Central Asia, as a tool to manage China, and as a way to responsibly engage with states that are out of favor with much of the international community.

For China, too, the trilateral has limited appeal, particularly as India is unlikely to accept a subordinate role. However, stable relations between India and Chinaa requisite for the broader Chinese aims for BRICS and the SCO beyond the obvious reasonsserve all three partners.

The Ukraine crisis, however, has renewed interest in revitalizing RIC. A defiant China  which is in the midst of a trade war and growing military rivalry with the U.S. in concert with a sanctions-ridden Russia is looking to expand their autocratic circle as a consequence of mutual isolation at the hands of the West. A strategic but non-committal India, as an emerging power and a bridge to the West, is essential to this calculus.

Whether this will mean a revival of the RIC remains in question. Earlier this year, Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova reportedly put the onus for organizing the next RIC leaders summit on China (Wion, February 28). The Chinese government and the media have been oddly silent on RIC even while stressing the momentum of recovery on cooperation with India (China Daily, July 15).

Nonetheless, based on the RICs track record of achievements alone, the future of the grouping (even when the original intent is back in play) may have lost its urgency and relevance. The complementarity that the trilateral provides for each of its partners is not unique and can be fulfilled, perhaps more effectively, via organizations like BRICS and the SCO. Beijing has certainly inferred this, and is seeking to build connections with West-wary (as a well as West-weary) states and strengthen the aforementioned platforms, rather than expend unnecessary resources on an outdated trilateral. However, the RIC is unlikely to be scrapped altogether, and will continue to hold regular foreign ministers briefings as before with perhaps a smattering of occasional leader-level summits.

Therefore, despite its imperfections and limitations, both India and China are likely to persist with the RIC. Both states have a mutual desire to promote a more multipolar world order and the RIC is a mechanism to coordinate their actions in this regard. While China is intent on preventing India from finding greater synergy with the U.S. (and the Western bloc in general), and India is keen to ensure that the Russia-China partnership does not escalate to greater heights, the RIC is a forum through which both can continue their interactions and look to achieve their goals. Importantly, for India, withdrawing from the RIC would not be a strategically sound move even in the absence of tangible results, for either Russia-India ties, nor its efforts to achieve power-parity with China. Indias participation in the current Vostok exercise is a part of this strategic calculus. Moreover, the RIC trilateral allows both states to leverage their shared friendship with Russia in a bid to manage their border differences. For Russia, the RIC provides an opportunity to engage with two of its closest partners at a time when relations with the West are at a nadir, ensuring that India does not fully embrace entry into the pro-US camp. Hence, the RIC is set to continue; however, whether it is able to reassert its importance remains to be seen.

By The Jamestown Foundation

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Saudi Arabia will supply the full contractual volumes to at least three customers in North Asia, sources familiar with refiners allocations from the worlds top crude oil exporter told Reuters on Monday.

Last week, as widely expected, Saudi Arabias oil giant Aramco slashed the price of its flagship grade to Asia for October amid lackluster fuel demand and increased competition from crude from other regions. This was the first cut in Saudi official selling prices (OSPs) to its key export region, Asia, in four months.

Asian refiners were expecting a large cut in Saudi prices, many due to two reasons. The first one is the fear that demand would not be strong with concerns of economic slowdown and flash Covid lockdowns in China as part of the zero Covid policy. The other one is the narrowing spread between Dubai-linked and Brent-linked cargoes, which has curbed demand for cargoes linked to the Dubai benchmark, off which Middle Eastern crudes are priced for loadings to Asia.

Aramco cut the prices of its Arab Light crude grade to Asia by $3.95 per barrel for October, and to European buyers by $2 a barrel, while prices for U.S. buyers saw no change, with the exception of heavier and lighter variants that will see a $0.50 per barrel increase.

The price cuts come after record high prices in September for Arab Light, which reached $9.80 per barrel over the Oman/Dubai benchmark, while Arab Extra Light is selling for $10.95 per barrel over the Middle Eastern benchmarks this month. With the price cuts, Asian buyers for October will pay $5.85 per barrel for Arab Light above the Oman/Dubai benchmark.

The price cut from Saudi Arabia for October also came shortly after Russia announced it would increase shipments of oil to Asia in response to the G7s plan to implement a price cap on Russian oil beginning on December 5th, when the European Union ban on Russian seaborne oil goes into effect.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which is the largest in not only Ukraine but all of Europe, has been shut down as a precaution, the operator of the plant, Eneregoatom, said this weekend.

The shutdown coincided with a Ukrainian advance to the East, which pushed Russian troops back from previously held positions. Following the advance, Ukraine accused Russia of targeting the grid in retaliation.

Russian troops took control of the Zaporizhia power plants early on in the war. In the past couple of months, the plant has been the target of shelling with the two sides accusing each other of doing the shelling.

The situation prompted a visit by International Atomic Energy Agency experts, who called on both sides to de-escalate the situation around the nuclear power plant.

Last week, Reuters reported on a draft resolution written by Polish and Canadian officials that would call on Russia to withdraw from Zaporizhia at this weeks meeting of the IAEAs Board of Governors.

Per the report, the resolution would call on Russia to "immediately cease all actions against, and at, the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant and any other nuclear facility in Ukraine, in order for the competent authorities to regain full control over all nuclear facilities within Ukraine's international recognised borders."

Because of the threat of an accident, Energoatom said "a decision was made to shut down power unit No. 6 and transfer it to the safest state - cold shutdown."

The shutdown has prompted concern about Ukraines electricity supply, although some have pointed out that the Ukrainian grid was disconnected from the Russian one immediately after the invasion and connected to the European grid ENTSO-E.

The IAEA mission to the Zaporizhia power plant, which took place earlier this month, called for a demilitarized zone around the facility.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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A climate report released ahead of the UN's COP27 climate summit in Egypt in November has revealed that the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean are heating at nearly twice the global average, threatening potentially devastating impacts on its 400 million residents and economies. The study, based on data for 1981-2019, found an average increase of 0.45C per decade across the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean region, way higher than the global average rise of 0.27 degrees per decade. The study covers the region stretching from Greece and Egypt in the west through to Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, and the Gulf states of Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates as well as Iran in the east. The report warns that barring swift policy changes, the region will face extreme heat waves, prolonged droughts and sea level rises. Without immediate changes, the region is on course to heat up by 5C by the end of the century, possibly exceeding critical thresholds for human adaptability in some countries, the report states.

Jos Lelieveld of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and the Cyprus Institute, which both provided support for the research, has written that people in these regionswill face major health challenges and risks of livelihood, especially underprivileged communities, the elderly, children and pregnant women.

Alarmingly, the Middle East is set to overtake Europe as the biggest contributor of greenhouse gasses in a matter of years, the authors of the report have warned.

Lead author George Zittis has written that business-as-usual pathways for the future would expand arid climate zones, and the rising seas would imply severe challenges for coastal infrastructure and agriculture, particularly affecting Egypts densely populated Nile Delta.

Blue Hydrogen

Thankfully, Saudi Arabia, the Middle Easts biggest oil exporter, is developing impressive green solutions.

Two years ago, Saudi Arabias national oil company Saudi Aramco sent shockwaves through the natural gas markets after it announced that it was kicking off the biggest shale gas development outside of the United States. Saudi Aramco said it plans to spend $110 billion over the next couple of years to develop the Jafurah gas field, which is estimated to hold 200 trillion cubic feet of gas. The state-owned company hopes to start natural gas production from Jafurah in 2024 and reach 2.2 Bcf/d of sales gas by 2036 with an associated 425 million cubic feet per day of ethane. Related: Fitch Ratings: EU Will Not Get More Pipeline Gas from Russia Until Year End

Later, Aramco sprung another surprise after announcing that instead of chilling that gas and exporting it as LNG, it will instead use it to make much cleaner fuel: Blue hydrogen.

Saudi Aramco CEO told investors that Aramco had abandoned immediate plans to develop its LNG sector in favor of hydrogen. Nasser said that the kingdoms immediate plan is to produce enough natural gas for domestic use to stop burning oil in its power plants and convert the remainder into hydrogen. Blue hydrogen is made from natural gas either by Steam Methane Reforming (SMR) or Auto Thermal Reforming (ATR) with the CO2 generated captured and then stored. As the greenhouse gasses are captured, this mitigates the environmental impacts on the planet.

Back in 2020, Aramco made the worlds first blue ammonia shipment--from Saudi Arabia to Japan. Japan--a country whose mountainous terrain and extreme seismic activity render it unsuitable for the development of sustainable renewable energy--is looking for dependable suppliers of hydrogen fuel with Saudi Arabia and Australia on its shortlist.

Germany is gunning for massive amounts of green hydrogen, which its hoping to obtain from the Saudis first and foremost. To that end, Germany has committed to invest 9B in hydrogen technology in a bid to decarbonize the economy and cut CO2 emissions. The government has proposed to build an electrolysis capacity of 5,000MW by 2030 and another 5,000MW by 2040 over the following decade to produce fuel hydrogen. This is even more critical now that the European economic giant is looking to cut itself off Russian energy supplies for good.

Saudi Arabia is now developing the biggest green hydrogen plant in the world.

With its sun-scorched expanses and steady Red Sea breezes, Saudi Arabia is prime real estate for renewable energy generation. The oil giant has, however, failed to put all that energy into good use--until now.

The Saudi government is building a $5 billion green hydrogen plant that will power the planned megacity of Neom when it opens in 2025. Dubbed Helios Green Fuels, the hydrogen plant will use solar and wind energy to generate 4GW of clean energy that will be used to produce hydrogen. And its current claim to fame is that it thinks it could produce hydrogen that is cheaper than oil.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) estimates that Helios costs could reach $1.50 per kilogram by 2030, way cheaper than the average cost of green hydrogen at $5 per kilogram and even cheaper than gray hydrogen made from cracking natural gas. Saudi Arabia enjoys a serious competitive advantage in the green hydrogen business thanks to its perpetual sunshine, wind, and vast tracts of unused land.



By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

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An Omaha police detective said in court Monday that tracking apps and surveillance video led police to conclude that an Omaha teen was part of a plan to shoot someone in  or living near  a rival gang.

Gatluak Jiel, 16, appeared Monday during a preliminary hearing in connection with the fatal shooting of Larry D. Thompson, 59, in March 2021 near 30th and Spencer Streets. Jiel has been charged with first-degree murder, use of a weapon to commit a felony and criminal conspiracy in Thompsons death.

Two other teens also have been charged in connection with the killing  Christopher A. Trejo, 17, and Dech Gach, 16.

Omaha Police Detective Brandon Hahn said officers found Thompson suffering from multiple gunshot wounds on the front porch of his North Omaha home. Thompson later died at a local hospital.

Detectives found seven 9 mm shell casings near the home. The casings all came from the same firearm, Hahn said.

Officials also obtained video from a handful of locations in the area. In video footage, a black Chevy Cruze with a damaged bumper and stickers in the windows drove through the area about 5:30 p.m.

The car returned to the area shortly before 8 p.m. It parked near Thompsons home. Three people got out and ran toward Thompsons porch. The video then showed muzzle flash.

From the license plate number, police determined that the car was registered to Trejos stepfather. After contacting Trejo, who was 15 at the time, police obtained earlier text message exchanges and exchanges via Facebook messenger between Trejo and Gach.

During those conversations, Gach asked Trejo to drive to Sioux City, Iowa, to pick him up. They discussed what kinds of guns they would bring to Omaha and said they were looking for someone to shoot, Hahn said.

Hahn said that in one of the messages, Gach said he was bringing a Glock and that Glizzy was going to get a firearm in Omaha.

Hahn said detectives determined that Glizzy was Gatluak Jiel, who was 14 at the time.

Surveillance video shows Gach and Jiel together at a Family Dollar in Sioux City before being picked up by Trejo. Snapchat video from shortly after 4 p.m. showed the three in a vehicle throwing gang signs.

From On Star data in the car Trejo was driving, as well as cellphone tower records and surveillance video, police found that the car came back to Omaha around 5:30 p.m., when it drove directly to the 30th and Spencer area.

Video also shows the car stopping near 48th and Burt Streets, where Jiel is thought to have picked up a .22-caliber firearm. Police officials think a fourth person joined the group there.

Trejos vehicle showed that it had been connected to both his and Gachs cellphones. Jiel later told officials he did not have a cellphone.

The car data and cellphones showed no information from shortly before 8 p.m. until after the homicide occurred, Hahn said.

Officials found a live .22-caliber round in the back of the Chevy, a latex glove that had gunpowder residue on it and DNA from Trejo, Gach and Jiel, the detective said.

Trejo previously testified that he had seen Gach fire gunshots and that Jiels weapon had jammed, leaving him unable to shoot.

Douglas County Judge Stephanie Shearer determined that there was probable cause for the case against Jiel to continue.
An amendment to the Illinois Constitution sponsored by organized labor is quietly, as if on cats paws, marching toward enactment at the November election. The amendment would prohibit right to work legislation, and also give unprecedented power to unions where the authority of the National Labor Relations Act is uncertain, such as with charter schools.

Enactment by three-fifths of those voting on the amendment would send a chilling message to American CEOs, who in CEO Magazine regularly rank Illinois as having among the worst business climates in the nation.

With the recent fall from grace of Democratic powerhouses Illinois House speaker Mike Madigan and Chicago alderman Ed Burke (both of whom await trials on multiple charges of public corruption), organized labor has filled the void, becoming the dominant power within the Democratic Party of Illinois.

Sparked by Operating Engineers 150 and its savvy, longtime powerbroker Jim Sweeney, labor gets what it wants from the Illinois legislature, which at present has the supermajorities in both chambers necessary to put constitutional amendments on the ballot.

Illinois already has strong collective bargaining powers. For example, the state employees unions sit, in effect, on both sides of the bargaining table in negotiations with Democratic governors like J. B. Pritzker.

As a result, say my former state agency director acquaintances, the unions largely run state government day to day, through grievance procedures and hiring restrictions. For example, it is almost impossible for a state agency to hire anyone from the outside, say, a hotshot techie, because the opportunity must first go to a state employee. If no state employee is qualified for the job, no problem, the state will train you. Good luck.

An economist friend of mine who has studied Illinois for decades says the amendment is a real mess. He worries that almost any labor dispute could become embroiled in litigation, which would often end up before a partisan state high court dominated by Democrats continuously since 1962.

Right to work means that workers cannot be forced to join the union that bargains for them. You would think that a strong, benevolent union would have the support of most workers, though maybe not so for corrupt or ineffective unions. Willingness to pay union dues voluntarily should discipline elected union leadership to be good stewards for their workers.

Like all institutions, labor unions can change over time. Labor unions in America have gone through both their idealistic as well as corrupt phases. What if 20 years from now, organized labor in Illinois became thoroughly corrupt, and used state constitutional protections to run amok? Public policies should be hammered out among the legislators and governor on the basis of current conditions, not enshrined among fundamental constitutional principles.

In their own propaganda, the unions admit that Illinois job growth has been slower than the national average. Indeed, since 1990, according to a University of Illinois tracking report, the rate of job growth has also been slower than for the rest of the midwestern states, most of which are right to work states.

Illinois should be an economic powerhouse. Entrepreneur and former state economic development director Jim Schultz observes that in each of what he calls the six Rs critical to economic development  roads, rails, runways, rivers, routers and research  Illinois is arguably among the top three states. And located smack dab in the middle of the worlds largest market. Yet, the state limps along.

Labor has thus far raised $11 million and counting to promote their amendment, while barely a peep has been heard from the business community; funds raised by business to oppose the measure havent been enough to register on state election reporting forms.

Governors in other midwestern states are surely fine-tuning their pitches to CEOs around the world, waiting for the likely enactment of this benign-sounding labor effort"Avoid Illinois, and come to my state. Alas.
BLOOMINGTON  Nearly a year after authorities identified the body of Illinois State University student Jelani Day, documents reveal disagreement stirred among coroners and medical examiners when a law was passed in his name.

Another family gets a bill named after their loved one, another legislator gets a pat on the back for passing hurried, ineffectual, legislation and we coroners get punished by the media in spite of doing a great job. So is life in Illinois, Champaign County Coroner Duane Northrup wrote in an email May 17 addressing several members of the Illinois Coroners & Medical Examiners Association.

This email was one of several obtained by The Pantagraph from LaSalle County officials through the Freedom of Information Act following a request for emails and documents from October 2021 to August 2022 that contained Day's name.

The 25-year-old graduate student first was reported missing from Bloomington in late August 2021. His body was pulled from the Illinois River near Peru on Sept. 4, and confirmation of his identity was released to the public Sept. 23.

Dr. Scott Denton, the pathologist who performed the initial autopsy, determined Days cause of death was drowning.

The manner in which Mr. Day went into the Illinois River is currently unknown," Denton's autopsy report states.

Senate Bill 3932, better known as the Jelani Day bill, was signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker on May 13. It amended the Missing Person Identification Act to require that a coroner or medical examiner with custody of human remains that are not identified within 72 hours of discovery must notify the FBI for assistance.

The emails between Illinois coroners reveal that several questioned the effectiveness of the legislation.

Northrup did not respond to a request for comment regarding the email exchanges.

That discussion led Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood, who was at that time president of the ICMEA, to ask the group if a peer review had been conducted for the death investigation.

Harwood described a peer review in a case like this as a gathering of coroners from across the state who would review the case from the time of the initial call reporting the death to completion of the coroner's investigation. They would evaluate the process to determine manner and cause, the procedures and collaboration with other agencies, and they would ultimately determine if other like-minded coroners would have acted in the same way.

If we find a deficiency, we would then offer a recommendation, he told The Pantagraph.

Has this case been peer reviewed? I presume not, he wrote in an email May 17. Harwood then asked LaSalle County Coroner Rich Ploch to send him the investigative report, autopsy report, toxicology report and all other materials associated with the Coroners Office investigation of Days death.

I am going to assemble a peer team of 10 to review this case, he wrote.

But the response he received is not what Harwood expected.

I come from the hospital world where if there were high-profile things in the hospital world, there was a peer review.  Theyre standard practice; in fact, theyre best practice, Harwood told The Pantagraph. ... The silence of the association was extremely loud to me, that no one else wanted to do a peer review and no one else had anything else to say about it.

Ploch told The Pantagraph that the two coroners spoke over the phone about the issue. Ploch said he told Harwood that he didnt want to hinder the active police investigation and noted they were not ready to do a peer review.

With all due respect, I don't recall us ever doing this ahead of time like this, Ploch said, recalling their conversation.

The ICMEA conducts training that includes review and discussion of real-world cases, but Ploch said death investigations arent reviewed in such a setting until the case is closed.

The Jelani Day Joint Task Force  which includes the LaSalle County Sheriffs Office, Bloomington, Peru and LaSalle police departments, FBIs Chicago field office, Illinois State Police and the Illinois Attorney Generals Office  has indicated the case remains open and under investigation.

I want to find out just like everyone else how he ended up in the water because it is a strange case, Ploch said.

The LaSalle County coroner forwarded Harwoods request for peer review to Denton, who wrote in an email to Ploch and McLean County Coroner Kathy Yoder that the Jelani Day bill only changed two sentences of the existing law.

Coroners should have been following (the Missing Persons Act) all along, he wrote. I dont know what all the upset is about. It is one phone call to the FBI  that is the Jelani Day Bill 

In a separate email to a larger group of coroners and medical examiners, Denton gave his interpretation of the law and suggested the Illinois Coroner Training Board  of which he is a member  hold training on the Missing Persons Act, before addressing Harwoods request.

I performed 2 separate examinations with both my experienced autopsy technicians with the coroner present and a full room of officers and legal officials, and there have been 2nd and 3rd autopsies of Jelani Days body in Chicago hired by the Day family.

There have been no other contradictory findings to my autopsy or my report, which the family has had for a long time. The media has also FOIAd the autopsy and toxicology reports and have them. They all have found no issues, nor reported on any issues. It is an open coroners case, but Coroner Ploch can add more.

That is a lot of peer review, so be reassured, he wrote.

Denton did not respond to a request for comment regarding the email exchange.

Harwood told The Pantagraph his request for a peer review was not a slight against Ploch, Denton or their work on the case.

I never intended for him to feel attacked, Harwood said. I know Dr. Dentons quality is world-renowned; thats a fact of the matter.

He said he wanted the association to perform a peer review not because he believed something was done wrong, but to be sure the case was done with the highest level of investigation and the highest level of integrity and all justice for Jelani.

And if an error were revealed, "we could make sure it didn't happen to anyone else," Harwood said. The association's resistance to review this case was part of Harwood's decision to leave the nonprofit earlier this year, he said.

Ploch said he had spoken with other Illinois coroners about the issue as well and there is no hidden conspiracy to it, but he is not comfortable opening a peer review before the case is closed.

I stand by Dr. Dentons findings, Ploch said.
How Time Flies is a daily feature looking back at Pantagraph archives to revisit what was happening in our community and region.

100 years ago

Sept. 12, 1922: The strike of railroad shopmen is now in its eleventh week, and it is affecting different lines of business and industry. Grocery trade is spotty and dealers in outlying stores report that the strike is hitting them hard; in some cases, they do not have cash to pay their bills as a result. Manufacturers are also beginning to feel the effect of the strike on their order books. Read the story.

75 years ago

Sept. 12, 1947: The newly organized Bank of Pontiac had received deposits at the close of business amounting to $1,077,459.43, according to Myron Heins, cashier. The bank, which opened with a state charter and capital stock of $60,000, a surplus of $30,000 and a reserve of $30,000, is successor to the Illinois State Savings bank, which announced voluntary liquidation last June. Read the story.

50 years ago

Sept. 12, 1972: Dr. Theodore Reed, director of the National Zoological Park Bureau of Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., told the Bloomington City Council that Miller Park Zoo is clean and its animals are in excellent condition. However, he said, facilities need to be modernized. The polar bear, in particular, should have an upgraded habitat, and should be loaned to another zoo in the meantime. Read the story.

25 years ago

Sept. 12, 1997: More than 900 people from seven states have visited a five-acre corn maze created near L'Erable, about 15 miles from Kanakee, since it opened Labor Day weekend. It was created by Eric Shule, his father George Shule and sisters Renee Byarley and Sheila Schmidt. The maze features more than three miles of 60-inch-wide trails through corn that is 10 to 12 feet high. Read the story.
LOCAL MEDAL OF HONOR AWARDEE TO BE RECOGNIZED

A special ceremony will be held at Evergreen Cemetery in Bloomington to honor Private Joseph Kimball, a Civil War soldier who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor on May 3, 1865. Kimballs CMH burial marker was mistakenly placed on another Joseph Kimballs gravesite many years before. Due to dedication and much hard work by VA historians and the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, this error is now being corrected. The ceremony at Evergreen Cemetery will commence at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 17, and will include attendance by Betsy Tietz, a family member of Kimball who lives in the Decatur area, and Ray Johnston, who works with the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. All veterans and members of the public are invited to attend and bestow the honor Kimball greatly deserves.

POW/MIA RECOGNITION DAY

POW/MIA Recognition Day is commemorated on the third Friday of September  on Sept. 16 this year. The phrase You Are Not Forgotten on the POW/MIA flag clearly declares the purpose of the POW/MIA Recognition Day. According to a Congressional Research Service report on POWs, 130,201 World War II service members were imprisoned, and 14,072 of them died. A total of 7,140 Korean War service members were imprisoned, and 2,701 of them died. And 725 Vietnam service members were imprisoned, while 64 of them died. Thirty-seven service members were imprisoned during conflicts since 1991, including both Gulf Wars. None are still in captivity. According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, 83,114 Americans who fought in those wars are still missing, including: 73,515 from World War II, 7,841 from the Korean War, 1,626 from Vietnam, 126 from the Cold War, and six from conflicts since 1991. Of those service members who are still missing, it is believed that more than 41,000 have been presumed lost at sea. Veterans organizations have ceremonies commemorating the POW/MIA issues, including the POW/MIA ceremony that opens regular meetings of the American Legion at all legion gatherings.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, U.S. AIR FORCE

The Air Force celebrates its 75th birthday on Sept. 18! Just four years after the Wright Brothers conducted the worlds first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1903, the U.S. Army Signal Corps created an Aeronautical Division and put it in charge of all matters pertaining to military ballooning, air machines and all kindred subjects. Hence the Air Force became a part of the nations military forces. On July 26, 1947, President Harry Truman signed the National Security Act on board the presidential aircraft, the "Sacred Cow," which set the creation of the USAF in motion. Happy birthday!

VA INTERIM FINAL RULE ISSUED CONCERNING ABORTION

VA will be able to offer abortion counseling and abortions to pregnant veterans and VA beneficiaries in cases of rape, incest or when the life or health of the veteran would be endangered if the pregnancy were carried to term  in accordance with generally accepted standards of medical practice. VA beneficiaries enrolled in CHAMPVA will also have access to this care. Determination that the life and health of the veteran would be endangered will be determined on a case-by-case basis between patient and doctor. In case of rape or incest, self-reporting from a veteran or VA beneficiary will constitute sufficient evidence that an act of rape or incest occurred. VA employees, when working within the scope of their federal employment, may provide authorized services regardless of state restrictions. For more information, visit www.VA.gov/ReproductiveHealth. This change was made administratively and not legislatively, and no explanation of its relationship to the overturning of Roe v. Wade was included in the announcement.
The Deputy Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Bright Wireko-Brobbey, has emphasized the importance of Precision Quality (PQ) in the countrys industrialization agenda.



He said it is essential for the country to adopt new emerging ways to meet standards regionally and globally.



Precision Quality ensures quality service delivery that meet clients requirement he said.



He was speaking at the 2022 Design and Technology Institute (DTI) in partnership with the Mastercard Foundations, Precision Quality Conference in Accra, themed, the Precision Quality Policy Framework: A Building Block for Systems Change and Industrial Transformation.



He said PQ enhances the integration of young people and equips them to meet industrial standards in the workplace.



Mr. Wireko-Brobbey further noted that the approval of the National Quality Policy by Cabinet will add value to the Ghanaian labour force and raise the quality of local products to meet international standardization.



Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of DTI, Constance Swaniker said the organisation has been working closely with the National Development planning Committee (NDPC), Ghana Standards Board, and commission for TVET to champion the need for Precision Quality especially among the informal sector.



She said the informal sector form about 80 per cent of the job market but lacks Precision Quality standards which is key to them scaling up.



She said in the last few months DTI has been working closely with the associations to conduct trainings for people in the informal sector at their level of understanding which then opens and leaches potentials for job creation.



Ms. Swaniker indicated that the purpose of the conference was to bring all the different players across different sectors from both public and private together to have conversations on how to unlock potentials for job in this country.



Rosy Fynn Ghana Country Head, Mastercard Foundation, said the labour market is leaving a large number of young people scrambling to find employment opportunities.



She said the lack of a steady income makes it extremely difficult for young people to move out of poverty and to achieve their full potential hence Mastercard Foundations partnership with organisations like DTI to train and help young people find work that is fulfilling and dignified.



She said the three-year partnership increased enrolment by 52% for the 2021/2022 academic year and broadened the curriculum through the introduction of competence-based courses and in-demand programs including innovation and entrepreneurship to help shape the minds of the next generation of entrepreneurs.



For us at the Foundation, this is a clear example of what is possible when you are intentional about creating systemic outcomes and galvanizing the relevant stakeholders around a national challenge, she said.

Source: dailyguidenetwork.com









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The National Convenor for the 2022 United Nations/UNESCO Transforming Education Summit (TES), Dr. Michael Boakye-Yiadom held a press briefing in Accra to update the media on stakeholder meetings held so far to craft Ghanas Commitment Statement for the Summit.



The Transforming Education Summit is taking place from the 16th to 19 September 2022 in New York, USA.



It would be recalled that in June 2022, Dr. Michael Boakye-Yiadom, was appointed by the President of the Republic of Ghana, through the Hon. Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, as the National Convenor for the 2022 United Nations/UNESCO Transforming Education Summit (TES).



His responsibilities included supporting the Ministry of Education to provide leadership for the successful planning and implementation of the Transforming Education Summits (TES) Pre-Summit in Paris in June and the Main Summit in September 2022 in New York City.



The National Convenor mentioned in his address that, the Deputy Minister for Education  Honourable John Ntim Fordjour, led a delegation to attend the TES Pre-Summit in Paris after Ghana had held its first consultative meeting; a pre-requisite for attending the Pre-Summit. After the Pre-Summit in Paris, muti-sectoral national consultations, as well as engagements with stakeholders and the media, were held to help Ghana select a Thematic Action Track which would inform the crafting of Ghanas commitment statement to the Summit.



The President of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo is one of over 154 countries across the globe that will make a commitment to a Thematic Action Track at the Transforming Education Summit. The five Thematic Action Tracks identified by UNESCO to guide meeting the 2030 Agenda and its education-related goals and targets are Inclusive, equitable, safe and healthy schools; Learning and skills for life, work and sustainable development; Teachers, teaching and the teaching profession; Digital learning and transformation and Financing of education.



The National Convenor explained at the press briefing that four national consultations were organized to gather inputs, contributions and comments from stakeholders and this led to Ghana committing to Thematic Action Track 2 - learning and skills for life, work and sustainable development.



Dr. Boakye-Yiadom stressed that all the other Thematic Action Tracks were inputs whilst Thematic Action Track 2 was an output. He stated that to what end are inclusive equitable education, the teacher and the teaching profession, digital transformation and financing education if they are not to create graduates who have skills for life, work and sustainable development?



On the diversity of stakeholders for the national consultations, Dr. Boakye-Yiadom indicated that stakeholders were drawn from these groups: students; members of youth groups; the differently-abled persons; representatives from rural farming and fishing communities; the private sector, gender advocates; the development partners; representatives from both tertiary and pre-tertiary school; artisans; the unemployed; the media; prisoners enrolled in educational institutions; traders; representatives from government agencies and ministries; among others. He asserted that these stakeholder consultations did not only help craft Ghanas commitment but also served as a highlight to the importance of inclusive and equitable education and promoting lifelong learning.



The Transforming Education Summit is a key initiative launched by the UN Secretary-General (SG), Antonio Guterres, in September 2021.



Bringing together global, national and local education stakeholders and actors, it offers an opportunity for inclusive, networked and effective global dialogue on the types of coordinated actions needed to reverse the slide on progress toward SDG4, to ensure that lessons are learned from pandemic responses for resilience, social prosperity and environmental sustainability in the post-COVID world, and to think big on how we imagine education systems of the future.

Source: Transforming Education Summit (TES)









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More details have surfaced about how a Chinese woman, Wan Shanghong alias Magee, conspired with her friend, Liu Yang to allegedly own 50% shares in the Big Stone Mining Company Limited at Bogoso in the Western Region.



Investigations have revealed that Magee, who was employed as a translator at the company, capitalised on the deficiency of the owner of the company in the English language to allegedly forge documents and register 50% of shares in the name of Liu Yang.



Reliable sources intimate that between 2016 and 2019, the owner transferred about $800,000 from China to Magee and Liu Yang for the establishment of the company, which they reportedly misappropriated.



Apart from her deals at the Big Stone Mining Company, Magee, who is said to have the support of some officers at the Jubilee House and the police, had also been engaged in various deals, which landed her in the police station but, she was always left off the hook.



Investigations indicated that she has been emboldened in her acts by the support she is receiving from some state officials.



Her alleged criminal activities have also been reported to the Chinese Embassy in Ghana.



Petition



The questionable activities of Magee had led four Chinese organisations to call on the Attorney General and Minister of Justice to delve into the legal tussle over the shareholding rights of Big Stone Mining Company.



Appalled by the blatant disregard for the rule of law demonstrated by Magee and the police, the organisations prayed the Ghanaian judicial system protects the basic rights of Chinese companies that are legally doing business in Ghana.



In separate petitions, the organisations - Ghana Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Fujian Chamber of Commerce - China, Hebei Chamber of Commerce-China, and Ghana-China Friendship Association (GHACHIFA) - want the Attorney General, the Chief Justice, and the Ghana Police Service to exhibit fairness and impartiality in the developments in the company, and crack down on any acts that are in contravention of the laws of Ghana.



They believe that the recent forcible take over of the factory was in clear disregard for the rule of law in Ghana, and vowed to ensure that the laws of Ghana are applied to ensure the protection of legitimate Chinese businesses in the country.



Ghana Chinese Chamber of Commerce



In their petition, the Ghana Chinese Chamber of Commerce accused Magee of using her political connection at the Jubilee House to collude with the police to infringe on the laws of Ghana in matter involving the Big Stone Mining Company.



The local judicial system should protect the basic rights of our Chinese companies and the personal safety of Chinese employees as well as the employment needs of the local employees, it said.



Fujian Chamber



The Fujian Chamber of Commerce - China, also in their petition said Ghana is a country of laws and therefore nobody should be allowed to take the laws into their own hands.



Their petition was copied to the Chief Justice of Ghana and the Inspector General of Police.



Hebei Chamber



In their petition, the Hebei Chamber of Commerce said Big Stone Mining Company Limited, which is legally registered in Ghana has been law abiding.



" We are aware of the legal matter concerning the shareholding rights of the Big Stone Mining Company Limited, and we are delighted that, the management of the company has, in the face of all the provocations, decided to use the laws of Ghana to battle their case," the petition signed by the President of the Chamber, Zhu Bunguang said



GHACHIFA position



GHACHIFA, in a statement signed by its Secretary General, Benjamin Anyagre, said the association had been following developments at the Big Stone Mining Company and believes that the Ghanaian judicial system should protect expatriates doing legal business in the country.



Expressing disgust at how police illegally occupied the factory at Bogoso, the association said although the police have withdrawn, upon some legal interventions, it was important that the due process was allowed to settle the shareholding litigation which is before court.



Search for Magee



Meanwhile, police in Bogoso have mounted a search for Magee, for allegedly stealing cash and other valuables at the Big Stone Mining Company.



A staff of the company filed a complaint with the police on September 9, 2022 against Magee, who also works with the company.



According to the complainant, on August 18, 2022, at about 10am, Magee went to the factory with armed policemen, dragged all the workers out and took control over the factory.



Maggie also allegedly broke into the offices and replaced the doors with new locks and made away with various items and cash.









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Mr Kennedy Amissah-Dadson, Lay Preacher at Emmaus Society, Methodist Church Ghana, has admonished Christians to show true repentance unto God and turn from ungodly deeds.



As a Christian community, it is important for us to live a life of true repentance to attract others into the faith.



We dont need to be repented of something and go back to do the same thing again. This does not show true repentance to God, he reiterated.



Mr Amissah-Dadson said this when he preached on a sermon titled, Repentance.



The Preacher explained that true repentance involved one recognizing wrong, having true remorse for doing wrong and being committed never to repeat the act regardless of the temptations or situation.



He said Christians needed to live lives worthy of their calling as followers of Jesus Christ, and eschew anything that was contrary to the faith.



Mr Amissah-Dadson stressed that such lives would attract others to the Christian faith, and distinguished them from the rest of the world.



The Christian journey is a call to living transformed lives, he added.







Source: GNA









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Madam Akpene Dumor, the President of Kadjebi Bread Bakers Association has advised women to support their husbands financially, materially and spiritually for the upkeep of children.



She said women should stop complaining that they did not have money, but rather persevere in whatever job they found themselves and used the little they got to support the education of their children.



Madam Dumor made these statements at the graduation of nine bread baking apprentices at Kadjebi in the Oti Region.



The President said where society had gotten to, the upkeep of children, especially; their education and apprenticeship could not be left on the shoulders of men only but its a collective responsibility.



She also asked women to be humble and submissive to their husbands as commanded by God and they shall progress in whatever activity they undertook.



Mr. Gershon Bosoka, Catechist, Evangelical Presbyterian (E.P) Church, counseled the graduates to learn how to communicate with their customers, so as not to scare them away.



He said talking politely and respecting the views of customers would make them keep up with them to make their chosen vocation flourish.







Source: GNA









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Your beauty exists only in your looks  Kwesi Pratt slams IMF boss over comment on Ghanas economy



Managing editor of the Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr, has chastised the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, over recent comments she made on Ghanas economy.



Madam Georgieva stated after a closed-door meeting with President Akufo-Addo that Ghanas challenges were not a result of bad policies of the government but rather the effect of the RussiaUkraine war and the Covid-19 pandemic.



First the pandemic, then Russias war in Ukraine. We need to realize that it is not because of bad policies in the country but because of this combination of shocks, and, therefore, we have to support Ghana, she said.



But speaking on Pan African TV over the weekend, Kwesi Pratt wondered if the support will succeed after no panacea had been found to Ghanas challenges seventeen times it has solicited help from IMF.



He also pointed to Cedis performance as a further basis to punch holes in the argument of the IMF directors statement that Russia, despite all its challenges, had a strong currency as it was backed up by gold.



The veteran journalist described the comments made by the IMF Director as horrible and in sharp contrast with her beautiful looks.



Beautiful, elegant woman with a big post at the International Monetary Fund, the managing director opens her mouth and this is what she says. What is happening? When I saw a picture of the woman I said what! what a beautiful woman; not knowing the beauty is only in the look.



"When she opened her mouth foul, you dodge. What is this? The thing is so bad, her statement is so horrible that now it is not only opposition parties who are punching holes in what she said. Leading campaigners of New Patriotic Party, leading advocates of the New Patriotic Party are coming forward and saying that ah, this womanno no nodont do that to us. We are not dummies, Kwesi Pratt said.



A member of the New Patriotic Party, Dr. Amoako Baah, since the comment by the IMF Director has said that President Akufo-Addo has now corrupted even the IMF because he asked Madam Georgieva to make the comment she made.



Meanwhile, Madam Georgieva is optimistic that a deal between Ghana and the IMF should be reached and finalized before the end of the year.



Ghana is said to be targeting an amount of $3 billion over three years from the International Monetary Fund once an agreement on a programme is reached. The new amount requested as a loan was double the governments initial target of $1.5 billion.

Source: ghanaweb.com









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Three Kitwe women have been arrested by police for circulating, what is now a viral, sex video with a mentally challenged man.



The incident occurred on 4th September at Mindolo market and has now sparked an outrage from members of the public, especially in Zambia where the incident occurred. Copperbelt Deputy Commissioner of Police Sharon Zulu confirmed the arrest of the suspects identified as Thandiwe Phiri, Kangwa Chembeya and Mary Mugala. She said they were arrested after a tip-off from a member of the public.



Zulu said;



Brief facts are that, on September 4th around 14:00 hours, the three were drinking beer at the house they share in Mindolo. As they were drinking, the three called the victim, a mental patient who stays within their area and gave him beers to drink. When he got drunk, they enticed him to have carnal knowledge with Phiri while Chembeya took a video of the act.









Read Full Story .... lindaikejisblog.com/ >>> :

















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The Executive Assistant Director for Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) of the United States, Eric Goldstein, has disclosed that social media in this modern era of communication is a perfect tool for communication in the cyber space.



According to him, if institutions are going to reach the broad stakeholders, it is vital to adopt the right security measures and all levels of communication must be employed including social media.



Speaking to selected journalists undergoing a virtual cybersecurity training by the U.S. Foreign Press center, the U.S. CISAs Executive Assistant Director intimated that social media has become the global fabric for instant communication and that it has become very necessary for it to be used to reach a larger audience in the bid to educate and the need to protect the cyber space from cyber-attacks.



"If we are going to reach the broad stakeholders that we need to be in touch with to drive adoption of the right security measures, we need to use all levers of communication. And that includes of course in this modern era social media, and so we do a wide range of media availability sessions. Of course, we are ubiquitous on the conference circuit. Just this week in D.C. we are at a major conference called Billington where weve been speaking with the media all week".



"But we also think that social media is really important here, right? That is now really the global fabric for instant communication. Of course, our Director, Jen Easterly, has a significant presence on Twitter and other social media channels, and we have found that to be really effective in getting the word out to stakeholders around the world in a really rapid, frictionless way".



The CISAs Executive Assistant Director for Cybersecurity Eric Goldstein further reiterated that journalists play a key role in ensuring the safety of the cyber space and in as much as they using the traditional medium to educate the public they need to focus their attention on the new era and brand of communication which is the social media .



We at CISA believe that journalist have a major role to play in disseminating information and we entreat you to adopt modern forms communication including the new norm in order to reach a larger audience.



Highlighting the work of CISA, Mr. Goldstein explained that they bring together partners to engage in this continuous information sharing, planning, and enrichment.



"One great example of this work in execution is our Shields Up effort, which we initiated subsequent to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, when we brought together partners, including international partners across Europe and around the world, to rapidly understand evolving malicious cyber activity targeting Ukrainian networks and enabled us to produce products, information, guidance to help organizations not just here in the U.S.



He continued We know that combating Cybersecurity threat cannot be done by government alone, we need a collaborative effort of everybody including the various stakeholders especially journalist who reach a larger audience in their line of work.



About CISA (CYBERSECURITY AND INFRASTRUCTURE SECURITY AGENCY)



CISA has the privilege of serving as Americas Computer Emergency Response Team, or Americas CERT. And in that role, we engage in operational collaboration every day with over 100 countries around the world with their respective cyber defense organizations, because we know that malicious cyber actors are almost never targeting organizations in only one country.













Source: Isaac Kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline/[email protected]









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The Electoral Commission (EC) has called on the National Identification Authority (NIA) to accelerate the pace of the printing of Ghana cards to make it easy for people to acquire their cards, as they will soon be the only form of ID for voter registration.



This follows the confirmation by the EC that it has decided to scrap the guarantor system and rather now use the Ghana Card for the compilation of a voter register for the 2024 general election.



Speaking at the Let the Citizens Know series in Accra last Thursday, the Chairperson of the EC, Jean Mensa, said the commission was aware that the NIA had some challenges in issuing and distributing Ghana cards to Ghanaians, but those hitches were surmountable.



She said the EC had already engaged the NIA, which had given an assurance that the cards would be issued to Ghanaians to help them register.



"We have engaged the NIA and it has assured us that the cards will be issued to Ghanaians to help them register.



More to the point, we have two clear years to the 2024 elections and so people will not be disenfranchised when we use only the Ghana Card for registration.



We thus call on the NIA to make the process of acquiring the cards easier and more efficient to ensure that all eligible voters are able to get their cards and be able to register, she said.



No more guarantor system



Mrs Mensa, explaining why the EC had decided to do away with the guarantor system, said the system, which allowed registered voters to serve as witnesses to authenticate the nationality of prospective registrants, was fraught with challenges, as it created a window for minors and foreigners to infiltrate the voters register.



She said despite the guarantor system not being a better way of identifying prospective registrants citizenship, it had been used for about three decades because of the absence of a national identification document such as the one issued by the NIA, adding that now that there was a national identification card, there was no need to hang on to the guarantor system.



"We do not believe that we should still keep the guarantor system when we have the Ghana Card as the best way of determining who is a Ghanaian. People take advantage of the guarantor system and turn themselves into contractors during voter registration. This is not a system we should encourage at all, going forward," she said.



Situation



Since Ghana returned to constitutional rule, the EC has periodically compiled voters registers.



Until now, the modes of identification had been a valid passport, a national ID, an existing voter ID, or two guarantors for those who had no form of ID. Those guarantors were persons already registered and issued with voter cards.



Last July, the EC placed before Parliament a draft C.I., titled: Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations, 2021, which is expected to regulate continuous voter registration.



The intention is to amend the laws to now have the Ghana Card as the only accepted form of ID for all prospective registrants.



The C.I. has been referred to the Subsidiary Legislation Committee of Parliament.



That decision has drawn some criticisms and reactions from various stakeholders, including a former EC Chairman, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan.



In an article exclusively published in the Daily Graphic, Dr Afari-Gyan, who chaired the EC from 1992 to 2015, said the decision of the EC to use the Ghana Card as the only form of continuous voter registration would result in the disenfranchisement of millions of qualified Ghanaians.



He said many Ghanaians were finding it difficult to obtain the Ghana Card and so making it the only form of identification for voter registration was against electoral inclusivity, fairness and justice.



Integrity of register



However, the Deputy Commissioner of the EC in charge of Operations, Samuel Tettey, also at the Let the Citizens know series, explained that the decision to do away with the guarantor system in the continuous voter registration would help preserve the integrity of the poll book.



Today, 30 years on, we cannot continue to use a system that is fraught with challenges when we have a credible system, that is, the Ghana Card, in place, he stressed.



He added that scrapping the guarantor system would save the country a huge amount of money that would have been spent on cleaning up the register of unqualified registrants.



To rid the register of minors and foreigners, the EC established the District Registration Review Committees which sat on several days and weeks in all the districts to expunge the names of minors and foreigners from the register.



This comes at a huge cost to the commission. It is an unnecessary, wasteful and time-consuming exercise that arises as a result of guarantors guaranteeing for persons who are not qualified and we should not condone it, he said.



He stressed that scrapping the guarantor system and using the Ghana Card would prevent foreigners from influencing elections or having a say as to who governed the country.



Case for NIA cards



Mr Tettey said the 2012 National Identity Register Regulations, Legislative Instrument 2111, Regulation 7 (1), stipulated that a national identity card issued to an individual shall be used for a number of transactions where identification is required.



One of the mandatory transactions stated in Regulation 7 (1) j is the registration of voters, he said.



He observed that although the Ghana Card was not the only requirement for registration, at the end of the registration exercise in 2020, over 60 per cent (10 million) of registered voters had used the Ghana Card as the main source of identification.



This means that two years ago about 10 million Ghanaians registered with the Ghana Card. We are reliably informed that over 17 million Ghanaians have registered for the card as of last month and about 16 million Ghana cards had been issued.



On the strength of these numbers, we are convinced that the one million applicants we expect to register as of now following the last registration exercise in 2020 are more likely to possess the Ghana Card.



For our part, as the institution mandated by the 1992 Republican Constitution to compile the register of voters and revise it at such intervals as may be determined by law, we will do everything in our power to register all qualified applicants who wish to register as voters. Our goal is to ensure that no one is left behind, he emphasised.

Source: Graphiconline









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A 43-year-old Ghanaian businessman living in the United Kingdom, Ernest Kwaku Kobeah, has disclosed his intention to contest the opposition NDC presidential primaries.



Mr. Kobeah said he would beat former President John Mahama, who is tipped to win the NDC presidential primaries ahead of the 2024 elections.



Although former Finance Minister and business mogul, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, has also been working hard to lead the party into the 2024 presidential elections, Mr. Kobeah says he will pull a surprise.



He is confident that if given the nod by Ghanaians, he would bring his expertise in sanitation, construction and security to bear for Ghanas benefit.



Ready To Lead NDC



He said even though Ghana, over the years has witnessed different regimes from 1992 to date, the aspirations of the people have not been met.



He said the failure on the part of governments to deliver on their promises was due to international and local economic causes.



According to Mr. Kobeah, he believes given his over 20 years stay in the UK, and his expertise in the construction sector, he stands a better chance to beat Mr. Mahama.



Experience



The businessman continued that he has contributed to creating good sanitation environment in the United Kingdom through his company, City Expert, which is a key player in the UKs sewage construction system, adding his company has been used to win UK Government construction contracts due to its excellent delivery.



His company, City Expert Group, has built several sky-scrapers in the United Kingdom.



He says he is ready to make Ghana develop to the standards in the UK.

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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" " Each continent has its own list of popular last names. Some even cross continents. HowStuffWorks

While the Chinese have been using surnames since 2852 B.C.E., they're a modern invention elsewhere. Europeans adopted them in roughly the 15th century, while Turkey only started requiring them in 1934.

Scholars say cultures that use surnames generally employed them to describe one of five characteristics:

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patronymics (names that tell who your father or ancestors are  Johnson literally means John's son)

occupations (the last name Miller tells you the person is descended from millers)

toponymics (home region  e.g., Monte is Portuguese for mountain)

personal characteristics (personality or appearance, like Short, Long or Daft)

clans or tribes

Yet not every last name fits into one of these categories. Enslaved people were often forced to take the surnames of their subjugators, which is why many Blacks in the U.S. have European surnames such as Williams, Davis or Jackson. In fact, when you look at the most common surnames around the globe, you'll see they reflect the world's most dominant colonizers: the English, Spanish, Chinese and Muslims.

In English-speaking cultures, it's long been the custom for women to change their birth last name to their husband's upon marriage. (That practice has been on the decline since the 19th-century feminist movements, though.) And in Mexico, people are given two surnames: the father's surname followed by the mother's (for example, Catalina Gonzalez Martinez.) When addressing someone, though, the protocol is to use only the father's surname, so Catalina would be called Catalina Gonzalez.

Then there's the issue of migration. When people migrate to another country or culture, they may alter their surname to better match that of their new homeland. Take 20th-century immigrants to the U.S. Many Anglicized their surnames to better assimilate into U.S. culture, or simplified them because their surnames were difficult for Americans to spell or pronounce. So a Polish surname such as Ziolkowski, for example, might have been shortened to Zill. Other times, illiterate immigrants didn't realize a clerk, census worker or other official had misspelled their surname. Thus, a Joseph Heyer may have unwittingly become Joseph Hire.

Despite all of these complexities, or sometimes because of them, certain surnames dominate various corners of the globe. Yet there's no doubt about which surname is the most popular in the world: Wang. More than 106 million people have the surname Wang, a Mandarin term for prince or king. It's not too surprising that the top surname is Chinese, as China has the world's largest population. As of 2022, it was home to 1.45 billion people, or 18.5 percent of the world's total.

The reason Wang tops all other Chinese last names may be traced to the Xin dynasty, which began in 9 C.E. and was headed by Emperor Wang Mang. Mang and his Xin dynasty took away power from the Liu family, who were successors of the Han dynasty, so many royal families adopted this surname to protect their lives and wealth. From there, the name greatly proliferated throughout the centuries.

Now let's take a look at the most common surnames in each populated continent, according to genealogy website Forebears.
Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong (C) distributes food relief packages to people affected by severe flooding in the tribal area of Dera Bugti in Balochistan province, Pakistan, Sept. 11, 2022. Food relief packages from China were distributed on Sunday in Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province amid the recent severe flooding in the South Asian country.(Xinhua/Jiang Chao)

DERA BUGTI, Pakistan, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Food relief packages from China were distributed on Sunday in Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province amid the recent severe flooding in the South Asian country.

The ceremony was held in the tribal area of Dera Bugti in Balochistan province, attended by over 800 local victims hit by the flood.

Speaking at the ceremony, Pakistan's Minister For Narcotics Control Nawabzada Shazain Bugti thanked China for its timely help when Pakistan is suffering from heavy floods.

"China has always stood with Pakistan as a brother when we faced these hard times," Bugti said, adding that Pakistan looks forward to deepening cooperation with China to improve infrastructure construction in the fields of education, medical care and others.

On the occasion, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong said that the Chinese government attaches great importance to assisting the Pakistani brothers and sisters who are being hit by the floods, as the two countries have a long tradition of helping each other in times of crisis.

"The Chinese people will never forget that Pakistan donated all of its strategic reserve tents when a strong earthquake hit Wenchuan in China's Sichuan Province in 2008," said the ambassador.

He said that China looks forward to strengthening win-win cooperation with Pakistan and making joint efforts to build a better homeland.

According to the latest data by the country's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), a total of 1,396 people have been killed and 12,728 others injured in rain-related accidents in Pakistan since mid-June. 
A Philippine Marine gestures at a Chinese Coast Guard vessel which tries to block a Philippine Government vessel AM700 from approaching the Second Thomas Shoal (local name Ayungin Shoal) to resupply and replace fellow marines who were deployed for almost five months Saturday, March 29, 2014 off South China Sea on the West Philippine Sea. (PHOTO: AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

China has continued to militarize the West Philippine Sea despite numerous diplomatic protests already filed by the Philippine government against them, a Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) official said.

During the Senate committee on foreign relations hearing on Thursday (Sep 8), Foreign Assistant Secretary for Maritime and Ocean Affairs Maria Angela Ponce said that 172 protests have already been filed against China as of August 31 on top of the 388 diplomatic protests previously filed under the Duterte administration.

In response, committee chair Senator Imee Marcos questioned the effectiveness of the said diplomatic protests against China.

Whats the point of sending hundreds of hundreds of protests aside from, well, annoying both parties? Its embarrassing when you keep on writing to them, only to be ignored. You lose your dignity and respect, and it doesnt look good, Marcos said.

Ponce replied that filing protests was an assertion of our rights under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 2016 Arbitral Award.

Meanwhile, DFA Secretary Enrique Manalo agreed with Sen. Marcos that filing diplomatic protests might not succeed on their own and needs to be backed with other means such as consultations.

Manalo earlier expressed interest in joint oil and gas exploration with China, which caught the attention of former DFA Secretary Albert del Rosario who said that there is no need to wait for Chinas blessing for the Philippines to explore the disputed sea.

At this time of increasing energy prices besetting the lives of our countrymen, political will is needed to enforce our rights over the oil and gas in the West Philippine Sea, so that our country will be able to benefit from new energy sources, del Rosario said.

We hope to see this political will as President Marcos Jr. will need to find new energy sources to support our country in the coming years and he has to face China to do this, he added.

Illegal presence

Chinas coast guard on the disputed sea remains aggressive as it continues to threaten and harass Filipino fishermen in the territory.

Story continues

Aside from this, China continues its illegal fishing, illegal presence, and unauthorized marine scientific research in the WPS, according to Defense Undersecretary Angelito de Leon in the same hearing.

The current situation in the West Philippine Sea remains to be worth looking into because there are certain concerns on security. In broad strokes, the swarming incidents continue, de Leon said.

Despite the arbitral ruling of The Hague in favor of the Philippines in 2016, China has continued to reject the decision, further militarizing the Philippine waters with former President Rodrigo Duterte being more friendly with China during his term.

Pola Rubio is a news writer and photojournalist covering Philippine politics and events. She regularly follows worldwide and local happenings. She advocates for animal welfare and press freedom. Follow her on Twitter @polarubyo for regular news and cat postings.

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A protestor, maintaining social distancing from others to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), holds a placard that reads "Human Rights Defenders are not terrorists" during a rally against the anti-terror bill that was approved by President Rodrigo Duterte the day before, in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, July 4, 2020. (Photo: REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez)

As the 51st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) opens Monday (September 12), Human Rights Watch (HRW) is calling on the body, and other UN member states, to take a stronger resolution in addressing the human rights situation in the Philippines.

In a statement, HRW said that the Philippine governments war on drugs, the signature policy of the former President Rodrigo Duterte's administration, continues to this day, citing a study conducted by the University of the Philippines Third World Studies, Dahas.

The said study revealed that there have already been 72 reported drug-related killings after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took office on June 30.

UN member states should not be fooled by the baseless claims from the Philippine government that the rights situation has suddenly improved, Lucy McKernan, HRWs Geneva director, said.

Continued UN scrutiny of the Philippines is vitally important because drug war killings are still common and police impunity for rights violations remains the norm, she added.

Figure from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in its report Situation of human rights in the Philippines pegged the death toll from the drug war at 8,663, although the Philippine Commission on Human Rights (CHR), and other human rights organizations in the Philippines, said that the real figure is probably thrice the number.

In June of this year, International Criminal Courts (ICC) Prosecutor, Karim Khan, asked for the reopening of the investigation after finding out that the Philippines has not acted upon any investigation on its nationals or others within its jurisdiction on crimes related to the drug war.

I have concluded that the deferral request by the Philippines is not warranted and that the investigation should resume as quickly as possible, Khan said.

Meanwhile, the Philippine government, in a comment submitted to the ICC through the Philippine Embassy at The Hague, said that the reopening of the investigation is not warranted.

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HRW said that the continuing dire situation of human rights in the Philippines should concern UN member states, and must adopt a strong resolution in its 51st session to expand the human rights monitoring mechanisms under the UN Joint Program, an independent body created in 2020 by the UNHRC to help institutions in the Philippines in protecting human rights.

They are also calling on President Marcos to end the drug war and prioritize accountability for unlawful killings, including freeing former Senator Leila de Lima, and appoint human rights experts in the CHR so that it can investigate and help prosecute human rights violations.

UN member states should make sure they dont drop the ball on the Philippines and instead strengthen the Human Rights Councils efforts to improve human rights in the country, McKernan said.

Filipinos who suffered the most during the Duterte administration are looking to the Human Rights Council to help them achieve justice for themselves and their loved ones, McKernan added.

Marvin Joseph Ang is a news and creative writer who follows developments on politics, democracy, and popular culture. He advocates for a free press and national democracy. Follow him on Twitter at @marvs30ang for latest news and updates.

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President Joe Biden speaks before boarding Air Force One at Columbus International Airport in Columbus, Ohio, Friday, Sep. 9, 2022, after attending a groundbreaking for a new Intel computer chip facility in New Albany, Ohio. Credit: AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

President Joe Biden is launching a new initiative to encourage biotech production and research in the U.S., the latest move by the White House to boost domestic industry.

Biden on Monday signed an executive order implementing the initiative and later, in remarks at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston, will address how biotech can help fight cancer. On Wednesday, the Democratic president's administration will host a summit and announce new investments from several federal agencies, according to a White House fact sheet.

The initiative will seek to boost biomanufacturing in pharmaceuticals but also in other industries such as agriculture, plastics and energy. A senior administration official wouldn't say how much funding will be announced Wednesday.

Biomanufacturing processes can program microbes to make specialty chemicals and compounds, the fact sheet said. Biomanufacturing can be used to make alternatives to oil-based chemicals, plastics and textiles.

The executive order follows bipartisan legislation Biden signed last month that provided $52 billion to subsidize the production of semiconductors, construction of new chip plants and research and development in the United States.

That legislation was intended to reduce the U.S. economy's reliance on semiconductors made overseas, particularly in Taiwan, and to respond to greater efforts by China to develop its own chip industry.

Biden touted the benefits of the semiconductor law on Friday, in a stop in Columbus, Ohio, where chip giant Intel has broken ground on a new $20 billion factory.

The administration official, who wasn't authorized to speak publicly and insisted on anonymity, said the White House wants to support manufacturing biotech products that are developed in the U.S., rather than seeing American innovations produced abroad.

The official said that the administration was aiming to expand domestic biomanufacturing capacity and that other countries, especially China, have been aggressively investing in the sector, posing risks to U.S. leadership and competitiveness.

Explore further Biden signs $280B CHIPS act in bid to boost US over China

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Artist's impression of CHEOPS space telescope. Credit: ESA / ATG Medialab

After 1,000 days in orbit around the Earth, the CHEOPS space telescope shows almost no signs of wear. Under these conditions, it could continue to reveal the fascinating details of many exoplanets for many years to come. CHEOPS is a joint mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) and Switzerland, led by the University of Bern (UNIBE) in collaboration with the University of Geneva (UNIGE).

Since its launch from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana, on December 18, 2019, the CHEOPS telescope in Earth's orbit has demonstrated its functionality and precision beyond expectations. During this time, it has revealed the characteristics of numerous fascinating planets beyond our solar system (exoplanets) and has become a key instrument for astronomers in Europe and worldwide.

In over 1 million of minutes of observation time, CHEOPS has revealed exoplanets from every angle: their night sides when they pass in front of their stars, their day sides when they pass behind their stars and all the phases in between, just like the moon. "The precise data we collected from CHEOPS has borne fruits: Over fifty scientific papers have been published or are in the process of being submitted by over a hundred scientists forming the CHEOPS Science Team and working at dozens of institutions all over Europe," reports Willy Benz, Professor Emeritus of astrophysics at the University of Bern and head of the CHEOPS consortium.

The international scientific team has accomplished this despite not being able to meet physically to operate the instrument due to the pandemic. Now, for the first time since the launch of CHEOPS, all involved scientists can finally meet in Padua, Italy, from 12 to 14 September. "It is the first time in three years that we can finally get together," mission scientist David Ehrenreich and Professor of astronomy at the University of Geneva says. "It feels amazing to celebrate what we have discovered in 1,000 days and discuss what we will do next."

Findings include, for example, the characterization of blisteringly hot, iron-evaporating atmospheres on planets that are so close to their stars that they are deformed into rugby-ball shapes by the immense gravitational forces. "By detecting a system with six planets, of which five orbit their star in a fragile harmony, CHEOPS has also given us glimpses into the formation of planetary systems," Ehrenreich says.

Just earlier this year, the space telescope once again demonstrated its astounding precision by measuring the faint light reflected by a planet located 159 light years away in the constellation Pegasus. "Although this planet, HD 209458b, is certainly the most studied exoplanet ever, we had to wait 22 years for CHEOPS and its amazing precision and dedication to be able to measure the visible light reflected from its atmosphere," Benz says.

A valuable and durable asset

"Even after 1.000 days in orbit, CHEOPS still works like a charm and only shows very small signs of wear, caused by energetic particles emitted by the sun," CHEOPS instrument scientist Andrea Fortier from the University of Bern says. Under these conditions, the researcher expects that CHEOPS could continue to observe other worlds for quite some time. "It will continue its mission around the Earth until at least September 2023 but the CHEOPS team is working with the European Space Agency and the Swiss Space Office to extend the mission until the end of 2025 and possibly even beyond," Fortier says.

The capabilities of CHEOPS could continue to serve the scientific community well, even now that the James Webb Space Telescope is in operation. "We are convinced with its high precision and flexibility, CHEOPS can act as a bridge between other instruments and Webb, as the powerful telescope needs precise information on potentially interesting observation targets. CHEOPS can deliver this informationand thus optimize the operation of Webb," Willy Benz points out. This is already happening, as the Webb telescope will observe, later this year, several systems highlighted by CHEOPS.

Explore further Cover of CHEOPS space telescope open
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

"Crisis" is an incredibly potent word, so it's interesting to witness the way the phrase "climate crisis" has become part of the lingua franca.

Once associated only with a few "outspoken" scientists and activists, the phrase has now gone mainstream.

But what do people understand by the term "climate crisis"? And why does it matter?

The mainstreaming of crisis-talk

It's not only activists or scientists sounding the alarm.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres now routinely employs dramatic phrases like "digging our own graves" when discussing climate. Bill Gates advises us to avoid "climate disaster."

This linguistic mainstreaming marks redrawn battle lines in the "climate wars."

Denialism is in retreat. The climate change debate now is about what is to be done and by whom?

Scientists, using the full authority of their profession, have been key to changing the discourse. The lead authors of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports now pull no punches, talking openly about mass starvation, extinctions and disasters.

These public figures clearly hope to jolt citizens, businesses and governments into radical climate action.

But for many ordinary folks, climate change can seem remote from everyday life. It's not a "crisis" in the immediate way the pandemic has been.

Of course, many believe climate experts have understated the problem for too long.

And yet the new ubiquity of siren terms like climate "crisis," "emergency," "disaster," "breakdown" and "calamity" does not guarantee any shared, let alone credible, understanding of their possible meaning.

This matters because such terms tend to polarize.

Few now doubt the reality of climate change. But how we describe its implications can easily repeat earlier stand-offs between "believers" and "skeptics"; "realists' and "scare-mongerers." The result is yet more political inertia and gridlock.

We will need to do better.

Four ideas for a new way forward

Terms like "climate crisis" are here to stay. But scientists, teachers and politicians need to be savvy. A keen awareness of what other people may think when they hear us shout "crisis!" can lead to better communication.

Here are four ideas to keep in mind.

1. We must challenge dystopian and salvation narratives

A crisis is when things fall apart. We see news reports of crises dailyfloods in Pakistan, economic collapse in Sri Lanka, famine in parts of Africa.

But "climate crisis" signifies something that feels beyond the range of ordinary experience, especially to the wealthy. People quickly reach for culturally available ideas to fill the vacuum.

One is the notion of an all-encompassing societal break down, where only a few survive. Cormac McCarthy's bleak book The Road is one example.

Central to many apocalyptic narratives is the idea technology and a few brave people (usually men) can save the day in the nick of time, as in films like Interstellar.

The problem, of course, is these (often fanciful) depictions aren't suitable ways to interpret what climate scientists have been warning people about. The world is far more complicated.

2. We must bring the climate crisis home and make it present now

Even if they're willing to acknowledge it as a looming crisis, many think climate change impacts will be predominantly felt elsewhere or in the distant future.

The disappearance of Tuvalu as sea levels rise is an existential crisis for its citizens but may seem a remote, albeit tragic, problem to people in Chicago, Oslo or Cape Town.

But the recent floods in eastern Australia and the heatwave in Europe allow a powerful point to be made: no place is immune from extreme weather as the planet heats up.

There won't be a one-size-fits-all global climate crisis as per many Hollywood movies. Instead, people must understand global warming will trigger myriad local-to-regional scale crises.

Many will be on the doorstep, many will last for years or decades. Most will be made worse if we don't act now. Getting people to understand this is crucial.

3. We must explain: a crisis in relation to what?

The climate wars showed us value disputes get transposed into arguments about scientific evidence and its interpretation.

A crisis occurs when events are judged in light of certain values, such as people's right to adequate food, healthcare and shelter.

Pronouncements of crisis need to explain the values that underpin judgements about unacceptable risk, harm and loss.

Historians, philosophers, legal scholars and others help us to think clearly about our values and what exactly we mean when we say "crisis."

4. We must appreciate other crises and challenges matter more to many people

Some are tempted to occupy the moral high ground and imply the climate crisis is so grand as to eclipse all others. This is understandable but imprudent.

It's important to respect other perspectives and negotiate a way forward. Consider, for example, the way author Bjrn Lomborg has questioned the climate emergency by arguing it's not the main threat.

Lomborg was widely pilloried. But his arguments resonated with many. We may disagree with him, but his views are not irrational.

We must seek to understand how and why this kind of argument makes sense to so many people.

Words matter. It's vital terms like "crisis" and "calamity" don't become rhetorical devices devoid of real content as we argue about what climate action to take.

Explore further How can dermatology take action against climate change?

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Large step-like formations of dark volcanic rock like those at Grande Ronde provide evidence of volcanic eruptions from millions of years ago. Credit: Brenhin Keller.

Determining what killed the dinosaurs 66 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous Period has long been the topic of debate, as scientists set out to determine what caused the five mass extinction events that reshaped life on planet Earth in a geological instant.

Some scientists argue that comets or asteroids that crashed into Earth were the most likely agents of mass destruction, while others argue that large volcanic eruptions were the cause. A new Dartmouth-led study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) reports that volcanic activity appears to have been the key driver of mass extinctions.

The findings provide the most compelling quantitative evidence so far that the link between major volcanic eruptions and wholesale species turnover is not simply a matter of chance.

Four of the five mass extinctions are contemporaneous with a type of volcanic outpouring called a flood basalt, the researchers say. These eruptions flood vast areaseven an entire continentwith lava in the blink of a geological eye, a mere million years. They leave behind giant fingerprints as evidenceextensive regions of step-like, igneous rock (solidified from the erupted lava) that geologists call "large igneous provinces."

To count as "large," a large igneous province must contain at least 100,000 cubic kilometers of magma. For context, the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens involved less than one cubic kilometer of magma. The researchers say that most of the volcanoes represented in the study erupted on the order of a million times more lava than that.

The team drew on three well-established datasets on geologic time scale, paleobiology, and large igneous provinces to examine the temporal connection between mass extinction and large igneous provinces.

"The large step-like areas of igneous rock from these big volcanic eruptions seem to line up in time with mass extinctions and other significant climactic and environmental events," says lead author Theodore Green, who conducted this research as part of the Senior Fellowship program at Dartmouth and is now a graduate student at Princeton.

In fact, a series of eruptions in present-day Siberia triggered the most destructive of the mass extinctions about 252 million years ago, releasing a gigantic pulse of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and nearly choking off all life. Bearing witness are the Siberian Traps, a large region of volcanic rock roughly the size of Australia.

Volcanic eruptions also rocked the Indian subcontinent around the time of the great dinosaur die-off, creating what is known today as the Deccan plateau. This, much like the asteroid strike, would have had far-reaching global effects, blanketing the atmosphere in dust and toxic fumes, asphyxiating dinosaurs and other life in addition to altering the climate on long time scales.

On the other hand, the researchers say, the theories in favor of annihilation by asteroid impact hinge upon the Chicxulub impactor, a space rock that crash-landed into Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula around the same time that the dinosaurs went extinct.

"All other theories that attempted to explain what killed the dinosaurs, including volcanism, got steamrolled when the Chicxulub impact crater was discovered," says co-author Brenhin Keller, an assistant professor of earth sciences at Dartmouth. But there's very little evidence of similar impact events that coincide with the other mass extinctions despite decades of exploration, he points out.

At Dartmouth, Green set out to find a way to quantify the apparent link between eruptions and extinctions and test whether the coincidence was just chance or whether there was evidence of a causal relationship between the two. Working with Keller and co-author Paul Renne, professor-in-residence of earth and planetary science at University of California, Berkeley and director of the Berkeley Geochronology Center, Green recruited the supercomputers at the Dartmouth Discovery Cluster to crunch the numbers.

The researchers compared the best available estimates of flood basalt eruptions with periods of drastic species kill-off in the geological timescale, including but not limited to the five mass extinctions. To prove that the timing was more than a random chance, they examined whether the eruptions would line up just as well with a randomly generated pattern and repeated the exercise with a 100 million such patterns. They found that the agreement with extinction periods was far greater than random chance.

"While it is difficult to determine if a particular volcanic outburst caused one particular mass extinction, our results make it hard to ignore the role of volcanism in extinction," says Keller. If a causal link were to be found between volcanic flood basalts and mass extinctions, scientists expect that larger eruptions would entail more severe extinctions, but such a correlation has not been observed.

Rather than considering the absolute magnitude of eruptions, the research team ordered the volcanic events by the rate at which they spewed lava. They found that the volcanic events with the highest eruptive rates did indeed cause the most destruction, producing more severe extinctions up to the mass extinctions.

"Our results indicate that in all likelihood there would have been a mass extinction at the Cretaceous tertiary boundary of some significant magnitude, regardless of whether there was an impact or not, which can be shown more quantitatively now," says Renne. "The fact that there was an impact undoubtedly made things worse."

The researchers ran the numbers for asteroids too. The coincidence of impacts with periods of species turnover was significantly weaker, and dramatically worsened when the Chicxulub impactor was not considered, suggesting that other smaller known impactors did not cause significant extinctions.

The eruption rate of the Deccan Traps in India suggests that the stage was set for widespread extinction even without the asteroid, says Green. The impact was the double whammy that loudly sounded the death knell for the dinosaurs, he adds.

Flood basalt eruptions aren't common in the geologic record, says Green. The last one of comparable but significantly smaller scale happened about 16 million years ago in the Pacific Northwest.

"While the total amount of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere in modern climate change is still very much smaller than the amount emitted by a large igneous province, thankfully," says Keller, "we're emitting it very fast, which is reason to be concerned." Green says that carbon dioxide emissions are uncomfortably similar to the rate of the environmentally impactful flood basalts they studied. This places climate change in the framework of historical periods of environmental catastrophe, he says.

Explore further Slowing of continental plate movement controlled the timing of Earth's largest volcanic events
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

The U.S. slid one spot to No. 7 in the Economic Freedom of the World 2022 Annual Report, but Florida State University economics professor James Gwartney said the dip is more drastic than it looks.

The U.S. rating, based on 2020 data, fell from 8.25 to 7.97 on the index's 10-point scale.

"While the U.S. ranking has remained in the same area the past several years, maybe the most important thing to come out of this year's report is the decline in the U.S. rating between 2019 and 2020," Gwartney said. "While this decline doesn't look like that much, the 7.97 rating in 2019 would have placed the U.S. at No. 20 globally. Moreover, the 2020 rating of the U.S. is the lowest in four decades."

Gwartney, the Gus A. Stavros Eminent Scholar Chair in the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, has co-authored each edition of the report since helping to launch it in 1996.

The report is the most widely used measure of how the policies and institutions of countries impact economic freedomthe ability of individuals to make their own economic decisions.

People living in countries with high levels of economic freedom enjoy greater prosperity, more political and civil liberties, and longer lives, Gwartney said.

"When you talk about economic freedom, you're talking about people being free to trade with others, compete in markets, and keep what they earn," he said. "Economic freedom is about people being free to mold and shape their own lives."

The report measures economic freedom by analyzing indicators including regulation, size of government, property rights, government spending and taxation. The 2022 edition includes 165 countries and territories.

Hong Kong and Singapore led the index, continuing their streak as first and second, respectively, while Switzerland, New Zealand, Denmark, Australia, the United States, Estonia, Mauritius and Ireland round out the top 10.

Other rankings of note include Japan (No. 12), Canada (No. 14), Germany (No. 24), Italy (No. 43), France (No. 54), Mexico (No. 65), India (No. 90), Russia (No. 94), Brazil (No. 114) and China (No. 116).

The Fraser Institute, at which Gwartney works as a senior fellow, produces the report in cooperation with the Economic Freedom Network, a group of independent research and educational institutes in nearly 100 countries and territories.

Gwartney prepared the report with Robert Lawson and Ryan Murphy of Southern Methodist University and Joshua Hall of West Virginia University.

"It's a labor of love on my part and I've dedicated the last 25 years of my academic research and career to it," Gwartney said. "I think it's a really important measure to move discussions away from people talking past each other to instead say, 'Let's look at the data together.'"

Explore further Academic freedom on the decline

More information: For further details, see For further details, see www.fraserinstitute.org/economic-freedom
Gilded tin on plasterwork at the Alhambra palaces. (A) General view of the Lions palace. (B) Polychrome remains exhibiting traces of purple color at confined wet sites (black arrows). (C) Damaged gilded tin with areas tinted purple in the muqarnas. (D) SM image of the gilded tin structure showing from inside to outside: corroded gray-black metallic foil (layer 1); damaged metallic golden leaf (layer 2); fragments of iridescent purple-grayish covering (layer 3); and purple-tinted whitish coat at surface (layer 4). (E) PLM image of the gilding cross section (reflected light parallel polars). Note the irregular surface of the gray metallic foil (layer 1) and the crater-shaped voids in the gilded tin (circles). Note also the spongy texture of the surface coat (layer 4). Photo credit: C. Cardell and I. Guerra, University of Granada, Spain. Credit: Science Advances (2022). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abn2541

A pair of researchers at the University of Granada has solved the mystery of the purple stains on the ceilings of the famous Alhambra palace in Spain. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, Carolina Cardell and Isabel Guerra describe their study of the ceiling of the famous medieval fortress and what they learned about its mysterious purple stains.

Construction of the Alhambra was begun in 1238 and improvements were made over hundreds of years. At one point, artists added materials to parts of the ceiling that were supposed to resemble stalactites. Each was covered with tin and then gilded with a mix of gold and silver. The original color was light gold. But over time, many of the features began to take on a purplish or blue color, giving the ceiling a distinctive look. Worried that the ceiling was degrading, workers in the 19th century applied gypsum over the gilding, making the ceiling white. As the gypsum wore away, the purple color became visible once again. Early researchers suspected age and air pollution were responsible for the purple color but could not explain it. They knew that gold does not corrode, so it had to be due to an unknown factor.

In this new effort, the researchers took advantage of the capabilities of an electron microscope recently obtained by the University of Granada to take a closer look at the ceiling. They found that nanospheres made of pure gold had formed in the material over timeat such a small size, gold appears as a purple metal. Further study showed that over time, flaws in the original gilding admitted moisture, which carried salt from sea spray; that allowed contact between the metals in the gilding, and the tin corroded and pushed its way to the surface. Additional chemical reactions led to the formation of the gold spheres, which eventually settled into the gypsum.

Video was created by Andrew Kowalski using power point. Slides generated by the authors: Carolina Cardell and Isabel Guerra.

The researchers suggest that in addition to solving the mystery of the purple stains, their work might also be of use to other historians working on damaged artwork or architectural sites.

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More information: Carolina Cardell et al, Natural corrosion-induced gold nanoparticles yield purple color of Alhambra palaces decoration, Science Advances (2022). Journal information: Science Advances Carolina Cardell et al, Natural corrosion-induced gold nanoparticles yield purple color of Alhambra palaces decoration,(2022). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abn2541

 2022 Science X Network
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

At the end of each summer, hordes of people flock to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada to erect a makeshift city the size of the Italian town of Pisa. They call it Black Rock City. A few days later, they will burn it to the ground, leaving no trace.

During their time together, they partake in an extravaganza of unique experiences. Wearing wild costumes and riding carnivalesque vehicles, they attend colorful parades, spectacular light displays and interactive art installations.

Since its inception in 1986, attendance has increased from a few dozens of individuals to over 70,000and hundreds of thousands in various regional versions around the world.

In surveys, Burners, as they call themselves, report experiencing strong feelings of connection during the event. Over three-quarters say that their experience was transformative, over 90% say that these transformative effects lasted beyond their stay, and over 80% say that they made a permanent impact on their lives. The great majority return again, many of them every year.

What makes this bizarre event so meaningful to so many people?

The ceremonial experience

The overwhelming majority of Burners identify as nonreligious, yet the deeply spiritual experiences they report resemble those of religious groups. Indeed, the similarities with religion are no accident.

Burning Man, as the event became known, started as a solstice get-together by a handful of friends on Baker Beach in San Francisco. In 1986, they decided to build a wooden effigy and then torch it. Co-founder Larry Harvey called this a "spontaneous act of radical self-expression." As people started gathering to watch, they realized they had created a ritual. The next year, they put up fliers and drew a bigger crowd. It has been growing ever since.

Harvey was an avid reader of anthropological theories of religion. He was particularly interested in the role of ritual in creating meaningful experiences. These experiences, he argued, address a primordial human need: "The desire to belong to a place, to belong to a time, to belong to one another, and to belong to something that is greater than ourselves, even in the midst of impermanence."

As an anthropologist of ritual myself, I can see that ceremony is at the essence of Burning Man. It begins as soon as Burners walk through the gate. Upon entering, people signal their arrival by ringing a bell. They hug and greet each other by saying "Welcome home!" That home is treated as sacred, symbolically demarcated and protected from the polluting influence of the "default world," as they call the outside. Upon their departure, they will perform a purification rite, removing all "matter out of place"anything that doesn't belong to the desert, from plastic bottles to specs of glitter.

Leaving their default name behind them, they use their "playa name." It is a name gifted to them by another Burner and used to signify their new identity in the playa (the desert basin). They also abandon many of the comforts of the outside world. Monetary transactions are not allowed, and neither is bartering. Instead, they practice a gift economy, modeled on traditional ceremonial customs.

Anthropologists have noted that such ceremonial exchange systems can have important social utility. Unlike economic exchanges that produce equivalent outcomes, each act of donation creates feelings of gratitude, obligation and community, increasing both personal satisfaction and social solidarity.

The Burning Man Temple is yet another testament to the power of ritual. When sculptor David Best was invited to build an installation in 2000, he erected a wooden structure without any use in mind. But when a crew member died in a motorcycle accident, visitors started bringing mementos of people they had lost, and later gathered to watch it burn at the end of the event.

Since then, the temple has become a symbol of mourning and resilience.

Its walls are covered with thousands of notes, photographs and memorabilia. They are reminders of things people wish to leave behind: a personal loss, a divorce, an abusive relationship. It is all consumed by the fire on the final night as onlookers gather to watch silently, many of them in tears. Such a simple symbolic act seems to have surprisingly powerful cathartic effects.

The weeklong event culminates with the ceremonial destruction of the two largest structures looming at the center of the ephemeral city. On the penultimate night, a wooden effigy known as "the Man" is reduced to ashes. And in the final act, everyone gathers to watch the burning of the temple.

The human thirst for ritual

The oldest known ceremonial structures, such as Gobekli Tepe in Turkey, predate agriculture and permanent settlement. Although they took enormous effort to build, they too, like Black Rock City, were only used by ephemeral communities: groups of hunter-gatherers who traveled long distances to visit them.

It is not until hundreds of years later that evidence of settlement in those areas was found. This led archaeologist Klaus Schmidt to propose that it was the thirst for ritual that led those hunter-gatherers to permanent settlement, paving the way for civilization.

Whether this radical hypothesis is historically true is hard to know. But phenomena like Burning Man could confirm the view that the human need for ritual is primeval. It both predates and extends beyond organized religion.

Burning Man defies a strict definition. When I asked Burners to describe it, they used term such as movement, community, pilgrimage or social experiment. Whatever it might be, Burning Man's unprecedented success, I believe, is due to its ability to create meaningful experiences for its members, which reflect a greater human yearning for spirituality.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
The first oil rig in Miri, a city in Sarawak, northeastern Malaysia, located near the border of Brunei. Credit: Wikimedia, CC BY

As the devastation of climate change makes the need to decarbonize clearer by the day, countries face the question of what to do with their old fossil fuel infrastructure. While some environmental activists have taken to sabotaging the carbon economy on the back of its emissions in the Global North, the picture is different in oil-producing countries of the Global South, where energy infrastructure has fed communities for decades. There, the emphasis is placed on memory and institutionalization.

Oil's conquest of Iran and Malaysia

The cases of Malaysia and Iran, where oil has significantly contributed to economic growth, give us a glimpse into how authorities are currently reckoning with their fossil fuel heritage. In the 20th century, the arrival of international oil companies in the major port cities on the Persian Gulf in Iran and the South China Sea in Malaysia transformed the built environment, accelerated urbanization and impacted peoples' everyday lives. Even today, the dynamics and actors of oil in Iran and Malaysia continue to reshape industry, society, culture, and politics while leaving their mark on the built environment and urban spaces.

Founded in 1978, the International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage (TICCIH) is an international organization established to explore, protect, conserve and explain the remains of industrialization. In 2020, it published the first global assessment of the heritage of petroleum production, the oil industry and the places, structures, sites, and landscapes that might be chosen to conserve for their historical, technical, social, or architectural attributes. In a 2020 report, the organization defined the heritage of the petroleum industry as "the most significant fixed, tangible evidence for the discovery, exploitation, production, and consumption of petroleum products and their impact on human and natural landscapes."

Iran's petroleum museums

Less than a decade ago, Iran's Ministry of Petroleum began to consider establishing museums with a view to preserving the country's industrial heritage. Those in the port city of Adaban in the country's southwest, include an old refinery, gas station, and the oldest oil-related technical training school. In sections of the old ports, passersby can appreciate cranes and heavy machinery, such as the Akwan and Sulfur cranes, as well as an exhibition about the reconstruction of the refineries following the Iran-Iraq war (19801988).

The country is projecting to open other oil museums in major oil port cities. One of them is Masjed Suleiman, a city in the southwestern province of Khuzestan widely recognized as the birthplace of the oil industry in the Middle East. Its museum hosts the oldest oil recovery site in the region. In Tehran, the Museum of Oil Industry Technology will detail the nature and importance of oil, gas, and petrochemicals since 1901. It was in that year that the British speculator William D'Arcy received a concession to explore and develop southern Iran's oil resources.

When the oil industry refuses to die

In Malaysia, the oil industry is omnipresent in everyday life, which raises challenges to global decarbonization efforts. The national oil company Petronas is visible everywhere, from the dissemination of scholarships, the establishment of a university, and the iconic Petronas Twin Towers to the transformation of sleepy towns into sprawling industrial complexes. The industry goes back to the early 1900s, when oil was struck in the jungles of Miri, Sarawak, under British rule.

The conservation of Malaysia's oil legacy has proven somewhat challenging, as most rigs are located offshore and sites still very much in use. Efforts have also been limited and lack a centralized plan. In a federal nation, each state dictates its own policies, which extends to museums. Under the Sarawak Tourism Board, the oil rig in Miri has been transformed into a museum and tourist site but remains the only one of its kind.

Conservation efforts have mainly focused on education with an emphasis on science and technology. Most attractions, such as the Petrosains Discovery Center and the Petronas University of Technology, prioritize public awareness and learning. Malaysia's national narrative is consistently upbeatthat the oil industry has improved society, transformed of remote villages, advanced educational opportunities, and led to dramatic changes in landscapes and cityscapes.

Museums of the Iranian oil industry. Credit: Iran Petroleum Museums and Documents

Toward post-pandemic and post-oil futures

Malaysia and Iran have taken different approaches when preserving the oil industry as part of their tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Nonetheless, a common element of is to separate the oil industry from its imperial pasts by preserving historical sites and narrating them as part of the national narrative.

For Malaysia, Petronas and the oil industry is promoted as a success story, intertwining petrol and nationalism. The preservation of the Miri oil rig as a tourist site serves the dual purpose of an attempt to safeguard the historical value of the location and to integrate it as a part of Sarawak's story.

However, rising concerns about climate change, the environment, and corporate responsibility are increasing pressure on oil companies to reduce their carbon footprint by supporting clean and renewable energy, but these efforts appear to lag behind companies such as British Petroleum, which has moved into electric charging and renewable energy. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic caused consumer demand for oil to plummet, which will likely continue to depress Iranian and Malaysian exports for the months to come.

The impact of the COVID-19 and climate crises

In the case of Iran, the COVID-19 crisis and the fluctuations in oil prices coincide with intensified sanctions by the United States against Iran, also known as the "maximum pressure campaign." Despite its rich oil and gas resources, the country needs new technology investments and development plans to prepare for the post-fossil-fuel future. However, that will be hard to achieve without resolving U.S.-Iran tensions and easing sanctions. To balance future economic growth with social development and environmental protection, Iran needs to invest more in plans for sustainable development and transition to less environmentally harmful energy sources.

Malaysia's response acknowledges of the twin effects of COVID-19 and global warming: change in weather patterns and a decrease in demand for oil. Since the 2010s, there has been some movement in the energy sector to prepare for the post oil future. Over nearly a decade, Petronas has focused on solar power, wind energy and clean hydrogen, pledging to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

But it took until 2020 amid the COVID-19 crisis and growing international awareness over the climate emergency for momentum to pick up. In 2021, the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources set targets to decarbonise the country by 45% by 2030. While these efforts have been applauded, some hindrances remain, such as financial constraints and a lack of engagement with nongovernmental organizations.

Lessons from Malaysia's palm oil heritage

Given changing global attitudes toward the oil industry, the question arises how the industrial heritage of Malaysia and Iran can be envisioned. Will oil rigs become relics of human greed instead of human advancement? And how will the national narrative reconcile this new reality with the importance of oil in the countries' decolonization process?

For Malaysia, it's a question that has already been asked regarding palm oil and deforestation. Environmental activists in the country and abroad have highlighted their negative impact, which resulted in poor publicity for the country. However, through government engagement with youth and activists, there has been some improvement with how palm oil is viewed especially with regards to sustainability efforts.

Oil heritage perhaps needs to walk a similar path, encouraging honest conversations between policymakers, NGOs, industry stakeholders and historical organizations. The COVID-19 pandemic has also provided vital lessons and introduced new practices emphasizing corporate responsibility toward workers. Improved governmental cooperation has also shown that it is possible to work toward common goals, which can be expanded to issues such as heritage. If implemented appropriately, such approaches may spell a bright future for how we view oil as part of a national narrative.

Explore further Intel to invest $7.1B in Malaysia chipmaking expansion

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
President of Cambodian NA pays official visit to Vietnam

President of the Cambodian National Assembly (NA) Samdech Heng Samrin is paying an official visit to Vietnam from September 12 to 14 at the invitation of NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue.













President of the Cambodian National Assembly Samdech Heng Samrin. (Source: VNA)

This is an important political and diplomatic activity between the two legislatures in the Vietnam - Cambodia Friendship Year 2022 and in celebration of the 55th founding anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two nations (June 24).



The Cambodian delegation also includes Men Sam An, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of the NA - Senate Relations and Inspection, and Chairwoman of the Cambodia - Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Group; Chheang Vun, Chairman of the NAs Commission on Economy, Finance, Banking and Auditing and Vice Chairman of the Cambodia - Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Group; Loy Sophat, Chairman of the NAs Commission on Planning, Investment, Agriculture, Rural Development, Environment, and Water Resources; Suos Yara, Chairman of the NAs Commission on Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation, Propaganda, and Information; and Cambodian Ambassador to Vietnam Chay Navuth, among others.



Samdech Heng Samrin is also Chairman of the National Council of the Solidarity Front for the Development of Cambodian Motherland and Honorary President of the Cambodian Peoples Party.
TEHRAN, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- The United States, in order to rejoin the Iranian nuclear deal, must prove it reliable and show that it abides by the international norms, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nassar Kanaani said Monday.

"The country, which unilaterally withdrew from the agreement signed in 2015, has hindered the achievement of an agreement based on joint interests ... has imposed illegal, unilateral and irrational sanctions (on Iran), and has no right to be a claimant and take a creditor's pose," Nassar Kanaani told reporters during his weekly press conference.

"The U.S. government needs to take a constructive approach to reaching an agreement," he noted.

In its recent response to the EU's proposal on restoring the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran has not raised any new issues or "any serious demands" that would hinder the achievement of a possible agreement, Kanaani said, calling the Western parties' pressures following Iran's response as "psychological warfare."

The recent statement of the European troika of France, Germany and Britain about Iran's response to an EU nuclear proposal was "wrong" and "untimely," Kanaani said.

On Saturday, France, Germany and Britain said in a joint statement that Iran "has chosen not to seize this critical diplomatic opportunity" given by a recent EU-submitted "final set of texts" to rescue the JCPOA, voicing their "serious doubts as to Iran's intentions and commitment to a successful outcome on the JCPOA."

"An agreement is a two-way road, and it was expected that the negotiating parties would act constructively in this direction," Kanaani said.

It is regretful that the European troika, instead of responding positively to the "constructive" actions of Iran in the course of reaching an agreement and its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has been influenced by a country, which is not a member of any safeguards systems of the IAEA, the Iranian spokesman said, alluding to Israel's allegations against Iran's nuclear program.

Kanaani urged the IAEA to fulfill its duties professionally and avoid the impacts of pressures from third parties, particularly from Israel.

Iran signed the JCPOA with world major powers in July 2015, agreeing to curb its nuclear program in return for removing 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.

The talks on the JCPOA's revival began in April 2021 in Vienna but were suspended in March this year because of political differences between Tehran and Washington. The latest round of the nuclear talks was held in the Austrian capital in early August after a five-month hiatus.

On Aug. 8, the EU put forward its final text of the draft decision on reviving the JCPOA. Iran and the United States later indirectly exchanged views on the EU proposal.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that Iran's latest response has pushed the negotiations a step back. 
The word "narcissism" is often associated with selfies, posting content that boasts one's achievements, or other forms of showing off.

In Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country, "showing off" can also take the form of religious expression.

This was on display in the discrimination and attacks against heterodox Islamic groups such as the Shia community in East Java and South Sulawesi, and also the Ahmadiyya community in Banten.

These interdenominational conflicts involved younger and older adults, as a form of "collective religious narcissism." This psychological tendency can span a community and is based on a certain religious bond.

My research has attempted to understand this phenomenon, and investigate what it looks like in practice, by looking at four Instagram and Facebook pages of youth Muslim groups in Indonesia.

Collective narcissism

In psychology, the concept of narcissism is taken from Greek mythology. The Thespian hunter Narcissus is said to have fallen in love with his own reflection in a pool of water. His name was then adopted as a psychological term for someone exhibiting tendencies of extreme self-admiration.

Narcissism was then acknowledged in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Its most extreme form entails a number of symptoms, including: intense fixation on one's self; feelings of superiority; a lack of empathy; and tendencies to exploit others.

According to psychology researchers Kevin S. Carlson and Joshua Grubbs, narcissism is most prevalent among young people. Grubb's research found people in the 1825 age group are often more narcissistic than their older peers.

Social psychologist Agnieszka Golec de Zavala also posited that narcissism, often starting at the individual level, can develop into a group symptom. For instance, narcissism can manifest in a range of collective phenomena, including ethnocentrism, hyper-nationalism, and religious extremism.

So how do these forms of collective narcissism show themselves among religious youths in Indonesia?

Indonesian youth, in-group logic, and religious superiority

My research attempts to investigate this by looking at a number of accounts on Instagram and Facebook.

These include the youth movements of Indonesia's two largest Muslim majority organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama (@generasi_muda_nu_official) and Muhammadiyah (@pp.pemudamuhammadiyah). I also studied posts by @pemudahijrahyuk (a conservative Islamic youth movement) and Indonesia Tanpa Pacaran/ITP (a youth-led movement advocating for Muslims to reject modern dating).

Although my initial study was conducted in 2019, I argue these groups' posts in 2022 still follow a similar pattern of advocacy and self-expression.

The youth wings of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, for instance, show religious expressions that focus on in-group pride. Muhammadiyah projects messages of self-confidence, potentially as an attempt to bolster a sense of loyalty within the organization.

The young cadres of NU, similar to their Muhammadiyah counterparts, also proactively express themselves in the digital space.

Left: A post quoting an NU regional leader, saying that his organisations cadres are on the right path to religious truth. Right: a post supporting Saudi Arabias call to behead Muslims that advocate for the establishment of Islamic states or caliphates. Credit: Screenshots from @generasi_muda_nu_official's post on October 11th, 2019 and August 9th, 2022

They often share posts containing messages of self-belonging, pride and greatness. In a 2019 post, an NU regional leader was quoted saying that his organization's members are on the "right path to religious truth."

However, they sometimes upload responses that can be considered aggressive or offensive toward those that do not share their views.

Earlier last month, for instance, the account uploaded a post supporting Saudi Arabia's call to behead Muslims that advocate for the establishment of Islamic states or caliphates, and urging Indonesia to do the same.

While the "collective narcissism" exhibited by the two Muslim organizations above mostly focus on their sense of pride, posts by Pemuda Hijrah (roughly translated as "Youth Returning to Islam") and Indonesia Tanpa Pacaran (roughly translated as "Indonesia Without Dating") contain strong sentiments of superiority.

Posts by Pemuda Hijrah actively invite Muslims to adopt Islamic puritanisma form of the religion that more closely conforms to its original teachings and social context in the 7th century.

The views of these youth-led movements are often viewed as conservative, although their social media posts sometimes also reference popular culture, from TikTok posts to Korean dramas.

In a 2019 post, for instance, the group expresses concern and attacks other Muslim women who wear clothes they regard as provocative or revealing the "awrah"men's and women's body parts that may be considered intimate in Islam.

Meanwhile, Indonesia Tanpa Pacaran represents a group that militantly rejects modern dating in Indonesia. In numerous posts, such as one uploaded last July, the group vilifies other Muslim women who participate in that culture.

From these social media accounts, we see examples of how Indonesia's youth Muslim groups express various forms of collective religious narcissism.

Some of them can be considered "positive," in line with French psychoanalyst Andre Green's argument, as being able to boost individuals' self-esteem and drive for group activity.

On the other hand, others can be considered "negative" and exhibit narcissism that focus on feelings of religious superiority at the expense of those who do not share their views.

Some of those posts, for instance, express messages that tend to devalue other Muslims and push an "us versus them" narrative that could potentially cause discrimination and oppression.

Young Indonesians need to be more aware and empathetic

Based on the above examples, we still see some individuals and groups in Indonesia that champion certain labels of Islamic tradition in a way that tends to be hostile to others, fueled by their in-group logic.

These expressions can push individuals or communities to legitimize violent behavior in the name of group loyalty.

Young people in Indonesia need to be aware of these social and psychological tendenciesparticularly those that strive to exert social dominance over other minority groups.

Training ourselves and the groups we're involved in to be more empathetic, is now more important than ever to preserve harmony within our society, and in turn, suppress potential points of conflict between religious groups.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Feasible transfers for player 1 and player 2 in the trust game. Credit: Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics (2022). DOI: 10.1111/1467-8489.12485

Students are popular test subjects for many studies in behavioral sciences. However, using only students does not reveal the full picture about people in general. In fact, many of the students' decisions in those experiments differ from those of other population groups. These are the findings of a new, extensive study consisting of 36 experiments which was conducted by a team of behavioral scientists from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU). The study was published in the Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics.

Students are popular test subjects, especially in behavioral economics. "This makes sense because students are open to and interested in scientific studies, they are already in a university setting, and also they are receptive to financial incentives offered in those studies," says Dr. Sven Gruner from the Institute of Agricultural and Food Sciences at MLU. "However, it is unclear whether students are representative of other population groupsafter all, they differ in important ways, such as age and income."

To answer this question, the behavioral economist conducted an elaborate study using 300 test subjects. The result: Only limited conclusions can be drawn from students about the behavior of other people.

In a total of 36 sub-experiments, Gruner compared the decisions of agricultural science students to those of farmers. The team examined individual characteristics such as risk-taking, impatience, altruism, trust, punishing unfair and rewarding generous behavior. "We used established economic experiments from decision and game theory," Gruner explains.

For example, when determining willingness to take risks, the test subjects were given the choice between a higher probability of winning a small amount of money and a lower probability of winning a higher amount of money. "We gradually increased the monetary incentives in all of the experiments to see how the expected sum influenced decisions," says Gruner. Contrary to previous studies, the incentive was actually given to the subjects afterwards, because theoretical earnings could falsify the results: If participants knew they would not get any money, they might have shown a greater degree of socially desirable behavior.

The results of the comprehensive study revealed a very mixed picture: for example, there are no clear differences between the groups in terms of risk-taking. "This contradicts earlier studies in which students were more risk averse than farmers," says Gruner. The differences were also slight when it came to trust and rewarding generous behavior.

However, when testing for the groups' patience there were bigger differences: farmers were much more likely to choose the option with the higher probability of a lower pay out, while students were consistently found to be more patient and wait longer for more money. At the same time, farmers turned down unfair offers more often, even when this meant they would not get any money themselves. These finding are not in line with earlier studies that showed similar behavior among students and other population groups, says Gruner.

"Our study shows that it is really problematic to generalize the behavior of students to other real actors. This could call into question a lot of the results of previous studiesnot only in agricultural sciences, but across all disciplines," adds Gruner.

This is also a sensitive topic because surveys on individual decision-making examine important questions about the futurerisk behavior and patience, for example, are decisive criteria for investing in sustainable production structures that usually only pay off after many years. The new study helps to identify factors that can be used to weight the results.

Explore further Neuroeconomists find people behave selfishly toward a large group, remain generous to individuals

More information: Sven Gruner et al, How (un)informative are experiments with students for other social groups? A study of agricultural students and farmers, Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics (2022). Sven Gruner et al, How (un)informative are experiments with students for other social groups? A study of agricultural students and farmers,(2022). DOI: 10.1111/1467-8489.12485

Provided by Martin-Luther-Universitat Halle-Wittenberg
Left panel: Legnara with colleagues and growers from Tlaxcala, Mexico collecting soil samples. Right panel: Perez-Lopez in a canola field in Quebec, Canada. Credit: The authors

For years, scientists and online databases presumed the presence of clubrootone of the main diseases on cruciferous crops (such as broccoli, cabbage, and kale)in Mexico. However, no evidence to support this supposition existed until a team of researchers, led by Mauricio Luna and Legnara Padron-Rodriguez of the University of Veracruz, donned their detective caps to pinpoint the clubroot pathogen.

Since Mexico is the world's fifth largest broccoli producer and main supplier to the eastern United States and Canada, determining the pathogen's presence is important to preparing for potential outbreaks. Legnara Padron developed the detection methodology during COVID-19, causing the authors to consider what could happen if a future pandemic affects plants. The methodology involved working alongside cruciferous crops growers in Mexico and collecting soil samples from three categories of fields: fields in production, fields without cruciferous crops for up to a year, and fields that had stopped growing cruciferous crops. They were able to extract the clubroot pathogen after growing an array of cruciferous crops plants in the soil collected. Typical clubroot symptoms appeared in the roots of infected plants, and the results were confirmed using molecular methods.

Now researchers can investigate if, as suspected, the clubroot pathogen has hindered growth of cruciferous crops in certain Mexican fields. New fields affected by the disease have been added to the ClubrootTracker, an online tool developed by Dr. Perez-Lopez's group to trace the clubroot pathogen. Additionally, their results will significantly improve the future management of clubroot, safeguarding the cruciferous crops economy in Mexico and the worldwide supply of these important vegetables.

Corresponding author Edel Perez-Lopez comments that their "results open the door to more exciting research, like studying the genome of P. brassicae Mexican isolates, geographic distribution, and its evolution compared to other North American isolates. The strategy we followed could help detect the clubroot pathogen in other geographic areas, or potentially, other soil-borne pathogens."

This study embodies the importance of listening to growers. Their knowledge, combined with science, can reveal answers that improve plant disease management and increase agricultural revenue.

The research was published in Plant Disease.

Explore further New interactive tool will help farmers contain the spread of clubroot

More information: Legnara Padron-Rodriguez et al, Plasmodiophora brassicae in Mexico: From Anecdote to Fact, Plant Disease (2022). Legnara Padron-Rodriguez et al, Plasmodiophora brassicae in Mexico: From Anecdote to Fact,(2022). DOI: 10.1094/PDIS-11-21-2607-RE ClubrootTracker: clubroottracker.ca/

Provided by American Phytopathological Society
Two sound waves (1 and 2) are produced, scattering into two other sound waves (3 and 4), which are then detected. The probability for this process is described by a 4-point scattering amplitude. Credit: Angelo Esposito

Not everything needs to be seen to be believed; certain things are more readily heard, like a train approaching its station. In a recent paper, published in Physical Review Letters, researchers have put their ears to the rail, discovering a new property of scattering amplitudes based on their study of sound waves through solid matter.

Be it light or sound, physicists consider the likelihood of particle interactions (yes, sound can behave like a particle) in terms of probability curves or scattering amplitudes. It is common lore that when the momentum or energy of one of the scattered particles goes to zero, scattering amplitudes should always scale with integer powers of momentum (i.e., p1, p2, p3, etc.). What the research team found however, was that the amplitude can be proportional to a fractional power (i.e., p1/2, p1/3, p1/4, etc.).

Why does this matter? While quantum field theories, such as the Standard Model, allow researchers to make predictions about particle interactions with extreme accuracy, it is still possible to improve upon current foundations of fundamental physics. When a new behavior is demonstratedsuch as fractional-power scalingscientists are given an opportunity to revisit or revise existing theories.

This work, conducted by Angelo Esposito (Institute for Advanced Study), Tomas Brauner (University of Stavanger), and Riccardo Penco (Carnegie Mellon University), specifically considers the interactions of sound waves in solids. To visualize this concept, picture a block of wood with speakers placed on both ends. Once the speakers are powered on, two sound wavesphononsmeet each other and scatter, similar to collisions in a particle accelerator. When one speaker is adjusted to a certain limit, such that the momentum of the phonon is zero, the resulting amplitude can be proportional to a fractional power. This scaling behavior, the team explains, is not likely limited to phonons in solids, and its recognition may help the study of scattering amplitudes in many different contexts, from particle physics to cosmology.

"The detailed properties of scattering amplitudes have recently been studied with much vigor," stated Esposito. "The goal of this broad program is to classify possible patterns of behavior of scattering amplitudes, to both make some of our computations more efficient, and more ambitiously, to build new foundations of quantum field theory."

Feynman diagrams have long been an indispensable tool of particle physicists, yet they come with certain limitations. For example, high accuracy calculations can require tens-of-thousands of Feynman diagrams to be entered into a computer, to describe particle interactions. By gaining a better understanding of scattering amplitudes, researchers may be able to more easily pinpoint particle behavior rather than relying on the top-down approach of Feynman diagrams, thus enhancing the efficiency of calculations.

"The present work reveals a twist in the story, showing that condensed matter physics displays much richer phenomenology of scattering amplitudes than what was previously seen in fundamental, relativistic physics," added Esposito. "The discovery of fractional-power scaling invites further work on scattering amplitudes of collective oscillations of matter, placing solids in the focus."

Explore further Forging new paths in particle physics

More information: Tomas Brauner et al, Fractional Soft Limits of Scattering Amplitudes, Physical Review Letters (2022). Journal information: Physical Review Letters Tomas Brauner et al, Fractional Soft Limits of Scattering Amplitudes,(2022). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.231601
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Everywhere, it seems, back-to-school has been shadowed by worries of a teacher shortage.

The U.S. education secretary has called for investment to keep teachers from quitting. A teachers union leader has described it as a five-alarm emergency. News coverage has warned of a crisis in teaching.

In reality, there is little evidence to suggest teacher turnover has increased nationwide or educators are leaving in droves.

Certainly, many schools have struggled to find enough educators. But the challenges are related more to hiring, especially for non-teaching staff positions. Schools flush with federal pandemic relief money are creating new positions and struggling to fill them at a time of low unemployment and stiff competition for workers of all kinds.

Since well before the COVID-19 pandemic, schools have had difficulty recruiting enough teachers in some regions, particularly in parts of the South. Fields like special education and bilingual education also have been critically short on teachers nationwide.

For some districts, shortages have meant children have fewer or less qualified instructors.

In rural Alabama's Black Belt, there were no certified math teachers last year in Bullock County's public middle school.

"It really impacts the children because they're not learning what they need to learn," said Christopher Blair, the county's former superintendent. "When you have these uncertified, emergency or inexperienced teachers, students are in classrooms where they're not going to get the level of rigor and classroom experiences."

While the nation lacks vacancy data in several states, national pain points are obvious.

For starters, the pandemic kicked off the largest drop in education employment ever. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of people employed in public schools dropped from almost 8.1 million in March 2020 to 7.3 million in May. Employment has grown back to 7.7 million since then, but that still leaves schools short around 360,000 positions.

"We're still trying to dig out of that hole," said Chad Aldeman, policy director at the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University.

It's unknown how many of those positions lost were teaching jobs, or other staff members like bus driverssupport positions that schools are having an especially hard time filling. A RAND survey of school leaders this year found that around three-fourths of school leaders say they are trying to hire more substitutes, 58% are trying to hire more bus drivers and 43% are trying to hire more tutors.

Still, the problems are not as tied to teachers quitting as many have suggested.

Teacher surveys have indicated many considered leaving their jobs. They're under pressure to keep kids safe from guns, catch them up academically and deal with pandemic challenges with mental health and behavior.

National Education Association union leader Becky Pringle tweeted in April: "The educator shortage is a five-alarm crisis." But a Brown University study found turnover largely unchanged among states that had data.

Quit rates in education rose slightly this year, but that's true for the nation as a whole, and teachers remain far more likely to stay in their job than a typical worker.

Hiring has been so difficult largely because of an increase in the number of open positions. Many schools indicated plans to use federal relief money to create new jobs, in some cases looking to hire even more people than they had pre-pandemic. Some neighboring schools are competing for fewer applicants, as enrollment in teacher prep programs colleges has declined.

The Upper Darby School District in Pennsylvania has around 70 positions it is trying to fill, especially bus drivers, lunch aides and substitute teachers. But it cannot find enough applicants. The district has warned families it may have to cancel school or switch to remote learning on days when it lacks subs.

"It's become a financial competition from district to district to do that, and that's unfortunate for children in communities who deserve the same opportunities everywhere in the state," Superintendent Daniel McGarry said.

The number of unfilled vacancies has led some states and school systems to ease credential requirements, in order to expand the pool of applicants. U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told reporters last week that creative approaches are needed to bring in more teachers, such as retired educators, but schools must not lower standards.

Schools in the South are more likely to struggle with teacher vacancies. A federal survey found an average of 3.4 teaching vacancies per school as of this summer; that number was lowest in the West, with 2.7 vacancies on average, and highest in the South, with 4.2 vacancies.

In Birmingham, the school district is struggling to fill around 50 teaching spots, including 15 in special education, despite $10,000 signing bonuses for special ed teachers. Jenikka Oglesby, a human resources officer for the district, says the problem owes in part to low salaries in the South that don't always offset a lower cost of living.

The school system in Moss Point, a small town near the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, has increased wages to entice more applicants. But other districts nearby have done the same. Some teachers realized they could make $30,000 more by working 30 minutes away in Mobile, Alabama.

"I personally lost some really good teachers to Mobile County Schools," said Tenesha Batiste, human resources director for the Moss Point district. And she also lost some not-so-great teachers, she addedpeople who broke their contracts and quit three days before the school year started.

"It's the job that makes all others possible, yet they get paid once a month, and they can go to Chick-fil-A in some places and make more money," Batiste said.

A bright spot for Moss Point this year is four student teachers from the University of Southern Mississippi. They will spend the school year working with children as part of a residency program for aspiring educators. The state has invested almost $10 million of federal relief money into residency programs, with the hope the residents will stay and become teachers in their assigned districts.

Michelle Dallas, a teacher resident in a Moss Point first-grade classroom, recently switched from a career in mental health and is confident she is meant to be a teacher.

"That's why I'm here," she said, "to fulfill my calling."

Explore further Report details teacher shortages by state

 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Swinburne Edge's Center for the New Workforce and Deloitte's Workplace Integrity Practice have surveyed more than 2,000 Australian workers about hybrid work, their experiences of work during the pandemic and the importance of flexibility.

Their latest industry insights briefing zooms in on government workers.

Well-being over salary

The researchers found that government workers rate physical, mental and emotional well-being as the most important work factor, ahead of pay. Compared to workers in other sectors, well-being was more important relative to pay for the government sector.

In fact, three in five workers said they would be willing to forgo a pay rise to achieve flexibilitywith the most common choice being between 13% of their salary.

Partner, Risk Advisory and lead of the national Workplace Integrity Practice at Deloitte, Justin Giuliano, says we've seen a shift in priorities since the pandemic.

"Given what has happened over the last couple of years, flexibility and well-being are key aspects of work that seem to have soared in importance instead of a steady evolution, particularly for government workers who responded to our survey earlier this year," he says.

Preferred type of work

Eighty percent of government workers chose hybrid or home as their preferred location of work, which puts government in the top two sectors where workers chose hybrid or home.

This is particularly so for women. Eighty-eight percent of women chose hybrid or home as the ideal location of work, compared with 71% of men.

"This is a great opportunity for government organizations to reflect on what they can do to better align their processes, systems and organizational behaviors with worker flexibility," Giuliano adds.

More flexible hours

Director of Swinburne Edge's Center for the New Workforce, Dr. Sean Gallagher, says the benefits of flexible working are recognized by workers, but there are downsides.

"Flexible working allows for better work life-balance, less time commuting, improved mental health, more physical activity and greater contribution to domestic duties; but it can also lead to employees working more hours than they would in the office. Yet 20% of government workers say they are not being compensated for working outside their standard hours, with workload being the main reason."

One in three workers are working more hours since the pandemic. Although it is the lowest result per sector, almost 50% of government workers are regularly working outside their standard hours.

Government workers generally take time off in lieu as compensation for working outside standard hours. However, 20% of government workers said they are not compensated for time worked outside their standard hours.

While this is lower than the other sectors, this raises compliance risksparticularly given government workers are generally covered by an industrial agreement which provides compensation for time worked outside standard hours.

"This research should act as a word of caution for governments as FlexWork becomes the norm," says Dr. Gallagher.

"Government organizations should be aware of their employees' work patterns when they're working remotely. It's a simple equation. Either workloads need to be reduced or workers get some form of compensation for overtime, including time off in lieu. And both will lead to better well-being outcomes."

More information: FlexWork is an opportunity for government to embrace the future of work. FlexWork is an opportunity for government to embrace the future of work. hdl.handle.net/1959.3/468665
HUDSON FALLS  Its important to remember the fallen first-responders, because when people were rushing out of the twin towers on Sept. 11, 2001, they were going in, said Lawrence Montello, commander of American Legion Post 574.

Besides the fire and police personnel who sacrificed their lives to help others, there were those who were unsung heroes, said Woodrow Miller, the posts chaplain during Sundays 9/11 memorial services at Hudson Falls American Legion Post 574.

Miller recalled that when he boarded the plane headed for Vietnam after enlisting in the military, he was afraid that he didnt say his proper goodbyes to his father at the airport.

Miller recalled when he was on the plane, a friendly flight attendant took the young Miller under her wing and made friendly conversation with him.

I bet you there was a stewardess that did the same thing for someone else on the plane that struck one of the towers, he said.

There were about 50 people on Sunday who sat huddled inside the pavilion at the headquarters of the Legion post at 72 Pearl St. in Hudson Falls.

The Hudson Falls ceremony was one of several in the region marking the 21st anniversary of 9/11. In Glens Falls, a remembrance ceremony was held at the 9/11 memorial outside the Ridge Street firehouse.

In addition to the civilians who were in attendance at the Hudson Falls ceremony, there were representatives from several area departments, including the Kingsbury and Fort Edward fire departments, Hudson Falls Police Department and the New York State Police.

Around 11:30 a.m., prior to the ceremony that began at noon, Kingsbury firefighters were called away to an incident.

For some who attended Sundays memorial event, the call of duty is an everyday occurrence, which should not be forgotten, said Montello, the Legion commander.

Montello also referenced the U.S. flag.

Its not just a piece of cloth; it represents something. It represents all the lives that are fighting for our freedom today. When 9/11 first happened, everyone was flying an American flag, which was great. Then, it started dwindling down, Montello said.

Montello spoke with a sense of how fragile life can be, that it can be taken away at any point.

Bagpipes, provided by Kelly Eustis, sounded out, as attendees walked across the parking lot to a crane flying a large American flag.

In the center of the lot, the gunshots of a three-volley salute were the only thing that drowned out the sound of bagpipes.
ABSECON  The city hosted a remembrance ceremony Sunday for the 21st anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Community members gathered at the Absecon 9/11 Memorial to honor the first responders and commemorate those who lost their lives 21 years ago to the day.

City Council President Betty Howell opened the ceremony thanking those in attendance.

Twenty-one-years ago today was one of the darkest days in our countrys history, Howell said. But out of that darkness rose some of the best of what this country has to offer. The sacrifice of our first responders, the resilience of our military and the inspiration of our volunteers.

Patrick Snyder, the deputy chief of detectives for the Atlantic County Prosecutors Office and commander of the Major Crimes Unit, served as the master of ceremonies. He spoke to the importance of the sacrifices made on Sept. 11, 2001, and about the need to keep the day in their memories. He reflected on how his two daughters, 12 and 10, were both born well after the attacks and how he sought to impart the memory of the valor of that day onto the next generation.

Sept. 11, 2001, two words are imprinted on upon my memory from that day, and thats never forget, Snyder said. Never forget their names, their stories, their courage.

Snyder said that Americans responded to the attacks with feats of solidarity and remarked on how the citys ceremony Sunday was another iteration of that patriotic unity.

We must also never forget how this nation responded in unity, how that unity of spirt comforted so many, and thats what were here to do today, Snyder said.

The ceremony began with an invocation, a flag salute and a rendition of the national anthem. Toward the end, there was a bell ringing, a gun salute and a closing benediction.

A wreath-laying ceremony took place after Howells and Snyders speeches, with members of the Absecon EMS, Fire Department, Police Department and local Knights of Columbus placing a wreath at the memorial site. Mayor Kim Horton and Howell also laid a wreath at the site, with the pair being two of the 21 members of the citys 9/11 Founders Committee that oversaw the creation of the Absecon 9/11 Memorial. Roses were laid during the ceremony for the four late members of the Founders Committee: Joann Wescoat, Joann Elco, Loraine Hurd and Don Patterson.

Democratic Congressional nominee Tim Alexander spoke during a public portion of the event and described his reaction to the attacks while working at the county Prosecutors Office. He exhorted attendees to always come together, as they did in response to 9/11, to battle all foreign and domestic threats to the nation.

People came together, and we stood together and we fought against the attack on our democracy, Alexander said.

U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, the Republican incumbent whom Alexander is challenging to represent New Jerseys 2nd Congressional District, issued a statement to commemorate the day.

We must never forget the nearly 3,000 innocent American lives that were lost, as well as the heroism of the brave first responders, police officers, and firefighters who made the ultimate sacrifice, Van Drew said in a statement posted to Twitter on Sunday.

A 16-foot beam

The Absecon 9/11 Memorial was established and dedicated during a ceremony on Sept. 11, 2016. It features a model of the World Trade Center in the background, while in the fore lays a 16-foot beam taken from the 39th floor of the South Tower. The beam is the largest artifact from the towers currently located in South Jersey

Horton read a proclamation honoring Firefighter Edward Vincent, who has served in the citys Fire Department for over four decades and was the citys fire chief from 1989 to 1995. Vincent was a leader in the 9/11 Founders Committee and was crucial to designing and constructing the citys 9/11 memorial. She said that the nation should carry the legacy of 9/11 to advance a mission of tolerance and equality.

Twenty-one years after one of our nations darkest days, let our commitment to human rights, our embrace of all cultures and our empathy toward all be our guidepost to the light, Horton said.

The heavy shadow cast by Sept. 11, 2001, was still borne by many in attendance. Howard Cohen was one of four volunteers from the Absecon EMS who ventured to Ground Zero as first responders. A 72-year-old New York native and Coast Guard veteran, Cohen described his experiences on that day and the impressions it left. The other three responders with the EMS were Absecon Firefighter Rich Hudson; Herb Simons, who also served as a member of the Pleasantville Police Department; and Howell. The latter recalls that the group arrived at Ground Zero at about 1 p.m., just hours after both towers fell.

The things we saw, how we felt, it was devastating, Cohen said. It hit hard, tremendously.

Cohen is one of many first responders to the 9/11 who is still battling symptoms that may be related to the debris and destruction at Ground Zero. He said he lost his sense of smell after the attacks, which he has only recently begun to regain.

Howell said that she gets examined regularly to check for lasting damages to the attacks. She recalled the 2013 passing of Brigantine Firefighter Jim Holl, who also responded to Ground Zero and served a five-month deployment to the Middle East in 2003 at the outset of the Iraq War.

Thats what we do, we volunteer, no matter what, Cohen said.

Family ties

Lauren Bedell, a 39-year-old from Galloway Township, was at the ceremony. Her aunt Marianne Simone was in the north tower on Sept. 11 and was killed during the attack. Lauren said she and her family searched for information about her aunts whereabouts for days, but she was never found and her remains never recovered. Simone, aged 62, had previously survived the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center.

Bedell brought her two children, Dante, 4, and Destiny, 6, to the ceremony and said she was moved by the show of support for the community. She wore a picture of her aunt on her shirt.

Our family has never been the same, it has impacted generations, generations, Bedell said. What today means to me, I came here because I know how much people take time and effort and love and consideration out of their hearts for the different families and all of the victims.

The 9/11 terrorist attacks, perpetrated by 19 al-Qaeda hijackers, targeted the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and also resulted in a plane crash at Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The attacks resulted in the deaths of the hijackers and killed another 2,977 people.

Howell said she would drive to Ground Zero after the local ceremony, as she has done every years since the attack.

She calls the journey healing.
A group of Atlantic City stakeholders is achieving remarkable progress toward making the city safer and cleaner. In particular, theyve been able to start addressing the surge in repeat nonviolent offenses since bail reform.

The leader of the group, Atlantic County Prosecutor William Reynolds, urged it to start pushing for something that would be new to New Jersey  mental health courts. Most petty criminals and homeless require mental health treatment more than incarceration, he said. Based on the crime Ive seen in eight short weeks in office, its really needed, Reynolds said.

Mental health courts screen and assess adults and juveniles with mental illnesses who are involved in the justice system. When appropriate, they arrange effective treatment and support as an alternative to imprisonment  similar to other specialized court systems such as drug courts and veterans courts.

Since beginning in the U.S. in the 1990s, mental health courts have proliferated. From just four in 1997, there were more than 300 by 2019, according to the Council of State Governments. There are none in New Jersey yet, but New York State has 31, Pennsylvania 20 and Delaware 1.

New Jerseys recovery courts (its term for drug courts) have done excellent work getting those arrested on drug offenses into substance abuse treatment and staying clean, which reduces their likelihood to offend again. Reynolds said Atlantic County Sheriff Eric Scheffler had placed 35 people who were regulars on the citys Atlantic Avenue into substance abuse treatment ahead of the summer NAACP convention.

But recovery court doesnt accept people struggling only with mental health and not addiction, Reynolds said. He told the group that creating a mental health court would require state legislation.

Local state legislators immediately volunteered to pursue that.

Assemblyman Don Guardian offered to sponsor the legislation with fellow Republicans Assemblywoman Claire Swift and state Sen. Vince Polistina. With help from county and city law enforcement he drafted a bill, and expressed confidence that Democrats would make mental health courts a bipartisan improvement.

Federal help is available for setting up and funding such programs at the intersection of mental health and justice.

The GAINS Center for Behavioral Health and Justice Transformation operates within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The center helps expand community services for adults who are in the criminal justice system and experiencing a mental and/or substance use disorder. It also provides technical assistance and support to behavioral health and criminal justice professionals, and to states and communities integrating systems of mental health and substance use services

Core strategies of the GAINS Model include: gather new research findings and best practices; assess information for targeted communication; integrate learning and follow through; network those involved; and stimulate cost-effectiveness in achieving significant results.

The Bureau of Justice Assistance, within the U.S. Department of Justice, has a Mental Health Courts Program that funds projects to help adult offenders with mental disabilities or illnesses. Its goal is to mobilize communities toward innovative, collaborative efforts.

Mental health courts in Pennsylvania help more than 500 people a year who are unlikely to benefit from criminal prosecution alone.

Theyre a proven method for addressing street crime and homelessness, and will help the reinvention of Atlantic City and quality of life in New Jersey.
Purdue University engineers conduct deployment testing with a Spinnaker3 dragsail prototype. Vestigo Aerospace, which is commercializing the dragsail, has closed a seed funding round with an investment of $375,000 from Manhattan West; NASA will provide a 1:1 match through a SBIR Phase II-E contract. (Photo provided by David Spencer)

LOS ANGELES and WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Vestigo Aerospace, a space technology company focused on deorbit systems, has closed a seed funding round with an investment of $375,000 from Manhattan West, a Los Angeles-based strategic investment firm. NASA will provide a 1:1 match of Manhattan Wests investment through a Small Business Innovative Research Phase II-Extended (SBIR Phase II-E) contract.

The seed funding and the matching NASA SBIR Phase II-E award will enable Vestigo Aerospace to establish the commercial manufacturing process for Vestigos product line of dragsails currently in development. The dragsails are designed to enable the timely deorbit of space vehicles, including CubeSats, small satellites and launch vehicle upper stages. Initial sales are anticipated for 2023.

Vestigos dragsails offer standardized mechanical and electrical interfaces to the host vehicle, allowing straightforward integration. The dragsails can be deployed on command or via a backup timer, providing reliable deorbit capability even if the host vehicle is inoperative.

The Spinnaker product line of dragsails addresses the growing need for reliable end-of-mission deorbit capability in order to maintain the sustainability of low-Earth orbit, said David Spencer, founder and CEO of Vestigo Aerospace. Bolt-on dragsails represent an ounce of prevention approach to the orbital debris problem that, if left unchecked, could halt the growth of the orbital economy.

At Manhattan West, we are committed to being active investors in emerging spaces and disruptive sectors, and identifying long-term secular shifts developing in the markets, said Lorenzo Esparza, founding principal and CEO at Manhattan West. Were thrilled that our strategic investment in Vestigo will support the companys development as it establishes its name as a leading player in deorbit systems and the space industry.

The Spinnaker dragsails are sized to enable the host vehicle to meet regulatory guidelines for deorbit duration. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission mandates deorbit from low-Earth orbit within 25 years of end-of-mission. The FCC offers streamlined licensing, with cost savings in application fees of over $440,000, for commercial small satellites that can deorbit within six years of launch.

Before the seed round, Vestigo Aerospace funded dragsail technology development through NASA SBIR Phase I and Phase II contracts, and matching funds from Indiana-based Elevate Ventures. For more information on the evolution of Vestigo and its commercial dragsail solutions, visit vestigoaerospace.com.

Spencer is a Purdue University adjunct associate professor from the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics and director of the Space Flight Projects Laboratory. Vestigo Aerospace licensed the dragsail technology through the Purdue Research Foundation of Office Technology Commercialization. The company was a client of the Purdue Foundry, an entrepreneurship and commercialization hub whose professionals help Purdue innovators create startups.

About Vestigo Aerospace

Established in 2019, Vestigo Aerospace has quickly become an industry leader in dragsail technology. Vestigo is committed to preserving the space environment and high-utility orbits through providing end-of-mission deorbit capability for space vehicles. For more information, visit vestigoaerospace.com.

About Manhattan West

Manhattan West is a global strategic investment firm based in Los Angeles that provides proprietary alternative investments across multiple asset classes including Private Equity, Venture Capital, Real Estate, Private Debt and traditional equity and fixed income portfolios, as well as financial services including business management, tax and planning. To learn more about us, visit manhattanwest.com.

About Purdue Research Foundation

Purdue Research Foundation supports Purdue University's land-grant mission by helping the university improve the world through its technologies and graduates. Established in 1930, PRF is a private, nonprofit foundation. The foundation helps patent and commercialize Purdue technologies; builds places to encourage innovation, invention, investment, commercialization and entrepreneurship; and makes equity available to students to finance their Purdue education. For more information on licensing a Purdue innovation, contact the Office of Technology Commercialization at otcip@prf.org. For more information about involvement and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at foundry@prf.org.

Contacts: Vestigo Aerospace: info@vestigoaerospace.com, 818-928-9964

Manhattan West: StreetCred PR, mw@streetcredpr.com; Will Ruben, william@streetcredpr.com, 847-208-8289; Meaghan McNichol, Meaghan@streetcredpr.com, 412-720-3777

Purdue Research Foundation: Steve Martin, sgmartin@prf.org




KABUL, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Fighting terrorism has been a tool used by the United States to strengthen its hegemony, an Afghan scholar has told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.

"The United Sates' definition of terrorism depends on Washington's interests. The U.S. has been using terrorism as a tool to invade and defeat free nations to ensure its interests," said Najibullah Jami, an Afghan political expert and Kabul University professor.

In the wake of the terror attacks on New York and Washington on Sept. 11, 2001, the United States accused the al-Qaida network of organizing the deadly attacks and led a military coalition to invade Afghanistan in October 2001 to overthrow the Taliban government, which allegedly sheltered the then leader of the terror network Osama Bin Laden.

In late August 2021, the U.S. forces conducted a hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan with a military defeat, leaving the war-torn country in extreme poverty and deep pains. Public data showed that more than 50,000 Afghan civilians and nearly 70,000 Afghan security personnel reportedly had been killed during the two-decade-long U.S. occupation of Afghanistan.

Jami said America's "anti-terrorism" war has reportedly caused the number of terrorist organizations in Afghanistan to exceed 20 today.

"Americans invaded Afghanistan with slogans to fight terror, check drug production and trafficking and rebuild the country but the claims have proved counter-productive as drug production and trafficking has increased manifold and the war-torn country has also been suffering from extreme poverty," the analyst said.

Giving examples of the destructive role of Washington's military intervention under the pretext of fighting terrorism in certain countries, the expert said, "The outcome of the U.S. war in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in Syria and in Libya is clear to everyone."

"We Afghans have no tangible economic development from the presence of U.S. military or economic prosperity over the past 20 years. We import our electricity from Tajikistan, we don't have enough food. Even in Kabul we don't have clean drinking water," he said.

According to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction set up by the U.S. Congress, annual per capita income in the Asian country declined from 650 U.S. dollars in 2012 to 500 dollars in 2020.





Produced by Xinhua Global Service




CHICAGO - At a South Side diner one recent morning, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot served up a cautionary tale about what might happen if Black voters dont unite behind her reelection bid.

She told the mostly Black crowd at Huddle House on Stony Island Avenue that the citys first African American mayor, Harold Washington, spent years feuding with a racist mob in City Council. When he died in office in 1987, they voted to replace him with Ald. Eugene Sawyer, who they thought they could control, but two years later they dropped him like a bad habit and went all in for (Richard M.) Daley, she said.

The result? Daleys long tenure at City Hall and 30 years of people struggling, Lightfoot said.

Not having the resources and the control of the city government left Black and brown Chicago the worse for it, Lightfoot said. So when you think about whats up on the ballot, in February of next year, our destiny is on the ballot.

Lightfoots comments during a petition kickoff event led to criticism from some who said she had distorted history and disrespected the memory of Sawyer, whose son is running against her. But it also underscored the mayors strategy in the 2023 mayoral campaign as her political base of support has shifted from the lakefront to the South and West sides, creating a unique dynamic for Lightfoot as she seeks a second term.

In the first round of the 2019 mayoral race, Lightfoot emerged from a historic 14-candidate field with roughly 18% of the vote. Much of it came from white lakefront residents on the North Side who backed her over more established politicians. Many of those voters are now disenchanted with Lightfoot, and she has been working vigorously to lock in support from the Black community.

To be sure, Lightfoot is expected to campaign for votes across the city but her attempts to build a new political base with Black voters face real hurdles. Five candidates who have announced their campaigns to unseat her are also Black and enter the contest with their own bases of support on the South and West sides. That large field includes businessman Willie Wilson, who won the citys Black vote in the first round of the 2019 race and has loaned $6 million to his campaign this year. Wilson has more money in the bank than any candidate, including Lightfoot, an unusual development in a city where incumbents have often handily outspent opponents.

If no candidate secures more than 50% of the vote in the February election  as was the case in 2019  the race will proceed to a second round between the top two finishers. Lightfoot won all 50 wards in the runoff the last time, but whether she can solidify Black support, expand her base and reclaim disaffected supporters remains an open question that will help determine whether she finishes first, second, or out of the running.

For their part, Lightfoots rivals say her argument presents an antiquated notion of racial politics in the city. Three of the four leading vote-getters last time were Black, which challengers say proves that an African American can win even in a crowded field.

Its fine for her to rely on the Black community and embrace them as her new base because, shes correct, thats the base that still is with her. ... Black people tend to be relational and white people tend to be transactional, veteran Chicago political strategist Delmarie Cobb said. We will stick with you even when we know youre not the best for us. Proof of that was sticking with Rahm Emanuel because of (his ties to) Barack Obama.

But, Cobb added, Lightfoot may run into problems keeping the Black communitys support.

She can make the argument that Ive done X, Y, Z after almost 40 years of disinvestment and Ive come along channeling Harold Washington, I understand what these neighborhoods need. But someone else can make the argument, Where have you been? Where were you?  Cobb said. This didnt happen overnight. There are people who can make that argument, who are going to be running against her, who can show where they were. They werent on the North Side in a nice cozy community with all the resources and amenities.

Political analyst Ameshia Cross said the mayor has a lot of work to do to regain the ground she lost and her message that the Black community may struggle if they dont vote her may not resonate when youre in a sea of Black candidates.

High crime and politically controversial decisions, such as raising bridges downtown during the height of civil unrest, might cause South and West side residents to be wary of her candidacy, Cross said.

Lori Lightfoot has a problem and its interesting for a Black woman to have a Black problem, Cross said. It is a large part of her own doing.

That was then, but now is now

Lightfoot appeared pleased as she stood next to three political heavyweights within Black Chicago in June. Underneath the DuSable Museums black-and-white mural of African American faces, U.S. Reps. Robin Kelly, Bobby Rush and Danny Davis sang Lightfoots praises as they endorsed her for reelection.

Combined, their speeches aimed to paint the mayor as a stalwart for the citys majority-Black neighborhoods, where she has launched the Invest South/West program to fund business development in disinvested neighborhoods.

Lightfoot returned the love and described the trio as three of the most iconic Black leaders in our country.

The session highlighted an important aspect of Lightfoots strategy: Standing with the Black political establishment. To that end, she also recently announced the backing of outgoing Secretary of State Jesse White, and most of her endorsements from sitting aldermen come from Black and Latino officials.

It wasnt always like this. Much of the Black political establishment supported Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle in 2019. During the runoff that year, Davis knocked Lightfoots lack of experience holding elected office, while Rush had said her supporters would have the blood of the next young Black man or Black woman killed by the police on their hands. White also supported Preckwinkle.

More than three years later, that hatchet seemed long buried as Rush shrugged off his past criticism.

That was then, but now is now, Rush said, drawing a round of laughter from Lightfoot and her supporters.

She has also worked to establish friendlier ties with Black politicians she has previously criticized. Early in her term, Lightfoot feuded with Black Caucus chairman Jason Ervin, who she once slammed in a text as full of crap. Lightfoot also battled Ervins wife, city Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, after the mayors administration stripped her of her security detail.

But in recent years, Ervin has emerged as one of her closest allies. After Ald. Sophia King announced her bid for mayor, Ervin released a statement warning that with so many Black candidates in the race and more expected to enter, we run the risk of losing it all.

As a community, it behooves us to come together and figure this out or end up walking away with nothing, Ervin said.

In August, Lightfoot took the stage at the Black Womens Expo in Bronzeville where she gave shout-outs to Black elected officials including Conyears-Ervin and our great states attorney, Kim Foxx.

Keep fighting that fight, keep fighting that fight, Lightfoot told Foxx from the stage.

Lightfoots comments raised eyebrows in political circles because the mayor has been critical of Foxx and the criminal justice reforms she has pushed. Lightfoot has publicly attacked Foxxs office at least twice and has long spoken out against bond reform, though she often aims her criticism toward judges rather than naming Foxx.

Race is a recurring theme when Lightfoot is defending her actions. She has said about 99% of the criticism she gets is because shes a Black woman.

Lightfoot created an uproar when she refused to grant interviews to white journalists for her two-year anniversary. She said that was meant to highlight the lack of diversity in the press corps, but it led Brandon Pope, president of the Chicago chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists, to later tell WBEZ, It does feel like we were used for political props.

Lightfoot also stumbled during an interview with the Triibe, a Black news website, where she was asked about Black businesses she frequents and didnt name any except one on the South Side.

She never backed down

The Bud Billiken Parade has long been a highlight of campaign season that can illustrate potential pitfalls for a candidate. Glad-handing along the route last month, Lightfoot received a warm reception from the crowd  but so did other candidates.

One paradegoer, Erica AnnMarie Vassell, said shed found comfort in the mayors words in the scary early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. She recalled an April 2020 news conference in which Lightfoot said she personally drove around neighborhoods scolding people who werent social distancing.

Vassell, 51, has worked as a nurses assistant is now bouncing around shelters on the West Side. She has never voted but is planning to cast a ballot for Lightfoot in 2023, saying she found the mayors confidence as a woman inspiring.

Lori Lightfoot? Shes strong, Vassell said. Im very strong. So I see the strongness that is in me in her. I respect her for being a woman that stands up to so many challenges and changes thats been going on. She never backed down.

Carla Johnson, 66, waved a Pan-African flag on the sidelines of the parade as she watched Wilson march past her, wearing a shirt with his face on it.

Yeah, Wilson! Johnson shouted with both her arms up.

Johnson said she was a Lightfoot voter in 2019 but is planning on backing Wilson this time. One reason? The sentiment that Lightfoot has caved to the whims of politicians instead of everyday residents like Johnson.

Willie Wilson is more in tune with what the community is looking for, Johnson said. He has gotten out more with the people and got in touch and listened to our needs and our concerns more than I feel Mayor Lightfoot has. I feel like shes caught in the system.

Johnson said this years spike in gas prices has worried her, and she found Wilsons multiple rounds of gas giveaways impressive. Though Lightfoot passed her own measure giving away tens of thousands of dollars in free gas and CTA cards in April, Johnson said she had hoped the mayor could have used her influence to freeze the city fuel tax.

Black folks are not a monolith

Lightfoots opponents have been critical of her remarks about Black voters and pledged to compete for their support and others.

State Rep. Kambium Kam Buckner, whose district includes downtown and a large segment of the South Side, said hes offended by the idea pushed by Lightfoot and Ervin that the Black vote will split. He pointed out that four of the six leading vote-getters in the first round of the 2019 race were Black.

Black folks are not a monolith, and those of us who have spent lifetimes in the Black community in this city know that, Buckner said. There are differing opinions that are going to be across the board, but we saw in 2019 that splitting the Black vote trope is not a thing.

Still, Buckner said he has doubts about her appeal to Black voters.

The question thats going to be asked by many people of the Black community is, Where were you?, not just the last four years, but the four years before that and the four years before that, he said. Frankly, I dont think the mayor has an answer to that thatll be in line with what my neighbors want to hear.

Activist JaMal Green, another challenger, said its just incorrect to assume that the majority of people will vote based on ethnicity. ... Chicagoans will vote based on the leadership they want to see going forward and many ethnic groups will coalesce together behind candidates that represent their values.

Wilson, who won most of the Black wards in the first round of 2019 voting, said he expects to be even stronger this time on the South and West sides.

He contended no other candidate showed the minority community, particularly people of color, that they care about them. Ive been supporting the Black community ... for the last 30 to 40 years, Wilson said of his practice of giving away money to needy people. I havent seen anybody else do that.

South Side Ald. Roderick Sawyer, whos also in the race and whose father was the subject of the mayors breakfast comments, said Lightfoots version of history was reckless and irresponsible, one of Lightfoots go-to lines against critics. Sawyer predicted it wouldnt be effective and that candidates should be playing to as broad a field of support as they can.

I think her pandering to the Black community is going to be seen as just that. In order to run an effective race, you should be appealing to everybody in Chicago, Sawyer said. And Im speaking as someone whos proudly Black, been active in Black causes all my life, not just recently.

Fellow contender Paul Vallas, former Chicago Public Schools CEO, criticized Lightfoots pitch to Black voters as one of rhetoric and one-off projects on the South and West side.

With all the talk of equity, whether its her record on crime, schools or her taxes and fines, its been the citys African American residents that have been hurt the most, Vallas said in a statement. The growing number of Black candidates in the race reflect the great dissatisfaction with her in the Black community.

Another mayoral candidate, Ald. Raymond Lopez, whose ward includes Back of the Yards and West Englewood, dismissed Lightfoots comparison of herself with Washington.

She has not delivered for the Black community and they know it. She has never worked or lived their experience, and they havent forgotten that, Lopez said. And now at the eleventh hour trying to portray herself as the victim of racial politics? I dont think people are going to buy it.

Ald. Sophia King, who has criticized the argument made by Ervin and Lightfoot about dividing up the Black vote, said the mayor is failing to keep Black Chicagoans safe, just like shes failing to keep everyone else safe.

I will keep making the case to voters of every race, that Ill be a mayor who brings public safety and investments to every neighborhood, King said.
Illinois childrens hospitals are seeing a surge of kids with respiratory illnesses, leaving some hunting for beds.

Its skyrocketed since school started, said Dr. John Cunningham, physician-in-chief at University of Chicago Medicine Comer Childrens Hospital, of the number of families seeking care at Comer. This is the most challenging period weve experienced since March 2020.

Its not unusual for childrens hospitals to see surges of sick kids each winter, as illnesses such as the flu and RSV, respiratory syncytial virus, spread. But its rarer to get a big influx of children with respiratory illnesses in August and September, and, at some hospitals, its posing a particular challenge this year because of staffing shortages.

Many of the kids have enterovirus, which can be an upper respiratory or gastrointestinal infection, or rhinovirus, which is a type of enterovirus that affects the upper respiratory tract, Cunningham said. Most children who catch the illnesses dont get very sick and recover at home, experiencing cold-like symptoms. But some, including children with asthma, can become short of breath and have low oxygen levels, requiring hospitalization.

Last week, a state health official sent a note to leaders of hospital groups in Illinois about the surge in hospitalizations among kids, saying, Most (pediatric intensive care units) in our state are already at or near full capacity, making interfacility transfers more difficult.

The official, Ashley Thoele, deputy chief operating officer at the state health department, said that more kids are being admitted to hospitals, and the situation is further compounded by workforce shortages at some hospitals.

Comer is now seeing about 50% more kids than usual coming through its emergency department each day  a spike that doesnt usually happen until winter, Cunningham said. Many of the children admitted to Comer are staying for about two to four days, with a small number also needing treatment for infections and a very small number needing to be put on ventilators, he said.

Kids with asthma are at higher risk of experiencing shortness of breath and low oxygen when they get the illnesses.

Comer is also seeing an explosion in the number of requests from other hospitals to transfer sick children to Comer. Many community hospitals have closed their pediatric inpatient units in recent years, meaning they may try to transfer sick children elsewhere when they need hospitalization.

Sometimes community hospitals say they have already tried four or five other hospitals before calling Comer, Murphy said.

Its not that they dont want to take them, Cunningham said. Were all coping with trying to find space for each of these children.

In recent weeks, Advocate Childrens Hospital has had to transfer some intensive care unit patients to other hospitals, and, sometimes, it has taken those patients from other facilities, said Dr. Frank Belmonte, chief medical officer at Advocate Childrens Hospital, which has campuses in Park Ridge and Oak Lawn.

We didnt anticipate this, Belmonte said. This summers been a pretty typical summer and then all of sudden, in the last two weeks, tons of kids with respiratory illness are coming into the ER.

Doctors arent totally sure whats causing the spike. Its possible many young kids are getting very ill now because they havent been exposed to the illnesses before because of isolation during COVID-19, or these may just be particularly nasty strains of the sicknesses, Cunningham said.

Theres a particular strain thats been causing problems in even numbered years for the last decade or so, with the exception of 2020 because everyone was so isolated, Comer doctors say.

This year, widespread staffing shortages have made it tough to find space, Belmonte said. Though hospitals may have enough physical beds for kids, if they dont have enough nurses and other staff, they cant necessarily fill all those beds. Staffing shortages are plaguing many industries, including health care, which saw many workers quit because of burnout from working through the pandemic.

Were all recruiting for nursing and techs and all the other pieces that keep the puzzle together, Belmonte said. In childrens hospitals, the skill set is so specific, so the labor pool is much smaller to pull from.

It may be a rough flu season this year. U.S. doctors typically look to Australia, which experiences its flu season earlier than the U.S., to see what the U.S. might expect. Australia had a bad flu season this year, and, on top of that, most people in the U.S. are no longer masking and taking the types of precautions that may have blunted other recent flu seasons.

Thats why its crucial kids be vaccinated against the flu and COVID-19 this year, Cunningham said.

As many children as possible should be vaccinated against influenza, Cunningham said. Thats really very, very important this winter.
John Maxwell has been inviting cruise-ship goers to his farm for the past four years. Last week, he welcomed a new set of guests.

Viking Cruise Lines brought a 386-passenger custom vessel, the Viking Mississippi, to the Davenport riverfront on Wednesday. Community members came out in droves to welcome the travelers to the Quad-Cities. Those on board could choose from a list of area excursions.

Maxwell held tours at his Cinnamon Ridge Farms in Donahue, where guests embarked on a wine-and-cheese tour while exploring the farm. While the homemade cheese was a hit, modern agricultural techniques were the main event.

"The biggest thing that I was hearing is they were surprised at how much technology is in agriculture," he said. "They really liked being able to be around the food and find out where it comes from."

According to Visit Quad Cities, more than 3.1 million travelers annually visit the region. It's difficult to pin down how much cruise ships contribute to the economic impact, but with $958 million in total tourist spending, its safe to say the area is well-positioned for visitors.

Passengers also toured the Butterworth Center and Deere-Wiman house. Executive Director Stacy Klingler said the museum offered an opportunity for visitors to learn about the local history and take a break from their busy travel schedule.

"We know from talking with Viking staff that they were very excited about the opportunity to come up here," she said.

At the Putnam Museum & Science Center, CEO Rachael Mullins said staff have been offering a behind-the-scenes tour for visitors. The tour includes regional history that reaches back to the days of the Native Americans who first settled in the area.

"What I love about these tours is it's not only a chance to celebrate the Putnam museum, but it's a chance to celebrate the Quad-Cities," she said.

Mullins said guests were "astonished" not just by the museum but the diversity and stories in the region. Staff are trying to dispel myths about the Midwest and show how much of an urban center it is.

"We hope they make the commitment to come back," she said.

Over at the Figge Art Museum, Education Programs Coordinator Heather Aaronson said many patrons came in for the art and stayed for the local goods. The tours were designed to feature the work of Grant Wood and show off highlights of some of the permanent items in the museums collection.

"We had wonderful feedback. We had people that cruised over 40 times, so it was really great to have these wonderful world travelers be so complimentary of the museum," she said.

After the tours, staff offered samples of local wine and beer. Aaronson said the guests "totally loved that" and stayed after the tour to chat with staff.

"We cannot wait to do more with them," she said.

Maxwell said back at the farm there was an added bonus to having so many travelers in town. The economic impact is significant.

"These people not only come to my farm, but they go elsewhere and buy things," he said.

Multiple visitors told Maxwell they would return to the area at a later date to continue exploring all it has to offer. Those who travel on the cruise ships have disposable income, he said. Having so many new people in the area positively impacts the local economy and spurs continued growth.

"It's a win-win all the way around," he said. "More than that, it is all part of this Quad-Cities growing region."

Dave Herrell, CEO of Visit Quad Cities, said having Viking passengers in the area was a "watershed moment."

Vikings arrival in the Quad-Cities is exciting and an important opportunity to activate our world-renowned Mississippi River," he said.

With it being the ship's first time in the area, Herrell said making a positive first impression was imperative. Based on feedback he received from the Viking staff, that was accomplished.

"It felt like when they disembarked, there was a high level of energy. It was fun, and it was a place that was incredibly excited about them being there," he said.

Visitors on board came from San Diego, Canada and Great Britain. Being able to introduce passengers to the region sets the bar for a high standard of hospitality in the area.

"The fact that we were able to see an audience from all over the country, both domestically and abroad, I think is really the net result of why Viking is so important to the QuadCities and how future stops are going to be great for us," he said.

In addition to multiple local site visits, passengers were able to kayak and bike along the riverfront. Viking docked again Tuesday in Davenport and a new set of passengers descended on the Quad-Cities. The economic impact is felt across the region, but Maxwell said there's something else about the ship docking in Davenport that brings him joy.

"I always tell every tour that my favorite part of my day, or my life, is giving that tour," he said. "I always tell them, 'Thanks for coming and making my day.' "
Nearly 30 years later, Steve Asplund's family finally knows what happened to the missing Moline man.

Asplund was last seen Jan. 9., 1994, when he went to borrow a caulking gun from a friend. He was reported missing by his fiancee on Jan. 10, and investigators found his car parked in Bettendorf to the east of the Interstate 74 bridge.

There was no sign of Asplund.

On Monday, the Moline Police Department said that a body found in St. Louis County, Mo., a few weeks after Asplund disappeared has been confirmed to be Asplund. The identity was verified using a bone sample from the body, exhumed from a Missouri cemetery, and DNA samples from Asplunds family.

No foul play is suspected, Moline Police Chief Darren Gault said during an afternoon news conference at the police department. No charges are being sought in this case, and this concludes a missing person investigation that we have had since 1994.

Barge dock workers along the Mississippi River found a body on March 21, 1994, in a debris field next to a barge. Investigators there attempted to identify the body but were unsuccessful.

The break in the case was the result of the work of Mike Griffin, a Moline police detective, in concert with officials in Illinois and Missouri, police said.

Griffin found information on the body during a 2021 search of the National Missing and Unidentified System, a database of unidentified remains that have been found along the river from Moline to Memphis, Tenn.

In 2022, Griffin began working with Dr. Lindsay Trammell, a forensic anthropologist working for the St. Louis County Medical Examiners Office. After other attempts to identify the body were exhausted, they had the body exhumed and recovered the bone sample.

Aaron Small, a forensic scientist with the Illinois State Police, analyzed the bone and DNA samples and the body was confirmed to be Asplund on Sept. 6.

Griffin said during the news conference that Asplund is thought to have entered the water likely on the night of Jan. 9, 1994, in Bettendorf.

Asplunds body likely got entangled with a barge, and that is how it is thought it got to the St. Louis County area, Griffin said.

The St. Louis County Medical Examiners Office determined in 1994 that the cause of death was drowning.

Asplunds family was grateful for the effort of investigators over the years, Griffin said. When he went to them with the news, he got a hug.

It meant a lot to me, Griffin said.

Asplunds family did not attend the news conference but did provide a statement to the police department, which the chief read.

The news, while bittersweet, will allow us some closure, Mike Asplund, Steve Asplunds brother, wrote. Well still think of Steve every day and miss him just the same, but these answers will provide comfort to us and his friends.

The family also thanked the people who supported them after the disappearance and the investigators who participated in trying to find Steve Asplund, particularly Griffin.

Their work will allow us to bring Steve back home," Mike Asplund wrote, "and we thank you for that.
Steve Petersen wants crops grown on his 80-acre farm in central Scott County.

The crop isn't corn. Or soybeans. But what he wants to harvest on his land has sparked a debate between Petersen and the Scott County Board of Supervisors about the future of land usage and energy production in the county.

Petersen would like to lease his land to Alliant Energy. The company would erect solar panels on the land, harvest sunlight and convert it to electricity. Petersen says the proposed solar farm on the land where he's lived and farmed since 1991 would preserve the soil, produce much-needed electricity for Davenport and  crucially  diversify his family's income.

Few large-scale solar operations will be allowed in rural Scott County under new regulations the Scott County Board of Supervisors appears poised to pass later this week.

Supervisors will cast their final vote Thursday on an ordinance that would bar large-scale solar operations on prime agricultural farmland, which by the countys definition makes up 85% of unincorporated Scott County.

Renewable energy advocates and representatives from Alliant Energy protested parts of the ordinance as overly restrictive as companies look to renewable energy to wean off fossil fuels and fend off the most disastrous effects of climate change.

Currently, no large-scale solar projects are allowed in Scott County. The ordinance does create an avenue for such utility-scale projects to go up. But applicants must request a special utility-solar zoning district, which cant be on farm ground above a corn suitability rating (CSR2) of 60, and must keep a 1,000 foot setback from other structures.

CSR2 is a formula developed by Iowa State University to measure potential soil productivity, and its based on soil profile, slope of the land and weather conditions. The higher the rating, the more productive, with 100 being the highest.

About 34,704 acres would have a poor enough rating in Scott County to allow a solar farm, about 16.7% of the countys jurisdiction according to a county staff analysis.

The average Scott County rating is 72.4, according to an Iowa State University analysis.

Alliant Energy was talking with land owners in western Scott County for a possible 100 megawatt solar energy operation, Alliant spokesperson Justin Foss said in mid-August.

That project wouldn't be feasible under Scott County's proposed ordinance, Foss said, because of the proposed restrictions of solar panels on productive farmland that make up most of unincorporated Scott County.

Petersen said the ordinance would " ... discriminate against farmers with higher CSRs, which doesn't seem fair." He also pointed to the idea that farmers should be able to diversify incomes in a safe way to insure the viability of their farms.

"I honestly see solar as a commodity, as crop, just like corn or beans or livestock," Petersen said. "It gives me a chance to diversify and keep this farm in our family. Farming is full of economic swings.

"Solar energy offers us a fixed income over the years of the lease  income we can count on when the costs of putting corn and soybeans in the ground rise."

Scott Count Board Chair Ken Beck and Vice Chair John Maxwell are expected to vote for the new ordinance. They stress they are not against solar power but say the proposed regulations keep in line with the countys goal of preserving agricultural land for crops  while keeping the door open for large-scale solar projects. Previously, no solar ordinance was on the books, but in 1980 the county did set up an ordinance outlining agricultural preservation of the best farmland.

"My primary concern is agricultural preservation," Beck said. "The goal of the county back in 1980 was to maintain prime farmland, and this (solar) project would take away prime farmland.

"A farmer can argue that they should be able to do anything they want with their land, but our job as supervisors is to represent the community, and it is of a broader interest that we work to preserve the land."

Maxwell, who owns a dairy operation and farms row crops in Donahue, agreed, saying the best farmland in Scott County should be preserved for "growing food for the entire world" and solar farms would limit the flexibility farms have to grow food.

Petersen said he thought Beck and Maxwell had a narrow interpretation of the county's agriculture preservation ordinance.

"My dad (Robert Petersen) served on the county board for 21 years  and helped write that preservation ordinance," Petersen said. "At that time, banks were becoming the largest farmland owners in the county and there was concern about the development of rural subdivisions.

"The idea was to slow or prevent subdivisions from consuming all the ground in Scott County. Housing brings roads and sewers  lots of concrete. And subdivisions bring parking lots. More concrete.

"I don't know why the board would want to discourage solar. We are talking about a project that would actually preserve the land it is on, allow the land to rest. And it is removable."

Maxwell said he was "not convinced" solar arrays are as easily removed as advertised  and he is not certain land given over to solar farms will ever be converted back to crop farming.

Scott County's proposed ordinance requires applicants to submit a decommissioning plan for the solar arrays. It also requires projects to plant a mix of native grasses and wildflowers underneath the panels to prevent erosion, manage runoff and build soil. Small-scale farming or grazing could also be allowed.

Scott County would join at least 15 other counties in Iowa that have large-scale solar ordinances on the books, according to a review by Scott County Planning and Development Director Chris Mathias. More are considering new solar rules. Scott County would be the only one to restrict based on the productivity rating of the land, Mathias said.

In neighboring Clinton County, supervisors wrestled with and approved a 1,000-acre solar project northwest of Grand Mound.

Democratic Supervisor Ken Croken said Thursday he couldn't support the ordinance while the suitability rating and 1,000-foot setback guidance remained.

Croken will host a town hall meeting on solar energy development policy within the county at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Eldridge branch of the Scott County Library System, located at 200 N. 6th Street.

Croken said Petersen would attend along with Nick Boeyink, Iowa field operations manager with the Land & Liberty Coalition, and Mike Carberry, outreach director with Bright Future Iowa.

Petersen said he hoped he didn't sound " ... like someone just out for myself."

"If I wasn't a farmer, I would support this," he said. "I think people are afraid of change. And I understand that. But solar energy is here. And it's available to us. Right here.

"We can produce the energy used by the people of Davenport and across the county. Like I said, we can see solar energy like any other crop, or like a dairy product, or a hog farm. And we wouldn't be wasting the land. We would be saving it."
State and local law enforcement are investigating after suspected human remains were found during a Sunday morning structure fire in Butte County.

According to the South Dakota Department of Criminal Investigation, the Belle Fourche Fire Services responded to a structure fire in the 19000 block of Canyon Lane just south of Belle Fourche about 5:30 a.m. Sunday. As fire personnel were extinguishing the blaze, suspected human remains were discovered.

Agents from DCI responded to the scene at the request of the Butte County Sheriff's Office. DCI said a scene investigation, interviews and a search warrant were executed to determine the circumstances of the fire and the possible human remains.

The Butte County Sheriff's Office, the state Fire Marshals Office and DCI are continuing to investigate with the assistance of the South Dakota Highway Patrol and Belle Fourche Police Department.
Moscow Commercial Court introduces monitoring of Googles Russian structure

MOSCOW, September 12 (RAPSI)  The Moscow Commercial Court has introduced a six-month monitoring procedure against Google LLC (Google's Russian subsidiary), according to the court materials.

A petition for bankruptcy was forwarded to the court by the debtor itself.

On May 18, the company, represented by its CEO, announced its intention to file for bankruptcy stating that it could no longer pay its staff, suppliers, vendors and to meet other financial obligations.

Last December, a 7.2-billion-ruble (about $120 million at the current exchange rate) turnover fine was imposed on the branch by Russian authorities. Google LLC was also found guilty of non-compliance with the order of the restriction of access to certain content.

On September 9, the Moscow Tagansky District Court upheld an administrative fine of 21 billion rubles (about $347 million) imposed on Google for repeatedly refusing to remove information prohibited by Russian law, the court's press service told RAPSI.
DEER LODGE  Neighbors against neighbors.

Disputes about the status of an old road that hosts sections of the recently-opened Old Yellowstone Trail continue among neighbors Powell County, the Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site and the Rock Creek Cattle Co.

All three are involved in a federal case initiated months ago by plaintiff Powell County against defendant Grant-Kohrs. Powell County asserts that County Road No. 9, also known as the West Side Road, is a public county road. Rock Creek Cattle Co. has intervened in that U.S. District Court case as a party arguing that County Road No. 9 is not a public road.

Separately, Rock Creek Cattle Co. has sued Powell County in District Court, alleging that the Old Yellowstone Trails passage through the ranch on the disputed road poses risks to the ranchs cattle operations.

Rock Creek Cattle Co. operates a ranch of about 35,000 acres, but the exclusive and secluded community near Deer Lodge also caters to the wealthy.

In early July, District Court Judge Ray Dayton denied Rock Creeks request for a preliminary injunction that would have halted trail construction on Old Yellowstone Trail. Construction has since been completed and the trail is officially open. Rock Creek has appealed Daytons ruling.

Theres no resolution in sight for establishing the legal status of the road that serves a portion of the Old Yellowstone Trail, which travels about 10.5 miles between Deer Lodge and Garrison. In part, the trail follows the former right-of-way of the Milwaukee Road. The county acquired that right-of-way with money from the states Natural Resource Damage Program.

For now, people can still use the trail but cannot ride or walk bicycles through the section that passes through the Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site.

Bicycle usage within National Park Service boundaries continues to be restricted outside of visitor parking and administration parking areas and at this time is not authorized, said Naaman Horn, a spokesperson for the Park Service.

The park was in the process of conducting National Environmental Policy Act (assessments) to analyze the usage of non-motorized bikes solely on the ranch's section of the proposed Old Yellowstone Trail, he said. However, the planning effort was halted due to an ongoing litigation matter that has prevented completion of the process.

Horn acknowledged that the litigation cited was with Powell County.

NEPA requires federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of proposed actions prior to making decisions.

Meanwhile, Horn said Grant-Kohrs employees who ride their bicycles to work must park them in employee parking areas.
Prior to March 2020, only about 8% of US workers performed their jobs fully remote, about 32% worked hybrid and 60% worked fully on-site at a workplace, according to a recent Gallup poll.

Two and a half years later, employers have finalized return to work plans  announcing its time to get back to the office and rejecting any additional delays. Many employees are crying foul.

For example, NBC News allegedly told employees they needed to return to the office.

In response, 210 guild members from NBC News signed a petition that was posted to Twitter last week issuing a demand that NBC News immediately switch course. The Guild said NBC News was being coercive, and complained that one employee was told to return to the office five days a week unless the employees manager authorizes otherwise. The Guild posted that all of this caused confusion and anxiety.

The Guild said, Management would rather lose good workers who happen to live in another city than embrace the reality of a hybrid workplace or live up to their own repeated commitments to address concerns. They encouraged NBC to prioritize safety and flexibility. They declared the plan to be a one size fits all, which they claim is an outdated, unsafe, and unattractive approach to the hybrid workplace.

NBC News reportedly denied forcing staffers to return to the office five days a week or that employees have been terminated for refusing to return to the office.

Employers should take notice that many employees dont want things to return to normal. Theyve gotten a taste of the remote workplace and have determined it suits their lifestyle better than being permanently onsite. Some employees moved to other cities or even out of the United States.

A recent Gallop poll confirms the sentiment of many of todays workers. The poll results released last month found that of the 8,090 remote-capable U.S. employees surveyed in June 2022:

56% of full-time employees (more than 70 million workers) said they can perform their work remotely; 50% were already working hybrid, and 30% exclusively working remotely. Only 20% were working full-time onsite.

Hybrid seems to be the future of work, with the majority of those responding seeking a hybrid arrangement. Gallup predicted that fully remote work opportunities will likely decrease to about 20% even though 34% of those responding wanted fully remote.

Gallup predicted, Fully on-sitework work is expected to remain a relic of the past with only 20% of workers fully on-site compared to 60% in 2019. In fact, only 6% responded that they wanted to work fully on-site.

Gallup predicted Employees who dont work in their preferred location have significantly lower employee engagement, alongside higher burnout and desire to quit. They simply do not feel well-positioned to do their best work or live their best life.

Employers have delayed return to work plans multiple times during the pandemic. This has only emboldened employee expectations and normalized remote work as an effective model.

Generally (absent a collective bargaining agreement or contract), employers can legally require employees to return to the office to work, unless the employee is entitled to a reasonable accommodation under the law due to a disability, pregnancy (in Virginia) or religion.

Just because the law supports employer return to work expectations doesnt mean employers should jump on the opportunity.

Return to work plans need to support the employee and the needs of the workplace. In requiring employees to return some or all of the time, employers need to accept that they may lose good employees and the on-site expectations need to be worth that potential loss. If on-site work is essential to an employer and an employee is unwilling to return, then perhaps that employee is no longer the best fit for that work environment. Over time, employees will find their fit and employers will juggle their wants and needs to keep their staffing.

Employers also need to make sure they comply with the variety of tax implications of having employees working in other locations. Some employers are limiting the locations where employees can work going forward in order to minimize the complexity of complying with each jurisdiction.

Employees have simply become comfortable with working remotely and employers will need to be prepared for, and accept, whatever consequences flow from mandating employees return to the office. In doing so, employers need to make firm decisions and avoid continued delay because the pushback is inevitable.
BEIJING, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the 22nd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in the city of Samarkand, and pay state visits to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan from Wednesday to Friday.

Xi's trip is expected to promote the development of the SCO and enhance China-Kazakhstan and China-Uzbekistan relations.

SHANGHAI SPIRIT

Since its founding in 2001, the SCO, the first inter-governmental organization named after a Chinese city, has had an extraordinary journey.

After 21 years, the organization, now with eight full members, four observer countries and multiple dialogue partners, has become not only a strong pillar of global peace and development, but also a major force for international equity and justice.

"The SCO enjoys strong vitality and momentum of cooperation. This, in the final analysis, is attributed to the Shanghai Spirit, a creative vision initiated and followed through by the SCO that champions mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diversity of civilizations and pursuit of common development," Xi said at the 18th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of the SCO in 2018.

Within the framework of the SCO, countries have supported each other on issues concerning their respective core interests and major concerns. Together, they have fought against terrorism, separatism and extremism, and taken tough actions to curb the spread of drug trafficking, cybercrime and transnational organized crime. People-to-people programs such as art festivals, the SCO University and the SCO Forum on Traditional Medicine have been launched.

With such fruitful achievements, the SCO has grown into the world's largest and most populous regional institution, and it has endeavored to explore new ground, both theoretically and with actual steps, with a view to building a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future for mankind.

Practices over the years have shown that the values embodied and advocated by the Shanghai Spirit have been fully recognized by the member states, said Zhang Ming, secretary-general of the SCO.

As this year marks the 20th anniversary of the signing of the SCO Charter and the 15th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty on Long-Term Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation of the SCO Member States, global attention has been placed on the upcoming Samarkand Summit of the SCO, where Xi and other leaders will discuss how to jointly address global challenges and promote security and development.

In fact, as a founding member of the SCO, China has been committed to promoting a sound development of the organization. Since 2013, President Xi has put forward a series of initiatives while participating in the SCO summits, which have enriched the Shanghai Spirit.

From elaborating on China's visions on development, security, cooperation, civilization and global governance, to calling for the building of "a community of health," "a community of security," "a community of development" and "a community of cultural exchanges," the Chinese leader played an important role in the SCO's steady and long-term development.

The Chinese president's remarks have summarized the SCO's practices, and adequately met the needs of regional governance and the requirements of the organization's development, said Deng Hao, secretary-general of the China Center for SCO Studies.

As the world is witnessing profound changes, especially after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese leader has proposed the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative, which have been widely recognized by the international community, including SCO countries.

CLOSER COOPERATION

At the Qingdao Summit of the SCO in 2018, Xi said that the Chinese government supports building a demonstration area in Qingdao for local economic and trade cooperation between China and the SCO.

Since then, the China-SCO Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Area in Qingdao has grown into an important logistics hub with flourishing freight train services.

China's efforts to promote SCO development in economic and trade, as well as in other areas including health and poverty alleviation have benefited people in different countries.

Within the framework of the SCO, the member states are witnessing significant economic development, great improvement in people's lives and closer relations with each other, which has attracted countries outside the organization, Zhang, secretary-general of the SCO, said.

Last year, the SCO launched procedures to admit Iran as a full member state. Moreover, it has granted dialogue partner status to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar.

Committed to true multilateralism, the SCO has always opposed hegemonic, domineering and bullying acts, and will never attempt the forming of cliques.

To translate true multilateralism into practice, the organization has been making full use of the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group and actively cooperating with such international and regional organizations as the United Nations, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia.

It has also been promoting synergy between the Belt and Road cooperation and the development strategies of various countries and regional cooperation initiatives such as the Eurasian Economic Union.

Meanwhile, the SCO calls for observing the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter and the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, providing a new platform and model for multilateral cooperation to improve global governance.

As B.R. Deepak, a professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University in India, has said, the SCO "has proved to be an excellent example of multilateralism in the 21st century," and "has played an important role in enhancing the voice of developing countries in global institutions and forums."

BRIGHT FUTURE

This year marks the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and Kazakhstan as well as between China and Uzbekistan.

Over the past 30 years, China's relations with the two countries have maintained a sound momentum of development.

In 2013, 2015 and 2017, Xi paid three visits to Kazakhstan where the Silk Road Economic Belt was initiated.

Since 2013, China-Kazakhstan relations have achieved leapfrog development with the Belt and Road cooperation, bringing tangible benefits to the people of the two countries.

In 2021, the Zhanatas wind power plant, the Turgusun hydropower station and other China-built projects were completed and put into operation. Kazakh companies have participated in the China International Import Expo for four consecutive years. The import and export of goods between China and Kazakhstan totaled 25.25 billion U.S. dollars in 2021, up 17.6 percent year-on-year. Their economic cooperation has withstood the tough test of the pandemic and shown strong resilience.

Meanwhile, China-Uzbekistan relations are at a historic high. The two countries have strengthened political mutual trust, achieved fruitful practical cooperation and maintained close coordination in international and regional affairs.

Xi visited Uzbekistan in 2013 and 2016. In 2016, China-Uzbekistan relations were upgraded to a comprehensive strategic partnership. Since then, China has been Uzbekistan's largest trading partner and largest destination of exports.

Under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, the two sides have carried out close cooperation in the fields of economy and trade, investment, energy, transportation, agriculture and people-to-people exchanges, and undertaken a number of projects like the Pengsheng industrial park and China's Ming Yuan Silu Corp-funded plate glass manufacturing and deep-processing facility.

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are both important participants and contributors to Belt and Road cooperation.

More than 2,000 years ago, along the ancient Silk Road linking Asia and Europe, civilizations in the East and West told a story of mutual assistance and mutual learning. Now the Belt and Road has carried forward that spirit across the Eurasian continent, bringing SCO members even closer.

Sun Zhuangzhi, director of the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that in line with the concepts of "a green Silk Road" and "a digital Silk Road," practical cooperation among SCO member states will be expanded to green development, digital economy and other areas in the future.

After more than 20 years of development, the organization has been forging ahead toward closer cooperation. As the Samarkand Summit is approaching, the SCO is expected to continuously uphold the Shanghai Spirit, commit itself to building a closer SCO community with a shared future, and make greater contributions to lasting peace and the common development of the world. 
If you happen to hear The White Lotus called several times at Mondays Emmy Awards, dont be surprised.

The limited series was an excellent way to keep fires burning during various COVID lockdowns.

Set in a luxury resort in Hawaii, the story pops to life when three parties arrive at Lotus.

When those high-maintenance guests realize what they do  or dont  have, the manager, Armond, has to shift into damage control.

Comedy comes from his desire to give them a Fantasy Island experience; drama comes from their determination to have it.

Written by Mike White, the six-part series doesnt reveal its overriding theme until everyone is settled into their rooms. Then, it becomes clear: This is a look at the ultra-rich and how theyre really not like us at all.

For starters, theres a honeymooning couple, Shane and Rachel Patton (Jake Lacey and Alexandra Daddario), who are dissatisfied with the suite theyve been given. Its not the one pictured online and it doesnt have a plunge pool. Since his mom booked the reservation, hes determined to make it sting.

Then, theres the Mossbacher family. Nicole (Connie Britton) is a successful executive; her husband, Mark (Steve Zahn), is a wreck because he thinks he has cancer. To add to the problem: two bored children and their college-age daughters friend.

Toss in Tanya McQuoid (Jennifer Coolidge), a lonely single who wants to scatter her mothers ashes, and you see these are people with emotional issues money cant resolve.

The fun, though, is in Armonds effort. As played by Murray Bartlett, hes an ever-smiling wreck, exuding confidence while hiding contempt.

Unfolding over the course of a week, the limited series shows just how miserable life can be no matter what the setting. Shane harps on the accommodations; Nicole questions her husbands fidelity; Tanya gives a spa worker false hope.

Even though much of the action takes place in restaurants and rooms, theres plenty to savor. The Mossbachers daughter, Olivia (Sydney Sweeney), is about as obnoxious as college sophomores get. She toys with her friend (Brittany OGrady), who doesnt share her lifestyle, and thwarts her oh-so-successful mom every time she tries to pretend life is great. She scores with simple looks and makes you feel sorry for her brother, Quinn (Fred Hechinger), whos enjoying the stay more than anyone.

White uses sly humor throughout the series and gets his best results from Bartlett, who unravels in unusual ways. He captures the managers approach beautifully and has plenty of fun getting even.

White Lotus benefits from the one percenters desire to be inclusive. Coolidge gets the best shot at this but Britton has her moment following an evening luau.

When her world falls apart, you can see why Olivia isnt afraid to call her out on anything.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  Eager to root for viewer favorites "Yellowstone," "NCIS" or "Young Sheldon" during the Emmy Awards? Save your breath.

They and other ratings successes failed to make a dent in nominations for Monday's ceremony. Instead, the haul went to shows that are critical darlings or possess a higher degree of cool, "Stranger Things" and "Squid Game" among them.

While it may be frustrating to fans, industry experts consider such omissions a sign that television's most prestigious honor is doing its job, or trying to, in the daunting age of "peak TV" overload.

"When the Emmys were created more than 70 years ago, there were so few shows. The public was familiar with what was being nominated," said TV producer-writer William Rosenthal. That remained the case for most of the 20th century, but today it's "a whole different game, with more than 500 series, and also international series."

Netflix's "Squid Game" is a case in point, a South Korean drama that's the first non-English language nominee for top series honors. The dystopian horror story is competing with seven other acclaimed shows, including "Succession" and "Severance."

The crush of programming means that even worthy shows struggle for recognition.

"You would have thought this bounty of quality would have been wonderful for the Emmys, but it's become one of their most significant challenges," said Robert Thompson, director of Syracuse University's Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture. "What happens when an award that was originally designed to pick out the high points in what was called the 'idiot box' suddenly has more high points than they can possibly know what to do with?"

Which begs the question: Given the many options splintering the TV audience, how can an awards show draw a crowd?

The ceremony isn't limited to spotlighting only nominated shows, said returning executive producers Reginald Hudlin and Ian Stewart. The awards air 8 p.m. EDT Monday on NBC, with Kenan Thompson of "Saturday Night Live" as host.

"The writing, the filmmaking, the acting that you see on television is extraordinary," said Hudlin. "We want to celebrate all of TV ... the things we like to watch, whatever those are, yay!"

How to accomplish that? "Put a bit of 'Law & Order' in there for the people, and that's exactly what we're going to do," said Stewart, using the long-running franchise as shorthand for crowd favorites. "We want people to recognize their TV, not our TV, not just those things that are nominated but they've never heard of, or don't subscribe to the streaming service."

One approach, inviting actors from non-nominated shows to serve as presenters, is already evident: Mariska Hargitay of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and Christopher Meloni of "Law & Order: Organized Crime" will do just that (with both shows also conveniently on host network NBC).

The nominations winnowing process was particularly brutal this year. The farewell seasons of network favorites "black-ish" and "This Is Us" were snubbed, and FX's "Atlanta" was left out of the best comedy series category after two previous nods (although star-creator Donald Glover is up for an acting trophy, which he won in 2017).

Staples like NBC's "Chicago Fire" or CBS' "NCIS"  the No. 1 network drama with an average 10 million viewers last season  are awards longshots in any field, but particularly among TV's endless wave of innovative storytelling. The same goes for Paramount's "Yellowstone," well-crafted but not seen as cutting edge, which leaves even its deserving cast members out in the cold.

"It seems like a big oversight that Kelly Reilly hasn't been nominated," said Rosenthal, whose credits include "Nurse Jackie" and who is an assistant professor at Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and Media Arts. Reilly's performance as tough but troubled Beth Dutton in the modern Western is "really fantastic," he said.

Emmy nods largely favored shows from big-spending streaming services like Netflix, among the drivers of TV's explosive growth, alongside relatively old-guard premium cable channels including HBO and Showtime. Of the 21 nominees in the best drama, comedy and limited series categories, 11 are on streaming services and seven are on premium cable.

ABC's comedy "Abbott Elementary," stands alone as a broadcast network series nominee. Two series nods went to basic cable: AMC's "Better Call Saul" and FX's "What We Do in the Shadows."

When broadcast and daily ratings ruled TV, before DVRs and streaming, Emmy recognition could help make a show. The groundbreaking police drama "Hill Street Blues" is a vivid example cited by Syracuse's Thompson.

It was among the lowest-rated series when it was showered in 1981 with a then-record eight Emmys, he said, and spared cancellation. It aired until 1987 and won four consecutive best drama series awards.

The Emmys hunt still triggers splashy "for your consideration" promotional campaigns aimed at academy voters. But the overloaded pop culture environment has dimmed the appeal of Hollywood awards ceremonies across the board, as ebbing viewership proves, and maybe the cachet of the trophies themselves.

Emmy producer Stewart offers a counter perspective to the latter. Statistically, he said, the odds of winning one of the 25 Emmys to be given Monday are overwhelmingly long.

"Let's not forget that this is an incredible, incredible achievement," he said.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stressed his country will never abandon the nuclear weapons it needs to counter the United States, which he accused of pushing to weaken the Norths defenses and eventually collapse his government, state media said Friday.

Kim made the comments during a speech Thursday at North Koreas rubber-stamp parliament, where members passed legislation governing the use of nuclear weapons, which Kim described as a step to cement the countrys nuclear status and make clear such weapons will not be bargained.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's office said he was deeply concerned about the new law, and noted that the North's pursuit of a nuclear weapons program continues to disregard the resolutions of the Security Council to cease such activities.

The Secretary-General reiterates his call to the DPRK to resume dialogue with the key parties concerned with a view to achieving sustainable peace and the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, Guterress office said in a statement, using an acronym for the North's formal name.

The new law spells out conditions where North would be inclined to use its nuclear weapons, including when it determines that its leadership is facing an imminent nuclear or non-nuclear attack by hostile forces. The law requires North Koreas military to automatically execute nuclear strikes against enemy forces, including their starting point of provocation and the command, if Pyongyangs leadership comes under attack.

The law also says North Korea could use nukes to prevent an unspecified catastrophic crisis to its government and people, a loose definition that experts say reflect an escalatory nuclear doctrine that could create greater concerns for neighbors.

Kim also criticized South Korea over its plans to expand its conventional strike capabilities and revive large-scale military exercises with the United States to counter the Norths growing threats, describing them as a dangerous military action that raises tensions.

Kim has made increasingly provocative threats of nuclear conflict toward the United States and its allies in Asia, also warning that the North would proactively use its nuclear weapons when threatened. His latest comments underscored the growing animosity in the region as he accelerates the expansion of his nuclear weapons and missiles program.

The purpose of the United States is not only to remove our nuclear might itself, but eventually forcing us to surrender or weaken our rights to self-defense through giving up our nukes, so that they could collapse our government at any time, Kim said in the speech published by the Norths official Korean Central News Agency.

Let them sanction us for 100 days, 1,000 days, 10 years or 100 years, Kim said. We will never give up our rights to self-defense that preserves our countrys existence and the safety of our people just to temporarily ease the difficulties we are experiencing now.

Kim also addressed domestic issues, saying North Korea would begin its long-delayed rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in November. He didnt specify how many doses it would have, where they would come from, or how they would be administered across his population of 26 million people.

GAVI, the nonprofit that runs the U.N.-backed COVAX distribution program, said in June it understood North Korea had accepted an offer of vaccines from China. GAVI said at the time the specifics of the offer were unclear.

North Korea rejected previous offers by COVAX, likely because of international monitoring requirements, and has also ignored U.S. and South Korean offers of vaccines and other COVID-19 aid.

Kim last month declared victory over COVID-19 and ordered preventive measures eased just three months after his government for the first time acknowledged an outbreak. Experts believe the North's disclosures on its outbreak are manipulated to help Kim maintain absolute control.

The North Korean report about Kims speech came a day after South Korea extended its latest olive branch, proposing a meeting with North Korea to resume temporary reunions of aging relatives separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, which were last held in 2018.

Experts say its highly unlikely North Korea would accept the Souths offer considering the stark deterioration in inter-Korean ties amid the stalemate in larger nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang. The U.S.-North Korean diplomacy derailed in 2019 over disagreements in exchanging the release of crippling sanctions against the North and the Norths denuclearization steps.

Kim was combative toward South Korea in Thursdays speech and urged his country to expand the operational roles of its tactical nuclear weapons and accelerate their deployment to strengthen the countrys war deterrent. Those comments appeared to align with a ruling party decision in June to approve unspecified new operational duties for front-line troops, which analysts say likely include plans to deploy battlefield nuclear weapons targeting rival South Korea along their tense border.

Cheong Seong Chang, a senior analyst at South Koreas Sejong Institute, said Kims comments and the new North Korean law amount to a warning that it would launch immediate nuclear strikes on the United States and South Korea if they ever attempt to decapacitate Pyongyangs leadership.

The North is also communicating a threat that it could use its nuclear weapons during conflicts with South Koreas conventional forces, which would raise the risk of accidental clashes escalating into a nuclear crisis, Cheong said.

North Korea has been speeding its development of nuclear-capable, short-range missiles that can target South Korea since 2019. Experts say its rhetoric around those missiles communicates a threat to proactively use them in warfare to blunt the stronger conventional forces of South Korea and the United States. About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in the South to deter aggression from the North.

The U.S.-led diplomatic push to defuse the nuclear standoff has been further complicated by an intensifying U.S.-China rivalry and Russias war on Ukraine, which deepened the divide in the U.N. Security Council, where Beijing and Moscow have blocked U.S. efforts to tighten sanctions on Pyongyang over its revived long-range missile tests this year.

Kim has dialed up weapons tests to a record pace in 2020, launching more than 30 ballistic weapons, including the first demonstrations of his intercontinental ballistic missiles since 2017.

U.S. and South Korean officials say Kim may up the ante soon by ordering the Norths first nuclear test in five years as he pushes a brinkmanship aimed at forcing Washington to accept the idea of the North as a nuclear power and negotiating concessions from a position of strength.

Experts say Kim is also trying to strengthen his leverage by strengthening his cooperation with China and Russia in an emerging partnership aimed at undercutting U.S. influence.

North Korea has repeatedly blamed the United States for the crisis in Ukraine, saying the Wests hegemonic policy justified Russian military actions in Ukraine to protect itself. U.S. officials said this week the Russians are in the process of purchasing North Korean ammunition, including artillery shells and rockets, to ease their supply shortages in the war against Ukraine.

North Korea also has joined Russia and Syria as the only nations to recognize the independence of two pro-Russia breakaway territories in eastern Ukraine and has discussed send its construction workers to those regions to work on rebuilding.
You would think that our nations high awareness of the happenings of Sept. 11, 2001, would remind people that TSA is on the job to help ensure that another catastrophic incident does not happen again, said Robin Chuck Burke, TSAs federal security director for the airport, in a statement. Especially on this solemn day, this traveler should have known better than to try to carry a firearm through our security checkpoint and onto a flight. Instead he was arrested and faces a stiff financial civil penalty.
Virginia Tech made a big jump in the latest ranking of the nations top colleges by U.S. News & World Report, which was released Monday. The University of Virginia climbed one spot in the publications ranking of the top public schools in the country.

Virginia Tech moved up 13 spots, one of the biggest improvements in the country, from 75th last year to 62nd this year. The university reported a lower student-to-teacher ratio and performed well on a revamped ranking of the credentials of the schools faculty.

The University of Virginia ranked 25th among all schools, its same position as last year. UVa tied with New York University, the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and the University of Southern California.

Princeton University landed at No. 1, just as it did last year. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology ranked second, same as last year. Harvard University, which was tied for No. 2 last year, dropped one spot, tying at No. 3 with Stanford University and Yale University.

Since 1983, U.S. News has ranked the nations top colleges and its rankings often influence schools strategic plans.

In the ranking of top public schools, UVa moved up one spot from a year prior, tying for third with Michigan. UVa has set a goal of becoming the nations top public university by 2030. The University of California, Berkeley and the University of California, Los Angeles tied for No. 1.

Virginia Tech gained seven spots in the public school ranking, tying for 23rd with the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities and the University of Pittsburgh.

The College of William & Mary tied for 41st among all schools and 13th in the ranking of public schools. William & Mary dropped three spots in both lists.

George Mason placed 137th, James Madison University 151st and Virginia Commonwealth University 166th. In 2020, the last time U.S. News ranked the best graduate schools for fine arts, VCU placed fourth in the country.

While UVa has set a goal of becoming the nations top public school by 2030, the universitys understanding of what it means to the best is broader than one ranking, said Brian Coy, a spokesperson for UVa. Several other publications produce college rankings, but U.S. News list is the most cited.

All universities pay attention to rankings, but the vision and goals are what drive what we do and what we shouldnt do, Coy said.

Jim Ryan, president of UVa, believes college rankings will look different by 2030. The quality of their classroom and residential experience, how the school contributes to the students future success, how long it takes for students to graduate and how much debt they incur will take on greater importance, he predicted.

How well colleges are run, how ethical they are, how much economic growth they generate, how much return on investment they provide and how well they serve the public will all be factored, he said.

Steve Farmer, UVas vice provost for enrollment, told the universitys alumni magazine that the schools reputation will be enhanced by UVa focusing on its goals, not its number on a list.

The basic idea for me is that when were true to who we are, and we go about our work in a way thats both honorable and smart and caring, the rankings will take care of themselves, Farmer said.

Columbia, which placed 18th, did not fill out a statistical survey and was ranked on data from previous years and other sources. Last year, U.S. News pulled Columbia out of its ranking after a Columbia professor questioned the data the university had submitted.

In its ranking of liberal arts colleges, Washington & Lee was 11th, and the University of Richmond placed 18th. Hampden-Sydney College ranked 94th and Randolph-Macon College was 107th.

Among public liberal arts colleges, Virginia Military Institute placed fourth, and the University of Mary Washington was 11th.

Several liberal arts colleges in Virginia did not receive a numerical ranking but were placed in the group of schools ranked between No. 151 and 200: Sweet Briar College, UVa-Wise, Virginia Union University and Virginia Wesleyan University.

In the ranking of regional universities for the South, Christopher Newport University placed second, Longwood University was fifth and Virginia State University was 37th.

In the ranking of top historically Black colleges and universities, Hampton University was sixth, Norfolk State University was 19th, Virginia State was 26th and Virginia Union was 43rd.

George Mason, Marymount University and VCU were recognized for their ethnic diversity. William & Mary ranked seventh for best undergraduate teaching.
If you ask little kids what they want to be when they grow up, many of them will answer a teacher.

Teaching is often the first career a child is introduced to and teachers are often the people who have the most influence on your life, said Dennis Keffer, director of Shenandoah Universitys extended and distance education program.

A lot of us move on to different career aspirations as we grow older, but sometimes that childhood goal continues to be a calling, even after weve gone the doctor, lawyer or engineer route.

Virginias career- switcher program, an alternative route to teacher licensure, can get those people into a classroom within five months.

Mature teachers bring life experience into the classroom, said Keffer, who has spent 45 years in education as a teacher, administrator and program director. Ive had doctors and lawyers go through the program. People as old as 69 have gone through the program and gotten jobs in classrooms.

Virginias career-switcher program was developed initially for people exiting the military, but was opened to everyone in the early 2000s as a teacher shortage began to loom, Keffer said.

Shenandoah University offers a career-switcher program in Fredericksburg, with classes meeting twice a week at James Monroe High School.

Anyone with a bachelors degree and three years of work experience  stay-at-home parenting counts  is eligible to apply for the program after passing either a Praxis test or the Virginia Communication and Literacy assessment, Keffer said.

There are two phases to the program, Keffer said. The first consists of classroom instruction on foundations of education, curriculum and instruction, classroom management, human growth and development, technology, methods and special education, followed by a 40-hour practicum that includes 30 hours of teaching.

Upon completion of the first phase, which through Shenandoah costs $4,995 (including textbooks and materials), students are eligible for a Virginia career-switcher provisional license.

This license differs from a regular provisional license in that it is good for one year, can be renewed three times and goes dormant until the student is hired to a teaching position, Keffer said.

The student has successfully completed Phase 2 of the career switcher program after he or she has taught for 160 days under contract with a Virginia public school district or accredited private school and attended 4 out of 5 professional development opportunities taught at Shenandoah.

The student is then eligible for a 10-year renewable teaching license.

Keffer said 60 students went through Phase 1 of Shenandoahs program,which is offered in Winchester, Fredericksburg and Leesburg, last year.

In prior years, there have been as many as 140 across the three locations, but enrollment is down, as it is in teacher preparation programs across the country.

Enrollment has been declining for over a decade, according to information reported by the states to the U.S. Department of Education as required by the Higher Education Act.

In Virginia, total enrollment in teacher prep programs has declined from 13,548 in academic year 2008-09 to 8,777 in 201920, according to the DOE.

Only two students are enrolled in Shenandoahs career-switcher program at the Fredericksburg location this fall, Keffer said.

Id hate to see the program die here, he said.

Keffer said the program allows prospective teachers to find out if the profession is for them quickly and without the investment of time and money that a traditional college teacher preparation program requires.

And teachers who go through the program often stay local, he said.

Very often, students are invested in the community, Keffer said. Their kids go to school here, they go to church here.

Keffer said teaching is a great profession that deserves respect, and its a way to contribute to the greater good.

I had a hospital CEO go through the program, he said. He told me, Life has been good to me, and I want to give back. You can make a difference.
In March 2020, Fairfax County Public Schools students received an unexpected extra day of spring break. A tweet sent out at 11:34 p.m. on March 12 read: All FCPS schools will be closed Friday, March 13, 2020. More details to follow.

But on March 13, Gov. Ralph Northam closed Virginia schools for two weeks. No one knew when schools would reopen. The notion that they would be closed until the end of the school year seemed remote; the thought that many schools would not open their doors again for a year was almost unimaginable.

By March 25, all U.S. schools were closed for the year. With almost no warning, schools transitioned from the traditional teacher-in-the-classroom model to the kids-at-home-on-the-couch model. Results were, well, uneven.

There are many lessons to learn from the rollout of virtual learning across the country and here in Virginia. But they can probably be summed up this way: for online learning to work, students need to be a) online and b) learning.

Many students stopped coming to class. It was not that families wouldnt log in to classes every day. It was that they couldnt. A 2020 report found that in rural Virginia, nearly a third of families lacked broadband access. In urban areas, many families couldnt afford broadband. The lowest broadband adoption rates in the commonwealth were not in rural Virginia, but in Richmond.

So, families made do. Former Virginia Del. Albert Pollard reported that a radio station in the Northern Neck would broadcast the locations of public libraries keeping their internet on during school hours. Families could sit in their car while their kids get online.

Even when kids could sign on, virtual schooling just didnt work for everyone. Teachers worked longer hours. But they had no training in how to engage students who were still in pajamas. Students who didnt understand a lesson fell further behind as the next days learning built on the material they still hadnt figured out.

Challenges were compounded for students with disabilities. Special education students couldnt receive speech or physical therapy. One Fairfax parent said, To get a kid with ADHD and dyslexia to read all those words on a screen in a short period of time was virtually impossible.

Young students who couldnt read couldnt type in a password. Students whose parents didnt speak English couldnt navigate the tech help that was available.

And because so many other services important to children are provided through the schools, students missed out on much more than teaching. A childs school is social, emotional support. Its safety. Its the food system. It is health care. said Harvards Bridget Terry Long.

Many European countries prioritized reopening schools. In the US, the federal approach left decisions about school reopenings to states and localities. That forced officials into difficult, if not impossible, balancing acts. So bars, restaurants, and tattoo parlors reopened. Schools stayed closed.

As late as April 2021, only about 25% of Virginias students were attending in-person classes. Virginia ranked as the seventh-lowest state in returning students to in-person schooling.

The longer students were out of school, the more they struggled. Virginias Department of Education found that after one semester of at-home learning, 36% of low-income kindergarteners and nearly half (49%) of kindergarten English learners were at high risk of reading failure.

The Standards of Learning tests given in May 2021 showed marked declines for all students. Black students scores on the math test dropped from a 2019 pass rate of 70% to a 2021 pass rate of 34%. Passing rates for English language learners dropped from 59% to 21%.

The National Assessment for Educational Progress, often called the nations report card, recently reported that two decades of growth for American students in reading and math have been wiped away. while all students showed some learning loss, the students at the top had minimal losses. Those who were already struggling fell back much further.

Now that children are back in school, teachers are seeing behaviors they have never seen before. The nations leading experts in pediatric health declared the decline in child and adolescent mental health a national emergency.

COVID did not create disparities in education. COVID exposed and then amplified the inequities that have existed in the public school system for generations.

How long will it take for students to recover? We dont know. Fifteen years after Katrina, New Orleans students still showed negative after-effects. There is little reason for optimism that COVID will be different.

Researchers know that learning gaps do not go away by themselves. Thomas Kane, a Harvard researcher, paints a depressing picture: This will probably be the largest increase in educational inequity in a generation.
A man who journeyed from Romania to Roanoke to take part in an ATM skimming case, swiping more than $250,000 from hundreds of debit and credit card holders, has pleaded guilty to federal crimes.

Catalin Puscasu will face up to 37 months in prison when he is sentenced later on charges of bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

The 38-year-old is the third defendant to plead guilty in the case, which involved an elaborate scheme to install tiny, hidden cameras at ATM machines that captured the personal identification numbers of unknowing victims as they punched them into the machines.

A skimming device that had been placed inside the ATMs recorded the account information before the cards were returned to their owners. After encoding the information onto counterfeit cards, the high-tech thieves then used the secretly obtained PINs to make unauthorized cash withdrawals.

Hundreds of bank customers in the Roanoke Valley and surrounding jurisdictions discovered missing money from their accounts between December 2018 and March 2019.

Virtually all of them received refunds from their federally insured banks.

During the operation, which involved multiple ATMs, Puscasu rented an apartment in Roanoke with Marius Catalui, a fellow Romanian, according to evidence presented at his guilty plea last Thursday.

Catalui was sentenced earlier this year to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay, along with others convicted in the case, $351,642 to the banks and credit unions that lost money to the scam.

Exactly how much Puscasu owes will be determined later, likely at his sentencing hearing. Under a plea agreement struck last week, a judge will set his prison term at between 18 to 37 months.

Puscasu was involved in a similar ATM skimming case in Michigan three years ago, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorneys Office. He was sentenced to 36 months in prison. After completing that term, he was returned to Roanoke to face charges here.

In early 2019, police in multiple jurisdictions were flooded with calls from people who reported mysterious withdrawals from their accounts. The Roanoke branch of the U.S. Secret Service joined the investigation.

A break in the case came in May of 2019, when a customer at the Bank of Fincastle in Botetourt County  whose wife had been a victim of the skimming  called 911 to report seeing a woman attempting to hide her face as she stood at a drive-through ATM.

The woman then fled in a car that was later stopped for speeding. Inside the car, police found more than $8,000 in cash, most of it in $20 bills, and other evidence that eventually led to charges.

Authorities have said members of a criminal organization traveled from Romania to the United States solely to take part in the ATM skimming case.
NAIROBI, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday held a meeting with his successor William Ruto, reiterating his commitment to the peaceful transfer of power in the East African nation.

Kenyatta, who gave a televised farewell address to the nation after meeting with Ruto at State House in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, said that he will oversee a peaceful transition of power Tuesday, in a bid to reaffirm Kenya's democratic ethos.

Kenyatta congratulated his Deputy William Ruto for clinching the presidency during the country's hotly contested Aug. 9 polls, pledging support to the incoming administration as it embarks on serving all citizens fairly.

"On my part as the Head of State, I hand over leadership of a nation that has undergone a consequential transformation over the last decade in every aspect of our national life," said Kenyatta.

On Tuesday, Kenyatta will hand over instruments of power that includes a ceremonial sword and a copy of the constitution to Ruto, to signify a change of guard.

In particular, Kenyatta noted that under his leadership, Kenya became Africa's sixth largest economy, up from 12th, amid enhanced trade with neighbors and the creation of a conducive regulatory environment to attract investments.

He added that the digital economy flourished during his decade-long reign while the construction of 11,500 km of new tarmac road boosted connectivity and ease of doing business.

An additional 6.3 million households, up from 2.3 million in 2013 have been connected to electricity, said Kenyatta, adding that the country had achieved a 100 percent transition from primary to secondary education under his stewardship.

The country's forest cover increased from 6.9 percent in 2013 to 8.8 percent in 2022 even as poaching of iconic wildlife species declined considerably thanks to enhanced vigilance, said Kenyatta.

He stressed that Kenya had the potential to become Africa's economic powerhouse, and a haven of stability and peace once the incoming fifth president builds on the legacy of his four predecessors. 
A new program designed to change the culture inside Roanokes jail will help to change the violent culture that exists in the city, Sheriff Antonio Hash vows.

We have to change the culture, Hash said. Were committed to the process. And those who commit, see results.

The Roanoke City Sheriffs Offices new program is called (R)I.G.N.I.T.E., which stands for Residents Individually Growing Naturally and Intentionally Through Education. It officially launched Sept. 6, when the department hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony downtown outside of the jail.

The first (R) I.G.N.I.T.E. program was developed by a sheriffs office in Genesee County, Michigan in 2020.

They realized, even during the pandemic that, we still have to change the culture of how we see incarceration, because we see the same individuals come in and go out. And they dont get the resources, Hash said. [The sheriff] realized that he had to change the culture, or this is like a revolving door.

The programs goal is to reduce recidivism by educating inmates and giving them the certifications and support they need to be successful once discharged.

Were trying to give them a platform. If youre bored, take this class. If you dont got nothing to do, educate yourself, Hash said. What does it look like to get a GED, or a painting certificate, or a CDL certificate or a forklift certificate? These are symbolic opportunities or memories for them that are going to change their whole lives.

The National Sheriffs Association saw the programs success in Michigan and adopted it, making it easier to transplant into other sheriffs offices nationwide.

They grabbed hold of it. I think somebody in Minnesota grabbed it. North Carolina grabbed it. Were the first in Virginia to grab it, Hash said. As opportunities become available, as grants, as funding and things come open, we want to be in a position to where we can receive it.

After last weeks launch, Hash presented the program to a Roanoke City Council meeting and asked members to consider changing the jails name, to focus on the facilitys role as a justice center, not an incarceration hub.

Hash said he met with judges last Wednesday in the Oliver W. Hill Justice Center, the citys courthouse, to discuss a new name for the jail: the Roanoke City Detention and Justice Center.

If the change takes place, the portion of the Campbell Ave. block that houses the courthouse, jail and police department could be referred to as the Justice Complex.

Through (R)I.G.N.I.T.E. the correction facility is also changing the way it talks about inmates.

Another part of changing the culture is changing the classification of those incarcerated, which will now be called residents of our facility, Hash told city council. They wont be called inmates anymore. They reside in our house. We know its a jail. We know its a justice center. We know theyre inmates. But were changing how we respond to them.

Those who want to be locked up, put your stripes on. Well keep you, Hash said. But those who want change, were changing uniforms. The program floor will have on all burgundy uniforms at this point, with no stripes. Because if youre getting the help, and if youre actively seeking some assistance from our staff and program directors and things like that, then were going to make it look like something in this building.

The jail already has success stories to share. A former jail resident attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony to express his support for (R) I.G.N.I.T.E.

He got out about two weeks ago, Hash said. He came back yesterday to be a part of the ceremony. Who do you know gets out of a facility and yet returns back for a program? And Im not saying that we have all the pieces together, but were making strides to make it look like something. Because if you dont ever start, you cant finish.

The sheriff said some facility residents are discharged but return in a matter of days.

People are still in a position where theyre crying out for help. I had a young guy come in the other day. Hes an excellent worker while hes in the building. Amazing. He gets out and got in a position where he almost didnt make it. You know why? Hash said. Because he didnt have somebody outside the door waiting on him.

(R)I.G.N.I.T.E. will allow the jail to better connect its residents with community resources upon release.

Im going to put people to the test. You cant come to my table talking about what you got, what services you have, and then we call and you dont answer, Hash said. I want you to be there at nine oclock. Pick him up, take him to get help, so that way he become a good father to his kids. He can be productive citizen.

The sheriff said the program needs community partners to thrive, and organizations are already on board.

Its a huge list, Hash said. We reached out to Red Robin, and theyre in the position to give jobs. We talked to a concrete company who was doing interviews inside the detention center with those individuals who were getting out that wanted a job. We got Wendys that was giving an opportunity.

But the sheriffs office still needs the communitys help.

We need some more money. Were taking all donations, Hash said. Its not yet paid for.

The money that will pay for (R)I.G.N.I.T.E. comes through the programs community partners, especially nonprofit organizations who can more easily acquire grants that can be used to address recidivism.

The detention center also needs toiletries, clothes and other items to give residents when they return to society.

As a transition, we give them toiletries, a bus pass. We started a clothes closet upstairs, so if theyre getting out, and they got an interview, guess what? We give you clothes to go to your interview. Well give you a shirt and tie, Hash said. We need donations, because we realize we cant do this on our own.

Hash said changing the culture in the detention center and in the city means breaking a generational curse. The sheriff said he could have been a statistic, but he chose to break his familys cycle.

We have a major responsibility to change lives, Hash said. I was in a single-parent home. No father raised me, mother doing the best she can, trying to get a college degree. Im the oldest kid taking care of two other siblings while shes at work and at school all day long, learning how to cook, had to learn how to sew, had to do everything because none of our fathers were there. So statistically, I shouldnt even be in this position.

But he is. And his department is doing what it can to return jail residents to society better than it found them.

I want my nieces and nephews to be able to walk the street and be safe, without somebody running them over or kidnapping and raping them. Nobody wants that, Hash said. But some people honestly make mistakes. And so they deserve a chance. If theyre willing to let me put them in position to get this chance, Im willing to help make it happen.
Two incidents on Interstate 81 that snarled traffic Sunday evening in Roanoke and Botetourt counties involved motorcycles that may have been part of the same traveling group, the Virginia State Police reports.

At about 6:10 p.m. Monday, a two-vehicle crash occurred near the interstates northbound 169 mile marker in Botetourt County, a state police press release said.

A 2008 Harley Davidson motorcycle was traveling north when it rear-ended a 2022 Freightliner tractor-trailer.

Randall David Lucabaugh, 60, of Bunker Hill, West Virginia, was driving the motorcycle. He was wearing a helmet and died at the scene.

The driver of the truck has not been identified but was not injured. A state police investigation continues.

At about 7:25 p.m. Monday, state police reported a second incident, this one near the interstates 137 mile marker in Roanoke County.

Police said a shooting had taken place, and they were looking for the shooter, who was believed to be driving a green Harley Davidson motorcycle.

The shooters victim sustained life-threatening injuries and was taken to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital.

State police said Monday the motorcyclist who died was not a suspect in the shooting, but the two motorcyclists might have been a part of the same group.

State police spokesman Sgt. Rick Garletts said Monday that the shooting was still under investigation.

There is no danger to the public at this time. The motorcycle and the suspect are believed to have left Virginia, Garletts said in an email.
Authorities were looking Sunday night for a motorcyclist believed to have been involved in a shooting on Interstate 81 in Roanoke County.

The driver of a green Harley Davidson is a suspect, according to Virginia State Police.

One person was injured in the late afternoon shooting near Exit 137.

A state police spokesman said the victim was transported to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Police were also investigating a motorcycle crash north on I-81 in Botetourt County, near the 169-mile marker. That motorcycle is not believed to have been involved in the shooting, police said, but may have been part of the same group.
Roanoke Times reporter Laurence Hammacks article (Pipes sit outside as construction delayed, Sept. 3) regarding the significant threat to public safety from the Mountain Valley Pipeline points out the fear and danger that people living near it will endure every day if the project is completed. MVP has been reckless with their pipe, and federal regulatory agencies have been missing in action in their failure to protect nearby residents.

A significant pipeline accident occurs on average once every 5.6 days in our country.

An MVP explosion would be catastrophic. It would dwarf the horrific San Bruno pipeline explosion which killed eight people, injured 60, left a crater 72 feet long and 26 feet wide, threw a 3,000 pound segment of pipe 100 feet from the crater, and had a reported 1,000 foot high fireball.

That was a 30 inch pipe, with a maximum operating pressure of 400 pounds per square inch.

The MVP is a 42 inch pipe with a maximum operating pressure of 1,400 pounds per square inch.

The impact radius, or blast zone, of an MVP explosion is 1,100 feet. This is the distance from the explosion where death or serious injury is likely. The area of the MVP blast zone is about seven times as large as the San Bruno pipeline blast zone.

The MVP evacuation zone, where escape in minutes is needed to avoid death or serious injury is 1.4 miles wide. The total evacuation zone for the 303 mile MVP is around 242 square miles, or about one-third the size of Rhode Island. Thats a large number of our fellow citizens in harms way.

MVP is well aware of the danger in leaving pipe exposed. They used this issue in court to quick take property from 300 landowners, and then let the pipe degrade nearly another five years without adequately protecting it. MVPs comment that safety is their top priority rings hollow given this dismal track record. Who knows how much longer the pipe will continue to degrade with the project stalled?

MVP pipe already in the ground is suspect as well. A large amount of pipe in the ground was left without cathodic protection for over two years, leaving it prone to corrosion.

MVPs misleading statement that the pipe will be inspected and repaired as needed rings hollow as well. The holiday detector they say they will use will not detect failed coating flexibility, or uptake of corrosion causing chemicals. These are coating deficiencies that are also caused by leaving the pipe exposed. A pipeline expert advises that if the coating is not flexible, it wont stand a chance during pipe bending, or other pipe stresses. The presence of chlorides and other corrosive substances in the coating would also indicate that it is unacceptable.

MVP misleads the public once again in saying that any damaged coating or thin spots will be repaired prior to installing the pipe. Its not that easy. Expert Richard Kuprewicz statement that the pipe must be in terrible shape indicates that field repair is not enough to assure the public safety. Damaged pipe, in the ground or on the surface must be discarded or returned to the factory for recoating.

There is no question that additional testing is needed to reduce the significant public safety threat. The tests must investigate loss of coating flexibility, uptake of contaminants, coating adherence to the pipe, as well as testing for holes, and coating thickness.

Every one of the 40,000 pipes for the MVP may be unsafe, and a weak link in what is essentially a 303 mile underground bomb.

Landslides are another MVP public safety concern. A Jan. 4 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission document indicated that 79 landslides had required going onto private property in an attempt to stop them. Other landslides which stayed within the right of way were not tallied. One landslide forced two families to flee their homes. Yet another moved the pipe. These landslides are continuing, despite no direct hit from a tropical storm ... yet.

Bad pipe is dangerous. Landslides are dangerous. Bad pipe plus landslides is a disaster on the doorstep of our fellow citizens, whose safety and well-being are being sacrificed to increase corporate profits.

The threat and emotional trauma from the MVP was brought home to me when a mom asked how she could put her children to bed at night with that pipeline back there. I didnt have an answer for her.

Apparently, neither does the MVP.
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FLORENCE, S.C.  Francis Marion University has once again been honored as one of the top regional universities in the South by U.S. News & World Report magazine.

The university improved its rankings from last school year in five categories: Best Value and Social Mobility, Best Regional Universities in the South, Top Public Schools, Best Colleges for Veterans and Best Value Schools.

FMU, which has one of the lowest tuitions in the state of South Carolina, has repeatedly been recognized for its value and affordability, both by U.S. News and other publications.

Francis Marion University President Fred Carter said this years rankings are particularly meaningful.

After working through the challenges of the pandemic over the past few years, its heartening to see these new rankings, Carter said. This is a direct reflection of the many hours of hard work on the part of the entire campus community.

Two academic programs also were ranked among the nations best in the U.S. News rankings.

The universitys renowned School of Nursing was again ranked among the Best Undergraduate Nursing programs in the nation. As well, the School of Business was ranked among the Best Undergraduate Business programs.

FMUs School of Nursing is known as a top-tier program in both graduate and undergraduate studies.

It has been regularly recognized by the NLN Center of Excellence in Nursing Education. The program has been among FMUs fastest growing, and recently announced a doctor of occupational therapy will be added in 2024.

Similarly, Francis Marions School of Business has become a perennial award winner.

The program holds accreditation from the prestigious Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, the premier accrediting body for business education. Only 5% of business schools worldwide hold this accreditation.

To rank the institutions, the U.S. News & World Report divides schools into categories. FMU is classified as a regional university, a school that provides a full range of undergraduate majors and graduate-level programs.

There are 589 institutions listed as regional universities, making it the largest of all the magazines categories. Each of the regional universities is ranked against peers in their geographic region. Only a portion of the universities in each region are rated as a Best College. Some are not ranked at all.

The specialty ranking areas include universities of all sizes and classifications in a single ranking. U.S. News ranks colleges and universities in all its categories using data that reflects academic excellence, and various other aspects of university life.

Francis Marion has been ranked among the best universities for over two decades.
12 Sep  Carlo Aquino has recently landed his first international role.

The news was announced by Star Magic on 10 September with a photo of the actor at the signing event held recently.

"Carlo Aquino, together with Star Magic Head @direklauren, signed a movie project with Philippine independent production house High Road Creatives and Japan's 034 Productions. Filming is set to be begin early next year," the caption read.

No further information has been revealed about the project for the time being, but it is noted that this is not the first time that the actor has been offered a role in an international project.

Carlo was originally cast to play a role in "Squid Game" last year, but couldn't make it due to COVID-19 restrictions at the time.

His latest film is the Julia Barretto-starrer, "Expensive Candy".

Carlo at the signing ceremony with the production houses

(Photo Source: Carlo Aquino Instagram, Star Magic Instagram)
  ONE INNOVALE 21.43 12830 3.2515 Wetland 3200 15     PatagoniaiPhone 41%    91651  SEC 0.89% 2.65%  15  5%100   iPhone 143360   510  HKTVmall   0.42% 1.24%  iPhone14  512GB Pro Max2400    7%5%  707
MONDAY, Sept. 12, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Recognizing the signs that someone is considering suicide could help save a life.

"Emergency physicians see many people who are struggling silently with their mental health," said Dr. Gillian Schmitz, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

"One of the most impactful things anyone can do to prevent a tragedy is to spot signs of trouble and simply start a conversation," she said in a college news release. "Talking about mental health is an important first step that could make all the difference for somebody who needs help."

Every 11 minutes, one person died by suicide in 2020 in the United States, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

There are certain factors that can make it more likely someone could consider suicide. Some factors can increase risk, including certain mood or personality disorders, alcohol or substance use disorders, feelings of hopelessness, aggressive or impulsive behaviors, a history of trauma and major illness.

Others include previous suicide attempts or family history of suicide, job loss, a lack of social support or lack of access to health care or behavioral health services, according to the American College of Emergency Physicians.

Warning signs include talking about wanting to die, feeling hopeless, or being a burden. Someone considering suicide may increase their use of alcohol or drugs, engage in reckless or risky behaviors, have trouble sleeping or sleep all the time.

Suddenly withdrawing or isolating from family or friends is warning sign, as is displaying extreme mood swings, rage, or revenge-seeking behaviors and experiencing unusual amounts of anxiety or agitation.

"One of the most effective ways to prevent suicide is to prioritize and address mental health before it becomes an emergency," Schmitz said. "But you can be assured that an emergency physician will be ready to help if a crisis occurs."

Call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department if you believe there is an immediate health or safety risk to you or someone else.

Anyone in suicidal crisis or experiencing mental health-related distress can get help through the new 988 hotline, formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. This network of more than 200 locally operated and funded crisis centers around the country provides free and confidential support, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

More information

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

SOURCE: American College of Emergency Physicians, news release, Sept. 7, 2022

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DHAKA, Sept. 12 (Xinhua)-- Bangladesh's banks have fixed the maximum exchange rates of the U.S. dollar against the Bangladeshi taka for export-import bills and remittances, in a bid to ease pressure on foreign exchange reserves and end volatility in the forex market.

The rates were fixed at a meeting between the Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers Association (BAFEDA), a platform of banks, and the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB), a platform of managing directors of banks in Bangladesh, on Sunday in the capital Dhaka.

In accordance with the meeting decision, banks in Bangladesh will offer a maximum of 108 taka per dollar to the overseas exchange houses abroad for receiving inward remittances from Monday.

Also, the banks will quote a maximum of 99 taka per dollar for procuring export proceeds from the exporters.

And the rate for importers will be fixed in keeping with the weighted average rates of the exchange houses and the exporters.

Md Serajul Islam, senior spokesperson of the central bank of Bangladesh, told journalists last Thursday that taka-dollar exchange rates would be fixed by the banks, a method that he said is now followed across the globe.

He said both the ABB and the BAFEDA will regularly review the rates together to fix the uniform exchange rates in order to help bring back stability in the country's foreign exchange market.

In its bid to boost the shrinking forex reserves, the ABB in recent months has taken various measures to discourage imports and woo more remittances from millions of Bangladeshi people living and working abroad.

Bangladesh's forex reserves fell to over 37.0 billion dollars on Thursday after making a routine payment worth 1.73 billion dollars to the Asian Clearing Union against imports made during the July-August period.

The country's forex reserves surpassed the 48-billion-dollar mark in August last year, the highest ever in history, due to a slowdown in imports and rising remittance and export earnings during the COVID-19 pandemic. 
Queen Elizabeth II's corgis will live with the Duke and Duchess of York, Andrew and Sarah, a source close to the Duke of York told CNN on Sunday.

The pair, who divorced in 1996, both reside at the Royal Lodge on the Windsor estate.

The source told CNN that the Duchess bonded with the monarch over a shared love of dog-walking and horse-riding.

Even after her divorce from Prince Andrew, Sarah continued her friendship with the Queen by walking dogs through the Windsor estate, the source added.

The Queen, who died Thursday at the age of 96, is reported at the time of her death to have had four dogs, two of whom are Pembroke Welsh corgis, Muick and Sandy.

She is also reported to have left behind an older, mixed breed "dorgi" called Candy and a cocker spaniel named Lissy. It is unclear who will be looking after Candy and Lissy.

Corgis have become synonymous with the monarch, who throughout her long life was regularly photographed with a Welsh corgi at her feet.

The Queen was often credited with creating the dorgi breed when her corgi mated with a dachshund owned by her sister, Princess Margaret.

The Queen's passion for corgis dated back to her childhood, when she fell in love with her father King George VI's dog, Dookie. In 1944, on her 18th birthday, she was given a Pembroke Welsh corgi puppy named Susan. Such was her attachment to Susan, she reportedly took her on her honeymoon in 1947. Susan died in January 1959.

The monarch went on to own dozens of corgis in her lifetime. One, Willow, famously appeared alongside her in the James Bond sketch that she recorded for the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics.

When Willow was put to sleep at the age of 14, the Queen lost the last descendant of her original corgi, Susan. According to Reader's Digest, the Queen had a fondness for corgis because of their "energy and untamed spirit."

Prince Andrew stepped back from public duties in 2019 following a firestorm of criticism over an interview about his association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Earlier this year, he paid a settlement to sexual abuse accuser Virginia Giuffre, according to her attorney, and a U.S. district judge agreed to dismiss her lawsuit against the Duke of York.

The prince has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. Still, the allegations against Andrew, 62, have dramatically tarnished his public standing.
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Ukraine reclaims more territory, reports capturing many POWs

KHARKIV, Ukraine (AP)  Ukrainian troops expanded their territorial gains by pushing all the way back to the countrys northeastern border in places. They also claimed to have captured a record number of Russian soldiers. The gains on Monday were part of the lightning advance that forced Moscow to make a hasty retreat. A spokesman for Ukrainian military intelligence says Russian troops are surrendering en masse. A Ukrainian presidential adviser said there were so many POWs that the country was running out of space to accommodate them. Blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flags fluttered over newly liberated towns across the wide swath of reclaimed land. The Ukrainian military said it had freed more than 20 settlements in 24 hours.

Putin's Russia struggles for response to Ukrainian blitz

Ukraine's counteroffensive in the northeastern part of the country seemed to catch Russia by surprise in the nearly 7-month-old war. The rapid and reportedly chaotic troop withdrawal in the Kharkiv region, in which some weapons and ammunition were left behind, was a huge blow to Russian prestige. It was its largest military defeat in Ukraine since Moscow pulled back its forces from areas near Kyiv after a botched attempt to capture the capital early in the invasion. The Ukrainian blitz appears to have left the Kremlin and President Vladimir Putin struggling for a response. That has angered Russian military bloggers and nationalists, and even exposed some internal political rifts.

Queen hailed in Scotland as a 'constant in all our lives'

EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP)  As Queen Elizabeth IIs four children walked silently behind, a hearse carried her flag-draped coffin along a crowd-lined street in the Scottish capital to St. Giles' Cathedral. There, a service of thanksgiving hailed the late monarch as a constant in all of our lives for over 70 years. Crowds lined the street for the solemn procession, just as they did a day earlier when the queen's coffin was slowly driven down from Balmoral Castle. King Charles III, dressed in an army uniform, was accompanied by Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward. The coffin will remain at the cathedral until Tuesday so the public in Scotland can pay their respects to Elizabeth, who died last week at 96.

Justice Dept. OK with 1 Trump pick for Mar-a-Lago arbiter

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Justice Department says it's willing to accept one of Donald Trumps picks for an independent arbiter to review documents seized during an FBI search of the former presidents Florida home last month. The accommodation could help accelerate the selection process and shorten any delays caused by the appointment of the so-called special master. The judge in the case, granting a request from the Trump team, said last week that she would appoint a neutral arbiter to go through the records and weed out any that may be covered by executive privilege or attorney-client privilege.

'Succession,' 'Ted Lasso' top Emmys; 1st time winners shine

LOS ANGELES (AP)  The Emmy Awards have spread honors around repeat winners  Zendaya, Jason Sudeikis and Jean Smart  and some first timers, like Sheryl Lee Ralph and Quinta Brunson of Abbott Elementary. Zendaya and Sudeikis won their second acting Emmys Monday, while Smart won back-to-back trophies for Hacks. So did Sudeikis' comedy Ted Lasso, which claimed the top comedy prize and Succession, which took home the top drama honor. Ralph gave a rousing speech after winning supporting comedy actress on her first nomination. Brunson, who created Abbott Elementary also took home a trophy, with the best comedy series still to come. Lee Jung-jae of Squid Game won best drama actor.

Goddess gowns, Old Hollywood glam and pink rule Emmy carpet

NEW YORK (AP)  Hannah Waddingham paired her Dolce & Gabbana goddess gown with bedazzled high top sneakers, and Elle Fanning went Old Hollywood glam at the Emmys on Monday. The heat and humidity was oppressive on the gold carpet in Los Angeles. There was a strong showing of pink and red. Natasha Rothwell of The White Lotus chose red for a gown with balloon short sleeves and a hot commodity on fashion carpets  pockets! Megan Stalter also went for red in a sheer dress that celebrated her curves. Jen Tullock of Severance was in the red zone, a thigh high slit and structured sleeve number by Thierry Mugler, worn with drop pearl earrings. Mark Indelicato was in the red club, sort of. Indelicatos hair was bright red and his black tux sported long split tails like a train.

Russia's war in Ukraine the backdrop to pope's Kazakh visit

NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan (AP)  Russias war in Ukraine and the Holy Sees strained relations with China are the backdrop to Pope Francis visit to Kazakhstan. Francis was flying Tuesday to the Kazakh capital to meet with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. He also will be ministering to a tiny Catholic community and participating in an interfaith conference during his three-day visit. Another noteworthy aspect of his visit will be the missed opportunity: Francis was supposed to have met with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church on the sidelines of the conference. But Patriarch Kirill, who has justified the war in Ukraine, cancelled his trip last month.

Prosecutor: R. Kelly 'degraded' girl for his 'sick pleasure'

CHICAGO (AP)  A prosecutor has described R. Kelly as a sexual predator who parlayed his fame to abuse minors. Addressing jurors during closing arguments Monday Kelly's child pornography and trial-fixing trial, Elizabeth Pozolo says one of his accusers said he took advantage of her youth. She says: "He repeatedly abused her. He performed degrading acts upon her for his own sick pleasure. She says the Kelly and his co-defendants recovered child pornography videos and hid evidence before Kellys 2008 trial, at which he was acquitted. The prosecutor says they covered up the fact that R. Kelly  the R&B superstar  is actually a sexual predator.

Teacher shortages are real, but not for the reason you heard

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP)  Everywhere, it seems, the return to school has been shadowed by worries of a teacher shortage. The U.S. education secretary has called for investment to keep teachers from quitting. A teachers union leader has described it as a five-alarm crisis. In reality, there is little evidence to suggest that educators are leaving in droves. Certainly, many schools have struggled to find enough educators. But the challenges are related more to hiring, especially for non-teaching staff positions. Schools flush with federal pandemic relief money are creating new positions and struggling to fill them at time of low unemployment and stiff competition.

Seahawks survive Russell Wilson's return, top Broncos 17-16

SEATTLE (AP)  Geno Smith threw two first-half touchdown passes, Denver fumbled twice at the 1-yard line in the second half, and the Seahawks beat the Broncos 17-16 in Russell Wilsons return to Seattle. Brandon McManus missed a 64-yard field goal attempt with 20 seconds left and the Seahawks escaped with another wild victory involving Wilson at quarterback. Except this time Wilson was the opponent and there will be plenty of questions about Denver coach Nathaniel Hacketts late-game clock management and decisions in his first game. Denver faced fourth-and-5 at the Seattle 46 and had three timeouts left, but the Broncos ran significant time off the clock before Hackett called timeout and decided to have McManus try the long field goal.
TANAGRA, Greece (AP)  Greece's air force on Monday took delivery of a first pair of upgraded F-16 military jets under a $1.5 billion program to modernize its fighter fleet amid increasing tensions with neighboring Turkey.

The two F-16s presented at the Tanagra airbase northwest of Athens are the first of 83 to be refitted with advanced electronics, radar and weapons capabilities by late 2027 by Greece's Hellenic Aerospace Industry, in coordination with U.S. manufacturer Lockheed Martin.

The head of Greece's joint chiefs of staff, Gen. Constantinos Floros, said the program's successful and timely completion is an issue of the highest national importance.

Any potential aggressor will have to think twice or thrice before trying their luck, once the upgrade is completed, he said at Monday's presentation.

Relations with historic regional rival Turkey have hit a new low following repeated, thinly-veiled threats from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that his country might invade Greece's eastern Aegean Sea islands.

Turkey claims the islands have been illegally militarized. Greece says it needs to defend them against potential attack. The two NATO allies are also at odds over offshore gas and oil rights, and their fighter jets routinely intercept each other or engage in simulated dogfights over the Aegean.

Asked Sunday by The Associated Press whether the recent escalation in rhetoric from Turkey could be the prelude to an armed conflict, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis replied negatively.

I dont believe this will ever happen," he said. "And if, God forbid, it happened, Turkey would receive an absolutely devastating response.

On Monday, Mitsotakis said Athens always keeps a window open to dialogue and discussion with Turkey. He spoke in Paris ahead of talks with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Following years of forced savings during the 2010-2018 financial crisis, Greece has embarked on a multibillion-dollar spending spree to boost its armed forces. It has bought or ordered French Rafale fighter jets and FDI frigates, and plans to purchase F-35 fighters from the U.S.

The F-16s, developed in the 1970s, are the workhorse of Greece's air force. It acquired a first batch of 40 in 1989, and another 130 over the years. The latest upgrade will bring the 83 planes to the Block 72 variant that's the most advanced F-16 version in service in Europe.

Another four F-16s will be upgraded by the end of this year.
TOKYO (AP)  Okinawas incumbent governor who opposes an ongoing U.S. Marine base relocation forced by Japan's central government and calls for a further reduction of American troops on the southern island secured his reelection on Sunday despite concerns of escalating tensions between China and nearby Taiwan.

Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki and his supporters declared his victory and celebrated with the chants of banzai soon after the exit poll results showed he beat two contenders  Atsushi Sakima, backed by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's governing bloc and supports its base relocation plan, and another opposition-backed candidate Mikio Shimoji.

Tamaki, who is backed by opposition parties, won 339,767 votes, or about 51% of the effective votes, over Sakima's 274,844 votes and Shimoji's 53,677, according to the final results released Monday by the Okinawa prefecture. Polls were held Sunday before his first four-year term is to end later this month.

Tamaki's victory could deepen tensions between Okinawa and the central government.

The plan to move U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from a crowded neighborhood to a less populated area on the island has already been delayed for years. Okinawans call it a new construction rather than a relocation and want the Futenma base closed and removed from the island.

My commitment to resolve the U.S. military base problem for the future of Okinawa has never been shaken, Tamaki said. He said he will continue his endeavor to convey Okinawans will to the central government.

During the campaign, Tamaki also vowed to do more to improve Okinawa's economy. Tourism on the semi-tropical island known for its corals, marine life and unique culture was badly hurt by the coronavirus pandemic.

Resentment and frustration run deep in Okinawa because of the heavy U.S. presence and Tokyos lack of efforts to negotiate with Washington over how to balance the burden of hosting U.S. troops between mainland Japan and the southern island group.

Okinawa, where one of the bloodiest battles in the World War II was fought, was under American occupation until it returned to Japan's control in 1972. Today, a majority of the 50,000 U.S. troops based in Japan under a bilateral security pact and 70% of U.S. military facilities are still in Okinawa, which accounts for only 0.6% of Japanese land.

Because of the U.S. bases, Okinawa struggled with noise, pollution, accidents and crime related to American troops, Tamaki said.

Japan's government has in recent years shifted the nations defense posture to southwestern Japan, Okinawa and its remote islands and is pushing to significantly bolster Japans military capability and budget over the next five to 10 years, citing growing threats from China, North Korea and Russia.

Many in Okinawa are worried about the growing deployment of Japanese missile defenses and amphibious capabilities on outer islands that are close to geopolitical hot spots like Taiwan, the self-ruled island that China claims as its own and has threatened to use force to annex it if necessary. Okinawan people fear that they will be the first to be embroiled in a conflict over Taiwan.

The Futenma base relocation plan was developed after the 1995 rape of a Okinawan schoolgirl, in which three U.S. servicemen were convicted. The case reignited local opposition to the U.S. bases. The relocation has been delayed for years due to Okinawa's resistance as well as environmental and structural issues in the Henoko area, where the new base in supposed to be set up.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  Succession and Ted Lasso topped the Emmy Awards on Monday, in a ceremony that touted the influence of TV and extended honors to global sensation Squid Game and winners who delivered messages of empowerment.

The evening's uplifting tone, as voiced especially by Zendaya, Lizzo and Sheryl Lee Ralph, was in contrast to the darkness that pervaded the storytelling of best drama series winner Succession and even comedy series victor Ted Lasso."

Thanks for making such a safe space to make this very difficult show, said Zendaya, claiming her second best drama actress award for Euphoria, about a group of teens' tough coming-of-age.

My greatest wish for Euphoria was that it could help heal people. Thank you for everyone who has shared your story with me. I carry them with me, and I carry them with Rue, her character, Zendaya said.

Succession, about a media empire run by a grasping and cutthroat family, split drama series honors with Squid Game, the bold South Korean-set drama about the idle rich turning the poor into entertainment fodder.

Lee Jung-jae of Squid Game, who played the show's moral center, became the first Asian to win the Emmy for best drama series actor.

Thank you for making realistic problems we all face come to life so creatively on the screen, Lee said to Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk, who earned the Emmy for best drama series directing. In Korean, Lee thanked the audience in his native country for watching.

Backstage, Hwang said this was "a major moment for us, and Lee said he expected the awards to open doors for other Asian actors.

Jason Sudeikis and Jean Smart collected back-to-back acting trophies, but several new Emmy winners were minted, with Lizzo and Quinta Brunson and Sheryl Lee Ralph of Abbott Elementary" collecting trophies.

Brunson, who created and stars in the freshman series, won the Emmy for comedy series writing. ABC's Abbott Elementary, also nominated for best comedy, is a rare bright spot for network broadcasting in the age of streaming and cable dominance.

Sudeikis won his second consecutive trophy for playing the unlikely U.S. coach of a British soccer team in the comedy Ted Lasso, with Smart matching that haul for her role as a veteran comedian in Hacks."

Sudeikis gave a rare awards show shoutout to TV consumers: Thanks to the people who watch this show and dig it as much as we dig making it."

There was a ripple of reaction in the theater when Succession creator Jesse Armstrong mentioned Britains new king, Charles III, in accepting the shows trophy, the cast standing alongside him.

Big week for successions, new king in the U.K., this for us. Evidently a little bit more voting involved in our winning than Prince Charles, Armstrong said. Im not saying were more legitimate in our position than he is. Well leave that up to other people.

Ralph stopped the Emmy Awards show by accepting the best supporting actress comedy award for Abbott Elementary" with a brief but rousing song of affirmation.

I am an endangered species, but I sing no victim song. I am a woman, I am an artist and I know where my voice belongs, she belted out. She then encouraged anyone doubting their dream I am here to tell you this is what believing looks like.

The audience, including Lizzo and many of television's biggest stars, leapt to their feet to cheer on Ralph.

When Lizzo herself accepted the award for best-competition series trophy for Lizzos Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, she offered another emotional pep talk.

When I was a little girl, all I wanted to see was me in the media. Someone fat like me, Black like me, beautiful like me, the music artist said.

There were also cheers for presenter Selma Blair, who has discussed her multiple sclerosis diagnosis publicly and who used a cane on stage.

Ted Lasso co-star Brett Goldstein, won comedy supporting actors, while Matthew Macfadyen of Succession and Julia Garner of Ozark earned drama series supporting actor honors.

It's such a a pleasure and privilege for me to play this bonkers gift of a role in this wonderful show, Macfadyen said in accepting the trophy for his role as a scheming member of a media empire family.

Garner was among the winners who took advantage of covering all bases by thanking her husband and others in an on-screen message.

The White Lotus collected several honors, including best limited or anthology series.

The achievements of Squid Game, Abbott Elementary and a few other shows didnt change the relative lack of diversity in this years nominations, which included significantly fewer people of color than in 2021.

Host Kenan Thompson kicked off the Emmys with a tribute to TV, dismissing Tik-Tok as tiny vertical television, and a musical number saluting series theme songs from Friends to The Brady Bunch to Game of Thrones.

Once the music stopped, Thompson provided a mic drop moment  announcing Oprah Winfrey as the first presenter. Winfrey strutted onto the stage holding an Emmy statuette, declaring the night a party! The nights first award went to Michael Keaton for his role in Dopesick. Winfrey and Keaton hugged before she handed him his trophy.

It means something, Keaton said of the award for playing a caring doctor ensnared with his patients by addiction. He went on to recall the magic of being introduced to TV when his dad won a set at a raffle and thanked his parents for not mocking his youthful attempts at acting.

Amanda Seyfried earned the limited-series lead actress trophy for The Dropout, in which she played ill-fated Silicon Valley whiz kid Elizabeth Holmes. She thanked a list of family and colleagues and even her dog, Finn.

Murray Bartlett won the best supporting actor award for The White Lotus, a tragicomedy set in a Hawaii resort. Jennifer Coolidge, who won best supporting actress honors for the show, delighted the audience by shimmying to the music intended to cut off her acceptance speech.

The award for best variety talk show went to Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, with stand-up special Jerrod Carmichael: Rothaniel winning for best writing for a comedy special.

"Good night, everybody. Ima go home. Im not like a sore winner, but Im going to go home because I cant top this right now, an overcome Carmichael told the audience.

Glamour was back with some metallic sparkle and lots of bright color as an otherworldly Britt Lower, Old Hollywood Elle Fanning and their fellow stars posed for photographers.

AP Writers Beth Harris and Jonathan Landrum Jr. contributed to this report.
PHNOM PENH, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen on Monday ordered the Phnom Penh Municipality to prepare free buses to transport people to their hometowns for the Pchum Ben festival, or the Ancestor's Day, which will be observed on Sept. 24, 25, and 26.

"The move is to facilitate people's travel to their hometowns and to prevent private bus companies and taxi drivers from raising fees during the holiday period," he said in a voice message.

In response to the prime minister's order, Phnom Penh Municipal governor Khuong Sreng said the city hall would use 175 city buses to ferry people from the capital to provinces and vice versa for free-of-charge on Sept. 23-27.

Dozens of the city buses, which will be in service for passengers during the upcoming festival, were donated by the Chinese government in July 2017.

In the message, Hun Sen also called on people to continue complying with health safety protocols during the holiday, although the Southeast Asian nation has recorded a single-digit of COVID-19 cases in recent days.

Cambodia reported a daily record of nine new local COVID-19 cases on Monday, bringing the national case tally to 137,719, with 134,590 recoveries and 3,056 deaths, the health ministry said, adding that no new deaths have been registered since April. 
A 20-year-old man who had been arrested in Arkansas in connection with the Aug. 12 slaying of a 22-year-old Omaha man escaped Sunday from a jail in Benton, Arkansas, but was later captured.

About 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Wuanya Smith climbed over a Saline County Jail fence topped with razor wire and barbed wire, according to a press release from the Saline County Sheriffs Office. He was arrested in the area Monday morning.

Smith had been sought on a warrant charging him with second-degree murder, use of a firearm to commit a felony and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person in the shooting death of Anthony Collins III. Collins was fatally wounded around 12:10 a.m. Aug. 12 near 49th and Hamilton streets. Police were called to Methodist Hospital in Omaha after Collins arrived there in a private vehicle following the shooting. Collins died later in the day.

Smith had been taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service Eastern Arkansas-Little Rock Task Force. Sunday afternoon, officers from the Saline County Sheriffs Office, the Arkansas State Police, the Benton Police Department, the Bryant (Arkansas) Police Department and the Arkansas Department of Corrections were searching for Smith.
FREMONT  For a gregarious guy, Judge Ken Vampola moseyed quietly out of the Dodge County Courthouse on Sept. 2, his last day.

No retirement party. No cake. No staffers gathered round, wishing him well. No proclamations from governors, past or present. The biggest adieu for the longtime judge? A small gathering at a local steakhouse, after hours.

There was a reason for that: Vampolas departure was much more resignation under duress than retirement into sunset.

It was spurred by the judge's numerous ethical violations connected to his relationship with a 32-year-old self-professed meth addict, according to several sources accounts and multiple documents obtained by the Omaha World-Herald.

The judge had such a close relationship with the woman  a litigant in his courtroom numerous times  that he bought her cars, had her spend nights at his Platte River cabin, begged a fellow judge to not issue a warrant for her arrest and bailed her out of jail. To boot, the woman had his credit cards on her when police recently stopped her and searched her on suspicion that she was high on meth.

Vampola didn't return several phone calls and text messages from the World-Herald.

Turns out, the judge got out just in time. His sudden resignation means hell get to keep his state pension.

Hes not the only judge who has done so. In the past four years, four embattled judges  Supreme Court Justice Max Kelch, Douglas County Juvenile Court Judge Elizabeth Crnkovich, Douglas County Judge Lawrence Barrett and now Vampola  have retired before formal ethics charges could be brought against them. Kelch, Barrett and Vampola had been accused of sexually harassing or unethical behavior with women. Crnkovich resigned amid allegations that she held private hearings and illegally kicked attorneys out of her courtroom.

Each judge had a motive to resign abruptly: It allowed them to salvage either all, or a major portion of, their pensions. Currently, state law calculates each judge's pension based on their years of service multiplied by 3.5% of their $179,000 salary. At most, judges can receive 70% of their salary if they serve 20 years.

Because he retired three years short of 20 years on the bench, Vampolas annual pension will amount to about $106,500. The pension is funded by a mix of court fees, returns from an investment authority, taxpayer dollars and, to a far lesser extent, judges' contributions.

The trend is one reason that former Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha is contemplating a return run for the Legislature in 2024. Among his many roles, Chambers took it upon himself to file complaints against judges accused of corruption, calling himself the garbageman of the judiciary.

Judges facing trouble shouldnt get anything, Chambers said. "That pension is their filthy lucre  and they will protect it by all means. If the law was (re)written so that their pensions truly were in jeopardy, it would put an end to this unethical behavior."

Under state law, judges facing formal charges aren't allowed to retire and collect their pension. But the same statute also builds in an escape hatch for a judge in trouble: Before formal charges can be filed against a judge, the Judicial Qualifications Committee must hold an informal, confidential hearing advising the judge of the informal complaint against them.

That allows judges, if they know theyre in legitimate trouble, to resign and retain their pension. It also allows them to disappear without any public accounting of their unethical behavior.

The JQC, as it's known, publicizes allegations against judges and the discipline they receive only if they face formal charges. In turn, the alleged misdeeds of the four judges mentioned above came to light only through digging by the World-Herald.

The accusations against Vampola might be the most involved.

* * *

Vampolas ascension to a career on the bench almost hit a snag before he was appointed.

In 2005, then-Gov. Dave Heineman, a Republican who once called Fremont home, received the names of Vampola and another attorney to consider for a judgeship serving Dodge, Burt, Cedar, Dakota, Dixon, Thurston and Washington counties. A few years before, state officials, including a Nebraska Supreme Court judge and the Judicial Nominating Commission, had received something else: a letter from a concerned citizen.

I think it would reflect poorly on the judiciary if Mr. Vampola became a judge, the Fremont resident wrote the commission. He attached a lengthy police report from 1989.

According to that police report: The night of Sept. 27, 1989, Vampola was 33 and studying to become a lawyer at the Nebraska College of Law. He and an attorney had gone to Boomers, then a strip club in Fremont.

Two entertainers, ages 18 and 23, told Fremont police that they had been hounded by two men all night, with the attorney offering hundreds of dollars for sex acts. The dancers said Vampola asked if he could hire them for a stag party.

The most important thing to them was trying to get us to prastute (sic) for them, the then-18-year-old wrote in a police report. I told them I am strictly an entertainer, not a prastute.

After the dancers finished their shift, they were driving home when they spotted the two men following them in an Oldsmobile Toronado. The women drove around, hoping to lose them. They couldn't. The women decided to head to the police station while the men rode their back bumper.

When we wouldnt stop, they passed us and then cut in front of us as if they were trying to run us off the road, the 23-year-old wrote. Instead, Vampola crashed into a curb, a front tire snapping off and the car coming to rest in a yard.

Vampola told Fremont police he only wanted the entertainers to dance for my Ducks Unlimited committee. He said he was driving the attorneys car, had trouble reaching the pedals and inadvertently gunned it as he was trying to get the womens attention.

Fremont police cited him for careless driving.

The concerned citizen cited the ordeal to a Nebraska Supreme Court judge as Vampola sought a judgeship. After Heineman appointed Vampola to the bench in 2005, the citizen wrote that dozens of Fremont men still talk about a different stag party involving sex acts, fruits and vegetables, a dancer named White Thunder and Vampola "on stage."

I was stunned at this appointment, the Fremont man wrote Heineman. Mr. Governor, you must know that all the old stories of his vile behavior again are making their way around the community. Is this man truly fit to be a judge?

Heineman did not return a reporter's phone call last week about the appointment.

Vampola had some qualifications. After graduating from the Nebraska College of Law in 1992 at age 36, Vampola worked as a Winnebago tribal prosecutor in criminal cases and as an attorney in juvenile cases for four years. He served as a tribal judge and did civil and criminal defense work out of Fremont and Arlington before becoming chairman of the Nebraska Parole Board under then-Gov. Mike Johanns. From 2003 to 2005, he and the board made weighty decisions on whether to put prisoners back on the streets.

Then Johanns took a federal appointment to become the U.S. secretary of agriculture. After Heineman took over for Johanns, one of the first open judgeships was in Heineman's old stomping grounds, Dodge County. Vampola presented as a born-again Christian who, by then, had more than a decade of experience as a lawyer and as an arbiter of parolees fate.

Of the seven attorneys who applied, a Judicial Nominating Commission tabbed Vampola, who had served as legal counsel to the Dodge County Republican Party, and former and current Dodge County Attorney Paul Vaughan as finalists.

Heineman appointed Vampola.

* * *

A county court judges role is limited in Nebraska courts. Judges at that level preside over misdemeanors involving relatively minor crimes (most serious: drunken driving) and over the beginning stages of major cases such as murders. They handle civil matters, from small claims to litigation over wills and estates. Judges in smaller counties also preside over juvenile court and parental custody cases.

Three Fremont-area attorneys interviewed by the World-Herald  all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because they were talking about a member of the bench  described Vampola as affable in court. As far as his legal acumen, they said he was adequate  pointing to bar surveys in which about 78% of attorneys recommended he be retained. Such a score is mediocre  most judges top 90% favorable reviews on the anonymous surveys.

The reviews were far less positive regarding his behavior outside court. Two sources told the World-Herald that Vampola, who is married, and a then-county court clerk were overheard one late afternoon last year having sex in a visiting judge's office next to a courtroom. An employee also caught them making out, the sources said. That clerk did not return World-Herald calls.

Vampola and a Nebraska Health and Human Services staffer also were caught in the act after hours at the state office near the courthouse several years ago, the sources said.

Then there was Brooklynn Rydel. Rydel, 32, a waitress at a Fremont restaurant, has had ongoing problems with substance abuse, according to court records and Rydel's estranged mother, Carla Rydel.

In 2007, Brooklynn Rydel first appeared in front of Vampola as a 16-year-old charged with possession of marijuana and alcohol. Vampola ordered probation, which she successfully completed. Four years later, she was cited on the same charges plus possessing drug paraphernalia  and Vampola again fined her for the misdemeanors.

In February 2015, Rydel, then 24, picked up her first felony, possession of meth. Her case was pleaded down to a misdemeanor  fairly typical for a first felony  and Vampola gave her probation.

In June 2015, she was charged with felony meth possession again. The case was bound over to district court, where a judge ultimately gave her 30 months of probation.

The woman was serving that probation at the same time as she was still on probation under Vampola.

In July 2016, Rydel sent the judge a letter: "Dear Judge Vampola, I currently am on two probations, one in county court and one in district (court) due to my drug addiction to meth. Currently I am 16 months sober, have completed outpatient treatment and have taken all the classes required for the probation."

There was just one problem, Rydel wrote. Her father, Mike Rydel, a former general manager at a Fremont restaurant, had suffered a massive stroke. So, she wrote, she moved back home to help her mom care for her dad, and the family was scraping by. In turn, she couldn't afford the $425 in fines levied against her.

"All I do is work and come home to help my mom take care of my dad," she wrote. "I've done everything that's needed to be done and haven't missed or failed a single (drug test). I've changed my entire life around and am very grateful.

"Now that I am clear-minded, I've realized how valuable life is. Please, if there is anything you can do ... I would appreciate it from the bottom of my heart."

A few weeks later, Vampola ended Rydel's probation, writing that "all costs and fees have been paid."

* * *

It is unclear when Vampola and Rydel struck up a personal relationship. But her contact with the courts didn't stop after he granted her grace.

In 2019, Rydel again was picked up for possessing meth. For reasons that aren't apparent, the case was pleaded down to attempted possession, a misdemeanor. In November of that year, Vampola sentenced her to 18 months' probation.

In January 2021, Vampola released her from probation about four months before it was set to expire, a common practice if defendants are complying with terms.

In July 2021, Vampola signed court documents in a misdemeanor case in which Brooklynn Rydel alleged that her mother assaulted her. According to Carla Rydel, Vampola signed a warrant based only on Brooklynn's version. Carla said she wasn't interviewed.

Carla Rydel adamantly denied assaulting her daughter  and soon after, the case was dismissed and sealed. Sealing a dismissed case also is typical.

Then came 2022. Then came atypical.

In January, Vampola bought Rydel a car  a 2012 Chevy Impala  and registered it in both his name and hers, listing his home address in Arlington.

Two months later, he helped her buy a 2003 Toyota Highlander to replace the Impala. Again, he registered the vehicle under both names.

In between the two car purchases, Rydel was cited after her pit bull got loose in Fremont and bit a couple of people.

As that case was pending, Vampola signed an order granting a delay in the case, despite his relationship with Rydel. In April, Rydel failed to appear for a hearing in the case. (She also took the pit bull to Omaha; it bit someone and Rydel was fined $100.)

Back in Fremont, a clerk found Rydel passed out in her and Vampola's Highlander at a gas pump at a BP station May 6. The clerk tried to rouse her, she stirred, then passed back out. The clerk called 911. Rydel awoke and took off.

A Dodge County sheriff's deputy found her about four blocks away. In her cigarette pack: a baggie containing 1.1 grams of meth. In the truck registered to her and Vampola, a bag of mushrooms, a hypodermic needle, a baggie with meth residue and a small, empty bottle of liquor.

She was charged with felony possession of meth. According to sources, Vampola either bailed her out of jail or provided the money to bail her out.

Despite his relationship with her, Vampola continued to preside over the dog-bite case. In late May, Rydel pleaded to a citation-level offense, similar to a speeding ticket, where she was allowed to pay a fine. Vampola signed an order accepting her guilty plea.

On July 26, she appeared in court at 9 a.m. on the gas-station drug case. Judge Francis Barron grew concerned about whether she was under the influence  a violation of her bail. He ordered her to go get tested at the Dodge County probation office not far from the courthouse. If she failed the test, Barron warned, he would revoke her bail.

By 11:26 a.m., Rydel hadn't shown up.

Barron began the process of issuing a bench warrant. Suddenly, he was interrupted by Vampola.

Attorneys say Vampola tracked down Barron and frantically begged him not to issue the warrant, telling Barron "she's at the (probation) office now!" Barron ignored Vampola and issued the warrant.

That afternoon, a Fremont police officer arrested Rydel at home and took her to jail. Barron upped her bail to 10% of $25,000.

That afternoon, someone posted the $2,500 bail for Rydel. It is not clear how the waitress came up with that money.

Her mom has suspicions. Last year, before mother and daughter stopped talking, Carla Rydel said she asked her daughter whether it was true what she heard, that she was spending weekend nights at the judge's cabin near Schuyler.

How are you driving if you've been drinking? Carla asked.

I go to a bedroom and sleep it off, she said.

Carla Rydel pressed: Why would a judge who is married and overseeing your cases have a woman, half his age, stay at his cabin?

Her daughter shrugged, saying it was no big deal, Carla said.

"I drink my White Claws  and he smokes his cigars," Brooklynn said, according to Carla. "He counsels me."

* * *

The text with the photo arrived on Carla Rydel's phone shortly after her daughter posted it to social media earlier this year.

It was a picture of Brooklynn smiling, with Vampola close over her left shoulder.

"My adopted father from another father," she captioned it.

Asked the nature of her relationship with Vampola, Brooklynn Rydel told a World-Herald reporter "no comment" and hung up.

Vampola didn't respond to World-Herald questions about any of the allegations. He announced his resignation 10 days after confronting Barron on Rydel's behalf.

Vampola appears to have violated several judicial canons. Among them: Judges are to recuse themselves from cases involving family, friends or associates. They aren't supposed to have any one-on-one communication about cases outside court. They're not to attempt to intimidate or influence their fellow judges.

And they are to avoid any appearance of impropriety.

Late last month, Carla Rydel said she didn't know where to begin in her complaints about the judge's behavior. Hosting a young woman at a cabin. Buying her cars that allowed her daughter to drive around "drugged out of her mind." Bailing her out. Allowing her to gain access to his credit cards.

Given her daughter's ongoing drug battle, Carla Rydel questioned whether Vampola was counseling the young woman.

"I call it enabling," she said. "Whether he has good intentions or not, I don't know. It's all very shady. He is enabling a drug addict."
The sheriff said the deceased is a woman and that a tattoo on her body was aiding in identifying her. He believed an identification would be forthcoming.
Kate Beaton made her name as the creator of Hark! A Vagrant, a series of whimsical, funny online comics highlighting historical silliness, literary critique, and strong female characters. Her two Hark! collections were both bestsellers. But many fans didnt know that at the time Beaton posted her first comics about Jane Austen and Marcel Duchamp to Livejournal, she was working in a place that felt like the moon: the oil sands of Alberta. Now Beaton is exploring those two years spent working off her student loan debt in Canadas mining center in Ducks, a comics memoir that blends her trademark wry humor with sharp social critique and raw personal experience. I talked to Beaton about leaving Cape Breton, looking back on her younger self, and feeling like the only young woman in a hundred-mile radius. This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

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Slate: Theres a gag early in the book where you introduce yourself in 2005, and then you say, Well, Im older now and also Im three-dimensional.

Kate Beaton: Yeah.

What was it like writing about and drawing your younger self?

Well, I have been drawing myself since I was that age. My cartoon self hasnt changed that much. I just draw more bags under my eyes now.

And to revisit a younger version of you?

I really had to separate myself from that person. I had to refer to her as a different person, as Katie, to remove myself as the author so I could look at it as its own story. I had to be very far away from those events in order to make the book in the first place. It took a long time to get, maybe, the skills as a storyteller, as a comic artist. And then I think maybe in some ways the courage and everything to make it. It was very raw in a lot of places. And even though I really wanted to tell it, I also had to sort of be very removed and cold about it, because otherwise I would never be able to get it right, I think.

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I also find when writing about my younger self, its hard for me not to judge my younger self harshly for the decisions that I made or the things that I said.

Ive been living with those decisions for a long time. That kind of judgment on myself, or even for a lot of other people in the book, wasnt really the point.

You write that its important for readers to understand two things about Cape Breton, where youre from. That people who are from there love it, and that people understand that theyre going to have to go somewhere else to make money. Why?

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That was especially true when I was growing up. So say in my parents class, when they graduated from the school that I went to, there were 90 people in their graduating class. In my graduating class, there were 23. And when I was in grade 12, there were seven kids in grade primary. It was very apparent that you had to go. And this had been bred into people for many generations. I watched my mothers family come here in the summertime from their jobs in car factories in Windsor and cry on the way back. And I knew that would be me someday, probably.

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And why do people love it there?

Because its, well, its home. Im talking about settlers, of course. Im not talking about indigenous people. This is unceded Mikmaq territory. But settler populations have been here for a few hundred years. Their cultural memory goes back a long way. But for Atlantic Canada as a whole, the sort of rapid de-industrialization that has been happening here for a long time has led to a sense of loss, I think, that is deeply felt among people since a long time. Because nobody chooses to lose everything. For the ground to like be pulled out from under your feet. And to be a have-not province in the country. And the money to be elsewhere. And have to say, Well, Ill go and Ill make the money, but maybe Ill come home after I make the money. And then you go, and then your life is somewhere else. And you keep saying, Well, maybe Ill come back after I make the money. But then youve got your family somewhere else. And then youve got your grandkids there. Your whole life, you say, Oh, maybe Ill come home. Ill come home. And you never fucking come home.

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Im sorry. I curse a lot.

Thats fine!

You know what, that is a result from being in Fort McMurray, because everyone cursed their faces off and I picked it up. And I havent stopped yet.

Fort McMurray is in Alberta, where you spent two years working in the oil sands. Give me just a quick rundown of the actual jobs that you did there.

I started off in the tool crib there, which is like, its like the warehouse for tools, pretty much. Signing out tools from the warehouse to the workers, signing them back in, doing inventory, making sure that youre well stocked and ordering tools, trying to make sure that people dont steal them, but they did. They totally did. And getting in trouble when they did. You couldnt help it. Itd be like, Dont let them steal the drills. And then they would come in and youd say, Wheres the drill youre supposed to bring back? And hed be like, Oh someone broke into my toolbox and took it. But he took it. He took it home. And then youd have to sign them out another one anyway, because they needed it to do the work. And then I worked my way into the office for small tools, which was like actually ordering supplies and stuff.

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"People lean in and theyre like, How terrible was it? Like, was it like a gulag of assholes? "

Procurement as opposed to distribution.

Yeah.

Within the industry and this region, there are very different kinds of environments. You started out at Syncrude.

Thats a mine, like an open pit sort of mine.

But then you moved to a more remote camp run by a different company.

It was not a nice camp. Not all camps are the same. Theres definitely a huge variation in what you get. Everybody will say, like, this camp is nice, this camp is not nice. Some camps are dry. Thats a non-alcoholic camp. Some camps are not. You can tell from the book that Long Lake was not a nice camp, I think.

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And then I worked for Shell at Albian Sands. And that was a nicer camp, and we were blown away. We were like, Wow, this place has a Tim Hortons. This place has fake plants and, like, a carpet on the floor. We were like, Holy shit, wow. And it had steak night and all the guys were like [guy voice] Wow, steak night.

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You struggle with the ways that the place youre working seems to turn people into the worst versions of themselves, even people from Cape Breton. Theres drug abuse and cruelty and harassment. And at one point you ask someone, Is this who people really are, or are they who they are at home? What do you think about that now, 20 years later?

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Its very hard to answer that question. Because like, when you think about the lowest time in your life, have you been like, Is this who I really am? I would hope not. And when there are no supports around to help people navigate the stress of that situation, then  Especially when were not prepared for it at all. I, for instance, I had no idea what I was getting into. And I didnt know how to handle it. I didnt know how to  I didnt know that I would be slammed with that kind of loneliness. Or the sexual harassment.

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And for men going out there, there was nothing. There was nothing to help them with the loneliness or the pressure with having to make big money or to perform in that hyper-masculine environment where everyone is trying to sort of one-up one another. And you could only take so much of that before, like, it starts to come out through whatever channel it goes out of. Unfortunately, that energy piles up on top of me, because Im like an easy channel for it.

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Im not saying that I excuse bad behavior that was hurled my way. But I do see the sort of equation that made that happen. So is that who they really are? I dont know. It might be who some of them are. But I also think that it turns people into that.

Theres a real conflict in the story between you trying to wrestle with this question and the loyalty that you still feel, particularly to the people who come from where you are from. Theres a scene where a reporter in Toronto wants to interview you about what its like being a young woman in the oil sands.

Yeah.

And you dont want to open up to her. And I was really struck by what you said there: that theyre still your people, even at their worst.

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I found that not just her, but like a lot of people, when they found out that I worked in the oil sands, they immediately went into: How gross were they? What did they say to you?

Whats the worst thing anyone ever said to you?

Yeah, they wanted the tea. And it was tough because you dont want to be a position of defending people who were really shitty to you a lot of the time. So youve got to try to explain how this place resocializes people to be shitty to you. So when people lean in and theyre like, How terrible was it? Like, was it like a gulag of assholes? And no, thats not the way the human race works. It only takes a couple of people to make you kind of miserable. And thats enough. Thats plenty.

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You started posting Hark! A Vagrant online while you were working in the oil sands. Do you remember feeling a real cognitive dissonance between the art you were making and the life you were living?

Totally. Because like, I was posting things on LiveJournal, and there was a community of artists who would talk to me like I was myself online. And that made me feel so good. That made me feel so validated. They were talking to me. Me, the person. And then I walked outside of my office and people were barking at me like a dog.

Have you found that your experience in the tool crib is useful to you now? Can you identify an impact adapter on sight?

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Ive married someone who grew up on a farm and hes way handier than I am. So I find myself paling in comparison. Sometimes Im like, Ooh, I know what this is. But its very much a parlor trick. Because I never used the tools, I just signed them out. Its not so good if youre just like, Oh, a grinder! and then, asked to grind, youre like, Hmm, I dont know.

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After each episode of House of the Dragon, HBOs prequel to Game of Thrones, Slate writers gather to answer an age-old question: Who is the worst person in Westeros? This week: senior editor Rebecca Onion and books and culture columnist Laura Miller answer the call.

Rebecca Onion: Laura! Last week we marveled at the fact that Daemon, despite obviously being the troublemaker on this show (and also being named Daemon), had not been the Worst Person in Westeros yet. This week, I am ready to give him the crown. He arrives back at Viserys court, what seems (to judge by the age of Alicents fussy younger child) to be a scant year or so after the end of Episode 3, asking for forgiveness and reacceptance into his brothers good graces. Viserysperennially a foolhugs him and lets him in. Then, Daemon, who knows very well that his niece Rhaenyra is a pent-up bottle of ragehaving been continually fighting with her father, who still wants her to marry advantageouslysets up a fun night on the town, giving her clothes to dress as a boy and taking her around to taverns and amusements. They end up in a brothel, they kiss, and maybe (Im curious for your interpretation) have sex, up against a wall. Then he pushes her away, knowing she will want more, and later asks the king for her hand.

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Rhaenyra marrying Daemon would suit him very well, both because hes attracted to her and because he wants power, and he might be able to get that by making her fall in love with him (or, I guess, just activating the pre-existing chemistry they seem to have with one anotherand yes, I know Im typing that about uncle-niece incest, but I think its the shows fault, not mine). He seems to have ruined her in more ways than one in this episodein the Regency romance, caught in a compromising position, way, and just by being more interesting and more electric than anyone else she knows in her everyday life. As her uncle, whos known her a long time and has some degree of her trust, he was uniquely positioned to take advantage of her stagnant frustration, and he did it.

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It remains to be seen whether the plan will work, but I think he deserves it: WPiW. Do you agree? Or is there another candidate out there?

Laura Miller: Now that the guy who feeds people alive to crabs has been taken out, Daemon is the perennial No. 1 choice, but Im going to be bold here and propose Rhaenyra as the Worst Person in Westeros. First, though, I need to gripe about my meta-worst person, which is whoever is responsible for everyone in the series constantly referring to Westeros as the realm! Its such a hokey, costume-drama tic, and (as a history buff) correct me if Im wrong, but didnt medieval or early-modern potentates commonly refer to the kingdoms they rule by namenot the realm, which makes it sound like this is a fairy tale, but England or France? Its a little thing, but its a symptom of the cheesiness of so much of HotD, which doesnt feel like a gritty fantasy version of the historical past as much as GoT did.

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This beef is related to my suggesting Rhaenyra, I promise! You and I have concurred that HotD is so much like one of those princess series on Starz, only with dragons. This episode has very few dragons, or just one in a brief fly-by, which only accentuates the princess-series qualities: a lot of flouncing and petulance in fancy dresses and complaining about how hard it is to be a princess and unable to marry the guy of your choice. Rhaenyra has been sympathetic up to this point, but now shes starting to resemble her dad. She wants to be queen, but she doesnt want to accept any of the responsibilities that come with it. Shes fighty, Ill grant her that, but just as Viserys avoids warfare, she seems unwilling to engage in any kind of strategic diplomatic behavior. She seems to think that being in line to rule means she gets to do whatever she wants, which is something she shares with Daemon.

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But most of all, I think she was selfish and irresponsible in seducing her bodyguard, Criston Cole, who, unlike her uncle, is of common blood and likely to be executed if anyone finds out that he slept with her. People go on and on about how ill-suited Viserys is for power, but this made me think that Rhaenyra is equally so, just in a different way.

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Onion: Okay, yes. Rhaenyra was going to be my second choice, for these same reasons. How can she possibly think that she can become queen, and keep power? She has no evidence, except for the fact that she wants it and that her father is still behind her, and by now she should know that Viserys doesnt make good decisions. Her reaction to seeing the play that Daemon takes her to in disguise, where citizens of the realm (which, thats cheesy as hell, I agree) boo her effigy on stage and clearly want her brother to take the throne instead, is to say, basically, They will have to get used to it.

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I sense that Daemon, for all that he wants to marry Rhaenyra for her position and to have sex with a niece he thinks is hot, also has some desire to protect her from this scenario, which he thinks may end with her head on a pike, and is trying to give her more evidence that people arent with her, to convince her she needs him by her side. (Am I  thinking the best of Daemon, again? How awful! I do go back and forth, and I blame Matt Smith for being interesting to watch.)

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Regardless, I do agree that Rhaenyra seducing Ser Criston was extremely selfish and short-sighted, and maybe the worst thing shes done so far. Hes doomed as soon as anyone finds outshe elevated him, and now shes going to wreck him, all because she got mad at her uncle/lover and wanted to prove something about gender equality to herself. I wasnt even sure Ser Criston was all that into the sex! She imposed herself. This show really needs to give Rhaenyra something else to dosome kind of a function she can perform thats unrelated to waiting for the throne-slash-marriage. Right now, shes pretty unbearable.

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Is there anyone else to consider? Otto Hightower, for spying on Rhaenyra and telling tales of her exploits to her dad? Viserys was pretty mean to Alicent, laughing at her for offering to show Daemon her new tapestries, and then later on that night having sex with her while his open sores were weeping. (So gross.) But they seem fairly secondary compared to these two main contenders.

Laura: I pity Viserys, so its hard for me to pick him. He cant help his physical deterioration. Otto is a creepy climber doing what creepy climbers do. I agree that Daemon is awful, particularly in the last episode when he beat the messenger who came with news that his brother was going to help him out. Clearly, he was willing for plenty of his men to suffer and die rather than share credit for victory over the Crabfeeder.

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But this week, he didnt coerce Rhaenyra into anything. Incest isnt a taboo for the Valyrians, sorather hilariouslywhen its suggested last episode that she marry Aegon, whats considered shocking is the fact that hes a baby, not that hes her brother! Daemon knows that Rhaenyra is attracted to him, so he takes her on this educational little tour of how the other half lives and thinks, culminating in a tour of a whorehouse to get her worked up enough to succumb to their mutual attraction. I think his goal is both to compromise her and to make her want him, laying the groundwork for his pitch to Viserys that he marry her. But I dont think their canoodling was consummated, and thats why she seduced poor Ser Criston. Then she denied it very convincingly to Alicent. Wow! What a gifted little liar she is!

Rebecca: Oh, okay. Youre right about the open sores; Viserys cant help it. And I forgot about the lying to Alicent Rhaenyra did!! Poor Alicent! The two of them had just begun to reconnect after their rift of the past years, or so it seemed, and Alicent had admitted to Rhaenyra thats shes intensely lonely. Then here comes this friend, abusing her trust. Okay, thats it. I agree with you: Princess Rhaenyra is the Worst Person in Westeros this week. So let it be written!
At first, the Leo jokes were funny. They came in droves when news broke late last month that Leonardo DiCaprio had split from his latest girlfriend, Camila Morrone, seeming to confirm his oft-derided reputation for never dating women older than 25. (Morrone turns 26 next year.) But what began as a sharp observation from my colleague Christina Cauterucci in 2016as confirmed in Know Your Meme, thank you very muchhas, in the years since, become kind of routine: Yes, yes, hes done it again, what a dog. If its surprising at all, its because, damn, who knew we still cared about Leonardo DiCaprio this much?

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Well, lets be honest. Millennials still care about DiCaprio. Gen Xers too. But what about people in his apparent dating pool, Gen Z? Could they possibly care about him, much less lust after him? I started wondering this because, now that DiCaprio is possibly on the market again (this is if those rumors that hes already found comfort in the arms of Gigi Hadid, historic if true because she is 27, prove to be unfounded), all the women left for him are in Gen Z. Last time he was single, there were still some millennials mingling in there, but theyve all now aged out. In fact, if DiCaprio continues to operate his romantic life with the same ruthless actuarial precision he has shown so far, his next girlfriend could mark his first relationship with someone who was born after the release of Titanic. Its not just that his future girlfriend(s) wont have cherished memories of watching Titanic on video, with all the agony and ecstasy of having to switch from the first tape to the second in the middle; she might not remember VHS tapes full stop.

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These are untested times for DiCaprio. Even though its been some time since his babyface twinkled on posters hung from adolescent bedroom walls across the world, because millennials and anyone older remember him that way, he still carries those Tiger Beat associations for many of us. Has he considered that it might not work on younger women? That one day soon, any joke he attempts to make about being the king of the world could be met with blank stares?

Being rich and famous usually does wonders in this department. Still, though, I wondered if there is a Gen Z base for DiCaprio. I thought of that scene in the movie Neighbors when Seth Rogens character asks Zac Efrons who Batman is to him. To Efron, the answer is obviously Christian Bale, whereas to Rogen, its obviously Michael Keaton. (Lets not even get into who Gen Z thinks Batman is.) To someone in their 30s, DiCaprio is and will always be the guy from Titanic. Who is he to someone younger?

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I think hes just some guy to all of us, said Mimori Walters, a 21-year-old from Orlando, Florida. Wasnt he in The Matrix?

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No, he was not. Walters owned up to liking Titanic as a kid, but otherwise has been unimpressed by DiCaprio. I see why he didnt get an Oscar until his 40s, they said.

Walters perspective seemed to be fairly colored by recent discussions of DiCaprios dating life and possible age limit: Hes just a fucking creep, dude. Who does that?

Emma Smith, a 21-year-old who has never seen Titanic, more or less agreed: I dont see him as a super relevant figure, but the news about his dating habits definitely caught my eye and caused me to be pretty grossed out, she said.

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Erin Byerly, a 19-year-old movie buff and sophomore at Wesleyan University, called DiCaprio one of my first celebrity crushes. She quickly clarified that she only had eyes for Titanic- and Romeo + Julietera Leo, though: I dont think hes aged well at all. She said she thinks thats a pretty common opinion: The only fangirling I see happening for him is when he was young.

He would not get far with her. Im 19, and I cant think of a single thing a man that old could ever have in common with me, she said. Leonardo DiCaprios literally three years younger than my father.

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How would these discerning young people advise a friend, a fellow member of their generation and sister in arms, who was considering dating Leo? Smith said she would counsel her to consider the power dynamic. Walters added, I would pull up what everyone is saying right now. Walters said they would also share stories of their own bad experiences with much older men: This breed of man is not uncommon.

So given all this, do they think DiCaprio will have any trouble landing a Gen Z squeeze?

Frankly, probably not, Smith said.

I know I said that he fell off, but hes Leonardo DiCaprio, Walters said. Apparently, that still means something.
Last month, a piece of art called Theatre Dopera Spatial (thats French for Space Opera Theater) was entered into the Colorado State Fairs fine art competition by a man named Jason Allen. The piece is a gorgeous painting that depicts a giant baroque hall containing three women in flowing red and white robes. The image won first place in the digitally manipulated photography category, and the artist judges at the state fair said the work was the best of the best.

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At the fair, Allen said the piece was made with Midjourney, an artificial intelligence tool that can create art, but no one really understood what that meant. Once they realized an A.I.-generated piece of art had beaten human artist-created images, a debate opened up. When A.I. makes beautiful art, is it somehow a lie, or is it the paintbrush of the future? On Fridays episode of What Next: TBD, I spoke with Drew Harwell, a tech reporter covering A.I. for the Washington Post, about how the A.I. art boom is reshaping the artistic economy and maybe even the meaning of art. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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Lizzie OLeary: If you look around online, A.I. art suddenly feels like its everywhere, from weird memes to altered versions of the Mona Lisa. Multiple A.I. tools can make these imagesDALL-E, Stable Diffusion, and Midjourney, to name a fewbut they all use a similar process. How does that process work?

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Drew Harwell: So they take a bunch of photographs and pieces of art and everything we see on the web, they put it into this big A.I. model and say, OK, lets make something new. They take what theyve seen before, learn the patterns, learn the styles and the colors, learn how theyre attached to the text given, and they create something. The end result is effectively just a little program that anybody can use.



Im struck by how quickly these art A.I.s are advancing. DALL-E was released in January of last year and there were some pretty basic images. And then, a year later, DALL-E 2 is using complex, faster methods. Midjourney, the one Jason Allen used, has a feature that allows you to upscale and downscale images. Where is this sudden supply and demand for A.I. art coming from?



You could look back to five years ago when they had these text-to-image generators and the output would be really crude. You could sort of see what the A.I. was trying to get at, but weve only really been able to cross that photorealistic uncanny valley in the last year or so. And I think the things that have contributed to that are, one, better data. Youre seeing people invest a lot of money and brainpower and resources into adding more stuff into bigger data sets. We have whole groups that are taking every image they can get on the internet. Billions, billions of images from Pinterest and Amazon and Facebook. You have bigger data sets, so the A.I. is learning more. You also have better computing power, and those are the two ingredients to any good piece of A.I. So now you have A.I. that is not only trained to understand the world a little bit better, but it can now really quickly spit out a very finely detailed generated image.

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Is there any way to know, when you look at a piece of A.I. art, what images it referenced to create what its doing? Or is it just so vast that you cant kind of unspool it backward?

When youre doing an image thats totally generated out of nowhere, its taking bits of information from billions of images. Its creating it in a much more sophisticated way so that its really hard to unspool.

Art generated by A.I. isnt just a gee-whiz phenomenon, something that wins prizes, or even a fascinating subject for debateit has valuable commercial uses, too. Some that are a little frightening if youre, say, a graphic designer.

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Youre already starting to see some of these images illustrating news articles, being used as logos for companies, being used in the form of stock art for small businesses and websites. Anything where somebody wouldve gone and paid an illustrator or graphic designer or artist to make something, they can now go to this A.I. and create something in a few seconds that is maybe not perfect, maybe would be beaten by a human in a head-to-head, but is good enough. From a commercial perspective, thats scary, because we have an industry of people whose whole job is to create images, now running up against A.I.

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And the A.I., again, in the last five years, the A.I. has gotten better and better. Its still not perfect. I dont think itll ever be perfect, whatever that looks like. It processes information in a different, maybe more literal, way than a human. I think human artists will still sort of have the upper hand in being able to imagine things a little more outside of the box. And yet, if youre just looking for three people in a classroom or a pretty simple logo, youre going to go to A.I. and youre going to take potentially a job away from a freelancer whom you wouldve given it to 10 years ago.

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I can see a use case here in marketing, in advertising. The A.I. doesnt need health insurance, it doesnt need paid vacation days, and I really do wonder about this idea that the A.I. could replace the jobs of visual artists. Do you think that is a legitimate fear, or is that overwrought at this moment?

I think it is a legitimate fear. When something can mirror your skill set, not 100 percent of the way, but enough of the way that it could replace you, thats an issue. Do these A.I. creators have any kind of moral responsibility to not create it because it could put people out of jobs? I think thats a debate, but I dont think they see it that way. They see it like theyre just creating the new generation of digital camera, the new generation of Photoshop. But I think it is worth worrying about because even compared with cameras and Photoshop, the A.I. is a little bit more of the full package and it is so accessible and so hard to match in terms. Its really going to be up to human artists to find some way to differentiate themselves from the A.I.

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This is making me wonder about the humans underneath the data sets that the A.I. is trained on. The criticism is, of course, that these businesses are making money off thousands of artists work without their consent or knowledge and it undermines their work. Some people looked at the Stable Diffusion and they didnt have access to its whole data set, but they found that Thomas Kinkade, the landscape painter, was the most referenced artist in the data set. Is the A.I. just piggybacking? And if its not Thomas Kinkade, if its someone whos alive, are they piggybacking on that persons work without that person getting paid?

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Im really sympathetic to that argument, actually, because some people could call this plagiarism. This is a data set that literally includes images of artists like the Painter of Light. Thousands of his images are in that data set and when the A.I. wants to make something that it thinks needs to look like that, its going to look at those images and infer things from them. And not just people like him, but living artists who see this as a job, their images are feeding in the machine that is taking their jobs.

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Jason Allens argument, and the A.I. boosters argument, is: How did you learn how to paint? You looked at a bunch of other peoples paintings, right? You went to art school. You learned the techniques of the masters who came before you. Isnt this how we all learn? We look at the creative product of other people and we copy over time. Its flattery. We duplicate the things weve seen before. Thats what A.I. is doing. Its just doing it way better and at a scale of billions of times more than we do it.

Theres no question that A.I. can make compelling and beautiful images. But when you start to think beyond technical skill to the emotional resonance or cultural commentary contained in great art, a computer seems destined to fall far short of a human. Im thinking of the artist Kara Walker. A lot of her art draws on hyperracialized, hypersexualized images of Black people and Black women. I could very quickly see an A.I. trained on Kara Walkers work, not having the commentary, not being subtle or interesting or critiquing in that way and just popping out some racist images.

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Totally, and thats where the humans get back the upper hand. We can understand things about cultural context and these broader, mushier sort of social debates that the A.I. is just nowhere close to understanding. The problem with these A.I.s is that theyre trained off the internet and youve probably been on the internet, youve seen its not all sunshine and rainbows. Theres a lot of bad crap on the internet.

This has happened with chatbots, text A.I., where you train it off the seedier parts of Reddit or 4chan, and voila, it starts to become this neo-Nazi weirdo because its learning to copy what its seen. And so for A.I. art, its always going to be a big but finite view of the world. Right now, its just doing a really good job of mirroring other images.

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Jason Allen seemed to take the stance that A.I.-generated art is the future. How did that go down with people who were judging it and also people who have reacted to this piece of work on the internet?

Some people were very upset about it. They felt there was deception. They felt there was plagiarism. They felt like he had stolen from these human artists who had worked in the right way. Then, I talked to the judges who gave him the win, I talked to one of the artists that he beat, who won third place from hand-drawing something on an iPad, and I talked to an oil painter who does these gorgeous paintings and who could potentially be out of a job in the future because of this. I expected them to all hate it, but they surprised me by saying, Actually, I think its pretty cool. They felt like, Who are we to say what is art and what is not art? They all felt like, Well, maybe we should have a category for A.I. art in the future so its not competing with human art. The beauty of a piece of artwork is what we, as the human viewers, get out of it. Does it matter that its by a persons hand, and if it does, how far do you have to go?

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The pro-A.I. argument is that art is always evolving, and so are the tools that humans use to make ittheyre just different depending on the era.



A hundred or 200 years ago, there was a view that even photography was not real art, it was just somebody hitting a button on a camera capturing what they saw in real life, and now we understand that the best photography is about composition and color and style and tone, and all of these human subjective judgements that Jason Allen would say he made in his own piece of art. He said he made a ton of different iterations: He went through and there were a lot of bad creations and he chose the one that he felt was the most evocative.

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Not to get too philosophical, but these tools do raise the question of what makes art, art? And who gets to define that anyway? In your story, you quoted one of the judges basically saying she didnt know that this was A.I.-generated art but she wouldnt have changed her judgmentthat there was a concept and a vision, he brought it to reality, and its a beautiful piece. So is art, however we use that word, ultimately in the eye of the beholder?

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Art is what we take from it. This judge, who is an artist herself and an art historian, she did not feel deceived. She felt like the emotion she first felt when she saw it was still real. It really caught her eye when she was walking through the state fair, looking at a lot of great pieces of art. She said it told a story and it made her question, What are these figures in this painting looking at? What is the deeper meaning to any of this? She didnt feel like there was some bait and switch. She felt like, Oh, this is a pretty cool image, and I dont exactly know how it was made, but it hit something in me. And thats really all she was looking for when she was looking at art.
This story originally appeared on OpenMind, a digital magazine tackling science controversies and deceptions.

We hear all the time that the simplest explanations are usually the right ones. This truth-testing ideaknown as Ockhams razor, after the English medieval philosopher William of Ockhamhas been embraced by no less authorities than Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein. Today scientists invoke Ockhams razor on topics ranging from Covids origins to cosmic dark matter, while folks debating a subject on social media regularly invoke it as their final arbiter. After all, why complicate something more than you need to? Isnt it better to shave ideas down to their essential truths?

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Ockhams razor sounds logical and definitive, which is exactly what makes it dangerous. Not only is the assumption of simplicity often false, but following it blindly can lead to serious misunderstandings, both in science and in everyday life.

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A well-known historical validation of the principle of simplicity in science was in the overthrow of the geocentric model of the universe. The ancient Greeks codified a cosmology in which Earth was motionless while the sun, moon, planets, and stars all moved around it in perfect circular paths. That model held sway for nearly 2,000 years, despite becoming increasingly cumbersome as it was modified to account for the observed movements of planets like Mars, which was seen to slow down, speed up, and sometimes even double back on itself.

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The Greeks attempted to account for this retrograde motion of Mars by assuming that it followed a secondary, smaller circular path, called an epicycle, that was bolted onto its primary circular motion around Earth. Later, improved observations of Mars and the other planets required further tinkering with the geocentric model, such as adding epicycles on top of epicycles and shifting Earth slightly away from the center of all the other bodies orbits.

Then, in the 16th century, Nicolaus Copernicus swept away this makeshift model and replaced it with his much simpler heliocentric picture in which the sun, not Earth, is at the center of the universe. In this view, the complicated motions of Mars as seen from Earth could be explained as a consequence of the two planets orbiting the sun at different distances and speeds. Both the Earth-centered and sun-centered models worked, in the sense that they predicted the motions of heavenly bodies reasonably well, but we now know that only one of them is correct: the Copernican model, the one without all the clumsy extras. This, we are told, is Ockhams razor in action.

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But the above account is wrong. Although Copernicus correctly replaced Earth with the sun at the center of the known cosmos, he still believed the planetary orbits to be perfect circles rather than their actual ellipses. As a result, he still needed the epicycles and other unwieldy patch-ups of the old geocentric model to get this heliocentric system to work. Although we now know that Earth does indeed go around the sun, we also know that the true dynamics of our solar system are far more convoluted than anything the ancient Greeks could have imagined. In place of epicycles, we have an ever-shifting system of ellipses whose shapes can never be calculated with perfect precision. It is Ockhams razor in reverse.

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An equally famous example in the history of science is Darwins theory of evolution through natural selection. It provides a unifying explanation for the tremendous variety of life we find on Earth, all of which evolved over billions of years from a single origin. Darwins theory is based on a few simple assumptions: 1) that individuals within a population of any species vary; 2) that these variations pass down through the generations; 3) that more individuals are born in each generation than can survive; 4) that those with characteristics better adapted to suit their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce. Thats it.

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However, wrapped up in these modest assumptions are the mind-bogglingly complex fields of evolutionary biology and genetics, which are among the most challenging areas in all of science. If we are to truly apply Ockhams razor to life on Earth, then surely the nonscientific theory of creationismthat all life was brought forth as it is today by a supernatural makeris far simpler than Darwinian evolution.

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The simplest explanation is not necessarily the correct oneand the correct one is often not as simple as it first appears.

The lessons here are that the simplest explanation is not necessarily the correct one, and the correct one is often not as simple as it first appears. Ockhams razor, as applied in science, does not mean that a new theory should replace a previous one just because it is simpler or has fewer assumptions.

I prefer a different interpretation of Ockhams razor: A better theory is one that is more useful because it makes more-accurate predictions about the world and leads to reproducible results. Simplicity is not always what we should strive for.

In everyday life, too, explanations are often not as simple as we would like them to be. To paraphrase Einstein, we should try to make things as simple as possible, but no simpler. Nevertheless, the idea that simpler is better has become a widely accepted piece of folk wisdom. We are seeing a social trend toward simplistic arguments, particularly in relation to ethical or political issues, that intentionally ignore subtlety and complexity, distilling the issues into memes and tweets in which all nuance is lost.

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It is certainly tempting, when trying to make sense of a messy world, to seek out the clarity of a simple and unambiguous viewpoint. Real life is untidy and complicated, and many of us are not prepared to put in the effort to take in the big picture. Keep it simple, people often say, and dont blind me with details.

And yet, it can be surprising how much clearer and (yes) simpler it becomes to understand an issue if we acknowledge its complexity and examine it more carefully. For example, modern celestial dynamics not only accurately predicts the motions of the planets but also provides a unifying method for understanding asteroids that might hit Earth or planets orbiting other starsobjects completely outside the realm of the old geocentric model.

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The challenge is to apply the principle of simplicity thoughtfully and strategically. Simplifying an explanation, description, or argument can be very useful in exposing broad connections. To truly understand a phenomenon, for instance, the scientist will often attempt to strip away the unnecessary detail and expose its bare bones. Laboratory experiments are often carried out under specially controlled conditions to create artificial, idealized environments that make the important features easier to study.

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Unfortunately, people often seek simplicity well beyond the point of usefulness. There is a well-known joke (to us physicists, at least) about a dairy farmer who wants to find a scientific way to increase the milk production of his cows, so he seeks the help of a team of theoretical physicists. After carefully studying the problem, the physicists finally tell him they have found a solutionbut that it works only if they assume a spherical cow in a vacuum.

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Several years ago, I interviewed Peter Higgs, the British physicist after whom the famous particle is named, for my BBC radio program, The Life Scientific. I asked him if he could explain in 30 seconds what the Higgs boson was. He looked at me solemnly and, I have to admit, not particularly apologetically, and shook his head. He explained that it had taken him many decades to understand the physics underlying the Higgs mechanism in quantum field theory, so how could people expect such a complex subject to be condensed into a short sound bite?

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Despite the well-documented failings of Ockhams razor, it is hard to fight the human impulse to look for the simplest account of something we dont understand. If we do find a simple explanation, we tend to hang on to it because of its strong psychological appeal over more complicated explanations that may require considerable effort to fully understand. Scientists, even the best of us, are no different from anyone else.

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Soon after Einstein completed his general theory of relativity, in 1915, he applied its equations to a description of the evolution of the universe as a whole. To his consternation, he found that his equations predicted a universe that was collapsing in on itself due to the mutual gravitational pull of all the matter it contains. Einstein knew that the universe didnt appear to be collapsing, and the simplest assumption he could make was that it had to be stable. He then accommodated that assumption with the simplest possible mathematical fix: He modified his equations with a cosmological constant, a term that counteracted the part describing the cumulative attractive gravitational pull of matter. In this way, he stabilized his model of the universe with a single number.

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But it didnt take long for other scientists to suggest a different interpretation of general relativity. What if the universe wasnt stable after all? What if it was getting bigger, and all gravity was doing was slowing down its expansion rather than causing it to collapse? This explanation was confirmed by the astronomer Edwin Hubble in the late 1920s. Einstein realized then that there was no longer any need for his fix. He got rid of his cosmological constant, reportedly calling it the biggest blunder of his life. The story does not end there, however. In 1998, astronomers discovered not only that the universe is expanding but that the expansion is accelerating. Something is counteracting the gravitational pull of matter.

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This is a good example of how our scientific understanding can grow as new evidence accumulates. Einstein introduced the cosmological constant based on the simple assumption that the universe was staticwhich was soon contradicted by new observations. His successors rejected the cosmological constant on the simple assumption that the expanding universe was steadily winding downand that, too, was eventually falsified by the evidence. The thing causing the universe to accelerate is generically called dark energy, but its true identity is unknown. It might resemble Einsteins cosmological constant, but that might be yet another oversimplification. What we do know is that the universe is far more complex than Einstein thought.

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Sometimes, acknowledging the role of complexity is vital for understanding the properties of a system. Even simple systems following deterministic physical laws can behave in highly unpredictable ways, as when a kitchen faucet abruptly switches from smooth (laminar) to turbulent flow. Conversely, seemingly random behavior can reveal meaningful patterns when we zoom out and embrace complexity. This realization has sparked entire areas of scientific researchfrom statistical mechanics in the 19th century to chaos theory in the 20th and complex systems in the 21stinfluencing disciplines as diverse as biology, artificial intelligence, and economics.

Scientists should therefore try not to be seduced by Ockhams razor. In my preferred formulation: The simplest explanation is not necessarily the most useful one, and ideas that appear simple often fall apart in the face of new evidence.

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It is a lesson we should all embrace. We live in an age of sound bites, slogans, and instant access to news and opinion. Information overload easily leads people toward strident, simplifying opinions. Ockhams razor has become a tool of political identity. Those daring to point out that an issue is more complicated than either side wishes to admit can find themselves attacked by both sides: If youre not 100 percent with me, you are against me.

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We would do well to apply anti-Ockham scrutiny to our political and social discourse, just as scientists attempt to apply it to their research. Practically speaking, we cannot go around digging into every issue or rejecting every explanation just because it seems too easy. But we can train ourselves to be wary of making up our minds on a matter as soon as weve found a simple narrative. We should try to question whether that simple narrative is accepted by people who have put in the effort to study it more deeply than we have, or than we can.

If we are prepared to dig a little deeper, we are likely to be rewarded. Not only will our view of the world become richer, but our outlook on life will be more fulfilling. Thats a huge benefit in exchange for a small loss of simplicity.

This essay was inspired by the authors latest book, The Joy of Science.
When Russia first invaded Ukraine in February, it seemed plausible that nearly every cyberattack in the news might be coming from the Russian government. After years of disruptive high-profile Russian cyberattacks, like those targeting the Ukrainian electric grid in 2015 and 2016, the NotPetya attack in 2017, and the SolarWinds compromise in 2020, it seemed almost inevitable that Russia couldand wouldexercise its sophisticated cyber capabilities as part of the conflict. This idea was so firmly entrenched that when there was a seemingly unrelated February breach at Nvidia, rumors immediately spread that that Russia might be behind it.

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Six months into the war, there hasnt been a single significant, successful cyberattack to its name in that time. Thats probably partly because Ukraine and other countries have significantly ramped up their cyber defenses, and partly because threat intelligence about Russias cyber operations seems to have been very good so far, enabling governments and companies to proactively counter Russian malwarebut its also partly because Russias cyber operations simply havent been living up to the countrys previous reputation for sophisticated, destructive cyberattacks.

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And now that reputation may be starting to change. In late August, Montenegro suffered a cyberattack that infected 150 computers in 10 government institutions with a piece of malware called Zerodate. Its not entirely clear how far-reaching the damage of the attacks has been, but the combination of ransomware and distributed denial-of-service seems to have had a fairly profound impact on day-to-day life in the country. The AP reported that compared to attempted cyberattacks directed at other Eastern European countries in recent months, the attack against Montenegros infrastructure seemed more sustained and extensive, with targets including water supply systems, transportation services and online government services, among many others. The country was also forced to switch its electrical utility to manual control, according to the AP.

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Meanwhile, BalkanInsight reported this week that Montenegros judicial system has been forced to postpone trials because people were unable to access the necessary computer networks. According to that report, Courts and the prosecution service are  working only offline, as are the State Property Administration, the Central Register of Business Entities and the fiscal system.

After the attack began, the governments Agency for National Security immediately blamed Russia, saying the motive was probably Montenegros decision to implement sanctions against Russia. Government official Dusan Polovic told the AP, I can say with certainty that this attack that Montenegro is experiencing these days comes directly from Russia. The Agency for National Security referred to the attacks as part of a hybrid war and said in a statement that coordinated Russian services were responsible.

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But despite months of warnings that Russia might retaliate against sanctions by using cyberattacks, the reception of Montenegros attribution claim has been fairly skeptical. Most coverage of the attack points out that Montenegros government has offered no real evidence that Russia was behind the attack. Thats fair and worth noting, but governments regularly make attribution claims about cyberattacks without offering much by way of concrete evidence. (The White Houses 2018 statement attributing NotPetya to Russia, for instance, does not include any evidence.)

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If it was the work of the Russian government, its perhaps a sign that Russias streak of unsuccessful cyber operations may actually be coming to an end. After all, compromising the computer systems used to operate a countrys electric grid, court system, and fiscal systemand sustaining that compromise for more than a weekis the work of hackers who know what theyre doing.

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Its just not clear that those hackers actually have any ties to the Russian government. The criminal group Cuba (which is not connected with the country) has claimed credit for the attacks, according to malware researchers at VX-Undergroundthough somewhat bafflingly for a ransomware organization, there has been no request for a ransom payment according to officials in Montenegro. Some researchers at security firm Profero have said that members of the Cuba group speak Russian, but those same researchers said they believed the group was not state-sponsored. Officials in Montenegro have also begun blaming the attack on the Cuba group but have not walked back their claims that it is part of coordinated hybrid warfare on the part of the Russian government.

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A few months ago, when fear of Russian cyber capabilities was much higher, people might have more easily believed such claims. But now when we see a successful cyberattack that targets critical infrastructure, rather than jumping to the conclusion that Russia must be behind it, we seem to have a sense that such things might be beyond what the Russian government can actually manage. Its a reminder of how much our ideas and beliefs about what countries are capable of in cyberspace are built on the public evidence of what theyve done recentlyafter all, how else can we assess a nations cyber arsenal? Its also a reminder, though, that even though the Russian government hasnt necessarily managed to compromise a lot of critical infrastructure networks recently, its certainly not the only one with the means and the motive for doing so. Good cyber defenses are as important as evereven if Russia may not be the main reason for implementing them.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
Temperatures plummet by 10 degrees: Spain weather forecast September 12-15



Storm Danielle arrives in Spain this week with gusts of up to 70kph and abundant rain

Spain may have avoided a hurricane after Danielle was downgraded to a storm but the weather is going to change dramatically this week, bringing the first real taste of autumn to the country. While the thermometers didnt dip below the mid-30s in most of Spain over the weekend, the mercury is set to take a major nosedive in the coming days, dropping as much as 10C along the western coast.

Monday September 12, Storm Danielle will sweep across Spain from west to east, with the worst of the rainfall expected in Galicia, Extremadura and the western extremities of From, Storm Danielle will sweep across Spain from west to east, with the worst of the rainfall expected in Galicia, Extremadura and the western extremities of Andalucia and Castilla y Leon.

Its going to be a cloudy day overall with no fewer than 12 regions on alert for storms, including the Valencian Community . Although the temperatures will begin to fall, the Balearic Islands and Aragon can expect another scorcher, and theres an uncomfortable night ahead with most areas remaining in and around the mid-20s.

By Tuesday September 13 the rainfall will spread to the rest of the country, especially intense in central Spain in the morning and the northeast in the afternoon. The Canary and Balearic Islands wont be spared either, although the showers arent expected to be as heavy. Gusts of up to 70 kilometres per hour are forecast in the north. It will be overcast along the Mediterranean coast, where the rain is predicted to be weakest.

Daytime temperatures will drop even further with little change at night.

The forecasts indicate that the storm will weaken from Wednesday September 14, although it will take longer to clear in the north. A risk of occasionally heavy rain and storms will persist throughout Wednesday and Thursday September 15 in the western half of Spain.

The rains due to sweep Spain from Monday will bring some welcome relief to the drought situation , with more than 100 litres per square metre predicted in western Galicia, Extremadura and the Catalan Pyrenees. In addition, around half this amount is forecast in Catalonia, Navarra, Aragon, Castilla-La Mancha and Andalusia.

>>> Join our Facebook group for regular weather updates: Spain Weather Watch <<<

Image: Aemet
BUDAPEST, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Tourism in Hungary has bounced back to the pre-pandemic level, with 16.4 million guest nights registered this summer, the Hungarian Tourism Agency (MTU) said Monday.

This is the same level as the summer of 2019, MTU said.

MTU welcomed the fact that domestic tourism has maintained its momentum in recent years. "About 10.5 million of the guest nights were spent by domestic visitors in accommodation facilities, which is 12 percent more than the data for the summer of 2019," it said.

Hungary was able to welcome 2.5 times more international visitors this summer than in the summer of 2021, MTU added.

In 2021, the proportion of foreign visitors was 20 percent in the three summer months (June, July and August). Meanwhile, this year it rose to 36 percent, accounting for nearly 6 million international guest nights.

The famous Lake Balaton retained its title as the number one destination, with more than 5.4 million guests staying there, accounting for 41 percent of total rural accommodation turnover.

The largest proportion of guests in the countryside were Hungarian (75 percent of total guests), while in Budapest, 83 percent of total guests this summer were foreign tourists. The largest numbers of tourists visiting Budapest came from the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, Israel, Italy and the Netherlands.

MTU also said that the general hotel-room occupancy rate stood at 60 percent nationally during the three summer months. 
The opposition dissatisfied with President Zuzana Caputova's decision.

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Slovaks will again cast their votes in a referendum following a decision made by President Zuzana Caputova.

A referendum will take place, with one question at least, she said on September 12.

Referendum questions 1) Do you agree that the government of the Slovak Republic should immediately resign? Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement 2) Do you agree that early termination of the election period of the National Council of the Slovak Republic can be carried out by referendum or resolution of the National Council of the Slovak Republic?

The opposition parties Smer, Hlas and the extremist party Republika delivered petition sheets with 381,960 valid signatures to the Presidential Palace on August 24, asking the head of state to call a referendum with two questions.

The three parties want to achieve the fall of Eduard Hegers government through the first question. With the second question they want the adoption of a constitutional change, making it possible to shorten a parliament by referendum or by the parliaments decision, and enabling a snap election.

The second question is in accordance with the constitution, the president said.

A recent Constitutional Court ruling said that such a constitutional change is necessary if MPs decide to shorten a parliament.

First question may be an issue

The first question is under dispute, the president said. Therefore, she will turn to the Constitutional Court to decide whether the question regarding the resignation of the current government is in line with the constitution.

If the Constitutional Court says the question is constitutional, I will announce the referendum with two questions, the president said.

She stressed the importance of honouring and respecting the constitution, which recently marked its 30th anniversary.

Caputova added that even if the first question were approved by the court, the referendum successful, and the government fell, it would not lead to a snap election.

I can appoint a new government or a caretaker government, she said.

Smear campaign

The president went on to say that the referendum will happen after the regional and municipal elections, held on October 29, to meet all her deadlines set by legislation.

The referendum should be announced after the Constitutional Court issues its decision on the first question. According to Caputova, she will set the date by the end of this year.

Moreover, she thinks that she will again face a smear campaign from the opposition because of her decision to turn to the court.

Citizens have made it clear that they want early parliamentary elections and a change of government as soon as possible, Smer chair Robert Fico said in August. The president has already thwarted a referendum once.

He referred to the presidents decision to not call a referendum last year after the Constitutional Court ruled that Smers referendum question was unconstitutional.

Its nonsense, she said on Monday in response to previous accusations that she would want to thwart a referendum.

There have been eight referendums held in Slovakia to date, but just one was successful. In 2003, Slovakia agreed to the country joining the EU.

Ficos attack

It did not take long for Fico to respond to Caputovas announcement. He accused her of not calling the referendum on October 29 on purpose because, according to him, she knows it would be a success.

I dont know what is unconstitutional about the question through which people want the broken, incompetent and anti-Slovak government to leave, Fico continued, noting the argument that the government must complete a four-year term is authoritarian and undemocratic.

The president has thwarted the second referendum in a row, he said in a video on Facebook.

Zuzana Caputova is not the president of all Slovak citizens. She polarises society the Slovak National Party said, adding that the president is prolonging the agony of this government.

The Hlas party, led by ex-PM Peter Pellegrini, also criticised President Caputova for her intention of turning to the Constitutional Court in this matter.
https://sputniknews.com/20220911/another-four-ships-authorized-to-leave-ukraine-under-istanbul-grain-deal---jcc-1100660559.html

Another Four Ships Authorized to Leave Ukraine Under Istanbul Grain Deal - JCC

Another Four Ships Authorized to Leave Ukraine Under Istanbul Grain Deal - JCC

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) - The Istanbul-based Joint Coordination Center (JCC) has authorized four more ships to sail out of Ukrainian ports on Monday, as part... 11.09.2022, Sputnik International

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The four vessels will carry a combined 64,657 tonnes (metric tons) of grain and food products out of Ukraine, the JCC said on Sunday. Two of the ships will sail out of Chornomorsk. One of them will carry 27,500 tonnes of wheat to Spain, while another will head to Lebanon with 6,857 tonnes of corn on board.On Sunday, four vessels (WIN SINO, S-BRILLIANT, ORIS SOFI, AHMET CAN) were authorized to leave Ukraine, according to the JCC.As of September 11, over 2.6 million tonnes of food products have been transported out of Ukrainian ports via sea under the Istanbul grain deal, the JCC said on Sunday.On July 22, Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey signed an UN-brokered initiative to provide a humanitarian maritime corridor for ships with food and fertilizer exports from Black Sea ports. Three key Ukrainian ports  Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Yuzhne  were unblocked to resume exports. A joint coordination center was set up to monitor the implementation of the initiative, including ensuring that cargo ships do not carry unauthorized goods or personnel.The Turkish Defense Ministry confirmed last Thursday that grain from Ukrainian ports continues to be supplied in accordance with the plan agreed upon as part of the UN-brokered food deal.

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https://sputniknews.com/20220912/a-decade-after-benghazi-attack-us-chief-concern-remains-libyan-oil-taps-not-ending-civil-war-1100694665.html

A Decade After Benghazi Attack, US Chief Concern Remains Libyan Oil Taps, Not Ending Civil War

A Decade After Benghazi Attack, US Chief Concern Remains Libyan Oil Taps, Not Ending Civil War

In addition to being the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Virginia by Al-Qaeda* and the 1973 military coup detat in Chile, September... 12.09.2022, Sputnik International

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Sunday marked 10 years since roughly 20 gunmen stormed the diplomatic compound in the eastern city of Benghazi, burning down the villa with US Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and an employee, Sean Smith, inside, killing both of them, and later attacking a CIA facility in the city with mortars, killing two former US Navy Seals.While the country has run through several different political formations of its factions, the basic division between a UN-backed official Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli in the west, and a rebellious government in the eastern Cyrenaica region backed by parts of the military and several foreign powers in the east, has remained.A decade after the Benghazi attack, Libya remains in chaos, but the American priority remains ensuring that Libyas valuable oil reserves continue to be pumped and sold without interruption.Crude Oil, Crude Politics"The United States continues to support the vast majority of Libyans who expect elections and demand that the countrys oil wealth be managed responsibly," the US ambassador to Libya, Richard Norland said in a statement on June 29 during an overnight trip to Tripoli, the countrys nominal capital city. Since the 2012 attack, US envoys have been stationed outside the country in Tunis, Tunisia, and only rarely travel to Libya.Officially, the state-owned Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC) is the only entity that can sell Libyan oil abroad. However, since Libya has no effective state, the NOC is just another political entity in the civil war and has leaned heavily on foreign firms in recent years to help it increase production. These include Italys ENI, Frances Total and REPSOL, Norways Equinor, Germanys Wintershall Aktiengesellschaft, and Austrias OMV, as well as American companies like ConocoPhillips.By July, Libyas oil production had recovered to 1.2 million barrels per day, although militant groups in Tripoli, Sirte, and other cities have threatened those exports in an attempt to gain political leverage.Sporadic fighting has continued in Libya, despite a relative lull in the civil war that began in 2021 as the two sides attempted to form a Government of National Unity (GNU) out of the Tripoli-based GNA and the Tobruk-based Libyan National Congress (LNC). Abdel Hamid Dbeibah was appointed prime minister as part of the process, but the LNC pulled its support for him later that year, accusing his government of corruption and illegal actions in its planning for the long-awaited presidential elections. The elections were postponed in December amid renewed fighting.Today, Bashagha enjoys the support of Marshal Khalifa Haftar, who commands the military forces loyal to the LNC, as well as many foreign powers, including other Arab states, who see Dbeibah as illegally continuing a term in office that should have ended in February 2022. Haftar, in turn, has enjoyed support from a number of foreign actors, including the United States, with then-US President Donald Trump praising Haftar's gains on the battlefield in 2019.The President recognized Field Marshal Haftars significant role in fighting terrorism and securing Libyas oil resources, and the two discussed a shared vision for Libyas transition to a stable, democratic political system," the White House said in a April 19, 2019, readout of a phone call between Trump and Haftar.

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Fantine Gardinier

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https://sputniknews.com/20220912/aam-aadmi-party-alleges-raid-at-party-office-in-indias-gujarat-police-deny-anything-happened-1100674003.html

Aam Aadmi Party laims Authorities Raid Office in Indias Gujarat, Police Deny

Aam Aadmi Party laims Authorities Raid Office in Indias Gujarat, Police Deny

Gujarat State Assembly elections are slated to be held in December this year. In the previous polls, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 99 seats out... 12.09.2022, Sputnik International

2022-09-12T13:32+0000

2022-09-12T13:32+0000

2022-09-12T13:34+0000

india

gujarat

bharatiya janata party (bjp)

aam aadmi party

arvind kejriwal

politics

politics

politics

politics

politics

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Delhis ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is all set for the State Assembly elections in Indias Gujarat, claims its office in Ahmedabad was raided by police at the behest of the ruling BJP party. In a tweet in Hindi on Sunday late night, AAPs Isudan Gadhvi said: As soon as Arvind Kejriwal reached Ahmedabad, Gujarat Police conducted a raid on the partys office. They searched the office for two and found nothing, so they left, but said that they will come again.Soon after Gadhvi tweeted about the alleged raid, AAP national convener and Delhi State Chief Arvind Kejriwal claimed that BJP was envious of the support his party is getting ahead of the assembly polls in the state, maintaining that his party is hardcore honest and patriot.Reacting to Gadhvi's claima, Ahmedabad police took to Twitter on Monday morning to deny that any such raid had been conducted.Meanwhile, AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj in a press conference at the party headquarters in Delhi on Monday also alleged that the BJP is doing so because they know that soon AAP will become the number one party in the state.Reacting to the allegations of AAP, BJP spokesperson Yagnesh Dave said that they are resorting to lies for self-promotion and demanded the party must post CCTV footage of the alleged raids.Dave, in a veiled attack on Kejriwal, said, We know that a lord of lies from Delhi is also here today.

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gujarat, bharatiya janata party (bjp), aam aadmi party, arvind kejriwal, politics, politics, politics, politics, politics, domestic politics, police, police, police, police, police, police, police, police
https://sputniknews.com/20220912/about-15000-minnesota-nurses-strike-seeking-more-money-staff-better-patient-care-1100698673.html

About 15,000 Minnesota Nurses Strike Seeking More Money, Staff, Better Patient Care

About 15,000 Minnesota Nurses Strike Seeking More Money, Staff, Better Patient Care

WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  About 15,000 nurses represented by the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) went on three-day strike beginning Monday in what is described... 12.09.2022, Sputnik International

2022-09-12T20:41+0000

2022-09-12T20:41+0000

2022-09-12T20:41+0000

americas

unions

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us

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"Todays announcement follows a vote last month by the 15,000 nurse members to authorize a strike. That vote passed with overwhelming support, well beyond the two-thirds majority required," union leaders said in a press release. "Since that strike vote, nurses have met for additional negotiations with hospital executives who have continued to refuse solutions to short-staffing, retention and better patient care. Following the vote by Twin Cities and Twin Port nurses, nurses at Moose Lake also voted to authorize a strike and will join other nurses in striking on September 12."Union leaders said corporate healthcare policies at the hospitals they work have resulted in understaffed and overworked nurses, with patients getting hefty bills while hospital services have been pared down and local hospitals are closed. Meanwhile, hospital executives take home "million-dollar paychecks," the union said.The nurses are outraged that hospital CEOs, with multi-million-dollar salaries, have refused to negotiate with them over solutions to the crises, the association noted.MNA said the strike follows months of fruitless negotiations with nurses trying to secure higher staffing levels and 30% wage increases over the next three years. Hospital execs offered 10-12% increases over three years and made clear that they didnt have the money to offer more.

https://sputniknews.com/20220724/overworked-nhs-nurses-sell-their-days-off-as-cost-of-living-skyrockets-unions-say-1097746419.html

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https://sputniknews.com/20220912/alabama-couple-pleads-guilty-for-providing-material-support-to-is---us-justice-dept-1100700645.html

Alabama Couple Pleads Guilty for Providing Material Support to IS - US Justice Dept.

Alabama Couple Pleads Guilty for Providing Material Support to IS - US Justice Dept.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - An Alabama couple with ties to the Islamic State* pleaded guilty for attempting to provide material support to the terror group, the US... 12.09.2022, Sputnik International

2022-09-12T22:20+0000

2022-09-12T22:20+0000

2022-09-12T22:21+0000

americas

islamic state

us

us justice department

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"Today in the Southern District, Arwa Muthana, 30, of Hoover Alabama, pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, aka ISIS, a designated foreign terrorist organization," the release said on Monday. "On Friday, her husband James Bradley, aka Abdullah, 21, of the Bronx, entered a guilty plea to the same charge."The Justice Department said Bradley and Muthana attempted to travel to the Middle East to join and fight for Islamic State, the release said.In May 2020, Bradley told an undercover law enforcement officer he believed the Islamic State may be a good organization because it was seeking to establish a caliphate and spoke of his wish to launch a terrorist attack in the United States if he could not leave the country, the release said.In June of that year, Bradley told the undercover agent that he wanted to attack a military base as a contribution to the cause of Islamic jihad. He then married Muthana in an Islamic ceremony in January 2021 and then discussed, planned and ultimately attempted to travel to the Middle East together to join and fight with Islamic State, the release said.Muthana and her husband were arrested as they were boarding a cargo ship, the release also said.Bradley and Muthana each pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and could end up serving 20 years in prison, according to the release.* The Islamic State is a terrorist group banned in Russia

https://sputniknews.com/20220826/new-york-resident-pleads-guilty-to-giving-support-for-islamic-state---us-justice-dept-1100047533.html

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https://sputniknews.com/20220912/australian-pm-defends-protocol-to-bar-parliamentary-sitting-for-15-days-to-commiserate-queens-death-1100673094.html

Australian PM Defends Protocol to Bar Parliamentary Sitting for 15 Days to Commiserate Queen's Death

Australian PM Defends Protocol to Bar Parliamentary Sitting for 15 Days to Commiserate Queen's Death

Previously a long-time supporter of a referendum to turn Australia into a republic, formally removing the British monarch as the head of state, PM Anthony... 12.09.2022, Sputnik International

2022-09-12T09:48+0000

2022-09-12T09:48+0000

2022-09-12T09:48+0000

world

queen elizabeth ii

australia & oceania

anthony albanese

united kingdom

king charles iii

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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday defended a longstanding parliamentary protocol which bars the sitting of the federal Parliament for 15 days in the event of the death of the British monarch, who is Australia's head of state.The death of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8 triggered a parliamentary protocol which hadn't been invoked since 1952, when the late British monarch ascended the throne. The protocol has been invoked only twice since the Australian parliament started holding regular sessions in 1901, when the country formally became a federation.Albanese said that the Parliament will reconvene on September 23, when a condolence motion on the Queens death will be moved by himself as the leader of the house.The Prime Minister has also announced a one-off public holiday on September 22, which will be observed as a National Day of Mourning. Albanese has said that he would attend the Queens funeral at Westminster Abbey on September 19.He underlined during the press conference that a very large number of people across major Australian cities back King Charles as the new sovereign monarch.Charles III was proclaimed Australias new monarch on Sunday by Governor General David Hurley, who presided over a 21-gun salute to mark the occasion. Similar pageantries were also observed in New Zealand.Albanese has also dismissed suggestions to hold a referendum to replace the British monarch with an Australian head of state in the near future, saying that his priority in the current term is to recognize Australias indigenous people in the Constitution.However, Albanese called for another referendum again in 2018 while he was in opposition. After coming to power in May this year, Albanese even created a new cabinet portfolio of "assistant minister of the republic."A popular referendum called in 1999 to replace the British sovereign with an Australian head of state by then-Prime Minister John Howard saw monarchists prevail over the Republicans.

https://sputniknews.com/20220909/calls-to-remove-british-monarch-as-head-of-state-intensify-across-commonwealth-after-queens-demise-1100595773.html

australia & oceania

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Dhairya Maheshwari

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https://sputniknews.com/20220912/biden-unwilling-to-restore-iran-nuclear-deal-until-after-midterm-elections-israeli-official-says-1100662245.html

Biden Unwilling to Restore Iran Nuclear Deal Until After Midterm Elections, Israeli Official Says

Biden Unwilling to Restore Iran Nuclear Deal Until After Midterm Elections, Israeli Official Says

The comments seemed to confirm that its actually the Biden administration holding up negotiations in Vienna  not Iranian intransigence. 12.09.2022, Sputnik International

2022-09-12T01:55+0000

2022-09-12T01:55+0000

2022-09-12T01:53+0000

americas

israel

us

biden administration

joint comprehensive plan of action (jcpoa)

iran

us midterm elections

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Israel doesnt believe the US is willing to return to the Iranian nuclear deal before Novembers midterm election, an Israeli official reportedly told journalists Sunday.The remark lends credence to comments given Thursday by senior US Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC), who claimed the Biden administration will ultimately get a deal because they want a deal so badly, but noted he doesnt think theres any chance the agreement will be announced before our election, or the Israeli election, because the politics of this agreement are probably not good in either place.On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid attempted to take credit for the continuing diplomatic stalemate, bragging on Twitter that "Israel is conducting a successful diplomatic drive to halt the nuclear deal and prevent the lifting of sanctions on Iran.The comments came as the UK, France and Germany accused Tehran of continuing to expand its nuclear program far beyond any plausible civilian justification. Europe has claimed to be playing a neutral role in facilitating indirect talks between Iran and the US, but efforts to lay the blame for the lack of a diplomatic breakthrough squarely at Irans feet suggests they may be abandoning the pretense of objectivity.Irans foreign ministry expressed surprise regarding the unconstructive statement, writing in a communique published Saturday that its regrettable that the three European countries have taken a step in the path of the Zionist regime to defeat the negotiations with this ill-considered statement.Efforts to restore the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) have been ongoing since Joe Biden replaced former President Donald Trump in the Oval Office last year. After Trump unilaterally withdrew from the agreement in 2018, dismissing it as the worst deal ever, the Iranian government followed suit and gradually began to reduce its compliance with the terms of the bargain.Since reconvening in November 2021, negotiators had been expressing increasing optimism about the fate of the deal, and as recently as three weeks ago mainstream outlets including CNBC claimed a breakthrough seemed closer than ever.But with the Biden administration apparently unwilling to risk the potential political pushback ahead of a contentious election season, hopes for restoring the agreement anytime soon are fading fast.

https://sputniknews.com/20220910/iran-europes-unconstructive-statement-on-jcpoa-talks-may-undermine-nuclear-deal-revival-1100640988.html

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Wyatt Reed

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https://sputniknews.com/20220912/czech-farmers-to-protest-against-eu-agrarian-policy-nationwide-on-september-15-1100696842.html

Czech Farmers to Protest Against EU Agrarian Policy Nationwide on September 15

Czech Farmers to Protest Against EU Agrarian Policy Nationwide on September 15

PRAGUE (Sputnik) - Hundreds of agricultural vehicles and equipment items will jam up the roads in the Czech Republic, including the streets of Prague, on... 12.09.2022, Sputnik International

2022-09-12T18:45+0000

2022-09-12T18:45+0000

2022-09-12T18:45+0000

world

europe

czech republic

protests

farmers

eu

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"It is no coincidence that our protest will take place on September 15, on this day the EU agricultural ministers will gather in Prague for holding an informal meeting," Dolezal said at a press conference after a joint meeting of the leadership of the Agrarian Chamber and the Farmers' Union.The protesters intend to send officials a memorandum prepared by the agrarian chambers of the Visegrad group - the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, Dolezhal said, adding that their colleagues from Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Lithuania also expressed support for the protest.According to Dolezal, the upcoming protest is designed to draw attention to the impact of the EU Green Deal's environmental measures on agriculture, such as the requirement for a significant reduction in the use of pesticides.The protest organizers intend to distribute Czech potatoes and apples to the participants of the EU agricultural ministers' meeting, thereby indicating that farmers will be forced to reduce the production due to rising costs and the EU environmental policy.In 2019, the Commission adopted the so-called European Green Deal, intended to cut carbon emissions and build a resource-efficient and eco-friendly economy, with a net carbon neutral target set for 2050. The European Green Deal is supposed to ensure food security in the face of climate change and biodiversity loss and reduce the environmental footprint of the EU food system, while leading a global transition towards competitive sustainability from farm to fork.

https://sputniknews.com/20220909/over-half-of-czechs-disapprove-of-countrys-government-poll-shows-1100604368.html

https://sputniknews.com/20220904/watch-as-tens-of-thousands-protest-in-prague-against-government-over-energy-crisis-1100359126.html

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https://sputniknews.com/20220912/energy-experts-russia-could-be-instrumental-in-building-central-african-oil--gas-pipelines-1100691562.html

Energy Experts: Russia Could be Instrumental in Building Central African Oil & Gas Pipelines

Energy Experts: Russia Could be Instrumental in Building Central African Oil & Gas Pipelines

A number of Central African countries signed an agreement on September 8 to create a regional oil and gas pipeline network by 2030 to ensure energy security... 12.09.2022, Sputnik International

2022-09-12T15:44+0000

2022-09-12T15:44+0000

2022-09-12T15:44+0000

africa

opinion

angola

chad

cameroon

oil

gas

russia

democratic republic of congo

congo

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The Central African energy project will require foreign know-how, with Russian technical expertise capable of tipping the balance in favor of African energy projects, according to energy experts Dr. Mamdouh G Salameh and NJ Ayuk.Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Gabon, Chad, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Congo Republic  members of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) which signed the pipeline agreement  are all oil producers or possess substantial oil and gas reserves. At the same time, shortcomings in refining capacity and the lack of financing have left them dependent on imported refined products. As a result, they have been struggling with fuel and power shortages for years.Most existing refineries are either not working or dont have the capacity, acknowledged Ayuk, noting that there have been many plans to overcome dependence on imported refined petroleum goods previously."[There have been] a lot of feasibility studies but very little action from governments and the private sector," he said, adding that African governments have been largely focused on earnings from crude sales.According to Ayuk, Central African states "need to make big decisions and push this for our own energy security and survival."He explained that of the top ten crude oil reserves in Africa, five are in the Central African countries of Gabon, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Chad and Angola, with proven reserves estimated at 31.3 billion barrels (bb). "They also boast proven gas reserves exceeding 40.0 trillion cubic feet (tcf)," he added.There are several promising projects on the table which have failed to materialize so far, according to the international oil economist.How to Make the Project Fly?The recent project inked by a number of regional players at the Central Africa Business Forum in Douala, Cameroon, on September 8-9 envisaged building three multinational oil and gas pipeline systems approximately 6,500 km long, with accompanying storage depots, liquefied natural gas terminals, at least three refineries and gas-fired power plants linking 11 countries.The memorandum of understanding concerning the ambitious deal was signed by the African Petroleum Producers' Organization (APPO) and the Central Africa Business Energy Forum (CABEF). West Africa's gas pipeline connecting Nigeria, Benin, Togo and Ghana served as one of the models for the new endeavor.Ayuk agreed that financing is still under question, adding, however, that the African ExportImport Bank, also referred to as Afreximbank  a pan-African multilateral trade finance institution - and other financial organizations, will be key. He also noted that "there is full alignment of all heads of state and the African energy chamber is mobilizing the private sector to support."At the same time, Ayuk warned about potential resistance from various western environmental groups which have repeatedly thrown sand in the gears of the continent's projects under the guise of a climate change agenda.

https://sputniknews.com/20220902/why-angola-elections-indicate-need-for-change--how-russia-could-help-1100307747.html

https://sputniknews.com/20210607/age-of-oil-not-coming-to-end-it-still-has-prospects-in-asia-africa-rosnefts-kneissl-says-1083091438.html

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Ekaterina Blinova

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Ekaterina Blinova

opinion, angola, chad, cameroon, oil, gas, russia, democratic republic of congo, congo, gabon, technologies, investment
https://sputniknews.com/20220912/erdogan-reportedly-plans-to-offer-putin-talks-with-zelensky-to-resolve-ukraine-crisis-1100679860.html

Erdogan Reportedly Plans to Offer Putin Talks With Zelensky to Resolve Ukraine Crisis

Erdogan Reportedly Plans to Offer Putin Talks With Zelensky to Resolve Ukraine Crisis

ANKARA (Sputnik) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will again try to encourage Russian President Vladimir Putin to hold a meeting with his Ukrainian... 12.09.2022, Sputnik International

2022-09-12T11:21+0000

2022-09-12T11:21+0000

2022-09-12T11:21+0000

russia

turkey

ukraine

recep tayyip erdogan

vladimir putin

volodymyr zelensky

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Erdogan will meet with Putin on the sidelines of the SCO summit in the Uzbek city of Samarkand from September 15-16. Th talks between two leaders will focus on the situation in Ukraine, Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported. During the meeting, Erdogan plans to stress Ankara's intention to make further efforts to end the hostilities and achieve a sustainable ceasefire through mediation initiatives, according to the media outlet.The parties will also discuss the functioning of the "grain corridor," the newspaper reported. Erdogan will ask Russia to send its goods through a maritime corridor coordinated by Turkey after Putin's statement that almost all the grain exported from Ukraine was sent not to developing countries, but to the European Union, with two ships out of 87 reaching countries in need.In addition, the agenda of the negotiations is expected to include a possible Turkish anti-terrorist military operation in Syria announced by Erdogan in late June.Addressing the possibility of talks between Putin and Zelensky, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov previously stressed that there are no such prospects at the moment. At the same time, Deputy Head of the Russian Security Council and ex-President Dmitry Medvedev slammed Zelensky for stating he is not ready for negotiation, adding that Russia may demand a full capitulation of the Ukrainian regime in the future.On February 24, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian forces. The West has responded by imposing comprehensive sanctions against Russia. The military operation itself and subsequent disruptions in logistical and financial operations have undermined supply chains and contributed to a spike in food prices worldwide. Heads of government and international organizations have raised concerns over a large-scale food crisis.On July 22, Ukrainian and Russian representatives signed a deal brokered by Turkey and the United Nations in Istanbul. The series of documents lifted restrictions on supplies of Russian products for export and provided for Moscow's assistance in exporting Ukrainian grain.Speaking at a plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum on September 7, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that almost all grain exported from Ukraine was sent not to the countries in need, but to EU member states. According to the Russian leader, restrictions on the mechanism are worth discussing with Erdogan.

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https://sputniknews.com/20220912/germany-and-poland-discuss-setting-up-maintenance-center-for-ukraines-weapons-1100676368.html

Germany and Poland Discuss Setting Up Maintenance Center for Ukraine's Weapons

Germany and Poland Discuss Setting Up Maintenance Center for Ukraine's Weapons

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Berlin is engaged in "very concrete" negotiations with Warsaw on the establishment of a maintenance center in east Poland to repair weapons... 12.09.2022, Sputnik International

2022-09-12T10:27+0000

2022-09-12T10:27+0000

2022-09-12T10:27+0000

europe

germany

poland

ukraine

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The defense minister also expressed support for joint projects in arms development with the European Union, saying that Berlin "must be willing to drop its veto right" on the issue of selling German weapons to third countries, the report said.In late August, German media reported that Ukrainian diplomats had repeatedly asked Germany to provide additional heavy weapons, but so far, without success. The German defense ministry said that the German Bundeswehr needed these weapons to fulfill its obligations in NATO. At the same time, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Berlin has been regularly supplying Kiev with "very effective" weapons and vowed to continue the deliveries, but stressed that there should be no escalation.Moscow has repeatedly warned that weapon shipments to Kiev only contribute to the crisis, prolonging the conflict and resulting in further victims among civilians, as Ukrainian forces target the republics of Donbass with western arms.Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, after the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR) appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian provocations. In response to Russia's operation, Western countries have rolled out a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Moscow and have ramped up lethal weapons supplies to Ukraine.

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https://sputniknews.com/20220912/hungary-calls-external-obstacles-to-construction-of-npp-violation-of-sovereignty-1100688766.html

Hungary Calls External Obstacles to Construction of NPP Violation of Sovereignty

Hungary Calls External Obstacles to Construction of NPP Violation of Sovereignty

BUDAPEST (Sputnik) - Hungary perceives institutional obstacles posed by the EU to the construction of the Paks nuclear power plant (NPP) as a violation of its... 12.09.2022, Sputnik International

2022-09-12T14:06+0000

2022-09-12T14:06+0000

2022-09-12T14:06+0000

energy crisis in europe

russia

hungary

paks nuclear power plant

paks-2 nuclear plant

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Earlier in the day, Szijjarto urged the European Commission to guarantee that nuclear energy does not fall under sanctions against Russia as outlined in the first package of Brussels sanctions.In late August, the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority (HAEA) issued a number of permits for the construction of the fifth and sixth units of the Paks-2 NPP.Hungary's only nuclear power plant, Paks, generates almost half of all electricity in Hungary, with the share expected to double after the planned commissioning of two new NPP's reactor units. The Hungarian leadership has repeatedly emphasized that nuclear energy is a way to ensure the country's energy security.In late 2014, Russia and Hungary signed an agreement on the construction of two additional advanced reactors. The sides agreed that Russia would allocate 10 billion euros ($10 billion) in a loan to finance the construction of the units.

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https://sputniknews.com/20220912/imf-chief-georgieva-says-meeting-with-argentina-economy-minister-very-positive-1100699371.html

IMF Chief Georgieva Says Meeting With Argentina Economy Minister 'Very Positive'

IMF Chief Georgieva Says Meeting With Argentina Economy Minister 'Very Positive'

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Monday that she her meeting with Argentine Minister of... 12.09.2022, Sputnik International

2022-09-12T20:56+0000

2022-09-12T20:56+0000

2022-09-12T20:56+0000

americas

kristalina georgieva

international monetary fund

argentina

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"I had a very positive meeting with Minister Massa after a week of highly professional and productive discussions between our technical teams. We exchanged views on the fragile economic and social situation in Argentina, which is also affected by the complex global economic context," Georgieva said in a statement.The two officials discussed the situation in Ukraine and its impact on the global economy, including on commodity prices. They also discussed the fiscal and balance of payments implications for the developing economies, the statement said.Georgieva commended the government of Argentina for the "strong steps" it is taking to stabilize the markets, the statement said.Georgieva welcomed Argentinas "strong commitment" to achieve major goals of the economic program and conclusive progress in such areas as macroeconomic and monetary policy frameworks, along with reserve accumulation, the statement said."Our teams will continue the meetings virtually this week with the aim of concluding staff level agreement in the coming days," the statement added.

https://sputniknews.com/20220827/india-would-welcome-argentinas-entry-into-brics---foreign-ministry-1100049798.html

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https://sputniknews.com/20220912/iran-slams-joint-statement-on-nuclear-deal-penned-by-france-germany-and-uk-amid-high-oil-demand-1100681003.html

Iran Slams Joint Statement on Nuclear Deal Penned by France, Germany and UK Amid High Oil Demand

Iran Slams Joint Statement on Nuclear Deal Penned by France, Germany and UK Amid High Oil Demand

The Islamic Republic's response follows a critical joint statement issued by France, Germany and the UK, which expressed concerns over Iran's determination to... 12.09.2022, Sputnik International

2022-09-12T12:44+0000

2022-09-12T12:44+0000

2022-09-12T12:44+0000

energy crisis in europe

iran

iran nuclear deal

uk

france

germany

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The statement by the European Troika - France, Germany and the UK  regarding Iran and its resolve to negotiate the nuclear deal is "incorrect and ill-advised," the Islamic Republic's Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani has stated. Kanaani noted that in the situation, when European countries are struggling to deal with the high demand for energy resources, it was a "miscalculation" on Troika's part to release the statement.The Foreign Ministry's spokesman pointed out that Iran is a major player in the global energy market and could satisfy a significant portion of the demand. However, for that to happen, the parties to the Vienna talks must negotiate a restoration of the Iran nuclear deal, as otherwise customers buying Iranian oil risk falling under the US sanctions.Kanaani slammed the three countries for catering to the lobbying of Israel, which seeks to thwart the revival of the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The spokesman said that unlike the European states, Iran engaged in a constructive dialogue in the Vienna talks and urged the Troika to do the same.The UK, France and Germany released a statement on September 10, in which they expressed doubt about Iran's resolve for restoring the JCPOA, citing the new Islamic Republic's unspecified proposals in the Vienna talks. The three countries said they see these proposals as incompatible with Iran's obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and its agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).Tehran rejected the statement as "unconstructive" and endangering the future of the Vienna talks at a critical moment. Iran also suggested that the statement was a result of Israel's actions, which openly admitted to trying to thwart the deal.Iran, the EU, Russia, China and the US have been engaged in talks to restore the JCPOA for over a year now, and recently shared that a draft version of an agreement which was shared between the parties, thus hinting at progress being made amid tough negotiations. However, the parties have yet to announce the final agreement and restore the accord.The JCPOA effectively collapsed following the US unilateral withdrawal from the agreement in May 2018 and re-introduction of sanctions against Iran, which impeded its oil trade. A year after that, Tehran started to gradually backtrack on its JCPOA commitments since they no longer benefited the country in any way. The new US administration of President Joe Biden launched talks to rebuild the accord in 2021.

https://sputniknews.com/20220910/iran-europes-unconstructive-statement-on-jcpoa-talks-may-undermine-nuclear-deal-revival-1100640988.html

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iran, iran nuclear deal, uk, france, germany
US Closely Engaged with Ukrainian Forces, Provided Info for Counteroffensive - Pentagon

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States remained closely engaged with Ukrainian forces and provided them with intelligence in the buildup to their counteroffensive operation in the Kharkiv and Kherson regions, a senior US defense official said on Monday.

Were in close contact with and conversation with the Ukrainian military. They had multiple options. We certainly provide them with information on conditions, but in the end, this is a Ukrainian choice, the senior defense official said when asked to what extent the US was involved in planning the counteroffensive.
https://sputniknews.com/20220912/medvedev-calls-russias-surrent-condition-for-moscow-kiev-talks-childrens-warm-up-1100675246.html

Medvedev Calls Russias urrent Condition for Moscow-Kiev Talks Childrens Warm-Up

Medvedev Calls Russias urrent Condition for Moscow-Kiev Talks Childrens Warm-Up

In late August, Chairman of the Russian State Dumas International Affairs Committee Leonoid Slutsky said that Moscow will consider sitting down with Kiev if... 12.09.2022, Sputnik International

2022-09-12T10:10+0000

2022-09-12T10:10+0000

2022-09-12T14:37+0000

russia

russia

ukraine

dmitry medvedev

volodymyr zelensky

talks

special operation

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Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev has commented on the latest remarks by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pertaining to his unwillingness to conduct a dialogue with Moscow.On Monday, Medvedev wrote in his Telegram account that a certain Zelensky said that he would not engage in dialogue with those who put forward ultimatums.The remarks followed Zelensky telling CNN that Kiev was not ready to sit down for talks with Moscow, which he claimed sets forth ultimatums.This came after Leonid Slutsky, the chairman of the Russian Lower House (State Duma)s International Affairs Committee, stressed late last month that Moscow is ready to consider resuming negotiations with Kiev only in the event of Ukraine's unconditional surrender.The statement was preceded by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stating in late July that Moscow is ready to resume full-scale talks with Kiev and that the ball is in Ukraine's court, but that so far Ukrainian authorities have clearly shown an unwillingness to launch the process.Lavrov earlier lashed out at Zelensky over his stance on the resumption of negotiations between Kiev and Moscow.Russian-Ukrainian Negotiations Gridlocked Russian-Ukrainian talks kicked off in late February, when the delegations held two face-to-face meetings in Belarus, which was followed by a decision to continue them on a daily basis via video links. At the end of March, the delegations held another round of talks in Istanbul, where the head of the Russian delegation Vladimir Medinsky said that the Ukrainian side had submitted its written proposals for a future peace treaty, seen by Moscow as a step forward.The Kremlin hailed the move, announcing that in a show of goodwill, it had decided to regroup Russian troops moving to the Kiev and Chernigov regions, as part of Russias ongoing special operation to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine, which was launched on February 24th.Additionally, Moscow called for Russian President Vladimir Putins meeting with Zelensky, which the Kremlin said should coincide with the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers initialing the peace treaty.Lavrov then said, however, that Ukraine had started backtracking on its own proposals and creating numerous provocations in order to slow down the negotiation process. In particular, he added, the Ukrainian side unveiled its draft deal with Russia, which Lavrov said was out of line with proposals which were agreed in Istanbul and which pertained to Crimea. The Russian foreign minister added that Kiev had also changed its stance on the draft deals provisions related to military exercises, not mentioning the need to obtain Russia's go-ahead for the drills.

https://sputniknews.com/20220405/west-tries-to-sabotage-russia-ukraine-talks-with-bucha-hysteria-lavrov-says-1094507371.html

https://sputniknews.com/20220514/talks-with-ukraine-de-facto-on-hold-as-kiev-not-interested-in-dialogue-putin-says-1095510212.html

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russia, ukraine, dmitry medvedev, volodymyr zelensky, talks, special operation
https://sputniknews.com/20220912/mossad-head-claims-to-have-prevented-dozens-of-iranian-attacks-on-israelis-abroad-1100684706.html

Mossad Head Claims to Have Prevented Dozens of Iranian Attacks on Israelis Abroad

Mossad Head Claims to Have Prevented Dozens of Iranian Attacks on Israelis Abroad

TEL AVIV (Sputnik) - Israel has thwarted dozens of terrorist attacks allegedly planned by Iran on Israeli citizens and Jewish communities around the world, the... 12.09.2022, Sputnik International

2022-09-12T13:04+0000

2022-09-12T13:04+0000

2022-09-12T13:04+0000

world

middle east

iran

israel

mossad

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"Recently, we have prevented dozens of Iranian terrorist attacks. In Cyprus, an attempted attack on Israeli businessmen was prevented; in Turkey, we prevented an assassination attempt on local businessman and diplomat, as well as in Colombia and other parts of the world. In all cases, the perpetrators were caught with means of killing," Barnea said at a conference in Reichmann University.Barnea claimed these attacks were state terror carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other Iranian organizations on the orders of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.According to him, Israel will continue to speak out against the Iranian nuclear deal because Tehran continues "terrorist activity" in the region. Barnea added that if the deal is concluded, it will not stop Israel from acting against Tehran.In 2015, Iran signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or the Iranian nuclear deal, with the P5+1 group of countries (the United States, China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, plus Germany) and the European Union. It required Iran to scale back its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. In 2018, Former US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from the agreement and reimposed comprehensive sanctions on Tehran.In December 2021, JCPOA parties agreed on two drafts of a new deal, but no definitive agreement has been reached. Since then, the parties have held several rounds of talks to revive the deal.At the same time, Israel has repeatedly opposed the signing of the deal. On September 8, Barnea held security talks in the United States, during which the US reiterated its commitment that Iran will not receive nuclear weapons.

https://sputniknews.com/20220912/iran-slams-joint-statement-on-nuclear-deal-penned-by-france-germany-and-uk-amid-high-oil-demand-1100681003.html

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https://sputniknews.com/20220912/no-un-female-employee-harassed-in-afghanistan-taliban-says-1100695535.html

No UN Female Employee Harassed in Afghanistan, Taliban Says

No UN Female Employee Harassed in Afghanistan, Taliban Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - No female employee of the United Nations has ever been detained or harassed in Afghanistan despite opposite statements of the UN assistance... 12.09.2022, Sputnik International

2022-09-12T18:17+0000

2022-09-12T18:17+0000

2022-09-12T18:17+0000

afghanistan

un

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"No female employee of United Nations has been harassed or detained in Afghanistan. Of course, in Kandahar... workers asked for information from a group of women, when it became clear that there were women belonging to the United Nations, they withdrew and no problem arose," the spokesman wrote on Twitter.According to Karimi, the UN statements about the incident are untrue.Earlier in the day, the UN mission said that its Afghan female staff had been intimidated in the country. In particular, three Afghan women working for the UN were allegedly detained on Monday for questioning.*The Taliban is under UN sanctions for terrorist activities.

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https://sputniknews.com/20220912/pashinyan-had-phone-call-with-putin-over-escalation-with-azerbaijan---armenian-government-1100701518.html

Pashinyan Had Phone Call With Putin Over Escalation With Azerbaijan - Armenian Government

Pashinyan Had Phone Call With Putin Over Escalation With Azerbaijan - Armenian Government

YEREVAN (Sputnik) - Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin in connection with the escalation on the... 12.09.2022, Sputnik International

2022-09-12T23:24+0000

2022-09-12T23:24+0000

2022-09-12T23:24+0000

world

armenia

russia

vladimir putin

nikol pashinyan

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Earlier, Yerevan said the Azerbaijani military fired at the territory of Armenia using artillery and drones. Baku said the Armenian military fired at the positions of the Azerbaijani troops on the border, there was a clash, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces suffered losses.

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https://sputniknews.com/20220912/people-are-dying-greta-thunberg-clone-weeps-at-tv-debate-as-she-scolds-swedish-pm-over-climate-1100667649.html

'People Are Dying': 'Greta Thunberg Clone' Weeps at TV Debate as She Scolds Swedish PM Over Climate

'People Are Dying': 'Greta Thunberg Clone' Weeps at TV Debate as She Scolds Swedish PM Over Climate

Previously, Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg rose to the status of 'climate guru' by admonishing world leaders for their failure to address the climate problem... 12.09.2022, Sputnik International

2022-09-12T06:48+0000

2022-09-12T06:48+0000

2022-09-12T06:48+0000

viral

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A young female climate activist has lashed out at top Swedish politicians in a televised election debate, berating them for their "failure to address the environmental crisis and the climate change," evoking speculation that she is the new Greta Thunberg.Don't you understand the seriousness? People are dying!, the young activist, whose name is Eira Hedlund and who represents Greta Thunberg's organization Fridays for Future, thundered during the debate between Moderate leader Ulf Kristersson and current Prime Minister and Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson.Subsequently, Hedlund started to cry, yet went on, sobbing: How can you continue to pretend that the climate crisis is not happening? How can you do this to us?Eira Hedlund's input into the debate, the last one before the election, has been praised by fellow climate activists on social media. Incidentally, the clash didn't go unnoticed by Greta Thunberg herself, who is known for her passionate and teary-eyed speeches admonishing those in power for not doing enough to stop what is seen as a climate crisis.During tonight's party debate, Eira held those in power to account in a way no one has ever done during this election campaign. It is shameful that the burden of communicating the uncomfortable truth is dumped on children. Society and the adult world are in total denial, Thunberg wrote.However, many others noted that Eira looks strikingly similar to Greta, with long braids and an emotional appeal.Absolutely pathetic and like a lame joke. Styled to look like a Greta copy, only much younger than she is. You guys are like a crazy cult, one Twitter user reacted.Exploiting young people, almost children, who are clearly suffering, in such as cynical way is shameful. Is she the new Greta? She has the Puritan clothes and the braids, another one chimed in.Child brainwashed by the Khmer Green, one user wrote, drawing parallels between the environmentalists and the Khmer Rouge, the hardline agrarian movement that ruled Cambodia, drawing the country into abject poverty.In her heyday as an environmentalist icon, Greta Thunberg rose to international fame and recognition across the world as a 15-year-old through her solitary Friday climate strikes at the porch of the Swedish parliament. Showered in media attention, Thunberg rose to the status of a climate guru of sorts. Ever since, she has been delivering emotional speeches and lecturing world leaders on their failure to address the climate problem properly, while receiving countless prizes and trophies and teaming up with celebrities with a knack for environmentalism.

https://sputniknews.com/20211119/she-says-everyones-an-idiot-former-norwegian-pm-and-climate-pioneer-slams-greta-thunberg-1090847738.html

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https://sputniknews.com/20220912/remember-tini-virginia-restaurant-draws-backlash-after-sharing-911-themed-menu-to-honor-victims-1100663059.html

'Remember-Tini': Virginia Restaurant Draws Backlash After Sharing 9/11-Themed Menu to Honor Victims

'Remember-Tini': Virginia Restaurant Draws Backlash After Sharing 9/11-Themed Menu to Honor Victims

This Sunday, the country remembers the worst terrorist attack in its history: the September 11, 2001 attacks. Despite the fact that 21 years have passed since... 12.09.2022, Sputnik International

2022-09-12T03:52+0000

2022-09-12T03:52+0000

2022-09-12T03:50+0000

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A country club in Virginia recently drew serious backlash after deciding to honor the victims of September 11 by releasing a 9/11-themed seafood buffet menu that included dishes such as "Pentagon Pie" and "First Responder Flatbread."The Clubhouse at Aquia Harbour, which is approximately an hour south of Washington, DC, unveiled its 9/11-themed seafood menu last week. It featured dishes like the "Flight 93 Redirect" crab dip, "9-11 Oysters," and "First Responder Flatbread."Local media reported the menu also featured a "Never Forget" sampler, a key lime-flavored "Remember-tini," and chocolate silk "Pentagon Pie."Although the menu was removed, screenshots were shared on social media, where netizens expressed shock at the menu's concept."A mistake in marketing. George has always supported the Police / Military families of our community and beyond," one of the users wrote of the restaurant manager who came up with the 9/11 theme for a menu. "I would also note that the orig poster was quick to use this to self promote. I don't see a lot of posts from them about the real struggles Americans are facing now."George White, a manager at The Clubhouse at Aquia Harbour in Stafford County, wrote on his Facebook* page that the intention was to "bring attention to that horrific day 21 years ago."In June, VIDA Fitness, a gym in Washington, DC, came under fire for its decision to celebrate Juneteenth with a special cocktail, which included a "Watermelon Henny Lemonade."*The activity of Meta (Facebook and Instagram) is banned in Russia over extremism.

https://sputniknews.com/20220911/worlds-deadliest-terror-attack-21-years-since-911-1100637296.html

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https://sputniknews.com/20220912/report-recession-in-europe-may-actually-be-positive-for-us-1100662721.html

Recession in Europe May Actually Be Positive for US

Recession in Europe May Actually Be Positive for US

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US could benefit from a recession in Europe, which could come as a result of a reduction in Russian gas supplies, but will suffer if... 12.09.2022, Sputnik International

2022-09-12T02:55+0000

2022-09-12T02:55+0000

2022-09-12T05:39+0000

americas

us

russia

ukraine crisis

us economy

recession

europe

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A senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity told the outlet the impact of a European recession on the US would likely be "modest and manageable" since trade with Europe account for less than 1% of US gross domestic product. The estimate comes from data compiled by the US Treasury Department and Council of Economic Advisers.However, the newspaper warned on Sunday that while the US produces enough of its own natural gas and would not be much impacted by a reduction in Russian gas exports, a complete shutdown of Russian oil exports would seriously harm the US economy."If Europe plunges into a depression after Russia shuts off energy exports and oil rises to $150 a barrel - theres a possible impact to the US there thats really bad," Matthew J. Slaughter, an economist at Dartmouth College, told the outlet.Mark Zandi, an economist at Moodys Analytics, told the newspaper that gasoline prices would go back over the record $5 a gallon almost overnight if Russia refuses to export oil.G7 finance ministers confirmed on September 2 their intention to impose price caps on Russian oil as part of expanded sanctions campaign against the country due to its special operation in Ukraine. The price cap will take effect on December 5 for crude oil and on February 5, 2023, for refined products coming from Russia. Moscow, in turn, pledged to stop exporting Russian oil to the states that would apply the limits.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the European Union may introduce limits on the price of Russian natural gas. This past Friday, EU energy ministers held a meeting to discuss the introduction of a price cap on gas but failed to do it.According to Italian Minister for Ecological Transition Roberto Cingolani, 15 EU member states voiced support for a common price cap for imported gas, with three nations backing this measure for Russian gas only and five either opposing the idea or expressing neutrality.

https://sputniknews.com/20220909/treasury-us-to-maintain-ban-on-russian-oil-imports-even-after-implementation-of-price-cap-on-crude--1100621727.html

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https://sputniknews.com/20220912/scos-global-role-becoming-more-significant-in-the-wake-of-ukraine-crisis-indian-ex-envoy-says-1100676493.html

SCO's Global Role Becoming 'More Significant' in the Wake of Ukraine Crisis, Indian Ex-Envoy Says

SCO's Global Role Becoming 'More Significant' in the Wake of Ukraine Crisis, Indian Ex-Envoy Says

The Uzbek government has said that 15 heads of states will attend the upcoming meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Samarkand on September... 12.09.2022, Sputnik International

2022-09-12T13:15+0000

2022-09-12T13:15+0000

2022-09-14T11:49+0000

shanghai cooperation organisation (sco)

terrorism

afghanistan

ukraine

iran

narendra modi

interview

sco summit in samarkand

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Ashok Sajjanhar, former Indian ambassador to Kazakhstan, Sweden and Latvia, spoke to Sputnik about the importance of this week's SCO summit in Uzbekistan, which is set to see an expansion of the membership base of the Beijing-headquartered group through the inclusion of Iran as the ninth member.Sputnik: How do you assess the role of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in the current geopolitical situation? Has the grouping assumed more significance as a mark of cooperation in the Global South in the wake of the Ukraine crisis?Ashok Sajjanhar: The SCO provides a very good platform for a large number of important countries to come together and exchange important views on major global issues. I believe that although the SCO has huge potential in terms of what it can achieve, it hasnt been able to fulfil the potential until now.Sputnik: Iran is expected to be awarded full-fledged member status at the SCO Summit this week. How would this impact the SCO's performance?Sajjanhar: Iran is a very significant actor in its own right. As far as India is concerned, Tehran is a significant partner with which we have had civilizational and historical people-to-people ties. The ties between India and Iran over the last several decades have been extremely strong and vibrant.India will definitely welcome Tehrans greater involvement in the SCO.Now, as far as other major SCO states such as Russia and China are concerned, there is already a great deal of tension between these two countries [on the one hand] and the West [on the other hand] over the Ukraine crisis as well as US House Speaker Nancy Pelosis visit to Taiwan last month.And we all know about the fractious relationship between Iran and the West after the US dumped the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018, although the pact is being re-negotiated after President Joe Biden came to power.If the SCO wishes to play a meaningful role in bringing economic security, prosperity and stability in the region, then it is in SCOs own interest to follow a middle-of-the-road approach.Sputnik: You say that the SCO might be viewed as anti-West grouping rather than be seen as promoting economic and security ties among the member countries. How should India view this development?Sajjanhar: India is of course an important country in the SCO. New Delhi has excellent relations with both Moscow and Washington. India wouldnt like the SCO taking a particularly anti-West stance. I also believe that even the central Asian countries enjoy good relations with the West, so even these nations wouldnt like the SCO being painted as an anti-West grouping.The interest of the Central Asian countries must reign supreme on the SCO agenda, and it is not in their interest to convert the grouping into an anti-West front.Sputnik: The meeting would be the first leaders summit since the Taliban* takeover of Afghanistan last August. What role do you see for the SCO in ensuring peace and stability in Afghanistan? How do you see the goals of the SCO vis-a-vis the West different when it comes to Afghanistan?Sajjanhar: As far as Afghanistan is concerned, I believe the policies of the West and that of the SCO states are quite similar. In my view, the policies are reflected in the UN Security Council resolution 2593 that was accepted last year on 30 August when New Delhi was the chair of the UNSC.Resolution 2593 reflects the commitments made by the Taliban  not allowing terrorist activity against other countries on the Afghan soil, respecting the rights of minorities and women  at the Doha peace agreement in February 2020.The SCO should encourage the Taliban to move in that direction. The presence and subsequent killing in a US drone strike of former Al-Qaeda** emir Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul defied Talibans previous claims that it wont allow terrorist groups to operate in Afghanistan.[Ed. note: The Taliban has denied the US claim and is currently investigating the incident.]There is also the presence of other terrorist groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammad** and Lashkar-e-Taiba** (LeT) which have been of particular concern to India.I believe that the SCO must spell out clearly at the summit as to what it wants from the Taliban if Afghanistan has to be rehabilitated in the global community.Sputnik: Pakistan has not only not allowed India to reach the Central Asia through the land route, but there are also concerns in India about Islamabad's role in allegedly abetting terrorism against New Delhi. How successful has the SCO been in addressing these concerns, given counter terror cooperation and connectivity are its major agenda items?Sajjanhar: Without naming Pakistan, India has regularly highlighted the issue of cross-border terrorism at various international platforms as well as during its bilateral engagements. I believe that Prime Minister Modi will raise the same issue in Samarkand.As far as connectivity is concerned, I dont see a major role of Pakistan as far as Indias connectivity initiatives are concerned.However, India is definitely going to project its other initiatives such as the usefulness of the port of Chabahar in boosting regional connectivity. We also have a stake in the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC), which is also an important initiative. The central Asian countries such as Uzbekistan, many of which are land-locked, have also been very supportive of these initiatives.So, the SCO must also become a platform to promote these connectivity projects and not just the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).Sputnik: Russia and Iran are both major energy exporters. However, the West has discouraged energy exports from these countries, which India has said fuelled the ongoing energy crisis. Do you think there is a case for greater energy cooperation among the SCO states in view of high fuel prices?Sajjanhar: Let me start by stating that the G7s cap on Russian oil prices is not a very feasible idea. Then, there are also negotiations for getting gas to India from central Asia through the TAPI pipeline (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India).However, to respond to your broader question on if the SCO could serve as a platform for energy deals, I would say that these pacts are more of bilateral in nature. There have been proposals to establish an SCO Energy Club, but that hasnt gained much traction so far.But, definitely, bilateral conversation to expand energy cooperation among individual SCO states are expected to take place parallelly to multilateral conversations.*The Taliban is under UN sanctions for terrorist activities.**Al-Qaeda, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) are terrorist groups banned in many nations, including Russia.

https://sputniknews.com/20220729/irans-accession-to-sco-will-increase-groupings-influence-globally-indian-fm-says-1097938795.html

https://sputniknews.com/20220907/putin-erdogan-may-discuss-grain-deal-on-sidelines-of-sco-summit-in-samarkand-source-says-1100479550.html

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https://sputniknews.com/20220912/taiwan-forces-fire-flares-at-drone-near-kinmen-islands-1100695810.html

Taiwan Forces Fire Flares at Drone Near Kinmen Islands

Taiwan Forces Fire Flares at Drone Near Kinmen Islands

BEIJING (Sputnik) - Taiwanese forces on Monday fired flares at a drone that approached the Kinmen Islands, the Defense Ministry said. 12.09.2022, Sputnik International

2022-09-12T18:25+0000

2022-09-12T18:25+0000

2022-09-12T18:25+0000

world

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"Today, on September 12, at 7.37 p.m. [11:37 GMT] a drone was detected, it entered the airspace in the area of restricted waters at Jiaoyu island," Chang Zone-sung, the spokesman of the Army's Kinmen Defense Command, said.The ministry stated that the drone left the area after flares were shot in its direction.In late August, the Taiwanese military fired a warning shot towards a Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) drone for the first time after it had approached the Kinmen Islands.The Kinmen Islands is a group of islands located roughly 6.2 miles east of the city of Xiamen in China's Fujian Province administered by Taiwan. According to the South China Morning Post, until recently, no Chinese military aircraft, including drones, had flown over the islands since the 1950s. The ministry began recording an increased activity of China's aircraft in the islands' airspace after the provocative visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taipei in early August.China considers Taiwan an unalienable part of its sovereign territory and opposes any official contacts between the island and other countries. The US has been supporting the government of Taiwan and selling weapons to the island, while claiming that its position on the One China principle hasn't change. Beijing has repeatedly said that the One China principle is a political foundation of China-US relations and that violations by Washington of its own obligations have been jeopardizing cooperation between the two countries, threatening peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

https://sputniknews.com/20220830/white-house-says-us-committed-to-one-china-policy-after-taiwan-shoots-at-chinese-drone-1100191674.html

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https://sputniknews.com/20220912/texas-border-town-asks-for-refrigerators-to-store-bodies-of-drowned-migrants-as-morgues-overwhelmed-1100686499.html

Texas Border Town Asks for Refrigerators to Store Bodies of Drowned Migrants as Morgues Overwhelmed

Texas Border Town Asks for Refrigerators to Store Bodies of Drowned Migrants as Morgues Overwhelmed

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Authorities in Eagle Pass, a small town in Texas on the border with Mexico, have requested refrigerators to store the bodies of drowned... 12.09.2022, Sputnik International

2022-09-12T13:28+0000

2022-09-12T13:28+0000

2022-09-12T13:30+0000

americas

us-mexico border

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"There are so many bodies being recovered that the morticians are asking for assistance. I had never seen so many drownings like we're seeing right now," Eagle Pass Fire Department Chief Manuel Mello III, told the broadcaster. "We do a body recovery daily. It's very traumatic for my personnel."With the surge in the number of illegal migrants who drowned while trying to cross the Rio Grande River at the border with Mexico, the morgues and funeral homes in Eagle Pass have become overwhelmed, according to Mello.There are only four ambulances and two reserve trucks in the small town, he said."But those four trucks, they get overwhelmed every single day," Mello added.The agency's chief noted that his department typically receives 7,000 emergency calls a year, but the service received 8,500 calls in 2021 and is expected to reach the same figure this year.The Rio Grande starts in the US state of Colorado, flows south through New Mexico and goes into the Gulf of Mexico, forming a natural boundary between the US state of Texas and Mexico.Well over 2 million migrants have entered the United States illegally via the US southern border since October, breaking last year's record set under the Biden administration's watch. The influx has severely strained local, state and federal resources trying to handle the situation.

https://sputniknews.com/20220908/washington-dc-mayor-declares-public-emergency-over-migrant-arrivals-from-texas-arizona-1100553810.html

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https://sputniknews.com/20220912/tigrays-tplf-agrees-on-african-union-mediated-peace-talks-with-ethiopia-without-conditions-1100662090.html

TPLF Agrees on African Union-Mediated Peace Talks With Ethiopia Without Conditions

TPLF Agrees on African Union-Mediated Peace Talks With Ethiopia Without Conditions

Following the sudden resumption of the fighting in late August, up until this point, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) had strenuously objected to... 12.09.2022, Sputnik International

2022-09-12T02:19+0000

2022-09-12T02:19+0000

2022-09-12T02:19+0000

africa

ethiopia

tplf (tigray people's liberation front)

tigray forces

african union (au)

peace deal

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An impediment to prospective negotiations with the government to put an end to nearly two years of conflict has been removed after Ethiopia's Tigray insurgents declared they are prepared to participate in peace talks facilitated by the African Union (AU) without preconditions, Al-Jazeera reported on Sunday.According to the report, the declaration was made in the midst of active international diplomatic efforts after violence broke out in northern Ethiopia in August for the first time in months, derailing a humanitarian truce.No preconditions were included in the statement, which was released on Ethiopia's new year, but it did indicate that it anticipated a "credible" peace process with international observers and mediators who were "mutually acceptable."Moussa Faki Mahamat, the chairman of the African Union Commission, was pleased with the declaration from Tigray's authorities and its readiness to take part in an African Union-led peace process, according to the statement.Moreover, Faki urged both sides to pursue a ceasefire as soon as possible, engage in direct discussions, and participate in an AU-led process that includes all parties' chosen international allies.The Ethiopian government has long held that any peace process must be mediated by the AU with its headquarters in Addis Ababa, however, officials did not immediately respond to a proposal, per the reports. Debretsion Gebremichael, the leader of the TPLF, proposed earlier this month a ceasefire with four criteria, including "unfettered humanitarian access" and the restoration of crucial services in Tigray, which had been devastated by conflict. He also demanded that Eritrean troops leave western Tigray, a territory that is claimed by both the second-largest ethnic group in the nation, the Amharas, and the Tigrayans, in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.The extension of Obasanjo's term was announced by Faki on Saturday.Faki added that he had spoken with Mike Hammer, the American representative for the Horn of Africa, on Saturday.Since hostilities resumed on August 24, fighting has erupted on a number of fronts in northern Ethiopia, with each side accusing the other of opening fire and violating a March humanitarian truce. The fighting began near the southeast border of Tigray but has since moved farther west and north. The TPLF has accused Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers of mounting a significant joint offensive on September 1. The United Nations stated on Thursday that the escalating fighting has caused a halt to both road and air supplies of much-needed aid to the war-torn region.

https://sputniknews.com/20220909/tplf-offers-truce-via-un-two-weeks-after-breaking-ceasefire-demands-ethiopian-troops-withdraw-1100618725.html

https://sputniknews.com/20220904/ethiopia-urges-international-community-to-condemn-tigray-rebels-ambassador-tells-sputnik-1100357137.html

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Kirill Kurevlev

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https://sputniknews.com/20220912/tiktok-users-prepare-to-say-goodbye-to-home-appliances-heating-amid-energy-crisis-in-europe-1100660694.html

TikTok Users Prepare to Say Goodbye to Home Appliances, Heating Amid Energy Crisis in Europe

TikTok Users Prepare to Say Goodbye to Home Appliances, Heating Amid Energy Crisis in Europe

As they prepare for what may turn out to be a cold winter, European nations have implemented a number of energy-saving measures to reduce consumption of gas... 12.09.2022, Sputnik International

2022-09-12T00:58+0000

2022-09-12T00:58+0000

2022-09-12T00:56+0000

tiktok

bytedance

trends

trend

trending

video

social media platform

instagram

electricity supplies

bill

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Desperate times call for desperate measures. With the galloping rise in energy prices and, consequently, energy for end-users in many countries of the old world, TikTok users have found a rather original solution to the problem.Using the hashtags like #winter and #energycrisis, netizens from the UK, Czech Republic, Germany and Croatia have leaned on James Blunt's sad track "Goodbye My Lover" to bid farewell to the home comforts ahead of the coming winter: be it hot radiators, electric kettles or a heated towel rail.In the majority of the viral videos, TikTok users are unplugging electrical appliances and switching to candles for lighting, some even opting for serving of instant noodles for dinner."I've already told my teenager that the flat will be heated by candles this winter...and only half joking," one user from the UK wrote in the comments to the last video. In one of the videos, even a fluffy cat was jokingly given the boot amid the energy crisis.While natural gas prices break all records amid the Nord Stream shutdown, Gergely Gulyas, the head of the Hungarian Prime Minister's Office, announced on Thursday that each citizen of Hungary will receive 10 cubic meters of firewood at fixed pricing and will be able to purchase it directly from forestry. Gulyas noted the government also gave public institutions, with the exception of hospitals and social institutions, the order to cut their gas usage by 25%.Earlier this month, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, endorsed a possible price ceiling on imported Russian gas as a solution to Europe's soaring energy costs. Prior to that, numerous EU ministers of energy demanded restrictions on the price and other supplies of the fuel to the bloc, as the European Commission studied the possibility of setting a price cap on liquefied natural gas. The price restriction for crude oil is expected to go into effect on December 5 and for Russian-origin refined products on February 5, 2023. In response, Moscow promised to halt the export of Russian oil to the nations that would implement restrictions.Gas prices continue to be under pressure due to the uncertainty of supplies from Russia. The latest explosive growth at the end of August was associated with Gazprom's announcement that the Nord Stream gas pipeline was suspended for three days for scheduled maintenance. Quotes jumped above $3,500 per thousand cubic meters, and updated historical records of the price several times. On Friday, Gazprom announced a complete shutdown of the gas pipeline to Europe due to an oil leak detected at the only operating Trent 60 unit.Following the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, gas prices in Europe experienced historical highs for four days in a row in March over fears of a ban on the import of Russian energy resources. The price record of $3,892 per thousand cubic meters was reached on March 7.Also on Friday, European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni confirmed the commission would introduce new proposals on the bloc's energy import measures on September 13 to address the current energy crisis."It is very important that next Tuesday the commission will come finally with proposals to deal with the energy emergency, and this I think will be a big contribution to the overall economic situation," Gentiloni said ahead of the informal ECOFIN meeting in Prague.

https://sputniknews.com/20220910/uk-gas-giant-considers-profit-cap-to-slash-energy-bills-amid-cost-of-living-crisis-1100632913.html

https://sputniknews.com/20220908/russia-sanctions-didnt-succeed-caused-inflation-energy-crisis-bringing-europe-to-its-knees-orban-1100535699.html

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https://sputniknews.com/20220912/turkish-media-claims-greece-fired-warning-shots-at-comoros-flagged-ship-with-foreigners-aboard-1100665117.html

Turkish Media Claims Greece Fired Warning Shots at Comoros-Flagged Ship With Foreigners Aboard

Turkish Media Claims Greece Fired Warning Shots at Comoros-Flagged Ship With Foreigners Aboard

ANKARA (Sputnik) - There were foreign nationals among the personnel of the ro-ro ship on which the Greek side opened fire this past weekend, the Milliyet... 12.09.2022, Sputnik International

2022-09-12T04:52+0000

2022-09-12T04:52+0000

2022-09-12T04:52+0000

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A diplomatic source told Sputnik on Saturday that the Greek side opened pursuing fire on the ANATOLIAN ro-ro (roll-on-roll-off, wheeled cargo) ship flying the flag of the Comoros, which was traveling in international waters 11 nautical miles southwest from the Turkish island of Bozcaada (Tenedos) on Saturday.Three Turkish citizens, six Egyptian citizens, four Somali citizens and five Azerbaijani citizens, 18 people in total, were on board the ship, the Milliyet newspaper said on Monday. None of them were injured.According to the Sputnik source, Ankara considers the incident to be a violation of international law and demands an explanation from Greece.Meanwhile, the Hellenic Coast Guard said it opened warning fire in a safe direction while pursuing a "suspicious vessel" sailing under the Comoros flag that entered Greek territorial waters on Saturday. A patrol boat from the Port Authority of Mytilini asked the captain of ANATOLIAN to stop for an inspection after the vessel was spotted in the sea northwest of Lesbos, the Greek coast guard said. The captain refused to comply and a pursuit followed during which warning shots were fired.According to the Hellenic Coast Guard, Turkish authorities have been informed about the incident.An investigation has been launched by the Turkish authorities at the request of the Canakkale prosecutor, according to the Milliyet daily.

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https://sputniknews.com/20220912/uganda-pays-first-compensation-to-drc-as-damages-payment-for-congo-war-1100683237.html

Uganda Pays First Compensation to DRC as Damages Payment for Congo War

Uganda Pays First Compensation to DRC as Damages Payment for Congo War

The International Court of Justice ordered Uganda to pay a hefty $325 million to the neighboring country. It includes $225 million for loss of life, $40... 12.09.2022, Sputnik International

2022-09-12T13:06+0000

2022-09-12T13:06+0000

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Uganda made its first damage payment over the Second Congo War, sending $65 million to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Congolese government announced on Monday.The Second Congo War, also known as the African World War, erupted in 1998 and lasted almost five years, with at least nine African countries being involved in the conflict. The total number of victims is believed to surpass 5.4 million.Uganda supported rebel forces against the ruling government amid clashes over the mineral-rich Ituri province. According to a 2005 UN court ruling, Uganda violated international law when its troops occupied parts of Ituri. While the DRC initially demanded $11 billion in compensation, the ICJ ruled the sum to be $325 million.

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https://sputniknews.com/20220912/us-capitalizing-on-eu-energy-crisis--recession-but-blowback-round-the-corner-experts-warn-1100694850.html

US Capitalizing on EU Energy Crisis & Recession But Blowback Round the Corner, Experts Warn

US Capitalizing on EU Energy Crisis & Recession But Blowback Round the Corner, Experts Warn

White House officials suggest that the economic effect of an EU recession on the US will be "modest" with some US economists claiming that Europe's economic... 12.09.2022, Sputnik International

2022-09-12T18:00+0000

2022-09-12T18:00+0000

2022-09-12T18:00+0000

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"The European Union (EU) is already headed towards the harshest recession one can imagine as a result of skyrocketing energy prices and a huge reduction in the purchasing power of Europeans and also the horrendous financial costs of shipping huge volumes of weapons to Ukraine," said Dr. Mamdouh G Salameh, an international oil economist and a global energy expert.Last month, US multinational financial services company Goldman Sachs observed that there is a 60% chance that the Old Continent will slide into a recession over the next 12 months due to the unfolding energy crisis. At the same time, the company put the probability of a US recession at 30%.White House officials believe that "the growing likelihood of a recession in Europe is unlikely to change under the current trajectory," according to the Washington Post. The officials told the newspaper that the impact on the US from a European recession would be "modest and manageable," citing Treasury Department and Council of Economic Advisers estimates.For his part, Dean Baker, co-founder of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, went even so far as to claim that the US may benefit from the negative EU trend: "If Europe goes into recession, theres obviously less demand for a wide range of products. Were in such a perverse situation here [that] it may actually be positive," he told the newspaper.The US is set to capitalize on the European energy crisis and is doing nothing short of sacrificing EU security, according to Dr Gal Luft, co-director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security and senior advisor to the US Energy Security Council.After the beginning of the Russian special military operation to de-Nazify and demilitarize Ukraine, Washington persuaded Europe to join its anti-Russia energy embargo. However, the move sent oil and gas prices even higher, leaving the EU to struggle with sanctions blowback.Anti-Russian Energy Embargo Dangerous for USStill, the US' anti-Russia energy strategy is a double-edge sword, according to Salameh: "Were Russia to stop totally its gas supplies to the EU, US economic benefit will increase at the expense of the EU in the short term but it could pay a huge geopolitical price in the form of a future schism with the EU," he stresses.While the US believes that the weaker the EU gets, the less ability it will have to resist its political pressure, Europeans "will eventually see the US in its real colors [as] a sinister and greedy empire who will renege on any agreement or treaty if it doesnt serve its interests and drop its friends without a moments hesitation or embrace new authoritarian friends if it serves its interests of the moment," Salameh noted.On the other hand, a complete shutdown of Russian oil exports would seriously harm the US economy by giving a further boost to global energy prices, the WaPo noted, citing Treasury chief Janet Yellen. Yellen has urged allies to unify around a set price for purchasing Russian oil for months, insisting that the measure could curtail Russia's earnings "while safeguarding the world economy from energy shocks," according to the newspaper.On the other hand, western energy companies are not ready to fill Russia's shoes if its energy exports come to a halt, since they have been told for years by their political elites that "the era of fossil fuel is over," remarked Luft. He further noted that both Ursula von der Leyen and Yellen publicly reaffirmed this position only last week."With such signals, why would companies make multi-billion-dollar investments only to be told when the fighting in Ukraine is over that their product is no longer needed?" Luft asked rhetorically.Furthermore, at the end of the day, the idea that the US could benefit from a recession in Europe looks ludicrous, according to the think tank founder.West Pursuing Self-Destructing AgendaLuft agrees that there are elements of self-destruction in the US and European policies with regard to Russia."What gives western leaders the ability to go down this path is the fact that by and large the public is still tolerating the pain," he argued. "But this will not last for long. Once the protest movement in Europe gains momentum and becomes a threat to European political elites, the pendulum will swing very quickly. There is nothing that can change people's perceptions and priorities faster than a cold European winter."Washington is continuing to wage nothing short of a real war against Russia to reach three major objectives, according to Salameh. First, it is seeking to weaken Russia. Second, the US is trying to undermine Moscow's strategic alliance with Beijing. Third, it is striving "to slow down the transformation of the world order from a unipolar power led by the United States to a multipolar one being actively ushered by Russia and China."Nonetheless, "the harsh sanctions imposed on Russia have failed miserably so far," according to him.

https://sputniknews.com/20220907/easts-rise-irreversible-west-speeding-up-own-decline-via-indiscriminate-sanctions-scholars-say-1100507574.html

https://sputniknews.com/20220912/report-recession-in-europe-may-actually-be-positive-for-us-1100662721.html

https://sputniknews.com/20220908/british-pound-sterling-nosedives-to-1985-low-against-dollar-amid-fears-of-uk-recession-1100529322.html

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https://sputniknews.com/20220912/who-elected-him-two-arrested-over-anti-monarchy-protests-in-oxford-edinburgh-1100665549.html

'Who Elected Him?: Two Arrested Over Anti-Monarchy Protests in Oxford, Edinburgh

'Who Elected Him?: Two Arrested Over Anti-Monarchy Protests in Oxford, Edinburgh

On Saturday, Charles III was formally proclaimed the King of the UK at St. James Palace in London during an Accession Council meeting. The royal automatically... 12.09.2022, Sputnik International

2022-09-12T05:37+0000

2022-09-12T05:37+0000

2022-09-12T05:38+0000

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Police detained two protesters, who expressed anti-monarchy sentiments at separate ceremonies for the proclamation of UK King Charles III in Oxford and Edinburgh late last week.Symon Hill, a 45-year-old history tutor and peace activist, told reporters that he was arrested for shouting, Who elected him? when the proclamation was read out in Oxford.In an interview with The Guardian, he argued that he had come across the event by chance as he was on his way home from church. Hill said that after he cried out the words, some people who stood nearby told him to shut up and that he responded by saying, A head of state has been imposed on us without our consent.He also said that several security guards approached him before police intervened and took him to a police van despite frustration by others, who defended his right to free expression.The 45-year-old stressed that he didnt think he has ever seen anyone arrested on such threadbare grounds, let alone experienced it himself.In a separate interview with the Independent, he described the incident as a massive misuse of police power, insisting that the fact that at first they [police] didnt know why theyd arrested me was worrying.A Thames Valley police spokesperson in turn said that a man had been arrested in connection with a disturbance that was caused during the county proclamation ceremony of King Charles III in Oxford.Section 5 allows police to detain an individual over behavior that is deemed likely to cause alarm, harassment, or distress.The Oxford incident came as a young woman holding a sign reading, F**k imperialism, abolish monarchy was detained in Edinburgh on Saturday, moments before the reading of the proclamation. The arrest occurred outside St. Giles Cathedral, where the Queens coffin is due to lie in rest on Monday.A police spokesperson said that a 22-year-old woman had been arrested in connection with a breach of the peace, with the Independent reporting that the crowd applauded when officers took away the protester. According to the newspaper, someone in the crowd was heard shouting Republic now during the proclamation.On September 10, proclamations were read in ceremonies across the UK to formally announce that Queen Elizabeth II had died and King Charles III had acceded the throne, in line with a tradition dating back hundreds of years.

https://sputniknews.com/20220911/watch-king-charles-sparks-global-outrage-by-shooing-away-servant-while-taking-british-throne-1100646875.html

https://sputniknews.com/20220910/charles-iii-may-become-last-king-of-united-kingdom-expert-thinks-1100627143.html

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The General Federation of Womens Club of North Carolina (GFWC of NC) Statesville Womans Club recently held its September meeting with guest speaker Maura Ciasulli, N.B. Mills Elementary School guidance counselor. She gave statistics showing how much the school has improved in several areas of growth. She also mentioned there have been less discipline issues. She presented several ways in which the club could help the students.

At the meeting, members brought feminine hygiene products for the Red Cart Project thats promoted by The Kindness Closet based out of Mooresville and the United Way of Iredell County to help end period poverty among middle school and high school students in the Iredell-Statesville School System. Luanne Luby, vice chair of The Kindness Closet, was in attendance to pick up the donation.

The club will host a coffee and conversation social get-together on Thursday at Lake Mountain Coffee in downtown Statesville from 4:30-5:30 p.m. and welcomes anyone interested in learning more about the club.

A major club upcoming fundraiser is in honor of the historic clubhouse turning 95 years old. An Afternoon Tea at The Clubhouse Preservation Fundraiser will be held on Nov. 5-6 from 2-4 p.m. each day. There will be a chance to experience culinary delights, music and more with gluten free and vegetarian options available. Tickets $60 per person and all proceeds will be directed to the Statesville Womans Club Capital Campaign Fund. The original Historic Clubhouse was built in 1927, and the present one was rebuilt in 1928 after a fire and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. During the Downtown Art Crawl on Friday, the club will have a table set up at 104 W. Broad St., (formerly Clock World) to sell tickets.

The club will host a blood drive on Sept. 28 from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

The next club meeting will be held on Oct. 6 with special motivational speaker Tyronna Hooker, who will be speaking about Women Making a Difference. The meeting will be held at the historic clubhouse at 515 W. End Ave. and there will be a time of social fellowship at 5:30 p.m. and meeting at 6 p.m.

For club information or about renting the GFWC of NC Statesville Womans Clubhouse for your meeting or event, inquiries may be emailed to the club at Statesvillewomansclub@gmail.com or by calling 704-761-8208. For details on joining the GFWC of NC Statesville Womans Club, contact Membership Chair Stephanie Gill at 704-657-5008. The club has also updated its website to www.statesvillewomansclub.org.
Weyerhaeuser Co. workers in Washington and Oregon overwhelmingly voted this month to give its union strike authority  the first step before employees stop working due to disagreements about what the union says is low pay and benefits during the companys self-described record-breaking earnings.

Brandon Bryant, the district business representative for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Woodworkers District Lodge W24, said more than 80% of its more than 1,100 members turned out for the vote, resulting in an overwhelming rejection of Weyerhaeusers contract proposal and the approval of a possible strike.

About 350 Longview employees are represented locally by the Woodworkers Local 536 union under the umbrella of the IAMAW while the vote also included employees in Aberdeen and Raymond in Washington and Coos Bay, Springfield and Cottage Grove in Oregon for 14 contracts total.

No date has been set for a strike, but no further contract talks were scheduled as of Monday afternoon, Bryant added.

We are not on strike yet, but could be any day now, he said.

A non-union representative from Weyerhaeuser did not return phone calls or emails by Mondays print deadline to discuss their side of negotiations.

Bryant said the latest contract was voted down because general wage increases were too low; some vacation time was cut; employees were asked to pay for healthcare premiums for the first time since at least around the 1990s; and retirement benefits werent improved.

Weyerhaeuser reported its 2021 financial performance was the strongest on record, and a roughly 69% increase in net earnings from 2020 to 2021, according to a January press release. Bryant said the workers should be thanked for that success.

Those profits dont happen unless the work happens, and the work only happens if our members do it, he said in a statement. We may have to take that work away from Weyerhaeuser, in order for them to see us, see our value, see the actual people that make their profits.

Bryant said the collective bargaining agreement between the union and company expired May 31, and the two parties have been in negotiations since April.

He said Weyerhaeusers latest proposal for its four-year contract included positives  like axing the companys reductions on sick leave payouts  but came nowhere close to what our members wanted or deserve.

Bryant said the union OKd to possibly go on strike three times within the last decade, but didnt stop working because negotiations for a new contract restarted, and the last actual strike was in 1986. He said the results of the vote were tallied on Sept. 2 and typically the union has heard from Weyerhaeuser within this time frame to return to the table.

The union represents employees who are sawmill workers, log yard scalers and equipment operators, mechanical loggers, and log truck drivers, as well as maintenance, mechanical, and electrical workers.

Editors note: The photo originally published with this article was updated.
THURSTON COUNTY  "We've got the whole world in our hands, we've got to save our forests and public lands," sang the Raging Grannies outside the Department of Natural Resources building on the Capitol Campus in Olympia on Tuesday. "Pressure the DNR and make demands, we've got the forest in our hands."

The musical group was among the nearly 200 protesters gathered outside the DNR's headquarters where a Board of Natural Resources meeting was slated to review local timber sales from this summer, among other agenda items.

People from around Western Washington gathered with the Summit Lake Alliance to protest the DNR's management of state lands and continued clear-cutting of trees they think should be conserved. Brel Froebe, with the Center for Responsible Forestry, led the event and introduced several speakers, including Thurston County Commissioners Tye Menser and Carolina Mejia, who attended as part of a special meeting. The commissioners' office said the meeting was "noticed accurately as per Open Public Meetings Act requirements.

Froebe said the Washington State Supreme Court unanimously ruled in July in Conservation Northwest v. Commissioner of Public Lands that the DNR is not obligated to only manage forests for profit, that it can instead find other ways its stakeholders can benefit.

In response, more than 20 groups came together Tuesday to present the DNR with a "call to action" on how the agency could manage state's trust land under that ruling.

Thurston County Commissioners weigh in

Commissioner Tye Menser wants the DNR to formally recognize the value of what environmentalists call legacy forests and to stop cutting these trees in not only Thurston County, but the whole state.

The advocacy groups define legacy forests as "one of many naturally regenerated forest landscapes selectively harvested before World War II (before the age of fossil-fueled chainsaws) that are now on a healthy trajectory to old growth."

However, DNR spokesperson Kenny Ocker said the DNR doesn't recognize the term, and "old growth" forests are what they pay attention to. He said any parcel that predates 1850 and is more than 5 acres in size is immediately set aside for conservation and labeled old growth. Singular trees that are older than 1850 are set aside as leave trees in proposed cut areas. Any tree larger than 60 inches in diameter, regardless of age, requires approval from the Board of Natural Resources to be cut.

But Menser said it seems clear that forests that have never been clear cut would have fundamentally different character than those that have been.

"I believe that looking at trees and forests more than 80 years old is a scientifically significant distinction," Menser said. "Yet the DNR has been unwilling to recognize this critical distinction when it comes to clear cuts."

Menser said the topic is important to him, since he represents the district where much of Capitol State Forest is located, and where Summit Lake and other groups have expressed concern. He's also the vice chair of the Regional Climate Action steering committee, where he said they're continuing to work to meet aggressive local greenhouse gas reduction targets on a rapidly shrinking timeline as climate change worsens conditions.

"And it's important to me as a father of two children, and a citizen of this planet who wants to be able to look our young people in the eyes and tell them we did as much as we could to leave them a clean and healthy planet," Menser said.

The Center for Responsible Forestry, a nonprofit organization, estimates there's 3,100 acres of unprotected legacy forests in state managed lands in Thurston County. That represents about 4.5% of land managed by DNR, Menser said, but the majority of that is scheduled to be cut between now and 2026.

On June 16, the Board of County Commissioners sent a letter to the DNR, asking to protect all remaining "legacy forests" in Thurston County. It was followed by a similar letter from the Thurston Regional Climate Action steering committee. Menser said he's spoken to other regional stakeholders, including the Port of Olympia and the Timberland Regional Library, and their leadership feels the same way.

Menser said the DNR continues to argue that they're bound by the courts to maximize revenue with timber sales, rather than prioritize carbon sequestration, habitat restoration or climate change mitigation.

"It is disheartening to be working at cross purposes with state agencies that have not fully adapted their analyses and practices to the reality of climate change," Menser said. "We know the world is rapidly changing. Court cases from 1918 should not control how state forests are managed in Washington."

Commissioner Carolina Mejia told the groups that the county's attempts to get the DNR to address Summit Lake's concerns haven't been taken seriously. Residents have been rallying since last fall against a proposed 16-acre cut on the southeast side of the lake, on a hill above their homes.

Mejia said they're worried about potential for increased algae blooms in Summit Lake, water quality issues that could affect hundreds, property damage and more. But they've been met with the same answer, that DNR is constrained by law to do the cuts. She said the DNR has recognized only some of their concerns.

The Forest Practices Applications for the timber cuts around Summit Lake were refiled in August, after the sales were paused to address the county's concerns.

"Partnerships are built on good communication and trust," Mejia said. "And we aren't receiving that from the DNR, not as a board of County Commissioners and not as a community. As long as they keep having that attitude, we will keep showing up here, and you will have the support."

The commissioners want harvests of legacy forests in Thurston County to be paused until the DNR has allowed old growth forests to naturally regenerate across 10% of its land in the county. Menser said mapping of forests and data has been given to the DNR to enact it, and it's in line with the department's 2006 Policy for Sustainable Forests.

Lastly, Menser said they want the DNR to explore alternative strategies for long-term management of forests that "will recognize the increasing and existential ecological challenges we face and better protect our shared natural heritage."

Voices from around the state

Carly Lloyd, a student at Western Washington University in Bellingham, wants the DNR to end the link between logging and education budgets.

Lloyd said she often spends time with friends in the forests where cuts are proposed. They document and photograph what they encounter, in case it's the last time anyone sees the forest.

All of this gets sent to the DNR, she said, in hopes that it cancels the sale.

"I want the DNR to uphold the call to action, de-linking logging from education budgets, because the most valuable education for us is going to come from forests left standing," Lloyd said. "The areas can be used for research and conservation, education and more."

Julianne Gale, from Mason County, said she lives in a timber community that's been made to feel like the timber companies' interests are the same as theirs, and that there hasn't been much investment in rural Washington.

With a background in teaching and as a union construction worker, Gale said the forests and natural resources in the community are necessary for people's well-being. She said the old growth forests in Washington sequester more carbon per acre than the Amazon Rainforest and that the world is depending on us.

DNR's conservation efforts

Though Ocker said the term "legacy forest" doesn't have scientific backing, he said the DNR is continuing to explore how it manages older forests. More than half of state land in Western Washington is already under conservation status, with a much smaller percentage of land in Thurston County not currently being protected, he said.

Ocker said the DNR already protects some of these younger "legacy forests" in a myriad of ways, including through its trust lands and natural areas program. He said approximately 1 million acres are managed solely for conservation in Washington, with a plan to conserve more before the end of the century.

He said the DNR's conservation plans have always included the public in the process and they will continue to consider climate concerns in future planning. The DNR's Sustainable Harvest Calculation, which determines how much timber they're going to harvest in the next decade, was last set in 2019 following a conservation plan amendment for marbled murrelets. The next one will be set for 2025-2034, so the DNR is preparing for plenty of input. One of the "call to action" items the advocacy groups listed was having climate change specifically analyzed in every harvest under the new calculation. Ocker said they did so under the last one, and they plan to include a climate change analysis in the future as well.

Ocker said the DNR continues to get support from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for its land management, and they believe they're protecting the most important habitats already. But it's a balancing act.

The department's Habitat Conservation Plan, which was adopted in 1997, has an outlook of 100 years and a conservation goal set for 2097. Ocker said it comes down to specifics on every cut and parcel, and sometimes, what's living there. For instance, a spotted owl may nest in trees but it hunts in more open areas. Rather than clear cutting an area, it would be partially conserved through tree thinning so there's still some cover for wildlife, he said.

But the habitat for a marbled murrelet is far more meaningful, Ocker said. They're often seen nesting in old-growth forests and have been listed as endangered due in part to logging. A parcel that may house the small seabirds may be conserved, which means another parcel somewhere else may take its place on the cut list.

"We still have 75 years of work that we're planning to do under our HCP, and this work remains ongoing," Ocker said. "The HCP goal is to protect a certain amount across the entire landscape, and we remain on task to do that with the 2097 goal."

Ocker said the DNR discussed a pilot program during Tuesday's meeting that could get more land into conservation. Called the Trust Land Transfer, it started in 1989 but is up for a makeover.

The program takes under-performing state trust lands out of trust status and into conservation, if it has high ecological value and/or public interest. Over the last 30 years, nearly 126,000 acres have been transferred and much of it conserved. The land is replaced "with lands that can generate revenue for trust beneficiaries," according to the DNR.

Ocker said there are 10 parcels being used for the pilot program. None of the parcels are located in Thurston or Lewis counties, but he said there could be some in the future.

"The state Supreme Court has made it clear we have a wide latitude to manage state lands, but we still have the obligation to trust beneficiaries as their trust manager to protect their fiduciary interests," Ocker said.

In response to the Board of County Commissioners' claims, Ocker said he doesn't think the DNR's work shows a lack of trust or communication. He said when concerns were brought up about the timber harvest at Summit Lake, the harvest was postponed until a hydrologic assessment was completed.

He said the application for the harvest will likely be brought back to the Board of Natural Resources in October.
Flipkart Big Billion Day sale offer on Google Pixel 6a revealed! Get exciting offers and deals here.

Waiting for Flipkart Big Billion Day sale to get a Google Pixel 6a or Nothing Phone 1? If you don't want to wait that long, you can still get one of the best deals on these two phones. The e-commerce giant has announced irresistible deals on a few other popular smartphones apart from Google Pixel 6a. You can get these smartphones below Rs. 30,000 during the sale but the discount rate is inclusive of the bank offers as well as the exchange offers.

Google Pixel 6a deal on Flipkart

Flipkart revealed that Google Pixel 6a, which was launched at Rs. 43999, will be available at a discounted rate of Rs. 27699 during the Flipkart sale. However, notably, if you want to get it today, ahead of the sale, it will cost you around 26000 with an eligible exchange offer. The store is giving away an exchange value of up to Rs. 17,000 on selected phones. The exchange value may vary according to the phone model and their working condition. Also Read: Google Pixel phones sold in HUGE numbers! Does it mean Pixel 6a will be MEGA hit in India?

But if you want to wait till the Flipkart sale, you will get an additional 10 percent discount on ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank card transactions along with up to Rs. 20,000 exchange offer.

Google Pixel 6a: Specifications

The Google Pixel 6a sits on the list of the best mid-range android phones. The handset is the company's top-end device that can take on some of the very best smartphones. Also Read: Google Pixel 6a vs Apple iPhone SE 3: Has Google outdone Apple with specs THIS time?

The device was launched alongside Google Pixel Buds Pro. The handset comes with the new Tensor chipset and other high-end features, and a great camera setup. The phone features a 6.1 inches OLED display. The phone packs a dual rear camera setup comprising 12MP+12MP and a 8MP selfie camera. Further, the device is powered by Li-Ion 4410 mAh battery along with 18W fast charging support. With IP67 dust and water resistance, as well as its aluminium frame, the handset can survive most of the bumps and knocks. Not only these, but you'll also get Google's Android 13 update on the phone.
NASAs Parker Solar Flare is expected to fly through a solar flare near the Sun. Will the solar probe survive or perish? Know what NASA has to say.

The solar activity has been constantly rising these past few weeks due to the Sun nearing the middle of its 11-year solar cycle, which began in December 2019. As the Sun reaches its peak, the frequency of Solar Storms, Solar Flares, Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) and other solar phenomena are set to rise, according to NASA. Scientists expect solar activity to be at its peak in the year 2025 when the Sun is in the middle of its solar cycle. NASA hopes that its Parker Solar Probe will catch a solar flare in the near future as it completed its 13th close encounter with the Sun on September 6.

In a NASA blog, Nour Raouafi, Parker Solar Probe project scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland said, The Sun has changed completely since we launched Parker Solar Probe during solar minimum when it was very quiet. When the Sun changes, it also changes the environment around it. The activity at this time is way higher than we expected.

NASA's Parker Solar Probe set to be battered by a solar flare

Even if the Parker Solar Probe flies through a solar flare, it will not get damaged as it was built to withstand the heat from the close encounters with the Sun. In the NASA blog, Doug Rodgers, APL's science operations center coordinator for the mission said, Parker Solar Probe is built to withstand whatever the Sun can throw at it. Every orbit is different, but the mission is a well-oiled machine at this point.

According to NASA, although the Parker Solar Probe has not flown through a solar flare before, its Wide-field Imager for Solar Probe (WISPR) has captured small Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) emitting from the surface of the Sun during its 10th close encounter with the Sun in November last year which has helped in making new discoveries about CMEs.
NASA has issued a warning that a gigantic asteroid is on its way towards Earth. Will the asteroid hit or miss the planet? Heres what NASA says.

Another asteroid is coming towards us! NASA has issued yet another asteroid warning that a gigantic asteroid is heading for our planet. This asteroid, named Asteroid 2022 RQ, is huge in size. But will the asteroid impact the planet and extinguish all life on Earth? Or will it just miss the planet by enough distance to prevent any catastrophe?

Asteroid 2022 RQ heading for Earth tomorrow, September 13

Asteroid 2022 RQ is already on its way towards Earth travelling at a staggering speed of 49,536 and will just miss the planet tomorrow, September 13. It will make its closest approach to Earth at a distance of 3.7 million kilometers, according to NASA. NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office has warned that Asteroid 2022 RQ is 84 feet wide, nearly the size of an aircraft.

According to the-sky.org, the Asteroid 2022 RQ was discovered on September 1, 2022 and belongs to the main Apollo group of asteroids. The asteroid 's farthest point from the Sun is 328 million kilometers, and the nearest point to the Sun is 110 million kilometers. Asteroid 2022 RQ takes 648 days to complete one orbit around the Sun.

How are Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) like asteroids studied?

NASA currently has a NEO Observations Program in place to track, and characterize at least 90 percent of the NEOs that are 140 meters or larger in size. Most of the asteroids are observed with the help of the NEOWISE Project which repurposed NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer to work as a survey telescope and scan the sky for Near-Earth Objects. NASA JPL also uses a variety of ground-based telescopes in the hunt for these asteroids.

NASA JPL's Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) has also recently developed a next-generation asteroid impact monitoring system which has gone online.
A man in Hanoi has been banned from flying for nine months after failing to pay a fine for smoking on a domestic flight last month.



The ban will last from September 15 to June 14, next year.





According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, the passenger smoked on a flight from Hanoi to HCM City before its departure at 4:35 pm on August 1.



After being detected, he was quickly expelled from the plane. the Northern Airports Authority then issued an administrative fine against him a day later.



Despite being reminded several times, he still refused to pay the fine.
Can an asteroid turn living organisms into charcoal? This new study has something interesting to say about asteroid impact on Earth. Read here.

We have heard countless stories in regard to how asteroids can be catastrophic. The end of the dinosaur era was due to an asteroid strike and same can happen to humans. Now, the latest study has revealed that asteroid impact can even turn living things into charcoal. It shed more light on the last dramatic moment of some microbes which can tell us about the serious consequences of space rock strikes on Earth in the past. The study says that the bodies of microorganisms covered in charcoal demonstrates the dangers from even a moderate asteroid impact.

The research team took samples from the four craters in Estonia, Poland, and Canada. These craters are separated by geographical distance and thousands of years, still, the team found millimeter-to-centimeter sized pieces of charcoal mixed with the material that was formed during each of them. Anna Losiak, the lead author and member of the Institute of Geological Sciences at the Polish Academy of Sciences told Space.com that the charcoal was formed from organisms killed, grilled, and buried by the fiery asteroid.

This discovery of the ancient asteroid-battered organisms differs from the traces of the charcoal that emerged due to normal wildfires. Anna Losiak added that the charcoal formed by impact instead of wildfire was more homogeneous and points to a lower temperature of formation, while, the charcoal found in the craters was similar but not identical as it formed when the wood is intermixed with pyroclastic flows, which form from erupting volcanoes.

"This study improves our understanding of environmental effects of small impact crater formation. We will be able to more precisely determine the size and type of evacuation zone necessary," she said for an incoming asteroid impact. To follow up on the study, Losiak and her research team will plan to examine another set of small impact craters in Argentina in late September. The team is aiming at this site because "these are not only true impact craters  sites where an asteroid literally exploded when it touched the ground  but also penetration funnels." A penetration funnel is the aftermath of the impact on an asteroid which slows down while entering the atmosphere of the Earth. In such cases, many asteroids survive and hence, the temperatures and pressures experienced by the ground are much less extreme, she added.
NASA DART Mission- spacecraft is set to collide with its target asteroid Dimorphos on September 26. Heres where and when to watch the livestream of the event.

NASA is planning to conduct the first test of its DART Mission in a bid to bolster planetary defense against stray asteroids that head for impact with Earth. The mission will cost a staggering $240 million. According to NASA, the DART Mission spacecraft will collide with its target asteroid Dimorphos on September 26. The DART mission has already launched the main spacecraft in November, 2021. It includes a satellite made by the Italian Space Agency. Another spacecraft is set to launch by 2026, to measure the impact.

Speaking about the DART Mission, NASA said, DART is the first-ever mission dedicated to investigating and demonstrating one method of asteroid deflection by changing an asteroid's motion in space through kinetic impact. The aim of the mission is to smash a spacecraft into the Dimorphos asteroid to deflect it away from its path. This test will help scientists gain greater knowledge as to what happens when a craft is crashed against a space rock. This knowledge will be used if an actual asteroid threatens to crash against the Earts to save humanity from a tragedy, even extinction.

After the collision, the European Space Agency's Hera spacecraft will fly to the asteroid to survey the aftermath of impact and gather information such as the size of impact crater, the mass of the asteroid and its make-up and internal structure.

How to watch DART Mission livestream

Although the collision between the DART spacecraft and the Dimorphos asteroid will take place nearly 11 million kilometers away in space, NASA has sent a smaller spacecraft with a camera that will record the entire event.

The collision is going to take place on September 26 at 4:44 AM IST (7:14 PM ET). The livestream will begin at 3:30 AM IST (6 PM ET). To watch the event, you can go to NASA's official website, YouTube channel as well as Facebook and Twitter handls. The Virtual Telescope Project will also livestream the event.
It's been a while since there was any news about HP OMEN. This time around, HP Malaysia just released a new OMEN 16 version with the latest Intel or AMD Ryzen 9 processors. The AMD model is available for purchase now for a starting price of RM7599, whereas the Intel version starts from RM7799.

So what's new? Well, HP Malaysia said the thermals in the OMEN 16 have been revamped with an additional fifth heat pipe to keep the gaming laptop cooler. The company claimed that the new upgrade contributed a -3% GPU hinge and -14% bottom SSD temperature while also running 5% quieter compared to the last gen.

On paper, this should complement the OMEN 16's NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Laptop GPU and the latest MAX Q technologies or AMD Ryzen RX 6650M, also not forgetting, Intel Core i7-12700H series processor or AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX Mobile Processors. The memory configuration is with up to 32GB DDR5 4800 MHz and with up to 2TB PCIe Gen4x4 SSD.

Moreover, the 16-inch IPS panel supports up to QHD 165Hz with 3ms response time and 100% sRGB. It's also equipped with low blue light and an Eyesafe display certified by TUV Rheinland. As usual, you can configure the keyboard's RGB lighting with OMEN Gaming Hub Light Studio. Speaking of the gaming hub, gamers can monitor the OMEN Dynamic Power within OMEN Gaming Hub to real-time CPU and GPU capacity and dynamically allocate power between the two.

The OMEN 16 can now be purchased by Malaysians on the official HP Online Store and through Shopee and Lazada. Plus, HP Malaysia has sent out an HP Gaming Truck around Klang Valley, Johor and Penang. Under the theme #PlaytoProgress, the truck is equipped with the latest HP OMEN and Victus laptops and accessories.

The HP Gaming Truck is roaming around until the end of October 2022, whereby gamers can join the #HPGameOn9 Challenge in either CS: GO, DOTA 2, PUBG or Valorant for a chance to win amazing prizes, including a brand new Victus 16. Stay tuned for more trending tech news at TechNave.com.
Xiaomi and Maxis today announced that they are teaming up to bring affordable 5G smartphones with zero barriers to the masses in Malaysia with the launch of the Redmi 10 5G. Featuring a MediaTek 700 Dimensity SoC paired with 6GB of LPDDR4X RAM, consumers can purchase the device from as low as RM1 at Maxis Stores.

Besides that, the Redmi 10 5G also features a 6.58-inch 90Hz FHD+ Dot Drop display with a water drop notch. The notch houses a 5MP selfie camera while at the back, theres a 50MP main + 2MP depth dual-camera setup.

Moreover, the device is powered by a 5000mAh battery with support for 18W fast charging, though Xiaomi actually provides a higher-rated 22.5W charger in the box. Other notable specs include 128GB of UFS 2.2 storage, 5G connectivity, dual SIM, microSD card slot, 3.5mm audio jack, side-mounted fingerprint scanner and three colour options of Graphite Gray, Chrome Silver and Aurora Green.

In Malaysia, the device is priced at RM959 and is available exclusively first with Maxis through its Zerolution plan from as low as RM1 with the Maxis Postpaid 188. Check out the full list of Zerolution plans for the Redmi 10 5G here:

Find out more about the Redmi 10 5G through Maxis and other offerings by the companys Zerolution plans here. You can also find out more about the device and other Xiaomi smartphones by following Xiaomis Facebook or Instagram pages. As always, do stay tuned to TechNave for more tech news and releases such as this!
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Walk into a smoke shop or small convenience store in South Floridaanywhere from Homestead to Boynton Beachand you might find not one, but two, ATM machines.

Look closely before you try to get cash because there's a big difference.

One dispenses paper bills, greenbacks to spend. The other spits out a paper receipt for Bitcoin, far and away the most popular crypto currency. Nothing wrong with that if you're comfortable with converting your honestly earned dollars into crypto.

But South Florida's cybercrime detectives also say crooks are using the growing number of Bitcoin machines for nefarious purposes. They say the machines, though perfectly legal, are also largely unregulated and are often used to "wash" dirty moneycash that has come from drug dealing, robberies or other illegal activities.

When it's easy to invest in cryptocurrency online, Miami-Dade Cyber Crimes Task Force Cmdr. George Perera questions the need for the Bitcoin ATM machines, which don't leave much of a financial trail.

"Why have those unless it's for criminal activity?" he asked.

Finding a machine is as easy as turning on a computer or a cellphone. The website bitcoindepot.comwhich helps you find a Bitcoin ATM by simply inserting an area code or cityshows there are 1,691 machines in Florida and 384 between Boynton Beach and Homestead.

The machines, which have gained popularity in the past few years along with cryptocurrencies, are believed to number more than 50,000 across the country. There's a reason they're attractive to the small businesses where they are most commonthey're profitable at several levels.

The largest manufacturers of the machines are the companies Genesis Coin and General Bytes. They sell the machines for as much as $5,000. They're basically internet-connected kiosks that send cryptocurrency to a digital wallet after actual money is inserted. Machine operators pocket fees, which at Bitcoin ATMs represent a percentage of the transaction.

Store operators, meanwhile, collect rents from the machine operator or owner for a three-by-three foot space.

In a speech about the industry in 2021, Digitalmint director of compliance Seth Sattler acknowledged there were some "bad actors" who gave the machine industry a bad name by continuing to allow anonymous transactions. Digitalmint is one of the leading providers of Bitcoin machines and technology in the nation.

"While a small number of Bitcoin ATM operators go above and beyond ... others in the cash-to-crypto industry simply turn a blind eye and are complacent to these bad actors by simply applying the bare minimum customer protections, which in many cases allow for completely anonymous transactions," Sattler told the news site.

The Bitcoin ATM machine looks almost exactly like its counterpart, with a computer screen, a keyboard and a slot to slide in moneyas if you were making a deposit at a regular ATM. And the way criminals clean money with it is as brilliant as it is simple.

Here's a scenario: A small-time drug dealer makes a few thousand dollars on a sale. The dealer then hires a kid for a few dollars to type in a cryptocurrency address and insert the money into the machine. In exchange, the machine spits out a Bitcoin receipt worth the same or a similar amount.

Miami-Dade's cyber cops say one problem is that the machines are very lightly regulated. Most have a video recording device and some ask to scan driver licenses. Crooks, though, can work around that easily, said Miami-Dade cybercrimes Sgt. Bridget Doyle.

In the case of the example cited above, the kid hired by the launderer would be videotaped. And he or she could easily have used fake identification. As for checking on a crypto address, it changes for each action and is difficult to trace, detectives say.

Doyle said most companies notify a shopkeeper if more than $6,000 is deposited. She said there are about a dozen companies that she's aware of that now sell cryptocurrency machines.

"When criminals move into crypto, the first thing they do is go about finding a new ID," she said.

Explore further Venmo launching crypto feature to buy and sell Bitcoin, other digital currency

2022 Miami Herald. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Cornell Tech researchers have developed a mechanism for preserving anonymity in encrypted messagingwhich conceals message content but might not cloak the sender's identitywhile simultaneously blocking unwanted or abusive messages.

Doctoral student and co-lead author Nirvan Tyagi presented the group's paper, "Orca: Blocklisting in Sender-Anonymous Messaging," at the 31st USENIX (Advanced Computing Systems Association) Symposium, held Aug. 10-12 in Boston.

Co-authors included Tom Ristenpart, professor of computer science at Cornell Tech and in the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science; Julia Len, doctoral student in computer science; and Ian Miers, associate professor of computer science at the University of Maryland and a former postdoctoral associate at Cornell Tech.

This work is a continuation of research whose goal is to take significant steps toward safer online communication. Ristenpart is principal investigator of the project, "Privacy-Preserving Abuse Prevention for Encrypted Communications Platforms."

Platforms such as Signal, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger rely on end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) messaging to preserve the confidentiality of the message, but user anonymity is not guaranteed. Signal recently introduced an anonymity-preserving feature, but it has been found to be susceptible to attack.

"While they prevent content from being leaked to the platform," Tyagi said, "this doesn't prevent other types of leakage of metadata."

While E2EE messaging provides strong confidentiality of the messages being sent, the platform can learn the identities of both the sender and recipient of every message sent over the network. Signal, a messaging app released in 2014 that now boasts more than 40 million users, has recently introduced a "sealed sender" protocol that ensures the sender's identity is never revealed to the platform.

This highlights a key tension in sender-anonymous systems: sender anonymity, while mitigating potentially abusive messages. E2E encryption by itself makes certain types of abuse mitigation more challenging, and sender anonymity only complicates those efforts. One example of abuse mitigation that is complicated by sender anonymity is blocklisting.

"That (sender-anonymous sender blocklisting) is a bit of an oxymoron," Tyagi said, "because we want the platform to be able to filter based on sender identities, but we also want sender anonymity from the platform."

With Orca, message recipients would register an anonymized blocklist with the platform. Senders construct messages that can be verified by the platform as being attributable to someone not on the blocklist.

Verification is achieved through group signatures, which allow users to sign messages anonymously on behalf of a group. The platform registers individual users, and the group's opening authoritythe recipientcan trace the identity of each individual user.

If the sender is on the blocklist, or if the message is malformed, the platform rejects the message. But if the message is delivered, the recipient is guaranteed to be able to identify the sender.

Orca takes this efficiency one step further: Instead of creating and verifying a group signature for every message sent, the group signature will only be used periodically to mint new batches of one-time-use sender tokens from the platform. Messages can be sent by including a valid token for a recipient; these tokens, or access keys, are much more efficient for the platform to verify and require only a check against a list of used or blocked tokens.

"The sender sends a message, using cryptography they prove to the platform that they're an authorized sender for the recipient and not on the recipient's blocklist," Tyagi said. "And they can do that in a way where they can still hide their identity from the platform."

Tyagi said this type of safeguard could be useful in a number of scenarios.

"Perhaps you're a whistleblower at a company, and you contact a journalist, which for most people is not a common occurrence," Tyagi said. "Then a big story appears; just the fact that someone from that company has been in recent contact with the journalist could raise a red flag.

"Or in the medical realm," he said, "just by the fact that you're communicating with, say, a cardiologist, could reveal confidential information about your health."

Future work will address the computational challenge of making sure a single cryptographic identity corresponds to a single human. It's one of many problems facing computer scientists as they address the tension between anonymity and abuse mitigation.

"Increased privacy can harm the ability to do certain types of abuse mitigation and accountability," Tyagi said. "The question is, can we make that tradeoff a little less costly with even better cryptography? And in some cases, we can."
Next Match: SMU 9/15/2022 | 6:00 PM ESPN+ Next Match Full Schedule Sep. 15 (Thu) / 6:00 PM SMU

HOUSTON  The Texas Tech Red Raiders (8-1) dropped a heartbreaker to the Rice Owls, 25-17, 21-25, 15-25, 25-18, 12-15, on Sunday afternoon at Tudor Fieldhouse to conclude the Adidas Invitational.

In the match, fifth-year senior Karrington Jones became the third Red Raider on the team to reach the 500 kills milestone after she recorded seven slams against Rice. She also added four blocks, four digs and two aces.

Senior Kenna Sauer and junior Reese Rhodes each collected double-doubles on the day after Sauer tallied 21 kills and 11 digs and Rhodes posted 45 assists and 15 digs.

Senior Reagan Cooper totaled 12 kills, five digs and three blocks, while Brooke Kanas led the team with five blocks of her own. Sophomore libero Maddie Correa had a career day after collecting 25 digs. Graduate KJ Adams also joined in on the double-digit digs with 11.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Set One

Tech started on an early, 3-0 run thanks to blocks by O'Brien and Kanas, a kill from Cooper and an error on the Owls. Rice would get one point back on a kill, then the Red Raiders again scored three in a row to force a timeout. Leading 9-6, Tech picked up three more quick points highlighted by a block and two aces from Jones. A 4-0 run ensued at 16-10 when O'Brien slammed one down, then Tech would claim the set with a score of 25-17 on a kill by Cooper.

Set Two

The Red Raiders got things going in the second set, taking an 8-3 lead. But, the Owls kept clawing their way back and eventually tied it at 9-9 on a kill from Anota Adekunle. Tech earned three quick points on a kill from Rhodes and a solo block and kill from Kanas. Back-and-forth play followed as Rice would take a 20-19 lead. Cooper would come back and put down a kill to tie it at 20-all, then Rhodes served an ace to force a Rice timeout. The Red Raiders went up 21-20, but the Owls would finish the set on a 5-0 run to win it by a score of 25-21.

Set Three

Both teams began the third set tied up at 4-4, before Tech went on to lead 7-5 with a block from Rhodes and a kill from O'Brien. Rice would tie things up at 12-12, then keep things rolling as they were able to hold on to the lead for the remainder of the set and win by a score of 25-15.

Set Four

The Red Raiders and Owls went back-and-forth to start the set, tying it at 6-6 on a Rhodes kill. All tied up at 9-9, a big kill from Kanas would spark a 3-0 run as Tech took a 12-9 lead. A 5-1 run, highlighted by a kill from Kanas and a solo block from Cooper, forced the Owls to call a timeout as Tech had a 14-10 advantage. With a 20-14 lead, the Red Raiders would get kills from Cooper and O'Brien to force a fifth and final set with a score of 25-18.

Set Five

Tech and Rice traded points at the beginning of the fifth set, ultimately tying it up at 4-4. Tech would earn two-consecutive points on kills from Sauer and Cooper, but Rice would go on a 4-0 run to lead 8-6. Tech kept fighting back, eventually cutting into the Owls' lead at 12-11. But, Rice would win three of the next four points to claim the set and match, 15-12.

Notables

Texas Tech tied its season-high with 58 kills.

Two Red Raiders posted double-doubles in the match Kenna Sauer had 21 kills and 11 digs while Reese Rhodes had 45 assists and a career-high 15 digs.

had 21 kills and 11 digs while had 45 assists and a career-high 15 digs. Senior Reagan Cooper tallied double-digit kills with 12.

tallied double-digit kills with 12. Sophomore Maddie Correa collected a career-high 25 digs in the match.

collected a career-high 25 digs in the match. Four players  Correa, Sauer, Rhodes and KJ Adams  all had double-digit dig performances.
Country

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China has accused the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) of conducting a string of cyberattacks aimed at aeronautical and military research-oriented Northwestern Polytechnical University in the city of Xi'an in June 2022.

The National Computer Virus Emergency Response Centre (NCVERC) disclosed its findings last week, and accused the Office of Tailored Access Operations (TAO), a cyber-warfare intelligence-gathering unit of the National Security Agency (NSA), of orchestrating thousands of attacks against the entities located within the country.

"The U.S. NSA's TAO has carried out tens of thousands of malicious cyber attacks on China's domestic network targets, controlled tens of thousands of network devices (network servers, Internet terminals, network switches, telephone exchanges, routers, firewalls, etc.), and stole more than 140GB of high-value data," the NCVERC said.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), Northwestern Polytechnical University is a "Chinese military university that is heavily involved in military research and works closely with the People's Liberation Army on the advancement of its military capabilities."

The agency further said that the attack on the Northwestern Polytechnical University employed no fewer than 40 different cyber weapons that are designed to siphon passwords, network equipment configuration, network management data, and operation and maintenance data.

It also said that the TAO used two zero-day exploits for the SunOS Unix-based operating system to breach servers used in educational institutions and commercial companies to install what it called the OPEN Trojan.

The attacks are said to have been mounted via a network of proxy servers hosted in Japan, South Korea, Sweden, Poland, and Ukraine to relay the instructions to the compromised machines, with the agency noting that the NSA made use of an unnamed registrar company to anonymize the traceable information such as relevant domain names, certificates, and registrants.

Besides OPEN Trojan, the attacks entailed the use of malware it calls "Fury Spray," "Cunning Heretics," "Stoic Surgeon," and "Acid Fox" that are capable of "covert and lasting control" and exfiltrating sensitive information.

"The U.S.'s behavior poses a serious danger to China's national security and citizens' personal information security," spokeswoman Mao Ning said last week.

"As the country that possesses the most powerful cyber technologies and capabilities, the U.S. should immediately stop using its prowess as an advantage to conduct theft and attacks against other countries, responsibly participate in global cyberspace governance and play a constructive role in defending cyber security."

This is not the first time China has called out the U.S. for its intelligence hacking operations. In February, Pangu Lab disclosed details of a previously unknown backdoor called Bvp47 that's alleged to have been used by the Equation Group to strike more than 287 entities globally.

Then in April, the NCVERC also released a technical analysis of a malware platform called Hive that's said to be employed by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to customize and adapt malicious programs to different operating systems, plant backdoors, and achieve remote access.
A hacktivist collective called GhostSec has claimed credit for compromising as many as 55 Berghof programmable logic controllers (PLCs) used by Israeli organizations as part of a "Free Palestine" campaign.

Industrial cybersecurity firm OTORIO, which dug deeper into the incident, said the breach was made possible owing to the fact that the PLCs were accessible through the Internet and were secured by trivially guessable credentials.

Details of the compromise first came to light on September 4 after GhostSec shared a video on its Telegram channel demonstrating a successful login to the PLC's admin panel, in addition to dumping data from the hacked controllers.

The Israeli company said the system dumps and screenshots were exported directly from the admin panel following unauthorized access to the controllers through their public IP addresses.

GhostSec (aka Ghost Security), first identified in 2015, is a self-proclaimed vigilante group that was initially formed to target ISIS websites that preach Islamic extremism.

Earlier this February, the group rallied its support for Ukraine in the immediate aftermath of Russia's military invasion of the country. Since late June, it has also participated in a campaign targeting Israeli organizations and enterprises.

"The group pivoted from their regular operations and started to target multiple Israeli companies, presumably gaining access to various IoT interfaces and ICS/SCADA systems, which led to possible disruptions," Cyberint noted on July 14.

The attacks against Israeli targets, dubbed "#OpIsrael," is said to have commenced on June 28, 2022, citing "continuous attacks from Israel towards Palestinians."

In the intervening period, GhostSec has carried out a number of attacks, including those aimed at internet-exposed interfaces belonging to Bezeq International and an ELNet power meter located at the Scientific Industries Center (Matam).

The breach of Berghof PLCs, viewed in that light, is part of the actor's broader shift to strike the SCADA/ICS domain, although it appears to be a case wherein the group took advantage of "easily overlooked misconfigurations of industrial systems" to carry out the attacks.

"Despite the low impact of this incident, this is a great example where a cyber attack could have easily been avoided by simple, proper configuration," the researchers said.

"Disabling the public exposure of assets to the Internet, and maintaining a good password policy, especially changing the default login credentials, would cause the hacktivists' breach attempt to fail."

GhostSec, in the meanwhile, has continued to post more screenshots, claiming to have gained access to another control panel that can be used to alter chlorine and pH levels in the water.

"Hope you all can understand our decision on not attacking their pH levels and risking a chance to harm the innocents of #Israel," the group said in a tweet posted over the weekend. "Our 'war' has always been FOR the people not against them. #FreePalestine"
A bike ride that organizers say is for everyone is back for a second year.

The Goldenride, a two-day bike ride from Lincoln to Beatrice and back, is Sept. 24-25.

The ride is a fundraising event for Bike Walk Nebraska, a nonprofit group that promotes safe and accessible transportation through partnerships, education and advocacy.

Last year's ride drew about 220 participants, said Julie Harris, executive director of Bike Walk Nebraska.

"Our tagline is, 'Honestly, it's for everyone,'" Harris said. "Last year, we had people quoting that back to us. They really felt like it lived up to that."

Cyclists will tackle a 44-mile route along the Homestead Trail during the two-day event. Participants will start the ride at the Jayne Snyder Trails Center in Lincoln and ride to Chautauqua Park in Beatrice. They will return along the same route.

The trail-based route has rest stops in three towns along the route  Roca, Cortland and Pickrell. Residents rolled out the red carpet in the towns last year, Harris said. In Pickrell, residents brought TVs out to the park so cyclists could watch the Husker game while they ate lunch.

The ride is fully supported, meaning specialists are on hand to help with mechanical issues. Organizers will transport overnight gear.

Proceeds from the ride go to Bike Walk Nebraska's bicycle tourism initiatives. Harris said that might mean making cities along trails more bike-friendly, adding amenities along trails or improving trails.

Last year drew a mix of novice, expert and in-between cyclists, Harris said. Some bikes were high-end while others had been dug out of the garage. Some riders sported shorts and T-shirts and others donned Spandex.

"You don't have to have a fancy bike or camping equipment. You don't have to be in tip-top shape. You can go at your own pace," Harris said. "It really is for everyone. It's a great opportunity to get out with friends and have a fun weekend."

A pre-ride party is slated for Sept. 23 at the Jayne Snyder Trails Center.

Registration is open through Sept. 23. To sign up or for more information, visit bikegoldenride.com.
Grand Island Salvation Army has a pair of new lieutenants.

Wayne Benedict and Katy Benedict are now leading the nonprofit agencys efforts to help the homeless and needy.

The Benedicts came to Grand Island from Elkhart, Indiana.

They have been with Salvation Army for the last 10 years, as members, called soldiers, then as interns. This is their third year as lieutenants, explained Lt. Katy Benedict.

We were transferred here, to Grand Island, because our backgrounds fit the need here, said Lt. Wayne Benedict. It worked out great.

They have been in Grand Island since June 29 and started work immediately.

Before their official start day, at the Fourth of July holiday, they announced the site would serve as an emergency cool center to help people escape from the heat, which reached into the high 90s through the summer.

Since starting, the lieutenants been doing a lot of cleaning up, said Wayne.

Not just of the building and the property, but making needed adjustments.

We had an issue with the homeless population and drug use on our premises, said Katy. Since we got here, hes been working, cleaning up that area and making it safe for people and families to come and feel safe in our building.

This involved bringing an end to loitering and people sleeping on the property.

Nobody just hanging out all night, all day, said Wayne. Just trying to clean up the area, giving a better presentation.

Vacation Bible School has resumed, and was held through the Sept. 9 weekend.

The kids are really excited, said Katy. Its something they havent had for a while.

The lieutenants hope to add further programs to better help the community, with ideas already taking shape.

Thursdays, Salvation Army will begin offering a womens fellowship program at 7 p.m.

Also being pursued is a childrens music school, where children can learn piano, guitar and drums.

Two community events are scheduled.

The first is on Sept. 18, a Hispanic heritage celebration: Servicio de la Celebracion de la Herencia Hispana.

After a morning worship service, everyone will gather in the dining room to share cultural dishes.

It will be potluck-style, bring your favorite dish that your family cooked, that you cook in your country, so we all can learn and enrich our culture by learning each others cultures and native foods, said Katy.

On Oct. 26, an evening community meal: Welcome to the Table.

The idea is just to gather as one, as a family, play some worship music and hear a devotional together, and eat a home-cooked meal, said Katy. Everyone can sit, have conversations, build relationships, and just feel welcome and accepted, and maybe theyll get to know Christ.

Key to their efforts is relationships, said Wayne.

We want to build and rebuild relationships that need to be worked on, he said. We just want to get out there in the community, meet with people, let them know about Salvation Army and what we do and what were trying to do moving forward.

Both Wayne and Katy Benedict have deeply personal inspirations for serving others.

Wayne is a graduate of the Salvation Armys adult rehabilitation center.

The Salvation Army saved my life. When everybody else turned their back on me, the Salvation Army was there for me and they are the reason, with God, that I am where I am today, he said. I get to show people there is a way out, that there is a way to being a contributing member of society, and get married and have a family, and go on to do bigger and better things with Gods help.

Katy shared that she came from a broken family, and through the Salvation Army felt love and met Christ.

When I met Christ, through the Salvation Army, my life changed, she said. People from the Salvation Army, officers, loved me, broken, how I was, and kept loving me, and eventually it turned into a passion for helping people and a passion to give, and help people who might be lost, like I was.

Wayne added, We get to help others and do for them what was so freely given to us.

The need in Grand Island is great, said Wayne.

Food prices are going through the roof right now, he said. Weve seen an influx of people coming into the feeding program, people coming in through the food pantry. A lot of first-time people youve never seen here before are coming in. The need is there.

There are many ways the community can help.

Volunteers are always needed.

We feed about 200 people a day, for lunch and dinner, said Katy. Not counting the food pantry. For that alone we are always in need of volunteers to help prep, serve and clean. We also need people to shelve items, as well as put boxes together.

Financial donations are also welcome.

Those can be made by visiting centralusa.salvationarmy.org/grandisland, and clicking Donate to this community.
In little more than a year, the Protect Nebraska Children Coalition has grown from a handful of worried parents and grandparents to a conservative political player in Nebraska with a Facebook page with more than 22,000 followers.

The coalition notched a victory when its relentless opposition  joined by Gov. Pete Ricketts and others  spurred the Nebraska State Board of Education to indefinitely postpone the adoption of optional school health education standards that critics said advanced a politically progressive view of gender identity and sexual orientation.

Another big win came in May when four conservative candidates for the state board, endorsed by the PNC political action committee, sailed comfortably through the primary. That sets up a general election showdown with four candidates endorsed by the Nebraska state teachers union.

The Nebraska groups rapid rise reflects two realities that have unfolded across the country. First, many parents have become more involved in education since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Second, the role of cultural topics in the classroom, including LGBTQ issues and gender identity, has emerged as an energizing political force for candidates and voters.

As Nebraskas general election approaches, the rhetoric is mounting here. Terms such as hate group, Christofascists and right-wing extremists have been used against the PNC Coalition and the candidates it supports.

Meanwhile, opposing candidates are being called pedophiles and Marxists. And public school teachers are being accused of grooming students to rob them of their innocence and steer them into unhealthy behaviors.

Nebraskas debate resembles similar, often partisan battles across the nation over what material is appropriate for school-age children. In some cases, such as the Virginia governors race, those fights may have been significant factors in elections.

But the founders of the PNC Coalition say they didnt expect they would be playing a key role in Nebraskas 2022 elections. Nor did they dream their group would get so big.

The bottom line is this is the definition of grassroots, said Nic Norton, a Kearney lawyer who joined the coalition in early 2021 when it had only six members. None of us are professionals. None of us have done anything like this before. And weve had an amazing run as a group because were united about the notion of keeping our public schools and our private schools  our children  safe.

The first time the public heard of the coalition was in May 2021 when one of its founders, Katie McClemens, announced at a state board meeting that the group had formed to protect the health and innocence of children and the fundamental rights of parents to direct the education, health care and upbringing of their children.

The seeds for the groups creation were planted months earlier, even before the Nebraska Department of Education released the controversial first draft of the health standards.

On Feb. 11 last year, Nebraskans for Founders Values, a conservative group that advocates for religious freedom, parental rights and for restoring a culture based on Christian principles, held a public workshop at the Harmon Park Activity Center in Kearney.

Five people who eventually would found the PNC coalition were there.

Mark Bonkiewicz, a leader of Nebraskans for Founders Values, told attendees about a major storm cloud coming to Nebraska. Years earlier, Bonkiewicz had fought against efforts to introduce elements of comprehensive sexuality education into the Omaha Public Schools. Now, he said, family members and friends on the East and West Coasts were warning about the public school curricula in those places called comprehensive sexuality education and critical race theory.

By the time the Education Department released the first draft of the voluntary health education standards on March 10, some Kearney locals already were on alert.

The draft called for teaching children as young as first grade about gender identity and gender stereotypes. Kindergartners would be taught about different kinds of family structures, including cohabitating and same-gender families. Fourth graders would be taught the difference between sex assigned at birth and gender identity.

Advocates billed the standards as inclusive and potentially lifesaving for fostering understanding and acceptance of LGBTQ youths. They said the standards would help curb bullying and suicide.

But the Kearney parents and grandparents were disturbed by what they saw and decided to fight the standards. They joined with a father from outside Kearney who had created a Facebook group, and they dubbed it Protect Nebraska Children; later, it became the name of their coalition.

We had no idea that within a month we would have 400 people at a State Board of Education meeting and we would have over 11,000 people on a Facebook group, said Sue Greenwald, a retired pediatrician from Kearney who helped found the coalition. That was not even on our radar. Things grew because the message resonated.

As the group raced to get organized before the state education boards May meeting, members surfed the internet for information from like-minded groups. One member found the website Stop CSE, which is run by the Arizona-based Family Watch International. It featured samples of comprehensive sexuality education, saving the Nebraska group from having to create its own literature.

The Protect Nebraska Children founders also learned that they could set up a webpage through the Stop CSE website that allowed them to collect donations for their coalition.

As of July 13, just under $6,800 had been donated to the coalition through the website, said Sharon Slater, president of Family Watch International.

Despite the early help from Family Watch International, the Nebraska coalition says their success didnt stem from outside influence. The groups founders say its their message of supporting parental rights, opposing comprehensive sexuality education and keeping political agendas out of public schools that resonates with the public.

Still, PNCs early connection with Family Watch International has been targeted by the groups opponents. The Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled Family Watch International as a hate group, citing its promotion of anti-LGBT laws and anti-choice stances. The center has not labeled PNC a hate group.

But that distinction hasnt kept Nebraska critics of the local group from making a more sweeping claim.

Deborah Neary, who is running for reelection to the state board, texted colleagues the day after the May primary and suggested outside interests had influenced the election.

There is, she wrote, a direct link from PNC to Family Watch International  a well-known national hate group that is now influencing Nebraskas school board races. I think Nebraskans would be alarmed to know these outside interests are influencing our elections.

In an interview with The World-Herald, she elaborated on the claim.

They were founded by a hate group, and theres evidence of that, and they have endorsed four candidates who perpetuate hate language, anti-LGBTQ and racist language and ideas, Neary said.

Nearys criticisms have been echoed by progressives posting on social media.

The founders of the PNC Coalition say the hate group label is an effort to stifle the organizations views with a false accusation.

Greenwald said the claim is ridiculous.

I feel I could write a book of Jeff Foxworthy jokes, she said. If you have the word family or children in your title, you might be a hate group. If youre anti-indoctrination, you might be a hate group. If you dont want porn in your schools, you might be a hate group.

While the Nebraska group shares a common goal of protecting children with Family Watch International, it doesnt receive a dime from that organization or any other national groups, said Norton, the coalitions attorney.

And Slater said while Family Watch International has provided some strategic advice and technical support to the Nebraska group, they are very competent and run their own program.

In its critique of FWI, the Southern Poverty Law Center accuses the organization of dehumanizing and portraying LGBTQ people as a predatory threat.

Slater said her group is not anti-LGBT and opposes harassment and violence against all persons, including LGBT individuals.

Family Watch says it works to preserve and promote traditional marriage, safeguard parental rights, defend human life, uphold religious liberty and protect the health and innocence of children.

It also says that the unique contributions made by mothers and fathers cannot be replaced by two parents of the same sex and that children will suffer if society sanctions marriages that make it impossible for children to be raised by either their mother or father.

As for the Nebraska coalition, Greenwald said the group is not anti-LGBT, either. Nor does it oppose sex education in schools.

Of course not, Greenwald said. Sex ed has been taught in the schools for generations.

But in the past, she said, we didnt teach it to second graders, and we didnt have standards that require such an in-depth focus on different aspects of sexuality.

The hate accusation is showing up in local school board races, founders say, causing some candidates to decline the PNCs endorsement for fear of putting a target on their own backs.

Last March, Melissa McClanahan ran for the school board in the Nebraska City Public Schools with a PNC-PAC endorsement. Some critics attacked her for the connection, and McClanahan lost.

At the same time, the state teachers union and others, including Neary, have their own complaints about the PNC coalitions efforts. They say the candidates endorsed by the PNC political action committee are fearmongering and spreading hate and extreme disinformation by encouraging people to watch a documentary film called The Mind Polluters.

The movie was produced by Mark and Amber Archer, a Christian husband and wife filmmaking team from Indiana. It is being screened in Nebraska and across the country. The coalition leaders endorse the movie.

The moviemakers assert that activist teachers in the nations public schools are using sex education classes and social-emotional learning lessons to encourage young children to accept progressive views of sex and sexuality without parents knowing or consenting. The moviemakers claim that this robs children of their innocence, breaks down their natural resistance to engaging in sexual activity and steers kids into unhealthy behaviors.

Some teachers resent the moviemakers use of the term grooming to describe this activism. In recent years, the term has been associated with how pedophiles break down childrens defenses to take advantage of them.

Jenni Benson, president of the Nebraska State Education Association, called the movie propaganda-based.

But the movie, which was released in November 2021, expresses many of the same views that factored into the fight against Nebraskas proposed health education standards.

In that battle, opponents outnumbered supporters about 2-to-1 at the first public meeting in 2021. The raucous crowd triggered decorum warnings from the board president and the commissioner of education.

The opposition movement found an ally in Ricketts, who criticized the standards as political and nonscientific, and started hosting town hall meetings to oppose them. The first such meeting in Grand Island on July 1 drew a largely receptive crowd of about 150 people, according to reporting by the Grand Island Independent.

A second watered-down draft released last July was met with opposition, too. The board last September indefinitely postponed development of the standards.

The coalition leaders say they realized that political action would be needed to keep proposals such as the standards from coming forward again. They formed a separate entity for political activity, the PNC-PAC, for supporting candidates. It is an independent committee subject to state campaign disclosure laws.

As of the most recent reporting date, PNC-PAC reported cash contributions and receipts for the election cycle totaling just over $31,000.

PNC-backed candidates are running in all four state education board races on the November ballot.

Marni Hodgen, who is endorsed by the PNC-PAC, is running against Neary in board district 8 in central Douglas County. She takes issue with Nearys criticism of the group.

Just because I want to protect kids from a hypersexualized and explicit curriculum about all sexual behavior doesnt mean Im against the LGBTQ+ community, Hodgen said. To say that is incredulous. Lets let the kids be kids and focus on teaching them what we should be: reading, writing, arithmetic, history and science.

The health education standards  and Nearys role in developing them  has been a campaign issue.

According to texts and emails released through a public records request, Neary had urged the Nebraska Department of Education to use a former Planned Parenthood educator, employed by the Womens Fund of Omaha, as an adviser in developing the standards. Neary says the adviser was an expert on sex education. She also says her actions were appropriate for a board member.

Robin Stevens, another incumbent board member who trailed his general election challenger Elizabeth Tegtmeier by nearly a 3-1 margin in the primary, said the PNC Coalition deserves the hate group label  though he said defining hate is problematic.

If its simply to be telling untruths to try to bring a person down or an organization down, you know, so out-and-out lies, out-and-out falsehoods, well, yeah, then I would consider PNC a hate group, he said.

Stevens, who describes himself as a conservative, said the group has wrongly painted him as a liberal. He said he has been falsely called a groomer, a pedophile and a Marxist.

Opponents of the standards have criticized him for not speaking out against the standards and for voting against a motion earlier this year to permanently scrap them.

Stevens said its hard for him to agree with the Southern Poverty Law Centers reasons for labeling Family Watch International a hate group, but as for Family Watch itself, its hard for me to buy into what theyre selling, too.

If youre going to attack LGBTQ people, come on, thats just totally wrong. It isnt that I agree with LGBTQ. Its just they are people, and, you know, were told to love all people.

Tegtmeier, his opponent, said the PNC-PAC endorsement is just one of many endorsements she has received.

My campaign is not defined by one endorsement, she said. I have been endorsed by many groups, including the Nebraska Republican Party and the Nebraska Federation of Republican Women as well as many elected Nebraska officials.

Tegtmeier also has received $20,000 from Ricketts.

She said her campaign is focused on issues: the teacher shortage, local control and concern over the states academic assessments.

In the other two education board races, the PNC committee endorsed Kirk Penner, a Ricketts appointee who faces Helen Raikes, and Sherry Jones, who faces Danielle Helzer.

As the election approaches, the sharp disagreements and harsh words show the fundamental differences in how the two sides view issues such as gender identity. Both accuse the other of pushing an extreme agenda; both see their own views as being the right way to do things.

To critics, for example, the PNC groups opposition to teaching about gender identity amounts to an agenda that would marginalize LGBTQ children.

The PNC coalition leaders, in contrast, say the comprehensive sexuality education side is the one that is pushing an agenda.

Said Norton, the coalition lawyer: Were advocating that agendas be left at the door when kids walk into the classroom.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP)  Everywhere, it seems, back-to-school has been shadowed by worries of a teacher shortage.

The U.S. education secretary has called for investment to keep teachers from quitting. A teachers union leader has described it as a five-alarm emergency. News coverage has warned of a crisis in teaching.

In reality, there is little evidence to suggest teacher turnover has increased nationwide or educators are leaving in droves.

Certainly, many schools have struggled to find enough educators. But the challenges are related more to hiring, especially for non-teaching staff positions. Schools flush with federal pandemic relief money are creating new positions and struggling to fill them at a time of low unemployment and stiff competition for workers of all kinds.

This story is part of an Associated Press collaboration with AL.com, The Christian Science Monitor, The Dallas Morning News, The Fresno Bee in California, The Hechinger Report, The Seattle Times and The Post and Courier in Charleston, South Carolina.

Since well before the COVID-19 pandemic, schools have had difficulty recruiting enough teachers in some regions, particularly in parts of the South. Fields like special education and bilingual education also have been critically short on teachers nationwide.

For some districts, shortages have meant children have fewer or less qualified instructors.

In rural Alabama's Black Belt, there were no certified math teachers last year in Bullock County's public middle school.

"It really impacts the children because they're not learning what they need to learn," said Christopher Blair, the county's former superintendent. "When you have these uncertified, emergency or inexperienced teachers, students are in classrooms where they're not going to get the level of rigor and classroom experiences."

While the nation lacks vacancy data in several states, national pain points are obvious.

For starters, the pandemic kicked off the largest drop in education employment ever. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of people employed in public schools dropped from almost 8.1 million in March 2020 to 7.3 million in May. Employment has grown back to 7.7 million since then, but that still leaves schools short around 360,000 positions.

"We're still trying to dig out of that hole," said Chad Aldeman, policy director at the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University.

It's unknown how many of those positions lost were teaching jobs, or other staff members like bus drivers  support positions that schools are having an especially hard time filling. A RAND survey of school leaders this year found that around three-fourths of school leaders say they are trying to hire more substitutes, 58% are trying to hire more bus drivers and 43% are trying to hire more tutors.

Still, the problems are not as tied to teachers quitting as many have suggested.

Teacher surveys have indicated many considered leaving their jobs. They're under pressure to keep kids safe from guns, catch them up academically and deal with pandemic challenges with mental health and behavior.

National Education Association union leader Becky Pringle tweeted in April: "The educator shortage is a five-alarm crisis." But a Brown University study found turnover largely unchanged among states that had data.

Quit rates in education rose slightly this year, but that's true for the nation as a whole, and teachers remain far more likely to stay in their job than a typical worker.

Hiring has been so difficult largely because of an increase in the number of open positions. Many schools indicated plans to use federal relief money to create new jobs, in some cases looking to hire even more people than they had pre-pandemic. Some neighboring schools are competing for fewer applicants, as enrollment in teacher prep programs colleges has declined.

MORE BACK TO SCHOOL COVERAGE

The Upper Darby School District in Pennsylvania has around 70 positions it is trying to fill, especially bus drivers, lunch aides and substitute teachers. But it cannot find enough applicants. The district has warned families it may have to cancel school or switch to remote learning on days when it lacks subs.

"It's become a financial competition from district to district to do that, and that's unfortunate for children in communities who deserve the same opportunities everywhere in the state," Superintendent Daniel McGarry said.

The number of unfilled vacancies has led some states and school systems to ease credential requirements, in order to expand the pool of applicants. U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told reporters last week that creative approaches are needed to bring in more teachers, such as retired educators, but schools must not lower standards.

Schools in the South are more likely to struggle with teacher vacancies. A federal survey found an average of 3.4 teaching vacancies per school as of this summer; that number was lowest in the West, with 2.7 vacancies on average, and highest in the South, with 4.2 vacancies.

In Birmingham, the school district is struggling to fill around 50 teaching spots, including 15 in special education, despite $10,000 signing bonuses for special ed teachers. Jenikka Oglesby, a human resources officer for the district, says the problem owes in part to low salaries in the South that don't always offset a lower cost of living.

The school system in Moss Point, a small town near the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, has increased wages to entice more applicants. But other districts nearby have done the same. Some teachers realized they could make $30,000 more by working 30 minutes away in Mobile, Alabama.

"I personally lost some really good teachers to Mobile County Schools," said Tenesha Batiste, human resources director for the Moss Point district. And she also lost some not-so-great teachers, she added  people who broke their contracts and quit three days before the school year started.

"It's the job that makes all others possible, yet they get paid once a month, and they can go to Chick-fil-A in some places and make more money," Batiste said.

A bright spot for Moss Point this year is four student teachers from the University of Southern Mississippi. They will spend the school year working with children as part of a residency program for aspiring educators. The state has invested almost $10 million of federal relief money into residency programs, with the hope the residents will stay and become teachers in their assigned districts.

Michelle Dallas, a teacher resident in a Moss Point first-grade classroom, recently switched from a career in mental health and is confident she is meant to be a teacher.

"That's why I'm here," she said, "to fulfill my calling."
Navigator CO2 Ventures is set to conclude its public informational meetings soon. (Jared Strong/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Navigator CO2 Ventures, one of three companies that have proposed liquid carbon pipelines in Iowa, recently sued four sets of landowners to gain access to their properties to survey the land, according to court records.

The company filed petitions in August for injunctive relief against landowners in Butler, Clay and Woodbury Counties. The company claims the landowners have repeatedly refused to grant access to their properties and alleged physical threats toward the companys land agents, whose surveys will help the company determine the path of the pipeline.

Get off my land before I let the dog go, a spouse of one of the landowners allegedly told one of the agents, who interpreted the womans words as a physical threat, court records show.

In a different county, a landowners tenant nearly ran over another agent, Navigator alleges.

In its petitions, Navigator cites Iowa law that says a pipeline company may enter upon private land for the purpose of surveying and examining the land to determine direction or depth of a pipeline by giving ten days written notice.

The law continues: The entry for land surveys  shall not be deemed a trespass and may be aided by injunction.

The potential pipelines have drawn fierce resistance from landowners, county officials, conservationists and others, especially because of the potential use of eminent domain to build them despite landowners objections.

The companies aim to transport captured carbon dioxide from ethanol plants to be sequestered underground in other states. The projects seek to capitalize on billions of dollars of federal incentives to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Andy Bates, a Navigator spokesperson, declined to comment on the court petitions and whether the company might file more. He also declined to reveal the percentage of the roughly 800-mile route for which the company has signed voluntary easements with landowners.

We are making progress on easements and are signing additional tracts every day, Bates said.

Another company, Summit Carbon Solutions, has said it has permission for about 40% of its route through Iowa. A Summit spokesperson did not respond to a request to comment about its potential litigation with landowners.

Summit is further along in the process to gain a hazardous liquid pipeline permit from state regulators. It and Navigator had held required public meetings starting late last year in each of the affected counties. By law, those meetings must precede the land surveys and negotiations with landowners.

In June, Navigator altered its route and is in the process of holding new meetings in counties where the changes occurred. Those meetings were set to conclude later this month.

In each of the four district court actions, Navigator seeks court orders to prevent landowners from interfering with the surveys and help from sheriffs offices to ensure access to the properties is timely and safely provided.

The petitions were filed against Dennis Hart in Butler County, R.V. Hassman L.P. in Butler County, William and Vicki Hulse in Woodbury County, and Martin Koenig in Clay County.

This article first appeared in the Iowa Capital Dispatch, a sister site of the Nebraska Examiner in the States Newsroom Network.
YORK  Richard Sandage, 53, of York (who is also classified as a transient in court documents), was initially charged with seven felonies regarding the dealing of methamphetamine, but as part of a plea agreement, five of those charges were dismissed.

According to court documents, local law enforcement was dispatched on the report of a reckless driver on Interstate 80 and that the driver had entered Yorks city limits.

An officer with the York Police Department saw the vehicle in question in the area of East Second Street and Lincoln Ave. The officer saw the vehicle cross the center lane and a traffic stop was initiated in the area of Third and Grant Avenue.

Sandage was a passenger in the vehicle.

The driver, James Anthes, gave consent to search after admitting he had a marijuana pipe in his pocket.

Court documents indicate Sandage consented to a search of his person, during which the officer found a bag and a knife. Dispatch told the officer Sandage is a felon and is considered dangerous, so the officer placed him in handcuffs.

In the bag, the officer says there were seven individually packed bags containing methamphetamine. All totaled, the officer said there were 24 grams of methamphetamine.

Sandage was initially charged with possession of 10-27 grams of methamphetamine, a Class 1D felony, which carries a possible maximum sentence of 50 years in prison; delivery of a controlled substance near a school (daycare), a Class 2 felony which carries a possible maximum sentence of 50 years in prison; possession of a deadly weapon by a prohibited person, a Class 3 felony, which carries a possible maximum sentence of four years in prison; possession of a deadly weapon while committing a felony, a Class 3 felony; possession of a controlled substance, a Class 4 felony, which carries a possible maximum sentence of two years in prison; having no drug tax stamp, a Class 4 felony; and being a habitual criminal.

Court documents indicate Sandage was earlier convicted of a Class 2C felony in Carter County, Missouri.

This past week, in York County District Court, Sandage pleaded no contest to possession of a deadly weapon by a prohibited person and possession of a controlled substance. He is now facing a possible maximum sentence of six years in prison with three years of post-release supervision.

Sentencing has been set for Nov. 14.
(TBTCO) - Ket luan Hoi nghi voi cac doanh nghiep nuoc ngoai, Thu tuong Pham Minh Chinh khang inh Viet Nam cam ket tao lap moi truong kinh doanh tot nhat huong en cac chuan muc cua OECD, tren tinh than cung thang, "loi ich hai hoa, rui ro chia se" voi cac nha au tu boi "neu lam viec voi nhau ma ben thua, ben thang thi khong phai la hop tac".
LONDON  A British man held captive as a hostage in Lebanon for almost five years recounted on Monday how Queen Elizabeth invited him to stay after his release, a dramatic change from being chained to a wall to dining with royalty.

Then an envoy for the Archbishop of Canterbury, Terry Waite was in Beirut in January 1987, during Lebanon's Civil War, attempting to negotiate the release of British hostages held by the Islamic Jihad group, when he was taken hostage himself.

He was held in strict solitary confinement in harrowing conditions for much of his captivity, which ended in November 1991.

Waite, now 83, recounted that after he was flown back to Britain, he received an unexpected invitation from the queen for himself, his wife and their four children to escape from intense media interest and stay on her Scottish estate at Balmoral.

The family were flown up to a Royal Air Force base in Scotland before transferring to a helicopter that landed on the lawn in front of Balmoral Castle, Waite told Times Radio during an interview reflecting on the queen's death on Sept. 8.

"You can imagine the transition from spending five years sleeping on the floor or chained to the wall, suddenly there you are in Balmoral," he said.

The family stayed for two weeks in a cottage in the grounds that had previously been used by Princess Diana, then the wife of the queen's eldest son Prince Charles.

Waite said the fridge had been stocked and a Land Rover made available for the family's use during their two-week stay. At the weekend, they were invited to dine at the castle with the queen, her husband Prince Philip and other royals.

"William and Harry as young boys were there," he said, referring to Charles and Diana's sons. "Diana was there. And I had quite a lot of conversation actually with Prince Philip."

Waite said it took him about a year to feel as though he had rebuilt a normal life, but that stay at Balmoral made a significant difference.

"I was enormously grateful for the care and compassion of the queen," he said.

"One sees her as a head of state, in formal roles, but to somehow manage to bring to her role that deep understanding and care for people  She had a tremendous knowledge of different situations. You could talk to her about any situation, she had some understanding of it."
On Monday morning, the MP from the Pirate Party joined RTL Radio to discuss the unfolding energy crisis and how he thinks the government should tackle the situation.

"It is not enough to think about saving energy, we actually have to do it", said Clement at the beginning of the interview. He thus criticised the government's proposed measures for not being decisive or concrete enough.

MP Clement continued by noting that members of the administration seem to be refusing to work and that Minister for Energy Claude Turmes avoids taking tough decisions. He believes that measures should be mandated rather than voluntary and underlined that the government needs to step up in times of crisis.

Even if energy-saving measures were mandatory, it would still not be enough to get the country out of the situation, explained the politician. Clement therefore expressed his belief that Luxembourg needs its own energy plant. Furthermore, there is a lot of room for improvement in the area of photovoltaic installations, which applies to the government in particular. So far, only 4% of government buildings are equipped with solar panels, highlighted Clement.

In light of the upcoming tripartite meeting on Sunday, the Pirate Party advocates for the introduction of an energy subsidy for this winter, which should be capped at four times the minimum wage. In other words, people should get 150 per month until the end of the winter to compensate for running costs. The MP also criticised that the tripartite meeting is to be held behind closed doors.

The last point that MP Clement addressed was the fuel discount, an "absurd" measure that only helped very few residents. It is unconscionable that oil companies make billions of profits while people only benefit from 7.5 cents per litre. In the end, people paid for the measure with their own tax money, said Clement. He concluded by noting that France had found ways to make oil companies help compensate the support measures in our neighbouring country.

Interview in Luxembourgish
Our colleagues from RTL recently spoke to a refugee who is not allowed to stay in the same shelter as the rest of his family since Luxembourg was not the first country where he applied for international protection.

Tesfazgi is a 39-year-old husband and father from Eritrea, who fled his home country and currently lives in Luxembourg. Since he was awarded his original refugee status in Italy rather than the Grand Duchy, he is not legally permitted to live together with the rest of his family, who stay in a shelter in Marienthal.

"I only want to be there for my wife and kids", explained Tesfazgi, who has been living in the Grand Duchy for nine months. The rest of his family were awarded refugee status here in the country and are therefore eligible to live in a protected home.

Non-profit organisation Passerell, which provides legal council to refugees in Luxembourg, is aware of the legal barriers that prevent Tesfazgi from being with his wife, currently two months pregnant with twins, and their three other children.

Spokeswoman Marion Dubois provided explanations: "People who already benefit from a refugee or international protection status elsewhere cannot file a second request. This in return makes it impossible for them to move into one of the designated homes since they are reserved exclusively for people with pending or granted approval."



For some, Tesfazgi included, the situation can thus quickly turn into a vicious circle. After spending months without a proper home, the Eritrean is now suffering from health problems and spending time living in the streets.

Dubois thinks that this case still represents an exception, which is why access should be granted: "This is also the position of the Immigration Directorate. However, in terms of jurisprudence, the European Court for Human Rights clearly outlined in the 1980s what a family needs and whether a shared home is required for that."

In some cases, people managed to find temporary accommodation, which allowed them to bypass the problem altogether. Asked about Tesfazgi's situation, the National Bureau for Admission (ONA) denied to comment due to data protection laws.
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Wyoming will welcome Duck Dynasty star Willie Robertson to the organizations annual fundraising breakfast on Wednesday morning.

Robertson will serve as the keynote speaker at the organizations 24th annual awards and recognition breakfast, which will be held at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper.

The breakfast will also honor Brad and Jan Cundy, a Casper couple who founded Cundy Asphalt Paving Construction and Keyhole Technologies.

After losing their son Matthew to suicide in 2011, Brad and Jan have focused on the issue of suicide prevention in Wyoming. Theyve also given extensively in the Casper area.

The breakfast will also feature four Youth of the Year finalists, one of whom will be selected at the event. That young person will receive a $7,500 scholarship and advance to the statewide Youth of the Year competition in February.

Brad Hopkins, executive director of the Wyoming Rescue Mission in Casper, will be honored with the Mick and Susie McMurry Cowboy Code Try Award.

Each person at the breakfast will receive copies of a new book, Wyoming Try which highlights the stories of 12 Wyomingites whove done extraordinary things.

The breakfast is free to attend, but guests are asked to make a contribution to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Wyoming.

Doors open at 6:15 a.m. Wednesday, with breakfast at 6:30 a.m. and the program beginning at 7 a.m.

For tickets or more information, visit bgccw.org, or call 307-235-4079.
CHEYENNE  Documents charging a Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper with three felony counts of first-degree sexual assault with physical force have been filed in Laramie County District Court.

Sgt. Gabriel Lee Testerman was arrested Aug. 30 by the Laramie County Sheriffs Office, according to a Highway Patrol news release sent out that day.

The WHP apparently learned about a pending Cheyenne Police Department investigation involving Testerman on May 2, and he has been on administrative leave since then, the Highway Patrol said.

Testermans arraignment is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Sept. 19 in front of Laramie County District Judge Thomas Campbell. Testerman waived a preliminary hearing that had been scheduled for Sept. 7, automatically binding the charges over from Laramie County Circuit Court.

If convicted, Testerman faces up to 150 years in prison. Each count of first-degree sexual assault carries a possible sentence of five to 50 years of incarceration, a fine of up to $10,000 or both, according to court papers.

Both redacted and un-redacted affidavits of probable cause, which describe the details of the case, are currently in a confidential court file.

The case is being prosecuted by Sweetwater County and Prosecuting Attorney Daniel E. Erramouspe and his office.

A motion filed Aug. 29 by Laramie County District Attorney Leigh Anne Manlove asking for Erramouspes appointment said her office had determined there are multiple conflicts of interest that prevented its staff from prosecuting the case.

Laramie-based attorneys Tom Fleener and Devon Petersen entered their appearance for Testerman on Aug. 31, according to court documents.

Testerman bonded out of jail following an Aug. 31 initial appearance, according to a jail official. His bond had been set at $100,000 cash or surety.

Testerman has been with the highway patrol since 2005.
Luella Brien initially wanted to be a school teacher, but never thought shed be one after taking a different career path. Shortly after graduating high school, she pivoted from education to pursue journalism.

Now those paths have converged in her new position as the journalism teacher at Lodge Grass High School.

No one was more surprised by the career change than Brien, who was offered the job weeks before the new school year by her predecessor Ben Cloud during a summer audio reporting workshop with students.

Towards the end of the camp he just sort of says to me, By the way, Im retiring. Do you want to teach next year? she said with a laugh.

Juggling time between working as the tour manager for the Crow Tribe and editor for the online news company Four Point Media, she was initially hesitant to take the position. But, she ultimately accepted it, realizing the opportunity to expand local journalism with her students.

In addition to her career as a Montana journalist, Brien also worked as an instructor at Little Big Horn College and a media consultant for the Crow Tribe and Apsaalooke Legislature.

Despite not seeking the job, she feels uniquely qualified for it.

Its always been news, she said. I was either covering news or I was teaching others about news, so its always been a part of my work.

Journalistic pursuits

Briens interest in reporting started while growing up in Hardin. Skimming her fathers daily newspapers once he was finished with them. What started out as skipping to the comics led to finding her name in the scholastic achievers list and eventually to learning about current events through local articles.

As she grew older, she noticed the lack of news focusing on the Crow Indian Reservation. She said it was her curiosity about a family member who went missing that spurred how her own journalistic pursuits. She pestered family members who were reluctant to discuss it and neighbors to find out what everyone knew about the disappearance.

She learned that people went missing from her community, often without much of a follow-up investigation, more often than she thought.

As I got to talking with more and more people, I found out that a lot of families have similar stories to mine, she said. So I wanted to tell the stories of our community that no one tells.

Brien graduated from Hardin High School in 1999 and earned a liberal arts degree from Little Bighorn College in 2004. The lack of interesting job opportunities and her enjoyment of journalism courses led her to earn a bachelors degree in journalism at the University of Montana in 2006.

This would land her reporting jobs with the Ravalli Republic, Billings Gazette and, most recently, the Big Horn County News. It was back in her home county where she finally realized her goal of highlighting Crow Reservation news in a way it hadnt previously. Her position as the papers editor and general manager led to the papers coverage of tribal affairs to increase significantly.

She believes the rapport she developed with the community over the years also gave her the chance to tell their stories, which other reporters may not have gotten to.

I dont speak Crow, but the people there know me, she said. It didnt matter if I had moved away for a few years or not. They remember me and they trust me.

Dead Indians or feathered Indians

Brien said tribal communities like those in Big Horn County had grown disillusioned by most news outlets coverage of their lives and communities due to its limitations and depictions. Specifically, she said, most of these stories reported on either crime or tribal events highlighting their history and culture.

Were either dead Indians or feathered Indians, she said. Too often these news outlets will fly in or drive in to town, get what they want or need and go on to tell the story they want to tell.

This trend of misrepresentation and sensationalizing extends to nationally published papers like the New York Times, who reported on the disappearances of Crow women Kaysera Stops Pretty Places and Selena Not Afraid. Brien said reporters were quick to speak with Stops Pretty Places family shortly after she went missing but didnt report it until after Not Afraid went missing the following January.

So, Kayseras story is just sitting there for months, nothings getting done, and then Selena goes missing and theyre back immediately to talk with her family, she said. Then the story comes out and Kaysera is only mentioned towards the end. How much longer was that story going to sit there before they decided to run it?

Coverage like this and previous stories led Native communities to avoid talking to news reporters and rely more on local sources like Big Horn County News. Her shift toward more reservation coverage wasnt welcomed by everyone. Almost daily conflicts between the broader community and the paper prompted Brien to leave the paper in 2021 and launch Four Points Media.

The online news outlet focuses solely on the Crow Reservation in Big Horn County and to date has been funded through various grants. It was quickly met with positive results with over 3,000 readers visiting its website in the first month.

Funding inconsistency and Brien being its only contributor lead to initial hiccups, however. The companys website Four Points Press is due to re-launch this month while a recently hired reporter an additional board member will help sustain operations going forward.

The need is there

Four Points Media is far from the only local news outlet struggling to find its financial footing. Sam Sandoval is the editor of Char-Koosta News, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes official newspaper, and says they could cover more news throughout their community with additional staff and resources.

The paper has reached out to the University of Montanas journalism program about potential tribal reporters, but travel distances, lack of familiarity with the community and its small population has made it a less-attractive option for reporters. Sandoval has also reached out to nearby high school newspapers in Pablo, Ronan and Polson for potential contributors, but said declining student interest has resulted in inconsistency in recent years.

The popular thought these days is that journalism is dying, newspapers are shutting downbut the need is there, he said. Its just not stable enough and theres not enough people committed enough to do the work.

Journalism-publications teacher at C.M. Russell High School in Great Falls Beth Britton says shes noticed a steady decline in student interest in her journalism course over the past 10 years.

This will be the first year since 1965, when the school was founded, where there wont be a paper, Britton said. Thats more than upsetting.

Also president of the Montana Journalism Education Association, Britton said shes heard similar cases from other schools that competing new electives, high teacher turnover and students preference for social media apps over news have led to multiple school papers either becoming web-based only or getting phased out entirely.

They dont get the paper. A few students said they read some magazines, but only one or two said their parents read the paper, Britton said of her students today. They have no role model of a newspaper.

The Lodge Grass Gazette

At Lodge Grass High School, Brien is addressing these gaps in both tribal reporting and student reporting through her classwork. This year, the school is offering journalism, photojournalism, audio/visual production and yearbook classes that will use contemporary storytelling approaches. For their first journalism assignment, students were asked to introduce and describe themselves through a TikTok video.

Throughout the school year, students will also learn the fundamentals of multimedia journalism and write their own print articles, design the schools yearbook, produce podcasts and short films. They will also get hands-on experience contributing original reports to both Briens Four Point Press and the school newspaper, the Lodge Grass Gazette.

Senior student Angelina Toineeta decided this year to pursue a career in journalism after writing a piece on the Little Bighorn FFA program for last springs photojournalism class.

It was a cool feeling, getting to see what I had written on the page, Toineeta said. Id like to continue to write about my experiences and the things going on in my community.

Brien hopes to continue teaching at Lodge Grass High School and increasing this interest for years to come.

I want them to be excited about this class, Brien said. I want this to be the elective that students tell other students they have to take.
The Wyoming GOP State Central Committee will vote Saturday on a resolution to censure Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, following his recent attempts to solicit an independent candidate to challenge the Trump-endorsed Republican nominee for secretary of state in the upcoming general election.

Unfortunately, Wyomings problem is not only the Democratic and Republican parties, the resolution, as shared in a Friday email with members of the Republican Party, states. Our problem stems primarily from individuals who identify as Republican yet vote and act contrary to the platform of the Wyoming Republican Party.

The resolution says that the members of the State Central Committee will deny Case any financial or physical support in any political endeavors and requests Case to change his party affiliation. Park County GOP State Committeeman Vince Vanata said the resolution, which, unusually, is formatted as a letter, was initially passed unanimously at a GOP state executive committee meeting on Aug. 29 and has received an endorsement from the Park County GOP.

Wyoming GOP Executive Director Kathy Russell confirmed that Friday's version of the resolution is the most current draft.

I really probably wont do anything, to be honest, Case said regarding the resolution. I cant change their minds.

He said the State Central Committee hasnt directly notified him of the resolution. Wyoming National Committeeman Corey Steinmetz didnt respond to the Star-Tribune by deadline to confirm this, or whether the State Central Committee plans to officially notify Case before the meeting.

Case, known for his libertarian bent and willingness to deviate from party lines, is one of several more traditional and moderate-leaning Republicans who have garnered the ire of some far-right party members. Hes already been censured once by the Fremont County GOP for acting contrary to the will of the governed and the Wyoming Republican Party platform. That followed a guest column Case wrote for the Cowboy State Daily encouraging Wyoming Republicans to return to Big Tent politics and denouncing the politics of hate and disparagement that he said has come to characterize the Wyoming GOP.

At every turn, the Republican State Party leadership gives voice to a minority viewpoint that will not tolerate disagreement, Case wrote in the column, urging people to get involved in politics and run in the primaries.

The resolution cites the column as one grievance, but it particularly targets Cases recent involvement in attempts to find an independent challenger to Republican Secretary of State candidate Rep. Chuck Gray, R-Casper, who defeated his most prominent challenger, attorney Sen. Tara Nethercott, R-Cheyenne, by roughly 9 points in the August primaries. Case tried to convince former Republican representative Nathan Winters to run against Gray in the general election, but Winters declined, saying that its important for the GOP to unite behind Gray. Case was joined by a group of traditional, moderate-leaning Republicans and some Democrats in the search for an independent challenger. The endeavor ultimately failed.

The idea that an elected Republican would undermine the will of the Republican voters of this State is beyond the pale, the resolution says, regarding Cases push to get an independent on the November ballot.

If hes going to do things contrary to the Republican Party platform, or if hes going to appease those people in a different party, than Cale Case should just remove the R from after his name, run as an unaffiliated, and then see if the voters truly want to elect him for the person he is, Vanata said.

The effort to limit Grays power as secretary of state hasnt stopped there. Last month, the Joint Corporations Committee sought to draft a bill that would strip elections administration from among the secretary of states duties. Elections would be run by a separate agency with an appointed director instead. Case is in favor of moving forward with the secretary of state bill, which, the resolution says, is tantamount to an abuse of power and position.

Gray has called President Joe Bidens election fraudulent and illegitimate. His platform focuses on voter fraud and banning ballot drop boxes, even though voter fraud is extremely rare in Wyoming. During the primary, his political opponents also raised concerns about Grays qualifications for the job. The Secretary of State is Wyomings No. 2 elected official and oversees the states elections.

Gray is running unopposed in the general election, so he is almost guaranteed to succeed current Secretary of State Ed Buchanan.

Case questioned whether Gray would win the Republican nomination if he were to go head-to-head with Nethercott in a runoff election, which some states require when no candidate receives a majority vote (Gray won 49.8% of the Republican vote, while Nethercott and another candidate, Mark Armstrong, got 41% and 9.1% of the vote, respectively).

I think hed probably lose, Case said of Grays prospects in a theoretical runoff election. These people that insist on their legitimacy, theyre missing the most important thing; democracy doesnt exist to further partisan politics. We want to further a result where the majority are in power.

Case said he wasnt really worried about the resolution itself hurting him politically, given his experience with being censured by Fremont County GOP, which he thinks may have actually helped him in the primary. He won by 10 points over challenger Shawn Olmstead.

Believe it or not, Ive heard a lot more positives than negatives, he said. I think it helped my election. I really do. It was a nasty election, the nastiest one Ive ever been in, but I think it probably helped me.
GREYBULL  Podcast host Carla Mowell first got into podcasting when This American Life started posting show episodes online in the mid-2000s.

I had an office job, so when I was doing things that were more tedious I would put on an episode of This American Life, she recalled.

Ever since then, when I got really into podcasting, I realized I wanted more.

Mowell was disappointed early on by the lack of Wyoming podcast content.

When I searched, I didnt find anything that scratched the itch I had, she said.

Her podcast Wyoming My 307 seeks to correct that absence, setting out to explore the people, culture, wildlife, geology and history of the least populated, and most wonderful, state in the U.S.

She released her 10th episode at the end of August.

My goal is to highlight a diversity of voices from Wyoming. We have such a stereotype in Wyoming of what a Wyomingite looks like. And I love Western culture. We dont have a lot of diversity, but we have a lot more than we highlight.

Taking a page from This American Life, Wyoming My 307 is a thematic podcasteach episode consists of three segments linked by a common theme. Those segments include a guest interview bookended byWyomingWildlife, where Mowell shares information on Wyoming species, and Dot on the Map, which highlights a town in Wyoming.

My commitment is to have at least one episode for every town in Wyoming, every Dot on the Map, Mowell said.

So far, her episodes have tackled subjects like World War II in Wyoming, Wyomings history of flight, the life of a game warden and growing up gay in Wyoming.

I spent quite a bit of time even before I started the podcast just thinking through topics, Mowell explained. She finds inspiration and possible guest speakers from a variety of sources including newspapers, magazines, books and accounts she follows on social media. Then I start building out the idea as a whole.

The collection of Wyoming books and publications in her home speaks to Mowells prolific research habits.

Im continuously researching, always. Borrowing, buying, or reading books at the library. That part is forever. I go down these rabbit holes that are fascinating.

Mowell writes up her podcasts show notes in a companion blog where she provides a summary of each episode and pictures of the places she references. Mowell noted the blog has been a better access point for an older generation and those with special needs.

Explaining podcasting to people has been part of what Ive had to do, especially the older generation who might not be as attached to their dang phone as the rest of us, she said.

Mowell set some unofficial rules for her podcast early on. One is to never feature a town she hasnt visited. She wants to immerse her listeners in the vibe of an area shes personally explored rather than list information they can find online.

She also aims to interview Wyomingites, though she allows more leniency on that front.

Her fourth episode Words of Wyoming explores Western language with linguist Grant Barrett, co-host of NPRs A Way with Words and one of Mowells podcasting heroes.

I cant believe I scored this interview. I was like, so fangirling, Mowell laughed.

She emailed the show asking for book recommendations on Western language for her own podcast and within half an hour, Grant Barrett himself was emailing my butt! Barrett offered to come on as a guest.

He was so gracious. He spent extra time, because I was still new to podcasting, and he helped me, she said.

Wyoming My 307 has amassed a steadily growing audience. As of this article, the show has over 5,500 downloads. Most of Mowells audience is in the U.S., but shes collected a smattering of international listeners as well.

One show element shes working to improve is regularly releasing episodes, a key to maintaining an audiences attention.

Two new grandchildren have kept Mowell busy, so much so that eager listeners have messaged her about when to expect more episodes.

I do love and appreciate that energy of eagerness, of people wanting to hear the next one, and that does give me a boost too. But its my passion project; its not my job, Mowell said.

Unlike bigger productions, she doesnt have a team behind her.

Im a solo podcasterdirecting, producing, editing, fact checking, Im doing all of that. Im okay giving myself a little grace on how often it comes out.

Future episodes will feature Wyoming bars, architecture, the Pony Express and how to read a cemetery. Mowell is currently at work on an episode about cryptocurrency, and shes excited about an upcoming interview with Jordan Dresser, Chairman of the Northern Arapaho Business Council.

I do feel like an ambassador for Wyoming, Mowell said. I hope my podcast helps both people from Wyoming and outside of the state learn more about Wyoming and our diversity. Those of us who live here, for us to appreciate it, and those of us who are just zipping through, to slow down a little bit. Theres a lot more to Wyoming.

Wyoming My 307 is available on multiple podcast platforms such as Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Podbean. The show can also be accessed from Mowells blog at wyomingmy307.blogspot.com.
signing off: CEO of Term Finance Holdings Oliver Sabga, left, and Colin Sabga, director/general counsel of Term Finance Holdings, sign off on the deal to acquire FastCash.
It feels like Aaron Duncan has been around forever.

Duncan literally grew up in front the eyes of local music fans, evolving from a tiny kaiso tot to a less tiny teenaged soca star.

The Port of Spain-born boy-who-could first endeared himself to the feting masses with his Carnival 2015 breakthrough hit Can You Feel It. His 2018 jam Back to Basics was on the lips of every pre-teen and teeny bopper on the islands. And two years later he pulled them all into his girlfriend drama with the 2020 pre-Covid hit Stay.
Medical matters: Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh, second from left, poses yesterday with, from left, Dr Richard Mann; St Martinus University Dean of Student Affairs Dr Larry Baratta; and Kele

Ransome, managing director of All Care Home Services Ltd, following the opening of the Trinidad and Tobago Medical Associations 28th Annual Medical Research Conference, at the Hyatt Regency hotel, Wrightson Road, Port of Spain. Photo: ROBERT TAYLOR
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
FOUR swimmers are hoping to achieve what has so far been impossible, as they attempt the gr
Thursdays speech by Watson Duke is undoubtedly the start of his campaign for the next Tobag
Arizona Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons: The oral surgeons of Arizona Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons announce the launch of their sixth Second Chance program. They changed Chandra McGintys life last year, and look forward to improving the quality of life for another local who suffers from poor oral health. The candidate will receive a brand-new permanent set of teeth, a procedure typically costing $50,000, completely for free.

Arizona Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons are seeking deserving locals in need of a smile makeover. The practice is encouraging Tucson, Oro Valley, or Sahuarita residents with multiple missing or failing teeth who cannot afford restorative treatment to apply to the program at azoms.com/secondchance by Sept. 22.

University of Arizona: The Terracon Foundation announced a $50,000 endowment to University of Arizona (UA) to support graduate students with an interest in geotechnical engineering.

Interfaith Community Services: ICS set a goal to collect 10,000 jars of peanut butter in July, and the generous faith community partners and supporters blew past that number and kept on going. The month-long event brought in more than 14,000 jars. These donations, a five- month supply, will free up about $20,000 in Food Bank funds to purchase other food essentials for thousands of Tucson families.
The sights, smells and spanakopita associated with the annual Tucson Greek Festival will not be present along East Fort Lowell Road this year.

The property owned by St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church, home to the Greek Festival for more than 45 years, was auctioned off in August.

A new church and event center are being built at 3939 N. Alvernon Way, but church leaders are holding off on hosting the festival again until construction is complete.

The last few years have been hard on Greek cuisine with the closure of The Greek House and Fronimos Greek Cafe on East Speedway, and Pelio Grill on East University.

But there are still a few spots in town where one can feast on tasty Greek-style dolmades, gyros, lamb and chicken dishes.

Here are some spots where you can still eat like a Greek.

Santorini Greek Cafe

2545 E. Speedway, greektucson.com

Authenticity is key at Santorini Greek Cafe, named for the Greek island known for its cliff-side homes and stunning views in every direction.

The view from the cafe is a little less stunning  an Eegees and the Old Peking Chinese Restaurant across a very busy East Speedway  but our guess is that youll probably be too busy feasting on owner Fatos Foti Alushajs culinary creations to even notice.

Alushaj learned the ins-and-outs of traditional Greek cooking in Athens and Crete before moving to Tucson six years ago. He also worked at several Tucson restaurants, including the now-closed Athens on Fourth, before opening Santorini in March 2021.

One of his signature dishes is an authentic Greek gyro, which is made with chicken or pork.

When you are in Greece, that is what you are going to find, Alushaj said. Gyros made with chicken or pork. I also make my own tzatziki.

Santorini has a beef and lamb meat gyro, too, as well as all of the staples: lamb chops, eggplant-based moussaka, soutzoukakia (meatballs in tomato sauce). All food is ordered at the register and brought to your table.

Santorinis is open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays.

Opas Best Greek American Cuisine

4950 E. Broadway, facebook.com/opasbesttucson

It can be a challenge finding a time in the day when Opas Best is not busy.

This spacious Greek restaurant, located in what was once Zivaz Mexican Bistro on East Broadway, is a hive of activity during its lunch and dinner hours.

Guests are served free pita, hummus and tzatziki (Opas version of chips and salsa) when they sit down. Portion sizes are generous, with meat and vegetarian options, including chicken souvlaki, gyro platters, lamb chops and hummus wraps, available.

The lunch menu is expansive and the dinner menu is even bigger. Regular orders of flaming saganaki, Greek kasseri cheese with brandy and lemon, set ablaze at your table, keep faces warm when the temperature drops outside.

Opas Best, which has been in business since 2018, also has a a selection of Greek beers and wines to enjoy, in addition to some Greek-inspired cocktails. For some truly Greek flavor, try Opas Best Fix cocktail, with ouzo, fresh-squeezed lemon juice, triple sec and Angostura bitters.

Opas Best is open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays; 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays.

Opas Grill

500 N. Fourth Ave., opasgrill.com

If you like the food Opas Best provides, but find yourself closer to downtown, you can visit their second location, Opas Grill, which opened a year ago in the old Athens on Fourth space on North Fourth Avenue.

Owner Qais Papoutsis told the Star in 2020 that Opas Grill filled a void that Athens left when it closed.

Every town you go to, downtown has a good Greek restaurant for many years, he said.

The second location shares Opas Best menu with perhaps a little more ambience; a place where the nearby University of Arizona kids can take their parents when mom and dad come for a visit.

Opas Grill is open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays; 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays.

Its Greek To Me

15920 N. Oracle Road, itsgreektomecatalina.com

Geographically, Its Greek To Me is the Thessaloniki (Greeces second largest city) of Tucson-area Greek restaurants, located on the far north end of Pima County in Catalina.

Thats good for the folks in Oro Valley, Saddlebrooke and northern unincorporated Pima County, who dont have to travel far to get their Greek cuisine fix.

The restaurant has had several owners over the last 20 years, but is currently helmed by the husband-and-wife team David and Kaitlyn dAuteuil, former employees who met while working there.

The dAuteuils were dismayed when they heard the restaurant had been shuttered.

We had a lot of memories there, said David dAuteuil. We both loved the restaurant and couldnt believe it was closed. We thought there was no way this place shouldnt be here. The community always loved it.

The couple signed the lease and reopened using some of the Greek recipes that they had learned during their time as employees.

Five years later, and the dAuteuils are seeing steady business, especially on Friday and Saturday nights.

We always recommend reservations, David dAuteuil said. People really responded well and have been supporting us ever since.

Its Greek To Me describes itself on its website as a scratch kitchen, with seafood (salmon, diver scallops, fishermans stew) and gluten free options, as well as Greek pastries.

Have a plate of pastitsio  braised ground beef baked with pasta then topped with bechamel and braised lamb shank sauce  then share a dessert, perhaps a baklava or sokolatopita  chocolate cake soaked in a butter brandy sauce, and served with berries and cream  with your loved one.

David dAuteuil said the grilled octopus has been a fan favorite at the restaurant.

The seafood medley, with fresh fish, prawns, clams and mussels simmered in a butter-wine broth, with sun dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, black olives and spinach over pasta, is another, Kaitlyn dAuteuil said.

It was a special we started doing on the weekends, she added. It became so popular, we made it a regular menu item.

Its Greek to Me is open from noon to 7 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays.
Robbie Woodhouses grandfather began nearly a century of family farming along the Gila River near Yuma in the mid-1920s when he dug up a bunch of mesquite stumps on his land to make way for his barley, wheat, Bermuda seed, cotton and melon fields.

Farming never really took off at the Woodhouse homestead until 1954, when the federal government finished a 75-mile-long concrete canal to bring Colorado River water to whats now known as the Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District, which covers about 58,500 acres along the Gila River east of the Colorado.

Today, Woodhouse presides over the governing board of a district with more than 120 individual growers, partnerships, trusts and other operating entities growing about 100 different crops, including seed crops as well as staples such as wheat, cotton, lettuce and other produce. Wellton-Mohawk is one of six irrigation districts in the Yuma area that together grow 90% of the cauliflower, lettuce, broccoli and other winter vegetables sold in the U.S.

But now, the future of this district, of farming in the Yuma area in general, and of Arizonas second-largest drinking water supply for urban residents  the Colorado River  are all mired in uncertainty.

Due to a logjam in interstate negotiations for massive cuts in Colorado River water deliveries, farmers and urban users have no idea how much water use they will be ordered to cut or when cuts would occur.

All Yuma area irrigation districts depend entirely on Colorado River water to nourish crops. Groundwater lying beneath many of the farm fields is of uncertain or poor quality.

Woodhouses 1,250 acres grow mostly produce, such as cauliflower, broccoli and lettuce.

Without the water, we dont grow anything. But I wouldnt say we are scared, he said. We do feel an obligation to do our part.

Water officials of Arizona cities of Tucson, Goodyear and Scottsdale are also concerned but not panicking. They are the most dependent of Arizona cities on Colorado River water delivered through the Central Arizona Project, a $4 billion, 336-mile-long canal system from the river to the Phoenix and Tucson areas.

Backup supplies are led by groundwater

While these cities have backup supplies, led by groundwater, to cushion them in the short to medium term, their long-term picture is more uncertain because the CAP was extended into Arizona nearly 40 years ago to get them off groundwater.

Arizona got about 36% of its total water supply from the river as recently as 2020. That share of river water feeding farms and cities has declined some since then, with the advent of a federally approved Drought Contingency Plan that will cut the states river water use by 21% starting in 2023. Its expected to drop even further in the coming years.

Uncertainty was triggered first in June, when Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton told a U.S. Senate Committee that to stabilize the rivers declining reservoirs Lakes Mead and Powell, river basin states needed to come up with a plan by mid-August this year to cut water use by up to 30% starting in 2023. If a plan didnt appear by then, she warned the federal government would impose its own, to protect the system.

But mid-August came and went with no agreement and no plan or timetable for a plan from the Bureau of Reclamation. Bureau officials said at an Aug. 16 news conference, however, that they will look closely at several measures such as modifying the Hoover and Glen Canyon dams so they can deliver water at lower elevations; and counting evaporation of river and reservoir water against the Lower Basins total water supply, thereby reducing that supply by hundreds of thousands of acre-feet a year.

Federal governments pace criticized

So now, Wellton-Mohawk and the other irrigation districts are pushing a plan to cut one acre-foot of water used per acre annually, on 925,000 acres along the Lower Colorado River in Arizona and California. In return, they want $1,500 an acre-foot in compensation, or a total of $1.387 billion annually. An acre-foot is enough to serve two to four Arizona households for a year.

With that money, the districts would invest in water-efficient farming tools like drip irrigation, gradually switch to less thirsty crops from water-slurping alfalfa, and weather economic losses from reduced water use, Woodhouse said. That will likely involve crop rotations and other changes, he said.

The proposal has been roundly criticized by urban water leaders. While saying farms must take the biggest water use curbs because they use 72% of Arizonas water and close to 80% basinwide, CAP officials say the farmers price tag is unrealistically high and that money paid should be used strictly to modernize irrigation practices.

Where Arizona farmers and city officials agree is that the federal government has not moved fast enough to reduce water use.

Reclamation has got to show some leadership and say this has got to be done and give us a guide map as to how the system is protected as the commissioner promised it would be, said Wade Noble, an attorney representing the Yuma-area irrigation districts.

The CAPs board president Terry Goddard and its previous president Lisa Atkins wrote a letter on Aug. 19 to the Interior secretary that made essentially the same point. To date, Interior hasnt responded.

Now, some Arizona water users have pulled back on past commitments to leave water in Lake Mead to prop it up.

Those users include the Central Arizona Project itself, the city of Tucson and the Gila River Indian Community. Theyve at least temporarily withdrawn commitments to leave nearly 250,000 acre-feet in Mead this year and next. Thats almost as much river water as Robbie Woodhouses Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation District sprays on its crops in a year.

Unfortunately, the community has been shocked and disappointed to see the complete lack of progress in reaching the kind of cooperative basin-wide plan necessary to save the Colorado River system, said Gila River Indian Community Chairman Stephen Roe Lewis.

Until now, the Gilas have left almost 600,000 other acre-feet of their CAP supply in Mead since 2016. In 2022 alone, CAP users and other Arizona Colorado River users left nearly 800,000 acre-feet in Mead, led by 512,000 acre-feet the CAP had to leave there under the 2019 Drought Contingency Plan due to the lakes falling levels.

That compares to a total of 1.062 million acre-feet CAP is expected to deliver to all of its customers during 2022.

Arizona and California left another 268,000 acre-feet in the lake this year from the 500 Plus Plan, which had sought a half-million acre-feet in voluntary contributions to the lake. But projections for next year show more water will be removed from the lake under that plan than will be left in it.

Cities face inevitability

Many Arizona cities using river water are preparing for the inevitability theyll have to use less river water.

Officials of Tucson Water are optimistic about the citys ability to survive major CAP cuts, although they know that at some point theyll likely be pumping groundwater in its place.

About 40 years ago, the utility signed up to take almost a third more CAP water than it needs today to serve its 735,610 customers living inside and outside city limits. Thats allowed it to store nearly five and one-half years worth of CAP water in large recharge basins  water that can be pumped when needed during CAP shortages later.

Tucson Water also has access to a huge, largely untapped aquifer lying under a large expanse of former farmland northwest of the city that it bought and retired in the 1970s. It also regularly recharges, and stores underground, large amounts of partially treated effluent that can be pumped later, and is slowly moving into a program to build green infrastructure such as rainwater capture facilities, using a small fee charged to water customers.

Were still awaiting to see what the CAP cuts will be. We have been prepared for it. We have a diverse portfolio of water sources, said Tucson Water Director John Kmiec. We have multiple dials, multiple water resources.

But there is a cautionary note. A recent Bureau of Reclamation study found that as the Southwests climate warms, runoff of melting snows into rivers and washes surrounding Tucson is likely to decline, meaning less water will be replenishing its aquifer than in the past.

That would increase the possibility that groundwater pumping in place of CAP water use could put increased pressure on the aquifer, triggering higher pumping costs and more likelihood of subsidence in which the ground collapses, possibly triggering fissures.

On one level, Lisa Shipek of Tucsons Citizens Water Advisory Committee agrees with Kmiec  that the city can survive with less or even no CAP water. Fulltime director of the nonprofit Watershed Management Group, Shipek endorses what she calls a hydrolocal approach, one that would rely much more heavily on using captured stormwater and recycled sewage effluent.

She favors measures to reduce Tucson Waters per-person water use from 80 gallons to 40 gallons a day, to take pressure off underground aquifers and trigger recovery of rivers and streams that dried up 70 years or more ago.

Her ideas for achieving that goal include banning decorative, nonfunctional turf for homes and businesses, starting with new development and eventually phasing it in on existing development. She also suggests rebates for low-flow appliances and for rainwater harvesting and gray water equipment to homeowners living outside Tucson Waters service area. She also favors putting more restrictive measures in the citys drought plans, to kick in when CAP shortages get worse, and to also tie the drought plans to local water conditions such as aquifer levels as well as to conditions on the Colorado River.

We want to live in a community where we have a place where we feel we can live here in the summer, Shipek said. We want to have an urban forest, flowing rivers, that has a certain quality of living. Thats what we love about the Sonoran Desert. We should be using every tool in our toolbox to drive down water use, maximizing recharge, to continue to bring our groundwater levels up, to support streams, creeks and rivers.

Phoenix-area cities plans

In Goodyear, in the Phoenix areas West Valley, population about 101,000, the city has recharged about half of its annual CAP supplies into the ground for several years. Its recharging treated sewage effluent into the ground, and storing a total of seven years supply of both sources. It anticipates no short-term problems in delivering water to customers, said Ray Diaz, Goodyears water resources and sustainability manager.

The cutbacks could, however, affect the citys ability to serve and allow continued growth, he said. Under that circumstance, the city would have to assess what it can afford in the way of future growth and water deliveries, he said.

In Scottsdale east of Phoenix, CAP supplies about 70% of the water for its 250,000 residents. Most is delivered directly to homes and businesses. If Scottsdale sustained a large cut in CAP supplies, it would have to rely much more heavily on groundwater, although it doesnt know how much now, said Gretchen Baumgardner, the citys water policy manager.

Scottsdale has stored about 230,000 acre-feet of CAP water and treated sewage effluent in the ground  about 2.5 years worth of its current supply  but city officials dont want to use it all at once, Baumgardner said. It also gets about 15% of its water supply from the Salt and Verde rivers.

The city is also looking to extend its supply further. Its wastewater treatment plant in North Scottsdale operates a pilot project to treat a small amount of effluent to exceed state drinking water standards, a process called direct potable reuse. The city is working with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality to help set up new regulations to allow the plant to treat wastewater for drinking on a larger scale.

But when asked if a Day Zero could ever arrive in which Scottsdale failed to meet all residents demands for water, Baumgardner replied, Its just one of those uncertainties right now. That will really be hard to answer, in part because of a pending effort by federal officials to overhaul guidelines for operating reservoirs. It wont be finished until 2026.

Ultimately, the story of CAP water in Arizona is a story about groundwater, said Kathryn Sorensen, a researcher for Arizona State Universitys Kyl Center for Water Policy. When less river water is delivered, cities and farms fall back on groundwater.

We are very blessed to have plentiful aquifers in central Arizona we can fall back on, Sorensen said. But they are all fossil aquifers, whose water entered them thousands of years ago and cant be easily replaced.

If we pump them and are unable to replenish the pumping, the aquifers will pay the price.

Arizona water chief seeks federal action on Colorado River For Star subscribers: Compensated turf removal; paying farmers to grow lower-water-use crops; and investing in water reuse, recycling and salt water desalination are among the dozen specific proposals.

Squabbling Arizona, California hold key to Colorado River's future For Star subscribers: Arizona and California, which have battled over the Colorado River for nearly a century, are at it again. This time, Arizona leaders are blaming California, and other states, for putting the burden of stemming the river's impending crisis on their backs alone.
EUGENE, Oregon (KEZI) -- Hundreds of people who live in Oakridge and the surrounding areas are temporarily sheltering at both the Lane Events Center and Lane Community College as the Cedar Creek Fire continues to grow.

As of Sunday morning, the fire was reported at 85,926 acres. Officials said the fire is threatening 2,230 homes and 443 commercial structures.

Evacuees are holding their breathe, hoping they're able to return to their homes soon.

Terry Cardoso and Trudy Hammond said they evacuated Friday once the Level Three (Go Now) evacuation order took effect.

"We didn't really have a lot of space to grab personal things for us," Hammond said.

"What we got on," Cardoso said.

They grabbed everything they could and joined a line of cars heading west down Highway 58.

"We had that trailer full of stuff, so when we went to Level Two we had to empty the trailer and reload it with what we had," Hammond said. "And then before we knew it, we hit Level Three."

Hammond described what was going through her head in those moments.

"We're going to lose everything," Hammond said. "All my pictures of my daughter are going to go up in flames."

Inside their truck and trailer, they had with them eight rescue dogs. Cardoso and Hammond run an animal rescue in Oakridge called Mountain Respite & Mission Rescue Safety Animal Center.

Just last year, they bought a new home with space to care for more animals, Hammond said.

"Everything that we've got established is now in harms way of becoming ashes," Hammond said.

It's an all too familiar feeling for Cardoso, Hammond, and others who have lived in Oakridge the past few years.

"There was the fire previously as well that threatened and then this current fire right here, so it's definitely exhausting," Hammond said.

This year, they made it to Springfield Friday evening and set up for the night in a church parking lot.

"We found a church parking lot that offered a space at Crossfire at 28th and Main in Springfield," Hammond said.

When they woke up, they set off to find a temporary home for three large Great Danes they took with them. Judi Sanders at Many Miles 2 Home Dog Rescue stepped up, offering to care for the three Great Danes while Cardoso and Hammond wait for officials to allow them to eventually return home.

"I felt like I had to help," Sanders said. "When you rescue, whether you're rescuing animals or anything, for that matter, you feel the need, and you just start doing."

Cardoso and Hammond are keeping their spirits high. They said when they're able to return home, they're going to pick up right where they left off.

"We're survivors," Cardoso said. "We'll get through this."
Arizona voters will not see a debate between the major gubernatorial hopefuls.

Democrat Katie Hobbs said Sunday she will not share a stage with Republican Kari Lake. Campaign manager Nicole DeMont charged that Lake, who used her GOP primary debate to decry a corrupt, stolen election, would turn the planned Oct. 12 event into constant interruptions, pointless distractions, and childish name-calling.

The decision came even after the Citizens Clean Election Commission, after hearing DeMonts concerns last week, agreed to let her propose changes in the format. And it even committed to some strict time limits for answers.

What was not negotiable for commission members was the candidates appearing on stage together, just like every other debate it has sponsored over the past two decades. They said the public is entitled to see the candidates side by side.

But DeMont did not even respond with any new proposals before Sundays outright rejection. Instead, she told Capitol Media Services on Monday that Hobbs remains wedded to  and unwilling to compromise over  her demand for a town hall type event, where each candidate would be interviewed separately by Arizona PBS host Ted Simons.

Anything else, she said, is unacceptable.

I wouldnt even characterize it as playing dirty, DeMont said of how Lake would behave in an hourlong debate.

Its just not rooted in reality, she continued. She cant even admit that Joe Biden is the president.

So Hobbs, DeMont said, sees no reason to even consider sharing the stage. Instead, she said, the Democratic nominee is spending her time on the road meeting with voters.

And DeMont noted Hobbs already did one town hall type event with Lake at the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, with another planned for next month.

But the excuse to avoid a general election debate because of Lakes claim does not explain why Hobbs refused to participate in the Clean Elections debate with former Nogales Mayor Marco Lopez ahead of the Democratic primary.

DeMont said she wasnt working for Hobbs campaign at that point.

The word from the campaign at that time was that a debate would not fit into Hobbs schedule, even though Tom Collins, the commissions executive director, said the panel routinely alters dates to accommodate the candidates.

But Hobbs, as secretary of state, also made it clear she didnt see any benefit in debating the lesser-known Lopez and potentially giving him some traction.

As the only candidate on either side of the aisle with a clear path through the primary, Katie remains focused on the big picture: winning in November so that she can defend Arizona from Kari Lakes conspiracy theories and never-ending lies that threaten Arizonans freedoms, her campaign staff said at the time.

And that now means not debating Lake.

What all this also means is that Hobbs will enter the Nov. 8 general election without ever once debating any of her opponents. But DeMont insisted she does not believe that will turn off voters or weaken Hobbs chances of winning what recent polling has shown could be a close race.

I think if we did, wed be doing something different, she said. As proof, DeMont said, Hobbs just finished a tour of northern Arizona.

This is not the thing that voters were talking to Secretary Hobbs about, she said. They were talking about the issues that are important to them, not about what was going back and forth between Clean Elections.

Hobbs decision to avoid debating Lake is not a surprise.

DeMont balked last week when commission chairman Damien Meyer asked her whether there are any conditions under which the candidate would agree to participate in the same kind of debate the commission has sponsored for decades. DeMont said she would not respond to hypothetical questions.

Hobbs decision means that Lake will get 30 minutes of her own on KAET-TV, the Phoenix PBS affiliate, on Oct. 12. She will be questioned by Simons who has hosted other debates. That is precisely what happened when Hobbs snubbed a debate with Lopez.
In March 2020, Gov. Doug Ducey signed into law a sweeping set of measures designed to help curb rising rates of suicide and expand access to mental health treatment for Arizona residents with and without insurance.

Commonly known as Jakes Law, the legislation was named after Jake Machovsky, a 15-year-old who died by suicide in 2016 after his familys insurance denied an inpatient stay for mental health treatment.

The law marked a major stride toward achieving mental health parity in Arizona, which is when insurers provide the same level of service for behavioral health and substance abuse treatment as they do for other physical ailments. It also expanded access to mental health treatment by letting schools refer uninsured and underinsured students to mental health providers  and by paying for those services when families couldnt afford them on their own.

Since Jakes Law was enacted, hundreds of eligible students have accessed mental health treatment they may not have otherwise received. The state has paid for nearly $1.4 million in services using the $8 million Childrens Behavioral Health Services Fund created by the law, which campus mental health professionals interviewed by AZCIR heralded as an incredible addition to how they address youth mental health needs.

Yet, two years into the program, more than half of Arizona schools havent referred students under the law. Among traditional districts and charter systems that have opted in to refer, uneven staffing for school counselors and social workers has led to an unknown number of students getting overlooked for treatment.

Fewer than 700 students qualified to use the state fund out of nearly 8,000 referred from June 2021 through June 2022, as the money is only available after all other payment options  such as public grants or Medicaid  are exhausted.

Even after students are referred for treatment, parents must give permission for their children to receive services and find time to get their children to off-campus appointments if they arent available at school. A statewide shortage of mental health providers means districts sometimes dont have nearby options to refer students for help.

These obstacles are concerning in a state where 70% of youth who experienced a major depressive episode in the year before the pandemic did not receive treatment. Suicide is the second-leading cause of death in Arizona for those aged 10 to 19.

I know there are students who do need services and arent receiving them, said Rebecca Carrier, counseling coordinator for Tucson Unified School District.

Overall, though, Carrier believes the ability to use this new fund for students in need is a positive: No ones denied under Jakes Law, she said.

Post-pandemic mental health fallout

When Jakes parents, Denise Schatt-Denslow and Ben Denslow, found a volunteer lobbyist willing to help with their cause, they focused their efforts on bringing Arizonas laws more in line with federal mental health parity. In other words, they wanted to stop health insurers from handling coverage of mental health and substance abuse treatment differently than how they handled coverage of physical conditions.

The parity element has taken longer to implement than the student behavioral health fund, according to Carly Fleege, the volunteer lobbyist who helped shape and pass the law. After two years of back-and-forth with insurers, the changes to state parity rules thatwent into effect Sept. 4, 2022.

To improve mental health parity in Arizona, the law created a website to educate residents about what insurers should be offering and how to file insurance complaints. It also required state-regulated insurers to provide a customer service line on insurance cards, mandated that insurance companies file reports to the state every three years detailing their compliance with state and federal parity laws, and created a Mental Health Parity Advisory Committee housed in the Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions.

Fleege said developing a fund to help families pay for services that were otherwise out of reach was in large part made possible by then-Sen. Kate Brophy McGee, the Phoenix Republican who sponsored the bill and encouraged the family to add the Childrens Behavioral Health Services Fund to the legislation.

The fund is managed by the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the states Medicaid agency, and is used as a last-resort payment option for uninsured and underinsured students who dont qualify for AHCCCS or other federal grants.

School districts make referrals, and AHCCCS determines students eligibility for various types of funding. One of Arizonas three Regional Behavioral Health Authorities pays contracted providers that have agreements with schools to provide services either on- or off-campus.

Fleege, who lost her sister to suicide in 2017, called the timing of the funds creation a huge blessing in disguise.

I dont think anybody could have anticipated a global pandemic, the fallout from that and how difficult it would be on our kids, she said.

Natalie Hunter, a social worker at Vista Grande High School in Casa Grande, said the ability to refer students without insurance has been helpful for those who lack the resources to get therapy outside of school. At Vista Grande, students can receive mental health care from a local provider that visits campus two days a week.

Students Hunter works with also feel supported, she said, because they see collaboration from the home, school and the community coming together to provide necessary services.

Parents who consent to treatment for their children are generally happy with the school-based referral system, according to AHCCCS survey results obtained by AZCIR. One parent said what the access to care did for her son was nothing short of incredible.

Others felt they werent getting services in a timely manner. AHCCCS spokeswoman Heidi Capriotti said the agency was working to address concerns and ensure children who are referred through this program receive the help theyve requested.

You should go somewhere else

Mental health providers told AZCIR they had a difficult time maintaining adequate staffing levels during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, which hit right around the time Jakes Law was passed.

Workforce issues persist in parts of the state, meaning certain providers may not have the capacity to absorb new student referrals. In at least one case, the area mental health provider contracted with a school district disappeared entirely.

At Tucson Unified School District, Carrier said one of its partner agencies could not accept new students for about eight weeks earlier this year, forcing officials to redirect students to other providers.

In La Paz County, Parker Unified School Districts single contract provider got rid of its only office there, according to superintendent Brad Sale. He said the district is working with AHCCCS and county health officials to find a solution, but currently has nowhere to refer students.

Casa de los Ninos, which serves more than 70 schools in Pima County, experienced a behavioral health workforce turnover of 65% in 2021, according to CEO Susie Huhn. Like other female-dominated professions hit hard by the pandemic, the sector saw many women leave the workforce to handle child care and other family obligations, she said. Huhn also pointed to low reimbursement rates for services and enticing telemedicine jobs thinning out its ranks.

The agency has stabilized some of its workforce since January, she said, but not enough to make up for what we lost.

When we dont have any capacity for therapy, we tell families, You should go somewhere else, Huhn said. The problem is, were sending them to places that dont have capacity.

Shortages of mental health providers also affect campuses themselves. Previous AZCIR reporting showed the ratio of students to school counselors in Arizona is nearly three times higher than what experts recommend, while the states student-to-school-social-worker ratio is nearly 13 times higher.

Because those professionals are the ones typically doing referrals, some students who could benefit from outside services are slipping through the cracks, Carrier said.

Some school districts havent opted in to the school-based referral program in the first place, perhaps because theyre unaware they have the option. AHCCCS acknowledged awareness has been a barrier to participation and said it is working to expand outreach efforts.

For schools that may not have had the resources to develop referral policies which, by law, must be posted on their websites, the Arizona School Board Association released an advisory in July 2022 that includes sample language to help.

Jakes Law also requires schools to obtain parental consent when making outside referrals, which is sometimes an additional barrier. Its unclear how many parents have decided not to opt in to the school-based referral process, because AHCCCS does not require schools to report this information.

In Tucson, Carrier estimates thats happening in about one in five cases.

She noted that the time lag between referring a student for services and getting parents permission can make the process take longer than needed.

Unfortunately, there can be a gap with getting on the same page and getting that parent permission, she said. Thats where we lose a lot of referrals.

Fleege said Jakes parents are ecstatic with how everything turned out with the legislation, despite the long, emotional road to its passage and the kinks still being refined.

I think that even though the impact of Jakes Law is maybe yet to be seen in some ways, particularly the parity piece, I cant imagine that they are not over the moon with what theyve been able to accomplish, she said.
Arizona's Verde Mining District has historically been one of the richest outcroppings of copper ore in the world, with the United Verde and United Verde Extension Mines producing over $4 billion in recovered metals.

Electrification of the United States in the late 19th century, followed by World War One, increased demand for copper extraction.

Jerome went from an unincorporated camp of 500 residents in 1892 to a population close to 10,000 in 1916. By 1900, it overtook the Copper Queen Mine as the most productive copper mine in the Arizona territory, yielding 40 million pounds of copper per year.

The massive sulfide deposits of Jerome include pyrite, chalcopyrite and sphalerite in quartz matrix, along with carbonate minerals modified by the supergene process involving descending meteoric waters from the Earths surface mixed with the chemical processes and mineral reactions of weathering.

By 1894, the Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railroad connected Ash Fork to Prescott. William Clark built a 27-mile narrow gauge line that enabled Jerome to connect to it through the hills at Jerome Junction. Frequently referred to as the crookedest line in the world, it twisted by 186 curves, some at 45-degree angles.

That year, the spontaneous combustion of unstable sulfide ore in one of the underground mines at the United Verde caught fire due to friction caused by caving. The combustion caused a conflagration in part of the ore body that could not readily be put out by means of flooding or inundating with carbon dioxide due to the vast cracks and vents in the rock structure.

Extreme smoke and heat hindered mining operations in parts of the mine until open pit mining methods were employed in the 1920s to successfully extract the ore from the surface. Some rare hydrated sulfate minerals were formed from this heat including butlerite, guildite, lausenite and ransomite.

The 6,593-foot long Hopewell tunnel measuring 7 by 9 feet was completed in 1908 and helped dewater the United Verde Mine underground operations above the 1,000-foot level. The copper-bearing waters were in turn sent to a precipitation plant so as to separate the copper and other metals in solution to market for profit.

Heightened copper production led to increased burden on the smelter. In 1907, it became evident that a larger smelter to serve the needs of fully exploiting the ore deposits was a necessity.

Additional factors included the smelters proximity above miles of underground mining tunnels and its location along the steep hillside, prohibiting expansion. The smelting works began to slip downhill as a result, leading locals to refer to Jerome as a town on the move.

William Clark remedied the matter by purchasing ranches including their water rights 6 miles northeast and 2,000 feet lower in elevation than Jerome along the Verde River.

The site was selected based upon access to a water supply, a large clay deposit for stability of a brick infrastructure, accessibility to sand and gravel deposits for construction, proper elevation for slag and tailing disposal, railroad access and the operation of the smelter at a cost of $2 million.

Another factor was the erection of a nearby company town christened Clarkdale, a planned community for the United Verde miners and their families at Jerome.

Work commenced on the new Clarkdale smelter in 1912, culminating in 1915. With a production capacity of 5,000 tons of ore per day, the operation included a crushing and calcining plant along with a Cottrell precipitating plant that included six 100-foot reverberatory furnaces.

A $3.5 million financial advance from William Clark to the Santa Fe Railroad ensured a 38-mile railroad line direct to the Clarkdale smelter from Cedar Glade on the Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railroad. The immediate benefits to the new line were twofold, including the reduction of costs in transporting ore on the steep grades of the old narrow gauge line; and the staffing requirements necessary to transfer freight and express at Jerome Junction from the Santa Fe to the company line.

Depth of the United Verde Mine eventually reached 4,500 feet. Challenges arose that necessitated technological innovation. The burning of sulfide ores over the years hindered mining operations to the extent that open pit mining proved essential to extinguish the fires by the 1920s. The use of timber in stopes employed by the square set method was reduced by employing horizontal cut-and-fill mining methods.

Ultimately, it was the discovery of the United Verde Extension Mine that proved to be the greatest mining achievement around Jerome in the early 20th century. Read about that in next month's installment of Mine Tales, on Oct. 10.
Tom Gilbert Chief Photographer I joined the Tulsa World in 1988 after graduating from the University of Central Oklahoma. I lived in Saudi Arabia before graduating from Broken Arrow High School. I'm married to Karen Gilbert and have three grown children. Phone: 918-581-8349 Follow Tom Gilbert 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

This week's Beer of the Week has lots of hops. American Solera's Terpy Wet Hop adds fresh hops from Kansas to the brewing process.

"This is a very exciting beer for us," said co-founder and brewmaster of American Solera, Chase Healey. "It's one that we put out every year about August or September as the hops start to become ready for harvest."

Healey said hop-grower Kansas Hops is able to pick and deliver the hops in the same day, allowing for the freshest possible hops.

"By the end of the day, they're in our beer," Healey said. "We start with a couple hundred pounds in a batch. For perspective, a regular batch of Terpy inside the kettle, we would only use about 10 pounds of hops. So it is very amplified and very exciting."

The flavor of Terpy Wet Hop is intense and tropical. The 8% ABV Imperial IPA beer has a different hop experience than most beers. American Solera has produced about 15 batches of Terpy.

"Our brewery has a passion for hops, and this celebrates that, for sure. We're always super excited when this one comes out, and it was literally just packaged. So it just gets no fresher, as far as beers are concerned."

Healey said the hops in Terpy Wet Hop are Comet variety.

"They pick those Comet hops, we get them fresh, but at the same time, they take some of those hops and they dry them and palletize them," Healey said. "So we're getting hops in the wet form, but we're also using the hops that they just harvested to dry-hop the beer, as well. So it's kind of a two-punch of using these hops that are days old in our product."

American Solera will also be opening a brewery in Edmond this fall.

"We're in a development known as the Ice House Project," he said. "It's kind of a horseshoe of buildings with the brewery to the west, a coffee roaster and creamery to the north and a Detroit-style pizza and a fried taco restaurant on the east. In the center are patios. There's a climbing structure for kids. It's a really fun piece right there in downtown Edmond."

The brewery is expected to be open by the end of October, brewing beer for on-site consumption and to-go orders.

"For us, it allows us to play a role in the whole kind of Oklahoma City Metro and give people American Solara experience across the whole state," he said.

Past Beers of the Week:
Getting an assist: Due to a dearth of qualified teachers, Tulsa Public Schools Board of Education approved a memorandum of understanding with the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics on Tuesday night for the Oklahoma City-based school to provide hybrid instruction for Advanced Placement physics at several TPS campuses.

OSSM will provide a teacher who will be based out of Rogers College High School and will record lectures for physics students at Edison and Memorial. That teacher will also travel as needed to oversee student labs.

New leadership: The Foundation for Tulsa Schools announced Monday that effective Sept. 27, Moises Echeverria will be the organizations new president and chief operating officer.

A graduate of East Central High School, Echeverria was previously the president and CEO for the Oklahoma Center for Community and Justice. He is also a member of the Tulsa City-County Library Commission, the TPS Community Advisory Committee and the boards of directors for both Philbrook Museum and Leadership Oklahoma, and he is chairman of the National Federation of Just Communities.

He has a bachelors degree in business administration, international business, from Oklahoma State University and a masters degree in human relations from the University of Oklahoma.

Student accolades: Sixteen Union High School students were announced as College Board National Recognition Program awardees on Friday.

To be eligible for consideration, sophomores and juniors must have a GPA of 3.5 or higher and have excelled on the PSAT/NMSQT or PSAT 10 or have earned a score of 3 or higher on at least two Advanced Placement exams. Additionally, eligible students must be Black, Hispanic, Indigenous and/or attend school in a rural area or small town.

National African American Recognition Award recipients include Khari Carreno, Salyse Dillihay, Ashaylee Gaines, Breanna Leach, Jenaya Monroe, Tolu Oguntayo and Juwura Oyedele.

National Hispanic Recognition Award recipients are Colby Brister, Bigbai Flores, Oscar Gomez, Ivan Herrera, Chelsey Molina, Parker Perez Melendez, Rebekah Robison and Ximena Maya Trevizo.

Kiefer Boyd was named a National Indigenous Recognition Award recipient.

COVID-19 by the numbers: Several area school districts published updated COVID-19 case counts on Friday.

As of Friday afternoon, Bartlesville Public Schools reported one case among employees and four among students.

Berryhill reported two cases districtwide. The district does not differentiate between staff and students in its reporting.

Collinsville Public Schools reported one case among staff and eight cases among students.

Glenpool Public Schools reported one case among its employees and none among its students.

Tulsa Public Schools reported 13 cases among its employees and 20 among its students.

Tulsa School of Arts and Sciences reported three cases among its employees and five among its students.

Skiatook Public Schools had not released an updated case count by the close of business Friday.

Bixby, Broken Arrow, Catoosa, Jenks, Owasso, Sand Springs, Sapulpa and Union are not publishing updated case counts at this time.

School board calendar: The boards of education for Allen Bowden, Broken Arrow, Claremore, Collinsville, Coweta, Glenpool, Jenks, Kiefer, Liberty, Mounds, Prue, Skiatook, Sperry, Union and Verdigris are all scheduled to meet Monday.

The boards of education for Anderson and Sapulpa are scheduled to meet Tuesday.

The Inola Public Schools board is scheduled to meet Wednesday.

The state CareerTech board is scheduled to meet Thursday in Oklahoma City.

 Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton, Tulsa World
The first time Joel Slaughter walked into the Crystal Ballroom, chunks of plaster were falling off the walls and the floor was carpeted with p
Oklahomas mental health leaders are singing their hope for improved crisis care this Suicide Prevention Awareness Month to the tune of 988.

The revised, three-digit Suicide & Crisis Lifeline launched nationwide in July, and the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services says the one-stop number is tying a bow on its burgeoning efforts to ease accessibility to immediate, professional mental health help and coordinate with local services.

In its first two months, 988 received about 5,000 calls from Oklahomans, 30% of which were spurred by suicidal ideation, according to data provided by the Department of Mental Health.

Carrie Slatton-Hodges, Department of Mental Health commissioner, said the helpline is a major step forward in preventing suicides in Oklahoma, which is the second leading cause of death for residents ages 10-34 in the state and ninth overall.

In 2020, 869 Oklahomans took their own lives, a nearly 9% increase from the year before. Almost two-thirds of firearm deaths in the state were suicides, according to the Department of Mental Health and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data presented by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Suicide prevention does not occur in a vacuum and must be part of a continuum of care, Slatton-Hodges said.

The 988 lifeline is the first stop, she said in a news release.

Although some calls will be lifesaving, Slatton-Hodges said some people just need someone to talk to. If a caller needs more assistance, call takers can dispatch mobile response teams and make appointments with local providers.

All callers will receive a follow-up call to ensure that their needs were met.

Connecting people to services is the key, Slatton-Hodges said.

Difference in Oklahoma

The rollout of 988 represents a critical juncture in the states move toward wraparound mental health care, said Zack Stoycoff, executive director of the Healthy Minds Policy Initiative.

Using federal and state funding, Oklahoma is developing a comprehensive crisis care system that includes investing in mobile response teams, crisis care centers and a number of other contracted services across the state.

More than 70% of the states communities did not have enough mental health providers to serve residents in 2021 based on federal guidelines, according to AFSP, but the welcome shift is expected to lift Oklahoma to standard.

Now, Department of Mental Health spokesman Jeff Dismukes said he cant keep up with the expansion of urgent recovery and crisis centers across the state  there were 37 as of Friday.

Were very hopeful about all the work going on, Stoycoff said.

Mental health must be at the core of all societal plans because it is core to nearly every outcome we all want to see in our community, Stoycoff said. That means getting appropriate treatment early enough in the crisis that the person doesnt fall into criminal justice involvement, emergency rooms or homelessness.

Law enforcement leaders have been advocating for many of the changes included in the states plan for years, Dismukes said, including expanding mobile crisis teams equipped with licensed mental health professionals and providing private transportation to psychiatric care.

He pointed at the success of criminal diversionary programs, drug courts being one example, that helped state lawmakers get on board with expanding into prevention.

Its a shift in understanding behavioral health; what it always has been and what weve known it to be, Dismukes said. Its a medical issue; its about brain health. Thats part of the stigma around many of the diseases that were talking about, and substance use issues  weve criminalized it. Some have looked at it as a law enforcement issue, and I think that has created barriers to people needing care and reaching out when theyre in need.

Fact is, the back of a police car really isnt the best place for a person experiencing a behavioral health crisis.

The latter term, Dismukes said, isnt being defined for 988.

Its a crisis line for anything behavioral health, he said, not only for individuals in crisis but also those who are seeking to support them. Anyone can call, and a licensed professional can assist and send out a local team if necessary. The 988 crisis line is offered in English and Spanish by text or call.

Phone-based counselors like those at 988 are able to stabilize a caller in place more than 80% of the time, according to a primer on 988 that Stoycoffs agency produced, and of the remainder, locally dispatched mobile crisis teams are able to resolve the issues in the field an estimated 70% of the time.

Calls to 988 averaged 20 to 30 minutes each, and more than 250 crisis teams were dispatched in July and August, according to Department of Mental Health data.

Hopefully people will call before they reach that crisis; when they arent sure where to turn, Dismukes said.

Difference in Tulsa

Some regions in Oklahoma, including Tulsa, have had local, piecemeal crisis response systems in place the past several years, and 988s rollout brought questions about how they fit into the new model.

The state has awarded contracts and partnered with many agencies to expand its answering services and breadth of mobile crisis teams, including with Tulsas Family & Childrens Services.

F&CS has operated its own area hotline and mobile response through COPES, Community Outreach Psychiatric Emergency Services, for a number of years, and that will continue even with the addition of the 988 contract, said Dee Harris, spokeswoman for F&CS.

Were thrilled to be part of the 988 mobile team and also the backup line, Harris said. This is all about getting people to the resources they need to get better, and 988s just one more pathway to do that.

Instead of using contractors previously retained to answer national hotline calls in the state, Oklahoma solicited bids to find a facilitator for 988 because leaders knew they wanted it to be more than a suicide crisis line, Dismukes said.

Arizona-based Solari Crisis & Human Services now operates the states call center, with several employees in Oklahoma City. In the case of a deluge, COPES is one of two existing call centers in the state contracted as backup, Harris said.

Solari also is able to dispatch COPES mobile team to respond to local calls.

In July, COPES answered four rollover calls from Solari and dispatched its mobile response teams 28 times for calls originating at 988, Harris said, and theres no sign that the organization will strain under the additional service requests.

COPES is growing and continuing to add clinicians and expand, Harris said. Were not having any issues with staffing.

Family & Childrens Services multitude of local crisis continuum services remain in operation. COPES is still receiving and responding to calls from established clients and community partners, but 988 is a great place to start for anyone else, Harris said.

Were offering same-day, next-day care now, Harris said. If you dont know who to call or you cant remember a number, 988 is the way to go.

Featured video: What to know about 988, the new suicide and crisis helpline
With the news that he was finally going home, Edward Tinker didn't have to think long about what to pack.

About the only items still in his possession, outside of his pride and self-respect, were the clothes he had on.

But Tinker, a Pawhuska native, had acquired at least one new thing during his time as a prisoner of war. And there was no way he was going to leave without it.

"If you look close you can still see the creases from where he rolled it up and tucked it into his shirt," Tinker's daughter Lisa said of the drawing, which a fellow POW made of her father while they were imprisoned together.

A portrait of him sketched in pencil, the late Tinker  a retired Air Force major and member of a prominent Osage Nation family  displayed it for years in his home.

"It was really the only thing he had from that experience," said Lisa Tinker, who lives in Los Angeles. "It obviously meant something to him."

Her hope now, she added, is that it will mean something to everyone else who sees it. Lisa recently donated the portrait to the Osage Nation Museum in Pawhuska, where it is now on display.

"It was hard to let go of it," she said. "But I felt it was time. I wanted it to be someplace where it would be valued and where as many people as possible would see it."

The Tinker family name is well known in the tribe, as well as in Oklahoma. Edward Tinker was the nephew of late Maj. Gen. Clarence L. Tinker, for whom Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City is named.

Clarence Tinker was the first Army general to be killed in action in WWII. His son, Maj. Clarence Tinker Jr., also died in the war.

Unlike his relatives, Edward Tinker survived the war to return home. But not before coming close to sharing their fate.

A P-38 fighter pilot and veteran of many combat missions, his closest call was on the occasion that led to his capture.

Lisa Tinker said she heard the story many times over the years and it never got old.

"He was such a great storyteller, and at family gatherings, we were always like 'Daddy, tell the story,'" she said.

It happened in December 1943 during a raid over Axis ally Bulgaria. While providing escort protection for unit bombers, Tinker's fighter took a serious hit from an enemy aircraft's guns and caught on fire.

As the flames spread, Tinker was forced to bail out.

But before he could jump free of the plane, it exploded, blowing him up into the air.

Fortunately, his parachute was still intact, and he was able to deploy it.

The landing was hard and he was banged up. But he was alive.

"My dad was a very chill kind of guy," Lisa said, "and it tells you everything you need to know about him that instead of combat boots, he had worn his Oxfords that day.

"Well, they were blown off in the explosion. So there he was in his stocking feet in a snowy clearing."

Presumed dead

Quickly captured by local villagers, Tinker was hauled off to the nearest jail.

From there, he was transferred to a POW Camp near Shumen, Bulgaria.

Tinker, who had a young wife and baby son back home, missed a chance to get word out through the Red Cross that he was alive. So for the next several months, the family thought Tinker was dead.

"My mother received a letter from a unit chaplain saying that he was missing in action and presumed killed," Lisa said.

Tinker ended up spending nine months at the Shumen camp, which at its peak was home to nearly 300 captive U.S. airmen, including over 120 officers.

Tinker and other POWs were fortunate in that their Bulgarian captors treated them relatively well. Meals were meager but nobody was tortured, he recalled later.

He would remain grateful to the Bulgarians, who later, as Russian troops were closing in, freed the POWs and helped them get back to American forces.

Tinker received several decorations for his service, among them a Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart and multiple Air Medals.

He went on to a long career with the Air Force. He served 31 years total, including in the Korean War, where he flew jet fighters, his daughter said. Every plane he flew was given the same name, she said: "Tinker's Toy."

Tinker died in 2003 at 85. He is buried at Pawhuska City Cemetery.

Tinker didn't remain shoeless after his escape from the burning plane, his daughter said.

Most likely he was given some boots in the town before his transfer to the camp.

Otherwise, there would be no change of clothing for the rest of his captivity. And he would leave with just the clothes he had on.

About that one other item he brought with him, tucked inside his shirt, there's a question the family would like an answer to.

Who was the prison camp artist? They never asked Tinker.

The picture is signed "To Tinkie," but the name or initials that accompany it are too hard to make out, Lisa said.

She would love to find out who the artist was and make contact with his family.

"I've always wondered how many other pictures of the POWs this person drew. There must've been others."

As for the one of her father, Lisa is at peace with her decision to donate it.

It's in the right place now, she said.

"I couldn't be happier with how kind and gracious the museum has been."
Indian tourists may replace visitors from traditional markets of Vietnam in the coming time, but the Southeast Asian country needs to pour more investments into infrastructure and services in order to attract this market.

A seminar on promoting tourism in the Middle Eastern and Indian tourist markets was organized within the framework of Ho Chi Minh City International Tourism Expo (ITE) 2022 on Friday.

Approximately 169,000 Indian visitors came to Vietnam in 2019, of whom 73 percent stayed in Ho Chi Minh City, Bui Thi Ngoc Hieu, deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, said at the event.

In the first seven months of 2022, about 11,700 Indian tourists visited Vietnam.

Between July 15 and 18, Ho Chi Minh City welcomed 460 MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) tourists from India, the largest Indian MICE travel group that Vietnam has ever received.

During the remaining months of this year, more than 60 flights connecting Vietnam and India will be operated every week by airlines such as Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, and Indigo, Hieu elaborated.

It is not easy to serve Indian visitors as they are quite careful in choosing products and services, the official noted.

If failing to adapt, tourism businesses wont be able to exploit this market in the long run.

The tourism sector in Ho Chi Minh City is determined to invest more in infrastructure to serve tourists from India, as they have specific needs related to religious beliefs, according to Hieu.

The city has a number of restaurants and hotels with essential services for Indian tourists and Muslim guests, but they are still small in scale and lack professionalism.

Local accommodation establishments should consider making long-term investment in infrastructure, including restaurants serving Indian and Halal cuisine.

In addition, hotels and airports need to arrange prayer rooms to attract tourists from this market, the tourism official added.

Naresh Chhatola, CEO of Global Journey Holidays India, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that Vietnam is a new destination in Southeast Asia that is attracting the attention of Indian tourists, and that his company is planning more tours to Vietnam instead of Thailand or Singapore.

Vietnam is home to not only beautiful and diverse landscapes but also bustling shopping centers, Chhatola continued, adding that it is easy to find Indian restaurants, which is the most important thing in planning trips for Indian tourists.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, about 20 million Indian tourists traveled abroad each year, whose spending was considered to be the world's top, according to Madan Mohan Sethi, Consul General of India in Ho Chi Minh City.

Indian travelers tend to seek new cultural, culinary, and shopping experiences.

There has also been a trend of organizing weddings, honeymoon trips, and birthday parties abroad, the consul general said, suggesting that Vietnam further promote such tourism products in the coming time.

Indian visitors chose Vietnam because the country is a safe and new destination with many cultural heritage sites, green spaces, and interesting tours.

Vietnam has many unique tourism products, attractive eco-tourism, friendly people, and good transportation, Sethi stated.

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The trade of Vietnam Travel and Marketing Transports JSC (Vietravel) on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) will be restricted to Friday sessions only, starting Tuesday, as the firm has reported negative equity.

According to a notice signed by Nguyen Tuan Anh, deputy director of the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX), the information about Vietravels negative equity is sourced from its reviewed semi-annual consolidated financial statement of 2022.

HNX will lift the restriction after the company resolves the issues leading to the restriction, the northern stock watchdog stated in its notice.

Vietravels reviewed semi-annual consolidated financial statement of 2022 shows that by the end of the second quarter of the year, the company incurred negative equity of nearly VND104.3 billion (US$4.4 million), while its equity was some VND8 billion ($340,136) earlier this year.

Although its asset value totaled over VND2.234 trillion ($95 million), the firm was burdened with debts worth nearly VND2.339 trillion ($99.4 million).

The enterprise kept close to VND65 billion ($2.8 million) in cash, plunging 42 percent against early this year.

The tourism sector has recovered after two years of hibernation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vietravels business results have also improved but remain low.

In particular, although its revenue in the first half of this year was double that in the same period last year to exceed VND1.2 trillion ($51 million), Vietravel reported an after-tax loss of more than VND114 billion ($4.8 million).

The figure was over VND290 billion ($12.3 million) in the same period last year.

Explaining its performance, Vietravel chairman Nguyen Quoc Ky said the loss in the first half of 2021 resulted from the business results of its subsidiaries.

However, in December 2021, the firm completed restructuring. It has since then focused on developing tourism, in addition to reducing corporate management costs, so its revenue and profit have increased.

Vietravel sold a 55.58-percent stake in Vietravel Airlines. After the deal, Vietravel Airlines is no longer a subsidiary of Vietravel and its business results would not be consolidated to Vietravels financial statements.

However, Vietravel Airlines is still an important affiliate of Vietravel, which holds a 43.92-percent stake of the airline.

Although Vietravels business results were still negative given the poor performances of subsidiaries and affiliates, they have improved significantly from the same period in 2021, Ky stressed.

Vietravel closed the session on Friday up 1.79 percent over the earlier session to reach VND28,400 ($1.2).

The price has risen over one percent within a month but fallen nearly five percent over the past quarter.

On September 27, 2019, 12.6 million Vietravel shares debuted on HNX with a reference price of VND40,000 ($1.7) each share.

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Japanese industry minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said he hopes to hold a meeting by the government and the heads of automakers to talk about the future of the automobile industry as early as next month, Kyodo news agency said on Sunday.

"The automobile industry is entering a period of major transformation," Nishimura told reporters on Saturday in California where he visited Toyota Motor Corp's research facilities, according to Kyodo.

The head of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry was visiting the United States to attend the U.S.-led Indo Pacific Economic Framework trade negotiations.

"We would like to discuss the early introduction of autonomous driving and measures to promote its widespread use," Nishimura said.

In the meeting, to be joined by Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida with relevant ministers and leaders of automakers, the roles of the automobile industry in a decarbonised society will be also on the agenda, he said, according to Kyodo.

Kishida unveiled the idea of the meeting on a June visit to a Toyota plant.
Here are todays salient news stories in Vietnam:

Society

-- Customers and employees managed to safely escape a four-story karaoke parlor in southern Dong Nai Province after a fire broke out on the third floor of the venue on Sunday afternoon.

-- A family in central Thua Thien-Hue Province have asked police to investigate the death of their three-year-old child after the boy was sent to a facility in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong to treat his intellectual disability.

-- A six-year-old girl was killed while two people were seriously burnt after a fire engulfed a house in southern Binh Phuoc Province early on Sunday morning.

-- Police officers confirmed on Sunday they had arrested a 23-year-old man who snatched the phone and wallet of a woman on a street in Ho Chi Minh City on September 2 when he was hiding in Thua Thien-Hue Province.

-- It is forecast to be sunny in the morning and rainy in the evening in southern Vietnam on Monday, while northern provinces will see rainfall throughout the day.

-- Ancient human remains dating back about 2,300 years have been discovered at the Giong Ca Vo archeological site in Can Gio District, Ho Chi Minh City.

-- Police in District 8, Ho Chi Minh City are probing the death of a 24-year-old man after his body was discovered by his mother at their tenanted house on Sunday night.

COVID-19 Updates

-- The Ministry of Health documented 1,643 COVID-19 cases on Sunday, raising the national tally to 11,439,613, with 10,322,003 recoveries and 43,129 deaths.

Lifestyle

-- Ho Chi Minh City beauty Tran Thi Ban Mai surpassed 47 other contestants to earn the title of Miss Peace Vietnam 2022 during the pageants finale in central Da Nang City on Sunday evening.

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Customers and employees managed to safely escape a karaoke parlor in Dong Nai Province, southern Vietnam after a fire broke out at the venue on Sunday.

The flames hit Yen Nhi karaoke parlor in Trang Bom District, Dong Nai Province at around 5:30 pm on Sunday, according to preliminary information.

Employees discovered the fire on the third floor of the four-story facility and immediately asked all customers to get out of the building.

Fire engines in front of Yen Nhi karaoke parlor in Dong Nai Province, Vietnam, September 11, 2022. Photo: A Loc / Tuoi Tre

Fire fighting and prevention police officers later arrived at the location and put out the blaze at around 6:30 pm.

There were no casualties in the incident, but many objects inside the karaoke parlor were burned.

Officers said the blaze started inside one of the singing rooms on the third floor, adding that they were investigating the cause of the incident.

Police officers arrive at the karaoke parlor following the fire in Dong Nai Province, Vietnam, September 11, 2022. Photo: A Loc / Tuoi Tre

Employees of the venue said they checked the CCTV and noticed smoke on the third floor.

They quickly informed all of the staff and guided customers to safety.

All guests were singing on the lower floors at the time, they added.

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The suspect who snatched the phone and wallet of a woman along a street in Ho Chi Minh City in early September was arrested while hiding in north-central Vietnam.

Officers under the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Public Security confirmed on Sunday they had apprehended Nguyen Quoc Huy, 23, from Tan Binh District, on theft charges.

Huy is one of the two suspects who snatched the phone and wallet of T.V. on September 2.

V. was walking along Huynh Van Banh Street in Phu Nhuan District with her son at around 3:45 pm that day when two men on a motorbike approached her.

The man sitting on the back of the vehicle took the phone and wallet from V.s hands, before the two sped away.

Police in Ho Chi Minh City later launched an investigation into the case, collected the victims statement, and reviewed CCTV footage.

Nguyen Quoc Huy is arrested in Thua Thien-Hue Province, Vietnam in this photo supplied by officers.

Officers eventually identified Huy as one of the two suspects and arrested him as he was hiding in central Thua Thien-Hue Province.

The suspect was then taken back to Ho Chi Minh City to facilitate the investigation.

At the police station, Huy admitted that he had worked with his accomplice to snatch phones, handbags, and wallets of local residents and tourists in four separate incidents between August 24 and September 2.

After the theft on September 2 was reported by local media, Huy decided to run away to Thua Thien-Hue.

Police are continuing the hunt for Huys accomplice.

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Police officers have arrested the suspect who robbed a convenience store with a homemade gun in Ho Chi Minh City as he was hiding in neighboring Dong Nai Province.

Officers under the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Public Security, in coordination with their counterparts in Dong Nai Province, captured Th., 25, in Bien Hoa City, Dong Nai early on Monday morning, a source close to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper confirmed.

Th. was then taken back to Ho Chi Minh City to facilitate the investigation.

At the police station, Th. admitted to having robbed a convenience store on Ha Dac Street in District 12, Ho Chi Minh City with a homemade gun.

Preliminary information showed that the robbery took place at around 10:00 am on Sunday.

Th., who was wearing a crash helmet and face mask to cover his identity, arrived at the convenience store on a motorcycle.

He then walked into the venue and threatened the staff with his homemade gun, forcing them to give him money.

After taking the cash, the robber ran away on his motorbike.

The suspect took a few million dong (VND1 million = US$42.5), Phap Luat Thanh Pho Ho Chi Minh (Ho Chi Minh City Law) newspaper reported.

At the scene, police found a metal pellet suspected to be a lead bullet.

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Ho Chi Minh City beauty Tran Thi Ban Mai surpassed 47 other contestants to earn the title of Miss Peace Vietnam 2022 during the pageants finale in central Da Nang City on Sunday evening.

The 48 contestants proved themselves in an introduction contest and donned evening gowns and Vietnamese traditional ao dai to compete for the top five spots.

Contestants introduce themselves at the finale of Miss Peace Vietnam 2022 in Da Nang City, September 11, 2022. Photo: Tuoi Tre

In the ao dai showcase, the beauties wore designs in a collection named Blue Ocean by designer Mai Thanh Duy that had blue as the main color and combined delicate motifs in harmony with the contests theme of protecting the marine environment and sea ecosystem.

Contestants don ao dai at the finale of Miss Peace Vietnam 2022 in Da Nang City, September 11, 2022. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The judges then selected Nguyen Ngoc Khanh Tien, Vo Thi Ngoc Chau, Tran Khanh Nhi, Quan Tran Gia Han, and Tran Thi Ban Mai to the question section before Tien, Han, and Mai were shortlisted as the top three contenders for the crown.

A contestants dons ao dai at the finale of Miss Peace Vietnam 2022 in Da Nang City, September 11, 2022. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The top three were then asked one last question: Why are environmental protection and nature conservation relevant to peace?

A contestant dons an evening gown at the finale of Miss Peace Vietnam 2022 in Da Nang City, September 11, 2022. Photo: Tuoi Tre

With outstanding performances throughout the competition, Mai was announced as the winner of the Miss Peace Vietnam 2022 title and awarded a prize worth VND1 billion (US$42,500).

A contestant dons an evening gown at the finale of Miss Peace Vietnam 2022 in Da Nang City, September 11, 2022. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Tien and Han finished as the first and second runners-up, receiving two awards of VND800 million ($34,000) and VND600 million ($25,500), respectively.

The top five contenders stand in the front line after being selected to the question section at the finale of Miss Peace Vietnam 2022 in Da Nang City, September 11, 2022. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Miss Tran Thi Ban Mai also won the Marine Environment Beauty, Beauty With A Purpose, and Best Answer awards.

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South Australian First Nations filmmaker Travis Akbar has been awarded the Centralised First Nations Documentary Australia Fellowship.

He will write, direct and co-produce his documentary Kuta New Wiltja (Toward New Camp) with a grant of up to $30,000 for professional development and mentoring, as well as up to $10,000 of in-kind support to attend training opportunities at AFTRS.

Being selected as the Centralised First Nations Documentary Australia Fellow is an honour, he said. Kuta New Wiltja is a personal project and to be awarded the opportunity to explore and develop it couldnt have come at a better time. I have worked tirelessly for the last four years, with the support of my wife and children, to chase my dream, and the last few months have really shown me I am on the right track. But all of that, of course, has meant spending less time with my family, so to receive a fellowship for a project with the theme of family is not just a huge reward, but an incredible show of confidence in my ability. So thank you to Documentary Australia, the South Australian Film Corporation and all the program partners.

Kate Croser, CEO, South Australian Film Corporation said The SAFC congratulates Travis Akbar on being awarded this prestigious Fellowship. Travis is an extremely talented emerging screen creative and the SAFC is pleased to support his ongoing development, and to support this exciting Fellowship program as part of our commitment to grow, highlight and support South Australian First Nations voices and stories on screens locally and globally.

Now in its third year, the Fellowship is an unparalleled career-boosting opportunity for First Nations documentary filmmakers in the Northern Territory and South Australia presented by Documentary Australia (DA), Screen Territory, the South Australian Film Corporation, National Indigenous Television (NITV) and the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS Indigenous).

Travis is a Waljen man from the Wongutha First Nation from the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia, and was raised on Wirangu country near Ceduna, South Australia. His documentary Kuta New Wiltja (Toward New Camp) will retrace the journey of his great grandparents, Lali, a tribal Wongutha woman, and Afghan cameleer Jack Akbar, whose love was deemed illegal under the policies of the circa 1920s Western Australian Governments Chief Protector of Aborigines A.O. Neville.

Aiming to learn more about their great grandparents, Travis and sibling Skye Akbar take to the highway to re-create the journey Jack and Lali took to escape the violent police who wanted to arrest them for being in love. Beginning in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, Travis and Skye will visit their family and Elders to yarn about the story of their ancestors before hitting the highway to camp where Jack and Lali camped, visit the places they visited, and see what they saw. The film will also explore Jacks time teaching R.M Williams how to weave, Jacks work in Renmark and Jack and Lalis move to Lyndhurst in remote South Australia.

The Centralised First Nations Documentary Australia Fellowship is presented as part of the Centralised initiative, developed by the SAFC and Screen Territory together with collaborating partners Screen Australias First Nations Department, Documentary Australia (DA), AFTRS Indigenous (Australian Film, Television and Radio School), ABC Indigenous and NITV to deliver a range of opportunities for First Nations screen creatives in South Australia and Northern Territory, creating clear pathways for emerging talent including mentoring, workshops, attachments and internships through the centre of Australia.
This week Foreign Correspondent is in Sri Lanka where South Asia correspondent Avani Dias is charting the recent unrest.

For Sri Lankas protest movement, it felt like victory. After months of escalating actions, protestors stormed the Presidential palace and occupied its grounds. Some even partied in the pool and stretched out in the presidents four-poster bed.

That evening, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country and later resigned.

25-year-old IT technician, Wimukthi Ranasinghe, was one of the protestors caught up in the days excitement. He livestreamed from inside the palace, picking up millions of followers worldwide.

Today, Wimukthi is on bail, facing charges of inciting violence that could land him in jail.

Im worried about whatll happen to him in the future, says his mother. When we hear all these horror stories about whats happening to people, weve told him he cant even go to the local shop now on his own.

Many protestors are now living in fear.

Under the new president, Ranil Wickremesinghe, theres been a crackdown on protest action. Some of the movements leaders have gone into hiding. Others have been charged and detained under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act.

For months, South Asia correspondent Avani Dias, has been charting the unrest in Sri Lanka. Now, shes captured the crackdown in full swing.

She meets leaders in hiding from police, following them as they re-emerge and take the risk of organising fresh protests.

One is the defiant student leader, Wasanthe Mudalige, who plays cat-and-mouse with the police.

The person who has claimed the throne does not have the mandate of the people, he claims. The police are doing this because theyre scared.

Dias spends time with families grappling with how to protect their children caught up in the crackdown.

As tensions in Colombo rise and the police presence grows, Dias interviews the new president, Wickremesinghe.

We arrest people who broke the law, says the 45-year-veteran politician and former lawyer. Everything has been done legally.

The next day Dias and her crew are stopped and searched twice by authorities, on the hunt for protest leaders like Wasantha.

As major protests unfold, Dias captures incredible scenes as police and protestors clash.

No Surrender takes viewers inside the movement that brought down one president and isnt stopping now.

8pm Thursday on ABC.
Sundays ratings results will need some adjustment to match late scheduling changes around Royal events.

But The Block is still sailing high for Nine at 983,000 metro viewers.

That was ahead of Spicks & Specks (to be adjusted to The Queen and Us 340,000) and The Amazing Race Australia (319,000) a number for Farmer Wants a Wife has not been officially provided by OzTAM but Seven advises it will be 575,000.

Later 60 Minutes led with 591,000, then 7News: The Queens Final Journey Begins (to be adjusted currently 438,000 / 127,000) and Savage River (309,000).

NRL Finals drew 460,000.

Nine network won Sunday with 34.3%, then Seven 27.8%, ABC 15.9%, 10 14.9% and SBS 7.2%.

Nine News drew 891,000 for Nine. Elizabeth at 90: A Family Tribute was 252,000.

Seven News was #1 at 997,000

ABC News drew 576,000 for ABC. Antiques Roadshow (194,000), Silent Witness (188,000) and Compass (181,000) followed.

The Sunday Project was 280,000 / 230,000 for 10. 10 News First was 245,000 / 215,000. NCIS: Hawaii was 194,000 then FBI (104,000).

On SBS it was SBS World News (168,000 / 122,000) and 9/11: The Pentagon averaged 123,000.

Peppa Pig led multichannels at 157,000.

In Total TV numbers last Sunday were:

Savage River: 814,000

The Amazing Race Australia: 625,000

NCIS: Hawaii: 272,000

Farmer Wants a Wife: 1.19m

The Block: 1.7m

OzTAM Overnights: Sunday 11 September 2022
MOSCOW (Reuters) -A Russian-installed official in Ukraine's Kharkiv region said on Monday that Ukrainian forces had outnumbered Russian and pro-Russian forces by eight times during a lightning counteroffensive over the weekend.

Ukrainian forces overran the Russian supply hubs of Izium and Kupiansk over the weekend, Russia's worst military defeat since its forces were forced back from Kyiv shortly after President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine.

Speaking to the state-owned Rossiya-24 television channel, Vitaly Ganchev said that Ukrainian forces had captured previously Russian-held settlements in the region's north, breaking through to the border with Russia, and that "about 5000" civilians had been evacuated to Russia.

Ganchev said "the situation is becoming more difficult by the hour", adding that the border with Russia's Belgorod region was now closed.

Reuters could not immediately verify battlefield reports.

Russia's Defence Ministry on Sunday published a map, showing that Russian forces had almost entirely abandoned the Kharkiv region.

In southern Ukraine's Russian-controlled Kherson region, where a slower-moving offensive has seen Kyiv's forces make modest gains in recent weeks, a Russian-installed official said there was no reason for concern.

"In Kherson there is no panic," said Kirill Stremousov in a video posted on Telegram, acknowledging that news from Kharkiv region had disturbed some pro-Russian locals.

The U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War on Monday reported increased Ukrainian progress in Kherson region, with Kyiv's forces drawing closer to Kherson city, after weeks of artillery bombardment has strained Russia's supply lines across the Dnipro river.

"It's calm. Possibly it's the calm before the storm, but we are ready to stand until the end and will not surrender our Russian city of Kherson to anyone", said Stremousov.

(Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
HCM CITY  The 2022 International Exhibition on Beauty Products, Technology and Services, Vietnam Beautycare Expo 2022, will be held in HCM City from September 14 to 17.

Vietnam Beautycare Expo 2022 has attracted more than 300 brands from over 15 countries and territories, showcasing the latest beauty products and technology, including customised skin care equipment, healthcare machine, perfumes, spa and salon equipment, and skin, hair, nail and body care products containing pure PDRN, a core component of salmon DNA that helps skin regenerate.

Following the success of previous events held in Ha Noi, the expo promises to offer visitors a chance to exchange information and experience products directly with companies from Switzerland, Greece, South Korea, Japan and other countries.

The highlight of the exhibition this year is the Gobiz Korea pavilion, where visitors can experience the Gobiztown virtual exhibition hall through VR to visit and experience more than 1,000 Korean products including skin care, makeup, hair care, and body care products.

In addition, live demonstrations of the latest advanced technology in the cosmetic tattoo industry, business matching programmes and other activities will be held during the expo.

Vietnam Beautycare Expo 2022 will be held at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre together with the 17th Pharmedi Vietnam, an International Exhibition on Products, Equipment, Supplies for Medicines, Pharmaceuticals, Hospitals & Rehabilitation.  VNS
HA NOI  Moody's Investors Service has raised the ratings of 12 Vietnamese banks following its upgrade of Viet Nam's sovereign rating to Ba2 from Ba3.

Moody's has upgraded the long-term local (LC) and foreign currency (FC) deposit and issuer ratings of eight banks by one notch (Vietcombank, BIDV, OCB, SeABank, TPBank, Agribank, VIB and VietinBank) and the LC and FC Counterparty Risk Ratings and Counterparty Risk Assessment of seven banks by one notch (BIDV, Agribank, VietinBank, ABBank, LienVietPostBank, SHB and MSB).

The rating actions on the banks follow the firms upgrade of Viet Nam's sovereign rating to Ba2 from Ba3 on September 6, and the change of the sovereign rating outlook to stable from positive on the same date.

Moody's said Viet Nam's credit strength is a key input in its deposit and debt ratings for financial institutions in the country. The upgrade in banks' ratings reflects the Governments stronger ability to provide support for banks in times of stress.

Besides, Moody's has also changed the rating outlooks of Agribank, BIDV, OCB, SeABank, TPBank, VIB, Vietcombank and Vietinbank to stable from positive. The rating outlook of ABBank, LienVietPostBank and MSB remains stable while that of SHB stays positive.

Amid the complex international situation leading to over 30 rating downgrades globally over the past eight months, Viet Nam is the only country in the Asia-Pacific and one of the four in the world to record a rating upgrade by Moody's since the beginning of 2022.

The Ministry of Finance said the upgrade of Viet Nams sovereign rating to Ba2 shows the Moodys recognition of the countrys increasing economic strength and better resilience to external macroeconomic shocks compared to others with the same rating.  VNS
A NANG  The first mural zone was introduced at Man Thai Ward  an ancient fishing village since 1735  in the Son Tra peninsula after five months of decoration, setting up the development of a community-based tourism project.

The mural zone, which included 40 paintings on 400m of the old walls in an alley of the coastal Tan An living quarter, was built as a check-in for tourists visiting the old fishing village as part of Son Tra peninsula tours.

In 2018, a Nang included the preservation of ancient fishing villages of Man Thai, Phuoc My and Tho Quang as part of eco-tour destinations, traditional cultural performances, whale temples and crafts for tourism all ongoing in the villages and surrounding area.

Now only five per cent of the population in the village still do fishing, which is getting a boost from tourism.

Fishermen take short sea trips on coracles or use coastal fishing nets to make extra money. The local fishermen's community still hosts the annual Le Hoi Cau Ngu (Whale Worshipping Festival) in lunar February and has done for the past three decades.

The festivals, which were organised by fishing communities in Son Tra, Thanh Khe, Ngu Hanh Son and Lien Chieu, were recognised as a National Intangible Heritage in 2017.

Authorities of Son Tra District have also debuted its logo for tourism brands, with domestic and international promotion.

Son Tra peninsula district is home to a 4,400ha nature reserve, with 287 species of animals and 985 species of plants.

The reserve, 10km from the city centre, shelters more than 1,300 red-shanked douc langurs, declared endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2013.

It is a favourite destination, with 10,000 tourists visiting the reserve every month. a Nang approved the plan to protect biodiversity in Son Tra Nature Reserve by 2030.  VNS
HCM CITY A special show featuring Vietnamese theatre and music will be staged by veteran and young artists of leading art troupes in HCM City on Friday (September 2.)

The event, Tet oc Lap- Bung Sang Khat Vong (Independent Spring - Bright Desire), is part of the citys cultural activities to celebrate the 77th anniversary of National Day (September 2, 1945-2022).

It will feature more than 50 performers in different genres of traditional theatre, such as cai luong (reformed opera) of the South and tuong (classical drama) of the Central region.

Young talents of the Tran Huu Trang Cai Luong Theatre will be included.

Highlighted performances will include songs and dances in praise of the country, the late President Ho Chi Minh and soldiers.

Meritorious artists Anh Tuyet and Cao Minh will perform revolutionary music telling the stories of Vietnamese soldiers and Heroic Mothers.

Pop stars an Truong and Hien Thuc will sing songs of love and youth.

Artists of the gala Tet oc Lap- Bung Sang Khat Vong will use their art to introduce the countrys history, culture and lifestyle, the shows director-producer Thanh Thuy said.

We have worked hard for several weeks and spent a lot for beautiful clothes and accessories suited to the shows theme. Sound and light effects are also used to highlight our art, Thuy said, adding that the shows concept will help young audiences learn more about Vietnamese history and culture.

Tet oc Lap- Bung Sang Khat Vong will begin at 8pm on September 2, at the Nguyen Hue Pedestrian Street in District 1.  VNS
HCM City  The ASEAN++ Bridge forum, themed Connecting for Sustainable Development, took place in Ho Chi Minh City on September 9.

At the event (Photo: VNA)

Co-hosted by the municipal Department of Industry and Trade and the Ho Chi Minh City Association for Women Executives and Entrepreneurs (HAWEE), the event drew over 400 businesses and representatives from trade promotion agencies and business associations from 10 ASEAN member states and Japan, India, the Republic of Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

Speaking at the event, HAWEE Chairwoman Cao Thi Ngoc Dung said the event aims to encourage cooperation and investment among ASEAN nations while fueling sustainable growth for regional corporate community via business matching.

Financial Advisory Leader for Asia Pacific at Deloitte Ng Jiak See said ASEAN is now the fifth largest economy in the world with a total GDP of 3.2 trillion USD, behind the US, China, Japan and Germany. It is on the way to become the fourth largest by 2030, surpassing Japan.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the flow of foreign direct investment into ASEAN still hit the pre-pandemic level in 2021, amounting to 175 billion USD.

She suggested ASEAN member states take immediate actions and join hands to achieve an economy with low emissions because now is decisive time. If climate change becomes uncontrollable, the ASEAN economy will incur a loss of 28,000 billion USD in the next five decades, she warned.

EU, ASEAN to hold summit to develop supply chains The European Union (EU) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will hold a summit of national leaders for the first time in December to discuss expanding trade and infrastructure assistance as the EU seeks to strengthen ties with ASEAN.
Jakarta - Indonesias parliament on August 30 passed a law cementing the countrys membership of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), making it the latest Southeast Asian nation to join the worlds biggest trade bloc.

Illustrative image (Photo: China Daily)

The same day, lawmakers also ratified a bilateral trade pact with the Republic of Korea (RoK), hoping to attract investment to develop the electric vehicle and batteries industry in the Southeast Asian country.

Indonesian Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan said the RCEP would boost trade, direct investment and increase the countrys GDP growth by 0.07 percentage point.

The RCEP is a free trade agreement (FTA) between the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and its five FTA partners (Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and Republic of Korea). It covers nearly a third of the worlds population and about 30% of its gross domestic product.

The deal was signed by leaders of the 15 member countries in November 2020, and entered into force on January 1 this year.

Meanwhile, under the bilateral agreement, Indonesia and the RoK will eliminate more than 92% and 95% of tariff lines, respectively. Indonesia will give preferential tariffs to support Korean investment in areas ranging from automobiles to apparel

Korean companies such as Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution are currently among top investors in the electric vehicle and battery industry in Indonesia.

Indonesia considers imposition of tax on nickel exports this year Indonesia may impose a tax on nickel exports this year, as the country, the biggest producer of the electric-vehicle battery metal, looks to refine more at home, according to President Joko Widodo.
Metain, the first co-investment platform based on blockchain and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in Vietnam, has entered into a partnership with venture capital firm IDG Capital. The tie-up is expected to foster the development of NFT real estate and attract more global investors to invest in Vietnam proptech empowered by blockchain technology.

The current valuation of Metain's equity seed round by IDG Capital Vietnam is $12 million. IDG has already committed $1.8 million to Metain.

Last Friday, Metain made its public launch in Vietnam, intending to expand its decentralised financial presence in the country. The launch marked its efforts to provide the most secure experience for investors and make real estate investment more accessible to global retail investors.

Nhan Tran, co-Founder of Metain, said, Traditional real estate investment is inherently an attractive investment market but exclusively for the rich club, with high entry barriers of capital and high potential fraud. Thus, with blockchain and NFT technology, we want to bring equal, cross-border, affordable, transparent and safe investment opportunities to everyone.

This blockchain-powered proptech startup has so far entered into partnerships with several foreign partners, including Deloitte, CBRE, Avalanche, DN Legal, Morgan Lewis, Ephelia and Quid Global Bank.

These global and dependable partners will operate as a part of Metain's business model following the real estate investment trust (REIT) structure. Accordingly, the business model ensures investors will always be able to receive their money back, even in the worst situations, with capital gains proportional to the market price.

By combining the REIT framework with NFT and blockchain technologies, the startup allows clients to invest $10 in real-world high-quality assets and earn a 15-25 per cent annual yield.

The Metain REIT NFT is among the most secured asset-backed NFTs, which has become a reliable high-yield shelter for investors in a high-risk crypto world.

Morgan Krupetsky, a representative of Avalanche blockchain platform, said, Metain is a key partner for us in our mission to grow network adoption in the region and around the world. We are focusing on bringing real estate investing on-chain. Thus, the startup is a critical piece to bringing real-world assets and real-world utility to the world of decentralised finance. It will open up greater and more diverse opportunities for investors and greater sources of capital for companies.

As reported by Tech in Asia, Singapore-based property platform 99 Group is exploring options to purchase proptech startup Propzy. The Vietnamese proptech startup is one of a dozen potential targets in Southeast Asia for the group, signalling its intention to expand after raising $37 million in a funding round led by Gaw Capital.

Not only foreign investors, but local venture capital funds and companies are also invested in Vietnams emerging proptech industry.

In June, Vietnamese protech startup Houze raised $2 million of funding led by DKRA Group. Houze is also closing an additional fund with venture capital to launch several new products.

Likewise, Reti, another Vietnam-based property tech startup, raised a seed round from investment funds CyberAgent Capital and VIC Partners in April. The startup said it logged a total transaction value of $130 million in 2020 and expanded the number of its real estate centres across the country.

According to a report by Research and Markets, Vietnams proptech market is projected to grow significantly during 2022-2027. The market growth can be attributed to the growing adoption of emerging technology and rising internet penetration in the country.

In recent years, many protech startups have emerged, trying to navigate the real estate industry more efficiently and make it easier for people involved. Advancements in cutting-edge technologies, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, etc., are aiding the development of smart houses and buildings, which is propelling the growth of Vietnams proptech market.

There is a huge opportunity for platforms that provide transparent and reliable information because this data enables developers and investors to make informed decisions, said Giang Huynh, associate director of S22M, the advisory services of Savills Vietnam.

As real estate is considered a key investment channel in Vietnam, there is enormous potential for proptech. As Vietnams property market is diverse, with active residential, commercial, industrial, and hospitality markets, the application of proptech is equally wide."

Pandemic pushes proptech development to new highs Despite the COVID-19 pandemic rocking the boat, proptech startups are moving to provide multi-functional services to meet the increasing demand for online and remote trading and also receive new investments.

Investments are flowing into proptech As a growing number of companies in the real estate industry are embracing technology to promote their sales since the pandemic, investments are flowing into proptech start-ups to capture the opportunity.
Japfa Vietnam representatives have presented gifts valued at a total of more than VND150 million to disadvantaged students with good academic records at schools in the provinces of Dong Nai, Ben Tre, Quang Nam, Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Tien Giang, Binh Phuoc, Tra Vinh, Dong Thap, and Lam Dong. The gifts comprised a school bag and a set of notebooks.

Phu Kiet Primary School in Tien Giang province, Nguyen Thi Le Thu, an animal feed agent for Japfa, said he appreciated the programmes significance, which is encouraging students to overcome difficulties and strive for good achievements in the new school year.

Junior students at Phu Kiet Primary School, Tien Giang province, receive gifts from Japfa Vietnam

As part of the programme, Japfa Vietnams northern branch representatives presented Japfa branded chicken and eggs to Hoa Mai and Hoa Phuong kindergartens in the northern province of Hoa Binh ahead of the new school year.

In total, the company will give more than 20,000 eggs and nearly one tonne of chicken to children during the 2022 - 2023 school year.

Japfa gives gifts to students at Ly Tu Trong Primary School, Buon Ma Thuot city, Dak Lak province, on the first day back to school

"Japfa for Kids" is a programme maintained and expanded by the company for several years to offer support in terms of nutrition and provide a better learning environment for children. For years, the company has provided thousands of gifts and scholarships and built and renovated many school buildings across the country.

In January 2022, the company inaugurated Hoa Sen Kindergarten in Duc Linh district of Binh Thuan province, with a total investment of more than VND2.2 billion ($95,600). The school has three spacious classrooms, restrooms, playgrounds, gates, and fences, ensuring a safe and comfortable learning environment.

Junior students at Nguyen Ba Ngoc Primary School, Dong Nai province, pose with their Japfa gifts

Japfa entered Vietnam in 1996 via a joint venture with Vietnam Livestock Corporation. In 1999, the company became a wholly foreign-invested company named Japfa Comfeed Vietnam Ltd. Co., headquartered in Binh Xuyen district, Vinh Phuc province.

Japfa's gifts reach disadvantaged children at Thanh Luong B Primary School, Binh Phuoc province

For more than 25 years in Vietnam, Japfa Vietnam has focused on developing products from refined raw materials and operating a safe farming system to ensure the health of animals to create the best food sources for markets, alongside championing sustainable development.

The company is also coordinating at the highest level with its business partners in many projects to support communities, protect the environment, and develop human resources quality to enhance prosperity in Vietnam.
Following a good control plan for the impact of the pandemic, the tourism and accommodation services industry in Vietnam has witnessed a strong return with many positive changes and new projects throughout the country.

Lars Kerfin, the new general manager of Le Meridien Saigon.

Capitalising on this positive outlook, Marriott International is pleased to announce the appointment of Lars Kerfin as the general manager of Le Meridien Saigon Hotel.

Lars Kerfin is an industry stalwart with more than 25 years of experience in senior leadership positions. Starting in Germany where he began his career, Kerfin has extensive experience in Southeast Asia, where he moved from his last role at Renaissance Bangkok Ratchaprasong Hotel as general manager from 2015 to 2022.

Known for his professional focus on customer services and unique, innovative ideas, especially in food and beverage (F&B), Kerfin is looking forward to taking Le Meridien Saigon to new heights as the hotel works towards positioning itself as a unique F&B destination.

I am thrilled to be part of such an amazing and visionary upgrade of an already well-established property, said Kerfin.

We have plenty of plans for the hotel that will make an exciting impact on the local dining and nightlife scene in the very near future. In this highly competitive and challenging market, my team of professionals is ready to make a statement that will make our customers enthusiastic about experiencing the Le Meridien hospitality over and over again.
The new partnership allows Medici to significantly expand its portfolio with global-standard insurance products and health services, aiming to fulfil the aspiration of trustworthy and affordable insurance for everyone in Vietnam.

Under the partnership, Medici can introduce Chubb Life Vietnams insurance products to their customers via its tech-enabled agent network.

The strategic partnership between Medici and Chubb Life Vietnam aims to give Vietnamese more access to global insurance products

Medicis agents across Vietnam will now receive extensive training and technology incentives to understand Chubb Life Vietnam's products quickly, to bring Vietnamese-centric yet global standard solutions of Chubb Life Vietnam to a wider range of customers.

Strategic partnerships with leading insurance companies have always been a key driver of our business. Under the world's leading insurance company - Chubb Group, Chubb Life Vietnam is pushing the bar higher for the Vietnam insurance market with customer-centric product design and constant technology innovation, said Ngo Duc Anh, CEO of Medici.

We believe this partnership will enable Medici to introduce a more diverse and quality insurance experience for customers, consolidating our mutual vision of protecting millions of Vietnamese families, he said.

Nguyen Hong Son, country president of Chubb Life Vietnam, said: Our goal is to deliver the true value of life insurance through the right distribution channels. At Chubb Life Vietnam, we select our partners very carefully, and our new partnership agreement with Medici is a perfect example of our well-thought-out process. We believe Medici's experienced team of professionals, modern business model, and solid technology foundation will complement Chubb Life Vietnam in accelerating our plan to bring more life insurance protection to Vietnamese customers.

Despite the limited penetration rate of life insurance in Vietnam, the demand for solutions has seen double-digit growth in both new premiums and contracts over recent years.

Despite the limited penetration rate of life insurance in Vietnam, the demand for solutions has seen double-digit growth in both new premiums and contracts over recent years.

This positive trend can be attributed to the increased awareness of life insurance and the rising need for health and financial protection triggered during the global pandemic.

The partnership of Chubb Life Vietnam and Medici is also in step with the changing market landscape, bringing life insurance closer to the Vietnamese so they can live their lives secured with good health protection and strong financial standing.

Medici is a technology firm endeavouring to provide accessible, trustable, affordable insurance and healthcare services to all Vietnamese.

The company's ecosystem embraces the entire customer protection and care journey with a nationwide insurance and healthcare partner network with over 37 branch offices across almost 40 cities and provinces in Vietnam.

Vietnam an attractive life insurance market The life insurance market remains attractive despite slowing down of late, according to the Insurance Association of Vietnam.

Digital-led initiatives lift up life insurers in Vietnam Vietnams life insurance landscape is being offered upbeat projections, with digital competencies being the driving force.

Medici has been invested in by prestigious regional venture capital firms such as Jungle Ventures, Insignia Ventures Partners, and Wavemaker Partners.

Chubb is the world's largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company. With operations in 54 countries and territories, Chubb provides commercial and personal property and casualty insurance, personal accident and supplemental health insurance, reinsurance and life insurance to a diverse group of clients.

Chubb Life is the international life insurance division of Chubb Group. Chubb Life has been in Vietnam since 2005, offering a range of life protection, health, savings, and investment-linked insurance solutions through its agents and wide network of offices.
Hanoi - Moody's Investors Service has raised ratings of 12 Vietnamese banks following its upgrade of Vietnam's sovereign rating to Ba2 from Ba3.

Logos of some Vietnamese banks (Source: vietnambiz.vn)

Moody's has upgraded the long-term local (LC) and foreign currency (FC) deposit and issuer ratings of eight banks by one notch (Vietcombank, BIDV, OCB, SeABank, TPBank, Agribank, VIB, VietinBank) and the LC and FC Counterparty Risk Ratings and Counterparty Risk Assessment of seven banks by one notch of BIDV, Agribank, VietinBank, ABBank, LienVietPostBank, SHB, MSB.

The rating actions on the banks follow the firms upgrade of Vietnam's sovereign rating to Ba2 from Ba3 on September 6, and change of the sovereign rating outlook to stable from positive on the same date.

Moody's said Vietnam's credit strength is a key input in its deposit and debt ratings for financial institutions in the country. The upgrade in bank's ratings reflects the governments stronger ability to provide support for banks in times of stress.

Besides, Moody's has also changed the rating outlooks of Agribank, BIDV, OCB, SeABank, TPBank, VIB, Vietcombank and Vietinbank to stable from positive. The rating outlook of ABBank, LienVietPostBank and MSB remains stable while that of SHB stays positive.

Amid the complex international situation leading to over 30 rating downgrades globally over the past eight months, Vietnam is the only country in the Asia-Pacific and one of the four in the world to record a rating upgrade by Moody's since the beginning of 2022.

The Ministry of Finance said the upgrade of Vietnams sovereign rating to Ba2 shows the Moodys recognition of the countrys increasing economic strength and better resilience to external macroeconomic shocks compared to others with the same rating.
The beach clean-up activity "For a Blue Ocean" aims to bolster environmental protection and raise awareness by cleaning garbage and mismanaged waste from beaches, rivers, forests, and streets.

Binu Jacob, managing director of Nestle Vietnam, said, "During 27 years of development, Nestle has been committed to sustainable development in both the socio-economic field and environmental protection in Vietnam. We have always been determined to pioneer solving waste challenges, including plastic waste."

"Through this programme, every Nestle employee has a chance to participate in the company's sustainable development. Small actions create a huge positive impact. The efforts not only help with environmental protection but also align with our global vision of a zero-waste future," he added.

After the programme, all waste collected by employees of Nestle Vietnam was transported to a landfill and processed by the environmental company according to regulations. The programme also included a trip to the Dan Xay tourist area in the Can Gio region, where staff explored and learned about the mangrove ecosystem.

The initiative gives Nestle employees the chance to participate in environmental protection through specific acts, and promotes awareness and the bond between people and nature.

For World Environment Day on June 5, the environmental ambassadors of Nestle Vietnam also organised an afforestation activity, "Sowing Green - Nurturing Life." This gave employees the chance to restore the forest and its ecosystem, thereby limiting the negative impact of climate change.

In 2019, Nestle Vietnam Company teamed up with Phuoc Hai People's Committee to clean up Phuoc Hai Beach and collect nearly 1.1 tonnes of rubbish.

Waste pollution, especially ocean plastic waste, has long been a pressing issue worldwide. Vietnam has a high amount of plastic waste flowing into the sea yearly. Ocean plastic waste is currently threatening ecosystems, human habitats, and species.

Recognising this problem, Nestle cooperates with agencies and departments to reduce plastic waste on land and in oceans. The company has accompanied the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) in environmental protection activities.

Nestle Vietnam has led many activities and campaigns, contributing to the reduction of plastic waste and realising the groups commitment that by 2025, 100 per cent of Nestle packaging will be recyclable or reusable. This commitment goes hand in hand with Nestle's vision that "No packaging, including plastic packaging, should be landfilled or become waste."

The company has been awarded the Vietnam Environment Award 2019 by the MoNRE. It has also been named the most sustainable business in Vietnam in the manufacturing sector by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Nestle Vietnam plants forests to mitigate climate change impact On the occasion of World Environment Day on June 5, Nestle Vietnams employees and environmental ambassadors have partnered with Gaia Nature Conservation Center to organise the reforestation activity Sow Green Seeds  Nurture Life to raise awareness and contribute to mitigating the impact of climate change.

Promoting a waste-free circular economy at Nestle Packaging helps protect food and beverages, ensure product quality and safety, and prevent food waste. However, these essential requirements should not come at the expense of the planet. Khuat Quang Hung, head of Corporate Affairs at Nestle Vietnam, told VIRs Tra My how the company is committed to reducing waste from packaging, and taking concrete actions that help build a waste-free future.
The PAN Group on September 7 held an investors' meeting in Hanoi to discuss the future potential and opportunities for development in the months ahead.

Nguyen Thi Tra My, general director of the group, said it had finished its first phase of developing an ecosystem and the foundation for future development.

The PAN Group's investors meeting in Hanoi.

"We are ready to enter the next step of development and boom, aiming to grow fast and develop depth in our core businesses," she said.

From 2013-2018, PAN focused on growth based on mergers and acquisitions. Since 2019, the group has focused on in-depth development, investment, and production capacity increases. Since 2021, it has grown strongly in its core business lines.

Growth momentum continues

In the first three quarters of 2022, it made consolidated revenue of VND9.9 trillion ($430.43 million) and after-tax profit of VND537 billion, up 53 per cent and 132 per cent on-year, respectively.

Its gross profit margin rose 19 per cent on-year, compared to 16 per cent for the same period last year.

In terms of revenue structure, 52 per cent of the groups revenue comes from fisheries, 35 per cent from agriculture, and the rest from consumer goods, confectionary, cashew, and fish sauce.

While revenue from agriculture ranks second, its profit accounts for 41 per cent. Fisheries contribute 35 per cent to the groups total profit and the rest is from consumer goods.

With the last results, PAN fulfilled about 70 per cent of its whole-year revenue and profit targets. This year, it aims to make VND14.3 trillion in revenue and VND755 billion in after-tax profit. This fulfilment rate is higher than the 55-65 per cent in previous years.

The key areas for PANs revenue and profit growth in 2022 and 2023 are still agriculture and fisheries. Meanwhile, consumer goods are expected to enjoy higher growth in one to two years.

Increasing capital

According to Nguyen Anh Tuan, PAN financial director, the group is preparing to increase its capital. It plans to issue an additional 83.56 million new shares while selling shares for existing stakeholders. It expects to receive VND1.56 trillion from the share issuance.

The company plans to use VND55 billion from the proceeds for investment in Long An Food Processing Export JSC; VND421.07 billion for Vietnam Fumigation JSC to increase its ownership from 41.98 per cent to 65.66 per cent; VND210.26 billion for Vietnam National Seed Group JSC to increase its ownership from 65.57 per cent to 80.35 per cent; and funds for several other companies.

Moreover, VND400 billion from the proceeds will also be used in M&A deals with new companies in the fields of agriculture and food to complete its value chain and diversify its products.

Local groups capitalise on M&A opportunities Vietnam has witnessed a surging number of local groups acquiring assets from both domestic and foreign players, with the rise signalling a major change in the mergers and acquisitions game in the country.

The PAN Group reports 75 per cent rise in first-quarter profit despite COVID-19 PAN Group JSC (HNX: PAN) has announced that its consolidated net revenue reached VND1.68 trillion ($73 million) and consolidated after-tax profit rose VND50 billion ($2.17 million) in the first quarter of 2021, up 31 and 75 per cent on-year, respectively.

C.P. Vietnam and PAN Group cooperate in strategic development of seafood value chain C.P. Vietnam and The PAN Group have just signed a cooperation programme to promote the seafood value chain, especially Vietnam's shrimp industry.
Nawaf Al Zamil, president of Zamil Steel Holding Company

Zamil Steel is one of the largest foreign-invested enterprises in Vietnams steel structure industry. How has a Saudi multinational become a pioneer in investing in Vietnam?

As an integral part of Zamil Industrial Investment Company, Zamil Steel has been engaged in the design, fabrication, and erection of steel structures since 1977.

Zamil Steel owns a global system of 11 modern factories, eight engineering offices with thousands of engineers across the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, and 53 representative offices worldwide.

In the early nineties, the expansion of the steel structure sector into the Asia-Pacific market was one of the critical strategic development plans of Zamil Steel. At that time, Vietnam had just entered the doi moi period, and the Vietnamese construction industry still relied heavily on traditional building materials.

Pre-engineered steel building was a new product with many outstanding advantages that we believed would facilitate the development of the Vietnamese construction industry and the national economy, and thats why we decided to invest in Vietnam.

In 1997, we were the first and only Saudi Arabian group to invest in Vietnam. The extensive support from the governments of both Vietnam and Saudi Arabia, along with initial successes, encouraged us to expand production and business activities.

A project supplied by Zamil Steel Buildings Vietnam Co., Ltd

What advantages and disadvantages did Zamil Steel face when investing in Vietnam?

First, we would like to thank the Vietnamese government, the government of Saudi Arabia, and relevant ministries and agencies for improving the investment environment and removing obstacles to create the most favourable conditions for the operation of foreign-invested enterprises over the past 25 years.

Even recently, the support we received during the COVID-19 pandemic was outstanding. With the positive direction and support of the governments of both sides, Zamil Steel Vietnam (ZSV) has risen to become one of the leading steel structure suppliers in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.

With a growing economy, Vietnam is witnessing an increasing inflow of foreign direct investment in many fields. Accordingly, the need to construct a proper infrastructure system in line with the development strategy of the localities is an unprecedented opportunity for businesses like ZSV.

In addition, Vietnam is rich in cultural heritage, abundant in natural resources, and possesses a young, hard-working, and progressive workforce. These factors have enabled ZSV to do business while harmonising its corporate culture with local standards and creating added value for our stakeholders.

On the other hand, like any other business in the same industry, ZSV also faces challenges in maintaining efficiency and managing risk due to numerous external factors such as rising raw material prices, supply chain disruptions, short-term labour shortages, or project delays. To tackle these challenges and improve competitiveness, quick information processes, reducing production costs, or supporting customers to find optimal solutions in terms of price and budget have become solutions to maintain sustainable growth.

After 25 in Vietnam, how does Zamil Steels long-term vision help achieve sustainable growth in the market?

When exporting the first steel buildings to Vietnam in 1993, Zamil Steel had foreseen the development of Vietnams construction industry over the coming decades. We wanted to bring a new type of product with flexible application in construction to Vietnam while still ensuring safety and architectural standards.

To our expectation, the country quickly absorbed the concept of pre-engineered steel buildings, and this product was soon widely applied in industrial construction. After ZSVs first factory was established in Hanoi in 1997, the concepts of a Zamil house (nha zamil) or Zamil frame (khung keo zamil) became very popular in the local community of engineers and contractors.

The vision of Zamil Industrial Investment Company and Zamil Steel in Vietnam is long-term, and we have always considered Vietnam as the gateway to the Asia-Pacific market. Over the years, we have paid great attention to brand growth in this market, and we are pleased that our customers recognise our products and services.

Today, ZSV has affirmed its position as the leading manufacturer and supplier of steel structures in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. We own two modern factories with a total capacity of up to 120,000 tonnes of steel buildings per year, a team of nearly 1,100 engineers and employees, and 13 representative offices in Southeast Asia and Bangladesh.

ZSV has supplied more than 7,000 projects to customers worldwide. Our projects span the Asia-Pacific region: from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to Southeast Asia, Australia, the United States, Japan, and remote areas such as the Fiji Islands, Mongolia, and Mauritius.

These achievements have demonstrated Zamil Steels strategic vision for 25 years, and we hope to continue those successes for many decades.

Could you share the company's plan for the next phase of development in Vietnam?

The global vision of Zamil Steel has remained unchanged over the past 25 years: To be the worlds most reliable and innovative manufacturer, service, and solution provider in the steel industry. We will continue our mission in the next stage of development in Vietnam.

We will continue to provide high-quality steel building products and excellent services and solutions to customers worldwide. We already have plans to invest significantly in digitalisation and Industry 4.0 initiatives to deliver high-quality, innovative products and solutions to our customers.

We will also utilise innovative technologies within an environment of motivated employees, focused on continuous improvement, the highest business standards, work ethics, and corporate citizenship, leading to added value for our customers and a sustained return on investment for our shareholders.

As a 100 per cent Saudi Arabian-invested enterprise in Vietnam and one of the largest steel structure suppliers in Southeast Asia, we hope to accompany the development of the ASEAN region and create greater value in the future.

Zamil Steel Buildings Vietnam appoints Krishnakanth Kodukula as new general director Saudi Arabian investment group Zamil Industrial Investment Company (Zamil Industrial) announced today the appointment of Krishnakanth Kodukula as new general director of Zamil Steel Buildings Vietnam Co., Ltd., effective from August 2021.

Energy-efficient buildings on the rise in Vietnam Developing energy-efficient buildings is an inevitable trend for Vietnam to achieve its environmental objectives.

Vietnam's steel industry remains attractive in second half According to Mirae Asset Security (Mirae Asset), Vietnam's steel industry in the second half of 2021 is still attractive, with a valuation 20 per cent lower than the region.
A VinaCapital Group and EDF Renewables consortium plans to survey four locations for an offshore wind power project in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province, with a total project investment of about $13 billion and a capacity of 3,000MW.

According to the online portal of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province, on September 9, leaders of the Provincial People's Committee held a meeting with the consortium about the project set for waters off Ba Ria-Vung Tau beach.

In December 2021, VinaCapital, SkyX Solar and EDF Renewables announced plans to invest more than $100 million to develop 200MW of rooftop solar and distributed solar energy projects

At the meeting, representatives of VinaCapital Group and EDF Renewables proposed surveying four locations for a wind power project off the coast of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, between 40 to 258km from the beach.

According to Electric City of Vietnam, by the end of 2021, the total installed capacity of power sources of the whole system reached 76,620MW, an increase of nearly 7,500MW compared to 2020.

The total capacity of renewable energy sources is 20,670MW (up 3,420MW compared to 2020) and accounts for 27 per cent of the total.

The project will occupy 14.5 per cent of the country's total capacity for renewable energy sources.

Representatives of VinaCapital and EDF Renewables expect that most of the electricity produced will be exported abroad.

Speaking at the meeting, vice chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Cong Vinh said that the province supported the consortium in implementing the project. However, he noted that investors needed to consult with central ministries and branches to ensure national defence and energy security.

This is not the first large-scale energy project proposed by VinaCapital and its partners. In December 2021, VinaCapital, SkyX Solar, and EDF Renewables announced investment of more than $100 million to develop 200MW of rooftop solar and distributed solar energy projects for commercial and industrial customers in Vietnam.

For liquefied natural gas, VinaCapital has partnered with GS Energy, a South Korean energy conglomerate, to develop a 3000MW power plant in the Mekong Delta province of Long An, with investment of up to $3 billion.

Once completed, the plant will be one of the largest in the south, supplying more than 5 per cent of national electricity.

Despite pandemic headwinds, the project is moving forward and is on track to start in 2026/2027. The complex will act as a transitional and cleaner energy solution for Vietnam as it moves toward its long-term net-zero targets.

SkyX Solar extends sustainability ambition Rooftop solar developer SkyX Solar and its strategic partners  VinaCapital and EDF Renewables  are planning to invest more than $100 million to develop 200MWp of rooftop solar and distributed energy solar projects for commercial and industrial customers in Vietnam over the next few years. Bich Ngoc talked with Samresh Kumar, chairman and CEO of SkyX Solar about the investment strategy of the consortium in Vietnam.

VinaCapital Ventures invests in Hub Global JSC VinaCapital Ventures, the technology investment platform of VinaCapital Group, on December 21 announced that it has invested in Hub Global JSC, a blockchain eco-platform that is focused on supporting the development of promising Vietnamese startups creating blockchain solutions across a range of verticals.

Outlook remains bright for foreign capital inflows in the year ahead Vietnams foreign direct investment inflows have remained remarkably resilient over the last two years, and we expect continued strong inflows in 2022. This is because travel restrictions will be eased, which will make it easier for corporate executives from elsewhere to travel to Vietnam.

VinaCapital Fund Management cashes in highest returns VinaCapital Fund Management JSC (VCFM) on January 13 announced that its funds ended 2021 with some of the highest returns in their respective categories.

VinaCapital expects economy to boost stock market in 2022 Given the very strong outlook for Vietnams GDP growth, VinaCapital expects continued strong real estate investment by individuals as property has long been one of the leading investments for Vietnamese.

Taiwanese Jih Sun fund comes to Vietnam to strengthen investment The Taiwanese Jih Sun Securities Investment Trust is entering the Vietnamese market via VinaCapital Fund Management JSC on a newly launched fund  the Jih Sun Vietnam Opportunity Fund (JSVOF).
CEDAR FALLS -- Ken Lyftogt will be the featured speaker at the Thursday meeting of Cedar Valley Civil War Roundtable. Lyftogt spent 15 years researching and writing a trilogy of Iowa's role in the Civil War. He will introduce volume three, "The Longest Year, 1864-1865." Copies will be available to purchase that evening for $40.
CEDAR FALLS -- The Cedar Falls chapter of Daughters of American Revolution will hold its monthly meeting Sept. 17 at First United Methodist, 718 Clay St. The program this month will be given by Kris Lorenz, Caring for Antique Quilts. Social time as at 9:30 a.m. and meeting starts at 10 a.m.

Any woman aged 18 or over can join this womens organization by proving direct lineage to a patriot who served in the American Revolution and are welcome at this meeting. For help with research or more information on future meetings please contact cfchapterdar@gmail.com.
CEDAR FALLS  Grade-level proficiency on annual statewide assessments given in the spring largely reached percentages in the 70s and 80s for students in Cedar Falls Community Schools, according to data released last week.

The district wants all students to be proficient on the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress, but those rates provide some hope to officials that theyll continue moving in the right direction.

In the district, one of the things that we really look at is we want to know that our core is sufficient, Pam Zeigler, associate superintendent for instruction and learning, said in an interview. Are we hitting those standards and do we have the resources needed?

When at least 80% of our students test as proficient, she added, it indicates that educators have reached the threshold of a sufficient core. The assessments test in the areas of English language arts and math for students in grades three through 11 and science for grades five, eight and 10.

In English language arts, six grades met that threshold, while two grades had a percent proficienct in the 70s. Four grades had a percent proficient in the 80s for math with the other four below that. Two of three grades tested in science were also below 80%.

Based on the measure, Cedar Falls Schools saw some improvement from last years ISASP results. The number of grades with proficiency below 80% was four in English language arts and six in math, according to a previous Courier story. The story didnt detail that information for science.

Zeigler noted, though, that there have been a number of changes in the assessments making a total comparison to last year difficult in some ways. In comparisons to this years statewide data, she said the district had similarities in increasing and decreasing proficiency.

According to a news release from the Iowa Department of Education, students are mostly testing at pre-pandemic levels of learning, however, 11th-graders have declined the most since last year in English. Results show signs of recovery and progress with the majority of grades improving from the previous year.

The one red flag this year was fifth-grade math was lower, Zeigler noted, of the Cedar Falls Schools. The 406 students tested across the district were 67.5% proficient  the lowest rate in any subject at any grade. District 10th-graders had the highest proficency rate at 82%.

In English language arts, proficiency levels ranged from 77.8% for fifth-graders to 87.6% for fourth graders. In science, proficiency rates were 70.8% for fifth-graders, 74.8% for eighth-graders and 83.2% for 10th-graders.

Waterloo Community Schools didnt respond to a request last week for comment on results from the assessments.

The districts percent proficient in English language arts ranged from 52.7% in third grade to 67.8% in 10th grade. In math, percentages ranged from 39.7% in ninth grade to 62.9% in third grade, with all other grades showing a percent proficient in the 50s or 60s. For science, it was 49% in fifth grade, 51.6% in eighth grade and 54.1% in 10th grade.

In Waverly-Shell Rock Community Schools, the percent proficient in English language arts ranged from 72.1 for third-graders to 85.7 for sixth-graders. For math, the range went from 76.3 for 10th-graders to 87.1 for third-graders. In science, proficiency was 75.3% in fifth grade, 77.6% in eighth grade and 79.7% in 10th grade.

More details on the three districts results and any other school district can be found online at educateiowa.gov/data-reporting/education-statistics-pk-12 by clicking on Student Performance and 2021-22 under Proficiency by District.

Iowa results

State-level results from the 2021-22 ISASP demonstrate proficiency gains in many grades with English language arts performance mainly returning to pre-pandemic levels in third through eighth grades. Eleventh-grade results declined the most from last year, dropping four percentage points.

Math results increased in third through seventh grades. However, eighth- and 10th-graders experienced a one-percentage point decrease, while ninth-graders had a two-percentage point decrease in students scoring proficient when compared to last year. Eleventh-grade results declined five percentage points.

Science exceeded pre-pandemic levels in all three grades assessed.

Following is breakdown of the percent proficient statewide in selected grades by subject:

Math  72%, third grade; 66.5%, eighth grade; and 60.2%, 11th grade.

English language arts  65.1%, third grade; 75.2%, eighth grade; and 69.9%, 11th grade.

Science  60.1%, fifth grade; 66.6% eighth grade; and 64.2% 10th grade.

This data reflects Iowa educators commitment to addressing the individual needs of their students and how the use of evidence-based supports can help students grow and flourish, Iowa Department of Education Director Ann Lebo said in a news release.

We are moving in the right direction in many areas, but there still is work to be done, she said. This crucial data will help schools with their improvement planning, target relief funds to address high-need areas and recapture the growth Iowa students experienced prior to the pandemic.
Weather Alert

...Lingering Smoke Concerns, but Changes Are on the Way... * Smoke from the Mosquito wildfire will continue to produce unhealthy to hazardous air quality across the region this morning, but improving conditions are on the way. * Deeper southerly flow will push the smoke northward later today. Conditions may deteriorate in the Sierra Valley and from Truckee eastward to Highway 395 between Stead and Doyle this afternoon, with some eastward spread late in the day. Elsewhere, conditions should be better today, with significant air quality improvements Sunday into Monday for all areas. * An early season storm moves into the west coast this weekend, bringing much cooler temperatures, and chances for rain and high elevation snow Sunday through next Wednesday. The west side of the Sierra is favored for the highest liquid totals, with spillover into western Nevada limited until Monday or Tuesday. There are decent chances for wetting rains through much of the Sierra, northeast California, and northwest Nevada over the four-day period. * Higher passes such as Mt. Rose, Tioga, Sonora, and Ebbetts could see light slushy snow accumulations, but overall travel impacts will be minimal due to the recent warmth. * It will be rather chilly Sunday through Wednesday with temperatures 10-20 degrees below normal. It will drop into the 20s in colder Sierra valleys overnight, so be prepared if you are recreating in the back country. Western Nevada valleys will remain above freezing, so gardens are still safe from early season freezes.
Top Vietnamese, Cambodian legislators hold talks

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue held talks with President of the Cambodian National Assembly Samdech Heng Samrin in Hanoi on September 12 following the welcome ceremony the same day.













National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue (R) and President of the Cambodian National Assembly Samdech Heng Samrin (Photo:VNA)

The two leaders noted with pleasure satisfactory results of bilateral economic cooperation despite COVID-19 pandemic, saying that two-way trade hit 9.5 billion USD last year, up 79% year-on-year. Vietnam invested in 188 projects worth 2.8 billion USD in Cambodia, becoming the biggest ASEAN investor and the fifth largest in Cambodia.



They agreed to maintain the exchange of all-level visits to increase mutual trust, effectively implement signed protocols and national defence-security cooperation plans. Both sides will focus on completing the border demarcation and marker planting, which has so far 84% completed.



Hue suggested both sides soon complete the drafting of Master Plan for linking Vietnamese and Cambodian economies till 2030, sign a border trade agreement, effectively carry out the Memorandum of Understanding on border trade infrastructure connectivity and development, the Agreement on Investment Encouragement and Protection, and the Agreement on Double Taxation Avoidance.



Heng Samrin proposed the Vietnamese legislature offer personnel training to its Cambodian counterpart, share experience in information and agriculture technology to turn the Mekong River into a food security area of the region and the world, and contribute to humanitarian activities.



Hue affirmed that the Vietnamese NA will help Cambodia successfully hold the 43rd General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA-43) in November.



The Vietnamese NA Office is ready to continue offering intensive training to officers of the Secretariat of the Cambodian NA, including in information technology and interpretation, he stressed.



He also suggested Cambodia continue assisting in the search and repatriation of remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts in the country.



Agreeing with his Cambodian counterpart, the top Vietnamese legislator suggested the two countries and legislative bodies create more favourable conditions for their enterprises to invest and do business stably in respective country.



Hue said that education is a strategic cooperation area for the development of each country and contributes to the strong solidarity between the two nations.



He suggested the Cambodian side give priority to providing scholarships in fields that Vietnam has strengths such as agriculture - forestry, fisheries, medicine, pharmaceuticals and information technology.



He thanked the Cambodian side for successfully rescuing many Vietnamese citizens who have been scammed to work illegally in Cambodia recently, expressing his hope that the Cambodian NA will continue to provide support for Cambodians of Vietnamese origin in the country.



In response, Samdech Heng Samrin said that Cambodia protects legitimate rights and interests of people of Vietnamese origin as well as Vietnamese enterprises investing and doing business legally in the country.



Regarding cooperation at multilateral forums, Hue affirmed that Vietnam supports Cambodia as the chair of ASEAN and the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) in 2022, expressing his belief that the ASEAN Summits and the 43rd AIPA General Assembly (AIPA-43) in Phnom Penh in November 2022 will be successful, contributing to building the ASEAN Community and strengthening Cambodia's international position.



He suggested the two sides strengthen exchanges and consultations on strategic issues related to security and development of the region as well as of each country; make efforts to maintain solidarity and unity in ASEAN and affirm its central role in regional security issues; and uphold ASEAN's principled stance on East Sea-related issues.



NA Chairman Hue proposed the two sides sign additional cooperation agreements between their legislative bodies in order to suit the current situation, underlining the need to maintain high-level meetings and contacts between young legislators to enhance exchange of information and experience in law-making, supreme supervision and making decisions on important national issues of each country.



The two sides should further promote the role of their legislatures in promoting bilateral relations; and urging ministries, sectors, localities and businesses to effectively implement signed treaties and agreements, Hue stressed.



They will coordinate to help Laos successfully organise a conference between the NAs of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam in 2023; and continue enhancing coordination mechanisms at multilateral forums such as AIPA, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) General Assembly, the the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF) and other multilateral parliamentary organizations; and support each other's stance on regional and international issues of common concern.



NA Chairman Hue agreed to promote cooperation between the Secretariat of the Cambodian NA and the Vietnamese NAs Office , especially in the fields of personnel training and information technology, affirming that the Vietnamese NAs Office is ready to provide advanced and specialised training in information technology and interpretation in Vietnam for staff of the Cambodian agency.



Later the same day, the Vietnamese NA Chairman hosted a banquet for his Cambodian counterpart and entourage.
The new documentary M*A*S*H: When Television Changed Forever (Sept. 13, 9 p.m. ET, Reelz) celebrates the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking TV series with interviews with producers, historians, writers and cast members including Mike Farrell, a.k.a. Captain B.J. Hunnicutt, and Jamie Farr, a.k.a. Corporal Maxwell Q. Klinger. Farrell, 83, and Farr, 88, tell AARP about their memories of the iconic show, which aired for 11 seasons, earned more than 100 Emmy nominations and gathered 106 million people to tune into its unforgettable 1983 finale.

Can you believe its been 50 years since M*A*S*H debuted?

Jamie Farr: Yes, I have some of the rewards [laughing]: macular degeneration, a hip replacement and a positive attitude.

Did you know at that time you were making history?

Farr: No, I was just happy to get a paycheck and pay my rent and buy groceries.



Mike Farrell: We knew we were having fun. We knew the show was popular but we had no idea until after the end that it had become a social phenomenon.



Farr: When M*A*S*H started on Sunday nights, it was almost canceled because we were on opposite the The Wonderful World of Disney. It was Mrs. Paley  CBS chief Bill Paleys wife  who liked the show and said, Change it to another time. They did and it became the greatest night in the history of television. The Saturday night lineup was All in the Family, M*A*S*H, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show and The Carol Burnett Show. Eventually M*A*S*H aired on almost every different night of the week. At one point, we were on Fridays [a lower-viewing night]. We went to Fred Silverman, head of programming, and said, We don't deserve to be there. He said, Youre the crown jewel of our crown, where do you want to be? We gave him the night and time and he said, OK, and he changed it for us. Thats how powerful the show was for the network.

Did your service time in the military impact how you saw your roles?

Farrell: Having been in the military gives you a certain awareness of the difference between acting and being there. I was in the Marines, and I always laugh about it because I lived in a tent in Okinawa and then got a job living in a tent purported to be in Korea.

Farr: I actually served in Korea and in Japan, I almost went to Okinawa  Mike, I dont know if I ever told you that. I helped bring in Armed Forces Network television in Korea and served with Red Skelton entertaining the troops. The M*A*S*H set out at Malibu Creek State Park had the exact looks of Korea when I was there except one exception: They didnt have any honeysuckle smells. But of course with my nose, I could smell Korea from Malibu. I even went to some M*A*S*H units when I was with Red Skelton. The M*A*S*H unit on the show was extremely accurate.
Camp is president of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR), an association of more than 3,000 lawyers and disability advocates who specialize in Social Security cases. He contends some continuing COVID-19 protocols and practices, including social distancing, remote work and steering people to schedule appointments rather than show up at offices, hinder access to some individuals in greatest need.

While it recommends appointments, the SSA says the vast majority of offices have resumed in-person service for people without an appointment. Camp says that in practice, many offices are not taking walk-ins other than to schedule an appointment, creating a barrier for claimants with severe impairments.

Because it is a later-scheduled appointment, it causes all the same problems for the most limited applicants. A homeless person suffering with schizophrenia needs a drop-in structure, he says. We had local SSA offices available to help people for generations until COVID, and we are struggling with SSA not returning to what worked in the past.

Phone, online access encouraged

Since field offices reopened, the SSAs public communications and social media have encouraged people to call the agencys national customer service number, 800-772-1213, or use the online My Social Security platform whenever possible.

Many routine SSA services can be accessed online or by phone, including applying for several types of benefits, getting estimates of monthly payments, requesting a replacement Medicare or Social Security card, and obtaining a benefit verification letter.

However, the national phone line has been plagued by service issues while the SSA implements a systemwide upgrade. A Sept. 6 post on the agencys social media accounts noted that callers might experience busy signals, dropped calls, and long wait times. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience and we appreciate your patience while we work to fully restore phone service.

In July, the most recent month for which data is available, callers to the national number waited about 32 minutes on average to speak to an agent, up from 9 minutes a year earlier. The agencys goal is to get answer times down to 12 minutes by Sept. 30, 2023, according to an SSA report.

Angela Digeronimo, a Social Security claims specialist, handles calls to her local office in Woodbridge, New Jersey, working remotely in both that role and as head of the American Federation of Government Employees union local that represents SSA field office and teleservice workers. She says telework offers a better way of providing service to the public than the overcrowded waiting rooms and long wait times.

Telework is assisting our employees having work-life balance, Digeronimo says. The agency is not competitive in offering work-life balance. People want the telework. The number one thing candidates are asking is if the position is telework-eligible.

Camp says working remotely is efficient for certain Social Security positions, such as the administrative law judges who hear appeals in disability benefit cases, but its not a magic bullet for what ails customer service.

To pretend we can replace that in-person level of functioning with telework is ignoring what were seeing in terms of the facts and the numbers of people being serviced, he says. There is no explanation other than its hard to get into an office, and there are not enough people when theyre getting there.

While accessing services by phone or online can save many people a trip to a field office, Doggett says, it may not be the best approach for beneficiaries and claimants who are older or in poor physical or mental health.

I know many seniors are not as adept at using such services, he says. I side with the view we need more employees back at the offices to take care of these problems. Virtual employees are just not an adequate solution to this problem.

While we understand your encouragement of the use of SSAs online or telephone options, LeaMond wrote in her letter to the agency, we note that there are significant challenges with this strategy to reduce service issues in field offices. Some services, such as applying for survivor benefits or SSI, cannot be completed online, she noted, and even among those who do prefer online services, many who apply for Social Security benefits online ultimately turn to an in-person or phone consultation for assistance.


Asset Acquisition

Sydney, Sep 9, 2022 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Consolidated Africa Limited ( NSX:CRA ) has agreed to terms with Wavecrest Investments Pty Ltd (ACN 116 220 010) (Wavecrest), regarding the project known as the 'Corktree West' Project (Tenement EL 52/3994).



Executive summary



Known as the 'Corktree West' Project covering 2.8sq km within the Peak Hill Provence in Western Australia. The tenement is prospective for copper-gold sediment hosted volcanogenic massive sulphite (VMS) base metal mineralisation due to its locality within the so-called 'VMS Structural Corridor' Zone, which hosts the Monthy VMS deposits and Sandfire's De Grussa Mine. It has also been explored for its diamond potential where micro diamonds have been encounted. Minerals such as chrome-garnets, chrome-diopside, chrome-spinels and kimberlitic ilmenites, are recognised as definite pathfinder minerals for tracking primary diamond deposits Kimberlite pipes to their source.



The project has been under explored for Copper-Gold and Base Metals. Mantle tapping structures and the tectonic setting in the region around the tenement, provides a suitable environment for the generation of world class deposits, such as that developed at De Grussa.



Term Sheet: Background



CRA currently has 115,705,266 shares on issue and are traded on the NSX. There are 182 shareholders where all but 2 have a minimum parcel of 20,000 $0.10 FPO shares.



Terms of the Deal:



Consolidated Africa will issue 173,557,899 fully Paid Ordinary (FPO) shares in consideration for 100% of the assets described in the term sheet (Corkscrew West Project). The sale will be subject to approval at a shareholder meeting to be held in the near future after an Independent Experts Report (IER) is undertaken.



Following shareholder approval being received, the CRA board will appoint at least three (3) new directors to the board. All current board members and the CEO will resign immediately. There will be no severance or redundancy payments. The deal will leave CRA's financial capacity in a position to pay its ongoing listing requirements following the transaction being approved.



This term sheet only becomes a binding agreement between the parties once shareholder approval has been received in favour of the proposed transaction. Once the shareholder meeting is completed and the project successfully secured by CRA, the new board of directors will be in a position to raise funds that will ensure the company can progress forward.



A copy of an Independent Geologist's report is attached to this announcement.



*To view a copy of an Independent Geologist's report, please visit:

https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/MJ7VZG4U





About Consolidated Africa Limited





Consolidated Africa Limited (NSX:CRA) is a management team skilled in the evaluation, procurement and advancement of mineral projects, which has a primary focus in the field of mining exploration and advancement of mineral deposits.


Beetaloo Operations Update - IP30 Rates

Sydney, Sep 12, 2022 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Empire Energy Group Ltd ( ASX:EEG ) ( EEGUF:OTCMKTS ) is pleased to provide shareholders with an update regarding the operations in Empire's 100% owned and operated EP187 tenement, located onshore Northern Territory in the Beetaloo Sub-basin ("Beetaloo").



Comments from Managing Director Alex Underwood:



"The Empire team continues to be encouraged with the results that we are seeing at Carpentaria-2H. The well continues to produce strongly, evidently with a relatively shallow decline curve profile compared to other analogue wells.



We keenly await the receipt of gas and water tracer data that will demonstrate the relative contribution to gas flow from the various stimulation stages in the well. This is likely to provide clarity on which fluid systems and perforation designs are best suited to the development of the Velkerri shale, to be incorporated into stimulation strategy for the Carpentaria-3H well.



The gas composition data shows that we have a rich gas with very low impurities and, critically in an increasingly carbon constrained world, very low CO2. This will likely reduce the offset challenge in future development scenarios.



We look forward to providing shareholders further updates as our active 2022 program progresses."



Flow back of stimulation fluids commenced at Carpentaria-2H ("C-2H") on 1 August 2022, immediately following placement of the well's 21 hydraulic stimulation stages. C-2H is progressively "cleaning up" by flowing back placed fluids unaided, without the need for any artificial lift or velocity string. Gas flow commenced on 5 August 2022 with a period of significant but unmeasurable gas rates due to slug flow (gas with water production). Gas flow measurement began on 7 August 2022 and has flowed continuously, except for a 2-day operational shut-in to swap the hydraulic stimulation surface pipework to production pipework. Following the shut-in a peak rate of >11 mmscf per day was achieved. These flows are through 4 1/2" casing. Production tubing was not required.



Carpentaria-2H IP30



The average production rate over the first 30 days ("IP30") was 2.4 mmscf per day (a normalised rate of 2.6 mmscf per day / 1,000m horizontal section). The well was producing at a rate of 2.1 mmscf per day on day 30, with the rate of production decline reducing with the early type curve flattening, at a lower rate of decline than other analogue wells. Flow testing continues at C-2H.



Carpentaria-2H Gas Composition Analysis



Gas composition data has been obtained from gas sampled at the surface gas and water separator. The gas samples taken are from the combined flow from all 21 hydraulic stimulation stages.



As modelled and observed at Carpentaria-1 ("C-1") also located in EP187, the sampled gas stream of C-2H has a high calorific value due to the presence of longer chain hydrocarbons. Also consistent with the previously tested C-1 well and other Beetaloo wells, the total inert volume, including CO2 content, is very low.



Upcoming Work Program



Empire's 2022 EP187 C-3H and C-4V drilling program is on track to commence early October. C-3H will be a horizontal well from the same pad as C-2H targeting the same B Shale of the Velkerri Formation. C-3H hydraulic stimulation and EPT is scheduled to commence by year end. Learnings from C-2H, including tracer analysis currently being undertaken, will be incorporated into the C-3H horizontal drilling and stimulation program, which seeks to further de-risk the project and optimise gas production rates.



C-4V will be drilled in the Carpentaria East Area (an adjoining fault block) targeting the Velkerri Formation shales to materially mature Prospective Resources to Contingent Resources and further delineate the EP187 Velkerri Formation shale play. Following extensive formation evaluation, the well will be cased and suspended for drilling as a potential future horizontal development well.



*To view tables and figures, please visit:

https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/7F5SS0I0





About Empire Energy Group Ltd





Empire Energy (ASX:EEG) (OTCMKTS:EEGUF) holds over 14.5 million acres of highly prospective exploration tenements in the McArthur and Beetaloo Basins, Northern Territory. Work undertaken by the Company since 2010 demonstrates that the Eastern depositional Trough of the McArthur Basin, of which the Company holds 80% has very considerable conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon potential. The Beetaloo sub-Basin, in which Empire holds a substantial position, has independently assessed world class hydrocarbon volumes in place with a major ramp up in industry activity underway to appraise substantial discoveries already made by major Australian oil and gas operators.

Empire Energy is an experienced conventional oil and gas producer with operations in the Appalachia region (New York and Pennsylvania). Empire has been successfully developing and producing oil and gas since 2006.
Potential Commercial Areas awarded to Comet Ridge and Vintage Energy Galilee Basin Joint Venture



Galilee Basin PCAs awarded to Comet and Vintage JV

Melbourne, Sep 12, 2022 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Comet Ridge Limited ( ASX:COI ) and Vintage Energy Limited ( ASX:VEN ) are pleased to jointly announce that their Galilee Basin joint venture in central Queensland, has been awarded six Potential Commercial Areas (PCAs) by the Queensland Department of Resources (DoR).



Two Authorities to Prospect (ATPs 743 and 744) were initially awarded to Comet Ridge Limited in 2009. Exploration was initially coal seam gas (CSG) focussed with Comet Ridge undertaking a significant 2D seismic survey, the drilling of nine CSG exploration and appraisal wells and a short term production test on the Gunn 2 well.



In 2018, Vintage Energy farmed into the "Deeps" section of the blocks by funding the Albany 1 well and additional 2D seismic, which was aimed at the deeper sandstone reservoir sections of the Permian aged Galilee Basin Sandstone. In exchange for this expenditure, Vintage Energy acquired a 30% interest in the "Deeps" whilst Comet Ridge retained 70%, along with its 100% interests in the CSG Shallows.



The Albany 1 well flowed 230,000 cubic feet of gas per day and confirmed that these deeper sandstones could indeed be productive. The joint venture participants have identified up to 20 leads and prospects in this deeper section of the basin for future appraisal.



As part of the normal exploration process for natural gas in Queensland, towards the end of the ATP tenure term, Comet Ridge and Vintage Energy carried out a technical review to determine the parts of ATP 743 and 744 that are considered to be the most commercially prospective. The joint venture participants identified six separate areas, totalling approximately 4700 km2 , for tenure to be secured under Potential Commercial Area (PCA) applications.



These areas, numbered by the Queensland Government as PCA 319 to 324 (see Figure 1 below) have been awarded to Comet Ridge and Vintage for a term of 15 years to enable further appraisal to be undertaken. The underlying permits, ATP 743 and 744 have also been renewed for a further term of 12 years.



Comet Ridge Managing Director, Tor McCaul said "The Galilee Basin holds huge potential to play an important role in Queensland's gas sector and could be a significant producer for the East Coast gas market. The potential jobs and economic benefits that this project could bring is something we are very excited about and we look forward to results from our further exploration in this area over time."



Vintage Energy Managing Director, Neil Gibbins said "The Galilee Basin appears to have the base ingredients required to be a significant new contributor to Australia's domestic gas production. The results we achieved in joint venture with Comet Ridge, including recording the first measured gas flow from the Lake Galilee Sandstone reservoir at the Albany 1 well, are very encouraging, so it is very pleasing to be granted the security of tenure that enables our exploration efforts to resume".



Vintage and Comet Ridge continue to hold ATP 1015 as part of the joint venture which sits immediately to the west of the core PCA areas. This block is expected to move through a similar ATP renewal and PCA award process, later in 2022.



*To view the tenement map, please visit:

https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/47G22RMH





About Vintage Energy Ltd





Vintage Energy Ltd (ASX:VEN) has been established to acquire, explore and develop energy assets principally within, but not limited to, Australia, to take advantage of a generally favourable energy pricing outlook.
The common law legal system we inherited from England is simultaneously a body of established legal principles and a method for generating new ones.

Its distinguishing characteristic has always been its capacity for change.

In the 17th century, the witch-hunting judge Matthew Hale compared the common law to a wooden ship on a long voyage. As the months stretch into years, every plank in the ship is eventually replaced, and yet it remains the same ship.

At the time of the nations founding, our colonial courts were run by the English to English specifications. Thanks to the internet, we can look back in time to see what English trials were like back then. There have been some changes.

In 1776, the epicenter of British criminal law was the Old Bailey, which remains Londons central criminal court to this day. How venerable is the Old Bailey? The City of Londons website tells us: Daniel Defoe, Oscar Wilde, Dr. Crippen, the Kray Twins, Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe  have all faced their providence in the Old Bailey dock. (Two of these are not like the others.)

Mary Reading faced her providence there, too. The record of her trial, available at oldbaileyonline.org, is dated July 10, 1776, just six days after the American colonies declared their independence, but weeks before anyone in the mother country heard about it.

She was indicted for stealing a silver watch, silver shoe-buckles, a pair of silver knee-buckles and a mans hat, the property of Thomas Coupland. The summary of evidence begins: The prosecutor suffered himself to be picked up by a woman; he went to bed with her at her lodgings, and in the morning missed his bed-fellow, and the things mentioned in the indictment.

Which would make for a juicy scandal today, when the term prosecutor refers to a government employee.

But at the time of Americas independence, the word wasnt a job description. If the victim of a crime wanted the state to enforce its criminal laws, the victim had to lodge a complaint, bring witnesses to court and examine them in front of the jury  in a word, to prosecute. The prosecutor was the victim of a crime.

Or, more specifically, the prosecutor was a victim of crime who turned to the state for justice, rather than meekly submitting or else seeking revenge.

Most defendants in the Old Bailey didnt have lawyers. Mary Reading seems to have conducted her own defense, quite capably. She called a witness who testified to hearing Coupland say he was much in liquor on the night in question and couldnt be certain Reading was the woman he met. She was acquitted.

The modern meaning of prosecutor is a relatively recent innovation. New Yorks district attorney became an elective office only in 1846, according to Professor Carolyn B. Ramsey. And not until decades later did New Yorks DA acquire exclusive authority to present cases to the grand jury, creating the prototype of the system were familiar with today, when essentially all criminal prosecutions are brought by the state.

As the title of prosecutor passed from victims to the governments lawyers, so too did control over prosecutions. This had some not-so-obvious consequences. From being the prime mover of a prosecution, the victim became just one witness among many.

Here in New Mexico, and especially in Bernalillo County, its no longer unheard of for judges to prevent victims of crime from testifying in their own cases. A victim is just a witness and any witness can be forbidden from testifying at trial if the state violates any provision of the Case Management Order. Ive known it to happen when a victim misses a pretrial interview with defense counsel.

That makes perfect sense in Law World, because modern prosecutions are concerned with the relationship between the parties, that is, between the state and the defendant. The victim is a third wheel in that relationship.

Writing in The New Republic, now-retired federal judge Richard Posner, a Reagan appointee and champion of the conservative Law and Economics school, pointed out the heavy costs of convicting an innocent person. He gets no argument there, except perhaps for his aseptic terminology.

By contrast, he wrote, the main consequence of acquitting a guilty person is merely to reduce, probably very slightly (unless such acquittals become very common), the deterrent and incapacitative effect of the criminal law.

Acquitting a guilty person also deprives the victim of justice, making a mockery of his or her faith in the government and the promise of its laws. But in Posners calculation, thats not a cost at all, because the victim isnt a party to the lawsuit.

Joel Jacobsen is an author who in 2015 retired from a 29-year legal career. If there are topics you would like to see covered in future columns, please write him at legal.column.tips@gmail.com.
Five people were shot and injured at a birthday party in Santa Fe early Sunday, police say.

Officers responded to a shooting near Paseo Feliz at around 12:30 a.m. after reports of gunshots fired at a birthday celebration, the Santa Fe Police Department said in a news release.

Two adults and three teenagers were injured. All of them were treated for injuries at local hospitals.

No arrests have been made and police didnt provide any additional details about the suspect or suspects.
Sep. 10A Curry County deputy was seriously injured in a Chaves County wreck Tuesday

Curry County sheriff Wesley Waller reports Tuesday at approximately 4:20 p.m., Curry County Court deputy Amy Jo McKenna was injured in a single-vehicle crash on US 70 in Chaves County.

Waller said McKenna was assisting with a court-ordered medical transport to a facility in Roswell.

McKenna, along with the patient and two emergency medical services personnel were traveling from Clovis to Roswell in an ambulance operated by the Texico Volunteer Fire Department.

For unknown reasons, the ambulance left the roadway and rolled.

Waller said all occupants received serious injuries and were transported by ambulance to the Eastern New Mexico Medical Center in Roswell.

McKenna was subsequently airlifted to a medical facility in El Paso.

The crash is being investigated by the New Mexico State Police.

___

(c)2022 Eastern New Mexico News, Clovis, N.M.

Visit Eastern New Mexico News, Clovis, N.M. at www.easternnewmexiconews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

Part two of a two-day series

Seven years ago, Bernalillo County raised taxes on the sale of nearly every good and service.

The goal of the one-eighth of 1 percent gross receipts tax hike, according to the county website, was to develop a comprehensive, well-networked and accessible continuum of care for children, youth, and adults in need of behavioral health services in partnership with federal, state and local government partners, plus the nonprofit and private sector.

It has yielded nearly $161 million in its first seven years. It moved $80 million out the door in that time, and has some of the balance committed to major projects.

But whether it has been effective remains an ongoing question.

Critics say the countys Behavioral Health Initiative, or BHI, has suffered from disorganization, waning engagement with the community and a lack of clear-cut performance standards.

Results are typically reported in terms of clients seen or hours of treatment given, but big-picture shifts are hard to find.

Suicide rates in Bernalillo County are higher than they were before the tax, according to the most recent state data, and drug overdose deaths have soared. The number of people who are homeless in Albuquerque  which represents the vast majority of Bernalillo County  is higher today than in 2015, according to official counts.

And while the tax has been described as a mechanism for working alongside others to develop a continuum of care in the community, the county and its most logical partner  the city of Albuquerque  showed no effective collaboration at all levels to improve the lives of citizens, according to a 2021 analysis the city and county ordered to identify local needs.

Both the City (of Albuquerque) and the County recognize that the behavioral health care system is fragmented, difficult to navigate, and lacking a full complement of care options, at times leading to no or insufficient treatment, the analysis states. Stakeholders, especially clients, report a system that sounds good in PowerPoint presentations and on City and County websites but are inaccessible, with several interviewees indicating it was a fantasy system.'

Bernalillo County Manager Julie Morgas Baca acknowledges the need for improvement. She said the county is now partnering with the city on multiple projects  including the citys Gateway Center homeless shelter and services hub  reengaging community members in its BHI decision-making and developing a plan to better inform the public about available resources.

Its a huge undertaking, Morgas Baca said of launching the tax-funded BHI. And weve learned  weve learned about what to do and what not to do. Were starting to know more about our strengths and our weaknesses; were starting to understand  how important the data is and for us to be able to have our goals and to be able to demonstrate that we meet those goals.

Haphazard patchwork

The county at some point abandoned the 2015 behavioral health business plan it paid a contractor $325,000 to develop. Officials say they used the document as a guide but that it was written by an Arizona firm and therefore did not completely align with the New Mexico behavioral health landscape.

Its not necessarily something that we say, OK, we check this piece of the plan, we check this piece of the plan,' said county Behavioral Health Services Director Margarita Chavez-Sanchez, who oversaw the BHI for years until a recent restructuring. But it was the road map that helped to build kind of the structure of the BHI.

County officials say individual programs have goals, though they are still gathering data to show if what they are funding is working.

All of it feels haphazard, said Peter Cubra. A retired Albuquerque attorney and behavioral health advocate who pushed the county to initiate the tax, Cubra said ill-defined goals and poor planning have hurt the execution.

It is true that inevitably some dollars are being spent in ways that are doing us good  thank God for that  but it is still being done in a haphazard way and patching together bits and pieces of a system does not constitute having a system of care, Cubra said. And until we have a vision of a system of care and skillful implementation of a strategic plan to build it, it will continue to be a patchwork thats ineffective and not efficiently using the funds.

Cubra currently sits on the steering committee of Coalition for a Safer ABQ, a consortium that includes behavioral health professionals and those with experience using  or trying to access  such services.

The group  composed of people Cubra says have been trying to improve our systems for many years  in 2020 began writing city and county officials asking them to create a strategic plan showing how they intended to establish a genuine continuum of care for the metro area, coordinating behavioral health and social service programming.

The city and county have since released a draft document that identifies eight strategic goals like support efforts to increase access and housing stability of individuals with behavioral health needs and improve services in the community that will stabilize the need for behavioral health supports and prevent crisis. Each goal has associated action steps, but there are few measurement standards and no timelines for meeting the objectives.

Cubra characterized the document as distressingly unprofessional.

County leaders say they are presently working to make a more detailed strategic plan.

The coalition raised concerns about limited community input in the strategic planning process and urged city and county leaders to maintain an ongoing dialogue with providers, advocates and other stakeholders as they carry out any final strategic plan.

The community was supposed to be part of the BHI.

The county has turned to subject-matter experts from the community to serve on the committees established to help guide BHI spending, but some of those committees convened only sparingly in recent years. Morgas Baca said the county underutilized those groups and that she is actively working to reengage community stakeholders.

I just consider them a tremendous resource. I think that they needed the acknowledgement from me that they are valued, Morgas Baca said.

Program results

The BHI currently funds 40 contracts throughout the community.

The four primary focus areas are:

 Crisis services, including the law enforcement and clinical support teams that respond to 911 calls for nonviolent incidents involving someone with a behavioral health issue;

 Community supports, such as peer-to-peer services for those with behavioral health concerns;

 Housing; and

 Prevention, Intervention and Harm Reduction, such as suicide prevention programs and initiatives aimed at reducing adverse childhood experiences.

The county says the BHI programs have served at least 131,732 individuals in just over seven years. County officials say they are confident the programs are making a difference in peoples lives.

Now that Ive worked with these providers for so long, theyre doing amazing stuff, said Charlie Verploegh, who led the BHI before recently leaving the county for a new position. When I go, when I listen to the stories about clients, its amazing.

Officials say they build performance metrics into each contract and that staff  including six special projects and program coordinators  oversee the contracts, though they acknowledge they could use more personnel.

But the numbers publicly reported are often encounter- or engagement-based  the number of service hours provided, counseling sessions conducted or referrals made. Cubra said that is of limited use.

Its just bean-counting to say we had 1,752 case management encounters paid for. What does that tell us? What if 100% of the case managers dont know what theyre doing or if people who have the highest needs never get any case management, but the easy-to-serve do? he said. They havent done any efficacy measures of any kind.

Since the taxs inception, the county has prioritized process evaluations, Chavez-Sanchez said. Those evaluations, she said, were really helpful in gleaning more insight into the gaps both in oversight and contract compliance.

But outcomes are a different, and mostly unstudied, subject.

County leaders say they now have contracted two new firms that will start looking closer at program results will also help with contract review and improvement.

Findings made so far by the Institute for Social Research at the University of New Mexico run the gamut, according to Paul Guerin.

Guerin, director of the ISRs Center for Applied Research and Analysis, has authored many of the reports on BHI programs. He said some of the BHIs contract providers have worked to document changes between a clients intake and discharge that indicated their programming had a positive impact. But in other cases, researchers found that the providers could provide little such data or were not even performing the services the BHI wanted.

In one evaluation, ISR wrote that fuzziness exists around the providers understanding of the programs and services it was contracted to provide. In addition, data collection on service provision and short-term goals or outcomes was also entirely absent. To that point, identified outcomes were equally broad, which left confusion about what specific goals and objectives (they) hoped to achieve with clients.

In evaluating a different provider, ISR found no empirical evidence that most of the clients the provider was serving were from the target population and that services were not implemented as designed.

Guerin said he could understand people questioning if the countys behavioral health tax had made an impact.

If they were to read some of our reports, he said, they would get a mixed answer.

But the criteria used for evaluation was sometimes so rigid, Verploegh said, that it might have discounted the work of providers whose programs did not fit nicely inside certain models.

Cory Lee of Crossroads for Women, a BHI contractor that provides housing and support services to formerly incarcerated women, said the BHI contracting did not always account for variations across programs.

I want to believe what they were trying to do was provide a sense of structure, but in that there was a little bit of maybe just a tad too much of trying to encourage people to fit into a certain box, Crossroads executive director said.

Reorganization

Bernalillo County Commissioner Debbie OMalley is the only current commissioner who was part of the 2015 vote to impose the tax. It was clear the community had behavioral health needs, she said, and she was glad to support a new revenue stream to support them.

But she said she has heard  and understands  many of the public criticisms of the BHI and believes that there are structural problems with the management and oversight. Many complaints have come from the countys contracted providers, who feel unsupported.

Even what she considers the countys earliest and most concrete goal for the tax  opening a crisis triage center for people in the throes of a mental health or substance use crisis who might otherwise end up in jail or the emergency room  has yet to be realized, though its on the way.

She said the BHI seems to operate project by project instead of in a comprehensive fashion.

As a commissioner who is not a mental health specialist, OMalley said she has consistently relied on county staff to handle the day-to-day details or bring forward vetted projects that need funding. But she said she believes the elected officials need to start digging into the situation.

I think we need a better handle on it, OMalley said.

Chief among her concerns is the amount of tax money still sitting on the sidelines. Even after this year and some major planned expenditures, finance officials anticipate the county will have $32 million sitting in the bank on top of the customary reserves, though Morgas Baca said she aims to spend $4 million helping with a new medical sobering center at the citys planned Gateway Center.

Morgas Baca said the accruing balances caught her attention and prompted her to reorganize earlier this year, saying she felt the situation needed more intensive monitoring. She extracted the special tax-funded BHI  which includes many contracts with outside providers  from the Department of Behavioral Health Services, which manages county-run services like the detoxification and public inebriation programs at the CARE Campus.

I think it was just a lot for one director, she said.

Morgas Baca merged the BHI with the countys criminal justice reform efforts to create a new office that represents the countys critical non-law enforcement response to help reduce crime, lower recidivism, and improve outcomes for those needing treatment and support for behavioral health disorders, according to the countys website.

Lee of Crossroads for Women said shes noticed positive changes at the BHI over the last year, including better communication and collaboration.

I have seen a lot of amazing things in the last year  them really fine-tuning what their focus is, and so its been nice to watch that happen considering in the beginning it was difficult.

Morgas Baca said the BHI has many success stories, but that the county needs to be able to demonstrate its larger impact with data.

The public deserves to know that their money is being well-spent because the goals are being met, Morgas Baca said. And if theyre not, then we need to be doing something else.

<h3>Day One</h3>
A parking ticket in Albuquerque isnt necessarily expensive, but standing up for yourself is a high-risk, low-reward gamble.

I was recently flung into the city of Albuquerques parking citation procedures. Ive had parking tickets in the past, but this time was different because I decided to take the time to fight it. I knew I had a good chance at success, because in the words of New Mexicos most notorious litigator Couy Griffin, my defense was full of the law.

My citation arrived the afternoon of July 21 for parking in a media only parking space next to Civic Plaza. I was covering the trial of Fabian Gonzales, who was charged in connection with the death of 10-year-old Victoria Martens. It was taking place Downtown in 2nd Judicial District Court.

Unable to find my more official-looking Journal parking pass, that morning I scribbled a note declaring I was a reporter for the newspaper and displayed the note on my dashboard. When I returned to my car that evening, there was a ticket pinned to my windshield.

For you sticklers who havent had such tickets, a parking citation like mine has a sort of punishment pyramid. I had 10 days to face a fine of $20, for another 10 days the fine was $40, after that it was $60.

I took the citation to Metropolitan Court and requested a court date.

The clerk was flummoxed. Why would I do such a thing?

She told me that I could fork over a paltry $20 and go about my day. If I challenged it and lost, it would be a $60 fine plus up to $77 in court fees, putting the maximum payment at $137  a harsh penalty for a parking mishap.

Thats not to say its not common across the criminal justice spectrum for defendants to face harsher sentences for taking cases to trial instead of taking responsibility and admitting guilt early on during the proceedings. But a sevenfold uptick in the costs for having a day in court?

Scott Cilke, a spokesman for the city, pointed out that more than half of the total doesnt have anything to do with the city, as it goes to court fees. He said the city wasnt trying to incentivize or bully citizens into paying the tickets.

There are lots of citations left under windshield wipers in Albuquerque every day. City budget documents for the 2023 fiscal year show that the Municipal Department is estimating it will issue 40,000 parking citations.

Those annoying pieces of paper are expected to siphon about $900,000 from taxpayers into city coffers.

Cilke said that about 23% of Albuquerque parking citations are challenged in court. It wasnt clear how often the drivers are successful.

Arthur Pepin, the director of the Administrative Office of the Courts, recently wrote to state lawmakers that magistrate courts and the AOCs Warrant Enforcement Division collect more than $16 million in court fees statewide each year, and most of that comes from traffic and misdemeanor cases. He asked that most fees in criminal and traffic cases be eliminated, saying they are an unreliable source of revenue for the programs that they fund. He also said the fees have a disproportionate impact on poor people.

As for my case, the gamble to challenge the ticket paid off.

I met with the parking enforcement officer via Zoom before my trial Thursday morning. She requested proof that I work for the Journal, and agreed to dismiss the case when we went before the judge.

My pretrial work  which consisted of me penning a hand-written motion to introduce my press pass and coverage of the Gonzales trial  wasnt necessary in the end.

For those of you who dont have a designated parking space for your job, you may not want to make such a bet.

Maybe just pay the $20. Or, ya know, feed the meter.

UpFront is a Journal news and opinion column. Comment directly to Journal staff writer Ryan Boetel at rboetel@abqjournal.com.
First responders across the state paid tribute Sunday to those who lost their lives in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Firefighters in Albuquerque donned their equipment and climbed 110 stories inside the WaFd building Downtown before a memorial ceremony at Civic Plaza.

Meanwhile, Bernalillo County Fire Rescue held a silent memorial at Bernalillo County Alvarado Square. Members of the BCFR and the Sheriffs Office Honor Guard stood watch over 100 sets of firefighter bunker gear for 343 minutes  one minute for each fallen firefighter of that day.

Memorial events were also held in Rio Rancho, Santa Fe, and in cities throughout New Mexico.
DO NM LICENSE PLATES FADE FASTER?

Kent Argubright emails they sure seem to.

New Mexico seems to have a unique problem with UV sun-faded license plates. Adjoining states seem to have solved this problem despite similar environmental exposures to intense UV including Arizona  sun and heat, Colorado  altitude increased UV, and Texas  sun and heat. Why cant this be fixed?

Theres a lot that could be unpacked here  upon sale our plates go with the owner, not the vehicle, so they can in theory stay in circulation for a lifetime; perhaps we keep our cars longer; maybe fewer of us garage our vehicles so they are in the elements more; etc.

But as for the plates themselves, they are supposed to last as long as that new-car loan. Charlie Moore of the state Taxation and Revenue Department, which oversees the Motor Vehicle Division, says Im not sure what the basis is for the idea that our plates fade more quickly than in other states, but nearly every state uses the same 3M lamination that our plates have. Some still make their plates in prisons. Our vendor is Waldale, which provides a five-year warranty that starts on delivery.

ALAMEDA LANDSCAPING CLOSES LANES: Donn called to report a backup from construction on Alameda from Louisiana all the way to Jefferson.

Scott Cilke of the citys Department of Municipal Development says there is new landscaping and irrigation, as well as concrete, being installed along this section of road.

NO PAVING FOR MLK/OAK INTERSECTION: Patricia Gregory says the Sept. 5 column on the state removing northbound Interstate 25s off-ramp at Martin Luther King didnt address how bad the pavement is on Oak.

Specifically, as someone who occasionally uses the on-ramp to north I-25 turning from MLK going west onto Oak, I have noticed that Oak is seriously torn up going around the corner. This situation can only become worse since this right-hand turn off MLK is used extensively by traffic leaving UNM, and during the de-construction of the MLK exit from I-25  which I consider about time, as it was a dangerous merge situation  will now be used by traffic going north on Oak back onto I-25.

She points out in her email the column only mentioned paving on Oak from Central to MLK, not on Oak to the north of MLK to the on-ramp. Will this part of Oak be addressed as well?

Nope.

Dick Rowles of Star Paving says the project does not include new pavement north of the southern curb line on MLK. (The reader is) accurate with their assessment of the pavement in the intersection, but it is beyond the scope of the current project.

WASHINGTON/COPPER SIGNALS MISSING: Clark Brown reports on my early morning walk around my neighborhood I noticed new four-way STOP signs installed at the intersection of Washington and Copper. The traffic light was set as a flashing red for both directions. I was just wondering the reason for the change.

Cilke explains due to the low traffic demand at this intersection, the city has decided to convert this signal to a four-way stop, hence the installation of the stop signs. The lights will flash red for one month before being shut off and bagged. The intersection will then be reevaluated in one year.

CALL 311 TO REPORT ISSUES: William Ledford says in an email at the corner of San Francisco and Louisiana, facing east, a large landscaping bush blocks enough of southbound Louisiana that a person must ease out into the southbound bike lane to see if oncoming traffic allows one to proceed north or south safely. How does one get the city to check this out and possibly have the (property) owner trim the boxwood back?

Cilke says 311 is the best and easiest way to provide feedback to the city.

Editorial page editor DVal Westphal tackles commuter issues for the metro area on Mondays. Reach her at 823-3858; dwestphal@abqjournal.com; or 7777 Jefferson NE, Albuquerque, NM, 87109.
EDINBURGH, Scotland  As Queen Elizabeth IIs four children walked silently behind, a hearse carried her flag-draped coffin Monday along a crowd-lined street in the Scottish capital to a cathedral, where a service of thanksgiving hailed the late monarch as a constant in all of our lives for over 70 years.

Four days after the 96-year-old queen died at Balmoral Castle in the Scottish Highlands, a military bagpiper played as her oak coffin, draped in the red-and-yellow Royal Standard of Scotland, was borne from the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh in a solemn procession.

King Charles III, dressed in army uniform, and his siblings Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward walked behind as the hearse traveled to St. Giles Cathedral, flanked by a bearer party of the Royal Regiment of Scotland and a detachment of the Royal Company of Archers, the kings ceremonial bodyguard in Scotland.

Inside the church, the coffin was placed on a wooden stand and topped with the golden Crown of Scotland, encrusted with 22 gems and 20 precious stones along with freshwater pearls from Scotlands rivers.

And so we gather, to bid Scotlands farewell to our late monarch, whose life of service to the nation and the world we celebrate. And whose love for Scotland was legendary, said the Rev. Calum MacLeod.

Because the queen died at her summer home of Balmoral, Scotland has been the focus of the worlds attention for the first part of Britains 10 days of national mourning. Large crowds have lined the route as her coffin journeyed from the castle to Edinburgh, underscoring the deep bond between the queen and Scotland. That bond persisted even as relations soured between the Conservative U.K. government in London and the pro-independence Scottish administration in Edinburgh.

Church of Scotland Moderator Iain Greenshields said most of us cannot recall a time when she was not our monarch.

Committed to the role she assumed in 1952 upon the death of her beloved father, she has been a constant in all of our lives for over 70 years, he said. She was determined to see her work as a form of service to others.

The coffin will remain at the cathedral until Tuesday so the public can pay their respects. Thousands of people lined the 0.7-mile (1 kilometer) route between palace and cathedral, some arriving hours early to catch a glimpse.

I just wanted to be here, just to show  last respects. I cannot believe she is dead, said Marilyn Mclear, a 70-year-old retired teacher. I know she was 96, but I just cannot believe the queens dead.

One man shouted at the passing hearse, while others called out: God save the king! But the procession was greeted mostly with a respectful silence under a blue sky flecked with clouds.

Charles and his siblings later stood in silent vigil at the church, lowering their heads as they stood at four sides of their mothers oak coffin alongside members of the Royal Company of Archers. As they performed the traditional vigil, members of the public filed past.

Charles, Anne and Edward all wore military uniforms, but Andrew did not. The Royal Navy veteran was stripped of his honorary military titles and was removed as a working royal over his friendship with the notorious U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Charles later donned a kilt as he visited the Scottish parliament, where he was greeted by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

The queen, like so many generations of our family before her, found in the hills of this land and in the hearts of its people a haven and a home, Charles told Scottish lawmakers.

Earlier, the queens grandson, Prince Harry, hailed her as a guiding compass and praised her unwavering grace and dignity.

The government, meanwhile, announced the nation will observe a minute of silence on Sunday, the evening before the queens funeral. The moment of reflection will take place at 8 p.m. (1900 GMT, 3 p.m. EDT).

Before flying to Scotland, Charles received condolences at Parliament on Monday and told lawmakers he would follow his late mothers example of selfless duty.

Hundreds of lawmakers crowded into the 1,000-year-old Westminster Hall for the service, rich in pageantry, in which Parliament offered its condolences to the king. A trumpet fanfare greeted him and Camilla, the Queen Consort.

Charles told the House of Commons and the House of Lords that he would follow his late mother in upholding the precious principles of constitutional governance that underpin the U.K.s political system.

As I stand before you today, I cannot help but feel the weight of history, which surrounds us and which reminds us of the vital parliamentary traditions to which members of both Houses dedicate yourselves, with such personal commitment, for the betterment of us all, Charles said.

The ceremony was held in Westminster Hall because monarchs are not allowed inside the House of Commons since King Charles I tried to enter and arrest lawmakers. That confrontation led to a civil war which ended with the king being beheaded in 1649.

In a personal tribute to his grandmother, Prince Harry said he cherished their times together from my earliest childhood memories with you, to meeting you for the first time as my Commander-in-Chief, to the first moment you met my darling wife and hugged your beloved great-grandchildren.

Amid acrimony in the House of Windsor, Harry quit as a senior royal and moved to the U.S. two years ago. On Saturday, there was a possible sign of a reconciliation as Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, joined his brother Prince William and sister-in-law Catherine, the Princess of Wales, in meeting mourners outside Windsor Castle.

Harrys statement alluded to the death of his grandfather, Prince Philip, last year: We too smile, knowing that you and grandpa are reunited now and both together in peace.

The queens coffin will be flown Tuesday to London, where it will lie in state at the Houses of Parliament from Wednesday afternoon until the morning of her funeral on Sept. 19. U.S. President Joe Biden is among the world leaders and dignitaries planning to attend the service at Westminster Abbey.

Authorities already have issued rules for people wanting to pay their respects in London.

Vanessa Nathakumaran showed up more than two days early to stake out a place. I really, really want to be part of it, she said.

Judging by the size of the crowd in Edinburgh, the line behind Nathakumaran will be long.

Rosamund Allen, 67, came to Edinburgh from Rothbury in northern England to be part of history.

It was very moving. It was very quiet, she said. I felt very sorry for the family itself to be on show. They are very brave to do that. And I really hope and pray that they get something out of today and have a chance to mourn themselves.

They were very kind to allow us to be part of their sadness.

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Corder and Lawless reported from London.

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Follow AP stories on the death of Queen Elizabeth II and Britains royal family at https://apnews.com/hub/queen-elizabeth-ii
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

The tiger is still out there, somewhere.

Law enforcement officers served a search warrant in August seeking a tiger at a house in Albuquerque, but instead discovered a large cache of drugs, weapons and cash, and a small alligator.

No tiger was found in the house in the 2500 block of Mountain NW, near Rio Grande.

Now the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish is asking for help from the public and offering a cash reward for information about the big cats whereabouts.

Department investigators suspect that the tiger remains in private hands in New Mexico or a nearby state, Game and Fish officials said in a written statement. The tiger is believed to be less than 1 year old and likely weighs 30-60 pounds at present. Tigers can grow up to 600 pounds depending on the sub-species.

Officers with three agencies served a search warrant Aug. 12 for the illegal possession of a tiger, prosecutors wrote in a pretrial detention motion.

Possession of exotic species such as tigers and alligators is illegal under state law, Game and Fish said.

Members of the general public are not allowed to keep these species for any reason, it said. Further, possession of large carnivores, such as a tiger or alligator, presents a clear danger to the public.

Game and Fish officers served the search warrant with assistance from the Albuquerque Police Department and a New Mexico State Police SWAT team, according to a criminal complaint.

They found 40 pounds of marijuana, 10 pounds of cocaine, and two pounds of heroin, prosecutors wrote. Agents also found approximately $40,000 in cash in the home.

Other items found included several firearms, including two AK-style rifles, and fentanyl pills, Albuquerque police said in a written statement. The drugs were found in the homes attic.

Albuquerque police also issued a photo of a small alligator seized at the house that appeared to be housed in an aquarium. The animal is now in the care of the ABQ BioPark, police said.

Two weeks after the Aug. 12 search, police arrested the homes resident, Carlos Giddings, 26, on charges including drug trafficking with intent to distribute cocaine, heroin and marijuana.

A district court judge on Thursday released Giddings from custody pending trial warning him of zero tolerance for conditions of his release, including no communications with known gang members.

Anyone with information about the tigers location is asked to call Operation Game Thief at 1-800-432-4263.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.  Everywhere, it seems, back-to-school has been shadowed by worries of a teacher shortage.

The U.S. education secretary has called for investment to keep teachers from quitting. A teachers union leader has described it as a five-alarm emergency. News coverage has warned of a crisis in teaching.

In reality, there is little evidence to suggest teacher turnover has increased nationwide or educators are leaving in droves.

Certainly, many schools have struggled to find enough educators. But the challenges are related more to hiring, especially for non-teaching staff positions. Schools flush with federal pandemic relief money are creating new positions and struggling to fill them at a time of low unemployment and stiff competition for workers of all kinds.

Since well before the COVID-19 pandemic, schools have had difficulty recruiting enough teachers in some regions, particularly in parts of the South. Fields like special education and bilingual education also have been critically short on teachers nationwide.

For some districts, shortages have meant children have fewer or less qualified instructors.

In rural Alabamas Black Belt, there were no certified math teachers last year in Bullock Countys public middle school.

It really impacts the children because theyre not learning what they need to learn, said Christopher Blair, the countys former superintendent. When you have these uncertified, emergency or inexperienced teachers, students are in classrooms where theyre not going to get the level of rigor and classroom experiences.

While the nation lacks vacancy data in several states, national pain points are obvious.

For starters, the pandemic kicked off the largest drop in education employment ever. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of people employed in public schools dropped from almost 8.1 million in March 2020 to 7.3 million in May. Employment has grown back to 7.7 million since then, but that still leaves schools short around 360,000 positions.

Were still trying to dig out of that hole, said Chad Aldeman, policy director at the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University.

Its unknown how many of those positions lost were teaching jobs, or other staff members like bus drivers  support positions that schools are having an especially hard time filling. A RAND survey of school leaders this year found that around three-fourths of school leaders say they are trying to hire more substitutes, 58% are trying to hire more bus drivers and 43% are trying to hire more tutors.

Still, the problems are not as tied to teachers quitting as many have suggested.

Teacher surveys have indicated many considered leaving their jobs. Theyre under pressure to keep kids safe from guns, catch them up academically and deal with pandemic challenges with mental health and behavior.

National Education Association union leader Becky Pringle tweeted in April: The educator shortage is a five-alarm crisis. But a Brown University study found turnover largely unchanged among states that had data.

Quit rates in education rose slightly this year, but thats true for the nation as a whole, and teachers remain far more likely to stay in their job than a typical worker.

Hiring has been so difficult largely because of an increase in the number of open positions. Many schools indicated plans to use federal relief money to create new jobs, in some cases looking to hire even more people than they had pre-pandemic. Some neighboring schools are competing for fewer applicants, as enrollment in teacher prep programs colleges has declined.

The Upper Darby School District in Pennsylvania has around 70 positions it is trying to fill, especially bus drivers, lunch aides and substitute teachers. But it cannot find enough applicants. The district has warned families it may have to cancel school or switch to remote learning on days when it lacks subs.

Its become a financial competition from district to district to do that, and thats unfortunate for children in communities who deserve the same opportunities everywhere in the state, Superintendent Daniel McGarry said.

The number of unfilled vacancies has led some states and school systems to ease credential requirements, in order to expand the pool of applicants. U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told reporters last week that creative approaches are needed to bring in more teachers, such as retired educators, but schools must not lower standards.

Schools in the South are more likely to struggle with teacher vacancies. A federal survey found an average of 3.4 teaching vacancies per school as of this summer; that number was lowest in the West, with 2.7 vacancies on average, and highest in the South, with 4.2 vacancies.

In Birmingham, the school district is struggling to fill around 50 teaching spots, including 15 in special education, despite $10,000 signing bonuses for special ed teachers. Jenikka Oglesby, a human resources officer for the district, says the problem owes in part to low salaries in the South that dont always offset a lower cost of living.

The school system in Moss Point, a small town near the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, has increased wages to entice more applicants. But other districts nearby have done the same. Some teachers realized they could make $30,000 more by working 30 minutes away in Mobile, Alabama.

I personally lost some really good teachers to Mobile County Schools, said Tenesha Batiste, human resources director for the Moss Point district. And she also lost some not-so-great teachers, she added  people who broke their contracts and quit three days before the school year started.

Its the job that makes all others possible, yet they get paid once a month, and they can go to Chick-fil-A in some places and make more money, Batiste said.

A bright spot for Moss Point this year is four student teachers from the University of Southern Mississippi. They will spend the school year working with children as part of a residency program for aspiring educators. The state has invested almost $10 million of federal relief money into residency programs, with the hope the residents will stay and become teachers in their assigned districts.

Michelle Dallas, a teacher resident in a Moss Point first-grade classroom, recently switched from a career in mental health and is confident she is meant to be a teacher.

Thats why Im here, she said, to fulfill my calling.

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This story is part of an Associated Press collaboration with AL.com, The Christian Science Monitor, The Dallas Morning News, The Fresno Bee in California, The Hechinger Report, The Seattle Times and The Post and Courier in Charleston, South Carolina.

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Associated Press writers Brooke Schultz in Harrisburg, Pa., Collin Binkley in Washington, D.C., and Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, N.Y. contributed to this report. Rebecca Griesbach is a member of The Alabama Education Lab team at AL.com. She is supported through a partnership with Report for America. AP journalist Sharon Lurye reported from New Orleans. Schultz 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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The Associated Press education team receives support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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For more back-to-school coverage, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/back-to-school
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

RIO RANCHO  The state agency in charge of public education says its taking steps to lighten the paperwork load on teachers after overhauling a host of administrative reporting requirements.

The changes are intended to make it easier for teachers to craft their professional development plans, share data and initiate plans to help students with special education needs, state and local education officials said Monday.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat up for reelection this year, announced the changes surrounded by the student council at Ernest Stapleton Elementary School in Rio Rancho.

The goal, she said, is to give teachers more time to spend directly with students or preparing for class.

Government, we have a tendency without thinking about it to just layer on bureaucratic work thats often redundant, unnecessary and not very valuable, Lujan Grisham said.

The changes come after the governor signed an order in May calling for the review and as New Mexico pushes to recruit and retain more teachers. The state raised its minimum teacher salaries this year by $10,000, or to at least $50,000 a year.

New Mexico has struggled with persistently poor academic outcomes. About 34% of third- to eighth-grade students taking part in annual assessment were proficient in language arts and 25% were proficient in math, according to data released last month.

Expanding instructional time for students is part of the states strategy for boosting academic achievement. Lujan Grisham said the changes announced Monday wont give the state less data on student performance.

Her Republican opponent, Mark Ronchetti, released an education plan last week that calls for enacting new limits on how much schools may spend on administration. He also proposed $1,500 stipends for low-income families with young children to pay for tutoring to help their kids catch up.

Also on the Nov. 8 ballot is Libertarian Karen Bedonie.

In a news conference, Public Education Secretary Kurt Steinhaus said some of the administrative changes announced Monday are going into effect immediately while others will take more time. It may require legislative approval, for example, to target repetitive trainings or other requirements teachers are subject to, he said.

Rio Rancho Superintendent Sue Cleveland said technology upgrades are already helping reduce some of the administrative burden on teachers and other educators. Recent changes streamlining some special education paperwork, she said, will allow teachers to more quickly help students.

Our school districts and staff have been requesting a reduction in the administrative burden for a really, really long time, Cleveland said.
Fourth Dimension Media Solutions is all set to host their first edition of South India Digital Summit on November 4th, 2022, in Coimbatore at The Residency Towers from 10:00am to 6:00 pm

Fourth dimension are regional story tellers, they help transform India as a growth market for the brand through their deep understanding of the markets and their varied experience which is back without immense data. They have successfully rolled out South India Media Summit previously and all the three editions were a super hit. With the huge success they have now planned to roll out their next event covering the digital world, South India Digital Summit.

South India Digital Summit 2022, is set to showcase Digital medium, in a global light with an exceptional line-up of speakers and topics. Every aspect of the summit has been well thought out, to ensure that all sessions are interesting and informative to the audience. This summit provides a one of its kind opportunity by allowing the audience to engage in some interesting discussion.

The event will witness some of the best speakers are

Rajiv.C, Founder and CEO, Green Gold Animation ( Chotta Bheem ),Gowthaman Ragothaman  CEO, Aqilliz, Pratik Shah - Founder, Specsmakers, J.Jayaprakash Babu  CEO, Sheenlac Paints Ltd., Monaz Todywalla - CEO, Phd India, Anisha Iyer - CEO, OMD India, Mr.Sreenath Vishnu - MD, Brahmins Foods India Pvt Ltd, Arjun Ranga - Partner, NR Group and Managing Director, Cycle Pure Agarbathi, Anil Ayroor  Group CEO, Insight Media (Flowers TV), Jai lala - CEO, Zenith Optimedia, Sudahsnhu  CMO  Quickheal technologies,Ajay Gupte CEO  Wavemaker, LS Krishnan  Director Whisper Media, Swathy Rohit  Founder Health Basix, Balaji  CMO  Repose Matrress to name a few.

The summit will get to see inisghts from LV Krishnan, CEO, TAM Media Research on Digital Uprising in South India and Shri.Dushyant Sridhar  Scholar and Speaker is to speak on Power of Thoughts

Clear the decks and get geared up to discuss in detail with industry experts about the above mentioned topics. All this and more will be brain stormed in detail by our industry experts on 4th November @ The Residency Towers, Coimbatore.

Speaking on this Mr Shankar.B, Chief Executive Officer, Fourth Dimension Media Solutions (P) Limited says,  After the super success of South India Media Summit in Chennai, we were flooded with clients and agencies to do a session on Digital in Rest of Tamil Nadu. We couldnt think of a better place than Coimbatore which is the hub for most of the Media brands across South India, thus this was born
Maharishi Ayurveda, the pioneering Ayurveda brand has awarded its Digital AOR Mandate to Grapes, an Integrated marketing agency. The Agency won the mandate following a multi-agency pitch for Germany market. The team from New Delhi will service the account.

According to the mandate, Grapes will be responsible for handling the marcom activities for Maharishi Ayurveda. The agency will be looking after services such as, content planning, digital marketing strategy, social media management and media planning and buying. Maharishi Ayurveda is Europes leading brand for authentic Ayurveda products since 1987.

Speaking on the occasion, Rajat Wahi, Head of Global Marketing & Digital Business for Maharishi Ayurveda Pvt. Ltd, said, Considering that we live in a digital age, it becomes even more essential to establish the right communication and present a comprehensive brand image. We chose Grapes to achieve this purpose as it has a niche in curating end-to-end marketing strategies which will give the desired media mileage to our brand. The collaboration will help us in widening our target audience base, in our existing and new markets we plan to foray into, and at the same time instil a strong recall value amongst the consumers for our brand.

Sharing the same thought process, Shradha Agarwal, CEO and Co-Founder, Grapes, said, We are really looking forward to our association with Maharishi Ayurveda. I believe working with them will bring a new set of experiences for us. We are determined to make Maharishi Ayurveda a go to brand amongst the cohort who aspires to live a healthy and natural life. We are in perfect alignment with the aspiration of the brand that will help us in coming up with strategies and narration that will echo the excellence of the brand in their particular category. In this, our marketing expertise will play an instrumental role in creating awareness about the brand.
Jagran New Media has launched Gujaratijagran.com as part of its expansion in Gujarat. Readers will now be exposed to national and international news. The inauguration ceremony for the same witnessed the presence of the Chief Minister of Gujarat Bhupendra Bhai Patel.

Jagran New Media CEO Bharat Gupta said at the launch: It is essential to acknowledge the potential constituted by the regional languages and we feel pride for the achievement in the Hindi heartland. The biggest challenge of the online news ecosystem is to provide content which is facts based, engrossing and trustworthy and we believe in offering that as a platform which is content first.

We embark on this opportunity to offer our services to Gujarati speaking audiences, both nationally and internationally. It is part of our efforts to portray the spirit and splendor of the state. With the launch of Gujaratijagran.com, we offer our audiences in Gujarat our distinctive brand of journalism, differentiating Jagran from the crowd, said Rajesh Upadhyay, Editor-in-chief of Jagran.com.
Solving the nationwide lack of awareness about health insurance, Moneycontrol, Indias presents a brand-new comprehensive tool called Moneycontrol-SecureNow Health Insurance Ratings, which helps choose the right health insurance plan.

With only 12% of India's 1 billion+ citizens secured with insurance; the majority of the country requires encouragement to purchase personal health insurance policies. Moneycontrol-SecureNow Health Insurance Ratings fills this need by sifting through 27 insurance firms and over 130 health insurance policies that are not only comprehensive, but also have a solid track record in terms of claims experience. The ratings narrow down policies based on cost, room rent limitations, pre-existing conditions, co-payment, no-claim bonuses, and other aspects. It also thoroughly investigates the durations of claim resolution by insurance companies.

This new section enables people to choose proper health insurance coverage simply by entering their age, who they want to buy the policy for (them or their entire family), and the amount of insurance cover they require. All plans that meet their criteria are listed in the order of its ratings from A to C, with A being the highest and C being the lowest. The ratings tool has also got every detail of all the listed policies, in case the user wishes to delve deeper and understand the conditions and offers of each policy.

Highlighting the key aspects of this property/tool, Kayezad E. Adajania, Editor  Personal Finance, Moneycontrol, says, When it comes to premiums, we often feel that the cheapest policy is the best policy. Thats far from reality, as purchasing a health insurance without proper awareness can land you in trouble because of its exclusions that you may not be aware of. Our new tool dissects all these factors and gives the best policy suited for your age and requirements, with minimal inputs required from your side.
Airbus is to partner with a Japanese helicopter operator to develop and test potential routes for its CityAirbus NextGen eVTOL aircraft to use in the Kansai region.

Airbus partnership with helicopter operator Hiratagakuen will first develop a simulation of several routes, concepts of operations and necessary equipment for safe eVTOL flights in the Kansai region of Japan, with a demonstration flight scheduled for later this year.

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The routes will aim to demonstrate the suitability of the CityAirbus NextGen to be used for flights outside of urban areas for use cases ranging from air medical services to commercial air transport and ecotourism.

Airbus and Hiratagakuen are to use an H135 helicopter to test advanced navigation and communication technologies for safe operations of eVTOL aircraft, while simulating CityAirbus NextGens flight configuration.

Mitsuhiro Hirata, vice president of the aviation operation division of Hiratagakuen said, We are very pleased to conduct a demonstration flight in the Osaka-Kansai region with Airbus for the future of mobility, using the latest H135 helicopter.

We have been operating Airbus helicopters for many years and highly appreciate their high safety, performance, operational reliability and proven after-sales support. We are aware that a revolution in air transportation is now approaching in the Osaka area, and we expect CityAirbus NextGen to play a central role in this revolution.

Balkiz Sarihan, Head of UAM (urban air mobility) strategy execution and partnerships at Airbus said, We are honored to further our long standing collaboration with Hiratagakuen by working on this exciting journey towards zero emission flights. Their expertise in commercial air transport and air medical services operations makes them an ideal partner for defining the operational framework for advanced air mobility with CityAirbus NextGen in Japan.

Hiratagakuen is a Kansai-based helicopter operator who specialises in Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS), transportation of personnel, flight training, and maintenance. The companys current fleet includes 14 H135 and two H145 helicopters.

Airbus CityAirbus NextGen is an all- electric four-seater aircraft that will have an 80km (50 miles) range and a top cruise speed of 120 km/h (75mph). It is being developed to meet EASA special condition VTOL certification standards.

Development of the CityAirbus started in 2015 and a prototype was flown in 2019. Last September Airbus revealed an updated design of the eVTOL aircraft and added NextGen to its name. The company started building a flight test center dedicated to CityAirbus in July.
SeoteIn a world tormented by fears, insecurities, and a torrent of troubles, who is our saviour except for the Realized Master? In the spiritual, and particularly the Hindu tradition, for a devotee, his Guru is his only refuge. Leaving everything into the capable hands of his preceptor, a disciple can live a worry-free life.

This was the crux of the discourse that well-known Ramayana exponent Morari Bapu started in the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar, which has deep historical and trade links with India. The famous tourist destination, also famous for spices, is where the nine-day Ram Katha discourse will now take place, each day, at Madinat Al Bahr, from Saturday, September 10 till September 18, from 10 am  1 pm local time.

Morari Bapu is a very famous expounder of the famous epic Ramayana written by Goswami Tulsidas. Normally, Bapu picks two lines from the epic and explains them in detail over 9-days adding context from the various sacred scriptures, anecdotes, folklore and more. The idea is to plant the root meaning of these lines and to understand their antecedent and relevance in the larger concept of the text as well as life. Morari Bapu, who is attributed with taking the Ramayana to the homes and hearts of the people all over India and the world, connects all teachings with morals and ideals that need to be incorporated into daily living to bring more joy and peace in peoples lives.

In the Zanzibar Katha, spiritual luminary Morari Bapu picked the topic of Manas Ramraksha, pressing the point about unequivocal protection granted by God or our Guru, who is the sole and focal point of our faith. This would be Bapus 903rd discourse, a journey that started around 1960 when he was just 14 years old.

The two lines picked for Zanzibar Ram Katha are:

Sunu muni tohi kahau saharosa | bhajahi je mohi taji sakala bharosa ||

Karau sada tinha kai rakhavari | jimi balaka rakhai mahatari ||

(Listen, O sage: I tell you with all cheerfulness that those who exclusively adore Me, giving up all other expectations and hope, of those I always take care, even as a mother tends her child.)

II Ram Charita Manas: Aranyakand - Doha 43 II

Starting his address today in a rather unconventional way, Bapu first related the story of Aranyakand, the third canto of the Ramayana, and later picked the above lines though he normally begins his talk by singing the two central lines. During the narration, he emphasized the point of Shabaris devotion where she is infused with joy at the meeting of Ram, but her greater reason for celebration is that her Gurus words have come true that if she waited, the Sun among the Raghavas  Lord Ram, would one day himself walk up to her at her ashram. And true enough, Ram, during the period of exile, reaches Shabaris ashram searching for his consort Sita, who has been abducted by the demon king Ravana. Ram then asks Shabari for aid which in turn directs him to the Pampa river and beyond, urging him to forge a friendship with Sugreeva.

Having met Ram and thus fulfilling her lifelong dream, Shabari chooses for her body to be consumed by Yoga Agni than bear the pain of separation from the Lord.

Moving to the central theme, Bapu said in a human beings journey of life, during the foetal stage, God shields; as a baby, a mother is a protector; for a young boy, a father gives succour followed by his teacher and finally, in adulthood, it is a Realized Master who safeguards.

Like during the attack of Meghanad, Rams monkey army was attacked from all directions, sometimes troubles completely corner us, at our faith in the Guru gives us courage and fortitude.

Bapu has famously said that Dharma (moral code) comprises three simple basic virtues of Truth, Love and Compassion. He preaches against indulging in envy, jealousy, and hatred of others, as well as unnecessary and unlimited accumulation of objects.

Morari Bapu, who began his journey as a narrator of this grand epic at the age of 14, follows the two-track principles of Bhajan Karo and Bhojan Karao, i.e. to chant the holy name and serve food to others with respect. That is the reason the congregational discourse, which is being hosted by Nilesh and Rohita Jasani from Nairobi, will be followed by prasad (lunch and dinner) daily for Katha attendees.
Psychological projection means that people who think and act in a way even they would admit is wrong project those same motives and actions on others, rather than acknowledging them in themselves. In 2022, Democrats in politics and the media have elevated projection to an art form, which helps account for the license they grant themselves and the brutal crackdowns and insults they reserve for conservatives.

The latest and, in some ways, the vilest act of Democrat projection took place in Philadelphia last week when Biden, relying on the risible theory that events on January 6 (J6) were a real insurrection, appeared against a blood-red backdrop with Marines behind him and spoke about how Republicans are a danger to democracy. Biden barked that MAGA Republicans are violent Americans threatening democracy. Worse, they are fascists.

Frankly, rehashing J6 as an insurrection has gotten so old. How many more ads do we have to hear in which Democrat legislators tremble as they recall the scariest hours of their lives? What type of privileged people do the Dems (and some Republicans) send to Congress? Try managing the evacuation in Afghanistan, being a cop during the Dems war on cops, crossing the Rio Grande, or living in a Democrat-run city. Fifty-five people were shot in Chicago over the Labor Day weekend.

Image: Joe Biden. YouTube screen grab.

We cant understand Bidens speech as just one given by a man who is the spokesman for cowards and hypocrites, all of whom crow that Bidens Philly performance was securing a midterm sweep. (More likely this was a CYA operation because Grandpa Biden is in self-protect mode after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed that the FBI was running interference in the 2020 election, ensuring that reports about Hunters activities in Russia, Ukraine, and China, along with Joes cuts, would be treated as misinformation.)

The correct filter is projection. Because Biden cant come clean about or even acknowledge his and his partys activities, hes projecting: Hey, he effectively says, look over here at the danger to democracy from extreme Republicans denying that Biden is a legitimate president. Joes obviously banking on Americans having short-term memory loss. Democrat legislators, most democratic voters, Biden, Harris, Hillary Clinton, Jimmy Carter, and Karine Jean-Pierre all maintained Trump was an illegitimate President, something that persisted even after the two-year investigation into Russian collusion turned up empty.

In addition to projection, it seems obvious that Biden and the Democrats are hoping that the absurd accusation that violent Republicans are a threat to democracy will incite Republicans to violence. Biden probably hoped the Houses J6 show trial or the raid on Mar-a-Lago would have lighted that flame. However, because Republicans refuse to riot, it was time for incendiary rhetoric.

Biden doesnt want the Republicans to respond to his enticement with bare faces and armed only with flags and MAGA hats as they did at the J6 insurrection. He needs them to be armed, violent, and murderous and wearing masks as the BLM rioters did. After all, thats the telegenic violence that moves voters. In 2020, the Democrat-aligned media, with its flair for propaganda, managed to use BLMs violence to attack Trump. Theyll find it easier to use Republican violence, should it occur, to enshrine Biden.

Still, Bidens strategy is flawed. Its the nature of Republicans to embrace the rule of law. Biden calling on Republicans to condemn J6 outlaws shows how out of touch Democrats are. True conservatives want nothing to do with white supremaciststhey are racist hoodlums just like the BLM rioters that Democrat politicians cheered on and let go free.

Republicans should know that their comparisons between J6ers and BLM rioters are a real sore point for J6ers. They are right to be outraged because the Democrats hypocrisy is outrageous. To the Biden administration, J6 was a mercifully failed insurrection, while BLM threw the election to the Dems and they deserve congratulations.

BLM did the Dems dirty work by terrorizing America for 100 days with rage directed at traditional American institutions, Trump, and Republicans. In the midst of the terror, BLM was negotiating with the DNC to shape the latters platform. During the negotiations, BLM co-founder Cullors promised that BLM would get Trump out of office, and would continue fighting the American Revolutionlike a real insurrection. BLM did so until election day, even as they boasted about the necessity for violence.

Theres no question that BLM went all in for the Dems. When it came time to pay the piper, Biden exceeded the writ. He ensured the ongoing pleasure of BLM while discrediting the soul of America by issuing a blanket authorization to fly the Marxist BLM flag atop Americas embassies.

The latest Democrat tacticaccusing the flag-waving, constitutionally-aligned Republicans of being democracy destroyersis a change from the past. Under Obama, the trend was to paint them as pathetic. You know, calling them a basket of deplorables or insulting working-class Americans for clinging to guns, religion, and racism.

Democrats have also doubled down on projecting their policies and practices onto the Republicans. Which party hires people based on their identity rather than treating all people equally? Which party has made the rule of law optional? Which party is trying to make it easy for noncitizens to vote and take a torch to federalism by changing the Constitution to nationalize elections; promoting an end to the separation of powers by packing the Supreme Court; implementing race-based quotas and special concessions just for BIPOC (non-whites); affording unique rights to non-citizens, like offering them sanctuary; and advising social media companies to censor opposing positions or those that compromise Democratic politicians and their families?

With control of the mainstream media, its been childs play for the Democrats to convince their captive audience that Republicans are assaulting democracy, promoting violence, and endorsing racist policies when its the Democrats. To understand how dangerous this is, think about how Putin and his lapdog media have convinced Russians that Ukrainians pose an existential threat to Russia or how Chinas tightly controlled media have emphasized the danger of political pluralism and the diversity of ideas. Americas mainstream media, like the journalists at Pravda and Xinhua, have developed a flair for fanciful propaganda. No doubt, they will be rewarded with another leak from the Justice Department.

Biden and the Democrats are right: Democracy is under siege and, contrary to their sometimes silly, sometimes terrifying projection against Republicans, it is they who are the ones threatening it, with everything from election interference to behaving like fascists who censor the opposition. They also know the destruction of democracy is a platform for losing votes, so they are projecting that onto Republicans.
Want to intimidate or discredit someone you disagree with? If youre a member of the mainstream media, just describe them as a denier or preface their concerns as unproven allegations or discredited claims.

NPR states Trump has endorsed 159 candidates who are election deniers [italics mine] for state and federal offices this year They continue From the standpoint of a fact-checker, there is no evidence of fraud sufficient to support that claim. After nearly two years of recounts, ballot reviews, expert examinations and court cases, that remains the bottom line. The 2020 election has been scrubbed and studied as none other in U.S. history, and the consensus conclusion remains that it was run more smoothly and counted more reliably than ever.

The progressive Brennan Center calls voter fraud a myth. Politicians at all levels of government have repeatedly, and falsely, claimed the 2016, 2018, and 2020 elections were marred by large numbers of people voting illegally. However, extensive research reveals that fraud is very rare, voter impersonation is virtually nonexistent, and many instances of alleged fraud are, in fact, mistakes by voters or administrators. The same is true for mail ballots, which are secure and essential to holding a safe election amid the coronavirus pandemic.

If youre one of those crazy election deniers, youre not alone -- the RNC website recently listed over 150 examples of Democrats claiming fraudulent election results, but only in elections they lost. A YouTube video shows similar whiny complaints from Hilary Clinton, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, and scores more.

Ask yourself, if there is no election fraud, then everything is fine, but what if its true that elections can be rigged to favor one side or the other? What would the consequences be if Americans no longer had the ability to choose their elected officials? Why wouldnt you support anything that would secure accurate voting results in every local, state, and national election?

The Heritage Foundation has embarked on an extensive investigation of voter fraud -- from both parties, at all levels of government, and in primaries as well as general elections. Katie Samalis-Aldrich and Hans von Spakovsky report Voter Fraud Cases Continue to Occur, Putting Fair and Free Elections in Jeopardy.

We recently added nine new cases to the Heritage Election Fraud Database, bringing the total number of entries of proven instances of voter fraud in the database to 1,374. The mounting collection of cases continue to disprove the narrative that voter fraud is not real and that further election integrity measures are not needed.

These are not unproven allegations, but documented court cases where judges and juries have convicted both Democrats and Republicans for not just minor infractions, but significant fraud that has impacted election results. Defendants have pled guilty, paid fines, and spent time in prison.

They explain The database does not purport to be comprehensive. Rather, it contains a sampling from across the country of proven cases, each one demonstrating how election fraud occurs. It shows the vulnerabilities within our current electoral system and provides measures state legislators can take to ensure integrity in every vote cast. 

Some examples:

The Democrats pooh-poohed 2000 Mules, but it happens. Ballot box stuffing is real:

Former U.S. Congressman Michael "Ozzie" Myers was charged with over 13 felonies for his role in orchestrating a scheme to stuff ballot boxes in favor of Democrat candidates he either favored or represented as a consultant. Myers, a former Democrat congressman who was ousted from office and served time in prison on charges of bribery and corruption due to his involvement in the Abscam sting, orchestrated schemes in Philadelphia's 39th Ward, the 36th and 2nd Divisions, to commit ballot fraud. He conspired with Domenick Demuro and Marie Beren, Judges of Elections for each ward by bribing them to add additional fraudulent votes to voting machines for candidates Myers represented or supported as a political consultant. This scheme occurred during elections between 2014-2018. He pleaded guilty to charges of depriving persons of civil rights, bribery, falsification of voting records, and conspiring to illegally vote in a federal election. If his plea deal is accepted by the judge he faces up to 60 years in prison and over $1 million in fines.

CNN and the rest of the controlled media claim there is no proof of altering voting machine tallies, but the database lists

Domenick Demuro, a Judge of Elections in Philadelphia and a Democratic ward leader, accepted bribes to add fraudulent ballots to voting machines and falsely certify election results for certain Democrat candidates in the 2014, 2015, and 2016 primary elections. According to the DOJ press release, Demuro admitted that a local political consultant gave him directions and paid him money to add votes for candidates supported by the consultant, including candidates for judicial office whose campaigns actually hired the consultant, and other candidates for various federal, state and local elective offices preferred by that consultant for a variety of reasons. Demuro pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to deprive Philadelphia voters of their civil rights and one violation of the Hatch act.

There are multiple examples of felons voting, people voting for deceased parents or relatives, voting in two or more states, registering at a fake address, fake voter registrations, forging absentee ballots at nursing homes, altering party affiliation on voter registration forms, fake voter registration forms from people on Skid Row, vote-buying, casting absentee ballots using other names, harvesting absentee ballots, and casting invalid absentee ballots and voter intimidation at polling places.

Whenever someone calls you or a conservative candidate running for public office an election denier, just point them to the Heritage database where they can see for themselves that multiple kinds of voter fraud exist and have altered election results.

So what can you do to restore your constitutional right to free and fair elections?

1. Support efforts to clean up voter rolls of people who have died or have moved to another address or out of state. There are databases with this information already, and the only reason not to use them would be to facilitate cheating.

2. Encourage laws to strengthen safeguards for absentee voting and laws that lead to certain prosecution and real penalties for election fraud.

3. Vote in person or submit your absentee ballot as close to election day as possible.

4. Talk to others concerned about election integrity and bring ten of your friends, neighbors, and relatives to the polls with you. Ask if they are happy with the direction of our country and find out if they plan to vote in November. Offer to remind them a day before Election Day and give them a ride.

5. Be alert to the fraud techniques noted in this article and report what you see thats suspicious to True the Vote, or check this simple list of links for reporting fraud in each state here. You can also submit your information to the FBI tipline. Take photos and videos as evidence.

We are seeing an explosion in crime and violence across the country because of inconsistently applied laws and prosecutors and judges unwilling to convict and punish perpetrators. The same is true with election laws. If individual or organized vote fraudsters see there is little or no consequence to their actions, they will continue to disrupt and alter our elections.

Having your vote counted honestly in free and fair elections is your most important right as an American. If we lose that right, we lose our country and our childrens future forever.

Image: Thomas Nast
There is growing hand-wringing among the devil's den in D.C. that the American people's cratering confidence in the Department of Injustice and Fascist Bureau of Investigation will lead to absolute anarchy in the streets. Considering both institutions have been vocal cheerleaders for Black Lives Matter and Antifa domestic terrorists and that Democrats' war on police and support for open borders have succeeded in producing skyrocketing crime rates throughout the country without any pushback from Merrick Garland or Chris Wray, their mercurial concern for the rule of law seems grounded in nothing more than risible self-interest. They don't trust us! Worse, they don't fear us! What if they learn not to obey?

Here's a truth that tens of millions of Americans understand: if the sweeping criminal enforcement arm of the federal Leviathan disappeared tomorrow, life for the vast majority of citizens would go unchanged. It might even improve. We are spoon-fed this Big Government fallacy from kindergarten on up that absolute chaos lurks behind every corner if not for the protections provided from our beneficent bureaucratic masters who maintain order and peace. That's absurd propaganda meant to keep Americans conditioned into accepting total government control.

The infantile dependence on government agents for security and survival is a recent phenomenon that does nothing but legitimize limitless State power. When our ancestors were settling the wilderness of this expansive continent just a few generations ago, they didn't stop their wagon trains every time they reached the boundary between civilization and the frontier. Nobody looked around and said, "Okay, we better wait here until the federal government catches up and finds time to build some interstate highways, a national police force, a welfare system, and proper surveillance technology to keep us all in line." Rugged individualism, family commitment, community, camaraderie, vigilance, and religious devotion built this country from the ground up  not the bloodsucking apparatchiks of the bloated administrative State.

Personal responsibility and morality play far greater roles in promoting social peace than any government regulator recording names or bureaucratic billy club smashing heads. In American communities where citizens work, play, and pray together, peace and harmony exist without the need for some authoritarian police State breathing down everyone's neck. Is it any wonder, then, why Big Government proselytizers frown upon public pronouncements in support of religious faith, morality, or personal responsibility, when those three pillars for a stable society greatly reduce the need for heavy-handed punishment and bureaucratic enforcement (not to mention, lifelong federal pensions)? Tens of thousands of towns across the country wouldn't miss a beat if our highly politicized DOJ and FBI disbanded tomorrow because, despite the "woke" cultural degradation wreaking havoc within blue city-states and leftist enclaves, a robust American spirit still thrives in red regions that encourages self-reliance and an aversion toward abject dependence upon the political calculations of civil authorities  especially when wrestling with the weighty moral consequences separating right from wrong.

What about all the Chinese spies and other foreign threats within our borders? Who will keep track of all of them? Well, maybe the federal government should refrain from filling its ranks with foreign agent-saboteurs and consider shutting down the Southern border once and for all  you know, the kind of commonsense actions that ordinary Americans would have taken long ago, if not for the vexingly anti-American policies bubbling up from the D.C. Swamp. Who will pre-emptively read through Americans' email, text, and phone call "metadata" in search of "threats" that may or may not exist? Twenty years after the post-9/11 PATRIOT Act architecture redefined Americans' constitutional rights without amendment ratification or public permission, perhaps it is time for Americans to insist that federal officers once again deign to establish probable cause and execute valid warrants before they go snooping where they have not been invited. Maybe it is time for citizens to recognize that with their silence and compliance, they have handed away a mountain's worth of personal liberty for an anthill's hollow promise that they would remain secure. Any way you slice it, nothing about the expansive, entrenched, and cumbersome national security Deep State that exists today is remotely conducive to Americans' constitutional rights or personal liberties.

The surveillance state buttressed by the DOJ and FBI justifies its enduring need to violate Americans' privacy by disseminating waves of fear to the public and pretending that its existence, however unsavory, is critical for Americans' personal survival. It is far past time for Americans to recognize this ruse as the con it is and reclaim their inherent freedoms. We have many grand American traditions. The FBI is not one of them. Neither the Constitution nor American history supports the existence of a quasi-independent national security force unconscionably vested with such broad authority to engage in domestic espionage, counterintelligence, and criminal enforcement as to render it omnisciently powerful. That Congress and successive presidential administrations for the last century have allowed an institution possessing such supremacy over citizens to exist at all undermines the U.S. Constitution's principal guarantees against abusive government. Even if it were led by and staffed with Americans of the highest moral character, its presence in a free nation would remain an abomination.

Whatever the FBI's past successes, it poses entirely too much of a threat to both Americans' liberty and security. Given its highly political and suspect activities during the last decade and longer, those threats are no longer theoretical. Without the FBI wasting law enforcement resources pursuing politically explosive yet highly questionable arrests near every election season, perhaps crime rates would actually drop. Certainly Chris Wray's agents would no longer need to organize fake kidnapping attempts or set up fake terrorist attacks as part of the FIBbers' relentless efforts to inflate their own "domestic extremism" numbers! Without a doubt, many parents attending local school board meetings and conservative political protesters exercising constitutional rights would sleep better knowing that the strong-arm of the lawless won't be breaking down their doors in the middle of the night under the color of legal authority! Maybe President Trump could even run for re-election again without having to defend against the Obama-Biden Gestapo constantly working to indict him or his supporters for daring to confront Deep State hegemony! Or does "democracy" survive only in the imposed darkness of FBI raids, home invasions, illegal general warrants, property confiscations, intimidation, and forced compliance?

The DOJ-FBI monstrosity that now exists is another powerful example of how a nation's culture ultimately determines a nation's fate. Because so much business of the State today occurs in secret and beyond citizens' oversight, it has never been more important for ordinary citizens and their government to share a common culture keeping their interests aligned. When the bureaucracy does not share the people's beliefs, then it persistently acts contrary to their wishes. It replaces Americans' wants and needs with its own. And like any apex beast, it becomes a danger to those who dare threaten its control.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
If Donald Trump does run for re(ish)-election in 2024, some of the obstacles will be the same as in 2020, some will be different, some will depend upon the ever-shifting vagaries of the political landscape, and some will depend wholly upon Trump doing what he does best while avoiding what he does worst.

To start with, there will be the legal issues. Despite the utter absurdity of the challenge, Marc "I can't believe I'm not at least wearing an ankle bracelet" Elias and his horde of Democrat lawyers will challenge Trump's ability to serve based upon his participation in an "insurrection." (One of the reasons that term will be used, literally and figuratively, ad nauseam in the January 6 committee report will be to lend a wafer-thin layer of credence to the claim). Those challenges will take place at every level of the judicial system: local, state, and federal (the warm-ups are already happening), at the very least to inflict political damage, if not actually create a legal bar to his running and, unlike the lackadaisical response to the wholesale voting law changes enacted in 2020, must be met head-on.

This legal effort will work hand-in-glove with Deep State usual suspects leaking like a racehorse made out of a sieve everything they can think of to upend his candidacy. While nearly all of the leaks so far have been false and the credibility of the national security apparatus is burned toast dropped butter-side down, that will not stop the actual mis-dis-information from being joyously disseminated. ("Trump's Men from Mar-a-Lago; FBI Finds Evidence of Cloning Facility Meant to Create Swing State Voters," will blare a Washington Post headline...well, maybe not exactly, but you get the point.)

What will work against this is the simple fact that times are changing and will change ever more in the next two years. Even Democrat strategists understand that the lies have been so transparent that they will only pick at the margins of Trump's support (though the odds are pretty good that there were at least an election-changing 40,000 white guys who couldn't bring themselves to vote for Trump in 2020 because they were told doing so meant they were racists) and are only truly effective as part of driving the base to the polls to vote Democrat in a fog of feckless fear.

It is also true that Big Tech will put their thumb  who am I kidding?  they will put thousands of bodies, millions of dollars, and billions of clicks on the electoral scale. But the public wariness  and awareness  of such activities is growing, so the push may not play such a decisive role in 2024. In other words, the Hunter laptop trick  which, even with the completely unsecure voting rules in place, indisputably changed the result of the election  will be harder to pull off.

Strategically, Trump can still run as an outsider even though he has already held the most insider job on the planet. But if there is a primary challenge, he will lose one of his most effective 2016 tactics. Unlike every past nomination battle in which the candidate says, "I'm better than the rest because...," Trump picked off his opponents one by one. Jeb, then Marco, then Ted, etc. all felt the individual wrath of the Trump strategy, leaving him as the last man standing. This concept  brilliant and based on Trump's no-holds-barred personality  will be tougher in a smaller field.

As to the personality issue, Trump was elected in 2016 because he was Trump. As noted above, no other candidate used the same strategy, grasped the true feel of the moment and the mood, or could better represent the growing concern of Americans worried that things were going very wrong.

He came up short (maybe) in 2020, in part, because of the same driving personality issues and even then just barely, an astonishing feat for a person who was demonized by every major media outlet non-stop for five straight years. Exit polling showed that if any other human had done exactly what Trump actually did as president, he would have been easily re-elected, even with COVID and the disgusting and actually democracy-threatening change to the voting rules.

That personality  when he listened to it  served him well in office at times. Operation Warp Speed epitomized Trump's "damn the torpedoes" attitude and was a clear success. Only when he listened to official government doctors  Fauci, Birx, etc.  did he get it wrong. What was clear was that he felt out of his depth as the doctors drowned him with (questionable) facts and figures; like most of us, prior to COVID, he most likely actually trusted "scientists" to try to get it right, to have the proper experience, and to keep extraneous factors like politics out of the decision-making process. Not tossing them aside in favor of a Great Barrington Declarationtype approach in the summer of 2020 was an unforced error; at a time when he should have gone with his gut, he went with his head.

Another personality-related error was making the assumption that once he took office, people would  like when he would buy a company or land or whatever  actually have to do what he said. This assumption kneecapped his presidency from the start, an assumption he will clearly not make if elected in 2024.

This issue also impacted his presidency in another way  being rather unprepared for office. The Clinton campaign spent tens of millions of dollars  money that they should have spent on TV ads in Wisconsin, it turned out  building her administration months before the actual vote, which she  and so many others  thought was going to be a mere formality. Hillary did this in part because of the conventional wisdom assumption, in part because she's a bit of a control freak, and in part because she  under no circumstances  wanted any Obama people left around her administration.

She did not forget that he actually beat her, taking away her rightful eight years as president, and she wanted to be absolutely sure there was no lingering odor of  or internal opposition from  Obama's worshipful minions.

Trump did not do this, either because he really didn't understand the depth of the power of the appointed and/or permanent bureaucracy, and was faced with an actively hostile and utterly disloyal raft of people he was in theory supposed to depend upon. It is quite possible Trump's campaign staff didn't prepare better because they were focused elsewhere, or even maybe thought he wouldn't win, but the legacy of that problem lives on even today.

In his campaign, he promised to destroy the Deep State, and they noticed. The mortgages, private schools for the kids, good brunch invitations, societal acceptance, and the personal power of its denizens were directly and actually  not existentially  threatened by Trump, and they reacted as one would expect. Going into 2024, Trump must have a concrete, workable plan to actually do the job he promised to do in 2016. When one aims to kill a king, one cannot miss.

Trump also ran into the problem of the truth of the oft-quoted line that his supporters take him seriously but not literally, while his opponents take him literally, but not seriously. In his second campaign  and term  he must understand that and tailor his messaging accordingly (though, no matter what, the media will continue its psychotic drumbeat, and the NeverTrumps will never quit.)

In other words, if he gets good lawyers, good advice, good intelligence on the entrenched opposition, and good people to help him prepare to re-take office, he just might have more than a very, very good chance of taking up residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue again.

Oh, and one suggestion  on January 21, 2025, don't forget to declassify everything.

Thomas Buckley is the former mayor of Lake Elsinore, Cal. and a former newspaper reporter. He is currently the operator of a small communications and planning consultancy and can be reached directly at planbuckley@gmail.com. You can read more of his work at https://thomas699.substack.com.

Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
The memory of 9/11 seems to be fading. On the morning of the 21st anniversary of the terror attacks, I scanned headlines and social media posts and saw surprisingly little about that historic day. Instead, Queen Elizabeth's death seemed to dominate the news.

But for the first responders who ran to the Towers, the memory will never fade. For them, it's a sacred obligation to preserve the legacy of their murdered colleagues. On the afternoon of September 11, I joined some of the most highly decorated leaders of the NYPD and FDNY who had gathered to recall the sacrifice of the fallen.

The event, which was sponsored by the Women's National Republican Club, began with the Pledge of Allegiance and National Anthem. A palpable emotion stirred the crowd at the sound of the familiar words and music, which seemed almost like relics of a bygone country. In conversations with responders and club members, I heard many people express dismay at the chaos engulfing the nation and deep sorrow at how far we've fallen in 21 years.

FDNY commissioner Daniel Nigro told the crowd that he spent the morning at the site, listening to the annual reading of the names of the dead. Nigro became chief of department on 9/11 when his boss, Chief Peter J. Ganci, Jr., died in the collapse of the North Tower. Nigro said it was "an honor to lead this department in the aftermath, as the members once again displayed why they are the best and bravest." He noted that in an hour of reading names, they only got to the letter D, and that one out of nine names was a New York firefighter.

John Kirk, a retired firefighter, showed me the button he was wearing with the image of his best friend, Lt. Tom O'Hagen. On 9/11, Lt. O'Hagen, a firefighter with Engine 6, ran into the North Tower and never came out. He left behind twin boys, aged 20 months. "I hope for Tom's boys that the country settles down and they can have a good life," John Kirk told me.

FDNY chief of department Edward Kilduff, a legend in New York circles, noted with pride that many sons and daughters of the first responders have chosen to serve with the military, the police, and the fire department. That extraordinary generational call to service was evoked in the story of the Vigiano brothers, first responders who both died in the Towers, leaving their firefighting father bereft of all his children. Yet despite these unbearable losses, the Vigiano family tradition lives on. Joe Vigiano, Jr. now serves in the NYPD, honoring the memory of his fallen father.

New York is now overrun with violence, and an ugly sense of madness pervades the streets. Major crimes are up 40% in 2022, and the NYPD suffers from defunding and disrespect from vicious politicians. Over 2,000 New York cops filed to quit this year, with almost half of them leaving before collecting their full pension.

Once the heroes of New York, idolized by everyone, New York cops now bear the brunt of the collapsing civilizational standards we are all experiencing. An insane video from July captures the zeitgeist: a 16-year-old savagely punches a police officer more than 20 times, slamming him into a metal gate, and dragging him to the floor in a chokehold. The teen, who had a history of walking free after committing violent attacks, was released without bail. New York's cops are expected to sacrifice their health and their lives without the compensation of seeing justice done.

Yet the sacred memory of New York's fallen continues to inspire new recruits. I spoke to Tan, a young police officer whose parents came from Hong Kong. "For me, it's a natural instinct to help people. I'm willing to sacrifice myself, if necessary." And Yong, whose parents emigrated from Malaysia, told me she was inspired by watching cop shows on television. "I want to be one of the people who runs to danger, not away," she said. And Dorsey, who just entered the Police Academy, said, "On 9/11, I saw how officers would help people on their worst day and be a beacon of hope."



Photo by author.

Talking to these fresh-faced police officers, I found myself praying that whatever sacrifices they are called to make will be channeled to worthy ends. The first responders who rushed to the Towers on 9/11 spent their last moments in a world in which patriotism and freedom were cherished. Today, in our increasingly divided country, the finest and bravest may be asked to take risks we can't even imagine.
Listening to Joe Biden give a speech always makes me feel a bit nauseated, so I try to read his speeches. The White House website, which does a good job of preserving his every official utterance, allowed me to read his remarks on Sunday at the Pentagon's ceremony observing the 21st anniversary of the day al-Qaeda terrorists attacked America. It was almost a decent speech, right up until the end, when he dragged in political correctness and partisan politics  and that spoiled the whole thing.

Biden's speechwriters lack talent, and he is no orator. Nevertheless, three quarters of the "Remarks by President Biden at 9/11 Memorial Ceremony" struck the correct tone. He acknowledged the thousands of lives lost, reminded us that remembrance matters, said gracefully that "grief is the price we pay for love," praised the enduring character of the American people, acknowledged the Flight 93 passengers and first responders who gave so much, lauded the people who enlisted in the military to fight against terrorism, applauded himself for ordering Zawahiri's death, and promised that the government continues to work to prevent another terrorist attack. I don't have much faith in that last promise, but I sure hope it's true.



Image: Joe Biden. YouTube screen grab.

As I said, it was not a great speech, but it was a decent speech, paying homage to the terrible blow America suffered on September 11, 2001, and the continuing fallout from that day. Had Biden stopped there, I would have had to admit that he handled this 21st anniversary in a presidential, even a statesmanlike, manner.

But Biden couldn't stop there. Those of us who remember 9/11 also remember that the American people did not go on a screaming rampage against the Muslims in their midst. While Palestinians were celebrating the attack by dancing in the streets (something even Snopes admits is true), most Americans kept their focus on the killers themselves and on al-Qaeda, a terrorist organization.

It's true that there was an increase in hostility to Muslims, but the total number of attacks on Muslims in a nation of 330 million people was de minimis: 481 hate crimes in 2001, up from 28 in 2000. I am not condoning attacks on Muslims for the crimes of their coreligionists, a behavior that is every bit as evil as anti-Semitic attacks. (Jews, incidentally, are still on the receiving end of most religiously motivated hate crimes  60% in 2019 compared to 13.2% against Muslims.) I'm just noting that Americans did not engage in an orgy of hate.

What did increase after 9/11, of course, was Americans' awareness of the fact that Islam is not a religion that plays well with others. They couldn't help but notice that it motivated myriad terrorist attacks, both large and small, around the world  but Americans still did not go to war with the Muslims in their communities.

You wouldn't know that, though, from Biden's speech:

To me, that's the greatest lesson of September 11. Not that we will never again face a setback, but that in a moment of great unity we also had to face down the worst impulses, fear, violence, recrimination directed against Muslim Americans, as well as Americans of Middle Eastern and South Asian heritage.

Having accused Americans of barely controlled anti-Muslim bias, Biden then concluded his speech by again insisting that the only thing that will save America is to stand against attacks on "democracy."

We have an obligation, a duty, a responsibility to defend, preserve, and protect our democracy, the very democracy that guarantees the rights and freedom that those terrorists on 9/11 sought to bury in the burning fire and smoke and ash. [snip] It's not enough to stand up for democracy once a year or every now and then. It's something we have to do every single day. [snip] I have no doubt we will do this. We will meet this significant responsibility. We'll secure our democracy together as one America, the United States of America.

Biden seems to have forgotten that we are not a democracy in America. The Founders despised democracy, believing (correctly) that it is a recipe for mob rule. Instead, we are a republic. But Biden's misunderstanding of the Constitution he swore to defend isn't the point.

Anybody listening to Democrats since January 6, 2021 understands what it means when they speak obsessively about attacks on and the need to defend "democracy": they're asserting that the real terrorists in America are those people who have asked for more inquiry into the election results that put Biden in the White House.

When Democrats challenged both George W. Bush's and Donald Trump's election victories, that was "democracy." Meanwhile, when Biden's election victory is challenged, that's an attack on democracy (an "insurrection," if you will). We know, therefore, what Biden was saying. His speech went from decent to being an insult to Americans. How typical for that nasty old man.
I agree with President Trump that China is our greatest geopolitical opponent. I also haven't missed the fact that China's Belt and Road initiative has seen it buy up important properties and industries around the world. Currently, Xi Jinping seems poised to become the new Roman emperor, a single man controlling the world's vastest territory and largest population. However, there are signs that both Xi and China itself may be more Potemkin village than an unstoppable force for world domination.

There are growing numbers of articles pointing to serious instability within China. In August, I took note of the mortgage boycott in China that's occurring because China's real estate boom, which was really a pyramid scheme, is collapsing.

Last week, Gordon Chang, a veteran and knowledgeable China watcher, wrote that China's entire economy is headed for a massive meltdown:

The big story is not that the Chinese economy is falling apart. It is, at least apart from the export sector. The big story is that China's stimulus efforts, so successful in the past in jumpstarting growth, are no longer working. The country's economy is, in a word, exhausted. In the past, when the economy look fatigued, China's business community could count on the central government to create growth with massive stimulus programs. That is, after all, how former Premier Wen Jiabao avoided contraction in China as the rest of the world suffered during the 2008 downturn. [snip] The country has been exponentially incurring indebtedness, perhaps creating debt about seven times faster than it has been producing nominal gross domestic product. Nobody knows how much debt China has accumulated, but total country indebtedness could be an amount equal to 350% of GDP. Because of the infamous "hidden debt" and Beijing's misreportingexaggerationof economic output, the percentage could even be higher.

There's more, but the above quotation gives an idea of the fact that a government can bail out a broken economy only so much. It is, after all, precisely the same as if you were trying to lift a bucket in which you are standing. It turns out that top-down, government-managed "capitalism" will take you only so far.



Image: Xi Jinping. YouTube screen grab.

It's not just Chang observing China's problems. Writing in Australia's News, Alexis Carey suggests that the systemic problems are so grave that Xi himself is suddenly the one possessed of that uneasy head that wears the crown.

Since Xi convinced the CCP to do away with the constitutional two-term limit for presidents, everyone has assumed he'll be a dictator for life. After all, China is a behemoth.

China is the world's manufacturer (never mind that just about everything it makes is poor quality), and, as noted, Xi's Belt and Road initiative  which "loans" money to countries that can't repay those funds so that China can build, then own, ports, dams, factories, etc., around the world  has seemed Borg-like in its conquest ability. But China wouldn't be the first totalitarian country to hide behind Potemkin walls:

China's aggressive Covid-zero strategy has been disastrous for the economy, with draconian lockdowns and restrictions lingering while most of the world moves on. [snip] Meanwhile, a record-breaking heatwave and drought is also wreaking havoc, leading to factory closures in a bid to save power, which in turn have also battered the economy. At the same time, Chinese homeowners continue to take part in unprecedented mortgage boycotts as the property industry also tanks. [snip] In addition to the challenges Xi is already facing is the potential threat posed by Premier Li Keqiang, who has recently sparked rumours of an internal rift after voicing frustration at the economic impact of Covid lockdowns  an incredibly rare example of mixed messages among China's elite, Zheng reports.

Carey writes that even George Soros has soured on Xi, for he says, "Xi Jinping is bound to fail" because of his COVID policies and the fact that he has many enemies.

I don't wish for China's downfall. We in America are, unfortunately, extremely dependent on China's manufacturing. If China implodes, that hurts us. I also have no ill feelings toward the Chinese people.

However, I'd like to see China's wings clipped so that it no longer poses a threat to other East Asian countries, dominates ports and dams around the world, has the world's largest (although possibly also Potemkin) military, controls the world's industrial minerals, and manufactures most of our medicine.

In other words, I want it to be one country among many, not the world's rising superpower  and maybe, because Xi's lust for power saw him flying too close to the sun, China will be forced to withdraw again into its own borders, and then work honestly and peacefully with the rest of the world.
Two leftist writers this week dealt with education more sensibly than Randy Weingarten would. Either they see real political vulnerability, and are just trying to protect Dems in midterms, or the screwup with keeping schools closed, and piling on indoctrination, is doing too much damage.

Matthew Yglesias:

Dying also causes "learning loss" and is much harder to reverse.  Victor Ray (@victorerikray) September 1, 2022

It is, obviously, true that it is bad when children die. At the same time, we know that very, very few children have died from Covid-19. I don't want to re-run the whole argument about school closures, just to observe that I think these two [see also this] Ray takes are coming from the same place of underrating the importance of basic "three Rs" education. Citizenship is important, and it is one of the functions of the school system, but the best (and most realistic) way for K-12 schools to foster effective citizenship is to teach kids foundational literacy and math skills. Incorporating works about history or politics into the curriculum is a great idea insofar as it helps keep students engaged, but it's best to make those core skills the North Star and try to avoid hubris and tons of polarized fights about tangential issues.

Jill Filipovic:

As American students return to school, it's time to admit we have a problem. Thanks to Covid-related school shutdowns, our school children have suffered unprecedented learning losses, with 9-year-olds seeming to have lost some two decades worth of progress on math and reading skills, according to new test results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress. The backtracking was particularly severe for the students who were already struggling, as well as for Black and Hispanic students. And, for many students, it may simply be too late to make up such significant setbacks. This should make the progressive-minded among us who supported school closures pause and ask ourselves if we got this one right  and what we could learn from this whole debacle.

Ron DeSantis won Florida's governorship in 2018 in large part because some Black mothers switched to voting Republican to support his school choice efforts. Glenn Youngkin, who I think is very smart and solid, showed the power of the education issue when winning the governorship of Virginia. He is traveling around the country supporting GOP governor candidates (he was in Maine this week), talking about education all the time.

Photo credit: pxhere public domain.
San Francisco is a city that has a very comprehensive public transportation system. Above-ground San Francisco Municipal Railroad ("MUNI") buses and streetcars will get you anywhere you need to go in the city. In addition, if you're traveling downtown, there's a MUNI line that runs underground, taking travelers along Market Street, the major downtown thoroughfare. And now there's about to be a new line (maybe): MUNI has announced that it might finally be opening a 1.7-mile-long spur that has already taken ten years to build at a cost of $1.6 billion.

Beginning in 2010, MUNI started preliminary work on a 1.7-mile-long spur that would take workers from the tech-rich SOMA (South of Market) area to Chinatown. Before COVID drained downtown San Francisco (which now has a 31% activity rate, making it the most deserted downtown in America), this was a very heavily trafficked corridor. This meant that expanding the municipal railway system was not a crazy idea back in 2010.

According to Wikipedia, when the idea was first raised in 2000, the estimated cost was $530 million. One year later, it was estimated that it would cost $647 million and be completed in 2009. Although actual construction began in 2012, it was only in 2013 that Tutor Perini, the lowest bidder, was awarded the job. That contract was for $840 million.



Image: Pete Buttigieg and Nancy Pelosi (hiding behind him) celebrate San Francisco's possibly completed new subway line. ABC 7 screen grab.

Building the central line was a big project  boring parallel tunnels for 1.7 miles and building four stations. The estimate for completion was set for 2018 (that is, six years), a reasonable time for a project of that magnitude. The project, of course, instantly went over time and over budget.

The money for the Central Line, by the way, doesn't come primarily from San Franciscans, the ones who will benefit from the 1.7 miles of subway. Instead, and I'm going to quote directly from Wikipedia (footnotes omitted):

The budget to complete the Central Subway is $1.578 billion. The project is funded primarily through the Federal Transit Administration's New Starts program. In October 2012, the FTA approved a Full Funding Grant Agreement, the federal commitment of funding through New Starts, for the Central Subway for a total amount of $942.2 million. The Central Subway is also funded by the State of California, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the San Francisco County Transportation Authority and the City and County of San Francisco.

That's right! Americans generally and Californians more specifically are bearing the brunt of this project.

Well, the Central Subway is finally done (maybe). If it opens in October, as seems to be planned, it will have taken 22 years from the time the idea was first bandied about in 2000 and a decade since ground was first broken in 2012. In addition, the costs overran the original estimates by $1 billion. The breakdown of the cost is that each tenth of a mile for this subway will have cost almost $100 million (that's close to $100,000,000 per tenth of a mile).

Still, who cares about money? Those 1.7 miles are a government program, San Francisco is a Democrat-run city, and this is all about equitable public transportation. It's a bargain compared to the California High-Speed Rail, intended to connect San Francisco and Los Angeles, which will cover 380 miles if it's ever finished. The initial cost estimate was $33 billion, but it's now up to $113 billion, a price that will, I'm sure, continue to grow exponentially. Currently, 119 miles of track are still being built in the Central Valley, constituting a train to nowhere.

Given the Democrats' abiding commitment to expensive transportation projects, it's no surprise that Pete Buttigieg, the secretary of transportation, transported himself from D.C. to San Francisco to join Nancy Pelosi in celebrating this almost-moment (it's still not clear when the Central Line actually opens):

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg were in San Francisco today to check out progress on the long-delayed Central Subway project. The Muni Metro extension through SOMA, Union Square and Chinatown is still set to serve passengers in the fall. This is the ride so many have been waiting for. Construction on the Central Subway is nearly done. (Emphasis mine.)

This is how America's bloated, hyper-bureaucratic governments work: slowly and inefficiently. In my own community, I got a notice from my representative that a much-traveled road is a death trap for drivers and pedestrians. Fear not, though  there will be a four- to five-year-long study period to see what can be done about it.

The more money and responsibility that we hand over to the government, the less things get done and the more they cost. We no longer live in the first half of the 20th century, when leaner, more disciplined governments were able to produce rather splendid public works. Instead, we live in a world where it takes ten years and costs $100,000,000 per every tenth of a mile to build a single subway line.
Hyderabad: The UGC has given approval to the Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) start three more PG courses in the distance mode  MA in History, Hindi and Arabic. As per the UGC guidelines, students can simultaneously enrol themselves in two courses.

Admission is now open in MA (Urdu, Hindi, Arabic, English, History & Islamic Studies), BA, BCom, Diploma (Teach English and Journalism & Mass Communication) and certificate course (Proficiency in Urdu through English & Functional English) for the 2022-23 session.

The last date to apply online is October 20 and admission fee should be paid by October 31. The e-prospectus and online forms are available at manuu.edu.in/dde
During last week's White House press briefing, Fox News's Peter Doocy questioned press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about an old tweet.

In 2016, almost six weeks after Donald Trump's victory over Hillary Clinton, Jean-Pierre tweeted the following

Stolen emails, stolen drone, stolen election .....welcome to the world of #unpresidented Trump https://t.co/NI7vqPV6cu  Karine Jean-Pierre (@K_JeanPierre) December 18, 2016

Doocy reminded Jean-Pierre of the following: "You tweeted Trump stole an election. You tweeted that Brian Kemp stole an election. If denying election results is extreme now, why wasn't it then?"

Reminder: Brian Kemp stole the gubernatorial election from Georgians and Stacey Abrams.https://t.co/ZIKGTd6U1v  Karine Jean-Pierre (@K_JeanPierre) April 2, 2020

"Let's be really clear: That comparison you just made is ridiculous," Jean-Pierre replied.

She claimed to be "talking specifically at that time of what was happening with voting rights and the  what was in danger of voting rights."

But Jean-Pierre was merely a foot soldier who was assiduously following the Democrat groupthink that Trump was an illegitimate president.

Virtually all Democrats endorsed the following unsubstantiated claims regarding Trump's victory:

Trump colluded with the Russians.

Trump-supporters voted based on bigotry.

Ignoramus voters were conned by Trump and fake news.

There was widespread voter suppression.

Comey's presser announcing investigations into Hillary enabled a Trump victory.

Voters were enamored of Trump's reality shows.

In May 2017, thenHouse minority leader Nancy Pelosi tweeted the following:

Our election was hijacked. There is no question. Congress has a duty to #ProtectOurDemocracy & #FollowTheFacts.  Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) May 16, 2017

"Nice guy" Jimmy Carter claimed that Trump lost the elections but was installed by the Russians. Joe Biden also called Trump illegitimate, and so did Democrat Rep. John Lewis. Democrat Rep. Jerry Nadler refused to attend Trump's inauguration for the same reason.

Democrats also attempted to rig the Electoral College. A host of Democrats and former celebrities appeared in a PSA urging members of the Electoral College not to cast their votes for President-Elect Trump, despite the fact that he had the votes.

Democrats rioted across America after Trump's victory. There was a women's march where former pop star Madonna said she wanted to blow up Trump's White House.

Their most audacious election-denying disinformation campaign was the Trump-Russia collusion hoax.

Bitter loser Hillary called Trump an illegitimate president; she was the prime proponent of the Trump-Russia collusion hoax. Democrat bomb-throwers such as Adam Schiff claimed to have evidence of Trump-Russia collusion. Eric Swalwell claimed that Trump acted on Russia's behalf.

On MSNBC, prime-time hosts peddled conspiracy theories insinuating that Russia had actively conspired to put Trump in the White House. They even accused Trump of being a Russian asset. They claimed he was a Manchurian candidate installed in the Oval Office to work for Putin.

The disinformation campaign caused the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller, whose team was composed solely of Trump-haters for his probe. The probe hung like a sword over the Trump presidency for the next 22 months and cost taxpayers approximately $40 million.

They persecuted political adversaries and attempted to criminalize political opposition.

Throughout the "investigation," the FBI and Justice Department leaked "bombshells" to the media. The media then claimed that the "walls are closing in" and Trump would be forced to resign.

The probe cleared Trump, but the probe report was purposefully worded ambiguously in order to allow speculation that Trump had indeed colluded with Putin but had left no proof of it. This was to leave an opening for conspiracy theorists.

It wasn't just the 2016 elections.

Following her 2018 gubernatorial loss, former Georgia House minority leader Stacey Abrams refused to concede to the winner, Brian Kemp. On myriad occasions subsequently, she claimed that she had won and that she was proud she hadn't conceded. Abrams even announced plans to sue over the way the state's elections were managed. Abrams was celebrated and called a hero by the Democrats.

2016 Stacey Abrams sounds A LOT different than 2019 Stacey Abrams... Our new video shows just how much @staceyabrams has changed her tune on election outcomes. #GASen #GApol https://t.co/bXqVQWyzxW pic.twitter.com/RoNvBQTjWJ  Senate Republicans (@NRSC) April 4, 2019

Abrams still stands by her refusal to concede, but like Karine Jean-Pierre, she is attempting to deny and revise history.

I acknowledge that [Kemp] won, but I will never say that a system that is broken  that denied people their right to vote  is the right thing to have in the state and as part of democracy.

Recently, Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas), who lost to Rep. Mayra Flores (R-Texas) in a special election in Texas's 34th Congressional District, accused Flores of stealing the election from him.

Democrat Vicente Gonzalez falsely claims his election was "stolen" from him.



pic.twitter.com/MawT4hA113  Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) September 10, 2022

There was no evidence that the 2016 presidential election or the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election or a special election in Texas's 34th Congressional District was rigged.

Yet the Democrats claim these contests were stolen.

What happened during the 2020 elections?

Big media and Big Tech suppressed the Hunter Biden scandal that revealed the shady business dealings of Hunter Biden enabled by his father Joe Biden. A poll revealed that 16% of Biden voters would have voted differently had they known of Hunter's laptop.

The sacrosanct electoral infrastructure of the 2020 elections was infiltrated by Democrat activists. A record-breaking 64 million Americans cast their ballots by mail, many prior to Election Day. Unmonitored private drop boxes for ballots that are vulnerable to fraud were allowed.

Yet Democrats are vehement about the legitimacy of the election.

Anybody who expresses doubts about the 2020 elections is called a conspiracy theorist, while skeptics who attend a protest are called insurrectionists.

The Democrats are hence running two disinformation campaigns in parallel.

For one campaign, elections are foolproof and sacrosanct to the function of a democracy. Anybody who claims that an election can be rigged is a conspiracy theorist and a semi-fascist.

For another campaign, elections can easily be compromised by nefarious foreign powers or by voter suppression. Anybody who claims that an election cannot be rigged is a conspiracy theorist and a semi-fascist.

This could be baffling for the average Democrat-supporter.

So let's make it even simpler.

The Democrats are saying that election results are legitimate only when they win.

There is also a two-tier system for election skeptics.

An unarmed January 6 protester was shot dead, and another committed suicide, while others are subjected to subhuman prison conditions.

What happened to Jean-Pierre, who peddled baseless Democrat conspiracy theories about elections? She is Biden's press secretary, spreading disinformation on a national stage.

In addition to running disinformation campaigns regarding electoral results, the Democrats regularly target political opponents.

MAGA Republicans are called a "threat to democracy." Dissenting citizens were branded as domestic terrorists. They tried to set up a "Disinformation Governance Board" to monitor the utterances of citizens, which they now claim is suspended. They baselessly raided the home of their prime political opponent, Donald Trump, and spread wild conspiracy theories about it.

This isn't a recent tactic. Obama's IRS was weaponized to target conservatives. Obama also targeted journalists who were critical of him.

The Democrats are also using other ploys.

They open up the border to allow an uncontrolled influx of foreigners. They secretly transport these migrants to swing states. The goal is to give them voting rights, knowing they will vote Democrat and drown the impact of Republican voters.

The electoral system that is the foundation of democracy is being attacked by the Democrats on several fronts.

The end goal is to have a one-party system; there will be elections, but like in California and New York, only Democrats will win.

This is a Democrat dream, which will be a nightmare for the nation.

Will the GOP bring a stop to this after winning during the midterms?

Let's be cautious and not blindly optimistic.
On the night of July 31, 1761, a frigate of the French East India Company named Utile, captained by Jean de La Fargue, and carrying a contraband of African slaves ran aground on a small, flat island located about 500 km north of Reunion and about 450 km east of Madagascar.

The ship was carrying on its hold some 160 slaves consisting of men, women and children, bound for Mauritius where the slaves would have been sold to plantation owners. Although slavery was legal at the time, de Lafargue was not authorized by colonial authorities to trade in slaves. In addition, the ship was also carrying a French crew of 140 men.

Tromelin Island, formerly Ile des Sables. Photo: Richard Bouet

The inaccuracy of the maps combined with the stubbornness of the captain drove the ship onto the reefs off the islets north end. The impact shattered the hull and the ship began to take in water. Most of the slaves, who were trapped in the cargo hold, drowned, but some managed to escape as the ship broke apart. The next morning, 122 of the 140 members of the crew and somewhere between 60 and 80 Malagasy slaves found themselves stranded on Ile des Sables (Island of Sand).

Captain Jean de Lafargue suffered some kind of a nervous breakdown as a result of the wreck, so first officer Barthelemy Castellan du Vernet took over. He rallied the crew to salvage food, tools, and timber from the wreck and build separate camps for the crew and the slaves. They dug a well 5 meters deep, built an oven and a furnace, and work began on a new boat. Within two months Providence emerged from the remains of Utile.

On 27 September 1761, the 122 surviving French sailors boarded Providence and set sail for Madagascar, promising the Malagasy slaves that a ship would return for them.

After four days of sailing, Providence arrived in Madagascar, and the crew was transferred back to Reunion Island and Mauritius. During the transit, many men died of tropical diseases. Among them was Captain Jean de Lafargue, leaving Castellan du Vernet to face the wrath of the governor of Mauritius, who was furious for violating his prohibition on bringing slaves to his island. Du Vernet requested to have a ship sent back to the islet, but the governor denied. News of the castaway slaves even reached Paris and caused a brief stir, but there were bigger issues to worry about, like the Seven Years' War and the looming bankruptcy of the French East India Company. The slaves were soon forgotten, but not by Castellan du Vernet.

In 1772eleven years after the slaves were stranded on the islandin response to another request from Castellan du Vernet, the minister of marine affairs agreed to send a ship, but it would be another three years before La Sauterelle would arrive at Ile des Sables. On reaching the island, a small boat carrying two men were dispatched to make contact with the stranded islanders. But the boat dashed on the reef. One man swam back to the ship, and the other swam to the island. Because of bad weather and dangerous reefs, no further attempts at landing were made and the ship decided to sail back. Two more ships followed La Sauterelle, but neither was able to make landfall. Finally, on 29 November 1776, 15 years after the sinking, La Dauphine, a corvette captained by Jacques Marie Boudin de la Nuguy de Tromelin, managed to land on the island and rescue the survivors. Only seven women and an eight-month-old boy remained.

Upon arriving there, Tromelin-Lanuguy discovered that the survivors were dressed in clothes made from plaited feathers they obtained from sea birds that they killed for sustenance. The islanders also fed on fish, tortoises and birds eggs. According to Tromelin-Lanuguy, the islanders had somehow managed to keep a fire going all these years, although it was more likely that flint stones were used. They built huts from blocks of coral, a meter and a half thick, to shelter themselves from the cyclones, and had a communal oven. Unfortunately, the testimony of the seven remaining women and the records of La Dauphine have been lost, so there is no written account of what could be one of the greatest stories of human perseverance.

Excavated homes on Tromelin Island. Photo: Jean-Francois Rebeyrotte

A kitchen. Photo: Jean-Francois Rebeyrotte

In order to learn more about how the islanders managed to survive 15 years on a tiny wind ravaged island, in 2006, Max Guerout, a former French naval officer and director of operations of the Naval Archeology Research Group, led an archeological expedition to the island.

Guerout believes that most of the 60 to 80 slaves that landed on the island, died within the first couple of years. Not long after they were abandoned, a group of 18 departed the island on a makeshift raft but it is unknown whether they ever reached Madagascar. Within five years, their population was reduced to 15 survivors and remained so over the next decade. Just months before the rescue, the French sailor stranded from La Sauterelle, had left the islet on a raft with a sail of woven feathers, along with three men and three women. They were never heard from again.

Guerout and his team discovered copper utensils that were salvaged from the wreck and then hammered into new shapes. More remarkable was how they had been repairedsome up to eight timesover the course of 15 years. The castaways had to cut pieces of copper from other objects for patches, drill holes through both patches and plates, and then use small rolled pieces of copper as rivets, which they then hammered into place. Excavation yielded about 45 domestic objects including iron tripods to hold cooking vessels, and big lead bowls probably made from lead sheets kept on Utile to patch holes at sea. They even found pieces of copper jewelry, such as rings, a couple of bracelets, pendants, and a comb.

One does not have the impression that these people were crushed by their condition. They tried to survive with order and method, Guerout said of the castaway slaves. Its a very human story, a story of instinct and survival of people who were abandoned because they were regarded by some of their fellow human beings as less human.

Much of their settlement was destroyed when French authorities built a weather station there in 1954. the station was destroyed by a cyclone two years later and then rebuilt. It is still in operation today and consists of a few buildings, cisterns, and concrete footings. There is also 1,200-feet airstrip that provides the only connection to the outside world.

Since 1885, the island has been called Tromelin Island after Captain Tromelin de La Nuguy, who rescued the forgotten islanders.

References:

# Samir S. Patel, Castaways, Archeology.org

# Joelle Weeks, The Shipwrecked Slaves of Tromelin Island: A Crime of Lese-Humanity, Angles
Samsung doesnt seem to be in the mood to stop its campaign of mockery against Apple. Earlier this month, the company released two ads poking fun at the Cupertino-based iPhone maker for the lack of innovation in its products. Now, it has launched another attack on Apple, sarcastically calling the iPhone 14 innovative.

In a series of tweets posted shortly after the iPhone 14 launch last week, Samsung took a dig at its arch-rival with a few fun facts about its Galaxy devices. What the Flip, Apple? the first tweet says, adding that Samsung has been flexing for two years, five months, and 20 days. Thats a reference to its first Flip series foldable. The tweet also features the Galaxy Z Flip 4. The second tweet highlights the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and contains the same jibe at Apple.

Samsung is seemingly challenging Apple to join the foldable segment. But the latter has been known for not experimenting much and releasing identical products with little to no changes every year. Thats something it will find harder to argue against this year because the iPhone 14 base model is more or less a copy of the iPhone 13. So these tweets are also a jibe at that practice, something that has often been subject to trolls.

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The Korean firm is also trolling Apple for low-resolution cameras on iPhones. 48 megapixels? Youre almost there, Apple, the company tweets. Weve had 108 megapixels for two years, six months, and four days, it adds, referring to the Galaxy S20 Ultra launch. After seven long years, Apple finally upgraded the iPhone camera resolution to 48MP this year, though only on the Pro models. The smaller two iPhone 14 models still feature 12MP primary cameras.

Samsung continues to mock the Apple iPhone 14

Samsung called these tweets a brief summary of its reactions to the innovative new devices announced last Wednesday. The term innovative here is meant to be a sarcastic jibe at the iPhones. The company is mocking Apple for launching the same iPhone every year without any innovation. And this isnt something new. It has launched these kinds of mockery campaigns against its arch-rival in the past as well.

As said earlier, Samsung has already released two ads targeting Apples innovations on the iPhone 14 series. Eve Jobs, daughter of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, also recently joined trolls against the company. As long as the banter doesnt take an ugly turn, we are all in for it.
(ANSA) - ROME, SEP 12 - Antonio Tajani, the coordinator of Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia (FI), told an ANSA Forum on Monday that Italy will continue to follow the line of the EU and NATO on backing Ukraine following the Russia invasion if the centre-right coalition wins the September 25 general election.

"There will be no change in foreign policy," Tajani told the Forum.

"The centre right is with NATO and with the West.

"FI is a guarantor at the European level and has great competence in international politics".

Giorgia Meloni, the leader of the right-wing Brothers of Italy (FdI) that is leading in the polls and who is favourite to be Italy's next premier, has also said a centre-right government would not break ranks with the Western stance on Ukraine.

Matteo Salvini, the leader of the right-wing League that is the other main part of the centre-right alliance, has expressed reservations about sanctions on Russia. (ANSA).


Several cases have been booked in the last few months indicating that after a dry two-year spell, the racket is flourishing in Hyderabad.  (Representational image: Pixabay)

Hyderabad: In a major revelation, it has been established that while marijuana supply into the city is being channeled from eastern routes like Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, narcotics like MDMA, cocaine and LSD are being smuggled in from the western parts like Goa and Mumbai. Several cases have been booked in the last few months indicating that after a dry two-year spell, the racket is flourishing in Hyderabad. This is even as we have increased our vigilance, an official from the city police said.

The issue is, while we keep tabs and have informants to tip us off on habitual offenders and routine methods, many students and others from outside the drug trade have started smuggling. They consume and sell it to their close circle, making it difficult for investigators to find a pattern, he said.

In a recent bust, the narcotics wing of city police caught Osigwe Chukwuemeka James(Alamanjo Nmasichukwu), the 37-year-old Nigerian peddler who smuggles the substances from Goa. Most of his clients in the city are below 40 years in age and include students, software engineers and businessmen.

On August 26, Cyberabad police caught a 38-year-old man with 13 grams of cocaine, which he procured from a Nigerian seller in Goa. On July 12, several students, including from premier colleges and universities, were caught consuming narcotics following the arrest of four drug peddlers, who smuggled MDMA from Bangalore. In another case, four Nigerians were caught using social media applications to smuggle and sell methamphetamine and cocaine from Bangalore.

An official from the Anti-Narcotic Cell, Goa police, who nabbed Prudhvi Penmathsa, in Miyapur with 740 grams of hashish oil in Goas Porvorim in July, said that the bulk of smuggling is being done in Hyderabad and Bangalore.
Russia says carrying out strikes on areas retaken by Ukraine Operations to continue 'until objectives achieved'

(ANSA-AFP) - MOSCOW, SEP 12 - Russia said Monday its forces were carrying out strikes in parts of Ukraine's Kharkiv region retaken by Kyiv's forces in recent days. The defence ministry in its daily briefing said Russian air, rocket and artillery forces were "delivering precision strikes on units and reserves of the Ukrainian armed forces", including in the urban hubs of Kupiansk and Izyum. The Kremlin said Ukraine operations to continue 'until objectives achieved'. (ANSA-AFP).





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BELGRADE - Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military leader sentenced to life in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity, has been treated at the hospital of the Scheveningen prison for the past few days.



The ICTY's detention unit is located just outside The Hague.



Announcing the news, his son Darko said that he is waiting for an authorization allowing a team of Serbian doctors to visit the former general.



"We were told that he has pneumonia, water in his lungs and cardiac issues", Darko Mladic was quoted as saying Monday by media outlets in Belgrade. He added that his family has not been in contact with Mladic since Friday. A partial health record was sent from The Hague on his father's state of health and further documentation is expected, said Darko Mladic.



Since his arrest and his transfer 11 years ago to the prison of the Dutch capital, the former general has had health problems, and his state has progressively worsened, despite treatment he is receiving in the Netherlands. He was captured in May 2011 in northern Serbia after being at large for 16 years.



Mladic's life term in prison was confirmed in June 2021 by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the armed conflict in Bosnia in 1992-1995.



Together with the former political leader of Bosnia's Serbians Radovan Karadzic, who was also sentenced to life in prison on similar charges, Ratko Mladic was recognized to be responsible first of all for the genocide of Srebrenica, with the massacre in July 1995 of 8,000 Bosnian Muslim civilians, and the long and bloody siege of Sarajevo.




PARIS - An appeals trial opened on Monday in Paris over jihadist attacks that targeted the newsroom of the magazine Charlie Hebdo, a municipal policewoman in Montrogue and the supermarket Hyper Cacher, which left 17 people dead in France. Two defendants, Ali Riza Polat and Amar Ramdani, are again taking the stand for their alleged role in the attacks, which were perpetrated by the brothers Sherif and Said Kouachi and by Amedy Coulibaly against the newsroom of the magazine symbolizing freedom of expression in France, against security forces and against the Jewish community. The trial is expected to wrap up on October 21.
Detectives investigating the murder of a 22-year-old man in Liverpool are appealing for information from anyone who saw electric bikes travelling at high speed after the shooting.

Sam Rimmer was killed in Dingle on August 16, when shots were fired at his group of friends by people on electric bikes.

His death was the first of three fatal shootings to happen in Liverpool in the space of a week, with council worker Ashley Dale, 28, and nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel killed in later incidents.

Detective Chief Inspector Steve McGrath said the suspects in Mr Rimmers shooting had been traced from the scene in Lavrock Bank at 11.36pm to Hunts Cross Avenue, near the junction of Whitney Place, Woolton, where they were last seen at 12.04am.

He said: These locations and our ongoing work in identifying a route between the two could be hugely important to this murder investigation.

At that time of night, the riding of two electric bikes at high speed in these areas will have been unusual.

It might be that people who live nearby, or were passing on the night, heard or saw but dont realise the importance of these bikes.

Id ask anyone who was in the areas described between around 11.30pm and shortly after midnight, or saw the bikes later on, to check any CCTV, dashcam, doorbell or other footage and let us know of any sightings or other information as to the movements and riders.

Further to enquiries around the bikes, warrants and other activity continue in the Dingle and surrounding areas, and Id continue to ask that anyone with information on the murder of Sam comes forward directly or anonymously.

Dont assume we already have the detail you hold, or guess how significant it might be. We will assess this, and do all we can to bring these offenders to justice.

Four males, aged between 17 and 23, have previously been arrested on suspicion of Mr Rimmers murder and remain on conditional bail.
The King is a constitutional monarch who must remain politically neutral.

The head of state has an important formal and ceremonial relationship with Parliament, the monarchys official website says.

Charless role will consist, as did the late Queens, of assenting to Bills passed by Parliament on the advice of ministers.

He will also give audiences to ministers, at which he may encourage or warn them and be consulted on issues. He can also summon new Parliaments on the Governments advice, and open and close  or prorogue  each session of Parliament.

King Charles III during an audience with Prime Minister Liz Truss and members of her Cabinet (Jonathan Brady/PA)

His assent is required to all bills passed by Parliament in order for them to become law. Royal Assent has not been refused since 1707.

It is also a long established convention that the monarch is asked for consent to debate bills which would affect the prerogative or interests of the Crown.

Research by The Guardian in 2021 found more than 1,000 laws had been vetted by Elizabeth II  including whether national traffic rules applied to her private estates of Balmoral and Sandringham.

In the annual State Opening of Parliament ceremony, the King will open Parliament in person, and deliver the Kings Speech.

Charles has already opened parliament before and read the Queens Speech, doing so on behalf of his mother in May this year (Alastair Grant/PA)

It will also be Charless duty to appoint any future prime ministers  one of the few remaining personal prerogatives of the sovereign.

The monarch does not act on advice nor need to consult anyone before calling upon the leader with an overall majority of seats in the House of Commons to form a government.

It was one of the Queens last ever duties, just two days before she died, when she appointed Liz Truss as PM at Balmoral Castle.

The King will also hold a regular audience with Ms Truss, usually weekly on a Wednesday.

He has already met with Ms Truss, the Cabinet, opposition leaders and Realm High Commissioners in the three days since his accession.

The monarch is also head of the Privy Council, which usually meets once a month.

This is the oldest form of legislative assembly still functioning in the UK, responsible for a number of executive responsibilities.

At each meeting the Council obtains the Kings formal approval to orders which have already been discussed and approved by ministers.

He also approves proclamations through Council  which are formal notices cover issues such as the summoning of a new Parliament, coinage and the dates of certain bank holidays.
The Duke of Sussex has recalled the sweet memory of how his Commander-in-Chief Granny made him smile and blush during his Sandhurst passing out parade.

The Queen, who was head of the Armed Forces, inspected the rows of new cadets when Harry was commissioned as an officer in the British Army in 2006.

In his written tribute to the late monarch on Monday, Harry described their first meeting in his earliest military role.

Harry smiling broadly as his grandmother the Queen reviewed him and other officers (Tim Ockenden/PA)

It came hours before it was confirmed Harry would not be permitted to wear uniform at ceremonial events in the coming days as he mourns the Queen.

Granny, while this final parting brings us great sadness, I am forever grateful for all of our first meetings  from my earliest childhood memories with you, to meeting you for the first time as my Commander-in-Chief, to the first moment you met my darling wife and hugged your beloved great-grandchildren, he said.

He spoke of her infectious smile and said I cherish these times shared with you, and the many other special moments in between.

He was thought to be referring to the time 16 years ago, when as a newly commissioned 21-year-old officer, he gave his grandmother a huge grin as she stopped to talk to him at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in Camberley, Surrey.

The Queen, Harry and the royal family at the parade in 2006 (PA)

She was thought to have delivered a witty quip to him as she reviewed the cadets on the parade ground and spotted him in one of the rows.

Harry blushed as the Queen beamed at him, and he remained bright red long after she had moved on.

More than 400 cadets took part in the Sovereigns Parade ceremony with 219 passing out and receiving their commissions like Harry, after 44 weeks of training.

Harry joined the Household Cavalrys Blues and Royals as 2nd Lieutenant Wales, a rank referred to in the regiment as Cornet.

Harry smiling broadly after his grandmother reviewed his passing out parade (Tim Ockenden/PA)

He went on to become a Captain and served for 10 years in the Army, including on two frontline tours to Afghanistan.

After he quit as a senior working royal following the Megxit crisis, the Queen stripped the duke of his prestigious honorary military titles including Captain General of the Royal Marines, leaving him saddened.

He retains the service title he earned during his time in the Army.
The King will use Clarence House as his home for the time being, with major building work at Buckingham Palace yet to be completed.

Buckingham Palace is considered Monarchy HQ and Charles III has already held a series of audiences with the PM, cabinet ministers and Realm High Commissioners at the famous London landmark.

King Charles III during an audience with the Commonwealth Secretary General Baroness Patricia Scotland at Buckingham Palace on Sunday (Victoria Jones/PA)

The 369 million reservicing programme at the historic building is spanning 10 years, and includes updating the electrical cabling, plumbing and heating.

It is understood the King and the Queen Consort will use nearby Clarence House  the Queen Mothers former home which Charles moved into in 2003, as their home at this stage while focused on the aftermath of the Queens death, with the Palace reserved for official duties.

Clarence House, built between 1825 and 1827 to the designs of John Nash, is much loved by the couple, and was extensively refurbished and redecorated to the their taste, and features pieces from Charless art collection and many family photos around the residence.

Clarence House in central London (John Stillwell/PA)

Buckingham Palace has served as the official London residence of the UKs sovereigns since 1837.

It has 775 rooms, including 19 state rooms, 52 royal and guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms.

With Elizabeth II dying just four days ago, how the royal residences are used in the future has yet to be decided out of respect.

Charles is expected to inherit his late mothers beloved private estates of Balmoral and Sandringham.

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in the ballroom at Buckingham Palace in 2018 (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

Charless official Welsh home is Llwynywermod, his Welsh property in Llandovery, Myddfai. It is not yet known whether he will pass this to his son, the new Prince of Wales.

William and the Princess of Wales moved just days ago to the four-bedroom Adelaide Cottage in Windsors Home Park, to offer their children more freedom away from central London, amid a start at a new school which coincided with the death of the youngsters great-grandmother.

It has been reported they will move to Windsor Castle, or another larger property in Windsor in the future, but a source insisted: Right now the focus is the mourning of Her Majesty the Queen.

Windsor Castle in Berkshire (Steve Parsons/PA)

The Waleses have Kensington Palaces 20-room Apartment 1A as their office and base in London at the moment, and the Anmer Hall mansion on the Sandringham estate as a country retreat in Norfolk.

The Queen used the ancient royal fortress of Windsor Castle in Berkshire both as a private home, where she spent most of her time in her later years, and as an official royal residence for certain formal duties including audiences and state visits.
The EUs chief negotiator on Brexit has suggested that physical checks on goods travelling across the Irish Sea could be cut to a couple of lorries a day.

Maros Sefcovic said the union stands ready to work in a open and constructive way with Britain following a statement from the new Prime Minister on the prospect of a negotiated settlement on the Northern Ireland Protocol.

It comes as the UK and EU have been embroiled in a row over Britains proposals to override parts of the controversial post-Brexit treaty, as it seeks to reduce trade barriers with the region.

On Wednesday, Liz Truss said her preference is for a negotiated solution to the dispute.

New Prime Minister Liz Truss has said her preference is for a negotiated settlement to the dispute over the Northern Ireland Protocol (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

But she said such a resolution would have to deliver all of the things we set out in the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, which is currently making its way through Parliament.

The legislation would allow ministers to unilaterally scrap the arrangements the UK signed up to as part of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Sefcovic said he was encouraged by Ms Trusss recent remarks.

We stand ready to work in an open and constructive and intensive way, he said.

He argued that the trade border would be invisible under the EUs plans, with goods processed remotely while making their way to Northern Ireland, as long as the UK provides real-time data on their movements.

Mr Sefcovic suggested physical checks would typically only be made for a couple of lorries a day, when there is reasonable suspicion of  illegal trade smuggling, illegal drugs or dangerous toys or poisoned food.

The treaty is designed to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland after Brexit.

An anti-Northern Ireland Protocol sign close to Larne Port (Liam McBurney/PA)

But it has proved deeply unpopular with unionists because it has introduced new trade barriers in the Irish Sea.

It has sparked a powersharing crisis at Stormont, with the DUP withdrawing from the Executive in protest.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson told the FT renewed negotiations would likely require a change of stance from the EU.

They need to recognise that, if we are to arrive at a solution, it requires them to accept, and respect, the integrity of the UK, its internal market and Northern Irelands place within it, he said.

Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin said last week that a pathway to resolving the issues with the arrangement can be found if there is a will, and that his Government will work with Britain and the EU to do the practical and sensible thing.

He said a strong partnership between the two Governments is vital to underpin the Good Friday Agreement and support peace and prosperity on the islands.
New Delhi: JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh lashed out at poll strategist Prashant Kishor for raising questions about Nitish Kumars efforts to unite non-BJP forces ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

He termed the poll strategist a salesman and said that Prashant Kishor is just a businessman and not a politician. He has been using different tactics just to sell his products like a salesman. He did this in other states also.

The hard-hitting statement from JD(U) came after Prashant Kishor recently took a dig at Nitish Kumar by saying that Fevicol should make him a brand ambassador for being glued to CMs chair.

We have never seen anything like this before. There have been many alliances in the past, governments keep changing but he remains glued to the CM chair. I would suggest that Fevicol should make him their brand ambassador, Prashant Kishor said.

However, Prashant Kishor appeared upset over being accused of covertly working for the BJP. He said, All of us are aware that till recently he was with the BJP and bowing in front of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I dont know whether to laugh or cry when he calls others a B team of the BJP and distributes such certificates. I can only say that I am independent and doing what I want to do.

After Nitish Kumar formed the Mahagathbandhan government last month and announced 10 lakh jobs, Prashant Kishor said that he would withdraw his Jan Suraaj campaign and support Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar only if he starts providing jobs in the next two years.

Speaking about Nitish Kumars recent efforts to unite opposition parties, he said there was a need for a credible face and mass movement to seek votes ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Nitish Kumar was recently in Delhi to meet Rahul Gandhi and other leaders to discuss the current political scenario and ways to ensure opposition unity.

According to Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD supremo Lalu Yadav will meet interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi once she returns to Delhi.
A fiscal event to set out Government funding for a set of major interventions in the cost-of-living crisis will still take place this month.

Politics as normal has been largely put on hold during the 10-day period of mourning for the Queen, which lasts until her funeral.

On Monday, the Prime Ministers official spokesman said the Government still intends to hold the fiscal event before the end of the month, as previously promised by Liz Truss.

No date has yet been set for a fiscal event, amid the continuing cost-of-living crisis.

New Prime Minister Liz Truss outside 10 Downing Street, London (James Manning/PA)

The Prime Ministers official spokesman told reporters: We are still planning to deliver a fiscal event this month.

Ms Truss had announced last week long-awaited Government plans to tackle sky-high energy bills and ease the cost-of-living crisis, with a focus on capping prices and boosting domestic energy supplies.

That includes lifting the ban on fracking and new licences for North Sea oil and gas, as well as stating support for clean energy sources including nuclear, wind and solar.

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng is due to give specifics of how the plan will be funded during the emergency fiscal announcement.

The Government has a narrow window to schedule the fiscal event, with the Commons due to go into conference recess on September 22.

Currently, there are no plans to amend that date.

The Liberal Democrats have cancelled their party conference, which would have clashed with the Queens funeral.

Labour and the Conservatives are expected to still hold their conferences, even if the annual events are likely to be more low key this year.

Newly installed Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng at Downing Street, London (Kirsty OConnor/PA)

Under the Governments energy price guarantee, bills for the average household will go no higher than 2,500 at any point over the next two years.

It will save a typical home around 1,000 from October 1, when the current consumer price cap had been set to soar, according to official estimates.

Passing legislation is not believed to be required to bring the price guarantee into effect for households, although businesses are still facing a wait for details about additional support.

There isnt a date set for the business support element of the guarantee. Obviously were working that through. It hasnt been impacted by the mourning period, as I understand, the Prime Ministers spokesman said.
The Duke of Sussex has been denied the chance to wear military uniform as he mourns the Queen, even though his disgraced uncle the Duke of York will be permitted to do so at the lying in state vigil.

Harry, who saw action on the front line during two tours of duty in Afghanistan, will be in civilian dress for official events including the late monarchs state funeral.

Only working royals  which Harry and Andrew are not  are being permitted to dress in uniform at five ceremonial occasions.

These are the St Giles Cathedral service in Edinburgh, which took place on Monday, and the coffins procession to Westminster Hall, the vigil at the lying in state, the funeral in Westminster Abbey and the committal service in Windsor.

The Duke of Sussex and his uncle the Duke of York at Philips funeral in 2021 (Arthur Edwards/The Sun/PA)

But an exception has been made for Andrew who will wear a uniform as a special mark of respect for the Queen when he stands guard around her coffin during the Vigil of the Princes.

He is expected to be joined by the Queens other children  the King, the Princess Royal and the Earl of Wessex  at the proceedings during the lying in state later this week.

It is likely to be a bitter blow for ex-solder Harry, who is proud of his decade in the forces, and who was saddened after being stripped of his honorary military roles including Captain General of the Royal Marines by the Queen post-Megxit.

Earlier on Monday, he wrote of his special memories of when the Queen attended his passing out parade in 2006 when he became an officer in the British Army.

Prince Harry smiling broadly as his grandmother the Queen reviews him and other officers during The Sovereigns Parade at Sandhurst in 2006 (James Vellacott/PA)

He told of his first meeting with his Granny as my Commander-in-Chief  and was believed to be referring to the occasion when the late monarch made him grin and blush while she reviewed the cadets.

A source confirmed Harry  whose rank is a captain  would not be in uniform for any events.

Andrew stepped down from public life after the furore over his friendship with paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein.

He went on to pay millions to settle a civil sexual assault case to a woman he claimed never to have met.

In January, ahead of his legal settlement, the Queen stripped him of all of his honorary military roles, including Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, and he gave up his HRH style.

The Queen and the Duke of York (Richard Pohle/The Times/PA)

Andrew, a former Royal Navy officer who served in the Falklands War, retained his rank as a Vice Admiral, and is expected to wear the coinciding uniform.

Virginia Giuffre sued him for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was 17 after she was trafficked by Epstein. Andrew denied the claims.

At the service of thanksgiving in St Giles on Monday, Andrew was in a morning suit, while his siblings, including Edward who dropped out of the Royal Marines, wore military dress as they processed behind the Queens coffin.

King Charles III, the Princess Royal, the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex join the procession of Queens coffin in Edinburgh (Jamie Williamson/Daily Mail/PA)

Andrew wore eight medals and decorations  his South Atlantic Medal for service in the Falklands, his Silver, Golden, Diamond and Platinum medals, a Royal Navy Long Service Medals with Bars, Canadian Forces Decoration with Bar and New Zealand Commemoration Medal.

At the Duke of Edinburghs funeral in April 2021, the dress issue was dealt with by the Queen who decided that no members of the royal family should wear uniform.

It was a break with tradition but seen as the most eloquent solution to the problem.

Senior royals in civilian dress for Philips funeral (Justin Tallis/PA)

Reports had suggested Andrew was considering wearing the uniform of an admiral.

He was due to be promoted to Admiral in 2020 to mark his 60th birthday, but this did not go ahead following the fallout from his disastrous Newsnight appearance.
Visitors on The Mall, London, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

People have been warned not to wait or camp along the route where the Queens coffin will be taken from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall for the lying in state.

On Wednesday afternoon, the late monarchs coffin, adorned with the Imperial State Crown, will be transported on a gun carriage of The Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery.

King Charles III, members of the royal family and senior staff of the late Queen and Kings households will walk slowly behind in a dignified silence without music along a route that will take 38 minutes.

The ceremonial procession will move along The Mall, Horse Guards Road, across Horse Guards Parade, onto Whitehall and into the Palace of Westminster after 2.22pm.

Viewing areas along the route with limited capacity will open at 11am on the day, with people admitted in order of arrival time amid expected large queues, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said.

If a person leaves the area their readmission cannot be guaranteed.

It will come after the Queens coffin is flown from Edinburgh to RAF Northolt in west London on Tuesday.

The DCMS has warned: Please do not wait or camp in advance of the processional day.

If you camp before this time you may be asked to move on.

People waiting on The Mall for an all-night vigil for the Coronation procession in 1953 (PA)

People are also advised to bring with them suitable clothing for any weather conditions, food and drink and appropriate footwear.

Tents, gazebos or camping gear, barbecues and equipment for fires and alcohol are prohibited.

Mourners must keep noise to a minimum when the procession passes them and have been told to behave appropriately, dispose of litter and follow the instructions of police and stewards or face being asked to leave.

There will also be large screens at Hyde Park where those who cannot access viewing sites can watch the procession, which will be broadcast on national television and radio.

The Archbishop of Canterbury will conduct a short service following the coffins arrival.
A service held to remember the long and happy reign of Elizabeth II was told simply that the Queen has gone home.

The Rt Rev Dr Iain Greenshields, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, spoke about her extraordinary life at a service attended by the King and other members of the royal family.

Charles III was in St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh for a service of thanksgiving, held four days after the death of the Queen.

Rev Greenshields told the congregation that over those days tributes to her Majesty have poured in but it was now beginning to sink in that she is gone from us  gone home to express her own words.

He said the service was taking place to express our thanks to God, for her Majesty Queen Elizabeths extraordinary life.

The Rev Greenshields added: We are united in sorrow at the death of our Monarch, but we are also so aware that His Majesty King Charles and all his family are not just grieving the loss of their Queen, but their mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.

He told the packed congregation how the Queen began her reign, like King Solomon by asking for wisdom, something she demonstrated in large measure.

He also highlighted her duty, honour, commitment and faith, saying that these are the words we reach for today in describing the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth.

The minister continued: Most of us cannot recall a time when she was not our monarch.

Committed to the role she assumed in 1952 upon the death of her beloved father, she has been a constant in our lives for 70 years.

Determined to see her work as a form of service to others, she maintained that steady course until the end of her life.

People who were in her company always felt that they were being listened to carefully and attentively, and with compassion.

She possessed a sharp, intelligent mind, with amazing recall, a kindly heart and a gentle sense of humour. She understood the breadth of world affairs and also cared about what happened to all her people.

Though sometimes buffeted by events around her, she continued resolutely and cheerfully to fulfil her responsibilities.

Today we give thanks not only for the length of her reign but for the qualities she displayed so steadfastly.

He continued: Here in Scotland we acknowledge with gratitude her deep links with our land and its people. Her love of the Balmoral estate is well known and being there latterly brought her great comfort.

There she was valued as a neighbour and friend, she drew strength and refreshment during summer months there.

People gathered outside St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh ahead of Mondays service (Peter Byrne/PA)

He recalled that the Queen had been active in the life of civic Scotland and had presided over ceremonial events in both Holyrood Palace, and in this church in which we are gathered.

Rev Greenshields also spoke of the Queens deep and lasting links with the Church in Scotland.

He said: She was the supreme governor of the Church of England, she worshipped in the Church of Scotland when north of the border, at Canongate Kirk and especially at Crathie Kirk during the summer months where she took her pew each Sunday morning, prevented latterly only by infirmity.

She perceived little difficulty in belonging to two churches and appreciating the strengths of each.

He continued: For 70 years, she reigned as our Queen. She has been present amongst us as a follower of Christ and a member of his church. For that and much else we thank God.

Today we mourn her passing. But we also celebrate the long and happy reign that has sadly ended.

We pray Gods blessing upon King Charles, who will surely draw strength from his mothers example and the many affectionate tributes of these days, and from our assurance to him as a church of our steadfast prayers at all times and of our unstinting support to him as was offered to his mother, the Queen.
The Princess of Wales has revealed her youngest son's reaction to hearing that his great-grandmother had died. (Photo: Getty Images)

Kate Middleton, now known as the Princess of Wales, has shared the "sweet" reaction Prince Louis had to hearing that Queen Elizabeth II had died earlier this week.

A video has captured the moment the royal gave an insight into how how she had broken the sad news to her three children of their great-grandmother's passing on Thursday.

Prince William's wife revealed to a well-wisher during a walkabout outside Windsor Castle on Saturday how4-year-old Louis had consoled her in response.

"My little Louis is just so sweet," she shared. "He said, 'Mummy don't worry, because she is now with great-grandpa.'"

The royal accompanied husband Prince William and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in greeting crowds outside Windsor Castle on Saturday. (Photo: Getty Images)

Toward the end of the clip, which has been shared on TikTok and viewed more than 1.7 million times, the princess appears to be trying to hold back tears.

Her children  Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis  are three of the queen's 12 great-grandchildren.

On Saturday, Kate joined her husband William, as well as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, to greet the crowds that had gathered outside Windsor Castle to pay their respects.

It came shortly after the Prince of Wales  who has become the official heir to the throne on the ascension of his father, King Charles III  released a heartfelt statement that paid tribute to "Grannie."

Kate revealed Louis's reaction to a well-wisher outside Windsor Castle on Saturday. (Photo: PA)

The message, which was posted on Instagram, read: "On Thursday, the world lost an extraordinary leader, whose commitment to the country, the Realms and the Commonwealth was absolute. So much will be said in the days ahead about the meaning of her historic reign.

"I, however, have lost a grandmother. And while I will grieve her loss, I also feel incredibly grateful. I have had the benefit of The Queen's wisdom and reassurance into my fifth decade.

"My wife has had 20 years of her guidance and support. My three children have got to spend holidays with her and create memories that will last their whole lives.

"She was by my side at my happiest moments. And she was by my side during the saddest days of my life. I knew this day would come, but it will be some time before the reality of life without Grannie will truly feel real."

Prince Louis, pictured with the rest of his family earlier this week, is one of the queen's 12 great-grandchildren. (Photo: Getty Images)

The prince added: "I thank her for the kindness she showed my family and me. And I thank her on behalf of my generation for providing an example of service and dignity in public life that was from a different age, but always relevant to us all.

"My grandmother famously said that grief was the price we pay for love. All of the sadness we will feel in the coming weeks will be testament to the love we felt for our extraordinary Queen. I will honor her memory by supporting my father, the King, in every way I can."

Earlier this week, Kate and William were pictured accompanying their three children on their first day of school.

The queen passed away, aged 96, on Thursday afternoon at her Scottish residence of Balmoral in Scotland, where she had been spending the summer.
Dinner and drinks with a view! Hotel Hendricks has it all  with the new and improved Isla & Co and Daintree Rooftop bar, it is an obvious NYC hot spot.

Isla at Hotel Hendricks in Midtown has morphed into Isla & Co, which has begun to expand to many different locations in the U.S. The restaurant includes spectacular food, coffee and a wide variety of alcohol as well.

Alexandro Loayza

Isla & Co first opened in Williamsburg this past spring, and with its beaming success, this made it clear there was a demand for Australian style all-day brassiere. Owners Barry Dry and Tom Rowse decided to expand the restaurant to a new location in Fairfield, Connecticut, and are also planning to open locations in West Palm Beach, South Beach, Dallas and Atlanta this year.

The upgraded version of the restaurant at Hotel Hendricks will definitely leave your stomachs full. Executive chef David Taylor has had top-notch experience at several restaurant and hotel kitchens in San Francisco, New Orleans, Prague and Tokyo. Taylor has paved the way for the cuisine at Isla and will do the same for Isla & Cos location at Hotel Hendricks. With two decades of international culinary experience, his goal is to showcase innovative versions of brasserie classics through a unique lens.

Alexandro Loayza

Isla & Co.s Corporate Executive Chef Matt Foley who began cooking under Michelin-starred chef David LeFevre at Manhattan Beach Post before joining Michael Whites team as the Sous Chef at the two Michelin-starred Marea. Before joining Parched Hospitality Group, Matt was the Corporate Chef at the fast casual restaurant group DIG, growing it from 8 to 32 locations.

The restaurant is open from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Brunch is served until 4 p.m. and has an array of delicious options like brioche french toast, smoked salmon benedict, griddled banana bread, an Isla & Co. burger, and pulled pork sandwich with cabbage slaw, pickled onion served with fries and more. Some signature dinner dishes include spicy shrimp vodka rigatoni, braised short ribs, thai green vegetable curry and the half chicken with seasonal roasted vegetables.

Not only is Isla & Co. a fantastic addition, but Hotel Hendricks also has Daintree located on the top floor of the hotel. Daintree is an intimate cocktail lounge that has an unbelievable view of the Empire State building and imaginative drinks that are carefully prepared for you to enjoy all night long. The relaxed atmosphere combined with breathtaking views will leave you never wanting to leave.
hapabapa / iStock.com

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) helps provide food security for more than 41 million people (about one in eight Americans), according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Although its a federal program, SNAP is administered by the states, which means benefits are distributed inconsistently across the country.

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Food Stamps: States Extending Emergency Allotment Money Through September 2022

While eligibility requirements and benefit levels are uniform across all states except Alaska and Hawaii, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the way benefits are calculated can vary considerably from one state to the next.

In New Hampshire, for example, just 6% of the population participates in SNAP, and they receive a relatively low $110 monthly payment. In Louisiana, a full 17% of the population receives SNAP, and they average a fairly high payment of $135. Naturally, states with bigger populations have more SNAP recipients, and states with higher poverty rates have a greater percentage of their residents in the program.

Even the name of the program can change from state to state. In Wisconsin, its called FoodShare. In California, its called CalFresh. In Utah, its still called Food Stamps.

No matter the name, SNAP is a vital part of the social safety net. Heres a look at how the states distribute SNAP.

Household and Individual Allotments Have Gone Up for 2022

In 2021, the USDA announced a cost of living adjustment (COLA) for SNAP in 2022. Heres what you need to know:

For the 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the maximum allotment for a family of four has been raised to $835 per month.

In Alaska, a family of four can now receive between $1,074 and $1,667 per month, depending on their rural/urban designation.

In Hawaii, the COLA raised the monthly limit to $1,573 for a family of four.

The minimum benefit increased to $20 in D.C. and the Lower 48, $26 to $40 in Alaska and $38 in Hawaii.

Benefits were also raised for Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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SNAP Benefits By States

Heres an alphabetical look at each states number of SNAP participation, according to the most recent data from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Alabama

Average benefit per household member per month: $129

Number of recipients: 727,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 15%

Alaska

Average benefit per household member per month: $181

Number of recipients: 85,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 12%

Arizona

Average benefit per household member per month: $130

Number of recipients: 797,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 11%

Arkansas

Average benefit per household member per month: $108

Number of recipients: 355,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 12%

California

Average benefit per household member per month: $141

Number of recipients: 3.79 million

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 10%

Colorado

Average benefit per household member per month: $128

Number of recipients: 450,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 8%

Connecticut

Average benefit per household member per month: $143

Number of recipients: 368,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 10%

Delaware

Average benefit per household member per month: $124

Number of recipients: 129,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 13%

District of Columbia

Average benefit per household member per month: $142

Number of recipients: 94,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 13%

Florida

Average benefit per household member per month: $127

Number of recipients: 2.85 million

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 13%

Georgia

Average benefit per household member per month: $132

Number of recipients: 1.42 million

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 13%

Hawaii

Average benefit per household member per month: $258

Number of recipients: 157,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 11%

Idaho

Average benefit per household member per month: $118

Number of recipients: 146,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 8%

Illinois

Average benefit per household member per month: $135

Number of recipients: 1.77 million

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 14%

Indiana

Average benefit per household member per month: $129

Number of recipients: 574,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 9%

Iowa

Average benefit per household member per month: $121

Number of recipients: 320,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 10%

Kansas

Average benefit per household member per month: $119

Number of recipients: 201,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 7%

Kentucky

Average benefit per household member per month: $123

Number of recipients: 541,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 12%

Louisiana

Average benefit per household member per month: $135

Number of recipients: 810,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 17%

Maine

Average benefit per household member per month: $117

Number of recipients: 157,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 12%

Maryland

Average benefit per household member per month: $128

Number of recipients: 619,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 10%

Massachusetts

Average benefit per household member per month: $134

Number of recipients: 760,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 11%

Michigan

Average benefit per household member per month: $120

Number of recipients: 1.18 million

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 12%

Minnesota

Average benefit per household member per month: $111

Number of recipients: 409

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 7%

Mississippi

Average benefit per household member per month: $120

Number of recipients: 455,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 15%

Missouri

Average benefit per household member per month: $130

Number of recipients: 692,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 11%

Montana

Average benefit per household member per month: $123

Number of recipients: 107,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 10%

Nebraska

Average benefit per household member per month: $124

Number of recipients: 161,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 8%

Nevada

Average benefit per household member per month: $125

Number of recipients: 423,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 14%

New Hampshire

Average benefit per household member per month: $110

Number of recipients: 76,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 6%

New Jersey

Average benefit per household member per month: $122

Number of recipients: 705,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 8%

New Mexico

Average benefit per household member per month: $127

Number of recipients: 448,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 21%

New York

Average benefit per household member per month: $136

Number of recipients: 2.66 million

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 14%

North Carolina

Average benefit per household member per month: $126

Number of recipients: 1.33 million

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 13%

North Dakota

Average benefit per household member per month: $126

Number of recipients: 49,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 6%

Ohio

Average benefit per household member per month: $132

Number of recipients: 1.38 million

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 12%

Oklahoma

Average benefit per household member per month: $128

Number of recipients: 574,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 14%

Oregon

Average benefit per household member per month: $133

Number of recipients: 599,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 14%

Pennsylvania

Average benefit per household member per month: $129

Number of recipients: 1.76 million

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 14%

Rhode Island

Average benefit per household member per month: $144

Number of recipients: 152,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 14%

South Carolina

Average benefit per household member per month: $127

Number of recipients: 601,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 12%

South Dakota

Average benefit per household member per month: $136

Number of recipients: 81,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 9%

Tennessee

Average benefit per household member per month: $131

Number of recipients: 903,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 13%

Texas

Average benefit per household member per month: $125

Number of recipients: 3.41

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 12%

Utah

Average benefit per household member per month: $122

Number of recipients: 172,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 5%

Vermont

Average benefit per household member per month: $122

Number of recipients: 69,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 11%

Virginia

Average benefit per household member per month: $128

Number of recipients: 705,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 8%

Washington

Average benefit per household member per month: $119

Number of recipients: 825,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 11%

West Virginia

Average benefit per household member per month: $117

Number of recipients: 305,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 17%

Wisconsin

Average benefit per household member per month: $113

Number of recipients: 617

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 11%

Wyoming

Average benefit per household member per month: $124

Number of recipients: 26,000

Percentage of the population receiving SNAP: 5%

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: SNAP Benefits Available in Your State in 2022
This week Yahoo Finance is watching for developments in two federal cases against former executives of public companies. One case involves Nikola (NKLA) founder Trevor Milton, who's accused of lying to investors about his electric truck startup's technology. The other accuses Uber's (UBER) one-time security chief, Joe Sullivan, of covering up a 2016 data breach.

We're also anticipating the Congressional testimony of Twitter whistleblower Peiter "Mudge" Zatko, the company's former head of security, who is scheduled to answer questions on Tuesday posed by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Nikola founder faces federal fraud trial

Nikola founder Trevor Milton is scheduled to stand trial this week in a federal fraud case accusing him of illegally deceiving retail investors in his electric- and hydrogen-fueled truck company.

CEO and founder of U.S. Nikola, Trevor Milton speaks during presentation of its new full-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell battery trucks in partnership with CNH Industrial, at an event in Turin, Italy December 2, 2019. REUTERS/Massimo Pinca

The company made its public debut in June 2020 in a reverse merger with VectoIQ Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). New York prosecutors filed a complaint against Milton in July alleging the founders ubiquitous" presences across social media and TV deceived investors about the status of the company. Prosecutors allege that he used these platforms to spread numerous false claims to artificially inflate Nikola's stock price.

"Before Nikola had produced a single commercial product or had any revenues from truck or fuel sales, Milton embarked on a relentless public relations blitz aimed at a class of investors he called 'Robinhood investors, the lawsuit states. "Milton ultimately reaped tens of millions of dollars in personal benefits as a result of his misconduct."

Milton is accused of spreading multiple lies about the company's capabilities, including Nikola's prototype semi truck; Nikola One, its "Badger" pickup truck prototype; and its construction of a purported hydrogen fuel network. Milton also allegedly lied about Nikola's "game changing" battery technology. Prosecutors further contend that Milton claimed the company had taken in billions and billions and billions and billions of dollars of committed truck orders.

Jury selection in the case began on Monday.

Twitter whistleblower testifies before Congress

Whistleblower Peiter Mudge Zatko  who filed a complaint with federal authorizes claiming Twitters (TWTR) executives turned a blind eye to cybersecurity risks  is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee at 10 a.m. Eastern Time Tuesday.

Peiter Zatko, widely known by his hacker handle Mudge, is seen in this undated U.S. federal government photo. U.S. federal government/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.

Committee members are slated to question Zatko, Twitter's former head of security, about his contention that Twitter failed to maintain security measures meant to thwart the posts of malicious foreign actors, and in doing so, violated a 2011 settlement agreement with the Federal Trade Commission.

Zatkos testimony will be closely watched for its potential to impact Twitters lawsuit against Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk. Twitter is asking a Delaware court to force the billionaire to carry through with his offer to acquire the platform's outstanding common stock for $44 billion.

Uber's ex-security chief faces criminal trial

Another data security executive, Joe Sullivan, is embroiled in a high-stakes legal dispute that's unfolding in a San Francisco federal court, this week.

Sullivan  Uber's one-time chief security officer, and a former federal prosecutor is facing criminal charges that he covered up a 2016 data breach exposing the personal information of about 600,000 drivers and 57 million riders and drivers. Sullivan pleaded not guilty to the charges.

In a two-count indictment charging Sullivan with obstructing justice and failing to report a known felony to authorities, prosecutors allege that Uber, under Sullivan's direction, wrongfully withheld the data breach from its users, drivers, and Federal Trade Commission. At the time, the FTC was investigating the company's privacy and security protocols. The agency later reached a settlement with the company that mandates it to disclose security incidents, keep records of bounty payments, and submit to third-party audits of its privacy program.

Alexis Keenan is a legal reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow Alexis on Twitter @alexiskweed.

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Former Twitter (TWTR) security chief Peiter Mudge Zatko will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday to testify about what he says are widespread security failures at the social media company.

The hearing, scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. E.T., will focus on the allegations Zatko made in a whistleblower complaint filed in July with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Department of Justice, and Federal Trade Commission, which alleges that Twitters overall cybersecurity posture is woefully lacking.

Zatko, a widely respected white-hat hacker, says Twitter never complied with a 2011 FTC settlement requiring the company to implement a comprehensive security program that protects user data and prevents the platform from being exploited. Twitter fired Zatko in January for what it says was poor leadership.

The FTC and Twitter entered into the agreement after hackers broke into the social media sites internal systems during two attacks in 2009  and then posted tweets via user accounts, including one used by then-President Barack Obama.

Peiter 'Mudge' Zatkow will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. (Photo by Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Mr. Zatkos allegations of widespread security failures and foreign state actor interference at Twitter raise serious concerns, Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said in a statement announcing the hearing last month. If these claims are accurate, they may show dangerous data privacy and security risks for Twitter users around the world.

Among his allegations, Zatko says that 30% of Twitter employee devices had software and security updates disabled, and that Twitter never installed management software on employees smartphones that had access to corporate systems.

If true, Zatkos claims paint a picture of a major technology firm that doesnt follow even the most basic cybersecurity rules.

Twitter characterized Zatkos allegations as false and lacking context.

What weve seen so far is a false narrative about Twitter and our privacy and data security practices that is riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies and lacks important context, a Twitter spokesperson said in an email to Yahoo Finance.

The Musk angle

The hearing comes against the backdrop of Twitters legal battle seeking to stop (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk from backing out of purchasing the social network for $44 billion.

Musk  who agreed to buy Twitter in April for $54.20 per share  said he was pulling out of the deal in July. He said he could no longer go through with it because Twitter refused to turn over data regarding how many bots are on the social network.

For years, Twitter has said that less than 5% of its monetizable daily active users mDAUs are bots. MDAUs is a measure of users that Twitter promotes to advertisers as an estimate of the human account-holders who are engaging with its platform. The number, which Twitter has said could be higher than estimated, is meant to be a subset of the total number of users on the platform that excludes bot accounts.

Zatko's testimony could impact Tesla CEO Elon Musk's attempt to get out of deal to buy Twitter. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Musk contends that as many as 20% or more of Twitters mDAUs are bots; the face-off is now headed to a trial in a Delaware Chancery Court scheduled to begin Oct. 17.

Zatko could play a role in that dustup, too. In addition to his claims about Twitters security posture, Zatko says that Twitters executives disincentivized employees from looking into how many bots are on the platform and pushed to grow the total number of mDAUs.

Importantly, Zatko doesnt challenge Twitters claim about bots making up less than 5% of mDAUs. Instead, he says because the company discourages employees from vetting bot numbers, it doesnt know how many of the platform's total users are bots. That could throw a wrench into Twitters bid to force Musk to buy the company, litigation attorneys say.

Perhaps still more damaging for Twitter is the $7.75 million severance agreement the social media company paid to Zatko when it fired him in June. According to Musk, under the terms of the April purchase agreement, Twitter needed to inform Musk before making severance payments to employees that were outside of the normal course of business.

If Musk can prove that the payment wasnt part of normal business, he may bolster his argument that the Delaware court should void the contract for his purchase of Twitter.

In a court filing responding to Musks amended justifications for backing out of the deal, Twitter says the payment doesnt impact the purchase agreement.

Zatko will likely address his severance payment, as well as his time at the social network, during his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.

Got a tip? Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@yahoofinance.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.

Alexis Keenan is a legal reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow Alexis on Twitter @alexiskweed.

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The King has led the royal family in a poignant display of respect for the late Queen  walking behind the monarchs coffin with his royal siblings.

Expressionless and looking straight ahead Charles was joined by the Princess Royal, Earl of Wessex and Duke of York as they followed the hearse carrying the Queens oak coffin.

A hush descended on Edinburghs Royal Mile as crowds 10-deep first caught sight of the procession.

The King, the Princess Royal, the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex walk behind the Queens coffin during the procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral (Jon Super/PA)

The silence was broken at one point by a woman who called out God bless the Queen a number of times and many of the public held up camera phones to record the historic moment.

Thousands gathered along the Royal Mile to watch the procession (Jeff J Mitchell/PA)

All those in the procession walked in step, moving from side to side as one, within touching distance of the coffin draped with the Royal Standard of Scotland with a wreath of Balmoral flowers on top.

The Queens coffin, adorned with the Crown of Scotland, is due to rest at St Giles Cathedral for 24 hours.

Made from gold, silver and precious gems, the crown is the centrepiece of the Honours of Scotland  which are the oldest Crown jewels in Britain and among the oldest in Europe.

The Queens coffin will rest at St Giles Cathedral for 24 hours (Aaron Chown/PA)

Following in a car was the Queen Consort and the Countess of Wessex but the new Prince of Wales and his brother Harry did not take part in the procession.

Earlier, the Duke of Sussex released an emotional statement paying tribute to the Queen and promising to honour his father as the new King.

Harry also paid tribute to his grandmothers everlasting legacy, saying: You are already sorely missed, not just by us, but by the world over.

He reflected on his first meetings with the Queen, including the first moment you met my darling wife and hugged your beloved great-grandchildren.

Harry and Meghan met members of the public as they viewed the floral tributes at Windsor Castle on Saturday (Chris Jackson/PA)

And in a poignant final line referencing the late Duke of Edinburgh, he said: We too smile knowing that you and Grandpa are reunited now, and both together in peace.

Harry also referenced his father, with whom his relationship is said to have been strained, saying: And as it comes to first meetings, we now honour my father in his new role as King Charles III.

It came before the King promised faithfully to follow the example of selfless duty set by his mother in a speech in Westminster Hall as both Houses of Parliament gathered to express their condolences on the Queens death.

The King once again reached for Shakespeare, after quoting from the play Hamlet in his address to the nation last week, saying: As Shakespeare says of the earlier Queen Elizabeth, she was a pattern to all princes living.

The King thanked members of the House of Lords and the House of Commons for their condolences (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

King Charles and the Queen Consort at Westminster Hall (Markus Schreiber/PA)

Prime Minister Liz Truss and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer joined MPs and peers under the cavernous timber roof of the ancient building for the service in central London.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and Prime Minister Liz Truss leave Westminster Hall (Leon Neal/PA)

A fanfare of trumpets sounded as the King and Queen Consort, both dressed in black, took their seats on two thrones.

Members of both Houses of Parliament gathered to express their condolences (Dan Kitwood/PA)

The Kings Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard ahead of the Kings arrival at the Westminster Hall service (Henry Nicholls/PA)

The first changing of the guard in the Kings reign has also taken place  the first time there has been a changing of the Kings Guard at the royal palaces for 70 years.

And the late Queen was hailed as a courageous and gracious leader who contributed to peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland at a special sitting of the Stormont Assembly.

On Tuesday, the King and Queen Consort will fly to Northern Ireland to visit Hillsborough Castle, where they will view an exhibition about the late Queens long association with the province, before Charles receives a message of condolence led by the Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

The King will then meet leaders from all the major faiths in Northern Ireland before returning to London.

(PA Graphics)

The Princess Royal will accompany the Queens coffin when it is flown to London by RAF aircraft on Tuesday evening, before resting in Buckingham Palaces Bow Room.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping will travel outside of China for the first time in more than two years to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week.

Xi and Putin will meet face-to-face in Kazakhstan on Wednesday at a time when both of their countries are facing staunch international criticism  Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and China for its increasing aggression toward Taiwan.

The two countries are the leading global opponents of Western power, and Xi has sought to establish himself as the autocratic counterpart to the U.S. President Joe Biden has stated that the competition between the U.S. and China will determine whether the world turns toward democracy or autocracy.

The meeting comes days after Putin's forces suffered a devastating defeat in Ukraine, with Ukrainian forces retaking swaths of northeastern Kharikiv in a sharp counteroffensive. Multiple reports say Russian soldiers dropped their weapons and fled in disguise ahead of the Ukrainian advance.

TAIWAN REJECTS CHINA'S 'ONE COUNTRY, TWO SYSTEMS' PLAN FOR THE ISLAND

President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping pose during a meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse on Feb. 4, 2022. Photo by Alexei DruzhininTASS via Getty Images

"They came into our houses to take clothes so the drones wouldn't see them in uniforms," local resident Olena Matvienko told The Washington Post. "They took our bicycles. Two of them pointed guns at my ex-husband until he handed them his car keys."

Meanwhile, Xi's regime is conducting increasingly aggressive military drills surrounding the island of Taiwan. China has long claimed sovereignty over the island, despite it having its own sovereign and democratic government.

NSC COORDINATOR KIRBY SAYS CHINA ENGAGED IN 'CLEAR ATTEMPT' TO 'PERMANENTLY ALTER' THE 'STATUS QUO' IN TAIWAN

The U.S. has sought to dissuade China from using Russia's invasion of Ukraine as an excuse to do the same in Taiwan. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi flew to the island in early August, the highest-level U.S. official to make the trip in 25 years.

Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), center left, poses for photographs after receiving the Order of Propitious Clouds with Special Grand Cordon, Taiwans highest civilian honor, from Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen, center right, at the president's office. Chien Chih-Hung/Office of The President via Getty Images

While Pelosi's visit outraged China, it is far from uncommon for U.S. lawmakers to visit Taiwan. A group of six members of Congress flew to the island in April. Five more made the trek a week after Pelosi.

Nevertheless, China argues the visits violate America's One China Policy, which states that the U.S. acknowledges the Beijing government as the only government of China. It also states that the U.S. will not hold formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

Taiwan split from mainland China in 1949, when democratic forces fled to the island after losing a civil war against the Chinese Communist Party.
I told you, my fellow Cuban Americans, that the censors would get around to us, too.

And they have.

The same afternoon after the Miami-Dade School Board voted to suspend the districts recognition of national LGBTQ History Month in October, school officials also quietly rejected  via email  the work of one of the most prominent Cuban Americans in U.S. cultural life.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools Division of Academics is refusing to allow high school students to attend  as they have in the past  Miami New Dramas staging of Nilo Cruzs Pulitzer Prize-winning work Anna in the Tropics. This years is the 20th-anniversary presentation of the play.

Why the rejection?

The school districts not saying.

Is it because Cruz is gay? The district would never say that outright. But after the spectacle of last weeks School Board meeting, at which members were cowed into voting down recognizing LGBTQ History Month by hostile parents and un-Christian-like religious leaders  even the Proud Boys showed up  its not too far a leap in logic these days.

MDCPS students have been bused to see this stellar play before. The district should tell them  and the rest of us  whats changed.

My work has been staged around the world  and the only place where it has been censored is in Iran, Cruz, 62, told me in an interview from his Miami home.

Until now  when the first Hispanic to win the Pulitzer Prize in drama, a distinction that, in 2003, also brought prestige to his hometowns booming literary and theater scenes, appears to have become the latest victim of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis culture wars.

Whats happening in this city? Cruz asks. Whats happening in this country?

His Miami story

Cruzs success story is that of the quintessential anonymous hometown boy who leaves for the Big Apple and makes it big.

A native of Matanzas, Cuba, hes the son of exiles who arrived on a Freedom Flight in 1970 and settled in a Miami neighborhood near the airport, where Eastern Airlines airplanes landed over the backyards.

From there, the family moved to Little Havana.

Cruz graduated from Miami public schools: newly integrated Melrose Elementary; Shenandoah, when it was a junior high and not a magnet school  and where he was bullied by two boys  and Miami Senior High School.

He was first exposed to theater through Shakespeares plays as a teen and he first studied theater at Miami Dade College, before moving to New York City to continue his higher education. He eventually became the celebrated Cuban-American playwright he is today.

In 2017, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, led by Alberto Carvalho, inducted him into its student Hall of Fame.

Miamis golden child, Michel Hausmann calls the playwright. The Venezuelan-born theater director is co-founder of Miami New Drama, the resident company at the Colony Theater.

Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger, left, presents Nilo Cruz with the 2003 Pulitzer Prize in Drama.

But now the same school district that honored him is keeping students from getting the chance to see  for free  the historic work that won Cruz the Pulitzer Prize. It will be performed Jan. 12 to Feb. 5, and Cruz will direct it himself.

The story is a moving one, set in 1929 Ybor City, where Cuban tobacco rollers were treated to literary readings as they worked  and, at least in his script, the love story being read by the lector, Tolstoys Anna Karenina, unleashes passions.

Its a literary jewel, poignant and poetic, that speaks to the power of literature to move us and charts a historic time of change in Tampas immigrant Cuban cigar-producing community.

Its taught in high schools all over the country, Cruz says. The work has to do with immigration, with Cuba-U.S. traditions and the power of literature to change our lives.

Deborah L. Sherman and Carlos Orizondo starred in the world premiere of Nilo Cruz Pulitzer Prize-winning Anna in the Tropics at New Theatre in 2002.

Its difficult to think of another work that better suits Miamis students of literature and the arts, but it seems as if public school officials, fearful of the ultra-conservative parents DeSantis has empowered and unleashed on them, have forgotten that their educational mission is to present students with learning opportunities, not to reject them out of political fear.

Are we in Castros Cuba and Maduros Venezuela now?

This is their fear of not getting into trouble  and [they have] no problem violating my freedom of expression, Hausmann said. I lived this in Venezuela. The reason I had a falling out with the government was for calling things out. The situation is deja vu for me.

And, he added, a slap in the face to Nilo.

READ MORE: Remember how Republicans said Dont say gay law only applied to grades K-3? Big lie | Opinion

Chooses not to send students

The timing of the rejection early Thursday afternoon is suspect.

In past years, this play and others have been shown for free to Miami public school students; the theater company has even paid for the students bus fare since massive cuts were made to public school art budgets.

The denial came out of the blue.

Thank you for offering the opportunity, but MDCPS Division of Academics has reviewed the script for Anna in the Tropics and chooses not to send students to the performance at this time, wrote Matthew Sabatella, curriculum support specialist.

Why?

The email, which I obtained, doesnt specify.

Vyana Preti, the theater companys director of education, wrote Sabatella back asking for an explanation and outlining the plays literary merits: It contains classic literature and historical references and adaptation, is bilingual and is based in Florida. Poetic language is used as a vehicle for transformation.

The opportunity to see the 20th-anniversary production of this play and have access to the artists and Cruz himself as director is invaluable, she wrote. As you can see, this play has a lot to offer to Miami-Dades young audiences. They will be able to see themselves and their families onstage. They will be able to envision themselves doing incredible things because this play was written by a student once seated in their same classroom.

Sabatella, who is also a musician and not the person who made the decision, wrote back Monday that he was passing the concerns along to his supervisors.

I requested an interview Monday morning with Superintendent Jose L. Dotres. He answered in a text that the matter was being reviewed by the Division of Academics.

Staff from Academics is addressing, he texted.

Later Monday afternoon, media relations sent me this statement, standing by the rejection and citing age-appropriateness.

It is common practice for District staff to review scripts prior to agreeing to send students to performances to ensure they are in alignment with performing arts standards and School Board policy. After thoroughly reviewing Anna in the Tropics, District staff determined that the script was not age-appropriate and ultimately, would not be a part of the Cultural Passport program.

But Anna in the Tropics has been deemed appropriate for previous generations of students since 2003, ages 14+.

Age is the same excuse the Florida Legislature used to pass HB 1557, banning discussions of gender identity, allegedly for K-3 only, and now being widely implemented in schools throughout the state.

Michael Spring, director of Miami-Dade Countys Department of Cultural Affairs, minced no words expressing his support to Miami New Drama and Cruz.

How very disappointing . . ., he wrote in an email to Hausmann. The recent news from the school system has been deeply discouraging, particularly in regard to the alarming message it sends about support and sensitivity to the important issues of inclusivity and diversity in a community that is defined by these values.

Is being gay the issue?

Is the play being shunned by school officials because Cruz, who had a daughter with a longtime girlfriend in younger years, is gay?

Given that the School Board canceled the LGBTQ history commemoration, citing the states Parental Rights law  the Dont say gay  measure  its a valid suspicion.

Could it be because Im gay? That I would like to know. The work has nothing to do with gender identity. But if thats the path were walking . . .  he says, pausing and leaving the sentence incomplete.

If it is so, the rejection would not only be blatantly discriminatory and outrageous, but also misguided.

Im not a gay writer, Cruz added. Some of my plays have gay characters. But Im a writer, period. If theres a running theme through my work, its the beauty of justice. The work speaks for itself.

He adds: I identify as an artist. An artist is already an outsider, and there are other complexities that come with me like, this child I made with this woman I love. We were together for a long time.

He pauses again.

A human being wouldnt have to declare all this were it not for the dangerous, dark times were living through in America.

Times, when even a beloved Pulitzer-Prize-winning hometown writer has to explain himself to the censors.

Its sadly ironic that students, denied a lesson on the power of literature, are instead learning one about the power of prejudice in society.
Queen Elizabeth II and President Reagan chat at the Santa Barbara airport before a visit to the Reagans' hilltop ranch March 1, 1983. (George Rose / Los Angeles Times)

Americans reject monarchism. Its in our DNA. But Queen Elizabeth II was one monarch most Americans respected and admired. She had grace and grit  lifelong characteristics that were brightly displayed on a venturous trip to California in 1983.

Her son and successor, King Charles III, shared his mothers attribute of staying calm and cool. And the then-prince showed it while being hosted by era of limits Gov. Jerry Brown at the state Capitol in 1977.

The queens trip certainly didnt turn out as she had expected. And the princes visit undoubtedly caught him by surprise. But both were upbeat in their reserved royal ways and apparently enjoyed the experiences.

The queen fascinated me on that California tour. She always had, ever since as a teen I watched the 27-year-olds coronation in all its glittering pomp and circumstances on our familys first TV, a 16-inch black and white.

About 30 years later, President Reagan invited the queen to visit his home state  and more precisely, his beloved mountaintop ranch just north of Santa Barbara.

She was serenaded by Frank Sinatra and Perry Como at a star-studded 20th Century Fox banquet, attended a state dinner hosted by Reagan at San Franciscos De Young Museum, worshiped in a rustic, century-old Yosemite Valley chapel and celebrated the Reagans 31st wedding anniversary with a private candlelight dinner aboard the royal yacht Britannia.

There were toasts and I said, I know I promised Nancy a lot when we were married, but how can I ever top this? Reagan recalled in his autobiography, An American Life.

Queen Elizabeth II waves to a crowd while being escorted into Los Angeles City Hall by Mayor Tom Bradley on Feb. 28, 1983. (Fitzgerald Whitney / Los Angeles Times)

The queens entire 10-day trip had been planned around the presidents desire to show off his 688-acre Rancho del Cielo. The highlight was to be their riding horses around the hilly spread, as they had during his earlier visit to Windsor Castle. Horseback riding was a passion they shared.

But nature interfered. California was pelted by one of those once-a-decade winter storms that turn shallow creeks into cascading torrents and wash out roads and bridges.

It had rained 4 inches with gale-force winds at Reagans ranch during the previous 24 hours.

I rode in a press pool car behind the presidents four-wheel drive Chevrolet Suburban up the narrow, twisting 7.2-mile road from Refugio State Beach Park on Highway 101 to his 2,400-foot-high retreat. We forded creeks 2 to 3 feet deep. Boulders rolled through rampaging waters. Downed tree limbs were everywhere.

I thought this was nuts. But Reagan seemed oblivious.

In his autobiography, Reagan wrote: We waited at the ranch for [the queen and Prince Philip] while they struggled seven miles up a switchback road. At three places the road was cut by streams and their limousines couldnt get through. Our people met them with four-wheel-drive cars.

This was when I especially admired the queens grit. Most people  including me  would have said, Forget it. Just take me back to the beach.

She is a real trouper and a good sport. She didnt want to disappoint anybody, said White House Deputy Chief of Staff Mike Deaver, who was escorting the queen around California.

They made it up the mountain, Reagan wrote, but when they got to our home, it was so foggy no one could see more than a few feet. I tried to explain how beautiful the place really was and apologized for the weather.

But the queen said, Yes, if it was just dreary, but this is an adventure.'

The trails were too muddy for safe horseback riding.

They ducked inside the Reagans small, five-room, 172-year-old Spanish adobe house for a luncheon of Mexican dishes: enchiladas, chile rellenos, refried beans, tacos, rice and guacamole. And fresh fruit.

Times columnist Patt Morrison wrote that the low-budget lunch equated President Franklin D. Roosevelt serving hot dogs and buns to the queens parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, in 1939.

She found the trip delightful and terribly exciting, the queens press secretary said.

Three days later, Deaver escorted the queen to Sacramento to meet for lunch with Gov. George Deukmejian and legislative leaders.

Deaver, who had been a top aide when Reagan was governor, told me that he and the queen wound up in his old Capitol office.

I could use a spot of gin, the queen mentioned, according to Deaver. He used to keep a small gin bottle in his desk at the back of a drawer. He reached into the drawer and, surprisingly, it was still there. He found a glass and poured the grateful queen a drink.

Now, that sounds made up. But the queen did like her gin. And I never knew Deaver, a college fraternity brother, to lie to me.

Roughly five years earlier, Charles was invited to the Capitol by Brown. The governor gave the prince a lift from the airport in his aging blue Plymouth. No limo befitting royalty.

The future king was treated to a wineless lunch of cold cuts, sourdough bread, California cheeses, fruits and nuts served with borrowed silverware. They drank ginger ale.

Thats what I have for lunch anyway, Brown told me last week.

Afterward, the governor handed the prince a brown bag containing a bean sprout sandwich. A widely published news photo showed Charles peering curiously into the bag.

It was the era of limits, Brown recalled.

The prince was cool. He has a dry English sense of humor. He rolled with the punches. Took it all in stride. Thats what he does.

Brown, a leader in the fight against climate change, noted that Charles has spoken out about global warming.

He wont have much of a kingdom if it gets too bad, Brown said. There would be very devastating consequences for Great Britain.

Hed like Charles to weigh in on environmental issues as king. That could be significant.

But it doesnt seem likely. As his mother always knew, the way to retain popular support for the monarchy is to keep mum on politics.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
LONDON (AP)  People wanting to pay their final respects to Queen Elizabeth II as she lies in state at the Houses of Parliament in London need to be prepared for a long wait.

The government has published guidelines for people wishing to file past the late queen's closed coffin as it lies in state at the Palace of Westminster from 5 p.m. (1600 GMT) Wednesday until 6:30 a.m. (0530 GMT) on Sept. 19. Thousands are expected to want to pay tribute to the only monarch that many in the United Kingdom have ever known.

The rules were made public a day after thousands of people lined roads and bridges Sunday as a hearse carried the queen's coffin across the Scottish countryside from her beloved Balmoral Castle to Edinburgh.

If you wish to attend the Lying-in-State, please note that there will be a queue, which is expected to be very long. You will need to stand for many hours, possibly overnight, with very little opportunity to sit down as the queue will be continuously moving, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said in its guidelines.

The closed coffin of the monarch who died Thursday at 96 will rest on a raised platform called a catafalque in Westminster Hall at the Houses of Parliament.

Large crowds are expected, and there are likely to be delays on public transport and road closures around the area, the ministry warned.

Visitors will have to pass through airport-style security and can only bring one small bag with one zipper opening. Larger bags can be stowed at a special facility  but only if there is space available.

The ministry advises people to bring essentials for a potentially long wait exposed to whatever elements an early fall day in London can throw at them  an umbrella or sunscreen, a cell phone power bank and any needed medication.

No food or liquids will be allowed past security screening at the Houses of Parliament. Nor will flowers or other tributes such as candles, toys or photographs.

Please respect the dignity of this event and behave appropriately. You should remain silent while inside the Palace of Westminster, the advice says, adding that people must dress appropriately and turn off their mobile phones before going through security.

Included in a list of things not to do: Film, photograph, use mobile phones or other handheld devices in the security search area or within the Palace of Westminster. Bring or erect gazebos or tents. Light barbecues and fires.

And a long list of prohibited items includes fireworks, smoke canisters, flares, whistles, laser devices and other items that could be used to cause a disturbance as well as any banners, placards, flags, advertising or marketing messages.

___

Follow AP stories on Queen Elizabeth IIs death and other stories about the British monarchy at https://apnews.com/hub/queen-elizabeth-ii
By Gabriella Borter

BRISTOL, Va. (Reuters) - The women's health clinic in Bristol, Tennessee, had a seemingly simple solution to continue providing abortions after its home state banned the procedure this summer: It moved a mile up the road to Bristol, Virginia, where abortion remained legal.

But relocating between the twin cities brought a host of challenges.

Bristol Women's Health has faced logistical hurdles, legal concerns and local opposition since opening in late July across the state line, which runs through the cities' shared main street. Its experience encapsulates the complicated new reality of abortion in America after the U.S. Supreme Court in June overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade case, ending the nationwide right to terminate a pregnancy.

Abortion laws now vary dramatically from one state to another, leaving many communities without any access to the procedure. That's the case in Tennessee, one of about a dozen Republican-led states that enforced near-total bans on abortion after the court's ruling.

No other clinic offered abortion services within 80 miles (130 km) of Bristol, an Appalachian mountain community known for its country music legacy. Diane Derzis, who owns the new facility, viewed the neighboring state as the logical place to move.

Abortion is still allowed in Virginia through the second trimester and into the third in limited circumstances. In a recent poll https://wilder.vcu.edu/news-and-events/news-articles/commonwealth-poll-virginians-disapprove-of-president-biden-but-satisfied-with-status-of-virginias-abortion-laws-.html of state residents, half said they believed the state's abortion laws were reasonable and should not be altered.

But many in Bristol, Virginia, where Republican Donald Trump won 68% of the vote in the 2020 presidential election, were unhappy to see an abortion clinic come to the city of about 17,000 people.

Some residents said they oppose abortion. More said they don't want the din of anti-abortion protesters in their neighborhood, which is home to elderly residents and families with young children.

Chris Harber, whose yard is adjacent to the clinic's driveway, said protesters had once lined the road leading to the clinic with large, graphic posters that he did not want his 8-year-old son to see.

Related video: Indiana abortion clinics sue to block ban set to take effect

"One of them said 'child baby sacrifice center' and had an arrow pointing there," Harber, 34, said in an interview on his porch. "When he sees that hes going to ask me, 'what do they mean?' I dont want to have to explain that to him."

Several others who live near the clinic said it had not been disruptive.

"It doesnt bother me a bit," said Ronnie Scott, 81, noting he disagrees with abortion but doesn't like the government weighing in.

MORE UNCERTAINTY

Erika Schanzenbach leads the anti-abortion group "LifeBristol" and protested outside the Tennessee clinic for years.

She said when she learned of its move to Virginia, her group distributed hundreds of flyers around the new clinic's neighborhood.

"What can you do to STOP this? Contact your city officials and tell them you do not want this in your city!" the flyers read.

Anthony Farnum, mayor of Bristol, Virginia, soon received dozens of calls, texts and emails from residents asking him to close the clinic. But the mayor explained he had no power to do so as long as Virginia permits abortion.

"I told folks its probably best to reach out to our state leaders," he said.

Governor Glenn Youngkin, a Republican elected in 2021, has said he supports banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The state might further restrict abortion if Republicans win the majority in the state Senate in next year's elections and the party retakes full control of the legislature.

"Thats certainly a concern," said Derzis, who also owns a clinic in Richmond, Virginia. "The hope is that women can speak for themselves on Election Day."

Democrats across the country have seized on the threat to legal abortion to energize voters in this November's midterm elections, warning that electing Republicans could lead to more state restrictions and possibly a national ban.

Tennessee's current abortion law has created legal uncertainty for the new Bristol clinic.

Barry Staubus, the district attorney whose office oversees Bristol, Tennessee, said abortion providers could face legal trouble if they offer the two-part abortion pill regimen to a patient at the Virginia clinic and the patient takes the second pill back at home in Tennessee.

That could potentially be the kind of situation that would require some litigation to determine whether or not there had been a violation of law," Staubus said. "I hope that physicians are wise enough to avoid that and it doesnt come up, but it may very well."

The doctor who performed abortions at the Tennessee clinic is not currently doing so in Virginia due to the possible legal risks, Derzis said. He still provides other gynecological services in Tennessee, she said. Reuters could not reach him for comment.

Derzis, who previously owned the Mississippi clinic at the center of the Supreme Court case that led to Roe v. Wade's overturn, said the clinic hired other doctors who are traveling from outside Bristol to provide abortions.

Stephanie Rosenwinge is part of a small staff that rushed to get the new clinic up and running in a matter of weeks. A sexual assault survivor, she escorted patients into the Tennessee clinic as a volunteer and now works part time answering phones at its Virginia location.

Despite the obstacles, she said she was grateful for the chance to help preserve abortion access in a place where her family has deep roots.

"Im so dead set on making this clinic work," Rosenwinge said. "Its so very needed."

(Reporting by Gabriella Borter; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Lisa Shumaker)
The Queen will lie in state in London ahead of her funeral.

Here is some of the information mourners need to know.

 What exactly is meant by the term lying in state?

Lying in state is usually reserved for sovereigns, current or past queen consorts, and sometimes former prime ministers.

During the formal occasion, the closed coffin is placed on view, as thousands of people queue to file past and pay their respects.

Members of the public filing through Westminster Hall to pay tribute at the lying in state of Sir Winston Churchill (PA)

 When and where will the Queen lie in state?

The late monarchs lying in state in Westminster Hall opens to the public at 5pm on Wednesday and it will be open 24 hours a day until it closes at 6.30am on Monday September 19  the day of the Queens funeral.

 Where is Westminster Hall?

Westminster Hall, which dates back to 1099, is in the Palace of Westminster and is the oldest building on the Parliamentary estate.

It forms part of the Westminster Unesco World Heritage Site and the UK Parliament website refers to its great size, the magnificence of its roof, and its central role in British history.

The building has been the site of key events, such as the trial of Charles I, coronation banquets, and addresses by world leaders.

 Will there be a queue?

Yes. Government guidance says there will be a queue which is expected to be very long.

People will need to stand for many hours, possibly overnight with very little opportunity to sit down as the queue will be continuously moving.

As large crowds are expected, there are likely to be road closures and delays on public transport.

 Will security be tight?

Visitors will go through airport-style security and there are tight restrictions on what you can take in, with people allowed just one small bag with one simple opening or zip.

 Is there anything I need to bring?

Official guidance suggests that people should bring suitable clothing for the weather, food and drinks to have while queueing, a portable power bank for your mobile phone and any essential medication.

People are also advised to dress appropriately for the occasion.

 Are any items banned?

Yes. There is a list of banned items which includes flowers or other tribute items, including candles, soft toys, and photographs.

Other banned items include banners, flags, hampers, blankets and folding chairs.

The Government guidance says people should not film, photograph, use mobile phones or other handheld devices in the security search area or within the Palace of Westminster.

 Will there be somewhere to store larger bags?

A bag drop facility is available but capacity is limited, and there is no guarantee that there will be space at the facility.

Waiting for bag storage space to become available will increase your queuing time.

 What can people expect to see?

The closed coffin will be draped in a royal flag, usually a personal standard, and will rest on a raised platform called a catafalque, flanked by a military guard around the clock.

The Princess Royal curtsying as her mothers coffin is carried into the Palace of Holyroodhouse (Aaron Chown/PA)

A priceless crown and other regalia are traditionally placed on top of a sovereigns coffin.

Each corner of the platform is watched 24 hours a day by units from the Sovereigns Bodyguard, Foot Guards or the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment.

 Will the royal family be there?

It is likely that the Queens children or even grandchildren will honour her with a vigil and join the guard over the coffin at some point  a tradition which has been called the Vigil of the Princes.

Should the Princess Royal stand guard for the Queen, she will be the first female member of the royal family to do so.

 Did the Duke of Edinburgh lie in state?

No, he did not, and this was in accordance with his wishes, but his death took place during the Covid-19 crisis and at that point such mass gatherings were also against the law.

Pallbearers carrying the coffin of the Duke of Edinburgh during his funeral (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

 Who was the last person to lie in state?

The last person to lie in state in the UK was the Queen Mother in 2002.

On top of her coffin in Westminster Hall was her coronation crown, set with the Koh-i-Noor diamond, and a hand-written message from her daughter, the Queen, reading: In loving memory, Lilibet.

An estimated 200,000 people turned out to pay their respects over three days.

 Was there anything unusual about that occasion in 2002?

It was the first lying in state where members of the public were subjected to a security check, which slowed the movement of the mourners.

At their longest, queues stretched across Lambeth Bridge and all the way along the South Bank to Southwark Cathedral, with people being warned to expect a wait of up to 12 hours at peak times.

Police were drafted in to deal with the security, large crowds and road closures.

 Where does the tradition originate?

The tradition of lying in state stretches back to the 17th century when Stuart sovereigns lay in state for a number of days.

The Queen on September 6 (Jane Barlow/PA)

Edward VII set the modern tradition of royal lying in state in Westminster Hall.

He lay in state in 1910, as did King George V in 1936 and King George VI in 1952.

George VI  the Queens father  was the last sovereign before Elizabeth II to die.

 Who else lay in state in Westminster Hall?

Two prime ministers  William Gladstone in 1898 and Sir Winston Churchill in 1965  also lay in state at Westminster Hall, attracting hundreds of thousands of people.

In 1930, there was an unusual lying in state in Westminster Hall for the victims of the R101 Airship disaster.

The experimental rigid British airship caught fire as it crossed northern France, killing 48 of the 54 people on board.
Prime Minister Liz Truss and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon joined the King at a service of thanksgiving for the Queen in one of Scotlands most ancient churches.

Sunlight streamed through the stained-glass windows of St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh as eight kilted soldiers from the Royal Regiment of Scotland carried her coffin with consummate care onto a decorated wooden frame.

The King, the Queen Consort and other members of the royal family then walked to their seats, less than 10ft from the oak coffin.

Prime Minister Liz Truss was among those at the service (Jane Barlow/PA)

It was dressed in the Royal Standard of Scotland and was topped with a wreath which included Balmoral heather.

Charles took his place with his wife to his left and the Duke of York to his right.

The Princess Royal and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence sat to the Kings left and the Earl and the Countess of Wessex to his right.

The Duke of Hamilton, the most senior peer in the country, climbed three wooden steps and placed the Crown of Scotland on the coffin.

Royal guards carry the Queens coffin into St Giles Cathedral (Russell Cheyne/PA)

The Queen had long links with the High Kirk  this was the place where she attended a Service of Thanksgiving for her Coronation in 1953 and it houses the Thistle Chapel, home to Scotlands highest chivalry order, The Order of the Thistle.

Opening the service, the Rev Calum MacLeod reminded the congregation who came from different sections of society including her staff, the emergency services, Armed forces and politics of the great history of the cathedral, first built 900 years ago.

He said: So, we gather to bid Scotlands farewell to our late monarch, whose life of service to the nation and the world we celebrate.

And whose love for Scotland was legendary.

Ms Sturgeon, who was sat close to the Prime Minister, gave a reading from Ecclesiastes, which begins For everything a season and reminds us that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.

The Crown of Scotland sits atop the coffin of the Queen (Aaron Chown/PA)

The current leaders of the Scottish political parties were there, as well as veterans of politics like Alex Salmond and Lord Steel.

Prayers were said to thank God for the life of the Queen and the service celebrated her love of Scotland.

In his homily, Rt Rev Dr Iain Greenshields said: Much has been said about the Queens contribution to the life of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth which meant so much to her.

But here in Scotland we acknowledge with gratitude her deep links with our land and its people.

Her love of the Balmoral estate is well known and being there latterly brought her great comfort.

King Charles III and the Queen Consort leave after the service (Russell Cheyne/PA)

There she was valued as a neighbour and friend, and there she drew strength and refreshment during the summer months.

She was active in the life of civic Scotland, travelling across the country to support numerous causes, entertaining guests at Holyrood Palace, and presiding at ceremonial events, many of which took place in this church.

Incorporated in the service were the Psalms she would have sung on Sunday mornings at Crathie Kirk in Balmoral.

As the service drew to a close, four suited members of the Royal Company of Archers, dressed in long-feathered hats and armed with arrows and quivers, stood guard beside the Queen.

Members of the congregation bowed and curtseyed as they made their way past the coffin, which will stay in place until Tuesday evening.

Applause could be heard when the King and his family stepped out into the Edinburgh sunshine, in front of huge crowds flocking the Royal Mile.
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan criticized the oppositions boycott of sessions and holding of debates outside of parliament as unserious.

Simonyan told reporters that these actions by the opposition wont harm the sessions because the parliament has the highest legitimacy.

But the opposition, one can say, has the lowest legitimacy in history. Next what? Are they going to establish an alternative state? the Speaker said in reference to the opposition holding what they describe as an alternative session of parliament.

The two opposition factions, Hayastan and Pativ Unem, are boycotting the session of parliament and organized a discussion titled The True Agenda of Armenia. Hayastan MP Ishkhan Saghatelyan said during the discussion that the true and primary agenda is to ensure the security of Armenia and Artsakh, which requires the establishment of a national state trajectory. Saghatelyan said that theyve received a mandate from their voters to protect this agenda.
Cultural events held nationwide to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival

Xinhua) 09:17, September 12, 2022

Aerial photo taken on Sept. 10, 2022 shows a full moon in the sky in Kunshan, east China's Jiangsu Province. The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on Sept. 10 this year. (Photo by Wang Xuzhong/Xinhua)

BEIJING, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Round-shaped white lanterns on top of 33 "moon boats" were lit in the iconic West Lake in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province in east China Saturday night.

The gathering was the highlight of a moon worship activity to celebrate one of the most important traditional festivals in China, the Mid-Autumn Festival, which fell on Saturday this year.

The festival is usually marked by family reunions, enjoying the sights of the full moon, and eating mooncakes.

Since ancient times, the Mid-Autumn Festival has had the custom of moon worship. Today, people still worship the moon during the festival to express good wishes for home and country and sincere hopes for a happy life.

A slew of cultural activities to celebrate the occasion also took place in other parts of China.

In southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, colorful "jade rabbit" lights and a gigantic moon-shaped light lit up the hilltop observation deck at Longmenhao old street.

In addition, the city's lovers of hanfu, the traditional clothing of the Han ethnic group, also gathered on the carefully decorated old street Saturday night to enjoy the festival.

With bright lights and air filled with the fragrance of osmanthus flowers across the street, residents dressing in hanfu, some with flower lanterns, strolled along. It complemented the vintage street with its many old buildings.

"The old street not only has gorgeous lights but also preserves the traditional architecture featuring Chinese blue bricks and tiles. You won't have the feeling of not fitting in walking here," said Deng Yuhua, a Chongqing resident.

This year's Mid-Autumn Festival also coincided with Teacher's Day in China. As Chinese people have the same traditional respect for teachers as they do for family, many have decided to celebrate bigger than usual.

Guo Jiguang, 60, is from east China's Fujian Province, and he used to be a teacher. He is also a practitioner of the "Fumao Cake" craft, a form of intangible cultural heritage from Fujian.

To celebrate the dual festival, Guo designed a special mooncake with four Chinese characters, meaning "Remembering your teachers," sculpted on the surface.

He has made about 60,000 such mooncakes and decided to give them away to local teachers as gifts. "Parents give us life, friends give us support, and teachers give us knowledge and guidance. They are the most important people in our lives. That is my belief," Guo said.

Over the past decade, more than 4,500 teachers across the country have been awarded at the national level for their professionalism and dedication to education.

"The two festivals meeting is a rare and precious occasion. It feels beautiful to see various traditional Chinese values celebrated harmoniously under the full moon," said Wan Jianzhong, a professor at the School of Chinese Language and Literature of Beijing Normal University.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Bianji)
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS. As soon as the limit of unexcused absences is reached, the process of stripping Members of Parliament from their mandates will enter the agenda of parliament, Speaker Alen Simonyan said when asked by reporters about the process of depriving the opposition lawmakers from their mandates for their absences.

Both opposition factions have been boycotting parliament.

Simonyan said the process is not a bill but rather a requirement of law. It doesnt need to be circulated: as soon as the limit of permissible absences are reached the process of depriving the Members of Parliament from their mandates enters agenda. We can talk about this in December, when the session ends. I am sure that they will try to somehow avoid this, either by submitting a medical paper or somehow making an appearance and ensuring attendance. In the end of the year, when the session ends, the issue will enter the council and a decision will be made according to the data, Simonyan said.
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan is assuring that the issue of repatriating the Armenian captives who are still held in Azerbaijan has always been and will always be in the agenda of all international meetings of the Armenian government.

The mediations havent stopped even for a minute, the Speaker told reporters when asked about the process. These mediations have always taken place. The mediations and talks are present in all our international meetings and will be present for as long as everyone hasnt safely returned, Simonyan said.

On September 8, Azerbaijan released five Armenian PoWs. According to the European Union, the return of the five PoWs took place directly, without mediations.
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Healthcare of Armenia Anahit Avanesyan met with Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Israel on the sidelines of the 72nd session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe.

The Armenian minister informed on social media that they have discussed introduction of comprehensive healthcare insurance, e-health and other reforms of the sector, as well as the process of ongoing programs and agreements reached in cooperation with the WHO.

Given the significance of the 5th Emergency Medical Teams Global Meeting, which will be held in Armenia on October 5-7, we have discussed the preparation works, emphasizing the importance of holding such an event, Minister Avanesyan said.

She also said that they have discussed the ongoing activities aimed at developing and adopting a legal document on preparedness to a global threat at an international level, attaching importance to the response of countries to possible pandemics.
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Mher Grigoryan received World Bank's Vice President for Europe and Central Asia Anna Bjerde, the deputy PMs Office said.

During the meeting Deputy PM Grigoryan thanked the organizations of the World Bank Group for the strategic cooperation and attached importance to its effective continuation. The ongoing programs in improving vital infrastructure, developing human capital, modernizing the public administration system, digitization and other areas were discussed.

In the evening the deputy PM participated in a reception hosted in honor of the 30th anniversary of the partnership between Armenia and the World Bank Group.

In his remarks Mher Grigoryan said that the World Bank has always been a real and reliable partner for Armenia in different periods.

Its worth noting that our first joint investment program was directed to mitigating the consequences of one of the heaviest disasters in Armenias history - the 1988 earthquake. Since that program, we have worked jointly on implementing more than 100 programs in different areas by cooperating within the frames of a portfolio worth over 2.5 billion dollars.

But I want to note that the organizations of the World Bank Group have never been just a financial partner for us.

The World Bank Group played a vital role in the implementation of fundamental reforms in Armenia, by enriching our efforts with its expert potential in administration improvement, institutional development, anti-corruption fight, economic competitiveness increase, human capital development and other important areas, the deputy PM said.

He also praised the WB Group partners valuable cooperation with the private sector in Armenia, stating that its very important in terms of forming a transparent and accountable environment in the private sector.

The disasters of 2020 and the complex regional developments with possible heavy economic consequences for our country once again highlighted the imperative of working jointly and consolidating the resources.

And I am confident that we will have numerous other occasions to jointly celebrate the jubilees of the cooperation.

Once again I want to congratulate on the productive partnership, highlighting the dedicated work of our partners of both Washington and Yerevan aimed at the prosperity and constant development of our country, he stated.
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 13, ARMENPRESS. As of 01:50, the situation along the Artsakh contact line is relatively stable, ARMENPRESS reports Artsakh Information Headquarters informs.

"Due to the aggressive military actions of the Azerbaijani side in different parts of Armenia, we inform you that as of 01:50 the situation along the contact line of Artsakh is relatively stable," the Headquarters noted, urging the population of the country to maintain calmness and vigilance, to follow only official information.

Starting 00:05, September 13, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched intense artillery and large caliber firearm shelling of Armenian positions in the direction of Goris, Sotk and Jermuk. The Azerbaijani forces are also using UAVs in the attack, the Armenian Ministry of Defense said.
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 13, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a telephone conversation with the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister provided details about the provocative, aggressive actions by the Azerbaijani armed forces in the direction of the sovereign territory of Armenia starting from midnight, which were accompanied by artillery shelling and fire from large-caliber firearms.

Nikol Pashinyan considered the actions of the Azerbaijani side unacceptable and emphasized the importance of an adequate reaction of the international community.

The interlocutors agreed to be in operational contact.
Elbit Systems of America has been awarded an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) contract by the United States Armys Office of the Project Manager for Combat Ammunition Systems (PM-CAS), with a maximum potential of $49 million, to produce M121 120mm Carrier Mounted Mortar Systems and M120A1 120mm Ground Mounted Mortar Systems.

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U.S. soldiers firing an M120A1 120mm mortar (Picture source: U.S. Army/DVIDS)

The contract was competitively awarded following the successful completion of the initial ID/IQ contract that was awarded to the company in 2016. The period of performance is through 2027. The U.S. Army has placed an initial order under this ID/IQ valued at nearly $10 million.

When Infantrymen need to respond to a nearby enemy, mortar systems provide the speed and firepower to help suppress the threat. Elbit Systems of America understands the power Mortar Weapon Systems (MWS) bring to the American Warfighter and has a history of supplying MWS to the U.S. Army.

Elbit America is a fully qualified and proven mortar and mortar fire control manufacturer and integrator for the U.S. Army, said Ridge Sower, Vice President of Ground Control and Precision Targeting at the company. Our team is excited to continue our legacy of providing these systems that allow Soldiers to increase their response times, accuracy, and safety  all key elements for success on the battlefield.

Being a trusted provider of choice for critical missions and needs is part of our vision at Elbit America, said Raanan Horowitz, President and CEO of the company. I am honored the U.S. Army continues to value the solutions our company provides to U.S. Soldiers and we look forward to a continued partnership.
Buzz also over Modi - Shehbaz Sharif meet to 'break the ice' at Samarkand

NEW DELHI: India on Sunday announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would travel to Samarkand in Uzbekistan to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit on September 15 and 16, and was likely to hold a few bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit. The official confirmation of the visit comes amid speculation over whether or not Modi would hold a bilateral meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Samarkand.

The SCO has Russia, China, the four Central Asian nations of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic, besides India and Pakistan as its members, with Iran being approved for full membership last year. The summit will be attended by observer states and Turkmenistan.

The agreement on disengagement between Indian and Chinese troops in the Gogra-Hot Springs area of the Ladakh sector that was announced last week and is to be completed by Monday is seen to have considerably brightened the chances of a meeting between Modi and Xi although no official announcement has so far been made on any such meeting. If they do meet, it would be their first in-person meeting since the one at Mamallapuram near Chennai in October 2019. Six months after that meeting, China had begun mobilising its troops at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Ladakh sector which led to a clash between troops of both sides and casualties in June 2020.

On Pakistan, ties between the two nations had deteriorated sharply since the Pathankot terror strike in 2016 and the Pulwama terror strike in February 2019 that took the two neighbours almost to the brink of war. In August 2019, India revoked Article 370 that had conferred a special status on Jammu and Kashmir which led to Pakistan downgrading ties. Much to everyones surprise the two armies successfully implemented a ceasefire on the Line of Control (LoC).
Seeing the success of the yatra in the initial stages, the party cadres want the yatra to visit their respective states as well

NEW DELHI: With much fanfare, the Congress' "Bharat Jodo Yatra" entered its fourth day on Sunday but the party appeared divided over the yatra's route map, particularly the exclusion of Gujarat. Many in the party want the campaign to cover the poll-bound state.

Insiders claim that many leaders, even when the yatra was in the planning stage, had wanted it to cover Gujarat. However, the yatra planners argued that it was logistically not possible to include the state, as that would have added to the duration of the long-drawn campaign stretching over 3,500 km and 150 days from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.

However, a Congress leader, on the condition of anonymity, said that Gujarat should have been on the map of the yatra as it was a poll-bound. He added, "Several leaders from Gujarat have left the party. AAP is also making its presence felt in the state. The yatra would have given a huge boost to the party. It is shocking that the leaders who were planning this yatra did not take this into account."

Apart from Gujarat, the yatra also skips most of the eastern states. Seeing the success of the yatra in the initial stages, the party cadres want the yatra to visit their respective states as well.

According to sources, leaders from Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh had requested the yatra organising committee to include both the poll-bound states in the campaign. However, the organising committee ignored these demands. The Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh leaders were instead told to start their own yatras in their respective states and join in the main yatra.
Nepal has rightly been worried about the adverse financial impact of the Agnipath scheme on its fragile economy

In this highly interdependent world, especially among neighbours, a nations internal policies may have distinct ramifications impinging on each others relations. That Indias newly modified recruitment policy for enrolment in the armed forces has rattled Nepal is more than obvious. Though just introduced, its reverberations points to a long-term negative impact on the historically cordial though continually sensitive long-term relations between India and Nepal. An objective re-appraisal of this step that India has taken, ostensibly without consulting Nepal, must be swiftly looked into without the baggage of self-infallibility!

The Indian Army currently has around 40 Gurkha battalions spread over seven Gurkha regiments. Besides, Nepalese nationals also serve in some paramilitary and other security forces. At any one time, there are around 32,000-35,000 Gurkhas serving in the Indian Army.

Importantly, around 1.40 lakh retired soldiers draw their pensions from India. Nearly 1,400 Nepalese are recruited by the Indian Army each year.

Immediately after Indias independence, Gurkha units were allotted to the Indian Army and British Army based on the 1947 Tripartite Treaty. Some politicians in Nepals Parliament have been complaining recently that Indias Agnipath scheme violates this agreement. In addition, some vested interests in Nepal have also been spreading disinformation and anti-India propaganda in the tiny Himalayan state. Even Nepals former deputy PM and defence minister Bhim Rawal recently spoke in its Parliament that owing to the Agnipath scheme, which guarantees only four years service and with no post-retirement benefits, the Nepal government must cancel the Tripartite Treaty. He gave the example of some Nepalese youth joining the Singapore police and the Brunei Army without any formal governmental agreements.

It was on June 14 this year that the government announced the new Agnipath scheme for recruitment of personnel for the Indian Army and extended it to recruits coming from Nepal. Two rallies due to be held last fortnight in Nepal have been kept in abeyance, awaiting clarifications from Indias defence ministry. Nepal has sought details of the scheme that offers only four years service, with only one-fourth of those serving to be further retained and overall there being no pension benefits for those leaving after completion of their four-year service.

Nepals ambassador to India Shankar Prasad Sharma has told the local media that more understanding from the highest level is expected.

He added, though, that talks are underway between India and Nepal over the future recruitment process for Gurkhas under Agnipath. He added: It is election time in Nepal. All political parties are in discussions and they will come up with a decision soon. The ambassadors statement that all political parties in Nepal in a huddle over Agnipath clearly brings out the criticality of this scheme for Nepal, which should be carefully factored in by the Indian government.

Nepal has rightly been worried about the adverse financial impact of the Agnipath scheme on its fragile economy. The salaries of 35,000 Gurkhas and the pensions of 1.40 lakh ex-servicemen total nearly $620 million, which is three per cent of its GDP, while Nepals defence budget is only around $430 million. Thus, the announcement of the Agnipath scheme has met with severe criticism in the Nepalese media. This point will also have been surely discussed during the just-concluded five-day visit of Indian Army Chief Gen. Manoj Pande to Nepal and hopefully some of the Nepal Armys concerns would have been addressed by Gen. Pande. As is the tradition between the armies of India and Nepal, both the respective Army chiefs are conferred the honorary rank of general in each others armies and Gen. Pande was accorded this honour by Nepals President Bidya Devi Bhandari in Kathmandu. During his visit, Gen. Pande also gifted some non-lethal defence equipment to Nepals Artmy chief.

New Delhi is more than aware that in the last few decades the Chinese have gone all out to carve out their areas of influence in Nepal in diverse fields. Exploiting their deep pockets and ideological closeness to Nepals Communists, the mandarins in Beijing have eminently succeeded in making credible inroads into Nepals development, its economy and political systems. Consequently, China would look for any opportunity to come its way to diminish Indias image and poison the latters traditional and close relations with Nepal. According to some China-watchers in Nepal, the former may try to recruit out-of-work retired Agniveers and other Nepalese youth into the Chinese Army -- a step that will be fraught with danger for India. Indias defence ministry must therefore weigh the adverse impact on serving and retired Gurkha soldiers of the Indian Army of such mischief by China. As is well known, Pakistans notorious Inter-Services Intelligence has a well-established presence in Nepal from where it directs many of its terrorist activities against India. It is clear that the ISI will spare no effort to intensify its anti-India propaganda in Nepal in the wake of the Indian Armys Agnipath scheme.

India must never forget that its fraternal ties with Nepal are a strategic imperative for it in its restive neighbourhood, keeping in view Chinas and Pakistans consistent machinations towards India. The Gurkha regiments have served the Indian Army with matchless gallantry and glory. Importantly, they have contributed largely to deepening mutually beneficial relations between the two nations. We need to further cement our brotherly relations with Nepal and for that, if we have to modify or even discard the Agnipath scheme for recruitment in Nepal, we shouldnt hesitate, and then switch back to the old system of recruiting the valiant Gurkhas to serve in the Indian Army.
The State sees protest as a nuisance which must exist on paper but not exercised in defiance of the State

Indias Supreme Court has generously allowed citizens the right to protest in designated areas. It said this in its judgment and criticism of the Shaheen Bagh sit-in against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens. Its observation was that dissent and democracy go hand in hand, but protests must be (held) in designated areas. What started out as a protest caused inconvenience to commuters. This is what was witnessed in Shaheen Bagh.

Many readers may not know what a designated area means. I didnt know myself till I worked for a civil society organisation only a few years ago. It means some part of the city that is marked off for protest, such as Delhis Jantar Mantar and Bengalurus Freedom Park. People can gather there for a specified period and then disperse. To access these areas, though, the citizen must apply for permission to the police and to the government. Readers will have seen in Europe and the United States, small groups of people spontaneously picket workplaces and corporate offices, holding up placards and chanting slogans. This is illegal in India.

Article 19 reads: All citizens shall have the right to assemble peacefully and without arms. The Constitution says that peaceful assembly is a fundamental right. A fundamental right is defined as something enjoying a high degree of protection from encroachment by the State.

We dont have any such right. We have the fundamental right to apply to the police to gather in a designated area. The police has the right to approve, reject or not respond to us. This last option is exercised often  I can testify to this on the basis of personal experience. It is possible that our Supreme Court judges dont know any of this. It is unlikely they have participated in a protest or have had cause to participate.

As an aside, it will interest readers to know that our judiciary has also apparently edited Article 21, which guarantees life and liberty to citizens, by ignoring and endlessly deferring the pleas of Kashmiris under habeas corpus. Only a few days ago, the BBC exposed how J&Ks lieutenant-governor said Mirwaiz Omar Farooq was not detained, but it was proven that he was. Kashmiris of course have no right to protest.

In the rest of India, designated area protests are preferred by the State because they can be safely ignored. Jantar Mantar  visit it sometime if you havent, its in the heart of Delhi  has dozens of installed protest sites, some of which have been there for years. Nobody cares what they are protesting about; the State certainly doesnt.

The State sees protest  and fundamental rights in general  as a nuisance which must exist on paper but not exercised in defiance of the State. The most peaceful, Gandhian manner of protest won't be tolerated in India. There is nothing more noble than the human being taking what Gandhi did in only token fashion  starve  till the end. A woman in Manipur chose to do that for justice and the State chained and force-fed her through a nasal pipe for 10 years rather than allow her the right to do what the British allowed Gandhi. Irom Sharmila isnt a heroine in this country, let alone a recipient of the Bharat Ratna, as would have been the case in a more civilised nation. She is an enemy of the State.

What the Supreme Court has observed or ordered (its not quite clear which of the two it is) in the matter of Shaheen Bagh doesnt apply to political parties and more organised forces like farmers unions and caste groups. They can and will continue to protest outside designated areas, calling for and enforcing bandhs and hartals, rail rokos, chakka jams and the rest. The State lacks the capacity to prevent this, so it looks away. The Supreme Court also looks away.

What the lordships want is that small groups of women not show their defiance as it offends their sensibilities and their concern for the rule of law in this nation.

But it is this defiance that is the heart of protest. A protest happens because the State doesn't follow its own laws. A protest is an objection and a complaint. It exists because it is otherwise unheard. In the designated areas, it will remain unheard. If the Supreme Court kicks the can down the road on habeas corpus, if the home minister announces his intention of locking up millions and denying them citizenship rights, if the State reverses the burden of proof on this and demands we provide the evidence to its satisfaction, then its naive to assume protests will not happen. If they do happen, that they will happen in a designated area.

A protest is not effective in our part of the world if there is no friction. It must necessarily irritate the State. The State has no obligation to deliver the demands of the protesters otherwise, and the judiciarys record of siding with citizens against the States encroachment and abuse is quite poor.

Shaheen Bagh is seen very differently around the world as for many it is inspirational that a group of marginalised women chose to defy the State. They are admired for it and for their effectiveness, and the women know it. It was precisely because Shaheen Baghs women were effective that the court wanted to send down its judgment on this particular protest.

Such defiance is not going to end because of the court's irritation. After yet another rape and murder by the armed forces, Manipurs women stripped naked and presented themselves for rape before the Army's gates in 2004. One would like to know what they think about the court's order that they only protest in a designated area.
Renovation work on the Gaza School in Al-Sakhour lasted five weeks. The roof was restored, bathrooms, classrooms and rainwater pipes were fixed. The aim is to ensure a suitable educational atmosphere and safe environments for the primary school students. Catholic volunteers have also distributed hundreds of backpacks and school materials.

Aleppo (AsiaNews) - Ahead of the start of the new school year, Caritas Syria has completed renovation work on a public primary school in one of the poorest neighbourhoods of Aleppo, once the economic and commercial capital of the country.

In order to allow the young students to use the premises regularly, workers and volunteers from the Catholic organisation have restored the entrance courtyard, the fencing, the toilets in a state of serious disrepair, repainted the classrooms and the premises where the administration is based. In addition to this, the roof and rainwater pipes have been repaired and the unsafe stairs restored.

The Gaza school, a public establishment, is located in the Al-Sakhour district, eastern sector of Aleppo city. The inauguration of the facility took place a few days ago in the presence of the local director of the Department of Education Moustafa 'Abdoul-Ghani, representatives of Caritas Syria, administrative staff and a large delegation of teaching staff.

The aim behind the project, explains Georges Antoine Kahal from Caritas Syria, is to "support the educational process" for the younger generation by helping to restore schools and institutes "with limited resources and possibilities". In this area in particular, students and families "suffer from serious financial weakness" and for this reason a contribution in addition to the resources provided by the state is essential.

He continues, "we wanted to re-establish an appropriate educational atmosphere and create a safer and more student-friendly environment." The work lasted five weeks and was carried out during the summer holiday period, so that the school year could resume on schedule.

"This experience is the first of its kind for Caritas Aleppo, while renovation work had already been carried out and completed in at least two schools in Damascus in the past," Kahal emphasises.

Having archived the work at al-Sakhour, judged "positive", the Catholic organisation is already looking ahead to next summer to intervene in another school, the Abdul Karim Al-Saleh School in Baaidin. In addition to the facilities, Caritas Syria has launched a series of initiatives aimed at students ranging from integrated education to psychological support and funding for the most needy. "Our goal is to expand the aid pool from the current 200 to 400 students"" concludes the head of Caritas.

Finally, in anticipation of the start of lessons, Catholic volunteers distributed hundreds of backpacks and stationery for poor students in Aleppo and Damascus.

In recent years Caritas Syria and the Church of Aleppo have launched several projects to support and help a population - including children - tormented by war and violence. Many of these have continued successfully over time: from cleaning up the city to aid for young married couples, from food parcels to funds for electrical supplies; and also summer centres for hundreds of children, contributions to cover medical expenses and medicines, check-ups, examinations and treatment. These are all initiatives in favour of the needy, which in many cases the people of Aleppo - for years epicentre of the Syrian conflict until its liberation in December 2016 - cannot afford.
by Guido Alberto Casanova

In spite of the turmoil of recent months around Taiwan, with Okinawa prefecture in the front line, discontent over the concentration of US bases in the area of Japan continues to dominate among its inhabitants. Conservative candidate defeated.

Tokyo (AsiaNews) - Denny Tamaki has won again: the result of the local elections in Okinawa, held yesterday, rewards the incumbent governor who was reconfirmed with about 51% of the votes. Sakima Atsushi, the main rival supported by the parties of the conservative-led governing coalition (LDP and Komeito), stopped at 41%. The result reflects pre-election polls, which gave the opposition-backed governor the lead.

Much of Okinawa's politics is a function of the relationship with the central government, and today Tamaki is perhaps the country's most embattled governor with whom Tokyo has to deal. His grip on the electorate of Japan's most peripheral prefecture is largely due to his open opposition to the presence of US military bases, which not only occupy 5% of the territory of the whole of Okinawa but are also often a source of tension with the local population.

On the basis of this local discontent, an opposition movement has developed, which has found its political expression in Tamaki. Seventy per cent of all US bases in Japan are in Okinawa: too much, according to Tamaki and his supporters.

Tamaki had promised in 2018 to move the US air base in Futenma, currently located within the city of Ginowan. The Japanese and US governments proposed relocation to Henoko, a less densely populated area of the island, but Tamaki opposed this, demanding it be moved outside Okinawa. A legal tug-of-war between local and central government ensued, which has greatly agitated Okinawan politics in recent months.

Despite the turmoil in recent months around Taiwan, with the prefecture at the forefront, Okinawans still frown on the US bases. In fact, 55% oppose the relocation plan to Henoko according to polls. In his own victory message yesterday, Tamaki referred to these very voters, thanking them because their determination to 'never allow the construction of a new base has not wavered one iota'. 'The Japanese and US governments should take this election result seriously,' he added.

But the US bases was not the only issue in this election because the economy was also among the protagonists of this campaign. In fact, Okinawa, besides being the poorest prefecture in Japan, is also very dependent on tourism, a sector that suffered enormously during the pandemic. Tamaki is said to have devoted more attention to proposals for economic recovery in this election round, robbing the conservative candidate of one of the strong themes on which the LDP's election strategy is also based in Okinawa.

Contributing to the conservative candidate's defeat, however, could also be his ties with the Unification Church, on which public opinion in Japan turned the spotlight after Abe's murder last July. The relationship between the religious organisation and the LDP is one of the factors that led to the Kishida government's sharp decline in the polls, and it is likely that the same dynamic has been repeated in Okinawa.
by Arundathie Abeysinghe

Some hospitals have stocks for only a few days. Imports have slowed due to the economic crisis and fuel shortages, affecting distribution to rural health facilities. The government will collect excess stocks and redistribute them as needed.

Colombo (AsiaNews)  Sri Lankan health officials are struggling to come up with emergency plans to address a medical drug shortage due to the current economic crisis. Some hospitals have a few days' stocks of life-saving medicines.

The Health Ministry has decided to implement a mechanism under which buffer stock medicines in primary health care units and divisional hospitals will be brought to a central unit and distributed, based on a need assessment, a source told AsiaNews.

According to ministry officials, the current shortage "was caused by a disruption in supply chains and distribution networks, including "delays in opening letters of credit" because of the foreign exchange crisis that has ravaged the countrys economy for months.

"The Health Ministry was unable to place orders for regular imports as it had done before the economic crisis," the source added.

In addition to the currency crisis, the lack of fuel has slowed down the distribution network, affecting mainly hospitals in rural areas.

There is a serious shortage of medicine and equipment required for eye care and cancer patients, including antibiotic syrup for toddlers, reports the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA).

Anaesthesia drugs needed for surgery are also in short supply, forcing doctors to postpone surgeries. Last week, the GMOA met with President Ranil Wickremasinghe to seek his opinion on the crisis.

According to the GMOAs assessment, five stakeholders manage and distribute medicines and health equipment in the country: the Health Ministry, the Division for Medical Supplies and the Online Hospital System, the State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC) which handles the importation of drugs, the State Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Corporation (SPMC), and the National Regulatory Agency for Medicines (NMRA).

For the GMOA, there is a lack of coordination among these stakeholders; as a result, problems and delays occur in the purchase of drugs.

We have presented our proposals regarding this issue, said a medical officer. We urge the government to conduct an audit and maintain an online system for drug use. If there is a mechanism to check how many drugs are distributed in the country and how many stocks there are, we could address this issue."

In Kandy, Balangoda and Badulla, hospitals have not yet experienced a drug shortage, so the government asked them to return any excess stock.

We have sufficient buffer stock to last three months. We are returning most of the excess medicines, especially antibiotics and paracetamol, while keeping a stock sufficient to meet our needs for one month, hospital sources told AsiaNews.

In the case of the Puttalam-Marawila Divisional Hospital however, the facility returned some excess inventory to the central unit even though it was experiencing a shortage of oral antibiotics for paediatric patients.

Doctors at Colombo National Hospital have begun to limit the use of acetaminophen and surgical materials such as gloves, gowns, masks, syringes, and gauze.
by Vladimir Rozanskij

The city's historic building would become the local headquarters of Caritas. An initiative of auxiliary monsignor Nikolai Dubinin. The building was originally used as a shelter for homeless Catholics; confiscated during the Soviet era, it retained its charitable purpose. It would help the many assistance centres opened by Catholics in European Russia, often under legal and logistical conditions that are still rather precarious.

St Petersburg (AsiaNews) - The Catholics of the "capital of the north" intend to reactivate a large charitable centre on Vasilevsky Ostrov Island, in the centre of the city, reports T Kommersant Sankt-Peterburg. The initiative of the diocese of Central Russia, which has its seat in Moscow, is led by auxiliary bishop Nikolai Dubinin, the first Catholic bishop of Russian nationality, to whom the Petersburg pastoral area is entrusted.

The Catholics submitted a request to the city council for the free return of a 19th century building on the 14th line of the Vasilevsky. At the moment, the complex is occupied by two Soviet-heritage welfare facilities dealing with addiction rehabilitation and family support: they would like to turn it into the local Caritas centre with various purposes and wide-ranging projects.

As the young Franciscan bishop explained, "after the restitution, we will be able to allocate the premises according to the statutes of Caritas, with charitable and social purposes, taking into account the historical specificities of the structure, which has been the seat of Catholic charity for over a century". Dubinin added that "attention will be paid to the current needs and conditions of the citizens of St Petersburg, Catholics and non-Catholics alike".

The clergyman recalled that the building was originally used as a shelter for homeless people of the Catholic denomination. In 1857, a women's hostel for orphans was also installed there, and in 1859, the managers had approved the status of a 'Home for the Poor of the Catholic Confession'. The centre was administered by a special committee, animated by the parishioners of St Catherine's Church, the architectural jewel of the Dominicans on Nevsky Prospect, the main street of the then capital of the Russian Empire. "This was the first official charitable centre of Russian Catholics," the auxiliary bishop points out.

The restitution request only became possible now, thanks to the expansion of the regulations on historic church buildings, which were amended in 2021. The new wording favours precisely the restitution of properties intended to provide material and spiritual assistance to the population, such as homes for orphans and soup kitchens, which were also widespread in the Orthodox churches of St Petersburg, where people from all over Russia came in search of work and help.

The first request from Catholics was submitted in March this year, but the documentation was deemed insufficient. After a more thorough search, the application was successfully reopened on 26 August, and a positive decision by the municipal office in charge is hoped, which has informed them in advance that the building is free of legal or financial constraints.

The large building is on three floors and covers an area of 350 square metres not used for residential purposes. A restaurant and several offices are currently located there, and some flats could be vacated. However, there would not be an immediate evacuation of the premises by those who currently occupy them, but a gradual relocation (within six years) with suitable accommodation for them, without damage to individuals or legal entities. Dubinin himself reassures about the arrangements in this regard: "The current occupants will be offered more suitable and comfortable alternatives, this is a historic building that still needs consolidation and renovation".

The north-western deanery of the diocese, under the care of Msgr. Dubinin, has about 30 parishes, out of a total of 67 including the central Moscow area, plus about 20 in the Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad, the north-eastern Catholic deanery. The new Caritas of St Petersburg would help the many assistance centres opened by Catholics in European Russia, often under still rather precarious legal and logistical conditions.
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Canada in context (Part Three) By Mark Wegierski

web posted September 12, 2022 Political, constitutional, juridical, and socio-cultural aspects of the origins and development of the Canadian State In 1968, the young left-wing intellectual Pierre Elliott Trudeau, later dubbed the Philosopher-King or the Northern Magus swept the federal election as leader of the Liberal Party, in a wave of what was called Trudeaumania. He initiated what was later called the Trudeau revolution  the embrace of countrywide bilingualism (which was equivalent to massive state promotion of French), state-funded and -endorsed multiculturalism, high levels of immigration from non-European countries, an internationalist and (to some extent) Sovietophile foreign policy (looking towards a postcolonial and Third World liberation model for Canada), and profound disdain for all forms of social and cultural conservatism, as well as for Western Canada (especially Alberta). Among his social liberal achievements were the revocation of the Anti-Sodomy Statutes (something which occurred in America only in 2003), the liberalization of abortion laws, and the development of a permissive criminal justice system focussed on rehabilitation (including the abolition of the death-penalty). Viscerally opposed to Quebecois nationalism/separatism as well as to English-Canadian traditionalist residues, Trudeau proclaimed, there is some hope that in advanced societies, the glue of nationalism will become as obsolete as the theory of the Divine Right of kings. Although Trudeau failed to win the majority of seats in English-speaking Canada except in 1968, he remained in power from 1968 to 1984 (except for nine months in 1979-1980) -- based on rock-solid support from Quebec, as well as some assistance from the NDP, English-speaking Canadas social democrats. Trudeaus so-called National Energy Policy (NEP) was ferociously criticized in Western Canada, as a looting of the Western provinces for the sake of Central Canada (i.e., Ontario and Quebec  whose combined number of seats in the federal Parliament was nearly sufficient for a working majority). The capstone of Trudeaus achievements was the introduction of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms into the Canadian constitutional system, as part of the so-called patriation of the Canadian constitution. Some have argued that, since Britain had clearly granted Canada self-governing status through the Statute of Westminster in 1931, the notion that Trudeau actually had to patriate the Constitution was in itself questionable. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms was, to a great extent, an enumeration of Trudeaus most cherished ideals, which had by now largely become the pan-Canadian ideals. Trudeau had enjoyed, virtually unhampered, the power given to a Canadian Prime Minister who is able to consistently maintain a working majority in the federal Parliament. In his wake, however, any future Canadian Prime Minister will have to work within the framework of the Trudeau-inspired Charter of Rights and Freedoms and have his or her legislative program subject to judicial review in reference to the Charter. It is hard to find a single figure who has had as profound an impact on the history of his or her country, as is the case with Trudeau and Canada. In 1984, Progressive Conservative Brian Mulroney swept into power with one of the largest majorities in Canadian history, winning Quebec by a degree of co-operation with Quebec nationalists/separatists. While to some extent an economic conservative, Mulroney firmly believed in the left-liberal vision of Canada in regard to all social and cultural issues. He massively won the 1988 election by turning it into a referendum on the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. However, Mulroneys distaste for social and cultural conservatism, as well as for Western Canada (especially Alberta), where these tendencies were probably the most pronounced, clearly contributed to the arising of the Reform Party of Canada in 1987 (co-founded by Preston Manning, the son of former Social Credit Premier of Alberta Ernest C. Manning). Mulroney was unable to win the approval of Canada for the new constitutional package of the Meech Lake Accord. Signed in 1987, the ratification process failed in 1990, especially over the controversy concerning the recognition of Quebec as a distinct society  resisted by much of public opinion in English-speaking Canada and especially by two smaller provinces in English-speaking Canada. The subsequent Charlottetown Agreements were signed in August 1992 by all the provincial premiers, but the ratification process  a countrywide referendum -- failed in October 1992. To a large extent, they were rejected by English-speaking Canada because of an underlying feeling that they gave Quebec too much  while being rejected by Quebec because it was felt that they gave Quebec too little. This resulted in a burgeoning tide of separatism in Quebec, where a new party, the Bloc Quebecois, proposed to run candidates to the Federal Parliament  though only, of course, in the province of Quebec. The Parti Quebecois had existed at the provincial level in Quebec since 1970, and had held power for considerable periods of time, launching the first referendum on what it called sovereignty-association in 1980, which was defeated by a ratio of about 60 to 40. In June 1993, Mulroney stepped down as the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party and as Prime Minister. At the leadership convention, Kim Campbell was chosen as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, immediately becoming the new Prime Minister. To be continued. Partially based on an English-language text that appeared in Polish translation under the title Kanada  eksperyment wielokulturowosci. (Canada: an experiment in multiculturalism) trans. Olaf Swolkien. Miedzynarodowy Przeglad Polityczny (International Political Review) (Warsaw, Poland: Fundacja Srodkowoeuropejska  The Foundation for Central European) no 5 (no 10) (December 2004-January 2005), pp. 221-231. Mark Wegierski is a Toronto-based, Canadian writer and historical researcher. Home
It was launched just two years ago, turning heads with its remarkable profile  a masculine silhouette in a medium shade of gray, with a stylized red K.The name reveals something about its owners  Francesco Casoli owns a reputable company that manufactures kitchen appliances, and cappa means kitchen good in Italian. The numbers in the name are a combination of dates that are important for Francesco and his wife, he explained in an interview at the time of the launch.The 120-foot (36.6 meters) K-584 was built by CPN Cantiere Navale, with an exterior design by Andrea Vallicelli and interiors by Pierluigi Floris. Casoli wanted a vessel that would be built to his specifications. For example, the K-584 has a dive center in the stern instead of a tender garage.Also, the masters suite is on the bridge deck, behind the wheelhouse. This is where the captains cabin would typically be placed, but Casoli wanted a stateroom with fabulous views of the sea all around, even if that meant having less space for things like a walk-in wardrobe. Obviously, the galley had to be equipped with the best luxury appliances, and the couple also wanted an elegant library onboard. Their goal was to live onboard the K-584 for up to eight months at a time, while exploring various destinations, which is why it had to be as comfortable and luxurious as a home. At the same time, it had to be rugged and powerful enough to sustain that. The K-584 is equipped with twin MAN engines that deliver up to 14 knots (16 mph/26 kph), boasting a range of 6,000 nautical miles (11,112 km).After just two years since its launch, the unique K-584 is up for grabs at IYC . Someone with 11.9 million ($12 million) to spare could take this Italian beast on a new adventure.
After the race, Russell went on to say that he was satisfied with the result, but not so much with his cars overall performance. He was especially disappointed by the pace of his W13 racer, especially compared to how it performed during FP1 on Friday.Im satisfied with the result, not satisfied with the performance no doubt, said the British driver . Strange weekend; we started off on a really strong foot in FP1, the car was feeling great, pace was strong, and it just went away from us, and we dont really know why that was.So, it was a pretty long, lonely race, the pace wasnt good; it wasnt the most enjoyable one for sure.Russell was particularly surprised by Ferraris pace this weekend, saying that he simply couldnt fight for P2 because of how quick Leclerc was  although, not quick enough (to challenge Verstappen) obviously.I think when we look back, the softs was our most competitive stint. We were sort off between arms length of the Red Bull and Ferrari at the beginning after the first 20 laps.Its not that fun when you cant really lean on the tires and push the car, but as I said on the radio on my in-lap, we are scoring these podiums when the cars fast, we are scoring these podiums when the car is off the pace, weve got to take the positives from that.Russell is currently fourth in the 2022 Driver Standings with 203 points, well ahead of his teammate, Lewis Hamilton (168 points). At this juncture, its not inconceivable that Russell could leapfrog both Perez (210 pts) and Leclerc (219 pts) and finish second in the standings behind Verstappen, when its all said and done.
Knowing that, America, and more specifically the U.S. Navy , whos flying the plane as the replacement of the Top Gun-famous F-14 Tomcat, is in the process of upgrading the airborne weapons platform, and one of the main focuses for the changes is the legacy targeting pod.Back in May of last year, Northrop Grumman announced it has just the right thing for that, namely something called Litening. It started being fitted on Navy Hornets back in April this year, and last week we were informed of the hardware being successfully flown on a Navy military plane for the first time.According to the defense contractor, during the flight pilots executed maneuvers and operations representative of combat missions, including ground moving target tracking, air-to-air tracking and target designation.The training laser mode that allows the pod to be used for realistic training with combat controllers on the ground was also used in the run, and pilots managed to perform all the assigned tasks without advance training.Unlike traditional targeting pods, which generally capture images in infrared, the Litening can also capture color images of the targets, making pilots more confident that what theyre about to blow up is indeed what actually needs to be blown up.The pods digital video, autonomous target tracking, and laser sensors will give Naval aviators an entirely new set of capabilities for operations over land and sea today, and the growth capabilities built into Litenings modular design ensure that the pod can evolve to meet changing requirements, said in a statement James Conroy, vice president, navigation, targeting and survivability, Northrop Grumman.The system is already being used on planes by the Marine Corps, Air Force, and the Air National Guard.
To date, there have been countless space missions, targeting a variety of celestial bodies and goals. Just three programs though in the decades-long history of space exploration, have been targeted at the outer solar system : Voyager, Pioneer, and New Horizons.The reasons for that are quite simple: the outer solar system is very far away, it takes a lot of time to reach it, and you are never guaranteed the hardware will survive the trip (believe it or not, all three programs we mentioned earlier were successes).NASA, the forward-looking space agency that it is, is always looking for new ideas of how to make space exploration easier. One way it does this is through something called Innovative Advanced Concepts ( NIAC ), awarding grants to people and organizations who come up with interesting ideas for space exploration.One of this years grant recipients is Mahmooda Sultana from NASAs own Goddard Space Flight Center. The scientist imagined something called SCOPE, or ScienceCraft for Outer Planet Exploration.SCOPE relies on solar sails , but not ones as we know them, but featuring a printed quantum dot-based spectrometer that should allow for rapid travel across the solar system.The scientist does not explain exactly how thatll work, but we are told how fast spacecraft, which usually take about decades to reach the outer solar system, can do it while using this: something powered by such a solar sail could reach Uranus in less than 2 years and Neptune in less than 3 years.Now, dont get your hopes of seeing that happening any time soon, as the idea is still in a Phase I grant stage, but if the initial development plan works, who knows what the near future will bring.
kW

Mind you, while some might expect a crazy digital take on the mid-size crossover , the proposal is quite discreet and can be easily achievable without spending a small fortune on the modifications.Kelsonik, as the person behind this CGI is known on Instagram, took Europes Nissan X-Trail, and gave it a sportier stance. This is defined by the deleted chrome trim, replaced by blacked-out accents, bigger wheels filling the arches and a lowered suspension that has brought the body a bit closer to the road.Elsewhere, the model stays true to the original design, and this includes the double-headlamp styling, big grille incorporated into the rather aggressively-shaped bumper, black plastic cladding on the lower parts of the body for a more utilitarian approach, and back end, with the X-Trail name displayed in the middle of the tailgate, right below the corporate logo.Meanwhile, the Rogues European twin will start arriving at dealers across the continent this fall. In the United Kingdom, it will launch this month, and the first customers will receive theirs in October. The engine family comprises mild-hybrid and hybrid assemblies, with outputs ranging between 161 hp (163 ps / 120) in the base model, and 210 hp (213 ps / 157 kW) in the range-topping variant, when had with all-wheel drive. In the latter configuration, you are looking at 7 seconds from 0 to 62 mph (0-100 kph) and a 112 mph (180 kph) top speed.Pricing for mainland Europe will be announced in due course, but in the UK, the 2023 X-Trail can be had from 32,030 (equal to $37,122), and it goes up to at least 48,155 ($55,811) for the flagship model.
In late October 2021, Rick Ross revealed that he has a dozen parking spaces at Hard Rock Stadium , the home field for the Miami Dolphins. Obviously, they come with custom names, with Maybach Empire, written on the ground, which is his record label name.He had revealed back then that he Never imagined having a dozen personal parking spots like Don Shula @ the Dolphins stadium.Well we do.For the next 3 seasons.Like I always tell my mom Ella you did it...One year later, not much has changed. The rapper flew in a private jet to Florida to attend a Miami Dolphins game on September 11. He even revealed on his Instagram Stories that he had to change into his outfit right there on the tarmac to make it in time. Right outside the plane, a black Rolls-Royce Phantom was waiting for him, which seems to be the one he drove last year, too.When he arrived at the stadium, he also bragged about his parking spaces, saying that thats how we doin it and that its all dedication and "hustle."When it comes to the Phantom , the model has reached its eighth generation, and its as luxurious as Ross needs to show off. Plus, its also very powerful, with Rolls-Royce's 6.75-liter V12 twin-turbocharged engine under the hood. The power mill is good for 563 horsepower (571 ps) and 664 lb-ft (900 Nm), sent to the rear axle via an eight-speed automatic gearbox. It can hit 60 mph (97 kph) in 5.1 seconds, with a top speed limited to 155 mph (250 kph).And its exactly what Rick Ross needs in order to turn heads.
SUV

The Sorento is arguably the best offer Kia has for the U.S. market, with the right balance of features versus price and fuel economy. The three-rowdebuted stateside just two years ago. Still, the Korean automaker is already working on the next step of its lifecycle. The industry norms usually imply a mildly refreshed design and maybe altered technical details. New engines may not be uncommon, although carmakers try to change as little as possible to keep the costs down.The Kia Sorento prototypes caught testing in Europe suggest a different approach for the facelifted model. The SUV is covered in black camouflage as if it were a brand new model with a radically-changed design. Despite that, we expect Kia to stick to the trusted recipe and not hide anything under that camo. Or, maybe, they will surprise us all with a Sorento as striking as the new Sportage.Until further proved, what little the camo reveals points to a different light signature and a modified grille up front. The headlights adopt a vertical layout, with the DRLs edging the vertically-stacked reflectors. This doesnt look like Sportage, but rather like the Tellurides headlights , but well need to see more Sorento real estate before judging.The back doesnt look much different from the current layout, with the split taillights still in place. Following recent trends, Kia might throw in a LED bar between the lights, although this would look bizarre on a split-taillight design. Almost certainly, therell be a modified light signature at the back too.Disregard the huge tailpipe you see in the pictures, this is most probably fake. The brake discs look as small as those on the plug-in hybrid version of the Sorento , so we figure this is what Kia is testing. It makes sense, too, considering that incentives favor the plug-in version over the hybrids, washing away the price difference. Talking about powertrains, we dont expect significant updates, with possible subtle tweaks to boost efficiency even further.The refreshed model will enter production next year at Kias assembly plant in West Point, Georgia, and will hit the market as a 2024 model year. Expect more competent safety assist tech onboard and a revamped infotainment system. Kia will probably boast about better materials but dont expect much in this regard. Carmakers use the mid-life update to optimize costs, not throw away money.
Karabakhs human rights ombudsman, Gegham Stepanian, said the Armenian-populated villages of Karmir Shuka and Taghavard came under Azerbaijani fire that lasted for about 30 minutes. The automatic gunfire damaged three local houses but did not injure any of their civilian residents, he said.

In a Facebook post, Stepanian portrayed the shooting as further proof of Bakus continuing attempts to terrorize people living in Artsakh and disrupt their normal life and activities.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry denied opening fire at Karmir Shuka and Taghavard. It claimed separately that the Armenian army as well as Karabakh Armenian forces shot at its frontline positions late on Sunday.

The military authorities in both Yerevan and Stepanakert denied the claim. The Armenian Defense Ministry insisted that the situation along Armenias border with Azerbaijan remains relatively stable.

Baku has alleged Armenian truce violations along the Kelbajar and Lachin districts sandwiched between Armenia and Karabakh on a daily basis following the August 31 meeting of the two countries leaders held in Brussels. Yerevan has denied the allegations just as regularly.

On Saturday, Azerbaijans Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov held an emergency meeting with his top military commanders during which he reportedly ordered them to be ready to thwart provocations of the Armenian armed forces in Karabakh and on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

Hasanov held a similar meeting ahead of the deadly fighting in Karabakh that erupted on August 3. The two Karabakh villages reportedly came under fire on July 28.

Armenian pundits have suggested that the latest Azerbaijani allegations may be a prelude to another upsurge in violence in the Karabakh conflict zone. Edmon Marukian, a former opposition figure who now works as an ambassador-at-large, called on Monday for a targeted reaction from the international community, saying that it could discourage Baku from resorting to a fresh escalation.

Alen Simonian, the Armenian parliament speaker, noted, for his part, that Baku routinely ratchets up tension in the conflict zone in a bid to clinch major concessions from the Armenian side.

Let nobody have the impression that we think all issues have been solved or anything, Simonian told reporters. We always expect that there could be a provocation by the Azerbaijani side.

At the same time, Simonian dismissed suggestions that the mounting tensions are the result of an apparent lack of progress made by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at their August 31 meeting in Brussels hosted by European Council President Charles Michel.

On September 3, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan accused Azerbaijan of misrepresenting the results of that summit. Mirzoyan also charged that Baku is intent on torpedoing the peace process and continuing its policy of ethnic cleansing through the use of force.
The diplomat, Philip Reeker, arrived in Yerevan late last week on the first leg of his tour of his the three South Caucasus states. He met with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Saturday before proceeding to neighboring Georgia.

The U.S. Embassy in Armenia reported that during his talks with Pashinian and other Armenian officials Reeker underscored U.S. commitment to helping Azerbaijan and Armenia negotiate a comprehensive peaceful settlement. It gave no other details of the talks.

Pashinian was cited by his press office as praising the important role of the U.S. as a co-chair state of the OSCE Minsk Group. He also called for Washingtons renewed joint peace efforts with the two other co-chairs, Russia and France.

Russia says that the U.S. and France stopped working with it in the Minsk Group format following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A senior U.S. State Department official denied that in June.

Announcing the appointment of the new U.S. co-chair on August 24, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Reeker will strive for direct dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan aimed at a long-term political settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry denounced Blinkens statement, saying that the U.S. risks being left out of the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace process with its attempts to revive the group. It again claimed that Azerbaijans victory in the 2020 war with Armenia put an end to the Karabakh conflict. By contrast, the Armenian government reaffirmed support for the Minsk Group.

The U.S. ambassador in Yerevan, Lynne Tracy, has repeatedly stated over the past year that Washington considers the conflict unresolved because there is still no agreement on Karabakhs status.

Reeker will travel to Baku later this week.
Christian Nationalism: A Biblical Guide For Taking Dominion And Discipling Nations By Andrew Torba and Andrew Isker

Independently published

135 pgs. US$20.51

ISBN-13: 979-8849517070 Gab founder believes Christian nationalism is viable, not how the left portrays it By Rachel Alexander

web posted September 12, 2022 GAB CEO Andrew Torba, who founded the social media platform to avoid the censorship of Big Tech, has a new book out titled Christian Nationalism: A Biblical Guide For Taking Dominion And Discipling Nations. The concept of Christian nationalism has taken a beating in the MSM lately, due to false associations with theocracy and even racism. But Torba doesnt think the phrase has become so damaged that those of us on the Christian right cant use it to describe ourselves and our goals. Torba, who co-authored the book with Minnesota Pastor Andrew Isker, explains that he started Gab because he saw dissenters being silenced. Torba himself has been canceled in many ways. His site has been accused of allowing hateful content, since he goes out of his way to make sure there is little censorship. But at the same time, he has taken down some of the most offensive content. So those criticizing him are trying to have it both ways. Torba goes over the history of the U.S., how it was founded as a Christian nation with Christian states (did you know Marylands first official religion was Catholicism?). In fact, most states had requirements that officeholders be Protestant Christians. It was the federal government which was secular. And even then, The point of the Establishment Clause was to retain the distinctive Christian heritage of the American nation not to destroy it. He observes how the definition of Christian nationalism has changed over the years, as Catholics have left their church to become Protestants, mainline Protestants have become nondenominational, Christians have become more independent thinkers, etc. He says its time for a massive Christian nationalism movement which is not just political, but also a social, cultural and economic movement which means involvement like buying goods and services from Christian businesses. The reason to get involved is to stop allowing the demonization and destruction of the nuclear family and the corruption of our children to happen. The U.S. is a Christian nation that has been subverted by a handful of secular ruling class elites that demonize Christians at every turn. The movements primary goal is to build a parallel Christian society, economy, and infrastructure which will fill the vacuum of the failed secular state when it falls. Torba further explains. We enter the adversarys battleground  Twitter and Facebook for example  and expect to gain ground on land that the enemy controls where they can wipe us out with the click of a button. We consume news and media that is carefully crafted by the enemy and expect things to change by lending them our time and attention. Torba contends that if you're a Christian, then youre a Christian nationalist. He points out how the MSM started using the phrase a lot after Donald Trump became president in order to confuse it with white nationalist, and will often use white Christian nationalism. Its just a sneaky way to equate Christians with racism. Another similar tactic they use, which Ive previously pointed out , is equating patriotism with a bad form of nationalism, such as that under Nazi Germany. The essence of Christian nationalism is loving your neighbor. Torba hints at an America First mentality, saying we must place interests of those near us over those in foreign nations. He explains, David Chilton once said that Freedom cannot be exported to a nation that has no marketplace for the Gospel and of course he was echoing 2 Corinthians 3:17 which tells us that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty. Torba says the concept of Christian nationalism is nothing new  Zionism is Jewish nationalism. People are fine with that, so why not Christian nationalism? When others call Christians hateful, Torba responds saying its true Christians hate sin, evil, Satan and the Antichrist. Other accusations Christians face are also incorrectly phrased, like Youre a racist if you dont hate yourself for the color of your skin. Tolerance isnt a Christian virtue since God doesnt tolerate sin. Torba is exasperated that many churches and Christian leaders do little regarding how Christians are treated, even engaging in a proud endorsement of this madness. He rants, The craven, cowardly leaders of American churches will say they dont want to be political or fight the culture wars but refusing to fight utter abominations is being political and is fighting the culture wars, but for those on the side of those Abominations. Catholic Integralist Shane Schaetzel , who authored the books prologue, dismisses criticisms that Christian nationalism is similar to creating a theocracy, or merging church and state. Instead, Christianity supports secularity, which is neutral. He distinguishes this from secularism, wherein religion is expected to keep out of politics entirely, and wherever the government advances, religion must retreat. Accordingly, under Christian nationalism, the state is mandatory and has laws that must be followed, while the church is voluntary, but the church may influence the state. Torba gets into a touchy subject for conservatives in one chapter, discouraging use of the phrase Judeo-Christian since he believes the two religions do not overlap enough due to Judaisms rejection of Jesus as divine. He contends that Christians are the natural outgrowth of early Israel, whereas modern Judaism is a new religion created after the Old Covenant was destroyed, and Talmudic Judaism is a new religion made up by those who rejected Jesus Christ. Another controversial chapter instructs Christians to stop focusing on eschatology  discussing signs that the Second Coming and Last Judgment are close  since Christ currently rules the earth. Instead, he says churches need to focus on fixing the world now. If your pastor didnt celebrate the end of Roe v. Wade, you have a duty to find a new church. Unfortunately, too many pastors desire the accolades of the New York Times, Washington Post, and CNN. They dont want to be lumped in with low-status evangelicals they regard as white MAGA trash. Overall, the book provides a helpful glimpse into the real Torba, cutting through the smear of caricatures produced by the MSM about him. Rachel Alexander and her brother Andrew are co-Editors of Intellectual Conservative . She has been published in the American Spectator, Townhall.com, Fox News, NewsMax, Accuracy in Media, The Americano, ParcBench, Enter Stage Right and other publications. Home
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP)  An emotional Harrison Ford appeared along with a new trailer for the fifth Indiana Jones film, cast members from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" showed footage from their forthcoming sequel, and trailers and details were unveiled from the widening TV presence of the Star Wars galaxy on Saturday at the D23 Expo.

An arena-sized audience gave a standing ovation to Ford, co-star Phoebe Waller-Bridge and director James Mangold after the trailer was shown at a presentation from Disney divisions Marvel, Lucasfilm and 20th Century Studios at the festival at the Anaheim Convention Center, next door to Disneyland.

Thank you for making these films such an incredible experience for all of us, the usually stoic Ford said, choking up at times. Im very proud to say to say that this one is fantastic.

He pointed to Waller-Bridge and said, this is one of the reasons.

The 80-year-old Ford suggested this would be his last time donning the hat and holding the whip of one of the two characters that made him famous.

This is it," he said, as shouts of no came from the crowd. "I will not fall down for you again.

The 37-year-old Waller-Bridge said Ford showed no signs of slowing down, saying I had the time of my life making this movie, and keeping up with this guy is exhausting.

The trailer shows Ford cracking that whip in front of a group of heavily armed henchmen with Waller-Bridge at his side.

The film, whose title has yet to be announced, is set for release on June 30, 2023. It also stars Mads Mikkelsen, Toby Jones and Antonio Banderas, and is the first in the franchise not directed by Steven Spielberg.

Mark J. Terrill/AP

Angela Bassett and Winston Duke were among the cast members who presented part of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," which is set for release on Nov. 11.

The sequence shows a team trying to steal some of the nation of Wakanda's precious substance vibranium, and a Wakandan team beating them back.

It has not been clear how the film would deal with the death of the title star of the first film, Chadwick Boseman, who died of prostate cancer in 2020.

But the footage acknowledged that his character T'Challa had died, and suggests that his sister Shuri, played by Letitia Wright, might be the next Black Panther.

We had to meet his level of excellence, and we did, Bassett said.

Neither the Indiana Jones trailer nor the Black Panther footage were released outside of the convention hall.

Marvel also announced cast members of the forthcoming Phase 5 films from its cinematic universe, Captain America: New World Order and Thunderbolts.

Mark J. Terrill/AP

Anthony Mackie will take up the familiar shield as Captain America in the movie slated for a May 2024 release, as he did at the end of the television series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and he'll be joined by Tim Blake Nelson as central villain the Leader. Danny Ramirez and Shira Haas will play heroes alongside Mackie.

Marvel's team of antiheroes Thunderbolts" will include role reprisals from Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan as the Winter Soldier and David Harbour as Red Guardian. Wyatt Russell and Julia Louis Dreyfus also appear in the film set to be released in July of 2024.

Pedro Pascal and the cast of The Mandalorian unveiled a trailer and new details for the series' third season and Diego Luna did the same for the forthcoming series Andor" as Lucasfilm and the Star Wars galaxy deepens its television presence with no big screens in sight.

You are a Mandalorian no more, Pascal's title character is told in the trailer for the new season, a penalty for his having removed his helmet and showed his face.

The trailer shows the Mandalorian and his baby-Yoda sidekick Grogu zipping through space, and suggests an increased role for Battlestar Galactica star Katee Sackhoff and her character Bo-Katan Kryze, who first appeared in season two.

Carl Weathers and Giancarlo will both reprise their roles, and Back to the Future star Christopher Lloyd is joining the cast. The show is set to premiere in February.

Mark J. Terrill/AP

In a different Lucasfilm galaxy, a trailer was unveiled for the forthcoming TV series Willow, based on the 1988 Ron Howard fantasy film. Christian Slater was announced as a cast member, and appeared live to talk about it.

I love the fantasy, the sci-fi, just getting to be a part of this show was, I will be honest with you an absolute dream come true, Slater said. This was a very fun character.

The character was described only as someone aiding in a quest who is a friend of Madmartigan, the rogue adventurer played by Val Kilmer in the film.

The trailer brings epic echoes of Lord of the Rings," with original Willow actor Warwick Davis leading a group of teen adventurers in cloaks on a magical mission.

All the shows will stream on Disney+.
Courtesy of the Beaumont Police Department

Beaumont police are reminding residents to be aware of their surroundings after a 37-year-old man was arrested after an attempted kidnapping of an adult woman at a local hike and bike trail.

Officers received reports of the incident at the Gulf Terrace Hike and Bike Trail, 9201 Dishman Rd., around 9:15 a.m. Sunday, according to a news release from the Beaumont Police Department.
About all you 'election deniers'

Mark Alexander

web posted September 12, 2022

Democrats are doing everything possible to avoid a midterm bloodbath like the one suffered by their last first-term president. In the 2010 midterm election, their man, Barack Obama, was the catalyst for a 63-seat Republican gain in the House (the largest seat shift since 1948) and a seven-seat gain in the Senate. In the states, Republicans gained six gubernatorial seats and flipped 20 state legislative chambers.

Of course, in 2010, Demos did not have the now-unlimited power of systemic BIG Tech and Leftmedia free speech suppression acting as political surrogates for them. Those two factors alone are now the greatest threat to "free and fair elections."

Launching their major battlefront initiative to thwart Republican wins in nine weeks, their man, Joe Biden  Obama's corrupt, intellectually impaired understudy  delivered an unprecedented tirade of partisan vitriol revealing their key strategy: Make the midterm election about Donald Trump and his "semi-fascist" hordes of "Trumpies" in order to rally the Democrat Party's Trump-hating base.

Focusing all his wrath on Trump's "extremist" legions of "MAGA Republicans" in his latest Soviet dictatorial-style red-set screed, Biden promoted himself as the savior of America's soul and the great defender of "democracy" (which he errantly referenced 32 times to describe our Republic) against those MAGA Republican "threats" to democracy.

Biden claimed that "democracy cannot survive" if MAGA Republicans question election results:

MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution. They do not believe in the rule of law. They do not recognize the will of the people. ... They refuse to accept the results of a free election. And they're working right now, as I speak, in state after state to give power to decide elections in America to partisans and cronies, empowering election deniers to undermine democracy itself. ... And they see their MAGA failure to stop a peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 election as preparation for the 2022 and 2024 elections. ... This is a nation that respects free and fair elections. We honor the will of the people. We do not deny it. ... We can't let the integrity of our elections be undermined, for that is a path to chaos. ... But democracy endures only if we, the people, respect the guardrails of the republic. Only if we, the people, accept the results of free and fair elections. ... Democracy cannot survive when one side believes there are only two outcomes to an election: either they win or they were cheated. And that's where MAGA Republicans are today. ... I will not stand by and watch elections in this country stolen by people who simply refuse to accept that they lost.

I believe questioning election integrity is a very healthy debate in a Republic, but apparently not so in an authoritarian democracy.

Biden doubled down a day later, declaring, "I do think anyone who ... refuses to acknowledge an election has been won, insists upon changing the way in which we rule and count votes, that is a threat to democracy."

Apparently, in Biden's warped political universe, to "insist upon" the most rudimentary requirement for voting  the global standard of producing an ID to ensure election integrity  constitutes "a threat to democracy" and makes its proponents "election deniers." In fact, it actually constitutes a threat to the socialist Democrat Party's effort to nationalize the bulk-mail ballot fraud they perfected in 2020.

Further, regarding those who "insists upon changing the way in which we rule and count votes," he is referring to states that are passing laws to strengthen election integrity  again, a threat to the Democrats' goal of manipulating elections to ensure a permanent majority.

For the record, as Biden condemns those who question the integrity of the 2020 election results  more than half the country  he is hoping that Americans have forgotten that he and many Demos are on the record as "election deniers."

Recall that in 2017, almost 70 congressional Democrats boycotted Trump's inauguration, claiming his election was fraudulent  you know, his defeat of Hillary Clinton was a Trump/Russia collusion conspiracy.

Ironically, that turned into a Clinton/Russia collusion conspiracy to take down Trump, aided and abetted by Demo deep state operatives.

Recall also that Clinton herself denied Trump's election: "I believe he knows he's an illegitimate president. He knows. He knows that there were a bunch of different reasons why the election turned out the way it did."

That congressional boycott group was led by the late John Lewis (D-GA), who declared: "I don't see this president-elect as a legitimate president. I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected, and they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton." Calling out the "conspiracy," Lewis added: "That's not right. That's not fair. That's not the open democratic process."

Other boycotters issued similar claims. Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) said, "I will not be part of normalizing or legitimizing a man whose election may well have depended on the malicious foreign interference of Russia's leaders." Rep. Dwight Evans (D-PA) insisted: "I will not be attending the inauguration. Russian hacking must be investigated."

Looking back, here are some other "election deniers."

On the 2000 Presidential Election

On Al Gore's defeat by George W. Bush, in 2013 Biden asserted, "[Gore] was elected president of the United States of America."

Biden's Chief of Staff Ron Klain said: "People frequently tell me that I should 'get over' the 2000 election and recount. I haven't, and I don't think I ever will."

Joe Biden, 2016: "I think [Gore] won."

Hillary Clinton, 2016: The Supreme Court "took away a presidency."

Barack Obama, 2005: "Not every vote" was counted.

Bill Clinton, 2001: "The only way they could win the election was to stop the voting in Florida."

Jimmy Carter, 2005: "There's no doubt in my mind that Al Gore was elected president."

Jamie Raskin, 2003: George W. Bush was the "first court-appointed president."

Terry McAuliffe, 2004: "We won that election!"

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, 2016: "The Supreme Court elected the president. Al Gore won the state of Florida in 2000."

Al Gore, 2017: "Actually I think I carried Florida."

On the 2004 Presidential Election

Howard Dean, 2006: "I'm not confident" the election "was fairly decided" because "the machines were not reliable."

Hillary Clinton, 2005: "It's fair to say that there are many legitimate questions about" the "accuracy" and "integrity" of America's election system.

Jerry Nadler, 2005: "The right to vote has been stolen from qualified voters."

Sheila Jackson Lee, 2004: "We cannot declare that the election of November 2, 2004 was free and clear and transparent and real."

Maxine Waters, 2005: "Problems in the Ohio election" could have been "outcome determinative."

On the 2016 Presidential Election

Joe Biden, 2019: "I absolutely" agree that Trump is an "illegitimate president."

Hillary Clinton, 2019: The election was "stolen."

Jimmy Carter, 2019: "Trump didn't actually win the election in 2016. He lost the election and was put into office because of the Russians' interference on his behalf."

Kamala Harris, 2019: "Absolutely right" that Trump "didn't really win."

Jerry Nadler, 2017: It was a "tainted" and "illegitimate" election.

Karine Jean-Pierre, 2016: "Stolen emails, stolen drone, stolen election. Welcome to the world of #unpresidented Trump."

On the High-Profile 2018 Georgia Gubernatorial Election

Stacey Abrams, 2019: "We won!"

Cory Booker, 2018: "Stacey Abrams' election is being stolen from her."

Sherrod Brown, 2018: "They stole it. It's clear."

Hillary Clinton, 2018: "If she had a fair election, she already would have won."

Kamala Harris, 2019: "Without voter suppression, Stacey Abrams would be the governor of Georgia; Andrew Gillum is the governor of Florida."

Karine Jean-Pierre, 2020: "Reminder: Brian Kemp stole the gubernatorial election from Georgians and Stacey Abrams."

Terry McAuliffe, 2021: Abrams would have been governor "had the governor of Georgia not disenfranchised 1.4 million Georgia voters."

Of course, in each of the aforementioned elections, Democrats rallied hordes of their own lemmings to become election deniers. As I have often noted, if not for double standards, Democrats would have no standards.

Mark Alexander is the executive editor of the Patriot Post.
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EDINBURGH, Scotland  King Charles III and his siblings have stood in silent vigil around their mother Queen Elizabeth IIs coffin in St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh.

Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward lowered their heads as they stood at four sides of the oak coffin. They stood for about 10 minutes alongside four members of the Royal Company of Archers, who stood guard armed with arrows and quivers.

As they performed the traditional vigil, a procession of members of the public lined up to view the queens coffin and filed past. Some bowed as they passed the king, while others walked solemnly by with their heads lowered.

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KEY DEVELOPMENTS:

 Queen hailed in Scotland as a constant in our lives

 Loss of unifying queen could fray the bonds of fractious UK

 People wanting to pay final respects to queen face long wait, strict rules

 For Queen Elizabeth II, Balmoral estate was place to be normal

 Queen Elizabeth II loved corgis breed from childhood

 Former British colonies are conflicted over Queen Elizabeth II's legacy

 Whats next for the UK as Queen Elizabeth II laid to rest

 What will happen to all the currencies that feature the queen?

 The queen, as imagined  from punk rock to mystery novels

 Find more AP coverage here: https://apnews.com/hub/queen-elizabeth-ii

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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

LONDON  Officials in charge of the park outside Buckingham Palace have told people to stop leaving marmalade sandwiches as a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II because of the negative impact on the parks wildlife.

Some mourners have left the snacks alongside floral tributes at Buckingham Palace and neighboring Green Park. The sandwiches are a reference to a comedy sketch featuring the queen and an animated Paddington Bear filmed for the late monarchs Platinum Jubilee earlier this year.

In the video, the queen said that like Paddington Bear she also favors marmalade sandwiches and hides them in her purse for later.

The Royal Parks organization said Monday people should not leave the snacks but could leave teddy bears and other items if they wished.

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EDINBURGH, Scotland  St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh has opened to members of the public who wish to pay their last respects to Queen Elizabeth II, whose coffin is lying at rest inside.

The Scottish government is warning that the line, and waiting times, are expected to be long, with perhaps hours of standing. Visitors can leave the line to use toilet facilities.

Authorities have introduced airport-style security, banning people from taking inside the cathedral any large bags, sharp items, or food or liquids.

Similar crowds are expected in London, where the coffin can be visited from Wednesday.

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EDINBURGH, Scotland  Four members of the Royal Company of Archers are standing vigil over Queen Elizabeth IIs flag-draped coffin in St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh.

They are a striking presence, wearing hats called Balmoral bonnets adorned with a single eagle feather. Each of them is holding a wooden bow and a quiver of arrows.

The company, which officially functions as the British sovereigns bodyguard in Scotland, is an archery club established in 1676, according to the royal website.

Membership to the ceremonial company is by election -- members must be Scots or have strong Scottish connection, the site says.

Steeped in history, the company is endowed with perpetual access to public locations including plains and pasturages legally allotted for shooting arrows, in return for presenting the sovereign with three barbed arrows on request.

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LONDON  A line has already started forming to view Queen Elizabeth IIs coffin when she lies in state in London, even though that wont start till Wednesday evening.

Security staff are preparing for millions of people to pay their respects to the late monarch, whose coffin will be in Londons Westminster Hall until her state funeral on Sept. 19.

Vanessa Nathakumaran, 56, travelled Monday from Harrow near London to Lambeth Bridge in central London, where the entrance of the line is expected to be set up.

I really, really want to be part of it, said Nathakumaran, who is originally from Sri Lanka  a country once called Ceylon and ruled by Britain.

The line is expected to stretch from Parliament along the bank of the River Thames.

Officials have advised commuters in the city to change their working patterns because London is expected to be extremely busy in coming days.

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EDINBURGH, Scotland  A memorial service for Queen Elizabeth II at St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh has ended, and members of the public will soon be allowed inside to pay their respects.

The coffin, with the Crown of Scotland resting on a cushion on top of it, is to stay in the 12th-century cathedral through Tuesday.

Thousands of people lined the route of the procession through the Scottish capitals Old Town to the cathedral, as the former monarchs children  including new sovereign King Charles III  walked behind the hearse.

The memorial service featured Karen Matheson singing Psalm 118 in Gaelic, with harp accompaniment, and a reading from Ecclesiastes by the head of the Scottish government, Nicola Sturgeon.

The congregation sang The Lords My Shepherd, said to be one of the queens favorite hymns.

Members of the royal family were to hold a vigil by the coffin in the evening.

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EDINBURGH, Scotland  Queen Elizabeth IIs coffin has arrived at St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh for a memorial service.

A hearse containing the coffin headed a procession Monday through the Scottish capitals Old Town. Thousands of people lined the street known as the Royal Mile, which links Edinburgh Castle with the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

St. Giles Cathedral, founded in the 1130s, is holding a service of thanksgiving.

Afterward, members of the public will be allowed inside to file past the coffin. Some have been waiting since around dawn.

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EDINBURGH, Scotland  The children of Queen Elizabeth II are accompanying their mothers coffin on a procession through the Scottish capital.

A military bagpiper played mournful music as the coffin, draped in the royal standard, was carried from the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh and placed in a hearse Monday.

King Charles III, dressed in army uniform, and his siblings Princes Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward are walking behind the hearse as the procession moves slowly toward St. Giles Cathedral.

The hearse is flanked by a bearer party of the Royal Regiment of Scotland and a detachment of The Kings Body Guard in Scotland, the Royal Company of Archers.

The coffin will remain at the cathedral until Tuesday so that members of the public can pay their respects.

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LONDON  A plane carrying King Charles has landed in Edinburgh, where the new monarch is due to accompany his late mothers coffin in a procession through the heart of the Scottish capital.

The procession Monday will bear the former sovereigns coffin to a cathedral, where it will remain for 24 hours to allow the public to pay their last respects.

Lines of people waiting to file past the coffin at St. Giles Cathedral began forming around dawn.

Charles flew to Scotland after earlier receiving condolences from both Britains houses of parliament.

He told lawmakers he will follow his late mothers example of selfless duty.

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LONDON  Britain is to observe a nationwide minute of silence Sunday, on the eve of Queen Elizabeth IIs funeral.

The British government says the moment of reflection will take place at 8 p.m. (1900GMT).

People are encouraged to mark the silence at home or at community events.

The queens funeral will be held next Monday at Westminster Abbey.

Britains monarch of the past 70 years died Thursday in Scotland at the age of 96.

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LONDON  King Charles and his wife Camilla, the Queen Consort, have boarded a flight to Edinburgh where the new monarch will take part in a procession bearing his late mothers coffin to St. Giles Cathedral.

The plane left RAF Northolt on the outskirts of London for the flight to Edinburgh Airport on Monday.

In the Scottish capital, Charles and Camilla were due at Hollyroodhouse palace where Queen Elizabeths coffin stayed overnight. It arrived there after a six-hour journey in a hearse from the queens beloved Balmoral Castle summer retreat, where the 96-year-old sovereign died Thursday.

The royal couple are to attend a service of remembrance for the queen, visit the Scottish Parliament and meet senior officials.

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LONDON  A 100-year-old British woman says she received a congratulatory telegram from Queen Elizabeth II the day after the monarchs death.

Gwendolyn Hoare read out the telegram in a recording shared with the BBC by her family and aired Monday.

She said it made her feel quite tearful and added: Im a royalist ... old fashioned.

Hoares niece, Sue Beckett, posted a message to a BBC online page which is compiling tributes to the late queen. She said the telegram arrived Friday, a day before her aunts 100th birthday, and a day after the 96-year-old queen had died at her Balmoral estate in Scotland.

For decades she talked about receiving a telegram from the Queen and was devastated to hear the news ... but her telegram arrived (on Friday) and she was ecstatic, Beckett wrote.

The British monarch traditionally sends a telegram of congratulations to citizens who reach the age of 100.

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LONDON  King Charles III has addressed lawmakers in Britains Parliament, telling them: I cannot but help feel the weight of history which surrounds us.

Charles told members of the House of Commons and House of Lords that he would follow his late mother Queen Elizabeth II in upholding the precious principles of constitutional governance that underpin the U.K.s political system.

He paid tribute to his mother, saying: As Shakespeare said of the earlier Queen Elizabeth, she was a pattern to all princes living.

Charles is due to travel from Parliament to Edinburgh and accompany the queens coffin to St. Giles Cathedral for a service of remembrance.

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LONDON  In a first official statement since the queens death, her grandson Prince Harry has hailed her as a guiding compass and praised her unwavering grace and dignity.

The personal statement, posted Monday on Harry and his wife Meghans Archwell website, said he cherished their times together from my earliest childhood memories with you, to meeting you for the first time as my Commander-in-Chief, to the first moment you met my darling wife and hugged your beloved greatgrandchildren.

Harry quit as a senior royal and moved to the U.S. two years ago. On Saturday, he and Meghan joined his brother Prince William and his wife Catherine in meeting mourners outside Windsor Castle.

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WELLINGTON, New Zealand  New Zealand has announced it will mark the death of Queen Elizabeth II with a public holiday on Sept. 26.

The nation will also hold a state memorial service in the capital, Wellington, on the same day. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Elizabeth was an extraordinary person and many people would appreciate the opportunity to mark her death and celebrate her life.

As New Zealands queen and much-loved sovereign for over 70 years, it is appropriate that we mark her life of dedicated public service with a state memorial service and a one-off public holiday, Ardern said.

She also said she would be leaving this week for Britain to attend Elizabeths funeral.
Mark Winema / Getty Images / Mark Wineman / Getty Images

An arrest warrant has been issued for a 15-year-old teenager following a fatal shooting in Port Arthur on Saturday morning.

Quarderious Jordan was fatally shot around 9:05 a.m. at the Avery Trace Apartments located at 4160 Farm Road 365, according to a news release from the Port Arthur police.
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Just under half of 21 area school districts, including Beaumont, Port Arthur and Vidor, pay starting teachers more than the state average.

The average starting teacher salary in Texas is $44,527, according to the National Education Association.

The subject of how much teachers are paid has long been a topic of discussion in communities across America.

Over the past almost three years, however, that discussion has ramped up.

With the national teacher shortage taking center stage in educational institutions across the country, school districts have been trying a variety of methods to recruit teachers into their classrooms.

While the reasons for the teacher shortage vary, arguably the most popular tool districts have used to recruit is an increase in salaries.

RELATED: Beaumont school district to increase employee salary

The average Texas teacher in 2021-22 made $57,641 -- more than $7,400 below the national average, according to the National Education Association.

The Enterprise obtained 2022-23 teacher hiring schedules from 21 districts in Region 5 and compared them at the starting, five-year, 10-year and 20-year experience level.

Student enrollment numbers used are from the Texas Education Agency's 2021-22 enrollment totals.

Salaries do not include stipends or insurance contributions provided by respective districts. Salaries are representative of those with bachelor's degrees and do not include rates offered by districts to teachers with master's or doctorate degrees.

RELATED: Jasper schools superintendent addresses 4-day school week concerns

Starting salaries

Other Region 5 districts that pay starting teachers more than the state average of $44,527 include Bridge City, East Chambers, Hardin-Jefferson, Little Cypress-Mauriceville Consolidated, Nederland, Port Neches-Groves and West Orange-Cove Consolidated ISDs.

East Chambers, a district with just over 1,540 students, had the highest starting salary with $52,000, followed by Port Arthur, which has about 8,000 students. Port Arthur pays starting teachers $51,500.

Nederland, which has about 5,000 students, pays starting teachers $51,000. Beaumont, which has just under 16,770 students; Port Neches-Groves, which has just under 5,200 students; and West Orange-Cove, which has 2,560 students, all pay starting teachers $50,000.

High Island ISD, a district with 158 students, had the lowest starting salary with $33,600 -- just $2 above the state minimum required to pay teachers.

Other districts with starting salaries below $40,000 include Buna ISD with $38,800 and Deweyville ISD with $39,916.

RELATED: Three more local school districts raising teacher salaries

5 years experience

The districts with the highest starting pay don't necessarily pay the highest salaries as teachers gain more experience.

Teachers with five years of experience have a higher base salary in Nederland with $54,850, even though Nederland has the third-highest starting salary.

East Chambers, which had the highest starting salary, has the second-highest base pay at five years experience with $53,200 -- $1,650 less than Nederland offers, though their starting salaries are only $1,000 apart.

The next-highest salary for a teacher with five years experience is in Port Arthur with $53,100, followed by Port Neches-Groves with $53,000, West Orange-Cove with $52,000 dollars and Beaumont with $51,300.

RELATED: 'We were there for you, now be here for us:' Beaumont teachers ask for support, raises

Though they all have a base salary of $50,000, from the zero years experience to five years experience level, Port Neches-Groves sees a 6% increase in salary, West Orange-Cove sees a 4% increase, while Beaumont sees a 2.6% increase.

The lowest paying districts at five years experience follow the pattern set by lowest starting salaries.

High Island has the lowest salary at $38,880, followed by Deweyville with $41,003, Buna with $42,775. West Hardin County Consolidated, which has just under 570 students, pays teachers with five years of experience $43,000, while Silsbee, which has 2,700 students, pays $43,350.

While High Island has the lowest starting and five-year salary, it has the highest increase between the two levels with 15.5%. Kountze ISD has the smallest increase with 1.8%. Kountze's salary for teachers with five years of experience is only $800 more than its starting salary of $44,000.

RELATED: Local school district to raise teacher pay by more than $8,000

10 years experience

At 10 years experience, Nederland again has the highest salary with $57,850.

Port Neches-Groves has the second-highest salary for a teacher with 10 years of experience at $55,900, followed by East Chambers with $55,400, Port Arthur with $55,200 and West Orange-Cove with $54,500.

Vidor ISD edges out Beaumont for the next highest salary at this level at $54,361 and $54,100, respectively.

At 10 years experience, all surveyed districts have a base salary of at least $45,000.

RELATED: Local schools to give employees retention stipends

Tied for the lowest salary at this level is High Island and West Hardin County at $45,630.

Kountze has the next-lowest salary with $46,000 with Buna close behind at $46,005.

High Island once again saw the highest increase between levels with a 17.4% increase in pay between five and 10 years experience. Deweyville has the second-highest increase between levels with 17% followed by Vidor with 12.3%.

No other surveyed district had an increase between levels that was 10% or above.

Kountze again saw the smallest increase between levels with 2.7%, followed by Port Arthur, though it remained one of the top-paying districts at this experience level.

RELATED: Survey: 70% of Texas teachers are considering quitting their jobs

20 years experience

At 20 years experience, Nederland offers the highest salary with $63,350, followed by West Orange-Cove's $63,000.

Only two other districts pay $60,000 or more at this level -- Port Neches-Groves and Port Arthur at $61,500 and $60,200, respectively.

Five districts pay in the $59,000 range: Vidor, Lumberton, East Chambers, Newton and Jasper.

High Island and West Hardin County are the lowest-paying districts at this level at $54,540, followed by Kountze at $56,00, Silsbee at $56,050 and Buna at $56,300.

Out of the 21 districts, Beaumont is ranked 13 with a salary of $57,500.

RELATED: Local charter pays teachers almost $10K more than area districts

Buna saw the largest increase in salary between 10 and 20 years experience at 22.4%, followed by Kountze at 21.7% and Deweyville at 20.1%.

Beaumont had the smallest increase between the levels with 6.3% -- a $3,400 difference.

Beaumont and East Chambers were the only districts whose increase between 10 and 20 years experience was less than 10% with East Chambers only increasing salary by $3,820, or 7%.

RELATED: Accountability ratings show increase in A-, B-rated Region 5 districts

Other statistics

Of the districts surveyed, Beaumont was the largest and the only district with more than 10,000 students.

Port Arthur was second followed by Port Neches-Groves, Nederland, Vidor and Lumberton.

Lumberton was the most populous district surveyed that had the lowest salaries for starting, five and 10 years experience pay.

High Island was the smallest district surveyed, followed by Sabine Pass, Deweyville, West Hardin County and Newton. Each district had less than 1,000 students.

Sabine Pass was the least populous district surveyed that had the highest salaries for starting, five and 10 year experience pay.
BANGKOK (AP)  A court in Thailand on Monday sentenced an activist to two years in prison for allegedly insulting the countrys queen by wearing traditional Thai attire at a demonstration for reform of the monarchy two years ago, a legal aid group said.

Jatuporn New Saeoueng wore a pink dress while a fellow protester held an umbrella over her as she walked down a red carpet at a mock fashion show held in the street in downtown Bangkok on Oct. 29, 2020.

The rally was billed as a counterpoint to a fashion show being held by Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana, a daughter of King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

Vajiralongkorns wife, Queen Suthida, dresses in elegant silk fashions for formal and public occasions. Members of the royal family have attendants often holding ceremonial umbrellas over them on such occasions.

The group Thai Lawyers for Human Rights said Bangkoks Criminal Court initially sentenced Jatuporn to three years imprisonment for violating the lese majeste law  which makes defaming the monarch or his immediate family punishable by a prison term of three to 15 years per offense  and the Public Safety Act. She was also fined 1,000 baht ($27.50). The sentence was immediately reduced to two years.

Jatuporn was sent to the Central Womens Correctional Institution pending another courts ruling on her request to be freed on bail.

The protest was one in a series in 2020-2021 that originally demanded political changes, including new elections and a more democratic constitution, but expanded to call for reform of the monarchy.

Protesters charged that King Vajiralongkorn wields an inordinate amount of power in what is nominally a democracy under a constitutional monarchy. The monarchy has long been considered an untouchable institution, revered by a large part of the population.

The protest movement later lost momentum due to controls imposed to fight the coronavirus pandemic and a government legal offense against protest leaders.

According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, since November 2020 there have been 210 people charged with a total of 229 violations of the lese majeste law. Thirteen cases have come to trial, and charges were dismissed in three of them.

I have no intention to mock anyone. I dressed for myself on that day, for a version of myself in a Thai traditional dress, Jatuporn said in an interview posted online ahead of Mondays court ruling, "And today, I dress the same way to show that this is just me, in a Thai traditional dress and to ask -- whats wrong with that?*

Jatuporn, who faces six more charges related to her protest activities, said she would appeal her case all the way up to the Supreme Court if necessary.

The mock fashion show was a satirical take on the political situation of the country  a peaceful public event akin to a street festival with music, food and dancing, Kyle Ward, deputy secretary general of the human rights group Amnesty International, said in an emailed statement. "Participants should not be punished for participating in a peaceful assembly.**

"We urge the authorities to immediately drop all charges against those who have merely exercised their human rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, and release those arbitrarily detained.**

-

Associated Press writer Grant Peck contributed to this report.
Heres the latest from the crossroads of faith, media & culture: 09/12/22

9/12 + 21. Our hearts go out to all those who lost loved ones on 9/11/01, including all those who spoke at yesterdays World Trade Center commemoration shown below. Its been said that America was never more united than on 9/12/01 and, perhaps, never less united than today. I think the speaker at the 12:51 mark spoke for a lot of Americas when he addressed the politicians in attendance and said It took a tragedy to unite our country. Back then nobody cared if you were a Republican, Democrat, age, gender, race or ethnicity. We were united. It took a tragedy to unite us and I want to remind all of you there that it should not take another tragedy to unite our nation because if I have to stand at this podium again or another podium for another event because of lives lost because of dereliction of duty its gonna hurt just like it hurts me.

IMHO: Part of the dereliction of duty the speaker I cited is talking about is the way our supposed leaders certainly appear to be dividing us for political gain. The hard fact is that we do have actual enemies out there in the world who are no doubt counting their lucky stars that weve allowed ourselves to become so manipulated that we dont seem to realize that we dont need a reckoning to learn from the wrongs of the past and that we can respect each others differences without engaging in pointless word wars over pronouns or whatever. The all-too-real enemies of freedom like nothing more than to see us going beyond debating our internal issues with the intent of resolving them to actually hating one another. To paraphrase the classic line from the Pogo comic strip, We have met the enemy and he is NOT us.

For a reminder of that, check out my conversation with Egyptian-American author Cynthia Farahat (The Secret Apparatus: The Muslim Brotherhoods Industry of Death, Simon & Schuster) below the video, followed by a video clip of a 1984 interview with a KGB defector that seems to speak to the current age.

____

Cynthia Farahat wrote the book on terror. The Egyptian-American author, columnist, political analyst, counterterrorism expert, and fellow at the Middle East Forum also co-founded the secular Liberal Egyptian Party in Egypt that advocated for peace with Israel, capitalism, and the separation of mosque and state. She studied Islamic jurisprudence for more than twenty years and co-authored Desecration of A Heavenly Religion, which was officially banned by Al-Azhar University in Cairo in 2008 for its criticism of Egypts blasphemy law.

She found herself on an al-Qaeda-affiliated groups hit list and was officially banned from entering Lebanon for her work fostering regional peace. For almost a decade, she received daily death threats from Islamists. After her brother was tortured, her friend was murdered, and Islamists tried to assassinate her, Farahat immigrated to the United States where she has testified before the U.S. House of Representatives, briefed more than two hundred congressional offices, and advised intelligence and law enforcement agencies. She has received the Speaker of Truth Award from the Endowment for Middle East Truth and the Profile in Courage Award from ACT for America. Her writing has been translated into more than fifteen languages.

In her new book, The Secret Apparatus: The Muslim Brotherhoods Industry of Death, she describes the title group as a clandestine incubator for Islamic terrorism that exports its industry of death around the world, including the United States.

JWK: How did you get on a terrorist hit list?

Cynthia Farahat: Islamists have been following my work very closely since 2003, when I co-founded the first classic liberal secular political party in the history of Modern Egypt. Then-president Hosni Mubaraks regime was stacked by Muslim Brotherhood operatives and their sympathizers. They were monitoring our political party meetings and I ended up under surveillance for almost a decade until I immigrated to the US in 2011. Both Islamists inside and outside the regime realized from my discourse that I have been closely studying them.

In October 2008, an anonymous person sent me an online hit list which included the names and pictures of Egyptian anti-theocracy dissidents who were to be slain. I was on that list. When I first saw it, I assumed it had been compiled by a random Islamist but I later received a phone call from an operative in Egyptian state security who said the list had been composed by an al-Qaeda affiliate in Egypt. He told me that this group worked under the leadership of Egyptian convicted terrorist Abu-Islam Ahmed Abdallah, one of the worlds most dangerous Islamists. Abdallah, was also working with Al-Azhar Islamic University and they were both responsible for creating what is known today as cyber jihad. He is the pioneer of online terror recruitment.

Abdallah had an organization in Cairo where he trained young men to use the internet to advance jihad. While his center is now closed, his online forum on (the) Paltalk chat program is still operational. He was the first Islamist to recruit terrorists via the internet and he started doing this even before the al-Qaedas attacks on September 11, 2001. Under Mubaraks regime, Islamists had almost full freedom to do what they wanted. The state security agent who told me Abdallah was affiliated with al-Qaeda also threatened me, saying he would send Abdallah to my house if I didnt stop using the internet to expose Islamists and their relationship with the regime. I knew it was not an idle threat because I was familiar with Abdallahs relationship with al-Qaeda and the Taliban. And I stopped publishing Arabic Articles online. After President Barack Obama was elected, I knew they had the support they needed in America to destroy Copts, classic liberal Muslims, and everyone who was against jihadism. We felt like hostages.

JWK: You describe the Muslim Brotherhood as a fraternal cult modeled after Joseph Stalins Secret Apparatus that is an incubator for Islamic terrorist organizations and has a one-hundred-year plan to destroy the West. Can you elaborate?

CF: The Muslim Brotherhood is the most sophisticated international criminal enterprise I have ever seen. I studied various organized criminal entities from across the globe and throughout history and I have never seen anything like it. The MB operates a public political group known as the General Apparatus, or the General Office, and a covert wing known as the Secret Apparatus. They have borrowed these terms from Stalins power apparatuses and copied their internal structure. I discuss this extensively in my book The Secret Apparatus: The Muslim Brotherhoods Industry of Death. The Muslim Brotherhood calls its own operation an industry of death.

The Secret Apparatus is heavily operational in North America. In 2004, the FBI uncovered some of their documents and few them were entered into court evidence in the Holy Land Foundation trial in 2009. It is the largest terror funding case in the history of America. Among the documents was one titled The Explanatory Memorandum where they extensively discuss both their covert and overt mission to destroy the United States. Islamists dont just make plans that take place over the span of years and decades, their plans span over centuries. They view themselves as tools and small rings in a large chain aiming to establish Sharia law and dominate the West.

U.S. academia and policy makers are still under the misguided assumption that the Secret Apparatus has been dismantled decades ago. The opposite is true. In my book I provide evidence to this fact from Brotherhoods own words, internal documents, and Arabic public discourse.

JWK: May I ask about your faith? Are you a Muslim? And do you view the Muslim Brotherhood as more of a political terrorist group or a religious terrorist group  or both?

CF: I am not Muslim but I my closest friends in the world are mostly Muslim and I have Muslim family members. I feel uncomfortable talking about my personal beliefs as I lived the first thirty years of my life under a regime that brutalized Coptic Christians and listed our faith in our personal ID cards to facilitate segregation and discrimination against us. No matter where I was in Egypt, I suffered from religious persecution under Mubaraks regime. Things have vastly changed under President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi who significantly reversed this injustice and his government treats Christians as citizens and not hostages like his predecessors.

JWK: Have you received any support from faith communities, particularly the Muslim community?

CF: The vast majority of my supporters and readers are Muslims. Muslim communities have been severely abused by the Brotherhood and their ilk. I dont know any Muslim family who doesnt know someone who has been targeted by Islamic terrorists and specifically the Brotherhood. Its much easier for me to discuss the jihadism with Muslims because they are its first targets.

JWK: Whats your reaction to the recent attempt to assassinate Salman Rushdie?

JWK: Islamists feel emboldened under President Joe Bidens administration, like they felt emboldened under President Barack Obama, and Jimmy Carter. The horrific attack on Salman Rushdie is just the beginning. Both Iran and the Brotherhood have consistently expressed that their biggest target is the United States. A foreign policy of appeasement towards Islamists encourages aggression on U.S. soil.

JWK: Do you feel safe?

CF: I feel safe because I am married to American hero, retired Supervisory Special Agent Jeffrey James Higgins. Since I married him the death threats stopped. But I also rarely entertain this issue in my mind. I have a mission to get the Brotherhood designated as a terrorist group in every Western country. I have written my book, to make sure that, whether I am dead or alive, it will be making my case for me. This is what is important. Everyone dies eventually and, if I have to continue this war from beyond the grave, (then so)be it. It will actually be worse for them to turn me into a martyr. Id like to think that theyre more intelligent than that.

JWK: You have testified before the U.S. House of Representatives, briefed more than two hundred congressional offices and advised intelligence and law enforcement agencies. Do you think this country is taking the threat of exported Islamic terrorist seriously enough?

CF: Sadly, I dont think either law enforcement agencies or law makers know how much trouble this country is in. In my book I discuss how Islamists tied to al-Qaeda and ISIS lobby congress, how they stated that they personally control U.S. intelligence agencys narratives about them. How they have successfully infiltrated every sensitive organ in the U.S. government. I added in my book tools to help law enforcement investigate and counter their terrorism and infiltration stratagems.

JWK: Do you think the American and international media focuses enough attention on the issue?

CF: Unfortunately not. I think the media both nationally and internationally has been extremely commercialized to the point that most news agencies are more in the business of clickbait than actual news reporting and/or adequately analyzing most issues. They are also focused on creating division and partisanship. There are definitely honest journalists and television channels but the majority is morally corrupt, in my opinion.

JWK: Does the open U.S. southern border concern you at all as a security threat through which assassins and other terrorists could enter the country?

CF: Any rational person should be horrified by the U.S. southern border crisis. For decades Islamists have said that they have been utilizing it to smuggle jihadists into America. For example, prominently Islamist Abdullah Al-Nafisi even stated that if they decide to cause a massive bioterror attack against the U.S. it will be through smuggling anthrax through the southern border. Lawmakers know this. It makes me question their motives to keep it open.

JWK: What do you think needs to be done by this country and others to counter the threat you warn of?

CF: The U.S. should learn from its Middle Eastern and Arab counterparts who designated the Brotherhood as a terror group. It is the incubator of the vast majority of Islamic terror groups and I would even argue that groups like al-Qaeda and Islamic State are the MBs military wings. Instead of playing a game of Whack-A-Mole with these terrorists, they should criminalize the source  The Muslim Brotherhood.

_____



A warning from the Soviet grave. The Soviet Union may have been left on ash heap of history but the anti-freedom ideology it was built on appears to have lived in.

Yuri Bezmenov (1939-1993) was a Soviet journalist and a former KGB informant who defected to Canada in 1970 and became known for writing anti-communist books and delivering anti-communist lectures. In 1984, he sat down for an interview with controversial author and filmmaker G. Edward Griffin in which he contended that the KGB was engaged in a multi-decade plot to gradually subvert of the political system of the United States. While his interviewer has been linked to some fringe conspiracies, what Bezmenov describes in the interview does seem to bear a striking resemblance to the sort of things were seeing play out in society today.

I think we should heed his warnings and beware of being manipulated. Totalitarianism can come in the form of religion (any religion, not just Islam) or atheism. Its still totalitarianism and our best defenses against it are vigilance, balance and gratitude that, through no virtue of our own, we have been born into a nation built on a constitution that recognizes that our inalienable rights come from God and not madmen or control freaks of any stripe.

John W. Kennedy is a writer, producer and media development consultant specializing in television and movie projects that uphold positive timeless values, including trust in God.
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak speaks to journalists outside the Federal Court during a court break, in Putrajaya, Malaysia, Aug. 23, 2022.

In a rare move, one of Malaysias sultans on Monday backed the king in saying that royal pardons cannot be granted arbitrarily or through any special treatment, as the ruling party leans on the palace to give one to imprisoned ex-Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Neither Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah Alhaj nor King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah mentioned Najib or anyone else by name in their respective statements. The former PM applied for a royal pardon days after he lost his final appeal for the nations highest court to overturn his conviction for corruption and was sent to prison.

Sharafuddin said he was paying close attention to recent developments in the justice system and agreed with the kings comments from last week indicating that a royal pardon could not be used for the benefit of certain parties.

The Federal Constitution has placed the dignity of the judicial institution at a high level as an independent and authoritative judicial body. The judiciary is the last bastion that needs to be defended to ensure that the administration of justice can be carried out in the best possible way, Sharafuddin said on Monday.

I am happy to express my strong support for the [Kings] speech on Sept. 5 relating to the prerogative power of pardon which cannot be arbitrarily exercised for the benefit of certain parties.

People need to understand that the pardoning process must be carried out in accordance with the laws and procedures framed under the constitution, he added.

The throne is occupied on a rotating basis among Malaysias nine sultans, or royal rulers.

The sultan of Selangor also announced that he had revoked the titles conferred on Najib and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, effective Monday, following their convictions. On Sept. 1, Rosmah was sentenced to 10 years in prison for soliciting and taking bribes.

That same day, Najib, who is now serving a 12-year sentence linked to his role in the 1MDB financial scandal, petitioned the king for a pardon. The parliamentary speaker revealed the news about Najibs pardon application a few days later.

Although Najib retains his parliamentary seat pending the outcome of his petition, he can only contest the next general election if the king pardons him.

While inaugurating a new sharia court complex in Kuantan in Pahang state on Sept. 5, the king quoted a passage from the Koran that encapsulates Islams concept of justice.

The verse states that Islamic justice does not give any exception or special treatment to anyone who commits an offence, be it ourselves, our close friends, family members, nor our parents, said the monarch of Muslim-majority Malaysia.

Thus, the power to mete out punishment and power to give pardon should not be used without proper consideration because we will have to answer to god in the hereafter, he said.

The king made the remarks during a speech in Najibs home state. The king is also from Pahang.

If the law is not carried out consistently and in a fair manner, then justice will not prevail. Because the spirit behind the enactment of a law has been violated. When this happens, then the weak will become victim of those with power, he added.

Supporters of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak gather outside the National Palace in Kuala Lumpur to hand over a petition against his imprisonment, Aug. 24, 2022. [Hasnoor Hussain/Reuters]

Only a day after Najib began serving his sentence on Aug. 23, his supporters gathered outside the national palace to petition the king to grant the former premier a royal pardon.

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, the president of Najibs party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), called a special meeting four days later, and said the organization would be campaigning for a royal pardon for Najib. Zahid himself is facing charges of corruption.

On Aug. 23, the Federal Court upheld Najibs 2020 conviction in a case related to the theft of billions of dollars from 1Malaysia Development Berhad, a sovereign wealth fund, and sent him to prison for abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering.

Meanwhile on Monday, the 69-year-old Najib was in court for an ongoing trial in another case, in which he faces 25 charges of abuse of power and money laundering connected with 2.3 billion ringgit ($551 million) that went missing from 1MDB.

The prosecution said Najib was scheduled be taken to see a doctor later in the day as his medication for blood pressure has been changed and it has [had] adverse effects.

Najibs daughter, Nooryana Najwa, said on social media that a test on Monday morning showed her fathers blood pressure to be dangerously high.

On humanitarian grounds, our family pleads with the prison authority, the hospital and [PM] Ismail Sabri [Yaakobs] government to do the right thing and allow for dad to receive proper medical care and observation, she said.

Royaltys activist posture

According to an analyst, the king and the sultan of Selangor made their comments in different contexts.

The Agong [king spoke] when officiating a syariah [sharia] court complex, while the sultan [spoke] in relation to the palaces announcement to strip Najib and Rosmah of honorary titles. In any event, both are saying that the principles of justice have to be upheld, and there is an institutionalized process for royal pardon, Tunku Mohar Mokhtar, of the International Islamic University Malaysia, told BenarNews.

This is in the wake of calls from UMNO to petition the monarchy to pardon Najib. The monarchy is assuring the public that it is above politics. It also urges the people to respect the independence of the judiciary, he said.

The sultan of Perak also recently spoke in support of the independence of the judiciary, Tunku Mohar noted.

It is not common for royalty to comment on royal pardons, but in doing so, it is taking an activist posture to position itself above the current polemics. It also projects itself as an impartial institution, he said.

The kings comments could be interpreted in two ways, another analyst said.

It could be inferred that the king may not be too keen to pardon those who were definitively adjudged and punished by the judicial system. But it could also be interpreted to mean that, if indeed pardon was to be granted, it would be to those truly deserving it, Oh Ei Sun, senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, told BenarNews.

And Najibs supporters have been clamoring for his pardon which they feel he unreservedly deserves.

Nik Shukry Ramli and Nisha David in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.
A Filipina lights a candle at a memorial at the Commission on Human Rights in Quezon City, Metro Manila, where families of drug-war victims gathered to pray ahead of All Saints Day, Oct. 29, 2021.

An international human rights group is calling on the United Nations to scrutinize the Philippines for officer-involved killings under the new government as part of the nations war on drugs.

Such killings are taking place since the Marcos administration succeeded the Duterte administration in late June, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday. During his six years in power, former President Rodrigo Duterte drew scrutiny from at home and abroad for his bloody crackdown on narcotics, including from the U.N. human rights chief and the world bodys International Criminal Court.

U.N. member-states should not be fooled by the baseless claims from the new Philippine government that the rights situation has suddenly improved, said Lucy McKernan, HRWs director in Geneva .

Continued U.N. scrutiny of the Philippines is vitally important because drug war killings are still common and police impunity for rights violations remains the norm, she said.

Since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took office on June 30, 72 drug-related shootings by police have occurred in the Philippines, New York-based HRW said, citing Dahas , a program of the Third World Studies Center of the University of the Philippines that tracks media-reported drug deaths.

Marcos office did not immediately respond to a BenarNews request for comment on the statement from Human Rights Watch.

In 2021, an internal investigation by the justice department found that in many cases, police officers could be prosecuted for such killings because they did not follow protocol.

At least 8,663 Filipinos were killed after Duterte took office in mid-2016, Human Rights Watch said, citing information from the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

Karapatan, a local human rights alliance, said that figure could be under reported. Rights groups had previously said the numbers could be about three times higher.

While the Philippine government may paint a different picture, we believe that the human rights situation remains dire, Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay told BenarNews.

There are no indications on any substantial change in the situation nor on the policies being implemented by the government that addresses pressing concerns on human rights, justice and accountability issues.

Marcos has promised to carry on Dutertes drug war but within the rule of law. Duterte is the father of Marcos vice-presidential running mate, Sara Duterte.

On Monday, the national police chief said the force would not change its strategy to fight back if drug suspects attacked its officers.

Definitely they have to defend themselves, but we will not instigate [incidents], Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. told reporters.

During his years as president, Duterte often told police officers to shoot suspects if they believed their lives were in danger.

The Philippine National Polices strategy would be different under the new administration, Azurin said.

Asked if there would be more arrests and fewer deaths, he said: I think we have been doing that.

Universal Periodic Review

In November, the U.N.s Human Rights Council in Geneva is scheduled to hold its Universal Periodic Review where it will assess the Philippines human rights record. The last review occurred in 2017, barely a year into Dutertes term.

Meanwhile, the Marcos administration last week officially asked the International Criminal Court in The Hague to not resume its investigation into the Duterte administrations drug war.

The countrys Office of the Solicitor General, in a letter via the Philippine Embassy to the Netherlands, said the ICC had no jurisdiction over the situation in the Philippines.

The Philippines officially left the ICC in 2019, a year after Duterte withdrew the country from the Rome Statute, the international treaty which created the tribunal.

Marcos has refused calls from civil society groups for the Philippines to rejoin the ICC, saying Manila could conduct its own investigations.
Tehrans mounting violations of the Iran Deal and its accelerating march to a nuclear weapons arsenal By Amb. Dore Gold

web posted September 12, 2022 Since the start of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the West, Tehran has managed to create an impression that it has kept to the terms of the various agreements that were reached, and it was the West and, above all, the United States which violated past agreements. There were two purposes to pursuing this diplomatic strategy. First, placing the onus for the breakdown in these talks on Washington provided a critical instrument for driving a wedge between the United States and its European allies. Secondly, Iran succeeded in exacerbating the domestic debate within the United States over the Iranian question by leaving the impression that hawkish forces in the American government were sustaining the hostility between the two countries and that Iran was the innocent party in this conflict. But now, as the United States and Iran appear to be on the verge of finalizing a new nuclear deal, an important debate has emerged between the parties which could correct the misimpressions that have arisen in recent years. Indeed, it is Iran that has violated past agreements with the West. The most glaring issue has been Tehrans refusal to provide an answer to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about uranium particles that were discovered at three undeclared sites in Iran. In the American tradition, a disarmament negotiation with former adversaries is legitimate if it is based on a credible inspection system. It was President Ronald Reagan who quoted the famous Russian proverb, Trust but verify. It is here that the Iranians were repeatedly caught red-handed.

Iran lied when it claimed that the heavy water reactor core at the Arak plutonium reactor had been filled with cement

and decommissioned. Iran presented a photoshopped picture of the filled core. Looking back, Iran proved consistently that it had been a totally unreliable partner for the West. In November 2004, the IAEA determined Iran had been in breach of its Safeguards Agreement when it declared that many Iranian activities in the areas of uranium enrichment, uranium conversion, and plutonium separation were not declared to the agency. The Iranians sometimes razed six buildings to hide evidence, like at the Lavizan  Shian complex. They dug out the earth around these buildings to a depth of several meters so that incriminating soil samples could not be taken. As articulated by President Ebrahim Raisi on August 29, 2022, the official Iranian position was short and to the point: Without resolving the safeguards issues, it is meaningless to talk about an agreement. In other words, the disagreement over the uranium particles was not just a minor infraction but rather so severe that it could scuttle the whole Iranian nuclear deal. Moreover, Tehran nowhere denied the Western charge; but rather, its response contained an implicit admission that it was largely accurate. Since 2018, the focus of the IAEA has been on three nuclear sites: Marivan, Varamin, and Turquzabad (see map below). The number of suspected nuclear sites might be considerably more significant, according to a report in Foreign Policy on August 29, 2022. Many of the Iranian violations are particularly severe. Under the original JCPOA from 2015, Iran was entitled to operate 5,060 first-generation IR-1 centrifuges until 2025. Yet on April 10, 2021, Iran began testing an advanced centrifuge known as the IR-9, which could enrich uranium 50 times faster than the older IR-1. Nearly three months later, Iran started to process uranium gas to manufacture uranium metal that could be used in the core of a nuclear weapon. It was not permitted to make uranium metal until 2031, according to the JCPOA, yet it moved ahead anyway, ten years ahead of schedule. This month the IAEA reported that Iran now had enough 60 percent enriched uranium so that it had already crossed the threshold for one atomic bomb. What is clear is that Iran is determined to race ahead and build a nuclear weapons arsenal. This was further demonstrated when Israeli security services unveiled a secret nuclear archive in Tehran that exposed Iranian intentions to return to the option of building nuclear weapons. Iran told the international community that it had no such intentions, but the archive proved that the exact opposite was the case. Finally, Iranian work on a nuclear weapons program has not been confined to enriching uranium alone. Already in 2011, the IAEA reported that Tehran was working on redesigning a missile re-entry vehicle. This involved the removal of the conventional high explosive payload from the warhead of the Shahab-3 missile and replacing it with a new payload assessed as being nuclear in nature. Thus, all aspects of a new nuclear arsenal were being developed. Ambassador Dore Gold has served as President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs since 2000. From June 2015 until October 2016 he served as Director-General of the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Previously he served as Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israels Ambassador to the UN (1997-1999), and as an advisor to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Home
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The Indian Navy expands further with the addition of the stealth frigate Taragiri after much fanfare when the INS Vikrant joined the maritime force. It is very significant that the INS Taragiri, an Indian-built frigate, made its official debut on September 11.

India Builds Its Naval Force

The consecutive events exemplify the Indian Navy's development from a buyer to a builder over time. As of 1964, India has produced over 90 naval vessels ranging in size from small boats to INS Vikrant, reported Indian Defense News.

A third of the frigate class was included under Project 17A, and these ships were deployed by a firm based in Mumbai called Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDL).

Several months ago, MDL deployed two surface combatants for the Indian Navy: Surat, the fourth missile destroyer of the Visakhapatnam class, and Udaygiri, the second stealth frigate of the Nilgiri class, per Naval Technology.

Based on the information provided by MDL, its indigenous element is 75%. The ship is assembled using an integrated design methodology that involves constructing the hull blocks in various places and incorporating them into the shipyard's slipway. Its hull was set on September 10, 2020, and it is anticipated to be delivered by August 2025.

India's Homemade Stealth Frigate

According to MDL, the 3,510-ton ship was designed by the navy's Directorate of Naval Design, and the Warship Oversight Team (Mumbai) monitored its development, noted India Today.

Stealth Frigate Taragiri has 149 meters long and 17.8 meters wide and has a dual gas turbine and main diesel engines that make about 28+ knots. It also displaces 6,670 tons.

Read Also: Priscilla Chan: Who is Mark Zuckerberg's Wife, How Did She Build Her Fortune?

These P-17A frigate class ships are composed of low carbon, micro alloy-grade steel manufactured by SAIL (Steel Authority of India Limited) which is warship grade steel.

Unlike the Indian Navy, which is getting newer ships for its naval forces, this stealth frigate will be outfitted with state-of-the-art weapons to compete head-to-head in contemporary maritime warfare.

Other essential systems include a sensor suite, a sophisticated response software solution, an integrated platform control system, upper modular living quarters, a sophisticated electrical distribution system, and other cutting-edge features.

Topping up the necessary systems for the INS Tanagiri's designs is a defense against aerial attack and anti-ship defenses, despite being smaller than a destroyer.

A vertical launch and long-range surface-to-air missile systems are its primary offensive weapons when attacking or defending itself. Dual 30-mm rapid-fire machine guns are the close-in weapon system (CIWS) for very close defense, followed by an India-made triple tube torpedo launcher/rocket launcher for taking out submarines.

The Frigate's 75% indigenous content is an advancement compared to the P-17 Shivalik-class ships, which is what it replaces. More than 100 MSMEs and a substantial chunk of domestic equipment and machinery from the nation's large industrial houses would be incorporated into INS Taragiri.

The "Make in India" policy has a renewed focus on developing the necessary industries to produce locally relevant technology, reducing India's reliance on importing technology from the west.

Development and building of the Stealth Frigate Taragiri; after the INS Vikrant shows a thrust by New Delhi to develop and construct its weapon technology separate from the west.

Related Article: India Prepares Third Aircraft Carrier To Reach Status of a Blue Water Superpower

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
J. Jay Anderson is the president of Pittsfield Cooperative Bank. The bank has been listed on the Fast 50, a list of the 50 fastest growing commercial lenders in Massachusetts.
Violence inside the Capitol building as a members of a pro-Trump mob stormed the building, Jan. 6, 2021. In America, the rights enemies tend to be either wild exaggerations or outright fantasies  antifa supersoldiers, totalitarian globalists, satanic pedophiles, Michelle Goldberg writes.
Several conservation groups argue that because Montana and Idaho are hellbent on eradicating wolves, a court should instate equally aggressive measures aimed at restoring federal protection for gray wolves.

In both of the Rocky Mountain states, lawmakers have relaxed rules about wolf hunting. For example, Idaho now allows private contractors to kill wolves, permits year-round trapping on private land, and allows hunters and trappers to kill an unlimited number.

Montana has also loosened trapping rules and increased the number of wolves that can be killed. It has drawn fire for nearly decimating a pack of wolves that spend most of the time inside the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park but were hunted after crossing the border into state land.

Montana can use bait to lure wolves, as well as use night scopes to hunt them, means not usually allowed for other species.

While wolves are protected in many states under the federal Endangered Species Act, they were delisted in Idaho, Montana, eastern Washington, eastern Oregon and northern Utah because of a congressional legislative rider in 2011. A court battle in Wyoming also booted the wolves from protection there.

Supporters of more permissive wolf hunting measures have argued a high wolf population in some places means the animals are killing more elk, deer and moose. Some hunters have said more wolves mean fewer ungulates for them, although biologists have reported other predators have a significant impact on elk.

However, groups, including The Humane Society of the United States, the Center for Biological Diversity, and the Sierra Club, have filed a federal lawsuit arguing that the wolves need emergency protection in the two states to prevent wolves from being virtually eradicated from the northern Rockies as a result of the new laws.

Because the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service failed to make a decision on whether the gray wolves warrant the designation threatened or endangered, they argue in the lawsuit that courts must order the federal agency to protect them. Late last year, the FWS made a finding that information filed by the groups last year to re-list the wolves presented credible and substantial information that human-caused mortality may be a potential threat to species in Montana.

The federal wildlife service also addressed the new laws passed by the states saying the new laws may be inadequate to address this potential threat.

Because the FWS missed its own deadline to make a determination, the groups are asking the court to order it to make a decision about whether federal protection is warranted.

The Endangered Species Acts substantive protections cannot safeguard a species facing extinction until the species is formally listed as endangered or threatened, the lawsuit states.

Because Idaho and Montana are hellbent on eradicating wolves from their states, these animals desperately need federal protection now, said Andrea Zaccardi, carnivore conservation legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity. The Fish and Wildlife Service cant stand idly by while these states let hunters and trappers kill hundreds of wolves every year.

The post Groups urge federal courts to relist wolves in Montana, Idaho to protect them appeared first on Daily Montanan.
LEWISTON - Lewiston Fire Department crews responded to a reported fire at 604 Vista Avenue at 10:26 Sunday morning.

The 911 caller had stated the fire was in the garage and all occupants had exited the structure.

Upon arrival crews found smoke coming from the garage and gable vents of the house. The initial attack by firefighters knocked the fire down in the garage. The house and attic area were checked for fire extension with none found.

Smoke was evacuated from the structure and then turned over to fire investigators for cause determination.

The department responded with 3 structural engines, 3 ambulances, 2 fire investigators and 1 chief officer for a total of 18 personnel. Clearwater Paper Fire Department responded to assist as part of the Valley Automatic Aid Agreement.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. The damage estimate to the structure and contents was approximately 50,000 dollars. No injuries were reported.
Papua New Guinea was rocked by a massive 7.6 earthquake on Sunday, with photos and videos showing the destruction left behind by landslides, including cracked roads and damaged buildings.

Currently, the extent of the damage of the tremor remains unclear but images showed debris strewn across highways and cracks in the middle of roads. The quake was found to have struck at a depth of 90 kilometers near Kainantu, a town with roughly 8,500 residents, said the United States Geological Survey.

Massive 7.6 Earthquake

While authorities did not initially report any deaths and there was no official confirmation of the damage caused, residents took to social media platforms to share photographs of the destruction the quake left behind. The images showed cracked roads, damaged cars, and felled items from supermarket shelves.

Watch | 7.6 magnitude earthquake hits #PapuaNewGuinea. US Geological Survey says the quake, with depth of 90 kilometers, strikes near town of #Kainantu. Power outages and damage to buildings reported in parts of the country.#Earthquake pic.twitter.com/pMo19W7PYv  NCIB NEWS NETWORK (@NCIB_INDIA_NEWS) September 11, 2022

Major earthquake

Papua New Guinea

Sunday, Sep 11, 2022

9:46 AM local time pic.twitter.com/mPnoeZKfWv  Christopher WebbVOTE (@cwebbonline) September 11, 2022

If you've ever wondered how the land buckles and distorts to this degree in an earthquake. Well, here is a real time example as it happens:



"Magnitude 7.7 earthquake strikes NW Lae Papua New guinea massive cracks in the earth appear around people." #Earthquake #Disaster pic.twitter.com/xsp2Gmvp8x  GANGA TODAY (@gangatoday1) September 11, 2022

In a statement, the United States National Tsunami Warning Center reassured us that there was no threat of tsunami waves due to the quake. Earlier in the day, the agency said that hazardous tsunami waves were possible within 1,000 kilometers along the coasts of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, as per CNN. There was an earthquake of a similar size that hit the country's remote highlands in 2018 that resulted in the death of more than 60 people and the injury of 500 others. That massive quake destroyed houses, caused landslides, and damaged a major gas plant.

ALERT  Large ground cracks appear in several locations of Goroka after massive earthquake strikes Papua New Guinea pic.twitter.com/ncmbpiQwuc  Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) September 11, 2022

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Papua New Guinea is known to be vulnerable to earthquakes due to being along the "Ring of Fire" in the Pacific Ocean, where shifting tectonic plates push against each other, causing the quakes.

According to Channel News Asia, in an update on Sunday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that at least four people have died as a result of the quake.

Casualties and Destruction

One victim lost his life during a landslide in Rai Coast, Madang, with three others buried in Wau, Morobe, said OCHA's PNG disaster management team in a Twitter post. It added that the regional power grid, internet cables, and the regional highway were damaged, but noted that the airport was operational.

Kessy Sawang, a local member of parliament, said, "There has been widespread damage," adding that a landslide had buried homes and "split" one village where people had "lost their houses."

Due to limited communications in the area and few government resources as well as paved roads, assessment and rescue efforts were difficult to conduct. Small aviation companies and missionary groups became involved in airlifting some of the injured residents across the rugged jungle landscape.

The UN report noted that people had been injured by falling structures or debris and that there was damage to some health care centers, homes, rural roads, and highways. Nellie Pumai of Manolos Aviation, which had transported one person out and was trying to return, said that it was very difficult due to the terrain and the weather.

State-backed communications provider PNG DataCo reported an impact on its undersea cable network, resulting in widespread disruptions. Furthermore, power infrastructure was damaged in affected areas, causing an outage across the Eastern Highlands, Reuters reported.



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@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Hosted by the World Bank with technical leadership from WHO

The new financial intermediary fund (FIF) for pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response (PPR) was officially established by the FIF Governing Board at its inaugural meeting from 8-9 September 2022.

The fund will provide a dedicated stream of additional, long-term financing to strengthen PPR capabilities in low- and middle-income countries and address critical gaps through investments and technical support at the national, regional, and global levels. The fund will draw on the strengths and comparative advantages of key institutions engaged in PPR, provide complementary support, improve coordination among partners, incentivize increased country investments, serve as a platform for advocacy, and help focus and sustain much-needed, high-level attention on strengthening health systems.

The first calls for proposals for investments to be funded by the FIF will open in November 2022.

The World Bank will serve as the FIFs trustee and host the Secretariat, which will include technical staff seconded from the World Health Organization (WHO). The Governing Board will appoint a Technical Advisory Panel, chaired by WHO, and comprising leading experts to assess and make recommendations to the Governing Board on the technical merits of proposals for funding, ensuring linkages to the International Health Regulations, as part of the broader global PPR architecture.
Injection of a commonly used drug around the tumour on the operating table, just prior to surgery shows significant and substantial increase in cure rates and survival

Dr Rajendra Badwe, Director of Mumbai-based Tata Memorial Centre, presented the results of a landmark multi-centre Indian breast cancer study at the ongoing European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Paris, one of the most prestigious cancer conferences in the world held annually in Europe.

The trial in women undergoing breast cancer surgery involved the injection of a commonly used drug around the tumor on the operating table, just prior to surgery. The results of this trial show that this simple, low-cost intervention significantly and substantially increases the cure rates and survival with a benefit that is ongoing for several years after surgery.

The injection requires no additional expertise, is inexpensive, and can result in saving up to 100,000 lives annually globally. These benefits are substantial and were achieved with an intervention the cost of which was less than Rs 100 per patient. For comparison, benefits of far lesser magnitude have been achieved in early breast cancer patients by much more expensive, targeted drugs which cost more than ten lakhs per patient.

Dr Badwe commented, "This is the first study of its kind globally, that has shown a sizable benefit by single intervention prior to surgery. If implemented across the world, it has the capability to save over 100,000 lives annually. For scientists, it opens the window of peri-operative intervention to modulate the environment of cancer in such a way as to prevent its deleterious reaction to the act of surgery. Evolving low-cost interventions for cancer has been a mission of Tata Memorial Centre and Department of Atomic Energy for the benefit of Indian and global population and this study, supported by the Department of Atomic Energy, is a major step towards Atma nirbhar Bharat."
At this year's Most Awards, media professionals congregated for a night of glitz and glam to celebrate and recognise esteemed media professionals, owners and agencies who have delivered excellence in terms of service delivery, knowledge and innovation.

Thabang Skwambane, Gwen Bezuidenhout, Reagan Kok

Among the stars recognised was our very own Gwen Bezuidenhout, and Chris Botha, who both were recipients of the Media Agency Legend Award and the Shepard Award respectively. Bezuidenhout was honoured for her work on FCB Joburgs Toyota account, which spans three decades. Botha received the award for having a significant media presence and for continuously giving back to the industry.

In an industry where the emphasis is generally not placed on the individual, and loyalty is hard to come by, Tannie Gwen, as she is affectionately known, has set the standard for teamwork, consummate professionalism and career long dedication.

We are thrilled and honoured to have Gwen recognised for her contribution to the agency and the advertising industry at large. She has often set the benchmark for hard-earned media value and authentic media negotiations. We therefore cannot think of anyone more deserving of this award. Congratulations Gwen! says Joey Khuvutlu, Group MD of FCB Joburg.

Chris Botha, Group MD at Park Advertising

Bezuidenhout has been with FCB Joburg for over 30 years, working exclusively on the Toyota South Africa account, driving client growth, building trust and ensuring that the Toyota brand is well represented in the South African media landscape. As a result, she has become one of the most highly regarded and respected media practitioners in the country.

Much like Bezuidenhout, our media rockstar, Chris Botha, continues to be an asset to the advertising industry. He has been a driving force in using his voice and expertise to uplift and empower his peers and industry at large.

We are incredibly proud and honoured to have Gwen and Chris walk away with these prestigious awards. They epitomise what it means to commit to providing the best possible outcome for the agencies, clients, and the advertising industry. They truly are Nahana legends! concludes Thabang Skwambane CEO of Nahana Communications Group.




The KwaMpumuza Skills Development Centre in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, is set to create about 175 job opportunities to assist in alleviating unemployment faced by the country.

Image source: Tima Miroshnichenko from Pexels

Higher Education and Training Minister, Dr Blade Nzimande, officiated the sod turning to mark the construction of Phase 1 of the centre during a ceremony held on Friday.

The R105 million project is the first intra-SETA (Sector Education and Training Authority) collaboration infrastructure project undertaken by the Construction Education & Training Authority (CETA) and Wholesale and Retail Sector Education and Training Authority (W&RSETA).

The project will benefit the community of Vulindlela and rural communities in the surrounding areas, particularly the youth.

Speaking during the ceremony, Nzimande said the building of KwaMpumuza Skills Development Centre proves that government is committed to skills and infrastructure development, with a particular focus on young people.

He said with the construction of the centre, he sees many possibilities, including the value chain from agriculture to retail.

This project will spur and become an anchor for this rural community development from different facets, Nzimande said.

The centre will have administration, hospitality and retail hubs; two CETA related workshops; lecture halls; an abattoir and gatehouse.

Amongst the skills development courses to be offered are agroprocessing (meat processing and feed load management); brick laying; aircon and refrigeration; electrical; painting, and decorating.

It will also offer plumbing; heat pump; carpentry and joinery; property maintenance; geyser installation; road maintenance, and retail related trades.

The centre will further offer hair dressing; restaurant management; spa/massage parlour and beauty management courses.

Nzimande said the department, through the work of SETAs and all stakeholders involved, is marking yet another gain in the achievement of National Skills Development Plan (NSDP).

He said the National Skills Development Plan is aimed at supporting the growth of the public college system as one of the key solutions to the countrys skills challenges.

Similarly, the Minister said, the goal of the NSDP is to provide access to critical skills to as many people as possible.

This construction of this centre will greatly benefit the work of our Decade of the Artisan programme, which is headed by the Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, whose goal is to produce 30,000 artisans annually by 2030.

"The programme is in line with the goal of governments National Development Plan, which has recognised the importance of investing in artisan programmes to grow our economy, Nzimande said.

The Minister said skills development centres are a bridge between main campuses of post-school learning opportunities, which are currently located in bigger towns and cities.

The skills development centres are located within rural and townships communities in the main, thereby widening access to skills, learning and training opportunities, especially for our unemployed youth.

It is also important that these facilities are used optimally to benefit as many as possible; hence importance for CETs (Community Education and Training) programmes also to be run at this centre.

"CET colleges are important in addressing the high unemployment rate among young people, which has become a time ticking bomb if not attended to urgently, Nzimande said.

It is cool to be an artisan

Nzimande also used the occasion to encourage youth to enrol in Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges, reiterating that "it is cool to be an artisan".

Nzimande highlighted some the benefits of enrolling in TVET colleges, including practical skills to prepare students for the workplace and to empower them to create jobs.

You will complete your studies with theoretical and practical skills that will prepare you for the world of work. You will leave the college with skills that employers are looking for. TVET colleges produce highly employable graduates, as research has shown.

There are many employment opportunities for artisans, and most importantly, to create your own jobs, Nzimande said.
Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has called on South Africans to travel domestically to get a better understanding of the affordable, exciting and world class attractions that are available on our doorstep, saying that Tourism Month, which is celebrated throughout the month of September, also serves as an opportunity to promote domestic tourism and create a culture of travel amongst South Africans.

Source: SA Tourism

Speaking at the launch of Tourism Month, which took place in the Western Cape at !Khwa ttu, Sisulu said that the country celebrates Tourism Month to highlight and bring to the fore the importance of the tourism sector, its contribution to the South African economy and the potential it has to transform the trajectory of the country.

Tourism Month is in line with our countrys vision to ignite inclusive economic growth, sustainable job creation, and transformation, which are all critical for our industry and we need to aim to continue with our collective efforts in driving this.

Sisulu explained that Tourism Month also aims to generate awareness of the contribution that the tourism industry makes to provincial and national economic growth and job creation.

Tourism sector recovery

The Department of Tourism recently put out the Draft Framework for Community Participation in Tourism (FCPT) for public comments and is in the process of finalising it.

"The FCPT in line with the Tourism Sector Recovery Plan, emphasises the importance of developing and reinforcing domestic, regional, and local tourism that is inclusive and prioritises community well-being. The objective is to ensure that tourism provides maximum benefit to communities where tourism serves as a catalyst.

The goal of this FCPT is to guide the department, provincial tourism departments, and other key tourism stakeholders in their efforts to encourage community participation in the tourism sector and, as a result, to increase the positive impact tourism can have on local economic development and community quality of life, Sisulu said.

Lauding the sector for its 2022 tourism performance thus far, Sisulu shared data for the first half of the year, which shows that 15.2 million domestic trips were taken, marking a 114% increase when compared to the same period in 2021. This is way above the same period in 2019, which saw 8.6 million domestic trips taken.

Reinventing SA tourism

This performance, said Sisulu, is testimony to the strides South Africas tourism sector has made to reinvent itself and once again draw visitors into the country. This years Tourism Month celebrations are incredibly special because we are recognising how far we have come as a sector, despite everything we have been through in the last few years.

Sisulu said the sector is also seeing a steady rebound of business events, with South African Tourism having successfully hosted their flagship shows Meetings Africa and Africas Travel Indaba in person this year.

Our international and domestic numbers are increasing gradually, signalling that the sector is well on its way to recovery. It is predicted by the UNWTO that the tourism sector will return to 2019 levels of activity in 2024.

"South Africans have supported and sustained the tourism sector when the world wasnt coming.

Domestic tourism has been leading the sectors recovery and continues to be the cornerstone of our industry. This is a result of the concerted effort by the tourism sector to place a bigger focus on domestic tourism and 'revenge tourism'.

This recovery is evident in the domestic tourism performance figures for the first half of 2022, with holiday trips increasing, said Sisulu. Domestic travel figures have exceeded 2019 which is really fantastic and in the first half of the year, South Africa recorded over a 100% increase in domestic trips compared to the same period in 2021.

Increasing interest in local travel also brings renewed hope to the tourist industry. Since the travel restrictions were lifted new and seasoned travel enthusiasts are wanting to find out where they can indulge their wanderlust closer to home and looking online for 'things to do' in cities and small dorpies across the country.

I would like to encourage all South Africans to use this Tourism Month to go out, have fun and explore their surroundings but also to join in the festivities in all nine provinces as we not only celebrate tourism month but Heritage month as well.

Take a Sho't Left with South African Tourism and view discounts from participating airlines, hotel groups, tour operators and tourist attractions this Tourism Month.
Flooding caused by the collapse of a mine dam wall in the Free State province swept away houses and cars on Sunday, 11 September, the provincial government said, killing one and injuring another 40.

The disaster occurred in the diamond mining town of Jagersfontein at around 6am, the government said, forcing officials to evacuate scores of residents to nearby farms.

One person was declared dead after their body was recovered, while 40 people, including one pregnant woman and four individuals with fractured limbs, have been taken to hospitals for treatment.

The government said in a statement that search and rescue efforts are continuing at the dormant diamond mine, which was once owned by De Beers, a unit of Anglo American.

Residents of the mining town of Jagersfontein in the Free State are being evacuated after the mine dam burst at around 06:00 on Sunday, 11 September 2022 causing flooding in parts of the town. pic.twitter.com/5p6iTuWin6  MDN NEWS (@MDNnewss) September 11, 2022

"A detailed report on the circumstances surrounding the incident will be released upon compilation," the office of the Free State Premier said.

Minister of mineral resources and energy Gwede Mantashe told reporters that nine houses were swept away while 20 were completely damaged by flooding from the tailings dam.

"Compensation for fatalities, compensation in terms of damage to property will be taken as a responsibility of the company that owns the slimes dam," he said.

Electricity supply impacted

State-owned power utility Eskom said in a separate statement it lost bulk electricity supply in the area when its Rietkuil substation was engulfed by mud and aims to restore supply to the Jagersfontein mine before the end of the day.

"It is impossible to estimate when supply will be restored or to determine the extent of the damage," Eskom said.

The flooding damaged cellphone towers, hitting communications, and affected drinking water, while some roads were cut off. Many sheep have also been washed away, non-governmental organisation, Gift of the Givers said.

Free State Cogta MEC Mxolisi Dukwana speaks to @MichelleL_Craig about government's intervention in Jagersfontein following a mudslide that left scores of people destitute.



Watch: https://t.co/Gb2Gx49Dtd#Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/G5jBzWJeBh  Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) September 12, 2022

Mobile operator Vodacom told Reuters that two of its impacted base station sites are now back online after deploying generators to power them, while rival MTN said it is looking for an alternative way to access a tower it shares with others in order to restore power and services.

The Minerals Council industry body said it had reached out to authorities to offer whatever practical support and assistance that the industry can provide.
$250,000 BUSD donation will fund six month pilot project to empower women with the knowledge and skills to thrive in a Web3 future. First courses taking place in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, and Cape Town, South Africa, in October, this year.

Binance Charity, the philanthropic arm of Binance, the worlds leading cryptocurrency and blockchain infrastructure provider, and Women in Tech, have announced a flagship global partnership to provide blockchain educational courses to 2,800 women from vulnerable communities across Brazil and Africa. Binance Charity is donating $250,000 BUSD for a six month pilot project to empower women with the knowledge and skills to thrive in a Web3 future, with the first courses taking place in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, and Cape Town, South Africa, in October, this year.

The size of the global blockchain market is expected to grow from $4.93bn in 2021 to more than $200bn by 2028. Yet, for the past four decades the gender gap in tech has widened, with only one woman in every five people working in the industry today. Providing professional training to the massive career opportunities set to open within the blockchain industry for women is a shared goal of Binance and Women in Tech an international non-profit organisation with a mission to close the gender gap across the tech sector.

Binance believes the future of crypto should be built by all, not the few so were creating certified courses and removing financial barriers for women, especially those from vulnerable communities, to study and train. It is important to us at Binance and Women-in-Tech that quality blockchain education, innovation, and research opportunities are within everyones reach, said Helen Hai, VP of Binance and head of Binance Charity.

Courses will be offered in classes of 25 to young women aged 15-25 by qualified trainers in person, online or as a hybrid. The Web3 courses will be designed by Binance Academy and adapted to meet local context Courses will include:

Blockchain Fundamentals

Crypto fundamentals

Decentralisation

Web3 and the Metaverse

Through our hybrid model of distance and in-person learning, women can train to pursue a career in blockchain regardless of their existing developer skills. Classes will be designed for complete beginners and will include skills such as web development, front-end development, full-stack development and complete with the Blockchain modules.

We believe that education can truly transform lives. Not only does it contribute to social justice, but more importantly, education contributes to the achievement of ones full potential. It teaches skills and knowledge, fostering opportunities for sustainable impact. We look forward to our partnership with Binance, making blockchain education accessible to all, especially those women and girls who have been previously disadvantaged, said Ayumi Moore Aoki, founder and CEO of Women in Tech.

The Brazil pilot programme will take place in Morro dos Prazeres, Rio de Janeiro, for one of the first cohorts of 50 women, over the course of the following five months another 300 women will be signed up to the program countrywide. The South Africa pilot will take place in Cape Town at the Philippi Village Tech Hub in the Philipp Township for an additional 50 women. Over the duration of the six months, further programmes will be rolled out across Zambia, Nigeria, Senegal, Morocco, Burundi, Kenya, Ghana, Ivory Coast.

This project is part of the Binance Scholar Program, which will provide ongoing educational and professional support to students once they complete their courses. The global program was launched last month with the IT Generations project, offering 1,000 Ukrainians full scholarships to study in tech-related courses. The Binance Scholar Program hopes to enable the next generation of digital leaders to develop their skills, knowledge and experience without financial barriers.




A recent advertising parody has caused quite a stir at the watering hole, and left consumers questioning whether Hippo.co.za may have been out of line.

Image source: Michal Bednarek  123RF.com

The advert, which has already garnered over half a million views on YouTube alone, is a parody of Outsurances saver advertisements that appears to spoof the original advertisements that featured Katlego Maboe as presenter. In the advert, a female driver and male passenger travel in a car, while discussing car insurance. The male passenger, who bears a striking resemblance to Maboe, is then ousted from the vehicle, when it becomes apparent that the driver could have saved more on her current insurance, had she used Hippo.co.zas platform to compare insurance quotes.

After no doubt seeing purple, Outsurance instituted urgent proceedings to interdict Hippos conduct, arguing that the advertisement implies that Outsurance overcharges its clients and creates an impression that the insurer cannot be trusted to offer competitive short term insurance products. Outsurance further argued that the advertisement constitutes an anti-competitive act, that the advert infringes its common law and intellectual property rights, and that the advert contravenes the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Acts General Code of Conduct, the South African Insurance Associations Code of Conduct, and the Advertising Regulatory Boards (ARB) Codes of Advertising. The matter was, however, dismissed by the Pretoria High Court, after it was held that Outsurance had failed to prove the requisite level of urgency. As a result, Outsurance was ordered to pay the costs of the application. The advert will also continue to feature across media platforms.

This article is limited to the regulation of advertising, specifically.

Regulating body

The ARB is a self-regulatory, membership-based entity which makes decisions that guide both its members and broadcasters, in practice. The recent decision handed down by the Supreme Court of Appeal in the matter of ARB & Others v Bliss Brands confirms that while the ARB does not have jurisdiction over non-members, it may still consider the advertising and issue decisions relating to adverts created by agencies and brands that do not belong to the industry body, for the benefit of its members and broadcasters. This is important, as the ARBs decision will guide whether its members elect to publish or broadcast a particular advertisement or not (based on its determination of whether it deems an advertisement as being contrary to its Code).

While it is difficult to comment on Outsurances specific arguments without having had sight of the papers, it is likely that Outsurances legal team would have referenced and relied on the general principles contained in the ARBs Code. One such provision regulates truthful presentation. Those who have seen the advertisement will recall that the driver, after seeing the Hippos smartphone, refers to the fact that she could have saved R300 on her existing insurance quote. In terms of the ARBs Code, Hippo should have had credible documentary evidence at hand to support this claim before the advert was published. It is insinuated that the Hippo mascot has all the receipts necessary to back the claim, saved on his trusty smartphone. The other relevant principles contained in the ARBs Code include the rules governing price comparisons, disparagement, comparative advertising and imitation.

Parodies not prohibited

Hippo will, no doubt, in any response filed in due course, argue that this advert, which pokes fun at Outsurance, was created as a parody. The ARB Code specifically allows for harmless parody, if the parody is intended to catch the eye or to amuse. The advertiser must, however, be able to show that the advert is seen as clearly humorous or hyperbolic and is not likely to be understood as making literal claims for the advertised product.

The ARB Code also includes a general prohibition on the exploitation of advertising goodwill, prohibiting advertisements which take advantage of the advertising goodwill relating to a trade name or symbol of the product or service of another, or the advertising goodwill relating to another partys advertising campaign or advertising property, unless prior written permission has been obtained. Parodies, however, are specifically excluded from the general prohibition, provided that the intention of the parody is primarily to amuse, and which is not likely to adversely affect the advertising goodwill of another advertiser to a material extent. In these cases, the ARB would consider factors such as the likelihood of confusion, deception and the diminution of advertising goodwill. It will be interesting to see whether Outsurance could substantiate an argument that it has acquired advertising goodwill in the concept of having a discussion with a driver in a moving car relating to car insurance, which Hippo has possibly exploited.

At this stage, it seems as though Outsurance has only approached the High Court for relief (likely in the pursuit of an interdict on the basis of unlawful competition). Without having had sight of the papers in the urgent matter, however, it is difficult to comment on the evidence led by Outsurance. It would be interesting to see how muddy the waters get, if Outsurance decides to bring a fresh application before the normal motion court or, alternatively, the ARB.

It remains to be seen whether Hippo may one day find itself in deep waters, and in the writers opinion, much will turn on whether this advert qualifies as a parody.
Perhaps it is the fresh optimism of the spring air, but I get a positive vibe seeing so many uniquely South African ads around these days. In the days of Covid-19, advertising - specially of the video type - seem to plunge off a cliff and what there was, was often mediocre imported material.

Ads that are uniquely South African are ones which utilise local icons to make an instant impact with a viewer and build a rapport based on the feeling that you know who they are.

Two ads flighting now do exactly that.

Orchid for Toyotas talking dog

The first is the return of Toyotas boxer dog, Buddy, to tell customers, and the country Were back! after the half-year production hiatus caused by the destruction wreaked by the floods in Durban and which closed Toyotas factory at Prospecton.

We see Buddy strolling into a Toyota dealership, eyeing up the gleaming new vehicles and then taking a ride, in a Fortuner, along a country road, passing a car carrier truck packed with units from Prospecton.

The animation is still good and you can almost believe there is such a thing as a talking dog.

The message is: Your old friend, your reliable old friend, is back. And clearly, none the worse for wear. Its the message the market wants to hear and, no doubt, it will boost Toyota back into the top position on the sales charts (and I see that is already happening)

So Orchids for Toyota and FCB Joburg, its long-standing agency.

Orchid for HTH and Bryan Habana

Another SA icon is rugby legend Bryan Habana, who has just been roped in to promote HTH pool chemicals and its spring campaign. Perhaps its because the ad resonates with me  after all, it is the mans job to look after the pool and I am the HTH gooier in our house, not to mention Im about to try out their solution for black algae  that I liked it so much. Perhaps, though, its because Bryan comes across so well, not at all skaam in his SA flag Speedo (a la Faf De Klerk) and with his straight-talking manner.

Ladies, he says, look at your pool. If its a mess, its because your man is not doing his job. Get him to pay attention and get out the HTH. Also, maybe enter him in a competition where the winners get to go to pool school and learn from the professionals about how to keep a pool clean and sparkling.

Habana clearly speaks to the target market, which I am told, amounts to 800, 000 private and 2, 000 public swimming pools  supposedly the sixth biggest pool market in the world. The reality is also that HTH has become almost the generic for pool cleaning chemicals and is the default in many homes, ours included. And trust me, there is nothing better than gooi-ing a couple of cups of HTH into the pool, running the filter overnight (Ok, well for as long as Eskom will allow you) and then coming out to a clean, glittering pool in the morning. It is so satisfying, like have your car washed well.

Sorry, man stuff

The ad gets the message across with a touch of light humour and puts the brand front and centre, which is the essence of good advertising. So Orchids to HTH and agency Retroviral.

Onions to sneaky estate agents

Why is it that so many people  and not just our looting government  believe they are above the law? The ad industry, and in particular the out-of-home sector, is one of the worst in this regard.

While Cape Town has got its act together as far as enforcement of municipal bylaws is concerned, here in Joburg, its like the Wild West, as posters, billboards and street signs  the vast majority of which are illegal  proliferate at an alarming rate.

Why should you people pollute my suburb with your illegal rubbish?

Estate agents are some of the prime offenders, sneakily pushing the boundaries, knowing the chances of them being prosecuted are vanishingly small.

A new trick is to place Sold and For Sale boards a long way from the particular property being advertised, with a direction pointer. This is illegal. The bylaws state that Sold and For Sale signs may only be erected at the property being advertised. Estate agents are allowed to put up direction signboards to show houses over the weekends when these are on show.

But these must say On Show and must be removed by midday on the Monday following the show day, which is usually a Sunday.

Needless to say, the three signs I saw in our area  two for Jawitz Properties (directing people to a house for sale, a long distance from that house) and one for Rawsons (directing to a Sold property)  were illegal.

Now, there are only two explanations for this, neither of which reflects well on the brand or the agent. The first is that the person putting up the signs does not know the law. If that is the case, I would wonder what other laws, in relation to property, that they are ignorant of. And I would wonder whether that ignorance was a good trait in someone I wanted to buy a house from (or sell through).

The second reason would be that they are well aware of the law, but choose to break it anyway. Would I want someone knowingly guilty of criminal behaviour handling my property transaction? I dont think so.

One day, you estate agents and other advertising criminals, ordinary people are going to start pushing back against law-breaking and intrusions into their peace and privacy. And your brands will be damaged in the process.

For now, though, both Jawitz and Rawsons get Onions from me. Why can you not just do the right thing?
According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, a lightning strike by Ukrainian forces has broken through Russian defenses and penetrated far into the seized territory, liberating more than 30 communities in the Kharkiv region.

An attack that threatens a vital supply hub utilized by occupying Russian soldiers in the east caught the Russian lines off guard at a weak spot on their front.

Putin Suffers Major Blow

The leader of the Russian-backed government in the Kharkiv area, Vitaly Ganchev, essentially acknowledged that significant portions of its frontline had collapsed southeast of Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine.

William Burns, director of the CIA, referred to Vladimir Putin's invasion as already a disasgivenw of the significant gains made by Ukrainian forces. He claimed that the Russian tyrant continued to dangerously misunderstand the will of the West to back Kyiv and conduct an economic war on Russia. He also claimed that the dictator originally erred in underestimating Ukrainian will and ability to fight his invasion.

When the Ukrainian high command launched its counteroffensive, it ordered a media blackout and forbade journalists from going to the front lines, leaving only pro-Russian sources to acknowledge defeat. On state television, Ganchev stated that "the enemy is being delayed as much as possible, but some settlements have already come under the control of Ukrainian armed formations."

As Moscow's troops urgently withdraw to hold onto the ground they took, Ukrainian forces now control the strategically important city of Izium and are only 50 kilometers from the Russian border. Zelensky had earlier stated that his administration was attempting to evacuate residents from cities like Izium, which is one of the major targets of the Ukrainian offensive and serves as both Russia's primary bastion and logistical hub in the region, as per Daily Mail.

Read Also: North Korea Now a 'Nuclear Weapons State,' Kim Jong-un Says It's for National Defense

Zelensky Says Ukrainian Forces Liberated Over 30 Settlements

Putin's forces continue to sustain significant casualties as Ukraine advances in Kharkiv. President Zelensky claims that Ukraine has recently liberated almost 30 communities. The military of Ukraine presently pegs the overall number of Russian casualties at 52,650, with 400 occurring on the previous day.

The unwavering President of Ukraine paid tribute to the female soldiers in Ukraine on Twitter. He stated on his official Twitter account that the war is no longer the women's or men's business as of the first day of the full-scale assault. The citizens should handle it. On the front lines, 5K Ukrainian women are protecting their country.

Then he posted a video highlighting the 5,000 frontline combatants among the 50,000 women serving in the Ukrainian military. Now that Putin's bloodthirsty invasion of Ukraine has lasted 200 days, the democratic world has united to denounce Putin's callous attack.

In the 200 days since the start of its campaign, reports claim that Russia has lost over 50,000 men, and dissatisfaction among Russian soldiers is rampant. Putin's soldiers continue to suffer significant losses as Ukraine advances in Kharkiv.

Ukraine has liberated almost 30 communities in recent days, according to President Zelensky. The Ukrainian military presently estimates total Russian losses at 52,650, 400 of which have occurred in the previous 24 hours, The Scottish Sun reported.

Related Article: Judge Dismisses Donald Trump's Lawsuit Against Hillary Clinton Over Russia Probe

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Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is the largest in Europe, has been forced to "completely shut down" amid threats to safety as a result of fighting and shelling in the vicinity.

Authorities shut down the nuclear power plant's last operating reactor after a transmission line linking the plant to Ukraine's power system was restored, said Energoatom on Sunday. The agency said that "arrangements for its cooling and transfer to a cold state are underway."

Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

Ukraine's nuclear agency said that one of the transmission lines was restored to its operational capacity on Sunday that made it possible to power the plant from Ukraine's energy system and shut down the number 6 power unit and transfer it to the "safest state - cold shutdown."

Authorities said that the reactor was disconnected from the Ukrainian grid last week and was operating in an "island mode," generating electricity and using its own energy to power its cooling systems. Last week, a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) called for the "immediate establishment of a nuclear safety and security zone" around the plant, as per CNN.

The highly anticipated report came a few days after IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi led an expert mission to the nuclear power plant. It was the first independent look at the condition of the facility since Russia took control of it at the beginning of its invasion of Ukraine.

Read Also: North Korea Seizes Russia's International Isolation as Kim Jong Un, Vladimir Putin Strengthen Ties Amid Harsh Sanctions

Ukraine's capital city of Kyiv on Wednesday urged residents of Russian-occupied areas around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to evacuate the area for safety reasons. Russia and Ukraine have exchanged accusations of responsibility for putting the plant at risk.

According to Fox News, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a statement, requested that the surrounding area of the plant be demilitarized to prevent a nuclear disaster. Despite Energoatom restoring a communications line to the power system to operational capacity on Saturday, it said that the risk of the line enduring further damage "remains high."

Shutting Down The Plant

The situation comes after fighting near the plant fueled fears of a disaster similar to the one at Chernobyl in 1986. At the time, a reactor exploded and spewed deadly radiation, contaminating a vast area in the world's worst nuclear catastrophe.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been cut off from the power grid twice due to shelling hitting power lines and some auxiliary equipment. While the plant's reactors were protected by a reinforced shelter that could withstand an errant shell or rocket, a disruption in the electrical supply could knock out cooling systems essential for the reactors' safety.

On Sept. 5, a fire caused by shelling resulted in the power plant being knocked off transmission lines. At the time, only one reactor remained operational to power cooling systems and other crucial equipment.

While the island mode supplies power for the residual heat removal of the reactor cores and the spent fuel pools, experts argued that it was very unreliable. They pointed out that if the diesel generators fail, a core meltdown could occur within a few hours, the Associated Press reported.



Related Article: Russian Forces Retreat From Key Northeast Ukrainian City as Ukrainian Troops Advances, Marking a Major Military Win

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Wealthy and powerful entrepreneurs in China were once idolised by the public, doted on by the government and courted by foreign investors. They helped build the Chinese economy into a powerhouse and with it became the global face of Chinese business in a freer era, amassing billion-dollar fortunes, buying mansions overseas and holding court at elite international gatherings.

Now billionaire tycoons are the outsiders in an increasingly state-driven economy that prioritises politics and national security over growth. As the government cracks down on business and the economy weakens, they are keeping low profiles, stepping down from their companies or leaving the country entirely.

Now living in New York, Pan Shiyi and Zhang Xin, resigned this week as chair and CEO, respectively, of their real estate empire, Soho China. Credit:Getty Images

In the latest exodus, two of Chinas best-known entrepreneurs, Pan Shiyi and Zhang Xin, resigned this week as chair and CEO, respectively, of their real estate empire, Soho China. Both had already moved to the United States early in the pandemic and tried to manage their business with late-night calls back to China.

It has been a rough year for their company. A deal to sell a controlling stake to the Blackstone Group in New York fell apart when regulators failed to approve it. Soho Chinas stock has lost more than half its value in the past year.
Xi congratulates King Charles III on accession to British throne

Xinhua) 09:18, September 12, 2022

BEIJING, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday sent a congratulatory message to King Charles III on his accession to the British throne.

Xi pointed out that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries at the ambassadorial level.

The Chinese president said he is ready to work with King Charles III to enhance mutual understanding and friendship between people of the two countries, expand friendly exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation, and strengthen communication on global issues, so as to bring benefits to the two countries and their people and contribute to world peace and development.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Bianji)
Strong winds and extreme fire behavior caused the 6-week-old Cedar Creek Fire to make another big run east of Sweet Home on Saturday. The fire produced towering pyrocumulus smoke clouds and lightning, forced more evacuations (though some were scaled back), breached containment lines, and was brought back to zero containment.

Twenty-nine states and almost 1,000 firefighters have been enlisted to assist in putting out the rapidly spreading fire, according to KTVZ. Since late last week, a wildfire in Oregon has doubled in size, endangering thousands of houses, and engulfing the Interstate 5 corridor in thick smoke, including the Portland metropolitan area.

More than 2,000 Oregon Homes Are Evacuated as Cedar Creek Fire Quadruples

On August 1, amid a lightning storm, the Cedar Creek Fire started. According to officials, the fire had reached roughly 86,000 acres as of Sunday and had breached existing lines, which reduced containment to 0%. By Sunday, fire activity had subsided, and some evacuation orders had been lowered from Level 3 "Go Now" to Level 2 "Be Set."

More than 2,200 residences and hundreds of commercial structures are under threat from the fire. Most of these structures are located in the adjoining communities of Oakridge and Westfire, which have a combined population of roughly 3,500 people. On Friday, officials issued evacuation orders.

The fire, which had been only approximately 18,000 acres on Wednesday but had grown to more than four times that size by Sunday, was made worse by blustery gusts, high temperatures, and dry conditions late last week and into Saturday, according to OPB.

The Goat Rocks Fire in Washington state, which was caused by lightning and forced the closure of the US, is located south of Mount Rainier National Park. East of the community of Packwood, homes were evacuated due to Highway 12. In reaction to the Kalama fire in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest southwest of Mount St. Helens, evacuation orders were also issued for several villages in Cowlitz County.

High-voltage transmission lines owned by Bonneville Power Administration that cross the Cascade Mountains are at risk due to the amount of smoke and particulates in the air, which can affect the lines, according to Peter Mongillo, a spokesman with Snohomish Regional Fire and Rescue who was on the scene as part of the overall incident command center.

If circumstances changed and those lines did need to be pulled out of operation, there would probably be no service disruption for customers because there are still other transmission lines operating. Customers of Bonneville include the Seattle-based Puget Sound Energy and the Snohomish County Public Utility District.

Portland General Electric first cut power to around 30,000 customers across 12 service regions to reduce the likelihood of additional fires, but by Saturday, that figure had risen to more than 37,000. That number has fallen back to around 30,000 by late Saturday afternoon.

In a little village on the Pacific Coast where a wildfire broke out two years ago, as well as in several areas to the southeast of Salem, Pacific Power cut off service to more than 7,000 people. On Saturday, there were 12,000 more Pacific Power customers without service, CBS News reported.

Read Also: Moscow Promises Grains, Other Support as Free Aid To Poor Countries Affected by Western Sanctions

Nearby Areas Started To Decrease Evacuation

Near the Cedar Creek Fire, the Lane County Sheriff's office has started to lower some evacuation levels. Additionally, Oregon Highway 58 has been reopened up to milepost 36 east of Oakridge. Westfire and Oakridge, as well as the regions west of Salmon Creek, south of Laurel Butte Road, and north of the Middle Fork Willamette River, have all received level 2 evacuation notices.

The High Prairie area, which comprises High Prairie Road, Brock Road, Bar BL Ranch Road, Nubian Way, Mountain View Road, and Huckleberry Lane, is now not open for evacuation or readmission.

Also still under level 3 evacuation and closed are Westfir-Oakridge Road from Westfir city limits to Roberts Road, McFarland Road, and Oakridge north of Laurel Butte Road, east of Salmon Creek.

Green waters Park and the region around Hills Creek Reservoir to the south of Highway 58 are still under level 3 evacuation orders. From milepost 36 east of Oakridge until milepost 70 at Crescent Lake Highway, Highway 58 is still closed, as per Register Guard.

Related Article: $1,400 Stimulus Checks To Be Distributed by Biden Administration; Here's When and How!

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Melbourne Writers Festival has been criticised for cancelling a session about the future of the monarchy that was scheduled to take place on Sunday, two days after Queen Elizabeth IIs death.

The panel featured four guests  Dennis Altman, author of God Save The Queen: The Strange Persistence of Monarchies; Julia Baird, biographer of Queen Victoria; Peter FitzSimons, chair of the Australian Republican Movement, and Indigenous lawyer Teela Reid - under the title The End of the Monarchy?. Despite differing views among participants, the festival decided to pull the plug.

Teela Reid says Australians can engage in robust conversations without being offensive. Credit:Steven Siewert

In a statement to The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, the festival said it recognised the importance of the conversation but we also understand that the Queens recent death has changed the context of the planned discussion.

Melbourne Writers Festival decided to postpone this conversation until a later date, the organisation said. It remains an important discussion with real implications for this country.
Queenslands parliament will be recalled on Thursday to pass laws enacting the National Day of Mourning public holiday announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

The decision to postpone three days of state parliament scheduled for this week was made on Friday, as a mark of respect after news broke of the Queens death, in line with a delay to sittings across the country.

This is despite the state constitution expressly allowing parliament to continue after the death of the monarch.

However, after Albanese declared September 22 a public holiday as part of a national memorial service to be held in Canberra that day, the state government has been forced to pass laws to allow it.

In a joint statement late on Tuesday, the Queensland governments leader of the house, Yvette DAth, said a brief sitting would now be held on Thursday morning to enable the holiday.

Industrial Relations Minister Grace Grace said arrangements would be similar to the Australia Day holiday, where supermarkets, cafes and retail venues can open.

The state parliament is not likely to meet again until mid-October, with DAth to work an extra week into the sitting calendar across the remainder of the year.
While some countries succeeded in decolonising, most did not. In North America and New Zealand, treaties were negotiated by the British with Indigenous peoples, establishing formal relationships between the Crown and Indigenous peoples.

Of course, there will be a diversity of responses to royalty and its role in Australia. For Indigenous peoples here and across the globe, the British Empires history of colonialism, represented by the Crown, from Ireland, to Africa, to West Indies to North America and Australia, was sadly based on lack of respect and founded in racial violence, and the belief in Europeans being a superior race.

Indigenous responses here to the news have ranged from sadness and grief to a rejection of the monarchy and its role . The relationship is complex and ambiguous for largely historical reasons.

The passing of Queen Elizabeth over the weekend saw an outpouring of grief in Britain and Australia. The Australian flags, including the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags, are being flown at half-mast, federal parliament will cease sitting for 15 days and an official public holiday was announced following the news of her death.

Its not clear why the British engagement with Australia took such a different turn. We know that Captain James Cook was given clear instructions from Britain to take possession only with the consent of the Indigenous peoples. The Law of Nations established those colonising nations were not to take lands without consent or agreement of Indigenous peoples. Agreement or consent was evidenced through treaties, such as the Treaty of Waitangi in New Zealand. Lands could also be acquired through conquest or war. Land that was empty or belonging to no one could be claimed under the doctrine of Terra nullius, and this was the legal fiction adopted in Australia to acquire Indigenous peoples lands.

The International Court of Justice in the case of Western Sahara (1974) rejected outright the colonial misuse of the Terra nullius doctrine, condemning it as unacceptable and racist. Our High Court in the case of Mabo also rejected Terra nullius as the darkest aspect of [our] national history. The Mabo decision led to national native title legislation, but the Court refused to grapple with the question of Aboriginal sovereignty, which is still not resolved.

Accordingly, many Aboriginal people today maintain that we remain sovereign peoples, not subjects of the British Crown. Our sovereignty was never ceded and our ties to this land run deep with 60,000 years of connection to our lands we cannot be colonised.

As Britain, and even Australia, mourns the death of the Queen, we can reflect also on our history with the British Crown and this relationship today. Following news of the Queens death there have been calls for the Australian Republic, but Prime Minister Anthony Albanese rightly responded that the Voice to Parliament will come first. After all, we have serious unfinished business to attend to. The Uluru Statement from the Heart and process of Voice, Treaty and Truth seeks to resolve the unlawful acquisition of Australia by the British Crown in 1788.
As the countrys most socially and theologically conservative diocese holds its synod, or parliament, for the first time in three years, divisions among the countrys Anglicans have deepened due to another defection to a Sydney-backed breakaway church, the Diocese of the Southern Cross.

About 70 per cent of the churchs property assets are east of Parramatta, while residents of some outer suburbs have to drive 20 kilometres to the nearest church.

Church leaders are considering selling empty churches in older parts of the city to fund building in booming areas, such as the north and south-west fringes.

Sydneys Anglicans say building more churches in western Sydney and the urgent discipling of children are key to spreading their faith amid declining attendance and a hostile mainstream culture.

In his opening address to the synod at the weekend, the Archbishop of Sydney, Kanishka Raffel, acknowledged the drop in those identifying as religious and Christian in the recent national census, but said it did not mean people were closed to Christianity.

Almost a third of the general population would go to church if invited by a friend, but more than half did not know a Christian, he said, quoting figures from a National Church Life Survey. Anglican schools and services such as Anglicare provided those connections, but potential recruits also needed churches.

While churches could be run from homes, we are convinced that in new areas, the development of a church and ministry site has numerous advantages for both the ministry and the community, Raffel said.

If we do not get in on the ground before development plans are settled, we will either be locked out for a long time or need to find considerably more money to enter later, he told synod members, gathered for the opening ceremony at Oran Park in the citys outer south-west.

Raffel said the church must also focus on young people, given three-quarters of Anglicans made a decision to follow Christ before they turned 20. Yet Anglican parents and schools trying to raise Christian children were battling a cultural context that was hostile ... to the biblical vision.
The number of concerts allowed at Suncorp Stadium could double from six to 12 as the Queensland government looks to ease longstanding restrictions meant to limit disruption on the local community.

But the increased demand on Brisbanes biggest stadium, with a second NRL side to play out of the Milton venue from next year, has prompted the Lord Mayor to add his voice to calls for a boutique rectangular stadium in the city.

The number of concerts allowed at Suncorp Stadium could double from six to 12. Credit:Harrison Saragossi

The Queensland government has launched an online survey to gauge whether people would accept a doubling of concerts at Suncorp Stadium in 2023 and 2024 only.

There are seven concerts scheduled for Suncorp Stadium within the next six months  Guns N Roses, Justin Bieber, Elton John, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Ed Sheeran for three nights.
That was the original ALP promise and I see no reason why that cant be achieved. The Centre for Public Integrity, a not-for-profit group of former judges and other legal experts, said the draft bill should include the powers to investigate third parties as well as government  a key issue on which the government is yet to declare its hand. Were concerned about the delay and were concerned about the need to investigate third parties, said Han Aulby, the centres executive director. When we see the bill we need to make sure its broad enough to not only cover public officials but also businesses that are seeking to corrupt public admnistration. Albanese was asked on Monday why he had suspended Parliament for two weeks when the House of Commons was continuing to meet in Westminster and he replied by saying he was following the protocols and conventions put in place for the death of the monarch.

Labor promised to have a national integrity commission legislated this year when it outlined its policy on April 15, about one month before election day. Its urgent and thats why we will legislate it this year, Albanese told Cairns radio station 4CA on April 16. Asked if that meant it would be legislated in 2022, he replied: In 2022, we will get this done. Because weve waited long enough. On Monday, however, Albanese said: The commitment we had is it would be introduced this year. Independent MP Zoe Daniel says the government could speed along the creation of a national integrity commission by providing details now ahead of parliaments return. Credit:Sydney Morning Herald

Parliament was due to meet for four days this week but the death of the Queen started a sequence of events set out in plans prepared over recent years, including the suspension of Parliament. The government revealed on Monday that Parliament would meet on Friday, September 23, to mark the passing of the Queen, one day after the national memorial service to be held in the Great Hall of Parliament House on Thursday, September 22, a public holiday. Parliament will meet from September 26 to 28 to resume its usual business. Another dispute over the bill is whether the government will include stronger laws to protect whistleblowers who reveal corruption so they do not face prosecution, a pressing issue for Wilkie and other crossbenchers. Wilkie said the government needed to establish a whistleblower commission alongside the new authority, which is expected to be called the national anti-corruption commission. Im open-minded about whether it needs to be done at exactly the same time but it cant be allowed to drop off the radar, he said.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said through a spokesman the government would aim to pass the law this year and said the bill would be introduced in the next sitting week. Asked if the government would also agree to stronger whistleblower protections, the spokesman said the government would bring legislation before the parliament in this term. Former prime minister Scott Morrison promised a federal integrity commission at the 2019 election but failed to deliver on the pledge before the 2022 election because he released a draft bill but never introduced it to Parliament. Greens Senator David Shoebridge said there was no ambiguity about the governments election promise because it had said it would legislate this year. The mess thats been made of the parliamentary calendar cant be an excuse for either no action or a rubber stamp for Labors first draft, he said.

Victorian independent MP Helen Haines welcomed the decision to bring Parliament back as soon as possible but said she was keen to get started on the legislation for the national anti-corruption commission. As it stands, we will miss about two weeks of time when the select committee that will examine the bill would have been holding hearings and taking submissions, she said. For this commission to truly be the best it can be and have the trust of Australian people, we need time to debate these issues in the public sphere, through the committee process. This is about setting the commission up for success, not compromising and getting it wrong. Loading

The member for North Sydney, Kylea Tink, said she expected to see draft legislation introduced to Parliament when it meets on September 26 and hoped it would be approved quickly. The results of the last election made it really clear that Australians would like to see a federal integrity commission. All the indications are they would like to see that sooner rather than later, she said. With that said, its important that the legislation is right and, therefore, it shouldnt be rushed simply to meet a deadline of the end of the year. At the end of the day, whats most important here is that a healthy and robust independent integrity commission is introduced which will stand the test of time, regardless of what major party is in power. Loading

The member for Wentworth in eastern Sydney, Allegra Spender, said the government had promised the reform would happen this year and Australians had already waited too long but the commission had to be done right to succeed. The bill was meant to be tabled this Wednesday so I would like to see the government release the proposed bill this week, she said. The sooner we can consider the details, the sooner we can ensure that the new integrity commission will be fit for purpose. Independent senator David Pocock said voters wanted parliamentarians to work more, not less. The government committed to legislating an integrity commission this year and there is an expectation from the community that this will be done, he said.
State premiers will push for pandemic leave payments to remain as long as COVID-19 isolation is compulsory when they meet with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews will argue that the federal government must extend the pandemic leave scheme beyond the September 30 deadline if the rule remains in place.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (centre) with NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Victorias Daniel Andrews pictured at their first national cabinet meeting in June. Credit:Rhett Wyman

The payments of up to $750 per isolation period for people without sick leave, which had cost the federal government almost $1.9 billion by July, are weighing on the nations balance sheet as Treasurer Jim Chalmers prepares to hand down his first budget in October. Chalmers warned last month the payments cant continue forever.

States and territories agreed in July to share the cost 50:50 with the federal government when national cabinet reinstated the scheme two weeks after it expired.
A pre-election cabinet reshuffle is the most realistic avenue for Stuart Ayres to return to the Perrottet ministry after a legal review cleared him of wrongdoing in John Barilaros controversial appointment to a US trade post.

The review by high-profile barrister Bruce McClintock, SC, found Ayres complied with the ministerial code of conduct, and came more than five weeks after he resigned amid concerns he overstepped as the responsible minister during Barilaros selection.

Former trade minister Stuart Ayres departs his property in Mulgoa on the day he resigned. Credit:Sam Mooy

There is no basis for any conclusion that Mr Ayres breached [the code] by directing or requesting any person to act contrary to the law or any of the other matters referred to, McClintock found.

Ayres was forced to resign from cabinet and as deputy Liberal leader last month after a review by former public service commissioner Graeme Head raised questions over his role in Barilaros appointment to New York, finding it was not conducted at arms length from government.
Former trade minister Stuart Ayres could return to NSW cabinet after a review probing his involvement in John Barilaros appointment to a US trade post cleared him of wrongdoing.

The review by high-profile barrister Bruce McClintock, SC, found Ayres complied with the ministerial code of conduct in relation to the former deputy premiers appointment.

Stuart Ayres resigned as trade minister over his role in the recruitment process. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

There is no basis for any conclusion that Mr Ayres breached [the code] by directing or requesting any person to act contrary to the law or any of the other matters referred to, McClintock found.

In a statement on Monday, Ayres said the report was an emphatic exoneration and unequivocally clear in finding he acted lawfully and honestly.
Edinburgh: This was the moment it became real for so many.

A simple oak coffin, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland and crowned with a white wreath of phlox and heather, lay in the back of the hearse.

Edinburgh on Sunday offered a foretaste of what London can expect on a much larger scale in coming days. Credit:Getty

The body of Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning British monarch and a figure of stability, continuity and comfort to so many, was driven past mourners who lined the streets in their thousands hoping to get a glimpse.

Theyd known for days she was gone but this sight, on her last great journey as the King called it on Friday, was a moment all on its own.
Vice President Kamala Harris backed President Biden's remarks that MAGA Republicans are a threat to the nation and said she would proudly run alongside him again if he seeks re-election.

She supported President Joe Biden's recent description of MAGA, or the Make America Great Again campaign led by former President Donald Trump, as a growing threat that imperils the nation's political institutions.

Kamala Harris Vows To "Proudly" Run with Biden in 2024

Days after a politically explosive primetime address in which he described 'MAGA' political forces as a threat to American democratic norms, President Joe Biden attacked Trumpies and MAGA Republicans during two Midwest campaign events last week.

On Sunday, the 21st anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, former New York Governor George Pataki said in an interview on WABC 770 AM that Joe Biden was under fire for acting like the divider in chief and wasn't encouraging unity with his politically charged remarks.

The Republican - who was in office during the attacks - stated that the nation is now more fragmented than ever. While claiming that the president has a track record of working across party lines, Harris said that the current political environment requires a unified front against extremists.

Given that Sunday marks the 21st anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Harris was asked to compare the external and internal terror risks. She described them as different but equally serious, as per New York Post. The White House maintains that the president has not been notified about the operation and has not talked about it.

Since the FBI raided Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida last month, there have been concerns about the former president's potential 2024 run and the perception that a Democrat president's administration is investigating a political rival. When asked if Biden intended to run again after the midterm elections in November, Harris responded, "Listen, the president has been pretty clear that he intends to run again."

The endorsement of President Joe Biden by the California Democrat comes as other Democrats in his party voice worries about his probable candidacy, most notably his old age. Mandela Barnes, Wisconsin's lieutenant governor, and a left-leaning Senate contender declined to join Joe Biden for a Labor Day address in Milwaukee.

The president will be 81 years old on election day in 2024, beating the previous record. If the Justice Department decides to charge Trump if its investigation finds that he unlawfully handled confidential material in violation of federal law, it will be another topic for Biden and Harris to deal with on the campaign trail in the future.

Federal charges will not likely prevent Donald Trump from running for office, according to political analysts. But given the growing number of GOP allegations that his officials are using the Justice Department as a weapon against his main electoral rival, it might cause Biden some trouble.

Read Also: Hillary Clinton on 2024 Presidential Election: Former State Secretary Spills The Bean on Running Again After 2 Failed Bids for White House

VP Declines To Comment if Democrats Should Help Election Deniers

Kamala Harris chose not to comment on Sunday when asked whether the government's future charges against the former president should take these issues into account. Later, when questioned if accusing Trump would be too polarizing, she did imply that she supported cries for justice, according to Daily Mail.

Since news outlets' reviews of FEC reports have revealed that the party is actively engaged in efforts to support far-right candidates against more moderate Republicans in primary elections across the nation, Democrats, particularly the party's House of Representatives campaign arm, has come under intense fire.

One apparent example is the Michigan Republican Congressman Peter Meijer, who favors impeachment, and lost his primary after the DCCC paid $400,000 on commercials supporting his rival John Gibbs, who has claimed that the 2020 race was rigged.

She wouldn't even answer if she would use the same approach if she were competing against a Republican who had backed Donald Trump's impeachment in a congressional election, Independent reported.

Related Article: Judge Dismisses Donald Trump's Lawsuit Against Hillary Clinton Over Russia Probe

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Latest News More rate hikes to come  RBA governor Find out what this means for borrowers

Aussie urges mortgage holders to act now The vast majority have not looked at alternatives

While physical health was obviously in the spotlight as COVID raged, one of the unseen negative effects experienced by many during the pandemic was a decline in mental health.

Many workers reported feelings of burnout and anxiety as lockdowns dragged on, forcing many to retreat to their homes for long periods, often without any company.

Wellness advocates suddenly advocated for many potential treatments for these effects, such as mindfulness, internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy (ICBT), among other new ideas but what if the answer to many stress-related problems was as simple as taking a break?

To maintain or improve wellbeing and performance, employees need work breaks to recover from work, says researcher Zhanna Lyubykh, assistant professor of management and organization studies at the Beedie School of Business, and one of the authors of the Role of work breaks in wellbeing and performance: A systematic review and future research agenda report, based on a systematic review of 83 studies.

The study, done out of Simon Fraser University, showed that companies should be encouraging workers to leave their desks on a regular basis.

Organizations can help by introducing unstructured break periods that allow employees to take breaks as needed, says Lyubykh. Studies show that employees who can choose when they take their breaks experience less stress compared to workplaces that have an overly rigid work break schedule.

What works best

But the length of time or frequency of breaks appears to matter less compared to how employees spend their time while on break.

For example, engaging in physical exercise during a work break may lead to increased wellbeing, especially for knowledge workers. Also, taking a nap can improve task performance and physical wellbeing, found the study.

Unfortunately for some, the job is what causes a lot of that stress. For 41 per cent of Australians, work is the main cause of anxiety, according to Indeed.

And while we have all been miserable at work from time to time, for 22 per cent that feeling is prolonged for five or more consecutive months, indicating its a long-term issue.

Employers bear the brunt of trying to figure out a way to help.

There are no quick fixes for managing mental health issues in the workplace, but you do have to make sure, at a minimum, that you have a good EAP [employee assistance program] service in place that is well communicated to staff, says Chris Lamb who spent more than 11 years as Lendleases Global Head of Organisational Development and is now Deputy Commissioner at the New South Wales (NSW) Public Service Commission.

Make work fun

One of the ways employers may be able to help, is by offering more social occasions while on the job, according to another survey.

Thirty-nine per cent of workers in U.K. wish that their employer scheduled more work socials  such as a team-building excursion, after-work drinks or a catered lunch, according to a survey by Just Eat for Business.

And these events are important because:

54 per cent of workers feel they are crucial for building strong peer relationships and fostering a positive work environment.

46 per cent of workers primarily enjoy these events for the opportunity to socialize with their colleagues in a non-professional setting.

37 per cent enjoy the downtime from work and to relax and have fun.

37 per cent appreciate the free food and drinks provided.

25 per cent like the social event to finish the workday earlier.

Its no secret that work socials are a great way for colleagues to build connections and break the ice but its possible that employers dont realize just how crucial they are for fostering a friendly work environment, says Mark Ephgrave, managing director at Just Eat for Business.

Improving company culture has been a key focal point for many over the last two years, and providing regular opportunities to socialize  such as a catered-for lunch or after-work dinner  is an easy way to promote socialization in a positive and professional context.

Flight risk

If things dont improve, businesses risk a great exodus of talent as workers leave for greener pastures.

And a new report shows that millennials are the biggest potential cohort who want out.

The Millennial Misery Report found that although the 25- to 34-year-old workers wellbeing scores sit at similar levels to other age groups around New Zealand, their overall wellbeing score has plummeted nine percentage points since 2021, by far the greatest decrease in wellbeing than any other age group.

Employers who recognize the needs of this age demographic and develop programs that fit with their needs will see the biggest return on employee investment.

The way millennials show up to work is, work is work, its a thing that they do, says Jane Kennelly, general manager at Skills Consulting Group. Supporting wellbeing comes from understanding what is important to employees and being aware how they change. Theres no doubt that millennials are quite interested in purpose, value, and community.
Lohia Machines (LML) is back in the news and is eyeing a comeback in the with a new line of electric two-wheelers, according to a report in The Times of India. The erstwhile India manufacturing unit of Harley-Davidson, in Manesar, Haryana, is reported to be the production of the hub of the companys new (EVs).

While the brand name might not ring a bell for our younger readers, LML carries a tonne of nostalgia in the 5.5-liter fuel tanks of its scooters. Once a household name and a major competition for Bajaj, LML is best known for bringing Italy-based Piaggios Vespa to the Indian streets in 1999. The Kanpur-based two-wheeler manufacturers chic urban designs in the 100 CC segments had proved to be a major draw for scooter buyers in the late 90s and early 2000s. However, the company had to close in 2018, after several failed attempts at sales revival and ultimate insolvency.

Now under the ownership of SG Corporate Mobility, the company has already set up LML electric, which will spearhead its EV ventures. LML has confirmed that they will be revealing three electric two-wheeler concepts on September 29, according to RushLane. These will include a hyper-bike with a pedal assist and an e-scooter. Yogesh Bhatia, CEO of SG Corporate Mobility, has stated that the bokes will hit the markets in the first quarter of 2023, targeting not only Indian but European and global consumers as well.

With an initial commitment of 350 crore, the company is reportedly looking to invest a total of 1,000 crore over the next three to five years. By securing a contract for manufacturing at the former Harley plant, Bhatia said, the company has already gained access to a strong manufacturing ecosystem with assembly lines & robotic machines, according to the report in TOI. It also intends to set up nearly 1,000 LML dealerships across the country, though the eventual number and locations will depend on two factors: Market potential and demand.
In its first move to significantly expand the fleet after the Tatas took over, has leased 25 Airbus narrow-body aircraft and five wide-body planes. These will enter service starting December, the company said on Monday. A wide-body plane has a bigger fuel tank, allowing it to travel longer distances such as India-US routes.

The aircraft being leased include 21 Airbus A320neos, four Airbus A321neos and five B777-200LRs, said. The lessors will deliver the planes by 2023-end, helping the airline increase its fleet size to 143 aircraft.

Changing its business model, has decided to introduce premium economy class in all newly-leased planes. Air India's existing fleet is mostly limited to economy and business class. A few planes in its fleet also have first class.

Vistara, which is a 51:49 joint venture of the and Singapore Airlines, is the only other airline in India that offers premium economy class.

To expand its fleet, Air India will also purchase planes and has been in discussion with Airbus and for the last couple of months. Air India decided to go for immediate leasing to prevent a delay in fleet expansion.





Typically, theres a significant time lag between a purchase order and delivery of planes.

Air Indias narrow-body fleet comprises 70 aircraft, of which 54 are in service. Its wide-body fleet stands at 43 aircraft, of which 33 are operational. The rest of the existing narrow-body fleet and the wide-body fleet will progressively return to service by early 2023.

Air India had last signed a leasing agreement in March 2016. It was inked with Kuwait-based leasing company ALAFCO for 14 A320neo aircraft. The airline on Monday said that the leased B777-200LRs will join the fleet between December 2022 and March 2023, and they will be deployed on routes from Indian metro cities to the US.

Mumbai will see the addition of flights to San Francisco as well as to both of the New York areas international airports, Newark Liberty and John F Kennedy, while Bengaluru will receive a 3x weekly service to San Francisco, Air India said.

There has been a huge demand for Air India flights on India-US and India-Canada routes, especially after the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020 and the Russia-Ukraine war earlier this year. Since the start of the pandemic, the India-US traffic that passed through the eastern side  one stop flights via Hong Kong or Beijing  has reduced significantly. After the Ukraine attack, Russia banned American and Canadian carriers from flying through its airspace. That forced many to curtail their India-US flights.

The narrow-body planes procured through leasing will be deployed in domestic sectors as well as for short-haul international destinations. Keeping in mind the fleet expansion plans, Air India had recently raised the retirement age of its pilots from 58 to 65 years.

After a long time without significant growth, Air India is delighted to resume expanding its fleet and global footprint Air India has exciting expansion and renewal plans, of which these new aircraft are just the beginning, said Campbell Wilson, chief executive officer and managing director of Air India.

Air India will redesign flight schedules, hold nightly meetings, and ask employees to accurately report flight delays and their causes to improve the carriers on-time performance (OTP), Campbell had said earlier this month.

The had on October 8 last year won the bid for Air India at Rs 18,000 crore and it completed the acquisition earlier this year.
BENGALURU (Reuters) -Amazon.com Inc's Indian arm said on Monday it will halve the fee for new sellers on its platform as the e-commerce giant gears up for the festive season in one of its key markets.

All new sellers registering on Amazon.in between Aug. 28 and Oct. 26, and launching within 90 days, can avail a 50% waiver on the amount they pay to sell their products through the website, it said in a statement.

"We have over a million sellers from India who will have the opportunity to showcase their products to customers across the country during the festive season," said Vivek Somareddy, Director Fulfillment Channels at .

Amazon's "Great Indian Festival," the company's annual festive season sale, kicks off on September 23. Indians make most of their big-ticket purchases during the festival season.

Amazon and its Walmart Inc.-backed local rival Flipkart Internet offer deep discounts on everything from clothes to smartphones and home appliances ahead of the Hindu festivals Dussehra and Diwali.

Last year, Amazon announced a $250 million venture fund for India, focused on bringing the country's small businesses online, after it came under fire from local retailers. (https://bityl.co/EKMr)

Many Indian retailers have long alleged that e-commerce giants like Amazon and Flipkart flout federal regulations and that their business practices hurt small traders. The have denied all allegations.

(Reporting by Chris Thomas and Yagnoseni Das in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil)

(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.)
American Express Banking Corp on Monday appointed Sanjay Khanna as its (CEO) and country manager, the announced in a statement.

Khanna, at present, heads the country executive team and is responsible for driving growth across the organisations consumer and commercial businesses.

In his new role, Khanna will be leading several development initiatives for American Express, while steering collaboration across its diverse businesses in India, the said, adding his position will be key to strengthening the companys strategic focus in the country.

I am pleased to welcome Sanjay to this new role. With over 30 years of experience in the industry, Sanjay has exceptional credentials of delivering strong results coupled with a natural knack for leading from the front. We are confident that his commitment to excel in everything he does, his strong values and work ethics will further the brands leadership in the Indian market," said Rob McClean, executive vice president, international card services, American Express.

Khanna has spent about 27 years with American Express, joining as manager of finance in 1996. In his previous roles, he held many leadership positions in the company, including head of Global Financial Operations, India Center Lead for Finance and chairman of the American Express India Pvt Limited Legal Entity Board.

He also led large-scale enterprise projects, multiple transformation initiatives and established a number of centers of excellence.

Detailing his appointment, Khanna said, India is undoubtedly one of the fastest growing economies of the world, characterised by its ever-expanding consumer base, evolving lifestyle and spending needs. As a premium payment solution brand, American Express has a definitive competitive edge in providing high-quality service. My role will be to further enhance the quality and service culture through premium products, service and solutions to meet the ever-growing needs of the affluent population in India.

On August 25, the lifted the ban on new customer acquisition by American Express which was imposed with effect from May 2021 due to non-compliance with local data storage norms.

such as Mastercard, Visa, American Express and Diners Club have been required to store Indian payments data locally since October, 2018. This was done to provide the reserve bank unfettered supervisory access.

We welcome the decision by the Reserve Bank of India, which enables American Express Network to onboard new customers effective immediately," said Khanna, who was the interim country manager and COO then.

When the ban was imposed, American Express had 1.51 million credits, which fell to 1.36 million as of June end this year.
The decision of businesses to ask employees to return to office has spiked the demand for co-working spaces by 14 percentage points year-on-year in the first half (H1) of this calendar year, says a report by Anarock. This increase came despite a significant reduction in the information technology sectors share of such spaces.

In H1, the share of co-working spaces was 20 per cent out of a net absorption of about 20.8 million square feet across the top seven cities in the country-the National Capital Region (NCR), Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Kolkata. In contrast, in H1 2021, the share of co-working spaces was just six per cent of net office absorption of about 9.33 million sq ft, according to the report.

Among the cities, Bengaluru and accounted for 50 per cent of net absorption, accounting for 10.35 million sq ft of office space absorption. In all, the three southern cities, including Chennai, recorded net office absorption of about 12.2 million sq ft. They were followed by the western markets of Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and Pune with 5.45 million sq ft, of which 27 per cent was by co-working players.

IT demand dips

Interestingly, the report says the share in absorption of the IT/ITeS sector, Indias leading office demand driver, declined from 49 per cent in H1 2021 to 36 per cent in H2 2022. This is largely because many IT firms now prefer flexible to regular ones, Anarock said.

Co-working has received a major boost after Covid-19 disrupted the previous status quo, said Anuj Puri, chairman, Anarock Group. A major factor driving demand is that these spaces are not concentrated in the city centres or major employment hubs, but are spread across different areas, including the suburbs, he added.

He said co-working spaces are now also operating out of malls and hotels across cities and many large office parks also house them. Puri said: This helps firms remain closer to their staff and offer them flexibility.

Listing the factors for rise in demand, the Anarock report said another advantage is that with flexible office spaces, can plug and play at the same cost instead of wrestling with office layouts and fit-outs. The lock-in period for taking up a regular office space is anywhere between 2-4 years. All these factors have also helped boost the demand for co-working spaces.

Rents rise

Backed by rising office space demand, monthly rentals also rose across cities. The and recorded a 5 per cent YoY rise in average monthly in H1, followed by Bengaluru and Pune at 4 per cent each.

Average in MMR were the highest among the top seven cities, at Rs 128 per sq ft, and were the lowest in Kolkata at Rs 53 per sq ft.

Robust supply

Meanwhile, the top seven cities also witnessed robust new office supply in H1 of about 31.8 million sq ft. Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Pune dominated with a combined share of 74 per cent. Given the spate of new completions, average vacancy levels across cities rose by 2 per cent and stood at 15.95 per cent in H1.
The group said Reliance Infrastructure, part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, had initiated arbitration on one specific dispute under the Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) in December 2021 with a claim for just Rs 500 crore. said it has filed counterclaims against the Ambani company.

The group firm, was reacting to a statement of last week, which said it has filed an arbitration claim of Rs 13,400 crore against in the Mumbai Centre for International Arbitration (MCIA).

Reliance had cited a breach of a December 2017 share purchase agreement relating to the transfer of its Mumbai business to . Neither side gave any specific details about the dispute.

The Adani group said after following due process, Adani Transmission/ rejected the claim and in addition, ATL/ submitted that has not yet settled AEMLs significantly larger claims under the shareholders purchase agreement.

In February and August this year, filed supplementary arbitration requests, raising additional disputes and claims, the Adani statement said. "In our view, these are afterthoughts and based on untenable positions. ATL/Adani Electricity is following the due process laid out under the SPA for dispute resolution and will respond with facts and present its own claims against RInfra in the arbitration proceedings," the Adani group said.

In 2017, had acquired RInfra's Mumbai power business consisting of generation, distribution and transmission in a Rs 18,800-crore deal. The funds were used to repay the lenders.The MCIA is an arbitral institution in India, established as a joint initiative of domestic and international business and legal communities, according to a statement on its website.

The stock closed 7.17 per cent up at Rs 174.10 a share on . closed 1 per cent up at Rs 4,006 a share.
Ltd has selected Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state of for its project, two sources told Reuters, the first major step in its $20 billion joint venture with Taiwan's Foxconn.



obtained financial and non-financial subsidies including on capital expenditure and cheap electricity from to build the plants, the first source with knowledge of the matter said.



The project will include display and facilities near the largest city of Ahmedabad in the western state, the source added, declining to be named ahead of an official announcement.



While lobbying for incentives, had sought 1,000 acres (405 hectares) of land free of cost on a 99-year lease, and water and power at concessionary and fixed prices for 20 years, Reuters reported in April.



A spokesperson for Vedanta did not respond to a request for comment while Foxconn did not immediately respond.



A senior official in Gujarat's science and technology department, and another in Chief Minister Bhupendrabhai Patel's office, declined to comment.



BUILDING BLOCKS Vedanta obtained financial and non-financial subsidies, including on capital expenditure and cheap electricity from Gujarat, to build semiconductor plants

The project will include display and semiconductor facilities near Ahmedabad

Maharashtra, Telangana, and Karnataka had also been in the running to host the mega project

Oil-to-metals conglomerate Vedanta decided in February to diversify into chip manufacturing and formed a joint venture with Foxconn

An announcement is expected this week with a formal signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two sides, which is likely to be attended by Patel and Vedanta officials, the source added.



Other regions including India's richest state of Maharashtra in west and Telangana and Karnataka in the south had also been in the running to host Vedanta-Foxconn's mega project.



But in the last leg of negotiations in recent weeks, pipped Maharashtra to the post.



India's semiconductor market is estimated to reach $63 billion by 2026 from $15 billion in 2020, the government says.



Most of the world's chip output is limited to a few countries like Taiwan and late entrant India is now actively luring to "usher in a new era in electronics manufacturing" as it seeks for ways to have seamless access to chips.



Vedanta, an oil-to-metals conglomerate, decided in February to diversify into chip manufacturing and formed the joint venture with Foxconn.

(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 Customs officials seized 12 kg gold worth Rs 5.4 crore from a group of 23 Sudanese passengers who had arrived at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in from Dubai.

The official said that the group of 23 Sudanese gathered and attempted to clear the green channel by creating ruckus and divert attention of the customs officers.

"The Sudanese passengers deliberately created a ruckus at customs arrival area through visible signs and acts of aggression including shouting at the officers and even indulging in physical bouts," the official said.

The customs officers remained professional and through reasonable force officers were able to restrain the hostile passengers and managed the situation.

The official said that the modus operandi was to create a ruckus at the customs arrival area to facilitate sly escape of passengers carrying gold.

"Effective and swift execution by customs officers resulted in recovery of 12 gold bars of one kg each concealed in a specially designed belt worn by one passenger trying to slip away under the cover of commotion. In this matter, five other passengers who deliberately acted in hostile manner to divert attention of the customs officers were also detained for questioning," the official said.

The customs officials learnt that the six passengers had arrived at airport with a pre-planned strategy to create situations to help slipping away of one passenger with the seized gold.

The five passengers have admitted being part of the pre-conceived conspiracy to smuggle gold and have also been arrested along with the passenger from whom the gold was recovered. All have been remanded to judicial custody of 14 days.

"In addition, six other Sudanese passengers who added to the commotion by constantly resisting customs check were apprehended. With the help of Bureau of Immigration, Airport office, these six passengers have been blacklisted and sent back to Sudan," the official said.

Further investigation in the matter is on.

--IANS

atk/shs

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Robert Telles, an elected official who is accused of murdering investigative reporter Jeff German, will remain in office for months and still get paid despite staying in prison.

Last week, the suspect was denied bail after he was charged in the stabbing murder of the victim who had been probing Telles' alleged misconduct in office. However, a county leader said that despite sitting in prison, the cash will still flow to the suspect's pockets.

Robert Telles

In a statement, Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom said, "For now, he's still an elected officer and he'll get paid while he's in jail," referring to Telles. Segerblom noted that voters have the option to recall the disgraced official, who lost a Democratic primary in June, but noted that 100,000 signatures are required to put the ballot initiative forward.

He said that while they can take the scope of work away from Telles he still has the title and will get his salary because the voters picked him. The suspect reportedly earns a salary of $130,000 per year, as per the New York Post.

Several county officials have stressed that they have already taken steps against Telles, including prohibiting him from all Clark County facilities. The county added that the suspect's staff should no longer report to him, which will continue until a new administrator starts following the November election.

On Thursday, the county said that the Public Administrator is an elected position and noted that it was reviewing its options under the law regarding Telles' current status. The position is responsible for securing the property of the deceased while loved ones or an executor is found.

Read Also: VP Kamala Harris Slams 'Extemist, So Called Leaders' Republicans as US Midterm Election Nears

According to the Daily Beast, German was known to report on political corruption and government wrongdoing for decades before he was fatally stabbed outside of his home on Sept. 2 during a confrontation.

Brutal Stabbing Murder

A Las Vegas police captain later said that 45-year-old Telles was upset to learn that the 69-year-old victim was looking further into alleged misdeeds by the Democrat leading up to the murder. Previously, the victim reported on an alleged affair between Telles and a female worker in the latter's office, though both involved parties denied the accusations.

Authorities arrested the public administrator on Wednesday night after an hour-long standoff during which police said that Telles barricaded himself inside his home. Law enforcement confirmed that the suspect was taken out of his residence in a stretcher after he suffered "self-inflicted wounds."

On Thursday, Sheriff Joe Lombardo said, "This has been an unusual case from the beginning - the murder of an investigative journalist and the main suspect an elected official here in Clark County. Every murder is tragic, but the killing of a journalist is particularly troublesome."

During a court appearance, Telles was denied bail as prosecutor Richard Scow revealed that German had been stabbed seven times and allegedly had the suspect's DNA under his fingernails.

In a statement, Justice of the Peace Elana Lee Graham called the DNA detail "quite chilling," arguing it was recovered during the time that German was fighting for his life. A report showed that the victim had several defensive wounds on his hands and arms, CNN reported.



Related Article: Credit Card Companies To Categorize Gun Sales Separately, Allowing Tracking of Firearms

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A few days ago, Bengaluru, often regarded as India's Silicon Valley, almost drowned after torrential wreaked havoc in the city. As relentless monsoon continued to batter the city, transport and business operations took a toll, eventually leading to many firms triggering emergency business continuity plans, allowing work from home, or passing crucial work to locations outside .

Long traffic snarls, widespread power cuts and heavy sweeping into homes and submerged roads disrupted everyday life in for days, with many bearing the brunt. Still, it was "brand Bengaluru" that suffered most of all.

According to reports, the newer and affluent parts of the city were worst affected by the floods, which somehow affected Bengaluru's image as a welcoming cosmopolitan city.

This is the highest in the last 32 years, said Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, adding that 164 lakes in have filled up with water.

IT Snag



The flood on August 30, which brought parts of Bengaluru to its knees, led to a loss of about Rs 225 crore in a single day, the Information Technology and banking companies said in their letter to CM Bommai, seeking his attention to address the "appalling infrastructure" of the city.

The Outer Ring Road Companies Association (ORRCA) appealed to the government to expedite improvement projects on vital arterial roads to ORR, such as Old Airport Road, ITPL Road and Varthur Road, as their staff and general public regularly use them.

On September 6, CM Bommai said the government had decided to release Rs 600 crore to manage the flood situation in the state, out of which Rs 300 crore is kept for Bengaluru alone.

A total of Rs 1,500 crore has been allocated for the construction of stormwater drains in Bengaluru, Bommai said, adding the work will begin once the water recedes.

Technology companies also aired their grievances before IT/BT Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, urging him to find a solution to the rain-related woes.

In reply, the Minister assured them that the state government would help find a permanent solution to the infrastructural issues in the Mahadevpura zone, which witnessed water logging, by next year.

Political darts



As the infrastructure planning came to the fore, a political blame game began, with all parties training their guns on each other for the state of affairs in the city. CM Bommai blamed the 'misrule' and lack of planning by the previous Congress government in the state.

He has accused the grand old party of giving permissions for construction activities "right-left-centre" in the lake areas, on tank bunds and buffer zones during its regime.

He charged that Rs 800 crore was spent on the remodelling of drains, but that amount was not utilised properly, which is evident from the fact that the encroachment was not removed. The CM alleged that all major builders have encroached upon the major drains in the past 15 years.

Hitting back, Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah accused the ruling BJP in of trying to shift the blame on the Congress to hide its failures. He urged the government to come out with a white paper regarding clearing encroachments on stormwater drains in the city, as he claimed that the "brand Bengaluru" is getting affected.
Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande on Monday said the process of Indian and Chinese militaries disengaging from Patrolling Point 15 in the Gogra-Hotsprings area in eastern was "going as per schedule".

The External Affairs Ministry had said on September 9 that the disengagement process will be completed by September 12.

Gen Pande, who has returned to Delhi after a two-day visit to Ladakh, on Monday addressed a seminar on Army logistics at Manekshaw Centre here, and also referred to the eastern border standoff that erupted two years ago.

"I will have to go and take stock. But, it (disengagement process) is going as per schedule, and what was decided," he told PTI on the sidelines of the event, when asked about the status of the process.

Gen Pande on Saturday had carried out a comprehensive review of the overall security situation in eastern Ladakh, two days after Indian and Chinese militaries began disengaging from Patrolling Point 15 in the Gogra-Hotsprings area in the region.

The eastern border standoff erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong lake areas. Both sides gradually enhanced their deployment by rushing in tens of thousands of soldiers as well as heavy weaponry.

The ministry's comment on September 9 had come a day after the Indian and Chinese armies had announced that they have begun to disengage from the Gogra-Hotsprings Patrolling Point 15.

External Affairs Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi had said that according to the agreement, "the disengagement process in this area started on September 8 at 8:30 am and will be completed by September 12".

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a bid to increase its presence outside India, the Employees' Organisation (EPFO) may soon set up consultancy offices in Latin America and Africa. According to a report by Economic Times (ET), the organisation may also rope in global experts.

"By 2037, aims to have a strong presence and service centres in Asia and the Pacific followed by setting up consultancy offices in Latin America and Africa," an official was quoted as saying by ET.

The official added that has prepared a detailed roadmap for the next two and a half decades for it to become a social security provider. The top-level officials at the have also approved the long-term vision and it will soon be discussed with the stakeholders.



Also Read: EPFO to provide safer, more stable returns to those nearing retirement

The board of trustees of EPFO is headed by the union labour minister and has representatives of employees as well as employers. Any change in the current investment structure will have to be approved by the CBT.

With the new offices in other continents, the organisation is aiming to help the smaller countries in the region to develop their own social security, much like India, ET added.

Moreover, EPFO is also looking to improve its functioning by hiring global experts. The organisation will work towards "transitioning" itself to a "leaner and flatter" organisation, the report said.
Karnataka's Department of Pre-university Education has announced the PUC (Pre-University Course) result 2022 on September 12, Monday, at 10.58 am. The Department of Pre-University Education (DPUE) organised the 2nd PUC supplementary exam from August 12, 2022, to August 25, 2022. Students who failed one or two subjects in the regular exams appeared for the supplementary exams.

The registration process for Karnataka's second PUC supplementary exam concluded in June 2022. After that, the Department announced the 2nd PUC supplementary exam dates on their official webpage.



Also read | CUET UG 2022 Answer key released: Check all important details

Students who appeared for the supplementary exam had to complete the registration process separately. And now, you can download 2nd PUC supplementary 2022 online via the official website (www.karrresults.nic.in).



2nd PUC Supplementary result 2022 announced: Supplementary statistics





Total boys appeared 104,947 Qualified 36,637 Pass percentage 34.9 per cent Total girls appeared 70,958 Qualified 28,596 Pass percentage 40.3 per cent Total students passed 65,233 Total students appeared 175,905

2nd PUC Supplementary result 2022 announced: Key details in the result.

The Karnataka Second PUC Result 2022 will have important details about the candidate, such as roll number, student's name, and subjects. Etc. Also, if you feel there is some error in the result, contact the DPUE Karnataka officials, who are authorised to make changes to the supplementary exam mark sheet. Given below is the list of details that are present in the

Name and Roll Number of the student Appearing Subjects Examination's name Marks obtained/secured Qualifying status of the student



Karnataka 2nd PUC Supplementary result 2022 announced: How it happened?

The wait for the Karnataka 2nd PUC Supplementary results 2022 ends today. DPUE Karnataka announced the 2nd PUC Supplementary 2022 on September 12, 2022. Students who appeared for the exams can check their respective results from the official website of Karnataka .

Initially, DPUE Karnataka released the schedule for the 2nd PUC Supplementary examination, and then they instructed students to start preparing for the PUC supplementary examination. Then, the Department organized the supplementary examination.

Karnataka 2nd PUC Supplementary result 2022 announced: How to check and download the result?

Below is a step-by-step guide to checking and downloading your 2nd PUC supplementary result.

Visit the official result website of the Department of Pre-University Education, Karnataka (www.karresults.nic.in) Click on the Karnataka 2nd PUC Supplementary Result 2022 Download link. After this, enter your credentials, such as your registration number and subjects. Click the submit button, and the result will appear on your screen. Now, check the Karnataka 2nd PUC Science, Commerce and Arts supplementary result 2022 and take a print or download it to keep it with yourself.

Karnataka 2nd PUC Supplementary result 2022 announced: 2nd PUC result 2022 statistics

On June 18, the annual results were released on the Karnataka results' official website. Candidates can check their Karnataka 2nd PUC results in 2022 via SMS.

Overall, the pass percentage has been recorded at 61.88 per cent. Girls got 68.72 per cent, and boys registered at 55.22 per cent. 4,22,966 out of 6,83,563 students passed in the exams.

Science continued to be a stream with the highest pass percentageas many as 72.53 per cent of students who took the exam in the science stream passed the Karnataka 2nd PUC. For commerce, the pass percentage was 64.97 per cent. Also, 48.71 per cent passed in Arts exam. Given below is the table for a better explaination.

Total Students appeared 683,563 Total students passed 422,966 Overall pass percentage 61.88%

(Written by Zuhair Zaidi)
Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday demanded the to withdraw the 2022 before farmers stand up for another agitation.

Speaking in the State Legislative Assembly, he launched a bitter attack on Narendra Modi government for what he called its conspiracy to destroy agriculture in the name of reforms.

He said if the power reforms bill was implemented, motors have to be installed to agriculture pump sets and this would be a death-knell to farmers, who will turn labourers in their own fields.

KCR, as Rao is popularly known, appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withdraw the power reforms bill. "Modiji, for God's sake withdraw the power reforms bill. You have the habit of making legislation and withdrawing them. You brought a land acquisition ordinance and then took it back. You brought three anti-farmer laws and later not only withdrew them but also apologised, he said.

"Take back the power reforms bill before any trouble. Before people stand up and launch another agitation, accept our demand with respect," he added.

He made it clear that Telangana will never accept installation of motors to agriculture pumpsets and would continue 24X7 supply of free electricity to the agriculture sector. He said if power reforms of the are accepted, 39 lakh farmer families in the state will be badly affected.

KCR, who plans to soon launch a national political party, slammed the Modi government for its wrong and undemocratic policies and for toppling non-BJP governments in states.

He alleged that the BJP government was showing arrogance towards other parties and pointed out that it came to power at the with just 36 per cent votes.

He referred to the threats by BJP leaders to create Eknath Shindes in all states ruled by non-BJP parties. He said Tamil Nadu's state BJP president gave the warning to Chief Minister M. K. Stalin.

said history has seen bigger despots like Hitler, Mussolini and Napoleon. "They all were brought down and became part of history," he said and remarked that the current government at the Centre has just 18 to 20 months left.

said after selling away airports, ports, railways and all other sectors, the government was now trying to hand over agriculture and electricity to corporates. "These are the two sectors remaining and there is a conspiracy to sell them too in the name of reforms. There has been a steep hike in the prices of fertilizers, seeds, diesel and other inputs. The conspiracy now is to increase the electricity tariff so that farmers will have no option left but to surrender their lands to corporates who are ready to take over them with the blessing of the government," he said.

--IANS

ms/shb/

(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.)
India on Monday recorded 5,221 new Covid-19 cases, taking the nation's tally of the pandemic to 44,500,580. With 15 new deaths, including four more reconciled by Kerala, India's toll from the Covid-19 pandemic has reached 528,165. India's tally of cured Covid cases stands at 43,925,239 after 5,975 people recovered the from disease in the last 24 hours.



A district court will announce the order in the Gyanvapi mosque-Shringar Gauri case. Ahead of District Judge AK Vishvesh's order in the communally sensitive matter, prohibitory orders were clamped and security was tightened in . Five women had filed the petition seeking permission for daily worship of Hindu deities whose idols are said to be located on an outer wall of the Gyanvapi mosque. The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee has said the Gyanvapi mosque is a Waqf property and has questioned the maintainability of the plea. The case is being heard by the district court following an apex court order.

Addressing his first rally after quitting the party last month, on Sunday said he will not mislead the people over the issue of as only a government with a two-thirds majority in Parliament can ensure the restoration of the provision. "Azad knows what can and cannot be done. I or the party or three regional parties cannot give you back Article 370, neither can (TMC chief) Mamata Banerjee, or DMK or (NCP chief) Sharad Pawar," Azad said in Kashmir Valley. The former Union minister said he will not raise issues over which he has no control.

Thousands lined the route to catch a glimpse as Queen Elizabeth II's coffin, seen in public for the first time, made its journey on Sunday from Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire to arrive at the late monarch's official Scottish residence of Holyroodhouse Palace in the capital city of Edinburgh. It is the end of the first stage of what her eldest son, King Charles III, has described as his mother's "last great journey" ahead of her funeral in London on September 19.
India is unable to eliminate and because of a lack of testing and diagnosis of these diseases, and because of delayed treatment, experts say. In addition, is making the weather more conducive to mosquitos, the vectors that spread these .

India accounted for about 82% of all deaths and as many cases in South-East Asia in 2020. Reported cases of increased 22%, from 157,315 cases in 2019 to 193,245 cases in 2021.

Both and are vector-borne diseases, spread by organisms, like mosquitoes, that transport parasites and pathogens from one infected person (or animal) to another. Of all vector-borne in India, the most cases in 2021 were of dengue and malaria, government data show. These are the latest comparative data available for vector-borne .

India needs to ramp up testing, collect better data on the prevalence of these diseases and decentralise care at the village-level, experts say.

If India is able to eradicate malaria, it will join countries including Iran and Malaysia that had not reported a single malaria case for the past three years as of 2020, and China and El Salvador that were declared malaria-free in 2021.

Progress so far against malaria and dengue

Malaria, transmitted by the infective bite of the Anopheles mosquito, is caused by four types of parasites, two of which, Plasmodium vivax (P.vivax) and Plasmodium falciparum (P.falciparum), infect humans.

P. falciparum causes more severe infection, and can cause cerebral malaria, said Rakhal Gaitonde, professor of public at the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology in Thiruvananthapuram. "It's usually the type of malaria that kills. Vivax usually doesn't kill unless, of course, the patient is very sick (imuno-compromised)."

In 1953, India's programme concentrated on spramosqying the insecticide DDT to kill mosquitos. The programme was expanded in 1997 under the Enhanced Malaria Control Project, and in 2003, the government began the Vector Borne Diseases Control Programme (NVBDCP), which includes all vector-borne diseases, including malaria.

Since 2003, malaria cases have declined 91.3%, from 1.02 million cases to 161,516 cases in 2021, and deaths have declined from 1,006 to 90, according to government data.

The government says India's success in reducing malaria cases is because of controlling the population of mosquitos in high risk areas, early case detection and effective treatment by strengthening referral services and changing patient behaviour by engaging with citizens, according to this reply in the Lok Sabha in November 2021. But experts say more needs to be done to eradicate malaria.

India says it is working towards the World Malaria Day 2021 goal of 'Zero Malaria' by 2030. Under the Framework for Elimination of Malaria 2016-2030, the government had aimed to have zero indigenous cases and deaths due to malaria by 2022 in 15 low transmission states and Union Territories (UTs) and in 11 moderate transmission states and UTs.

The 26 states reported 11,834 cases by June 2022, as per the Centre for Vector Borne Diseases Control.

Dengue is a viral disease, transmitted by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito. The disease occurs in two forms: dengue fever, a severe, flu-like illness, and Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever (DHF), a more severe form of the disease, which may cause death.

Dengue occurs in waves, data show, with no clear pattern over the years. In 2011, India had 18,059 cases of the disease, while in 2021, it had over 10 times more, at 193,245 cases, according to data from the 2011 National Profile and from the website of the National Vector Borne Diseases Control Program.

Underreporting malaria and dengue cases

India's malaria and dengue data are collected mainly by the Management Information System (HMIS) and the Vital Registration System and Medical Certication of Cause of Death. But not all malaria and are diagnosed, leading to undercounting. And India doesn't register about 3 million deaths and does not certify the cause of death of about 8 million people, IndiaSpend reported in August 2021. No certification could mean that some malaria and dengue deaths are also not certified, and thus undercounted.

"There are a lot of overlaps of symptoms between malaria and dengue, and other tropical diseases, and viral fever. In the early phases even swine flu and leptospirosis [have similar symptoms]," which could lead to incorrect diagnosis or reporting of malaria and dengue cases, said Bharat Agarwal, internal medicine specialist at Apollo Hospital in Navi Mumbai.

are also poorly quantified with existing public health surveillance systems, as milder forms of the disease are less likely to be reported, and the system also fails to register cases treated in the private sector, where most patients seek care, according to this 2018 study by researchers from Indian Council of Medical Research.

Some experts believe that the number of dengue deaths are higher due to the fact that they are reported better. Dengue is more prevalent in urban areas, where there are better testing services, while malaria is more common in rural areas, and forest areas with a larger scheduled tribe population, both of which are underserved by health services, said Chandrakant Lahariya, an epidemiologist and public health specialist, who recently co-authored a book on Covid-19.

Another cause for undercounting is that data collection exercises are image-building exercises for governments, said Gaitonde. "If data collection is used for image-building exercises, the tendency is to highlight the positives and downplay or write-over the negatives."

Take for example, leprosy, he explained. In 2005, the government said that leprosy was eliminated from the country, which meant the government reduced funding and surveillance of the disease. One of the impacts of this, as per studies in 2009 and 2015, was that India was missing leprosy cases in certain areas, including tribal hamlets. Experts had told IndiaSpend in 2019 that India might be showing lower leprosy cases than there were.

Further, most health workers collect data on cases as a formality, said Gaitonde. For instance, he explained, processed and analysed data are never sent back to health workers who could take decisions on the ground based on those data.

Lack of testing

In 2017, the WHO had estimated that India only reports 8% of its malaria cases to the surveillance system. Today "even if we give a best case scenario, it will not be very different than 12%, 15%", said Lahariya. "We need to remember that in two years of Covid-19, almost all other non-Covid services had suffered."

Malaria is tested by blood smear examination, the "gold standard" for detecting the malarial parasite.

Five states performed 64% of the total malaria blood smear tests while states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha, considered hotspots for malaria, conducted just 4.8% (375,891) of the tests until May 2022.

There are two kinds of tests for dengue: direct tests, done through ELISA, to detect the presence of antibodies for dengue and a dengue PCR, which detects the genetic material of the dengue virus.

Some experts also point out that people are not forthcoming with their symptoms, making it harder to diagnose them. There is an inertia in getting tested in those who are affected and suffering from fever, said Ambarish Dutta, an epidemiologist at the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI).

Further, India's surveillance system is not strong enough to pick up all the fever cases and get them tested for dengue during an outbreak, said Dutta. The government's Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) should be very vigilant whenever there are outbreaks of fever, Dutta added, and there should be more testing.

Dengue has four subtypes and if the population was already exposed to the subtype common in that year, and has developed immunity against it, there will not be a large outbreak, said Gaitonde.

The government has to procure kits fast when cases start rising, as buying in advance would mean kits expire if they aren't used that season, Lahariya said. Because of this, there is usually a shortage of test kits, experts say. For instance, there have been media reports in 2019 and 2021 from Mohali in Chandigarh and Hyderabad in Telangana of a shortage of dengue testing kits.

Access to treatment remains a challenge

In areas where malaria is endemic--which means a disease is consistently present but limited to a particular region--it is important that people are able to reach out for treatment early. "Even though it won't be possible to save all patients with the best treatment, we can definitely save a lot more lives," said Lahariya.

States like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and the northeastern states have the highest burden of malaria and also have high malnutrition rates, which makes them more likely to have worse outcomes with malaria. In addition, malaria makes children more likely to be undernourished, according to a 2019 paper by the Observer Research Foundation.

There is no known cure for dengue, and cases can be treated at home with regular oral hydration and fever management. However there is danger of bleeding, in which case the patient would need to be hospitalised and need blood transfusions, a 2017 study found. During an outbreak this causes shortage of blood platelets, says the study.

Controlling dengue, malaria means controlling mosquitos

Mosquito growth, which has to be reduced to control these diseases, is in part related to and urbanisation.

Risk of dengue increases with increasing temperatures and increasing rain in India, found a study published in 2019.

Experts also point out that the change in human habitations has helped mosquito populations spread faster. India's population density in 1961 was 155 people per sq km, which in 2021 increased to 469 people. The Aedes Aegypti mosquito, the primary vector of dengue, breeds in natural containers such as tree holes and bromeliads, but nowadays it has adapted to urban habitats and breeds mostly in man-made containers, including buckets, mud pots, discarded containers, used tyres, storm water drains etc., making dengue an "insidious disease in densely populated urban centres", according to this World Health Organization article.

Mosquitoes that are responsible for transmitting were found both in urban and rural areas, according to a study published in the The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in 2016.

"What you really need to do is much more in depth in terms of preventing mosquitoes from breeding, preventing mosquitoes from interacting or biting humans,'' said Gaitonde. "There is a need to look at the social determinants like income, house type, distance to health sub-centre etc. in terms of exposure to these diseases."

India currently controls the spread of mosquitoes by Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) in selected high risk areas, Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLINs) in high malaria endemic areas, use of larvivorous fish, anti-larval measures in urban areas including bio-larvicides and minor environmental engineering and source reduction for prevention of breeding, according to the NVBDCP website.

Why malaria and dengue control needs to start at the village-level

There is a need for decentralised planning as both malaria and dengue exist in particular geographies, said Gaitonde. Village level and ward level planning, combined with community participation, involving all government departments including public works and education, and not just the health department, could help in both controlling mosquitos and diagnosing and treating the disease, Gaitonde said.

There are several examples of successful village-level care of malaria and dengue from India.

The Tamil Nadu government decided to make the ELISA test for dengue available at primary health centres, rather than at district hospitals. This led to more patients seeking early care, testing positive, more hospitalisation and a reduction in deaths, a 2022 study on the impact of this programme found. Furthermore, as the patients did not need to travel to tertiary health centres, this saved Rs 129 per person.

A study of the 2013 Comprehensive Case Management Project in Odisha for access to diagnosis and treatment and improved surveillance on malaria transmission, found that the number of underserved villages and hamlets decreased by 89%, and ASHA-plus providers tested half of all fever cases for malaria, and diagnosed and treated 55% of malaria cases at the level of the village itself in 2015. The programme included training and supervision of health workers, ensured no stock-outs of malaria tests and drugs, analysed verified surveillance data and appointed alternative providers to underserved areas, the study said.
The Economic Offences Wing on Monday detained P C Singh, bishop of the Church of North India's Jabalpur Diocese, from Nagpur Airport in Maharashtra for questioning in a cheating case registered against him, an official said.

Last Thursday, the claimed to have recovered around Rs 1.60 crore in Indian and foreign currencies from the bishop's residence in Jabalpur during searches followed the registration of the cheating case against Singh, who was then in Germany.

The Economic Offences Wing took help of various agencies, including the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), to monitor the movements of Singh on return from abroad, EOW's Superintendent of Police Devendra Singh Rajput told PTI.

"Singh was taken into custody from the Nagpur Airport for interrogation in connection with the cheating case registered against him," he said.

The last month registered the case against Bishop Singh after a complaint alleged that he indulged in financial misconduct in running an educational society, of which he was the chairman, the official said.

A preliminary investigation had revealed that Rs 2.70 crore collected as students' fees by the society's various institutions between 2004-05 and 2011-12 was allegedly transferred to religious institutions, misused and spent by the bishop for personal needs, an official earlier said.

A case was then registered against Singh and former assistant registrar of Firms and Societies B S Solanki under Indian Penal Code Sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using a forge document or electronic record) and 120 B (punishment for criminal conspiracy), the official had said.

MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday said it will be investigated whether the money was being used for religious conversion or any other illegal activity.

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The on Monday said over 67,000 have died since the outbreak of the lumpy skin disease in July, prompting a massive effort to vaccinate in over eight states with most cases of the disease.

Speaking to PTI, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Department Secretary Jatindra Nath Swain said states are currently using the 'goat pox' vaccine to control lumpy skin disease (LSD) in .

The commercial launch of a new vaccine 'Lumpi-ProVacInd' for LSD, developed by two institutes of agri research body ICAR, will take the next "three-four months," he said.

The lumpy skin disease has spread mainly in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. There are some stray cases in Andhra Pradesh and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

"In Rajasthan, the number of death is 600-700 per day. But in other states, it is less than 100 in a single day," he said, adding that the ministry has asked states to accelerate the vaccination process.

According to Swain, the goat pox vaccine is "100 per cent effective" and already 1.5 crore doses have been administered in the affected states.

He also said there is a sufficient supply of goat pox vaccine in the country. Two companies are manufacturing this vaccine and they have the capacity to produce 4 crore doses a month.

The total cattle population is around 20 crore. Already, 1.5 crore goat pox doses have been given, he said.

While only 1 ml dose of the goat pox vaccine is sufficient to help fight LSD in areas where no case has been reported, doses of 3 ml each can be administered in cattle where an outbreak has been reported, he added.

With regard to the new vaccine, Swain said the commercial launch of "Lumpi-ProVacInd" would take the next "three-four months."



"The manufacturers will have to take permission from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for commercial production of the new vaccine. It will take next 3-4 months for commercial launch," he added.

On the impact of LSD on milk production, the managing director of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets dairy products under the Amul brand, R S Sodhi said there has been a marginal impact of 0.5 per cent on milk production in Gujarat.

The situation in Gujarat is under control because of the vaccination process, he added.

Sodhi said the impact could be a little higher in other states.

"The procurement of organised milk producers including Amul has gone down compared to the year-ago period. But this cannot be attributed to LSD. Unlike last year, unorganised players, sweet makers and hotels are aggressively procuring milk," he said.

Mother Dairy MD Manish Bandlish said, "There is a minor impact on production in the overall scheme of things."



LSD entered India, Bangladesh and China in July 2019. Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a contagious viral disease that affects cattle and causes fever, nodules on the skin and can also lead to death. The disease gets spread by mosquitoes, flies, lice, and wasps by direct contact among the cattle, and through contaminated food and water.

India, the world's largest milk producer, had a cattle population of 192.5 million in 2019, as per the 19th Livestock census.

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Residents under Covid lockdowns across are complaining of shortages of food and essential items, the media reported on Monday.

Tens of millions of people in at least 30 regions have been ordered to stay at home under partial or full lockdowns, says the BBC.

"It's been 15 days, we are out of flour, rice, eggs. From days ago, we run out of milk for kids," said one resident in western Xinjiang.

Authorities are scrambling to contain local outbreaks ahead of the Communist Party of China's congress in October.

China's zero-Covid policy requires strict lockdowns, even if just a handful of cases are reported.

On Monday, recorded 949 new Covid cases across the entire country, the BBC reported.

The policy has prompted rare public dissent from citizens and has also been accused of stifling economic growth.

In Xinjiang, a weeks-long lockdown in the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture near the border with Kazakhstan has seen desperate residents appeal for help on social media, BBC reported.

One post showed a video of an Uyghur man overcome with emotion, saying his three children had not eaten for three days.

In Yining city, the capital of Ili, a shared online document with over 300 urgent requests for food, medicine and sanitary pads was widely circulated.

"I'm out of money to buy supplies. My wife is pregnant and we have two kids. We are running out of gas. My wife needs a medical check," said another resident, BBC reported.

The region has a mixed population of Han Chinese, Kazakh and Uyghur residents.

Earlier this month a UN report accused of "serious human rights violations" against Uyghurs and other mainly Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, the BBC reported.

Rights groups say that more than a million Uyghurs had been detained against their will. Beijing says its network of camps are a tool to fight terrorism.

In south-western Guizhou province, authorities locked down an area of the provincial capital Guiyang without warning, stranding 500,000 residents at home without any chance to prepare.

--IANS

san/ksk/

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China plans three more moon missions after authorities claimed that they have discovered a new type of mineral on the lunar surface during its space mission.

Officials are looking into sending more unmanned missions to the moon in the next decade as China seeks to rival the United States in the new era of space exploration. China's National Space Administration, the equivalent of NASA, received approval to send three orbiters to the moon.

Discovery of a New Mineral

They will be part of the Chang'e lunar program, said Lui Jizhong, an official with the China Lunar Exploration Space Program Center. The announcement came the day after authorities said that they discovered a new mineral on the moon's surface via samples retrieved by the Chang'e-5 mission.

The new mineral, named Changesite-(Y), was described by the state-run Xinhua news agency as a kind of colorless transparent columnar crystal. It is said to contain helium-3, an isotype that has been speculated as a future energy source, as per Mining.

China has ramped up its ambitions in space in the last few years, sending probes to the moon, building its own space station, and setting its sights on Mars. These are plans that have put it in direct competition with the U.S.

Read Also: NASA Moon Rocket Launch Pad Gets Hit with Lightning: Will It Still Take Off on Monday?

Currently, NASA has a rover on the Red Planet and is seeking to put astronauts on the moon again later this decade. Both countries are eyeing the moon's minerals with space mining expected to be the next source of tensions.

According to Yahoo News, Chinese officials have ordered the acceleration of efforts in space exploration with the construction of its latest space station. They also launched a number of missions to collect moon samples and put a rover called Zhurong on Mars earlier this year to rival NASA.

China's Future Moon Missions

However, the United States remains the only country to put astronauts on the moon, with the last landing almost 50 years ago in the Apollo 17 mission. The Apollo 11 mission was the first to bring samples from another planet back to Earth in July 1969 where it carried roughly 22 kilograms of material from the lunar surface.

China's Chang'e-6 probe, which has served as a backup for the Chang'e-5 with a sample retrieval capability, will soon travel to the far side of the moon. Liu added that the module has been basically completed.

The official noted that the Chang'e-7 probe is currently under development and the mission will subsequently explore the moon's South Pole region, and establish a basic structure for the ILRS.

The chief designer of China's lunar exploration program, We Weiren, was asked why the country was looking at the South Pole region for the building of ILRS. He said that the temperature on the far side of the moon can reach -200 degrees Celsius and the near side can mount to 200 degrees Celsius, neither of which are suitable for long-term human activities.

Furthermore, the South Pole region is also subject to the polar day night phenomenon, during the polar day, there would be more than 180 days of continuous daylight. This would support long-term work on the moon's surface and explains why it was intended to build the station there, the Global Times reported.



Related Article: NASA's $330 Million DART Spacecraft Catches First Look of Target Asteroid

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The of India will hear over 200 public interest litigations (PILs) including petitions challenging the contitutional validity of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

The CAA, when passed by the Parliament in 2029, had triggered massive protests across the country.

A bench headed by Chief Justice UU lalit will hear the petitons today.

One of the petitioners  the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML)  had said earlier the act violates the fundamental Right to Equality and intends to grant citizenship to a section of illegal immigrants by making an exclusion based on religion.

ALSO READ: SC scheduled to hear over 200 PILs on Monday including against CAA

What is CAA?

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act seeks to grant citizenship to non-Muslim immigrants belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Christian, Jain and Parsi communities who came to India from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh on or before December 31, 2014.

The Act grants of the above six communities an Indian citizenship after residing in India for five years instead of 11 years.

One of the many petitioners, the Indian union Muslim league (IUML) have challenged the CAA on the grounds that it violates the Fundalmental right to Equality and makes an exclusion on the basis of religion in granting citizenship to illegal immigrants.

Writ petitions challenging the validity of the CAA contest that it violates Articles 14 and 21 of Indian Constitution.

Several petitions have been filed challenging CAA, including petitions by RJD MP Manoj Jha, Jairam Ramesh, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi, Dravida Munnetra Kazhgam and Asom Gana Parishad

Why protests?

1) In the Northeast, the protests were against the Act's implementation in their areas.

The Northeastern states feared that the Act will cause a rush of immigrants in their areas which may alter their cultural and linguistic demography and uniqueness.

2) In rest of India, protests were generally against exclusion of Muslims from the list of persecuted minorities in CAA.

Centre's stance:

In March 2020 hearing, the Centre government, in its 129-page affidavit had argued that Fundamental Rights are applicable to Indian citizens and not illegal immigrants. It had went on to assert that there was no question of CAA violating constitutional morality which is not an "unruly horse"
The said on Monday it will hear on October 31 a batch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) which seeks to grant citizenship to non-Muslim migrants fleeing religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.

A bench comprising Chief Justice U U Lalit and Justice S R Bhat noted the matter will be referred to a three-judge bench.

The 2019 amended law, which seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim migrants belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Christian, Jain, and Parsi communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan has come in for stinging criticism by opposition parties, leaders and other entities over exclusion of Muslims.

During the hearing on Monday, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, told the bench that several issues have been raised in the petitions filed before the top court.

"Our reply is filed so far as some amendments and challenge is concerned. In some of the matters, our reply is yet to be filed," he said.

Mehta said some time would be required for preparation and also for the hearing the matter.

The bench said the office of the Solicitor General shall prepare a complete list of matters which shall be put in different segments depending upon the challenge raised in the petitions.

"The Union of India shall thereafter file its appropriate responses with respect to these segments of challenges," the bench said, adding, "Let the needful in that behalf be done within four weeks from today."



The bench noted that its attention has been invited to the apex court's January 22, 2020 order, in terms of which matters coming from Assam and North-East were already directed to be segregated.

"List these matters before the court for direction on October 31," it said, adding, "In the meantime, let notices be issued in all fresh matters wherever notice uptil now has not been issued by this court."



"Put the house in order and take it that we will be making a reference to a three-judge combination," the bench orally observed.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing in the matter, said these are "very important matters hanging fire for a very long time" and they need to be heard and decided quickly.

We just had a discussion on the point that should we make a reference to at least three judges of this court. What I felt wtoas let all these preliminaries be over and then we can make a reference, Justice Lalit observed.

A total of 220 petitions were listed for hearing, including the lead plea by the Indian Union Muslim League.

In January 2020, the apex court had made it clear it will not stay the operation of Citizenship (Amendment) Act without hearing the Centre.

Seeking a response of the central government in four weeks to a batch of pleas challenging the CAA, the top court had also restrained high courts in the country from proceedings with pending petitions on the issue.

The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), one of the petitioners that have challenged the CAA, has said the Act violates the fundamental Right to Equality and intends to grant citizenship to a section of illegal immigrants by making an exclusion based on religion.

The plea by IUML, filed through advocate Pallavi Pratap, seeks an interim stay on the operation of the law.

One of the pleas filed by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has said the Act is a "brazen attack" on core fundamental rights envisaged under the Constitution and treats "equals as unequal".

"The impugned Act creates two classifications, viz, classification on basis of religion and the classification on the basis of geography, and both the classifications are completely unreasonable and share no rational nexus to the object of the impugned Act i.e., to provide shelter, safety, and citizenship to communities who in their native country are facing persecution on grounds of religion," the plea has said.

Several other petitions have been filed challenging the constitutional validity of the amended law, including by RJD leader Manoj Jha, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, and AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi.

Muslim body Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, All Assam Students Union (AASU), Peace Party, CPI, NGO 'Rihai Manch', advocate M L Sharma, and law students have also approached the apex court challenging the Act.

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A clinical trial conducted at the Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) has indicated that a simple, low-cost intervention can drastically increase the cure and survival rate among patients, top officials said here on Monday.

The landmark multi-centre clinical trials were conducted in women undergoing surgery and it emerged that injection of a commonly used drug around the tumour - just prior to surgery, on the operation table - could drastically enhance the cure and survival rate of the patients on a long-term basis.

Director of TMC, Rajendra Badwe, who carried out the trials, presented the results at the ongoing European Society of Medical Oncology Congress in Paris on Monday, and simultaneously TMC's professor Sudeep Gupta addressed the media on the findings in Mumbai.

The trial outcome shows that the injection needs no additional expertise, is affordable, barely Rs 100 per patient, but can result in saving at least 100,000 lives of patients annually worldwide, said Badwe.

In comparison, expensive, targeted drugs costing over Rs 10 lakh per patient have shown far less benefits in early breast cancer patients, as per the study titled 'Effect of Peri-Tumoral Infiltration of Local Anaesthetic Prior to Surgery on Survival in Early Breast Cancer'.

Spearheaded by Badwe, the study was conducted on 1,600 women planning to undergo early breast cancer surgery at 11 cancer centres in India, including TMC, over 11 years from 2011-2022, said Gupta.

"This is the first study of its kind globally showing a sizable benefit by single intervention prior to surgery. For scientists, it opens a window of peri-operative intervention to modulate the environment of cancer in such a way as to prevent its deleterious reaction to the surgery," Badwe told the Paris conference.

Gupta said in Mumbai that the inexpensive and immediately implementable treatment in breast cancer can be practised by any surgeon who treats the disease, as shown from a large randomised trial, which is the 'gold standard' of evaluating the worth of new treatments.

Detailing on the study, the duo said half the patients (out of the 1,600) were part of the 'control group', who received standard surgery followed by the usual post-operative treatment comprising chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone therapy as per guidelines.

The other half was the intervention group, who received an injection of a common local anaesthesia agent, 0.5 per cent lidocaine, all around the tumour just before the surgery, and later underwent the same post-operative treatment as given to the control group.

After treatment, the patients were regularly followed-up for several years till the cut-off date of September 2021 to compare the cure and survival rates between the control group and the local anaesthesia group.

"As expected, there was no toxicity of lignocaine in patients who received it (the injection). The six-year disease-free survival was 81.7 per cent in the control group and 86.1 per cent in the local anaesthesia group for a 26 per cent relative reduction in the risk of a relapse or death - considered significant in statistical terms.

Similarly, the six-year over survival rate was 86.2 per cent versus 89.9 per cent in the two groups for a 29 per cent reduction in death risk with the local anaesthetic injection, again critically important, said Badwe.

His earlier research suggested a window of opportunity just prior to, during and immediately after surgical removal of the primary cancer when anti-cancer interventions could reduce the risk of development of disseminated Stage 4 metastatic cancer during the patient's lifespan.

The institutions where the clinical trials were conducted are: TMC Mumbai, Kolhapur Cancer Centre, Sterling Multi-speciality Hospital, Pune, and Siddhivinayak Ganapati Cancer Hospital, Sangli (all Maharashtra); All India Institute of Medical Sciences and Max Superspeciality Hospital (both Delhi); B. Borooah Cancer Centre, Guwahati; Basavatarakam Indo-American Cancer Hospital & Research Centre, Hyderabad; Gujarat Cancer & Research Institute, Ahmedabad; Malabar Cancer Centre, Thalassery (Kerala); and North-Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health & Medical Sciences, Shillong.

--IANS

qn/arm

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Security was tightened and prohibitory orders under Section 144 were imposed in as a district court will pronounce the verdict on the maintainability of the suit in the Gyanvapi mosque-Shringar Gauri case on Monday. In a bid to counter the growing clamour among the nations to enforce a price cap on Russian oil, Moscow has told New Delhi it is willing to provide petroleum at even lower rates than before to India, officials said.

Countering price cap proposal, Russia offers discounted oil to India

In a bid to counter the growing clamour among the nations to enforce a price cap on Russian oil, Moscow has told New Delhi it is willing to provide petroleum at even lower rates than before to India, officials said. In principle, the ask in return is that India should not support the G7 (Group of Seven) proposal. A decision on this issue will be taken later following talks with all the partners," an official with the (MEA) said. Read more



Serum Institute may give India its first adult vaccine

Soon, Indias fight against (TB) is likely to have another weapon in its arsenal  an adult TB . According to government sources, a recombinant Bacille CalmetteGuerin (rBCG) may soon be available for adults in India, thanks to Pune-based Serum Institute of Indias (SIIs) tireless efforts. Read more



Court's verdict in Gyanvapi Mosque case today: All you need to know

Security was tightened and prohibitory orders under Section 144 were imposed in as a district court will pronounce the verdict on the maintainability of the suit in the Gyanvapi mosque-Shringar Gauri case on Monday. District Judge A K Vishvesh had last month reserved the order till September 12 in the communally sensitive matter. Read more



mulls SFIO-like independent agency to probe cases of insurance fraud

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) is considering a recommendation to set up an independent investigation agency to probe cases of insurance fraud. This agency, if formed, shall be similar to the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), which probes corporate fraud and comes under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA). Read more

at 7-month low, but no change in petrol, in India

International have hit a seven-month low but there is no change in retail selling price of and diesel in India as state-owned fuel retailers recoup losses incurred for holding rates for a record five months despite rising cost. International benchmark Brent crude fell below $90 per barrel last week for the first time since early February as recession fears weigh on demand. Read more



Pharma body clears Micro Labs of charges of spending Rs 1000 cr on freebies

The Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) on Saturday cleared Micro Labs, the makers of the paracetamol tablet Dolo-650, of the charge that they offered freebies worth Rs 1,000 crore to doctors to prescribe the brand. The IPA in a report submitted to the Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) said that, in view of interaction with the management of the company and the detailed reply, it is clear Rs 1,000 crore expenditure on single brand Dolo-650 on freebies in one year is not correct. Read more
The district on Monday said it will continue to hear a petition seeking daily worship of Hindu deities whose idols are located on an outer wall of the Gyanvapi Masjid, dismissing the mosque committee's argument that the case is not maintainable.

District Judge A K Vishvesh rejected the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee's petition questioning the maintainability of the case, which has reignited the Kashi Vishwanath temple-Gyanvapi Masjid dispute.

The mosque committee's dismissed plea had cited the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 to make its case.

Separately, the Allahabad High which is hearing another case  dating back to 1991  on the temple-mosque dispute on Monday fixed September 28 for its next hearing.

The mosque is located next to the iconic temple and the case in the revived claims that the mosque was built on a portion of the Hindu structure demolished on the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.



The Supreme Court had directed the district court to first decide on the maintainability of the case, filed by five Hindu women seeking permission to offer daily prayers before the idols of Shringar Gauri.

The mosque committee had approached the apex court, arguing that their plea was not maintainable as the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 mandated that the character of such places should remain as it was at Independence. The 1991 law made an exemption only for the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute.

The Varanasi district court has now said the 1991 Act does not apply in this case --- where the devotees are seeking permission for daily worship of the idols they say are already installed there. Already, they are allowed to offer prayers there once a year, their lawyers had argued.

"From the perusal of provisions of the Act, it is clear that no bar has been imposed by the Act regarding a suit claiming right to worship idols installed in the endowment within the premises of the temple, or outside, the order said.

Dismissing the mosque committee's plea, the judge said, In view of the above discussions and analysis, I have come to the conclusion that the suit of the plaintiffs is not barred by the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, the Waqf Act, 1995 and UP Sri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Act, 1983. The court has now fixed September 22 as its next date of hearing in the case.

Advocate Merajuddin Siddiqui later said the mosque committee will challenge the order in Allahabad High Court.

The matter could also come up before the Supreme Court on October 20, the date it fixed during a hearing on the matter in July.

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board called the Varanasi court order disappointing and painful.

Several BJP leaders, including two Union ministers, welcomed it, with the party's secretary Y Satya Kumar terming it a "triumph of the truth." The Vishva Hindu Parishad too hailed it.

The Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya seemed to express hope that Mathura  where another mosque-temple dispute is being heard  could also see a similar outcome. Karvat leti Mathura, Kashi, he tweeted in Hindi.

Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs Ashwini Kumar Choubey said, "Kashi and Mathura are the pride of our Sanatan Dharma. This decision is for the uplift of our culture." The district judge had on August 24 reserved the order on the issue of maintainability till September 12.

He delivered the 26-page order on Monday, reading out his decision in 10 minutes in the presence of 32 people including lawyers from both sides, said an advocate who was present in the courtroom to which entry was restricted.

Some people gathered outside the court rejoiced, distributing sweets.

A day earlier, the district administration had issued prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC banning congregation of people. Police had stepped up security.

The Hindu women had petitioned a Varanasi civil court in August 2021. The court also agreed to appointing a panel headed by an advocate to conduct a video survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex.

Lawyers to the Hindu side had said the video clips showed a shivling' in the complex, a claim disputed by the mosque committee. It also objected to the video being leaked.

On May 20, the Supreme Court transferred the suit filed by Hindu devotees from civil judge (senior division) to the Varanasi district judge, saying it was a complex and sensitive case and should be heard by a more senior judicial official.

The three-judge bench also said that the process to ascertain the religious character of a place of worship is not barred under the Places of Worship Act.

(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.)
have sought the government's intervention to address the issue of chips shortage, according to a report by Economic Times.

The chip shortage has impacted the issuance of cards from banks. These banks have also asked for an investigation by the (CCI) into the practices of chip suppliers. Banks are struggling to meet the card issuance targets under (PMJDY).

Earlier, banks had collectively reached out to the government over the issue through the Indian Banks' Association (IBA).

Why is there a chip shortage?

The global chip shortage can be traced back to 2020, when demand for cars declined due to the Covid-induced lockdown. Amid signs of fluctuating demand, companies started stockpiling and ordering chips in advance.





This along with rising pressure from 5G aggravated the global chip shortage.The supply shortages eventually, pushed up prices of chips globally. The impact of this was also felt locally as the local vedor too raised the price.

Semiconductor chips enables commuting and processing of information and therefore, they are vital across industries.

From cars, smartphones, laptops washing machine, to banking cards these chips are used across industries.

How is India dealing with the shortage?

Semiconductor imports in India in 2021-22 increased 65.2 per cent from 2019-20.

Most of Indias chip imports in 2021-22 came from China. While Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, USA, and Japan were other suppliers, Chinas share comprised more than 50 per cent of the total imports.

Acting on the crisis, the government in December 2021 approved a $10 billion (Rs 76,000 crore) package for the .

ALSO READ: India to make second foray into chip manufacturing as demand seen rising
Prime Minister on Monday said the Centre and state governments are working jointly to control the spread of the Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) that has afflicted Indias .

Addressing the inaugural session of the World Dairy Congress of the International Dairy Federation (IDF), which is being held in the country after a gap of 48 years, Modi said the development of the indigenous for LSD and its quick spread across India and efforts to curb the movement of cattle from one state to another are the steps being taken to control the disease.

LSD is a contagious viral infection that affects cattle and causes fever, nodules on the skin, and can also lead to death. Over 67,000 cattle have died since July due to LSD in more than eight states, including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana. Currently, states are using goat pox to control the spread of this disease.

The indigenous vaccine, called Lumpi-ProVacInd, has been developed by two institutes of agri research body ICAR. Its commercial launch is expected in the next three-four months.

Though most private milk producers have claimed that disease seems to have no big impact on milk production and the country is poised to enter the coming flush season with surplus milk in inventories, some have questioned this assessment.

PTI quoted Managing director of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets dairy products under the Amul brand, R S Sodhi as saying that there has been a marginal impact of 0.5 per cent on milk production in Gujarat, while Mother Dairy MD Manish Bandlish said, "There is a minor impact on production in the overall scheme of things."



Cooperative Minister Amit Shah, while addressing a session in the evening, said his ministry is planning to set up 200,000 new cooperatives by 2024 and three multi-state cooperative societies for organic products, in which dairy will play a big role.

Prime Minister Modi in his address said India needs a balanced ecosystem for the dairy sector, which will ensure higher income for farmers while also spreading chemical free farming practices and improving animal health. All these are inter-linked to each other, the PM said.

He said dairy is a big source of green and sustainable growth in rural areas. The success of Indias dairy sector, which is based on four pillars, can be a model to be replicated by other poor countries.

The four unique characteristics of the Indian dairy sector, according to the PM, are dominance of small and marginal farmers. Dairy in India is produced by the masses and not mass production and India has become the worlds largest producer of milk due to the strength and efforts of these small farmers, Modi said.

He said the second unique characteristic of Indias is the role of cooperatives in its growth. In India, dairy cooperatives are present in almost 200,000 villages and nearly 20 million farmers are into the milk business through the dairy cooperatives, Modi said.

The third unique characteristic of the Indian is the presence of a large number of indigenous breeds of cows and buffaloes, which have special properties and traits. Most indigenous cattle breeds found in India are sturdy and strong, Modi said.

The fourth characteristic, according to Modi, is that it is dominated by women. He said in India one-third of the milk cooperatives are controlled by women, who are a big driving force in making dairying an almost Rs 8.5 trillion business by value, which is more than the value of wheat and rice taken together.

The prime minister said the government is trying to make cow dung also a source of extra revenue for the farmers in India and in the last few years many of the almost 1,000-odd start-ups that have entered agriculture are in the dairying and milk sector.

Modi said animal disease is a big problem and the government has started a unique programme to make India free of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and Brucellosis in the next few years.

Addressing the inaugural session, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said UP faces a big problem of abandoned and stray cattle and the state government is building cowsheds and gaushalas to house them.

A galaxy of Union ministers, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, three chief ministers, over 1,500 delegates from 50 foreign countries, around 800 farmers and scores of CEOs from worlds leading dairy companies have gathered for the four-day International Dairy Federations World Dairy Summit in Noida.

The summit is being held in India at a time when the country, which is the worlds largest producer of milk and has a huge population of cattle, is facing one of the worst outbreaks of LSD, which has claimed the lives of thousands of animals and infected many more.

The mega event will give great exposure to Indian companies to global best practices in milk production that will ultimately benefit the smallholder milk production eco-system in India.

An exhibition space of over 6,900 square meter along with as many 24 sessions centred around the theme Dairy for Nutrition and Livelihood covering different aspects of dairying will be part of the event.

That apart, three parallel technical sessions would be held with more than 150 foreign and Indian speakers.

The technical sessions will be presided over by Union cabinet ministers.

There are about 80 million dairy farmers in India, mostly small and marginal (having at an average 2 bovines). The annual domestic production of milk in the country is estimated at 220 million tonnes.

The summit, which is an annual meeting of the global dairy sector, is a carbon-neutral event.

NDDB, which is one of the main drivers behind the event, said the summit is a great learning opportunity for dairy farmers, leaders, experts, scientists, professionals, and academics.
The central government in May announced a ban on wheat exports, following an unexpected crop failure, resulting in low procurement and depletion of public stocks. Concerns are now arising over a similar situation, which has led the government to impose curbs on rice shipments.

According to a report in Indian Express, out of the four categories of rice exports, which includes rice, parboiled non- rice, raw, and broken non- rice, curbs have been put in place for only two categories, which is raw (white) rice and broken non- .

On September 8, the Department of Revenue under the Ministry of Finance, announced the imposition of a 20 per cent duty on exports of rice. On September 9, another notice from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, stated the imposition of blanket ban on exports of broken rice. Hence, only exports of full grain consignments would be permitted on payment of 20 per cent duty.

Why were the restrictions placed?

On account of irregularities in rainfall, sowing has not been up to expectations. During the current kharif cropping season, farmers planted 2.1 million hectares less area under rice, as compared to the same period last year. The move by the government is expected to increase global prices of rice, as India is a major exporter.

The second reason that the restrictions were imposed, was because of public wheat stocks, which on August 1, were the lowest in 14 years, at 26.65 metric tonnes.



How it will affect India?





In 2021-22, India shipped out a record 21.21 million tonnes (mt) of rice valued at $9.66 billion. That included 3.95 mt of worth $3.54 billion (on which there are no restrictions) and 17.26 mt of non-basmati shipments valued at $6.12 billion. Within the latter, 7.43 mt ($2.76 billion) comprised parboiled rice exports, which will also be allowed freely, the Indian Express reported.

The restrictions apply only in respect of the balance 9.83 mt ($3.36 billion). This covers 3.89 mt ($1.13 billion) of broken rice, whose exports have been prohibited, and 5.94 mt ($2.23 billion) of non-parboiled non-basmati rice, whose shipments will henceforth attract 20 per cent duty. The curbs, thus, will affect about half of Indias rice exports in terms of quantity and over a third by value.

Where does India export to?



In 2021, more than 75 per cent of India's was exported to Iran and the Arabian Peninsula countries. Nations such as the UK, the US, Canada, and Australia added nearly 10 per cent. Almost 55 per cent of non-basmati rice exports went to African countries, including Benin, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Togo, Guinea, Madagascar, Cameroon, Djibouti, Somalia and Liberia. Both China and Bangladesh, the top two buyers accounted for 9.5 per cent each, which was followed by Nepal and Benin, which contributed for 8-9 per cent each.

While most of exports to Bangladesh and African countries consisted of parboiled rice, China's imports included broken rice, which has now been banned.

India is not only the worlds second-largest producer but is also the biggest exporter, commanding a sizable market share of over 40 per cent. So, a sudden halt in the shipment of rice from India is bound to create ripples in the global rice bazaar, which might even boomerang and hurt the countrys own interests by damaging its image as a reliable supplier of grains and a trustworthy trade partner.
A former unit of Russia's is paying a 'meagre' penalty for the liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes it had failed to deliver to India since early June to absolve itself of all contractual liabilities, a top government official said.

Marketing and Trading Singapore (GMTS), under a long-term 20-year contract, was to supply 2.5 million tonne of to state-owned GAIL (India) Ltd this year. But it has not supplied any cargo or shipload of since early June.

"The contract provides for a penalty of 20 per cent of the agreed price in case of a default by the supplier. GMTS is paying that penalty to absolve itself of all contractual liabilities," the official, who wished not to be identified, said.

The price of under the long-term contract comes to USD 12-14 per million British thermal unit and GMTS is paying 20 per cent of this for the default, he said.

"LNG in spot market is being sold at triple the long-term price and so anyone would be happy to pay the meagre penalty and yet make a huge profit," the official said.

PTI had first reported on the GMTS default on July 19.

With alternative supplies costing at least three times the price of GMTS shipments, GAIL has reduced supply to users by about 10 per cent and is exploring options to advance some of the US supplies.

GAIL had in 2012 signed a 20-year deal with Russia's to buy 2.85 million tonne of LNG. Supplies started in 2018 and the full volume was to reach in 2023.

GMTS had signed the deal on behalf of Gazprom. GMTS was moved to Gazprom Germania and in early April, Gazprom gave up the ownership of the German unit without giving a reason and placed parts of it under Russian sanctions.

As per the deal, GMTS was to supply LNG to GAIL from its portfolio of production. But the Russian sanctions mean it cannot source LNG from Russia.

Under the long-term deal, GMTS was to supply 2.5 million tonne or a minimum of 36 cargoes of LNG to GAIL during the calendar year 2022.

GAIL received one cargo of LNG in June and nothing after that. "They are stating that because they have to secure supply for Europe, they are not certain about supplying (LNG to us) under this contract," the official said.

To mitigate the situation, GAIL is looking to advance volumes due from its separate US contract in 2023. Also, unallocated volumes in the 5.8 million tonne a year contract with US entities are being shipped to India by hiring new ships, he said.

Under the deal, GMTS was to progressively increase supplies to GAIL. It shipped 2 million tonne of LNG in 2021 and was to supply 2.5 million tonne in 2022. The full volume of 2.85 million tonne is to be reached in 2023.

The US and European nations have imposed heavy sanctions on Russia since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine on February 24. Some western oil firms have announced exit from Russian projects and Indian firms are being considered a natural candidate to step in.

India has raised oil imports from Russia after the Ukraine war despite criticism from the West and continues to engage with Moscow for business.

(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.)
Defence Minister on Monday said the government is committed to creating a robust, secure and self-reliant system to effectively deal with future security challenges.

Addressing a seminar on Army here, the Union minister said the government is also focussing on establishing common nodes in the country in tune with the needs of the three services.

Through these nodes, the resources of one service will be seamlessly made available to the rest, he said.

"Government is committed to create a robust, secure, speedy and 'Aatmanirbhar' logistics system to effectively deal with future security challenges and take the country to greater heights," he said.

Singh delivered the keynote address at the first Indian Army Logistics seminar on the theme 'Samanjasya Se Shakti' at the Manekshaw Centre here.

He also shared his insights on Information & Communication Technology (ICT) architecture, terming it as a major part of efficient logistics.

All the services have developed their ICT architecture. It is our endeavour that there should be interoperability among the three services so that we can use our resources in the best way, he added.

The defence minister also called for civil-military fusion to further strengthen the logistics system and stay prepared to deal with future challenges.

He emphasised that logistics in future wars will require jointness not only among the three services, but "also among different bodies in the form of industrial back-up, research and development, material support, industry and manpower".

The defence minister spoke of the synergy needed between civil and military stakeholders, and asserted that presence of representatives from different sectors of the two sides showed the "commitment" to achieve the goal as India stood on the threshold of an 'Amrit Kaal'.

"We are rapidly moving towards jointness of the three services," Singh said, adding, logistics is among the fields that benefited the most from this jointness.

He said 'atmanirbharta' (self-reliance) in logistics is an important component, and the government has formulated many policies to achieve that goal.

It is an important need of the time to reform the logistics system in tune with the 21st century, the minister said.

Singh also underlined that India has made rapid progress in the rail and other sectors in transportation.

In the five years preceding 2014, doubling of tracks of 1,900 km of railway lines was done. And, in the last seven years doubling of line has been done for over 9,000 km of railway lines, he said.

The opening ceremony of the seminar was attended by Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari and Navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar and NITI Aayog member V K Saraswat, among others.

(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.)
Just one month before he is expected to firmly establish himself as the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong, Xi Jinping will depart China for the first time in more than two years to go this week to Central Asia, where he will meet Vladimir Putin of Russia.

It is Xi's first travel outside of China since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and it demonstrates both how secure he is in his hold on China and how dangerous the current global scenario is.

Xi Jinping To Leave China For First Time Since COVID-19 Pandemic

Xi is scheduled to travel to Kazakhstan on a state visit on Wednesday against a backdrop of Russia and the West clashing over Ukraine, the Taiwan dispute, and a faltering global economy. The Chinese president will subsequently meet Vladimir Putin at the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Samarkand, an ancient Silk Road city in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, according to the Kremlin.

Putin's adviser on international affairs, Yuri Ushakov, told reporters last week that he anticipated meeting Xi during the summit. The Kremlin declined to disclose specifics of their discussions. China has not officially confirmed Xi's itinerary. At a moment when the West is attempting to penalize Russia for the Ukraine war, both leaders can vent their animosity toward the United States.

China has not yet confirmed Xi's tour itinerary, giving Putin the chance to highlight Russia's inclination toward Asia while Xi may highlight his influence. At a moment when the West is attempting to penalize Russia for the Ukraine war, both leaders can vent their animosity toward the United States. During the meeting, Xi will have the opportunity to emphasize his influence while Putin will be able to show Russia's preference for Asia.

Last week, Russia experienced its greatest setback in the conflict when it gave up its main stronghold in northeastern Ukraine. One of the most intriguing geopolitical developments of recent years is the growing "no limits" alliance between the rising giant of China and the resource tycoon of Russia. The West is anxiously observing this development, as per Business.

Both presidents are anticipated to demonstrate their opposition to the US at a time when the West wants to penalize Russia for the conflict in Ukraine. The group has admitted Iran, which the US considers to be a state supporter of terrorism, in another move meant to inflame the West.

India, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan are already members of the so-called dictators' club. Some of the most brutal leaders in the world are among its members; it was founded in 1996. Since beginning a war in February, Russian despot Vladimir Putin has wreaked massive havoc and damage throughout Ukraine. According to activists, the newest member of the club, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, has a dark past filled with murder and executions.

Raisi, also known as 'The Butcher,' is said to have had a significant role in the so-called 'Death Commission,' which gave the order for thousands of people to be slaughtered during the massacre in 1988.

Islam Karimov, the former president of Uzbekistan till his passing in 2016, had previously represented the nation in meetings. He was well-known for his abhorrent record on human rights, which included claims that two alleged Islamists were cooked to death.

Read Also: VP Kamala Harris Slams 'Extemist, So Called Leaders' Republicans as US Midterm Election Nears

Vladimir Putin To Hold Russian-Chinese Summit

It occurs at a time when Putin claims that Russia is shifting its attention to Asia after centuries of looking to the West as the locus of economic development, technological advancement, and war after the West imposed the harshest sanctions on Moscow in modern history as a result of the conflict in Ukraine.

In the most severe conflict between Russia and the West since the height of the Cold War, there is no indication that Xi is prepared to withdraw his backing for Putin. Instead, the 69-year-old leaders' relationship is getting stronger. In the first seven months of 2022, trade between Russia and China increased by over a third, according to The Sun.

Putin's worldview aligns with Xi's, who positions China as an alternative to the US-led, post-World War Two system and paints the West as a collapsing, US-dominated alliance that seeks to imprison, or possibly destroy Russia.

The Xi-Putin meeting would be extremely crucial, according to Putin advisor Ushakov. He said nothing more in-depth. As Europe looks to turn away from Russian energy imports, Putin will seek to enhance energy exports to China and Asia.

In addition, he will host a trilateral conference with Russia, China, and Mongolia, which might result in a significantly quicker path for Russian energy from Western Siberia to China. Last week, he said that a major gas export route via Mongolia had been decided. Gazprom has been researching the potential of building a sizable new gas pipeline called the Power of Siberia 2 that would pass via Mongolia and carry Russian gas to China for many years.

It will transport 50 billion cubic meters of gas annually, or about a third of what Russia typically sells to Europe, or volumes comparable to Nord Stream 1. Iran, one of Moscow's most important friends in the Middle East, is set to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which also comprises China, India, Pakistan, and four countries in Central Asia, Live Mint reported.

Related Article: Russia-Ukraine War: Volodymyr Zelensky Mocks Vladimir Putin's Forces for Retreating Amid Their Counterattack

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Union minister of and highways on Monday called on investors from the US to invest in Indian highway projects, adding that India's potential for public private partnership (PPP) has been globally recognised, and the sector is poised for growth.

Address the India-US Economic Summit, Gadkari said that the government has already set into motion the wheels of innovative joint venture instruments, such as the (NHAI) Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT), which saw a Rs 6,100 crore investment from foreign institutional investors. Also Read: Govt working on developing solar energy powered electric highways: Gadkari





"We have a well-developed framework for in the highway sector... The Asian Development Bank has designated India as a developed market for PPPs. All project documentations, approvals, and contractual decisions are done through a digital portal. I sincerely hope that more and more investors from the US will come forward and invest in highway projects in India," Gadkari said.

The minister recently announced that the NHAI InvIT will soon be open to retail investors, and will assure them a minimum return of 7-8 per cent.

The minister also said that the Centre is looking at innovative solutions in all aspects of highway development, and there's a huge opportunity in technologies such as advanced traffic management system (ATMS).

ATMS will be installed on all national highways with the aim of facilitating smooth and seamless traffic movement, the minister said.
Delhi University on Monday launched the Common Seat Allocation System for undergraduate admissions for the 2022-23 academic year with the vice-chancellor saying the new academic session is likely to begin on November 1.

This marks the much-awaited commencement of the admission process at Delhi University. This year, the university is admitting students through the Common University Entrance Test (CUET).

CUET results are expected to be announced on September 15.

At a press conference, Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh said the university is likely to begin the new academic session on November 1.

"We are launching CSAS (Common Seat Allocation System) portal today for undergraduate programmes. This is the first time we are taking admission through CUET," he said.

The portal will remain open till October 3, giving students a 21-day window to apply for their desired undergraduate programme, Singh said.

To apply, candidates will have to visit the DU admission website and register by clicking on the link that read admission for undergraduate programmes.

They will have to fill in all basic details, upload mark sheets, photographs and signatures, and pay the registration fee.

Admission through the CSAS will be conducted in three phases submission of the CSAS-2022 application form, selection of programmes and filling of preferences, seat allocation, and admission.

The CUET score will be required in the second phase of the process, which can only take place once the results have been announced.

A candidate will be required to select the programmes in which they want to take admission. They will have to confirm the programme-specific CUET-UG merit score for all the selected programmes.

In the third phase, a merit list will be issued by Delhi University and based on it seats will be allocated.

(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 Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) counselling for registration process for Indian Institure of Technology (IIT), National Institute of Technology (NIT) has started on Monday, September 12. Candidates who have qualified the JEE Main or Advanced 2022 exam can apply for admission online, at josaa.nic.in.

Candidates who wish to take admission to IITs, NITs, and other government-funded technical colleges can do the same through JoSAA counselling process.

The Bombay on Sunday announced the results for online, at jeeadv.ac.in.

Students who have qualified for JEE Main and JEE Advanced, both can apply for JoSAA counselling. However, candidates should note that those who have qualified can only get admission in IITs.

For JoSAA counselling 2022, candidates need to register, fill choices of preferred institutions and courses.

The last date to fill out the application is September 17.

After the registration process, JoSAA will release two mock allotment lists, on September 17 and 19 based on candidates' choices. Based on the lists, candidates can lock their choices from September 20.

The round 1 of JoSAA 2022 registration process will end on September 1 and seat allotment for the first round will be published on September 23. Candidates will then have to report online for admision at their preferred institution by September 26.

The JoSAA will conduct five more rounds of counselling that will be followed by CSEB counselling, which is for the NIT+ system only.

Here's how you can register for the JoSAA counselling online:
Setting up of a advisory panel, school based programme and pedagogical support to ensure mental well- being of and engaging parents are among the guidelines issued by for schools.

The guidelines for "Early identification and intervention for problems in school going children and adolescents" have been released by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) following a mental health survey among school children.

The survey report launched last week cited exams, results and peer pressure among major factors for stress and anxiety among school .

"Schools generally are seen as spaces where communities of learners have been expected to develop in a safe and secure environment. School management, principal, teachers, other staff, and all spend around 1/3 of a day and around 220 days in a year in schools across the states and UTs in India. For residential schools, the time spent by a student in the school community is even more. Therefore, it is the school's responsibility to ensure the safety, security, health, and well-being of all children in schools and hostels," the guidelines read.

According to the manual, every school or groups of schools should establish a mental health advisory panel.

"It should be chaired by the principal and have teachers, parents, students and alumni as members. It will create awareness, and also plan and enforce an age and gender appropriate annual school mental health programme. The schools should have a provision for identifying behaviour, substance use and self-harm, depression, and developmental concerns, provide first aid and make appropriate referrals," it said.

Noting that most of the time mental health issues emerge at an early stage of life as half of all mental health conditions emerge by the time individuals are 14 years old and three-quarters by the age of 25, has recommended that apart from families and parents, teachers need to be informed about early flag signs as they too are the primary caregivers.

"Teachers must be trained in identifying early signs in students for attachment issues, separation anxiety, school refusal, communication issues, anxiety patterns, depressive states, conduct related issues, excessive internet use, hyperactivity, intellectual disability, and learning disabilities, it said.

"Teachers should talk about bullying cases in class and empower students by educating them regarding bullying. They should provide a confidential way for students to report any incident which is of concern to them," the manual said.

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has withdrawn insolvency case against Chennai-based Ltd after the troubled oil rig paid dues under One-time settlement. The company has been in talks with lenders for a debt resolution plan.

The company, which provides offshore drilling services for exploration and production of oil and gas, has paid an outstanding principal of Rs 121.78 crore to Central Bank. The lender had filed suit against the company under section seven of Code 2016 (IBC), the company informed . Its stock closed 8.6 per cent higher at Rs 59.35 per share.

Lenders who have exposure to ailing the company include Bank of Baroda, Export Import Bank of India and IDBI Bank, according to the firm's annual report for FY22.

One senior executive with a private bank said this borrower has been selling oil rigs in stages and paying off dues of the lenders in small amounts. The securities or collateral provided for each bank or lender is different.

The company embarked on the exercise to sell 14 rigs owned by the Company and its step-down subsidiaries (including five rigs in the current financial year) following Board and shareholder approval. Six rigs have already been delivered and transactions completed, which helped moderate debt, it said in Fy22 report.

The Company generated revenues worth Rs 598.3 crore in 2021-22 compared to the previous years revenue of Rs 1,069.4 crore. The company reported a net loss of Rs 2,689.7 crore in 2021-22 compared with a net loss of Rs 1,502 crore in 2020-21. At the close of 2021-22, the Companys rigs were operating under a balanced mix of long-term and short-term contracts.
Commemorating the 75th anniversary of India's Independence, 75 Indian-American organisations have announced to celebrate the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsava' at from September 14.

This unique event will be a hallmark in the festivity of India's independence, bringing 75 organisations together and showcasing India's unique culture and diversity, Jashvant Patel, CEO, US-India Relationship Council and chairman of the organising Committee, said.

The Indian diaspora organisations will use this opportunity to remember India's rich tradition, its heroes, people, and their achievements, said Patel who is also the president of Sardar Patel Fund for Sanatan Sanskruti.

The Indian-American community has significantly contributed to the US in the past 75 years. The achievements include advancements in healthcare, technology, human rights, sustainability, environmental health, among others, the organisers said in a statement.

Innovation is at the forefront, and the US and India -- the oldest and largest democracies -- have worked together to further the relationship in many areas, it said.

Ashok Bhatt, former Water Commissioner, California and vice chair of the organising committee said India's Ambassador of India to the United States, Taranjit Singh Sandhu will be the guest of honour at Capitol Hill. Several Congressmen are expected to attend the event.

(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.)
will always seek to keep open channels of communication with Turkey, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has said.

The Prime Minister made the remarks at a press conference during the 86th Thessaloniki Fair (TIF) in Thessaloniki, a port city in northern Greece, Xinhua news agency reported.

Mitsotakis rejected "recent unacceptable statements" of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, adding that despite such remarks, he was "always available and open to a meeting with the Turkish leader," Greek national broadcaster ERT reported.

"I cannot imagine that there will be a conflict between and ... I do not believe that this will ever happen," Mitsotakis said.

During an event in earlier in September, Erdogan accused of "harassment" of Turkish fighter jets in the Aegean Sea and the eastern Mediterranean recently. Greece has rejected the claims.

Relations between the two countries have long been tense over a series of issues, including maritime and energy disputes in the Aegean and the Mediterranean Sea.

--IANS

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Former Pakistan Prime Minister and Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has claimed repeatedly that the reason behind his ouster from power through a no-confidence motion by opposition alliance in the parliament was part of a US-led conspiracy of regime change.

Since his ouster, has carried this claim and built up an anti-US narrative, which he has repeatedly slammed for ousting him off power because of his extension of better relations and trade with Moscow during the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

Today, stands as by far the most popular leader in the country's political arena as hundreds of thousands of his supporters take to the streets every time he calls upon them to stand with him against what he terms as the current 'imported government', brought into power at the behest of the United States regime change conspiracy with an agenda to be "slaves of the US and the West."

It is also a known fact that PTI's social media team has slammed the military establishment and the current Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa for becoming party to the regime change conspiracy. Social media, most of which is run by PTI's social media team has made various trends against the Pakistan military establishment, which have ridiculed the army chief, the military establishment and even the judiciary for trying to push Imran Khan against the wall in his struggle for what he terms as 'haqeeqi azadi', which means true freedom.

With all of the narrative reaching to all corners of the country and abroad, Imran Khan has met with the former American diplomat, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst and lobbyist Robin Raphel at his residence in Bani Gala in Islamabad. The meeting comes after PTI's US team decided to hire the services of Robin Raphel's company to lobby in favour of and create in-rows into the Biden administration to fix its image and relations with Washington, a step taken parallel to the ongoing slamming of the US administration for conspiring against Imran Khan in public rallies and gatherings across Pakistan.

As per sources, Robin Raphel met with Imran Khan at his residence in Bani Gala on Sunday afternoon. It was also revealed that head of USA chapter accompanied Robin Raphel.

The meeting comes at a time when Imran Khan has been publicly accusing American diplomat Donald Lu for conspiring against the then government under Khan. Imran Khan waved a letter in a public gathering in Islamabad, claiming that he has letter with details of the conversation between Donald Lu and then Pakistani High Commissioner in the US in which, clear threats are being given of dire consequences if Imran Khan continues to stay in power.

Imran Khan's claims have come in parallel judgment and criticism on his meetings with US former and current officials as he has met with Ilhan Omar, a representative of the Biden administration, US Ambassador to Pakistan and now with former analyst and lobbyist Robin Raphel.

Question are being raised over the political narrative building of Imran Khan, who on one side, slams United States for conspiring against his government and ousting him off power, and on the other hand, reaches out to former analyst to lobby for in the US to better relations with the US administration.

--IANS

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has warned against the noticeable decline in support extended to in the and the related UN institutions.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi made the remarks at a meeting with UN High Commissioner for (UNHCR) Filippo Grandi in Amman, where he stressed the need for mobilizing joint action to provide a decent life for and help host countries shoulder the burden of hosting them, reports Xinhua news agency.

Safadi praised the solid partnership between and to present necessary services to about 1.3 million Syrians residing in Jordan, of which only 10 percent live in refugee camps, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

He also underlined the role of in supporting refugees and maintaining their cause on the agenda.

The two sides agreed to intensify efforts to rally support for refugees.

For his part, the UN official commended Jordan's role in hosting and providing Syrian refugees with needed health and education services.

Also on Sunday, Jordan's Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh discussed with Grandi the prospects of cooperation between and UN agencies providing humanitarian and relief services to Syrian refugees, the state-run Petra news agency reported.

King Abdullah II of Jordan received Grandi on Sunday and underlined the need for the international community to shoulder its responsibilities towards host countries, especially in light of challenges related to global food security, according to a statement by the Royal Hashemite Court.

According to the UN, Jordan now hosts some 675,000 registered refugees from Syria, who began fleeing in 2011 when the crisis in their country brought unimaginable suffering on its citizens.

Most Syrian refugees in Jordan live in its towns and villages, among local communities.

Only 17 per cent live in the two main refugee camps, Za'atari and Azraq.

--IANS

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King Charles called Britain's parliament the "living and breathing instrument of our democracy" and pledged to follow his late mother Queen Elizabeth's example in maintaining its independence in an address to both chambers on Monday.



Charles arrived at Westminster Hall in London to a fanfare of trumpets with his wife Camilla, Queen Consort, for the address - part of a series of pageantry-filled ceremonies following the queen's death on Thursday at her holiday home in Balmoral, Scotland, after 70 years on the throne.



After the address, the new monarch set out for Edinburgh to join his siblings for a solemn procession when the coffin of Queen Elizabeth is taken to the city's historic cathedral.



They will then take part in a vigil at St. Giles' Cathedral, on the Scottish capital's centuries-old Royal Mile, where the coffin will lie at rest before being flown to London on Tuesday.



Prime Minister Liz Truss - still in her first week in office - and parliamentarians from the House of Commons and the House of Lords - attended the address in Westminster Hall.



The Lord Speaker described the late queen as "both a leader to and servant of her people".



Charles and Camilla sat on ceremonial chairs, with cavalry troopers in red tunics and plumed helmets standing to attention behind.



In his address, Charles said: "While very young, Her late Majesty pledged herself to serve her country and her people and to maintain the precious principles of constitutional government which lie at the heart of our nation. This vow she kept with unsurpassed devotion.



"She set an example of selfless duty which, with God's help and your counsels, I am resolved faithfully to follow." The assembly sang "God Save the King".



Charles, 73, who automatically became king of the United Kingdom and 14 other realms including Australia, Canada, Jamaica, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea on his mother's death, is known for expressing his views on matters ranging from the environment to youth issues.



He has suggested that as king, he might have to moderate his style, in keeping with the tradition that the monarch keeps out of political matters.



CROWN OF SCOTLAND



On Sunday, the queen's oak coffin, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, was taken by hearse on a six-hour journey from Balmoral through picturesque Scottish countryside, villages, small towns and cities to Edinburgh.



Tens of thousands of well-wishers lined the roads to pay their respects, while huge crowds, some in tears, gathered in Edinburgh to greet the cortege.



"I think when the queen's coffin emerged from Balmoral Castle yesterday, I think that it was a moment of enormous significance," John Swinney, Scotland's Deputy First Minister told BBC radio.



"I think people drew breath, because what we've all been living through over the last few days suddenly became real, it became visible."



When the coffin arrives at St. Giles' Cathedral, the Duke of Hamilton and Brandon, the premier Scottish peer, will place the Crown of on it.



After a service, the coffin will rest there for 24 hours to allow people to pay their respects. A vigil will be mounted by soldiers from the Royal Company of Archers - the sovereign's "Body Guard in Scotland".



Charles, who will also visit the Scottish parliament and meet Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, will later mount a vigil at 7.20 p.m. (1820 GMT) along with other royals.



On Tuesday, the coffin will be flown to London where on Wednesday it will begin a period of lying in state until early on Sept. 19 - the day of Elizabeth's state funeral - on a catafalque at Westminster Hall.



It will be guarded by soldiers or by Yeoman Warders - known as beefeaters - from the Tower Of London.



CROWDS EXPECTED

Members of the public will be allowed to process past the coffin, which will be covered by the Royal Standard with the sovereign's Orb and Sceptre placed on top, for 24 hours a day until 6.30 a.m. (0530 GMT) on Sept. 19.



"Those wishing to attend will be required to queue for many hours, possibly overnight," the government said in a statement.

"Large crowds are expected."



Meanwhile thousands of people continued to gather at royal palaces across Britain, bringing flowers. In Green Park near Buckingham Palace, where some of the tributes are being taken, long lines of bouquets now snake around the park allowing mourners to read the tributes.



"It's really touched me, losing the queen," Amy Gibbs, 43, said outside Buckingham Palace. "I think she was an amazing lady that did her absolute best and gave us everything." Britain last saw such a display of public mourning in 1997 after the death of Charles's first wife, Princess Diana, in a Paris car crash.



In his first public comment since the queen's death, - Diana's son - paid an emotional tribute to his "granny" on Monday, saying she would be sorely missed not just by the family, but the world over.



"Granny, while this final parting brings us great sadness, I am forever grateful for all of our first meetings - from my earliest childhood memories with you, to meeting you for the first time as my Commander-in-Chief, to the first moment you met my darling wife and hugged your beloved great grandchildren." "We, too, smile knowing that you and grandpa are reunited now, and both together in peace," Harry said, a reference to Elizabeth's husband of 73 years Prince Philip who died last year.

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The internet is divided over videos showing Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, chatting with an assistant.

On September 10, as the Duchess of Sussex, the Prince and Princess of Wales, and her husband, Prince Harry, were addressing mourners stationed outside Windsor Castle, the event took place.

Meghan Markle's "Passive Aggressive" Exchange With Royal Aide

In a video that was extensively posted on Twitter, Meghan Markle was seen speaking to the crowd while holding a bouquet of pink roses when an aide approached her from behind. The Duchess may be seen whirling around rapidly and appearing to have a brief expression of irritation on her face, according to several social media users.

Before ultimately grinning, nodding, and turning around to face the audience, Meghan Markle murmured a few words to the assistant while pointing in one way. As the Sussexes and Wales addressed the audience following the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, it wasn't the only video to cause controversy.

The footage of Meghan appeared to be ignored by a mourner split social media. One woman was seen lowering her gaze as the Duchess passed in the video that was shared on Twitter.

After shaking her head, she gave a woman sitting next to her a knowing glance. The video ignited a heated discussion on social media, with Twitter users having differing opinions about the exchange.

Others said that the Duchess had been the victim of rude conduct. Another observer remarked that, given the circumstances, the mourner behaved politely, as per 7 News.

Thousands of people had gathered in front of the palace to greet the royals, hoping to lure them in. Prince William and Prince Harry's names were repeatedly sung by the jubilant throng.

Several videos of the royals' visit went viral, including one in which Meghan Markle is heard talking to a staff member while holding a bunch of flowers, according to Wales Online. The Duchess of Sussex's remarks caused a frantic internet debate although it is obvious that it was a kind remark to the staffer who had offered to remove the flowers.

In a widely read tweet, Meghan Markle seems to be claiming that she promised a member of the public that she would place flowers at the gate.

The couples were solemn when they initially arrived and started reading the letters given to the Queen; but, when they spoke to the passionate audience, they seemed happier. While Meghan and Harry spoke to guests on one side of the gates, Prince William and Kate Middleton spoke on the other. After that, the couples split up into their assigned groups.

When speaking to the crowd and reading tributes, Prince William and Prince Harry both lightly placed their hands on their spouses' backs to demonstrate support for them.

A young person in the audience was also spotted hugging the Duchess of Sussex tightly. After a brief conversation, Meghan Markle was seen reassuring her by placing her hand on her shoulder. The trio was there for a little over 40 minutes in all, and when they left, the crowd chanted, "Hip, hip, hooray".

Read Also: King Charles III Delivers Emotional Speech After Queen Elizabeth II's Death; Prince Harry, Meghan Markle Get Love

Will Prince Harry, Meghan Markle's Children Come to UK?

It has been rumored that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle would fly Archie and Lilibet to the UK for the Queen's burial. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who reside in the US, are said to have confirmed they will remain in Britain until the end of the royal mourning period, which ends seven days after the service on September 19 and lasts for one month.

Archie, 3, and Lilibet, 1, the couple's children, are still living with Doria Ragland, 66, in California and have already been separated from their parents for more than a week. Their parents were about to wrap up a quick trip to Europe when the Queen passed away on Thursday.

The Sussexes are currently deciding whether Doria and the kids should take a flight to the UK, according to The Telegraph. The Duke and Duchess would remain in the UK for the duration of the period of royal mourning, the couple's spokesman said, The Express reported yesterday. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry had only expected to be away from their Montecito mansion for seven days for their mini European tour, in which they were supporting various charities close to their hearts, according to Mirror.

Related Article: Here's Why Meghan Markle Cannot Join Prince Harry at Balmoral Castle Despite Putting Her Career on Pause After Queen Elizabeth II's Death

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Faced with one of its worst defeats in nearly seven months of war in Ukraine, the insisted on Monday it would achieve its military goals and President maintained an air of business as usual as he chaired a meeting on the economy.



spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to answer directly, when asked by a reporter if Putin still had confidence in his military leadership after Ukraine's lightning counteroffensive in the northeast of the country.



Instead he repeated a familiar mantra. "The special military operation continues. And it will continue until the goals that were originally set are achieved."



Soon afterwards, Putin was shown on state television chairing a meeting on the economy at which he made no reference to the rout and said was holding up well in the face of Western sanctions.



"The economic blitzkrieg tactics, the onslaught they were counting on, did not work - this is already obvious to everyone, and to them too," he said.



Seizing the initiative after months of deadlock, says it has recaptured more than 3,000 sq km (1,160 sq miles) of territory in the space of just a few days. Russia, however, still occupies about a fifth of the country.



Asked if Putin would order a general mobilisation in response to Ukraine's counter-offensive, Peskov referred the question to the defence ministry, which did not reply to a Reuters request for comment.



So far Putin has not resorted to mobilising Russia's reserves, who number around 2 million men with military service within the past five years.



To do so would constitute an admission that what he has cast as a limited military mission is in fact a full-scale war against a fellow Slav country - and that the war is going badly for .



The swift Ukrainian gains in Kharkiv region have left Moscow facing its most serious defeat since being driven back from the outskirts of the capital Kyiv in the spring. The advance has deprived of vital logistics hubs it had used to supply its forces in eastern .



Moscow's public insouciance about the retreat has provoked significant anger among some pro-war commentators and Russian nationalists on social media.



As Russian forces abandoned town after town on Saturday, Putin was opening Europe's largest ferris wheel in a Moscow park, while fireworks lit up the sky over Red Square to celebrate the city's founding in 1147.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Sri Lanka's Minister of Labour and Foreign Manusha Nanayakkara said that more than 200,000 Sri Lankans have left for foreign jobs in 2022 so far.

He said that these are the people who have registered with the Bureau of Foreign Employment, and some may have left without registering.

The minister said that remittance sent by expatriate workers to reached $325 million in August, an increase of 16.4 per cent compared to July.

Around 330,000 people are expected to leave for foreign jobs by the end of this year, the minister said.

The minister expressed gratitude to workers who have sent money through the banking system at a time when the country is facing a foreign exchange shortage.

--IANS

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Prime Minister will travel to Samarkand in to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit to be held between September 15 and 16. This will be the first in-person summit after the 2019 summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, as reported by Indian Express (IE).

The report added that PM Modi may reach Samarkand on September 14 and return on September 16. After the 2022 summit, the presidency of the SCO will be handed over to India for the next year till September 2023. New Delhi will most likely host the next .

Among the leaders who have confirmed attending the event are Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Shahbaz Sharif, and Ebrahim Raisi. Although no announcement of any bilateral meeting has been made by the government yet, the IE report quoted sources as saying that Modi may meet with Putin and Raisi on the sidelines of the summit.

PM Modi and Jinping last met at the in 2019. If the two leaders meet at the summit, they will do so for the first time after the fallout between the armed forces of India and China in Ladakh in May 2020.

Lately, the troops have started to disengage from the last remaining friction point, Point 15 in Gogra-Hot Springs region. The disengagement is scheduled to end by September 12.

PM Modi will "certainly" meet president Shavkat Mirziyoyev at the summit.

The leaders at the summit are likely to discuss the war in and the situation in Afghanistan under Taliban rule, the IE report stated.

In July, foreign minister travelled to to attend the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers meeting.

SCO was founded in 2001 in Shanghai. It currently has eight members namely, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Iran, Afghanistan, Belarus, and Mongolia have been granted the status of observer states. The organisation mainly focuses on regional security issues and development.
attacked power stations and other infrastructure, causing widespread outages across as Kyiv's forces pressed a swift counteroffensive that has driven Moscow's troops from swaths of territory it had occupied in the northeast.

The bombardment on Sunday ignited a massive fire at a power station on Kharkiv's western outskirts and killed at least one person. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced the deliberate and cynical missile strikes against civilian targets as acts of terrorism.

Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv appeared to be without power Sunday night. Cars drove through darkened streets, and the few pedestrians used flashlights or mobile phones to light their way.

Separately, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the Russia-occupied south completely shut down in a bid to prevent a radiation disaster as fighting raged nearby.

Kyiv's action in recent days to reclaim Russia-occupied areas in the Kharkiv region forced Moscow to withdraw its troops to prevent them from being surrounded, leaving behind significant numbers of weapons and munitions in a hasty flight as the war marked its 200th day on Sunday.

Ukraine's military chief, Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyy, said its forces had recaptured about 3,000 square kilometers (1,160 square miles) since the counteroffensive began in early September. He said Ukrainian troops are only 50 kilometers (about 30 miles) from the Russian border.

One battalion shared a video of Ukrainian forces in front of a municipal building in Hoptivka, a village just over a mile from the border and about 19 kilometers (12 miles) north of Kharkiv.

Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said Ukrainian troops have reclaimed control of more than 40 settlements in the region.

In Sunday night's missile attacks by Russia, the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions seemed to bear the brunt. Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia and Sumy had only partially lost power, Zelenskyy said.

Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov called the power outage revenge by the Russian aggressor for the successes of our army at the front, in particular, in the Kharkiv region.

Ukrainian officials said hit Kharkiv TEC-5, the country's second-biggest heat and power plant, and Zelenskyy posted video of the Kharkiv power plant on fire.

Russian terrorists remain terrorists and attack critical infrastructure. No military facilities, only the goal of leaving people without light and heat, he tweeted,



But Zelenskyy remained defiant despite the attacks. Addressing Russia, he added: Do you still think you can intimidate, break us, force us to make concessions? ... Cold, hunger, darkness and thirst for us are not as scary and deadly as your 'friendship and brotherhood.' But history will put everything in place. And we will be with gas, lights, water and food and WITHOUT you!



Later in the evening some power had been restored in some regions. None of the outages were believed to be related to the shutdown of the reactors at the Zaporizhzhia plant.

While most attention focused on the counteroffensive, Ukraine's nuclear energy operator said the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest, was reconnected to Ukraine's electricity grid, allowing engineers to shut down its last operational reactor to safeguard it amid the fighting.

The plant, one of the 10 biggest atomic power stations in the world, has been occupied by Russian forces since the early days of the war. and have traded blame for shelling around it.

Since a Sept. 5 fire caused by shelling knocked the plant off transmission lines, the reactor was powering crucial safety equipment in so-called island mode an unreliable regime that left the plant increasingly vulnerable to a potential nuclear accident.

The Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog that has two experts at the site, welcomed the restoration of external power. But IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said he is gravely concerned about the situation at the plant, which remains in danger as long as any shelling continues.

He said talks have begun on establishing a safety and security zone around it.

In a call Sunday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron urged the withdrawal of Russian troops and weaponry from the plant in line with IAEA recommendations.

The pullback of Moscow's forces in recent days marked the biggest battlefield success for Ukrainian forces since they thwarted a Russian attempt to seize Kyiv near the start of the war. The Kharkiv campaign seemed to take Moscow by surprise; it had relocated many of its troops from the region to the south in expectation of a counteroffensive there.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol plans to attend the funeral of Britain's late set to be held in next week, his office has announced.

died on September 8 at the age of 96 after reigning for 70 years, reports Yonhap News Agency.

The state funeral for her will take place on September 19 at Westminster Abbey in London, and Yoon will attend the funeral, according to a press release by Kim Eun-hye, senior presidential secretary for public affairs.

Yoon is largely expected to visit ahead of his scheduled trip to New York for the September 13-27 UN General Assembly.

--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.)
Sri Lankan President on Sunday signed the condolence book at the British High Commission in Colombo and extended his deepest condolences on the passing away of .

The President also confirmed that he will travel to the to attend the funeral, the country's Department of Government Information said.

The state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away on Thursday will take place at Westminster Abbey on September 19, a statement by the Royal Family said.

King Charles-III was proclaimed as the new monarch of England on Saturday after his mother passed away. King Charles Philip Arthur George paid tribute to his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, and spoke of the "great inheritance and of the duties and heavy responsibilities of Sovereignty."

Born on November 14, 1948, he was the first child of Elizabeth and Philip, then the princess and prince. At the age of 19, he formally became the Prince of Wales on July 1, 1969. William, the Prince of Wales, wrote a heartfelt message over the demise of his "Grannie", the late .

Recalling the cherished memories with his grannie, Prince William expressed gratitude towards the Queen's wisdom and reassurance. Prince also reminisced his grannie's fond memories while thanking her for 20 years of guidance and support to the Princess of Wales Kate Middleton.

Queen Elizabeth's coffin has arrived at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, following a six-hour journey from Balmoral Castle to the Scottish capital, media reports said.

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Near final results in Sweden's election show that a bloc of right-wing parties was expected to defeat a left-wing bloc headed by Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson. The conservative group includes a populist anti-immigration party that made its best ever showing.

However, the result was so close that the election authority said on Sunday it would not be known before Wednesday when some uncounted votes, including those cast abroad, have been tallied.

According to the early count, Andersson's ruling left-wing Social Democrats won 30.5 per cent of the vote, more than any other party. However a bloc of four left-wing parties appeared to fall short as a whole of winning a majority of votes in the 349-seat parliament, or Riksdag.

Exit polls had initially predicted a narrow victory for Andersson's camp but as the evening wore on, and the vote count supplanted the exit poll, the results tipped in favor of the conservatives.

Early Monday, the conservatives appeared to have 176 seats to 173 for the center-left.

In a speech to her supporters, Andersson said that while the results were unclear, it was obvious that the social democratic movement, which is based on ideals of creating an equal society and a strong welfare state, remains strong in .

The biggest winner of the evening was the populist anti-immigration party, the Democrats, which had a strong showing of nearly 21 per cent, its best result ever. The party gained on promises to crack down on shootings and other gang violence that have shaken a sense of security for many in .

The party has its roots in the white nationalist movement but years ago began expelling extremists. Despite its rebranding, voters long viewed it as unacceptable and other parties shunned it. But that has been changing, and its result in this election show just how far it come in gaining acceptance.

We are now the second biggest party in Sweden and it looks it's going to stay that way," party leader Jimmie Akesson told his supporters.

We know now that if there's going to be a shift in power, we will be having a central role in that," he said. "Our ambition is to be in the government.

The conservative bloc was led during the campaign by the center-right Moderates, which won 19 per cent. It was previously the country's second largest party.

Moderates leader Ulf Kristersson told his supports that he stands ready to try to create a stable and effective government.

Regardless of the election outcome, Sweden is likely to face a lengthy process to form a government, as it did after the 2018 election.

Andersson, a 55-year-old economist, became Sweden's first female prime minister less than a year ago and led Sweden's historic bid to join NATO following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February.

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Drawing flak over the decision to close girls' schools in Afghanistan, the on Sunday shifted the blame on Afghan parents and said that people do not want their girls to attend school in the current situation.

Acting education minister Noorullah Munir while visiting Uruzgan province said, "You wouldn't need to ask me the same question if you ask how many people in this mosque are willing to send their 16-year-old daughter to school. You and I both grew up in the same Afghan society, and the culture is clear to everyone."

However, some Uruzgan residents stated that they are ready to send their daughters to school if the allows them, reported Tolo News.

They asked the current government to reopen girls' schools as soon as possible.

"I think that the minister came from Kabul and he cannot represent our people, because he came from Kabul. People in Uruzgan want their daughters to go back to school, and they used to go to school before," said Javid Khpolwak, civil society activist.

"Those schools which are closed should be reopened as soon as possible because it is the demand of the people," said Mohammad Wali Samsor, a resident of Uruzgan.

According to Munir, schools are closed to students above the sixth grade due to cultural constraints, but he emphasized that if a better environment is created, girls' schools above the sixth grade will be opened, reported Tolo News.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Emirate's spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, has previously stated that girls' schools were closed due to religious issues.

Notably, The were publicly criticized globally after closing Paktia girls' schools after a brief opening.

It sparked serious reactions inside and outside of . On Saturday, dozens of girls took to the streets in the centre of Paktia to protest the closing of their schools, reported Tolo News.

The videos of the protests went viral on social media and triggered strong reactions by the Afghan public as well as famous politicians and human rights defenders.

Several human rights and education activists had urged world leaders in an open letter recently to mount diplomatic pressure on the Taliban to reopen secondary schools for girls in the war-torn country as the Taliban's brutal regime in will soon complete a year in August.

Young girls and women have been compromising with their aspirations as it has been almost 300 days since their development has been distorted, the activists said adding, that if this situation persists, their aims and hopes will suffer greatly, reported Khaama Press.

World leaders, regional allies, and organizations were urged in the letter to take serious actions to fulfil their commitments in order to promote and protect Afghan girls' rights, especially the right to education which was snatched away from them after the Taliban-led Afghan government banned the education for girls in classes 6 and above.

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(Reuters) - Inc said on Monday payments made to a whistleblower did not breach any terms of its $44 billion buyout by Elon Musk, after the world's richest man made another attempt to scrap the deal.

In a letter to on Friday, lawyers for Musk said Twitter's failure to seek his consent before paying $7.75 million to whistleblower Peiter Zatko and his lawyers violated the merger agreement, which restricts when could make such payments.

Twitter's lawyers responded on Monday, saying Musk's reasoning to back out of the deal is "invalid and wrongful".

Shares of the company were down nearly 2% at $41.37, trading much lower than Musk's offer price of $54.20.

The letter to Musk's lawyers comes ahead of a special meeting on Tuesday, where Twitter shareholders will vote on the deal.

Zatko, who was fired by Twitter in January as the company's security head, accused the firm last month of falsely claiming it had a solid security plan and making misleading statements about its defenses against hackers and spam accounts.

Musk, who also runs the electric car company Tesla Inc, has accused Twitter of misrepresenting the prevalence of spam or bot accounts on its platform and has sought to terminate the deal citing those reasons.

The whistleblower will meet the U.S. Senate Judiciary committee on Sept. 13 to discuss the allegations.

"With the Musk camp now being allowed to include the Zatko claims in its testimony for Delaware, tomorrow's hearing will be closely watched by the Street," Wedbush analysts wrote in a note.

The Twitter vs Musk trial is scheduled to start on Oct. 17 in Delaware Chancery Court.

Musk's lawyers were not immediately available for comment.

(Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)

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(Reuters) - Inc said on Monday payments made to a did not breach any terms of its $44 billion buyout by Elon Musk, after the world's richest man cited the move as another reason to scrap the deal.

In a letter to on Friday, lawyers for Musk said Twitter's failure to seek his consent before paying $7.75 million to Peiter Zatko and his lawyers violated the merger agreement, which restricts when could make such payments.

Zatko, who was fired by Twitter in January as the company's security head, last month accused the social media firm of falsely claiming it had a solid security plan and making misleading statements about its defenses against hackers and spam accounts.

The will meet the U.S. Senate Judiciary committee on Sept. 13 to discuss the allegations. Separately, Twitter is holding a special meeting on Tuesday for shareholders to vote on the merger.

Musk, who also runs the electric car company Tesla Inc, has accused Twitter of misrepresenting the prevalence of spam or bot accounts on its platform and has sought to terminate the deal citing those reasons.

A trial in Delaware Chancery Court is scheduled to begin on Oct. 17.

Musk's lawyers were not immediately available for comment.

(Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)

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The Justice Department was criticized by a lawyer for former President Donald Trump for opposing the appointment of a special master to examine records taken from Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort.

It is a "fair question," according to former federal prosecutor James Trusty, to wonder if the Justice Department is concealing something as it conducts a criminal investigation into Trump's use of data after leaving office. Mark Levin, a Fox News anchor, was listening to Trusty.

Trump, DOJ Submit Special Master Nominees

Despite opposition from the Justice Department, US District Judge Aileen Cannon accepted Trump's request for a special master. Since then, both parties have made recommendations for how to proceed, including nominees, access, and the speed of the third-party evaluation. Despite opposition from the Justice Department, US District Judge Aileen Cannon accepted Trump's request for a special master. Since then, both parties have made recommendations for how to proceed, including nominees, access, and the speed of the third-party evaluation.

The Florida judge was requested to issue an emergency order allowing investigators to continue using classified material while the appeal is pending after the Justice Department announced it would appeal the decision granting an independent review. This request was made due to national security concerns. While the special master review is going on, the Justice Department has been told to halt using any confiscated materials in its criminal probe.

Trusty stated that an overarching theme is the Justice Department adopting a position that it should not be questioned and queried what the agency might be afraid of, despite Trump's claims that he did nothing wrong and is unfairly singled out for prosecution, as per Washington Examiner.

The US government and former President Trump's legal team have both put out candidates to serve as an objective special master to look through the records the FBI obtained during its historic raid on Mar-a-Lago last month, but the two sides are at odds over the position's scope.

On Friday, the Justice Department provided the names of two justices who had retired. The first judge, Barbara Jones, presided over federal cases involving Rudy Giuliani and Michael Cohen while sitting on the federal court in Manhattan. The second, Thomas Griffith, is a former judge for the District of Columbia's federal appeals court.

One retired judge, Raymond Dearie, who was formerly the chief federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of New York, and a well-known Florida attorney, Paul Huck, Jr., were the candidates put out by the Trump campaign.

Both parties had until Friday to submit potential applicants for the position of a special master, as well as suggestions for the person's remit and the timetable for his or her work, to US District Judge Aileen Cannon, according to Fox News.

Read Also: $1,400 Stimulus Checks To Be Distributed by Biden Administration; Here's When and How!

Democrat Insists Importance of Mar-a-Lago Raid Briefing to Senate

The Intelligence Committee needs to be informed of the damage assessment of the items taken from Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home during the FBI raid last month, Senator Mark Warner stated on Sunday. Senator Warner, the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, stated that in some circumstances, the poorly stored and managed sensitive information could be a matter of life or death.

He insisted that his panel receiving a briefing on the damage assessment is important. Inventory records show that thousands of documents were removed from the former president's Florida home, and many of them had classification labels, some of them up to the highest level of secret information.

One of the remaining active bipartisan committees in the entire Congress, according to Warner, is the Senate Intelligence Committee, Daily Mail reported.

Related Article: Judge Dismisses Donald Trump's Lawsuit Against Hillary Clinton Over Russia Probe

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A muted start awaits the Sensex and Nifty indices on Monday ahead of the domestic CPI data, and industrial output data. Globally, the US rose up to 2 per cent on Friday, while Asian stocks were also higher today.

At 7:30 am, the SGX Nifty futures were quoting at 17,840, down around 20-30 points from Nifty futures previous close.

That said, here are some stocks that will likely see some market action today:

The company has signed 6 contracts for Discovered Small Fields (DSFs) under the DSF-III bid round. Contracts were signed for 3 offshore fields each in the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal.

Reliance Industries: said its subsidiary Reliance Petroleum Retail will acquire polyester business of Shubhalakshmi Polyesters & Shubhlaxmi Polytex for Rs 1,592 crore. The acquisitions will be done by way of slump sale on going concern basis.



Besides, the conglomerate can explore reorganisation of the company into three independent entities for different business verticals as it prepares to list subsidiaries and induct next-generation of founding family into key roles, a report by Kotak Institutional Equities said. Read here

Reliance Infrastructure: The company has filed an arbitration claim of Rs 13,400 crore against Adani Group in the Mumbai Centre for International Arbitration (MCIA). Reliance cited a breach of a December 2017 share purchase agreement relating to the transfer of its Mumbai power distribution business to Adani Transmission. Read here



SpiceJet: The budget carrier on Friday said it has appointed Ashish Kumar as its Chief Financial Officer. Kumar's appointment for the post is effective from September 9, said in a statement. Read here

Mahindra Lifespace Developers: The company is looking to acquire a few land parcels this fiscal to build housing projects with sales potential of Rs 3,000-4,000 crore, a top company official said. It will acquire these land parcels either through outright purchase or by forming Joint Development Agreements (JDAs) with landowners. Read more

: The finance ministry is contemplating changes in insurance laws, including reduction in minimum capital requirement, with a view to increasing the insurance penetration in the country. The ministry is doing a comprehensive review of the Insurance Act, 1938 and also looking at making relevant changes to help push growth of the sector, sources said, adding the process is at a preliminary stage. Read here

Oil India: has dissolved its subsidiary Cyprus on September 10, 2022

Anupam Rasayan: The company said a fire incident occurred last night at its unit-6 of Sachin GIDC plant. Four people have died and 20 have been injured in the incident.

: The Italian government and a UAE-based PE firm have acquired nearly 44 per cent stake in Titagarh Wagons' fully-owned subsidiary Firema SpA, through fresh equity infusion worth euro 20 million.: The company said that the meeting of the Board of Directors is scheduled on September 14 to consider the issuance of unsecured non-convertible debentures on private placement basis.

Oberoi Realty: The company has approved scheme of amalgamation of its four subsidiary companies - Oberoi

Constructions, Oberoi Mall, EvenstaHotels and Incline Realty. The rationale for the move was to create a simplified structure with greater management focus.

KEC International/Gujarat Industries Power: Gujarat Industries Power has awarded an EPC Contract to KEC lnternational at a cost of Rs 244 crore for pooling sub-station 400/33 KV, 1200 MW of Solar /Wind / Hybrid RE Park of 2375 MW capacity at Great Rann of Kutch area,Gujarat.

PI Industries: The company has denied media reports that said the firm is in talks to acquire promoter stake of Granules India.



: Its Subsidiary HG Ateli Narnaul Highway has received completion certificate for a road project in Haryana. With this, the project has been declared fit for entry into commercial operation on March 11, 2022.

Stocks under F&O ban: Ambuja Cements, Delta Corp
Shares of hit a new high of Rs 1,071, up nearly 2 per cent in Mondays intra-day trade, on expectation of strong earnings growth. The stock price of the two and three-wheeler company zoomed 109 per cent from its low of Rs 513, that it had touched on March 7, 2022. In the past one month, the stock has rallied 12 per cent, as compared to 1 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex.

saw its market capitalisation (m-cap) cross Rs 50,000 crore-mark after a sharp rise in the stock price of the company. At 10:59 am; TVS Motor Companys market capitalisation stood at Rs 50,312 crore, the BSE data shows.

Last week, the company launched their brand new 2022 'TVS Apache RTR 180' and 'TVS Apache RTR 160' motorcycles. Meanwhile, TVS Motor said that it was optimistic about the existing demand in the two-wheeler market ahead of festive season. Besides, the company is also geared up to meet the pent-up demand as semiconducters shortage recede.

That apart, the company expects domestic 'Moped and Economy' motorcycle segments to return back to track after recent underperformance, buoyed by growth in rural and agricultural . Urban markets, too, are expected to perform well as colleges, schools, and offices reopen, driving demand for the scooter segment.

"The export of two-wheelers is likely to see a growth during the year fuelled by strong demand for TVS products and operations in diverse geographies, that mitigates overall risk. Some of geographies which are dependent on agriculture and have a surplus of crude oil will act as a hedge against the countries, which may face adverse impact due to high fuel and food prices," the company said.

Analysts at Emkay Global Financial Services retain their 'positive' view, as they expect a turnaround in the domestic 2W industry. They expect the company's volume performance to be supported by reopening of offices/educational institutions, better finance availability, pick-up in rural sales and a favorable base effect.

Our positive stance is underpinned by expectations of a cyclical upturn in domestic 2Ws and positive growth in exports; market share gains in domestic and overseas markets; and margin expansion emanating from rising economies of scale, commodity deflation and cost-cutting measures. TVS' aggressive focus on the EV space is also an advantage, with multiple launches lined up in 2Ws/3Ws in the next two years, R&D collaboration with BMW and investment in electric bike maker Ultraviolette, the brokerage firm said.




Ajanta Pharma fell 1.61% to Rs 1372.60 after the company announced that the US FDA had issued Form 483 was issued to us with 2 observations after the inspection of its Dahej facility.

The company said that its formulation facility at Dahej was inspected by United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) from 5th September 2022 to 9th September 2022.

At the end of the inspection, form 483 was issued to the company with 2 procedural observations.

"We are in the process of responding to the same within the stipulated time prescribed by US FDA, the company said in a statement.

Ajanta Pharma is a specialty pharmaceutical formulation company having branded generic business in India and emerging markets, generic business in US and institution business in Africa.

The company's consolidated net profit rose 0.5% to Rs 174.62 crore despite a 27.1% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 950.93 crore in Q1 FY23 over Q1 FY22.

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Anupam Rasayan India fell 4.55% to Rs 751.65 after the company reported a fire accident at its plant at Unit 6 in Sachin GIDC, Surat, on Saturday (10 September) night.

The fire response team and the local fire brigade brought the fire under control in around one hour. The cause of the incident is being investigated.

"At the time of submitting this information, there are 4 fatalities reported, and 20 people are injured and are receiving treatment at the local hospital. Our priority is currently our workers and employees. We stand with our affected people and their families," the company said.

Out of the six manufacturing units spread out at different locations in Sachin GIDC of Surat district and Jhagadia GIDC of Bharuch district, the plant at Unit 6, which is an independent Unit and has the lowest capacity.

The company said it is trying to assess the damage and will take appropriate actions to operationalise the plant shortly. Also, the firm is covered for loss of assets and loss of profits under insurance.

The company is assessing the causes of the incident and shall take all the appropriate measures to avoid such incidents in the future.

Anupam Rasayan India is one of the leading companies engaged in the custom synthesis and manufacturing of specialty chemicals in India. Its business verticals are life science related specialty chemicals comprising products related to agrochemicals, personal care and pharmaceuticals, and other specialty chemicals, comprising specialty pigment and dyes, and polymer additives.

On a consolidated basis, net profit of Anupam Rasayan India rose 23.57% to Rs 39.69 crore on 31.19% rise in net sales to Rs 306.56 crore in Q1 June 2022 over Q1 June 2021.

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Secretary of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee, Kamrul Islam Choudhury, tendered his resignation from the primary membership of the Congress party on 11 September 2022.

The resignation was stated due to the "directionless & confused leadership of Congress during the last few months."

In his letter addressed to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Choudhury also expressed displeasure over cross-voting by Congress MLAs during Presidential elections and party's inability to deal with the situation.

This has demoralized thousands of grassroot workers like him who worked day and night for the welfare of the party, Choudhury said.

Choudhury's resignation comes days after senior Congressman Ghulam Nabi Azad quit the party, ending his five-decade-long affiliation with the Congress.

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The key equity benchmarks continued to trade in a narrow range with moderate gains in the early afternoon trade. The Nifty hovered above the 17,950 mark. All the sectoral indices on the NSE were in the green with media, IT and realty stocks leading the rally.

At 12:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 417.43 points or 0.70% to 60,210.57. The Nifty 50 index gained 123.25 points or 0.69% to 17,956.60.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.82% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.99%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,213 shares rose and 1,243 shares fell.

A total of 193 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 0.67% to 17.8375. The Nifty 29 September 2022 futures were trading at 17,990.25, at a premium of 33.65 points as compared with the spot at 17,956.60.

The Nifty option chain for the 29 September 2022 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 79.2 lakh contracts at the 18,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 78.8 lakh contracts were seen at 17,900 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Realty index rose 1.27% to 470.80. The index lost 0.76% in the past two trading sessions.

Among the components of the Nifty Realty index, Oberoi Realty (up 3.49%), Brigade Enterprises (up 3.16%), Godrej Properties (up 1.46%), DLF (up 1.41%) and Sunteck Realty (up 1.08%) were the top gainers.

Among the other gainers were Prestige Estates Projects (up 0.82%), Macrotech Developers (up 0.22%).

On the other hand, Indiabulls Real Estate (down 0.52%), Sobha (down 0.5%) and Phoenix Mills (down 0.05%) edged lower.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Happiest Minds Technologies rose 2.72% after the company announced the expansion of its Noida facility ("Smiles 5") increasing its delivery capacity and leveraging the area's diverse high-technology talent pool. With the additional facility, the company said it would have a capacity of 450 in the NCR region.

Ajanta Pharma fell 1.61% after the company announced that the US FDA had issued Form 483 was issued to us with 2 observations after the inspection of its Dahej facility. The company said that its formulation facility at Dahej was inspected by United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) from 5th September 2022 to 9th September 2022.

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Reliance Industries RIL): RIL said that its wholly owned subsidiary Reliance Petroleum Retail has executed definitive documents to acquire polyester business of Shubhalakshmi Polyesters (SPL) and Shubhlaxmi Polytex (SPTex). Reliance Petroleum Retail (under name change to 'Reliance Polyester') will be acquiring polyester business of SPL and SPTex for cash consideration of Rs 1,522 crore and Rs 70 crore, respectively, aggregating to Rs 1,592 crore by way of slump sale on a going concern basis.

Tata Steel: The board of the steel major is scheduled to meet on 14 September 2022 to consider the issuance of unsecured non-convertible debentures on private placement basis.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC): ONGC has signed 6 contracts for Discovered Small Fields (DSF) in the Offshore under DSF-III bid round, with 3 each for fields in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal. These include 4 contract areas as sole bidder and 2 contract areas in partnership with Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL). The company also signed 2 Contracts for Fields under Special CBM Bid round-2021 blocks in Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh.

Bank of Baroda: The public sector lender on Friday announced an increase in marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) by 5-15 basis points, effective from Monday, 12 September 2022.

Container Corporation of India: Container Corporation of India said that ICRA has re-affirmed the credit rating on the debt instruments of the company. The ratings, however, continue to be on watch with developing implications, the agency stated.

Indian Overseas Bank: The PSU bank on Friday announced an increase in marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) by 10 basis points, effective from Saturday, 10 September 2022.

Spicejet: Spicejet on Friday announced the appointment of Ashish Kumar as the chief financial officer (CFO) with effect from 9 September 2022.

Trident: Trident announced its production update for August 2022 on Saturday, 10 September 2022. In the home textile division, production of bath linen tumbled 37.17% to 3,091 metric tonnes (MT) in August 2022 as against 4,920 MT posted in August 2021. Production of bed linen slipped 37.74% to 1.93 million metres (MM) in August 2022 from 3.1 MM recorded in August 2021. Production of yarn slumped 41.72% to 6,471 MT in August 2022 as compared to 11,103 MT reported in the same period a year ago.

Venus Pipes & Tubes: Venus Pipes & Tubes said that it has been recognised as ALL INDIA FIRST (AIF) manufacturer to receive Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) approval for stainless steel seamless and welded pipes and tubes.

Spandana Sphoorty Financial: Spandana Sphoorty Financial said that its board has approved the allotment of 600 non-convertible debentures on a private placement basis for an aggregate consideration of Rs 60 crore.

H.G. Infra: The EPC company on Friday announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, H.G. Ateli Narnaul Highway has received the completion certificate for a construction project in Haryana.

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The domestic equity barometers traded with moderate gains in the morning trade. The Nifty traded a tad above the 17,950 mark. IT shares extended gains for the fourth consecutive trading session.

At 10:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 395.88 points or 0.66% to 60,189.02. The Nifty 50 index gained 119.30 points or 0.67% to 17,952.65.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.74% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.88%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,295 shares rose and 1,004 shares fell. A total of 180 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 2,132.42 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 1,167.56 crore in the Indian equity market on 9 September, provisional data showed.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index gained 1.76% to 29,229.15, extending its gaining streak for the fourth session. The index advanced 5.36% in four trading sessions.

Larsen & Toubro Infotech (up 2.79%), Tech Mahindra (up 2.36%), Mindtree (up 2.34%), Infosys (up 2.08%), Wipro (up 1.46%), HCL Technologies (up 1.42%), Coforge (up 1.38%), Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) (up 1.18%), Mphasis (up 1.1%) and L&T Technology Services (up 0.85%) edged higher.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Anupam Rasayan India fell 1.59% after the company reported a fire accident at its plant at Unit 6 in Sachin GIDC, Surat, on Saturday (10 September) night. The fire response team and the local fire brigade brought the fire under control in around one hour. The cause of the incident is being investigated. "At the time of submitting this information, there are 4 fatalities reported, and 20 people are injured and are receiving treatment at the local hospital. Our priority is currently our workers and employees. We stand with our affected people and their families," the company said.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) rose 0.22%. ONGC has signed six contracts for discovered small fields (DSF) in the offshore under DSF-III bid round, with three each for fields in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal. Out of which, the company has won four contracts as sole bidder and remaining two contracts in partnership with Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL).

The company also signed two contracts for fields under special CBM bid round-2021 blocks in Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh. For the two CBM blocks awarded to ONGC, the total investment commitment is to the tune of $5.94 million. In the six DSF-III blocks awarded to ONGC (two under JV with IOC) an investment of $1894.5 million is planned towards development in the blocks, said the company.

Gujarat Industries Power Company gained 2.03%. The company said that its board, at the meeting held on Friday (9 September 2022), has approved the award of EPC contract to KEC International at the cost of Rs 244 crore. The contract is for pooling sub-station 400/33 KV, 1200 MW (PSS-1, phase-1 & phase-II of 600 MW each) of solar / wind / hybrid RE Park of 2375 MW capacity at Great Rann of Kutch area, Gujarat.

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The curbs imposed by India on the export of rice, barely a few months after stopping the export of and its products, seems an imprudent and ill-timed move.

Apart from creating ripples in the global rice bazaar and damaging Indias image as a trustworthy trade partner, the decision also appears to be an overreaction to lower paddy planting in this when the countrys rice stocks are in comfortable surplus, the top edit says. Read it here

In other views:

The second edit sets out the pros and cons of the RBIs proposal to vet loan apps. Read it here

Ajit Balakrishnan examines whether the explosion in private tuition classes lead to real knowledge creation. Read it here

Tamal Bandyopadhyay argues that the business model of the digital lenders has to change as they have lost their freedom to directly deal with the customers. Read it here

Debashis Basu explains how illegal retail algos expose the limitations of Sebis rules. Read it here
At least five people were killed and several households were damaged after a massive hit Papua New Guinea (PNG) early on Sunday morning, according to media reports.

The 7.6 magnitude damaged buildings, triggered landslides and killed five people Al Jazeera reported.

According to the media report, a local member of parliament, Kessy Sawang said at least two people were killed in remote mountain villages, with four others airlifted to hospital in critical condition. In nearby Wau, Koranga Alluvial Mining said three miners were buried alive.

"There has been widespread damage," said Sawang, adding a landslide had buried homes and "split" one village where people "lost their houses".

The Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, James Marape, said that the was "massive" and told people to be cautious, but said he expected the damage to be less than that from a 2018 earthquake and series of aftershocks, which killed an estimated 150 people.

However, the scale of the damage and number of casualties from Sunday's earthquake was still unclear.

Marape said that the and provincial disaster agencies, as well as leaders, had been asked to assess the scale of damage and injuries to people.

As per the United States Geological Survey, the 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck the Kainantu town in the eastern New Guinea region of the country at 23:46:55 GMT on Sunday.

The tremor was recorded 67 km East of Kainantu, Papua New Guinea. The epicentre of the quake was located at a depth of 61.4 km. The latitude of the quake was 6.224S while the Longitude was 146.471E.

The UN report said people had been injured by falling structures or debris, and there was damage to some health centres, homes, rural roads and highways.

Power infrastructure was damaged in affected areas, causing an outage across the Eastern Highlands.

Papua New Guinea lies in the "Ring of Fire", an area in the basin of the Pacific Ocean, which is vulnerable to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.There have been 22 M7.5+ earthquakes recorded in the New Guinea region since 1900. The largest earthquake in the region was an M8.2 shallow thrust fault event in the northern Papua province of Indonesia that killed 166 people in 1996.

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Ukrainian soldiers advanced deeper through fleeing Russian territory on Monday as Moscow battled with the collapse of its occupying army in northeastern Ukraine.

After Russia declared that it was leaving Izium, its major stronghold in northeastern Ukraine, early on Monday, the general command of Ukraine said that its forces had reclaimed more than 20 towns and villages in only the previous day.

According to the general staff referring to the newly recaptured territories: "Taking them under full control and stabilization measures are being carried out."

Russian Troops Allegedly Attacking Civilians

On Sunday, Russia launched missiles at power plants, triggering power outages in the Kharkiv region as well as the nearby Poltava and Sumy districts while hundreds of Russian troops left their positions, leaving behind enormous stores of ammunition and equipment.

Reuters correspondents reported in Kharkiv said the electricity came up on Monday morning, but the water supply was not yet restored. The regional governor reported that 80% of the electricity had been restored.

Ukraine criticized civilian backlash for military advances. Moscow remained silent while denying hitting civilian targets on purpose.

According to the Ministry of Defence of Great Britain, Russia likely ordered its soldiers to leave the whole Kharkiv region west of the Oskil River, cutting off its primary supply line that supported its operations in the east.

In the south, where Ukraine has undertaken a significant push in Kherson province to isolate hundreds of Russian soldiers on the west bank of the Dnipro River, the British ministry said that Moscow's forces were also having difficulty bringing reserves to the frontline.

Read Also: Russia-Ukraine War: Volodymyr Zelensky Mocks Vladimir Putin's Forces for Retreating Amid Their Counterattack

What's Next for Russia?

According to CNN, prominent media leaders in Russia are attempting to portray this week's tragedy as the result of a deliberate effort. Television host Vladimir Soloviev reposted a Telegram commentary that insisted the "enemy, buying into an easy advance on a given sector of the front, drives into a trap."

Despite there being little indications to the contrary, the analyst added, "Right now, Russian forces are deliberately reorganizing.

Bloggers in Russia who have backed the offensive claim that a fundamental reassessment is necessary.

One blogger commented that a new strategy for the war in Ukraine is required, along with the "mobilization of the economy and industry" and the establishment of a "political" command center for the war.

Putin has refrained from a widespread mobilization throughout the crisis because it might not be well received at home.

Whether the Kremlin will now intensify its efforts to finish the special military operation or start looking for a diplomatic settlement is hard to predict.

Given last week's events, the first alternative is difficult; the second is embarrassing.

The third possibility-and maybe the most likely one-is that Russia will continue its grueling inch-by-inch assault despite gaining little to no new ground.

However, it now has to contend with a foe that has the wind at its back and is getting new injections of Western military help in time for the coming winter.

Ukraine's combat successes have renewed allied backing, and a conference in Germany this weekend produced further vows of long-term assistance.

In other news, the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station has been shut down. According to Al Jazeera, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a nuclear watchdog, has certified that a power line has been restored, enabling the facility to use electricity from the grid to cool its reactors.

Russia and Ukraine each accuse the other of frequently bombarding the facility. A nuclear calamity might result from damage to the site, the UN's IAEA fears.

Related Article: North Korea Will Fire Nuclear Weapons if Kim Jong-un Is Attacked; Other Preemptive Strikes Guidelines Revealed

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Police conducted a raid at the office in on Sunday, the party said while claiming that the ruling is "extremely rattled" by the "immense support" it is getting in the run-up to the Gujarat Assembly polls.

Leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Gujarat unit said on Twitter that the raid was carried out soon after Delhi Chief Minister arrived in .

Reacting to the development, Kejriwal said the Gujarat police found nothing at the party office as the leaders and workers of the are "hardcore honest".

There was no immediate response from the Gujarat Police to the AAP's claim.

"The is extremely rattled by the immense support that the is getting from the people of Gujarat. There is a storm in favour of the AAP in Gujarat," Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi.

"Raids have started in Gujarat too after Delhi. Nothing was found in Delhi, nothing was found in Gujarat too. We are hardcore honest and patriotic people," he added.

The AAP national convenor hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after his party's Gujarat unit leader Isudan Gadhvi claimed on Twitter that police raided the party office and carried out searches for two hours, soon after Kejriwal arrived in .

"Gujarat Police's raid at the Aam Aadmi Party's office as soon as Kejriwal arrived in Ahmedabad. Carried out searches for two hours and left. Nothing found. Said they will come again," Gadhvi said in a tweet in Hindi.

"The is so scared with the growing popularity of the in Gujarat that now it is misusing power to get our office raided," the Gujarat unit of the AAP said in a tweet.

"After Delhi, now they have started getting raids conducted in Gujarat too. Be it Delhi or Gujarat, they are not going to find anything," it added.

The Gujarat Assembly polls are slated to be held later in the year.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Assam BJP MLA Diganta Kalita took a swipe at Congress's Bharat Jodo Yatra, saying that the Yatra is actually Gandhi Family Bachao Yatra.

"The Congress party has started Bharat Jodo Yatra, but this is Gandhi Family Bachao Yatra. The Congress is working for making Sonia Gandhi or anyone from the Gandhi family the party president. Even after 75 years of Independence of the country, the Congress party did not think about others who can lead the party apart from the Gandhi family," Diganta Kalita said.

Criticizing the Congress party over its leadership, Kalita said that many senior Congress leaders have quit the party and have been joining regional or other political parties because only the Gandhi family holds the party's highest position.

Terming the party as 'Circus party', BJP MP said, "There is no other leader in the Congress party except Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi. All Congressmen are now busy only with Gandhi Family Bachao Abhiyan. Why did the veteran leader Ghulam Nabi Azad quit the Congress party? The Congress party has now become only Gandhi Party and a circus party.

With Congress' Bharat Jodo Yatra-led by party MP entering its fifth day, the march arrived in its Kerala leg on Sunday. The Congress leaders reached Parassala, a small town located near the border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

From Kerala, the Yatra will traverse through the state for the next 18 days, reaching Karnataka on September 30. It will be in Karnataka for 21 days before moving north. The Padyatra (march) will cover a distance of 25 km every day.

Notably, all the Congress MPs, leaders, and workers along with will stay in the container for the next 150 days. Sleeping beds, toilets, and AC are also installed in some of the containers. During the journey, the temperature and environment will differ in many areas. The arrangements have been made keeping in view the intense heat and humidity with the change of places.

The 148-day march will culminate in Kashmir. The five-month Yatra is scheduled to cover a distance of 3,500 kilometers and more than 12 states. The Padyatra (march) will cover a distance of 25 km every day.

The Yatra will include Padayatras, rallies, and public meetings which will be attended by the senior Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

(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.)
Delhi Chief Minister will interact with auto-rickshaw drivers, businessmen and lawyers in three different town hall meetings in on Monday, ahead of the Gujarat Assembly polls due later this year.

Aam Aadmi Party's national convener Kejriwal reached on Sunday evening to attend various public programmes and meet local party leaders on Monday and Tuesday as part of the AAP's election campaign in BJP-ruled Gujarat.

As per the schedule shared by the Gujarat AAP unit, Kejriwal will participate in three town hall meets here on Monday where he will interact with auto-rickshaw drivers, businessmen, and lawyers.

On Tuesday, Kejriwal will hold another town hall meet with sanitation workers. He will also hold discussions with local AAP leaders and workers and welcome new members to the party in .

He will also announce an "important guarantee" for the people of Gujarat, as per the party.

Kejriwal on Sunday said his next "guarantee" to the people of Gujarat will be to provide a "corruption-free" government.

During his multiple visits to Gujarat in the recent past, Kejriwal had announced a slew of "guarantees", including allowances for women and unemployed youth, free and quality healthcare and education, creation of jobs, and free electricity up to 300 units.

(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.)
Tech giant is likely readying to launch a cheaper Chromecast, which might be sold for $30 (Rs 2,390 approx) in October.

According to GSMArena, a set of photos obtained by TecnoBlog shows images of a new, cheaper Chromecast that looks exactly like the Chromecast with TV.

As per the report, though it is visually identical to the Chromecast with TV launched in 2020, it carries a different model number -- G454V.

This model has gone throughAFederal Communications Commission (FCC) certification already and it is rumoured to be different internally.

This unreleased Chromecast will run an Amlogic S805X2 chip with AV1 support and 2GB RAM. While it is less powerful than the 4K model, it is expected to support up to 1080p output resolution, the report said.

This cheaper Chromecast is expected to come with a voice remote, as per WinFuture.

This new lower-cost Chromecast could arrive during Google's October 6 event, where it will fully launch the Google Pixel 7 and 7 Pro, as well as the Pixel Watch and rumour has it there will be some more Nest Home devices coming as well.

--IANS

vc/dpb

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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London-based EY, the third-largest of the accounting firms, has said it is moving ahead with plans to break the firm into two . This will create an $18-billion revenue audit firm and a separate but larger and faster- growing $24 billion consulting arm.

The audit business will retain the EY name, while the advisory firm will don a new brand identity.

The firms 13,000 partners across 140 countries, including 550 in India, will vote on the proposal later this year.

EY Global said leaders at its 15 largest member firms accounting for 80% of total revenues have unanimously supported the strategy. EYs Greater China members have refused to come on board.

If successful, the move would mark the biggest shake-up in the sector since the collapse of auditor Arthur Anderson in 2002 because of the Enron accounting scandal. It reduced the Big Five to Big Four.

Accenture, which was split off from Arthur Andersen and listed in 2001, is now worth $183 billion, up from $6 billion at the time of its IPO.

A split of EY would result in multi-million dollar cash payouts to audit partners by the newly created consulting unit and share awards to consultant partners who move out.

Reports said the consulting business will go for an IPO, with plans to raise about $10 billion dollars by selling a 15% stake. It will reportedly borrow another $17 billion, much of which would be used to pay off the partners at EYs traditional auditing business.

The breakup will ease pressure from regulators to avoid arising from EY providing non-audit services to audit clients.

EYs rivals have also been facing the pressure to break up their audit and consulting practices.

Dinesh Kanabar, CEO, Dhruva Advisors LLP says regulators may push others to follow EYs example. The likes of BCG and McKinsey will face stiffer competition. Tax compliance and advisory may face challenges.
Just a few days of rain changed everything, exposing the crumbling infrastructure of crammed and washing away the tall claims of authorities.

Roads disappeared under muddy flood water and motorboats came roaring rescuing people from their own homes. Fish were spotted on highways and people were seen swimming in their living rooms in posh colonies of -- the capital city of Karnataka and IT hub of India. Their luxury cars, from BMWs and Range Rovers to Bentleys, were left behind, half-submerged. The stark visuals of flooding inundated social media too.

Life came to a standstill in Bangalores key Outer Ring Road area, which houses more than 700 companies, including offices of big ones like Microsoft, Intel, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Many of these companies have had to allow work from home or pass on important work to locations outside of the city. While companies usually have business continuity plans involving such steps, they have still paid a heavy price.

The Outer Ring Road Companies Associations has reportedly claimed that the flood caused a loss of Rs 225 crore to the IT and banking companies it represents on the 30th of August alone. In a September 1st letter to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, the industry body asked the government to come up with short-term and medium-term plans to address the issue. Stating that concerns about Bengalurus future growth were being raised across the world, the letter warned that companies may leave if the infrastructure issues were not addressed.

IT and IT-enabled services remain one of the top services exports from India. Close to 50 per cent of the total services exports comprise IT exports. India's services exports set a new record of $254.4 billion in FY22, beating the previous high of $213.2 billion in FY20.

According to the Karnataka economic survey, the state contributed an estimated 38 per cent to India's FY22 software exports, which were estimated to be worth $170 billion.

According to a recent report by Inc42, has clinched the title of India's 'top start-up hub'. It added that within India, Karnataka topped the list of states in terms of start-up ecosystem development with $62 billion in funding. Meanwhile, Delhi-NCR attracted $39 billion and Maharashtra 20.

The stakes are high when it comes to brand Bengalurus future. India's start-up success story has been touted across international forums by the government, which is also counting on the ecosystem to generate much-needed high-quality jobs. India also has an ambitious services export target of $1 trillion by 2030. The continued growth of the IT industry, and by extension that of Bengaluru, will be a necessary condition for achieving this goal.

But now, there are fears that the city's technology capital image could be in deep water. And, the brand image has indeed been dented.

Mohandas Pai, Chairman of Manipal Global Education Services and Advisor at Manipal Education & Medical Group, says brand Bengaluru is hurt by flooding and bad governance. Authorities taking the citys IT ecosystem for granted. Illegal constructions blocking waterways needed to stop flooding. CM should set up a high-level panel to fix issues.

But, Bangalore can still salvage the situation. A senior IT services veteran based in Bengaluru told Business Standard that when he spoke to five large Fortune 500 firms, none said that the recent flood would make them move out of the state or the city. The National Association of Software and Service Companies also appeared to be committed to staying put.

Last week, a Nasscom-led consortium of software companies met Karnataka IT and BT Minister C N Aswathanarayana to discuss the way forward. State officials have agreed to have IT sector participation in governance mechanisms planned for Bengalurus tech corridors. The officials will also hold a meeting with the industry to discuss plans once every fortnight.

Advertising guru Prahlad Kakkar said that Bengaluru's image as a cosmopolitan city had taken a bit of a beating. But, he added that this was a problem that also plagued other cities in India, including Mumbai, where flooding is routine. Kakkar concluded that the underlying causes would have to be addressed seriously if Brand Bengaluru was to emerge again as a vibrant city. What is clear is that if the authorities have the will, the city can definitely brave the deluge and emerge stronger than before.
Whats new: President Xi Jinping will pay state visits to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan from Wednesday to Friday, during which he will attend a leadership summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in the Uzbek city of Samarkand, Chinas foreign ministry announced Monday.

The three-day visit to the Central Asian countries will be Xis first foreign trip in the nearly three years since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, which initially emerged in the Central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019.

The ministry did not elaborate on Xis travel plans.

Whats more: Kazakhstans foreign ministry announced Xis visit a week ago. The Chinese president is expected to meet his counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who survived a series of violent anti-government protests in January.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday during a meeting with Chinas top legislator Li Zhanshu that he plans to meet with Xi at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit who was in Vladivostok, Russia, for the Eastern Economic Forum, Russian state media reported.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is a Eurasian political, economic and security group that consists of China, Russia and four Central Asian nations  Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

Quick Takes are condensed versions of China-related stories for fast news you can use.

Contact reporter Lu Zhenhua (zhenhualu@caixin.com) and editor Michael Bellart (michaelbellart@caixin.com)

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The city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, has been in the spotlight this week as the venue for the 22nd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. As a prominent trading hub on the original Silk Road traversing Central Asia, the citys history can be traced back to before the Roman empire. We take a closer look at the ancient city

Sep 16, 2022 08:19 PM
In his keynote speech, TKP General Secretary Kemal Okuyan noted that you cannot love your country without the will to change and, at the same time, if you don't love your country, you can't change it. Okuyan also refereed to the recent electoral coalition, the Union of Socialist Forces , saying that its formation paves the way for a left that breaks away from social democracy and liberalism. Among other things, referring to the 2023 Turkish general elections, the General Secretary said that the TKP is preparing for the most effective election period in its history. We are organizing. We promise to raise the flag of equality and freedom in every corner of Turkey .


By John Pilger

I September 11, 2022: Information Clearing House -- n the 1970s, I met one of Hitlers leading propagandists, Leni Riefenstahl, whose epic films glorified the Nazis. We happened to be staying at the same lodge in Kenya, where she was on a photography assignment, having escaped the fate of other friends of the Fuhrer.

She told me that the patriotic messages of her films were dependent not on orders from above but on what she called the submissive void of the German public.

Did that include the liberal, educated bourgeoisie? I asked. Yes, especially them, she said.

I think of this as I look around at the propaganda now consuming Western societies.

Of course, we are very different from Germany in the 1930s. We live in information societies. We are globalists. We have never been more aware, more in touch, better connected.

Or do we in the West live in a Media Society where brainwashing is insidious and relentless, and perception is filtered according to the needs and lies of state and corporate power?

The United States dominates the Western worlds media. All but one of the top 10 media companies are based in North America. The internet and social media  Google, Twitter, Facebook  are mostly American owned and controlled.

In my lifetime, the United States has overthrown or attempted to overthrow more than 50 governments, mostly democracies. It has interfered in democratic elections in 30 countries. It has dropped bombs on the people of 30 countries, most of them poor and defenceless. It has attempted to murder the leaders of 50 countries. It has fought to suppress liberation movements in 20 countries.

The extent and scale of this carnage is largely unreported, unrecognised, and those responsible continue to dominate Anglo-American political life.

Harold Pinter Broke the Silence

In the years before he died in 2008, the playwright Harold Pinter made two extraordinary speeches, which broke a silence.

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U.S. foreign policy, he said, is

best defined as follows: kiss my arse or Ill kick your head in. It is as simple and as crude as that. What is interesting about it is that its so incredibly successful. It possesses the structures of disinformation, use of rhetoric, distortion of language, which are very persuasive, but are actually a pack of lies. It is very successful propaganda. They have the money, they have the technology, they have all the means to get away with it, and they do.

In accepting the Nobel Prize for Literature, Pinter said this:

The crimes of the United States have been systematic, constant, vicious, remorseless, but very few people have actually talked about them. You have to hand it to America. It has exercised a quite clinical manipulation of power worldwide while masquerading as a force for universal good. Its a brilliant, even witty, highly successful act of hypnosis.

Pinter was a friend of mine and possibly the last great political sage  that is, before dissenting politics were gentrified. I asked him if the hypnosis he referred to was the submissive void described by Leni Riefenstahl.

Its the same, he replied. It means the brainwashing is so thorough we are programmed to swallow a pack of lies. If we dont recognise propaganda, we may accept it as normal and believe it. Thats the submissive void.

In our systems of corporate democracy, war is an economic necessity, the perfect marriage of public subsidy and private profit: socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor. The day after 9/11 the stock prices of the war industry soared. More bloodshed was coming, which is great for business.

Today, the most profitable wars have their own brand. They are called forever wars  Afghanistan, Palestine, Iraq, Libya, Yemen and now Ukraine. All are based on a pack of lies.

Iraq is the most infamous, with its weapons of mass destruction that didnt exist. NATOs destruction of Libya in 2011 was justified by a massacre in Benghazi that didnt happen. Afghanistan was a convenient revenge war for 9/11, which had nothing to do with the people of Afghanistan.

Today, the news from Afghanistan is how evil the Taliban are not that U.S. President Joe Bidens theft of $7 billion of the countrys bank reserves is causing widespread suffering. Recently, National Public Radio in Washington devoted two hours to Afghanistan  and 30 seconds to its starving people.

At its summit in Madrid in June, NATO, which is controlled by the United States, adopted a strategy document that militarises the European continent, and escalates the prospect of war with Russia and China. It proposes multi domain warfighting against nuclear-armed peer-competitor. In other words, nuclear war.

It says: NATOs enlargement has been an historic success.

I read that in disbelief.

The news from the war in Ukraine is mostly not news, but a one-sided litany of jingoism, distortion, omission. I have reported a number of wars and have never known such blanket propaganda.

In February, Russia invaded Ukraine as a response to almost eight years of killing and criminal destruction in the Russian-speaking region of Donbass on their border.

In 2014, the United States had sponsored a coup in Kiev that got rid of Ukraines democratically elected, Russian-friendly president and installed a successor whom the Americans made clear was their man.

In recent years, American defender missiles have been installed in eastern Europe, Poland, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, almost certainly aimed at Russia, accompanied by false assurances all the way back to James Bakers promise to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in February 1990 that NATO would never expand beyond Germany.

NATO on Hitlers Borderline

Ukraine is the frontline. NATO has effectively reached the very borderland through which Hitlers army stormed in 1941, leaving more than 23 million dead in the Soviet Union.

Last December, Russia proposed a far-reaching security plan for Europe. This was dismissed, derided or suppressed in the Western media. Who read its step-by-step proposals? On Feb. 24, President Volodymyr Zelensky threatened to develop nuclear weapons unless America armed and protected Ukraine.

[Related: John Pilger: War in Europe & the Rise of Raw Propaganda]

On the same day, Russia invaded  an unprovoked act of congenital infamy, according to the Western media. The history, the lies, the peace proposals, the solemn agreements on Donbass at Minsk counted for nothing.

On April 25, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin flew into Kiev and confirmed that Americas aim was to destroy the Russian Federation  the word he used was weaken. America had got the war it wanted, waged by an American bankrolled and armed proxy and expendable pawn.

Almost none of this was explained to Western audiences.

[Read: Joe Lauria: Biden Confirms Why the US Needed This War]

Russias invasion of Ukraine is wanton and inexcusable. It is a crime to invade a sovereign country. There are no buts  except one.

When did the present war in Ukraine begin and who started it? According to the United Nations, between 2014 and this year, some 14,000 people have been killed in the Kiev regimes civil war on the Donbass. Many of the attacks were carried out by neo-Nazis.

Watch an ITV news report from May 2014, by the veteran reporter James Mates, who is shelled, along with civilians in the city of Mariupol, by Ukraines Azov (neo-Nazi) battalion.

In the same month, dozens of Russian-speaking people were burned alive or suffocated in a trade union building in Odessa besieged by fascist thugs, the followers of the Nazi collaborator and anti-Semitic fanatic Stepan Bandera. The New York Times called the thugs nationalists.

The historic mission of our nation in this critical moment, said Andreiy Biletsky, founder of the Azov Battaltion, is to lead the White Races of the world in a final crusade for their survival, a crusade against the Semite-led Untermenschen.

Since February, a campaign of self-appointed news monitors (mostly funded by the Americans and British with links to governments) have sought to maintain the absurdity that Ukraines neo-Nazis dont exist.

Airbrushing, once associated with Stalins purges, has become a tool of mainstream journalism.

In less than a decade, a good China has been airbrushed and a bad China has replaced it: from the worlds workshop to a budding new Satan.

Much of this propaganda originates in the U.S., and is transmitted through proxies and think-tanks, such as the notorious Australian Strategic Policy Institute, the voice of the arms industry, and by journalists such as Peter Hartcher of The Sydney Morning Herald, who has labeled those spreading Chinese influence as rats, flies, mosquitoes and sparrows and suggested these pests be eradicated.

News about China in the West is almost entirely about the threat from Beijing. Airbrushed are the 400 American military bases that surround most of China, an armed necklace that reaches from Australia to the Pacific and south east Asia, Japan and Korea. The Japanese island of Okinawa and the Korean island of Jeju are like loaded guns aimed point blank at the industrial heart of China. A Pentagon official described this as a noose.

Palestine has been misreported for as long as I can remember. To the BBC, there is the conflict of two narratives. The longest, most brutal, lawless military occupation in modern times is unmentionable.

The stricken people of Yemen barely exist. They are media unpeople. While the Saudis rain down their American cluster bombs with British advisers working alongside the Saudi targeting officers, more than half a million children face starvation.

This brainwashing by omission is not new. The slaughter of the First World War was suppressed by reporters who were given knighthoods for their compliance. In 1917, the editor of The Manchester Guardian, C.P. Scott, confided to Prime Minister Lloyd George: If people really knew [the truth], the war would be stopped tomorrow, but they dont know and cant know.

The refusal to see people and events as those in other countries see them is a media virus in the West, as debilitating as Covid. It is as if we see the world through a one-way mirror, in which we are moral and benign and they are not. It is a profoundly imperial view.

The history that is a living presence in China and Russia is rarely explained and rarely understood. Vladimir Putin is Adolf Hitler. Xi Jinping is Fu Man Chu. Epic achievements, such as the eradication of abject poverty in China, are barely known. How perverse and squalid this is.

When will we allow ourselves to understand? Training journalists factory style is not the answer. Neither is the wondrous digital tool, which is a means, not an end, like the one-finger typewriter and the linotype machine.

In recent years, some of the best journalists have been eased out of the mainstream. Defenestrated is the word used. The spaces once open to mavericks, to journalists who went against the grain, truth-tellers, have closed.

The case of Julian Assange is the most shocking. When Julian and WikiLeaks could win readers and prizes for The Guardian, The New York Times and other self-important papers of record, he was celebrated.

When the dark state objected and demanded the destruction of hard drives and the assassination of Julians character, he was made a public enemy. Vice President Joe Biden compared him to a hi-tech terrorist. Hillary Clinton asked, Cant we just drone this guy?

The ensuing campaign of abuse and vilification against Julian Assange  the U.N. rapporteur on torture called it mobbing  brought the liberal press to its lowest ebb. We know who they are. I think of them as collaborators: as Vichy journalists.

When will real journalists stand up? An inspirational samizdat already exists on the internet: Consortium News, founded by the great reporter Robert Parry, Max Blumenthals The Grayzone, Mint Press News, Media Lens, DeclassifiedUK, Alborada, Electronic Intifada, WSWS, ZNet, ICH, CounterPunch, Independent Australia, the work of Chris Hedges, Patrick Lawrence, Jonathan Cook, Diana Johnstone, Caitlin Johnstone and others who will forgive me for not mentioning them here.

And when will writers stand up, as they did against the rise of fascism in the 1930s? When will film-makers stand up, as they did against the Cold War in the 1940s? When will satirists stand up, as they did a generation ago?

Having soaked for 82 years in a deep bath of righteousness that is the official version of the last world war, isnt it time those who are meant to keep the record straight declared their independence and decoded the propaganda? The urgency is greater than ever.

John Pilger has twice won Britains highest award for journalism and has been International Reporter of the Year, News Reporter of the Year and Descriptive Writer of the Year. He has made 61 documentary films and has won an Emmy, a BAFTA and the Royal Television Society prize. His Cambodia Year Zero is named as one of the ten most important films of the 20th century. He can be contacted at www.johnpilger.com
CAMEROUN :: JEAN BLAISE GWET: " I am in favour of a special status for the former President of the Republic" :: CAMEROON

Jean Blaise GWET, the man who aspires to replace President Paul Biya, is a truly atypical man. A being whose octopus-like tentacles extend over all aspects of a nation's life. This multi-faceted businessman, born in Babimbi-Ngambe in the coastline, officiates between Africa and the old continent: notably between Cameroon, his country, and France, his adopted land. He is determined to make Cameroon a truly emerging country. Jean Blaise GWET gives us through this interview some lines of his program on the Anglophone crisis, the economy, youth, women, the state of the opposition, the issue of the status of former heads of state and the Frankist Movement.His words suggest that he is well on his way for assuming the duties of Head of State.

The Anglophone crisis promises to be a major issue in the presidential campaign. What do you propose to resolve it?

Since 2017, Cameroon has been in the grip of a deadly conflict in the two English-speaking regions of the Northwest and Southwest. This conflict has already caused the death of more than 4,000 civilians; nearly 700,000 people are internally displaced and today, more than 1.5 million are in need of humanitarian assistance.

One thing is certain: if nothing is done, other pockets of tension are likely to open up and we will be heading straight for a civil war that could contaminate the entire sub-region. I deplore the fact that to date there is no credible agenda for negotiations that could bring about peace and reconciliation.

What do you think of those Cameroonians who believe that there will only be change in Cameroon through arms?

The exasperation of Cameroonians in the face of the multiple crises that our country is going through, among others in Noso, can prevent some of our fellow citizens from thinking: they are thus forced to summon even chaos to serve as an escape route. Unfortunately, Cameroonians love their nation and are not ready for chaos. As a proof, during the last presidential elections, only 3 590 681 Cameroonians voted out of a population of 26 514 652. My mission is to reassure our desperate brothers by telling them about the psychology of the Cameroonian, peaceful at heart and inhabited by a secular responsibility to protect the land of our ancestors and his own property. It is the depth of this attachment that imprints in me the firm conviction that the shortcuts privileged by adventurers will have difficulty to prosper in Cameroon. Moreover, I am doing my utmost to ensure that the changeover announces and prefigures the rise of our country to the green heights from which it should never have descended. I therefore invite all my brothers and sisters to join us in this new work of building a new Cameroon, so that we walk together towards the essential: To build together a strong, prosperous and united nation.

What would you say about the need for "better decentralization" that could go as far as federalism?

The grievances of Anglophones are deep but have not been addressed. Anglophone Cameroonians have long complained about the almost total domination of public life by Francophones, whose elite use their power to marginalize them in the allocation of resources for economic development. They feel that whenever they have protested, they have been severely repressed both under Ahmadou Ahidjo's administration (1960-1982) and under Paul Biya's since 1982.

From my point of view, each region should benefit equally from our wealth. Anglophones want to participate equitably in the management, not only of the North-West and South-West regions, but of the whole of Cameroon. We can adopt a stronger regionalism, but not a federation. We must send them a sign of peace: I am ready to engage in the necessary negotiations for peace and reconciliation. But I believe that it is up to Cameroonians to decide on this issue through the National Assembly or by referendum.

Paul BIYA has not yet declared his candidacy. Do you think he will?

The question is not whether Paul Biya will be a candidate or not. The question is to know what legacy we want to leave to our children? We must have the courage to face reality: Cameroonians are waiting for change. We must put in place the conditions of life that promote peace, social cohesion and the blossoming of each citizen. This requires a strong economy, controlled urbanization, health coverage for every Cameroonian citizen, life insurance for the military and police, dual citizenship and active involvement of the Diaspora in public, economic and social life in Cameroon. Impossible is not Cameroonian.

If you are elected, what will become of President Paul BIYA?

I am in favour of a special status for the former President of the Republic and his family who will enjoy all the honours and privileges due to their rank. Paul BIYA must be able to retire peacefully in his country. His experience and advice will be useful to me to govern Cameroon tomorrow. I am also in favor of the rehabilitation of President Ahmadou Ahidjo and the return of his remains to his native land.

What would you do with the former dignitaries imprisoned under Operation Sparrowhawk?

I am in favor of their release. The important thing is not to have them behind bars, but to recover the money diverted, to create industries, to offer jobs to the youth, to put in place justice for all, without any witch-hunt. We will make sure that those who come to office do not come to plunder public property. We must fight nepotism, corruption and put work back at the center of the values of the Republic. I want to make Cameroon a land of prosperity and modernity. We must dispel the fear of change, because it is necessary for the development of our country and our people.

At the economic level, what kind of change are you talking about?

Private investment should be encouraged and the economy should be boosted. The idea of an African currency is also to be considered. But we should not be afraid of the renationalization of the water, energy, rail and air transport sectors either.

The presidential election is a one-round affair. What can the opposition parties do against a party with a majority in both houses of parliament? Wouldn't the lack of a coalition cause the opposition to lose?

For my part, Cameroon would gain by organizing a two-round presidential election with a term limit of 5 years for the head of state, renewable once. This is necessary for any democratic country, which presents several candidates to a presidential election.

I take advantage of your interview to salute the courage and contribution of our elders in politics. Chairman John FRU NDI, Minister of State Bello BOUBA MAIGARI, Minister Issa TCHIROMA, Me YONDO Black, the late Minister Augustin Frederic KODOK etc. Without forgetting the one who made this democracy possible, President Paul BIYA. Each candidate has certainly some good, but it is our turn. With deep conviction, I know that we will win the next presidential election, for the peace and happiness of our people.

Nevertheless, I must acknowledge that the political framework influences the strategies of the opposition political parties in their attempts to gain power at the top of the state. Of course, we know that in Africa, political parties in power use public resources to campaign and often tend to monopolize the public media, leaving little opportunity for the opposition to address the people properly. Coalition agreements between opposition parties are sometimes necessary to facilitate a change of government, as together they have a good chance of defeating the ruling party. But very often, given their often divergent and selfish objectives, they never manage to reach an agreement.

It is a question today of looking the truth in the face and understanding that things are getting worse and worse in our country and that the Cameroonian people are demanding that power be handed over to them.

My mission and my duty is to restore hope and confidence to our people. I pledge to do so in 2025.

I ask all my elders in politics, all the political parties of the majority and the opposition, my brother and elder Maurice KAMTO, to join us in this new work of national reconstruction, so that together we bring to our people the hope and happiness they are waiting for.

Mr. President, what program do you have for the youth and women?

Youth and Women are central to my Commitments for Cameroon, new generation from 2025. We will put in place youth and women employment programs. These programs will allow each young person and each woman to get a job when they leave school or training. I will have a majority of young people and women at the head of all the positions of the Nation: in the City Councils, Regional Councils, National Assembly, Senates, Ministers, State and Parastatal Companies.

With regard to politics in particular, I will give young people and women the taste and desire to engage in politics. Because it is not politics that does not fascinate, but it is the way it is done in our country that does not interest anyone. I encourage them to stand up in their villages, in their cities, in their regions, to run for all elected positions. I will validate all their lists at the next elections.

What do you think of Frankism, this movement of succession from father to son?

The presidency of a country is far from being a monarchy. Africa has become the continent par excellence where, in some countries when the father is no longer in business, it is the son who takes the reins. Examples of certain countries, which I will not mention, speak volumes about this pattern.

But I trust the wisdom and foresight of President Paul BIYA, who certainly knows that leaving his son in this position would be a disservice to the Nation, to himself and especially to his son who may suffer the same fate as the son of a former president in West Africa. I think that he should let his son live his life in Cameroon quietly. If he wants to participate in the affairs of the nation, I will be happy to work with him, as with every Cameroonian.

It is said that rumors have spread around the world that President Macron has visited Cameroon to endorse the son.

If France wants to stop the spread of anti-French sentiment in Africa, it must let Cameroonians freely choose their candidate in 2025. This time we are ready.

Thank you Jean Blaise GWET for this interview.

I am the one thanking you
Monkeypox again exposes U.S. yawning racial gaps

09:44, September 12, 2022 By Xinhua writers Yang Shilong, Liu Yanan ( Xinhua

* With the number of infections surpassing 20,000, the United States now leads the world in monkeypox cases.

* Black and Hispanic Americans in the country make up the majority of monkeypox cases but are underrepresented in vaccine distribution.

* Experts urged the U.S. administration to alter its slow pattern of responding to pandemics.

NEW YORK, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Following the disastrous handling of COVID-19, the spread of monkeypox is another microcosm of the racial disparities and health inequity in the United States.

With the number of infections surpassing 20,000, the United States now leads the world in monkeypox cases. Like a replay of the COVID-19 outbreak, Black and Hispanic Americans in the country still bear a disproportionate burden in the public health emergency. They make up the majority of monkeypox cases but are underrepresented in vaccine distribution.

WORSENING RACIAL DISPARITIES

Signs show the number of infections in the country is slowing, but racial divides are worsening in monkeypox cases and vaccine access.

Health care workers assist people waiting to be vaccinated at a monkeypox vaccination site in New York, the United States, on July 14, 2022. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua)

Over 38 percent of the monkeypox infections are among Black people, who represent only 13.6 percent of the country's population of 335 million. Similarly, Hispanic or Latino people account for 28.3 percent of the total cases as of Sept. 3 but are only 19 percent of the U.S. population.

By contrast, the share of White people in the total contracted cases slumped from 75 percent as of May 20 to 27.5 percent, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Similar trends in racial disparities can be seen among U.S. states and cities with the most monkeypox cases.

Black or African American residents make up 55 percent of all monkeypox cases but just 24 percent of vaccinations in Philadelphia, city data showed. White Philadelphians make up 24 percent of cases but have received 56 percent of first doses.

White and non-Hispanic people received 67.2 percent of monkeypox vaccines and only account for 35.2 percent of cases as of Sept. 4 in New York State, excluding New York City, the state's health department said.

Up to 39.2 percent of cases are among Hispanic people, while they only got 15 percent of vaccines in the state. Black and non-Hispanic people accounted for 18.5 percent of the total cases while receiving 9.3 percent of vaccines.

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. (Photo by Zeng Hui/Xinhua)

"IT'S NOT THAT SURPRISING"

"Unfortunately, it's not that surprising," said Mark Abdelmalek, a dermatologist who has treated monkeypox patients. "History kind of repeats itself. We see health disparities across many aspects of medicine, and to think that this wouldn't be one of them is a little naive."

The associate professor of dermatology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania added, "I mean we saw it with COVID. It speaks to the fact that we have a lot of work to do to meet people where they are."

Total cumulative data show that Black, Hispanic, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander people have experienced higher rates of COVID-19 cases and deaths than White people when data are adjusted to account for differences in age by race and ethnicity, according to a recent report by Kaiser Family Foundation.

The foundation noted in an earlier report that "underlying structural inequities place people of color at increased risk for public health threats, as was seen in COVID-19 and as is beginning to be observed amid the monkeypox outbreak.

Robert Fullilove, a professor of clinical socio-medical sciences at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, said that the lack of trust and communication between the health department and the Black community resulted in the racial disparities, which were exacerbated by stigma and the long history of medical neglect and abuse of Black patients.

"What's happening with monkeypox is just yet another chapter of 150 years of medical mistrust," Fullilove said.

People sanitize their hands at a monkeypox vaccination site in the Brooklyn borough of New York, the United States, on July 30, 2022. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua)

The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination raised significant concerns regarding the United States implementing the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, according to Lisa Borden, the Southern Poverty Law Center's senior policy counsel for international advocacy.

Although the United States has signed and ratified the treaty, Congress has never taken any step to incorporate its requirements into U.S. legislation. No administration has made an effort to do the same when developing and implementing domestic policy, said Borden in an article on Friday.

She said that the treaty is in force on paper, but any instance of compliance with its requirements is merely coincidental.

The committee said the United States has failed to create a national human rights institution or any similar coordinating mechanism to monitor the treaty's implementation. Additionally, it lamented the continued absence of a comprehensive federal action plan to combat systemic racism and structural discrimination, urging the United States to proceed on both fronts.

People wait in line to receive monkeypox vaccine at a vaccination site at Eugene A. Obregon Park in Los Angeles, California, the United States, on Aug. 6, 2022. (Xinhua)

SLOW, MUTED RESPONSE

Experts urged the U.S. administration to alter its slow pattern of responding to pandemics that has worsened the spread of COVID-19 and is dragging on the current fight against monkeypox.

"If monkeypox gains a permanent foothold in the United States and becomes an endemic virus that joins our circulating repertoire of pathogens, it will be one of the worst public health failures in modern times not only because of the pain and peril of the disease but also because it was so avoidable," former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb wrote in a July 30 essay, citing a slow ramp-up of testing, inadequate vaccine supply and "an absence of coordination among federal agencies."

The first cases confirmed or suspected in Europe in May "should have been a code red for federal infectious disease response" here in the United States, Gottlieb said, criticizing the timeline for expanding testing to commercial labs, which didn't start until late June.

"In the end, monkeypox was a soft stress test for our public health system that we should have passed reasonably well after our jarring and humbling bout with COVID-19. The results, especially with more virulent bugs surely looming, are discomfiting," Jalal Baig, an oncologist, opined in an article on NBC last month.

"Unless something drastically changes," Chyke Doubeni, chief health equity officer at Ohio State University, told local media, "we'll see the same pattern in the next outbreak."

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Bianji)
The Apple October 2022 event is expected to unveil gadgets with processors.

Apple's "Far Out" event last week focused on unveiling their latest mobile devices, the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max. The company also gave a spotlight to its newest Apple Watch series.

However, Apple is expected to conduct another event this October for their usual fall event. Some of the devices that are rumored to make an appearance are Apple's iPad, Mac Mini, Mac Pro, and MacBook Pro.

The event is speculated to unveil more of their devices for their newest generation with a few design upgrades and is expected to be powered by the new M2 chip.

Apple's iPad Pro with M2 Chip

Apple leaks that are resurfacing online suggest that the company will unveil an all-new iPad Pro powered by its latest processor, the M2 chip.

Apple's last updated model for the iPad Pro was released in April 2021. That version of the iPad has an M1 chipset, a Thunderbolt connector, a 5G feature for cellular versions, a 12-megapixel front camera, and Apple's Center Stage feature.

According to MacRumors, at the upcoming Apple October 2022 event, Apple intends to introduce new iPad Pro versions that support MagSafe wireless charging and the M2 chip.

It is speculated that the iPad Pro is anticipated to receive updates for both the 11-inch and the 12.9-inch models, although the 11-inch model is unlikely to receive the mini-LED display feature.

In addition, it is also rumored that the upcoming iPad Pro models will have a similar chassis design.

Apple MacBook Pro With M2 Pro and M2 Max Chips

Apple seems to be on its way to transitioning all of its laptop devices to its latest M2 chips.

The MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro 13.3" have already received the latest update for the processor and are now for sale. However, the Apple October 2022 event is suggested to unveil the MacBook Pro 14" and 16" with the latest M2 Pro and M2 Max chips.

Furthermore, aside from the latest chipset, it is also expected that the company might release the latest devices powered by an increase in the number of GPU cores and unified memory (RAM).

Speculation is suggesting that Apple's M2 Pro and M2 Max processors could be the company's first chips manufactured on 3nm technology. However, it is becoming more and more likely that these chips will continue to be manufactured on 5nm technology.

Read Also: Apple's Self-Service Repair: Here's What You Should Know Before Repairing Your iPhone

Apple's Mac Mini and Mac Pro

Apple is also expected to introduce the Mac Mini and the Mac pro with their newest chipset options.

In November 2020, Apple introduced its first three Macs powered by Apple silicon, one of which was the Mac mini equipped with an M1 chip. Apple has hinted that they are moving the Mac lineup away from Intel processors and toward Apple's silicon chips.

This change will take approximately two years to complete, which could be the reason why the Mac Pro took quite some time to receive the latest upgrade.

However, according to Bloomberg, the upcoming Mac Pro is likely to receive processors that will be named M2 Ultra and M2 Extreme.

On the other hand, the company is planning to release an updated version of the Mac mini that includes an M2 chip.

Apple continues to offer a more expensive Mac mini device with Intel processors, although it is anticipated that this configuration will soon be replaced by a model that features an M2 Pro chip.

Related Article: Apple's iPhone 14 Pro Experiences Production Delay Amid COVID-19 Lockdown in China
Basically, there are two reasons why automakers would design and build a car. Either theyre doing it for the sheer passion of it, or becaus...
Dear County and District Superintendents, Charter School Administrators, High School Principals, Counselors, and Scholarship Coordinators:

2023 United States Senate Youth Program

I am pleased to announce the 2023 United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP). All public and private high schools in the state are invited to nominate up to two outstanding juniors or seniors who are interested in pursuing careers in public service to participate in this educational program coordinated by the California Department of Education (CDE).

Two student delegates from each state will be selected to attend this unique educational experience. The 61st Annual Washington Week will take place March 411, 2023, with current planning for an in-person program in Washington, D.C., pending public health and safety guidelines for travel and indoor gatherings. Regardless of platform, all student delegates will partake in a comprehensive, interactive leadership program in the stated timeframe, and each will receive a $10,000 college scholarship in the name of the United States Senate.

Students must be nominated by their high school principal and must be currently serving in an elected or appointed leadership capacity in a student government, civic, or educational organization for the entire 202223 school year in order to apply. In addition, nominated students must be United States citizens or permanent residents and be currently enrolled in a California public or private secondary school. Four finalists, consisting of two delegates and a first alternate and second alternate, will be selected by the CDE to be Californias USSYP representatives.

The application and scholarship information for the 2023 USSYP may be found on the CDE USSYP web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/eo/in/us/ . The deadline to apply is Thursday, October 6, 2022.

If you have any questions regarding the USSYP, please send an email to ussyp@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

Tony Thurmond

State Superintendent of Public Instruction

TT:df

2022-02459
Program Description

The High School Innovations and Initiatives Office will introduce the first annual Exemplary Dual Enrollment Awards Program beginning in the 202223 school year. The purpose of this award program is to identify and recognize schools that have exemplary dual enrollment programs and to allow these schools to share their exemplary programs and practices which have contributed to their success. This award will encourage other schools to strengthen and expand their dual enrollment offerings especially associated with inclusion of students of color, socially-economically disadvantaged and first in the family to attend college.

Eligibility Requirements

All comprehensive high schools with dual enrollment programs are eligible to apply for the 202223 California Department of Education (CDE) Exemplary Dual Enrollment Award. Early and Middle Colleges and alternative education schools will be eligible to apply for the 202324 year. We will alternate years so that eligible comprehensive high schools with dual enrollment programs and Early and Middle Colleges and alternative education schools will apply for the California Exemplary Dual Enrollment Award once every two years. Schools recognized as a California Exemplary Dual Enrollment Awardee will hold the title for two years.

Schools must demonstrate and provide evidence of:

College partnership(s)

Equity

Integration with college and district plans and frameworks

Dual credit for high school graduation

Outcome data

Pathways

Student supports

Application Procedures and Processes

Timeline of Activities

Date Activity September 16, 2022 Request for Applications Release Date November 30, 2022 Applications must be received at the CDE, by 4:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (PST) DecemberJanuary 2023 Review of Applications January 2023 Exemplary Dual Enrollment Awardees Announced

Application Due Date

The Exemplary Dual Enrollment Award application and supporting documents must be received by the CDE on or before Wednesday, November 30, 2022, by 4:00 p.m. PST, per the Application Submission Procedures (see below).

Application Submission Procedures

The application will require applicants to provide a narrative and attach evidence.

Applicants shall submit the award application via an online application process. The online application link will be added when available.

To upload your evidence file, select the file icon on the online application, and browse for your file in the dialog that appears. When it has uploaded successfully, a unique ID will appear in the box. Files must be in PDF format and less than 20MB. Upload a single file that includes all required evidence. Do not submit your application until your evidence file is uploaded.

If you have file upload questions, please email ExemplaryDualEnrollmentAward@cde.ca.gov.

For questions, email the Exemplary Dual Enrollment Award email box at ExemplaryDualEnrollmentAward@cde.ca.gov.

Incomplete and Late Applications:

Incomplete or late applications will not be considered.

Application Review:

Each application will be reviewed by the CDE, the California Community College Chancellors Office, the California Coalition of Early and Middle Colleges, and the Career Ladders Project. The application will be scored using a rubric. The application review process will occur during the months of December 2022 and January 2023.

Application Questionnaire:

Please limit your narrative to 1,500 characters.

Provide an overview of your dual enrollment program, including the vision, structure, and student population strategically served by your program. One characteristic of exemplary dual enrollment programs is a strong, collaborative relationship between the high school, the college, families, community members, and industry partners. Describe your partnership(s) and include two artifacts of evidence, such as shared resources, shared staffing, shared professional development, collaboration processes, Memorandum of Understanding, board policies, and/or commitment letters. Exemplary dual enrollment programs provide equitable access and demonstrate equitable outcomes. Explain how your dual enrollment program mirrors the student population, how underserved populations are overrepresented, or how your program is making progress towards more equitable participation and outcomes. Include evidence such as, disaggregated enrollment and course success data, number of college units per students, and if applicable, local goal setting strategies to increase service to underserved students. Describe how your dual enrollment program is integrated with college and district plans and/or framework and how your program is part of a strategic, systemic approach to increasing college going and completion as evidenced by integration in strategic plans, Local Control and Accountability Plan, education master plan, board commitment, and/or guided pathways design. Explain the policy or procedure your school utilizes to convert college credits to high school credits. Attach one artifact of evidence such as a board or school policy and/or student transcript without name. Explain how shared student data is utilized by the high school and college to review and improve dual enrollment. The evidence should demonstrate how outcome data clearly shows evidence of equitable high achievement levels for success, promoted by data-sharing process, highlighted by factors such as degrees, certificates, grade point average, course completion, number of units for all student subgroups of school population when compared to general population of high school and community college. Attach no more than two artifacts of evidence of collaborative review of data by partners, such as meeting minutes, shared data reports, or data dashboards. Describe your dual enrollment program pathway design. Include evidence of a structured, well-sequenced series of courses leading to certificates, degrees, and/or transfer in a pathway or pathways. Promising practice shows that student support is embedded in the dual enrollment classes and not an extra. Describe how student supports are embedded in your dual enrollment program. In your narrative, include job descriptions for dual enrollment support positions, processes for academic intervention when needed, embedded schedule of support, and/or survey results or testimonials. Student support is not limited to the high school level; examples of student support at the college level are acceptable evidence.



Scoring Rubric

Overview Scoring

Exemplary

(5 points) Promising

(4 points) Emerging

(3 points) Limited

(12 points) No evidence

(0 points) Overview is exemplary and clearly shows the vision, context, structure, and student population served in the dual enrollment program. Overview is comprehensive and clearly shows the vision, context, structure, and student population served in the dual enrollment program. Overview is sufficient and shows the context, structure, and student population served in the dual enrollment program. Overview is limited in showing the context, structure, or student population served in the dual enrollment program. Overview does not show the context, structure, and student population served in the dual enrollment program.

Partnerships Scoring

Exemplary

(1315) points Promising

(1012 points) Emerging

(79 points) Limited

(16 points) No evidence

(0 points) Evidence demonstrates exemplary, well-defined partnerships between school, district, college, families, and community organizations/ industry partners. Evidence demonstrates promising, well-defined partnerships between school, district, college, families, and community organizations. Evidence demonstrates emerging, defined partnerships between school, district, college, families, and community organizations. Evidence demonstrates limited partnerships between school, district, college, families, and community organizations. No evidence of partnerships between school, district, college, families, and community organizations.

Equity Scoring

Exemplary

(1315) points Promising

(1012 points) Emerging

(79 points) Limited

(16 points) No evidence

(0 points) Evidence shows exemplary commitment, recursive process and evidence that disproportionately impacted students are being equitably served and there are no opportunity gaps. Evidence indicates a commitment to ensure disproportionately impacted students are being equitably served and opportunity gaps are being narrowed over time. Evidence indicates that the partnership is making some progress in addressing disproportionality in who is being served and who succeeds in dual enrollment. Some evidence was provided that partnership is working to address disproportionality in who is being served and who succeeds in dual enrollment. No evidence was demonstrated.

Integration Scoring

Exemplary

(1315) points Promising

(1012 points) Emerging

(79 points) Limited

(16 points) No evidence

(0 points) Evidence shows exemplary integration of dual enrollment programs in policy and plans at the school, district, and college levels. Evidence shows promising integration of dual enrollment programs in policy and plans at the school, district, and college levels and a commitment to fully integrate. Evidence shows emerging integration of dual enrollment program in policy and plans at the school, district, and college levels. Evidence shows limited integration of dual enrollment program in policy and plans at the school, district, and college levels. Evidence shows no integration of dual enrollment program in policy and plans at the school, district, and college levels.

Dual Credits Scoring

Exemplary

(1315) points Promising

(1012 points) Emerging

(79 points) Limited

(16 points) No evidence

(0 points) All college coursework counts for subject-alike high school credit while receiving honors grade weighting/desig-nation. Some college coursework counts for subject-alike high school credit and some counts for elective credit. Some courses receive honors grade weighting. Some college coursework counts for subject-alike high school credit and some counts for elective credit. College coursework counts for high school elective credit but does not receive subject-alike credit. College coursework does not count for high school credit.

Outcomes Scoring

Exemplary

(1315) points Promising

(1012 points) Emerging

(79 points) Limited

(16 points) No evidence

(0 points) Evidence clearly demonstrates a strong data sharing process and trends toward equitable high achievement levels for success factors. Evidence clearly contains a data sharing process and promising trends toward equitable high achievement levels for success factors. Evidence contains an emerging data sharing process and emerging evidence of equitable success but some gaps in success factors for all subgroups. Evidence contains a limited data sharing process and equity gaps in some subgroups for some success factors. Evidence does not show a data sharing process and contains evidence of equity gaps in access and success for all subgroups.

Questions: High School Innovations and Initiatives Office | ExemplaryDualEnrollmentAward@cde.ca.gov | 916-319-0893

Last Reviewed: Monday, September 12, 2022
The space agency has concluded its repair of a hydrogen leak on the Artemis 1's seals.

NASA is gearing up to attempt to launch Artemis 1 for the third time in recent weeks after completing the repair of a critical seal that encountered a hydrogen leak, which caused the space agency to postpone the launch on September 3. This was the second attempt at sending off the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket into space after the first launch was postponed over an engine bleed issue in one of the rocket's four engines.

In the early morning of the September 3 launch of the SLS rocket at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a hydrogen leak was first detected by NASA engineers as thousands of gallons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellant were being poured into the tanks, Engadget reported. Despite having an allowance of up to two hours before launch to address the leak that occurred in the connection of the fuel line located near the engine compartment of the massive rocket, scientists simply could not fix the issue and were forced to delay the launch for the second time in a week.

NASA Preparing to Conduct Tests to Confirm Systems are Functioning Properly Ahead of New Launch Date

After completing the fuel seal replacement on the SLS rocket, NASA will conduct a fueling test to ensure that these parts are working perfectly. As part of the dry run, NASA engineers will fill the SLS with 736,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and oxygen required for the flight. The space agency hopes to complete these tests by September 17.

"This demonstration will allow engineers to check the new seals under cryogenic, or supercold, conditions as expected on launch day and before proceeding to the next launch attempt," NASA confirmed.

If this week's tests go well, Artemis 1 can proceed to launch sometime later this month. NASA is looking to attempt another launch on September 23 or September 27. But this will only occur if the Space Force in Cap Canaveral, which supervises the self-destruct system of the SLS rocket, grants its approval.

Read Also: NASA Postpones Artemis 1 Launch Following Issues Found During Countdown

Artemis 1 to Launch Into Lunar Orbit

NASA hopes to launch the SLS rocket, which is the most powerful one they've built in its history, into lunar orbit as a trial run before sending actual astronauts in the next flight in 2024. According to PBS Newshour, this trip would pave the way for astronauts to make their second moon landing in 2025, 50 years since the first one back in the 1970s.

Jim Free, who leads NASA's exploration systems development, said that the tanking test must be done before they could determine "realism and schedule" to ensure a September 23 launch date. The SLS rocket requires batteries that activate the system in the event it veers off its course and into populated areas.

The periodic testing of these batteries can only be done in the hangar, and the process involves military certification. Every time the rocket is moved from the hangar and the launch pad, it ensures "routine wear and tear," which NASA chief engineer John Blevins said they all wish to avoid. After all, they already have three tips to the pad this year thus far.

Related Article: NASA To Conduct Repairs on Artemis 1's SLS Rocket at the Launch Pad
Mississippi Lime acquires Singleton Birch

12 September 2022

Singleton Birch has been acquired by Mississippi Lime Co (MLC), one of the USs oldest independent suppliers of lime products, for an undisclosed sum.

Mississippi Lime Co, an HBM Holdings company headquartered in St Louis, Missouri, is one of the leading global suppliers of high-calcium lime products and technical solutions. The family-owned business, which has a history stretching back over a century, operates the largest lime facility in the Americas.

Paul Hogan, president and chief executive officer of MLC, said: For more than 115 years, Mississippi Lime has been focussed on meeting the evolving needs and priorities of our customers.

Our approach is to grow by finding businesses that represent a good cultural fit for us and can complement what we already provide to customers. Singleton Birch are a great fit and we are delighted to welcome them to the Mississippi Lime family today.

Singleton Birch is based in Melton Ross, north Lincolnshire, UK, where it employs more than 150 staff. The UK lime company will continue to trade under its existing brand and the management team, led by chief executive officer Richard Stansfield, will remain in place.

Mr Stansfield said: Being part of the Mississippi Lime family will enable us to invest more and power the growth of Singleton Birch. Were delighted to have a partner for the next stage in our development that shares our culture and values.

Published under
Adani plans management shake-up following takeover

ICR Newsroom By 12 September 2022

Gautam Adani, his son Karan and his nephew Pranav, are expected to join the management boards of ACC Ltd and Ambuja Cements. As part of an overhaul of the top management of both companies, following their takeover by the Adani Group, some existing members of the boards are expected to step down, including the following board members at Ambuja Cements: N S Sekhsaria, chairman, Jan Jenisch, vice chairman, Neeraj Akhoury, managing director and CEO, and Martin Kriegner, director  one source told Mint.



Gautam Adani currently serves on the boards of at least 11 companies, while Karan and Pranav each serve on the boards of at least 10 different firms. Pranav is the managing director of the agricultural, oil and gas business of the Adani Group, and also director of Adani Wilmar Ltd and heads up Adani Realty. Karan is CEO of Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd, the conglomerates largest business. He is also director of Adani Airport Holdings Ltd.



Adani Group is likely to draft new expansion plans for both Ambuja Cements and ACC after the board-level changes. The capacity expansion will be in line with Adani's ambitions in the ports business, infrastructure and realty. For this, a strong, diversified board is required. Apart from members from the Adani family, some new board members may be introduced to the boards of the two companies," said the source, adding that the group does not have immediate plans to combine or merge the two businesses of Ambuja Cements and ACC following the acquisition.

Published under
It is an honor for an artist of any stature to be invited to exhibit their work in a gallery, whether that venue is local, known statewide, or acclaimed worldwide. Alan Shuptrine can claim all of the above accolades, and his skill and talent as an artist is remarkable. For over 35 years, Mr. Shuptrine has honed and perfected his craft through countless hours of hands-on experience. His mastery in gold leaf appears in every aspect of his work - from a dogwood blossom etched into a large gilded panel to delicate designs carved into a fine art frame.

Sought after for his expertise in the decorative arts, Mr. Shuptrine has provided handcrafted, custom water gilded fine art frames, restorations, and conservation of gilded period pieces throughout the United States and the United Kingdom. His work can be found in both the Georgia and South Carolina Governors Mansions, Natchez National Historical Park homes, the Atlanta History Center and the corresponding Philip T. Schutze Swan House, as well as many other galleries, historical institutions and museums and both corporate and private collections. In 2005, he was chosen to provide restorations for the entire permanent collection of frames and gilded artifacts in the New Orleans Museum of Art following Hurricane Katrina.

Nationally renowned for years if not decades, Alan Shuptrine, is headed to a place known as the mecca of world-famous masterpieces: Florence, Italy. The birthplace of the Renaissance, this city holds its art in high regard and is home to Michelangelos David, Botticellis Birth of Venus, and Vasaris Last Judgment.

Mr. Shuptrine is invited to exhibit his 22kt gold leaf, water gilded art panels at the Florence Academy of Art throughout September. The panels are exquisitely decorated with genuine gold leaf and etched with the centuries-old technique of sgraffito, a form of decoration made by scratching through a surface to reveal a lower layer of a contrasting color, typically done in plaster or stucco on walls.

Concurrent with the exhibition, Mr. Shuptrine will teach a master class in water gilding with genuine gold leaf. This rare opportunity is open not only open to students of the Academy, but also to anyone interested in learning this lost art. Held in a city with some of the most beautiful and artfully gilded frames in the world, the workshop will include a tour, led by Mr. Shuptrine, through the nearby Uffizi Gallery. Students will be able to experience the historical beauty of gold leaf as they learn from the past and utilize the same methods perfected by the master centuries prior. In case you are abroad and near Florence, the class dates are Sept. 12-16. For more information, email info@florenceacademyofart.com.

It is quite the feather in an artists cap to be given the nod by this city, but how to describe the honor it would be to be asked to instruct other artists on your craft?

As you know, I love to teach, and to get an opportunity to teach the Old World craft that gave me my start in the art business 37 years ago is priceless. And then when you consider that its Florence, Italy - the gold leaf capital of the world (in my opinion), you can understand why Im ecstatic! Alan said.

Florence, Italy can add this American master artist to its list.

* * *

Ferris Robinson is the author of three childrens books, The Queen Who Banished Bugs, The Queen Who Accidentally Banished Birds, and Call Me Arthropod in her pollinator series. Making Arrangements is her first novel. Dogs and Love - Stories of Fidelity is a collection of true tales about mans best friend. Her website is ferrisrobinson.com and you can download a free pollinator poster there. She is the editor of The Lookout Mountain Mirror and The Signal Mountain Mirror.






An Alabama man is charged with second-degree murder in Hamilton County in connection with the overdose death of a 36-year-old mother of two.

Christopher Clay Garrison, 31, was indicted by the Grand Jury in connection with the Oct. 8, 2021 death.

The incident occurred near the 2000 block of Rock Bluff Road in Hixson.

Charges were brought following a 10-month investigation by the HCSOs Investigative Services into the death after evidence was obtained implicating Garrison with supplying the woman with fentanyl leading to her overdose death.

The Lake View (Ala.) Police Department in Alabama conducted a warrant service on Garrison and were able to take him into custody at his residence.

Officials said, "Upon conducting Garrisons interview and additional follow up investigation, additional evidence was obtained which supported the HCSOs investigation and eventual outcome of this case. Garrison is currently in custody in Alabama at the Tuscaloosa County Jail (Tuscaloosa County Sheriffs Office) awaiting extradition to Hamilton County."

Garrison is also charged with identity theft, forgery over $1,000 and theft of property over $1,000.
A Summerville, Ga., man has been found guilty of four counts of child molestation.

Jonathan Michael Culberson, 33, was also found guilty by a Chattooga County jury of one count of sexual battery of a child under 16 years of age.

The case was tried over the course of two days in Summerville and was presided over by Judge Kristina Cook Graham. Judge Graham sentenced Culberson to 10 years in prison followed by 15 years of sex offender probation.

District Attorney Chris Arnt said in September of 2020, Culberson molested the underage girl. He said Culberson sexually abused the victim by exposing himself to her and pleasured himself while looking at pornography in the presence of the child.

Nearly two weeks later and on the victims birthday, Culberson touched her intimate parts and placed the childs hand on his penis, it was stated.

The victim immediately disclosed the act to her mother, and Culberson fled to Alabama after being confronted about the allegations. After law enforcement was contacted to investigate, the victim was taken to the Child Advocacy Center for a forensic interview.

After his arrest, Culberson admitted to the act in a recorded call to the victims mother.

DA Arnt said, "Over the two-day trial, the victim courageously took the stand and faced down her abuser in front of the jury."

Janet Burch, an expert in forensic interviews of children, testified that the type of open and quick disclosure the victim made was something I rarely see. This a brave, fierce little girl.

DA Arnt said, I hope that the incredible work done by the Chattooga County Sheriffs Office and Janet Burch with the Child Advocacy Center can help her and her family heal.

The case was investigated by Investigator Wendell Flood of the Chattooga County Sheriffs Office. He was assisted by Chief Investigator Jason Burrage. Assistant District Attorney Clayton Fuller presented the case over two days and he was assisted by Victim Advocate Cara Parris and Administrative Assistant and Technology Consultant Ashlyn Landes.

DA Arnt said, My office is dedicated to protecting children from sexual predators, and I could not be more proud of my team in this case. Ms. Landes went above and beyond in using new office software to help create a compelling closing presentation for ADA Fuller, and Ms. Parris juggled the responsibilities of two serious cases being tried at the same time with aplomb. Just a complete team effort to help this child feel safe again.
The National Park Service in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute for Museum and Library Services announced $24.25 million in Save Americas Treasures grants to fund 80 projects in 32 states and the District of Columbia.

The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga has been awarded $200,000 toward restoration to display and operation of historic Pullman sleeping car The Maitland. The Maitland, built in 1925 with 12 open sleeping sections and one drawing room, is a true time capsule of the famed Pullman sleeping car fleet. Southern Railway donated the car to TVRM in March of 1965, when it was retired, having formerly carried passengers in peacetime as well as wartime service on the WWII home front.

Though they were once a mainstay of travel by rail, functional and original Pullman sleeping cars are few and far between. To have the public experience the originality of the Maitland, the incredible story of the Pullman Porters and Maids who worked aboard, and the major historical events surrounding its service makes this a vital cultural project for Chattanooga and its lasting identity in rail transportation, said officials.

"TVRM is pleased to be recognized through this grant for our efforts to preserve this important piece of railroad history" said Tim Andrews, TVRM president.

Through private and public investments, the Save Americas Treasures program supports community-based preservation and conservation work on some of our nations most important collections, artifacts, structures, and sites for the benefit of future generations, said NPS Director Chuck Sams.

Save Americas Treasures, funded through the Historic Preservation Fund has provided $356 million to more than 1,326 projects between 1999 and 2020. Requiring a dollar-for-dollar private match, these grants have leveraged more than $500 million in private investment and contributed more than 16,000 jobs to local and state economies.
The group ChangeTN said it has withdrawn its endorsement of City Council candidate Marie Mott following her video in which she speaks about Jewish Chattanoogans and their role in the institution of slavery and asks "When are we going to deal with it?"

Ms. Mott and Marvene Noel are in a runoff on Thursday for the District 8 post formerly held by Anthony Byrd and currenty by Ms. Noel.

The group said, "We recently have been made aware of a video taken by Marie Mott in which she singled out and attacked the Chattanooga Jewish community.

"At ChangeTN we do not condone the language used in the video, but understand the historical facts she presents well. While no human is perfect, and we are all prone to mistakes, misinformed and out of context comments designed to single out minority groups is never acceptable in our Tennessee.

"We are an organization dedicated to creating a safe future for all of Tennessee. When we endorsed Miss Mott we did so on her dedication to her community, her history as an activist and vision for the future. Those things have not changed, but we cannot take her comments lightly.

"As a proud member of the Tennessee Jewish Community, I know first-hand the damage statements like this can bring on a community. It snowballs into more blatant attacks on Jewish communities - not just in Chattanooga but all across Tennessee."
Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti on Monday objected to the U.S. Department of Educations (the Department) proposed Title IX regulations in a formal comment letter joined by 19 other state attorneys general.

Title IX of the Education Amendment protects people from discrimination based on sex and applies to schools, local and state educational agencies, and other institutions that receive federal financial assistance from the Department.

In his comments to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, General Skrmetti contends the Departments proposed redefinition of sex in Title IX to include gender identity would promote sex-based discrimination and threaten constitutional rights.

For 50 years, Title IX has protected girls and women and enhanced their educational opportunities, said General Skrmetti. The proposed regulations will hurt women, violate the Constitution, and create confusion as to what the law is and what the law requires.

The comment letter points to several predictable violations of constitutional rights that may ensue if the proposal becomes law, said officials:

State-run public college would have to compel speech in violation of the First Amendment arising from the forced use of certain pronouns and other referential terms.

School administrators may feel forced - or empowered - to insert themselves into constitutionally protected family affairs.

Title IX would, as implemented, reach beyond Congresss lawmaking authority.

The Departments proposed regulations follow an Executive Order issued by President Joe Biden March 8, 2021 guaranteeing an educational environment free from discrimination on the basis of sex, including sexual orientation or gender identity.

The Department followed suit with new Title IX guidance, which pressured schools to allow boys to compete on girls teams, prohibit single-sex locker rooms and bathrooms, and force students and teachers to use subjective and arbitrary pronouns.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee stopped the Department from enforcing the guidance July 17, following a lawsuit filed by Tennessee, joined by 19 other states, against The Department and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Subsequently, The Department issued proposed Title IX regulations and invited public comment for 60 days. You can read the entirety of Tennessees comments here: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/attorneygeneral/documents/pr/2022/pr22-34-letter.pdf

Tennessee is joined on the letter by the attorneys general of the following states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.
In support of the Active People, Healthy Nation Initiative, Smart Growth America (SGA) announced that the city of Red Banks Mayor Hollie Berry will be part of the third class of the Champions Institute. The Champions Institute is a program created to help motivated local elected officials equitably define, design, build, and evaluate Complete Streets in their communities. Mayor Berry was selected as one of only 15 local elected officials from across the United States to serve as a member of the Champions Institute for 2022-23.

We are pleased to welcome Mayor Berry to the third class of the Champions Institute, said John Robert Smith, senior policy advisor at Smart Growth America, and the former 16-year mayor of Meridian, Miss. As we emerge from the confines of the pandemic, Mayor Berrys commitment to a healthier and more connected hometown was compelling. From Mayor Berrys position as mayor of Red Bank, envisioning a more accessible, equitable, and economically viable community for all residents is a winning strategy.

Its an honor to represent Red Bank as well as Tennessee in this years Active People, Healthy Nation Champions Institute, as the only leader selected from our state, said Mayor Berry.

For over a year Mayor Berry has been representing Red Bank as a member of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County/North Georgia Transportation Planning Organization (TPO). In that role, she "felt she had to hit the ground running in learning about the transportation issues that face the local region. The most concerning was the rising rates of traffic fatalities involving pedestrians which motivated Mayor Berry to explore solutions.

Thats when I became aware of the Vision Zero movement, whose goal is to create safer transportation for ALL users regardless of how you get around.

She said she discovered that the zero does not represent the elimination of all crashes, but rather the eventual goal of zero fatalities and serious injuries in a given transportation network. The emphasis this concept puts on the responsibility of designers and policy-makers rather than transportation users alone compelled Mayor Berry to bring this to the attention of her fellow TPO board members, it was stated.

As a result, the TPO reconvened a long-dormant Safety Committee even before the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act and Safe Streets for All (SS4A) grant made millions of dollars available to regions for safety improvement projects. Mayor Berry said the TPO is now applying for this funding with Red Bank as a joint applicant.

My research also led me to the National Complete Streets Coalition and the Champions Institute, said Mayor Berry. I look forward to learning from experts everything I can about bringing safer and more complete streets not only to our city of Red Bank, but to our entire region.

"This is exciting news for the city of Red Bank and our Chattanooga-Hamilton County/North Georgia Transportation Planning Organization (CHCNGA TPO), said Melissa Taylor, director of Strategic Long Range Planning with TPO. From the start of Mayor Berry's service with the TPO, she has been eager to improve safety for all citizens, especially those most vulnerable.

She said Mayor Berry was the catalyst for a recent restart of the TPO's Safety Committee and she has been instrumental in recruiting sign-on partners for the TPO's Comprehensive Safety Action Plan application to the US DOT's Safe Streets for All Discretionary Grant due Thursday.

Our community is lucky to have her out there pounding the pavement for such an important issue. I know she will utilize the knowledge she acquires through this leadership program to enact change here at home," added Ms. Taylor.

Mayor Berry was formally appointed as Red Banks designated member of the TPO Executive Committee by the Red Bank Commission last fall. Since then, Mayor Berry has invested considerable time serving in that capacity, it was stated.

Mayor Berry brings great energy and commitment to the TPO, and her voice is a welcome addition to the regions transportation conversation, stated Red Bank City Manager Martin Granum. And particularly regarding the goal of Vision Zero it will take leadership from folks like Mayor Berry if we are ever going to reach that life-saving goal.
Disneyland announced the addition of a Multiverse-themed ride at the D23 Expo.

On Sunday, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige announced during the Parks and Experiences panel at Disney's D23 Expo that Disneyland's Avengers Campus is adding a new attraction. The highly anticipated Multiverse-themed ride is called "King Thanos."

The announcement of the new addition of "King Thanos" to the Disneyland Avengers Campus came as D23 Expo closed its exciting weekend of events and announcements, Gizmodo reported. The upcoming attraction expands the exciting Marvel-themed park within Disneyland. "King Thanos" is a new concept that will let Disneyland visitors combat villains from anywhere and "any time," following the rules of the Multiverse.

Who is King Thanos?

Disneyland Avengers Campus' latest addition, "King Thanos" sees a Thanos that won against the Avengers in the Multiverse. The new attraction is based on Phases 4 through 6 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe called "The Multiverse Saga." While Disneyland has not disclosed which system the ride will implement, "King Thanos" will feature several Marvel characters from different times within the Multiverse coming together to defeat Thanos.

Feige confirmed that some of the characters appearing in "King Thanos" have not even appeared within the MCU yet, so that opens up a range of possibilities for the future of the massive movie franchise. "King Thanos" is the third ride in the Disneyland Avengers Campus at Disney's California Adventure.

After adding rides based on "Spider-Man" and "Guardians of the Galaxy," Disney previously announced that it would add a new attraction based on the iconic Wakanda battle, but the idea was scrapped when the Disney Parks chairman Josh D'Amaro and his team found out about The Multiverse Saga. It is safe to assume that the development of "King Thanos" will take time and could be formally unveiled in 2025 when The Multiverse Saga is set to conclude with Marvel's "Avengers: The Kang Dynasty" and "Avengers: Secret Wars."

Read Also: D23 Expo: Here are the Panels, Other Events That Will be Livestreamed Online

What Else is New in Disneyland's Avengers Campus

During Disney's D23 Expo in Anaheim, California, "Avengers" actor Mark Ruffalo made a special video recorded appearance to announce that a Giant Hulk in an Avengers suit will begin making the rounds at Disneyland's Avengers Campus next week, CNet reported. The Marvel-based theme park was first announced in 2019 and had a target opening date in the summer of 2020, but was moved a year later due to the pandemic.

When the Avengers Campus opened at Disney's California Adventure, it showcased the Spider-Man Web Slingers and Guardians of the Galaxy rides. It also featured a Doctor Strange-themed area and Pym Test Kitchen, a space for food and drinks.

During the D23 Expo, the Disney Parks and Experiences Panel also revealed more details about Splash Mountain's new theme, "Princess and the Frog," as well as the Tron Lightcycle Run at Disney World, which was announced to open in Spring 2023. D'Amaro confirmed that the ride is currently undergoing tests to ensure that it will be "ready for showtime."

Related Article: D23 Expo 2022: Disney+ Drops Trailer for 'Disenchanted' - Watch It Here!
If actor Jennifer Coolidge doesnt leave the Emmy Awards with a trophy in hand for her role in The White Lotus, friend, and former co-star Beth Behrs joked (maybe) that she was going to quit Hollywood.

Of course, Behrs isnt likely to just quit. Her show The Neighborhood was picked up for another season, but her allegiance and love for Coolidge, who appeared in Behrs show Two Broke Girls is strong.

Beth Behrs starred alongside Jennifer Coolidge in Two Broke Girls

Coolidge played Sophie, Caroline (Behrs), and Maxs (Kat Dennings) wacky neighbor on Two Broke Girls. Behrs knew the Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie was Coolidges first. And she shared a throwback photo alongside Coolidge and Dennings on Instagram.

Jennifer Coolidge | Amy Sussman/WireImage

If she doesnt get her #Emmy tonight, I quit Hollywood forever, Behrs captioned the photo. Theres no one more deserving! Love you @theofficialjencoolidge youve always been my [queen emoji].

Jennifer Coolidges Emmy nomination is for The White Lotus  and she almost backed down

Jennifer Coolidges Emmy nod is for her emotional rollercoaster character, Tanya McQuoid in The White Lotus. Coolidge originally tried to back out of the role after gaining weight  like many people did  during coronavirus (Covid-19).

Creator Mike White really wanted Coolidge for the role. I did say, If we could just do this later,' she recalled to People. And then [Mike] was sort of like, No, were doing it now. I just got approved by HBO  October, were going to Hawaii and weve got the Four Seasons, were filming it there.'

I was like, I just dont think I can do that. I had no time, I cant work out, she told White. It was sort of weird, it was not that big a difference from what I usually looked like, but somehow it became my excuse not to do it. For whatever reason, I didnt feel like I was in fighting shape.

A friend encouraged Jennifer Coolidge to take the role in The White Lotus

Coolidge recalled how a supportive friend changed her mind about the role.

Thank God, I had a friend who said to me, When are you going to Hawaii? I heard thats starting right away,' she said. And I said, Yeah, Im not going.  She says, How does Mike White [feel] about it? I said, Yeah, Im going to just tell him maybe a foot injury or something, but Im not going.'

That girlfriend just gave me this [pep talk and said], You are out of your mind. I dont even think you know what this is. This is self-sabotage. Ive been your friend all these years, this is an incredible opportunity for you. Are you really going to f*** this up? Are you really going to f*** this up, Jennifer? This is the worst thing you could do to yourself. Just go, just f***ing go do it. Are you ever going to be in shape? For once in my life, I listened. Usually, I have my own thing in my head but I listened.

Jennifer Coolidge joins the rest of The White Lotus cast for the 2022 Emmy Awards televised on Monday, Sept. 12 at 8 p.m. ET.

RELATED: The White Lotus: Its True  Tanya McQuoid Is Back  Jennifer Coolidge Reprises Her Role in Season 2
In a preview for the Sister Wives Season 17 premiere, Christine Brown calls out her then-husband, Kody Brown, for having a favorite wife. She thinks that Kodys preference for his fourth wife, Robyn Brown, was what caused her marriage to fall apart.

Christine Brown, Sister Wives Season 17 | TLC

Christine says shes only intimate with Kody a couple times a year

In the premiere episode of Sister Wives Season 17, Kody and Christine sit down and have their first discussion about their marriage after she moved his stuff out of her house. Christine tells Kody the lack of intimacy is too much for her, and she wants to separate. Kody believes they should be able to continue their marriage platonically for the sake of their children. Check out the clip below:

Christine calls out Kody for the lack of closeness in their marriage. But Kody argues that the reason why theyre not intimate is that shes not a good sister wife. You and I have intimacy and love in the relationship. Im sorry its conditional based upon being part of a plural family, Kody tells Christine.

A couple times a year doesnt work for a marriage, Christine says to Kody. You say a couple times a year feels like an accusation, he replies. Christine admits that even if Kody wanted an intimate marriage with her, she wouldnt be interested because she doesnt trust him. Kody says that even if Christine was devoted to plural marriage, he wouldnt trust her.

Christine says Kody having a favorite wife ended their intimacy in their marriage

Christine says that when plural marriage was really good, it was because she felt secure in her place within the marriage and with Kody. She then began feeling displaced and hopeless after Robyn came into the picture. Now Kody is telling her that her lack of relationship with Robyn is causing him to be turned off by the idea of an intimate marriage.

You are an a****** to think that my value as a human being is contingent upon how you feel Im treating other people. And you dont find me attractive. I think youre looking for excuses, Christine says about Kody.

I think that what it comes down to, I think he has a favorite wife And thats why all of this is like it is. And apparently, Im not treating her well enough. So theres nothing I can do. I mean, honestly, what hes asking from me is ridiculous, the Sister Wives star concludes in the clip.

Is Robyn Kodys favorite wife?

In the new Sister Wives episode, Christine says that since she was pregnant with their youngest daughter, Truley, her marriage to Kody has been on the rocks. As Sister Wives fans know, Robyn was being courted as a fourth wife when Christine was pregnant, when they were still living in one big house in Lehi, Utah.

During this time, Kody spent a lot of time driving back and forth to see Robyn in another state and preparing for their marriage. Meanwhile, a very pregnant Christine was left alone with their other five children. Christine said needed help and didnt receive any support from Kody.

When Robyn was added to the family, Christine felt abandoned. And so, ten years later, when the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic hit, history repeated itself. Kody spent the entire pandemic with Robyn in her home and decided it was too big of a risk to visit the other wives. Once again, leaving Christine feeling abandoned by Kody for his favorite wife.

For years Sister Wives fans have noticed Kodys blatant favoritism toward Robyn. Fans are excited to finally see Christine standing up for herself after all these years.

Sister Wives Season 17 premieres Sunday at 10 p.m. EST on TLC.

RELATED: Sister Wives: Christine Brown Publicly Denounces Polygamy  I Will Be a Monogamist From Here On Out
TL;DR:

Tom Petty grew up in Florida.

Tom Petty felt so different from his family that he wondered if they were aliens.

Years later, Tom Petty thought he was about to have an alien encounter.

Tom Petty | Michael Montfort/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Tom Petty grew up in Gainesville, Florida. From an early age, he knew that music would be important to him, and he began pursuing it as a career when he was a teenager. His family wasnt entirely sure what to make of this. Petty explained that when he spent time with his parents as a child, he felt so different from them that he wondered if they were aliens.

The musician grew up in Florida

Petty grew up in Gainesville. His family had been in the South for generations, but he began to look elsewhere. Through television, he began to think of California as an escape.

Los Angeles  television city, he told Mens Journal. That became my way out.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers at the Gainesville Airport  photographed by Keith Harben, 1980 pic.twitter.com/IbFscxR7lq  Tom Petty (@tompetty) January 13, 2021

He wasnt an actor, but hed loved music since he met Elvis. And when he saw the Beatles, he realized that this could be his way out.

The minute I saw The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show, there was the way out, he explained to American Songwriter (via The Petty Archives). There was the way to do it. You get your friends and youre a self-contained unit. And you make the music. And it looked like so much fun. This really spoke to me. I had been a big fan of Elvis, but I really saw in The Beatles that  heres something I could do.

Its fitting that Pettys two inspirations had fans with a reputation for not seeing eye-to-eye with their parents. Petty shared a similar relationship with his mother and father.

Tom Petty thought his parents were aliens

Petty explained that his mother and father had very different parenting styles. His mother was a gentle parent, introducing her two young sons to books and music. His father, while well-liked outside of their family unit, was a violent, angry presence in the home.

I learned to absolutely f***ing disappear, Petty said. I got the f*** away when he was around.

To Petty, though, neither parent seemed to be much like him. At a young age, he wondered if they were aliens.

I remember thinking from a very early age that my parents might have been aliens and I landed in an alien family like one of those on The Twilight Zone, he told Harp in 2006, per The Petty Archives. Even when I was really young, I knew that I was not like them at all. It was probably because TV had come into the picture when I was three or four. I loved the television so much. It would go off at night and sometimes I would wait for it to come on. I knew in there was a world that was not like anything like the one I was in. I figured that was the correct one.

Tom Petty thought he was going to have another encounter with aliens later in life

Years later, Petty wondered if he was seeing aliens again. While driving his car near his home in Malibu, he saw silver objects in the sky.

I was driving to the store and I saw these big silver balls floating in the air, he said. And I thought, Oh, f***! UFOs are landing in Malibu! Im not normally the kind of person who would think that. But thats what the f*** it looked like.

Tom Petty | Aaron Rapoport/Corbis via Getty Images

He turned his car to get a better look at the objects.

The next thing I know, bam! I hit the car next to me, spun off the road  and landed in a nest of about 200 paparazzi.

As it turned out, the paparazzi were waiting outside Adam Sandlers wedding. The silver objects were weather balloons in place to prevent helicopters from flying over the ceremony.

RELATED: Tom Petty Shared What He Found Unforgivable About Modern Society
tesa is launching another new, innovative packaging tape. The new tesa 60412 includes a backing with 70% recycled (PCR) PET and a water-based acrylic adhesive system. The company is thus expanding its product portfolio of high-performance packaging tapes, which are partly made from recycled materials and bio-based raw materials. For many industries, such as the food & beverage industry, the pharmaceutical industry or the logistics sector, tesa 60412 is an ideal alternative to conventional polyvinyl chloride packaging tapes.

tesa supports companies and customers in achieving their sustainability goals

For most companies and industries, the topic of sustainability has long been of great importance. When packing or sending goods and products, it is important to be as sustainable as possible. tesa would like to support its customers and partners in this endeavor. With tesa 60412, the company has developed an adhesive tape that meets these requirements. The production process is completely solvent-free. Used PET products, including bottles, are recycled and utilized as raw material for the backing.

"The development of products that help promote sustainability is a strategically important goal for tesa. Our new tesa 60412 PET packaging tape was therefore developed in a way that reduces environmental pollution as much as possible and at the same time guarantees high performance. By choosing a more sustainable packaging tape, our customers can get one step closer to their goals. We at tesa are proud to support them on this journey," says Andreas Walkembach, Head of Industrial Trade & Converting Europe at tesa.
The very first industrial revolution historically kicked off with the introduction of steam- and water-powered technology. We have come a long way since then, with the current fourth industrial revolution, or Industry 4.0, being focused on utilizing new technology to boost industrial efficiency. Some of these technologies include the internet of things (IoT), cloud computing, cyber-physical systems, and artificial intelligence (AI). AI is the key driver of Industry 4.0, automating intelligent machines to self-monitor, interpret, diagnose, and analyze all by themselves. AI methods, such as machine learning (ML), deep learning (DL), natural language processing (NLP), and computer vision (CV), help industries forecast their maintenance needs and cut down on downtime.

However, to ensure the smooth, stable deployment and integration of AI-based systems, the actions and results of these systems must be made comprehensible, or, in other words, explainable to experts. In this regard, explainable AI (XAI) focuses on developing algorithms that produce human-understandable results made by AI-based systems. Thus, XAI deployment is useful in Industry 4.0.

Recently, a group of researchers, including Assistant Professor Gwanggil Jeon from Incheon National University, South Korea, surveyed existing AI and XAI technologies and their applications in Industry 4.0. Their review, published in IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, was made available online on January 27, 2022, and subsequently published in Volume 18, Issue 8 of the journal on August 8, 2022.

Though AI technologies like DL can solve many social problems due to their excellent performance and resolution, it is difficult to explain how and why such good performance is obtained. Therefore, there is a necessity to develop XAI, so that DL, like the current black box, can be modeled more efficiently. It will also be easier to make applications, said Prof. Jeon explaining his motivation behind the study.

XAI-based methods are classified according to specific AI tasks, like the feature explanations, decision-making, or visualization of the model. The authors note that the combination of cutting-edge AI and XAI-based methods with Industry 4.0 technologies results in various successful, accurate, and high-quality applications. One such application is an XAI model made using visualization and ML which explains a customers decision to purchase or not purchase non-life insurance. With the help of XAI, humans can recognize, comprehend, interpret, and communicate how an AI model draws conclusions and takes action.

There are clearly many notable advantages of using AI in Industry 4.0; however, it also has many obstacles. Most significant is the power-hungry nature of AI-based systems, the exponentially increasing requirement for a large number of cores and GPUs, as well as the need for fine-tuning and hyperparameter optimization. At the heart of this is data collected and generated from millions of sources, devices, and users, thereby introducing bias that affects AI performance. This can be managed using XAI methods to explain the bias introduced.

AI is the principal component of industrial transformation that empowers smart machines to execute tasks autonomously, while XAI develops a set of mechanisms that can produce human-understandable explanations, concludes Prof. Jeon.

Adapting XAI-based methods can get us one step closer to efficiently realizing smart cities, factories, healthcare, and cyber-security!
When it was published last year, Sheila Gregoires marriage book, The Great Sex Rescue: The Lies Youve Been Taught and How to Recover What God Intended, came as a stark contrast to what many Christians learned from the church about sex and marriage.

Drawing from her own research, including a survey of 22,000 Christian women, the Canadian author affirms that sexual pleasure is for women tooand chronicles the damage done to women, men, and their relationships when people operate on distorted views of sex in marriage.

Gregoires critique of earlier iterations of Christian resources has put some on the defensive, but for many, its a refreshing change in approach. Women from Reformed believers to progressive stalwarts have found solace and healing in her teachingsand some pastors, professors, and counselors are also beginning to shift their approach as a result of her findings.

I think Sheilas work brings a much-needed balance to conservative church circles, said Craig Flack, a pastor from Findlay, Ohio, who has used The Great Sex Rescue in his pre- and post-marital counseling. So many works largely ignore female pleasure, and then people wonder why women may not enjoy intimacy.

Gregoire targets the idea that men need sex and their wives are there to provide ita premise she sees in books like Love and Respect, The Act of Marriage, and Every Mans Battle.

Her survey showed that Christian women were taught that boys would push their boundaries and they were responsible for keeping them from going too far. In marriage, they saw their role being to never deprive their husbands of sex and that doing so kept their husbands from using porn. Christian women in Gregoires survey were less likely to enjoy sex, talk openly with their husbands about their sexual desires, or have a partner who prioritized their sexual pleasure if they believed those teachings.

Though Flack doesnt agree with every area in the book, he said hes changed the way he counsels couples to incorporate directly addressing the wifes pleasure, real intimacy, and how it brings mutual sexual joy.

The Great Sex Rescue took off largely based on word-of-mouth recommendations, personal testimonies, and Gregoires own discussion on Twitter. Gregoire said she is encouraged to be making headway with individual pastors like Flack and Christian therapists, who have learned from her research and are incorporating her approach into their work with couples.

She has seen Christians from a variety of denominations unite against what she views as a misguided and male-focused view of sex thats been preached or quietly accepted among evangelicals for years.

While other Christian authors have criticized purity culture teachings in general, Gregoire has deliberately named the teachers she believes are responsible for perpetuating harmful ideas about marital sex. The only way to stop the hurt is to do this in public, she said in an interview with CT. And if those authors were truly committed to serving the sheep, they would welcome it.

Fellow authors, though, say her quotes and presentations of their teachings come out of context. Focus on the Family (which published Emerson Eggerichss Love and Respect) released a statement saying Gregoire has seriously misread and misjudged the book. Shaunti Feldhahn, whom Gregoire mentions multiple times in her book, issued a statement saying that accusations against her were inaccurate and calculated attacks.

She previously told CT how even her early work is subject to her current criticismshe pulled old blog posts as a result of what she learned in her research and is committed to course-correcting with her new material.

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Kevin Schulz, a pastor in the Mennonite Brethren (USMB), has purchased Gregoires Honeymoon Course for multiple couples. Gregoires work, he said, is a much-needed counterpoint to the one-sided and biased church teaching of the past.

Gregoire is committed to a Christian sexual ethic but identifies areas where she believes Scripture has been twisted to harm marriages, create pain for women, and perpetuate abuse.

For example, Matthew 5:28 says, Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. When young men are told that looking at a woman is lusting after her, Gregoire said, women become immediately objectified as sexual objects. Is looking lusting? asks Gregoire in her book. If the answer is no, she says, that changes a lot.

In her research and in response to the book, women recounted negative sexual experiences ranging from dissatisfaction and pain to abuse and trauma. Courtney Wright said reading The Great Sex Rescue opened her eyes to abuse in her former marriage of nine years, where she was coerced into sex, strangled, and treated like a servant.

Ive rediscovered my strength and courage to speak up, Wright told CT.

Rebecca Gregoire Lindenbach, a coauthor of the book along with epidemiologist Joanna Sawatsky, recounted the horror stories from women like Wright, who suffered abuse only to defend it in their own heads or have their pastors respond, Well, its technically not not allowed in the Bible.

The number of people who we talked to in these horrific situations where their husbands were addicted to porn, to the extent that they were forcing them to act out what they'd watch, Lindenbach said in an interview. And they would have Shaunti [Feldhahn] and [Emerson] Eggerichs and [Stephen] Arterburns words in their head, saying, But if I can meet his needs, then maybe he'll be able to stop.

Some Christian leaders, however, think her pointed concerns are worth response and amplification. Sean McDowell is a theologically conservative speaker and author of a new book on sexuality for teens, Chasing Love. McDowell has advocated for Gregoires work, even inviting her to speak in one of his classes at Biola University.

I think they should certainly engage her ideas because I think shes raising some fair questions and these are consequential issues, said McDowell of those whom Gregoire criticizes.

McDowell said he was drawn to her work because it challenged him to think about marital sex in a new way, and he respects how Gregoire always points readers back to Scripture.

So much of the teaching weve had on sexuality is male-centric, McDowell said. I think weve adopted that within the church uncritically.

Along with Gregoires work, McDowell sees positive movement in the evangelical world when it comes to sexual teaching. His new book is part of Lifeways renewed True Love Waits movement.

Gregoires corrective is part of a wave of authors who adhere to a traditional Christian sexual ethic but are offering a critique or alternative to purity culture, including Talking Back to Purity Culture author Rachel Welcher, as well as Christopher Yuan, Sam Allberry, and Nancy Pearcey.

Christian therapists and counselors are also working against damaging or abusive sexual relationships in marriage. Julie Hilton, a licensed social worker in Georgia, often recommends The Great Sex Rescue to clients.

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They have described feeling validated, understood, and even angry, Hilton told CT. I believe her work is helping women heal and encouraging healthy marriages.

Halie Howells, a therapist in Illinois, calls Gregoires approach monumental, and one of the only resources of its kind. She is providing new language, new expectations, and new connection for married couples while integrating faith, Howells said.

This point of female arousal is nearly always missing or downplayed in Christian sex books, Gregoire asserts, while mens sexual desire is the focus. Your wife can be a methadone-like fix when your temperature is rising, wrote Arterburn in a line Gregoire made infamous from Every Mans Battle. Shes concerned that sentiments like these objectify women and ignore their own desires and pleasure in the relationship.

Gregoires survey found that Christian women report vaginismus, an involuntary muscle spasm, at twice the rate of the overall population. As many as 1 in 5 reported a condition that made penetration painful. Their findings suggest this may be due to the fact that Christian women who see sex as an obligation lose their sense of autonomy in sex and become more likely to force themselves into sex even if its painful.

When I put a call out for self-identified theologically conservative women who have benefitted from Gregoires work, my inbox was immediately flooded with hundreds of messages from women eager to share their stories. Complementarians and egalitarians alike have applauded Gregoires primary message that Christian couples have been misguided on the purpose and pleasures of sexual intimacy for both husband and wife.

I think Sheilas work validates what so many women feel and have felt for so many years but have been unable to articulate, wrote one reader, Talia Bastien Reha. She said she appreciated how Gregoires work points to the heart of Jesus.
The universe is vast. Due to the phenomenon of extraterrestrial objects like asteroids and comets traveling through space, there is a possibility that an asteroid strike could do some damage to Earth. The impact might result in significant damage and put people's lives in jeopardy in the event of a physical collision with any terrestrial object.

The space industry's focus on security has grown significantly.

In fact, NASA launched a planetary defense spacecraft to explore a method for deflecting asteroids.

Here's what you need to know.

What Is the DART Mission

On Nov. 23, 2021, NASA launched the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission from Space Launch Complex 4 at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California using a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, according to Space.com.

DART is basically a large-scale project that aims to develop a "kinetic impactor" technique for diverting asteroids for planetary defense.

DART is a small, simple spacecraft that is almost as small as a refrigerator. Yes, you read that right. Apparently, Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical Navigation (DRACO) is the only instrument on board the DART spacecraft, so it doesn't have to be too big.

Read More: NASA Completes Artemis 1's Fuel Seal Replacement, Targets Late September Launch

What Is the Name of the Asteroid It Plans to Deflect

The John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL) is leading the DART mission, which has as its target the binary near-Earth asteroid (65803) Didymos and its minor moon Dimorphos.

DART will strike the moonlet Dimorphos at a speed of 4.1 mph (6.6 km/s). According to NASA, the moonlet's orbital speed should alter by a tiny percentage as a result of the collision.

If the mission is successful, Dimorphos' orbital path around Didymos will be shifted. This change might be small, but this mission will let scientists study more about planetary defense since, as the name implies, this is just a test mission. The exact degree to which this occurs will be determined in the months and years that follow the impact.

Dimorphos is 525 feet (160 meters) in diameter and 6.8 million miles (11 million kilometers) away from Earth.

DRACO will assist the DART spacecraft to navigate as it gets closer to the target asteroid. Aside from this, the high-resolution camera will also take measurements of it, including the size and shape of Dimorphos.

You Can Watch How DART Hits the Asteroid

Live coverage of the NASA Double Asteroid Redirect Mission (DART) will be available on NASA TV, which you can view below.

As for the live coverage of the asteroid impact, you can start watching at 6 p.m. EDT on Sept. 26.

According to Space.com, NASA social media accounts below will be providing live coverage of the mission in the days leading up to the impact:

Twitter

Facebook

Instagram

Before the live coverage on Sept. 26, NASA will hold a media briefing first on Sept. 23 at NASA Headquarters in Washington to discuss DART's final activities before impact.

Related Article: NASA's DART Asteroid Mission Risks Deforming the Moonlet Dimorphus When They Collide
American family donates rare 2,700-year-old papyrus fragment written to Ishmael during biblical times

An American family that had a rare 2,700-year-old papyrus note on display in their home for decades, one of only three known fragments to be in existence in the world, has donated it to Israel by way of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

The tiny fragment, 1.5 inches x 2 inches, contains four lines written in ancient Hebrew during the time of the Old Testament kings that begins with the words "To Ishmael send" and the rest of the words are incomplete.

During a Christian mission to Israel in 1965, a woman was either gifted or had purchased the papyrus as a memento to keep after participating in an excavation.

This papyrus is unique, extremely rare, Eitan Klein from the IAAs Theft Prevention Unit said, referring to the fragment written in Palaeo-Hebrew which is from the First Temple era, AFP reported, saying only two other papyruses from that period are known to researchers.

It had been stored in a cave in the Judean Desert for centuries and the dry climate there enabled its preservation, IAA said.

The First Temple era refers to the period from the construction of the temple under King Solomon to its destruction by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.

Klein was able to locate the papyrus in the United States with the help of professor Bruce Zuckerman of the University of Southern California, The Times of Israel said.

Zuckerman, who was in touch with leading epigrapher Ada Yardeni until her death in June 2018 and who was writing a book about First Temple-period Hebrew scripts, helped Klein locate the son of the U.S. owner of the papyrus in Montana.

Klein found that the fragment was either purchased by or given to the Montana resident when she visited Israel in 1965 as part of a Christian mission from the U.S. and participated in excavations around Qumran and met key people involved with the Dead Sea Scrolls, the newspaper said.

The papyrus hung on the wall of the Montana home for decades.

Klein then contacted the son, who requested to remain anonymous, and invited him to come to Israel with the papyrus as a special guest of the IAA. During the Montana mans visit, Klein and his colleagues requested him to return the papyrus.

The son knew that the fragment was highly valuable but due to his Christian values and to memorialize his mother, he donated it to Israel, Klein said.

The Ishmael in the note does not refer to the son of Abraham who lived centuries earlier but instead to a man with that common name who lived during the First Temple era, Christian Headlines explained.

It first appears in the Bible as the name of the son of Abraham and Hagar, and it is subsequently the personal name of several individuals in the Bible, including Yishmael ben Netanyahu, who murdered the governor Gedaliah ben Ahikam, Shmuel Ahituv, a professor at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel who was the first to alert Klein about the existence of the papyrus, was quoted as saying.

It also appears as the name of officials on paleographic finds such as bullae (clay stamp seals) used for sealing royal documents in the administration of the Kingdom of Judah, for example the bulla reading, To Yishmael, son of the king. The present document probably certified a dispatchment either to, or from, Yishmael, added Ahituv.
Christian journalist arrested after reporting on violence in Nigeria has case delayed again

The case of a Nigerian journalist arrested for reporting on the government's inability to prevent attacks against Christians has been delayed again as the judge didn't appear for the scheduled trial.

Luka Binniyat, a journalist whose work has been published by the anti-communist Epoch Times, was scheduled to appear in court last week for charges of "cyberstalking" and aiding and abetting the offenses of cybercrime brought against him last year. However, the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern reports that the judge failed to attend the trial.

Binniyat, a Catholic arrested last November, has denied the charges.

The Epoch Times' Africa Desk Editor Doug Burton attributed the journalist's arrest to an Oct. 29 article he wrote titled: "In Nigeria, Police Decry Massacres as 'Wicked' But Make No Arrests."

The article was part of the newspaper's coverage of the deadly persecution of mostly-Christian farming communities in the West African country that human rights advocates say has escalated to near "genocidal levels" in recent years as thousands have been killed.

Critics believe the case against Binniyat is a political move against journalists on the part of Nigerian officials in Southern Kaduna, ICC commented.

Predominantly Christian farming communities in Nigeria's Middle Belt, which includes northern Kaduna state, are regularly targeted and attacked by radicalized ethnic Fulani militants, ICC said in an earlier statement. Thousands have been killed in the last few years.

The Nigerian government has refuted claims that violence in the Middle Belt states is based on religion and states that the violence is part of decades-old farmer-herder clashes.

In his article, Binniyat pushed back on Kaduna's Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs Samuel Aruwan's characterization of an attack on Christian farmers in the state as a "clash."

Earlier this month, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom warned that religious freedom is deteriorating in Nigeria because of rising violence by nonstate actors and "poor governance."

"In recent years, nonstate actor violence has increased in most parts of Nigeria, and this violence has yielded devastating humanitarian and human rights consequences, including but not limited to violence based on religion and other violations of Nigerians' rights to freedom of religion or belief," USCIRF said in a report on violence in Africa's most populous country.

USCIRF recommended that the State Department designate Nigeria as a country of particular concern for "engaging in and tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom."

Countries subject to the State Department's "CPC" designation face negative consequences, including the possibility of crippling sanctions.

However, in the 14 years that USCIRF has recommended Nigeria be designated as a CPC, the State Department has only accepted its recommendation once, in 2020, under the Trump administration.

Nigeria was taken off the CPC list by the Biden administration last year, drawing criticism from human rights groups and USCIRF.
Florida, Arizona top 'Educational Freedom Report Card' Heritage Foundation ranks NY, NJ, DC as least parent-friendly

Parents looking for more options and transparency when schooling their children may want to head toward the Sunshine State.

A new report from conservative public policy think tank the Heritage Foundation ranked Florida as the most parent-friendly jurisdiction in the union, followed by Arizona, Idaho and Indiana.

The inaugural 2022 edition of the "Education Freedom Report Card" also ranked New Jersey, New York and the District of Columbia as the least favorable for parents seeking choice and transparency in their child's education.

The report card uses a metric of four broad categories  school choice, transparency, regulatory freedom and spending  and utilizes 30 "discrete factors" to determine each state's score.

Florida's top ranking is mainly due to its academic transparency and a "strong" education savings account (ESA) program, more commonly known as school vouchers, the report stated.

Florida adopted its ESA program in 2014, followed by several other states, including Mississippi (2015), Tennessee (2015), North Carolina (2017) and West Virginia (2021).

Florida ranked first in "academic transparency," meaning that "Florida lawmakers set a high standard for academic transparency and rejecting critical race theory's pernicious ideas in 2022."

"State officials approved a proposal that prohibits teachers and administrators from compelling students to affirm the prejudiced ideas of critical race theory," the report reads. "Lawmakers also approved a proposal that requires academic transparency so that parents and taxpayers can review classroom assignments before educators use such materials as part of K12 instruction."

Earlier this year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education Act, which prohibits public school teachers and third parties from instructing students about sexual orientation or gender identity in grades three and younger. The law also requires schools to notify parents about changes affecting their child's mental, physical and emotional health.

The law also prevents school districts from withholding information from parents at a time when many school districts nationwide are barring teachers from discussing trans-identified students' social gender transition with their parents at the students' request.

Florida ranks seventh overall in return on investment (ROI) for education spending, a variable that measures academic achievement for the investment in terms of spending per pupil. Florida also ranked second in regulatory freedom, meaning the state's teachers and students are able "to pursue education largely devoid of red tape."

"An impressive 42 percent of Florida teachers are alternatively certified, making their way to K12 classrooms through a means other than a traditional university-based college of education," the report added. "The state has full reciprocity of teacher licensure, allowing anyone with a valid teaching license from another state to teach in Florida, or anyone who holds a certificate issued by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards."

Arizona, which expanded its ESA option to every child statewide in July, ranked second on Heritage's report card. However, data for the ranking was collected in the early spring of 2022 before the passing of Arizona's universal ESA program. This means next year may see the state catapult over Florida to the top ranking.

That didn't stop Arizona from ranking first for school choice on the 2022 report card.

According to the report, Idaho's third-place ranking stems largely from its high ROI and transparency.

On the other end of the ranking, New Jersey, New York and D.C. are "doing little to provide transparency, accountability, and choice to families," the report finds, citing those jurisdictions' 49th, 50th and 51st rankings, respectively.

The report also underscored that while school choice remains vital, a growing number of existing schools are embracing critical race theory as "teachers have abandoned the practice of teaching their students about a shared sense of national identity, and districts are coercing teachers and students to affirm ideas that violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964."

"Schools are teaching children to affirm the lie that America is systemically racist, despite seminal laws, such as the Civil Rights Act, and the monumental cultural shifts and racial progress brought on by the civil rights movement," the report states.

The report's authors  Lindsey Burke, Jay Greene, Jonathan Butcher and Jason Bedrick  urge lawmakers to consider legislation that would prohibit "any public official from compelling teachers or students to affirm or profess any ideas, especially concepts that violate state and federal civil rights laws."

The report's authors also contend that parents, taxpayers and policymakers should also have access to curriculum and instructional materials and that such access was a welcome benefit gleaned from remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"[P]arents should know if teachers assign homework from the Black Lives Matter Week of Action website, for example, so that they can have informed discussions with their children, school administrators, and board members," the authors wrote. "Our report card accounts for state policymakers who have adopted provisions reaffirming state and federal civil rights laws and academic transparency provisions."

The ongoing debate comes as American public school systems have seen an exodus of students since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.

One report from the nonpartisan research group Education Next found that 2 million fewer students have been enrolled in non-charter public schools since spring 2020 when many public schools were closed for in-person instruction.

While conservative organizations have issued resounding endorsements of school voucher programs, those programs are mostly opposed by public school teachers' unions. The American Federation of Teachers argues that vouchers will primarily serve as tax breaks for wealthy families that can afford to send their kids to private schools.

Zeph Capo of the Texas American Federation of Teachers told KHOU-11 in August that voucher programs "really haven't worked out well."

"As a matter of fact, most of the evidence shows that it's actually been a waste of money and it hasn't actually improved education," Capo was quoted as saying.

But Burke, the director of the Center for Education Policy at The Heritage Foundation, told The Christian Post the study seeks to change the national conversation.

"We hope this report card catalyzes education freedom across the country," said Burke. "That more professionals are able to enter the classroom without having to go through woke colleges of education; that parents have radical transparency around the content their children's schools are teaching, that school boards become more responsive to parents than to teachers unions by moving more school board elections on-cycle; and that, most importantly, every child can choose the learning environment that's right for them through universal education choice."
A queen who talked about Jesus

The death of Queen Elizabeth II has brought a justifiable outpouring of grief and respect from leaders and ordinary people in the United Kingdom and around the world. A woman who combined personal warmth with dignity and the increasingly rare and highly valuable quality of self-restraint, her character was steadfast and gracious.

The queen was a great friend to our own country. She understood the sacrifices of hundreds of thousands of young Americans who fell defending not only their own countrys liberty but hers, as well. This loyal affection was shown movingly when she authorized the (American) national anthem to be played on September 12, 2001 during the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace out of respect for those who lost their lives and in solidarity with the United States. During a memorial service for those lost on 9/11 that was held in Londons St. Pauls Cathedral, when The Star Spangled Banner was played in the cathedral, she joined in (the singing) and was later seen wiping a tear from her eye.

What must not be forgotten in the many tributes to the late queen is her faith in Christ. In her 2000 Christmas broadcast, for example, she said of Jesus, In his early thirties, He was arrested, tortured and crucified with two criminals. His death might have been the end of the story, but then came the resurrection and with it the foundation of the Christian faith.

Take note: this was no weak espousal of Jesus as a nice man who said good things. The queen stated quite clearly her belief in the bodily resurrection of Jesus. This was brave, moving, and noble.

In her 2011 Christmas message, Elizabeth was again quite direct in her remarks. Although we are capable of great acts of kindness, history teaches us that we sometimes need saving from ourselves  from our recklessness or our greed. God sent into the world a unique person  neither a philosopher nor a general, important though they are, but a Saviour, with the power to forgive ... It is my prayer that on this Christmas day we might all find room in our lives for the message of the angels and for the love of God through Christ our Lord.

And in her first ever Easter message, given in 2020 at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, the queen encouraged all Britons to remember what the celebration was truly about. The discovery of the risen Christ on the first Easter Day gave his followers new hope and fresh purpose, and we can all take heart from this.

It was not only the British people who were touched by their queens quiet but vibrant faith. The late evangelist Billy Graham, in his autobiography Just As I Am, wrote of Elizabeth, Her official position  prevented her from openly endorsing our Crusade meetings. But by welcoming us and having me preach on several occasions to the royal family at Windsor and Sandringham, she (went) out of her way to be quietly supportive of our mission. Another evangelist, CEO of Britains Evangelical Alliance, Gavin Calver, went so far as to say, The Queen has served incredibly and was also the greatest evangelist I could think of.

One of the Church of Englands leading clerics, the Archbishop of York, said in his tribute to Elizabeth, The Queen was not shy in speaking of her faith and the hope and strength she found in Jesus Christ. At the heart of the good news of God is that through the death and resurrection of his son Jesus, the promise of new and eternal life is offered to us all. The Archbishop, Stephen Cottrell, continued, This belief, this hope, sustained our Queen and as she rejoices in that promise fulfilled so we too can draw comfort and hope from it.

The queen sometimes referred quite directly to her own personal walk with God. For example, on one occasion, she said she was very grateful to God for His steadfast love. I have indeed seen His faithfulness.

Christians can rejoice in this beloved monarchs example of faith amidst great change and, sometimes, great difficulty, and pray that all of us share in her boldness in proclaiming it.

Originally published at The Washington Stand.
America's pagan sacrifices

In wake of the Supreme Courts reversal of Roe v. Wade, the issue of abortion has again taken center stage in American culture. But could there be more to it? Could there even be an ancient connection and mystery to the issue of abortion in America?

Abortion was a common feature of the ancient pagan world. So, too, was infanticide  the practice of killing ones child after birth. So too, was child sacrifice. In pagan culture, it was dangerous to be a child. What changed all that? Why and how did such practices come to an end? There is only one common denominator  the spread of the Gospel, the Scriptures, and the Christian faith. Wherever the Gospel spread, from the Roman Empire to the ends of the earth, the practices of killing children, from infanticide to child sacrifice, would come to an end.

What does that reveal? If the coming of the Gospel and the Christian faith ultimately eradicated such practices that put children at risk, then if a culture or nation, such as America, should begin turning away from the Gospel, from the ways of Scripture, this ancient and pagan practice will return. And this is exactly what took place.

It is no accident that as America began removing God from its public life, its public squares, its schools, and its culture, what came in to take its place was a revived form of paganism. In every realm where Christian or biblical values were removed or overturned, what came to fill their place was paganism. Nor is it an accident that the decade that began with the removal of prayer from Americas public school system ushered in the practice of abortion on demand in 1970 and then the legalization of abortion across the nation in 1973.

Such practices were heralded as the harbingers of new enlightenment. But there was nothing enlightened or new about them. It was the revival of an old morality and old practices  that of paganism. As I began the research for The Return of the Gods, I came across ancient accounts detailing the rituals of child sacrifice in the pagan world. I couldnt miss the connection  how the modern practice of abortion follows the ancient pattern of child sacrifice.

In the ancient sacrifice of children, it was most often the parents who willingly presented their children to be offered up. In the modern practice of abortion, it is also the parents who willingly consented to the killing of their children. In ancient practice, the motive for offering up ones child was to obtain the gods favor, success, prosperity, increase, and gain. In modern practice, it is the same motive that is invariably cited. A womans unborn child is a hindrance to her economic advance. Killing that child will bring success and financial gain. Hollywood actresses have told us as much.

In the ancient rite, children were commonly burned with fire. In modern practice, children are commonly burned with chemicals. In ancient accounts, the children of the poor were the greatest victims of child sacrifice. The rich would even pay poor parents to obtain their children for sacrifice. So too with modern abortion, it is no accident that its greatest victims are the children of the poor. Nor is it any accident that abortion clinics tend to cluster around impoverished neighborhoods and those of minorities.

We have sanitized it, medicalized it, and euphemized it, but the act remains, in essence, the same. We are doing as the ancients did  we are killing our children. But perhaps the greatest difference between us and the ancients is that of scale. They killed thousands of their children, but we have killed millions  over 60 million and counting. We are now veering dangerously close to infanticide.

It is ultimately a matter of gods. It was only when Israel turned away from God and turned to other gods that they began offering up their children as sacrifices. So it was with America. As we turned from God, we turned to other gods  the gods of success, prosperity, sexual gratification, gain, expediency, self-fulfillment, and countless others. And upon their altars, our children were killed. Indeed, one of the most stunning discoveries I came upon while working on the book is that the same gods or spirits that moved through the ancient pagan world are now moving through American culture and transforming it.

The killing of children was so grievous an act that it led to the judgment and destruction of ancient Israel. The cry of their blood ascended to Heaven. This begs the question for America: Can any civilization that murders millions of its most innocent escape calamity and long endure?

Is there hope? When Israel returned to God, the sign of its turning and its revival was that it broke the bloody altars of the gods. On June 24, 2022, Americas most pagan of altars, that of abortion, was broken  not ended. Could that be a sign of return and revival? Only time will tell. In the meantime, the cry of their blood ascends to Heaven.
Orthodox Jewish university doesn't have to approve LGBT club for now, Sotomayor rules

An Orthodox Jewish college does not have to approve an LGBT club for students as litigation between the school and those hoping to start the group is expected to move forward.

On Friday, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor ruled that the New York City-based Yeshiva University does not have to approve the establishment of a "Pride Alliance" for LGBT students at the Orthodox Jewish school.

Sotomayor's stay temporarily reverses a lower court decision as litigation surrounding the matter continues. The stay will remain in effect until either Justice Sotomayor or the court makes additional orders.

"We are pleased with Justice Sotomayor's ruling which protects our religious liberty and identity as a leading faith-based academic institution," Yeshiva University President Rabbi Ari Berman said in a statement. "Make no mistake, we will continue to strive to create an environment that welcomes all students, including those of our LGBTQ community. We remain committed to engaging in meaningful dialogue with our students, Rabbis and faculty about how best to ensure an inclusive campus for all students in accordance with our Torah values."

Eric Becker, a senior counsel and vice president at Becket Law, a nonprofit representing Yeshiva in the ongoing litigation, praised Sotomayor for issuing a "commonsense ruling in favor of its First Amendment rights."

"Justice Sotomayor stepped in to protect Yeshiva's religious liberty in this case," Becker said, adding that the university "shouldn't have been forced to go all the way to the Supreme Court" to achieve such a result.

Yeshiva University sought relief from the U.S. Supreme Court after the New York State Supreme Court ruled that Yeshiva University leaders are "permanently restrained from continuing their refusal to officially recognize the YU Pride Alliance as a student organization because of the members' sexual orientation or gender and/or YU Pride Alliance's status, mission, and/or activities on behalf of LGBTQ students."

The ruling required the university to grant the organization the privileges afforded to all other student organizations.

The New York Supreme Court concluded that Yeshiva's primary purpose as an institution was not religious in nature but academic, specifically that it serves as an "educational corporation" instead of a "religious corporation."

The Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court declined an appeal of the State Supreme Court's decision. In its request for a stay, the counsel for Yeshiva University elaborated on the adverse impact of the lower court's ruling.

"As a deeply religious Jewish university, Yeshiva cannot comply with that order because doing so would violate its sincere religious beliefs about how to form its undergraduate students in Torah values. The club application process opens on August 26 and runs through September 12. Absent this Court's intervention, Yeshiva has been ordered to approve an official Pride Alliance club  which it cannot do consistent with its Torah values  on pain of contempt," the document states.

Sotomayor's ruling came three days before the conclusion of the club application window. Sotomayor did not explicitly weigh in on Yeshiva's request for the Supreme Court as a whole to weigh in on the case.

Students seeking to start a "Pride Alliance" on campus contended that the university's refusal to approve their club constituted a violation of the New York City Human Rights Law, which prohibits places of public accommodation from engaging in discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Writing on behalf of the school, Becket Law characterized the lower court ruling as a violation of the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Yeshiva's efforts to reverse the decision come as the U.S. Congress has repeatedly tried and failed to pass the Equality Act, which would codify nondiscrimination protections for the LGBT community into federal law.

At a panel discussion last year, Maria Keffler of the group Partners for Ethical Care warned that under the Equality Act, "there is no exemption for religious services, there is no exemption for religious foster care providers, there is no exemption for religious schools."

Last year, a coalition of Christian activists wrote a letter to leaders of the U.S. Senate warning that the Equality Act is "a danger not just to Christian institutions but those belonging to our Jewish, Sikh, Buddhist, and Muslim neighbors as well."

They predicted that the federal government would "revoke federal security, disaster relief, and school lunch money from thousands of religious schools" for failing to comply with provisions of the Equality Act that violate their deeply held religious convictions.

In February 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Equality Act by a 224-206 vote that fell mostly along party lines, with all Democrats supporting the measure and nearly all Republicans voting in opposition. The bill has stalled in the evenly divided U.S. Senate, where most legislation requires 60 votes to pass as opposed to a simple majority of 51.
'60 Minutes' slammed for airing detransitioners who regret transgender medicalization

A CBS "60 Minutes" segment highlighting the suffering of individuals harmed by transgender medicalization has raised the ire of LGBT activists and has others believing a shift in the debate over transgenderism is near.

In its coverage about the various bills that have arisen across the country aiming to prohibit the use of experimental drugs and the performing of cosmetic gender surgeries on minors in several states, the Sunday broadcast featured an approximately 7-minute portion featuring detransitioners.

Detransitioners are those who once identified as transgender but now regret their decisions to transition and have begun reintegrating with their biological sex.

The segment featured veteran television journalist Lesley Stahl interviewing several young people who had undergone medicalized gender transition procedures. All of them said they were rushed into a decision and affirmed their transgender identities too hastily.

"I didn't get enough pushback on transitioning. I went for two appointments and after the second one, I had my letter to go get on cross-sex hormones," said one young man named Garrett from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Stahl responded, with seeming disbelief: Two visits?

While repeated assertions abound from transgender activists who argue that gender-dysphoric youth are at higher odds than the general public to commit suicide if not allowed to transition, Garrett said his depression worsened after he had his testicles removed and had surgery on his chest to appear more female.

"I had never really been suicidal before until I had my breast augmentation," he said. "And about a week afterward, I wanted to actually kill myself. I had a plan and I was going to do it but I just kept thinking about my family to stop myself."

Another detransitioner, Grace Lidinsky-Smith, chose to go on testosterone and have her breasts amputated during her 20s. She told Stahl how surprised she was at the ease and speed she could alter her body in pursuit of being a male and then revert to her natal sex.

I cant believe I transitioned then detransitioned, including hormones and surgery, in the course of like, less than one year, she said.

Not long after undergoing a double mastectomy, she said that she "started to have a really disturbing sense that, like, a part of my body was missing, almost a ghost limb feeling about being like, there's something that should be there."

Following the segment, "60 Minutes" interviewed the president of the prominent pro-LGBT activist group Human Rights Campaign, Alphonso David. The activist argued that by highlighting the accounts of detransitioners, already marginalized trans-identified people are further harmed.

Despite the broadly sympathetic coverage, transgender activists in the legal, psychiatric and medical fields were upset that detransitioners stories were given airtime in the broadcast. They took to social media to voice their complaints.

"Lesley Stahl, [CBS journalists] Alexandra Poolos, and Collette Richards knew exactly the harm they were causing with last nights segment. They knew it was the wrong moment and a dangerous, unaccountable and limited angle. But they did it anyway. Thats on all of you," tweeted Chase Strangio, a transgender activist and attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union.

Jack Turban, child psychiatry fellow at Stanford University, stated on Twitter Monday that he spoke with CBS about the story and asked where the network found the detransitioners to profile. The network reportedly refused to tell him.

"We still dont know if they searched for people on TERF forums, and transparency would be appreciated," he said.

The term "TERF" is a derogatory slur that stands for "trans-exclusionary radical feminist" and is used to demean women who resist gender ideology.

Screenshots captured by the trans-critical website 4thWaveNow.com revealed Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy, one of the most infamous pediatric gender doctors globally, voicing her dismay in the comments section Wednesday on a post in the International Transgender Health Facebook page. She allegedly wrote that "so many of us worked hard to dissuade" CBS from airing the segment on detransitioners and referred to the network's decision to run it anyway as a "shameful" ploy for ratings.

Olson-Kennedy, who heads a youth transgender clinic at Children's Hospital-Los Angeles, is a gender doctor among the recipients of a $5.7 million National Institutes of Health research grant. In one of her publications, it shows that mastectomies have been done on girls as young as 13. In a video clip that continues to be circulated online, Olson-Kennedy is seen on tape insisting adolescents have the capacity to make life-altering decisions, including having their breasts removed.

"And here's the other thing about chest surgery: If you want breasts at a later point in your life, you can go and get them," she says in the video.

A 2017 progress report on the NIH grant that was unearthed through a Freedom of Information Act request by concerned doctors revealed that for Olson-Kennedy's experimental study at CHLA, the minimum age for cross-sex hormones in youth was lowered from 13 to 8.

For critics of the transgender movement, the breakthrough of detransitioners stories into the U.S. legacy media is a particularly crucial moment in documenting what some, including Harry Potter series author J.K. Rowling, call a burgeoning "medical scandal" of medicalizing gender in young people.

"It is outstanding that 60 Minutes chose to air the voices of these young women (and one young man) whose bodies have been irreparably damaged by this vicious industry," said radical feminist activist Kara Dansky in an email to The Christian Post Wednesday. She serves on the steering committee of the U.S. chapter of the Women's Human Rights Campaign.

"Most mainstream media outlets refuse to cover this issue fairly, but once the general public is able to hear from more feminists, gay rights activists, and those harmed by the industry, the gender identity industry will wither on the vine."



Dansky has previously emphasized that the major media's framing of these issues in civil rights terms and the near-total blackout of left-leaning and lesbian and gay voices who oppose transgender ideology is calculated and intentional. She argued in a May 13 blog post that since the arguments of gender identity activists cannot withstand slight scrutiny, the press will not publish feminist or gay rights viewpoints that challenge them.

Thus far, Stahl, whose reporting was subsequently highlighted by Fox News host Tucker Carlson, is defending her coverage of the issue. She said in a follow-up segment to the broadcast that it was a story worth telling.

"Their point is that they were not getting proper healthcare," Stahl said. "That was their point and that's the point we wanted to emphasize: that these were young people that were not getting proper healthcare advice."
Detransitioners share regrets, speak out against body mutilation in 'Transgressive' documentary

A new documentary produced by Fox News host Tucker Carlson examines the consequences of body-disfiguring transgender surgeries and highlights the stories of people who underwent experimental medicalization and how it impacted their physical and mental health.

The two-part "Transgressive: The Cult of Confusion," which premiered last week on Fox Nation, features the first-hand accounts of people who once believed they were the opposite sex and underwent experimental hormones and surgeries but have since detransitioned and reintegrated into their natal sex following immense regret and bodily harm.

The filmmakers take viewers on a journey, explaining in eight distinct stages how transgenderism functions and operates like an actual "cult." The project shows how struggling children are indoctrinated and sent down a pathway of irreversible harm.

One such featured detransitioner is Helena Kerschner, a biological woman who started identifying as a boy at 15 and struggled with an eating disorder and depression. She explains in the film how the social media website Tumblr contains considerable content encouraging people to undergo a gender transition.

Filled with regret over the decision several years later, Kerschner eventually stopped identifying as the opposite sex.

"I had like a big realization moment where I just realized how much I just regretted this whole thing, and I was wrong, and that I'm not trans," she said. "And it was like the cloud just lifted, and I immediately became a normal person again. I immediately became myself again."

Another detransitioner who testifies in the documentary is Walt Heyer, a biological man who previously presented as a woman named Laura Jensen. He is now using his experiences to help others through a website called "Sex Change Regret." He seeks to educate others about what he says are the harmful effects of attempting to change one's sex. He claims that around 60% of the people he works with were sexually abused as children.

A 2018 American Academy of Pediatrics study and a 2016 study published in the Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology suggest that many children with a history of gender dysphoria have mental health or neurodevelopmental condition. However, more research is necessary before a definite conclusion can be made.

In part two of the documentary, filmmakers highlighted Heyer's path toward recovery, noting how he struggled with substance abuse and nearly took his own life before his condition improved.



"Eventually, I found my way to the Lord, Jesus Christ," he said.



Offering a psychological perspective, Dr. Michael J. Bailey of Northwestern University delineated the three types of gender dysphoria: child onset gender dysphoria, autogynephilia and rapid onset gender dysphoria. Child onset gender dysphoria is when children express a desire to identify as the opposite sex at a young age. According to Bailey, these children typically outgrow this confusion.

However, proponents of allowing youth to socially transition at young ages have argued that the desistance trends in gender dysphoric children are often overblown.

The second form of gender dysphoria, autogynephilia, is seen in biological males with a strong urge to dress as women and possess female body parts. Individuals experiencing this form of gender dysphoria may start by dressing as a woman with the desire to have female body parts potentially motivating them to undergo surgery.

Rapid onset gender dysphoria involves individuals  typically female  suddenly identifying as transgender without any prior signs.

Interspersed with Carlson's narration, the Fox News host observes in the documentary that the "key to the success of any cult is to drive a wedge into the family."

"If parents and family members do not capitulate to the new identity of the child, those relationships are labeled toxic and must be destroyed," Carlson said.

On that same theme, Christian Post Senior Investigative Reporter Brandon Showalter highlights the conversations he has had with parents desperately looking for ways to help their children identifying as the opposite sex.

"I've had some of these moms and dads in my house for dinner just to try and console them as they're grieving. They have nowhere to turn. They call me in absolute excruciating agony," he explains.

"I've never heard such anguish and terror, utter horror and pain as they are sometimes forced to watch the slow-motion dissociation and chemical disintegration of their own children."

Showalter has extensively documented numerous reports of operations done on trans-identified minors, including the removal of breasts and genitals.

"By what standard of medical evidence are you legitimizing the removal of healthy body parts?" he asks in the film, referring to the practice as the "worst form of child abuse."

Showalter has previously reported that a study claiming that puberty-blocking drugs yield positive mental health outcomes for trans-identifying youth contains several flaws. The study is titled "Mental Health Outcomes in Transgender and Nonbinary Youths Receiving Gender-Affirming Care," published in February on JAMA Network Open in partnership with Seattle Children's Hospital.

The university ceased promoting the study after a series of profound edits. The data they initially gathered claimed that gender-affirming care  which involves sterilizing hormones and body-altering surgeries  "dramatically reduces" depression and is "lifesaving."

A press release further claimed that interventions "caused rates of depression to plummet" in adolescents who identify as nonbinary or transgender. The research team also criticized efforts in Texas and Idaho to restrict or scrutinize "gender-affirming care."

But journalist Jesse Singal noted several flaws with the study in an April 6 essay on Substack, claiming it revealed no statistically significant mental health improvement among those who underwent such procedures and therapy.

Showalter has also reported on how consent documents obtained in 2020 by the California Family Council from Children's Hospital in Los Angeles indicate that giving experimental cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers to youth can cause infertility. The hospital has even warned patients and parental guardians that infertility is a side effect of prescribing such drugs.

Showalter previously reported that in the United Kingdom, where they have centralized medical care and can compile the data more efficiently, reports of a 4,000% spike in the referrals of young people to the national gender service for gender transitions led to a formal investigation.

The U.K. National Health Service announced this summer that it will close down the London-based gender identity clinic at the Tavistock and Portman Trust and move to a "new provider model through specialist children's hospitals." The announcement came in light of recommendations from an independent review and report that was critical of using experimental puberty-blocking drugs to treat gender dysphoria.

"We do not fully understand the role of adolescent sex hormones in driving the development of both sexuality and gender identity through the early teen years, so by extension, we cannot be sure about the impact of stopping these hormone surges on psychosexual and gender maturation," Dr. Hillary Cass wrote in the report. "We therefore have no way of knowing whether, rather than buying time to make a decision, puberty blockers may disrupt that decision-making process."

Abigail Shrier, author of Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters, notes in Part 1 of the documentary that gender dysphoria previously affected .01%, or roughly one in 10,000, males. For females, gender dysphoria affected one in 30,000.

But today, the author claims that the number of females with gender dysphoria has increased to one in 20 college-aged women.
Mormon father, wife and 3 children found fatally shot at Maryland home

Three years after losing his youngest son to cancer, a father who served as a missionary with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was found fatally shot at his Maryland home along with his wife and their three children Friday in what police are investigating as an apparent murder-suicide.

Cecil County police identified the father as Marcus Edward Milligan, 39, and his wife as Tara Devina Ricker Milligan, 37. The couples daughters, Teresa Milligan, 14, Nora Milligan, 11, and their 8-year-old son, Finn Milligan, were also identified.

"This is a tragic and terrible day for our county and our community," Sheriff Scott Adams noted at a press conference Friday, WBAL-TV11 reported. "Any time you have a loss to these levels  any loss is terrible, but a loss of this level, which is not a common thing, it's certainly not a common thing here in Cecil County  it's tragic and terrible and takes a long time for people to process."

Police received a call about the shootings near Elk Mills Road shortly after 9:15 a.m. by a man who said that the children and a woman were fatally shot, The Daily Voice reported.

The sheriffs office said the man hung up shortly after giving brief details about the shootings. When they tried calling him back, they got no answer.

When they got to the home, Marcus Milligans body was found in a detached garage next to a semiautomatic weapon. The bodies of his wife and children were found scattered inside the home.

Its a horrific day, and I know everybodys prayers are appreciated, Adams said on Friday. My phone hasnt stopped ringing from people concerned about this and upset about this.

In a comment on the Facebook page of the California Los Angeles Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Mike Murphy said Marcus Milligan was his companion at the Missionary Training Center and had served as a missionary with him from 2003 to 2005

He was my companion in the MTC, and then got to serve with him again in LA. So many good memories, he wrote.

Officials at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints did not immediately respond to a request for comment when contacted by The Christian Post on Monday.

The shootings come just under a week after Tara Milligan openly mourned the loss of their son Conor to cancer three years earlier. She said she was yearning to spend a moment with her deceased son.

Time passes so strangely in grief. Somehow its been three whole years since we had to say goodbye to Conor. What wouldnt I give for another perfect moment like this one, even if just for a heartbeat, she wrote in a Facebook post.

An obituary for Conor shows that he died on Sept. 3, 2019, at the age of 3.

Although Conor was not with us very long, he left a great impact on all of the lives that crossed his path. He was known for his infectious smile and strong spirit. While at Johns Hopkins Hospital, he amazed all of his doctors and nurses with how strong he was, the obituary said. Conor enjoyed playing outside and loved puppies. He had four stuffed animal puppies that were always with him for comfort. He also enjoyed playing with toy helicopters and he liked sharks.

Alisha Minter, who said she worshiped with the family at their local temple, grieved for the family on Sunday morning and shared how the family had inspired her.

I dont understand. My words fail me as I type this post. When we moved to Maryland Marc and Tara Ricker Milligan were one of the first families we met. The light they and their beautiful children brought in, you immediately fell in love with. Watching them from the church pews smiling and laughing. Having dinner and lunch dates with this family was a highlight of our day, she wrote on Facebook.

Conor was diagnosed with cancer around the same time Claire was diagnosed with her rare genetic disorder. Tara and I spoke a lot about our babies and the hardships that would soon follow, but I never ever thought this would be the end of their loving family. Tara held my hand many times and I hers. Conor fought a hard and long battle and earned his wings all too soon. I know that the reunion is a beautiful one for this family, she added.

Minter urged members of the public to reach out for help if they feel suicidal and suggested that their church perhaps could have done more to help even though it is still unclear what triggered the shootings.

Please. Please. I beg of you all, if you are having these thoughts, call someone. Anyone. This tragic loss of life is preventable! Marc Im so sorry. Im sorry that we as a congregation failed you in these dark times. Im so sorry that you felt this was the only way out of it. Tara and the children should be alive today. They didnt deserve this, she wrote.

Marc should be live today. You didnt deserve this either. Im heartbroken. This family should still be here. We need to do better about checking on one another and making sure they are ok. Mental illness is a debilitating disease that effects an entire family. Please heed this warning and check on your kin, and your friends, especially when they go quiet. Please.
Democrat official arrested for allegedly murdering investigative journalist, evidence found at home

Las Vegas police have arrested a Democrat politician for allegedly murdering an investigative reporter who was found stabbed to death.

At a news conference Thursday, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officials announced that Robert Telles, who serves as the Clark County Public Administrator, was arrested Wednesday for the murder of Las Vegas Review Journal investigative reporter Jeff German.

Telles arrest came hours after Las Vegas police executed a search warrant at his home.

Clark County, which employs Telles, is the largest county in Nevada and home to the states most populous city of Las Vegas.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement that Telles has been charged with open murder with a deadly weapon and is being held at the Clark County Detention Center.

Telles recently lost renomination in the Democratic primary for a second term in his position after German published a report alleging an environment of turmoil and internal dissention at the office, including emotional stress, bullying and favoritism. On May 16, German reported that Telles had an inappropriate relationship with a staffer that led to him giving her special treatment.

A subsequent article written by German the following week detailed how an outside consultant was hired to resolve turmoil in county office. Additional articles about Telles contained headlines reading, Embattled county official losing a re-election bid, posts angry letter and Embattled county official concedes race, remains combative.

As German explained in his May 16 article, employees of the Public Administrators office videotaped Telles and his mistress in the back seat of her car in a parking garage to provide evidence of the relationship.

German also reported on a complaint filed with the Clark County Office of Diversity, stating that the county has failed to protect employees from a mentally and emotionally abusive situation that has continued now for two years-plus, and the mental and physical health ramifications have been felt by most of the full-time employees in this department of only eight full-time employees.

Complaints by employees suggest that Telles also favored employees hired he started serving as Public Administrator over those who began working at the office before his tenure began.

A woman quoted in the article told German that he [Telles] literally works to create division in the office, adding, Hes so vindictive and horrible. According to Janelle Lea, a part-time investigator at the Public Administrators office, Everybody looks like theyre in a CYA situation all the time. People are depressed, theyre physically ill. One staffer told me, Id rather have a colonoscopy every day than come here and deal with him.

Janie Osuzik, who worked at the office for over 30 years before retiring due to mental anguish, said: You always had to be on guard, and it made the office uncomfortable because you knew there were certain people who would run to (Telles) on everything, even with lies, and would accept it as true.

She added, He would storm into my office and accuse me of things and never take the time to investigate anything.

Less than a month after that article was published, Telles narrowly lost renomination to Rita Reid, a staffer in the Public Administrators office, in a June 14 primary. Reid attributed headaches, stomachaches and depression she experienced to the treatment she received from Telles.

For his part, Telles has vehemently denied all allegations of wrongdoing and defended his record in multiple statements on his campaign website. In one statement, released on June 19, Telles accused German and his predecessor as Public Administrator of trying to drag me through the mud and expressed concern that the articles might keep coming.

Telles also lashed out at German on Twitter, suggesting that German was going through the trash for his 4th story on me and characterizing him as a typical bully who cant take a pound of criticism after slinging 100 pounds of BS.

*Wife hears rustling in the trash* Her: "Honey, is there a wild animal in the trash?" Me: "No, dear. Looks like it's @JGermanRJ going through our trash for his 4th story on me." Oh, Jeff... ???? @LVRJ#LasVegas  Rob Telles (@RobTellesLV) June 18, 2022

As LVMPD Homicide Section Captain Dori Koren explained at the news conference, German was found unresponsive outside his home Saturday morning. When officers arrived at the scene, they determined that he had died as a result of multiple stab wounds. Koren told the press that the murder took place the day prior at around 11:18 a.m. local time.

Police identified Telles as the suspect after discovering that a vehicle suspiciously driving around in the neighborhood on the morning of the murder, prior to the murder and then certainly was there at the time when the murder happened belonged to his wife and was later found at his home. According to Koren, That vehicle had stopped multiple times throughout the neighborhood and was behaving suspiciously.

We determined that the suspect wearing the orange shirt had fled in that vehicle, which connected the vehicle to the suspect, he added. The police discovered clothing matching the clothing worn by the suspect at Telles property and DNA collected from Telles matched DNA found at the crime scene.

Telles campaign website portrays him as a family man with a beautiful, intelligent wife and three usually wonderful children. In his role as Public Administrator, Telles secures property of people who pass away in Clark County while a search for family or the decedents executor is performed and administers estates in court when families cannot.
The military's technological development is essential to maintaining the country's security. In the military, technology serves as the foundation for the majority of the activities because it is necessary for movement, communication, and combat.

In fact, the U.S. Army intends to use augmented reality (AR) headsets for its military operations. Technology has indeed advanced significantly.

HoloLens-Based Integrated Visual Augmentation System

Microsoft was awarded a contract to develop the Integrated Visual Augmentation System, often known as the HoloLens AR headset, by the U.S. Army in March of last year (IVAS). The deal for more than 120,000 headsets might be worth up to $21.88 billion.

With the $3,500 standard HoloLens, users may interact with holograms that are projected over their real-world surroundings by utilizing hand and speech gestures.

A spokesperson for the Army told CNBC that the contract has a five-year base period and a five-year option beyond that.

What Plans Does the Military Have for the AR Headset?

The military is serious with its plan to use AR headsets in their operations. If not, they wouldn't invest $22 million on it.

Basically, the purpose of IVAS is as a training aid and a combat aide. According to a statement from the Army, the headset allows soldiers to fight, practice, and train all in one system.

The infantry will have night vision and be able to see squad positions and other important information in the field. The headsets can provide data during training to aid instructors in enhancing effective techniques, according to Engadget.

Read More: Yanluowang Ransomware Gang Leaks Cisco Stolen Data From Previous Cyberattack

There Has Been a Delay of Delivery

It was reported last October that the U.S. Army has pushed back the deployment of the IVAS until September this year.

The military claimed that in order to "further mature" the mixed reality technology, it has decided to push operational testing from July 2021 to May 2022, according to Engadget

It is unknown if the delay was linked to the audit of the Inspector General of the Defense Department last October to check whether the technology will meet the requirements.

Microsoft Begun Shipping the AR Headsets

Microsoft has reportedly started shipping the first batch of IVAS headset, according to Bloomberg (via PC Gamer).

Per Bloomberg story, a spokesperson named Jamal Beck said that Assistant Secretary for Acquisition Douglas Bush has "cleared the Army to begin accepting" some of the 5,000 pairs of goggles.

Microsoft Workers Disapproved the Military Usage of the AR Headset

Microsoft employees were against this deal. It is worth noting that the workers didn't have input on the decision.

However, as previously mentioned above, Microsoft isn't likely to budge since the shipping of the device is finally starting.

Losing the contract would undoubtedly affect both Microsoft's profitability and the momentum for HoloLens generally.

Related Article: Microsoft Says Their HoloLens is 'Doing Great,' Will it Work on the Metaverse?
Being a patriotic American doesn't make you a 'Christian nationalist': Dr. Richard Land weighs in on the debate

When it comes to history, and American history in particular, definitions matter.

In 2006, before becoming the leader of the free world, former President Barack Obama famously said, "Whatever we once were, we are no longer a Christian nation  at least, not just. We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, and a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers."

It wouldnt be the last time the 44th president would suggest America once held to an exclusivist Christian identity, but the claim begged a larger question: did it ever?

By the end of Obamas first term, most Evangelical leaders seemed to say "no."

A 2012 survey conducted by the National Association of Evangelicals found less than a third of American Evangelicals believed the U.S. is a Christian nation, though there was considerable debate over exactly what that looks like.

A decade later, not much has changed.

In a wide-ranging interview, Dr. Richard Land, executive editor of The Christian Post, urged American Christians, regardless of their political persuasion, not to allow the Left to define how they see the United States.

According to Land, the Left-leaning American media invented the hot-button phrase Christian nationalism as a pejorative term that serves to undermine the fundamental relationship between Christians and this nation as defined in the U.S. Constitution.

Im not a Christian nationalist, Land said. Ive read about some, but I dont know any.

I think it is a tactic by the Left and their toadies in the media to suppress patriotic beliefs and to suppress the idea that America is a unique country, added Land.

They hate that, they dont believe it themselves.

The notion of Christian nationalism has a contentious history, one that some commentators say stretches back at least as far as the dawn of the New Deal, when Christian leaders rallied around the Cross of Christ in response to what they saw as government encroachment.

For others, the phrase conjures up images of Jerry Falwell Sr. and the Religious Right of the 1970s and early 1980s, or former President Donald Trump and his Make America Great Again movement  and, for some, its alleged corollary, the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, which The Washington Post headlined as a kind of Christian revolt.

Andrew Whitehead and Samuel Perry, authors of the book, Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States, defined the term as the belief that the United States is and should be a Christian nation.

Whitehead and Perry wrote: Christian nationalism merely uses the Bible to impose its conservative political agenda. By asserting that they are true followers of Christ in a country that is founded on Christian principles, adherents of Christian nationalism can brand their political opponents as both ungodly and un-American.

But Land, who also serves as president emeritus and adjunct professor of theology and ethics at Southern Evangelical Seminary, rejects the term.

To be a patriotic American does not make you a Christian nationalist, he said. To believe God has played a unique role in our history, or that America is a unique nation, does not make us Christian nationalists.

Pejoratively, they want to tie Christian nationalism to racism and to prejudice, and I reject those labels.

In celebration of the nation's independence back in July, Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of First Baptist Dallas, told his congregation that while he doesn't consider himself a "Christian nationalist, he does believe the United States was founded as a "Christian nation.

In his message, Jeffress said that anyone listening to "left-wing" organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union or the Freedom From Religion Foundation "will come to believe that America was founded by men with a wide diversity of religious beliefs."

That couldnt be further from the truth, according to Jeffress, who added, that version of American history belongs in the same category as the story of George Washington and the cherry tree: it is a complete myth.

While Land conceded that Jeffress was making a valid point, he said he disagrees with him when it comes to the question of whether we were founded as a Christian nation.

Instead, Land believes America is an experiment combining Judeo-Christian values with Enlightenment ideas, but warned that it doesnt work unless the majority of the people are aware of being subject to a higher authority.

Land said, Jeffress and I, because were both Baptists, believe in separation of both Church and State, and thus believe the freedoms guaranteed to us in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution belong to everyone, regardless of their faith.

He further noted that the Declaration of Independence makes reference to God numerous times, perhaps most famously in its conclusion in which the Founders wrote: For the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Still, Land said, thats a far cry from declaring America to be a Christian nation.

I dont believe we were founded as a Christian nation, he said. I believe we were founded by people who were Christians or were operating out of a Christian worldview.

In the Declaration of Independence, they do not declare their independence from God, theyre just declaring their independence from Great Britain.

Twelve of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, for instance, were Presbyterian  including the sole clergyman signer, John Witherspoon  for which reason many Presbyterians today claim loyalists to King George III saw the American Revolution as a largely Presbyterian Rebellion.

Witherspoon himself went on to help formalize the Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution, paving the way for the birth of the U.S. federal government.

The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution "prohibits the government from making any law respecting an establishment of religion" and "government actions that unduly favor one religion over another." It also prohibits the government from "unduly preferring religion over non-religion, or non-religion over religion."

More than two centuries after an 1802 letter from President Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association in Connecticut in which Jefferson famously described the First Amendment as "a wall of separation between Church and State, Land and others contend that all the limitations in the First Amendment are on the State, not the people.

The amendment was intended, Land added, to protect the church from the state.

Two days after he sent the letter, Jefferson attended a church service conducted in the House of Representatives.

Five years before the first Congress convened, the Capitol building was used as a church, according to the Library of Congress. The first services were held in the fall of 1800 in the north wing of the House.

Within a year of his inauguration, Jefferson himself began attending church services at the Capitol, before he later famously created his own version of Scripture to omit fundamental tenets of the faith, including the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In what might be the judiciary's most overt reference to America as a Christian nation, U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Brewer, writing the majority decision in the 1892 caseChurch of the Holy Trinity v. United States, noted the observance of the Sabbath and other traditions as a "clear recognition" of faith in civic life.

"These, and many other matters which might be noticed, add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a Christian nation," wrote Brewer.

Its that extensive confluence of Christian faith and American history that, according to Land, raises the question of defining exactly what is meant by phrases such as Christian nationalist.

When people who are liberal try to label a Christian nationalist as anybody who believes America has anything to do with God or that God has anything to do with America, theyre denying most of American history, he said.

Many of the Founding Fathers, added Land, believed that God, for some reason, had a special interest in the United States of America.

John Adams, the countrys second president, who, according to Land, had more to do with the Constitution than anybody except James Madison, said in 1798: We have a government designed only for a moral and religious people. It is insufficient for any other.

What he meant by that was, if youre going to have limited government  youve got to have a majority of the population who are voluntarily obeying the law when nobody else is around because they are aware that they are accountable to a higher authority, Land said.

He pointed to Puritan founder John Winthrop, who spoke about America as "a city upon a hill," a phrase echoed over 300 years later by President Ronald Reagan.

Was [Winthrop] a Christian nationalist? Land asked.

Abraham Lincoln once called America the last best hope of Earth, one that the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless.

Was he a Christian nationalist? again asked Land.

As the U.S. lurched toward World War I, Woodrow Wilson, the son of a Presbyterian minister, spoke about fighting the war to end all wars.

Was he a Christian nationalist? Land asked rhetorically.

Pointing to John F. Kennedys inaugural address, Land said while the speech became well-known for a number of reasons, many overlook what Kennedy said was the driving force behind our nation: For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe  the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.

Thats pretty clear, said Land.

In fact, with a handful of exceptions, nearly every president in American history has been identified with Protestant Christianity.

Yet with the exception of Trump, none of them have been historically accused of appealing to Christian nationalist ideology.

2016 presidential election

When it comes to global use, the term Christian nationalism was relatively  though not completely  nonexistent for the first two decades of this millennium, seeing only slight bumps during the George W. Bush administration.

Part of that, according to Google, is due to a lack of search engine data.

Around the time of Trumps election in November 2016, the term white nationalism  a much more pejorative precursor to the more narrow Christian nationalism  saw a sharp rise in searches, fueled in part by allegations of Trumps support from white nationalist figures like David Duke and William Johnson.

The first significant spike in searches for Christian nationalism came in August 2019 following a pair of mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio.

But it wasnt until the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, that both search terms were seemingly conflated and the contemporary notion of Christian nationalism seeped into the national consciousness.

Outlets like HuffPost ran articles suggesting the events of Jan. 6  which it described as an episode that was permeated with the symbols of Christian nationalism  were directly tied to the government allowing and even funding conservative Christian education in the United States.

Even more left-leaning media sites such as Vice reported hearing from Christians around the country who said theyve witnessed their congregations lose focus and slide into Christian nationalism even as churches grow older and whiter than before.

During a 2021 webinar hosted by Christians Against Christian Nationalism, a coalition of faith leaders and organizations, the progressive Rev. Michael Curry, presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church, said while he believes that there are innocent forms of Christian nationalism, he warned of a more virulent or dangerous kind that involves people viewing their country as Gods favorite.

That borders on blasphemy, idolatry, argued Curry. That kind of nationalism is dangerous. It is dangerous to civic health; it is dangerous to the health of a Christian.

Progressive Christian activist and author Shane Claiborne, who is listed as one of the endorsers of Christians Against Christian Nationalism, called on churches to remove the U.S. flag from their altars or consider adding the banners of other nations following the Jan. 6 violence.

To be part of the Body of Christ is to transcend nationality, the Red Letter Christians co-founder and leading figure in the New Monasticism movement argued. Thats part of what it means to be born again.

But Land said while hes personally faced criticism for churches hes attended where both the American and Christian flags were displayed, theres never been any doubt about which one comes first.

Every church Ive been in, we understand the pecking order: the ultimate flag is the Christian flag, he said.

Land recalled memories of being a young boy in Houston, Texas, and being led to recite a Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. flag, the Christian flag and the Bible.

So, why then do we have the American flag in church when there are so many people who come from other countries to our churches?

The reason is, the American flag has never tried to persecute Christians, Land said. Almost all of the other countries in the world at some point in time, they have persecuted some kind of Christians.

But in America, the American flag has been the symbol of the First Amendment, which is about religious freedom. And its the First Amendment for a reason. All the other freedoms protect the first freedom, which is the right to worship God as we please or not to worship Him at all.

So I have no problem with the American flag being in churches. The American flag is a symbol of soul freedom.

The corporate press

Since the events of Jan. 6, some of Americas best-known media outlets have published a number of stories referring to Christian nationalism in relatively stark headlines, including:

The Far Right Christian Quest for Power - The New York Times

Christian nationalism is surging. It wasnt inevitable - The Washington Post

Christian nationalism is a threat, and not just from Capitol attackers invoking Jesus - USA Today

'Lynchburg Revival' Activists Warn Of Rising 'Christian Nationalism' - NPR

White Christian Nationalism is the Most Dangerous Weapon in America - Newsweek

Trump's army of God: Doug Mastriano and the Christian nationalist attack on democracy - Salon

While by no means a comprehensive list, even such a relatively small sample of headlines underscore what Land described as a Southern Poverty Law Center kind of attitude among the American media establishment toward patriotic Christians.

Land said the use of Christian nationalist and nationalism is merely another attempt by the political Left to label Christians with what they see as a negative label  the same way they tried to make cisgender a negative label.

Basically, if you believe in any sense that America has a unique role to play in the world, and that God in His providence has had something to do with the United States, then youre a Christian nationalist.

Then they start saying, This is just for white people.

For Land, such a view, both secular and otherwise, is incompatible with American history.

He recalled one episode where our first President George Washington wrote a letter to a Jewish congregation in Rhode Island, welcoming them not as guests, but as fellow Americans.

May the Children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants, Washington wrote.

Land said that sentiment is intrinsic to the fabric of our country.

We believe in religious freedom, Land said. Youre free to have your mosque, youre free to have your Shinto temple, youre free to have your synagogue.

He pointed to a 2015 poll that found 62% of American adults believe in the notion of American exceptionalism, that God has granted America a special role on the world stage.

We are not [a] chosen nation, but America is exceptional, and God has blessed us in unique ways, he said. We are the recipients of divine providence, divine blessing, and blessing, by definition, is undeserved. Otherwise it would be called a reward.

No nation has been blessed by God more than the United States of America, and that incurs certain obligations.

For Land, understanding Christian nationalism or any other intended pejorative involving patriotism and faith should be viewed not through the lens of social media tribalism, but in its historical context.

On the whole, and it is on the whole that such questions must be answered, American influence in the world has been a positive influence and not a negative influence. Wherever America's gone, theres been more freedom, been more respect for minorities, more respect for women.

Thats why so many people want to come here.

In fact, Land said, its the continued desire of people from all over the world trying to make their way to the U.S. that speaks to Americas decidedly remarkable place in history.

I dont think its Christian nationalism to say America is a unique country, he said. Every other country in the world is founded on blood and soil. People of certain ethnicities, people of a certain geographic location. Not the United States.

The United States is based upon an idea: anybody can become an American.

Facing opposition from ideological movements like critical race theory (CRT)  which, according to Land, seeks to deconstruct American history and make America out to be an awful place  Land said now more than ever, its important for Christians to push back against blanket descriptors like Christian nationalism.

They should reject the term and replace it with things like patriotic American or someone who understands how unique the Declaration of Independence is, he said.

Its not racist. Anybody can become an American, and weve demonstrated that by our history.
FIRE ranks best and worst colleges for free speech: report

A new report has ranked America's colleges based on their openness to free speech, particularly for students and speakers who espouse conservative views at illiberal universities.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, formerly known as the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), released the 2022-2023 college free speech rankings Wednesday. The rankings, which FIRE compiled in conjunction with College Pulse, are based on the results of a survey of nearly 45,000 college students from more than 200 of the largest and most prestigious colleges and universities in the U.S.

The third annual survey asked students about the climate for free speech and expression on their college campuses, taking into consideration the institutions written policies regarding free speech.

Specifically, FIRE asked students for their views on whether it was acceptable to engage in disruptive conduct in an attempt to prevent a speaker from sharing their opinions such as by shouting down a speaker or trying to prevent them from speaking on campus, blocking other students from attending a campus speech or using violence to stop a campus speech. The survey examined students level of tolerance for both conservative and progressive speakers and their level of comfort in expressing their ideas in various locations on campus.

The survey also asked students about the views of campus administrators regarding free speech and the difficulty of having open conversations about contentious issues on campus. Along with analyzing free speech climates at individual colleges, FIRE studied the views of American students as a whole pertaining to free speech. According to FIRE, 63% of students expressed concern about suffering reputational damage if they spoke their minds.

While 42% of conservative students said they often feel uncomfortable sharing their beliefs openly, just 13% of liberal students said the same. Likewise, 40% of students described themselves as uncomfortable disagreeing with a professor, either in public or in a written assignment.

College students demonstrated particular hostility toward conservative viewpoints.

A supermajority of students (74%) said they believe those who view transgenderism as a mental disorder shouldn't have the right to speak on campus, and 60% want to ban speakers who think abortion should be outlawed.

Similarly, 74% of students also expressed opposition to allowing speakers who characterize Black Lives Matter as a hate group, and 69% wanted to prevent speakers who contest the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Along with the student survey, FIRE took into account administrative behavior when calculating an overall score to determine a college or universitys support for free speech.

When compiling the rankings of U.S. colleges, FIRE also used information previously compiled in several of its databases documenting how often campus administrators either supported or sanctioned scholars embroiled in a free expression controversy over the past three years.

The rankings also took into account the number of speakers who were disinvited from campus over the past three years, as well as the FIRE Speech Code Rating given to each campus in the form of a red light, yellow light or green light based on its restrictions on freedom of speech.

That so many students are self-silencing and silencing each other is an indictment of campus culture, said FIRE Senior Research Fellow Sean Stevens. How can students develop their distinct voices and ideas in college if theyre too afraid to engage with each other?

The survey found that The University of Chicago has the best climate for free speech in the U.S., while Columbia University in New York City had the worst. The University of Chicago had an overall score of 77.92, indicating a good speech climate, while Columbia Universitys overall score of 9.91 illustrated an abysmal climate for free speech on campus.

In addition to the University of Chicago, the top five schools for free speech in the U.S. consisted of Kansas State University, Purdue University in Indiana, Mississippi State University and Oklahoma State University. All five schools had overall scores of at least 74.35. Claremont McKenna College in California was the only other school to receive an overall score higher than 70.

Columbia University had the abysmal category to itself, but the University of Pennsylvania, the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and Skidmore College in New York rounded out the bottom five. The overall scores at these schools ranged from 14.32 to 21.51, which reflected speech climates classified as either very poor or poor.

FIRE included five additional private colleges surveyed on a separate list of warning schools. These schools have policies that clearly and consistently state that it prioritizes other values over a commitment to freedom of speech.

The list of warning schools consisted entirely of prominent faith-based private schools: Hillsdale College in Michigan, Pepperdine University in California, Brigham Young University in Utah, Baylor University in Texas and St. Louis University in Missouri.

Besides Hillsdale, which had a slightly above average overall score of 57.51, the other four schools had below average overall scores ranging from 32.19 to 37.59. Overall, 91 schools had overall scores of slightly below average or worse, while just 39 received overall scores of slightly above average or better. The remaining 83 schools had average overall scores ranging from 45 to 55.

Each individual college included in the survey has its own page featuring comments from students describing their experiences on campus in regard to free speech. The release of the FIRE survey comes as colleges across the U.S. have attracted national attention for their hostility to speakers with conservative viewpoints.

Earlier this year, Jeff Younger, who lost custody of his trans-identified son after objecting to his ex-wifes efforts put their child on puberty blockers, was invited to speak at the University of North Texas in Denton by the Young Conservatives of Texas.

Protesters descended on the event, seeking to prevent Younger from speaking by pounding on the table, setting off noisemakers and clapping their hands and chanting F*** you, fascist. The protests against Younger extended outside the classroom where his speech took place, with hundreds of student demonstrators gathered outside the building.

The University of North Texas ranked 166th out of the 203 colleges surveyed in the FIRE free speech rankings by achieving an overall score of 35.83, reflecting a below average environment for free speech.
Black lies matter

America was hoodwinked.

Some of us knew it from the start. Some of us should have known better from the start.

The Black Lives Matter movement pretended to be about racial injustice. Mainstream media swooned. Churches centered the propaganda instead of Scripture. And Corporate America groveled at their feet. Seven years and nearly $200 million dollars later, the world has been conned.

Several years ago, I published my Top 10 Reasons I Will Never Support the Black Lives Matter Movement. I received lots of love for it as well as some predictable hate from those who accused me of being a traitor, an Uncle Tom, not black enough, and a self-hater. It never ceases to amaze me when people think calling me an Uncle Tom is a put-down. To be compared to an individual who gave up his life so that others could be set free is an honor. So, thank you. And I love people regardless of their color. I dont excuse bad behavior because of someones color.

The Black Lives Matter movement isnt about self-sacrifice. Its about sacrificing the truth for personal gain. And a lot of it. Just ask Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLMGNF) co-founder Patrice Cullors, a self-proclaimed trained Marxist, about her not-so-secret love of capitalism. Mostly white corporate CEOs lavished her black-led organization with loads of white guilt in the form of a color hucksters love: green. Who knew that BLM actually stood for Buy Large Mansions or Become Loaded Marxists. Cullors, who is married to a woman, now owns a reported four homes worth over $3 million, you know, because economic egalitarianism is her goal. Her house-buying binge (in white neighborhoods, by the way) started in 2016. Cullors pretended that her massively increased income wasnt a direct result of her involvement in BLM.

Now, theres a lawsuit accusing yet another BLMGNF leader  Shalomyah Bowers  of stealing $10 million from the organization. Follow me here. The Black Lives Matter Grassroots coalition filed the lawsuit against the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (the one with all the money). There are only three Board members of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, an organization that received $90 million in donations in 2020 and another $77 million in 2021. Three! And one of them is Shalomyah Bowers. According to the lawsuit, he only made $2,167,894 million dollars from BLMGNF in less than eight months. Whats a trained Marxist to do when your shady organization is awash in cash?

Whos to blame? White people, of course. The 3-member Board fired back at the lawsuit, brought on by other black BLM activists, with this classic response: To the contrary, they would rather take the same steps of our white oppressors and utilize the criminal legal system which is propped up by white supremacy (the same system they say they want to dismantle) to solve movement disputes.

Black lies matter. In fact, all lies matter. Youre not being oppressed BLM. Youre being held accountable.

Frederick Douglass famously proclaimed on his North Star papers masthead: Right is of no sex. Truth is of no color. God is the Father of us all. And all men are brethren.

Amen!

I dont care what beautiful hue of skin you have. If youre a crook who steals donated money, you should be in jail. Yeah, the same prisons that the BLM movement wants to abolish. How convenient. How many times do we have to hear the pathetic and racist justifications of BLM leaders? I run a non-profit organization. Im brown. I dont complain about the same IRS laws that apply to every non-profit organization. To say that Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation is corrupt is an understatement. Good luck trying to follow the trails of cash. Even BLM chapters cant get any transparency. Some of them have been calling for it for years.

BLMGNF Board writes (and Im trying not to laugh): Our hearts are broken at this moment because white supremacy is the winner when movement leaders take the approach of publicly calling out comrades instead of calling-in. Yes, Marxist comrades dont like to be called out when they give capitalism a bad name by taking millions (they didnt earn) for personal gain. Its not white supremacy thats the problem. Its greed, dishonesty, pride, and jealousy. Thats sin supremacy.

Corruption knows no color. It can be carried out by people of any hue, either gender, or any political affiliation.

With all the hyperbole and racist rhetoric that continues to serve as the foundation of the BLM movement, its almost like the whole predictable imploding situation of BLM Grassroots versus BLM Global Network Foundation is a case of Black-on-Black crime. The movement swindled the nation and the entire world  even its own grassroots activists. The movement repeatedly failed to distinguish between what was true and what was a lie. It failed to identify between truly systemic (i.e., the inherent racism of the abortion industry) and specific instances (i.e., the exploited and tragic death of Ahmaud Arbery). Now, it seems, BLM leaders cannot distinguish between what money belongs to a public charity (yes, BLMGNF files as a 501c3 entity) and what goes into their personal piggy banks. The IRS is hiring 87,000 more agents, so Im sure theyll have time to look into BLMGNF and any questionable grassroots chapters of BLM. (Who am I kidding? Accountability and public scrutiny are soooo racist, obviously.)

Maybe some of that $42 million in BLM assets could help begin to defray the $2 billion worth of destruction BLMs mostly peaceful protests caused to cities (including many minority-owned businesses) across the country.

Sorry, BLM. Look into the mirror. The real oppressor just might be looking back at you.
5 Christian evangelists traveling to plant new church thrown off boat and drowned in Uganda

NAIROBI, Kenya  Muslim extremists killed five Christian workers by throwing them off a boat into central Ugandas Lake Kyoga, sources said.

The evangelists from End Time Word Ministry church were traveling on Aug. 10 from Nakasongola District to Apac District on a commercial transport boat with plans to plant a church in the Aduku area, a Christian survivor of the attack told Morning Star News.

The survivor, Amos Kyakulaga, a deacon at a church in Namutumba who was acting as a guide, said the five evangelists began proclaiming Christ to a group of 10 Muslims in Islamic attire aboard the boat.

On our way, Tonny Ankunda started preaching to the people on the boat, which resulted in a huge argument between Muslims and the missionaries concerning the Sonship of our Lord Jesus Christ, Kyakulaga told Morning Star News.

He said one of the Muslims, identified only as Bashir, began threatening the Christians, saying, If you continue insisting that Jesus is the Son of God, then Allah will kill all of you.

Citing Scripture, the evangelists continued affirming the sonship of Christ and, according to Kyakulaga, Bashir told them, We are giving you one last minute to stop your blasphemy and to convert by confessing the shahada (Islamic creed), or else your lives are at risk.

When the five evangelists refused to renounce Christ, the Muslims seized them and pushed them off the boat one by one, Kyakulaga said. While the lake is only 4 to 5.7 meters deep, they were 200 meters from shore, and all five Christians drowned.

The 10 Muslims aboard were in agreement that the Christians should be killed, and neither they nor the boats pilot did anything to intervene, Kyakulaga said.

The Muslims asked him if he was one of the missionaries, sparing him when he said he was not part of the church-planting team, he said. When the boat docked, he took a motorcycle to the church in Aduku that had invited them, where an elder obtained help from local officials and a fishing group to find and remove the bodies from the lake.

Morning Star News has obtained photos of the bodies of the five victims: Ankunda, 44; Peter Agaba, 28; Juliet Ashaba, 39; Johnson Karungi, 27; and Julius Lweere, 52.

Police have contacted officials in Nakasongola District and leaders of the sending church of the Christians, a church source in Aduku said.

Along with Bashir, two other suspects were identified as Jamil Budde and Juma of Nakasongola.

The attack was the latest of many instances of persecution of Christians in Uganda that Morning Star News has documented.

Ugandas constitution and other laws provide for religious freedom, including the right to propagate ones faith and convert from one faith to another. Muslims make up no more than 12% of Ugandas population, with high concentrations in eastern areas of the country.
King Charles III speaks of his 'deeply rooted' Christian faith in first address to the nation

King Charles III spoke about his responsibility to the Church of England and his own personal faith in his first address to the nation as sovereign following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

The address was broadcast live nationwide and on large screens erected in St. Paul's Cathedral for a service of prayer and reflection that was attended by 2,000 people, including Prime Minister Liz Truss.

As Britain's new monarch, King Charles inherits the titles of Supreme Governor of the Church of England and Defender of the Faith.

King Charles said that his faith was "deeply rooted" in the Church of England and that it had taught him to "cherish a sense of duty to others."

"The role and the duties of monarchy also remain, as does the sovereign's particular relationship and responsibility toward the Church of England  the Church in which my own faith is so deeply rooted," the King said.

"In that faith, and the values it inspires, I have been brought up to cherish a sense of duty to others, and to hold in the greatest respect the precious traditions, freedoms and responsibilities of our unique history and our system of parliamentary government.

"As the queen herself did with such unswerving devotion, I, too, now solemnly pledge myself, throughout the remaining time God grants me, to uphold the constitutional principles at the heart of our nation."

Earlier in his address, the king thanked his "darling mama" for her 70 years of service to the U.K. and Commonwealth.

"In her life of service we saw that abiding love of tradition, together with that fearless embrace of progress, which make us great as nations. The affection, admiration and respect she inspired became the hallmark of her reign," he said.

"And, as every member of my family can testify, she combined these qualities with warmth, humor and an unerring ability always to see the best in people.

"I pay tribute to my mother's memory and I honor her life of service. I know that her death brings great sadness to so many of you and I share that sense of loss, beyond measure, with you all."

He said he would endeavor to serve the people of the U.K., the Realms and the Commonwealth "with loyalty, respect and love," before ending with a nod to his late father, Prince Philip, and a quote from Shakespeare's Hamlet.

"And to my darling mama, as you begin your last great journey to join my dear late papa, I want simply to say this: thank you," he said.

"Thank you for your love and devotion to our family and to the family of nations you have served so diligently all these years. May 'flights of Angels sing thee to thy rest.'"
'Defender of the faith': Calvin Robinson extolls Queen Elizabeth's servant leadership

Paying tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II, Calvin Robinson extolled the Christian virtues of Britains longest-serving monarch to a largely American audience who have long been fascinated by the British royal family.

During an interview with Fox News opinion host Tucker Carlson, Robinson, who serves as an Anglican deacon at Christ Church in London, recapped moments in the life of the former head of the Church of England that exemplified her deep faith and reliance on God.

Carlson, who presumed that many Americans might be unaware of the queen's public professions of faith, asked if the British public viewed her as a Christian leader.

She was a thorough Christian, Robinson declared. The queen wrote her own speeches every Christmas and she always managed to get in there that the person who inspired her was Jesus Christ. And that, I think, is why she led a life of service and duty and obligation  a servant-leader, if you will. She put Him at the heart of everything. And I think thats important for someone whos a global leader because they have to be accountable to someone. And for the queen that was Christ."

Defender of the faith. pic.twitter.com/7oKSsumBKv  Fr Calvin Robinson (@calvinrobinson) September 9, 2022

Speaking about reactions to the queen's death in the U.K., which will remain in a period of national mourning until seven days after the state funeral, Robinson said, Right now, as a nation and as a Commonwealth, we are grieving.

He added: I think we have to acknowledge that thats a good thing, too, because Jesus grieved at the graveside of Lazarus, and its something that helps us get past our emotions and it comforts us through this terrible time of loss. Once we move past that, we have to remember there is always hope. The hope of the resurrection through Christ. He (Jesus) told us that I am the resurrection and the life and all who believe in me  even if they die  will live.

Reading from part of the queens first Christmas radio broadcast in 1952 at age 25, a mere 10 months after her father, King George VI, had died at Sandringham, Robinson noted that, from the beginning, she asked her subjects to pray for her: Pray for me that God may give me wisdom and strength to carry out the solemn promises I shall be making. And that I may be faithfully serving Him and you all the days of my life.

The beautiful thing is that that is exactly what she did, Robinson said. She served us  her people, her subjects  and she served Christ, her God, all of her life to the very last day.

Highlighting the queens sense of duty, he added that, despite being frail, on Tuesday the monarch met with both Boris Johnson, who tendered his resignation, and his successor Prime Minister Liz Truss at Balmoral where she was photographed with the 15th PM to serve during her 70-year reign.

Even though she was incredibly frail, incredibly old and obviously ill, duty was the most important thing to her, duty to us, Robinson said.

Carlson then asked whether the next reigning monarch, King Charles III, will carry out his mothers same devotion to her Christian faith.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was the defender of the faith. King Charles III has been on record before saying he will be defender of the faiths. I hope that was a slip of the tongue because we do need a Christian monarch to maintain Christian values in a Christian country, said Robinson, acknowledging that its yet unknown how the king will reign.

Its OK to have tolerance of people of other faiths and none  thats a British value, he continued. But Britain and England is a Christian country first and foremost. That is where we get a moral compass from, thats where we get our guidance from, thats where we get our values from, and that's where get our family structure from. So its important we maintain that throughout, and Im hoping that he will do.

In 2015, Queen Elizabeth overtook Queen Victoria as Britains longest-reigning monarch. Back in June, the world celebrated the sovereigns Platinum Jubilee, commemorating her 70 years of service.

In the U.S., the eyes of many royal watchers have been on the Sussexes who some had expected to travel together to Scotland to join other members of the royal family. Prince Harry traveled to Balmoral alone, however. He arrived over an hour after Buckingham Palace announced that his grandmother had died Thursday at age 96, The Telegraph reported.

The queens family is expected to remain at Balmoral over the next three days to mourn privately. Afterward, the queen will lie in state in Edinburgh and London before her funeral, followed by burial at her final resting place next to Prince Philip at Windsor.
USCIRF report warns of deteriorating religious freedom in Nigeria, implores State Dept. to take action

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has warned that religious freedom is deteriorating in Nigeria because of rising violence by non-State actors, and "poor governance" is driving and aggravating that violence, calling on the State Department to take action.

In recent years, nonstate actor violence has increased in most parts of Nigeria, and this violence has yielded devastating humanitarian and human rights consequences, including but not limited to violence based on religion and other violations of Nigerians rights to freedom of religion or belief, USCIRF says in a report on violence in Africas most populous country.

Violence that infringes on freedom of religion or belief in Nigeria includes militant Islamist violence, identity-based violence at the intersection of religion, ethnicity, and geographic heritage, mob violence against individuals accused of blasphemy, and violence impacting worship, explains the commission, a congressionally mandated body of independent experts tasked with advising the federal government on religious freedom issues.

According to a recent study from the Anambra-based International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), at least 60,000 Christians have been killed in the past two decades in Nigeria. The organization, which is run by Christian criminologist Emeka Umeagbalasi, reported that hundreds of churches had been threatened, attacked, closed, destroyed or burned in 2021 alone.

The commission points out that Nigeria is battling several concurrent security crises and the militant Islamist groups that originated in the northeast region have now expanded their territory west and south.

In several regions, criminal armed groups target civilians and infrastructure to enrich themselves and expand territorial control. In areas of the northwest, northcenter, and south, resource conflicts and population movements have heightened group tensions and yielded deadly cycles of retaliatory identity-based violence. In the southeast, separatists associated with the Biafran liberation movement have taken up arms to fight for secession.

As a result, many Nigerians face a daily threat of violence, USCIRF says.

Militant Islamist groups, including the Islamist State in West Africa Province, Boko Haram and Ansaru, have political and ideological objectives, including to overthrow secular governance in Nigeria and enforce a particular interpretation of Islam, the commission says, adding that their methods to achieve them often have devastating humanitarian and religious freedom consequences.

Intersociety said in its report that an estimated 10 million people had been uprooted in northern Nigeria, where extremist violence was most severe, from July 2009 to July 2021.

The report added that about 2,000 Christian schools were attacked during that time.

The atrocities included massacres, killings, mutilations, torture, maiming, abductions, hostage-taking, rape, girl-child defilements, forced marriages, disappearances, extortions, forceful conversions and destruction or burning of homes and sacred worship and learning centers, Intersociety reported.

ISWAP currently presents the largest threat while factions of Boko Haram and the al-Qaeda affiliate Ansaru also operate in some regions, and these groups target non-Muslim communities as well as Muslims who disagree with or oppose their interpretation of Islamic practice and tradition.

Many have raised concerns about what they perceive as the governments inaction in holding terrorists accountable for the rising number of murders and kidnappings, which some groups warn have reached the level of genocide.

In its report, USCIRF recommends that the State Department designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern for engaging in and tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.

Countries subject to the State Departments CPC designation face negative consequences, including the possibility of crippling sanctions.

Numerous analyses and policy reports corroborate that poor governance is one of the main drivers of violent conflict throughout the country, says the commission, which visited Nigeria in June and was told by various stakeholders about the governments inability to provide services, security and justice equitably across its population.

However, in the 14 years that USCIRF has recommended Nigeria be designated as a CPC, the State Department has only accepted its recommendation a single time, in 2020 under the Trump administration, the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern points out.

Nigeria was taken off the CPC list by the Biden administration the following year, which was an unprecedented move that drew widespread criticism from human rights groups and USCIRF, which called the delisting unexplainable, ICC adds.
Thanks to the Grace of the Lord, I was given the chance to study in Israel this year. This week marks the second month of my life in Jerusalem. Recognition of God is the main difference between life in China and in Jerusalem.

Back in China, most of the people are either atheist or practical believers of Buddhism. But here in Jerusalem, people treat their faith seriously and hold different views of God. They normally acknowledge the existence of God, the distinction is in which way people worship God and how they demonstrate their faith in Him.



Misconception of Israel

Israel is a special place for some people. It is where Jesus was born, the center of religious conflicts, and home to the holy city, Jerusalem. Those are legitimate reasons for people to come to Israel, although those are not the main reasons why I want to study in Israel.

When a brother from church heard that I was going to study in Jerusalem. He said that I came closer to God. I replied that it was not the case. Although Jesus is a Jew, He is not limited to being in Israel. Salvation from Jesus is for everyone who believes in him, no matter where you are from.

As Jesus conversation with the Samaritan woman: When the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in the spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. (St. John chapter 4, verses 23-24)

Encountering different beliefs

People who think that they may encounter faithful followers of God in Jerusalem may be disappointed. My class is a mixture of Jews, Mormons, atheists, antitrinitarians and Christians. It is easy to distinguish atheists from people who believe in

God, but it took me a while to figure out what people really believe in when they say that they have faith in God.

Some people know almost every corner of the Bible and often quote from scriptures in their conversations. You almost think that they are true believers of God, but it turns out that they dont believe in trinity. Some people are passionate in helping people and say that they believe in Jesus, but you will find out that they also believe in prophets and scriptures that are not in the Bible. Some of them paid high tribute to the Old Testament and have special awe to the Lord. However, they reject Jesus and the New Testament.

The first month in Jerusalem was an eye-opener for me. The environment and people I met are vastly different from what I knew in China. It requires abundant wisdom to get along with people from different backgrounds.

The way and truth

Back home, I mostly tell people that there is a God. With people who already have the concept of God, I will need to show them that Jesus is the Messiah. God is a triune God. Jesus is God rather than just a good man or wise teacher and so on.

So among all the beliefs, whose worship of God is worthy? How do Christians prove that what we believe in Jesus is true? What is truth?

Among all the beliefs, the center is always about Jesus. When talking about God, if people reckon Jesus as God. If they give equal authority to Jesus teaching as to the Lord in the Old Testament, and if they agree that Jesus is God and man at the same time. Otherwise, they are missing the whole point in believing in a false God. For Jesus said: I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (St. John chapter 14, verse 6).
A sense of discovery: the unparalleled collection of Ann and Gordon Getty

Extensive and eclectic, the Gettys' collection of fine and decorative art is one of the most important to ever come to market

Whether digging for ancient artifacts in Ethiopia or searching for an objects long-lost pair, Ann Getty was dedicated to the hunt. A walk through any Getty residence  each of which created conversation through rich and unexpected configurations  was a crash course in human and art history. Known for her discerning taste and love of the eclectic, Ann, along with her husband, the philanthropist and composer Gordon Getty, built one of the most important collections of fine and decorative arts in the last fifty years. This October, a series of landmark sales at Christies New York will offer nearly 1,500 outstanding works from the storied collection. Proceeds from the auction will benefit the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation for the Arts, which is dedicated to supporting arts and science organisations.

Open a larger version of this image Installation view, the drawing room of Ann and Gordon Gettys San Francisco featuring works from The Ann & Gordon Getty Collection. Photograph  2022, Visko Hatfield



An explorer's mindset Born Ann Gilbert in 1941 to a peach and walnut farmer and his wife in Sacramento Valley, California, Ann Getty grew up with a keen enthusiasm for exploration, science and the natural world. Her later enrolment at the University of California, Berkeley, where she studied anthropology, biology and palaeontology, were organic extensions of her long-held interests. After meeting Gordon Getty in 1964, she married him on Christmas Day of that year, beginning a partnership that spanned 56 years until her death in 2020. Mr. Getty, the son of the American oil magnate and noted art collector J. Paul Getty, is a renowned figure in the world of classical music. After studying English literature at the University of San Francisco and composition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Mr. Getty went on to become a leading composer and an important champion of the arts. Merging their respective talents  his of the ear, hers of the eye  the Gettys created a collection unlike any other.

Open a larger version of this image Gordon and Ann Getty, from the series SF Society, 2007. Larry Sultan

I love the hunt, Mrs. Getty once said, and I especially love finding something exquisite, moving, rare, unexpected and rich with history. This intrepid spirit would take the Gettys across the world in search of rarities, and travels influence on their collecting habits cannot be overstated. As a child of Dutch immigrants, Mrs. Getty was drawn to elements of Netherlandish culture like still-life paintings of Delft porcelain and Dutch colonial furniture, while certain rooms in their San Francisco residence seem pulled straight from Venice. But she did not just collect objects. A lifelong learner, Mrs. Getty also developed a profound understanding of each items history. Combining her love of travel with her inquisitive mind, she took trips to places like Jingdezhen, an ancient town in Chinas Jiangxi Province, to learn about porcelain production. During these visits, she met with artisans and deepened her knowledge of the artistic process behind these creations. Travel also aligned with Mrs. Gettys fascination with the natural world and exposed her to a diversity of landscapes and cultures. Having grown up in a bucolic setting, she took great pleasure in the outdoors, which greatly influenced her personal taste. In the drawing room of the Gettys San Francisco residence, for example, there was a coquillier  or shell cabinet  of 18th-century Parisian design. The cabinet was filled with an array of shells she had collected over time. This interest in natural history connects Mrs. Getty to many other prominent female collectors throughout history, such as Margaret Bentinck, Duchess of Portland, as well as Alethea Howard, Countess of Arundel and Queen Charlotte of England.

Science was perhaps Mrs. Gettys greatest love, and in the 1990s, she participated in digs in Ethiopias Great Rift Valley, working to uncover ancient remains. Studying fossils in detail [gave] me a keen sense of colour and shape, she said of the experience. I learned to observe the smallest design details and fine variations of colour. Her scientific studies also informed her approach to collecting in general. If we think of Mrs. Gettys special interest in palaeontology, she loved the idea of digging down and seeing the history of things, explains Jonathan Rendell, Deputy Chairman at Christie's Americas. This archaeologists mindset led her to amass a collection that was not only linked by style and taste, but also by historical significance.

Conversations without words Through careful curation, Mrs. Getty created conversation between books, paintings, textiles, furniture, ceramics and sculptures. Everything I do is related to everything else I do, she said in a 1985 interview with The New York Times, and nowhere is this more evident than in her homes. Like the Silk Road that connected Asian and Europe, in the Gettys collection, there is a through line of mutual exchange between objects that look both forward and back.

In the rooms of the Gettys San Francisco residence, paintings by Venetian artists trace narratives and histories through the ages. Gentile da Fabrianos (1370-1427) painting Saint Paul the Hermit, once part of the Republic of Venices Church of Santa Sofia, hangs alongside works such as Canalettos (1697-1768) Entrance to the Grand Canal, Venice: Looking East and The Grand Canal, Venice: The Rialto Bridge Seen from the South by Canalettos nephew Bernardo Bellotto (1721-1780). Spanning more than 300 years of Venetian history, these paintings document the development of the Italian city and demonstrate changing artistic concerns from religious iconography to Venice as a centre of trade. The Canaletto is also in conversation with other objects throughout the house. The painting, which depicts the Church of the Salute looking east toward the Silk Road, abuts an English clock made for the Asian market. This collection includes many items made in one place for another market, explains Rendell. It really considers the complex dynamics of trade. Items like the Gettys extensive collection of Chinoiserie showcase the demand for products thought to be exotic or glamorous. They were not caricatures of other cultures, as some think, but instead made in response to the thriving marketplace for imported goods that moved along the trade routes. By arranging these items in an enclosed space, Mrs. Getty was underscoring these long-held global connections.

Open a larger version of this image Installation view, the dining room of Ann and Gordon Gettys San Francisco featuring works from The Ann & Gordon Getty Collection. Photograph  2022, Visko Hatfield



This rich and intricate layering is one of the most fascinating aspects of the Getty collection, where the story of an object was just as important as the aesthetics. With imagination you can make anything work together, Mrs. Getty said in a 2012 interview with Architectural Digest. Too much harmony tends to be less exciting. Mrs. Getty defined value by historical significance and unusual provenance. From items once owned by Popes and Chinese Emperors to a late-medieval Mamluk mosaic panel from Egypt, her interiors were filled with unexpected delights brought together by informed risk-taking. Though never formally trained, Mrs. Getty cultivated an encyclopaedic knowledge of classical styles and a love of the exceptional.

Time and serendipity Like the great estates of England, the Getty houses wove a seamless tapestry comprising highlights of human craftsmanship and artistry. Through dedication and a sharp eye, Mrs. Getty created complexly layered and beautifully refined interiors. I value the depth that time and serendipity give to a room, and what I hate most is to repeat myself, she once said. Thats probably why I admire the eclectic mix of comfort and formality in great English houses. They never feel quite finished.

Open a larger version of this image Installation views, the music room, blue parlor and primary bedroom of Ann and Gordon Gettys San Francisco featuring works from The Ann & Gordon Getty Collection. Photograph  2022, Visko Hatfield



Though her interiors never subscribed to any one aesthetic movement or trend, they were often arranged around a particular theme. Mrs. Getty then wove these rooms together through surprising linkages, using colour, textile and wit to brilliant effect. The drawing room of the Gettys San Francisco house, for example, is centred around a painting of the famous dancer Vaslav Nijinsky by Jacques Emile Blanche (1861-1942). Shades of green and purple from the painting echo elsewhere throughout the room, tying into the overall design scheme. In the nearby music room in the San Francisco house, the couples shared passion was on display. The Getty residence would often host impromptu performances or musicians at work, and Mr. Gettys musical sensibilities are displayed most clearly in this room. It is particularly unique in its dedication not just to the auditory act of listening to and playing music, but also to the visual components of the musical arts, seen in three paintings of female musicians by John White Alexander (1856-1915). In this way, the collection offers a multisensory experience, almost, as Rendell has described, like eating chocolate cake while listening to organ music.

To delve into the Getty collection is to probe a thousand narratives of human existence. From natural curiosities to items made for kings and queens, the Gettys did not just amass objects but forged connections across disparate times and places. In a 2016 interview with Haute Living, Mrs. Getty reflected on her time in Ethiopia, saying It was very hot, and our biggest luxury was a tent  but I did enjoy the sense of discovery. This passion for exploration was the driving force and fabric of this storied collection. To own a piece of it is to acquire an item most rare and unexpected and revel in our shared human history.
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MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  Thousands of nurses in Minnesota launched a three-day strike Monday, pressing for salary increases they say will help improve patient care by resolving understaffing stresses that have worsened in the coronavirus pandemic.

Some 15,000 nurses at seven health care systems in the Minneapolis and Duluth areas walked out, a number the union says makes it the largest strike ever by private-sector nurses. The affected hospitals said they have recruited temporary nurses and expected to maintain most services.

Scores of nurses began walking the picket line at 7 a.m. outside Children's Hospital in Minneapolis, one of 15 hospitals affected. Clad in the red T-shirts of the Minnesota Nurses Association and carrying signs with such slogans as, Something has got to give, several said their chief concern was patient safety.

Tracey Dittrich, 50, a registered nurse at the hospital for nearly 24 years, said nurses are tired of hospital administrators and managers that are telling us to do more. The hospitals need more nurses and more support staff, and higher pay will help, she said.

There are shifts where you have three critically ill patients, and you have to decide which patient gets the care, when," Dittrich said. I work with people all the time that go home every day and feel horrible because one child had to wait longer for medication, or another child needed to wait longer for an IV. Another child maybe had to wait for a breathing treatment because we just couldnt get to them all fast enough.

Union spokesman Sam Fettig said the nurses chose a three-day strike, rather than an open-ended walkout, out of concern for patients.

The hospitals have offered a 10-12% wage increase over three years, but nurses are seeking more than 30%. Hospital leaders called their wage demands unaffordable, noting that Allina and Fairview hospitals have posted operating losses and that the cost of such sharp wage increases would be passed along to patients.

The union rejected all requests for mediation and held fast to wage demands that were unrealistic, unreasonable and unaffordable, several of the Twin Cities hospitals under strike said in a joint statement.

The statement said people with emergency issues should continue to call 911 or go to emergency rooms. It said despite staffing hospitals with experienced nurse managers, trained replacement nurses and some existing traveler nurses that people may see some delay in being treated.

Jean Ross, co-president of National Nurses United, billed as the largest union and professional association of registered nurses in the U.S., said more nurses across the country are pushing back and that most job actions revolve around the same core issues  staffing and pay.

The pandemic did so many things in pointing out, clarifying and shining a light on what life is like in the hospitals and what nurses are expected to do, which is a lot with very little, Ross said. We have to have a bottom line where you just cant shove any more patients on to that nurse.

Kathy Misk, another registered nurse at Childrens, works in case management and helps families transition from hospital care to caring for their child at home. Misk said a shortage of nurses has sometimes required keeping high-tech children  those who need special equipment to breathe, for example  from going home as soon as they otherwise could. Raising pay could help the hospital keep nurses on staff, she said.

You dont retain nurses with low wages, Misk said. When you incentivize nurses with pay, what youre saying to them is they have worth, and they are able to stay in one job.

When asked about Misks statement that some children have not gone home as soon as they might have, Nick Petersen, a spokesman for Childrens, said children are admitted or discharged based on the expert judgment of the medical professionals who care for them.

The hospitals affected by the strike are operated by Allina Health, M Health Fairview, Childrens Hospital, North Memorial and HealthPartners. In Duluth, it is Essentia and St Lukes.

Separately, in Wisconsin, a potential three-day strike by nurses at UW Health, one of the state's largest health systems, that was set to start Tuesday was averted when the nurses and the UW Hospital board reached an agreement. Details weren't immediately released.

The Minnesota nurses strike comes amid an upsurge in union activity nationwide.

A national railroad strike could begin as early as Friday unless Congress steps in to block it. The two largest railroad unions have been demanding that the major freight carriers go beyond a proposed deal recommended by arbitrators appointed by President Joe Biden.

Some high-profile companies, including Starbucks, are among those trying to stifle ongoing unionization efforts. Since late last year, more than 230 U.S. Starbucks stores have voted to unionize, which Starbucks opposes.



Ehlke reported from suburban Milwaukee. Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis contributed to this report. Ahmed 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.




By Yi Whan-woo







Woori Financial Group Chairman and CEO Son Tae-seung will visit Europe next month to discuss the group's efforts in environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) practices on the global stage, according to the banking group, Monday.







It said Son's planned trip comes upon the joint invitation of two U.N. bodies _ the U.N. Framework Convention (UNFCC) and UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) _ plus that of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), an observer to the U.N. General Assembly.







The chairman is scheduled to meet UNFCC Acting Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw, who also doubles as the executive secretary of the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), UNEP FI head Eric Usher and IUCN Deputy Director General Lee Sung-ah.







"The chairman's trip means global entities are paying attention to our activities and achievements concerning ESG," the company said. "We're expected to be invited to join global initiatives on ESG on the occasion of the chairman's visit to Europe next month."







Son also plans to meet top-ranking financial officials of global investment firms to attract more capital from overseas investors.







The banking group has been stepping up its efforts in ESG management, with its latest activities including the signing of an agreement to respond to the climate crisis and sustainable forest management with the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization (AFoCO) in June.







The signing ceremony was attended by Sohn Tae-seung, chairman of Woori Financial Group and Ricardo L. Calderon, secretary general of the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization (AFoCO).






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LOS ANGELES (AP)  The Latest on the Emmy Awards (all times local):

9:20 p.m.

Newly minted Emmy winners made their first party stop at the Governors Gala.

For the first time, the official Emmy Awards after party was held outdoors, outside the Los Angeles Convention Center next door to the Microsoft Theater where the ceremony was held earlier Monday night.

Geena Davis, who was honored during the ceremony with the Governors Award for her work with her institute on gender in media, wandered barefoot through the party carrying a plate of salmon.

Partygoers danced under the stars to a live band that kicked into Emmy winner Lizzos About Damn Time," and jammed the plaza's bars awaiting champagne and cocktails.

Longtime Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels, whose show won best sketch series for the sixth year in a row, held court with an Emmy statuette on the table.

Salmon, rare beef and mini tacos were on the al fresco menu.

Succession," Ted Lasso and Squid Game were among the winners of the top awards at the ceremony hosted by Kenan Thompson.

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8:10 p.m.

The Roy family comes out ahead again.

Succession has won best drama series at the Emmys.

Season three of the HBO drama starring Brian Cox and Jeremy Strong about a media monarch and the children who seek to succeed him took the top prize on Monday night, just as season two did in 2020.

Matthew Macfadyen was the only Succession star to take home an acting Emmy Monday.

Netflixs The Crown won best drama last year, when Succession was between seasons.

Succession beat out competitors Better Call Saul, Euphoria, Ozark, Severance, Squid Game, Stranger Things and Yellowjackets.

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HIGHLIGHTS AT THE EMMYS

 Goddess gowns, Old Hollywood glam and red rule Emmy carpet

 List of Emmy Award winners include Michael Keaton and SNL

 Sheryl Lee Ralph, 1st-time nominee, wins Emmy award and sings

 Emmys host Kenan Thompson predicts conflict-free ceremony

 Find more AP coverage here: https://apnews.com/hub/emmy-awards

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MORE EMMY BREAKTHROUGHS:

7:55 p.m.

Ted Lasso took a dark turn and ended up with another bright shining Emmy.

The show won its second straight Emmy Award for best comedy series on Monday night.

The Apple TV+ series starring Jason Sudeikis as the fish-out-of-water coach of an American football team managing a soccer club in England focused on mental health and its characters pain in its second season, and was rewarded for it by Emmy voters.

The series won four Emmys on Monday night, including best actor in a comedy series for Jason Sudeikis and best supporting actor for Brett Goldstein.

Ted Lasso beat out competitors including Barry, Hacks, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Abbot Elementary, Only Murders in The Building, and What We Do in the Shadows.

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7:50 p.m.

The White Lotus bloomed on Emmy night.

The black comedy from creator Mike White about a disparate group of people at a Hawaiian resort won the Emmy Award for best limited series on Monday.

It was one of 10 Emmys claimed by the show, including best supporting actor and actress in a limited series.

The White Lotus stars Jennifer Coolidge, Connie Britton, Steve Zahn, and Murray Bartlett as a concierge who takes out an especially scatological form of revenge on a pestering resort guest.

The victory gives HBO its seventh win in 11 years in the category.

The White Lotus beat out fellow nominees The Dropout, Inventing Anna, Pam & Tommy, and Dopesick.

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7:45 p.m.

Lee Jung-jae has scored a historic Emmy Award for best lead actor in a drama series for his role in Squid Game.

Lee becomes the first Asian man to win the award, and the first to win it for a non-English-speaking role.

Id like to thank god above, Lee said in an acceptance speech delivered in both English and Korean. His clean-cut look on stage was a far cry from his shaggy appearance on Squid Game.

In the South Korean Netflix series, people in poverty are forced to compete for money and their lives by playing schoolyard games.

Lee beat out fellow nominees Brian Cox, Jason Bateman, Bob Odenkirk, Adam Scott and Jeremy Strong.

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7:40 p.m.

Jean Smart has shown shes no hack.

For the second straight year, Smart has won the Emmy Award for best lead actress in a comedy series for her role in Hacks on HBO Max.

Im more nervous than I was, thank you for a second time honoring this show, Smart said.

Smart was amid her own major career renaissance when she landed the role of Deborah Vance, a standup comic who revives her career with the help of a young writer played by Hannah Einbinder.

Its the fourth Emmy overall for Smart, who won two for guest spots on Frasier in 2000 and 2001, and her third for a supporting role on the sitcom Samantha Who in 2008.

Smart beat out fellow nominees Quinta Brunson, Kaley Cuoco, Elle Fanning, Issa Rae and Rachel Brosnahan.

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7:20 p.m.

It was another euphoric Emmy night for Zendaya.

The actor who was a surprise winner of the best lead actress in a drama series for the first season of Euphoria two years ago has done it again, taking a second trophy for her second season as recovering teenage addict Rue Bennett on the HBO show.

Anyone who has loved a Rue, or is a Rue, I want you to know that I am so grateful for your stories, I carry them with me and I carry them with her, Zendaya said.

She beat out fellow nominees Laura Linney, Melanie Lynskey, Sandra Oh, Reese Witherspoon and Jodie Comer.

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7:10 p.m.

Ted Lasso has roped another Emmy.

Jason Sudeikis won the Emmy Award for best lead actor in a comedy series on Monday night for his role as the title coach on Ted Lasso.

After a first season of hyper-positivity that earned him his first Emmy for the role, Sudeikis Lasso, an American football coach tapped to manage an English soccer club, spent the second season dealing with the effects of divorce and depression.

Im truly, truly surprised and flattered, Sudeikis said.

Sudeikis also won a best comedy series Emmy as a producer of the show in the first season.

Sudeikis beat out fellow nominees Bill Hader, Nicholas Hoult, Steve Martin, Martin Short and Jason Donald Glover.

Earlier, Sudeikis castmate Brett Goldstein won best supporting actor in a comedy.

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6:30 p.m.

Lizzo has an Emmy to go with her three Grammys.

Lizzos Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, the Amazon Prime Video series hosted by the singer, rapper and songwriter, won the Emmy Award for outstanding competition program on Monday night.

It ended a four-year winning streak in the category for RuPauls Drag Race.

The trophy is nice, but my emotion is for these people who are on the stage with me, a hyped and crying Lizzo said from the stage. The stories that they shared, theyre not that unique, they just dont get the platform.

When I was a little girl, all I wanted to see was me in the media, someone fat like me, black like me, beautiful like me, she said.

Where my big girls, are they here? she shouted to cast members in the crowd, calling them superstars.

They shouted and waved back from distant seats as they filmed with their phones.

Lizzos three Grammy Awards include a win in 2020 for best pop solo vocal performance for her hit Truth Hurts.

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6:15 p.m.

The Emmy for best actress in a limited series goes to Amanda Seyfried for The Dropout.

Its the first Emmy for Seyfried.

This is a really nice feeling, she said, near tears.

In the Hulu docudrama, she plays Elizabeth Holmes, founder of the ill-fated biotech company Theranos.

Jennifer Coolidge also won her first Emmy, taking best supporting actress in a limited series for The White Lotus, HBOs dark comedy about guests at a Hawaiian resort.

It was the first time in a long acting career the 61-year-old Coolidge had been nominated for an Emmy.

I took a lavender bath tonight just before the show, and it made me swell up inside my dress, Im having a hard time speaking, Coolidge said.

As the music played to get her to leave the stage, she shouted, Hold on, this is a once in a lifetime thing, then started boogieing as a livelier tune played, getting laughs and whoops from the audience. She finally took the hint and headed off.

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6:05 p.m.

For the seventh straight year, the Emmy for best variety talk series goes to Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.

The HBO show has won the award for all but one year that the category has existed.

We know how lucky we are to get to make the exact show that we want, exactly the way that we want to make it, Oliver said from the stage Monday night.

Moments earlier, Saturday Night Live won the Emmy for best sketch series.

The NBC institution wins the award for the sixth straight year, and has won it for six of the eight years since the establishment of the category, which this year had just one other nominee, HBOs A Black Lady Sketch Show.

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5:50 p.m.

Sheryl Lee Ralph was so moved by her Emmy win, she had to respond in song.

Ralph took the Emmy Award for best supporting actress in a comedy series Monday night for her role as a devoutly religious kindergarten teacher on ABCs Abbott Elementary.

Its the first Emmy and first nomination for Ralph, who was in tears and had to gather herself after accepting the trophy.

She opened her speech with a powerfully delivered acapella version of the song Endangered Species by Dianne Reeves.

I am an endangered species, but I sing a victims song, I am a woman, I am an artist, and I know where my voice belongs, Ralph belted.

Her win, and reaction, were hugely popular inside the Microsoft Theater.

We love you! a man shouted from the rear seats as she arrived on stage. She was interrupted by cheers and multiple standing ovations.

Moments later, Brett Goldstein won his second straight Emmy Award for his role on Ted Lasso.

In the second season of the Apple TV+ show, Goldsteins character Roy Kent went from cranky veteran player to angry television analyst to grouchy assistant coach of the English soccer team at the center of the show, on which hes also a writer.

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5:40 p.m.

Julia Garner has won her third Emmy, taking best supporting actress once again for her role in Ozark.

In the Netflix series she plays Ruth Langmore, a young woman who is part of a criminal family in a Missouri town where the family of a financial adviser has come to launder money for a drug cartel.

Thank you for writing Ruth, shes changed my life, Garner said from the stage in gratitude to the shows writers.

Garner won Emmys for the same role in 2019 and 2020.

She could have four before the nights over. Shes also up for best actress in a limited series Monday night for playing the title role in Inventing Anna.

Moments earlier, Matthew Macfadyen won his first Emmy, taking best supporting actor in a drama series for his role as the calculating son-in-law of a media magnate in HBOs Succession.

I must say really its such a pleasure and a privilege to play this bonkers gift of a role in this wonderful show, Macfadyen said in a British accent much of the American audience has never heard.

The 47-year-old English actor was previously best known for playing Mr. Darcy in the 2005 film version of Pride and Prejudice.

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5:20 p.m.

The Emmy for best supporting actor in a limited series goes to Murray Bartlett for The White Lotus.

Its the first Emmy and first nomination for the 51-year-old Australian actor.

In The White Lotus he plays an initially mild-mannered concierge at a Hawaiian Resort who is driven to drugs and madness by the guests he must cater to.

Thank you for giving me one of the best experiences of my life, Bartlett said from the stage to series creator Mike White, who was caught by the camera mid-gulp from a glass of wine.

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5:15 p.m.

The Emmy for best actor in a limited series goes to Michael Keaton for Dopesick.

The first award handed out Monday night was the first ever Emmy for Keaton, the 71-year-old former Batman actor who was nominated for an Oscar in 2015 for his role in Birdman.

Ive got to tell you, my face hurts so much from all the fake smiling Ive been doing, Keaton said after accepting the trophy from the first presenter, Oprah Winfrey.

Youve got about 90 of these, dont you? he asked her.

In Hulus Dopesick, Keaton plays Samuel Finnix, a doctor on the frontlines of Americas battle with opioid addiction.

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5:10 p.m.

Host Kenan Thompson has kicked off the 74th Emmy Awards in a top hat and tails.

It is I, the mayor of television, Thompson said as he walked among the nominees and other audience members seated at tables in a garden setting at the Microsoft Theater on Monday night in downtown Los Angeles.

Tonight, we come together to honor the greatest invention in the history of mankind, television, the longtime Saturday Night Live cast member said. If it werent for television, what would we do with our time? Read books? No one in this room has read a book in the last 50 years.

He then led a crew through a series of synchronized dance moves to TV theme songs including Friends, Game of Thrones, The Brady Bunch and Law & Order.

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5 p.m.

Nominees and the rest of the Emmy Awards audience are making their way into the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles with the show just minutes away.

The room is set up like a garden, with most of the theaters orchestra seats removed and replaced by dozens of tables for nominees and their guests. Window panels provided a view of the LA skyline, and six large trees framed the perimeter of the room. From the ceiling hung tiny white lights, intermixed with ferns.

There is none of the social distancing that marked last years pandemic-limited show.

This bar right here is not real. This is a set. Do night touch this, producer-writer Chris Spencer told the audience as he announced the rules for the show before the telecast began. A full, and fake, bar ceiling high is set up behind one of the stages.

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4:30 p.m.

Ben Stiller isnt worried about being banned from Russia.

Ill take it, the actor-director told The Associated Press on the Emmys carpet ahead of Mondays ceremony. Its all right.

Im a Goodwill Ambassador for the UNHCR, Stiller said referencing the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Theres over 100 million displaced people all over the world. So all of those people deserve a right to a home and be able to go back home and to be welcomed.

Stiller was responding to a question about a move by Russia last week to sanction 25 Americans, including him and actor Sean Penn.

Penn and Stiller have been outspoken critics of Russias invasion of Ukraine. Penn is an activist involved in relief work, among other causes.

 Jill Dobson at the Emmy Awards.

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4:15 pm.

Nominee Sheryl Lee Ralph of Abbott Elementary had a fashion faux pas before ever arriving at the Emmys.

A designer gave my co-star and me the same sketch for the same gown, she said, having discovered it on set when Lisa Ann Walter showed Ralph what she was wearing to the awards.

Up until five days ago I had no gown so Brandon Blackwood stepped up. He was in Japan and started rendering the gown on his Pacific flight, Ralph said.

Ralph was resplendent in a black velvet strapless gown with orange underside and a slit to her upper thigh. She carried a tiny orange purse.

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3:50 p.m.

How hot is it on the Emmys gold carpet? So hot that suit-clad men are pushing a wheeled cooler full of bottled water along the carpet, moving deftly between the logjam of sweating stars and stopping frequently to grab and pass out the cool beverages. Stars are sipping the water through straws.

Kerry Washington wore a small dress but a long train, with her hair pulled up and away from her face. Emmys host Kenan Thompson moved quickly along the carpet, making his way inside the Microsoft Theater to prepare for the show. Sorry, we cant stop, a handler called out as a somber Thompson strode by.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power actor Cynthia Addai-Robinson is at her first Emmys. Masks arent required but COVID-19 testing was.

I think people are hungry for celebration. I know I am. Were still getting used to gathering and getting together, she said.

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3:30 p.m.

A blast from TVs past hit the Emmy Awards gold carpet.

Eve Plumb and Christopher Knight, who played siblings Jan and Peter on The Brady Bunch, walked the carpet together.

Were very surprised and very happy, Plumb said of being asked to appear on the telecast.

And honored, Knight added.

Their show, which lives in reruns, was on TV in the early 1970s when there were only three channels, quite a contrast from todays streaming services.

I dont think it just serves one audience. It speaks to many, Knight said. You have that much more opportunity to catch up 10 years later on something and become a huge fan. Because of streaming therell be huge successes of old content.

 Beth Harris (@BethHarrisAP) at the Emmys

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3 p.m.

Severance star Britt Lower is among the early arrivals at the Emmy Awards, wearing a glittery venetian beaded gown with matching elbow length gloves.

It felt like I wanted to wear outer space. I have an appreciation for fabrics, my mom was a home economics teacher. I feel great in it, she said.

Stars are beginning to arrive in downtown Los Angeles on a sweltering afternoon. Temperatures are in the lower 80s but its unseasonably humid due to remnants of tropical storm that blew through over the weekend.

Early arrivals included actor and writer Natasha Rothwell, actor Tony Shalhoub and actor Laura Linney.

Comedian Emily Heller had fun posing for the cameras, turning her back to reveal she was wearing a Kick Me sign on her back and had paper stuck to her shoe.

 Beth Harris (@bethharrisAP) at the Emmy Awards

___

1 p.m.

Emmy Awards host Kenan Thompson and the ceremonys producers are promising a feel-good event  a phrase not applicable to several of the top nominated shows.

The best drama contenders include the violently dystopian Squid Game, bleak workplace satire Severance and Succession, about a powerful and cutthroat family. Even comedy nominee Ted Lasso, the defending champ, took a storytelling dark turn.

But after several pandemic-constrained awards seasons, Mondays 74th Primetime Emmy Awards (airing 8 p.m. EDT on NBC, streaming on Peacock) will be big and festive, executive producers Reginald Hudlin and Ian Stewart said.

Theyre actually taking a page from last years scaled-down ceremony and its club-style table seating for nominees.

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For more on this years Emmy Awards, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/emmy-awards
Lessons, by Ian McEwan (Alfred A. Knopf)

Roland occasionally reflected on the events and accidents, personal and global, minuscule and momentous that had formed and determined his existence. That one sentence in Ian McEwans new novel, Lessons, nicely sums up the book.

When we first meet Roland Baines he is a new parent, struggling to his raise his son alone. The news is filled with ominous headlines about a radiation cloud floating from Chernobyl toward Britain. His wife, were told, has vanished. Theres a detective in the house, asking questions. Is Roland a suspect? From there were swept back in time to Rolands upbringing in Libya with a stern father and a mother who cowered before him. When the family flees Africa for London, 11-year-old Roland is sent to a boarding school where he exhibits a prodigious piano talent and meets the young woman who will forever alter his life  Miriam Cornell.

Their private music lessons quickly become about much more than music. When he hits a wrong note, her fingers found his inside leg, just at the hem of his grey shorts, and pinched him hard. That first touch awakens something in Roland and years later he is still not yet old enough to drive but is drawn into a passionate sexual affair with Miriam. Its clear that this abusive and domineering relationship will define Rolands life long after Miriam is no longer part of it.

One of the joys of the novel is the way it weaves history into Rolands biography as well as the lives of other characters in the book. The event that precipitates his affair with Miriam is the Cuban Missile Crisis. The prospect of being vaporized in a nuclear blast spurs him to hop on his bike and answer a three-year-old invitation to stop by her house for lunch. The wife who is missing at the start of the book has parents who were members of the White Rose resistance movement of World War II. Later, as a young man before the birth of his son, Roland is at the Brandenburg gate when the Berlin Wall comes down. And at the end, its present day, with COVID altering everyones lives. Those historic markers put the very personal story of Rolands life in perspective. We are all one with history now, subject to its whims, thinks Roland as he weathers the pandemic, alone, cut off from family and friends.

There are other themes here McEwan explores in depth  from envy to ambition to what truly constitutes a life well-lived  but the pleasure in reading this novel is letting it wash over you. McEwan is a storyteller at the peak of his powers and this deserves to be near the top of the best books of 2022 list.
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PARIS (AP)  William Klein, an American photographer whose innovative portraiture style strongly influenced fashion and street photography in the second half of the 20th century, has died at 96.

Klein died Saturday in Paris, his son, Pierre Klein, said in a statement Monday.

Born in New York City in 1926 to Hungarian Jewish parents, Klein grew up in Manhattan and studied sociology at the City College of New York. After serving in Europe with the U.S. Army during World War II, he moved to Paris to study painting under the G.I. Bill.

Klein met and married Jeanne Florin, a model and painter, soon after his arrival in Paris. The couple lived together in France until her death in 2005.

Klein, who studied briefly with French painters Andre Lhote and Fernand Leger, had his first solo exhibition of paintings in Brussels in 1951, and another in Milan a year later. In 1954, he turned his attention to photography after meeting Alexander Liberman, the artistic director at Vogue, and began a 10-year collaboration with the magazine.

During the same period, he created a ground-breaking photographic diary of his native New York, titled Life is Good & Good For You in New York. The book featured Kleins unconventional use of wide angles, contrasts in composition and unusual framing, which came to define the still-nascent genre of street photography.

The book was published in Paris, London and Rome in 1956 and won the Nadar Prize the following year. He published other photo diaries of other cities, Rome in 1959, Moscow and Tokyo in 1964, and Paris in 2002.

He was also a noted filmmaker, producing several documentary and feature films throughout his career, addressing topics like the fashion industry, the war in Vietnam and famed boxer Muhammed Ali.

Klein first ventured into cinema in 1956, when Italian director Federico Fellini, impressed by Klein's raw images of New York City street life, had asked him to work on his 1957 film Nights of Cabiria," about a prostitute in Rome.
When entering the Warrens' Occult Museum in Monroe, guests are required to bless themselves with holy water. Tony Spera, the son-in-law of famous Connecticut paranormal researchers Ed and Lorraine Warren and curator of the museum, isnt afraid to dole the holy water out either.

Were not stingy with it, Spera said as he distributed handfuls of holy water to a group of Hearst Connecticut journalists on the gloomy morning of Sept. 6. Devout Catholics, the Warrens believed holy water, crosses, Catholic prayers and exorcisms were the means with which to ward off evil. Spera continues in that belief, encouraging all who enter to accept the holy water as protection, regardless of personal religious belief.

The museum, which resembles a large shed, sits across the yard from the former home of the late Ed and Lorraine, which now belongs to Spera. A small walk from the back porch leads guests to the entrance of the museum, which during this visit was waterlogged from the heavy rain. After a summer of drought, torrential rain came down that day.

Inside, it takes a minute for a visitors eyes to adjust to the low light within the museum, which is mostly low lit in colors like red and purple to keep people from accidentally tripping over the haunted artifacts that fill almost every square-inch of the museum.

The museum was established in 1952 at around the same time that the Warrens established the New England Society of Paranormal Research (NESPR), which is currently run by Tony and his wife (Ed and Lorraine's daughter), Judy Spera. Over time, the museum has amassed a collection of haunted artifacts from all corners of the globe that range from satanic ritual items to the famous Annabelle doll, which has inspired the ongoing Annabelle series of movies. The Annabelle movies are part of the larger Conjuring universe of films, which spans eight movies and is among the highest grossing horror movie series of all times, and is based on the investigations of the Warrens.

Though the museum lays dormant due to ongoing zoning issues, a select few are able to enter the museum and see the items that have earned the museum a reputation as one of the most haunted places in the world.

Touring the museum

Walking into the world-famous museum, which initially served as Eds art studio, visitors are greeted by Halloween masks and mannequins resembling some of Connecticuts most famous paranormal entities. Supposedly sinister tales lie behind these common items, Spera explained.

For example, the masks act as a representation of the practice of tulpamancy  a form of mysticism that involves creating sentient and autonomous beings separate from oneself. Tulpamancers have been cited as wearing masks similar to Halloween ones in order to take on the appearance of whatever the mask looks like, Spera explained.

As for the mannequins, they are dressed in a style consistent with some of the most notable supernatural sightings in the area. One is dressed as Hannah Cranna, known as the Witch of Monroe. According to the New England Historical Society, Crannas ghost is said to appear in the Gregorys Four Corners Burial Ground in Trumbull, where she is buried, and will cause cars to crash in the vicinity. Another mannequin standing in a white dress is the White Lady of Union Cemetery in Easton, a famous entity in the region that was investigated by the Warrens and is discussed in their book, Graveyard: True Hauntings from an Old New England Cemetery.

The museum contains a mix of items that are either based on haunts and objects that have a reputation as being cursed, demonic or haunted, with an emphasis on the latter. The back of the museum contains most of the paranormal-related items including a conjuring mirror (not to be confused with The Conjuring movie), an organ from the Phelps Mansion in Stratford that Ed claimed played on its own, and fragments from Eastern Air Lines Flight 401, which Spera explained crashed in 1972 on its way from New York to Miami. Spera added that there is a rumor (which has never been confirmed) that plane parts from flight 401 were said to have been reused on others in the fleet and those planes were haunted by Don Repo, the second officer on the plane.

To this day, Spera said the museum is still taking items in, with its most recent acquisition being a sword that was given to the museum last year. It is inscribed with a demonic looking creature on the hilt. The museum believes that the sword was involved in satanic rituals.

The original Annabelle doll (left) as compared to the movie version. (Lisa Nichols / For Hearst Connecticut Media Group) The original Annabelle doll (left) as compared to the movie version. (Lisa Nichols / For Hearst Connecticut Media Group)

Annabelle

Sitting in a glass case in the far corner of the museum is Annabelle, the Raggedy Ann doll whose story has quickly become one of the most famous paranormal cases due to the popularity of the eponymous movies.

Though not quite as menacing-looking as its movie counterpart, which sits with a sinister grin in a glass case across from the original doll, Annabelle has a commanding presence over the museum. She is much larger in person than most Raggedy Anne dolls, with Spera saying that Annabelle stands at roughly three feet tall when standing upright.

The doll was given as a gift to a Hartford nurse in 1970. Once she brought it home, she and her roommates reported unexplained behavior coming from the toy, according to the NESPR. It was said to have moved on its own, and in one instance, reportedly attacked one of the owners fiance. The Warrens were called in to investigate and they claimed that the doll was being manipulated by the spirit of an outside entity. After an exorcism at the apartment, the couple agreed to take the doll.

The doll remains in the care of the museum, where it is behind a locked case with a sign made by Ed Warren that reads positively do not open. During a visit to the museum, that door was, in fact, opened. Daniel Rivera, the Senior Lead Investigator for NESPR, said that he built a new box for Annabelle that is better suited for moving the doll around.

So the reason why I built the case was because the museum was closed and we wanted to keep educating the public about these items that Ed and Lorraine collected. I built this case to represent Eds original case, Rivera said. He has added extra protective measures to the new box including cutting out crosses on three sides, representing the Catholic Holy Trinity, using a stain infused with holy water and holy oil and inscribing the Lords Prayer and Saint Michaels prayer behind the felt inside the case behind the doll. All of this is done in order to contain the evil of Annabelle in this case.

Though theyre not entirely sure if Annabelle is still possessed, Rivera is the only person who handles Annabelle. He wears gloves that have crosses on them as well as saint medals in the fingertips when touching Annabelle.

The Devil Made Me Do It Dinosaur Toy

In 1980, 11-year-old David Glatzel found himself in the middle of supposed demonic possession. Glatzels older sister was dating Arne Cheyenne Johnson, who challenged the demonic identity to leave David, and instead possess him. In 1981, Johnson stabbed and killed Alan Bono, claiming that he was possessed by said demon when he committed the murder. This was the first time in the American court system when a defendant claimed "demonic possession." The Warrens spent time with Johnson and his family and claimed rationale in the "demonic possession" theory. However, a judge ultimately disregarded this theory and sentenced Johnson to prison, where he served five years before being released. This Brookfield paranormal trial is the basis behind the latest "Conjuring" movie  "The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It."

During the initial possession, a dinosaur toy belonging to Glatzel was claimed to have levitated on its own, and in one instance, to have told the family that youre all going to die. That dinosaur toy resides in an open container in the museum where it is surrounded by rosary beads and other protective measures.

Satanic idol and human skull

A human skull used during a satanic ritual and a satanic idol sit nearby. The skull was given to the Warrens and features adornments that are indicative of some form of satanic ritual.

The satanic idol offers more of a sinister history as Spera said that the idol was taken from the woods in Sandy Hook around 1991. It was initially found by a hunter who was claimed to have been guided away from the idol by a mysterious man in black clothing, according to Spera. The hunter brought the idol to the attention of Ed, who went with the hunter to retrieve the idol. After doing so, Lorraine fell ill and doctors could not explain what was happening to her. Ed believed that it was a curse placed on his family by a nearby satanic cult high priest who the idol initially belonged to, Spera said. Rivera added that the public doesnt often hear about satanism in Connecticut, but he believes that it is much more prevalent than people realize.

The Shadow Doll

Among one of the first haunted items visible in the museum is a shadow doll, which boasts bird feathers and a genuine human tooth. A shadow doll, Spera explained, is made specifically for harm and is used as an object at the center of curses. Spera said that a person would first need to take a picture of the doll, write a curse on the back of the photo and then send it to whomever the curse is aimed for. The person who receives the picture with the curse invites that curse into their lives, he said. It is additionally said that the doll could appear in that persons dreams. While not too much is known about the doll, Spera said that it was initially purchased in an antique store under the assumption that it was simply an antique.

Many of these items will be on display at The Warren's Seekers of the Supernatural Paracon, which will be held at Mohegan Sun on Saturday, Oct. 29.
Let no one fault the new film How to Blow Up a Pipeline for a lack of truth in advertising. In the fictitious account of an eight-person cells effort to sabotage a crude oil pipeline in western Texas, the obsessive detail of a procedural meets the ticking-clock tension of a thriller as the group carries out their tightly coordinated mission. Though punctuated by flashbacks explicating the origins that give each member of the team a personal motivation for such radical measures, the pared-down plot mostly catalogues the action of two fateful days  the careful assembly of bombs, the daring planting of said IEDs, the detonation and the not-quite-clean getaway. And goddammit, they do it. Chatting with InsideHook in Brooklyn a couple weeks before the world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, director Daniel Goldhaber puts it in plain terms: The good guys win.

He and his key collaborators (in one sign of the films willingness to put its collectivist ethic where its mouth is, he shares the film by credit with writer-producer-star Ariela Barer, writer-producer Jordan Sjol and editor Dan Garber) know the feeling. Aside from the occasional First Reformed, theres not much subversive political messaging coming out of the American entertainment industry, the realities of production being dependent on the largesse of moneyed entities with a lot invested in preserving the status quo. Completing a call for extreme upheaval  and making it as a capital-M movie, with a multi-million-dollar budget, a cast of buzzy up-and-comers and a berth at the worlds biggest launching platform for fresh cinema  counts as a coup unto itself. Without waffling, without ideological compromise, without bullshit of any strain, theyve envisioned a way forward for an Earth facing a dead end. In their telling, a debate that so many like to treat as complicated is reframed as bracingly straightforward heroism. Obliterating the means of pollution isnt a tough choice between justice and the law, but as the concluding narration states, an act of planetary self-defense.

Every single movie about progressive action is a tragedy, from Night Moves to Nocturama to Judas and the Black Messiah, Goldhaber says. And thats a movie I love! But theres a subtly conservative notion running through all these stories, which amounts to Dont try, because you will fail. The major thing that we wanted to feel different is that this time, they get away with it.

Defining they and it, however, would prove a task as delicate as pouring combustible blasting powder. The 22-day seat-of-the-pants shoot in New Mexico was grueling enough with the laborious construction of a 150-foot segment of industrial-cardboard pipe (any metal wouldve made the demolition a hazard for the specialists on set), not to mention the couple days on location in North Dakota that Goldhaber recalls as the most harrowing shoot of my life. With wind chill at negative 50 degrees and an Omicron outbreak stranding the camera department in Denver, Sjol stepped up and made a perilous round-trip drive to retrieve them from their re-routed destination of Bismarck, continuously de-frosting the inside of windshield all the way. I had such a bad panic attack on the plane at the end of the shoot, after not sleeping for several days, that I had to be removed just as they were about to take off, Goldhaber recalls. I thought I couldnt breathe. Pretty bad.

But the most daunting challenges were intellectual rather than practical, a matter of handling such volatile subject matter with the correct mix of delicacy and determination. The script has been liberally adapted from Andreas Malms book of the same name, a theoretical text now refashioned with his approval into an invented narrative, as if applying memorized mathematical formulas to solve a word problem. His principles come to life in the ensemble, their multicultural makeup conveying an urgency that unites both sides of the aisle, as well as those wanting nothing to do with aisles at all. One scene showing a meeting with a do-nothing student eco-activism group translates Malms frustration with the ineffectiveness of pacifism; another gives a tacit warning against the fatalism he considers equally injurious to the movement.

As in Goldhabers previous feature Cam (made with Isa Mazzei, a producer on Pipeline), he takes as his subjects people whose work has been deemed impermissible by the state. Head of the operation Xochitl (Barer) and her friend Theo (Sasha Lane) hail from a refinery town thats given them a front-row seat to the ruin wreaked on the ground and sky, burnt by acid rain as children in a memory borrowed from a Texan cast member. Introduced hoovering coke off of a glowing iPhone, Logan (Lukas Gage) and Rowan (Kristine Froseth) revel in the excitement of troublemaking that comes with bettering society. (Everyone knows that one annoying anarchist, where its as much a lifestyle as a belief, Goldhaber says.) In the cleverest touch, both Native American renegade Michael (Forrest Goodluck, a movie star waiting to happen) and white rancher Dwayne (Jake Weary) feel that the government is seizing land that rightfully belongs to them. Though they differ in the finer points of their approaches and motivations, they all want the same thing, and find common ground in the effort to achieve it.

Dwayne gets what might be the films key scene: in a flashback, documentarians enter and rearrange his home for a patronizing interview in an attempt to put a human face on their environmentalist cause, only for his wife to lash out at the visitors for doing nothing to materially aid their struggling family. Its a dose of unambiguous self-critique, a reminder that there are so many wrong ways to go about advocating for something worthy, and that making a movie only goes so far. Im very suspicious of conflating the work of a filmmaker with the work of an activist, Goldhaber says. Im wary of anyone who says that making the movie is the act itself. I dont think thats even the job of filmmakers. We live in a progressively media-saturated world, where we confuse watching something for doing something. So much of our lived experience is mediated by content, and so I think thats a natural thing to believe. But our stated goal from the beginning, after reading and being moved by the book, was to engage with these ideas.

In their planning stages, Xochitl and her cohort carefully ensure that no one will be hurt and that the oil spillage from the rupture would be at a negligible minimum, giving the authorities nothing they can use to discredit the points being made. The minds behind Pipeline faced a similar imperative in working with hot-button philosophies that invite tough conversations about endorsement and intended impact. Starting with the warm 16mm cinematography from revelatory 25-year-old first-timer Tehillah De Castro, a rejoinder to the militaristic cop aesthetic of the comparably desert-set Sicario, every choice fits into a thoughtfully developed framework. Other cinematographers had proposed a black-ops look, going after something badass that the production team made a conscious effort to resist. When we started, my first instinct was to make this as propaganda, because I was feeling galvanized by the book, he says. Thats how I came into it, feeling angry. But the process of making the movie immediately became about working against that. Jordan and Ariela immediately had strong problems with that mentality. A huge part of the writing was testing our answer to the question of why were making this at all, and then burying those answers in the text.

As our interview drifts into the underpinnings of the films politics, Goldhaber threads a number of sensitive needles. Its not propaganda, as he explains it, but a provocation that defies attempts to boil it down. He cites Jean-Luc Godards Maoist broadside La Chinoise, Michelangelo Antonionis counterculture freakout Zabriskie Point and the Soviet agitations of Sergei Eisenstein as inspirations, but their leaden directness is mediated by the moving-parts pleasures of Oceans Eleven and Tenet. Some passages of more in-depth discussion between the characters were left on the cutting room floor, serving only to slow down a fleet, no-fat nerve-shredder. Im trying to explicitly borrow from the formal playbook that big-budget action blockbusters have a monopoly on, he says. The film understands the same thing that the Panthers and the Red Army Faction and the May 68 protesters all knew: people are more likely to listen to you when youre young, hot and stylish.

Im not a politician, and Im not a spokesman, he says. The reason I find its so important to be distinct about this is that heist movies have a broad audience, and propaganda movies do not. I want this to be seen, thought about and talked about, on the level of the ideas of the movie puts forward rather than a single message it can be reduced to. I want the audience to feel good about something that theyve been programmed by all narrative media to feel bad about. I dont necessarily think that can be seen as the moral position of the film. Andreas is fairly clear in his writing to separate these concepts from each other. The book is an argument that calls for the destruction of fossil fuel infrastructure. I would not say that we are doing the same.

Ive interviewed Goldhaber once before and our dynamic is friendly, so I feel secure in rolling my eyes at this, which he meets with a seriously! While the script does not convey step-by-step instructions on bomb chemistry (in a passing in-joke, one character notes this as another checks out Malms source book) the riveting final scene makes a person want to go out and smash something with its suggestive shots of the next round of eco-terrorists wiring up a yacht. The audience feels good about whats been done, and they understand the moral impetus for doing it, he says. But that same viewer has no idea if this all works, and what the far-reaching ramifications could be, aside from propagating additional property destruction  potentially, property destruction thats less defensible. The end sequence is reckoning with the sacrifice and emotional fallout of the act. It felt necessary, but we purposefully withheld the sum total of consequences. Its not like they solve climate change in the world of the film. I think thats where the movie isnt a piece of propaganda, or just isnt calling for this, because we dont actually demonstrate the successful effect in a way that propaganda would.

The reason that I say Im not calling for the action, he continues, is that you wouldnt watch Oceans Eleven and walk away thinking Soderberghs literally calling for casinos in Vegas to be knocked over. Its about the ideology behind it. If Im pushing anything, its the books proposition that every social justice movement in history has disrupted civic order, and at the very least, destroyed property. The book says that we are facing an existential threat to civilization on our planet, so a moral obligation is created to disarm fossil fuel infrastructure. Thats the idea that the movie demonstrates, hopefully in the same way that bank robbery movies in the 40s expressed the countrys anti-bank sentiments  without necessarily exhorting anyone to go rob a bank.

The fledgling revolutionaries cant singlehandedly turn around decades of environmental deterioration, but they have their day, and thats much more than nothing. For Goldhaber and his fellow producers, the completing piece of an unlikely victory still hangs in the balance. They now face the daunting prospect of selling their powder keg to a distributor thatll bring it to the mass viewership they hope to reach. In this case, a bit of the expected controversy might be a blessing. Assured of their stance, theyre not losing sleep over whether the film goes too far or not far enough, whether it condones the irresponsible or merely warns of it, whether it foregrounds the far left or rejects orientation on a spectrum entirely. They just want to get America fired up. Its foolish to think, in this day and age, that I could control the narrative around this movie, he says with a laugh.

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ZALIZNYCHNE, Ukraine - In the end, the Russians fled any way they could on Friday, on stolen bicycles, disguised as locals, abandoned by their units. Hours after Ukrainian soldiers poured into the area, hundreds of Russian soldiers encamped in this village were gone, leaving behind stunned residents to face the ruins of 28 weeks of occupation.

"They just dropped rifles on the ground," Olena Matvienko said Sunday as she stood, still disoriented, in a village littered with ammo crates and torched vehicles, including a Russian tank loaded on a flatbed. The first investigators from Kharkiv had just pulled in to collect the bodies of civilians shot by Russians, some that have been lying exposed for months.

"I can't believe that we went through something like this in the 21st century," Matvienko said, tears welling.

The hasty flight of Russians from the village was part of a stunning new reality that took the world by surprise over the weekend: The invaders of February are on the run in some parts of Ukraine they seized early in the conflict.

On Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that Russian forces had retreated from the Balakliia and Izyum area in the Kharkiv region, saying a decision was taken to "regroup."

On Sunday, Ukraine's commander in chief, Valery Zaluzhny, said Ukrainian forces had retaken more than 3,000 square kilometers (1,864 miles) of territory, a claim that could not be independently verified, adding that they were advancing from the east, south and north.

"Ukrainian forces have penetrated Russian lines to a depth of up to 70 kilometers in some places," reported the Institute for the Study of War, which closely tracks the conflict. They have captured more territory in the past five days "than Russian forces have captured in all their operations since April," its campaign assessment posted Sunday said.

The apparent collapse of the Russian forces has caused shock waves in Moscow. The leader of the Chechen republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, who sent his own fighters to Ukraine, said if there are not immediate changes in Russia's conduct of the invasion, "he would have to contact the leadership of the country to explain to them the real situation on the ground."

The Russian Defense Ministry's own daily briefing Sunday featured a map showing Russians retreating behind the Oskil river on the outskirts of the Kherson region.

Evidence of the Ukrainian gains continued to emerge Sunday, with images of Ukrainian soldiers raising a flag in central Izyum, after it was abandoned by Russian forces, and similar images from other towns and villages such as Kindrashivka, Chkalovske and Velyki Komyshuvakha.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declined to elaborate on his army's next moves, except to say in a CNN interview, "We will not be standing still. We will be slowly, gradually moving forward."

Ukrainians emerged into the string of just-liberated villages southeast of Kharkiv hailing the end of their ordeal, and wondering whether it is truly over. "Only God knows if they will be back," said Tamara Kozinska, 75, whose husband was killed by a mortar blast soon after the Russians arrived.

It is not over by any means, military experts warned. Russia still holds about a fifth of Ukraine and continued heavy shelling over the weekend across several regions. And nothing guarantees that Ukraine can keep recaptured areas secure. "A counteroffensive liberates territory and after that you have to control it and be ready to defend it," Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov cautioned in an interview with the Financial Times.

But as Ukrainian soldiers continued Sunday to sweep deeper into territory that had been held by Russia, more of them were willing to see the campaign as a possible turning point.

In Zaliznychne, a tiny agricultural village 37 miles east of Kharkiv, residents were feeling their way back to normality Sunday, sleeping in bedrooms rather than basements for first the first time in months and trying to make contact with family on the outside.

Kozinska hasn't seen her daughter since February - even though she lives 12 miles away - but had just received word that she will come to pick her up as soon as officials open access to the village, just as the weather turns cold.

"I have been so scared about winter," said the woman with lung problems, clutching a just-distributed paper giving her a number to call if she finds a land mine. "We have no power and it's hard for me to collect firewood."

The first Russian soldiers who set up in the village, turning the sawmill into their base and launching rocket attacks at Ukrainian troops in the next town, had at first not harassed the residents, she said. When they shot pigs on an abandoned farm, they sometimes let residents butcher some of the meat.

But as the occupation ground on, with the Russians rotating out every month, the troops became more aggressive. One of them asked to borrow Kozinska's phone.

"I gave it to him so he could call his mother, but he took my SIM card," she said.

One of the medics treated Halyna Noskova's back after she was hit by mortar shrapnel in her front yard in June. Her 87-year mother pulled out the metal shard. "It was still hot," she said. The Russian bandaged her up.

"They helped me, but I'm glad we are liberated," said Noskova, 66.

The residents, all of whom are Russian speaking in this region adjacent to the Russian border, described treatment generally more humane than that experienced by occupied communities farther to the west. The discovery of more than 450 bodies in Bucha, near Kyiv - many showing signs of torture - set off international outrage over atrocities.

"They were not monsters, they were kids," said Matvienko, who once asked Russian troops to move the tank they parked in front of her house. "I asked what they wanted from us and they said, 'We can either be here or we can be in jail.' "

Others told the villagers they weren't there to fight Ukraine, but to "protect us from America."

The Russians' biggest rule for residents was to get inside by 6 p.m. and stay there, quiet and in the dark, several said. Violating that order could be fatal, as two men on the street learned early on. The friends were drinking and had a light on, said Maria Grygorova, who lives in the attached house next door. The next morning she found them on the floor.

"Konstiantyn had two bullet holes in his head," she said.

She and two friends buried them in the side yard. The same two friends dug them up Sunday, with Ukrainian war crimes investigators looking on.

The team from Kharkiv collected two other bodies during their visit, including a security guard whose remains have been rotting on the floor of a gravel elevator at an asphalt plant for months, even as the Russians used it as a sniper tower. One investigator vomited over a guardrail repeatedly as officers collected the remains.

"We're here looking into war crimes," said Serhii Bolvinov, chief investigator of the Kharkiv Regional Police, as his crew waited on demining techs to clear one area of explosives before they could recover some of the bodies.

The residents were scared of the Russians, several village residents said. But they almost pitied them in their scramble to escape the recent Ukrainian onslaught.

Half of the soldiers fled in their vehicles in the first hours of the offensive, they said. Those stranded grew desperate. Some residents overheard their radio pleas to unit commanders for someone to come get them.

"They said, 'You're on your own,' " Matvienko recounted. "They came into our houses to take clothes so the drones wouldn't see them in uniforms. They took our bicycles. Two of them pointed guns at my ex-husband until he handed them his car keys."

Buoyant Ukrainian officials said they would no longer negotiate a peace deal that would let Russia keep an occupying presence in any territory, even in Crimea and part of the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions controlled by Russia or Russian-backed separatists for years.

"The point of no return has passed," Reznikov, the defense minister, said at the Yalta European Strategy summit in Kyiv on Saturday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday seemed to backtrack on his previous assertion that the time wasn't right for peace negotiations, as Russia was preparing to stage a round of sham referendums meant to annex occupied territories.

"We are not against the talks; we are not refusing the talks," Lavrov said on the state TV program, "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin." Rather, "Those who refuse should understand that the longer they delay this process, the more difficult it will be to negotiate."

- - -

The Washington Post's Robyn Dixon reported from Riga, Latvia. Mary Ilyushina in Riga and The Washington Post's Isabelle Khurshudyan in Kyiv contributed to this report.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  Australias prime minister on Monday defended an obscure and longstanding protocol that bars the nations parliament from sitting for 15 days following a British monarchs death.

Lawmakers will reconvene on Sept. 23 to debate a condolence motion for Queen Elizabeth II, the earliest date that the protocol allows, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

While presenting himself as a traditionalist, Albanese wants an Australian president to replace the British monarch as the nations head of state. But he has brushed off questions about creating an Australian republic since the queens death.

Most advocates for and against a republic are avoiding saying anything that might be seen as seeking advantage from the death of a widely respected monarch.

Britain apparently doesnt have a comparable protocol and King Charles III, monarch of both Britain and Australia, will address the British Parliament this week.

Because the last British monarch died in 1952, few knew of the Australian protocol. Only two kings had died between then and when Parliament first sat in 1901.

Asked who was behind the protocol, Albanese replied it had been in place for a long period of time.

There is something to be said for a prime minister who follows tradition, who follows protocols and who follows order, Albanese told reporters. That is something that I have done to define my prime ministership  respect for those traditions."

Parliamentary debate in Australia often degenerates into heated and unedifying personal abuse, particularly during Question Time, when lawmakers interrogate ministers about issues of the day.

The idea that we could be debating Question Time as usual, that we could be having the engagement as if it was business as usual is, I believe, not correct, Albanese said.

While the opposition has accepted the new parliamentary schedule, senior opposition Sen. Simon Birmingham expected the protocol would be reviewed.

The custom and tradition here is appropriate for us to follow on this occasion. No doubt people will look carefully at these traditions in the future and assess how they carry forward, Birmingham told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Anne Twomey, a Sydney University constitutional lawyer, said the protocol was not binding on the government.

Its like curtsying to the queen. Theres no law that requires it. Its just a matter of whether or not you choose to do it, Twomey said.

Albanese and the monarchs representative in Australia, Governor-General David Hurley, will represent the nation at the queens funeral next week.

Australia was working with his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern to help leaders of another nine British Commonwealth island nations in the Oceania region attend the funeral, Albanese said.

He has not said whether any leader has accepted Australias offer of help.

We want to ensure that no nation in our region, in the Pacific, as part of the Pacific family, is unable to attend the memorial service for Queen Elizabeth because of logistical concerns, Albanese said.
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MILAN (AP)  Three Americans were among the winners of this years Balzan Prize, announced Monday, for their work in the fields of moral philosophy, musicology and biotechnology.

Martha Nussbaum, a philosopher and scholar at the University of Chicago, won for her transformative reconception of the goals of social justice, both globally and locally," the Balzan Foundation said in its citation.

Nussbaum, author of more than 20 books, frequently examines emotions and the role they play in moral and political judgments. Her latest book, Justice for Animals: Our Collective Responsibility, is scheduled for publication in December.

Another University of Chicago faculty member, ethnomusicologist Philip Bohlman, was recognized for his work focusing primarily on European and Jewish music. He was cited by the foundation for his exploration of the interstices between music and religion (and) Jewish music in modernity" as well as for his performance of Jewish urban music.

Bohlman performs both as artistic director of the New Budapest Orpheum Society, and with his wife Christine Wilkie Bohlman presenting works for piano and dramatic speaker written during the Holocaust.

Robert Langer, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, won the biotechnology prize for what the Milan-based Balzan Foundation called pioneering research and advances in mRNA vaccines and tissue engineering, paving the way for breakthroughs in the controlled release of macromolecules with many medical applications.

The final prize was shared by Danish palaeoclimatology professor Dorthe Dahl-Jensen of the University of Copenhagen and Dutch climatologist Johannes Oerlemans of the University of Utrecht for glaciation and ice-sheet dynamics. The Balzan citation noted their joint and complementary work on the dynamics of glaciation and ice sheets which has helped to create more reliable projections of ice sheet behavior related to changes in sea level.

The Balzan Foundation awards two prizes in the sciences and two in the humanities each year, rotating specialties to highlight new or emerging areas of research and sustain fields that might be overlooked elsewhere. Recipients receive 750,000 Swiss francs ($785,000), half of which must be used for research, preferably by young scholars or scientists.

The prizes will be awarded by Italian President Sergio Mattarella in November in Rome.
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TORONTO (AP)  A man shot and killed a Toronto traffic police officer while he was on lunch break and killed another person and injured three others Monday before police tracked the suspect down and killed him in a cemetery, officials said.

Authorities issued an emergency alert to phones saying they were investigating an active shooter following two shootings in Mississauga and Milton in the province of Ontario.

He was getting food and coffee at Tim Hortons, Toronto Mayor John Tory said of the doughnut and coffee chain.

Tory told The Associated Press he met Constable Andrew Hong previously.

He was a gentle giant, he said.

Toronto Police Chief James Ramer said Hong of traffic services was shot at close range. Hong, 48, was a 22-year veteran of the force. The married father of two was in Mississauga participating in a joint training exercise with Peel and York regional police.

While on lunch break he was shot in an unprovoked, and may I say in an ambush attack," Peel Region Police Chief Nishan Duraiappa said. In the same incident a second victim suffered life altering injuries and is currently being treated.

Duraiappa said the armed suspect then fled the scene in a black Jeep Cherokee. Shortly afterward in Milton, police received information of a shooting that resulted in one death and two others being wounded. He said the suspect then fled the scene and died after a police interaction at a cemetery in Hamilton, Ontario.

Hamilton Police confirmed via Twitter that one person was taken into custody and pronounced deceased in connection with shooting investigations in Mississauga and Milton. Hamilton's police chief said the suspect died in the Hamilton Cemetery.

Ontarios Special Investigations Unit has invoked its mandate at the scene of the death of the suspect. The unit gets involved when there is a death or serious injury involving police.

Police did not identify the deceased suspect.

Police had said in the emergency alert to the public that they were looking for a stolen Black Jeep Cherokee and the suspect dressed in black with a construction vest.

Like all Ontarians, Im horrified by todays senseless violence, including the killing of a Toronto police officer, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in a tweet. Im so grateful to law enforcement for bringing this situation to an end. May justice for those killed and injured be swift.

Peel Regional Police Constable Heather Cannon later said the public safety alert is no longer in effect.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  A Dubai court ruled on Monday that a British man suspected of masterminding a $1.7 billion tax scheme cannot be extradited to Denmark to face charges.

The decision in the high-profile case grants the hedge fund trader, Sanjay Shah, a victory against Danish authorities who sought him for his role in one of the countrys largest-ever fraud cases. Mondays court ruling, which judges delivered without explanation, can be appealed by prosecutors within 30 days.

The elaborate tax scheme, which ran for three years beginning in 2012, allegedly involved foreign businesses pretending to own shares in Danish companies and claiming tax refunds for which they were not eligible.

Of course we will try to get him (out) on bail now immediately, Shahs lawyer, Ali al-Zarooni, told The Associated Press from the Dubai courthouse.

Prosecutors in Copenhagen did not immediately respond to request for comment.

The 52-year-old financier has maintained his innocence in past interviews with journalists but never appeared in Denmark to answer accusations. Al-Zarooni had contested the extradition, arguing in past closed-door hearings that Denmark had breached" the rules of international extradition treaties in unspecified ways. He declined to elaborate on Monday.

Shahs lifestyle on Dubais luxurious palm-shaped island over the past few years had sparked outrage in Denmark. After Danish authorities signed an extradition agreement with the UAE, Dubai police arrested Shah in June. Shah is one of several suspects in the tax scheme sought by Danish authorities.

During his time in Dubai, the hedge fund manager ran a center for autistic children that shut down in 2020 as Denmark tried to extradite him. He also oversaw a British-based charity, Autism Rocks, which raised funds through concerts and performances.

His arrest comes as pressure grows on Dubai, the regions financial hub, over its alleged weaknesses in combating illicit finance. The UAE, a federation of seven emirates, has long invited the wealthy, including disgraced public figures, to invest in the country without questioning where they made their money. Scrutiny of Dubai has intensified as the flashy city-state becomes a haven for Russian money amid Moscow's war on Ukraine.

In recent months, however, the UAE has arrested several suspects wanted for major crimes, including two of the Gupta brothers from South Africa, accused of facilitating vast public corruption and draining state resources with former President Jacob Zuma. An Emirati official also recently became president of Interpol, the international police agency.

___

Associated Press writer Isabel DeBre in Dubai contributed to this report.
Apartment complexes and buildings in southern Seoul / Newsis



By Anna J. Park



The government plans to release statistics of the real estate properties in Korea held by foreigners starting from the first quarter of next year, with the goal of curbing housing speculation by foreigners.



According to the land ministry's key budget plans for next year submitted to Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Rep. Park Sang-hyuk, 300 million won ($217,000) has been allocated to drawing up statistics on housing owned by foreign nationals over the next year.



Out of the total of 17.8 billion won allocated to surveys and statistics of housing in Korea in next year's budget, 300 million won will be spent exclusively to collect data on the real estate holdings of foreign nationals.



It is the first time ever that the Korean government has allocated money solely for the purpose of surveying and compiling statistics on foreigners' housing ownership in Korea.



"The reason for allocating the money in the budget plan is to respond properly to foreigners' housing speculation by establishing a specified database of foreigners' real estate purchases," the land ministry explained.



Currently, the government draws up statistics on land transactions by foreign nationals every six months, but no statistics have been officially drawn up regarding their real estate holdings. The need for such statistics has emerged in the past few years, as some local residents have complained that foreign nationals are free from various layers of real estate regulations when purchasing housing in Korea.



Responding to these complaints, the land ministry said that over half of the domestic 20,028 real estate transactions by foreign nationals, from the start of 2020 to May 2022, are suspected to be related to housing speculation. The government is also investigating multiple cases of real estate purchases by foreign nationals that are suspected of constituting such speculation.



"With the release of statistics on foreigners' real estate properties, the government is required to strengthen measures to prevent housing speculation in the country by foreigners," Park said.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP)  Firefighters used a ladder truck to rescue dogs from the roof of a downtown kennel on Monday after chemical fumes from work on a floor forced an evacuation.

Two workers and several animals at Dog Days of Birmingham began having what appeared to be breathing difficulties after a contractor put new sealant on a concrete floor that was being refinished, said Jay Barrett, a spokesperson for the company.
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BERLIN (AP)  German Chancellor Olaf Scholz made clear Monday that he doesn't expect an agreement with Iran in the immediate future to restore Tehran's tattered nuclear deal with world powers, though he said there's no reason for Iran not to sign up and European countries would remain patient.

Scholz spoke after meeting in Berlin with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who insisted that restoring the 2015 agreement would be a critical mistake. Germany, along with France, Britain, Russia and China, is still a party to the deal and involved in talks on its revival that have dragged on for over a year.

The European countries have made proposals, and there is no reason now for Iran not to agree to these proposals, but we have to take note of the fact that this isn't the case, so it certainly won't happen soon, although it looked for a while like it would," Scholz said. We remain patient, but we also remain clear: Iran must be prevented from being able to deploy nuclear weapons.

The German leader said that a functioning international agreement to limit and monitor the Iranian nuclear program is the right way" to do that.

But Lapid said that it is time to move past the failed negotiations with Iran, which he said can't and won't achieve the goal of stopping Iran getting a nuclear weapon. His office said he also shared intelligence with the German government.

"Removing sanctions and pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into Iran will bring waves of terrorism, not only to the Middle East, but also across Europe," Lapid said.

Israel, which encouraged the U.S. to withdraw from the nuclear deal in 2018, has opposed a renewed agreement between Iran and the world powers. It says lifting sanctions will allow Iran to funnel billions of dollars to hostile militant groups and says an improved deal must also address Irans regional military activities and support for hostile groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and other militias in Syria.

Speaking Monday at the Jerusalem Post Conference in New York, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Iran has built at least 10 facilities for mid- and long-range, precise missiles and weapons in neighboring Syria, including one reportedly targeted by Israel in a recent airstrike.

Gantz said that Iran has produced more and more advanced centrifuges  including at underground facilities where activities are prohibited and called for Iran to be held accountable. His remarks couldn't be independently verified.

The United States unilaterally pulled out of the nuclear accord in 2018 under then President Donald Trump and reimposed sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to start backing away from the deals terms.

Iran earlier this month responded to a final draft of a roadmap for parties to return to the tattered nuclear deal and bring the U.S. back on board.

A probe by the International Atomic Energy Agency into man-made uranium particles found at three undeclared sites in the country has become a key sticking point in the talks for renewing the agreement.

Irans hard-line president, Ebrahim Raisi, has said that the IAEA investigation into the issue must be halted in order for the 2015 deal to be renewed.

The IAEA, the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, has for years sought answers from Iran to its questions about the particles. U.S. intelligence agencies, Western nations and the IAEA have said Iran ran an organized nuclear weapons program until 2003. Iran long has denied ever seeking nuclear weapons.

Germany, France and Britain said in a statement at the weekend that Iran must fully and, without delay, cooperate in good faith with the IAEA.

IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said at the agency's Vienna headquarters that he hopes Iran will start cooperating as soon as possible.

We are ready; we want this to happen, he said. We are not in the business of aggravating or creating situations. We just want this issue to be clarified, so I really hope that they will start looking into this issue in a different way."

Asked whether he expects to face political pressure from various sides on the issue, Grossi replied that political pressure is always there; the thing is what I do with that pressure. He added that Iran appears to be pushing their national interest in the way they see it.
Michael Wyke/AP

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP)  South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem disclosed Monday that she recently underwent back surgery to treat an injury impacting her spine and that her activity would be limited during several months of recovery.

The 50-year-old Republican governor said she traveled to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, for the surgery after receiving medical treatment for several weeks in South Dakota. She said in a video posted on Twitter that she injured her back about two months ago. She said she will be restricted in the amount of travel she can do and the time she can spend standing while she recovers.
Dozens of Korean War veterans gathered at a hotel in Arlington, Va., on Saturday for their first reunion since the pandemic hit two years ago, commemorating shared memories of fighting against Chinese troops on the snowy hills of North Korea in 1950.

These veterans - many of them in their 90s - showed up from across the country with cheek-to-cheek smiles, not knowing whether this year's gathering would be their last. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David H. Berger and Washington Spirit owner Michele Kang, who contributed $100,000 of her own money to cover the veterans' travel costs, also were there.

The group calls itself the Chosin Few, named after the 1950 Battle of Chosin. The 1st Marine Division, several Army units, and their British and South Korean allies were surrounded by a Chinese force that outnumbered them 8 to 1. The U.S.-led force fought their way out of the encirclement.

Behind the reunion's festivities, the veterans struggled to hide a muted sense of frustration, borne of the perception that their military service is appreciated more overseas than at home by fellow Americans. To these men, the 1950-53 Korean War remains America's "forgotten war."

Raymond Miller, 93, said he began talking about the war only two decades ago, when he discovered U.S. history textbooks barely mentioned the conflict. Tears welled up as he reminisced about how South Korean citizens had thanked him when he returned to Korea in 2007 for the first time since the war.

"They have a special place in my heart," he said.

At 1 p.m., Miller and his comrades toured the newly expanded Korean War Memorial in D.C. There, they ran into two South Korean women, who asked the men who they were. When they learned they were Americans who had fought in Korea, they bowed and held their hands, as if to make sure their heroes were real.

Before a dinner banquet, retired Marine Col. Warren Wiedhahn addressed the gathered veterans, saying that when he returned to Korea for the first time after the war in the early 1970s he saw a sign that read "We will never forget." He had no idea what that meant. He found out later that the South Koreans were trying to say thanks to U.S. and other foreign veterans.

Berger, who spoke to the veterans after Wiedhahn, said that "you are never forgotten." Of the four pictures that hang in his office, he said, three depict the Marines fighting in Korea.

Before the Marines toasted and danced their evening away, remembrances popped up during conversations.

Juan Balleza, a 90-year-old Marine infantryman, choked up when asked about the Battle of Chosin. A Catholic, Balleza carried a Bible in his left chest pocket and prayed every night. "I asked God to forgive me for the Chinese I had killed that day, and for those that I would kill the next day, knowing that they all had mothers at home who wanted them to come back," the Mexican American said. "Just like my mama."

John Y. Lee is a 93-year-old Korean American who was a first lieutenant in the South Korean army at the time and was attached to the U.S. 1st Marine Division headquarters as an intelligence officer. He said he still sees dying Chinese soldiers in his nightmares, looking up at him, as if asking for him to save them.

Wiedhahn said he remembers the body of a girl who looked to be about 3 years old during the Battle of Chosin. She was lying in the ice and snow by the side of the road, he said.

"I will never forget her. We prayed for her soul as we fought our way out," he said. "I still pray for her."

Nancy Weigle, whose father, Gerald F. Weigle, had served as a corpsman with the Marines, said her father would obsess over his children's footwear and winter gear - perhaps because he saw so many of his Marines suffer from frostbite and freeze to death in the 20-below weather of North Korea's mountains. He died in 2018.

The Korean War appears to be better remembered in China, America's main adversary during the Korean War, said Jiyul Kim, a retired Army colonel who teaches history at Oberlin College in Ohio.

In Chinese schools, children learn about the Korean War with a prominence matching lessons on Bunker Hill or Gettysburg in America, Kim said. In the United States, the war isn't necessarily forgotten, he said, as much as largely ignored.

Also ignored has been the war's significance on race relations within the armed forces, historians say. Although President Harry S. Truman had ordered the U.S. military to desegregate in 1948, many units remained all-White or all-Black in 1950. Only as the war progressed did the U.S. military truly embark on integration, they say.

"The Korean War starts with a segregated Army. Black people are in segregated units with White officers," said Adrian R. Lewis, a professor of military history at the University of Kansas. Some local Koreans were recruited and integrated into all-White units before African Americans because the Army in the first weeks of the war was dangerously short of personnel, Lewis said.

Joe H. Ager, a 93-year-old Army soldier who fought at Chosin, was one of the few Black veterans at the reunion. He was a member of an all-Black infantry company when he landed in Korea in October 1950. His eyes turned red with emotion as he talked about the war.

"We did our part, too," he said.
DETROIT (AP)  The chief justice of the Michigan Supreme Court said Monday she will step down by the end of 2022, an announcement that followed a major decision affecting abortion rights and more than two years of steering the state's judiciary through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bridget McCormack, a Democratic Party nominee, has been on the court since 2013 and still had six years left in her second term.

After a decade, the time has come for me to move on, to let others lead, and to build on a foundation of progress, McCormack, 56, said in a written statement.

She said she would resign no earlier than Nov. 22 and no later than Dec. 31. The timing will depend on the appointment of her successor. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she will pick a new justice, apparently no matter the results of the Nov. 8 election.

Whitmer, a Democrat seeking reelection, called McCormack a phenomenal public servant.

Election victories by McCormack and Justice Elizabeth Welch in 2020 put Democrats in the courts majority for the first time since 2010. Those wins came shortly after a Republican majority struck down Whitmer's sweeping authority to manage Michigan's response to the pandemic.

McCormack last week was in the 5-2 majority that put abortion rights on the November ballot. Republican members of a state elections board had rejected the proposed constitutional amendment over the spacing of words on the petition, which had attracted more than 750,000 signatures.

What a sad marker of the times, said McCormack, who called it a game of gotcha gone very bad.

Before her election in 2012, she was co-director of the Innocence Clinic at University of Michigan law school, working with students to exonerate wrongly convicted people.

Indeed, criminal law has been a specialty. In June, she wrote the court's unanimous opinion that indictments used to charge former Republican Gov. Rick Snyder and others in the Flint water investigation were invalid.

McCormack has been chief justice since 2019, a role that is decided by the courts seven members. In that job, she has left her mark across the state, especially during the pandemic, when courtrooms were closed and judges turned to video conferencing to handle cases.

The public suddenly could turn to the internet to watch cases in local courts. Video access is still available in many courts.

Before the pandemic, the state Supreme Court ordered all Michigan courts to allow visitors to carry laptops, tablets and phones. Some counties complained they would lose revenue if people could copy public documents with their devices. But McCormack said the change ensures the doors to our courts are open to all, especially poor people who had to stash a phone in bushes before entering some courts.

Justice Elizabeth Clement, a Republican, said McCormack has been independent and fair.

"In a world that has become increasing partisan and angry, she is a voice of reason, compassion and thoughtfulness, Clement said.

___

Follow Ed White at http://twitter.com/edwritez
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PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP)  At the government headquarters in NATO-member Montenegro, the computers are unplugged, the internet is switched off and the state's main websites are down. The blackout comes amid a massive cyberattack against the small Balkan state which officials say bears the hallmark of pro-Russian hackers and its security services.

The coordinated attack that started around Aug. 20 crippled online government information platforms and put Montenegro's essential infrastructure, including banking, water and electricity power systems, at high risk.

The attack, described by experts as unprecedented in its intensity and the longest in the tiny nations recent history, capped a string of cyberattacks since Russia invaded Ukraine in which hackers targeted Montenegro and other European nations, most of them NATO members.

Sitting at his desk in Montenegros capital, Podgorica, in front of a blackened PC screen, Defense Minister Rasko Konjevic said government officials were advised by cyber experts, including a team of FBI investigators that was dispatched to the Balkan state, to go offline for security reasons.

We have been faced with serious challenges related to the cyberattack for about 20 days, and the entire state system, the system of state administration, and the system of services to citizens are functioning at a rather restrictive level, Konjevic told The Associated Press.

He said experts from several countries are trying to help restore the Montenegro government's computer system and find proof of who is behind the attack.

Montenegro officials said the attack that crippled the governments digital infrastructure was likely carried out by a Russian-speaking ransomware gang that generally operates without Kremlin interference as long as it doesnt target Russian allies. The gang, called Cuba ransomware, claimed responsibility for at least part of the Montenegro cyberattack, in which it created a special virus for the attack called Zerodate.

Montenegros Agency for National Security blamed the attack squarely on Russia.

Russia has a strong motive for such an attack because Montenegro, which it once considered a strong ally, joined NATO in 2017 despite the Kremlin's opposition. It has also joined Western sanctions against Moscow over the Ukraine invasion, which led Moscow to brand Montenegro an enemy state along with several other countries that joined the embargo.

In such attacks, there are usually organizations that are a mask for state intelligence services, Konjevic said, adding that the defense ministry's NATO-related data is protected in a special way while the other possible leaks are being investigated.

The cyberattack comes amid an apparent attempt by Moscow to destabilize the Balkan region that was at war in the 1990s through the Kremlin's Balkan ally Serbia, and thus at least partly shift the world's attention from the war in Ukraine.

Montenegro, which split from much larger Serbia in 2006, is currently run by an interim government that has lost parliamentary support because of Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic s shady deals with the influential Serbian Orthodox Church without the consent of the whole coalition that supported the government.

Montengro's roughly 620,000 people are deeply split between those who want the country to restore its close ties to Serbia and Russia and those who want it to continue on its path of the European Union membership.

A real war is being waged in Ukraine, with bombs, a war of conquest by Russia, political analyst Zlatko Vujovic said. Something similar is happening in Montenegro. There are no bombs, but there is a huge tension, a huge hybrid conflict in which the interests of Russia and its and Serbian intelligence services are interconnected.

Other Eastern European states deemed enemies of Russia have also faced cyberattacks, mostly nuisance-level denial-of-service campaigns that render websites unreachable by flooding them with junk data but dont damage them. Targets have included networks in Moldova, Slovenia, Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Albania.

Last week, Albania severed diplomatic relations with Iran and kicked out its diplomats after a cyberattack in July that it blamed on the Islamic Republic.

Montenegro remains a target within both the public and private sector, as well as many other countries in that region," said Patrick Flynn, head of the advanced programs group at Trellix, a U.S.-based cybersecurity company. We have observed a blend of historically based nation state actors and well-known ransomware groups."

This recent focus on NATO member countries reinforces the need for hyper vigilance within key businesses as well as government (and) critical infrastructure cyber security environments, he said in an email to the AP.

___

AP writer Predrag Milic contributed.
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NEW HAVEN  After hearing from Russian political journalist Dmitry Muratov at Southern Connecticut State University, students reflected on how Americans take press freedom for granted and how important media literacy is for people their age.

The Nobel Peace Prize-winning journalist visited the university as a part of his U.S. college tour. He talked about the current state of Russian media, the death of former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev, propaganda in Russia and how the conviction of a WNBA star was a trap.

Muratovs independent newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, had its publishing license revoked last Monday and faced criminal charges. He said he expects his digital license will also be revoked during the next trial Thursday.

Half of our editorial staff is in exile now, Muratov said in Russian through a translator at Fridays event. Most journalists who are independent journalists who are not part of the states propaganda effort, they left Russia.

According to him, 300 media platforms were shut and 13,800 sites were blocked since Russias invasion of Ukraine. In Russia, Muratov said propaganda has a monopoly, and that the media genocide in Russia has been accomplished.

Unfortunately, young people are interested in journalism, he said, noting that they are fighting in Russia every day and they have a difficult faith ahead of them.

SCSU student Destene Savariau, an aspiring journalist, said Muratovs talk was eye-opening as she saw things outside the American media landscape, especially when it comes to the freedom of the press.

Its kind of more appreciative that we have that; I have the privilege to not really have to worry that my government will just shoot me down for saying something as opposed to someone somewhere else who might be worried about that, the junior journalism major said.

In the United States, there have been 74 incidents against journalists so far this year, according to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. There were 251 and 825 in 2021 and 2020, respectively. These incidents include arrest/criminal charges, assault and subpoena, among others.

Gabrielle Tunucci, another SCSU student, said the news that she got from American news outlets was different from the insights Muratov had to offer.

One of the insights concerned the nine-year prison sentence for WNBA player Brittney Griner due to drug possession. Griner, however, said she had no criminal intent. She was detained Feb. 17, upon her arrival at Moscows Sheremetyevo Airport, just before Russia sent troops into Ukraine.

Muratov said his reporters have been covering the case, and said he noticed the significant presence of customs officers at the airport the day Griner arrived and that Griner was given Russian pre-filled documents to sign, with two translators who knew only a few words in English who just told her where to sign.

And she signed, Muratov said. She was trapped, but thats not the end of it.

Muratov said Griner wasnt able to talk to a lawyer until 7.5 hours later. He drew attention to footage from airport customs that appeared on a private YouTube channel that often follows special operation of special forces, asking how the recordings of a restricted zone found its way to the channel.

The answer is this special operation was prepared, he said.

When were speaking about Brittney Griners case, were not just thinking about one case, were speaking about the whole criminal justice system in Russia, he added.

SCSU Journalism Department Chair Cindy Simoneau said her favorite part of the talk was how passionate Muratov was when it comes to telling the truth to his people.

This man is threatened with imprisonment, death obviously, and was recently attacked on a train in the spring for doing his job, she said. These are all things we dont even think about when we talk and do our jobs here in the United States.

With Muratovs talk also focusing on propaganda and media literacy, Simoneau said its important for college students to learn to discern between what goes on in countries other that their own  where what they hear from their governments is considered facts without an opportunity for them to freely choose which facts they want to support.

Our country, were used to expressing ourselves constantly, she said. The students take for granted that this is how the world works.

chatwan.mongkol@hearstmediact.com
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For years, Jason Anthony wondered why anyone would sing along to music alone in their car, an act of indulgence.

Throughout his 15-year battle with depression, Anthony, 52, could barely get out of bed. He kept empty liter-size soda bottles nearby for when he couldn't get to the bathroom. Showering and walking out the front door was a feat. He wouldn't have thought to amuse himself with a tune.

But after working out at his home gym on a recent July weekend, Anthony, a criminal defense attorney in Richmond, Va., found himself serenading his three yellow labradors with 1980s hair band tunes. And it wasn't an act.

Anthony joked about the impromptu show as a nurse at MindPeace Clinic in Richmond prepared the treatment he credited with his newfound mental well-being: ketamine. The psychedelic, used in medical settings as an anesthetic - and illegally as a party drug - is considered to be a promising but experimental mental health treatment. In a year-long evaluation of more than 400 patients, including Anthony, at three MindPeace ketamine clinics in Virginia, researchers found a significant reduction in symptoms of depression, according to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry on Monday. Largely consistent with past studies, 72 percent of patients saw improvement in their mood and 38 percent were symptom-free after 10 infusions.

While the study has limitations, the findings appear to illuminate how ketamine could offer more than just brief relief to people whose depression is resistant to other medications. For many of the clinic's patients who spoke to The Post, the drug's achievements have been life-changing. A retired hospital technician wondered about the career he could have had if he had been able to look people in the eyes during conversations, which he can now. A teenage boy cracked jokes with his mother. Anthony, who said he never goes for a walk, finally stepped out onto the street of his cul-de-sac.

"All of a sudden, you wake up and realize what you haven't been feeling for 15 years," he said.

Researchers said the study could offer a greater understanding of the drug's long-term potential for treating people with depression, and more hope amid a mental health crisis that has worsened during the coronavirus pandemic. Ketamine is just one of a variety of psychedelics, including "magic" mushrooms and ecstasy, that people are turning to for relief amid a greater public acceptance and growing field of research.

Patrick Oliver, the study's lead researcher and the medical director of MindPeace Clinics, said ketamine therapy could become a mainstream solution to depression and potentially other mental disorders that have long been undertreated. Nearly 46,000 Americans died from suicides in the United States in 2020, according to the National Center on Health Statistics.

"It's an epidemic, and it's been going on forever," said Oliver, a former emergency room physician. "And we've found a medication that literally costs pennies to make and is fixing these patients."

Experts say that ketamine shouldn't be considered the first option for people with depression or suicidal ideations, given the other medicines and therapies that have been proved effective. The study, conducted by the ketamine clinic on a self-selecting group of patients, has its limitations. Suicidal ideations decreased at least 85 percent after 15 infusions, researchers found. But the study's authors acknowledged that there is no system to track adverse events and side effects among ketamine patients. Nurses followed up with patients by phone after their treatments and recorded two suicide attempts. Those in the field say more information is needed about the drug's effects over a longer period with more patients - but, they add, the research is a step in the right direction for a better understanding of ketamine.

- - -

Ketamine - introduced as an anesthetic in the 1960s and then embraced by ravegoers who called it "Special K" - can balance certain neurotransmitters, rebuild stronger neural connections and alter the mood processes of the brain.

The drug, which is federally approved for short-term sedation and anesthesia, can also be prescribed as an off-label depression treatment. In 2019, the Food and Drug Administration approved esketamine, a nasal spray derived from ketamine and developed by a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson for people with treatment-resistant depression. And hundreds of ketamine clinics like MindPeace and at-home ketamine therapy services have opened across the country.

However, the unofficial, inconsistent nature of how ketamine is used clinically has limited scientists' understanding of the drug's real-world effects on patients who get multiple infusions, as past studies have historically stopped after six infusions.

Oliver said he has found that patients most often begin to see noticeable relief with six treatments, or in about two weeks, depending on the person.

For those at imminent risk of harming themselves, a rapid effect can be lifesaving, especially for cases where traditional treatments such as antidepressants and talk therapy have not worked or are slow to take effect.

Anthony said he had run out of options after he was hospitalized for a seizure caused by the medications he was taking to treat depression. He had lost touch with family members who questioned his diagnosis of depression.

But by at least his fourth ketamine treatment, he no longer relied on his then-fiancee to drive him home after work.

Other medications to treat his depression had made him feel unlike himself, exacerbating symptoms including confusion and disassociation, but he has not had any adverse side effects from ketamine, Anthony said.

"It's hard to quantify the level of relief," he paused, "but I don't know that I'd be here."

- - -

The sensation of the ketamine treatment, infused through an IV pump with saline, is unlike anything many patients have experienced before.

Carl Montalbano, a 67-year-old retired MRI technologist, had never used any illicit drugs in his life. He turned to ketamine to treat his medication-resistant depression.

As he leaned back in the large black, reclining chair at the clinic, he ran through the list of what he had tried, including the most commonly prescribed antidepressants, SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) and talk therapy. All had caused a host of side effects including restlessness, sleepiness and dizziness. Ketamine is "kind of a shotgun approach," Montalbano said, but it was the most effective in his mind.

"I would not do this if I didn't have to," he said. "It's not fun. It's therapeutic, and it works."

Some patients bring music, a blanket or a sleep mask. Montalbano put on his sunglasses, sinking deeper into the chair within minutes of the ketamine and saline entering his bloodstream.

Oliver supervised his patients with the help of two nurses, Melissa Dougher and Brittany Harding, who circle in and out of each room, monitoring heart rates, asking questions and noting any changes on charts.

Montalbano closed his eyes behind his sunglasses.

"I see swirls of color," he said. "Reds and blues swirling like if you were looking at the cosmos."

Other patients described distorted hearing, a sense of weightlessness or nausea. Their world shrunk to the clinic room. Within 40 minutes, they were back on their feet.

Montalbano bounded for the door to meet his wife, who drives him home.

Carlos Zarate Jr., the chief of experimental therapeutics and pathophysiology at the National Institute of Mental Health, reviewed the study, saying this real-world research has proved that ketamine has helped people with medication-resistant depression.

But widespread acceptance of the drug will take time, Zarate said, citing a lack of long-term data and the potential for abuse or adverse side effects.

Gerard Sanacora, the director of the Yale Depression Research Program and the Yale New Haven Hospital Interventional Psychiatry Service, said the study, in which he was not involved, raised several concerns about the research: It included only patients who were paying $500 per session out of pocket because insurance does not cover this kind of experimental use of the drug, it does not mention race or ethnicity data, and it provides only limited information about the baseline conditions of the patients. But the data is helpful for researchers, Sanacora said, who are isolated "in ivory towers" and unable to glean how patients at clinics across the country are handling years of ketamine use.

"We still have a little bit more to learn," said Sanacora, who has treated patients with ketamine in his lab since 2004.

- - -

Before he started ketamine treatments, 22-year-old Nicholas was reluctant to try it because his family's insurance would not cover the twice-a-week sessions that cost about $500 each. A typical ketamine treatment can cost between $400 and $800.

Although ketamine is a relatively cheap drug, Oliver said there are other expenses involved in the treatments, including the staff required to supervise, office rent, medical malpractice insurance and supplies.

But Nicholas, who spoke on the condition that his last name not be used, agreed to try it despite the cost.

He used to call in sick frequently at his job at a 7-Eleven convenience store, a gig that his mother, Liz, had hoped would motivate him to leave his room once in a while. By the appointment for his sixth treatment, he said he no longer felt the urge to avoid work.

Liz brought along her other son with depression, Benjamin, 18, for a consultation during Nicholas's appointment. Two months after that appointment, Benjamin was cracking more jokes and Nicholas had gone back to college.

Liz said she took a loan out on her life insurance to pay for her sons' treatments.

"It's well worth every single penny," she said, smiling at Nicholas.

- - -

After most patients had left, Harding, one of the nurses who had checked on them, sat in a reclining chair.

After having her son, who is now 4, Harding said she became suicidal, even developing a plan for how she would kill herself. The 31-year-old nurse, who worked at the clinic and the adjoining hospital, at one point, had to leave work early because she was crying hysterically. She said she was taking three medications but could not stop thinking of harming herself.

"I told my husband, 'Parker is so young, he won't even know I'm gone,' " she recalled, as Dougher prepared her ketamine treatment. "That's when I realized, 'I need to do something about this.' "

She said she watched as patients would get better at the clinic. She didn't see anyone's condition worsen, which encouraged her to ask Oliver if he would take her on as a patient, confiding in him about her struggles.

"He asked why didn't I come to him sooner," she said. "I said because I was scared. I'm a nurse, and we're supposed to be able to handle other people's problems, not our own."

She hated the sensation that the psychedelic brought on but noticed an immediate improvement in her mood. She no longer struggled to make herself leave the house for work. She doesn't think about killing herself. For Harding and her husband, a sheriff's deputy who has responded to calls involving suicides, ketamine is the answer to a broken mental health-care system. Not only was she saved, she said, but at the clinic, she is part of the important work of helping others.

"I come home every day," Harding said, "and I'm happy."

If you or someone you know needs help, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 800-273-TALK (8255). You can also text a crisis counselor by messaging the Crisis Text Line at 741741.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP)  A pro bull rider was killed in Utah overnight Monday in what Salt Lake City police are calling a domestic violence homicide.

Demetrius Omar Lateef Allen, who went by the name Ouncie Mitchell as a pro bull rider, was found shot outside an apartment complex in Salt Lake City, police said in a news release. Allen, 27, was taken to a hospital, where he died.

Police arrested LaShawn Denise Bagley, a 21-year-old woman, on suspicion of murder.

Bagley and Allen had been in a relationship. Allen had come to Utah to attend the state fair and was staying with Bagley. The two got into a fight at a bar, and Allen went to Bagley's apartment to get his things, where he was shot, police said.

Bagley was booked into jail. No charges had been filed as of Monday afternoon. It is unknown if she has an attorney.

Sean Gleason, commissioner of Professional Bull Riders, PBR, said in a statement that Allen is the same person who goes by the name Ouncie Mitchell. He said the organization was saddened to find out about the death of a rider who had become a familiar face on the PBR Velocity Tour and competed in the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo. He was from Fresno, Texas, according to his bio on the PBR website.

Ouncie got his name because he was born small, Gleason said. He grew up to compete with a huge heart. The PBR organization sincerely extends our own heartfelt condolences to Ouncies cousin Ezekiel Mitchell and the entire Mitchell family.
A photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un delivering a speech during a parliamentary session in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday. Yonhap



Kim Jong-un aims to win recognition as 'nuclear state' through legislation: experts



By Nam Hyun-woo



President Yoon Suk-yeol's recently introduced "audacious initiative," aimed at enticing North Korea to scrap its nuclear weapons, seems to have already hit a snag as Pyongyang has guaranteed the right to use preemptive nuclear strikes in its new law.



Experts believe that North Korea's legislation has to do with its efforts to win international recognition as a "nuclear state" while South Korea's current denuclearization-based overture may require a change in tempo.



The North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Friday that the Supreme People's Assembly, the regime's rubber-stamp parliament, passed a new law that will enable Pyongyang to automatically launch a nuclear strike if attacked. This replaced a 2013 law which first outlined the North's nuclear status.



"The status of our country as a nuclear weapons state has become irreversible," KCNA quoted North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as saying. "(We will) never give up nuclear weapons and there is absolutely no denuclearization, and no negotiation and no bargaining chip to trade in the process."



This deals a hefty blow to the South Korean president's plan, dubbed "audacious initiative," to entice North Korea's denuclearization with economic aid.



Last month, Yoon proposed an aid plan that would include food, energy, trade infrastructure, agricultural technologies, medical infrastructure and financial support programs, in exchange for North Korea's return to denuclearization talks.



If that happens, the presidential office has said denuclearization talks and economic support will be pursued simultaneously, saying the South Korean government "will consider providing aid in the infant stage of talks if the North shows its sincerity."





President Yoon Suk-yeol delivers a speech during a ceremony to mark the 77th anniversary of National Liberation Day at the presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul, Aug. 15. During his speech, Yoon proposed economic aid to entice North Korea's denuclearization. Joint Press Corps
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EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP)  As Queen Elizabeth II's four children walked silently behind, a hearse carried her flag-draped coffin Monday along a crowd-lined street in the Scottish capital to a cathedral, where a service of thanksgiving hailed the late monarch as a constant in all of our lives for over 70 years.

Four days after the 96-year-old queen died at Balmoral Castle in the Scottish Highlands, a military bagpiper played as her oak coffin, draped in the red-and-yellow Royal Standard of Scotland, was borne from the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh in a solemn procession.

King Charles III, dressed in army uniform, and his siblings Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward walked behind as the hearse traveled to St. Giles Cathedral, flanked by a bearer party of the Royal Regiment of Scotland and a detachment of the Royal Company of Archers, the king's ceremonial bodyguard in Scotland.

Inside the church, the coffin was placed on a wooden stand and topped with the golden Crown of Scotland, encrusted with 22 gems and 20 precious stones along with freshwater pearls from Scotlands rivers.

And so we gather, to bid Scotlands farewell to our late monarch, whose life of service to the nation and the world we celebrate. And whose love for Scotland was legendary, said the Rev. Calum MacLeod.

Because the queen died at her summer home of Balmoral, Scotland has been the focus of the worlds attention for the first part of Britains 10 days of national mourning. Large crowds have lined the route as her coffin journeyed from the castle to Edinburgh, underscoring the deep bond between the queen and Scotland. That bond persisted even as relations soured between the Conservative U.K. government in London and the pro-independence Scottish administration in Edinburgh.

Church of Scotland Moderator Iain Greenshields said most of us cannot recall a time when she was not our monarch.

Committed to the role she assumed in 1952 upon the death of her beloved father, she has been a constant in all of our lives for over 70 years, he said. She was determined to see her work as a form of service to others."

The coffin will remain at the cathedral until Tuesday so the public can pay their respects. Thousands of people lined the 0.7-mile (1 kilometer) route between palace and cathedral, some arriving hours early to catch a glimpse.

I just wanted to be here, just to show  last respects. I cannot believe she is dead, said Marilyn Mclear, a 70-year-old retired teacher. I know she was 96, but I just cannot believe the queens dead.

One man shouted at the passing hearse, while others called out: God save the king! But the procession was greeted mostly with a respectful silence under a blue sky flecked with clouds.

Charles and his siblings later stood in silent vigil at the church, lowering their heads as they stood at four sides of their mother's oak coffin alongside members of the Royal Company of Archers. As they performed the traditional vigil, members of the public filed past.

Charles, Anne and Edward all wore military uniforms, but Andrew did not. The Royal Navy veteran was stripped of his honorary military titles and was removed as a working royal over his friendship with the notorious U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Charles later donned a kilt as he visited the Scottish parliament, where he was greeted by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

The queen, like so many generations of our family before her, found in the hills of this land and in the hearts of its people a haven and a home, Charles told Scottish lawmakers.

Earlier, the queen's grandson, Prince Harry, hailed her as a guiding compass and praised her unwavering grace and dignity."

The government, meanwhile, announced the nation will observe a minute of silence on Sunday, the evening before the queen's funeral. The moment of reflection will take place at 8 p.m. (1900 GMT, 3 p.m. EDT).

Before flying to Scotland, Charles received condolences at Parliament on Monday and told lawmakers he would follow his late mothers example of selfless duty.

Hundreds of lawmakers crowded into the 1,000-year-old Westminster Hall for the service, rich in pageantry, in which Parliament offered its condolences to the king. A trumpet fanfare greeted him and Camilla, the Queen Consort.

Charles told the House of Commons and the House of Lords that he would follow his late mother in upholding the precious principles of constitutional governance that underpin the U.K.s political system.

As I stand before you today, I cannot help but feel the weight of history, which surrounds us and which reminds us of the vital parliamentary traditions to which members of both Houses dedicate yourselves, with such personal commitment, for the betterment of us all, Charles said.

The ceremony was held in Westminster Hall because monarchs are not allowed inside the House of Commons since King Charles I tried to enter and arrest lawmakers. That confrontation led to a civil war which ended with the king being beheaded in 1649.

In a personal tribute to his grandmother, Prince Harry said he cherished their times together from my earliest childhood memories with you, to meeting you for the first time as my Commander-in-Chief, to the first moment you met my darling wife and hugged your beloved great-grandchildren.

Amid acrimony in the House of Windsor, Harry quit as a senior royal and moved to the U.S. two years ago. On Saturday, there was a possible sign of a reconciliation as Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, joined his brother Prince William and sister-in-law Catherine, the Princess of Wales, in meeting mourners outside Windsor Castle.

Harrys statement alluded to the death of his grandfather, Prince Philip, last year: We too smile, knowing that you and grandpa are reunited now and both together in peace.

The queen's coffin will be flown Tuesday to London, where it will lie in state at the Houses of Parliament from Wednesday afternoon until the morning of her funeral on Sept. 19. U.S. President Joe Biden is among the world leaders and dignitaries planning to attend the service at Westminster Abbey.

Authorities already have issued rules for people wanting to pay their respects in London.

Vanessa Nathakumaran showed up more than two days early to stake out a place. I really, really want to be part of it, she said.

Judging by the size of the crowd in Edinburgh, the line behind Nathakumaran will be long.

Rosamund Allen, 67, came to Edinburgh from Rothbury in northern England to be part of history.

It was very moving. It was very quiet," she said. "I felt very sorry for the family itself to be on show. They are very brave to do that. And I really hope and pray that they get something out of today and have a chance to mourn themselves.

"They were very kind to allow us to be part of their sadness.

___

Corder and Lawless reported from London.

___

Follow AP stories on the death of Queen Elizabeth II and Britains royal family at https://apnews.com/hub/queen-elizabeth-ii
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP)  Legalizing recreational pot in North Dakota could cut the number of people who are registered to use the drug as medicine by at least 80%, due to access to bigger quantities and more varied products, a health official said Monday.

Supporters of legalizing recreational marijuana in North Dakota succeeded last month in bringing the matter to a public vote in November by submitting more than the required 15,582 valid petition signatures to get it on the ballot.

The state has issued more than 8,200 identification cards to qualifying patients since North Dakota voters approved medical marijuana in 2016.

North Dakotas approved medical marijuana forms are dried leaves and flowers, concentrates, tinctures, capsules, topicals and transdermal patches. Medical pot dispensaries are located in Fargo, Bismarck, Devils Lake, Fargo, Jamestown, Grand Forks, Minot and Williston. Edibles were part of the original initiative but the state Legislature removed them from the list, fearing they could get in the hands of children.

The initiative on the ballot in November would allow people 21 and older to legally use marijuana at home as well as possess and cultivate restricted amounts of cannabis. The state could register up to seven marijuana manufacturing businesses and 18 dispensaries. Edibles would be allowed.

Medical Marijuana Division Director Jason Wahl said thousands of patients holding medical pot cards likely will opt to purchase from recreational sources if the measure is approved.

Medical marijuana users, for example, may only purchase 2.5 ounces of cannabis flower in a 30-day period. If approved by voters, recreational marijuana users could potentially  illegally  purchase at least that amount in a day, as none of that is tracked, Wahl said.

Medical pot is taxed at the states 5% sales tax rate, plus local taxes. Recreational marijuana would be taxed at the same rate.

Wahl told a legislative panel Monday that North Dakota could expect $1.3 million in revenue in the next two-year budget cycle from application and registration fees from manufacturing businesses and dispensaries, which would cover the cost of state oversight.

Wahl said the state Tax Department has not calculated the amount that could come from recreational pot sales because the product cost and level of sales is unknown at present.
Two Franklin High School students have received national College Board recognition for their academic performance.

Around 62,000 students nationwide earned academic honors through the College Boards National Recognition Programs. Among them this year are Franklin seniors Mikah Ribble and Thaddeus Bergschneider.

The recognition can be submitted as part of college and scholarship applications to help students from underrepresented backgrounds stand out.

While the possibility was not at the front of her mind, Ribble is happy to have received such an honor, she said.

"I think it's really cool that College Board would reach out to students who are in smaller schools and do this," she said. "Sometimes we don't get the recognition because we're tiny schools."

Bergschneider said he is honored to have received the award, adding that students from smaller schools often do not get to take the same Advanced Placement and standardized test prep classes as those from larger schools.

The two were recognized for their performance on the PSAT, which Ribble said they took in October of their junior year. She scored in the 89th percentile, while Bergschneider scored 1,300 out of a possible 1,520  after suffering a concussion two days prior.

"I hadn't gone to the doctor yet so, in retrospect, I should've been in a dark room, secluded (and) doing nothing instead of taking a PSAT," he said.

Despite the injury, Bergschneider had the school's highest score on the test, Ribble said.

Bergschneider is planning to study agriculture economics with a law minor and is applying to schools such as the University of Illinois and Purdue University. Ribble hasn't decided what she intends to study or where but hopes to become a published author.

The two agreed the College Board recognition would help them, as well as other students from underrepresented backgrounds, stand out to admissions offices.

Ribble and Bergschneider advised students taking the PSAT in the future not to worry about what other students were doing during the test but to focus on their own efforts.

"You have to really pay attention with the PSAT, and you have to learn to adapt and trust yourself," Ribble said.

The two also said it felt good to academically represent a town as small as Franklin.

"It does feel good to come out of a place no one's ever heard of and tell them that we've got a great school, a lot of great teachers and great students here," Bergschneider said.

The Journal-Courier is aware of at least two other students in west-central Illinois  Brooke Brannan of Jacksonville High School and Noah Thyer of Bunker Hill High School  who also have earned honors from the National Recognition Program, but College Board was unable to provide a complete list of recipients from area schools.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP)  West Virginia lawmakers swiftly passed bills during a Monday special session that would invest millions of dollars into road maintenance work and create a program to incentivize businesses that want to utilize renewable energy to come to the state or expand operations.

As legislators wrapped up for the day, Republican House Majority Leader Del. Amy Summers announced lawmakers will resume work Tuesday on legislation addressing state abortion law and lowering the state income tax.

In late July, the Republican supermajority paused work on an abortion bill that would have barred access to abortions in most circumstances after they couldn't agree on what the final version of the bill should look like. A version of the bill with some exemptions for rape and incest victims passed the House, but it stalled after the Senate adopted its own version with amendments, one of which removed criminal penalties for physicians who perform illegal abortions. Instead, delegates asked for a conference committee to iron out differences.

Several GOP-led states had trigger abortion bans in place in advance of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling to repeal Roe v. Wade, but West Virginia lawmakers are taking action because of legal uncertainty over whether a ban from the 1800s that was upended by the 1973 decision could be enforced now.

For the time being, abortions remain legal up to 20 weeks gestation in West Virginia after a judge blocked enforcement of the states 150-year-old abortion ban.

But that could change this week. After legislators gaveled out Monday evening, a group of around 100 protestors holding signs with messages like abortion rights are human rights rallied outside Republican Gov. Jim Justices mansion, where lawmakers were attending a cookout.

Abortion bans put politicians where they dont belong: in charge of other peoples private medical decisions," said Alisa Clements, director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, who was present at the protest. "No matter how many narrow exceptions are written into this dangerous bill, it will cause chaos in the health care system and result in people being denied life-saving care.

One bill that passed Monday would allow for the creation of two approximately 2,250-acre districts  similar to industrial parks  where a cluster of businesses have the opportunity to generate and share renewable energy on-site. The districts would not be subject to the jurisdiction of the Public Service Commission.

The districts would be created by the Department of Economic Development and must demonstrate a significant economic impact to the state by attracting at least two new or expanded businesses. The districts must be on land sold or leased by a state or municipality or on land previously used for coal mining.

Speaking during a House Judiciary meeting, Department of Economic Development Secretary Mitch Carmichael said the legislation would benefit at least one proposed project in Jackson County on the Ohio border. He said negotiations had been ongoing on the project for around six months, but did not say what companies are involved.

The project would be coming into land currently owned by the Department of Economic Development valued at around $25 million, he said.

Carmichael said his father worked at the site in a plant that was built in 1957 and shut down around 2009.

It devastated that community, and now to see the resurgence of it, and a new world-class manufacturing facility in an aerospace industry, what it will do for that community and the region and the area is just immeasurable," he said.

Another bill would transfer $150 million from the unappropriated surplus fund to the Division of Highways for secondary road maintenance.
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BEIJING (AP)  China's leader Xi Jinping will travel to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan starting Wednesday in his first trip abroad since the early days of the pandemic two years ago.

Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a short statement Monday that Xi will attend a meeting of the heads of state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Samarkand while on a state visit to Uzbekistan. He will also be making a state visit to Kazakhstan, the statement said.
New details surrounding a Houston-area nurse's deadly car crash last month in a Los Angeles neighborhood have emerged following a Friday motion by prosecutors.

According to court documents obtained by NBC Los Angeles, prosecutors with the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office filed a motion opposing bail reduction and release for Nicole Linton, a 37-year-old nurse from Houston currently held on $9 million bail for her alleged engineering of a fiery high-speed car wreck that killed five people, including a pregnant woman, and caused eight injuries at an intersection in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Windsor Hills on August 4. Linton has been charged with the murder of six people, including the unborn fetus.

Linton's lawyers previously argued that their client, a traveling intensive care nurse then stationed at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center, lost consciousness in the moments before the crash. Remarks and details included in Friday's filing dispute these claims, citing data recorded by the electronic control unit (ECU) in Linton's car that registered her speed at 122 mph five seconds prior to the collision. The documents state that the ECU in Linton's Mercedes-Benz recorded her steering wheel at a level position and her foot pressed fully on the accelerator for at least five seconds prior to crashing into cars moving through the intersection. At the point of impact, Linton was traveling 130 mph, according to prosecutors' documents.

"This NASCAR-worthy performance flies in the face of the notion that she was unconscious or incapacitated, the filing states.

Warning: Video contains disturbing footage of fatal crash

The prosecution's filing also states emergency room doctors who treated Linton in the immediate aftermath of the crash did not report any signs of seizure or impairment that would cause her to lose consciousness while driving. The filing comes as Linton's lawyers seek her release on bail and potential housing in a mental health treatment facility. The prosecution is arguing for her to remain in custody until her trial.

In addition to murder charges, Linton faces five counts of vehicular manslaughter after her Mercedes-Benz ran a red light and plowed into multiple cars at the intersection of La Brea and Slauson avenues about 10 miles south of downtown Los Angeles. The crash killed Asherey Ryan, 23, her 11-month-old son Alonzo Quintero and her fiance Reynold Lester. Also killed in the collision were Ryan's unborn child, as well as Nateshia Lewis, 43, and Lynette Noble, 30.

August court documents filed by Linton's attorneys Halim Dhanidina and Jacqueline Sparagnafor detailed their client's history of mental illness and struggles with bipolar disorder. In May 2018 Linton was cited for disorderly conduct after jumping into a police squad car while suffering an acute panic attack. She was later committed to a psychiatric unit where she was prescribed medication to combat her bipolar disorder. Linton's attorneys maintain that she began refusing to take her medication after the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, causing her mental health to gradually worsen in recent years. On the day of the wreck Linton allegedly appeared naked during a FaceTime call with members of her family while on a lunch break from her work at the hospital, her attorneys claimed.

"In the days and hours leading up to the events of August 4, Nicole's behavior became increasingly frightening," Dhanidina and Sparagna stated.

A bail review hearing for Linton is scheduled in Los Angeles County court this week.
CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images

In a newly published interview with USA Today, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw told reporters he wishes his agency had taken control of law enforcement's response to the Uvalde shooting.

When asked by USA Today why DPS never took the reins during the prolonged attack, which saw 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos shoot and kill 19 students and two teachers over the course of an hour-plus rampage inside Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas on May 24, McCraw said, "I wish we would have." McCraw also told USA Today that DPS received incorrect and incomplete information in the early stages of the shooting, to the point that his department was not aware children were still in danger.
The water is coming.

There's no longer much doubt about that, as scientists have increasingly documented how the warming of the planet has accelerated sea level rise along coasts around the world.

But a new analysis published Thursday by the research nonprofit Climate Central reveals a troubling dimension of the economic toll that could unfold in the United States, as hundreds of thousands of homes, offices and other privately owned properties slip below swelling tide lines over the next few decades.

Here are five takeaways from the research about the people and places that stand to lose most, the likely ripple effects and reasons the world must cut its emissions of greenhouse gases to eventually stem the rising waters.

- - -

1. Sea level rise will shift coastlines - and property lines

Researchers at Climate Central took scientific data on projected sea level rise, as well as information about state tidal boundaries, and combined that with records on more than 50 million individual properties across hundreds of U.S. counties to identify parcels most likely at risk.

Their conclusion: Nearly 650,000 individual, privately owned parcels, across as many as 4.4 million acres of land, are projected to fall below changing tidal boundaries by 2050. The land affected could swell to 9.1 million acres by 2100. According to Thursday's analysis, properties with a collective assessed value of $108 billion could be affected by the end of the century, based on current emissions. But, the authors noted, because complete property values were not available for all counties, the actual total is likely to be far higher.

The changes also could come gradually at first, then quickly. In many communities, the authors wrote, structures are clustered in areas that historically are on safe ground. But once rising seas reach those densely developed elevations, "the number of affected buildings sharply increases."

"As the sea is rising, tide lines are moving up elevation, upslope and inland," said Don Bain, a senior adviser at Climate Central and an expert in sea level rise, who led the analysis. "People really haven't internalized that yet - that 'Hey, I'm going to have something taken away from me by the sea.'"

- - -

2. The Gulf Coast and Atlantic Coast stand to lose most

It's no surprise that Louisiana, where the seas are swelling and land is sinking, faces a daunting loss of property in the years to come.

The Climate Central analysis estimated that more than 25,000 properties totaling nearly 2.5 million acres in the state could fall wholly below tidal boundary lines by 2050 - a number that far exceeds any other place in the nation. That would amount to 8.7 percent of Louisiana's total land area, the report found.

But other states also appear to face widespread threats. The top three at risk behind Louisiana are Florida, North Carolina and Texas, all of which have large swaths of low-lying, imperiled coastlines.

While property across the Southeast might face the most collective risk, other states also have reason for concern. New Jersey and New York, for instance, also stand to see thousands of properties fall below tidelines in coming decades. Same for Maryland, which the researchers project could see more than 2,500 buildings impacted.

The impacts of sea level rise already are evident, as some communities face the prospect of retreat and a growing number grapple with nuisance or "sunny day" flooding.

Eventually, such issues will "transition from something that's rare to becoming something that's normal," said William Sweet, an oceanographer at the NOAA National Ocean Service and the nation's top scientist on sea level rise.

- - -

3. It's not just about flooded homes. It's about eroding tax bases.

The loss of homes and other properties - especially those along the waterfront - isn't just a tragedy for owners. It is a surefire way to erode the revenue municipal governments need to operate.

"Ultimately, this is a local problem and a local story," Bain said. "We finance local government through our property taxes."

If sea levels continue to rise unabated, that poses more than just a problem to beaches and condos that line the coasts. It eventually will translate into fewer taxable properties, and less money to fund schools and fire departments, fix roads, maintain sewers and provide other essential services.

"Diminished property values and a smaller tax base can lead to lower tax revenue and reduced public services - a potential downward spiral of disinvestment and population decline, reduced tax base and public services, and so on," Thursday's analysis found.

- - -

4. The potential ripple effects are vast.

Eroding tax bases are a big problem. But hardly the only one. The study also found a litany of other complications that likely will result as sea levels inch higher and higher.

"The legal and political ramifications of these changes are complex, and will likely vary among locations," the analysis found. "Those ramifications extend well beyond loss of tax revenue as property owners object to paying taxes on submerged land."

Beyond those initial shocks, municipalities and individuals will also be forced to confront the significant costs for removing inundated structures and flooded septic tanks. Governments could be on the hook for properties that get abandoned, adding additional expenses not covered by their budgets.

But even before then, communities already are wrestling with the need to repair streets and roads damaged by flooding, as well as overwhelmed or outdated sewer and water systems. "How city and county management teams respond to these risks, or if they respond at all, is material to the city's and county's future ability to repay debt and protect its credit rating," the authors wrote.

- - -

5. The future is not (entirely) set in stone.

The world's foremost scientists have found that given the carbon built up in the atmosphere after generations of burning fossil fuels, the rate of sea level rise is increasing and will continue over the next several decades.

Those findings are in line with a major report earlier this year from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which found that sea levels could rise along U.S. coastlines by roughly a foot between now and 2050 - roughly as much change over the next three decades as over the past century.

"That trajectory appears somewhat set," said Sweet, who was not involved in Thursday's study.

What remains undetermined is how communities across the United States prepare for the changes they know are coming, and what this country and others do to slow the heating of the planet.

"If we get our act together, we can get to a lower curve, and that buys us time," Bain said. "We don't want [seas] rising so fast that it outpaces our capacity to adapt."

Sweet said the data from NOAA and related efforts, such as Thursday's study, hopefully give public officials and individuals information they need "so they can make the smart choices to best defend and prepare against rising seas" - from shoring up infrastructure to making thoughtful decisions about development.

But ultimately, he said, the world must act in concert to make sure the problem doesn't grow worse indefinitely.

"Emissions matter, especially as we get beyond the next 20 or 30 years," Sweet said. "You reduce emissions, you reduce your likelihood of higher sea levels."
WFO LAS VEGAS Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Monday, September 12, 2022

_____

FLASH FLOOD WARNING

The National Weather Service in Las Vegas has issued a

* Flash Flood Warning for...

Northwestern San Bernardino County in southern California...

* Until 600 PM PDT.

* At 255 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 low-water

crossings, creeks, normally dry washes and roads.

* Some locations that will experience flash flooding include...

Barstow, Daggett, Owl Canyon Campground, Nebo Center and Lenwood

as well as Irwin and Fort Irwin Roads.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

In hilly terrain there are hundreds of low water crossings which are

potentially dangerous in heavy rain. Do not attempt to cross flooded

roads. Find an alternate route.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
A person receives his fourth shot of the COVID-19 vaccine at a local clinic in Seongdong District, Seoul, July 18. Korea Times photo by Bae Woo-han



Gov't struggles to handle soon-to-expire doses



By Lee Hyo-jin



Nearly 10 million soon-to-expire COVID-19 vaccine doses are likely to be discarded in Korea amid waning demand, in sharp contrast to the early days of the national vaccination campaign when the country grappled with a scarce supply.



According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), as of Monday, there are a total of 14,208,000 stockpiled vaccine doses. They include 8.3 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, 2.7 million doses of Moderna, 1.98 million doses of Johnson & Johnson, 671,000 doses of Novavax and 609,000 doses of the SKYCovione, the country's first domestically developed vaccine by SK Bioscience.



Considering that about 100,000 shots are being administered per week, at the current pace, about 10 million doses are likely to go to waste by the end of this year with their expiration dates approaching. The shelf life of COVID-19 vaccines is usually between six months to a year.



The government has already discarded 5.92 million doses as of July, equivalent to about 3.6 percent of the total 145.8 million doses it had procured.



The KDCA is now in the process of canceling or delaying scheduled shipments. In July, it canceled the shipment of 4 million doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccines, as well as 12.6 million doses that were secured through COVAX facility.



Moreover, the government has been donating surplus vaccines to other countries such as Guatemala, Ghana and Mexico since June, as a part of its effort to minimize the number of wasted doses.





Vials containing the COVID-19 vaccines of Moderna, AstraZeneca, Pfizer BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson and Sputnik V vaccines are seen in this photo illustration taken May 2, 2021. Reuters-Yonhap
WFO LOS ANGELES Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Sunday, September 11, 2022

_____

FLASH FLOOD WARNING

The National Weather Service in Los Angeles/Oxnard has issued a

* Flash Flood Warning for...

Northwestern Los Angeles County in southwestern California...

* Until 845 PM PDT.

* At 718 PM PDT, Doppler radar indicated heavy rain across the

warned area. The expected rainfall rate is 1 to 1.5 inches in 1

hour. Flash flooding is ongoing or expected to begin shortly.

HAZARD...Flash flooding caused by heavy rain.

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...

Lancaster, Lake Hughes, Elizabeth Lake and Highway 138 between

Quail Lake and Lancaster.

The Lake Burn area will also be impacted with mud and debris flows

likely.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood

deaths occur in vehicles.

A Flash Flood Warning for a recent burn area means that flooding and

debris flows are imminent or occurring. Residents living in or

immediately downstream should take immediate precautions to protect

life and property. Quickly move away from the burn area only if it

is safe to do so, otherwise shelter in place and move to a second

story or the highest location in your home to stay out of the path

of fast-moving water and debris flows.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO SAN DIEGO Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Monday, September 12, 2022

_____

FLASH FLOOD WARNING

The National Weather Service in San Diego has issued a

* Flash Flood Warning for...

The Apple and El Dorado burn scar in...

Riverside County in southern California...

San Bernardino County in southern California...

* Until 430 PM PDT.

* At 127 PM PDT, Doppler radar indicated thunderstorms producing

heavy rain over the Apple and El Dorado Burn Scar. Between 0.5 and

0.75 inches of rain have fallen. Additional rainfall amounts of

0.75 to 1.5 inches are possible in the warned area. Flash flooding

is ongoing or expected to begin shortly.

Excessive rainfall over the burn scar will result in debris flow

moving through the Apple and El Dorado burn scars. The debris flow

can consist of rock, mud, vegetation and other loose materials.

HAZARD...Life threatening flash flooding. Thunderstorms

producing flash flooding in and around the Apple and

El Dorado Burn Scar.

SOURCE...Radar.

IMPACT...Life threatening flash flooding of areas in and around

the Apple and El Dorado Burn Scar.

* Some locations that will experience flash flooding include...

Yucaipa, Mount San Gorgonio, Forest Falls, Banning, Hwy 38 Between

Yucaipa And Onyx Summit, Angelus Oaks, Mountain Home Village and

Morongo Indian Reservation.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

This is a life threatening situation. Heavy rainfall may cause

extensive and severe flash flooding of creeks, streams, and ditches

in the El Dorado and Apple Burn Scars. Severe debris flows can also

be anticipated across roads. Roads and driveways may be washed away

in places. If you encounter flood waters, climb to safety.

Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood

deaths occur in vehicles.

...FLOOD ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 330 PM PDT THIS AFTERNOON...

* WHAT...Flooding caused by excessive rainfall is expected.

* WHERE...Northwestern Los Angeles County, including the Lake,

Emigrant, and Tumbleweed burn areas.

* WHEN...Until 330 PM PDT.

* IMPACTS...Heavy rainfall could trigger shallow mud and debris

flows in and near recent wildfire burn scars.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...

- At 126 PM PDT, Doppler radar indicated heavy rain due to

heavy rainfall and thunderstorms. Minor flooding is ongoing

or expected to begin shortly in the advisory area.

- Some locations that will experience flooding include...

Lake Hughes, Elizabeth Lake, Highway 138 between Quail Lake

and Lancaster, Pyramid Lake, and Interstate 5 over the

Grapevine.

- http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood

Move away from recently burned areas. The rain may trigger shallow

mud and debris flows, minor rock falls, and flooding capable of

localized damage, especially in steep terrain in and near burn scars.

Be aware of your surroundings and do not drive on flooded roads.

Please report observed flooding to local emergency services or law

enforcement and request they pass this information to the National

Weather Service when you can do so safely.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Monday, September 12, 2022

_____

FLASH FLOOD WARNING

The National Weather Service in Hanford has issued a

* Flash Flood Warning for...

Southeastern Kern County in central California...

* Until 300 PM PDT.

* At 1154 AM PDT, Doppler radar indicated thunderstorms producing

heavy rain across the warned area. Between 1 and 2 inches of rain

have fallen. The expected rainfall rate is 1 to 2 inches in 1

hour. 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...

Tehachapi, Golden Hills, Stallion Springs, Mojave, Water Canyon

and Bear Valley Springs.

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 hundreds of low water crossings which are

potentially dangerous in heavy rain. Do not attempt to cross flooded

roads. Find an alternate route.

...FLOOD ADVISORY IS CANCELLED...

The Flood Advisory is cancelled for a portion of central California,

including the following county, Kern.

The threat for widespread flooding has increased over the area.

Therefore the Flood Advisory has been replaced by a Flood Warning.

Please refer to that bulletin for more information.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
The summers final Live on the Waterfront concert was held Wednesday evening at Prince Arthurs Landing. The popular series in Thunder Bay has completed nine weekly shows that began on July 13. Wednesdays concert was unique as it was held one hour later in the evening to mesh with the 10 p.
Korea's White Tiger Division passes Vietnamese fleeing during the Vietnam War in this photo taken on Dec. 12, 1967. Korea Times file



By Lee Hae-rin



The government will set a day to commemorate the service and sacrifices of soldiers dispatched overseas, such as the United Nations peacekeepers who fought in the 1950-53 Korean War as well as Korean soldiers deployed to Vietnam from 1964 to 1973.



According to the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, Monday, the government will designate May 29 as the "Day of Soldiers Dispatched Overseas" via a revision to the Act on Honorable Treatment of War Veterans and Establishment of Related Associations.



The revision will allow the government to designate the holiday and to host events celebrating the occasion. It passed the Ministry of Government Legislation's review and vice-ministerial meeting and now needs to pass the review by the Cabinet council and the National Assembly to become law.



The envisaged day will fall on the same day as the International Day of U.N. Peacekeepers designated by the United Nations in 1948. It was the day that the U.N. Security Council authorized dispatching the organization's first peacekeeping forces to the Middle East and formed the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO).



The ministry said the country is well aware of overseas troops' contribution to peacekeeping. Korea benefited from the large-scale support of the international community in terms of combat and medical forces during Korean War, so has decided to push for the commemorative day.



The day also aims to mark Korea's first big deployment overseas during the Vietnam War. During the administration of former President Park Chung-hee, over 320,000 Korean soldiers were sent to Vietnam upon the request of the U.S. and South Vietnamese governments.



The ministry said the day should recognize not only Korea's Vietnam War veterans but also the contributions of soldiers dispatched overseas to world peace in general, to underscore the country's dedication to peacekeeping as a member of the international community.


Its an impressive achievement to manufacture seven product lines in six plants spanning four regions with around 20,000 employees serving 120 countries and approximately 3,250 dealers.

Its also impressive to remain at the top of an ever-changing and competitive powersports industry for more than 80 years  a Canadian company born during the turbulent times of the Second World War  with current annual sales of CA$7.6 billion.

BRP has enjoyed much success for eight decades now as a manufacturer of powersports products, propulsion systems, and land/sea vehicles with familiar brands such as Ski-Doo snowmobiles, Sea-Doo personal watercraft, and my personal favorite, Can-Am ATVs and SSVs.

But with this string of successes came the formidable dilemma of managing and forecasting production of its products across a global manufacturing empire.

Efficiency, accuracy, and support of growth

There were many manual processes, many spreadsheets, and many versions of the truth  making sales and operations planning (S&OP) difficult and labor-intensive. Planning was further complicated by the supply chain disruptions caused by the global pandemic. Another issue, although a good one, was the companys rapid growth.

To sustain and accelerate growth in an era of unprecedented supply chain snafus, BRP needed to improve its supply chain resiliency to react to market fluctuations in an efficient way. The company also wanted to integrate various applications to improve operational efficiencies.

The whole truth from a single source

Here is one truth: there is no better way to manage production, streamline, improve the accuracy of forecasts, and manage pandemic-related supply-chain surprises than through cloud computing. With it, you can store all production information in a single repository for a single version of the truth, and implement cloud-based solutions for accessing and using the data for its S&OP process. Thats a fact.

BRP embraced cloud-based business transformation with the implementation of SAP Integrated Business Planning, which now helps BRP identify inventory items that require closer attention, such as reordering items to avoid production delays.

The outcome and the good expected

As a result of moving its S&OP process to the cloud, BRP planners will be able to develop feasible and optimized S&OP plans with a shortened planning cycle and a significant reduction in the planning lead time.

The company also will support new product offerings with optimized production execution across its global plants.

But wait, theres more  BRP will increase business operations efficiency with the ability to run simulations and scenario planning at any time to assess the impact of opportunities before publishing the plans to downstream teams.

In addition, BRP now has a system that can easily scale with its growth, can be accessed from anywhere, anytime with mobile devices, and can remain in place while adapting to and supporting advancements in cloud computing.

Impressive, yes?

Connecting digitally to perfect reality

IBM Consulting has been a strategic partner to BRP and co-created the vision to guide the digital business transformation journey. Combining industry, supply chain, cloud, and architecture expertise, IBM Consulting is enabling BRP to connect digitally to perfect reality.

Our partnership with IBM Consulting is a critical cornerstone in realizing our target operating model and digital business transformation strategic objectives. They led us through our first- ever implementation of SAP Integrated Business Planning, a cloud-based SaaS solution, to manage our supply chain planning requirements, said Stoffel Moreau, Vice President, Business Transformation and Program Office at BRP.

The solution allows BRP to develop a feasible and optimized master production schedule to support the companys growth as well as the supply chain turmoil since COVID-19 appeared.

This accomplishment earned the company a 2022 SAP Innovation Award. To learn more about what BRP did to win this coveted award, check out their Innovation Awards pitch deck.
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Contractare si Achizitie Bunuri Anunturi de Angajare Granturi - Finantari Burse de studiu Stagii Profesionale Oportunitati de voluntariat Toate Articolele
In March 2022, Governance & Leadership published a report on a world first  the Foundation Practice Rating (FPR), which assessed UK trusts and foundations on their accountability, transparency and diversity. The research rated 100 of the richest and most influential charities in the country, and then reported those results publicly and without their express permission. I am pleased to report that, despite some challenging results, the response from the foundation sector and the wider world of non-profits they fund has been largely positive.

Reflections on the FPR

Reform from within
Iran calls European statement on nuclear talks "unconstructive"

Xinhua) 10:02, September 12, 2022

TEHRAN, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- The latest statement by Britain, France and Germany saying they had "serious doubts" about Iran's intentions to revive a 2015 nuclear deal is "unconstructive" and "in breach of goodwill," the Iranian Foreign Ministry said Saturday in a release posted on its official website.

"It is surprising and regrettable that under the current circumstances when diplomatic interactions and exchange of messages continue between the negotiating sides and the coordinator of the Vienna talks to finalize the negotiations, the EU troika issues such a statement in a move that deviates from the path of the fruitful approach during the talks," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani was quoted as saying.

Referring to the "goodwill and serious resolve" of Iran to finalize talks on the revival of the Iranian 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), he warned the European sides "against being influenced by propaganda waged by third parties that were against the negotiations from the very beginning and are now making their utmost to cause the talks to fail."

The spokesman also cautioned the European countries against resorting to threats.

"All those who ignorantly think they, through threats and sanctions, can dissuade the Iranian people from fully pursuing their rights and achieving their interests must draw a lesson from the U.S.'s maximum defeat in its maximum pressure campaign," Kanaani stressed.

He underscored Iran is still ready to finalize a deal. Kanaani said he believes that an agreement can swiftly be reached if the other sides avoid being influenced by outside pressures.

On Saturday, France, Germany and Britain said in a joint statement that Iran "has chosen not to seize this critical diplomatic opportunity" given by a recent EU-submitted "final set of texts" to rescue the nuclear pact, voicing their "serious doubts as to Iran's intentions and commitment to a successful outcome on the JCPOA."

Iran signed the JCPOA with world major countries in July 2015, agreeing to curb its nuclear program in return for removing 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.

The talks on the JCPOA's revival began in April 2021 in Vienna but were suspended in March this year because of political differences between Tehran and Washington.

The latest round of the nuclear talks was held in Austria in early August after a five-month hiatus. On Aug. 8, the EU put forward its "final text" of the draft decision on reviving the JCPOA.

Iran and the United States have recently indirectly exchanged views on the EU proposal.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Bianji)




Korea's new COVID-19 cases stayed below 40,000 for the second consecutive day on Monday due largely to fewer tests being carried out over the Chuseok fall harvest holiday amid the virus slowdown.





The country reported 36,938 new COVID-19 infections, including 202 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 24,041,825, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).





Monday's tally is up from 28,214 counted for Sunday but marks a steady decline since last Tuesday, when the daily infection number hit over 99,000.





Korea has seen a moderate fall in the infection numbers after they peaked at around 180,000 in mid-August as the latest virus wave is slowing down.





The country added 22 COVID-19 deaths on Monday, down from the previous day's 25, raising the death toll to 27,498, the KDCA said.





The number of critically ill patients stood at 553, up 21 from Sunday.





Health authorities have called for people to not lower their guard against the virus, as many Koreans were expected to travel to their hometowns for family gatherings during the four-day Chuseok holiday that ends Monday.





This Chuseok is the first long holiday without social distancing restrictions since the COVID-19 outbreak. (Yonhap)






As Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine almost sang: Theres no place that you can hide Ooh baby the rithm is gonna getcha. Nadine Dorries asking Microsoft to get rid of algorithms isnt entirely misguided, if we take it as a naive, in-themoment verbal slip. Those algorithms are written by people with a purpose which we mere users do not understand.

More than a decade ago, I saw a New Yorker Dogs cartoon where one dog said to another: I had my own blog for a while, but I decided to go back to pointless, incessant barking. It struck a chord with me as I was reading a lot of pointless, incessant barking blogs and, worse, people were telling me I needed to join in. I held out until the year I turned 50 when I blogged on Tumblr about the 50 things I had not yet done (the account was set up by a young person and I dont know how to archive or delete it  it lives in the ether forever). Now whatever one writes is considered a blog and I am guilty of using my LinkedIn account to post odd bits of writing.
After the shambles of Johnsons premiership, almost anyone would be better to lead the country through the challenges that lie ahead. But I doubt that many charity leaders will be openly cheering as one of these two takes their place at the podium outside No 10.

Despite some patronages for Sunak at National Osteoporosis Support Group (Hambleton & Richmondshire), Leyburn Brass Band and Wensleydale Wheels community transport, neither candidate has displayed any real understanding of the charity sector, and their policy records and recent pronouncements will do little to inspire confidence in their willingness to learn.

As chancellor, Sunak was behind the cut to the overseas aid budget from 0.7% of gross national income to 0.5%, and Trusss new international development strategy will almost halve multilateral spending. Both moves were heavily criticised by the INGO community. The candidates have also voiced their full support for the controversial Rwanda deportation scheme, falling over themselves to be seen as the most hard-line on border crossings. The programme has been deplored by refugee charities and others across the sector.

Closer to home, Truss drew criticism from the trans community over her stance on self-identification for trans people when she was equalities minister, and she pushed for government bodies to withdraw from Stonewall s diversity champions programme.

In an edict last month, Sunak declared that as PM he would audit charities in order to weed out those that promote extremism. There have been too many examples of publicly-funded charities and organisations accused of promoting extremist ideology in the UK, the statement from his campaign team read.

During his time as chancellor, Sunak pledged billions to the levelling-up agenda, which charities hoped would make use of their local expertise and networks. Yet, his spring statement this year was met with frustration by the sector, with Centrepoint calling it a missed opportunity and Mencap branding it bitterly disappointing.

Both candidates are ideologically wedded to a smaller state and both promise tax cuts, though Trusss ambitions here go much further, much faster. But charities that rely at least partly on government funding will likely be eyeing the future with apprehension, whoever wins the race. If you thought austerity was over, think again.

And do we really think that calls from the sector for the government to treat the energy and cost-of-living crisis as an emergency at least as serious as the pandemic, and provide a similar level of support for charities, will land anywhere near the top of the new PMs in-tray? The advice to charities from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in August was to ask their energy supplier if they offer concessionary rates to charities. We have heard nothing, so far, from either candidate about their plans to support those organisations that will, once again, be working at their limits to help people in crisis.

That said, we are now hearing that an emergency budget may be announced this month, so we will see if, and how, charities fare in that. It would be a wonderful surprise were the new PM to use their first few days in office to send a clear signal that they recognise the vital role that charities play in delivering quality public services and, when it really matters, in preventing the most vulnerable in society from falling through the cracks.

Civil Society Voices is the place for informed opinion, and debate about the big issues affecting charities today. Were always keen to hear from anyone, working or volunteering at a charity, who has something to say. Find out more about contributing and how to get in touch. is the place for informed opinion, and debate about the big issues affecting charities today. Were always keen to hear from anyone, working or volunteering at a charity, who has something to say.
Adobe

Charities have urged the government to consult the sector when it reviews its six-month scheme intended to support businesses, charities and public sector organisations with their energy costs this winter.

Last Thursday, prime minister Liz Truss unveiled plans to ensure typical households will pay 2,500 on their energy bills each year until 2024.

The measure is expected to save a typical household 1,000 per year from October, when Ofgems 3,549 cap was set to be introduced , but is still above the current level of 1,971.

Truss also pledged to support all businesses, charities and public sector organisations with their energy costs this winter  offering an equivalent guarantee for six months.

She did not reveal any further details on the scheme but said the government will work with businesses and conduct a review within three months to determine where financial support is most needed.

Charities and sector bodies welcomed the cap but stressed that it does not go far enough to support the millions of people already struggling to pay their bills.

Meanwhile, fuel poverty charities called for further intervention to support the most vulnerable households.

Calls to include sector in review

Anna Fowlie, chief executive of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), said that the six-month energy price guarantee is a step forward for voluntary organisations whose energy bills have rocketed in recent months.

But she added that the length of the freeze fails to give organisations the certainty they need.

The cost-of-living crisis goes well beyond energy bills, with rising costs eroding available funding to deliver vital programmes and services.Thousands of voluntary organisations will need targeted support to cope with spiralling costs, particularly those opening their doors to provide food, warmth, and other lifeline support to people in need. There was no news of what additional support will be available.

The promise of a three-month review to consider further support to vulnerable sectors must include voluntary organisations, a sector that was already in a vulnerable position before this crisis. More funding from the UK government to the Scottish government is essential to support voluntary organisations whose staff and services are being squeezed.

We are concerned with the suggestion of households and organisations footing the bill for this energy price guarantee through their bills and taxes for years to come. This will have a damaging impact on charities already struggling to secure funding for day-to-day running costs before the running costs crisis.

Richard Sagar, head of policy at Charity Finance Group, said that although the action from the government is welcome, both for the sector and consumers, six months will not be long enough.

We await further guidance on the scheme to provide us with the confidence that this will work for the voluntary sector.



NCVO: Pleased to see charities included in plan

Sarah Vibert, chief executive officer of NCVO, said that the cap will help relieve pressures on charities.

She added: This announcement could also help people continue giving their time: our country relies on volunteers, and we were concerned that many people wouldnt be able to continue because of the need to earn additional income.

We are particularly glad to see the clear inclusion of charities and businesses in the energy price guarantee. We urge the government to quickly publish details about how the price guarantee will operate. As with furlough during covid-19, the initial six-month support will need reviewing as the winter progresses and we hope that financial support will be made available for as long as is needed.

Charities already feeling the squeeze on donations

Nicole Sykes, policy and communications director at Pro Bono Economics, said charities and the government must improve collaboration during those six months to ensure policymakers have a full picture of the challenges for charities on the ground.

Charity incomes are already feeling the squeeze on donations as a result of the cost-of-living crisis. High energy prices will continue to step up demand for charity services, while increasing charities own costs  particularly in older buildings with less insulation, and facilities offering energy intensive services like hydrotherapy, she said.



In the longer-term, we need a strategy for inclusive growth and economic security, to build up our national resilience to future shocks, as well as a plan to improve insulation and finance that allows long-term investment in the charity sector.

Tony Armstrong, chief executive officer of Locality, said: As well as vital support for individuals, its good to see the governments energy price freeze will include charities and other organisations  many of whom are supporting struggling families through the cost-of-living crisis every day with food, warm spaces and mental health support.

Though its welcome that energy bills will now not rise to predicted levels this winter, they have already gone up a lot, and along with higher staffing, food and fuel bills, many organisations have already seen their overall costs doubling or trebling. This is threatening the survival of essential local services, and some are already being forced to close their doors.

Thats why its crucial that community organisations at the front line are given additional targeted support as soon as possible. The longer they wait, the more vital local services will go to the wall, and the more people will be left without the help they desperately need this winter.

Energy charities: Vulnerable households need rescuing from current prices

National Energy Action (NEA), a fuel poverty charity, estimated that the freeze on energy bills could benefit over 24 million households and prevent two million households from ending up in fuel poverty.

However, despite the good news, many households in serious fuel poverty need more than reassurance about future prices, they need rescuing from current prices, said Adam Scorer, NEAs chief executive.

The new government must not forget that the most vulnerable need targeted support. Those who use more energy in their homes because of medical conditions, those who are elderly and those on very low incomes need extra help so they dont have to ration their usage, putting their physical and mental health at risk. Those on prepayment meters must not be forgotten either. They would benefit from a lower rate or additional relief from huge standing charges.

The Fuel Bank Foundation is currently seeing peak winter levels of demand for its services before the usual seasonal spike when people put their heating on.

Matt Cole, the foundations head, said that if demand continues to increase over the coming months, the charity may be forced into a position of having to ration the support we provide.

For those already struggling to pay the current average fuel bill [], the new cap is still an increase for them, he said.

A more targeted package of support would have been more beneficial to those on low incomes or who are deemed vulnerable. These are the people who need it most.

Simon Francis, the End of Fuel Poverty Coalitions co-ordinator, said: While many households will breathe a sigh of relief at the price cap freeze, the prime minister offered no detail of any additional support for the millions of households who will be left behind in fuel poverty this winter.

Many of these people are struggling already and include those who are elderly, disabled or with pre-existing health conditions. Without more support to keep them warm this winter, the pressures on the NHS and social care system will increase. And without further investment in measures such as energy efficiency for those homes worst affected by fuel poverty, the plans will just be an expensive sticking plaster.

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King Charles III has announced that he will be less involved in charitable activities as he takes up his duties as head of state following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

In his first public address as British monarch, King Charles III said that his life will now be different and that it will no longer be possible for me to give so much of my time and energies to the charities and issues for which I care so deeply.

He added: But I know this important work will go on in the trusted hands of others.

Before succeeded to the throne, King Charles III had links with many charities, two of which are being investigated by the regulator.

The Charity Commissions statutory inquiries into the Mahfouz Foundation , a charity embroiled in the cash-for-honours controversy, and the Burkes Peerage Foundation are ongoing.

It also decided not to investigate large payments made to the Prince of Waless Charitable Fund (PWCF), following reports in the Sunday Times.

Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police opened its own investigation into claims that staff at PWCF offered to help Saudi billionaire Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz in a bid to help his bid for British citizenship and an honour.

NCVO: Queens patronage of charities will not necessarily go to King Charles

In a blog published last week, NCVO said that the Queens patronage of charities will not necessarily be adopted by King Charles III.

Instead, there is likely to be a review of charity patronage across senior royals in the months ahead, it said.

King encouraged to end personal involvement with charities

Writing for the Constitution Unit , an independent research centre based at University College London, Professor Robert Hazell and Dr Bob Morris called on King Charles III to divest himself of all personal involvement in his charities.

They wrote: As Prince of Wales, Charles notably pioneered innovative charities for which he was a formidable fundraiser. The public concerns to which this gave rise, including a police investigation of allegations that honours had been offered in exchange for donations, must in future be avoided.

No king can afford to appear beholden to any private interests. It follows that he must divest himself of all personal involvement, devolving patronage of his charities to other members of the royal family.

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Independent Age

Grants available: 40,000 to 25 organisations

Deadline to apply: 16 September

Who is the funding for?

The 1m funding pot is eligible for applications from community projects working to help older people through the cost of living crisis.

When will you hear back?

6 October

Find out more here.

City Bridge Trust

Grants available: up to 20,000

Deadline to apply: 25 September

Who is the funding for?

City Bridge Trust has awarded 100,000 to Money4YOU for a Dragons Den special awards ceremony where organisations can make pitches for the funding. Only Black, Asian, Multi-Ethnic and Refugee-led (BAMER) organisations are eligible to pitch. Interested organisations must buy a ticket to the event, apply to pitch, and send a short pitching video. The event is on 20 October in Southwark., south London.

When will you hear back?

Unspecified



Find out more here.

DCMS  VSCE Contract Readiness Fund

Grants available: up to 900,000 to be spent over three financial years.

Deadline to apply: 22 September

Who is the funding for?

Applicants must be from a charity or other institution that is established for charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purposes. They must be UK entities and have traded in the UK for more than 12 months. DCMS will enable the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sector to complete alongside other organisations and increase its participation in public service procurement.

When will you hear back?

Week commencing 24 October

Find out more here.

Aviva Community Fund  Cost of living support

Grants available: Match funding

Deadline to apply: No deadline

Who is the funding for?

The increase in demand for services due to the cost-of-living crisis has led Aviva to add an additional 2m to provide match-funding for charities. Aviva will match fund projects of registered charities or social enterprises with an income of up to 2m looking to raise up to 50,000. Organisations can apply to the Aviva Community Fund and receive matched funding for public donations from 4 October.

When will you hear back?

Charities will receive donations from 4 October

Find out more here.

Princes Countryside Fund  Supporting rural communities

Grants available: up to 25,000

Deadline to apply: 11 October

Who is the funding for?

The PCF has a funding pot of 250,000 and is interested in funding projects that will make a difference in rural communities across the UK.

Applications from Wales and Northern Ireland, in particular, are being encouraged, but communities from across the UK are eligible.

When will you hear back?

Unspecified

Find out more here.

POhWER  Arthur Bate Fund

Grants available: up to 2,000

Deadline to apply: 31 October

Disability charity POhWER have launched the second round of its Arthur Bate Fund to commemorate its founder and trustee who died in 2013.

Who is the funding for?

The fund is available to support those who want to become a trustee, volunteer, education or health. A group could receive funding to create an advocacy group, peer support group, self-advocacy group or a volunteering group. Support may include venue hire refreshments, promotion, technology or training.

When will you hear back?

Up to two months

Find out more here .

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On Saturday, September 3, the body of Jeff German, an investigative reporter at the Las Vegas Review-Journal, was found outside his home. He had been stabbed to death in an altercation nearly twenty-four hours earlier, police said. His colleagues first story on his killing detailed his long career (he was sixty-nine when he died) covering organized crime, gambling, mass shootings, and much more; recently, the story noted, he had exposed failures in city inspections before the deadly Alpine Motel Apartments fire in 2019; claims of bullying, hostility and mismanagement at the Clark Countys public administrators office; and extremist activity in Southern Nevada. Geoff Schumacher, who was one of Germans editors in his prior job at the Las Vegas Sun and now works for the citys Mob Museum, told the Review-Journal that German was not someone who it was, Maybe Ill be a reporter for a while and then Ill go do something else. He was a reporter probably from birth to death. Ink was running very heavily in his veins.

Last Monday, police released surveillance images of someone they thought may have been casing the area where German lived with a view to committing other crimes, though the suspect was hard to identify as they were wearing a wide-brimmed straw hat that shielded their face and a reflective orange jacket around their body. A pair of neighbors who were willing to talk to the Review-Journal (many wouldnt) spoke of recent break-ins in the area and weird people walking around in the middle of the night; one said that the killing seemed like a crime of opportunity, while the other said that she thought the suspects straw hat looked familiar, but that she couldnt be sure. On Tuesday, police released video footage of the suspect striding down a sidewalk and asked members of the public to notify them if they recognized anything about them, from their clothing to their gait. Officials also said that they had been investigating a string of local burglaries linked to someone in construction attire, though they did not definitively link that to Germans killing. And they issued a photo of a vehicle they thought might be connected to the case: a reddish GMC Yukon Denali.

ICYMI: Pomp and circumstance and the press

Germans former colleagues at the Review-Journal quickly located a parked vehicle matching that description using Google Maps, then went to check it out in person. It was being washed by Robert Tellesthe same Clark County public administrator in whose office German had recently exposed claims of bullying, hostility, and mismanagement. After that, things moved fast. Early on Wednesday morning, police searched Telless home and questioned him. Early on Wednesday afternoon, they towed the vehicle away from his property. A couple hours later, Telles returned home in flip-flops and what looked like a white hazmat suit, ignoring questions from reportersDid you do this? Can you tell us anything?as he ducked inside under a garage door. On Wednesday evening, police arrested Telles on suspicion of murder, and a Review-Journal photographer captured a shot of him being carried from his home on a stretcher and into a waiting ambulance. Officials said later that he had cut his own arms. They also said that theyd found incriminating evidence at his home, including pieces of a straw hat. Telless DNA was found at the crime scene, too. It was under Germans fingernails.

On Thursday, at a court hearing, Telles was denied bail and prosecutors started to lay out a case against him, arguing that Germans journalism had ruined his career and, probably, his marriage, and that Telles had lashed out. (Formal charges will likely follow this week.) German had first reported on Telles in May, detailing allegations of a toxic atmosphere in his office including an alleged disruptive and inappropriate relationship with a subordinate, evidence of which had secretly been captured on videotape. Telles, a Democrat, was soon to face a primary challenge, and responded to Germans story by trashing it in a letter posted to his campaign website, referring snidely to the writers skill at pushing buttons. Telles went on to lose the primary to his top deputy, who had been one of Germans sources for his initial story. As German continued to cover Telles, Telles continued to rail against him on social media, accusing German of trying to smear him. When he was killed, German was still waiting on public-records requests that hed filed for messages that Telles had sent.

As Germans killing has sunk in, journalists and press-freedom advocates, both locally and nationally, have started to explore its implicationsit came, after all, against a backdrop of rising threats to the US news media, supercharged by Donald Trumps journalist-bashing rhetoric. At a press conference on Thursday, a reporter asked the Clark County sheriff whether he would condemn Trumps normalization of violence against journalists; the sheriff said that it would be inappropriate for him to do so in such a setting, but he did describe the killing of a journalist as troublesome. The Review-Journal ran a story noting that the killing had drawn national attention and renewed concern about attacks on journalists; the story quoted the Nevada Press Association as saying that its members face threats every day for doing their job. The LA Times wrote that the killing was a shocking example that seemed to many in the news business to epitomize an increasingly perilous environment for their work. NPRs Michel Martin noted that US journalists often receive death threats, even if killings of journalists remain rare.

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Rare, but far from unheard of: at least thirty-nine journalists have been killed in the US (by the National Press Clubs count) dating back to at least 1837, when a pro-slavery mob in Illinois murdered Elijah Parish Lovejoy, an abolitionist writer and publisher, and tossed his printing press in a river. More recently, in 1970, a law enforcement officer in Los Angeles fired a tear-gas projectile while covering protests against the Vietnam War, killing Ruben Salazar, a reporter and columnist for the LA Times; six years later, Don Bolles, a reporter at the Arizona Republic, was killed in a car bombing that was initially pinned on the Mob but subsequently linked to a land fraud scheme and a local businessman (though the latter was never charged). Between 1981 and 1990, five Vietnamese American journalists working for publications aimed at refugees were killed in what the FBI suspected was a series of assassinations ordered by a group led by former South Vietnamese military officials, though no arrests were made and the killings fell off the public radar. In 1991, two pro-democracy Haitian radio broadcasters, Jean-Claude Olivier and Fritz DOr, were killed within a few weeks of each other in Miami. Two years later, Dona St. Plite, another Haitian journalist in Miami, was killed at a benefit event for DOr.

Since 1992, when the Committee to Protect Journalists started tallying the killings of media workers around the world, it has recorded sixteen such cases on US soil, thirteen of which are listed as motive confirmed (including Germans). In 2007, Chauncey Bailey, the editor of the Oakland Post in California, was fatally shot while he was walking to work; three people connected with a business called Your Black Muslim Bakery, which Bailey had been investigating, were convicted of his murder. In 2015, Alison Parker, a reporter at a TV station in Virginia, and Adam Ward, her cameraman, were shot live on air by a former station staffer. In 2018, a gunman murdered five staffers in the newsroom of the Capital Gazette, in Maryland. He had previously sued the paper over its routine coverage of criminal charges against him.

Following that shooting, Patt Morrison wrote, for the LA Times, that the targeted killing of journalists is something we think of as happening elsewhere, name-checking Mexico and Russia as examples, among other countries. This view has always been partial and naive, about both Americas own historical capacity for anti-press violence (including that perpetrated by agents of the state) and manifestations of other countries deleterious media environments that spill over onto US soil. As I wrote two months ago, the killing of journalists in Mexico, while greatly more common than that of journalists in the US, is, at least in some small way, also a US issue, given that some of those targeted have been killed very close to the US border, and either covered it or worked on either side of it; since then, another journalist was found dead just over the border from Arizona. Ultimately, its a limited view, at the very least, to see press threats in the US as having escalated from a healthy pre-Trump baseline and to see Germans killing as an outgrowth of this escalation, especially when theres so much we still dont know about his case.

And yet, context mattersand we are living through a period of escalation driven in large part by Trump and his acolytes, who have moved seething hatred of the press closer to the heart of a political agenda with significant national power. Its well-established that physical violence has flowed from, or in parallel with, Trumps rhetoric; Cesar Sayoc, a Trump superfan, did not end up killing anyone when he mailed pipe bombs to perceived Trump critics, including the offices of CNN, in 2018, but his stunt was plenty frightening nonetheless. Whatever a given assailants motives, the fact that minds reasonably jump to Trumpian rhetoric when violence is visited on members of the press is testament to the violence of that rhetoric, as I wrote in the aftermath of the Capital Gazette shooting. After the killing of German, Bob Early, an editor who worked with Bolles at the Arizona Republic in the seventies, told the LA Times that such attacks were more of an anomaly back then, and that today, he sees a whole society turning violent.

For as long as journalists have held power to account, there have been violent people who have wanted to silence or punish them for it. Those people dont live in a vacuum, but within a cultureand right now, American culture is increasingly permissive of the demonization and dehumanization of the press. Most threats to journalists dont cross the line into physical violence or murder, but the more threats there are, the likelier violence becomes. Again, its hard, or at least too soon, to say where exactly Telles fits in this broader story. But we can say for certain that he has contributed to the culture of demonization; its written through his posts about German. Typical bully, Telles wrote on June 25. Cant take a pound of critism [sic] after slinging 100 pounds of BS. Up to article #4 now. Youd think hed have better things to do. 

Below, more on Telles, German, and press threats in the US:



Other notable stories:

ICYMI: Turmoil at the Toledo Blade and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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Jon Allsop is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Review of Books, Foreign Policy, and The Nation, among other outlets. He writes CJRs newsletter The Media Today. Find him on Twitter @Jon_Allsop.
A St. Paul, Minn., man who was severely scalded by hot water while working at a local brewery is due to receive $56 million in damages and interest after filing a lawsuit six years ago.

A Ramsey County jury awarded DeWarren Harris more than $35 million this week after finding that Summit Brewing Company and the makers of a power-washing hose were negligent. Harris, 33, was cleaning a warehouse floor at the St. Paul brewery in May 2014 when a connector on the hose he was using failed and 180-degree water was released.

Harris was burned over 40 percent of his body and spent about six weeks in the hospital.

The jurors in Harris personal injury lawsuit assigned 85 percent of the responsibility for the incident to the hose manufacturer, Continental ContiTech and Campbell, and the remaining 15 percent to Summit.

Harris is also in line to collect another $21 million in interest, which has been accruing since initial legal action was taken in 2016, his attorney Bruce Rivers told the Star Tribune.

He just lives in incredible pain, Rivers said Thursday. The kid just went through hell, and its so amazing to be able to give him respite. He had nightmares for over a year.

Harris could be paid in full by the end of the year, Rivers said. Any appeal of the verdict, however, would put the payout on hold.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
For 20 years, nursing has been rated as the most trusted profession in national Gallup polls. Even so, nurses make mistakes from time to time.

A new report by professional liability insurer Coverys offers insight on the kinds of errors that lead to medical malpractice claims. The carrier found that patient monitoring, medications, patient falls and pressure injuries were the cause of more than three quarters of claims.

Susan L. Montminy, director of risk management, said Coverys decided to take a deep dive into data relating to the involvement of nurses in malpractice claims because the profession has endured tumult in the past few years: Burnout caused by the challenges of coping with a pandemic, disrupted education and training, staffing shortages, tight budgets and a cultural shift including an increase in the use of travel nurses on temporary assignments.

The report includes recommendations on how to avoid nursing errors.

We are not trying to point fingers, she said. These are signals. This is a warning that alerts them to vulnerabilities. These are hypotheses. Its really a call to action.

The analysis found that nurses are relatively a small part of the malpractice problem. While nurses make up 56% of the health care workforce, they were involved in just 18% of claims, which accounted for 26% of paid indemnity, according to the report. Physicians, in contrast, were involved in 50% of claims.

Montminy, a registered nurse herself, said the close relationship that nurses have with patients may be a reason they are less likely than other health professionals to be involved in allegations of improper care. They are the face of care, she said.

Physicians, in contrast, are more distant figures. Often they are viewed as the captain of the ship, consequently they are more likely to be blamed when something goes wrong.

The high esteem given to nurses is reflected in Gallups annual Honesty and Ethics survey. In the latest poll taken last December nurses were rated high or very high by 81% of respondents. Thats far above doctors who came in second with 67% and grade-school teachers at 64%. Gallup said nurses have been on top of the survey for 20 years.

But when mistakes are made, the results can be fatal.

Coverys evaluated 4,634 events that led to malpractice claims that were closed from 2018 through 2021. The researchers identified 850 specific events where nurses were directly involved in the care that resulted in the alleged medical error.

Death was the result of 37% of those events. An additional 10% resulted in major disability, such as blindness or paraplegia.

The top causes:

Patient monitoring was involved in 45% of events leading to malpractice claims, with death resulting in those cases 49% of the time.

The administration and management of medications accounted for 18% of the malpractice events. Death was the result of 39% of the alleged errors.

Patient falls accounted for 14% of the malpractice events, with 41% of those falls resulting in death.

Pressure injuries were the source of 10% of the malpractice claims, with 56% of those cases occurring at long-term or extended-care settings. Death resulted in 52% of cases.

Coverys said the data shows that comprehensive information is crucial to avoid errors in caregiving. Poor outcomes often result when nurses lack details about a patients medical history. Comorbidities, such as dementia or heart disease, were present in 80% of cases involving patient monitoring, patient falls and pressure industries, and 75% of cases involving medications.

Vigilance is necessary. Nursing requires multitasking and good work flows. Distractions and emergencies combined with a heavy workload can lead to errors.

Nurses must be encouraged to speak up when they have concerns, or when they know theyve made a mistake. Patient safety is improved when teams dont fear retribution or blame for reporting errors.

Effective teamwork is also vital. Nurses are the eyes and ears of health care. Their collective watchfulness is essential to effective patient monitoring.

Coverys said to improve patient monitoring, health care professionals can use monitoring algorithms to help nurses evaluate signs of a worsening conditions. Montminy explained that scoring systems can be used to send alerts when vital signs such as temperature or blood pressure deteriorate.These should be coupled with a reliable chain-of-command policy that provides specific steps to resolve conflicts.

Technology can be helpful to reduce medication errors. Most errors occur in inpatient settings, the report says. Medication dispensing cabinets should be reconfigured to require input of at least the first five letters of a drug name when ordering medications. Staff should be educated to optimize the use of safety features that are embedded in electronic health records and medical equipment. Also, health facilities should establish no-interruption policies for nurses while they administer medications.

To prevent falls, health care facilities should use a standardized fall risk assessment tool to identify patients who are at high risk on admission. Nurses should not place too much trust in equipment. Devices such as bedrails and restraints that are used to prevent falls can also increase the risk of harm from a fall because patients can become caught or entangled in the devices.

Pressure injuries can be avoided if patients undergo a head-to-toe skin assessment on admission and at repeated intervals during the stay. All nursing staff should be educated on avoiding pressure injuries.

The report says most of the events that led to malpractice claims involving nurses had one or more risk issue; a failure to function as a cohesive clinical team, miscommunication between the physician and the nurse, cultural or organizational vulnerabilities, a failure to ensure a safe environment through adequate staffing or workplace design and distractions that cause a lack of situational awareness.

To make nursing safer requires acknowledging that vulnerabilities exist, said Maryann Small, senior director of risk management and analytics for Coverys, in a video attached to the report. And where there are vulnerabilities, there are opportunities for improvement.

The report can be downloaded here.

About the photo: Nurses work in the emergency department at NYC Health + Hospitals Metropolitan, Wednesday, May 27, 2020, in New York. The pandemic has led to staffing shortages, training interruptions and burnout for nurses, increasing the chance of errors that endanger patient safety, Coverys says. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
A visit to Houston on Friday by the Dutch queen highlighted a long friendship between Texas and the Netherlands that grew from their fight against a mutual enemy: flooding.

While meeting with Houstons mayor, Queen Maxima learned how the Netherlands has worked with local officials on efforts to mitigate the impact of flooding following the deadly destruction that Hurricane Harvey wreaked on the city in 2017. Harvey dumped more than 50 inches (127 centimeters) of rain on parts of the Houston area. The storm caused $125 billion in damage in Texas.

The queen also met with state and federal officials and heard about how Dutch engineers and academics have been helping Texas in the development of what could be the largest storm surge barrier in the world. The coastal barrier system in nearby Galveston, which has been in discussion since Hurricane Ike in 2008 battered the Texas Gulf Coast, was inspired by structures in the Netherlands.

Queen Maxima, who also visited the San Francisco Bay Area and Austin, Texas, this week, said she was impressed that the two countries strategies for flood mitigation could preserve the economy and the environment, but also (produce) knowledge to actually help the rest of the world.

We need you, so thank you very much and I hope you continue this fantastic cooperation, she said.

Texas and the Netherlands are natural partners in the fight against flooding.

View from FEMAs Urban Search and Rescue Virginia Task Force Two (VA-TF2) searching neighborhoods inside Houston for survivors after flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey.

Houston, the nations fourth-largest city, floods frequently because it doesnt have sufficient infrastructure to handle heavy rain. Development of the area has sharply reduced the natural wetlands that previously soaked up storm water runoff. Every hurricane season, the Texas Gulf Coast faces potentially devastating storms. Hurricane-fueled storm surges can pose a flooding danger to the Houston Ship Channel, which is home to 40 percent of the nations petrochemical industry.

The Netherlands is a global leader in flood-management design and initiatives. About 26 percent of its 17 million people live below sea level and the country has spent billions of dollars to build a system of dams, levees and storm surge barriers.

Michael Braden, chief of the mega-project division with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Galveston District, said his agencys efforts to build the barrier system along the Texas Gulf Coast would not be where they are today without help from the Dutch.

The barrier system, which borrows from a similar project nicknamed the Ike Dike and was first proposed by a Galveston professor, is expected to soon get final approval by Congress before being forwarded to President Joe Biden for his signature. Funding for the nearly $31 billion project, which could take up to 20 years to build, would have to be approved separately.

Were addressing a regional issue here with the coastal project, but the things we learn in the design and the construction will eventually be needed by coastal communities all around the world, Braden said.

Dutch and U.S. officials said Friday that their efforts to tackle flooding have become more important because global warming has made torrential rainfall and stronger hurricanes more common.

A United Nations report released in March warned that states along the Gulf of Mexico, including Texas, are under serious threat from rising seas, collapsing fisheries and toxic tides due to climate change.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said many of the flood mitigation strategies that have been developed with the help of the citys Dutch partners, including prairie conservation efforts that will help reduce water runoff and neighborhood resilience plans, will soon be implemented.

But we want our community not only to respond and to recover but to grow and to thrive, to build forward from recovery. We dont want to build back. Building back is building for failure. We want to build forward, Turner said.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
There were 18 large wildfires burning in Oregon and Washington Saturday, leading to evacuations and targeted power outages in Oregon as the challenge of dry and windy conditions continued in the region.

According to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center, there are nearly 406 square miles (1051 square kilometers) of active, uncontained fires and nearly 5,000 people on the ground fighting them in the two states.

The blazes are among more than 90 active fires across the country, including in Montana, California and Idaho, the National Interagency Fire Center said. Scientists say climate change has made the West warmer and drier over the last three decades and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive.

In Washington state, the Goat Rocks Fire, south of Mount Rainier National Park, was started by lightning and has led to the closure of U.S. Highway 12 and the evacuation of neighborhoods east of the city of Packwood. Evacuations were also issued for several communities in Cowlitz County in response to the Kalama fire in Gifford Pinchot National Forest southwest of Mount St. Helens.

Another mountain pass on U.S. Highway 2 was closed Saturday because of the Bolt Creek Fire, which sparked evacuations for 300 to 400 homes and was dropping ash in Everett and blowing smoke into the suburbs of Seattle.

That fire grew quickly throughout the day, doubling over about two hours to about 3 square miles (nearly 8 square kilometers), and was burning timber in rugged terrain, according to the Washington State Department of Natural Resources.

Peter Mongillo, a spokesman with Snohomish Regional Fire and Rescue, was nearby as part of the overall incident command center, and said that high-voltage transmission lines owned by Bonneville Power Administration that run across the Cascade Mountains were at risk because of the amount of smoke and particulates in the air, which can affect the lines.

It increases the chances of arcing and starting a fire or even shutting down the power line, he said in a phone interview.

Mongillo said that it was recommended that Bonneville turn the lines off, but he said that for now Bonneville is keeping the lines on and will continue to monitor.

Bonneville spokesman Kevin Wingert said that there are three lines in the area, and that right now the location of the fire and the density of smoke is such that we do not have an operational or safety need to take those lines out of service.

Wingert said that if conditions changed and those lines did need to be taken out of service, there would likely be no loss in service to customers due to other transmission lines that are in service. Both Puget Sound Energy, which covers customers in Seattle and elsewhere and Snohomish County Public Utility District are Bonneville customers.

Mongillo said that there are firefighters on the ground all up and down Highway 2 but they havent been able to get aerial support on the fire because of the high level of smoke and whipping winds.

Its a wait and see right now, he said. Were looking at about 24 hours of winds coming from the east blowing to the west.

A red flag warning in Washington remains in effect through Sunday night, meaning that high temperatures, low humidity and strong winds will complicate fire conditions.

In Oregon, the Clackamas County Sheriffs Office announced the evacuation order of campers from Milo McIver State Park late Friday night, which is about 24 miles (38.6 kilometers) southeast of Portland. Early Saturday morning, residents in several communities west of the park were told to be ready to evacuate.

In hopes of lessening the risk of more fires, Portland General Electric initially halted power to about 30,000 customers in 12 service areas but that number increased to more than 37,000 by Saturday. By late Saturday afternoon that number had dropped back down to about 30,000. Pacific Power shut down service to more than 7,000 customers in a small community on the Pacific Coast, where a wildfire burned two years ago, and in pockets southeast of the state capitol of Salem. The number of Pacific Power customers without service increased to 12,000 on Saturday.

The largest fire in Oregon is the Double Creek Fire burning in the northeastern part of the state near the Idaho border. As of Saturday, the fire had burned more than 230 square miles (595 square kilometers). The Northwest Interagency Coordination Center said that the fire grew by 65 square miles (168 square kilometers) overnight.

In central Oregon, the Cedar Creek Fire east of Oakridge has burned nearly 81 square miles (210 square kilometers). On Friday, officials ordered residents to immediately leave the greater Oakridge, Westfir and High Prairie areas due to increased fire activity.

AP reporter Gillian Flaccus contributed from Portland, Oregon, and Andrew Selsky contributed from Salem, Oregon.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.




Scuffles plagued the site of a statue of a girl symbolizing victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery Sunday night as members of a right-wing organization raided the site and clashed with anti-Japanese activists guarding the statue.





The four-hour melee happened as members of New Freedom Solidarity held a surprise rally near the statue around 10 p.m. Sunday, demanding the breakup of a civic organization established to help victims of the sexual enslavement of Korean women during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule.





Clashes continued past midnight as the leader of the right-wing organization attempted to force his way near the statue and anti-Japanese activists tried to keep him away. One protester was taken to the hospital for exhaustion.





Although police separated the two sides with police lines, they continued to clash with loudspeakers and caused inconvenience to people nearby before the conservative group finally left the area at around 2:10 a.m. Monday.





The Seoul Jongno Police Station believes both groups violated the Assembly and Demonstration Act and plans to call in the activists for investigation. (Yonhap)










South Korea should co-sponsor an annual resolution condemning North Korea for its human rights abuses and urging the regime to improve the situation, Seoul's new ambassador to the United Nations said.







Ambassador Hwang Joon-kook made the remark in an interview with Yonhap News Agency on Sunday, stressing that North Korean human rights is a "very important issue in terms of safeguarding universal values."







"For the past few years, we have been clearly passive in addressing the resolution on North Korean human rights ... this has to return to normal," he said.







The United Nations Human Rights Council has adopted a resolution condemning North Korea's human rights abuses for the 20th consecutive year since 2003.







South Korea, however, has not participated as a co-sponsor of the resolution since 2019 amid its efforts to avoid tensions with the North and resume inter-Korean dialogue under the previous liberal government.







Hwang will likely seek to co-sponsor the resolution as early as next year since he assumed his post as the first ambassador to the U.N. under the conservative Yoon Suk-yeol administration in July. (Yonhap)










Choi Hee-soon, a victim of wartime forced labor who filed a damage suit with a Korean court against Japanese companies, has died, civic group officials said Monday.





Choi died of illness the previous day at the age of 91, the officials added.





In 1944, she was deceived into volunteering at a munitions factory in Toyama Prefecture and labored without pay and under poor working conditions during World War II. Korea was under Japan's colonial rule from 1910-1945.





Choi was among the 23 victims who sued Nachi-Fujikoshi Corp. in 2003 for coercing around 1,000 Korean girls aged 12-18 into forced labor at the factory.





A Japanese court ruled in favor of the Japanese firm, saying all reparation issues regarding the colonial period were settled in a 1965 treaty signed by Seoul and Tokyo.





The victims brought the case back home in 2013 and continued their legal fight in Korea. In 2019, the Seoul High Court ruled in favor of the victims and ordered the company to compensate them.





Her death brings the number of total surviving plaintiffs in the suit to seven. (Yonhap)






Main opposition party under fire for flip-flopping



The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is under fire for backtracking on its active push for the legalization of telemedicine in a major turnabout from its position when it was the governing party. Some lawmakers of the liberal party, who had proposed two amendments to the Medical Service Act, have been sitting back and doing nothing since the change of government in May.



Rep. Jeon Yong-gi, the party's first-term lawmaker, is reportedly set to withdraw his own revision bill on telemedicine, which aims to expand the scope of patients who can receive non-face-to-face treatment, amid negative reactions within the party. Some DPK lawmakers are even going a step further to prepare a new amendment that could impose restrictions on patient solicitation and medical ads by online healthcare platforms.



True, things have improved a lot for the legalization of telemedicine. Since contactless medical services were provisionally allowed in February 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, telephone counseling and prescriptions have numbered nearly 30 million. Many people have discovered the convenience of receiving treatment without having to visit a doctor. And there have been fewer cases of misdiagnosis and drug misuse than feared.



In fact, South Korea is a laggard when it comes to telemedicine. At present, 32 of the 38 OECD member nations allow remote healthcare services, but South Korea is among the six disallowing them. Telemedicine began as a pilot project 14 years ago here, but its implementation has been delayed.



Reports say that the DPK is overwhelmed by allegations that there's no need to hurry to legalize telemedicine at a time when doctors are still displeased with the practice due largely to the possible concentration of patients at a handful of big hospitals. One wonders if the largest party in the 300-seat National Assembly can claim to be a genuine political party that prioritizes the common good. The DPK should clarify its official position on the telemedicine issue quickly and present alternatives if it opposes the introduction of telemedicine.


A condolence book for Britain's Queen Elizabeth is seen in The Treetops Hotel in which Britain's Queen Elizabeth stayed the night her father George VI died in 1952, is seen in the Aberdare National Park, Kenya, Sept. 10. Reuters-Yonhap



Upon taking the throne in 1952, Queen Elizabeth II inherited millions of subjects around the world, many of them unwilling. Today, in the British Empire's former colonies, her death brings complicated feelings, including anger.



Beyond official condolences praising the queen's longevity and service, there is some bitterness about the past in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and elsewhere. Talk has turned to the legacies of colonialism, from slavery to corporal punishment in African schools to looted artifacts held in British institutions.

For many, the queen came to represent all of that during her seven decades on the throne.



In Kenya, where decades ago a young Elizabeth learned of her father's death and her enormous new role as queen, a lawyer named Alice Mugo shared online a photograph of a fading document from 1956. It was issued four years into the queen's reign, and well into Britain's harsh response to the Mau Mau rebellion against colonial rule.



''Movement permit,'' the document says. While over 100,000 Kenyans were rounded up in camps under grim conditions, others, like Mugo's grandmother, were forced to request British permission to go from place to place.



''Most of our grandparents were oppressed,'' Mugo tweeted hours after the queen's death Thursday. ''I cannot mourn.''



But Kenya's outgoing president, Uhuru Kenyatta, whose father, Jomo Kenyatta, was imprisoned during the queen's rule before becoming the country's first president in 1964, overlooked past troubles, as did other African heads of state.

''The most iconic figure of the 20th and 21st centuries,'' Uhuru Kenyatta called her.



Anger came from ordinary people. Some called for apologies for past abuses like slavery, others for something more tangible.



''This commonwealth of nations, that wealth belongs to England. That wealth is something never shared in,'' said Bert Samuels, a member of the National Council on Reparations in Jamaica.



Elizabeth's reign saw the hard-won independence of African countries from Ghana to Zimbabwe, along with a string of Caribbean islands and nations along the edge of the Arabian Peninsula.



Some historians see her as a monarch who helped oversee the mostly peaceful transition from empire to the Commonwealth, a voluntary association of 56 nations with historic and linguistic ties. But she was also the symbol of a nation that often rode roughshod over people it subjugated.



There were few signs of public grief or even interest in her death across the Middle East, where many still hold Britain responsible for colonial actions that drew much of the region's borders and laid the groundwork for many of its modern conflicts.



On Saturday, Gaza's Hamas rulers called on King Charles III to ''correct'' British mandate decisions that they said oppressed Palestinians.



In ethnically divided Cyprus, many Greek Cypriots remembered the four-year guerrilla campaign waged in the late 1950s against colonial rule and the queen's perceived indifference over the plight of nine people whom British authorities executed by hanging.



Yiannis Spanos, president of the Association of National Organization of Cypriot Fighters, said the queen was ''held by many as bearing responsibility'' for the island's tragedies.



Now, with her passing, there are new efforts to address the colonial past, or hide it.





The Indian national flag flies half-mast at the Red Fort to mourn the death of Queen Elizabeth II, in New Delhi on Sept. 11. AFP-Yonhap




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A Colorado nonprofit launched an advertising campaign Monday to highlight warnings the state released regarding the use of marijuana concentrate.

In 2021, the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division released a warning for marijuana concentrates with high THC levels, such as hash or wax. The state said using concentrates may lead to mental health problems, vomiting, physical or psychological dependence on cannabis and psychotic symptoms or disorders, including delusions, hallucinations or difficulty distinguishing reality.

One Chance to Grow Up, a nonprofit focused on preventing youth marijuana use, said the warning offers essential information for Coloradans, but not enough people know about it.

We wanted to make sure parents and others can access this important warning, said Henny Lasley, executive director of One Chance to Grow Up. Unfortunately, our research visits to Colorado dispensaries found that few are proactively providing this important resource. Furthermore, those who dont go to dispensaries aren't benefiting from this important information.

The campaign features digital advertisements displaying excerpts from the warning and directing people to the states full educational resource page, which also includes serving sizes for marijuana concentrates, immediate effects, regulatory requirements and penalties.

The creation and distribution of educational resource material was mandated by the state legislature last year through House Bill 21-1317, a bipartisan-sponsored bill directing $7 million to the study of high-potency marijuana concentrates. Gov. Jared Polis signed the bill into law in June 2021.

This clearly stated warning from the State of Colorado is a breakthrough public health event so we wanted to highlight it to the broadest possible audience, Lasley said. We hope the state and others also highlight this important document to the broadest possible audience.
A federal grant program awarded Colorado $100 million to fund infrastructure improvements to the Interstate 70 Mountain Corridor.

The Colorado Department of Transportation announced the award Friday from the Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight and Highway Projects grant program. The funds will go to the I-70 Floyd Hill Project, which plans to address traffic and safety issues along the road from Floyd Hill to Veterans Memorial Tunnel.

The Floyd Hill Project is the largest transportation project in Colorado since work began on the expansion of I-70 through Denver.

Everyone who travels the I-70 Mountain Corridor knows Floyd Hill as the first place where you get stuck in traffic as you leave Denver, Gov. Jared Polis said. I would like to thank our delegation for their tremendous advocacy for this $100 million grant to help Coloradans get out of traffic."

The Floyd Hill Project will add a third westbound express lane, a new connection between Route 6 and Idaho Springs and improve visibility and safety risks along the road. The project will also add wildlife bridges, air quality monitors, electric vehicle infrastructure, expand public transit routes and restore surrounding animal habits.

Colorado U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper wrote to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in support of the grant proposal in May. In February, Bennet, Hickenlooper, Polis and Colorado U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse hosted Buttigieg at Floyd Hill.

After Secretary Buttigieg visited Floyd Hill, Sen. Hickenlooper and I urged him to deliver the funding for this critical project, Bennet said. I look forward to seeing how it will improve safety and decrease congestion for all who travel from the Front Range to the West Slope.

Hickenlooper added: The Floyd Hill project will upgrade an essential tract of I-70, boosting our mountain economies and easing congestion so Coloradans can access the great outdoors."
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Sweden's Prime Minister and Social Democratic party leader Magdalena Andersson delivers a speech at the Social Democratic Party election watch at the Waterfront Conference Center in Stockholm, Sweden, late Sunday night. AP-Yonhap



Two exit polls gave Sweden's left-wing bloc led by Social Democratic Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson a slim lead in Sunday's general election, and also indicated a far-right surge.



The four left-wing parties were credited with 50.6 percent of voter support in an exit poll published on TV4 compared to 48 percent for the four parties on the right.



A second exit poll on public broadcaster SVT gave the left 49.8 percent and the right 49.2 percent.



Both polls, published as voting stations closed Sunday, also suggested that the anti-immigration and nationalist Sweden Democrats could for the first time become the country's second-biggest party. They credited the party with 21.3 and 20.5 percent of votes respectively.



The election campaign has been dominated by rising gang shootings, immigration and integration issues, and soaring electricity prices.



If the exit polls are confirmed, the far-right surge would mean they overtook the traditional leaders of the right-wing bloc, the conservative Moderates, whose party leader Ulf Kristersson is challenging Andersson for the post of prime minister.



That would be a heavy blow to Kristersson, who orchestrated a major shift in Swedish politics by initiating exploratory talks in 2019 with the Sweden Democrats, long treated as "pariahs" by other political parties.



The two other small right-wing parties, the Christian Democrats and to a lesser extent the Liberals, later followed suit.



'A nail-biter'



Sweden Democrat party members gathered for an election-night rally erupted in cheers and waved party flags as the exit polls were flashed on to a large screen.



Party secretary Richard Jomshof told SVT he "didn't believe" that other parties would be able to freeze out his party again and expected to have a strong influence on Swedish politics.



"We are so big now ... it is clear we should have a spot on parliamentary committees", he said.



If the right-wing bloc were to emerge victorious, "we have a chance to be an active part of a government that is moving politics in a completely different direction."



As votes were being counted across the country, Social Democrat party campaigner Mille Mikael Isberg told AFP the election race was "a nail-biter."



If the final results were to confirm the left bloc's lead, Prime Minister Andersson, a 55-year-old former finance minister, would try to build a government with the support of the small Left, Centre and Green parties.



Voter turnout was expected to be high, with more than 80 percent of the country's 7.8 million eligible voters expected to cast ballots.



The Social Democrats have governed Sweden since 2014 and Andersson enjoys broad support among Swedes.



She consistently led Moderates leader Ulf Kristersson, her challenger for the post of prime minister, by a wide margin in opinion polls.



Yet pollsters also put the two blocs in an almost dead heat.





Supporters of the Center party celebrate at the party's election watch at the Hotel At Six in Stockholm, Sweden, Sunday evening .AP-Yonhap
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After reaching historically high adoption rates during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of telehealth services has plummeted since the beginning of the year.

Experts say that places the healthcare industry at a fork in the road, where providers, payors, and tech companies must choose whether to embrace an effective and convenient healthcare medium or be left behind as telehealth marches forward.

The road toward adoption of telehealth  the use of electronic communications to provide care and other services  has been long. Before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in 2020, the adoption rate in the US, nearly 60 years after telehealth technology was first introduced, was just 0.9% of outpatient visits.

In first few weeks of the pandemic, however, the percentage of virtual healthcare visits jumped to 52%, according to Mark Gilbert, senior director analyst for Healthcare Strategy at research firm Gartner. In that five weeks, there was no time for strategic planning or business cases; there were no time for [requests for proposals], or any of that stuff that goes into normal procurement process of a technology platform, Gilbert said. It was just, Get it done. Make it happen.

The US government has continued to fund efforts to establish telehealth as a more efficient supplement and, in many cases, alternative to in-person visits. Changes to government regulations of telehealth systems, most notably the expansion of insurance reimbursement by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to cover telehealth appointments enabled rapid adoption. And HIPAA data privacy rules were relaxed to enable the use of consumer video apps such Apples FaceTime and Microsofts Skype as a temporary means of connecting doctors and patients.

After making significant gains during the pandemic, however, telehealth use has significantly receded in the past year; the number of Americans using electronic devices to interact with healthcare providers dropping precipitously, according to Gartner.

Over time, we hit a steady state of 12%, Gilbert said. "Some regions were higher. In California, were at a 20% steady state. In the Bay Area, it is 25%."

The decline in telehealth happened for several reasons, but mainly because patients understood as the pandemic eased they could once again go to a physical office to see their primary care physician, specialist, behavioral health therapist, or other medical provider.

Tracking telehealth use from January 2020 through March 2022 shows that although there was a sharp rise in spring 2020, use has declined since, according to Fair Health, a non-profit organization that tracks telehealth use. A study by Fair Health, titled "The Evolution of Telehealth during the COVID-19 Pandemic," revealed there may have been many telehealth use fluctuations over the past two years, but those were often related to the course of the pandemic. For example, in spring and summer 2021, telehealth claim lines dropped as vaccination levels increased. In fall and winter 2021, however, telehealth utilization rose again as the Delta and Omicron variants led to increased COVID-19 cases.

Further, even though there has been a decline since the peak months of 2020, telehealth utilization has remained much higher than before the pandemic. In December 2021, for example, telehealth claims accounted for 4.9% of medical claims nationally, compared to 0.2 percent in December 2019.

As COVID-19 fell out of the top five telehealth diagnoses nationally, other diagnoses rose; substance use disorders, for example, reentered the top five nationally in the Midwest and moved from fourth to second place in the Northeast.

All that said, 1% to 12% is a heck of a jump, Gilbert said. Many organizations recognize the adoption of telehealth broke through a number of glass barriers  financial reimbursement, clinical adoption, and consumer adoption. Clinicians realized improved clinical efficacy. They saw the clinical outcomes. We also broke through many regulatory barriers.

Can pandemic-era changes last?

During the height of the pandemic, providers and insurance companies introduced a variety of changes to improve payment mechanisms for telehealth. Now, government and healthcare insurance payers should look to ensure those changes remain in place, according to Daniel Ruppar, consulting director for healthcare and life sciences at business consultancy Frost & Sullivan.

The main goal now is to not retract, but to further enable the use of telehealth by us as the patients and consumers of healthcare in the US, Ruppar said.

That means health systems and physician practices need to look further at what they did in 2020 to ensure their approach to telehealth meets long-term organizational and digital transformation goals. Many likely pivoted to solutions that helped short term, but might not be ideal in the long term.

They might not, for instance, have been created for highly complex workflows or to integrate with existing self-scheduling and EHR systems, Gilbert said. Ive got two systems up while talking to a patient  my EHR and video conferencing system. Its kludgy from a physician perspective.

Some clinical specialties had better staying power after the pandemic wound down, according to Gilbert. For example, telehealth psychiatric care remains at high levels. In Florida, for example, 61% of all psychiatry interactions are virtual, he said.

Throughout the pandemic, mental health conditions have been the most common telehealth diagnosis nationally, according to Fair Health. Consistent with that finding, in January 2022, "social worker" was the provider specialty rendering the most telehealth services (most commonly psychotherapy). Nationally, three of the top five provider specialties were related to mental health: social worker, psychiatrist and psychologist.

Another issue affecting the healthcare industry involved insurance companies that chose to reimburse providers at a higher rate for in-person visits. As the pandemic waned, so did the incentives to continue telehealth.

Telehealth coverage and reimbursement continue to affect utilization, according to Natalie Schibell, vice president and research director at Forrester. In the case of telepsychology coverage, reimbursement remains a concern, as states have different laws and mandates, Schibell said. Not all 50 states require reimbursement for teletherapy at parity with in-person visits.

The staying power of teletherapy

For example, some insurers require that telehealth providers use proprietary technology platforms, which often require additional credentialing and fees. The American Psychological Association (APA) is pushing back by advocating for psychologists to be able to use any HIPAA-compliant platform. Health and Human Services offers a list of 10 vendors who claim to be HIPAA-compliant, including Zoom for Healthcare, Doxy.me, and thera-LINK.

Even before the pandemic, studies showed teletherapy was effective for many mental health issues, but we know that is not the panacea, Schibell said.

We found that teletherapy is a useful and convenient tool, especially in times of emergency like COVID-19, but it does not replace face-to-face therapy, she said. The hybrid model reigns for optimal outcomes. The therapeutic presence is necessary for a patient to feel safe and understood. The use of body language is needed for patients and providers to better connect and build trust.

The pandemic not only accelerated teletherapy, it also sped up the emergence of thousands of mental health apps, Schibell noted. The APA has said there are from 10,000 to 20,000 mental health apps, with Calm, Happify, and Headspace three of the major players in the teletherapy space. While the apps wont replace therapists or a dedicated regimen of telehealth sessions, they serve as a doorway for seeking out a psychologist and getting needed care over the long-term, Schibell said.

Another challenge to telehealth adoption: more than half of consumers with employer-provided coverage have self-insured plans, according to Schibell. Those plans, covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), arent required to cover telepsychology.

The APA is also advocating for this to change as well as for states and payers to continue the current level of coverage for at least a year after the public health crisis ends, Schibell said.

Telehealth as a permanent option?

With patients and consumers now more aware of telehealth as an option, the healthcare industry has reached a fork in the road. Going in one direction are organizations that understand the value of virtual care and are creating platforms that have integrated workflows, integrate into digital therapeutics, and can rearchitect the patient journey to reflect the value telehealthcare brings, according to Gilbert.

"The dichotomy exists between organizations that choose to become digital first healthcare providers  and those who do not recognize the transformative value," Gilbert said. Theyve gone back to in-person visits and the way of doing things they always had. Perhaps they cant invest in that transformation to virtual. So, for them, theyre tailing down. Maybe theyre at the 5% adoption [rate] and the leaders are at the 25% adoption rate.

The future of telehealth, Gilbert believes, will be a mix of virtual solutions and in-person physician visits.

I firmly believe five years from now, [consumers are] going to assess the quality, capabilities and selection of a provider based on their ability to blend face to face interactions with to virtual and digital products and services within a hybrid patient journey, Gilbert said.
Guests arrive at St Giles Cathedral before the Procession of Queen Elizabeth's coffin from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to the cathedral on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, Scotland, Monday. AP-Yonhap



From Kenya and Nigeria to South Africa and Uganda, Queen Elizabeth's death met with an outpouring of official condolences, mourning and memories of her frequent visits to Africa during her seven decades on the throne.



But the British monarch's passing also revived a sensitive debate over Africa's colonial past.



Her death came at a time when European countries are under pressure to reckon with their colonial histories, atoning for past crimes and returning stolen African artefacts held for years in museums from London and Paris.



Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta were among those expressing condolences for the loss of an "icon." But many Africans reflected more on the tragedies from colonial times, including events that occurred in the first decade of her rule.



Kenya gained independence from Britain in 1963, after an eight-year-long rebellion that left at least 10,000 people dead.



Britain agreed in 2013 to compensate over 5,000 Kenyans who had suffered abuse during the Mau Mau revolt, in a deal worth nearly 20 million pounds ($23 million).



"The Queen leaves a mixed legacy of the brutal suppression of Kenyans in their own country and mutually beneficial relations," The Daily Nation, Kenya's biggest newspaper, wrote in a weekend editorial.



Elizabeth was visiting Kenya in 1952 when her father died and she became queen.



"What followed was a bloody chapter in Kenya's history, with atrocities committed against a people whose only sin was to demand independence."



"While the ties with Britain have been useful, it is difficult to forget those atrocities."



Treasures, Biafra war



As part of recent restorations for the past, Nigeria and neighboring Benin have seen the return from Britain and France of the first of thousands of artefacts plundered during colonial times.



Nigeria's so-called Benin Bronzes  16th to 18th century metal plaques and sculptures  were looted from the palace of the ancient Benin Kingdom and ended up in museums across the US and Europe.



Nigeria's Buhari said the country's history "will never be complete without a chapter on Queen Elizabeth II".



While some praised her role leading up to Nigeria's independence, others pointed out she was head of state when Britain supported Nigerian army during the country's civil war.



More than one million people died between 1967-1970, mostly from starvation and disease, during the conflict after ethnic Igbo officers declared independence in the southeast.



"If anyone expects me to express anything but disdain for the monarch who supervised a government sponsored genocide...you can keep wishing upon a star,"



Nigerian-born US-based professor Uju Anya said, in a Twitter reference to the Biafra war that triggered fierce debate on social media.



Similar mixed reactions were expressed in South Africa, where President Cyril Ramaphosa called her an "extraordinary" figure.



But the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters or EFF movement was more dismissive, recalling decades of apartheid, in which Britain, the former colonizer, was often passive.



"We do not mourn the death of Elizabeth, because to us her death is a reminder of a very tragic period in this country and Africa's history," EFF said in a statement.



Ugandan legacy



In Uganda, some went back further, recalling the Bunyoro Kingdom's ruler Omukama Kabalega, who resisted British rule in the late 1890s.



He was deposed and exiled to the Seychelles and the kingdom was then absorbed into the British empire.



"As much as the queen was able to maintain cohesion of the former British colonies, she had not addressed adequately the injustices meted out on some of the states including Uganda," said former intelligence director and now political analyst, Charles Rwomushana.



Last month, the Uganda Tourism Association called for a committee to lead the return of Ugandan artefacts from British and other foreign museums, including some 300 from Bunyoro, according to the parliament.



Charles Onyango-Obbo, writer and Uganda government critic, said on Twitter many long-ruling African leaders used Queen Elizabeth's 70-year reign to justify their own decades in power.



"Now that she has passed, they are scrambling to learn how to make their case convincingly in the past tense."



Mukoma Wa Ngugi, the son of Kenya's world renowned writer Ngugi wa Thiong'o and who is himself a novelist as well as an associate professor of English at Cornell University, also questioned the Queen's legacy in Africa.



"If the queen had apologised for slavery, colonialism and neocolonialism and urged the crown to offer reparations for the millions of lives taken in her/their names, then perhaps I would do the human thing and feel bad," he wrote on Tweeter. "As a Kenyan, I feel nothing. This theater is absurd." (AFP)


Open-source security has been high on the agenda this year, with a number of initiatives, projects, and guidance launched in 2022 to help improve the cyber resiliency of open-source code, software and development. Vendors, tech firms, collectives and governments have contributed to helping raise the open-source security bar amid organizations increasing use of and reliance upon open-source resources, along with the complex security risks and challenges that come with it.

2022 has intensified the necessary focus on the important topics of open-source security, including supply chain security. It has also accelerated efforts to identify what was left to do, and then start doing it. In sum: things are just getting started, but progress has been made, David A. Wheeler, director of open-source supply chain security at the Linux Foundation, tells CSO.

So why is it important to improve open-source security? The answer is, in part, because it underpins everything, Wheeler says. Software really does now run the world. The latest studies have shown that, on average, 70% to 90% of applications are, once you look inside, open-source software (OSS) components. Thats not a problem per se  OSS enables an incredible number of goods and services  but its a problem if the OSS is vulnerable to attack. To cause any change, organizations need resources, including peoples time and money, he adds. Some actions wont require much, but you still often need some as a catalyst. Some will require more resources because the software industry is large, and the amount of software is huge. For many developers, make it secure is a new, unanticipated requirement.

Here are eight notable open-source security initiatives of 2022.

The White House hosts open-source security summit

In January, The White House convened government and private sector stakeholders to discuss initiatives to improve the security of open-source software and new approaches to collaboration to drive improvements. Meeting participants included Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology Anne Neuberger and National Cyber Director Chris Inglis, along with representatives from tech firms including Akamai, Amazon, Apple, Cloudflare, Facebook/Meta, the Linux Foundation, the Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF), and Microsoft.

Participants had a substantive and constructive discussion on how to make a difference in the security of open-source software, while effectively engaging with and supporting, the open-source community, a White House readout stated. The discussion focused on three topics: preventing security defects and vulnerabilities in code and open-source packages, improving the process for finding defects and fixing them, and shortening the response time for distributing and implementing fixes.

All participants will continue discussions to support these initiatives in the coming weeks, which are open to all interested public and private stakeholders, it added.

OpenSSF,Linux Foundation publish Open Source Software Security Mobilization Plan

In May, the OpenSSF and the Linux Foundation published The Open Source Software Security Mobilization Plan, outlining a 10-stream strategy with steps for immediate and long-term improvements within open-source software for both underlying components and operation. Its three core security aims are:

Securing open-source software production by focusing on preventing security defects and vulnerabilities in code and open-source packages.

Improving vulnerability discovery and remediation by enhancing the process for finding defects and fixing them.

Shortening ecosystem patching response times by quickening the distribution and implementation of fixes.

Vulnerabilities and weaknesses in widely deployed software present systemic threats to the security and stability of modern society as government services, infrastructure providers, non-profits, and the vast majority of private businesses rely on software in order to function, the OpenSSF wrote. The time has come to apply security best practices to the whole of the software ecosystem, including open source, encompassing a more comprehensive series of investments to shift security from a largely reactive exercise to a proactive approach, it added.

JFrog introduces Project Pyrsia to secure open-source software packages, binary code

In May, JFrog announced the launch of Project Pyrsia, a decentralized, secure build network and software package repository that uses blockchain technology to secure open-source software packages from vulnerabilities and malicious code. It is aimed at helping developers establish chain of provenance for their software components, creating greater confidence and trust, the firm stated. With Pyrsia, developers can confidently use open-source software knowing their components have not been compromised, without needing to build, maintain, or operate complex processes for securely managing dependencies, JFrog said, stating that the framework will help provide:

An independent, secure build network for open-source software

Trustworthiness of software packages

Completeness of known open-source software dependencies

At JFrog we believe open-source security will only be successful if we provide the community with the same tools and services that are available to enterprises, commented Stephen Chin, VP of developer relations at JFrog. The combination of an open-source, customizable architecture, and a robust, active community makes Pyrsia the most transparent and trustworthy way to obtain secure software packages.

OpenUK launches Summer of Open Source Security

In June, OpenUK launched the Summer of Open Source Security, a two-month-long initiative featuring events, talks, and podcasts dedicated to open-source software security and supply chain management. Conversations included contextualizing the positioning of governments and enterprises across the globe with regards to national critical infrastructure built on open-source software and recognizing the need to consider maintenance, security, and the curation of open-source software.

Open source differs greatly from proprietary software, in part in the proprietary royalty model and the co-related exclusion of liability. This directly impacts the basis of the balance of risk which is very different for open source and proprietary software. The quid pro quo for the free distribution of the open-source code is the absolute wavier of liability, wrote OpenUK CEO Amanda Brock.

GitGuardian announces ggcanary project to detect open-source software risks

In July, code security platform provider GitGuardian announced the launch of an open-source canary tokens project to help organizations detect compromised developer and DevOps environments. The firm said the ggcanary project is designed to help businesses detect compromises quicker and is built with the following features:

Reliance on Terraform, using the popular infrastructure-as-code software tool by HashiCorp to create and manage AWS canary tokens

Highly sensitive intrusion detection that uses AWS CloudTrail audit logs to track all types of actions performed on the canary tokens by attackers

Scalability of up to 5,000 active AWS canary tokens deployed on the internal perimeter of an organization, in source-code repositories, CI/CD tools, ticketing, and messaging systems such as Jira, Slack, or Microsoft Teams

Its own alerting system, integrated with AWS Simple Email Service (SES), Slack and SendGrid. Users can also extend it to forward alerts to SOCs, SIEMs, or ITSMs

Google launches open-source software vulnerability bug bounty program

In August, Google launched the Open Source Software Vulnerability Rewards Program (OSS VRP) to reward discoveries of vulnerabilities in Googles open-source projects. In a blog post, Google wrote that its OSS VRP encourages researchers to report vulnerabilities with the greatest real, and potential, impact on open-source software under the Google portfolio, focusing on:

All up-to-date versions of open-source software (including repository settings) stored in the public repositories of Google-owned GitHub organizations

Those projects third-party dependencies (with prior notification to the affected dependency required before submission to Googles OSS VRP)

The top awards will go to vulnerabilities found in the most sensitive projects: Bazel, Angular, Golang, Protocol buffers, and Fuchsia, Google stated, adding that, to focus efforts on discoveries that have the greatest impact on the supply chain, it welcomes submissions of:

Vulnerabilities that lead to supply chain compromise

Design issues that cause product vulnerabilities

Other security issues such as sensitive or leaked credentials, weak passwords, or insecure installations

Rewards range from $100 to $31,337 USD, depending on vulnerability severity and project importance, Google said.

CISA, NSA release security guidance for open-source software supply chain

In August, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) published guidance advising developers how to better secure the U.S. software supply chain, with a significant focus on open-source software.

Development organizations should employ dedicated systems that download, scan, and perform recurring checks of open-source libraries for new versions, updates, and known or new vulnerabilities, the guidance read. As with all software, we strongly recommend educating developers on considerations for the use of open-source software, close-source software, and evolving best-practice mitigations.

The management team should also establish, manage, and apply release criteria relating to open-source software, the guidance added, ensuring that all shipping of open-source meets company-wide standards, including vulnerability assessment of the source. Ship the latest stable versions of open-source, removing or providing a support plan for any open-source software that has reached end of life, and ensuring licensing, if any, is fully understood and compliant with the open-source usage policy, the guidance stated.

OpenSSF publishes npm best practices to help developers tackle open-source dependency risks

In September, the OpenSSF released the npm Best Practices Guide to help JavaScript and TypeScript developers reduce the security risks associated with using open-source dependencies. The guide is a product of the OpenSSF Best Practices Working Group and focuses on dependency management and supply chain security for npm. It covers various areas such as how to set up a secure CI configuration, how to avoid dependency confusion, and how to limit the consequences of a hijacked dependency.

Speaking to CSO in September, the Linux Foundations Wheeler said the biggest security risk posed by developers use of open-source dependencies is underestimating the effects that vulnerabilities in both direct and indirect dependencies can have. Flaws can crop up in any software, which can significantly impact the supply chain that uses it if care is not taken. Too often, many of the dependencies are invisible and neither developers nor organizations see all the layers to the stack. The solution isnt to stop reusing software; the solution is to reuse software wisely and to be prepared to update components when vulnerabilities are found.
TORONTO (AP)  With just as much fanfare but a tad less drama, Harry Styles took the Toronto International Film Festival by storm on Sunday, premiering the tragic gay romance My Policeman less than a week after the much-talked-about debut of Don't Worry Darling in Venice.

My Policeman, in which Styles stars alongside Emma Corrin and David Dawson, features arguably the fullest dramatic performance yet from 28-year-old pop star. He stars as a closeted 1950s policeman in Brighton, England, who falls in love with a museum curator (Dawson) yet marries a local schoolteacher (Corrin). It's a tasteful period piece, inspired by the life of Howards End author E.M. Forster, split between the '50s and four decades later, in which the three characters are played by Gina McKee, Linus Roache and Rupert Everett.

Throngs of fans followed Style's every move in Toronto, a whirlwind day that included a staged interview with the movie's filmmakers and cast, a quick stop to pick up an ensemble award given by the festival to the My Policeman stars and the premiere, itself, in which the usual post-movie Q&A was shortened and trimmed of questions from the audience.

My Policeman revolves around an unresolved love triangle that plays out across 40 years due to the injustices of British '50s-era laws against homosexuality and the repressions of several characters. Styles said he considered it a tragedy of lost time.

The reason why the story is so devastating is that, ultimately, to me, the whole story is about wasted time, and I think wasted time is the most devastating thing, Styles said at the earlier talk. "The only thing we cannot control. Its the one thing you cant have back. And I think the one thing that I think matters  whatever kind of life youve lived  at the end when you think back on time with people you love.

Directed by Michael Grandage and adapted from the novel by Bethan Roberts, My Policeman is to open in theaters Oct. 21 before streaming Nov. 4 on Amazon Prime Video. While it hadn't received quite as much attention as Style's other fall movie, Olivia Wilde's Venice Film Festival entry Don't Worry Darling, My Policeman appeared to be more warmly received in Toronto, drawing praise for Style's performance.

Styles wore a dark green double-breasted suit and light green trousers, with matching handbag, to the premiere. After the film, he credited Dawson and Corrin for an off-set relationship that allowed trust between the actors, particularly in the film's most intimate scenes.

Having a base of a real friendship outside of the characters allows for the friendship scenes, it doesnt require much acting, Styles said. And in the most intense scenes, there's a lot of trust and a safety there."

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This story has been updated to correct the spelling of David Dawson's name.
PLAINVILLE  A 22-year-old was shot in broad daylight Monday while sitting in his car, police said.

He is expected to survive after being shot twice, Chief Christopher Vanghele said Monday afternoon.

Police are looking for a newer model, black luxury SUV, possibly an Acura, Mercedes or an Audi, he said.

The shooting happened about 10:30 a.m. in the back parking lot of Hamlin View Apartments on Woodruff Avenue, Vanghele said. Numerous calls came in from residents of the apartment complex about the shooting. When officers arrived, they found the wounded man in a stairwell. The 22-year-old, who had been visiting the complex, had gotten out of his car to seek help, he said.

The officers administered first aid while others looked for the shooter, Vanghele said. The man was taken to the Hospital of Central Connecticut, New Britain General Campus, where he was undergoing surgery Monday.

Police searched every apartment in the complex, he said, which took more than an hour. Two nearby schools, Linden Street Elementary and Plainville High schools, were placed on lockdown.

Detectives believe the wounded man was targeted and said the general public is not in danger.

Police dont know the motive for the shooting, Vanghele said at an afternoon news conference.

Vanghele, who started working as chief in Plainville in January, said he was told there hasnt been a shooting in town in at least 15 to 20 years.

This is a rare occurrence in this town, he said.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call police at 860-747-1616.
A Christian boarding school in southwestern Missouri can remain open despite the state attorney general alleging a dark pattern of behavior," a judge ruled Monday.

Judge David Munton's ruling allows continued round-the-clock monitoring of Agape Boarding School in Stockton by Missouri child welfare workers. The school serves about 60 boys.

The Kansas City Star reported that the state was prepared to call two former Agape students to testify on Monday. Agape attorney John Schultz told the judge there was no proof of any immediate health or safety concern for students and allowing former students to testify was simply for publicity, the Star reported.

The judge didn't allow the testimony but scheduled another hearing for Sept. 21.

Attorney General Eric Schmitt's office first sought to shut down Agape on Wednesday after learning that someone on the state registry for child abuse and neglect was actively working there. On Friday, the attorney general's office filed an amended motion alleging systemic abuse.

Agape's operation of a residential care facility must cease because it presents an immediate health and safety concern for the children residing at Agape, the court filing stated. It also accused Agape of providing the state with incomplete information concerning which adults have access to children.

These new developments are sadly consistent with the dark pattern of behavior at Agape previously exposed by the Attorney Generals Office and the Missouri Department of Social Services, the filing stated.

Agape's website proclaims, We're still open and accepting students! It calls itself a Christian Boarding School That Turns Around Rebellious Boys.

Munton last week considered closing the school, but Agape officials told authorities that the person on the abuse and neglect registry was fired on Wednesday. Munton allowed the school to remain open, with state supervision.

Allegations of physical and sexual abuse at Agape and nearby Christian boarding school Circle of Hope Girls Ranch prompted a state law last year requiring stricter oversight of such facilities. Among other things, the new law allows state or local authorities to petition the court for closure of a facility if there is believed to be an immediate health or safety threat to the children.

Last year, Agapes longtime doctor, David Smock, was charged with child sex crimes and five employees were charged with low-level abuse counts. Schmitts office contended that 22 workers should have been charged, and with more serious crimes. But in Missouri, only the local prosecutor can file charges, and Cedar County Prosecuting Attorney Ty Gaither has said no additional employees would be charged.

Meanwhile, the husband-and-wife founders of Circle of Hope, Boyd and Stephanie Householder, face a combined 99 charges that include child abuse and neglect, sex crimes and other counts. The school was ordered shut down in 2020.

Several lawsuits filed on behalf of former students also have named Agape and Circle of Hope.
FARMINGTON  State police said Monday that a stained rug a social media influencer found in the Farmington River is not connected with missing New Canaan mother Jennifer Farber Dulos.

The stain on the rug was not blood, police said in a news release.

After investigating for several hours, detectives tested several large, irregular brownish-red stains on the rug and a presumptive test determined they were not blood, state police said. Detectives have found no evidence of the rug being related to any criminal case.

Police also said detectives learned that rugs are often brought to the river to help kayakers launch their boats.

Detectives located numerous rugs in the area and, after speaking with local kayakers, discovered that the rugs are used to launch and retrieve kayaks and to keep vegetation down at this location of the Farmington River, state police said.

Sean Austin, who describes himself a paranormal investigator, a psychic-medium and demonologist, said he found the stained rug in the Farmington River, about three miles from a home once owned by Fotis Dulos, who police believe killed his estranged wife more than three years ago. The 50-year-old Jennifer Dulos has been presumed dead, although her body has never been found.

A photo he shared on Twitter shows what appears to be a water-damaged rug that is several feet wide. A large, vertical stain can be seen in the center of the rug.

Austin created a two-hour live stream video on Aug. 29 that didnt draw police, officials said. He claimed that a spirit box he utilizes mentioned the names of Michelle Troconis and Kent Mawhinney, both charged with conspiracy to commit murder in the case and the device was blatantly telling us to go to the river, Austin told Hearst Connecticut Media during an interview Monday afternoon.

As his crew was filming at the edge of the river Sunday, Farmington police were watching with binoculars, Austin said. Officers didnt intervene until the rug was out of the water, unfurled and photographed, he said.

Farmington police recalled a slightly different version of events, according to Chief Colin Ryan. We were advised ahead of time that this group was working along the river, Ryan said in a statement released with a 911 call made by a member of Austins group. We did not know exactly where they were, and dispatchers were advised to refer any inquiries to the State Police.

Ryan said an officer was patrolling near the boat dock area a significant distance across the river from where the group was working as people were gathering to watch.

We then did receive a call from Austins group after they located a rug in the river, so the statement that Austin did not contact Farmington Police is technically correct, but disingenuous as his group called us, Ryan said.

The call to 911 made by someone who identified himself as Jared indicates that the group found a rug in water with the imprint of a person, completely bloody. The dispatcher then asks, what do you need? and Jared said his group has been working on the Jennifer Dulos case by ourselves, and he wanted police to know the rug had the image of a human body, bloody.

You can contact Connecticut State Police regarding that, the dispatcher then said.

After receiving the call, the dispatcher notified the sergeant who did respond to the area of the river where the group was located and called state police who eventually did respond and seized the rug, Ryan said.

As part of the investigation into the Dulos case, state police searched a Farmington home last year that was owned by Fotis Dulos, who died by suicide in 2020 while facing murder and other charges in his estranged wifes death.

Troconis, the former girlfriend of Fotis Dulos and Mawhinney, his longtime friend and former lawyer, have each pleaded not guilty in the case. Troconis has also pleaded not guilty to charges of tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution. Both are free on bond while they await trial.

State police concluded that although the body of Jennifer Dulos was never found, there was enough evidence to conclude her estranged husband attacked and killed her on May 24, 2019.

Investigators found bags of items that included Jennifer Dulos blood and DNA disposed of in Hartford. But some evidence  including a piece of carpet that was seen next to a restaurant in the capital city  never was found. Police believe the small piece of carpet was from Jennifer Dulos SUV.

Farmington police received a report of the stained rug Sunday and contacted the state police. Troopers responded about 2 p.m., state police said, and called Major Crime Squad detectives to the site.

The findings of police match the observations of a nearby resident.

Pia Brown, whose Sequassen Road home abuts the Farmington River, said she has seen kayakers and canoeists place rugs in the river to tamp down the weeds.

They are always there, she said Monday morning. I dont know why they do it that way, but I guess its to keep the grass from growing.

Brown said she has seen different kinds of carpets, even Oriental rugs, placed in the water near her home to the span over Route 4 known as the Big Bird Bridge.

Such reports of possible leads that turn out to be false alarms have been difficult for Jennifer Farber Dulos family, according to attorney Richard Weinstein, who represents her mother, Gloria Farber.

Last month, a body was found in New Canaans Waveny Park, which is among the first places police searched after finding Jennifer Dulos SUV parked nearby. However, the body last month turned out to be a Norwalk man who police said died by suicide.

"These people often mean well, but they don't understand the consequences of what they are doing," Weinstein said.

However, police dont want the fear of accidentally reporting a dead-end lead in such cases to have a chilling effect on communication with law enforcement. State police on Monday encouraged people who find anything that makes them suspicious to call them as soon as possible.

We ask members of the public who find what might be evidence in a criminal investigation to contact 911, so that items can be processed and investigated by detectives and so that no potential evidence is contaminated, state police said.

Staff writers Peter Yankowski and Liz Hardaway contributed to this story.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP)  Everywhere, it seems, back-to-school has been shadowed by worries of a teacher shortage.

The U.S. education secretary has called for investment to keep teachers from quitting. A teachers union leader has described it as a five-alarm emergency. News coverage has warned of a crisis in teaching.

In reality, there is little evidence to suggest teacher turnover has increased nationwide or educators are leaving in droves.

Certainly, many schools have struggled to find enough educators. But the challenges are related more to hiring, especially for non-teaching staff positions. Schools flush with federal pandemic relief money are creating new positions and struggling to fill them at a time of low unemployment and stiff competition for workers of all kinds.

Since well before the COVID-19 pandemic, schools have had difficulty recruiting enough teachers in some regions, particularly in parts of the South. Fields like special education and bilingual education also have been critically short on teachers nationwide.

For some districts, shortages have meant children have fewer or less qualified instructors.

In rural Alabamas Black Belt, there were no certified math teachers last year in Bullock County's public middle school.

It really impacts the children because theyre not learning what they need to learn," said Christopher Blair, the county's former superintendent. "When you have these uncertified, emergency or inexperienced teachers, students are in classrooms where theyre not going to get the level of rigor and classroom experiences.

While the nation lacks vacancy data in several states, national pain points are obvious.

For starters, the pandemic kicked off the largest drop in education employment ever. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of people employed in public schools dropped from almost 8.1 million in March 2020 to 7.3 million in May. Employment has grown back to 7.7 million since then, but that still leaves schools short around 360,000 positions.

Were still trying to dig out of that hole, said Chad Aldeman, policy director at the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University.

Its unknown how many of those positions lost were teaching jobs, or other staff members like bus drivers  support positions that schools are having an especially hard time filling. A RAND survey of school leaders this year found that around three-fourths of school leaders say they are trying to hire more substitutes, 58% are trying to hire more bus drivers and 43% are trying to hire more tutors.

Still, the problems are not as tied to teachers quitting as many have suggested.

Teacher surveys have indicated many considered leaving their jobs. They're under pressure to keep kids safe from guns, catch them up academically and deal with pandemic challenges with mental health and behavior.

National Education Association union leader Becky Pringle tweeted in April: The educator shortage is a five-alarm crisis. But a Brown University study found turnover largely unchanged among states that had data.

Quit rates in education rose slightly this year, but thats true for the nation as a whole, and teachers remain far more likely to stay in their job than a typical worker.

Hiring has been so difficult largely because of an increase in the number of open positions. Many schools indicated plans to use federal relief money to create new jobs, in some cases looking to hire even more people than they had pre-pandemic. Some neighboring schools are competing for fewer applicants, as enrollment in teacher prep programs colleges has declined.

The Upper Darby School District in Pennsylvania has around 70 positions it is trying to fill, especially bus drivers, lunch aides and substitute teachers. But it cannot find enough applicants. The district has warned families it may have to cancel school or switch to remote learning on days when it lacks subs.

Its become a financial competition from district to district to do that, and thats unfortunate for children in communities who deserve the same opportunities everywhere in the state, Superintendent Daniel McGarry said.

The number of unfilled vacancies has led some states and school systems to ease credential requirements, in order to expand the pool of applicants. U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told reporters last week that creative approaches are needed to bring in more teachers, such as retired educators, but schools must not lower standards.

Schools in the South are more likely to struggle with teacher vacancies. A federal survey found an average of 3.4 teaching vacancies per school as of this summer; that number was lowest in the West, with 2.7 vacancies on average, and highest in the South, with 4.2 vacancies.

In Birmingham, the school district is struggling to fill around 50 teaching spots, including 15 in special education, despite $10,000 signing bonuses for special ed teachers. Jenikka Oglesby, a human resources officer for the district, says the problem owes in part to low salaries in the South that don't always offset a lower cost of living.

The school system in Moss Point, a small town near the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, has increased wages to entice more applicants. But other districts nearby have done the same. Some teachers realized they could make $30,000 more by working 30 minutes away in Mobile, Alabama.

I personally lost some really good teachers to Mobile County Schools, said Tenesha Batiste, human resources director for the Moss Point district. And she also lost some not-so-great teachers, she added  people who broke their contracts and quit three days before the school year started.

Its the job that makes all others possible, yet they get paid once a month, and they can go to Chick-fil-A in some places and make more money, Batiste said.

A bright spot for Moss Point this year is four student teachers from the University of Southern Mississippi. They will spend the school year working with children as part of a residency program for aspiring educators. The state has invested almost $10 million of federal relief money into residency programs, with the hope the residents will stay and become teachers in their assigned districts.

Michelle Dallas, a teacher resident in a Moss Point first-grade classroom, recently switched from a career in mental health and is confident she is meant to be a teacher.

Thats why Im here, she said, to fulfill my calling.

___

This story is part of an Associated Press collaboration with AL.com, The Christian Science Monitor, The Dallas Morning News, The Fresno Bee in California, The Hechinger Report, The Seattle Times and The Post and Courier in Charleston, South Carolina.

___

Associated Press writers Brooke Schultz in Harrisburg, Pa., Collin Binkley in Washington, D.C., and Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, N.Y. contributed to this report. Rebecca Griesbach is a member of The Alabama Education Lab team at AL.com. She is supported through a partnership with Report for America. AP journalist Sharon Lurye reported from New Orleans. Schultz 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.

___

The Associated Press education team receives support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

___

For more back-to-school coverage, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/back-to-school
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KILLINGWORTH  The dilapidated covered bridge at Chatfield Hollow State Park, with its deteriorating roof, loose footboards and rotting, buckling floor boards, will be looked at closely to determine if it can be saved.

With some 412 acres, Chatfield Hollow State Park is a popular destination for biking, hiking, picnicking, swimming and fishing.

Two and a half years of banging the drums and writing letters and emails and appearing at meetings, yes, we got it done, said Cheryl Buckley, a Guilford resident and member of Friends of Chatfield Hollow who led the charge to bring attention to the crumbling bridge.

Friends of Chatfield Hollow Facebook has a following of some 2,100.

In July, the adopted state budget includes $51.5 million, $21.5 million of American Rescue Plan Act funds as well as $30 million of bond fund authorization to address, the backlog of needed infrastructure improvement across the State Park system, according to Ct.gov.

The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has allocated $100,000 to study the Chatfield Hollow structure, according to David Cooley, DEEP supervising civil engineer.

I should say that the public health and safety concern is still not there in terms of it being an immediate risk, he said.

But, in light of the inquiries that weve received, in light of what weve inspected of the bridge, it is something that needs attention, he said.

This initial funding money is earmarked for hiring a consultant to look at what needs to be done on the bridge from a structural standpoint and from a permitting and hydraulic standpoint.

Cooley explained the hydraulic concerns in an email.

Basically, a bridge has to safely endure the volume and velocity of water that passes underneath it continuously, he wrote.

A changing climate means stronger storms and potentially more severe floods and higher water levels, so it's important to ascertain what hydraulic forces the bridge needs to withstand over time, he said.

Those have likely changed since the bridge was built, so we'll have to determine whether the current footprint and foundation of the bridge are adequate as we plan for the long-term future of the bridge, he added.

This initial work will determine what needs to be done and how much it will cost.

At this point it is impossible to know if the bridge will be repaired, restored or replaced, said Cooley.

We know there is a desire from the public, from Parks, as a program, and the Friends of Chatfield to keep it, he said.

That being said, our analysis is going to be within the context of the 500 plus projects that we have on our list, he added. Its impossible for us to look at this covered bridge in a vacuum of the whole state or even Chatfield Hollow, I would argue.

Two local state lawmakers that answered pleas from Friends of Chatfield Hollow were Rep. Christine Goupil, (D-35th District) and Sen. Christine Cohen (D-Guilford).

Theres a lot of value in making sure people understand our history and our communities, Goupil said. During the pandemic, in particular, my family and friends, we would spend a lot of time at Chatfield Hollow, Stewart McKinney [National Wildlife Refuge]), Hammonasset.

All these parks are just amazing resources to people in Connecticut and visitors, that just maintaining the assets that we have is really important because they create that sense of place. Its so quintessential, between that [the covered bridge] and the water wheel, that you recognize it as Chatfield Hollow immediately, she said.

Cohen, chairman of the Environment Committee, which has purview over DEEP and the State Forest and Park System, took a hike at the park on last December with DEEP Deputy Commissioner Mason Trumble to assess the damage to the structure.

There was some clear rot happening with this beloved covered bridge and areas of deterioration and so [I] really pushed the department to make this project a priority, Cohen said.

Obviously they have so many projects in the works with just so many state parks across the state of Connecticut that really getting them to recognize that this is a cherished landmark, first, was important, she said.

Cohen praised the Friends of Chatfield Hollow for their tireless work on behalf of the covered bridge.

The Friends of Chatfield Hollow is such a small but mighty group and they have been really advocating for this for a long time, said Cohen.

This is a hugely important first step for them and really signals to all of us, as residents of the area, that there is a commitment from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to move the project forward.

Contact Sarah Page Kyrcz at suzipage1@aol.com
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FORESTHILL, Calif. (AP)  Firefighters made progress against a huge Northern California wildfire that was still growing and threatening thousands of mountain homes on Sunday, while crews also battled major blazes that blanketed large swaths of Oregon and Washington in smoke.

The Mosquito Fire in foothills east of Sacramento spread to nearly 65 square miles (168 square kilometers), with 10% containment, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.

Cooler temperatures and higher humidity assisted with moderating some fire activity, but higher winds allowed the flames to push to the north and northeast, according to a Cal Fire incident report Sunday.

More than 5,800 structures in Placer and El Dorado counties were under threat and some 11,000 residents of communities including Foresthill and Georgetown were under evacuation orders.

In Southern California, cooler temperatures and rain brought respite to firefighters battling the massive Fairview Fire about 75 miles (121 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles after sweltering heat last week.

The 44-square-mile (114-square-kilometer) blaze was 45% contained Sunday. The fire has destroyed at least 30 homes and other structures in Riverside County. Two people died while fleeing flames last Monday.

A helicopter assisting with operations in the Fairview Fire crashed in a residential backyard while attempting to land at a local airport Saturday afternoon, fire officials said. Injuries to the pilot and two others were not critical.

The southern part of the state welcomed the cooler weekend weather as a tropical storm veered off the Pacific Coast and faded, helping put an end to blistering temperatures that nearly overwhelmed the states electrical grid.

Thunderstorms and the risk of flooding persisted in mountainous areas of greater Los Angeles on Sunday. But after Hurricane Kay made landfall in Mexico last week it quickly was downgraded and weakened further until it largely disappeared, forecasters said.

To the north, remnants of Kay caused flooding Saturday that stranded about 40 vehicles and closed a stretch of State Route 190 in Death Valley National Park. The park was still cleaning up from floods five weeks ago that closed many key roads.

In Washington state, fire officials were scrambling to secure resources in the battle against a blaze sparked Saturday in the remote Stevens Pass area that sent hikers fleeing and forced evacuations of mountain communities. There was no containment Sunday of the Bolt Creek Fire, which had scorched nearly 12 square miles (31 square kilometers) of forestland about an hour and a half east of Seattle.

The fire will continue to advance in areas that will be unstaffed. With limited resources, only point protection will be in place while resources continue to mobilize to the fire, said a Sunday morning incident report.

California's Mosquito Fire has covered a large portion of the Northern Sierra region with smoke. California health officials urged people in affected areas to stay indoors where possible. Organizers of the Tour de Tahoe canceled the annual 72-mile (115-km) bicycle ride scheduled Sunday around Lake Tahoe because of the heavy smoke from the blaze  more than 50 miles (80 km) away. Last years ride was canceled because of smoke from another big fire south of Tahoe.

The Mosquito Fires cause remained under investigation. Pacific Gas & Electric said unspecified electrical activity occurred close in time to the report of the fire on Tuesday.

Scientists say climate change has made the West warmer and drier over the last three decades and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive. In the last five years, California has experienced the largest and most destructive fires in state history.

And the rest of the West hasnt been immune. There were at least 18 large fires burning in Oregon and Washington, leading to evacuations and targeted power outages near Portland as the challenge of dry and windy conditions continued in the region.

Sprawling areas of western Oregon choked by thick smoke from the fires in recent days were expected to see improved air quality on Sunday thanks to a returning onshore flow, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.

South of Portland, more than 3,000 residents were under new evacuation orders because of the 134-square-mile (347-square-kilometer) Cedar Creek Fire, which has burned for over a month across Lane and Deschutes counties. Firefighters were protecting remote homes in Oakridge, Westfir and surrounding mountain communities.

According to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center, this weekend there were more than 400 square miles (1,035 square kilometers) of active, uncontained fires and nearly 5,000 people on the ground fighting them in the two northwestern states.
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WESTPORT  On a clear, sunny day at a peninsula within Westports Sherwood Island State park, the Manhattan skyline peeks in the distance across the Long Island Sound.

Spectators who gathered on that same beach 21 years ago, though, saw a far different sight than the one that greets them today.

On Sept. 11, 2001, and several days after, smoke was visible from the spot where the World Trade Center stood.

Brian Mattiello says now that spending time at the Westport park brings back the memories of that day that he shares with others with a connection to the days events.

I come back here, and I feel everything I felt on the first day, he said, But add to it the privilege to have gotten to know so many incredible people.

Mattiello is the former director of the Office of Family Support, created after 9/11 by Governor John G. Rowland to provide support to the Connecticut victims and their families. He said the biggest request from families at that time was for them to gather and create a community.

We were feeling our way through, just like everybody else and all the emotions, he said. But making contact with family members, it just... really captured you, and they wanted to hear from us.

In 2002, a memorial at the same peninsula was created. Every year, Connecticut hosts a ceremony to commemorate the lives lost with ties to the state at the site.

The outdoor memorial is oriented so viewers who stand there can see the site in the distance. The inscription on the memorial reads, The citizens of Connecticut dedicate this living memorial to the thousands of innocent lives lost on September 11, 2001 and to the families who loved them.

On Thursday, members of the public and officials attended the annual ceremony, where 161 names with ties to Connecticut were read aloud.

Brad Bullis is the brother of Dianne Bullis Snyder, who was a flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 11. Originally from Madison, he and Chris Vadas, co-chairs of the 9/11 Fund, and the offices of Connecticuts governor and lieutenant governor helped organize this years event.

It makes me feel, one, very proud and its a good opportunity to remember my sister and what she meant to our family, he said.

Bullis said members from the Office of Family Support come every year and have become part of their families.

They support us and they really make us feel like were not forgotten and our families arent forgotten, he said. To see her son and daughter have grown into these wonderful human beings in spite of the challenges that they had to navigate, and that kind of makes me connected to my sister in a way that wouldnt really happen, otherwise.

He said he was proud to have been a part of his niece and nephews lives.

I see my sister in them, and I think they see my sister in me, as well, so I think thats a gift that goes in both directions, he said.

Joan and Bill Ahern of Ansonia have regularly come to the ceremony in support of the Bullis family. Bill Ahern has known Brad Bullis, who is his best friend, for 40 years.

I knew (Snyder) really well, Bill Ahern said So, Ive always come for her.

About his emotions, Bill Ahern said he feels sadness, but touched with gladness that she was in my life.

Its still like it just happened yesterday, and it was so awful, Bill Ahern said.

Joan Ahern then said that, on a lighter note, 9/11 helped bring the couple together.

Bill Ahern was in the National Guard with Bullis, and thought that he was going to be deployed. So, he and Joan agreed that they were going to get married.

He found out a few weeks later that he wasnt getting deployed, but they still got married.

Within a month, we were married, Joan Ahern said.

About the ceremony, Joan Ahern said, Im glad this is going on because I dont want people to forget it, especially the younger generation.

Fred Haschak, a retired Bridgeport firefighter of 35 years, has come to the ceremony for about 9 years. He worked with Dana Hannon, a New York firefighter who died during the events of 9/11.

Every year for about the last four years, on Sept. 11, Haschak walks from Bridgeport to Westport, carrying an American flag displaying the near 3,000 names of those who died.

As long as this thing will hold out, Im going to do it, Haschak said, as he pointed to his heart.

For Gregory DiPrato, he used to work with some people who are memorialized, and tries to go every year.

He commented about One World Trade Center, which lights up at night on Sept. 11 and can be seen from the memorial.

[Its] sort of inspiring, DiPrato said, to know that theres that type of memory that goes all the way up to wherever they are in heaven.

State Senator Tony Hwang said he has attended the ceremony for 12 years.

Its one of sorrow; its one of solemn respect, he said. But Ive also seen many, many family members move forward but always never forgetting.

He brought up Eunice Hanson, an Easton resident, who lost her son, daughter-in-law and grandchild.

She continues to come every, single year because she will never allow their memories to fade, he said.

You have a whole generation of people that did not live through the experience, he said. I still remember the day as if it was yesterday.

Hwang said that every year he comes, the crowd dwindles.

I think the best thing we can do as public officials, as neighbors, as Americans is never forget, Hwang said. We have to remind and honor the people that were lost and push forward to honor them by making sure that we never allow something like this to ever happen again, he said.
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A second trial to determine how much Alex Jones owes in defamation damages over the false conspiracy theories he spread about the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting is set to begin in Waterbury on Tuesday.

Behind the lawsuit are eight families whose loved ones were killed in the shooting, as well as an FBI agent who responded to the massacre. They successfully sued Jones for defamation after he called the shooting that killed 20 first-graders and six educators staged, synthetic, manufactured, a giant hoax and completely fake with actors.

With more families involved, this trial could be double the length of a similar trial in Texas, where the parents of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis were awarded about $49 million in defamation damages from Jones.

These are the families and other key people to know before the trial begins in Superior Court in Waterbury.

Daughter of Dawn Hochsprung

Hailed as a hero, Dawn Hochsprung was the principal at Sandy Hook Elementary School who was killed when she confronted the gunman in the hallway on the morning of Dec. 14, 2012.

Her daughter, Erica Lafferty, is the lead plaintiff in the case. She has used her advocacy and her writing to honor and remember her mother.

In November 2016, she published an op-ed in USA Today calling on Donald Trump to denounce Alex Jones and other Sandy Hook truthers. The article prompted Jones Infowars to broadcast a five-minute rant defending Jones and attacking Lafferty, according to a complaint filed in May 2018.

Hochsprung was among the Sandy Hook educators to posthumously receive the Citizens Honor Medal, the highest award to a civilian from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.

Parents of Dylan Hockley

Nicole and Ian Hockley are the mother and father of Dylan Hockley, a 6-year-old who was killed in the massacre

After the shooting, the parents started Dylans Wings of Change, a nonprofit first founded to support children with autism and related conditions. The organization got its name from Dylan, who loved to flap his arms like a butterfly. The nonprofit has since expanded its mission, creating a youth-led social and emotional learning program for all children. In 2020, Dylans Wings of Change partnered with The Friendship Journey from Florida to create a social program for people with disabilities that grew into an eight-week summer experience.

Nicole Hockley and the father of another victim also formed the nonprofit Sandy Hook Promise, which aims to protect children from gun violence.

Nicole Hockley has said that she is frequently harassed on Twitter by followers of Alex Jones.

Parents of Daniel Barden

Seven-year-old Daniel Barden was one of the first graders killed in the shooting. His parents, Jacqueline and Mark Barden, are among the plaintiffs in the case.

The family formed the What Would Daniel Do movement to honor his memory and spread his message of kindness, compassion, selflessness, gratitude and appreciation for life.

Mark Barden is also the co-founder of Sandy Hook Promise, with the mother of Dylan Hockley.

Parents of Ben Wheeler

David and Francine Wheeler are the parents of Benjamin Wheeler, a 6-year-old killed in the tragedy.

After their sons death, they formed Bens Lighthouse, a nonprofit that seeks to foster all childrens potential to build a more compassionate and connected world, while paying tribute to their sons love of lighthouses.

Less than two years after the shooting, the couple had another child, Matthew Bennett Wheeler. They have another son, Nate, who is Bens older brother.

Parents of Avielle Richman

Jennifer Hensel and Jeremy Richman, parents of 6-year Avielle Richman, are named as plaintiffs in the case. Their daughter is remembered as a Harry Potter fan who loved horses.

Her parents teamed up with scientists and medical researchers to form The Avielle Foundation to study brain health and the roots of violence. That mission continues through the Avielle Initiative, which is part of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

The couple had two other children, Imogen Joy and Owen, after their daughters death.

Jeremy Richman died by suicide in March 2019. His wife said at the time that he succumbed to the grief that he could not escape.

Family of Victoria Leigh Soto

Several family members of Victoria Leigh Soto, a 27-year-old teacher from Stratford who was killed in the shooting, are named as plaintiffs.

This includes her brother Carlos Soto, her mother Donna Soto, and her sisters Jillian Soto and Carlee Soto-Parisi.

Victoria Soto has been called a hero for hiding her students in closets and cabinets, telling the gunman that they were in gym class. A school in Stratford, the Victoria Soto School, was named after her. Soto was among the Sandy Hook educators to posthumously receive the Citizens Honor Medal, the highest award to a civilian from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.

The Vicki Soto Memorial Fund supports teacher-led initiatives, literacy programs, student and youth organizations, and future teachers through scholarships.

Her family sought to trademark her name due in part to hoaxers who created fake accounts to spread conspiracy theories about the shooting.

William Aldenberg

In addition to the families, FBI agent William Aldenberg has sued Jones. He was a first responder to the shooting and was depicted in iconic photographs and video footage from the day.

He has been antagonized by some of the defendants and their followers, who claim that he is a crisis actor, states the complaint filed in May 2018.

Outside of the massacre, Aldenberg was among the FBI special agents in 2014 to receive the Financial Fraud and Public Corruption Unit Award for investigating a scheme to direct illegal contributions into the campaign of a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Alex Jones

Described by his own legal team as the Coca-Cola of the conspiracy theory community, Alex Jones owns and runs the platform Infowars, where he profilerated myths about the Sandy Hook shooting.

His and his employees comments about Sandy Hook came to a head in 2018 when families sued him for defamation in several separate lawsuits. Judges in Connecticut and Texas issued default judgements against Jones last year in all the suits.

The first trial for one of these suits was held in July and August in Texas, with another trial also planned in Texas sometime after the Connecticut one.

Jones and his companys net worth is estimated to be as high as $270 million, according to an expert who testified at the first Texas trial.

Judge Barbara Bellis

Overseeing the trial in Waterbury is Judge Barbara Bellis, who ruled in November 2021 that Jones lost the defamation lawsuit by default. He and his legal team had failed to abide by the discovery process.

Bellis has shown little patience for any antics from Jones and his legal team. For example, she issued an escalating fine of $25,000 a day earlier this year when he failed to appear for his deposition in Connecticut. She is considering disciplining his lawyers for apparently sharing private medical records of Sandy Hook families that were protected by a court order.

A Superior Court judge since June 2003, Bellis has experience serving as a judge in civil matters and complex litigation. She started a new role as chief administrative judge of civil matters on Sept. 6.

CORRECTION: An original version of this article incorrectly described the mission of Dylans Wings of Change. The nonprofit was first founded to support children with autism and related conditions, but has since expanded its mission, creating a youth-led social and emotional learning program for all children and later a social program for people with disabilities that grew into an eight-week summer experience.
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WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Biden is launching a new initiative to encourage biotech production and research in the U.S., the latest move by the White House to boost domestic industry.

Biden on Monday signed an executive order implementing the initiative and later, in remarks at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston, will address how biotech can help fight cancer. On Wednesday, the Democratic president's administration will host a summit and announce new investments from several federal agencies, according to a White House fact sheet.

The initiative will seek to boost biomanufacturing in pharmaceuticals but also in other industries such as agriculture, plastics and energy. A senior administration official wouldn't say how much funding will be announced Wednesday.

Biomanufacturing processes can program microbes to make specialty chemicals and compounds, the fact sheet said. Biomanufacturing can be used to make alternatives to oil-based chemicals, plastics and textiles.

The executive order follows bipartisan legislation Biden signed last month that provided $52 billion to subsidize the production of semiconductors, construction of new chip plants and research and development in the United States.

That legislation was intended to reduce the U.S. economy's reliance on semiconductors made overseas, particularly in Taiwan, and to respond to greater efforts by China to develop its own chip industry.

Biden touted the benefits of the semiconductor law on Friday, in a stop in Columbus, Ohio, where chip giant Intel has broken ground on a new $20 billion factory.

The administration official, who wasnt authorized to speak publicly and insisted on anonymity, said the White House wants to support manufacturing biotech products that are developed in the U.S., rather than seeing American innovations produced abroad.

The official said that the administration was aiming to expand domestic biomanufacturing capacity and that other countries, especially China, have been aggressively investing in the sector, posing risks to U.S. leadership and competitiveness.
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BRIDGEPORT  Jennifer Reynolds-Kaye knows her way around an art museum collection. She got her start in the profession as an intern for museums on the West Coast and recently worked at the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

But even with that background, the collection at the Housatonic Museum of Art in Bridgeport impressed her.

Ive started to familiarize myself with the paintings, and the sculptures and the works on paper that we have, and my first impressions are, Wow, this is amazing, said Reynolds-Kaye, who took as the museums director on Sept. 1.

She said she couldnt pick out a favorite piece from the museums collection, but was especially excited about two of them.

Im really excited that we have a Pablo Picasso on view, Elise Nevelson on view, she said.

Reynolds-Kaye said the previous director Robbin Zella was a tough act to follow. Zella essentially remade the museum, which is a part of Housatonic Community College. Reynolds-Kaye she said plans to continue Zellas work while pursuing her own projects, including helping the colleges students enter the workforce.

The colleges CEO, Dwayne Smith said in a statement he was looking forward to Reynolds-Kaye coming on board.

Her knowledge and enthusiasm will help to raise national awareness of our collection of over 7,000 artworks and the museums wide array of invigorating programming, Smith said.

A California native  she still has a Los Angeles telephone number  Reynolds-Kaye got her start as an intern for a multicultural program at the Getty Research Institute in 2004. She received her Ph.D in art history from the University of Southern California in 2014, and later moved to Connecticut where she worked for various higher education institutions, including Yale and Manchester Community College.

She said she got into the field because the feeling of getting different peoples perspectives on artwork and making connections drew her in.

That hooked me right away, that thrill and that rush of teaching with a group and facilitating dialogue, she said.

Arts ability to impact peoples lives isnt confined to a gallery, she said. As the museum profession diversifies, Reynolds-Kaye said she takes a decolonial approach to art, which de-emphasizes Eurocentrism. She added she is passionate about centering student voices in the museum and plans to work with the schools students, faculty and staff to help students get opportunities in the field.

The public will get its first chance to meet Reynolds-Kaye Thursday, with the opening of the June Ahrens: Reflecting Time exhibit showcasing artwork from Stamford artist June Ahrens. But shes already met with some students and is looking forward to meeting more.

Im already really excited, just from those few conversations with our students about the possibilities of art for HCC students, she said.

eddy.martinez@hearstmediact.com
ANDERSON, S.C. (AP)  A single-engine plane crashed into a lake on Saturday near the border of South Carolina and Georgia, officials said.

The Federal Aviation Administration told news outlets that the Beechcraft B55 Baron crashed into Lake Hartwell near Anderson Regional Airport in Anderson, S.C.
South Windsor Police Department/Contributed

SOUTH WINDSOR  Local police arrested a Manchester man on a burglary charge Sunday after they say a resident scared him off when he tried breaking into her Troy Road home.

Andre J. Cancel, 36, was charged with third-degree burglary and second-degree breach of peace. He was released on $2,500 bond and is due to appear in state Superior Court in Manchester on Sept. 28.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP)  A $4.2 million project to install metal poles with reflective markers along two-lane highways across North Dakota has been put on hold because of worries about how the new poles affected farmers driving large equipment.

The posts installed this summer along state highways with shoulders less than 8-feet-wide will be removed as the Department of Transportation redesigns the project. State Sen. Janne Myrdahl, who complained about the problems the posts were causing farmers, said the hard metal posts will likely be replaced by flexible ones.
Contributed / Getty

CANTON  Officials are asking motorists to avoid Route 44 following a vehicle crash Sunday night.

The wreck forced emergency crews to close the highway around 8 p.m. in the area of Cherry Brook Road, according to Canton Volunteer Fire & EMS.
Mid-Autumn Festival celebrated across world

Xinhua) 10:10, September 12, 2022

Photo taken on Sept. 10, 2022 shows lanterns celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival in Canberra, Australia. (Photo by Chu Chen/Xinhua)

BEIJING, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- A taste of mooncake, a taste of China. As the Mid-Autumn Festival falls on Saturday, overseas Chinese and their local friends joined in activities to celebrate the festival worldwide.

The Mid-Autumn Festival, celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, has been observed by people of Chinese origin for thousands of years, usually marked by family reunions, a full moon viewing and the consumption of mooncakes, a traditional pastry dedicated to the festival.

In Australia, this year's celebrations started as early as Saturday noon with festive shows, such as chic Chinese music, martial arts and moon-praising rituals, staged at Meat Market, an iconic state heritage with an over 200-year history in Melbourne.

During the event, participants wore the traditional clothing "hanfu" of the Han ethnic group, picked up a rabbit lantern at a streetside stall and had a calligrapher write down some moon-related blessings.

"Many locals came to my booth, asking me if I could translate their names into Chinese and write it down," Dongdong, a Chinese calligraphy artist, told Xinhua at the event.

Yet Australia is not the earliest place to celebrate the festival outside China. On Friday in Vientiane, a Chinese movie show and the Mid-Autumn Festival evening were held by the China Cultural Center in Laos.

The attendants enjoyed an exceptional Chinese-Lao bilingual art performance and were also introduced to Chinese calligraphy, mooncake-making and Chinese tea.

On Friday night, hundreds of Chinese nationals living in Nigeria celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival in Lagos with song and dance amid a copious flow of food and beverages. About 500 people attended the five-and-a-half-hour gala at the Oriental Hotel in Lagos.

Taking part in a traditional Chinese festival celebration has been a must-try for many Chinese culture lovers in various countries.

At the Chinese American Museum in the U.S. capital Washington D.C., many Chinese Americans and other ethnic groups enjoyed activities like tasting mooncakes and different Chinese cuisines and sipping tea. Young children enjoyed making craft lanterns and listening to stories about ancient Chinese tradition.

On Saturday night in New York City, a concert -- "2022 Golden Night Concert" -- was held at the Lincoln Center, featuring a lineup of Chinese and Western artists.

"The concert was beautiful and unique ... it makes my day happy today," Stanley Strychacki, an 85-year-old New York resident, told Xinhua after watching the 1.5-hour dance and music performance, including many traditional Chinese music pieces.

In San Fan Con square in Havana's Chinatown, a competition focused on making traditional Chinese mooncakes attracted many people.

"Since ancient times, the Chinese people have had a special relationship with the moon. We are having a lot of fun eating mooncakes," said Yorbelis Rosell, Cuban director of Confucius Institute in Havana.

At the popular plaza decorated with red lanterns in the Cuban capital, participants enjoyed Chinese table games, traditional painting and calligraphy exhibitions, martial arts demonstrations, musical performances and massage sessions.

Chinese language student Camila Feliz, 23, told Xinhua that this was an excellent opportunity to learn more about Chinese culture and traditions. "It is a good moment to express solidarity, support, and a sense of togetherness," she said. "This festival sends a strong message of peace."

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Bianji)
Opinion: Sometimes underdogs are projected to lose for a reason.

----------

Along with just 14.7% of American colleges, the University of Oregon operates on a quarter system. This means our academic year is divided into four 10-week sessions each season. The large majority of schools reject this plan, instead opting for two 15-week periods and an optional third in the summer.

By my calculations, the quarter system represents a sort of underdog here. Yes, its the lesser-picked option. Beyond that though, consider the job market a competition and a college degree the entry ticket. If a majority of American college grads start running three to five weeks before quarter-system students have the chance, is it really that fair of a race?

The answer, of course, is no. But we knew that. In fact, theres something else a bit unfair we should know about the job market right now. Are you sitting? Maybe you should sit. As of this year, over 40 percent of recent college grads have jobs that don't require a degree. I know thats tough to hear, but at least were all in the same debt  uh, did I say debt? Sorry I meant debt. Sorry. Debt. No, boat! Were all in the same boat!

So, yes, maybe my quarrel has less to do with academic quarters as it does the silvery ones. Seriously, why are we paying this much to go to school? No wonder degrees are becoming less valued.

Lets get back on track, though. Towards the end of the academic year, college seniors compete nationally for coveted underpaid jobs they overpay for. Oops, I meant over-qualify for. (This education is failing me.) It is a ruthless race  one where any upperhand can mean the difference of an opportunity that could effectively change the course and quality of your life forever. Its why nepotism exists. Its why inequality exists. And, on a much smaller scale, its why I now have a quarrel with the quarter system.

It wasnt always this way. In fact, there is still much about the quarter system to appreciate. Our 10 week-long courses dont have the time to become excessively dull. We are able to take a larger variety of classes than students elsewhere, and spend more time focusing on them. I like these things. I like the quarter system and I like that Im able to be at college a lot, actually; I guess it hadnt even occurred to me all that I could dislike about quarters.

Until now.

I dont like that the better paying jobs for college kids on summer breaks are typically for semester-system college kids who finish school weeks earlier in May. I dont like that housing options may become more limited the further into summer your term ends. I dont like that we have to plan and prepare these things as were trudging through spring term. And I dont like that no one told us this is how a quarter system works.

To make matters worse, Ive just discovered the 2023 commencement ceremony is on June 20 and I am livid. Livid! June 20. Its nearly a Cancer sign (no wonder Im so emotional). What about post-grad summer internships? Or travel? Or, I dont know, a job? Doesnt July seem a bit late to start living your post-college life?

A quarter system requires its students to play catch up. And who wants to do that? Some sick masochist with the odds against them, thats who!

Of course, at the end of the day this is all rather silly and subjective. In fact, this is just a list of things I like and dislike about the quarter system (hence the title, opinion columnist). For you, though, the good days may outweigh the bad on quarter system calendars. Maybe you like that our summer breaks have better weather than the PNW semester schools. Maybe you havent felt the effects of the late start or dont really mind. They say everyone loves an underdog story, after all. I just hope that includes next years hiring teams when I apply for jobs weeks after every other college grad.
US Dollar, DXY, Market Sentiment, CPI, China, Technical Outlook  Talking Points

Asia-Pacific markets set for higher open as traders look to extend gains on USD weakness

Chinas Covid lockdowns pose a threat to recovering market sentiment if restrictions grow

The DXY Index accelerated lower on Friday, and prices may fall more if a key SMA gives way

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Mondays Asia-Pacific Outlook

Asia-Pacific markets are set to open higher as traders look to extend gains from last week when a softer US Dollar encouraged traders to buy stocks and other risk assets. The Greenback fell despite rate traders increasing their bets for a 75-basis point hike at the September FOMC meeting. The driving narrative sees the Fed slowing its pace of tightening after the next meeting, which should slow the exodus from Treasuries and help temper the rise in yields.

China, however, poses a risk to market sentiment. The country is enduring its broadest lockdown measures to date as policymakers attempt to stamp out virus flare-ups. A highly-transmissible strain and an under-vaccinated population, especially among the elderly, are hardly inspiring confidence in a quick resolution. Moreover, the upcoming National Congress in October, when President Xi is expected to secure a precedent-setting third term in office, makes a government policy shift all the more unlikely.

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Chinas consumer price index missed estimates last week, thanks in large part to falling pork prices. That could give the Peoples Bank of China (PBOC) more policy space, but a Yuan near the 7 level poses its own challenges for the central bank. Last week, China cut the number of reserves that most banks must hold by 2%, but the impact was negligible.

The Japanese Yen is closer to a potential market intervention after the Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met to discuss the currencys extraordinary weakness. The island nations ultra-loose monetary policy, extended debt levels, and high energy costs are weighing on the Yen. The US remains opposed to a Japanese intervention in the foreign exchange market. Nonetheless, the Yen caught a bid as traders speculated on the tail-risk chance. Still, if Japan decides to intervene in the currency, it could backfire and cause a flood of capital outflows even with its sizable reserves.

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US Dollar Technical Outlook

The US Dollar accelerated lower on Friday, breaking a three-week win streak. While prices hit a fresh 2022 high early in the week, bulls had trouble clearing a trendline from May. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) fell below the 70 overbought level and is tracking toward its midpoint, which may encourage more selling. Prices failed to hold below the 20-day Simple Moving Average on Friday, but a break lower would potentially threaten the August swing low.

DXY Daily Chart

Chart created with TradingView

--- Written by Thomas Westwater, Analyst for DailyFX.com

To contact Thomas, use the comments section below or @FxWestwater on Twitter
Crude Oil, Price Cap, US Dollar, Fed,ECB, Bundesbank, Nagel, EUR/JPY - Talking Points

Crude o il prices slipped as headwinds build for global growth

EUR/JPY rallied on a hawkish ECB joining the Fed stance for large lifts

All eyes are on US CPI on Tuesday. W ill it help or hinder WTI ?

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Crude oil is lower on Monday after the US price cap plan appears to be going ahead and concerns remain about the outlook for global growth amid rising rates.

US Treasury issued indicative guidelines on how the proposed cap would work on Friday but there remains a number of unanswered questions about how it will work.

At the same time, the Feds James Bullard, Esther George and Christopher Waller all re-iterated the hawkish stance of the central bank. The market is looking at softening consumer spending conditions as well as Covid-19 related lockdowns in China to hamper growth and by extension, demand for oil.

The WTI futures contract is near US$ 85.50 bbl while the Brent contract is a close to US$ 91.50 bbl. Overall, it seems that markets are yet to fully decipher the implications of Ukrainian forces pushing Russian troops back.

The US Dollar had a mixed start to the week, losing ground to the Euro but gaining against the Japanese Yen again. This saw EUR/JPY push toward Fridays 8-year peak above 144. Other currency pairs were fairly subdued.

The Euro seems to have benefitted from comments by Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel. He made hawkish comments on German radio over the weekend, hinting that there could be more outsized hikes coming from the European Central Bank (ECB). Nagel sits on the Governing Council of the ECB that determines rate changes.

The Yen weakened despite more jawboning from Japanese officials, this time it was Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiji Kiharas turn. He cited excessive one-sided moves in the currency are being monitored.

Japan also announced a relaxing of travel rules for in bound tourists that would benefit from the weaker Yen and boost economic activity.

Treasury yields have added a few basis points across the curve in Asian trade. Gold is steady near US$ 1,713 an ounce.

APAC equity markets that were open had a rock-solid start to the week after a stellar performance on Wall Street on Friday. China, Hong Kong and South Korea are on holiday to start the week.

European equity index futures are in the green but North American markets are looking at a benign start to their cash session.

The main event for the week ahead is US CPI figures that will be seen on Tuesday and closely watched for hints for Fed action.

The full economic calendar can be viewed here.

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WTI Crude Oil TECHNICAL ANALYSIS

Oil is trading at levels seen before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Last week it touched a prior low at 81.90 but it was unable to follow through. This may continue to provide support.

That move saw the price move under the lower 21-day simple moving average (SMA) based Bollinger Band. and then close back inside it. This could indicate a reversal may unfold or that bearish momentum might pause.

Resistance might be at a recent peak of 90.39

Chart created in TradingView

--- Written by Daniel McCarthy, Strategist for DailyFX.com

To contact Daniel, use the comments section below or @DanMcCathyFX on Twitter
Of the Queen's 15 Prime Ministers, Labour's Harold Wilson is said to have been her favourite. But how true is that claim?

A timely new biography, Harold Wilson: The Winner, by historian and Shadow Cabinet member Nick Thomas-Symonds, examines the relationship. And at the book launch last Tuesday  just before the Queen fell seriously ill  Wilson's son Robin, 78, told me his father regularly mentioned his encounters with the monarch.

The retired mathematician revealed: 'He talked about her wise counsel and said he could relax with her because he knew none of their conversations would ever be leaked.'

Wilson knew a thing or two about leaking: he seems to have been the source of many of the claims that he was the Queen's favourite PM in the first place!

Of the Queen's 15 Prime Ministers, Labour's Harold Wilson is said to have been her favourite. But how true is that claim?

Within weeks of taking office in 1964, the newspapers were briefed  by the new PM himself  that he and the Queen were getting on famously. The two soon appeared together on the cover of the satirical Private Eye magazine, with the Queen telling her premier: 'We can't go on meeting like this.'

Although the Queen did attend a dinner at Downing Street in 1976 to mark Wilson's departure from office  an honour otherwise bestowed only on Winston Churchill  we will never truly know what she thought of him, as of so many other things.

And, in a constitutional monarchy, that is exactly as it should be.

Wilson knew a thing or two about leaking: he seems to have been the source of many of the claims that he was the Queen's favourite PM in the first place!

Talk about a baptism of fire: the soldiers from 7 Company Coldstream Guards, who were at St James's Palace for the Accession Council, were all new recruits. Only their officers wore medals. 'They went from basic training and Civvy Street to the most important parade for the regiment in 70 years,' said one Whitehall source.

A place in Westminster Abbey for the Queen's funeral next Monday will be prized by senior politicians past and present keen to witness history. That raises the worrying prospect of disgraced former Speaker John Bercow and his wife Sally (below) being among the assembled dignitaries. A humble plea to the new King: might the Bercows be seated behind a pillar . . . or perhaps they could watch it on TV in the Tower?

Galloway's galling anecdote

Controversial former MP George Galloway is quick to offer the world his memories of Her Majesty  and inevitably gives the impression that he thinks the Queen was more pleased to meet him than the other way round.

'I 'served' the late Queen twice,' he reveals. 'Once as a wine-waiter in the Angus Hotel in Dundee and then as an MP. I told her about the first and she remembered the event.' It's a wonder he didn't salute her 'courage, strength and indefatigability'  as he did Saddam Hussein.

Liz Truss is the first Prime Minister in almost two centuries to share a name with the Sovereign. In 1834, King William IV dismissed the Whig PM William Lamb because he opposed the party's reforming tendencies and wanted to see the Tories in power. After the Tories lost the General Election in 1835, the Whigs returned and Lamb was reinstated. No monarch has since dissolved a government for their own ends.

When new Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng was first running to be an MP in 2010, he was confronted on the campaign trail by a tattooed, shaven-headed man. 'Ere,' said the man, according to Charles Moore in The Spectator. 'Is it true you didn't go to an ordinary school like us ordinary people: you was at Eton?' When brainbox Kwarteng  who got to the school thanks to a scholarship  nodded, the skinhead replied: 'Good. I don't want the country run by bloody oiks!'

Spotted last week in a West London Wilko, the homeware shop for those on a tight budget: Old Etonian former Prime Minister David Cameron. Does his famous shepherd's hut need a makeover?
Another death in the House of Windsor, another long walk in public behind the flag-draped coffin of a much-loved mother, another sad day in the history of this family.

Yesterday, the Queens four children walked through Edinburgh behind the hearse carrying their beloved Mama on one of her last journeys.

And as they slow-marched through the silent streets of the Scottish capital, it brought to mind another September funeral a long time ago.

The deaths of Elizabeth II and Princess Diana may be a quarter-century apart, but many watching this melancholy progression were reminded that the rituals of royal death remain the same.

On that morning in 1997, it was the Windsor men who walked through London behind Dianas coffin. Many years later, Prince Harry would claim that the ordeal damaged him for life.

He has been vocal with his criticism that no child should have been asked to do what he did, to have his grief observed by thousands of people.

He was just 12 years old at the time, and looked tiny and vulnerable in his grown-up lounge suit. Perhaps he is right  and we certainly live in more enlightened times when it comes to the provision of mental health safeguards for all ages.

Yet different standards are demanded of royal mourners. If grief is the price we pay for love, as the Queen once famously said, then public exposure at times of peak personal grief is an unfortunate part of the royal bargain.

Unlike the little prince, Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward may have age and wisdom on their side, but the ordeal must have been no less painful.

Another death in the House of Windsor, another long walk in public behind the flag-draped coffin of a much-loved mother, another sad day in the history of this family

Earl Spencer (4th left) Prince William, Prince Harry and The Prince of Wales (far right) watch the coffin of Diana, Princess of Wales, leave Westminster Abbey following her funeral

Yesterday, the Queens four children walked through Edinburgh behind the hearse carrying their beloved Mama on one of her last journeys

As the procession wound through the medieval heart of the city, from the palace of Holyrood up the cobbled hill to the cathedral of St Giles, the four of them marched in lockstep behind the cortege, their gazes trained forward like gundogs, a certain grim resolution in every difficult step.

There was Charles staunchly shuffling onwards, his hand on his ceremonial sword; Anne rinsed out by grief and suddenly looking older; Edward pale and hollowed-eyed.

The three of them were in military uniform; baled up in gold braid and ribbons like gift-wrapped emissaries from the army of late-life orphans; each of them sorrowing under their gilt-edged caps and complicated epaulettes.

Prince Andrew, the only one of the quartet to have actually served on active duty in a war, was not in uniform. That is because he is no longer a working royal, whispered James Naughtie, who was providing the live narration for Scotland: A Service For HM The Queen (BBC1). We all know that is true and also not true, but it was a nice bit of treacled tact from a broadcaster not always known for his diplomacy.

Undaunted, burly Andrew marched onwards past the whisky bars and the fudge shops of the Royal Mile, his bare head and plain clothes a mark of disgrace and a symbol of the riven relationship with his family and the narrowing of his life as a royal.

Did he deserve such a public walk of shame? It is hard to imagine it is what his mother would have wanted.

Earlier in the programme there had been interviews with ordinary Scots who had met the Queen. It was absolutely lovely.

There was a man called Hector, an engineer on the Forth Road Bridge. A secretary who was invited to the opening of the bridge just because she was a local. And those who remembered the Queen coming to Dunblane in the aftermath of the school shooting tragedy. Someone spoke of HMs ability to personify a nations feelings in a way that represent us all.

King Charles III and other members of the royal family hold a vigil at St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, on Monday

We all felt uplifted, said another contributor.

Scotland did not expect to have a starring role in the death of the Queen, but the country looked beautiful when her cortege first began the long journey to London, when it moved from the Highlands of Balmoral to the lowlands over the weekend.

Now it was Edinburghs turn to put on a show, and the city did not disappoint. On this sunny but saddest of September days, a stiff breeze blowing in from the River Forth ruffled the crimson cassocks of the assembled clergy, fluttered the eagle feathers tucked into the Balmoral caps of the Royal Company of Archers and rippled across the bearskins of the Queens Guard.

Yesterdays entire procession was poignant but beautiful; the swinging sporrans, the muffled drums, the pageantry played out against the medieval architecture of the Old Town.

The only thing that spoiled it was James Naughtie, who noted the silence and solemnity of the crowds gathered on the Royal Mile, but just wouldnt stop talking.

He chuntered on about John Knox and delivered a history lesson to viewers who were witnessing history for themselves. We didnt need him going on about the difficult and bloody upheavals of the 16th and 17th centuries that meant so much to the Queen.

What? We were also informed that St Giles was a centrifugal building, directed to note the unicorn that sits atop the Mercat Cross and even told what the gathered crowds were thinking.

They are touched by the knowledge this is a sight they wont see again, he pronounced, rather pompously. Were they?

How could he have known? Off with his microphone, if not his head.
Don't worry, this isn't going to be another one of those 'The Queen Who Met Me' pieces. Although I did meet her once, at the 150th anniversary of the Journalists' Charity, of which she was patron.

I was in a receiving line, along with other ambassadors for the charity, standing next to my old mate Nick Ferrari, the peerless LBC radio breakfast show presenter.

Nick, an ardent monarchist, was so overcome with excitement at meeting Her Maj that he actually curtsied. He squatted so low that I worried he might have trouble getting up again.

The Queen had that effect on people. Even though I've never been much of a royalist, it was an honour to shake her hand. I remember thinking how much she reminded me of my own mum. Same height, similar demeanour, some of the same facial expressions.

It was an impression that only increased, every time I saw the Queen on TV, as they both got older and entered their tenth decade.

I was in a receiving line, along with other ambassadors for the charity, standing next to my old mate Nick Ferrari, the peerless LBC radio breakfast show presenter

Mum was a couple of years younger, but they were from the same generation and at least superficially cut from the same cloth. Although from vastly different backgrounds, they shared many attributes  love of family and country, selflessness and a wicked sense of humour.

Even though my father's job took her to America 46 years ago, Mum never gave up her British citizenship and made it home as often as she could. Like most of those who had endured the deprivations and dangers of World War II, she admired the Royal Family in general and the Queen in particular.

When Mum died in March, I had to dash the 3,800 miles to Detroit. Fortunately, I made it in time to spend precious hours at her bedside before she passed away peacefully.

So I can understand what the Queen's children went through as they raced to Balmoral. At least Charles and Anne were with her at the end.

What made me think back to Nick's reaction on meeting the Queen was that picture of Anne curtsying as her mother's coffin was carried into the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.

To my mind, it was the most poignant and moving image of the past, terribly sad few days. It illustrated a side of the Princess Royal that we have rarely, if ever, seen before.

The Queen had that effect on people. Even though I've never been much of a royalist, it was an honour to shake her hand. I remember thinking how much she reminded me of my own mum. Same height, similar demeanour, some of the same facial expressions

Her face was racked with grief, understandably, after having endured not just the difficult days since her beloved Mama died, but an agonising six-hour road trip behind the royal hearse from Balmoral. The Queen had specifically requested that the Princess accompanied her on her final journey, an indication of the towering regard in which she held her daughter.

Photographs taken en route show a tearful Anne, lost in thought. It was not the Princess to whom we have become accustomed over the years.

We are used to seeing her with her game face on, faithfully carrying out an exhausting schedule of public engagements  more than any other member of the family. Occasionally, the mask has slipped, for instance when telling over-intrusive photographers to 'Naff 'orf'.

But I can't recall ever seeing her display much emotion. She's tougher than the rest.

She has never succumbed to the temptation of indulging in self-serving, soul-searching television interviews or collaborating on tell-all memoirs.

Mum was a couple of years younger, but they were from the same generation and at least superficially cut from the same cloth. Although from vastly different backgrounds, they shared many attributes  love of family and country, selflessness and a wicked sense of humour.

Heaven knows she must have been horrified when her late sister-in-law co-operated with Andrew Morton and sat down to spill the beans with the BBC's Martin Bashir. We can only imagine how appalled she must be at the money-grubbing antics of her ingrate nephew Harry and his ghastly bit-part actress wife.

In yesterday's Daily Mail, royal confidant Gyles Brandreth revealed that Anne was shocked when Charles effectively told Jonathan Dimbleby in 1994 that their mother was remote and uncaring.

She leapt to the Queen's defence, insisting: 'I'm not going to speak for anyone else but I simply don't believe there is any evidence to suggest that she wasn't caring. It beggars belief.

'I don't believe any of us, for a second, thought she didn't care for us in the same way any other mother did.'

It is not recorded what she said to her brother behind closed doors, but 'Naff 'orf' would likely have been the half of it.

So it was heartening to read Nick Constable in The Mail on Sunday reporting that Charles and Anne are now closer than ever.

I claim no special insight into the royals, but those who are in the know say the Princess was the constant in the Queen's life, especially since Prince Philip died.

We are used to seeing her with her game face on, faithfully carrying out an exhausting schedule of public engagements  more than any other member of the family. Occasionally, the mask has slipped, for instance when telling over-intrusive photographers to 'Naff 'orf'

That figures, certainly based on my own experience. There's a bond between mother and daughter that a son, no matter how close to his mum, simply can't replicate.

From the moment my father died 27 years ago, my younger sister Vivienne became my mother's rock. Her strength and stay, so to speak.

In later years, as Mum's health deteriorated, they moved in together. Viv became her full-time carer, at the same time as holding down a responsible job. When Covid kept us apart for more than 18 months, I was comforted to know that Viv was looking after Mum, beyond the call of duty.

OK, so we were separated by nearly 4,000 miles. But even if Mum had lived 400 yards away from me in London, I still couldn't have cared for her in the same way only a daughter could.

I'm sure the Queen adored her four children equally, but she is lucky to have had a daughter with whom she shared not only her love of horses and the countryside, but was also someone who could share her more intimate concerns and confidences.

King Charles III knows he can depend on his sister's undying support as he faces the multiple challenges ahead in his new role as sovereign.

Similarly, I'd like to think that my mother's passing brought my sister and me closer together, too. I will be eternally grateful for everything Vivienne did for Mum, just as I am sure Charles hugely appreciates Anne's devotion to their dear Mama.

To have such wonderful sisters is to be truly blessed. Just don't expect me to curtsy.
For a perfect illustration of the chaos into which the cause of Scottish independence has been plunged since the death of the Queen, consider these two quotations.

In January, Nicola Sturgeon claimed to her fellow MSPs that Scotland was being treated like something on the sole of Westminsters shoe.

It was a typically ungracious remark from a woman who  however much she imagines herself as an international stateswoman  often resorts to petty political mudslinging.

Jump forward to the shock of the Queens death last week, however, and Ms Sturgeons deputy, John Swinney, found himself uttering words that I never thought Id hear from a separatists lips.

In an interview on Sunday, Swinney  an avowed nationalist  referred to Scotlands central constitutional position within the United Kingdom.

In January, Nicola Sturgeon claimed to her fellow MSPs that Scotland was being treated like something on the sole of Westminsters shoe

Respect

He continued that right at the heart of the Accession Council in London was the significance of Scotlands place within the Union.

Well said that man!

The truth is that the SNP is deeply split on the issue of the monarchy  and even they cannot deny that Scotland plays a key role when it comes to such weighty matters of the British state as the accession of a new King or Queen.

Whats more, when Scots gather around the throne that they share with the English, support for independence seems to wane. This has been obvious in recent days.

Look at the pictures in todays Mail of the Scots who turned out in their thousands yesterday to line Edinburghs Royal Mile and pay their respects to both their late Queen and their new King and his family.

Or consider the extraordinary scenes on Sunday as, for 175 miles and over six hours, grieving Scots lined the roads as Her Majesty began that long journey south.

Scots of all ages and social backgrounds rushed to catch a glimpse of the hearse carrying the Queens coffin  with hardly a protester in sight.

The truth  which Sturgeon and her ilk surely know  is that both north and south of the border we have witnessed a glorious and heartening groundswell of love for the monarchy in recent days.

And this shatters the vain hopes of those nationalists who believed the Queens death would somehow deal a fatal blow to the Union itself.

The outpouring of affection for the late Queen and King Charles is a setback for Sturgeon and Co, who had  until this week  hoped to downplay the issue of the monarchy in their lifes work to secure an independent Scotland.

Some nationalists support the monarchy while others do not. Exposing these tensions is a crucial approach for unionists.

But supporters of the Union should take heart: this week is shaping up to be the greatest setback for the Scottish independence movement in a generation.

Back in 2014, just before Scots voted by 55 to 45 per cent to remain in the Union, the SNP promised that the Queen would continue as head of state in an independent Scotland.

The truth is that the SNP is deeply split on the issue of the monarchy  and even they cannot deny that Scotland plays a key role when it comes to such weighty matters of the British state as the accession of a new King or Queen

There was, naturally, wailing from some quarters of the party that this represented a betrayal of the republican cause. How could Scotland, they demanded, be both separate from the Union and retain the Crown?

They betrayed their own ignorance, of course. The British monarchy long predates the political union of Scotland and England.

It was a Scottish king, James VI (known as James I in England) who was invited to sit on the English throne in 1603, in what became known as the Union of the Crowns.

The political union  when the Scottish and English parliaments merged  came a century later in 1707.

So the shared monarchy has been an unbroken link between Scotland and England since the time of Shakespeare: a history Britain surrenders at its peril.

Whats more, all the signs are that, contrary to what the most fanatical SNP activists may say, Charles is proving just as popular north of the border as his mother was.

Needless to say, most Scots recognise that the Kings Scottish roots are strong and deep. And his devotion to Scotland and its people is equally fierce  as exemplified in 2007, when the then Prince of Wales bought and saved the great Palladian Dumfries House in Ayrshire as a gift to the nation.

Scotland has always been deeply special to the House of Windsor  and the Scottish people appreciate that.

Kinship

It is hugely significant, for example, that the Queen took her last breath in the comfort of her favourite home, Balmoral Castle.

Sturgeon, canny as ever, recognises all this  and does not want to alienate the millions of Scots who value the monarchy.

Yesterday, the First Minister even conducted the first reading at the service of prayer and reflection for the Queen in Edinburghs St Giles Cathedral.

But she is playing a difficult balancing act.

The fact is that the longer the Scots feel a kinship with the monarch they share with the UKs three other nations, the more they feel a subconscious but powerful tie to that Union.

So, in the wake of the Queens death, how close is Scotland to breaking away?

Earlier this year, Sturgeon announced that she would fight to hold a second referendum in October 2023. A ruling by the Supreme Court in London on whether the SNP has the legal right to hold such a contest is imminent.

If, as seems likely, the court rules that the UKs constitution is an issue for Westminster, Sturgeon will surely face a pivotal  perhaps existential  moment for her leadership.

New Prime Minister Liz Truss has made it clear she will reject a bid for Indyref2.

Assuming this is how it pans out, Sturgeon will have a decision to make.

It is hugely significant, for example, that the Queen took her last breath in the comfort of her favourite home, Balmoral Castle

Desperate

Will she concede what she is thought to have been told long ago by Scottish government lawyers but refused to admit publicly: that her repeated promises to her supporters of a second referendum were worthless? This would be political suicide.

Or will she revert to her Plan B, and unilaterally declare the next UK general election  expected in just two years  as a de facto referendum on independence?

Many Scots would not tolerate such fast and loose nationalist game-playing  but her desperate position might offer her no alternatives.

Certainly, time is not on her side. And the Queens death has renewed appreciation in Scotland for the great shared traditions and history with our neighbours south of the border.

It was Her Majestys mission to unite us: to think very carefully, as she put it, about independence.

Yet Nicola Sturgeon seeks to divide us.

The Queens last gift to us all may be that we witness Sturgeon fail.

n TOM HARRIS was Labour MP for Glasgow South from 2001 to 2015.
The Sovereign  who bows to no one  drops his head deep in love and reverence for his mother.

A family grieves like any other  except that they are having to gather their thoughts in the gaze of the whole world.

And one of the greatest monarchs in our thousand-year history lies at rest beneath the oldest crown in the kingdom  the Crown of Scotland.

This was the extraordinary scene last night as all four of the Queens children came to stand vigil over her coffin in the spiritual heart of her Scottish capital.

As twilight fell and St Giles Cathedral glowed in the candlelight, a kilted King Charles III led his sister and brothers to the chancel of the great sandstone High Kirk where Her Majesty lay on a catafalque of Scottish oak.

There, they each took up a position at a corner of the coffin, bowed their heads and stood on sentry duty for almost 15 minutes.

Behind them, members of the public silently filed past as they paid their respects, not wanting to disturb what was both a sacred and a private moment.

A family grieves like any other  except that they are having to gather their thoughts in the gaze of the whole world

This was the extraordinary scene last night as all four of the Queens children came to stand vigil over her coffin in the spiritual heart of her Scottish capital

Here was a King paying homage to a Queen, a son honouring a mother and a man leading an entire nation in sorrow.

This royal tradition, once an all-male affair, had never previously included a Princess. But then Anne is no ordinary Princess.

It has long been customary that when a great national hero lies in state, guards stand vigil by the coffin, rotating in watches at regular intervals.

After the death of George V, his sons stepped in on the night of January 27, 1936. There was no place for Princess Mary in those days. Long-remembered as the Vigil of the Princes, the same family tribute was repeated in honour of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in 2002. On that occasion, her four grandsons  Princes Charles, Andrew and Edward plus Viscount Linley  stood guard at Westminster Hall.

Last night, the Princess Royal looked every inch the part as she joined her brothers for the wordless ceremony. Members of the public had been queuing since first light to gain entry to the cathedral to pay their respects. There was no possibility of booking an entry time. You just had to take your chances and be thankful if you managed to get in. Even luckier were those people who shuffled their way around the block and through the cathedral to bow their heads only to spot four very recognisable faces standing guard. There could be no dawdling, though. With people lining up to come here all through the night and up until this afternoon, mourners were told to keep moving, not bring bags or flowers and  very firmly  not to take snaps.

Looking on were the Queen Consort, proudly wearing the thistle brooch given to her by the late Queen, and the Countess of Forfar (the Wessexes become the Forfars when north of the border).

The King kept his hands joined and also looked towards the floor as members of the public filed past

Members of the public - who had been filing past the coffin in their thousands throughout the afternoon - were briefly held back to allow the royals to take their place

The four siblings had been here earlier in the day after escorting their mother from the Palace of Holyroodhouse for the service of thanksgiving. Flanked by the Royal Regiment of Scotland and the Royal Company of Archers, they processed at a steady pace up the hill past the largest crowds anyone could recall here.

Ten or even 20 deep they pressed against the police barriers. It all depended how wide the pavement was at any given point. I tried to make my way a few yards along the Royal Mile squeezing behind the throng two hours before the start. I had to give up and find a back route.

One or two people clapped, one or two shouted God save the Queen as the coffin. One man screamed something at the Duke of York (and was later floored by angry onlookers). Another was arrested after a largely incomprehensible outburst, prompted not by republican sentiment it turned out but by an Australian television crew blocking his view.

The most striking aspect of the royal procession was the choice of royal uniform  or, rather, lack of it in the case of the Duke of York. The Palace made it clear that only working members of the family would be in military dress. So, the King was in his field marshals ceremonial uniform, the Princess Royal was dressed as an Admiral of the Royal Navy and the Earl of Forfar was dressed as the Honorary Royal Colonel of the Wessex Yeomanry.

Though he was the only one to have fought for his country, the Duke of York  or Earl of Inverness as he becomes in Scotland  was wearing morning dress. He was wearing his military medals but equally painful for him will have been the fact he could not wear the regalia of the Orders of the Garter and the Thistle, like his siblings. Such is the penance he must continue to pay for his past association with the monster Jeffrey Epstein.

Inside the cathedral, the Queens coffin was borne through the congregation by soldiers from the Royal Regiment of Scotland and placed on the catafalque.

Every strand of Scottish public life had been waiting here for the best of an hour, along with the new prime minister Liz Truss. She was seated next to the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon. The two women had a cordial handshake.

Here were politicians past and present (former prime minister Gordon Brown and former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Steele among them), charity workers, royal chums, Salvation Army workers and medics. Here, too, were the Honours of Scotland. The Scottish Crown Jewels may not boast the carat count of the famous treasures we see in the Tower of London. But they are older than the English collection (which is a replacement set for everything flogged off during the English Civil War).

The Hereditary Bearer of the Crown of Scotland, the Duke of Hamilton, processed in with a crown first made for King James IV of Scotland. It was his duty to place the Crown on the coffin. To ensure this was done with the appropriate dignity, a set of steps was brought forth for the 44-year-old duke.

Here, too, were other seldom-seen holders of precisely the sort of ancient, high-born offices which make Scottish nationalists and socialists grind their teeth. So we saw the Hereditary Bearer of the Royal Banner of Scotland (the Earl of Dundee) bearing his standard alongside the Saltire held by the Hereditary Bearer of the National Flag of Scotland (the Earl of Lauderdale).

The Queen's children stood vigil over her coffin at St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh on Monday evening. Pictured is King Charles (centre front), Princess Anne (left), Prince Andrew (centre back) and Prince Edward (right)

Afternoon sunshine beamed through the west windows of the cathedral. All was airy and light within. We were repeatedly reminded that the Queen loved being a member of two churches  the C of E down south and the Church of Scotland here. And the subtle differences added to the unique atmosphere of the occasion. This might be a cathedral but it has no bishop.

Welcoming us all, the Minister of St Giles, the Rev Calum MacLeod, observed: Here John Knox confronted Mary Queen of Scots, here Oliver Cromwell preached. I dont think well be hearing his name mentioned at Westminster Abbey next week.

In his homily, the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Dr Iain Greenshields, likened the Queen to an Old Testament sovereign: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth began her reign, like King Solomon, by asking for wisdom, something that she demonstrated in large measure.

He, too, reminded us how she liked different services in different places: The Supreme Governor of the Church of England, she worshipped in the Church of Scotland when north of the border. She perceived little difficulty in belonging to two churches and appreciating the strength of each.

There was a beautiful Gaelic version of Psalm 118, accompanied by a harp. However, the real throat-gulper was when we rose to sing The Lords My Shepherd set to music usually known as Crimond, after the Aberdeenshire village where it was composed. Princess Elizabeth chose it for her wedding in 1947. She loved it for evermore. Not since the Union of the Crowns in 1603, surely, have we seen such a quintessentially Caledonian succession as this one. King Charles III is the first monarch in four centuries to accede to the throne on Scottish soil. Scotland has given his mother the most magnificent send-off. It now passes the baton to London.

Tonight, Her late Majesty will be carried past her Scottish subjects for the last time en route to Edinburgh Airport (with the Princess Royal at her side). She will then return to Buckingham Palace ahead of her funeral. May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest, as the King put it so beautifully last week.

Perhaps one or two will be playing the pipes as well.
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Throughout her life, the Queen amassed a jewellery collection full of family heirlooms, priceless treasures and gifts from world leaders.

The monarch was rarely seen without diamonds, pearls or gemstones adorning her clothes, with royal commentators sometimes suggesting she used the pieces to send unspoken signals.

Particular attention was paid to her brooches: Her Majesty would often choose one with a connection to the person, country or organisation she was visiting.

The Queen was renowned for generously loaning both elaborate and simple pieces to royal wives including Meghan Markle, Sophie Wessex, Kate Middleton and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, over the years.

Now, upon her death at the age of 96 after 70 years on the throne, FEMAIL looks at Her Majesty's jewellery collection.

The Queen was rarely seen without a dazzling array of diamonds, pearls and gemstones decorating her bright and colourful clothes (pictured, in 2022 at the Platinum Jubilee celebration wearing her favourite pearl necklace, earrings and one of her favourite brooches the Kensington Bow brooch)

Her Majesty was often gifted her pieces for special occasions and wore wedding gifts throughout her life (left). She was renowned for generously loaning pieces to other royals including Kate Middleton (pictured right, at the Jubilee wearing the Queen's earrings)

The Queen's amazing collection of jewels included glittering brooches, earrings and necklaces.

Some have been passed down to Her Majesty through the royal family, while others were gifted to the monarch to mark important milestones, including her wedding, coronation and jubilees.

The most impressive jewels were reserved for high profile occasions like state dinners.

Otherwise the Queen preferred to keep her jewellery low-key and was rarely seen without three strings of pearls gifted to her by her grandfather.

The Queen was able to recall the meaning and occasion behind each item she had been gifted over the years, experts have claimed. Pictured left, in 1983 on a banquet in India, and right, in 2007 wearing a necklace gifted by President of Brazil for the Queens Coronation in 1953

The monarch, pictured here on one of her final engagements in July 2022, always wore her engagement ring in a sign of her dedication to her husband Prince Philip

The Royal Collection was held in trust by the Sovereign for her successors and the nation, and was not owned by The Queen as a private individual.

However she did have her own smaller private collection, which she has been known to loan to members of the royal family for formal occasions and state visits, at her own discretion.

NECKLACES

While we associated the Queen with her incredible Royal Collection of priceless tiaras, intricate brooches and dazzling diamond earrings, she was, like many Englishwomen of a certain age, most at ease in her pearls.

Pearls were the Queens first serious piece of jewellery.

When her grandfather George V celebrated his Silver Jubilee in 1935, he gave both his granddaughters pearl necklaces.

Among the collection Elizabeth owns today are two stunning necklaces - the 18th-century Queen Anne pearl necklace and the 50-pearl Queen Caroline necklace, both given as a wedding present from her father.

Her favourite necklace for quiet days was her single-strand version, one of the first pieces she acquired, and very much in the English tradition, matching the timeless elegance of her treasured pearl and diamond studs.

Meanwhile the royal also had a huge range of other opulent necklaces, including the stunning sets gifted from her coronation in 1953.

One striking set formed from unusual aquamarine stones, was a gift from the President of Brazil for the Queens Coronation in 1953.

The striking necklace was made by Mappin & Webb in Rio de Janiero, and the stones are set in diamond and platinum surrounds.

It came with matching earrings - and in 1958 she was presented with a large brooch and bracelet. The stones are perfectly matched - it took a year to collect them from mines across Brazil.

The Queen's much beloved glittering Festoon necklace, gifted to the royal by her father, is pictured during an outing to a concert with President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy in America in 1983

The nation continued to supply the Queens aquamarine collection, including providing stones for a tiara she had adapted in 1971.

She toned down the piece by replacing the pendant with a smaller stone, and attaching the aquamarine to her tiara.

The royal also adored jewellery presents from family members, including one glittering Festoon necklace given to Princess Elizabeth in 1950 by her father that remained her favourites throughout her life.

It was made from 105 loose diamonds that were kept in reserve at Garrard, stored in pouches marked C for Crown, in case a monarch wanted to extend a necklace or improve a tiara.

Queen Mary, the Queens grandmother, was said to have made regular use of the service.

The resulting triple strand necklace has rows of graduated stones, suspended between two diamond triangles.

It was also the Queens preferred necklace for wearing without a tiara.

Among the Queen's more recent pieces was a gift from Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, former Emir of Qatar, during a state visit to Britain in 1985.

Where did the Queen keep her extensive jewellery collection? At home in Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle, the jewellery she wore regularly was not kept in one of the boxes of battered leather lined with mushroom velvet that house her grand occasion pieces. Instead, they lived on trays that house stones according to colour  rubies, sapphires, emeralds. Advertisement

A diamond swag shape, set in gold and designed around two central gemstones, it came with a matching set of earrings  and had been one of the Queens favourite ruby pieces ever since.

Because of its rich, exotic colour, she preferred it for foreign engagements, such as this state banquet in Turkey in 2008, but has also worn it twice to the state opening of Parliament.

The royal also lent her Nizam of Hyderabad necklace, originally created by Cartier in 1930s to family members.

One of the Queen's more recent acquisitions was the necklace and earring set from Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, former Emir of Qatar, who gifted it to the royal during a state visit to Britain in 1985.

Did the Queen ever wear gold? The Queen rarely wore gold jewellery, but opted for this gold and emerald piece to a film premiere in 2004 The Queen rarely wore gold, preferring silver or platinum for her everyday jewels, so this gold and emerald necklace is something of a curiosity in the royal collection. Its a pared-down look, more akin to costume jewellery than royal regalia, worn to a film premiere in London in 2004 - and paired with matching emerald drop earrings in a pretty bow shape. The provenance of the 18-stone chain is unknown, and Her Majesty wasn't known to have worn it before or since, suggesting it may have been a gift not quite to her taste. Advertisement

It was gifted to Majesty as a gift when she married in November 1947 and consists of a long chain of 38 diamonds (reduced from the original 46) with a diamond-encrusted snap.

The centre of the necklace was pave-set with detachable double-drop pendant 13 emerald-cut diamonds and a pear-shaped drop. The original necklace consisted of eight double-drop and three triple-drop pendants.

Kate Middleton borrowed the diamond stunner to attend a black tie Portrait Gala in 2014 at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

It set off her midnight blue Jenny Packham evening gown, which was plain to show off the beauty of her diamonds.

Left, The Queen wearing the Nizam of Hyderabad necklace - part of the Royal Collection - which was made by Cartier, the George IV State Diadem and the insignia of the Order of the Garter, circa 1953. Right, the Duchess of Cambridge wearing the necklace in 2014

The Queen's remarkable memory Journalist Sali Hughes, author of Our Rainbow Queen, explained the Queen had an 'outstanding memory' and put it to good use when it comes to her wardrobe. 'There are no mistakes; there are no accidents,' Hughes said in an interview with Vanity Fair. 'Everything is forensically thought of, considered, and documented, and her memory is outstanding. 'She does not forget who gave her something, and she doesnt forget the meaning it has when she was given her gifts and her jewellery.' Advertisement

BROOCHES

Brooches, usually worn on the left shoulder, were a favourite for the royal and the Queen was believed to have over 100 in her collection.

A selection that would go with an outfit were presented to her - usually three at a time - by her senior dresser and confidante Angela Kelly on special trays that once belonged to Queen Mary.

The royal had a wide variety of different brooches which she often wore with her usual pearl earrings and necklace, including a spray of flowers brooch by the people and government of Australia during her Coronation tour of 1954.

She was also regularly seen in the Queen Mothers Shell Brooch from the late Queen Mothers jewellery collection, a shell shape consisting of solid rows of diamonds with a single pearl cradled at the base, and strings of diamonds suspended underneath.

One of the royal's favourites was the Kensington Bow brooch, a wedding gift from the residents of Kensington to her grandmother in 1893, costing 450 (about 40,000 today).

The brooch features two rows of diamonds set in silver and gold, tied in a bow around a single large diamond, and it was often used to secure a sash or as a clasp for remembrance poppies.

Among the brooches she favoured was the Cullinan V Brooch, which was an unusual and distinctive heart shape.

The diamond, of 18.8 carats, was one of six numbered stones cut from the Cullinan diamond, the biggest in the world, and given to Queen Mary, the Queens grandmother, by the people of South Africa in 1910.

Many have suggested the Queen may have tried to send messages with her selection of brooches - some commentators pointed out the royal wore a brooch given to her by President Obama when she met President Trump on a visit in 2019.

When Prince Philip was in hospital in 2021, the Queen paid tribute to her late husband with her brooches for public appearances.

The Queen had a huge selection of brooches, with over 100 in her personal collection. One of her favourites was the Cullinan V Brooch, given to Queen Mary, the Queens grandmother, by the people of South Africa in 1910 (pictured wearing it during a visit to Tuvalu in South Pacific)

One of the royal's favourites was the Kensington Bow brooch, a wedding gift from the residents of Kensington to her grandmother in 1893, costing 450 (about 40,000 today). (pictured in 2005 visiting Bristol university)

It was occasionally suggested the royal selected her brooches in order to send a signal about her beliefs (pictured left, with President Obama and Michelle Obama, wearing the pin they gave her in 2011, and right, the pin)

The royal had a wide variety of different brooches which she often wore with her usual pearl earrings and necklace (pictured left, The Queen was given this spray of flowers brooch by the people and government of Australia during her Coronation tour of 1954, the Queen was presented with this brooch from the people and government of Australia. It depicts a spray of flowers with mimosa leaves and tea tree blossoms in white and colored diamonds. pictured right, The Queen Mothers Shell Brooch from the late Queen Mothers jewellery collection and takes the shape of a shell made of solid rows of diamonds with a single pearl cradled at the base and strings of diamonds suspended underneath.)

Another of the 2,500 wedding presents given to the Queen on her marriage to Prince Philip, the Carrington Sapphire Feather brooch (right) was a gift from Carrington jewellers. A fine diamond feather with a sapphire centre, its always paired with blue or purple, as here in 2019

The Queen was generous with her jewellery collection, often lending pieces to other senior royals. The New Zealand Fern brooch was presented to the Queen in 1953 by the women of Auckland. She is seen wearing it in 2008 (left) and it was loaned to Kate for her 2014 tour of Australasia (right)

The Queen kept Prince Philip close to her heart while he was in hospital in 2021 by donning significant brooches for public engagements - in February, she chose to wear the same six-petal diamond flower brooch she had worn when the couple announced their engagement in 1947 (left and right)

The Queen kept her husband close to her heart in 2021 while the Duke spent several weeks in hospital, donning the same six-petal diamond flower brooch she wore when the couple announced their engagement in 1947 for a virtual engagement.

The monarch wore the glittering accessory on a video call with health leaders from Windsor Castle in which she made a historic intervention in the coronavirus vaccination drive, suggesting it is selfish not to have the jab.

And during his funeral on April 18, Her Majesty brought out the diamond Richmond Brooch, a present from the town of Richmond for her grandmother Queen Mary's 1893 wedding to the future King George V which she inherited.

The Queen wore a brooch gifted to her by Prince Philip during a visit to the Royal Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth

The gold Scarab brooch, with ruby and diamond embellishments, was a 1966 gift from the Duke of Edinburgh (pictured the couple together in 1966, with the Queen wearing the brooch)

Weeks later, as she visited the Royal Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth, the Queen wore a brooch gifted to her by Prince Philip.

Her Majesty, 95, paid tribute to her beloved husband of 73 years, who died on April 9 2021 aged 99, by wearing the piece, which she teamed with a brick-red military-style cashmere coat for her appearance at HM Naval Base, Portsmouth.

The gold Scarab brooch, with ruby and diamond embellishments, was a 1966 gift from the Duke of Edinburgh.

EARRINGS

When the Queen turned 21, jewels flooded in, mostly in the form of gifts from relatives.

Among them was a pair of heavy diamond chandelier earrings that had been given to her mother Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother as a wedding present.

Soon, she had acquired many other pairs of earrings that could be worn only with pierced ears, and so in 1951, just before her state visit to Canada, the 25-year-old Queen gave in to the inevitable and had her ears pierced.

Some of the royal's favorite earrings remained her pearl pieces throughout her life, with the Queen often choosing a simple stud or pearl drop for her daily appearances.

Day-to-day Her Majesty often wore the simple but chic Queen Mary's Button Earrings, which feature a pearl and a diamond (pictured here visiting the Royal British Legion Industries Village, Aylesford in November 2019)

The Queen regularly wore pearl drop earrings, but often chose the Ladies of Devonshire earrings for formal day events (pictured waving to the crowds from the balcony of Buckingham Palace during the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2017)

Day-to-day, the Queen often chose between two almost identical pearl earrings.

The royal's favourite earrings for casual wear were the simple Queen Mary's Button Earrings, which featured a single pearl with a small diamond on top.

Meanwhile she would wear the Ladies of Devonshire earrings for more formal day events, such as the Diamond Jubilee service or the Order of the Garter service, as well as for evening occasions.

Queen Mary gave the Devonshire Earrings to her granddaughter, Princess Elizabeth, as a wedding present in 1947.

The Queen is believed to have gifted Meghan Markle a similar pair of earrings to her own for their first joint engagement in June 2018

A present to the Queen from the kingdom of Bahrain to celebrate the Queen's wedding to Prince Philip in 1947, the Bahrain pearl drop earrings were hidden away from public view for many decades but have recently been seen more regularly.

The Queen chose to wear the pieces to the Remembrance Day service in 2015, with Kate Middleton wearing them the following year to the same event.

The Countess of Wessex has also sported the diamond-supported pearls. And Kate, who is known to adore a pearl earring, also wore them while staying at Balmoral during the summer of 2018.

The Bahrain Pearl Drop earrings were a present to the Queen from the kingdom of Bahrain to celebrate her wedding to Prince Philip in 1947

Kate wore the jewels as she joined Prince William and other senior royals at the Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee

Sophie, The Countess of Wessex, also wore the Bahrain pearl drop earrings in 2012 to attend a performance of the Massed Bands and Bugles of The Rifles at the Royal Albert Hall

Kate has also donned another set of the Queen's diamond-and-pearl earrings, which the monarch herself last wore in 1977.

In 2016, the Duchess was spotted wearing them while on a trip to Canada, and later in the year in Holland.

The Queen gifted Meghan Markle a similar (but smaller) pair prior to the Duchess' first royal joint engagement without her husband.

The monarch continued to generously lend her earrings to her granddaughters-in-law during the final years of her life.

At the Silver Jubilee in 1977, the Queen donned a pair of diamond-and-pearl earrings that she hasn't worn since in public. However, the monarch has gifted them to her grandaughter-in-law, with Kate spotted wearing them twice in 2016

New generation, same jewels: The Duchess of Cambridge was spotted wearing the same earrings in 2016 during a royal visit with Prince William to Canada, they appeared again on a trip later that year to the Netherlands

In 2021, the Duchess of Cambridge honoured the Queen on her birthday by borrowing her pearl earrings for a visit to an air cadet centre.

Kate borrowed the silver jubilee diamond and pearl earrings from the monarch who first wore them to celebrate her silver jubilee in 1977.

The visit, which took place on the Queen's 95th birthday, was carried out in honour of the Duke of Edinburgh, who was Honorary Air Commodore-in-Chief of the squadron for 63 years before Kate took over as Commandant-in-Chief in 2015.

But it was not just pearl pieces that the royal favoured, with the royal occasionally donning large costume-style jewellery from her collection of diamond pieces.

The Duchess of Cambridge honoured the Queen on her 95th birthday by borrowing her pearl earrings for her visit to an air cadet centre

The origin of the stunning large teardrop-shaped diamond adornments is unknown and they may even be a more modern addition to the Queen's collection.

The monarch was spotted wearing them at the State Opening of Parliament in 2012 before they were next seen gracing Kate's ears, most notably at a gala held at Kensington Palace in November 2017.

The royal would also occasionally don pieces that were part of a set with her elegant necklaces, such as the aquamarine set gifted to her by the President of Brazil for her coronation.

The origin of these teardrop-shaped earrings is unknown and they may have first been seen in public as late as 2012, when the Queen wore them to the State Opening of Parliament. A different look: Kate has worn the drop diamond earrings on a number of occasions including at a dinner while on a royal visit to Sweden and Norway

A closer look: The Duchess of Cambridge at a 2017 Gala Dinner for The Anna Freud National Centre held at Kensington Palace in 2017

All that glitters! The Duchess of Cambridge borrowed the Queen's emerald and diamond earrings and matching bracelet (both pictured) for the Caribbean tour in 2022 (left) Treasured: The Queen has worn the set on a number of occasions, including at a reception for the Obamas in 2011 (right). There is also a necklace (seen here) which Kate did not wear

When she was not wearing her trademark pearls, the Queen opted for pendants such as these dazzling purple stones, part of the Kent Amethyst set, which belonged to Queen Victorias mother.

The set also included three brooches, a necklace and hair combs, but the earrings  worn to a state banquet in Portugal in 1985 - are the only items seen in public.

These ornate diamond frames, each containing an oval pearl drop, are the Duchess of Gloucesters Pendants, first owned by Queen Marys great aunt.

They passed to the Queen on her grandmothers death in 1953. She chose them for her wedding in 1947, on a visit to Mauritius in 1972 and wears them often nowadays.

If shes not wearing her trademark pearls, the Queen opts for pendants such as these dazzling purple stones (left), part of the Kent Amethyst set, which belonged to Queen Victorias mother. These ornate diamond frames (right), each containing an oval pearl drop, are the Duchess of Gloucesters Pendants, first owned by Queen Marys great aunt

BRACELETS

The Queen mainly wore bracelets for formal occasions and events, such as foreign tours and the State Opening of parliament.

The royal had many diamond bracelets, and mainly choose them for black tie events, occasionally if she didn't wear a tiara.

Her collection included a set of two matching bracelets composed of chain links between diamond plaques which came from Queen Marys collection.

The Queen regularly wore bracelets for black tie and formal events, donning two diamond pieces for the State Opening of Parliament in October 2019

Mary bought them in 1932, and then had a matching one made three years later to hold a 9.75 carat diamond from the Premier Mines given to her during a visit to South Africa.

The bracelets were made to join together to create a choker. They are nearly identical, one having a larger plaque for the South African diamond.

One of the sets the Queen most often wore was the sapphire set.

The royal often wore the glittering pieces of jewellery to formal black tie events, donning the chain links between diamond plaques from Queen Mary's collection over white gloves. The Queen also had a selection of pearl evening watches for formal events (pictured left in Canada in 2002) She occasionally wore bracelets as part of a set of jewellery (pictured right, leaving the Ritz after celebrating her Golden Jubilee in 2002 wearing emerald-cut sapphires and diamonds collection, which included a necklace, earrings, a bracelet and a ring).

It began with a mid-19th century set of necklace and earrings bought by her father, King George VI, at Carrington & Co. and given to her as a wedding present in 1947.

The set features a necklace of emerald-cut sapphires surrounded by diamonds and separated by individual diamonds, plus a pair of earrings, each with a large sapphire in a diamond cluster.

As given to the Queen, the necklace had 18 sapphire clusters, which she had shortened in 1952.

The Queen was often seeing wearing her gold watch, which she was gifted during her visit to Canada in 1951, as her go-to timepiece (pictured, in 2003 with George Bush)

In 1959 the largest cluster was turned into a pendant to hang on the necklace and was fitted with a pin for use as a brooch.

The royal also made a habit of wearing a watch every day, which was as much as a staple to her look as her pearls and her wedding and engagement rings.

Her gold watch, which she was gifted during her visit to Canada in 1951, was her go-to timepiece.

RINGS

There is one notable omission from the Queens jewel box: she very seldom wore rings.

Although she received a stunning square-cut diamond engagement ring with diamond side stones set in platinum from Prince Philip, the ring was barely seen as the Queen tended to cover her hands with gloves when in public.

She doesnt much like her hands, said royal editor Ingrid Seward, and prefers not to draw attention to them.
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The Queen was considered by many in the United Kingdom to be a mother and grandmother to the entire nation.

But to a small group, her Majesty was first and foremost the matriarch of their own family.

The monarch, who died 'peacefully', aged 96, at Balmoral in Scotland last week, was a mother to four, grandmother to eight, and great grandmother to 12 great-grandchildren.

And while members of the family often find themselves spread across the country, or even the world, as they undertake royal duties, earlier this year, they were able to come together to celebrate the Queen's 70-year reign.

The unprecedented Platinum Jubilee, which spread over a four-day weekend from June 2-5, saw the 96-year-old celebrate her remarkable seven decades on the throne.

A family affair: King Charles, the Queen, Prince Louis, Kate Middleton, Princess Charlotte, Prince George, Prince William on the balcony at the Queen's Platinum Jubilee in June

Her Majesty shares a special moment with her great-grandson Prince George on the final day of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June

(From left) Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence, Princess Anne, Camilla, Prince Charles, the Queen, Prince Louis, the Duchess of Cambridge, Princess Charlotte, Prince George, Prince William and Sophie, Countess of Wessex at Buckingham Palace

The Queen points as she stands next to Prince Louis on the balcony at Buckingham Palace in London

The Queen smiles as members of the Royal Family attend Trooping the Colour at Buckingham Palace in London

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's three children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, took a starring role in the royal carriage as they arrive alongside their mother the Duchess of Cambridge, and the Duchess of Cornwall at the start of Trooping the Colour

The Queen during her balcony appearance at Buckingham Palace alongside Prince Charles, Prince William, Kate, Princess Charlotte and Prince George

Eugenie and her husband Jack sit with Edoardo as the pageant gets under way

And while her Majesty appeared in good spirits as she celebrated with the nation, perhaps the most special aspect of the event was bringing her family together.

The celebration saw the Queen's beloved great grandchildren, who knew the monarch as 'Granny' or 'Gan-Gan', became the focus of many royal followers, thanks to their adorable antics throughout the long weekend.

Among the touching moments, her Majesty was snapped sharing a smile with Prince George during her second balcony appearance on the final day of the celebrations.

The nine-year-old was pictured turning to chat to his great-grandmother, as the two smiled at each other.

And while only Prince George will know exactly what was said during the special moment, the warmth between the two royals was clear for all to see.

The Queen and Prince Louis, four, stood side-by-side on the Buckingham Palace balcony on June 2, chatting as the flypast roared above them, revealing their close bond

The Queen smiles as Prince Louis covers his ears during the flypast over Buckingham Palace in London

Royals including Prince Charles, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Princess Anne, Kate Middleton, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis, Zara and Mike Tindall, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the royal box

Mike Tindall, Mia, eight, Lena, three, and Zara in the second row of the royal box at the Platinum Jubilee Pageant

Wearing a 740 Zimmermann cream floral-print Broderie Anglaise cotton midi dress, Zara sat alongside her daughter Lena

Crowds are seen on The Mall with the Queen shown on a screen during the singing of the National Anthem

He was not the only great-grandchild who was snapped enjoying Her Majesty's company: several days earlier, as celebrations kicked off with a Buckingham Palace appearance on June 2, the Queen's bond with Prince Louis, four, also became clear.

While royals watched the noisy flypast roar above head, the youngster pushed his way along the balcony, so he could talk to his 'Gan Gan'.

And there was another moment with a great-grandchild during the weekend: privately, her Majesty was introduced to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's daughter Lilibet, who had recently celebrated her first birthday.

The Jubilee also showcased the relationship the Queen shared with her oldest child, King Charles, during a speech he gave following the Platinum Party at the Palace.

The June 4 event, which saw Sir Rod Stewart, Diana Ross and Duran Duran perform for thousands in front of Buckingham Palace, was capped off with a rousing speech by Charles.

King Charles (centre, with his wife Camilla, left, and sister Princess Anne, right) at the Platinum Party at the Palace, gave a sweet speech at the event, in which he referred to the Queen as 'Mummy'

The event saw other members of the royal family in attendance, including Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie and their husbands Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi and Jack Brooksbank

Earlier in the day, Beatrice (pictured) and Eugenie stepped out together again for the Big Jubilee Lunch in Paddington

Princess Beatrice still in her blue Saloni dress arrives with Eugenie and their husbands at the the Platinum Jubilee Pageant outside Buckingham Palace on Sunday afternoon, on the last of four days of celebrations to mark the Platinum Jubilee

Eugenie, 32, could be seen bouncing son August (pictured), one, on her knee while attending the event alongside her husband Jack Brooksbank, and her sister Beatrice, 33, who was joined by her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi and his son, Christopher, whose nickname is Wolfie, and who he shares with his former partner Dara Huang

Princess Eugenie's son August and Princess Beatrice's stepson Wolfie (pictured with Beatrice and Edo) have made their first official appearances at a royal family event when joining their parents at the Platinum Jubilee Pageant

She wore her long locks pinned back into two plaits as she watched the action at the pageant outside Buckingham Palace, also joined by her mother the Duchess of Cambridge, 40 and father the Duke of Cambridge

All giggles! The Royal family were often in giggles during the three-hour concert outside Buckingham Palace

The Duchess of Cambridge sits with daughter Princess Charlotte in the front row of the royal box for the Platinum Party at the Palace for the Queen's 70th anniversary celebrations

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their family, centre, led the royal arrivals at the Platinum Party at the palace

In it, he thanked his mother for her 70-years of service.

He opened the speech calling the Queen 'Your Majesty', before touchingly adding 'Mummy'.

Charles went onto say: 'Your family now spans four generations. You are our Head of State. And you are also our mother.'

Other royals watched on, with Camilla, Zara and Mike Tindall and Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice and their husbands, the Princess Royal, Prince Edward and Sophie Wessex along with their children Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn also in attendance.

Another sweet moment from the evening was captured on camera when members of the family saw the Queen's now famous skit with Paddington Bear for the first time.

The pre-recorded clip, which shows Her Majesty having tea with the animated character, showcased the monarch's acting skills.

Kate and Princess Charlotte joined in with the crowds outside Buckingham Palace as they waved Union Jack flags at the concert

A touching family moment was snapped during the Platinum Party at the Palace, when a skit Her Majesty filmed with Paddington Bear (pictured) was screened at the event - much to the delight of the watching crowds

During the now-famous clip, the Queen is seen pulling a marmalade sandwich out of her handbag (pictured) - much to the delight of her family

The reaction of family members (L-R: Kate Middleton, Princess Charlotte, Prince George, Prince William) was caught on camera

Crowds fill The Mall as they wait for Royal Family to take to the balcony as Jubilee celebrations kick off on June 2

The Queen (pictured) debuted a new brooch inspired by the UK's four nations as she lit the first of 3,500 beacons that span the length and breadth of Britain in tribute to her 70 years on the throne

The Queen touches the Commonwealth Nations Globe to start the lighting of the Principal Beacon outside of Buckingham Palace in London, from the Quadrangle at Windsor Castle

Louis (pictured, centre) appears to shared a special bond with his great-grandmother the Queen, who was seen entertaining the young royal during Trooping the Colour

Filmed at Windsor Castle, the Queen spent around half a day filming the secretly-pre-recorded humorous two-and-a-half-minute sequence, according to The Telegraph, and the comic sketch was a surprise even to some of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren watching the scenes.

In the video, the Queen is seen pulling a marmalade sandwich out of her bag, as she and Paddington reveal they always keep one on their person in case they need a snack.

Photos of the exact moment Prince William, Kate Middleton and their children watched the Queen pull a sandwich from her bag to eat with Paddington Bear show them laughing with joy.

Although the monarch was unable to attend every event over the four-day Platium Jubilee long weekend, she bookended the celebration with her appearances on Buckingham Palace's balcony.

Princess Beatrice (left) wore a blue midi-dress with pearl button detail from Beulah (775), while her sister Eugenie (right) went for a striking orange dress from Emilia Wickstead (1,630) at Friday's service

Elsewhere, the Queen's granddaughter Zara Tindall donned a bright Beulah London Darsha dress teamed with a Juliette Botterill 'Floral Blossom Percher' hat and her Rolex watch as she got ready to watch Trooping The Colour with her husband Mike

Zara and Mike Tindall arrived hand-in-hand for the Service of Thanksgiving for The Queen's reign at St.Paul's Cathedral in London, on day two of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations

Camilla (left), Duchess of Cornwall, chose a cream embroidered dress coat by Fiona Clare, while Lady Louise Windsor (right), wore Ghost London's Delphine dress (195) for Friday's service

The Queen stands with members of the Royal Family to watch a special flypast from Buckingham Palace

People pack The Mall as the British Royal Family come onto the balcony of Buckingham Place

The oldest Cambridge child, Prince George, eight (pictured, left) appeared to wince as Prince Louis waved at bystanders while pulling a face from his horse-drawn carriage

Sophie Wessex looked typically elegant in a pink gingham ensemble while Prince Edward wore military dress uniform

Lady Louise looked perfectly poised as she rode in a carriage with her brother James, 14, pictured, and her parents

Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis wave during the flypast as they stand on the Buckingham Palace balcony

Camilla, Prince Charles, the Queen, Prince Louis, the Duchess of Cambridge, Princess Charlotte, Prince George and Prince William appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace as part of the Trooping the Colour parade

Blue! Camilla, 74, was in her favourite Bruce Oldfield striped blue outfit, pearl necklace and earrings and a blue Philip Treacy hat. Kate chose a 3,000 recycled Alexander McQueen dress paired with a Philip Treacy hat and Princess Diana's earrings

White and blue! George, Charlotte and Louis were also in theme. George was suited in a deep navy blue and a matching blue tie, Louis was dressed in a white and navy blue sailor suit, and Charlotte looked adorable in a blue dress

Not to be outdone! Louis' older brother Prince George also got in on the act with a mischievous face

As Prince George stood for part of the parade, he mirrored his father William, both adjusting the front of their jackets at the same time

Immediately to his left, the prince's two elder siblings Prince George and Princess Charlotte sat near their father and cut stately figures as they watched the proceedings

Yay! The Prince also clenched his fists while looking non-plussed at all the fuss down below

Sleepy! He was also seen rubbing his eyes as the procession winded its way along The Mall

Princess Charlotte, Mia Tindall and Prince George sat together watching the parade, with Mia's cousin Savannah Phillips behind them

All fun and games! The prince had fun at the Platinum Jubilee Pageant sat between his mother the Duchess of Cambridge and sister Princess Charlotte

From pensive to excited! Prince Louis showcased a range of emotions during his appearance in London

Following her public appearance on the final day, her Majesty released a statement.

She said: 'When it comes to how to mark seventy years as your Queen, there is no guidebook to follow. It really is a first. But I have been humbled and deeply touched that so many people have taken to the streets to celebrate my Platinum Jubilee.

'While I may not have attended every event in person, my heart has been with you all; and I remain committed to serving you to the best of my ability, supported by my family.

'I have been inspired by the kindness, joy and kinship that has been so evident in recent days, and I hope this renewed sense of togetherness will be felt for many years to come.

'I thank you most sincerely for your good wishes and for the part you have all played in these happy celebrations.'

Prince Louis joined his grandfather, who pointed out some of the spectacles on display in the parade

Sitting next to Louis' grandfather was the Duchess of Cambridge, with the Princess Royal sat on the other

He stole the limelight on Thursday after delighting crowds as he stood chatting to the Queen - and Prince Louis showed off his star power again on Sunday while watching the Platinum Jubilee Pageant in London

The prince pulled more than a few faces as he watched the pageant from the Royal box with his mother, the Duchess of Cambridge

Behind the little prince sat Mike Tindall who entertained the boy with funny faces to keep him amused.
A therapist has revealed five hacks that will help you create the perfect life and even revealed what to do if someone insults you.

Bernadette Purcell, a licensed mental health therapist from New Jersey, took to TikTok to reveal how to make 'life go your way' in just five simple steps.

The therapist is also the author of best selling novel 'Divorced as F****' and is known for posting videos giving her nearly 50,000 followers advice on how to handle anxiety, set boundaries and find strength in difficult times.

Her most recent video details the five tips to make your life better and has garnered over 1.5 million views.

She encouraged her followers to questions others, find joy in the little moments, regulate their emotions and find comfort.

Bernadette Purcell, a licensed mental health therapist from New Jersey, has revealed five hacks that will help 'life go your way' in a viral TikTok video

The therapist is also the author of best selling novel 'Divorced as F****' and is known for posting videos giving her nearly 50,000 followers advice

How to take the sting out of being insulted

Bernedette's first tip detailed what to do if someone tries to bring you down

Her first tip detailed what to do if someone tries to bring you down.

'If someone insults you, look at them and say ''are you okay'', she said at the beginning of her video.

Bernadette explained that it puts the person insulting you on the 'defensive,' while giving you the 'upper hand.'

She added that by asking them if they are okay, you 'take the reigns of the conversation,'

The therapist added that this method is effective because it allows you to deflect the conversation to their state of being instead of the insult.

This puts the person who insulted you on the defensive and allows you time to plan your next move, which she details should be shutting down the conversation or walking away.

She concludes her first tip by noting that someone who insults you 'isn't worth your time' and by asking about their state of being you're bringing a sense of grace, humor and confidence to the conversation.

An insult says less about you and more about the person who's insulting you, so if you follow Bernadette's advice, you're sure to make the person think twice before insulting you or anyone else again.

How to fall in love with the process and not rewards

For her second tip, the therapist begins by explaining that 'rewards kill enjoyment.'

'Don't do it for the rewards, do it for the love of the process,' she adds.

For her second tip, the therapist begins by explaining that 'rewards kill enjoyment'

This is known as the overjustification effect, which describes the phenomenon where we lose any prior motivation to complete a task or activity after being offered a reward such as a prize or money.

Although rewarding yourself can be motivating in the short-term, it actually hinders long-term motivations.

This is because rewards are most likely to kill interest where there is the most interest to be killed.

By being rewarded for activities that you naturally enjoy doing, you're diminishing the motivation that allows you to do the task for the sake of pure enjoyment.

In one study, psychologists examined the relationship of the overjustification effect on children.

In the study they asked preschoolers to participate in coloring activities that they already interested in.

Some children were offered a reward for completing the activity while others weren't.

After a few weeks, the children were given another opportunity to participate in the activity without a promise of reward.

The students who had previously been given a prize demonstrated a decreased intertest in those who had never been offered one.

This proved the overjustfication effect diminishes any internal drive to complete an activity and results in the task only being completed to earn a reward.

The reward makes the task seem like work rather than something you enjoying, which is why Bernadette recommends you enjoy the process without the reward in mind.

How to get anyone to like you

Her third tip to make your life 'go your way,' compared questions to likability

For her third tip to make your life 'go your way,' the therapist began by comparing questions to likability.

'If you show genuine curiosity for a person, they will like you more,' she notes.

Everyone wants to be liked and make a good impression, especially when meeting new people.

According to a Harvard study, asking questions and follow-up questions dramatically increases likability.

The study notes that showing genuine interest in someone and their life, will make them and others gravitate towards you.

This is mainly because people can't help but loving talking about themselves.

Research has shown that nearly 40 per cent of everyday speech is spent telling others how we feel, think or detailing our day-to-day lives.

It also shows that talking about ourselves triggers the same pleasure sensation in the brain as money or food would.

Meaning that self-disclosure increases brain activity in the areas associated with reward and satisfaction from money, food and love.

So when you ask people questions, not only are you helping them talk about themselves and being seen as a great conversationalist, but you are making them feel better about themselves, which causes them to like you.

How to avoid your emotions spinning out of control

Her fourth hack in creating a better life, describes how to 'regulate your emotions'

For the therapists fourth hack in creating a better life, she describes how to 'regulate your emotions.'

'Learn to regulate your emotions when you're in a difficult situation, so when you feel those emotions rise take a deep breath and regulate them before reacting,' she said.

Emotions are a normal part of everyday life, no matter how small a situation may seem, it can trigger heightened emotions and may cause you to overreact.

When you don't regulate your emotions you often feel extreme highs and lows, which can begin to impact your life.

And since everyone has moments where their emotions take over and spin out of control, it's essential to learn how to regulate them before they damage relationships or hurt others.

According to Healthline, some of the best ways to regulate your emotions include, examining the impact of your relationships, keeping a mood journal and meditating.

The website also notes that you should aim for regulations rather than repression and seek a therapist if your emotions continue to feel overwhelming.

How to convince your mind you are comfortable

The final tip the therapist shares is that you should 'assume comfort in any situation'

The fifth and final tip the therapist shares is that you should 'assume comfort in any situation.'

She adds: 'If you mind assumes it, you body will be more likely to follow.'

Bernadette notes that the answer to assuming comfort is primarily 'mimicry.'

'The physical manifestations of nervousness are actually quite similar to excitement, so sweaty palms, increased heart rate, thinking about how it's going to be, little bit of rumination, these are all very very similar.

'So a trick that people use with public speaking is often to keep telling themselves all day how excited they are rather than how nervous they are because of how similar the emotions are.

'So it's the same thing when you go into a new situation, a job interview, anytime that you feel like you're on the spot, assume that you're emotions are because of excitement.'

She adds that by assuming you're excited rather than nervous, you let your excitement for the situation bring a 'sense of comfort.'

When you convince your mind and body to assume comfort, you're immediately more powerful.

This is because you command your brain to feel like you're already at an advantage.

Users were quick to flood her comments section with words of praise and thanked her for helping them with her life-changing tips

Users were quick to flood her comments section with words of praise and thanked her for helping them with her life-changing tips.

'Wowgood stuff.thanks,' wrote one user.

Another user added: 'Thank you! So helpful to hear!'

'Love this, thank you,' said one user.

One user commented: 'Very helpful, thank you.'

'I like your advice. Thank you,' said another user.
The Gala was held for Queen Margrethe II of Denmark's 50th Jubilee

The sparkling jewels have a rich history dating back to Napoleon Bonaparte

Crown Princess Mary of Demark has wowed in a glittering ruby tiara and matching necklace and earrings at a gala banquet in honour of Queen Margrethe II's 50th jubilee on Sunday.

The Australian-born royal accessorised her stunning full-length champagne and black lace gown with the priceless jewels that have a fascinating history involving French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte.

Made to look like a sparkling branch of diamond leaves with ruby berries, the tiara has a coordinating necklace and earrings that are customisable and have been worn by Mary in the past in a number of configurations.

Crown Princess Mary of Demark donned a sparkling ruby tiara with an interesting history at a gala dinner in honour of Queen Margrethe II 50th jubilee on Sunday

The Australian-born royal accessorised her stunning full-length champagne and black lace gown with the priceless jewels that have a fascinating history involving French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte

Mary has been the exclusive wearer of the rubies since she her marriage to Prince Frederik in 2004, last donning them 10 years ago at the Queen's ruby jubilee

Mary has been the exclusive wearer of the rubies since her marriage to Prince Frederik in 2004, last donning them 10 years ago at the Queen's ruby jubilee.

The necklace and tiara are family heirlooms which were originally made by a now-unknown jeweller and commissioned by Napoleon for the late Queen of Sweden in 1804 for his extravagant coronation.

They made their way to the Danish royal family when the Swedish queen's daughter married the future King Frederik VIII in 1869 and have been in their hands ever since.

Made to look like a sparkling branch of diamond leaves with ruby berries, the tiara has a co-ordinating necklace and earrings that are customisable

The necklace and tiara are family heirlooms which were originally commissioned by Napoleon for the later Queen of Sweden in 1804 for his extravagant coronation

They made their way to the Danish royal family when the Swedish queen's daughter married the future King Frederik VIII in 1869 and have been in their hands ever since

Mary attended the gala dinner in Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen alongside Frederik, while other guests included the Queen herself as well as King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden and presidential couples from Finland and Iceland.

The night before, Mary donned a stunning gown and $12,000 tiara at a Gala performance.

The royal attended the event alongside her husband Prince Frederik of Denmark, son Prince Christian and daughter Princess Isabella.

Princess Mary wore a sparkly floor-length dress designed with layers from the waist down and short sleeves.

The gala performance was held at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen.

Crown Princess Mary (pictured, left) attended the Gala performance for Queen Margrethe II of Denmark's 50th Jubilee of Government held in Copenhagen on Saturday

Princess Mary attended the event alongside her husband Prince Frederik of Denmark, son Prince Christian and daughter Princess Isabella (pictured from left to right: Crown Princess Mary, Prince Christian, Princess Isabella and Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark)

According to Express UK, the Diamond Necklace Tiara was created sometime between 1900 and 1910 and was sold as a necklace featuring diamonds, spinels and rubies.

The jewels were bought by Princess Mary herself for 8,050 - around $11,929 AUD.

The Princess completed the look with a matching clutch purse and the ensemble embodied pure elegance.

And this isn't the first time the Princess has worn the stunning dress - she also donned it for Crown Prince Frederik's 50th birthday in 2018.

The Australian-born royal, 50, wore a sparkly floor-length dress designed with layers from the waist down and short sleeves. According to Express UK, Princess Mary bought the matching diamond tiara for 8,050 - around $11,929 AUD

Princess Isabella, 15, looked beautiful in red floor-length dress with gold heels and matching clutch, while Prince Christian, 16, wore a black suit and white bowtie

Princess Isabella, 15, looked beautiful in red floor-length dress with gold heels and matching clutch, while Prince Christian, 16, wore a black suit and white bowtie.

Both Princess Mary and Prince Frederik can be seen wearing a blue sash over the attire, which symbolises their role as a member of the royals.

Prince Frederik and Princess Mary married on May 14, 2004 at Copenhagen Cathedral, with the newly minted Crown Princess opting for a beautiful gown by Danish designer Uffer Frank and a veil first used by Crown Princess Margaret of Sweden in 1905.

Their first child, Prince Christian Valdemar Henri John, was born October 15, 2005; Princess Isabella Henrietta Ingrid Margrethe followed on April 21, 2007.

Almost four years later Princess Mary and Prince Frederik welcomed twins, Princess Josephine Sophia Ivalo Mathilda and Prince Vincent Frederik Minik Alexander at the Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen on January 8, 2011.
Meghan Markle told a royal fan she had a 'beautiful' name and thanked her for coming to Windsor to pay her respects to the Royal Family following the death of the Queen.

The Duchess of Sussex, 41, was pictured hugging avid royal fan Amelka Zak, 14, during a walkabout in Windsor on Saturday afternoon with Prince Harry and the Prince and Princess of Wales.

A TikTok video has revealed Meghan thanked Amelka for queueing up to greet the royals as they looked at tributes laid for the late monarch, telling her how much the family appreciated it.

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'Amazing moment': Teenager Amelka Zak, 14, is seen embracing the duchess during the walkabout in Windsor to view the floral tributes to The Queen yesterday

The Duchess of Sussex , 41, was pictured hugging avid royal fan Amelka Zak, 14, during a walkabout in Windsor on Saturday afternoon with Prince Harry and the Prince and Princess of Wales

After asking the 14-year-old royal fan's name, the Duchess said: 'Amelka? How beautiful.'

The mother-of-two added: 'Thank you for being here, it means so much to the family. We appreciate it.'

After asking how long Amelka and her friends had been waiting, to which the teen replied two hours, the Duchess said: 'Oh goodness. Ok, well hopefully you'll be able to get back home soon, we appreciate you being here.'

When Amelka asked if she could hug the Duchess, Meghan replied: 'Of course,' before embracing the teen.

Meanwhile, a friend out of shot told Meghan: 'You are so beautiful.'

The clip was captioned: 'Harry and Meghan were both absolutely lovely! Here is the hug that everyone is talking about.

The teenager told CNN that she was happy to see the Princes and their wives reunited

The 'fab four' reunited at Windsor to mourn the death of The Queen; it was the first time the couples have been together in public since March 2020

'It was so beautiful to witness and she is such a beautiful woman inside and out. We love you Meghan.'

Amelka later told CNN that she had wanted to share a hug to show the royal that she was still liked by British people.

She said: 'We were just waiting for her to come and she came near me and asked my name and how my day was, how long I was waiting.

'And I asked her if I could have a hug, and she hugged me back. It was quite an amazing moment. I'm still shaking now.'

The startled teenager said she wanted to offer a warm welcome to the American after 'everything that's happened'.

'Everyone was kind of cheering me on and I guess I felt like I needed to in the way, because I look up to her in someway and it felt like the right thing to do.'

She explained that she'd enjoying seeing the Princes reunited, saying: 'It was quite nice to see William and Kate and Megan and Harry together.

'And it was fine, but I just wanted to like show her that she's, like, welcome here, I guess. And wanted to hug her after everything that's happened, really, now.'

Surprise embrace: Amelka said: 'I asked her if I could have a hug, and she hugged me back. It was quite an amazing moment. I'm still shaking now.'

After the Duchess of Sussex touched the teen on the shoulder the pair chatted

She revealed that with 'everyone cheering me on' she decided to ask the royal for a hug

The pair then shared a warm embrace, with Amelka saying the moment left her shaking afterwards

As Meghan walked away to chat to other guests, she touched the teenager's elbow

Prince William and Kate Middleton, and Meghan and Harry appeared in black at Windsor Castle on Saturday evening to inspect the sea of floral tributes laid outside the gates of the Berkshire estate in tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II.

The reunion marks the first time that the two couples have all appeared in public since Commonwealth Day on March 9, 2020, just weeks before the Covid lockdown.

Harry and Meghan, who quit frontline duties two years ago to strike out on their own in California and then levied a series of bombshell allegations against The Firm, held hands as they looked at the tributes, with Harry at one point affectionately putting his hand on Meghan's back.

They were seen pointing at different tributes and discussing them as members of the crowd waved at them.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex view the tributes left after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, at Windsor Castle on Saturday

Harmony? The Princes appeared to have put their troubles to one side to honour the Queen's memory

One well-wisher who spoke to Harry and Meghan told MailOnline: 'It's lovely to see them both together. Maybe they can get back to a proper relationship.

'Lovely ripple went through the crowd as they approached. Hopefully the healing between Harry and his brother can start now. I'm just so excited to have seen them both together. It's lovely.'

Another mourner said: 'We couldn't believe it when the gates opened, and we saw William and Harry walk down with Meghan and Kate. I'll be honest there was a little bit of a groan when Harry and Meghan came down our side, but I passed him a bunch of flowers and he was happy to take them.

'I'm pleased that they came out together and as a family I'm delighted that they all took the time to come and say hello to the crowds. Sad things like funerals bring families together so I hope that when they get back to California they think long and hard about everything that's happened.'

It comes after it was reported King Charles 'told' Prince Harry not to bring wife Meghan to Balmoral Castle as he and other senior royals rushed to the beside of the dying Queen.
A video clip from Windsor on Sunday shows the Duchess of Sussex working with Royal aides to collect floral tributes - with fans spotting an apparently fleeting disagreement over what should happen to the bouquets.

Meghan, 41, received a generally warm reaction from the crowd in Windsor as she returned to royal life alongside Prince Harry for a surprise appearance with the Prince and Princess of Wales on Saturday afternoon.

When approached by an aide who wanted to take the growing number of floral tributes from her, footage shows the royal initially said she would place them at the gates herself, before a second aide asked again moments later and the Duchess politely thanked them for their help and eventually handed over the blooms.

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The Duchess of Sussex appeared alongside her husband Prince Harry and William and Kate on Saturday in their first public appearance together since 2020 - while receiving flowers, an aide stepped in to take them the blooms from the Duchesss

Meghan had 'wanted to walk flowers over to the huge floral tribute' at Windsor gates - but was asked by aides to hand over the tribute blooms; she's captured here thanking an aide but telling him she'll place the flowers herself

The aide turns on his heels, and Meghan has the flowers firmly still in hand

After a little to-ing and fro-ing, Meghan, 41, eventually did, politely thanking the aides accompanying the royal couple for their help

The walkabout marked an apparent thawing between Prince William and Harry and their wives as they made their first public appearance since March 2020.

United in grief over the Queen's death, the quartet, once dubbed the 'fab four' appeared in black at Windsor Castle on Saturday to inspect the sea of floral tributes laid outside the gates of the Berkshire estate and chat to those who'd gathered to pay their respects to the late Queen.

While the foursome were greeted by applause as they walked through the gates of Windsor Castle together to honour the legacy of Her Majesty, there was some speculation from bystanders that the Duchess of Sussex had been reluctant to hand over flowers to an aide that had been passed to her by a well-wisher.

Another clip showed a conversation between Meghan and an aide ensued, where it was explained to the Duchess of Sussex she needed to hand the flowers over, which she eventually did

The mother-of-two could be seen taking flowers from royal fans in the crowd, who appeared keen for their bouquets to be added to a large floral tribute in front of the gates.

Meghan gestured to a royal aide that she was happy to continue collecting the flowers in her arms, before being approached by a second member of staff, who appeared to tell her they had to take them from her.

It was only when she was approached by another royal aide that she did hand the flowers across, her apparent promise to take flowers to the gates herself broken.

Royal fans speculated that Meghan did not know aides wanted to take the flowers from her for her own safety.

Some pointed out that the bouquets could contain dangerous substances or explosives, which is why royals should not carry them.

The Duchess was handed multiple bouquets of flowers by royal fans waiting in the crowd, but appeared to be keen to hold onto them

Meghan gestured to a royal aide that she was happy to continue collecting the flowers in her arms, before being approached by a second member of staff, who appeared to tell her they had to take them

The royal mother-of-two, who stepped back from royal duty last year and now lives in her $14 million mansion in the US, has released a series of bombshell interviews in the last 18 months about her time in the royal family.

Meghan was seen cooing over babies in the crowd and even offered hugs out to some of the mourners waiting - but others in the crowd greeted Meghan with stony faces this evening as she took part in the walkabout.

Saturday's reunion marked the first time that the two couples have all appeared in public since Commonwealth Day on March 9, 2020, just weeks before the Covid lockdown.

The Duchess of Sussex on a walkabout to meet members of the public at Windsor Castle in Berkshire

The 'fab four' reunited at Windsor to mourn the death of The Queen; it was the first time the couples have been together in public since March 2020

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex view the tributes left after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, at Windsor Castle on Saturday

Harmony? The Princes appeared to have put their troubles to one side to honour the Queen's memory

Harry and Meghan may fly in their children for the Queen's funeral Prince Harry and Meghan Markle may fly Archie and Lilibet to the UK for the Queen's funeral service, it has been suggested. The US-based Duke and Duchess of Sussex have reportedly confirmed they will be staying in Britain until the end of the royal mourning period, which finishes seven days after the service on September 19. However, the couple's children, Archie, three, and Lilibet, one, remain in California with Meghan's mother Doria Ragland, 66, and have already spent more than a week apart from their parents, who were coming to the end of a whistlestop tour to Europe when the Queen died on Thursday. According to The Telegraph, the Sussexes are now trying to work out whether Doria and the children should fly out to the UK. Yesterday, a spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess confirmed the couple will stay in the UK for the period of royal mourning, reported The Express. Meghan and Harry had only expected to be away from their Montecito mansion for seven days for their mini European tour, in which they were supporting various charities close to their hearts. However, the Queen's death at Balmoral on Thursday, aged 96, pushed them to extend their stay in the UK. On Saturday evening, Prince William and Kate Middleton, and Meghan and Harry made a surprise appearance together at Windsor Castle to inspect the sea of floral tributes laid outside the gates of the Berkshire estate in tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II. The reunion marks the first time that the two couples have all appeared in public since Commonwealth Day on March 9, 2020, just weeks before the Covid lockdown. Harry and Meghan, who quit frontline duties two years ago to strike out on their own in California and then levied a series of bombshell allegations against The Firm, held hands as they looked at the tributes, with Harry at one point affectionately putting his hand on Meghan's back. They were seen pointing at different tributes and discussing them as members of the crowd waved at them. One well-wisher who spoke to Harry and Meghan told MailOnline: 'It's lovely to see them both together. Maybe they can get back to a proper relationship. 'Lovely ripple went through the crowd as they approached. Hopefully the healing between Harry and his brother can start now. I'm just so excited to have seen them both together. It's lovely.' Another mourner said: 'We couldn't believe it when the gates opened, and we saw William and Harry walk down with Meghan and Kate. I'll be honest there was a little bit of a groan when Harry and Meghan came down our side, but I passed him a bunch of flowers and he was happy to take them. 'I'm pleased that they came out together and as a family I'm delighted that they all took the time to come and say hello to the crowds. Sad things like funerals bring families together so I hope that when they get back to California they think long and hard about everything that's happened.' Harry only took place after an extended negotiation which delayed the Sussexes arrival by at least 45 minutes. Royal sources say William attempted to bury the hatchet by extending an '11th-hour olive branch' to his younger brother Harry, by asking him to join him on a walkabout outside Windsor Castle following a phone call with his father Charles III. In a scene that clearly delighted royal fans, who had come in their hundreds to the gates of the Windsor estate to mourn the Queen's death, William and Harry walked out side-by-side with wives Kate and Meghan. Last night, a Kensington Palace spokesman said that the Prince of Wales had invited the Sussexes to join him and the Princess of Wales during yesterday evening's walkabout. However, according to The Times, the camps required extended negotiations beforehand which delayed their arrival by 45 minutes. A senior Palace source said: 'The Prince of Wales invited the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to join him and the Princess of Wales earlier. The Prince of Wales thought it was an important show of unity for the Queen at an incredibly difficult time for the family.' Experts predict the moment could provide a turning point in the frayed relationship between newly-titled Waleses, and the Sussexes, who have been at odds following a series of damaging interviews by Harry and Meghan. Advertisement

Harry and Meghan, who sensationally quit frontline duties two years ago to strike out on their own in California and then levied a series of bombshell allegations against The Firm, held hands as they looked at the tributes, with Harry at one point affectionately putting his hand on Meghan's back.

Harry and Meghan, who sensationally quit frontline duties two years ago to strike out on their own in California and then levied a series of bombshell allegations against The Firm, held hands as they looked at the tributes, with Harry at one point affectionately putting his hand on Meghan's back.

They were seen pointing at different tributes and discussing them as members of the crowd waved at them.

A Kensington Palace source said that the Prince of Wales invited the Sussexes to join him and the Princess of Wales earlier on Saturday.

The Sussexes' friend and preferred journalist Omid Scobie later claimed on Twitter that the invitation was made at the '11th hour'.

However, hinting that William is prepared to extend Harry an olive branch and work towards melting the ice between them, he declared: 'It is, without a doubt, a significant moment in the history of the relationship between the two brothers'.

At one moment, a small Paddington Bear was given to William, which he passed on to an aide. He was seen lightly touching Kate's back at one moment as she crouched down again to speak to a child at the front of the gates.

Kate crouched down at one moment and began speaking to a child who had started to cry. The child stopped crying when Kate approached her.

Meanwhile the Duchess of Sussex was seen being given a close hug by a young girl in the crowd at Windsor Castle.

Meghan walked over to a section of the crowd and approached a teenager, who was seen putting her hand over her mouth in shock. The pair spoke briefly for a few moments and Meghan could be seen assuring her by putting her hand on her shoulder.

The girl then said: 'Can I have a hug?' and Meghan was seen nodding, before leaning in and giving her a big hug. The touching moment was filmed by other members in the crowd.

It comes as it is believed that William and Harry could walk side by side behind the Queen's coffin at her funeral next week in a potential royal truce, according to reports.

Days after the Prince of Wales offered his brother an 'olive branch' by inviting him on a walkaround to meet mourners outside Windsor, there is a suggestion they could put their differences aside during the time of national mourning.

The pair had been separated by their cousin Peter Phillips at the funeral of Prince Phillip last year, and since then have only been seen in public together once before Saturday's surprise walk.

What form the truce takes at the Queen's funeral on Monday, September 19, remains to be seen, with reports suggesting that Prince Andrew is also set to play a key role despite controversies in the last few years.

The Duke of York is expected to join his family as they unite in their grief, with sources saying it would be 'out of the question' for him to be excluded.

However, despite this apparent reprieve for the disgraced prince, there would seem to be no way back into public life for him, with both the king and the Prince of Wales previously saying he would have no formal role during their reigns.

It comes as the royal family attempts to put on a united front during the period of national mourning, as they try to put aside their differences for the greater good following the passing of Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral on Thursday.

While arrangements for the funeral service are still being ironed out, the

reports that discussions are underway that could see William and Harry stand side by side during the procession.

It would mark a significant improvement in their relationship - at the funeral of their grandfather, Prince Philip in April last year, the pair were separated by their cousin Peter Phillips.

However, relations between the brothers seem to have improved since then, with William inviting Harry to meet wellwishers and mourners outside Windsor on Saturday.

The 11th-hour 'olive branch' was offered by William to his brother as hundreds of people gathered outside the royal residence to pay tribute to Her Majesty.

The brothers, accompanied by their wives, greeted mourners outside the gates of the royal residence and thanked them for their tributes and condolences.

The Sun reports an insider as saying: 'We are certainly not in the same place as Philip's funeral when William and Harry didn't walk side by side.

'Things haven't changed but it is not as intense and they can co-exist.

'But the flower visit really doesn't change anything. It is the same situation as at Prince Philip's funeral when William and Harry put their differences aside and supported each other and their families in that moment.'

The temporary nature of the truce could be laid bare in the coming months with Harry set to release his 'tell-all' memoirs and Meghan set to continue her series of podcasts.
James Middleton has paid tribute to the seven decade-long marriage of the Queen and Prince Philip in an anniversary message to his wife Alizee.

The Princess of Wales's brother, 35, posted a photo of the late royal couple on their wedding day in 1947 at Westminster Abbey when the then Princess Elizabeth was 21 years old and Philip Mountbatten was 26.

Writing on Instagram, he said it 'didn't feel right' to celebrate his first wedding anniversary to Alizee Thevenet and instead wanted to pay tribute to the epic love story of the late monarch and the Duke of Edinburgh.

James Middleton, 35, said it 'didn't feel right' to celebrate his first wedding anniversary to Alizee Thevenet (Pictured: The couple at a Save the Children event in November 2021)

James Middleton posted a touching tribute to the Queen and Prince Philip's marriage as he marked his own first wedding anniversary

Paying tribute to the Queen and Prince Philip's 73 years of marriage James Middleton wrote: 'To my darling Alizee I look forward to sharing as many with you in our lifetime'

James Middleton and financial analyst Alizee Thevenet wed in Bormes-les-Mimosas, Provence in September 2021

He wrote: 'Today is our first wedding anniversary. However it doesnt seem right to celebrate while mourning the loss of Queen Elizabeth II.

'Instead Im sharing a photo of the marriage of the Queen & the Duke of Edinburgh on their wedding 74 years ago.

'To my darling Alizee I look forward to sharing as many with you in our lifetime.'

James and financial analyst Alizee tied the knot in September 2021 at a town hall in Bormes-les-Mimosas, Provence.

As a tribute to her mother-in-law, the bride wore Carole Middleton's wedding dress from her wedding to James's father Michael 41 years earlier.

Speaking to Hello! Magazine, she said the bardot lace gown was her 'something borrowed'.

After the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday at the age of 96, James shared a moving tribute to her life and reign on Instagram.

Alizee wore a white bardot bridal gown that had been worn by James's mother Carole Middleton on her own wedding day as her 'something borrowed'

James Middleton has shared a poignant tribute to Her Majesty the Queen after the monarch's death on Thursday, posting a number of photographs of the royal with her dogs

Queen Elizabeth II of England at Balmoral Castle with one of her Corgis, September 28, 1952

He wrote: 'Queen Elizabeth II, the epitome of steady grace, resolve and reassurance.

'Our constant in a world of change. Thank you for a lifetime of service and leadership.'

It is not known how many times James met the Queen, although they often attended family events, such as the christenings of Prince George and Princess Charlotte, with one another.

James enjoys a close relationship with his sister, the new Princess of Wales.

He has previously given sister Kate two spaniel puppies, Lupo and Orla, who starred in Princess Charlottes seventh birthday snaps.

James and his wife Alizee bought a 1.45million mansion for their first home together in Buckleberry after deciding to leave London for life in the country.

It is not far from Prince William and Kate's new home of Adelaide Cottage in Windsor.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II died on Thursday aged 96, at Balmoral Castle, leaving a nation to mourn the adored monarch.

It is not known how many times James met the Queen, although they often attended family events, such as the christenings of Prince George and Princess Charlotte, with one another (pictured back left, and the Queen, front right)

She always loved dogs, famously corgis and she owned more than 30 of the breed during her reign spanning seven decades.

When she died she had two corgis as pets as well as a cocker spaniel and a dorgi, which is a dachshund corgi cross Her Majesty is said to have created.

Respectively their names are Muick, named after one of the Queen's favourite spots near Balmoral Castle, Sandy, Lissy and Candy.

No public plans for the four dogs have been disclosed but it is thought they will either end up with members of the royal family or their staff.

Tributes have poured in from around the world as her steadfast commitment to providing stability and service was shown true over her 70-year reign.

James is an dog lover and has six as pets. He said the Queen was 'our constant in a world of change' and thanked her 'for a lifetime of service and leadership'

Thousands of mourners gathered at the gates of Buckingham Palace last night following the death of the Queen to pay their respects, leaving hundreds of bouquets, personal notes and candles in her honour.

A huge mound of floral tributes built up outside the gates, while Tower Bridge was bathed with purple light in honour of Britains longest-reigning monarch.

The King wiped tears away yesterday and appeared to clutch his heart after the first royal walkaround of his reign at Buckingham Palace.

The King was greeted by kisses and shouts of 'God Save the King' as he received a rapturous welcome from thousands of well-wishers.

The King was heard saying, 'Thank you so much, it's so kind, it really is', 'God bless you' and 'I've really dreaded this day' during the 15-minute walkabout. One woman shouted to him, 'We love you King Charles and we loved your mum'.

Huge crowds cheered as the visibly emotional sovereign arrived in a vintage Rolls-Royce alongside Camilla, the Queen Consort, before he got out and began shaking hands with countless members of the public waiting behind a barrier.

Saturday will see Charles proclaimed King at St James's Palace before he meets with Liz Truss and her Cabinet and holds his first Privy Council.

Yesterday, King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla returned to London from the Queen's bedside in Balmoral, where Charles had an audience with the new prime minister, Liz Truss, and he addressed the nation for the first time as king.
The screenwriter who co-wrote comedy sketches starring the Queen has revealed conspiracy theorists thought her appearance in the Platinum Jubilee Paddington Bear clip was a deepfake.

Frank Cottrell-Boyce also revealed the monarch was never initially supposed to star alongside James Bond in a comedy clip for the London 2012 Olympics - but was written into the script when she said she wanted a part.

The writer was was on the team for both the 007 skydiving sketch and the Queen's Platinum Jubilee clip in which she has afternoon tea with Paddington Bear.

The Queen was not originally supposed to feature in the 007 sketch alongside Daniel Craig which was filmed for the London 2012 Olympics, it has been revealed

The late monarch also starred alongside Paddington Bear in a sketch filmed for the Platinum Jubilee in June

Frank Cottrell-Boyce, a novelist and screenwriter who co-wrote sketches starring the Queen, said she stood to remind the British people 'we share something good'

The Queen made the nation smile in June 2022 when she appeared in the clip woth the marmalade-loving bear after inviting him to Buckingham Palace to dine with her.

The monarch, who was known to have high tea every day revealed during their exchange that she shared his enthusiasm for marmalade sandwiches.

Opening her handbag and pulling out a sandwich, she said: 'For later' with a smile.

Writing for the Guardian about the late monarch's appearance in the afternoon tea sketch, Mr Cottrell-Boyce said the symbolism of Paddington being 'welcomed with tea and good manners' represented a 'strong set of values'.

He added in an age of division, the Queen represented a unity that is now under threat.

Royal fans have left little Paddington Bears outside Buckingham Palace as tributes to the late monarch

The writer revealed that, after the Paddington Bear sketch was broadcast, a conspiracy theory circulated that the Queen's appearance in the clip was a deep fake creation and that the monarch had not really starred in it at all.

He concluded by saying he was 'grateful' for how the Queen used her 'peculiar power' to remind people that 'we share something good'.

Following the passing of the monarch, royal fans who were touched by her sketch with Paddington Bear have left little bears and even marmalade sandwiches outside Buckingham Palace amid tributes.

The monarch also starred in a sketch alongside Daniel Craig as James Bond in 2012, which was broadcast at the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics.

Mr Cottrell-Boyce revealed the Queen 'put herself up' for the cameo appearance in which she 'skydived' into the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, London.

However the novelist and screenwriter revealed the original plan had been for an actress to play her role.

Producer Tracey Seaward attended a meeting at Buckingham Palace to find out what the Queen would be wearing to the opening ceremony so they could dress the actress in the same outfit.

However, he wrote that the Queen's dresser Angela Kelly said: 'Oh, she wants to be in it.'

The writer said that the clip became one of the Queen's 'defining moments' as she surprised the nation with her cameo appearance which was meant to entertain 'for one night only'.

The monarch's appearance in the sketch delighted viewers and royal fans as she turned to greet him at Buckingham Palace with the line: 'Good evening, Mr Bond.'

The pair then walked down the halls of the Palace with the Corgis in tow before hopping into a helicopter bound for the Olympic Stadium in Stratford.

As the helicopter arrived at the stadium the Queen jumped out of the helicopter and opened a parachute imprinted with the Union Jack - before walking down the steps of the stadium with Prince Philip to sit down.
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Thousands of royal fans have been mourning the death of the Queen this weekend, and left touching tributes at her residences to honour the Monarch's memory.

Flowers, soft toys, letters and drawings were left at the gates of the Balmoral estate, Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace and more as the nation reacted to the news.

Some royal fans celebrated the late Sovereign with particularly quirky royal memorabilia, from solar figures of the Queen to Corgi and Paddington soft toys.

One fan left a rubber duck wearing the crown and the royal sash by the gates of Buckingham Palace in London.

Meanwhile, several children left moving drawing of the Queen wearing ballgowns and cards reading 'thank you.'

Thousands of royal fans have been mourning the death of the Queen this weekend, and left touching tributes at her royal residences to honour the Monarch's memory

A royal fan paid the Queen their respect at Buckingham Palace with a rubber duck wearing the Monarch's crown and sash (pictured)

Several fans left soft toys of Paddington Bear, who appeared in a skit with the Queen during her Jubilee celebrations in June. Others also left marmalade sandwiches, which were mentioned by the Queen in the same skit

The nation is coming to terms with the death of the Monarch, who passed on Thursday at Balmoral, Scotland.

Fans from all over the world have travelled to the Queen's royal residence to leave their heartfelt tributes.

One left a knitted doll of the Queen wearing a purple dress and signature hat with a bunch of flowers.

Another left a small solar-powered figurine of the Monarch, which normally sway from left to right and wave.

A fan left a small solar figure of the Queen, which usually wave from side to side, and a while rose in Green Park, London, on Sunday

Children also left drawings of the Monarch in ballgowns with sweet words of thanks. This one was left in Green Park by a young fan

Pictured: a knitted doll of the Monarch holding flowers was also left among the blooms and card left at Buckingham Palace this weekend

Elsewhere, a fan left a soft toy of Paddington Bear, who appeared in a skit with the Queen during her Jubilee celebrations in June. Others also left marmalade sandwiches, which were mentioned by the Queen in the same skit.

Several members of the royal family came out to admire the tributes left for the Queen on Saturday.

The Princess Royal and her children, accompanied by Prince Andrew, Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie and Prince Edward and his wife Sophie Wessex and daughter Lady Louise Windsor, were seen taking a closer look at them on Saturday morning.

One fan was seen carrying a small Paddington Bear soft toy holding a bunch of flowers as they made their way to Green Park on Sunday

A little royal fan was seeing laying a crimson rose next to a big pink Care bear and a Union Jack flag in Green Par over the weekend

One fan stitched fresh flowers onto the jacket of a Paddington Bear soft toy, next to a postcard and several other blooms in Green Park

The sweet tributes deeply touched the Queen's granddaughters, with Eugenie and Zara seeing wiping tears off their faces.

Meanwhile, on Saturday afternoon, the Prince and Princess of Wales, accompanied by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, were seen admiring the tributes left at Windsor Castles.

They also did a walk about where they talked to some of the fans who had come to share their sympathies.

A fan left a hand drawn card of the Monarch coloured in pink and blue, which was spotted next to several bunches of roses on Sunday

Another fan also left a knitted doll of the Quene wearing a blue dress and hat, with a note that read 'thank you ma'am for everything'

Several fans left Paddington Bears soft toy, with thank you notes. Another left laughing statues of the Queen and a royal Guard, left

An eight-year-old fan left a drawing of the Queen all in pink which read 'RIP,' right, next to another card written by a fan, aged nine

A child left their Paddington bear toy wear in a ziplog bag and a card which read 'please look after my Bear, lots of love, Tommy'

A postcard of the Queen wearing pink was also pasted to the gate of Buckigham Palace, next to a bear soft toy dressed like a Tower of London Beefeater, and a Royal Guard

A young fan named Seren left a coloured drawing of the Monarch in a pink dress which read 'RIP' and bunches of flowers in Green Park

Some fans in Green Park decided to leave a cut out of the Monarch's face, with a note thanking her for her service to the country

A fan taped a homemade DIY royal post box with the Queen's cypher and two royal guards to the gate of the royal estate in Windsor

Another fan, perhaps a scout, left a teddy bear with a scout knot around his neck and a pin of the Queen's Jubilee logo on its chest

Other tributes left near Windsor Castle included candles, letters, a portrait of the Queen. Union Jacks , photos, more flowers and more Paddington Bears

Schoolchildren made a beautiful wreath made of stars and several notes left for the late Monarch, alongside a big bouquet of flowers

A young royal fan left flowers in Windsor, alongside a card they decorated themselves, which showed the Queen with a corgi and a crown

A royal fan with a talent for drawing drew a lovely portrait of a Corgi and wrote Queen Elizabeth. It was taped to the Windsor Castle gate, alongside a bunch of lilies

A heartfelt letter thanked the Queen for her service, and said she deserved to rest and 'be together with god and those she loved'

Another card called the Queen a 'beautiful lady' and wished her to rest in piece with her late husband the Duke of Edinburgh who died in April 2021
A woman has shared how she feared she would die after suffering an allergic reaction to hair dye.

Jordan Blignaut, 20, a waitress from South Africa, was left in 'excruciating' pain after a trip to the hairdressers' went horribly wrong back in November 2021.

After transitioning from blonde to brown tresses, within four hours, Jordan started to notice a bright red, itchy swelling on her scalp.

Soon after, her entire face swelled up and her chest went tight as she was unable to drink, eat and struggled to breathe  as the young woman was rushed to hospital.

'I honestly thought I might die, which made me anxious and emotionally stressed and upset because I thought this could be my last day alive,' Jordan said.

Jordan Blignaut, 20, a waitress from South Africa, has shared how she feared she would die after suffering an allergic reaction to hair dye (left, before her allergic reaction, and right, while in hospital)

After transitioning from blonde to brown tresses, within four hours, Jordan started to notice a bright red, itchy swelling on her scalp

Jordan said: 'During the actual hair appointment, I felt relaxed and it was a calm environment.

'They [staff] were all very nice to me.

'I've done blonde highlights twice before but never reacted besides having an itchy scalp, so it was a massive shock to see me blow up especially during the treatment of dyeing my hair dark, I felt no itch, pain or discomfort.'

However hours later thought, her face began to swell, with Jordan explaining: 'Everyone was so worried about me and shed a few tears too.

Jordan said that during the actual hair appointment, she felt 'relaxed and it was a calm environment' (pictured before the allergic reaction)

The 20-year-old waitress said she had often had her hair dyed different coloured (pictured left and right) without having an allergic reaction

'My sisters and I are really close and they are young, so thinking that I was about to die made me extremely depressed not knowing if I was going to see them grow up and be there for them through the rest of their life.

'I physically wasn't able to walk, lie down, sit up, I couldn't do anything.

'Feeling and being so close to dying left a terrible emotional state on me. And I don't wish anyone to go through what I went through.'

While in hospital, Jordan was placed on numerous drips and antibiotics to help ease the unbearable pain she was in.

The 20-year-old said it was a 'massive shock' to suffer the allergic reaction while dying her hair dark

She was also placed on a heart monitor and given oxygen to help her breathe.

The swelling eventually became so severe, she couldn't fit into her own clothes.

Jordan said: 'I was rushed to the ER and was code red, I felt so faint my dad had to help me walk until I got put into a bed.

'They did multiple blood tests and I got put on to a lot of drips, antibiotics, heavy pain meds and cortisone.

Jordan rushed to hospital, where she was placed on numerous drips and antibiotics to help ease the unbearable pain she was in (pictured, on her way to hospital)

However, when she arrived at hospital, she was rushed to the ER and was code red because she felt 'so faint' (pictured left, before the allergic reaction, and right, after)

'Nothing helped the pain I was in.

'Going through the hospital I felt so embarrassed because everyone was just staring at me and all I had was tears rolling down my face.'

Jordan remained at the Mediclinic Morningside Hospital for over a week, while being closely monitored by staff.

However, it took 14 days for the swelling  which had since spread to her whole body  to fully go down.

The severity of the attack came as a huge shock to Jordan as she had previously dyed her hair before, with no issue.

Jordan remained at the Mediclinic Morningside Hospital for over a week, while being closely monitored by staff

She hasn't reached out to the salon since the incident, as she just wanted to put the ordeal behind her.

She added: 'I didn't speak to them after the reaction as I knew I had sensitive skin but I didn't think I would have an anaphylactic attack and blow up.

'I went through so much trauma during the reaction and hospital stay that I just wanted to leave it all behind me and move on from the situation.'

While she says the incident was extremely traumatic, Jordan is now able to look back and laugh at what happened.

While she says the incident was extremely traumatic, Jordan is now able to look back and laugh at what happened

She added: 'Looking back at all the photos I laugh about it because of how ridiculous I looked.

'And every time I'm sad I go back and look at the photos of me to make me smile.

'To everyone out there, if you have sensitive skin, or just in general, please always do a test patch before any dye goes on your head.

'I'm thankful for my family and friends who messaged me and phoned me every day checking up on me and being so worried as I was.

'I am also extremely grateful for the staff at the hospital, who basically saved my life.

'Without them, I wouldn't be here.'
A classmate of King Charles has recalled the new monarch being 'thumped and beat up' by bullies while at boarding school.

Johnny Stonborough, who attended Gordonstoun School in Elgin, Scotland with His Majesty revealed Charles was 'badly bullied' while studying at the famously tough school.

Speaking to Susana Reid and Ben Shephard on Good Morning Britain on Monday, he said: 'It was quite harsh. He was badly bullied and very isolated.

A teenage Prince Charles pictured arriving at Gordonstoun School in Scotland for his first term in 1962; he has frequently spoken about his unhappiness during his time at the boarding school

Johnny Stonborough, who attended Gordonstoun with King Charles recalled the monarch being 'thumped and beat up' by bullies at school on Good Morning Britain on Monday

'We felt pretty sorry for him even at the time, but the problem was that even trying to be friends with him meant that you then got bullied for being one of the King's friends. It was a pretty harsh environment.'

He added: 'I wasn't in the same house as him, but I was in the same class as him for some years.

'On the rugby pitch you would see it; there were a couple of people who said they would 'do Prince Charles' and they would beat him up in the scrum, pull his ears and thump him.'

'He wasn't the only boy who was being bullied but he was particularly badly bullied for awhile.'

Johnny said King Charles would be beaten up in the scrum on the rugby pitch and his classmates used to pull his ears and thump him

Johnny went on to say that Charles was also quite 'bright' at school and he had 'a sense of humour.'

Charles was plunged into the then famously tough culture of Gordonstoun in the summer term of 1962, having come from his prep school, Cheam, in Hampshire.

He once referred to his time at Gordonstoun as a 'prison sentence' as he found himself cold-shouldered by fellow pupils in his house, Windmill Lodge, because the housemaster had warned any antagonistic behaviour towards the heir to the throne would result in immediate expulsion.

As a result, recalled a fellow housemate, he was picked upon at once, 'maliciously, cruelly, and without respite'.

Speaking to Susana Reid and Ben Shephard he said it was 'quite harsh' and Charles was badly bullied and 'very isolated'

Prince of Wales with his father the Duke of Edinburgh (left) and the late captain Iain Tennant, former chairman of the Gordonstoun board of governors, as they arrived at Gordonstoun for the prince's first day at the public school in Glasgow, Scotland

'A prison sentence,' was how Charles later described it, as well as 'Colditz with kilts.'

While William Boyd, the best-selling novelist and screenwriter and a Gordonstoun contemporary of Charles, called it 'Like penal servitude', adding: 'I happen to know, from his own lips, that Prince Charles utterly detested it.'

Charles was writing home to the Queen: 'I hardly get any sleep in the House because I snore and I get hit on the head all the time. It's absolute hell.'

And after two years at the school, Charles was as much under pressure as the day he joined. 'The people in my dormitory are foul,' he wrote home. 'They throw slippers all night long or hit me with pillows Last night was hell, literal hell. I wish I could come home.'

Another insider said: 'Charles was mocked relentlessly about his ears, which were larger than average and somewhat protruding. He had no defences available to him, save a stubborn refusal to complain either to the perpetrators or to his housemaster.'

Prince Charles was writing home to the Queen saying he hardly gets any sleep in the House because he snores and he gets hit on the head all the time

Charles previously said in an interview that he didn't enjoy school but that was only because he's 'happier at home than anywhere else.'

The Duke of Edinburgh had had a happy time at the school in the Thirties, and he wrote his son bracing letters of admonition urging him to be strong and resourceful.

'He was bullied,' recalled Ross Benson, the late Daily Mail correspondent who was also a contemporary. 'He was crushingly lonely for most of his time there. The wonder is that he survived with his sanity intact.'

Charles previously said in an interview: 'I didn't enjoy school as much as I might have, but that was only because I'm happier at home than anywhere else.

'But Gordonstoun developed my willpower and self control, helped me to discipline myself. We went in for 'adventure'. We ran our own fire brigade, we had our own sea rescue service, mountain rescue, surf life-saving, coastguard, etc.'

When he had his own children, Charles chose not to force them to suffer in the same way and sent them to Eton instead.
They have a busy day ahead, so perhaps it's no wonder King Charles III was seen ushering his wife, Camilla, the Queen Consort, into their vehicle after making his historic first address to MPs and peers in Parliament today.

His Majesty, 73, was captured gently grabbing Camilla, 75, by the arm and leading her towards their car when leaving Westminster Hall in London to fly to Edinburgh to the Palace of Holyroodhouse to inspect a guard of honour.

As is traditional when the monarch arrives in Holyrood, the Ceremony of the Keys will take place before the King follows the hearse to St Giles' Cathedral - the first time he will have been seen with his mother's coffin, which arrived at the palace yesterday.

At 7.20pm the King and his brothers, Prince Andrew, 62, and Prince Edward, 58, will perform the Vigil of The Princes.

The monarch had looked close to tears today as Parliament sang 'God Save the King' after he addressed MPs and peers for the first time following their own tributes to his late beloved mother Queen Elizabeth II.

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They have a busy day ahead, so perhaps it's no wonder King Charles III was seen ushering his wife, Camilla, the Queen Consort, into their vehicle after making his historic first address to MPs and peers in Parliament today

The monarch had looked close to tears today as Parliament sang 'God Save the King' after he addressed MPs and peers for the first time following their own tributes to his late beloved mother Queen Elizabeth II

His Majesty also looked moved as the Lord Speaker and the Commons Speaker expressed their condolences and said: 'Deep as our grief is, we know yours is deeper.'

The King stood at a gilded lectern to speak to the crowd assembled in Westminster Hall and thanked the hundreds of politicians and peers, including Liz Truss, Sir Keir Starmer and Boris Johnson, for their tributes his mother.

In his short, poignant speech, Charles quoted Shakespeare in his tribute to his 'beloved mother' as he addressed Parliament for the first time since becoming monarch, saying of the Queen: 'As Shakespeare said of the earlier Queen Elizabeth, she was a pattern to all princes living.'

He said: 'As I stand before you today, I cannot help but feel the weight of history which surrounds us and which reminds us of the vital parliamentary traditions to which members of both Houses dedicate yourselves with such personal commitment, for the betterment of us all.'

Charles said the late Queen had 'set an example of selfless duty which, with God's help and your counsels, I am resolved faithfully to follow.'

He added: 'I am deeply grateful for addresses of condolence, which so touchingly encompass what the late sovereign, my beloved mother meant to us all'.

His Majesty also looked moved as the Lord Speaker and the Commons Speaker expressed their condolences and said: 'Deep as our grief is, we know yours is deeper.'

His Majesty, 73, was captured gently grabbing Camilla, 75, by the arm and leading her towards their car when leaving Westminster Hall in London to fly to Edinburgh to the Palace of Holyroodhouse to inspect a guard of honour

As is traditional when the monarch arrives in Holyrood, the Ceremony of the Keys will take place before the King follows the hearse to St Giles' Cathedral - the first time he will have been seen with his mother's coffin, which arrived at the palace yesterday. Pictured, Charles III and Camilla leaving Westminster Hall

The hundreds of dignitaries then stood for the national anthem, which moved the new King to tears on a day where he will be seen in public with the Queen's coffin for the first time in Scotland this afternoon.

'The Queen set an example of selfless duty which I am resolved faithfully to follow': Charles' Westminster Hall speech in full My Lords and Members of the House of Commons: I am deeply grateful for the Addresses of Condolence by the House of Lords and the House of Commons, which so touchingly encompass what our late Sovereign, my beloved mother The Queen, meant to us all. As Shakespeare says of the earlier Queen Elizabeth, she was a pattern to all Princes living. As I stand before you today, I cannot help but feel the weight of history which surrounds us and which reminds us of the vital Parliamentary traditions to which Members of both Houses dedicate yourselves, with such personal commitment for the betterment of us all. Parliament is the living and breathing instrument of our democracy. That your traditions are ancient we see in the construction of this great Hall and the reminders of Mediaeval predecessors of the Office to which I have been called. And the tangible connections to my darling late mother we see all around us; from the Fountain in New Palace Yard which commemorates The late Queens Silver Jubilee to the Sundial in Old Palace Yard for the Golden Jubilee, the magnificent Stained Glass Window before me for the Diamond Jubilee and, so poignantly and yet to be formally unveiled, your most generous gift to Her late Majesty to mark the unprecedented Platinum Jubilee which we celebrated only three months ago, with such joyful hearts. The great bell of Big Ben  one of the most powerful symbols of our nation throughout the world and housed within the Elizabeth Tower also named for my mothers Diamond Jubilee  will mark the passage of The late Queens progress from Buckingham Palace to this Parliament on Wednesday. My Lords and Members of the House of Commons: We gather today in remembrance of the remarkable span of The Queens dedicated service to her nations and peoples. While very young, Her late Majesty pledged herself to serve her country and her people and to maintain the precious principles of constitutional government which lie at the heart of our nation. This vow she kept with unsurpassed devotion. She set an example of selfless duty which, with Gods help and your counsels, I am resolved faithfully to follow. Advertisement

There were wild cheers and cries of 'God Save the King' as the monarch drove from Clarence House down The Mall for the historic moment before MPs and peers bowed and curtseyed as he walked slowly to his throne with Queen Consort, Camilla.

Liz Truss and her predecessor Boris Johnson were also in Westminster Hall this morning along with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and hundreds of politicians.

His Majesty heard tributes for the Queen in the near-1,000-year-old Westminster Hall - the ancient heart of the Palace of Westminster where his mother will lie in state from Wednesday evening for four days until her funeral next Monday. At times Charles looked deeply moved.

The Lord Speaker and the Commons Speaker expressed their condolences to His Majesty in a ceremony in Westminster Hall. Charles received a motion of confidence from both houses of Parliament - in another constitutional event that has never been seen on TV before.

In an address on behalf of peers, the Lord Speaker Lord McFall first paid tribute to the Queen's 'untiring endeavours for the welfare of her peoples and her fortitude in adversity' before he 'pledged' his support for him.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle presented the King with a humble address that was agreed by MPs in a special sitting on Saturday. The Commons Speaker declared that the Queen's 'unstinting dedication to the service of our great country... will always be held in affectionate and grateful remembrance'. He also expressed loyalty to the King on behalf of the MPs, saying it is their 'conviction that he will strive to uphold the liberties and to promote the happiness of the people in all his realms'.

King Charles and the Queen Consort will fly into the Scottish capital after Midday and travel to the palace to inspect a guard of honour. The King follow the hearse to St Giles' Cathedral - the first time he will have been seen with his mother's coffin - amid rumours Prince William, Prince Harry and their wives Kate and Meghan could also be there after their shock reunion outside Windsor Castle on Saturday.

At 2.35pm, Charles and Camilla will join a procession to St Giles' Cathedral 1,200 yards away. Charles and other royals will walk behind the hearse as it makes its way along the Royal Mile.

Full details about the royal mourners have yet to be released but there is speculation the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and the new Prince and Princess of Wales, who on Saturday put on a united front during an appearance at Windsor Castle, will be part of the group.

Charles will lead some of the royals on foot, expected to be the Duke of York, Earl of Wessex, Princess Royal and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence - while the Queen Consort and other members of the royal family will follow in cars.

At the cathedral, the Crown of Scotland will be placed upon the coffin. After a service, members of the public will be allowed to file past to pay their respects.

At 7.20pm the King and his brothers will perform the Vigil of The Princes. The coffin is expected to be flown to London tomorrow evening, again with Princess Anne accompanying her mother.

On arrival at RAF Northolt in west London at 6.55pm, the coffin will be transferred to the State Hearse. At Buckingham Palace, a guard of honour will receive the coffin.

A bearer party of the Queen's Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, will carry it to the Bow Room where it will be placed on trestles, witnessed by King Charles and the Queen Consort. Chaplains to the King will keep watch over the coffin.

King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla stand for the national anthem

Charles said he was moved by the tributes to his mother - who he said 'set an example of selfless duty' that he said he would faithfully follow

The King said Parliament is the 'living and breathing instrument of our democracy' as he referenced the connections to 'my darling late mother'

The Countess of Wessex was pictured comforting Princess Anne yesterday as members of the royal family watched Queen Elizabeth II's coffin arrive in Edinburgh to lie in rest at the Palace of Holyroodhouse overnight.

Sophie, 57, the wife of the Queen's youngest son Prince Edward, 58, was seen placing her hand on the Princess Royal's back in a supportive gesture after the coffin made the journey from Balmoral to the Scottish city.

The Queen's children and their spouses - Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, Duke of York and the Earl and Countess of Wessex - watched as soldiers from the Royal Regiment of Scotland carried the coffin into the Palace.

In a touching moment, deference to the monarch was still observed, with the royal women curtseying and the men bowing their heads.

Her Majesty did not travel alone during her 180-mile journey, Anne and her husband were in a limousine as part of a procession directly behind her.

Pallbearers, one with his eyes closed another looking to the sky, carry the coffin of Britain's Queen Elizabeth as the hearse arrives at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh
The Prince of Wales was captured making a welcoming gesture towards Meghan Markle before their walkabout in Windsor on Saturday.

Prince William, 40, extended an olive branch to his brother the Duke of Sussex on Saturday when he invited him and the Duchess of Sussex, 41, to come and greet royal fans in Windsor Castle with him and the Princess of Wales.

The royal 'Fab Four' were reunited for the sad occasion, and were seen walking out of the royal estate side by side.

Clips showed how Prince William gently extended an arm towards his sister-in-law Meghan before they stepped out of the gates, in a sign of encouragement.

The Prince of Wales was captured making a welcoming gesture towards Meghan Markle before their walkabout in Windsor on Saturday

Prince William, 40, extended an olive branch to his brother the Duke of Sussex on Saturday when he invited him and the Duchess of Sussex, 41, to come greet royal fans in Windsor Castle with him and the Princess of Wakes

The moment was captured by news cameras after Kate Middleton, Prince William, Prince Harry and Meghan stepped out of their Range Rovers and prepared to go on their walkabout by the Windsor Castle gates.

A hesitant Meghan could be see standing a few steps away from the car, while the Duke of Sussex was stood close to his brother and Kate.

Noticing this, Prince William gallantly gestured towards Meghan to invite her to join their conversation and introduce her to the aide who had come to greet the senior royals.

The foursome were greeted by applause as they walked through the gates of Windsor Castle together to honour the legacy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

The Duchess was handed multiple bouquets of flowers by royal fans waiting in the crowd, but appeared to be keen to hold onto them

The mother-of-two seemed to insist she wanted to keep the flowers as several aides tried to convince her to hand the bouquet over

Meghan was seen cooing over babies in the crowd and even offered hugs out to some of the mourners waiting - but others in the crowd greeted Meghan with stony faces as she took part in the walkabout.

Saturday's reunion marked the first time that the two couples have all appeared in public since Commonwealth Day on March 9, 2020, just weeks before the Covid lockdown.

Harry and Meghan, who sensationally quit frontline duties two years ago to strike out on their own in California before making a series of bombshell allegations against The Firm, held hands as they looked at the tributes, with Harry at one point affectionately putting his hand on Meghan's back.

Harmony? The Princes appeared to have put their troubles to one side to honour the Queen's memory

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex view the tributes left after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, at Windsor Castle on Saturday

The 'fab four' reunited at Windsor to mourn the death of The Queen; it was the first time the couples have been together in public since March 2020

Harry and Meghan may fly in their children for the Queen's funeral Prince Harry and Meghan Markle may fly Archie and Lilibet to the UK for the Queen's funeral service, it has been suggested. The US-based Duke and Duchess of Sussex have reportedly confirmed they will be staying in Britain until the end of the royal mourning period, which finishes seven days after the service on September 19. However, the couple's children, Archie, three, and Lilibet, one, remain in California with Meghan's mother Doria Ragland, 66, and have already spent more than a week apart from their parents, who were coming to the end of a whistlestop tour to Europe when the Queen died on Thursday. According to The Telegraph, the Sussexes are now trying to work out whether Doria and the children should fly out to the UK. Yesterday, a spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess confirmed the couple will stay in the UK for the period of royal mourning, reported The Express. Meghan and Harry had only expected to be away from their Montecito mansion for seven days for their mini European tour, in which they were supporting various charities close to their hearts. However, the Queen's death at Balmoral on Thursday, aged 96, pushed them to extend their stay in the UK. On Saturday evening, Prince William and Kate Middleton, and Meghan and Harry made a surprise appearance together at Windsor Castle to inspect the sea of floral tributes laid outside the gates of the Berkshire estate in tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II. The reunion marks the first time that the two couples have all appeared in public since Commonwealth Day on March 9, 2020, just weeks before the Covid lockdown. Harry and Meghan, who quit frontline duties two years ago to strike out on their own in California and then levied a series of bombshell allegations against The Firm, held hands as they looked at the tributes, with Harry at one point affectionately putting his hand on Meghan's back. They were seen pointing at different tributes and discussing them as members of the crowd waved at them. One well-wisher who spoke to Harry and Meghan told MailOnline: 'It's lovely to see them both together. Maybe they can get back to a proper relationship. 'Lovely ripple went through the crowd as they approached. Hopefully the healing between Harry and his brother can start now. I'm just so excited to have seen them both together. It's lovely.' Another mourner said: 'We couldn't believe it when the gates opened, and we saw William and Harry walk down with Meghan and Kate. I'll be honest there was a little bit of a groan when Harry and Meghan came down our side, but I passed him a bunch of flowers and he was happy to take them. 'I'm pleased that they came out together and as a family I'm delighted that they all took the time to come and say hello to the crowds. Sad things like funerals bring families together so I hope that when they get back to California they think long and hard about everything that's happened.' Harry only took place after an extended negotiation which delayed the Sussexes arrival by at least 45 minutes. Royal sources say William attempted to bury the hatchet by extending an '11th-hour olive branch' to his younger brother Harry, by asking him to join him on a walkabout outside Windsor Castle following a phone call with his father Charles III. In a scene that clearly delighted royal fans, who had come in their hundreds to the gates of the Windsor estate to mourn the Queen's death, William and Harry walked out side-by-side with wives Kate and Meghan. Last night, a Kensington Palace spokesman said that the Prince of Wales had invited the Sussexes to join him and the Princess of Wales during yesterday evening's walkabout. However, according to The Times, the camps required extended negotiations beforehand which delayed their arrival by 45 minutes. A senior Palace source said: 'The Prince of Wales invited the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to join him and the Princess of Wales earlier. The Prince of Wales thought it was an important show of unity for the Queen at an incredibly difficult time for the family.' Experts predict the moment could provide a turning point in the frayed relationship between newly-titled Waleses, and the Sussexes, who have been at odds following a series of damaging interviews by Harry and Meghan. Advertisement

They were seen pointing at different tributes and discussing them as members of the crowd waved.

Lipreading expert Juliet Sullivan said the prince told royal fans he was 'overwhelmed' by the occasion.

He said: 'Yes, its overwhelming, its an incredible sight.'

A Kensington Palace source said that the Prince of Wales invited the Sussexes to join him and the Princess of Wales earlier on Saturday.

The Sussexes' friend and preferred journalist Omid Scobie later claimed on Twitter that the invitation was made at the '11th hour'.

However, hinting that William is prepared to extend Harry an olive branch and work towards melting the ice between them, he declared: 'It is, without a doubt, a significant moment in the history of the relationship between the two brothers.'

At one moment, a small Paddington Bear was given to William, which he passed on to an aide. He was seen lightly touching Kate's back at one moment as she crouched down again to speak to a child at the front of the gates.

As the child began to cry, the Princess of Wales knelt down to say hello - prompting the little one to stop crying.

Meanwhile the Duchess of Sussex was seen being given a close hug by a young girl in the crowd at Windsor Castle.

Meghan walked over to a section of the crowd and approached a teenager, who was seen putting her hand over her mouth in shock. The pair spoke briefly for a few moments and Meghan could be seen assuring her by putting her hand on her shoulder.

The girl then said: 'Can I have a hug?' and Meghan was seen nodding, before leaning in and giving her a big hug. The touching moment was filmed by other members in the crowd.

A TikTok video of the moment revealed the Duchess had told royal fan Amelka Zak, 14, that she had a 'beautiful' name and thanked her for coming to pay tribute.

It comes as it is believed that William and Harry could walk side by side behind the Queen's coffin at her funeral next week in a potential royal truce, according to reports.

Days after the Prince of Wales offered his brother an 'olive branch' by inviting him on a walkaround to meet mourners outside Windsor, there is a suggestion they could put their differences aside during the time of national mourning.

The pair had been separated by their cousin Peter Phillips at the funeral of Prince Phillip last year, and since then have only been seen in public together once before Saturday's surprise walk.

What form the truce takes at the Queen's funeral on Monday, September 19, remains to be seen, with reports suggesting that Prince Andrew is also set to play a key role despite controversies in the last few years.

The Duke of York is expected to join his family as they unite in their grief, with sources saying it would be 'out of the question' for him to be excluded.

However, despite this apparent reprieve for the disgraced prince, there would seem to be no way back into public life for him, with both the king and the Prince of Wales previously saying he would have no formal role during their reigns.

It comes as the Royal Family attempts to put on a united front during the period of national mourning, as they try to put aside their differences for the greater good following the passing of Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral on Thursday.

While arrangements for the funeral service are still being ironed out, there are reports that discussions are underway that could see William and Harry stand side by side during the procession.

It would mark a significant improvement in their relationship - at the funeral of their grandfather, Prince Philip in April last year, the pair were separated by their cousin Peter Phillips.

However, relations between the brothers seem to have improved since then, with William inviting Harry to meet wellwishers and mourners outside Windsor on Saturday.

The 11th-hour 'olive branch' was offered by William to his brother as hundreds of people gathered outside the royal residence to pay tribute to Her Majesty.

The brothers, accompanied by their wives, greeted mourners outside the gates of the Windsor Castle and thanked them for their tributes and condolences.

The Sun reports an insider as saying: 'We are certainly not in the same place as Philip's funeral when William and Harry didn't walk side by side.

'Things haven't changed but it is not as intense and they can co-exist.

'But the flower visit really doesn't change anything. It is the same situation as at Prince Philip's funeral when William and Harry put their differences aside and supported each other and their families in that moment.'

The temporary nature of the truce could be laid bare in the coming months with Harry set to release his 'tell-all' memoirs and Meghan set to continue her series of podcasts.
The Queen's former protection officer has revealed how the Queen celebrated when she heard that her granddaughter Zara Tindall won an Olympic medal - but had been 'too nervous' to watch the event itself.

Former royal protection officer Richard Griffin reminisced about his time with the late Monarch on Sky News this morning.

Speaking of the sovereign's love of horse riding, he revealed the Queen had been too jittery to watch her granddaughter competing in the Eventing team at the 2012 Olympic Games.

Instead, she took Griffin on a picnic, but eventually asked him to check how Princess Anne's daughter had got on, and 'danced around in circles' when she heard that she had come an impressive second.

Zara won the silver medal as part of the team event during the competition, the single Olympic title of her career.

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Speaking of the late sovereign's love of horse riding, a former protection officer, revealed the Queen was 'too nervous' to go watch her granddaughter competing in the Eventing team at the 2012 Olympic Games (pictured with King Charles III at the Braemar Gathering in 2012)

Zara won the silver medal as part of the team event during the competition, the single Olympic title of her career

Former royal protection officer Richard Griffin reminisced about his time with the Monarch on Sky News this morning

'I remember once when I was up at Balmoral with her [the Queen] and Zara was competing in the Olympic Games and looked like she was going to win a medal,' Griffin told Sky.

'And I thought I would be flying down to Greenwich to watch her get on, but the Queen said to me ''I'm just so nervous, I can't face up to it. Let's just go out for a picnic",' he added.

'So we drove up to one of the mountainsides, one of the cabins and we had a little private picnic just the two of us,' the former protection officer went on.

However, the late Monarch couldn't bear not knowing any longer, and eventually asked Griffin to radio his team to find out how Zara had done.

The Queen couldn't 'face up' to watching Zara, pictured, compete live, and had a picnic at Balmoral instead

Eventually, the Queen 'danced in circles' with her protection officer when she learned her granddaughter's team had won

'So I radioed them, found out she's won the silver medal and I remember the Queen jut grabbed me and we were dancing around in circles on this hill in Scotland,' Griffin said with a chuckle.

'That's a memory that will stay with me for evermore,' he added.

Griffin shared another story about the late Monarch on Saturday which has since gone viral.

He told how Queen Elizabeth handled an encounter with American hikers who had no idea who she was.

Zara celebrating her Eventing win with Tom Daley smile at the London 2012 Victory Parade

The monarch was out in the hills near her Scottish castle at Balmoral when two U.S. tourists on a walking holiday approached them and engaged in conversation.

'There were two hikers coming towards us - and the Queen would always stop and say hello. And it was two Americans on a walking holiday,' Griffin told Sky News during celebrations of Elizabeth's 70 years on the throne earlier this year.

'It was clear from the moment that we stopped that they hadn't recognised the Queen - which is fine.

The American gent was telling the Queen where they came from, where they were going to next, and where they'd been to in Britain.

'I could see it coming and sure enough, he said to Her Majesty 'and where do you live?' And she said 'well I live in London but I have got a holiday home just the other side of the hills.'

She did not say she was referring to Balmoral.

The monarch was out in the hills near her Scottish castle at Balmoral when two American tourists on a walking holiday approached them and engaged in conversation - but they did not know she was the Monarch

Griffin left Sky News reporters in giggles at his anecdote which saw the Queen manage to dodge being recognised by two hikers

Aware that the castle was in the vicinity, the hiker then asked her if she had ever met the queen, Mr Griffin said.

'Quick as a flash she said: 'I haven't, but Dick here meets her regularly''.

The hiker than asked Griffin what the monarch was like in person.

'Because I was with her a long time and I knew I could pull her leg, I said: "Oh, she can be very cantankerous at times, but she's got a lovely sense of humour,''' Mr Griffin said.

Delighted, the hiker then put his arm around the officer's shoulder and asked if he could have a picture of the two of them together.

'Before I could see what was happening, he gets his camera and gives it to the queen and says "'can you take a picture of us?'''

The queen obliged, and then Griffin took the camera and took a picture of her with the pair of hikers.

Later, Mr Griffin said the queen told him: 'I'd love to be a fly on the wall when he shows those photographs to friends in America and hopefully someone tells him who I am.'
Kate Middleton appeared to show she was feeling broody once again as she and Prince William gushed over a baby in Windsor.

The Princess of Wales, 40, beamed as she looked at an infant wearing a pink baby-grow while chatting to her mother and accepting flowers from well-wishers on Saturday.

Meanwhile Prince William, 40, playfully chatted to the little baby with a smile on his face.

The Princess of Wales appeared taken by the little baby wearing pink as she greeted well-wishers at Windsor Castle

Kate Middleton and Prince William both gushed over the tot as they chatted to her mother and received gifts from members of the public

The couple, who recently moved to the Berkshire Estate, were meeting royal fans who had gathered outside Windsor Castle to pay their respects to the Queen, who passed away on Thursday at Balmoral.

While William raced to the Scottish royal residence to be with other members of the family, Kate stayed in Windsor to look after children Prince George, nine, Princess Charlotte, seven and Prince Louis, four, who had just started the new term at Lambrook School.

In a show of unity, the couple appeared on Saturday afternoon with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who had happened to be visiting the UK when the Queen's death was announced.

The 'Fab Four', as they had once been known, walked alongside each other after it was reported William had invited Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to join himself and Kate as they looked at royal tributes.

Kate Middleton, Prince William, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle appeared together in Windsor for the first time since early 2020

It was the first public appearance the two couples had made together since 2020, before Harry and Meghan stepped down as senior royals and left the UK to start a new life in the US.

Amid rumours of a rift between the brothers, another clip showed William

Mother-of-three Kate, who has recently inherited the title Princess of Wales, is a natural with children and is often seen making a fuss of little ones while she's out and about at public appearances.

In June this year she was spotted asking a royal fan, Marianne Provoost, if she could hold her baby during an outing to Newmarket Racecourse, Cambridge.

A video of the sweet moment showed the Princess smiling at and chatting with the baby, who she asked if she could hold, telling her mother: 'I love babies.'

Meanwhile, Prince William was seen loitering nearby, watching his wife as she cuddled the tot, and Kate was certainly in no hurry to go when he urged her to move on.

As Kate handed four-month-old with Ms Provoost telling the duchess: 'Enjoy your day and enjoy your children.'

The video clips shows Prince William appear to gently tap his wife on the arm, saying: 'It's time to go'.

However, she took her time saying goodbye to Marianne, before handing the child back.

Royal fans were delighted by the moment and took to Twitter to joke about it, especially Prince William's reaction.

'Its making William a little nervous. Hes nervous with three. Another one might tip him over the edge,' one wrote.
A grandmother who owns the world's largest collection of royal memorabilia says that she feels empty after hearing the news about the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Anita Atkinson, 64, from Crook, County Durham, has dedicated the past 45 years of her life to collecting keepsakes of the royal family and credits Her Majesty for being her role model.

The royal fanatic  who has collected 12,777 royal artefacts, including 5,000 dedicated to the late Queen  refuses to leave her royalty-filled home without a piece of her collection.

One of Anita's most prized possessions is a framed napkin that was used by the new King Charles II on an aeroplane.

Royal super fan Anita Atkinson, from County Durham, says she has been left feeling 'empty' following the death of Queen Elizabeth II

Anita has collected 12,777 royal artefacts, including 5,000 dedicated to the late Queen, over the last 45 years

She has held the world record for the collection since 2001.

'I'm empty, I don't know what I'm going to do without the Queen in my life,' Anita said.

'What an amazing work ethic she had  she never went back on her promise to serve.

'I think about her every day. She has been part of my whole life and more because she's been around even before I was born.

The superfan, who has held the world record for the collection since 2001, said she feels 'empty' without the Queen

Anita (pictured here among her significant memorabilia collection) saw the Queen as a symbol of consistency, as well as a motherly role model, since the death of her own mother

Among the reasons Anita (pictured) loves the Queen, is the monarch's devotion to duty and service

'She has been the one constant in my life and has been my motherly role model after my mum died 34 years ago.

'She was a 96-year-old woman who has worked hard and served every day for 70 years.

'She was the most powerful woman in the world and the most photographed, yet so unassuming.

'She was humble and most importantly forgiving  she never criticised anyone and was a really positive influence.'

According to the royal super fan (pictured here with a cardboard cutout of the Queen), the royal was 'humble' and 'forgiving'

Although Her Majesty has died, Anita 'is surrounded by reminders of her legacy every day', thanks to her collection

Every inch of Anita's home is devoted to the royal family and Anita is surrounded by reminders of the Queen's legacy every day.

She added: 'I can't not think about her  she is there when I'm washing the dishes and in all the bedrooms.

'She's the first and last thing I see and think about every day. I bring her out with me every time I leave the house.'

Anita says Queen Elizabeth has been 'the one constant in [her] life and has been my motherly role model'

The royal fan has turned her home into a museum, which others can visit. They have been signing a book of condolences since the death of Queen Elizabeth

The royal enthusiast even recalls a time when she brought an entire suitcase full of memorabilia to the hospital when she was in labour.

She said: 'I brought a case with me to the hospital including my books and because I couldn't bear the thought of missing the royal wedding of Charles and Diana in 1981.

'To this day, she is by my side at all times  she's on my broach, my car keys and all over my home.

'My elegance has passed to the crown and the new King. It will be quite strange at first to see his face slowly replacing hers.

According to Anita, Her Majesty is 'by [her] side at all times... on [her] broach, car keys and all over [her] home

Anita (pictured) says she will be heading to London this week, to mourn the death of Queen Elizabeth

'I have so many copies of God Save The Queen, but I do have just one of God Save The King, but I will need an old windup grammar phone to play this.

'I am going to London this week to mourn her passing.'

Anita extended her collection, worth over 200,000 into a museum on her property for others to visit.

Since the Queen's passing yesterday, she said visitors have expressed their sadness in a book of condolences.
Princess Charlene and Prince Albert of Monaco have attended a church service in memory of the Queen, after sending a heartfelt tribute to the 'great' Monarch over the weekend.

The Prince and Princess of Monaco appeared deep in thoughts as they attended a religious service for the late Monarch at St Pauls Anglican Church in Monaco.

Pictures shared by British Ambassador to France and Monaco Menna Rawlings on Twitter also showed the couple as they posed with the service's officiant, and Prince Albert as he penned a tribute to the Queen at his desk.

Charlene sent a heartfelt tribute to the Queen on Saturday, where she said she was 'deeply saddened' by the news of the Queen's passing.

The Prince and Princess of Monaco appeared deep in thoughts as they attended a religious service for the Queen at St Pauls Anglican Church in Monaco.

The ambassador also shared a picture of Prince Albert writing on the Church's guestbook next to a portrait of the Queen

Pictured shared by British Ambassador to France and Monaco Menna Rawlings on Twitter also showed the couple as they posed with the service's officiant, and Prince Albert as he penned a tribute to the Queen at his desk

British Ambassador to France and Monaco Menna Rawlings said she was honoured to take part in the service with the Monaco royals

Rawlings shared a picture of the couple. Prince Albert wore a navy suit for the occasion, while Charlene opted for a white and black number

'I was honoured to participate in a service of prayer and commemoration for HM Queen Elizabeth II at St Pauls Anglican Church in Monaco,' Menna Rawlings wrote.

'We are so grateful for the support of H.S.H. Prince Albert, H.S.H. Princess Charlene and all Monegasques at this sad time,' she added.

Pictures showed the royal couple as they sat down in the church and looked to the officiant.

Other snaps showed Charlene and Albert as they posed with Rawlings following the service.

Charlene wore a sophisticated black and white dress for the occasion, while Prince Albert wore a navy suit.

During the day, Princess Charlene attended another engagement, becoming President of the SPA refuge of Peille, an animal charity

During their afternoon engagement, the royal couple was snapped laying the first stone of the future SPA refuge

Princess Charlene, wearing a crisp white shirt and tailored black trousers, was snapped shaking hands with people during the engagement

Charlene paid tribute to a 'great lady' and sent her condolences to the British Royal Family following the death of Queen.

She posted a photo of the late monarch on Instagram to express her sorrow. Her tribute followed messages from royal families around the world including Spanish King Felipe VI and Dutch King Willem-Alexander.

Posting on Instagram, Princess Charlene wrote: 'I am deeply saddened at the news of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, a truly great lady whose dedication and service was recognised throughout the world during the 70 years of her reign.

'Today, my thoughts are with her family, her children, her grandchildren, her great-grandchildren and the British people.'

Later that day, the royal couple attended another engagement, celebrating Princess Charlene's appointment as the president of the SPA refuge in Peille, near Mont Angel. SPA is an animal protection charity.

They were snapped laying the first stone of the new refuge, as well as chatting with people during the event.

Princess Charlene (left) paid tribute to a 'great lady' as she sent her condolences to the British Royal Family (pictured with Prince Albert II, the Queen and Prince Philip at Windsor Castle in 2012)

Princess Charlene posted a photo of the Queen wearing yellow and carrying a bunch of yellow roses as she paid tribute

Princess Charlene used her Instagram account to send her condolences to the British Royal Family and British people

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Posting on Instagram, Princess Charlene wrote: 'I am deeply saddened at the news of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, a truly great lady whose dedication and service was recognised throughout the world during the 70 years of her reign.

'Today, my thoughts are with her family, her children, her grandchildren, her great-grandchildren and the British people.'

Prince Albert II also posted a tribute to the Queen on Instagram, praising the Queen's 'inspiring' reign.

He wrote: 'Her Majesty's unwavering dedication and commitment to her duty during Her reign has always been extremely inspiring; It will long be remembered and admired.

'She truly represented the unity and dignity of the United Kingdom throughout the last seven decades.'

Queen Elizabeth II passed away peacefully at Balmoral on Thursday afternoon at the age of 96.

According to reports, her two oldest children King Charles and Princess Anne were by her side when she died.

Her other children, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, as well as grandsons Princes William and Harry later joined them.

Following her death King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain paid tribute to their distant relative with a heartfelt statement.

The Spanish Royal Family echoed sentiments from the Dutch and Swedish royals in praising the Queen's sense of duty to her country throughout her historic 70-year reign.

Posting a letter to King Charles III on the Casa Real Twitter account, King Felipe said he would 'dearly' miss his Aunt Lilibet, a figure he held close.
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Sophie Wessex, the wife of the Queen's youngest son, showed her unwavering support to her husband this afternoon as she joined the royal family in procession to escort the Queen's coffin down Edinburgh's Royal Mile.

The royal, 57, joined the Queen's Consort in a fleet of cars as the Queen's children walked behind the hearse carrying the Queen to St Giles' Cathedral this afternoon, ahead of a service of thanksgiving.

Wearing a black suit and a matching headpiece, Sophie looked sombre as she joined her fellow royals for the deeply solemn 1,200 yard procession, which took place in bright sunshine, with hundreds of well-wishers lining the city's oldest streets.

Following the Queen's Piper, King Charles, in full military regalia, lead his siblings on foot including the Duke of York, Earl of Wessex and the Princess Royal - while the Queen Consort and other members of the monarchy followed in cars.

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Sophie Wessex (pictured left), the wife of the Queen's youngest son, showed her unwavering support to her husband this afternoon as she joined the royal family in procession to escort the Queen's coffin down Edinburgh's Royal Mile

Wearing a black suit and a matching headpiece, Sophie looked sombre as she joined her fellow royals for the deeply solemn 1,200 yard procession, which took place in bright sunshine, with hundreds of well-wishers lining the city's oldest streets

Crowds line the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, as King Charles III joins a procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles' Cathedral following the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II

In bright sunshine, the Queen's hearse made its way to St Giles Cathedral this afternoon; with the Queen's four children leading the procession on foot

The mother-of-two appeared deep in thought as the coffin of the late Monarch left the Holyroodhouse Palace earlier this afternoon. She has been showing unwavering support for her husband Prince Edward since the announcement of the Queen's death

Sophie was seen entering St Giles, standing very close to her husband, who was wearing his military uniform and titles for the sombre occasion

King Charles III, the Princess Royal, the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex walk behind Queen Elizabeth II's coffin during the procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh

Members of the royal family present at today's service, which included the King and Queen Consort, all sat next to each other, with Sophie standing on the end

At the cathedral, the Crown of Scotland will be placed upon the coffin. After a service, members of the public will be allowed to file past to pay their respects for 24 hours before Her Majesty is moved to London by plane.

Earlier, King Charles III met with well-wishers who lined the streets of Edinburgh to see him today in an unplanned walkabout as Scotland's capital welcomed the new monarch and mourned the Queen as she lies in rest in the throne room of Holyroodhouse.

There were cheers, clapping and cries of God Save the King as his limousine went along the Royal Mile and through the Scottish capital. He then got out and spoke to crowds, thanking them for coming and their best wishes followed by the Queen Consort, Camilla.

Prince Edward's wife, 57, was very close to her mother-in-law, and was known as one of her closest confidantes. Her Majesty's daughter-in-law was often been noted as the monarch's 'favourite' family member after she married Prince Edward.

Sophie formed a close bond with the royal family after losing her own mother, Mary Rhys-Jones, to stomach cancer in 2005 aged 71, when her daughter Lady Louise Windsor was only two.

Sophie, who was wearing all black, appeared deep in thought as she followed the procession in a car. Her husband Prince Edward was on foot

A dark day for Sophie. The Countess of Wessex looked sombre during this afternoon's procession, which saw the Queen's coffin being moved from Holyroodhouse Palace to St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh

King Charles seen travelling in a convoy of cars to Holyrood to return with the Queen's coffin to St Giles Cathedral, where the Vigil of the Princes will take place

There were cheers and clapping as the limousine passed through the Scottish capital

King Charles is pictured inspecting an honour guard waiting for him in Edinburgh

She was also extremely distraught following the death of the Duke Edinburgh, and became the Queen's 'rock' following his funeral.

Sophie has spoken openly about her grief before, having previously spoken of a tragic miscarriage she suffered in 2001.

Meanwhile in 2005, Sophie lost her mother. The Countess opened up about her mother's death last year during a speech for Women's Institute members at their annual meeting in June 2021.

She said of her other that she missed 'her very much and there are moments where I hear some music she loved or I do something I know she'd have wanted to hear about, which make her early departure very hard.

She has missed out on so much, and I'm particularly sad that she hasn't seen my children grow up or seen how my work has grown and developed,' she added. 'She would have loved that I am talking to you today.'

At the time of Mrs Rhys-Jones death, a statement from Buckingham Palace said: 'The Countess was very close to her mother and this is a very sad time. She is being comforted by her husband but she is deeply saddened.'

After her mother's passing, Sophie grew close to the Queen, whom she was heard calling 'mama' on occasion, including at a Diamond Jubilee Trust event at Buckingham Palace in 2019.

In recent years, former aides have previously described the Queens relationship with Sophie as like mother and daughter, adding: There is a great deal of love and mutual respect between them.

Sophie and The Queen enjoyed a privileged relationship, and the Countess of Wessex was often described as the Monarch's favourite daughter-in-law (pictured at Royal Ascot in 2019)

Sophie became the Monarch's 'rock' following the death of the Duke of Edinburgh in 2021. Pictured at his funeral in Windsor on 17 April of that year)

And in 2021, a tearful Countess described the queen as amazing as she and her husband Prince Edward comforted Her Majesty at Windsor Castle following the death of her husband Prince Philip.

Sophie's determination also saw her take on full-time royal duties, and embrace rural pursuits beloved by the royals, such as riding, fishing, shooting game and carriage driving.

In recent years, she has been a rock for the Queen. Speaking in 2021, one friend said: Sophie set herself a series of tasks. She learned how to ride properly and now rides with the Queen at least once a week.

She took up carriage-driving to be close to Philip,' they added.

Earlier today, she was seen looking through floral tributes the late monarch with Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice

Prince Edward and Sophie were the first to visit the grieving Monarch after the Duke of Edinburgh's death, and as they left the castle Sophie was visibly upset.

At the time, she was described as one of a group of four who were providing support for the monarch.

Sophie is like another daughter to the Queen, they are that close, said a Royal source. She is trusted and relied on like few others.

And speaking in June last year, royal expert Duncan Larcombe told The Sun: 'Sophie has emerged as the Queens unlikely "rock" as the monarch adjusts to life without Prince Philip.'

'Prince Edwards wife has  according to sources  made it her personal mission to ensure Her Majesty is fully supported by the family.

'Since the Dukes death in April, Sophie has driven the 10 miles from her Bagshot Park home to Windsor Castle every few days and most weekends to spend socially-distanced time with Her Majesty.

For the days she couldnt make it to see the Queen in person, the Countess made a point of calling her mother-in-law at least once a day.

Sophie looked very sombre on Thursday when she arrived at Balmoral alongside the Duke of Cambridge and Cornwall, Duke of York and Earl of Wessex.

The Countess broke down in tears as she opened up about the death of Prince Philip during an emotional BBC interview.

Sophie was seen holding hands with her daughter Lady Louise in Balmoral earlier this afternoon

In the interview, recorded in 2021, the interview Sophie grew increasingly tearful while talking about the Duke of Edinburgh, who she was close to. She spoke candidly about the photograph she took of the Queen and her father-in-law in Scotland in 2003.

She said: 'We were lucky enough to go to Scotland for half term and I don't know if you remember the photograph I took? It was... yes... I was pregnant with Louise at the time and we went up there during half term.'

The Royal was forced to pause as she struggled to hold back the tears as Ms Munchetty asked: 'Are you okay?'

She continued: 'And just to be there, in that place... was an oh my god moment. So I think they'll come and go. But you have to let them come and let them go.

'But just talking to you now it's a bit of an oh my goodness moment which you don't necessarily expect and you don't expect them to come.

'I had the same when I lost my mother. You know I'd be fine, absolutely fine fine fine, then something happened or you'd hear a piece of music or you'd do something then suddenly you would, you know, get taken off at the knees.

'So there will be lots of moments like that but it's good to remember.'
BBC News viewers have voiced concerns for Huw Edwards' health after the presenter was seen with a bloodshot right eye during today's royal coverage.

The Welsh presenter, 61, has been a constant presence on screens since it was first announced the Queen was unwell on Thursday afternoon.

The broadcaster sparked concern on social media this afternoon while covering the procession that saw the late Monarch's coffin being moved from Holyroodhouse Palace to St Giles Cathedral.

Viewers spotted the presenter's blood-shot eye, saying they hoped he would get it treated and surmising he must be 'shattered'.

BBC One viewers expressed have concerns over news presenter's sore-looking right eye

The Welsh presenter, 61, has been a key figure for BBC One during the coverage of the Queen's death since it was announced last Thursday

Viewers voiced their concerns foe Huw, with some suggesting he didn't get much rest after covering the news of the Queen's death this weekend

Huw was the presenter who broke the news of the Queen's death to the nation on Thursday afternoon at 6:30pm.

The presenter worked all the way through Thursday and was praised for his professionalism.

Back on screens again today, the presenter looked dapper in a navy suit as he resumed his coverage of the events taking place during the nation's period of mourning for the Queen.

Fans of the broadcaster expressed concern on social media. They wrote: 'Worried about Huw's eye. Hope he gets some treatment for that,' one fan said.

'Poor Huw, your eye looks so sore,' another wrote, while one asked: 'what's happened to Huw Edwards' eye?'

BBC News broadcaster Huw Edwards had been 'preparing, practising and rehearsing in front of his bathroom mirror' for the Queen's death announcement - before it sadly finally came on Thursday last week

Some viewers suggested the presenter had been working too hard.

'Huw Edwards' eye is bloodshot. Bet she's shattered bless him,' one said.

'Bit concerned a about Huw Edwards' eye, hope he has a good break planned sometime soon, it's probably been the heaviest week of his life,' one wrote.

Edwards, 61, has received widespread praise for his sensitive and genuine delivery of the news on Thursday night, and it's reported that he spent months preparing for moment.

After Buckingham Palace shared doctors' concerns for the Queen's health about midday on Thursday, the BBC suspended its regular programming and replaced it with continuous news coverage presented by Edwards dressed in black and wearing a black tie.

The Palace issued a statement officially confirming the Queen had died 'peacefully' at 6.30pm that evening.

The public service broadcaster had a total of 9.83million people tuned into BBC One at 6.30pm when the death of Queen Elizabeth II (pictured just two days before she died) was officially announced

At the time, her four children and grandson Prince William were together at Balmoral. Harry was in the air on the way to be with his family.

Writer Alastair Campbell said on Twitter Edwards told him months ago 'he had been preparing, practising and even rehearsing in front of his bathroom mirror for this moment for some time'.

It has been revealed that Huw Edwards had been reportedly preparing for this moment by 'rehearsing in front of his bathroom mirror for some time'.

The 61-year-old news presenter announced the news solemnly, looking into the camera to repeat Buckingham Palace's statement twice.

Alistair Campbell, the former spokesperson for ex-PM Tony Blair, revealed a conversation he had with the BBC newsreader a few months prior to yesterday's historical announcement.

In a tweet, he said: '[Huw Edwards] told me a few months ago he had been preparing, practising and even rehearsing in front of his bathroom mirror for this moment for some time.

'He said too that the Queen's death would be the biggest challenge to BBC News in its history. He did superbly.'

Mr Campbell also added that although he is out of the UK at the minute he has heard that the BBC's coverage has been 'absolutely brilliant' which should 'surprise nobody', he added.

After Buckingham Palace shared doctors' concerns for the Queen's health, the BBC suspended its regular programming and replaced it with continuous news coverage presented by Huw Edwards dressed in black and wearing a black tie.
Princess Anne has endured a heartbreaking few days following the death of the Queen, with the emotional toll being shown on her face as she followed a hearse travelling from Balmoral to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh yesterday.

However, Anne, who is often dubbed the 'hardest-working royal', has put on a show of strength throughout, ensuring her mother is laid to rest in keeping with royal tradition.

The Princess Royal, 72, has no doubt leaned on her children, Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall for support while grieving for her mother - but it is her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, who has been by her side during her most difficult times.

Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence walked behind Princess Anne as she and her brothers accompanied a hearse carrying the Queen's coffin to St Giles' Cathedral

Sir Tim was pictured in the car next to Princess Anne on the way from Balmoral to Edinburgh on Sunday

Sir Tim stepped outside the gates of Balmoral on Saturday afternoon with Princess Anne and other royals as they looked at the tributes laid for the Queen

Sir Tim walked behind his wife this afternoon as she marched behind her mother's coffin when it left the Palace of Holyrood House and travelled in a hearse to St Giles' Cathedral.

On Sunday, the loyal husband accompanied Princess Anne in the car as they made the journey from Balmoral, where the Queen passed away last Thursday, to Edinburgh, in a journey that took around six hours.

He also accompanied Anne and her children, as well as other members of the Royal Family, as they stepped outside the gates of Balmoral to wave at well-wishers and read tributes that had been left for the Queen.

Speaking in a documentary about Princess Anne to mark her 70th birthday, Peter Phillips spoke of the 'strong support' Sir Tim gave to his mother.

The Princess Royals second husband of 30 years (pictured) made the remarks in a new ITV documentary about Anne ahead of her 70th birthday

Sir Tim was asked by the Queen to join the family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for Trooping the Colour as part of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, even though he is not a working royal

He told the film crew: 'They both have an understanding of what being a part of the wider family means and what is required.

Sir Tim told the programme he and Anne have plenty in common - and are both avid supporters of the Scottish national rugby team.

However, despite sharing many interests, Sir Tim admitted he has never been particularly interested in Anne's main love, horseriding.

'She grew up with horses, horses have been part of her life, it's not something I share with her. Sadly I've never been bitten by the horse bug,' he said.

Sir Tim and Princess Anne married in 1992 after her divorce from her first husband, equestrian Mark Phillips, who is the father of Zara and Peter.

He had first entered the Royal Family six years earlier in 1986 when he became an equerry for the Queen. In his role, the senior member of the British Armed Forces was appointed to assist members of the Royal Family.

His close relationship with the late monarch was apparent when the Queen invited Sir Tim, as a non-working royal, to join the Royal Family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace as part of the Platinum Jubilee Trooping the Colour ceremony this year.

Talking about Anne's first marriage to Captain Mark Phillips, which ended in 1992, Sir Tim also joked: 'It's quite amusing that she married first an army officer and then a naval officer. So there must be something about the military that attracts her.'

Anne and Sir Tim, 65, who live together on the royal's Gloucestershire estate Gatcombe Park, married on December 12 in 1992 at Crathie Kirk in Balmoral, Scotland.
The butcher who supplied the Queen's meat in Balmoral has recalled her as someone with 'great banter' and a 'cheeky' sense of humour.

John Sinclair, 57, owns HM Sheridan butchers, which holds the royal warrant to supply Balmoral Castle and Birkhall, and was responsible for providing sausages for the Royal Family's summer barbecues.

Speaking to the Times, Sinclair said the Queen was in 'very good form' the last time he saw her.

He added that he was nervous the first time he met the Queen ten years ago, but that she put him at tease with her 'cheeky' sense of humour.

John Sinclair, 57, owns HM Sheridan butchers, pictured next to the Queen, which holds the royal warrant to supply Balmoral Castle and Birkhall, the Sovereign's neighbouring Scottish property, and has met the Monarch's several times

John (right) said the Queen put him at ease thanks to her cheeky sense of humour when they first met 10 years ago |(pictured with the Monarch in 2016)

'I looked down on this small woman who had such good banter. She was quite cheeky as well,' he said.

'She had already met Barry Florence, my business partner, and she said to me "I believe you are the other half of the partnership". She had a little smile on her face.'

John revealed the late Monarch usually ordered lamb for her big family gatherings, and that he also made her special sausages for her summer barbecues.

Members of the Queen's staff have been paying tribute to Her Majesty since her death on Thursday.

Her former protection officer has revealed how the Queen celebrated when she heard that her granddaughter Zara Tindall won an Olympic medal - but had been 'too nervous' to watch the event itself.

Former royal protection officer Richard Griffin reminisced about his time with the late Monarch on Sky News this morning.

Queen Elizabeth II leaves HM Sheridan Butchers accompanied by The Lord Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire, James Ingleby in 2016

Speaking of the sovereign's love of horse riding, he revealed the Queen had been too jittery to watch her granddaughter competing in the Eventing team at the 2012 Olympic Games.

Instead, she took Griffin on a picnic, but eventually asked him to check how Princess Anne's daughter had got on, and 'danced around in circles' when she heard that she had come an impressive second.

Zara won the silver medal as part of the team event during the competition, the single Olympic title of her career.

'I remember once when I was up at Balmoral with her [the Queen] and Zara was competing in the Olympic Games and looked like she was going to win a medal,' Griffin told Sky.

'And I thought I would be flying down to Greenwich to watch her get on, but the Queen said to me ''I'm just so nervous, I can't face up to it. Let's just go out for a picnic",' he added.

'So we drove up to one of the mountainsides, one of the cabins and we had a little private picnic just the two of us,' the former protection officer went on.

However, the late Monarch couldn't bear not knowing any longer, and eventually asked Griffin to radio his team to find out how Zara had done.

'So I radioed them, found out she's won the silver medal and I remember the Queen jut grabbed me and we were dancing around in circles on this hill in Scotland,' Griffin said with a chuckle.

'That's a memory that will stay with me for evermore,' he added.

Griffin shared another story about the late Monarch on Saturday which has since gone viral.

He told how Queen Elizabeth handled an encounter with American hikers who had no idea who she was.

The monarch was out in the hills near her Scottish castle at Balmoral when two U.S. tourists on a walking holiday approached them and engaged in conversation.

'There were two hikers coming towards us - and the Queen would always stop and say hello. And it was two Americans on a walking holiday,' Griffin told Sky News during celebrations of Elizabeth's 70 years on the throne earlier this year.

'It was clear from the moment that we stopped that they hadn't recognised the Queen - which is fine.

The American gent was telling the Queen where they came from, where they were going to next, and where they'd been to in Britain.

'I could see it coming and sure enough, he said to Her Majesty 'and where do you live?' And she said 'well I live in London but I have got a holiday home just the other side of the hills.'

She did not say she was referring to Balmoral.

Aware that the castle was in the vicinity, the hiker then asked her if she had ever met the queen, Mr Griffin said.

Former royal protection officer Richard Griffin reminisced about his time with the Monarch on Sky News this morning

'Quick as a flash she said: 'I haven't, but Dick here meets her regularly''.

The hiker than asked Griffin what the monarch was like in person.

'Because I was with her a long time and I knew I could pull her leg, I said: "Oh, she can be very cantankerous at times, but she's got a lovely sense of humour,''' Mr Griffin said.

Delighted, the hiker then put his arm around the officer's shoulder and asked if he could have a picture of the two of them together.

'Before I could see what was happening, he gets his camera and gives it to the queen and says "'can you take a picture of us?'''

The queen obliged, and then Griffin took the camera and took a picture of her with the pair of hikers.

Later, Mr Griffin said the queen told him: 'I'd love to be a fly on the wall when he shows those photographs to friends in America and hopefully someone tells him who I am.'
Camilla, the Queen Consort appeared emotional as she attended a service of thanksgiving and remembrance for Queen Elizabeth in Edinburgh today.

Her Majesty's coffin left the Palace of Holyroodhouse earlier, in a procession travelling down the Royal Mile, to St Giles Cathedral.

Senior royals, including the Queen's four children King Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward were among the attendees at the service, which follows the Queen's 'peaceful' death at Balmoral Castle last week, aged 96.

Queen Consort Camilla, 75, as well as Edward's wife Sophie Wessex, and Anne's husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, were also among the mourners.

As the Queen's casket made its way to St Giles, Camilla followed the procession by car, where she was snapped looking downcast.

Camilla, the Queen Consort, looked downcast as she attended a service of thanksgiving for the Queen in Edinburgh

Camilla, 75, appeared emotional as she followed the procession of Queen Elizabeth's coffin by car from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles' Cathedral earlier today

Camilla, dressed in traditional black for mourning, looked deep in thought as she waited before the service

Senior royals followed the Queen's coffin into the cathedral (pictured L-R: King Charles III, the Princess Royal, the Queen Consort, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward)

King Charles, along side his wife and siblings, looked pained as he attended the service of remembrance for his mother (pictured L-R: Prince Andrew, King Charles, Queen Consort Camilla, Princess Anne, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence)

The current monarch watched as the Crown of Scotland was placed on the coffin during the service

Amid the high emotion of the day, the Queen Consort (centre right) was snapped sharing a supportive smile with her husband King Charles (centre left)

While the coffin was lifted out of the hearse, the Queen Consort appeared pensive.

It was carried through the cathedral, as the choir sang Thou Wilt Keep Him In Perfect Peace, Whose Mind Is Stayed On Thee.

Then the Queen's coffin was placed on a wooden catafalque as the congregation continued to stand.

At this point, the King, Queen Consort, and other members of the royal family, then walked to their seats alongside the coffin.

The King had his wife to his left and the Duke of York to his right.

At the beginning of the service, Reverend Calum MacLeod welcomed the royal family, 'representatives of our nation's life' and 'people whose lives were touched by the Queen in so many unforgettable ways'.

He said: 'And so we gather to bid Scotland's farewell to our late monarch, whose life of service to the nation and the world we celebrate.

'And whose love for Scotland was legendary.'

During the ceremony, Camilla was seen looking at her husband, the King, and sharing a supportive smile with him.

Following the service, the royal couple were photographed leaving the cathedral, before travelling away by car together.

During the service, Camilla (centre) was photographed looking thoughtful, as the attendees reflected on the life of the Queen

Senior royals sang hymns during the service for Her Majesty, who died 'peacefully' at Balmoral last week, aged 96

During the service, senior members of the royal family appeared emotional, and rflz

King Charles and his wife Camilla, the Queen Consort, were photographed leaving the cathedral following the service

The royal couple appeared emotional as they left the Edinburgh service together, travelling by car

King Charles appeared emotional as he left the service with wife Camilla. Earlier in the day, he followed his mother's coffin as it travelled from Holyrood Palace to St Giles' Cathedral

Speaking during his first address to the nation on Friday, King Charles noted that 'darling' Camilla was a source of ongoing support for him

The King said during his address that Camilla 'will bring to the demands of her new role the steadfast devotion to duty on which I have come to rely so much'

The royals have endured a difficult few days following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, undertaking a series of public engagements and services

King Charles spoke of the support given to him over the years when he addressed the nation on Friday evening, confirming that she would become the Queen Consort.

He said he would be counting on 'the loving help of [his] darling wife, Camilla' as he ascended the throne.

In the speech that was screened at a service of prayer and reflection at St Paul's Cathedral, he spoke of the 'time of change' for his family, adding: 'I count on the loving help of my darling wife, Camilla.

'In recognition of her own loyal public service since our marriage 17 years ago, she becomes my Queen Consort.

'I know she will bring to the demands of her new role the steadfast devotion to duty on which I have come to rely so much.'

Earlier today, the Queen's coffin made its way through Edinburgh from Holyrood Palace.

King Charles watches mournfully as he watches the coffin be moved on its journey to St Giles' Kirk

The Queen's coffin was placed into the hearse from the Palace of Holyroodhouse on its way to St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh

The Queen's casket was draped with the Royal Standard in Scotland and dressed with a wreath of flowers consisting of white Spray Roses, white Freesias, white button chrysanthemums, dried white heather from Balmoral, spray eryngium, foliage, rosemary, hebe, and pittosporum.

Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward line up to follow the hearse carrying their mother on her final journey

The Queen's children followed by the Princess Royal's husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence (centre left)

King Charles III (L), Britain's Princess Anne, Princess Royal (2L), Britain's Prince Andrew, Duke of York and Britain's Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex walk behind the procession of Queen Elizabeth II's coffin, from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral, on the Royal Mile



Bagpipes played the National Anthem from Holyrood Palace as the Queens coffin cortege began the walk up the Royal Mile.

The hearse was flanked by a Bearer Party found by The Royal Regiment of Scotland and The King's Body Guard for Scotland. Mounted police in ceremonial dress rode ahead of the parade.

King Charles walked solemnly in step with his brothers and sister behind his beloved mother. The assembled well-wishers fell silent as the hearse appeared.

The crowd then broke out in spontaneous applause as the cortege approached and many shouted God Save the King and God Save the Queen.

Around 30 minutes later the Queen arrived at St Giles Cathedral.

The Queen will lie in rest in St Giles' Cathedral until tomorrow, when it will be flown from Edinburgh Airport to London.
The Royal Family Instagram account has shared a selection of photos celebrating the Queen's role in politics, both in Britain and around the world.

The photos show Queen Elizabeth II taking part in prolific moments in British history such as being the first British Monarch to address a joint session of Congress in 1991.

The collection also included images of her famous red boxes, which carried the State papers she was presented with every day.

The Queen's duties included formally agreeing to make bills in Acts of Parliament, or laws, meeting weekly with her Prime Ministers and acting as diplomat and hostess to overseas state leaders.

The Royal Family Instagram account has shared a selection of photos of the Queen's relationship with the British parliament throughout her reign. She is pictured here at her desk in Balmoral in September 1972 looking through her daily red box of State Papers

The Queen was served by 15 UK Prime Ministers during her reign, beginning with Winston Churchill in 1952 (pictured

Queen Elizabeth II was the first-ever British Monarch to address the United States House of Congress in 1991

The post was accompanied with a quote from the Queen herself during her address to Parliament in 2012: 'Parliament has survived as an unshakeable cornerstone of our constitution and our way of life.

'History links monarchs and Parliament, a connecting thread from one period to the next... The happy relationship I have enjoyed with Parliament has extended well beyond the more than three and a half thousand Bills I have signed into law.'

By the time of her death, the Queen had signed more than 4,000 bills into law.

The post reads: 'The Queens famous red boxes carried the State papers which Her Majesty was presented with every day of her working life. Her duties included formally agreeing to make bills into Acts of Parliament, or laws.

The Queen and former President Park of South Korea during the former President's visit to the UK in 2013. President Park was the first female President of South Korea

This 1959 snap shows the youthful monarch getting stuck into some of the official papers she is given daily by her private secretaries

The Queen invited Liz Truss to become Prime Minister and form a new government in Balmoral on September 6th 2022, days before she passed

'She also had a special relationship with her Prime Ministers, speaking to them weekly. She was able to "encourage or warn" whilst always remaining politically neutral.

'The Queen was served by 15 UK Prime Ministers during her reign, beginning with Winston Churchill in 1952, as well as over 160 Prime Ministers across the Commonwealth realms. As Head of State, she also acted as diplomat and hostess, welcoming 110 Presidents and Prime Ministers to the UK on official visits.

Queen Elizabeth II receives the former Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr Kofi Annan, at Buckingham Palace in 2004

Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh proceed through the Royal Gallery during the State Opening of Parliament, in the House of Lords at the Palace of Westminster in London in 2014

'In 1991 Her Majesty was the first British Monarch to address the United States House of Congress, and she spoke at the United Nations General Assembly twice: in 1957 and 2010. Thanking her for her address in 2010, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said of her reign:

"In a changing and churning world, you are an anchor for our age. Your reign spans the decades. From the challenges of the Cold War to the threat of global warming. From the Beatles to Beckham. From television to Twitter. Through the years, you have travelled the world and met its people. You have become a living symbol of grace, constancy, and dignity."'

As Head of State, she also acted as diplomat and hostess, welcoming 110 Presidents and Prime Ministers to the UK on official visits

The Royal Family Instagram account is sharing a series of posts marking the reign of Queen Elizabeth II and all that she achieved.

It shared yesterday a selection of photos of the Queen with Prince Charles throughout her reign in a post marking the transition of power.

The photos depicted the mother and son at Prince Charles's Christening, at the Coronation and at the state opening of Parliament.

It was accompanied by a caption praising the sense of duty shared by the Queen and her heir.

The Queen also spoke at the United Nations General Assembly twice: first in 1957 and then again in 2010

The first photograph was shared over the weekend of the young Princess Elizabeth cradling her son at his christening.

Seated on one side is her mother, the Queen Mother. On the other is her proud father King George VI. Prince Philip stands behind his wife and young son.

The photos were shared along a lengthy Instagram caption highlighting the Queen's important relationship with Parliament

The second photograph shows the newly crowned Queen surrounded by her family on the day of her Coronation in 1953. A young Prince Charles and Princess Anne stand in front of their mother.

The third and final photograph shows the Queen and Prince Charles walking hand-in-hand during the State Opening of Parliament in 2019.

Today the Queen's children King Charles III, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward followed their mother's coffin as it made its journey from Holyroodhouse to St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh

Today the Queen's coffin made its journey from Holyroodhouse to St Giles' Cathedral on Edinburgh's Royal Mile.

King Charles III, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward had followed Her Majesty's hearse along the Scottish capital's Royal Mile before the service at St Giles' Cathedral where Reverend Calum MacLeod said her 'love for Scotland was legendary'.

Charles stared mournfully at Her Majesty's coffin as the congregation sang God Save the Queen on a day where he was moved to tears after addressing Parliament for the first time this morning.

Today was the first time the monarch had been seen with his mother's coffin since she died at Balmoral on Thursday. She was taken to the Palace of Holyroodhouse yesterday evening before travelling the 1,200 yards to the service of remembrance. Tomorrow the coffin will be taken to London.

Charles stared mournfully at Her Majesty's coffin as the congregation sang God Save the Queen on a day where he was moved to tears after addressing Parliament for the first time this morning

King Charles walked solemnly in step with his younger brothers and sister behind the Queen on the march. The assembled well-wishers fell silent as the hearse appeared. The crowd then broke out in spontaneous applause as the cortege approached and many shouted God Save the King and God Save the Queen.

After today's service, described as a Service of Prayer and Reflection, members of the public will be allowed to file past to pay their respects for 24 hours before Her Majesty is moved to London by plane.
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Fashion week is here just in time to give us new fall fashion inspiration!

Winnie Harlow looked effortlessly chic front row as she attended the Fendi runway show at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City alongside friend Kim Kardashian.

The Canadian model, 28, wowed in a belted houndstooth blazer worn over a mint green slip dress which she teamed with a sparkly blue Baguette bag.

She joined a host of names at the event, such as Sarah Jessica Parker, Anna Wintour and a slough of legendary supermodels like Kate Moss, Linda Evangelista, and Christie Turlington as the show opened the fashion week calendar.

The collection was a special collaboration between Marc Jacobs and Kim Jones which was also a celebration of the brands 25th anniversary of their iconic Fendi Baguette bag.

Fendi babes! Winnie Harlow looked effortlessly chic as she attended the Fendi runway show during New York fashion week

The autumn season and houndstooth go hand-in-hand, so we weren't surprised to see it make an appearance on the Fendi runway for its ready-to-wear collection.

This isn't just any blazer either, It has a multi-layered design which consists of a removable waistcoat, peak lapels, long-sleeved jumper underneath and belt with side peplum.

To say we think its an elevated staple would be an understatement. With its layers upon layers, it offers multiple looks for the price of one!

Feeling spendy for Fendi? Shop it here for $4300. Or check a new blazer off your wish list with one of our choices below which ranges from Shein to Nordstrom, there is blazer to suit all sizes and budgets. Pair it with a roll neck sweater, jeans and loafers for that perfect autumn chic ensemble.
On foot and flanked by his three siblings, King Charles III today led a sombre procession following Queen Elizabeth II's coffin through hushed Edinburgh streets packed with mourners.

The Queen's oak coffin had on Sunday been driven to the Scottish capital from the Balmoral estate where she died on Thursday aged 96, and held overnight at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

After a regimental band played 'God Save The King', Her Majesty's four children - Charles III, 73, Princess Anne, 72, Princes Edward, 58, and 62-year-old Andrew - stepped out behind the hearse flanked by kilted soldiers in a show of unity.

Yet the Queen's offspring haven't always been united - with Charles and Anne previously described as 'chalk and cheese' and the monarch and his brothers Andrew and Edward reportedly having a 'sibling rivalry'.

On foot and flanked by his three siblings, King Charles III today led a sombre procession following Queen Elizabeth II's coffin through hushed Edinburgh streets packed with mourners

Charles and his sister have notable differences - including their farming preferences (in 2017 Anne defended genetically modified farming, which His Majesty has described as 'the biggest disaster environmentally of all time').

Meanwhile, their parenting style is also different; Anne inherited her fathers sharp tongue, and whenever her children, Peter and Zara, acted up, she would ground them, stopping their pocket money and turning down party invitations as a punishment.

Keen not to replicate what he felt was Prince Philips hectoring, Charles always reasoned with William and Harry.

The siblings' hobbies also differ - with Charles preferring classical music, painting, architecture, fishing, shooting, hunting, polo and farming.

While Anne is all about her horses, with Prince Philip once memorably having said: If it doesnt fart or eat hay, then [Anne] isnt interested.

Yet as Charles grapples with his new role, Anne has emerged as a key confidante to the new King.

Yet the Queen's offspring (pictured with their parents in 1979) haven't always been united - with Charles and Anne previously described as 'chalk and cheese' and the monarch and his brothers Andrew and Edward reportedly having a 'sibling rivalry'

Charles and Anne were born just 21 months apart and grew up the closest of the siblings (pictured in 1970)  both were teenagers by the time their parents third child Prince Andrew started primary school

As Charles III grapples with his new role, Princess Anne has emerged as a key confidante to the new King. The siblings are pictured together at the Highland Games on September 3, just days before their mother's death

Charles III, Queen Consort Camilla and Prince Andrew at the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on November 10, 2018 in London

Alongside his mother, she has been a mainstay in his life  and insiders say they are closer now than ever.

They were born just 21 months apart and grew up the closest of the siblings  both were teenagers by the time their parents third child Prince Andrew started primary school.

Inevitably, given the Royal Familys protected environment, they forged a special bond above and beyond those that followed with their younger brothers.

They are known to revel in each others company, sharing the same sense of humour, love of the countryside and affection for all things Scottish.

Yet, in adulthood, Anne has also respected their different roles and her elder brothers constitutional destiny. The brother-sister banter common in so many families has, in her case, been underpinned by a quiet respect.

Their relationship has been compared to that of Queen Elizabeth II with her younger sister Princess Margaret.

King Charles III, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward walk behind the cortege carrying Queen Elizabeth II

Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward line up to follow the hearse carrying their mother on her final journey

Huge crowds lined the streets of Edinburgh to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II

Now Charles, as was once the case with his mother, is an inexperienced Monarch in need of a trusted ear, someone with whom to share confidences  and, increasingly, seek advice.

Neither the King nor his sister would surely have wished to be the only siblings present at the bedside of their mother as she passed away at Balmoral Castle, but it is understood Andrew and Edward, travelling in a car driven by Prince William, were not able to reach the castle in time.

The fact that Charles and his sister were the only siblings present meant they could briefly mourn privately together, further strengthening their unique relationship.

Meanwhile, Anne and Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, Countess of Wessex, have been pushed into the fray as 'key' parts of King Charles' future monarchy, according to royal watchers.

Royal commentator Ian Lloyd, the author of The Duke: A Life in 100 Chapters told Express.co.uk in January 2022: 'She has a good relationship with Charles. In the next reign, I think, she will be an essential part of the Royal Family.'

Sophie, Countess of Wessex, guest and Camilla, Queen Consort are seen outside St Giles Cathedral

The Royal Family watch as the Crown of Scotland is place on the Queen's coffin this afternoon

The youngest child of the Queen, Prince Edward and wife Sophie have developed an ever more prominent role in the last couple of years, following recent royal scandals with other family members.

Prince Andrew and Prince Harry will not wear military uniform for the Queen's funeral Working members of the royal family will wear military uniform when present at five ceremonial events during this period of mourning the Queen. These are the Service of Thanksgiving at St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, the procession to Westminster Hall and service of prayer and reflection, the Vigil at Westminster Hall, the state funeral at Westminster Abbey and the Committal Service at St George's Chapel Windsor. But as a non-working member of the royal family, the Duke of York will not wear uniform except as a special mark of respect for the Queen at the final vigil in Westminster Hall, sources said. Advertisement

Prince Andrew has been largely side-lined and removed as a key working royal in the wake of his US sex assault lawsuit with Virginia Giuffre, which he agreed to settle without any admission of liability in early 2022, shortly after being stripped of his patronages and military titles.

He reportedly had a 'rivalry' and 'jealousy' with Charles, according to royal author Katie Nicholl in 2020 - which was portrayed in Netflix's The Crown.

Meanwhile the Wessexes, who reside at Bagshot Park in Surrey, have taken on a significant chunk of work following the departure of Harry and Meghan from front-line royal duties.

Having plugged the gap left by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex following their move to the US, the Earl and Countess of Wessex were more prominent than almost any other member of the Royal family in the days leading up to Prince Philip's funeral in 2021.

Prior to Covid they had picked up a significant number of royal duties  544 between them in the last full year pre-pandemic.

As for titles, it is thought Prince Edward will be given the Duke of Edinburgh title, previously held by his father Prince Philip. The title has not been redistributed since his death in 2021.

But former press secretary to the Queen, Dickie Arbiter, told The Sun last year: 'That Prince Edward will become The Duke of Edinburgh in the next reign was his father's and is his mother's wishes and Prince Charles won't go against those.

'It won't happen immediately, but by 2029, when Edward turns 65, it will. Time for speculation, without substance, to cease.'

As for Prince Andrew, he was left 'crushed and confused' after he was banned from attending the Order of the Garter Day service in June 2022.

The Duke of York was not seen in public during the ceremony at Windsor Castle, one of the most colourful events in the royal calendar, after the Prince of Wales and Duke of Cambridge reportedly lobbied the Queen about his participation.

The decision was clearly taken at the 11th hour, because Andrew's name was on the order of service.

A source said Andrew was crushed [and] a little confused, according to Omid Scobie, known for his biography, Finding Freedom, about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, in his column for Yahoo News.

Yet today, Andrew joined his siblings as they followed the Queen's coffin as it arrived at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh.

Thousands of people lined the route to watch as the procession made its way to the 12th-century St Giles' Cathedral as cannon fired at one-minute intervals from Edinburgh Castle.

The royals were joined by Prime Minister Liz Truss and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon for a service of prayer and reflection for the monarch who reigned for a record-breaking 70 years.

Later, the king and senior royals will stand vigil at the cathedral, with the coffin draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland and topped with a wreath including heather from Balmoral, and the ancient Crown of Scotland.

The public will also be able to pay their respects to the monarch known as 'Queen of Scots' until the coffin is flown to London on Tuesday ahead of the state funeral at Westminster Abbey on September 19.

Prince Andrew was not wearing his military uniform, unlike his siblings, after stepping back from public life following a scandal over his links to US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

But his presence represented a show of unity, as did the joint appearance at the weekend by Charles' warring sons William and Harry, as they surveyed flowers and cards left outside Windsor Castle.

Harry, the youngest, who renounced royal duties in 2020 and moved to the United States, had earlier paid tribute to his grandmother, calling her his 'guiding compass'.

'You are already sorely missed,' the 37-year-old said in his first statement since her death on Thursday, adding that he and his American wife Meghan 'now honour my father in his new role'.
Jenna Bush Hager has opened up about the dinner she had with Prince Charles the night before he became King Charles III in the wake of the Queen's death.

The Today host was in Ayrshire, Scotland, last week to interview Camilla, the former Duchess of Cornwall, who is now Queen Consort, about her online book club, The Reading Room.

Bush Hager, 40, was supposed to meet with her on Wednesday ahead of their sit down, but Charles ended up taking her place after her British Airways flight was delayed.

'It was a lovely meal,' she told Hoda Kotb and Craig Melvin on the Today show Monday morning. 'He first said, "My darling wife was so sad [not to make it].' And I just love [that].'

Jenna Bush Hager, 40, opened up about the dinner she had with Prince Charles while reflecting on her visit to Scotland last week on the Today show Monday

The Today host was in Ayrshire to interview Camilla, the former Duchess of Cornwall, who is now Queen Consort (pictured with King Charles III on Monday)

Bush Hager said she turned to her husband, Henry Hager, who was also at the dinner, and asked: 'Will you call me "darling wife" from now on?'

Charles also told her that Camilla 'cant wait to sit down with you tomorrow.'

'We had a wonderful evening filled with conversation that felt joyful,' the former first daughter added.

Looking back at the dinner, she believes the concerns for Queen Elizabeth's health the next morning came as a 'surprise' to the family.

Bush Hager, who had been planning the interview with Camilla for about a year, explained that she and her crew were also caught off guard by the turn of events.

Bush Hager was supposed to have dinner with Camilla on Wednesday, the night before their sit-down, but Charles took her place after her flight was delayed

The former first daughter said they had a 'wonderful evening filled with conversation,' and she believes the concerns over Queen Elizabeth's health took the family by surprise

'The next morning, we were setting up the interview,' she said. 'We were at their house. Its called the Dumfries House  they actually bought it, redid it, and then gave it to the people of Scotland.'

'The interview was supposed to start around 2 or 2:30,' she continued. 'I was supposed to meet with the now-Queen Consort around 1:30. At 12:30, we heard sort of running up and down the halls.'

They were preparing to film in the library at Dumfries House when the royals' team came to speak with them.

'They came in and said, "Can you please be quiet? Theres a call,"' she recalled. 'We were right by then-Prince Charles', now King Charles IIIs, office. They said, "Hes on a call can you please be quiet." Then, all of a sudden, we heard a helicopter.'

Bush Hager was then told that Camilla had to postpone the interview.

On Thursday, Bush Hager and her team were preparing to film in the library at Dumfries House when the royals' team came to speak with them

'They said, "The Queen is ill, and they have gone and rushed off to be with her,"' she explained. 'We just said our hearts are with them'

'They said, "The Queen is ill, and they have gone and rushed off to be with her,"' she explained. 'We just said our hearts are with them.'

She admitted she was disappointed at the time because she was looking forward to talking books with Camila, but it was surreal to be there at that moment, saying: 'It was living history.'

Bush Hager announced on the Today show Thursday that the interview had been pushed back while filming outside of Dumfries House, just hours before the Queen's death was announced.

'Our hearts are with not only their family but also all of those that have loved this Queen for decades and decades,' she said. 'As you all know, she is a beloved figure. She's worked with 15 prime ministers. She's just been this cornerstone of steadiness, not only for this country but for her family.'

'My heart breaks, too,' she added. 'In so many ways, we see her as this incredible political figure, but she's a mother, she's a grandmother, she's a great-grandmother, and now she has her family by her bedside.'

Bush Hager was overcome with emotion as she revealed on the Today show Thursday that her interview with Camilla was postponed, just hours before the Queen's death

Charles, the former Prince of Whales, was seen leaving Dumfries House and heading to Balmoral as he and his siblings raced to be by their mother's side in her final moments

Bush Hager stressed during the live segment that the royals have 'packed' schedules, and it is incredibly rare for them to drop everything like they did that day.

'Public grieving is a really difficult thing. The whole UK's heart is breaking for this family,' she said. 'I think so many times we see them as this institution, you know, as the royals, but as I spent time with Prince Charles, he's much more. He's a man who I'm sure is hurting terrifically today.'

The announcement of Queen Elizabeth II's death was made just hours after Bush Hager's interview was canceled

All of Queen Elizabeth's children had rushed to Balmoral to be with her on Thursday. Hours later she died, surrounded by her family. The monarch's death was confirmed at 6:30 p.m. UK time.

'The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow,' a Buckingham Palace spokesman said.

Britain and the Commonwealth realms entered a ten-day period of mourning after the Queen's death as millions of her subjects in the UK and abroad come to terms with her passing.

Her coffin will be moved to London on the royal train via Edinburgh before she lies in state in Westminster Hall in the Houses of Parliament for four days. Hundreds of thousands of people will be able to pay their respects.

The state funeral is scheduled to take place at Westminster Abbey in central London on Monday, September 19.

It will be attended by her bereft family, as well as 2,000 heads of state, prime ministers, presidents, European royals, and key public figures from around the globe.
Prince Harry showed off his credentials as a dog lover this weekend, when he was filmed petting two pooches during a walkabout in Windsor.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex joined the Prince and Princess of Wales as they went to the castle to look at floral tributes left for their grandmother, the Queen, who died last Thursday at Balmoral.

During the walkabout, the once-named 'Fab Four' were filmed greeting members of the public, who shared their condolences.

And Prince Harry, 37, seemed particularly enthusiastic about meeting two attendees in particular - a golden Labrador named Louis, and a small grey dog whose identity is not known.

The Duke of Sussex (pictured) pets a golden Labrador during a walkabout in Windsor at the weekend, meanwhile, the Duchess of Sussex (pictured) meets and greets members of the public

Prince Harry (centre) is seen pointing out a small grey dog to Meghan (left), who also seems excited to see the animal

In one of the clips, the royal is seen crouching down to give Labrador Louis ear scratches, with the canine appearing appreciative of the royal attention.

According to the Daily Star, the Labrador is called Louis, and belongs to Sarah Gracie, from Surrey, who shared images of the prince and her pooch on Twitter.

She wrote: 'When our little pup Louis met Meghan and Harry as we paid our respects to The Queen.'

Meanwhile, a second clip shows both the Duke and Duchess getting excited about a small, grey dog.

As the couple walk past a crowd, Harry spots the small animal lying on the ground, and points down.

Meghan then follows suit, pointing at the dog, before the pair appear to start talking to the dog's owner.

Just before the camera pans away, Prince Harry appears to be moving towards the animal, perhaps to pet him.

The California-based couple were filmed walking past the dog, who appeared to catch Harry's eye, and he stopped to look down at the animal

After seeing the dog, and pointing it out to Meghan, the Duchess then appeared excited herself, pointing at the small grey pooch

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are both thought to be dog lovers, and earlier this Summer were praised after adopting one of 4,000 beagles rescued from an animal testing centre in the US.

The seven-year-old pooch, named Mamma Mia, is now reportedly living with Harry and Meghan and their children Archie and Lilibet at their $14m, seven-acre mansion in Montecito, California.

The couple already have a pet beagle named Guy and a Labrador called Pula. The family also have chickens, who are thought to have been rescued from a factory farm.

Mamma Mia was one of 4,000 that had been bred at the Envigo breeding and research facility in Virginia.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have taken in a seven-year-old dog named Mamma Mia (pictured above with some of her puppies

Meghan and Harry are said to have made an after-hours visit and played with Mia, who had been brought there with eight of her newborn puppies

The dogs were bred so they could be sold for use in pharmaceutical and biotech research.

Several inspections of the Envigo facility over the past two years found dozens of violations of US federal regulations.

The animals were rescued in July and taken in by organisations including the Beagle Freedom Project, who looked after 25 of the dogs.

Shannon Keith, an animal rights attorney who runs the project, told the LA Times: 'The duchess called me personally.'

She added: 'She calls on my cell with no Caller ID and says, 'Hey Shannon, this is Meghan.'

Ms Keith said they talked for 30 minutes and she wondered if it was Megan Fox, but it was indeed the Duchess of Sussex.

Meghan and Harry are said to have made an after-hours visit and played with Mia, who had been brought there with eight of her newborn puppies.

The animals were rescued in July and taken in by organisations including the Beagle Freedom Project, who looked after 25 of the dogs. Above: Mia with her puppies

Photos taken earlier this year showed some of the rescued dogs on their way to Homeward Trails Animal Rescue

Ms Keith told the Los Angeles Times: 'The duchess is holding Mia and was like, 'We're adopting her.''

'She was like, 'No, we don't want a Christmas puppy. We want ones we can help who are older.'''

Animal-lover Meghan has adopted a number of rescue dogs over the past few years and brought her American rescue beagle Guy to the UK when she married Harry.

The former actress chose animal welfare charity Mayhew as one of her first patronages.

When she moved to England to be with Harry she had to leave Bogart - a Labrador-shepherd mix - in the US.

Meghan has previously said the pair of rescue dogs 'mean the absolute world' to her and has referred to them as 'my loves' and 'my boys'.
This is the moment the Princess of Wales shared a sweet exchange with a well-wisher during the royal walkabout in Windsor over the weekend.

Kate joined William, Harry and Meghan to meet people who had lined the road outside Windsor Castle to pay tribute to the Queen.

In one video that has been shared online, the Princess of Wales is seen patting her cheek as she appears to tell one of the well-wishers that she will make her 'blush'.

Kate Middleton was seen sweetly patting her cheek after sharing a cute moment with a member of the public outside Windsor Castle

The Princess of Wales met crowds at Windsor Castle with her husband Prince William and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex over the weekend

Kate, who became the Princess of Wales on the death of the Queen, stops to chat to several women.

While most of their conversation can't be heard, at one point the princess seems to pat her cheeks and say 'I'll blush', suggesting she might have been paid a compliment.

It is one of a number of touching moments that has emerged from the walkabout.

Elsewhere, the princess was spotted beaming as she looked at an infant wearing a pink baby-grow.

Kate, 40, was videoed speaking to one woman and although it wasn't clear what was said the Princess's actions showed that it had great impact on her

The woman smiled tenderly at Kate, whilst she gently patted her cheeks several times. She appeared to say 'I'll blush', suggesting she had been paid a compliment

This was one of many sweet interactions that Kate Middleton shared with the crowds at Windsor Castle who had gathered to pay their respects to the Royal family

Meanwhile Prince William, 40, playfully chatted to the little baby with a smile on his face.

The couple, who recently moved to the Berkshire Estate, were meeting royal fans who had gathered outside Windsor Castle to pay their respects to the Queen, who passed away on Thursday at Balmoral.

While William raced to the Scottish royal residence to be with other members of the family, Kate stayed in Windsor to look after children Prince George, nine, Princess Charlotte, seven and Prince Louis, four, who had just started the new term at Lambrook School.

In a show of unity, the couple appeared on Saturday afternoon with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who had happened to be visiting the UK when the Queen's death was announced.

The Princess of Wales, 40, was also spotted beaming as she looked at an infant wearing a pink baby-grow while chatting to her mother

Kate Middleton and Prince William both gushed over the tot as they chatted to her mother and received gifts from members of the public
The Queen's coffin, which tonight lies in state in Edinburgh, has been ready for more than 30 years, the royal funeral director revealed.

Andrew Leverton runs Leverton & Sons, the independent family firm of undertakers from Camden, north London, which has worked on royal funerals since 1991.

In an interview with The Times, he explained his company had inherited the coffin that had been made for the Queen by the previous royal funeral directors.

The Queen's coffin, which tonight lies in state in Edinburgh, has been ready for more than 30 years, the royal undertaker revealed. Pictured, the Queen's coffin arrives at St Giles's Cathedral

The Queen, pictured in Balmoral days before her death, will be honoured at a state funeral on Monday 19

Speaking in 2018, he said: 'It is made from English oak, which is very difficult to get hold of. Oak coffins are now made from American oak. I don't think we could use English oak for a coffin now. It would be too expensive.'

As per royal tradition, it is lined with lead, which helps preserve the body for longer.

Mr Leverton explained the coffin has been ready for decades because it is 'not something you can just make in a day'.

'There are fitments on the coffin lid which allow the instruments of state to be fitted,' he added.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's state funeral will take place at Westminster Abbey at 11am on Monday, September 19.

It will be the first funeral service at the Abbey - which was the background to much of the Queen's astonishing life, from her marriage to her beloved Duke of Edinburgh to the Coronation - for a British monarch since that of King George II in 1760.

Left to right: Sophie, Countess of Wessex, Prince Edward, Prince Andrew, King Charles III, Camilla, Queen Consort, The Princess Royal and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence sat alongside the Queen's coffin at St Giles' Cathedral

As God Save the King was sung in the church, Charles looked mournfully at his mother's coffin

The Queen had herself held the crown in the same church - St Giles' Kirk - just after her coronation

The funerals of kings and queens have been at St George's Chapel in Windsor since the reign of George III.

However, in a break with convention, Her Majesty - who died at Balmoral on Thursday aged 96 following many months of concern over her health - decided her funeral should be in the much bigger setting of Westminster Abbey.

Scotland Yard has now been tasked with organising the most significant security arrangement in British history for the funeral.

Her coffin, which is now lying in state in St Giles's Cathedral, will be flown to London on Tuesday, acccompanied by the Princess Royal, before being driven to Buckingham Palace.

King Charles III during a Service of Prayer and Reflection for the Life of Queen Elizabeth II at St Giles' Cathedral

(left to right) The Countess of Wessex, the Earl of Wessex, the Duke of York, King Charles III, the Queen Consort, the Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence during a Service of Prayer and Reflection for the Life of Queen Elizabeth II at St Giles' Cathedral

The Queen's lying in state will begin in Westminster Hall in London on Wednesday afternoon.

Then on Monday, the coffin will be moved from the Houses of Parliament that morning on the state gun carriage and transported to the neighbouring Abbey.

King Charles III and other senior members of the Royal Family, as well as the military, will follow the coffin while hundreds of thousands of mourners line the streets to pay their final respects to the late monarch.

Around 2,000 guests including Prime Minister Liz Truss and US President Joe Biden will then attend the hour-long televised service in the Abbey, which is expected to be one of the most watched live events in history - before the coffin is solemnly carried to Wellington Arch at 1pm via Whitehall, The Mall and past Buckingham Palace.

The coffin will then be carried to Windsor, before the Queen is buried at St George's Chapel next to her husband Prince Philip.
King Charles donned one of his favourite tartans as he joined his siblings to stand vigil around their mother's coffin in Edinburgh this evening.

After a short procession, King Charles III, Anne, the Princess Royal, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward each stood on one of the four corners of the oak coffin with their heads bowed in a ceremony known as the Vigil of the Princes.

The King sported a kilt in the Prince Charles Edward Stewart tartan, also called the Prince Charles Edward Stuart tartan, for the solemn ceremony.

The Prince Charles Edward Stewart tartan is a variation on the Royal Stewart tartan, which traces its origins back to the House of Stewart, according to the Scottish Register of Tartans.

King Charles donned one of his favourite tartans as he joined his siblings to stand vigil around their mother's coffin in Edinburgh this evening. The King sported a kilt in the Prince Charles Edward Stewart tartan for the solemn ceremony, pictured

The Prince Charles Edward Stewart tartan is a variation on the Royal Stewart tartan, which traces its origins back to the House of Stewart, according to the Scottish Register of Tartans. Pictured, King Charles in the tartan kilt while leaving Holyrood earlier today

The widespread use of the tartan is thought to trace back to King George IV, who donned a kilt in the tartan for a historic visit to Scotland in 1822 - the first by a reigning monarch in almost 200 years.

According to the Scottish Register of Tartans, the Prince Charles Edward Stewart tartan was worn as the regimental tartan by the 72nd Duke of Albanys Own in the 1800s.

The primary Royal Stewart tartan was adopted by Queen Victoria for the Royal Family. King George V made attempts to restrict its use for the Royal Family but it proved impossible due to its already widespread popularity.

It remained the official tartan of the Queen and, in turn, her son, who has sported it on a number of previous occasions.

The King has a choice of several tartans including the Balmoral and the Stewart Hunting.

The King and his family stood alongside four suited members of the Royal Company of Archers, who were standing guard dressed in long-feathered hats and armed with arrows and quivers.

Prince of Tartan! The Duke of Rothsay - aka Prince Charles - dons the family's official tartan as he arrived at the Castle of Mey in Caithness

Members of the public - who have been filing past the coffin in their thousands throughout the afternoon - were briefly held back to allow the royals to take their place. However, they continued to file past once the vigil began, offering them an extraordinary perspective on the historic moment.

A number of members of the public bowed as they passed the King, with others walking solemnly by with heads down.

Charles wore white heather in his lappelle from Balmoral, while Anne and Edward appeared in military uniform.

However, Andrew - despite having served in the Falklands War - wore only a morning suit, having been banned from wearing uniform on public occasions following his exile from public life amid the fallout from his role in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. The Duke of York will only be permitted to appear in military dress during a second Vigil of the Princes in Westminster Hall.

The King kept his hands joined and also looked towards the floor as members of the public filed past

Members of the public - who have been filing past the coffin in their thousands throughout the afternoon - were briefly held back to allow the royals to take their place. However, they continued to file past once the vigil began, offering them an extraordinary perspective on the historic moment

Members of the public - who have been filing past the coffin in their thousands throughout the afternoon - continued to file past as the royals stood completely still

The Duke of York kept his eyes closed for a period of time during the vigil, while the Princess Royal and Earl of Wessex had their eyes fixed towards the floor

The tradition has been honoured since the death of King George V in 1936, with Princess Anne today becoming the first female royal to take part.

The Queen Consort and Countess of Wessex sat on seats opposite the coffin while the vigil, which began at at 7.46pm and finished it at 7.56pm, took place in the ancient cathedral. The Archers have been completing 20-minute periods of standing guard at the coffin, which will remain at St Giles' for 24 hours before it is taken to London to lie in state.

Members of the crowd cheered as Charles arrived at the cathedral, and as he departed. As he drove past them, they took pictures and video and said: 'Here he is. Here he is. It's the King.'

Charles waved at onlookers waiting at the barriers to see him. One woman was heard to say: 'I missed him earlier and travelled up from Glasgow to see him. I waited five hours - I finally saw him.'
The Queen's children were wrestling with different emotions as they stood guard over their mother's coffin during the vigil in Edinburgh tonight, a body language expert has claimed.

After a short procession, King Charles III, Anne, the Princess Royal, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward each stood on one of the four corners of the oak coffin with their heads bowed.

But while all four siblings stood in a broadly similar way, their facial expressions hinted at the internal struggles they were facing during the deeply poignant moment at St Giles' Cathedral.

Prince Andrew looked 'pained' while Princess Anne might have been trying to fight back tears.

The Queen's children were each trying to communicate different emotions as they stood guard over their mother's coffin during the vigil in Edinburgh tonight, a body language expert has claimed. Prince Charles was the picture of 'firmness and resolve' with his straight brow (above)

Meanwhile 'Anne's brows were raised high above her downcast eye gaze,' Judi said, as seen above. 'This is often performed in an attempt to avoid tears that can occur more easily when the eyes are squeezed shut but the look also seemed to imply an ongoing disbelief'

Prince Andrew's brows were lowered to the ground, giving him a 'pained expression', according to Judi. The Duke of York, pictured, joined his siblings at the vigil tonight

'Anne, Charles and Andrew all had very different facial expressions of reflection and grief,' Judi James said in an interview with FEMAIL.

'Charles's features had a more horizonal set to them, suggesting a desire for firmness and resolve. Andrew's brows were in a deep frown that gave his lowered eyes a rather pained expression.

'Anne's brows were raised high above her downcast eye gaze.

'This is often performed in an attempt to avoid tears that can occur more easily when the eyes are squeezed shut but the look also seemed to imply an ongoing disbelief about the loss of her mother.'

Judi explained that the King appeared in good spirits as he stepped out of the car with his wife Camilla, the Queen Consort, 'but once inside the cathedral his mood seemed to change'.

Judi explained that the King appeared in good spirits as he stepped out of the car with his wife Camilla, the Queen Consort, 'but once inside the cathedral his mood seemed to change'

The King appeared somewhat 'fretful', pictured, and turned twice to look back at his brothers, Edward and Andrew, who followed in from behind

'Charles's reflective pose and the way he pulled up to full height suggested he was steeling himself,' Judi said. Pictured, Charles taking his place next to his mother's coffin

The King appeared somewhat 'fretful' and turned twice to look back at his brothers, Edward and Andrew, who followed in from behind.

She continued: 'The four siblings then adopted the formation they would be doing their vigil in and it might have been Charles's expectation that they would walk in a line instead.

'When they reached the coffin Anne's eye expression looked hollow as she gazed close-up before turning her back on it.

'Charles's reflective pose and the way he pulled up to full height suggested he was steeling himself before all four adopted the vigil pose with heads down and hands clasped in front.'

The Duke of York kept his eyes closed for a period of time during the vigil, while the Princess Royal and Earl of Wessex had their eyes fixed towards the floor

Members of the public - who have been filing past the coffin in their thousands throughout the afternoon - continued to file past as the royals stood completely still

The King and his family stood alongside four suited members of the Royal Company of Archers, who were standing guard dressed in long-feathered hats and armed with arrows and quivers.

Members of the public - who have been filing past the coffin in their thousands throughout the afternoon - were briefly held back to allow the royals to take their place. However, they continued to file past once the vigil began, offering them an extraordinary perspective on the historic moment.

A number of members of the public bowed as they passed the King, with others walking solemnly by with heads down. Charles wore the Prince Charles Edward Stuart tartan and white heather in his lappelle from Balmoral, while Anne and Edward appeared in military uniform.

King Charles III, Anne, the Princess Royal, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward each stood on one of the four corners of the coffin in a ceremony known as the Vigil of the Princes

The King kept his hands joined and also looked towards the floor as members of the public filed past

However, Andrew - despite having served in the Falklands War - wore only a morning suit, having been banned from wearing uniform on public occasions following his exile from public life amid the fallout from his role in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. The Duke of York will only be permitted to appear in military dress during a second Vigil of the Princes in Westminster Hall.

The tradition has been honoured since the death of King George V in 1936, with Princess Anne today becoming the first female royal to take part.

The Queen Consort and Countess of Wessex sat on seats opposite the coffin while the vigil, which began at at 7.46pm and finished it at 7.56pm, took place in the ancient cathedral. The Archers have been completing 20-minute periods of standing guard at the coffin, which will remain at St Giles' for 24 hours before it is taken to London to lie in state.

Members of the crowd cheered as Charles arrived at the cathedral, and as he departed. As he drove past them, they took pictures and video and said: 'Here he is. Here he is. It's the King.'
Camilla, the Queen Consort, appeared solemn but stoic as she joined her husband King Charles III at a vigil for the Queen in Edinburgh this evening.

The Queen Consort sat alongside the Countess of Wessex on seats opposite the Queen's coffin, where King Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward stood guard.

Both Camilla, 75, and Sophie Countess of Wessex, 57, looked looked sombre as they looked on at their husbands, who stood with their hands clasped and heads towards the floor.

Camilla, the Queen's Consort looked solemn as she attend a vigil for the late Queen Elizabeth II at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh

The wife of King Charles III has remained by her husband's side since the loss of the Queen, providing support and care for him.

During the vigil she looked on at the coffin for a while before bowing her head and looking away.

She kept her emotions under tight control despite the gravity of the situation.

Members of the public continued to file past in St Giles' Cathedral, where Her Majesty's coffin lies in state.

Following the 10-minute vigil, Camilla left the cathedral alongside her husband, walking down the steps by his side.

The couple have made a string of high profile appearances in the days since the Queen's death aged 96.

Camilla, 75, has been by her husband's side since the passing of his mother on Thursday 9th September. She joined him at the Vigil of Princes alongside his three siblings

Camilla wore a black midi dress for the vigil, paired with a matching jacket, large pearl necklace and a brooch of thistle

The Queen Consort was joined by Sophie, Countess of Wessex at St Giles' Cathedral. The pair looked solemn and only briefly looked at the coffin

Charles paid tribute to his wife's unwavering support in his first address as King.

After a short procession, King Charles III, Anne, the Princess Royal, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward each stood on one of the four corners of the oak coffin with their heads bowed in a ceremony known as the Vigil of the Princes.

The Duke of York kept his eyes closed for a period of time during the 10-minute vigil, while the Princess Royal and Earl of Wessex had their eyes fixed towards the floor. The King - his eyes moistening - kept his hands joined and also looked towards the floor as members of the public filed past.

The King and his family stood alongside four suited members of the Royal Company of Archers, who were standing guard dressed in long-feathered hats and armed with arrows and quivers.

Camilla, Queen Consort arrives to hold a vigil at St Giles' Cathedral, in honour of Queen Elizabeth II as members of the public walk past

The Countess of Wessex, the Queen Consort, the Princess Royal, the Duke of York and King Charles III Ieave St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, after taking part in a vigil as Queen Elizabeth II's coffin lies at rest

Camilla looked downcast as she left the Cathedral after the service, rejoining her husband King Charles III

Earlier on in the day the Queen Consort attended the Queens service of thanksgiving in Edinburgh alongside King Charles III, his siblings, the Countess of Wessex and Princess Anne's husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence.

As the Queen's casket made its way to St Giles, Camilla followed the procession by car, where she was snapped looking downcast.

While the coffin was lifted out of the hearse, the Queen Consort appeared pensive.

It was carried through the cathedral, as the choir sang Thou Wilt Keep Him In Perfect Peace, Whose Mind Is Stayed On Thee.

Then the Queen's coffin was placed on a wooden catafalque as the congregation continued to stand.

At this point, the King, Queen Consort, and other members of the royal family, then walked to their seats alongside the coffin.

Tomorrow the Queen will make her final journey down to London, where King Charles III and Camilla will follow.

Camilla, the Queen Consort, looked downcast as she attended a service of thanksgiving for the Queen in Edinburgh

Camilla, 75, appeared emotional as she followed the procession of Queen Elizabeth's coffin by car from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles' Cathedral earlier today
One of Australia's most popular supermarket chains has opened the doors to its largest store yet with more than 500 cheeses, exclusive treats, and an in-store Gelato Messina.

Harris Farm Markets' new Lane Cove store is stocked with the top-notch product and gourmet groceries Sydneysiders are familiar with, along with a brand new concession store exclusive to the north shore location.

'Lane Cove is Harris Farms Markets' largest Sydney store to date, and it's absolutely jam packed with everything you possibly need to tick off your shopping list,' co-CEO Tristan Harris told FEMAIL.

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Australia's favourite grocery chain has opened the doors to its largest store yet on Sydney's lower North Shore with over 500 cheeses, exclusive treats, and an in-store Gelato Messina

Harris Farm Markets' new Lane Cove location is stocked with the top-notch product and gourmet groceries Sydneysiders are familiar with - along with a brand new concession store exclusive to the North Shore location

'From your weekly fruit, veg, and farm shop to entertaining on the weekend - there's a Salami deli, fresh bread and more than 500 cheeses.

'This store is not only about convenience, but it's a destination for residents of the North Shore thanks to our fantastic concession partners.'

The new location will also stock more than 300 new products and extended ranges, an extensive plant-based range, and a new Foods of the World arcade with Italian, Asian specialty, Mexican and South American foods.

'Lane Cove is Harris Farms Markets' largest Sydney store to date, and it's absolutely jam packed with everything you possibly need to tick off your shopping list,' Co-CEO Tristan Harris told FEMAIL

Harris Farms Lane Cove is also Gelato Messina's first ever retail concept.

A majority of Messina's in-store range are exclusive to Lane Cove including six signature grab 'n' go gelato pints in the flavours French vanilla, caramel, milk chocolate, berries and cream, cookies and cream, and chocolate chip.

The store also carries a selection of chilled Bavarian cream pies and gelato cakes that can be eaten frozen.

Lane Cove customers will also have the option to purchase frozen cookie pies and rolls of cookie dough ready to take home and bake.

'We've always admired the Harris Farm brand and their dedication to quality produce, premium brands and community loyalty,' said Gelato Messina founder Nick Palumbo

A majority of Messina's in-store range is exclusive to Lane Cove including six signature grab 'n' go gelato pints in the flavours French vanilla, caramel, milk chocolate, berries and cream, cookies and cream, and chocolate chip

The new location will also stock more than 300 new products and extended ranges, an extensive plant-based range, and a new Foods of the World arcade with Italian, Asian specialty, Mexican and South American foods

'We've always admired the Harris Farm brand and their dedication to quality produce, premium brands and community loyalty,' said Gelato Messina founder Nick Palumbo.

'We have to pinch ourselves that were opening up our very own concession store inside Harris Farm and cant wait to share our custom gelato and desserts with the Lane Cove locals.'

The store also has a 'milk tap' that dispenses fresh milk.

Lane Cove locals and Australians alike are extremely excited for the gourmet grocery store

Lane Cove locals and Australians alike are extremely excited for the new gourmet grocery store.

'This has got to be the largest Harris Farms I've ever been to, and it's spectacular,' said influencer Adrian Widjy.

'It has a whole popcorn, honey, and pizza section,' he marvelled.

Adrian was also in awe of the store's bakery, meat section, and specialised sushi and sashimi components.
Other words include 'Screw it, let's do it' and 'Only a fool never changes his mind'

'You miss 100% of the times you don't swing' is a phrase his mother would say

He said his late father, Edward, would utter the words daily and lived by them

The Virgin founder uses the phrase 'Isn't life wonderful?' when he wakes up daily

Richard Branson has shared the five mantras he lives by to keep him motivated

Billionaire Richard Branson has revealed the simple-yet-sweet phrase his dad said every day that he has adopted to stay positive and motivated.

The Virgin group founder says the three words: 'Isn't life wonderful?' when he wakes up to centre him and start his day off in a positive light.

In his monthly newsletter on LinkedIn, Richard answered a fan-submitted question: 'What words keep you centred and motivated when you wake up?' and gave his five mantras he lives by including 'Screw it, let's do it' and 'Only a fool never changes his mind'.

Virgin CEO Richard Branson (pictured) has revealed five phrases that he says to himself to keep him centred and motivated including 'Screw it, let's do it' and 'Isn't life wonderful?'

The 72-year-old said his father, Edward Branson, who died in 2011 aged 93, lived by and would say 'Isn't life wonderful' every day.

'Dad found delight in almost everything, and he taught me how to find the positive in any given situation,' Richard wrote.

'It's a wonderful way to approach life and it's helped me to view challenges as opportunities.'

A saying Richard said he's uttered 'countless times' in his life is 'Screw it, let's do it' as he loves taking risks both in his personal and business life claiming it's 'the best way to grow'.

The 72-year-old his father Edward Branson (pictured), who died in 2011 aged 93, lived by and would say 'Isn't life wonderful' every day

The business mogul said he never could have launched Virgin Records or Virgin Atlantic if he didn't 'throw his hands up' and say those words time and time again.

'When somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you're not sure you can do it, say yes and figure out how to do it later! Life is a whole lot more fun like this,' he said.

A phrase that Richard said 'really stuck with him' is 'You miss 100 per cent of the times you don't swing' - something his mum would say 'over and over again'.

He said he was encouraged to give everything his best shot as a child by his mother who 'practised what she preached'.

In her youth, Richard's mother Eve, who died in 2019, disguised herself as a boy to take gliding lessons, enlisted in the Women's Royal Naval Service or WRENS in World War II then toured Germany as a ballerina after the war.

Five phrases Richard Branson lives by 1. Screw it, let's do it 2. You miss 100 per cent of the times you don't swing 3. Only a fool never changes his mind 4. Isn't life wonderful? 5. You don't learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over Advertisement

'She showed us how exciting life is when you work hard and give everything a go. Whenever I feel daunted by a prospect, but know it's the right step to take, I repeat Mum's words in my mind,' the Virgin group funder wrote.

Something Richard said motivated him to get out of bed every morning is the 'exciting' prospect of learning something new and reminds himself: 'Only a fool never changes his mind'.

'I try to tell myself this every day, so I don't get stuck in my ways and shut myself off from learning something new. In almost every conversation I have, I'm reminded by how much I still have to learn,' he said.

Richard's final mantra is: 'You don't learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over'.

He said he learnt the phrase when he dropped out of school at the age of 16 and he has 'never been great at following rules' because of his dyslexia but learnt the most in life from first-hand experience.

In the beginnings of Virgin, Richard said he and his team were 'total rookies' in business as per the name implies and 'a bunch of kids learning on this spot' but found their own way to success.

'This 'strategy' served us well, because we soon realised that you don't learn to walk by following rules, you learn by doing and by falling over,' he said.

'The same way a small child learns to walk by trying, falling, and trying over and over again. I'm not a rebellious teenager anymore, but I'm still throwing out the rulebooks.'
Davie Fogarty launched the multimillion-dollar wearable blanket business 'The Oodie' in 2018, but before the success he had a string of failed business attempts.

He started with an iPhone case business, tried his hand at personal training, before attempting a seasoning business and a Vietnamese roll shop.

And now the 27-year-old from Adelaide, South Australia, has revealed one of his biggest business 'horror stories' that cost him $500,000.

In a TikTok video Mr Fogarty said when developing a weighted toy brand for kids he 'completely ignored the unit economics' of the business - meaning the upfront costs required to produce, deliver and sell a product.

'I try to be candid on my social media to highlight that not everything you do will be successful, however the beauty of entrepreneurship is the lessons you learn along the way,' Mr Fogarty told FEMAIL.

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The young founder behind the popular wearable Oodie blanket (pictured) has revealed what cost him $500,000 in a previous business venture

In a TikTok video, Davie Fogarty (pictured) said had 'an indication' that weighted toys would be a 'great category' for a new brand. While he was selling. He went on to spend $40,000 on developing the brand but lost sight on how much he could charge

'I just lost my common sense around what I could actually charge for the product. Trying to charge $60 for a weighted toy - parents don't have that for their kids, there's alternatives out there,' he continued in the video

Pictured: one of the weighted toy 'Kevins'

'We had an indication that weighted toys was going to be a great category and I was selling hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of these toy "Kevins",' Mr Fogarty said in the video.

Before launching The Oodie he sold weighted blankets, which are thought to reduce stress levels.

Similarly, weighted toys are believed to provide benefits to children, such as ease restlessness and improve focus.

'I was like: "This is going to be huge. I'm going to build a whole brand around these weighted toys",' Mr Fogarty continued.

He then went on to spend $40,000 on developing the idea, organising inventory and developed storylines centered around each character.

'The one thing I just completely ignored was the unit economics of the product - and you need to make sure you have enough contribution margin to get eyeballs on the product, generally through Facebook,' he said.

Mr Fogarty told FEMAIL 'unit economics' refers to the the cost per item to manufacture, freight to bring the product in, courier cost to ship to a customer and acquisition cost to advertise.

'I just lost my common sense around what I could actually charge for the product. Trying to charge $60 for a weighted toy - parents don't have that for their kids, there's alternatives out there,' he continued in the video.

'Despite how great the brand and product looked, and functioned, it was just economically not viable.'

Mr Fogarty estimates he 'lost' between $300,000 to $500,000 through 'irrational' thinking - and confirmed he's still paying off this huge cost today by selling remaining inventory.

'The total losses won't end up remotely close to $500,000 as the inventory is slowly selling through over time, won't spoil and most of it will be recouped - however that was the approximate upfront investment for the project,' he told FEMAIL.

Mr Fogarty estimates he 'lost' between $300,000 to $500,000 through 'irrational' thinking - and confirmed he's still paying off this huge cost today by selling remaining inventory. He now focuses solely on his 10 businesses, including The Oodie

Earlier this year the young Aussie founder revealed The Oodie has turned over more than $400million since launching four years ago when he was just 23.

The university marketing drop-out said he launched his global business with his last $500.

Now he owns 10 brands - including Calming Blankets and pet care brand Pupnaps, which are all part of his company Davie Group.

Earlier this year the young Aussie founder revealed The Oodie has turned over more than $400million since launching four years ago at just 23

The Oodie launched in 2018 but increased in sales in 2020 when Covid swept Australia, forcing millions into their homes during ongoing lockdowns

The brand launched four years ago but sales exploded in 2020 when Covid swept through Australia, leaving millions working, playing and languishing at home during lockdowns.

The instant nation of homebodies meant Australians were spending more money on cosy outfits to wear around the house; The Oodie is a cosy, wearable blanket with a warm sherpa fleece interior and 'kangaroo pouch' front pocket.

In another video, he felt humbled by his success and said: 'Money comes back, but I'll never be 23 and growing Australia's biggest oversized wearable blanket business.'

The Oodie is a cosy, wearable blanket with a warm sherpa fleece interior and front kangaroo pocket (pictured

In the clip, Mr Fogarty said he'd change his approach and 'general mindset' about both life and business.

'I was so hell bent on becoming successful and making as much money as possible, and not only missed a lot of opportunities, but I probably wasn't as happy or enjoyed life as much as I could have,' he said.

'If I could change one thing, it would be my mentality around that and just trying to find peace rather than trying to be something I didn't need to be.'

In a separate video Mr Fogarty said he'd change his approach and 'general mindset' about both life and business. He told FEMAIL the brand has turned over more than $400million to date (pictured, a spreadsheet from last year)

Mr Fogarty's first brush with success came with the 2018 launch of his Calming Blanket franchise, which is a tool to ease anxiety.

He then developed the idea to create a wearable blanket, using social media marketing to give the Oodie traction.

'I think most successful people in business have a fear of failure,' he previously told FEMAIL.

Mr Fogarty's first product, Calming Blankets, a line of weighted blankets designed to reduce stress and improve sleep, was launched in 2018 several months before The Oodie

'Every failure or mistake can be used as a learning experience to improve upon and find success down the track,' he said about his strings of hits and misses.

'By not becoming blinded by hubris, you will not overextend and take on unjustified risks.

'When I first started, I was really strategic and had learnt from the mistakes I made in previous business ventures that had ultimately failed.

'We're also exploring new markets, such as Japan.'

Mr Fogarty didn't study business at university and left a marketing and mining engineering degree during his first year

His first product, Calming Blankets, a line of weighted blankets designed to reduce stress and improve sleep, was launched in 2018 several months before The Oodie.

Other brands including Pupnaps, a range of calming beds for pets, generated more than $1million in revenue in its seventh month,

He also founded Australian Furniture Warehouse with his parents, which sells furniture through warehouse sales.

Mr Fogarty didn't study business at university and left a marketing and mining engineering degree during his first year.

More than 20,000 Victorians purchased Oodies that month before sales increased to 85,000 by the end of October

Davie's top business secrets to success: 1. Have a product idea that solves a problem 2. Have strong digital marketing skills and developing creative video content 3. Plan a pre-sale strategy 4. Take every opportunity to learn and build your skills 5. Stay on top of trends Advertisement

'From there, I discovered my interest in marketing and social media and taught myself the algorithms and systems behind major social media platforms.

'My motivation is always learning and solving complex problems - eCommerce is a fast emerging industry and you need to constantly be learning to stay ahead.'

Mr Fogarty said with Covid lockdowns and restrictions forcing Australians into their homes, customers turned to The Oodie as a source of comfort during the difficult time.

'Loungewear in particular has grown in popularity since the pandemic and we found there was a strong appetite for Oodies and other items over the last 18 months,' he said.

Sales of The Oodie spiked in Victoria in July 2020 during the prolonged lockdown.

More than 20,000 Victorians purchased Oodies that month before sales increased to 85,000 by the end of October.


As Queen Elizabeth II's coffin lies in rest at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh it brought to mind my own encounter with Her Majesty in Scotland five years ago.

As a young Australian journalist fresh out of university at 21 I was selected to conduct a traineeship at Daily Mail Scotland for eight weeks, flying from the winter climes of Sydney in July 2017 to what I thought would be warmer weather in Glasgow.

I packed a ski jacket just in case.

One of my very first stories involved travelling to the Helix in Grangemouth, Falkirk, on July 5 where a 91-year-old royal wrapped in swathes of delightful pink fabric was opening the Queen Elizabeth II Canal - so named in her honour.

The canal forms the eastern gateway to the Forth and Clyde Canal and flows right up to the acclaimed horse-head sculptures known as the Kelpies.

As with most royal events a number of press and photographers were invited to attend and among them was me, lanyard in tow, prepared to write about the grand opening moment.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is presented with a keepsake at the Kelpies on July 5, 2017 in Falkirk, Scotland

Five-year-old Sam Mitchell gives Queen Elizabeth II a present during a visit to The Kelpies sculpture

It was quite clear from the outset that I was foreign as I didn't stop to mingle with the copious BBC journalists on site or the freelancers who traipse across the UK following Her Majesty.

In fact, I didn't quite know where to even stand.

With a flourish of my lanyard marked 'press' I was ushered into a gallery of sorts - which was outside as the day was clear.

From there I watched on - and snapped a number of images - of the Queen and her husband, the late Prince Philip, leading a small flotilla onto a bunting-covered Seagull Trust boat named The Wooden Spoon which took them along the canal.

Hundreds of onlookers standing a few metres away from me behind a barricade cheered as they spotted the Queen's hot pink hat exit the barge, followed closely behind by her husband and a number of officials.

I couldn't believe how close I was standing to the most important person in the royal family.

From there I watched on - and snapped a number of images - of the Queen and her husband, the late Prince Philip, leading a small flotilla onto a bunting-covered Seagull Trust boat named The Wooden Spoon

Hundreds of onlookers standing a few metres away from me behind a barricade cheered as they spotted the Queen's hot pink hat exit the barge, followed closely behind by her husband and a number of officials

Matilda in Scotland in 2017 wearing a ski jacket in the middle of summer

The Queen smiled as she was introduced to two horses, Duke and Dan, who, as Clydesdales, are the same breed of horse which inspired Kelpies sculptor Andy Scott's landmark sculptures.

Before long she wandered towards a group of dignitaries and children dressed in school uniforms and I discovered to my surprise that there was nothing stopping the press from following her up too.

She greeted each of the officials and children with ease, although didn't extend her hand - which was wrapped in a white glove - before being offered a bouquet of flowers by five-year-old Sam Mitchell.

I joined the end of the line, still shocked I was even within touching distance of her pink raw silk coat, and waited for Her Majesty to walk by me.

I stood on the other side of a barricade that stopped the general population from meeting the Queen

Not knowing how royal protocol worked I lightly bowed my head and replied 'hello, how are you?' with my Australian accent raising eyebrows from the suit-wearing men standing on either side

She walked slowly down the line that had formed and looked at me squarely, a smile already on her face, before uttering 'hello'.

Not knowing how royal protocol worked I lightly bowed my head and replied 'hello, how are you?' with my Australian accent raising eyebrows from the suit-wearing men standing on either side.

The Queen didn't seem to mind my colloquialism, continuing to speak to each person who had come to wish her - and her newly minted canal - well.

It was the briefest of moments but it struck me how many thousands of times within her 70-year reign Queen Elizabeth II showed she had time to say hello to her people.

It was the briefest of moments but it struck me how many thousands of times within her 70-year reign Queen Elizabeth II showed she had time to say hello to her people

She spent more than hour at the Kelpies before visiting Stirling Castle where she was presented with the keys to the castle by the Earl of Mar and Kellie.

While most 91-year-old's wouldn't dream of the travel arrangements and number of greetings the Queen completed right up until the Covid pandemic began, she took every new day in her stride.

And so I mourn her loss alongside millions of others who will spend the next few weeks, months and years commemorating a woman who understood her duty above all else - and enjoyed it with a beaming smile.
A research analyst has revealed an interesting prediction regarding a change in the popularity of baby names following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Friday.

Director of Advisory at social research and data analytics company McCrindle, Ashley Fell, told FEMAIL the name 'Elizabeth' will likely climb the ranks among the top 100 most popular baby names in Australia.

Currently the name sits as the 76th most popular baby girl name and was ranked 42nd back in 2010.

The names 'George', 'Charlotte', 'William', 'Archie' and 'Harry' all continue to be common names chosen today for Generation Alpha babies.

Ashley Fell, Directory of Advisory at social research and data analytics company McCrindle, told FEMAIL the name 'Elizabeth' will likely climb the ranks among the top 100 most popular baby names in Australia following the passing of Queen Elizabeth II (stock image)

The name Elizabeth is not only traditional, but it pays tribute to Her Majesty's life, leadership and legacy - and research shows millennial parents are drawing inspiration from the royal family when naming their children.

Ms Fell said: 'I wouldn't be surprised if parents do turn to the name Elizabeth for their child. It is a timeless name that has both tradition and relevance attached to it.

'We may see it climb a few ranks in next year's top 100 list due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II.'

The name can also be shortened easily to Beth or Betty if desired to be used as a nickname.

The name Elizabeth is not only traditional, but it pays tribute to Her Majesty's life, leadership and legacy - and research shows Millennial parents are drawing inspiration from the Royal family when naming their children

Some parents might also consider the name 'Lilibet', which was Queen Elizabeth's nickname.

'It is a name that was given even further relevance when Prince Harry and Meghan gave the name Lilibet to their daughter when she was born in 2021,' Ms Fell said.

The name is closely linked to the name 'Lily', which is already the 13th most popular baby girl name in Australia.

But Lilibet likely won't rise in popularity quick enough to make an appearance on the top 100 list for next year.

Earlier this year, McCrindle revealed Isla is the most popular girl's name for 2022 while Oliver is the most popular name for boys.

The top 10 boys' names in Australia in 2022 1. Oliver (2,263 occurrences) 2. Noah (1,980 occurrences) 3. Jack (1,501 occurrences) 4. Henry (1,469 occurrences) 5. William (1,457 occurrences) 6. Leo (1,365 occurrences) 7. Charlie (1,288 occurrences) 8. Theodore (1,205 occurrences) 9. Lucas (1,171 occurrences) 10. Thomas (1,154 occurrences) Advertisement
A travel blogger has shared the cruel comments her ex-boyfriend would say to her that gave her crippling self esteem issues, including nasty remarks about her looks.

Aggie Lal, who is known as Travel in her Shoes to her one million Instagram followers, revealed her Australian ex said he was worried about having children with her in case they inherit her 'super short' height and 'massive nose'.

In a lengthy and revealing Instagram post, the influencer, who is originally from Poland and lived in Australia for three years, spoke about her struggles with her self-image and how she deals with her 'insecurities' and online trolls.

Millionaire travel influencer Agge Lal, 34, has opened up about her body images struggles and revealed the one cruel comments and ex-boyfriend would make that crushed her self-esteem

The 34-year-old, who is now in a relationship with photographer and entrepreneur Jacob Riglin, said she 'felt pretty until the world told her otherwise' having not grown up with social media.

'When you're surrounded by real people not their online persona, you see them as a whole: their energy the way they carry themselves and who they are, then their looks,' she said.

'I never ever wanted to be like somebody else or look different growing up.'

However things started to change when Aggie got her first boyfriend after moving to Australia.

Aggie Lal (pictured with her current partner Jacob Riglin) revealed an ex-boyfriend said he was worried about having children with her in case they inherit her 'super short' height and 'massive nose'

'My first boyfriend kept telling me that I am super short and have a massive nose. It's not like I didn't know I did but it never bothered me to be honest,' she wrote.

'I remember him saying that he would love to have kids with me but he's worried that they will have my height or nose. I still stayed with him for seven years! (Talk about low self esteem!).'

Aggie said after joining social media, she 'didn't need' her boyfriend to point out her flaws because cruel trolls would do so instead.

'Now it wasn't only my nose or my height, it was also my non-existing butt, my thin eyebrows - I can't keep track anymore tbh,' she said.

The 34-year-old said she 'felt pretty until the world told her otherwise' having not grown up with social media

Aggie posted images of herself donning skimpy sequin festival gear but said she was hesitant to post as she thought they weren't 'good enough to share'.

'But if I feel like that it means that we all feel like that. Maybe it's weird to post a photo of your face on your own Instagram. But maybe your face is exactly who you are,' she said.

'After everything I've been through in my life and years of insecurities I want to share everything here. the moment I do I give others the permission to do the same.'

Aggie opened up about her 'suffering' to inspire her followers telling fans to 'take today to celebrate you'.

'The biggest reason for suffering is believing our thoughts. The thing is you don't have to believe them (I try not to believe mine!) you can just choose the ones that empower you and make you feel good,' she wrote.
They called for rules on the size of glasses in pubs, bars and restaurants

Cambridge University researchers said difference was 250ml less per fortnight

Those who drink from a small wine glass consume 7% less than large glass users

If you often moan about how you've ended up drinking one too many Sauvignon Blancs, you are definitely not alone.

But scientists say they've uncovered a simple trick that could help you avoid that sore head the next day.

Pour wine into a smaller glass than usual and you will unwittingly drink less wine, according to the latest theory.

Those who followed the practice consumed roughly seven per cent less, despite being allowed to guzzle as much red or white as they normally would.

Cambridge University researchers have now called for bigger glasses to be more expensive in shops  and for pubs and restaurants to only use small glasses.

Drinking from a smaller goblet slashes the amount of wine consumed by nearly seven per cent, according to a Cambridge University study. The researchers, who measured the intake of more than 250 UK households, saw the effect when Britons drank from a 290ml glass (right) rather than a 350ml glass (left)

The Cambridge team recruited 260 households  which consumed at least two 75cl bottles of wine per week  to study how wine glass size affected their drinking habit. During two 14-day periods, participants were asked to buy their usual amount of with in either 75cl (right) or 37.5cl (left) bottles

The findings, published in the journal Addiction , show that using a smaller glass slashed the amount of wine households consumed. Those using the smaller glasses drank 6.5 per cent less (253ml) per fortnight (left). However, the effect of drinking from a smaller bottle wasn't as strong, with participants just drinking just 3.6 per cent less (146ml) wine (red vs blue bars)

How much alcohol is too much? To keep health risks from alcohol to a low level, the NHS advises men and women not to regularly drink more than 14 units a week. A unit of alcohol is 8g or 10ml of pure alcohol, which is about: half a pint of lower to normal-strength lager/beer/cider (ABV 3.6%) a single small shot measure (25ml) of spirits (25ml, ABV 40%) A small glass (125ml, ABV 12%) of wine contains about 1.5 units of alcohol. But the NHS warns the risk to your health is increased by drinking any amount of alcohol on a regular basis. Short-term risks include injury, violent behaviour and alcohol poisoning. Long-term risks include heart and liver disease, strokes, as well as liver, bowel, moth and breast cancer. People who drink as much as 14 units a week are advised to spread it evenly over three or more days, rather than binge drinking. Women who are pregnant or trying to become pregnant are advised not to drink to reduce risks for the baby. Source: NHS Advertisement

The team recruited 260 households  which consumed at least two bottles of wine per week.

During two 14-day periods, volunteers were asked to buy their usual amount of wine in either 75cl or 37.5cl bottles.

They were also randomised to drink out of either a smaller (290ml) or larger (350ml) glass.

At the end of each two-week period, volunteers sent pictures of their wine bottles to the researchers to show how much they had drank.

The findings, published in the journal Addiction, show people drank less when asked to use a smaller glass.

Households using the smaller glasses drank 6.5 per cent less (253ml) per fortnight.

Similar effects were seen when drinking from a smaller bottle, however, the team said the results weren't as clear cut.

Dr Eleni Mantzari and colleagues said that people tend to pour themselves less wine when using smaller glasses.

Similar results have been seen with food, with psychologists urging people to eat from a smaller plate when looking to shed weight.

They say it tricks people into thinking they have more food on their plate, resulting in them eating less.

The Cambridge team said people may drink less if they buy a smaller bottle because they tend to measure consumption in bottles drank, rather than volume.

The researchers noted that wine glass size has 'increased dramatically' over the last three decades.

So if other studies confirm the findings, policies could be brought in to control wine glass size, such as making larger glasses more expensive.

And venues selling alcohol could be forced to use smaller glasses to 'shift social norms' on acceptable glass sizes.

The researchers noted that they only measured the participants' wine consumption, so it is unclear whether they compensated for drinking less wine from small glasses by drinking more spirits or beer.

And the study took placed between November 2020 and August 2021, during which the UK spent months under lockdown.

Dr Mantzari and her team said they don't know whether the findings would be the same during non-pandemic times.

Britons are currently told to drink no more than 14 units per week, which is around six pints of beer or 10 small glasses of wine.

However, people in the UK are thought to drink 18 units per week on average.
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England's Covid outbreak has collapsed to its smallest size in almost a year, Government statisticians declared today.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates that 770,800 people in England were carrying the virus on any given day in the week to August 28  equivalent to one in 70 people. The figure marks a 14 per cent downturn on the previous week and is the lowest logged since mid-September 2021, ahead of that autumn wave.

Cases also trended downward in Wales (31,500), while rates appeared to be on the rise in Scotland (104,000) and Northern Ireland (38,000), although the statisticians said the pattern was uncertain.

The ONS has released an interactive map that allows you to look up how prevalent the virus was in your local area during the most recent week. Current hotspots include Edinburgh, parts of London and South Gloucestershire.

While cases have been plunging nation-wide since mid-July, health chiefs expect a surge in the colder months as people spend more time mixing indoors and pupils return to classrooms.

However the Government is unlikely to be spooked into bringing back any restrictions after choosing to brave the 'living with Covid' approach, that saw isolation, free testing and work from home guidance scrapped.

To protect against any uptick in infections, officials have embarked on another autumn booster jab campaign with 26million set to be offered top-ups in the coming months. Today, the roll-out opened to the over-65s, carers and pregnant women.

Senior NHS bosses renewed calls for those eligible to come forward, warning there is 'no room for complacency' in keeping the virus at bay.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates that 770,800 people in England were carrying the virus on any given day in the week to August 28  equivalent to one in 70 people. The figure, which marks a 14 per cent downturn on the previous week, is the lowest logged since mid-September 2021, when infections fell to 660,000 ahead of an autumn wave

The ONS figures, based on swabs of thousands of people, suggest that cases fell by a third in Wales, where one in 95 were thought to be infected. Meanwhile, cases ticked upwards by 8.8 per cent in Scotland (one in 50) and 6.1 per cent in Northern Ireland (one in 50), its figures suggest

The over-50s, residents and staff at care homes for older adults and frontline health and social care workers will be offered a Covid booster

Over-65s over urged to book Covid boosters People aged 65 and over can now book their Covid booster jab online or via 119. The NHS is also offering appointments to carers and pregnant women as the vaccine rollout continues into the cooler months. The over-75s, the severely immunosuppressed and frontline health and care workers have been able to book a booster since last week. Bookings can be done online or over the phone as long as the person had their last Covid jab at least three months ago. Around 26million people in England will be eligible for an autumn booster in the comings weeks. NHS director of vaccinations and screening Steve Russell said: 'There is no room for complacency in keeping Covid on the back foot and this autumn booster will help protect those most at risk. 'From today those aged 65 and over, pregnant women and carers are now able to get their jab. 'If you are one of those eligible, it is as important as ever to get your next dose, so please do come forward as soon as possible.' Dozens of hospital hubs are joining the rollout to administer the jab  plus flu vaccines where possible  to members of the public as well as NHS staff. Eventually, all those aged 50 will be offered a vaccine. Two vaccines have been approved that can be used as boosters this autumn and winter  one from Moderna and the second from Pfizer. Both have been approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to target both the original and Omicron strains of the virus. Advertisement

The ONS data  which is closely watched by ministers  is considered the gold standard for monitoring the outbreak, as unlike reported cases, it doesn't rely on Britons testing themselves and reporting the result.

The latest figures, based on swabs from a representative sample of thousands of people, suggest that cases fell by a third in Wales, where one in 95 were thought to be infected.

Meanwhile, cases ticked upwards by 8.8 per cent in Scotland (one in 50) and 6.1 per cent in Northern Ireland (one in 50).

In England, the proportion of people infected dropped in all regions apart from the East Midlands, East of England and the South East.

Infection were lowest in Yorkshire and the Humber and the West Midlands, where just 1.2 per cent of people were infected. The case rate was also below the national average in the North West (1.3 per cent), South West (1.4 per cent) and North East (1.4 per cent).

The East Midlands and South East (1.6 per cent) recorded the highest virus prevalence.

Cases also fell across all age groups, apart from the 16 to 24-year-old (1.6 per cent) and over-70 (1.8 per cent) cohorts, among whom the case rates were highest.

Infections were lowest among two to 11-year-olds (0.9 per cent) and 25 to 34-year-olds (1 per cent).

However, cases are expected to surge in the coming weeks due to people opting to meet indoors and pupils returning to classrooms.

Writing in the British Medical Journal, a group of scientists on pressure group Independent SAGE this month called for schools to implement measures to 'minimise transmission among children and to their families'.

Outbreaks in schools saw exams cancelled and record absences during the darkest days of the pandemic.

In preparation of the spike, the NHS has launched the autumn booster campaign to protect vulnerable groups, with nearly half of the population eligible for a top-up dose.

The rollout will see Britons offered the bi-valent Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, which are tweaked versions of the original doses that specifically protect against the dominance Omicron strain.

However, some people will still be offered the previous generation vaccines.

The health service today expanded the vaccine campaign to an additional five million vulnerable Britons, after it initially opened to just the over-75s, immunosuppressed and frontline health and care workers last Wednesday.

Bookings can be done online or by phoning 119 as long as an individual had their last Covid jab at least three months ago.

Britons will also be able to get their flu jab from this month, with eligible people able to get both vaccines at the same appointment, depending on arrangements in their local area.

Steve Russell, the NHS director of vaccinations and screening, said: 'There is no room for complacency in keeping Covid on the backfoot, and this autumn booster will help protect those most at risk.

'From today those aged 65 and over, pregnant women and carers are now able to get their jab. If you are one of those eligible, it is as important as ever to get your next dose, so please do come forward as soon as possible.'

The scheme will be expanded to all over-50s, those with a weakened immune system and housebound people in the coming weeks.

In England, the proportion of people infected dropped in all regions apart from the East Midlands, East of England and the South East Infection were lowest in Yorkshire and the Humber and the West Midlands, where just 1.2 per cent of people were infected. The case rate was also below the national average in the North West (1.3 per cent), South West (1.4 per cent) and North East (1.4 per cent). The East Midlands and South East (1.6 per cent) recorded the highest virus prevalence

Cases also fell across all age groups, apart from the 16 to 24-year-old (1.6 per cent) and over-70 (1.8 per cent) cohorts, among whom the case rates were highest. Infections were lowest among two to 11-year-olds (0.9 per cent) and 25 to 34-year-olds (1 per cent)

But any surge in Omicron cases is not expected to overwhelm hospitals because the strain is less severe and Britons are benefitting from built up immunity due to vaccine rollouts. Data from the Sanger Institute, one of the UK's largest Covid surveillance centres, shows that Omicron strains BA.4 and BA.5 (dark pink and light pink) are the currently circulating variants

In the darkest days of the pandemic, more than 4,000 people in England were admitted to hospital. Despite Omicron causing record peaks in January, April and July, no more than 2,300 infected people were hospitalised in any of those three waves. Latest NHS data shows an average of 518 infected people were admitted to hospitals in England in the week to September 5  eight times lower than the peak

Meanwhile, 4,900 were in hospital with the virus in the week to September 7  the lowest level in three months and seven times lower than the peak of 34,000 in January 2021. Health service data also shows only a third of these figures were hospitalised because of the virus. The others were admitted due to other ailments but incidentally tested positive

Fewer than 120 Covid patients required mechanical ventilation on September 7  the smallest number in more than a year. In the darkest days of the pandemic, 3,700 people were on ventilators

ONS data shows the number of deaths involving Covid in the UK continued to decrease from 622 to 505 in the week ending August 26. Deaths involving the virus accounted for 4.1 per cent of all deaths in the latest week, down from 5 per cent one week earlier

The approach is in line with advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the Government's jab advisors, which said the rollout is needed to boost immunity against hospitalisation and death among those most at risk from the virus this winter.

Sky-high immunity rates from Britain's historic vaccination campaign and repeated waves have drastically blunted the threat of the virus over time, meaning it is now more comparable to flu.

With experts adamant the darkest days of the pandemic have been consigned to history, ministers are confident in their hands-off 'living with Covid' strategy.

The plan, unveiled by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson in February, saw vaccines deemed the 'first line of defence' against the virus, with an autumn booster programme expected each year.

The move saw all Covid curbs lifted by spring, with ministers committing not to bring in fresh restrictions unless a new variant places 'unsustainable pressure' on the health service. The Government said it would use the 'world-leading' ONS survey to track the virus in 'granular detail' and spot any surges.

But any surge in Omicron cases is not expected to overwhelm hospitals because the strain is less severe and Britons are benefitting from built up immunity due to vaccine rollouts.

In the darkest days of the pandemic, more than 4,000 people in England were admitted to hospital. Despite Omicron causing record peaks in January, April and July, no more than 2,300 infected people were hospitalised in any of those three waves.

Latest NHS data shows an average of 518 infected people were admitted to hospitals in England in the week to September 5  eight times lower than the peak.

Meanwhile, 4,900 were in hospital with the virus in the week to September 7  the lowest level in three months and seven times lower than the peak of 34,000 in January 2021.

Health service data also shows only a third of these figures were hospitalised because of the virus. The others were admitted due to other ailments but incidentally tested positive.

And fewer than 120 required mechanical ventilation on September 7  the smallest number in more than a year. In the darkest days of the pandemic, 3,700 people were on ventilators.
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'What's wrong with me?'

It's a question many of us have asked ourselves when, despite getting the recommended eight hours of sleep the previous night, we've woken up feeling shattered.

One in eight Britons report feeling tired all of the time and one in four feel fatigued most of the time, according to a YouGov survey earlier this year.

That makes sense, given that only a third of us get the minimum seven hours of sleep a night and just one in five consistently get a full eight hours.

But there is still a large chunk of people who feel tired no matter, seemingly no matter how well or long they sleep.

Here, MailOnline takes a look at a whole host of reasons you might be flagging according to science  and what you can do to address it.

One in eight Britons report feeling tired all of the time and one in four feel fatigued most of the time, according to a YouGov survey earlier this year. There could be a variety of medical reasons for this, including drinking too much caffeine, being a secret snorer or having an underlying health issue

You're a secret snorer

If you're single or live alone, you could be blissfully unaware that you're a noisy sleeper.

It's estimated that 40 per cent of British adults snore to some extent, the equivalent of around 15million people.

For one in 10 of these people, it can be a sign of a disorder known as sleep apnoea. This occurs when the walls of a person's throat relax and narrow during sleep, blocking their airways.

The condition has been linked to obesity, sleeping on your back and smoking and drinking alcohol.

The '10-3-2-1 formula' for a PERFECT night's sleep: You'd think with decades of practice, we'd all be professionals by now. So, why is it that millions of us still struggle to get a good night's sleep? Two-thirds of adults in the US and UK fail to get the recommended eight hours and studies suggest the average American and Briton gets around just six. Busy lives and hectic work schedules are the most common reasons given for not getting enough sleep. But our obsession with technology, a lack of exercise and culture of eating late have also been blamed as reasons we are so under-slept. Sleep doctors in recent years have waxed lyrical about the '10-3-2-1' formula, a step-by-step guide on how to best prepare yourself for a night of optimal sleep throughout the day. But it's bad news if you love caffeine, as the method says it has to go at least 10 hours before bed. And late eaters would have to bring their mealtimes forward to three hours before bed, or risk a night spent tossing and turning. The guide also recommends logging out of your work emails two hours before hitting the sack and even avoiding phones, tablets and laptops during the hour before hitting the hay. The formula summed up: CUT CAFFEINE AT MIDDAY

THAT LAST SNACK OR GLASS OF WINE BETTER BE BEFORE 8PM

WORK NO LA TER THAN 9PM

NO NETFLIX IN BED AFTER 10PM Advertisement

It has been dubbed a 'silent killer' because the disruptions it causes to sleep prevents the body from resting properly during deep sleep, putting extra stress on our organs.

During an episode, the lack of oxygen triggers a sufferer's brain to pull them out of deep sleep so their airways reopen.

It has already been linked to high blood pressure, which in turn can lead to strokes and heart attacks. Last week, a study of 4,000 patients with sleep apnoea found it may also raise the risk of cancer.

Half of the patients in the study had cancer. Results showed those with the most severe sleep apnoea were more likely to have lung, prostate or skin cancer.

The Swedish researchers are unsure if disturbed sleep is the cause or the symptom of the cancer, but it is a worrying sign.

If you are a secret snorer with sleep apnoea, you may notice during the day feel very tired, find it hard to concentrate or have a headache when you wake up. Sleep apnoea does not always need to be treated if it's mild.

But many people need to use a device called a CPAP machine. You'll be given this for free on the NHS if you need it.

A CPAP machine gently pumps air into a mask you wear over your mouth or nose while you sleep. Less common treatments for sleep apnoea include a gum shield-like device that holds your airways open while you sleep - known as a mandibular advancement device - and surgery to remove large tonsils.

Caffeine timing

Tea and coffee is the backbone of the British workforce  but caffeine is a double-edged sword.

It can be the afternoon antidote if you're feeling fatigued and demotivated, but it can also rob you of a quality night's sleep.

In a 2013 study, scientists found people who consumed coffee, tea or energy drinks six hours before bedtime slept for an hour less.

The study was done on 16 'good sleepers', all of whom got six to eight hours sleep a night and typically fell asleep within 30 minutes of getting into bed.

Caffeine makes you more alert by blocking sleep-promoting receptors in your brain called adenosine receptors.

But research in 2015 indicated that caffeine can also delay the timing of your internal body clock.

Five people were kept under highly controlled conditions for 49 days. Before bedtime, they were given various treatments: either a double-espresso caffeine dose, exposure to bright or dim light, or a placebo. The caffeine delayed their circadian rhythm by 40 minutes.

What many people still don't know is that caffeine can stay in the body for up to 10 hours.

That means people planning on going to bed at 10pm should cut their intake off at 12pm if they want to get the best sleep possible.

Caffeine can also make you more tired in other ways.

Once its effect wears off, your body may experience a buildup of adenosine that hits you all at once.

If you're drinking coffee with added sweeteners, they might be adding to your sleep woes. Sweeteners like sugar, syrup, or honey might actually be causing a sugar crash, according to new research.

If your body isn't used to sweeteners in your coffee, it may produce additional insulin as a response. This may cause your blood glucose levels to drop, leading to a good old-fashioned sugar crash.

Dehydration doziness

You may be surprised to know the majority of Britons and Americans are medically dehydrated.

A survey conducted by New York Hospital and Cornell Medical Center found that 75 per cent of its 3,000 subjects suffered from chronic dehydration.

And polls in the UK suggest Brits consume just 850ml of water per day  less than half of the recommended daily intake  on average.

Your body needs water to function. Starving your brain of water can make you mentally fatigued.

In a 2019 study, researchers in China looked at the effects of severe dehydration on brain power and mood. They recruited 20 people who were not allowed to drink water for a day and a half.

By surveying the participants' mood before and after the water deprivation, the scientists at Peking University found dehydrated people felt twice as fatigued.

The study, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, also found that a lack of water slowed people's reading speed, reaction times and led them to make more errors.

'Not having enough water affects all of your body including your brain, leading to feelings of tiredness,' said Dr Hassain, from King's College London.

A 2015 survey of GPs in the UK found one in five patients go to the doctor with symptoms  such as tiredness  that can be caused by not drinking enough.

NHS guidelines state that women should drink 1.6 litres of fluid a day - the equivalent to eight glasses - while men should drink two litres, which is ten glasses.

This includes tea, coffee, milk and fruit juice, although water is by far the best source as it doesn't contain added caffeine or sugar.

Undiagnosed diabetes

Having low energy may also be down to diabetes. Around 850,000 people in the UK are estimated to be living with type 2 without realising it. A similar problem exists in the US.

The condition happens when your body becomes insensitive to the hormone insulin, which usually controls blood sugar levels.

One reason why diabetes makes you so tired is that having too high or too low blood sugar levels disrupts sleep, Dr Sufyan Hassain at King's College London told MailOnline.

'We know your quality of sleep varies with sugar levels, so having suboptimal sugar levels in can disrupt sleep making you tired,' he added.

Millions of people are also prediabetic, which can cause similar symptoms.

The link between type 2 diabetes and a lack of sleep is a vicious cycle. Not only can insomnia be a sign of the disease, experts think it may also be a cause.

It's thought that sleep deprivation increases insulin resistance, levels of stress hormone cortisol and inflammation in the body.

One of the most comprehensive papers yet, published in April by Bristol University, calculated that treating insomnia could trigger a drop in blood sugar levels comparable to losing 14kg (2st 3lbs).

If you are feeling very tired all the time and have to get up during the night to urinate a lot, then it may be a sign of the condition.

Other symptoms include feeling thirsty all the time, losing weight without trying to, blurred vision and cuts or wounds taking longer to heal.

You're not eating enough red meat

Not eating enough red meat, dark green vegetables or pulses may be the cause of your sleepiness.

These foods are all rich in iron, a major component of hemoglobin, a type of protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen from your lungs to all parts of the body

Dozens of studies have shown having too little of the mineral can lead to anaemia, which can cause tiredness, shortness of breath and irregular heartbeats.

In Britain, the British Medical Journal suggests one in ten British women are iron deficient  while around 3 per cent of men are.

Taking iron tablets is the most common treatment prescribed by doctors.

A 2003 review suggested popping iron pills may even help those who have low iron levels but are not clinically anaemic.

Scientists at the University of Manitoba in Canada analysed existing data from 18 clinical trials and found that taking iron tablets significantly reduced levels of fatigue in non-anaemic people.

They suggested that taking iron supplements and eating iron-rich foods should be recommended to anyone who is feeling fatigued.

Hypothyroidism

You may also be flagging due to low levels of the hormone thyroxine.

This chemical affects the entire body's metabolism and a lack of it slows down your brain.

About 2 per cent of the UK population are thought to have the condition, which is most commonly caused by the immune system attacking the thyroid gland.

'The thing with hormones is they have a massive effect on all your body's cells and tissues. They are the chemical messengers and they tell your body how it is doing, and what it should do,' said Dr Hassain.

'When you don't have enough thyroxine it will slow down your brain, lower your mood, because it regulates your emotional processing,' he added.

Doctors can test you for hypothyroidism by taking blood samples.

It is mostly treated using daily hormone tablets, but if left untreated it can lead to heart disease, pregnancy problems and swelling in your neck as well as fatigue.
Emma Webster, 29, went to the dentist in April 2018 after complaining of toothache and was rushed through for root canal surgery. However, when the mother-of-one was still struggling with pain and blurred vision months later, she was referred for an MRI scan

A young mother claims she was 'ready to plan her funeral' after a shock brain tumour diagnosis which she thought was toothache.

Emma Webster, 29, went to the dentist in April 2018 after complaining of a sore tooth and was rushed through for root canal surgery.

However, when the mother-of-one was still struggling with pain and blurred vision months later, she was referred for an MRI scan. It revealed she had a non-cancerous brain tumour behind her right eye.

Ms Webster, from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, underwent an operation that removed 70 per cent of the tumour, nearly a year after she initially complained of pain.

The administrator, who is expecting her second child next month, now receives an annual scan to check on its growth.

Speaking of the moment she received her diagnosis, Ms Webster said she was 'ready to start planning my funeral'.

Ms Webster added: 'I can't believe I've now got to the stage I am  not always having to be at the hospital but instead we bought our new home, I am getting married in two years, and I'm expecting my second child in eight weeks.

'I never thought that would be the case back in 2019.'

Scans revealed that Ms Webster (pictured with her seven-year-old son Alfie) had a non-cancerous brain tumour behind her right eye

Ms Webster (pictured after surgery), from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, underwent an operation that removed 70 per cent of the tumour nearly a year after she initially complained of pain

The administrator (pictured with her fiance Kieran McGurk), who is expecting her second child next month, now receives annual scan to check the growth of the tumour

WHAT ARE BENIGN BRAIN TUMOURS? A benign (non-cancerous) brain tumour is a mass of cells that grows relatively slowly in the brain. Non-cancerous brain tumours tend to stay in one place and do not spread. It will not usually come back if all of the tumour can be safely removed during surgery. If the tumour cannot be completely removed, there's a risk it could grow back. In this case it'll be closely monitored using scans or treated with radiotherapy. Symptoms include a new and persistent headache, seizures, feeling sick, drowsiness, mental or behavioural changes and speech and vision problems. More than 11,000 people are diagnosed with a primary brain tumour in the UK every year, around half of which aren't cancerous. Over-50s, those with a family history of brain tumours and those with genetic conditions are most at risk. Treatment usually includes surgery to remove most of the tumour. Radiotherapy and chemotherapy may be needed to control the growth of remaining cells. After surgery, most people can resume their normal lives. Source: NHS Advertisement

Ms Webster went to the dentist in April 2018 after suffering excruciating pain in her tooth.

Her dentist thought her pain could have been due to an infection at the centre of a tooth, cause by a build up of bacteria that live in the mouth.

She was already on the waiting list for root canal treatment  a procedure to remove the bacteria  so her dentist brought forward the surgery to see if that would help.

However, Ms Webster said the minor surgery 'didn't make any difference to the pain' she was suffering, which spread to the top of her mouth and the tip of her nose.

She visited her GP, who thought she had neuralgia  stabbing face pain due to an irritated or damaged nerve.

For six months, Ms Webster received treatment for that condition  which usually involves taking an epilepsy medication that interferes with the nerve's ability to send pain signals to the brain.

However, her symptoms continued to worsen and she started to suffer with blurred vision.

By January 2019, Ms Webster sought advice from another GP who referred her to the neurology department at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, where she underwent an MRI scan.

Three days later, medics called to tell her she had a benign (non-cancerous) brain tumour behind her right eye.

Benign tumours are a mass of cells that grow relatively slowly in the brain. They tend to stay in the same place and don't usually spread.

Around 5,500 Britons are diagnosed with the tumours every year. Its symptoms include new, persistent headaches, vision problems and feeling sick all the time.

Ms Webster said: 'I was told it was benign but I was ready to plan my funeral.

'Brain tumours run in my family. My nana, Alice Travers, was just 55 when she died from a brain tumour in February 2001.

'My parents were so worried that the same thing would happen to me.'

Ms Webster had on operation in March 2019, where surgeons removed 70 per cent of the tumour.

Benign tumours that can be completely removed during surgery will usually not come back at all. But those that can't be completely removed need to be closely monitored in case they grow back or become cancerous.

Ms Webster (pictured with fiance Kieran McGurk on top of Tinto Hill in Scotland) is now taking part in Brain Tumour Research's Wake of Hope on September 24. Matthew Price, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research said: 'We're really grateful to Emma for taking part in the Walk of Hope. It's only with the support of people like her that we're able to progress our research into brain tumours and improve the outcome for patients like her who are forced to fight this awful disease'

Ms Webster still suffers with root pain but is able to look forward to her future and is expecting a second child with Mr McGurk. She said: 'I really wouldn't have got through the last three years without such supportive family and friends. Kieran and Alfie have been beyond amazing'

After surgery people may have ongoing problems, such as seizures and difficulties walking and peaking. But many can eventually resume their normal activities.

Following the procedure, Ms Webster, her partner Kieran McGurk, 21 and their son, Alfie, seven, moved back in with her parents until she was able to become more independent.

She said: 'I was in and out of hospital for months after. I had trouble with my balance and still had bad headaches.'

Eight months after her surgery she finally saw an improvement with her symptoms and has been able to buy a new home.

Ms Webster still suffers with root pain but is able to look forward to her future and is expecting a second child with Mr McGurk.

She said: 'I really wouldn't have got through the last three years without such supportive family and friends. Kieran and Alfie have been beyond amazing.

'They still amaze me to this day with how strong they have been while standing by my side.'

Ms Webster is now taking part in Brain Tumour Research's Wake of Hope on September 24.

Matthew Price, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research said: 'We're really grateful to Emma for taking part in the Walk of Hope.

'It's only with the support of people like her that we're able to progress our research into brain tumours and improve the outcome for patients like her who are forced to fight this awful disease.

'This is a beautiful walk, and I would encourage anyone who is able to take part to do so. Not only is it a great social event in the outdoors but fundraising for it is a great way to support the work we do.'
A 5lb newborn boy with a life-threatening heart defect received a world-first partial heart transplant using living tissue that may never need to be replaced.

North Carolina child Owen Monroe, who is now four months old, was born with his two main arteries  the aorta and pulmonary artery  fused together in a condition called truncus arteriosus.

Doctors separated them and replaced 'leaky' heart valves shortly after birth using with living tissue that will grow with him, avoiding further surgery. In operations to repair fused valves, dead tissue is usually used  but it needs to be replaced in extensive surgery up to three times before adulthood, and every 10 years after that.

Now four months on from the surgery at Duke University, North Carolina, the infant is 'thriving' and hitting every development milestone.

His mother, Tayler Monroe, called the procedure a 'miracle' and said that it saved her son's life.

Truncus arteriosus is normally a death sentence for infants without surgery, as the heart over-works itself struggling to get nutrients to every corner of the body. It is also rare, with less than one in 10,000 American babies born with it.

Owen Monroe was born weighing 5lbs in North Carolina. His parents signed him up for the partial heart surgery after being told they would need to wait six months for the full transplant, which could be too long for their son

Pictured above is the operation taking place, where Owen's fused arteries were separated and the valves in his heart replaced

Pictured is Owen a few months after surgery, with the scar visible on his chest

Mother Tayler said it was 'miraculous' that her son had survived. He is 'thriving' and hitting every development milestone in line with his peers

NORMAL HEART AND OWEN'S HEART: Shown above is a normal heart (left) and Owen's (right). He had a rare condition called truncus arteriosus. It is normally a death sentence without surgery

Parents Tayler and Nicholas Monroe said their son's diagnosis left them with 'few options' as he was already likely to suffer heart failure shortly after birth.

They were told the waiting list for a full transplant was about six months, which their son was unlikely to reach.

So they signed up for the experimental surgery at Duke University, which would use living tissue to separate the fused arteries.

What is truncus arteriosus? This rare defect is where the two main arteries to the heart  the aorta and pulmonary artery  become fused together. The condition is normally a death sentence for infants without surgery. But children typically need several operations over their lives to replace the valves as they grow  because these do not grow with them. What are the symptoms? These appear within the first week of life and include. Bluish color of the lips and nails;

Fast breathing or trouble breathing;

Poor feeding. How is it treated? Babies are quickly treated after they are born to avoid congestive heart failure, when the muscle stops working because it can't pump enough blood to meet the body's energy needs. They are then offered surgery to separate the two arteries. What's the survival rate? About 90 percent of infants who get surgery live longer than 40 years. The condition is rare, with less than one in 10,000 American babies being diagnosed with it. Source: Cincinnati Children's Hospital Advertisement

About 90 percent of infants who receive the surgery using tissue from a cadaver  the standard procedure  survive for more than 40 years.

But they will need at least three other operations in their lifetime to replace the tissue because they will grow, the American Heart Association says. It may also need to be replaced every ten years in adulthood.

When Owen was born doctors found that as well as having fused arteries he was also suffering from a 'leaky' heart valve  which would also need to be replaced.

It is essential to have good heart valves as they stop blood flowing back in the wrong direction, interrupting circulation.

In the operation, he received living tissue and valves from another infant's donor heart.

The heart had strong valves but was too weak to be used for a full transplant. Doctors said that without Owen's operation it would not have been used.

After recovering and showing no ill-effects from the surgery, Owen was discharged and returned home.

Doctors say the youngster is now developing normally, and his parents could not be more thrilled.

Speaking before the birth, mother Tayler said: 'It was basically like if something happened [at birth] we would resuscitate him and hope for the best, which is really hard and scary to hear.

'Nick and I had the conversation of is Owen here to be a donor for other babies, which is probably the hardest conversation you could ever have as a parent.'

But after the operation and her son's recovery Tayler said it was 'miraculous'.

'The fact that not only he's okay but he's thriving really gives a lot of hope for future babies that have to go through this.

'All of his doctors are thrilled at how he's doing. He's not behing at all developmentally, anything like that.'

Dr Joseph Turek, a cardiologist who led the surgery, said: 'This procedure potentially solves the problem of a growing valve.

'If we can eliminate the need for multiple open-heart surgeries every time a child outgrows an old valve, we could be extending the life of that child by potentially decades or more.'

In the surgery, doctors began by cutting the single blood vessel (pictured above)

They then used living tissue to replace the missing area of the aorta, and the missing area of the pulmonary artery. New valves were also added from the donor heart to control blood flow

Owen's heart has since functioned normally. Doctors hope that the living tissue will grow with him, avoiding the need for future heart surgeries

Dr Michael Carboni, a cardiologist also at the university who consulted for the baby, added: 'What's particularly remarkable about this procedure, is that not only is this innovation something that can extend the lives of children, but it makes use of a donated heart that would otherwise not be transplantable.

'The valves in this procedure come from a donor heart that had muslce tissue which was too weak to make it viable for a full transplant, but had strong valves that were well-suited for Owen's needs.'

Father Mr Monroe said: 'As harrowing of an experience as it was for our family, we knew from the beginning that Owen was in the best hands.

'Our greatest hope is that Owens success story will change the way organ donation and transplants are handled not only for congenital heart disease babies, but for all patients.'
NHS hospitals were today told to be extra vigilant for potential health tourism in the run-up to Queen Elizabeth II's funeral.

Hundreds of thousands of tourists are expected to travel to the UK for Her Majesty's funeral on Monday.

Official guidance circulated to hospitals states how all organisations 'should have a method of identifying overseas visitors'.

This include foreign dignitaries and VIPs, the NHS England document adds.

Hundreds of thousands of tourists are expected to travel to the UK for Her Majesty's funeral on Monday. Official guidance circulated to hospitals states how all organisations 'should have a method of identifying overseas visitors'. This include foreign dignitaries and VIPs, the NHS England document adds

All systems should 'have plans to manage these patients, and ensure that those not entitled to free healthcare at the point of use are charged appropriately'.

Losing money to so-called health tourists, people who travel to the UK for NHS treatment, has long been a contentious issue for doctors and politicians.

Under current laws, overseas patients whose treatment is deemed routine  such as a hip or knee op  must pay up-front.

Urgent care, which includes pregnant women giving birth, is billed afterwards.

Many patients wrongly get free care because staff presume they are UK residents, or chose to turn a blind eye.

PATIENTS 'MUST BE ABLE TO ACCESS CARE' ON DAY OF THE QUEEN'S FUNERAL Health leaders have been told they need to make sure patients can access care if GPs close on the day of the Queen's funeral. NHS England has written to local and regional leaders saying that, while GP services will be able to close on the bank holiday, there needs to be 'sufficient' out-of-hours care for patients. It also asked for scheduled Covid booster care home visits to be carried out as planned and 'strongly' encouraged clinics due that day to stay open. The letter also said areas must make up for cancelled appointments and make sure patients can pick up prescriptions in advance. Health bosses will also need to work with dentists and community pharmacies to confirm available services on the bank holiday so patients can access urgent dental care and medicines, it added. Advertisement

The rules are opposed by some doctors' leaders, including the influential British Medical Association. Medics have described charging patients to pay as 'racist'.

It means many patients have often left the country by the time they are asked to pay, costing the taxpayer tens of millions every year.

Only patients who are 'ordinarily resident' in the UK, which usually means being here for six months, are entitled to free care.

Care in A&E units and GP surgeries are free for everyone.

In all other situations, staff are legally obliged to check eligibility by looking at their passports, utility bills and other documents.

Holders of a European Health Insurance Cards are entitled to some free NHS care.

Anyone who isn't eligible for free care should be invoiced but actual fees depend on the procedure being offered. For instance, maternity tourists are each billed around 6,000, typically covering antenatal care and the delivery.

The letter, first seen by the Health Service Journal, was written by Sir David Sloman, NHS England's chief operating officer.

It states: 'We are writing to all organisations following confirmation of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the activation of arrangements relating to her lying in state and subsequent funeral.'

Later down, the planning document adds: 'The organisation should have a method of identifying overseas visitors, including foreign dignitaries and VIPS, and has plans to manage these patients, and ensure that those not entitled to free health care at the point of use are charged appropriately.'

The letter also warns of a potential spike in demand over the weekend, especially in mental health settings.

It states: 'Be aware that some patients may be destabilised by the death of Queen Elizabeth II and require additional support.'
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America suffers more cancer deaths per capita than Mexico, Ethiopia and even Iraq, data suggests  with the country ranking 81st globally for fatalities from the disease.

President Joe Biden unveiled Monday more funding for researching blood tests to diagnose the disease early as he aims to halve fatalities to 300,000 a year by 2042. The amount being spent was not revealed.

But figures compiled by the World Health Organization (WHO) showed the U.S. trails behind many less developed nations with 85.7 cancer deaths per 100,000 people a year  although this figure is trending downwards.

America's cancer rates are often blamed on its expensive healthcare system, with some putting off having potential warning signs checked for fear of the cost.

But many less developed nations tend to have much younger populations and lower life expectancies, reducing the risk of the illness because it is more likely in older age. They also do not have as strong a health infrastructure, suggesting many deaths may go undiagnosed and unreported.

U.S. cancer mortality rates are, however, below those in many other western nations including the UK  with its publicly funded health system  France and Italy. This may be linked to having fewer smokers, with a quarter of Europeans smoking compared to 14 percent of Americans, and getting faster access to new treatments.

This graph shows 15 of the 185 nations that were ranked using cancer mortality rates calculated by the World Health Organization. It shows several countries including Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Guatemala have lower rates than the U.S., but that others are trending higher

Joe Biden said today that ending cancer 'as we know it' was one of the reasons he ran for president as he supercharged his 'Cancer Moonshot' initiative with a shot of glamour from the Kennedy family.

Figures from the WHO were used to rank 185 nations for cancer mortality over the year 2020, the latest available, by the London-based World Cancer Research Fund.

They were given as an age-adjusted rate to allow for comparison between countries with different population sizes controlling for differences in average age between nations.

Saudi Arabia had the lowest rate of cancer deaths globally (50.9 per 100,000), while that in Mexico (62.6), Ethiopia (73.6) and Iraq (84.3) was also below the United States' figure.

But on the other hand European countries including the UK with its publicly funded health system (99.6), Italy (90.6) and France (107.5) all had higher rates.

Cancer is the second most common cause of death in America behind about 600,000 deaths annually, with only heart disease ahead at 696,000 fatalities.

For men and women lung cancer is the most fatal, behind an estimated 120,000 fatalities every year, the American Cancer Society says. This is followed by breast cancer  61,000 deaths  and prostate cancer  34,500.

Battling the disease has been a constant mission for Biden after he lost his son Beau to brain cancer in 2015, leading him to set up the first cancer moonshot programme.

Today the President re-stated his support for the mission, vowing to cure cancer 'once and for all' and supercharge his initiative.

Caroline Kennedy praised Biden repeatedly in her opening remarks and compared him to her father, the President John F Kennedy

President Joe Biden greets Ambassador Caroline Kennedy before he speaks on the cancer moonshot initiative at the John F. Kennedy Library

He said: 'Now in our time, on the 60th anniversary of his clarion call, we face another inflection point, and together, we can choose to move forward with unity, hope and optimism.

'I believe we can usher in the same unwillingness to postpone  the same national purpose  that will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills to end cancer as we know it. And even cure cancers once and for all.'

Biden was in Boston to deliberately echo Kennedy's famous 1962 speech, which was praised for its positive tone and its effectiveness at rallying Americans' to the president's cause.

He had Kennedy's daughter Caroline, who serves as his ambassador to Australia, at his side. He called her and her son Jack back to the stage after his remarks so they could all work the rope line together.

Responding to the announcement today, the American Cancer Society's president Lisa Lacasse said Biden's 'ongoing commitment to changing the trajectory of cancer is critical, as we need a national commitment to enact policies that will have a wide reaching impact.

'We've made tremendous strides in how we prevent, detect, treat and survive cancer, but there is still much work to be done to improve the lives of those touched by this disease.'
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A Canadian family-of-six has embarked on a year-long trip around the world before daughter, 12, and sons, seven and five, lose their vision due to a rare genetic condition.

The parents found out their eldest Mia Lemay-Pelletier had retinis pigmentosa  which could leave her blind by her 30s  after she started struggling to see in the evenings in 2018. The next year her brothers Colin and Laurent were diagnosed with the same disease, but second-born Leo got the all clear.

Mother Edith Lemay, who works in finance in Quebec where the family is based, said when the brothers were diagnosed it was the catalyst moment for a world trip to fill their brains with 'visual memories' before their sight deteriorated.

The family set off in March for the vacation  which has no set itinerary  that has so far seen them visit Namibia, Zambia, Tanzania, Turkey, Mongolia and now spend a week in Indonesia. They had first planned to begin with a trip across Russia and China in 2020, but this was canceled by the COVID pandemic.

Ms Lemay said as well as giving her children a rich bank of memories, she also wanted to show her children through the trip that no matter how hard life is they were lucky just to have running water in their home and be able to go to school every day.

Chronicling the travels on social media, she said it has been wonderful to watch the children come together but admitted it has been 'hard work' being with them 24/7. The youngest has already turned into a 'question bomb', she said, leaving her wondering if it might be better to jump out the bus window to escape.

Retinis pigmentosa is a rare genetic condition where cells in the retina  light sensitive part of the eye  begin to break down. Its symptoms normally first appear in childhood with problems seeing at night, with vision getting worse over time with sufferers gradually using either their peripheral or central vision. There is no treatment for the disease, and in some cases patients go blind by their 30s.

Pictured above are parents Edith Lemay (second right) and Sebastian Pelletier (second left) with their four children. Mia, 12, is on the far right. Also pictured are Leo, nine, Colin, seven, and Laurent, five. The family is taking a year-long world tour after finding out three of the children have a rare genetic condition that will lead their vision to gradually worsen

The trip began in March 2022 when the family flew from Canada to Namibia. Pictured above are the four children squinting to protect their eyes from the sand

TANZANIA: Family also visited Tanzania to go on safari. While there they saw elephants, cheetahs and hippos among others

MONGOLIA: The trip has also seen them travel to Mongolia where they stayed in tents and also rode camels in the Gobi desert. Their mother said she wanted to show the children with the trip that they were lucky to have what they do

The children are shown above on their trip in Mongolia. They have now flown to Indonesia for the next leg of the tour. There is no itinerary, their parents said, but they do have a bucketlist of activities to complete such as riding a camel

The mother also said that for every nice picture of her children, she has at least ten where they are pulling a face or being badly behaved. Shown above is one of her sons pulling a face at a viewpoint in Turkey

Mother Ms Lemay and father Sebastien Pelletier got the idea for the world vacation after their specialist suggested they should maximize 'visual memories' for the children.

In an interview with CNN Travel, Ms Lemay said: 'I thought, "I'm not going to show [Mia] an elephant in a book, I'm going to take her to see a real elephant".

'And I'm going to fill her visual memory with the best, most beautiful, images I can.'

She added: 'With the diagnosis, we have an urgency. There's great things to do at home, but there's nothing better than traveling.

The family had initially planned an overland trip through Russia and China to start the holiday for July 2020, but these plans had to be put on hold because of the global pandemic.

They took a trip around eastern Canada in July the following year as restrictions eased, but in March 2022 finally set off on their year-long trip starting in Namibia. Last week they headed to Indonesia from Mongolia, and have no plans to go back to Quebec for at least another six months.

They are following a bucket list of activities they want to try, from Mia saying she wanted to go horseriding to Laurent saying he would like to drink juice on a camel.

They were meant to begin the holiday in July 2020, but had to delay the plans thanks to the COVID pandemic. However, in July this year they set off on the year-long trip (shown above preparing to leave Quebec)

TURKEY: The children are shown here on their visit to an abandoned village in Turkey

MONGOLIA: The family is shown above standing outside a hut which they visited

At times the children bring up their diagnosis. Mia has known about it since she was seven, while the youngest two only found out about it more recently. For Leo, it has always been a 'fact of life'.

Ms Lemay said: 'My little one asked me, "mommy, what does it mean to be blind? Am I going to drive a car?" He's five. But slowly, he's understanding what's happening. It was a normal conversation for him but, for me, it was heart-wrenching.'

The National Eye Institute, in the U.S., says retinis pigmentosa is a group of rare eye diseases sparked by genetics people are born with that cause visual cells to break down.

The first warning signs normally appear when people are children, with them starting to struggle to see at night and bumping into things. But overtime the vision will gradually deteriorate.

Most will lose their peripheral vision  seeing objects around the one they are focusing on  or central vision  area they see in the center of their vision. A study from the Department of Health and Human Services says some become 'virtually blind' by their 30s, while others may have 'useful vision' beyond the age of 80 years.

The condition is normally diagnosed using a dilated eye exam to check how the retina responds, or genetic swabs.

There is no cure for the condition at present, although experts say using low vision aids and training programs to rehabilitate to new vision can help.
French-owned power company EDF is in talks with the Government about capping the price of the nuclear power it produces.

Wholesale power prices are linked to the gas price, which has soared.

Price cap: EDF has indicated that it supported the idea of fixing prices 'at more sustainable levels'

Ministers want to sever that link so that households benefit from cheaper energy sources such as nuclear and wind.

Matt Sykes, of EDF's generation business, said: 'EDF has entered negotiations to explore a voluntary pricing mechanism for the output from its nuclear fleet.'

Sykes said that if prices remain high, it expected to boost profits into 2023 and beyond.

However, the company indicated that it supported the idea of fixing prices 'at more sustainable levels'.
Savers who lost more than 1billion when Neil Woodfords flagship investment fund collapsed are a step closer to getting 300million of redress.

Thousands of customers were left out of pocket when Link Group  the firm responsible for supervising fund manager Woodfords management of his funds  decided to suspend the 3.7billion Equity Income Fund in 2019 and eventually close it down.

Now the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has confirmed that Link could be on the hook for up to 306million in redress for customers.

Losses: The Woodford Equity Income Fund was frozen after a flood of investors tried to pull their money out after a run of poor performance from manager Neil Woodford (pictured)

The watchdog said last night it has investigated the circumstances leading to the collapse of the fund and is likely to seek to require Link to pay a financial penalty and/or consumer redress.

Meanwhile, Dye & Durham (D&D), a Canadian software company, is planning to buy Link for 2.1billion.

D&D said it had received a warning from the FCA, stating that the City regulator would not approve the takeover unless D&D promised to cover any restitution and/or redress payments which Link was ordered to pay.

The FCA said Links bill had been set at 306million as this reflects the FCAs current view of Links failings in managing the liquidity of the Woodford Equity Income Fund.

This is the first time that the City watchdog has confirmed it will penalise Link over its handling of the affair.

The regulator said it was still open to ordering other parties as well as Link to pay redress to customers.

Sixty-two-year-old Woodford himself was also understood to be a target of the FCAs investigation.

The FCA began a probe into the scandal shortly after the Equity Income Fund was shut in June 2019  but Woodford savers are yet to hear the outcome.

D&D said it was assessing the FCAs conditions  and that if it decided it could not accept them, the deal would be called off.

The Woodford Equity Income Fund was frozen by Link after a flood of investors tried to pull their money out after a run of poor performance from Woodford. He invested a chunk of their cash into risky early-stage and unlisted stocks, and was unable to sell them fast enough to return the money.

When Link realised the extent of the problem, it decided to close the fund down entirely, selling off the stocks and returning the money to investors.

But several of the sales were completed at a knock-down price, and savers have lost around 1billion since the fund was shuttered in June 2019.

Law firms Leigh Day and Harcus Parker are also bringing a separate claim against Link on behalf of more than 2,500 investors, who claim Link failed to properly keep an eye on how Woodford was using their money.

Link is denying any breach of City rules, and plans to defend itself in the claim.
'I taught my grandson how to do this within a minute,' said Kiper, adding that there's 'really no excuse' for a senior forensic examiner to represent that to a jury

Raniere's team also singled FBI forensic expert Brian Booth falsely claimed to jurors a photo's 'EXIF data' is hard to manipulate

Former FBI cyber forensics expert Richard Kiper told DailyMail.com the camera was made in 2004, but some of the timestamps the photos were from 2003

But in their own analysis of the evidence, Raniere's team point to alleged inconsistencies and say some photos were backdated or altered on Photoshop

Investigators alleged they found nude images of a 15-year-old with whom the cult leader had a sexual relationship on Raniere's camera and backup hard drive

Raniere, the leader of notorious sex cult NXIVM, was already on trial for running a ring of 'sex slaves' in March 2019, when he was hit with child porn charges

Forensics experts hired by Keith Raniere shared new photos and files exclusively with DailyMail.com, claiming FBI agents planted child porn used to convict him

Sex cult leader Keith Raniere's legal team is accusing FBI forensics experts of not being truthful and have claimed photo evidence of child porn used to convict him was photoshopped.

Raniere was sentenced to 120 years in prison in 2020 for child porn, sex trafficking, racketeering, forced labor and wire fraud conspiracy after an investigation of his cult, NXIVM.

But in a May legal filing, his lawyers claimed the FBI had planted evidence that helped secure the conviction.

Now Raniere's experts have shared new photos and evidence exclusively with DailyMail.com, claiming a senior FBI agent gave false testimony in Raniere's trial and another was prevented from testifying after he was mysteriously sent away abroad.

In an interview with DailyMail.com, a top former FBI cyber forensics expert hired by Raniere's attorneys believes there were bungled procedures, manipulation of evidence and even an apparent effort to 'frame' the cult leader for his child sex conviction.

The claims come as the FBI is facing intense scrutiny over high-profile investigations.

Keith Raniere, the leader of notorious sex cult NXIVM, was already on trial for running a ring of 'sex slaves' in March 2019, when he was hit with child porn charges of which he was later convicted. He is currently serving a 120-year sentence

Raniere's experts have shared new photos and files exclusively with DailyMail.com which they claim show evidence of bungled procedures and manipulating evidence during a March 2018 FBI raid of a Halfmoon, New York property that Raniere had used

Investigators had claimed they found naked images of a 15-year-old with whom the cult leader had a sexual relationship on Raniere's DSLR camera and backup external hard drive (pictured)

Republican lawmakers have accused the Bureau of suppressing a probe into alleged criminality by the First Son Hunter Biden, while a legal battle has erupted with allegations that a raid on former president Donald Trump's Florida home over classified documents he was keeping there was politically motivated.

NXIVM, initially founded as a multi-level marketing company promoting personal development in 1998, became infamous for drawing in Hollywood actresses under the guise of a self-help course.

Victims of a group within the cult told prosecutors how they were starved, sleep-deprived, and even branded with Raniere's initials.

The cult leader was already on trial for running a ring of 'sex slaves' and other offenses in March 2019, when prosecutors dropped a bombshell by adding child porn charges to his rap sheet.

They found naked images of a 15-year-old with whom the cult leader had a sexual relationship on Raniere's DSLR camera and backup external hard drive.

Prosecutors were able to prove the girl was underage by the timestamps on the photos.

However, Raniere's three cyber forensic experts say the files on the camera's memory card and the external hard drive appear to have been deliberately backdated by someone to make Raniere seem guilty, according to their own analysis of the evidence.

Richard Kiper, who used to train the trainers of FBI cyber forensics experts before he retired in 2019, told DailyMail.com that the Canon camera was made in 2004, but the timestamps on some of the photos were from 2003.

Kiper also claimed that metadata on one of the photos shows it was manipulated in Adobe Photoshop.

Forensics experts hired by Raniere's legal team conducted their own investigation and claim the metadata on one of the photos shows it was manipulated in Adobe Photoshop, according to their report

The report also claims there was 'extensive evidence of tampering' on the camera's memory card that would have taken place while it was in FBI custody

Experts believe that there 'were several evidentiary items' on the desk that were initially ignored and later seized

Other disturbing inconsistencies highlighted in a forensics report he wrote for Raniere's legal team include:

The FBI conducted two forensic studies of the Raniere camera card but in the second study, the NXIVM leader's team claimed 37 photos had been added.

The FBI conducted two forensic studies of the Raniere camera card but in the second study, the NXIVM leader's team claimed 37 photos had been added. The preview image for one of the photos on the camera card was a blonde woman, but the same file on the hard drive backup was a brunette, suggesting manual manipulation of the material.

Metadata said, impossibly, some of the photos were edited before they were supposedly taken.

While in the custody of the FBI, someone accessed the camera card without proper protections leading to dates on files being altered.

Files on the hard drive were made to look like they were created in an automatic backup in 2009, but were in fact manually arranged and backdated, according to the report.

The government said in their courtroom response that Raniere's claims are 'frivolous' and pointed to other evidence supporting the child porn conviction.

The victim herself, Camila, testified that Raniere met her age 13, and photographed her nude and had sex with her at 15, when he was 45.

Texts obtained by journalist Sarah Berman in her book on NXIVM show Raniere later telling Camila his slaves would 'be branded with my monogram'.

'Branded like cattle?' she replied. 'You want to burn me?'

'You don't want to burn for me?' Raniere responded.

But despite the chilling testimony, the cult leader's legal team believe they have a chance to have his convictions thrown out over the FBI's alleged bungles and fabrications.

Their report points to alleged 'anomalies with the FBI search', such as the unusual manner in which agents collected evidence from Raniere's study at a home in Halfmoon, New York in March 2018.

Raniere first accused the FBI of planting child porn on his computers and cameras in an effort to send him to prison, in court documents filed in May this year

In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, former FBI cyber forensics expert Richard Kiper - who was hired by Raniere - alleged there are several inconsistencies in the FBI's analysis of evidence

They claim that investigators 'bypassed' several areas of the home and went 'straight to a study area where, under a desk, were the very first two evidentiary items they collected: the Canon digital camera along with its camera card.'

Those two items were, 'notably,' the 'only two pieces of digital evidence the government used to prove the child pornography and child exploitation RICO acts, which would stem from an allegedly accidental discovery of photos eleven months later,' the report states.

They also singled out one FBI forensic expert, Brian Booth.

Booth told the jury that information in photo files called 'EXIF data', which includes creation dates, were hard to change and so the dates of the photos could be relied on.

In fact, according to Kiper: 'I taught my grandson how to do this within a minute. Not even using a special tool, just using Windows features.'

'There really is no excuse for a senior forensic examiner to represent to the jury that EXIF data is very difficult to modify,' he said.

Booth, who conducted the prosecution's second analysis of the camera card and hard drive in June 2019, admitted during the trial that he received the card in an unsealed evidence bag and there was an incomplete chain of custody log.

Close friend and legal team manager Suneel Chakravorty (pictured) told DailyMail.com he became suspicious after one forensic expert who examined the evidence was later sent overseas

Kiper said this was a severe violation of FBI evidence handling rules, but Booth told the jury that receiving unsealed evidence was not unusual and that the log didn't need to be updated every time the evidence bag was opened.

'During his testimony on the third-to-last and second-to-last day of evidence during jury trial, Brian Booth, a senior forensic examiner for the FBI, testified falsely while under oath on the stand,' Raniere's lawyer Joseph Tully wrote in a report summarizing his experts' findings, obtained by DailyMail.com.

'All three areas where Booth committed perjury, specifically covered up the tampering and enabled the government's false narrative based on the tampering.'

The first forensic examination in April 2019 was by FBI Senior Forensic Examiner Stephen Flatley, who was then sent overseas to Ghana, preventing him from testifying, the report said.

Raniere's close friend and legal team manager Suneel Chakravorty told DailyMail.com the move left him deeply suspicious, after he discovered that Flatley had testified in another case that EXIF data was unreliable, contrary to Booth's claims in court.

'During one of the most high-profile trials of his career, the US vs Raniere, international media, multiple documentaries - and he has to go to Ghana, while he's holding the second most important piece of evidence, which is the camera card,' Chakravorty said.

Victims of the cult told prosecutors how Raniere and other leaders brandished them with a burning piece of metal

A court sketch of Raniere in June 2019 when he was convicted of seven counts including child porn and sex trafficking

'It's very odd to me that it just so happened that the guy they scurried out of the country had a completely opposite view of the metadata.'

Kiper told DailyMail.com that one FBI agent, Michael Lever, allegedly broke protocol by taking the camera and card out of the evidence locker twice for a total 24 days in September 2018, before the Bureau conducted its forensic analysis.

Kiper's report filed with Raniere's legal submission in May this year claims that while Lever had the card, it was accessed without proper protections and some files were altered as a result.

Tully claimed in his report that prosecutors somehow knew they would be filing additional charges against Raniere weeks before the FBI said they discovered the child porn.

Assistant US Attorney Moira Penza told the judge the Justice Department 'continues to expect a superseding indictment [new charges] in this case' on January 9, 2019.

But the FBI reports say they didn't find the shocking photos until February 21, 2019.

On March 13, 2019, the government filed its charges of possession of child pornography and sexual exploitation of a minor.

'How did AUSA Penza know the contraband photos would be found over a month later?' Tully wrote, claiming the statement was 'highly suspect'.

NXIVM was partially bankrolled by Seagram's heiress Claire Bronfman (seen left in 2019) who was prosecuted alongside Raniere and actress Allison Mack (right) who was sentenced to three years in prison

NXIVM was partially bankrolled by Seagram's heiress Claire Bronfman, who was prosecuted alongside Raniere and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to conceal and harbor illegal aliens for financial gain and to fraudulent use of identification in April 2019.

Her lawyer, Duncan Levin, said the evidence of tampering by the FBI was cause to throw out all the NXIVM convictions.

'Society cannot live in a world where law enforcement is tampering with evidence,' he said.

'If these allegations are true, it means that all of the defendants in the case should have all of the charges thrown out. There should be no opportunity for a do-over for the government.'
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Rare, intimate photographs of Queen Elizabeth II uncovered by her portrait artist's son have taken on a new poignancy following her death at 96, the son told DailyMail.com.

The candid pictures show the late Queen - then 59 - sitting for a portrait with a man who, sensationally, was on the run from Interpol for kidnapping his son, failing to pay child support, and accused of swindling his patrons.

Curtis Hooper, a renowned stockbroker-turned-artist, was given the privilege of painting the beloved monarch in Buckingham Palace in 1986 for the royal sum of $260,000.

She even left him with a lipstick kiss on a handkerchief so that he could get her lip coloring correct.

Still mourning his father, who died in 2020 at age 75, Jason Hooper told DailyMail.com in an interview Thursday that news of the monarch's death brought memories flooding back of all his father's swashbuckling tales as an artist and a criminal, including painting QEII's portrait.

'Naturally my mind went there,' he said. 'It's very sad about the Queen. It's hard to imagine a world without her in it. I deeply respected her. I think she lived an amazing life and was loved by people all over the world.'

Rare, candid photographs show the late Queen Elizabeth II in her formal gown in 1986 as she sat for a royal portrait painted by renowned British artist Curtis Hooper, who, sensationally, was on the run from Interpol at the time. The images were first published by DailyMail.com last year after the artist's son discovered them in Hooper's treasure trove that had been stashed in a storage unit in Sebring, Florida

The stunning photos, which were taken as a reference for the artist's painting, have taken on a new poignancy following her death at 96 on Thursday, Hooper's son told DailyMail.com

The Queen's private secretary, Robert Fellowes, hired Hooper, who died in 2020 at the age of 75, to paint the monarch at Buckingham Palace for a portrait he had proposed for City Hall in Hamilton, Bermuda

The photos offer an extraordinary glimpse of the Queen, then 59, in a relatively intimate occasion as she was photographed from nearly every angle, including her profile, her breasts, her hands, as well as her throne

Hooper, had a warrant out for his arrest at the time, after he was accused of kidnapping his Jason from his Toronto, Canada home, failing to pay child support, and swindling his patrons in the 1970s.

The incredible story  revealed by DailyMail.com last year  raised uncomfortable questions about the Queen's security at the time.

It is unclear from the intimate setting of the photos whether the Queen was left alone with Hooper but a friend says Hooper told him he even dined privately with the royals after presenting the finished portrait, and was asked to do a second piece around 2018.

The renowned stockbroker-turned-artist was given the rare privilege of painting the British monarch over two sittings in 1986, as well as Winston Churchill, Saudi King Faisal, Peter Sellers, Salvador Dali and even Christ himself, after he was allowed to study the Turin Shroud.

The photos also tell an interesting, and rather dark, tale about the man who painted the British monarch. Hooper, who was known for his paintings of other dignitaries including Winston Churchill and Saudi King Faisal, was also known to Interpol authorities who had been seeking him after he abducted his child

Friends of Hooper said Her Majesty at the time had commented that he wasn't quite accurate with the color of her lipstick so she provided him with a tissue imprinted with her lips that he later kept

Hooper snapped several photos in hopes of capturing every ornate detail of his subject. But his estranged son, Jason Hooper, has questioned how his prolific swindler father, who was wanted for kidnapping at the time, was even granted such a privilege by the royals

The renowned stockbroker-turned-artist got up close and personal with Elizabeth, capturing the intricate details of her dress as well as her jewels

He also took reference pictures of her throne

Hooper was ultimately paid $260,000 by the palace for his painting of the Queen. Friends say he even boasted of dining with the royal family privately after presenting the finished portrait

When Hooper died, Jason  a former rock star who was once featured in Rolling Stone magazine  began investigating his father's checkered history himself, speaking to family, friends, colleagues, enemies and lovers, and finally uncovering a treasure trove in a Florida storage unit.

He was overwhelmed this month to stumble across a treasure trove of his photographs, paintings, documents and newspaper clippings recovered from the storage unit in Sebring, Florida.

Among the stash were his father's photo slides of the Queen, pictures of Hooper with brush in hand painting the royal portrait, and a picture from a balcony overlooking Buckingham Palace's courtyard where royals would wave to their subjects on special occasions.

'It was an artist's study, so he took a picture of the side of her face, of her breasts, of her hands, of the throne. Everything,' Jason told DailyMail.com

'How did my father get into Buckingham Palace when he was wanted for kidnapping and child support? Wouldn't they investigate that, who was sitting alone with the Queen in Buckingham Palace taking photos of her?'

A letter from the Queen's private secretary Robert Fellowes dated March 27, 1986 invited Hooper to his first sitting with the monarch

A telegram from Fellowes sent the next day arranged a second meeting between the artist and Elizabeth, giving him a strict deadline and a recommendation of a 1977 book on the royal family for inspiration or guidance

The 71 inch by 47 inch oil on canvas painting is set in a 'heavy ornate carved and cast gilt' frame in the City Hall foyer in Hamilton, Bermuda today

Hooper was a talented artist but a lousy father, according to Jason, who was kidnapped by his dad from his Toronto home as a child

While Jason acknowledges his father was an 'astonishingly talented artist' who was 'charming and charismatic with everybody,' he says there was another side of him that 'was not a good man at all'

Jason said he tried contacting British embassies, the palace, and even the Queen's private secretary after he found the photos, but received no response.

'My father was a remarkably and astonishingly talented artist. He was also charming and charismatic with everybody. But on the other side he was not a good man at all,' he said.

'I am disturbed about all of this,' he added. 'I really want to find out why they didn't investigate my father.'

Jason, 51, a former rock star who was once featured in Rolling Stone magazine, says he still believes the world deserves to see his absentee father's stunning artwork, regardless of his checkered past

A letter from the Queen's private secretary Robert Fellowes dated March 27, 1986 invited Hooper to his first sitting with the monarch for a portrait of her he had proposed for the City Hall in Hamilton, Bermuda.

'The Queen has been pleased to consider your request for a photographic sitting in the near future so that you can make a start on your portrait for Hamilton City Hall,' Fellowes wrote.

'Her Majesty has said she would give the sitting to you on Thursday 3rd July at 2.30p.m. here at Buckingham Palace.'

After meeting with the Queen, Hooper went to dinner with friends and revealed he had kept a unique souvenir from the meeting.

'We had dinner after he had been painting HM Queen Elizabeth,' Hooper's friend Paul Medlicott, who edited the memoir of Churchill's daughter Sarah, recalled in an email to Jason after Hooper's death.

'HM had commented that he wasn't quite accurate with the colour of her lipstick  she always wore the same shade. She called for a tissue and firmly imprinted it with both lips.

'And then across the dinner table from us Curtis, with a nice flourish, produced the very tissue from his sketch pad.'

A telegram from Fellowes sent the next day arranged a second meeting between the artist and Elizabeth, giving him a strict deadline and a recommendation of a 1977 book on the royal family for inspiration or guidance.

'I confirm the arrangement for you to have a short sitting with the Queen in order to show her Majesty your finished portrait on 19th November at 2.30 p.m.' the letter said.

During his career, Hooper also had the privilege of painting British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (pictured)

Hooper kept letters from Churchill's daughter Sarah Churchill. In a letter dated September 24, 1978, she thanked the artist for his 'magnificent' work

Sarah Churchill had also signed a copy of her memoir, A Thread in the Tapestry, for Hooper in April 1978

Throughout his career, Hooper had the privilege of painting Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Saudi King Faisal (right) Peter Sellers, Salvador Dali and even Christ himself (left) after he was allowed to study the Turin Shroud

'The book in which the crucial photograph figures is 'The British Monarchy' by Philip Howard and not the title I have previously given you. Let me know immediately if you are unable to get hold of a copy and I will send you one by return of post.'

Hooper's Canadian friend and business partner, Mandeep Singh, told DailyMail.com that Hooper even boasted of dining with the royal family privately after presenting the finished portrait.

'He said it was a completely amazing experience, having that attention with the Queen. He had one-on-one dinners with the Queen and the royals there,' Singh said.

'It was when the painting was complete and he unveiled it for her.

'He was very proud of it Fairly recently the Royals reached out to him to paint another picture of the Queen, maybe for her 90th. He mentioned it in 2017 or 2018.'

The 39-year-old Victoria, British Columbia resident said that he was shocked when he discovered after Hooper's death that the artist had a son.

'It was really weird. I didn't ask but my girlfriend at the time did bring it up, 'what about your children?' He didn't mention much about it, he kind of dodged the conversation,' Singh said.

Hooper is seen left in an intimate photo holding his son as a baby. He took the toddler and his mistress Teri on the run from law enforcement for more than two years, until Interpol managed to catch up with Teri and had her fly Jason home to Hooper's distraught wife Carol (right).

Pictured are some slides of the Queen that Curtis shot during her portrait sitting. Jason said he tried contacting British embassies, the palace, and even the Queen's private secretary after he found the photos, but received no response

'He completely denied that he had a son.'

A January 2002 art appraisal by Charles Rosoff of Appraisal Services Associates said Hooper was paid $260,000 by the palace for his portrait of the Queen, and put the total replacement value of his fine art at $1,050,000.

The 71 inch by 47 inch royal portrait currently hangs in Hamilton City Hall, Bermuda.

According to a Hamilton city spokeswoman, the oil on canvas painting is set in a 'heavy ornate carved and cast gilt' frame in the City Hall foyer.

'This painting was commissioned by Alderman & Mrs. W.F. 'Chummy' Hayward [a late Bermuda philanthropist] and was unveiled in April 1987.'

Jason says though his abandonment has left him livid at his father, he believes the world should see his art.

'There's nothing uncommon about my story growing up without a father, or one of your parents being a cheater. I'm not walking around feeling like a victim,' he said.

'Learning all of these things about him have stirred and emotionally compromised me. It's very upsetting. But it's not like a vendetta.

'I have all these photos and artwork. I think that the world should see these things.'

According to an archived version of the artist's now-defunct website, his work is exhibited in the British Prime Minister's office at Number 10 Downing Street, the New York Met, and the DC National Gallery, among others.

Hooper's art can soon be viewed at a new website his son is setting up: www.curtishooperart.com.
Chief Justice John Roberts has refused to address the Roe v Wade controversy and instead pledged to 'move forward from things that were unfortunate'.

The judge, who was the one of four justices to uphold the ruling earlier this year, said it would be the best way to progress falling the dramatic fallout earlier this year.

He also warned the court needs to be free from 'political branches telling you what the law is' and above bowing to public opinion.

It comes as the Supreme Court will allow the public to hear arguments in person for the first time in three years following to Covid pandemic.

The court's nine justices - all of whom have been vaccinated, are set to begin hearing a new round of cases when the court's next term starts on October 3.

Chief Justice John Roberts (center) defended the judiciary branch after four out of nine chief justices had overturned Roe v Wade, sparking protests in front of SCOTUS. America's 17th chief justice has pledged to 'move forward from things that were unfortunate' in the following two years that included the closure of SCOTUS courtrooms to the public

The U.S. Supreme Court building will reopen to the public for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak when the judicial branch's next term starts on October 3

Roberts said during the interview: 'If the court doesn't retain its legitimate function of interpreting the constitution, I'm not sure who would take up that mantle.

'You don't want the political branches telling you what the law is, and you don't want public opinion to be the guide about what the appropriate decision is.

'I think just moving forward from things that were unfortunate is the best way to respond.'

No members of the public have been allowed in the white marble court building across the street from the U.S. Capitol since pandemic-related curbs were put into place in March 2020, even as the rest of official Washington relaxed restrictions months ago.

The Capitol began a phased reopening for visitors and tourists in March while the White House reopened a month later.

The court further walled itself off from the public in May after the leak of a draft opinion showing that the court's conservative bloc was set to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.

It erected an 8-foot tall security fence amid concern about protests that followed the publication of the leaked opinion. The ruling was made the following month. The fence was removed in August.

After the start of the pandemic, the court changed the way it operated.

In May 2020, it began hearing oral arguments by teleconference, instead of in person, with a live audio feed provided to the public for the first time.

Roberts also said it saddened him to drive into the Supreme Court building, which was entirely barricaded everyday after SCOTUS overturned Roe v Wade in June. Pictured: Activists with 'Rise Up 4 Abortion' demonstrate outside the U.S. Supreme Court Building on shortly after the overrule was made

An 8-foot tall security fence was set up in front of SCOTUS' building due to fears on protests that followed the publication of the court's leaked opinion on Roe v Wade. It was removed in August

Justices resumed in-person oral arguments in October 2021. They were joined in a sparsely populated courtroom by lawyers, court staff and journalists, but members of the public were still not permitted.

The tenor of oral arguments also changed, with some of the prior free-for-all questioning of arguing attorneys replaced by more orderly justice-by-justice questioning.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was more vocal in argumentation when SCOTUS' oral arguments were held virtually during the pandemic before being resumed in-person in October

Justice Clarence Thomas, who famously almost never spoke during arguments in the past, became a vocal presence on the bench using the new format, regularly asking questions.

The court's new term promises to be momentous, as was its prior term.

Fresh off landmark decisions ending the recognition of a constitutional right to abortion and embracing a constitutional right to carry a handgun in public for self-defense, the justices will decide several contentious cases involving race.

One of them includes a bid to end affirmative action policies used by colleges and universities to increase their numbers of Black and Hispanic students. (Reporting by Andrew Chung and Nate Raymond Editing by Scott Malone and Helen Popper)
One of the Queen's most trusted confidantes is set to be allowed to stay on in her grace-and-favour home at Windsor  thanks to the Queen herself.

Angela Kelly, a docker's daughter from Liverpool, began work as an Assistant Dresser at the Royal Household before becoming indispensable to the Monarch.

Her reward was a grace-and-favour home a short walk from Windsor Castle.

Staff who work for the Queen typically would have only a month's notice after the end of her reign before they would either be redeployed to another Royal household or look for alternative employment.

But now it seems that the Queen had given her authority for Ms Kelly to stay in her grace-and-favour home after her death.

Angela Kelly, a close confidante of the Queen, is set to be allowed to stay on in her grace-and-favour home at Windsor  thanks to the Queen herself. Pictured receiving her RVO in 2012

So favoured was she by the late Monarch that Ms Kelly was also granted extraordinary permission to secure a three-book deal. Two of those memoirs have been published and another is set to be released.

An insider said: 'The Queen was very clear that she was close to Angela and wanted to look after her people.'

Ms Kelly who is said to want to spend some time in America now the Queen has died, was originally hired for her fashion expertise. But she soon developed a close bond with the Monarch.

As the Queen's mobility failed, Palace sources say that Ms Kelly could often be found sitting with the Queen, making her laugh and filling Her Majesty in on the latest plot twists of television soap operas.

Latterly, as the Queen's number of public appearances decreased in line with her ability to move around in comfort, it was Ms Kelly who sat with the Queen at Windsor.

One source says: 'The Prince of Wales came in one day to see his mother and was surprised that Angela had her own rooms there where she would watch the television rather loudly.'

As time went on, Ms Kelly took on more of a lady-in-waiting role, sources say. She would fetch and carry and even advise.

The influence of the down-to-earth Liverpudlian could even be seen in some of the Queen's public appearances  far beyond what the Monarch chose to wear.

It was Ms Kelly who encouraged the Queen to visit the set of Coronation Street in Manchester when the ITV studio marked its 60th anniversary in July last year.

And what did the Queen choose to wear? An Angela Kelly outfit in a bold teal with a matching hat.

The anecdote was revealed in Ms Kelly's second memoir, The Other Side Of The Coin.

The trip went ahead with Ms Kelly recalling: 'She doesn't watch Coronation Street, but I filled her in.' She adds: 'I was thrilled that the Queen chose my outfit and my hat to wear for the event.'

As the Queen's mobility failed, Palace sources say that Ms Kelly could often be found sitting with the Queen, making her laugh and filling Her Majesty in on the latest plot twists of television soap operas. Left to right is Caroline Rush, the Queen, Anna Wintour and Angela Kelly in 2018

When she was chosen to accompany the Queen on the day, Ms Kelly recalled: 'I was so giddy you'd think I was walking on hot sand.'

The book also tells of how, during lockdown, Ms Kelly and a team of staff formed HMS Bubble  a Covid-free ring around the Queen designed to keep her safe while continuing to look after her comfort.

While the courtiers sacrificed time with their families to avoid catching the virus and passing it on to the Queen, there was also fun to be had during lockdown.

Ms Kelly, who started working in the Royal Household in 1994, reveals that the staff took part in the 'Bubble Olympics', a series of activities including a rounders tournament, sprint relay and a game with balloons filled with water.

To the astonishment of staff, Ms Kelly said the Queen herself emerged one day. After watching out of sight, she came from behind the bushes to award the winners with trophies.

Ms Kelly also shared her insight into the difficult period when the Queen returned to Windsor Castle after Prince Philip's funeral.

'I helped her off with her coat and hat and no words were spoken. The Queen then walked to her sitting room, closed the door behind her, and she was alone with her own thoughts,' Kelly writes of the moments after the funeral in an extract published by Hello! magazine.

Writing on the day the Duke of Edinburgh died, Kelly said the atmosphere among staff staying in Windsor was 'sombre,' and that only a few members of staff were told the news, after the members of the royal family were told first.

Ms Kelly also shared her insight into the difficult period when the Queen returned to Windsor Castle after Prince Philip's funeral

On the day of the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral in Windsor, members of staff were allowed to stand outside the Augusta Tower door, opposite St George's Hall.

'The Queen's dressers, pages, chefs, housemaids, footmen and Castle attendants all stood to attention as The Duke of Edinburgh's coffin was carefully placed onto the Land Rover that he had specially designed for the day,' Angela recalls.

She added that staff members were visibly grief-stricken and that there thoughts must have been with the Queen as she said goodbye to her husband of 73 years.

Ms Kelly also added that fellow members of staff felt the pain of the valet walking behind the Duke's coffin during the funeral procession, because it was 'it was hard to watch our own friends saying goodbye to their amazing boss.'

When the Queen's health failed, her loyal servant remained by her side.

In lockdown she opened 'Kelly's Salon'  making herself indispensable as the Queen's hairdresser as well as her dresser and aide.

The reward for such loyalty will now be the promise of a comfortable retirement.
When Prince Charles was born, in November 1948, footman John Gibson was working temporarily in Winston Churchill's household.

He told me, 'When I heard the news on the radio, I went in to tell Mr Churchill and he jumped up in the air and gave three cheers.

'He was over the moon for the Princess. He ran round the room waving his hands above his head and shouting, 'Hooray! It's marvellous news! Tell everybody to come in, John. And bring the champagne. We must toast the heir to the throne.' '

Princess Elizabeth's confinement  in the Palace's Buhl Room, specially converted into a well-equipped surgery  had been a painfully long one. Afterwards, she spent ten days in bed recuperating (as new mothers were encouraged to do) and breast-fed her son from the start.

She wrote to her former music teacher: 'The baby is very sweet and we are enormously proud of him. He has an interesting pair of hands for a baby. They are rather large, but with fine long fingers quite unlike mine and certainly unlike his father's. It will be interesting to see what they become. I still find it hard to believe I have a baby of my own!'

These two were good companions: during the whole of their remarkable marriage  the longest-lasting of any sovereign and consort in history  the chattering never stopped

Patricia Mountbatten told me she thought Philip and Elizabeth chose 'Charles' as a name simply because they liked it. Boy Browning [Philip's Comptroller] was one of those who felt the name was 'bad news', given the precedents of Charles I and II, to say nothing of the unhappy fate that befell Charles Stuart, 'Bonnie Prince Charlie'.

Princess Margaret, however, was delighted with the choice of name, explaining that henceforward she would be known as 'Charley's Aunt  probably my finest title'.

Philip and Lilibet were very happy with their new baby. According to friends who have known them across all their adult lives, the first few years of their marriage were, in many ways, the happiest.

Gina Kennard said to me, 'Princess Elizabeth was not yet Queen, Philip was still in the navy. They were young, they were relatively carefree.'

And they were cosseted. While devoted to little Prince Charles, they did not have to tend to him unaided. He had two Scottish nurses in constant attendance.

Before Charles was born, Elizabeth had declared, 'I'm going to be the child's mother, not the nurses.' Well, she was  but, inevitably, because she was a princess as well as a mother, because 'royal duty' called and all her life Elizabeth made answering the call of royal duty her first priority, and because it was the way of her class and her time, much of the nitty-gritty of childcare was left to the nurses.

Until Clarence House was ready for the family to move into in July 1949, the baby lived at their country house, Windlesham Moor, only seeing his parents when they came down from London at weekends.

After that, Elizabeth saw her young children as much as any aristocratic mother of her generation and more, perhaps, than many busy working mothers today.

John Gibson, who returned to royal service as 'nursery footman' at Windlesham Moor, assured me that Princess Elizabeth was 'very hands-on' with Charles, 'like a real mother  not a princess'. He could not fault the young royal couple: 'When they were on their own, it was a very simple life. They were quite normal people, really. They were waited on hand and foot, obviously, but they sat at the table and they had a natter about what was going on in the day.'

Much of the domestic conversation overheard by John related to home-making. 'They couldn't wait to get into their new home at Clarence House. They talked about it all the time. 'I think Grandma is giving me a nice sideboard. I'm sure she is.' Grandma was Queen Mary, of course.'

When John Dean, Philip's valet, had a day off, John Gibson would take the young Duke of Edinburgh his early morning tea. Philip would look in on Elizabeth in her intercommunicating room and tease her for not being out of bed yet.

The Queen's former private secretary Lord Charteris said to me: 'Prince Philip is the only man in the world who treats the Queen simply as another human being. He's the only man who can. Strange as it may seem, I believe she values that'

When they were up at Birkhall in Scotland, Philip and Elizabeth would drive over to Balmoral with the staff piled into the back of the shooting brake.

'He'd drive like mad over the country roads,' according to John Gibson. 'Philip, Philip, slow down for God's sake, slow down, you're killing all the rabbits,' she said. 'What's the matter with you?'

At 28, Philip was appointed second-in-command of HMS Chequers, the Leader of the 1st Destroyer Flotilla of the Mediterranean Fleet at Malta. For several weeks at a time, Elizabeth would leave Charles with her mother and fly out to join him.

This is the period in her adult life that can perhaps be described as the most normal  or, at least, the least unreal. He was a serving officer; she was a naval wife. Buckingham Palace was a thousand miles away.

'It was a good time,' according to Philip. 'It was a fabulous time,' according to his equerry Mike Parker. 'I think it was their happiest time,' said his valet John Dean. 'They were so relaxed and free, coming and going as they pleased.'

In Malta, there were parties and picnics, swimming expeditions and boat trips. Elizabeth went out for coffee and shopping and visits to the hairdresser with the other young officers' wives.

Of course, nothing is ever entirely normal when it comes to royalty. The princess, who had arrived with the ever-faithful Bobo (her nursery maid-turned dresser and confidante) plus a new lady-in-waiting, stayed with her husband at the Mountbattens' villa  where the indoor help included a butler, a housekeeper, three cooks, six stewards, two housemaids, two cleaning ladies, and a valet.

Princess Anne was born at Clarence House in August 1950. Elizabeth reported to a friend, 'We only hope that Charles will take kindly to it. He has only seen Fortune Euston's baby at close quarters and he then tried to pull her toes off and poke her eyes out, all of which she took very kindly, having a brother of two who presumably did the same.'

The following year, Princess Elizabeth became the first member of the Royal Family to fly the Atlantic. She and Philip were accompanied on their gruelling 35-day tour of Canada and the U.S. by her new private secretary, Martin Charteris.

'Please smile more, Ma'am,' pleaded Charteris at one point. 'But my jaws are aching,' sighed the Princess.

(Fifty years later, accompanying the Queen on a tour of the West Country, the Duchess of Grafton told me, 'She does find this constant smiling very exhausting, you know. After a day like today, her jaw really aches.')

'Oh, yes,' said Gina Kennard, who knew them, individually and as a couple, for something like 75 years, 'They own each other. Nothing could come between them. What they have for one another is the greatest respect  which counts for so much  and deep love. Deep love that goes back a long, long way'

Martin Charteris said to me, 'It was a long trip and it wasn't plain sailing. It wasn't easy for either of them.'

Is it true, I asked, that, at breakfast one morning on the Governor-General's train, the Duke called the Princess 'a bloody fool'? 'He might have done,' said Charteris, smiling. 'He had a naval turn of phrase.'

On a long train ride across Canada that autumn, Philip did his best to entertain his wife with a range of practical jokes. According to John Dean, these included surprising her with a booby-trapped can of nuts and chasing her down the corridor wearing a set of joke false teeth.

The idea that, as a mother, the Queen was remote and uncaring  an idea spread by Prince Charles via Jonathan Dimbleby in 1994  is flatly rejected by the Princess Royal.

'I'm not going to speak for anyone else,' said Princess Anne, 'but I simply don't believe that there is any evidence whatsoever to suggest that she wasn't caring. It just beggars belief.

'We as children may have not been too demanding, in the sense that we understood what the limitations were in time and the responsibilities placed on her as monarch in the things she had to do and the travels she had to make. But I don't believe that any of us, for a second, thought she didn't care for us in exactly the same way as any other mother did. I just think it's extraordinary that anybody could construe that that might not be true.'

Anne found her mother tolerant in a way that allowed her children to find their own feet.

'If she'd been a disciplinarian,' she said with a wry smile, 'and said 'no' to everybody, we'd have all been psychoanalysed out of existence on the basis that we had too controlling a mother. We've all been allowed to find our own way and we were always encouraged to discuss problems, to talk them through.

'People have to make their own mistakes and I think she's always accepted that.'

Once, I travelled in the car behind theirs and watched the Queen and her husband chatting. For half an hour, I saw them telling each other stories, listening to each other, laughing repeatedly

There are those who persist in believing that Prince Andrew's natural father was the Queen's racing manager, Henry Porchester ('Porchey'), 7th Earl of Carnarvon. The conception occurred in 1959, they suggest, when Philip was away on a long sea voyage. Never mind that the dates don't stack up: the idea that the Queen ever committed adultery is simply preposterous.

I asked Geordie, 8th Earl of Carnarvon (and one of the Queen's godchildren), if his father and Her Majesty knew of the rumour and what they made of it. Were they amused?

'They knew all about it,' Geordie told me, 'and were not in the least amused. They were angry. My father was very annoyed by it, and embarrassed. It was dreadful.'

The Queen and Porchey were best friends. They had known each other all their adult lives: they shared a passion for racehorses and a sense of humour. They may even have been a little in love  in the nicest possible way  but the idea of a romance between them is risible.

'Both my parents were friends of the Queen and Prince Philip,' Geordie told me. 'Obviously my father saw a lot of the Queen throughout the year, but in October he used to invite them to Highclere [Castle, now familiar to television viewers as the setting for Downton Abbey] for a shooting weekend, partridge shooting.

'Prince Philip sometimes came, not always. He's an extremely good shot. And the Queen, of course, has always been good at working dogs.

'On Saturday night, my mother would do dinner, the best of English country house cooking. And on Sunday, my father and the Queen might walk round the stables or visit Highclere stud. The Queen adored going on the gallops early in the evening. It was just a perfect, relaxing weekend.'

When they were up at Birkhall in Scotland, Philip and Elizabeth would drive over to Balmoral with the staff piled into the back of the shooting brake. 'He'd drive like mad over the country roads,' according to John Gibson. 'Philip, Philip, slow down for God's sake, slow down, you're killing all the rabbits,' she said. 'What's the matter with you?. They are pictured in June 2020

She was, he said, completely at ease in the world of horses. 'It's a world she knows and loves. When she's in it, she is wholly absorbed by it. And I suppose my father was the centre of that part of her life.

'The Queen has a long and successful history as an owner and breeder. She knows the background of the stallions, she knows all the good bloodlines. My father had a photographic memory  he could remember the names of all the descendants of the great horses with no difficulty at all. The Queen and he could talk about horses for hours.

'They had a shared interest that was all-consuming  and a shared sense of humour. When my father and the Queen were together, there were always a lot of laughs. The Queen is more comfortable around men, anyway. She is easy with them, more chatty.

'And I think their relationship was special because they knew each other so well. They were happy together. You could tell. When he died [in 2001], quite unexpectedly, the Queen came to his funeral. She very rarely went to funerals.'

Indeed, Princess Anne once said that Porchey was the one person in the world who could telephone the Queen and always be put through at once.

At 3.30am on Sunday, August 31, 1997, when the Queen was at Balmoral with her family, the British Embassy in Paris confirmed that Diana, Princess of Wales, was dead.

That day, the Queen and Prince Phillip did exactly what anyone who knew them would have expected them to do. They comforted their grandsons in private and, in public, went about their business as usual.

On the whole, it is evident that she accepted Prince Philip as he was  she never tried to 'change' him  and admired and loved him deeply for what and who he was

They took William and Harry to church with them on that fateful Sunday morning because William and Harry wanted to go, and because the Queen believed that, at times of tribulation, there is no better place to be. Her faith was her rock, and doing things much as they have always been done is a practice that, on the whole, served her well.

There is comfort to be had from familiar hymns and prayers. There is solace to be found in form and custom long established, and in doing what you have to do in the way that you normally do it.

While Prince Charles flew to Paris to accompany Diana's body on its journey home, the Queen and Prince Philip kept William and Harry at Balmoral, out of harm's way, out of the public eye. The Queen viewed Diana's death as a private tragedy for the boys.

The public displays of grief  worldwide and extraordinary  caught her by surprise.

Her instinct and upbringing had taught her, and her generation, that you kept your tears for the pillow.

Crying in public was not something the Queen would allow herself, or expect of her children and grandchildren. It was not the royal way. It was neither dignified nor necessary  nor helpful.

Diana's funeral was not a comfortable experience. Elton John had never been one of Prince Philip's favourite performers. Tony Blair's over-emotional reading of the Lesson was embarrassing. And Charles Spencer's address, while perhaps forgivable, was, from the point of view of the Queen and the Duke, both illogical and insulting.

In the course of it, Earl Spencer spoke directly to Diana's sons and, on behalf of his mother and sisters, solemnly vowed that 'we, your blood family, will do all we can to continue the imaginative way in which you were steering these two exceptional young men so that their souls are not simply immersed by duty and tradition, but can sing openly as you planned'.

The congregation began to clap. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh did not join in.

Later, privately, Her Majesty said that what disappointed her about Charles Spencer's address was that it failed to do justice to his sister's memory. He devoted so much of his address to castigating the media and disparaging the Royal Family that he left himself no time to pay proper tribute to Diana's many gifts and achievements.

The Queen was especially saddened by the fact that her godson Earl Spencer failed to acknowledge the importance to Diana of her personal faith.

To friends, the Queen occasionally complained about her husband's 'pigheadedness' and about the speed at which he sometimes drove through Windsor Great Park.

But on the whole, it is evident that she accepted Prince Philip as he was  she never tried to 'change' him  and admired and loved him deeply for what and who he was.

Were they happy together? Off and on. Particularly when they were young and middle-aged, they seemed to spend quite a lot of time apart. Even when they were in their sixties and seventies, the Queen was frequently on her own, walking the dogs, riding her horses, playing Patience, completing a jigsaw, sorting her photograph albums, watching television.

Was she neglected? Did she mind? Or did she  as I've come to think  simply take it in her stride because she understood the nature of her man? Elizabeth and Philip had different attributes and different interests. Each was royal; they had shared values, a joint heritage and a common purpose. But as characters, as personalities, they were not at all alike.

Philip was more adventurous, more assertive, and more intellectual than his wife. She was more placid, more cautious, more conventional, less changeable in mood. Yet they understood each other  and they got on so well.

Before Philip's death, I spoke to a number of their friends. Lord Buxton and Lord Brabourne had stories to tell of the Duke holding his wife's hand, gently stroking her hair, coming into the room at the end of the day and saying simply, 'Lovely to see you'  and watching her face light up with happiness.

'Philip is not sentimental,' Lord Brabourne said to me, 'but he is sensitive, profoundly so. When our son was killed [by the IRA bomb that killed Lord Mountbatten] the first letter that arrived was from Philip. It was wonderful. You can talk to him about matters of the heart.'

Countess Mountbatten said, 'The Queen and Prince Philip have a mutual understanding that's profound. And they get on. They are good together  anyone who knows them well will tell you that.'

'Oh, yes,' said Gina Kennard, who knew them, individually and as a couple, for something like 75 years, 'They own each other. Nothing could come between them. What they have for one another is the greatest respect  which counts for so much  and deep love. Deep love that goes back a long, long way.'

But what about Philip's testiness, his grumbling and his grouches?

The Queen's former private secretary Lord Charteris said to me: 'Prince Philip is the only man in the world who treats the Queen simply as another human being. He's the only man who can. Strange as it may seem, I believe she values that.'

Once, I travelled in the car behind theirs and watched the Queen and her husband chatting. For half an hour, I saw them telling each other stories, listening to each other, laughing repeatedly.

These two were good companions: during the whole of their remarkable marriage  the longest-lasting of any sovereign and consort in history  the chattering never stopped.

Adapted from Philip: The Final Portrait by Gyles Brandreth, published by Coronet, 12.99.  2022 Gyles Brandreth. To buy a copy for 11.69 go to mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937. Offer valid until 24/9/2022, UK p&p is free on orders over 20.
A Texas teacher has been fired after she was caught on tape instructing students not to use the word 'pedophiles', but instead use the term 'minor attracted persons'.

Amber Parker, 53, who taught English at Franklin High School in El Paso, was sacked from her job after making the comments in class which were captured on video and subsequently shared to social media.

During the 18-second long clip that was posted to TikTok, the teacher can be heard telling students: 'Stop calling them that.

'You're not allowed to label people like that. Stop it, Diego. We're not gonna call them that.'

Parker can be heard instructing her English students in the clip: 'We're gonna call them MAPs, minor attracted persons. So don't judge people just because they wanna have sex with a five-year-old.'

Amber Parker, 53, who taught English at Franklin High School in El Paso was fired for telling students 'don't judge people for wanting to have sex with 5-year-olds' and asking them to call pedophiles 'minor attracted persons'

Parker was said to have been teaching students about The Crucible play when the subject suddenly veered onto pedophiles. She is pictured with husband Jason and their two grandkids

Parker (right) is pictured with husband of 30 years, Jason Parker

Amber Parker, 53, who taught English at Franklin High School in El Paso was fired after making the comments in class which were all captured on video and subsequently shared to social media

The term minor attracted persons allows people to escape the 'stigma' attached to the word pedophile.

The school district was immediately informed of the incident, which occurred last week - and an investigation was launched, initially leading to Parker's suspension.

El Paso's Independent School District board of trustees, led by Superintendent Diana Sayavedra, then unanimously voted to fire Parker following her controversial remarks.

Liza Rodriguez said Friday: 'After a thorough investigation was conducted, on September 6, 2022, during a Special Board Meeting, the Board of Trustees approved a decision to notify a Franklin High School teacher of proposed termination.

'Any allegation of potential misconduct is investigated thoroughly, and the safety of our students is a top priority.'

It wasn't clear in what context the discussion had been taking place, however students have said it was all part of a class debate as they prepared to read The Crucible.

Some students and parents were quick to defend the teacher - who believed that the clip did not represent Parker's beliefs and the conversation was taken out of context.

But others blasted her for her words. And after an investigation, school authorities also concluded that her conduct deserved further punishment.

Parker is now on paid administrative leave pending termination, it's understood.

The Texas teacher has been fired after she was caught on tape instructing students not to use the term pedophiles, but instead use the term 'minor attracted persons'

El Paso's Independent School District board of trustees, led by Superintendent Diana Sayavedra (pictured), unanimously voted to fire Parker following her controversial remarks

The school district was immediately informed of the incident which occurred last week and investigation was launched initially leading to Parker's suspension and subsequent firing

Daniel Call, a school board trustee, said he believed Parker was pretending to advocate a position to challenge her students and prepare them to read the play

Ryann Ruvalcaba, a junior at Franklin High School told Fox 17: 'She [the teacher] was expressing how it was ridiculous how we [society] might not be able to call people pedophiles.

'That we [society] will probably have to start calling them MAPs because it can be offensive to them [pedophiles]. The class agreed.'

The El Paso Independent School District declined to formally answer questions on what led to the classroom discussion but Daniel Call, a school board trustee, said he believed Parker was pretending to advocate a position to challenge her students and prepare them to read the play.

One week later he suddenly changed his mind.

'Any reasonable person that heard what the seven trustees heard would've voted to terminate Amber Parker,' Call said to KFoxTV.

Explaining his U-turn, Call said: 'There were more things that the public may not know about that was included on the closed findings.'

Parker, a married mother-of-five children and two grandchildren, was identified by the El Paso Teachers Association as the woman on the recording

Parker, a married mother-of-five children and two grandchildren, was identified by the Teachers Association as the woman on the recording.

When DailyMail.com reached out to Parker, she claimed she was 'not legally allowed to comment at this time.'

Jason Parker, her husband, wrote on Facebook following the video's circulation: 'I happen the be the husband of the teacher in question. I can tell you that we were shaken to the core about these accusations.

'It is both scary and disturbing that that an edited 18 second clip could destroy a 30 year career when taken completely out of context. She is exemplary as a teacher and truly cares about the students.

'Needless to say we have spent many sleepless nights because of this cruel release to social media of the 18 seconds.

'We pray that you and the rest of the board will see this for what it is and not allow and edited video destroy an innocent woman, her career and her family in the process.'

Norma De La Rosa, the El Paso Teachers Association president, said she is disappointed and angry that the decision to terminate Parker was approved so quickly.

The school board had recommended Parker's suspension without pay or end-of-term termination of the 2022 to 2023 probationary employment contract.

Parker has the ability to appeal the decision.

Trans Old Dominion University professor Allyn Walker, 34, who was forced to resign last year after they defended pedophiles by saying society should call them 'Minor Attracted Persons' has been hired by a Johns Hopkins center aimed at preventing child sexual abuse

Parker isn't the only educator to use the term 'minor attracted person'.

In 2020, a transgender Old Dominion professor was forced to resign after they defended pedophiles by saying society should refer to them as 'Minor Attracted Persons'.

Allyn Walker, 34, was later hired by Johns Hopkins University as a postdoctoral fellow for the Baltimore school - at a center aimed at preventing child sexual abuse.

The center, created in 2012, describes itself on its website as 'a research center that creates, through rigorous science, a public health approach to preventing child sexual abuse.'

Walker, who uses they/them pronouns, was forced out of Virginia's Old Dominion University in November 2019, after more than 15,000 outraged onlookers signed a petition to have them removed for the contentious remarks made by the professor that were expanded on in the 2021 book 'Long Dark Shadow: Minor Attracted People.'

In the book, Walker attempts to destigmatize pedophilia and encourages people to refer to them as 'Minor Attracted People,' asserting they should not be ostracized for their urges - which Walker says cannot be helped.

Other contentious claims made by the professor - who possesses a doctorate in criminal justice - in the book include suggestions that pedophiles should also be provided with child-like sex dolls to satisfy their urges, and that the sex crime was not 'immoral.'

While promoting the publication, Walker said: 'A lot of people when they hear the word pedophile, they automatically assume that means sex offender. That isn't true. And it leads to a lot of misconceptions.

'They believe pedophiles don't 'choose' who to be attracted to - so [it] shouldn't be considered 'immoral.'

The professor further said pedophiles should be offered 'help' and aren't' 'destined' to act on physical urges.

Professor Walker - who possesses a doctorate in criminal justice - suggests pedophiles should also be provided with child-like sex dolls to satisfy their urges, and that the sex crime was not 'immoral'

Walker was also panned for remarks they made in a November interview, where they argued people can be attracted to children without acting on that impulse.

Pictured: Walker's book, in which the 34-year-old attempts to destigmatize pedophilia and encourage people to refer to them as 'Minor Attracted People,' asserting they should not be ostracized for their urges

The professor defended using the term 'minor-attracted persons' to describe the phenomenon.

'It's less stigmatizing than other terms like pedophile,' Walker said.

'A lot of people when they hear the term pedophile, they automatically assume that it means a sex offender. And that isn't true. And it leads to a lot of misconceptions about attractions toward minors.'

The remarks quickly inspired outrage among students, who said the professor was using a 'blanket' term for pedophilia and was an apologist for criminals.

The university's own Trans Advisory Board released a statement to call Walker's remarks 'reprehensible', damaging to the victims of pedophilia and not reflective of the views of the trans community at large.

The backlash spurred school brass to place Walker on leave, saying it was for their own safety.

A petition was then drafted by students calling for Walker's nixing, which - along with fierce protests on the Virginia school's campus

Following the announcement of Walker's firing they said in a statement: 'I want to be clear: child sexual abuse is an inexcusable crime.

'As an assistant professor of sociology and criminal justice, the goal of my research is to prevent crime,' Walker asserted.

'I embarked on this research in hopes of gaining understanding of a group that, previously, has not been studied in order to identify ways to protect children.'
A controversial indigenous activist has sparked heated debate by declaring she won't grieve the Queen's death and views her legacy as an embodiment of colonisation.

King Charles III was proclaimed the monarch's new leader following Elizabeth II's death at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, aged 96.

With the world mourning her death, some indigenous Australians have condemned her legacy as a figurehead of colonialism.

Among those who won't shed any tears is Aboriginal Tent Embassy ambassador Gwenda Stanley.

'We can't mourn something that has colonised us for so many generations,' she told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Aboriginal Tent Embassy ambassador Gwenda Stanley (pictured at a Sorry Day rally) has sparked heated debate by claiming the Queen's legacy was an embodiment of colonisation

'[The monarchy's] legacy is that they had a privileged life due to the benefit from the genocide of Indigenous people right around this country.

'If anything, it's [something] to rejoice for many colonies around the world. Although she had many visits to Australia, there's still the injustice of the genocides that she's going to her grave with.'

But not all indigenous leaders share Ms Stanley's views and have leapt to the Queen's defence by claiming she inherited the role and can't been blamed for what happened before her time.

Outspoken Coalition senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price believes the Queen did 'very well' in her 70-year reign serving the Commonwealth and insisted many other indigenous Australians like her have much respect for the Queen.

I think we ended up in the best position possible in terms of the British coming to the shores,' she said.

She added the results could have been 'far more disastrous' for Indigenous Australians had the country been colonised by the Spanish or Dutch.

The late Queen visited Australia 16 times during her 70-year reign. Pictured is the Queen during a visit to Canberra in 2011.

University of Canberra chancellor Professor Tom Calma agreed and pointed out that the Queen came to the throne more than a century and a half after Australia was colonised by the British.

But he believes the Queen's death should reignite debate about Australia's future in the Commonwealth and the prospect of another referendum, 23 years after Australians voted against becoming a republic.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has since hosed down talk of Australia soon becoming a republic any time soon.

Mr Albanese said out of 'deep respect and admiration' for The Queen he would not pursue 'questions about our constitution' at least until a possible second term in 2025.

'Now is not a time to talk about our system of government, now is a time for us to pay tribute to the life of Queen Elizabeth,' he told the ABC's Insiders on Sunday.

'That's the system of government that we have, it's one which as Australian prime minister, I have a responsibility to respect.'

'Quite clearly, this is a time of national mourning.'

Australians will get a public holiday on September 22 to honour the Queen, three days after her funeral at London's Westminster Abbey.
Some Australians have suggested Queensland should become known as 'Kingsland' in the wake of Elizabeth II's death - even though it was known by that name long before she was born.

Social media has erupted with jokes, and sometimes genuine confusion, about the state's name in the wake of Her Majesty's passing in the early hours of Friday morning AEST.

That comes amid a series of Australia-wide changes in the wake of the Queen's death, with some senior barristers now known as 'Kings Counsel' rather than 'Queens Counsel', and the Queen's Birthday public holiday becoming the King's Birthday.

On the Reddit social media site there has been a whole discussion under the title 'Shouldn't Queensland now have its named changed to Kingsland?'

Satirical news website The Betoota Advocate relished in the speculation, publishing the headline: 'Queensland To Change Their Name to 'Kingsland' Just In Time For the Gallen/Hodges/Hannant Fight'.

But while Queensland isn't going to suddenly adopt a new name - the state is named after Queen Victoria who reigned over the United Kingdom from 1837 to 1901 - there has been a genuine push among some politicians for the names of both Queensland and Victoria to be changed out of respect to Indigenous people.

Queen Elizabeth II (centre) and her husband Prince Philip (left) watch the lighting of a ceremonial fire near Cairns, Queensland in March 2002

Could Queensland be about to be renamed Kingsland?

King Charles is pictured when he was still Prince Charles (right), with Camilla (the then Duchess of Cornwall) on Broadbeach on April 5, 2018 in Gold Coast, Queensland. There are now calls in some quarters to change the name of the state to Kingsland

Now-Federal Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe called for the names of Queensland and Victoria to be changed to Indigenous names in 2020, when she was a little known state MP.

'Everything's named as a result of invasion of this country, why wouldn't we negotiate (name changes),' Ms Thorpe said at the time.

'Anything that's named after someone who's caused harm or murdered people, then I think we should take their name down.'

Niigaan Sinclair, a Native studies professor at the University of Manitoba told CBC: 'Queen Victoria presided during some of the most brutal and expansive years of colonial history  when land was stolen the most.'

Poll Should Queensland be renamed, and if so, to what? No, leave it as it is Yes, change it to Kingsland Yes, change it to something honouring Australian Indigenous history Should Queensland be renamed, and if so, to what? No, leave it as it is 360 votes

Yes, change it to Kingsland 11 votes

Yes, change it to something honouring Australian Indigenous history 41 votes Now share your opinion





The debate over whether or not to change the name of Queensland has some echoes with the Uluru/Ayers Rock situation.

It was called Uluru in the Pitjantjatjara language a long time before Europeans arrived in Australia.

In 1873, the explorer William Gosse became the first non-Aboriginal person to see it and named it Ayers Rock after Sir Henry Ayers, South Australia's then chief secretary.

In 1993, it was officially renamed Ayers Rock/Uluru, and in 2002 this was reversed to Uluru/Ayers Rock.

Though the name change was opposed at the time, there are now very few people who refer to it as Ayers Rock.

HOW WAS QUEENSLAND NAMED? More than 150 years ago, the people living in Queensland (at that time Queensland part of the New South Wales colony). The main problem was that the seat of the colony, Sydney, was too far away. People petitioned to separate, and in 1859 Queen Victoria granted them their own colony. As the name perfectly suggests, they named it Queensland to honour Queen Victoria. Advertisement

Australia Greens Senator for Victoria, Lidia Thorpe (pictured) has called for Queensland's name to be changed

Greens senator Lidia Thorpe thinks Victoria should be renamed over its association with Queen Victoria (pictured) and that Queensland's name should be changed too

The Republic of Ireland, which gained independence from the UK on December 6, 1922 - originally as the Irish Free State - has a mixed history of royal name changes.

Though the name King's County in the midlands of Ireland has long since been changed to Offaly, some legal documents still refer to it by its old name to this day.

The next door county, Laois, is still called Queen's County when the title deeds to land are updated when sold.

In the capital city, Dublin, its main train station, Heuston, was still called Kingsbridge until 1966.

It was renamed after Sean Heuston, who had been executed 50 years earlier for his part in the 1916 attempt to overthrow British rule.

But Dublin still has a medical university called the Royal College of Surgeons, a law college called King's Inns and a showground venue called the Royal Dublin Society.

America too, has state names called after British royals. The southern state of Georgia was named after King George II, while Virginia was named to honour Queen Elizabeth I, who was known as the 'Virgin queen'.

The US seems happy enough to maintain its royal state names. It's very likely Queensland will too.
Top doctors, business executives and other Aussies whose plans have been disrupted have lashed out at the announcement of the national public holiday next Thursday to honour the Queen's passing.

While most Australians welcomed the September 22 National Day of Mourning, announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Sunday, even the PM admitted on Monday morning that many details still need to be worked out.

Mr Albanese told Sunrise that issues such as penalty rates, school closures and timetables for public transport will be 'worked through' by the states and territories in the coming days - but that the day should be like any other public holiday.

It was announced on Sunday that Thursday September 22 will be a national day of mourning for the passing of Queen Elizabeth

Mr Albanese defended hosting the 'historic' and 'one-off' occasion.

'The national day of mourning provides an opportunity for local government, for example, to organise events in their local communities,' he said.

Professor Steve Robson, the president of doctors lobby group the Australian Medical Association, tweeted his displeasure at the sudden announcement of the holiday

Prof Robson said that the holiday will affect multiple bookings for medical consultations and procedures

Australian Medical Association president Steve Robson dropped a scathing tweet about the suddenness of the announcement.

Prof Robson indicated that the medical system is already being severely stretched

'Operations and lots of patient consultations booked that day, at a time when access is difficult. Thanks for dropping this at short notice, ' Professor Robson said.

In reply to a Twitter user who said they had a family member booked in that day Prof Robson tweeted: 'It's very difficult to staff hospitals and practices at the best of times now.

'An unanticipated public holiday will make it very difficult to staff hospitals and clinics.'

Melbourne surgeon Dr Eric Levi tweeted that the suddenly announced holiday would affect his patients

Melbourne surgeon Eric Levi strongly supported this argument.

'Patients booked for clinics and theatres will be affected by this,' he tweeted.

'Our clinics and operating theatres are all already severely overbooked. Cancelling, postponing, reshuffling isn't easy in an overloaded system.'

He also tweeted that 'we don't need another public holiday'.

'We can honour a person in a hundred other ways,' he wrote.

'We want to continue to work to deliver medical care to people who are booked to receive them. Health care is so overstretched right now that cancelling and reshuffling creates a ripple of mess.'

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, here seen signing a condolence book for the Queen's passing, has defended holding the 'historic' one-off holiday

Business lobby groups also criticised the short notice for the day off.

Small Business Organisations Australia chief executive Alexi Boyd said the sudden imposition of a holiday would create havoc for many of her members that already had bookings made for that day

'What do they do now, with less than two weeks notice?' Ms Boyd she told The Australian.

'Those reliant on tight supply chains and logistics for daily stock are particularly concerned.'

Constitutional law expert and ardent monarchist Gray Connolly was not impressed with Prof Robson's displeasure

Australian Retailers Association chief executive Paul Zahra told The Australian that the holiday would create 'some complication for businesses with store closures, and staff scheduling challenges with many rosters set up weeks in advance'.

'There will also be a small but unexpected loss of trade, and additional staffing costs, which may impact cashflows for some businesses, in particular small businesses,' he said.

'Store opening and closing directions are typically established by the states and territories, and we look forward to their direction early next week, so retailers can plan accordingly.'
A Melbourne couple has been filmed getting hot and heavy on a bus

A furious commuter has shared video of the moment he had to scream at a couple to stop them from having sex at the back of a bus.

In a video shared to Facebook at the weekend, a man and woman are seen romping in the backseat of a commuter bus, reportedly on Melbourne's 902 Chelsea to Airport West route.

Stunned passengers either watch on in horror, or pretend that it isn't happening, until an appalled commuter confronts the pair, shouting: 'Listen brother, you don't f*** on the bus, mate.'

The couple later scream back that the man doing the deed is homeless and has autism, in a seeming attempt to excuse their display of affection.

A Melbourne couple (right) has been recorded getting hot and heavy (left) on a bus. When confronted why the pair were performing the lewd act they blamed autism and homelessness

The angry passenger does not take kindly to their reasoning.

'I don't care if you are f****** homeless don't f*** on the bus c***,' he said.

'I don't care if you got autism it doesn't mean f*** on the bus.

'Get the f*** off an go f*** in the park or something..'

Facebook users were equally revolted by the sexual act.

'There's a time and place, don't blame him complaining, nobody wants to see that there are kids that probably on that bus as well, using his autism as an excuse,' one person wrote.

'Dude put him in his place rightfully so,' commented another.

Someone else said they had autism too and 'never did anything like that in my life'.

In Australia, a person can face a criminal conviction and a sentence of up to two years' jail for wilful or obscene exposure.
Family members of victims of the attacks on September 11, 2001 are furious after it has been revealed military prosecutors are set to make plea deals with five Guantanamo Bay prisoners charged for their role in the worst tragedy in US history.

Debra Burlingame, whose brother Charles was the pilot on American Airlines Flight 77 which crashed into the Pentagon that day, is angry about the possibility.

She says she's not alone: 'The families are outraged. They don't want closure, they want justice.'

Burlingame said there is no justice for her brother and the families without a death penalty sentence: 'I will not have closure as long as there is any possibility for some future president to commute their sentences or trade them away for something political that they want from some other country.

'That's a very real possibility because it's now been done over and over and over again.'

It was first revealed in March that guilty pleas in exchange for a life sentence could finally bring to a close the over two decade-long case, the longest ever at the war court.

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Ramzi Binalshibh, Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi, Walid bin Attash and Ammar al-Baluchi were all expected to face the death penalty if convicted.

Debra Burlingame, whose brother Charles was the pilot on American Airlines Flight 77 which crashed into the Pentagon that day, is angry about the possibility military prosecutors are set to make plea deals with five Guantanamo Bay prisoners charged for their role in the worst tragedy in US history

Burlingame's brother was Charles 'Chic' Burlingame, the pilot of American Airlines Flight 77 that was hijacked and crashed into the Pentagon

Alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has in recent years been pictured looking slimmer with a long beard than he did at the time of the attack

Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin 'Attash (left) is accused of training the hijackers to fight, while Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, now 53, from Saudi Arabia, is accused of giving financial backing to the group

Ramzi Bin al-Shibh (left) and Ammar al-Baluchi (right) are both accused of involvement in the 9/11 attacks

However, it now appears that military prosecutors will seek life sentences for the five detained at the US military base in Cuba in exchange for guilty pleas, according to CBS News.

The case against the five men has been bogged down in pre-trial proceedings due to the CIA's use of torture to extract evidence from the defendants and to Covid-19 delays. Nearly a decade after the men's arraignment, the military judge has yet to set a trial start date.

The anti-war group 9/11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, has said that the plea deals are in part a good faith agreement due to the torture many critics say the five suffered at the hands of the CIA.

Alka Pradhan, a human rights attorney on the legal team of al-Baluchi, argued: 'The United States government failed all of us after Sept. 11 in their decisions to use illegal techniques and illegal programs  In doing so, it rather corrupted all the legal processes.'

Burlingame, whose brother was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery and claims she'll never forgive the attackers, believes that 'we've reached a point in our country where we just don't seem to have  the courage of our convictions'

This comes on the 21st anniversary of the attacks, which killed 2,977 people and 19 al-Qaeda terrorists, the deadliest known terror attack in human history.

Al-Baluchi has told his lawyers he had his head bashed against a wall repeatedly and suffered lasting brain damage from the interrogation techniques.

A spokesperson for the United States military confirmed the parties are currently engaged in negotiations.

Burlingame, whose brother was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery and claims she'll never forgive the attackers, believes that 'we've reached a point in our country where we just don't seem to have  the courage of our convictions.'

Guilty pleas that result in life sentences could complicate President Biden's promise to shut down Guantanamo Bay. The facility has become more and more secretive over its 20 years of operation, even as it costs taxpayers millions of dollars per year.

Thirty-eight prisoners still remain at Guantanamo, and both the accused 9/11 plotters and many members of Congress are opposed to closing the prison. Ten have been charged but not yet tried.

Guantanamo has reportedly cost U.S. taxpayers over $6 billion since its inception.

The White House has refused to take a position on the cases, according to the Times, but said that Biden remains dedicated to reducing the detainee population at the prison, including by settling cases through pretrial agreements if necessary.

Congress has already forbid bringing the 9/11 plotters on U.S. soil, and the plotters themselves have demanded to stay at Guantanamo, where they can pray and eat in groups. They do not want to be sent to the supermax prison in Florence, Colo., where federal inmates are held in solitary confinement for up to 23 hours a day.

American taxpayers spend roughly between $9.5 and $13 million per prisoner, per year. The prison currently has 38 inmates. That's compared to $78,000 spent per inmate in Florence, Colo., home to some of the highest-risk prisoners in the U.S.

Guilty pleas that result in life sentences could complicate President Biden's promise to shut down Guantanamo Bay. The facility has become more and more secretive over its 20 years of operation, even as it costs taxpayers millions of dollars per year

American taxpayers spend roughly between $9.5 and $13 million per prisoner, per year. The prison currently has 38 inmates. That's compared to $78,000 spent per inmate in Florence, Colo., home to some of the highest-risk prisoners in the US

This comes on the 21st anniversary of the attacks, which killed 2,977 people and 19 al-Qaeda terrorists, the deadliest known terror attack in human history.

President Joe Biden paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth II during a speech commemorating the attacks  and told Americans that they 'owe it' to victims and survivors to stand up for democracy.

The president also attempted to earn redemption points during the most unifying annual event in the U.S. after insulting all Trump supporters earlier this month by insinuating in a speech they are a threat to American democracy.

During remarks at the Pentagon on Sunday, just three days after Queen Elizabeth's death, Biden quoted the monarch by saying: 'Grief is a price we pay for love.'

The president ended his weekend at his home in Delaware earlier than usual to come back to a rainy Washington, D.C. and lay a wreath at the Pentagon 9/11 memorial and deliver commemorative remarks on the 21st anniversary of the attacks.

Biden arrived to downpour in the nation's capital, holding a large black umbrella as he disembarked Air Force 1 and donning a raincoat before entering the presidential vehicle The Beast and motorcading to the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia.

'It's not enough to gather and remember each September 11th those we lost more than two decades ago,' Biden said in his remarks. 'Because on this day, it is not about the past, it's about the future.'

'We have an obligation, a duty, a responsibility to defend, preserve and protect our democracy,' he continued. 'The very democracy that defends the right to freedom that those terrorists on 9/11 sought to bury in the burning fire and smoke and ash. And that takes a commitment on the part of all of us.'

The comments come just 10 days after Biden delivered a speech from Philadelphia where he called former President Donald Trump and his supporters a threat to democracy. Since then, the president has tried to walk back those comments, claiming he does not feel that supporters of Trump are threats to the fabric of the nation.

Biden lays a wreath at the Pentagon to commemorate 9/11 terrorist attacks

During his remarks in the pouring rain on Sunday, Biden said that Americans 'owe it' to the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks to protect democracy

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley (left) and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (right) spoke at the Pentagon on Sunday before Biden's remarks

The president arrived to a downpour as he departed his weekend at his home in Wilmington, Delaware earlier than usual to participate in a wreath laying and deliver remarks at the Pentagon on the 21st anniversary of the attacks

His remarks on Sunday were a redemption speech, insisting on American unity to reinforce the values of democracy.

'American democracy depends on the habits of the heart of we the people,' Biden said to an audience holding up black umbrellas to shield from the persisting rain. 'It's not enough to stand up for democracy once a year, or every now and then  something we have to do every single day.'

'This is a day not only to remember, but a day of renewal and resolve for each and every American. And our devotion to this country  to the principles and the bodies  to our democracy  that is who we owe those remembered today,' he continued.

'That is what we owe one another. And that is what we owe future generations of Americans to come.'
Two women have died after their car crashed into a lake in Perth's northern suburbs.

Bystanders tried to rescue the women, both aged 20, from the Aveley lake just after 6.40am on Sunday.

'Unfortunately, due to the location, tragically it was very difficult,' West Australian Police Inspector Craig Collins said.

Two women have died after their car crashed into a lake in Perth's northern suburbs

Police believe the white Toyota Corolla made a right-hand turn at Gnangara Road and continued across the median strip and into the lake.

It's unclear what caused the vehicle to veer off the road, inspector Collins said.

'It's early stages of the investigation,' he said.

'We haven't got anything other than we don't believe there's any other vehicle involved.'

A bystander, who only used his surname Singh, said he had spotted the car floating in the water and tried desperately to free the women.

'I stopped some cars, we grabbed a spanner and I couldn't swim so a gentleman grabbed the spanner and went to swim to break the glass,' he said.

'By the time he reached there the car was completely under the water within two or three minutes.

'The cops were here within 10 minutes but it was too late.'

He said he believed the women had been trapped in the car and calling for help for sometime before he spotted them.
Queen Elizabeth IIs poignant final journey has begun.

Draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, her coffin was driven from Balmoral to Holyrood yesterday, and will have travelled almost the entire length of the country by the time of her interment at Windsor next Monday.

It is perhaps fitting that she should have died at her beloved Highland home, having inherited Scottish blood from both sides of her family.

Had she died in England, her people north of the border would not have had the opportunity to say their last farewells in person.

As it is, hundreds of thousands lined the route from Balmoral to bear witness and many more will watch her coffin process along Edinburghs Royal Mile to St Giles Cathedral, with the new King and other senior royals following on foot.

Queen Elizabeth IIs poignant final journey has begun. Draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, her coffin was driven from Balmoral to Holyrood yesterday, and will have travelled almost the entire length of the country by the time of her interment at Windsor next Monday

For 24 hours, the Scottish public will be invited to file past the late Queens body in respect and condolence as it lies in state inside the cathedral, before being flown back to London tomorrow.

The sheer scale of this ceremonial is a potent reminder that the monarchy binds together this United Kingdom, in defiance of those who seek, for crude political motives, to break it up.

King Charles will also show his passionate commitment to the UKs other constituent peoples by visiting them during the mourning period.

While his mothers body lies in state at Westminster Hall, he will attend formal services in Northern Ireland and Wales, accompanied by the Prime Minister.

One positive effect of the Queens death is that it seems to have inspired a new spirit of reconciliation within her family, with estranged brothers William and Harry coming together with their wives for a surprise walkabout among the crowds at Windsor.

Their grandmother was known to be distressed and disappointed by Harry and Meghans decision to turn their backs on royal life and Charles made a point in his inaugural address as King of saying his own love for them was undiminished.

As it is, hundreds of thousands lined the route from Balmoral to bear witness and many more will watch her coffin process along Edinburghs Royal Mile to St Giles Cathedral, with the new King and other senior royals following on foot

It shows William and Kates character and dedication to family unity that they were able to extend the couple an olive branch, despite no doubt feeling they have been traduced by them.

How lasting this rapprochement will prove to be  and whether it will survive Harrys forthcoming tell-all book or the next instalment of Meghans self-serving podcast  remains to be seen.

For the late Queens sake, lets hope some semblance of civility can be salvaged from the ashes of their relationship.

Meanwhile, frantic preparations are under way for what will be the biggest and most highly charged formal occasion of the century  the state funeral.

It will showcase the history, pomp and pageantry that this country is famed for above any other on Earth.

Rehearsals are being staged, valedictories polished, gun carriages buffed to gleaming, military escorts drilled and drilled again.

Few would envy the Duke of Norfolk, the man in overall charge of arrangements. But as his ancestors have been overseeing royal funerals, coronations and state openings of Parliament for more than 350 years, he was born to the role.

Democrat or despot, republican or royal, world leaders past and present will be scrambling to secure one of the 2,000 places in Westminster Abbey.

They know that to be included in this unparalleled event will be a sign of stature on the world stage, as well as a unique privilege.

Some like to tell us the monarchy is a faded, anachronistic institution. The thronging crowds at home and global fascination with the royal succession suggests they couldnt be more wrong.
During recent months in Vladimir Putins grim and bloody war, we have become used to an exhausting slugfest between the two sides.

But as Lenin himself once put it: There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.

The sudden advance made by Ukraines forces into Russian-occupied territory is not only a brilliant tactical move; it could prove a decisive turning point in the war.

The seizure by Ukrainian forces of two key towns  Izyum and Kupiansk  means that an area the size of Lancashire has been liberated from the Russian invader. And Kyivs forces are still pushing on.

The last time Russian forces had to retreat so close to Moscow was 1941  when they were being pushed back by the German onslaught.

Russia has also lost hundreds of armoured vehicles and key command posts.

During recent months in Vladimir Putins grim and bloody war, we have become used to an exhausting slugfest between the two sides

This is a military earthquake, and the tremors must be shaking  metaphorically, at least  the walls of the Kremlin itself.

So what has accounted for this sudden shift in fortunes?

Ukraines sensational counter-offensive would not have been possible without weapons from friendly countries. Britain has supplied the largest share of any western country relative to its defence budget.

And American HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) missiles have devastated Russian HQs, as well as the arms dumps that Putins generals foolishly believed were safely behind the lines.

US and British radar-targeting weapons have also stopped the Russian air force from playing much of a role in the conflict. Germanys recent  if belated  decision to send mobile anti-aircraft systems has had another major impact. But perhaps more than guns and ammo, it is the brave Ukrainians fighting spirit and the low morale of Putins soldiers that seem to be shifting the war decisively.

In his great novel War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy outlined how battles are often won for no other reason than that one side wants victory more than the other.

Ukrainians have shown they are willing to die to keep their country free. But few Russian soldiers see any glory in throwing away their lives for Putins arrogant misadventures.

During the Great Patriotic War  Russias term for its heroic repulse of Hitler during the Second World War  millions of Russian conscripts were mown down on the steppes by German machine-gunners, tanks and artillery.

The last time Russian forces had to retreat so close to Moscow was 1941  when they were being pushed back by the German onslaught. Russia has also lost hundreds of armoured vehicles and key command posts

In contrast, Putin has been able to mobilise only about 750,000 troops. Of these, thanks to leaks from the Russian finance ministry, we know that death grants have been paid to the families of 48,000 soldiers.

This represents the biggest Russian loss of life since 1945, and includes some of their best-trained and equipped forces. By some counts, Russia has lost 14 generals  a scale of losses unpre-cedented for almost 80 years.

Corruption, badly maintained equipment and widespread drunkenness among troops are also bedevilling any chance of serious progress.

Even Russias slavishly Putinite media is increasingly asking questions about the sanity of the invasion.

In the depths of his black heart, Putin must surely know that he may lose this war  and sooner than he imagined. Good news? Yes  but not entirely so.

Putin owes his continued position to a perception of absolute power and invincibility. Ukraine, however, is showing that resistance to the dictator is possible.

Russian dissidents and the regimes most powerful internal enemies will be watching closely, biding their time to strike.

When the invasion was launched, thousands of Russian riot police were mobilised to sign up to fight, believing that Kyiv would fall within days and the special military operation would become a police matter.

Unless Moscow now sees a dramatic change of fortune, it is not hard to imagine Putins generals and spy chiefs deciding to make him the scapegoat for the war  and withdraw the bedraggled remaining troops. A woman is pictured above in front of a destroyed church

How wrong they were. The Ukrainian resistance picked off many of these units  which means they are no longer available to stamp out any upcoming protests on Russias streets.

Putin also bet that sky-rocketing energy prices would split the West, eroding Natos unity as public opinion in Europe especially turned against aiding Ukraine. But he is losing the war too fast, and rising fuel prices are not undercutting western solidarity with Ukraine in the way he imagined.

Unless Moscow now sees a dramatic change of fortune, it is not hard to imagine Putins generals and spy chiefs deciding to make him the scapegoat for the war  and withdraw the bedraggled remaining troops.

He will never retire  or be retired. An ousted Putin would more likely suffer a nasty fall or sudden fatal illness  like so many of his own critics during the ugly years of his presidency.

And that, conversely, is why we may be approaching the most dangerous moment in the war. Schooled in Russias history and the ignominious end of so many of its leaders, Putin might be willing to do anything to prevent his assassination  even going nuclear to save his own skin.

Tactical nuclear weapons could be fired at Ukrainian troops to block advances  with devastating results. Even a battlefield use of WMD  not that the fallout would discriminate between soldier and civilian  would hurtle the world past a threshold not crossed since 1945.

And if the nuclear taboo is broken in Ukraine, then what next?

Could the US possibly stand aside? Wouldnt President Joe Biden instead have to threaten American intervention to try to stop further use of nukes? Would China stand by its Russian ally?

These are questions with potentially chilling answers.

This counter-offensive is hugely significant, then  and we must cheer that Ukraine has gained a crucial military initiative. The risk, however, is that it prompts a far more terrible response.

Mark Almond is Director of the Crisis Research Institute, Oxford
King Charles III will address Parliament for the first time as monarch this morning after hearing tributes to his mother from MPs and peers.

The Lord Speaker and the Commons Speaker will express their condolences to His Majesty in a ceremony in Westminster Hall. The King and his Queen Consort will then fly to Edinburgh as they tour the four nations ahead of the Queen's state funeral.

This morning, Sir Lindsay Hoyle will present the King with a humble address that was agreed by MPs in a special sitting on Saturday.

The Commons Speaker will declare that the Queen's 'unstinting dedication to the service of our great country... will always be held in affectionate and grateful remembrance'.

King Charles III will address Parliament for the first time as monarch this morning after hearing tributes to his mother from MPs and peers

He will also express loyalty to the King on behalf of the MPs, saying it is their 'conviction that he will strive to uphold the liberties and to promote the happiness of the people in all his realms'.

In an address on behalf of peers, the Lord Speaker Lord McFall will pay tribute to the Queen's 'untiring endeavours for the welfare of her peoples and her fortitude in adversity'. The King will then give his reply.

Ex-prime minister Gordon Brown yesterday told the BBC he thinks the new sovereign will introduce a more informal, Scandinavian-style approach, with a 'smaller' monarchy.

'I think that what [King] Charles has already indicated is that the monarchy is going to be smaller,' he told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme.

'It's going to be more like a Scandinavian monarchy in the future, but not in a bad way - more informal.

'He stopped as he entered Buckingham Palace and talked to people in the crowd, and that was a signal that he was sending that he wanted people to feel that he was approachable.'

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown (pictured between Tony Blair, left, and Boris Johnson, right). Yesterday Mr Brown said the new sovereign would introduce an informal Scandinavian approach to the monarchy

David Cameron said the new King is well-prepared for what lies ahead, having served 'probably the longest apprenticeship in history'.

He said that when he was in office, he had audiences with the then-Prince of Wales so Charles could prepare for the day when, as sovereign, he holds weekly meetings with the prime minister.

'From what I saw he will be brilliant at that job; brilliant at listening, brilliant at asking questions, giving wise advice and sage counsel. This has probably been the longest apprenticeship in history,' he told the programme.

Mr Cameron said that, like his mother, the new King is a 'superb diplomat' and predicts he will prove a 'very worthy successor' when it comes to supporting the British government abroad.

'I saw him in action at Commonwealth heads of government meetings and he knows every leader personally. He interacts with them brilliantly,' Mr Cameron said.

'The soft power that the British monarch brings to help a prime minister and a government with all those international relations, it was obviously outstanding under Queen Elizabeth II.

'I think you will see Charles III will be a very worthy successor in that regard.'

Theresa May said while she expects the monarchy to continue to adapt to changing times, the public expect a sense of continuity.

'If you look at the royal family, they have been steadily evolving a different approach, a different way of doing things over time and I am sure King Charles will continue to take that forward,' she said.

'Of course, he is a different person and he may want to change things in some ways, but I think, critically, as the Queen did, any change in the way things are done would be done gradually and very carefully.'
High-profile columnist Peter FitzSimons wants to rip the Union Jack from the Australian flag if the nation becomes a republic.

The former Wallaby and husband of TV host Lisa Wilkinson shared a proposed redesign of the nation's flag featuring the Southern Cross with the Aboriginal flag in the space currently occupied by the Union Jack earlier this year.

FitzSimons retweeted the proposed change, included the caption: 'This would at least be a step in the right direction,' in January.

His comments about the flag have resurfaced after the Queen's death at 96, which has reignited the debate about Australia becoming a republic.

Former Wallaby star Peter FitzSimons (pictured with wife Lisa Wilkinson) wants to rip the Union Jack from the Australian flag if the nation becomes a republic - and could replace it with the Aboriginal flag

FitzSimons chairs The Australian Republican movement, which waited just 17 minutes to issue a statement after the Queen's death to push its own agenda.

After brief condolences, the organisation noted Her Majesty 'respected the self-determination of the Australian people' in a thinly veiled reference to the republic.

'The Queen backed the right of Australians to become a fully independent nation during the referendum on an Australian republic in 1999, saying that she has "always made it clear that the future of the Monarchy in Australia is an issue for the Australian people and them alone to decide, by democratic and constitutional means",' it said.

Despite his organisation alluding to the need for a republic, FitzSimons himself said now was not the time to start the conversation.

'For the moment, what happens now is keeping respectful silence,' he wrote on Twitter in response to a question from a republic supporter.

'Apart from quotes provided in case of her death, our only statement was the one acknowledging Her Majesty's contribution to Australia for over 70 years.

'There will be much to say, but now not time to say it.'

The writer shared a redesign of the nation's flag featuring the Southern Cross with the Aboriginal flag inset in the corner (pictured)

Various designs have been floated around as an alternative to the current flag that currently shows the Union Jack, Commonwealth Star and Southern Cross.

The variations were first explored by Jack Toohey, who is the director of production company Sure Studios, in a TikTok video.

The first flag Toohey showed in the video is called 'The Reconciliation Flag' designed in 2013 by John Blaxland.

It keeps the right hand side of the current flag; the Southern Cross stars on a blue background.

However Blaxland includes a seven pointed Commonwealth Star filled in with dots representing the 150 Indigenous and migrant languages spoken in Australia.

He has also included a red boomerang which appears as a fragment of the Union Jack, keeping Australia's colonial history within the flag.

The next flag, titled 'Down Under', was designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser in 1986.

The first flag Toohey showed in the video is called 'The Reconciliation Flag' designed in 2013 by John Blaxland

The next flag, titled 'Down Under', was designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser in 1986

It displays a red semi-circle on top of a blue background and a seven pointed star said to represent Uluru upside down.

It plays on the idea of Australia being the country 'Down Under'.

The 'Untitled Flag' designed by John Joseph in 2006 is mentioned in the video and replaces the original Union Jack with an Indigenous dot painting.

There has been controversy around this particular design in recent years as the artist is not Indigenous.

A fan-favourite was 'The Sunburnt Flag' designed by Stephen Berry in 1998.

This design calls upon the idea of Australia being the 'sunburnt country', a term coined by Dorothea Mackellar in her poem 'My Country', first published in 1908.

The 'Untitled Flag' designed by John Joseph in 2006 is mentioned in the video and replaces the original Union Jack with an Indigenous dot painting

A fan-favourite was 'The Sunburnt Flag' designed by Stephen Berry in 1998

The red base and yellow sunrise section of the design evokes the Aboriginal flag, blended with the blue 'sky' and Southern Cross from the existing flag.

The final design shown in the video is that of 'The Golden Wattle' designed in 2015 by Jeremy Matthews.

This design incorporates features that are already representative of Australia.

The golden wattle is the national flower of Australia and it is designed with the classic green and gold colours that the nation's sporting teams wear.

The design of 'The Golden Wattle' also makes up the Commonwealth Star in the middle. The seven pointed star represents each state and territory in Australia.

The final design shown in the video is that of 'The Golden Wattle' designed in 2015 by Jeremy Matthews

Meanwhile, Ausflag has been collecting designs since 2015 with the public able to support their favourites, with some attracting thousands of votes.

Many of the most popular have incorporated a kangaroo into the design but the current leader is a Southern Cross and a federation star above stripes of green and gold - the nation's sporting colours derived from a blooming wattle.

It just edged out another Southern Cross design which has a green and gold boomerang through the centre.

This was one of the top choices by public vote

Ausflag has been collecting designs since 2015 with the public able to support their favourites. Some have attracted thousands of votes

This simple design is currently the most popular on the Ausflag website

Another Southern Cross flag with a version of the Aboriginal flag as a rising sun over a dark red horizon also attracted thousands of votes.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hosed down talk of Australia soon becoming a republic following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Despite the prime minister previously stating he would want Australia to move away from the monarchy, he said it was too soon to have those discussions.

'Now is not a time to talk about our system of government, now is a time for us to pay tribute to the life of Queen Elizabeth,' he told the ABC's Insiders program on Sunday.

'That's the system of government that we have, it's one which as Australian prime minister, I have a responsibility to respect.'

The comments come as King Charles III was proclaimed as monarch at a ceremony at Parliament House on Sunday by Governor-General David Hurley.

The prime minister brushed off questions about when would be the right time to start having conversations about moving away from the monarch.

'Quite clearly, this is a time of national mourning," Mr Albanese said.

'Even though the Queen was 96 years of age and had lived such a long life, it still came as a shock. I think that says something about the way that the Queen was perceived as a constant in our lives.'

Former prime minister John Howard said he had no doubt the Queen was pleased when Australia voted not to become a republic during the 1999 referendum.

Mr Howard, who was prime minister at the time of the national vote, praised the Queen's sense of duty and respect while the referendum campaign took place.

'I have no doubt that she was pleased with the result, but she never sought to influence it. She continued to do her job, again and again,' he told the ABC's Insiders program.

Mr Howard also revealed his and the Queen's private secretary shared three draft press statements on potential outcomes of the referendum.

While Australia voted not to become a republic at the time, Mr Howard said the statement in the event of a 'yes' vote would have expressed her love for Australia and desire to see the country succeed.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said any talk of Australia becoming a republic would need to be held at another time.

Mr Dutton has expressed his view that Australia should remain as a constitutional monarchy.

'At the moment we mourn the loss of an incredible world leader, a woman who was obviously an amazing role model to many women, to many female leaders across the world," he told the ABC.

'We need a King as much as we did a Queen, because we have a stability in our system that served us well and I don't believe in disrupting that.'
There are reports Russian troops have abandoned tanks, weapons and supplies as they flee from the advance

It comes after Ukrainian forces took 1,000 square miles of territory in just days as part of a counter-offensive

Russian president is reported to have sacked Lieutenant General Roman Berdnikov after just 16 days in the job

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Vladimir Putin is reported to have sacked a top ranking general just 16 days after appointing him following his crushing defeat in eastern Ukraine.

The Russian president is thought to have relieved Lieutenant General Roman Berdnikov of his duties over the failure of Kremlin troops to keep hold of vast swathes of Ukrainian territory over the last few days.

A counter-offensive by Ukrainian forces has seen troops push to within 30 miles of the border, amid reports panicked Russian troops have been abandoning tanks, weapons and supplies.

The have been claims from some sources that Russian soldiers have 'literally run from their positions', even leaving behind their clothes as they run away from the advancing Ukrainian army in the Kharkiv oblast in the north east of the country.

It comes as Ukrainian soldiers surge into the east of the country in an effort that has seen them take more than 1,000 square miles of territory in a matter of days, in a period of time that could prove to be a turning point in the war.

It came after a sustained Ukrainian disinformation campaign about a counter-offensive in the south, which succeeded in diverting Russian troops in that direction and leaving the north east vulnerable to attack.

The main advance in the area began six days ago and has forced Moscow to withdraw its troops to prevent them being surrounded.

Lieutenant General Roman Berdnikov has reportedly been sacked by Vladimir Putin after the rout of his troops in eastern Ukraine

A Ukrainian soldier passes by a Russian tank damaged in a battle in a just freed territory on the road to Balakleya in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine

Abandoned Russian military equipment during the Ukarinian Army counter-offensive in Kharkiv region, amid the Russian military invasion of Ukraine

A counter-offensive by Ukrainian forces has seen troops push to within 30 miles of the border, amid reports panicked Russian troops have been abandoning tanks, weapons and supplies

According to the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Lt General Berdnikov was appointed as commander of the Western Armed Forces on August 26, 2022.

However, it seems his time in charge was short lived, with Ukrainian intelligence saying he has been sacked by Putin due to the rout in Kharkiv. There has been no confirmation from the Kremlin on this.

This came after unconfirmed reports back in June that he had been killed during fighting in the Donbas region of Ukraine.

As Russian troops desperately scrambled to get clear from oncoming forces in recent days, one Ukrainian unit said the chain of command had been broken and Kremlin troops were running away without even attempting to fight back.

The source told the Telegraph that many had changed into civilian clothes to avoid being spotted by Ukrainian troops and have left behind a 'huge amount of vehicles and ammunition'.

He said: 'They were really afraid, their chain of command was in chaos. Officers left the area before the fighting began.

'There were a lot of uniforms lying around. We caught some of these guys trying to escape in civilian clothes, they were telling some incredible bull***t trying to save themselves.'

A Ukrainian flag set up in the town of Balakliya in southeastern Kharkiv oblast after it was retaken by Ukrainian troops yesterday

A Ukrainian soldier gestures shouts 'Glory to Ukraine' as a military convoy passes by Husarivka towards eastern Ukraine on Saturday

In an attempt to hit back, Russia last night struck at Ukrainian infrastructure in what president Volodymyr Zelensky said was an attack to 'deprive people of light and heat'.

Missiles strikes knocked out power and water to much of Kharkiv city, with blackouts in Bnipro, Poltava and other eastern cities potentially affecting millions of people.

This prompted President Zelensky to brand Russia a 'terrorist state' and he launched into a fiery speech railing against the Kremlin.

He said: 'Do you still think we are one people? Do you still think you can scare us, break us, force us to make concessions? Don't you really get it? Don't you understand who we are? What we stand for? What we are all about?

'Read my lips: Without gas or without you? Without you. Without light or without you? Without you. Without water or without you? Without you. Without food or without you? Without you.

'Cold, hunger, darkness and thirst are not as frightening and deadly for us as your friendship and brotherhood. But history will put everything in its place. And we will be with gas, light, water and food... and without you!'

In a tweet President Zelensky he added: 'A total blackout in the Kharkiv & Donetsk regions, a partial one in the Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk & Sumy regions.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky sent a message to Russia after it attacked critical civilian infrastructure last night, saying 'Cold, hunger, darkness and thirst are not as frightening and deadly for us as your friendship and brotherhood'

On his official Twitter account, President Zelensky branded Russia a 'terrorist state' and that it is attempting to 'deprive people of light and heat'

'RF terrorists remain terrorists & attack critical infrastructure. No military facilities, the goal is to deprive people of light & heat. #RussiaIsATerroristState'

Earlier in the day, which is the 200th in the war, president Zelensky mocked the Russian retreat in a video address to the nation, saying that the Russian army in these days is demonstrating the best that it can do  showing its back.

Yesterday he posted a video of Ukrainian soldiers hoisting the national flag once again over the town of Chkalovske. More crucially, they entered the Russian-held supply towns of Izyum, Kupiansk and Balakliya.

Unusually, the propaganda-led Russian defence ministry confirmed its retreat from these towns, but said its troops were regrouping to defend the Donetsk region, where Ukraine will advance towards next.

Ukraines military chief, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said yesterday his forces had liberated about 1,160 square miles since the beginning of September  triple the amount of regained territory claimed by Mr Zelensky just two days previously.

If correct, this is the biggest battlefield success for Ukrainian forces since they thwarted Putins attempt to seize Kyiv and other central areas of the country not long after the initial invasion in late February.

After that setback Russia regrouped to concentrate on the Donbas region in the east, but that too is now in the sights of advancing Ukrainian troops.

The US-based Institute for the Study of War said Ukraine had retaken more territory in five days than Russia had since April.

Ukrainian defence minister Oleksii Reznikov said that the Russians have been cut off from vital supply lines and predicted more rapid gains. It will be like an avalanche, he said, One line of [Russian] defence will shake, and it will fall.

Russia still controls around 20 per cent of Ukraine, and military analysts are warning the war will at least continue through the long cold winter.

Mr Zelensky agreed with this forecast, saying at the weekend: Ahead are 90 days that will determine more than 30 years of Ukrainian independence... The winter will determine our future.

Ukrainian troops load an abandoned Russian military vehicle onto a trailer during their counter-offensive in the Kharkiv region

Ukrainian troops stand in a group, amid Russia's invasion of the country, at a location given as Hoptivka, Ukraine in this picture obtained from social media and released on September 11

Ukraines foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said the recent gains were only possible thanks to hi-tech weapons supplied by the UK and other western allies, and added that victory is within sight if the support continues.

He added: The more weapons we receive, the faster we will win and the faster this war will end.

Throughout July and August, Ukraines political and military leaders had declared very openly that they would launch a major counter-offensive in the south.

Taras Berezovets, press officer for the Bohun brigade of Ukraines special forces, said: It was a big special disinformation operation. The offensive happened where they least expected, and this caused them to panic and flee.

Lieutenant-General Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya who has supplied thousands of troops for the Russian invasion, said the Kharkiv retreat resulted from leadership blunders.

They have made mistakes, he said.

If they dont make changes... I will be forced to contact the leadership of the country to explain the real situation on the ground.

Russian political analyst Sergei Markov criticised Putins attendance at Moscows 875th birthday celebration on Saturday.

The fireworks in Moscow on a tragic day of Russias military defeat will have extremely serious political consequences, he said.
Australians are warned to be on high alert for monkeypox symptoms after 40 cases were found to be locally acquired, and health authorities race to find the source of the spread.

Monkeypox was first detected in Australia in May.

Since then, there have been 129 cases recorded across the country, 67 in Victoria - 40 of which were locally spread - 50 in New South Wales, five in Western Australia, three in Queensland, two in the Australian Capital Territory and two in South Australia.

New data shows half of Victoria's monkeypox cases have been contracted from spread in the community (pictured, commuters in Melbourne)

The majority of Australia's cases have been 'imported' from travellers returning home from overseas holidays, but data from Victoria shows a worrying new trend of the virus moving and spreading in the local community.

Eight people are currently receiving hospital treatment for monkeypox in Victoria from a total of 17 active cases.

The World Health Organisation said the current fatality rate of monkeypox is between three and six per cent but has historically reached as high as 11 per cent, so about one in ten people dying from the disease.

The Health Department have advised people to be aware of monkeypox symptoms and isolate if infected (pictured, Health Department advice)

Monkeypox is usually identified for pus-filled legions and rashes (above) but also causes flu-like symptoms

Symptoms from the disease typically appear within two weeks of infection and ease by four weeks.

Australian authorities are attempting to slow the rate of spread through the use of a smallpox vaccine called Jynneos.

However, global supplies of the jab have been scarce since smallpox was eradicated with Bavarian Nordic in Denmark being the only manufacturer of the specific vaccine.

Due to the historic use of smallpox vaccines, it is believed people aged over 40 have a higher protection against monkeypox.

Australian tourist Jack Barlow (above) caught monkeypox while travelling in the US and isolated after returning home

WHO CAN GET THE MONKEYPOX VACCINE? high-risk close contacts

lab workers analysing specimens

sexually active men who have sex with other men

some sex workers Advertisement

The majority of monkeypox cases have been recorded in men who have sex with other men but anyone who is in close contact with a patient can contract the virus.

The disease is spread through skin-to-skin contact, bodily fluids (including from legions), respiratory droplets and contaminated surfaces.

Monkeypox is typically recognised for causing pus-filled legions and rashes all over a patient's body but also causes flu-like symptoms like fever and swollen lymph nodes.

So far 57,527 cases have been recorded in 103 countries, 96 of which have not historically reported the virus.

Australias Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly declared monkeypox a communicable disease incident of national significance in late July after the WHO called it a public health emergency of international concern.

People infected with monkeypox are urged to isolate until all sores clear.

Travellers returning from overseas should monitor their health for symptoms.

Global supplies of the monkeypox vaccines, a smallpox vaccine called Jynneos (above), is short in supply globally

Aussie struck down with monkeypox reveals how he got the virus - as he opens up about what the illness really looks like and how to spot the signs: 'It hasn't done wonders for my love life' Australia's first publicly-known monkeypox patient has revealed he contracted the virus from an overseas fling while on holiday in the US. Sydneysider Jack Barlow broke the news in a hilarious TikTok clip dressed up as former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian giving a Covid-style press conference. He told The Project on Tuesday he wanted to talk about what he was going through to dispel some of the myths surrounding the potentially deadly disease which causes flu symptoms and skin legions. It is spread through skin-to-skin contact and bodily fluids and has now been recorded in 100 countries including 93 where it has not historically been detected. 'I actually caught it off a single holiday fling in Provincetown, Massachusetts,' he said. 'It's just something any normal 26-year-old will do overseas and it was actually on the same day some of my symptoms began.' Mr Barlow's symptoms were relatively mild but he decided to undergo a three-week isolation period to ensure he didn't spread the disease to anyone else. However, rather than sit around feeling sorry for himself, Mr Harlow decided he wanted to start a conversation. 'I came out on TikTok dressed as Gladys and did a morning presser,' he said. 'I could have felt miserable about myself or I could've done something, that's how I think about it. 'I've never needed an excuse to dress up as Gladys.' In his video Mr Harlow waddles out to announce a new monkeypox case, identified as a 'handsome, ginger gay man who returned from the United States'. Mr Barlow announced he had the virus in a TikTok video where he dressed as former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian and gave a morning presser-style announcement 'I would like to further announce that the positive case was me and as a result of this, it breaks my heart to say it, I will have no choice but to enforce a strict 21-day lockdown,' Mr Harlow said in the video. But Mr Harlow said the reality of monkeypox was a lot heavier than what he let on in his video. 'A huge amount of anxiety washes over you,' he said. 'I'd just gotten back (from the US), I'd seen some of my friends - what if I'd accidentally given it to them?' He added that while he's proud to have started meaningful discussion around monkeypox, going public with his story hasn't been easy. 'I still think I'm the only person in Australia to come out publicly about it and it hasn't done wonders for my love life,' he said. 'Hopefully we can break the stigma and people can talk about it Advertisement
'Duck Sauce killer' Glenn Hirsch beat and raped his wife for years in a 'sadistic' barrage of abuse, her attorney has claimed in a bid to get gun charges against her dropped.

Dorothy Hirsch, 62, was indicted on multiple charges of gun possession last month, but she claims she was under the threat of violence if she did not agree to her then-husband's demands to store weapons and ammunition at her apartment.

She pleaded not guilty during her arraignment after officers found eight weapons wrapped in aluminum foil stashed inside a closet at her Jamaica home, in New York.

Her former husband, Glenn Hirsch, 51, killed himself last month ahead of a court hearing appearance after being bailed out of jail on a $500,000 bond.

He was accused of murdering Zhiwen Yan, a father-of-three, who he allegedly shot in the chest while Yan was fulfilling deliveries for a Chinese restaurant on his scooter in Forest Hills.

But Hirsch was physically and emotionally abusive to his wife for decades, her attorney claims in documents seen by DailyMail.com.

Dorothy Hirsch, 62, was indicted on multiple weapons charges last month after cops discovered eight guns in her closet, but her lawyer argues she was forced to store them

A letter from lawyer Mark Bederow sees him explaining the domestic abuse of Dorothy Hirsch by 'Duck Sauce Killer' Glenn Hirsch, and how she came to have weapons stored at her home

Her husband Glenn, 51, committed suicide after being charged with the murder of a Chinese delivery driver. Hirsch attempted to exonerate his wife in a suicide note he sent to the District Attorney's office, judges and lawyers

In a bid to have her charges dropped, her lawyer has now provided a stash of once sealed court documents detailing the violence she endured.

The violence, which her lawyer claims, means she would have been unable to stop Glenn Hirsch from storing guns and weaponry in her Queens apartment and should not be charged with charges of gun possession.

Bederow wrote: 'Glenn's acts of brutality against Dorothy (before and during their marriage) included sadistic and violent sexual abuse, striking, cutting and menacing her with weapons, punching her, slapping her, threatening to kill her, extortion and contempt.'

But prosecutors already knew about the history of abuse she endured during her arrest.

The same day his wife was hit with gun charges, a judge in Hirsch's case was made aware of his past domestic violence arrests.

Accompanying the letter was 10 sealed arrests that between 1991 and 2012, mostly involving his wife as the victim

Hirsch from Jamaica, in Queens, killed himself earlier this month ahead of a court hearing appearance after being bailed out of jail on a $500,000 bond

Hirsch, who was believed to have had several run-ins with the restaurant over duck sauce and other condiments, is accused of shooting Yan before fleeing the scene on April 30.

Glenn Hirsch attempted to prove his wife's innocence from beyond the grave, trying to exonerate her in a six-page suicide note.

In his 'dying declaration' Hirsch said: 'I want to take full responsibility for the eight guns recovered from a closet in Dorothy's apartment.

'I acquired these firearms many years ago and they remained undisturbed in an outside storage facility shared with previous roommates. However a couple of years ago when my wife purchased her new cooperative apartment.

'I decided to close the storage unit. It was at that time I moved those items into my wife's apartment and placed them inside a hallway storage closet along with numerous other unopened bags and boxes...

'She had absolutely no part in obtaining the firearms nor did she have any knowledge they were inside of her residence.'

Bederow claims that Hirsch's 'unique manner of hoarding' in his own home is identical to the way the guns were stored in Dorothy's apartment

Packets full of ammunition are seen in bags of evidence gathered at Dorothy Hirsch's home

Eight guns were found inside of Dorothy Hirsch Jamaica apartment, inside a closet that she allowed her husband to use

Prosecutors are refusing to use his suicided note which exonerates his wife, pictured with attorney Mark Bederow, into their submissions to a grand jury

He wrote the words to his lawyers, prosecutors and those involved in the case in the lengthy note which was also left in his apartment by cops who discovered him.

Prosecutors refused to put his suicide note in front of a grand jury who are in charge of indicting the nurse at Queen Supreme Court.

While searching Hirsch's apartment where he died, his wife's legal team found three gun cases which matched some of the guns found in her closet.

They also discovered boxes of ammunition, and another fully loaded gun, which was missed by NYPD officers when they first searched the property.

Bederow has accused the District Attorney's office of 'indicting before investigating' and 'trying to fit a square peg into a round hole'.

Police found eight guns as they search Dorothy Hirsch's home. The weapons were stored in a closet wrapped in bags, with one wrapped in tinfoil.

Prosecutors 'knew that Dorothy was a longtime victim of Glenn's domestic violence' before her arrest Bederow explained in a two-page letter to Assistant District Attorney Thomas Salmon on Friday.

Dorothy's lawyers claim that she unknowingly allowed her husband to store his eight guns inside of her closet. The couple were not living together at the time of the alleged murder

The notorious 'Duck Sauce Killer' ranted in a long-winded suicide note complaining about how the NYPD and other officials treated him and insisting his innocence

Accompanying the letter was 10 sealed arrests that between 1991 and 2012, mostly involving his wife as the victim.

The abuse began decades earlier in 1995 before the couple were even married.

Glenn Hirsch was accused of holding Dorothy captive in a motel room before stripping and pistol-whipping her.

He left her handcuffed, gagged and blindfolded while he repeatedly raped and sodomized her. He then cut her as he ran a knife over her stomach, hit her with a ruler, and punched her.

12 years later, Glenn Hirsch continued his violence against his wife, this time hitting her with a rolled-up towel, before punching and scratching her and the placing a pillow over her face to silence her screens.

He threatened to killer her and her family if she went to the police.

On that occasion police found a gun, hundreds of bullets, a knife and even a police shield in his bedroom.

Zhiwen Yan, 45, pictured with his wife in what appears to be a wedding photo. Yan, who worked as a Chinese food delivery man, 45, was shot dead in New York City: The shooter was a disgruntled customer who had 'multiple' disputes with the restaurant over his orders and twice threatened workers with a gun

Bederow is now demanding the DA's office turn over details from any of Glenn Hirsch's previously unsealed arrests that would help to bolster his wife's defense.

Speaking to DailyMail.com, lawyer Bederow said: 'They have charged her first and look for evidence later.

'I don't think it could be any more obvious after what happened today that she is being punished for the alleged sins of her late husband. I think it's disgraceful.

'I'm disappointed that she was charged in the first place.'

Bederow argues that the 'evidence of Glenn's years-long abuse of Dorothy was favorable to her having the charges dropped because it offers an obvious explanation as to why she wouldn't question Glenn Hirsch about his behavior and his property, and why she wouldn't inspect his possessions.

'That evidence obviously is relevant to her defense that she didn't know the guns were in HIS closet because she wouldn't dare question him or snoop through the junk he stored.

'It is regrettable that the DA would simply disregard the domestic violence history and refuse to disclose favorable evidence by coldly decreeing that it's not relevant,' he added.

'We are entitled to evidence they knew about before they chose to indict Dorothy for possessing what obviously were Glenn Hirsch's guns,' Bederow said in a statement.

Sources previously claimed that Glenn Hirsch's entire refrigerator was packed with sweet and sour duck sauce, with the rest of the apartment being completely filled with other junk.

Hirsch also declared his innocence in the murder of Yan: 'I did not shoot Mr. Yan and I am not responsible for his death.'

He also demanded Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz 'conduct a proper investigation' into Yan's April 30 death.

Hirsch writes: 'My indictment and subsequent arrest in connection with this matter is one of the most obscene and egregious cases of defamation and wrongful arrest in recent memory.

'It is a textbook case of sloppy police work, confirmation bias, political pressure, and rush to judgment.'

He also raged at the NYPD releasing photos of the inside of his fridge in an attempt 'to portray me as someone who is condiment obsessed.

Dorothy Hirsch, a nurse, was today supported by several friends and family, as her lawyers claim that she would not have known about the weapons.

Hirsch, pictured at Queen's supreme court, was ordered to wear an ankle bracelet monitoring him and banned from leaving his neighborhood in Jamaica, Queens, before his death

Mourners left flowers, candles, photos, and drawings at the scene at the Great Wall Chinese food restaurant in Forest Hills for murdered delivery man Zhiwen Yan

Sources previously claimed that his entire refrigerator, pictured, was packed with sweet and sour duck sauce, with the rest of the apartment being completely filled with other junk

The closet at Dorothy Hirsch's home (pictured above). Her lawyer claims that the contents of the closet that authorities searched during the June raid matches her husband's 'unique' hoarding style

Entire rooms were filled with trash bags, plastic boxes of documents, old newspapers, CDs and a globe. It is currently not known what the boxes and bags are filled with. The photographs were released as part of Hirsch's wife's defense that she could not have known about the eight firearms Hirsch kept in her home. The couple had lived separately for years but she allowed her estranged husband to use a closet in her home, where the guns were found

At Glenn Hirsch's Briarwood home, cops discovered his refrigerator packed with sweet and sour duck sauce.

'His whole refrigerator was filled with duck sauce and other condiments,' a police source explained.

'He's a hoarder. And when you open the refrigerator, it's like, condiments - there's duck sauce, soy sauce, ketchup.'

The source suggested the piles of condiments at his apartment on 141st Street were all a part of what was going on in Hirsch's brain that may have lead him to kill.

'I guess in some pathology people like that take that stuff very seriously - you didn't give him enough duck sauce,' they said.

In a statement Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said: 'The loss of a human life is always tragic.

'Obviously, we would have preferred to try Mr. Glenn Hirsch for the calculated murder of Mr. Zhiwen Yan in a court of law, but this is no longer an option.

'We once again express our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Zhiwen Yan, who continue to grieve his tragic and senseless loss.'
The wife of the captain of a boat that collided with a whale and capsized off the coast of New Zealand has shared a heartbreaking message to the family and friends of the five people who died.

Sharlene Ealam, the owner of Fish Kaikoura Charters, held back tears during a brief statement on Monday where she said she was grieving with 'everybody' during the 'unprecedented tragedy'.

The 8.5 metre long boat was in quiet waters in Goose Bay, near the South Island town of Kaikoura, some 110 miles north-east of Christchurch, on Saturday morning.

It's believed a whale surfaced from beneath the fishing boat causing the vessel, which had 11 people aboard, to flip over.

Five people in their 50s died while six people, including the skipper, survived.

A boat carrying 11 people capsized after colliding with a whale. Five people died while the skipper and five others survived. The skipper's wife Sharlene Ealem (pictured) said her thoughts and prayers were with the families and friends of those who died

'At this time, with this unprecedented tragedy, our thoughts and our prayers go through to everybody,' Ms Ealem told 1 News.

'Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and the friends of the deceased. We're grieving with you.

'And I just wanted to say thank you so much to the first responders and for all of the support and love that we've all received.'

The survivors of the accident have since been released from hospital with one sustaining minor injuries.

News organisation Stuff reported the people aboard the boat were on a field trip from the Nature Photography Society of New Zealand.

The group planned a three-hour bird watching expedition with Fish Kaikoura Charters, whose skipper had more than a decade's experience.

Only three of the five victims have been identified - Christchurch man Peter Charles Hockley, Lower Hutt woman Cathye Haddock and her longtime friend Susan Cade.

Hockely's daughter described her father as a 'kind-hearted, humble man' who had likely drowned after he was trapped in the cabin of the boat when it capsized.

Christchurch man Peter Charles Hockley (pictured) was one of the five victims who died after he became trapped inside the boat's cabin when it capsized

The husband of Lower Hutt woman Cathye Haddock (pictured) identified his wife as one of the victims and said she was on the trip with her longtime friend of more than 20 years who also lost her life

Haddock's husband Peter Simpson said his wife was on the trip with her longtime friend of more than 20 years Susan Cade - who also lost her life.

Police confirmed the boat capsized by a collision but are still investigating the exact cause of the accident.

Kaikoura Mayor Craig Mackle said the assumption was that a whale had surfaced from beneath the boat as there had been large whale sightings in the area.

He said there were some sperm whales in the area and also some humpback whales traveling through, although he did not know what type of whale might have collided with the boat.

'We have an upturned boat tipped over by a whale from what we can understand, come up from underneath,' Mr Mackle said.

The mayor added that he had thought in the past about the possibility of a boat and whale colliding, given the number of whales that frequent the area.

Witnesses who were at a lookout in Goose Bay, near the South Island town of Kaikoura, said they saw a sole survivor sitting on the top of the overturned boat waving his arms (pictured). It's believed a whale surfaced from beneath the boat causing it to tip over

Mr Mackle said the water was 'bloody cold' and the outcome for anybody who had fallen overboard was not likely to be good.

'This is a tragic event that affects many lives, not least of all families and loved ones. Our heartfelt sorrow and condolences to you all,' Mr Mackle said.

'I would like to thank everyone involved in the rescue and the recovery. Being able to bring everyone home is the best result in such a terrible circumstance.'

Vanessa Chapman told Stuff her and a group of friends saw an upturned boat with a sole person sitting on top waving their arms when they arrived at a lookout spot at about 11am.

The group watched on as two rescue helicopters and a third local helicopter circled the boat before two divers jumped out.

Ms Chapman said the person atop of the boat was rescued while a second person appeared to be pulled from the water.

Kaikoura Police Sergeant Matt Boyce said a 'large-scale maritime search and rescue effort' involving rescue helicopters, Coastguard volunteers and divers went on for several hours throughout the afternoon.

A 'large-scale maritime search and rescue effort' involving rescue helicopters, Coastguard volunteers and divers went on for several hours. The bodies of five women in their 50s were pulled from the boat's cabin and brought to shore (pictured)

By 4pm the boat, previously seen upside down in the water, was towed to shore with five bodies recovered from inside the vessel's cabin.

'This is an unprecedented event that has involved a significant response from emergency services and members of the Kaikoura maritime community,' Sargent Boyce said.

'Our thoughts are with everyone involved, including the victims and their families, their local communities, and emergency services personnel.

'This has been a tragic event and the police are providing support to those involved at this very difficult time.'

New Zealand's Transport Accident Investigation Commission are appealing for witnesses who were at Goose Bay at the time of the tragedy.

The commission is urging anyone who saw or recorded what happened - before, during or after the accident - to come forward.

Kaikoura is a popular whale-watching destination as the seafloor drops away precipitously from the coast, making for deep waters close to the shore.

A number of businesses offer boat trips or helicopter rides so tourists can see whales, dolphins and other sea creatures up close.
Anthony Albanese has refused to take a commercial flight to London for Queen Elizabeth's funeral - despite the British government urging world leaders to do so.

The Australian Prime Minister has instead confirmed he will Royal take Australian Air Force's VIP jet for the flight on Thursday, accompanied by his girlfriend Jodie and his Governor General and his wife.

This is despite the British government urging all heads of states and their partners to travel on commercial flights to London for the funeral at Westminster Abbey on September 19.

But the Labor PM dubbed 'Airbus Albo' for his repeated overseas trips at the start of his term is not falling into line.

Anthony Albanese and his partner Jodie Haydon board a Royal Australian Air Force flight. Mr Albanese will not be getting a commercial flight to Queen Elizabeth's funeral, despite being asked to do so by the UK government

'They're longstanding plans for myself and the Governor-General (David Hurley) to travel to London and we'll be doing so on Thursday night,' Mr Albanese told the ABC.

Mr Albanese, along with other world leaders, will be transported to the funeral by bus once they arrive to avoid further adding to congestion.

His deputy Richard Marles said Australian prime ministers did not commercial flights because of security concerns.

'That has to be the paramount consideration here. And I might add that that's not just a consideration from the point of view of the security of the prime minister, it's also about the security of the public,' Mr Marles told ABC's Radio National.

Earlier this year, New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern travelled to Australia on a commercial flight.

She also plans to travel to the UN General Assembly later this month by the national carrier, Air New Zealand.

Documents obtained by Politico revealed foreign heads of states and their spouses were asked to travel on commercial flights and that the use of helicopters in Britain had been banned.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said London Heathrow would not be available for private jets to either land or park at the airport. Instead, they have to use 'less busy airports' around London.

'Where possible,' the FCDO advised, foreign leaders should arrive in the U.K. on commercial flights, warning that London Heathrow airport will not be available for private flight arrangements or aircraft parking. Those leaders insisting on traveling by private jet should head for 'less busy airports' around London, the FCDO added.

The use of helicopter transfers between airports and venues has been banned 'due to the number of flights operating at this time,' the department said.

And in a message all-too-familiar to weary passengers using UK airports this year, the FCDO also warned that 'unforeseen events may require commercial and private flights to divert from the intended airport of arrival'.

Anthony Albanese will not be getting a commercial flight to London for the Queen's funeral, despite being asked to do so by the UK government. Pictured are Qantas planes

The FCDO also warned both commercial and private flights that they should be prepared to be diverted from their intended airport of arrival.

Aviation in Britain is suffering from the same staffing problems post-Covid as the rest of the world, including Australia.

The world leaders attending will be bussed around London to the funeral, according to plans.

This has not gone down well with world leaders, with one foreign ambassador based in London saying: 'Can you imagine Joe Biden on the bus?'

Westminster Abbey will be so packed for the funeral that only a single, senior representative per country and their partner will be allowed to attend, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in the official protocol message.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (right) and his partner Jodie Haydon are seen boarding a Royal Australian Air Force flight

The department said it 'regrets that, because of limited space at the state funeral service and associated events, no other members of the principal guest's family, staff or entourage may be admitted'.

Mr Albanese said there will be events across Australia to honour the Queen.

'This is why we've declared it a National Day of Mourning. I'm sure that Australians will want to show their respect in their own way,' he said on Monday.

'But what is clear about Queen Elizabeth is she was much loved by people across the political spectrum, across our vast island continent, she touched people.

'She visited on her first visit in 1954 almost 60 towns. She visited the big cities but she went to the smallest of towns and remote communities.'

The Prime Minister said Queen Elizabeth 'visited Australia 16 times' and there were 16 Australian Prime Ministers and 16 Governors-General during her reign.

'It's a remarkable life of service we commemorate and we give gratitude for,' he said.

Mr Albanese said he wrote to King Charles on Friday to express his condolence at the loss of Queen Elizabeth, 'not just as the sovereign, but as King Charles' beloved mother'.

Air travellers queue at border control at Heathrow Airport, which has been experiencing huge crowds in recent months due to more people travelling and fewer staff available to process them

The Prime Minister refused to be drawn on Labor's plans to hold a referendum to become a republic.

'King Charles, like other members of the Royal Family, have always been welcomed here in Australia in the past. And they'll be welcomed here in the future as well,' said.

Last year, the Australian government had to make a $20,000 carbon offset purchase after the UK government requested Scott Morrison do so to offset his travel to the G7 meeting in Cornwall.

It is not yet known if Mr Albanese will follow suit and get carbon credits to offset his travel to England.
A prison nurse who refused to perform CPR on an unresponsive newborn baby inside one of Australia's toughest female prisons has been granted immunity from prosecution.

'Baby A' was just 12 days old when she died in the arms of her mother inside Dame Phyllis Frost Centre's dedicated 'Mothers and Children Units' in 2018.

The jail houses some of the nation's deadliest women, including gangland matriarch Judy Moran and the 'Black Widow' serial killer Robyn Lindholm.

Dame Phyllis Frost Centre can hold 604 inmates and contains a dedicated unit for mothers and their children, from babies up to to pre-schoolers

Inside Dame Phyllis Frost: Inmates were out into lockdown for four days after a baby died in the dedicated Mothers and Children Units in August last year

Victorian Coroner John Olle will spend two weeks hearing evidence about the tragic death of the infant in the hope of ensuring nothing like it ever happens again.

The inquest comes almost three years after an investigation by Daily Mail Australia exposed the shocking death of Baby A, who along with her mother cannot be named for legal reasons.

The coroner heard prison nurse Georgina Melody refused to provide CPR to the baby, arguing she was already dead when alerted by the baby's frantic mum.

Ms Melody's barrister Robert Harper told the court his client would refuse to give evidence at the inquest unless she was granted immunity from a 'civil penalty'.

'It's not in dispute that nurse Melody did not perform CPR,' he said.

The court heard the nurse's decision not to assist the baby shocked not only the baby's mother, but prison staff and investigators.

In a gut wrenching impact statement, the baby's mother addressed her dismay at the alleged failure of her jailers to help.

'I still cannot understand why none of the staff did CPR or anything for the baby until the firefighters arrived,' she told the court.

Women live together in large groups inside the women's prison

Inside a standard prison cell within the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre. A coroner is expected to investigate how a baby died within its concrete walls

Dame Phyllis Frost Centre now contains a room that no other inmate dares sleep inside of. It is the room where a newborn baby died

Multiple prison guards expressed similar concern about the nurse's alleged failure to provide assistance to the baby.

'I did not see the nurse perform any CPR on the child. I found this to be quite distressing to witness,' one guard said.

'I was surprised and distressed by this lack of action,' another said.

A prison operation supervisor told the inquest he too was upset about Ms Melody's 'inaction' on the night.

'I was taken aback by the fact that nobody was giving medical treatment to the baby,' he said.

Dr Julia Charlton, a Fellow at Murdoch Children's Research Institute who provided expert opinion to the inquest, condemned the nurse for her failure to act.

'The first responders could have provided earlier CPR , particularly the onsite nurse , who was a trained professional ... the actions of the other first responders cannot be faulted,' she stated to the inquest.

A bird's eye view of Melbourne's notorious Dame Phyllis Frost Centre. It houses some of Australia's worst female prisoners

Babies are made to wait for treatment inside Dame Phyllis Frost Centre in Melbourne.

Counsel assisting the coroner Rachel Ellyard told the court four inmates caged within the unit with the distraught mother had further expressed concern over the time it took to take prison staff to respond to the emergency.

The mother and underweight baby had only been discharged from hospital that afternoon.

Baby A's mum had awoken about 5.30am to find her unresponsive - a death later determined to be Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

'It's clear from her coronial impact statement that she felt that there was a delay. The statements of her fellow prisoners also indicate how long it seemed to them before any help arrived,' Ms Ellyard said.

'When help did come in the form of prison guards and then the nurse, it was distressing to some that no CPR was attempted.

'It may be that Baby A was already beyond help, but the evidence will consider whether overall Baby A and her mother received a timely response, remembering that they were locked in a prison unit with no access to the outside world other than through the assistance of prison officers.'

Coroner Olle granted Ms Melody the immunity certificate - saving her from any potential fallout from whatever it is she says in the witness box next week.

While the inaction of prison staff has come under scrutiny, the inquest is likely to determine how Baby A and her mother were let down by those employed by taxpayers to keep them safe.

The court heard Baby A's mum had been a long term drug addict, which saw the child born is custody with an addiction to methadone - a drug used to wean junkies off heroin.

Black Widow killer Robyn Lindholm calls Dame Phyllis Frost home

Judy Moran lives in a disability unit inside a special section of Dame Phyllis Frost Centre. She was once the matriarch of the Moran crime family, which were all killed during Melbourne's gangland war

Despite concerns about granting Baby A's mum access to the child in prison, child welfare staff had been left out of the loop when the decision was ultimately made by a steering committee, and did nothing when they eventually found out just days before the child died.

The coroner will determine if the desires of Baby A's mother to be with her baby clouded the minds of those that made decisions placing the baby back in custody with her.

Baby A had been discharged from hospital just days after birth before returning for two additional nights due to weight concerns.

On the afternoon Baby A was discharged again she had weighed less than her birth weight just days earlier.

Under the prison program, children up to the age of pre-school are allowed to live with mothers inside the maximum security jail.

A Department of Justice and Community Safety spokeswoman refused to comment on a series of allegations put to it about the incident when questioned in 2019 and instead directed Daily Mail Australia to its website.

'Victoria Police was called to investigate and provide a report for the Coroner,' the spokeswoman stated then.

Multiple sources have told Daily Mail Australia the tragedy occurred during the night when staffing was at a minimum.

Prisoners in the dedicated unit were asleep when they awoke to haunting screams from the young mother.

One inmate allegedly saw the motionless child on a couch with the hysterical mother crying for help.

Another young mum in the unit, who had no CPR training, desperately tried to revive the baby, but was unsuccessful.

When guards arrived, they immediately called a 'code black' for the prison's nurse, but allegedly made no attempt to resuscitate the little girl themselves.

Prisoners were placed into lockdown for four days after the tragedy while police and prison authorities tried to piece together what had happened.

Under the prison initiative, jailed mums are only allowed two visits a week, however, they can apply to have their babies picked up by loved ones any other day.

Corrections Victoria claims mothers who have their child living with them in prison are housed in accommodation that 'meets acceptable community standards for the safe, and secure housing of children and adequately meets the nutritional, developmental and health needs of the child'.

It further states a maternal child health nurse visits the prison 'regularly' to assist with the nutritional and health requirements of babies and young children.

The inquest continues.
A doctor in Florida has been fined and banned from performing the controversial Brazilian butt lift procedure after one of his patients died - but he will keep his medical license.

Dr. John Sampson was sanctioned following claims that a patient, aged 33, passed away after the surgery when he allegedly punctured her liver and intestines on June 16, 2021.

He performed the procedure, which patients pay as little as $3,500 for, at Seduction Cosmetic Surgery in Coral Gables - the same clinic where a doctor had previously been banned for similar infractions in 2017.

Sampson was the 'designated physician' at Seduction, according to a complaint filed against him, which meant that he was not supposed to be performing surgeries himself.

However, it was discovered within the complaint that he performed several surgeries between April and June of 2021, including seven on the day his patient died.

Dr. John Sampson was sanctioned after claims made following a patient dying after a surgery on June 16, 2021

He performed the procedure at Seduction Cosmetic Surgery in Coral Gables, which has previously had a doctor banned for similar infractions in 2017

Sampson was the designated physician at Seduction, according to a complaint filed against him, which meant that he was not supposed to be performing surgeries

However, it was discovered within the complaint that he performed several surgeries between April and June of 2021, including seven on the day his patient died

Florida's Board of Medicine made an emergency ruling in June of this year limiting doctors to three BBL procedures per day.

The site shows that Seduction will perform BBLs for as little as $4,500, with Sampson's Instagram - where he tags many of his patients as either 'Sampson Doll' or 'Sampson Stallion' offering discounts to the cost of $3,500.

Sampson, according to the complaint, punctured the liver and intestines of a patient only identified as 'E.R.' and injected the fat taken from her abdomen into her gluteal muscles, reports the Miami Herald.

This particular version of the BBL has been illegal in the state of Florida since 2019. The patient died the same night, at the age of 33 years old.

The complaint also suggested that Sampson and Seduction lied on their paperwork.

The site shows that Seduction will perform BBLs for as little as $4,500, with Sampson's Instagram - where he tags many of his patients as either 'Sampson Doll' or 'Sampson Stallion' offering discounts to the cost of $3,500

Sampson, according to the complaint, punctured the liver and intestines of a patient only identified as 'E.R.' and injected the fat taken from her abdomen into her gluteal muscles

The particular version of the BBL Sampson was performing has been illegal in the state of Florida since 2019. The patient died the same night at just 33 years old

Osakatukei 'Osak' Omulepu saw one of his patients die and lost the ability to do the procedure while working at Seduction in 2017

On his biography on the Seduction website, Sampson says: 'I entered into the fields of cosmetic and plastic reconstructive surgery because I wanted to make a lasting, positive impact on people's lives.

'That's why I always work so hard to create a personalized plan for every single one of my patients, so that when we're done, I know that they will move on in life with greater confidence and actually take joy in the person that they are.'

He's also listed on that same website as a 'board certified surgeon.' According to a profile in the Florida Department of Health website, Sampson's lone board certification is listed as 'suspended.'

Sampson had never been previously sanctioned but Seduction had seen a doctor stripped of the right to perform a BBL in 2017.

Osakatukei 'Osak' Omulepu saw one of his patients die and lost the ability to do the procedure.

Sampson was also fined $20,000 and charged $5,626 for the cost of the investigation and prosecution. However, he will not lose his medical license.

Additionally, he has to undergo five hours of continuing medical education and cannot be the designated physician at any surgery center.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has erupted at a journalist who asked him about the timing of a referendum for Australia to become a republic.

Mr Albanese was grilled on Monday over his long-standing plan to hold a vote on the Voice to Parliament in his first term in office.

A reporter asked the PM if he would still push ahead with a republic vote if his Voice vote failed.

'You previously said you couldn't envisage a change to a republic without constitutional recognition to First Nations people,' the journalist said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese blew up at a journalist for asking about a republic referendum when he has made it 'pretty clear' an Indigenous Voice to Parliament is his priority this term

'Could I clarify, is that a commitment to put constitutional recognition to a vote first?

'Or are you saying, unless and until that is achieved, you wouldn't even try a republic referendum?'

Mr Albanese responded to the question by scowling and telling the journalist the answer was 'pretty clear'.

'I can't have been clearer before the election, on election night, since the election that my priority for this term is the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in our constitution with a constitutionally recognised Voice to Parliament,' he said.

'I actually begin every speech with that as part of my acknowledgement of country.

Mr Albanese snapped at a journalist (above) on Monday who was asking for clarification about his republic referendum policy

Queen Elizabeth II's death has reignited debate for Australia to become independent of British rule (pictured, Sydney protesters advocating for a republic in 1994)

'I can't be clearer about it, I'm not quite sure why I'm being asked about it.'

The journalist fired back, saying: 'It slows it down - the republic will have to wait. that's the point.'

Mr Albanese laughed and responded: 'Now you're getting into hypotheticals over hypotheticals when I have made it very clear that I will not be commenting on those issues at this point in time.

'I've made it clear that my position on our constitutional arrangements have not changed, the Australian Labor Party's position is clear.

King Charles III (above) became Australia's sovereign leader last Thursday with the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II

'This is a time where Australians expect their prime minister to act in accordance with the constitutional arrangements which are there, in place, now.'

Queen Elizabeth II's death on Friday morning AEST reignited discussion about Australia's ties to the monarchy.

Australia is a constitutional monarchy and King Charles III has been proclaimed the nation's head of state.

A referendum on Australia becoming a republic failed in 1999 after controversy over the exact model that would replace the current system.
Pictured: Charlise Mutten, who was found dead in January

Charlise Mutten's mother has pleaded guilty to stealing two guns and ammunition during a home invasion - just months before her fiance allegedly shot and killed her nine-year-old.

Kallista Mutten's boyfriend Justin Stein, 31, allegedly murdered the schoolgirl on his family's multi million-dollar property in Mount Wilson, west of Sydney, on January 11.

He then allegedly stuffed her body in a barrel and dumped Charlise's remains by the Colo River.

Stein has been charged with murder, but continues to maintain his innocence.

During investigations into Charlise's death on February 3 this year, detectives found two firearms and ammunition in bushland near where the schoolgirl disappeared.

Following forensic examination, police determined the items were allegedly stolen from a Mount Wilson property, known as Sylvan Close, on August 22 last year.

Kallista Mutten (pictured) pleaded guilty to stealing two guns and ammunition during a home invasion

Justin Stein (pictured) was also charged with aggravated break and enter of a Mount Wilson property

Stein was charged in May with two counts of possess an unauthorised firearm, two of possessing an unregistered firearm and possessing ammunition without a licence. He is yet to enter a plea.

Mutten, 39, was charged with accompanying Stein during the alleged break-in. Along with the rifles and ammunition, police allege the pair also stole a large amount of silver cutlery and tableware - collectively worth under $60,000.

It is not suggested that Kallista Mutten was involved in Charlise's death.

Mutten's lawyer, Bet Turgut, told Katoomba Local Court on Monday that her client was unable to appear in person because she is in a rehabilitation centre, NCA Newswire reported.

She pleaded guilty to charged of break and enter a dwelling in company and steal to a value not exceeding $60,000.

Mutten will be sentenced at Campbelltown Local Court in October.

Charlise, who lived with her maternal grandparents, had been holidaying with her mother and Stein at his family's luxury Blue Mountains wedding venue over the Christmas holiday season.

Police allege Kallista Mutten committed an aggravated burglary on a nearby Mount Wilson property with her then fiance Justin Stein, five months before he allegedly murdered her daughter Charlise

Pictured: Wildenstein - the property owned by Justin Stein's family, where Charlise Mutten went missing

Mutten reported her daughter missing in January, sparking a widespread search for the nine-year-old - before her body was found.

According to police, the schoolgirl was alone in the care of Stein on the night she was allegedly murdered.

Her mother was at the caravan park, a 90-minute drive away, from the Stein's Wildenstein estate.

Police allege Stein shot and killed the girl on January 11, placed her body in a barrel in the back of his red ute and dumped it 65km away on the Colo River.

His case will return to court at a later date.
The mystery of how Melissa Caddick's foot became detached from her body has deepened at a coronial inquest into the notorious fraudster's disappearance and suspected death.

The inquiry, which opened on Monday morning, is expected to hear that a forensic pathologist has been unable to determine if Ms Caddick's foot fell off due to decomposition in the ocean, or because of a blunt force injury.

Ms Caddick's limb washed ashore at a beach on the NSW south coast on February 21, 2021 - about four months after she disappeared from her mansion at Dover Heights, in Sydney's east.

Her foot is all that has been found of her remains.

Meanwhile, evidence has emerged that Ms Caddick told close family and friends 'if I'm going to end it, it's going to be here', referring to the cliffs just down the road from her house.

And another friend has told authorities that Ms Caddick made her write down a four-letter code that she was instructed to give her brother, Adam, if she went missing.

How fraudster Melissa Caddick's foot became detached from her body and multiple declarations to friends and family about where she might 'end it' will be examined at her inquest (pictured, Caddick with partner Anthony Koletti)

Jason Downing SC, counsel assisting Deputy State Coroner Elizabeth Ryan, said in his opening address that Ms Caddick was suspected to be dead

In his opening address to the inquiry, Jason Downing SC, counsel assisting Deputy State Coroner Elizabeth Ryan, said that Ms Caddick was suspected to be dead.

But a forensics expert was expected to tell the inquiry they were unable to determine why her leg separated from the rest of her body.

Investigative journalist Kate McClymont, who has covered the disappearance of Ms Caddick with her podcast 'Liar Liar', tweeted her shock at the revelation.

'Wow, forensic pathologist was unable to tell how Melissa Caddick's foot became detached from her body and that it may well be that the Coroner returns an open finding into her presumed death,' she wrote.

Ms Caddick's parents Barbara and Ted Grimley and brother Adam Grimley along with her husband Anthony Koletti arrived at the NSW coroners court in Lidcombe, western Sydney, on Monday morning.

The two-week inquest will examine events leading up to her mysterious disappearance and her foot being discovered in a running shoe on Bournda Beach.

With the right medical assistance an amputation is not considered a lethal injury, but on the balance of probabilities it was suspected that Ms Caddick had already died, Mr Downing said.

The Australian Federal Police and Australian Securities and Investments Commission raided her Dover Heights home in Sydney's eastern suburbs on November 11.

That was the last verified sighting of Ms Caddick apart from her husband Anthony Koletti and child who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Mr Koletti told police his wife left for a walk early the following morning, but did not report her missing until about 28 hours later.

Caddick's partner Anthony Koletti arrives at the inquest held at Lidcombe Coroners Court on Monday

The inquest will run for two weeks and examine the mysterious circumstances leading up to Caddick's disappearance (pictured, Caddick's mother Barbara Grimley)

This delay will also be subject to scrutiny during her inquest.

Her victims, mostly family and friends, lost $20-$30 million through her Ponzi scheme used to fund her lavish lifestyle and excessive spending on expensive jewellery, designer clothing, overseas getaways and multi-million dollar homes.

Her clients believed she would invest their life savings on their behalf and she created fake documents to suggest she had done so.

In late 2012 Ms Caddick's marriage to Tony Caddick dissolved following her affair with Mr Koletti who was her hairdresser.

She purportedly told her brother Adam about this time: 'If it all gets too much to me you'll find me at The Gap'.

Ms Caddick's parents Barbara and Ted Grimley (pictured) and brother Adam Grimley along with her husband Anthony Koletti arrived on Monday morning at the NSW coroners court in Lidcombe, western Sydney

Another friend said Ms Caddick made her write down a four-letter code she was instructed to give Adam if she went missing.

By late 2020 her friends say Ms Caddick was under extreme financial pressure and on one occasion walked to the Dover Heights cliffs.

'If I'm going to end it, it's going to be here,' her friend recalls Ms Caddick telling her.

The inquest continues.

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A father and son have been arrested by police in Florida after allegedly brutally beating up a man at a wedding reception in Daytona Beach last weekend.

Tyler Kaltenbach, 36, was left black and blue during the severe beating - and the impact was so intense that he was knocked unconscious at the scene, according to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.

Joel O'Grady, 38, and Julian Falkinburg, 21, both from Sanford near Orlando, are accused of beating Kaltenbach up in the parking lot at the Granville Farms wedding venue in Lake Helen.

The father-son duo - slammed as 'scumbags' by a Sherriff - went on the the run before being arrested on charges of aggravated battery.

It's not yet clear what cause the altercation at the wedding reception.

Father and son 'scumbags:' Joel O'Grady, 38, has been charged with aggravated battery before being released after posting a $100,000 bond while his son, Julian Falkinburg, 21, was also charged aggravated battery before posting a $50,000 bond

36-year-old Tyler Kaltenbach was so severe that he was left unconscious at the scene according to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.

The pair's beating was said to be savage - with the duo stomping on him while he was unconscious and lying on the ground.

The pair were booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail with O'Grady released after posting a $100,000 bond.

Meanwhile, Falkinburg posted $50,000 bond and was released on Saturday afternoon according to the sheriff's office.

'This isn't like a punch. This is the guy goes down and then you stomp on him until he's unconscious. This could have easily been a murder,' Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said to Fox 35.

'Somebody could have ended up with significant brain damage. We hear about these things all the time.'

Kaltenbach could be seen in the parking lot of a wedding venue near Daytona Beach, Florida

Emergency responders reported how Kaltenbach was found on the ground clinging to life. He is pictured in the moments after regaining consciousness

'This has to be our first father and son SCUMBAG OF THE WEEK post, but they earned it. Not just kicking a man when hes down - but when hes unconscious,' Chitwood wrote in a Facebook posting.

Emergency responders reported how Kaltenbach was found on the ground clinging to life.

He will face a long road to recovery including having to undergo facial reconstructive surgery after his cheekbone was broken.

'Dental work is going to be extensive. All of his upper teeth were kicked out. Many of his lower teeth,' the family attorney, Sara Howelles said.

Authorities say O'Grady and Falkinburg both have extensive, violent criminal histories. The pair knew Kaltenbach, but it is unclear was led to the attack.
Prosecutors downplayed the nurse being unconscious at the time of the crash as Linton could face 90 years to life in prison if convicted of all six murder charges

The filing detailed years of alarming behavior including panic attacks, self-harm, and Linton's belief she was being possessed by her dead grandmother

She has been jailed without bail since the crash with prosecutors saying she is a danger to the community and a flight risk

Court documents showed the suspect had suffered from years of severe mental health issues which began to show themselves as bi-polar in 2018

Linton is a traveling nurse from Houston, Texas but was working in LA at the time

Lynette Noble, 38 and Nathesia Lewis, 42, and an unborn baby were also killed

LAPD thought Nicole Linton, 37, had initially driven her Mercedes at 90 mph after smashing it into traffic and causing a fiery wreck that killed six people

A nurse deemed 'mentally unstable' reached a speed of 130mph when she killed six people in a blazing car crash in Los Angeles last month - more than 40 mph faster than than police originally thought.

Nicole Linton, 37, was originally thought to have plowed her Mercedes-Benz through a red light at La Brea and Slauson Avenues on August 4 while travelling at a speed of 90mph.

But now court documents allege that she was in fact diving at a faster speed - and she 'deliberately' stepped on the accelerator for at least five seconds before reaching the crowded intersection.

Court records revealed: 'Further analysis reveals that her speed at impact was in fact 130 mph and that she floored the gas pedal for at least the 5 seconds leading into the crash, going from 122 mph to 130 mph.'

Linton had also been in 'complete control over steering, maintaining the tilt of the steering wheel to keep her car traveling directly toward the crowded intersection,' legal papers added, playing down claims from the attorney of the suspect that she had been unconscious.

'This NASCAR-worthy performance flies in the face of the notion that she was unconscious or incapacitated,' prosecutors said in the court filing, obtained by The Los Angeles Times.

In fact, the alleged killer was 'was conscious and deliberate in her driving,' they claim.

Nicole Linton, 37, was driving at 130 mph - 40 mph than cops anticipated - when she sped into several cars and caused a deadly car crash that killed six people on La Brea and Slauson Aves in downtown Los Angeles on August 4

Linton's Mercedes raced past a gas station then smashed into the side of a traffic jam, causing a flaming inferno in the Windsor Hills district of Los Angeles on August 4

Police investigate the deadly aftermath of the brutal accident, which killed six people at the intersection of Slauson and La Brea avenues

After her arrest, Linton was charged with six counts of murder and five counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence in connection with the crash.

The 37-year-old traveling nurse from Houston, Texas could face 90 years to life in prison if convicted of all charges.

One of the murder charges was filed for the unborn son of victim Asherey Ryan, who was eight-months-pregnant when she was killed.

The crash also killed Ryan's 11-month-old son Alonzo Quintero and her boyfriend, Reynold Lester. Lester was the father of the unborn child.

The family has said Ryan was on the way to a doctor's appointment for a prenatal checkup when she was killed.

One murder charge  but not an additional charge of vehicular manslaughter  was filed for the fetus, who was identified by the coroner's office as Armani Lester and listed as born on the same day he died.

'A young family was destroyed in the blink of an eye,' LA District Attorney George Gascon, who opposed to set bail for Lincon, said at a news conference.

Two other female victims were later identified as Lynette Noble, 38, and Nathesia Lewis, 42. They were driving together when their car instantly burst into flames. The bodies of the two weren't immediately identified due to severe trauma.

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 last month

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, who was visiting LA from Houston, Texas

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

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 crash. He is pictured here with Asherey

Meanwhile, in a filing by defense lawyers opposing Linton's release on bail, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Brittany Vannoy said the suspect was suffering from severe mental health issues.

'The defense has disclosed a number of prior incidents which appear to be increasing in severity, ranging from the defendant jumping on police cars to jumping out of apartment windows,' Vannoy wrote in documents.

'The defense indicates [Linton] has been subject to involuntary commitments on several occasions and has hurt herself more than once.'

Some of the suspect's mental behavior in the past also included panic attacks, self-harming behavior, and her belief that she was being possessed by her deceased grandmother.

The defense's documents further included a doctor's assessment that during the crash Linton experience an 'apparent lapse of consciousness.'

'She has no recollection of the events that led to her collision,' doctor William Winter wrote after an August 6 examination of the Texas-based nurse. 'The next thing she recalled was lying on the pavement and seeing that her car was on fire.'

The court filings did not mention any previous car crashes linked to Linton.

Linton (pictured in court on August 8) was previously held on $9 million bail but it appears that LA County District Attorney George Gascon has withdrawn bond for the Texas-based nurse

Attorneys for Nicole Linton, Halim Dhanidina and Jacqueline M. Sparagna speak before Judge Victoria B. Wilson during a bail hearing for Linton in August. They argued that the 37-year-old nurse's mental health had been going downhill prior to the fiery collision

Skid marks are seen on the ground at the intersection as paramedics and police rush to the scene of the deadly accident

Linton burned a red light prior to driving her black Mercedes into ongoing traffic flowing both in downtown LA

The mangled wreck of the Mercedes that Linton was speeding in after the crash

Last month, prosecutors detailed how Linton's bizarre and unhinged behavior worsened in the days before the deadly collision, and provided a timeline of the hours before the wreck.

'In the days and hours leading up to the events of August 4, Nicole's behavior became increasingly frightening,' Linton's lawyers wrote.

The filing showed that before the wreck the nurse had been continually telling her sister that coworkers were acting 'weird.'

On the day of the accident she drove home from work to have lunch and spoke to her sister completely naked on FaceTime.

Then she returned to work, and at 1.24pm - minutes before the accident - Linton called her sister to say she was leaving again.

'She told her sister that she was flying out to meet her in Houston the next day so she could do her niece's hair,' the filing read, 'She also said that she would be getting married and that her sister should meet her at the altar.'

According to the court documents Linton's mental struggles became apparent in May 2018 while she was a nursing student at the University of Houston.

'The stress was too much for her and it 'broke' her,' Nicole's sister, Camille Linton, wrote, 'Thus beginning the journey of Nicole's 4-year struggle with mental illness.'

That May, Linton fled from her apartment in the midst of a panic attack. When police approached to help she leapt on the hood of their squad car and was arrested for disorderly conduct. While at the station she then called her family concerned about her pet turtle, the documents showed.

Days later Linton began telling her family about being possessed by her deceased grandmother.

Then the next day while checked into the Ben Taub psychiatric hospital Linton received stitches after she pounded her head against a pane of glass while ranting about the supreme court and police. The documents said she sang Bob Marley songs while she was stitched up.

It was during her stay at Ben Taub that Linton was diagnosed with bi-polar and prescribed medication to mitigate it.

But over a year later she was involuntarily committed to a psychiatric ward by her family when neighbors complained she was running around the apartment building naked.

During the pandemic she stopped taking her medication when a therapist told her she only had anxiety.

Linton told her sister over FaceTime right before the car crash that she was going to fly out to meet her in Houston, where she lived, the next day so she could do her niece's hair on August 4

From there, her health began a steep decline - she stopped sleeping, became obsessive about cleaning, accused family members from stealing, and ranted at them.

Linton's defense argued her long history of mental health and 'apparently bizarre' behavior did not mean she should be locked up in prison, but that she should instead be released for treatment and monitoring at a mental health institution.

'Ms. Linton would be most appropriately housed in a mental health treatment facility where she can be monitored and treated for her illness,' her attorneys wrote, requesting she be allowed to wear an ankle monitor and be tested at UCLA Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital.

The defense also filed character statements from her family vouching for Linton.

'She is a Godly person who put her trust in him,' Linton's mother Beverly Harrison wrote, 'She is a person that if she says or do anything she regrets, she will come back to say that she is sorry and ask you for forgiveness. My sweet baby I love her but God loves her best.'

And another of her sisters, Kimberly, talked about how Nicole had planned to enroll in medical school next year.

'Nicole is about saving lives and she always has both empathy and sympathy for any life that's loss and the family no matter how many time one can see that sort of thing in that field,' she wrote.
Dodson: 'I think for the first time in our lives, we were treated properly'

The vote was narrowly defeated with 55 per cent in favour of keeping the Queen

Dodson and First Nations leaders met the Queen before the 1999 republic vote

Patrick Dodson said when he first met the Queen she 'made us feel human'

An Aboriginal elder has wiped away tears speaking about how Queen Elizabeth II treated Indigenous leaders with dignity and respect 'for the first time in our lives' during a meeting at Buckingham Palace.

Patrick Lionel Djargun Dodson, an elder of the Yawuru people, and an Aboriginal delegation met the Queen in 1999 as Australia prepared to vote on whether or not to become a republic.

During the ABC documentary, The Queen and Us, Mr Dodson - who is now a federal Labor senator - said: 'We got in there and we were totally disarmed.

'It's a funny thing, to feel a bit emotional about it, because she was so welcoming.

'And she thanked us for coming. And, she ... I think for the first time in our lives, we were treated properly.'

'She treated us as human beings.'

Aboriginal leader and Australian senator Patrick Dodson (pictured) reduced to tears as he spoke about the Queen and how for the first time in his life he felt treated like a human being

First Nations leaders took to Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen in 1999 and said the Queen was genuinely interested to hear from them and about their stories

Queen Elizabeth II addressing the Australian people before the 1999 republic referendum vote

Mr Dodson said he and First Nations people can tell 'a mile away when words are bull**** '.

He said they have seen it most of their lives in Australia - but that the Queen was genuinely interested to hear from them and about their stories.

The 1999 republic vote was narrowly defeated with 55 per cent of voters in favour of keeping the monarchy - largely due to concerns about the proposed model of how the republic should look.

However, in the wake of the Queen's passing, some republicans have a renewed their calls for the nation to break ties with the royal family.

Adam Bandt, leader of the Greens party, tweeted that 'Australia must move forward' in the wake of her passing and that 'we need to become a Republic'.

Mehreen Faruqi, his deputy, went even further - saying she 'cannot mourn the leader of a racist empire built on stolen lives, land and wealth of colonised peoples. We are reminded of the urgency of... becoming a republic,' she said, before adding: 'Condolences to those who knew the Queen.'

Less than an hour after her death was announced, the Australian Republican Movement (ARM) also called for ties to the British monarchy to be severed.

Peter FitzSimons, who leads the Australian Republican Movement, released a statement saying it was 'unlikely we will ever see a Monarch as respected or admired by the Australian people again'.

'A phenomenal number of people have said to me over the years, 'I'm absolutely with you, but not until the Queen passes away',' he said.

'And I expect now there will be a surge of interest, of membership, of donations.

'With the greatest respect to Charles III - and I mean that; I have nothing against him personally - he does not enjoy the same deep wellspring of affection and loyalty that Her Majesty did.'

However, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese shut down talks of Australia soon becoming a republic.

Despite being in favour of Australia replacing the monarchy with a local head of state - and appointing an assistant minister for a republic - he said a referendum would not happen in his first term.

Mr Albanese said out of 'deep respect and admiration' for The Queen his government will not pursue 'questions about our constitution' at least until he was reelected for a second term.

'Now is not a time to talk about our system of government, now is a time for us to pay tribute to the life of Queen Elizabeth,' he told the ABC's Insiders on Sunday.

'That's the system of government that we have, it's one which as Australian prime minister, I have a responsibility to respect.'

Governor-General David Hurley and prime minister Anthony Albanese at the proclamation outside Parliament House on Sunday

A June survey by polling company Essential found 44 per cent of Australians backed the country becoming a republic, down from 48 per cent in March.

The poll also found 40 per cent of those in the 18-34 age group were against the move - the highest of any group.

King Charles III was proclaimed Australia's monarch at a ceremony at Parliament House on Sunday by Governor-General David Hurley.

Mr Albanese also announced Australians would get a one-off public holiday to mourn the loss of the late Queen on the National Day of Mourning on September 22.

'It will be a one-off national public holiday to allow people to pay their respects for the passing of Queen Elizabeth,' he said.
States and territories should be able to choose the date of the King's Birthday public holiday to avoid unnecessary disruption, a key business group has said.

They were able to select the date of the Queen's Birthday public holiday, with most choosing to celebrate the late monarch's birthday on a Monday.

Tim Pipe, head of the Victorian branch of the Australian Industry Group, said the business community hoped the King's Birthday holiday date would remain flexible.

'If it was to be a preset date, it will be disruptive to have it during the week,' he said.

There is confusion in the business community about when a new King's Birthday public holiday would be held. Pictured are King Charles and Queen consort Camilla

Mr Piper said the national day of mourning to commemorate the Queen, confirmed for Thursday, September 22, would be 'very busy and very expensive' for businesses.

The Victorian public holiday for the AFL grand final is the following day (Friday, September 23), which means four consecutive days of penalty rates for hospitality businesses and sectors that trade on holidays and weekends.

West Australian businesses are in a similar position, with the Queen's Birthday public holiday on Monday, September 26.

Mr Piper said the one-off holiday to mourn the Queen was appropriate given her 70-year reign, but would undoubtedly put businesses under pressure.

Asked about the snap holiday's impact on businesses, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it was an appropriate response to a historic occasion.

He said essential services remain open on public holidays and penalty rates apply.

Mr Albanese said medical procedures would go ahead on the public holiday.

Australian businesses are concerned that the public holiday to mourn Queen Elizabeth will drive up their costs. Pictured is a waitress taking an order in a restaurant

'The idea that operations don't occur during public holidays, is of course, not correct,' he said. 'Medical procedures are always a priority.'

Impact Economics and Policy's Angela Jackson said there were 'swings and roundabouts' when it came to the cost of public holidays on the economy, with some sectors benefiting and others hit with extra costs.

'International research indicates there can be small positives due to increased spending as people are not at work and production loss is generally made up,' she said.
Youth cloud concert held to celebrate 50th anniversary of China-Germany diplomatic relations

Xinhua) 10:16, September 12, 2022

Members of Burg Chinese Chorus perform during the cloud concert to celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Germany in Essen, Germany, on Sept. 10, 2022. A cloud concert sung by youth from China and Germany was held here on Saturday to celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. (Xinhua/Ren Pengfei)

ESSEN, Germany, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- A cloud concert sung by youth from China and Germany was held here on Saturday to celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

In the offline part of the concert, students from the local Burg Chinese Chorus sang via video link with their peers from several high school choirs in Chengdu, China.

They presented famous songs from both countries in Chinese and German and garnered warm applause from the audience.

Music is a language that crosses borders, Wu Ken, Chinese Ambassador to Germany, said at the event.

Wu said he hoped the students would continue to use their songs as a link to be explorers of Chinese and German cultures, promoters of friendship between the two countries and practitioners of cross-cultural understanding.

Speaking at the event, Olaf Millmann, organizing director of the Burg Chinese Chorus, said that the chorus has continued to build bridges through music which helps deepen the exchanges between young people from Germany and China.

He said he hoped that the chorus would continue to contribute to deepening the friendship between the two countries in the future.

Chorus member Ben Hanenberg said that participating in chorus activities and learning to sing Chinese songs had always been an essential part of his Chinese learning. He said he plans to study in China and looks forward to discovering the country.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Bianji)
Prince Andrew is set for 'central role' in the Queen's funeral, 'but has no hope of return to public life once she is laid to rest', with the disgraced duke being granted a temporary reprieve to mourn his mother but is then expected to 'disappear'.

The Duke of York, who has been in hot water over his links to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, is expected to join his family as they unite in their grief, with sources saying it would be 'out of the question' for him to be excluded.

What form the truce takes at the Queen's service on Monday, September 19, remains to be seen, with reports suggesting that Prince Andrew is set to play a key role despite controversies in the last few years.

It comes as the royal family attempts to put on a united front during the period of national mourning, following the passing of Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral on Thursday.

He is expected to walk behind his mother's coffin today, in a procession from Edinburgh's Holyroodhouse to St Giles' Cathedral.

Prince Andrew, Duke of York views the flowers left by mourners outside Balmoral Castle on September 10

The Duke of York waits for his mother's coffin to arrive at Holyroodhouse yesterday with his sister, the Princess Royal, her husband, Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence, his brother, Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex and Sophie, the Countess of Wessex

Today the Duke of York is expected to walk behind his mother's coffin during a procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, at 2.35pm. Pictured, the coffin arrives in Edinburgh yesterday

Prince Andrew joins Princess Anne, Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence, and Sophie, Countess of Wessex, as the Queen's coffin is carried into the Palace of Holyroodhouse yesterday

Prince Andrew returns to the fold - but not for long For the last couple of years Prince Andrew has been keeping a relatively low profile after allegations about his links to notorious paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. He has been rarely seen in public and was only scheduled to appear at one event during the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations - something he ended up missing due to getting Covid. With his mother's passing he has been allowed to return to the public eye to take part in the national mourning that will come over the next couple of weeks. However, this is not expected to be a permanent return, with the Telegraph reporting the new king is not likely to allow him to restart formal functions. King Charles, along with his son, Prince William, were two of the key driving forces behind Andrew's banishment from public life as they fought to contain the fallout from his relationship with Epstein and subsequent civil sex abuse case with one of the paedophile's victims. It reports they are likely to force him back out of the public eye once the mourning for Her Majesty is over. Advertisement

On Saturday, while Charles was sworn in as King, Anne, Andrew, Edward and their children thanked well-wishers who had gathered outside the gates of Balmoral.

He was seen reading tributes to his late mother and embracing his daughter Princess Eugenie.

And the 62-year-old's joined other members of the family in Edinburgh yesterday for the arrival of the Queen's coffin, with his apparent banishment from public life seemingly brought to a temporary halt.

The Duke of York was present at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in the Scottish capital with his sister Princess Anne, and brother Prince Edward, as the cortege arrived.

Andrew is thought to have been incredibly close to his late mother, and is believed to have spent large amounts of time in recent months.

He has often been described as the Queen's 'favourite son', and was seen walking arm-in-arm with his mother for the funeral of his late father, Prince Phillip.

He has rarely been seen in public since his association with notorious paedophile Jeffrey Epstein became public knowledge, with other members of the family railing against his involvement in royal functions.

His appearance at the Duke of Edinburgh's memorial was his first appearance after settling a civil sex abuse case with Virginia Giuffre, with no admission of liability.

He was not seen at the summer's Platinum Jubilee celebrations due to covid.

The Duke will play a key role in the period of national mourning following the death of his mother, something that has the blessing of the King.

The Telegraph quotes a palace source as saying it would be 'out of the question' for him not to be involved when the royal family is trying to present a united front.

Princess Beatrice bends down with her father the Duke of York to look at tributes and flowers left outside Balmoral Castle in Ballater on September 10

But this temporary reprieve is not set to become permanent, with both King Charles and Prince William making it clear that Andrew will not play any formal role in their reigns.

'Once it is all over, he will be expected to retreat back to a life lived well under the royal radar,' the paper reported.

Today the Duke of York is expected to walk behind his mother's coffin during a procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, at 2.35pm.

He will walk the 1,200 yard route on foot with the King and other senior members of the Royal Family.

This will include Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex and his sister, the Princess Royal.

The Duke stands centre as he waves to members of the public after attending a service at Crathie Kirk church near Balmoral

It is expected that her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence will also join on foot  while the Queen Consort and other members of the royal family will follow in cars.

The procession will consist of a hearse, flanked by the Bearer Party of the Royal Regiment of Scotland and the detachment of The King's Body Guard in Scotland, the Royal Company of Archers.

Once laid in St Giles' Cathedral, the Crown of Scotland will be placed on the Queen's coffin.

At 7.20pm, the King and other family members will mount a vigil by the coffin.

Full details about the royal mourners have yet to be released but there is speculation the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and the new Prince and Princess of Wales, who on Saturday put on a united front during an appearance at Windsor Castle, will be part of the group.

The Queen will then lie at rest for 24 hours, with thousands expected to file past. On Tuesday, her coffin will be flown to London with the Princess Royal.
Family of a keen photographer who was tragically killed when a breaching whale capsized the boat she was on have shared the haunting final image she captured just hours before the horror incident unfolded.

Diana Stewart, 68, was among five people who died on the Nature Photographic Society boat trip in Goose Bay, near Kaikoura, on the east coast of the New Zealand's south island on Saturday morning.

A group of 11 people aged over 50 were photographing albatrosses when their 8.5metre charter boat was overturned by a whale at about 10am local time.

The other six passengers on board including the skipper were rescued and have been released from hospital after being assessed.

Ms Stewart snapped a stunning image of the pink and purple sunrise over the sea near Kaikoura and sent it to her family before boarding the doomed vessel.

The haunting final image taken by expert nature photographer Diana Stewart shows the sun rise over the sea near Kaikoura

Ms Stewart (pictured), 68, was killed while on a the Nature Photographic Society boat trip in Goose Bay, near Kaikoura on Saturday morning

The photographer, who resided in Christchurch, had been on many trips with the Nature Photographic Society in picturesque regions across New Zealand.

Her son, Fletcher Stewart said that the Kaikoura boat trip was one his mother 'wanted to do for years'.

'Diana was a very talented photographer and enjoyed travelling to remote parts of New Zealand to photograph what would always turn out to be unique pictures of landscapes and wildlife,' he told Stuff.

'Mum made many close friends through their shared passion; they remember her kindness and generosity. She always helped new photographers who were just starting out, and was always there with guidance and advice.'

Mr Stewart said his mother's talents also extended to fashion, painting and craft.

He added the family would remember his 'wonderful' mother 'most for her kindness, her caring and generosity'.

'Her number one priority was family and was always there when we needed her.'

Ms Stewart was one of five people who died when the fishing boat they were on (pictured) was overturned by a whale at about 10am local time

Fletcher Stewart said his mother was a 'very talented photographer and enjoyed travelling to remote parts of New Zealand'. Her talents also extended to to fashion, painting and craft

He added that the family would best remember his mother 'most for her kindness, her caring and generosity'

Ms Stewart was killed alongside Christchurch man Peter Charles Hockley, Lower Hutt woman Cathye Haddock and her longtime friend Susan Cade when the fishing boat they were on flipped over.

The fifth victim of the tragedy has yet to be identified.

Police are still yet to confirm what caused the boat to capsize but authorities suspect a breaching whale overturned the vessel.

A NZ police dive team arrived at the scene at about 2pm on Saturday as the bodies were retrieved from the 10C water and brought to shore.

The boat was towed to harbour at around 4pm with five bodies recovered within the vessel's cabin.

Harrowing photos show one passenger sitting on top of the upturned boat while waiting to be rescued.

Christchurch man Peter Charles Hockley (pictured) was one of the five victims who died after he became trapped inside the boat's cabin when it capsized

Cathye Haddock (pictured) was one of the victims and was on the trip with her longtime friend of more than 20 years, Susan Cade, who also lost her life

Kaikoura Mayor Craig Mackle claimed that a whale had surfaced from beneath the boat as there had been large whale sightings in the area.

He said there were some sperm whales in the area and also some humpback whales traveling through, although he did not know what type of whale might have collided with the boat.

'We have an upturned boat tipped over by a whale from what we can understand, come up from underneath,' Mr Mackle said.

The mayor added that he had thought in the past about the possibility of a boat and whale colliding, given the number of whales that frequent the area.

He added the water was 'bloody cold' and the outcome for anybody who had fallen overboard was not likely to be good.

'This is a tragic event that affects many lives, not least of all families and loved ones. Our heartfelt sorrow and condolences to you all.'

'I would like to thank everyone involved in the rescue and the recovery. Being able to bring everyone home is the best result in such a terrible circumstance.'

Harrowing photos show one passenger sitting on top of the upturned boat while waiting to be rescued

The waters off Kaikoura are known for whale movement but nobody had heard of a boat ever being hit.

It's understood the conditions on the water were fine with very little swell and nothing to suggest danger besides the well-known presence of hump back and sperm whales off the coast.

New Zealand's Transport Accident Investigation Commission are appealing for witnesses who were at Goose Bay at the time of the tragedy.

The commission is urging anyone who saw or recorded what happened - before, during or after the accident - to come forward.

An investigation into the incident has been launched.
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Details were published today on how the public can see the Queen's coffin in Edinburgh and London, with people warned to expect long queues and be prepared to stand for 'many hours' through the night.

Those wishing to pay their respects to the late monarch's coffin in the Scottish capital will be able to do so at St Giles' Cathedral - but only for a 22-hour period from 5pm today until around 3pm tomorrow.

In London, people will be able to file solemnly past the coffin at Westminster Hall for 24 hours a day from 5pm this Wednesday until 6.30am on the day of the funeral - Monday September 19 - with long queues expected.

The Government has stressed that the queue will continuously move - with little chance to rest or sit down - and has urged people to 'dress appropriately'. Clothes 'with political or offensive slogans' have been banned.

Queue-jumpers and anyone drunk will be taken out of the queue by stewards and police patrolling the lines. Visitors will also face airport-style security checks, with tight restrictions on what can be taken in.

Flowers, tributes, candles, flags, photos, hampers, sleeping bags, blankets, folding chairs and camping equipment are all banned, with only one small bag with a simple opening or zip permitted per person.

Here, MailOnline reveals what you need to know if you'd like to see the coffin in either Edinburgh or London:

EDINBURGH

St Giles Cathedral (High Street, EH1 1RE)

Today (5pm) until tomorrow (3pm)

- Where and when can I see the Queen's coffin in Edinburgh?

Members of the public will be able to see the Queen's coffin at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh from 5pm today until around 3pm tomorrow.

But the Scottish Government warned that the queue 'may close early in order to ensure as many people as possible can enter St Giles' Cathedral to pay their respects'.

- What will I be able to see?

People will be able to file past the Queen's catafalque, which is the framework around the coffin, after a service at the cathedral this afternoon.

This graphic issued by the UK Government today shows what items will be banned at Westminster Hall in London

- Will I be able to queue?

Yes. A queuing system will be in place along with security checks, but members of the public have been warned of long waits.

Mourners have also been advised that the weather could be poor - although conditions are currently expected to be dry. People have been told to expect to stand for a number of hours.

- Will I need to get a ticket or wristband?

The Scottish Government said that in order to assist with managing the queue, wristbands will be issued. Only one wristband per person will be issued and people will have to be present to collect one.

People will only be permitted to enter the queue if they have a valid wristband.

- Where will the queue begin?

The queue will start at George Square (south west corner), next to Edinburgh University Library. Once issued with a wristband, people will be able walk the designated route to the security tent at St. Giles' Cathedral.

- Can children attend?

Yes, but the Scottish Government warned that the the queue is 'expected to be very long', adding: 'You will need to stand for long periods of time, possibly many hours, with very little opportunity to sit down, as the queue will keep moving. Please consider this before you decide to attend or bring children with you.'

Members of the public outside St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh prepare to view the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II today

The hearse carrying the Queen's coffin passes St Giles Cathedral yesterday on the way to the Palace of Holyroodhouse

- Can I attend if I'm in a wheelchair?

Yes. Step-free and accessible options are available for those who need them.

- Can I take photographs?

No. Photography and recording is strictly prohibited. There will also be restrictions on mobile phone use.

- Can I bring a bag?

There is a strict bag policy in operation. You can only bring one small bag per person into St Giles' Cathedral. It must be smaller than 40cm x 30cm x 20cm, with 'one simple opening or zip so you can move quickly through the security check'.

- What else can I bring?

The Scottish Government advises people to bring 'clothing to protect you from cold or wet weather' and 'food and drinks to consume in the queue', adding: 'There are limited places to buy refreshments along the route.'

It also said: 'Any food items and liquids must be consumed or disposed of before you enter the security search point on George IV Bridge. Clear water bottles are permitted, but must be emptied of their contents before you enter the security search point.'

You can also bring sunscreen but this must be disposed of before you enter the security search point

People are also advised to bring a mobile phone charger. The advice says: 'You are likely to be in the queue for a long time so consider bringing a small portable power bank to use if you need to charge your phone.'

People should also take essential medication or equipment that they need to keep with them. The advice says: 'Please explain this to the security staff or police at the security search point so they can check the items.'

- What can't I bring?

Large items being carried in addition to bags will not be admitted. This includes sleeping bags, blankets, carrier bags, folding chairs, camping equipment, and children's pushchairs.

The Scottish Government also said that 'non-retractable umbrellas' will not be permitted. The advice says people should not bring or erect gazebos or tents, or light barbecues and fires.

Tribute items including flowers, candles, soft toys and photographs are banned, as is personal defence equipment such as flick knives, butterfly knives and personal defence sprays.

Sharp items such as knives, including Swiss Army knives, scissors, cutlery and screwdrivers are also banned - as are paint sprays, padlocks, chains and climbing gear

Also on the banned list are fireworks, smoke canisters, air horns, flares, whistles laser devices, and other items that could be used to cause a disturbance or noise

Banners, placards, flags and similar items 'that could be used to cause a disturbance' are also banned.

- Can I bring flowers?

No. Flowers can be laid in Middle Meadow Walk and Palace of Holyrood House but will not be permitted into St Giles' Cathedral.

- Will the coffin be guarded by soldiers?

Yes. The coffin will be guarded by Vigils from The Royal Company of Archers - with the Crown of Scotland placed on top.

- Can someone else queue on your behalf?

No. The advice says you should not attempt to queue on behalf of others or ask others to queue on your behalf.

- What behaviour could see you removed from the queue?

The advice states that 'anti-social or inappropriate behaviour' including queue-jumping, excessive consumption of alcohol or drunken behaviour 'will not be tolerated and you will be removed from the queue'.

- What will happen after the viewing period finishes?

The coffin will remain at the cathedral until 3pm tomorrow before it is flown from Edinburgh Airport to RAF Northolt in West London, before arriving at Buckingham Palace.

The Queen's lying in state at Westminster Hall in London then begins on Wednesday for four days until her funeral on Monday, September 19.

LONDON

WESTMINSTER HALL (St Margaret Street, SW1P 3JX)

Wednesday, September 14 (5pm) until Monday, September 19 (6.30am)





- Where and when can I see the Queen's coffin in London?

The late monarch's lying in state in Westminster Hall opens to the public at 5pm this Wednesday and it will be open 24 hours a day until it closes at 6.30am on Monday September 19 - the day of the Queen's funeral.

- Where is Westminster Hall?

Westminster Hall, which dates back to 1099, is in the Palace of Westminster and is the oldest building on the Parliamentary estate.

It forms part of the Westminster Unesco World Heritage Site and the UK Parliament website refers to its 'great size', the 'magnificence' of its roof, and its central role in British history.

The building has been the site of key events, such as the trial of Charles I, coronation banquets, and addresses by world leaders. The address is 3 St Margaret Street, SW1P 3JX.

- Will there be a queue?

Yes. Government guidance says there will be a queue which is expected to be very long.

People will need to stand for 'many hours, possibly overnight' with very little opportunity to sit down as the queue will be continuously moving.

As large crowds are expected, there are likely to be road closures and delays on public transport.

The queue may close early to ensure as many visitors as possible can enter before the lying-in-state period comes to an end.

- Can I attend if I'm in a wheelchair?

Yes. Step-free and accessible options are available for those who need them.

- What route will the queue take?

The Government has stressed that the queue will continuously move - and the very long line of those waiting is expected to stretch through central London.

Details of the route for the lying-in-state queue will be published at 10pm tomorrow, with full guidance on the gov.uk website.

Security staff manning the queue route to Westminster Hall said today that crowds are expected to swell ahead of Wednesday afternoon.

They said the queue is likely to snake for miles, all the way along the southside of the River Thames to Tower Bridge.

- Will I need to get a ticket or wristband?

People will be given numbered wristbands to indicate their place in the queue so they are able to leave and come back, it is understood - for example, to use the toilet.

- Will security be tight?

Visitors will go through airport-style security and there are tight restrictions on what you can take in, with people allowed just one small bag with one simple opening or zip.

Queue-jumpers and anyone drunk will be booted out of the queue by stewards and police patrolling the lines.

The Government had confirmed that the Army will be available to assist, with 1,500 personnel on hand to help.

Official details of the route for the lying-in-state queue will be published at 10pm tomorrow, but this is the predicted route

- Is there anything I need to bring?

Official guidance suggests that people should bring suitable clothing for the weather, food and drinks to have while queueing, a portable power bank for your mobile phone and any essential medication.

People are also advised to dress appropriately for the occasion.

- Are any items banned?

Yes. There is a list of banned items which includes flowers or other tribute items, including candles, soft toys, and photographs. Other banned items include banners, flags, hampers, blankets and folding chairs.

The Government guidance says people should not film, photograph, use mobile phones or other handheld devices in the security search area or within the Palace of Westminster.

- Can I bring a bag?

Only bags smaller than 40cm x 30cm x 20cm will be allowed into the hall.

- Can I bring a water bottle?

Flasks or water bottles, except clear water bottles which must be emptied of their contents before the security search point, are prohibited inside, as are weapons, whistles, smoke canisters and air-horns and other such items.

- Are there any rules on etiquette?

Yes, the Government has set out guidelines on how people should behave and what they should wear, saying they should remain silent inside the Palace of Westminster.

It has urged people to 'dress appropriately for the occasion to pay your respects', banning clothes 'with political or offensive slogans'.

'Please respect the dignity of this event and behave appropriately. You should remain silent while inside the Palace of Westminster,' the Government added.

People file past the coffin of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in Westminster Hall in London on April 8, 2002

- Will there be somewhere to store larger bags?

A bag drop facility is available but capacity is limited, and there is no guarantee that there will be space at the facility.

Waiting for bag storage space to become available will increase your queuing time, according to the advice.

- What can people expect to see?

The closed coffin will be draped in a royal flag, usually a personal standard, and will rest on a raised platform called a catafalque, flanked by a military guard around the clock.

A priceless crown and other regalia are traditionally placed on top of a sovereign's coffin.

Each corner of the platform is watched 24 hours a day by units from the Sovereign's Bodyguard, Foot Guards or the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment.

- Can children attend?

The Government has asked people to think carefully about whether to take youngsters with them. 'Please consider this before you decide to attend or bring children with you,' it added.

- Will the royal family be there?

It is likely that the Queen's children or even grandchildren will honour her with a vigil and join the guard over the coffin at some point - a tradition which has been called the Vigil of the Princes.

Should the Princess Royal stand guard for the Queen, she will be the first female member of the royal family to do so.

King George VI lying in state at Westminster Hall in London on February 11, 1952

- What exactly is meant by the term 'lying in state'?

Lying in state is usually reserved for sovereigns, current or past queen consorts, and sometimes former prime ministers.

During the formal occasion, the closed coffin is placed on view, as thousands of people queue to file past and pay their respects.

- Did the Duke of Edinburgh lie in state?

No, he did not, and this was in accordance with his wishes, but his death took place during the Covid-19 crisis and at that point such mass gatherings were also against the law.

- Who was the last person to lie in state?

The last person to lie in state in the UK was the Queen Mother in 2002.

On top of her coffin in Westminster Hall was her coronation crown, set with the Koh-i-Noor diamond, and a hand-written message from her daughter, the Queen, reading: 'In loving memory, Lilibet'.

An estimated 200,000 people turned out to pay their respects over three days.

- Was there anything unusual about that occasion in 2002?

It was the first lying in state where members of the public were subjected to a security check, which slowed the movement of the mourners.

At their longest, queues stretched across Lambeth Bridge and all the way along the South Bank to Southwark Cathedral, with people being warned to expect a wait of up to 12 hours at peak times.

Police were drafted in to deal with the security, large crowds and road closures.

- Where does the tradition originate?

The tradition of lying in state stretches back to the 17th century when Stuart sovereigns lay in state for a number of days.

Edward VII set the modern tradition of royal lying in state in Westminster Hall. He lay in state in 1910, as did King George V in 1936 and King George VI in 1952.

George VI - the Queen's father - was the last sovereign before Elizabeth II to die.

- Who else lay in state in Westminster Hall?

Two prime ministers - William Gladstone in 1898 and Sir Winston Churchill in 1965 - also lay in state at Westminster Hall, attracting hundreds of thousands of people.

In 1930, there was an unusual lying in state in Westminster Hall for the victims of the R101 Airship disaster.

The experimental rigid British airship caught fire as it crossed northern France, killing 48 of the 54 people on board.
Lidia Thorpe has finally broken her silence over the Queen's death and says she will not 'rant and rave' - before calling for the new King Charles to be dropped as Australia's head of state.

The outspoken Greens senator who previously recited the parliamentary oath of allegiance while slamming the her Majesty as a 'coloniser', had remained unusually quiet following the monarch's death on Thursday.

However, she has now released a statement on Twitter while saying she has had 'some days to reflect'.

'I know that people wanted me to come out ranting and raving to confirm their views of me as a crazy Blak woman,' she wrote.

'In the days since, I've seen anger and disbelief from First Nations people at the glorification of our oppressor.

Outspoken Greens senator Lydia Thorpe has broken her silence on the Queen's death

In August, Ms Thorpe raised eyebrows after she marched into the floor of parliament and gave a Black Power salute before pledging allegiance to the Queen

'I've seen our political leaders continue the oppressive narrative that continues to keep First People in this Country down. They've shown zero regard for us, or how we're feeling, or the fact that we've been calling for Day of Mourning for over 80 years.

'This Country has a new King. The parliament and the Prime Minister are subjugated to someone we didn't elect. We don't need a new King, we need a head of state chosen by the people.'

In August, Ms Thorpe raised eyebrows after she marched into the floor of parliament and gave a Black Power salute as she prepared to take her oath for the start of a new post-election parliament.

After raising her right fist, she begrudgingly swore to the Queen.

'I will be faithful and I bear true allegiance to the colonising Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second,' the controversial politician said in a mocking tone.

Australia was a British colony for more than 100 years, a period during which thousands of Aboriginal Australians were killed and communities were displaced.

The country gained de facto independence in 1901, but has never become a fully fledged republic.

In 1999, Australians narrowly voted against removing the Queen, amid a row over whether her replacement would be chosen by members of parliament, not the public.

Lydia Thorpe previously recited the parliamentary oath of allegiance while slamming the Queen as a 'coloniser'

King Charles III waving at well-wishers as he arrives at Buckingham Palace on Sunday

Polls show most Australians are in favour of being a republic, but there is little agreement on how a head of state should be chosen.

The debate was reopened after the Queen's death, though Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hosed down talk of Australia becoming a republic any time soon.

Despite the Prime Minister being in favour of Australia replacing the monarchy with a local head of state, he said it would not happen in his first term.

Mr Albanese said out of 'deep respect and admiration' for The Queen he would not pursue 'questions about our constitution' at least until he was reelected.

However, Aboriginal senator Ms Thorpe insisted that the question needs to be pursued.

'The process towards being able to pick our own head of state would bring us all together - it would force us to tell the truth about our history and move us towards real action to right the wrongs that started with colonisation,' she wrote.

'Incarceration rates, deaths in custody and child removals are all symptoms of an ongoing war against First Nations people in this Country. Treaty is an end to the war. We have an opportunity to do things differently in this country. It's time for the Govt to show some ambition.

'We could use this moment and momentum to empower people to democratically elect our own leader. Someone who represents all of us, uniting a country that has owned up to its past and chosen its own future. That unity would be more powerful than any King. But we must Treaty first.'
Sweden's right wing looks set to oust Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson's left-wing bloc in Sunday's general election, clinging to a slim lead with 94 percent of electoral districts counted.

The right wing bloc was credited with a majority of 176 of 349 seats in parliament, with the left bloc trailing just behind on 173.

With the vote deemed too close to call, election authorities said they did not expect a final result until Wednesday when the last ballots from abroad and from advance voting had been counted.

But the populist, anti-immigration Sweden Democrats were unquestionably the biggest winners of the night with a strong showing of nearly 21 per cent - their best result.

The party gained on promises to crack down on shootings and other gang violence, which have shaken a sense of security for many in Sweden.

'Our goal is to sit in government. Our goal is a majority government,' Sweden Democrats party leader Jimmie Akesson told a crowd of cheering supporters on Sunday evening.

'It's looking pretty damn good now', he said.

Party secretary Richard Jomshof meanwhile told public television SVT he 'didn't believe' other parties would be able to freeze out the Sweden Democrats again and expected to have a strong influence on the country's politics.

'We are so big now... it is clear we should have a spot on parliamentary committees', he said.

The leader of the Sweden Democrats Jimmie Akesson attends the party's election watch in Nacka, near Stockholm, Sweden, September 12, 2022

Sweden's Prime Minister and Social Democratic party leader Magdalena Andersson delivers a speech at the Social Democratic Party election watch at the Waterfront Conference Center in Stockholm, Sweden, late Sunday night, Sept. 11, 2022

Moderate party leader Ulf Kristersson delivers a speech at the party election watch at the Clarion Sign Hotel late Sunday night, Sept. 11, 2022

The Swedish parliamentary elections, election day, during Sunday in Stockholm, Sweden Sveriges Television's broadcast displays a graphic illustrating how close the contest is between the left and right blocs

Prime Minister Andersson, a former finance minister, campaigned on building a government with the support of the small Left, Centre and Green parties.

The Social Democrats have governed Sweden since 2014 and dominated the political landscape since the 1930s.

'We Social Democrats have had a good election', she told party members late Sunday, adding: 'Swedish Social Democracy stands strong'.

The Social Democrats remain the largest party with 30.5 per cent of the vote.

But the Moderates and two other smaller right-wing parties have for the first time tied up with the anti-immigration and nationalist Sweden Democrats, creating a right-wing bloc which may well oust Andersson from the premiership.

The far-right Sweden Democrats entered parliament in 2010 with just 5.7 per cent of votes and have long been treated as 'pariahs' by other political parties.

With 20.7 per cent of the vote, they are now the country's second-biggest party for the first time, overtaking the Moderates - the traditional leaders on the right.

The leader of the Sweden Democrats Jimmie Akesson (3rd R) delivers a speech and celebrates huge gains onstage alongside other party members

Akesson kisses his girlfriend Matilda Karnerup at the Sweden Democrats election watch in Nacka, near Stockholm, Sweden, September 12

The Social Democrats, led by Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, remain the largest party with 30.5 per cent of the vote

Both blocs are beset by internal divisions that could lead to lengthy negotiations to build a coalition government.

On the right wing, the Liberals have said they are opposed to the Sweden Democrats being given cabinet posts, political scientist Katarina Barrling noted.

They would prefer for the far-right to remain in the background providing informal support in parliament.

But the end of the Sweden Democrats' political isolation and its rise to become the biggest right wing party, is 'an enormous shift in Swedish society', said Anders Lindberg, an editorialist at left-wing tabloid Aftonbladet.

Born out of a neo-Nazi movement at the end of the 1980s, the party began expelling extremists but voters long viewed it as unacceptable.

Sweden Democrat's meteoric rise to become the largest right-wing party this year comes off the back of a large influx of immigration.

The country of around 10 million people has taken in almost half a million asylum seekers in a decade.

It also comes as Sweden struggles to combat escalating gang shootings attributed to battles over the sale of drugs and weapons.

Crime was one of far-right voters' top concerns in the run up to this election - a problem the Sweden Democrats have vowed to confront head-on.
A fight between two brothers in North Dakota led a farm helper to kill his own sibling, his son and another man before turning the gun on himself, according to an investigation.

Robert Bracken, 59, allegedly killed 56-year-old Douglas Dulmage in his combine harvester on August 29, after the farmer hired him and two others to help bring in the harvest, according to Towner County Sheriff Andrew Hillier.

An autopsy revealed that Bracken had self-inflicted injuries from a .357-caliber revolver, with evidence at the scene suggesting he killed Dulmage as well as his own brother, 64-year-old Richard Bracken, and his 34-year-old son Justin Bracken, before committing suicide.

The triple-murder suicide happened in a wheat field west of Maza, North Dakota, around 13 miles northeast of Leeds.

The sheriff said the dispute had been 'escalating for a week or more' before the shooting, but did not give further details on the motive.

Douglas Dulmage is pictured in Leeds. Authorities said a dispute between two brothers led to a triple murder suicide last month in a North Dakota wheat field, where Dulmage was killed

The Towner County Sheriff's Office released a statement following a preliminary investigation

Dulmage lived with his wife and two daughters in Leeds, but farmed with his 95-year-old father at their acreage outside of town.

Local sources  including family members  told KVLY that Dulmage had hired the three Bracken men to work on the Cando farm.

Deputies arrived at 6pm to the field on the 6100 block of 66th Street Northeast to find four unresponsive individuals.

'It is hard to understand why something like this would happen in a rural farming community,' North Dakota Farm Bureau President Daryl Lies said in a statement.

'When evil presents itself, it can be devastating but we must remember there is more good than evil in our world. Dougs dedication to agriculture and love for his family will forever be remembered.'

After the shooting, local volunteers finished the harvest of the dead farmer's wheat field.

Douglas Dulmage (pictured left with his 95-year-old father Bob), 56, was shot in his combine while harvesting wheat in his field in North Dakota

Dulmage is shown eating dinner out in the fields (right), with a small polaroid picture of his family taped to a box, with another shot showing him putting a flag on top of farming equipment at Douglas Dulmage's farm (left)

Traynor said farmers in the area and friends of the Dulmage family have already held one meeting on how they will handle the work of harvesting the rest of the wheat, corn and soybeans.

The deaths are a blow to the farming community during a time that is usually a lead-up to celebrating harvest, the head of a North Dakota agriculture group said.

'Doug was a pillar in the community. He was a quiet servant leader. His actions spoke volumes about his tremendous strength of character,' said Pat Traynor, a close friend of the Dulmage family, according to KX News.
Notorious Fyre Festival fraudster Billy McFarland celebrated being released from prison by throwing a party in a plush Manhattan cocktail lounge, it has been reported.

The convicted scammer, who went down in 2018 for orchestrating the Fyre Festival fraud in 2017 that left him owing $26million to its victims, revealed he is also staying in a Brooklyn Airbnb paid for by family and friends.

In an interview and photoshoot with the New York Times, organized by his PR on McFarland's initiative while still in confinement, he expressed his desire to get back into tech entrepreneurship - although any money he makes will have to go to compensating his Fyre Festival fraud victims.

McFarland pleaded guilty to counts of wire fraud in March 2018 after scamming 80 investors into putting money in the bogus 'luxury' Fyre Festival - with much-touted 'gourmet food' being barely passable cheese sandwiches served in Styrofoam containers.

Sentenced to six years, it was revealed back in March that he had been released from FCI Elkton, a low-security federal correctional institution located in Ohio, after only four.

Notorious Fyre Festival fraudster Billy McFarland celebrated being released from prison by throwing a throwing a party in a plush Manhattan cocktail lounge (Pictured after pleading guilty on March 6, 2018)

McFarland enlisted numerous models and celebrities to help promote the fraudulent 'luxury' festival

The much-touted 'gourmet food' turned out to be barely passable cheese sandwiches served in Styrofoam containers

He was ordered to spend the following six months in confinement at the Gold Street halfway house in Brooklyn, where he had to wear an ankle bracelet and was only allowed out to go to the shops or visit the gym.

'I thought it was going to be a big process, but it turns out they just hand you scissors and you cut it off,' said Mr. McFarland on removing an electronic ankle monitor.

In the interview he revealed that he was flung into solitary confinement on multiple occasions during his incarceration due to his continual flouting of prison rules.

His first violation was to try to smuggle in a USB drive on which he was storing notes for a future memoir on the Fyre saga, which was discovered by guards and led McFarland to spend three months in solitary.

In the fall of 2020, he took part in a podcast about the Fyre Festival, called 'Dumpster Fire', over the prison pay phone - also in contravention to prison rules.

Prison records show that he spend six months in total in solitary confinement (12.5 per cent of his time in jail), although it is not clear what for.

Businessman Billy McFarland teamed with rapper Ja Rule to create Fyre Festival, which was touted as a once-in-a-lifetime event filled with glamour, big-name bands and luxurious experiences; promotional materials such as the video above painted a picture of beauty and fun in the sun

All efforts by McFarland's lawyer, Jason Russo, to get his client out of solitary were stonewalled. They did not even answer his calls.

Having abandoned thoughts of writing a memoir - profits from which would necessarily go towards paying his victims - he declares his wish to do something 'tech-based.'

'If I worked in finance, I think it would be harder to get back,' he said. 'Tech is more open. And the way I failed is totally wrong, but in a certain sense, failure is OK in entrepreneurship.'

McFarland said he wanted people to know that he was sorry for the festival and for his actions around it. 'I deserved my sentence,' he said. 'I let a lot of people down.'

He put his choices down to 'immaturity' and hubris.

'I didn't know what I didn't know,' he said.

He put some blame on the tech world, which he said sometimes operates by an 'ends justify the means' ethos.

But he confessed that his greatest error was to keep on digging once he was already in a hole.

Festivalgoers - mostly from the millennial generation, the event's target audience - had shelled out thousands of dollars to attend, with one package costing a whopping $250,000

Fyre Festival was scheduled to take place on a private island in the Bahamas over two decadent weekends in Spring 2017 - but the promised luxury accommodation was replaced by disaster recovery tents and bare mattresses on an unfinished gravel site

Fyre Festival guests paid $13,000 for a trash-filled, unfinished site and canceled performances

'I lied,' he said. 'I think I was scared. And the fear was letting down people who believed in me  showing them they weren't right.'

Back in 2017, McFarland had teamed up with rapper Ja Rule to draw millions in investments with the promise of putting on a first-of-its-kind, luxury music festival event in The Bahamas with models, DJs, luxury dwellings and extravagant meals.

They paid models like Kendall Jenner to promote the event on Instagram and blasted seduction promo videos and pictures to lure people into buying tickets that were sold at thousands of dollars each.

But the event was a disaster, with people arriving on the island of Great Exuma to find a scene more closely resembling a disaster relief camp than a luxury festival.

Court filings documents described the scene met by concert goers upon their arrival as 'total disorganization and chaos.' The 'luxury accommodations' were FEMA disaster relief tents, the 'gourmet food' was barely passable cheese sandwiches served in Styrofoam containers and the 'hottest musical acts' nowhere to be seen.

Fyre Festival was the brainchild of businessman Billy McFarland, right, and rapper Ja Rule, who both heavily promoted the event - and now face multiple lawsuits

The festival sold a total of around 8,000 tickets for two weekends. With attendees having spent between $1,000 to $12,000 on ticket to the festival, it was cancelled on its opening day, leaving people stuck on the island without many basic amnesties.

Two documentaries, one on Netflix and another on Hulu, were made detailing the event's organisation and ensuing chaos.

McFarland was arrested in June 2017 and pleaded guilty to numerous fraud charges relating to both the Fyre Festival and his company NYC CIP Access, which also sold fake tickets to events such as the Met Gala.

He was sentenced to six years in prison in October 2018 and ordered to pay $5 million to two North Carolina residents who spent about $13,000 each of VIP packages to the Fyre Festival. Ja Rule was cleared of any wrongdoing a year later.

Numerous lawsuits were also filed against the pair, and McFarland apologised.

'I cannot emphasize enough how sorry I am that we fell short of our goal,' McFarland said in a statement in 2017, but he declined to comment on specific allegations.

'I'm committed to, and working actively to, find a way to make this right, not just for investors but for those who planned to attend.'

The organizers attributed the event's cancellation to a number of factors, including the weather. But some employees of the Fyre company said its bosses has invented features of the event - such as $400,000 accommodation called the 'Artist's Palace ticket package - just to see if people would by them.

'Billy went to jail, ticket holders can get some money back, and some very entertaining documentaries were made,' Ben Meiselas, a partner at Geragos & Geragos and the lead lawyer representing the ticket holders told the New York Times in an email. 'Now that's justice.'
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Wellwishers were today turned away from Edinburgh's historic Royal Mile after huge crowds and thousands of mourners descended upon the Scottish capital to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II.

Large queues of people were pictured lining up with flags bearing the Union Jack and colourful homemade signs outside St Giles' Cathedral as the sun's first light began to break through the morning clouds on Monday.

But by midday, Police Scotland officers were preventing any newcomers from joining the swelling crowds that had lined the narrow streets around the 12th century stone cathedral as city officials warned of significant disruption ahead of the proceedings.

Two primary schools and an early learning centre in the Old Town area of Edinburgh had earlier been closed due to disruption, as thousands lined up for the first chance to pay their last respects to the Queen's flag-draped casket.

Tourists from as far away as Mexico and California queued along the Royal Mile in preparation for the Queen's cortege passing by, as Police Scotland snipers trained their eyes on the crowd as they prepare to protect King Charles and other senior royals as they walk within touching distance of well-wishers later this afternoon.

The Queen's oak coffin will take a circuitous journey back to Edinburgh. On Monday, it will be taken from Holyroodhouse to nearby St. Giles' Cathedral, where it will remain until Tuesday, when it will be flown to London ahead of the state funeral.

King Charles III will walk behind his mother's coffin in a sombre afternoon procession leading from Holyroodhouse palace - where it arrived on Sunday after making a six-hour road journey from Balmoral Castle - to the cathedral.

The King will be flanked by soldiers as they proceed down the historic Royal Mile, before arriving at the 12th century grey stone cathedral, where it will be topped with the Crown of Scotland and remain for 24 hours.

Inside St Giles' Cathedral, senior royals, the new monarch and a congregation drawn from all areas of Scottish society will attend a service of thanksgiving that pays powerful tribute to the Queen's extraordinary life.

It comes as heavily armed police and security services yesterday formed rings of steel outside the Palace of Holyroodhouse and St Giles' Cathedral - as up to 10,000 officers prepare to be involved in the biggest single security operation the country has ever seen.

Specialist police teams and intelligence officers are understood to have cancelled holiday leave as part of a massive, cross-agency security task for the Queen's funeral.

Hundreds of foreign dignitaries from across the globe and hundreds of thousands of mourners are anticipated in the capital are set to create an unprecedented 'security headache'.

The operation will ramp up throughout the week as the Queen's body is flown back to London before she is set to lie in state at the Palace of Westminster.

Huge crowds have descended upon Edinburgh 's Royal Mile today as thousands of mourners head to the Scottish capital to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II

By midday, Police Scotland officers were preventing any newcomers from joining the swelling crowds that had lined the narrow streets around the 12th century stone cathedral as city officials warned of significant disruption ahead of the proceedings

The state car carrying King Charles III leads the procession down Edinburgh's historic Royal Mile

Wellwishers and mourners greet the new King in Edinburgh as they pay tribute to the United Kingdom's longest serving monarch, Queen Elizabeth II

King Charles III arrives in Edinburgh in his state car as he is followed by a security detail into Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh

Hundreds of mourners line Edinburgh's Royal Mile on Monday as they wait for the royal procession to pass as it heads towards St Giles' Cathedral, where the Queen's coffin will stay for 24 hours

Specialist police teams and intelligence officers are understood to have cancelled holiday leave as part of a massive, cross-agency security task for the Queen's funeral. Pictured: Police Scotland officers are pictured on Royal Mile on Monday

A sea of mourners line the packed streets of Edinburgh as they watch King Charles III lead a procession to the Palace of Holyroodhouse on Monday

Inside St Giles' Cathedral (pictured), senior royals, the new monarch and a congregation drawn from all areas of Scottish society will attend a service of thanksgiving that pays powerful tribute to the Queen's extraordinary life

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon greets the new King as he arrives at Edinburgh Airport on Monday

Mourners and wellwishers reportedly camped overnight as they wait outside St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh and will pay their respects to the Queen on Monday

Two police snipers are pictured monitoring the crowds on Edinburgh's Royal Mile on Monday ahead of Queen Elizabeth II's coffin being transferred to St Giles' Cathedral

Crowds have descended on Edinburgh's Royal Mile today as thousands head to the Scottish capital to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II

A man arrives at St Giles' Cathedral with his dog as he will join thousands of mourners in paying their last respects to the Queen

Queues of mourners were pictured lining up with flags bearing the Union Jack and colourful homemade signs outside St Giles' Cathedral as the sun's first light began to break through the morning clouds on Monday

A police officer stands guard outside the front doors to St Giles' Cathedral, where thousands are expected to descend later today ahead of the procession of Queen Elizabeth II's coffin from Holyroodhouse

Thousands are expected to line up for the chance to pay their respects to the Queen's flag-draped casket a week ahead of her state funeral in London

Police officers stand guard on Edinburgh's Royal Mile as mourners prepare to flock to the Scottish capital to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II

Pallbearers, one with his eyes closed another looking to the sky, carry the coffin of Britain's Queen Elizabeth as the hearse arrives at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh

Families with children took up places along the historic route that the Queen's coffin will take from Holyrood Palace and St Giles Cathedral this afternoon.

Among them were two friends who had traveled to Edinburgh overnight to witness this 'important historical event'.

Travel agent Marisa Ippolito, 61, from Manchester, told MailOnline: 'I came here to pay my respects and to witness this important historical event. It is very sad but I wanted to be here and see it myself.

'Also I believe that the Queen created this situation, of spending her final days in Scotland to preserve the Union.'

Her friend Karyn Ward added: 'It's fortune that the Queen passed away here in Scotland so the we Scots can show how much she mean to us.

'So I'm here to celebrate this wonderful woman. And to be here across the road from St Giles Cathedral and see it all.'

Mother-of-two Caroline Jolly decided to take her son, Ryan, 13, and daughter Neve, 5, out of school so they could witness this historical event.

Caroline, from Lanarkshire, told MailOnline: 'I felt compelled to come and be here. We're only an hour away so I told the kids we're going.

'I want them to remembering this event and to be able to tell their children that they were here to pay their respects to the Queen.'

Mario and Melissa Tello, both 31 from Mexico, were also in the Old Town on Monday to pay their respects.

Mr Tello, a business owner, said the couple planned to stay on the Royal Mile until the procession passes on Monday afternoon.

He said: 'Our train is at 7pm, I think we will stay here until the Royal family arrives for the service.

'We were travelling here from Canada when we heard the news and we were very sad.

'The Queen was a very nice person. We love Scotland, we have always wanted to come here and we have chosen a special time to come.'

Edinburgh City Council leader Cammy Day told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme the city was expecting large crowds on Monday.

He said: 'We're expecting tens of thousands of people to be up and down the High Street as Her Majesty comes up to St Giles' and then onwards from there tomorrow.

'Our advice to people is to get to the city centre as quickly and early as you can, use public transport because the city has diversions or road closures.

'We are looking forward to welcoming tens of thousands of people to give Her Majesty the send off that the city will give her.'

He said the queue from St Giles' Cathedral could potentially spiral back as far as The Meadows as people wait to pay their respects.

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said 'the Queen loved Scotland and Scotland loved the Queen'.

He added that the strength of the connection between Scotland and the royal family was evident as people lined up to pay their respects as the Queen's cortege passed through the nation on Sunday.

Asked if the connection is still there with the new King, Mr Ross told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'Yes, and I think particularly with the Accession Council making the point that the new King swore his allegiance to uphold and protect the Church of Scotland, the fact that the royal family are here today and there'll be a service of thanksgiving at St Giles', and then in the Scottish Parliament we will also be paying tribute to the late Queen and also pledging our allegiance and support to the new King and providing that support.'

He added: 'The Queen loved Scotland and Scotland loved the Queen and I think we showed that yesterday.

'I think we'll see that again today with the service of thanksgiving and I think it is a fitting tribute to the late Queen that Scotland is able to play this role at this early part in the national mourning.'

The House of Commons and the House of Lords will today come together in Westminster for a Motion of Condolence, which the King will attend.

He will address MPs and peers for the first time as monarch, before flying to Edinburgh to attend Scottish Parliament later today.

At 12.45pm, the King and the Queen consort will arrive at Edinburgh Airport and travel to the Palace of Holyroodhouse where Charles III will inspect the Guard of Honour.

King Charles and the Queen Consort will then fly into the Scottish capital and travel to the palace to inspect a guard of honour. At 2.35pm, Charles and Camilla will join a procession to St Giles' Cathedral 1,200 yards away.

The procession will consist of a hearse, flanked by the Bearer Party of the Royal Regiment of Scotland and the detachment of The King's Body Guard in Scotland, the Royal Company of Archers.

The King and other senior members of the Royal Family will walk the 1,200 yard route on foot.

King Charles will be joined by his brothers, Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex, and Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, his sister, the Princess Royal.

There is speculation that Prince William, Prince Harry and their wives Kate and Meghan will also be there after their shock reunion outside Windsor Castle on Saturday.

It is expected that her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence will also join on foot - while the Queen Consort and other members of the monarchy will follow in cars. Once laid in St Giles' Cathedral, the Crown of Scotland will be placed on the Queen's coffin.

This afternoon, King Charles will hold audiences with leaders, and speak at the Scottish parliament. His journey will mark the start of tour of the nations.

At 7.20pm, the King and other family members will mount a vigil by the coffin.

Members of the public watch the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, as it is driven through Edinburgh yesterday

The Princess Royal curtseys as the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped with the Royal Standard of Scotland, completes its journey from Balmoral to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh

Prince Andrew, Duke of York views the flowers left by mourners outside Balmoral Castle on September 10

Today the Duke of York is expected to walk behind his mother's coffin during a procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, at 2.35pm. Pictured, the coffin arrives in Edinburgh yesterday

The Duke stands centre as he waves to members of the public after attending a service at Crathie Kirk church near Balmoral

Royal Parks bosses have asked mourners to stop leaving Paddington Bear and marmalade sandwich tributes in honour of the Queen - and to stick to unwrapped flowers instead. Pictured: floral tributes in Green Park today

The younger generations have been leaving Paddington Bears, Marmalade sandwiches and hand-drawn cards all over the country

People gathered in Edinburgh to pay tribute to Her Majesty as her cortege passed through the Scottish capital yesterday

Thousands of people turned out as her coffin was transported from Balmoral Castle to the Palace at Holyroodhouse on Sunday afternoon

King Charles III waving at well-wishers as he arrives at Buckingham Palace on Sunday afternoon

Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence, the Duke of York, the Princess Royal, the Countess of Wessex and the Earl of Wessex at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, awaiting the Queen's coffin

How the service of thanksgiving for the Queen will unfold at Edinburgh's historic St Giles' Cathedral The cathedral at the heart of Edinburgh's historic Royal Mile will become the centre of tributes to the late Queen later on Monday. The service at St Giles' Cathedral, led by Reverend Calum MacLeod, is set to celebrate the life of the Queen and her connection to Scotland, and will be attended by the King and the Queen Consort. The Queen's coffin will be taken from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to the High Street cathedral where her family, and a congregation drawn from all areas of Scottish society, will attend the service of thanksgiving. The King will lead some of the royals - expected to be the Duke of York, Earl of Wessex and the Princess Royal and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence - on foot while the Queen Consort and other members of the monarchy follow in cars. Mourners are expected to hear a reading of Ecclesiastes from First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, as well as words from Nigerian student Samuel Nwokoro, the Right Reverend Dr Iain Greenshields, the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and others. As mourners enter the church, they will arrive to music sung by the Choir of St Giles' Cathedral, conducted by the Master of the Music Michael Harris. The organ will be played by Jordan English, assistant organist of St Giles' Cathedral. The service will end with the national anthem before the royal party leaves. Members of the public will then be able to view the coffin to pay their respects for 24 hours before it is taken to London to lie in state. Advertisement

Full details about the royal mourners have yet to be released but there is speculation the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and the new Prince and Princess of Wales, who on Saturday put on a united front during an appearance at Windsor Castle, will be part of the group.

The Queen will then lie at rest for 24 hours, with thousands expected to file past.

After leaving England and visiting Scotland, Charles will at some stage travel to the other countries of the UK - Wales and Northern Ireland - known as Operation Spring Tide.

The Queen's oak coffin, draped with the Royal Standard of Scotland with a wreath of Balmoral flowers on top, began its journey from the Queen's summer sanctuary in the Highlands and the first settlement it reached was Ballater.

She stayed overnight at the palace yesterday before being moved to St Giles' Cathedral - where earlier a large crowd had gathered to witness the midday proclamation of King Charles as head of state.

Earlier in the day, a single motorbike police outrider led the way as the hearse travelled at a stately pace through the Aberdeenshire countryside.

At one point, as the cortege travelled through Dundee, a lone long-stemmed flower could be seen on the hearse windscreen and in a rural part of the route farmers paid homage to the monarch with tractors lined up in a field.

Hundreds lined the main street of Ballater, the picturesque Victorian village closest to the Balmoral estate, where locals considered her a neighbour, as the Queen's coffin was driven slowly through.

Her Majesty and her family were often seen in the village in Royal Deeside, which she had visited since childhood and where the Royal Family have space to be themselves.

The hearse passed Glenmuick Church, where the Rev David Barr rang the church bells 70 times after the Queen's death was announced.

Flowers were thrown into the hearse's path by well-wishers on both sides of the road in Ballater, which was sombre and silent.

The hearse slowed to a fast walking pace and mourners could clearly see the royal standard-draped coffin and the wreath featuring flowers from the Balmoral estate, including sweet peas - one of the Queen's favourite flowers - dahlias, phlox, white heather and pine fir.

The security operation will ramp up throughout the week as the Queen's body is flown back to London before she is set to lie in state at the Palace of Westminster.

It is the first time special forces teams including SAS units are expected to be pre-deployed to bases in London on a heightened state of alert in case of any potential attacks.

Police were granted a no-fly zone order over London on the planned day of the funeral on Monday September 19, which will follow 10 days of mourning.

As well as thousands of uniformed Metropolitan Police bobbies drafted into action, plain-clothes officers will also mingle among crowds to monitor any threats.

It is expected that other forces will be asked to provide officers under 'mutual aid'.

On Friday police snipers were spotted on the roof of Buckingham Palace with guns trained on the crowds as King Charles greeted people outside after returning from Balmoral.
This is the horror moment a reveller is killed after falling into the path of a raging bull as he tries to reach safety.

The 30-year-old was rushed to hospital but pronounced dead on arrival after suffering a series of gore injuries including one to the neck.

Footage of the drama showed the bull going for him as he lost his balance while trying to scale a fence and ending up at its mercy on the ground.

He was diagnosed with seven broken ribs and one of the blows he suffered is said to have penetrated one of his lungs and caused a build-up of blood which eventually claimed his life

Seconds earlier he had outrun the animal after dropping his coat in front of it to distract it. The tragedy happened on Saturday night in Navalcarnero near Madrid during an event known as an encierro in which bulls are let loose on the streets.

The dead man has been named as Daniel Gonzalez Arribas.

He was used to working with bulls and had gained fame in the area as a so-called recortador. This is the name given in Spanish to men who use their bodies to dodge bulls running at them in bullrings by performing jumps, somersaults and other acrobatic feats.

Friend Ricardo Otero said in an online tribute: A boy has left us doing what he most enjoyed. He was just a boy but he was also a brave person and a friend of the sort you seldom find nowadays, someone who was always ready to help others that could be in danger.

He was used to working with bulls and had gained fame in the area as a so-called recortador. This is the name given in Spanish to men who use their bodies to dodge bulls running at them in bullrings by performing jumps, somersaults and other acrobatic feats

On July 20 it was confirmed a 56-year-old man had lost his fight for life in hospital after being rushed to intensive care with head and gore injuries

Several people have been killed already this year at festivals involving bulls in Spain. Three of the victims died in just 24 hours in the month of July.

On July 20 it was confirmed a 56-year-old man had lost his fight for life in hospital after being rushed to intensive care with head and gore injuries on July 12 from an event in Picassent near the east coast city of Valencia.

The local town hall said at the time it had decreed a day of mourning after learning of the mans death.

On July 19 it emerged a 50-year-old man named as Josep Antoni Garcia Arnau had died at another Valencia hospital from injuries he suffered after being up-ended by a bull at a festival in Meliana a 40-minute drive north of Picassent.

He was diagnosed with seven broken ribs and one of the blows he suffered is said to have penetrated one of his lungs and caused a build-up of blood which eventually claimed his life. Around the same time it was confirmed a Frenchman aged 64 had died in hospital nine days after being gored during an annual festival in Pedreguer on the Costa Blanca a half-hour drive from Moraira.

All three men had been taking part in annual events known locally as Bous Al Carrer, which literally means Bulls on the Street.

Last Monday a man was seriously injured at a festival in the Portuguese village of Reguengo. Horrific footage showed a half-tonne bull kicking him in the face as it was being removed from the area after being let out onto the streets at an annual festival.
Conor McGregor has been accused of being 'rattled' after calling a young cancer survivor a 'prune head' during a bizarre rant on social media last night.

The UFC star lashed out at student Sam Sallick after the young American claimed the professional brawler was 'ageing rapidly'.

Appearing offended by the comment, the 34-year-old former MMA champion fired back in a now-deleted tweet to his nine million-strong army of fans.

Conor McGregor launched his bizarre Twitter rant against an American student last night, calling the cancer survivor a 'prune head' before deleting his tweet 20 minutes later

'Lord Almighty. Say less bro. You look like a baby grandpa. @yungsallick you little prune head,' McGregor wrote, before erasing the tweet 20 minutes later.

In a later post on social media - which was also deleted - the Irishman added: 'Despite contrary belief, I never fire the first shot in verbal warfare or disrespect. I end it with bombs that obliterate the original comments or remarks but never fire first.'

McGregor's loyal followers reacted furiously to the Notorious' tweets, with scores taking aim at the college student from Washington DC.

Sam was left 'annoyed' by the bombardment, with McGregor lovers calling him a 'prune' and 'little twerp', before mocking his appearance, with one saying: 'You look like you could be anywhere from 15 to 49.'

Sam Sallick, pictured right, was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in 2019 while at high school in Washington DC

Scores of McGregor's fans took aim at Sam, mocking his appearance following the UFC star's tweets

But he also received support online, with one person tweeting: 'Brotha you made it, this is a win for you,' and another adding: 'You rattled him.'

The bullying comments come after Mr Sallick overcame a lengthy battle against a rare form of cancer.

He was diagnosed with, a very rare bone cancer affecting about 200 children and young adults in the US every year, in 2019 while at high school.

He faced a grueling 17 rounds of chemotherapy treatment and three surgeries before beating the illness - which. He now proudly calls himself a 'cancer survivor' in his Twitter bio.

Sam was diagnosed with Ewings sarcoma, a very rare bone cancer affecting about 200 children and young adults in the USA every year, in 2019 while at high school.

McGregor has previously been 'warned' by UFC boss Dana White about his online rows, following a spat with Russian prankster, Hasbulla

The comments made by McGregor have shocked a former British health minster, who was appalled by the UFC star's actions.

Dame Caroline Dinenage, MP for Gosport, Hampshire, told MailOnline the brawler should be setting an example for his fans, and branded him 'pretty cowardly' for abusing Sam.

Dame Caroline - who led a parliamentary debate into childhood cancers at the House of Commons earlier this year - added: 'Someone with such a large following, particularly of young fans, has a unique opportunity to act as a positive role model.'

The online spat is the latest in a string of social media clashes involving McGregor.

Earlier this month the controversial fighter sparked outrage by going after pint-sized internet sensation Hasbulla Magomedov, who suffers from a growth hormone deficiency.

In a similar series of now-deleted tweets, the UFC star went tore into the 99cm-tall prankster from Russia.

McGregor tweeted: 'I'd love to boot that little gimp Hasbulla over a goal post', before he labelled him a 'little smelly inbred'.

It is not clear what has caused the feud between the pair, but Hasbulla is good friends with McGregor's longtime rival Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Hasbulla, 19, was called a 'gimp' and an 'inbred' by McGregor during a row over social media earlier this month

UFC boss Dana White - who is friends with Hasbulla - warned McGregor to 'watch himself' after his spat with Hasbulla

Fiery 19-year-old Hasbulla responded to the Irishman by saying he would 'smash him' and called for a fight between the pair to be organised.

Hasbulla added: 'Hey uncle @danawhite and @ufc please make it happen, let me eat this chicken @TheNotoriousMMA. Im hungry, Ill smash him with my mountain spirit. My brother @TeamKhabib smashed him and all his team, now is my time to rise! #HasbullaTime #CantDeleteMyTweetsConor.'

But McGregor's comment's drew concern from UFC boss Dana White, who warned the fighter - who is worth an estimated 171million ($200million) - he might have to 'watch himself'.

Speaking on My Mom's Basement podcast, 53-year-old White - who is friends with Hasbulla. said: "Conor better watch himself. If he runs into Hasbulla then he's gonna be in some big trouble."
Barnacle experts revealed her shoe may have only been in water for one week

An inquest into the case reveals her husband was considered a murder suspect

Her foot in a shoe washed up on south coast beach of NSW in February 2021

She ran a Ponzi scheme where she ripped off investors to the tune of $30million

A day after fraudster Melissa Caddick vanished her husband was suspected of being involved in her mysterious disappearance, her inquest has been told.

Louise Coleman, junior counsel assisting the inquest, said on Monday that three police officers who took Anthony Koletti's missing person's report held concerns about the accounts he provided.

Sergeant Trent Riley wrote in July 2021 that Mr Koletti told him 'several lies, (and) that his story had changed multiple times'.

Mr Koletti is due to give evidence at his wife's inquest and was present at the NSW Coroners Court in Lidcombe as well as parents her Barbara and Ted Grimley and brother Adam Grimley.

An expert report examining barnacles growth on Ms Caddick's washed-up shoe concluded it spent no more than one week, and no less than two-three days floating in the ocean, the inquest was told.

A day after fraudster Melissa Caddick vanished her husband Anthony Koletti was suspected of being involved in her mysterious disappearance, her inquest has been told

An expert report examining barnacles growth on Ms Caddick's washed-up shoe (pictured) concluded it spent no more than one week, and no less than two-three days floating in the ocean, the inquest was told

While Ms Caddick is suspected to be dead, a forensic pathologist could not determine whether her foot was separated due to blunt force, sharp force or decomposition before it washed ashore at Bournda Beach on the state's south coast.

But it is 'very unlikely that Ms Caddick amputated her own foot', with or without the assistance of a non-medically trained individual, to stage her disappearance, Ms Coleman told Deputy State Coroner Elizabeth Ryan.

Other areas to be explored include her diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder and some criticism of the NSW police investigation.

A crime scene was not established until 19 days after she was reported missing.

The Australian Federal Police and Australian Securities and Investments Commission raided her Dover Heights home in Sydney's eastern suburbs on November 11, 2020.

That was the last verified sighting of Ms Caddick.

Some 28 hours after Mr Koletti says his wife left the house to go for a walk or jog he reported her missing to police.

Husband of Melissa Caddick, Anthony Koletti arrives for the inquest into the death of Sydney fraudster Melissa Caddick at the Lidcombe Coroners Court in Sydney, Monday, September 12

Financial adviser Melissa Caddick is pictured with her husband Anthony Koletti in Aspen, Colorado, during a ski trip

Attending officers found Mr Koletti on November 13 in a 'composed, relaxed and seemingly uncaring persona ... unlike any other person I had taken a missing person report from previously'.

Ms Caddick's mother says her daughter was not offered food or drink during the full duration of the search warrant and holds ASIC responsible for her suspected death, the inquest was told.

But this has been disputed as Ms Caddick at the time was not under arrest, allowed to walk freely and leave if she wished, not observed to be showing any signs of mental ill-health, and did make herself a protein shake in the morning.

In late 2012 Ms Caddick's marriage to Tony Caddick dissolved following her affair with Mr Koletti who was her hairdresser.

She purportedly referred to a Sydney suicide spot when telling her brother Adam about this time: 'If it all gets too much for me you'll find me at The Gap'.

Caddick is pictured during the ASIC-AFP raid on her Dover Heights home on November 11

Koletti is pictured with his $300,000 Audi R8 at McMahon's Point on Sydney's lower north shore

Another friend said Ms Caddick made her write down a four-letter code she was instructed to give Adam if she went missing.

By late 2020 her friends say Ms Caddick was under extreme financial pressure and on one occasion walked to the Dover Heights cliffs.

'If I'm going to end it, it's going to be here,' her friend recalls Ms Caddick telling her.

Her victims, mostly family and friends, lost $20-$30 million through her Ponzi scheme used to fund her lavish lifestyle and excessive spending on expensive jewellery, designer clothing, overseas getaways and multi-million dollar homes.

Her clients believed she would invest their life savings on their behalf and she created fake documents to suggest she had done so.

Whether Ms Caddick knew about the ASIC investigation will also be scrutinised, as she booked shredding services in September 2020, three months before she vanished.

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New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says her government will not pursue becoming a republic following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Under New Zealand's constitutional arrangements, the Queen was also New Zealand's monarch and head of state until her death on Thursday.

But there were suspicions the island nation could seek to break its bond with Britain following the Queen's passing.

On Saturday, Antigua and Barbuda's Prime Minister Gaston Browne declared intentions to hold a referendum on whether to become a republic and remove King Charles III as monarch within three years.

Prominent anti-monarchists in Australia, including Greens party leader Adam Bandt, also called for a move towards republicanism within hours of the Queens' death.

But in a speech delivered this morning, Ardern expressed her deep admiration for the Queen as New Zealand's head of state and instead declared the nation would observe a public holiday on September 26 to honour her passing.

'This, I hope, will be a chance to acknowledge a lifetime of service to New Zealand by Queen Elizabeth II,' Ardern told reporters in Wellington.

'We need to acknowledge here (that) this is a one-in-70-year event. The queen was our sovereign, our head of state.'

'She made an enormous contribution to New Zealand through her public service,' Ardern added. 'This marks a significant end to a chapter.'

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern addresses a press conference after news of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II at the Beehive in Wellington, New Zealand, Friday, Sept. 9, 2022

Queen Elizabeth II greets Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand in the Blue Drawing Room at The Queen's Dinner during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) at Buckingham Palace on April 19, 2018 in London, England

On Friday, hours after the Queen's passing, Ardern described the monarch as an 'extraordinary woman' who worked 'until the very end on behalf of the people she loved.'

She added that like many other people, she was feeling not only deep sadness but also deep gratitude.

'Here is a woman who gave her life, utterly, to the service of others. And regardless of what anyone thinks of the role of monarchies around the world, there is undeniably, I think here, a display of someone who gave everything on behalf of her people, and her people included the people of Aotearoa New Zealand.'

Ardern said New Zealand had moved into a period of official mourning, and would hold a state memorial service after the official funeral in Britain.

Still, many people argue New Zealand won't be able to fully step out from the shadows of its colonialist past and become a truly independent nation until it does become a republic.

In September 2020, Barbados' Prime Minister Mia Mottley declared it was time to 'leave the colonial past behind' and last November the nation replaced the Queen as head of state with one of the island's former governor-generals - the first country to do so since Mauritius in 1992.

'There's been a debate, probably for a number of years,' Ardern said. 'It's just the pace, and how widely that debate is occurring. I've made my view plain many times. I do believe that is where New Zealand will head, in time. I believe it is likely to occur in my lifetime.

'But I don't see it as a short-term measure or anything that is on the agenda any time soon,' Ardern said.

She said that becoming a republic was not something her government planned to discuss at any point.

The New Zealand flag at half-mast outside Parliament, in Wellington, New Zealand following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Friday, Sept. 9, 2022

The hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II arrives at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, September 11, 2022

Ardern confirmed she will leave New Zealand on September 14 to attend the queen's funeral in London, immediately after which she will fly to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

New Zealand follows in the footsteps of Australia, where a public holiday has been announced for September 22.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is also flying to London to attend the funeral.

On Sunday, Australia and New Zealand officially named King Charles III as monarch.

Both former British colonies have been independent for decades but retain the monarch as their head of state.

Ardern was clear she had no intention to seek to push New Zealand towards republicanism.

But Australian politicians have been less straightforward and attempted to avoid questions over whether King Charles III should be maintained as monarch.

'Now is not a time to talk about our system of government,' Australian Prime Minister Albanese told Australian Broadcasting Corp on Sunday.

'Now is the time for us to pay tribute to the life of Queen Elizabeth, a life well lived, a life of dedication and loyalty including to the Australian people and for us to honour and grieve.'

An indigenous dancer performs as Governor-General David Hurley, second left, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese watch at the Proclamation of King Charles III, on the forecourt of Parliament House, in Canberra, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. The monarchs representative in Australia will proclaim the ascension of King Charles III as mourning continues around the nation for Queen Elizabeth II who died on Sept. 8, 2022. She was 96. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)

Sydney Opera House is illuminated with a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II

Opposition leader Peter Dutton, a monarchist, has similarly avoided questions about why Australia needs a king.

But the Australian Republic Movement, an organisation that campaigns for Australia to become a republic and is unaffiliated with any political party, released a statement which referred to comments made by the Queen over the 1999 referendum that voted to maintain the British monarch as Australia's head of state.

'The Queen backed the right of Australians to become a fully independent nation during the referendum saying that she has ''always made it clear that the future of the monarchy in Australia is an issue for the Australian people and them alone to decide, by democratic and constitutional means'',' the statement said.

The Greens party, which is influential in the Senate where no party holds a majority of seats, also raised the issue on Friday, less than 24 hours after the Queen's death.

'Now Australia must move forward. We need Treaty with First Nations people, and we need to become a Republic,' Greens leader Adam Bandt tweeted on Friday.
This is the moment a violent thug's attack on a 16-year-old boy completely backfired after the teenager turned out to be a junior martial arts world champion.

Stuart Briggs, 35, has confessed to targeting student Alex Williams, now 17, during a lunchtime assault in Guisborough, North Yorkshire.

Briggs appeared at Teesside Magistrates' Court on Friday where he pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm without intent for the attack that left Alex requiring six stitches at hospital for his injuries.

The 35-year-old from Middlesbrough was granted unconditional bail until October 11.

The aggressive thug, who bit a chunk out of the boy's ear, launched an attack on the teenager, shouting: 'I'm gonna smash your head in' and 'I'm gonna stab you down the alley.

But what Briggs did not realise is that the young boy was a multiple junior world champion in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Video footage shows the moment that Briggs approaches the teenager sat on a high street bench with a friend.

Briggs attempts to grab him but extraordinary footage captured the moment that Alex jumps into defence mode, and appears to lift the man - more than double his age- up and flip him over onto the floor as he restrains him.

This was the moment that then 16-year-old Alex Williams, a junior world champion in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, flipped over 35-year-old Stuart Briggs who had launched an attack on him while he was sat on a bench

Alex, a student from Redcar, North Yorkshire is a multiple time Jiu-Jitsu world champion

The aggressor is able to briefly escape as Alex attempts to walk away from the situation but he keeps coming back at the then 16-year-old.

The teenager removes some personal belongings from his pockets as the two men square up to each other while bystanders watch on.

As the pair grapple on the floor, a man appears to approach them to help break things up.

Speaking about the September 14 attack last year, Alex from Redcar, North Yorkshire, previously told Teesside Live: 'As he got closer to me I saw an opportunity to defend myself and fight back, so I took it.

Briggs bit a chunk of the teenager's ear off which left him requiring six stitches in hospital after the attack

Briggs (pictured) has confessed to targeting the teenager and pleaded guilty to inflicting GBH without intent on Friday

'When the fight or flight kicks in you've got to choose one or the other and I chose to fight back and I was focused.

'Obviously I was worried in case he had a knife on him because he has threatened to stab me but in situations like that it's about surviving and I was thankfully ready for him.

'I thought after I had taken him down the first time that he would have walked away but he came back for more so I just continued to try to restrain him without hitting him.

'I was in a seated position and the move just came to me naturally because I've drilled it a thousand times in training. My main aim was to de-escalate the situation safely.

'There was blood everywhere and I realised he had bitten a chunk out of my ear,' added Alex.

Eventually Briggs walked away and the student at Prior Pursglove College rang the police.
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The Duke of Sussex today paid an emotional tribute to his late grandmother the Queen as he praised her 'sound advice' and 'infectious smile' and called her a 'guiding compass' through her commitment to service and duty.

In a statement released today, which is understood to have been held back a day out of respect for the anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the Duke also said he wanted to honour his father at the start of his reign as King.

Harry also referred to his 'darling wife' Meghan Markle; said he was grateful that the Queen had hugged her 'beloved great-grandchildren'; and spoke of how he 'cherished' the times spent with the 96-year-old.

Today, King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla were in London to visit Westminster Hall, where both Houses of Parliament expressed their condolences to the new monarch and his wife, with the King giving his reply.

Later, the coffin carrying the Queen's body will be taken from the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh to nearby St Giles' Cathedral where her family and the congregation will attend a service of thanksgiving for her life.

And Harry said today: 'In celebrating the life of my grandmother, Her Majesty The Queen - and in mourning her loss - we are all reminded of the guiding compass she was to so many in her commitment to service and duty.

'She was globally admired and respected. Her unwavering grace and dignity remained true throughout her life and now her everlasting legacy.

'Let us echo the words she spoke after the passing of her husband, Prince Philip, words which can bring comfort to all of us now: 'Life, of course, consists of final partings as well as first meetings.''

He added: 'Granny, while this final parting brings us great sadness, I am forever grateful for all of our first meetings-from my earliest childhood memories with you, to meeting you for the first time as my Commander-in-Chief, to the first moment you met my darling wife and hugged your beloved great-grandchildren.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex walk to meet members of the public at Windsor Castle on Saturday after the Queen's death

The Prince and Princess of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on the Long Walk at Windsor Castle on Saturday

The Duke of Sussex has paid an emotional tribute to his late grandmother the Queen as he thanked her for her 'sound advice'

'I cherish these times shared with you, and the many other special moments in between. You are already sorely missed, not just by us, but by the world over.

'And as it comes to first meetings, we now honour my father in his new role as King Charles III. Thank you for your commitment to service. Thank you for your sound advice.

Duke of Sussex's tribute to the Queen in full Here is the statement released by the Duke of Sussex in full. 'In celebrating the life of my grandmother, Her Majesty The Queen - and in mourning her loss - we are all reminded of the guiding compass she was to so many in her commitment to service and duty. 'She was globally admired and respected. Her unwavering grace and dignity remained true throughout her life and now her everlasting legacy. 'Let us echo the words she spoke after the passing of her husband, Prince Philip, words which can bring comfort to all of us now: 'Life, of course, consists of final partings as well as first meetings.' 'Granny, while this final parting brings us great sadness, I am forever grateful for all of our first meetings - from my earliest childhood memories with you, to meeting you for the first time as my Commander-in-Chief, to the first moment you met my darling wife and hugged your beloved great-grandchildren. 'I cherish these times shared with you, and the many other special moments in between. You are already sorely missed, not just by us, but by the world over. And as it comes to first meetings, we now honour my father in his new role as King Charles III. 'Thank you for your commitment to service. Thank you for your sound advice. Thank you for your infectious smile. 'We, too, smile knowing that you and grandpa are reunited now, and both together in peace.' Advertisement

'Thank you for your infectious smile. We, too, smile knowing that you and grandpa are reunited now, and both together in peace.'

Harry's statement comes two days after the Prince and Princess of Wales put on a united front with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as they joined forces on a walkabout at Windsor Castle over the weekend.

William and Harry have a well-documented troubled relationship but the death of their grandmother saw the rivals shelve their differences when, with their wives, they viewed floral tributes left to the late Queen.

It is understood the prince invited his brother to join them in meeting well-wishers outside the castle, and a royal source said William thought it was an 'important show of unity'.

Two years have passed since William, Kate, Harry and Meghan were together side-by-side in public, during the 2020 Commonwealth Day church service on March 9, 2020.

As the couple's first engagement under their new titles, William and Kate were joined by Harry and Meghan as they inspected flowers and balloons before a walkabout at the castle on Saturday.

A royal source said the Prince of Wales asked his brother and his wife to join them in viewing the tributes.

The source said: 'The Prince of Wales invited the Duke and Duchess to join him and the Princes of Wales earlier.'

The last time William was joined in public by his brother at Windsor Castle was at the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh in April last year.

Both couples left in the same vehicle as the engagement, which lasted more than 40 minutes, came to a close. All four were dressed in black as they walked along the gates of the castle.

The crowd was heard chatting excitedly and taking photographs as William and Kate and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stopped to speak to each person at the front of the barriers.

The royal couples walked along separately from one another, with William and Kate speaking to people on one side of the road and Harry and Meghan speaking to people on the other side of the road.

Today, large crowds are expected in Scotland today as King Charles III prepares to lead the royal family in a procession behind the coffin of his mother when it travels to an Edinburgh cathedral to allow the public to pay their respects.

Soldiers in the Life Guards at Wellington Barracks in London practise for Queen Elizabeth II's funeral procession this morning

Soldiers in the Life Guards at Wellington Barracks in London practise for Queen Elizabeth II's funeral procession this morning

Soldiers in the Life Guards at Wellington Barracks in London practise for Queen Elizabeth II's funeral procession this morning

Soldiers in the Life Guards at Wellington Barracks in London practise for Queen Elizabeth II's funeral procession this morning

Soldiers in the Life Guards at Wellington Barracks in London practise for Queen Elizabeth II's funeral procession this morning

The Queen will be taken from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to nearby St Giles' Cathedral where her family, and a congregation drawn from all areas of Scottish society, will attend a service of thanksgiving for her life.

What will happen today after the Queen's death? Here is the timeline of events that are expected to take place today following the Queen's death. Monday marks D-Day +3, or D+3, in the plans for the aftermath of the death, codenamed London Bridge. This is due to the announcement taking place late on Thursday, meaning plans were shifted a day to allow the complex arrangements to be put in place. - The King and The Queen Consort will travel to Westminster Hall where both Houses of Parliament will meet to express their condolences at the demise of The Queen. Charles will make his reply. - 12.45pm: The King and The Queen Consort will arrive at Edinburgh Airport. Charles and Camilla will then travel to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, where the Ceremony of the Keys will take place. The King will inspect the Guard of Honour before being welcomed to his 'ancient and hereditary kingdom of Scotland' by the Lord Provost, and symbolically receiving the keys of the city of Edinburgh. - 2.35pm: Following the Ceremony of the Keys, the King will join the procession of the Queen's coffin to St Giles' Cathedral. - 3pm: The King and the Queen Consort, accompanied by other royal family members, will attend a service of prayer and reflection for the life of the Queen at St Giles' Cathedral. - The King will then receive the First Minister of Scotland, followed by the presiding officer, at the Palace of Holyroodhouse. - 5.40pm: Charles and Camilla will receive a motion of condolence, tabled by the First Minister at the Scottish Parliament, and attend a reception. The Royal Company of Archers, who are the King's bodyguard for Scotland, will give a royal salute. - The King, accompanied by members of the royal family, will then hold a vigil at St Giles' Cathedral. Advertisement

Full details about the royal mourners have yet to be released but there is speculation the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and Cambridge, who on Saturday put on a united front during an appearance at Windsor Castle, will be part of the group.

Charles will lead some of the royals - expected to be the Duke of York, Earl of Wessex and the Princess Royal and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence - on foot, while the Queen Consort and other members of the monarchy follow in cars.

Members of the public will be able to view the coffin to pay their respects for 24 hours before it is taken to London to lie in state.

Later in the evening, the King and other members of his family, likely his siblings, will hold a vigil at the cathedral in honour of the Queen.

Charles and Camilla are in London and, before leaving for the Scottish capital, will visit Westminster Hall, where both Houses of Parliament will express their condolences to the new monarch and his wife, with the King giving his reply.

During his day in Edinburgh, the King will inspect a guard of honour at the Palace of Holyroodhouse before attending a ceremony of the keys on the forecourt.

At the Palace, the King will hold audiences with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and, separately, Alison Johnstone, Scottish Parliament's presiding officer.

Words of sympathy will be expressed by the Scottish Parliament when Charles and Camilla attend to receive a motion of condolence, with the King replying.

Ms Johnstone told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that parliament will 'come together to express through a motion of condolence our deepest condolences to His Majesty the King and to the royal family'.

She added: 'The tone will be respectful. This afternoon gives us an opportunity to reflect on the life of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, to pay gratitude for that life and to ensure that the royal family have the support... the heartfelt sympathies of the Scottish people.'

Edinburgh City Council leader Cammy Day said on Monday the city is expecting large crowds.

'We're expecting tens of thousands of people to be up and down the high street as Her Majesty comes up to St Giles' and then onwards from there tomorrow,' he told BBC Radio Scotland.

'Our advice to people is to get to the city centre as quickly and early as you can (and) use public transport because the city has diversions or road closures.

'We are looking forward to welcoming tens of thousands of people to give Her Majesty the send off that the city will give her.'

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said: 'The Queen loved Scotland and Scotland loved the Queen and I think we showed that yesterday.

Crowds watch as the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II passes down the Royal Mile in Edinburgh yesterday

Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Sophie, Countess of Wessex watch as the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II completes its journey from Balmoral to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh yesterday

An Accession Proclamation Ceremony in Edinburgh yesterday, publicly proclaiming King Charles III as the new monarch

'I think we'll see that again today with the service of thanksgiving, and I think it is a fitting tribute to the late Queen that Scotland is able to play this role at this early part in the national mourning,' he told BBC Radio 4.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said the King's appearance in Parliament will be a moment of 'reflection' and 'great sadness'.

'It's a part of Westminster which is resplendent with history,' he told Sky News. 'I think we'll all be very proud - proud of our country, proud of our amazing monarchy.'

Meanwhile, former head of the British Army, Lord Dannatt, said the armed forces have a 'special bond' with their monarch.

'Much has been made of the fact that when we join the Army, Navy, Air Force, whatever, we sign, we swear an oath of allegiance.

'Seamlessly, when the Queen breathed her last last Thursday, our allegiance as soldiers of the Queen, we immediately became soldiers of the King. And that's a very special link that the military have.

'We carry out operations at risk of life and limb, not in the name of the Government or the Prime Minister or the Secretary of State for Defence, we do it in the name of the sovereign and the people of this country.

'That's a very special link, a very special bond. Actually, I think it makes the British armed forces themselves pretty special as a result.'
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Soldiers are rehearsing for the Queen's funeral procession ahead of her final goodbye next week.

Sombre Life Guards carrying swords were pictured at Wellington Barracks on Monday carrying a coffin draped in black and laying it down on a horse-drawn gun carriage.

The solemn scene was in preparation for when the guards will carry Her Majesty's coffin next Monday, September 19 for her state funeral at Westminster Hall.

That same day her casket will also be taken to St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle for a private interment service. King Charles III, accompanied by senior members of the Royal Family, is expected to join the procession in the Quadrangle of the castle before the coffin enters the chapel for the service.

Ahead of the committal service, it is expected that many people will travel to the town to pay their respects and mourn the late Queen. People are being advised to lay floral tributes at Cambridge Gate on the Long Walk.

Soldiers are rehearsing for the Queen's funeral procession ahead of her final goodbye next week

Sombre Life Guards carrying swords were pictured at Wellington Barracks on Monday carrying a coffin draped in black and laying it down on a horse-drawn gun carriage

Soldiers in the Life Guards at Wellington Barracks in London practise for Queen Elizabeth II's funeral procession this morning

The solemn scene was in preparation for when the guards will carry Her Majesty's coffin next Monday, September 19 for her state funeral at Westminster Hall

That same day her casket will also be taken to St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle for a private interment service. King Charles III, accompanied by senior members of the Royal Family, is expected to join the procession in the Quadrangle of the castle before the coffin enters the chapel for the service

The rehearsal comes as huge crowds mourners were pictured lining up with flags bearing the Union Jack and colourful homemade signs outside St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh to pay their respects to the Queen.

Thousands are expected to line up today for the first chance to say goodbye to the Queen as her flag-draped casket lies in rest at the cathedral.

The Queen's oak coffin will take a circuitous journey back to Edinburgh. On Monday, it will be taken from Holyroodhouse to nearby St. Giles' Cathedral, where it will remain until Tuesday, when it will be flown to London ahead of the state funeral.

King Charles III will walk behind his mother's coffin in a sombre afternoon procession leading from Holyroodhouse palace - where it arrived on Sunday after making a six-hour road journey from Balmoral Castle - to the cathedral.

The King will be flanked by soldiers as they proceed down the historic Royal Mile, before arriving at the 12th century grey stone cathedral, where it will be topped with the Crown of Scotland and remain for 24 hours.

Inside St Giles', senior royals, the new monarch and a congregation drawn from all areas of Scottish society will attend a service of thanksgiving that pays powerful tribute to the Queen's extraordinary life.

It comes as heavily armed police and security services yesterday formed rings of steel outside the Palace of Holyroodhouse and St Giles' Cathedral - as up to 10,000 officers prepare to be involved in the biggest single security operation the country has ever seen.

Specialist police teams and intelligence officers are understood to have cancelled holiday leave as part of a massive, cross-agency security task for the Queen's funeral.

Hundreds of foreign dignitaries from across the globe and hundreds of thousands of mourners are anticipated in the capital are set to create an unprecedented 'security headache'.

The operation will ramp up throughout the week as the Queen's body is flown back to London before she is set to lie in state at the Palace of Westminster.

Mourners and wellwishers camped overnight as they wait outside St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh and will pay their respects to the Queen on Monday

Crowds have descended on Edinburgh's Royal Mile today as thousands head to the Scottish capital to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II

A man arrives at St Giles' Cathedral with his dog as he will join thousands of mourners in paying their last respects to the Queen

Queues of mourners were pictured lining up with flags bearing the Union Jack and colourful homemade signs outside St Giles' Cathedral as the sun's first light began to break through the morning clouds on Monday

A police officer stands guard outside the front doors to St Giles' Cathedral, where thousands are expected to descend later today ahead of the procession of Queen Elizabeth II's coffin from Holyroodhouse

Thousands are expected to line up for the chance to pay their respects to the Queen's flag-draped casket a week ahead of her state funeral in London

Police officers stand guard on Edinburgh's Royal Mile as mourners prepare to flock to the Scottish capital to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II

Pallbearers, one with his eyes closed another looking to the sky, carry the coffin of Britain's Queen Elizabeth as the hearse arrives at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh

Meantime, the Duke of Sussex today paid an emotional tribute to his late grandmother the Queen as he praised her 'sound advice' and 'infectious smile' and called her a 'guiding compass' through her commitment to service and duty.

In a statement released today, which is understood to have been held back a day out of respect for the anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the Duke also said he wanted to honour his father at the start of his reign as King.

Harry also referred to his 'darling wife' Meghan Markle; said he was grateful that the Queen had hugged her 'beloved great-grandchildren'; and spoke of how he 'cherished' the times spent with the 96-year-old.

He said: 'In celebrating the life of my grandmother, Her Majesty The Queen - and in mourning her loss - we are all reminded of the guiding compass she was to so many in her commitment to service and duty.

'She was globally admired and respected. Her unwavering grace and dignity remained true throughout her life and now her everlasting legacy.

'Let us echo the words she spoke after the passing of her husband, Prince Philip, words which can bring comfort to all of us now: 'Life, of course, consists of final partings as well as first meetings.''

He added: 'Granny, while this final parting brings us great sadness, I am forever grateful for all of our first meetings-from my earliest childhood memories with you, to meeting you for the first time as my Commander-in-Chief, to the first moment you met my darling wife and hugged your beloved great-grandchildren.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex walk to meet members of the public at Windsor Castle on Saturday after the Queen's death

The Prince and Princess of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on the Long Walk at Windsor Castle on Saturday

The Duke of Sussex has paid an emotional tribute to his late grandmother the Queen as he thanked her for her 'sound advice'

'I cherish these times shared with you, and the many other special moments in between. You are already sorely missed, not just by us, but by the world over.

'And as it comes to first meetings, we now honour my father in his new role as King Charles III. Thank you for your commitment to service. Thank you for your sound advice.

'Thank you for your infectious smile. We, too, smile knowing that you and grandpa are reunited now, and both together in peace.'

Harry's statement comes two days after the Prince and Princess of Wales put on a united front with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as they joined forces on a walkabout at Windsor Castle over the weekend.

William and Harry have a well-documented troubled relationship but the death of their grandmother saw the rivals shelve their differences when, with their wives, they viewed floral tributes left to the late Queen.

It is understood the prince invited his brother to join them in meeting well-wishers outside the castle, and a royal source said William thought it was an 'important show of unity'.

Two years have passed since William, Kate, Harry and Meghan were together side-by-side in public, during the 2020 Commonwealth Day church service on March 9, 2020.

As the couple's first engagement under their new titles, William and Kate were joined by Harry and Meghan as they inspected flowers and balloons before a walkabout at the castle on Saturday.

A royal source said the Prince of Wales asked his brother and his wife to join them in viewing the tributes.

The source said: 'The Prince of Wales invited the Duke and Duchess to join him and the Princes of Wales earlier.'

The last time William was joined in public by his brother at Windsor Castle was at the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh in April last year.

Both couples left in the same vehicle as the engagement, which lasted more than 40 minutes, came to a close. All four were dressed in black as they walked along the gates of the castle.

The crowd was heard chatting excitedly and taking photographs as William and Kate and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stopped to speak to each person at the front of the barriers.

The royal couples walked along separately from one another, with William and Kate speaking to people on one side of the road and Harry and Meghan speaking to people on the other side of the road.
A Bronx woman has died in a freak accident after she was hit by a car which mounted the curb and impaled her on a fence.

Paulina Nrecaj, 59, suffered catastrophic injuries after a gray Lexus SUV smashed into her in front of her building at 2040 Bronxdale Ave at 6:30pm Friday, driving her into a spike on a metal fence.

The mom-of-three and grandmother of one had left her apartment to go get a pizza when she was struck, according to her family.

She was rushed to Jacobi Hospital to undergo emergency surgery to save her life but surgeons were unsuccessful, her daughter Diana Nrecaj, 32, told the New York Post.

'She was a good, sweet woman. She was a very good sweet woman,' Diana said. 'She didn't deserve this. She was four steps away from her home.'

Her father, and Paulina's husband, Frane Nrecaj, 71, rushed down from the apartment when he heard a collision on the street below.

Paulina Nrecaj, 59, suffered catastrophic injuries after a gray Lexus SUV smashed into her in front of her building at 2040 Bronxdale Ave at 6:30pm Friday, driving her into a spike on a metal fence

Paulina was killed at the intersection of Bronxdale and Cruger avenues just a few feet away from her apartment building while out to get pizza

He found a man from the building cradling his wife and knew immediately she was not going to make it.

'She was passed out. She lost a lot of blood coming from her mouth, a lot of blood coming from her nose,' he said.

Paulina, who is a native of Albania, had just celebrated her birthday, according to Frane, who paid tribute to her.

'To me she was a great person. She raised my kids. She was perfect. The kids were happy in their life. She was happy,' he said.

Sall Arobye, 32, an Uber driver who lives across the street, rushed over to the scene and helped Paulina to get her down from the fence.

He reassured her that she would be okay and that she would make it, and Paulina thanked him.

'It's horrible. It's horrible,' he said. 'I feel like I lied to her. She didn't make it. It broke my heart.'

Diana and other residents blamed the crash on a newly installed bike lane outside the apartment building, which cars park next to. She said it confuses drivers.

The SUV driver mounted the curb after he swerved to avoid hitting a van stopped at the intersection of Bronxdale and Cruger avenues, sources said.

He was also taken to Jacobi in stable condition. Police said the crash appeared to be accidental.

The SUV has 168 violations, including 20 for speeding in school zones, according to the website Hows My Driving NY.
The country has taken more than 30 towns in Kharkiv from Russia since August

He shared clip of soldiers driving a Bushmaster and celebrating recent victories

Defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov, thanked Australia for the vehicles in a post

Ukraine has used Australian Bushmaster vehicles to retake territory from Russia

Ukraine's armed forces have used Australian Bushmaster vehicles to retake vital territory from Russia.

Ukraine's Minister of Defence, Oleksii Reznikov, revealed in a post to Twitter on Monday that the Aussie-built military vehicles have helped the country's defence forces take the Oskil River and have been used to liberate the northeastern city of Kharkiv.

Australia has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine's efforts to fend off Vladimir Putin's invading army, pledging more than $300million in military aid including 40 Bushmaster vehicles since the war broke out in February.

'For the sake of protecting Freedom, it traveled half the world, from Australia to Ukraine. 19,300 km across the Indian Ocean,' Mr Reznikov wrote of the vehicles.

'Thanks to 'Bushmaster'#UAarmy came to the Oskil river & continue to liberate Kharkiv region.'

Soldiers from Ukraine's 80th air assault brigade were seen in a video released on Monday driving an Australian Bushmaster vehicle through a rural locality that had just been liberated

Mr Reznikov thanked his Australian counterpart, Richard Marles, Ukraine's Ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Miroshnichenko, along with the Australian people for sending Bushmasters to the battlefield.

A clip was shared in the tweet that sees soldiers from Ukraine's 80th air assault brigade driving a Bushmaster through a rural area that was recently liberated.

A soldier seated behind the machine gun mounted on top of the vehicle shouts: 'Glory to Ukraine.'

Another soldier standing behind him waves his arms in the air and says, 'Glory to the heroes'.

The man filming the clip proceeds to thank Australia.

The Bushmaster, nicknamed 'The Bushy', is an 11-tonne armoured military vehicle built in the Victorian city of Bendigo and is designed to deploy up to 10 soldiers to the battlefield.

It is designed to protect passengers from land mines and other explosives.

In the clip, a Ukrainian soldier seated behind the machine gun mounted on top of the vehicle shouts, 'Glory to Ukraine', while another soldier standing behind him waves his arms in the air and says, 'Glory to the heroes'

Ukraine's Defence Minister, Oleksii Reznikov (pictured) said in a post to Twitter that the Aussie-built armoured vehicles had helped Ukraine's defence force retake vital territory from Russia

The Bushmaster (pictured) is an 11-tonne armoured military vehicle and is proving very popular with Ukrainian defenders since Australian sent 20 to the besieged country in April

Ukraine forces launched a counteroffensive in late August to retake Russian-occupied territory that had been previously lost to Moscow.

President Volodymyr Zelinsky confirmed last Friday that more than 30 cities in Kharkiv Oblast in eastern Ukraine had been liberated.

Armed forces have kept pushing north in the Kharkiv region and advancing to its south and east, Ukraine's army chief says, a day after their rapid surge forward drove Russia to abandon its main bastion in the area.

Ukraine's general staff said early on Monday that its forces had recaptured more than 20 towns and villages in just the past day.

It came after Russia acknowledged it was abandoning Izium, its main stronghold in northeastern Ukraine, with soldiers leaving behind ammunition and equipment as they fled the city.

Ukraine forces launched a counteroffensive in late August to retake Russian-occupied territory. More than 30 cities and towns in Kharkiv have since been retaken (pictured, the mayor of Derhachi in Kharkiv, Vyacheslav Zadorenko, tears up a Russian flag as he's surrounded by Ukrainian soldiers)

President Zelenskiy hailed the offensive as a potential breakthrough in the war and said further gains could occur in winter (pictured, residents greet Ukrainian soldiers in a location given as Kozacha Lopan, Kharkiv Region)

President Zelenskiy hailed the offensive as a potential breakthrough in the war and said further gains could occur in winter if Ukraine received more powerful weapons.

He commended the military in a video address late on Saturday, saying it has reclaimed more than 770 square miles (2,000 square km) of territory so far this month.

Ukraine's chief commander, General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, claimed in a post on Telegram that advances were being made to the south, east and north.

He added that Ukraine's armed forces were now only 50km's away from the Russian border.

A Bushmaster PMV about to be loaded into a C-17 Globemaster, which headed to Ukraine on April 8
A New York woman has been sentenced to four months in prison for interfering with crew members aboard a flight from Dallas to Los Angeles last year that had to be diverted to Phoenix, according to federal prosecutors.

They said Kelly Pichardo, 30, and Leeza Rodriguez, 29, from the Bronx, were sat in first class when they started intimidating other passengers onboard the flight.

Police arrested both women and removed them from the plane after it landed at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on February 24, 2021.

Authorities said the women each assaulted a passenger during the flight and used racial slurs when a male passenger asked them to stop.

Pichardo allegedly spit at the man, who was not named, when he tried to record the altercation.

Mugshot of Kelly Pichardo 30 (left) and Leeza Rodriguez 29 (right). Pichardo has been sentenced to four months in prison for interfering with crew members aboard a flight from Dallas to Los Angeles last year, while Rodriguez pleaded guilty and has yet to be sentenced

Two women taking an American Airlines flight from Texas to Los Angeles were arrested on February 24 at Phoenix Airport, pictured in a stock photo from 2021

After the male passenger took out his phone, Rodriguez then allegedly struck his hand to stop him recording them.

FBI and Phoenix police investigated the incident and indicted the two women for disorderly conduct, including verbally and physically assaulting other customers and flight crew members.

The flight continued on to Los Angeles without further incident after police arrested the two passengers at Sky Harbor International Airport.

Prosecutors said Pichardo has been ordered to pay nearly $9,200 restitution to American Airlines as a result of the altercation.

They said Pichardo will serve three years of supervised release following her prison sentence.

Rodriguez, the other passenger involved in the incident, has pleaded guilty and will be sentenced in November.

A statement American Airlines said: 'We thank our crew members for their professionalism in managing a difficult situation.'

The airline called their alleged behavior 'disturbing and unacceptable.'

Both women have been banned from future flights with the airline.
Royal sources claim Prince Harry ate dinner separately from Prince William and King Charles on the night the Queen died, just days before the feuding princes reunited in an historic show of unity at Windsor Castle.

William and Harry have a well-documented troubled relationship but the death of their grandmother saw the rivals shelve their differences when, with their wives, they viewed floral tributes left to the late Queen.

But one royal insider told the Daily Mails Richard Kay that the warring brothers did not see one another at all at Balmoral on the evening of the Queen's death - making their show of unity outside the castle even more extraordinary.

Instead of joining his father, King Charles III and his older brother at Birkhall, Harry remained at Balmoral with the Queen's other children; Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and Princess Anne.

Two dinners were being hosted on the royal estate that night and there was a clear divide: One was for the new king and his heir, the other was for the rest of the family, the source said.

On the historic evening the nation was plunged into grief as the Queen passed away, Harry had faced a race against time to be at his grandmother's bedside before she passed.

The Duke had been due to speak at the Wellchild Awards in London that evening, but instead bolted north of the border as news of the monarch's grave health became apparent.

With grief etched on his face, he finally arrived at Balmoral at 7.52pm, more than an hour after the Queen's death was confirmed in a short, black-edged note from Buckingham Palace.

A royal source told the Telegraph's Camilla Tominey that Prince William and Kate, the Princess of Wales, felt 'the focus should solely be on this period of deep mourning and nothing else. The focus should only be on his late grandmother'.

Royal sources say Prince William extended an '11th-hour olive branch' to his young brother Prince Harry by asking him to join him on (pictured) outside Windsor Castle to pay tribute to their beloved grandmother

On the historic evening the nation was plunged into grief as the Queen passed away, the Duke of Sussex had faced a race against time to be at his grandmother's bedside before she passed

The joint royal walkout - which took many by complete surprise - was agreed after a 45-minute negotiation, according to a source

The 'fab four' reunited at Windsor to mourn the death of The Queen; it was the first time the couples have been together in public since March 2020

The first the brothers saw of each other came when they reunited after Prince William extended an '11th-hour' olive branch in the form of a text ahead of their carefully choreographed show of unity at Windsor Castle.

Harry swallowed his pride and even agreed to being driven by William as the princes put their differences aside in the name of their beloved matriarch.

Sources suggested the historic walk between William and Kate and Meghan and Harry only took place after an extended negotiation which delayed the Sussexes arrival by at least 45 minutes.

In a scene that clearly delighted royal fans, the royals inspected the sea of floral tributes laid outside the gates of Windsor in honour of the much-loved monarch.

The couples walked along separately from one another, with William and Kate speaking to people on one side of the road and Harry and Meghan speaking to people on the other side of the road.

The surprise appearance is thought to be the first time that the two couples have all been in public together since Commonwealth Day on March 9, 2020.

And it is the first time William and Harry have been seen together in public since they joined for the opening of the memorial in honour of their mother, Princess Diana.

A senior Palace source said of the meeting: 'The Prince of Wales invited the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to join him and the Princess of Wales earlier.

'[William] thought it was an important show of unity for the Queen at an incredibly difficult time for the family.'

It comes days after King Charles III extended a very public olive branch to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in his first address to Britain and the world as monarch.

The new monarch said he wished to 'express my love for Harry and Meghan as they continue to build their lives overseas'.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex plunged the monarchy into crisis during the twilight years of the Queen's reign after sensationally quitting frontline royal duties and moving to California two years ago - a saga which precipitated the rift between Harry and his brother William, allegations of racism against the royals and claims the Firm failed to help a suicidal Meghan.

After their bombshell interview with US talk show host Oprah Winfrey, Harry appeared to suggest, in a mental health podcast, that his father and the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh had all failed as parents - while the family was still mourning Prince Philip's death last year.

Prince Harry was the first royal to be swept out of Balmoral by security in the back seat of a Range Rover the morning after the Queen died

King Charles III extended an olive branch to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in his first address as monarch

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex at St Paul's Cathedral in June 2022

It comes as the Duke of Sussex today paid an emotional tribute to his late grandmother the Queen as he praised her 'sound advice' and 'infectious smile' and called her a 'guiding compass' through her commitment to service and duty.

In a statement released today, which is understood to have been held back a day out of respect for the anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the Duke also said he wanted to honour his father at the start of his reign as King.

Harry also referred to his 'darling wife' Meghan Markle; said he was grateful that the Queen had hugged her 'beloved great-grandchildren'; and spoke of how he 'cherished' the times spent with the 96-year-old.

He said: 'In celebrating the life of my grandmother, Her Majesty The Queen - and in mourning her loss - we are all reminded of the guiding compass she was to so many in her commitment to service and duty.

'She was globally admired and respected. Her unwavering grace and dignity remained true throughout her life and now her everlasting legacy.

'Let us echo the words she spoke after the passing of her husband, Prince Philip, words which can bring comfort to all of us now: 'Life, of course, consists of final partings as well as first meetings.''

The Duke of Sussex has paid an emotional tribute to his late grandmother the Queen as he thanked her for her 'sound advice'

He added: 'Granny, while this final parting brings us great sadness, I am forever grateful for all of our first meetings-from my earliest childhood memories with you, to meeting you for the first time as my Commander-in-Chief, to the first moment you met my darling wife and hugged your beloved great-grandchildren.

'I cherish these times shared with you, and the many other special moments in between. You are already sorely missed, not just by us, but by the world over.

'And as it comes to first meetings, we now honour my father in his new role as King Charles III. Thank you for your commitment to service. Thank you for your sound advice.

'Thank you for your infectious smile. We, too, smile knowing that you and grandpa are reunited now, and both together in peace.'
The Eiffel Tower is to fall dark more than one hour earlier than usual due to the energy crisis aggravated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The tower, a magnet for more than 7m tourists every year, is currently illuminated until 1am with the help of 20,000 flashing bulbs.

But Paris city hall is expected to announce the monument will soon begin going dark at 11:45pm instead, both to conserve power and to send a message to French citizens about the importance of reducing their energy use in the months ahead.

The monument is to go dark one hour earlier than usual to save energy

'It's a highly symbolic gesture  part of the growing awareness around energy sobriety,' Jean-Francois Martins, the head of the tower's management told The Guardian.

Officials in other French cities are also planning to reduce the night-time lightening of important sites.

Monuments in Marseille including the Pharo Palace will will go dark earlier from the end of September to save energy.

Agnes Pannier-Runacher, French minister for energy transition planned outlines last month to save the energy.

The tower, a magnet for more than 7m tourists every year, is currently illuminated until 1am with the help of 20,000 flashing bulbs

She said steps include a ban on illuminated advertising at night, except at train stations and airports, and preventing stores from keeping doors open when air conditioning or heating is on.

At the same time, the government is considering on fuel amid rising prices at gas stations. 'In the medium term, we must support the French in their energy transition, but in the short term we must adapt to the reality,' Pannier-Runacher said, according to Bloomberg.

President Emmanuel Macron had urged French companies and people to perform on contingency programs for the duration of the summer time to prevent a tricky wintertime.

Although France is fewer dependent on Russian energy than some of its neighbours, it has been hit by issues at its nuclear vegetation, which supply far more than 50% the country's vitality.

The EU is planning to reduce energy consumption over the next months.
A man whose leg was held at a Spanish hospital after undergoing an amputation will be forced to pay a fine if he fails to pick it up.

Bidasoa Hospital authorities in Hondarribia, Basque Country, Spain, urged the patient - whom they identified only by his ID card number - to collect the limb within ten days and foot the bill for its disposal.

Authorities said the patient is required to organise 'the removal and proper management, through a funeral company, of the human remains that are deposited in the Bidasoa Hospital'.

The declaration - which was published in the Official Bulletin of the Basque Country and was dated August 29 - said the amputee would have to accept cremation charges estimated at 1,500 euros (1,300), in addition to a fine - thought to be roughly 400 euros (350).

Bidasoa Hospital authorities in Hondarribia, Basque Country, Spain, urged a patient - whom they identified only by his ID card number - to collect his amputated limb within 10 days (Bidasoa Hospital pictured)

The president of the Defensor del Paciente (Patient Advocate) association in Madrid, Carmen Flores, ruthlessly criticised the decision and described it as 'ethically reprehensible'.

But the director of the Araso Funeral Home in Irun, Carlos Fernandez, claimed that such cases are by no means a rarity.

'When a person goes to the hospital and, out of necessity, they have to amputate a limb, the centre forces the patient to take charge of collecting and disposing of the amputated body part,' Fernandez said.

He added that doctors are more keen to perform amputations thanks to technological advancements in the development of prostheses and rehabilitation techniques.

'Unfortunately it is much more common today, since the life of a person is valued more than a limb which can be replaced with a prosthesis,' Fernandez confirmed.

The director of the Araso Funeral Home in Irun (pictured), Carlos Fernandez, claimed that such cases are by no means a rarity

Medical director of the Basque region's health authorities, Maria Eugenia Alkiza Eizagirre, said the hospital had tried to notify the amputee of their obligations to collect the limb for months, but had not received a response.

Alkiza said that if the patient does not collect the limb, 'the file will be transferred to the competent bodies so that they can proceed to urge the forced execution and at [the amputee's] expense of his obligation to remove and manage the human remains'.

Alkiza signed the notification on July 21, but it was not published until August 29, giving the patient until this past weekend to arrange the collection and disposal of the limb to avoid the fine.

It is unknown whether the amputee collected the limb in time.
A bizarre tribute to the Queen consisting of a workout based around the monarch's life and reign has been slammed by fitness fanatics as 'incredibly disrespectful'.

CrossFit UK, the British branch of the popular exercise brand which describes itself as 'the world's best fitness programme' and has tens of thousands of people in its worldwide 'community', posted the tribute shortly after the Queen's death.

Among the strangest parts of the WOD, or 'workout of the day', post was the 'one minute rest in silence', which many felt to be in poor taste.

Baffled 'crossfitters' and social media users expressed their bemusement at the strange tribute - which has since been taken down.

Baffled 'crossfitters' and social media users expressed their bemusement at the strange tribute, posted to CrossFit UK's Instagram

CrossFit UK's Instagram post has since been deleted following critical comments from users

CrossFit UK, the British branch of the popular exercise brand which describes itself as 'the world's best fitness programme' and has tens of thousands of people in its worldwide 'community'

An Instagram user described it as 'unhinged stuff' with another saying it was 'quite quite bizarre'.

One person said they could not believe the strange post 'was not photoshopped'

Others felt it was 'disrespectful' to the late monarch, who died on Thursday aged 96.

Several other fitness pages reshared the post, with one studio saying they would be hosting the workout in the Queen's memory and another saying they would do it 'as a show of respect'.

Several other fitness pages reshared the post, with one studio saying they would be hosting the workout in the Queen's memory and another saying they would do it 'as a show of respect'

Another gym said that they would increase their class capacity so more people could take part in their 'memorial WOD'.

Ascension Training in Epsom said in their post on Thursday: 'Today marks a sad day amongst us all. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has died peacefully.

'In honour of her memory and to show our respects in the way only we know how, tomorrows classes will all run a memorial wod in her honour.

Others thought the tribute was fitting, with many leaving red hearts and 'rest in peace' tributes in the posts' comments sections

'Class capacity has been slightly increased and we encourage as many of you as possible to come and take part... God Save the Queen.'

Meanwhile some found the unusual tribute, which was a reprisal of the account's Platinum Jubilee Workout of the Day, amusing.

Another quipped: 'putting the RIP into ripped' with another, commenting on the 'rest in silence' part of the programme, saying 'I am finished'.

One tongue in cheek comment read: '1 minute rest in silence. It's what she would have wanted.'

Instagram users could not believe the post was real, with one labelling it 'incredibly disrespectful'

Another joked: 'Burning calories for da queen. It's how she would want to be remembered.'

And one shocked user said: 'Holy s*** it's real! I thought it was photoshopped'.

Others thought the tribute was fitting, with many leaving red hearts and 'rest in peace' tributes in the posts' comments sections, while some said they would join in with the workout.

One user said it's what the Queen, who was a keen sportswoman and remained active into her old age, 'would have wanted'.

The workout plan included 70 jumping lunges to pay homage to her years on the throne and even 96 skips, named 'double unders', to represent her age.

Baffled users had mixed reactions to the 'workout of the day' post, with some saying it should be deleted

More complicated connections included six rounds of two muscle-ups, which the post said represent the exact date of her succession to the throne in 1952 and two rounds of six ring dips for her coronation date in 1953.

The regime's details were posted in white text on a black image with a tribute reading 'rest in peace, ma'am. Thank you for your service'.

One social media user, who thought it was inappropriate, wrote 'you still have time to delete this!'

The tribute has since been deleted following the barrage of criticism and confusion online.

In the now deleted post, CrossFit UK said: 'Back in June, the CrossFit UK team programmed a celebration workout in honour of Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee.

The well thought-through workout was explained in the post's caption.

'It seems only fitting that this workout should now be made into a tribute WOD to celebrate her life. Importance of numbers:

'70 is the number of years she reigned as our Queen. 2/6 and 6/2 in 1952 and 1953 respectively are the dates that Elizabeth succeeded the throne and was officially crowned.

'The one-minute rest signifies the year gap between these dates. 25 was Elizabeth's age when she became Queen and 96 was the age she died. She was the 39th sovereign to be crowned at Westminster Abbey.'

CrossFit UK has been contacted for comment.
Electric scooters in Kent will be axed from the roads following a two-year trial with councillors stepping in before 'someone is seriously hurt'.

The e-scooter pilot scheme, launched in Canterbury, Kent, in November 2020 for an initial year has twice been extended despite public safety fears.

Kent County Council have now rejected an offer from the Department for Transport to continue the trial until May 2024 - almost two years longer than its current end date of November 30 this year.

From December 1 there will be no legally ridden e-scooters on Kent's streets, as they are only permitted on public highways as part of government-approved trials.

Transport councillor David Brazier has been in charge of overseeing the trial. 'As we were nearing the end of the trial, I decided to truncate it before someone was seriously hurt,' he said.

'Recently an elderly lady was quite seriously injured by one being ridden on a pedestrian area which was not allowed,' he added in reference to Ms Carter's accident.

It comes after an 80-year-old grandmother suffered a broken wrist, cracked cheekbone and jaw in July after being struck by an e-scooter being ridden along a pavement in Canterbury.

Sarah Carter, a retired university librarian, called for the city-wide trial scheme to end after her accident. She labelled the e-scooters 'lethal' and branded the council 'irresponsible' for the lack of infrastructure put in place.

Sarah Carter, 80, suffered a broken wrist, a cracked cheekbone and jaw after being struck by an e-scooter in Canterbury, Kent

Ms Carter is a mother of two and grandmother to four. She was on her way to a local shop when the collision occurred

Bird e-scooters will be banned from Kent roads from December 1 after councillors were forced to step in before 'someone is seriously hurt'. (File image)

What are the laws on e-scooters? Renting an e-scooter is the only way to legally ride the vehicle on some public roads or in other public place at the moment. But the controversial vehicles could be approved for use across the UK following a trial period. Currently, 10 London boroughs are taking part in the scheme with three providers to test how e-scooters work on the capital's roads. Riding e-scooters on the pavement however is banned, and riders must be 18 or over and have a full or provisional driving licence to rent one. It is also illegal to use privately owned e-scooters or other powered transporters on public roads. Relevant laws on e-scooter use include: On public roads, anyone using a privately owned e-scooter or other powered transporter is likely to be committing at least one of a number of offences such as driving a motor vehicle with no insurance. You could be liable for a fixed penalty of 300 and six points on your driving licence On pavements, it is generally an offence to drive a motor vehicle, and this applies at all times to e-scooters and powered transporters E-scooters and powered transporters may be used on private land with permission from the landowner or occupier E-scooters rented from the TfL scheme will be permitted to ride on London's public roads and cycle infrastructure in participating boroughs. These boroughs will designate no-go areas where e-scooters cannot be ridden and will come to a safe stop, as well as go-slow areas, where the speed of e-scooters will be reduced to 8mph Source: TfL Advertisement

After her accident, she said: 'Another elderly person could have quite easily been even more seriously injured or even killed.'

The grandmother-of-four was taken by ambulance to the William Harvey Hospital in nearby Ashford, where she spent a total of eight hours in hospital, including four hours in A&E having her injuries assessed and undergoing surgery.

E-scooters across the southeastern county will now start to disappear off the roads ahead of the pilot period finishing.

Cllr Brazier revealed that he 'tended to favour' the trial proceeding but highlighted that 'it was quite obvious now accidents could have been worse than they were'.

'You cannot legislate against people who will agree to use something in a certain way and then suit themselves,' he said at a cross-party committee meeting.

Meanwhile, Mel Dawkins, a Canterbury Labour councillor, told MailOnline: 'E-scooters are a great idea if ridden safely and there is the proper infrastructure in place too.

'Until Canterbury has improved its active travel package for pedestrians and cyclists throughout the city, it makes it hard to carry out this scheme successfully and safely.

'The e-scooter scheme was set up to encourage model shift , a reduction in emissions and congestion; but for that kind of significant change, there needs to be more investment in public transport too.

'The current legislation for e scooters also needs updating. On the back of trials, such as the one by Bird, it encouraged more people to buy an e-scooter, even though they are not allowed to legally ride it on the pavement or road. Unfortunately, there have been mixed messages and confusion about this.'

He told councillors that e-scooter riders had been using routes that were not permitted by the official pilot, operated by Bird.

In 2021 there were 1,280 collisions involving e-scooters across the UK, according to The Department for Transport. These incidents caused 1,359 casualties and nine deaths.

It is understood the Canterbury pilot could now be reduced to a single route before November 30 - the corridor between the university and city centre.

A spokesperson for Kent County Council said: 'In recent months, Bird, working to deliver this trial for Kent County Council, has introduced enhanced safety measures including a reduction of the electric scooter speeds from 15mph to 12mph.

The council also said that 'Birdwatchers' were sent out to patrol the city for pavement riding while Bird also changed their rider policy to introduce an immediate ban for any misdemeanour.

The reported number of casualties in collisions involving e-scooters skyrocketed in the UK in 2021

'Kent County Council has decided to gradually reduce the number of vehicles in the trial, as well as the areas in which they operate, ahead of the trial finishing in Kent at the end of November,' a spokesperson added.

Meanwhile Bird were 'clearly very disappointed with this decision'. 'We have an incredibly low incident rate of 0.0014 per cent out of almost 67,000 rides since we launched in 2020, and one in five eligible Canterbury riders have used our vehicles, opting for sustainable travel and ditching petrol-powered trips,' a spokesperson said.

'We will continue to provide our eco-friendly and convenient vehicles for Canterbury residents until the end of November.'

While there have been many complaints, Cllr Brazier described Bird as 'competent and professional people' who have 'taken many steps to ensure the safety of their contractors and the public at large'.

There are 29 other government-approved trials but when they all end in May 2024, the government is expected to make a decision on whether or not to approve the use of e-scooters on public highways in the UK.
A protester has been led away by police after holding up a sign that read 'Abolish the Monarchy' and 'Not my King' outside the Palace of Westminster this morning.

The woman held the sign in the air as police escorted her away from the gates of Parliament, where King Charles and the Queen Consort this morning received condolences from members of the House of Commons and House of Lords.

His Majesty also addressed Parliament for the first time in the near-1,000-year-old Westminster Hall - the ancient heart of the Palace of Westminster where his mother will lie in state from Wednesday evening for four days until her funeral next Monday.

But despite the wild cheers of 'God Save the King' as the new Monarch drove from Clarence House down The Mall this morning, one took the opportunity to show their opposition to the monarchy.

The woman protesting in Westminster wore a t-shirt emblazoned with the logo for the Campaign To Abolish The Monarchy, which yesterday called on people to protest the new King at Parliament Square this morning.

A woman protested the new King outside Parliament this morning, holding a sign that read 'Abolish the Monarchy' on one side and 'Not my King' on the other

A number of Met Police officers led the woman away, while people took photos and videos. One man engaged with the protester but it is unclear if he was criticising her or showing his support.

A Met spokesperson said: 'A member of the public was asked to move away from the Carriage Gates outside the Palace of Westminster this morning in order to facilitate vehicle access and egress through the gates.

'She was not arrested and was not asked to leave the wider area.'

Yesterday a proclamation of 'God Save the King' was met by boos from a small group of protesters in Edinburgh, as crowds gathered to hear the Lord Lyon King of Arms, who is responsible for overseeing state ceremonial in Scotland, formally announce the Queen's successor.

Another loud boo could be heard after the anthem as the Lord Lyon led three cheers of 'hip, hip hooray', sparking outrage amongst others in the crowd, with someone shouting back 'Oh shut up'.

One onlooker told Edinburgh Live: 'I was absolutely disgusted by the behaviour of some people in the crowd.

The woman wore a t-shirt emblazoned with the logo for the Campaign To Abolish The Monarchy, which yesterday called on people to protest the new King at Parliament Square this morning

One anti-monarchist protestor, holding a sign that said 'f*** imperialism, abolish the monarchy' was arrested outside St. Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh in connection with a 'breach of peace', Police Scotland said

'It was meant to be a joyful occasion to mark the new King but there was petty people booing.

'It just looked like attention seeking.'

People could also be heard calling for a republic and a few individuals held up signs critical of the monarchy.

On Sunday morning, Our Republic, a Scottish campaign group that believes the monarchy should be ended, encouraged those with objections to the proclamation to 'make those clear'.

John Hall, 33, who is the treasurer of the anti-monarchy campaign group told NBC News: 'We wanted to make it clear that theres more than one viewpoint in Scotland.

'I wanted to make sure that I made it clear I didnt consent to this pageantry.'

One anti-monarchy protester, holding a sign reading, 'F*** imperialism, abolish the monarchy' was arrested.

Amongst the hundreds of royal fans who had turned out to watch the ceremony in Edinburgh, a small number took the opportunity to make clear their disapproval of the new monarch

As police took her away the crowd applauded, with one person shouting 'have some respect' at the republican.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: 'A 22-year-old woman was arrested outside St. Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh on Sunday, 11 September, 2022 in connection with a breach of the peace.'

And another anti-monarchy protester says he was arrested in Oxford after voicing his opposition to the new King Charles III.

Symon Hill said in a tweet that he shouted 'Who elected him?' and was led away, handcuffed and put in the back of a police van before being de-arrested.

A spokesperson for Thames Valley Police said: 'A 45-year-old man was arrested in connection with a disturbance that was caused during the county proclamation ceremony of King Charles III in Oxford.

'He has subsequently been de-arrested and is engaging with us voluntarily as we investigate a public order offence.

'The man was arrested on suspicion of a public order offence (Section 5 Public Order Act).'
Brexit border checks on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland could be reduced to a 'couple of lorries a day', according to the EU's Maros Sefcovic.

The European Commission vice-president, who leads the bloc's negotiations over arrangements for Northern Ireland, claimed a trade border would be 'invisible' under his plans.

Mr Sefcovic is eyeing a breakthrough in the deadlock between Westminster and Brussels over the Northern Ireland Protocol before the end of next month.

Talks between the EU and Britain over the Protocol row ground to a halt earlier this year after discussions about how to fix problems with the Brexit agreement achieved little.

New Prime Minister Liz Truss has vowed to push through new laws at Westminster to tear up parts of the existing Protocol, which has caused a furious Brussels to launch legal action.

But Mr Sefcovic said he was 'encouraged' by Ms Truss's statement last Wednesday - the day after she succeeded Boris Johnson - that her preference was still for a 'negotiated solution'.

Maros Sefcovic is eyeing a breakthrough in the deadlock between Westminster and Brussels over the Northern Ireland Protocol before the end of next month

The EU official said he was 'encouraged' by Liz Truss's statement last Wednesday - the day after she succeeded Boris Johnson as PM - that her preference was for a 'negotiated solution'

Physical customs checks on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland have been required by the EU under the implementation of the Protocol

Physical customs checks on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland have been required by the EU under the implementation of the Protocol.

The agreement, which is designed to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland, allows Northern Ireland to effectively remain in the EU's Single Market.

Both the UK Government and Unionists in Northern Ireland have attacked the 'bureaucratic' checks being imposed on goods moving across the Irish Sea.

The DUP have also refused to rejoin a power-sharing executive in Northern Ireland until the Protocol - which they insist threatens Northern Ireland's place in the UK - is reformed.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Sefcovic said the trade border between Great Britain and Northern Ireland would be 'invisible' under European Commission proposals - if the UK handed over real-time data on trade.

'If the data are downloaded into the system, when the goods are put on the ferry from Britain . . . I believe that we can remotely process them while sailing to Northern Ireland,' he said.

Mr Sefcovic added that physical checks would only be conducted 'when there is reasonable suspicion of . . . illegal trade smuggling, illegal drugs or dangerous toys or poisoned food'.

He insisted this would typically be a 'couple of lorries a day'.

According to the newspaper, the EU official said there was almost no difference between the UK demand for 'no checks' and Brussels' offer of 'minimum checks, done in an invisible manner'.

New elections are due in Northern Ireland unless a new power-sharing administration can be formed before 28th October.

'We stand ready to work in an open and constructive and intensive way,' Mr Sefcovic added.

'I also would prefer to work around the tight deadlines because I am fully aware of the dates which will be coming by the end of October.'

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson told the Financial Times there was 'the prospect of renewed negotiations' over the Protocol between the UK and EU.

'I think that would require a change of stance from the EU,' he said.

'They need to recognise that if we are to arrive at a solution it requires them to accept, and respect, the integrity of the UK, its internal market and Northern Irelands place within it.'
An 11-year-old girl who previously gave birth after suffering a rape aged just 10 is now expecting a second baby, officials in Brazil have confirmed.

The pregnancy was discovered on Friday when the girl was examined while staying at a Child Services shelter in Teresina, Piaui, north-eastern Brazil.

Child Services immediately reported the findings to the Police Department for Child and Adolescent Protection (DPCA), whose investigation into the rape and pregnancy begins today.

But the girl's father told police and local media that his daughter has refused to reveal the father of her second baby, and there are currently no official suspects.

Highly respected Brazilian news outlet Globo confirmed the father said his child will carry her baby to term, even though abortion is legal in cases of rape under Brazilian law.

The disturbing case comes just months after Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro - a conservative Catholic - denounced another 11-year-old rape victim's abortion as 'unacceptable', triggering a wave of pro-choice sentiment across the country.

Picture shows the police station for the Protection of Children and Adolescents (DPCA), in Teresina, Brazil

The girl whose pregnancy was discovered by Child Services on Friday fell pregnant for the first time in January 2021 after she was raped.

A cousin, who was allegedly one of the suspects, was murdered shortly after news of the crime broke, though his killer was not found and the motive was never officially established.

The child's parents are divorced and live separately, but they both decided their child would carry the baby to term against the advice of medical and legal professionals.

Following the birth, the girl and her infant son had been living at her father's house but he requested that Child Services took the pair into care in August, citing behavioural problems.

Once in care, workers quickly spotted that the girl was acting strangely and decided to conduct a medical examination.

Child Services spokeswoman Renata Bezerra said: 'At the shelter, they noticed her behaviour was different and she was taken to the maternity hospital.

'They did some routine exams so she could remain at the shelter and she was asked to undergo a Beta-hCG test.

'The test came back positive, indicating that she was 10 weeks and one day pregnant.'

Child Services established the girl must have been impregnated in June. It is thought she was living at her father's house at the time, but this has not been confirmed.

Workers notified the girl's parents of her pregnancy on Friday and strongly advised them to authorise an abortion, but both the father and mother refused.

Bezerra said: 'On Friday, when we arrived at her house with a positive pregnancy test, we tried to urge her to get a legal abortion, via the Public Prosecution Service, but we needed her parents' authorisation. And her mother wouldn't authorise it.'

Officers at the DPCA have now opened an investigation into the girl's rape and impregnation, with inquiries beginning on Monday.

The suspect, if caught, faces a prison sentence of between eight and 15 years for sex with a minor aged under 14.

Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro - a conservative Catholic - recently denounced another 11-year-old rape victim's abortion as 'unacceptable', triggering a wave of pro-choice sentiment across the country

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in June angered pro-choice advocates when he denounced an 11-year-old rape victim's abortion.

The girl was finally able to receive an abortion during the week of June 20 after a lengthy legal process which saw a judge encourage her 'to hold on a little more' to save the baby.

She was thought to be around seven months pregnant at the time of the abortion, a legal right granted to victims of rape.

Upon hearing the news, Bolsonaro tweeted: 'When it comes to a baby at seven months of gestation, it does not matter how it was conceived or whether (abortion) is allowed by the law or not.

'It is unacceptable to take the life of this helpless being!'

In 2018, a paper published by Brazil's Notifiable Diseases Information System (SINAN) revealed that there were more than 58,000 cases of rape of children aged 9 and under between 2011-2017 in the country.

And between 2017 and 2020, more than 74,000 children aged 10 to 14 were raped, according to data presented by Unicef and the Brazilian Forum on Public Security.

The conservative Catholic leader has often spoke of his desire to outlaw abortion on all grounds, but the tweet caused a major backlash among pro-choice advocates in Brazil.

The slogan 'A child is not a mother' went viral on social media in the aftermath of the tweet and a slew of abortion rights advocates, including medical professionals, called on the Ministry of Health to ensure that minors subjected to rape were in no way restricted from accessing legal abortions.
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London could become 'full' over the coming days as up to one million people flock to see the Queen's lying in state with queues expected to last up to 30 hours and rail operators warning trains will be 'very busy'.

Whitehall chiefs in charge of logistics for the historic five-night vigil have estimated mourner numbers could be close to the one million who turned up to view Pope John Paul II when he lay in state in Rome in 2005.

Westminster Hall in London will be open 24 hours a day from 5pm on Wednesday until 6.30am next Monday  the day of the funeral  for people to view the Queen's coffin, but they may have to wait in a three-mile-long queue.

And rail bosses have warned those wanting to travel to the capital over the coming days should expect packed trains and stations, with one industry source admitting there is 'real concern the capital will reach bursting point'. Network Rail today warned of 'unprecedented travel demand in the capital' from Wednesday.

Hotel chains have also seen a major uptake in reservations ahead of the lying in state and funeral, with Travelodge revealing there had been a 'surge in London bookings from all corners of the UK' to its 78 hotels in the capital.

Scotland Yard is already closing roads around Westminster and Transport for London has said services will be 'very busy' with passengers urged 'to allow plenty of extra time for their journeys and to avoid driving where possible'.

The strain the mass queueing will put on policing is likely to see a number of events including football matches cancelled, with Arsenal v PSV Eindhoven in the Europa League on Thursday already off due to insufficient police.

Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan told Conservative MPs this morning that queues at Westminster Hall for the lying in state could be as long as 30 hours. According to The Times, she wrote in a WhatsApp message today: 'Queues could be up to 30 hours as we are obviously expecting and planning for unprecedented demand.'

And the number of mourners expected to come to London for the state funeral on Monday, September 19 could get close to or exceed the one million people who witnessed the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997.

Her Majesty's coffin was in the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh this morning before being taken later on to the nearby St Giles' Cathedral this afternoon for a service of thanksgiving for the Queen's life. The coffin will arrive in London tomorrow and will be taken to Westminster Hall, near the Houses of Parliament, on Wednesday.

From 5pm that day, members of the public will be able to file in to pay their respects for four days, before the state funeral next Monday. But the queuing is set to begin today, with security staff, stewards and police officers already stationed along the route. Portable toilets, barriers and flooring have also been set up in Victoria Tower Gardens.

Members of the public outside St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh prepare to view the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II today

King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla leave Westminster Hall inside the Palace of Westminster this morning

Barriers and portable toilets are set up in Westminster today before Britons start queuing to see the Queen lying in state

A large structure is put up in Westminster today as plans are well underway for the capital to host huge numbers of visitors

Official details of the route for the lying-in-state queue will be published at 10pm tomorrow, but this is the predicted route

People start to camp on The Mall today ahead of the Queen's coffin being taken from Buckingham Palace on Wednesday

This graphic issued by the UK Government today shows what items will be banned at Westminster Hall in London

More than 300,000 people came to see King George VI lying in state in Westminster Hall in 1952 - and 200,000 saw the Queen Mother's coffin in 2002. Full details of the route this time will be published at 10pm tomorrow.

It is expected to begin at Southwark Park south of the Thames, with mourners following the line of the river down past Parliament to Lambeth Bridge, where they will cross back on themselves by walking back up to Westminster.

Details of how public can attend lying-in-state are revealed amid forecast for huge queues Details have been published on how the public can attend the Queen's lying-in-state, with people warned to expect long queues and be prepared to stand for many hours through the night. Those wishing to pay their respects to the late monarch's coffin in London's Westminster Hall will be able to file solemnly past 24 hours a day from 5pm on this Wednesday until 6.30am on the day of the funeral - next Monday, September 19. But the Government has stressed that the queue will continuously move - with little chance to rest or sit down - and the very long line of those waiting is expected to stretch through central London. It also set out guidelines on how people should behave and what they should wear, saying they should remain silent inside the Palace of Westminster. It urged people to 'dress appropriately for the occasion to pay your respects', banning clothes 'with political or offensive slogans'. 'Please respect the dignity of this event and behave appropriately. You should remain silent while inside the Palace of Westminster,' it added. Queue-jumpers and anyone drunk will be booted out of the queue by stewards and police patrolling the lines. Visitors will also face airport-style security checks, with tight restrictions on what can be taken in. Flowers, tributes, candles, flags, photos, hampers, sleeping bags, blankets, folding chairs and camping equipment are all banned, with only one small bag with a simple opening or zip permitted per person. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to flock to the capital for the once-in-a-lifetime proceedings. The Queen's closed coffin will rest on a raised platform, called a catafalque, in the ancient Westminster Hall in the Palace of Westminster, draped in the Royal Standard with the Orb and Sceptre placed on top. Delays to public transport and road closures around the area are expected and people are being urged to check ahead and plan accordingly. Government guidance stated: 'Please note that the queue is expected to be very long. You will need to stand for many hours, possibly overnight, with very little opportunity to sit down, as the queue will keep moving.' It also asked people to think carefully about whether to take youngsters with them. 'Please consider this before you decide to attend or bring children with you,' it added. Details of the route for the lying-in-state queue will be published at 10pm tomorrow Tuesday, with full guidance on the gov.uk website. The queue may close early to ensure as many visitors as possible can enter before the lying-in-state period comes to an end. Advertisement

Network Rail warned London and other locations hosting events associated with the funeral will be 'exceptionally busy'. It is expecting 'unprecedented travel demand in the capital' from Wednesday.

The Elizabeth line will run a special service with 12 trains per hour on the central section from Paddington to Abbey Wood on Sunday, while staff at some Underground stations may have to implement queuing, closures or non-stopping trains.

People have been urged to avoid Green Park station if possible, due to high numbers of customers passing through. Due to road closures, some bus services will be diverted or will stop short of their destination.

Number 10 warned today that commuters may want to 'change their working patterns accordingly' amid an expected huge surge in people coming into London.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'At this point we can't be more specific on numbers. We do expect it to be extremely busy. I think for the Queen Mother it was around 200,000 people (who attended), we expect (it) to be far more than that for this lying in state. But at this point, but we can't be more specific into exact numbers.'

On whether commuters should work from home this week if they normally travel into the capital from outside London, he said some people 'may wish to change their working patterns accordingly', but acknowledged 'not everyone will have that ability'.

Asked if there will be any facilities for people who physically cannot queue for 30 hours, he said: 'Obviously we want everyone to be able to attend regardless of whether they have disabilities. Our focus is on ensuring they have the information needed to make the decision about what's right for them.

'There will be toilet facilities, there will be first aid available, there will be the ability for people obviously to go and use toilets and return to queues and things like that.'

The Cabinet Office has been preparing for the 'very real possibility' that London will become 'full' for the first time, reported The Times which also said rail firms could be told to ask passengers not to try to travel into the capital.

A rail source told the newspaper: 'There is real concern the capital will reach bursting point. All the planning has been done by the Cabinet Office as part of Operation London Bridge and it will be for officials to tell the rail industry to instruct passengers not to travel.'

Jason Webb, the Rail Delivery Group's customer information director, said: 'Understandably, many people wish to pay their respects to Her Majesty the Queen during this period of national mourning.

'On the day of the funeral, Monday 19 September, people should plan carefully the timing of their journey home as trains and stations are likely to be extremely busy.'

The Rail Delivery Group also said that it will not be possible to view both the funeral in London and travel to Windsor, where The Queen will be laid to rest. A spokesman said: 'People should plan to view one or the other and allow plenty of time to travel to either location.'

Rail bosses added that anytime, off-peak and super-off-peak ticket holders will be able to get fee-free refunds on tickets which have been purchased before the announcement of the Queen's death last Thursday. The 10 administration fee will be waived.

The Rail Delivery Group added that the policy of third party retailers and open access operators, including Grand Central, Heathrow Express and First Hull Trains, may differ - and customers should therefore check those firms' websites for further information.

Huge crowds gather to greet King Charles III as he arrives at Buckingham Palace in London yesterday

People queue along The Mall at Buckingham Palace in London yesterday following the death of Queen Elizabeth II last week

People wait for King Charles III outside Buckingham Palace in London yesterday, following the Queen's death last week

Road closures marked in purple Are in place in London today, with access for pedestrians only - and not vehicles or bicycles

Transport for London has issued travel guidance (left) while the Rail Delivery Group put out a warning on Saturday (right)

Large numbers of people leave flowers and tributes to Queen Elizabeth II around trees at Green Park in London yesterday

Advance tickets will be refundable in line with the existing 'Book with Confidence' scheme, which means they can be changed or refunded for a voucher up to 6pm the evening before.

Fascinating past of Westminster Hall where the Queen will lie in state: Built in 1097 by son of William the Conqueror, it has hosted trials of Charles I and Guy Fawkes, Henry VIII's coronation banquet and even Tudor TENNIS matches For nearly a thousands years, Westminster Hall has stood as a beacon of the British state. It was commissioned by King William II, the son of William the Conqueror, and was built in 1097. It has hosted the trials of Guy Fawkes, King Charles I and churchman Thomas More, who was executed by Henry VIII. Henry's coronation banquet - in 1509 - was also held there. In 1920, two leather tennis balls dating from Henry's time on the throne were found by workmen in the hall's rafters. The discovery raised the tantalising prospect that Henry himself may have played what was then known as Real Tennis in the hall. The infamous king is known to have enjoyed the sport at Hampton Court, his palace in Richmond. Westminster Hall also been the setting for speeches by Charles De Gaulle, Nelson Mandela, Pope Benedict VI, and the then US President Barack Obama in 2011. The hall survived a devastating fire in the 19th Century that destroyed most of the rest of the Palace of Westminster. In 2002, the Queen Mother's coffin lay in state there and an estimated 200,000 people filed in to pay their respects. The body of King George VI also lay there for three days in 1952, with around 300,000 filing past. It was originally built as a banqueting hall and then became England's main administrative centre from the 12th Century onwards. As well as occasional speeches from foreign leaders, the hall now hosts parliamentary discussions and is a common walk-through for MPs and others entering Parliament. Advertisement

The Rail Delivery Group said: 'This avoids passengers whose plans change or who decide not to travel because of the commemorations of the Queen's death losing money as a result of changing their journey plans.

'It will also help to free up capacity on trains which we expect to be very busy during the mourning period due to large numbers wishing to travel to formal events, especially in London.'

And Andy Byford, London's Transport Commissioner, said: 'Our thoughts are with His Majesty The King and all members of the Royal Family following the death of Her Majesty The Queen.

'Thousands of people from all over the UK and beyond are expected to make their way to London to pay their respects. We are working with our partners to keep our city moving smoothly and to ensure that everyone who is planning to attend the memorial events can do so safely.

'Roads and public transport in central London will be very busy, so we advise everyone to allow plenty of extra time for their journeys and to avoid driving where possible.'

Mr Byford said all Londoners and visitors to the capital over the coming days should check before they travel using real-time travel information via the TfL Go app and on the TfL website.

He added that extra TfL 'travel ambassadors' will be available and across the network to answer questions and to provide travel advice.

The first person to begin queuing for the Queen's lying in state in London said today that she 'really, really wanted to be part of it'.

Former Met Police chief superintendent Parm Sandhu warned that crowds gathering in London for the Queen's funeral could be a 'target for terrorists'.

She told BBC Radio 4's World At One programme today: 'London could potentially be full. We are expecting to have people queuing for 12, 15 hours at a time just to file past the coffin, which is a real concern because crowds attract criminals'.

She said it could be busier than it was for the 2012 Olympic Games or for the funerals of the Queen Mother and Diana, Princess of Wales.

'I don't ever remember London expecting to be full in this way, even with the Olympics,' she said.

'The crowds themselves will be a target for terrorists. The funeral itself will be a target for terrorists'.

She added: 'All the services are going to be stretched and with the queues that are going be right across central London, you could have streets that are going to be quite difficult to walk down.'

Vanessa Nathakumaran, 56, from Harrow, arrived at noon today - more than 48 hours before the queue opens on Wednesday at 5pm.

She said that she started admiring the royal family in her childhood in Sri Lanka before she moved to the UK in the 1980s.

Her great-uncle was knighted by King George VI and her daughter met the Queen as a air cadet, she said.

'I'm really proud of our family being involved in the time of the Queen's life.'

Crowds watch as the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II passes down the Royal Mile in Edinburgh yesterday

Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Sophie, Countess of Wessex watch as the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II completes its journey from Balmoral to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh yesterday

An Accession Proclamation Ceremony in Edinburgh yesterday, publicly proclaiming King Charles III as the new monarch

The Queen's lying in state over the coming days could be comparable to when one million people turned up to view Pope John Paul II when he lay in state in Rome in 2005. Mourners are pictured at The Vatican during his funeral on April 8, 2005

Asked why she had arrived to queue so early, she said: 'I really really want to be part of it.'

She added of the Queen: 'She has done a good service to our country.'

Meanwhile hotels in London have seen an increase in bookings ahead of the Queen lying in state and her funeral.

Travelodge, which has nearly 80 hotels in the city, confirmed that it had seen an increase in demand for rooms.

A spokesman said: 'As one of London's largest hotel chains, we are seeing a surge in London bookings from all corners of the UK.

'Our teams across our 78 London-based Travelodge hotels are working around the clock and gearing up for a busy period in the lead up to the Queen's state funeral.'

It is not only large chains which have been affected, as smaller establishments in London have also noticed a difference.

A staff member from The Bridge Hotel in Southwark, which is less than half an hour's walk from Westminster Hall, said: 'We have been getting busier since they announced the dates. We will have more people here next week.'

Richard Gandy, owner of the London Waterloo Hostel - which is less than a mile from Westminster Hall, said that the number of bookings had gone up by 30 per cent.

He said: 'We've seen quite a big increase in bookings. I know for sure that people are coming down for the lying in state. It's probably an increase of about 30 per cent.

'Friday and Saturday were full anyway, even before she passed away, and we've received more bookings for Wednesday and Thursday.'

With the funeral taking place next Monday, Mr Gandy also predicted that the hostel would be booked out: 'We've not received a lot more bookings for Sunday night yet but I'm sure we will. We expect to be fully booked, much like everywhere else.'

While the Queen lies in state, her coffin will rest on a raised platform and be guarded 24 hours a day. On other occasions where a person lay in state, the coffin has been draped in a royal flag and a crown has been placed on top.

The last person to lie in state in the UK was the Queen Mother. An estimated 200,000 people visited Westminster Hall to pay their respects before her funeral on April 9, 2002.

Officers facing 12-hour shifts and cancelled leave as part of the mammoth policing operation following the Queen's death want to work and show their respect to the late monarch, the head of a staff association has said.

Ken Marsh, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said officers in the force 'to a man and woman' had affection for the Queen and there had been no 'gripes or groans' about the efforts expected from them.

The biggest-ever policing operation undertaken by the Met is being staged as millions of visitors including foreign dignitaries converge in London in the wake of the Queen's death and the lead-up to her funeral.

Mr Marsh said: 'It will be challenging, but the plan is very good, it's been in place for a long time.

'It's what we do, none of the officers are concerned about what's in front of us or are daunted by it because it's all laid down, it's all planned, it's all prepared.

'I don't think any officer is concerned by it and they're all prepared to do it because our sovereign is gone, who we actually swore allegiance to and serve as we do our new King, so they all want to do it.

'We haven't had any gripes or groans about what's asked of them or what's required of them because they all, to a man and woman, had affection for our Queen and want to be part of it, and want to show their respect in any way they can.'

The Metropolitan Police Federation is a staff association that represents more than 30,000 officers up to the rank of chief inspector.

Experts have said that around 10,000 officers, who swear an oath to the reigning monarch when they join the service, will be on duty per day in the English capital alone in the run-up to the Queen's funeral.

They will need to deal with huge crowds of members of the public coming to pay their respects as well as dozens of dignitaries visiting the UK, and potential protests those visits may spark.

Mr Marsh said: 'There's a massive requirement for firearms, more than for routine officers, because of the amount of dignitaries that are coming.

'All the dignitaries, all the major players, they come with their own teams most of them, but there are specific things in place for all of them.

'Obviously, you've only got a finite amount of motorbikes with guns etc, so some of those will be coming into assist.

'There's all sorts of requirements that we'll have to get right as we go along.'

In terms of crowds, some teams of officers will be held in reserve so the force can respond if larger numbers of people than expected come to the capital.

'There's a four-day resting so that's quite a long period, around 100 hours,' Mr Marsh said.

'We have no idea of the numbers who will turn up.

'That makes it difficult for us in terms of the policing planning because if you put a plan in place for half a million then two million turn up, then clearly you haven't got enough officers to keep it safe.

'So, we're having to make sure that we've got the most required if necessary.'

How to see the Queen's coffin in Edinburgh and London, how long will the queues be, do I need to book tickets and can I take photos? Q&A on late monarch lying in state ahead of state funeral next Monday

Details were published today on how the public can see the Queen's coffin in Edinburgh and London, with people warned to expect long queues and be prepared to stand for 'many hours' through the night.

Those wishing to pay their respects to the late monarch's coffin in the Scottish capital will be able to do so at St Giles' Cathedral - but only for a 22-hour period from 5pm today until around 3pm tomorrow.

In London, people will be able to file solemnly past the coffin at Westminster Hall for 24 hours a day from 5pm this Wednesday until 6.30am on the day of the funeral - Monday September 19 - with long queues expected.

The Government has stressed that the queue will continuously move - with little chance to rest or sit down - and has urged people to 'dress appropriately'. Clothes 'with political or offensive slogans' have been banned.

Queue-jumpers and anyone drunk will be taken out of the queue by stewards and police patrolling the lines. Visitors will also face airport-style security checks, with tight restrictions on what can be taken in.

Flowers, tributes, candles, flags, photos, hampers, sleeping bags, blankets, folding chairs and camping equipment are all banned, with only one small bag with a simple opening or zip permitted per person.

Here, MailOnline reveals what you need to know if you'd like to see the coffin in either Edinburgh or London:

EDINBURGH

St Giles Cathedral (High Street, EH1 1RE)

Today (5pm) until tomorrow (3pm)

- Where and when can I see the Queen's coffin in Edinburgh?

Members of the public will be able to see the Queen's coffin at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh from 5pm today until around 3pm tomorrow.

But the Scottish Government warned that the queue 'may close early in order to ensure as many people as possible can enter St Giles' Cathedral to pay their respects'.

- What will I be able to see?

People will be able to file past the Queen's catafalque, which is the framework around the coffin, after a service at the cathedral this afternoon.

- Will I be able to queue?

Yes. A queuing system will be in place along with security checks, but members of the public have been warned of long waits.

Mourners have also been advised that the weather could be poor - although conditions are currently expected to be dry. People have been told to expect to stand for a number of hours.

- Will I need to get a ticket or wristband?

The Scottish Government said that in order to assist with managing the queue, wristbands will be issued. Only one wristband per person will be issued and people will have to be present to collect one.

People will only be permitted to enter the queue if they have a valid wristband.

- Where will the queue begin?

The queue will start at George Square (south west corner), next to Edinburgh University Library. Once issued with a wristband, people will be able walk the designated route to the security tent at St. Giles' Cathedral.

- Can children attend?

Yes, but the Scottish Government warned that the the queue is 'expected to be very long', adding: 'You will need to stand for long periods of time, possibly many hours, with very little opportunity to sit down, as the queue will keep moving. Please consider this before you decide to attend or bring children with you.'

The hearse carrying the Queen's coffin passes St Giles Cathedral yesterday on the way to the Palace of Holyroodhouse

- Can I attend if I'm in a wheelchair?

Yes. Step-free and accessible options are available for those who need them.

- Can I take photographs?

No. Photography and recording is strictly prohibited. There will also be restrictions on mobile phone use.

- Can I bring a bag?

There is a strict bag policy in operation. You can only bring one small bag per person into St Giles' Cathedral. It must be smaller than 40cm x 30cm x 20cm, with 'one simple opening or zip so you can move quickly through the security check'.

- What else can I bring?

The Scottish Government advises people to bring 'clothing to protect you from cold or wet weather' and 'food and drinks to consume in the queue', adding: 'There are limited places to buy refreshments along the route.'

It also said: 'Any food items and liquids must be consumed or disposed of before you enter the security search point on George IV Bridge. Clear water bottles are permitted, but must be emptied of their contents before you enter the security search point.'

You can also bring sunscreen but this must be disposed of before you enter the security search point

People are also advised to bring a mobile phone charger. The advice says: 'You are likely to be in the queue for a long time so consider bringing a small portable power bank to use if you need to charge your phone.'

People should also take essential medication or equipment that they need to keep with them. The advice says: 'Please explain this to the security staff or police at the security search point so they can check the items.'

- What can't I bring?

Large items being carried in addition to bags will not be admitted. This includes sleeping bags, blankets, carrier bags, folding chairs, camping equipment, and children's pushchairs.

The Scottish Government also said that 'non-retractable umbrellas' will not be permitted. The advice says people should not bring or erect gazebos or tents, or light barbecues and fires.

Tribute items including flowers, candles, soft toys and photographs are banned, as is personal defence equipment such as flick knives, butterfly knives and personal defence sprays.

Sharp items such as knives, including Swiss Army knives, scissors, cutlery and screwdrivers are also banned - as are paint sprays, padlocks, chains and climbing gear

Also on the banned list are fireworks, smoke canisters, air horns, flares, whistles laser devices, and other items that could be used to cause a disturbance or noise

Banners, placards, flags and similar items 'that could be used to cause a disturbance' are also banned.

- Can I bring flowers?

No. Flowers can be laid in Middle Meadow Walk and Palace of Holyrood House but will not be permitted into St Giles' Cathedral.

- Will the coffin be guarded by soldiers?

Yes. The coffin will be guarded by Vigils from The Royal Company of Archers - with the Crown of Scotland placed on top.

- Can someone else queue on your behalf?

No. The advice says you should not attempt to queue on behalf of others or ask others to queue on your behalf.

- What behaviour could see you removed from the queue?

The advice states that 'anti-social or inappropriate behaviour' including queue-jumping, excessive consumption of alcohol or drunken behaviour 'will not be tolerated and you will be removed from the queue'.

- What will happen after the viewing period finishes?

The coffin will remain at the cathedral until 3pm tomorrow before it is flown from Edinburgh Airport to RAF Northolt in West London, before arriving at Buckingham Palace.

The Queen's lying in state at Westminster Hall in London then begins on Wednesday for four days until her funeral on Monday, September 19.

LONDON

WESTMINSTER HALL (St Margaret Street, SW1P 3JX)

Wednesday, September 14 (5pm) until Monday, September 19 (6.30am)





- Where and when can I see the Queen's coffin in London?

The late monarch's lying in state in Westminster Hall opens to the public at 5pm this Wednesday and it will be open 24 hours a day until it closes at 6.30am on Monday September 19 - the day of the Queen's funeral.

- Where is Westminster Hall?

Westminster Hall, which dates back to 1099, is in the Palace of Westminster and is the oldest building on the Parliamentary estate.

It forms part of the Westminster Unesco World Heritage Site and the UK Parliament website refers to its 'great size', the 'magnificence' of its roof, and its central role in British history.

The building has been the site of key events, such as the trial of Charles I, coronation banquets, and addresses by world leaders. The address is 3 St Margaret Street, SW1P 3JX.

- Will there be a queue?

Yes. Government guidance says there will be a queue which is expected to be very long.

People will need to stand for 'many hours, possibly overnight' with very little opportunity to sit down as the queue will be continuously moving.

As large crowds are expected, there are likely to be road closures and delays on public transport.

The queue may close early to ensure as many visitors as possible can enter before the lying-in-state period comes to an end.

- Can I attend if I'm in a wheelchair?

Yes. Step-free and accessible options are available for those who need them.

- What route will the queue take?

The Government has stressed that the queue will continuously move - and the very long line of those waiting is expected to stretch through central London.

Details of the route for the lying-in-state queue will be published at 10pm tomorrow, with full guidance on the gov.uk website.

Security staff manning the queue route to Westminster Hall said today that crowds are expected to swell ahead of Wednesday afternoon.

They said the queue is likely to snake for miles, all the way along the southside of the River Thames to Tower Bridge.

- Will I need to get a ticket or wristband?

People will be given numbered wristbands to indicate their place in the queue so they are able to leave and come back, it is understood - for example, to use the toilet.

- Will security be tight?

Visitors will go through airport-style security and there are tight restrictions on what you can take in, with people allowed just one small bag with one simple opening or zip.

Queue-jumpers and anyone drunk will be booted out of the queue by stewards and police patrolling the lines.

The Government had confirmed that the Army will be available to assist, with 1,500 personnel on hand to help.

- Is there anything I need to bring?

Official guidance suggests that people should bring suitable clothing for the weather, food and drinks to have while queueing, a portable power bank for your mobile phone and any essential medication.

People are also advised to dress appropriately for the occasion.

- Are any items banned?

Yes. There is a list of banned items which includes flowers or other tribute items, including candles, soft toys, and photographs. Other banned items include banners, flags, hampers, blankets and folding chairs.

The Government guidance says people should not film, photograph, use mobile phones or other handheld devices in the security search area or within the Palace of Westminster.

- Can I bring a bag?

Only bags smaller than 40cm x 30cm x 20cm will be allowed into the hall.

- Can I bring a water bottle?

Flasks or water bottles, except clear water bottles which must be emptied of their contents before the security search point, are prohibited inside, as are weapons, whistles, smoke canisters and air-horns and other such items.

- Are there any rules on etiquette?

Yes, the Government has set out guidelines on how people should behave and what they should wear, saying they should remain silent inside the Palace of Westminster.

It has urged people to 'dress appropriately for the occasion to pay your respects', banning clothes 'with political or offensive slogans'.

'Please respect the dignity of this event and behave appropriately. You should remain silent while inside the Palace of Westminster,' the Government added.

People file past the coffin of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in Westminster Hall in London on April 8, 2002

- Will there be somewhere to store larger bags?

A bag drop facility is available but capacity is limited, and there is no guarantee that there will be space at the facility.

Waiting for bag storage space to become available will increase your queuing time, according to the advice.

- What can people expect to see?

The closed coffin will be draped in a royal flag, usually a personal standard, and will rest on a raised platform called a catafalque, flanked by a military guard around the clock.

A priceless crown and other regalia are traditionally placed on top of a sovereign's coffin.

Each corner of the platform is watched 24 hours a day by units from the Sovereign's Bodyguard, Foot Guards or the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment.

- Can children attend?

The Government has asked people to think carefully about whether to take youngsters with them. 'Please consider this before you decide to attend or bring children with you,' it added.

- Will the royal family be there?

It is likely that the Queen's children or even grandchildren will honour her with a vigil and join the guard over the coffin at some point - a tradition which has been called the Vigil of the Princes.

Should the Princess Royal stand guard for the Queen, she will be the first female member of the royal family to do so.

King George VI lying in state at Westminster Hall in London on February 11, 1952

- What exactly is meant by the term 'lying in state'?

Lying in state is usually reserved for sovereigns, current or past queen consorts, and sometimes former prime ministers.

During the formal occasion, the closed coffin is placed on view, as thousands of people queue to file past and pay their respects.

- Did the Duke of Edinburgh lie in state?

No, he did not, and this was in accordance with his wishes, but his death took place during the Covid-19 crisis and at that point such mass gatherings were also against the law.

- Who was the last person to lie in state?

The last person to lie in state in the UK was the Queen Mother in 2002.

On top of her coffin in Westminster Hall was her coronation crown, set with the Koh-i-Noor diamond, and a hand-written message from her daughter, the Queen, reading: 'In loving memory, Lilibet'.

An estimated 200,000 people turned out to pay their respects over three days.

- Was there anything unusual about that occasion in 2002?

It was the first lying in state where members of the public were subjected to a security check, which slowed the movement of the mourners.

At their longest, queues stretched across Lambeth Bridge and all the way along the South Bank to Southwark Cathedral, with people being warned to expect a wait of up to 12 hours at peak times.

Police were drafted in to deal with the security, large crowds and road closures.

- Where does the tradition originate?

The tradition of lying in state stretches back to the 17th century when Stuart sovereigns lay in state for a number of days.

Edward VII set the modern tradition of royal lying in state in Westminster Hall. He lay in state in 1910, as did King George V in 1936 and King George VI in 1952.

George VI - the Queen's father - was the last sovereign before Elizabeth II to die.

- Who else lay in state in Westminster Hall?

Two prime ministers - William Gladstone in 1898 and Sir Winston Churchill in 1965 - also lay in state at Westminster Hall, attracting hundreds of thousands of people.

In 1930, there was an unusual lying in state in Westminster Hall for the victims of the R101 Airship disaster.

The experimental rigid British airship caught fire as it crossed northern France, killing 48 of the 54 people on board.
A New York judge has been accused of making vile homophobic and racist remarks in her courthouse.

Judge Harriet Thompson allegedly said in the Brooklyn Surrogate Court that homosexuality is an 'abomination' and assumed people with a Spanish-sounding name were 'liars'.

The judge is accused of making the remarks before she was removed from the bench in December last year but they have only just been made public, as she continues her fight to get back her job claiming she is the victim of a 'political hit'.

An affidavit from state Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence Marks, seen by the New York Daily News, claims Thompson targeted multiple colleagues and members of the public in court with bigoted and hateful comments.

According to the 20-page document, she said: 'I hate these gay white men.

Judge Harriet Thompson allegedly said in the Brooklyn Surrogate Court that homosexuality is an 'abomination'

'Gay racist f*****s... trying to ruin me and get me... Being gay is an abomination to mankind. The Holy Ghost (is) going to get them.'

Thompson is accused of saying she 'assumed the litigant was a liar' if they had a Spanish sounding name.

She allegedly added: 'They have a deceitful trait that goes way back to Biblical times.

'The men are always stealing, and the women are no better. They lie, steal and use their vaginas for anything they want.'

The documents say she made the remarks 'in the courthouse in the presence of United Court System personnel'.

Thompson allegedly also targeted people from the West Indies, overweight colleagues, female judges, white women and black women.

She categorically denies all the allegations, saying: 'I'm entitled to my day in court, to my right of confrontation, and to my right of cross-examination.

'I categorically deny the allegations... You know what? It's about integrity and character. That's all I have. People lie, and people believe the lies.'

The comments led to her being kicked off the bench in December but the comments have only now been made public. Pictured: Brooklyn Surrogate Court

The judge accused her female colleagues of using sexual favors to gain seats on the bench and labeled one black judge as a 'puppet for the white man' and a 'house n*****'.

When a fellow judge was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, Thompson allegedly said she 'got what she deserved', while she accused another of being a prostitute whose boyfriend was pimping her.

In April, the judge filed a petition arguing for her return to the bench, claiming it was a violation of the law and an abuse of discretion, which state attorneys have disputed.

She was not removed from office or suspended but was blocked from hearing cases.

Thompson began her anticipated 14-year term in January 2019 but after her removal, she was barred from entrance to non-public areas of the Surrogate's Court last year.
Staff at an Australian pub have been called out for being 'uneducated and culturally insensitive' after denying entry to a Maori woman with a traditional facial tattoo.

Jadene Kini was refused entry to the popular Burleigh Pavilion on the Gold Coast on Sunday, with her friend, NRLW Titans star Madison Bartlett, posing to social media and calling it 'racism at it's finest'.

'Every Maori woman has a birthright for kauae, it's an identity, it's who you are and where you come from,' Ms Kini told 9News.

NRLW star Madison Bartlett (left) posted to social media after her friend Jadene Kini was refused entry to Burleigh Pavilion because of her face tattoo (right)

Ms Kini (pictured) said the tattoo is culturally significant and wants to raise awareness in Australia

What are moko kauae? Traditional sacred chin tattoos given to Maori women. They symbolise a deeper or truer identity. The pattern is said to reside inside their chest near their heart and is brought to the surface when they are ready. They are widely accepted in New Zealand with the country's Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta having one. Advertisement

The moko kauae are traditional female chin tattoos which in Maori culture are believed to be a manifestation of a deeper identity.

After staff at the Burleigh Pavilion told the pair facial tattoos were against the dress code the pair said they tried to convey the significance of the ink but security staff weren't having it.

'We tried to explain it's more than just a facial tattoo it's a cultural tattoo but they didn't really want to listen,' Ms Bartlett added.

The pair said they spoke with multiple staff who all said that she would not be allowed inside.

The venue's dress code bans intimidating or aggressive tattoos along with a general blanket ban on face and neck ink.

Ms Kini and Ms Bartlett say the rule should be reviewed and distinctions made for culturally significant tattoos.

Maori chin tattoos are widely accepted in modern New Zealand society with one of the nation's most high profile politicians, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta, having one.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Burleigh Pavilion for comment.

The Burleigh Pavilion on the Gold coast (pictured) has a blanket dress code ban on face and neck tattoos

Young clubber tells The Project it's her 'human right' to have traditional face tattoos after staff refused to let her into a bar because of her ink: 'This is our culture'

Danyal Hussain for Daily Mail Australia

A young woman who was refused entry to a nightclub because of her cultural face tattoos says having her ink is her 'human right'.

Moale James, 23, who has Papua New Guinean heritage, was celebrating her partner's birthday by heading out to Brisbane's nightclub precinct in Fortitude Valley in June.

But she soon found herself turned away from popular Latin American club Hey Chica! after security guards took issue with her traditional tattoos.

Ms James later took to Facebook to slam the 'racist and discriminatory' treatment she received.

Now, speaking to The Project, she explained why her markings are so important to her.

'There are so many groups of diverse people here that I live with and a very big Pacific Islander population in Queensland, and there's a lot of us that are wanting to practice culture, including marking our skin.

'We need to be reviewing policies and legislation that are not reflective of our community. We shouldn't have to assimilate, this is our culture and we should be allowed to practice it freely.

'It's a human right to do that so the laws that we live in should also reflect that, and they should reflect the community.'

Ms James had got the traditional tattoo (pictured) to celebrate her Papua New Guinean heritage

Speaking to The Project (hosts Waleed Aly and Sarah Harris pictured), the clubber explained why her markings are so important to her

Ms James says she 'wants to make some noise' for people who want to represent their cultural heritage.

'We went across the road to a different venue and the security guard there, all my friends said, are you going to let her in? Like look at her license, look at her.

'She looked at me and she said, "why wouldn't I let you in? We actually aren't allowed to discriminate and categorize you based on obviously what our cultural marks".

'And so we went and we spent the rest of the night in that venue.

'Now we're here trying to make some noise for anyone else that might proudly wear the marks of their ancestors too, change the legislation and liquor acts that might try to prevent us from practicing our culture.'

Moale James (pictured), 23, was denied entry to Hey Chica! for her traditional face tattoos, which she has to honour her Papua New Guinean heritage

Ms James says she 'wants to make some noise' for people who want to represent their cultural heritage

On the Hey Chica! website, its outline strict dress regulations.

'Dress to impress, smart casual is best, closed in shoes are a must. No face, neck or hand tattoos. Entry is at the discretion of the door host or management, dress code may vary for special events. For more information on dress regulations please contact us before your visit,' it reads.

Ms James has taken a stand saying she will be speaking with her local member about the 'rule' dictating that face tattoos are affiliated with gangs, and how this must be changed to reflect the diverse community.

She also said she expects a written apology from the venue.

In a private message to Ms James, which she shared on Facebook, the club apologised for the 'unintended distress' it caused but stood by its policy.

'Thank you for sharing your experience and for your understanding that the staff at Hey Chica! were following procedure,' the message said.

Ms James took to Facebook calling the rule 'racist' and 'discrimination' and is now set to meet with her local MP to try to make a change

In a private message to Ms James, which she shared on Facebook, the club apologised for the 'unintended distress' it caused but stood by its policy

'While we appreciate that our rule has caused you unintended distress, we do enforce a blanket policy that prohibits head and face tattoos at Hey Chica! alongside other conditions of entry. While we understand this is a strict policy, we will continue to enforce this under the Liquor Act.'

Under Queensland's liquor laws, venues face penalties if they don't take reasonable steps to refuse people wearing items associated with criminal organisations including bikie gangs.

Talking to the ABC, Ms James said the tattoos are marks handed down through generations and were from her great-grandmother dating back to when her village was established.

She went onto say the chief of the village asked his daughters to carry the marks and their stories on their skin, a request which has echoed through generations.

'They hold great spiritual and ancestral value to me and my community,' she said.

Ms James said she always planned to get the face marks as they hold 'great spiritual and ancestral value'

Hey Chica! say on its website people with face, neck or hand tattoos will be denied entry

After being turned away from the club, Ms James said she went to members of her community who are lawyers, and found out the club can refuse entry and service to people - but as long as it is not discriminatory.

'The fact that I was clumped into a group of people that are thugs, gang members, dangerous criminals, that is not my story,' Ms James said.

'I went back and I said, "these are cultural and what are you going to do about that?" And no response.'

Ms James says she just people to hear her story and change their point of view on facial tattoos.

She also hopes the venue reviews its policy, but at the very least educates those who made the rules to change the way they think about people who wear their marks with pride.

Hey Chica! has been contacted for comment.
A British man suspected of masterminding a 1.5 billion tax scheme cannot be extradited to Denmark to face charges, an Emirati court has ruled.

The decision in the high-profile case grants the hedge fund trader, Sanjay Shah, a victory against Danish authorities, who sought him for his role in one of the country's largest fraud cases.

Monday's court ruling, which judges delivered without explanation, can be appealed by prosecutors.

Monday's court ruling for Sanjay Shah, 52, can be appealed by prosecutors

The elaborate scheme, which ran for three years from 2012, involved foreign businesses pretending to own shares in Danish companies and claiming tax refunds they were not eligible for.

"Of course we will try to get him (out) on bail now immediately," Shah's lawyer, Ali al-Zarooni, told the Associated Press.

Prosecutors in Copenhagen did not immediately respond to request for comment.

The 52-year-old financier has maintained his innocence in past interviews with journalists but never appeared in Denmark to answer accusations.

The decision in the high-profile case grants the hedge fund trader, Sanjay Shah, a victory against Danish authorities

Mr Al-Zarooni had contested the extradition, arguing in past closed-door hearings that Denmark had "breached" the rules of international extradition treaties in unspecified ways.

Shah's lifestyle on Dubai's luxurious palm-shaped island over the past few years has sparked outrage in Denmark.

After the countries signed an extradition treaty, Dubai police arrested Shah in June.

During his time in Dubai, the hedge fund manager ran a centre for autistic children that shut down in 2020 as Denmark tried to extradite him.

Shah's lifestyle on Dubai's luxurious palm-shaped island over the past few years has sparked outrage in Denmark

He also oversaw a British-based charity, Autism Rocks, which raised funds through concerts and performances.

His arrest comes as pressure grows on Dubai, the region's financial hub, over its alleged weaknesses in combating illicit finance.

The UAE, a federation of seven emirates, has long invited the wealthy, including disgraced public figures, to invest in the country without questioning where they made their money.

In recent months, however, the UAE has arrested several suspects wanted for major crimes, including two of the Gupta brothers from South Africa, accused of facilitating vast public corruption and draining state resources with former president Jacob Zuma.
This is the moment a Ukrainian drone destroyed a Russian tank in the south of the country, as Putin's military continues to suffer punishing losses.

Video captured on Friday in the Kherson region shows the drone dropping at least six bombs on the tank after it tried to hide in the corner of a field.

Ukraine's 123rd Territorial Defence Brigade said the tank was destroyed by the bombs, before quipping: 'Minus one!'

It comes amid a Ukrainian counter-attack in the region, with military spokesman Nataliya Humenyuk saying some of Russia's men are trying to negotiate a surrender.

A Russian tank smoulders in a field somewhere in Ukraine's Kherson region after it was destroyed by explosives dropped by a drone

Video captures the drone dropping at least six bombs on the tank, which has attempted to conceal itself in the corner of a field near a farmhouse

A spokesman for the brigade said: 'Intelligence of the 123rd Territorial Defence Brigade in cooperation with the SSO [Special Operations Forces] unit in the Kherson direction destroyed a Russian tank.

'The operation was planned in detail. Together to victory!'

Since late August, Ukraine has been counter-attacking in Kherson in a widely-announced mission to take back the city from Russian control.

Kyiv's men spent weeks ahead of time using US HIMARS launchers to destroy bridges and railway lines across the Dnipro River, which runs through the city.

This means that Russian forces on the western bank have no easy way to withdraw, and troops on the occupied eastern bank have no easy way to reinforce them.

Putin's generals have flooded the region with troops - by some estimates up to 30,000 of them - which are now bogged down in fighting.

Ukraine's progress has been slow but steady, with Nataliya Humenyuk - spokesman for Ukraine's southern military command - said some Russian troops are now trying to negotiate their surrender.

With Russian forces tied up in the south, Ukraine has taken the opportunity to launch a second - surprise - counter-attack east out of Kharkiv.

The operation has been a stunning success, with Kyiv's men capturing more than 1,000 square miles of territory in just a few days of fighting.

The tank was blown up amidst a wider Ukrainian counter-attack in the region which has seen its troops slowly but steadily regain territory

The tank is pictured prior to being destroyed, as Ukraine says some Russian forces in the Kherson region are trying to negotiate their surrender

In what amounts to a rout, Russian troops fled their positions while putting up little resistance - leaving dozens of tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery pieces behind.

Ukraine is now thought to be back in control of the whole of the Kharkiv region, including railway lines that were feeding supplies to Russian troops in the Donbas.

That puts Russia's entire eastern offensive at threat of collapse, and could spell disaster for Putin's entire invasion.

Russia's defence ministry has attempted to play off the defeat as a 'regrouping' of troops from the cities of Balakliya and Izyum to nearby Donetsk in order to 'boost efforts in the area'.

But typically pro-Russia military bloggers and allies of the Kremlin reacted with fury, with Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov vowing to make the situation plain to military chiefs and the government.

'They have made mistakes and I think they will draw the necessary conclusions,' Kadyrov said.

'If they don't make changes in the strategy of conducting the special military operation in the next day or two, I will be forced to contact the leadership of the Defense Ministry and the leadership of the country to explain the real situation on the ground.'
A royal super-fan who sparked a security scare by bursting in front of King Charles III's Rolls Royce to take a photo was 'milliseconds' away from death, according to a special forces veteran.

The drama was captured on a live Sky News broadcast earlier today near the Savoy Circus junction, in East Acton, London.

King Charles was making his way from Westminster Hall to RAF Northholt when his convoy was ambushed by a man, armed with what appeared to be a camera.

The male, wearing a white top and blue trousers, had been chasing the monarch's car for about 100m when he darted into the road, crossing two lanes of traffic, to snap a picture of the King.

Armed bodyguards, pictured top left, open their doors as an amateur photographed burst into the road, near Savoy Junction, in East Acton, London, to take a photo of King Charles III

The wannabe photographer was 'milliseconds from death and could have been shot by the King's team of close protection officers , according to an SAS veteran

The man, pictured top left, sprinted more than 100m to take a photo of King Charles III as the monarch was driven through the streets of London on his way to Scotland

Close protection officers, travelling behind the King, leapt out of their vehicle to intercept the man, who was ordered away from the monarch's Rolls Royce.

The royal super-fan's actions have today been branded 'crazy' by a former member of Britain's elite Special Air Service (SAS).

It comes as Britain's security services prepares a ring of steel around London ahead of the Queen's funeral on Monday, with snipers on rooftops and 1,500 soldiers and 10,000 police deployed throughout the capital.

Security services have dropped a ring of steel around London ahead of the Queen's funeral on Monday, with 10.000 police and 1,500 set to patrol the streets while snipers watch from rooftops

Phil Campion, a retired Staff Sergeant in 22 SAS, said the reckless photographer was 'milliseconds from death'.

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline Phil, who served as a close protection officer in Afghanistan defending European ambassadors from terrorists, said: 'This guy is extremely lucky not to have been flat-packed and shot in the head.

'Close protection officers don't get a lot of time to work out whether people are a threat or not... He could have been milliseconds away from death. It would have been 50:50 at best whether he lived or died.'

SAS veteran Phil Campion said the King's elite bodyguards had split seconds to make their decision and said it was 'lucky' the man hadn't been 'flat-packed and shot in the head'

The King's journey to RAF Northholt continued uninterrupted, where he flew to Edinburgh to be met by hordes of well-wishers, who came to meet him during an unplanned walkabout of the Scottish capital.

Do you know who leapt in front of King Charles' Rolls Royce in London? If so, email reporter Tom Cotterill at tom.cotterill@mailonline.co.uk Advertisement

Today, heavily armed police and security services formed rings of steel outside the Palace of Holyroodhouse and St Giles' Cathedral - as up to 10,000 officers prepare to be involved in the biggest single security operation the country has ever seen.

Specialist police teams and intelligence officers are understood to have cancelled holiday leave as part of a massive, cross-agency security task for the Queen's funeral.

Hundreds of foreign dignitaries from across the globe and hundreds of thousands of mourners anticipated in the capital are set to create an unprecedented 'security headache'.

The operation will ramp up throughout the week as the Queen's body is flown back to London before she is set to lie in state at the Palace of Westminster.

It is the first time special forces teams including SAS units are expected to be pre-deployed to bases in London on a heightened state of alert in case of any potential attacks.

King Charles pictured in the back of his Rolls Royce waving to crowds as he arrived in Scotland

The man walks away from the King's vehicle as the monarch made his way to RAF Northolt

British Transport Police is boosting the number of officers at main railway stations in the run-up to the Queens funeral, the force has said.

Assistant Chief Constable Sean OCallaghan said the public can expect to see 'a marked increase' in the number of uniformed officers on patrol on the transport network in London.

He said: 'We know its very important that people are able to travel in the coming days, as many seek to pay their respects and celebrate Her Majesty and her dedication to public service.

'We expect the rail network to become increasingly busy, especially at main transport hubs in London. People can expect to see a marked increase in highly visible patrols, with more officers on hand to support those travelling and to deter any criminality.

'This is part of a comprehensive policing plan between BTP, the Metropolitan Police and City of London police.

'We ask anyone visiting London to remain vigilant and report any concerns.'

In Edinburgh, huge queues of royal fans were seen lining up with flags bearing the Union flag to welcome King Charles as he arrived at St Giles' Cathedral.

But by midday, Police Scotland officers were preventing any newcomers from joining the swelling crowds that had lined the narrow streets around the 12th-century stone cathedral.

It comes amid tightened security surrounding the monarch, ahead of Queen Elizabeth's state funeral on Monday, which is expected to see hundreds of thousands of well-wishers packing into London to witness the spectacle.

Charles and Camilla are set to join a procession to St Giles Cathedral.

Thousands of people lines the streets of Edinburg to welcome the King to Scotland's capital city.

At St Giles' cathedral the Crown of Scotland will be placed upon the Queen's coffin. After a service, members of the public will be allowed to file past to pay their respects for 24 hours before Her Majesty is moved to London by plane.

King Charles and Camilla touched down in Scotland to meet well-wishers in Edinburgh

The King and other royals will walk behind the hearse as it makes its way along the Royal Mile. Full details about the royal mourners have yet to be released but Charles will lead some of the royals on foot, expected to be the Duke of York, Earl of Wessex, Princess Royal and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence - while the Queen Consort and other members of the monarchy will follow in cars.

But the new Prince of Wales and his brother the Duke of Sussex will not take part in the procession - amid rumours that they may head to Edinburgh in a show of unity after their walkabout with Kate and Meghan in Windsor on Saturday.

Earlier, the monarch looked close to tears as a rendition of 'God Save the King' rang out through the Commons.

Earlier, King Charles was left close to tears after listening to a rendition of 'God Save the King'

Speaking to MPs and peers, King Charles said he felt 'the weight of history' on his shoulders following their own tributes to his 'beloved mother'.

In a historic speech where he vowed to follow the Queen's selfless duty, His Majesty also looked moved as the Lord Speaker and the Commons Speaker expressed their condolences and said: 'Deep as our grief is, we know yours is deeper.'

In his short, poignant speech, Charles quoted Shakespeare in his tribute to his 'beloved mother' as he addressed Parliament for the first time since becoming monarch, saying of the Queen: 'As Shakespeare said of the earlier Queen Elizabeth, she was a pattern to all princes living.'

The King told MPs and peers assembled in Westminster Hall that he was 'resolved faithfully to follow' the example of his mother, the Queen.

Giving an historic speech in Parliament, King Charles admitted he felt 'the weight of history' on his shoulders

He concluded his first formal address to Parliament as King by saying: 'We gather today in remembrance of the remarkable span of the Queen's dedicated service to her nations and peoples.

'While very young, Her late Majesty pledged herself to serve her country and her people and to maintain the precious principles of constitutional government which lie at the heart of our nation.

'This vow she kept with unsurpassed devotion. She set an example of selfless duty which, with God's help and your counsels, I am resolved faithfully to follow.'

There were wild cheers and cries of 'God Save the King' as the monarch drove from Clarence House down The Mall for the historic moment before MPs and peers bowed and curtseyed as he walked slowly to his throne with Queen Consort, Camilla.

Liz Truss and her predecessor Boris Johnson were also in Westminster Hall this morning along with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and hundreds of politicians.

Security remains high around His Majesty, with hundreds of soldiers expected to be drafted into London in the coming days

His Majesty heard tributes for the Queen in the near-1,000-year-old Westminster Hall - the ancient heart of the Palace of Westminster where his mother will lie in state from Wednesday evening for four days until her funeral next Monday. At times Charles looked deeply moved.

The Lord Speaker and the Commons Speaker expressed their condolences to His Majesty in a ceremony in Westminster Hall. Charles received a motion of confidence from both houses of Parliament - in another constitutional event that has never been seen on TV before.

The Lord Speaker Lord McFall of Alcluith said people will continue to draw strength from the Queen's "shining example".

Do you know who the man was who tried to take a photo of King Charles' car? If so, email tom.cotterill@mailonline.co.uk

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to line the streets of London to witness the state funeral of Her Majesty the Queen on Monday
People will be invited to come together to 'mourn and reflect on the life and legacy of Queen Elizabeth II' during a minute's silence on Sunday, Number 10 announced today.

The moment of commemoration will be marked at 8pm and could take place at home, on doorsteps or on the street with neighbours, Liz Truss's official spokesman said.

It will take place the night before the Queen's state funeral, which will see at least a million people take to the streets of London to watch a procession before a service attended by heads of state from across the Commonwealth and the wider world.

A minute's silence will be observed for the Queen on Sunday (pictured is the monarch at the Drawing Room at Balmoral before her audience with Liz Truss - her last official photo)

Ms Truss's spokesman said: 'At 8pm on Sunday 18 September, the night before the state funeral, there will be a one-minute silence where the public are invited to come together and observe a national moment of reflection to mourn and reflect on the life and legacy of Queen Elizabeth II.

'The silence can be marked privately at home on your own or with friends and neighbours, out on your doorstep or street with neighbours, or at any locally arranged community events and vigils.

'We encourage local community groups, clubs and other organisations to mark this moment of reflection. And if you are overseas, people are encouraged to mark the silence at their local time.

'The shared national moment of reflection is an opportunity for everyone across the UK to mark the death of Her Majesty and we will set out details of where the Prime Minister will mark it closer to that time.'

It comes as the Duke of Sussex today paid an emotional tribute to his late grandmother, praising her 'sound advice' and 'infectious smile' and calling her a 'guiding compass' through her commitment to service and duty.

In a statement released today, which is understood to have been held back a day out of respect for the anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the Duke also said he wanted to honour his father at the start of his reign as King.

Harry also referred to his 'darling wife' Meghan Markle; said he was grateful that the Queen had hugged her 'beloved great-grandchildren'; and spoke of how he 'cherished' the times spent with the 96-year-old.

Today, King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla were in London to visit Westminster Hall, where both Houses of Parliament expressed their condolences to the new monarch and his wife, with the King giving his reply.

The moment will be marked at 8pm on Sunday 18 September, the night before the state funeral (pictured are rehearsals for the state funeral at Wellington Barracks today)

Later, the coffin carrying the Queen's body will be taken from the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh to nearby St Giles' Cathedral where her family and the congregation will attend a service of thanksgiving for her life.

And Harry said today: 'In celebrating the life of my grandmother, Her Majesty The Queen - and in mourning her loss - we are all reminded of the guiding compass she was to so many in her commitment to service and duty.

'She was globally admired and respected. Her unwavering grace and dignity remained true throughout her life and now her everlasting legacy.

'Let us echo the words she spoke after the passing of her husband, Prince Philip, words which can bring comfort to all of us now: 'Life, of course, consists of final partings as well as first meetings.''

He added: 'Granny, while this final parting brings us great sadness, I am forever grateful for all of our first meetings-from my earliest childhood memories with you, to meeting you for the first time as my Commander-in-Chief, to the first moment you met my darling wife and hugged your beloved great-grandchildren.
Dozens of girls defied the armed Taliban and protested in eastern Afghan province of Paktia on Saturday after Taliban authorities shut their secondary schools.

Tearful girls dressed in their school uniforms - a white headscarf and black shalwar kameez - marched through the centre of the provincial capital Gardiz to protest the closure.

While schools for girls above grade six are closed across the county, five schools in wider Paktia province had briefly opened after a recommendation by tribal elders and school principals.

Tearful girls dressed in their school uniforms, the girls marched through the centre of the provincial capital Gardiz to protest the closure

The videos of the protests went viral on social media and triggered strong reactions by the Afghan public as well as famous politicians and human rights defenders

'Why are you playing with our emotions? why did you send us back? We are so oppressed people. We are women' one girl is heard saying through tears in one of the videos.

Two residents from the city also confirmed the protest, which journalists were not allowed to cover.

'The students protested peacefully, but soon the rally was dispersed by security forces,' one Gardiz resident said.

Girls protested in the streets in the center of Paktia to protest the closing of their schools. Earlier, some girls schools above grade 6 in the province had been reopened due to a decision by tribal elders and local educational officials, but the schools were closed again. pic.twitter.com/FCw8t9XWp8  TOLOnews (@TOLOnews) September 10, 2022

Meanwhile, Mullah Norullah Munir, the Taliban's acting education minister has said the families do not want to send their girls to schools.

Munir said schools are closed to students above the sixth grade due to cultural constraints.

'You wouldn't need to ask me the same question if you ask how many people in this mosque are willing to send their 16-year-old daughter to school. You and I both grew up in the same Afghan society, and the culture is clear to everyone,' the education minister said.

Residents from the city also confirmed the protest, which journalists were not allowed to cover

However, some residents told local media that they are ready to send their daughters to school if the Taliban allow them.

They asked the current government to reopen girls' schools as soon as possible.

'Those schools which are closed should be reopened as soon as possible because it is the demand of the people,' Mohammad Wali Samsor, a resident said.

Khaliqyar Ahmadzai, head of information and culture in Paktia, told local media last week that schools for female students above grade 6 had been reopened in the province.

'The decision was made by local school leadership and not based on an official order,' he said.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban official spokesman said in a press conference that authorities are investigating the issue of who ordered the opening of schools in Paktia Province.

#BREAKING: #Taliban re-closes secondary schools for girls in #Paktia.

Locals and school teachers had opened those schools a few days back. #Afghanistan

VIDEO: "Why did you send us back to our homes? We are an oppressed group, we are women!" @UNAMAnews @heatherbarr1 @hrw pic.twitter.com/GBYg9Whk60  Rateb Noori (@RatebNoori) September 10, 2022

The videos of the protests went viral on social media and triggered strong reactions by the Afghan public as well as famous politicians and human rights defenders.

The Taliban have imposed harsh restrictions on girls and women to comply with their austere vision of Islam since returning to power in August last year -- effectively squeezing them out of public life.

Former president Hamid Karzai in a series of tweets on World Literacy Day on Thursday, encouraged respected clerics, elders and influential Afghans to 'encourage the education of our children, both boys and girls, as much as possible,'

'The voice of female students in Paktia is the voice of all our girls and of the Afghan nation,' said former president Hamid Karzai

'The voice of female students in Paktia is the voice of all our girls and of the Afghan nation. The voice of girls calling for the reopening of schools is the voice of dignity, progress and self-sufficiency for our beloved country,' he tweeted.

Heather Barr, director of the Women's Rights Division at Human Rights Watch said on Twitter that the 'Taliban just shut down girls' schools in Paktiaafter community members pushed for them to open. What will the HRC do? We want a much tougher UN action on accountability.'

A year after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, teenage girls are still barred from school and women are required to cover themselves from head to toe in public, with only their eyes showing. Hard-liners appear to hold sway in the Taliban-led government, which imposed severe restrictions on access to education and jobs for girls and women, despite initial promises to the contrary.

Since taking power, the Taliban have struggled to govern and remain internationally isolated. An economic downturn has driven millions more Afghans into poverty and hunger as the flow of foreign aid has slowed to a trickle.
Hundreds of migrants have been intercepted crossing the English Channel in small boats across the last two days as people smugglers looked to take advantage of calm conditions at sea.

There were 253 migrants detained on Sunday after eight boats were seized - according to official figures from the Ministry of Defence.

But dozens more arrived today as continue to cross the Channel in numbers. In the first two weeks of September there have been 2,917 migrants who have made the treacherous 21-mile crossing.

MP for Dover Natalie Elphicke has previously accused France of wasting British taxpayers' hard-earned money by not stopping people smugglers.

'France has a moral and international obligation to protect vulnerable people, save lives, stop people smugglers and tackle organised crime,' she said.

'They should not need to be paid to do their duty. It is even more ridiculous that we pay them tens of millions of pounds and get so little in return. This is a shocking waste of taxpayers' hard-earned money.

Ms Elphicke believes that sorting out the 'small boats crisis' must be at the top of Liz Truss's priority list.

Hundreds of migrants have been intercepted crossing the English Channel in small boats across the last two days as people smugglers looked to take advantage of calm conditions at sea

Dozens of migrants were intercepted at Dover earlier today. In the first two weeks of September there have been 2,917 migrants who have made the treacherous 21-mile crossing

Border Force and immigration officials have now moved the migrant process in Dover behind behind a large fence which prevents the public from seeing them

Today, around 30-40 migrants were brought into the harbour at Dover via a Border Force vessel to a new secluded part of the dock - the former jetfoil terminal - behind a large fence which prevents the public from seeing them.

The Border Force 25-metre catamaran Hurricane was seen bringing the first group in this morning - and there are more expected to cross throughout the day.

Dover MP Natalie Elphicke (pitcured) has previously accused France of wasting British taxpayers' money by not stopping people smugglers

A group of mostly men were brought to the Dover port at around 8am - with some clutching smartphones as they disembarked with nothing more than clothes on their backs.

The number of migrants known to have arrived so far this year now stands at 27,742, according to official government figures.

It is creeping up fast to the record 28,526 people who made the clandestine trip across the English Channel in 2021.

August was a record month with 8,644 in 189 incidents - more than made the 8,410 who made the crossing in dinghies and other small boats in the whole of 2020.

Last week it emerged that Liz Trusss Government will go back to the drawing board on a new Bill of Rights to tackle the Channel migrants crisis.

The new Prime Ministers team confirmed that the human rights reforms  which began their passage through Parliament this year  are being reviewed.

Ministers will redraft the proposals so they are clearly targeted on illegal immigration, such as small boats arriving from France, insiders said.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who replaced Priti Patel during Liz Truss's Cabinet reshuffle, is set to take a harder line on tackling the migrant crisis.

Both Ms Truss and Ms Bravermen are also committed to the Rwanda policy which is currently being stalled by a High Court challenge. Ms Patel defended her plan to send migrants to Rwanda just hours before quitting.
Gun rights advocates are outraged at a recent decision by major credit card companies to put gun sales into a new tracking category, calling the move an erosion of the Second Amendment.

Major credit card companies, including Mastercard, Visa and American Express, announced last week that they would create a new coding system for all firearms purchases in the US.

The move is a win for gun control advocates who argue that the system will help track suspicious purches which could lead to mass shootings. They argued that Uvalde elementary school gunman Salvador Ramos purchased his weapon using a bank card. Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock spent $95,000 on guns in the year before the shooting that killed 60 people in 2017.

The policy is expected to start in the coming months.

But the NRA said the policy was 'anti-gun' and would target law-abiding Americans who are legally allowed to purchase weapons.

'The industry's decision to create a firearm-specific code is nothing more than capitulation to anti-gun politicians and activists bent on eroding the rights of law-abiding Americans, one transaction at a time,' spokesman Lars Dalseide said.

'This is not about tracking or prevention or any virtuous motivation - it's about creating a national registry of gun owners.'

Visa, Master Card and American Express will start categorizing sales at American gun shops differently than other retail outlets in an effort to track suspicious purchases

On Friday, the International Organization for Standardization gave the thumbs up for the new code, bowing to pressure from New York politicians and gun-control groups who said that it is an essential early-warning tool to flagging suspicious gun buys.

Visa, the world's largest payment processor, announced Saturday that it would follow Master Card and American Express to take up the policy that creates a new merchant category for US gun shops, to separate pistol and rifle sales from other retail groupings.

'Following ISO's decision to establish a new merchant category code, Visa will proceed with next steps, while ensuring we protect all legal commerce on the Visa network in accordance with our long-standing rules,' Visa said in a statement.

Mastercard said it would support lawful purchases while protecting the privacy and decisions of individual cardholders.

'This is exactly how we would manage the process for any other appropriate MCC, like a bicycle shop or sporting goods store.'

Credit card companies track sales by sector such as grocery stores and restaurants, but guns have been included in a general retail category up to now. The code would not say what the buyer purchases, only where the sales are made.

Second Amendment rights advocates said it vilifies gun owners.

'Criminals and gang bangers don't use credit cards to buy guns and ammo. Just another way of vilifying law abiding citizens,' gun rights activist Cesar Cordova tweeted on Monday.

'If they can't take your rights away by force of government, they'll do it through their woke corporations instead,' Dave Kellogg, of Indianapolis, Indiana, tweeted.

Several Second Amendment advocates tweeted that they would be paying cash in the future to circumvent the measure.

Others questioned whether how effective the measure would be curbing criminal gun sales.

'So it's really just about controlling legal gun purchases,' Twitter user, Magnolia Peach, of Atlanta, Georgia, posted. 'I'm not a criminal mastermind, but I don't think many illegal gun sales or other criminal gun purchases are done with a Visa platinum card with a cute picture of a dog as the background.'

Former President Donald Trump, pictured here with NRA president Wayne LaPierre, spoke at the gun group's Houston convention over the summer

Before the decision was made by credit card companies, several top U.S. pension funds including those for government workers in New York City and California had submitted shareholder resolutions asking payment companies to weigh in on the issue.

'When you buy an airline ticket or pay for your groceries, your credit card company has a special code for those retailers. It's just common sense that we have the same policies in place for gun and ammunition stores,' New York City Mayor Eric Adams said.

The new policy was initiated by Amalgamated Bank in New York City in coordination with the anti-gun violence group Guns Down America.

The financial institution, founded by a textile workers union, proposed the change to the ISO in the spring, but there was resistance by Visa and Master Card, according to The New York Times.

'We are grateful that the financial sector has stopped stalling and finally understands the problem, which is that credit card purchases have consistently been involved in some of our nation's worst mass shootings. Credit card companies have rules to stop fraud and human trafficking. This common-sense decision means the same rules will apply to guns, making it easier to stop illegal firearms-related activity,' Igor Volsky, founder and executive director of Guns Down America, said.

Master Card officials told the paper earlier this year that it wasn't their battle to fight.

'Our position remains the same,' he added. 'The issue of gun violence needs to be addressed and it is the responsibility of elected officials to enact meaningful policies to address this issue.'

Amalgamated Bank reapplied for the change in policy recently and the Retail Management Group sub-committee had a meeting to adopt the measure on September 7, but couldn't come to an agreement, according to the ISO.

It was kicked up the the standards group leadership which adopted the measure.

Compliance with industry standards are voluntary unless compliance with ISO standards are written into law.

Because the decision was just made last week, the organization said it had no timeline for when the policy will be officially updated.

Mastercard indicated that it would implement the policy soon.

'This is exactly how we would manage the process for any other appropriate M.C.C., like a bicycle shop or sporting goods store,' spokesman Seth Eisen told the Times.

American Express also indicted that it would implement the coding system in the near future, saying in a statement that it was 'focused on ensuring that we have the right controls in place to meet our regulatory and fiduciary responsibilities, as well as prevent illegal activity on our network'.

The argument for more gun control has been sparked by several mass shootings this year, including at a Uvalde, Texas elementary school that killed 19 children and two teachers. Gunman Salvador Ramos purchased the weapon that he used in the Uvalde shooting with a bank card.

Stephen Paddock, who killed 60 people and wounded 413 others in 2017 in Las Vegas, spent $95,000 on guns in the year before the shooting, according to a Times investigation. Not all of those purchases were through credit cards.

U.S. President Joe Biden has called for Congress to pass an assault weapons ban as well as $37 billion for crime prevention programs, with $13 billion to hire and train an additional 100,000 police officers over the next five years.
Joe Biden has left the White House for Boston to push his goal to cut cancer deaths in half over the next 25 years.

The President touted his address as the 'Cancer Moonshot', and linked it to the 60th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's famous speech about space travel.

He issued an executive order boosting the US biotech sector as part of the initiative, which invokes the national effort to land a man on the Moon.

The Democrat was in Boston for an address deliberately set to echo John F. Kennedy's famous 1962 'Moonshot speech' in which he called for landing an American on the lunar surface -- something achieved in 1969.

This time, Biden is pushing for government-backed efforts to coordinate and fund a multilayered fight against cancer, with the goal of halving cancer death rates in the next 25 years.

President Joe Biden heads to Boston to push his goal to cut cancer deaths in half over the next 25 years, touting his 'Cancer Moonshot'

As he set off from Washington, Biden issued an order meant to bolster the trailblazing US biotech sector's efforts to take on growing commercial rivals in China.

The order brings federal support for 'areas that will define US biotechnology leadership and our economic competitiveness in the coming decades,' a senior Biden administration official told reporters.

The official said that while US biotech research leads the world, the industrial applications are increasingly in the hands of other countries.

'Unless we translate biotechnology innovation into economic and societal benefits for all Americans, other countries, including and especially China, are aggressively investing in this sector,' posing a 'risk,' the official said.

The White House says the US biotech industry is on the cutting edge of medical advances - recently seen in the rapid development of vaccines, tests and therapeutics to help manage the Covid-19 pandemic -- but that the potential scope goes much further.

President Biden will speak at Kennedy Library on 60th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's famous speech about space travel

The official speaking to reporters cited studies suggesting that 'before the end of the decade, engineering biology holds the potential to be used in manufacturing industry that accounts for more than one third of global output. That's equivalent to almost $30 trillion in terms of value.'

Growing areas for biotech industry include new plastics and rubbers, jet fuel, and environmentally friendly fertilizers.

The battle against cancer is personal for Biden: his son Beau died of brain cancer in 2015 when Biden was vice president to Barack Obama.

In his speech at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston, Biden will lay out how his administration is seeking to slash cancer rates through a systemic revamp of government funding and support for everything from medical research to improving access to healthcare and better environmental conditions.

The linkage to the Moon program will seek to raise public awareness and support ahead of midterm congressional elections where the Democrats face the possibility of a Republican sweep in Congress, something which would severely complicate the next two years of Biden's first term.

Caroline Kennedy, the US ambassador to Australia and daughter of the assassinated JFK, told CNN she approved of the parallels drawn by Biden in the struggle to conquer the deadly disease.

'Sixty years after my father challenged Americans to land on the moon, President Biden is welcoming great challenges as new opportunities by setting us on a bold course to end cancer as we know it,' she said.

Biden's focus on the cancer fight comes as NASA is once again looking to return to the Moon.

Biden will name Dr. Renee Wegrzyn as the first director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health

Biden also will name Dr. Renee Wegrzyn, a longtime science adviser and who most recently served at the biotech company Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings Inc, as the first director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, a U.S. government-run biomedical research group.

At Ginkgo, Wegrzyn worked on applying synthetic biology to outpace infectious diseases  including COVID-19  through biomanufacturing, vaccine innovation, and biosurveillance of pathogens at scale.

She also worked at the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity.

Biden's speech will be on the 60th anniversary of President Kennedy's Moonshot speech at Rice University.

In that now famous speech, Kennedy said: 'We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.'
A 22-year-old woman who was arrested after holding up an anti-monarchy placard in Edinburgh yesterday has now been charged 'in connection with a breach of the peace'.

The sign, which read 'F*** Imperialism, Abolish Monarchy', could be seen amongst the crowd of royal fans who had turned out to hear the Lord Lyon King of Arms, who is responsible for overseeing state ceremonial in Scotland, formally proclaim Charles King.

As police took her away the crowd applauded, with one person shouting 'have some respect' at the republican.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: 'A 22-year-old woman was arrested outside St. Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh on Sunday, 11 September, 2022 in connection with a breach of the peace.

'She was charged and was released on an undertaking to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court at a later date.'

This morning, outside the Palace of Westminster, another protester showed her opposition towards the new monarch when she held up a poster which read 'Abolish the Monarchy' and 'Not my King'.

A woman who held up a 'F*** imperialism' placard in Edinburgh yesterday has been charged 'in connection with a breach of the peace'

Outside the Palace of Westminster this morning another protester showed her opposition towards the new monarch when she held up a poster which read 'Abolish the Monarchy' on one side and 'Not my King' on the other

The woman was led by Met Police officers away from the gates of Parliament, where King Charles and the Queen Consort this morning received condolences from members of the House of Commons and House of Lords.

She wore a t-shirt emblazoned with the logo for the Campaign To Abolish The Monarchy, which had called on people to protest the new King at Parliament Square this morning.

A Met spokesperson said: 'A member of the public was asked to move away from the Carriage Gates outside the Palace of Westminster this morning in order to facilitate vehicle access and egress through the gates.

'She was not arrested and was not asked to leave the wider area.'

In Edinburgh, Scottish campaign group Our Republic had also encouraged those with objections to the proclamation to 'make those clear'.

John Hall, 33, who is the treasurer of the anti-monarchy campaign group told NBC News: 'We wanted to make it clear that there's more than one viewpoint in Scotland.

'I wanted to make sure that I made it clear I didn't consent to this pageantry.'

Spectators remained silent for the main declaration but as the Lord Lyon King of Arms Joseph Morrow ended his proclamation by saying 'God Save the King' there were audible boos.

Crowds gathered in Edinburgh yesterday to hear the Lord Lyon King of Arms formally announced the Queen's successor King Charles III

They were soon drowned out by chants of 'God Save the King', before trumpets started playing the national anthem.

Another loud boo could be heard after the anthem as the Lord Lyon led three cheers of 'hip, hip hooray', sparking outrage amongst others in the crowd, with someone shouting back 'Oh shut up'.

One onlooker told Edinburgh Live: 'I was absolutely disgusted by the behaviour of some people in the crowd.

'It was meant to be a joyful occasion to mark the new King but there was petty people booing.

'It just looked like attention seeking.'

People could also be heard calling for a republic and a few individuals held up signs critical of the monarchy.

Another loud boo could be heard after the anthem as the Lord Lyon led three cheers of 'hip, hip hooray'

Hundreds of royal fans who had turned out to watch the ceremony in Edinburgh around the Mercat Cross today

Meanwhile, another anti-monarchy protester says he was arrested in Oxford after voicing his opposition to the new King Charles III.

Writing about the incident yesterday, Symon Hill said that he shouted 'Who elected him?' and was led away, handcuffed and put in the back of a police van before being de-arrested.

A spokesperson for Thames Valley Police said: 'A 45-year-old man was arrested in connection with a disturbance that was caused during the county proclamation ceremony of King Charles III in Oxford.

'He has subsequently been de-arrested and is engaging with us voluntarily as we investigate a public order offence.

'The man was arrested on suspicion of a public order offence (Section 5 Public Order Act).'
Donald Trump told aides he was 'never' going to leave the White House even after his election defeat, a new book has claimed.

The President repeatedly refused to vacate his office for Joe Biden in the days after the loss, according to the New York Times' Maggie Haberman.

The journalist, who made the claims in Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America, reported he told staff the election was stolen.

The comments are said to have come after Trump refused to concede on election night and after networks called the race for Biden.

It is the latest allegation to be launched at Trump over his actions in the days following the 2020 election results.

'I'm just not going to leave,' former President Donald Trump told an aide after the 2020 elections, according to Maggie Haberman's forthcoming book. Trump on election night had claimed election 'fraud'

Trump made the comments as legal allies sued to try to get courts to overturn the results in battleground states

One aide told Haberman that Trump said: 'We're never leaving. How can you leave when you won an election?'

'I'm just not going to leave,' he told another aide, in another of his reportedly repeated statements on the subject.

The excerpts from the book, obtained by CNN, do not reveal the precise date Trump reportedly made the comments.

But according to Haberman, a well-sourced reporter who has followed Trump for decades, Trump appeared to grasp his defeat at some earlier point, in a race where he ended up trailing Biden by 7 million votes in the popular vote and lost the electoral college to Biden 306-232.

He told aides 'We did our best' and 'I thought we had it,' indicating he may have been contemplating a hard-fought loss.

But that changed over time, even amid a string of legal defeats as his allies tried to sue to roll back results in battleground states, only to suffer a series of defeats in court.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Nov. 10, 2020 there would 'be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration'

Trump is facing a number of legal probes, including a Justice Department investigation of national security materials seized from Mar-a-Lago

Trump was 'overheard' telling Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel: 'Why should I leave if they stole it from me?'

If the real estate tycoon was making comments about squatting in the White House, it came as other top officials were following Trump's lead, as senior Republicans in the Capitol were calling for waiting for Trump's fraud claims to play out in court.

'There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration,' former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Nov. 10, 2020 with a smile.

Trump was publicly undermining the election results days earlier on Election Night 2020.

After a period of uncertainty about the transition, workers moved boxes out of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House grounds on January 14, 2021

He called it a 'fraud' on the public an an 'embarrassment.'

'We were getting ready to win this election. Frankly, we did win this election. We did win this election,' he said.

The report comes as Trump, who flew to Dulles, Virginia Sunday night, finds himself enmeshed in a series of legal probes.

The House Jan. 6th committee is probing the election overturn effort. The Justice Department is investigating removal of classified material that was uncovered during an FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago last month.

A string of top former Trump aides has testified before a federal grand jury reported to be probing the submission of 'fake' electors before Congress met to count the electoral votes.


A South Carolina man has been arrested after getting 'black-out drunk' and breaking into his ex-girlfriend's home, dumping her dead child's ashes in the trash and damaging her property.

Joseph Oberlies, 33, is charged with first-degree burglary and destruction or desecration of human remains after the break-in of his ex-girlfriend's home in Mount Pleasant on September 3.

The woman, who has other children, has not been identified. It's unclear when her child died, or what the cause was.

At the time of his arrest, Oberlies was out on bond for a first-degree after he allegedly broke into a different ex-girlfriend's home and stabbed her.

In the latest incident, Oberlies was caught on a security camera entering the woman's home around 3am, before leaving minutes later. He is then seen returning around 4am, and leaving at 7.52am, according to FOX News.

Joseph Oberlies, 33, is charged with first-degree burglary and destruction of human remains after breaking into his ex-girlfriend's home and dumping her dead child's ashes in the trash

Oberlies was released on a $60,000 bond from Al Cannon Detention Center (pictured) in North Charleston, South Carolina

While in the home, Oberlies allegedly damaged the victim's TV with a hammer.

He then found the container of the victim's dead child's ashes, opened its lid and poured the remains into a garbage can.

The child did not belong to Oberlies, according to ABC News 4.

Mount Pleasant Police said Oberlies claimed he was not in town at the time of the break-in before he was confronted with video evidence.

After watching the video, Oberlies said he was 'black-out drunk' and could not remember that night.

The victim, who dated Oberlies for several months in early 2022, was not at home on the day of the break-in.

She called police two days after the incident and indicated that her home had broken into.

While speaking with police, the victim showed investigators a text message from Oberlies which read: 'please don't press charges, I'll pay for whatever I broke.'

The victim said Oberlies could not have known that she or her children would not have been home at the time of the break-in.

She told police that she is fearful of what could have happened if they were, citing the first-degree assault charge.

'I'm afraid he would have killed us if we were here,' she told police.

Because she fears retaliation, she said she will be pursuing an emergency restraining order against Oberlies, according to a report by Live 5 News.

Oberlies was released on a $60,000 bond from Al Cannon Detention Center.

The Mount Pleasant Police Department sent out a 'Be On the Lookout' warning, or 'BOLO,' to school resource officers at the schools of the victim's children.

Police will also be increasing patrols around the schools.

The ages of her children are not known.
A scorned lover trashed a neighbour's apartment and slapped her in the face because she thought the woman was romantically involved with her boyfriend.

Maddison Darcas April Binns, 25, discovered her partner was having a secret relationship with another woman who lived in the same unit complex in Labrador, Gold Coast.

She then broke into the apartment of the woman on January 22 this year before slapping her roommate and throwing a flat screen TV and a lamp.

The angry brunette then slapped the woman and threw a ceramic bowl at her.

As she was forced to leave she was heard yelling: 'I told you I would kick the c**t door in'.

Maddison Darcas April Binns, 25, broke into the apartment of the woman on January 22 this year before slapping her roommate and throwing a flat screen TV and a lamp (scene pictured)

She was also seen laughing and blowing a kiss to the woman's roommate before causing significant damage to her car.

On Monday, Binns pleaded guilty to common assault, wilful damage and entering a premises with intent.

Pictured: Maddison Darcas April Binns, 25

Magistrate Ron Kilner sentenced her to 18 months' probation, ordered she pay $2085 in restitution and $500 in compensation. No conviction was recorded.

Binns covered her face and did not comment as she left court.

'Quite clearly there was a provocative act on behalf of your former boyfriend and the person he was having some dalliance with,' the magistrate said, according to the Gold Coast Bulletin.

'Understandably people get upset when this is going on but it doesn't excuse or justify this behaviour.

'To put it bluntly it was way over the top.'

The court was told Binns had been with her partner for 18 months when she discovered the relationship.

Binns' lawyer Chris Hannay, of Hannay Lawyers, said Binns was 'embarrassed and apologetic' about her actions.

The court was told Binns had been with her partner for 18 months when she discovered the relationship. Pictured: A lamp she smashed in the apartment

Binns also caused significant damage to the woman's car (pictured with scratches)

'She was concerned and found out that her boyfriend had been meandering around the complex and found another little door to call into,' he said.

He added that she was suffering mental health issues at the time and was now seeking counselling.

Outside of court he told 9News: 'Anyone who was living in the same complex and obviously found someone having a little bit of a sojourn with an 18-month relationship boyfriend, one can understand her anger in relation to it.

'The damage that was done she is happy to pay for it and she is obviously very remorseful.

'I'm pretty confident we will never see her back here before the court.'
Disney is plotting a metaverse that would let people experience the most magical place on earth without ever setting foot in the theme park.

CEO Bob Chapek said the media giant's metaverse would exist on its streaming platform, Disney+, and allow 'the 90 percent of people that will never ever be able to get to a Disney park,' to experience it in virtual reality.

'We call it next-gen storytelling' Chapek said in an interview with Deadline, noting that he didn't like use the phrase metaverse 'because it has a lot of hair on it.'

But regardless of whatever Chapek prefers to call the planned platform, many have responded by calling the move out of touch with Disney's fanbase, and argued that if the parks stopped hiking prices more people would be able to visit.

The move comes as Chapek - who took the helm at Disney in 2020 - struggles to make a name for himself in the shadow of his innovative predecessor, Bob Iger, and keep afloat amid controversies ranging from the park's rising prices, to Disney's stance on Florida's Don't Say Gay bill.

Just last week, Chapek broke a months-long silence on an apology he issued in an attempt to quell Disney staff who were outraged by his failure to speak out against the controversial bill last spring, saying he chose to remain mum on the matter because he didn't want to get Disney caught in a 'political subterfuge.'

Disney CEO Bob Chapek said the media giant's metaverse would exist on its streaming platform, Disney+, and allow people to experience park rides in virtual reality

Disney's metaverse move comes as Chapek - who took the helm at Disney in 2020 - struggles to make a name for himself in the shadow of his innovative predecessor, Bob Iger

Chapek characterized the Disney metaverse as a way to experience the theme parks for the multitudes of people who are unable to actually make the trip in person.

'We wish every person would have the opportunity to come to our parks, but we realize that's not a reality for some people,' he told Deadline, 'we have before us an opportunity to turn what was a movie-service platform to an experiential platform and give them the ability to ride Haunted Mansion from a virtual standpoint.'

He said metaverse users would have an experience beyond what regular parkgoers have, and be able to step out of the ride-cars to explore sets and interact with characters.

'Maybe we'll give them the opportunity what every single person in the park wants to do, and unfortunately too many of them do it, just to get off the attraction. See how it works, see how those ghost dancers move,' he said.

But many responded to the news by saying if Disney would just stop raising its prices, more of those 90 percent of people who cannot visit the parks would be able to.

'Damn Disney. Just say it direct like that,' wrote tech critic Juan Carlos Bagnell on Twitter, '90% of the HUMAN POPULATION is too poor to visit our parks, but hopefully some are less-poor-enough to own VR goggles and ride our rides in a metaverse clone...'

Commenters on the Deadline interview were equally unimpressed, with one saying 'The reason 90% of people may not be able to experience the parks is because you keep hiking the cost of GOING to the parks beyond what most people can actually afford, Bob.'

'Costs are up at the parks. Moral appears to be down. Iger had imagination and could adapt,' said another.

Disney park prices have skyrocketed since Chapek was fully given charge at Disney in 2022. At California parks, ticket prices jumped 6 percent to $164 for single-park passes, while the price of getting into more than one park over the course of a day rose 9 percent to $319.

At the Florida parks the price to get into the park after 2pm rose to $169, while before 2pm fans were asked to fork over $194. Those prices could also rise based on an increased demand on any day.

'If you're the kind of person that budgets or saves for vacations, Disney Parks aren't for you any longer,' wrote a fed-up customer on Reddit, 'That's a Premium Physical Experience, and there's plenty of national and international wealthy families to afford going indefinitely.'

And in August, as inflation scorched the US economy, Chapek warned those prices could continue to rise.

'It's all up to the consumer,' he said, according to The New York Post, 'If consumer demand keeps up, we'll act accordingly.'

Disney's metaverse would allow people to experience park rides like the Haunted Mansion without ever setting foot in Disney World

Chapek noted the virtual reality experience could go beyond simply sitting in the car and experiencing the ride the way park-goers do, but would allow people to step off of the tracks and explore the ride sets up close

Chapek has hardly been the happiest CEO on Earth since he took the reins at Disney.

After beginning his tenure in February, 2020, he was thrust immediately into the chaos of navigating Disney through the perils of the pandemic, which saw the media company's primary revenue streams - theme park revenue and movie theater tickets - vanish like a pair of glass slippers at midnight.

To help steady the ship, Iger - much to Chapek's ire, reportedly - was kept on in a leadership position through 2021.

But as soon as Chapek was given full control in 2022 his price hikes had customers raising eyebrows about whether he was up to the same scratch as the visionary Iger.

Those doubts were doubled-down on by Disney staff after Chapek decided to remain quiet on Florida's Don't Say Gay bill, a law which barred schools from discussing sexuality or gender with children between kindergarten and third grade.

Many Disney employees viewed the law as homophobic and an affront to the inclusive values of Disney, and publicly voiced their outrage that Chapek did not speak out against it.

Chapek said the metaverse would also work in conjunction with real-world visits to Disney theme parks

Disney is plotting a metaverse that would let people experience the most magical place on earth without ever setting foot in the theme park

He later apologized to staff, publicly decried the bill, and announced Disney had paused all its political donations within Florida.

Last week, Chapek addressed that apology for the first time since he issued it, saying he had struggled to balance the needs and beliefs of every one of his employees and customers.

'What we try to do is be everything to everybody,' Chapek told The Hollywood Reporter in a recent interview, 'That tends to be very difficult because were The Walt Disney Company.'

'We certainly dont want to get caught up in any political subterfuge, but at the same time we also realize that we want to represent a brighter tomorrow for families of all types, regardless of how they define themselves,' he said.


Raging Russian nationalists called on Sunday for President Vladimir Putin to make immediate changes to ensure victory in the Ukraine war after troops were forced to retreat amid a series of strong Ukrainian counterattacks.

Ukraine's troops on Saturday stormed east out of second city Kharkiv, smashing through Russian lines and liberating huge swathes of territory, including the key strategic city of Izyum along with several key transport and logistics hubs supporting Putin's men in the Donbas.

The news prompted Chechen leader and Putin ally Ramzan Kadyrov to publish an 11-minute-long rant on the Telegram messaging app, declaring that 'changes must be made' to turn the tide of the war.

'If today or tomorrow changes are not made in the conduct of the special military operation, I will be forced to go to the country's leadership to explain to them the situation on the ground,' Kadyrov exclaimed.

Putin, who is Russia's supreme commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu are yet to publicly comment on the defeat.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov meanwhile declined to answer directly when asked by a reporter on Monday whether the Russian president had confidence in his military leadership.

'The military operation continues,' Peskov insisted, avoiding the question. 'And it will continue until the goals that were originally set are achieved.'

Raging Russian nationalists called on Sunday for President Vladimir Putin (pictured) to make immediate changes to ensure victory in the Ukraine war amid widespread retreats in Kharkiv

Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov said he would be 'forced to go to Russia's leadership to explain the situation on the ground' if changes are not made in short order

Neither Putin, nor defence minister Sergei Shoigu (centre left) have yet commented on the retreat

Derhachi District Mayor Vyacheslav Zadorenko, with a group of Ukrainian soldiers, rips a Russian flag in Kozacha Lopan, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, after the town was liberated

The widespread retreat of Russian troops from the Kharkiv region and Izyum came on Moscow Day - a holiday which marks the founding of the Russian capital in 1147.

Moscow's almost total silence on the defeat - or any explanation for what had taken place in northeastern Ukraine beyond a claim its troops were simply 'regrouping' - sparked significant anger among nationalists and some pro-war commentators on social media.

Igor Girkin, a nationalist militant and former FSB officer who was involved in the orchestration of the Russian-backed war in eastern Ukraine in 2014 compared the collapse of one of the conflict's principal front lines to the 1905 Battle of Mukden - a catastrophic defeat in the Russo-Japanese war which triggered Russia's 1905 Revolution.

Girkin, who has been unsparing in his criticisms of the country's top brass, dubbing defence minister Shoigu 'the cardboard marshal', has said repeatedly that Russia will be defeated in Ukraine if it doesn't declare a nationwide mobilisation.

Meanwhile, one prominent pro-war military blogger who posts under the name of Rybar said on Telegram: 'They're taking the p***'.

'Now is not the time to shut up and say nothing... this seriously hurts the cause.'

And Russian MP Sergei Mironov said on Twitter that a firework display in honour of the Moscow Day holiday should be cancelled in view of the military situation.

One message reposted on Telegram by the prominent war correspondent Semyon Pegov referred to the celebrations in Moscow as 'blasphemous' and the refusal of Russian authorities to embark on full-scale war as 'schizophrenic'.

'Either Russia will become itself through the birth of a new political elite... or it will cease to exist,' it read.

On Russian state TV, Boris Nadezhdin, a former state Duma deputy, began searching for a scapegoat on which to blame Russia's failures in Ukraine.

'The people who convinced President Putin that the special operation would be fast and effective, that we wouldn't strike the civilian population... these people really set all of us up,' Nadezhdin said.

'The President didn't just think: ''Why don't I start a special operation''. Someone told him that Ukrainians will surrender, that they will flee and come to Russia.'

Ukraine meanwhile has hailed its military's rapid advance, which saw thousands of Russian soldiers flee, leaving behind ammunition stockpiles and equipment, as a turning point in the 6-month-old war.

'Our army, intelligence units and the security services are carrying out active engagements in several operational areas. They are doing so successfully,' Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address to the nation last night.

'We are gradually taking control over new settlements. We are returning the Ukrainian flag and protection for our citizens everywhere,' he added, claiming that more than 30 settlements had been liberated in the Kharkiv region.

A counter-offensive by Ukrainian forces has seen troops push to within 30 miles of the border, amid reports panicked Russian troops have been abandoning tanks, weapons and supplies

Igor Girkin, a nationalist militant and former FSB officer, has said repeatedly that Russia will be defeated in Ukraine if it doesn't declare a nationwide mobilisation

On Russian state TV, Boris Nadezhdin, a former state Duma deputy, began searching for a scapegoat on which to blame Russia's failures in Ukraine

Meanwhile, in the south of Ukraine, a second counter-attack near the city of Kherson was making steady progress with Nataliya Humenyuk - spokesman for the southern military command - saying some Russian troops were trying to negotiate their surrender this morning.

Humenyuk said the soldiers are among those stranded on the west bank of the Dnipro River. They have no escape route after Ukraine used US HIMARS missiles to destroy all of the main crossing points.

'In the south, near Kherson, Russia is likely struggling to bring sufficient reserves forward across the Dnipro River to the front line,' a British military intelligence update read.

'An improvised floating bridge Russia started over two weeks ago remains incomplete; Ukrainian long-range artillery is now probably hitting crossings of the Dnipro so frequently that Russia cannot carry out repairs to damaged road bridges.

'The rapid Ukrainian successes have significant implications for Russia's overall operational design.

'The already limited trust deployed troops have in Russia's senior military leadership is likely to deteriorate further.'

Ukrainian servicemen drive near Bakhmut, as Russia's attack in Ukraine continues, in Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, September 7

A commanding officer of an anti-air unit of Ukraine's Armed Forces loads a rocket launcher in his SUV as they prepare to support infantry in liberating Balakliya in eastern Ukraine on Thursday, Sept 8

Firefighters tackle a blaze at Kharkiv's largest power station - one of the largest in Ukraine - after it was hit by Russian missiles

Russian missiles struck Ukraine's power plants overnight, plunging around a third of the country into darkness

Retreating Russian troops did cause some problems for Ukraine, blowing up a series of power stations as they fled Kharkiv which cut off electricity to thousands of homes and plunged swathes of territory into darkness.

But Zelensky played upon this in last night's broadcast, in which he delivered a direct message to Putin.

'Do you still think you can intimidate, break us, force us to make concessions? Did you really not understand anything? Don't understand who we are? What we stand for? What we are talking about?' Zelensky said.

'Read my lips,' he added. 'Cold, hunger, darkness and thirst for us are not as scary and deadly as your ''friendship'' and ''brotherhood''.'

'We will be with gas, lights, water and food and without you.'
Britain's supermarkets are set to shut for the Queen's funeral on Monday out of respect for the late monarch.

Some of the biggest chains in the UK have announced they will close all day on September 19 as the country comes to a halt to commemorate Her Majesty.

The likes of Tesco, Sainsbury's, Aldi, Waitrose and Poundland have all confirmed they will not open at all on the day of the service, which is being held at Westminster Abbey.

Sainsbury's has also announced that its convenience stores and petrol stations will only be open from 5pm to 10pm on the evening of the Bank Holiday.

Meanwhile Tesco has said its large stores will also be shut all day and it will not be fulfilling online orders, while Express stores will remain closed until 5pm.

The likes of Asda and Morrisons are also expected to close their large supermarkets, potentially for up to four hours between 10am and 2pm, The Sun reports.

On the same day schools across the country will close, giving children the chance to watch Her Majesty's funeral as it is shown on television.

The commemorations for the late monarch will also see museums across the capital close for the day, with the British Museum, Natural History Museum and National Gallery all shutting their doors.

Royal Mail has also announced it will not be making deliveries on the day of the service.

Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons could shut big supermarkets as a mark of respect to the Queen

The five large supermarket chains are expected to shut for four hours, roughly between the 10am and 2pm, The Sun reports

What are the 'Big Four' supermarkets doing on September 19? Tesco - The UK's largest supermarket chain is closing all of its large stores all day on September 19. It is also cancelling all home deliveries scheduled for Monday. Its Express stores will be open from 5pm, while a small number of stores in central London and Windsor will remain open all day for people attending the commemorations. Sainsbury's - Britain's second biggest chain has announced it will be closing all of its supermarkets and Argos stores on the day of the funeral. It added that convenience stores and petrol filling stations will only be open from 5pm to 10pm, while select stores in central London will be open for those attending the funeral in person. Asda - The third largest supermarket chain in the country has not made an announcement on whether its stores will close on the day of the funeral. Morrisons - The retailer is another that has not yet announced its plans for stores on September 19. Advertisement

The shutting of supermarkets and other retail across the country means people looking to do their shopping will have plan around the Bank Holiday, with commuters and travellers also being impacted by some of the closures.

Sainsbury's and Aldi supermarkets confirmed today they will close as a mark of respect to the Queen and to allow staff and customers to watch the service at Westminster Abbey on TV.

Argos stores will also be closed, Sainsbury's told MailOnline, and its convenience stores and petrol stations will only open in the evening on the Bank Holiday - from 5pm to 10pm.

Tesco has confirmed its large stores will close all day, with Express stores only opening after 5pm.

Meanwhile, John Lewis department stores and the majority of Waitrose shops are to shut all day, and clothing giant Primark also confirmed that all of its 191 stores will close out of respect for the late monarch.

DIY giant B&Q also said today it will close all of its stores and will suspend its click and collect and home delivery services on Monday September 19 - the day of Queen Elizabeth's funeral.

Poundland has also said its 770-plus UK stores will close for the whole day, with staff who had been set to work still receiving their pay in full.

More supermarkets' plans to close are reported to be almost finalised, while Asda said a decision on whether to close is still being made.

Most smaller convenience stores are expected to stay open as usual on Monday so people can still shop.

Meanwhile, Morrisons says it has 'turned down' the beeps on its self-checkouts and the music and tannoy announcements in its stores have been switched off in a mark of respect.

Businesses and schools up and down the country are set to close their doors on September 19, which King Charles III declared a bank holiday, as the nation mourns Queen Elizabeth II.

John Lewis Partnership, which owns Waitrose, will keep just 'a handful' of food shops open along the funeral procession route.

'When full details of the funeral are confirmed, an exception may be a very limited number of Waitrose stores on the route of the funeral procession to serve members of the public who we know will be lining the route for many hours,' the company said in a statement.

The few shops that could be left open in London, however, will close for the funeral itself, they added.

The company is also set to close the remaining 300-plus Waitrose stores for the day.

Waitrose holds a Royal Warrant and sells products from the Duchy of Cornwall - the estate formerly held by King Charles III before his accession to the throne and which now has passed to his son, Prince William, the new Prince of Wales.

The retailers' 34 John Lewis department stores across the country will all close on the day of the funeral.

Andrew Murphy, Chief Operating Officer, The John Lewis Partnership said: 'We are deeply saddened by the death of Her Majesty The Queen.

'We will be closing our stores on the day of her funeral as a mark of respect, and because we believe this is the right thing to do for our Partners and customers.'

A spokesperson for Sainsbury's said: 'We are deeply saddened by the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

'In honour of Her Majesty and so our colleagues can pay their respects, all Sainsbury's supermarkets and Argos stores will be closed on Monday, 19 September.

John Lewis Partnership is set to keep 'a handful' of shops open and close the remaining 300-plus Waitrose stores for the day

'This includes Groceries Online and Argos Fast Track delivery.

'Our convenience stores and petrol filling stations will be open from 5pm-10pm to allow our customers to pick up essential items, while select stores in central London will open to serve those attending the funeral in person.

'We thank our customers for their understanding.'

Jason Tarry, Tesco UK CEO said: We want to express our deepest condolences to the Royal Family, as well as our gratitude to Her Majesty The Queen for her unwavering service.

'On Monday 19th September, in order for our colleagues to pay their respects, our large stores will be closed all day and our Express stores will remain closed until 5pm.

DIY chain B&Q has also said today it will close its doors next Monday.

Aldi supermarkets have confirmed today they will close UK stores next Monday as a mark of respect to the Queen

A spokesperson said: 'As a mark of respect for the State Funeral for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and to offer our colleagues the opportunity to pay their respects, we have taken the decision to close all our UK stores on Monday 19 September.

'Our click and collect and home delivery services will also be temporarily suspended on the day.'

High street clothing chain Primark will also close, with its spokeswoman saying: 'Our stores, depots and head office in the UK will be closed on Monday September 19 to give our colleagues the opportunity to pay their respects and watch the funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Clothing giant Primark has confirmed that all of its 191 stores will close as a mark of respect

'We will reopen as normal on Tuesday September 20.'

The government has issued advice regarding the Bank Holiday to businesses.

'Some businesses may wish to consider closing or postponing events, especially on the day of the State Funeral, however, this is at the discretion of individual businesses,' it said.

A two minutes' silence will be held at midday next Monday for the Queen's state funeral and the London Stock Exchange will close.

MailOnline has contacted Asda, and Morrisons for comment.

Away from retail, schools across the country are set to close, as will museums and other cultural venues.

In London some of the most popular museums in the country will close their doors.

The likes of the British Museum, Natural History Museum, Science Museum, National Gallery and the Imperial War Museums will all shut for the funeral.
Ivan Pechorin, point man for Vladimir Putin's development of the Arctic, died after 'falling overboard' into the sea from a boat near Vladivostok

Vladimir Putin's point man for developing Russia's vast Arctic resources has died after 'falling overboard' while sailing off the country's Pacific coast.

Ivan Pechorin, 39, was managing director of Putin's Far East and Arctic Development Corporation and had recently attended a major conference hosted by the Kremlin warmonger in Vladivostok.

He is the latest in a long line of senior officials linked to Russia's energy sector and the Kremlin to die in suspicious circumstances in recent months.

Pechorin fell off the side of a boat in the waters close to Russky Island near Cape Ignatiev, said Russian daily Komsomolskaya Pravda.

His body was found after a search lasting more than a day.

'Ivan's death is an irreparable loss for friends and colleagues, a great loss for the corporation,' an official statement from the corporation read.

'We offer our sincere condolences to the family and friends.'

The corporation's former CEO Igor Nosov, 43, also died suddenly in February, reportedly from a stroke.

Ivan Pechorin, 39, was managing director of Putin's Far East and Arctic Development Corporation, responsible for the development of Russia's resources in the Arctic and the air industry in eastern Russia

Igor Nosov, CEO of the Corporation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, also died earlier this year in his early 40s, reportedly from a 'stroke'

Development of the Arctic - a rich source of oil and gas for Russia - is seen as essential amid sanctions and unprecedented economic problems facing Putin's economy due to his war in Ukraine.

Pechorin was also responsible for the development of the air industry across the vast east of Russia, a sector under particular strain from Western economic curbs.

He recently addressed the Eastern Economic Forum led by Putin in a session aimed at beating sanctions called 'Everyone has their Own Route: The Logistics of a Changed World'.

But his death is merely the most recent in a series of unexplained incidents from just before and during the war with Ukraine which have seen a slew of Russian powerbrokers meet a sticky end.

Every death has been passed off as an accident or suicide by authorities, but many believe that officials who are seen as a threat to Putin's power, most likely due to the sensitive information to which they are privy, are simply being removed from the playing field.

On September 1, oil tycoon Ravil Maganov, 67, fell to his death from the sixth floor window of a Moscow hospital.

One report said the chairman of Lukoil - Russia's second largest oil company - was 'beaten' before he was 'thrown out of a window', though this has not been independently confirmed.

Lukoil had previously voiced opposition to the war in Ukraine.

Maganov's death came shortly before Putin arrived at the elite Central Clinical Hospital to pay his last respects to final Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who had died at the hospital just days earlier.

Ravil Maganov, chairman of Russian oil giant Lukoil, died after falling from a window at Central Clinical Hospital, Moscow (pictured with Vladimir Putin in 2019)

Yuri Voronov, 61, was found dead in August

Two more deaths of Gazprom-linked executives were reported in elite homes near St Petersburg, stoking suspicions that the deaths may well have been murders

In July, Yuri Voronov, 61, head of a transport and logistics company for a Gazprom-linked company, was found dead in his swimming pool amid reports of foul play.

Two more deaths of Gazprom-linked executives were reported in elite homes near St Petersburg, stoking suspicions that the deaths may well have been murders.

Alexander Tyulakov, 61, a senior Gazprom financial and security official at deputy general director level, was discovered by his lover the day after war started in Ukraine in February.

His neck was in a noose in his 500,000 home in the elite Leninsky gated housing development, yet multiple reports claim his body had been badly beaten, leading to speculation he was under intense pressure from bad actors.

That came just three weeks after Leonid Shulman, 60, head of transport at Gazprom Invest, was found dead with multiple stab wounds in a pool of blood on his bathroom floor in the same gated housing community.

Billionaire Alexander Subbotin, 43 former top executive with energy giant Lukoil, died in May

Former Kremlin official and Gazprombank vice-president Vladislav Avayev, 51, appeared to have taken his own life after killing his wife and one of his daughters in April

Billionaire Alexander Subbotin, 43, also linked to Kremlin-friendly energy giant Lukoil where he was a top manager, was found dead in May.

One theory is that Subbotin - who also owned a shipping company - was poisoned by toad venom triggering a heart attack.

And in April, wealthy Vladislav Avayev, 51, a former Kremlin official closely linked to Russian financial institution Gazprombank, appeared to have taken his own life after killing his wife Yelena, 47, and daughter, 13.

Friends have disputed reports that he was jealous after his wife admitted she was pregnant by their driver, and there are claims he had access to the financial secrets of the Kremlin elite.

Russian gas tycoon Sergey Protosenya (pictured), his wife Natalya, 53, and their teenage daughter Maria were found dead in their Spanish mansion, in Lloret de Mar, on April 19

Ukrainian born multi-millionaire Yevgeny Palant, 47, and his wife Olga Palant, 50, were found stabbed to death in their family house in Moscow region last week

Several days later multimillionaire Sergey Protosenya, 55, was found hanged in Spain, after evidently killing with an axe his wife Natalia, 53, and their teenage daughter, Maria.

He was a former deputy chairman of Novatek, a company also closely linked to the Kremlin.

As with Avayev, it is suggested this may have been an assassination made to appear as a murder-suicide.

Last week a mobile phone multi-millionaire and his wife were found stabbed to death in yet another case which raised suspicions further.

Yevgeny Palant, 47, and his wife Olga, 50, both Ukrainian-born, were found by their daughter Polina, 20, having suffered multiple stab wounds.

An official briefing to the media claimed the woman took her own life in a jealous rage after Palant said he was leaving her - claims which were strongly disputed by the couple's best friend.
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This is the moment when a protester, who was heckling Prince Andrew as he followed the Queen's coffin through Edinburgh, was tackled to the ground by mourners who were surrounding him.

The young man was filmed shouting 'Andrew, you're a sick old man' as the disgraced Duke of York, 62, passed behind his mother's hearse.

Seconds later footage show's the heckler being shoved to the ground by angry mourners, as others in the crowd continued to shout 'God Save the King'.

The youngster was then helped up and pulled away by a police officers, as those grieving the late Queen continued to push him.

He was then dragged away from the road he yelled 'disgusting' and 'I've done nothing wrong' as Prince Andrew, along with his siblings King Charles, Princess Anne and Prince Edward continued to walk behind the hearse carrying the Queen's coffin.

Did you see what happened or know the protester? Email rory.tingle@mailonline.co.uk Advertisement

Police Scotland later said a 22-year-old man had been arrested 'in connection with a breach of the peace on the Royal Mile'.

Andrew, a Falklands War veteran who was exiled from public life amid the fallout from his role in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, was not allowed to wear military dress for the occasion and instead wore a morning suit.

The prince will have to appear in civilian clothes at all the other public events to mourn his mother, although an exception will reportedly be made as a special mark of respect for the Queen at the final vigil in Westminster Hall.

However, Meghan Markle's friend and preferred journalist Omid Scobie claimed that Prince Harry - who has also seen military action by serving two tours of Afghanistan - has been banned from wearing his uniform at all.

'I understand that, unlike Prince Andrew, Prince Harry will NOT be allowed to wear uniform at the final vigil in Westminster Hall. No doubt a huge blow for the Duke of Sussex, who served for 10 years and this morning spoke of the Queen being his ''commander-in-chief''', he tweeted yesterday.

A short scuffle ensued, before the officer led him away as he shouted 'disgusting' and 'I've done nothing wrong' while in the background people shouted 'God save the King'

Andrew wore a morning suit for yesterday's occasion. He is pictured alongside King Charles III, the Princess Royal and the Earl of Wessex

The Duke of York was shouted at by a protester who called him a 'sick old man' as the funeral procession passed by

The prince - pictured yesterday - will have to appear in civilian clothes at all the other ceremonial events to mourn his mother

Andrew (second from right) with King Charles, Princess Anne and the Earl of Wessex on the streets of Edinburgh yesterday

The Duke of York is a Falklands War veteran. He is pictured with King Charles, the Princess Royal and the Earl of Wessex

Led by a lone piper playing a lament, Her Majesty was carried from the Palace of Holyroodhouse where she was lying in rest since a six-hour journey from her Aberdeenshire castle yesterday. Andrew is seen towards the rear of the procession

Andrew gave up his HRH status and was stripped of all his honorary military roles, including Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, over his friendship with Epstein and allegations made by one of the paedophile's 'sex slaves' Virginia Roberts that the royal sexually abused her when she was a minor under American law - claims that culminated in a bombshell US lawsuit and a multimillion-pound out of court settlement with no admission of liability. The Duke of York has consistently denied the allegations.

Harry and Meghan were also stripped of their titles after they quit royal duties and left the UK for California.

Prince Andrew and Prince Harry will not wear military uniform for the Queen's funeral Working members of the royal family will wear military uniform when present at five ceremonial events during this period of mourning the Queen. These are the Service of Thanksgiving at St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, the procession to Westminster Hall and service of prayer and reflection, the Vigil at Westminster Hall, the state funeral at Westminster Abbey and the Committal Service at St George's Chapel Windsor. But as a non-working member of the royal family, the Duke of York will not wear uniform except as a special mark of respect for the Queen at the final vigil in Westminster Hall, sources said. Advertisement

The ensuing Megxit saga, which has seen the Duke and Duchess of Sussex make a series of astonishing allegations against The Firm including claims of racism against Meghan and her unborn son Archie by an unnamed senior royal, has sparked a civil war in the House of Windsor and plunged the monarchy into one of its most severe crises.

Yesterday, Andrew walked with his siblings as Her Majesty was carried from the Palace of Holyroodhouse where she was lying in rest since a six-hour journey from Balmoral Castle.

The Queen's casket was draped with the Royal Standard in Scotland and dressed with a wreath of flowers consisting of white Spray Roses, white Freesias, white button chrysanthemums, dried white heather from Balmoral, spray eryngium, foliage, rosemary, hebe, and pittosporum.

As the national anthem played the coffin was gently lowered into the hearse. Bagpipes played the National Anthem from Holyrood Palace as the Queen's coffin cortege began the walk up the Royal Mile.

The hearse was flanked by a Bearer Party found by The Royal Regiment of Scotland and The King's Body Guard for Scotland. Mounted police in ceremonial dress rode ahead of the parade.

King Charles walked solemnly in step with his brothers and sister behind his beloved mother. The assembled well-wishers fell silent as the hearse appeared.

The crowd then broke out in spontaneous applause as the cortege approached and many shouted God Save the King and God Save the Queen.

Around 30 minutes later the Queen arrived at St Giles' Cathedral where the Crown of Scotland was placed upon the coffin. After the service, members of the public will be allowed to file past to pay their respects for 24 hours before Her Majesty is moved to London by plane.

Yesterday the King met with well-wishers who lined the streets of Edinburgh to see him in an unplanned walkabout as Scotland's capital welcomed the new monarch and mourned the Queen - with so many people turning up that police were forced to turn many away.

Prince Andrew walks behind the cortege. He wore medals but not military dress like his siblings. He was heckled by one man in the crowd

The city was rammed with people desperate to catch a glimpse of the Queen and her family

The Queen's children followed by the Princess Royal's husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence (centre left)

Prince Andrew and King Charles follows the hearse carrying the coffin of Britain's Queen Elizabeth on the Royal Mile

The Queen's children follow their mother along the 1,200-yard route to the church

Andrew - his medals pinned to his chest - alongside other dignitaries for the service inside St Giles' Cathedral

Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward line up to follow the hearse carrying their mother on her final journey

The coffin was lifted out of the hearse and brought into the place of worship, with the King, the Queen Consort, the Princess Royal, her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, the Duke of York, and the Earl and the Countess of Wessex walking behind.

As the coffin made its way through the cathedral the choir sang Thou Wilt Keep Him In Perfect Peace, Whose Mind Is Stayed On Thee.

The Queen's coffin was placed on a wooden catafalque as the congregation continued to stand. The King, Queen Consort, and other members of the royal family, then walked to their seats alongside the coffin.

The King has his wife to his left and the Duke of York to his right.

At the beginning of the service, Reverend Calum MacLeod welcomed the royal family, 'representatives of our nation's life' and 'people whose lives were touched by the Queen in so many unforgettable ways'.

He said: 'And so we gather to bid Scotland's farewell to our late monarch, whose life of service to the nation and the world we celebrate. And whose love for Scotland was legendary.'

Senior church officials stood patiently at the entrance to the church as the procession made its way up the Royal Mile from the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

Crowds packed in 10 deep along the narrow pavements of the historic old town while others took up positions in windows along the route during the solemn procession.

Military personnel saluted as two police officers on horseback signalled the arrival of the Queen's body.

All four of the Queen's children led by the new King Charles followed close by as the hearse arrived at the iconic place of worship.

Princess Anne's husband was also among the party. Camilla, the Queen Consort and Prince Edward's wife Sophie arrived in a following car.

The Royal Family watch as the Crown of Scotland is place on the Queen's coffin this afternoon

The Queen had herself held the crown in the same church - St Giles' Kirk - just after her coronation

The Royal Family process past the Queen's coffin as they as they take their seats in the Cathedral
Marco Rubio has clapped back at Joe Biden for saying MAGA Republicans 'threaten' the republic, saying it is Biden's porous southern border that threatens the nation.

The Florida senator said the administration was looking 'out of touch' and blasted the president's 'failed policies' as the source of drug dealers and an overdose crisis.

He was hitting back after Biden in a Labor Day speech in Philadelphia said MAGA Republicans 'represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our Republic.'

Rubio's comments were well timed, as a boy aged just 13 in California was arrested for the overdose of a middle school worker.

'Rainbow fentanyl' is pictured above in a shot released by the Drug Enforcement Administration

Fentanyl is the leading cause of death for those aged 18-45

'It's a sign of how out of touch this administration is with the lives of people who don't spend all day on Twitter,' the Florida Republican, who is locked in a heated reelection race, wrote in an op-ed for Fox News.

'The greatest source of lawlessness in America isn't Republicans  it's the southern border, where the president's failed policies are allowing drug dealers to feed the worst overdose crisis in our country's history.'

Biden in a Labor Day speech in Philadelphia said 'represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our Republic.'

As Rubio points out, the U.S. faced more than 100,000 drug overdose deaths last year, many of which came from a rise in popularity of the mega-potent fentanyl, a synthetic opioid. Fentanyl is the leading cause of death for those aged 18-45.

Much of the fentanyl is manufactured in China then slipped into the U.S. through the southern border. Rubio said the epidemic will intensify since China recently suspended counter-narcotics cooperation with the U.S. after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan.

'The most obvious instance of this trend is the pills of 'rainbow fentanyl' that the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels are smuggling across the border, which law officers have seized in 18 states just this month,' Rubio wrote.

He continued: ''Little children think  that they may be candy-like SweeTARTS or Skittles,' explained one sheriff in a sobering interview. 'They're simply going to die from ingesting these pills.''

On Sunday, a 13-year-old Bakersfield middle school student in California was arrested after a school supervisor suffered an overdose from drugs seized from the student.

The Bakersfield Police Department responded to Chipman Junior High School on Friday when the school reported a boy was in possession of about 150 fentanyl pills disguised as Percocet, BakersfieldNow reported.

When the supervisor confiscated the pills, they inadvertently overdosed not by ingesting but simply by taking a whiff of the drugs. A local school police officer administered Narcan and the administrator was hospitalized.

The student was also found to be in possession of $300, but it's unclear whether he sold any pills to students.

Border agents have seized record amounts of both fentanyl and meth in recent days.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio clapped back at President Biden for saying MAGA Republicans 'threaten' the republic and said instead it's the White House porous southern border that threatens the nation

Fentanyl often makes its way into the U.S. through the southern border

In just five separate inspections ahead of Labor Day weekend, for example, officers seized 625,000 pills in Nogales, Arizona, which borders Sonora, Mexico, Michael Humphries, CBP Director of the Nogales Port of Entry, said, according to the Center Square.

Among them, officers seized 12,000 rainbow-colored fentanyl pills, four pounds of fentanyl in powder form, 34 pounds of methamphetamine and five pounds of marijuana.

Just two milligrams of fentanyl is considered a lethal dose.

'Even as things get worse, Biden has not given the situation the attention it deserves,' Rubio wrote.

The senator called for the passing of his own bill, the 'Domain Reform for Unlawful Drug Sellers' or DRUGS Act, which would allow the Department of Justice and other entities to suspend website facilitating the sale of illicit drugs. He said the government should heighten legal penalties for drug sales and pressure Beijing to do more to crack down on fentanyl production.
Donald Trump's Justice Department pressed to target political enemies and drop references to 'individual one' in the Michael Cohen case, a former top federal prosecutor has claimed.

Geoffrey Berman said the interference was unprecedented and on at least one occasion it followed tweets by then President Donald Trump.

'People who had been in the office for 40 years never saw anything like that,' he said. 'It was unprecedented and scary.'

Details emerged as Trump himself is under intense legal pressure over presidential records he removed from the White House. It is just one of a number of court battles that has dogged the former president since leaving office.

And Berman's account, in a book published this week, casts Bill Barr, Trump's attorney general, in a rather different light to the moral crusader he has claimed to be in recent TV appearances criticizing his former boss.

Berman was U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, leading some of the nation's most high-profile prosecutions and investigating several of Trump's allies, until he was fired in 2020.

In an interview on Good Morning America to promote his book, he described how he resisted some of the worst interference.

I had never seen anything like that before  It was unprecedented and scary.



Former top federal prosecutor Geoffrey Berman discusses his new memoir, Holding the Line, where he claims Pres. Trump and his allies pressured him to target political enemies.@GStephanopoulos pic.twitter.com/qlbkSnS1b9  Good Morning America (@GMA) September 12, 2022

Geoffrey Berman was U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, leading some of the nation's most high-profile prosecutions, until he was fired in 2020

He said the Justice Department tried to get him to drop references to 'Individual-1' in its filings about the prosecution of Michael Cohen, the former president's fixer. 'Individual-1' was Trump

In particular, he described how the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., tried to get involved in one of his office's blockbuster prosecutions - the case of Cohen, who had been Trump's lawyer and fixer, and admitted responsibility for paying off women who claimed they had affairs with the then president.

'In the first instance, on the eve of Cohen's guilty plea, main Justice tried to get our office to remove any reference to 'individual one' who was President Trump, and they were unsuccessful in that venture and they were unsuccessful in every attempt to politically interfere with our office,' said Berman.

'We held the line in every instance.'

Prosecutors generally refrain from naming people who have not been indicted, and so 'Individual-1' duly appeared in court papers.

They said 'Individual-1 directed Cohen to make the payments, which should have been declared under campaign finance laws because their purpose was to help Trump win the election.

During his appearance, Berman also said a Justice Department official had called his office to demand an investigation into Greg Craig, a former lawyer in the Barack Obama White House who was running for Congress.

'The Justice Department told us, 'Hey, you had just indicted two allies of the president - Chris Collins, who was a Republican congressman from upstate New York and Michael Cohen, who's the president's lawyer and fixer - and it's time for you guys to even things out and indict a Democrat before the midterm elections,'' he said.

He called his team together, he said, adding: 'My jaw dropped.'

'It was something we'd never heard or seen before,' he said.

He refused to take the case, and Craig was later charged by prosecutors in Washington, D.C., under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

In their filings, prosecutors alleged that 'Individual-1' directed Cohen to make payments to women, which should have been declared as campaign contributions

Berman said his office was pressured to prosecute former Secretary of State John Kerry (left) and Greg Craig, a former Obama White House lawyer Greg Craig who was later cleared

He was acquitted. Berman, whose book 'Holding the Line' is published on Tuesday, said he was also pressured to go after Kerry.

'President Trump attacks John Kerry in two tweets, saying that Kerry engaged in possible illegal conversations with Iranian officials regarding the Iran nuclear deal.

'The very next day the Trump Justice Department refers the John Kerry criminal case to the Southern District of New York - two tweets by the President, and the John Kerry criminal case becomes a priority for the Department of Justice.

'And the statute they wanted us to use was enacted in 1799 and had never been successfully prosecuted. So in about 220 years, this criminal statute was on the books there were no convictions.'

Berman's book does not pull its punches in describing political pressure in the Department of Justice.

Yet he is a Republican and volunteered on Trump's 2016 campaign.

But after being fired, he describes Barr as a liar and a bully.

'I would describe Barr's posture that morning as thuggish,' he writes about his dismissal. 'He wanted to bludgeon me into submission.'

He claims Barr told him: 'If you do not resign from your position, you will be fired. That will not be good for your resume and future job prospects.'


GOVERNMENT sincerity will be put to the test this Friday when teachers receive their salaries.

Government promised to increase civil servants salaries this month and various workers unions say they will decide on whether or not to down tools after they receive their salaries.

This was revealed following a meeting yesterday by all civil servants unions, which have been demanding United States-denominated salaries, but government has continuously shot down their demands.

The ministry promised that it will increase our salaries this month, which is September. So we are going to design a letter that we will hand over, where we will be inquiring on where they are now concerning that legitimate promise, said a source who attended the meeting.

The representatives who attended the meeting were from Educators Union of Zimbabwe, Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Nurses Association, Progressive Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe Teachers Associations.

However, indications are that a job action is inevitable.

By Friday, those who are in the education sector would have received their salaries, so by then, we will know whether our salary has increased or not. So basically, unions are doing a follow up on the promises by the ministry, otherwise job action is inevitable, added the source who requested not to be named.

The source said unions would come up with resolutions after the replacement of the National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC), which they claimed was not serving their interests.

There is a confederation that wants to replace the NJNC, which is the Collective Bargaining Chamber, so we couldnt discuss further on the issues because we need to be guided by its constitution. The agenda of the meeting was to come up with resolutions. So we are going to have more negotiations after the replacement of NJNC. Newsday
Tory MP Penny Mordaunt's brother arranged to meet a 14-year-old girl for sex after saying he would set up a 'sugar baby' fund for her.

Edward Mordaunt, 44, chatted with who he believed was a schoolgirl called Elle on social media app KIK.

But he was actually speaking to a police decoy, dreamt up to snare sex offenders trying to abuse children.

Mordaunt - a chartered surveyor - messaged Elle privately on May 4 this year after being in a group chat named 'A-Levels in Leeds' with her.

Prosecutor Katherine Robinson told Leeds Crown Court Mordaunt had already messaged another decoy said to be a girl aged 12-years-old and told her she was 'gorgeous.'

However, his chat turned sexual when he spoke to Elle, Leeds Live reported.

Edward Mordaunt, 44, arranged to meet a 14-year-old girl for sex in Leeds, court was told

Mordaunt - who is the brother of MP Penny (pictured last week) - called himself Teddy Eddie

Ms Robinson said: '[the decoy] used the group and put a message saying about school and one person she engaged with was Eddie F. The user sent a private message and the officer accepted the defendant's chat request.'

Ms Robinson said: 'He said he was an adult male. Up to May 27 the officer engaged with him on a number of occasions on KIK and Snapchat.'

The court heard that during the conversations Mordaunt asked the decoy if she had ever had full sex with someone, and sent images of a man's penis to her.

Ms Robinson said Mordaunt also made comments about how he 'shouldn't be speaking to her' and they had discussions about how it was 'wrong for him to be speaking to people her age.' She added that Mordaunt even mentioned setting up a 'sugar baby' fund for Elle before requesting images from her.

Prosecutor Katherine Robinson told Leeds Crown Court Mordaunt had already messaged another decoy said to be a girl aged 12-years-old and told her she was 'gorgeous.'

Ms Robinson said that during the conversations Mordaunt, of Beeston, had referred to himself as 'Teddy Eddie' and said he was like a bear and 'sexy' and told the decoy she was also 'sexy.'

It was said that plans had been made for Mordaunt to meet the decoy, but he cancelled, and they had discussed him visiting her in Sunderland.

Mitigating Catherine Silverton said he was arrested, interviewed and kept in custody for 26 hours before his first magistrates' appearance.

Recorder of Leeds Judge Guy Kearl QC said he dismissed the suggestion that as a result of the job performed by Mordaunt's sister, Conservative MP Penny Mordaunt, his case had been different.

He said: 'I take into account that suggestion that as a result of the job performed by your sibling which is an MP your case is somewhat different to other offenders'. I sit here in this court daily and view many of these cases and as far as I can see your case has not been dealt with in any way inappropriate or different to other cases.'

Ms Silverton said 'highly educated' Mordaunt had attempted to get help following his guilty plea at a plea, trial and preparation hearing to attempting to engage a child in sexual communication. She added he had no previous convictions.

She added that he had indicated his guilty plea to the Crown in advance of the plea, trial and preparation hearing. Ms Silverton said: 'He accepts full responsibility and is understanding of the harm of these types of offences on victims. He is of exemplary character. He has tried to see a doctor and has tried to engage with him and is on a waiting list. He has done his own research into other psychiatrists which may be able to help him.

Judge Kearl sentenced Mordaunt to six months in prison suspended for two years. He told him: 'I take into account you used chat rooms to escape but you didn't need to engage with a female child in order to achieve thatIf you breach that order you will be sent to prison.'

Mordaunt was also ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and complete 15 rehabilitation activity requirement.
At least four people were killed and 12 were injured after a building marquee collapsed over them while they were watching a parade in northeast Brazil on Sunday.

At the time of the incident, residents were enjoying festivities that marked the 94th anniversary of the emancipation of the city of Alianca.

Video footage showed a crowd standing in front of a store that was closed when the signboard crashed over them.

Among the dead victims were a 13-year-old girl, a 16-year-old girl, a 46-year-old woman and a 70-year-old woman.

Four of the 12 who were injured have been discharged from local hospitals.

Revelers stand next to a store during a parade in Alianca, Brazil on Sunday moments before marquee crashed and fell on top of a group of people, killing four and injuring 12

Authorities are looking into what caused a store marquee to loosen and fall off a building in Brazil on Sunday while residents were celebrating the 94th anniversary of the emancipation of the city of Alianca. The incident left four people dead and 12 others with injuries

Alianca Civil Defense coordinator, Armando Freitas, told Brazilian news outlet G1 that investigators were looking into what cause the marquee to fall off the building.

'It was a tragedy. The business is still closed ,' Freitas said. 'The law says that it is the responsibility of the owner to cherish the good condition of the building.'

Freitas added that it is the owner's responsibility to have the marquee inspected every three years.

Marli Alves was among the four people who were killed Sunday when a store's marquee fell on top of a group of people who were watching a parade in the Brazilian city of Alianca

Beatriz Alves, 16, was one of two teenagers who died after the marquee of a Brazilian store fell on them

A grieving family identified the dead victims as Marli Alves, a 47-year-old housewife, and her 16-year-old niece, Beatriz Alves.

They joined other relatives in making the 90-minute drive from the Atlantic coast city of Recife to attend the annual parade in Alianca.

Carlos Alberto told the outlet that his cousins, Marli and Beatriz, were standing just 13 feet apart when the marquee crushed them.

Beatriz Alves was declared dead by paramedics at the scene. Marli Alves, a married mother-of-one, was rushed to a local hospital and died upon arriving.

The Alianca city government has cancelled the the remaining festivities that were on schedule.
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's royal walkabout with Prince William and Kate was delayed by nearly an hour because the Sussexes had to get changed into formal mourning attire, a royal expert claimed on US TV today.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex had to 'quickly go and get changed' to meet mourners with the Prince and Princess of Wales outside Windsor Castle on Saturday afternoon, according to NBC's Daisy McAndrew.

The NBC News royal commentator told the network's Today show that she believed Meghan needed to have her 'hair and make-up' done and that the walkabout had been 'scheduled to be nearly an hour before they came'.

William and Harry have a well-documented troubled relationship but the death of their grandmother last Thursday saw the rivals shelve their differences when, with their wives, they viewed floral tributes left to the late Queen.

The new heir to the throne is understood to have invited his brother Harry in a text message to join them in meeting well-wishers outside the castle, which sources said William thought was an 'important show of unity'.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex walk to meet members of the public at Windsor Castle on Saturday after the Queen's death

The Prince and Princess of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on the Long Walk at Windsor Castle on Saturday

NBC News royal commentator Daisy McAndrew spoke on the network's Today show about the Windsor Castle walkabout

Ms McAndrew said: 'Interestingly, the reason that the walkabout was so late - it was scheduled to be nearly an hour before they actually came  was because of course Harry and Meghan had to go and get changed.

'They weren't wearing the proper formal mourning attire, so they had to quickly go and get changed  I guess, do hair and makeup for Meghan. So that's why they were late.'

'Granny, I'm forever grateful to you': Prince Harry issues statement 'celebrating the life' of the Queen - remembering their 'cherished memories' from the first time she met his 'darling wife' Meghan to when she hugged her 'beloved great-grandchildren' The Duke of Sussex today paid an emotional tribute to his late grandmother the Queen as he praised her 'sound advice' and 'infectious smile' and called her a 'guiding compass' through her commitment to service and duty. In a statement released today, which is understood to have been held back a day out of respect for the anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the Duke also said he wanted to honour his father at the start of his reign as King. Harry also referred to his 'darling wife' Meghan Markle; said he was grateful that the Queen had hugged her 'beloved great-grandchildren'; and spoke of how he 'cherished' the times spent with the 96-year-old. The Duke said today: 'In celebrating the life of my grandmother, Her Majesty The Queen - and in mourning her loss - we are all reminded of the guiding compass she was to so many in her commitment to service and duty. 'She was globally admired and respected. Her unwavering grace and dignity remained true throughout her life and now her everlasting legacy. 'Let us echo the words she spoke after the passing of her husband, Prince Philip, words which can bring comfort to all of us now: 'Life, of course, consists of final partings as well as first meetings.'' He added: 'Granny, while this final parting brings us great sadness, I am forever grateful for all of our first meetings-from my earliest childhood memories with you, to meeting you for the first time as my Commander-in-Chief, to the first moment you met my darling wife and hugged your beloved great-grandchildren. 'I cherish these times shared with you, and the many other special moments in between. You are already sorely missed, not just by us, but by the world over. 'And as it comes to first meetings, we now honour my father in his new role as King Charles III. Thank you for your commitment to service. Thank you for your sound advice. 'Thank you for your infectious smile. We, too, smile knowing that you and grandpa are reunited now, and both together in peace.' Advertisement

The claim comes after the Daily Mail's Richard Kay reported that the walkabout had originally been planned for 4.30pm but was delayed by 45 minutes as the brothers communicated with one another.

Ms McAndrew also claimed that the meeting was 'very much the King's desire', because Charles III 'wanted to see the boys together because of course it was overshadowing the beginning of his reign'.

But the Daily Mail reported today that the walkabout was not carried out on the direction of Charles, with one royal source saying such suggestions were 'absolutely not the case'.

It is also said to be false that William acted only after learning Harry was set on his own walkabout among the crowds complete with an attendant TV crew, with one source saying this was 'complete b******s'.

Ms McAndrew also said: 'They are a stone's throw from each other (in Windsor), just a really short walk. That's one of the things that people kept remarking on, how sad it was that they could be so physically close but so emotionally distant.

'Now of course, one swallow doesn't make a summer. We know this probably isn't the end of it, that there will still be residual bad feeling.

'Everybody is waiting for that book that Harry is bringing out some time between the autumn and the winter of this year. But for now it looks like a rapprochement.'

As the couple's first engagement under their new titles, William and Kate were joined by Harry and Meghan for the first time in more than two years since Commonwealth Day on March 9, 2020.

They inspected flowers and balloons before a walkabout at the venue on Saturday.

A royal source said the Prince of Wales asked his brother and his wife to join them in viewing the tributes.

The source said: 'The Prince of Wales invited the Duke and Duchess to join him and the Princess of Wales earlier.'

The last time William was joined in public by his brother at Windsor Castle was at the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh in April last year.

Both couples left in the same vehicle as the engagement, which lasted more than 40 minutes, came to a close.

All four were dressed in black as they walked along the gates of the castle. At one point during the walkabout, Meghan was seen being given a close hug by a young girl in the crowd.

The duke and duchess held hands as they looked at the tributes, with Harry at one point affectionately putting his hand on Meghan's back.

Each member of the royal family was seen pointing at different tributes and discussing them amongst each other as members of the crowd waved at them.

William and Kate and Harry and Meghan then greeted well-wishers at Windsor Castle with a number holding up mobile phones to take a photo of the royals.

A crowd at the castle broke out into applause as the couples approached members of the public and spoke to them.

William was seen speaking intently to a member of the crowd, at one moment shaking a woman's hand. Both William and Kate could be seen thanking people.

Kate crouched down at one moment and began speaking to a child who had started to cry. The child stopped crying when Kate approached her.

Kate, William, Harry and Meghan on the Long Walk at Windsor Castle on Saturday afternoon as they go on a walkabout

Meghan, Harry, William and Kate view floral tributes left at Windsor Castle on Saturday afternoon as royal fans watch on

The Duke of Sussex has paid an emotional tribute to his late grandmother the Queen as he thanked her for her 'sound advice'

Meghan was also seen shaking the hands of several children and well-wishers at Windsor. She walked over to a section of the crowd and approached a teenager, who was seen putting her hand over her mouth in shock.

Prince Harry is 'banned' from wearing military uniform at final vigil for The Queen at Westminster Hall but Prince Andrew is allowed to 'as special mark of respect' By JACK WRIGHT FOR MAILONLINE King Charles III's son Prince Harry has been banned from wearing military uniform if he attends the final vigil for Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Hall - but the monarch's shamed younger brother Prince Andrew will be allowed to don his Armed Forces outfit 'as a special mark of respect' for their late mother, it has been claimed today. Royal sources have said the disgraced Duke of York - a Falklands War veteran who exiled from public life amid the fallout from his role in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal - will be entitled to wear military colours if he attends the ceremonial event on Wednesday. However, Meghan Markle's friend and preferred journalist Omid Scobie claimed that the Duke of Sussex - who has also seen military action by serving two tours of Afghanistan - has been banned from wearing his uniform at all ceremonial events during mourning for Her Majesty. 'I understand that, unlike Prince Andrew, Prince Harry will NOT be allowed to wear uniform at the final vigil in Westminster Hall. No doubt a huge blow for the Duke of Sussex, who served for 10 years and this morning spoke of the Queen being his ''commander-in-chief''', he tweeted this afternoon. The Queen will lie in state at Westminster Hall from Wednesday at 5pm until 6:30am Monday 19 September, the day of the state funeral. A ceremonial procession is due to take place, which will see the Queen's coffin travel from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster for the lying in state. Her coffin will be closed and will rest on a raised platform, called a catafalque, in the hall and will be draped in the Royal Standard with the Orb and Sceptre placed on top. It will be guarded around the clock by a vigil of units from the Sovereign's Bodyguard, the Household Division, or Yeoman Warders of the Tower of London. Buckingham Palace has yet to confirm what time the vigil will take place and which royals will attend the event, though it is believed that it will take place before the late monarch's lying in state opens to the public that evening. Working members of the Royal Family will wear uniform when present at five ceremonial events during the period of mourning the Queen. These are the service of thanksgiving at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh, the procession to Westminster Hall and service of prayer and reflection, the Vigil at Westminster Hall, and next Monday's state funeral at Westminster Abbey and the committal service at St George's Chapel in Windsor. Andrew gave up his HRH status and was stripped of all his honorary military roles, including Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, over his friendship with Epstein and allegations made by one of the paedophile's 'sex slaves' Virginia Roberts that the royal sexually abused her when she was a minor under American law - claims that culminated in a bombshell US lawsuit and a multimillion-pound out of court settlement. The Duke of York has consistently denied the allegations. Harry and Meghan were also stripped of their titles after they quit royal duties and left the UK for California. The ensuing Megxit saga, which has seen the Duke and Duchess of Sussex make a series of astonishing allegations against The Firm including claims of racism against Meghan and her unborn son Archie by an unnamed senior royal, has sparked a civil war in the House of Windsor and plunged the monarchy into one of its most severe crises. Advertisement

The duchess and her husband spoke briefly for a few moments and Meghan could be seen assuring a young girl by putting her hand on her shoulder.

The girl then said: 'Can I have a hug?' and Meghan was seen nodding, before leaning in and giving her a big hug. The touching moment was filmed by other members in the crowd.

The duke and duchess were handed bunches of flowers which they both accepted.

William and Kate were also given bunches of flowers by members of the crowd as one visitor waved a Welsh flag in the background. At one moment, a small Paddington Bear was given to William, which he passed on to an aide.

He was seen lightly touching Kate's back at one moment as she crouched down again to speak to a child at the front of the gates.

The crowd was heard chatting excitedly and taking photographs as William and Kate and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stopped to speak to each person at the front of the barriers.

The royal couples walked along separately from one another, with William and Kate speaking to people on one side of the road and Harry and Meghan speaking to people on the other side of the road.

Today, Harry paid an emotional tribute to his late grandmother the Queen as he thanked her for her 'sound advice' and 'infectious smile'.

The Duke of Sussex also described her as a 'guiding compass' through her commitment to service and duty.

In a statement released today, which is understood to have been held back a day out of respect for the anniversary of September 11, the duke also said he wanted to honour his father at the start of his reign as King.

Harry said: 'In celebrating the life of my grandmother, Her Majesty The Queen - and in mourning her loss - we are all reminded of the guiding compass she was to so many in her commitment to service and duty.

'She was globally admired and respected. Her unwavering grace and dignity remained true throughout her life and now her everlasting legacy.

'Let us echo the words she spoke after the passing of her husband, Prince Philip, words which can bring comfort to all of us now: 'Life, of course, consists of final partings as well as first meetings.''

He added: 'Granny, while this final parting brings us great sadness, I am forever grateful for all of our first meetings-from my earliest childhood memories with you, to meeting you for the first time as my Commander-in-Chief, to the first moment you met my darling wife and hugged your beloved great-grandchildren.

'I cherish these times shared with you, and the many other special moments in between. You are already sorely missed, not just by us, but by the world over.

'And as it comes to first meetings, we now honour my father in his new role as King Charles III. Thank you for your commitment to service. Thank you for your sound advice.

'Thank you for your infectious smile. We, too, smile knowing that you and grandpa are reunited now, and both together in peace.'

Last Friday, the King shared his love for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as they continue to build their lives in America.

Charles referenced his love for his son, Harry, and wife Meghan during an address to the nation in which he also shared his 'feelings of profound sorrow' over the death of the Queen.

After referring to his eldest son William and his wife Kate in their new titles, as the Prince and Princess of Wales, he said: 'I want also to express my love for Harry and Meghan as they continue to build their lives overseas.'

The duke and duchess live in Montecito in California with their two children, Archie and Lilibet, having stepped down as senior working royals in 2020.

The couple were visiting Europe for a series of events when news of the Queen's worsening health emerged.

Harry arrived at Balmoral Castle on Thursday evening, having cancelled an appearance at a charity awards ceremony in London to join fellow royals who had gathered in the Aberdeenshire residence, while Meghan remained in the capital.

Two years have passed since William, Kate, Harry and Meghan were together side-by-side in public, during the Commonwealth Day church service at Westminster Abbey on March 9, 2020

After the Harry and Meghan's bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in March last year, the Queen said in a statement that 'some recollections may vary' but the Sussexes 'will always be much-loved family members'

Harry left the residence around 12 hours later at 8.15am on Friday, with a convoy seen passing by flowers that had been laid in tribute to the late monarch.

The duke then boarded a British Airways flight at Aberdeen International Airport, dressed in a black suit.

As he walked towards the steps of the plane, he was seen speaking to a woman in a hi-vis vest, at one stage placing his hand on her shoulder.

His flight arrived at Heathrow Airport shortly after 11.30am and he was believed to have returned to Frogmore Cottage in Windsor.

The Sussexes, who were coming to the end of a whistlestop visit to Europe when the Queen died, are expected to stay in the UK to attend the Queen's state funeral, which is likely to be held on September 19.

The couple have a troubled relationship with their relatives amid the Megxit saga, the rift between Harry and his brother, allegations of racism against an unnamed royal and accusations that the institution failed to help a suicidal Meghan.

After the Sussexes' bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, the Queen said in a statement that 'some recollections may vary', the Sussexes 'will always be much-loved family members' and that the issues raised would be 'addressed by the family privately'.

Throughout, the Sussexes have made efforts to publicly praise the Queen, even naming their daughter Lilibet after her - her family nickname since childhood.

MailOnline has contacted Harry and Meghan's representatives at Archewell for comment on the claims about the delay to the walkabout. NBC was the broadcaster to whom the Duke of Sussex gave an interview in April.
The Spanish government has allegedly asked the late Queen's cousin and former king of Spain not to attend Her Majesty's state funeral amid a row threatening to drive a wedge between government and monarchy.

No sooner had Buckingham Palace issued an invitation to King Juan Carlos I than had Spanish government representatives stepped in to make clear that King Felipe VI, the son of Juan Carlos and current king of Spain, was their preferred choice to represent the state abroad.





Spanish government officials privately contacted 84-year-old Juan Carlos I a few days ago to ask him not to attend the funeral, according to El Debate





But the former king may choose to attend in his own capacity  without the blessing of the Spanish government.

As a cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, the Royal Family extended him an invitation, but photos of Juan Carlos I at the state funeral would be the first of the former king captured at a royal event since his abdication  potentially undercutting the position of King Felipe VI, nephew of the late Queen Elizabeth II.



Then king Carlos, who lives in Abu Dhabi, stepped down after nearly 40 years on the throne after his daughter's husband became embroiled in a controversial elephant hunting scandal.





The Spanish government has asked King Emeritus Juan Carlos I, the late Queen's cousin and former king of Spain, not to attend Her Majesty's state funeral amid a regal row

Queen Elizabeth II is pictured with her cousin Juan Carlos I, then king. Both are related to Queen Victoria and were said to be close growing up

Spanish King Felipe VI is pictured chairing the opening ceremony of the Judicial Year 2022. The Spanish government has made clear the current king is its preferred choice to represent the state at Queen Elizabeth's funeral

Pallbearers carry the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II as the hearse arrives at St. Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh, September 12

The funeral of Queen Elizabeth II will be held on September 19 at Westminster Abbey at 11am, it has been announced  with Spanish media driving a wave of speculation over whether Juan Carlos, known as the King Emeritus (Rey Emerito), will attend.

Juan Carlos I, who abdicated the Spanish throne in 2014, is awaiting trial in the UK after the country's High Court ruled he does not have the right to Sovereign Immunity in a case involving the alleged harassment of his ex-lover.

He is facing claims he sent Spanish agents to Britain to harass and threaten his former lover and German businesswoman Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, 58, who alleges that his servants broke into her Knightsbridge flat to spy on her.

The King allegedly demanded the return of gifts he had given her when their tryst ended, souring the relationship.

Prosecutors in Switzerland and Spain shelved cases last year after investigated him for suspected money laundering and tax evasion over a separate $100million payment from the Saudi Arabian government.

But the harassment case remains open in the UK  with the royal attempting to appeal the ruling denying him immunity from prosecution because of his regal status.

Carlos had a series of affairs during his time on the Spanish thrones, including in the back of a van parked behind the Oriente Palace, according to a new HBO docu-series.

It's not the only scandal the former monarch is embroiled in. Spanish investigators are also looking into a missing 600,000 (520,000) allegedly taken by a close Mexican friend of Juan Carlos I.

Queen Elizabeth II is pictured with King Juan Carlos at the Oriente Palace

Queen Elizabeth ll greets King Juan Carlos of Spain with a kiss during a State Visit on April 22, 1986 in London

The Earl of Wessex, the Duke of York, King Charles III, the Queen Consort, the Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence attend a Service of Prayer and Reflection for the Life of Queen Elizabeth II at St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh

Despite once counting himself among the world's most popular monarchs, polling showed that approximately two-thirds of Spain wanted the king to abdicate when he stepped down  underlining how quickly public opinion can shift.

Juan Carlos returned to Spain for a brief visit in 2022 but has spent the past two years living in exile in Abu Dhabi.

All the trips of Don Juan Carlos makes abroad are carefully observed by Spanish officials, according to El Mundo, with the government keenly aware of the history the monarchy has played in shaping the state.

'Currently the head of state is Felipe VI and that, like his father, he also represents the existing family ties between the two royal houses,' said foreign minister Jose Manuel Albares in an interview over the weekend, pushing back on the idea that there was any issue with the previous monarch coming to London.

Court papers accuse Juan Carlos of using spies to place Ms zu Sayn-Wittgenstein under surveillance, to hack her phones and internet, mount a campaign of smears and issue death threats. (She is pictured in Monaco in 2014, six months after Juan Carlos abdicated)

Spanish President Pedro Sanchez is pictured speaking in a press conference. His government has pushed back on recent reports that it does not wish for Juan Carlos I to travel to the UK for the Queen's state funeral

Albares hopes the Spanish Government will continue to have 'the closest possible relationship' with the UK after the death of the Queen, calling it 'a very important country for Europe' after the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, he said.

But the Spanish foreign minister questioned the UK and Spain's arrangement over Gibraltar, however, a UK territory annexed from Spain in 1704, with the minister claiming that the 'relationship model' between the two countries 'has no place' there after Brexit.

Queen Elizabeth died at the age of 96 on Thursday, Buckingham Palace announced, marking the end of a reign that saw close relations between the Windsors and the Bourbons.

Felipe IV, Queen Letizia, as well as Queen Sofia  the former Queen of Spain and wife of Juan Carlos  have also received their corresponding invitations from Windsor.
Iran has developed an advanced long-range suicide drone designed to hit Israel's Tel Aviv and Haifa cities, a top military commander said.

Commander of Iran's Army Ground Force Brigadier General Kioomars Heidari said on state TV that 'Arash 2' drone has 'unique capabilities' that were designed specifically for targeting Haifa and Tel Aviv.

The director of Israel's Mossad spy service, David Barnea, reacted to the news and has warned Iran's rulers against 'resorting to force against Israel or Israelis.'

General said that the drone has joined the Army Ground Force and that they will unveil its capabilities in future exercises

'The top Iranian echelon must be aware that resorting to force against Israel or Israelis, directly from Iran or via proxies, will meet a painful response against those responsible - on Iranian soil,' Barnea said in a speech at Reichman University near Tel Aviv on Monday.

'This will happen in Tehran, in Kermanshah, in Isfahan,' he added, referring to areas of Iran where authorities have reported sabotage operations against facilities or personnel linked to the country's military or nuclear programs.

General Heidari said: 'Today, we have drones with a strategic range and also a drone with a range of 2,000 kilometers. Of course, we also have drones with lower ranges in our stockpiles.'

Heidari has claimed that 'Arash 2' drone was specially designed for attacking Haifa and Tel Aviv, adding that it is a unique drone made for that purpose and awaits the command to start operation.

In Iran supreme leader Ali Khamenei in commander in chief.

The general added that the drone has joined the Army Ground Force and that they will unveil its capabilities in future exercises.

'Arash 2' has both seekers and is also equipped with search systems in addition to other unique capabilities that it recovers itself several times until it hits the target, precisely.

The Iranian Army shows the launch of a military unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV or drone) during a two-day drone drill at an undisclosed location on August 25, 2022 in Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid also warned Iran last Tuesday not to test his country's 'long arm' in a video on Tuesday as he stood next to an F-35 stealth bomber.

'If Iran continues to test us, it will discover Israel's long arm and capabilities,' he said, vowing to 'continue to act on all fronts against terrorism and against those who seek to harm us.'

Meanwhile efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, which Israel opposes, have yet to succeed since negotiations began in Vienna in April 2021.

Israel, which views the deal as flawed, has vowed to do whatever it takes to stop its arch foe from obtaining a nuclear arsenal.

Iranian Army started a two-day military drone drill in various parts of the country. Iranian Army holds a military drone drill in various parts of the country, Tehran, Iran - 25 Aug 2022

The 2015 deal offered Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.

Speaking after European powers expressed frustration with Tehran's intentions to salvage the agreement, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani urged the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) 'not to yield to Israel's pressure' over Tehran's nuclear activities.

Iran said on Monday it was ready to continue cooperating with UN nuclear watchdog while revealing a drone capable of hitting major cities in Israel, which has threatened to attack Iranian nuclear sites if diplomacy fails to save a 2015 nuclear pact.

France, Britain and Germany said Saturday they had 'serious doubts' about Iran's intentions to revive a deal curbing its nuclear program in return for a lifting of sanctions, comments that were rejected by Tehran and called 'very untimely' by Moscow.
The daughter of Paddington creator Michael Bond says it is sad mourners have been told not to leave bear tributes to the Queen - after Royal Parks banned the teddies.

Karen Jankel, 64, said her late father - who died in 2017 - would have been 'overwhelmed' by his beloved creation being used to honour Her Majesty.

So many Paddingtons have been left outside the royal residences and a special floral tribute area in Green Park, organisers this morning asked for no more to be brought.

But while Ms Jankel signaled disappointment at the bear ban, she admitted she understood the decision.

And she suggested perhaps Paddington-themed pictures or messages could be laid instead and a donation to charity in lieu of buying one of the cuddly toys.

She told MailOnline: 'I think it is sad but on the other hand I can understand with it's difficult because there are so many of them.

'It is very lovely but there are so many of them. I'm quite sure that charities could benefit from collecting them but someone has got to go and do it.

'I think my father would have been overwhelmed by the enormity of it.

Karen Jankel, 64, with her father Michael Bond and his famous creation before his death

Children today had still left Paddingtons and sandwiches after the Queen's Jubilee sketch

So many Paddingtons have been left outside the royal residences and a special floral tribute area in Green Park, organisers this morning asked for no more to be brought

A marmalade sandwich had been left by some mourners sad about the death of the Queen

'It's very humbling and rather lovely that Paddington has become so associated with the Queen, thanks of course to the recent short film.

'That's how many people will remember her, laughing and joking and of course the fact we all learned what the Queen kept in her handbag.

'Maybe rather than the bears, perhaps people could do messages or drawings or maybe donations is a better way to do it, rather than spending money on things.'

Children across the nation have paid their respects with the teddy bears and sandwiches in a nod to the delightful sketch filmed for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee in June.

Organisers at the Queen's Green Park memorial site today declared mourners can no longer leave Paddington Bears or marmalade sandwiches to pay their respects.

A couple were left in freezer bags among the thousands of flowers as odes to her jubilee address with Paddington Bear.

One read: 'A marmalade sandwich for your heavenly travels! Thank you Ma'am.'

Another had just 'marmalade sandwich' written on the bag.

This charming Paddington toy had been bought new and placed with a lovely tribute to Queen

Many floral tributes were still being laid today in Green Park without wrappers on the flowers

The plastic wrapping was being taken off and put into bins by helpful volunteers on had

However despite the rules set out by Royal Parks, sandwiches have not been a major problem for volunteers clearing the site, the flower wrappings have.

As thousands poured in passers-by from across the world took up the mantle to remove cellophane from the flowers so they can eventually be composted.

One 73-year-old woman, Christina Walters, decided to help after this morning hearing on the television they were removing plastic from visitors' flowers.

Another pensioner, Pam Roger, was just walking by when she saw the memorial site and people clearing rubbish.

Her newly-formed team included a deaf woman, an American businesswoman, and some people from Singapore.

Together they removed the plastic and reorganised the colourful flowers around cards left by children and grieving people.

Security teams encouraged visitors to cut off any flower-wrapping and deposit it in the wheelie bins before entering.

Endless mounds of rubbish bags filled with flower packaging were piled into a disposal truck.

Royal Parks bosses have asked mourners to stop leaving Paddington Bear and marmalade sandwich tributes in honour of the Queen - and to stick to unwrapped flowers instead. Pictured: floral tributes in Green Park today

Children across the nation have paid their respects with the teddy bears and sandwiches in a nod to the delightful sketch filmed for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee in June. Pictured: A Paddington tribute left outside the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh on September 10

But Royal Parks, which manages the dedicated site for tributes at Green Park, said only unwrapped floral tributes should be left in memory of Her Majesty. Pictured: A marmalade sandwich left for the Queen outside Balmoral Castle

One of the security team, who didn't want to be named, had heard of the stories of marmalade sandwiches being left.

Though he hadn't seen any sandwiches himself he said he would encourage people to bring marmalade in a jar so it's easier for volunteers and workers to remove.

Christina was carrying a huge pile of cellophane when she said: 'I'm just helping out, I heard on the TV they want all the plastic taken off because they're trying to compost those.

'I know they were talking about people bringing in Paddington bears and jars of marmalade, but I've not really seen any being brought in.

'There's the odd Paddington bear around but I don't know what they'll do with them because they'll be wet, so I guess they can't give them away.'

Pam, 70, said she was just walking by when she thought she'd lend a hand.

'The people who are helping have come from all over, there's a lady from America, she's just here on business from there. One of the ladies is heavily deaf. There are a few from Singapore.

'Everyone just helps out until they get tired and then someone comes along and fills their space.

The Queen and Paddington Bear appeared in a comic sketch for her Platinum Jubilee in June

In a simple, yet heartwarming tribute posted on Twitter, Paddington Bear said: 'Thank you Ma'am, for everything.'

'Somebody from Buckingham Palace came over to say thank you to everybody for their help. She didn't say who she was, but she looked like she was from Buckingham Palace and said sort of thank you for helping, from everyone at the Palace.'

The security guard said the flowers would be decomposed and the teams at the park are trying to make the memorial site as environmentally friendly as possible.

'The flowers are going to be made into compost, the plastic is going to be recycled.

'The issues with the marmalade is it doesn't get composted in the same way, it might make manure.

'I'd recommend people bring their marmalade in jars, because that way we can just easily pick them up and move them out of the way or somewhere else.

'But they're allowed to do whatever they want, we're just trying to make it as environmentally friendly as possible.

'We're trying to help out the park staff because they can't cope. As you can see at the moment, we're getting mad busy.'

In a statement on their website issued this morning Royal Parks said: 'Unfortunately, no gifts and artefacts will be accepted and the public will be asked not to bring these to the parks.

'Non-floral objects/artefacts such as teddy bears or balloons should not be brought.'
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The Queen's four children showed off their impressive collection of service medals as they followed the late monarch's coffin through the Scottish capital in historic scenes seen today - as Andrew was forced to pin his to a morning suit after he was banned from wearing military uniform.

King Charles III was flanked by his siblings, Anne, the Princess Royal, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, who marched dolefully for 1,200 yards behind their beloved mother down Edinburgh's historic Royal Mile.

The quartet of senior royals displayed medals demonstrating their commitment to public service, others commemorating the 70-year reign of their mother the Queen and their own personal military achievements.

Thousands of mourners descended on the city to pay their last respects to the United Kingdom's longest reigning sovereign and her exceptional life - with mourners being turned away by midday as the crowd continued to swell.

The Queen's oak coffin will now lie in rest in St Giles' Cathedral until tomorrow, when it will be flown from Edinburgh Airport to London ahead of her state funeral.

But Andrew, a Falklands War veteran who was exiled from public life amid the fallout from his role in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, was not allowed to wear military dress for today's occasion and instead wore a morning suit.

Wearing a morning suit, Prince Andrew was briefly heckled during the procession by a man, 22, who was later tackled to the ground and arrested.

The prince will have to appear in civilian clothes at all the other public events to mourn his mother, although an exception will reportedly be made as a special mark of respect for the Queen at the final vigil in Westminster Hall.

All of the Queen's children wore military regalia as they followed behind her funeral procession in Edinburgh today, bar Prince Andrew who was not permitted to wear uniform after he was stripped of his titles earlier this year

King Charles' medals from L-R: 1) Queens Service Order 2) Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal 3) Silver Jubilee Medal 4) Gold Jubilee Medal 5) Diamond Jubilee Medal 6) Platinum Jubilee Medal 7) Long Service and Good Conduct medal 8) Canadian Forces Decoration 9) New Zealand Commemorative medal 10) New Zealand Armed Forces Award

Princess Anne's medals from L-R: 1) Queens Service Order 2) Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal 3) Silver Jubilee Medal 4) Gold Jubilee Medal 5) Diamond Jubilee Medal 6) Platinum Jubilee Medal 7) Long Service and Good Conduct medal 8) Canadian Forces Decoration 9) Order of St John Service medal 10) New Zealand Medal 1990

A Falklands War veteran, Prince Andrew donned (L-R): 1) South Atlantic Medal, 2) Silver Jubilee Medal 3) Gold Jubilee Medal 4) Diamond Jubilee Medal 5) Platinum Jubilee Medal 6) Royal Navy Long Service Medal 7) Canadian Forces Decoration 8) New Zealand Medal

Prince Edward wore the following medals from left-right: 1) Silver Jubilee Medal 2) Gold Jubilee Medal 3) Diamond Jubilee Medal 4) Platinum Jubilee Medal 5) Canadian Forces Decoration 6) New Zealand medal

The service medals worn by the Queen's four children today King Charles III The King, who donned a full day ceremonial uniform with the rank of Field Marshal, wore 10 medals as he poignantly led the procession into St Giles' Cathedral on Edinburgh's historic Royal Mile on Monday afternoon. Charles wore a Queens Service Order; Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal; Silver Jubilee Medal; Gold Jubilee Medal; Diamond Jubilee Medal; Platinum Jubilee Medal; Long Service and Good Conduct medal; Canadian Forces Decoration; New Zealand Commemorative medal; New Zealand Armed Forces Award Prince Andrew The Duke of York, a Falklands War veteran, donned a South Atlantic Medal; Silver Jubilee Medal; Gold Jubilee Medal; Diamond Jubilee Medal; Platinum Jubilee Medal; Royal Navy Long Service Medal; Canadian Forces Decoration and New Zealand Medal Princess Anne Princess Anne's medals included a Queens Service Order; Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal; Silver Jubilee Medal; Gold Jubilee Medal; Diamond Jubilee Medal; Platinum Jubilee Medal; Long Service and Good Conduct medal; Canadian Forces Decoration; Order of St John Service medal and New Zealand Medal 1990 Prince Edward Edward wore a Silver Jubilee Medal; Gold Jubilee Medal; Diamond Jubilee Medal; Platinum Jubilee Medal; Canadian Forces Decoration and New Zealand medal Advertisement

The King, who donned a full day ceremonial uniform with the rank of Field Marshal, wore 10 medals as he poignantly led the procession into St Giles' Cathedral on Edinburgh's historic Royal Mile on Monday afternoon.

Amongst his medals, Charles wore a Queen's Service Order medal, a Coronation medal, Silver, Golden, Diamond and Platinum medals and a Naval Long Service Good Conduct medal.

The new monarch also wore a New Zealand Commemorative medal, a New Zealand Armed Forces Award and a Canadian Forces Decoration.

The Duke of York's medals included a South Atlantic Medal, Silver, Golden, Diamond and Platinum Jubilee medals and Royal Navy Long Service Medals with bars.

He also wore a Canadian Forces Decoration with bar and a New Zealand Commemoration medal.

The Earl of Wessex also donned all four Jubilee medals, alongside a New Zealand medal and a Canadian Forces medal.

Alongside her Jubilee medals, the Princess Royal wore a Queen's Service Order, a Coronation medal, a Long Service and Good Conduct medal, a Canadian Forces Decoration, an Order of St John Service medal and a New Zealand 1990 medal.

Anne also displayed three decorations - the Most Notable Order of the Garter, the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle and the Royal Victorian Order.

The Queen's casket was draped with the Royal Standard in Scotland and dressed with a wreath of flowers consisting of white Spray Roses, white Freesias, white button chrysanthemums, dried white heather from Balmoral, spray eryngium, foliage, rosemary, hebe, and pittosporum.

As the national anthem played the coffin was gently lowered into the hearse. Bagpipes played the National Anthem from Holyrood Palace as the Queen's coffin cortege began the walk up the Royal Mile.

The hearse was flanked by a Bearer Party found by The Royal Regiment of Scotland and The King's Body Guard for Scotland. Mounted police in ceremonial dress rode ahead of the parade.

Andrew (second from right) with King Charles, Princess Anne and the Earl of Wessex on the streets of Edinburgh today

The Queen's children follow their mother along the 1,200-yard route to the 12th century St Giles' Cathedral

Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward line up to follow the hearse carrying their mother on her final journey

The Queen had herself held the crown in the same church - St Giles' Kirk - just after her coronation

The Royal Family watch as the Crown of Scotland is place on the Queen's coffin this afternoon

King Charles walked solemnly in step with his brothers and sister behind his beloved mother. The assembled well-wishers fell silent as the hearse appeared.

The crowd then broke out in spontaneous applause as the cortege approached and many shouted God Save the King and God Save the Queen.

Around 30 minutes later the Queen arrived at St Giles' Cathedral where the Crown of Scotland was placed upon the coffin. After the service, members of the public will be allowed to file past to pay their respects for 24 hours before Her Majesty is moved to London by plane.

Earlier the King met with well-wishers who lined the streets of Edinburgh to see him today in an unplanned walkabout as Scotland's capital welcomed the new monarch and mourned the Queen - with so many people turning up that police were forced to turn many away.

The coffin was lifted out of the hearse and brought into the place of worship, with the King, the Queen Consort, the Princess Royal, her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, the Duke of York, and the Earl and the Countess of Wessex walking behind.

As the coffin made its way through the cathedral the choir sang Thou Wilt Keep Him In Perfect Peace, Whose Mind Is Stayed On Thee.

The Queen's coffin was placed on a wooden catafalque as the congregation continued to stand. The King, Queen Consort, and other members of the royal family, then walked to their seats alongside the coffin.
Millionaire conspiracy theorist Alex Jones will take the stand, yet again, in an upcoming Connecticut trial to determine how much he should pay to families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School victims after calling the mass shooting a hoax.

The civil case is a consolidation of lawsuits by 15 family members and an FBI agent against the InfoWars host. It could potentially be far more financially devastating than the $50 million Texas verdict against the shock jock last month in a civil case by the parents of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis, who died in the shooting on December 14, 2012.

Jones testified in the Texas trial, admitting that he was wrong to deny the massacre, which took the lives of 20 children and six adults.

'Especially since Ive met the parents. Its 100 per cent real,' the right-wing media mogul admitted on the stand.

Last November, a Waterbury, Connecticut judge ruled that Jones was liable for damages. The trial for how much those damages will be begins on Tuesday about 18 miles north of Newtown, where the mass murder occurred.

Jones has already been found liable for damages for his statements on the shooting, now a jury of six will hear evidence to consider how much Jones should pay. The trial is expected to last six weeks.

Alex Jones took the stand in Austin, Texas and admitted that the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School was '100 percent real'

Jones speaking to a Connecticut News12 reporter outside of the deposition in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Prior to this, Jones paid two separate fines of $25,000 and $50,000 for missing appearances in March

The podcast host's lawyer, Norman Pattis, said his client will take the stand in his defense.

Jones continues to argue that his coverage was protected by the First Amendment.

Recently, during an interview with YouTube journalist Andrew Callaghan, he pushed back against accusations of irresponsible journalism or wrongdoing.

'Do I feel responsible that someone that played shoot-em-up video games, on a bunch of drugs, went and killed a bunch of kids and then the internet questioned it, and I covered that?' he said. 'No, I don't feel responsible - and I don't apologize,'

In their lawsuits, the families and FBI agent William Aldenberg say that they have been subject to harassment, abusive comments on social media and even death threats because of the hoax conspiracy.

Some of the plaintiffs say strangers have videotaped them and their surviving children. And some families have moved out of Newtown to avoid threats and harassment.

'I can't even describe the last nine and a half years, the living hell that I and others have had to endure because of the recklessness and negligence of Alex Jones,' Neil Heslin, Jesse Lewis' father, testified during the Texas trial.

The Connecticut lawsuit alleges defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and violations of the state Unfair Trade Practices Act. The families claim when Jones talked about Sandy Hook, he boosted his audience and raked in more profits from selling supplements, clothing and other items.

A parent with two children confers with an official on the day of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut on Dec. 14, 2012

The victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre are pictured here: starting on the top row, from left to right, are Ana Marquez-Greene, Caroline Previdi, Jessica Rekos, Emilie Parker, and Noah Pozner; Jesse Lewis, Olivia Engel, Josephine Gay, Charlotte Bacon and Chase Kowalski; Daniel Barden, Jack Pinto, Catherine Hubbard, Dylan Hockley and Benjamin Wheeler; Grace McDonnell, James Mattioli, Avielle Richman, Rachel Davino and Anne Marie Murphy; Lauren Rousseau, Mary Sherlach, Victoria Soto, Dawn Hochsprung and Nancy Lanza

Twenty children, between the ages of six and seven years old, and six adults were killed when 20-year-old Adam Lanza went on a shooting spree - with their families now setting their sights on Jones for his troubling assertions that the massacre was carried out by 'crisis actors'

A parent walks away from the Sandy Hook Elementary School with her children following a shooting at the school in Newtown, Conn., Dec. 14, 2012

Veronique De La Rosa, mother of Noah Pozner, who was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, wipes away tears during a news conference in Trumbull, Connecticut on February 15, 2022

The families have not asked for any specific amount of damages, some of which may be limited by state laws. There are no damage limits, however, under the Unfair Trade Practices Act.

In all the Connecticut and Texas cases, Jones and his lawyers repeatedly failed to turn over records as required to the families' attorneys. In response, judges handed down one of the harshest sanctions in the civil legal world  they found Jones liable for damages by default without trials.

Jones, who runs his web show and Infowars brand in Austin, Texas, also faces a third trial over the hoax conspiracy in another pending lawsuit by Sandy Hook parents in Texas.

Pitbull defense attorney, Norman Pattis, seen here, said that his client Alex Jones will take the stand in his defense this week

In a reversal from what he said on his show for years following the shooting, Jones now says he believes the massacre was real.

But he continues to say his comments about the shooting being a hoax involving crisis actors to encourage gun control efforts were protected by free speech rights.

During a deposition in the case in April, a defiant Jones insisted he wasn't responsible for the suffering that Sandy Hook parents say they have endured because of his words.

He also has said the judges' default rulings against him  finding him liable without trials  were unfair and suggested they were part of a conspiracy to put him out of business and silence him.

'If questioning public events and free speech is banned because it might hurt somebody's feelings, we are not in America anymore,' he said at the deposition. 'They can change the channel. They can come out and say I'm wrong. They have free speech.'

At the Texas trial, however, Jones testified that he now realizes what he said was irresponsible, did hurt people's feelings and he apologized.

Judge Barbara Bellis, who found Jones liable for damages, will oversee the trial. She is the same judge who oversaw Sandy Hook families' lawsuit against gun maker Remington, which made the Bushmaster rifle used in the school shooting. In February, Remington agreed to settle the lawsuit for $73 million.

The trial is expected to be similar to the one in Texas, with victims' relatives testifying about the pain and anguish the hoax conspiracy caused them and medical professionals answering questions about the relatives' mental health and diagnoses.
Vladimir Putin's problems are mounting as a group of Russian politicians have risked their livelihoods to demand his resignation in the wake of his collapsing invasion of Ukraine.

Municipal deputies from 18 districts of Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kolpino made the statement on Twitter, the third such group to do so in a week after similar calls last Wednesday and Thursday.

'We believe that the actions of President Vladimir Putin inflict harm on the future of Russia and its citizens,' they published on the Twitter of Xenia Torstrem, a municipal deputy of St Petersburg.

'We demand the resignation of Vladimir Putin from the office of President of the Russian Federation.'

The demand is followed by the signatures of 18 local councillors from districts within the three cities.

'The text of the petition is concise and does not 'discredit' anyone. If you are a municipal deputy and want to join, you are welcome,' Torstrem added.

Vladimir Putin is facing unprecedented calls to resign from local councillors over his fiasco invasion of Ukraine

Eighteen municipal deputies from Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kolpino signed the petition, which said: 'We believe that the actions of President Vladimir Putin inflict harm on the future of Russia and its citizens.' Pictured: A man holding a placard reading 'No occupation of Ukraine' during a protest at Pushkinskaya Square on February 24, 2022 in Moscow

The public demand was made after a catastrophic week of the occupying Russian army in Ukraine, which suffered stunning reversals after a lightning Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region. Pictured: A Ukranian soldier stands atop an abandoned Russian tank near a village on the outskirts of Izyum, Kharkiv region

The public demand was made after a catastrophic week for the occupying Russian army in Ukraine, which suffered stunning reversals after a lightning Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region.

There are credible reports that Russian units simply turned tails and fled without putting up a fight against the Ukrainian onslaught, leaving behind more ammunition and tanks than the liberators can recover.

Another St Petersburg councillor bravely submitted a petition for Putin's impeachment on grounds of treason on Sunday.

Kunin Vasily Evgenievich blamed Putin for casting Russia into international isolation, with the country's economy 'failing at an unprecedented rate' and young professionals taking flight from the place of birth.

'A totalitarian police regime has been established in the country, all independent media and political repression intensified.

'All of the above violates the rights of citizens of the Russian Federation to security, to economic development, well-being, freedom of expression. Putin's course has thrown our country back decades.'

He also lamented the thousands of dead Russian soldiers, of which the 'Russian Federation does not publish data on the losses.'

Local politicians in Russia (pictured) who dared call for Vladimir Putin to be charged with treason and forced out of office were today summoned for police interrogations

The group of councillors in Smolninskoye, a municipality in St Petersburg where Putin (pictured Wednesday) was born, made the extraordinary appeal to the Russian parliament yesterday. Today, it was reported that they were called in by police for interrogation

It is the collapse in the army which is perhaps most stark for Putin, as he has staked so much of his aura on the pre-eminence of the Russian military.

'Morale is low, training is poor, food is awful, equipment is inadequate, welfare and training is neglected, and commanders are seen as dishonest, uncaring and incompetent,' independent military history author and researcher ChrisO wrote on Twitter in a scathing assessment.

The Kremlin's response to such challenges is often bureaucratic but quietly devastating for those with the courage to stand up to the dictator.

Councillors in Smolninskoye, a district of St Petersburg, who called for Vladimir Putin to be charged with treason and forced out of office last week were summoned for police interrogations.

They could face fines or even jail under draconian laws which punish criticism of the armed forces and the Russian authorities.

Like Evgenievich, they had complained that Putin's war with Ukraine was leading to young soldiers dying or being maimed, and causing huge economic and political damage to Russia.

The politicians say they petitioned the Russia parliament to find Putin guilty of 'high treason' and to oust him.

One of those summoned by police, Nikita Yuferev, 34, said he and six other councillors had been told to appear for questioning.

The councillors complained that Putin's war in Ukraine has left thousands of Russian soldiers dead and damaged the country's economy

Ukrainian servicemen riding a BTR amphibious armoured personnel carrier (APC) drive out of Bakhmut, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, on Wednesday

Another councillor Dmitry Palyuga, 35, had said Putin's war 'harms the security of Russia and its citizens'.

The anti-war councillors claimed they had a quorum at a special session.

But Grigory Rankov, head of the Smolninskoye administration, claimed today that the group acted illegally in petitioning the state Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament.

The demand to charge Putin was a 'provocation' and an 'attempt to discredit' the council, he said.

The councillors attended the police station today, represented by a lawyer.

It was not immediately clear what action would be taken against them.

'We want to show people that there are [democratic representatives] who don't agree with the current course and think Putin is harming Russia,' said Palyuga.

'We want to show people that we are not afraid to talk about it.'

Among others calling Putin a 'traitor' were Radislav Poluykov and Dmitry Baltrukov.
Six years after eight members were slaughtered in the Pike County Massacre following a bitter custody battle with another family, prosecutors revealed in opening statements that months prior to the slayings, the mother refused to sign custody papers, writing 'they will have to kill me first.'

The first trial in the 2016 killings began Monday with George Wagner IV, 30, who is one of multiple suspects facing charges for his alleged role in the murders of eight members of the Rhoden family in Pike County, Ohio on April 22, 2016.

The fatal shootings terrified residents in a stretch of rural Ohio and launched one of the state's most extensive criminal investigations, which led to the Wagners' arrest more than two years later.

In opening statements on Monday, special prosecutor Angela Canepa relayed the bloody saga and argued that the Wagners spent months planning the killings and targeted some of the victims, but 'some sadly were killed because they happened to be there.'

Prosecutors have alleged the murders were committed by four members of the Wagner family, and while George Wagner IV is not believed to have killed anyone, he allegedly participated by voting in favor of the murders.

His brother, Edward 'Jake' Wagner and their mother, have both pleaded guilty to the murders, a plot that was allegedly planned so they could have full custody of Jake's daughter, who is shared with Hanna Rhoden.

Hanna, 19, was shot multiple times as she slept next to her newborn baby, after Jake Wagner tried to convince her to agree to share custody of their child.

'I won't sign papers ever,' Rhoden wrote in a private Facebook message in 2015, months before the killings. 'They will have to kill me first.'

The trial of Jake's brother, George Wagner IV, began Monday and is expected to last six to eight weeks.

The first trial in the 2016 killings began Monday with George Wagner IV, who is one of suspects accused of killing eight members of the Rhoden family in Pike County on April 22, 2016

George Wagner IV arrived at the courthouse on Monday for opening statements

#GeorgeWagnerIV arrives for opening statements with his security detail guarding him @LawCrimeNetwork pic.twitter.com/s7bkR1QZhr  Angenette Levy (@Angenette5) September 12, 2022

Hanna Rhoden, 19, was killed as she slept after Jake Wagner tried to convince her to agree to share custody. Jake's brother George Wagner IV is the first person on trial Monday

Four people in the Wagner family have been accused of taking part in the brutal murders.

Defense attorneys for George IV insist that he had nothing to do with the murders, saying he did not shoot or kill anyone on that night in 2016.

His mother, Angela Jo Wagner, and his younger brother, Edward 'Jake' Wagner, pleaded guilty last year to their roles in the killings.

Jake Wagner was convicted of eight counts of murder and 15 other charges including gun specifications, conspiracy, burglary, possession of dangerous ordnance and tampering with evidence.

The father, George 'Billy' Wagner III, is expected to stand trial at a later date. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.

Wagner IV has also pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers argued the confessions of his brother and mother last year prove he didnt shoot and kill anyone.

Special Prosecutor Angela Canepa agreed with the defense in a December 2021 hearing that Wagner IV did not kill anyone.

But in the state of Ohio, a person can be sentenced to death for an aggravated murder conviction if they help plan it or cover it up.

Jake himself was handed eight full life sentenced without the option of parole in 2021 after agreeing to a plea deal with no possibility of the death penalty for himself and his family members.

He pleaded guilty to 23 felony charges, including eight of murder, while his mother pleaded guilty to several counts of aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence and other charges.

Both Jake and his mother agreed to testify against the other defendants and are expected to be involved in the upcoming trial.

All of the victims were shot in the head multiple times while they slept with Jake saying he was 'personally responsible' for five of the deaths.

Hanna's father Christopher Rhoden Sr, 40, mother Dana Rhoden, 37, and brothers Clarence, 20, and Christopher Jr, 16, were also killed in the massacre.

Clarence Rhoden's fiancee, Hannah Gilley, 20, Christopher Sr.'s brother, Kenneth Rhoden, 44, and cousin Gary Rhoden, 38, were also shot dead across four different homes across rural Ohio.

Edward 'Jake' Wagner, (right) previously pleaded guilty to the murder of Hanna Rhoden, with whom he had a daughter with, and seven of her family members. He has been sentenced to eight life terms. His brother, George Wagner IV, is on trial Monday. He has pleaded not guilty

Three children that were at the scene of the slaying were spared, Clarence's sons Brentley, 4, and Ruger Lee, six months, and Hanna's daughter Kyle who was five days old at the time.

It took investigators six years to get to the bottom of the cold-blooded plot, which was organized to execute anyone who might stand in the way of Jake getting custody of his daughter.

He dated Hanna when she was 13, and got her pregnant at 15, but the relationship ended, and she had a second child with another man.

Jake then began to pressure her about the custody of their daughter, and he had been taking care of Sophia at the time of the murders.

Investigators claim the family bought ammunition, a magazine clip, brass catchers and a bug detector to prepare for the crimes.

It is claimed that they constructed a homemade silencer that was used in the shootings and used 'counter-surveillance devices' on the properties as well as tampering with phones, cameras and parts of a home security system.

Forged documents were found on the computer purporting that Hanna Rhoden had agreed to share custody.

The Wagners took phones from six of the victims, as well as a recording device and trail cameras.

The Wagner family fled to Alaska after the murders. From left to right: Edward 'Jake' Wagner, Angela Wagner and George Wagner IV are pictured outside a supermarket in 2017

Clarence 'Frankie' Rhoden, 20, and his fiancee, Hannah Gilley, 20, were shot dead while sleeping with their child

Christopher Sr is the only victim who was believed to have been awake when they were shot, suffering nine gunshot wounds in his forearm, torso and cheek.

His brother Gary was shot twice in the head and a third time in the face, with an autopsy report saying a 'muzzle stain' was left on his head, suggesting at one point a shot was fired while the gun was pressed against him.

Dana Rhoden was carefully shot four times around her head and a fifth time from under her chin.

She was sharing a trailer with Christopher Jr and Hanna who were both shot in the head multiple times.

Frankie Rhoden and Hannah Gilley were also shot in the head, but their six-month-old child, who was sleeping between the couple, was spared.

Hannah was shot five times in total, with one shot hitting her left eye and Kenneth Rhoden was shot only once, with the bullet entering his right eye.

The Wagner family lived near the scenes of the killings at the time, but moved 4,000 miles away in June 2021 to a home (pictured above) in Kenai, Alaska

In a 911 call following the shootings, a woman sounded out of breath as she frantically told a dispatcher: 'I think my brother-in-law's dead ... There's blood all over the house.'

'There's blood all over the house. My brother-in-law is in the bedroom and it looks like someone has beat the hell out of him.'

Crime scene investigators were first called to Union Hill Road at 8.21am, when seven of the victims were found shot to death in the head 'execution style'.

The first three homes where bodies were found are located within a couple miles of one another on a sparsely populated stretch of road, while the eighth body - a man - was found in a house within 30 miles just before 2pm.

The Wagner family moved to Kenai, Alaska, after the killings, with Jake Wagner taking his daughter with them, but returned to Ohio in 2018 when they ran out of money. They were arrested in November of that year.

At the time, the family said they were moving to escape what they claimed was unfair speculation that were responsible for the murders.
OPPOSITION leader Egypt Dzinemunhenzva has approached the High Court challenging the new Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) fees for aspiring election candidates.

On August 23, Dzinemunhenzwa gave Zec a 72-hour ultimatum to reverse the new candidate fees for the 2023 elections or face a lawsuit.

The ultimatum has since expired and Dzinemunhenzva, who is filing the application together with Harare North MP Allan Markham (Citizens Coalition for Change), Tapiwanashe Chiriga and Vongai Zimudzi, has decided to take the matter to court citing Zec and Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs minister Ziyambi Ziyambi as respondents.

The applicants are seeking the High Court to nullify the new electoral nomination fees.

They are also seeking the repeal of Statutory Instrument (SI) 144 of 2022.

They want the court to declare the nomination fee hike by Zec as arbitrary, grossly unreasonable, unlawful and in violation of the Electoral Act.

Dzinemunhenzva said his party was formed during the Rhodesian Front government era where black majority rule was unheard of.

I submit that under the Rhodesian Front government at no time did the electoral system disenfranchise Africans as a matter of law, but the franchise qualifications were such that only a tiny segment of the Africans qualified, he submitted.

Further, for one to quality for a parliamentary seat, they had to have high educational qualifications as well as property qualifications. It was obvious that the majority of Africans, including myself, could not meet these requirements.

Part of the reasons we went to war was to ensure that our political voices were heard through universal mode suffrage commonly known as one man one vote. We won that fight and I do not subscribe to any conduct that reverses this particular gain of the liberation war struggle, Dzinemunhenzvas affidavit to the High Court read.

Last month, Zec hiked fees for presidential, parliamentary and council aspirants for the 2023 elections.

Under SI 144 of 2022, one will need to fork out US$20 000 to contest for the presidency, US$1 000 to run for Member of Parliament and US$200 for a council seat or equivalent in local currency.

The hike drew widespread condemnation from politicians and legal practitioners, saying they dissuade contestants from participating in elections. Newsday
A Carnegie Mellon professor who wished the Queen an 'excruciatingly painful' death on Twitter is continuing to lash out while calling the dead monarch a 'representative of the cult of white womanhood.'

Uju Anya, 46, added that 'half of (her) family was slaughtered with guns and bombs that this Queen sent to kill us' in an interview with The Cut.

Anya, an applied-linguistics professor at the Pittsburgh university, is the daughter of a mother from Trinidad and a father from Nigeria. She told NBC News that she is 'a child of colonization,' and that her perspective was shaped by Britain's role in the Nigerian Civil War.

'My earliest memories were from living in a war-torn area, and rebuilding still hasn't finished even today,' she said.

She defended her remarks opposing the monarchy and added that the Queen was not exempt from the decisions made by the British government 'she supervised.'

'Queen Elizabeth was representative of the cult of white womanhood,' Anya said.

'There's this notion that she was this little-old-lady grandma type with her little hats and her purses and little dogs and everything, as if she inhabited this place or this space in the imaginary, this public image, as someone who didn't have a hand in the bloodshed of her Crown.'

New York Magazine's The Cut on August 29 published a bombshell interview with Meghan Markle where she launched a new attack on the Royal Family - saying she and Harry were happy to leave Britain and were 'upsetting the dynamic of the hierarchy just by existing'.

The woke Carnegie Mellon professor who put out a tweet so acidic in response to the death of Queen Elizabeth II that Twitter took it down has continued to double-down on her anti-monarchy statements

Her Majesty, Queen of the United Kingdom, died on September 8, 2022

Carnegie Mellon University has distanced itself from Anya, telling DailyMail.com that it does 'not condone the offensive and objectionable messages'

Anya's initial tweet about Queen Elizabeth was deleted by Twitter

The Cut on August 29 published a bombshell interview with Meghan Markle where she launched a new attack on the Royal Family - saying she and Harry were happy to leave Britain and were 'upsetting the dynamic of the hierarchy just by existing'

The interview with Markle was released after it was claimed Harry and Meghan would not visit the Queen at Balmoral on their visit to the UK.

After the Queen's death last week, Meghan postponed her Archetypes podcast and both she and Harry have remained in the UK. They are expected to stay until after the funeral on September 29.

On Saturday, Harry and Meghan joined the Prince and Princess of Wales outside the gates of Windsor Castle for a walkabout to greet the crowd.

In the latest attack against the Royal Family in The Cut, Anya defended her vile message about the Queen and said she will continue to stand by it.

'In my tweet, I did not wish her dead,' Anya said. 'I did not tell anyone to kill her. I said nothing except wishing her the pain in death that she caused for millions of people. There's not going to be any apology from me. I stand by what I said.

''Speak no ill of the dead' is a weapon that's leveled against the oppressed to silence them, to lionize oppressors, and to sanitize their history. What respect am I supposed to have for her, for her family?

''Oh, well, her family is mourning her.' My family is mourning as well.'

In her defense of her tweet, Anya also called out Jeff Bezos, who sub-tweeted Anya and said: 'This is someone supposedly working to make the world better? I don't think so. Wow.'

'Jeff Bezos incited violence against me,' Anya said. 'He rarely tweets in his own voice, but he took the time to single me out when literally half the planet rejoiced over the news.'

Anya claimed that as a result of his tweet, she received racist and misogynistic emails.

She called Bezos a 'small and petty man' and added that his response was directly correlated with her connection with Chris Smalls, who led union efforts against Amazon.

'I recently met Chris Smalls, the young Black man who unionized at Amazon, at an event,' she continued.

'I took a picture with him and tweeted it, praising him and saying, 'Extraordinary brilliant and powerful young man who unionized Amazon.''

Hundreds of people slammed the crude professor for her comments about the Queen's final hours, including Jeff Bezos (pictured)

Anya cited Bezos' response to her tweet in her defense and said it 'incited violence' against her

Carnegie Mellon University responded that Anya's views do not represent their school but also refused to allow her to face consequences so far and have not fired her

Carnegie Mellon University has distanced itself from Anya, telling DailyMail.com that it does 'not condone the offensive and objectionable messages.'

'Free expression is core to the mission of higher education, however, the views she shared absolutely do not represent the values of the institution, nor the standards of discourse we seek to foster,' a spokesperson said.

The school however has not taken any action against her, and she remains employed.

Students at the university wrote a letter in support of Anya while criticizing the university's response. It was signed by hundreds of current and former students, according to Newsweek.

Anya has continued to double-down on her comments against the Queen, and has repeatedly said she will not apologize for them

The Imperial State Crown, along with a sceptre, serves as the principal crown for the British monarch. The Queen was pictured at her coronation in 1953 with the sceptre and bejeweled crown

'We recognize her immensely impactful role on campus and believe firmly in her right to free speech and safety,' the letter said.

'Public condemnation of her tweet provides no institutional protection from violence and places her in a precarious position, ignoring a long history of institutional racism and colonialism.

'Rejecting calls for 'civility' that are frequently leveraged against the marginalized to silence dissent, we express our solidarity with Dr. Anya and reject the tone-policing of those with legitimate grievances.'

Anya's doubling-down of her comments follow another tweet stating she will not apologize.

She tweeted: 'If anyone expects me to express anything but disdain for the monarch who supervised a government that sponsored the genocide that massacred and displaced half my family and the consequences of which those alive today are still trying to overcome, you can keep wishing upon a star.'

Anya (right) pictured with Chris Smalls (left), whom Anya says her connection with is the reasoning behind Bezos responding to her tweet

Smalls, 34, is known for his leading of the unionization of Amazon workers in Staten Island

The 'anti-racist' professor has faced allegations of racism in the past for the words she has used online - and in one instance, Foundational Black Americans created a petition to get her removed from Carnegie Mellon University.

Anya, who claims to be an expert in 'diversity, equity, and inclusion,' was called out for using an ethnic slur, which means 'cotton pickers' or 'wild animals.'

The petition to get her fired garnered nearly 800 signatures.

It read: 'Dr. Uju Anya can not be allowed to use the platform of Carnegie Mellon University Department of Modern Languages to further promote systemic racism through her blatant use of ethnic slurs on social media when referring to Foundational Black Americans.

'This is a step backward in our fight to destroy systemic racism and discrimination for all people if institutions allow professors to become comfortable with using language as a weapon against people of color by people of color.

'Society MUST hold all people accountable equally and we call on Carnegie Mellon University to take action against this type of egregious behavior to protect the reputation and integrity of the Higher Learning Institution.'

One person who signed the petition said that the professor can't be trusted with children.

They added: 'I'm concerned for the children. She can't be trusted with kids. I wouldn't want racist of any color teaching my children.'
A TikTok influencer sparked a police investigation after finding a stained rug in a river which he believes could be linked to the disappearance of Connecticut mother Jennifer Dulos.

Dulos, 50, a mother-of-five is missing and presumed dead after vanishing in May 2019 amid a bitter divorce and custody battle with her estranged husband Fotis Dulos.

He was charged with her murder and kidnap despite no body ever being found and committed suicide on January 30, 2020.

The couple had been embroiled in a two-year long custody battle over their children, after being married for 13 years.

TikTok star Sean Austin, who describes himself a paranormal investigator, a psychic-medium and demonologist, discovered the rug not far from a house where Fotis had previously lived.

Austin reported the rug to authorities on Sunday, who immediately descended on the area in an attempt to find any missing evidence.

He claims that 'supernatural evidence' led them the spot on the riverbank, with the rug appearing to have a vertical stain in the centre of it.

Jennifer, pictured, and her husband had been locked in a vicious custody battle for last two years before her dissapearance in 2019

Fotis Dulos, 52, killed himself after he was accused of murdering his estranged wife in a bitter custody row

In a video posted on Sunday he said: 'We did a little investigation here with scuba divers in the Farmington River, and we found something shady, possibly having to do with the case of Jennifer Dulos.'

State police last year searched a home in Farmington which belonged to her husband, after ruling that he attacked and killed her on 24 May 2019.

His former girlfriend Michell Troconis and former lawyer Kent Mawhinney have each pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit murder in relation to the case.

Both are free on bond while they await trial, and Troconis has also pleaded not guilty to charges of tampering with evidence and hindering a prosecution.

Dulos is presumed dead after police found evidence of a serious assault which took place in the garage of her New Canaan home, after dropping her children off to school.

Investigators found bags of itemas which included Dulos' blood and DNA disposed in Hartford, but some evidence was never found.

TikTok star Sean Austin, who describes himself a paranormal investigator, a psychic-medium and demonologist, discovered the rug not far from a house where Fotis had previously lived and thought it was linked to Dulos' death

Police found large amount of Jennifer's blood in her garage in New Canaan. It was on trash cans, on the floor, on her car door and someone had tried to clean it up

Michelle Troconis, 45, and Dulos' former attorney, Kent Mawhinney (right), are charged with conspiracy to murder

A piece of carpet, believed to be from her SUV, was also never found by detectives looking into the case.

In divorce documents before her death, Dulos said she knew the filing would enrage her husband.

She claimed that he would 'retaliate by trying to harm her in some way' and claimed that he exhibited 'irrational, unsafe, bullying, threatenign and controlling behaviour.'

According to court documents she said: 'I am afraid for my safety and the physical safety and emotional well-being of our minor children.'

Hundreds of pages of search warrants revealed how police found large stains of Dulos' blood in her garage, spattered on trash cans and in her master bedroom along with bombshell interviews from their children's nanny.

Her estranged husband continued to deny his involvement in her death up until he committed suicide.

documents state that it is 'strongly believed' Jennifer was attacked in the garage of her home in New Canaan soon after she had finished the school run.

Before his death, Dulos estranged husband shook his head and smirked when asked if he thought there was enough evidence to convict him

Officers last year searched a Connecticut park in connection with Dulos' suspected murder but did not find anything

Fotis Dulos was charged in connection with his wife's murder but killed himself before the case came to trial

Michelle Troconis, left, and Kent Mawhinney, right, have both been charged in connection with the mother-of-five's death

Police believe she was then put in her own Chevrolet Suburban 2017 to be driven to the spot where the car was eventually found.

In the car, they found her phone which had been active in the location where the car was left for 40 minutes before suddenly going offline.

In those 40 minutes, Fotis - who had earlier been seen in Connecticut driving an employee's car - was nowhere to be seen.

Three minutes after Jennifer's phone went offline, he was seen turning back onto a road, in the same employee's car he'd been driving earlier.

The search warrants do not give any indication of what may have happened to Jennifer's body.

When authorities searched Jennifer's home they found blood in the garage - which had been previously reported - but exactly where in the garage remained a secret until last week.

The new documents list that blood was found on the concrete floor of the garage, two garbage cans in the garage and on the passenger door of a Range Rover parked inside.

Police also found shoe impressions and said that someone had tried to clean up the blood.

Authorities reported finding traces of blood on a cell phone and a tablet that were discovered in the master bedroom of the home.
The White House has confirmed only Joe and Jill Biden were invited to The Queen's funeral next week and that there was no request for an official American delegation.

Buckingham Palace issued a personal invitation to the first couple on late Saturday night and the Bidens accepted it on Sunday.

It remains unclear if any other presidents will attend the funeral service, which will take place on Monday, Sept. 19, at Westminster Abbey.

The palace could issue personal invitations to any one it chooses but has not said if there will be invites for Donald and Melania Trump, Barack and Michelle Obama, George W. and Laura Bush, or Bill and Hillary Clinton.

The Trump, Obama, and Clinton offices have not responded to DailyMail.com's request for comment.

The coffin of Queen Elizabeth II was brought to St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland

The White House confirmed only President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden were invited to The Queen's funeral next week and that there was no request for an official American delegation

The palace could issue individual invites to other American presidents like Donald and Melania Trump, who met the Queen in July 2018

Trump and Obama were both guests of The Queen for lavish, white-tie state dinners at Buckingham Palace.

Trump met the Queen twice as president, first at Windsor Castle for tea in 2018 and then during a full state visit the following year.

The Obamas were given a rare invitation to sleep at Buckingham Palace during their 2011 state visit to Britain.

Bush was the last president to host the Queen in America, when he held a hosted a state dinner for her in May 2007 at the White House.

And Biden was the last president to meet her, when he and Jill had tea with the monarch at Windsor Castle in June 2021.

Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Monday the invitation came from UK's Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office on late Saturday night and Biden formally accepted it on Sunday morning.

'The invitation was extended to the US government was for the President and the First Lady only,' she told reporters on Air Force One as the president traveled to Boston.

She declined to say if any former presidents or famous Americans had been invited to the funeral for the 96-year-old monarch, who died Thursday at her Balmoral estate in Scotland.

'As far as invites, I would refer you to the United United Kingdom, their government, on that protocol,' she note.

It's not unusual for former presidents to attend state funerals for world leaders.

Nelson Mandela's funeral in 2013 had four presidents in attendance: then-President Obama, W. Bush, Clinton and Jimmy Carter. Bush rode on Air Force One with Obama to South Africa.

Biden had said Friday he planned on going to the Queen's funeral even though details hadn't been worked out.

'I don't know what the details are yet but I'll be going,' he said.

The White House announced this weekend the president and first lady will leave for the UK on Saturday.

The funeral takes place Monday at Westminister Abbey. King Charles III is expected to host world leaders for a reception at Buckingham Palace the night before the service.

Jean-Pierre said she didn't know if Biden would meet with new British Prime Minister Liz Truss or any other officials during his trip, noting the details are still being worked out. She also said that Biden will attend the United Nations General Assembly, which starts on Monday, September 19, in New York - the same day as the Queen's funeral.

It's also unclear if Barack and Michelle Obama will attend: Above, the former first couple with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip during their 2011 visit to the UK

George W. Bush was the last president to host the Queen and Prince Philip in America, when he and Laura Bush held a hosted a state dinner for her in May 2007 at the White House

While in London, Biden will likely stay at the U.S. Ambassador's residence, the traditional place for president's to rest their weary heads. Winfield House is a 35-bedroom residence set in 12 acres in the middle of London.

But he may have to trade the president Beast for a bus to pay tribute to the late monarch.

The palace has asked world leaders not to use their own official cars for the funeral service but instead to be bussed in by coach from a site ini West London, Politico reported.

The news outlet cited information from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), which also warned the world leaders to take commercial flights when possible and that they caannot use helicopters to travel around the UK.
Pro-Putin mouthpieces are beginning to admit that Russia's invasion of Ukraine 'is not going to plan' and that predictions of a quick victory were 'catastrophically wrong'.

Boris Nadezhdin, an 'opposition' politician, told a debate show on state television that it is currently 'absolutely impossible' to defeat Ukraine due to Russia's 'colonial war methods'.

He also called for Russia to either escalate its war efforts or resume peace talks to bring an end to the bloody war.

But while his criticism of the invasion is inevitable, Mr Nadezhdin's remarks have been backed by Kremlin mouthpieces during the political debate show.

It comes amid mounting concerns from pro-government figures over a series of strong Ukrainian counterattacks that have resulted in Russian forces conceding ground in recent days.

Political commentator Viktor Olevich, who traditionally backs the Kremlin, told the NTV channel on Friday: 'Weve been told that everything is going according to plan.

'Does anyone really believe that six months ago the plan was to be leaving [the city of] Balakliya, repelling a counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region and failing to take over Kharkiv?'

State Duma member Alexander Kazakov, one of the chambers of the Russian parliament, then admitted that Russia had been 'dealt a severe psychological blow' following the counteroffensives.

Boris Nadezhdin, an 'opposition' politician, told the debate show it is currently 'absolutely impossible' to defeat Ukraine due to Russia's 'colonial war methods'

State Duma member Alexander Kazakov, one of the chambers of the Russian parliament, then admitted that Russia had been 'dealt a severe psychological blow'

Russian President Vladimir Putin waves while visiting the opening of new International Centre of Box and Sambo on Saturday

Alexei Tomofeev, another political commentator, also warned that the war will continue 'for a long time, for a very, very long time' if the situation continues.

He added: 'There's an expert who said the Russian Army entering Odesa would be at risk solely from being hugged too tightly by the locals - the people of Odesa overcome with love for the Russians.

'After February 24, all of us clearly understand that's not at all what happened. Residents of Odea don't want t hug Russian troops.

'The same expert is constantly saying on federal TV that we should keep going all the way. If his expertise, his analysis was not simply erroneous, but criminally, catastrophically wrong, why should I listen to the opinion of the same expert who is saying we should go all the way?'

Opposition politician Mr Nadezhdin is a long-term liberal politician.

He regularly appears on political debate shows, suggesting he had knowledge that his sentiments would likely be shared across the panel.

But he stopped short of criticising Putin directly, instead slamming those that had advised the Russian President ahead of the 'special military operation' more than six months ago.

Mr Nadezhdin said: 'Someone told him that Ukrainians will surrender, that theyll flee, that theyll want to join Russia. Someone had to be telling him all this.'

He added: 'Its absolutely impossible to defeat Ukraine, using those resources and colonial war methods, with which Russia is trying to wage war using contract soldiers, mercenaries, no mobilisation.'

'Im suggesting peace talks about stopping the war, and moving on to dealing with political issues.'

It comes as raging Russian nationalists called for Putin to make immediate changes to ensure victory in the Ukraine war after troops were forced to retreat amid a series of strong Ukrainian counterattacks on Sunday.

Derhachi District Mayor Vyacheslav Zadorenko, with a group of Ukrainian soldiers, rips a Russian flag in Kozacha Lopan, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, after the town was liberated

Neither Putin, nor defence minister Sergei Shoigu (centre left) have yet commented on the retreat

Ukraine's troops on Saturday stormed east out of second city Kharkiv, smashing through Russian lines and liberating huge swathes of territory, including the key strategic city of Izyum along with several key transport and logistics hubs supporting Putin's men in the Donbas.

The news prompted Chechen leader and Putin ally Ramzan Kadyrov to publish an 11-minute-long rant on the Telegram messaging app, declaring that 'changes must be made' to turn the tide of the war.

'If today or tomorrow changes are not made in the conduct of the special military operation, I will be forced to go to the country's leadership to explain to them the situation on the ground,' Kadyrov exclaimed.

Putin, who is Russia's supreme commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu are yet to publicly comment on the defeat.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov meanwhile declined to answer directly when asked by a reporter on Monday whether the Russian president had confidence in his military leadership.

'The military operation continues,' Peskov insisted, avoiding the question. 'And it will continue until the goals that were originally set are achieved.'
Vice President Kamala Harris insisted the U.S.-Mexico border is secure in a jumble of words on her 'Meet the Press' interview Sunday.

Harris blamed the Trump administration for a 'broken' immigration system.

'I think that there is no question that we have to do what the president and I asked Congress to do, the first request we made: pass a bill to create a pathway to citizenship,' Harris said. 'The border is secure, but we also have a broken immigration system, in particular, over the last four years before we came in, and it needs to be fixed.'

'We're going to have two million people cross this border for the first time ever. You're confident this border is secure?' interviewer Chuck Todd pressed the vice president in the interview.

'We have a secure border in that that is a priority for any nation including ours in our administration,' Harris replied.

'But there are still a lot of problems that we are trying to fix,' she added, calling for a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

Vice President Kamala Harris insisted the U.S.-Mexico border is secure in a jumble of words on her 'Meet the Press' interview Sunday

Harris blamed the Trump administration for a 'broken' immigration system

The vice president's public remarks are often riddled with run-on sentences that are hard to follow. 'You need to get to go and need to be able to get where you need to go to do the work and go home,' she said in another jumble at a transportation speech in mid-July.

President Biden appointed Harris to tackle the 'root causes' of immigration, but so far border agents have made over 2 million border apprehensions, an all-time record, this fiscal year, which ends in October. That number surpassed the already-historic 1.7 million encounters in fiscal year 2021.

Harris tried to shift blame onto Congress and Texas, where she gave the interview, instead of the administration.

'We don't have that in place because people are playing politics in a state like this and in Congress.'

'By the way, you want to talk about bipartisanship on an issue that at one time was a bipartisan issue both in terms of Republican senators and even presidents,' she added.

Gov. Greg Abbott has been bussing migrants to liberal cities like Washington, D.C. and New York in a political play designed to show them what Texas has been feeling.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey followed suit. The political move prompted D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to request the help of the National Guard to deal with the influx of migrants, calling the matter a 'humanitarian crisis.'

President Biden appointed Harris to tackle the 'root causes' of immigration, but so far border agents have made over 2 million border apprehensions, an all-time record, this fiscal year, which ends in October

A man shows a sign that reads: 'emigration is not a crime, it is a right. We want free transit', during the walk of hundreds of migrants, most of them Central Americans, in a caravan from the city of Tapachula, in Chiapas, southern Mexico, 31 August 2022

A group of migrants, most of them Central Americans, advance in a large caravan, from the city of Tapachula, in the state of Chiapas, Mexico, 03 September 2022. Every 24 hours, caravans of migrants from at least a dozen countries that enter through the southern border of Mexico with Guatemala

NYC Mayor Eric Adams echoed that sentiment, requesting help to deal with the influx of migrants to his city.

With one month still left to go in the fiscal year, almost 750 border crossers have died making the dangerous journey northward to the U.S.

In July there were nearly 200,000 encounters, a decline for the second consecutive month after four months of increases climaxing in May with a record-breaking 241,116 encounters.

August figures should be released soon.
Outspoken shock jock Howard Stern slammed the US's coverage of Queen Elizabeth II's death in an on-air tirade Monday, calling it 'excessive' and suggesting outlets instead refocus on the ongoing investigation into former President Donald Trump.

The remarks came during a scathing speech delivered by Stern on the Monday edition of his eponymously named SiriusXM radio show, where he criticized publications for seemingly ditching the story of the embattled ex-president housing classified documents at his Florida home in favor of coverage of the Queens death.

The world has been in collective mourning since the passing of the UK's longest reigning monarch on Thursday, who died surrounded by members of the Royal Family at Balmoral Castle from natural causes at age 96.

A funeral for the historic leader -who assumed the throne at just 25 years old in 1953 upon the death her father George VI - has yet to be held, but that did not stop Stern, 67, from suggesting it was time for outlets to move on to a fresh news cycle.

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Howard Stern slammed the US's coverage of Queen Elizabeth II's death in an on-air tirade Monday, calling it 'excessive' and suggesting outlets instead refocus on the ongoing investigation into former President Donald Trump

'It's weird traditions and everything,' Stern tells co-host Robin Quivers in a clip from the Monday edition of The Howard Stern Show, after the Queen's passing was briefly brought up, causing the aging television personality to fly off the handle.

'And I'm like, Jesus, enough with the Queen!' Stern suddenly says in the footage, before adding, 'I mean, it's America.'

Stern, meanwhile, last week unloaded on Trump supporters by branding them 'morons' for defending the embattled ex-president amid the ongoing federal investigation, calling America a nation of 'nincompoops.'

That spiel saw the longtime radio host suggest Americans who champion Trump 'go live in Russia,' to get a taste of a different type of political system aside from American democracy.

Bizarrely claiming that he was still 'somewhat of a Republican,' Stern said that he's 'sick' of people who buy into former President Donald Trump's 'bulls**t,' calling the general US population as 'stupid,' and 'just dumb.'

With those opinions in mind, Stern tore into American media for covering the queen in lieu of the continuing scandal, which has continued to make headlines for the past several weeks.

Queen Elizabeth II died surrounded by members of the Royal Family at Balmoral Castle from natural causes at age 96

The world has been in collective mourning since the passing of the UK's longest reigning monarch on Thursday. Pictured is the procession of the late Queen 's coffin, from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh on Monday

Stern's tirade this Monday, meanwhile, saw him concede that the Queen - whose 70-year reign is only surpassed by that of Louis XIV, who ruled France for 72 years - has played a crucial to her own country, but that that importance is lost on Americans, who should be focused on more pressing matters, such as the Trump investigation.

'We don't have a queen. I get it. You know, [the] Queen was a nice lady,' Stern tell his co-host in the clip, attempting to offering some conjectural basis to his rant.

'I guess she was born, you know, my whole life,' Stern stammers.

'The queen has been the same queen and there's a tradition there and she did her duty to her country.

'I get it. I get it. I get it,' the shock jock continues, visibly fed-up with the topic of the continuing Queen coverage, before adding, 'But we gotta get back to Trump and where those papers are that they found that Mar-A-Lago.'

Stern said outlets should instead focus on the DOJ's investigation into Donald Trump, after branding supporters of the ex-president as 'morons' last week amid the ongoing federal investigation, calling America a nation of 'nincompoops'

At that point in the discussion, co-host Quivers asked if Stern was bothered by the fact that the Queen has become such a large point of discussion in American discourse.

'You don't like the distraction of the queen?' Quivers asks his colleague.

'No, it's like, annoying,' Stern responds, proclaiming that instead, 'everyone wants to hear about Trump.'

'Trump 24/7,' the host asserts in the now viral clip.

Amid the Justice Department's ongoing investigation into allegations that Trump urged his supporters to storm the Capitol on January 6, 2021, to stop the coronation of then President Elect Joe Biden, Stern has criticized the former president on several occasions, and has even hinted at running against him in 2024.

'The problem with most presidents is they have too big of an agenda,' he said earlier this year. 'The only agenda I would have is to make the country fair again.'

Stern previously attempted to run for New York governor as a libertarian in 1994, but was reportedly forced to drop out after refusing to reveal his personal finances.

The radio host said he would get rid of the Electoral College and add five new Supreme Court Justices if ever elected.

'Im not f**king around, Im really thinking about [running for president],' he said at the time.

Stern, like Trump, has long been a fixture in the New York community, and spoke Monday about rubbing shoulders with the Manhattan-based mogul prior to his successful presidential run in 2016.

Doubling down on prior criticisms of the ex-president as a politician, Stern bizarrely slammed Trump for wanting 'to be the focus of attention' - despite his previous assertions that the media is not covering the embattled head of state enough.

'I mean, he, you know, it's so weird. I knew Donald for so many years, not in touch with him now, obviously, but the only thing that I used to say about Donald  the guy just wants to be the focus of attention.'

He went on" He wants the whole world looking at him and the son of a gun  If he didn't make that happen, it's unbelievable. He got his wish.'

Less than a week ago, in a blistering attack on Trump, Stern slammed supporters of the political newcomer as 'morons' and called America is a nation of 'nincompoops' - while also claiming he is 'somewhat of a Republican'.

The Tuesday rant saw Stern assert that that he's 'sick' of people who buy into the former president's 'bulls**t' - especially as he faces potential charges that he hindered a federal investigation by hiding and deleting documents that may prove he played a part in the January 6 insurrection.

'I mean, my God in heaven, I feel like Im in a nation of nincompoops. Im hoping there is still some more brilliant, bright, vibrant people who love this country,' he said on his Sirius show.

'I feel like the people in this country who support all this nonsense and lies about the election and all the conspiracy theories, they have never lived under a dictator,' he explained, noting, 'Their freedoms have never really been threatened.'

The former America's Got Talent host proceeded to bring up his late immigrant father, Ben, who came to the US for 'freedom.'

'Freedom is why people came to this country, and now so many people are willing to now walk away from freedom,' the multimillionaire said.

He said their 'freedoms have never really been threatened and they have no idea what it would be like to live under a different type of system other than democracy.

'They dont get it. They are morons. They think somehow that the world would be better under a guy like Trump. Like he would take care of them better.'

The radio host also called Trump supporters 'nincompoops' and said so many Americans 'are willing to now walk away from freedom'

He went on to add that he wished that they would 'go live in Russia under that f**k nut Putin' for a year to learn what 'misery' is actually like.

Overall, the self-branded 'normal conservative' suggested that most Americans are just 'dumb,' regardless of political affliction.

Bombshell takeaways from Trump's 21-page Monday court filing Donald Trump's lawyers refer to the records as 'his own' - though they later concede that some may 'belong with' the National Archives Trump denies the judge's ordered pause on the DOJ investigation is 'a prohibition on conducting a national security assessment,' after the government claimed such a halt would harm national security The legal team appears hesitant to put in writing Trump's claim that he 'declassified' all of the documents he took to Mar-a-Lago At one point they directly contradict him by stating their classification is 'to be determined later' They claim Trump asserted some documents as 'personal' but give no evidence or details Trump's attorneys suggest he even had the power to declassify documents after leaving office, which is untrue, by stating: 'The former President has sole discretion to classify a record as personal or Presidential' Advertisement

'The public is stupid. People are just dumb,' he said. 'They, a lot of people are like cro-magnon man. Theyve crawled. You never see that chart where man is crawling out of the sea. Theres a lot of people still in the sea. Youre just dumb. Theyre just dumb motherf**kers.'

He also suggested his former friend's supporters don't even have 'half a brain' since they 'follow the f**ing fearless leader blindly.'

He revealed he considers himself 'somewhat of a Republican,' but a 'normal' one.

The months-long controversy surrounding Trump centers on the discovery of hundreds of pages of classified documents at his Florida club in Mar-a-Lago more than a year after he left the White House.

It is one of several criminal investigations that have plagued Trump since the end of his presidency, all associated with his alleged role in last year's attack on the capitol.

Many contend that the documents could shed light on the president's actions and orders to staff during the insurrection, which Trump has tried to distance himself from since being unceremoniously ousted from the White House and impeached at the end of his term.

Under the Presidential Records Act, Trump was required to turn over the documents to the National Archives - an action the ex-president for some reason never went through with.

Earlier this year, the FBI learned later Trump had held on to the documents - despite the National Archives' repeated efforts by to retrieve them - triggering a criminal investigation.

As part of that probe, the FBI executed a search warrant at the Mar-a-Lago premises on August 8, seizing nearly 13,000 items and documents, including more than 100 documents bearing classified markings.

The historic leader -who assumed the throne at just 25 years old in 1953 upon the death her father George VI - has yet to be buried, but that did not stop Stern from suggesting it was time for outlets to move on to a fresh news cycle

The Justice Department and the Trump legal team have since been at odds on when access to the documents and the appointment of a special master to peruse their contents, with Trump's team Monday asserting that they do not want the FBI to go over the trove of potentially damning presidential records.

Lawyers for the former president said Monday that they oppose allowing the Justice Department to resume reviewing the more than 100 classified government documents.

They instead asked a federal judge last week to lift an order barring Trump's legal team from viewing the documents - and authorizing the appointment of an appointed third party, known as special master, to assess the seized files.

Those talks, at the moment, are still underway.

The Queen, meanwhile, will lie in state at Westminster Hall from Wednesday at 5pm until 6:30am Monday 19 September, the day of the state funeral.

A ceremonial procession is due to take place, which will see the Queen's coffin travel from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster for the lying in state. Her coffin will be closed and will rest on a raised platform, called a catafalque, in the hall and will be draped in the Royal Standard with the Orb and Sceptre placed on top. It will be guarded around the clock by a vigil of units from the Sovereign's Bodyguard, the Household Division, or Yeoman Warders of the Tower of London.

Buckingham Palace has yet to confirm what time the vigil will take place and which royals will attend the event, though it is believed that it will take place before the late monarch's lying in state opens to the public that evening.
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Royal superfans queueing to be the first in line to see the Queen's coffin lying in state at Westminster Hall face getting drenched as rain has been forecast for London.

The Met Office has predicted showers early on Wednesday, the day the coffin will arrive in London from Edinburgh, and advised mourners to bring an umbrella for when they wait to pay their respects to the Queen.

There may be a 'possible' damp start to the day brought on by a band of overnight showers that are set to break out along the south of England, according to spokesman Stephen Dixon.

Meanwhile, the forecaster said today is turning out to be a largely dry and fine day with patchy cloud and some sunny spells in Edinburgh, where King Charles III and the Queen Consort are with some members of the royal family.

The Queen was taken from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to nearby St Giles' Cathedral where her family, and a congregation drawn from all areas of Scottish society, are attending a service of thanksgiving for her life.

Royal superfans queueing to be the first in line to see the Queen's coffin lying in state at Westminster Hall face getting drenched as rain has been forecast for London. Pictured are people gathering under the rain near Buckingham Palace to lay flowers on Friday, following the passing of the Queen the previous day

There may be a 'possible' damp start to Wednesday brought on by a band of overnight showers that are set to break out along the south of England, according to Met Office spokesman Stephen Dixon. Pictured are people waiting in the rain to lay flowers at Buckingham Palace in London on Friday, the day after the Queen's death was announced

When it comes to the weather the mourners will face this week, Mr Dixon said: 'There are some showers possible early on Wednesday.' Pictured is a wet Piccadilly Circus after the announcement of the death of the Queen

The Queen will lie in state for four days from Wednesday before her funeral at Westminster Abbey next Monday, with mourners who arrive early facing getting drenched. Pictured are people queuing quiety to lay flowers at the gate of Buckingham Palace following the Queen's death

Members of the public will be able to view the coffin to pay their respects for 24 hours before it is taken to London to lie in state on Wednesday.

The Queen will lie in state for four days before her funeral at Westminster Abbey next Monday.

Members of the public wishing to pay their respects will be able to file past the Queen's coffin in London's Westminster Hall from 5pm on Wednesday until 6.30am on the day of the funeral - Monday September 19.

When it comes to the weather the mourners will face this week, Mr Dixon said: 'There are some showers possible early on Wednesday.

'It will still feel quite mild with maximum temperatures of 23C which is above average for the time of year.

'If you are heading out early on Wednesday, then bringing an umbrella would probably be advisable with the nature of the showers around.

'As it heads into the afternoon, that risk does lessen slightly but it will generally be feeling quite mild.'

Members of the public gather to watch the procession of Queen Elizabeth II's coffin, from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh today. The Met Office said today is turning out to be a largely dry and fine day with patchy cloud and some sunny spells in the city

Pictured are crowds gathered in Edinburgh today, but the Met Office has predicted showers early on Wednesday, the day the coffin will arrive in London from Edinburgh, and advised mourners to bring an umbrella for when they wait to pay their respects to the Queen

The procession with the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, followed by King Charles III, Princess Anne and Prince Andrew, heads up the Royal Mile to St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh. Members of the public will be able to view the coffin to pay their respects for 24 hours before it is taken to London to lie in state on Wednesday

King Charles, Princess Anne and Prince Andrew walk behind the hearse carrying the coffin in Edinburgh today. The Queen was taken from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to nearby St Giles' Cathedral where her family, and a congregation drawn from all areas of Scottish society, are attending a service of thanksgiving for her life

Mr Dixon added that Thursday will be an 'overcast day with a fair bit of cloud around but not much in the way of rain'.

Precise forecasts about the weather conditions for Monday's funeral are still being drawn up.

Mr Dixon said that 'patchy cloud with some interludes of sunshine is the most likely scenario for Monday at present' in the south while other regions may see some light showers.

Sir Mark Rowley, the new Metropolitan Police Commissioner, described preparations for the Queen's lying in state, which begins on Wednesday, as a 'massive challenge'.

It will involve thousands of officers it is something 'we have been preparing for many, many years'.

He told Sky News: 'We will have a safe event, but we will be putting thousands of officers into this because of the level of security required and the millions of people who want to pay their respects.'
The White House on Monday condemned Moscow's attacks on critical infrastructure after Russian forces shelled power and water plants in Kharkiv and Donetsk as troops pulled back in the face of a rapid Ukrainian advance.

Ukraine's military said its soldiers had freed more than 20 towns and cities in 24 hours during the dramatic counteroffensive.

But it provoked a barrage or air and artillery strikes, knocking out power and water in key locations.

'We condemn Russia's airstrikes on Ukraine's critical infrastructure ... leaving people in several cities without power and clean water,' White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One.

'We will continue to support Ukraine as it defends itself and hold Russia accountable for its war against Ukraine.'

She was speaking after Ukrainian troops enjoyed their most successful 24 hours in months of fighting.

After movement in the conflict had all but stalled, they regained momentum, capturing a swath of territory held by Russia since they invaded.

Firefighters work at a site of the 5th thermal power plant damaged by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Sunday

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre old reporters traveling with her on Air Force One that the strikes left 'people in several cities without power and clean water'

Ukraine's counter-attack in the east has caused the Russian frontline to collapse, with Britain saying commanders appear to have ordered a retreat from the whole of the Kharkiv region. Meanwhile, in the south, Ukraine says some Russian troops stuck west of the Dnipro River are trying to negotiate their surrender

Such was their progress that the Russian Defence Ministry said troops would be pulled from two areas to regroup in the eastern region of Donetsk, which it has held since 2014.

At the same time, officials said they were uncovering fresh evidence of atrocities as they reclaimed settlements and they condemned strikes on critical infrastructure.

On Sunday night, President Volodymyr Zelensky said there was a 'total blackout' in the regions of Kharkiv and Donetsk.

'[Russian Federation] terrorists remain terrorists and attack critical infrastructure,' he tweeted.

'No military facilities, the goal is to deprive people of light and heat.'

A missile strike on a power station on Sunday night caused a major fire, plunging Kharkiv into darkness.

Officials said another missile hit a residential building at about midnight, part of a fit of pique triggered by Russia's territorial losses..

In all they said three people had been killed.

'It's dangerous to live in Kharkiv, every day is dangerous. It's dangerous during the day and night,' Kateryna Protsenko, a 29-year-old veterinarian living across the street from the apartment building, told the Associated Press.

'The nights are sleepless, but anyway you continue to live because you have a family and you need to survive and work somehow.'

Firefighters work at a site of a building damaged by a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv

Ukraine's flag flies on top of a radio tower in the city of Kupyansk, near Kharkiv, after it was recaptured at the weekend

The city's mayor said more strikes followed on Monday.

'Yesterday evening situation repeats again. Due to the shelling, critical infrastructure was put out of operation, resulting in the loss of power and water supply in Kharkiv,' Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram.

Meanwhile, in the south of Ukraine, a second counter-attack near the city of Kherson was making steady progress with Nataliya Humenyuk - spokesman for the southern military command - saying some Russian troops were trying to negotiate their surrender this morning.

Humenyuk said the soldiers are among those stranded on the west bank of the Dnipro River. They have no escape route after Ukraine used US HIMARS missiles to destroy all of the main crossing points.

A report by British intelligence on Monday morning said: 'In the face of Ukrainian advances, Russia has likely ordered the withdrawal of its troops from the entirety of occupied Kharkiv [region].

'Isolated pockets of resistance remain in this sector, but since Wednesday, Ukraine has recaptured territory at least twice the size of Greater London.

'In the south, near Kherson, Russia is likely struggling to bring sufficient reserves forward across the Dnipro River to the front line.

'An improvised floating bridge Russia started over two weeks ago remains incomplete; Ukrainian long-range artillery is now probably hitting crossings of the Dnipro so frequently that Russia cannot carry out repairs to damaged road bridges.

'The rapid Ukrainian successes have significant implications for Russia's overall operational design. The majority of the force in Ukraine is highly likely being forced to prioritise emergency defensive actions.

'The already limited trust deployed troops have in Russia's senior military leadership is likely to deteriorate further.'

Russia's defence ministry has attempted to play down the defeat as a 'regrouping' of troops from the cities of Balakliya and Izyum to nearby Donetsk in order to 'boost efforts in the area'.

A counter-offensive by Ukrainian forces has seen troops push to within 30 miles of the border, amid reports panicked Russian troops have been abandoning tanks, weapons and supplies
Former CNN woke wonder boy Brian Stelter has landed a fellowship at Harvard, mere weeks after he was ousted from the news network amidst a staff shakeup.

Stelter dropped the news on his Twitter account, announcing he was joining the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvards Kennedy School this fall as its Walter Shorenstein Media and Democracy Fellow.

'This fall I'll be the Walter Shorenstein Media and Democracy Fellow,' he wrote, 'convening discussions, some of which will be live-streamed. Grateful to @nancygibbs and her team for the home!'

In a release, Harvard said Stelter's discussions would concern 'threats to democracy and the range of potential responses from the news media,' and follow a format not unlike his cancelled CNN show Reliable Sources, saying the talks will include 'media leaders, policy makers, politicians, and Kennedy School students, fellows, and faculty.'

The release also described Stelter as 'a nationally recognized media reporter and expert on the state of journalism and its wide-reaching implications for society and governance.'

Walter Shorenstein fellows typically hold the position for one semester to a year. It is unclear how long Stelter's will last, or whether he will be compensated for the position.

Former CNN woke wonder boy Brian Stelter has landed a fellowship at Harvard, mere weeks after he was ousted from the news network amidst a staff shakeup

Stelter dropped the news on his Twitter account, announcing he was joining Harvard's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvards Kennedy School this fall

Stelter was purged from CNN last month as a part of a major shakeup from the network's new CEO, Chris Licht, who has vowed to move programming away from partisan punditry to objective journalism.

Besides Stelter, those to meet the axe have included stalwart commentator Jefferey Toobin and longtime White House correspondent John Hardwood, both of whom were suddenly and unceremoniously dismissed in recent weeks.

Licht, who took the helm at CNN in February, has made it clear more changes are on the way.

'I want to acknowledge that this is a time of significant change, and I know that many of you are unsettled,' Licht told his staff, according to a report by The Hollywood Reporter, 'There will be more changes, and you might not understand it or like it.'

Many have speculated that longtime and loudly left-leaning anchor Don Lemon could be the next to go.

Ratings for Stelter's Reliable Sources' began to falter in recent years, with its viewership plummeting to half of that of its Fox News rival, MediaBuzz.

CNN CEO Christ Licht shift the network away from partisan programming and focus instead on objective journalism

MediaBuzz averaged 1.5 million viewers this year while Reliable Sources had its worst year since 2015 with 787,000 viewers.

It shed 34 percent among the 25-54 age range, and 31 percent in the 18-49 demographic.

Before blasting Stelter on Friday, Trump continued his ongoing tirade against the FBI, which he continued to call a 'witch hunt.'

'When will people realize that the atrocities being perpetrated by the FBI and DOJ having to do with the Raid and Break In of my home, Mar-a-Lago, or after years of other atrocities and unthinkable violations of freedom and the law, this has been going on for years, from the moment I came down the golden escalators in Trump Tower, right up until the present,' he wrote.

'The law enforcement of our Country has become that of a Third World Nation, and I do not believe the people will stand for it.'
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer tore into GOP opposition to codifying gay marriage, invoking similarly harsh rhetoric to President Joe Biden's controversial stream of attacks against 'MAGA Republicans.'

The House of Representatives returned from its summer recess on Monday after having passed the Respect For Marriage Act in mid-July.

Senators now have about three weeks until another week-long state work period where they'll be gone from the US Capitol to follow suit.

Same sex marriage is already legal in all 50 states after the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges overturned the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act.

But the legislative push comes amid Democrat concerns that the Supreme Court and Republican-led state legislatures could move to infringe on more privacy rights after the high court's reversal of Roe v. Wade in June.

'Some Republicans say, oh, this is unnecessary, it won't happen. Remember, that's the same thing they said about Roe, and look at where we are today,' Schumer said on the Senate floor Monday.

'We should protect marriage equality now, well before the MAGA-controlled Supreme Court steps in.'

He said on Wednesday last week just after the Senate returned to session, 'Let's remember why a vote on the Respect for Marriage [Act] is necessary.

'Millions upon millions of American women had their right taken away by the extremist MAGA Supreme Court in the Dobbs decision. And in a concurring opinion Justice Thomas opened the door for the Supreme Court going even further.'

Justice Samuel Alito's controversial majority Supreme Court opinion, which upended the landscape of women's health for millions overnight, specified that the only privacy right at issue was abortion.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed that a vote on marriage equality would take place 'in coming weeks'

Senate Democrats will need 10 Republicans to also vote for the measure for it to have any chance of passing

But in a separate concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas suggested the high court could next revisit the landmark rulings legalizing LGBTQ relationships and contraceptives access for married couples.

As of September 12, abortions are mostly banned in at least a dozen states while more continue to see partisan battles over the medical procedure.

Democrats have responded with legislation codifying protections that Thomas suggested were on the chopping block.

Schumer promised a vote would come on marriage equality 'in coming weeks.'

In another jab at Republican legislatures rolling back abortion rights while talking on the Senate floor Monday, Schumer said: 'At a time when our rights are under siege, it would be a much-needed shield for scores of Americans at risk of discrimination simply because of who they love.'

But it's not yet certain that Schumer would share the success of House Democrats in passing the bill.

Democrats are rushing to protect privacy rights they believe to be under threat after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade

Sixty votes are needed to overcome a filibuster and pass the legislation, meaning the New York Democrat needs 10 Republicans to reach across the aisle.

A bipartisan bill in the Senate is giving progressive groups some hope - its lead sponsors are GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Democrat Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin.

Conservatives like Texas Sen. Ted Cruz have vowed to oppose the bill.

To attempt to assuage Republican concerns, Collins and Baldwin have vowed to add an amendment protecting 'religious liberty.'

'Religious liberty is a founding tenet of our republic, and the Respect for Marriage Act honors that principle,' the lawmakers wrote in a Washington Post op-ed.

'We recognize that some might need more clarity on this point, and that is why we have worked together with our Senate colleagues to develop clarifying language to the legislation that makes it clear what the Respect for Marriage Act would not do - it will not take away or alter any religious liberty or conscience protections.'

Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, have been pushing Republicans to get on board with the Respect for Marriage Act

It's not yet clear how many GOP lawmakers that will sway, but Republicans from outside of Capitol Hill are also lending their support for the bill.

More than 400 current or former Republican officials signed onto a Monday letter backing marriage equality, the Post reported.

That includes Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, Donald Trump-backed Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz, and George W. Bush's daughter Barbara, among others.

'As Republicans and conservatives, we believe strong families and lasting relationships strengthen communities, and civil marriage is a fundamental freedom central to individual liberty and the pursuit of happiness,' the letter states.

'Passing the Respect for Marriage Act will remove any uncertainty for the more than one million Americans who are building families, taking on the responsibilities and commitment associated with marriage, and caring for the one they love.'
The legal team acting for Intratrek Zimbabwe and its director Wicknell Chivayo says the National Prosecuting Authority risks civil liability and criminal abuse of office charges for reviving criminal charges against their clients over the Gwanda Solar Project. The prosecution seeks to prosecute Chivayo and his company on charges of fraud, which the Zimbabwe Power Company paid for various pre-commencement works for the 100MW Gwanda solar project.

But Chivayo, who had put up a tough legal team of three top Advocates Lewis Uriri, Sylvester Hashiti and Taona Nyamakura, warned the prosecution to think over a letter which the instructing lawyer Mr Wilson Manase wrote in relation to the charges last month. Cabinet approved last year the revised implementation plan for the 100 megawatt (MW) Gwanda solar project in a manner that required the parties enter into an amended and restated EPC contract. This entailed the contract would set out new time-frames for implementation, revised contract price and technical specifications which parties required to negotiate, which has since been done and now awaiting signatures by the parties.

The lawyers described the revival of the charges against their client as malicious in the face of uncontroverted evidence which proves that the entire amount of US$5 111 224 paid by ZPC was utilised in accordance with the requirements of the Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract.

In his letter to NPA, Mr Manase also attached a report on the valuation of the pre-commencement works which was jointly carried out and ratified by ZPC, Intratrek and Chivayo on July 13, 2020.

Mr Manase said the evaluation report confirmed that his client not only discharged their contractual mandate in full but went further to utilise their own resources to complete some of the required works.

This, Mr Manase explained that going by ZPCs own assessment at the site in Gwanda carried out in July 2020, Intratrek has performed the pre-commencement works to specification and is in fact owed close to US$700,000 by the power company.

He said the matter is purely civil, which does not deserve the adjudication of our criminal justice system.

Conversely, we implore your office to avoid scenarios of civil liability for unlawful prosecution and criminal abuse of office that prior to the placement of our client on remand you seriously consider the entirety of our submissions, said Mr Manase, responding to the NPA summons served on Chivayo to appear in court early this month.

We equally hope that you shall be guided accordingly and render the need for any legal process at our clients disposal to their civil and constitutional rights being unnecessary to exercise.

The issues raised by Chivayos legal team prompted the prosecution led by Mr Tafara Chirambira and Mrs Tendai Shonhai to request for postponement to October 24 to attend to the issues before the trial opens

Mr Manase, in his letter, also highlighted the importance of the Gwanda Solar project to the nation as pronounced by the courts, which he also said dovetailed and anchors the objectives under the National Development Strategy 1 and 2, which are in the economic blueprints of the Second Republic.

We regrettably find the spurious instigation of criminal proceedings against our clients as negating Governments efforts to develop the energy infrastructure of the country, in spite of its irrefutable importance to the economy, he said.

It would be indeed a sad day for both justice and economy of Zimbabwe to allow for untenable and fruitless prosecution of entities that should otherwise be advancing the national interest of the country, without sound or legal basis to do so.

Meanwhile, the Intratrek civil trial begins today in the High Court with the energy company for specific performance and US$25 million in damages, after his criminal trial last week was deferred to consider the contents of the letter.

Justice Tawanda Chitapi will preside over the civil trial for second time after his ruling on the same matter in December 2018.

The civil trial at the higher court was necessitated by the Supreme Courts ruling last year on a technicality that Chivayo had used a wrong procedure when he first he sued ZPC in the High Court.

In 2018, the High Court ruled that the parties should not waste precious time merry dancing in boardrooms and courts while the whole country faced a crippling power crisis.

He made the remarks while ruling on a contractual dispute between Zesa and Intratrek over delays to the project, which Zesa lost, pointed out that electricity was not generated in courts and board rooms, but at power stations and urged the feuding parties to dialogue and stop being dilatory in their approach.

Chivayo was summonsed back to court on criminal charges following the Supreme Courts decision to reverse his acquittal by the High Court, which was contested by the National Prosecuting Authority.

The prosecution had appealed against the High Court decision absolving Chivayo and his company of any criminal liability in the botched multimillion dollar deal with the power company.

High Court judge Justice Owen Tagu cleared him of all his charges, including money laundering, in a July 2018 judgment saying they were civil matters, ruling that the decision of the trial court in dismissing Chivayos application for exception in November 2018 was defective as the facts could not sustain a criminal suit.

He said allowing the businessmans prosecution or his conviction would amount to violation of the Constitution, which provides protection upon the doctrine of sanctity of contracts.

His judgment underscored that criminal sanctions would not apply in inherently civil cases. Chivayo had in the lower court attempted to quash the charges through an application for exception, but this was rejected. Herald
The January 6 committee is weighing up calling in Donald Trump, interviewing Mike Pence and what to do with GOP lawmakers who defied subpoenas.



The panel is under a rapidly-approaching deadline to wrap up its work before January 3, 2023, when a new Congress is sworn into session.

If Republicans win control of the House of Representatives, as many polls in indicate, they are expected to disband the committee.

Before then, the nine lawmakers on the panel face a series of decisions, including:

Should they call Trump to testify?

Will Pence sit for an interview?

Should other witnesses - like former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and Ginni Thomas, a conservative activist and wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas - be called before the panel?

What should they do about Republican lawmakers who have defied the panel's subpoenas?

And when should they release their report on their findings?

With barely 16 weeks left to work, the committee will soon announce additional public hearings, finalize efforts to obtain the testimony of two crucial Secret Service witnesses and issue legislative recommendations designed to prevent future attempted disruptions to the transfer of power, Politico reported.

Lawmakers on the committee investigating January 6th will meet Tuesday to discuss their plans until the end of the year, which could include more public hearings - above the committee held a public hearing on July 12, 2022

It's unclear how outside factors will affect their last months on the job including Trump dealing with the legal ramifications of his having classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, Georgia's investigation into attempts to overturn the election results in that state, and lawmakers' own re-election worries as the November congressional elections approach.

Lawmakers on the panel are meeting Tuesday to talk next steps.

The meeting is expected to include discussion on whether Gingrich and/or Thomas will testify, Time magazine reported.

Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland told the news magazine there could 'two or three' more public hearings this fall.

At least one is expected for September with October being eyed for a second date. The panel held eight hearings in June and July.

One hearing will focus on the committee's recommendations for how to prevent January 6th from happening again and to block any attempts to overturn a presidential election.

'I would expect at least one hearing on the continuing threats to democracy in America and what needs to be done legislatively at the federal level and at other levels of government in order to fortify ourselves against coups, insurrections, political violence, and attempts to sabotage elections,' Raskin said. 'I would hope that we have as thorough a discussion about these structural problems as we have had about the individual dangers created by Donald Trump and his movement.'

Additionally, Republican Rep. Lynne Cheney indicated to ABC News last month that the panel would like to hear from the former president but it remains unclear if that will happen.

Cheney, who lost her August GOP primary after becoming a Trump target, will no longer be a member of Congress as of Jan. 3rd, leaving the last few weeks of committee work as her congressional legacy.

Pence hasn't ruled out an appearance before the panel, saying last month he would 'consider it.'

The committee is weighing whether to get testimony from former President Donald Trump

It's unclear if former Vice President Mike Pence will testify before the committee

Another figure of interest is Tony Ornato, a former Secret Service agent who also served as Trump's deputy chief of staff. Ornato has already spoken with the panel's investigators, but they want him back to talk more about what happened with Trump on January 6th and the then-president's wish to join his supporters in their march on the Capitol.

'We do want to talk to him again,' Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a panel member, told CNN. 'There are a lot of things that just don't add up, to me, on what the Secret Service has said and the material that we're getting.'

Committee members also have subpoenaed several Republican members of Congress who were in touch with Trump on the 6th or supported his objections to the 2020 election results, including House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calufornia along with GOP Reps. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Andy Biggs of Arizona, and Mo Brooks of Alabama.

Those lawmakers are refusing to comply and the panel is weighing its response.

The Democratic-controlled House could vote to hold them in contempt of Congress. From there, the Justice Department would decide whether or not to formally pursue charges.
Two men who held their victims at gunpoint and forced them to open cryptocurrency accounts as part of a failed ploy to siphon off 3,500 have been jailed.

Jordan Barrett, 23, and Ted Richards, 24, stormed into a property while wearing a crash helmet and a mask in Carlisle, Cumbria, on February 10, 2020.

One of them brandished a starter pistol, while the other was armed with a knife as they took photographs of the victims along with proof of their identification.

The brazen pair then used the victims' personal details as part of an attempt to transfer 3,500 online into a cryptocurrency account.

Barrett and Richards also stole a Microsoft Xbox and an iPhone from the house, before warning the two housemates not to call the police.

They also told the victims to 'keep their ears open' as they went on to discharge the pistol in the street.

But their attempt to convert the cash into Bitcoin was foiled when the incident was reported to police. The money transfer also failed to go through as the exchange platform they used had a 24-hour authentication process.

The pair appeared at Carlisle Crown Court for sentencing today, where Judge Nicholas Barker told them they had subjected the victims to a 'terrifying ordeal' which lasted more than two hours.

Jordan Barrett, who pleaded guilty to robbery and false imprisonment, was jailed for six years and nine months for the same offences

Ted Richards, of Empire Square, Southwark, London, was also jailed for six years following the sentencing today

When police launched a criminal probe and searched Barrett's home in Red Bank Square, Carlisle, they discovered the starting pistol (pictured)

Although the weapon used during the incident was not capable of firing a shot, the victims believe it was real and that they were in grave danger, he added.

The background to the robbery was Barrett seeking retribution against a third man who lived at the property, who he believed had dangerously driven a vehicle which led to his girlfriend suffering a serious injury.

Judge Barker told the court that the defendants had pressed on with their revenge mission and had chosen not to stop when they realised their intended target was not home alone.

Both victims have been left suffering from 'significant heightened anxiety' following the incident.

When police launched a criminal probe and searched Barrett's home in Red Bank Square, Carlisle, they discovered the starting pistol.

It had been purchased online for 150 and came with a bullet press for blank shells and blank ammunition.

Neither of the defendants had any previous convictions, insisting that they are remorseful and would not trouble the courts again.

But Richards, of Empire Square, Southwark, London, was jailed for six years today. He earlier pleaded guilty to robbery and false imprisonment.

Barrett, who entered guilty pleas at a later date, was jailed for six years and nine months for the same offences.

Following sentencing, Detective Superintendent Jenny Beattie, of Cumbria Police, said: 'The determination shown by the investigation team has been unwavering in carrying out the inquires which has led to a successful conviction.

'The teams efforts are particularly impressive given the circumstances of how the criminals forced the victims to create cryptocurrency accounts, so they could attempt to evade identification, is believed to be a first to be put before a court in this country.'
Two hikers believed they were going to die after becoming trapped on a mountain as a massive wildfire broke out either side of them.

Matt Bishop and Steve Cooper had been trekking up the Baring Mountain, in Washington state, when they first spotted smoke and then the massive blaze from the Bolt Creek fire started raging in front of them.

The pair tried to contact emergency services but were told that they area they were in was too dangerous for search and rescue teams to reach them on Saturday.

In a video posted to their YouTube channel, Paths Least Taken, they wanted to show how they ended up 'putting their lives in danger'.

Fires in the area they were hiking in is extremely rare due to rain and milder temperatures, so the pair were caught off guard during their six-hour hike.

They were confronted with the blaze and tried to head down the mountain, before being surrounded by thick smoke and high temperatures.

Steve said: 'It was definitely one of those moments when you were like, this is it, we are probably not going to make this.'

The Bolt Creek Fire is burning in the Cascade Mountain and hundreds of people have been evacuated as it continues to rage, scorching 7,600 acres.

It is just one of several fires which are currently blazing through the US, including massive fires in California, Idaho and Oregon.

Matt Bishop,left, and Steve Cooper, right, were both out hiking in Bolt Creek when they realized they were surrounded by flames on Saturday

A blaze in Fairview, California, pictured, killed Ian Matthew Compton and his daughter Mikayla Porter. They were found dead in their car trying to escape from the flames with Compton's wife Tina suffering severe burns

Firefighters in Sacramento are still fighting a Mosquito Fire that has spread to nearly 65 square miles with a 10 per cent containment

The men trapped by the wildfire both quipped that they hoped viewers would see the video or it meant they 'didn't make it' before adding 'we're going to try to get out of here before we burn to death.'

They managed to make their way down the mountain, with Matt almost loosing his footing atop a 200ft tall cliff.

In the video Steve added: 'The fire is starting to close in on us, everything is completely engulfed in flames.

'When that fire was coming up that ridge, it was hot, extremely hot.

'If it's a red flag warning, you probably shouldn't go out into the mountains. It's a bad idea.

'If there is smoke, or any sign of smoke, probably just turn around and do not go hiking.'

Both men, experience hikers, picked a path along a stream in the hope that it would be the safest route, managing to make it back to their Jeep safely.

Last week a father and daughter were killed while fleeing from one of five wildfires burning across California.

Emergency servies were unable to help the hikers when they became stranded, with helicopters assisting in trying to put out the blaze

The mosquito fire has burned 46,587 acres so far, with more than 5,800 structures in Placer and El Dorado counties under threat

Steve said: 'It was definitely one of those moments when you were like, this is it, we are probably not going to make this.' They tried to call for help in Bolt Creek, pictured, but were trapped becuse of how fast the blaze was spreading

The blazes have killed two other people, as well as Ian Matthew Compton and his daughter Mikayla Porter.

They were found dead in their car trying to escape from the Fairview Fire in Hemet on Tuesday, with Compton's wife Tina suffering severe burns.

Firefighters in Sacramento are still fighting a Mosquito Fire that has spread to nearly 65 square miles with a 10 per cent containment.

It has burned 46,587 acres so far, with more than 5,800 structures in Placer and El Dorado counties under threat.

There are more than 14,000 residents in the areas that are under evacuation orders, with numerous homes being burned to the ground.

Fire crews say the cooler temperatures and lack of wind has helped but the vegetation is dry and burns easily.

Another deadly blaze is the Mill Fire in Weed, 280 miles north of San Francisco, with authorities confirming that it is 90 per cent contained.

It has burned across 3,935 acres as firefighters continue to battle the blaze and areas are stull under evacuations warnings.
Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity.

That's the proud motto of the FBI and for decades it's an image that many people around the world have believed to be entirely deserved.

Hollywood has certainly helped: while it loves to portray the CIA as ruthless and duplicitous, it promotes the FBI - whether defeating the Mob in The Untouchables, serial killers in Silence of the Lambs or Ku Klux Klan murderers in Mississippi Burning - as the dark-suited and tireless champions of law enforcement, even-handed and impartial.

Just give me the facts, ma'am.

That reputation has been shaken in recent years and it may yet be completely shattered as the bureau faces perhaps the biggest crisis of confidence in its history.

Can the organization that charged mob-handed into Mar-a-Lago to search Donald Trump's Florida home for evidence of classified White House papers possibly be the same outfit that allegedly told its agents to hold off investigating Hunter Biden's notorious laptop for months?

And if they are the same organization - and we now know that of course they are - can they seriously still make that bombastic claim - Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity - which sits below the scales of justice on their seal?

Fidelity, some ask, to whom exactly?

The Republicans are certainly asking that question and they say that a shocking number of FBI whistleblowers are coming forward with claims that they have been politicized by bosses in cahoots with the Democrats and their media allies.

Can the organization that charged mob-handed into Mar-a-Lago to search Donald Trump's Florida home for evidence of classified White House papers possibly be the same outfit that allegedly told its agents to hold off investigating Hunter Biden's notorious laptop for months?

While Republican politicians won't share too many specifics about the whistleblowers to protect their identity, Republican Senator Ron Johnson, Ranking Member on the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, told DailyMail.com that the allegations shared with Congress indicate a level of 'corruption' within the FBI and Department of Justice that needs to be 'exposed.'

Johnson spokeswoman Alex Henning said: 'We do have people of integrity that are concerned about the credibility of their agency and they're coming forward.'

'The only way to restore credibility to these agencies is if we expose the corruption and hold people accountable.'

Senator Chuck Grassley, Mr. Johnson's opposite number on the Judiciary Committee, also says he has heard from several 'highly-credible' bureau whistleblowers alleging there was an attempt within the FBI to downplay or discredit negative information about Hunter Biden.

It was Sen. Grassley who - acting on whistleblower information - over the summer accused senior FBI agent Timothy Thibault of political partisanship both on social media and in his work, in particular sabotaging the continuing investigation into Hunter Biden's business dealings.

'The volume and consistency of these allegations substantiate their credibility and necessitate this letter,' he bluntly told FBI Directory Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland in July.

Thibault, who retired in August soon after the allegations were made, was formerly in charge of the FBI's Washington field office covering the capital and northern Virginia.

It was Sen Grassley who - acting on whistleblower information - over the summer accused senior FBI agent Timothy Thibault (above) of political partisanship both on social media and in his work, in particular sabotaging the continuing investigation into Hunter Biden's business dealings.

Sen. Grassley alleged that Thibault had sought to portray verifiable evidence related to the Hunter Biden investigation as disinformation, and alleged that Thibault had ordered agents to close 'a stream of information related to Hunter Biden' and mark it in a way within internal systems that would prevent it from being reopened.

Sen. Grassley said whistleblowers also informed him that Thibault was assisted by FBI analyst Brian Auten who tried to falsely label reports about Hunter as 'disinformation' in an attempt to bury derogatory information' about him.

Auten has reportedly been allowed to work on sensitive cases even though he has been under internal investigation since 2019, when Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz referred him for disciplinary review over his role in the FBI's controversial investigation of the Trump campaign's alleged collusion with Russia. (And the head of that investigation, Peter Strzok, was sacked over his own vitriolic anti-Trump tweets).

Sen. Grassley claims Thibault closed a separate investigation into Hunter, the President's only surviving son, in October 2020 'without providing a valid reason as required by FBI guidelines'.

Thibault was one of 13 assistant special agents assigned to investigate the Hunter Biden laptop saga and was removed from the supervisory role by FBI Director Christopher Wray last month after agency whistleblowers shed light on an alleged pattern of political bias from multiple high-ranking officials.

Thibault's lawyers say he was never in charge of the Hunter Biden investigation and will be fully exonerated. FBI chief Christopher Wray has admitted that he found Thibault's reported social media posts attacking the Trump administration 'deeply troubling'. On Twitter, Thibault retweeted a post that called Trump 'a psychologically broken, embittered and deeply unhappy man'.

The FBI, Sen Grassley noted pointedly to Wray and the Attorney General 'answers to Congress and the American people'.

The revelations about FBI political bias came as Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg, when asked whether his social media site had 'censored' the news about the Biden laptop, admitted the FBI - which had initially declined to take possession of the computer - had warned him about misinformation.

Both Facebook and Twitter initially banned sharing of the story. 'It sucks,' said Zuckerberg weakly of suppressing a story that some Republicans believe could have changed the election result.

Auten has reportedly been allowed to work on sensitive cases even though he has been under internal investigation since 2019, when Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz (above) referred him for disciplinary review over his role in the FBI's controversial investigation of the Trump campaign's alleged collusion with Russia.

The head of the Trump collusion investigation, Peter Strzok (above), was sacked over his own vitriolic anti-Trump tweets

The contents of that computer - abandoned at a repair shop in Delaware and first revealed by the New York Post in October 2020 - have thrown up endless embarrassment for the Bidens that would have been greatly amplified if most of the US media hadn't conveniently chosen to ignore them.

Instead, the allegations - which included bombshell claims that Joe Biden was aware of his son's suspect foreign business dealings and even put pressure on Ukrainian officials to sack a prosecutor investigating an energy company in which Hunter was involved - were widely dismissed as Kremlin disinformation. Both Joe and Hunter Biden deny there was ever any conflict of interest. It took the self-regarding New York Times until spring 2022 to announce it had investigated the laptop story and concede it was substantially true.

Senator Johnson says his whistleblowers told him that local FBI chiefs told underlings, 'You will not look at that Hunter Biden laptop' and that the FBI is 'not going to change the outcome of the election again' - a reference, clearly, to ex-Director James Comey's announcement just days before the 2016 election that they were investigating Hillary Clinton's private email server.

A walking political disaster zone, Hunter Biden continues to throw up new nightmares for his father and his friends in the media. Last week, it was revealed that the FBI interviewed at length a former business partner of Hunter named Tony Bobulinski 11 days before the 2020 election.

Bobulinski, a former decorated US Navy officer and not an easy man to dismiss as a Kremlin stooge, claimed Joe Biden was the man identified as the 'Big Guy' in an email that allegedly revealed the terms of Joe Biden's potential involvement with his son and his brother Jim Biden's global influence peddling scheme in China and elsewhere, which resulted in millions of dollars filling Biden family coffers.

Bobulinski said he'd met the former US Vice President twice and that the FBI reassured him that special agent Timothy Thibault would be handling the investigation into his serious claims. He never heard from the FBI again.

Senator Johnson believes that the 'suppression and censoring' of Bobulinski's testimony and Hunter's reported influence peddling impacted the 2020 election far more than any meddling by Russia or China could ever have achieved.

Other Republicans see clear signs of the Biden administration using US intelligence to shield the president and his family, citing the recent appointment of ex-CIA and Pentagon official Jeremy Bash to the President's Intelligence Advisory Board. Bash, helpfully, previously claimed the Hunter laptop smacked of a 'Russian information operation'.

Sen. Grassley alleged that Thibault had sought to portray verifiable evidence related to the Hunter Biden investigation as disinformation, and alleged that Thibault had ordered agents to close 'a stream of information related to Hunter Biden (above) and mark it in a way within internal systems that would prevent it from being reopened.

According to James Comer, the top Republican on the House Oversight and Reform Committee: 'The Biden Administration has a pattern of using the power of the federal government to protect the Biden family and reward those who do their bidding.'

Donald Trump could certainly be accused of the same offenses, but - as voters may recall - wasn't the great claim of the Biden presidency that things would be different now?

FBI insiders claim rank-and-file members are losing confidence in Director Christopher Wray, a Trump nominee.

Kurt Siuzdak, a lawyer and former FBI agent who now represents whistleblowers at the bureau, said agents complain Wray has lost control of the agency and want him to resign.

These sources say that Wray is ineffectual and had failed to act on serious internal issues such as agents being forced or coerced into signing false affidavits and claims of sexual harassment and stalking.

More than a month after the August 8th FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago, Trump's Palm Beach resort and residence, the smoking gun that many expected the bureau to produce to justify such an unprecedented action has yet to surface. Why did the Feds raid a former president's home, ask Republicans, when they balked at ever doing the same to Hunter Biden.

Meanwhile, polls have shown only a very slim majority of Americans approved of the raid, suggesting that Republicans leaders were not the only ones who considered it wholly inappropriate.

Predictably given the target, it was directly approved by Attorney General Merrick Garland and senior Republicans have demanded he and the FBI's Christopher Wray appear before Congress to explain what they see as blatant political bias.

They cannot force the pair to testify while the Republicans remain in the minority but that may well change after November's Midterms if they win a majority and can subpoena them. The GOP has promised open investigations into bias within both the FBI and DoJ - as well as the contents of that laptop - if they win a majority.

Thibault was one of 13 assistant special agents assigned to investigate the Hunter Biden laptop saga and was removed from the supervisory role by FBI Director Christopher Wray (above) last month after agency whistleblowers shed light on an alleged pattern of political bias from multiple high-ranking officials.

Much of the US media tends to mention 'laptop-gate' in mocking tones, a flash-in-the-pan setback and passing blow for Team Biden that will not be allowed to disrupt its onward mission to put Donald Trump behind bars, or at least stop him ever running again for the White House.

However, no matter how much they try to brush it under the carpet, the scandal and the FBI's contrasting treatment of Trump has done a great deal to re-energize the latter's narrative that 'the Feds' have always been out to get him.

Trump was quick to capitalize on the Thibault allegations, describing the ex-FBI agent as 'a greater source in convincing people that the 2020 Presidential Election was Rigged than even the tapes of millions of ballots being stuffed into the voting machines'.

If Hillary Clinton is remotely correct that the FBI lost her the 2016 election over her email server, and Republicans also right in saying it did the same in 2020 over Hunter Biden's laptop, the bureau certainly has lost its way catastrophically badly in its duty as a servant of the People and Congress.
The Met Police have insisted 'the public have a right to protest' after a man said an officer told him that he risked being arrested if he wrote 'not my King' on a placard.

Climate activist Paul Powlesland, 36, from Barking, stood in Parliament Square, London, holding a blank piece of paper when a police officer confronted him yesterday afternoon.

Footage shows the officer approaching Mr Powlesland, who says he is not a republican, asking for his details following confusion over whether he had already been arrested.

In the video the lawyer can be heard saying 'I was holding a blank sign, why were you asking for my details?' to which the officer replies 'you said you were going to write stuff on it that may offend people'.

Mr Powlesland then asks the officer 'who's that going to offend' to which the officer replied 'I don't know some one may be offended by it.'

The climate activist added: 'I said I was going to write not my King on a sign and you asked for my details.'

Climate activist Paul Powlesland, stood in Parliament Square, London, holding a blank piece of paper when a police officer confronted him

Following the incident, Mr Powlesland wrote on Twitter: 'Just went to Parliament Square and held up a blank piece of paper. Officer came & asked for my details.

'He confirmed that if I wrote 'Not My King' on it, he would arrest me under the Public Order Act because someone might be offended.'

Speaking after the encounter, he said: 'I'm not actually a republican, or I wasn't before this week. Like most British people, I was vaguely ambivalent to the monarchy.

'But this week, and what's been happening, has made me republican.

'One of the many things that makes me proud to be British is our freedom of speech. It's one of our most precious and sacred rights and it's far more precious to me than the royal family is.'

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy added: 'The public absolutely have a right to protest and we have been making this clear to all officers involved in the extraordinary policing operation currently in place and we will continue to do so.

'However, the overwhelming majority of interactions between officers and the public at this time have been positive as people have come to the Capital to mourn the loss of Her Late Majesty the Queen.'

In a statement regarding the incident the Met Police said: 'The public absolutely have a right to protest and we have been making this clear to all officers involved'

The 36-year-old said: 'I went down there because I've been increasingly concerned by people who are just, you know, exercising rights to freedom of speech, being either arrested or threatened with arrest by the police.

'I actually couldn't risk arrest as I'm due to be in tribunal (on Tuesday). So I just thought I'd take a blank piece of paper down there.

'Partly, as a comment as well on the lack of freedom of speech and how ridiculous it is. So I held that up and various police officers spoke to me and I tried to find out from some of them, whether if I wrote, 'not my King' on it, they would arrest me.'

Mr Powlesland's video had been viewed more than 700,000 times in around four hours.

He was not arrested but said the encounter with the police officer has strengthened his feelings.

He added: 'It feels like a very odd time. Using the respect that is due to the Queen and her death, as a way of silencing any dissent over Charles's accession.

'The officer himself was from Norfolk Police. And I basically said, you know, maybe go back to Norfolk, and actually do what you're supposed to do as a police officer, protecting ordinary people from crime, rather than messing around and telling people what they can and can't have on signs in London.

'Initially, these things make you feel scared, but afterwards, it actually makes me feel more inclined to go out there and to protest to uphold our rights.'

The arrests of anti-monarchy protesters after the death of the Queen have been described as 'deeply concerning' and an 'affront to democracy' by free speech and human rights campaigners.

Where were the five arrests made in Scotland in the last 48 hours? A spokesperson for Police Scotland said: A 52-year-old man has been arrested and charged in connection with a breach of the peace in Jeffrey Street, Edinburgh around 2.40pm on Monday, 12 September 2022. He will appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court at a later date and a report will be sent to the Procurator Fiscal. A 22-year old man was arrested in connection with a breach of the peace on the Royal Mile around 2.50pm on Monday, 12 September 2022. A 74-year old man was arrested in the vicinity of the Palace of Holyroodhouse around 3.50pm on Sunday, 11 September 2022 in connection with a breach of the peace. He was later charged and is due to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Monday, 12 September. A 22-year-old woman was arrested outside St. Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh on Sunday, 11 September, 2022 in connection with a breach of the peace. She was charged and was released on an undertaking to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court at a later date. A 38-year-old man was charged for a breach of the peace in the vicinity of Duthie Park, Aberdeen on Sunday, 11 September 2022. He was released on an undertaking to appear at court at a later date and a report will be sent to the Procurator Fiscal. Advertisement

It comes as Police Scotland confirmed that five people had been arrested across the country in 48 hours for 'breach of the peace' offences as the Queen's cortege travelled from Balmoral Castle to Edinburgh.

A breach of the peace arrest or charge can be brought when someone is accused of disorderly conduct which could cause fear, alarm or disturbance to others.

Earlier today a young man was filmed heckling Prince Andrew as he followed the Queen's coffin through the Scottish capital.

The man was seen shouting 'Andrew, you're a sick old man' as the disgraced Duke of York, 62, followed behind his mother's hearse.

The Duke of York was exiled from public life after one of Jeffery Epstein's victims alleged the royal had sexually abused her when she was 17 and a minor under U.S. Law.

Prince Andrew denied the claims but settled the action with a large payout.

After a short scuffle, a police officer led the youngster away as he shouted 'disgusting' and 'I've done nothing wrong' while others shouted, 'God Save the King'.

Police Scotland later confirmed that a 22-year-old man was arrested in connection with a breach of the peace on the Royal Mile around 2.50pm this afternoon.

A 52-year-old man was also arrested today in connection with a breach of the peace in Jeffrey Street, Edinburgh. He will appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court at a later date with a report being sent to the Procurator Fiscal.

On Sunday, the police force also made a further three arrests in connection with a breach of the peace.

This included a 38-year-old man in Aberdeen who was allegedly seen clutching eggs as the Queen's coffin cortege was due to arrive in the city.

He was later charged before being released on an undertaking.

He is due to appear in court at a later date with a report being sent to the Procurator Fiscal.

A 22-year-old woman and a 74-year-old man were also arrested in the Scottish capital.

The man was arrested in the vicinity of the Palace of Holyroodhouse and was later charged.

He is due to appear in Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Monday September 12.

The woman was also charged and released on an undertaking to appear in Edinburgh Sherriff Court at a later date.

Anti-monarchy protestors have also been arrested in other parts of the country.

A small number of protestors gathered at the Accession Proclamation Ceremony at Mercat Cross in Edinburgh on Sunday, where King Charles III was public proclaimed as the new monarch

In London yesterday a protestor holding a sign that read 'Abolish the Monarchy' and 'Not my King' outside the Palace of Westminster was led away by police before King Charles and the Queen Consort arrived to receive condolences from members of the House of Commons.

The woman protesting in Westminster wore a t-shirt emblazoned with the logo for the Campaign To Abolish The Monarchy, which yesterday called on people to protest the new King at Parliament Square this morning.

A number of Met Police officers led the woman away, while people took photos and videos. One man engaged with the protester but it is unclear if he was criticising her or showing his support.

A woman protested the new King outside Parliament this morning, holding a sign that read 'Abolish the Monarchy' on one side and 'Not my King' on the other

A Met spokesperson said: 'A member of the public was asked to move away from the Carriage Gates outside the Palace of Westminster this morning in order to facilitate vehicle access and egress through the gates.

'She was not arrested and was not asked to leave the wider area.'

On Sunday, Symon Hill, 45, was arrested by Thames Valley Police during the proclamation of King Charles in the university town of Oxford.

Mr Hill shouted 'Who elected him?' during the reading and was subsequently arrested by officers on suspicion of a public order offence under Section 5 of the Public Order Act.

He was later de-arrested after he refused to be interviewed without a lawyer and was driven home by police.

The protestor, who works part-time at the Peace Pledge Union, said he had no intentions of protesting at the proclamation and had been headed home from his Sunday Church service.

Symon Hill (pictured) was arrested by Thames Valley Police for shouting 'who elected him' at the King's proclamation reading in Oxford on Sunday. He was later de-arrested and driven home by officers. Mr Hill added he will 'probably protest' when the coronation happens

However, he said he will 'probably' demonstrate during King Charles III's coronation.

He added: 'Whether I'll be involved in an organised protest, I don't know. 'I'm not actively organising one, but that isn't to say I wouldn't join in if there was something happening.

'I will probably protest at the coronation when it happens.

'It will be non-violent and directed at the institution rather than personal insults at individuals.'

Thames Valley Police said: 'A 45-year-old man was arrested in connection with a disturbance that was caused during the county proclamation ceremony of King Charles III in Oxford.

'He has subsequently been de-arrested and is engaging with us voluntarily as we investigate a public order offence.'
The cartel had Camarena and Mexican pilot and DEA employee Alfredo Zavala Avelar kidnapped and murdered in February 1985

The criminal organization's marijuana smuggling was the target of an investigation led by Camarena

Felix Gallardo, who is known as 'The Boss of the Bosses,' inspired the Netflix series, Narcos: Mexico

He will then have to start serving a 30-year term for the 1985 murder of Drug Enforcement Administration agent Kiki Camarena

The 76-year-old is serving a 40-year sentence for racketeering, bribery and weapons possession that ends in 2029

A Mexican court has granted home confinement to Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, the notorious former drug lord whose cartel was responsible for the 1985 murder of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Kiki Camarena.

Felix Gallardo, who is known as 'The Boss of the Bosses' and 'The Godfather,' has been in prison since 1989 for the kidnapping and killing of Camarena.

A court sentenced the 76-year-old to 40 years in prison in 1989 for crimes that included racketeering, firearms possession and bribery. However, it wasn't until 2017 that a court found him guilty of the special agent's murder and handed him a 37-year sentence.

Last Wednesday, a judge with the Seventh District of Federal Criminal Proceedings court approved Felix Gallardo's remaining sentence to be served in the confines of his residence because of his poor health.

While the sentence for racketeering, firearms possession and bribery ends in 2029, he will still have to serve the sentence for Camarena's killing.

DailyMail.com reached out to the DEA for comment.

Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo (pictured in a 2021 interview with Telemundo) was granted home confinement last Tuesday. Known as 'The Boss of the Bosses' and 'The Godfather,' the 76-year-old has been in prison since 1989 when he was arrested and then sentenced to 30 years for racketeering, firearm possession and bribery. In 2017, a court handed him a 40-year prison term for the 1985 murder of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Kiki Camarena

The investigation led by DEA agent Kiki Camarena brought down the Guadalajara Cartel, but not before he was kidnapped, tortured and killed by the criminal organization in 1985

A prior request to complete the remainder of his sentence at home was denied by a Mexico City court February 20, 2019.

In an August 2021 jail house interview with Telemundo, Felix Gallardo complained about his failing health, indicating 'half of my body (is) paralyzed.'

He lost vision in his right eye and is deaf in his left ear. In addition, he has undergone eight hernia removal surgeries. He also injured his arm during a fall inside prison.

Felix Gallardo was a federal police officer before he founded the Guadalajara Cartel with Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo and Rafael Caro Quintero, the latter who is awaiting extradition to the United States for Camarena's killing.

Camarena died at the age 37, leaving behind a wife and three children, including one who is now a judge in California.

As the leader of the defunct Guadalajara Cartel, Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo groomed Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman and Amado Carrillo Fuentes who is also known as 'The Lord of the Skies'

The body of DEA agent Enrique Camarena was flown in a casket from Mexico to an Air Force base in California on March 8, 1985, a month after he was abducted and killed by the Guadalajara Cartel

Shockingly, the frail cartel boss told the network that he had no idea who Fonseca Carrillo and Caro Quintero were  the trio started out smuggling marijuana to the United States before they formed a partnership with Pablo Escobar to ship cocaine to America.

'I don't know them,' he said. 'We did not meet on the street. These people and I have never chatted.'

Additionally, Felix Gallardo groomed some of Mexico's most powerful drug lords like Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, Amado Carrillo Fuentes who is also known as 'The Lord of the Skies,' Hector Luis 'El Guero' Palma Salazar and his nephews, the Arellano-Felix brothers.

Mexican drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero (center) was arrested by security forces in Sinaloa on July 15. He now awaits extradition to the United States, where he is accused of killing DEA agent Kiki Camarena in 1985

Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo was one of the Guadalajara Cartel's three founders

Felix Gallardo, who is portrayed in the hit Netflix series Narcos: Mexico, has always distanced himself from Camarena's killing.

The cartel sought revenge on Camarena after the Mexican military raided a 2,500-acre marijuana plantation in 1984. Caro Quintero accused Camarena for a raid and his henchmen kidnapped him in Guadalajara on February 7, 1985.

Mexican pilot Alfredo Zavala, who was employed by the Mexican government and the DEA, was kidnapped the same day in a separate incident.

The tortured bodies of Camarena and Zavala were located on March 5, 1985, wrapped in plastic and dumped at an abandoned property in La Angostura, a city in the state of Michoacan.

'It is a very sad subject. This Mr. Camarena, whoever they were, whoever did it, the perpetrators and masterminds are behind bars; they've paid with their lives in prison, and they've had a very rough time,' Felix Gallardo told Telemundo. 'I'm not aware why they've linked me to that crime. I never met that man. Let me reiterate: I'm not into weapons. I'm really sorry because I know he was a good man.'
A construction worker was killed on a job site in New York early Monday, officials said - after he was crushed by a falling piece of equipment that weighed more than 2,000 pounds.

The incident transpired in Greenpoint around 9:10 am at a building site on Java and West streets, officials said Monday, and saw the life of a 46-year-old worker snuffed out, after the one-ton piece of machinery fell on him during work on a 14-story affordable housing development.

The worker had been trying to attach an extension arm to an excavator at the unfinished building on 1 Java St when it fell on top of him, causing him to sustain severe body trauma, the NYPD said shortly after the incident.

The worker was pronounced dead at the scene, lawmen further revealed - adding that they are currently investigating the incident along with the Department of Building, 'to determine exactly what happened.'

The worker's name was not immediately released.

A construction worker was killed on a job site in New York early Monday, officials said - after he was crushed by a falling piece of equipment that weighed more than 2,000 pounds.

Immediately after the incident, the fallen construction worker's colleagues were photographed just outside the job site, many visibly distraught and holding back tears after the loss of their coworker.

Addressing the incident to the press Monday, Department of Buildings Commissioner Eric Ulrich said that the construction worker had been wearing his full protective gear prior to being crushed by the collapsed extension arm.

The arm weighed more than 2,000 pounds, Ulrich said at the news conference, held at the job site along the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood's waterfront.

The unnamed worker, Ulrich said, was immediately crushed under the contraption's weight when it failed to attach to a yellow excavator that remained on the site after the incident, which could be seen behind the buildings official as he addressed the crowd.

'Unfortunately, around 9:15 AM, while a worker was attempting to attach an extension to an excavator behind me, that piece of equipment failed,' Ulrich said, recounting how officials believe the accident transpired.

'The attachment collapsed and crushed and killed the victim,' the commissioner continued.

'The victims family is being notified as we speak, and theres an ongoing investigation right now, between the police department and the Department of Buildings to determine exactly what happened this morning.'

He added: 'But we can confirm that there is one fatality on site.'

The incident transpired in Greenpoint around 9:10 am at a building site on Java and West streets, officials said Monday, and saw the life of a 46-year-old worker snuffed out, after the one-ton piece of machinery fell on him during work on a 14-story housing development.

The worker was trying to attach an extension arm to an excavator at 1 Java Street when the extension collapsed, NYPD and Department of Buildings officials said, crushing and killing him

Ulrich went on to reveal that there had been several 311 complaints made against the construction site, but said that none of them were 'substantiated.'

The official did not specify the number of infractions, but said that the complaints concerned noise and after-hours work.

A full investigation, Ulrich added, is needed before officials can discern whether the complaints had any bearing on Monday's incident.

A reporter asked about the construction sites history and whether or not any previous violations have occurred.

He further revealed that worker had been trying to move other construction materials from one side of the site to the other, when the one-ton extension he put into place moments before collapsed, crushing him under its enormous weight.

A stop work order has since been put in place on the 728,000-square-foot job site - which spans an entire city block - a 'full review' of the premises, Ulrich said.

Despite receiving a number of complaints, Ulrich added, the site - owned and overseen by real estate and investment group Lendlease - had not received any previous violations.

The department, along with the NYPD will also review all of the other city construction sites overseen by real estate and investment group Lendlease, the contractor at the Java Street site, the commissioner said.

With that said, the Greenpoint site, 'is envisioned as a resilient, mixed-use development including over 800 residential rental units,' according to Lendlease's website, which notes that thirty percent of the apartments will be designated as 'affordable housing.'

The property is also expected to include more than 13,000 square feet of retail space, noted the developer.

The description of the planned project - which was scheduled to be completed in 2026 - said that the Lendlease 'team is working to develop partnerships with local non-profits to encourage local hiring, including diverse, minority, and underemployed communities.'

The group further proclaimed that the project would 'transform a 2.6-acre full city block located on the Greenpoint-Williamsburg waterfront into the next generation of sustainable and dynamic multi-family living in New York City.'

The worker was pronounced dead at the scene, with lawmen now investigating the incident along with the Department of Buildings 'to determine exactly what happened'

In a statement released Monday afternoon shortly after Ulrich's address, Lendleases head of communications for the Americas Tom Reller said the company - which is based in Australia - is also investigating the tragedy.

Reller told DailyMail.com that he was 'saddened to confirm' the fatal construction accident 'this morning at the 1 Java St. jobsite in Brooklyn.'

'We extend our deepest condolences to the individuals loved ones,' Reller said, adding that 'at this time, we are in the process of investigating the incident in full coordination with appropriate authorities.'

It is not yet clear who was at fault for the mishap - whether it be Lendlease, a foreman, or the late worker himself. If the equipment in question is found to be faulty, the construction group will likely face gross negligence and manslaughter charges.

The company is currently engaged in more than 20 multimillion-dollar projects across the US in cities like Los Angeles and Chicago, and even a planned extension at Manhattan Hospital Beth Israel.

The state of those job sites will be determined pending the ongoing probe.

The unfinished building 'is envisioned as a resilient, mixed-use development including over 800 residential rental units,' according to developer Lendlease's website, which notes that thirty percent of the apartments will be designated as 'affordable housing'

It is not yet clear who was at fault for the mishap - whether it be Lendlease, a foreman, or the late worker himself. If the equipment in question is found to be faulty, the construction group will likely face gross negligence and manslaughter charges

Immediately after the incident, the fallen construction worker's colleagues were photographed just outside the job site, many visibly distraught and holding back tears after the loss of their coworker.

The body of the worker, meanwhile, was also photographed by lensmen shortly after the incident, covered by a tarp that obscured the victim's likely savaged body.

The construction worker who died has yet to be identified - though his body could

The site at 1 Java St is one of many massive housing deployments to sprout up in West Brooklyn as transplants continue to flock to the area, driving up rents and pricing out longtime residents.

It is not yet clear if and when construction on the building - as well as Lendlease's several other ongoing projects - will commence. The Department of Buildings probe into the incident is currently ongoing.
A delivery driver working for Amazon is being hailed as a local hero for sprinting into a burning home in Syosset, Long Island to notify a family that their home was engulfed in flames.

Kevin Rivera, 22, who recounted the story to the Daily Mail, said he was finishing his delivery route on Saturday when he saw a fire beginning to rage from a home on Bluebird Drive.

Through the front door of the single-family home, he said he saw several family members who he tried to notify about the flames.

A man, who appeared to be the father or grandfather of the four young children in the house, came outside to see the flames, but was so confused and stunned by what he saw that he just stood there.

Rivera then sprung into action, running through the front door to alert the remainder of the family, including a mother, her infant child, three additional children and the children's grandmother.

The house fire on Bluebird Drive in Long Island, New York that Amazon driver Kevin Rivera, 22, noticed Saturday

Rivera sprung into action and ran into the burning building to alert the family inside the home that they needed to leave immediately

'They tried to go out the front door,' said Rivera. 'I told them to follow me out the back door,' which ultimately they did.

'I tried to grab the two dogs,' he added. According to Rivera, the family owns a Golden Retriever and a smaller dog.

A release from the local police department says the house, which was built in 2016 and sold in 2021 for nearly $1.5 million, was severely burned and the residents were displaced.

When Rivera spoke to the Daily Mail, he was standing in the parking lot of an Amazon warehouse. His boss had just told him the company was going to do 'something big' to celebrate his heroic actions.

Nine local Fire Departments were dispatched to put out the house fire

A local report put out by law enforcement says there was extensive damage done to the $1.5 million house

Amanda Johnson, a local resident, captured the video of the house burning that went viral. Her husband is also a member of the local Fire Department who was dispatched to the scene

The house, which local law enforcement says was 'severely burned,' is now boarded up

'You don't know how happy I am,' he said.

'It brings a lot of joy' that he was able to help a family and is now being recognized for his work, said the new father - Rivera has a three-month old at home in Long Island.

'A lot of people are stepping away from doing things today, and he stepped toward this,' Amanda Johnson, who filmed the now-viral video, told the Daily Mail. 'It's pretty amazing that Kevin did this.'

Johnson's video of the home burning on Bluebird Drive and her Facebook post about what Rivera did was what initially caught the attention of the local media.

Her husband is a firefighter with the Syosset Fire Department and had been with him Saturday at the firehouse when the 911 call came in, which is how she was able to document what happened on the scene.

Rivera says after the family and their pups were safely out of the house, he tried to go around front to talk to them, but he was told by law enforcement he needed to move his van.

'I wanted to see if they were okay, and tell them I was always going to be there for them,' he said.
An Arizona man flagged down police from the middle of a desert highway to confess to murder because he was 'too lazy' to bury the body, arrest records show.

Deputies from the Cochise County Sheriff's office came across Jay Albery Stevens, 52, around 1am on Thursday as he hailed them down from a crossroads outside the town of McNeal, about 30 minutes from the Mexican border in southeastern Arizona.

When police stopped to ask if he was okay, Stevens informed them that he'd just shot his stepfather to death and that he wanted to show them the body.

Stevens led the deputies to a nearby home in the town of Pearce, where they found the body of his stepfather, 61, lying outside between the house and garage with chest wounds from a .40 caliber handgun. Stevens was arrested at the scene.

Stevens told the investigators he decided to commit the murder after his stepfather accused him of not reading the Bible, but that it really stemmed from 'a lot of years of putting up with this [expletive].'

He also said he weighed several options of disposing of the body, including chaining it to his truck to 'drag him out into the desert,' or burying him, but decided that was too difficult.

'I was gonna bury him, but I'm too lazy to dig a hole that big,' Stevens told cops.

Stevens was charged with first degree murder and is being held on $1 million bond, according to the Herald Review.

Deputies from the Cochise County Sheriff's office said they arrested Jay Albert Stevens, 52, after he waived them down at about 1am on September 8 at a crossroads outside the town of McNeal, about 30 minutes from the Mexican border in southeastern Arizona

When police stopped to ask if he was okay, Stevens informed them that he'd just shot his stepfather to death and that he wanted to show them the body

Stevens told police that his whole family disliked his stepfather, and characterized him as an alcoholic who 'brainwashed' his mother into becoming one too.

'This has been building in me for a long time,' Stevens said, 'What I did today was just probably 20 years of [expletive].'

Stevens said his stepfather had spent all of Wednesday drinking beer, and that at one point accused him Stevens of not understanding the Bible and never reading it.

The two began to argue about the accusation, and Steven's stepfather told him 'If you don't like it, you can get out.'

Stevens then spent several hours in his bedroom where he 'stewed' over the fight, then decided to kill his stepfather.

'It took me a while to get the gumption to go out there with a gun,' he told police.

Grabbing the gun, Stevens walked into the living room and pointed it at his stepfather.

'I put the gun right up to his face,' he told cops. When the stepfather then said '[expletive] off,' Stevens shot him in the chest.

'I was attempting to kill him,' Stevens said, describing how his stepfather stood there looking at him before he fired another shot into him.

Stevens said he then punched his fallen stepfather in the face numerous times out of 'anger and rage.'

Deciding he was going to get caught no matter what he did, Stevens said he walked his dogs over to his sister's house so they'd be taken care of.

Once there he confessed to the murder and told her to call the cops, then started walking down the highway till he saw a deputy to flag down.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal tweeted and then pulled back a Sep. 11th remembrance post Sunday that honored those who died in the attacks after using a figure that online critics quickly pointed out appeared to include the 19 hijackers in the total.

It was the second consecutive year Jayapal had made the posting.

'Today we remember the 2,996 people who were killed on 9/11 and all those who lost their lives while serving our country in the forever wars that followed,' she said, using a term critical of the U.S. invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan that followed the 2001 attacks.

Her post came on a day when most other political figures were honoring the 2,977 victims  including those at the World Trade Center towers, at the Pentagon, and near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The figure also includes passengers and crew who were aboard the four aircraft used by the 19 hijackers who carried out the attack. It includes first responders who died in the attack.

'Today we remember the 2,996 people who were killed on 9/11 and all those who lost their lives while serving our country in the forever wars that followed,' wrote Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), using a figure that appears to include the 19 hijackers in addition to the total of people killed that day. She deleted the tweet after posting and and being criticized online

Her tweet was accompanied by an image of the twin towers.

The usually media savvy lawmaker from Washington is a prominent progressive.

Her office provided no immediate explanation when asked why she took down the tweet.

Her 2021 tweet on Sept. 11th was identical and also was taken down.

She subsequently tweeted on Sunday about those who suffered in the aftermath of the attacks.

'Today we must remember the communities right here at home that suffered so much  not only through the terrorist attacks that affected every Americans psyche, but also the hate, discrimination, and erosion of civil liberties they had to endure,' she wrote.

Jayapal posted an identical tweet last year. It included an image of the twin towers

She posted the tweet as the nation mourned those lost in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks

A Google search of the number of people killed produces the 2,996 result, which includes the 19 hijackers

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Ca.) also tweeted the 2,996 figure

Media accounts have noted that a Google search of the question 'how many people died on 9/11?' results in an answer of 2,996.

House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Ca.) also has used the 2,996 figure  in a tweet referencing '2,996 souls.'

'If youre going to knock @RepJayapal for including the hijackers in the number of people killed on 9/11, please also include @GOPLeader in your criticism,' wrote journalist Yashar Ali.

McCarthy tweeted at 9:50 AM Sunday morning: 'We can never forget  not just the 2,996 souls we lost on 9/11  but also the first responders who ran into the buildings and those who sacrificed to stop Flight 93,' in reference to the United Airlines flight that crashed in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.

The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks concluded the U.S. Capitol was the likely target of Flight 93.

Jayapal was slammed for her post online.

'I'll remember the 2,977 victims, and not the 19 terrorists, but you do you,' wrote Case Western Reserve law professor Jonathan Adler, with other commentators noting she had done the same tweet last year.

Jayapal's office did not immediately respond to questions about why she used the figure or took down the tweet.

President Joe Biden used the 2,977 in his own remarks at the Pentagon Sunday.

'Twenty-one years ago -- twenty-one years, and still we kept our promise: Never Forget. Well keep the memory of all those precious lives stolen from us: 2,977  at Ground Zero in New York; in Shanksville, where my wife is speaking now; in Pennsylvania; 184 of them here at the Pentagon,' he said.
CCC supporters yesterday beat up two journalists that wanted to cover the partys rally addressed by Nelson Chamisa at Gadzema Stadium in Chinhoyi.

News Hawks Ruvimbo Muchenje and Voice of Americas Nunurai Jena were humiliated and harassed as they tried to gain access into the stadium.

In a statement, the Young Journalists Association (YOJA) confirmed.

Muchenje who is a multimedia journalist was trying to find her way into the stadium and got herself beaten up by party security who attempted to block her from entering.

She was forced on to the ground and made to roll, leaving her dress torn, said YOJA secretary-general, Phil Jambaya.

YOJA condemned the barbaric act by CCC supporters and called upon the party to apologise.

Jena was attacked on allegations of reporting negatively about CCC.

Efforts to get a comment from CCCs national organiser, Mr Amos Chibaya, and provincial chairman Mr Ralph Magunje were futile until the time of going to print.

Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zimbabwe chapter, Nyasha Nyakunu, confirmed getting the allegations and said he was going to issue a statement. Herald




As the Senate gets back to work after August recess, the Foreign Relations Committee will consider a bipartisan funding bill for Taiwan's defense this week.

Sens. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., first introduced the Taiwan Policy Act in June. The bill allows for $4.5 billion in security aid to be sent to the island democracy as it fights off an increasingly aggressive China that has promised to 'reunite' it with the mainland.

The committee meets Wednesday for a markup of the bill.

Such billions in foreign aid would come after U.S. funding for Ukraine's fight against Russia has soared beyond $15 billion, despite reports that the funding cannot be traced.

The bill also calls for establishing a bilateral free trade agreement with Taiwan and formally recognizing Taiwan's government as 'the legitimate representative of the people of Taiwan.' It would recognize Taiwan as a major non-NATO ally - a designation that would expedite arms sales but is not a full-on defense pact.

Washington has long pursued a policy of strategic ambiguity in the region, refusing to say whether it would come to Taiwan's aid if Beijing launched an invasion. It has refused to even call Taiwan a 'nation,' reaffirming support of the One China policy. Formally recognizing Taiwan's government could be seen as an offense to the longstanding One China policy.

Sens. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., first introduced the Taiwan Policy Act in June

The bill allows for $4.5 billion in security aid to be sent to the island democracy as it fights off an increasingly aggressive China that has promised to 'reunite' it with the mainland

'When it comes to Taiwan, our response should be that we are for democracy and against communist aggression,' Graham said in June. 'We live in dangerous times. China is sizing up America and our commitment to Taiwan. The danger will only grow worse if we show weakness in the face of Chinese threats and aggression toward Taiwan. I'm hopeful we will receive large bipartisan support for our legislation and that the Biden Administration will sign on in support.'

The Biden administration, however, was not entirely on board as of August.

'The White House has significant concerns. I have significant concerns,' Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., told Bloomberg. Murphy, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said that while it 'makes sense for us to draw closer to Taiwan,' he said he was 'not sure this is the moment to throw out 40 years of policy.'

China, meanwhile, has grown increasingly irate as an influx of U.S. lawmakers have taken trips to Taiwan, beginning with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her Democratic delegation in July.

Chineses air craft conduct combat training exercises around Taiwan in August

In this photo provided by China's Xinhua News Agency, a People's Liberation Army member looks through binoculars during military exercises as Taiwan's frigate Lan Yang is seen at the rear, on Friday, Aug. 5, 2022.

Most recently, a bipartisan congressional delegation Florida Democrat Rep. Stephanie Murphy concluded its trip on Friday after meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen and other senior Taiwanese leaders. They were the sixth group of lawmakers to visit the island in recent days starting with Pelosi's delegation.

On Sept. 1 the State Department announced a $1.1 billion arms deal with Taiwan for a package that includes 60 Harpoon anti-ship missiles and 100 Sidewinder tactical air missiles.

China warned of 'counter measures' if the sale goes through and said it 'severely jeopardizes' U.S.-China relations.

China launched its first-ever military drills in the Taiwan Straight last month after Pelosi's visit, pushing past the median line, which both sides have respected as an unofficial barrier for decades.
Joe Biden on Monday said ending cancer 'as we know it' was one of the reasons he ran for president as he supercharged his 'Cancer Moonshot' initiative with a shot of glamour from the Kennedy family.

Biden, who wants to cut cancer deaths in half over the next 25 years, said cancer can be transformed into a disease that can be managed and lived with.

He issued his new call to arms at the John F. Kennedy Library, on the 60th anniversary of Prsident Kennedy's famous 'Moonshot' speech, where JFK rallied America to beat Russia to the moon - which was accomplished in 1969.

'When he set that goal, he established a national purpose that could rally the American people and a common cause. And he succeeded,' Biden said of JFK.

'Now in our time, on the 60th anniversary of his clarion call, we face another inflection point, and together, we can choose to move forward with unity, hope and optimism. I believe we can usher in the same unwillingness to postpone - the same national purpose - that will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills to end cancer as we know it. And even cure cancers once and for all.'

The fight against cancer is personal for Biden, who lost his son Beau to brain cancer in 2015. The Cancer Moonshot, originally created when Biden was vice president, came in the wake of Beau's death.

'This Cancer Moonshot is one of the reasons why I ran for president,' Biden said.

Biden noted cancer doesn't discriminate.

'We know this, cancer does not discriminate red and blue. It doesn't care if you're Republican or a Democrat. Beating cancer something we can do together. And that's why I'm here today.'

Biden was in Boston to deliberately echo Kennedy's famous 1962 speech, which was praised for its positive tone and its effectiveness at rallying Americans' to the president's cause.

He had Kennedy's daughter Caroline, who serves as his ambassador to Australia, at his side. He called her and her son Jack back to the stage after his remarks so they could all work the rope line together.

Joe Biden said ending cancer 'as we know it' was one of the reasons he ran for president as he supercharged his 'Cancer Moonshot' initiative with a shot of glamour from the Kennedy family.

President Joe Biden greets Ambassador Caroline Kennedy before he speaks on the cancer moonshot initiative at the John F. Kennedy Library

Jack Schlossberg arrives to speaks before President Joe Biden on the cancer moonshot initiativ; Schlossberg is the son of Caroline Kennedy and the grandson of JFK

President Biden shook hands with comedian David Letterman, who was in attendance, after his speech

America suffers more cancer deaths per capita than Mexico, Ethiopia and even Iraq, data suggests  with the country ranking 81st globally for fatalities from the disease. President Joe Biden today unveiled an $1.8billion cash injection into researching blood tests to diagnose the disease early as he aims to halve fatalities to 300,000 a year over the next two decades. But figures compiled by the World Health Organization showed how the U.S. continues to trail behind many less developed nations recording about 85.7 deaths per 100,000 people a year  although this figure has been trending downwards. America's higher rates are often blamed on its expensive healthcare system, which prices many out of diagnositc tests and treatments  with some avoiding hospitals for fear of medical bills. But there are several schemes available to help people access care. The U.S. also has a better cancer survival rate than many other western nations including the UK  with its publicly-funded health system  France and China. Less developed nations may have lower cancer rates due to shorter life expectancies than in the U.S., reducing the risk of someone developing cancer. The figures may also be down to under-reporting due to a lack of diagnostic tests or healthcare facilities. Advertisement

Caroline Kennedy praised Biden repeatedly in her opening remarks, tying her family's glamour to the current commander in chief.

She said Biden 'embodies' the spirit of her father and drew comparisons to his work and that of her family's.

'He's living President Kennedy's call to service throughout his life and career,' she said of Biden. 'As president, he has restored the soul of America, advanced freedom and democracy around the world. For more than 50 years, President Biden has been fighting for working families, affordable health care access to a quality education, and always to honor our men and women in uniform.'

'But perhaps the most personal fight for him as the one against cancer. As Vice President he launched his own moonshot to end cancer as we know it. And with characteristic perseverance, he's still committed to that cause.'

Kennedy mentioned her mother, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, died of cancer.

She also said Biden's presence at the library was special to her because it was also the date her parents got married in 1953. She is the eldest daughter and only living child of the former president and first lady.

The Kennedys weren't the only bold-faced names in attendance. Comedian David Letterman, who had a bout with skin cancer, was present for the president's remarks. Biden spoke to him after his speech.

Biden compared his quest to end cancer to Kennedy's goal of putting man on the moon. He tied that charge back to his time as vice president, when then-President Barack Obama put him in charge of fighting cancer.

'When President Obama asked me to launch a Cancer Moonshot, our goal was to bring an added urgency a new urgency to the fight. And in my view, not unlike President Kennedy, did we harness federal resources to change the culture, increase cooperation, and break down the silos that exist,' Biden said.

'When I was elected president I determined to supercharge the Cancer Moonshot, as a central effort of the Biden Harris administration,' he said. 'The goal is to cut cancer death rates by at least 50% - at least 50% - in the next 25 years; to turn more cancer, some death sentences, into chronic diseases people can live with.'

The president also issued an executive order boosting the US biotech sector as part of the initiative, which invokes the national effort to land a man on the Moon.

Biden is pushing for government-backed efforts to coordinate and fund a multilayered fight against cancer, with the goal of halving cancer death rates in the next 25 years.

As he set off from Washington, Biden issued an order meant to bolster the trailblazing US biotech sector's efforts to take on growing commercial rivals in China.

The order brings federal support for 'areas that will define US biotechnology leadership and our economic competitiveness in the coming decades,' a senior Biden administration official told reporters.

The official said that while US biotech research leads the world, the industrial applications are increasingly in the hands of other countries.

'Unless we translate biotechnology innovation into economic and societal benefits for all Americans, other countries, including and especially China, are aggressively investing in this sector,' posing a 'risk,' the official said.

The White House says the US biotech industry is on the cutting edge of medical advances - recently seen in the rapid development of vaccines, tests and therapeutics to help manage the Covid-19 pandemic -- but that the potential scope goes much further.

The battle against cancer is personal for Biden: his son Beau died of brain cancer in 2015 when Biden was vice president to Barack Obama.

Biden referenced his late son ini his remarks.

'For so many of us, that's what we're trying to do: live a life worthy of the loved ones we've lost and the loved ones we can save. With our hope and absolute courage and with an unwillingness to postpone and with a singular purpose for ourselves as and as a nation.'

Caroline Kennedy praised Biden repeatedly in her opening remarks and compared him to her father, the President John F Kennedy

David Letterman and other guests listen as President Joe Biden speaks on the Cancer Moonshot initiative at the John F. Kennedy Library

The linkage to the Moon program will seek to raise public awareness and support ahead of midterm congressional elections where the Democrats face the possibility of a Republican sweep in Congress, something which would severely complicate the next two years of Biden's first term.

Caroline Kennedy told CNN she approved of the parallels drawn by Biden in the struggle to conquer the deadly disease.

'Sixty years after my father challenged Americans to land on the moon, President Biden is welcoming great challenges as new opportunities by setting us on a bold course to end cancer as we know it,' she said.

Biden's focus on the cancer fight comes as NASA is once again looking to return to the Moon.

Biden will name Dr. Renee Wegrzyn as the first director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health

Biden also named Dr. Renee Wegrzyn, a longtime science adviser and who most recently served at the biotech company Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings Inc, as the first director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, a U.S. government-run biomedical research group.

At Ginkgo, Wegrzyn worked on applying synthetic biology to outpace infectious diseases  including COVID-19  through biomanufacturing, vaccine innovation, and biosurveillance of pathogens at scale.

She also worked at the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity.

Biden's speech was on the 60th anniversary of President Kennedy's Moonshot speech at Rice University.

In that now famous speech, Kennedy said: 'We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.'
Social media gun influencer and Iraq war veteran Neal Currey, 42, died on Saturday, according to a post by his wife on Instagram.

It's unclear how Currey, a former Army Ranger who served four tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, died.

In an emotional Instagram post, his wife, Casey revealed that he died on September 10.

'To know Neal was to love him. We have lost a wonderful husband, father, son, brother and friend. We will never be the same without Neal in our lives,' she wrote.

In another post, she wrote: 'I cannot begin to show my thanks for the outpouring of love and support for our family.

'I know this has left a gapping hole in everyone's heart.'

A viewing for Currey will be held on September 16, followed by his funeral a day later.

The couple, who lived in Lindon, Utah, had one child together, and both raised her other four children from a previous relationship.

Social media gun influencer and Iraq war veteran Neal Currey, 42, died Saturday, according to a post by his wife on Instagram

Currey, 42, and his wife Casey Currey, 30, in the desert. Neal died on Saturday, September 10 of unknown causes

Neal Curreyy, left, with his wife Casey Currey, 30, ran the popular Ready Gunner gun shop, which runs classes and training in handling weapons (pictured here with celebrity rapper Post Malone)

'I cannot begin to show my thanks for the outpouring of love and support for our family. 'I know this has left a gapping hole in everyone's heart,' his wife Casey wrote on Instagram

Only three days ago, he posted a video of himself riding a surfboard in the wake of a power boat on Lake Powell during a family vacation in Southern Utah.

He came from a family of adventurers, according to Coffee or Die magazine.

His grandfather Jack was a white water rafting river guide on the San Juan River, developing the vessels that are still referred to as J boats. His father Stephen was an outdoorsman too, taking river rafting international by being the first to navigate the Upper Yangtze River in China, the Upper Ganges in India and the Caura River in Venezuela.

The younger Currey boasted setting foot in every continent before he joined the military, according to the coffee lifestyle magazine, often paddling a supply and luggage raft in the rear.

Spurred by the terror attacks on 9/11, Currey joined the Army at the age of 24 and served five tours in Iraq and Afghanistan from 2004 to 2006.

It was during one of his tours that he discovered that his father, who was planning a trip to the Arctic, had come down with cancer, according to the profile in Coffee or Die.

The Curreys cut a glamourous profile of a beautiful couple who loved family, the great outdoors and guns

Neal Currey, top center, cut a rugged, but fun-loving figure on Instagram to help promote his gun shop - Ready Gunner

Casey created viral videos for this gun shop Ready Gunner, like this one in which he fires a machine gun on a skateboard

Currey used to joke about his love for guns on Instagram

'From diagnosis to the funeral it was 40 days,' Currey told the publication. He vowed to make his father proud.

After the military, he remained a gun enthusiast, starting Ready Gunner, gun shop and shooting range and then co-founded Black Rifle Coffee in Orem, Utah.

Currey and his wife Casey cut the perfect image of a rugged All-American family on Instagram.

The square-jawed, muscular former soldier seemed ready made to be Instagram famous, posting jokey videos - like the one of him firing a machine gun on a skateboard.

There's no mistaking his stance on the Second Amendment. In nearly every post, Currey can be seen with a different type of high-powered rifle and in some posts, a shopping cart full of them.

Casey had her own following, as the 'Miss America' of the gun community, under the social media moniker @BuffCookie, posting bikini photos that show off her figure.

She said that she took comfort in all the guns in her house.

Neal and Casey joke around about a 50 mm machine gun on Instagram. His cause of death remains a mystery

Casey said that America is suffering from a mental health crisis, not a gun problem.

'We don't have a gun problem in our country, we have a mental illness problem. That should be our main focus,' she said.

The couple have five children, four of his, one of hers.

'I like the comfort of knowing that if something happens we can protect ourselves,' she said. 'Fear comes from the unknown. Firearms and firearm safety are very well known in our family.'

'They know they are not a toy and are to be taken very seriously. Proper firearms handling is so important, and the earlier you teach it the better,' she added.

Neal Currey became so enthralled with guns and social media that he started a third company, 2A Media, which was geared on helping spread a positive message about guns on social media.

The most important image that he could present, he said, was that of a good father.

'We're not here forever,' he said. 'I learned that early. I just want my kids to look back and be proud of their dad.'
A heckler wearing a Melbourne City FC jersey has been arrested after screaming at Prince Andrew as the disgraced royal walked behind Queen Elizabeth II's coffin.

Thousands of mourners lined the streets of Edinburgh on Monday as the Queen's coffin travelled through the city to St Giles' Cathedral, where the late monarch's body is now lying-in-state.

Her four children, King Charles III, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, are in the Scottish capital taking part in a series of ceremonies marking the Queen's journey from Balmoral, where she died last Thursday aged 96, back to London.

They were walking behind their mother's hearse during the procession down the Royal Mile when a young man in the front row was filmed cupping his hand around his mouth shouting 'Andrew, you're a sick old man' as the disgraced Duke of York, 62, walked past.

The protester, seen donning a jersey from A-League club Melbourne City, was swiftly tackled to the ground by angry royal mourners and a policeman.

A young man (circled right) was filmed shouting 'Andrew, you're a sick old man' as the disgraced Duke of York passed behind his mother's hearse before the protester was bundled onto the floor by angry royal mourners and a policeman

The man was heard shouting 'disgusting' and 'I've done nothing wrong' as he was dragged away by officers.

'Get your hands off him,' one woman was heard yelling.

A man watching on from an open first floor window of a flat overlooking the famous street shouted 'God save the King', prompting other members of the crowd to join in to drown out the heckler's protests, Scottish political website Holyrood reported.

Police Scotland later confirmed a 22-year old man was arrested 'in connection with a breach of the peace' on the Royal Mile around 2.50pm on Monday.

It's understood the man later identified himself to Scottish media as 'Rory'.

The prince and his siblings reportedly didn't react to the protester.

BBC radio star Jeremy Vine took to Twitter after the incident to describe the man as 'rude' and 'out of order'.

'But does that give permission to bystanders to shove him to the ground like this?' he asked.

Prince Andrew, a Falklands War veteran who was exiled from public life amid the fallout from his friendship with disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, was not allowed to wear military dress for Monday's occasion and instead wore a morning suit.

The prince will have to appear in civilian clothes at all the other public events to mourn his mother, although an exception will reportedly be made as a special mark of respect for the Queen at the final vigil in Westminster Hall.

The heckler in Melbourne FC jersey (pictured) was tackled to the ground by onlookers and a police officer

The Queen's casket was draped with the Royal Standard in Scotland and dressed with a wreath of flowers consisting of white spray roses, white freesias, white button chrysanthemums, dried white heather from Balmoral, spray eryngium, foliage, rosemary, hebe, and pittosporum.

As the national anthem played the coffin was gently lowered into the hearse.

Bagpipes played the National Anthem from Holyrood Palace as the Queen's coffin cortege began the walk up the Royal Mile.

The hearse was flanked by a Bearer Party found by the Royal Regiment of Scotland and the King's Body Guard for Scotland. Mounted police in ceremonial dress rode ahead of the parade.

King Charles walked solemnly in step with his brothers and sister behind his beloved mother. The rest of the assembled well-wishers fell silent as the hearse appeared.

The crowd then broke out in spontaneous applause as the cortege approached and many shouted God Save the King and God Save the Queen.

A short scuffle ensued, before the officer led him away as he shouted 'disgusting' and 'I've done nothing wrong' while in the background people shouted 'God save the King'

Around 30 minutes later the Queen arrived at St Giles' Cathedral where the Crown of Scotland was placed upon the coffin.

After the service, members of the public will be allowed to file past to pay their respects for 24 hours before Her Majesty is moved to London by plane.

Earlier the King met with well-wishers who lined the streets of Edinburgh to see him today in an unplanned walkabout as Scotland's capital welcomed the new monarch and mourned the Queen - with so many people turning up that police were forced to turn many away.

The Queen's casket was draped with the Royal Standard in Scotland and dressed with a wreath of flowers consisting of white Spray Roses, white Freesias, white button chrysanthemums, dried white heather from Balmoral, spray eryngium, foliage, rosemary, hebe, and pittosporum.

As the national anthem played the coffin was gently lowered into the hearse. Bagpipes played the National Anthem from Holyrood Palace as the Queen's coffin cortege began the walk up the Royal Mile.

The hearse was flanked by a Bearer Party found by The Royal Regiment of Scotland and The King's Body Guard for Scotland. Mounted police in ceremonial dress rode ahead of the parade.

Led by a lone piper playing a lament, Her Majesty was carried from the Palace of Holyroodhouse where she was lying in rest since a six-hour journey from her Aberdeenshire castle yesterday. Andrew is seen towards the rear of the procession

King Charles walked solemnly in step with his brothers and sister behind his beloved mother. The assembled well-wishers fell silent as the hearse appeared.

The crowd then broke out in spontaneous applause as the cortege approached and many shouted God Save the King and God Save the Queen.

Earlier the King met with well-wishers who lined the streets of Edinburgh to see him today in an unplanned walkabout as Scotland's capital welcomed the new monarch and mourned the Queen - with so many people turning up that police were forced to turn many away.

At the beginning of the service, Reverend Calum MacLeod welcomed the royal family, 'representatives of our nation's life' and 'people whose lives were touched by the Queen in so many unforgettable ways'.

Andrew wore a morning suit for today's occasion. He is pictured alongside King Charles III, the Princess Royal and the Earl of Wessex

He said: 'And so we gather to bid Scotland's farewell to our late monarch, whose life of service to the nation and the world we celebrate. And whose love for Scotland was legendary.'

Senior church officials stood patiently at the entrance to the church as the procession made its way up the Royal Mile from the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

Crowds packed in 10 deep along the narrow pavements of the historic old town while others took up positions in windows along the route during the solemn procession.

Military personnel saluted as two police officers on horseback signalled the arrival of the Queen's body.

The Queen's body will travel to London ahead of her state funeral next Monday.
Police have launched a criminal investigation into a car fire that left two children dead and their mother seriously injured in Co Westmeath.

Lynn Egar, aged in her 40s, remains in a hospital in Dublin after she was pulled by a passer-by from the burning car, which went up in flames while on a rural road at Lacken, Multyfarnham on Friday.

Her 'warm, happy and vibrant' daughter Thelma, 5, and two-year-old son Michael both died in the incident, with a vigil taking place yesterday in memory of the two children.

Post-mortem examinations on the bodies of both children by the state pathologist Dr Sally Ann Collis have concluded, but Gardai will not release the results for operational reasons.

Ms Egar continues to be treated for serious but non-life threatening injuries in hospital.

'Warm, happy and vibrant' daughter Thelma (right), 5, and two-year-old son Michael (left) both died in the incident, with a vigil attended by 500 people taking place yesterday in memory of the two children

Lynn Egar, aged in her 40s, remains in a hospital in Dublin after she was pulled by a passer-by from the burning car, which went up in flames while on a rural road at Lacken, Multyfarnham on Friday

The Garda Technical Bureau is continuing to forensically examine the car.

Gardai have appealed to anyone with any information in relation to the incident to contact them. It added that a Garda family liaison officer continues to keep the family updated.

On Monday, Taoiseach Micheal Martin extended his 'deepest sympathies' to the family and friends of the two young children.

Speaking in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, Mr Martin said: 'We're all deeply conscious of the terrible tragedy that happened at nearby Multyfarnham where two young little children, Michael and Thelma, passed away in the most tragic of circumstances.

'To their family, their classmates, their teachers we extend our deepest sympathies at this very, very traumatic time for the entire community.'

Around 500 people took part in the vigil in the village of Multyfarnham, which was attended by school teachers, parents and children and members of the wider community.

Some carried candles and framed pictures of the victims.

Those who took part walked from Michael's pre-school, Children of Lir, to St Cremin's National School where Thelma was a pupil, on Sunday evening.

Fr John O'Brien, of Multyfarnham Franciscan Abbey, said there is a 'deep sadness' in the village.

'There is a terrible feeling of sadness, like a cloud coming down on us. There is a feeling of being dazed and confused, what do we say? How do we come to terms with this?' Fr O'Brien told RTE Morning Ireland.

'This sense of unreality we have to face this terrible tragedy.

Around 500 people took part in the vigil in the village of Multyfarnham, which was attended by school teachers, parents and children and members of the wider community. Some carried candles and framed pictures of the victims (Thelma pictured right and Michael left)

Post-mortem examinations on the bodies of both children (Thelma pictured bottom and Michael top) by the state pathologist Dr Sally Ann Collis have concluded, but Gardai will not release the results for operational reasons

'Did this really happen? The two little kids are dead. There is an overwhelming feeling of sadness, disbelief and not being able to find the words.

'People are meeting informally. Mothers are talking about it and they are worried about their kids going to school and how they will face the news.

'It will be hard on the teachers and very hard on the little ones who have to face this sense of grief and loss.

'I can't find the words, but just sitting with someone and listening to how they feel and their confusion, in that way we create a healing spirit between us.

'We have to do that and do it for each other in the community. We are in shock, it is simply unbelievable.

'We don't have a magic wand to take away the tears, we have to sit and be with somebody. It is a lonely time for everybody.

'It has been a tremendous shock.'

Karl Dermody, principal of St Cremin's, said the school community had been devastated by the loss.

In a short statement, Mr Dermody described Thelma as 'warm, happy and vibrant'.

The school reopened on Monday.

Gardai are appealing for anyone who was in the Lacken area on Friday between 2pm and 4pm and has any video footage to make it available to the investigation team.

Officers also urged anyone with information to contact Mullingar Garda Station on 044 9384000, or contact the Garda confidential line on 1800 666111 or any Garda station.
The journalist who wrote Harry and Meghan's biography has admitted making an error after telling a US news channel that the Queen's coffin would travel from Scotland 'over to the UK'.

Omid Scobie, a favoured journalist of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, mistakenly appeared to suggest that Scotland is not part of the UK.

He also said the Queen would be taken to London on 'one of the royal trains', despite there only being one royal train and the fact Her Majesty will be transported by plane.

The 41-year-old later said on Twitter that his remarks were a 'slip of the tongue' and had been made 'in the chaos of breaking news' as news of the Queen's death became public knowledge.

He made the comments on ABC News on Thursday, September 8, where he was describing to viewers what would happen to the Queen's body after her death at Balmoral Castle.

The royal expert said Her Majesty 'will end up laying at rest at the smallest palace in Edinburgh before it [the coffin] makes its journey on one of the royal trains over to the UK'.

Dear #OmidScobie, #Scotland is part of the UK, there is only one #royal train, and it won't be used to carry #TheQueen's coffin to London pic.twitter.com/Cga6yumW9Z  Richard Eden (@richardaeden) September 12, 2022

Omid Scobie was on ABC News when he said the Queen's coffin would be moved from Scotland 'over to the UK'

This was incorrect as the Queen's body will actually be flown to London on a military aircraft from Edinburgh Airport to RAF Northolt outside London tomorrow.

However, it was his apparent 'slip of the tongue' which suggested Scotland was no longer part of the UK for which he apologised.

Writing on Twitter, Scobie said: 'Turns out in the chaos of breaking news on September 8 I accidentally said 'Scotland to UK' instead of 'Scotland to England' when discussing travel elements of Operation Unicorn. Slip of the tongue and happy to own it'

Scobie later apologised for the remark on Twitter, claiming it had been a 'slip of the tongue'

Scobie has been a firm cheerleader for Harry and Meghan over recent years, having co-authored the couple's biography, Finding Freedom, in 2020.

He is the royal editor of U.S. website Harper's Bazaar and has become one of the closest journalists to the couple since their move to America.

The Queen's body is currently at rest at St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, where thousands of members of the public have been lining up for hours to pay their respects.

Earlier today King Charles and his siblings stood in a vigil beside her coffin, which is set to be transported to London on Tuesday.

After a short procession, King Charles III, Anne, the Princess Royal, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward each stood on one of the four corners of the oak coffin with their heads bowed in a ceremony known as the Vigil of the Princes.

King Charles III, Anne, the Princess Royal, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward each stood on one of the four corners of the coffin in a ceremony known as the Vigil of the Princes

The Queen's children stood vigil over her coffin at St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh this evening. Pictured is King Charles (centre front), Princess Anne (left), Prince Andrew (centre back) and Prince Edward (right)

The Duke of York kept his eyes closed for a period of time during the 10-minute vigil, while the Princess Royal and Earl of Wessex had their eyes fixed towards the floor. The King - his eyes moistening - kept his hands joined and also looked towards the floor as members of the public filed past.

The King and his family stood alongside four suited members of the Royal Company of Archers, who were standing guard dressed in long-feathered hats and armed with arrows and quivers.

Members of the public - who have been filing past the coffin in their thousands throughout the afternoon - were briefly held back to allow the royals to take their place.

However, they continued to file past once the vigil began, offering them an extraordinary perspective on the historic moment.

On Wednesday Her Majesty's coffin will be placed on display at Westminster Hall, with officials expecting tens of thousands of people to visit as they mourn the monarch.

On Monday, September 19, her funeral will be held at Westminster Abbey, with heads of state from around the world and family members invited to pay their respects to the Queen.

After this service she will be taken to Windsor, where she will be laid to rest at a committal ceremony in St George's Chapel.
Lightning advance has left Moscows army in disarray as soldiers flee to Donbas

Ukraine took back more territory from invading forces yesterday amid horrific reports that fleeing Russian soldiers had tortured and murdered civilians.

Vladimir Putins troops were driven from more than 20 settlements in 24 hours in a lightning advance in the north-eastern Kharkiv region.

It has left Moscows army in disarray as Russian soldiers  outnumbered eight to one  fled to Donbas, Ukraines occupied eastern industrial heartland.

The Ukrainian regional prosecutors office said that after the village of Zaliznychne was recaptured, residents reported Russian troops had killed fellow villagers.

On September 11, law enforcement officers discovered four bodies. All of them show signs of torture, the prosecutors said on social media.

Ukrainian soldiers pose alongside Russian military equipment left in the Kharkiv region by retreating Putin's retreating troops

A soldier of the artillery division in the UA Army collects Russian abandoned anti-tank rocket launchers

Ukrainian soldiers pose for a photograph next to a Russian tank left behind by retreating Russian forces

Ukraines military intelligence said yesterday Putin (pictured) had sacked Lieutenant General Roman Berdnikov after 16 days in the job

Early in the invasion, Russian troops killed hundreds in towns and villages they occupied in their failed advance on Kyiv.

Unusually, the scale of Moscows latest humiliation has been acknowledged by those backing its invasion.

Vitaly Ganchev, a Kremlin-installed official in the Kharkiv region, told Russian state TV the situation is becoming more difficult by the hour.

He added: If we talk about the force that was transferred to the counter-offensive of the Ukrainian army, it outnumbered our troops by about eight to one, no less.

In order to preserve our personnel, it was decided to withdraw, regroup.

On the state-backed, Gazprom-owned NTV channel a three-strong panel on a prime-time debate also acknowledged the rout.

It is impossible to defeat Ukraine, said ex-MP Boris Nadezhdin.

A strong army is opposing the Russian army, fully supported by the most powerful countries.

A residential house damaged by a military strike in the village of Udy recently liberated by the Ukrainian Armed Forces

A police sapper carries a cassette with anti-personnel mines POM-3 after returning from the village of Udy

Ukraines military intelligence said yesterday Putin had sacked Lieutenant General Roman Berdnikov after 16 days in the job because of his failure to hold vast swathes of Ukrainian territory in the past week.

It comes as Ukrainian troops shared videos on social media showing abandoned Russian tanks, artillery and other military hardware.

Ukrainian flags flew again over liberated towns for the first time in six months.

Russia retaliated yesterday with continuous strikes on civilian infrastructure in Ukraines second-biggest city, Kharkiv.

Shelling disrupted power and water supplies and at least one person died, according to local officials.
Prince William, Princess Kate and their three children could visit Australia early next year.

The Palace is considering a visit that comes soon after King Charles III's coronation as part of the Palace's plan to strengthen relationships in the Commonwealth following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Will and Kate's tour is set to come before a visit from the King and Queen Consort Camilla, who suffers from debilitating jet lag and requires an extended stay.

Prince Will and Princess Kate (pictured on their 2014 Australian trip at Sydney Taronga Zoo) and their three children are set to visit Australia early next year

Will and Kate's visit will come before King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla's Australian visit as the Queen Consort suffers from jet lag (pictured the King and Queen Consort visiting Scottish Parliament)

It is expected the family will travel during the British school holidays.

Their upcoming trip will be the first time Will and Kate have visited Australia since 2014, when Prince George was just nine months old.

They had planned to visit in 2020 in the wake of the devastating Black Summer bushfires but were forced to cancel their plans due to Covid.

Instead, the couple held a video chat with bushfire victims, including a koala joey.

The royal visit is part of the Palace's plan to strengthen relationships in the Commonwealth following the death of the Queen (pictured, the Queen at her Balmoral home before her death)

In the weeks before the Queen's death, the King had made plans to visit Sydney in 2024 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the NSW parliament.

However, Her Majesty's death means that plan is up in the air as organisers turn their attention to coronation.

King Charles is very fond of Australia, even studying at a Victorian school in 1966, and said he wants to visit Down Under at 'an early opportunity' in his reign.

He passed on a trip to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee earlier this year due to the May federal election.

Prince Will, Princess Kate and their three children (above) are set to visit Australia early next year

Australia's acting high commissioner Lynnette Wood became Australia's first diplomat to meet the new King during a reception at Buckingham Palace on Sunday.

'As you know, the King has a deep and broad relationship with Australia and His Majesty's affection for our country was evident in our brief conversation this afternoon,' Ms Wood said.

'Having visited Australia 16 times including studying in Victoria, His Majesty knows Australia very well.

'What has really struck me these past few days is the solemnity here in London and the regard with which Her Majesty has held and the strong support that is already there for King Charles III.'

Will and Kate had planned to visit Australia after the 2020 Black Summer Bushfires but instead held a video chat with victims due to Covid restrictions (pictured, the royal couple meeting a koala joey that was caught in the fires)

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will travel to London next Monday for Her Majesty's funeral and has declared September 22 a public holiday to mourn the loss of the monarch.

'This has been a time of grieving but there has been that sense of gratefulness, of a life well lived, a life of service. Quite clearly, over generations, that affection for the Queen was there,' Mr Albanese told Sunrise on Monday.

'She was someone who didn't just go to Sydney and Melbourne, she went to regional communities, remote communities, and had an engagement with them.

'This is a historic event that is touching many Australians and that Australians want to participate in.'
By the end of World War II, Princess Elizabeth was 19. With her chain-smoking father in poor health, it was little wonder that, more than ever, people now looked on her as a monarch-in-waiting.

And it was hardly surprising, either, that gossip focused on the identity of her future husband. With her good looks  let alone her pedigree and prospects  Elizabeth was an obvious catch. But as a serious, slightly detached girl, she had never gone in for the kind of teenage flirtations for which her younger sister became famous.

Only one man ever caught her eye. He was the tall, handsome Philip of Greece, five years her senior, whose family had been banished from the war-torn Mediterranean country when he was a child. For much of his life, Philip had been a royal exile, drifting from one European private school to another.

But although most of his ancestors were German, he had several familial connections to the British Royal Family and had spent time at schools in England and Scotland.

In the war, he had served in the Royal Navy, seeing action in the Mediterranean and the Pacific.

DOMINIC SANDBROOK: By the end of World War II, Princess Elizabeth was 19. With her chain-smoking father in poor health, it was little wonder that, more than ever, people now looked on her as a monarch-in-waiting

Some courtiers disapproved of his turbulent background, direct manner and modernising ethos; there were snobbish murmurs that he was 'not a gentleman'.

But as Philip had the backing of Elizabeth's influential cousin Louis Mountbatten  who was also his uncle  the momentum behind the union became unstoppable.

In the summer of 1946, Philip asked George VI for his daughter's hand  and the monarch agreed, provided that they waited until she turned 21 the following year.

In the meantime, Elizabeth made her first foreign tour, visiting South Africa.

There, on her 21st birthday, she gave a memorable radio address to the Empire, promising her future people 'that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service'. It sounded like the standard political rhetoric. In fact, it came from the heart and, as events were to prove, Elizabeth meant every word.

She returned home to a buzz of excitement. Her wedding was scheduled for November 20, 1947, at Westminster Abbey and, although the weather was bitterly cold, the day was a triumphant success.

Visiting Ghana in 1961, she was photographed dancing cheerfully with President Kwame Nkrumah, a fierce critic of Western imperialism

Post-war austerity meant that it was less lavish than previous royal weddings. Even so, Elizabeth wore a Norman Hartnell dress of clinging ivory silk decorated with tiny pearls, while there were no fewer than 11 cakes, with the biggest standing 9ft high.

The couple honeymooned in Hampshire and Balmoral, and in the first months of 1948, Elizabeth became pregnant.

To many of Buckingham Palace's old guard, her husband seemed disturbingly modern. Breezily intolerant of cant or humbug, Philip had little time for many of the tired rituals of royal protocol.

Later, the Press seized on his irreverent remarks on foreign tours, even though his hosts almost invariably saw the funny side.

Yet Philip's contribution to his wife's success is beyond doubt. He was her partner, her essential supporter and her confidant  her consort in every sense.

Like most men of his generation, though, he drew the line at some things. When Elizabeth went into labour in November 1948, her husband went off to play squash on the Buckingham Palace court.

On the big day, some 27 million people watched at least several hours of the BBC's reverential black-and-white coverage. It was a national spectacle like no other. Pictured: Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Abbey during her coronation

Only when she had been delivered of a son  Charles  was Philip summoned to congratulate his wife and take a look at his heir.

For the next two years, the little family spent much of their time in Malta, where Philip was serving as a naval officer. In August 1950, Charles was joined by a little sister, Anne.

But as George VI's health continued to decline, Elizabeth must have realised that her accession was rapidly approaching.

In September 1951, her father was diagnosed with lung cancer. Elizabeth dutifully agreed to tour Canada and the U.S. on his behalf, and President Truman hailed her as a 'fairy princess'.

In the New Year she left on another tour, heading first to East Africa. In Kenya she and her husband stayed at Treetops lodge, built in the branches of a fig tree, where she spent the evening watching baboons and rhinoceroses.

Only one man ever caught her eye. He was the tall, handsome Philip of Greece, five years her senior

The next day, on February 6, Elizabeth left for the Sagana royal lodge, in the foothills of Mount Kenya. It was there, shortly after lunch, that one of her party, Mike Parker, switched on the radio and heard the news from London.

George VI had died in his sleep. At the age of just 25, Elizabeth was Queen. Although she never spoke of the moment when she found out, it must have been a terrible shock. In that instant, not only did she lose her father, she also assumed a responsibility of awe-inspiring proportions.

What astonished many people, though, was her unflappable self-possession. 'I'm so sorry, we've got to go back,' she said to her officials. 'I've ruined everybody's trip.'

They flew back to London in silence. Every now and again Elizabeth left her seat, and some of her officials thought she had been crying.

Waiting on the Tarmac were the most powerful men in the land, including the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, as well as the Labour leader, Clement Attlee.

Churchill, who was besotted with his new sovereign, told a friend: 'All the film people in the world, if they had scoured the globe, could not have found anyone so suited to the part'

That night, addressing the nation, Churchill looked forward to a new Elizabethan Age. 'Famous have been the reigns of our Queens,' he said grandly. 'Some of the greatest periods in our history have unfolded under their sceptre.' His words set the tone for the start of Elizabeth II's reign.

Across the world, millions were fascinated by pictures of the solemn young Queen.

Churchill, who was besotted with his new sovereign, told a friend: 'All the film people in the world, if they had scoured the globe, could not have found anyone so suited to the part.'

After years of greyness, deprivation and austerity, Britain's new Queen seemed to symbolise a better, brighter future.

Commentators talked of a new Elizabethan Age, an age of technological innovation and a cultural renaissance.

At Elizabeth's coronation on June 2, 1953, millions lined the streets of London, cheering and waving their flags despite the pouring rain.

Even more significantly especially for the long-term future of the monarchy  the sales of new television sets doubled in the month before the coronation.

On the big day, some 27 million people watched at least several hours of the BBC's reverential black-and-white coverage. It was a national spectacle like no other. Perhaps no public event in British history ever captured the popular imagination like the coronation. Sales of flags, banners and memorabilia went through the roof.

The day even gave the country a new national dish  coronation chicken, an Anglo-Indian recipe invented especially for the Palace banquet by the food writer Constance Spry and the chef Rosemary Hume.

For Elizabeth, however, the coronation was a deeply personal and spiritual experience. All her life she had been, and would remain, a committed Christian.

At Elizabeth's coronation on June 2, 1953, millions lined the streets of London, cheering and waving their flags despite the pouring rain. The Queen is photographed on June 2, 1953 smiling after her Coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey in London

To this serious young woman, the moment when the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher, anointed her with oil and placed the crown on her head was the moment she dedicated herself, body and soul, to the service of her people.

In the first years of her reign, it seemed that Elizabeth and her family could do no wrong. In 1953 and 1954, she toured the world for six months, becoming the first reigning British monarch to visit Australia and New Zealand.

It was on this tour that observers first noticed what courtiers called the 'smiling problem'.

No public figure in history had been expected to wave and make small talk to so many thousands of people. And though, to her immense credit, Elizabeth never put a foot wrong in public, even she found the experience wearying.

Indeed, sometimes crowds noted that she looked a little downbeat, especially at the end of the day.

'It's awful,' the Queen said. 'I've got the kind of face that if I'm not smiling, I look cross. But I'm not cross.

'If you try to smile for two hours continuously it gives you a nervous tic. But the moment I stop smiling, somebody will see me and say 'Doesn't she look cross?' '

After returning from her tour, she welcomed a new Prime Minister  Anthony Eden, who replaced Churchill  and grappled with a thorny family dilemma.

Elizabeth's flighty little sister Margaret had fallen in love with Group Captain Peter Townsend, a decorated RAF officer who was already divorced with two sons.

Many old Palace hands argued that it would be unconscionable for the monarch's sister to marry a divorcee  which would mean marrying outside the Church of England.

The shadow of the accession, which had cast such a blight over Elizabeth's parents' lives, seemed to have returned.

When the Press got hold of the story, the speculation became unbearable. At last, in October 1955, Margaret decided to renounce her dashing Captain.

Queen Elizabeth II and Philip wave from the balcony to the crowds at Buckingham Palace after the Coronation in June 1953

Although she later married the photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones, the liaison was not a success, and her increasingly erratic behaviour would become a considerable embarrassment to the Palace.

It was a sign, though, of the new pressures of mass media and the cult of celebrity, which would only grow as Elizabeth's reign continued.

The magic of monarchy lay in its paradoxical combination of remoteness and accessibility. But with the birth of television and the emergence of a less deferential media culture, this would become a harder trick to pull off.

For the time being, Elizabeth seemed to have come through the crisis unscathed. But the episode was a sign of the conservative atmosphere at the Palace, which often infuriated Philip, who saw himself as a moderniser.

'What am I doing here?' he would sometimes exclaim to friends after some new snub by the older courtiers. 'Why am I here?'

It was Philip, for example, who argued for Charles and Anne to go to school. At the time this was seen as a startlingly forward-thinking move, even though the schools concerned  Cheam and Gordonstoun for Charles and Benenden for Anne  were hardly the kind of establishments frequented by most ordinary boys and girls.

Contrary to the caricatures, though, Elizabeth and Philip were devoted parents. A friend told one of the Queen's biographers, the historian Ben Pimlott: 'At Balmoral, they were a very normal, ordinary, country-loving couple with two small children.'

And despite their elevated status, Elizabeth and her husband did manage to have some semblance of an ordinary life.

During those first years of her reign, they would even slip out to the cinema sometimes, always arriving just as the lights went down.

On one memorable occasion, they found themselves sitting behind a delegation of visiting Russian miners, who could barely believe their eyes when the interval arrived, the ice-cream sellers came out and the lights went up.

Yet the times were changing. The Empire, which people of Elizabeth's generation had once taken for granted, was breaking up.

In 1956, Eden's gamble to restore British prestige by recapturing the Suez Canal was a disaster and, when he resigned, the Queen effectively surrendered her royal prerogative to pick his successor, meekly accepting the Tory grandees' recommendation of Harold Macmillan.

Princess Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh during their honeymoon in Malta in 1947

Both her father and grandfather had been men with openly Tory opinions. But Elizabeth was careful to give nothing away.

Some critics were beginning to chafe at the Palace's institutional conservatism.

The journalist Malcolm Muggeridge warned in 1955 that many people felt that 'the whole show is utterly out of hand'. And two years later, the historian John Grigg provoked controversy when he wrote that the Queen's speechwriters made her sound like a 'priggish schoolgirl' and a 'pain in the neck'.

For the time being, though, Elizabeth basked in popular approval. In 1957 she gave her first televised Christmas broadcast, and her accent was noticeably more clipped in those early days than it later became.

Abroad she was a star. The Americans, in particular, loved her, and she reciprocated their affection. In 1960, while awaiting the birth of her third child, Andrew, she amused herself by sending President Eisenhower a recipe for drop scones.

By now her commitment to the newly independent countries of the Commonwealth, as well as her lack of the slightest racial prejudice, was already apparent.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Michael Ramsey, declared that Britain was lucky to have 'around the throne a Christian family united, happy and setting to all an example of what the words 'home and family' most truly mean'. Pictured: The Queen, Prince Philip and their children in 1960

Visiting Ghana in 1961, she was photographed dancing cheerfully with President Kwame Nkrumah, a fierce critic of Western imperialism.

In apartheid South Africa, which had withdrawn from the Commonwealth, newspapers were horrified to see 'the honoured head of the once mighty British Empire dancing with the black natives of pagan Africa'.

In the long run, though, moments like this did the Queen's image tremendous good. Even though most of her subjects were largely indifferent, she manifestly loved the international family of the Commonwealth and took it enormously seriously.

Her own family, meanwhile, continued to expand. In 1964 she had a fourth child, Edward. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Michael Ramsey, declared that Britain was lucky to have 'around the throne a Christian family united, happy and setting to all an example of what the words 'home and family' most truly mean'.

But the times were changing. In the heady climate of the 1960s, many people would come to question the values of home and family  as well as Christianity itself.

And as the culture of deference receded, not even the monarchy itself would be safe from criticism.
MAFS UK's Bob Voysey admits he regrets not being 'completely myself' on series and says a lot of couples on show now want to 'try and become famous'
Apple's latest software update - iOS 16 - is now available for all iPhone models from the iPhone 8 up.

First announced back in June, and with the launch date confirmed at Apple's 'Far Out' event last week, the operating system includes a range of new features.

These include a redesigned lock screen, the ability to unsend messages and emails, and the option to set up an iCloud Shared Photo Library.

There is also a new 'Lockdown Mode' which reduces the device's functionality in order to protect it from cyber attacks.

'Designed to take advantage of the new capabilities of iPhone 14 Pro, iOS 16 features a reimagined Lock Screen along with new communication, sharing, and intelligence features that together change the way users experience iPhone,' Apple explained in a post on its newsroom.

MailOnline takes a look at all the key features that come with iOS 16, and how you can download the update.

The software update, which is available for iPhone 8 and up, rolled out on September 12

iOS 16: KEY FEATURES - Personalised lockscreen - Ability to edit and unsend messages in Messages app - Scheduling emails - Live Text updated to include video - Visual Look Up - Lockdown Mode - Apple Pay Later - Next generation CarPlay Advertisement

How to download iOS 16

iPhone users can go to the Settings App, click on 'General' and then 'Software Update'.

Then tap 'Install' if the iOS 16 update is available to download, and will be guided through steps to verify the decision and reboot the device.

The update can also be installed through a Mac or Windows computer with iTunes installed.

It is a good idea to back up the iPhone before installing iOS 16, to ensure all data is secure in iCloud if anything goes wrong while updating.

This can be done by going into the Settings app, clicking the device owner's name at the top of the menu, then clicking 'iCloud' and 'iCloud Backup'.

When 'iCloud Backup' is set to on, tapping 'Back Up Now' will guide you through the back-up process, and enable you to restore the device's data at a later date.

The new iPhone 14 series - iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max - will come with iOS 16 pre-installed.

The equivalent operating system will not be available on iPads until later in the year.

Personalised lockscreen

The biggest update with iOS 16 is the lockscreen, which can now be personalised.

Users can choose whether they'd like to showcase their favourite photos, customise font styles, and display a set of widgets in the lockscreen.

For example, if you regularly check the weather, you could choose to have a weather widget permanently in your iPhone's lockscreen.

There is also the option to have multiple lock screen tied to different 'focus modes', like one for work time and one for personal time.

The biggest update with iOS 16 is the lockscreen, which can now be personalised. Users can choose whether they'd like to showcase their favourite photos, customise font styles, and display a set of widgets in the lockscreen

New 'Focus Filters' can also be applied, that can hide distracting content from apps during work hours, or messages from colleagues when out the office.

'The Lock Screen is more personal, beautiful, and helpful than ever with a multilayered effect that artfully sets subjects of photos in front of the time, and newly designed widgets that offer information at a glance,' Apple explained.

'For Lock Screen inspiration, the wallpaper gallery offers a range of options, including Apple collections, a Weather wallpaper to see live weather conditions as they change throughout the day, an Astronomy wallpaper for views of the Earth, moon, and solar system, and many more.'

Messages

If you're always making typos, you'll be happy to hear of a range of handy new tools coming to the Messages app.

'You can now edit a message you've just sent or unsend a recent message altogether,' Apple explained.

'And you can mark a message as unread if you can't respond at that moment and want to come back to it later.'

Sent messages can be edited or removed within the first 15 minutes of sending them.

If you're always making typos, you'll be happy to hear of a range of handy new tools coming to the Messages app

How to unsend a message in iOS 16 1. In the Messages app, open the chat containing the sent message that you want to unsend 2. Long press the sent message that you want to fix 3. Tap Unsend from the pop-over menu 4. The message will disappear and be replaced by the text 'You unsent a message' Advertisement

Photos

Apple has introduced a new iCloud Shared Photo Library, which it describes as the 'best way to share photos with your family.'

Users can choose what to include in their shared library based on a start date or the people in the photos, and can share it with up to five other people.

'Once the shared library is set up, you can share photos instantly straight from Camera, choose to share automatically when other shared library members are nearby, and get smart suggestions for adding photos to the shared library in For You,' Apple explained.

Mail

The Search function in Mail has been improved to deliver more accurate and complete results.

And as with Messages, users can now unsend emails within 10 seconds of pressing send.

'Easily unsend an email you've just sent, schedule messages to be sent whenever you like, and get reminders to follow up or come back to a message later,' Apple said.

Live Text

Live Text has been updated and is now available for video and features quick actions.

'Live Text gets more powerful with the ability to recognise text in video and quickly convert currency, translate text, and more,' Apple said.

For example, if you were on holiday in France and wanted to quickly know how much a punnet of grapes cost in your local currency, you could take a photo of the price tag and your iPhone would instantly convert the currency.

You will also be able to copy text from videos, and paste it straight into a message, web browser or call a phone number.

Apple's Live Text tool has been updated and is now available for video and features quick actions

You will also be able to copy text from videos, and paste it straight into a message, web browser or call a phone number

Live Captions

The update will include real-time transcription for videos and audio, which is useful for those with hearing disabilities and who need to record a conversation.

This is called 'Live Captions', and can be turned on through 'Accessibility' in the Settings app, which will apply it to any audio played within the device.

Captions will then appear at the top of the screen during phone calls, FaceTime sessions and videos, and the font size can be customised.

'My Sports' in News

A new addition to the News app is 'My Sports', which lets you select your favourite teams across different sports.

The app will then create a section that only features those teams, showcasing scores, articles and video highlights.

A new addition to the News app is 'My Sports', which lets you select your favourite teams across different sports. The app will then create a section that only features those teams, showcasing scores, articles and video highlights

Maps

Apple Maps will now let you add multiple stops to your routes in advance.

'Plan multiple stops along your route in advance or easily access previous routes in Recents,' Apple explained.

'Maps also syncs across your devices, so you can look up directions on your Mac and see them on your iPhone when you're ready to go.'

Visual Look Up

A handy photo cropping feature will be available with the new operating system called 'Visual Look Up'.

Owners of an iPhone XS or newer can now copy objects from the foreground of images, and then paste them into other apps without their background.

This can be done with photos taken using the camera, screenshots, previews and images found online.

It is also able to identify birds, dogs insects and statues which are the subject of an image.

Owners of an iPhone XS or newer can now copy objects from the foreground of images, and then paste them into other apps without their background. It is also able to identify birds, dogs insects and statues which are the subject of an image

Health and Fitness

Apple has added a new Medications feature in the Health app.

'The new Medications feature in the Health app helps you manage, track and understand the medications you take,' it said.

Meanwhile, users will now be able to benefit from the Fitness app, even if they don't have an Apple Watch.

'The Fitness app can help you track and meet your fitness goals, even if you don't have an Apple Watch,' Apple added.

'Now, using iPhone motion sensors, your steps, distance and thirdparty workouts will give you an estimate of your calories to contribute to your daily move goal.'

Lockdown Mode

Lockdown Mode is a new security feature that iPhone users should hope to never have to use.

While in Lockdown Mode, the device strictly limits its functionality in order to reduce the possible ways hackers can break into it.

This includes blocking all messages and calls from people the user does not know, as well as access to Shared Photos.

It switches off link previews in messages, as it has been found that IP address information can be transferred when a user sends a URL that appears with a preview.

It also disables certain features on web pages that could make the phone susceptible to attack, and blocks you from opening attachments.

The phone cannot receive FaceTime calls or invitations for calendar events from contacts the phone has never communicated with before.

It also blocks wired connections to your device, preventing anyone with physical access to your phone or computer from being able to download its contents.

While in Lockdown Mode, the device strictly limits its functionality in order to reduce the possible ways hackers can break into it. Marijus Briedis, Chief Technology Officer at NordVPN, said: 'The mode is not something you can simply toggle on and off without a full system reset'

Marijus Briedis, Chief Technology Officer at NordVPN, said: 'Lockdown Mode is the newest, and most heavy-duty weapon in Apple's cybersecurity artillery.

'It's the sort of feature that is probably standard issue among intelligence agents, now rolled out to a far wider audience.

'With just a few swipes users can set up the equivalent of Fort Knox on their iPhone, protecting data on their handset from the attention of would-be hackers.

'Once activated it restricts the activity allowed on your device, giving cybercriminals a far smaller target to aim at.

'Yet using Lockdown Mode comes at a cost. Get behind the wheel of a tank and you're unlikely to be setting any speed records and, in the same way, employing this security measure will limit your iPhone's performance and what you can do with it.

'The mode is not something you can simply toggle on and off without a full system reset.

'Unless you are a high-ranking government minister or privy to priceless state or commercial secrets, engaging Lockdown Mode to safeguard your phone is like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

'And if bad actors genuinely have your device in their sights, running the feature could convince anyone tracking your phone that you have something worth stealing.'
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Smashing a spacecraft into an asteroid in a bid to throw it off course may evoke memories of a Hollywood disaster movie such as Armageddon or Deep Impact.

But this is definitely not fiction  in fact, it's NASA's ambitious planetary defence test that if successful could one day pave the way for protecting Earth from a catastrophic impact from space.

It is the US space agency's first ever attempt at such a mission and will involve a spacecraft crashing into an asteroid 6.8 million miles from Earth at 15,000mph in two weeks' time.

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) was launched last November ahead of an almost year-long journey to crash into the small asteroid Dimorphos, which orbits a larger one called Didymos.

Didymos and Dimorphos will make their closest approach to Earth in years in late September, passing at a distance of about 6.7 million miles (10.8 million kilometres) from the planet.

The impact is due to take place on Monday, September 26 at 19:14 ET (00:14 BST) and can be watched live on NASA TV and the agency's YouTube channel.

Rome-based Virtual Telescope Project has also teamed up with several observatories in South Africa and will be showing the target asteroid in real-time at the moment of the scheduled impact.

The animation and graphic below shows how the mission will work, while MailOnline also explains the test's purpose and how it compares to a couple of the more famous asteroid-related disaster movies.

Brace for impact: NASA's first ever 'planetary defence' spacecraft  sent to deflect an asteroid 6.8 million miles from Earth  is set to hit its target on Monday, September 26. The graphic above shows how the mission will work

The spacecraft has captured images of its target double-asteroid system, which includes the asteroid it will crash into, called Dimorphos, the asteroid moonlet of Didymos

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test was launched last November ahead of a year-long journey to crash into the small asteroid Dimorphos, which orbits a larger one called Didymos

WHAT IS THE NASA DART MISSION? DART will be the world's first planetary defence test mission. It is heading for the small moonlet asteroid Dimorphos, which orbits a larger companion asteroid called Didymos. When it gets there it will be intentionally crashing into the asteroid to slightly change its orbit. While neither asteroid poses a threat to Earth, DART's kinetic impact will prove that a spacecraft can autonomously navigate to a target asteroid and kinetically impact it. Then, using Earth-based telescopes to measure the effects of the impact on the asteroid system, the mission will enhance modelling and predictive capabilities to help us better prepare for an actual asteroid threat should one ever be discovered. Advertisement

Astronomers say that anybody tuning it to watch the impact may well be able to spot changes in brightness of the asteroid as a result of the collision.

That's if it is successful, of course, which wasn't quite the case in Deep Impact.

The 1998 film depicts the attempts to prepare for and destroy a 7-mile (11 km) wide asteroid that is set to collide with Earth and cause a mass extinction.

A team of astronauts are sent to land on the space rock and drill nuclear bombs deep beneath its surface, but rather than deflect the asteroid, when they're detonated they only split it in two.

The smaller fragment goes on to hit Earth, creating a megatsunami that destroys much of the East Coast of the United States and also hits Europe and Africa, before the spacecraft and its crew that deployed the nuclear bombs sacrifice themselves by crashing into the bigger remnant of the asteroid and blowing it into smaller pieces.

It is the latter technique that bears a similarity to the real-life DART mission, although there won't be any nuclear bombs involved.

Part of the reason is that when the $325 million (240 million) DART craft hits Dimorphos, the plan is for it to change the speed of the 'moonlet' by a fraction of a per cent, rather than obliterate it.

Although the 525ft-wide space rock doesn't pose a danger to Earth, NASA wants to measure the asteroid's altered orbit caused by the collision.

This demonstration of 'planetary defence' will inform future missions that could one day save Earth from a deadly asteroid impact.

'This isn't going to destroy the asteroid. It's just going to give it a small nudge,' said mission official Nancy Chabot of Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, which is managing the project.

Dimorphos completes an orbit around Didymos every 11 hours and 55 minutes 'just like clockwork', she added.

DART's goal is a crash that will slow Dimorphos down and cause it to fall closer toward the bigger asteroid, shaving 10 minutes off its orbit.

The change in the orbital period will be measured by telescopes on Earth. The minimum change for the mission to be considered a success is 73 seconds.

The DART technique could prove useful for altering the course of an asteroid years or decades before it bears down on Earth with the potential for catastrophe, much like in the highest-grossing film of 1998, Armageddon.

Starring Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler, among others, the movie sees NASA scientists discover they have 18 days before an asteroid the size of Texas hits Earth.

They then devise a plan to have a deep core oiler driller (Willis) train a group of asteroids to drill a hole into the space rock so they can detonate a nuclear bomb to split the asteroid in half  the same idea as in Deep Impact, but not one at play with DART.

Ultimately, Willis' character wants his own men to do the job, including Affleck, and the former has to sacrifice himself to save the planet by making sure the bomb detonates while the others make their escape on the space shuttle they travelled to the asteroid on.

Part of the problem for the fictional scientists in Michael Bay's film is that they only discovered the asteroid less than three weeks before it was due to hit Earth.

In reality, NASA would know years in advance because it monitors such threats. It considers any near-Earth object 'potentially hazardous' if it comes within 0.05 astronomical units (4.6 million miles) and measures more than 460ft in diameter.

More than 27,000 near-Earth asteroids have been catalogued but none currently pose a danger to our planet.

This means that pushing a space rock off course is more of a possibility for DART than it was in Armageddon, where nuclear bombs had to be used to obliterate the giant object.

Deep Impact (pictured) depicts the attempts to prepare for and destroy a 7-mile (11 km) wide asteroid that is set to collide with Earth and cause a mass extinction. A team of astronauts are sent to land on the space rock and drill nuclear bombs deep beneath its surface, but rather than deflect the comet, when they're detonated they only split it in two. The smaller fragment goes on to hit Earth, creating a megatsunami

Starring Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler, among others, Armageddon (pictured) sees NASA scientists discover they have 18 days before an asteroid the size of Texas hits Earth. They then devise a plan to have a deep core oiler driller (Willis) train a group of asteroids to drill a hole into the space rock so they can detonate a nuclear bomb to split the asteroid in half  the same idea as in Deep Impact, but not one at play with DART

With Dimorphos, a small nudge 'would add up to a big change in its future position, and then the asteroid and the Earth wouldn't be on a collision course,' NASA said.

The US space agency's Bobby Braun added during a media briefing today: 'This inaugural planetary test mission marks a major moment in human history.

'For the first time ever we will measurably change the orbit of a celestial body in the universe.

'Doing so has clear benefits in ensuring humanity's ability to deflect a potential threatening asteroid in the future.'

Andrea Riley, DART programme executive at NASA HQ, said: 'The DART demonstration of technology to deflect an asteroid is one we believe is important to conduct before there is an actual need.

'So while DART's target does not pose a threat to Earth, this mission and demonstration will give planetary defence experts more confidence that this is a viable mitigation technique should we ever discover [an asteroid that is].'

An asteroid the size of Dimorphos could cause a continent-wide destruction on Earth, while the impact of one the size of the larger Didymos would be felt worldwide.

One of the main reasons for the mission is that although astronomers know in a lot about the orbits of most of the 26,115 currently known near-Earth asteroids, they don't understand the density of the material the rocks are made of.

This means they can only guess how the surface might behave upon impact, such as from a spacecraft.

Pictured is the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket which carried DART off the planet when it was launched in November 2021

DART will arrive at Dimorphos in two weeks' time, where it will deliberately smash into the asteroid at speeds of 15,000mph

DIMORPHOS AND DIDYMOS Dimorphos completes an orbit around Didymos every 11 hours and 55 minutes. It was discovered in 1996 by the Spacewatch survey at Kitt Peak. The sub-kilometre asteroid is classified as both a potentially hazardous asteroid and a near-Earth object. Orbiting Didymos is a 'moonlet' called Dimorphos, which was found in 2003. Advertisement

'Asteroids are complicated, they look different, they've got boulders, they've got rocky paths, they've got smooth parts,' Chabot said.

'And so how exactly the DART spacecraft interacts with a real asteroid of this size and where it hits is one of the main factors for those models and also how that asteroid is put together.

'We know a lot of asteroids are maybe like rubble piles.'

Scientists constantly search for asteroids and plot their courses to determine whether they could hit the planet.

'Although there isn't a currently known asteroid that's on an impact course with the Earth, we do know that there is a large population of near-Earth asteroids out there,' said Lindley Johnson, NASA's Planetary Defense Officer.

'The key to planetary defence is finding them well before they are an impact threat.

'We don't want to be in a situation where an asteroid is headed towards Earth and then have to test this capability.'

NASA is targeting the impact to be as nearly head-on as possible 'to cause the biggest deflection', but the 1,210lb spacecraft will not 'destroy' the asteroid.

When DART spacecraft smashes into Dimorphos it will also have a witness in the form of an Italian cubesat called LICIACube, or the Light Italian Cubesat for Imaging of Asteroids.

This is a 31lb (14 kg) micro-satellite that has hitched a ride on DART to the Didymos-Dimorphos binary asteroid system, before being deployed yesterday to give it 15 days to assume a safe position to observe the spacecraft's collision.

'LICIACube will be released from the dispenser on one of DART's external panels, and will be guided (braking and rotating) to start its autonomous journey toward Dimorphos,' Elena Mazzotta Epifani, an astronomer at Italy's National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) and a co-investigator on the LICIACube mission, told Space.com.

'The cubesat will point its cameras toward the asteroid system, but also to DART, and will probably take some pictures of it.'

She added: 'Together, DART and LICIACube will analyse for the first time and with high detail the physical properties of a binary near-Earth asteroid, allowing us to investigate its nature and have hints on its formation and evolution.

'LICIACube will obtain multiple images of the ejecta plume produced by the impact itself, of the DART impact [crater] size, as well as the non-impact hemisphere to help us to study the size and morphology of the crater and the effects on the surface properties in the surroundings.'

Both Didymos and the smaller Dimorphos were discovered relatively recently; Didymos in 1996 and the smaller Dimorphos in 2003.

The year it was discovered, Dimorphos came within 3.7 million miles of Earth  15 times farther away than the moon.
From a ship named Boaty McBoatface to a whale named Mister Splashy Pants, the public usually doesn't take things seriously when asked for help in scientific naming competitions.

So it should come as no surprise that the latest public naming competition has had some ridiculous suggestions  particularly given the subject.

An unofficial Twitter account, called Ice Giant Missions, asked the public what they would name a new Orbiter and Probe mission to Uranus.

Some people took the challenge seriously and suggested names such as Herschel (the British astronomer who discovered Uranus), Caelus (the Roman version of Uranus) and Ymir (the Ice Giant in Norse mythology).

However, others went down a slightly less appropriate route, with suggestions including Operation Butt Plug, Enema, and Colonoscopy One.

An unofficial Twitter account, called Ice Giant Missions, asked the public what they would name a new mission to Uranus

Some people took the challenge seriously and suggested names such as Herschel (the British astronomer who discovered Uranus), Caelus (the Roman version of Uranus) and Ymir (the Ice Giant in Norse mythology)

NASA is urged to launch mission to Uranus NASA has been urged to launch the first mission to giant Uranus, in a report by the National Academy of Sciences, outlining space priorities for the next decade. Known as the Committee on the Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey, it designates a Uranus Orbiter and Probe as the highest-priority flagship mission. The astronomers and planetary scientists behind the decadal report also called for NASA to visit Saturn's frozen moon Enceladus and look for signs of life. Read more Advertisement

The Ice Giant Mission Twitter account posed the question this week.

It wrote: 'There was: Voyager, Cassini-Huygens, New Horizons, Juno, Perseverance. We want to know, what would YOU name the Uranus Orbiter & Probe Mission.'

One of the most popular suggestions in the replies was Caelus  the Roman counterpart of the Greek god Uranus.

Another user suggested Herschel in honour of Uranus' discoverer, William Herschel.

However, they pointed out this name is unlikely, given it has already been used for a European Space Agency mission.

Meanwhile, another wrote: 'Gotta go with a great female explorer. Earhart is fitting, given she was the first pilot to cross both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.'

However, other suggestions took a ruder approach.

'Enema, based on the Greek demigod of underground rivers and exploration,' one person joked.

'How about the Planetary Orbital Observation Probe? AKA the P.O.O.P,' another tweeted.

And others took inspiration from Boaty McBoatface, with suggestions of Uranusy McUranusface, Probey McProbeface and Spacey McSpaceface.

Some went down a slightly less appropriate route, with suggestions including Operation Butt Plug, Enema, and Colonoscopy One

While NASA hasn't announced any plans to launch a mission Uranus, a recent report by the National Academy of Sciences urged the space agency to investigate the distant planet.

Known as the Committee on the Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey, the report designates a Uranus Orbiter and Probe as the highest-priority flagship mission.

Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun, and is an 'ice giant' with 17 known moons and a minimum temperature of -371F.

The only spacecraft to visit was NASA's Voyager 2 in 1986.

The astronomers and planetary scientists behind the decadal report also called for NASA to visit Saturn's frozen moon Enceladus and look for signs of life.

Every ten years, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine gathers a group of space experts and asks them to reach a consensus on how NASA should apply its budget in the field of planetary science and defense.

The latest report covers the years 2023 to 2032 and also includes plans already underway, such as bringing rocks back from Mars and 'doing science at the moon'.

The proposals are influential when it comes to gaining federal funding for future space missions, and directing NASA's plans for large-scale projects.

NASA committed to two proposals from the last planetary science survey in 2012 - the Europa Clipper launching in 2024 and the Perseverance rover now on Mars.
Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket experienced its first failed launch Monday due to an 'anomaly' just about one-minute after liftoff that saw the capsule activate its escape system to pull away from the booster when its engine went out.

The capsule quickly ignited its escape motor that generated at least 70,000 pounds of thrust in just a few seconds and then burned out to allow the craft to deploy its parachutes and coast back to Earth.

This is the first time the escape system had been used in a real situation - previous scenarios were to test the technology.

The capsule was uncrewed, it was only carrying scientific research equipment, but had humans been inside they would 'have felt a serious jolt, but would 'have been safe,' Eric Berger with Ars Technica reports.

Blue Origin has yet to reveal what caused Monday's issue.

The engine went out on the boost one-minute and five seconds after Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket took off. Liftoff was around 10:26am ET from the company's West Texas site

'It appears we have experienced an anomaly on today's flight,' said Erika Wagner, Blue Origin's payload sales director and host of the company's launch webcast Monday.

'This was unplanned and we don't have any details yet, but our crew capsule was able to escape successfully.'

Blue Origin, which is owned by Jeff Bezos, launched New Shepard for its 23rd flight at 10:26am ET from its West Texas site and inside the capsule was 36 payloads, half of which are funded by NASA and the rest are from students in Kindergarten through 12th grade, universities and STEM-focused organizations.

'This is double the number of education-focused payloads from previous payload flight manifests,' Blue Origin shared in a statement.

'In many cases, these payloads expose students as young as elementary school to STEM skills like coding, environmental testing and CAD [computer-aided design] design often not taught until college.'

This was Blue Origin's third attempt to launch the rocket. The two other missions were scrubbed due to poor weather

This was also set to be the rocket's 23rd flight. It was carrying 36 payloads of scientific research experiments

And all seemed well until one-minute and five seconds after New Shepard left the launch pad.

The uncrewed capsule ignited is escape motor when it reached just shy of 30,000 feet above the surface and the system performed as hoped, as it quickly separated from the failed booster and then fizzled out to let the capsule deploy its three parachutes so it could make a soft landing back on Earth.

'You can see how our backup safety systems kicked in today to keep our payloads safe during an off-nominal situation,' Wagner said after the capsule landed.

'Safety is our highest value at Blue Origin. It's why we built so much redundancy into the system.'

The first testing of the escape system was conducted in 2016 and Monday was the first time it has been used since.

However, the capsule activated its escape system when it detected an issue with the booster. This is the first time the system has been used in a real world scenario

The system shot the capsule away from the boost and eventually fizzled out

This allowed the capsule to deploy its three parachutes and coast safely back to Earth. Blue Origin has yet to reveal what caused Monday's failure

Officials have not yet said what caused the issue during launch, which may take some time to investigate. 'More information to come as it is available,' Blue Origin wrote in a tweet.

This was also the third attempt for the 23rd flight - both the August 31 and September 1 launches were scrubbed due to poor weather.

Although the mission was deemed a failure, it is only the second in-flight anomaly Blue Origin has experienced since launching its first rocket in 2015, which saw the first-stage booster make a crash landing.

However, the payload reached suborbital space and the mission was not deemed a complete failure.
The mystery of the diamond-containing meteorites found across the world has finally been solved.

Scientists from RMIT and Monash University in Australia have discovered that the diamonds were formed in an ancient dwarf planet from our solar system.

The planet likely smashed into a giant asteroid about 4.5 billion years ago, which resulted in huge temperatures and moderate pressures.

These conditions caused graphite in the space rock to undergo a process that turned it into lonsdaleite - a rare hexagonal form of diamond.

This was then partially replaced by regular diamond - a tetrahedral lattice of carbon atoms - as the planet cooled and pressure reduced.

Professor Andy Tomkins, a geologist and lead author, said: 'Nature has thus provided us with a process to try and replicate in industry.

'We think that lonsdaleite could be used to make tiny, ultra-hard machine parts if we can develop an industrial process that promotes replacement of pre-shaped graphite parts by lonsdaleite.'

An ancient dwarf planet of our solar system likely smashed into a giant asteroid about 4.5 billion years ago, which resulted in huge temperatures and moderate pressures. These conditions caused graphite contained in the space rock to undergo a process that turned it into lonsdaleite - a rare hexagonal form of diamond

Professor Andy Tomkins (left) from Monash University said: 'We think that lonsdaleite could be used to make tiny, ultra-hard machine parts if we can develop an industrial process that promotes replacement of pre-shaped graphite parts by lonsdaleite.' He is pictured here with RMIT University PhD scholar Alan Salek and a ureilite meteor sample

The scientists studied 18 specimens of ureilite meteorites collected from around the world in order to investigate their origin. Pictured: Ureilite meteor sample

WHAT IS LONSDALEITE? Lonsdaleite is an ultra-hard material made only of carbon atoms. They are arranged in a regular hexagonal lattice. It is a type of diamond, which typically has carbon atoms arranged in a tetrahedral arrangement. It is found in nature in meteorite debris; when meteors containing graphite strike the Earth, the immense heat and stress of the impact transforms the graphite into diamond, but retains graphite's hexagonal crystal lattice. Advertisement

The scientists studied 18 specimens of ureilite meteorites collected from around the world to investigate their origin.

Ureilites are a rare group of stony meteorites that make up fewer than one per cent of those that fall to Earth.

They contain diamonds of preterrestrial origin, some of which are in the form of lonsdaleite.

While regular diamonds contain carbon atoms in a rigid, tetrahedral arrangement, the atoms in lonsdaleite are in a hexagonal lattice.

Hard as it may be, regular diamond does break and crumble at high enough pressures or if there are tiny flaws in the crystal, but this does not happen with lonsdaleite.

The material is named after pioneering British crystallographer Dame Kathleen Lonsdale - the first woman elected as a Fellow to the Royal Society.

RMIT Professor Dougal McCulloch predicted that its unique structure makes it a harder material than regular diamonds.

The researchers used advanced electron microscopy techniques to visualise slices of the meteorites that revealed how the diamond structures were formed.

The researchers used advanced electron microscopy techniques to visualise slices of the meteorites that revealed how the diamond structures were formed

They believe that they came from the mantle of a dwarf planet that collided with an asteroid and initiated chemical vapour deposition.

This is a process where gas molecules react to form a solid coating on a heated substrate, layer by layer.

'Chemical vapour deposition is one of the ways that people make diamonds in the lab, essentially by growing them in a specialised chamber,' said Professor McCulloch.

After the collision, graphite within the space rocks underwent a chemical vapour deposition process with a supercritical fluid that preserved its shape and texture.

Graphite is another material made exclusively of carbon, but this time in the form of stacked, one atom-thick sheets of hexagonally arranged atoms.

Only weak forces hold these sheets together, meaning that when a pencil is moved across a piece of paper they are broken apart and leave a line.

The chemical vapour deposition resulted in lonsdaleite, which was later 'partially replaced by diamond as the environment cooled and the pressure decreased', according to Tomkins.

While regular diamonds contain carbon atoms in a rigid, tetrahedral arrangement, the atoms in lonsdaleite are in a hexagonal lattice. Pictured: Hexagonal lattice structure of lonsdaleite

After the collision, graphite within the space rocks underwent a chemical vapour deposition process with a supercritical fluid that preserved its shape and texture. Graphite is another material made exclusively of carbon, but this time in the form of stacked, one atom-thick sheets of hexagonally arranged atoms. Left: Tetrahedral lattice structure of regular diamond. Right: Hexagonal sheets of graphite

The results, published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, confirm that lonsdaleite exists in nature.

Professor McCulloch said: 'We have also discovered the largest lonsdaleite crystals known to date that are up to a micron in size  much, much thinner than a human hair.'

The findings increase understanding of how the carbon phases form in ureilites, which has been a long-standing mystery.

They suggest that all ureilite meteorites are remnants of the same proto-planet, and boosts the theory that the planets of today's Solar System were forged from the leftovers of these early worlds.

The team says the unusual structure of lonsdaleite could help inform new manufacturing techniques for ultra-hard materials in mining applications.

Professor Tomkins said: 'Nature has thus provided us with a process to try and replicate in industry.

'We think that lonsdaleite could be used to make tiny, ultra-hard machine parts if we can develop an industrial process that promotes replacement of pre-shaped graphite parts by lonsdaleite.'
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The skeleton of a small dinosaur that lived 150 million years ago is set to sell for about $500,000 at Drouot auction house in Paris next month, which auctioneers boast it is perfect for someone's living room, but paleontologists argue it belongs in a museum.

The specimen, said to be an iguanodontian, stands four feet tall and measures 9.8 feet long, but Steve Brusatte, an American paleontologist affiliated with the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, said it is 'much more than just ornaments for the rich to put in their living rooms.'

'A dinosaur would look pretty good in my living room too, but they don't belong there. They belong in a museum, where they can be conserved, studied by scientists, and displayed to the public, where they educate and inspire people,' Brusatte told DailyMail.com.

Dinosaur bones have gone from research tools to valued pieces of art over the past few decades and what was once purchased by museums for a reasonable price, are now auctioned off to the highest bidder - and that could be millions of dollars.

The skeleton of a small dinosaur that lived 150 million years ago is set to sell for about $500,000 at Drouot auction house in Paris next month

Auctioneers say its small size makes it perfect for someone's living room, but Steve Brusatte, an American paleontologist affiliated with the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, said it is 'much more than just ornaments for the rich to put in their living rooms'

The dinosaur, which was partially restored by Italian paleontologists, was discovered in 2019 in Moffat County, Colorado during road-building on private land - and not much is known of its journey from the ground to the Paris auction house.

Iacopo Briano, the paleontology expert for the auction house, told DailyMail.com that this specimen belongs to the camptosauridae family and is not an iguanodon as many have speculated.

This was also echoed by Thomas Carr, a paleontologist from Carthage College in Wisconsin, who told DailyMail.com that there are no species of iguanodon from the late Jurassic of North America, which is when the auction house says this dinosaur roamed the Earth.

'Zephyr [the specimen's nickname] is an iguanodontian dinosaur (more technically what's called a 'basal iguanodontian', being the term iguanodontia referred to a 'clade') that basically means that he belongs to the same 'group' of dinosaur as Iguanodon even if he's way more old,' Briano told DailyMail.com.

He also told DailyMail.com that the skeleton was 70 percent complete when it was found and tendons from the dorsal are still preserved in the fossil - 'an extremely rare occurrence,' Braino said.

The skeleton stands four feet high and measures 9.8 feet long, which Auctioneer Alexandre Giquello told Reuters it is an ideal size for unique piece for decorating the home.

'It's a real shame to see a specimen like this go to auction - we stand to lose so much information about this dinosaur's growth if it gets sold to some rich person as home decor,' said Carr.

Carr also told DailyMail.com that 'it is difficult to tell how much of the skeleton has been restored and if it is really that complete,' but it is well-preserved.

Not only are paleontologists unhappy about the future sale, one believes the specimen has been misidentified and is actually a camptosaurus - also a herbivore

Camptosaurus had smaller front limbs and it is primarily found in Utah, Nebraska and Colorado

Camptosaurus had smaller front limbs and it is primarily found in Utah, Nebraska and Colorado.

This dinosaur roamed the Earth from the Upper Jurassic Epoch (163 million years ago) to 145 million years ago.

'If the skeleton is sold overseas to a private buyer, then very few people in the US will have a chance to even see it. If it doesn't go to a museum, then we'll never learn anything about it,' Carr said.

'A terrible situation all around; with these auctions, the art world is doing real damage to science and I wish they would smarten up and stop selling these irreplaceable specimens.'

Regardless if the dinosaur is mislabeled or not, paleontologists are still not happy they are losing another specimen, as so many have been recently purchased by private bidders.

Dinosaur bones have gone from research tools to valued pieces of art over the past few decades and what was once purchased by museums for a reasonable price, are now auctioned off to the highest bidder - and that could be millions of dollars. Paleontologists hopes who ever buys this skeleton donates it to a museum

The skelThe dinosaur, which was partially restored by Italian paleontologists, was discovered in 2019 in Moffat County, Colorado during road-building on private land - and not much is known of its journey from the ground to the Paris auction house

In July, a 10-foot-tall Gorgosaurus skeleton sold for $6.1 million to an anonymous bidder at Sotheby's auction house in New York City.

It is not known if the purchase was made by a private collector or museum.

Carr told DailyMail.com last month: '[Sales like this] are like the last copy of a book being thrown into the fire  when the skeleton was purchased by a private collector, it no longer exists to scientists anymore.

'Imagine all we know about humanity is just you and me. Clearly, that is not enough information to know about everyone.'

Carr said dinosaur fossils need to be placed somewhere, such as the Museum of Natural History in New York City, that is accessible to the scientific community, experts say, otherwise they are deemed lost to the world.

Auction houses, however, say there is no evidence that sales to private collectors hurts science.

Sotheby's Senior Vice President Cassandra Hatton told DailyMail.com: 'The great museums of the world all began as private collections, and indeed the very concept of a museum was born from the early modern tradition of cabinets of curiosity.

'These specimens have survived for millions of years, and will be around for millions more; while there is a chance they may not be available for study immediately following the sale, they surely will be at some point in the future.

'Private collectors and research institutions can benefit from each other in ways that are essential to the long-term preservation of fossil specimens and to raise awareness, as well as educate the public about dinosaurs.'
Some Twitter users could soon be without service if the firm loses data centers in Georgia and Oregon, according to an internal memo obtained by CNN that claims the social media platform lost a key center in California earlier this month.

The memo, which CNN reports is from the company's vice president of engineering Carrie Fernandez, states Twitters Sacramento data center is offline due to extreme heat and executives are monitoring the Atlanta and Portland facilities.

The California center is said to have been lost on September 5, which resulted in the total shutdown of physical equipment in SMF [Single mode Fiber].

The other data centers are up and running, but Fernandez wrote if they also experience an outage then the company may not be able to serve traffic to all Twitter's users.

An internal memo, obtained by CNN, warns Twitter users could lose service if the company's data centers in Georgia and Oregon experience an outage

Twitter set up shop in Atlanta in 2014, leasing an 80,000 square feet in a nearly one million-square, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

This is a key facility because it was designed specifically to speed up service and make it more reliable for users.

It is not known exactly where the exact location of the data center is, as Twitter is known to keep a tight lid about its facilities. Nothing is known about its Portland site.

However, all data centers require to sit at a specific temperature in order for systems to work and the extreme heat in California is what knocked out the Sacramento center.

California saw at least two weeks of high temperatures that were the hottest on record for August and September, and Sacramento recorded 116 degrees Fahrenheit at its highest.

The memo states Twitter lost its California data center (stock photo) earlier this month, which is a key center for providing service to users

Portland is experience temperatures between 70 and 80 degrees, while Atlanta is in the 80s.

The current status of the data centers is not known and Twitter has yet to announce the statements made in the memo.

DailyMail.com has contacted Twitter.

The social media platform is not just battling the heat, it is also set for a six-day trial with billionaire Elon Musk.

Twitter is suing Musk, asking the Delaware court to force him to go through with the deal he made in April to buy the company. Musk has countersued and a trial is set to start the week of October 17.

In a statement over the recent court ruling, Musk's attorney, Alex Spiro, said in a statement: 'We are hopeful that winning the motion to amend takes us one step closer to the truth coming out in that courtroom.'
Liverpool have paid their respects to Queen Elizabeth II as Jordan Henderson and Niamh Fahey signed a book of condolence.

Henderson, captain of the men's team, and Fahey, who skippers the women's side, went to Liverpool Town Hall on Monday where they were welcomed by the Lord Mayor Roy Gladden.

Dressed in black, both left messages in the public book of condolence in tribute to the longest-serving monarch in British history, who died last Thursday aged 96.

Liverpool FC captain, Jordan Henderson, and Liverpool FC Womens captain, Niamh Fahey, visited Liverpools Town Hall today to sign the official book of condolence.  Liverpool FC (@LFC) September 12, 2022

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson signs a book of condolence for Queen Elizabeth II

Niamh Fahey, the captain of the Liverpool women's team, also left a tribute at the Town Hall

It came as Reds boss Jurgen Klopp said a minute's silence ahead of Tuesday night's Champions League game with Ajax at Anfield is a suitable way to show respect for the Queen.

Some Liverpool fans chose to boo 'God Save the Queen' when it was played at Wembley before their FA Cup final win over Chelsea back in May.

Asked about the minute's silence at his pre-match press conference, Klopp said: 'I think it is the right thing to do, but I don't think our people need any advice from me to show respect.'

Klopp has pointed out that fans at Anfield gave Cristiano Ronaldo a minute's applause in April after the tragic death of his baby son, despite the Portuguese star playing for one of the club's biggest rivals, Manchester United.

The Queen, the longest-serving British monarch, died at Balmoral on Thursday aged 96

He admitted he was 'proud' of the fans' reaction to Ronaldo, and feels this gives a good indication that supporters at the stadium will act respectfully during the minute's silence.

'One, which surprised me, and I was really proud of that moment, was last year when we played Manchester United around a very sad situation around Cristiano Ronaldo's family. For me, it's clear that's what we had to do,' he added.

Klopp went on to pay his own personal tribute to the Queen, hailing her as a 'warm and loving lady' before confirming that he would honour the minute's silence.

Jurgen Klopp thinks a minute's silence for the Queen on Tuesday is the 'right thing to do'

Liverpool fans took part in a minute's applause for Cristiano Ronaldo earlier this year following the tragic death of his baby son

He continued: 'She was a really nice, warm and loving lady. She's the only Queen of England I've ever known. I didn't know her but she was kind and warm. People feel so close to her and I respect their grief a lot.

'I will show my respect tomorrow night with silence.'

While Liverpool game with Ajax will go ahead, there is doubt over Sunday's Premier League match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

There are concerns that police resources will be too stretched by the Queen's funeral in London the following day and events over the weekend during 10 days of national mourning.
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On reflection, it's a sight to behold.

A beach in Japan has become a hit with Instagrammers thanks to its tide pools, which reflect the sky in a 'mirror effect' - resulting in a striking photo opportunity.

Chichibugahama Beach, outside the city of Mitoyo in Shikoku Islands Kagawa Prefecture, has been tagged over 175,000 times on Instagram, has its own Instagram page that showcases the best mirrored snapshots captured by visitors and saw approximately 460,000 visitors in 2019.

Japan's Chichibugahama Beach, pictured, has become a hit with Instagrammers thanks to its tide pools, which reflect the sky in a 'mirror effect'

The beach is set outside the city of Mitoyo in Shikoku Islands Kagawa Prefecture. For those hoping to capture a shot for themselves, the mirror effect is said to work best at sunset

Chichibugahama Beach is also a popular spot for swimming, and since 1995 a local committee has been dedicated to keeping it clean

Popular poses that travellers strike include jumping in the air, holding up balloons and walking with props such as umbrellas.

The beach is often compared to the Salar de Uyuni salt flats in Bolivia, which similarly reflect a mirror image of the sky during the rainy season.

Chichibugahama Beach, which was relatively unknown until recent years, saw its popularity surge in 2016 when a picture showing two children reflected in its water impressed the judges of a Mitoyo tourist authority photo competition, according to Japan Forward.

The photograph inspired photographers to capture their own mirror images, turning the one-kilometre-long (0.6-mile) beach into a significant tourist attraction.

According to Mitoyo's tourism site, the mirror effect works best at sunset and when there is no wind to disturb the water's surface.

The website has even released tips on how to capture the best pictures, saying: The trick is to keep your stance close to the surface of the water.

Chichibugahama Beach has been tagged over 175,000 times on Instagram, has its own Instagram page that showcases the best mirrored snapshots captured by visitors and saw approximately 460,000 visitors in 2019

The beach shot to popularity in 2016 when a picture showing two children reflected in its water impressed the judges of a Mitoyo tourist authority photo competition

It's recommended that Instagrammers keep their stance 'close to the surface of the water' in order to get the perfect shot

Sharing their experience of the Instagram-famous attraction, Tripadvisor user 'MarkGroenewold' described it as a pristine and gorgeous beach thats an 'iconic place for unique photography'

It also recommends that the model poses on one side of the tide pool, while the photographer stands on the other.

The website hosts a calendar that lists the beach's tide and sunset times, helping Instagrammers to secure the perfect shot.

Though photography is encouraged, tourists are asked to refrain from flying drones over the beach when it gets crowded.

Sharing their experience of the Instagram-famous attraction, Tripadvisor user 'MarkGroenewold' described it as a pristine and gorgeous beach thats an 'iconic place for unique photography'.

Above is a bird's eye view of the city of Mitoyo. Visitors can access the beach by hopping on a bus from the city's train station

The beach is often compared to the Salar de Uyuni salt flats in Bolivia, pictured, which similarly reflect the sky

While user 'Lunasolhk' said: 'The best time for all those seamless reflections of the sky is evening (sunset) with low tide. Do plan well before you visit.'

Chichibugahama Beach is also a popular spot for swimming, and since 1995 a local committee has been dedicated to keeping it clean

To get to the beach, take the 'Nio Line' bus route from JR Takuma Station in Mitoyo - the drive lasts around 25 minutes. Theres also a car park next to the beach for those with car rentals.

For more information, visit www.mitoyo-kanko.com/chichibugahama.
Fitness influencer Ashy Bines and husband Steven Evans have splashed out $1.85million on a gorgeous new home on Queensland's Gold Coast.

The single-storey four-bedroom, two-bathroom spread is located in Mermaid Waters, 5kms from the CBD.

Bines, 32, and Evans, 42, were planning to build a home in the same suburb reports Domain.

Fitness influencer Ashy Bines and husband Steven Evans have splurged $1.85million on a gorgeous new home on Queensland's Gold Coast Pictured: The amazing lounge area inside the four-bedroom, two-bathroom Mermaid Waters spread

The high-profile couple, known for their glamorous lifestyle, purchased a lot in the much sought after waterside postcode for $1.065million in December 2020.

According to the report, the couple have suspended moving forward on their plans because of rising construction costs.

Their new purchase mixes luxury with a holiday mood.

Highlights include an oversized lounge which opens out to the pool and patio, making the space perfect for entertaining.

Ashy Bines (pictured) was planning to build a home in the same suburb reports Domain. Work has been suspended because of rising construction costs

Meanwhile, the gourmet kitchen boasts a lovely breakfast bar with timber finish.

The main bathroom features his and hers vanity basins, an opulent tile finish and lavish gold taps.

Inside the master bedroom the couple enjoy a huge walk-in wardrobe.

Pictured: The beautiful main bathroom inside Ashy Bines beautiful new home features his and hers vanity basins, an opulent tile finish and lavish gold taps

The amazing gourmet kitchen boasts a lovely breakfast bar with timber finish

The adorable master bedroom looks out onto the pool and patio area

The new home is a significant downsize for Bines.

In January 2020, the millionaire influencer sold a sprawling mansion in neighbouring Broadbeach Waters for $2.2 million - over $200,000 more than what she paid for it six years prior.

The house - which features a pool, cinema and built-in aquarium - was previously listed at $2.495 million, after failing to sell under the hammer.

Meanwhile in June, Bines and Evans welcomed a daughter, Tala. The couple already share an eight-year-old son, Taj.

Bines is known for sharing her health and fitness tips with thousands on social media.
RTHK: Zelenskyy says key Ukraine city of Izyum 'liberated'

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday confirmed Ukrainian troops had recaptured the strategic city of Izyum in the east of the country from Russian forces as part of a large-scale counter-offensive.

In an address to the nation marking 200 days since the beginning of Russia's assault, Zelenskyy thanked Ukrainian forces who "liberated hundreds of our cities and villages ... and most recently Balakliya, Izyum and Kupiansk," naming three important hubs recently recaptured by Kyiv's army.

The head of the Ukrainian military announced early on Sunday that as much as 3,000 square kilometres had been wrested from Russia since the offensive began at the beginning of this month.

Military observers have said the confirmed recapture by Ukraine of Izyum would represent a serious blow to Moscow's military ambitions in east Ukraine. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2022-09-12. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
China's Chongqing UAV industry helps build smart life

Xinhua) 10:19, September 12, 2022

CHONGQING, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- With a fuselage length of fewer than two meters, a flight time of four hours, and a maximum speed of 110 km per hour, the E25 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) played a vital role in extinguishing a forest fire in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality in August.

Intelligent UAVs are now being used in many scenarios, especially in complex environments, which can effectively reduce labor costs and improve work efficiency, said Zheng Wei, general manager of Chongqing Efly Technology Co., Ltd, E25's manufacturer.

Zheng said their UAVs have independent intellectual property rights, widely used in forest fire prevention, emergency rescue, security inspection, and others.

Fitted with a camera and tracking module, the UAV can send back high-definition videos in real-time, identify targeted objects, and perform object tracking.

According to Zheng, the UAVs were used for searching for potential ignition points and conducting fire detection and residual fire monitoring during the forest fire.

Meanwhile, they also sent the on-site inspection videos back to the command center through the 5G network in real-time, providing accurate data analysis and emergency treatment plans for fire prevention and fighting at the front line.

China is a key civil UAV industrial base globally and boasted over 12,000 companies engaged in the UAV industry at the end of 2021, according to the 5th China International Unmanned Aircraft System Expo held in August.

Recently, Chongqing's Liangjiang New Area received approval to build a national-level civil UAV test area. The city is seizing this opportunity to attract upstream and downstream UAV enterprises to design application scenarios such as UAVs in urban logistics.

"Chongqing has complex terrain with high mountains and steep slopes. It's difficult to transport fresh agricultural products with high added value in mountainous areas to cities by road. This provides opportunities for UAV cargo delivery," said Zhan Xiangdong, chairman of Chongqing Liangjiang Aviation and Aerospace Industry Investment Group Co., Ltd.

In the field of the UAV industry, Liangjiang New Area has gathered leading enterprises in sub-sectors such as Fonair UAS Technologies Co., Ltd. and Chongqing Efly Technology Co., Ltd., according to local authorities.

The area also has operation guarantee conditions like general aviation airports and flight service stations, forming a relatively complete industrial chain.

"In the future, we will support enterprises to carry out operations such as integrated application of satellite internet and long-range UAVs, and vertical take-off and landing of UAV for cargo delivery in high mountains and valleys," said Zhan.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Bianji)
Gigi Hadid looked relaxed while leaving a pop-up shop for her cashmere brand Guest in Residence on Sunday.

The 27-year-old model donned a baggy blue sweater for the event along with matching sweatpants.

Her long blonde locks were tied back behind her head, and her hair was parted in the middle.

For her brand: Gigi Hadid looked relaxed while leaving a pop-up shop for her cashmere brand Guest in Residence on Sunday

She flashed a closed-mouth smile, and her lips were painted a vibrant pink.

She wore a comfy pair of UGG Classic Ultra Mini Platform boots and added a pair of diamond earrings to her look as well.

Huge bouquets of sunflowers sat outside the venue where her brand's pop-up shop took place.

Casual chic: The 27-year-old model donned a baggy blue sweater for the event along with matching sweatpants

Bye! The Los Angeles native waved to dozens of onlookers while heading to her car after the event

Short braid: Her long blonde locks were tied back behind her head, and her hair was parted in the middle

Accessories: She wore a comfy pair of UGG Classic Ultra Mini Platform boots and added a pair of diamond earrings to her look as well

The Los Angeles native waved to dozens of onlookers while heading to her car after the event.

Gigi has had a very busy New York Fashion Week, enjoying the at Daily Front Row Awards on Saturday.

The daughter of Yolanda flaunted her incredible figure in fitted long sleeved crop top and a very low waist as she graced the red carpet.

To complete her distressed-look ensemble, Gigi opted for a towering pair of white stiletto heels and accessorised with some glitzy earrings.

Stunning: She flashed a closed-mouth smile, and her lips were painted a vibrant pink

Gracious: She stopped to greet her fans and chat to them

Say cheese! Gigi snapped several selfies with her fans

Adorable: The mother-of-one couldn't help herself from saying hello to a small baby at the event

Enjoying Fashion Week: Gigi has had a very busy New York Fashion Week, enjoying the at Daily Front Row Awards on Saturday

Wow! The daughter of Yolanda flaunted her incredible figure in fitted long sleeved crop top and a very low waist as she graced the red carpet

Gigi's outing comes following reports that Leonardo DiCaprio has been romantically linked to the model, despite fans fervently pointing out online that the Oscar-winner does not date women over the age of 25.

The unlikely pairing of DiCaprio, 47, and Hadid comes after his split with Camila Morrone shortly after she turned 25-years-old as they dated for four years.

'Leo does have his sights set on Gigi, but she hasnt shown an interest,' according to a report from Us Weekly on Wednesday.

Eyes on her? Gigi's outing comes following reports that Leonardo DiCaprio has been romantically linked to the model (pictured 2020)

'Theyre friends, but she doesnt want to be romantic with [him] right now.'

The insider also added that though the star has 'his sights' on the mother-of-one, she 'doesn't have her sights on him.'

Gigi is also dealing with a recent break-up as she broke up with One Direction boybander Zayn Malik in October after dating on/off since 2015 and welcoming a child, named Khai, together in September 2020.
Harrison Ford and his former costar Ke Huy Quan were grinning ear-to-ear on Saturday when they reunited for the first time in 38 years.

The 80-year-old Hollywood icon and the 51-year-old Goonies star previously shared the screen in 1984's Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom, with Ford playing the title character and Quan playing his resourceful sidekick Short Round.

Quan, who returned to prominence following his acclaimed role in Everything Everywhere All At Once, joined Ford as they promoted their new projects in Anaheim, California.

Together again: Harrison Ford, 80, and his Temple Of Doom costar Ke Huy Quan (Short Round) reunited on Saturday at Disney's D23 event in Anaheim after 38 years

Quan shared two sweet photos of the actors catching up, both showing him wrapping his arms around the older screen star.

The two even matched each other with their jeans and gray blazers.

'"I love you, Indy,"' Quan wrote in his caption, referencing a pivotal moment from Temple Of Doom.

'Indiana Jones and Short Round reunited after 38 years,' he added.

About time: Quan shared two sweet photos of the actors catching up, both showing him wrapping his arms around the older screen star

Iconic role: Quan played Indiana Jones sidekick Short Round int he second film in the series; Ford and Quan seen with Kate Capshaw in a publicity photo for Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom (1984)

Ford was at D23 to promote his upcoming fifth Indiana Jones film, which sees Logan's James Mangold taking over for Spielberg in the director's chair.

The actor confirmed at the presentation that this would be his final outing as Indiana Jones.

'This is it! I will not fall down for you again,' he told the crowd.

The actor, who is sometimes cool toward his most popular work, including the Star Wars series, was visibly emotional as he spoke about the upcoming movie after a teaser trailer was played.

'Indiana Jones movies are about mystery and adventure, but theyre also about heart, and Im really, really happy that we have a really human story to tell, as well as a movie that will kick your a**,' he said.

Excited: Ford, who is sometimes cool toward his most popular work, including the Star Wars series, was visibly emotional as he spoke about the upcoming movie after a teaser trailer was played; seen Saturday

Temple Of Doom went on to become a global hit, though some viewers found the film too dark and violent, and it was pivotal in the creation of the PG-13 rating for films that were too mature for children but didn't qualify for an R rating.

Despite its financial and critical success, others criticized the film for what they found to be racist depictions of Indian and Chinese cultures.

After appearing in Steven Spielberg's film, Quan was on screen the following year in the cult film The Goonies, which was based on a story by Spielberg and was directed by Richard Donner.

But despite playing prominent parts in two cultural major films, opportunities for the Vietnamese-born actor began to dry up in the late 1980s and 1990s.

Controversy: Temple Of Doom (pictured) was a global hit, but some viewers criticized it for its dark tone and violence, while others found it to be racist toward Indian and Chinese cultures

After giving up on an acting career in the late 1990s, he enrolled in the University of Southern California's film program to explore new opportunities.

He worked as a fight choreographer on 2000's X-Men, and he served as acclaimed Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai's assistant director on his science fiction romance 2046.

After the success of Crazy Rich Asians, Quan thought Hollywood was more accepting of Asian actors and began actively pursing projects again.

He starred in last year's surprise indie hit Everything Everywhere All At Once, which also earned widespread praise for its star Michelle Yeoh.

The multitalented actor was on hand on Saturday at D23 to promote the upcoming second season of Loki, which he will be appearing in with Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.
Supermodel Cindy Crawford went to Burning Man last week and shared images from the experience on Instagram on Sunday

The first time 'Burner' posted a trio of pictures, she reminisced about the impromptu visit to Nevada's Black Rock City, noting that she shared the experience with her daughter Kaia Gerber, who recently turned 21.

An annual event centered on self-expression, self-reliance, art, music, and community, Burning Man was built on an anything-goes ethos and is known to ignite a deeper understanding of self in attendees.

Fun mom: Supermodel Cindy Crawford went to Burning Man last week with her daughter, Kaia and shared images from the experience on Instagram on Sunday

Crawford kicked off her photos with a selfie in the desert.

While oversized polarized goggles shielded her eyes from sun and dust, the makeup-less beauty looked festival chic as she had a khaki bandana around her neck, a black bathing suit top, and messy wind-blown hair.

One of this year's art installations loomed behind her, and her caption read: 'the surreal ruggedness and inspiring beauty of the playa enabled me to reconnect to my maiden self - adventurous, fun, curious and carefree.'

Living it up: Burning Man attracts people from all walks of life, calling them to the Nevada desert annually, where art and creativity take center stage

The model, who attended the event with her daughter and veteran Burners,  appeared to assimilate quite well to the notoriously hot and creative event.

In a second image, she posed inside the giant human head sculpture freestanding on a dry sunbaked playa.

Continuing with her unabashed vulnerability, Cindy continued, Sometimes roles we play in real life disconnect is from our joyous selves, and only when we are far out of our comfort zone, we have no other choice but to look within.

A certain resemblance: Kaia Gerber celebrated her 21st birthday at the Burning Man festival with her supermodel mom

Burning Man attracts people from all walks of life, calling them to the Nevada desert annually, where art and creativity take center stage.

This year, other celebrity Burners included the likes of Paris Hilton, Karlie Kloss, Diplo, Adrien Grenier, and dozens more.

Cindy and Kaia, who went last minute when friends invited them, looked to have benefited from the expedition.
Rating:

Have thermal long johns, will travel. The life of a wildlife film-maker on Sir David Attenboroughs natural history epics is always tough  but the ordeals of the Frozen Planet II crew defy belief.

Among hundreds of breathtaking shots was one of emperor penguin chicks taking their first leap into the sea. That moment when the first bold bird threw itself into the water was the end of a 30-mile journey for the fledglings across the Antarctic ice.

It was a crucial, climactic image. To capture it, one cameraman floated in the Southern Ocean for seven hours, protected by a white survival suit, disguised as a slab of ice.

Among hundreds of breathtaking shots was one of emperor penguin chicks taking their first leap into the sea

The super-pack of wolves strategy is to break the herd up, again and again until they can target a weak and slower individual (Filmed in Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada)

When I interviewed series producer Elizabeth White last month, she told me that new camera teams had to go through rigorous training, similar to special forces exercises, before being sent out on winter missions that could last months.

In the Cairngorms, teams learned to dig snow holes to take shelter for the night. Then they flew to Svalbard, high in the Arctic Circle, where  in case of accidents while filming  they practised falling into freezing water in complete darkness and scrambling to safety.

But nothing could fully prepare them for days spent motionless in the bitter cold of the worlds most remote fastnesses. In the snow-covered Gobi desert, filming the rarely seen pallass cat, one cameraman in a hide placed his packed lunch on the ground. For the next three hours, not daring to stir a muscle, he watched the cat through his viewfinder. By the time he reached down to unwrap his meal, it was frozen right through.

From the warmth of our sitting rooms, we are able to marvel at the results of their endurance. The original Frozen Planet, in 2011, was spectacular. The sequel is spectacular-squared  exponentially superlative.

From the warmth of our sitting rooms, we are able to marvel at the results of their endurance

Sir David Attenborough heads up the new series which made its debut on Sunday evening on BBC

Filmed in ultra-high definition, making full use of drone technology that didnt exist a decade ago, this is wildlife imagery so crisp and clear that every time I gasped, I expected to see my breath billow out in chilly clouds.

Without doubt, the most astonishing clips were those of killer whales hunting seals. With the balletic co-ordination of a synchronised swimming team they flicked their tails to create a minor tidal wave. The seal was washed into the water and snapped up. Incredibly, in the immense expanse of ocean, the crew had tracked down a family of whales that appeared in the first Frozen Planet.

Other segments leave you breathless. It was impossible to watch a grizzly bear hunting musk ox calves without being both fascinated and appalled.

Not every sequence was so bloodthirsty. In Greenland, cameras caught the mating display of the hooded seal. Males entice females by inflating sacs on their noses: The bigger the balloon, the more masculine they look. To seal thedeal, a blubbery Lothario then snorts a bubble of pink tissue from his left nostril.

The most difficult animal to film, the producers told me, was the vanishingly rare Siberian tiger. It took over two years for the crew to achieve clear pictures of them  and even these were brief.

A beautiful image was created when a bear rubbed its fur against a tree, enjoying a good scratch. Months later, a tiger came by the same spot. By superimposing the two shots, the film editor made it look as if tiger and bear were side by side, like a picture in a childrens book.

Whether youre a child or the worlds greatest naturalist, Frozen Planet II is certain to amaze, astound and entertain
In yesterday's Mail on Sunday, Richard E. Grant recalled the kindness shown by Charles and Camilla to his wife after her devastating cancer diagnosis. Today, he remembers her pride in his first Oscar nomination, and how he has come to terms with life after loss.

OCTOBER 2018

Our car glides into Claridges hotel for the European press junket for my movie Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Oddly exotic feeling staying in a fabulous hotel on your home turf. My wife Joan joins me for dinner and a Claridges sleepover, and holds my face in both her hands and says, Im very proud of you, Swaz! You deserve it all. Choked me up. Joans ironclad belief in me is something I will never forget.

A fellow guest tells me he is sure I am going to be nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Joan squeezes my leg under the table. Being able to share all of this with her is what makes everything worthwhile.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2019

Special bond: Richard E Grant hugs his beloved wife Joan Washington

Oscar nominations will be announced at 1.20pm in London. My mind see-saws between the conviction that my name will not make it on to the list of five nominees, and all predictions to the contrary. Wonder if all the other contenders are going through the same emotional jangle.

Pick our daughter Oilly up and drive to our regular restaurant in Notting Hill. We will it/wont it/will it happen, between mouthfuls of pasta.

She positions her iPhone against a salt cellar, and hands over one of her headphones to watch the live feed from Los Angeles.

Within no time, theyre naming names, which appear in alphabetical order on the screen behind them.

Mahershala Ali. Adam Driver. Sam Elliott . . . Richard E. Grant. Sam Rockwell.

We look at one another and simultaneously burst into tears. Nothing prepared us for what this would actually feel like. Rather than the room just turning upside down, it felt like itd revolved a full 360 degrees.

Phoned Joan. Oh, my Swaaaaaaz, Im so proud and pleased for you!

People Ive not heard from in 45 years have found a way to send congratulations. You so deserve this repeats and repeats.

Am utterly, butterly over the moon. As Tom Hanks pointed out: Youll always be an Academy Award nominee, to the end of your days.

Feb 4, 2019: OSCAR NOMINEES LUNCH

Richard E. Grant with his daughter Olivia at the 91st Academy Awards in Hollywood

Everything has been planned like a military manoeuvre, to process 212 nominees into the ballroom of the Beverly Hills Hilton. Everyone is smartly dressed and guided to pose in front of a backdrop of miniature Oscars, then herded into the ballroom for a drink and to mingle. Brazenly ask whomever Im speaking to for a selfie.

Got to meet Shirley MacLaine, the twinkly-eyed broad of yore, who has metamorphosed from gamine to gravelly grandma. No disguising my delight when she crinkles her eyes up and recognises me.

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 20

Joan says: Ive got something serious I need to discuss with you, Swaz. Please dont get cross. I know how much this means to you, but I dont want to go to the Oscars. Hear me out. Im 5 ft 3 in and those American women tower over me, and its an absolute trial being shunted around like a piece of furniture. I know that youll have a much better time with Oilly.

Am sucker-punched.

But its the one and only time well ever go to the Oscars.

She hugs me: Please forgive me. But I really dont want to go. Try to understand.

Call Oilly, who is Kofi Annan-calm but says you know in your heart of hearts, Pops, that Mum is right.

Oilly and I fly to LA at 10.35am and take sleeping pills to prep for the weekend of all weekends ahead.

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 24 2019: OSCAR DAY

Richard E Grant with Melisa McCarthy and Barbra Streisandan at the awards ceremony

Roads are closed and policemen whistle and gesticulate where to turn and twiddle. Jam of limos queuing up on Hollywood Boulevard, offloading their starry cargo.

Ushered/herded into the auditorium for the 5pm kick-off. Were seated just left of centre, a few rows from the stage, with my co-star Melissa McCarthy and her husband Ben to my right, and Oilly to my left. Daniel Craig and Charlize Theron read out the nominees in my category.

All of us are on our feet to reward Mahershala Ali with an ovation for winning his second Oscar in three years.

Almost every winner follows the set-in-stone pathway of previous awards. With one exception. Glenn Close has been nominated for the seventh time, is the bookies favourite to win, wearing an Oscar gold dress with a long train, and seated in the middle of the front row.

Olivia Colman, seated much further back, is announced the winner, and seems genuinely discombobulated that its her, and not Glenn.

My greatest surprise and reward is when my lifelong idol Barbra Streisand comes on to introduce the Best Picture nomination and is given a standing ovation just for being here.

After the awards, theres a celebrity cattle-crush to get into the ballroom, to finally eat something.

Unbeknownst to me, Oilly spots the sequined black beret that Streisand is wearing, some distance ahead, alerts Melissa, who then grabs my arm.

Richard's daughter, who he affectionately calls Oilly, attended the ceremony with him instead of his wife

Barbra, meet Richard.

Well, Swaziboy, you didnt win that little gold guy tonight, but this is the golden moment to top all of your goldens. My iPhone aloft and flashing before Ive even secured her actual permission.

As we chat along with others, she notices that the large art deco, lozenge-shaped brooch strategically placed in the middle of her chest has come unfixed and she is now futzing to get it reattached. Need my glasses.

May I help?

Sure.

Swaziboy is now on his knees, leaning in and taking his sweet time to get his fingers dexterously around that rogue pin, and making sure its reattached. Veeeeeeeery. S l o w l y.

Thanks. Youre very polite.

Stay another ten minutes, then excuse myself to find Oilly, who shakes her head and says, Just as well Mums not here!

Olivia Colman whispers up and says, Amy Adams and I are having a lock-up later. Please come. Try stopping me!

Olivias Oscar is passed around and posed with. Amy Adams is doing karaoke and theres a cram of us queuing to make fools of ourselves.

Mic in my hand and belting out Bowies Life On Mars? with abandon, I clock that Oilly has her head in her hands. Dawn by the time we crawl back into the hotel.

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

Richard and Joan at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2019 held at the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London

The doctor who visits Joan tells me he has rarely come across such levels of determination. Do you mind my asking if your wife is a very strong-willed person? he says.

Thats an understatement! I reply. As hes leaving, the district nurse notices that Joans breathing has become much shallower and closer to the end. She might die tonight.

What do I do?

Call the out-of-hours district nurse, and one of the team will come out to certify that she has died, then its your call to get in touch with a funeral director.

She manages to tell me all of this in a simultaneously pragmatic and compassionate tone. As she drives away, I start shaking uncontrollably. Its one thing to be grown up and practical when a stranger is giving you instructions, but another feeling entirely when the impact of what theyre advising hits you with such meteoric force.

Return to Joans bedside and hold her hand with my left, while scrolling through local funeral directors on my iPhone with my right.

Truly feel that my Joan has left us in spirit already, and its only her body that is struggling on beside me.

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 2

Joan doesnt wake properly, apart from the odd eye flicker. Sit stroking her hand and talking softly about some of the daft things weve done.

At 7pm, her breathing slows quite suddenly. Keep repeating: Its all okay, my angel. Dont hold on. We all love you so. So, so much.

After each intake of breath, the gap until the next inhalation gets longer. At 7.25, I thought that her hand felt like it was cooling in mine.

Richard sadly lost his beloved wife Joan on September 2 last year

Was I just imagining this?

No, it is getting colder.

Do I let go of her hand and call Oilly to come?

Cant let go now.

Then another breath, and count the seconds before the next one.

None comes.

She died at 7.30pm.

Let go of her hand and call out for Oilly to come quickly. Feels like my heart is going to explode out of my chest, such is the intensity of this grief.

Even though we had warning that this was imminent.

Even though we knew that her time was terminally measured out in months, weeks and days.

Even though we knew all of this.

NOTHING can properly prepare us for this moment.

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 3

Moment my eyes opened, was hit by a tsunami of grief. So overwhelming, I felt like I would drown.

Her handbag is next to our bed. As is her tapestry kit, with the needle and thread waiting for her next move.

Make-up on the chest of drawers with a lipstick thats no longer needed. Her pile of bedside books. Her handwriting in her book of crossword puzzles.

All hers and yet no her here any more.

Condolences come in from everywhere. Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates call from New York  Weve only just heard. How can this be?  joining the chorus of disbelief from people we havent heard from or seen for ages.

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 4

Cannot quite compute the thousands of messages weve received and the plethora of flowers on every available surface and outside the front door. Oilly looks at me, then plaintively asks: Can you ever run out of tears, Dadda?

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 8

The day before Joans funeral. Woke up at dawn to help with the delivery and storage of all the catering kit  tables, crockery, cutlery, glasses, teacups and urns  to feed and water 80 guests.

How can we be preparing a tea party in her honour and shes not here to enjoy it all?

Mowed the lawn, then drove over to a florist in Cirencester and bought their entire stock of Joans favourite lilies to cover her casket. Back at the cottage, a huge bouquet has been delivered from the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, with a four-page, deeply empathetic, handwritten letter from Prince Charles.

Oilly and I read it together sitting on a bench at a carwash. Somewhat different from where the future King composed his letter, at Birkhall, on the Balmoral Estate!

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 9

The four minutes that follow the end of the funeral service are the most intensely pain-filled of my life. As the music crescendoed, I got up and stood beside her coffin, held on to it, then moved up to the head and wept my final farewell to the woman I have loved unequivocally and completely for almost four decades.

Despite the rain, everyone trooped back to our cottage, signed the condolence book, ate, drank, reminisced and celebrated her life.

AUTUMN 2021

Its the sheer aloneness of being alone. Whoever and however many people you meet and play with, you return alone.

Sitting solo in the pub for Sunday lunch, knowing what Joan would have ordered, her murmured commentary on the clientele, identifying their accents, that persons clothing and this persons speed of eating.

All of this going through my mind. The absence of her feels blinding.

Back in London and going through her things, Oilly and I discover that Joan has kept everything  all of Oillys kindergarten drawings, school reports, prizes, photos and birthday cards, hidden in a wooden trunk. She really is proud of me, Pops.

MONDAY NOVEMBER 1, 2021

Posted a video on social media: Today is our posthumous 35th wedding anniversary. Whats so incomprehensible is that we can never touch or talk to one another ever again. We just have to count on the feeling that the love goes on.

Accompanied by this text: I married Joan Washington 35 years ago today. Best decision Ive ever made. We were together for 38 years and our daughter @oliviagranted is the lifelong gift of a Human that we are blessed with.

Feels like a whole new world, navigating solo, but as Joan so wisely asked me: Find a pocketful of happiness in each day' Richard writes

Heartening to read the thousands of messages from people who have lost and loved or who long for love.

Returning to our country cottage, where wed spent the past 18 months together, is bracing.

Its utterly country-winter-night silent here. No distant urban hum. Just a kind of white noise in your ears.

No matter how many lunch and dinner arrangements are made, calls, texts or emails received, nothing can protect you from this silence.

How to get through it, after our 38-year conversation where nothing was too trivial to talk about: who said this and what do you think was meant by that and how much did this cost and can you believe what he did to her and why the hell did those two ever get married and why is it that, with some couples, you love one of them but loathe the other and did you see what he ate, has she had a stroke or is that Botox and do you reckon they still have sex?

Where shall we go tomorrow or shall we just stay at home, get a takeaway or have our beloved beans on toast, with Marmite instead of butter?

Us. We. Lets. Now its solitary. Single. Solo. Alone.

In Gwyneth Paltrow-speak, weve now been de-coupled by death.

Missing the steering-wheel talk on the way home, where you cross-hatch about where youve just been. Now its return home by myself. Key in the door. Outside light to switch off. Curtains closed. Keys hung. The sound of every habitual action is amplified.

Footsteps. Mine. Light switch. Click on. Teeth brushed. Click off. Clothes off. Climb into a cold bed. Reach out and touch. Amputated.

How long will this last?

APRIL 2022

In the spring of this year I travelled to Australia to film. Posted the following text/video message, walking along a beach on the Gold Coast: Beautiful as this beach is, I feel and look like an old turtle without my shell, trying to navigate the world on my own, having lost my loving compass.

Feels like a whole new world, navigating solo, but as Joan so wisely asked me: Find a pocketful of happiness in each day.

Ill try my best.

Adapted from A Pocketful Of Happiness by Richard E. Grant, to be published by Gallery on September 29 at 20.  Richard E. Grant 2022. To order a copy for 17 (offer valid to September 24, 2022; UK P&P free on orders over 20), visitmailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937.
Cate Blanchett, 53, may have a third Oscar on the horizon after becoming a second time winner of the coveted best actress award at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday.

Fifteen years after she took out the Coppa Volpi for her stunning portrayal of Bob Dylan in I'm Not There, Blanchett again proved she is one of the best actresses of her generation.

The two-time Oscar-winner was anointed for her role in the breathtaking new film Tar which is written and directed by Todd Field.

Cate Blanchett, 53, may have a third Oscar on the horizon after becoming a second time winner of the coveted best actress award at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday

Blanchett plays an esteemed classical music conductor accused of improper relationships with female colleagues.

The movie also touches on politically sensitive issues which have made headlines recently including the #MeToo movement and women in positions of authority.

Speaking in Venice, Blanchett rejected any notion of her sending hidden political messages through her portrayal of Lydia Tar, one of the most celebrated conductors of her time.

The two-time Oscar-winner was anointed for her role in the breathtaking new film Tar which is written and directed by Todd Field

'I dont see artistic practice as an education tool,' she said.

'After a film comes out it can be politicised, discussed, people can be disgusted with it, offended by it, inspired by it, but thats outside our control.'

This year's Venice Film Festival was staged from August 31-September 10, with Blanchett receiving her award just 24 hours after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

In keeping with the sombre mood around the world, Blanchett was draped in a long, black Louis Vuitton gown as a mark of respect to Britain's longest serving monarch of seven decades.

Blanchett attended the award ceremony alongside her adopted daughter Edith, who is 7 years-old

Blanchett attended the award ceremony alongside her adopted daughter Edith, who is 7 years-old.

Cate also shares three biological sons: Dashiel, 20, Roman, 17, and Ignatius, 13, with her playwriter husband Andrew Upton.

If Blanchett won another Oscar next year she would be just one shy of the legendary Katherine Hepburn's record of four wins Its a tantalising prospect but on that Blanchett isn't spending much time thinking about.

'You can't put the cart before the horse in terms of awards,' she said.

'You guys make it sound like we're disingenuous and I can't speak for everyone, but I am certain that nobody set out to sit here.

'They simple set out because they were passionate about something.'

Blanchett celebrated her latest accolade with a 'cup' of red wine.
Caprice Bourret has wished Cara Delevingne well after the British model was spotted behaving erratically in public on a number of occasions this month.

Cara's sister Poppy has raced to be by the side of the troubled star amid growing concern over her behaviour, with the actress 'acting jittery', according to onlookers, as she attempted to board a private jet in California last week before quickly disembarking.

It is claimed the Delevingne family is planning an intervention and businesswoman Caprice, 50, who has appeared on more than 250 magazine covers, says she can relate to Cara after rocketing to fame and facing her own troubles at a young age.

Offering her support: Caprice Bourret, 50, wished Cara Delevingne well after the British model was spotted behaving erratically in public on a number of occasions this month

She told The Sun: 'At such a young age, you make so much money and sometimes it just gets out of hand.

'I made my first million at 25 and I went crazy... Id never known this kind of life  and it was my own money.

'You go nuts in your twenties because youre not mature enough  and to be good-looking and famous is a formula for disaster.

Relatable: Caprice says she can relate to Cara after rocketing to fame and facing her own troubles at a young age (Cara seen behaving erratically in California last week)

'Cara is only human and I pray she gets back on track again. She will. Shes got a great family who will come to her rescue and help her out.'

Caprice was arrested for drink-driving 16 years ago and was banned from the road, and fined 1,000.

Former Celebrity Big Brother housemate Caprice said models who experience a rapid rise to fame can struggle with the 'opulence' that comes with the job.

Family affair: Cara's sister Poppy (left) has raced to be by the side of the troubled star amid growing concern over her behaviour (pictured in 2019)

Just days ago, troubling images emerged of Cara, 30, behaving erratically.

She left her feet dangling from the window of a Chevy Suburban as a driver took her to the private Van Nuys airport in LA to board a Gulfstream V private jet.

Wearing a Britney Spears T-shirt, she made her way to the plane but disembarked 45 minutes later and was spotted pacing up and down, bending over and 'acting jittery', according to onlookers.

'She was chain-smoking and speaking heatedly into her cellphone, which she dropped on the tarmac at one point,' a witness told The Mail on Sunday.

Earlier this month, Cara was spotted outside an LA sex shop smoking an unknown substance from a pipe and dropping liquid from a bottle into her mouth.

A family friend said: 'It is all very troubling. Cara has been open about her mental health issues in the past.

'She comes from a very good, close family and, of course, they will rally round and do whatever it takes to help her.

'The family is clearly worried about her, which is why Poppy immediately went to be with her. Everyone is concerned about Cara's behaviour.'
Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey stunned in stylish power suits at the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of A Jazzman's Blues on Sunday.

The 68-year-old television personality wore a black blazer and matching trousers with silver pinstripes running up and down her outfit.

She walked in black high heels and donned a pair of glasses with red lenses. Her hair was pulled into a tight ponytail.

Fashionable: Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey stunned in stylish power suits at the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of A Jazzman's Blues on Sunday

The Mississippi native flashed a huge grin for onlookers as she made her way into the event.

Perry, 52, wore a dark brown dinner jacket and matching brown trousers to the suave affair.

He posed alongside Oprah and the mother of his son Gelila Bekele at the event. Bekele wore a silky black dress which left one of her legs completely uncovered.

She added a pair of tall black boots to the event, and she held a matching clutch.

Hair pulled back: Her hair was pulled into a tight ponytail with tons of curls

Bright smile: The Mississippi native flashed a huge grin for onlookers as she made her way into the event

Looking good: Perry, 52, wore a dark brown dinner jacket and matching brown trousers to the suave affair

Posing with lots of people: He posed alongside Oprah and the mother of his son Gelila Bekele at the event

Austin Scott looked classy in a dark green blazer which he wore over a gray shirt and matching skinny trousers. His hair and beard were trimmed down neatly.

Joshua Boone matched his co-star with own dark green three-piece suit. He layered a black tie and white button-down shirt underneath it.

Milauna Jemai Jackson wore a long, sparkly gown with a cut-out at the side and revealed her long leg as well.

She pulled her hair back into a curly ponytail, and she stood on gold high heels.

Matching looks: Austin Scott and Joshua Boone wore very similar colors to the event

Sparkling: Milauna Jemai Jackson wore a long, sparkly gown with a cut-out at the side and revealed her long leg as well.

Hair pulled back: She pulled her hair back into a curly ponytail, and she stood on gold high heels

Gorgeous gowns: Debbie Allen and Amirah Vann wore beautiful dresses to the event

Debbie Allen of of Grey's Anatomy fame wore a low-cut black blouse which showed off her ample chest and a short black skirt that stopped just shy of her knees.

Amirah Vann went with a silver gown with ruffles running down the length of it.

She tied her dark black hair back in a pony tail and accessorized with tiny diamond earrings.

The Blacklist actor Ryan Eggold kept it casual in a white button-down shirt, black blazer and black trousers, and Kario Marcel also dressed down in a short sleeve white shirt and gray slacks.

Casual chic: Ryan Eggold and Kario Marcel looked casual in their red carpet appearances

Stunning: Solea Pfeiffer stunned in a fiery red dress that seemed to almost blend in with the carpet she walked. A light pink train dragged after the 27-year-old

Co-stars: Joshua Boone and Solea Pfeiffer posed together along with director Tyler Perry

Group picture: A big photo with several members of the cast was also taken at the event

Solea Pfeiffer stunned in a fiery red dress that seemed to almost blend in with the carpet she walked. A light pink train dragged after the 27-year-old.

A Jazzman's Blues follows 'an investigation into an unsolved murder unveiling a story full of forbidden love, deceit and a secret,' according to its IMDb page.

The film will come out on Netflix later this month on September 23.
Stolen: Catching The Art Thieves

Rating:

Simon Reeves South America

Rating:



There was a heart-warming reminder last night that thieves really arent that bright. When two petty crooks pinched priceless paintings from a Frankfurt gallery in 1994, they very helpfully left fingerprints on a door.

They then loaded their loot into the back of a white van, and managed to look so suspicious that a passing couple jotted down the registration number.

The pair were quickly arrested, but as Stolen: Catching The Art Thieves (BBC2) explained in a gripping account, the pictures  including two Turners on loan from the Tate  were nowhere to be found.

The travel presenter Simon Reeve is an engaging companion, who gets excited in a very understated British sort of a way (Pictured Simon Reeve with Ronnie Brunswijk)

The petty thieves were clearly acting for a mysterious Herr Big. As a dramatic caption noted: Detectives are up against a criminal mastermind.

Three days later, a Mr Rothstein phoned the Tate and claimed he now had the Turners. Was this the brains of the operation?

On balance, probably not. He demanded that 30,000 be delivered to Westbourne Park station in London, where police had no difficulty in identifying their suspect: the only person on the platform with a black bin bag over his head.

Mr R was just a chancer with no connection to the theft. So where were the paintings? The operation which recovered them many years later had it all.

There was a maverick Scotland Yard man with his own way of working who went undercover to infiltrate European gangs but didnt seem to discover much.

There was a German lawyer acting as middleman who met some shady characters in a snowy, remote forest late at night. It was even suggested that the Serbian mafia might be involved.

The criminal mastermind was never discovered, but both Turners were eventually returned at a cost of 3 million. One was handed over in a German hotel room and then carried through the streets by a Tate official to the local prosecutors office, where it was put in a cupboard alongside some pornographic videos. You couldnt make it up.

Reeve is making his way through South America, and is not afraid to tell it as it is

Was even more shady dealing involved? Did the intelligence services play a part? As a wonderfully lugubrious insurance assessor hinted: There are things I cant talk about . . . because Ive signed the Official Secrets Act . . . if you understand.

The travel presenter Simon Reeve is an engaging companion, who gets excited in a very understated British sort of a way.

Oh my goodness! he said in Simon Reeves South America (BBC2) as he admired the view from some dramatic cliffs in Venezuela. Oh my goodness! he said, again, arriving at a shanty town in Guyana.

Ooh! Thats a heavy necklace, he said, admiring the chunky gold jewellery of affable Ronnie Brunswijk, a former Surinamese rebel leader turned gold miner.

Reeve was highly critical of the mess that Ronnies mines were making of the rainforest, which was quite brave as Ronnie was holding a machine gun.

Reeve is making his way through South America, and is not afraid to tell it as it is. At a Brazil border post, he met families fleeing from the economic and political chaos that is Venezuela.

We were lacking everything, said one of the refugees. So we emigrated.

He later interviewed a couple who run a business in Guyana catering for gold miners.

Are you going to get rich? he asked cheekily.

Yes, if we were politicians, came the reply.

Youre sceptical then?

No  Im sure if I was a politician, I would get rich.
Jasmine Stefanovic (nee Yarbrough) enjoyed a sunny stroll with her daughter Harper on Monday, after her husband Karl Stefanovic jetted to the UK to anchor the Today show's coverage of the Queen's funeral.

The model and shoe designer, 38, carried her two-year-old on her hip while visiting a cafe near the couple's home in Castlecrag, on Sydney's lower north shore.

She teamed a black wool jumper with flared jeans and swept her blonde hair into a no-fuss bun as she carried a tray of take-away coffees.

Jasmine Stefanovic enjoyed a sunny stroll with her daughter Harper on Monday, after her husband Karl jetted to the UK to anchor the Today show's coverage of the Queen's funeral

Jasmine accessorised with silver earrings and navy blue mules, and also clutched a brown paper bag filled with pastries.

At one stage, she kissed her daughter on the cheek while placing her into the car.

The sighting comes after Karl, the host of Nine's Today show, hopped on a flight to Britain to handle the network's coverage of the Queen's death and state funeral.

The model and shoe designer, 38, carried her two-year-old on her hip while visiting a cafe near the Stefanovics' home in Castlecrag, on Sydney's lower north shore

He was in transit during Monday's program, which saw Charles Croucher fill in alongside Allison Langdon for the live coverage outside Buckingham Palace.

Karl will be back in the hosting chair from 5:30am on Tuesday AEST.

It comes a week after Karl revealed his daughter Harper had been battling health issues for 12 months, with Dr Nick Coatsworth suggesting a 'lack of human movement' during Covid lockdowns was to blame.

At one stage, she kissed her daughter on the cheek while placing her into the car

Jasmine, the founder of cult shoe label Mara & Mine, teamed a black wool jumper with flared jeans and swept her blonde hair into a no-fuss bun as she carried a tray of take-away coffees

The sighting comes after Karl (left), the host of the Today show, hopped on a flight to Britain to handle Nine's coverage of the Queen's death and state funeral. (Right: Allison Langdon)

The Nine personality spoke with the top doctor last Wednesday about children getting hay fever when he brought up his daughter.

'My daughter, Harper, she's been getting a lot of sicknesses. It's been a terrible year,' he said.

'She got crook last week with influenza. She has an asthma kind of thing now. But it's not asthma. It is helping. So a lot of kids are going through that at the moment, aren't they?'

Karl (pictured with Harper and wife Jasmine) explained last week his daughter Harper had been constantly sick this year and had battled a range of respiratory illnesses

The Today host spoke with Dr Nick Coatsworth (right) last Wednesday about hay fever when he brought up his daughter

Dr Coatsworth explained the effects of lockdown were a major contributing factor to the respiratory illnesses affecting both children and adults, as our immune systems adapted to the country opening back up again.

'A lot of kids, adolescents, adults... we've had this awful season of respiratory viruses. Almost certainly attributed to lack of human movement during lockdown, which of course we needed to do. But this is the price we pay,' he said.

Dr Coatsworth said he could 'almost guarantee' it was going to be a better flu season in 2023 as 'our immune memory is stimulated by all of these viruses'.

'Our immune system has evolved over millions of years. It's there to help us, it's there to protect us,' he said.

'When we're exposed to viruses, it certainly makes us stronger for the future.'

The health expert added that some children and adults who become ill will require asthma medication, like Karl's daughter.

'So, yes, some children and adults will need asthma medication for a short period of time, particularly for the post viral cough,' he said.

Harper Stefanovic was rushed to hospital in June with a respiratory syncytial virus, leaving her TV anchor father 'panicked' and 'feeling guilty'.

Dr Coatsworth explained that the prevalence of respiratory illnesses amongst Aussies was attributed to the 'lack of human movement' during lockdown

Karl has explained at the time how his daughter had 'the sniffles and a small cough', which led to him and wife Jasmine taking her to the GP.

But her condition soon deteriorated, with her temperature reaching a dangerous 40C and her heart rate racing to 200bpm.

She was then rushed to hospital in an ambulance and diagnosed with a respiratory syncytial virus, which are common in children in the winter months.

'Two days ago, my daughter Harper had what's she had so many times this year, a sniffle and a small cough,' Karl told Today show viewers at the time.

'Within a few hours we gave her Nurofen and Panadol like advised and put her down for a sleep.

'When she woke up she was breathing really quickly, wheezing, and her heart rate and temperature were through the roof.'
She was one of the major A-list stars who were on the guest list for Beyonce's celeb-filled 41st birthday party.

And Lizzo certainly knew how to grab the spotlight.

The 34-year-old singer - born Melissa Viviane Jefferson - looked absolutely fantastic in a red leather dress from the Adidas x Gucci collaboration.

Fashionista: Lizzo (born Melissa Viviane Jefferson), 34, showed off her love of Gucci and struck a few poses in a red ensemble from the Adidas x Gucci collaboration as she shared images of the outfit she wore at Beyonce's star-studded 41st birthday bash

On Sunday night she shared some very fashionable snaps as she was joined by boyfriend Myke Wright before they headed to the Queen Bey's birthday bash.

Beyonce's star-studded affair included an impressive guest list with the likes of Adele, Kim Kardashian, Lily-Rose Depp, and Bella Hadid.

Lizzo took to her Instagram page to share a series of photos of her more recent purchases, although at times she has enjoyed the perks of being a star and has gotten things for free.

First up, the Cuz I Love You star struck a number of poses, both solo and with beau Myke Wright, in a new ensemble from the Adidas x Gucci collaboration collection.

Her man: The musician and rapper also posed alongside her beau Myke Wright, who showed off his fashion sense in a purple suit with black lapels

She would then direct her spending power on her mother and gift her with a new Gucci bag for her birthday, which she documented in a second series of snaps she took while celebrating with Wright and her family.

Lizzo (born Melissa Viviane Jefferson), 34, can be seen seated dressed in a red Adidas x Gucci ensemble that consisted of a miniskirt and cropped top in three of the five pictures

The outfit had an old school, retro look to it, which is the theme of the new collaboration, which got its launch during Alessandro Michele's show in Milan last September, according to Vogue.

'We Gucci,' she declared in the caption of the posts that featured the boisterous star with her raven tresses pulled back off her face, with the use of a head scarf.

It only takes a glance to be able to recognize some of the familiar designs that each brand has been known for in yesteryears.

Stylin': The Detroit native had her long locked pulled up with a head scarf for the post

The Tempo rapper would add stylish brown-frame sunglasses to her ensemble for most of the images, including when she struck a pose or two alongside the man in her life.

Wright, 35, showed off his fashion sense decked out in a purple suit with black lapels and matching leather shoes.

Sporting a full beard and mustache, the stand-up comedian and actor had his dark locks styled in long braids that fell below his shoulders.

For a second photo together, the couple wrapped their arms around each other while staring directing into the camera, all while Lizzo makes sure to hold up her posh animal print bag.

Hyped collab: Alessandro Michele launched the Adidas x Gucci collaboration in Milan last September, and then was made available to the public in June, according to Vogue

New item: The couple sparked romance rumors of a romance when they were photographed cuddling and kissing in March 2021

The couple's history dates back to when they worked together as co-hosts and stars of MTV's Wonderland, which debuted in 2016.

The songwriter sparked romance rumors with Wright after they were photographed cuddling and kissing in March 2021. The pair would continue to get photographed throughout the year.

They made their red carpet debut together at a For Your Consideration event for her Watch Out For The Big Grrrls competition series in Los Angeles this past June.

During an interview on SiriusXM's Radio Andy, Lizzo confirmed that she was dating someone special who wasn't bothered by her success. 'If you have the right person, no, not at all. [Fame is] not even a factor,' she explained about the dynamics in her relationship.

Surprise birthday gift: Lizzo also shared her love of Gucci with her mother by gifting her with a posh bag for her birthday

Surprise: Her mom appeared to be completely surprised by being gifted with a black Gucci bag for her birthday

It didn't take long on Sunday before Lizzo followed up with yet another post where she flaunted her love of Gucci. Only this time it was all about spreading the love to her mother, Shari Johnson-Jefferson, for her birthday.

'My mom opening her Gucci bag is a MOOD - I love you mommy happy birthday,' she gushed in the caption about her birthday gift her to mom.

For the cover selfie photo, mother-and daughter snuggled together outside by a wooden fence.

The birthday girl, who was likely wearing one of the items Lizzo gifted her last year when she bought her an entire new wardrobe for her birthday.

Family time: Lizzo snuggled up with her mother, Shari Johnson-Jefferson, for a couple of photos while celebrating with family

Celebration: Wright (right) was also on hand for the birthday celebrations with Lizzo's family

The proud mom had a look of surprise when she opened up the wrapping to discover that her daughter had given her a gorgeous Gucci bag.

There's also a couple of group photos of Lizzo and Wright celebrating her mother's birthday with family.

Lizzo was classically trained as a flutist by renowned music teacher Claudia Momen from the age of 10 until she graduated from Alief Elsik High School in Alief, Houston in 2006, which is also where she began honing her rapping skills.

She has released four studio albums since 2013; the most recent is Special, which dropped in mid-July

Proceeded by the single About Damn Time, which hit the top of the Billboard Hot 100, the album ent on to peak at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart.

Love fest: The couple were glowing when they posed with family during the birthday bash
The Block contestants Tom and Sarah-Jane have been kicking goals so far this season, and scored a win for their guest bedroom and ensuite on Sunday.

And now judge Darren Palmer has revealed the married couple from Melbourne are his personal favourites to take out the competition on auction day.

The 44-year-old interior designer made the prediction during an appearance on The Block's official podcast last week.

The Block contestants Tom and Sarah-Jane (pictured) have been kicking goals so far this season, and scored a win for their guest bedroom and ensuite on Sunday

Sarah-Jane and Tom scored 30 points on Sunday, taking home the win for their guest bedroom and ensuite with the help of their bonus gnome.

Speaking to host Shelley Craft, Darren praised the pair for their consistently strong designs and finishes throughout the competition.

Describing their rooms as 'great' so far this season, Darren added confidently: 'They really are front-runners in this competition, as far as I'm concerned.'

He also admitted he was surprised they had not had a win until the latest reveals.

Judge Darren Palmer (pictured) has now revealed the married couple from Melbourne are his personal favourites to take out the competition on auction day

'I think they have a really cohesive vision for their house,' Darren said, adding that was an important point with buyers on auction day.

Elsewhere in the interview, Darren revealed that he thought the judges were too hard on the contestants sometimes.

He said there had been times he wished he'd been 'kinder' with his feedback after watching the episodes go to air.

Tom and Sarah-Jane's master bedroom is seen here

Meanwhile, Darren also said the 2022 season of the long-running Channel Nine renovation show was 'the best yet'.

His interview with the program's official podcast comes after Sunday's reveals.

All three judges were impressed with Tom and Sarah-Jane's guest bedroom.

The 2022 cast of the Block, including quitters Elle Ferguson and Joel Patfull (centre, back), are seen here

'I have loved everything that Tom and Sarah-Jane have done so far, but not as much as this,' Darren said, comparing their style to a Ralph Lauren catalogue.

Notoriously tough judge Shaynna Blaze also offered high praise for the couple, saying they could make a career out of their interior styling.

'I adore what they do, and having that sense of joy when you see it. I don't say this often, but this should be their career after this,' she remarked.
She's regarded as one of Hollywood's brightest young stars.

But Anya Taylor-Joy proved she also knows a thing or two about modelling as she posed for a high fashion shoot at Sydney's Centennial Park on Sunday.

The British-American actress, 26, who has been living in Australia while filming Mad Max: Furiosa, stunned in a series of Spanish-inspired outfits.

Ole! Anya Taylor-Joy, 26, (pictured) channeled her inner Spanish bullfighter as she posed with horses for a stunning Dior photo shoot in Sydney's Centennial Park on Saturday

Surrounded by a huge crew of assistants, The Queen's Gambit star struck a series of dramatic poses while standing against a bright red backdrop.

One outfit consisted of a matador-inspired peplum top and matching midi skirt, all crafted from heavy crimson lace.

This was accessorised with a pearl choker, black heels and fishnet socks.

Seeing red: The British-American star, who has been living in Australia while filming Mad Max: Furiosa, stunned in a series of Spanish-inspired outfits

Stunning: Anya oozed high fashion glamour as she strolled around the Centennial Park's famous horse riding track

Entourage: The star was flanked by assistants, crew-members, stylists and makeup artists

Strike a pose: The Queen's Gambit star struck a series of dramatic poses while standing against a bright red backdrop

At times, the peroxide blonde posed while holding an ornate lace fan

Anya was also seen in a black-and-red blazer, black leather boots and matching jodhpurs.

This look was accessorised with a black bull fighting-style hat and an array of chunky gold rings.

Fan favourite: One outfit consisted of a matador-inspired peplum top and matching midi skirt, all crafted from heavy crimson lace

Lovely in lace: Anya pulled up the skirt to reveal her fishnet stockings

Accessories, accessories: Her outfit was accessorised with a pearl choker, black heels and fishnets

Not spotted among her jewellery was the emerald and diamond engagement ring from her rumoured husband, musician Malcolm McRae.

For makeup, Anya enhanced her porcelain complexion with rose-hued blush and accentuated her pout with bold red lipstick.

Her wavy hair was tied back into a loose pony tail with a black ribbon.

Horsing around: Anya was also seen in a black-and-red blazer, black leather boots and matching jodhpurs. Anya was seen posing next to a horse

Hats off to her! This look was accessorised with a black bull fighting-style hat and an array of chunky gold rings

New friend: Anya also posed with a brown horse for several photos, and was even seen spending some quality time with the animal between the scenes

Flawless: For makeup, Anya enhanced her porcelain complexion with rose-hued blush and accentuated her pout with bold red lipstick

Blonde beauty: Her wavy hair was tied back into a loose pony tail with a black ribbon

Anya also posed with a brown horse for several photos, and was even seen spending some quality time with the animal between the scenes.

Anya has been in Australia since May filming the titular role for Furiosa, which also stars Chris Hemsworth.

Set to be released in 2024, it builds on the post-apocalyptic franchise made famous by Mel Gibson in the 1970s and 1980s.

Knuckle dusters: Not spotted among her jewellery was the emerald and diamond engagement ring from her rumoured husband, musician Malcolm McRae

New home: Anya has been in Australia since May filming the titular role for Furiosa, which also stars Chris Hemsworth

Exciting times: Set to be released in 2024, it builds on the post-apocalyptic franchise made famous by Mel Gibson in the 1970s and 1980s

Big lift: It has been a whirlwind few years for Anya, who rose to prominence in the 2020 adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma

It has been a whirlwind few years for Anya, who rose to prominence in the 2020 adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma.

She won a Golden Globe for her role as orphaned chess prodigy Beth Harmon in The Queen's Gambit, and was on the big screen in April for the historical epic The Northman.

Anya is now preparing for the release of her new horror film, The Menu.

Having fun: She won a Golden Globe for her role as orphaned chess prodigy Beth Harmon in The Queen's Gambit, and was on the big screen in April for the historical epic The Northman

New work: Anya is now preparing for the release of her new horror film, The Menu

Co-star: Directed by Mark Mylod, The Menu follows an affluent couple who travel to a remove couple to enjoy a lavish private dining experience created by an eccentric yet celebrated chef, played by Ralph Fiennes

Directed by Mark Mylod, The Menu follows an affluent couple who travel to a remove couple to enjoy a lavish private dining experience created by an eccentric yet celebrated chef, played by Ralph Fiennes.

As the courses are served, the diners slowly discover that the kitchen staff actually have a more insidious purpose for putting on the event.

'I'm fascinated by the idea of extreme privilege and how it perverts humanity,' Mylod told Empire of his new film.

'So while the film is comedic, there are thriller and horror elements, too. I like things you can't easily put into one box.'

Concept: As the courses are served, the diners slowly discover that the kitchen staff actually have a more insidious purpose for putting on the event

'I'm fascinated by the idea of extreme privilege and how it perverts humanity,' Mylod told Empire of his new film
Dave Hughes has vowed to stop vaping.

The comedian, 51, made the pledge on his Hit Network's Hughesy, Ed and Erin show on Monday.

'I'm hooked on the vape and it's insidious and I'm not alone,' Dave began, striking a serious tone with listeners.

Dave Hughes, 51, vowed to quit vaping on Monday after he was revolted by a shocking clip that showed what is inside a disposable vape

Dave was left revolted by his habit during the segment when he watched a video of one of his disposable lush ice vapes being opened to reveal the contents inside.

Co-star Ed said the radio trio had had various e-mail interventions from managers pleading with him to quit the habit.

He then showed footage of one of Hughesy's vapes being opened.

Dave was left revolted by his habit during the segment when he watched a video of one of his disposable lush ice vapes being opened to reveal the contents inside

He said they wanted to show him the clip so he could see 'what is going inside his body.'

'We have here is one of Hughesy's vapes. The outer ring isn't so bad but inside it's feral,' the man opening the vape said.

The inside looked like a used cigarette with rings catching the contents of the vape, showing what is going into a user's lungs.

Dave's radio co-host Ed said they wanted to show him the clip so he could see 'what is going inside his body'

'When you squeeze it. Disgusting. The goop that is coming through,' the man said as he squeezed open the vape.

Hughesy said he planned to stop it after watching the video.

'People stop it, stop it. So many people need to watch this video. What is in there?' Hughesy said.

'When you squeeze it. Disgusting. The goop that is coming through,' a man said as he squeezed open the vape

'I am definitely stopping very soon. I'm not doing it anymore.'

NSW Health has been outspoken about the dangers of vapes.

Earlier this year, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard launched the anti-vaping campaign after research found 'more and more young people (are) using vapes'.

The government and NSW Health are 'very concerned about the impact of those vapes on young people's lives, particularly on their lungs', he said.

Mr Hazzard said vaping damaged adult lungs and caused more concern for developing lungs in teenagers and children.

NSW Acting Chief Health Officer Marianne Gale said it was important people didn't believe it was a healthy alternative to smoking.

'It's very important that young people and families understand e-cigarettes are not safe,' Dr Gale said.

'Evidence (and) experts tell us now is that these products are not safe and there are a range of health harms that are associated with vaping.'
The family of Steve Irwin has been pictured for the first time since there were calls for the late Crocodile Hunter to be featured on Australian money following the death of the Queen.

New cash and coins will be printed bearing the face of King Charles III now he is head of state - but some Aussies believe that Irwin, who died in 2006 at the age of 44, is more deserving of being on the national currency.

As support for the proposal grows, the wildlife conservationist's widow Terri Irwin, daughter Bindi and son-in-law Chandler Powell were spotted jetting into Brisbane Airport on Monday following their annual pilgrimage to the Steve Irwin Reserve, near Weipa in Far North Queensland.

The family of Steve Irwin has been pictured for the first time since there were calls for the late Crocodile Hunter to be featured on Australian money following the death of the Queen. (Pictured from left: Bindi Irwin, Chandler Powell, an airline staff member, and Terri Irwin)

Bindi, 24, dressed casually in a black T-shirt with an elephant print, which she teamed with jeans, tan sneakers and a camo-green cap.

Her husband Chandler, 25, a former professional wakeboarder, wore a black T-shirt and beige pants as he loaded the family's luggage into a waiting car at the airport.

Family matriarch Terri, 58, wore Australia Zoo's famous khaki uniform and swept her hair into her signature ponytail.

Bindi, 24, dressed casually in a black T-shirt with an elephant print, which she teamed with jeans, tan sneakers and a camo-green cap. (Pictured at Brisbane Airport on Monday)

Bindi laughed at something the airline staff member said as her husband handled the luggage

The couple, who are parents to one-year-old daughter Grace, waved goodbye to airport staff

It comes as some Aussies call for the late national icon Steve Irwin to be impressed on the $5 note instead of King Charles III in the wake of Queen Elizabeth II's death.

Her Royal Highness died aged 96 on Thursday, sparking a wave of mourning worldwide as Commonwealth nations honour Britain's longest-serving monarch.

Her death after 70 years on the throne heralds a raft of changes that will come into place in Australia, including the introduction of bank notes and coins bearing the new king's face.

Her husband Chandler, 25, a former professional wakeboarder, wore a black T-shirt and beige pants as he loaded the family's luggage into a waiting car at the airport

Family matriarch Terri, 58, (left) wore Australia Zoo's famous khaki uniform and swept her hair into her signature ponytail

New cash and coins will be printed bearing the face of King Charles III now he is head of state - but some Aussies believe that Irwin is more deserving of being on the national currency

Steve Irwin, known to millions around the world as 'the Crocodile Hunter', died in September 2006 after being pierced in the chest by a stingray barb while filming a wildlife documentary

As support for the proposal grows, the conservationist's widow Terri, daughter Bindi and son-in-law Chandler were spotted jetting into Brisbane Airport on Monday following their annual pilgrimage to the Steve Irwin Reserve, near Weipa in Far North Queensland

Chandler helped a hi-vis-clad airline employee load the family's baggage into a waiting car

But some Aussies have flocked to social media to demand other famous Australians instead be memorialised on the country's legal tender when the printing press kicks into gear.

'Time to replace Queen Elizabeth's face on cash with Steve Irwin or Heath Ledger, I reckon,' one woman tweeted.

Another said: 'Can we get a petition to get Steve Irwin's face on money in place of the queen going? It's what we all want.'

'Steve Irwin deserves our highest form of currency,' someone else said. 'The $5 note will explode in value if we put him on that note.'

King Charles III (pictured on September 9) will be printed on Australia's $5 note and on the nation's coins as he ascends the throne

However, other Aussies have offered alternative proposals, ranging from fictional characters to native animals, and even classic foods.

In a post on Reddit titled 'RIP Queen Betty', one man asked fellow Aussies for nominees to replace her Majesty on the $5 note, generating a flood of suggestions.

'Alright... now for the important s**t,' he said. 'Who we gonna put on all our money? Because I can't see that Charles on there.

'Maybe Steve Irwin, or Russell Coight? Throw us some ideas.'

Some Aussies want Steve 'the Crocodile Hunter' Irwin to be inscribed on the $5 note instead of the new king. (Pictured is a mock-up of a $5 note with Irwin's face on it)

One person put forth celebrated Australian sitcom characters Kath & Kim, while one social media user advocated for Alf Stewart from soap opera Neighbours.

Another proposed it should be inscribed with an Ibis, a native Australian bird known as the 'bin chicken'.

'Considering the cultural history of Straya taking the p**s out of itself, I completely support putting bin chickens on coins,' they said.

Steve Irwin, known to millions around the world as 'the Crocodile Hunter', died in September 2006 after being pierced in the chest by a stingray barb while filming a wildlife documentary.

Someone else put forth comedian Hamish Blake, while another recommended TV personality Daryl Sommers.

Other suggestions included a 'pavlova', 'lamington', 'Bunnings snag' or the State of Origin maroons jersey.

However, Australians will be waiting a while for new $5 banknotes showing an image of King Charles III, with the central bank noting there will be 'no immediate change to Australian banknotes'.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has confirmed King Charles III is expected to feature on a new $5 note.

'The reigning monarch has traditionally appeared on the lowest denomination of Australian banknote,' the RBA said.

However, the $5 banknotes featuring Queen Elizabeth II will also remain in circulation and will not be withdrawn.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has confirmed King Charles III is expected to feature on a new $5 note, but said Queen Elizabeth II bank notes (pictured) will not be withdrawn

The central bank, which manages the Australian currency and monetary policy said there would be further updates on currency changes to come.

The Australian coins of the future are likely to feature the head of King Charles III facing the opposite way to his late mother's.

They will circulate alongside each other in a sort of mother-and-son currency double act.

A west-facing Charles III would continue a royal tradition, said to have started under Charles II from 1660, where the new monarch faces the opposite direction to their predecessor in their profile portrait on coins.

Since her coronation in 1953, six likenesses of Queen Elizabeth II have appeared on the obverse side of Australian coins, the last of them struck in 2018 and all facing right.

The only exception to the 'about face' convention was the coinage of Edward VIII, who insisted on his profile facing left.

'It is not clear whether this was an expression of rebellion against convention, or vanity, to show what he regarded as his better profile, containing his hair parting,' according to John Richardson of Britain's Open University.

Those involved in the lengthy and complex processes of producing Australia's currency won't say how quickly the image of King Charles might appear.

While the Australian Mint produces the nation's coins, responsibility for all aspects of the production and issue of Australian banknotes rests with the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Australia has joined much of the world in mourning Queen Elizabeth II, as her death prompts the first change in head of state in more than seven decades. She is pictured receiving flowers from schoolchildren waving flags after a Commonwealth Day Service in Sydney in March 2006

The Queen made the transition to decimal currency in 1966, when she first graced the now-discontinued $1 paper note, and has long featured on the $5 polymer note.

If Charles III does appear on notes any time soon, it's a fair bet the planning started many moons ago because making money costs a lot of money - and time.

The RBA's latest suite of polymer notes - called the NGB (Next Generation of Banknotes) program - took 10 years and $37 million to complete, ending with the $100 bill in 2020.

The notes are printed in Melbourne by the RBA's wholly-owned subsidiary Note Printing Australia, and undergo no fewer than 13 production processes.

New $5 notes featuring King Charles' head are likely to continue to bear some of the complex security traits of existing notes, including 3D and moving imagery, a tactile feature for the visually impaired, colour changes, micro-printed lines from the constitution and fluorescence under UV light.

Coins are the responsibility of the Treasurer and are manufactured by the Royal Australian Mint. It has produced more than 15 billion coins since being opened by the new monarch's late father, Prince Philip, in 1965.

Australia won't be the only nation in the Commonwealth facing the prospect of introducing new designs on its coins and notes.

Queen Elizabeth visited Australia 16 times during her 70-year reign. In 2002, she famously watched a cultural show at the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park in Cairns (pictured)

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese offered his condolences to the Royal Family, the British people, and all his own citizens who held Her Majesty in the highest regard

Queen Elizabeth II has appeared on the currency of more than 30 countries, the first being Canada's $20 note in 1935, when she was only nine years old.

She is still likely to be in circulation somewhere, a century later, and well after her death which was announced on Friday at the age of 96.

There is no word yet on how the Irwin family feels about calls for Steve to be on Australia's currency, but they are known to have a good relationship with the British Royal Family.

Charles, then the Prince of Wales, spent a day with the Irwins on Lady Elliot Island, just off the coast of Queensland, during his royal tour of Australia in 2018.

They likely found in Charles a kindred spirit, as he has long advocated for wildlife conservation and other environmental issues long before it was politically trendy.

There is no word yet on how the Irwin family feels about calls for Steve to be on Australia's currency, but they are known to have a good relationship with the Royal Family. (Pictured: Terri, Bob and Bindi Irwin speaking with Prince Charles on Lady Elliot Island on April 6, 2018)

'Our family feels extremely privileged to have had the opportunity to meet with His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales and other dignitaries today at Lady Elliot Island,' Bindi wrote on Instagram at the time.

'We joined together to discuss important methods to protect the largest living structure on Earth, the Great Barrier Reef.

'We must work together to make a difference and protect these sensitive ecosystems for the generations to come #RoyalVisitAustralia.'

Her younger brother Robert also said at the time he was 'truly honoured' to meet Charles, who was joined on the trip by his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and speak to 'such a passionate and influential person' about the Great Barrier Reef.
Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne were having a ball as they enjoyed a red carpet reunion at the premiere of their new film, The Good Nurse, at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday.

The Oscar-winning actress, 45, turned heads in a stunning crimson jumpsuit with diamante straps and back detailing as she arrived at the event at the Canadian city's Princess Of Wales Theatre.

Eddie, 40, a fellow Oscar-winner, looked thrilled to be reunited with his co-star as they shared a joke while posing for photographers.

Reunited! Eddie Redmayne and Jessica Chastain were having a ball as they enjoyed a red carpet reunion at the premiere of their new film, The Good Nurse, on Sunday

Joking around: The co-stars posed for a series of fun snaps as they enjoyed their starring turn at the Toronto International Film Festival

Jessica stars in the true-crime thriller The Good Nurse, playing a struggling single mother trying to stay afloat with her demanding career as a nurse at a New Jersey Hospital.

She initially strikes up a good rapport with a new nurse (played by Eddie), but after several of her patients who seemed to be improving die under unusual circumstances, she comes to suspect him of foul play.

Jessica's chic red-carpet look featured baggy pant legs that reached all the way to the ground, completely covering her beige platform heels.

The slim top emphasized her trim figure, and the sleeveless design featured slim jeweled straps.

Lady in red: The Oscar-winning actress, 45, turned heads in a stunning crimson jumpsuit as she arrived at the event at the Canadian city's Princess Of Wales Theatre

Nice to see you! Eddie, 40, a fellow Oscar-winner, looked thrilled to be reunited with his co-star as they shared a joke while posing for photographers

Hard hitting: Jessica stars in the true-crime thriller The Good Nurse, playing a struggling single mother trying to stay afloat with her demanding career as a nurse

Spooky: She initially strikes up a good rapport with a new nurse (played by Eddie), but after several of her patients who seemed to be improving die under unusual circumstances, she comes to suspect him of foul play

She turned around to reveal that the straps ran together over her exposed back, culminating in a jeweled ring.

Jessica wore her red hair pulled back into a bun, with curling strands left danging to frame her impeccably made-up face.

Eddie contrasted Jessica's minimalist jumpsuit with a busy green, black and gray plaid blazer with wide peaked lapels.

He teamed it with crisp brown trousers, and he paired his white button-up shirt with a slim black tie.

Covered up: Jessica's chic red-carpet look featured baggy pant legs that reached all the way to the ground, covering her beige platform heels

Glittering: The slim top emphasized her trim figure, and the sleeveless design featured slim jeweled straps

Showing off: She turned around to reveal that the straps ran together over her exposed back, culminating in a jeweled ring

Horrifying: Serial killer Charles Cullen claimed to have killed as many as 40, but may have been responsible for more than 300 deaths, possibly making him the most prolific

Red carpet look: Eddie contrasted Jessica's minimalist jumpsuit with a busy green, black and gray plaid blazer with wide peaked lapels

Eddie plays Charles Cullen in The Good Nurse, who is responsible for 29 confirmed deaths.

However, the serial killer claimed to have killed as many as 40 people, and some investigators involved in the case believe he may have killed more than 300 people.

This makes him possibly the most deadly American serial killer, according to Charles Graeber's 2007 New York Magazine story, which was the basis for his 2013 book and, in turn, the film.

The Americans star Noah Emmerich, who plays a detective investigating the patient deaths, looked dapper in a dark plaid suit with a tie-free white shirt.

Creepy: Jessica stars in the Netflix film as a nurse who begins to suspect her new colleague (Eddie Redmayne) may have a connection to the unusual deaths of her patients

Blond beauty: Kim Dickens, who is also featured in The Good Nurse, looked glamorous in an elegant black single-shoulder dress with a separate halter collar

Formal: The Americans star Noah Emmerich and Nnamdi Asomugha, who both play detectives, looked slick as they hit the red carpet

Kim Dickens, who is also featured in The Good Nurse, looked glamorous in an elegant black single-shoulder dress with a separate halter collar.

Nnamdi Asomugha, who plays another detective, opted for a more formal look with a black tuxedo featuring peaked lapels, though he skipped a tie.

Jessica looked affectionate as she embraced her young costar Alix West Lefler at the premiere.

The young actress wore a lovely quilted seafoam green dress and contrasted it with cool white sneakers.

The Good Nurse will be released in US theaters on October 19, followed by a streaming release on Netflix on October 26.

Costars: Jessica looked affectionate as she embraced her young costar Alix West Lefler at the premiere

Seeing green: The young actress wore a lovely quilted seafoam green dress and contrasted it with cool white sneakers

Coming soon: The Good Nurse will be released in US theaters on October 19, followed by a streaming release on Netflix on October 26

Prior to the premiere, Jessica and her co-stars attended a pre-reception in honor of The Good Nurse.

The Zero Dark Thirty star looked effortlessly cool in a purple vest and a matching pair of shorts, while she let her long red locks cascade in thick waves down her shoulders.

Eddie looked rugged in a white short-sleeve shirt with colorful designs on the front, which he wore unbuttoned over a white T-shirt and baggy jeans that reached just above his ankles and his white sneakers.

Jessica beamed while posing with her costar Nnamdi, who had on a pale gray jacket with black pants.

Making a splash: At a reception before the film, Jessica wore a cool purple vest and shorts, while Eddie had on a colorful short-sleeve shirt and baggy jeans
Jennifer Lawrence weighed in on the current season of The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills with pointed criticism of cast member Erika Jayne.

The 32-year-old actress offered her opinion on season 14 of the Bravo show while promoting her new film Causeway at the Toronto International Film Festival, according to an article on Sunday by Variety.

'My biggest problem with this season is that it's just been boring and I think that Erika is evil,' Jennifer said at the Variety Studio at TIFF.

Housewives fan: Jennifer Lawrence, shown on Saturday in Toronto, weighed in on the current season of The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills with pointed criticism of cast member Erika Jayne

'I would go as far as to say, she needs a publicist ASAP,' she added.

Erika, 51, has been embroiled in the embezzlement scandal involving her estranged husband Tom Girardi, 83, who has been accused of misappropriating settlement funds that were due to his clients.

Jennifer also suggested that Erika's castmates on RHOBH should help with her public image and compared her situation to the infamous episode of The Real Housewives Of New York in which a drunken Dorinda Medley, 57, filmed for hours with lipstick smeared across her face.

Causeway co-star Brian Tyree Henry, 40, also identified himself as a Housewives fan, but was reluctant to get involved.

Embezzlement scandal: Erika, shown in a July episode of the Bravo show, has been embroiled in the embezzlement scandal involving her estranged husband Tom Girardi, 83, who has been accused of misappropriating settlement funds that were due to his clients

'Don't drag me into this, I don't want Dorinda or Erika coming for me, we're good,' Brian said.

Jennifer and Brian were both in agreement, however, on whether Kathy Hilton, 63, should remain on the Bravo reality show.

'Stay! Are you out of your mind,' Henry said.

New film: The 32-year-old actress, shown on Sunday in Toronto, offered her opinion on season 14 of the Bravo show while promoting her new film Causeway at the Toronto International Film Festival

Causeway premiered on Saturday at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The film follows a young US Army engineer who moves back with her mother after a traumatic injury.

Causeway is scheduled to be released on November 4 on the Apple TV+ streaming service.

The next episode of The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills will air on Wednesday on Bravo.
Margaret Qualley was all smiles in a stylish black-and-white ensemble at the Toronto Film Festival for the world premiere of her new film Sanctuary.

The 27-year-old actress and daughter of Andie MacDowell was all smiles at the festival premiere, held at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto on Sunday.

She was joined on the red carpet by her co-star Christopher Abbott, director Zachary Wigon and cinematographer Ludovica Isidori.

Premiere ready: Margaret Qualley was all smiles in a stylish black-and-white ensemble at the Toronto Film Festival for the world premiere of her new film Sanctuary

Co-star: She was joined on the red carpet by her co-star Christopher Abbott, director Zachary Wigon and cinematographer Ludovica Isidori

Qualley stepped out with a lacy white top with her black hair pulled back while accessorizing with small diamond earrings.

She also wore a long flowing black skirt for the red carpet event on Sunday evening at the film festival.

The actress completed her look with a pair of black pumps.

Margaret's look: Qualley stepped out with a lacy white top with her black hair pulled back while accessorizing with small diamond earrings

The film follows Rebecca (Qualley), a dominatrix and Hal (Abbott), her wealthy client, and the disaster that ensues when Hal tries to end their relationship.

Sanctuary is a rare and true two-hander with Qualley and Abbott making up the entirety of the cast.

Zachary Wigon (The Heart Machine) directs from a script by Micah Bloomberg (Creative Control, Homecoming).

New film: The film follows Rebecca (Qualley), a dominatrix and Hal (Abbott), her wealthy client, and the disaster that ensues when Hal tries to end their relationship

The screening came just a month after the actress got into a verbal confrontation with FKA Twigs over her lawsuit against Shia LaBeouf.

The incident took place at the Bel-Air Hotel in Los Angeles that left them both 'shaken.'

Insiders told Page Six in a story published Wednesday that it was not immediately clear who approached whom in the incident.

Verbal: The screening came just a month after the actress got into a verbal confrontation with FKA Twigs over her lawsuit against Shia LaBeouf

Qualley will also be vying for her first Emmy Award on Monday, nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries for her work in Maid.

She goes sup against Lily James (Pam & Tommy), Julia Garner (Inventing Anna), Toni Collette (The Staircase), Sarah Paulson (American Crime Story) and Amanda Seyfried (The Dropout).

The actress is also attached to star in Fred & Ginger as Ginger Rogers, alongside Jamie Bell as Fred Astaire.

Emmy: Qualley will also be vying for her first Emmy Award on Monday, nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries for her work in Maid

Christopher: Christopher Abbott hits the red carpet at the Sanctuary premiere at TIFF
Lisa Rinna and family braved the elements on Sunday to support Amelia Hamlin at the Tommy Hilfiger runway show in New York City.

The 59-year-old actress took refuge under an umbrella held by her husband Harry Hamlin, 70, as they watched their daughter Amelia, 21, walk a runway in the rain in Brooklyn.

Their eldest model daughter Delilah, 24, also joined them in supporting Amelia.

Showing support: Lisa Rinna and family braved the elements on Sunday to support Amelia Hamlin at the Tommy Hilfiger Factory Fall runway show in New York City

Lisa wore a blue hat and black-and-white Tommy Hilfiger outfit to the event along with full makeup.

Harry wore a red designer jacket, while Delilah kept it classy and wore black.

Lisa and Harry have been married for 25 years and he also has 42-year-old son Dimitri with his former fiancee Ursula Andress, 86.

Harry and Lisa first met in 1992 and the Clash Of The Titans actor proposed to the TV star five years later in 1997.

Runway show: Amelia walked the rainy runway at the Tommy Hilfiger show in Brooklyn

Family affair: Delilah Hamlin joined her parents Harry Hamlin and Lisa in supporting Amelia

Striped sweater: Amelia wore a large striped sweater on the runway

Famous family: The model is the daughter of Hollywood stars Harry and Lisa

Amelia was famously in a relationship with Keeping Up With The Kardashians alum, Scott Disick, 39. The two crossed paths when she was 19-years-old.

After dating for nearly a year, the two split and went their separate ways in September 2021.

A few months after the relationship ended, Amelia's father Harry opened up on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, about the split.

Umbrellas out: The audience opened umbrellas as it rained during the show

Going strong: Lisa and Harry have been married for 25 years

Reality star: The former soap opera actress stars on The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills

'Look, Amelia's doing great. She's living in New York and she's having the time of her life solo,' he explained, giving his perspective.

A source also opened up to People at the time, stating, 'She is taking some time to figure out what she wants in her next relationship but is having fun hanging out with guys and finding something new.'

'She's done with Scott and she'd be fine never speaking to him again and her parents are happy about that,' the insider added.

Amelia enrolled in 2019 at the The New School in New York to study nutrition, wellness and psychology, but dropped out of college due to anxiety issues.
Karlie Kloss stunned in a hot pink ensemble as she stepped out to attend an event earlier on Sunday as part of New York Fashion Week.

The supermodel, 30, appeared to be in high spirits despite the rainy weather in the big apple.

The talented beauty paved the way for other stars that attended the event, including Nicole Richie and actor, Justin Theroux.

Stunning: Karlie Kloss, 30, looked stunning as she arrived at the Frame x Ritz Paris party during New York Fashion Week on Sunday

The former Victoria's Secret angel opted to look on the bright side despite the gloomy weather.

She donned a hot pink, satin mini skirt, flaunting her long, toned legs and added a matching blazer.

Karlie added a plain black shirt underneath to add a bit of contrast to the overall ensemble.

The beauty slipped into a pair of black heels which were secured by glittery, rhinestone straps around her ankle.

Stylish: The supermodel donned a vibrant pink ensemble comprising of a mini skirt and matching blazer

Karlie added a pair of shimmering, rhinestone earrings to accessorize her look along with a matching bracelet adorned on her left wrist.

She held a zebra print clutch bag in her hand as she posed for a brief photo session once she arrived at the event.

Her hair was parted in the middle and pulled back into a sleek and stylish low ponytail.

The party celebrated Frame, which is an American brand known for creating pieces made of material such as cashmere and its collaboration with the luxury hotel chain, Ritz.

The two companies recently partnered together to create a collection, with pieces such as sweaters, jackets, and silk pajamas.

Busy: Karlie has been out and about attending other events to celebrate New York Fashion Week

The show must go on: Despite the rainy weather, Karlie and other stars were not deterred to attend the event on Sunday evening

Other celebrities that stopped by the event included TV personality, Nicole Richie, and Derek Blasberg, a journalist known for working in the fashion industry.

The mom of two attended the party in blue jeans and a white blazer. To stay comfortable, she slipped into a pair of black flats.

Derek was seen wearing a pair of white pants and a crisp white dress shirt along with a black tie. He added a black Frame x Ritz blazer.

Hollywood actor, Justin Theroux, opted for an all black, monochromatic look as he attended the fashion event.

Fashionable: Nicole Richie and Derek Blasberg dressed to impress as they stopped by the event

Star-studded: Justin Theroux was pictured stepping out into the rainy evening wearing an all black ensemble

French model, Cindy Bruna, showed off her slim physique in a fitted, yellow dress with thin straps that fell down towards her ankles. She added brown faux fur heels to complete her look.

Victoria's Secret model, Kelsey Merritt, kept her look stylishly casual in a black, long-sleeved shirt and a brown skirt secured with a black belt at the waist.

Others arrived in pairs, such as designer Peter Dundas and partner, Evangelo Bousis. Model Ella Emhoff and her beau, Same Hine, also attended the event together.

Pretty: Models Cindy Bruna and Kelsey Merritt showed off their sense of style at the Frame x Ritz event

Duos: Designer Peter Dundas and his partner, Evangelo Bousis were pictured along with Ella Emhoff and her beau, Sam Hine

Other stars chose to stay warm in the drizzly weather, including Paige Lorenze and TikTok star, Noah Beck, who wore warmer jackets. The media star was seen wearing a $2,298 Frame x Ritz varsity jacket.

Models Charlotte McKinney and Iman Hammam flaunted their toned legs in skirts and heels.

American model, Jasmine Sanders, had a similar idea to Karlie and also opted for a hot pink ensemble comprising of trousers and a matching sleeveless top.

Staying warm: Media influencers, Paige Lorenze and Noah Beck were seen wearing jackets in the cooler weather

Models Charlotte McKinney and Iman Hammam flaunted their toned legs in skirts and heels.
Martha Kalifatidis has shared a photo of herself at 16 weeks pregnant, revealing how thin her battle with hyperemesis gravidarum has left her.

The former Married At First Sight star, who is expecting her first child with fiance Michael Brunelli, posted the image to Instagram Stories on Monday.

In the photo, the 34-year-old looks frail and pale, her clothes hanging off her noticeably thinner frame after a 10 kilo weight loss.

Martha Kalifatidis (pictured) has shared a photo of herself at 16 weeks pregnant, revealing how thin her battle with hyperemesis gravidarum has left her

She revealed in her caption that she is now 16 weeks into what has been a difficult pregnancy which left her so sick she could not leave her bed for months.

Martha and Michael announced last week that they were expecting their first child together and explained the reason for Martha's absence from social media was because she is ill with hyperemesis gravidarum, which causes persistent and excessive nausea and vomiting in pregnant women.

The reality star disappeared offline for several weeks, leading to concerns for her well-being.

In the photo, the 34-year-old looks frail and pale, her clothes hanging off her noticeably thinner frame after a 10 kilo weight loss. She is pictured before and after

The couple explained they had to wait until Martha was feeling better and had reached a safe point in her pregnancy before sharing their news.

'We wanted to explain our situation and make a little bit of an announcement. Martha is pregnant,' Michael said in the video.

'It hasn't been this exciting, wonderful time for us. I don't want to sound like I'm complaining,' Martha added.

She revealed in her caption that she is now 16 weeks into what has been a difficult pregnancy which left her so sick she could not leave her bed for months

'I was so sick. I could not eat or drink anything. There were days I didn't even get up to pee. I lost ten kilos in five weeks. We have been in and out of the emergency room and hospital' she explained

'I was so sick. I could not eat or drink anything. There were days I didn't even get up to pee. I lost ten kilos in five weeks.

'We have been in and out of the emergency room and hospital'.

Martha then said she was feeling better thanks to a doctor she visited in Melbourne.

'She has given me some medication which has literally been life-changing. It is helping me feel human again,' she said.

Martha and Michael (right) announced last week that they were expecting their first child together and explained the reason for Martha's absence from social media was because she is ill with hyperemesis gravidarum, which causes persistent and excessive nausea and vomiting in pregnant women

The couple also shared harrowing videos from Martha's multiple hospital and doctor visits.

'I don't know, Michael, if I'm going to survive,' Martha says in one clip, to which her husband-to-be replies: 'You will.'

'I don't know. I don't know if I wanna do it. I don't know if I can,' Martha continues.

'I don't know how you're feeling,' he says. 'But we're gonna get through it.'

The couple also shared harrowing videos from Martha's multiple hospital and doctor visits

In one clip, the couple are seen talking to each other in a room about Martha's excruciating pain as she starts to doubt herself. 'I don't know if I wanna do it. I don't know if I can,' she says

In his caption, Michael expressed his heartache and admitted he'd been feeling 'completely helpless' during Martha's illness.

He said Martha had spent the 'best part of the last 10 weeks in bed 24 hours a day, dehydrated, nauseous, vomiting, restless, tired, anxious, fatigued and unable to properly sleep or eat'.

Despite visiting the hospital on multiple occasions, receiving medical advice and being prescribed different medications, she has still be suffering with the sickness.

'But she is a f**king warrior! And so is every other woman that is diagnosed with HG [hyperemesis gravidarum] or any pregnancy-related condition,' Michael added.
When you're pictured alongside one of the world's most famous men it's hard to claim the spotlight, but Emma Corrin made a valiant attempt while attending the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of My Policeman.

The British actor commanded attention in a skintight catsuit and sweeping black cape while accompanying co-star Harry Styles at the film's official launch on Sunday evening.

Corrin, 26, added to their look with a pair of black stiletto heels, while sheer tights gave the ensemble a feminine touch often lacking from their typically androgynous red carpet appearances.

Looking good: Emma Corrin commanded attention in a skintight catsuit and sweeping black cape while attending the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of My Policeman

The actor, who identifies as non-binary, appeared to be in high spirits as they greeted onlookers before making their way into the screening of their latest film, an adaptation of author Bethan Roberts' 2012 novel.

Set in 1950s Brighton, the plot focuses on closeted gay policeman Tom Burgess, played by Harry, who is married to Marion, played by Emma, while involved in a same-sex romance with a romance with Patrick Hazelwood, played by David Dawson.

Production on the film kicked off in Brighton last April, and it will be released in cinemas on October 21 and on Prime Video on November 4.

Tasteful: Corrin, 26, added to their look with a pair of black stiletto heels, while sheer tights gave the ensemble a feminine touch

Don't mind me: But Corrin was hard to miss as they posed for photos at the annual event in Toronto on Sunday evening

Upbeat: The actor, who identifies as non-binary, appeared to be in high spirits as they greeted onlookers before making their way into the screening of their latest film

Speaking about the film aa press conference earlier in the day, Harry told guests the new film was about the constraints placed on British society by the conventions of the time.

He said: 'For me, the reason why the story is so devastating is that, ultimately, the whole story is about wasted time, and I think wasted time is the most devastating thing because its the one thing we cannot control.

'Its the one thing you cant have back. And I think the one thing that I think matters  whatever kind of life youve lived  at the end when you think back on time with people you love.'

Very nice: The actor posed for a series of tasteful shots while modelling their latest red carpet ensemble

In good company: (L-R) Linus Roache, Rupert Everett, Emma Corrin, David Dawson, Gina McKee and Harry Styles

He continued: 'I think the most beautiful thing about the story is that all of the characters have some really nice qualities, and they also have some flaws that we might hope not to have but, as humans, we all have them.

'And I think, at different points in the story, youre able to see bits of yourself and sometimes maybe not your favorite parts of yourself in different characters.

'And I think thats why it kind of resonated with me so much.'
Lucy Boynton ensured she stood out during an appearance at the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada on Sunday evening.

The British actress was in attendance as her latest film Chevalier, in which she plays doomed last Queen of France Mary Antoinette, was celebrated at a party hosted by streaming service Amazon Prime.

Opting for a vibrant red blouse and matching miniskirt, Lucy, 28, commanded attention while posing for photos before making her way inside.

Hard to miss: Lucy Boynton ensured she stood out during an appearance at the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada on Sunday evening

The actress added to her look with patterned red tights, while distinctive burgundy heels added to a vibrant ensemble.

Drawing further attention to her pretty features, Lucy opted for minimal make-up selected from a natural colour palette.

The star was in good company on the night, with co-star Samara Weaving, actress Lena Dunham and Bella Ramsey all on hand to help her celebrate the launch of her latest film.

Looking good: Opting for a vibrant red blouse and matching miniskirt, Lucy, 28, commanded attention while posing for photos at the Prime Video party for her new film Chevalier

Special guests: The star was in good company on the night, with Bella Ramsey (L) and Lena Dunham (R) on hand to help her celebrate the launch of her latest film

Say cheese: Former Game Of Thrones star Bella caught the eye in a colourful statement suit

Chevalier is based on the life of the titular French-Caribbean musician Chevalier de Saint-Georges, played by Kelvin Harrison Jr.

Lucy stars as Marie Antoinette, who was executed by guillotine in 1793, in the biographical movie, which was released on Sunday.

Earlier that day the actress stole the show once again as she took to the red carpet at the world premiere of her new film at Toronto International Film Festival.

Side by side: Oliver Garcia and Dianne McGunigle also attended the Prime party on Sunday

Make way: Samara Weaving, who plays Marie-Josephine in the new film, stood out in a sophisticated black minidress and matching heels

Pals: She joined Oliver Garcia for a photo after making her way inside the glamorous event

Lucy wowed in a stunning sheer bodysuit gown as she appeared on the red carpet for a star-studded audience at the TIFF Bell Lightbox.

The British born star turned heads in the mint Valentino Couture ensemble with feathered detail.

Also commanding attention on the night was Minnie Driver who stood out from the crowd in a red jumpsuit.

The Academy Award nominee who also stars in the upcoming biopic Chevalier, stunned in the flared number with cut-out front detail.

Striking: Earlier that day Lucy stole the show once again as she took to the red carpet at the world premiere of her new film at Toronto International Film Festival
Farmer Wants a Wife star Will Simpson was left blindsided during Monday night's episode after one contestant made the surprising decision to leave the series.

The 24-year-old was taken by surprise when he found out that Alicia Galloway told her fellow contestants that she wanted to go home despite having feelings for the farmer.

Alicia said she wanted to leave because she felt a massive 'distance' between them and didn't see a future with Will.

Farmer Wants a Wife star Will Simpson (pictured) was left blindsided during Monday night's episode after one contestant made the surprising decision to leave the series

Alicia was forced to break the news to Will after being confronted by Madi at dinner.

'I'm a little bit lost right now,' Will replied.

'So basically I had a chat with the girls today and told them that I wanted to go home,' she continued.

A confused Will replied: 'Okay? Did you want to talk?' before pulling her aside.

The 24-year-old was taken by surprise when he found out that Alicia Galloway (pictured) told her fellow contestants that she wanted leave the reality show

Alicia was forced to break the news to Will after being confronted by Madi (pictured) at dinner

'I want to be here 100 per cent,' she told him.

'I felt like in the past few days I haven't wanted to be here because I've felt a massive distance between us.'

'I'm really sorry that I didn't include that part of the story.'

'I'm a little bit lost right now,' Will replied, before Alicia explained: 'So basically I had a chat with the girls today and told them that I wanted to go home'

'I want to be here 100 per cent,' she told him. 'I felt like in the past few days I haven't wanted to be here because I've felt a massive distance between us'

Will said he felt Alicia was being dishonest that she wasn't upfront with how she was feeling, before he decided to send her home.

'The key things for me are honesty and trust is what I'm looking for in a relationship,' he told her.

'I can't continue on. It's too unpredictable. It's too much. It's not what I'm here for,' he said.

'The key things for me are honesty and trust is what I'm looking for in a relationship,' he told her
George Clooney has lauded Australia's response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Appearing on The Project, the American actor, who was in Australia filming his new comedy, Ticket to Paradise, during the height of the country's lockdowns, said the response was 'admirable'.

'I look at what particularly Australia did, and some of these things get politicised,' the 61-year-old said.

George Clooney (pictured) has lauded Australia's response to the Covid-19 pandemic

'But you look at what you guys were able to accomplish, and I know it was incredibly difficult, but had the United States done that, we would have saved 900,000 lives.'

Clooney went on to say that he admired how Australians, who endured some of the world's strictest lockdowns during the pandemic, accepted the measures as necessary.

'The idea that you believed in science is so admirable. The whole time I was there I thought, I am so impressed with the people of Australia who said let's suck this up and get this done. I was so impressed,' he said.

Appearing on The Project, the American actor, who was in Australia filming his new comedy, Ticket to Paradise, during the height of the country's lockdowns, said the response was 'admirable'. Pictured alongside Julia Roberts on The Project

'I look at what particularly Australia did, and some of these things get politicised,' the 61-year-old said. 'But you look at what you guys were able to accomplish, and I know it was incredibly difficult, but had the United States done that, we would have saved 900,000 lives'

The majority of Australians feel the nation's strict lockdown measures during the Covid pandemic were 'just right,' according to a recent survey.

The data from the University of Tasmania study found two thirds of the country were comfortable with the crippling lockdowns spanning multiple states which cost businesses tens of billions of dollars during 2020 and 2021.

Just eight per cent of the 1162 people surveyed in the peer-reviewed paper published on Tuesday, believe the stay-at-home orders were 'definitely too restrictive'.

Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison (pictured) initially called a nationwide six-week lockdown to limit the spread before sporadic rolling outbreaks across the country during the next two years prompted individual states and territories to make their own declarations

There have been 14,432 Covid-related deaths since the virus reached Australia in March 2020. Additionally, Australians were eager to roll up their sleeves for the Covid-19 vaccines, with vaccination rates peaking at over 90 per cent of eligible citizens

While only 11 per cent felt lockdowns, mask mandates, curfews and travel restrictions were 'probably too restrictive'.

The study also concluded that Australians who prioritise the economy over health were less likely to follow mask mandates, check-in to venues, get tested and self-isolate.

There have been 14,432 Covid-related deaths since the virus reached Australia in March 2020. In the United States however, that figure is now over one million dead.

Clooney arrived in Australia last year for filming on his new movie and managed to bypass the government's hotel quarantine system, instead staying in a private property for his 14 day mandatory quarantine period with his wife Amal (right) and their children

Additionally, Australians were eager to roll up their sleeves for the Covid-19 vaccines, with vaccination rates peaking at over 90 percent of eligible citizens.

Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison initially called a nationwide six-week lockdown to try and limit the spread before sporadic rolling outbreaks across the country during the next two years prompted individual states and territories to make their own declarations.

Victoria was by far the hardest hit with Melburnians enduring a cumulative 262 gruelling days in lockdown - beating out the Argentine capital Buenos Aires for the unenviable world record.

Premier Dan Andrews ordered all non-essential businesses to shut during that period, as millions were trapped inside their homes and restricted from going outside after 9pm or travelling more than 5km.

The Batman & Robin star stayed at a palatial $9million property 90 minutes from Sydney

Clooney arrived in Australia last year for filming on his new movie alongside Julia Roberts, and managed to bypass the government's hotel quarantine system, instead staying in a private property for his 14 day mandatory quarantine period.

The visiting Hollywood actor being granted an exemption to hunker down at a sprawling Southern Highlands estate rather than a pokey hotel room.

The Batman & Robin star stayed at a palatial $9million property 90 minutes from Sydney.

The A-lister spent the entirety of his NSW stay at Mount Robertson Farm and could be seen strolling the grounds with wife Amal Clooney and their children.
Jason Oppenheim clearly had his hands full on Sunday during a passionate clinch with new girlfriend Marie Lou Nurk in Mykonos.

The Selling Sunset star has travelled to the picturesque Greek island with his statuesque girlfriend for a romantic break, just two months after confirming their relationship.

And Oppenheim, 45, couldn't keep his hands off the 25-year old brunette as they made their way onto a jetty during their latest overseas holiday.

The realtor, who former relationship with co-star Chrishell Stause ended because she wanted children, was seen kissing Nurk's tummy as he showered her with affection.

Smitten: Jason Oppenheim clearly had his hands full on Sunday during a passionate clinch with new girlfriend Marie Lou Nurk in Mykonos

Diminutive Oppenheim appeared to stand on tip-toe while sharing a kiss with the significantly taller Nurk, a Paris-based model.

With an arm wrapped around her slender waist and one hand clutching her bottom, he looked completely besotted with his new girlfriend, who caught the eye in a sleeveless white vest and black miniskirt.

The couple originally confirmed their romance with a similar public display of affection on the Greek island in July, and have since spent time together in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Curious: The realtor, who former relationship with co-star Chrishell Stause ended because she wanted children, was seen kissing Nurk's tummy as he showered her with affection

Smitten: The Selling Sunset star has travelled to the picturesque Greek island with his statuesque girlfriend for a romantic break, just two months after confirming their relationship

Handy: Oppenheim grabbed a handful of Nurk's bottom while relaxing in Mykonos during their latest sunshine break

It must be love: Oppenheim looked completely besotted with his new girlfriend, who caught the eye in a sleeveless white vest and black miniskirt

'I suppose if we were being very careful, we just never would've kissed in public,' the Oppenheim Group founder told People. 'But I certainly wasn't thinking that we would get caught  and on some Greek island in a parking lot, too.'

Oppenheim said he's 'happy every day' and 'just very happy right now' in his new romance, and 'was also really happy with Chrishell,' noting he didn't 'want to dismiss that relationship.'

The realtor also insisted he wasn't keen to be as open with his new relationship following a high-profile relationship with Selling Sunset co-star Chrishell Stause.

Looking good: Durk showed off her slender physique while relaxing with friends

Just can't get enough of you: The realtor couldn't keep his hands to himself during his latest public appearance with Durk on Sunday

Going strong: The couple originally confirmed their romance in July, and have since spent time together in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

'I didn't want to go through that again,' he said of their relationship, which ended in December. 'We kept that private for a while, but we were so careful. And that was so difficult.'

Oppenheim said that while Nurk and Stause are 'probably not going to hang out,' they have met and been cordial with one another.

He added: 'She wants me happy. I want her happy. I think we're both in love and happy for each other.'

Old times: Oppenheim recently insisted he wasn't keen to be as open with his new relationship following a high-profile relationship with Selling Sunset co-star Chrishell Stause (pictured)

Out in the open: But there was no missing Oppenheim as he ventured out with Durk in Mykonos

In May Oppenheim broke down over his 'very difficult' split from Stause, describing her as the 'love of his life.'

The realtor welled up as he told how he 'f**ked up something that was really good' and that he will struggle to see her happy with another person because he'll 'never meet someone like her again'.

The pair dated during season five of the show - a union which shocked many fans - but Jason ended their relationship because he didn't want children after Chrishell expressed that she wanted to start a family.

Stause later confirmed she was dating non-binary singer G Flip, 27, after they were pictured holding hands at a concert.

Lovely: Durk looked incredible in her beach ready outfit as she idled on a jetty in Mykonos

Emotional: In May Oppenheim broke down over his 'very difficult' split from Stause, describing her as the 'love of his life'

Moving on: Stause later confirmed she was dating non-binary singer G Flip, 27, after they were pictured holding hands at a concert

Speaking of their split on the reunion show Oppenheim said: 'There's a sadness and loss I think and watching the show made it more difficult, brought it back up.

'It's been a few months but I'm still just going through stuff and I think there was a lot of love between us, and I still care about her very much, this has been a very difficult breakup.

'I can never think more highly of someone than I do Chrishell she was an amazing girlfriend, and she would be an amazing mom.

'It's not that I think I made the wrong decision it's just that I had a lot of respect and still have the upmost respect for Chrishell and still love her as much today. It's difficult.'
Hugh Jackman shared a fun Instagram reel on Sunday as he lip-synced along to Iggy Azalea's smash hit Fancy.

The Australian actor, 53, posted the clip for his 30.4million followers on the platform, beaming as he mouthed the lyrics to the smash-hit.

Hugh didn't hold back as he put on an animated display to the tune while his hair stylist made final touches to his quiff.

Hugh Jackman shared a fun Instagram reel on Sunday as he lip-synced along to Iggy Azalea's smash hit Fancy

He was dressed in a white button-up shirt, grey pants and a red tie.

'Promo prep,' he captioned the post.

The reel was quickly inundated with comments and likes from his followers, including pal Ryan Reynolds.

The Australian actor, 53, posted the clip for his 30.4million followers on the platform, beaming as he mouthed the lyrics to the smash-hit

Hugh didn't hold back as he put on an animated display to the tune while his hair stylist made final touches to his quiff

It comes after it was revealed that Hugh will star in Rick and Morty creator Justin Roiland's new comedy Koala Man.

The animated series follows a divorced dad who works a job at the council by day before turning into a 'Koala Man' at night to fight crime in NSW.

Jackman will voice Big Greg, who is the most well-liked man in town and is the head of the Town Council.

The animated series follows a divorced dad who works a job at the council by day before turning into a 'Koala Man' at night to fight crime in NSW

Big Greg is Kevin's direct supervisor and community members often credit him for Koala Man's work.

Hugh recently attended the world premiere of his new movie The Son, which had its world premiere at the 79th Venice International Film Festival.

The film's Australian release date is yet to be announced.
Roxy Horner shared some sizzling posts with fans on Sunday after enjoying a romantic trip to Crete with her boyfriend of two years, Jack Whitehall.

The model, 31, stripped off into a tiny pink bikini and packed on the PDA with the comedian, 34, in the Greek Islands.

In one image, the pair are seen kissing by the pool while Jack places his hands on her bottom.

'The most magical week': Roxy Horner showed off her stunning figure in a tiny pink bikini on Sunday, as she packed on the PDA with boyfriend Jack Whitehall in Crete

'The most magical week,' Roxy captioned her post.

In one video, Roxy shows off her figure in her pink bikini, tugging at her briefs and running her hands through her hair as she posed.

She also shared a picture of Jack tucking into some food as they enjoyed a lunch date by the sea.

Hot to trot: In one video, Roxy shows off her figure in her pink bikini, tugging at her bottoms and running her hands through her hair as she posed

Beach babe: Roxy looked incredible showing off a deep golden tan and with her long locks out and over her shoulders

Jack has also shared pictures from their idyllic Greek getaway, including a picture of the pair posing up in the reflection of the seaside hotel room.

As he went shirtless and playfully posed with his hands in the air, he jokingly captioned the post: 'It is crazy to think that only one of us poses for photographs as a profession.'

'With these moves I'm surprised I don't pick up more swimwear campaigns.'

What a vacay! She also shared a picture of Jack tucking into some food as they enjoyed a lunch date by the sea

He also shared another picture of the pair hiking on Spinalonga Island.

The pair have been dating for over two years and the pair reside in Jack's 17.5million, five-bed home in Notting Hill with their pooch Coco.

It was announced in May that Jack's Bad Education is set to return to BBC Three for a 10-year anniversary special followed by a brand new spin-off series.

The 45-minute one-off special episode, celebrating a decade since the show first aired, will reunite Alfie (Whitehall) with former students as they return to Abbey Grove for a joyfully chaotic careers day.

Holiday mode: Jack has also shared pictures from their idyllic Greek getaway, including a picture of the pair posing up in the reflection of the seaside hotel room

Meanwhile in March, Roxy praised Jack for being her 'rock' amid her Type 1 diabetes diagnosis.

'Jack's been my absolute rock, he's so lovely. He was there when I got diagnosed. My parents and my family live in Australia, so he has been my family. We're amazing,' she told The Sun.

The blonde beauty explained to the publication how her symptoms got worse during the pandemic, pushing her to seek medical advice.

'I felt extremely tired and exhausted for a long time, I had no energy. I couldn't even go for a walk, it was draining, I felt like I was dying. I was drinking four to eight litres of water a day,' she recalled.

Despite 'knowing something was really wrong' with her body and visiting the doctors on numerous occasions, Roxy was not tested for diabetes due to not fitting the criteria.

The model took herself to A&E out of desperation, where she was finally diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes - which causes a person's blood sugar level to become too high.
Brendan Fraser and Michelle Yeoh had a reunion on Sunday night, 14 years after they starred together in The Mummy: Tomb for the Dragon Emperor.

The actor, 53, and the 60-year-old actress shared a warm embrace as they greeted each other at the Toronto International Film Festival Tribute Awards.

Tomb of the Dragon Emperor was the third film in The Mummy franchise, with Brendan playing the lead role of Rick O'Connell while Michelle played a sorceress named Zi Yuan.

Together again! Brendan Fraser and Michelle Yeoh had a reunion on Sunday night, 14 years after they starred together in The Mummy: Tomb for the Dragon Emperor

Michelle and Brendan posed for a picture together at the awards ceremony, where they both were preparing to accepting accolades.

Fans of the actors rushed to Twitter to voice their happiness at seeing the sweet reunion.

One wrote: 'Best Actor and Best Actress right there. Please make it happen!!'

Sweet: The actor, 53, and the 60-year-old actress shared a warm embrace as they greeted each other at the Toronto International Film Festival Tribute Awards

While another said: 'Actual tears right now'.

And a third excitedly pointed out: 'mummy reunion!!'

The two actors have both generated a great deal of awards buzz for their recent movie roles.

Famous franchise: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor was the third film in The Mummy franchise, with Brendan playing the lead role of Rick O'Connell while Michelle played a sorceress named Zi Yuan

Reunion: Fans of the actors rushed to Twitter to voice their happiness at seeing the sweet reunion

Michelle was awarded with the inaugural TIFF Share Her Journey Groundbreaker accolade for her role in Everything Everywhere All at Once.

And Brendan appears to be launching a full-fledged career comeback with his performance in the Darren Aronofsky-directed motion picture The Whale.

His performance as a morbidly-obese teacher named Charlie in the drama has garnered massive buzz, as he received an extended standing ovation following the film's premiere at the Venice Film Festival earlier this month.

Buzz: Michelle was awarded with the inaugural TIFF Share Her Journey Groundbreaker accolade for her role in Everything Everywhere All at Once

Oscar incoming? And Brendan appears to be launching a full-fledged career comeback with his performance in the Darren Aronofsky-directed motion picture The Whale

Brendan said on Sunday that his confidence is up amid the glowing reviews he's received for his work in the forthcoming film

'So often, I have just felt like a working actor who was glad to have a job: "What do you got? Ill do it,"' he said, according to the Toronto Star. 'And thats a different guy than who I am right now.'

He added: 'In recent years, when I was a bit more reticent to step forward - have a life with kids and an oldest son with special needs, another kid whos going to be a senior now and another one who is [learning] to drive and hes picking up guitar - I think it just gave me a sense of purpose that I dont know that I would have appreciated as a younger man.'

Brendan was later awarded with the TIFF Tribute Award for Performance presented by IMDbPro.
Made In Chelsea's Lucy Watson and James Dunmore have marked their one-year wedding anniversary by posting stunning throwbacks from their Greek nuptials.

Lucy, 31, uploaded a series of beautiful photographs on Instagram on Monday from the couple's three-day celebration in Kefalonia in September 2021.

'One year married, seven and a half years together. Love you so much,' she wrote alongside her post, before taking to her Story to share more images from their big day.

Happy days: Made In Chelsea's Lucy Watson and James Dunmore have marked their one-year wedding anniversary by posting stunning throwbacks from their Greek nuptials

In the main photo, Lucy stunned in her white tulle wedding dress as she kissed her former Made In Chelsea co-star James, 33, who looked dapper in a black wedding suit.

The former reality star also shared a photo of her beautiful second dress, which was an ivory silk slip number, which she wore for the evening part of her nuptials.

James also shared a sweet post for his wife on their first anniversary, writing: 'Happy 1st wedding anniversary mi amore [my love]! Keep being you.'

Lucy also shared a photo of the card James gave her on Monday, declaring 'I have the best husband'.

Gorgeous: Lucy, 31, uploaded a series of beautiful photographs on Instagram on Monday from the couple's three-day celebration in Kefalonia in September 2021

Mr and Mrs: Lucy stunned in her white tulle wedding dress as she held hands with her former Made In Chelsea co-star James, 33, who looked dapper in a black wedding suit

Lucy and James tied the knot in a romantic Greek ceremony in Kefalonia in September 2021 after making their union official in a civil ceremony in London.

The pair first met seven years ago on Made In Chelsea in 2015 while both appearing on the E4 reality show.

Lucy announced her engagement to James in September 2020 after he popped the question on a romantic sunset cruise in Greece.

Despite their wedding looking like the perfect day, Lucy has previously said how disappointed she was that unexpected rain hampered their plans after spending a fortune on their nuptials in the hope of guaranteed Greek sunshine.

Lucy revealed she couldn't stop crying on the morning of her destination wedding, after a huge thunderstorm was forecast for the big day.

Here comes the bride: The former reality star also shared a photo of her beautiful second dress, which was an ivory silk slip number, which she wore for the evening part of her nuptials

'Found you, married you, keeping you': Lucy also shared a photo of the anniversary card James gave her on Monday, declaring 'I have the best husband'

While sharing wedding pictures on Instagram last year, she wrote: 'If I look sad in those stories it's because I was.

'It sounds soooo stupid but we spent a year planning the wedding and so much money/ time/ energy went into it... and on the day of the wedding there was a huge thunderstorm.

'We basically got married in the rain and all the plans we'd made went out the window and we just had to work with what we had.

'I had been crying about it morning, mainly out of frustration, not only for James and I, but also all our guests/ family.

'However, as soon as I walked down the aisle and saw my soon-to-be husband smiling back at me, I couldn't stop smiling from that point on and the rain became irrelevant in my mind.

'Anyway just thought I'd explain my somewhat moody face (although it is always like that).'
Five farmers began their search for love when Channel Seven's Farmer Wants A Wife returned to screens last week.

But a suspicious Instagram clue has seemingly revealed who farmer Will Simpson's final pick might be.

Although Will, 26, is following all eight of his contestants, fans have noticed that he's also following a second account by Madi Simpson and Jessica Cova.

A suspicious social media clue has seemingly revealed who Will's final pick might be. Pictured: Farmer Will Simpson and the ladies vying for his affection

The pair run the account @cookingwithmadjess, with the bio reading: 'Just two average joes taking the piss in the kitchen'.

Farmer Will is only one of 12 people following the account.

It comes after leading bookmakers Sportsbet placed Jessica from Queensland as the frontrunner to win.

Although Will, 26, is following all eight of his contestants, fans have noticed that he's also following a second account by Madi Simpson and Jessica Cova (right)

The blonde stunner is currently favourite with odds at $1.40, followed by Madi at $6.

Farmer Will also has odds of leaving the show without a relationship at $6.

It comes after Will admitted that he's overwhelmed by the mass attention he's received over his good looks.

The Victorian says he's been inundated with messages and marriage proposals from thousands of single women since the show went to air.

'All this attention is a bit over the top I think,' he told the Daily Telegraph.

'I saw the TikTok video which has been made about me and I cant believe people think I am important enough to make something like that.'

The star's follower count on Instagram skyrocketed after Channel Seven unveiled him as one of the farmers looking for love, going from a mere few hundred followers to over 10,000 overnight.

'I really dont think I am anything special or amazing,' he added. 'I think its a massive overreaction, theres plenty of blokes who were better looking than me, thats for sure.'
Dozens of celebrities have been are sharing their tributes to Queen Elizabeth II following the announcement of her death on Thursday afternoon at the age of 96.

Buckingham Palace confirmed the sad news at 1:30pm, leaving millions around the world reeling over the tragic loss; it has been said that she was surrounded by her family at the time of her death.

Soon after, emotional messages from Hollywood's most well-known stars came pouring in - as they honored her many accomplishments and hard work over the last 70 years as a royal.

Barbara Streisand, 80, with a career spanning over six decades, paid tribute on Instagram with a photograph of her meeting the Queen in March 1975.

'Sad to hear about the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. She was a constant for us all. Respected around the world. May she rest in peace. Barbra,' she wrote.

Kim Kardashian posted a black and white photograph of Her Majesty posing at Buckingham Palace in 1958, writing simply: 'Rest in peace.'

Kim Kardashian posted a black and white photograph of Her Majesty posing at Buckingham Palace in 1958, writing simply: 'Rest in peace'

Barbara Streisand paid tribute on Instagram with a photograph of her meeting the Queen in March 1975. She wrote: 'Sad to hear about the passing of Queen Elizabeth II'

Legendary singer Diana Ross, 78, who performed at the sovereign's Platinum Jubilee in June with a new song written for the occasion, Thank You, echoed similar sentiments

English singer-songwriter Dua Lipa (left) shared a classic black and white photo of the Queen while model Hailey Bieber (right) shared her shock on social media

Legendary singer Diana Ross, 78, who performed at the sovereign's Platinum Jubilee in June with a new song written for the occasion, Thank You, echoed similar sentiments following her passing.

'Thank you to Her Majesty, The Queen. She devoted her life to her country and to the service of others,' Diana wrote.

'I am happy I was able to say thank you to Her Majesty at this years Platinum Jubilee. With love and condolences to all of her family, we all celebrate her life.'

English singer-songwriter Dua Lipa shared a classic black and white photo of the Queen while model Hailey Bieber shared her shock on social media.

'Wow... RIP to her majesty The Queen', she wrote on Instagram.

Kris Jenner, Whoopie Goldberg, William Shatner, Barack and Michelle Obama, Jennifer Garner, and Melinda Gates were among the others who remembered the Monarch and her seven-decade reign.

'Rest In Peace, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,' Kris wrote on Instagram. 'Graceful, dedicated, elegant, unforgettable'

'Today and always we will remember her as one of the greatest leaders our world has ever seen. I send my love and condolences to the Royal Family.'

'Rest In Peace, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,' Kris Jenner wrote on Instagram. 'Graceful, dedicated, elegant, unforgettable'

Whoopie Goldberg reminisced about the first time she met the Monarch at the Royal Variety Performance in 2009, remembering, 'I was in awe'

Jennifer Garner shared a stunning portrait of the Queen to Instagram, which she captioned, 'What an elegant, incredible woman.'

William Shatner, best known for his role in Star Trek, said he was 'very saddened' over her death

Whoopie reminisced about the first time she met the Monarch at the Royal Variety Performance in 2009.

'As she approached me, all I could think of was, 'WTH? I'm an American kid from the projects and I'm in the company of the Queen of England,'' she remembered on Twitter. 'I was in awe. Rest In Peace. God Save the King.'

Jennifer shared a stunning portrait of the Queen to Instagram, which she captioned, 'What an elegant, incredible woman.'

William, best known for his role in Star Trek, said he was 'very saddened' over her death.

'Very saddened to learn about the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth,' he wrote on Twitter.

Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates' ex-wife Melinda shared an emotional post, writing, 'Spanning nearly three-quarters of a century - and a world transformed many times over - Her Majesty's was a reign without equal.

'I will cherish the kindnesses that Queen Elizabeth II extended to our family and the remarkable leadership, resilience, and example she showed us all.'

Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates' ex-wife Melinda shared an emotional post, writing, 'Spanning nearly three-quarters of a century, Her Majesty's was a reign without equal'

Bill, for his part, also shared his sentiments, writing, 'I feel honored to have met HM Queen Elizabeth, and I am very sad to hear of her passing'

Barack and Michelle Obama said in a joint statement posted to their Twitter accounts that they were 'joining so many others who are celebrating her life and mourning her passing'

The pair added that she reigned with 'grace, elegance, and a tireless work ethic,' while 'defying the odds and expectations placed on women of her generation'

Bill, for his part, also shared his sentiments, writing, 'I feel honored to have met HM Queen Elizabeth, and I am very sad to hear of her passing. My deepest condolences to the Royal Family and the British people.'

Barack and Michelle said in a joint statement posted to their Twitter accounts that they were 'joining so many others who are celebrating her life and mourning her passing.'

'Michelle and I were lucky enough to come to know Her Majesty, and she meant a great deal to us,' Barack wrote.

'Back when we were beginning to navigate life as President and First Lady, she welcomed us to the world stage with open arms and extraordinary generosity.

'Time and again, we were struck by her warmth, the way she put people at ease, and how she brought her considerable humor and charm to moments of great pomp and circumstance.'

Janet Jackson shared a throwback photo of herself meeting the Queen, which she captioned, May you Rest In Peace, Queen.'

Star Trek actor George Takei said that his thoughts were with the 'royal family and the people of the United Kingdom'

Andy Cohen shared a photo of the Queen to his Instagram with no caption, while Melanie Griffith simply wrote, 'God bless Queen Elizabeth. R.I.P.'

The View host Meghan McCain also spoke out, writing on Twitter, 'To my British friends and colleagues. God Bless the Queen and the Royal Family. Our hearts are with you'

Paris Hilton called her the 'original girl boss' and 'one of the most inspirational women,' calling it 'the end of an era'

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Lisa Vanderpump said that while everyone 'knew the day was inevitable,' she was feeling an 'overwhelming sadness' over the loss

The Real Housewives of Dubai's Caroline Stanbury also spoke out, calling it a 'terrible loss'

Nicki Minja tweeted, 'RIP, QUEEN,' while Reese Witherspoon wrote something similar, 'Rest in Peace, Queen Elizabeth II.'

'Like so many of you, Michelle and I are grateful to have witnessed Her Majesty's dedicated leadership, and we are awed by her legacy of tireless, dignified public service,' he concluded in the statement.

'Our thoughts are with her family and the people of the United Kingdom at this difficult time.'

The pair added that she reigned with 'grace, elegance, and a tireless work ethic,' while 'defying the odds and expectations placed on women of her generation.'

Andy Cohen shared a photo of the Queen to his Instagram with no caption, while Melanie Griffith simply wrote, 'God bless Queen Elizabeth. R.I.P.'

Star Trek actor George Takei said that his thoughts were with the 'royal family and the people of the United Kingdom.'

'In her time, the Queen saw a country and indeed a world transformed. There shall be none other like her,' he added.

Harry Potter star Jason Isaacs praised Her Majesty for 'somehow rising above all the debate around privilege or political controversy' and 'devoting her life to public service and duty'

American journalist Maria Shriver honored her 'extraordinary life of public service,' gushing, 'The queen served her country, until the very end, with class, strength, dignity, and honor.

Designer Stella McCartney said, 'It is with great sadness that we mourn today the passing of Her Majesty The Queen'

Paris Hilton called her the 'original girl boss' and 'one of the most inspirational women,' calling it 'the end of an era.'

Acclaimed actress Barbra Streisand wrote, 'Sad to hear about the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.

'She was a constant for us all. Respected around the world. May she rest in peace. Barbra.'

The View host Meghan McCain also spoke out, writing on Twitter, 'To my British friends and colleagues. God Bless the Queen and the Royal Family. Our hearts are with you and the people of the United Kingdom today.'

Designer Stella McCartney said, 'It is with great sadness that we mourn today the passing of Her Majesty The Queen.

'On behalf of the Stella McCartney team, I would like to express my sincerest condolences to the Royal Family.'

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Lisa Vanderpump shared an emotional post honoring the Monarch, explaining that while everyone 'knew the day was inevitable,' she was feeling an 'overwhelming sadness' over the loss of 'one of the most inspirational women the world has known.'

Victoria Beckham said she was 'deeply saddened' by the loss, writing, 'Today is a very sad day for the entire world. She will be remembered for her steadfast loyalty'

Nicki Minja tweeted, 'RIP, QUEEN,' while Reese Witherspoon wrote something similar, 'Rest in Peace, Queen Elizabeth II'

Fashion icon Donatella Versace said that we have 'lost one of the greatest women in the world'

'Her reign was exemplary as she saw our nation through so many crises,' she wrote. 'Not just a monarch but also a matriarch to our country and the commonwealth. Heartfelt condolences to the Royal Family. Our hearts are broken.'

The Real Housewives of Dubai's Caroline Stanbury also spoke out, calling it a 'terrible loss.'

'What a terrible loss we suffer today. My heart goes out to her family #TheQueen,' she wrote on Instagram. 'I had the pleasure of meeting her as a little girl never to be forgotten.'

Rapper Angel Haze said she thought the Queen was going to 'outlive Earth.'

'It just seemed like the natural trajectory of things,' she tweeted.

Victoria Beckham said she was 'deeply saddened' by the loss, writing, 'Today is a very sad day for the entire world.

'I'm deeply saddened by the passing of our beloved Monarch, Her Majesty The Queen.

'She will be remembered for her steadfast loyalty and service and my thoughts are with the royal family at this time.'

Harry Potter star Jason Isaacs praised Her Majesty for 'somehow rising above all the debate around privilege or political controversy' and 'devoting her life to public service and duty.'

Other stars that spoke out include rapper Angel Haze, Elton John, Mick Jagger, rock band Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath's Geezer Butler, Ozzy Osbourne, and singer Maren Morris

Fashion icon Donatella Versace said that we have 'lost one of the greatest women in the world.'

'Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II showed us how to live our lives,' she added. 'She lived with grace, fortitude, hard work, loyalty, and kindness.

'She was an inspiration to us all. I send my deep and personal condolences to King Charles III and all of the royal family.'

Helen Mirren, who played Queen Elizabeth II in the 2006 movie The Queen, wrote, 'I am proud to be an Elizabethan. We mourn a woman, who, with or without the crown, was the epitome of nobility.'

'For my whole life Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II has always been there,' Rolling Stone singer Mick Jagger said in a post of his own.

'In my childhood I can recall watching her wedding highlights on TV. I remember her as a beautiful young lady, to the much beloved grandmother of the nation. My deepest sympathies are with the Royal family.'

The English rock band also posted a tribute, writing, 'The Rolling Stones extend their deepest sympathy to the Royal family on the death of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, who was a constant presence in their lives as in countless others.'

American journalist Maria Shriver honored her 'extraordinary life of public service,' gushing, 'The queen served her country, until the very end, with class, strength, dignity, and honor.

'She was married for 74 years, a mother to four, a grandmother, and a great grandmother.'

Other stars that spoke out include Naomi Campbell, Australian model Elle Macpherson, Elton John, Black Sabbath's Geezer Butler, Ozzy Osbourne, and country singer Maren Morris.
Britney Spears' sister Jamie Lynn Spears took to Instagram over the weekend to share a milestone about her eldest child.

Jamie Lynn's 14-year-old daughter Maddie Aldridge was seen all dressed up in a light blue mini dress and high heels as she went to her high school homecoming in Louisiana.

The teen has made a miraculous recovering after she made headlines in 2017 for an ATV accident that almost killed her.

Proud mama: Britney Spears' sister Jamie Lynn Spears took to Instagram over the weekend to share a milestone about her eldest child

Mama Jamie Lynn was the proud parent over the weekend when she shared the new homecoming photos.

'When ya find out ya have an extra day off work, so ya load up the toddler, drive 7 hours, & get to surprise your oldest for Homecoming weekend,' wrote Jamie Lynn in her caption.

'Nothing else Id rather do & Nowhere else Id rather be.'

Jamie Lynn's mother Lynne Spears was also seen but there was no sign of her sister Britney who she has been feuding with in recent years.

With her date: Jamie Lynn's 14-year-old daughter Maddie Aldridge was seen all dressed up in a light blue dress and high heels as she went to her high school homecoming in Louisiana

And Maddie also had a homecoming date, a young man with dark hair who wore a light blue suit, but his name was not posted.

In May Jamie Lynn also expressed pride over her daughter's school achievements.

The actress former shared a carousel of photos from Aldridge's school event and gushed over her in the caption.

Teen spirit: 'When ya find out ya have an extra day off work, so ya load up the toddler, drive 7 hours, & get to surprise your oldest for Homecoming weekend,' wrote Jamie Lynn in her caption

More to this: Spears added, 'Nothing else Id rather do & Nowhere else Id rather be.' Maddie seen third from left with her friends

The star said she was 'so proud of her work ethic as an athlete and as a student.'

The slideshow showed the mom-of-two in a gymnasium with her two kids, Maddie, and her second daughter, four-year-old Ivey Watson.

The former Nickelodeon star wore a bright, long-sleeved yellow button-up shirt with a denim mini skirt.

Her icy blonde hair was in an imperfect center part and was a bit tussled as it flowed over her shoulders.

There is mama Spears: Britney and Jamie Lynn's mother on the far left Lynne Spears

Let's go party: The teen and her friends were seen walking through a parking lot

Her firstborn daughter wore a light-colored short-sleeved dress with white sandals that had a small, age-appropriate heel.

Spears started the caption by saying to her followers, 'Sorryyyy, but I have to do a quick proud parent post for my 4 sport athlete who also kept a 4.0 GPA all year.'

She noted at the end of the message, 'I wore my tall platform Uggs, and she was still taller then me.'

Maddie's dirty blonde hair was parted down the center and streamed over her shoulders and down her back in a straight texture.

She tucked the front pieces behind her ears as she smiled with her mom and much younger sister.

Famous sister: Jamie Lynn's sister is pop icon Britney Spears, seen on social media this year

Proud mom: Spears took to Instagram in May to express pride over her daughter's recent school achievements

Also there to support Maddie was her maternal grandmother Lynne Spears, who attended in an aqua blue dress.

The mother-of-three wore her raven locks with a bang and let them fall over her shoulders.

She and other family members and loved ones took turns posing with the accomplished pupil.

Jamie Lynn also posted a short video clip of her daughter ascending a stage to receive a certificate.

Farther down in the post Aldridge wore a gold and black medallion around her neck to signal her school successes.

In some snapshots Maddie happily held Ivey, who was dressed in a sleeveless red dress, on her hip.

The toddler's hair was neatly pulled back and she grinned while enjoying the family gathering.

Maddie was born to the former child star when she was just a teenager. Spears shares her with Casey Aldridge.

Jamie's now married to Jamie Watson, 39, who she wed in 2014.

In addition to her daughter's school feats, the Zoey 101 alum also celebrated the renewal of her show Sweet Magnolias.

Along with a promotional image of the series she wrote in a caption, 'Lets pour it out for SEASON 3!!!!!!'

Happy mom: She said she was 'so proud of her work ethic as an athlete and as a student'

Family support: Also there to support Maddie was her maternal grandmother Lynn Spears, who attended in an aqua blue dress

Back in February the entertainer also gave the show a shoutout as she wrote on social media, 'SWEET MAGNOLIAS going to #1 so fast was a real life dream coming true.'

She simultaneously reflected on Maddie's ATV accident in the post, writing, 'But I must say, I do not think it's a coincidence that today is also, the 5 year 'miracle anniversary' of our sweet Maddie's tragic accident.'

In 2017 a then-eight-year-old Maddie suffered the vehicular accident as the four-wheeler became submerged in a pond with the little girl buckled into it.

Fortunately, Maddie made a full recovery. 'Maybe, it's just a little reminder to remain faithful through the good times and the bad times,' Spears reflected.
Samantha Armytage has shared a rare insight to her quiet life in the country with husband Richard Lavender.

The former Sunrise host says that the pair are 'always busy' on the farm at their Southern Highlands property.

'We have horses and there's always something going on,' the 46-year-old told TV Week.

Samantha Armytage has shared a rare insight to her quiet life in the country with husband Richard Lavender. Both pictured

'I'm happy to use the chainsaw and I drive the bobcat and the tractor. But not the bulldozer  it's too big and scary.'

Sam says that she and Richard, 60, fell in love at first sight - but he had never seen her on Sunrise, which she hosted at the time.

'I instantly knew Rich was grounded and an earthy type. I liked that he had no idea who I was, and I liked his blue eyes,' she said.

The former Sunrise host says that the pair are 'always busy' on the farm at their Southern Highlands property. 'We have horses and there's always something going on,' the 46-year-old told TV Week

Sam added that her role as a matchmaker on Farmer Wants a Wife is perfect as it mirrors her own experience.

'The show is basically my life, moving to the country for love,' she said. 'I was thrilled to be asked'.

The television host went on to reveal some surprising goals - including writing a sitcom and training a champion racing horse.

Sam added that her role as a matchmaker on Farmer Wants a Wife is perfect as it mirrors her own experience. 'The show is basically my life, moving to the country for love,' she said. 'I was thrilled to be asked'

'All in all, I want a productive, peaceful life  which I've cultivated. Lucky me,' she told the magazine.

Richard earlier revealed that his first meeting with the former Sunrise host left him swooning.

In a very rare appearance together on Channel Seven's Farmer Wants A Wife, the extremely private couple shared insights into their romance.

Sam says that she and Richard fell in love at first sight - but he had never seen her on Sunrise, which she hosted at the time. 'I instantly knew Rich was grounded and an earthy type. I liked that he had no idea who I was, and I liked his blue eyes,' she said

'The moment I first saw Sammy, I thought, "There's my girl,"' a smitten Richard said in the episode.

'We were very lucky, weren't we, to ever find each other?' Sam chimed in.

Discussing her move to the country after quitting the city and her role on Sunrise, Sam highly recommended the tree change.

Richard earlier revealed that his first meeting with the former Sunrise host left him swooning

'In my experience, it's really nice when you move to the country, which I did last year for love,' she said.

'You've really got to be a team with a farmer. Like, it's more than just an average job in the city  it's a lifestyle.'

It comes after Sam has revealed she intends to keep her private life with Richard all to herself.

'The moment I first saw Sammy, I thought, 'There's my girl,'' a smitten Richard said in the episode. 'We were very lucky, weren't we, to ever find each other?' Sam chimed in

'I always felt that until I was married or really sure about someone, then I'm not going to talk about them publicly, and I'm really pleased I didn't because boy, oh boy, there were a few who didn't deserve to be spoken about,' she told Stellar magazine.

'Even with Rich, [fame] isn't his world. He's a very private person, so I feel like I give enough of him without having to share too much'.

Samantha wed her doting partner Richard on New Years' Eve in 2020 at his home in Bowral in the Southern Highlands.

Samantha wed her doting partner Richard on New Years' Eve in 2020 at his home in Bowral in the Southern Highlands

After signing off on Sunrise in March last year, she was replaced by newsreader Natalie Barr, and has been enjoying a quieter life in the countryside.

In July 2020, Samantha sold her North Bondi home in Sydney for $2.8million, which suggested she was planning to move to the country full time.

Richard owns a 40-hectare property in Bowral, while Samantha sold her Southern Highlands cottage for $3.1million in September 2020.
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Bethenny Frankel looked sensational in a red one-piece swimsuit as she hit the beach in The Hamptons in Long Island, New York this weekend to enjoy the last days of summer.

The 51-year-old former reality TV star wore her dark hair down under a straw sun hat and flashed her diamond jewelry as she worked on her tan.

This comes after she criticized the Kardashian family for altering their social media images to an unattainable level which is determinantal to the mental health of young women.

Late summer siren: Bethenny Frankel looked sensational in a red one-piece swimsuit as she hit the beach in The Hamptons in Long Island, New York this weekend to enjoy the last days of summer. The 51-year-old former reality TV star wore her dark hair down under a straw sun hat and flashed her diamond jewelry as she worked on her tan

In the new images Frankel was seen solo as she walked in the sand while chatting on her cell phone.

She added dark sunglasses and looked to be in tip top shape.

On September 2, Frankel swiped at the Kardashian family for 'irresponsible' photoshopping because Kim had smoothed out her neck and removed her trapezius muscle from the image.

'It's not fair to women just trying to get by. It's irresponsible, it's reckless, it's not inspirational, it's not aspirational,' said the Bravo star, bucking against the unrealistic beauty standards.

A good look: In the new images Frankel was seen solo as she walked in the sand while chatting on her cell phone. She added dark sunglasses and looked to be in tip top shape

She likes red swimsuits: The star seen earlier this summer in another red swimsuit at the beach

Frankel added, 'It's destructive. It creates eating disorders, insecurity, and depression. It's a serious thing.'

She continued in her rant, 'Moms feel insecure.  They dont have time to do all this [editing], nor do they even know how to [with] the technology.'

And in August she talked photo shopping again.

She demonstrated just how 'deceptive' a photo filter can be as she posted a heavily edited photo of her bikini body.

Frankel slightly altered her body in order to demonstrate just how 'deceptive' photos can be when a filter is applied.

In the first image, a heavily-filtered Bethenny displayed a slimmed down waist and enhanced cleavage as she posed on the beach in a taupe bikini.

Is this wrong? On September 2, Frankel swiped at the Kardashian family for 'irresponsible' photoshopping

The next image, however, showed off the real Bethenny without the use of a filter.

In the caption, The Real Housewives Of New York star broke down just how damaging filters can be as she called them straight up 'inaccurate'.

'This is NOT what I look likeand you know that bc I'm not vain and show you the real me. But if I posted a version of this every day you might start to believe that it might be. This is just how distorted this has all gotten' she began.

'Filtering is lying: it is deceptive. It makes women feel badly about themselves. It makes young girls insecure and obsessed with an unattainable perfection. It makes middle aged women and mothers feel insecure about themselves.

'This is NOT what I look like': Frankel demonstrated just how 'deceptive' a photo filter can be as she posted a heavily edited photo of her bikini body in late August

'This creates a false ideal for men. It's the opposite of inspirational. It's destructive. It's irresponsible. It's insecure and it's inaccurate. There is a line between making an effort to look pretty and an outright falsehood.

'Swipe to see what I really look like #instagramvsreality #thisisme #speakyourtruth #liveauthentic.'

Fans praised Bethenny for her message and honesty in the comments section with an array of applause, hearts, and red heart emojis.

While Bethenny may never endorse the use of filters, one thing she did happily promote on her Instagram account recently was her line of eyewear.

Her vision is clear: The RHONY alum showed off her line of eyewear, Bethenny Eyewear, on her Instagram account

The RHONY alum launched Bethenny Eyewear in February 2021.

It's aimed at those wanting 'glamorous' and 'high fashion' sunglasses, as well as reading and blue light glasses, that are 'appropriately priced.'

Speaking to PageSix, Bethenny explained that her new brand 'comes from a more mature, sophisticated and elevated point of view and perspective.'

The entrepreneur previously founded the highly successful SkinnyGirl cocktail line in 2008. She'd eventually sell SkinnyGirl for a reported $120million in 2011.
Justin Long was chatting up his 39-year-old lady love Kate Bosworth last week.

The 44-year-old He's Just Not That Into You actor called the Blue Crush blonde beauty 'supportive' when he stopped by his ex-girlfriend Drew Barrymore's talk show.

And the star even went so far as to say Drew would love Kate and they should all go out sometime.

His girl: Justin Long was chatting up his 39-year-old lady love Kate Bosworth last week

A good catch: The 44-year-old He's Just Not That Into You actor called the Blue Crush blonde beauty 'supportive'

The conversation started when Drew said, 'I could not be happier for you. Its all I want in life is your success and happiness.'

Justin then shared, 'Likewise.'

And Barrymore continued: 'Its true and Im so happy that you are in this also amazing relationship. Im just so happy because you deserve to be happy. Im so thrilled for you.'

Justin then noted: 'She does all those things. And she adores you. She is the most supportive, most wonderful. You would love hanging out with her. Well all go out together.'

His ex: He made the comments when he stopped by his ex-girlfriend Drew Barrymore's talk show; seen on set

They have been dating since late last year when they worked together on the movie House Of Darkness, which shot in Arkansas.

In June Bosworth gushed over Long during his 44th birthday. Kate posted a carousel of sweet snaps to celebrate the actor's big day.

Alongside pics of the smitten couple kissing and posing together on a beach and at home, the actress shared a sweet message expressing her gratitude to Justin for bringing back her 'glow'.

Kate's birthday message also included a thank you to Justin for being 'patient' as they fell in love.

'You were born today and the world lit up brighter than it had known and years later you met a girl whos life was disassembled / rearranged but you were patient and with time she fell in love now she has a glow (one that was forgotten long ago) she is so grateful *more than youll ever know Happy Birthday,' she gushed.

'You make me smile so big my face hurts xx Thank you for creating peace in my heart since the day we met.'

The snaps showed the couple wearing matching red outfits as they kissed passionately for a selfie.

Another photo taken on the same glam date night, saw Kate beaming for the camera as she held a glass of champagne and a sparkler while Justin took the selfie.

The selfie-loving couple also posed in their swimwear during a beach trip as they leaned in for a kiss.

Over on her Stories Kate shared more photos and another loved-up caption which read: 'You are so full of goodness the world is better because of you'.

Justin went went Instagram official with Kate in June.

Their spooky film: Long and Bosworth seen together in 2022's House Of Darkness

In their first social media snap together, the actor and his girlfriend were seen sharing a pint of Guinness and smiling after catching a bit of foam on their lips while they enjoyed a romantic getaway in Ireland.

Justin shared the pictures on his account and Kate left a note in the comment section that read: 'I'm the luckiest.'

In July the actress, who announced her split to Michael Polish in August 2021, filed the legal documents with the Los Angeles Courts, per The Blast.

Kate was married to Michael for eight years and shares no children together.

The outlet reported that the Blue Crush actress filed the paperwork and cited 'irreconcilable differences.' as the reason for the split.

Many happy returns: Bosworth gushed over Long in June during his 44th birthday

Happiness: Alongside pics of the smitten couple, the actress shared a sweet message expressing her gratitude to Justin for bringing back her 'glow'

Kate announced their split in August 2021 via Instagram.

In August 2021, she shared a tender photo of the pair kissing along with an gushing tribute to love in the caption.

After several paragraphs reflecting on romance, Kate wrote: 'Our hearts are full, as we have never been so enamored and deeply grateful for one another as we do in this decision to separate.'

While touching, some fans were left confused at the overly gushing tone of the post about the marriage breakdown, with one user commenting: 'This isn't real life,' while another said: 'Only in Hollyweird.'

The couple married in 2013. Bosworth is step-mother to Polish's daughter from a previous marriage.

Kate's rather poetic post began with two quotes, which she attributed to 'Big Sur, 2011,' the title of the film where they met.

'Do you want to split a burger? Yes.'

'How bout a shot of whiskey? Hell yes.'

Smitten: A week after Justin shared his first photos of the couple, Kate posted a carousel of sweet snaps to celebrate the actor's big day

So much love with these two: She also held up her hands as she put a tongue over her teeth

Kate went on: 'The beginning is often the best part of love. Fireworks, magnets, rebellion  the attraction. The onset signals a wide open expanse of possibility. Split a burger with someone when you are falling in love, and you can die happily knowing this is your last meal.

'Buy a bottle of whiskey and share shots, pour me a waterfall. Play that perfect song on the jukebox and dance with someone you have known your whole life, though you met minutes ago.'

'Inherently we fear an ending. To lose what you have because you got what you wanted. To be attached to the expectation of the outcome. The great Unknown.'

'What if we chose not to fear but instead, to love. If that most delicate and vulnerable last flicker to the flame became another type of furnace entirely.

'Perhaps this will sound strange to some, romantic to others. To us: this is truth.

Getting to the core of her message, the LA-born actress wrote: 'Our hearts are full, as we have never been so enamored and deeply grateful for one another as we do in this decision to separate.

Done: Bosworth filed for divorce from estranged husband Michael Polish in July. The actress, who announced their split in August 2021, filed the legal documents with the Los Angeles Courts, per The Blast; seen in February 2020

'Together, over the last ten years, Michael and I have chosen love, every time. We hold hands as tightly today as we entangled fingers on our wedding day.

'Our eyes look more deeply into one another, with more courage now. In the process of letting go, we have come to acknowledge that our love will never end. The connection does not simply disappear. The love deepens, the heart expands.

'This is love,' she wrote, finishing: 'And we will drink that down.'

Kate and Michael, 51, were last photographed together in January 2021.

The couple met in 2011 during the making of the adventure drama Big Sur, which she starred in and he directed.

Bosworth and Polish announced their engagement in August 2012 and married on August 31, 2013 at The Ranch at Rock Creek in Philipsburg, Montana.

Michael is dad to daughter Jasper Polish, 24, with ex Jo Strettell.

'I never even dated my husband-to-be,' Bosworth told InStyle UK at the time. 'He said to me after just a few weeks, before we were even together, "I'm going to marry you." He just knew.'

The star was previously involved with Orlando Bloom from 2002 from 2005.
Olivia Wilde demonstrated her chic sense of style in a black long sleeve and salmon pink pants while stepping out in Hollywood, California on Sunday evening.

Following a drama-filled Venice Film Festival appearance last week, the 38-year-old actress appeared in good spirits as she took photos with fans on her latest outing.

The mother-of-two accessorized her stylish ensemble with a brown Gucci crossbody bag with a black, green and red striped strap and her blonde hair in beachy waves.

Looking good! Olivia Wilde demonstrated her chic sense of style in a black long sleeve and salmon pink pants while stepping out in Hollywood, California on Sunday evening

Just days prior, the mother-of-two hit back at circulating claims she cheated on her ex-partner Jason Sudeikis with new boyfriend Harry Styles - branding the rumours 'horses**t'.

Her upcoming new film, Don't Worry Darling, which marks her sophomore movie as director, also premiered during Venice Film Festival last week - receiving a bout of mixed reviews.

It stars leads Florence Pugh and Harry Styles as a 1950s married couple that becomes ensnared with a cult in their idyllic town

Friendly: Following a drama-filled Venice Film Festival appearance last week, the 38-year-old Don't Worry Darling director appeared in good spirits as she took photos with fans on her latest outing

Polished: The mother-of-two accessorized her stylish ensemble with a brown Gucci crossbody bag with a black, green and red striped strap and her blonde hair in beachy waves

But it was the drama off-set that hit headlines, including Olivia's relationship with leading man Harry Styles - who plays character Jack Chambers.

The pair went public with their romance in January 2021, while filming was ongoing for the new release.

It came just two months after the end of Olivia's relationship with fiance of seven years Jason - with rumors beginning to circulate that there was a crossover between the two relationship timelines.

Glamorous: On Friday, she rocked a Dior tulle dress with black heels

All dressed up: All eyes were on the beauty as she stepped out in Los Angeles in her flowing frock

Ready to go: On both her recent outings, Wilde was not pictured with boyfriend Harry Styles

But while appearing on the cover of Vanity Fair this week, the director and actress shut down any cheating claims - assuring the romance between her and Jason was over 'long before' she and Harry became romantic.

She told the publication: 'Like any relationship that ends, it doesn't end overnight. Unfortunately, Jason and I had a very bumpy road, and we officially dissolved the relationship towards the beginning of the pandemic.'

'We were raising two kids during lockdown, so we co-parented through that time. Once it became clear that cohabitating was no longer beneficial for the children, it became the responsible thing to not, because we could be better parents as friends who live in different houses,' Wilde explained.

Despite an initial amicable split, her former partner raised eyebrows for serving the House actress custody papers on stage at the 2022 CinemaCon in front of 4,100 film industry executives back in April.

No overlap: In response to the public's speculation that she was unfaithful to her longtime partner, the director insisted that their 'relationship was over long before' meeting the pop star Harry Styles (pictured) on the set of Don't Worry Darling

'The complete horses**t idea that I left Jason for Harry is completely inaccurate,' she told Vanity Fair last week, and a pair of chunky platform heels; seen in 2019 with Sudeikis

'So many people were shocked on my behalf,' she said. 'Unfortunately, I wasn't that shocked. There's a reason that I didn't stay in that relationship. Unfortunately, that was consistent with my experience of the relationship. So I was probably the least shocked.'

Still, she admitted the incident left her 'deeply saddened by itand disturbed by it in lots of ways.'

While Wilde believes Sudeikis wanted 'to disrupt' her appearance, an insider close to him told the publication he 'had not known when or where the papers would be served and would never condone such a turn of events.'

'We were raising two kids during lockdown, so we co-parented through that time. Once it became clear that cohabitating was no longer beneficial for the children, it became the responsible thing to not, because we could be better parents as friends who live in different houses,' Wilde explained; seen in 2020

Olivia shares her two children, Otis, eight, and five-year-old Daisy with Jason, who met on the set of Saturday Night Live back in 2011.

But amid the drama surrounding Olivia's love life, the filmmaker has also been hit by rumours of a feud with Don't Worry Darling's leading actress Florence Pugh.

Attempting to also put those claims to bed, she continued to Vanity Fair: 'Florences performance in this film is astounding. Its just baffling to me that the media would rather focus on baseless rumors and gossip, thereby overshadowing her profound talent.'

'She deserves more than that. As does the movie, and everyone who worked so hard on it,' the filmmaker made clear.
Lee MacDonald

Played: Zammo McGuire

Lee MacDonald, 52, was the star of one of Grange Hill's most hard-hitting storylines when his character Zammo became addicted to heroin.

As a result, he became involved in a number of anti-drugs campaigns encouraging youngsters to 'Just Say No'.

After six years as Zammo, Lee left Grange Hill with critical acclaim for his portrayal of Zammo.

Lee had always had an interest in boxing and continued to develop his skill to a high level but unfortunately a car accident in the early 1990s left him unable to pursue the sport.

Lee MacDonald as Zammo who was the star of one of the series' most hard-hitting storylines when he became addicted to heroin. Now 52, he runs a locksmith business and continues to appear on TV as himself on shows such as Celebrity Pointless

Lee MacDonald played Zammo and now runs a locksmith business in London

Lee had always had an interest in boxing and continued to develop his skill to a high level.

Unfortunately, a car accident in the early 1990s left Lee unable to pursue with the sport.

Lee has made several TV appearances since leaving Grange Hill, including an episode of The Bill in which his love interest was played by Melissa Wilkes - who also played his girlfriend Jackie Wright in Grange Hill.

In April 2019, it was announced that he would appear in the BBC soap opera EastEnders as Terry.

He remains in the public eye appearing as himself on shows such as Celebrity Scissorhands and Celebrity Pointless. He also runs a locksmith business in Wallington, Surrey.

Zammo became hooked on heroin in arguably the biggest storyline on the school drama

Todd Carty

Played: Peter 'Tucker' Jenkins

Todd Carty, 57, remains one of the show's most famous alumni having remained on TV screens since the first series aired in 1978. His Grange Hill character was so popular, he was given his own spin-off show Tucker's Luck from 1983 to 1985.

He then starred as Mark Fowler in EastEnders from 1990 to 2003, with a groundbreaking storyline when his character was diagnosed with HIV.

But after his departure from the square, he played away from type portraying the villainous PC Gabriel Kent in The Bill.

Todd Carty is well-known for his role as mischievous character Tucker Jenkins and even had his own spin-off from the series which ran for three years

Todd Carty went on to have a successful career in several television soaps, including Eastenders

Plotting a deranged revenge plot on the mother who gave him away involving incest and raping a colleague, psychopathic Gabriel became a serial killer and eventually committed suicide.

As well as continuing to act on stage and screen, he's also delved into producing and directing and made a memorable appearance on Dancing On Ice in 2009 because of his lack of flair.

His uncoordinated moves became a ratings draw and in one routine he accidentally skidded through the exit.

He played Mark Fowler for 13 years, pictured at Wendy Richards' funeral, who played his on-screen mother Pauline Fowler

As well as starring in panto, he appeared on Celebrity Masterchef in 2014 and

In 2015, the actor and his eldest son James filmed a documentary, Dangerous Adventures For Boys, for Channel 5 based on the book by Conn and Hal Iggulden

Carty and his eldest son, James, filmed together in a factual television series for Channel 5, Dangerous Adventures For Boys, based on the book written by Conn and Hal Iggulden

Most recently, he appeared in the film Silver Birches in 2017 about an author struggling to rebuild his life after the untimely death of his wife.

Todd has been with his childhood sweetheart Dina Clarkin since 1990, and they have two sons James and Thomas.

Actress, entrepreneur and PR boss Paula-Ann Bland played edgy Claire Scott in the hit show, who had a crush on teacher Mr Hopwood

Paula-Ann Bland

Played: Claire Scott

Paula-Ann's edgy character Claire caused a stir by fantasising about teacher Mr Hopwood in her diary, who was then attached by her overprotective father.

She also enjoyed a romance with Stewpot, before discovering he was seeing Annette Firman behind her back.

Because of her success on the small screen record company bosses eyed Paula-Ann as a potential British Kylie and she even released a cover version of The Locomotion.

She left the series in 1985 and continued to act, appearing in TV series such as Spender and Only Fools and Horses.

In 1988, she caused a stir by posing topless for men's magazine Mayfair.

During the '90s she turned her back on acting and opened shoe shops called Paola in Knightsbridge and Chelsea before starting her own PR company.

She's a mother-of-two and is also an ambassador for the Good Grief Trust.

John Alford

Played: Robbie Wright

John Alford as Robbie and George Christopher as ZiggyTuesday in 1986

Actor John Alford played happy go lucky Robbie Wright between 1985 and 1991.

Little brother to Jaqui, Robbie is best remembered for his romances with Calley Donnington and his friendship with Ziggy Greaves.

After leaving the show, he went on to be a regular on ITV series London's Burning playing Billy Ray.

He also enjoyed several top 40 hit singles, produced by Stock/Waterman, following his TV success.

But his fortunes turned when he was written out after being caught in a drugs sting.

The former teenage pin-up was caught by the News Of The World's Fake Sheikh and then served a six week sentence after being charged.

John Alford was jailed for nine months last year after being convicted of supplying cocaine and cannabis to a bogus Arab prince in 2000

The actor was found guilty by a jury at London's Snaresbrook Crown Court in 1999 of one count of supplying 2.036 grammes of cocaine to Fake Sheikh Mazher Mahmood, as well as a similar charge involving 11.9 grammes of cannabis resin.

He struggled to return to his previous success after being released but has had small parts since. He's appeared in Casualty and CBBC show Mile High and had a long-term relationship with Tina Mahon who played Ronnie Birtles.

In 2016, Mahmood was found guilty of plotting to pervert the course of justice and following the case, it was suggested that up to 72 defendants in criminal cases in which he played a role could apply for convictions to be quashed.

Alford's case was among those taken up by the Criminal Cases Review Commission.

Gwyneth Powell

Played: Bridget McClusky

Headmistress Bridget McClusky, played by Gwyneth Powell, was one of the longest standing characters in the show appearing on screen between 1981 and 1991.

The star had actually trained as a teacher but never taught in the classroom, as she decided to pursue acting instead.

She previously told the BBC that she was determined to make the role more modern because she was only 35 when she took on the role.

'At first Mrs McClusky was written as a '"twin set and pearls" role but I was quite young at the time and didn't want to play it like that. We started with the clothes and she was quite fashion conscious and chic.

'I was told by lots of people she was a great fillip to young women teachers who started applying for headships.'

After leaving Grange Hill she appeared in popular shows such as Heartbeat, A Touch of Frost and Holby City. Her most recent TV role was in an episode of Casualty in 2014.

Michelle Herbert

Played: Trisha Yates

Michelle played bad girl Trisha Yates in the school drama from 1978 to 1982 but after leaving Grange Hill, Michelle gave up acting and worked for a major sweet manufacturer.

She made a brief return as Trisha in the final episode of Tucker's Luck, a Grange Hill spin-off based on Todd Carty's character Tucker.

Michelle moved to Dundee in the early 1990s to bring up her family, where she works alongside her husband running their family glazing business.

She noticed a small dimple on her breast while on holiday in Rome in May 2015.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer and following a mastectomy was given the all-clear. Now she campaigns to raise awareness of the lesser-known symptoms of breast cancer.

As Benny Green, Terry Sue-Patt was the first character to ever be seen on the show and became one of the most popular characters

Benny Green

Played: Terry Sue-Patt

As Benny Green, Terry Sue-Patt was the first character to ever be seen on the show and became one of the most popular characters.

He was discovered aged 14 by a talent scout while playing football in the park and enjoyed success in 1989 film The Firm, starring alongside Gary Oldman and Phil Davis.

He said: 'I basically played myself in Grange Hill. There weren't many black actors about on TV at that time.

'I had a great time, getting time off school to play football. It was a bit of a dream come true, really.'

He also had minor roles in other TV shows including Desmonds, General Hospital and Jackanory.

In October 2015, Terry was sadly found dead at his London home, aged 50, following a battle with alocholism.

He was found lying face down in bed and reports suggested his body may have lain undiscovered for a month.

Todd Carty said he was 'deeply saddened' by the sudden death of his Grange Hill co-star.

Taking to Twitter, he said: 'Deeply saddened by the news of a dear friend Terry Sue-Patt passing away. Thoughts with his family RIP xxx.'

They played best friends Tucker Jenkins and Benny Green. The pair left the show in the early 1980s just four years after joining but remained friends throughout their careers.

Alison Bettles, now 51, played Fay Lucas from 1982 to 1987 in six series of the show

Alison Bettles

Played: Fay Lucas

Alison Bettles, now 51, played Fay Lucas from 1982 to 1987 in six series of the show.

Bettles was one of the cast members to take part in the famous Just Say No single, to promote an anti-drugs message after the programme's controversial storyline with Zammo McGuire who became hooked on heroin as a child.

The single reached number five in the charts in 1986.

In 1988, Alison appeared in an Eastenders spin-off called Civvy Street, set during the second world war, playing a young Ethel Skinner.

She continued acting with small roles in The Bill and No Strings in the Eighties and Nineties and last appeared on British TV screens in London's Burning in 2001.

Now married with four children, she is a qualified beauty therapist and has reportedly set up a freight business. Meanwhile two of her sons have followed in her acting footsteps, clinching roles in Doctor Who and EastEnders.

Erkan Mustafa

Played: Roland Browning

Erkan Mustafa found fame in the Eighties as Roland 'Roly' Browning who was bullied for being obese.

He played the role for six years and became an iconic character in the series, suffering horrific bullying at the hands of Gripper Stebson.

By the time he left Grange Hill six years later, Roland was able to stand up for himself and had developed a talent for foreign languages.

Erkan Mustafa found fame in the Eighties as Roland 'Roly' Browning

After leaving the school drama in 1987, he went on to act in two series of Chef! with Lenny Henry as well as several episodes of Blackadder.

He still teams up with Lee 'Zammo' MacDonald for public appearances and charity events.

Erkan was also instrumental in bringing the cast back together for a 2009 reunion at Sound nightclub in London's Leicester Square.

Now 50, he continues to act, write and direct according to his Twitter profile.

He was bullied for being obese on the show

George Christopher

Played: Ziggy Greaves

Popular Scouser Ziggy Greaves arrived at Grange Hill in 1986 and spent four years on the show, with his character compared to original scamp Tucker in the first series.

He went on to appear in Brookside as Little Jimmy Corkhill.

George has also appeared in numerous theatre productions, including some he's written himself and is currently working on a stage version of Papillion.

He reunited with some of his Grange Hill class mates for Channel 4's Bring Back Grange Hill and also works for a taxi firm.

John Holmes

Played: Luke 'Gonch' Gardener

Luke 'Gonch' Gardener stepped into the shoes of Pogo Patterson as Grange Hill's ginger entrepreneur, joining the cast in 1985.

Always full of money making schemes, Gonch was a wheeler dealer who ran a toast bar, a dating agency, a homework service and a PE kit lending scheme all from the classroom.

In 1989, during Gonch's last series, he fell in love with Mandy Freemont.

Actor John Holmes left the show to complete his education and studied at the University of East Anglia, where he eventually became president of the Student Union for several years.
Michelle Keegan was spotted on set of the comedy-drama series Brassic on Monday as she returned to the United Kingdom after spending four months in Australia.

The actress, 35, sported a bright blue headband and a pair of cargo pants as she made her way around the Manchester set and mingled with cast and crew, presumably in character.

The brunette beauty kept her long locks in place with a bright blue headband and kept casual in her cargo pants, a black jumper and black combat boots.

Back on set: Michelle Keegan sported a blue headband and cargo pants on set of Brassic on Monday in Manchester - after admitting she still can't believe she's famous

Michelle, who has just returned Australia where she was filming BBC drama Ten Pound Poms, carried a warmer coat and a bottle of water and a banana in her hands.

The wife of The Only Way Is Essex star Mark Wright was escorted by a staffer on set, who carried an umbrella for Michelle as she made her way around.

Brassic centres around the lives of best friends Vinnie and Dylan and Dylan's girlfriend, Erin, played by Michelle.

Casual: The brunette beauty kept her long locks in place with a bright blue headband and kept casual in her cargo pants, a black jumper and black combat boots

Season four of the hit show premiered earlier this month.

In October last year, Michelle admitted she had banned her family from watching one episode of the show due to a raunchy sex scene, she told Radio Times.

'That first episode, I didn't let my family watch until 15 minutes in, and we all know why!' she said with a laugh.

Plot: Brassic centres around the lives of best friends Vinnie and Dylan and Dylan's girlfriend, Erin, played by Michelle

Speaking to The Guardian this week, the former soap star revealed how she still hadn't adjusted to becoming a household name.

'Even now, 15 years on, you never get used to being famous,' she said. 'One minute I walked out of the Coronation Street gates and no one knew who I was.

'Then, as soon as my first scenes were on screen, I remember walking out the gates and getting stopped and asked for an autograph. I had no idea how to sign an autograph.'

The award-winning performer who will next be seen in a BBC 1950s drama Ten Pound Poms in Australia, has gone on to star in prime-time dramas such as Our Girl and Brassic.

The businesswoman has also been kept busy working with online retailer Very and recently released a new collection with the brand.

Michelle and her husband Mark are also gearing up to move into their 3.5million Essex mansion which they have been renovating for two years.

Ten Pound Poms is coming soon only on Stan in Australia.
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The Eighties pinup Kelly LeBrock has not lost her appeal as she has settled into her sixties.

On Saturday evening the 62-year-old Weird Science and Woman In Red actress - who was married to actor Steven Seagal for nine years - lit up the red carpet at the Brent Shapiro Foundation 2022 Summer Spectacular in Beverly Hills.

The beauty stood out in a silk black satin dress with spaghetti straps and a floral design on one shoulder. She added a hat and carried a small purse.

Back again: The Eighties pinup Kelly LeBrock has not lost her appeal as she settled into her sixties. On Saturday evening the 62-year-old Weird Science and Woman In Red actress lit up the red carpet at the Brent Shapiro Foundation 2022 Summer Spectacular in Beverly Hills

The fantasy girl: LeBrock as the created female bombshell in the 1985 movie Weird Science from director John Hughes

The former fashion model looked curvy in a tight black satin evening dress with a cowgirl hat as she flashed a cast on one of her arms.

The iconic star - who was born in New York City but grew up in London - was a supermodel who worked for Vogue and Revlon, also starring in campaigns for Christian Dior and Pantene.

She then becoming an actress.

The siren starred in the huge hits Weird Science with Val Kilmer then she was the title star of The Women In Red with Gene Wilder.

Her husband: She was wed to Steven Seagal for nine years; seen here at The Early Girl Press Conference in 1986 at the Circle Rep Theater in New York City. The couple co-starred in the 1990 movie Hard To Kill, right

Kelly also was known for her high profile marriage to actor Steven Seagal whom she worked with on the hit film Hard To Kill.

They were married from 1987 until 1996 and had two kids: Arissa, 29, and Annaliza, 35.

Seagal raised eyebrows when he was pictured visiting a prison camp in Olenivka, Ukraine, a Russian-controlled jail that housed hundreds of Ukrainian prisoners, days after an explosion killed at least 50 people there on July 29.

Seagal can be seen standing inside the wrecked prison and sitting down on a bench examining some shrapnel. There is also a picture of Seagal talking to Ukrainian prisoners through metal bars.

Seagal was banned from entering Ukraine for five years in 2017 after Putin gave him citizenship and personally handed him his Russian passport in 2016, after he vocally supported Russia's annexation of Crimea.

Brock also had marriages to Victor Drai and Fred Steck.

The siren was also in Hard Bounty and Wrongfully Accused in the 1990s.

Photogenic: The iconic star - who was born in New York City but grew up in London - was a supermodel who worked for Vogue and Revlon, also starring in campaigns for Christian Dior and Pantene

The look of the decade: After modeling, she then became an actress. The siren starred in the huge hits Weird Science with Val Kilmer then she was the title star of The Women In Red with Gene Wilder (pictured)

And in 2005 she had a pivotal role in the cult classic Zerophilia which was directed by Martin Kurland and produced by Robert (Bob) Shober.

The beauty was last seen in the 2021 film Charlie Boy.

In 2021 she talked to ET Canada about leaving the business.

'Hollywood wasnt a place where I wanted to raise my children. My divorce was very much in the press. And Im just not a Hollywood girl. Never have been. I never really liked the attention. I wanted to have dirt in my nails and be in the outdoors,' she explained.

Still hot: The beauty stood out in a silk black satin dress with spaghetti straps and a floral design on one shoulder. She added a hat and carried a small purse

Yee-haw time! The Weird Science star was seen with a man who also had a hat on

A little PDA with Kelly and her man: Kelly (far right), her date and other guests attend Summer Spectacular Benefiting the Brent Shapiro Foundation

'So I quit my career and moved to the wilderness where I lived with no television for 25 years.

'I did the best that I could as a single mom. I have three wonderful children, she added.

'I could always go back to my career. I could never go back to my children. Some people can do both.

'But I already had the fame and was done with it. I became famous when I was very young and it didnt do me a bit of good. It just caused trauma. Being famous is not for everybody.'

These days she stays away from the frenzy of social media.

'Its gotten out of control. I dont want a part of it. I dont have a computer. I have internet but its bad service. And I like it that way. Im very happy,' said the star.

Also at the event were Lisa Vanderpump, Lala Kent, Kathy Hilton, Mario Lopez, Bai Ling and Blanca Blanco.

At one point Lisa posed with her employee Lala who held her baby Ocean Kent.

A good trio: Lisa Vanderpump was seen posing with one of her Vanderpump Rules vets, 32-year-old Kent, who recently had a child, Ocean

Sleek style: Lisa wore all black in a smart suit with feathered sleeves that showed off her very slender figure as she wore her brunette hair down. Her shoes were black platform heels

The event at the Beverly Hilton hotel included musical guest Flo Rida and special guest performer Pia Toscano.

There were cocktails and dinner inside the famed International Ballroom.

Lisa wore all black in a smart suit with feathered sleeves that showed off her very slender figure as she wore her brunette hair down. Her shoes were black platform heels.

Lisa is best known for the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. She also parlayed that fame into the show Vanderpump Rules.

Bravo to her: Kent stunning in a burnt orange sequined mini dress as she held up her award

Standing out in yellow: Stassi Schroeder was elegant as she wore a long dress

Aren't they Vanderful? (L-R) Kent, Katie Maloney, Schroeder, and Vanderpump

Another Bravo beauty: Kathy Hilton is seen far left with her husband Richard Hilton and a pal

She was seen posing with one of her Vanderpump Rules vets, 32-year-old Kent, who recently had a child, Ocean.

Kent stunning in a burnt orange sequined mini dress as she held up her award.

Also on the carpet was Kathy Hilton, also of RHOBH fame. She brought her husband with her Richard Hilton, who owns the real estate company Hilton & Highland.

Western theme: Blanca Blanco of Tale of Tails stunned in a lavender cowgirl hat and pink ombre dress with a red Valentino belt and pink high heels

A tribute: The Breaking the Mold author also paid tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II of England with a fan that showed the royal on paper money. The Queen died last week at age 96. Her son Charles has ascended to become King Charles

The mother of Paris Hilton looked chic in a black outfit and heels with her blonde hair down.

Blanca Blanco of Tale of Tails stunned in a lavender cowgirl hat and pink ombre dress with a red Valentino belt and pink high heels.

The Breaking the Mold author also paid tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II of England with a fan that showed the royal on paper money.

She never looks bad! Golnesa Gharachedaghi of Shahs of Sunset had on a black outfit

The Queen died last week at age 96. Her son Charles has ascended to become King Charles.

Elizabeth II was Queen of the United Kingdom from 1952 until her death on September 8, 2022.

Her reign of 70 years and 214 days was the longest of any British monarch and the second-longest recorded of any monarch of a sovereign country.

She sure can sing! Pia Toscano, who performed at the event, had on a plunging black dress that sparkled

He was the one who hosted the shindig: Mario Lopez was seen with wife Courtney Mazza

Pia Toscano, who performed at the event, had on a plunging black dress that sparkled.

Also seen were the hosts of the evening.

Linell Shapiro looked elegant in white as she put her arm around Bob Shapiro
Lady Victoria Hervey showed off her edgy sense of style as she stepped out in London's Chelsea on Monday.

The British socialite, 45, put on a leggy display as she wore a copper animal print mini dress with cut-off detail at the hem.

She sported a glowing tan for her outing in the UK capital, teaming her dress with a pair of black boots with silver studs.

Stepping out: Lady Victoria Hervey, 45, showed off her edgy sense of style in an animal print mini dress as she stepped out in London's Chelsea on Monday

The aristocrat - who is the daughter of the late Victor Hervey, 6th Marquess of Bristol, and sister of the 8th Marquess Lady Isabella Hervey - was seen smiling while shielding her eyes behind a pair of black sunglasses.

She carried a black handbag with her, with the chunky silver chain hanging across her front.

The former It Girl ensured onlookers got a full look at hour outfit, glancing back over her shoulder as she walked.

In style: The British socialite put on a leggy display as she wore the bronze dress with cut-off detail at the hem

Life on edge: She sported a glowing tan for her outing in the UK capital, teaming her dress with a pair of black boots with silver studs

The star's dress featured a chunky silver zip at the back and the silver studs to match those on her shoes were visible on her bag as she walked away.

Lady Victoria is making the most of relaxed COVID restrictions across the US after previously admitting she rarely wears protective face coverings.

Last year the Miami resident told the Daily Mail: 'I'm not going to lie, I never wear a mask, adding that she 'storms out' of any shops that ask her to put one on.

Fashion focus: The aristocrat - the daughter of the late Victor Hervey, 6th Marquess of Bristol, and sister of the 8th Marquess Lady Isabella Hervey - shielded her eyes behind sunglasses

Even so, she went into business supplying PPE at the start of the pandemic, but insisted she isn't a hypocrite.

'I did a little bit of a pivot,' she said. 'But no, it doesn't! I was selling it to hospitals, not to people out walking their dogs or shopping.'

Asked if she would ever take the Covid vaccine, added: 'No way! It's a personal thing, and my mother's had hers, but at my age I really believe in natural immunity.'
Jennifer Garner was rocking a new ring when she went grocery shopping in Los Angeles on Monday.

The Adam Project star was spotted wearing a gorgeous diamond eternity band as she picked up supplies near her boyfriend John Miller's home in the Pacific Palisades area.

A large pendant was spotted dangling from the 50-year-old's neck, but the rest of her look was decidedly low-key as she showcased her toned legs in a grey shorts jumpsuit and sneakers.

Rock: Jennifer Garner, 50, rocked not only her jumpsuit but a new ring as she went grocery shopping on Monday in Los Angeles

Eternity band: The Adam Project star was spotted wearing a gorgeous eternity band on her right hand. She also wore a large pendant around her neck

The Alias star pulled her dark locks into a messy bun and appeared to wear little makeup for her outing.

Neither Jennifer nor John, 44, have made any formal announcements about what the ring might mean.

The pair have been dating since 2018, but are rarely seen in public together.

Diamonds: It's unknown why the Alias star is sporting the new band or when she received it

They reportedly split in 2020, but reconciled in 2021.

The Yes Day star's social media focuses on meditation, her Once Upon a Farm products and mom hacks.

John, an entrepreneur with a law degree from Stanford University keeps a very low profile. He shares two children, Violet and Quest, with his ex-wife, violinist Caroline Campbell, 42.

Private: Jennifer and her boyfriend John Miller, 44, have been seeing each other since 2018. They are rarely seen in public together

Details: Miller is a divorced father of two: Violent and Quest. He has a law degree from Stanford and is the founder of fast-food chain Caliburger

The tech-savvy executive is the founder of Caliburger, a fast-food restaurant serving West Coast-styled fries, burgers, and milkshakes.

The menu in certain locations includes vegan options with sauces and cheese, plus spiked milkshakes, beer and wine, in certain locations.

The company uses a robotic device known as a 'Flippy' to prepare some of the food.

The Look: Jennifer showcased her toned legs in a casual grey shorts jumpsuit and sneakers Monday

Routine: The busy mom of three; Violet, 16, Seraphina, 13 and Sam, 10, seems to be settling into her morning routine now that the kids are back in school after a very busy summer

The busy mom of three; Violet, 16, Seraphina, 13 and Sam, 10, seems to be settling into her morning routine now that the kids are back in school after a very busy summer.

The kids spent part of their vacation traveling to France with their dad, Ben Affleck, 50, and new step-mom, Jennifer Lopez, 53 after they tied the knot in a Las Vegas ceremony and then attending their lavish August wedding in Georgia.

Earlier in the day, the Camping star looked relaxed and cheerful as she was dropped off by a friend after her morning workout near her home in LA wearing black leggings, a faded t-shirt, glasses and orange sneakers. She displayed her juggling technique as she contended with a coffee cup, jacket and phone.

Cheerful: The Camping star looked relaxed and cheerful as she was dropped off by a friend after her morning workout near her home in LA

Juggling: The Peppermint star was spotted wearing black leggings, a faded t-shirt, glasses and orange sneakers. She displayed her juggling technique as she contended with a coffee cup, jacket and phone.
Blanca Blanco paid tribute to the Queen - who died last week at the age of 96- when at the Brent Shapiro Foundation 2022 Summer Spectacular on Saturday evening in Beverly Hills.

The Breaking the Mold author held a fan that featured the late Queen Elizabeth II of England. The royal could be seen on the pink paper money that made up the quirky accessory.

The Queen died last week at age 96. Her son Charles has ascended to become King Charles. Elizabeth II was Queen of the United Kingdom from 1952 until her death on September 8, 2022.

A tribute: Blanca Blanco paid tribute to the Queen - who died last week at the age of 96- when at the Brent Shapiro Foundation 2022 Summer Spectacular on Saturday evening in Beverly Hills

A fan: The Breaking the Mold author held a fan that featured the late Queen Elizabeth II of England. The royal could be seen on the pink paper money that made up the quirky accessory

A world in mourning: The Queen died last week at age 96. Her son Charles has ascended to become King Charles. Elizabeth II was Queen of the United Kingdom from 1952 until her death on September 8, 2022. Seen in 2021

Her reign of 70 years and 214 days was the longest of any British monarch and the second-longest recorded of any monarch of a sovereign country.

The Tale of Tails star stunned in a lavender cowgirl hat and pink ombre dress with a red Valentino belt and pink high heels.

Blanca is best known for her movie Eye For Eye with John Savage which came out this year.

Yee-haw: The Tale of Tails star stunned in a lavender cowgirl hat and pink ombre dress with a red Valentino belt and pink high heels

The credits: Blanca's dress was my Amur, belt by Versace, hat by Heather Marie from DPA Lounges, jewelry by Bullets And Beads

The synopsis: Cattle king wants Reagan's small ranch, and Latina beauty Lola McLaughlin. His men kill Reagan's pregnant wife. Reagan leaves his tin badge on Consuela's grave, and with Winchester, scattergun, and Colt, rides alone against a hundred.

She has also starred in The Dog Of Christmas, Betrayed and Woman On Edge.

Blanca's dress was my Amur, belt by Versace, hat by Heather Marie from DPA Lounges, jewelry by Bullets And Beads, hair by Vladimir Simic, makeup by Mina Abramovic.

Several luminaries got gussied up for the big bash with host Mario Lopez. Among the stars was Lisa Vanderpump, Lala Kent, Kathy Hilton, Kelly LeBrock, and Bai Ling.

At one point Lisa posed with her employee Lala who held her baby Ocean Kent.

A good trio: Lisa Vanderpump was seen posing with one of her Vanderpump Rules vets, 32-year-old Kent, who recently had a child, Ocean

Sleek style: Lisa wore all black in a smart suit with feathered sleeves that showed off her very slender figure as she wore her brunette hair down. Her shoes were black platform heels

The event at the Beverly Hilton hotel included musical guest Flo Rida and special guest performer Pia Toscano.

There were cocktails and dinner inside the famed International Ballroom.

Lisa wore all black in a smart suit with feathered sleeves that showed off her very slender figure as she wore her brunette hair down. Her shoes were black platform heels.

Lisa is best known for the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. She also parlayed that fame into the show Vanderpump Rules.

Bravo to her: Kent stunning in a burnt orange sequined mini dress as she held up her award

Standing out in yellow: Stassi Schroeder was elegant as she wore a long dress

Aren't they Vanderful? (L-R) Kent, Katie Maloney, Schroeder, and Vanderpump

More fun here: (L-R) Kent, Heather McDonald, Maloney, Ken Todd, Schroeder, and Vanderpump

Another Bravo beauty: Kathy Hilton is seen far left with her husband Richard Hilton and a pal

She was seen posing with one of her Vanderpump Rules vets, 32-year-old Kent, who recently had a child, Ocean.

Kent stunning in a burnt orange sequined mini dress as she held up her award.

Also on the carpet was Kathy Hilton, also of RHOBH fame. She brought her husband with her Richard Hilton, who owns the real estate company Hilton & Highland.

She never looks bad! Golnesa Gharachedaghi of Shahs of Sunset had on a black outfit

Her friend indeed: GG put her arm around Shahs co-star Reza Farahan

The mother of Paris Hilton looked chic in a black outfit and heels with her blonde hair down.

Another bright spot at the event was Kelly LeBrock.

The 62-year-old iconic actress was a supermodel who worked for Vogue and Revlon before becoming an actress.

Still hot: Another bright spot at the event was Kelly LeBrock. The 62-year-old iconic actress was a supermodel who worked for Vogue and Revlon before becoming an actress

Yee-haw time! The Weird Science star was seen with a man who also had a hat on

She showed plenty of flesh: Bai Ling, who was on the cover of Playboy almost 20 years ago, is seen in white cut out dress

She starred in the huge hits Weird Science with Val Kilmer then she was the title star of The Women In Red with Gene Wilder.

Kelly also was known for her high profile marriage to actor Steven Seagal whom she worked with on the hit film Hard To Kill.

The siren was also in Hard Bounty and Wrongfully Accused in the 1990s.

She sure can sing! Pia Toscano, who performed at the event, had on a plunging black dress that sparkled

He was the one who hosted the shindig: Mario Lopez was seen with wife Courtney Mazza

And in 2005 she had a pivotal role in the cult classic Zerophilia which was directed by Martin Kurland and produced by Robert (Bob) Shober.

Pia Toscano, who performed at the event, had on a plunging black dress that sparkled.

Also seen were the hosts of the evening.

Linell Shapiro looked elegant in white as she put her arm around Bob Shapiro

The hosts of the splashy event! (L-R) Linell Shapiro and Bob Shapiro attend Summer Spectacular Benefiting the Brent Shapiro Foundation

A stunner in a white mini: Soo Yeon Lee looked incredible in this one sleeves dress

Having faced the tragedy no parent ever wants to experience  Robert and Linell Shapiro lost their son, Brent to addiction in October of 2005.

Out of their tremendous pain came a passionate purpose.

The Brent Shapiro Foundation has successfully created the only program to help prevent the disease of drug addiction.

Kids from 11 to 17 years old agree with their parents to random, non-invasive, saliva-based drug testing. With every successful drug test each child receives rewards and those rewards increase as they remain in the program.

At high school graduation, having remained drug-free throughout their Brents Club membership each child is rewarded a college scholarship.
Former Love Island star Ollie Williams has revealed he attended King Charles' ascension ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Saturday.

The TV star, 26 - whose time on the 2019 series of the dating show was shrouded in controversy after pictures emerged of him posing with dead animals in Africa - looked unrecognisable from his villa days in the picture.

The Cornish born hunter - who is the heir to the Lanhydrock Estate - was reportedly invited to the palace alongside his father Andrew, who is the High Sheriff of Cornwall.

Special occasion: Former Love Islander Ollie Williams has revealed he attended King Charles' ascension ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Saturday

Ollie and a male companion posed for a photo beneath a portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth II after watching the new King sign an oath to uphold the security of the church in the presence of Privy counsellors.

He told his followers: 'We mourn as a country. Privileged to be able to see the ascension and pay my respects at the palace today. #GodSaveTheKing.'

High Sheriffs like Ollie's father, who are chosen by The Privy Council , represent the Sovereign in their counties and carry out ceremonial and administrative duties.

Throwback: The TV star, 26, who's time on the 2019 series of the dating show was shrouded in controversy after pictures emerged of him posing with dead animals in Africa, looked unrecognisable in his latest Instagram snap

Ceremony: King Charles III looked very serious during the Accession Council in London

His family estate in Cornwall features 'a variety of businesses, farm land, buildings, houses and offices over some 2500 acres in Lanhydrock and the surrounding area'.

According to The Sun, the family had assets of 15,803,925 in 2018 through his father's company, The Lanhydrock Estate.

'My father is Lord of the Manor of Lanhydrock. The family title is Viscount Clifden. When my father passes away or abdicates, as the eldest child, I will take on the titles and the estate. I'm the heir of Lanhydrock,' Ollie had explained ahead of his Love Island debut.

Family: The Cornish born hunter - who is the heir to the Lanhydrock Estate - was reportedly invited to the palace alongside his father Andrew, who is the High Sheriff of Cornwall

Ollie's time on the first winter series of Love Island was short lived as he left just three days in, claiming he was still in love with his ex-girlfriend.

He caused outrage after images of him posing next to slaughtered animals in Africa emerged earlier this year, with his family being forced to employ security to keep a 24-hour watch on their Cornish home from animal activists.

In 2020 it was reported that Ollie tried to sell a buffalo head for 8,000 online - five months before the star denied he is a trophy hunter after quitting the ITV2 reality show.

A photo obtained by The Sun shows a now-deleted listing for a Taxidermy Cape Buffalo Shoulder Mount with an asking price of 8,000 and allegedly posted by the star.

According to the website Ollie bought the buffalo head - described as used - at an auction for 648.70 and had hoped to make a healthy profit from the sale, putting the item on eBay in August.

Controversy: Love Island received 576 Ofcom complaints about Ollie's inclusion on the show after posing with dead animals in Africa

A source told The Sun: 'Ollie had gone to Holts auctioneers in Norfolk in June and spotted this cape buffalo shoulder mount.

'He thought it would be an investment and hoped he'd be able to sell it and make a profit but nobody ever bought it.'

The website also confirmed the buffalo head was taken down from eBay.

The Cape Buffalo is one of the dead animals Ollie was seen posing with in photos that sparked a furious viewer backlash and a petition calling for him to be axed.

Outrage: The aristocrat caused outrage after images of him posing next to slaughtered animals in Africa emerged (pictured with a dead warthog)

The heir to the Lanhydrock Estate, who received 'vile' threats since leaving the show, insisted that he is 'passionate about conservation' and that he left the show on his own terms because he was still in love with his ex.

Ollie said in a statement at the time: 'Having left the Love Island house I have become aware of the press stories circulating in the UK. I would like to make a number of comments on the various claims and accusations.

'I had no knowledge of the stories until I had left the Love Island villa and all cast members are unaware of any news stories while they are on the programme. My reasons for leaving Love Island are as communicated on the show.

Claim: A photo obtained by The Sun shows a listing for a Taxidermy Cape Buffalo Shoulder Mount with an asking price of 8,000 allegedly posted by him (above with the dead animal)

'I did not shoot any of the animals shown in the photographs nor have I ever shot as a trophy hunter.

'I did volunteer to take part in the conservation and anti-poaching programme in Mozambique, a part of which involves old or sick animals being culled. I was there as an observer.

'The Cornish Sporting Agency was set up in 2017 and has never traded. I feel very passionately about conservation and will continue to support sustainable conservation causes around the globe.

'These benefit the natural world and the animals which live within it, even if certain elements appear controversial when viewed out of context. As I am no longer in Love Island, I will comment no further on this issue.'

Ollie was pictured posing with a dead warthog, water buffalo and a giant eland  listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The now deleted snaps were said to have been uploaded on to the Instagram account of Ollie's hunting business, Cornish Sporting Agency.

The business is listed on Companies House as a 'hunting, trapping and related service activities' and is registered at the Lanhydrock estate, now controlled by the National Trust after being given away by Ollie's great-great uncle in 1953.

In one of the photos, Ollie is seen kneeling beside one of the animals with the caption: 'You've gotta love it when you put your binos up and see a bull like this on the other end!'

The Cornish Sporting Agency, which was taken offline in November 2018, offered hunting trips to countries like Mozambique and South Africa as well as bird shooting in the South West of England and deer stalking in New Zealand.

Sources close to Ollie claim the photos were of him 'culling sick animals' and that it was untrue that he is involved in hunting for sport.
EastEnders opened with a touching tribute to the Queen on Monday evening, likening last week's death of the monarch to the country 'losing its nan'.

A brief scene aired before the opening credits which showed Queen Vic landlady Linda Carter (Kellie Bright), Denise Fox (Diane Parish) and Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) discussing the 'selfless' nature of the late Queen Elizabeth II who gave her life to service as they looked at a picture of her on the bar of the pub.

The characters spoke of the Queens 1953 coronation, and her Silver and Platinum Jubilees.

Heartfelt: EastEnders opened with a touching tribute to the Queen on Monday evening, likening last week's death of the monarch to the country 'losing its Nan'

Linda said: 'God bless her, shes been there our whole lives. Its like shes everything weve ever known.'

Kathy replied: 'Just feels so personal though, doesnt it? Just devastating,' prompting Denise to say: 'Its like weve lost our nan.'

Linda added: 'Well, we have. I mean the countrys lost weve all lost our nan. She dedicated her entire life to serving us.'

Tribute: A brief scene aired before the opening credits which showed Queen Vic landlady Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) paying tribute

'Selfless,' said Kathy. 'Well never see anyone like her again.'

Talking about stand-out moments of the Queen's 70-year reign, Kathy recalled: 'I was, what, three when she became Queen. I wish I could remember the coronation but, well, Ive got other peoples memories.'

Denise said: 'Do you remember the Silver Jubilee? I think I was eight or nine. I just remember I was so happy. I just remember everyone feeling so happy.'

Shared words: She was joined by Denise Fox (Diane Parish) and Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) who discussed the 'selfless' nature of the late Queen Elizabeth II

Kathy responded: 'Well thats what she did, didnt she, she made you feel so joyful and safe.'

Viewers were quick to take to social media after watching the tribute, with one person tweeting: 'Lovely tribute to the queen #EastEnders @bbceastenders.'

Someone else wrote: 'What an amazing start to @bbceastenders. That tribute to the Queen was so beautiful. The best start ever #Eastenders #QueenElizabethII.'

'I just found myself watching #eastenders and being genuinely moved by the tribute to The Queen,' posted someone else.

Delighted: Viewers were quick to take to social media after watching the tribute, with one person tweeting: 'Lovely tribute to the queen #EastEnders @bbceastenders'

Another viewer shared: 'Hats off to the Lovely tribute to the queen #EastEnders @bbceastenders team, that tribute to the Queen was lovely #Eastenders.'

While someone else wrote: 'Omg the pre-credit scene is devastating.. loved the tribute. well done on making this scene @bbceastenders #EastEnders.'

'Touching moment to start tonights #Eastenders in tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II,' posted another viewer.

Cameo: EastEnders viewers heaped praise on Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall as they appeared in an episode in honour of the Platinum Jubilee in June

While someone else shared: 'Lovely tribute at the start and to think the new King was in an episode at the jubilee #EastEnders.'

EastEnders viewers heaped praise on the then Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall as they appeared in an episode in honour of the Platinum Jubilee in June.

Some fans of the soap even said the royals' appearance brought a tear to their eye as Charles and Camilla met some Watford locals, led by Mick and Linda Carter (Danny Dyer and Kellie Bright).

Visit: Some fans of the soap even said the royals' appearance brought a tear to their eye as Charles and Camilla met some Watford locals, led by Mick and Linda Carter (Danny Dyer and Kellie Bright)

The royals showed off their improv skills in the episode as they joked with the show's cast members who all stayed in character.

Linda introduced Camilla to Patrick Trueman (Rudolph Walker) who showed her a bottle of rum from Trinidad.

Camilla said: 'Patrick, how are you? You've got a nice little bottle there.'

He replied: 'That's rum from Trinidad,' before he and Camilla said in unison: 'A drop a day keeps the doctor away.'

Talent: The couple showed off their improv skills in the episode as they joked with the show's cast members who all stayed in character (Camilla pictured with Rudolph Walker as Patrick Trueman)

Camilla then added: 'I've tried that in Trinidad, pretty good. I'm still standing.'

Patrick said: 'Before you leave can I interest you in a little?' to which Camilla replied: 'You can,' to laughter from the crowd who had gathered.

Meanwhile, Charles was introduced to Zack Hudson (James Farrar) who told him about taking part in The Prince's Trust, the charity Charles founded in 1976.

He said: 'I'm actually a graduate of the Prince's Trust. 10 years ago I had the opportunity to go to Wales on a residential and I met you.'

The locals: Charles was introduced to Zack Hudson (James Farrar) who told him about taking part in The Prince's Trust, the charity Charles founded in 1976

Charles replied: 'And you survived the experience.'

The episode received universal praise from viewers on social media with some hailing it as the show's best ever.

One fan said: 'That has got be the BEST episode of EastEnders EVER! What an amazing Royal surprise that was.

'Bought a tear to my eye to see Charles & Camilla on set. Well done everyone & wishing all the crew & cast a very happy Platinum Jubilee weekend.'

Another wrote: 'Not watched Eastenders for yonks, but that was lovely. Charles and Camilla were brilliant!'

Shock: Charles and Camilla surprised the residents of Walford after Mick Carter, played by Danny Dyer, decided to throw a street party for the Square in celebration of the Queen's 70-year reign in EastEnders

The UK's longest-reigning royal, Queen Elizabeth II, who died 'peacefully', aged 96, at Balmoral in Scotland on Thursday.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: 'The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow.'

The Queen's death has seen Britain and her Commonwealth realms enter into a 10-day period of mourning as millions of her subjects in the UK and abroad come to terms with her passing.

Her coffin will be moved to London on Tuesday via Edinburgh before she lies in state in Westminster Hall in the Houses of Parliament for four days. Hundreds of thousands of people will be able to pay their respects.

The state funeral will take place at Westminster Abbey in central London on Monday, September 19, which will be attended by her bereft family as well as 2,000 heads of state, prime ministers and presidents, European royals and key figures from public life around the globe.
Britney Spears' estranged father Jamie Spears filed legal documents to the California Court of Appeals on Monday claiming the judge was unfair to demand he sit for a deposition and not his daughter.

The judge previously ruled on July 27 that the 40-year-old Grammy winner would not be disposed in the conservator abuse case, but the 70-year-old former building contractor could obtain written documents from her.

Britney's attorney Mathew Rosengart had argued that a deposition would potentially re-traumatize her after he successfully helped end her 13-year conservatorship controlled by Jamie on November 12.

One sided? Britney Spears' (R) estranged father Jamie Spears (L) filed legal documents to the California Court of Appeals on Monday claiming the judge was unfair to demand he sit for a deposition and not his daughter

'The right to take a deposition can rarely be denied,' Jamie's attorney Alex Weingarten argued in docs obtained by TMZ.

'In California, discovery is a matter of right.'

The elder Spears believes if the younger Spears could submit answers in writing, so should he.

Rosengart told DailyMail.com on Monday: 'The Court's rulings were thoughtful, thorough, and correct. Rather than wasting additional time and money harassing his daughter through the discovery process, Mr. Spears would be better served if he accepted his losses and moved on.'

Control: The judge previously ruled on July 27 that the 40-year-old Grammy winner (R) would not be disposed in the conservator abuse case, but the 70-year-old former building contractor (L) could obtain written documents from her

'This man has turned my life around': Britney's attorney Mathew Rosengart (R, pictured February 2) had argued that a deposition would potentially re-traumatize her after he successfully helped end her 13-year conservatorship controlled by Jamie on November 12

Jamie's attorney Alex Weingarten argued in docs obtained by TMZ: 'The right to take a deposition can rarely be denied. In California, discovery is a matter of right'

Rosengart told DailyMail.com on Monday: 'The Court's rulings were thoughtful, thorough, and correct. Rather than wasting additional time and money harassing his daughter through the discovery process, Mr. Spears would be better served if he accepted his losses and moved on'

On Sunday, the Hold Me Closer hitmaker - who shut down her Instagram account Monday - wrote that she 'won't probably perform again' in a post, which ended with her telling her father to 'kiss my goddamn motherf***ing a**, you f**king bas***d.'

Monday marked Britney's estranged son Jayden Federline's sweet 16 birthday, and her estranged son Sean Federline will celebrate his 17th birthday this Wednesday.

In 2019, Spears' ex-husband #3 Kevin Federline - who receives $20K/month in child support - was granted 70% custody of their teenage boys, whom he said 'didn't want to see her right now.'

On Sunday, Spears - who shut down her Instagram account Monday - wrote that she 'won't probably perform again' in a post, which ended with her telling her father to 'kiss my goddamn motherf***ing a**, you f**king bas***d'

'They don't want to see her right now': Monday marked Britney's estranged son Jayden Federline's sweet 16 birthday, and her estranged son Sean Federline will celebrate his 17th birthday this Wednesday

Receives $20K/month in child support: In 2019, Spears' ex-husband #3 Kevin Federline was granted 70% custody of their teenage boys from their two-year marriage, which ended in 2017

The Mississippi-born beauty and her 44-year-old former back-up dancer officially ended their two-year marriage in July 2017 - six months before she was put on 5150 involuntary psychiatric hold.

Britney will next play a mystery role in Sam Levinson, Reza Fahim, and The Weeknd's six-episode drama The Idol, which premieres in November on HBO.

Spears also signed a $15M deal with Simon & Schuster in February to publish her 2023 tell-all memoir, which was completed in July.
Sarah Jayne Dunn looked the epitome of chic on Monday as she attended the 84 World party at the swanky Winchester House Club in Putney, South London.

The former Hollyoaks actress, 40, wowed in a floral red satin gown at the lavish bash held by the talent agency which is run by Dan Parker and Andrew Selby.

She elevated her height in a pair of silver heels, while carrying a pale pink bag over her shoulder.

Radiant: Sarah Jayne Dunn looked the epitome of chic on Monday as she attended the 84 World party at the swanky Winchester House Club in Putney, South London

Sarah opted for a glam makeup look with a bold red lip, while styling her golden locks in loose curls.

The star-studded event held beside the river also hosted Kem Cetinay, Aston Merrigold and Ashley James.

It comes after Sarah told how she feels sexier than ever before since becoming a mother to her son Stanley, now five.

Chic: The former Hollyoaks actress, 40, wowed in a floral red satin gown at the lavish bash held by the talent agency which is run by Dan Parker and Andrew Selby

Talent: The star-studded event held beside the river also hosted Kem Cetinay, Aston Merrigold and Ashley James

Looking good: The Wade twins, who recently featured on Netflix's new series Date & Related, looked dapper in smart shirts

She revealed body confidence didn't come naturally to her when she was younger but she is more comfortable in her own skin since turning 40.

Speaking to Fabulous magazine, Sarah said she suffered with complications during the birth which meant she and husband Jonathan Smith couldn't have sex for months.

She said: 'Having Stanley was a pivotal moment. I feel more confident and sexier than ever before, almost superhuman.

'I feel like a woman who can do anything, I've worked hard for my body to feel strong and that's where my confidence comes from.'

Candid: Sarah recently told how she feels sexier than ever before since becoming a mother to her son Stanley, now five

Sarah Jayne, who was sacked from Hollyoaks after joining X-rated content site OnlyFans, said she now cares less what people think of her and knows who she is.

The actress has been open about her difficult birth with Stanley back in 2016 when she was left with a painful second degree tear.

Sarah Jayne said she was in labour for around nine hours and then pushed for another four and was kept in hospital for a week after.

The star said that while she never had postnatal depression, she did feel 'lonely' and 'very emotional' following the birth.

Sarah Jayne and Jonathan waited a few months to have sex again with the soap star saying he was 'super understanding'.

She added: 'The first time you have sex after having a child it's very tentative. You still have your libido but you have to be less spontaneous and think more about the logistics.'

Sarah Jayne now reportedly earns around 7,000 per week from posting racy lingerie snaps to OnlyFans where subscribers pay to see her posts.

The actress admitted she prefers shooting for OnlyFans over doing similarly sexy shoots for Hollyoaks where she was not in control of the final product.

Sarah Jaye acknowledged that her son will be able to see photos of her in lingerie all over the internet one day but said she hopes to raise him to be an 'understanding man' who will know his mother 'took back control' of her life with her career choice.

Although she enjoys the freedom OnlyFans has given her, Sarah Jayne said she won't do it forever.
Channel Seven has snapped up broadcast rights to the TV Week Logie Awards, bringing an end to the ceremony's long-time association with the Nine Network.

Seven announced on Tuesday it had signed a multi-year deal with Are Media, the owners of the Logie Awards, starting in 2023.

'We are honoured to be partnering with Are Media to bring the Logies to Australia on Channel Seven and 7plus. It's early days but we have big, exciting plans for the awards in 2023 and beyond,' said Seven West Media CEO James Warburton.

Channel Seven has snapped up broadcast rights to the TV Week Logie Awards, bringing an end to the ceremony's long-time association with the Nine Network. (Pictured: Home and Away's Ray Meagher and presenter Sonia Kruger, both Seven talents, holding a Logie Award statuette)

Jane Huxley, the CEO of Are Media, said: 'The TV Week Logie Awards has become the most anticipated event of the year for the television industry as we celebrate the most popular stars and shows on our screens.

'We are delighted to continue our long-standing association with the awards and equally pleased to welcome the Seven Network as the Logies' Official Broadcast Partner.'

The 63rd Logie Awards will be broadcasted on Seven and 7Plus next year on June 18.

Seven announced on Tuesday it had signed a multi-year deal with Are Media, the owners of the Logie Awards, starting in 2023. (Pictured: ABC News Breakfast sports presenter Tony Armstrong posing at 2022 Logies with his award for Most Popular New Talent)

The Logies had been an institution at Nine for six decades and many of its stars, including the late Bert Newton, were strongly linked to the event.

It was also a consistent ratings winner for the network, with 885,000 metro viewers tuning in to see Lego Masters host Hamish Blake collect the Gold Logie this year.

The news comes after Are Media announced in February it was handing over day-to-day operations of the Logies to Sydney-based events company Rizer.

The Logies had been an institution at Nine for six decades and many of its stars, including the late Bert Newton, were strongly linked to the event. (Pictured: 2022 Gold Logie winner Hamish Blake, a Channel Nine talent, with his gold statuette)

The news comes after Are Media announced in February it was handing over day-to-day operations of the Logies to Sydney-based events company Rizer. (Pictured: John Wayne and Burt Newton at the 1975 Logie Awards)

Fiona Connolly, Group Publisher of Are Media, told TV Tonight the time was right 'to hand over the reins', adding that TV Week would remain the Logies' media partner.

The Logies was cancelled due to Covid in 2021 and 2020, and returned this year on free-to-air and streaming platforms.

TV Week has an established relationship with Rizer, which has been running the red carpet and handling other aspects of the awards for seven years.

Founded by TV Week in 1958 to celebrate the best of Australian television, the Logies have been a major fixture on the industry calendar for decades.

The Logies' top prize, the Gold Logie, voted by readers of TV Week, for the most popular personality on Australian TV, is still highly coveted among industry talent.
A former Married At First Sight star has been forced to respond to claims he 'enhanced' the size of his package for a shirtless selfie.

Seb Guilhaus, an ex-footy player who appeared on the 2020 season of MAFS, was accused of 'fluffing himself up' for the images posted last week.

Some also suspected the 31-year-old had used Photoshop or a prop such as a sock to create an eye-popping outline in his boxer shorts.

Former Married At First Sight star Seb Guilhaus has been forced to respond to claims he 'enhanced' the size of his package for a shirtless selfie. He was accused of 'fluffing himself up' for these before-and-after fitness images posted last week

However, the OnlyFans model told Pedestrian on Tuesday there was nothing special about the photos, which he'd shared to demonstrate his fitness transformation.

'There's definitely no adjustments made to the pics,' he told the website.

'Maybe just a little bit crispier from the solarium in the left one and slightly different distances from the camera,' he added.

Seb also said he didn't believe the pictures - which Daily Mail Australia has chosen to censor - were 'too graphic'.

He added that fitness influencers regularly strip down to their underwear for before and after photos on Instagram.

Seb told Pedestrian on Tuesday there was nothing special about the photos, which he'd shared to demonstrate his fitness transformation. 'There's definitely no adjustments made,' he said

'I don't think wearing jocks for a fitness comparison photo is graphic and shocking. Maybe in the 1920s,' he said.

'Over the next few months I'll be rapidly transforming. I want to reach my peak mental and physical condition after a largely traumatic year.'

It comes after Seb drew the ire of fans last week when he documented his fitness journey by modelling a pair of tight grey boxer shorts.

It comes after Seb (pictured with ex-girlfriend Ania Kilic) drew the ire of fans last week when he documented his fitness journey by modelling a pair of tight grey boxer shorts

'You fluffing it up a bit for the photo,' one follower wrote, while another commented: 'Really? Showing off your junk much!'

Seb was paired with fan favourite Elizabeth Sobinoff on MAFS in 2020. They dated for about a year before calling it quits.

After their split, he began dating his long-time friend Ania Kilic.

The pair launched a joint OnlyFans account together before breaking up recently.

Seb was paired with fan favourite Elizabeth Sobinoff on MAFS in 2020. After their split, he began dating his long-time friend Ania Kilic (left)

Seb told Adelaide Now in June the feedback to his adult venture hadn't been 100 per cent positive.

'I know it comes as a massive shock, especially from me,' he said, adding that there shouldn't be 'stigma' around OnlyFans because sex is a 'natural part of life'.

While Seb admitted to 'copping it a bit from my followers on Instagram', he said overall 'people have accepted me and acknowledge it's not forced on anyone'.

'Obviously people with fixed views will always regard things in this realm [sex work] as being offensive,' he continued.

'No one is getting hurt and no one is being forced to subscribe.'
Ethan Hawke stepped out in a sparkling grey suit for the premiere of his new dramedy, Raymond & Ray at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival on Monday.

The 51-year-old actor is set to play opposite Ewan McGregor in the Apple produced film about two half-brothers who reunite at their father's funeral.

Hawke posed handsomely on the red carpet alongside his supportive wife Ryan Hawke, whom he wed in 2008.

Star! Ethan Hawke stepped out in a sparkling grey suit for the premiere of his new dramedy, Raymond & Ray at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival on Monday

Ethan's long salt and pepper hair was effortlessly slicked back for the dressy affair and his goatee was expertly groomed.

The headliner made a subtle fashion statement with his slate grey suit that featured a pattern of shimmering rhinestones.

He kept it simple beneath, forgoing a neck tie all together and rocking a white button down.

The Training Day star sweetly signed autographs for a waiting crowd of fans who were all eager to get some face time with the actor.

In his corner: Hawke posed handsomely on the red carpet alongside his supportive wife Ryan Hawke, whom he wed in 2008

Doing it for the fans: The Training Day star sweetly signed autographs for a waiting crowd of fans who were all eager to get some face time with the actor

He and his costar had brotherly vibe on the red carpet as they were spotted embracing in a warm hug.

McGregor and Hawke even managed to coordinate outfits with the 51-year-old Brit also opting for a tailored grey suit but in a lighter shade.

Ewan even sported a similar hairstyle and facial hair and a white shirt.

The pair play half-brothers who 'lived in the shadow of a terrible father' in Raymond & Ray, which is directed by Rodrigo Garcia.

Headliners! The 51-year-old actor is set to play opposite Ewan McGregor in the Apple produced film about two half-brothers who reunite at their father's funeral

Reunion! He and his costar had brotherly vibe on the red carpet as they were spotted embracing in a warm hug

'Somehow, they still each have a sense of humor, and his funeral is a chance for them to reinvent themselves,' according to the film's logline. 'There's anger, there's pain, there's folly, there might be love, and there's definitely grave-digging.'

Raymond and Ray reunites McGregor with Oscar nominee Sophie Okonedo - whom he previously co-starred with in Christopher Robin (2018), Stormbreaker (2006), and Scenes of a Sexual Nature (2006).

The 54-year-old beauty is cast as McGregor and Hawke's father's no-nonsense hospice nurse Kiera, who 'shakes world-weary Ray out of his torpor.'
The new Prince of Wales will play a key role during his father's reign, but one of his close friends will not be by his side.

I learn that the Marquess of Cholmondeley has been replaced as Lord Great Chamberlain.

He has lost the role because of the tradition that it changes to another aristocratic family on the death of the monarch and was always be set to depart from the role upon the death of Her Majesty

'David always knew he would not have the job for life,' one of his friends told the Daily Mail. 'It was an honour to carry it out for as long as he did.'

The Marquess, also known as film-maker David Rocksavage, had the role, in which he had to walk backwards in front of the monarch at the State Opening of Parliament, as long as the Queen was on the throne.

Now we have King Charles III, his job will be taken by the 7th Lord Carrington, whose late father served as Foreign Secretary under Margaret Thatcher.

Yesterday, Rupert Carington, 73, carried out his first duties as he greeted the King and Queen Consort Camilla when they arrived at Westminster Hall for His Majesty's speech to Parliament.

He will play an important part in the Coronation, which is likely to take place next year.

The Prince and Princess of Wales pictured greeting David Cholmondeley, Marquess of Cholmondeley and Rose Cholmondeley, the Marchioness of Cholmondeley as they attend a gala dinner in June 2016

William and Kate (centre foreground) walk alongside the Marquess and Marchioness of Cholmondeley at the dinner in King's Lynn

'It was an honour to carry it out for as long as he did.' David and his wife, the former model Rose Hanbury, now Marchioness of Cholmondeley, live near Anmer Hall, Prince William and Catherine's country home in Sandringham, Norfolk.

Rose, 38, married Rocksavage in 2009. He is 24 years her senior and friends had almost given up hope that he would ever marry.

Rose soon produced an heir and spare, in the form of twins Alexander and Oliver. Like Catherine, she has since given birth to a third child, Iris.

While Kate and William stay at ten-bedroom Anmer Hall, which was previously rented out to a kitchen timber boss, the Marquess and Marchioness live in splendour two miles away at Houghton Hall, one of the country's finest Palladian houses, surrounded by 1,000 acres of parkland.

Royalist Geri calls off 50th birthday bash

It's the big social dilemma of the week: do you go ahead with a party during National Mourning?

I hear Spice Girl Geri Horner has decided to cancel her lavish 50th birthday party this weekend.

Geri Horner (pictured with husband Christian) has decided to cancel her lavish 50th birthday party this weekend

Ginger Spice is an ardent royalist whose tribute to the Queen was broadcast as part of the Party At The Palace during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

Her bash at the Oxfordshire home she shares with her husband, Formula One team boss Christian Horner, pictured together, was expected to see a full reunion of the girl band, with guests due to include Victoria Beckham.

Bodyguard star Keeley takes another leading role

Keeley Hawes starred in Bodyguard but I'm not sure if her pooch would be much of a guard dog.

The Durrells actress, 46, showed off her chestnut-brown labradoodle, Buster, while going for a stroll in Chelsea, West London.

Hawes is married to Succession star Matthew Macfadyen, 47. The couple have just filmed Stonehouse, their first tv drama together since they met on the set of Spooks in 2002.

Bodyguard and Line of Duty actress Kelley Hawes spotted walking her dog in Chelsea, west London

'People often say to me, 'When do you see each other? You're both always working',' Hawes admits.

She adds: 'It's infuriating because we see so much of each other. We're not particularly social. I prefer going to bed than going out.'

Scobie's royal blunders

The Duchess of Sussex's biographer and cheerleader Omid Scobie does not appear to be a details man.

The Finding Freedom author has provoked a flood of complaints after making a string of factual errors on American television.

Talking about the arrangements for the Queen's coffin, he suggested that Scotland was not part of the United Kingdom and that there was a fleet of royal trains.

Omid Scobie does not appear to be a details man. He provoked a flood of complaints after making a string of factual errors on American television. Pictured: The Queen and Meghan arriving by Royal Train at Runcorn station in Cheshire in June 2018

The Queen, the 'royal expert' loftily told viewers, 'will end up laying at rest at the smallest palace in Edinburgh before [the coffin] makes its journey on one of the royal trains over to the UK'.

In fact, there's only one royal train.

Scobie later described his UK comment as a 'slip of the tongue'.

Topless Jack models a new career with girlfriend Roxy

He has a reputed fortune of 15 million and is the toast of Hollywood, but comedian Jack Whitehall is unhappy that he doesn't get asked to do any modelling work.

Royal pal Whitehall, 34, is going out with mannequin Roxy Horner, 31, and he's been showing off his body in holiday snaps from Greece.

Comedian Jack Whitehall has been showing off his body in holiday snaps from Greece with girlfriend Roxy Horner

'It is crazy to think that only one of us poses for photographs as a profession,' jokes Whitehall, educated at 43,000 per year Marlborough College.

'With these moves I'm surprised I don't pick up more swimwear campaigns.'

Jeremy Clarkson's criticism of the 'utter uselessness' of today's teenagers has annoyed Ruth Marvel, chief executive of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, the highly successful scheme which Prince Philip created to support young people.

Marvel says D of E volunteers have shown 'remarkable resilience and generosity' during the pandemic.

In a cutting reference to Clarkson, who once punched a Top Gear producer after he failed to provide him with a hot dinner, Marvel adds that D of E volunteers would 'appreciate the delicious irony of a lecture on arrogance and entitlement from that particular quarter'. Ouch.
Connie Britton exuded elegance as she joined fellow attendees and nominees on the red carpet ahead of the 2022 Emmy Awards in Los Angeles on Monday evening.

The White Lotus actress, 55, modeled a stunning neon pink gown with a lengthy cape that trailed behind her as she posed for shutterbugs.

The vibrant tone of Connie's dress amplified her sun-kissed glow, while the low neckline drew eyes to her ample bust.

She is nominated in the Outstanding Supporting Actress for a Limited Series category for her work in the hit HBO show.

Radiant: Connie Britton exuded elegance as she joined fellow attendees and nominees on the red carpet ahead of the 2022 Emmy Awards in Los Angeles on Monday.

She slipped her feet into a pair of silver sandals that poked out from under her floor-length gown.

The Friday Night Lights alum's strawberry blonde tresses were swept back off her radiant visage in a French twist.

A pair of dangly jeweled earrings nearly brushed the tops of her shoulders during her show-stopping red carpet stint.

Along with a muted pink manicure, Connie's rocked striking statement rings on each hand, one of which had an large aqua stone.

Pretty in pink: The White Lotus actress, 55, modeled a stunning neon pink gown with a lengthy cape that trailed behind her as she posed for shutterbugs

Sun-kissed: The vibrant tone of Connie's dress amplified her sun-kissed glow, while the low neckline drew eyes to her ample bust

The first season of Connie's hit HBO series White Lotus - which also stars Euphoria's Sydney Sweeney and Baywatch actress Alexandra Daddario - earned a whopping 20 Emmy nominations this goaround.

Connie will face off against Sweeney, Daddario and their co-star Jennifer Coolidge in the Outstanding Supporting Actress category for a Limited Series

White Lotus premiered during the summer of 2021, becoming an instant hit with critics and viewers alike.

Despite it originally airing as a limited series, it was later confirmed that White Lotus would be brought back for a highly-anticipated second season earlier this year.

The 2022 Emmy Awards returned to the Microsoft Theater on September 12, after a two-year absence during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic that saw the ceremony moved to the Crypto.com Arena in 2020 and the Event Deck at L.A. Live in 2021.

It's that time again: The 2022 Emmy Awards will take place on September 12 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. The show airs at 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT on NBC and Peacock.

Saturday Night Live star Kenan Thompson will be taking over hosting duties for the first time, and he promised that controversies such as Will Smith's shocking slap of Chris Rock at the Academy Awards 'won't happen again' under his watch.

'Even if I am roasting [someone], it shouldnt come across as any sort of malice,' he told the Associated Press.

The 74th annual award show, which celebrates the best in television, has already awarded a number of honors at the Creative Arts Emmys ceremony.

The earlier ceremony, spread out over two nights on September 3 and 4, was dominated by scripted shows including The White Lotus, Euphoria and Stranger Things, along with unscripted fare like Adele's One Night Only special.

HBO's acclaimed series Succession leads the nominees this year with 25 nominations.

The premium network is also poised for gold thanks to its limited series The White Lotus, which scored 20 nominations and already won five technical awards at the earlier ceremony.

Netflix's hit South Korean series Squid Game, which made history as the first non-English language nominee in the Best Drama Series category, is once again nominated.

Apple TV+'s feel-good comedy Ted Lasso, which stars Jason Sudeikis, is also competing for an impressive 20 awards at the Emmys.

At the helm: Saturday Night Live star Kenan Thompson will be taking over hosting duties for the first time, and he promised that controversies such as Will Smith's shocking slap of Chris Rock at the Academy Awards 'won't happen again' under his watch; seen in November 2021

Among the presenters who have already been announced are Selena Gomez, who is up for the Best Comedy Series award as a producer of Only Murders In The Building, Kerry Washington and Squid Game's stars Jung Ho-yeon, competing for Best Supporting Actress, and Lee Jung-jae, who is up for Best Actor.

Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers will likely bring some of the comedy from their late-night shows to the Microsoft Theater, and Jean Smart, who plays an aging comedian on HBO Max's Hacks, will be presenting along with her costar Hannah Einbinder.

Academy Award winning West Side Story star Ariana DeBose will also be joining the presenters, as well Angela Bassett, Amy Poehler, Will Arnett, Kelly Clarkson, Law & Order: SVU veterans Mariska Hargitay and Chris Meloni, Taye Diggs and Diego Luna, among others.

After adopting a Golden Globeslike atmosphere at the 2021 ceremony, the Emmys will continue to seat nominees at tables close to the stage, though the larger venue will now allow more guests to sit in the rows of seats behind them.

Many of the Covid-related restrictions from last year's event appear to have been dropped for the 2022 edition.

Viewers can catch the Emmy Awards at 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT on both NBC and its streaming platform Peacock.
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Hyderabad: Rachakonda police on Sunday arrested Murram Krishna, working as a warden in a private boys' hostel at Hayathnagar on the city outskirts. He is accused of sexually abusing students of Class 8 and 9 in the hostel, seven of whom have complained against him,

A native of West Godavari district, he joined the hostel only a month ago and was in-charge of one complete floor with access to around 150 boys, police said.

A release from Rachakonda police on Sunday said that seven cases have been registered against Krishna (35) under the IPC and the POCSO act. He has been remanded to judicial custody.

Police said that when the boys slept, he showed them porn videos by threatening and tried to force them.

On complaints from seven boys, cases have been registered against him. Further, police also took up an awareness program for all the boys in the hostel on good and bad touch and how to report it to their parents.

Scandal exposed after a boy complaints to parents

Children were undergoing abuse at the hands of Krishna for around two weeks, but none of them complained against him. However, the issue came to light when a class 8 student, who went home for the Ganesh festival, refused to return to the hostel. He initially gave some excuses, but later confided in his parents about the abuse he was going through.

His parents immediately reported to the police, after which the police registered a case. Later with the help of SHE teams and experts spoke to the children, during which six more children came forward and complained against Krishna.

Police found that Krishna, who completed Intermediate, applied to the job online and was appointed on August 8.

Two days before the matter came out the management removed him after students complained of physical harassment. Based on technical evidence, police nabbed him from his hometown.
The management-employees row began over revision of wage agreement, which was due in March 2021.

HYDERABAD: Sugarcane farmers and employees of Ganapati Sugar Factory (GSF) in Sangareddy are eagerly waiting for the factorys reopening after a lockout was declared on May 27. The crushing season is scheduled to begin in the middle of November. Efforts by elected representatives and officials for reopening the factory have gone in vain.

The management-employees row began over revision of wage agreement, which was due in March 2021. After the management reportedly refused to do so, the employees went on a 34-day strike amid talks between management and the employees union in the presence of labour department officials. The factory management lodged a complaint against the association members for allegedly threatening them and declaring a lockout.

In the three intervening months, an employee Jayachandra committed suicide on September 8. GSF employees association general secretary P. Srisailam said that the management had made seven wage revision agreements but was reluctant last year.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, the association president and BJP legislator M. Raghunandan Rao said that the factory will be reopened soon. The management illegally declared a lock out, throwing employees and farmers into trouble, he said.

Established by Kolkata businessman Arun Kumar Lohiya in 1996 and with a crushing capacity of 5000 metric tonnes per day, the factory provided regular employment to 238 persons. Sugarcane is being cultivated over 35,000 acres in Sangareddy, Vikarabad, Medak and Rangareddy districts.

Cultivated in around 12,000 acres, nearly 2.79 lakh metric tonnes of sugarcane is expected in the present crushing season.

When contacted, a senior official of GSF Govind Rao said that the issue was pending with the labour department.
Forest Guards pay floral tribute to martyrs on National Forest Martyrs' Day, observed to salute forest guards killed in the line of duty, at Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. (PTI Photo)

Hyderabad: Forest minister A. Indrakaran Reddy said the forest authorities had registered 11,669 cases and imposed a fine of Rs 14.07 crore as part of forest protection.

He said that during 2021-22, Rs 7.31 crore worth timber was seized and 1,634 vehicles were confiscated. Besides, 1,133 cases of forest land encroachment have been registered, the minister said. He was speaking at an event at Nehru Zoological Park to commemorate National Forest Martyrs Day.

The day honours the memory of the sacrifices of 360 people from the Bishnoi community who laid down their lives to protect the forests in Rajasthan 292 years ago.

In the last 38 years since 1984, 21 forest officials were martyred in the state in cases of wild animal attacks or poaching confrontations. Indrakaran Reddy said the government had sanctioned the recruitment of 92 forest section officers (FSOs), 14 forest range officers (FROs), 1,393 forest beat officers (FBOs) and 2,173 vehicles had been allotted to the department.

The minister commended the efforts of the officers and staff of the state forest department for their courage and dedication and paid tributes to those who had lost their lives on duty.

According to the forest department, measures were taken to provide drinking water to wild animals by employing solar pump sets and building saucer pits. Work was underway to protect the forest boundaries by digging trenches extending to 10,732 km throughout the state.

The event was attended by TS Forest Development Corporation Chairman Vanteru Pratap Reddy; special chief secretary, forests, A. Santhi Kumari; Principal Chief Conservator of Forest head of forest force, R.M. Dobriyal; PCCF (CAMPA) Lokesh Jaiswal; forest department adviser R. Shoba and Nehru Zoological Park curator S. Rajashekar.
Ahmedabad: Aam Aadmi Party leader Isudan Gadhvi has claimed local police raided the party office in Navrangpura area of Ahmedabad as soon as AAP's national convener Arvind Kejriwal landed here, but found nothing.

However, a police official refuted the claim and said when contacted, the AAP office-bearers did not give any details about who conducted the raid and what exactly happened.

Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal landed in Ahmedabad on Sunday evening and he is scheduled to hold town hall meetings with auto-rickshaw drivers, businessmen, lawyers and sanitation workers on Monday and Tuesday.

Gadhvi, the AAP's national joint general secretary, in a tweet late Sunday night said, "Local police raided the AAP office in Ahmedabad as soon as Arvind Kejriwal landed here. They left after searching the office for two hours as they found nothing."

Tagging Gadhvi's tweet, Kejriwal in a Twitter post said, "The ruling BJP has lost its senses due to the unprecedented support AAP is getting from the people of Gujarat. After Delhi, they have started raids in Gujarat too. But, just like Delhi, they have not found anything in Gujarat."

However, Navrangpura police station inspector P K Patel denied the claims saying no such raid was conducted.

"After learning about Gadhvi's tweet about the raid, I personally visited the party office on Sunday night and sought details. But the party leaders present there, including one Yagnesh, did not give any details as to who came and what exactly happened as claimed by Gadhvi," Patel told PTI on Monday.
The beneficiaries of the Dalit Bandu Scheme staged a protest with pesticide bottles in their hand demanding the government to sanction the amount under the scheme in front of the collectorate in Karimnagar on Monday.  DC Image

KARIMNAGAR: A tense atmosphere prevailed when the beneficiaries of the Dalit Bandhu Scheme (DBS) of various mandals of the Huzurabad constituency staged a protest with the pesticide bottles in their hands with the intention of committing suicide here in front of the collectorate in Karimnagar on Monday.

Alleging that the officials are not sanctioning the money to them under the scheme, around hundreds of beneficiaries attended the grievance day programme and sat in front of the podium when the officials were receiving the grievances from the people demanding the officials to resolve their issue.

The beneficiaries said that in the beginning, the officials deposited Rs 9.9 lakh into the bank accounts under the Dalit Bandhu scheme, but later held the amount. When the officials concerned were questioned, they said that the amount would be released within a week. But even after completing more than ten months, they did not sanction the amount.

Even after submitting the applications for sanctioning of Dalit Bandhu scheme amount for more than 15 times, the Mandal Parishad Development Officers (MPDO) concerned are not sending the applications to the district headquarters, they pointed out.

Some of the beneficiaries from Jammikunta mandal alleged that even though they had produced all the certificates required and were eligible for the Dalit Bandhu scheme, the officials who initially included their names in the list and sanctioned the amount, have kept them in the block list. The issue was also brought to the notice of the district collector, R.V. Karnan, who assured them that he would pursue their issue and would try to resolve it, but in vain.

One of the beneficiaries of Illanthakunta mandal alleged that by seeing the amount that was sanctioned under the scheme for her, she took some amount from a private money lender and opened a cloth store. Now, she is facing hardships as she is unable to pay the interest and the officials are not sanctioning the money under the scheme.

Meanwhile, the police who rushed to the spot intervened and prevented the beneficiaries from taking extreme steps. However, the beneficiaries withdrew their protest after the officials gave them assurance of sanctioning of the scheme as early as possible.
The BJP lashed out at the Congress for its "promotion of violence and hatred" . (DC Image)

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Monday tweeted an image of Khaki shorts on fire on Twitter with a caption "to free the country from shackles of hate and undo the damage done by BJP-RSS...", triggering a political storm as the BJP and the RSS accused it of spreading "hatred and contempt" and calling it a "blatant instigation for violence".

Posting the image with '145 days more to go' tagline on its official handle, the Congress tweeted,"To free the country from shackles of hate and undo the damage done by BJP-RSS. Step by step, we will reach our goal" with a hashtag "Bharat Jodo Yatra".

To free the country from shackles of hate and undo the damage done by BJP-RSS.



Step by step, we will reach our goal.#BharatJodoYatra  pic.twitter.com/MuoDZuCHJ2  Congress (@INCIndia) September 12, 2022

The BJP lashed out at the Congress for its "promotion of violence and hatred" with its spokesperson Sambit Patra dubbing the yatra as "Bharat Todo Yatra" and "Aag Lagao Yatra".

Patra demanded that the Congress immediately take down the post, saying there is no room for violence in India's constitutional scheme of things.

He also cited party leader Rahul Gandhi's meeting during the yatra with a controversial Christian pastor who allegedly insulted a Hindu goddess.

The Congress' tweet also drew a sharp response from the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh.

RSS Joint General Secretary Manmohan Vaidya said the Congress wants to connect people through hatred. He alleged that the party's earlier generations of leadership also harboured "hatred and contempt" for the Sangh but could not stop its rise.

Addressing a press conference in Raipur after the conclusion of a three-day RSS coordination meeting, he said that there was "growing support" for Hindutva in society.

As the BJP and the RSS hit out at the opposition party, it launched a counter-attack with its general secretary Jairam Ramesh saying that those who "stoked the fires of hatred, bigotry and prejudice" must be prepared to receive things back in the same coin.

Alleging that the Congress has had an old association with "fire", Patra said Punjab was put on fire when the party was in power and Sikhs were burnt alive during the 1984 riots.

Noting that many members of RSS, the Hindutva organisation considered the BJP's ideological mentor, have been killed in Kerala where the Congress's yatra is going on presently, the BJP spokesperson alleged that the opposition party has signalled to "terrorists" in the southern state to target their functionaries.

"This is a blatant instigation for arson and murder. This instigation has been done by the Gandhi family and the Congress at their behest," he said.

He claimed that Rahul Gandhi has often used the "fire" metaphor, noting that in his address at Cambridge University earlier the Congress leader had alleged the BJP has sprinkled kerosene all over the country and all it needs is one spark to catch fire.

He had made comments on similar lines at a Congress meeting in Rajasthan and during the protests against the 'Agnipath' recruitment scheme for armed forces, Patra added.

"Do you want violence in the country? Do you want people who follow the BJP-RSS ideology burnt," Patra asked.

Hitting back, Ramesh said the RSS-BJP is not used to aggressive responses from the Congress and when the opposition party gives an aggressive response they "retreat".

There are numerous instances of the BJP and its "surrogates" fanning "hatred, prejudice, lies and falsehood," the Congress leader said.

He added, "If they will be aggressive, we will be double aggressive. They should understand that. But the Bharat Jodo Yatra is to unite people. Its aim is to thwart attempts to divide the country, and the divisive policies and intentions in the name of religion, language, caste and states.

"The manner in which inequalities are increasing due to Modi government's policies, increasing political centralisation... to fight that is the aim of Bharat Jodo Yatra."

Later in a series of tweets in Hindi, Ramesh said, "why do those who talk of Congress-mukt Bharat have a problem with burning effigies? And why are they asking us for answers? The answer is to be given by those who killed Gandhi, those who support Godse and call him their role model. The answer is to be given by those who are trying to divide the country."

Asserting that burning effigies is a democratic right, he said the party only depicted jealousy through a cartoon. "Why are people who are burning the country so upset with the symbolic burning of shorts", he asked.

"The fact is that those who opposed the 'Quit India Movement' are jealous of the success of Bharat Jodo Yatra. Because if India will be united then their hate shop will be shut down," the Congress general secretary said.

The BJP also attacked Rahul Gandhi for reportedly skipping the inauguration of a memorial for freedom fighters in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. Reports said Gandhi had agreed to attend the event but did not turn up, taking the organisers by surprise.

This is typical of Rahul Gandhi, Patra said, alleging that he is present at events where "anti-India" rants are delivered but is absent from programmes linked to nationalism.

He is a part-time politician who can never be a true "Sevak" of India, Patra claimed.

Congress sources, however, claimed that Gandhi was advised by the security staff against going there due to the surge of crowds. He would be visiting the memorial soon, they said. PTI KR JTR ASK PYK PYK 09121919 NNNN
Road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari, who is not exactly in the good books of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has a never-say-die spirit. His favourite quote is: You are not defeated when you lose. You are defeated when you quit!

It seems Rahul Gandhi too believes in Paulo Coelhos quote that sends out the message: keep fighting whatever the odds. And the odds are many for the Congress and its leader.

As Mr Gandhi embarks on an ambitious nationwide yatra, the picture thats projected is of a determined man undaunted by defeat, dejection, ridicule and rejections. The 3,750-km Bharat Jodo Yatra, billed as the longest padayatra ever, is taking place at a time when many predict the further decline and demise of the Grand Old Party.

If its really a new beginning, as the party claims, it will be good for the organisation. This is because consistency has never been Rahuls virtue and therefore the 150-day yatra is an acid test for the young leader to emerge as the Oppositions prime challenger. There are already several leaders preparing to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the next polls. In this era of 24-hour politics, people want their leaders to be proactive. The laidback are laggards. The quitters are the defeated.

With debacles in two successive Lok Sabha polls since May 2014, the Congress is already down in the dumps and the only way it can now go is up. As the political clock starts ticking for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, just 20 months away, Rahul is trying to put the house in order with the yatra.

But the attacks and barbs from the ruling BJP and its sympathisers on the exercise undertaken by the young leader signifies that they are a bit rattled within. Everyone knows Rahul is the favourite punching bag of those striving for a Congress-mukt Bharat.

Perhaps, no leader in post-Independent India would have been ridiculed as much as Rahul. One must have real daring and character to get going amid such slander.

This isnt to say that Rahuls leadership doesnt have flaws. They are many like with any other leader. The problem is that only his flaws are magnified by a section of the media. Consistency isnt one of his strong points, but speaking truth to power is. No other Opposition leader has dared to expose the powers that be in such a manner as he has done. Thoda hatke, thoda bachke is the cautious line adopted by several others, especially the leaders of regional parties, while Rahul has insisted that he is afraid of no one.

As a political commentator put it: The government of the day is adamant in showing Rahul as intellectually inadequate, emotionally unstable and now also an alleged money-launderer.

If one believes Rahuls detractors that he isnt a wise man, to put it mildly, he should have been ignored. Why is Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his loyalists constantly targeting Rahul for the past eight years? Why the sobriquet Pappu? Why the false concern of what will happen to the Congress under him? Why so much criticism when he goes abroad? They should have just ignored him. Let the sleeping dogs lie  that should have been their strategy.

But the strategy is different. It is aimed at demoralising the opponents so much so that they give up fighting and become the vassals of those in power and are content with the crumbs doled out to them. The narrative of a strong leader entails that others remain meek and servile no matter what it might cost the republic.

In such a time, to remain the key Opposition leader is the worst predicament. Its a real test not only of strength, stamina and endurance alone, but also the will to fight and stand up for ones values and convictions. These are not normal times, when those in power publicly proclaim their intention to rid the country of a key Opposition force.

The yatra should be seen in this light. It is a bold attempt to connect with people on the lines enunciated by Mahatma Gandhi. The yatra will cover 3,750 km from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu to Jammu and Kashmir.

It is a cardinal principle in electoral politics that any party can attract allies in elections only if it shows its presence on the ground and has a strong support base. The Congress must work on a war footing to make its organisation shipshape and expose the omissions and commissions of the ruling side.

What better way to do this than to connect with the people through a yatra? The Congress message must be taken to the people as attempts are being made by hook or crook to show that the BJP, that has emerged as the worlds largest political party, is the only one gaining ground through its ideology and the rest will be falling by the wayside sooner rather than later.

Rahuls refrain, while making his mark as a leader with a difference, is the belief that hatred, anger and violence will destroy us. The politics of polarisation is dangerous. History has shown that sometimes one man with courage can be the majority.

The Congress has suffered several reverses, including in many states, but at the same time its also a fact that its the only pan-India party in the Opposition that can take on the BJP. It has been seen time and again that the regional parties have their limitations.

Mahatma Gandhi had once said: All compromise is based on give and take, but there can be no give and take on the fundamentals. Any compromise on the fundamentals is a surrender, for it is all give and no take.

Rahul has taken the cue. The path of the Mahatma is a difficult one. But Gandhiji had shown how he could change the narrative through his Dandi March, through which he had taken on the mighty British Empire. It had taken place in 1930, almost a century ago.

It has to be seen whether the yatra led by Rahul Gandhi can be a game-changer. The exercise is equally aimed at breaking the inertia within the party, overcoming the internal wranglings and turning the organisation into a united force. How far he will succeed will depend upon how hard he tries. Those who had come to power eight years ago promising achhe din are yet to deliver and a churn has already begun. Rahul has to show whether his long march becomes a turning point in Indian politics.

The writer is a journalist based in New Delhi.
In this highly interdependent world, especially among neighbours, a nations internal policies may have distinct ramifications impinging on each others relations. That Indias newly modified recruitment policy for enrolment in the armed forces has rattled Nepal is more than obvious. Though just introduced, its reverberations points to a long-term negative impact on the historically cordial though continually sensitive long-term relations between India and Nepal. An objective re-appraisal of this step that India has taken, ostensibly without consulting Nepal, must be swiftly looked into without the baggage of self-infallibility!

The Indian Army currently has around 40 Gurkha battalions spread over seven Gurkha regiments. Besides, Nepalese nationals also serve in some paramilitary and other security forces. At any one time, there are around 32,000-35,000 Gurkhas serving in the Indian Army.

Importantly, around 1.40 lakh retired soldiers draw their pensions from India. Nearly 1,400 Nepalese are recruited by the Indian Army each year.

Immediately after Indias independence, Gurkha units were allotted to the Indian Army and British Army based on the 1947 Tripartite Treaty. Some politicians in Nepals Parliament have been complaining recently that Indias Agnipath scheme violates this agreement. In addition, some vested interests in Nepal have also been spreading disinformation and anti-India propaganda in the tiny Himalayan state. Even Nepals former deputy PM and defence minister Bhim Rawal recently spoke in its Parliament that owing to the Agnipath scheme, which guarantees only four years service and with no post-retirement benefits, the Nepal government must cancel the Tripartite Treaty. He gave the example of some Nepalese youth joining the Singapore police and the Brunei Army without any formal governmental agreements.

It was on June 14 this year that the government announced the new Agnipath scheme for recruitment of personnel for the Indian Army and extended it to recruits coming from Nepal. Two rallies due to be held last fortnight in Nepal have been kept in abeyance, awaiting clarifications from Indias defence ministry. Nepal has sought details of the scheme that offers only four years service, with only one-fourth of those serving to be further retained and overall there being no pension benefits for those leaving after completion of their four-year service.

Nepals ambassador to India Shankar Prasad Sharma has told the local media that more understanding from the highest level is expected.

He added, though, that talks are underway between India and Nepal over the future recruitment process for Gurkhas under Agnipath. He added: It is election time in Nepal. All political parties are in discussions and they will come up with a decision soon. The ambassadors statement that all political parties in Nepal in a huddle over Agnipath clearly brings out the criticality of this scheme for Nepal, which should be carefully factored in by the Indian government.

Nepal has rightly been worried about the adverse financial impact of the Agnipath scheme on its fragile economy. The salaries of 35,000 Gurkhas and the pensions of 1.40 lakh ex-servicemen total nearly $620 million, which is three per cent of its GDP, while Nepals defence budget is only around $430 million. Thus, the announcement of the Agnipath scheme has met with severe criticism in the Nepalese media. This point will also have been surely discussed during the just-concluded five-day visit of Indian Army Chief Gen. Manoj Pande to Nepal and hopefully some of the Nepal Armys concerns would have been addressed by Gen. Pande. As is the tradition between the armies of India and Nepal, both the respective Army chiefs are conferred the honorary rank of general in each others armies and Gen. Pande was accorded this honour by Nepals President Bidya Devi Bhandari in Kathmandu. During his visit, Gen. Pande also gifted some non-lethal defence equipment to Nepals Artmy chief.

New Delhi is more than aware that in the last few decades the Chinese have gone all out to carve out their areas of influence in Nepal in diverse fields. Exploiting their deep pockets and ideological closeness to Nepals Communists, the mandarins in Beijing have eminently succeeded in making credible inroads into Nepals development, its economy and political systems. Consequently, China would look for any opportunity to come its way to diminish Indias image and poison the latters traditional and close relations with Nepal. According to some China-watchers in Nepal, the former may try to recruit out-of-work retired Agniveers and other Nepalese youth into the Chinese Army -- a step that will be fraught with danger for India. Indias defence ministry must therefore weigh the adverse impact on serving and retired Gurkha soldiers of the Indian Army of such mischief by China. As is well known, Pakistans notorious Inter-Services Intelligence has a well-established presence in Nepal from where it directs many of its terrorist activities against India. It is clear that the ISI will spare no effort to intensify its anti-India propaganda in Nepal in the wake of the Indian Armys Agnipath scheme.

India must never forget that its fraternal ties with Nepal are a strategic imperative for it in its restive neighbourhood, keeping in view Chinas and Pakistans consistent machinations towards India. The Gurkha regiments have served the Indian Army with matchless gallantry and glory. Importantly, they have contributed largely to deepening mutually beneficial relations between the two nations. We need to further cement our brotherly relations with Nepal and for that, if we have to modify or even discard the Agnipath scheme for recruitment in Nepal, we shouldnt hesitate, and then switch back to the old system of recruiting the valiant Gurkhas to serve in the Indian Army.
There has been unwarranted excitement in some quarters at the announcement of the agreement to disengage by Chinese forces and our own at what is known as Patrolling Point 15 (PP-15) in eastern Ladakh where the PLA brazenly intruded into traditionally held Indian positions in the early summer of 2020.

The agreement announced recently follows from the 16th round of corps commanders meeting on September 8. When we assess this result, we should keep in mind the tragic events of June 16, 2020, when 20 Indian soldiers were killed by the Chinese (who also suffered losses) in the process of verifying whether the PLA had indeed pulled back in Galwan following a similar agreement.

There is another reason to induce caution in evaluation. In responding to a question arising from disengagement at PP-15, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said while responding to a media question that the return to a pre-April 2020 status quo that India speaks of was created by Indias illegal crossing of the LAC and that China will by no means accept that. Well, this speaks volumes for whats playing at the back of Chinas mind, even if we make allowance for an over-enthusiastic Beijing official.

The remark is suggestive of a national entity that is besotted with itself. Chinas expansionist hubris in relation to India (as with practically all its neighbours) appears to stem from the notion that its GDP is five times Indias and it can therefore afford to ride roughshod. On military terms, the equation is more nuanced as we have seen in Ladakh, and in Doklam in 2017. All the same, it is worth asking communist Chinas officials whey they are bothering to disengage at PP-15 if it is India that had illegally crossed the LAC.

In dealing with an aggressor country in the hands of an unremitting authoritarian like Xi Jinping, New Delhi does need to consider all instruments, including trade and the reinforcing of links with other countries short of military blocs. Regrettably, Prime Minister Narendra Modis factually off-the-mark assertion at an all-party meeting on June 20, 2020, that Indian positions had not been intruded into in eastern Ladakh has had the unintended effect of playing into Chinas hands though it had been made for purposes of domestic politics or propaganda.

Therefore, when the PM visits Uzbekistan for the SCO summit on September 15-16, it may be wise to not go beyond the call of the most perfunctory protocol in engaging with the Chinese leader. The lessons of the scattering of the bilateral Wuhan spirit in a trice cannot be lost. The cosmetic cozying up on swings seen between Mr Modi and Mr Xi at the Sabarmati water front earlier also failed to moderate Mr Xis regional preening.

Wherever disengagement has officially occurred in eastern Ladakh, Indian forces have not been permitted by the PLA to return to patrolling up to their traditional positions to which there had been no objection from China earlier. Besides, China has simply refused to budge in respect of the strategically significant Depsang Plains.

There is a possible military way around this cold reality but that can result in risky brinkmanship. So, there seems no way other than plugging away at diplomacy and trans-regional political and economic bridge-building in order to curb the overweening ambitions of a power-crazed leadership in Beijing.
The 22nd summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) that will be held later this week  on September 15 and 16  in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, will be the first in-person leaders meeting since 2019, and will see the presence of three major leaders  Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. For Mr Xi, it will be the first foray abroad since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020. For Mr Putin, it provides an international platform while he and his country are facing stringent Western sanctions over his invasion of Ukraine over six months ago.

Nick Bisley, in an article published by the Lowy Institute, calls it an illiberal club of growing global significance. Only India is a democracy out of the current eight members. Iran, which is expected to join the group at the summit, is also an Islamic autocracy, with elections closely supervised by clerical leadership. But the group covers one-third of global GDP and, with India and China in it, 40 per cent of the global population.

The link is undeniable between China agreeing to disengage its troops in the Gogra-Hot Springs sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC), after months of obduracy, and the Indian Prime Minister attending the summit. This is especially so after the satellite monitoring Chinese vessel berthed at Sri Lankas Hambantota port, despite the Indian protests.

The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson contextualised the troop withdrawal by sharp remarks that the status quo ante does not need to be restored as it was India that breached the LAC. The strategically crucial Depsang Plains and Demchok areas are still adversely affected by the Chinese intrusions. Five traditional patrolling points of India remain blocked. The lesson is that China will continue to use crucial LAC sectors to exert pressure on India to condition India's conduct of its independent foreign policy.

But for the Indian government, the balancing bet-ween its Western friends, especially the United Sta-tes, and the Russia-China axis is becoming more and more challenging. The two groups are progressively at loggerheads. The Ukraine war, which seemed stalemated days ago, has suddenly seen a successful breakthrough by the Ukrainian military in the Kharkiv sector of northeast Ukraine. Thus, Mr Putin will arrive at the SCO summit aware that even his hawkish public supporters are turning critics over the disorderly collapse of Russian forces holding crucial occupied cities like Izium.

China-US relations have been testy over the visit of US Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan. Among the SCO members, Kazakhstan had supported Ukraine. Even the host nation, Uzbek-istan, leaned towards Uk-raine. This reflects the concerns of the five Central Asian nations that Mr Putins revisionist view of history and imperial vision can also be a threat to their sovereignty.

The other nations in the queue as SCO dialogue partners are Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Ne-pal, Sri Lanka and Turkey. Even Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar are showing interest to get involved. Clearly, the SCO is moving well beyond its original Central Asian focus. The originally envisioned objective of the group was to counter terrorism, separatism and extremism. It was not a coincidence that the Shanghai Five was created in 1996 as the Taliban captured Kabul and presented a terrorism threat to the entire region. This group was turned into SCO on June 15, 2001, just months before the 9/11 terrorist attack on the United States.

In 2004, the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) was created, again focused on security issues. Gradually, a military cooperation dimension has been added. In more recent years, food and energy security emerged as themes of concern to members. But as the tensions between Russia-China and the West has exacerbated, leaders like former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan voiced the need to trade in local currencies. Thus the SCO is in danger of being seen as an anti-Western organisation, used by China and Russia to protect themselves from Western sanctions and counter attempts to isolate them. What then are the advantages India sees in being actively associated with an increasingly polarising organisation. Firstly, negative developments in Afghanistan and Central Asia impinge on Indian security. India would also like to balance the preponderance of China and Russia in the SCO. The Central Asian nations too would welcome this.

India also would be able to moderate the deliberations to ensure that the differences among the permanent members of the UN Security Council, with China and Russia ranged against the other three, do not turn Indias north-western neighbourhood into a battlefield. India would also be closely watched for how it deals with the presence of Pakistans Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. China has been pushing for closer regional economic cooperation, keeping in mind its investment in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which runs through Central Asia and Pakistan. But India also has a foot firmly planted in the US-led initiatives like the four-nation Quad (Australia, India, Japan, US) and I2U2 (India, Israel, UAE, US). India also is welcomed as a natural participant at gatherings like the Democracy Summit hosted by US President Joe Biden. But the question is up to what point is playing all sides workable. The US announcement on upgrading Pakistans F-16 fleet may well be motivated by the need to keep the Pakistan Army on board at a time when Afghanistan is again becoming the sanctuary of Islamic militants of all shades. The killing of Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, it appears, had Pakistans cooperation both to locate him and allow the overflight of the killer-drone. India has protested against the upgrade of the F-16s. Is the United States killing two birds with one stone? Besides wooing Pakistans Army, it signals to India that it too will keep its strategic options open. Rubbing cheeks with Mr Putin and Mr Xi will be seen as Indias unwillingness to be fully in the American corner.

Indias SCO strategy is also guided by India becoming the next chair of the group. The summits of the G-20 and SCO in 2023 in India will be calculated to boost Prime Minister Narendra Modis image before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. After all, the Balakot airstrike days before the 2019 general election gave the BJP a huge boost. But history may repeat itself, as Karl Marx warned, as a farce as now India has China to contend with, not Pakistan and an indulgent US President Donald Trump. Ironically the SCO summit will be in Samarkand, which is famous for the grave of Tamerlane  the marauding pillager of South Asia.
The torrential rain in the city that flooded the houses and offices of tech honchos and turned roads into rivers of sorts could not fill most lakes, thanks to the land mafia who turned the feeder canals of these water bodies into a sewerage drain and diverted their flow, environmentalists said.

This mischief by the land sharks in connivance with some vested interests in various civic agencies and in the government led to the death of lakes in the city, Leo Saldanha, coordinator of Environment Support Group alleged. Benglauru, which the British rulers had called as a 'City of thousand lakes' for having over 1,600 lakes, has about 400 water bodies today in the Bengaluru metropolitan region.

Also Read | Political parties play blame-game over Bengaluru rain havoc as Assembly polls near

"Those lakes which disappeared gave way for residential layouts, bus stands, bus terminals and tech parks. Sadly, those 400 lakes are also on the verge of destruction," Saldanha told PTI. Citing the example of Subrahmanyapura Lake in South Bengaluru, he said it has reduced to a cesspool and is choked with weeds. One can hardly imagine that barely 15 years ago, people used its water from drinking and took bath in it, he pointed out.

"Ironically, not only the Bangalore Development Authority developed a layout on another lake 'Venkatarayana Kere' on the upstream of Subrahmanyapura Lake, but a powerful builder also constructed two massive residential complexes exactly on the feeder canals of these two lakes -- Subrahmanyapura and Venkatarayana Kere," Saldanha claimed.

Also Read | Bengaluru rains: Citizens 'flood' social media with comparisons to Venice, Wonderla

Further, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) reduced the width of its feeder canal from 60 ft to a mere 10 feet wide drain in two years. The feeder canal of the lake carries the sewage of the nearby apartments and residential layouts, he claimed. The drain does not empty a drop of rainwater into the lake. Instead, it is diverted to straightaway flow into the subsidiary of the Vrushabhavathi river. The Vrushabhavathi river is now reduced to a major sewage drain, Saldana said.

"It is a fact that the Subrahmanyapura lake got the attention of the court from 2009 and we are now in 2022. The attention of the court was focused on it. But even with the judicial oversight, the Raja Kaluve (feeder canal of the lake) has been destroyed. Apartments have been constructed. This shows the weakness of the system," Saldanha said.

Ravi Kumar, a resident of Chikkalasandra in the region, charged within a radius of two km of the Subrahmanyapura lake, land sharks gobbled up Chikkasandra Lake, Ittamadu Lake and Narayana Kere and turned them into a residential layout illegally while the civic agency finds itself helpless to recover them. "The civic agencies had removed encroachment of Chikkalasandra lake a few years ago but today once again the encroachers are back. This time even the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike is parking its garbage vehicles inside the 'lake bed', allowing others to encroach on it," Kumar alleged.

Noted activist S R Hiremath who led a campaign against the encroachment of government land in Karnataka, especially in Bengaluru said Bellandur Lake, which is the largest water body of the city, had been the victim of rampant encroachment as residential developments happened on its wetland region and its feeder canals. "I had fought a legal battle against the encroachment with the help of eminent lawyer Prashant Bhushan in the Supreme Court and also fought cases in the High Court. The problem is those who grabbed the government lands are very powerful and are holding important posts in government institutions as well as all the political parties," Hiremath said.

Due to the heavy downpour in the past one week, the lake swelled to monstrous proportions submerging all those areas, which were encroached upon. "I live in Bellandur. I am unable to move out due to flooding for the past one week. It's been more than 15 years, since I moved to this place but never ever, I experienced such a flood," an executive of a corporate company told PTI requesting anonymity.

A former IAS officer requesting anonymity said the government is least bothered about the problems of Bengaluru. "The A T Ramaswamy committee report and V Balasubramanian's report 'Greed and Connivance' are gathering dust in the dingy corners of the government offices. For the politicians and government officers, these reports are like a can of worms, which they don't want to open," he claimed.

According to noted architect Naresh Narasimhan, the planning of the city is based on land use and real estate and not on climate change and resilience. "You have to think little ecologically. The root of the word economy is same as the word ecology. Both words have derived from a Greek word 'Ecos', which means home. Until we give importance to ecology, the economy cannot improve," Narasimhan said.

The architect opined that the flooding in Bengaluru was an extreme climate change event, which was never seen before. "If this has happened now, then it can happen again and we should plan accordingly," Narasimhan said. He insisted that the government should demonstrate a strong political will to take harsh decisions.
Mourners will on Monday get the first opportunity to pay respects before the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, as it lies in an Edinburgh cathedral where King Charles III will preside over a vigil.

Thousands of people are expected to line up for the chance to see the flag-draped casket at St Giles' Cathedral in the Scottish capital, a week before her funeral in London.

The new monarch will walk behind his mother's coffin in a sombre afternoon procession leading from Holyroodhouse palace -- where it arrived on Sunday after making a six-hour road journey from Balmoral Castle -- to the cathedral.

In the morning, the new king is due to address British lawmakers in London for the first time since ascending the throne, as the pageantry continues ahead of the queen's September 19 state funeral.

The lengthy mourning period comes with Britain trying to reconcile itself to the death of its longest-serving monarch, who has been part of the backdrop of national life almost since World War II.

Also Read | Prince Harry calls Queen Elizabeth II his 'guiding compass'

"To see her pass, in front of us, I think actually gave a bit of closure," said Lucy Hampshire, who came to Edinburgh with her boyfriend from the northern English city of York.

Crowds turned out in the Scottish capital Sunday as the hearse carrying the queen drove through the city, with some cheering, some throwing flowers and a few shedding tears in an outpouring of respect.

People also lined the streets of towns and villages along the 180-mile (290-kilometre) route from her beloved Balmoral estate, where she died on Thursday aged 96 after seven decades on the throne.

Images of the coffin draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland dominated the front pages of British newspapers Monday.

"The saddest journey... now the long goodbye," headlined the Daily Mail on its cover.

Elizabeth II's oak casket rested overnight in the throne room of Holyroodhouse palace. Charles and his queen consort Camilla are due to fly to Edinburgh on Monday after his speech in parliament.

The king and senior royals will then follow on foot behind her hearse, flanked by soldiers, in a procession to take her along Edinburgh's historic Royal Mile to the 12th century St Giles' Cathedral.

The coffin will be carried into the imposing grey stone cathedral, where it will be topped with the Crown of Scotland, before a minister leads a service of "prayer and reflection" for the queen.

Her coffin will remain there for 24 hours "to enable people of Scotland to pay their last respects", a palace official said. Reports said there would be tight security and long queues were expected.

King Charles III and senior royals will mount a vigil beside the late queen at 7:20 pm (1820 GMT), while soldiers from the Royal Company of Archers will stay on guard throughout.

The queen's body will be flown to London on Tuesday by Royal Air Force jet to an airfield near London, accompanied by the queen's daughter Princess Anne, and driven to Buckingham Palace.

The following day royals will follow the coffin, carried atop a gun carriage, to Westminster Hall -- the oldest part of the UK parliament -- where it will lie in state from 5:00 pm (1600 GMT) until the day of the funeral.

Also Read | Rules issued for those wanting to pay respects to the Queen

At least a million people are expected to visit the coffin, resting on a catafalque in the cavernous hall. Officials have warned that people should expect to wait "many hours" and possibly even to queue overnight, and must go through "airport-style security".

The funeral itself is set to be watched worldwide and attended by numerous heads of state, including US President Joe Biden, as well as global royalty.

As Charles III takes on what he has called the "heavy responsibilities" of kingship, the new monarch's traditional visit to parliament will enshrine his role as constitutional head of state.

In Monday's ceremony at Westminster Hall, where the queen will eventually lie in state, both chambers of the British parliament will express their condolences at her "demise".

Charles will then give a formal reply.

The new king will also make his first visits as monarch to Northern Ireland and Wales this week in a show of national unity.

While the emotional scenes in Scotland showed the deep affection for the queen there, her passing has also reignited a debate over Scottish independence from the United Kingdom.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said it was a "sad and poignant moment" to see the coffin leaving Balmoral. But the pro-independence leader has been pushing for a new referendum on the divisive issue.

"I'm not for independence -- we've been together for hundreds of years. Why stop now?" said mourner Anne Johnston, 68, from Edinburgh.

She added, however, that "no offence to Charles, but I don't think he'll ever live up to the queen."

Britons have lost the only monarch that most of them have ever known, a figure familiar to them and millions around the world from banknotes, stamps and annual Christmas televised messages.

Charles has seen his popularity recover since the death of his former wife Diana in a 1997 car crash, but has been embroiled in several scandals in recent years.

He takes the throne at a moment of deep anxiety in Britain over the spiralling cost of living and international instability caused by the war in Ukraine.

Also Read | Royal bees join the Queen's mourning

With republican movements gaining ground from Australia to the Bahamas, the new king also faces a challenge keeping the Commonwealth realms in the royal fold.

Charles hosted his first reception Sunday for representatives of the 14 former colonies over which he reigns in addition to Britain -- at least for now.

Just hours earlier, Australia and New Zealand had officially named Charles king.

Meanwhile, one previously unanswered question was resolved Sunday, when it emerged that scandal-hit Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson will look after the queen's two beloved remaining corgis.

The prince -- who stepped back from royal duties in 2021 over his association with convicted US paedophile Jeffrey Epstein -- will take on Muick and Sandy, dogs that he had gifted to the queen that same year.
NASA has shared images of the 9/11 terrorist attack in 2001 taken from the International Space Station (ISS), along with the historic image that shows a smoke plume rising from the Manhattan area after two planes crashed into the towers of the World Trade Center (WTC).

The photo was taken of metropolitan New York City (and other parts of New York as well as New Jersey) on the morning of September 11, 2001.

Expedition 3 Commander Frank Culbertson was aboard the International Space Station (ISS) at the time of the attacks, and the only American on the crew.

Also Read | Why go back to the Moon?

As soon as he learned of the attacks, he began documenting the event in photographs because the station was flying over the New York City area, NASA said in a statement late on Sunday.

He captured incredible images in the minutes and hours following the event. From his unique vantage point in space, he recorded his thoughts of the world changing beneath him

"Our prayers and thoughts go out to all the people there, and everywhere else," Culbertson said after the terrorists' attacks.

The following day, he posted a public letter that captured his initial thoughts of the events as they unfolded.

Also Read | No gamma rays from dwarf galaxy solves astronomical puzzle

"The world changed today. What I say or do is very minor compared to the significance of what happened to our country today when it was attacked," he wrote.

Upon further reflection, Culbertson said, "It's horrible to see smoke pouring from wounds in your own country from such a fantastic vantage point. The dichotomy of being on a spacecraft dedicated to improving life on the earth and watching life being destroyed by such willful, terrible acts is jolting to the psyche, no matter who you are."

NASA science programmes were called into action after September 11, 2001, as the agency worked with FEMA to fly sensors over the affected areas on aircraft looking for aerial contaminants and used satellite resources to monitor from above.
The Enforcement Directorate was left red-faced when Maneka Gambhir, the sister-in-law of TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, arrived at its office here past midnight as the notice served on her in a money laundering case asked her to appear before the agency at 12.30 AM on Monday.

Wearing a blue kurta, Gambir reached the ED office at CGO complex in the Salt Lake area and posed for a picture before a locked office along with the notice, which the agency later termed as a "typographical error".

"I was served with notice to report at 12:30 am and so I had come," Gambhir later told a local news channel. She was accompanied by a lawyer during her midnight visit to the ED office.

Read | ED stops TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee's sister-in-law from flying abroad

Gambhir was handed over the summons to appear at the ED office here on Monday "at 12:30 am" by agency officials at the Kolkata airport on September 10 after she was denied from taking an international flight. The agency said she was required to join investigation in an alleged coal scam case.

West Bengal | TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee's sister-in-law Maneka Gambhir was summoned to ED office in Kolkata at 12.30 am last night in connection with coal smuggling case. However, upon reaching the office as per the time mentioned in the summon, the office was found to be closed. https://t.co/0kfWY2uvcg pic.twitter.com/KdxYvFaU6P  ANI (@ANI) September 12, 2022

She has been issued a fresh summons to appear before the agency here around 2 PM, the officials said.

The sources said the midnight time printed on the earlier summons was a "typographical error" and erroneous and it should have been "12:30 PM" on September 12.

Gambhir has not been questioned by the ED in this case till now. The CBI had earlier questioned her in the said case.

The Calcutta High Court in August directed the ED to question Gambhir at its regional office in Kolkata and not in Delhi and also not to take coercive steps against her till the next date of hearing.

Also Read | Companies related to Abhishek Banerjee's family, friends under ED scanner

Gambhir had challenged an ED summons that asked her to appear before it in Delhi on September 5 in connection with the alleged coal scam case and had sought direction from the court to the agency to allow her to appear before it in Kolkata, where she claimed she resides.

The ED has questioned Abhishek Banerjee, the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the national general general secretary of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), and his wife Rujira in this case earlier.

This case is being investigated by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) with Anup Majee being alleged to be the kingpin of a coal mining pilferage-linked money laundering case related to Eastern Coalfield Limited's mines in Kunustoria and Kajora in and around Asansol in West Bengal.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla unveiled the first statue of Swami Vivekananda in Latin America recently installed at the Autonomous University of Hidalgo in Mexico.

Birla, who led a parliamentary delegation to Mexico City, referred to Swami Vivekananda's 1893 speech in Chicago and said that he had beautifully upheld the characteristics of the culture of India. Swami Vivekananda's message was for the entire humanity which transcended time and geographical boundaries, he said, adding that the statue was a mark of the reverence and respect he commanded around the world.

The LS Speaker said that Swami Vivekananda had unflinching faith in youth and youth power. He inspired the youth of India to fight for freedom with new energy.

Birla unveiled a bust of freedom fighter Pandurang Khankhoje in Chapingo University, the oldest agricultural university in Mexico and Latin America. Victor Villalobos, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Mexico, and Dr Jose Ramirez, rector of the varsity, briefed him about the functioning of the agricultural university. They discussed expanding bilateral trade in the agricultural and food processing sectors.

He called on the President of the Chamber of Deputies in Mexico, Santiago Creel, and discussed several matters of mutual importance. Birla noted that India and Mexico had historically close relations and Mexico was the first country to recognize India as an independent country in 1947. Recalling that the discovery of Mexico to the modern world was the result of an expedition that was initiated to explore India, he also noted that the relations between the two countries, in terms of trade, economy and culture, had grown from strength to strength ever since. Both the countries are also sharing best practices for strengthening parliamentary democracy in the world, said Birla.

The parliamentary delegation led by LS Speaker earlier visited Suriname. Birla addressed the National Assembly of Suriname. There is immense scope to further strengthen the relationship between the two countries. If India and Suriname work together, they can give a new direction to democracy in the world, he said, suggesting that the two nations should further strengthen their relationship in Inter-Parliamentary Union.

An MoU was also signed between the Lok Sabha Secretariat and the National Assembly of Republic of Suriname for cooperation in exchange of information and improved access to parliamentary archives, parliamentary documents.

Another MoU was signed between the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and the Suriname Standards Bureau for standardization, marking and quality certification of goods. This will help in quality assurance & consumer empowerment in Suriname.
Soothsayers say politics makes strange bedfellows but so do regimes often reproached for deconstructing narratives. It is a strange quirk of national fate that the demise of Queen Elizabeth and the second Elizabethan age coincided with the reaming of the Rajpath to Kartavya Path. Can history be obliterated so easily with the erasing of colonial legacies? Even if an administration may be determined to wipe out remnants of India's undeniable colonial past, will history permit the same? Apathy for the British domination of India is understandable. Sceptics point to reinforcing nationhood, but when electoral resurgence churns an alternative version of nationalism to the fore, the froth and broth often mix to produce a concoction.

So Rajpath smacks of imperialism and has a colonial mindset to it; after all, it was a king's way, a boulevard visualising the last vestiges of royalty that needed to be undone. For many Indian nationalists, it is ideologically unbecoming to equate a sense of identity with what was India's pre-independent status. The problem lies with postcolonial interpretations of the Indian vox populi. Post-colonialists adhere to the fact that Indians had no control over their destiny and the colonial government in place with its systems was intrinsically exploitative and prejudicial. So Indian troops were fighting as mercenaries in the World Wars against British enemies.

Also Read | The Queen was Britains North Star

Many critics have also accused the government of being obsessed with delinking every colonial vestige in modern India. And the paradox is imminent. You can't consign facts to trash bins either by deifying or demonising individuals and organisations. Post-independence, Kingsway and Queensway were rechristened Rajpath and Janpath, and many feel the current dispensation is deliberately misinterpreting to highlight the pessimism of the empire. Historian Irfan Habib asserts, "The point is you want to leave your mark on everything." Thus, a moot question crops up. The present regime may be trying to underline its indelible footprint with its hyper-nationalist agenda only to compensate for its unsavoury presence in India's freedom struggle.

One has to make a dissimilarity between nationalism and patriotism though they may not be as distinct as chalk and cheese. History is not only about lauding the past but also about interpreting why something that vexes us today actually happened at that point in time. The naval ensign has evolved over centuries, and dropping the stripes symbolising the Cross of Saint George, reminiscent of the colonial era, cannot snatch its origins to oblivion. Unveiling a new ensign to drop 'the burden of slavery' may not backtrack the glorious path traversed by the Royal Indian Navy, Her Majesty's Indian Marine, and Bombay Marine - all sanctimoniously displayed in the Legacy Gallery of Naval Dockyard Mumbai. While befitting the rich Indian maritime heritage is a proud moment for all countrymen, one cannot deny the evolution of the blue octagonal emblem for centuries from the East India Company's first trading activities in Surat in 1612.

In our emotional braggadocio, we often tend to look at historical narratives through a glass prism. Shivaji's Maratha Navy may be undoubtedly the precursor to the Indian Coast Guard but to make the emperor don the mantle of the Indian Navy may be stretching things a bit afar. None can deny that strategically the Indian Navy originated from the very British Bombay Marine, which did have umpteen maritime skirmishes with Chhatrapati Shivaji. The Indian Army is proud of myriad regiments whose wherewithal date back to colonial times, and can we really shed off their colonial yoke? And many analysts have opined that the Chola's naval prowess was a notch above Maratha maritime supremacy, for they established Indian hegemony in Java, Sumatra, Thailand, which lasted centuries.

Many maritime historians have categorically stressed that Shivaji's naval might was aimed at protecting the seaward flanks of the Maratha empire and the Marathas were shrewd manoeuvres of the classic hit-and-run tactics at sea. But in sheer military prowess, as historian B K Apte noted, the English warships were 'superior to the Maratha warships in every aspect.' The very fact that the Indian Navy has named two of its major establishments  the training hub at Lonavla as INS Shivaji and a logistics hub as INS Angre after the famous Maratha naval commander  shows how it reveres the Chhatrapati. But to portray Shivaji as the father of the Indian Navy may be a historical distortion or fancying of an alternate past.

Today's modern central vista is definitely more enticing and bewildering to look at, but the Commonwealth of which India is still a part is a colonial legacy. No matter what kind of rechristening we do, we can't change that narrative. Abolition of symbols of colonial legacy to stress self-reliance maybe an unending saga, but undoing the course of history is a tough assignment which has no orientation. Unveiling a hologram of Netaji Subhas Bose at India Gate in the canopy that housed King George V's statue is more iconoclastic than symbolic. It is as if the last vestiges of imperialism are being given a sledgehammer blow, and a nationalist icon millions have always revered is taking his place. Though how much of Bose's ideals the nation has embarked on in the recent past is a matter of conjecture.

Also Read | Kartavya Path: Empty symbolism

However, the Beating Retreat ceremony's concluding ensemble 'Abide with me' being replaced with lyricist Pradeep's seminal 'Aye mere watan ke logon' crooned by the nightingale of India, Lata Mangeshkar, may not fall in this quest for freedom from India's colonial mindset. Though the earlier hymn did not reek of any Victorian prudery, here was an honest attempt to infuse an Indian flavour to a retreat number commemorating our freedom struggle and using the sitar, santoor, and tabla to the utmost. Apart from a solemn nostalgia, the change reverberated perfectly with our ethos as the Beating Retreat marched on wintry dusk in the national capital on Republic Day.

The moot point that crops up is to what extent can we traverse to shed off colonial baggage at breakneck speed, and do the alternatives assimilate into our national ethos? Like Lady Macbeth's philosophical aphorisms in Shakespeare's play, undoing history can also be a consequence of time. It is like encircling the maze in concentric circles, a whirligig. 'What's done is done, What's to be done?... What's done cannot be undone.'

(The author is a commentator on politics and society)
Released: September 9, 2022

This week, Aqua Pennsylvania sent a misleading political mailer to every household in Delaware County regarding County Council's opposition to the last-minute, no-bid sale of DELCORA, the County's wastewater treatment facility. Aqua Pennsylvania also posted a factually incorrect statement on a campaign-style website, as part of its effort to force the County to accept a purchase price well below what it offered to purchase Bucks County's sewer system  a bid that was unanimously voted down by the Bucks County Commissioners.

Here are the facts:

The sale of DELCORA was never approved by the County and Aqua Pennsylvania wants to prohibit the County from having a say in the sale. The approval of the DELCORA sale was made possible by a last-minute change enacted by three departing members of Delaware County Council to DELCORAs charter in 2019. There was no public bidding process and only minimal public discussion. The proposed sale was never brought to Council or approved by Council. The new Council majority, elected in 2019, quickly took action to reverse the sale and the Administrative Law Judge of the Public Utilities Commission found that the DELCORA deal would provide no benefit to ratepayers. Aqua Pennsylvania has argued in its court filings that County Council should have no voice in the sale of the public asset.

Delco and DELCORAs ratepayers are being shortchanged. Aqua Pennsylvania offered roughly 25% of what it offered to purchase Bucks County's system. Although DELCORA serves more customers than the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority (BCWSA), Aqua Pennsylvania offered $1.1 billion to purchase BCWSA, but only $276 million for DELOCRA in its no-bid deal. Bucks County taxpayers were going to get a $700 million windfall under the proposed deal while putting only a small part of the proceeds towards rate stabilization. Aquas deal for DELCORA requires all of the sale proceeds to be used to offset its rate increases. BCWSA services 75,000 customers while DELCORA provides service to approximately 165,000. The sale of DELCORA would be Pennsylvanias largest privatization ever of a public water or wastewater system.

Administrative law judges at the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) recommended rejecting the DELCORA sale. Last year, a panel of administrative law judges at PUC recommended the sale of DELCORA to Aqua be rejected, stating that it found no evidence that the sale would be in the publics interest.

Aqua Pennsylvania intends to use sale proceeds due to taxpayers to offset its higher fees. In its misleading campaign-style website and mailer, Aqua wrote that it is committed to using $200 million from the sale to keep customer bill increases at no more than 3% annually for 10 years. In other words, the money that Aqua is paying for DELCORAs assets is the money Aqua expects to be used to offset its rate increases that occur from purchasing assets, whether from DELCORA or another municipality. However, the $200 million in sale proceeds are funds that legally should go to the County and taxpayers. If Aqua gets its way, taxpayers will give up control over a public asset and subsidize a private companys rates at the same time.

Aquas cost of capital is higher than a municipal entitys. As a municipal government, the Countys borrowing costs are lower than Aquas, so the required investment in upgrades and expansion at DELCORA would cost less if the County oversees these.

The costs to separate from Philadelphia are the same for the County or Aqua. In its mailing, Aqua laments that some portions of Delaware Countys wastewater are treated in Philadelphia and DELCORA is required to end that process by 2028, incurring costs. However, the costs to separate from Philadelphias Water treatment are the same whether DELCORA remains a municipal asset or is purchased by Aqua.

No publicly traded company simply covers costs  they pass them onto ratepayers. As part of its public relations campaign, Aqua has stated that Aqua  not taxpayers  will invest nearly $1 billion on DELCORAs sewer system in purchase price and capital through 2028. But as the company itself makes clear with its statement that it will use taxpayer funds to hold down ratepayer costs, any investment Aqua makes in DELCORA will be passed along to ratepayers and taxpayers.

Aqua's tactics are unethical and misleading to Delaware County residents. As a public company that has recently endured several legal defeats and public condemnation, Aqua is undoubtedly feeling the pressure to meet its commitments. But the pressure the company feels doesn't change the fact that the DELCOA deal is a bad one for Delco ratepayers and taxpayers.

The County is considering its next steps.
Hundreds of people gathered in Belfast to demand the scrapping of the British Governments controversial Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill.

Relatives of those killed during the conflict were among those who protested in heavy rain outside Belfast City Hall at Sunday's rally. Demonstrators had marched from various parts of the city ahead of the event outside the landmark building in central Belfast.

Addressing the rally, John Kelly, whose brother Michael was killed by paratroopers on Bloody Sunday in Derry in 1972, told the rally the British establishment is scared of the truth.

They are trying to deny us justice because they are scared to face justice, he said.

Every human being on this planet is born equal and if the British governments Bill of shame is implemented, the victims of British army killings will be treated as less equal than others. This cannot be allowed.

We will stop this obnoxious Bill by whatever means possible. We must never give up. We must fight on. We will fight on and we will not go away until truth and justice are achieved.

The majority of bereaved families in attendance lost loved ones in killings involving state forces.

The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill has already been through the House of Commons and is now set for consideration by the House of Lords.

It proposes a form of amnesty for perpetrators of Troubles crimes in exchange for co-operation with a new truth recovery body.

The Bill, if enacted, would also end inquests and civil proceedings related to the conflict.

The changes are opposed by political parties and victims groups in Northern Ireland, as well the Irish government.

Sinn Fein MP John Finucane addressed the Time for Truth rally on Sunday afternoon while senior party figures, including vice president Michelle ONeill, watched on from the crowd.

Mr Finucane, whose solicitor father Pat was murdered by loyalists in 1989 in a killing linked to state agents, told the event the Bill is designed to cover up the Governments role in the conflict.

The new Prime Minister Liz Truss needs to hear that we will not allow our rights to be cherry picked or traded ever by a British government, he said.

She must bin this flawed legislation without delay.

This has and remains a long campaign and today is but another staging point.

But we are stronger when we stand together in solidarity. We are not giving up. We are not going away.

All the British Government can do is delay the truth. They can no longer deny responsibility and they can no longer deny rights and they will ultimately not be successful.

We should and I know we will take hope that the truth will out.

Natasha Butler, whose grandfather Paddy Butler was shot dead by soldiers in west Belfast in 1972, branded the legislation a slap in the face to victims.

Preliminary inquest proceedings into the deaths of Mr Butler and four others killed in the shootings in Springhill 50 years ago have recently commenced, with a full inquest due to be heard next February.

This Bill of shame will provide an amnesty for British state forces and deny our families basic legal rights to an inquest, an independent investigation and civil actions, Ms Butler said.

It is a slap in the face to victims as it will prioritise the demands of the British military lobby over the legal rights of victims of state violence.

The objective of the British governments Bill of shame is to cover up their dirty war in Ireland.
Large numbers are expected to line the streets in Belfast city centre and Royal Hillsborough as the new King visits Northern Ireland on Tuesday.

Charles, who will be accompanied by the Queen Consort, will also carry out a number of engagements as part of his programme of visits across the UK.

Charles and Camilla will arrive at Belfast City Airport where they will be greeted by the Lord Lieutenant of Belfast, Dame Fionnuala Mary Jay-OBoyle, and Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris.

They will then travel to Hillsborough Castle in Co Down, the royal residence in Northern Ireland, for several engagements.

There they will hold a private audience with Mr Heaton-Harris as well as meeting with representatives of political parties in the region.

The royal couple will then receive a message of condolence from the speaker of the Stormont Assembly Alex Maskey on behalf of the people of Northern Ireland.

They will then attend a reception at the castle, hosted by Mr Heaton-Harris, which some members of the public will also attend.

Charles and Camilla will then travel to St Annes Cathedral in Belfast where they will attend a service of reflection for the life of the Queen.

They will then undertake a walkabout at Writers Square before leaving Northern Ireland.

Members of the public are being advised they are welcome to line the route in Hillsborough but need to be in place by 11am.

There is no parking for non-residents in the village and transport will be laid on from a park and ride facility at the Eikon Centre on the Halftown Road.

People travelling to the castle will have to undergo a security search and they are being asked not to carry large bags.

When Charles and Camilla leave the castle they will travel along Main St and Lisburn Street in Hillsborough before heading to Belfast where they will travel along Wellington Place, Donegall Square North, Chichester Street and Victoria Street.

Again, the public is being invited to line the route as the royal couple travel towards St Annes Cathedral.

Donegall Street and Writers Square will be closed to the public.
Montpellier, France -- September 12, 2022 -- Cortus, an innovative French fabless semiconductor company today announces the availability of its secure low power RISC-V microcontrollers (MCUs) that address consumer products and automotive electronics for body control and driving control. These MCUs offer better cost and power efficiency than competitive MCU alternatives. Additional MCUs will come in the next few months designed for specific customers creating a product family dedicated to the automotive industry.

Cortus now offers the possibility to its customers and partners to have direct access to Cortus silicon or its expertise in mixed-signal ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) / SoC (System-on-Chip) design for turnkey solutions from Idea to Silicon using Cortus own large IP portfolio including processors (Cortus ISA and RISC-V ISA), digital, analog, RF and security building blocks. All Cortus products are fully supported by a comprehensive Software Development Environment.

The RISC-V architecture is becoming the first choice for many SoC designers. The use of this ISA will grow exponentially in the coming years.

Cortus positions itself as a RISC-V leader offering solutions from a simple MCU to a high-end, high performance multi-core SoC. During the past six years, Cortus has designed and continues to design various RISC-V solutions for different customers and applications such as Satellite, Civil Nuclear, Security, Banking, Wireless, IoT, Automotive and Edge Computing.

Christophe Genevois, Director of Operations at Cortus, said: We are very proud of the great achievement of the Cortus teams to successfully deliver complex RISC-V SoC designs and to deliver chips to our customers.

Dr. Re my Astier, Embedded Software Expert for Nuclear at Framatome, said: We are very pleased to collaborate with Cortus to develop a Civil Nuclear SoC based on RISC-V ISA. This solution is now available and operational to fully meet our constraints and requirements in terms of safety certifications for IEC-60880 and IEC-62566. We are also happy to have a reliable partner with the capacity to accompany us in all our future projects.

About Cortus S.A.S.

Cortus is a fabless semiconductor manufacturer company headquartered in Mauguio (near Montpellier, France). Cortus provides IC devices from a simple MCU to a high-end SoC based around its broad IP portfolio which includes processor, digital, analog, mixed-signal, RF and security IP; in many areas such as Automotive, IoT/NB-IoT, Edge Computing and Industrial. Over 12 billion devices have been manufactured containing Cortus processors and IP.

Cortus is a core contributing member and board member of the DASH7 Alliance. Cortus is also a member of the Wi-SUN alliance. Cortus is a Platinum Founding Member of the RISC-V Foundation and strategic member of RISC-V International.






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Where to Watch / Stream Jo Koy: Live from the Los Angeles Forum Online Watch Now View Netflix Plan

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Jo Koy: Live from the Los Angeles Forum : Release Date, Trailer, Cast & Songs About Jo Koy: Live from the Los Angeles Forum Jo Koy: Live from the Los Angeles Forum was released on Sep 13, 2022 and was directed by Shannon Hartman .This movie is 1 hr 14 min in duration and is available in English language. Jo Koy are playing as the star cast in this movie. You can watch the movie online on Netflix, as long as you are a subscriber to the video streaming OTT platform. Jo Koy: Live from the Los Angeles Forum scores a 7.5 digit binge rating out of 10 and is a brilliant movie to watch in the Comedy genre.

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Jo Koy: Live from the Los Angeles Forum - Star Cast And Crew S Shannon Hartman Director J Jo Koy Actor

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After a YouTuber claimed on social media that her aunt allegedly died after her Redmi 6A smartphone exploded near her on the bed while sleeping, Xiaomi said it was probing the unfortunate incident.

The YouTuber, who goes by the name MD Talk YT, shared screenshots of the exploded phone as well as her aunt lying in a pool of blood on the bed, claiming that an alleged battery explosion killed her relative who was living in the Delhi-NCR region.

"Yesterday in night my aunty was found dead, she was using a Redmi 6A, she was sleeping and she kept the phone near her face on the pillow side & after sometime her phone blasted. It's a bad time for us. It's a responsibility of a brand to support," the tweet read.

Xiaomi replied in a tweet, saying the company is working to reach out to the impacted family and investigate the situation.

"At Xiaomi India, customer safety is of utmost importance and we take such matters extremely seriously. Our team is trying to get in touch with the affected family and determine the cause of the incident".

The YouTuber from Haryana further posted that the victim's son is serving in the Indian Army and the family lives a very simple life.

"Her family is so simple, her son is in the Indian Army. They don't know so much. She only uses her phone just for calling & watching YouTube. Now if brands don't accept their mistakes, don't take responsibility directly, if a family has to fight for justice then what's the use," the YouTuber said in a tweet.

(Except for the headline and cover image, the rest of this IANS article is un-edited)

For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in.
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Images by Weber Thompson courtesy of Greystar [enlarge]





Renters are moving into The Waverly, a new 28-story residential tower at 210 Eighth Ave. N., in the South Lake Union neighborhood next to the new Seattle Unity Church.





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SEATTLE  A Columbia City parking lot at 3829 S. Ferdinand St. sold last week for a little over $3.7 million, according to King County records.

The buyer was 1440 Jackson Investors LLC, which is associated with Walsh Construction Co. No new plans have been filed.





. . .
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SEATTLE  A small apartment building at 1018 N.E. 112th St. sold last month for almost $3.1 million, according to King County records.

The seller was Port Lahalna LLC, which acquired the property in 2005 for about $1.5 million.





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Top legislator's trip to Russia promotes ties

10:21, September 12, 2022 By CAO DESHENG ( China Daily

Li Zhanshu, chairman of China's National People's Congress Standing Committee, meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Vladivostok, Russia, Sept 7, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]

Mutual trust, strategic coordination and pragmatic cooperation rise to new level

Top legislator Li Zhanshu concluded on Saturday his four-day official goodwill visit to Russia, during which he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, leaders of Russia's legislative bodies and other Party leaders, with both sides pledging to further promote bilateral ties in the new era.

While meeting with Putin in Vladivostok, where he attended the Russia-hosted Eastern Economic Forum, Li, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the nation's top legislature, conveyed President Xi Jinping's cordial greetings and best wishes to Putin and hailed the development of the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era.

Political mutual trust, strategic coordination and pragmatic cooperation between the two countries have reached an unprecedented level, setting a good example of good-neighborly friendship and win-win cooperation between major countries and neighboring countries, he said.

China is willing to continue to work with Russia to firmly support each other on issues concerning each other's core interests and major concerns, implement the Global Development Initiative and Global Security Initiative put forward by Xi, and turn the high-level political mutual trust into more pragmatic cooperation results, Li added.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Bianji)
Moderna sues Pfizer-BioNtech for patent violation

Moderna on Friday filed a suit against US pharma giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech for patent infringement in the development of the first Covid-19 vaccine approved in the United States.

In its lawsuit filed in the district court in Massachusetts, Moderna has alleged that Pfizer-BioNtech merely copied the technology it developed years before the pandemic.

According to Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech copied mRNA technology that Moderna had patented between 2010 and 2016, well before Covid-19 emerged in 2019.

Moderna has sought undetermined monetary damages, according to a Reuters report.

Miderna claims to have pioneered the innovative mRNA technology and invested billions of dollars in creating, and patented during the decade preceding the Covid-19 pandemic, the report added.

In a news release on Friday, Moderna said the lawsuit would be filed in the regional court of Duesseldorf in Germany as well.

Cambridge, Massachusetts based Moderna has been an innovator in the messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine technology that enabled the unprecedented speed in developing the Covid-19 vaccine.

We are filing these lawsuits to protect the innovative mRNA technology platform that we pioneered, invested billions of dollars in creating, and patented during the decade preceding the Covid-19 pandemic, Moderna Chief Executive Stephane Bancel said in the news release.

Moderna said its lawsuit was not meant to stop people from getting vaccines.

Moderna, had, in the peak of the pandemic, said it would not enforce its Covid-19 patents to help others develop their own vaccines, particularly for low- and middle-income countries. But in March 2022 Moderna said it expected companies such as Pfizer and BioNTech to respect its intellectual property rights.

Pfizer, however, claims that its Covid-19 vaccine was based on BioNTechs proprietary mRNA technology and developed by both BioNTech and Pfizer.

Moderna Inc and the Pfizer-BioNTech partnership were two of the first groups to develop a vaccine for the novel coronavirus.

It was the breakthrough in mRNA vaccines, which teach human cells how to make a protein that will trigger an immune response that helped an approval process that previously took years to get completed in months.

Germany-based BioNTech had also been working in this field when it partnered with Pfizer.

The US Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorisation for the Covid-19 vaccine first to Pfizer/BioNTech in December 2020, and then to Moderna a week later.

Modernas Covid vaccine  its lone commercial product  has raked in $10.4 billion in revenue this year while Pfizers vaccine brought in about $22 billion.
Reliance acquires soft drink brands from Campa, Sosyo makers

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has acquired soft drink brands brands from Campa maker Pure Drinks Group, and also soft drink brand Sosyo from Surat-based Hajoori, CNBC-TV18 reported on Wednesday citing sources.

The move is part of the Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerates plan to enter the profitable soft drinks business. Reliance could relaunch the brands this year, the report cited sources as saying.

RILs acquisition of the Campa brand could pit the iconic brand against Pepsi, and Coca-Cola in the beverages market.

The development comes two days after Reliance retail head Isha Ambani announced that the companys retail arm Reliance Retail is all set to venture into the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) business.

The objective of this business is to develop and deliver high quality, affordable products which solve every Indian's daily needs. As part of our commitment to India's rich culture and heritage, we will soon start marketing quality goods produced by tribals and other marginalised communities across India, she said at RILs 45th annual general meeting (AGM) on Monday.

At the RIL AGM, Ambani noted that Reliance Retail aims to serve over 7,500 towns and 300,000 villages in the next five years.

We opened over 2,500 stores in the year to take our store count to over 15,000, spanning an operational area of 42 million square feet, she said.

Commenting on the grocery business, Isha Ambani said that it is the largest in India, serving the daily needs of customers through a network of nearly 2,500 stores and digital commerce platforms, JioMart and Milkbasket. Reliance Retail also launched Freshpik, a gourmet format, in 2021 and rolled out 7-Eleven for on-the-go customers.

She further demonstrated how the WhatsApp-JioMart partnership works, which was launched in 2021, to enhance the shopping experience for customers.
Govt approves Rs6,500-cr upgrade of Tejas fighter jet

The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the Tejas Mark-2 project, involving a cost of Rs6,500 crore.

The upgraded variant of the fighter jet, prototype of which has already been developed, is estimated to cost another Rs6,500 crore for flight testing and certification.

The government had, earlier, sanctioned Rs2,500 crore of the Tejas Mark-2 project.

Once the Tejas Mark-2 is completed, it could be followed by another mega project for an ambitious fifth-generation stealth fighter jet, it also said.

The CCS clearance for the over Rs15,000 crore project to build the fifth-gen advanced medium combat aircraft (AMCA) "will follow within the next few months", the report further stated.

The Tejas Mark-1 was designed to replace obsolete MiG-21s, while Tejas Mark-2 would succeed Mirage-2000s, Jaguars and MiG-29s in Indian Air Force's (IAF's) combat fleet.

Tejas Mark-2 would have a longer combat range and greater capacity to carry weapons.

So far, IAF has inducted about 30 of the 123 Tejas jets ordered previously from Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).

IAF desperately needs Tejas jets to increase the nu,ber of its fighter squadrons, which currently stands at 32, against the 42 squadrons needed to protect the western and northern borders with Pakistan and China.
Govt to rename New Delhi's Rajpath as 'Karthavya Path'

The central government has decided to rename New Delhi's historic Rajpath and Central Vista lawns as 'Kartavya Path'. A special meeting of New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has been convened to consider the proposal, to rename Rajpath as Kartavya Path, reports citing sources said on Monday.

According to initial reports, Kartavya Path will cover the stretch of road between Netaji Statue and the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

NDMC has convened a special meeting on 7 September and the proposal to rename Rajpath as Kartavya Path will be placed before the council. "NDMC has convened a special meeting on 7 September with the objective of renaming Rajpath and Central Vista lawns as Kartavyapath... The entire road and area from the Netaji statue at India Gate to the Rashtrapati Bhavan will be known as Kartavyapath," a PTI report quoted a source as saying.

The move, which is part of the governments programme of removing all remnants of the countrys colonial past, comes days after the government replaced the King's Cross with Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's Rajmudra in the Indian Navy emblem.

The rechristening of Kingsway to Kartavya Path was only the latest in a series of endeavours by PM Modi to move away from the nations colonial past.

Rajpath, or King's Way, was named in honour of Britains King George V during British Raj. The centre said the move was aimed at "shedding remnants" of the colonial yoke, a work in progress even after 75 years of independence.

Earlier, in 2016, the government renamed Race Course Road, where the Prime Ministers official residence is located, to Lok Kalyan Marg, marking the first shift at the heart of Lutyens Delhi.

The iconic road was renamed after BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi wrote to the New Delhi Municipal Corporation, suggesting the name of the road on which the PM lives should be changed to "match the Indian culture".

Days later, the Prime Ministers address changed from 7, Race Course Road to 7, Lok Kalyan Marg.

On the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on 23 January this year, PM Modi unveiled a hologram statue of the freedom fighter at India Gate in New Delhi as part of his governments efforts to promote the Idea of Bharat.
Govt removes fare caps for domestic airlines

The government has removed fare caps on domestic airlines from 31 August, thereby giving airlines flexibility to regulate air fares for passengers.

Earlier in August, the aviation ministry issued a statement saying that after the review of the current status of domestic air travel and passenger demand, it has been decided to remove the fare bands regarding the airfares with effect from 31 August 2022.

The decision to remove airfare caps comes after careful analysis of daily demand and prices of air turbine fuel (ATF). Aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia tweeted that the air travel sector is now stabilising and that domestic traffic is poised for growth in the near future.

In May 2020, the government imposed lower and upper limits on domestic airfares, according to which airlines couldnt charge a passenger less than Rs2,900 (excluding GST) and more than Rs8,800 for domestic flights with a total duration of 40 minutes or less.

The government imposed lower and upper limits on the prices of domestic flight tickets in May 2020, after the government lifted the restrictions on air travel as the Covid-19 wave subsided. In October 2021, the government allowed domestic flights to operate with 100 per cent occupancy but the price cap on airfares was not lifted.

Earlier, the airlines could not offer discounts because there were lower and upper price caps on domestic airfares.

Also, the price of aviation turbine fuel has been steadily coming down during the last few weeks after jumping to record levels, which may result in lower airfares.

Aviation minister Scindia has pointed out that these limits were imposed to protect economically weaker carriers as well as to protect passengers from being overcharged, but if stretched too far, there won't be airlines for fliers to board.

Welcoming the decision, Indias largest air carrier IndiGo said the removal of airfare caps will help airlines to increase their passenger load factor by offering discounted fares. Apart from this, other travel agents are also optimistic that ticket prices are likely to go down in the coming months, especially due to the upcoming festival season.

Giving details, an IndiGo spokesperson said the governments decision to remove airfare caps is a welcome move and this will help airlines to follow dynamic pricing on airfares.

It will also help airlines increase their passenger load factor by offering discounted fares on respective sectors, offering affordable fares. Overall, this will help airlines sustain with better PLFs (Passenger Load Factors) and benefit consumers as airlines will be able to offer affordable fares, news agency PTI quoted the spokesperson as saying.

Vistara said it will continue to have a balanced pricing strategy for the passengers. Giving details, a Vistara spokesperson said in a free market scenario, airfares are an outcome of a multitude of factors, such as the dynamics of demand and supply, the operational environment, seasonality, cost, competition, market sentiment and taxation.

As far as Vistara is concerned, we will continue to have a balanced pricing strategy, the spokesperson told PTI.
Sanctioned Russian oil reaching US, Europe via India: report

The United States and its Nato allies have stopped importing oil from Russia and are on way to phase out all gas imports as well. But market analysts believe that Russian oil is likely making its way to the US and other countries that have sanctioned Moscow, says a report in Petro-Logistics.

The reason, according to the report, is that Indian imports of Russian crude have increased several fold as the war in Ukraine pushed up oil prices elsewhere.

Indian refiners started taking advantage of discounted barrels that were shunned by the West.

India's exports of oil products have also increased simultaneously, and part of these must have come from Russian crude, the report points out.

India is estimated to have imported 583,000 barrels per day of Russian crude on an average from April to June, compared to 36,000 bpd in 2021. Meanwhile, India's exports of oil products have increased.

While exact data is not available, the report pointed out that it is certain that the refinery products being imported by the US and others definitely are obtained from Russian crude.

Petro-Logistics estimates that at least 37 per cent, or about 113,000 barrels per day, of the crude from Russia might have gone to countries with some form of sanctions on Russia.

"We have taken the ratio of Russian crude imports versus the runs of the specific refiners who imported the crude and applied those percentages to their product exports since the war. This yields an estimate of 308 kb/d of Indian product exports possibly attributable Russian crude oil inputs," Petro-Logistics said.

The US has completely banned Russian oil, while others have enacted sanctions without directly banning Moscow's oil. Of the countries with sanctions, South Korea imported 31,000 bpd, Singapore 23,000 bpd, and the US 15,000 bpd. Australia and several European countries were also among the top importers of Russian oil products.

The US mostly imported gasoline as it often brings in summer-grade Indian blends for peak driving season, according to Petro-Logistics.

"It is very difficult in practical terms to identify if precise oil molecules from Russia are landing in sanctioning countries. However, because of the fungible nature of oil, the data can at least show where Indian refiners who have Russian crude in their feedstock mix are sending their products," the report said.
Opec+ decides to cut production despite Russia's objection

A meeting of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) on Monday endorsed a decision to cut the collective oil production target by 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) for October, resisting objections that Russia reportedly raised against production cuts.

However, on Tuesday, energy ministers of the Opec+ agreed to return to the production target levels of August, saying that last months increase was intended only for September.

A Wall Street Journal report, citing unnamed sources close to the cartel, however, said that Russia would not support a decision to cut production as it would diminish its new role as a major supplier to large Asian oil buyers like China and India.

While several OPEC members have signalled support for such a move, including Saudi Arabia,

Russia, according to reports, did not subscribe to Opec decision to set an oil market supply surplus of 900,000 bpd as its baseline scenario for this year and next. Russia, in fact, voiced its objections to a production cut last week at a preliminary meeting.

A Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) of the Opec+ oil producer group had supported a 100,000-bpd cut during an earlier meeting.

Opec+ is estimated to be some 2.9 million bpd behind collective quotas and the proposed 100,000 barrels a day cut may not make any impact.

OPEC+, however, decided that it could call a meeting at any time to discuss other actions. It also decided to Request the chairman to consider calling for an Opec and non-Opec ministerial meeting anytime to address market developments, if necessary.

Opecs next regular monthly meeting is scheduled for 5 October.

Opec+ meeting, however, helped oil prices jump more than 3 per cent in early trade. US benchmark WTI crude hit the $90 per barrel mark, while North Sea Brent crude was up 3.5 per cent at $96.64.
Former chairman of Tata Sons Cyrus Mistry dies in road accident near Mumbai

Cyrus Pallonji Mistry, former chairman of Tata Sons and a member of Shapoorji Pallonji Group, a major shareholder of Tata Sons, died in a road accident today at Palghar, in Thane district of Maharashtra. He was traveling in a Mercedes car from Ahmedabad to Mumbai in a car.

The accident occurred when the car in which he was traveling, rammed into a road divider, police sources said, adding that there were a total of four people in the car. Two of them, including Mistry, died on the spot while the other two have been admitted to a nearby hospital.

Cyrus Mistry, 54, was the sixth chairman of the Tata Sons from 2012 to 2016. He succeeded Ratan Tata  but there were disagreements between the two, and Tata Sons board ousted him in 2016. He was fighting a court battle with Tata Group till 2021 when the courts ruled in Tata Sons favour.

The accident took place around 3.15 pm, when Mistry was travelling to Mumbai from Ahmedabad, news agency PTI quoted Palghar district superintendent of police, Balasaheb Patil, as saying. The car was passing through a bridge over the Surya river.

Mistry's Mercedes MH- 47-AB- 6705 rammed to divider of the Surya river Bridge at Palghar. Mistry and another person got killed in this fatal accident. Police is probing the accident for any foul play.

A well-known gynaecologist, Anahita Pandole (55) was driving the car. She and her husband Darius Pandole (60), who were in the front seats, survived the crash, while Mistry and Jahangir Pandole, brother of Darius, who were in the back seat, were killed in the accident.

A woman was driving the car and tried to overtake another vehicle from the left side, but lost control and crashed into the road divider, an eyewitness said.

Anahita and Darius were shifted to a private hospital in Vapi in Gujarat for treatment.

Primary information suggests that the car was overspeeding and tried to overtake another vehicle from the wrong side (from the left), PTI quoted the police official as saying.

A video that was taken after the accident shows that the front end of the car got destroyed, but the rest of the car remains largely intact. The front airbags of the car were also deployed in the accident. There is no information as to how and why the car crashed into the divider, or how Cyrus Mistry was seriously injured in the accident.

It was under the leadership of Cyrus Mistry that Tata Motors began its focus on automobile safety, and the reputation of the company strengthened with many Tata cars receiving 4-star and 5-star safety ratings from Global NCAP.

Business leaders and politicians have expressed shock and disbelief at the passing of Cyrus Mistry.

Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shindem union transport minister Nitin Gadkari and union minister Piyush Goyal tweeted expressing their condolences to the Mistry family.
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The family of Dundalk man, Seamus Ludlow, who was killed outside the town in 1976, joined dozens of other families and hundreds of supporters at a Time for Truth rally in Belfast on Sunday.

The Ludlow family, who have been campaigning for over 40 years for the truth about his death to be known, were joined on the Time for Truth march by Dundalk TD Ruairi O Murchu.

The rally organisers wanted to bring attention to the British governments Legacy Bill which is going through the next stage of parliament shortly.

The Sinn Fein TD said he was honoured to join the Ludlow family at the rally.

He claimed Mr Ludlow was the victim of British government actions with huge levels of collusion and direct actions of the British state involved in his killing and those of hundreds of others.

Deputy O Murchu said: We are standing against the British governments Bill of Shame and standing in solidarity with families who have suffered from the actions of British state forces.

These families, like the Ludlows, have been denied truth and justice.

These families will continue to strive for this; they will not stand idly by.

They will continue to demand truth and justice for their loved ones.

What the British government is doing with this legacy bill is not good enough, it is not acceptable and we will stand firm against it.
First year students who are facing commutes from Louth to colleges outside Louth are being discriminated against because the youth travel fare reductions do not apply to them if they are not 19, according to Deputy Ruairi O Murchu.

The Sinn Fein TD spoke to Transport Minister Eamon Ryan at an event in Greenore on Thursday and asked him to address a gap in the recent public transport fare reduction measures, which has resulted in 17 and 18-year-olds who use private bus operators receiving no reduction in transport fares at all.

Deputy O Murchu cited one case from his constituency office last week where an 18-year-old woman from the south of the county who is due to start at Trinity College later this month has to pay 68 a week in bus fares, compared to 34 a week if she was 19.

While the student has been told she can get a child Leap card, most private bus companies are not offering discounts on child tickets.

He said the 20% fare reduction and introduction of the Youth Travel Card scheme were welcome, there is a serious problem for young adults aged 17 and 18 who travel with private bus companies as they have been excluded from both schemes.

Deputy O Murchu said:

The 20% fare reduction was never extended to commercial bus operators and while the Youth Travel Card was in recent days, that scheme is only available for those aged 19-23. Meanwhile, full time students over 23 years of age can avail of the Student Leap Card.

As a result, dozens of 17 and 18-year-old students who just got their CAO offers in Louth, and who will now be using private bus operators to commute to work or college, will be forced to pay significantly more.

Private bus operators run a significant number of routes particularly into Dublin, with many students using them to commute to college.

I spoke to Minister Ryan at the Coastguard event at Greenore on Thursday about this issue and asked him to address this as a matter of urgency. Its an obvious anomaly and it is unfair.

This age cohort are facing massive cost-of-living challenges, from college fees to extortionate rental prices and they dont need higher commuting costs thrown in too.

He said he will follow up with Minister Ryan this week on the issue, along with the cost of living and the school transport issue.
The volunteer crew from Clogherhead RNLI were called to rescue a lone fisherman and his boat in calm conditions as the sun went down on Saturday evening

The fisherman himself had requested help from the Irish Coast Guard who tasked Clogherhead RNLI to come to his aid.

His fishing boat was drifting because the propellor had become tangled in some lobster pots.

The all-weather Shannon class lifeboat launched under Coxswain Gerard Sharkey at 7.11pm and headed to the fishing boats confirmed position two miles north of Dunany Point.

The lifeboat reached the drifting vessel at 7.40pm and the crew found the fisherman to be fine himself but anxious because the boat had continued drifting.

The crew assessed the situation before a decision was made to attach a tow rope to the drifting vessel and make the journey back to the nearest safe port at Clogherhead Harbour.

The lifeboat, with fishing boat and the fisherman in tow, arrived safely at Clogherhead harbour at 9.30pm.

Speaking after the call out, Gerard Sharkey, Clogherhead RNLI Coxswain said:

"The RNLI always advises anyone who needs help at sea to call 999 and ask for the Coast Guard which is what this fisherman did. Happily, we reached him before anything happened and we had a positive outcome for the fisherman and his boat."
Gardai said they are continuing their investigation into a car fire which left two children dead and their mother seriously injured in Co Westmeath.

Lynn Egar remains in a hospital in Dublin after she was pulled from the burning car by a passer-by on Friday.

Her five-year-old daughter Thelma and two-year-old son Michael both died in the incident.

The car went up in flames while on a rural road near Multyfarnham.

Post-mortem examinations on the bodies of both children by the state pathologist Dr Sally Ann Collis have concluded.

Gardai will not release the results of the post-mortems for operational reasons.

The Garda Technical Bureau is continuing to forensically examine the car.

Ms Egar, aged in her 40s, continues to be treated for serious, but non-life threatening, injuries in hospital.

Gardai have appealed to anyone with any information in relation to the incident to contact them.

A Garda family liaison officer continues to keep the family updated, gardai said.

A vigil took place on Sunday in memory of the two children.

Around 500 people took part in the vigil in the village of Multyfarnham, which was attended by school teachers, parents and children and members of the wider community.

Some carried candles and framed pictures of the victims.

Those who took part walked from Michaels pre-school, Children of Lir, to St Cremins National School where Thelma was a pupil, on Sunday evening.

Fr John OBrien, of Multyfarnham Franciscan Abbey, said there is a deep sadness in the village.

There is a terrible feeling of sadness, like a cloud coming down on us. There is a feeling of being dazed and confused, what do we say? How do we come to terms with this? Fr OBrien told RTE Morning Ireland.

This sense of unreality we have to face this terrible tragedy.

Did this really happen? The two little kids are dead. There is an overwhelming feeling of sadness, disbelief and not being able to find the words.

People are meeting informally. Mothers are talking about it and they are worried about their kids going to school and how they will face the news.

It will be hard on the teachers and very hard on the little ones who have to face this sense of grief and loss.

I cant find the words, but just sitting with someone and listening to how they feel and their confusion, in that way we create a healing spirit between us.

We have to do that and do it for each other in the community. We are in shock, it is simply unbelievable.

We dont have a magic wand to take away the tears, we have to sit and be with somebody. It is a lonely time for everybody.

It has been a tremendous shock.

Karl Dermody, principal of St Cremins, said the school community had been devastated by the loss.

In a short statement, Mr Dermody described Thelma as warm, happy and vibrant. The school reopened on Monday.

Gardai have urged anyone with information to contact Mullingar Garda station on 044 9384000, or contact the Garda confidential line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station.
A criminal investigation has been launched into a car fire which left two children dead and their mother seriously injured in Co Westmeath.

Lynn Egar remains in a hospital in Dublin after she was pulled from the burning car by a passer-by on Friday.

Her five-year-old daughter Thelma and two-year-old son Michael both died in the incident.

The car went up in flames while on a rural road at Lacken, Multyfarnham.

Post-mortem examinations on the bodies of both children by the state pathologist Dr Sally Ann Collis have concluded.

Gardai will not release the results of the post-mortems for operational reasons.

The Garda Technical Bureau is continuing to forensically examine the car.

Ms Egar, aged in her 40s, continues to be treated for serious, but non-life threatening, injuries in hospital.

Gardai have appealed to anyone with any information in relation to the incident to contact them.

A Garda family liaison officer continues to keep the family updated, gardai said.

On Monday, Taoiseach Micheal Martin extended his deepest sympathies to the family and friends of the two young children.

Speaking in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, Mr Martin said: Were all deeply conscious of the terrible tragedy that happened at nearby Multyfarnham where two young little children, Michael and Thelma, passed away in the most tragic of circumstances.

To their family, their classmates, their teachers we extend our deepest sympathies at this very, very traumatic time for the entire community.

A vigil took place on Sunday in memory of the two children.

Around 500 people took part in the vigil in the village of Multyfarnham, which was attended by school teachers, parents and children and members of the wider community.

Some carried candles and framed pictures of the victims.

Those who took part walked from Michaels pre-school, Children of Lir, to St Cremins National School where Thelma was a pupil, on Sunday evening.

Fr John OBrien, of Multyfarnham Franciscan Abbey, said there is a deep sadness in the village.

There is a terrible feeling of sadness, like a cloud coming down on us. There is a feeling of being dazed and confused, what do we say? How do we come to terms with this? Fr OBrien told RTE Morning Ireland.

This sense of unreality we have to face this terrible tragedy.

Did this really happen? The two little kids are dead. There is an overwhelming feeling of sadness, disbelief and not being able to find the words.

People are meeting informally. Mothers are talking about it and they are worried about their kids going to school and how they will face the news.

It will be hard on the teachers and very hard on the little ones who have to face this sense of grief and loss.

I cant find the words, but just sitting with someone and listening to how they feel and their confusion, in that way we create a healing spirit between us.

We have to do that and do it for each other in the community. We are in shock, it is simply unbelievable.

We dont have a magic wand to take away the tears, we have to sit and be with somebody. It is a lonely time for everybody.

It has been a tremendous shock.

Karl Dermody, principal of St Cremins, said the school community had been devastated by the loss.

In a short statement, Mr Dermody described Thelma as warm, happy and vibrant. The school reopened on Monday.

Gardai are appealing for anyone who was in the Lacken area on Friday between 2pm and 4pm and has any video footage to make it available to the investigation team.

Officers also urged anyone with information to contact Mullingar Garda Station on 044 9384000, or contact the Garda confidential line on 1800 666111 or any Garda station.
EBRD and DSK Bank joining forces under risk-sharing agreement

Existing unfunded risk-sharing limit to be increased from 30 million to 75 million

New funds to boost competitiveness of SMEs in Bulgaria

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and DSK Bank are joining forces under a risk-sharing agreement to improve access to finance for companies in Bulgaria.

The two partners are reactivating and increasing an unfunded risk participation framework agreement from 30 million to 75 million.

The agreement was originally signed with Societe Generale Expressbank in April 2017, under the EBRDs Risk Sharing Framework. In 2018, Societe Generale reached an agreement to sell its majority stake in Expressbank to DSK Bank. Expressbank was successfully merged into DSK in May 2020.

DSK Bank is member of OTP Group, the largest financial service provider in Hungary and a regional leader in central and eastern Europe. A longstanding leader in retail banking in Bulgaria, DSK Bank has established its firm position in both retail and corporate banking, with the largest number of clients in the country.

The EBRDs Risk Sharing Framework (RSF) is one of the three core financing frameworks of the EBRD's Small Business Initiative, a strategic programme dedicated to supporting and developing the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) clients of the Bank. It is designed to allow the EBRD to share partner banks exposures to local enterprises via funded or unfunded risk participation. Under this RSF in Bulgaria, the EBRD shares the risk of individual eligible loans that DSK extends to local enterprises.

Anca Ioana Ionescu, EBRD Head of Bulgaria, said: We are very pleased to continue our work under the risk-sharing facility in Bulgaria in cooperation with DSK Bank. The EBRD remains committed to securing the competitiveness of local businesses and the new increased facility will help to better meet their financing needs in this difficult period.

With the new agreement we further strengthen and expand our partnership with the EBRD. Disbursement of funds under the new line will not differ significantly from the usual credit process. The risk-sharing scheme will allow Bulgarian companies to receive support from the EBRD, without the additional complications and difficulties that usually accompany cross-border financing. Together, we will focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG)-positive projects and those that increase the competitiveness of local businesses  both of primary importance for DSK Bank, said Arnaud Leclair, Executive Director and Head of the Risk Management Division at DSK Bank.

The EBRD is one of the largest institutional investors in Bulgaria. To date, the EBRD has committed more than 4.3 billion to 275 projects in Bulgaria.
Bus Eireann is urging country music fans to act fast to reserve their seats on special direct services between Cork and Dublin for Garth Brooks, as tickets are selling fast.

Bus Eireann is running special services from Cork city, Fermoy and Mitchelstown to Busaras in Dublin for those attending the Garth Brooks concerts this weekend, 16 and 17 September.

Services will operate from Corks Parnell Place Bus Station at 12.00pm on the day of the concerts (also serving Fermoy and Mitchelstown), and will returning to Cork from Busaras in Dublin at 23.55pm.

A return fare costs just 35, and limited remaining tickets can be booked on expressway.ie.

To secure your tickets, click Book Tickets on the Expressway website, enter Cork (Parnell Place Bus Station), Fermoy (McCurtain Street) or Mitchelstown (Main Street) as your departure and Dublin (Busaras) as your destination and enter how many tickets you wish to purchase.

Bus Eireann added that it looks forward to welcoming our Cork passengers on-board to Garth Brooks this weekend.




USDA expects moderate growth for Latin American swine production this year

Moderate growth is projected for Latin America's swine production in 2022, but exports from Brazil, Mexico and Chile will fall, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Significant growth is expected in imports from Mexico and Argentina.

In Latin America, swine production this year is expected to total 7.836 million tonnes, which represents an increase of 0.4% compared to 2021 (7.806 million tonnes). On the other hand, estimates for international trade indicate a 6.0% drop in exports and a 6.2% increase in imports. Apparent consumption should grow by 3.4%, from 7.700 million tonnes to 7.959 million tonnes.

Pork production in the region's highest-producing country is expected to decrease by 0.6% compared to 2021, going from 4.365 million tonnes to 4.340 million tonnes. Likewise, the volume of exports is projected to reach 1.250 million tonnes, which represents a decrease of 5.4% compared to the previous year (1.321 million tonnes). Imports are to remain at 3,000 tonnes and apparent consumption should grow by 1.5%.

Production in Mexico is expected to reach 1.535 million tonnes, 3.4% above the 2021 total (1.484 million tonnes). With this production volume, the Central American country would continue to rank second in Latin American swine production. It is estimated that imports will grow by 8.2% compared to 2021, going from 1.155 million tonnes to 1.250 million tonnes, respectively, thus maintaining its position as the largest importer in the region. Exports are expected to decrease by 6.0%, from 319,000 tonnes to 300,000 tonnes.

Argentina's pork production is expected to increase by 0.7% with respect to the previous year, from 695,000 tonnes to 700,000 tonnes. A 40% drop in the volume of exports is estimated, reaching only 12,000 tonnes. However, imports are expected to grow by 20% and apparent consumption would increase by 3.2%, reaching 748,000 tonnes.



- Pig333




Irish beef and lamb to be sold at supermarket shelves in Singapore

Beef and lamb from Ireland are expected to hit supermarket shelves and homes in Singapore following the success of Irish ducks sold at many restaurants in the city-state, The Straits Times reported.

Irish beef and lamb were introduced this week for the first time in the retail sector here at upscale meat butcher Ryan's Grocery in Bukit Timah, though they have already been made available at top restaurants and via e-commerce platforms RedMart and foodpanda.

The drive to get these products on store shelves in this country stems from a trade mission to South-east Asia and Japan led by Charlie McConalogue, Ireland's Minister for Agriculture, Food, and Marine.

McConalogue said that Ireland could potentially be an even stronger partner for Singapore as it looks to continue diversifying its food sources.

Ireland's Food Board, or Bord Bia, unveiled an ambitious new three-year plan with the goal of increasing Irish food and drink exports to Southeast Asia to EUR 800 million(~US$814 million; EUR 1 = US$1.02) by 2025, with the dairy and meat industries leading the way.

Exports totaled EUR 535 million (~US$544 million) last year, up 25% from the previous year. Dairy products and ingredients (EUR 314 million; ~US$319 million), beef (EUR 76 million; ~US$77 million), and pork (EUR 76 million; ~US$77 million) accounted for the majority of these exports.

McConalogue said Irelands five million population is comparable to Singapore's. But Ireland has a very productive agricultural sector, and they produce enough food for about 30 million people.

As a result, he said, they see a real opportunity to build our relationships in the region working with their partners already in Singapore, with an understanding of the priority of Singaporean national policy.

More than 90% of Singapore's food is imported, and diversification is a key strategy for ensuring its food security.

Additionally, he said that Singaporean shoppers and retailers will respond particularly favourably to Ireland's national sustainability programme, Origin Green.

Ireland is a country that produces food from farms and from grass, so it is less dependent on varying grain and feed prices brought on by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

- The Straits Times




Namibia lifts live cattle export ban to South Africa

Namibia has resumed exporting live cattle to South Africa, following the lifting of the movement restriction imposed to control the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks in South Africa, Xinhua News reported.

Albertina Shilongo, chief veterinary officer of the directorate of veterinary services, said that the decision is subject to the requirement that all trucks transporting live animals register with the Directorate of Veterinary Services.

Shilongo said before returning to Namibia with or without loading additional goods, trucks must be cleaned and disinfected after unloading animals in South Africa by specialists or entities recognised by the South African Veterinary authority.

She said that clean trucks should be given a cleaning and disinfection certificate that is good for just one consignment and needs to be shown to Namibia's veterinary border officials.

The Disinfection Certificate is valid for one consignment only and must be presented to veterinary officials at the borders, she added. Vehicles must also be cleaned and disinfected before loading importers of livestock feed from South Africa.

- Xinhua News




Lifting of duties on Ukraine's goods sparks rising poultry imports, with MHP mostly benefiting, French producers say

The lifting of EU custom duties on Ukrainian goods led to a jump in poultry imports that mostly benefited one company, French poultry makers said, asking for the temporary move not to be renewed.

In June, the European Union lifted tariffs to help the war-torn country and suspended quotas of Ukrainian agricultural products, including one for 70,000 tonnes of Ukrainian poultry a year. The measure is set to expire in June 2023.

Ukrainian chicken imports into the EU jumped 54% year-on-year in the second quarter to about 52,000 tonnes, French poultry industry group Anvol said, forecasting the total volume for 2022 at between 130,000 and 180,000 tonnes.

EU data shows Ukraine was the EU's third largest source of poultry imports, behind Brazil and Thailand, in the first six months of the year before restrictions were relaxed. Imports of Ukrainian chicken into France, the European Union's second largest poultry producer, rose 181% in the second quarter, according to Anvol.

"We got tricked," Anvol Deputy Chairman Gilles Huttepain, told reporters. "We are (fine) to help Ukrainian farmers but we don't want to help just one company."

The customs exemptions on Ukrainian goods are valid for one year but the European Commission said it could reimpose duties if producers in the EU face serious difficulties.

The European Commission, which oversees EU trade policy, said on September 9 that Ukraine had requested an extension of full trade liberalisation until 2024, although no decision has been taken. It did not comment on a possible activation of a safeguard clause, as requested by French poultry producers.

Anvol's Huttepain was referring to a jump in imports from MHP , Ukraine's largest poultry meat producer and exporter and the country's top food producer.

In a statement to Reuters, MHP said the rise in exports to the EU was linked to the war in Ukraine that prevented it from accessing its traditional markets in the Middle East and Africa.

"It is crucial that MHP and similar strategically important companies from Ukraine stay in business despite the extraordinary challenges and the destruction of war," John Rich, the executive chairman of MHP, said. "That is the main reason that the tariffs were temporarily lifted in the EU."

In June, MHP said its poultry production capacity had been reduced to 80-85% of normal levels due to the conflict and it could not give a financial outlook for the year.

In addition to cheaper produce from Ukraine, the demand for chicken imports in France has also risen due to a drop in local output after producers had to cull more than 19 million birds in the country's worse-ever bird flu crisis.

Chicken imports from Brazil into France were also up 122% in the second quarter, according to Anvol.

The competition from increased imports also comes as the sector is already suffering from a surge in costs due to high grain prices and rocketing energy prices.

- Reuters




Zimbabwe to distribute over 300,000 chicks under Presidential Poultry Scheme

Zimbabwe is distributing more than 300,000 chicks to provinces under the Presidential Poultry Scheme to reduce poverty and improve incomes in rural areas, All Africa reported.

Over the course of the next five years, the programme will provide 10 free-range chicks to each of three million rural households.

The Presidential Rural Poultry Scheme aims to increase rural incomes, commercialise rural poultry production, and give families a plentiful source of protein.

The secretary general of the Zimbabwe Free Range Poultry Association (ZFRPA), Beauty Jiji, said that more smallholder free-range poultry producers were supplying day-old chicks on a weekly basis or bringing fertilised eggs for hatching across the nation.

To cut the cost of distributing the chicks and to guarantee that each province has a distribution centre, ZFRPA is establishing brooders in the provinces.

The three million rural households were not the only ones to benefit from the programme, according to Jiji; the majority of farmers who provided them with eggs also received large sums of money that were improving their quality of life.

Arnold Mutamba of Norton, one of the producers, said that by contributing an average of 80 crates of fertilised eggs per week to the Presidential Rural Poultry Scheme, he was able to pay for his daughter's college education.

The programme has also given rural areas hope that they will soon develop into export hubs for organically produced live chicken, eggs, and chicken meat in the next two to three years, generating thousands of dollars for Zimbabwe.

The chickens come in a variety of breeds, including Boschveld, Sasso, Kuroiler, and native breeds. Zimbabwe is home to more than 50 million chickens.

Three million households nationwide will receive 30 million rural chickens as part of the Presidential Rural Poultry Scheme.

- All Africa




24% drop in Spain's pork exports in H1 2022

Spain's pork exports decreased 24% between January and June this year, with a 50% drop in exports destined for China.

In the first half of 2022, the country exported 933,526 tonnes of meat and meat products, representing a decrease of 23% compared to the same period of the previous year.

Pork continues to be Spain's main meat exported with 89.2% of the total, followed by poultry meat (3.8%) and beef (1.74%).

Between January and June, a total of 832,799 tonnes of pork and preparations were exported. Meanwhile, Spain's exports to China have decreased by more than half, while exports to the Philippines, Japan and South Korea have doubled.



- Pig333




USDA expects drop in sow numbers in EU this year

Breeding swine stocks in the European Union continue to contract, with a decrease of 0.8% projected for the United States and Mexico expected to surpass Canada and South Korea.

According to the latest USDA estimates published on July 12, the breeding sow census in China in 2022 is expected to grow by 1.3% compared to 2021, reaching 40 million head.

Likewise, Mexico's sow inventory will grow by 2.4%, reaching 1.29 million heads, overtaking Canada and South Korea, whose breeding sow inventories will reach 1.24 and 1.02 million head, with 0.3% and 2.2% growth, respectively.

However, the USDA projected a decrease in the sow inventories in some of the world's leading producers such as the EU, which is expected to see a 3.2% decrease in its inventory at 10.9 million head.

Likewise, for the US, a contraction of 0.8% is estimated with 6.13 million head, while for Russia and Brazil, stocks of 3.46 and 2.98 million head are projected, with decreases of 1.1% and 1.0% compared to 2021, respectively.



- Pig333
The wait is over. Apple has released iOS 16 to the public. You can download the latest version of the company's mobile operating system by opening the Settings app on your iPhone and tapping on "General," followed by "Software" and then "Update." The software is available on the iPhone 8 and later.

The theme of iOS 16 is personalization. Apple redesigned the iPhone's lock screen to give you more control over the interface. You can now tweak the typeface and accent color of the on-screen clock and date to more closely match your wallpaper. Additionally, you can add widgets to your home screen and change the information that's displayed toward the top of the screen. It's now also possible to create multiple lock screens and tie them to specific focus modes. Complementing those changes are redesigned notifications that support a feature called Live Activities that makes it easier to track things like scores and Uber rides.

Other notable new features include the ability to edit and unsend messages in iMessage. You can also mark texts as unread to remind you to read them later. On the iPhone XS and later, you can use the Photos app to copy an object from an image and paste it somewhere else without a background. Apple has also added support for passkeys to add an extra layer of security to your online credentials. Passkeys will work with non-Apple products and they're available through your iCloud Keychain.

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One thing to note about today's update is that iPadOS 16 will arrive at a later date to give Apple more time to polish the software's Stage Manager feature.
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Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 4 is the pinnacle of its foldable smartphone lineup, but it's also the company's most expensive phone at $1,800. If you've been eyeing one but find the price hard to stomach, there's good news. You can already grab one for $1,600 ($200 off) at Amazon, just a few short weeks after it went on sale. And if it's the Galaxy Z Flip 4 you've been eyeing, that model has a $100 discount as well.

Scoring a solid 86 in our Engadget review, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is better than the previous model in almost every way, thanks to a more polished design, sleeker hinge and far better battery life. It also comes with a considerably brighter screen and upgraded main and telephoto cameras. Samsung promises that the display is 45 percent more durable than before, thanks to the Gorilla Glass Victus+ and Samsung's signature Armor Aluminum alloy body. The screen protector is also attached with stickier adhesive and a new application process to prevent bubbling.

It has the latest tech as well, including 120Hz refresh rates on both the 7.6-inch main screen 6.2-inch 120Hz cover screen. The latter is pretty bright at 700 nits, but the main display can now hit a peak brightness of 1,000 nits. Other features include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip, 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage on the sale model. As mentioned, you can grab it in Phantom Black for $1,600, for a savings of $200 or 11 percent.

Engadget

If you'd have the foldable experience in a much smaller device, Samsung's Galaxy Flip 4 is also on sale for $900, or $100 off the regular price. It's also more refined than the previous model with a less slippery matt finish, an improved hinge and more. It comes with a 6.7-inch 120Hz panel, along with a 1.9-inch cover display that shows notifications, clock faces and more, along with a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip, 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. If you're interested in either model, it's best to act soon as the sale won't last forever.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
"Killing Eve" star Jodie Comer reportedly hires a top celebrity bodyguard amidst a string of "nasty" incidents while on set.

Jodie Comer is set to star in the environmental thriller "The End We Start From" based on Megan Hunter's debut novel. Comer will also produce the film alongside Benedict Cumberbatch. The project reportedly started filming in August 2022 and is directed by Mahalia Belo, known for films like Ellen (2016) and the television series "The Long Song" (2018).

In a recent report from Mirror, Comer had been given a "top celebrity bodyguard" who has previously worked with co-star Benedict Cumberbatch. According to Mirror's source, the film producers heightened Comer's security due to a string of "nasty" experiences.

"A bodyguard who has previously looked after Benedict was drafted in and other measures have been implemented. Jodie's safety is paramount. She has had some nasty experiences lately."

READ ALSO: Patrick Dempsey Teases Upcoming Role When Asked About Real Reason for New Hair Style

The String of 'Nasty' Incidents

In 2021, the "Killing Eve" actress received an alarming death threat from an "obsessed" fan, saying: "I am coming to England to create carnage". The online harassment reportedly started on social media and, later on, was also being sent to Jodie's family members. According to reports, the threats were traced to Roubaix, a city in France, and police raided the man's home and held him in custody.

Following the death threats, the 29 year old actress had been at the center of a stalking incident in May 2022. According to reports, a man who appeared to be in his 40s was spotted carrying a bouquet of flowers for Jodie outside the Harold Pinter Theatre. Sources say that the man was spotted on at least two separate occasions, behaving "oddly", to which security took action by stopping fans from engaging with the actress to prioritize safety.

Producers To Prioritize Safety

Now, during her time on the set of "The End We Start From", a source tells Metro that the team is making sure that Comer's safety will be prioritized.

"The film's producers want to ensure that everyone is as safe as possible and, with Jodie's unpleasant experiences, they didn't want to take any risks, no matter how small." According to the source.

Jodie Comer is set to star in "The End We Start From" alongside Katherine Waterston, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Mark Strong. According to reports, production company SunnyMarch will join Hera Pictures in producing.

READ ALSO: Ezra Miller Amazes 'Daliland' Director With 'Nice' Behavior Amidst Mental Recovery
For his return to geopolitical frontlines after almost three years of Covid-19 isolation, Xi Jinping has chosen something of a victory lap.

The Chinese leader is set to visit Central Asia, starting in Kazakhstan on Wednesday and then moving on to a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Uzbekistan. There hell meet Vladimir Putin for their first encounter since the Russian president traveled to the opening of the Beijing Olympics in February, shook hands with his counterpart, declared a friendship with no limits  and then launched an assault on Ukraine. Itll be a week of political theater, and one from which Moscow, under growing pressure on the battlefield, should expect few substantial gains.

Xis itinerary has not been chosen by chance. Russias invasion of its western neighbor and the motivations laid out in Putins disquieting pre-attack speech  a rambling intervention that dismissed Ukraines right to exist and post-Soviet reality  sent a shudder through the region sitting to its south, where there are significant ethnic Russian minorities. Not only that, but Moscows unimpressive and ill-disciplined military performance has been duly noted by nations for whom the country is supposed to act as a security guarantor.

Central Asias red lines are being redrawn, its spheres of influence recast. China isnt about to sit that out, even with a Party Congress weeks away.

The year started badly for Beijing in this part of the world. Chinese officials were caught off-guard by unrest in Kazakhstan, initially dismissing the protests as an internal affair. Putin, by contrast, was swift on his feet, answering President Kassym-Jomart Tokayevs appeal for help by sending in troops from the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a loose Russian-led group. He helped salvage the regime and restore order, and reinforced the Kremlins role as protector. For all the talk of Beijings growing economic influence in the region, it was Russia that demonstrated a real understanding of the crisis in January and was able to drive events, as Temur Umarov of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace put it to me. Beijing understood it needed to pay closer attention.

Then came the war, with its implicit threats. In August, in a rapidly deleted social media post (later attributed to hackers), former-Russian president-turned-superhawk Dmitry Medvedev called Kazakhstan an artificial state. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba was clearer in an interview with an Uzbek newspaper last week: I want everyone to understand that if we lose, then you will be next.

Kazakhstan has been strikingly reluctant to fall into line behind Moscow, sending humanitarian support to Ukraine and remaining in contact with Kyiv. On stage next to Putin in June, Tokayev said that he would not recognize the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk peoples republics of eastern Ukraine. The country is seeking alternative routes for its oil exports and has agreed to advance military intelligence collaboration with Turkey, a NATO member. Apart from anything else, Russias economy is a dead-end, leaving even crucial migrant remittances less reliable than they once were.

So while Xis visit isnt a provocation  Kazakhstan was also where he chose to launch the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, and the country has long balanced its relationships with China, Russia and the US  it certainly lends welcome visible support to Tokayev. Its a reminder to Moscow that resource-rich Central Asia has other neighbors. No wonder Putin, a man in search of friends, has his own travel plans in the region.

But of course, a friend in need is a friend indeed, and Xi isnt about to abandon Putin. The two are still autocrats, aligned in their opposition to Washington, fresh from joint military exercises. Both could use a little geopolitical showmanship  the trip was announced after House Speaker Nancy Pelosis visit to Taiwan, Moscow is struggling to resist a Ukrainian offensive. But will anything come of their confab?

By meeting in an ostensibly neutral venue  not Moscow, say  and speaking on the sidelines of the SCO, Beijing suggests expectations should be low. The SCO is a vast grouping, representing more than two-fifths of the worlds population now that India and Pakistan have joined, but it amounts to less than the sum of its parts. As Jakub Jakobowski, who researches Chinas foreign economic policy at the Center for Eastern Studies in Warsaw puts it, the SCO isnt able to provide a coherent response to any international development, but it is an opportunity for a propaganda-friendly performance that will resonate in the Global South. That just doesnt imply any substantial economic, let alone military, commitment.

Ukraines rapid advances over the last few days have certainly left China in an uncomfortable position. Xi has been unwilling to take costly or risky steps to support Putin, and yet Beijing also does not want to see an embarrassing defeat for the Kremlin, which would reflect badly on Xi and create unwelcome instability.

But Russia is down, not out. For now, expect China to continue to do what it has done since February  exclusively what is best for China. Over the past months, it has turned up the rhetoric but limited actual face-to-face diplomatic contact with Russia, with No. 3 official Li Zhanshus stop in Vladivostok for the Eastern Economic Forum the most senior visit since the invasion. It hasnt significantly challenged the Wests financial and other measures, particularly in tech and military supplies  forcing Russia to go to North Korea and Iran. Instead, it has pragmatically bought up cheap raw materials, as India has. In a tender that closed last week, the Sakhalin-2 LNG export plant, struggling to sell to South Korea and Japan, sold several shipments to China at nearly half the current spot price.

All of this ensures profits continue to flow for Russias commodity giants. But its keeping the economy afloat at the cost of increased dependence on Beijing, left holding all the cards. Russias exports to China rose by 50% in the first eight months of the year, according to Kommersant, while Russias imports from there grew 8.5%.

Xi will come under pressure in Uzbekistan. The Chinese leaders balancing act is more uncomfortable than ever  but it isnt over yet. Not least because Beijing knows all too well that Putin has nowhere else to turn.

Clara Ferreira Marques

: bloomberg.com
As energy prices continue to soar across Europe, with gas prices surging 26% on Monday after Russia stopped pumping via Nord Stream 1, the highly contentious fracking debate is now re-emerging on the continent, led by a new British prime minister with fossil fuels on her mind. The European Unionwhich no longer includes the UKplans to replace two-thirds of Russian gas imports by the end of the year, though analysts warn that the blocs best shot at replacing Russian gas imports will fall well short of the target.

In 2021, the EU imported ~155 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas from Russia. Unfortunately, the blocs proposed gas replacements by the end of 2022--which include LNG (liquefied natural gas) diversification, renewables, heating efficiency, pipeline diversification, biomethane, solar rooftops and heat pumps--only amount to around 102 bcm annually, according to data from the EU Commissions REPowerEU.

Proponents of fracking hold that Europes shale gas potential is needed now more than ever, though Germany, France, the Netherlands, Scotland and Bulgaria have all previously banned fracking. Now, the debate is being revived by recent moves in the UK.

Britains new Prime Minister Liz Truss has announced that the UK is lifting a 2019 moratorium on shale gas fracking as the country looks to ramp up domestic energy resources and help households and businesses struggling to pay soaring energy bills.

The lifting of the fracking ban comes just three years after the government ended its support for fracking after the authority supervising the oil and gas industry determined that it is not possible with current technology to accurately predict the probability of tremors associated with fracking.

Britain owns just two shale gas wells in Lancashire operated by Cuadrilla Resources. Cuadrilla CEO Francis Egan has welcomed the lifting of the ban, saying: This is an entirely sensible decision and recognises that maximizing the UKs domestic energy supply is vital if we are going to overcome the ongoing energy crisis and reduce the risk of it recurring in the future. Without the strong measures set out today, the UK was set to import over two thirds of its gas by the end of the decade, exposing the British public and businesses to further risk of supply shortage and price hikes down the line.

Despite its desperation, the rest of Europe is unlikely to followeven if the revival of the debate has reignited talk of just how much shale potential Europe has, and why its not being tapped into.

Shale Gas In Europe

Europe has more recoverable shale gas than the U.S., according to estimates. However, the only major fracking activity is in Ukraine, which managed to wean itself off of Russian gas years ago.

Fracking in Europe has long been a contentious issue because of population density, in large part. This isnt North America.

In 2016, Cuadrilla Resources won permission to frack as many as four wells in the UK, putting an end to years long battles with local authorities. Five years prior, the company had been forced to cease drilling after the government placed a one-year moratorium on fracking due to tremors caused by an exploratory Cuadrilla rig in northwestern England. In 2013, the companys drilling activity was disrupted again after hundreds of protesters camped in a tiny village south of London and forced it to abandon its wells.

Meanwhile, in 2012, protesters in Zurawlow, a town in eastern Poland, successfully blockaded a fracking site while Greenpeace activists occupied a shale gas rig in Denmark.

Strong public opposition--along with tax concerns, regulatory delays, and poor output from a handful of test wells--drove away investors. Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM), Chevron (NYSE: CVX) and TotalEnergies (NYSE: TTE) were forced to abandon projects in Poland after exploration proved disappointing. Poor gas flows also halted progress in Denmark, with Total ditching shale gas drilling there.

The big problem with fracking in Europe is that some of the conditions that fueled the U.S. shale boom dont exist in Europe. In most countries, it's the state, and not private landowners, that owns the mineral rights to oil and gas in the ground. Contrast that with the U.S. where landowners cut can be as much as an eighth of production revenue. This in effect means that fracking does not yield big financial rewards for European landowners.

To garner more public support for the technology, the British government and some companies have previously proposed direct payments to people affected by fracking. However, environmental groups have strongly opposed the move, terming such payments as bribes. The situation is not helped by the fact that the population density in Europe is more than 3x that in the United States, fueling not-in-my-backyard protests. For instance, many rural projects have in the past been rejected because they would bring trucks and equipment used for fracking onto picturesque roads dating back to Roman times. Indeed, Gazprom has previously said that the difficulty in finding unpopulated land in Europe and enough water to exploit shale wells will help Russian gas stay competitive. Even better for Russia: it can produce gas for about a sixth of the break-even cost for U.K. shale.

Even after decades of fracking in the U.S. many Europeans still view the technique as untested.

Its going to be interesting to see whether record high energy prices will finally convince Europeans to change their minds about shale gas fracking. Several European nations have already backed down and returned to burning coal at record levels to keep their power grids alive thus reneging on their climate goals.

But heres why the environmentalists might still carry the day: studies have shown that although natural gas burns cleaner than coal and has reduced greenhouse gas emissions, the fracking process can negate these benefits. Fracking is dirtier than burning coal mainly due to the direct emission of harmful carbon dioxide and methane, both potent greenhouse gasses.

Alex Kimani

Oilprice.com
Audited ESG Report 2022 shows accelerated progress toward industry-leading targets for 2025

GENEVA, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Firmenich, the world's largest privately-owned fragrance and taste company, today releases its annual Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report, tracking progress toward the group's groundbreaking sustainability targets. Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 was marked by strong sustainability performance across the Group's three key pillars, climate, nature, and people, backed by growing, best-in-class independent evaluation and reinforced ESG governance.

"I am proud that we continued to accelerate our industry-leading ESG actions despite the challenging economic climate and kept making measurable progress toward our 2025 targets, even exceeding them for renewable ingredients and Living Wage," said Gilbert Ghostine, CEO Firmenich. "Our Firmenich Inclusive Capitalism business model is gaining more traction and proving more and more relevant in today's world. Every year, new climate extremes are having a growing impact across the globe: Firmenich's bold environmental ambition is a vital business investment today and for the future."

"Firmenich ESG strategy keeps progressing across our own operations and along our supply chain," said Thomas Andro, Senior Director, Corporate Sustainability. "Furthermore, consumer demand for sustainable products is a structural growth trend in our industry and Firmenich's outstanding ESG credentials, combined with our leadership and innovation in natural and renewable ingredients, are becoming even more relevant for our customers as they progress with their own sustainability roadmaps."

FY2022 ESG Performance Highlights

Acting on Climate Change: Firmenich was one of only two companies to receive a fourth consecutive CDP Triple A rating for climate, water, and forests. Three manufacturing sites, in Norway , Singapore and South Africa , were carbon neutral in FY22, all operating without the use of offsets. Firmenich maintained decoupling of growth in manufacturing output from its CO emissions: in FY22, Scope 1 and 2 emissions were reduced by 36.1% vs. 2017, and the new ingredients sites reduced Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 12.2% vs. 2020. The Group maintained 100% Renewable Electricity in its operations including in new acquisitions[1]. Firmenich aims to reach carbon neutrality in its direct operations by 2025, absolute carbon emissions reduction by 2030 in line with limiting temperature rise to 1.5C, as well as net-zero emissions by 2039 across its direct operations and value chain (Scopes 1, 2, and 3). Its net-zero targets were validated by the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in August 2022 , making Firmenich the first company in its industry to receive SBTi approval.

Firmenich was one of only two companies to receive a fourth consecutive CDP Triple A rating for climate, water, and forests. Three manufacturing sites, in , and , were carbon neutral in FY22, all operating without the use of offsets. Firmenich maintained decoupling of growth in manufacturing output from its CO emissions: in FY22, Scope 1 and 2 emissions were reduced by 36.1% vs. 2017, and the new ingredients sites reduced Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 12.2% vs. 2020. The Group maintained 100% Renewable Electricity in its operations including in new acquisitions[1]. Firmenich aims to reach carbon neutrality in its direct operations by 2025, absolute carbon emissions reduction by 2030 in line with limiting temperature rise to 1.5C, as well as net-zero emissions by 2039 across its direct operations and value chain (Scopes 1, 2, and 3). Its net-zero targets were validated by the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in , making Firmenich the first company in its industry to receive SBTi approval. Embracing Nature: Building on UEBT validation of the Group's biodiversity strategy, work began on restoration at 15% of Firmenich sites with biodiversity risk, in line with Science-Based Targets for Nature. Implementation of 100% verified Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) was increased. Firmenich continued to expand the proportion of ultimately or partially biodegradable ingredients in its fragrances to 96.6% on average, having surpassed its 95% target a year earlier. Firmenich reinforced green proteins in product development, enabling customers to accelerate the plant-based food revolution and contribute to climate change mitigation.

Building on UEBT validation of the Group's biodiversity strategy, work began on restoration at 15% of Firmenich sites with biodiversity risk, in line with Science-Based Targets for Nature. Implementation of 100% verified Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) was increased. Firmenich continued to expand the proportion of ultimately or partially biodegradable ingredients in its fragrances to 96.6% on average, having surpassed its 95% target a year earlier. Firmenich reinforced green proteins in product development, enabling customers to accelerate the plant-based food revolution and contribute to climate change mitigation. Caring about People: Building on gender pay equity and its work to strengthen inclusion, Firmenich achieved Living Wage certification by Fairwage Network in 2022 ahead of the Group's 2025 target, a key step to ensure decent living standards for all employees and their families. The Group advanced its high global health and safety standards with an improved 0.26 Total Recordable Case (TRC) rate, and a third consecutive Gold Award from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA). Firmenich continued to maintain zero human rights non-compliance and scaled up its effort to drive concerted business action by becoming United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Impact Sponsor for Labor and Decent Work.

Overall, Firmenich achieved an upgraded rating from Sustainalytics with a score of 7.5, in the global top 50 of approximately 15,000 companies, that highlights the Group's low ESG risk profile. A second consecutive Platinum rating by Ecovadis with an industry-leading score of 88% placed Firmenich in the top 1% of all companies assessed worldwide. The Group was also rated for the first time as one of the "2022 World's Most Ethical Companies" by Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices.

Firmenich continued to work actively in alliances and partnerships, including the UN Global Compact, the Union for Ethical Biotrade (UEBT), One Planet Business for Biodiversity (OP2B), and the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi), to drive positive change at scale and foster effective action on climate, nature, and people in the business community.

More detailed information on Firmenich's ESG journey is available online in the ESG Report 2022.

The attached visuals from pp 9-10 of the report provide a snapshot of ESG performance highlights and progress against targets in the climate, nature and people pillars.

Disclosure

The Firmenich ESG Report 2022 is aligned with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the SASB Materiality Map, and is prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative's (GRI) standards. The ESG Report's contents also provide an update on the Group's progress with the implementation of the ten principles of the UN Global Compact, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as B Corp certification. The document has been independently audited, receiving a reasonable level of assurance.

About Firmenich

Firmenich, the world's largest privately-owned fragrance and taste company, was founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1895, and has been family-owned for 127 years. Firmenich is a leading business-to-business company specialized in the research, creation, manufacture and sale of perfumes, flavors, and ingredients. Renowned for its world-class research and creativity, as well as its leadership in sustainability, Firmenich offers its customers superior innovation in formulation, a broad and high-quality palette of ingredients, and proprietary technologies including biotechnology, encapsulation, olfactory science, and taste modulation. Firmenich had an annual turnover of 4.7 billion Swiss Francs at end June 2022. More information about Firmenich is available at www.firmenich.com .

[1] Firmenich moved to majority ownership of ArtSci in May 2022. This entity is not included in the scope of the report and will be integrated gradually in the Group's ESG framework in FY2023.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1893681/Firmenich_performance.jpgPhoto - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1893682/Firmenich_tracker.jpgLogo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/798187/Firmenich_Logo.jpg
SAN ANTONIO  Lorena Made was 11 when her father was killed in the 2001 crash of American Airlines Flight 587 in a Queens, N.Y., neighborhood.

Maricio Jose Made, 52, was among 260 passengers and crew who died on the flight that had just taken off from Kennedy International Airport. Five people on the ground also were killed.

After the crash, an employee in Christopher Chris Pettits San Antonio office contacted Mades mother, Luz Marina Made, seeking to have the attorney represent the pair in a lawsuit against the airline and aircraft manufacturer Airbus.

The widow, now 70, chose Pettit to represent them because his employees spoke Spanish and she felt comfortable with them, Lorena Made recalled. Its a decision they regret in the wake of the widening scandal surrounding Pettit, whos accused of looting millions of dollars from clients.

On ExpressNews.com: Ex-clients question former attorney Chris Pettit about where their money went, but get few answers

He obtained a $2 million settlement on behalf of the Mades. But he didnt hand over the money.

AP

He told us it would be preferable if we left the money with him and he would put it in a trust and accounts, things of that nature, said Made, 32, who works as a legal assistant in New York.

The entire $500,000 Made said she received in the settlement remained with Pettit for more than 15 years. She figured it had increased in value to about $2 million. But she never received any statements detailing how he invested her money and rarely spoke to Pettit, she said. When she tried to get information, shed get the runaround.

Mades mother received her last check, for $3,000, from Pettits office in May. It bounced.

Then suddenly this bankruptcy thing came about, Made said.

Pettit filed Chapter 11 for himself and his law firm June 1 after about a dozen clients sued to get their money back. He surrendered his law license and closed his offices. The FBI has been investigating the clients claims.

Now, Made is coming to grips with the reality that her money is gone.

He just took everything I thought I would have for my future, she said, adding shed been planning to buy a house. He bamboozled us.

On ExpressNews.com: Clients considered San Antonio lawyer Chris Pettit a friend, family confidant. Then it changed.

Despite their losses, Made and her her mother were not among the roughly 200 creditors  most of them former clients  listed in bankruptcy schedules Pettit filed.

My case is from 20 years ago, so Im pretty sure its easy for him to hide it under the rug, Made said when asked why her name wasnt listed.

Left out

Made and her mother arent alone in being left out of Pettits filings. The Express-News spoke with four other former Pettit clients who werent listed. Unlike Made, though, they dont live in the United States and dont speak English, so getting information on Pettits bankruptcy case has been more difficult for them.

Pettit specialized in estate planning and personal injury cases but also handled trust and probate matters, prepared tax returns and provided financial advice.

Just how many other Pettit creditors have been overlooked is unknown. He reported that his law firm had $13.8 million in assets and $112.8 million in liabilities, but the latter figure is expected to rise given that the list of creditors is incomplete.

I think there are a lot of people who havent been noticed, said Mary Elizabeth Heard, a San Antonio attorney representing a creditor owed $3 million  and who also is not listed in Pettits filings. Its alarming to me.

Pettit, who was jailed Sept. 8 for contempt of court related to his mishandling of assets in the bankruptcy estate, needs to assist the Chapter 11 trustee in finding every one the law firms clients, Heard said.

I just think that it is wrong for him to continue this charade of not being able to remember, or not understanding or not knowing, she said. Be accountable for what youve done.

Eric Terry, the Chapter 11 trustee, said its essential that all creditors be listed in the schedules so they can receive notice and information regarding the bankruptcy cases and claim their files.

Pettit has knowingly and willfully failed to meet his obligations as a debtor and interfered with my ability to administer the bankruptcy estates for the benefit of creditors and my efforts to ultimately try to pay something back to them to remedy some of the harm that Pettit has caused, Terry said in an email.

Failing to list these creditors is another example of Pettits continued disrespect of the bankruptcy process, the Bankruptcy Court and the many people he has victimized, he added.

On ExpressNews.com: Ex-San Antonio attorney Chris Pettit spent almost $252,000 in the 40 days after filing bankruptcy

Pettit, who is now without a bankruptcy lawyer, did not respond to an email seeking comment before he was jailed. The law firm that had been representing him withdrew from the case after learning it had been paid with money that belonged to a Pettit client.

At a hearing Sept. 1, Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Craig Gargotta said he could issue an order directing Pettit to update his filings regarding creditors.

Thats an ongoing duty that any debtor has, the judge said.

I lost everything

Vielka Jimenez de Reyes husband, Roberto Antonio Reyes, was aboard the same American Airlines flight that killed Maricio Jose Made. The couple had been together since they were 14.

Jimenez, 57, ended up as Pettits client after initially hiring other lawyers in New York. She said she stood to receive $1 million, minus Pettits fees and costs.

After Pettit got his cut from the settlement, Jimenez said she was to receive roughly $850,000  but there were issues. Her niece, Astrid Solano Jimenez, said Jimenez was told the money could be better invested if left with Pettits firm.

He never gave me that money, Jimenez said via phone from her home in Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic. He said hed give me $2,200 a month until he could resolve those issues.

Jimenez kept asking why she couldnt receive the whole settlement but said she was given excuse after excuse. At various times she asked Pettit for an accounting of what his office had done on her case. She had more questions after learning his office once charged her $40,000 for phone calls to her  an amount she deemed excessive.

This summer, she said, she stopped receiving the monthly payments. Shed been relying on the money for living expenses and to help her elderly parents.

On ExpressNews.com: Pettits lawyers want to drop him as a client after being paid with money allegedly stolen

Since then, she has been scraping by. She sold her car to make ends meet.

I lost everything, Jimenez said. What could I do?

She tried to get in touch with Pettits office about the missing payments but was unsuccessful. Her niece, Solano, also tried without success.

During a recent visit to the U.S., Jimenez tried again to resolve the issue and, after learning of Pettits bankruptcy, began looking for a lawyer. She returned to the Dominican Republic because her visa was close to expiring and has had trouble finding an attorney.

She has not received any notices of bankruptcy proceedings, or any information about how or even whether she can claim the money she believes she is due.

Court records show Pettits creditors have until Oct. 5 to submit a proof of claim. It likely will be difficult for some to determine what theyre owed because they never received statements that showed the returns their principal was supposedly generating.

Pension for life

Gilberto Jimenez Carrera, 47, who lives in Tuxtepec, a city in Oaxaca, Mexico, was working as a laborer for $13 an hour in Chapel Hill, N.C., in 2006 when he lost an eye during an explosion. He also had injuries to his face and upper torso.

A contractor had set explosives during the clearing stage of the project and apparently left behind two charges that were not detonated. When the crew Jimenez Carrera was part of used a rotary hammer to break up rock to lay down drainage tubing, one of the charges blew.

When youre in an accident, a lot of people call you, he said. Someone from (Pettits) office called me.

He said he hired Pettit because he needed help and the company he worked for, which had been paying for his hotel accommodations, was about to kick him out. He could no longer work.

Pettit reached a settlement, then asked Jimenez Carrera whether he wanted to receive pension payments for life or a one-time lump sum.

Jerry Lara, San Antonio Express-News / Staff photographer

I thought and I said a pension is better for my children, Jimenez Carrera said. That way a little by little, they send it to me.

According to (Pettit), they were going to give me a pension for life, Jimenez Carrera said. The total that I was going to get was $250,000.

Jimenez Carrera said he took $50,000 upfront, leaving $200,000 with Pettits firm.

He said that money wouldnt be touched, and that I would get another $2,000 per month as a pension, he said. Thats what I understood. And if I died, it would transfer to my wife.

But he said he stopped receiving the $2,000 a year ago and has had to find work. He has a teenage daughter at home who is about to start college.

S.A. VOTES Voter Guide: What to know for the Texas runoff election A breakdown of key state and local races and candidates in the May 24 primary runoff.

On ExpressNews.com: The mystery surrounding Chris Pettits nearly $30,000 Tiffanys credit card bill

Since they havent sent me anything, I have to work here in the fields in Oaxaca, because theres nothing else I can do, he said. I depended on that money because I cant work.

He said he earns 900 or 1,000 pesos a month at most  about $50. But that pay is sporadic.

It rains a lot, and the pay is not steady, he said. Its a lot less than what I used to get, but we have to eat. What can you do?

No one has been in touch with him about Pettits bankruptcy.

I havent heard anything, he said. Since I am here in Mexico, I dont know anything.

Im in bad shape

Raul Peril said that for 25 years he made trips to the United States to export vehicles to Guatemala.

During one of those trips in 2010, he boarded a bus from McAllen that was headed to Kansas City, where he was going to look at some cars.

The Los Conejos bus he was traveling in crashed north of the Texas-Oklahoma state line. Peril said part of his spinal column was fractured and other bones broken, he lost teeth and was in the hospital for weeks. He now has prosthetics in his spine and one of his legs, he said.

Someone from Pettits office contacted him, and Peril agreed to hire the firm. He recalls that Pettit secured a settlement of $1.3 million, minus Pettits cut, leaving $633,000.

Peril said he took $200,000 and left the rest with Pettits firm.

Peril said he had planned to open a business in his native Guatemala City and had been asking for the rest. Pettits office told him there were problems with the lawyers and that was the last he heard of the matter.

When he called more recently, Peril said it appeared the office line had been disconnected. He said he was unaware of Pettits legal problems and has not been contacted about whether he can claim his money.

I want justice to be done, Peril said. Im in bad shape and hopefully this gets resolved so I can support my family.

We feel duped

Griselda Chairezs husband died in a 2009 accident in Ohio when a tow truck fell on his vehicle, according to Griseldas daughter, Jennifer Mata.

After that accident, (Pettits firm) contacted us and explained to us what they could do, she recalled. Various (lawyers) did. That lawyer (Pettit) contacted my mom. But it was someone who spoke Spanish.

They told us my mom would get $45,000, that I would get $45,000 when I turned 18 and my sister would get $45,000 when she turned 18, said Mata, who is now 21.

But Chairez, who lives in Coahuila, Mexico, didnt get her $45,000.

Others involved in the crash were called by other lawyers offices, and they hired them, Mata said. They gave them their money. But Pettit would give my mom a payment per month, until about February or March of this year, when nothing came and no one would answer at his office.

Chairez was receiving about $700 per month since about 2011, Mata said. Although it helped with expenses, the family had to stretch it.

On ExpressNews.com: Ex-lawyer Chris Pettit is sent to jail after being found in contempt for violating judges order

I turned 18 and they never gave me anything, Mata said. They said they were checking and gave us excuses.

I needed the money for my school, said Mata, who studied to be a primary education teacher. My last year of university was bad and I dont even know how I was able to graduate. And now I imagine that the money is gone. They are not going to give it to us. My sister, shes 17. How is she going to go to the university?

Mata learned of Pettits bankruptcy through news reports.

Nobody has contacted us, she said. We know nothing, absolutely nothing.

We feel duped, she added.

Terry, the Chapter 11 trustee, said that as his team discovers the names and addresses of creditors, they are adding them to the list of creditors so they can receive appropriate court filings and notices in the mail.

guillermo.contreras@express-news.net

pdanner@express-news.net
Diners will soon be able to feast once more in an iconic restaurant space at the Pearl.

Ladino, a new Mediterranean-inspired concept from the Austin-based Emmer & Rye Hospitality Group, will open Sept. 19 in the former home of chef Andrew Weissman's beloved Italian spot Osteria Il Sogno. Ladino will celebrate executive chef Berty Richter's Middle Eastern and Balkan roots with a menu built around dishes cooked over a charcoal grill.
Adrian Davila, the Seguin-based pitmaster of Davila's BBQ, will showcase his ability to cook anything and everything with his signature Texas- and Latin-inspired spin on Hulu's "Best in Dough," premiering Sept. 19.

Davila, who has been featured on the Food Network in previous programming as a contestant and judge, will be a contestant in the Hulu series. He will battle it out against two other contestants, Dwayne Big Daddy Thompson and Joe Joe-Rilla Youkhan, for a $10,000 cash prize.

Although Davila cannot disclose the final results until the episode airs, nor the pizza he made outside of saying that it had a "Texas spin," he sees this as a launch into branding himself beyond the barbecue brand into the land of dough, sauce, cheese and beyond.

"I was approached to do this, and it sort of took my way of looking at cooking to another level," said Davila, a third-generation pitmaster. "We had access to the best of the best ingredients, had to make our own dough; and there were like 150 people on set, so this was maybe the most professional set I've ever been on."

Express-News file photo

See more at ExpressNews.com: Davilas BBQ owner still smoking after more than 60 years in Seguin

Davila's BBQ, located at 418 W. Kingsbury in Seguin, will host a free watch party from 6 to 8 p.m. Sept. 20, coinciding with the unveiling of the new food truck, Davila's on Wheels. The pizza that Davila made for the show will be available to purchase by the slice ($6 per with a drink), or patrons can get some traditional mesquite-fueled barbecue or the housemade sausage that ranks as some of the best in Texas.

Courtesy H-E-B

Davila said the food truck will start with a presence at special events and catering functions, and it will concentrate on servicing the San Antonio area.

"The truck won't just be about barbecue," Davila said. "It will have a variety of options and showcase everything we can do."

Courtesy Countryman Press

In 2018, Davila launched a cookbook named "Cowboy Barbecue" (Countryman Press) that led to live appearances on NBC's "Today" show in New York City and features recipes that go beyond the barbecue. Davila's BBQ restaurant, which makes some of the best mesquite-smoked sausage in the area, dates back to the 1950s.

cblount@express-news.net | Twitter: @chuck_blount | Instagram: @bbqdiver
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EL PASO, Texas (AP)  U.S. Customs and Border Protection has deactivated the agency's Twitter account for the West Texas region after it retweeted posts criticizing President Joe Biden's border policies and liked posts that made gay slurs against U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus posted a tweet late Saturday saying the agency has become aware of unauthorized and inappropriate content that was posted on the @CBPWestTexas Twitter account.
A commission charged by the Legislature to suggest new ways of funding Texas community colleges is poised to recommend a complete system overhaul that would tie state dollars to how successful schools are at getting students to graduation or four-year universities.

The Texas Commission on Community College Finance, a group of lawmakers, business leaders and community college presidents created last legislative session, released its draft recommendations ahead of a meeting Monday to hear testimony on its vision. The group has been meeting throughout the past year, but the draft recommendations are the first glimpse into what types of changes lawmakers might consider when they convene in January.

RELATED: Charter schools improved in San Antonio this year  with some notable exceptions

The major recommended change would be to fund schools based on the number of students who complete their certificate or degree programs or transfer to a four-year university to continue their education. Other recommendations include major increases to the states need-based financial aid program and funding to help schools grow capacity on par with Texas population growth.

These recommendations would establish Texas as a national leader in using outcomes-based funding to support community colleges in addressing rapidly changing needs for a highly skilled workforce, the commission wrote in the draft report.

A final report on the states community college finance system is due to the Legislature in November. So far, the recommendations have largely been met with enthusiasm from community college leaders.

These draft recommendations can be transformational for Texas community colleges and, ultimately, for helping Texans achieve their full potential while uplifting the entire state, said Ray Martinez III, president of the Texas Association of Community Colleges.

For decades, Texas has funded its two-year community colleges largely with three pots of money: local property taxes, student tuition and a complicated state system that has not kept up pace with other resources and now accounts for less than 25 percent of community colleges funding.

While Texas has grown, that growth has been uneven across regions, affecting schools budgets in different ways depending on their location, size and the value of their taxable property in their districts.

At the same time, enrollment across community colleges in Texas has declined over the past decade  made worse by the pandemic  even as workforce demands are increasing and changing.

Theres a deep tension between what were seeing right now in community college enrollment and what were seeing happening in our Texas workforce, said Harrison Keller, Texas higher education commissioner. We have growing needs for Texans who have the kinds of credentials that are awarded by community colleges, and employers are saying they are having trouble finding the skilled workforce they need.

The commission includes four current lawmakers, including Sens. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, and Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, the Senate higher education and public education committee chairs. Taylor authored the legislation that spurred this commission. Reps. Oscar Longoria, D-Mission, and Gary VanDeaver, R-New Boston, also were appointed to be on the commission. VanDeaver serves on the House Appropriations Committee.

WILLIAM LUTHER, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

Keller said there are still many details to be worked out by state lawmakers during the upcoming legislative session, including how the state would determine the specifics of these funding formulas.

He said preliminary estimates show these changes would require state lawmakers to appropriate somewhere between $600 million and $650 million in additional funding toward community colleges for the next biennium. He added that would be a starting point that likely would increase as colleges start to respond to the funding incentives set by the state. While no proposal is a sure deal, he said hes encouraged by the positive reaction so far.

Weve got strong momentum to drive some historic change in our community college finance system, he said.

Outcomes-based funding

Currently, Texas lawmakers allocate a set amount of state money toward public community colleges every two years that is then distributed to individual schools based on a formula. It provides a base of around $1.3 million per school, plus additional funding depending on enrollment, the types of classes schools offer and student success data over the previous three years. But starting the funding system with a set pot of money and then deciding how it is distributed means schools are essentially competing with each other for funding, creating a system of winners and losers.

You can add students and improve outcomes and lose money in current funding formulas because it all depends on what youre doing relative to every other college in the state, Keller said.

The commission recommends that the state stop allocating a set amount and instead create a formula that determines an individual community colleges funding based on student program completion and transfer to four-year universities.

That way individual colleges arent in competition with each other; theyd only be in competition with themselves, Keller said.

On top of the outcomes-based funding, the commission recommends that the state make sure that every college can access a baseline amount of money for instruction and operations to ensure that schools in areas with low taxable valuations are not disproportionately funded.

The commission recommends the amount be based on enrollment and types of courses offered and include some adjustments for students who cost more to educate or need extra support, such as academically underprepared students and adults returning to the classroom. If schools cannot meet that foundational base through property taxes and tuition, the commission said they should receive additional funding to meet the threshold, though no specific numbers have been suggested yet.

But unlike the public school system, the commission said those schools that do collect more money via property taxes should not be subject to recapture and would not be required to send that money back to the state.

Renzo Soto, a policy adviser who focuses on higher education and the workforce for the data and research group Texas 2036, said this system would give two-year colleges more assurances as to how much money they would receive annually, something the current system does not provide.

He said when schools know they will receive more money based on student outcomes, it will drive them to incentivize services such as counseling and ensure students are choosing a major and a pathway to complete their program, rather than taking courses randomly.

He also said providing funding for noncredit programs will encourage schools to enroll more students in those areas where there is a large demand for jobs upon completion.

More need-based financial aid

The commission also says the state needs to better invest in its need-based financial aid programs to help more students access the programs they need, whether that be a certificate or associates degree.

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board estimates that the state has enough funding to serve 28 percent of eligible students through the Texas Educational Opportunity Grant Program. During the 2021-22 academic year, the average public community college student who received funding received $1,711 per semester.

The commission recommends the state increase that funding and set a goal of supporting at least 70 percent of students who qualify for need-based aid at two- and four-year schools. Investing in grants would especially help students who live in the service area of a community college but not the taxing area and are therefore considered out-of-district students, the commission report stated.

Soto said the Legislatures openness last session to add $100 million in stimulus funds to need-based financial aid programs in the state set an encouraging precedent that lawmakers understand the need for more funding. Plus, the state is heading into the next session with a major surplus.

With $27 billion in the bank, and likely more, I can see that being less of a concern, he said.

Disclosure: Texas 2036 and Texas Association of Community Colleges have been financial supporters of the Texas Tribune. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism.

The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
Katy singer-songwriter and former Bachelorette contestant James McCoy Taylor was arrested Saturday for driving while intoxicated and unlawfully carrying a weapon in Brazos County, where College Station is located, according to online jail records.

Taylor, 36, was released on $6,000 bail later the same day.

He was arrested by College Station Police early Saturday after an off-duty Blinn College Police Officer noticed him urinating near his truck in the parking lot of the Northgate Parking Garage, according to a probable cause statement obtained by KBTX.

The police report says Taylor got into the pickup truck to drive away before he was stopped by police, KBTX reported. Officers described Taylor in the report as visibly intoxicated and say he admitted to having several drinks before then failing a sobriety test. Police say an 18-year-old woman was also in the truck and also impaired, according to KBTX.

Taylor was arrested for driving while intoxicated and unlawfully carrying a weapon for keeping a handgun in his driver's door pocket while allegedly drunk driving, KBTX reported.

Taylor was a contestant on season 12 of The Bachelorette. He has been a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump and previously garnered controversy when he made tweets implying that he had attended the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, though he was flying from Houston to Salt Lake City at the time.

megan.munce@chron.com
Antique sinks, reclaimed wood, salvaged light fixtures  these dated materials typically thrown out in a demolition could make their way into newer, affordable homes in San Antonio instead of sitting in a landfill.

The city has a plan to slow demolitions and instead take buildings apart, piece by piece, and reuse their furnishings.

New regulations adopted by City Council last week in a 10 to 1 vote will ensure some homes are disassembled rather than razed. The new law doesnt apply to commercial buildings, and the first phase of the plan is limited to residential buildings that the city orders demolished.

Lets talk to the South Siders that have been doing this for generations, said District 3 Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran. Because this has been done. This works. Its going to help the environment.

Once its fully in force, the rule likely will raise costs for residential developers who buy old houses in neighborhoods that are suddenly attracting hordes of buyers, demolish the properties and rebuild on the land.

The tighter restrictions stem from a 2017 policy request by former District 1 Councilman Roberto Trevino. He asked the city to look at ways to reduce illegal or unwarranted demolitions.

City leaders hope the new rules advance several goals in the areas of affordable housing, climate action, health equity and worker safety.

San Antonios Office of Historic Preservation will oversee the effort. They want to provide inexpensive materials that fit the character of older homes, said District 5 Councilwoman Teri Castillo.

On ExpressNews.com: Restoring San Antonios historic air base commanders houses begins with windows

District 10 Councilman Clayton Perry, who represents the Northeast Side, cast the only vote against the new law. He didnt want to add more city requirements to private property owners. San Antonio should have instead offered incentives to discourage demolitions, he argued.

It is yet another mandatory government requirement on industry that will ultimately increase costs for customers, Perry said. Adding another layer of rules on top of the already expensive construction in this city will not keep costs down to promote affordable housing.

The city estimates taking a home apart is about $2,000 to $3,000 more expensive than simply demolishing a building. But a property owner may recoup some of the cost through the value of the salvaged materials, which can be sold, said Shanon Miller, director of the citys historic preservation office.

Theres no extra budget request tied to the new law, Miller said. She expects the department can keep up with its existing staff and resources. The historic preservation office already reviews demolition permits. If a building falls under the rules, theyll work to make sure its dismantled instead of razed.

City Council districts 1, 2, 3 and 5 see the most structures demolished, Miller said. That covers downtown and nearby neighborhoods on the East, West and South sides of San Antonio  areas that often experience higher poverty and fewer investments from the city and private business.

Because demolitions often occur in areas with higher poverty, the negative health impacts from razing buildings  such as dust and poor air quality  fall on vulnerable communities.

When structures are demolished instead of deconstructed, dangerous, small particulate matter becomes airborne, endangering the health of onsite workers and that of neighboring residents, said District 7 Councilwoman Ana Sandoval. This initiative is as much about protecting workers and residents health as it is preserving our historic structures.

Not all demolitions will be impacted

More than 500 buildings are demolished each year in San Antonio, according to city estimates. Thats a 68 percent increase over the last decade. Its led to $16 million worth of building materials ending up in the landfill.

The citys goal for the first year is to divert at least 50 demolitions and 2,800 tons of salvaged materials, valued at $350,000.

San Antonio will slowly phase in the new procedure. Its set to begin Oct. 1 with only city-ordered demolitions. That should affect just 3 percent of demolition permits.

Starting in January, the city will expand to cover about 28 percent of demolition permits. The new rules will apply to some residential structures built in 1920 or earlier as well as others built in 1945 or earlier if theyre designated historic.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2025, the regulations will start to apply to some larger residential buildings constructed in 1945 or earlier, regardless of historical status, and residential structures built in 1960 or earlier if theyre historic. The final phase is expected to cover about 40 percent of demolition permits in San Antonio.

In hashing out its new rules, San Antonio looked elsewhere across the country. Portland claims it became the first city in the nation to adopt such regulations in 2016. The city of Palo Alto, California, outright banned demolition in 2020, looking instead to dismantle and reuse materials.

In San Antonio, its up to a property owner what theyd like to do with any salvaged materials, said Miller. But she expects the city will end up with much of it in the beginning if owners arent engaged in the process or dont know where else to send their cabinets, windows, doors and other items.

In that case, the city will store the goods at its Material Innovation Center, a large circa-1920s garage near the Bungalow Colony on the Southwest Side near Port San Antonio. There, the city is training contractors to restore old homes.

From its storage, the city can give salvaged home materials to developers building affordable housing in San Antonio. In particular, Miller expects those that are granted the new housing bond funds will be able to access and reuse the home goods.

Im proud of the step the city is taking today as it shows that were doing our part to mitigate the social and environmental harm mechanical demolitions have on a community, Castillo said.

megan.stringer@express-news.net
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A couple of alligator attacks at Sugar Land's Oyster Creek have rowers concerned for their safety and puzzled by the reptiles' seemingly uncharacteristic behavior.

The separate incidents occurred over the past two weeks, rowers reported, with alligators striking and biting boats from the the Greater Houston Rowing Club. Club president Dee Connors said the attacks are the first time her group has seen "aggressive" gators in the 34 years they've been rowing at Oyster Creek.

"We've never had an attack," Connors said. "The alligators have always been there. You see them, (and) they'll just float away. There's plenty to eat in Oyster Creek. They have no need to chase a boat."

Abnormal attacks

Two weeks ago, Eugene Janssen was rowing along Oyster Creek when he accidentally hit an alligator with his oar.

"The next day, an alligator came up under his boat and bit the boat," Connors recalled.

Janssen said he heard a loud crunch shortly before water began to flood his carbon-fiber racing shell. He raced to get the sinking boat to shore, eventually discovering a sizable bite mark.

Courtesy

He said he had often seen and taken photos of alligators during his rows, but this was the first time one had been hostile.

First Colony's Homeowners Association hired a trapper who caught and relocated the alligator they believed to be the culprit.

Days later, a second attack happened.

Sugar Land resident Walter Pasciak reported a five-foot-long alligator struck his boat's bow while he was out rowing one morning.

"When you're in one of these boats, you're going backwards," said Pasciak, who has been rowing for five years. "It felt like I hit a huge log or boulder in the water. The boat suddenly slowed down and almost stopped, and then I saw a huge swirl of water, which you see if you pass an alligator."

Pasciak's boat didn't sink from the attack, but he also found bite marks he says only an alligator could have made.

"I was lucky," he said. "Something like that can flip you off the boat, which can be a difficult experience when there's an aggressive alligator in the water."

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"Thousands of people have rowed on Oyster Creek for years and years," Pasciak added. "The alligators normally don't bother you."

What's going on with the gators?

There are a few theories about why Oyster Creek has seen a sudden influx in gator attacks.

"I believe it might have been a scared young alligator or an alligator trying to protect her nest," said Connors, who believes the trappers caught the wrong gator after the first attack.

Connors' theory is that the gators are angry about losing their nesting area, since the first attack happened a day after a brushy corner of the creek had been cleared out.

"Someone, I assume the city, had started cleaning up that brush," Connors said. "They may have disturbed the alligators' habitat, where the gators used to hang out and a lot of them had nests."

Pasciak said the gators are not intelligent enough to try to knock over a rower and likely though his boat was something edible floating on the water.

Fort Bend Game Warden Ryan Powers noted it's also possible the boats just caught the alligators by surprise.

"These were narrow boats that do not make any noise," Powers said, "so it's likely the boat snuck up on an alligator that was on the surface and hit the alligator, and the alligator reacted how they would in a defensive manner."

"While there have been isolated instances in the past, no, humans are not prey to alligators," Powers added.

When an alligator injured a woman in Humble this year, local wrangler Timothy DeRamus made the point that alligators normally only attack out of fear. DeRamus wrangles roughly 250 alligators a year around Houston, all alive, and takes them to Beaumont wildlife rescue Gator Country.

"She scared the gator just as much as the gator scared her," DeRamus told the Chronicle in May. "They're not attack animals."

Some rowers have since become leery of the Oyster Creek alligators, but Janssen, Walters and Connors remain undeterred.

"There's always going to be alligators," Connors said. "If you live in Texas, you live with them. Don't harass them. This is their home. We need to be able to share the water."

juhi.varma@hcnonline.com
In the late 1960s or early 1970s, David Vela visited Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

He was a small-town boy from Wharton, Texas, on a family road trip.

Vela also visited Yellowstone National Park and saw his first park ranger, who was wearing the National Park Services green and gray uniform and the famous Stetson hat, best remembered in Smokey Bear public service announcements about forest fires.

I dont know what this guy does, Vela remembered thinking, but Im going to find out.

Now 62, Vela and his family also noticed the obvious. No one else at the parks looked like them, nor did the park rangers.

More than 40 years later, Vela became the 21st superintendent of Grand Teton National Park and was later nominated by former President Donald Trump to serve as the 19th director of the park service, the first Mexican American and first Latino to receive that distinction.

His nomination never made it to a formal vote, but he was named deputy director and acting director of the park service in 2019 through secretarial order. He retired in 2020.

Vela says he still had the honor of leading one of our nations most beloved federal agencies as acting director.

Over his career, he met with presidents, first ladies and national leaders.

He advocated for passage of the 2020 Great American Outdoors Act to address long-deferred park maintenance work.

Vela took a break from the park service to work in the political arena, including a stint on the staff of the late Democratic Texas congressman Mickey Leland.

But one of his major life moments was meeting a nontraditional student at Wharton County Junior College who was asking all of the best questions.

It was Roy P. Benavidez, who would later receive the Medal of Honor from former President Ronald Reagan for his valor in Vietnam. Vela was with him at the Pentagon for the big day.

Vela shares these memories in Hola Ranger: My Journey Through the National Parks, a self-published memoir thats as much a remembrance of small-town Texas as it is a tribute to the great outdoors.

Its also a manual meant to inspire new generations of Latino public servants.

Hell speak in San Antonio this week, where he began his career and first heard the greeting that would become his book title, Hola Ranger.

The event, sponsored by the San Antonio Conservation Society, will be the inaugural lecture of the Amanda Cartwright Taylor Distinguished Lecture Series. Its at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the McNay Art Museum.

Hola Ranger speaks of Victor Erevia, a Wharton High School friend who became a Secret Service agent  and the first Latino special agent in charge of the presidential protective division during the Obama White House.

Vela and Erevia worked in San Antonio at the same time. For Vela, it was his first job as part of the inaugural staff of the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park.

He became the first supervisor of Mission San Juan at age 21.

At the insistence of the parks first superintendent, Jose Cisneros, who died a few months ago, Vela said the staff was composed mostly of Latinos, an anomaly in federal ranks.

He insisted the first personnel in San Antonio reflect the community, Vela said. He understood that were the government, and we had one chance to get it right.

In that role, Vela became a signatory to a cooperative agreement reached between the park service and the Archdiocese of San Antonio, where Catholic parishes continue to operate surrounded by parkland.

Vela wrote the book to encourage more people to visit the national parks and see it as their birthright.

Climate change threatens them, he said. The science is very clear.

Hola Ranger explores little-known history, such as that of Ely Parker, the only true American in the room, Vela said. Parker was Native American.

Parkers role in the surrender conference of the Civil War is remembered in the McLean House in Appomattox County, Va.

Then theres the Union soldier, Joseph De Castro, who became the first Hispanic American recipient of the Medal of Honor for his service at the Battle of Gettysburg, according to several sources.

Its part of our history, Vela said. We have an obligation to tell the stories, as difficult as they are.

History can be powerful, eye-opening, shameful. It can test us.

Vela tells another bit of his own history, about a new generation of Velas in the park service, his son Anthony David Vela, a chief ranger in Florida.

His padrino or godfather, Vela says proudly, was Roy Benavidez.

eayala@express-news.net
Two years ago, the sexual harassment and murder of Army Spec. Vanessa Guillen by a fellow soldier at Fort Hood brought national attention to the militarys problems with keeping service members safe.

Despite the extra scrutiny and congressional oversight, as well as a $35 million lawsuit by Guillens family against the Army, the Defense Department continues to lose ground in its war against sexual assault.

On Aug. 29, the department released its 2021 report on sexual assault in the ranks, and the numbers are troubling.

Fiscal year 2021 saw a significant increase in the prevalence of sexual assaults across the services, with 8.4 percent of active-duty women and 1.5 percent of active-duty men reporting they experienced some form of unwanted sexual contact in the preceding 12 months.

On ExpressNews.com: Editorial: Military justice reforms a start, more work remains

These are the highest percentages since the Pentagon began tracking the numbers in 2006.

Thats an estimated 35,875 people, up significantly from the 20,500 in a 2018 report. And neither of those percentages include the thousands more family members, friends and co-workers also affected by the toxic effects of sexual misconduct.

The Pentagon noted that the COVID pandemic delayed some of the reports surveying, and the survey was different from previous years, which disrupted the departments ability to scientifically trend to prior years sexual assault prevalence estimates.

The services received 8,866 reports of sexual assault, a 13 percent bump from the previous year. The Army had the highest increase.

While more reporting is a good sign, that news was tempered by a decreased rate of reporting. The DOD estimates that about 1 in 5 service members reported their sexual assault in 2021, down from the 1 in 3 reported in 2018.

Then theres the finding that rates of sexual harassment, gender discrimination and workplace hostility spiked for active-duty women across the services.

On ExpressNews.com: Violated by one of our own: Air Force public affairs chief says Zier case shows far-reaching damage of sexual assault

Regardless of delays and survey changes, the report is yet another wake-up call for military leaders.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has been proactive in combating sexual assault since taking office. In 2021, the DOD launched the Secretarys Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military, which recommended 82 improvements, but theres more work to be done.

The report said military commanders had sufficient evidence to take disciplinary action in 67 percent of accused members cases.

But Don Christensen, a retired Air Force colonel and former chief prosecutor for the service, said thats not enough. He leads Protect Our Defenders, a national human rights organization focused on ending sexual violence in the military.

Christensen is a staunch advocate for independent military prosecutors  rather than commanders  determining whether sexual assault, rape and other serious offenses are prosecuted. We are, too.

Provisions for such special trial counsels, who are outside the chain of command, passed in the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act.

If leadership had supported, rather than obstructed, removing commanders prosecution authority years ago, the military would be in a much better place now, Christensen said in a statement. Thankfully, due to the persistence of Sen. (Kirsten) Gillibrand and Rep. (Jackie) Speier and the support of President Biden, real reform finally passed last year.

Unfortunately, the benefits of the special trial counsels wont take effect until late next year. Each service will have at least one to prosecute alleged offenses that occur after Dec. 27, 2023.

These disturbing numbers should be a wake-up call for the generals and admirals to fully support the new system that will empower independent military prosecutors  not commanders  to make prosecution decisions, Christensen said. Its past time now for commanders to seriously work on reforming the culture of the military that is too accepting of sexual assault and harassment.

Not only is sexual assault corrosive to the morale and readiness of military units, it hurts recruiting and retention.

Sexual assault in the military is a threat to national security, and military leaders must redouble their efforts to combat this menace.


Air Serbia plans to introduce flights to Chinas sixth largest city of Tianjin in just over a month, with services expected to be scheduled in the coming weeks. The airline was granted a permit by Chinese authorities to operate a one weekly passenger and cargo service to the city. In the long haul sector, China is one of the three most important markets. And it is forecast to grow much faster than already mature markets such as North America. In addition, there is great demand there for both passenger and freight. Another reason [for selecting the Chinese market] is that Chinese travellers do not need a visa to visit Serbia, and Serbian citizens do not need a visa to enter China. This is very rare in Europe. So, China was the logical choice for Air Serbia, Air Serbias CEO, Jiri Marek, told Aero Telegraph. Air Serbia plans to introduce flights to Chinas sixth largest city of Tianjin in just over a month, with services expected to be scheduled in the coming weeks. The airline was granted a permit by Chinese authorities to operate a one weekly passenger and cargo service to the city. In the long haul sector, China is one of the three most important markets. And it is forecast to grow much faster than already mature markets such as North America. In addition, there is great demand there for both passenger and freight. Another reason [for selecting the Chinese market] is that Chinese travellers do not need a visa to visit Serbia, and Serbian citizens do not need a visa to enter China. This is very rare in Europe. So, China was the logical choice for Air Serbia, Air Serbias CEO, Jiri Marek, told Aero Telegraph.





The airline remains committed to launching operations to Beijing and Shanghai once pandemic-related restrictions in China are lifted. We would have preferred to start with Beijing and Shanghai. However, there are very strict restrictions in China due to the pandemic and also with regard to market access. So, you can't just fly wherever you want. Tianjin was the best alternative. Even if we get the opportunity to introduce the Belgrade - Beijing and Belgrade - Shanghai routes, we might keep Tianjin. The city is connected to Beijing with a thirty-minute bullet train and is one of the largest cargo hubs in the country. So, for now it's an alternative but has the potential to become a permanent Air Serbia destination, Mr Marek said. He added, We are planning at least two weekly flights to Beijing and two to Shanghai with the possibility of increasing the frequency to three weekly and also serving Tianjin depending on the results.





Commenting on the potential for Air Serbia to serve other markets in Asia, Mr Marek noted, Our core strategic approach is to look for destinations that allow year-round operations. China offers that, and that is why we will develop the Chinese market first. However, in the long run, we could also envisage other goals, perhaps more distant or closer. Besides cities in China, the busiest unserved destinations in Asia out of Belgrade during the pre-pandemic 2019, when the entire continent was still open for travel, included Bangkok, Delhi, Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore, Phuket, Denpasar (Bali), Male (Maldives), Ashgabat and Mumbai.




MONDAY, Sept. 12, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Skeletal remains of a young adult discovered in a remote cave in Borneo appear to be the oldest known case of surgical amputation.

Australian and Indonesian researchers estimate the bones are at least 31,000 years old. It appears that the young adult lost his foot and lower leg in childhood and lived for at least six to nine more years after that, they said.

"The discovery implies that at least some modern human foraging groups in tropical Asia had developed sophisticated medical knowledge and skills long before the Neolithic farming transition," said co-lead researcher Melandri Vlok. She's a bioarchaeologist and expert in ancient skeletons at the University of Sydney.

In a university news release, Vlok called the find "incredibly exciting and unexpected."

Even with modern medicine, preventing infections after amputation is hard, making the ability to do so tens of thousands of years ago a remarkable feat. Amputation requires working with veins, arteries, nerve, tissue and more, while keeping the wound clean.

What eventually caused the young adults death is unknown. The body was carefully buried in the Liang Tebo cave in Indonesia's East Kalimantan province. The cave is in an area on the island of Borneo that contains some of the world's earliest dated rock art.

Archaeologists from Griffith University in Australia and the University of Western Australia recovered the remains days before borders closed for the COVID pandemic in March 2020. The team, which also included representation from the Kalimantan Timur Cultural Heritage Preservation Center, invited Vlok to study the bones in Australia.

"No one told me they had not found the left foot in the grave," she said. "They kept it hidden from me to see what I would find."

The left leg of the remains looked withered and was the size of a child's, but the individual was an adult. When Vlok unwrapped the part of the leg that contained the stump, the cut was clean, well-healed and had no evidence of any infection.

"The chances the amputation was an accident was so infinitely small," she said. "The only conclusion was this was stone-age surgery.

When Vlok told colleagues what she found, they told her they already knew the foot was missing from the grave.

The skeleton also had evidence of a well-healed neck fracture and trauma to the collarbone. That may have occurred at the same time, Vlok said.

"An accident, such as a rock fall may have caused the injuries, and it was clearly recognized by the community that the foot had to be taken off for the child to survive," she said.

Co-researcher Maxime Aubert of Griffith University noted that the area is "extremely rugged" with steep mountains and caves.

To reach the cave, archaeologists needed to kayak into the valley and scale an enormous cliff. They said it was remarkable for someone with one leg to have survived in such challenging terrain.

"This unique find challenges assumptions of humanity's capabilities in the past and is set to significantly advance our understanding of human lifeways in tropical rainforests," said co-researcher India Dilkes-Hall of the University of Western Australia.

The findings were published Sept. 7 in the journal Nature.

More information

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management shares another story on the discovery of ancient bones.

SOURCE: University of Sydney, news release, Sept. 7, 2022
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Agreed Earth, an agri-tech company that helps farmers reduce their reliance on nitrogen through regenerative farming, has received an investment from Regenerate Ventures.

Agreed Earth uses remote sensing technology to accurately generate an auditable health index, based on the usage of nitrogen containing chemicals.

This means farmers who use the platform can monitor their progress towards operating a lower nitrogen farm.

It also allows banks to lend to farmers more easily by reducing the risk associated with their loan books, as farms are less likely to go bankrupt in the long-term.

The service enables banks to comply with the sustainable disclosure requirements (SDR) imposed by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Agreed Earth also provides education and best-practice advice on how to reduce costs by using less nitrogen-based fertiliser and transitioning to regenerative practices.

According to the ag-tech firm, the new funding will be used to develop reference clients in the UK, where the addressable market for their services is estimated to be 800m.

The latest round of funding was led by Regenerate Ventures, which specialises in investing in firms that have technologies to help farmers produce food with less impact on the environment.

Paul Rous, managing director at Regenerate Ventures, said Agreed Earth had combined a unique set of technologies and knowledge, including satellite data and data analytics, to provide the solution to a 'massively misunderstood issue'.

"Everyone wants to reduce the greenhouse gases emitted by farms, but the focus has been on methane from cows and CO2 from machinery.

"Nitrous oxide from fertilizers constitutes 55% of the problem, but it has been ignored."

He added: "Well-targeted money is essential to driving the changes that will transform agriculture and save the planet, and Agreed Earth will help free it up

Kelly Price, co-founder of Agreed Earth, said the firm was 'passionate' about supporting farmers as they transitioned to more sustainable farming practices.

"Our core team has combined knowledge of soil science, satellite technology and change management to a develop a platform that spans two very different industries, farming and banking.

"We needed a funding partner with an intimate understanding of both. Regenerate Ventures fitted that description, and we are delighted that they will help us achieve our mission.
A 23-year-old man who set three farms ablaze, causing around 750,000 worth of damage, has been sentenced to four years in prison.

Jordan Chenery appeared before Norwich Magistrates Court having previously pleaded not guilty to three counts of arson.

The charges relate to a number of incidents that occurred in 2019.

On 26 September 2019, Chenery set alight to a barn in Bressingham which destroyed the building and resulted in the death of 120 pigs.

The blaze also damaged a large number of hay bales and farm machinery.

The second incident, on 27 September 2019, involved a large stack of hay bales being set alight in Kenninghall.

The third incident, also in Bressingham, saw Chenery set 400 tonnes of straw alight on 3 October 2019.

Chenery, from Basildon, Essex, was sentenced to a total of four years in prison on 8 September 2022.

Investigating officer, PC Phil Cook, said: Farms being targeted by arson are thankfully rare however they have an unmeasurable impact on the victim and the wider rural communities.

"We take rural crime seriously and we are pleased that on this occasion we have been able to identify and successfully prosecute the male responsible for the offending.
Representatives of Northern Irish agricultural shows are to receive grants totalling over 100,000 as part of a scheme launched to support them following the pandemic.

The Bounce Back Support Scheme was developed by the NI government in 2021 to help rural and farm shows return this year.

Many businesses and sectors were adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, and agricultural shows were not immune to these effects.

All shows were cancelled in 2020 and only a few were able to make a comeback last year.

Under the support scheme, show representatives were permitted to claim up to a maximum of 10,000 for new or increased costs in 2022.

Letters of Offer (LoO) totalling 103,707 have now been issued, the Department of Agriculture (DAERA) has confirmed.

DAERA minister Edwin Poots said: Local shows play a vital role in showcasing our excellent agri-food produce and supporting our rural communities, and this funding will provide a foundation for shows to continue to play this vital role.

As an additional package of support, my Department offered six local shows total funding of 33,242 under the NI Regional Food Programme to assist with the promotion and showcasing of quality regional food at the shows.

"This support helped to highlight the quality, sustainability and reputation of the food that is produced on local farms and by local producers.

Mr Poots urged show representatives across Northern Ireland to follow all guidance outlined in the letters.

"I would urge representatives to read it carefully, paying particular attention to the requirement to respond by 30 September 2022 in order to progress to the final stage of funding being released.

Welcoming the issuing of letters, Chairman of the NI Shows Association (NISA), Graham Furey said: Our local shows have a long tradition of supporting our agri-food sector and rural communities.

"This year has been very challenging for all our volunteers and committee members. The prospect of funding from DAERA encouraged many show committees to go ahead with organising their shows this year."

He added: I would like to pay tribute to the hard work and dedication shown by all in helping the shows bounce back from the pandemic and also to the members of the public who supported the shows with their attendance.
A man has died following a tragic on-farm accident in County Down, according to a report by local media.

The man, named locally as Lee Gilliland, was killed after falling through a roof, news website AmarghI says.

Mr Gilliland, who was in his 50s, was working on the Dromore-based farm on Saturday 10 September, when the tragedy happened.

An air ambulance lifted him to Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, where he was pronounced dead shortly after.

The latest figures by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) show there were 25 deaths in agriculture in the past year compared to 41 the previous year.

In Northern Ireland, the farming industry accounted for 6 of the 18 (33%) reported workplace fatalities in 2021/2022.

Sue Thompson, of the HSE, said there were farming families "left devasted every year when their loved ones are badly injured or killed while doing their jobs".

"We are starting to see safety improvements in some areas, but the pace of change is slow, and the rates of workplace injury and ill health in agriculture remain the highest of any major sector.

Everyone in agriculture has a role to play in making the changes we all want to see. Together, we can make farming safer.
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The Southeast Asian country of Vietnam is currently looking for Indian visitors to come visit as soon as possible



There is a new push out there to welcome Indian travellers to Vietnam. Recently, 34 travel companies from both Vietnam and India met to exchange information to build up awareness about and drive demand for travel into the Southeast Asian country. At the India-Vietnam Tourism Promotion Conference organised by the Consulate General of India in Ho Chi Minh City, government officials and industry representatives from both countries discussed how to promote tourism from India into Vietnam.

Vietnam is keen to promote itself to Indians as a great destination for leisure travel, as well as a venue for MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions).





Tran Phong Binh, Deputy Director of Tourism Marketing Department, Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), revealed that 20 million Indians travel abroad for holidays every year. Vietnam has full potential to attract Indian visitors to come, travel and relax Vietnam has amazing scenic spots and a series of famous tourist destinations such as Ha Noi (main image), Ha Long Bay, Sa Pa, Hue, Da Nang, Nha Trang, Ho Chi Minh City (above), etc, he revealed. He added that the number of Indian visitors to Vietnam remains modest, and that the country was looking to boost numbers through better connectivity, and especially via direct flights between cities to promote convenient travel for travellers.

Why Vietnam Could Work For You

Getting to Vietnam is now easier than ever. Flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has launched direct flights in June between New Delhi and the Vietnamese cities of Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi  thrice weekly flights to Hanoi and twice weekly to Ho Chi Minh City. Additionally, low-cost carrier Vietjet Air has flights from New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Bengaluru to Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Da Nang  and created a buzz in the travel community by offering 30,000 tickets at a promotional price of Rs 9.



Getting to Vietnam is quicker than ever. Flying directly into Vietnam from an Indian metro takes about five to six hours, while a travel time of 10 to 12 hours can be expected if you connect via Singapore or Bangkok.

Visas are easier to get. You can apply for an e-visa for Vietnam online; it takes up to seven working days to approve.

Vietnam offers great bang for your buck. Vietnam is great value for money; accommodation, food, experiences and attractions are priced extremely well.

Images: Shutterstock

Also Read: Stream Live Soon From Mount Kilimanjaro  Its Getting WiFi
High flight prices are a function of many factors arising out of the pandemic, but there is hope in sight

In the years before the pandemic, my annual strategy for foreign travel was to book tickets in September and October to travel the next summer. Summer holidays for us  and for most other Indian travellers with school- or college-going children  meant the second half of April, the whole of May and the first week of June. Typically, I used to book international trips around May 23rd for about two weeks, returning just in time to get set for the back-to-school rush. Because this did not coincide with the summer in Europe  which is typically around July-August  some good deals could be found. I once got tickets to Rome for Rs 28,000 and I remember being so thrilled. My own doctor was offered tickets to Iceland at Rs 20,000 almost a year in advance, and he grabbed them for the whole family  it was an amazing steal of a price, right?





I look for ticket deals all through the year, and especially at this time  but have come up with zilch this year. Tickets to international destinations are prohibitively expensive in the short term, and no bargain for the next year either. And there are a couple of reasons for that.

One reason is because there is a much higher demand for travel after the two years of restrictions and deterrents that we saw during the pandemic. Part of this is due to what is called revenge travel, but there are also people who must travel to finally be reunited with family and friends. Higher demand = higher prices.

Another reason is because jet fuel is very expensive, though the price is on its way down since it peaked in June. Countries put trade restrictions on oil from Russia after its war with Ukraine, resulting in less supply. Again demand has pushed prices up.

And then there are the staffing shortages. During the pandemic, airlines drastically downsized their staff and now there is a major pilot shortage in the USA and other countries. Experts believe it will take some years to train people to end the shortfall.

The good news is that prices for international travel will gradually go down. The bad news is that you probably will not be able to get the early bird deals you were used to. But, like me, dont give up hope. Keep checking Google Flights, Skyscanner regularly - but always in incognito mode - and check out influencers who track good prices and mistake fares such as Backpacking Daku on Twitter. Its worth the effort to get a good deal!

Images: Shutterstock

Also Read: Magical In The Rain: Explore Pichavaram And Chidambaram In Tamil Nadu
Beijing find 13 new COVID-19 cases on campus as universities deal with infection from returned students

(Global Times) 10:30, September 12, 2022

Beijing has strengthened COVID-19 prevention measures on campus as cluster infections in multiple universities continue to increase. The capital city detected 14 new COVID-19 confirmed cases among quarantined individuals between 12 am and 3 pm on Sunday, 13 of whom are university students.

The recent clusters found in universities in Beijing originated with people returning to the capital from other provinces, Xu Hejian, spokesperson for the Beijing municipal government, said on Sunday at a press conference.

As students return to Beijing from all over the country for the new fall semester, the city has faced pressure to prevent imported infections from entering Beijing local schools amid the latest COVID-19 outbreak that has appeared in 29 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions since September 1.

Six new COVID-19 cases were confirmed at the Communication University of China (CUC) in Chaoyang district from 3 pm on Saturday to 3 pm on Sunday, bringing the total number to 13 since 12 am on Saturday.

Another 151 teachers and students of the university were transferred to a centralized isolation point on Sunday, said Li Zhong, deputy Party secretary of the CUC, at the press conference.

The CUC will beef up the supervision of student buildings floor by floor, to make sure the health conditions of each student are accurately known by the school. Movement across blocks, floors, and rooms is prohibited within the school, Li said.

The university entered closed-loop management on Friday, after one suspected case was found on campus, according to a statement the university issued on Saturday morning.

It is a critical period for schools to deal with the epidemic on campus, said Liu Xiaofeng, deputy director of the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

He urged schools to strengthen the management of epidemic prevention work, including vaccination for returned students, implementing the standardized management of health monitoring stations on campus and making sure that nucleic acid testing, cleaning and disinfection of public bathrooms, laundry rooms, stair handrails, door handles, elevator keys and public articles are conducted in a timely manner.

Another university, the Beijing University of Chemical Technology (BUCT) tested 16,736 people for COVID-19 at its Changping and Chaoyang campuses, which all returned negative results, said Wang Feng, vice president of the university, on Sunday.

Except for three buildings and some of the dormitories, all other areas in BUCT's Chaoyang campus have been adjusted from temporary control to regular epidemic prevention and control status, said Wang.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Bianji)
Bangladeshs scheduled graduation from thein 2026 will have a major impact on many Canadian importers, retailers and consumers, with the potential for supply chain disruption and a significant impact on prices in the Canadian market, according to an analysis in the International Trade Bulletin published by global law firm McMillan.

The duty reductions Canada offers on goods imported from developing nations and LDCs are set to expire in December 2024. The potential expiry, renewal and revision of those programmes is providing both real opportunities and significant threats to Canadas apparel industry , the analysis by Jonathan OHara, William Pellerin and Tayler Farrell notes.

Apparel items from LDCs are now imported duty-free, while apparel from developed, and even developing countries are subject to a 17 per cent duty on an average in Canada.

Bangladesh's scheduled graduation from the least developed country status in 2026 will have a major impact on many Canadian importers, retailers and consumers, with the potential for supply chain disruption and a significant impact on prices in the Canadian market, according to an analysis in the International Trade Bulletin published by law firm McMillan.

The Department of Finance Canada has launched public consultations on the renewal and amendment of the two tariff programmes at issue. These are the general preferential tariff (GPT), applicable to developing countries (generally excludes apparel and footwear) and the LDC tariff (LDCT), which covers apparel and footwear.

So starting in 2026, apparel and footwear imports from Bangladesh will incur an average of 17 per cent duty at the border, up from nil now. This will hit importers as in 2021, Canada imported $1.9 billion worth of consumer goods from Bangladesh, the bulk of which were apparel and textile products.

Between 2019 and 2021, Canada imported goods worth $2.9 billion under the LDCT, with apparel accounting for $2.4 billion, or 83 per cent, of LDCT imports.

Finance Canada officials have put forward four proposals on which they are seeking inputs.

The first proposal is about creating a new tariff preference programme, the GPT+, which could reduce or eliminate duties on a broader range of goods than the GPT, potentially including apparel and footwear. Finance Canada proposes to tie eligibility for these benefits to social responsibility metrics, like the countries environmental and labour track record. The Canadian government is seeking input on product coverage and potential duty reductions under this programme.

Second, a transition period has been proposed for countries graduating from the LDCT programme, with the possibility of an automatic three-year transition period to be triggered upon a countrys graduation from a least developed to a developing country.

Currently, there is no transition mechanism or period. If successfully implemented, this could have beneficial impacts on industry, the analysis notes.

Third, a formal five-year review mechanism has been proposed to manage GPT eligibility, and could allow countries to graduate from, or be re-instated into, the GPT. Coupled with the potential of the GPT+ programme covering apparel, this could provide significant benefits to the apparel industry given the increased choice of global suppliers, it feels.

Fourth, Finance Canada has proposed to make technical simplifications to the LDCT programme to facilitate its use, including by amending rules of origin for apparel goods. Increased uptake of the LDC programme could lead to benefits for industry and consumers.

The analysis urges apparel companies to participate fully in the ongoing consultation. In particular, duty reductions for apparel-producing developing countries could offer security of supply through reliable suppliers often left aside by Canada due to high tariffs, it adds.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
EU countries are working together to address high prices and secure energy supplies for Europeans, who are experiencing an unprecedented energy crisis in the wake of the Ukraine war. During the Energy Council held on Friday, EU energy ministers discussed measures to mitigate high energy prices, and EU and national actions to prepare for winter.

Following the exchange on preparedness measures, ministers concluded that, despite recent developments and in particular the cut of Russian gas flows via Nordstream I, Europe is prepared for this winter, according to an announcement by the European Council.

EU countries are working together to address high prices and secure energy supplies for Europeans, who are experiencing an unprecedented energy crisis in the wake of the Ukraine war. During the Energy Council held on Friday, EU energy ministers discussed measures to mitigate high energy prices, and EU and national actions to prepare for winter.

The main goals of the EUs response to the energy crisis are to ensure affordable and competitive energy for EU consumers; increase the EUs energy security and preparedness in the event of emergencies; and strengthen the energy resilience and autonomy of EU countries.

To this end, EU countries are working together on reducing the EUs energy dependencies by diversifying energy sources and supplies; securing gas supplies while cutting demand for gas; and accelerating the transition to clean energy.

The 27 EU member states have jointly decided to phase out the EUs dependency on Russian fossil fuels, in the light of Russias invasion of Ukraine and of the EUs climate goals for 2050. With the Versailles Declaration adopted at the meeting in March, leaders agreed to progressively cut imports from Russia by reducing the overall reliance on fossil fuels; diversifying energy supplies and routes, including for liquefied natural gas (LNG); speeding up the development of renewables and hydrogen; improving interconnections between EU energy networks; and increasing energy efficiency.

In 2020, more than half of the total energy available in the EU came from imports, with Russia as the main supplier of fossil fuels to the EU. Reducing the EUs dependency on Russian fuels is key to strengthening the EUs energy resilience and autonomy, especially in the event of energy shortages, and provides an opportunity to accelerate the shift towards renewable energy sources.

In response to the leaders call for a plan to implement their decision on Russian imports, the Commission presented the REPowerEU plan in May 2022. Under the plan, the EU has established the voluntary EU Energy Platform, which supports coordinated common purchases of energy for all EU countries and some European partners.

New agreements on energy supply have been reached with international partners. The United States and Canada have increased deliveries of LNG to the EU; Norway is providing more gas; a memorandum of understanding for increasing gas deliveries was signed with Azerbaijan; and new deliveries are planned from Israel and Egypt.

As gas supply deliveries become less predictable  with Russia stopping delivery to several EU countries, the Council took urgent measures to secure supply of gas for the winter and cut gas demand in the EU, the Council said elaborating on the EU member nations agenda to secure gas supply.

In June 2022, the Council adopted a new regulation on gas storage which aims to ensure storage facilities are filled before the cold season: underground gas storage on member states territory must be filled to at least 80 per cent of their capacity by 1 November 2022 and to 90 per cent by the subsequent winters.

The new rules also establish solidarity arrangements between member states to help those countries that do not have storage facilities on their territory. These countries should store 15 per cent of their annual domestic gas consumption in stocks located in another member state.

By the beginning of September 2022, most EU countries had managed to store the required level of gas in their reserves, with the EU average being 82.5 per cent.

On 5 August 2022, EU countries agreed to reduce the overall gas demand in the EU by 15 per cent in the period between August 2022 and March 2023. Under the new rules, EU countries agreed to take measures  defined at national level  to cut demand in gas for a specified period.

As for accelerating the green transition, EU countries are committed to the goals of the European Green Deal to cut EU greenhouse gas emissions and achieve climate neutrality in the EU by 2050. This requires an overhaul of the EUs energy system and the replacement of fossil fuels by cleaner forms of energy.

The green transition will lead the EU towards lower reliance on fossil fuels; reduced energy dependencies; and a cleaner environment and improved health.

Renewables are key to the energy transition. They are the cheapest and cleanest form of energy available and can be used to generate energy within the EU, helping reduce dependence on energy imports.

In June 2022, EU countries agreed a Council position (general approach) on the Fit for 55 package  the EUs plan to convert the European Green Deal goals into EU law. New rules, which are currently under negotiation with the European Parliament, will speed up the availability of alternative renewable energy sources and support energy efficiency.

At national level, EU countries are taking measures to provide relief to citizens and businesses facing higher bills for energy use, partly following the EUs guidelines from the energy prices toolbox presented by the Commission in October 2021 and the EU state aid temporary crisis framework.

Factors that have contributed to the rise in prices since 2021 include the unprecedented increase in gas prices on the global markets (more than 170 per cent increase in 2021) and in the EU (more than 150 per cent increase between July 2021 and July 2022); extreme climate conditions, including summer heatwaves across Europe which push up energy demand for cooling and add pressure on electricity generation; increased demand for liquefied natural gas and a consequent spike in its price; greater consumption of gas in Asia due to the economic recovery; and recent scarcity of nuclear and hydropower electricity generation, partly as linked to climate conditions.

During 2022, Russia has unilaterally decided to stop gas supply to several EU countries which has increased uncertainty of supplies and also pushed up the price of gas to a record high. Skyrocketing gas prices have caused a steep increase in electricity prices, due to the current functioning of the EU energy market.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)
the non-profit apex industry body from India organised the India Networking Programme at Uzbekistan coinciding with CAITME on September 8, 2022. This networking programme was held with the purpose of highlighting the strengths and opportunities offered by India, home to 2largest textile market in the world, and invite business delegation from Uzbekistan to India, a textile machinery and accessory exhibition hosted in India every once in 4 years. It will be held from December 8-13, 2022, at IEML, Greater Noida, India.

India ITME is one business event where export promotion councils, trade promotion departments, research institutes representing 22 chapters of textile segment come together to interact, explore and expand business networks. India ITME is the single platform where all stalwarts of textile industries come together along with financial institutions, policy makers and government officials, making it the best and ideal forum for catapulting textile business efficiently and competently globally.

This year, the exhibition is expanded to include end to end solution for fibre to end products and complete sourcing solutions and latest technology. India ITME Society has invested significantly over the past several years to bolster its capabilities in helping the textile industry clients in their B2B transformation initiatives and now has already started working on buyers sellers meet and technology workshops and seminars useful for the future growth of the textile Industry, the Indian ITME Society said in a media release.

India ITME Society, the non-profit apex industry body, is inviting business delegation to 'India ITME 2022', the textile machinery and accessory exhibition hosted in India every once in 4 years, will be held from December 8-13 at Greater Noida, India. Recently, India ITME Society organised 'India Networking Programme' in Uzbekistan coinciding with CAITME.

India ITME 2022 ensures optimum experience and value addition for its exhibitors and visitors with the interactive and focused sessions on enthralling topics by renowned speakers and industry stalwarts on practical topics which is the need of the hour. It is the best opportunity to discover new knowledge and discuss with experts doing ground-breaking work in the textile and textile engineering industry vertical.

Uzbekistan and India have the potential to experience flourishing growth. Uzbekistan, strategically located in the heart of central Asia, is the 6th largest cotton producer. Cotton contributes 68 per cent to the countrys export of fibre which was recorded to be $2.66 billion in 2021. Once upon a time, it was the 3rd largest exporter of cotton. Development of the sector started with units built up for processing 706 thousand tons of cotton fibre and thereby producing fabric in the range of 510 million square meters of fabrics coming from 89 units producing knitted fabric, and 495 enterprises for finished knitwear. Foreign investments are huge in the country with around 300 textile companies established through foreign investment from China, South Korea, Russia, India, Singapore, Germany, Switzerland, and others.

The countrys exports of textile were higher vis-a-vis its imports in 2021. Its exports in overall textiles and apparel are increasing at a CAGR of 18 per cent. The country majorly imports manmade fibres alone contributing 95 per cent to the total imports worth $0.37 billion in FY21. Having a well-developed spinning segment, the country exported $32.53 billion in FY21. The fabric exports were $8.06 billion in the same year.

In 2018, Uzbekistan recorded imports worth $710.38 million and in FY21 imports worth $474.46 million with spinning having a major share constituting 36 per cent followed by processing and garmenting machinery having a share of 19 per cent and 14 per cent respectively. Today the countrys textile machinery imports are majorly being imported from China. But India is one of the lookout countries for advanced engineering solutions. Uzbekistan India strategic alliance can aid in the best sourcing of spinning and other allied machinery into Uzbekistan that will uplift and advance Uzbekistan's growth further and creates its name not just as a producer for textiles but as a strong spinner. The spinning sector which is currently accountable for more than 1.6 million spinning spindles will further increase and through channel partners in India, the current statistics of having 100 thousand chambers can also further increase. The garmenting machinery range and weaving machinery from India can also develop new brands to come into the country as well as increase their woven fabric production, the release added.

With the dynamics of youth and urbanization in Uzbekistan combined with Indias brand image and strong engineering background, a strategic partnership by mapping the skillset of both countries will bring prosperity to both countries. Both India and Uzbekistan having the strength and rich heritage in cotton will only benefit from one another.

India ITME 2022 is being held at World class venue IEML Greater Noida, a well-designed Exhibition Venue in the National Capital Region and one of the largest in India spread across 235,000 square metre area.

India ITME 2022 is expected to host more than 1500 exhibitors from Austria, Belgium, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States of America in 22 Chapters with over 1,50,000 visitors over the 6-day period. This is a once in a 4-year opportunity to view 1500+ live machineries from across the world on display from 22 chapters and meet agents, dealers, government officials on one platform years making India ITME 2022 the apex B2B event in the textile and textile engineering industry in the whole of Southeast Asian region.

India ITME 2022 strives to assimilate and disseminate more knowledge and power for industry through the futuristic technology topics at the conference sessions and planned B2B meetings with visiting foreign delegates + business visitors.

S Hari Shankar, chairman, India ITME Society, has formally extended an invitation to India ITME 2022 in December to Explore the Soul of Textiles. He has also encouraged an official delegation from Uzbekistan, that could mark the beginning of a stronger bilateral trade and investment activities in the textile sector between India and Uzbekistan.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RR)
There are indications of changing global textile industry dynamics on ground due to the coming into effect of the US ban on cotton from Xinjiang region. It is because international brands are able to monitor and implement total and effective ban on cotton produced in Xinjiang region using latest technologies like blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI).

Several companies like TrusTrace, SupplyShift and TextileGenesis have developed technologies that use blockchain and AI to trace supply chains for fashion labels. Brands can use the platforms provided by these companies to feed all their purchase orders and certifications. Industry sources indicated that brands need to show a complete digital chain of custody to prove conclusively an absence of Xinjiang cotton. If a brand is fully in control of its supply from the farm onwards, it will not be impossible to trace a gene by using the latest technologies.

An industry expert told Fibre2Fashion, US authorities have complete information regarding genes of Xinjian produced cotton. Technology has made is easier to trace the gene in the entire value chain. He said that if an exporter purchases yarn from any country, and if the raw material i.e., cotton of a particular lot of yarn is originated from Xinjiang region, then the original gene is very much traceable. By using blockchain and AI, technology companies can conclusively prove that a particular lot of yarn or garment is made from cotton produced in Xinjian region of China or not.

There are indications of changing global textile industry dynamics on ground due to the coming into effect of the US ban on cotton from Xinjiang region. It is because international brands are able to monitor and implement total and effective ban on cotton produced in Xinjiang region using latest technologies like blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI).

Industry sources said that there is a feeling of uneasiness among exporters who use raw materials imported from various countries. If the gene of Xinjiang region is found in end products at US ports, the authorities will fine heavily. Therefore, a number of technology companies have geared up to provide services to garments brands present in the US market. These brands trace the entire value chain with the help of technology companies. These brands import garments from various exporting countries, and hence they have to monitor supplies not only from China but also from other countries, because exporters can use raw materials imported from any other country.

The ban on Chinese cotton has already influenced cotton prices. Chinese cotton is losing ground due to slower demand. While export of fabrics, yarn and cotton produced in other countries is growing. So, there is a high possibility that the global textile value chain may undergo a paradigm shift due to this development.

With 24.73 per cent share, China was the largest garment supplier to the US in 2021. According to Fibre2Fashions market insight tool TexPro, Vietnam (17.26 per cent), Bangladesh (8.33 per cent), India (5.11 per cent) and Indonesia (4.04 per cent) were the next four largest suppliers to the US. However, Chinas share reduced to 20.90 per cent in the US total apparel import of $49.755 billion during the first half 2022. On the other hand, the share of the next four apparel supplying countries increased during the period. The share of Vietnam rose to 18.28 per cent, Bangladesh 9.65 per cent, India 6.47 per cent, and Indonesia 6.07 per cent. Thus, the declining share of China in US apparel imports is resulting in an increase in the share of other Asian countries, indicating a dynamic shift in global textile production and trade.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)


Mrs Chanunpat Pisanapipong, Trade Commissioner & Consul, DITP, Ministry of Commerce, Royal Thai Government; Sunny Tan, member of the Legislative Council of the HKSAR; Shirley Chan, Council Member, HKTDC; Dr Peter K N Lam, Chairman; Paul Chan, Financial Secretary of HKSAR; Margaret Fong, Executive Director, HKTDC; Katherine Fang, Chairman, HKTDC Garment Advisory Committee; Hong Kong designers Derek Chan and Mite Chan, founder of DEMO [L-R]

HONG KONG, Sept 10, 2022 - (ACN Newswire) - Organised by Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), CENTRESTAGE, which runs from 9 to 11 September, kicked off yesterday at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC). The spotlight opening gala show, CENTRESTAGE ELITES, was held last night (9 September), bringing together DEMO, the acclaimed brand of Hong Kong designers Derek Chan and Mite Chan, and Children of the discordance, the label founded by renowned Japanese designer Hideaki Shikama. The two brands showcased their spring/summer 2023 collections in the joint fashion show.CENTRESTAGE is Asia's premier fashion event, offering a promotional platform for fashion brands and designers from Hong Kong and around the world to showcase their talent. Last night's gala drew an impressive attendance of industry insiders, celebrities and fashionistas including Joyce Cheng, Alfred Hui, Jay Fung, Kenny Kwan, Tim@Dear Jane, Dickson Yu, Jude Tsang, Det Dik and more. Louise Wong, winner of the Hong Kong Film Award for Best New Performer, was the star model at the event, strutting down the runway in DEMO's latest collection.CENTRESTAGE, which closes tomorrow (Sunday), features more than 240 participating brands from 15 countries and regions. The fair welcomes fashion buyers and other industry participants as well as the general public. Across the three days of the fair, attendees can participate in 30 events, including fashion shows, fashion summits, workshops and lucky draw sessions.Fair detailsDate: 9 to 11 September 2022 (Friday to Sunday)Venue: Hall 1A-D, HKCECDate: 9 Sept (Fri) 10am-7pm; 10-11 Sept (Sat-Sun) 10am-6pmFree admission for trade and public visitorsWebsites:- CENTRESTAGE: www.centrestage.com.hk- CENETRESTAGE pre-registration link: https://bit.ly/3QNzd7M- Fashion Hong Kong: https://www.fashionhongkong.com.hk/en- Hong Kong Young Fashion Designers' Contest (YDC): www.fashionally.com- CENTRESTAGE in Town: https://centrestage.hktdc.com/ex/centrestageintown/en- Photo download: https://bit.ly/3qxRSt6About HKTDCThe Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body established in 1966 to promote, assist and develop Hong Kong's trade. With 50 offices globally, including 13 in Mainland China, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a two-way global investment and business hub. The HKTDC organises international exhibitions, conferences and business missions to create business opportunities for companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in the mainland and international markets. The HKTDC also provides up-to-date market insights and product information via research reports and digital news channels. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com/aboutus. Follow us on Twitter @hktdc and LinkedIn.Media enquiriesFor more information, please contact Raconteur:Molisa Lau, Tel: +852 6187 7786, Email: molisalau@raconteur.hkBetsy Tse, Tel: +852 9742 7338, Email: betsytse@raconteur.hkPlease contact the HKTDC's Communication & Public Affairs Department:Snowy Chan, Tel: +852 2584 4537, Email: snowy.sn.chan@hktdc.orgAgnes Wat, Tel: +852 2584 4554, Email: agnes.ky.wat@hktdc.orgSource: HKTDCCopyright 2022 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.


IndoVac Covid-19 vaccine in production at PT Bio Farma's facilities near Bandung, Indonesia (Image: PT Bio Farma)

BANDUNG, INDONESIA, Sept 12, 2022 - (ACN Newswire) - PT Bio Farma, the holding company for state-owned pharmaceutical companies in Indonesia, announced a new milestone in manufacturing IndoVac, its Covid-19 vaccines brand, which includes primary series vaccines, booster vaccines and vaccines for children, in development since November 2021.Honesti Baasyir, President Director of Bio Farma, said the company collaborated with Baylor College of Medicine, a private, independent health sciences centre in Houston, Texas to develop IndoVac, a recombinant protein subunit vaccine produced from yeast.According to Honesti, "IndoVac uses vaccine technology platforms which are compatible with our equipment and facilities. The technology platforms for protein recombinant vaccines also offer other benefits; they can be adapted to new strains of Covid-19."Results from primary series Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials show that IndoVac vaccines offer quality safety and efficacy, no less competitive than other Covid-19 vaccines. Now we are completing documentation to wrap up Phase 3."Honesti said Bio Farma has had intense communication with the Indonesian Food and Drug Administration (BPOM) since July to provide necessary Phase 3 primary series data, so the BPOM can release an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) permit for the vaccine. The EUA is the permit for medical supplies, including vaccines and medications, used during a public health emergency.In Indonesia, BPOM plays the key role as a regulatory gatekeeper of medicines and vaccines used in the country. BPOM's head Penny K. Lukito, during a hearing at the Indonesian House of Representatives, said that the regulator expects to release the EUA for IndoVac's primary series vaccines in mid-September.Shariah ComplianceBio Farma has also processed the Halal (or Shariah compliant) certification for IndoVac's primary series vaccine. The vaccine has passed an audit by The Indonesian Ulema Council Food and Drug Analysis Agency (LPPOM MUI), which reviews the halal aspect of a product. The certificate from the Halal Certification Agency (BPJPH) of the Religious Affairs Ministry is expected to be released soon after the BPOM EUA for IndoVac.After securing all the necessary permits, Bio Farma will be ready to move on to the next stage, mass production of the vaccine. Bio Farma plans to produce an initial 20 million doses of primary series vaccine this year, which will be further increased to 40 million doses in 2023, as the company expands its production facilities. In 2024, production may further increase to 100 million doses per year, depending on demand and the market.Booster Vaccine and Vaccine for ChildrenBio Farma also started clinical trials for its booster vaccine on September 1. Bio Farma conducted the trials for its booster vaccine at Hasan Sadikin General Hospital in Bandung (Faculty of Medicine, Padjajaran University) and Dr I.G.N.G Ngoerah General Hospital in Bali (Children's Health Sciences Dept, Udayana University). Trials involved 900 subjects aged 8 and above to test the booster vaccines. Next, the company plans to conduct clinical trials for children, following registration with the BPOM.All Covid-19 vaccines made by Bio Farma, including the primary series vaccines, booster vaccines and vaccines for children, will be labelled IndoVac. Bio Farma started the process of registering IndoVac as a brand name for Covid-19 vaccines at the Directorate General of Intellectual Property (DGIP) of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights on July 29.President Joko Widodo gave the IndoVac name to the vaccine. "We are in the process of securing it. Should no-one object at this level, we will proceed to the next stage until we secure an IndoVac trade licence and patent from the ministry, as a product of Bio Farma," Honesti said.Made-in-Indonesia VaccinesHonesti said IndoVac is special, as one of the few made-in-Indonesia vaccine products, developed and manufactured for the nation's children. Bio Farma handles the manufacturing process from upstream to downstream. The locally sourced content in the IndoVac vaccines, according to Bio Farma, will be around 80%."This is a step closer to achieving independence in the health sector. With such a high proportion of local content, we expect to help reduce the nation's dependency on imported vaccines," Honesti said.Bio Farma hopes to capture the export market with its IndoVac vaccines. "We will not only produce them to meet domestic needs, but for the supply of global markets," said Honesti. "We registered for EUL with the World Health Organization (WHO), so the vaccine can be used in other countries through Covax Facility multilateral procurement. (The EUL assesses and lists vaccines during emergencies in non-vaccine-producing countries.)"With our Covid-19 vaccines, we hope to contribute to the health industry, not just in Indonesia, but in the world," said Honesti.For Bio Farma, it is not the first experience with clinical trials, having conducted more than 30 clinical trials (including Covid-19) in Indonesia. Bio Farma also has experience in conducting clinical trials overseas for Pentabio and Novel Oral Polio Vaccine type 2 (nOPV2).Bio Farma's Success in Polio VaccineHonesti said apart from the Covid-19 primary series vaccines, Bio Farma previously secured EUA from BPOM and EUL from WHO for its novel Oral Polio Vaccine type 2 (nOPV2). As Indonesia hasn't had any polio outbreaks since 2014, it never used nOPV2. However, the Bio Farma-manufactured vaccine was used by countries in Africa, Europe and the Middle East.Among the countries in Africa that have used Bio Farma's nOPV2's vaccine are Algeria, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, and Uganda. In Europe, the vaccine was used in Ukraine and in the Middle East, it was used in Israel, Egypt, Somalia and Yemen.In manufacturing the nOPV2 vaccine, Bio Farma collaborated with world-class institutions like Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), PATH and the WHO. Bio Farma has since become the main supplier of polio vaccines in the world, and currently contributes 67 percent to the global supply of polio vaccines. It distributes the vaccines via bilateral or multilateral means (through UNICEF).Bio Farma's Laboratories have been internationally acknowledged as reference labs to check samples of polio viruses, while Bio Farma's success in producing and exporting nOPV2 vaccines shows the Indonesian state-owned company contributing to the world's health sector, apart from providing the necessary polio vaccine for domestic use at home in Indonesia.Media Contact:R. Rifa HerdianPT Bio Farma (Persero)Corporate Secretary & Investor RelationsTel: +62-81-2542-8844Email: rifaherdian@biofarma.co.idSource: PT Bio Farma (Persero)Copyright 2022 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
A sovereign Russian internet could lead to cyber criminal safe havens, greater confidence that large-scale attacks can be carried out without consequences, and intelligence blindspots, according to a new report published today by cyber risk analytics expert CyberCube.

The research "Ukraine Cyber War Update: Spotlight on activity six months later" examines the dramatic rise in the use of wiper malware by Russian threat actors. Unlike ransomware, it has no financial element but is designed to destroy data and systems. At the same time, Russia is focusing on deploying a completely independent, isolated, totalitarian internet network.

William Altman, CyberCube's Principal Cyber Security Consultant, said: "A Russian sovereign internet has several potential implications for cyber activity. Rival nations will find it more difficult to acquire cyber threat intelligence on threat actors operating from inside Russia, and might resort to more drastic measures to achieve this goal, potentially causing collateral damage. Furthermore, there is a potential for future "collaboration" between Russian, North Korean and Chinese internets, which would increase threat actors' ability to launch attacks."

The report looks at how in the six months following Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, cyber warfare has been an important tool for assisting physical activity on the ground. It notes:

Russia is using ransomware gangs to undermine the US economy while avoiding direct war with the US. European energy companies that are being targeted for strategic value.

Russian actors are targeting governments outside of Ukraine. This is intended to gather intelligence on Western allies assisting Ukraine's war effort.

Ransomware threat actors are today focussing their efforts more on Russia than on other parts of the world.

Forward-looking (re)insurers are starting to adopt a threat-modeling approach to portfolio risk management. Reinsurers should look across their portfolios for indications that certain companies may be susceptible to different threat actors.

The report also looks at Lloyd's recent requirement that all standalone cyber attack policies must exclude liability for losses arising from state-backed attacks.

Yvette Essen, CyberCube's Head of Content, said: "CyberCube believes this mandate will help reduce uncertainty and enable more insurers to participate with confidence, based on a clearer understanding of what is covered, and what is excluded."

"Ukraine Cyber War Update: Spotlight on activity six months later" can be found here.

ENDS

CyberCube delivers the world's leading analytics to quantify cyber risk for the insurance industry. With best-in-class data access and advanced multi-disciplinary analytics, the company's cloud-based platform helps insurance organizations make better decisions when placing insurance, underwriting cyber risk and managing cyber risk aggregation. CyberCube's enterprise intelligence layer provides insights on millions of companies and includes modeling on thousands of points of technology failure.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220911005010/en/

Contacts:

Yvette Essen

Head of Content Communications

yvettee@cybcube.com
HSINCHU, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Brain Navi, the leading surgical robot manufacture in Taiwan, announced a strategic partnership with distributor, Medtreq Medical Equipment, to expand the distribution of the Surgical Navigation Robot, NaoTrac, throughout the region of GCC region, Jordan, Egypt plus other countries in the Middle East and Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore which will be covered by Medtreq branch in Philippines.





NaoTrac, a CE-certified and local government approval neurosurgical navigation robot from Brain Navi Biotechnology, is embedding dissimilar technology named SMART Technology which combining the machine vision and in-house algorithm to perform robot-assisted surgery, to streamline surgical procedures with real-time imaging and minimal invasive outcomes.

"We are always scouting for the new technology to help as many people as we can. We have many neurosurgeons coming from Riyadh and some other territories keening and willing to learn more about this technology, and the NaoTrac from Brain Navi is one of them. We are always happy to partner with an innovative technology company," said Sherif Bayoumy, the General Manager of Medtreq Medical Equipment.

The collaboration and partnership between Brain Navi and Medtreq enables greater innovative outcome in the Middle East neurosurgery, such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Jordan, and some of the other countries on progressing, to streamline the surgical procedure, improve the surgical accuracy and pass-on knowledge to shorten the learning curves. "We seek strategic partners that can accelerate Brain Navi's growth mission. This partnership is a significant step toward scaling our business and getting more robot-assisted neurosurgery into the world," said Jerry Chen, the CEO of Brian Navi Biotechnology. "The collaboration between Metreq and Brain Navi is looking positive because we share the same mission to innovate with technology to make the life bright. We truly believe that the collaboration between Brain Navi and Medtreq can maximum the value of both sides to bring the neurosurgery to the next level."

About Metreq Medical Equipment Bahrain

Medtreq Medical Equipment provides professional technical support and after-service to clients in the MENA region with a presence in Bahrain and GCC, Egypt, North Africa, Turkey, Europe, the United States (Medtreq Tenessee USA), and the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Medtreq is built on high values, principles, and social commitment to society and humanity.

About Brain Navi

Brain Navi Biotechnology is a leading Taiwanese surgical robotic company. We design and develop innovative navigation and robotic surgery technologies for surgeons to improve surgical accuracy. Brain Navi's exclusive Surface Mapping Auto-registration Technology (SMART) is a significant surgical robotic breakthrough that merges machine vision, robotics, and AI technology to achieve streamlined surgical procedures with real-time imaging and minimal invasive outcomes.





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TOKYO, Sept 12, 2022 - (JCN Newswire) - Eisai Co., Ltd. announced today results from a post hoc analysis of three randomized, pivotal, Phase 3 studies (EMBRACE trial/Study 305, Study 301 and Study304) evaluating the efficacy of eribulin mesylate (marketed as HALAVEN) versus other chemotherapies (Treatment of Physician's Choice [TPC], capecitabine, and vinorelbine, respectively) in patients living with metastatic breast cancer (mBC) whose tumors have low or no HER2 expression. These data were presented as a poster (Presentation: #259P) at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Annual Meeting (ESMO22), held virtually and in-person in Paris, France from September 9-13, 2022.The HER2-low breast cancer subtype is a newly defined subset consisting of tumors that would have previously been considered HER2-negative based on an immunohistochemistry (IHC) assay and an in situ hybridization (ISH) assay. HER2-low tumors express low amounts of the HER2 protein, but not enough to be considered HER2-positive. HER2-low is defined as an IHC of 1+ or 2 with a negative ISH. Of the approximate 288,000 new cases of female breast cancer expected to be diagnosed in the U.S. in 2022,(1) it is estimated that approximately 80-85% of patients would previously have been considered to have the HER2-negative subtype. Of those patients, about 60% would now be considered to have the HER2-low subtype.(2)"In this post-hoc analysis, the outcomes seen in mBC patients whose tumors are considered HER2-low are consistent with the results of the three pivotal Phase 3 clinical trials," said Dr. Takashi Owa, Chief Scientific Officer, Senior Vice President, Eisai Co., Ltd. "As the oncology community's understanding of mBC continues to evolve, it's important that we continue to evaluate the role of existing therapies in new contexts to contribute to the body of knowledge that is available to health care professionals."(1) National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute website, "Cancer Stat Facts: Female Breast Cancer": https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/breast.html(2) U.S. FOOD & DRUG ADMINISTRATION website, "FDA Approves First Targeted Therapy for HER2-Low Breast Cancer": bit.ly/3xc0N7qFor more information, visit www.eisai.com/news/2022/pdf/enews202266pdf.pdf.Media Inquiries:Public Relations DepartmentEisai Co., Ltd.+81-(0)3-3817-5120Source: EisaiCopyright 2022 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.
LONDON (dpa-AFX) - AstraZeneca (AZN.L, AZN) and Daiichi Sankyo's Enhertu (fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki) demonstrated clinically meaningful tumor responses in previously-treated patients with HER2-mutant (HER2m) unresectable and/or metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer or NSCLC, as per a DESTINY-Lung02 Phase II trial results. Enhertu is a specifically engineered HER2-directed antibody drug conjugate (ADC) being jointly developed and commercialized by AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo. At a pre-specified interim analysis of DESTINY-Lung02, patients receiving ENHERTU at a dose of 5.4mg/kg or 6.4mg/kg demonstrated clinically meaningful activity. The safety profile for both doses was also consistent with the overall safety profile of ENHERTU, with the 5.4mg/kg dose demonstrating a favorable safety profile in the patient population. A confirmed objective response rate (ORR) of 53.8% and 42.9% was seen in the 5.4mg/kg and 6.4mg/kg arms respectively, as assessed by blinded independent central review (BICR). One complete response (CR) was observed in each arm (5.4mg/kg: 1.9%, 6.4mg/kg: 3.6%), with 27 (51.9%) partial responses (PR) observed in the 5.4mg/kg arm and 11 (39.3%) PRs observed in the 6.4mg/kg arm. Updated results from the DESTINY-Lung01 Phase II trial, which evaluated ENHERTU in HER2m (cohort 2) or HER2-over-expressing (cohort 1 and cohort 1a) NSCLC, showed that ENHERTU continues to demonstrate consistent efficacy, safety and survival with longer follow-up. The overall safety profile of ENHERTU in DESTINY-Lung01 was consistent with previous data, with no new safety signals identified with the longer follow-up. In the HER2m NSCLC patient cohort, there was one additional case of treatment-related ILD or pneumonitis observed, as determined by an independent adjudication committee. For More Such Health News, visit rttnews.com. Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Distinguished life sciences expert takes up leadership of global team helping to transform the lives of patients through the best scientific, management and leadership talent

London, UK, Sept. 11, 2022has been named Global Practice Leader, Healthcare & Life Sciences. He is based in London, UK.

"Nick has always demonstrated strong leadership, both in client engagements and with colleagues worldwide," commented Trina D. Gordon, President & CEO, Boyden. "His specialist knowledge, consulting capabilities and collegiality enables exceptional outcomes for our clients. He will further develop the strong reputation of our expert teams as we strive to support these communities in their remarkable work."

Nick leads a global team with an extensive track record in biotech, healthcare providers, healthcare technology, pharma and medtech, providing executive search, leadership consultingand interim managementto global clients. Boyden's collaborative culture enables cross-sector teaming, particularly between medtech and biotech consultants and private equity & venture capitalexperts.

"There is a wealth of expertise at Boyden and a commitment to achieving the best results for every client through collaborative teams," comments Nick Bellwood, Partner and Global Practice Leader, Healthcare & Life Sciences. "Our client relationships are strengthened by blending cultural sensitivity and client knowledge with the very best subject matter experts we have across our global footprint. Our industry is increasingly specialized, and we work closely with innovation hubs where medical breakthroughs are transforming patient outcomes."

Nick Bellwood joined Boyden as a Partner, bringing 20 years' experience and a distinguished executive search career in life science innovation, helping clients to acquire Chief Scientific Officers and Chief Medical Officers as well as global functional leaders. He has additional expertise in advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) and devices and diagnostics. He delivers leadership consulting, evaluation and development programmes to clients, as well as executive search and interim management solutions.

Boyden's healthcare and life sciences practice adheres strongly to the firm's commitment to diversity and extending opportunity to under-represented talent, through high-level workshops, the Aleto Foundationin the UK, and other community programmes.

About Boyden

Boyden is a premier leadership and talent advisory firm with more than 75 offices in over 45 countries. Our global reach enables us to serve client needs anywhere they conduct business. We connect great companies with great leaders through executive search, interim management and leadership consulting solutions. Boyden is ranked amongst the top companies on Forbes' Americas Best Executive Recruiting Firms for 2021. For further information, visit www.boyden.com.

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LONDON, Sept. 12, 2022, a global leader in IT training and certified provider of Salesforce training, today announced its acquisition of Focus on Force, a company specialising in training and certifications across the Salesforce ecosystem.

The acquisition will help K2 Universityaccelerate its strategy to help create the talent and skills required to address the global shortage of Salesforce professionals needed by 2026, according to the latest study by IDC.

The partnership will bolster K2 University's global training program for companies, IT professionals, graduates and people looking to upskill and reskill to take advantage of the growing demand for IT talent. It will give them access to Focus on Force's market-leading library of training materials, exam questions and online courses.

The partnership will also provide customers of Focus on Force with a hugely expanded range of certified global training programs.

The acquisition is K2's seventh since December 2020 and expands K2 University's footprint in the Salesforce training and certification space.

Commenting on the deal, Wahridj Gergian, Managing Director of K2 University, said: "K2 University is delighted to welcome Focus on Force to the K2 group of companies. This collaboration means we can continue to reinforce our position as a developer of talent across the Salesforce ecosystem as well as providing Focus on Force's community an enviable range of training solutions that continue to help people and companies thrive in an era of technical innovation."

Martin Gessner, Founder of Focus on Force, said: "This is an amazing opportunity for the customers of Focus on Force, the people that are part of the business and the experts that support us to deliver great knowledge and insight. We will be able to do more of what our customers love: providing high-quality Salesforce training. Joining forces with K2 University will provide us the opportunity to expand the breadth and type of training we can provide to assist everyone from those entering the Salesforce community to experienced professionals. It gives us the network, infrastructure and support we need to be able to take that next big step in our growth, and we couldn't be more excited about what the future holds".

As a global leader in technology training, K2 University specialises in helping companies develop the technological talent they need to meet their immediate and long-term technology ambitions, and since 2016 has developed a reputation as a key upskilling and reskilling partner for companies and talent around the world.

ENDS

About K2 Partnering Solutions

K2 University is part of K2 Partnering Solutions, which helps leading corporate enterprises develop, implement and operate critical IT and business solutions through its integrated end-to-end offering of professional staffing, IT solutions, education and human cloud communities.

Focus on Force

Focus on Force is a market-leading online platform supporting learning and certifications in the Salesforce ecosystem. Since its launch in 2014, Focus on Force has served more than 100,000 individuals and built an A-list network of corporate clients with some of the largest names in consulting, banking and accounting.

For more information, please email info@k2partnering.com

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OTTAWA, ON, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Overall favourability of Greece continues an upward trend with three in ten Canadians (29%) and over four in ten Americans (43%) saying they have a favourable impression of Greece overall, which is an all-time high since tracking began in 2013.

Nanos Research has been tracking the Greek brand in the United States and Canada since 2013.

Additionally, there has been improvement with the perception of Greece as a safe place to travel which saw the biggest gains since 2013 for Canadians (mean score of 6.8 out of ten, up from 5.4 in 2013) and Americans (mean score of 7.0 out of ten, up from 6.4 in 2013). Perceptions of Greece as a NATO ally also saw positive gains among Canadians (mean of 7.0, up from 6.0 in 2013). "We are seeing a longer-term positive trend where North Americans are increasingly favourable in their impressions of Greece," according to Chief Data Scientist Nik Nanos.

In the wake of the pandemic, the appetite for international travel in general continues to decline in North America but openness to visiting Greece remains strong.

"When it comes to travelling specifically to Greece for a vacation, both Canadians (62%) and Americans (66%) are open to it and Greece's scenery, natural beauty and history remain the top attractions for Canadians and Americans" added Nik Nanos.

About Nanos

Established in 1987, Nanos is a research firm which gathers world-class intelligence. Since 2013, the Team has been monitoring and tracking the Hellenic brand in Canada. The purpose of the initiative is to support the Republic and its important work advancing the reputation of Greece as a great place to visit, a dynamic place to invest and as an important NATO security partner.

About the Research

This project was initiated and is sponsored by Nanos Research with no expectation other than to share insight on the opportunities to make Greece stronger and is based on dual representative online samples of Canadians and Americans completed this summer.

To view the full report, the tabulations and methodology, please visit our website at nanos.co.

Contact: Nik Nanos, English Interviews, Chief Data Scientist, nik@nanos.co

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Acquisition of cloud-native payments technology firm to modernize infrastructure and create greater flexibility for the firm's merchant acquiring capabilities globally

J.P. Morgan (NYSE: JPM) announces today that it has signed an agreement to acquire Renovite Technologies, Inc. (Renovite), a leading cloud-native payments technology company.

The strategic acquisition of Renovite will help J.P. Morgan Payments build its next-generation merchant acquiring platform, bolster the firm's payments modernization strategy and support its journey to the cloud. Upon closing of the transaction, Renovite will become part of J.P. Morgan Payments, which combines corporate treasury services, trade finance, card and merchant services capabilities at the firm, delivering an integrated payments experience to clients across the economy.

"We are excited to acquire Renovite and accelerate our roadmap for helping our clients stay at the cutting-edge of payments innovation. This acquisition will help us achieve our goal to develop the next-generation payments processing platform globally," said Max Neukirchen, Global Head of Payments Commerce Solutions, J.P. Morgan.

Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Fremont, California, Renovite focuses on cloud-native technology. The company has built six proprietary, cloud-agnostic and payment token agnostic payments products to help their clients to optimize infrastructure, including switch, reconciliation, security, issuing, ATM and testing. Renovite also has a presence in India and the United Kingdom and has supplied services to J.P. Morgan since 2021.

"Renovite's mission is to provide modernized infrastructure in the cloud with the latest technology, agility and in-depth knowledge of the payments landscape," said Viren Rana, CEO founder, Renovite. "We are very proud of the team and the world-class payment technology that we've built and are excited to be part of J.P. Morgan Payments. This business is the natural home for our people and technology. We believe that the contemplated transaction will help us to realize our joint vision to deliver world-class payments capabilities globally through next-generation infrastructure for J.P. Morgan Payments clients."

"Renovite's cloud-native merchant acquiring capabilities are already helping us better serve our clients. As the Renovite platform integrates with J.P. Morgan Payments, merchant acquiring clients will be able to accept more methods of payments around the globe to help grow their business," said Mike Blandina, Global Head of Payments Technology, J.P. Morgan.

The acquisition of Renovite is further evidence of J.P. Morgan Payments' commitment to global clients by continuing to deliver resiliency and optimized infrastructure. This acquisition complements the firm's proposed strategic investment in Viva Wallet (subject to regulatory approvals) and the strategic partnership with Volkswagen Financial Services AG.

Final transaction execution is subject to customary closing conditions.

About J.P. Morgan's Corporate Investment Bank

J.P. Morgan's Corporate Investment Bank is a global leader across banking, markets and securities services. The world's most important corporations, governments and institutions entrust us with their business in more than 100 countries. With $29 trillion of assets under custody and $722 billion in deposits, the Corporate Investment Bank provides strategic advice, raises capital, manages risk and extends liquidity in markets around the world. Further information about J.P. Morgan is available at http://www.jpmorgan.com.

About Renovite Technologies, Inc.

Renovite was founded with the mission to develop and deliver the next generation of consumer payments solution for banks, processors, and merchants. Renovite recognizes that the aging payments infrastructure within many of the established payments providers is proving to be a costly and insurmountable barrier to the delivery of new innovative payments options. Renovite has developed an ultra-modern suite of payment solutions that can be easily integrated within legacy environments or as new platform deployments. These solutions are born from decades of experience in managing and delivering complex payments projects worldwide through a Continuous Delivery model. Renovite is headquartered in Fremont, California with offices in the UK and India.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220911005008/en/

Contacts:

Richard Hillary

Tel.: +44 (0) 20 7742 2309

Email: richard.hillary@jpmorgan.com
Amsterdam, September 12, 2022 - Arcadis, the leading global design & consultancy organization for natural and built assets, has agreed to acquire allof the shares of Giftge Consult GmbH, a leading consulting and engineering company for energy transition solutions in Germany.

With this acquisition, Arcadis will strengthen its position in the attractive and high growth energy transition sector, complementing services within its global Resilience business area. Giftge Consult GmbH is a company with 60 talented employees, 40 years of market experience, a strong reputation, and long-standing client relationships with the key German transport infrastructure and energy transmission system operators.

Giftge Consult's capabilities and services span the German energy and transport industry, notably in technical planning, asset management, construction engineering and infrastructure delivery for energy transmission grids. In addition, the company brings expertise that Arcadis can roll out and cross-sell internationally with its global client base, such as pipeline engineering, high voltage-direct current (HVDC) and hydrogen transmission, environmental permitting and digital surveying services. This will enable the delivery of more complex and diverse services in the areas of transmission grids and transport infrastructure planning and delivery in the future.

Peter Oosterveer, Global CEO, Arcadis commented:

"The supply of clean, green and reliable sources of energy are the issues of the hour across Europe, critical to our clients and communities alike and crucial to tackling the climate emergency. We're delighted to welcome the talented Giftge Consult team to the Arcadis family and see great opportunities to strengthen, scale and grow our energy transition solutions to clients not only in Germany but across our global operations."

Manuel Biebermann, Managing Director, Giftge Consult GmbH said:

"The complementary services and competencies will help us to serve our current customer base even better, to realize our common passion to improve the quality of life, and to be acknowledged as the best business in our field. The sale to Arcadis secures our future viability under the umbrella of a strong, innovative and forward-thinking global company."

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

ARCADIS CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS

Chris Wiggan

Mobile: +44 7966 404889

E-mail: chris.wiggan@arcadis.com

ARCADIS INVESTOR RELATIONS

Christine Disch

Mobile: +31 6 15 37 60 20

E-mail: christine.disch@arcadis.com

ABOUT ARCADIS

Arcadis is the leading global design & consultancy organization for natural and built assets. We maximize impact for our clients and the communities they serve by providing effective solutions through sustainable outcomes, focus and scale, and digitalization. We are 28,000 people, active in more than 70 countries that generate 3.3 billion in revenues. We support UN-Habitat with knowledge and expertise to improve the quality of life in rapidly growing cities around the world. www.arcadis.com

ABOUT GIFTGE CONSULT

Since its foundation in 1979, Giftge Consult GmbH has developed from a classical engineering office to a powerful consulting and engineering company. We strive to meet our customers' needs through safe, flexible and innovative project solutions. Because extraordinary projects require extraordinary expertise. This applies to both large and small contracts.

As engineering specialists for the fields of energy, rail, road and environment, we draw on decades of experience. As an independent engineering and consulting company, we have only one goal - sustainable and holistic project solutions for your requirements.

Attachment
BONN, Germany, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Scanbot SDK GmbH welcomed Dag Jessel as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). With more than 10 years of experience working as a Private Equity CFO/ Managing Director for several small and medium-sized businesses, Dag has now joined the leadership team at the software company in Bonn, Germany. Scanbot SDK focuses on mobile data extraction and has been growing rapidly during the last few years. For the road ahead, the company can count on Dag's expertise in finance, operations, and leadership.





"I am very happy to welcome such an experienced colleague at Scanbot SDK. Dag Jessel has shown repeatedly that he can strategically and operationally move a company forward. This will help us to create even more value for our customers and stakeholders. I am sure that he will support us extensively in our rapid growth and bring further momentum to our business", says Christoph Wagner, CEO at Scanbot SDK.

Dag, who graduated in aerospace engineering and holds an MBA from INSEAD, previously served as Managing Director and CFO at nox NachtExpress, a European B2B logistics company focused on transporting time-critical goods overnight. Prior to this, he held leading positions at the aviation industry supplier E.I.S. Aircraft, the electronics industry service provider Gardien, and the Lufthansa group, working both in Germany and abroad. At Lufthansa, he worked in managerial positions in the areas of engineering, operations, and mergers and acquisitions, before becoming Director of Finance & HR for North Asia. Thanks to his analytical way of thinking and his experience in leading international teams, he flourished in all these roles.

"With Scanbot SDK, I'm entering the software-as-a-service (SaaS) industry for the first time. The company convinced me with its vision to help consumers and employees digitize real-world information and make capturing data as easy, accurate, and fast as possible. I am looking forward to the new challenges and I am convinced that together we can even further accelerate the growth of Scanbot SDK", says Dag Jessel.

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Contact:

Niklas Kreck,

+49 (0)228 94800044




Presented during the ESMO Congress 2022, HER2DX ? predicts the response of trastuzumab, pertuzumab and letrozole in patients with HER2+ HR+ breast cancer.

This is the first study to show the ability of HER2DX ? to indicate response to trastuzumab and pertuzumab in the absence of chemotherapy.

These results endorse the value of HER2DX? in predicting response to anti-HER2-based treatments administered before surgery.

BARCELONA, Spain, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- REVEAL GENOMICS, S.L., a Barcelona-based biotechnology start-up seeking to revolutionize precision oncology through biomarker innovation, announced today another validation of HER2DX?, the world's first specialized genomic test for HER2+ breast cancer.





Prof. Valentina Guarneri from the University of Padova presented the data at the European Society of Medical Oncology Congress 2022 held in Paris, France. The data obtained from the analysis of tumor samples from the PerELISA phase II clinical trial showed that the HER2DX? pCR-score and the HER2DX? ERBB2-score predicted the probability of a patient responding to the triple-drug combination of trastuzumab, pertuzumab and letrozole, when given before surgery (i.e., the neoadjuvant setting). These findings in patients with newly diagnosed HER2+/hormone receptor positive (HER2+/HR+) breast cancer can help identify better who might benefit from dual HER2 blockade with trastuzumab and pertuzumab.

"This is the first study to show the ability of HER2DX? to predict response to trastuzumab and pertuzumab in the absence of chemotherapy. The performance of the test in PerELISA is remarkable and supports the predictive value of the test in the neoadjuvant setting", said Prof. Guarneri.

Dr. Aleix Prat, CSO of REVEAL GENOMICS?, added: "The ability of HER2DX? to predict response to trastuzumab-based neoadjuvant therapies has now been demonstrated in more than 590 patients across 5 studies. Our commitment is to keep providing patients and physicians with the highest level of test evidence to help them make the right treatment decision".

HER2DX? in the PerELISA trial

The PerELISA trial led by Prof. Valentina Guarneri and Prof. Pierfranco Conte, investigators from the University of Padova, evaluated the efficacy of a chemotherapy-free neoadjuvant regimen of trastuzumab and pertuzumab in 64 patients with HER2+/HR+ breast cancer. The results of the trial were published in 2019 in Annals of Oncology.

Patients recruited in PerELISA were first treated with 2-weeks of letrozole monotherapy and a tumor biopsy was performed. A relative decrease of Ki67 of more than 20% was observed in 44 (69%) patients; these patients continued in the trial and received trastuzumab, pertuzumab and letrozole for 5 cycles, after which surgery was performed. The overall response to this non-chemotherapy-based regimen, measured as the rate of pathological complete response (pCR), was observed in approximately 1 out of 5 patients.

HER2DX? was evaluated in pre-treatment baseline tumor samples from 55 patients. HER2DX? pCR score fairly accurately predicted the probability of responding to 2-weeks of letrozole monotherapy (AUC=0.780). In addition, in 40 patients who responded to letrozole and received 5 cycles of trastuzumab, pertuzumab and letrozole, HER2DX? pCR score and HER2DX? ERBB2-score predicted the probability of response with a good level of accuracy (AUC=0.80 and 0.90, respectively). The rates of pCR in HER2DX? pCR-high, -medium and -low groups were 100%, 46% and 8%, respectively. The rates of pCR in HER2DX? ERBB2-high, -medium and -low groups were 53%, 8% and 0%, respectively.

Results obtained in this new study endorse the value of HER2DX? in predicting response to anti-HER2-based treatments before surgery and supports the prospective incorporation of HER2DX? in dedicated trials focused on HER2+ breast cancer.

About HER2DX?

HER2DX? is the world's first diagnostic test formulated specifically for HER2+ breast cancer. Marketed by REVEAL GENOMICS? since January 2022, the HER2DX is a standardized 27-gene expression test for patients with early-stage HER2+ breast cancer.

HER2DX? is a prognostic and predictive assay based on clinical and genomic data. The test integrates clinical information (i.e., tumor size and nodal status) with biological information tracking immune response, luminal differentiation, tumor cell proliferation, and expression of the HER2 17q12-21 chromosomal amplicon, including the ERBB2 gene.

HER2DX? predicts:

Risk of relapse score (high vs. low): the risk of recurrence in patients with newly diagnosed HER2+ breast cancer.

(high vs. low): the risk of recurrence in patients with newly diagnosed HER2+ breast cancer. pCR likelihood score (high vs. medium vs. low): the likelihood of a patient responding to anti-HER2-based treatment before surgery.

(high vs. medium vs. low): the likelihood of a patient responding to anti-HER2-based treatment before surgery. ERBB2 score (high vs. medium vs. low): the quantitative expression of ERBB2 mRNA across HER2-negative, HER2-low and HER2+ breast cancer.

About HER2+ breast cancer

HER2+ breast cancer accounts for 20% of all diagnosed breast tumors. This represents more than 390,000 new cases diagnosed worldwide every year, meaning that, on average, 3 women are diagnosed with HER2+ breast cancer every 4 minutes. HER2+ breast cancer is clinically and biologically heterogeneous, and standard clinical-pathological assessment has proven insufficient in capturing this heterogeneity. Understanding this biological heterogeneity is key to identifying the prognosis of each patient and the benefit from systemic therapies that target HER2.

About this research collaboration

This study was led by investigators of the Translational Genomics and Targeted Therapeutics (TGTT) group at the Institut d'Investigacions Biomediques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS, Barcelona, Spain) and the University of Padova (Italy). The HER2DX? Research Use Only (RUO) test was performed at the TGTT laboratory.

About REVEAL GENOMICS?

REVEAL GENOMICS, S.L. is a biotechnology start-up seeking to change the way biomarkers are used in oncology. It is focused on developing innovative diagnostic tools to define the best therapeutic options for patients with cancer. The company uses pioneering techniques, sophisticated computer applications, and machine learning to reveal new cancer research data.

REVEAL GENOMICS, S.L. is a spin-off company of Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, IDIBAPS, the University of Barcelona (U.B.), and the Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO).

REVEAL GENOMICS and HER2DX are registered trademarks of REVEAL GENOMICS, S.L.

Web: www.reveal-genomics.com. Twitter: @revealgenomics

Further information: Adriana Herrera, aherrera@reveal-genomics.com

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Caroline Sasia joins Soitec's Executive Committee as Senior Vice President, Head of Communications & Chief of Staff to the CEO

Bernin (Grenoble), France, September 12, 2022 - Soitec (Euronext Paris), a world leader in the design and production of innovative semiconductor materials today announced the appointment of Caroline Sasia as Senior Vice President, Head of Communications & Chief of Staff to the CEO. In this role, she joins Soitec's Executive Committee.

The appointment of Caroline Sasia is part of Soitec's continuous effort to strengthen its organization around three divisions which was initiated at the beginning of the year to support the company's growth ambitions and meet the expectations of its different stakeholders.

With over 20 years of professional experience, Caroline Sasia has a strong expertise in designing and executing communications strategies in complex and dynamic international environments with a focus on high-tech, mobility, and sustainability sectors. Before joining Soitec Caroline spent most of her career at the Renault Group and at the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance where she held various roles in communications, strategy, and public affairs. Caroline Sasia graduated from Sciences Po Paris.

About Soitec

Soitecand follow us on Twitter: @Soitec_EN .

Investor Relations: Media Relations:

investors@soitec.com markus.payer-ext@soitec.com

# # #

Soitec is a French joint-stock corporation with a Board of Directors (societe anonyme a conseil d'administration) with share capital of 70,301,160, having its registered office located at Parc Technologique des Fontaines - Chemin des Franques - 38190 Bernin (France), and registered with the Grenoble Trade and Companies Register under number 384 711 909.

# # #

Attachment
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 12, 2022) - Thor Explorations Ltd. (TSXV: THX) (AIM: THX) ("Thor" or the "Company") is pleased to announce initial drilling results from both the newly discovered Sambara Prospect together with continued encouraging results from the Makosa gold deposit ("Makosa") at its Douta Gold Project, Senegal (the "Douta Project").

The Douta Gold Project currently encompasses the Makosa gold deposit which currently comprises an Inferred Resource of 730,000 ounces of gold as announced in its maiden Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") published on 18 November 2021.

A comprehensive exploration program, comprising approximately 5,000 metres of reverse circulation ("RC") drilling in the first phase, was designed to both upgrade parts of the existing resource and to test a newly identified target located towards the northern parts of the exploration licence which is known as Sambara. Initial results suggest that Sambara could potentially develop into a supplemental high-grade resource. In addition, drilling at the southern extremity of Makosa has resulted in a high grade intersection which indicates that robust mineralisation extends at depth.

Highlights include:

Sambara

Drillhole DTRC426 6m at 4.80g/t Au from 65m

Drillhole DTRC431 6m at 4.80g/t Au from 12m

Drillhole DTRC491 2m at 6.39g/t Au from 8m

Drillhole DTRC493 6m at 2.58g/t Au from 57m

Drillhole DTRC497 2m at 5.85g/t Au from 26m

Makosa

Drillhole DTRC504 8m at 4.77g/t Au from 62m

Drillhole DTRC506 4m at 2.95g/t Au from 1m

Segun Lawson, President & CEO, stated

"We are pleased to report a successful initial drilling campaign on the Sambara prospect. Significantly, this has established that gold mineralisation is developed in the northern parts of our exploration permit. We look forward to advancing exploration on this discovery which we hope will supplement the Makosa resource.

"In addition, the first batch of samples from the Makosa upgrade drilling program have produced very positive results that suggest that the resource may extend at depth. We are looking forward to receiving further results from our drilling program which will continue over the next six weeks."

Introduction

The Douta Gold Project is a gold exploration permit E02038 that covers an area of area of 58km and is located within the Kenieba inlier, eastern Senegal. The permit encompasses the Makosa Gold Deposit which currently comprises an Inferred Resource of 730,000 ounces of gold. The northeast trending permit (Figure 1) has an area of 58 km.

The Douta permit is strategically positioned 4km east of the deposits Massawa North and Massawa Central deposits which form part of the world class Sabadola-Massawa Project that is owned Endeavour Mining (Figure 1). The northern part of the permit is bounded by the Makabingui group of gold deposits that belong to Bassari Resources Ltd.





Figure 1: Douta Project location map

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7003/136697_f1084f0974f50a86_002full.jpg

Sambara

The Sambara Prospect is located 15km north-east along strike from the Makosa resource (Figure 1). Drilling targeted an anomalous zone defined by auger geochemical sampling. The area is located 2km directly north of the Makabingui group gold deposits that belong to Bassari Resources Ltd and which collectively contain approximately 340,000oz of gold in the indicated category and 670,000oz of gold in the inferred category.

Drill testing of the geochemical anomaly was carried out over nine sections that were spaced at either 100m or 200m apart (Figure 2). This wide spacing was considered to be appropriate for the first phase of drill testing. Based on the positive results received, additional, closer-spaced (infill) drilling will be undertaken.





Figure 2: Sambara Drillhole Location Map

To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7003/136697_f1084f0974f50a86_003full.jpg

The significant intersections from the initial RC drilling program at Sambara are listed in Table 1. The full table of results is attached in Appendix 1. Drill samples were analysed by ALS Laboratories in Mali using the AA26 fire assay method (50g charge).

The results indicate multiple parallel, steep sub-vertically dipping, mineralised zones that are developed within a shale/greywacke sequence that is developed closely adjacent to the Makabingui Granitic Intrusive.

Based on the drilling completed to date the mineralised zone extends over a strike length of approximately 500m. Systematic infill and step-out drilling is planned to fully assess the extent of mineralisation.

HOLE-ID X Y Z Depth (m) Azi-muth Dip From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Grade (g/tAu) True Width (m) DTRC426 187999 1451958 146 72 130 -50 65 71 6 4.80 2.5 incl 70 71 1 0.80 10.1 DTRC431 188165 1452076 150 84 130 -50 12 18 6 4.80 3.6 DTRC491 188174 1452068 160 42 130 -60 8 10 2 6.39 1.3 DTRC492 188155 1452081 160 60 130 -60 23 26 3 1.64 1.9 DTRC493 188146 1452093 160 96 130 -60 10 11 1 3.33 0.6 and 41 42 1 2.53 0.6 and 57 63 6 2.58 3.7 includes 59 63 4 3.32 2.3 DTRC496 188230 1452156 145 70 130 -60 8 13 5 1.12 3.2 DTRC497 188094 1452008 158 45 130 -60 15 20 5 1.74 3.1 DTRC497 130 -60 26 28 2 5.85 1.2 DTRC498 188080 1452020 163 90 130 -60 17 22 5 0.55 3.2 and 29 34 5 1.07 3.2 and 60 61 1 4.72 0.6

Table 1: Sambara Significant Results

(0.5g/tAu lower cut off; maximum 2m internal dilution, minimum 2m interval)

Makosa

The Makosa resource is currently classified as Inferred. In July 2022 Thor commenced a 20,000m program of follow up RC and diamond drilling with the objective of upgrading the higher-grade portions of the resource, that fall within the optimised pit shell, to indicated classification.

Initial results from drillholes completed at the southern extremity of the deposit include 8m at 4.77g/t gold from 62m in drillhole DTRC504 (Figures 3 and 4). The significant intersections from Makosa are listed in Table 2. The full table of results is attached in Appendix 1. In addition to potentially upgrading this part of the resource, the intersection suggests that gold mineralisation may extend at depth. Two additional drillholes (DTRC561 and DTRC562) have subsequently been drilled to test for depth extensions to this higher grade zone. Assays for these two holes are pending.

HOLE-ID X Y Z Length (m) Azi-muth Dip From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Grade (g/tAu) True Width (m) DTRC502 173909 1433683 198 70 130 -60 45 52 7 1.11 4.6 DTRC504 173926 1433729 155 80 130 -60 47 50 3 1.48 1.9 and 62 70 8 4.77 5.1 DTRC505 173877 1433642 155 72 130 -60 34 39 5 1.92 3.1 and 53 60 7 0.60 4.4 DTRC506 173898 1433630 200 30 130 -60 1 5 4 2.95 2.5 includes 1 4 3 3.29 1.8 DTRC508 174264 1434389 190 60 130 -60 19 21 2 3.12 1.2 and 47 53 6 0.51 3.7 DTRC509 174304 1434427 190 42 130 -60 38 40 2 2.84 1.2

Table 2: Makosa Significant Results

(0.5g/tAu lower cut off; maximum 2m internal dilution, minimum 2m interval)





Figure 3: Makosa Drillhole Location Map

To view an enhanced version of Figure 3, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7003/136697_f1084f0974f50a86_004full.jpg

At Makosa, zones of gold mineralisation are developed either within a sheared gabbro intrusive or within a steep north-westerly dipping sequence of meta-sedimentary rocks that are in close proximity to the gabbro intrusive (Figure 5). Higher grade zones or shoots are suspected to occur along east-west oriented structures that cut across the main north-east trend of the mineralisation. This potential to upgrade the resource will be assessed by ongoing infill drilling along the Makosa mineralised trend.





Figure 4: Makosa Map showing selected significant intersections

To view an enhanced version of Figure 4, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7003/136697_f1084f0974f50a86_005full.jpg





Figure 5: Makosa Cross Section

To view an enhanced version of Figure 5, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7003/136697_f1084f0974f50a86_006full.jpg

Ongoing Exploration

The Mansa and Maka Prospects are located between Makosa and Sambara (Figure 1). Results from the initial RC drilling at these prosects returned encouraging results including the following:

Mansa Prospect*

Drillhole DTRC363 4m at 3.11g/tAu from 55m

Drillhole DTRC347 5m at 1.75g/t Au from 48m

Drillhole DTRC347 2m at 10.65g/t Au from 56m

Maka Prospect*

Drillhole DMRC012 4m at 11.0g/t Au from 18m

These prospects have the potential to provide additional resources and will be fully tested in forthcoming drilling programs.

* Sedar Filing February 7, 2022: Commencement of Drilling on the Douta Gold Project, Senegal

Qualified Person

The above information has been prepared under the supervision of Alfred Gillman (Fellow AusIMM, CP), who is designated as a "qualified person" under National Instrument 43-101 and the AIM Rules and has reviewed and approves the content of this news release. He has also reviewed QA/QC, sampling, analytical and test data underlying the information.

About Thor

Thor Explorations Ltd. is a Canadian mineral exploration company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties located in Nigeria, Senegal and Burkina Faso. Thor holds a 100% interest in the Segilola Gold Project located in Osun State of Nigeria. Mining and production commenced at Segilola in 2021. Thor holds a 70% economic interest in the Douta Gold Project located in south-eastern Senegal. Thor trades on the TSX Venture Exchange and AIM under the symbol "THX".

Deposit Classification Tonnage

(xMt) Grade

(g/t Au) Contained

Metal

(koz Au) Thor

Interest Attributable Ounces Source Segilola Indicated* 4.06 4.66 608 100% 608 1 Segilola Inferred* 0.443 4.78 68 100% 68 1 Makosa Inferred 15.3 1.53 730 70% 511 2

*not depleted for mining

Source

1 Sedar Filing March 21 2019: Technical Report On The Segilola Gold Project Feasibility Study, Osun State, Nigeria

2 Sedar Filing Jan 4 2022: Independent Technical Report: Mineral Resource Estimate, Douta Gold Project, Senegal

THOR EXPLORATIONS LTD.

Segun Lawson

President & CEO

For further information please contact:

Thor Explorations Ltd

Ibu Lawson (Head of Investor Relations)

Email: ibu.lawson@thorexpl.com

Canaccord Genuity (Nominated Adviser & Broker)

Henry Fitzgerald-O'Connor / James Asensio / Thomas Diehl

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7523 8000

Hannam & Partners (Broker)

Andrew Chubb / Matt Hasson / Nilesh Patel / Franck Nganou

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7907 8500

Fig House Communications (Investor Relations)

Tel: +1 416 822 6483

Email: investor.relations@thorexpl.com

BlytheRay (Financial PR)

Tim Blythe / Megan Ray / Rachael Brooks

Tel: +44 207 138 3203

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This press release does not constitute an offer to purchase securities. The securities to be offered in the offering have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the benefit or account of, a U.S. person, except pursuant to an available exemption from such registration requirements.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Except for the statements of historical fact contained herein, the information presented constitutes "forward looking statements" within the meaning of certain securities laws, and is subject to important risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially form the forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to, the Company's ability to fully finance the Project, to bring the Project into operation or to produce gold from the Project, and the use of the proceeds. The words "may", "could", "should", "would", "suspect", "outlook", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "plan", "target" and similar words and expressions are used to identify forward-looking information. The forward-looking information in this news release describes the Company's expectations as of the date of this news 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 Company may elect to, it does not undertake to update this information at any particular time.

Appendix 1: RC Drill Results September 2022

Prospect HOLE-ID X Y Z Length (m) Azi-

muth Dip From

(m) To

(m) Interval (m) Grade (g/tAu) True Width

(m) Sambara DTRC407 187763 1451550 134 66 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC408 187734 1451577 133 66 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC409 187703 1451603 134 66 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC410 187672 1451628 136 66 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC411 187981 1451724 140 66 130 -50 2 3 1 0.80 3.1 Sambara and 17 18 1 0.80 0.8 Sambara DTRC412 187950 1451748 140 66 130 -50 21 22 1 0.80 0.9 Sambara and 58 59 1 0.80 1.7 Sambara and 64 66 2 1.60 1.5 Sambara DTRC413 187919 1451773 138 66 130 -50 25 26 1 0.80 1.3 Sambara DTRC414 187885 1451795 138 100 130 -50 71 72 1 0.80 1.4 Sambara and 82 83 1 0.80 1.2 Sambara and 94 95 1 0.80 0.7 Sambara DTRC415 187854 1451819 141 66 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC416 187823 1451844 142 66 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC417 187792 1451870 143 78 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC418 187761 1451894 144 66 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC419 187730 1451918 146 66 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC420 187697 1451942 148 66 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC421 188401 1451404 144 34 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC422 188379 1451423 145 78 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC423 188089 1451888 153 66 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC424 188063 1451911 152 60 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC425 188029 1451931 147 72 130 -50 1 2 1 0.80 1.5 Sambara and 19 20 1 0.80 0.5 Sambara and 24 25 1 0.80 5.4 Sambara DTRC426 187999 1451958 146 72 130 -50 29 30 1 0.80 0.6 Sambara and 45 47 2 1.60 3.3 Sambara incl 45 46 1 0.80 6.0 Sambara and 56 57 1 0.80 1.6 Sambara and 65 71 6 4.80 2.5 Sambara incl 70 71 1 0.80 10.1 Sambara DTRC427 187967 1451983 146 66 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC428 187935 1452008 146 66 130 -50 54 55 1 0.80 0.7 Sambara DTRC429 187904 1452032 147 78 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC430 188196 1452051 149 66 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC431 188165 1452076 150 84 130 -50 1 4 3 2.40 1.4 Sambara and 7 8 1 0.80 0.9 Sambara and 12 18 6 4.80 3.6 Sambara incl 15 16 1 0.80 9.0 Sambara and 27 28 1 0.80 27.0 Sambara DTRC432 188134 1452102 150 66 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC433 188104 1452127 150 72 130 -50 26 27 1 0.80 2.4 Sambara DTRC434 188073 1452153 150 66 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC435 188042 1452178 150 66 130 -50 23 24 1 0.80 0.6 Sambara DTRC436 188477 1452094 132 66 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC437 188445 1452118 132 66 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC438 188415 1452144 133 66 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC439 188382 1452166 134 66 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC440 188358 1452184 135 60 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC441 188333 1452198 138 50 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC442 188305 1452223 143 66 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC443 188461 1452361 145 78 130 -50 45 46 1 0.80 1.4 Sambara DTRC444 188493 1452336 146 66 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC445 188429 1452385 144 78 130 -50 15 16 1 0.80 5.1 Sambara DTRC446 188396 1452408 144 66 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC447 188366 1452435 145 66 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC448 188333 1452460 146 62 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC449 188302 1452483 147 66 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC450 188466 1451481 145 42 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC451 188417 1451390 144 24 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC452 188440 1451370 144 66 130 -50 nsr Sambara DTRC491 188174 1452068 160 42 130 -60 8 10 2 6.39 1.3 Sambara DTRC492 188155 1452081 160 60 130 -60 23 26 3 1.64 1.9 Sambara DTRC493 188146 1452093 160 96 130 -60 10 11 1 3.33 0.6 Sambara DTRC493 130 -60 41 42 1 2.53 0.6 Sambara DTRC493 130 -60 57 63 6 2.58 3.7 Sambara includes 130 -60 59 63 4 3.32 2.3 Sambara DTRC494 188270 1452126 138 70 130 -60 nsr Sambara DTRC495 188238 1454149 135 72 130 -60 nsr Sambara DTRC496 188230 1452156 145 70 130 -60 8 13 5 1.12 3.2 Sambara DTRC497 188094 1452008 158 45 130 -60 15 20 5 1.74 3.1 Sambara DTRC497 130 -60 26 28 2 5.85 1.2 Sambara DTRC498 188080 1452020 163 90 130 -60 17 22 5 0.55 3.2 Sambara DTRC498 130 -60 29 34 5 1.07 3.2 Sambara DTRC498 130 -60 38 41 3 0.60 1.9 Sambara DTRC498 130 -60 52 55 3 0.66 1.9 Sambara DTRC498 130 -60 60 61 1 4.72 0.6 Sambara DTRC499 187991 1451963 157 120 130 -60 94 96 2 0.79 1.3 Sambara DTRC500 187948 1451867 154 70 130 -60 nsr Sambara DTRC501 187931 1451883 141 89 130 -60 nsr Sambara DTRC561 173918 1433737 155 110 130 -65 assays pending Sambara DTRC562 173908 1433698 155 95 130 -70 assays pending Makosa DTRC490 179486 1441097 178 66 130 -60 11 18 7 0.41 5.3 Makosa DTRC502 173909 1433683 198 70 130 -60 45 52 7 1.11 4.6 Makosa DTRC503 173944 1433716 197 45 130 -60 nsr Makosa DTRC504 173926 1433729 155 80 130 -60 47 50 3 1.48 1.9 Makosa DTRC504 130 -60 62 70 8 4.77 5.1 Makosa DTRC505 173877 1433642 155 72 130 -60 34 39 5 1.92 3.1 Makosa DTRC505 130 -60 53 60 7 0.60 4.4 Makosa DTRC506 173898 1433630 200 30 130 -60 1 5 4 2.95 2.5 Makosa includes 130 -60 1 4 3 3.29 1.8 Makosa DTRC507 174278 1434385 191 48 130 -60 nsr Makosa DTRC508 174264 1434389 190 60 130 -60 19 21 2 3.12 1.2 Makosa DTRC508 130 -60 47 53 6 0.51 3.7 Makosa DTRC509 174304 1434427 190 42 130 -60 38 40 2 2.84 1.2

("NSR") refers to No Significant Result intersected.

NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR FOR

DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. WIRE SERVICES

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/136697
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - September 12, 2022) - ScreenPro Security Inc. (CSE: SCRN) (OTCQB: SCRSF) ("ScreenPro" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that further to the news release on September 8, 2022, announcing the management and board changes, the Company would like to provide the following corporate updates.

Company Name Change

As a strategic decision to evolve the Company, a special resolution was approved by the shareholders at the Annual General and Special Meeting ("AGM"), authorizing the change of name of the Company to "Concierge Medical Services Inc." or such other name as the board of directors of the Company may choose is underway.

Focus

The new management team has decided to focus on post-pandemic plans and position ScreenPro to be more than a Covid testing company. As such, the Company's core focus will be Concierge Medical Services, and NatureVan Nutrition, while continuing Covid testing operations.

ScreenPro Security

Covid testing numbers remain strong. The Company is administering approximately 1,500 tests per day.

Concierge Medical

There are three areas of focus: IV Therapy, Home Care, Prestige Care and At Home Physician Visit Services.

NatureVan

The NatureVan team is currently preparing marketing, advertising, and distribution of sale of its products. The Company will announce developments as it evolves.

The Company would like to report that they have appointed the following individuals for Company operations.

Rachelle Bencze, Vice President of ScreenPro, will continue being in charge of the Company's Covid testing business.

Dr. Jibran Sharif will remain as Chief Medical Officer and President of Concierge Medical. Dr. Sharif will oversee and supervise all medical related operations within the Company and work with our team of health care professionals to ensure the highest standard of care for patients.

Edward Park is appointed as Vice President of Concierge Medical. He will implement business development to increase the Company's sales and operations.

Monika Maslanka, RPN, is appointed as director of Concierge Medical in Ontario.

Ian Kim is appointed as manager of Concierge Medical in British Columbia. He will closely work with Dr. Sharif to expand the current operations in the Greater Vancouver Area.

Max Choi is appointed as Vice President of NatureVan Nutrition. He will be focusing on the distribution of products and will implement business development and strategy of the brand.

"I believe in a deep and narrow strategy. As the Company undergoes a rebranding, the core goal is to target growth and development for Concierge Medical, while still implementing continued value to our Covid testing operations and build our newly acquired business, Naturevan Nutrition. I am confident that the newly appointed management team will drive the Company to improved success and increase growth," said Andrew Ryu, Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Company.

About ScreenPro

ScreenPro is a medical technology company that provides turnkey screening solutions with its proprietary medical alerting software. ScreenPro's unique access to multiple manufacturers of high-quality test kits and its strategic partnership with labs in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec allows ScreenPro to be a full-service nationwide provider of COVID testing and breast cancer screening solutions across Canada. In addition, ScreenPro's subsidiary, Concierge Medical, is a group of board-certified physicians who provide private, discreet, and personalized healthcare to Canadians. ScreenPro prides itself in having its own medical doctors and nursing professionals with on the ground support staff and transportation, with access to high quality PPEs to ensure that clients are protected in all aspects of their testing needs. ScreenPro also newly introduced Naturevan Nutrition Ltd., to its portfolio, providing vitamins and supplements that are proudly made in Canada and distributed for sale online.

For additional information on ScreenPro and other corporate information, please visit the Company's website at www.screenprosecurity.com

For more information about the Company, please refer to the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange (the "CSE") nor it's Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For further information:

Investor Relations & Communications

Priya Monique Atwal, Director of Communications

Tel: (416) 901-5611 x 204

Email: priya@screenprosecurity.com

Andrew Ryu, Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chairman

Tel: 416-901-5611 x 201

Email: aryu@datametrex.com

Forward-Looking Statements:

Certain statements contained in this news release may constitute forward-looking information, including statements relating to the future development of ScreenPro's business. Forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "intend", "should", and similar expressions. Forward-looking information involves 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 information. The actual results of ScreenPro could differ materially from those anticipated in this forward-looking information as a result of regulatory decisions, competitive factors in the industries in which ScreenPro operates, prevailing economic conditions, changes to ScreenPro's strategic growth plans, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of ScreenPro. Management of ScreenPro believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information herein are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking information should not be unduly relied upon. Any forward-looking information contained in this news release represents ScreenPro's expectations as of the date hereof and is subject to change after such date. ScreenPro disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities legislation.

###

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/136559
Data presented by academic collaborator from the University of L'Aquila, Italy at the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) 2022 Annual Meeting, 9-12 September, Austin, Texas, USA

GUILDFORD, England, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SiSaf Ltd, an RNA delivery and therapeutics company, is pleased to announce positive data confirming safety and efficacy of its Bio-Courier next generation silicon stabilized hybrid lipid nanoparticles (sshLNP) as an effective non-viral delivery system for Autosomal Dominant Osteopetrosis 2 (ADO2) siRNA therapy.

The data1 was presented at the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) 2022 Annual Meeting, 9-12 September, Austin, Texas, USA by SiSaf's collaborators from the University of L'Aquila, Italy.

SiSaf's lead in house program, SIS-101-ADO, is an ADO2-specific siRNA combined with SiSaf's Bio-Courier platform, that aims to suppress the expression of the mutant CLCN7 gene and thereby rescue bone mass and quality to nearly normal levels.

The new data confirmed that sshLNPs can be designed for specific cell lines using different formulations. It also confirmed sshLNP is an effective non-viral delivery system for AD02, with the data showing down regulation of the CLCN7 gene. Most importantly, the data confirms the safety profile of siRNA delivered by the sshLNP technology in an animal model, with no side effects at the end of the full-length study in which rodent model received three injections per week for four weeks.

Dr Suzanne Saffie-Siebert, CEO of SiSaf Ltd said, "Skeletal rare diseases still pose unmet therapeutic needs as the major challenge related to intrinsic difficulty in targeting bone. SiSaf's silicon stabilised hybrid lipid nanoparticles constitutes a next-generation non-viral vectors able to retain both integrity and stability of constructs over time and offering considerable payloads of biologicals without requiring any cold-chain distribution."

In presenting the data, Dr Antonio Maurizi from Professor Anna Maria Teti's team in the Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences concluded, "Given obtained results, SiSaf sshLNP constitutes the most promising bone targeting non-viral vector available for addressing rare skeletal disorders by safely and effectively delivering Biologicals of interest."

SiSaf is developing the trial design and preparing the IND data package for a planned Phase I clinical study of SIS-101-ADO, with the aim of submitting an application to the U.S. FDA within the next six months.

SiSaf has an ongoing collaboration with Professor Teti's group and is working to extend its current pipeline of Bio-Courier targeted siRNA therapies to cure other genetic skeletal disorders. Its strategy is to develop its pipeline of novel therapies through clinical studies and then seek collaborative partnerships with marketing expertise in genetic skeletal disorders and rare diseases.

1. SAT-711 Novel hybrid silicon-lipid nanoparticles as non-viral vectors for delivering biologicals intended to address skeletal rare diseases, Antonio Maurizi, Piergiorgio Patrizii, Anna Teti, Flavia Maria Sutera, Michael Wels, Nissim Torabi-Pour, Ashkan Dehsorkhi, Chris Burns, Suzanne Saffie-Siebert

ABOUT SISAF

SiSaf is an RNA delivery and therapeutics company. Its proprietary Bio-Courier technology addresses the limitations of other RNA delivery technologies through the hybridization of organic materials with inorganic bioabsorbable silicon.

The company's Bio-Courier delivery technology portfolio includes silicon stabilized hybrid lipid nanoparticles (sshLNP) that improve the stability, safety, and transfection efficiency of RNA. SiSaf uses sshLNP to develop a pipeline of RNA therapeutics for rare genetic disorders and is maximizing the potential of its technology through research and commercial partnerships.

Led by founder and leading biomaterials specialist Dr Suzanne Saffie-Siebert, SiSaf is a private company supported by venture capital investors including Vickers Venture Partners and the UK Future Fund. Headquartered in Guildford, UK, it has fully integrated research labs and bio-analytical facilities, a scalable technology to fast-track development, and a growing patent estate with extensive freedom to operate.

To learn more, please visit www.sisaf.com

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VILLANOVA DI SAN DANIELE DEL FRIULI, Udine, Italy, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- LimaCorporate, a leading global orthopedic manufacturer focused on digital innovation and patient-tailored devices, today announces that Massimo Calafiore has been appointed by the Board of Directors as the new Chief Executive Officer of the company. Massimo's appointment follows a thorough selection process that considered both internal and external candidates. Emmanuel Bonhomme, who has led the organization during the last five months as interim CEO, will take on the newly created role of Chief Commercial Officer.

Massimo has recently served as Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of NuVasive, a global leader in orthopedic spine technology. Before that, he was responsible for the Company's Product Marketing and Commercial Functions, as well as the Company's Business Units, NuVasive Specialized Orthopedics, and NuVasive Clinical Services. With more than 20 years of experience in the orthopedic field and extensive knowledge of the global orthopedic markets, he will lead the organization's patient-centric focus and continued investment in innovation and business growth.

Lars Rasmussen, Chairperson of the LimaCorporate Advisory Board, commented: "We strongly believe that Massimo is the right person to lead this new phase of our business. He brings extensive industry experience, excellent strategic and leadership skills and a track record of values-based leadership focused on improving patients' lives. I would like to thank Emmanuel Bonhomme for his dedication as interim CEO and congratulate him on his new role as Chief Commercial Officer."

Emmanuel Bonhomme commented: "It has been a pleasure and an honor to lead LimaCorporate during the last five months as interim CEO and I am very excited to carry on serving our surgeons around the world in my new role. I welcome Massimo as our new CEO and I am committed to supporting him and the Company to continue to enhance LimaCorporate's position in the industry, offering the best and most advanced solutions for our surgeons and patients."

Massimo Calafiore remarked: "I am honored to take on this role as CEO of LimaCorporate. Thanks to our internal talent, know-how, and industry-leading R&D capabilities, I will continue to focus on positioning the company as a global leader in advanced orthopedic solutions. I look forwards to working closely with all the employees and the Leadership Team to continue to serve our surgeons and patients around the globe, as we transform orthopedics, advance patient care, and most importantly, restore the eMotion of Motion in all of our patients.

"I also would like to thank Emmanuel for the passion, energy, and enthusiasm he demonstrated in leading LimaCorporate as interim CEO and the Board of Directors for giving me the opportunity to lead the organization during this new phase of growth, helping patients around the world with our innovative products."

About LimaCorporate

LimaCorporate is a global orthopedic company, focused on digital innovation and patient-tailored hardware, which advances patient-centred care. Its pioneering technological solutions are developed to empower surgeons, and to improve patient outcomes from joint replacement surgery. Its primary focus is on providing reconstructive and custom-made orthopedic solutions to surgeons, enabling them to improve the quality of life of patients by restoring the joy of movement.

Headquartered in Italy, the company operates directly in over 20 countries around the world. LimaCorporate offers products ranging from large joint revision and primary implants, to complete extremities solutions, including fixation.

For additional information on the Company, please visit www.limacorporate.com

Limacorporate spa

Via Nazionale, 52

33038 Villanova di San Daniele

Udine - Italy

t: +39 0432 945511

e.: info@limacorporate.com
Join executives from QatarEnergy, Anglo American, Capricorn Energy PLC and Bank of America as event covers current energy market trends and outlook

LONDON/HOUSTON/SINGAPORE, Sept. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- With new geopolitical orders affecting the outlook for oil, gas, coal, power and metals markets, there will be significant implications for the European energy transition as countries attempt to achieve Net Zero by 2050.

Join Wood Mackenzie's expert analysts, as well as leaders from across the industry, to hear how governments, companies, and investors can successfully navigate the challenges ahead at the Energy & Natural Resources Summit: EMEA 2022 in London on September 27.

As well as exclusive presentations from Wood Mackenzie experts and a top-tier speaker line-up, including representatives from QatarEnergy, SSE, Anglo American, Bank of America and Capricorn Energy PLC, the hybrid in-person and virtual conference provides the opportunity to connect with top renewable developers and utilities, transmission operators, energy regulatory bodies, investment entities, policy-makers, entrepreneurs, and professionals in metals and mining, gas and LNG, upstream and downstream oil.

Key themes on the agenda include:



 The New Outlook for Commodities

 Energy Trilemma - Rebalancing Priorities

 Energy Capital Allocation - Can Everyone Win?

 Big Growth Opportunities

 Keeping the Lights on and Building a Low Carbon Future

 Beyond the Upcycle: Winning Over Investors

The Energy & Natural Resources Summit will hear from leading experts from across the industry. Joining Simon Flowers, Wood Mackenzie Chairman, Chief Analyst and author of The Edge, will be H.E. Mr Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Qatari Minister of State for Energy Affairs and President & CEO of QatarEnergy, who is a pivotal figure in the global energy market.

"QatarEnergy is developing substantial low cost, low carbon intensive LNG capacity in Qatar and the US which will cement Qatar's global LNG leadership," said Flowers. "The company has also been one of the industry's most successful international explorers in recent years with a series of giant discoveries."

More leading experts include:

 Alistair Phillips-Davies, Chief Executive, SSE

 Maria Garijo, MD, EMEA Natural Resources & Energy Transition, Investment Banking, Bank of America

 Peter Schmitz - Head of Macro and Commodity Research, Anglo American

 Valentina Kretzschmar, Energy Transition Director, Capricorn Energy PLC

 Amy Bowe, Vice President ESG, Africa Oil Corporation

 Tom Nelson, Co-Head of Thematic Equity, Ninety One



To reserve your place at Wood Mackenzie's Energy & Natural Resources Summit: EMEA 2022 or for further information, please click on this link.

ENDS

About Wood Mackenzie:

Wood Mackenzie, a Verisk Analytics business, is a trusted source of commercial intelligence for the world's natural resources sector. We empower clients to make better strategic decisions, providing objective analysis and advice on assets, companies and markets. For more information, visit: www.woodmac.comor follow us on Twitter @WoodMackenzie



WOOD MACKENZIE is a trademark of Wood Mackenzie Limited and is the subject of trademark registrations and/or applications in the European Community, the USA and other countries around the world.

About Verisk

Veriskand fosters an inclusive culturewhere all team members feel they belong. For more, visit Verisk.comand the Verisk Newsroom.
DUBAI, UAE, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Dalma Capital announces today that John Porter has joined the firm to head its Investment Banking Advisory practice.

Porter spent his over 25-year career at Morgan Stanley and Renaissance Capital, where he held multiple leadership roles including acting as Morgan Stanley's head of financing for the Middle East and Africa and establishing the Mumbai office for the Wall Street bank. He also acted as the Chief Business Officer of Renaissance Capital where he expanded the firms capabilities in Capital Raising, Capital Markets, Financial Advisory, IPO, and Emerging Markets.

At Dalma Capital, Porter will be leading an growing investment banking team as the firm continues to focus on large scale, international financing transactions across sectors.

Mishal Kanoo, Board Member and spokesperson for Dalma Capital, said: "Our investment banking practice is a strategic pillar for Dalma Capital and the group. This appointment will help Dalma leverage its global capabilities as Dubai increasingly becomes an investment banking hub."

About Dalma Capital:

Dalma Capital Management Limited is a global alternative investment management platform and advisor with strong capabilities in investment banking and asset management. Established in 2011 and headquartered in the Dubai International Finance Centre, Dalma Capital's has been one of the fastest growing independent financial services businesses in the DIFC. Dalma Capital is authorized and supervised by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (the "DFSA") under a prudential category 3c license.

About John Porter

John Porter worked at Morgan Stanley in London, New York and Asia between 1991 and 2008, holding various positions including Managing Director, Head of Financing for Middle East and Africa, Head of UK Capital Markets, Deputy Head of UK Investment Banking, Head of Africa. He set up Morgan Stanley's office in Mumbai under the supervision of Vikram Pundit, later CEO of Morgan Stanley and then Citigroup.

John joined Renaissance Capital in 2008, subsequently moving to Moscow between 2008 and 2017. He ran the Financing Group leading over 100 closed transactions for the Firm over the period. Most recently held the title of Chief Business Officer. He also worked in multiple IPOs and secondary offerings such as Depa (DIFX) and Tabreed mandatory convertible, lasminute.com the first $1Bn of a pre revenue business on the LSE, Burbery and Carphone Warehouse on LSE, and Safaricom which remains the largest locally listed IPO out of Africa and the first "Fintech" capital markets story on the back of a nascent mPesa.

John is also a Board Member and treasurer of Harm Reduction International since 2021, a leading UK public health and healthcare policy NGO.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1896238/Dalma_Capital_Logo.jpg
There are2.3 billion people who now live in water-stressed countries and 18 million people risk being displaced by floods every year1. Against this backdrop, global water technology company Xylem (NYSE: XYL), will join water sector leaders at the IWA World Water Congress Exhibition, to explore solutions to build water security. Xylem executives will share perspectives on actions to increase communities' resilience to water scarcity, and strategies to accelerate the decarbonization of water networks.

The congress takes place in Copenhagen, Denmark, 11-15 September 2022. On Wednesday, September 14, Dave Flinton, Xylem's Chief Innovation, Technology and Product Management Officer, will discuss the business models and multidisciplinary approaches needed for successful innovation in resource recovery. Learning to Dance in the Rain How to Thrive in an Era of Climate Change, will explore actions taken to date and future trends.

Commenting on the congress, Dave Flinton said, "Technology can make communities more resilient in the face of severe weather. Through innovation and collaboration, we can modernize water systems so that communities have affordable, accessible water, and are buffered from shocks like droughts and floods."

On Monday, September 12, Austin Alexander, Vice President, Sustainability and Social Impact at Xylem, will take part in a keynote plenary discussion Practical Perspectives in Building Resilience into Urban Water Management. During the session, she will share insights on building urban resiliency in the face of climate change, the solutions that are available, and the importance of maintaining momentum on the UN SDGs. As water infrastructure is a contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, Alexander will also touch on the use of technology to meaningfully reduce emissions and help transform the future of water management.

On Wednesday, September 14, Xylem's Global Procurement Sustainability Manager, Andrea Montuori will participate in a keynote plenary session on Uniting Youth for Water.This session will examine the role of youth within the water sector, with a special focus on the UN 2023 Water Conference, taking place in March next year.

Xylem will also hold two business forums at the congress:

On Tuesday, September 13, Joost Aloserij, Director of Business Development, Central North Europe at Xylem, will lead a forum on Let's Redefine what's Possible for Water. Drawing on Xylem Vue, Xylem's digital solutions platform that combines smart, connected technologies with intelligent systems and services. This session will focus on how utilities can embrace digital innovation to improve performance, reduce costs, and better serve their communities.

On Wednesday, September 14, Alexis De Kerchove, Senior Director, Marketing and Business Development, Europe Commercial Team, will lead a forum on Road to Net Zero,alongside Austin Alexander. This session will explore the importance of decarbonization for water and wastewater utilities.

Xylem is also the proud sponsor of the IWA Climate Smart Utilities Recognition Program which aims to inspire utilities and all their stakeholders to become Climate Smart and embrace climate resilience under three key pillars for action adaptation, mitigation, and leadership. Following a robust review, forty-two Climate Smart utilities will be honored at the IWA World Water Congress Exhibition closing ceremony on Thursday, September 15.

About Xylem

Xylem (XYL) is a leading global water technology company committed to solving critical water and infrastructure challenges with innovation. Our 17,000 diverse employees delivered revenue of $5.2 billion in 2021. We are creating a more sustainable world by enabling our customers to optimize water and resource management and helping communities in more than 150 countries become water secure. Join us at www.xylem.com.

______________________

1 https://www.internal-displacement.org/global-report/grid2019/

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220912005444/en/

Contacts:

Houston Spencer

+1 (914) 240-3046

Houston.Spencer@xylem.com
Cannabinoids industry is anticipated to register 20% CAGR between 2022 and 2030 owing to rising number of government approvals to legalize the production of cannabinoids.

SELBYVILLE, Del., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The cannabinoids market value is projected to exceed USD 63 billion by 2030, according to a new research report by Global Market Insights Inc.





Rise in the prevalence of Parkinson's disease, muscle disorders, seizures, anxiety, and more will drive the market demand. Cannabinoid extracts are known for their medical properties to cure certain health conditions. Rising government initiatives to provide better healthcare will also help increase the product penetration of cannabinoids. Additionally, consistent efforts by industry participants to harness innovative production technologies and develop new products will push the global market growth.

Request for a sample of this research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/5320

Alterations in the regulatory policies will foster the market value

The presence of a supportive regulatory landscape will play a key role in augmenting the cannabinoids market revenue, given the substantial increase in the number of cannabinoid product approvals in the last few years. The COVID-19 pandemic also favorably impacted the market expansion as several nations, including the U.S., Germany, Argentina, Canada, and Portugal saw the production and delivery of CBD as important services and granted permission for businesses to operate throughout the pandemic.

Rising availability of Cannabigerol (CBG) products

Cannabigerol (CBG) segment may register a CAGR of over 25% through 2030. This is credited to the product's increasing availability and the rising number of new product variations introduced in the market. For instance, Geocann introduced its first cannabigerol (CBG) soft gel products, in order to achieve optimal absorption and determined bioavailability. It is anticipated that an increase in innovative product development by emerging companies along with an upsurge in CBG research activities will propel the market trends

Browse key industry insights spread across 208 pages with 308 market data tables & 13 figures & charts from the report, "Cannabinoids Market Analysis by Type, By Application, Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook, Growth Potential, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2022 - 2030" in detail along with the table of contents:

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/cannabinoids-market

Latin America to witness substantial product penetration

LATAM cannabinoids market size may grow at a CAGR of over 20.5% through 2030. Increasing government initiatives to enhance regional healthcare and the subsequently increasing cannabinoid product penetration will push the market revenue across Latin America. Growing approvals by the regional governments alongside increasing health consciousness among the population will have a profound role to play in the market expansion.

Strategic Collaborations and product developments to expand the industry

Bedrocan, Global Cannabinoids, Maricann Inc., NuLeaf Naturals, LLC, Green Roads, Folium Biosciences, and others form a part of the competitive landscape of this market. The top players in the cannabinoids market are working on product development and cutting-edge manufacturing technologies to introduce new products in response to growing customer needs and establish a strong business presence.

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Algernon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (the "Company" or "Algernon") (CSE: AGN) (FRANKFURT: AGW0) (OTCQB: AGNPF) a clinical stage pharmaceutical development company is pleased to announce that it has received approval to conduct a Phase 1 clinical study of an intravenous formulation ("IVF") of AP-188 ("N,N-dimethyl tryptamine" or "DMT") for the treatment of stroke in the Netherlands from the Stichting Beoordeling Ethiek Biomedisch Onderzoek ("BEBO"), an independent Medical Research Ethics Committee ("MREC"). The trial will be conducted at the Centre for Human Drug Research ("CHDR") in Leiden. DMT is a known psychedelic compound that is part of the tryptamine family.



The Company plans to begin screening shortly and dose the first subject of the study in Q4, 2022.

The Company's decision to investigate DMT and move it into human trials for ischemic stroke is based on multiple independent, positive preclinical studies demonstrating that DMT helps mitigate tissue damage and promote neurogenesis as well as structural and functional neural plasticity. These are key factors involved in the brain's ability to form and reorganize synaptic connections, which are needed for healing following a brain injury. The Company also confirmed in its own murine cortical neuron outgrowth preclinical study, that DMT, in sub-psychedelic doses, increased the growth of cortical neurons by up to 40% compared to control.

Since there have already been several Phase 1 studies successfully conducted on DMT, the Company is not anticipating any serious adverse events or safety issues arising from its study. The reason that the Company is planning to conduct a Phase 1 study and not directly advance DMT into a Phase 2 study is that it is investigating prolonged intravenous infusion of DMT, for durations which have never been clinically studied. The resulting data generated will help the Company to plan both its Phase 2 acute stroke and rehabilitation studies more effectively.

"I was drawn to DMT's endogenous nature and possible role in naturally occurring altered states of consciousness such as dreams and psychosis, as well as being a prototype for other psychedelic drugs in common use," said Algernon consultant Rick Strassman MD, psychiatrist and psychopharmacologist, and author of the best-selling book DMT: The Spirit Molecule. Strassman's NIH-funded Phase 1 study of DMT, which ran from 1990-1995 at the University of New Mexico, was the first new American clinical research with psychedelic drugs in a generation. The study assessed biological and psychological effects in normal volunteers and demonstrated that studies of psychedelics could be done safely in humans. He continued "Our careful assessment of psychedelic and non-psychedelic doses of DMT established guidelines for studies utilizing its neuroplastogenic effects in stroke, an application I would not have predicted at the time. These more recent findings of DMT's effects have opened an extraordinarily promising set of potential therapeutic applications for Algernon to explore."

Dr. David Nutt, Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London, also an Algernon consultant, said, "I am pleased to see Algernon moving forward with the CHDR, with whom I have worked in the past and respect greatly," said. "Although the study is in healthy volunteers, the protocol includes study of some markers which may give some early clues about potential benefits in stroke victims."

Christopher J. Moreau CEO of Algernon Pharmaceuticals further commented saying, "We look forward to getting our DMT clinical stroke program started with our Phase 1 study at CHDR in the Netherlands," said. "This study will provide important information on dosage and duration of our new DMT IVF formula to help us better plan for our Phase 2 where we plan to test the drug with both acute and recovering stroke patients."

Phase 1 DMT Stroke Study Summary

The purpose of the study is to identify the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of DMT when administered as an intravenous bolus followed by prolonged infusion, for durations which have never been studied clinically. In addition, several pharmacodynamic measures believed to be associated with neuroplasticity, including both measurements of biochemical markers and electroencephalographic readings, will be recorded.

The first part of the study will use a single-escalating dose design aimed at identifying a safe and tolerable dose that will not produce psychedelic effects, while the second part will test the effects of repeated administrations of this dose. There will be up to 60 healthy volunteers enrolled across the two parts of the study which will include both psychedelic experienced and psychedelic naive patients.

About CHDR

Founded in 1986, the CHDR is an independent institute that specializes in cutting-edge early-phase clinical drug research. During the pandemic of 2021 the CHDR completed renovations to greatly increase their clinical capacity while also being responsible for 77 scientific publications.

CHDR's custom-built facility is situated in the heart of the Leiden Bio Science Park within Leiden University (LUMC) campus adjacent to the medical school and GMP pharmacy. CHDR's long-standing partnership with the LUMC facilitates direct access to an extensive knowledge base in Leiden, as well as access to different patient populations for trial recruitment. This partnership as well as the combined expertise of two board certified neurologists and post-doctorate clinical scientists with neuroscientific backgrounds will be valuable assets as Algernon's DMT program moves forward. In addition, they have performed multiple clinical trials with psychedelic substances, including DMT, and have a suite of rooms specifically created for that purpose.

The Company had initially retained the CHDR and its affiliated pharmacy at the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, to develop the IVF that will be used in its Phase 1 DMT study. After working with the CHDR team, it was decided to move forward with an ethics and clinical trial application in Netherlands as well to move Algernon's DMT stroke research program forward as quickly as possible.

About DMT

N,N-Dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, is a hallucinogenic tryptamine drug producing effects similar to those of other psychedelics like LSD, ketamine, psilocybin and psilocin. DMT occurs naturally in many plant species and animals including humans and has been used in religious ceremonies as a traditional spiritual medicine by indigenous people in the Amazonian basin. DMT can also be synthesised in a laboratory.

Algernon has filed patents for DMT pamoate and nicotinate (novel salt forms of DMT) in addition to formulation, dosage and method of use claims for ischemic stroke. The Company has also filed claims for combination therapy of DMT and stroke rehabilitation including Constraint Induced Movement Therapy.

About Algernon Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Algernon is a drug re-purposing company that investigates safe, already approved drugs, including naturally occurring compounds, for new disease applications, moving them efficiently and safely into new human trials, developing new formulations and seeking new regulatory approvals in global markets. Algernon specifically investigates compounds that have never been approved in the U.S. or Europe to avoid off label prescription writing.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Christopher J. Moreau

CEO

Algernon Pharmaceuticals Inc.

604.398.4175 ext 701

info@algernonpharmaceuticals.com

investors@algernonpharmaceuticals.com

www.algernonpharmaceuticals.com

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

CAUTIONARY DISCLAIMER STATEMENT: No Securities Exchange has reviewed nor accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release. This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to product development, licensing, commercialization and regulatory compliance issues and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "will", "may", "should", "anticipate", "expects" and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include the failure to satisfy the conditions of the relevant securities exchange(s) and other risks detailed from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulations. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company will update or revise publicly any of the included forward-looking statements as expressly required by applicable law.
Factors propelling the growth of the global maglev train market include the augmenting demand for secure, safe, and efficient transport systems, increase in budget allocation for development of railways, and surge in utilization of public transport services as a solution to reduce traffic congestion.

PORTLAND, Ore., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Maglev Train Market by Type (Normal Conducting Magnetic Levitation, Superconducting Maglevs), by Technology (Electromagnetic Suspension (EMS), Electro-dynamic Suspension (EDS), Inductrack System (permanent magnet passive suspension)), by Application (Passenger, Freight), by Top Speed (Low, Medium, High): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2025-2035." According to the report, the global maglev train industry is estimated to generate $2.7 billion in 2025 and $5.6 billion by 2035, witnessing a CAGR of 7.4% from 2025 to 2035. The report offers a detailed analysis of changing market trends, top segments, key investment pockets, value chain, regional landscape, and competitive scenario.





Drivers and Opportunities

Rise in demand for secure, safer, and efficient transport systems, increase in the allocation of budget for development of railways, and rise in use of public transport services as a solution to minimize traffic congestion fuel the growth of the global maglev train market. However, high capital requirement and refurbishment of existing rails hinder the market growth. On the other hand, improvement in railway infrastructure in developing countries and increase in development & testing of maglev trains present new opportunities in the market in the coming years.

Download Report (306 Pages PDF with Insights, Charts, Tables, Figures) at https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/9461

Covid-19 Scenario

The COVID-19 pandemic created uncertainty in the maglev train market. Governments of different regions announced lockdown and temporary shutdown of industries, which in turn, adversely affected the overall production and sales of maglev trains. Lockdown and trade restrictions disrupted the exports, especially from China , causing manufacturing interruptions across Europe and the closure of assembly plants in the U.S.

, causing manufacturing interruptions across and the closure of assembly plants in the U.S. The railway department halted all the passenger train services and limited its freight transport services due to the reduced demand for commodities and disturbed supply chain.

However, the leading market players are taking measures to deal with the negative effects of the pandemic outbreak. For instance, in 2020, Japan announced its plans to conduct tests of a new prototype maglev train. Moreover, government authorities and operators are expected to accelerate and resume maglev projects which were previously halted, and expand the rail network after the pandemic.

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The superconducting maglevs segment to dominate the market in terms of revenue during the forecast period

Based on type, the superconducting maglevs (SCMAGLEV) segment contributed to the largest share of more than three-fourths of the global maglev train market in 2025, and is expected to rule the roost during the forecast period. The lack of electrical resistance in superconducting magnets allows the SCMAGLEV to consume 30% less energy than other high-speed maglev trains and 50% less than a commercial airliner, making it one of the most efficient modes of large-scale transit. However, the normal conducting magnetic levitation segment is projected to witness the fastest CAGR of 8.6% from 2025 to 2035. The system operates without contacting the railway track and hence, has no wear and friction, thus increasing efficiency, reducing maintenance costs, and increasing the life of the system.

The electromagnetic suspension (EMS) segment to maintain its lion's share during the forecast period

Based on technology, the electromagnetic suspension (EMS) segment held the largest share of nearly half of the global maglev train market in 2025, and is expected to maintain a prominent growth during the forecast period. EMS has several advantages compared to other maglev systems such as low stray magnetic fields in the passenger cabin and the surrounding areas, uniform load distribution along the full length of the vehicle, and small pole pitch for smoother propulsion and ride comfort. However, the inductrack system (permanent magnet passive suspension) segment is likely to exhibit the highest CAGR of 9.2% in 2035. Inductrack system is less expensive than the EDS or EMS maglevs. It optimizes levitation efficiency using permanent magnets and a passive track, which is a widely used technology among maglevs running across the globe.

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Europe to garner the largest revenue by 2035

Based on region, Europe was the largest market in 2025, accounting for nearly half of the global maglev train market, and is likely to lead the trail throughout the forecast period. This is due to rapid urbanization in developing countries of Europe, increase in investment in development, maintenance & upgradation of rolling stock, and surge in fast & reliable railway network in the region. However, North America is anticipated to manifest the fastest CAGR of 9.5% during the forecast period, due to the presence of leading maglev train manufacturers in the region and rise in number of industries opting for the use of maglev trains over other modes of transport.

Leading Market Players

Agile Setu Pvt. Ltd.

Alstom

American Maglev Technology, Inc.

Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd.

CentralJapan Railway Company

CRRC Corporation Limited (CRRC)

East Japan Railway Company

Hitachi Ltd.

Hyundai Rotem Company

Max Bogl

Medha Servo Drives Pvt. Ltd.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.

Northeast Maglev

Shanghai Maglev Transportation Development Co., Ltd.

SwissRapide AG

WSP

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Study marks world's first trial on robotic-assisted neurovascular aneurysm embolization

Corindus, A Siemens Healthineers Company and a leading developer of precision vascular robotics, announced today it presented the results of a first-of-its-kind study demonstrating the safety and effectiveness of robotic-assisted neurovascular aneurysm embolization using the CorPath GRX Neurovascular System. The data represents a milestone in the company's commitment to extending precision robotics into neurovascular treatment.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220907006221/en/

CorPath GRX Neurovascular System (Photo: Business Wire)

The prospective, single-arm, international, multi-center, non-inferiority study is the world's first trial on robotic-assisted neurovascular aneurysm embolization. Principal Investigator Michel Piotin, MD, PhD, Head of the Interventional Neuroradiology Department at the Rothschild Foundation Hospital in Paris, presented the results as part of the AI New Innovations session at the European Society of Minimally Invasive Neurological Therapy (ESMINT) Congress in Nice, France. Key findings of the study showed:

The CorPath GRX Neurovascular System demonstrated 94 percent technical success. It achieved the primary effectiveness goal, which was defined as successful completion of the robotic-assisted endovascular procedure absent of any unplanned conversion to a manual procedure.

The CorPath GRX Neurovascular System demonstrated 95.7 percent clinical success. It achieved the primary safety goal, defined as patients treated without intra- and periprocedural adverse events, including target aneurysmal rupture, vessel perforation or dissection, and thromboembolic event with neurological decline within 24 hours post-procedure or hospital discharge, whichever occurred first.

64.5 percent of subjects achieved Class I status, meaning complete obliteration of the aneurysm, on the Raymond-Roy Occlusion Classification (RROC), the standard for evaluating aneurysm occlusion.

78.2 percent of subjects showed no clinical symptoms post-procedure, achieving a 0 on the Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) for Neurologic Disability. The remaining 21.8 percent of subjects had an mRS of 1 or 2.

"Neurovascular intervention demands extreme precision to achieve optimal clinical outcomes," said Dr. Piotin. "The results of the study show the CorPath GRX System helps physicians move efficiently within tortuous and unstable vessels. I am honored to have participated in a groundbreaking study that may lead to an entirely new treatment paradigm in neurovascular care."

The study included 117 patients from 10 clinical sites in six different countries. It also included a wide range of aneurysms, representing a diverse collection of cases with different locations, sizes and morphology characteristics. The healthcare facilities that treated the trial participants will follow them for 180 days to monitor extended, long-term outcomes.

"The work of our clinical partners on this study marks an early step toward truly transformative change in neurovascular intervention," said Dr. Raymond Turner, Chief Medical Officer, Neuroendovascular at Corindus. "By incorporating robotic platforms in this space, we are paving the way for remote interventional procedures in the future that will connect patients to specialized interventionalists for treatment, regardless of location. Validating clinical evidence, such as this study, will serve as the foundation for that transformation."

The CorPath GRX System is the first FDA-cleared and CE Marked medical device for percutaneous coronary and vascular procedures. It earned CE Mark for neurovascular procedures, and healthcare facilities outside of the U.S. currently utilize the platform for neurovascular interventions. The company is currently pursuing additional regulatory clearances for the neurovascular indication.

To learn more about CorPath GRX, please visit www.corindus.com.

ABOUT CORINDUS

Corindus, A Siemens Healthineers Company, is a global technology leader in robotic-assisted vascular interventions. The Company's CorPath platform is a medical device to bring robotic precision to percutaneous coronary and vascular procedures. CorPath GRX is the second-generation robotic-assisted technology offering enhancements to the platform by adding important key upgrades that increase precision, improve workflow, and extend the capabilities and range of procedures that can be performed robotically. We are focused on developing innovative robotic solutions to revolutionize treatment of emergent conditions by providing specialized and timely medical care to patients around the world. For additional information, visit www.corindus.com, and follow @CorindusInc.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220907006221/en/

Contacts:

Media:

Matter Health for Corindus

Jill Gross

+1 978-518-4258

corindus@matternow.com

Siemens Healthineers, North America

Jeffrey Bell

+1 484-868-8346

Jeffrey.t.bell@siemens-healthineers.com

Siemens Healthineers, Europe

Kathrin Palder

+49 173-3645319

kathrin.palder@siemens-healthineers.com


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - On Monday, on the sixtieth anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's Moonshot speech at Rice University, President Joe Biden will deliver another American moonshot address.



Speaking at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston at 4 PM ET, Biden will discuss his bold vision for eradicating cancer from the United States.



Biden will announce new actions that his Administration is taking to make significant progress in combatting cancer, the White House said.



He is set to sign an Executive Order to launch a National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative to ensure the United States makes cutting-edge biotechnologies and other innovations necessary to end cancer.



Biden nominated Dr. Renee Wegrzyn as the inaugural director of the new Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) to improve the U.S. government's ability to speed up health and biomedical research.



The United Satates has an extraordinary biomedical system that has delivered stunning advances previously seen as inconceivable - from COVID-19 vaccines to drugs that can eliminate certain cancers. Under Dr. Wegrzyn's leadership, ARPA-H will support programs and projects that undertake challenges ranging from the molecular to the societal, with the potential to transform entire areas of medicine and health in order to prevent, detect, and treat some of the most complex diseases such as Alzheimer's, diabetes, and cancer, providing benefits for all Americans.



The United States has for too long relied heavily on foreign materials for bioproduction.



When the President and First Lady reignited the Cancer Moonshot seven months ago, the first-ever Cancer Cabinet was formed to mobilize all levers of the federal government and realize the President's vision of ending cancer. In July, the Cancer Cabinet unveiled priority actions to close the screening gap, understand and address environmental exposure, decrease the impact of preventable cancers, bring cutting edge research through the pipeline to patients and communities, and support patients and caregivers.



The White House will host a summit on Wednesday to discuss the biotechnology-focused initiative and announce investments to scale out domestic research, development and production capabilities.







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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 12, 2022) - CopAur Minerals Inc. (TSXV: CPAU) (OTCQX: COPAF) ("CopAur" or the "Company") is pleased to provide current & new shareholders a brief overview of prior high-grade gold drill intercepts at the Company's flagship Kinsley Mountain Gold Project (the "Kinsley Mountain Project" or "Kinsley Mountain") in Elko County, Nevada.

The Kinsley Mountain Project was an historical past producer that yielded 138,000 ounces of near surface open pit oxide gold between 1995-1999. Kinsley contains current mineral resources comprising the high-grade Western Flank Zone and near surface oxide of 418,000 indicated ounces gold at 2.63 grams-per-tonne (g/t) gold, and 117,000 inferred ounces gold at 1.51 g/t gold[1]. Indicated resources are inclusive of 302,000 ounces averaging 6.11 g/t gold hosted within the Secret Canyon Shale at the Western Flank Zone.

In 2013, gold mineralization was recognized on the west side of the Kinsley project in limestone and shale beds within the Hamburg Formation and Secret Canyon Shale, units that had not previously been recognized as potential hosts of gold mineralization (Figure 1). Subsequent drilling in 2014 returned numerous high-grade gold intercepts including PK137C that returned 21.3 g/t gold over 29 metres1 within the Secret Canyon Shale at the Western Flank (Table 1).

Figure 1. Kinsley Mountain Gold Project Cross Section Through Mine Trend

(Looking northeast)

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7895/136745_a14728c4d46ce9f2_001full.jpg

The drill results that so recently led to this exceptional high-grade gold discovery show that gold is widespread in two different stratigraphic units. This emphasizes the significant property-wide discovery potential at Kinsley Mountain with over 12 km of prospective geology, alteration, and geochemical targets to explore, of which 80% remains untested by drilling.

CEO Jeremy Yaseniuk stated, "Initially released between 2013 and 2014, these drill results are relevant to CopAur's current exploration plans. Kinsley hosts numerous untested targets like the Western Flank Zone that we believe point to the potential of a much larger gold endowment with 80% of the property remaining untested by drilling. We felt the need to re-publish these results to help shareholders understand the tremendous potential of this project given that many may not realize the remarkable nature of recent drilling before this asset was in CopAur. In addition to this drilling, we have identified 8 new exciting targets on the property that have previously not been drilled that we hope will yield additional discoveries (see CopAur news release dated August 3, 2022)."

Table 1 Selected Historical Western Flank Zone Secret Canyon Shale Diamond Drill Intercepts1



Hole ID (Az, Dip) (degrees)



From

(m) To

(m) Intercept[2] (m) Au (g/t) Au

Cut-Off

Hole

Depth

(m) PK091CA (90, -70)

255.1 291.7 36.6 8.5 0.2 291.7 including 276.5 284.0 7.6 29.4 5.0 PK127C (090, -66) 276.5 318.1 41.7 6.9 0.2 389.2 incl 282.5 287.1 4.6 8.5 5.0 incl 301.0 309.5 8.5 16.3 5.0 incl 314.6 318.1 3.6 20.5 5.0 PK131C (110, -72) 262.7 305.4 42.7 10.5 0.2 398.4 incl 276.5 299.3 22.9 18.3 5.0 PK132C (-90) 249.6 303.0 53.3 7.5 0.2 456.9 incl 257.3 259.5 2.3 18.1 5.0 incl 269.4 292.3 22.9 14.9 5.0 PK133C (270, -77) 310.0 340.0 30.0 10.6 0.2 413.6 incl 322.2 338.6 16.5 16.1 5.0 PK137C[3] (120 -80) 253.9 282.9 29.0 21.3 0.2 282.8 incl 259.7 264.6 4.9 46.4 5.0 incl 270.5 281.9 11.4 32.7 5.0 PK137CA3 (120, -80) 253.3 292.0 38.7 15.6 0.2 346.9 incl 259.4 281.3 21.9 26.2 5.0 PK175CA (255, -78) 287.1 332.8 45.7 6.2 0.2 398.4 including 299.9 319.1 19.2 13.8 5.0 PK186C (030, -79) 273.4 313.0 39.6 10.1 0.2 422.8 incl 283.8 305.4 21.6 17.4 5.0 PK187C (145, -81) 262.7 293.2 30.5 6.0 0.2 364.8 incl 274.3 282.5 8.2 8.1 5.0

Methodology and QA/QC

The 2013 and 2014 drill composites were calculated using a cut-off of 0.20 or 5.0 g/t. Drill samples were assayed by ALS Chemex (ALS) in Reno, Nevada for 30-gram gold Fire Assay with an AA finish, or gravimetric finish for sample returning over 5.0 g/t. QA/QC for all drill samples consists of the insertion and continual monitoring of numerous standards and blanks into the sample stream, and the collection of duplicate samples at random intervals within each batch. ALS is an ISO-IEC 17025:2017 and ISO 9001:2015 accredited geoanalytical laboratory and is independent of the CopAur and the QP.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Kristopher J. Raffle, P.Geo. (BC), Principal and Consultant, and Christopher W. Livingstone, P.Geo. (BC), Senior Geologist, both of APEX Geoscience Ltd. of Edmonton, AB, and "Qualified Persons" as defined in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Raffle and Mr. Livingstone have verified the data disclosed which includes a review of the sampling, analytical and test data underlying the information and opinions contained herein.

For more information, please contact:

CopAur Minerals Inc.

Jeremy Yaseniuk, Chief Executive Officer & Director

Tel: +1 (604) 773-1467

Email: jeremyy@copaur.com

Max Sali, Director

Tel: +1 (604) 367-8117

Email: msali@copaur.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Forward-Looking Information

This news release includes certain statements that constitute "forward-looking information or statements" within the meaning of applicable securities law, including without limitation, conducting exploration work on its projects, receipt of assays, other statements relating to the technical, financial and business prospects of the Company and its properties, and other matters.

Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions. 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 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), and variations of such words, and similar expressions are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statement are necessarily based upon a number of factors that, if untrue, could cause the actual results, performances or achievements of the Company to be materially different from future results, performances or achievements express 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, including the price of metals, anticipated costs and the ability to achieve goals, that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner, that financing will be available if and when needed and on reasonable terms, and that third party contractors, equipment and supplies and governmental and other approvals required to conduct the Company's planned exploration activities will be available on reasonable terms and in a timely manner. While such estimates and assumptions are considered reasonable by the management of the Company, they are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive and regulatory uncertainties and risks.

Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual events, level of activity, performance or results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: (i) risks related to gold and other commodity price fluctuations; (ii) risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of exploration results; (iii) risks related to the inherent uncertainty of exploration and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; (iv) that resource exploration and development is a speculative business; (v) that the Company may lose or abandon its property interests or may fail to receive necessary licences and permits; (vi) that environmental laws and regulations may become more onerous; (vii) that the Company may not be able to raise additional funds when necessary; (viii) the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; (ix) exploration and development risks, including risks related to accidents, equipment breakdowns, labour disputes or other unanticipated difficulties with or interruptions in exploration and development; (x) competition; (xi) the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of geologic reports or studies; (xii) the uncertainty of profitability based upon the Company's history of losses; (xiii) risks related to environmental regulation and liability; (xiv) risks associated with failure to maintain community acceptance, agreements and permissions (generally referred to as "social licence"); (xv) risks relating to obtaining and maintaining all necessary government permits, approvals and authorizations relating to the continued exploration and development of the Company's projects; (xvi) risks related to the outcome of legal actions; (xvii) political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; (xix) risks related to current global financial conditions; and (xx) other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business strategy. These risks, as well as others, could cause actual results and events to vary significantly.

Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include, but are not limited to, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions, the loss of key directors, employees, advisors or consultants, adverse weather conditions, increase in costs, equipment failures, government regulations and policies, litigation, exchange rate fluctuations, the impact of Covid-19 or other viruses and diseases on the Company's ability to operate, decrease in the price of gold and other metals, failure of counterparties to perform their contractual obligations and fees charged by service providers. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and, accordingly are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty of such statements. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation.

[1] Technical Report on the Kinsley Project, Elko County, Nevada, U.S.A., dated June 21, 2021, with an effective date of May 5, 2021, and prepared by Michael M. Gustin and Gary L. Simmons, and filed under New Placer Dome Gold Corp.'s issuer profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).

[2] True widths of the mineralized intervals are interpreted to be between 60-90% of the reported lengths

[3] PK137C was lost in the mineralized zone due to poor ground conditions higher in the hole. PK137CA was wedged off the same hole above the mineralized zone and was completed through the mineralized zone adjacent to PK137C.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/136745
Sudbury, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - September 12, 2022) - Transition Metals Corp (TSXV: XTM ) ("Transition", "the Company") is pleased to present channel sampling results from summer field work on its Maude Lake Property located near Schreiber, Ontario (Figure 1). A total of 13 channel samples were taken over a strike length of 45 metres on the main surface mineralized area. The Company will be shortly mobilizing a diamond drill to site to test a major conductivity feature measuring 300 by 500 metres that is associated with the potential extension of the high tenor surface mineralization.

Highlights

Channel 4 returned 17.01 metres averaging 0.46 % Ni, including 4.26 metres grading 1.27 % Ni,

Channel 7 returned 8.17 metres averaging 0.50 % Ni including 1.70 metres grading 1.61 % Ni,

Results from the 13 channel samples have further defined and significantly expanded the known high tenor surface mineralization,

Drilling will commence shortly, targeting an extensive untested, high conductance feature measuring approximately 300 by 500 metres, south along strike to the known surface mineralization.

Transition CEO Scott McLean commented, "We are excited to get the diamond drill started at our Maude Lake project. The coincident untested VTEM conductor along trend of the known high tenor, surface mineralization is one of the most exciting targets we have generated in recent times. Given the forecasted demand for nickel as a key critical metal needed for the electrification of the world, we believe that there is potential to define a significant nickel deposit on our property."

Assay results from the 2022 channel sampling completed over the new exposure returned broad intervals of elevated nickel, copper, cobalt and platinum group elements (PGM), summarized below in Table 1. A detailed map depicting sample location and detailed geology is presented in Figure 2. Of note, channel 4 returned 17.01 metres grading 0.46 % Ni, 0.35 % Cu and 0.03 % Co including 4.26 metres grading 1.27 % Ni, 0.84 % Cu, and 0.08 % Co. Channel 7 returned 8.17 metres averaging 0.50 % Ni including 1.70 metres grading 1.61 % Ni

Table 1: 2022 Channel Sampling Results - Maude Lake Ni-Cu-Co-PGM showing

Base Metals Precious Metals Channel ID Length Ni Cu Co Pt Pd Au 3E PGM (m) (%) (%) (%) (g/t) (g/t) (g/t) g/t) Channel 1 4.24 0.61 0.40 0.03 0.05 0.14 0.02 0.20 including 1.69 1.00 0.72 0.06 0.09 0.26 0.03 0.37 Channel 2 1.84 0.71 0.64 0.02 0.08 0.40 0.02 0.50 Channel 3 0.48 1.34 0.84 0.23 0.18 0.07 0.03 0.27 Channel 4 17.01 0.46 0.35 0.03 0.04 0.11 0.02 0.17 including 4.26 1.27 0.84 0.08 0.08 0.23 0.02 0.34 Channel 5 3.19 0.08 0.04 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.01 0.04 Channel 6 3.03 0.81 0.53 0.03 0.04 0.10 0.34 0.48 including 1.10 2.02 1.21 0.07 0.06 0.13 0.89 1.08 Channel 7 8.17 0.50 0.40 0.02 0.03 0.09 0.03 0.15 including 1.70 1.61 1.20 0.05 0.06 0.29 0.04 0.39 Channel 8 3.39 0.11 0.11 0.01 0.01 0.03 0.01 0.05 Channel 9 7.90 0.44 0.35 0.02 0.04 0.10 0.03 0.17 including, and 1.53 0.57 0.64 0.03 0.03 0.12 0.04 0.19 including 2.17 1.04 0.58 0.05 0.12 0.23 0.05 0.41 Channel 9  3.48 0.15 0.14 0.01 0.02 0.08 0.02 0.12 Channel 10 1.97 0.44 0.18 0.02 0.04 0.10 0.04 0.18 including 0.72 0.82 0.25 0.04 0.07 0.16 0.02 0.25 Channel 11 0.76 1.27 0.15 0.05 0.03 0.17 0.02 0.21 Channel 12 4.00 0.41 0.19 0.02 0.03 0.13 0.02 0.18 including 0.69 1.91 0.72 0.10 0.16 0.66 0.05 0.87 Channel 13 5.25 0.11 0.11 0.01 0.02 0.05 0.01 0.08

Note: The reader is cautioned that the mineralization encountered in 2022 trenching activities reported above may not be representative of mineralization across the entire Maude Lake Property. PGM represents Pd g/t + Pt g/t + Au g/t. The length reported is the sample length and is not necessarily the true width of the mineralized zone.

The initial drill target is an approximate 300 by 500 metre conductor (Figure 1) outlined by a Versatile Time Domain Electromagnetic (VTEM) and Magnetic (Mag) geophysical survey completed over the property by the Company earlier this year (See Company news release of May 31, 2022). Modelling has outlined an untested conductive body dipping to the south-southeast at a vertical depth of 150 metres which may be associated with historical diamond drill intersections of Ni-Cu-Co mineralization encountered up-dip or off section from the newly defined conductive target. (Figure 3).

About The Maude Lake Property

The property is located approximately 10 kilometres north of the community of Schreiber, Ontario. It consists of staked mining claims on crown land that cover approximately 1,398 hectares in the Pays Plat Lake, Lower Aguasabon Lake and Priske township areas. The property lies within the traditional territory of the Pays Plat First Nation.

Located in the southern limb of the Archean Hemlo-Schreiber greenstone belt, the property covers the contact between mafic to felsic volcanic rocks to the south and the Crossman Lake granitic pluton to the north. A late sill-like mafic to ultramafic body is interpreted to have been intruded along the contact and is the host to the main Ni-Cu-Co-PGM showing (Smyk, 19931). High tenor, nickel-bearing, base metal sulphides occur as massive to vein-like and net-textured aggregates along the contact between the mafic-ultramafic intrusion to the south and the granite to the north.

Drilling by Zenmac Metal Mines Inc.2 in 1969-1970 extended the surface mineralization down-dip to a vertical depth of 150 metres. Hole 7 returned 1.0 % Ni, 0.32 % Cu over 15 feet (4.6 metres) from 245-260 feet (74.7 - 79.2 metres) including a higher-grade section of 1.56 % Ni and 0.41 % Cu over 5 feet (1.5 metres). Zenmac reported that the deposit was estimated to contain 185,000t @ 0.49% Ni, 0.26% Cu in a zone 300 ft long, 22 ft thick (91.4 metre long, 6.7 metre thick). This historical estimate is not compliant under National Instrument 43-101 (NI-43-101) . In 2001, Novawest Resources Inc. acquired the property and completed surface sampling, mapping, geophysics, and diamond drilling as well as an NI 43-101 Technical Report in 20043.

The reader is cautioned that the historical information quoted within this news release was obtained from historical work reports filed by Novawest Resources Inc. with the Ontario Ministry of Energy, Norther Development and Mines, and has not been independently verified by a Qualified Person as defined under NI-43-101.



1 Source: Smyk, M.C., (1993) Preliminary Investigation of the Nicopor Copper-Nickel Prospect, Northwestern Ontario, Institute on Lake Superior Geology, Proceeding Volume 39 Part 1 - Program and Abstracts, p.72.

2 Source: Assessment Report, Ontario Northern Development and Mines, Zenmac Metal Mines Inc., 42D14NW0045

3 Source: The Fowler Option a portion of the Nickel Royale Project, Technical Report prepared for Novawest Resources Inc., Dr. Mikkel Schau and Garry Clarke, November 2004.

Qualified Person

The technical elements of this press release have been reviewed and approved by Ben Williams, P.Geo. (PGO), a Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101. All analytical work was conducted at ALS Laboratories, an independent lab located in North Vancouver, B.C. The quality system used by ALS Laboratories meets all requirements of International Standards ISO/IEC 17025: 2005 and ISO 9001:2015.

Data Verification, Sampling Procedures & QA/QC

The channel material, measuring approximately 8 centimetres wide by 8 centimetres deep, with lengths ranging from no less then 0.3 metres to no more then 1.5 metres long; intervals were cut out with a motorized concrete cut-off saw, chipped out with a hammer and chisel, and put in a poly bag labelled with its unique sample number. Samples were recorded as a channel sample with an assigned geo-station in a field notebook with spatial location information as well as having the channel sample beginning and end locations recoded using a handheld GPS (horizontal accuracy of  0.15 metres, vertical accuracy  1.5 metres).

Field standards and blanks were given unique sample numbers and were inserted into the sampling sequence every 20th to 25th sample. All standards and blanks reported in the ALS analytical certificates and all field standard and blank QA/QC samples were determined to be within acceptable values.

All samples submitted by TMC were analyzed in Vancouver by ALS Chemex. Platinum, palladium, and gold values were determined together using standard lead oxide collection fire assay and ICP-AES finish. Base metal values were determined using sodium peroxide fusion and ICP-AES finish. Silver values were determined using an aqua regia digestion and an AAS finish. In the case of over limits, Au is determined by fire assay and gravimetric finish, and for Pt and Pd are determined by fire assay and AAS finish.

About Transition Metals Corp.

Transition Metals Corp (TSXV: XTM) is a Canadian-based, multi-commodity project generator that specializes in converting new exploration ideas into discoveries. The award-winning team of geoscientists have extensive exploration experience which actively develop and test new ideas for discovering mineralization in places where others have not searched, often allowing the company to acquire properties inexpensively. Joint venture partners earn an interest in the projects by funding a portion of higher-risk drilling and exploration, allowing Transition to conserve capital and minimize shareholder's equity dilution.

Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Information

Except for statements of historical fact contained herein, the information in this news release constitutes "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities law. Such forward-looking information may be identified by words such as "plans", "proposes", "estimates", "intends", "expects", "believes", "may", "will" and include without limitation, statements regarding estimated capital and operating costs, expected production timeline, benefits of updated development plans, foreign exchange assumptions and regulatory approvals. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate; actual results and future events could differ materially from such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, among others, metal prices, competition, risks inherent in the mining industry, and regulatory risks. Most of these factors are outside the control of the Company. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking information. Except as otherwise required by applicable securities statutes or regulation, the Company expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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.

Further information is available at www.transitionmetalscorp.com or by contacting:

Scott McLean

President and CEO

Transition Metals Corp.

Tel: (705) 669-1777

FIGURE 1: Location of the Maude Lake Project, with the 2022 Trench and VTEM dB/dt Calculated Time Constant (Tau) Anomaly (conductors) in the vicinity of the Maude Lake Ni-Cu-Co-PGM Showing.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/2766/136757_ffd8cb08844aba71_001full.jpg

FIGURE 2: Results of the 2022 trench mapping and channel sample analyses

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/2766/136757_ffd8cb08844aba71_002full.jpg

FIGURE 3: Composite vertical cross section depicting channel sample location, results of historical shallow drilling3, and the location of the geophysical anomaly

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/2766/136757_ffd8cb08844aba71_003full.jpg

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/136757
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - September 12, 2022) - Therma Bright Inc. (TSXV: THRM) ("Therma" or the "Company"), developer of its smart-enabled AcuVid COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Saliva Test and other progressive diagnostic and medical device technologies, provides an update on it AcuVid COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Saliva Test's Emergency Use Authorization application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The Company has received communication from the FDA which states they have completed an initial review of our AcuVid EUA application and have asked for additional details and questions to be addressed on our rapid saliva test solution. The Therma Bright team is working closely with its strategic partners and suppliers to comprehensively and clearly respond to the FDAs questions. Once this effort is complete, the Company will resubmit its EUA application with all the additional documentation and tests requested by FDA reviewers, including details around transport and storage of RT PCR samples, additional data on external controls used, and further validation on AcuVid's ability to detect the Omicron variant post March 1, 2022, when the variant achieved 100% overall prevalence in the U.S. State of California variant tracker (https://covid19.ca.gov/variants/), where the U.S. clinical study was performed, shows Omicron was 90.0% of all new cases on December 29, 2021 and 99.8% on February 1, 2022.

"We and our strategic partners are confident in the performance of our innovative AcuVid COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Saliva Test and will continue to work with FDA officials in answering their questions in order to bring our solution to the U.S. marketplace, including providing the specific data and details as needed for authorization," shared Rob Fia, CEO of Therma Bright. "In tandem, we'll continue to pursue sales where authorized, as we navigate regulatory authorization processes from around the globe."

The FDA does not provide timelines on how long approvals will take. The Company will update the market as required.

Therma Bright is not making any express or implied claims that its test product has the ability to eliminate or cure COVID-19 or the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

About Therma Bright Inc.

Therma Bright, developer of the smart-enabled AcuVid COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Saliva Test, is a progressive medical diagnostic and device technology company focused on providing consumers and medical professionals with quality, innovative solutions that address some of today's most important medical and healthcare challenges. The Company's initial breakthrough proprietary technology delivers effective, non-invasive and pain-free skincare. Therma Bright received a Class II medical device status from the FDA for its platform technology that is indicated for the relief of the pain, itch, and inflammation of a variety of insect bites or stings. The Company received clearance for the above claims from the U.S. FDA in 1997. Therma Bright Inc. trades on the TSXV (TSXV: THRM) (OTCQB: TBRIF) (FSE: JNX). Visit: www.thermabright.com.

For further information, please contact:

Therma Bright Inc.

Rob Fia, CEO

rfia@thermabright.com



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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements in this news release constitute "forward-looking" statements. These statements relate to future events such as development and commercialization of a rapid COVID-19 viral assay and related instrumentation, regulatory applications and manufacturing scale up as described in the news release. All such statements involve substantial known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results to vary from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties, they should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and they will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether or not such results will be achieved. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of the Company believes are reasonable assumptions on the date of this news release, the Company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable securities regulations.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

This press release is not an offer of the securities for sale in the United States. The securities have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/136759
MINNEAPOLIS (dpa-AFX) - Target Corp. (TGT) announced Monday an exclusive multiyear agreement with iconic toy brand FAO Schwarz to ignite even more magic and inspiration across Target's unrivaled toy assortment. Starting mid-October, FAO Schwarz toys will be available exclusively at Target stores, Target.com and FAO Schwarz stores. The assortment will include more than 120 items across all toy categories, with a broad range of toys to inspire magical moments and nostalgic memories signature to FAO Schwarz. Products will range in price from $9.99-$149.99, including 50 toys under $20. All Target store toy departments will feature dedicated space for FAO Schwarz, including playful store displays to highlight must-have FAO toys and toy demonstrations throughout the holiday season. In addition, Target announced the 10th annual Bullseye's Top Toys list, presented by FAO Schwarz, which includes the most anticipated toys and games from a wide variety of brands available at Target. 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.
STORM recognised as an innovative early-stage biotechnology company pioneering novel drug targets

CAMBRIDGE, England, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- STORM Therapeutics Ltd. (STORM), the biotechnology company discovering and developing novel small molecule therapies targeting RNA modifying enzymes for oncology and other diseases, is pleased to announce that Fierce Biotech has named it as one of its 2022 "Fierce 15", designating it as one of the most exciting biotechnology companies in the industry. This award highlights STORM's dedication to developing novel treatments for the unmet medical need of patients, and its successes at the forefront of the RNA modification field.

Dr. Jerry McMahon, CEO of STORM Therapeutics added: "We are thrilled to be named among the industry's most exciting biotech companies. As the first ever biotech to put a targeted RNA-modifying enzyme (RME) inhibitor into the clinic, it is an honor that STORM's focus to become the global leader in our field of RME has been recognized. We look forward to continuing the progression of STORM by advancing our first-in-class candidate STC-15 into clinical development and bring forward our pipeline of drug candidates next year for oncology and other disease indications.

STORM's first-in-class clinical candidate STC-15, an orally bioavailable, highly selective METTL3 inhibitor, is on track to begin initial clinical studies in solid tumors in 2022 and will be the first molecule specifically targeting an RNA modifying enzyme to enter clinical development. In 2021, STORM also entered into a significant drug discovery partnership with a leading oncology company to target the RNA editor ADAR1.

The Fierce 15 awards celebrate the spirit of being "fierce" - championing innovation and creativity, even in the face of intense competition. This is Fierce Biotech's 20th annual Fierce 15 selection.

An internationally recognized daily report reaching a network of over 450,000 biotech and pharma industry professionals, Fierce Biotech provides subscribers with an authoritative analysis of the day's top stories. Every year Fierce Biotech evaluates hundreds of early-stage companies from around the world for its annual Fierce 15 list, which is based on a variety of factors such as the strength of its technology, partnerships, venture backers and competitive market position.

About STORM Therapeutics

STORM Therapeutics (STORM) is a biotechnology company creating novel therapies that inhibit RNA modifying enzymes (RME) for use in oncology and other diseases. There are more than 150 RNA modifications reported and approximately 300 RNA modifying enzymes which represent novel therapeutic targets.

STORM has leveraged its first-mover advantage to establish a novel drug discovery and RNA analytics platform leading to the identification of novel targets and a proprietary pipeline of first in class small-molecule drug candidates for potential use in oncology, inflammation, viral infections and CNS diseases.

The pipeline is exemplified by STORM's METTL3 inhibitor (STC-15) for which an IND has been filed with the FDA to support initiation of a Phase 1 clinical trial in cancer patients in 2022. STC-15 represents the first RNA modifying enzyme inhibitor to enter clinical evaluation in humans. Additional candidates are planned for advancement into IND-track activities in 2023.

STORM investors include M Ventures (the corporate venture capital arm of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany), Pfizer Ventures, Taiho Ventures, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Seroba Life Sciences, IP Group, Fast Track Initiative (FTI) and the University of Tokyo Innovation Platform.

About STC-15

STORM's lead program STC-15 is a first-in-class clinical candidate and will be the first inhibitor of RNA modification to enter clinical development in humans. STC-15 is an oral small molecule that inhibits METTL3 which is an RNA methyltransferase implicated in oncology and other diseases. Certain RNA methyltransferase are important regulators of RNA sensing and innate immune activation and represent novel immune-regulatory targets.

STC-15 has also been shown to inhibit tumor growth through mechanisms involving anti-cancer immune responses such as changes in interferon signaling and synergy with T cell checkpoint blockade. In addition, STC-15 has shown efficacy in leukemia models via mechanisms including inhibition of leukemia stem cell function.

STC-15 is planned for initial clinical study in cancer patients with solid tumors in 2022.

About Fierce Biotech

Fierce Biotech is the biotech industry's daily monitor, an email newsletter and web resource providing the latest biotech news, articles, and resources related to clinical trials, drug discovery, FDA approval, FDA regulation, patent news, pharma news, biotech company news and more. More than 450,000 top biotech professionals rely on Fierce Biotech for an insider briefing on the day's top stories.

Signup is free at www.fiercebiotech.com/signup.
An evidence-based, expert consensus resource, available for free at NCCN.org/patientguidelines, helps people understand a rare and complex cancer type

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has published new NCCN Guidelines for Patients: Marginal Zone Lymphoma. A cancer of the lymphatic system, marginal zone lymphoma (MZL) is a type of non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphoma that is typically slow-growing, and comprises about 8% of non-Hodgkin lymphoma cases1.





"As a result of its rarity, many people lack awareness of Marginal Zone Lymphoma. During the diagnosis phase, patients should consider the possibility of having their pathology reviewed at a medical center that sees a lot of lymphoma patients, in order to confirm the diagnosis" according to Leo I. Gordon, MD, Professor in Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center; Dr. Gordon is Vice-Chair of the panel that develops the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) for B-Cell Lymphomas, which include Marginal Zone Lymphoma.

NCCN Guidelines are the recognized standard for clinical direction and policy in cancer management; NCCN Guidelines for Patients take the same evidence-based clinical recommendations and present them in simple, easy-to-understand wording, alongside charts, images, and suggested questions to ask.

The patient guidelines for Marginal Zone Lymphoma guidelines are the latest in NCCN's library of NCCN Guidelines for Patients , published through funding from the NCCN Foundation and available online free of charge. NCCN Guidelines for Patients provide information on nearly 60 cancer types, as well as topics such as treatment side effect management, mental distress, and survivorship. With this new guide, patients can understand the distinctive features of MZL, which can be lost in discussions of slow-growing (or "indolent") lymphomas in general.

MZL develops from immune cells called B cells. That meant management for MZL was particularly impacted during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, since some treatment options can reduce B-cell-produced antibodies, thereby lessening the overall immune system response. Now that providers can manage COVID-19 more effectively, MZL patients are less vulnerable to poor outcomes from infection.

MZL is generally diagnosed in people in their late 50s through mid-60s, although it can occur in the skin of persons as young as 20 to 30 years of age. It is often a chronic, non-fatal disease.

There are three main subtypes of MZL based on where they originated in the body, either in the spleen, bone marrow, or in lymphatic tissues throughout the body. "MZL can be extranodal, which can involve virtually any organ in the body, including skin, stomach, lung, prostate, or breast," said Andrew D. Zelenetz, MD, PhD, Medical Oncologist, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; Chair, NCCN Guidelines Panel for B-Cell Lymphomas "Splenic MZL involves the spleen, blood, and bone marrow, and is sometimes associated with hepatitis C infection. And nodal MZL primarily forms in the lymph nodes. All three subtypes are managed differently."

Treatments are trending away from cytotoxic chemotherapy and toward more targeted chemotherapy and immunotherapy, with clinical trials using chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy underway.

Dr. Gordon noted that "not everyone needs treatment right away, many people can be safely observed and spared unnecessary treatment-related toxicity."

NCCN Guidelines for Patients are available for free online at NCCN.org/patientguidelines and via the NCCN Patient Guides for Cancer App. Printed versions can be purchased through Amazon for a nominal fee.

Patients and advocates are eligible for complimentary admission to an upcoming NCCN event focused on the latest blood cancer treatment recommendations. The NCCN 2022 Annual Congress: Hematologic Malignancies will take place in New York City on October 14-15 as a hybrid event with the option to attend in-person or virtually. Visit NCCN.org/hem for more information.

About the National Comprehensive Cancer Network

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) is a not-for-profit alliance of leading cancer centers devoted to patient care, research, and education. NCCN is dedicated to improving and facilitating quality, effective, efficient, and accessible cancer care so patients can live better lives. The NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) provide transparent, evidence-based, expert consensus recommendations for cancer treatment, prevention, and supportive services; they are the recognized standard for clinical direction and policy in cancer management and the most thorough and frequently updated clinical practice guidelines available in any area of medicine. The NCCN Guidelines for Patients provide expert cancer treatment information to inform and empower patients and caregivers, through support from the NCCN Foundation. NCCN also advances continuing education, global initiatives, policy, and researchcollaboration and publication in oncology. Visit NCCN.org for more information and follow NCCN on Facebook @NCCNorg, Instagram @NCCNorg, and Twitter @NCCN.

About the NCCN Foundation

The NCCN Foundation was founded by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) to empower people with cancer and advance oncology innovation. The NCCN Foundation empowers people with cancer and their caregivers by delivering unbiased expert guidance from the world's leading cancer experts through the library of NCCN Guidelines for Patients and other patient education resources. The NCCN Foundation is also committed to advancing cancer treatment by funding the nation's promising young investigators at the forefront of cancer research. For more information about the NCCN Foundation, visit NCCN.org/foundation.

1 Khalil MO, Morton LM, Devesa SS, Check DP, Curtis RE, Weisenburger DD, Dores GM. Incidence of marginal zone lymphoma in the United States, 2001-2009 with a focus on primary anatomic site. Br J Haematol. 2014 Apr;165(1):67-77. doi: 10.1111/bjh.12730. Epub 2014 Jan 12. PMID: 24417667; PMCID: PMC3967856.

Media Contact:

Rachel Darwin

267-622-6624

darwin@nccn.org





Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1895713/mzl.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/441768/NCCN_Logo.jpg
STOCKHOLM, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Netigate, one of Europe's leading providers of experience management, continues their growth journey with the launch of text analysis. An intelligent new feature for the survey platform, this release is set to transform the way Netigate's customers work with open-text feedback. Alongside the company's new partnership with the Nordic-based firm GRO Capital, this is yet another step in Netigate's bid to establish an even stronger position in Europe.

Text analysis is Netigate's most intelligent product launch to date. Powered by machine learning AI technology, Text Analysis makes it possible for the Netigate tool to understand text data almost as a human would. This means that it can read and analyse text responses for business insights, removing the need for customers to manually sift through answers themselves.

Key features of Text Analysis include sentiment analysis, pattern identification, and keyword grouping. Sentiment analysis means the tool can instantly identify the 'feelings' being expressed in text responses, understanding which answers show positive, negative, neutral, or mixed sentiment. The tool can also categorise and spot patterns across unlimited text answers, helping Netigate users to quickly identify what survey respondents are talking about.

Henrik Ceder, Chief Product Officer at Netigate says: "Text analysis is transformative for Netigate and our customers. From a company perspective, it shows our commitment to providing users with continual platform upgrades and developments. For customers, it's going to change the way they work with text data, providing them with a scalable solution that allows them to take wiser decisions and be more data driven. And it doesn't end here. We're already working on future iterations of Text Analysis that will bring even more value to customers."

This new product release comes during a period of rapid growth and expansion for Netigate. Last month, the company announced that the Nordic-based private equity firm CRO Capital had become a new major shareholder. Together with GRO Capital, Netigate will be able to provide customers with new, high-tech analytical releases at an accelerated pace. These will further simplify the analysis process and help transform insights into decisions that add true value to their business.

Netigate strives to give every voice value by inspiring companies and organisations to act on insights. The product vision is to provide a platform for unfiltered, rich feedback that delivers an authentic understanding of customers and employees.

CONTACT:

Press contact

Natasha Ellis-Knight

International Marketing Manager

Natasha.ellisknight@netigate.net

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/netigate-ab/r/netigate-launches-text-analysis-transforming-the-way-customers-work-with-text-responses,c3629596

The following files are available for download:
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / September 12, 2022 / Atomic Minerals Corporation ("ATOMIC MINERALS" or the "Company") (TSX Venture:ATOM) commends the recently announced supplemental Continuing Resolution ("CR") Appropriations Issues request by the White House aimed at reducing reliance on Russian nuclear fuels.

On September 2, President Biden made the supplemental CR appropriations request to the US Congress for the Department of Energy on a continuing resolution that included a $1.5 billion for the Department of Energy for the acquisition and distribution of low -enriched uranium ("LEU") and high-assay low enriched uranium ("HALEU") and other activities pursuant to the Atomic Energy Act of 1954.

This request will provide the funds to the Department of Energy, Nuclear Energy account, to assist in establishing a reliable fuel supply to rapidly meet the low-enriched uranium demand of the existing commercial nuclear fleet and the high-assay low-enriched uranium needs for advanced nuclear reactors. Funding would be used to address present and future shortfalls in domestic uranium supply.

Clive Massey, Atomic Minerals CEO and President commented, "I'm very pleased that President Biden has recognized that in 2021, Russia provided US nuclear utilities with 14 percent of their uranium purchases and 28 percent of their enrichment services, when the US has enough untapped uranium in the ground to supply Department of Energy and nuclear utilities."

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, at the end of 2021, there were 93 operating commercial nuclear reactors at 55 nuclear power plants in 28 states with a combined generating capacity of approximately 95,492 MW. From 2013 through 2019, annual nuclear generating capacity and the generating of electricity increased each year (except in 2017) even as the number of operating reactors declined.

Today there are about 440 nuclear power reactors operating in 32 countries plus Taiwan, with a combined capacity of about 390 GWe. In 2021 these provided 2653 TWh, about 10% of the world's electricity. About 55 power reactors are currently being constructed in 15 countries, notably China, India, Russia and the United Arab Emirates. About 90 power reactors with a total gross capacity of about 90,000 MWe are on order or planned, and over 300 more are proposed. Most reactors currently planned are in Asia, with fast-growing economies and rapidly-rising electricity demand.

About the Company

Atomic Minerals is a Vancouver based publicly listed uranium exploration company trading on the TSX Venture Exchange. The Company is led by a highly skilled management and technical team with numerous previous successes in the junior mining sector.

For additional information, please visit the Company's website at www.atomicminerals.ca

Qualified Persons

Mr. R. Tim Henneberry, P.Geo. (BC), is the "Qualified Person" under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and is responsible for the technical contents of this news release and has approved the disclosure of the technical information contained herein.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

"Clive Massey"

Clive H. Massey

President & CEO

For further information, please contact:

Investor Relations

(604) 644-6794; Office (604) 341-6870

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor their Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements:

This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking" statements. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although Atomic Minerals Corporation believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of Atomic Minerals Corporation management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by law, Atomic Minerals Corporation undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.

###

SOURCE: Atomic Minerals Corporation

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/715564/Atomic-Minerals-Corp-Commends-the-White-House-on-15-Billion-Supplemental-Appropriations-for-the-Department-of-Energy-to-Address-Dependency-on-Russian-Nuclear-Fuel
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of Uzbekistan, chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), sees the group's summit to be held later this week as a way to repair fraying international ties in the modern world.





Writing in the international news outlet bne IntelliNews, the president said the world is at a moment of major change. It is a period of "historical fracture, when one era ends and another begins, still unpredictable and unknown," he said.

Full text: https://www.intellinews.com/exclusive-samarkand-sco-summit-dialogue-and-cooperation-in-an-interconnected-world-256201

"The modern system of international cooperation, based on universal principles and norms, is beginning to malfunction significantly. One of the main reasons for this is a deep crisis of confidence at the global level, which, in turn, provokes geopolitical confrontation and risks reviving stereotypes of bloc thinking. This process of mutual alienation complicates the return of the world economy to its former course of development and the restoration of global supply chains."

The summit, to be held 15-16 September in the ancient city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, will bring together the leaders of China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Member nations have a population of 3.2 billion, or about half the world's population. Their total area exceeds 34 million square kilometers, or more than 60 per cent of the Eurasian land mass. Based on World Bank data, the area generates 24% of global GDP.

In addition to the leaders of the eight member countries, the Samarkand summit will be attended by the leaders of Belarus, Iran and Mongolia, who have observer status. Turkey and Turkmenistan have also been invited as guests.

President Mirziyoyev said the past year had seen the organisation of 80 major SCO events focusing on mutual security cooperation, transport, economic linkages and positioning within the international community so as to seek new ways to develop. Results of these events included 36 separate programme concepts, agreements and decisions.

At the 2021 summit in Dushanbe, President Mirziyoyev recommended strengthening the SCO's potential and authority, stepping up efforts to ensure peace and stability in the region, reducing poverty and ensuring food security. Specifically, he made the following proposals:

- A specific plan to develop intra-regional trade, which would include measures to remove trade barriers, convergence of technical regulations and digitalization of customs procedures.

- Adoption of an industrial cooperation programme, the preparation of an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in tourism and an infrastructure development program in the SCO area.

- Establishment of an expert forum on information security and introduction of the institution of SCO Goodwill Ambassador.

"Uzbekistan's chairmanship in the SCO is a logical continuation of the active and open foreign policy course pursued by our country over the past six years. This policy is being implemented primarily in Central Asia, the geographical centre of the SCO, where positive and irreversible processes of strengthening good-neighborliness and cooperation are taking place today. All SCO member states are our closest neighbours, friends and strategic partners."

The president made special reference to neighbouring Afghanistan, citing the SCO's "moral obligation to lend a helping hand and to offer Afghanistan effective ways out of its long-standing crisis." He proposed that Afghanistan become a link between Central and South Asia through the development of new transport infrastructure.

"The construction of the trans-Afghan corridor can become a symbol of such mutually beneficial interregional cooperation. Implementing common infrastructure projects, such as the Termez-Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar railway, we not only solve socio-economic, transport and communication problems, but we also make a significant contribution to regional security."

President Mirziyoyev has already proposed holding regular high-level SCO-Afghanistan meetings, expressing readiness to host the first of them in Tashkent.

He also paid credit to the host city Samarkand, citing its long history, first as the capital of the medieval Timurid Empire where famous artists, scientists and writers congregated under the patronage of the emperor Tamerlane.

"Historically, Samarkand was a melting pot of ideas and knowledge, in which a common goal was developed - to live better, to be more successful and to become happier. And everyone understood that friendly neighbours are half of your wealth," he said.

"These unique qualities of Samarkand, which today has a modern and fast-developing infrastructure, turn it into the most suitable and popular platform for joint discussion, search and coordination of the necessary answers to regional and global challenges."

In recent days, Tashkent officials have sought to counter claims in the Russian media that the summit was called by Russia and China, and that the conflict in Ukraine was on the agenda.

"Of course, the leaders of the states can exchange views on global and regional problems," Rakhmatulla Nurimbetov, National Coordinator of the SCO for Uzbekistan, told the domestic media. "But in the draft resolution, joint documents and, most importantly, in the Samarkand Declaration, there are no and will not be any statements and appeals on issues pursuing any geopolitical goals.

"In this organisation, every issue and agenda is formed on the basis of consensus. First of all, the national coordinators agree on each issue on the agenda of the event. It is then considered at the level of foreign ministers. The agenda of the Samarkand summit was confirmed by the foreign ministers on July 29. And there is no talk of global geopolitical crises in it," Mr. Nurimbetov said.

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1896549/Uzbekistan_SCO_Summit.jpg
CALGARY, AB / ACCESSWIRE / September 12, 2022 / Ginger Beef Corporation (the "Company") (TSXV:GB) announces that it has entered into an Amalgamation Agreement (the "Agreement") with Leung & Son Holdings Inc. ("Newco") pursuant to which the Company will be taken private by way of an amalgamation (the "Amalgamation") between Newco and the Company.

Newco is a corporation owned by Stanley Leung, 360181 Alberta Ltd., Leung Enterprises Ltd., Kahcheng Chua, James Leung, Debra Leung and Burger Burger Ltd. (the "Acquirors"). The Acquirors collectively own approximately 9,782,669 common shares or 73.21% of the issued and outstanding common shares (the "Shares") in the capital of the Company. An RRSP which is owned by James Leung and which owns 493,000 Shares, is not an Acquiror. As at September 9, 2022, the Company had outstanding 13,361,997 Shares.

Pursuant to the Agreement, the Company will pay $0.25 per Share in cash (the "Offer Price") to holders of all of the issued and outstanding Shares that are not directly or indirectly, owned by the Acquirors. Each shareholder of the Company, other than Acquirors, will receive one redeemable preferred share of the amalgamated company for each Share held immediately prior to the Amalgamation. Each redeemable preferred share will then be redeemed for the Offer Price. The total cash consideration for the aggregate Offer Price will be $894,832. The Amalgamation, if consummated, will result in the Company being taken private and delisted from the TSX Venture Exchange.

The Amalgamation, if consummated, will constitute a "business combination" for the purposes of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101").

The board of directors of the Company (the "Board") formed a special committee (the "Special Committee") comprised of independent directors Moonkyu Lee and Chi Him Kan to evaluate the Amalgamation and make recommendations to the Board. The Special Committee has engaged DS Lawyers Canada LLP as its legal advisors.

The Company intends to seek approval from the majority of minority shareholders to comply with requirements of MI 61-101. Because the Company is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange, the Amalgamation will, pursuant to Section 4.4(1)(a) of MI 61-101, be exempt from the formal valuation requirements of MI 61-101.

The Special Committee retained Evans & Evans, Inc. as an independent valuator, who prepared a Comprehensive Valuation Report and Fairness Opinion dated September 9, 2022 (the "Report") with respect to the proposed Amalgamation. The Report concluded that the Offer Price was not fair from a financial point of view. The Special Committee, however, after considering both the Report and other factors relevant to the Amalgamation, resolved that the Board should:

submit the Amalgamation to a vote of the shareholders at a shareholders' meeting and, in furtherance thereof, authorize the Company to enter into the Amalgamation Agreement; and

make no recommendation to the shareholders as to how they should vote in respect of the Amalgamation but advise shareholders they should take into account the considerations discussed by the Special Committee that will be in the information circular for the shareholders' meeting.

The Company has convened a special meeting of shareholders (the "Meeting") which will take place on November 7, 2022 for shareholders to consider and, if thought appropriate, to approve the Amalgamation.

The completion of the Amalgamation is subject to a number of conditions precedent that are customary to this type of transaction, including, but not limited to, the approval of at least two-thirds of the votes cast by holders of Shares at the Meeting, the approval by at least a simple majority of the votes cast by the shareholders other than the Acquirors, and the acceptance of the Amalgamation by the TSX Venture Exchange.

Assuming the satisfaction of all conditions, the proposed transaction is expected to close as soon as practicable following the Meeting. However, there can be no assurances that the Amalgamation, or any other transaction with the Acquirors, will be completed.

Details of the terms and conditions of the Amalgamation, together with the Report, will be included in a management information circular, which will be mailed to the shareholders as soon as practicable and will also be available for download at www.sedar.com.

No actions are required to be taken by shareholders at this stage. The Company will communicate with shareholders in due course with respect to the Amalgamation.

For further information please contact:

James Leung, CFO

Ginger Beef Corporation

(403) 272-8088

info@gingerbeef.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulations 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 STATEMENTS REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

Forward-looking statements or information are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements or information, including, without limitation, risks and uncertainties relating to the completion of the Amalgamation or related transactions, obtaining the required shareholder approval of the Amalgamation and applicable regulatory approvals required with respect to the Amalgamation. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements or information. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update forward-looking statements or information except as required by law, and the reader is referred to the full discussion of the Company's business contained in the Company's reports filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada at www.sedar.com.

SOURCE: Ginger Beef Corporation

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/715608/Ginger-Beef-Corporation-Announces-Going-Private-Transaction-with-its-Principal-Shareholders
PHILADELPHIA, PA / ACCESSWIRE / September 12, 2022 / The following abrdn U.S. Closed-End Funds announced today that the closed end funds in the chart directly below will pay the distributions indicated on a per share basis on September 30, 2022 to all shareholders of record as of September 23, 2022 (ex-dividend date September 22, 2022).

Ticker Exchange Fund Amount ACP NYSE abrdn Income Credit Strategies Fund $ 0.1000 AEF NYSE American abrdn Emerging Markets Equity Income Fund, Inc. $ 0.1000 AGD NYSE abrdn Global Dynamic Dividend Fund $ 0.0650 AOD NYSE abrdn Total Dynamic Dividend Fund $ 0.0575 ASGI NYSE abrdn Global Infrastructure Income Fund $ 0.1200 AWP NYSE abrdn Global Premier Properties Fund $ 0.0400 FAX NYSE American abrdn Asia-Pacific Income Fund, Inc. $ 0.0275 FCO NYSE American abrdn Global Income Fund, Inc. $ 0.0700

At the end of each calendar year, a Form 1099-DIV will be sent to shareholders, which will state the amount and composition of each fund's distributions and provide information with respect to their appropriate tax treatment for the prior calendar year. You should not draw any conclusions about any of these Funds' investment performance from the amount of the distributions.

MANAGED DISTRIBUTION POLICY FUNDS

ANNOUNCE DISTRIBUTION PAYMENT DETAILS

abrdn Global Infrastructure Income Fund ("ASGI")

abrdn Asia-Pacific Income Fund, Inc. ("FAX")

The above-noted abrdn U.S. Closed-End Funds (the "Funds" or individually the "Fund"), today announced that the Funds will pay the distributions noted in the chart above on September 30, 2022, on a per share basis to all shareholders of record as of September 23, 2022 (ex-dividend date September 22, 2022).

Each Fund has adopted a distribution policy to provide investors with a stable distribution out of current income, supplemented by realized capital gains and, to the extent necessary, paid-in capital in reliance on an exemptive order granted by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Under applicable U.S. tax rules, the amount and character of distributable income for each Fund's fiscal

year can be finally determined only as of the end of the Fund's fiscal year. However, under Section 19 of

the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "1940 Act") and related rules, the Funds may be required to indicate to shareholders the estimated source of certain distributions to shareholders.

The following tables set forth the estimated amounts of the sources of the distributions for purposes of Section 19 of the 1940 Act and the rules adopted thereunder. The tables have been computed based on generally accepted accounting principles. The tables include estimated amounts and percentages for the current distributions to be paid as well as for the cumulative distributions paid relating to fiscal year to date, from the following sources: net investment income; net realized short-term capital gains; net realized long-term capital gains; and return of capital. The estimated compositions of the distributions may vary because the estimated composition may be impacted by future income, expenses and realized gains and losses on securities and currencies.

Each Fund's estimated sources of the current distributions to be paid and for its current fiscal year to date are as follows:

Estimated Amounts of Current Distribution per Share Fund Distribution Amount Net Investment Income Net Realized Short-Term Gains** Net Realized Long-Term Gains Return of Capital ASGI $0.1200 $0.0132 11% - - $0.1068 89% - - FAX $0.0275 $0.0149 54% - - - - $0.0126 46%

Estimated Amounts of Fiscal Year to Date Cumulative Distributions per Share Fund Fiscal Year* to Date Distribution Amount Net Investment Income Net Realized Short-Term Gains** Net Realized Long-Term Gains Return of Capital ASGI $1.3698 $0.1507 11% - - $1.2191 89% - - FAX $0.3025 $0.1634 54% - - - - $0.1391 46%

* ASGI has a 9/30 fiscal year end; FAX has a 10/31 fiscal year end.

**includes currency gains

Where the estimated amounts above show a portion of the distribution to be a "Return of Capital," it means that Fund estimates that it has distributed more than its income and capital gains; therefore, a portion of your distribution may be a return of capital. A return of capital may occur for example, when some or all of the money that you invested in a Fund is paid back to you. A return of capital distribution does not necessarily reflect the Fund's investment performance and should not be confused with "yield" or "income."

The amounts and sources of distributions reported in this notice are only estimates and are not being provided for tax reporting purposes. The final determination of the source of all distributions for the current year will only be made after year-end. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Fund's investment experience during the remainder of the fiscal year and may be subject to change based on tax regulations. After the end of each calendar year, a Form 1099-DIV will be sent to shareholders for the prior calendar year that will tell you how to report these distributions for federal income tax purposes.

The following table provides the Funds' total return performance based on net asset value (NAV) over various time periods compared to the Funds' annualized and cumulative distribution rates.

Fund Performance and Distribution Rate Information Fund Average Annual Total Return on NAV for the 5 Year Period Ending 08/31/2022 Current Fiscal Period's Annualized Distribution Rate on NAV Cumulative Total Return on NAV Cumulative Distribution Rate on NAV ASGI 8.68%3 6.55% 0.11% 5.98% FAX -1.80% 10.03% -18.34% 8.36%

1 Return data is net of all fund expenses and fees and assumes the reinvestment of all distributions reinvested at prices obtained under the Fund's dividend reinvestment plan.

2 Based on the Fund's NAV as of August 31, 2022.

3 The Fund launched within the past 5 years; the performance and distribution rate information presented reflects data from inception (July 29, 2020) through August 31, 2022.

4 The percentage shown does not include the Fund's annual distribution policy in place in 2021.

Shareholders should not draw any conclusions about a Fund's investment performance from the amount of the Fund's current distributions or from the terms of the distribution policy (the "Distribution Policy").

While NAV performance may be indicative of the Fund's investment performance, it does not measure the value of a shareholder's investment in the Fund. The value of a shareholder's investment in the Fund is determined by the Fund's market price, which is based on the supply and demand for the Fund's shares in the open market.

Pursuant to an exemptive order granted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Funds may distribute any long-term capital gains more frequently than the limits provided in Section 19(b) under the 1940 Act and Rule 19b-1 thereunder. Therefore, distributions paid by the Funds during the year may include net income, short-term capital gains, long-term capital gains and/or a return of capital. Net income dividends and short-term capital gain dividends, while generally taxable at ordinary income rates, may be eligible, to the extent of qualified dividend income earned by the Funds, to be taxed at a lower rate not to exceed the maximum rate applicable to your long-term capital gains. Distributions made in any calendar year in excess of investment company taxable income and net capital gain are treated as taxable ordinary dividends to the extent of undistributed earnings and profits, and then as a return of capital that reduces the adjusted basis in the shares held. To the extent return of capital distributions exceed the adjusted basis in the shares held,

Capital gain is recognized with a holding period based on the period the shares have been held at the date such amount is received.

The payment of distributions in accordance with the Distribution Policy may result in a decrease in the Fund's net assets. A decrease in the Fund's net assets may cause an increase in the Fund's annual operating expense ratio and a decrease in the Fund's market price per share to the extent the market price correlates closely to the Fund's net asset value per share. The Distribution Policy may also negatively affect the Fund's investment activities to the extent that the Fund is required to hold larger cash positions than it typically would hold or to the extent that the Fund must liquidate securities that it would not have sold, for the purpose of paying the distribution. Each Fund's Board has the right to amend, suspend or terminate the Distribution Policy at any time. The amendment, suspension or termination of the Distribution Policy may affect the Fund's market price per share. Investors should consult their tax advisor regarding federal, state and local tax considerations that may be applicable in their particular circumstances.

Circular 230 disclosure : To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the U.S. Treasury, we inform you that any U.S. tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein.

In the United States, abrdn is the marketing name for the following affiliated, registered investment advisers: abrdn Inc., Aberdeen Asset Managers Ltd., abrdn Australia Limited, abrdn Asia Limited, Aberdeen Capital Management, LLC, abrdn ETFs Advisors LLC and Aberdeen Standard Alternative Funds Limited.

Closed-end funds are traded on the secondary market through one of the stock exchanges. A Fund's investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that an investor's shares may be worth more or less than the original cost. Shares of closed-end funds may trade above (a premium) or below (a discount) the net asset value (NAV) of the fund's portfolio. There is no assurance that a Fund will achieve its investment objective. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

If you If you wish to receive this information electronically, please contact Investor.Relations@abrdn.com.

https://www.abrdn.com/en-us/cefinvestorcenter

For More Information Contact:

abrdn U.S. Closed-End Funds

Investor Relations

1-800-522-5465

Investor.Relations@abrdn.com

SOURCE: abrdn U.S. Closed-End Funds

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/715586/abrdn-US-Closed-End-Funds-Announce-Distribution-Payment-Details
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / September 12, 2022 / Park Lawn Corporation (TSX:PLC, PLC.U) ("Park Lawn" or "PLC") has completed the previously announced acquisition of substantially all the assets of Shackelford Corporation ("Shackelford"), a group of businesses consisting of eight stand-alone funeral homes, two stand-alone cemeteries and one on-site funeral home and cemetery located in and around the Savannah, Tennessee area.

"For over 90 years, Shackelford has been a leader dedicated to excellence in not only our profession, but also the communities we serve throughout Chester, Hardeman, Hardin, McNairy and Wayne Counties. As we move into the next phase of our journey, we are excited to partner with Park Lawn who will ensure that the Shackelford vision of integrity and excellence in service is preserved," said Claire Shackelford, President of Shackelford.

J. Bradley Green, Chief Executive Officer of PLC stated, "Shackelford is a premier group of businesses, and we are honored that the Shackelford family has chosen to work together with Park Lawn to preserve their strong reputation within the communities they serve." Mr. Green continued, "Through the addition of Shackelford, Park Lawn has established a substantial footprint in western Tennessee as it continues to solidify its strength in the southeast."

About Park Lawn Corporation:

PLC provides goods and services associated with the disposition and memorialization of human remains. Products and services are sold on a pre-planned basis (pre-need) or at the time of a death (at-need). PLC and its subsidiaries own and operate businesses including cemeteries, crematoria, funeral homes, chapels, planning offices and a transfer service. PLC operates in three Canadian provinces and seventeen U.S. states.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking information (within the meaning of applicable securities laws) relating to the business of PLC and the environment in which it operates. Forward-looking statements in this news release are identified by words such as "believe", "anticipate", "project", "expect", "intend", "plan", "will", "may", "estimate", "pro-forma" and other similar expressions. These statements are based on PLC's expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections and include, without limitation, statements regarding PLC's intentions to pursue its stated growth objectives. The forward-looking statements in this news release are based on certain assumptions, including that the acquisition will perform as expected following closing, PLC will be able to implement business improvements and achieve cost savings, PLC will be able to retain key personnel, there will be no unexpected expenses occurring as a result of the acquisition, the purchase price multiples for future acquisitions remain at or below levels paid by PLC for previously announced acquisitions, the acquisition and financing markets remain accessible, capital can be obtained at reasonable costs and PLC's current business lines operate and obtain synergies as expected, as well as those regarding present and future business strategies, organic growth initiatives, the environment in which PLC will operate in the future, expected revenues, expansion plans and PLC's ability to achieve its goals. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to control or predict. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in PLC's most recent Annual Information Form and Management's Discussion and Analysis available at www.sedar.com. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate as actual outcomes and results may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements. Readers, therefore, should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. Further, these forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and, except as expressly required by applicable law, PLC assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contact Information

Daniel Millett

Chief Financial Officer

(416) 231-1462, ext. 221

SOURCE: Park Lawn Corporation

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/715549/Park-Lawn-Completes-Acquisition-of-Shackelford
Debra Johnston of Coldwell Banker Realty clears $7 million+ in sales volume and more than $360+ million during her entire career.

ATLANTA, GA / ACCESSWIRE / September 12, 2022 / When looking for a top-notch realtor in the Atlanta area, there's only one name that comes to mind: Debra Johnston. With over 18 years of experience marketing luxury properties and successfully connecting buyers with their dream homes - all while maintaining excellence both professionally and personally-luxury real estate transactions are made easy under this powerhouse agent! In 2021, Johnston cleared $70+ million in sales volume with 26 transactions and more than $360+ million during her entire career. She continues to break sales volume records with Coldwell Banker and is as decorated a REALTOR as any in the luxury real estate industry. In August of 2022, Debra closed 3 properties representing both the seller and buyer.

Closed Sales August 2022

$2,500,000 - 3376 Peachtree Road Northeast, Unit VILLA 3, Atlanta GA- Sold at List Price representing the Seller. Rare private, end-unit Villa at the 5-star Waldorf Astoria hotel in the heart of Buckhead

$4,200,000 - 3571 Tuxedo Park Drive, Atlanta, GA - Sold at List Price representing the Seller. Lead by dream team architect Norman Askins and builders Mcgarity Garcia, this special gem on 1 private acre was well received with multiple offers.

$438,500 - 3508 Paces Place, Atlanta GA - Sold at List Price representing the Buyer.

Debra Johnston comments on what factors differentiate her as a top luxury realtor in the Atlanta market; "I am dedicated and determined to give my listings the marketing they deserve to generate massive exposure on a variety of platforms to attract the right buyer for the property. I achieve this through exceptional photography and videography, Matterport 3D tours, Virtual tours with stats to show weekly activity, and my YouTube Channel of Luxury Properties. My comprehensive and innovative marketing approach is unmatched."

Johnston's career is hitting new heights. The real estate veteran was named to elite Variety's 2021 Showbiz Real Estate Elite Report, inducted into the International Luxury Alliance-a collection of the top elite brokers and by invitation only within Coldwell Banker and the Corcoran Group, received Coldwell Banker International Designation in recognition of outstanding sales performances for 2021, Sterling Society, Diamond Society, President's Clubs and the prestigious Society of Excellence. She also closed over $70 million in real estate sales in 2021 - with over $33 million in September alone, her all-time best.

Atlanta has also been on an unprecedented ride the last two years. The price threshold to enter the city's in-town luxury real estate market hit $1 million, while the median luxury price is closer to $3.5 million. A bevy of affluent out-of-state buyers, armed with cash and a slightly edgier style, are flooding into its toniest communities like Buckhead and Chastain Park. "Atlanta is being dubbed the Hollywood of the South," she says, referring to the film industry's entree into Georgia around 2012 and growing prominence. "My clients range from industry types, sports, entrepreneurs and everything in between." The recent evolution of Atlanta as a global destination has been so dramatic that she foresees the next iteration of the luxury Atlanta buyer as not just being from Los Angeles, Chicago or New York, but from out of the country investing in Atlanta.

It's for that reason that she made the leap from the Buckhead office of her former brokerage - where she was the No. 1 individual agent for six years in a row - to the Coldwell Banker Global Luxury network. "My vision was to go next level and expand my reach nationally and internationally in terms of my contacts and referral network. Coldwell Banker is superior in that aspect," she says.

Debra is consistently chosen to represent Atlanta's best "Trophy Properties," because of her cutting-edge marketing strategy, discretion with well-known clients such as those in the music and film industry. By partnering with Coldwell Banker, Debra's intention is to increase exposure nationally by representing the Coldwell Banker Global Luxury program as a Global Luxury Specialist. She will now nationally elevate her already expansive offerings with access to one of real estate's most robust global networks encompassing 100,000 independent sales associates in approximately 3,000 offices in 40 countries and territories, culminating in extraordinary representation that crosses oceans, continents, and language barriers.

She is known as a Luxury Agent social media influencer by utilizing her Instagram and YouTube channel with viral luxury real estate videos that engage with millions, her genuine enthusiasm for luxury real estate, and for her professionalism and confidentiality providing top customer service. With over eighteen years of experience in the luxury market, Debra is a leader in Atlanta's luxury real estate field and consistently delivers uncompromising professionalism and ultimately a positive experience for her clients. Debra continues to surpass the luxury real estate competition in Atlanta while delivering exceptional service each and every time.

To find out more about the opportunity to own one of Atlanta's premier luxury properties, please view Debra Johnston's website at https://debraajohnston.com/ .

About Coldwell Banker Realty

Coldwell Banker Realty in Atlanta is a leading residential real estate brokerage company with 12 offices and approximately 1,250 affiliated sales associates. Coldwell Banker Realty is owned by a subsidiary of Anywhere Real Estate Inc. , the largest full-service residential real estate services company in the United States. For more information, visit ColdwellBankerHomes.com .

Debra Johnston - Atlanta Luxury real estate

Address: 3050 Peachtree Rd NW, Suite 500 Atlanta, GA 30305

Contact Name: Debra Johnston

Website: https://www.DebraAJohnston.com

Email: debra.johnston@cbrealty.com

Phone: (404) 312-1959

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/Debrajvideos

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/debrajohnstonrealtor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamdebrajohnston_luxuryrealtor

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debrajohnston

SOURCE: Debra Johnston - Coldwell Banker Realty

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/715666/Atlanta-Luxury-Real-Estate-Agent-Debra-Johnston-of-Coldwell-Banker-Realty-Closes-7-Million-in-August-2022-Real-Estate-Sales
Istanbul, Turkey-based Armut and Milan, Italy-based ProntoPro, two local services marketplaces, merged and raised 15m in funding.

The new funding will enable the company to triple its investment in product and headcount, and expand services across all European markets.

Founded in 2011 by Basak Taspnar Degim and Erol Degim, Armut operates in 8 countries with 2 brands in the EMEA region. The tech company has more than 700.000 service providers in 4.000 categories. Armuts all-in-one local services platform offers the full range of local services, whether that means getting a home painted, finding a math tutor for a child or finding an online psychologist.

ProntoPro matches customers and local service providers since 2015. The leader of the Italian market is growing in other 5 European countries, more than 5 million customers have been supported by 690.000 professionals.

Istanbul and Milan headquarters will continue to grow their teams. Now, the company has 206 employees from 22 nationalities and with the average age below 30. There will be new jobs opening in the following months in both headquarters.

FinSMEs

12/09/2022
EQT, a Stockholm, Sweden-based private equity firm, closed EQT Growth, at EUR 2.2 billion in fee-generating assets under management (AUM) and total commitments of EUR 2.4 billion.

The fund is backed by a global and diverse group of investors including pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, asset managers and high-net-worth individuals from across Europe, Asia, North America and the Middle East.

Led by Marc Brown, Partner and Head of EQT Growths Advisory Team, EQT Growth supports fast-growing technology companies, especially in Europe and Israel, as they continue to scale. The strategy seeks to invest around EUR 50 million to EUR 200 million, backing strong management teams of companies operating mainly within four tech sub-sectors: enterprise, con/prosumer, health, and climate.

The fund has made seven investments to date and already includes some of Europes most innovative companies in its portfolio, such as Epidemic Sound, Mambu and Vinted.

FinSMEs

12/09/2022
Reejing, a San Francisco, California-based provider of an Enterprise-grade workforce intelligence platform, raised an undisclosed amount of funding.

The round was led by Salesforce Ventures.

The company intends to use the funds to accelerate the growth of its global team, and further develop its workforce intelligence technology.

Led by CEO Siobhan Savage, Reejig is a workforce intelligence platform that enables global organizations to find, retain, and upskill talent at scale. Powered by ethical AI, Reejig serves such companies as AWS, Woolworths Group, KPMG, John Holland, and Allianz. The company, which has raised over $38m in funding including infusions from Skip Capital, headed by Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar, Airtree Ventures, Culture Amps Didier Elzinga, and now Salesforce Ventures, has opened offices in APAC, NAMER, and the UK in the last year.

Pursuing has also announced the launch of the Reejig Impact Fund to help underrepresented communities unlock career opportunities, growth, and potential. The Reejig Impact Fund will donate Reejigs workforce intelligence technology to veteran, skilled refugee and other underrepresented communities, with a goal to reskill, build new capabilities, and remove barriers to career opportunities for all.

FinSMEs

12/09/2022
Flagler College second in U.S. News Best Regional Colleges in South

Flagler College claimed the number two spot in U.S. News & World Reports 2022-2023 Best Colleges guide for Best Regional Colleges in the South. This recognition brings the College up two spots from its 2021-2022 number four ranking in this category.

The other schools that earned spots in the top five Best Regional Colleges in the South category include High Point University, Florida Polytechnic University, Wesleyan College and Catawba College.

A number two spot in the U.S. News Best Regional Colleges in the South ranking is something every employee on this campus should be proud of, Flagler College President John Delaney said. This ranking system isnt a catch-all in determining the quality of higher educational institutions, but it speaks to the effort weve put into making Flagler the best place we can for our current and future students to thrive.

Flagler also earned a number 13 ranking out of 33 schools in the guides list of Best Value Schools and within the category is the top ranked college from Florida. In the Social Mobility ranking, Flagler landed in the 39th spot out of 99 schools. In both categories, Flagler is ranked among Regional Colleges in the South.

U.S. News defines regional colleges as those focusing on undergraduate education but granting fewer than half their degrees in liberal arts disciplines. The southern region encompasses Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and Arkansas.

School rankings are based 80% on a formula that takes into account 17 areas of academic excellence each assigned distinct weights, according to its website. These areas include graduation and retention rates, social mobility, undergraduate academic reputation, faculty resources and financial resources per student. To add another dimension, the rankings are also based 20% on academic reputation judged through survey by peer leaders at colleges in the same regional grouping.

The Best Value rankings are based on four weighted indicators: ratio of quality to price, need-based aid, percent of need-based aid recipients awarded scholarships or grants and average discount. Ratio of quality to price holds a 50% weight in this calculation and is determined by dividing a schools overall score in the Best Colleges rankings by the net cost of attendance for a full-time undergraduate receiving the average need-based financial aid award in scholarship or grants.

The Top Performers on Social Mobility category examines Pell Grant students six-year graduation rate and that rate against the performance of non-Pell Grant students. Students receiving Pell Grants generally come from households with total incomes less than $50,000 annually, with most grants awarded to students coming from households with total incomes less than $20,000 annually.

In August, Flagler College was also named one of the Best 388 Colleges and Best Regional Colleges by the Princeton Review in their 2023 guide.

The U.S. News Best Colleges 2023 Guidebook is available for pre-order now. The print edition will ship in late October.

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UPDF retires 260 senior officers

There are three possible outcomes in the case challenging the validity of the August 9 presidential election won by Deputy President William Ruto Pastor Kintu is charged with among others, common ...

https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/updf-retires-260-senior-officers-3931752
Story Highlights Best friends at work provide essential social and emotional support

Having a best friend at work now ties more strongly to key business outcomes

Leaders, take three actions to promote workplace friendships

People instinctively want close, trusting relationships -- at work and in life. Having a "best friend" at work contributes to a thriving employee experience and to communication, commitment and other outcomes. In fact, recent Gallup data show that having a best friend at work has become more important since the start of the pandemic, even considering the dramatic increase in remote and hybrid work.

There are several factors behind the rising importance of having a best friend at work. For many employees, the pandemic caused traumatic experiences and other profound difficulties, particularly for healthcare and other front-line workers and educators. These employees found the social and emotional support from their best friends at work to be more critical than ever to get them through these challenging times.

Recent Gallup data show that having a "best friend" at work has become more important since the start of the pandemic, even considering the dramatic increase in remote and hybrid work.

Imagine, for example, the working parent who leaned on their best friend at work (who also has a child) when the pandemic required them to juggle at-home learning and their job responsibilities. Their best friend at work offered judgment-free encouragement during the toughest storms -- the kind of support that communicates, "You're not alone."

Other employees who were thrown into the world of remote or hybrid work found that their best friend at work helped keep them informed, accountable and connected to their team. For instance, an employee can ask their best friend at work "dumb" questions about changes to how things get done -- without fear of embarrassment.

And when workloads are heavy, your best friend at work is someone you feel accountable to, someone you don't want to let down. As a result, you naturally want to go the extra mile for them on a project.

On the other hand, an employee without a best friend at work became that much more isolated during the pandemic. And because they lack collaboration and a sense of responsibility to a best friend at work, their performance may have dipped too.

Whether in the office or the virtual world, a best friend at work is a necessary source of connection and support.

Having a Best Friend at Work Has an Even Stronger Connection to Outcomes Amid the Pandemic

Gallup has repeatedly shown that having best friends at work is key to employee engagement and job success. Gallup data indicate that having a best friend at work is strongly linked to business outcomes, including profitability, safety, inventory control and retention.

Employees who have a best friend at work are significantly more likely to:

engage customers and internal partners

get more done in less time

support a safe workplace with fewer accidents and reliability concerns

innovate and share ideas

have fun while at work

Our latest findings show that since the pandemic started, there has been an even stronger relationship between having a best friend at work and important outcomes such as employees' likelihood to recommend their workplace, their intent to leave and their overall satisfaction with their workplace.

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Best friends at work drive outcomes because they're more than a social connection or good relationship. A best friend at work is someone you can rely on through thick and thin. Someone who has your back and genuinely cares. These authentic friendships deepen employees' sense of ownership for their work and enable employees to be more effective and sustainable, regardless of where or when they work.

Best friends at work have played a crucial role as workplaces navigate changes, uncertainty and new ways of working. Change is here to stay, and best friends at work can keep one another informed and work together to familiarize themselves with new technologies and processes.

Unfortunately, leaders are facing significant challenges supporting connections and friendships among a physically distant workforce. In the U.S., just two in 10 employees report having a best friend at work.

In Gallup's experience working with clients, the following strategies can help promote best friends at work for in-person, remote and hybrid workers:

1. Promote intentionality, starting with leaders.

Intentionality starts with leaders who celebrate and champion best friends at work, from the C-suite to front-line managers. Employees learn behavioral norms and cues from their managers and leaders -- and they need the "OK" from leaders to develop friendships on the job. Leaders should talk about the importance of having a best friend at work and exemplify intentionality in forming connections.

Employees at all levels need to make a concerted effort to get to know their coworkers and maintain friendships. For example, employees should make a habit of having special quick connects, maybe via video chat, to say hello and spark conversation. For hybrid workers, these quick connects might be on an office day, such as a lunch or walking meeting.

Fully remote workers with tighter schedules can reserve five minutes before a team meeting for interaction -- or perhaps schedule a collaborative video chat to work on a shared project together in a virtual setting. Employees should also make a point of asking for feedback and creative support.

The key is making time to connect with colleagues wherever and however they're working to maintain relationships with best friends or develop friendships with other colleagues. Don't wait for others to come knocking; look for ways to partner with and support them.

2. Create interactive opportunities for friendships to blossom.

Team structures, workflows, and other systems and practices can make or break employees' ability to develop real friendships at work. Leaders should assess how factors like performance expectations and time requirements support (or impede) having best friends at work. Do employees have time, opportunities and permission to form spontaneous connections?

Just as important, managers are responsible for promoting a local team atmosphere that encourages trust and collaboration. Wherever possible, managers should remove constraints to socialization and create an atmosphere where employees feel free and encouraged to connect and show support.

Leaders should liberate employees to pursue friendships on their own but also support their efforts with preplanned social events that give employees ample opportunities to chat, whether an off-site event or an impromptu team lunch. Scheduled friendship activities might seem like a waste of time, but this powerful investment helps every employee -- even the most isolated remote workers -- form real friendships.

Managers and leaders can also support connections by making time to talk to employees themselves. For instance, a 15-minute manager-employee conversation might highlight ways to pair team members on new tasks to promote friendships. Frequent conversations can also reveal barriers that preclude friendships at work.

3. Communicate often.

Encouraging consistent conversation and connection is key to cultivating best friends at work. It also fuels performance excellence: Through conversation, employees who are best friends can bring their authentic selves to their work and can support one another, maintain accountability, share ideas and use their strengths to contribute to a superior product.

Communication starts with leaders setting an example -- creating a culture where friendly dialogue is the norm. For instance, managers should send weekly team emails to encourage recognition, celebrate anniversaries and birthdays, and relay what everyone's working on.

To own their role, employees at all levels should maintain open lines of communication with their colleagues to show support and be available in times of need. When communication is strong, team members who are genuine friends are more likely to reach out when they're overwhelmed or struggling.

Another great practice when working remotely is to make a point of letting partners know when you're going to be unavailable or offline -- as well as when your virtual door is "open." When coworkers are best friends, these habits are second nature rather than having to be managed. Best friends want to stay connected and actively reach out.

Building a Culture of Best Friends at Work

Many successful organizations Gallup has partnered with to create the conditions for best friends at work find success in sharing public stories about their best friend at work. Consistently talking about best friends at work makes relationships part of how we do things around here -- in other words, part of the work culture.

One client organization, for example, launched a weekly companywide meeting that spotlights one employee's best friend at work. This recurring event is simple in design, but sends powerful, consistent messages about having a best friend at work that connect and inspire employees.

In these weekly best friend features, employees might describe what their best friend at work means to them or how they've benefited from their at-work support system. Regardless, it unifies employees and excites them about the incredible value of having best friends at work.

Consistently talking about best friends at work makes relationships part of how we do things around here -- in other words, part of the work culture.

For this client, consistently sharing stories fuels a "best friend" work atmosphere and offers valuable lessons about how others can benefit from having a best friend at work. Since the effort began, the client has experienced dramatic growth in the number of employees who say they have a best friend at work -- improving on this engagement element by over 80 percentile points in Gallup's global database. The organization is now an employer of choice that has been commended as a Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award winner.

A best friend at work is the gift that keeps on giving. When employees have genuine friends, they have someone who makes them feel included and cared for. Someone they can be vulnerable with. And because they care about their best friend, they don't want to let them down, so they show up for them in their performance and in a supportive role. They have their back -- whether that means prioritizing safety or going out their way on a project.

This type of support is all the more crucial in the post-pandemic workplace, where many employees are more emotionally taxed and physically distanced. Workers need not only social support, but also accountability and connection to their culture.

Having a best friend at work helps even the most remote worker stay engaged and committed, fueling them to go the extra mile no matter what challenges arise.

Build an engaging culture that fosters best friendships: Partner with Gallup to create an environment where friendships thrive.

Discover the essentials of employee engagement.
Story Highlights Gallup estimates 70+ million U.S. workers can do their job working remotely

Only two in 10 remote-capable employees are currently working fully on-site

When an employee's location preference doesn't match their current work location, burnout rises while engagement drops

The Situation:

The "Great Global Work-From-Home Experiment" created by the COVID-19 pandemic has changed how we work and expect to work far into the future.

As organizations ease back into office life, employees and employers are navigating a new chapter in this experiment. One that is now blending remote work flexibility and on-site work.

This new chapter is just beginning to write itself as 2022 progresses and more employees return to the office for at least part of their week.

Navigating the journey back to the office and crafting a long-term remote work strategy will require a clear understanding of how organizations are structuring remote work flexibility and what is working best for employees.

Key Questions:

Using a nationally representative sample of 8,090 remote-capable U.S. employees surveyed in June 2022, we explored the following questions:

How many remote-capable employees are currently working hybrid or fully remote? Where do they expect to work long-term and where would they prefer to work? What happens when remote-capable employees do not work in their preferred location(s)?

The Findings:

Insight No. 1:

How many remote-capable employees are currently working hybrid or fully remote?

Approximately 56% of full-time employees in the U.S. -- more than 70 million workers -- say their job can be done working remotely from home. We call them "remote-capable employees."

Current work location for remote-capable workers as of June 2022:

five in 10 are working hybrid (part of their week at home and part on-site)

three in 10 are exclusively working remotely

two in 10 are entirely on-site

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Insight No. 2:

Where do remote-capable employees expect to work long term and where would they prefer to work?

Hybrid work has increased in 2022 (from 42% in February to 49% in June) and is expected to further increase to 55% of remote-capable workers by the end of 2022 and beyond.

This shift aligns closely with the preferences of many remote-capable workers, as 60% want a long-term hybrid work arrangement.

Fully remote work arrangements are expected to continue decreasing from three in 10 remote-capable employees in June, down to two in 10 for the long term, despite 34% wanting to permanently work from home.

Nonetheless, long-term, fully remote work arrangements are expected to nearly triple compared to 2019 figures. Whether this shift satisfies employees with a strong affinity for permanently working from home is yet to be determined.

Fully on-site work is expected to remain a relic of the past with only two in 10 remote-capable employees currently working entirely on-site and about the same number expecting to be entirely on-site in the future -- down from a whopping 60% in 2019.

A mere 6% want to work entirely on-site going forward. Doesn't it seem that traditional management and workplace practices are broken if more than 90% of 70 million employees say they don't want to come back to the office full time?

Insight No. 3:

What happens when remote-capable employees do not work in their preferred location(s)?

The risk: Employees who don't work in their preferred location have significantly lower employee engagement, alongside higher burnout and desire to quit. They simply do not feel well-positioned to do their best work or live their best life.

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Changing expectations from workers who feel stuck on-site: On-site workers whose job is remote capable have an increasing desire for remote flexibility. While the majority (65%) prefer hybrid work; the desire to exclusively WFH has doubled since October of 2021.

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The endowment effect: Behavioral economics teaches us that people do not like to give up things they have acquired -- we're loss-averse by nature. Similarly, many employees working hybrid or fully remote have come to expect permanent remote flexibility.

six in 10 exclusively remote employees are "extremely likely to change companies" if not offered remote flexibility

three in 10 hybrid employees are "extremely likely to change companies" if not offered remote flexibility

the demand for long-term remote flexibility has substantially increased since June 2021

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What Leaders Should Do Next:

Making the right decisions today, planning for the future, and adapting as you learn requires a firm understanding of your employees' work experiences and how they are changing. We recommend beginning this assessment process by examining your organization's current state of remote work, business needs, and risks so you can more effectively navigate the nuances of your remote and hybrid work strategies.

Follow us for future briefings on what policies and management practices matter most in leading a successful return to the office.
LOS ANGELES and WASHINGTON, Aug. 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Envoy Technologies, Inc and Inspiration Fleet, the worlds first EV-only fleet management company (eFMC), have partnered to accelerate the national expansion of Envoys electric-only car sharing service. Inspiration provides a variety of electric vehicles, including all Tesla models, Porsche Taycan, Mercedes EQS, Polestar 2, and Chevy Bolts with additional vehicles to be added as demand requires.



Envoy is a community-based electric car sharing service and platform that offers electric vehicles as an exclusive amenity to apartments, hotels and workplaces. Envoy electric vehicles are conveniently located at properties with dedicated parking spaces and EV charging stations and can be reserved through the Envoy Mobility car sharing app.

Envoy's proven track record with providing electric car share as an amenity to properties has driven its nationwide expansion. Envoy is a full turnkey solution providing education, support and access to e-mobility, especially at multifamily properties, a current hurdle of EV adoption, making it easy and affordable for properties to offer eco-friendly cars to residents and guests. With current high demand and a limited supply chain, the partnership with Inspiration will allow Envoy to launch cars at multiple properties across the U.S. on schedule.

Inspiration specializes in working with e-mobility pioneers like Envoy and is uniquely positioned to support this expansion. They partner with major auto manufacturers, charging networks and fleet service providers to finance, deliver and manage a seamless transition to all-electric fleets.

Electric mobility will become the standard of living for residents and guests at multifamily properties in the very near future, said Ori Sagie, CEO and co-founder of Envoy Technologies. Our partnership with Inspiration allows us to continue to fulfill that demand with the latest and greatest EVs, even in a challenging supply environment.

Inspiration is on a mission to accelerate the adoption of EVs, said Josh Green, CEO of Inspiration. By offering on-demand access to EVs parked onsite, Envoy frees consumers from the need to own a vehicle or worry about charging infrastructure. We believe this will lead to greater awareness, experience and ultimately adoption of EVs.

Since its inception in 2017, Envoy has deployed over 300 electric vehicles at more than 150 multifamily properties and office buildings and installed more than 150 charging stations. Envoy is available across the U.S. including California, Oregon, Washington, New York, Florida, Washington D.C., Massachusetts, Nevada and Illinois.



About Envoy Technologies

Envoy Technologies, founded by Ori Sagie (CEO) and Aric Ohana (President) is a technology and mobility service company offering shared electric vehicles where people live, work and stay. More information is available at www.envoythere.com .

About Inspiration

Inspiration Fleet is the world's first EV-only Fleet Management Company (eFMC), built from the ground up to accelerate the electrification of transportation. The company is part of Inspiration Mobility, a sustainable infrastructure investment platform exclusively focused on the real assets that enable the EV transition. With a team of executives with deep experience across the electrification value chain, including fleet management, clean energy, auto finance, infrastructure and real estate, Inspiration delivers comprehensive solutions to deploy and scale electric fleets. Inspiration is backed by leading energy and infrastructure investors including ArcLight Capital Partners, Macquarie Asset Management, and Ferrovial. More information is available at www.inspirationmobility.com.

Media Contacts:

Envoy Technologies

Drew Hopkins

888-610-0506, info@envoythere.com

Inspiration

John Williams, Scoville PR

206-660-5503, jwilliams@scovillepr.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ea286615-eba6-4c15-a1d7-88241d608168
English Lithuanian

The Novian software and IT infrastructure services group had aggregated revenue of EUR 14.5 million in the first half of this year, or 25.5% more than in the same period of 2021. The groups EBITDA in the reporting period was EUR 0.16 million and contracted 81.7% year-on-year. There was an operating loss of EUR 0.34 million, versus an operating profit of EUR 0.46 million in the same period last year.

In the first 6 months of 2022, Novian group companies earned EUR 11 million of their revenue, or 76%, in Lithuania; the amount is 58.5% more than in the same period of 2021. Revenue earned abroad was EUR 3.5 million, or 24.3% less than a year earlier. The companies had activities in a total of 32 countries, compared to 34 countries last year.

On the Lithuanian market, were continuing software development work on national systems, and we feel an increased need for IT equipment. In other countries, were working in the fields of space, aviation and defence and starting new projects. While in recent years those projects have proceeded more slowly due to the pandemic, we expect theyll return to the earlier pace. We are playing an active role in the deployment of high-performance computing  HPC  solutions, Novian CEO Evaldas Rekus said.

The financial results for the reporting period were influence by higher wage costs for IT professionals in recent times, thus new contracts have taken the labour market changes into account. We believe that these changes and the groundwork done in foreign markets will have a positive impact on results, said Rekus. Novian companies have also invested in new projects, like the Novian group digitization centre which has begun operating in Estonia.

HPC clusters are being deployed in Southern Africa and Bangladesh

Novians companies in the technology area had EUR 10.5 million of revenue in the first half of 2022, or 39.9% more than in the first half of last year. The companies operating profit fell 56.4% to EUR 0.2 million. The group companies working in the technologies area are Novian Technologies in Lithuania, Novian Eesti in Estonia (was Andmevara Services until June this year), and Andmevara SRL in Moldova.

Revenue growth was due to stable operations in Lithuania, where we renewed sizeable contracts with major shopping centres in the country and are engaged in public sector projects. Recovery in African and Asian markets, where we are actively promoting our services and have begun new HPC projects, make us optimistic about business growth, said Gytis Umantas, the CEO of Novian Technologies and Novian Eesti.

He noted that HPC solutions are highly relevant for climate change-related projects, as they enable intensive processing of large amounts of data, faster and more accurate computations, and a wider breadth and depth of data analysis. Our uniqueness in this area is experience implementing such projects not only in Lithuania, but also in over a dozen foreign countries, the CEO said.

Currently Novian Technologies is deploying an HPC cluster at Botswanas Meteorological Centre for use in modelling climate change and forecasting weather. As part of the project, HPC clusters will be deployed in 17 other countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) as well. The company will also install HPC clusters for the Bangladesh Meteorological Department to aid climate-change modelling and weather forecasting.

According to Umantas, digitalization is driving a need for organisations to mobilize data more actively, a process that often unavoidably requires the digitization and segmentation of documents. Those are services the new digitization centre in Estonia will provide. The centres five different types of scanners make it possible to digitize not only the archives of libraries and publications, but also certain cadastral documents.

National, space and defence projects are ongoing

The Novian software services companies Novian Systems, Elsis PRO and Andmevara had EUR 3.6 million of revenue in the first half of this year, or 0.6% more than in the same period of 2021. These companies had an operating loss of EUR 0.4 million; in the first half last year they had an operating profit of EUR 0.04 million.

We are continuing work on large and ongoing projects, which include the development of Lithuanias new national public procurement information system, known as Saule, the development of an information system to enable the exchange of e-prescriptions and e-documents on dispensing medicinal products between Lithuania and other

European Union countries, and work on the countrys integrated tax information system, said Evaldas Rekus, who is the CEO of Novian Systems and a member of the board of Elsis PRO.

Elsis PRO remains active in defence, space and aviation. The company is taking part in projects of the European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP). In the framework of a project of the European Space Agency, it is developing the Galaxy nanosatellite communication software. And in aviation, it successfully developed the SHIFT software for scheduling the work of air traffic controllers and is actively working with the potential market.

Zissor has digitized publications

The Norwegian company Zissor, a provider of media monitoring software and digitization services, had revenue of EUR 0.4 million in the first half of this year, 14% less than a year earlier. Zissor had a first-half operating loss of EUR 0.03 million; in the same period last year, it had an operating profit of EUR 0.1 million.

Zissor continued to focus on expanding archive digitization services in the Nordic countries, particularly Finland. The company introduced a PDF-to-XML conversion service in the Nordics and Europe. Moreover, Zissor Media System software is being enhanced with a new artificial intelligence module for categorizing articles and a new PDF text and image extraction module.

Noteworthy among projects carried out are the digitization of the Finnish newspaper Iltalehtis archive for 1980-2013, the Norwegian newspaper Hordaland Folkeblads archive for 1873-2005, and other publications. These projects including scanning, optical character recognition (OCR), article segmentation and meta-data creation.

The Novian group operates in three business areas. Working in the technologies area are Novian Technologies in Lithuania, Novian Eesti OU of Estonia and Andmevara SRL of Moldova. Working in the software services area are Novian Systems and Elsis PRO in Lithuania and Andmevara AS in Estonia. Working in the media monitoring and digitization area is the Norwegian company Zissor. The Novian group is owned by INVL Technology, a company that invests in IT businesses.

For more information contact:

Ieva Dunajevaite-Narmontiene, Head of Communication and Marketing at Novian

Tel. +370 610 345 77, e-mail media@novian.lt





Attachment
English Finnish

Incap Corporation Press release 12 September 2022 at 9:30 EEST

Incap and Ampler Bikes signed a cooperation agreement

Incap has signed a cooperation agreement with Ampler Bikes, a leading Estonian manufacturer of electric bicycles, for production services for a controller device developed by Ampler.

According to Greg Grace, Managing Director of Incap Electronics Estonia, cooperation with Ampler Bikes is important for Incap in several ways. As a customer, Ampler is a very fast-growing company engaged in the development and production of state-of-the-art technology. Therefore it is a great honour to be a partner of Ampler. In addition, the green technology and light mobility business are areas that Incap wants to focus on more and more, he noted.

Grace emphasises that Ampler is a company where Estonian engineers have developed a high-tech end product that they sell and manufacture in Estonia - just like Ampler electric bicycles, the controller has been developed by Estonian engineers and is assembled at Incap's Kuressaare factory. This means that the value created remains in Estonia. That is why Incap is very pleased to offer the capacity of its factory to support Ampler on their rapid growth path, he said.

Tiit Priske, Business Development Manager of Incap Electronics Estonia, added that Ampler is a very well-managed company and recognised the product development team led by Hannes Laar and the electronics development team led by Markus Jarve. "Both commercial and technical decisions at Ampler are made very quickly, so the impact of the current global crisis on cooperation is minimal," said Priske, adding that with this cooperation both companies want to set an example and encourage others to combine resources to conquer foreign markets.

Ampler Bikes, an Estonian company founded in 2016, develops and manufactures electric bicycles. Today the company has an international team of nearly 150 members and sales offices in Berlin, Cologne, Tallinn, Amsterdam and Zurich. Lightweight electric bicycles made by Ampler have won several awards, and in total there are more than 20,000 Ampler bikes in Europe.

Incap Electronics Estonia is part of Incap Corporation, which is an international electronics manufacturer. Electronics manufactured by Incap Electronics Estonia can be found for example in smart metres, in light electric vehicles on the streets, in smart LED lights in Estonian different regions as well as in the machinery of one of the worlds most famous marine companies.

Photos of Incap Estonia: https://of.com/media/#1627833268534-6871c5d8-fc05

Ampler Bikes photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/iKFJ2BeVnPrc4ADY9

INCAP CORPORATION

For additional information, please contact:

Greg Grace, Managing Director of Incap Electronics Estonia, tel. +372 5163643

Otto Pukk, President and CEO, tel. +372 508 0798

Distribution:

Principal media

www.incapcorp.com

INCAP IN BRIEF

Incap Corporation is a trusted partner and full service provider in Electronics Manufacturing Services. As a global EMS company, Incap supports customers ranging from large multinationals and mid-sized companies to small start-ups in their complete manufacturing value chain. Incap offers state-of-the-art technology backed up by an entrepreneurial culture and highly qualified personnel. The company has operations in Finland, Estonia, India, Slovakia, the UK and Hong Kong and employs approximately 2,500 people. Incaps share has been listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd stock exchange since 1997.
New York, Sept. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Contraceptives Global Market Report 2022" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06319247/?utm_source=GNW

, Allergan Plc, Mankind Pharma, Karex Berhad, Piramal Enterprises Ltd, and Thai Nippon Rubber Industry Co Ltd.



The global contraceptive market is expected to grow from $22.49 billion in 2021 to $24.07 billion in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.05%. The contraceptive market is expected to grow to $31.09 billion in 2026 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.60%.



The contraceptive market consists of sales of contraceptives by entities (organizations, sole traders, and partnerships) that refer to a drug or a device used to prevent pregnancy. Contraceptive drugs and devices are used to prevent pregnancy by keeping the egg and sperm apart, delaying the development of the egg, or preventing the combined sperm and egg (fertilized egg) from attaching to the uterine lining.



The main product types of contraceptives include oral contraceptive pills, topical contraceptives, injectables, diaphragms, vaginal rings, condoms, contraceptive sponges, subdermal implants, and intra-uterine devices.Oral contraceptive pills are contraceptive tablets or birth control pills to prevent pregnancy.



It includes hormones that prevent eggs from being released from the ovaries.The contraceptives are used by a wide range of age groups ranging from 1524 years, 2534 years, 3544 years, and over 44 years.



The contraceptives are distributed by clinics, hospitals, independent pharmacies, and other locations.



North America was the largest region in the contraceptives market in 2021 and is expected to be the fastest-growing region in the forecast period. The regions covered in the contraceptives market report are Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East and Africa.



The rising frequency of sexually transmitted illnesses or diseases is driving the demand for contraceptives.Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are infections spread from one person to another through sexual interaction.



The most typical contact occurs during anal, oral, and vaginal intercourse and they can spread through other close physical contact methods.Skin-to-skin contact is the most common reason for STDs such as herpes and HPV to spread.



Contraceptives are used to control the spread of these diseases.For instance, in 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated the occurrence of 374 million new sexually transmitted infections across the globe.



Therefore, the increase in sexually transmitted illnesses or diseases is expected to boost the demand for contraceptives during the forecast period.



Technology advancement is a key trend gaining popularity in the contraceptive market.Digital Contraceptives are the latest trend in the contraceptives market.



Digital Contraception is a way of tracking periods online to know which days are riskier for pregnancy.In March 2021, Clue, a Berlin-based femtech company, received FDA approval to market Clue Birth Control, all-digital contraception based on period monitoring data.



The birth control function can identify when days are high or low risk for pregnancy by integrating user menstrual cycle data with Clues prediction algorithm.Users can then adjust their habits to fit their risk tolerance.



Clue recommends that users refrain from sex entirely or use another form of contraception, such as condoms, on high-risk days.



In December 2020, Gedeon Richter Plc, a Hungary-based pharmaceutical and biotechnology company acquired rights to market Johnson & Johnson s Evra contraceptive patches internationally excluding the United States for $263.5 million. Through this acquisition, Gedeon Richter Plc is focused on expanding its product portfolio and market presence in the womens healthcare sector. Johnson & Johnson is a USA-based company involved in R&D, manufacturing, and distribution of medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer packaged goods.



The countries covered in the contraceptives market report are Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, South Korea, UK, and USA.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06319247/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



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New York, Sept. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Synthetic Dyes Market by Type, Application, Form, Structure, End-Use Industry And Region - Global Forecast to 2027" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06319116/?utm_source=GNW





Reactive dyes projected to be the fastest growing segment amongst types in the synthetic dyes market

Reactive dyes accounted for the second-largest market share, after disperse dyes, of the overall synthetic dyes market, in 2021.This segment is projected to grow at a high growth rate during the forecast period.



Major drivers of this dye type include low cost, better environmental performance, and improved technical properties such as water solubility, excellent wash fastness and brightness of color shades.



Dyeing to account for the highest market share amongst applications in the synthetic dyes market

Based on application, dyeing is projected to account for the highest market share of the synthetic dyes market, during the forecast period.Synthetic dyes are widely used for dyeing/coloring application in the textile industry.



The increasing demand of various textile products, especially from the developing economies, will drive the demand of synthetic dyes in dyeing application.



Liquid to hold larger market share amongst forms in the synthetic dyes market

Based on form, synthetic dyes market is segmented into liquid dyes and powder dyes.Liquid dyes accounted for the larger market share that that of powder dyes.



Different factors including extended shelf life, and good affinity drives the demand of this segment in the synthetic dyes market.



Non-ionic to be the largest segment amongst structures in the synthetic dyes market

Based on structure, non-ionic dyes account for the highest market share of the synthetic dyes market. Non-ionic structured dyes include several majorly used types of synthetic dyes including disperse dyes and reactive dyes.



Textile to grow at a highest growth rate amongst end-use industries in the synthetic dyes market during the forecast period

Based on end-use industry, textile industry is projected to be the largest and fastest growing industry for this market. The increasing demand for various textile products such as apparels, home textile, and automotive textile will drive the demand of synthetic dyes in the textile industry.



Asia Pacific is projected to be largest and the fastest growing amongst regions in the synthetic dyes market

Asia Pacific is projected to be the fastest growing market for synthetic dyes.The market growth in this region is driven by several factors including rising industrialization and increasing population.



Moreover, presence of emerging economies such as China and India further to support the growth of synthetic dyes market in Asia Pacific.



Breakdown of Primaries

Extensive primary interviews were conducted in the process of determining and verifying sizes of several segments and subsegments of the synthetic dyes market gathered through secondary research.

The breakdown of primary interviews has been given below.

 By Company Type: Tier 1  40%, Tier 2  35%, and Tier 3  25%

 By Designation: C Level Executives 35%, Directors  40%, and Others  25%

 By Region: Asia Pacific  40%, Europe  10%, North America  25%, the Middle East & Africa  15%, and South America- 10%

Major players operating in the global synthetic dyes market include Zhejiang Longsheng Group Co., Ltd. (China), Archroma (Switzerland), Lanxess AG (Germany), Huntsman Corporation (US), Bodal Chemicals Ltd. (India), Heubach Gmbh (Germany), Kemira Oyj (Finland), Kiri Industries (India), Milliken (US), Solenis LLC (US), Atul Ltd. (India), and Cromatos (Italy).



Research Coverage:

This report covers the synthetic dyes ls market and forecasts its market size until 2027.The market has been segmented based on type, application, form, structure, end-use industry, and region.



The report also provides detailed information on company profiles and competitive strategies adopted by the key players to strengthen their positions in the market.The report also provides insights into the driving and restraining factors in the synthetic dyes market, along with opportunities and challenges in the market.



It also includes profiles for top manufacturers in the market.



Reasons to Buy the Report



The report is expected to help market leaders/new entrants in the following ways:

1. This report segments the synthetic dyes market and provides the closest approximations of overall market size for its segments across different verticals and regions.

2. This report is expected to help stakeholders understand the pulse of the market and provide information on key drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities influencing the growth of the market.

3. This report is expected to help stakeholders obtain an in-depth understanding of the competitive landscape of the market and gain insights to improve the position of their businesses. The competitive landscape section includes detailed information on strategies, such as new product launches, investment & expansions, agreement & collaboration, and mergers & acquisitions.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06319116/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



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New York, Sept. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Power Grid System Global Market Report 2022" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06319271/?utm_source=GNW





The global power grid system market is expected to grow from $7.69 billion in 2021 to $8.52 billion in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.86%. The power grid system market is expected to grow to $12.89 billion in 2026 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.90%.



The power grid system market consists of sales of the power grid systems by entities (organizations, sole traders, and partnerships) that refer to a physical system that delivers electricity from the place where it is generated to the site where it is used. The power grid offers on-demand electricity and it consists of generating stations (power plants), transmission system and distribution system.



The main types of power supply in the power grid system market are captive generation, wind power, and other power supplies.A captive generating plant is a power plant established by any individual, cooperative society, or association of individuals (including businesses) to generate electricity primarily for their own use.



The components of power grid systems are cables, variable speed drives, transformers, and switchgear. These are applied on seabed and land.



Europe was the largest region in the power grid system market in 2021.Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing region in the forecast period.



The regions covered in power grid system market report are Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East and Africa.



The power grid system market research report is one of a series of new reports that provides power grid system market statistics, including power grid system industry global market size, regional shares, competitors with a power grid system market share, detailed power grid system market segments, market trends and opportunities, and any further data you may need to thrive in the power grid system industry. This power grid system market research report delivers a complete perspective of everything you need, with an in-depth analysis of the current and future scenarios of the industry.



The increase in the use of subsea power cables is expected to propel the growth of the power grid system market.The rising usage of subsea power cables leads to an increase in demand for electricity as most of the processes and machines in manufacturing processes are electric energy-intensive.



For instance, in 2021, there were approximately 436 submarine cables in service around the world.The total number of cables is constantly changing as new cables enter service and older cables are decommissioned.



In 2021, there are over 1.3 million kilometers of submarine cables in service globally. Some cables are quite short, such as the 131-kilometer CeltixConnect cable between Ireland and the UK. Therefore, demand for power grid systems will rise as the prevalence of increasing use of subsea power cables rises.



Technological advancements is a key trend in the power grid systems market.Various technological improvements like large capacity sodium-sulfur batteries, hydrogen storage, and the development of solid electrolytes are helping to make batteries advanced.



For instance, in September 2021, Engineers at the University of California in collaboration with LG Energy Solutions created a solid-state or solid electrolyte battery.This battery merges two battery sub-fields into a single battery.



It can be used in many applications like grid storage and electric vehicles. Initial tests indicate that the new battery is safe, long-lasting, and energy-dense.



In July 2020, Hitachi, a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation, acquired ABB Power Grids from Swiss-Swedish engineering company, ABB for $7.8 billion. This acquisition is expected to create a new business for tackling the renewable energy frontier of the industry. ABB, Switzerland-based power grid business includes microgrid controls, ADMS, SCADA, and enterprise digital solutions.



The countries covered in the power grid system market report are Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, South Korea, UK and USA.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06319271/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



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Sandy, USA, Sept. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Custom Market Insights has published a new research report titled Specialty Chemicals Market Size, Share, Growth Analysis Report By Product Type (Agrochemicals, Dyes and Pigments, Construction Chemicals, Specialty Polymers, Textile Chemicals, Base Ingredients, Surfactants, Functional Ingredients, Water Treatments, Others), By End-Use (Industrial, Construction, Cosmetics and Personal Care, Pharmaceutical, Electrical & Electronics, Mining and Oilfield, Others), and By Region - Global Industry Overview, Statistical Data, Competitive Intelligence, Trends, Outlook, and Forecast 20222030 in its research database.

According to the latest research study, the demand of global Specialty Chemicals Market size & share was valued at approximately USD 627.7 Billion in 2021 and is expected to reach a value of around USD 886.2Billion by 2030, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 4.3% during the forecast period 2022 to 2030.

According to Custom Market Insights (CMI), this report forecasts market growth at global, regional, and country levels and discusses industry trends shaping the market over the forecast period of 2022 to 2030. We have categorized the global Specialty chemicals market report based on product type, end-use verticals, and region. This report includes market dynamics as well as recent developments in the Specialty Chemicals Market forecast from 2022 to 2030.

Click Here to Access a Free Sample Report of the Global Specialty Chemicals Market @ https://www.custommarketinsights.com/report/specialty-chemical-market/

Specialty Chemicals Market: Overview

Specialty chemicals (called performance chemicals or effect chemicals) are widely popular in the industrial and construction sectors. Some of these include essential oils, gelatin, castor oil, and collagen. Manufacturers across the USA for Specialty chemicals are part of the Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates (SOCMA), while in the United Kingdom, these manufacturers are members of the British Association for Chemical Specialties (BACS). The Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates (SOCMA) consider Specialty chemicals to differ from regular chemicals in terms of their use, as Specialty chemicals have only one or two uses.





(A free sample of the Specialty Chemicals Market report is available upon request; don't hesitate to contact us for more information.)

Our Free Sample Report Consists of the following:

Introduction, Overview, and in-depth industry analysis are all included in the 2022 updated report.

The COVID-19 Pandemic Outbreak Impact Analysis is included in the package.

About 220+ Pages Research Report (Including Recent Research)

Provide detailed chapter-by-chapter guidance on request

Updated Regional Analysis with Graphical Representation of Size, Share, and Trends for the Year 2022

Includes Tables and figures have been updated

The most recent version of the report includes the Top Market Players, their Business Strategies, Sales Volume, and Revenue Analysis.

Custom Market Insights (CMI) research methodology

(Please note that the Specialty Chemicals report sample has been modified to include the COVID-19 impact study before delivery.)



Report Scope

Feature of the Report Details Market Size in 2021 USD 627.7 Billion Projected Market Size in 2030 USD 886.2 Billion CAGR Growth Rate 4.3% CAGR Base Year 2021 Forecast Period 2022-2030 Prominent Players Solvay AG, Evonik Industries AG, Clariant AG, Akzo Nobel N.V., BASF SE, KemiraOyj, LANXESS AG, Croda International Plc, Huntsman International LLC, The Lubrizol Corporation, Albemarle Corporation, and Others Key Segment By Product Type, End-Use, and Region Report Coverage Revenue Estimation and Forecast, Company Profile, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors and Recent Trends Regional Scope North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and South & Central America Buying Options Request tailored purchasing options to fulfil your requirements for research.

Growth Factors

The Specialty chemicals are increasingly used across coatings, adhesives, sealants, and elastomers, which has emerged as a lucrative segment for chemical manufacturers. Numerous technological advancements and innovations have a long-lasting effect on production capacity and performance enhancement. The booming infrastructural sector and real estate sector in emerging economies such as India, China, and South Africa has contributed to market growth. Cleaners and disinfectant products have witnessed massive demand in Asia and North America region, leading to numerous opportunities for local Specialty chemical manufacturers.

To know about the assumptions considered for the study, download the pdf brochure @ https://www.custommarketinsights.com/request-for-free-sample/?reportid=11853

Restraining Factors

Besides Covid-19, which has led to unprecedented supply chain breakdown, the automotive sector suffered significantly in regards to product and demand. The global automotive product suffered heavily during the pandemic, however, the automotive sector recovered over the past year and increased production with demand for EVs has risen. Specialty chemicals are used in rubber blacks and motor oil. Also, tremendous technicalities and complex processes associated with the production of Specialty chemicals have limited their production. The availability of less expensive substitute products will add to the industry challenge.

Specialty Chemicals Market Segmentation

The Specialty Chemicals are segmented into product type and end-use vertical. Based on product type, the market is categorized into agrochemicals, dyes and pigments, construction chemicals, Specialty polymers, textile chemicals, base ingredients, surfactants, functional ingredients, water treatments and others. Moreover, based on the end-use sector, the market is categorized into, the industrial sector, the construction sector, cosmetics and personal care, pharmaceutical, electrical & electronics industry, mining and oilfield and others.

Regional Overview

The Asia Pacific is estimated to hold the largest market share, followed by the North American region. The United States has observed increased demand for Specialty chemicals from the residential contraction sector, thus the demand is not restricted to the developing nations. Further, the oil & gas sector along with the mining sector also saw increased demand in the Middle East and South America region. There is a rising activity in the oil refining sector over the past decade, which further contributed to substantial growth in the market. Europe will witness steady growth over the forecasted period.

Click Here to Access a Free Sample Report of the Global Specialty Chemicals Market @ https://www.custommarketinsights.com/report/specialty-chemical-market/

Key Players Insights

Global manufacturers focus on automation to increase their productivity and boost their market competency. Also, the long-term supply agreements for raw material supply and customer retention are key elements to gain traction among end-users, which will ensure stability.

List of the prominent players in the Global Specialty Chemicals Market:

Solvay AG

Evonik Industries AG

Clariant AG

Akzo Nobel N.V.

BASF SE

KemiraOyj

LANXESS AG

Croda International Plc

Huntsman International LLC

The Lubrizol Corporation

Albemarle Corporation

Key questions answered in this report:

What is the size of the Specialty Chemicals market and what is its expected growth rate?

What are the primary driving factors that push the Specialty Chemicals market forward?

What are the Specialty Chemicals Industry's top companies?

What are the different categories that the Specialty Chemicals Market caters to?

What will be the fastest-growing segment or region?

In the value chain, what role do essential players play?

What is the procedure for getting a free copy of the Specialty Chemicals market sample report and company profiles?

To know about the assumptions considered for the study, download the pdf brochure @ https://www.custommarketinsights.com/request-for-free-sample/?reportid=11853

Key Offerings:

Market Share, Size & Forecast by Revenue | 20222030

Market Dynamics  Growth Drivers, Restraints, Investment Opportunities, and Leading Trends

Market Segmentation  A detailed analysis by Types of Services, by End-User Services, and by Regions

Competitive Landscape  Top Key Vendors and Other Prominent Vendors

Directly Purchase a copy of the report [220+ Pages] @ https://www.custommarketinsights.com/report/specialty-chemical-market/

Recent Development

June 2022 : UPLs Specialty chemicals arm acquires a 100% stake in Kudos Chemie. After the acquisition, Kudos has become a step-down wholly-owned subsidiary of UPL Specialty Chemicals

: UPLs Specialty chemicals arm acquires a 100% stake in Kudos Chemie. After the acquisition, Kudos has become a step-down wholly-owned subsidiary of UPL Specialty Chemicals July 2022: Syngene International signs a 10-year agreement with US-based firm Zoetis.This agreement initially c on Librela paves the way for the development and manufacturing of other molecules in the coming years and is expected to be worth up to $ 500 million to Syngene over 10 years, subject to regulatory approvals and market demand, the company said.

To know about the assumptions considered for the study, download the pdf brochure @ https://www.custommarketinsights.com/request-for-free-sample/?reportid=11853

(We customized your report to meet your specific research requirements. Inquire with our sales team about customizing your report.)

Still, Looking for More Information? OR Want Data for Inclusion in magazines, Case studies, Research Paper or Media?

Email Directly Here with Detail Information: support@custommarketinsights.com

Browse the full Specialty Chemicals Market Size, Share, Growth Analysis Report By Product Type (Agrochemicals, Dyes and Pigments, Construction Chemicals, Specialty Polymers, Textile Chemicals, Base Ingredients, Surfactants, Functional Ingredients, Water Treatments, Others), By End-Use (Industrial, Construction, Cosmetics and Personal Care, Pharmaceutical, Electrical & Electronics, Mining and Oilfield, Others), and By Region - Global Industry Overview, Statistical Data, Competitive Intelligence, Trends, Outlook, and Forecast 20222030 Report at https://www.custommarketinsights.com/report/specialty-chemical-market/

The Global Specialty Chemicals Market is segmented as follows:

By Product Type

Agrochemicals

Dyes and Pigments

Construction Chemicals

Speciality Polymers

Textile Chemicals

Base Ingredients

Surfactants

Functional Ingredients

Water Treatments

Others

By End-Use

Industrial

Construction

Cosmetics and Personal Care

Pharmaceutical

Electrical & Electronics

Mining and Oilfield

Others

On the basis of Geography

North America

The U.S.

Canada

Mexico

Europe

France

The UK

Spain

Germany

Italy

Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific

China

Japan

India

Australia

South Korea

Rest of Asia Pacific

The Middle East & Africa

Saudi Arabia

UAE

Egypt

Kuwait

South Africa

Rest of the Middle East & Africa

Latin America

Brazil

Argentina

Rest of Latin America

To know about the assumptions considered for the study, download the pdf brochure @ https://www.custommarketinsights.com/request-for-free-sample/?reportid=11853

Key Insights:

As per the analysis shared by our research analyst, the Specialty Chemicals Market is estimated to grow annually at a CAGR of around 4.3% over the forecast period (2022-2030).

In terms of revenue, the Specialty Chemicals Market is primarily driven by the industrial and construction sectors with rising demand from the electrical and electronics sectors in recent times.

Based on product type segmentation, the agrochemicals segment was estimated to show maximum market share in the year 2021.

Based on the end-use sector, the industrial segment was the leading revenue-generating category in 2021.

On the basis of region, the Asia Pacific region is the leading market with countries such as China and India dominating regional market growth.

Click Here to Get a Free Sample Report of the Global Specialty Chemicals Market @ https://www.custommarketinsights.com/request-for-free-sample/?reportid=11853

Spectacular Deals

Comprehensive coverage

Maximum number of market tables and figures

Subscription-based option offered

Best price guarantee

Free 35% or 60 hours of customization.

Free post-sale service assistance.

25% discount on your next purchase.

Service guarantees are available.

Personalized market brief by author.

Browse More Chemicals And Materials Related Reports:

Chemicals And Materials Research Reports: https://www.custommarketinsights.com/reports-store/chemicals-materials/

Calcium Carbonate Market: https://www.custommarketinsights.com/report/calcium-carbonate-market/

Mechanical Face Seals Market: https://www.custommarketinsights.com/report/mechanical-face-seals-market/

Merchant Pig Iron Market: https://www.custommarketinsights.com/report/merchant-pig-iron-market/

Molded Pulp Packaging Market: https://www.custommarketinsights.com/report/molded-pulp-packaging-market/

Reasons for the Research Report

The study's goal is to provide a thorough overview of the global Specialty Chemicals market. Compare your performance to that of the market as a whole.

Aim to maintain your competitiveness while market growth is fueled by innovations from established key players.

What does the report include?

Drivers, restrictions, and opportunities are among the qualitative elements covered in the analysis of the worldwide Specialty Chemicals market.

The competitive environment of current and potential participants in the Specialty Chemicals market is covered in the report, as well as those companies' strategic product development ambitions.

According to the component, application, and industry vertical, the market is analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively in this study. Additionally, the report offers comparable data for the important regions.

For each of the aforementioned segments, actual market sizes and forecasts have been given.

Who should buy this report?

Participants and stakeholders in the worldwide Specialty Chemicals market should find this report useful. The research will be useful to all market participants in the Specialty Chemicals industry.

Managers in the Specialty Chemicals sector are interested in publishing up-to-date and projected data about the worldwide Specialty Chemicals market.

Governmental agencies, regulatory bodies, decision-makers, and organisations wanting to invest in market trends for Specialty Chemicals products.

Market insights are sought for by analysts, researchers, educators, strategy managers, and government organisations to develop plans.

Click Here to Access a Free Sample Report of the Global Specialty Chemicals Market @ https://www.custommarketinsights.com/report/specialty-chemical-market/

About Custom Market Insights:

Custom Market Insights is a market research and advisory company delivering business insights and market research reports to large, small, and medium-scale enterprises. We assist clients with strategies and business policies and regularly work towards achieving sustainable growth in their respective domains.



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New York, Sept. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Smart Government Global Market Report 2022" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06319243/?utm_source=GNW





The global smart government market is expected to grow from $24.07 billion in 2021 to $28.71 billion in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.26%. The smart government market is expected to grow to $58.08 billion in 2026 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.27%.



The smart government market consists of sales of smart government solutions and services by entities (organizations, sole traders, and partnerships) that refer to the use of intelligently networked information and communication technology (ICT) solutions used to manage business activities connected to government and administration. The interconnected devices and cyber-physical systems are used by intelligently networked governance and administration to accomplish public tasks efficiently and effectively.



The main types of smart government solutions include open data platforms, analytics, government resource planning system, security, remote monitoring, and network management.Open data platform refers to a platform used by ministries/departments of the government and its organizations to publish datasets, documents, services, tools, and applications that they have accumulated for public use.



It aims to improve government openness and create opportunities for many more innovative applications of government data to provide new perspectives. These solutions and services are deployed on-premise and cloud.



North America was the largest region in the smart government market in 2021.Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing region in the forecast period.



The regions covered in the smart government market report are Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East and Africa.



The smart government market research report is one of a series of new reports that provides smart government market statistics, including smart government industry global market size, regional shares, competitors with a smart government market share, detailed smart government market segments, market trends and opportunities, and any further data you may need to thrive in the smart government industry. This smart government market research report delivers a complete perspective of everything you need, with an in-depth analysis of the current and future scenarios of the industry.



The increased investment in smart government technologies will propel the growth of the smart government market.Government institutes across the globe are increasing spending on network management, cybersecurity, and other smart government, to deliver dependable, effective, and security services to their people.



For instance, in January 2021, the US government announced $10.2 billion of investments in Federal information technology modernization to fend off potential cyberattacks and IT issues. It is a crucial step in realigning US cyber defenses to increase faith in the US governments capacity to provide reliable and secure services. Therefore, the increased investment in smart government technologies is expected to boost demand for smart government platforms and solutions during the forecast period.



Technological advancement is a new trend gaining popularity in the smart government market.Technological advancements such as the Internet of Things (IoT) are increasingly incorporated into new systems and cloud solutions to make government activities more efficient.



The widespread use of IoT technology has strengthened the government-citizen interaction, providing a strong case for public benefit generation.IoT is used in smart city operations to build and provide interconnected solutions for a communitys well-being.



In February 2022, Rogers Business, a Canadian-based technology, and media firm developed a suite of internet of things (IoT) smart cities and smart building solutions to fulfill the rising infrastructure demands of governments and organizations. The Rogers Business Smart Cities and Smart Buildings business will collaborate with various vendors to develop solutions from water leak detection sensors to AI-powered traffic signal capabilities.



In June 2021, Granicus, a US-based software company that develops technologies to help government agencies, acquired two gov-tech companies, Bang the Table and OpenCities, for an undisclosed amount.Through this acquisition, Granicus will change the way citizens and governments interact.



Granicus commitment to the governments of Australia and New Zealand will be reinforced by the acquisition of two enterprises, which will give public sector solutions to more than 350 governments while also growing its presence in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.Bang the Table is an Australia-based company that offers an online citizen engagement platform for local government.



OpenCities is an Australia-based premier digital customer journey platform for the public sector, which assists local governments in transforming their websites, digital forms, and service delivery experiences.



The countries covered in the smart government market report are Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, South Korea, UK, and USA.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06319243/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



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SEATTLE, Sept. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Data Bridge Market Research Published Latest Global Pharmacogenetics Testing in Psychiatry/Depression Market Study by in-depth analysis of the current scenario, the Market size, demand, growth pattern, trends, and forecast. This Pharmacogenetics Testing in Psychiatry/Depression market report studies the market and the healthcare industry comprehensively by considering several aspects. The report helps in achieving sustainable growth in the market, by providing well-versed, specific, and most relevant product and market information. Inputs from various industry experts, essential for the detailed market analysis, have been employed very carefully to generate this finest market research report. The company profiles of all the top market players and brands are listed in the Pharmacogenetics Testing in Psychiatry/Depression report which puts light on their moves like product launches, product enhancements, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions and their effect on sales, import, export, revenue and CAGR values.

Data Bridge Market Research analyzes that the global pharmacogenetics testing in psychiatry/depression market is expected to reach the value of USD 2,133.49 million by 2029, at a CAGR of 9.5% during the forecast period. Anxiety accounts for the largest type segment in the market due to the increasing depression rate among the global population. This market report also covers pricing analysis, patent analysis, and technological advancements in depth.

Access PDF Sample Report (Including Graphs, Charts & Figures) @ https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/request-a-sample/?dbmr=global-pharmacogenetic-testing-in-psychiatry-depression-market

Market Insights:-

Pharmacogenetic testing helps medical professionals by providing information on how a person metabolizes a medication. This information can help doctors and others avoid prescribing antidepressants that could produce undesirable outcomes. Pharmacogenomics has shown promise for predicting antidepressant response and tolerability in major depressive disorder (MDD). Pharmacogenomics can improve clinical outcomes by guiding antidepressant selection and dosing. The growing biotechnology sector, and increasing health expenditure, have accelerated the demand for pharmacogenetic testing in psychiatry/depression.

The growing prevalence of cancer disease, novel technology in the treatment of depression and/or other psychiatric conditions are increasing the adoption of pharmacogenetics testing in psychiatry/depression devices and procedures, and the rising preference for non-surgical procedures are the major drivers which propelled the demand for the market in the forecast period. However, the high cost associated with the tests, stringent regulation, and lack of awareness may expect to hamper the pharmacogenetics testing in psychiatry/depression market growth in the forecast period.

Some of the major players operating in the global pharmacogenetics testing in psychiatry/depression market are

Genelex (Part of Invitae corporation)

Genewiz (Part of Azenta Life Sciences)

MD Labs

BiogeneiQ, Inc.

ONEOME, LLC

Myriad Genetics, Inc.

GenXys

Castle Biosciences, Inc.

PacBio

QIAGEN

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

AB-Biotics.S.A.

Coriell Life Sciences

Eurofins Scientific

Illumina, Inc.

Dynamic DNA Laboratories

STADAPHARM GmbH

Color Health, Inc.

Cnsdose

Genomind, Inc.

Healthspek

myDNA Life Australia Pty Ltd.

HudsonAlpha

Sonic Healthcare Limited

Recent Developments

In April 2022, Blue Care Network (BCN) launched a precision medicine program, Blue Cross Personalized Medicine, which leverages pharmacogenomics, or genetic testing, to personalize and tailor medication treatments more effectively for select members based on a review of their prescribed medications for various diagnosis including behavioral health, cardiology, cardiovascular and oncology. OneOme LLC has helped BCN achieve its precision medicine program goals and reduce the total cost of care and improve patient health outcomes by reducing adverse drug reactions. This has helped the company to enhance its product portfolio

Get Full 350 Pages PDF Research Report @ https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/checkout/buy/enterprise/global-pharmacogenetic-testing-in-psychiatry-depression-market

Opportunity

Rising advancements in technology

Advances in pharmacogenomics have introduced an increasing number of opportunities to bring personalized medicine into clinical practice for psychiatric disorders. Personalized medicine may be defined as a comprehensive, prospective approach to preventing, diagnosing, treating, and monitoring disease in ways that achieve optimal individual health care decisions. Over 100 medications now contain United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) labelling related to potentially applicable pharmacogenomic biomarkers with technological advancements in healthcare. Also, new and advanced methods are being developed to promote pharmacogenetics testing in depression-like disorders. These tests use advanced genetic testing methods to give precise results to form a treatment regimen. The improvements in technology supporting tests improved accessibility of testing options, and the growing number of resources that help clinicians understand how to use this information when it is available are making this aspect of personalized or precision medicine a reality. Thus, providers need to become more aware of the scientific and clinical relevance of pharmacogenomic tests.

The tests also help to establish a meaningful relationship between a drug and the individual genetic makeup. This helps in deciding the drugs to be administered to the patient to treat major depressive disorders and other psychiatric conditions.

Market Dynamics:-

Drivers

Increase in the number of patients suffering from psychiatric and depression disorder

Depression is a common illness worldwide, with an estimated 3.8% of the population affected, including 5.0% among adults and 5.7% among adults older than 60 years. Depression can become a serious health condition of mild to extreme severity, affecting the person to suffer greatly and can lead to suicide in the worst cases. Although over 45 antidepressants are available, suboptimal response poses a challenge and is considered a result of genetic variation, psychiatry/depression. Depending on the severity and pattern of depressive episodes over time, healthcare providers may offer psychological diagnosis such as behavioral activation, cognitive behavioral therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, and/or antidepressant medication such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs). Different drugs are used for this kind of mental disorder.

With the growth in the prevalence of depression, the demand for pharmacogenetics testing is also increasing as it studies the effect of genetic variants intending to furnish tailored diagnosis. The market is expected to grow in foresting period.

Rise in demand for personalized and precision medicine

Pharmacogenetics test aids the medical professional in choosing the best medicine for the person because the test searches for the gene variant that may be responsible for influencing the effect of the drug.

Medicine is becoming personal, and patients gradually express interest in improved outcomes and less adverse effects with personalized medications. Personalized medicine has the potential to tailor the therapy with a high safety margin and the best response. This trend is largely driven by genome sequencing improvements.

The move toward personal healthcare means changes in the manufacturing of medicines. Manufacturers are moving from creating small molecules to the combination of small molecule and gene therapies. Sponsors focus on replacing inefficient large-scale batch production with investment in new technology and producing personalized drugs.

Critical Insights Related to the Pharmacogenetics Testing in Psychiatry/DepressionIncluded in the Report:

Exclusive graphics and Illustrative Porters Five Forces analysis of some of the leading companies in this market

Value chain analysis of prominent players in the market

Current trends influencing the dynamics of this market across various geographies

Recent mergers, acquisitions, collaborations, and partnerships

Revenue growth of this industry over the forecast period

Marketing strategy study and growth trends

Growth driven factor analysis

Emerging recess segments and region-wise market

An empirical evaluation of the curve of this market

Ancient, Present, and Probable scope of the market from both prospect value and volume

Restraint

Lack of skilled medical and genomic expert

Most clinicians still lack confidence in pharmacogenetic (PGx) testing and subsequent data interpretation, indicating insufficient knowledge in this field. It emphasizes the need to improve literacy among healthcare professionals regarding expertise in and understanding of pharmacogenetic (PGx) testing.

Lack of practitioners awareness about the possibilities of pharmacogenetics and poor or insufficient explanation of the test results also reduce personalization technologies for patients. In addition to developing thematic training courses at medical universities, including the educational cycles in continuing professional education systems, and free placement of information for practicing doctors are required: academic internet portals, webinars, etc. A clinical pharmacologist plays a crucial role in the implementation of pharmacogenetic testing.

The competence of a clinical pharmacologist in the field of pharmacogenetics is critical: he or she is the one who organizes the application of genotyping in clinical practice, interprets tests, and informs doctors about the possibilities of pharmacogenetics for patients with specific nosologies, that is, acts as the main link between the scientific world, the healthcare system and practicing physicians in the process of introducing pharmacogenetics.

Get the Latest Edition of the Market Study Now @ https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-pharmacogenetic-testing-in-psychiatry-depression-market

Challenge

Strict government regulation on new products and instruments approval

The concerns regarding the efficacy and safety of products have caused most governments to develop regulatory agencies and policies to look after the development of new medical products or tests. The use of these medical products can be done after passing stringent regulatory standards, which ensure the product is safe, well studied, and has no adverse reactions.

The recent guidelines and the amendment have adequate guidance for manufacturers. International regulations such as food, drug, and administration play a major role in the new launch of medical products or tests into the market. Thus, it can be a major restraint for the market. Therefore, strict government regulation on new products and instrument approval will likely impact the market.

Segmentation: Pharmacogenetics Testing in Psychiatry/Depression Market

Global pharmacogenetics testing in psychiatry/depression market is segmented into type, test type, gene type, patient type, product, end user, and distribution channel. The growth among segments helps you analyze niche pockets of growth and strategies to approach the market and determine your core application areas and the difference in your target markets.

By Type

Anxiety

Mood Disorders

Depression

Bipolar Disorders

Psychotic Disorders

Eating Disorders

By Test Type

Whole Genome Sequencing

Chromosomal Array-Based Tests

By Gene Type

CYP2C19

CYP2C9 AND VKORC1

CYP2D6

HLA-B

HTR2A/C

HLA-A

CYP3A4

SLC6A4

MTHFR

COMT

OTHERS

By Patient Type

Child

Adult

Geriatric

By Product

Instruments

Consumable

Software & Services

By End User

Hospitals & Clinics

Dignostics Laboratories

Academic And Research Institutes

Others

By Distribution Channel

Direct Tender

Third-Party Distribution

Hospital Pharmacy

Others

To Check the Complete Table Of Content Click Here @ https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/toc/?dbmr=global-pharmacogenetic-testing-in-psychiatry-depression-market

Global Pharmacogenetics Testing in Psychiatry/Depression Market Regional Analysis/Insights

The pharmacogenetics testing in psychiatry/depression market is analyzed, and market size information is provided by the type, test type, gene type, patient type, product, end user, and distribution channel.

The countries covered in pharmacogenetics testing in psychiatry/depression market report are U.S., Canada, Mexico, Germany, France, U.K., Italy, Spain, Russia, Turkey, Netherlands, Switzerland, Hungary, Austria, Lithuania, Ireland, Norway, Poland, and the rest of Europe, China, Japan, India, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia and rest of Asia-Pacific, UAE, Israel, South Africa, Egypt, Kuwait and rest of the Middle East and Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Peru and, rest of South America.

In 2022, North America is dominating due to the presence of key market players in the largest consumer market with high GDP. The U.S is expected to grow due to the rise in technological advancement in pharmacogenetics testing.

North America is dominating the market. The increasing investment in R&D and increasing adoption of pharmacogenetics testing as an option for formulating treatment regimens is expected to boost the market growth. The U.S. dominates the North American region due to the strong presence of advanced technology providers such as Eurofins Scientific, Illumina, Inc., and others. The U.K. dominates Europe due to the increasing demand from emerging markets and the expansion of pharmaceutical industries. China dominates the Asia-Pacific region due to increased healthcare expenditure.

Explore DBMR Comprehensive Coverage on Healthcare Domain:

Asia Pacific Pharmacogenetics Testing in Psychiatry/Depression Market , By Type (Anxiety, Mood Disorders, Depression, Bipolar Disorders, Psychotic Disorders, and Eating Disorders), Test Type (Whole Genome Sequencing, and Chromosomal Array-Based Tests), Patient Type (Child, Adult, and Geriatric), Gene Type (CYP2C19, CYP2C9, VKORC1, CYP2D6, HLA-B, HTR2A/C, HLA-A, CYP3A4, SLC6A4, MTHFR, COMT, and Others), Products (Instruments, Consumables, and Software & Services), End User (Hospitals and Clinics, Diagnostics Laboratories, Academic and Research Institutes, and Others), Distribution Channel (Direct Tender, Third Party Distribution Hospital Pharmacy, and Others) https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/asia-pacific-pharmacogenetic-testing-in-psychiatry-depression-market

Europe Pharmacogenetics Testing in Psychiatry/Depression Market , By Type (Anxiety, Mood Disorders, Depression, Bipolar Disorders, Psychotic Disorders, and Eating Disorders), Test Type (Whole Genome Sequencing and Chromosomal Array-Based Tests), Patient Type (Child, Adult, and Geriatric), Gene Type (CYP2C19, CYP2C9, VKORC1, CYP2D6, HLA-B, HTR2A/C, HLA-A, CYP3A4, SLC6A4, MTHFR, COMT, and Others), Products (Instruments, Consumables, Software & Services), End User (Hospitals and Clinics, Diagnostics Laboratories, Academic and Research Institutes, and Others), Distribution Channel (Direct Tender, Third Party Distribution Hospital Pharmacy, and Others) https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/europe-pharmacogenetic-testing-in-psychiatry-depression-market

Middle East & Africa Pharmacogenetics Testing in Psychiatry/Depression Market , By Type (Anxiety, Mood Disorders, Depression, Bipolar Disorders, Psychotic Disorders, and Eating Disorders), Test Type (Whole Genome Sequencing, and Chromosomal Array-Based Tests), Patient Type (Child, Adult, and Geriatric), Gene Type (CYP2C19, CYP2C9, VKORC1, CYP2D6, HLA-B, HTR2A/C, HLA-A, CYP3A4, SLC6A4, MTHFR, COMT, and Others), Products (Instruments, Consumables, and Software & Services), End User (Hospitals and Clinics, Diagnostics Laboratories, Academic and Research Institutes, and Others), Distribution Channel (Direct Tender, Third Party Distribution Hospital Pharmacy, and Others) https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/middle-east-and-africa-pharmacogenetic-testing-in-psychiatry-depression-market

North America Pharmacogenetics Testing in Psychiatry/Depression Market , By Type (Anxiety, Mood Disorders, Depression, Bipolar Disorders, Psychotic Disorders, and Eating Disorders), Test Type (Whole Genome Sequencing, and Chromosomal Array-Based Tests), Patient Type (Child, Adult, and Geriatric), Gene Type (CYP2C19, CYP2C9, VKORC1, CYP2D6, HLA-B, HTR2A/C, HLA-A, CYP3A4, SLC6A4, MTHFR, COMT, and Others), Products (Instruments, Consumables, Software & Services), End User (Hospitals and Clinics, Diagnostics Laboratories, Academic and Research Institutes, and Others), Distribution Channel (Direct Tender, Third Party Distribution, Hospital Pharmacy, and Others) https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/north-america-pharmacogenetic-testing-in-psychiatry-depression-market

Depression Screening Market , By Disease Type (Anxiety, Depression, Mood Disorders, Bipolar Disorders, Eating Disorders, Psychotic Disorders, Others), Diagnosis (Psychological Test, Depression Screening Tests, Lab Tests, Others), Treatment (Medication, Deep Brain Stimulation, Brain-Stimulation Treatments,) End User (Hospitals and Clinics, Academic Institutes, Medical Research Centers, Others), Country (U.S., Canada, Mexico, Germany, Italy, U.K., France, Spain, Netherland, Belgium, Switzerland, Turkey, Russia, Rest of Europe, Japan, China, India, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Rest of Asia- Pacific, Brazil, Argentina, Rest of South America, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Israel, Rest of Middle East and Africa) https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-depression-screening-market

Treatment-Resistant Depression Market , By Drug Class (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIS), Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors, Tricyclic Antidepressant, Psychedelics, Others), Route of Administration (Oral, Parenteral, Others), End-Users (Hospitals, Homecare, Specialty Clinics, Others), Distribution Channel (Hospital Pharmacy, Online Pharmacy, Retail Pharmacy), Country (U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Rest of South America, Germany, France, U.K., Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Russia, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Hungary, Lithuania, Austria, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Rest of Europe, China, Japan, India, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Rest of Asia-Pacific, Saudi Arabia, U.A.E, Egypt, Israel, Kuwait, South Africa, Rest of Middle East and Africa) https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-tretment-resistant-depression-market

Postpartum Depression Market , By Type (Postpartum Blues, Postpartum Anxiety, Postpartum Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Postpartum Panic Disorder, Postpartum Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Postpartum Psychosis, Others), Treatment (Psychotherapy, Medication, Supplements, Others), Route of Administration (Oral, Parenteral, Others), End-Users (Hospitals, Specialty Clinics, Homecare, Others), Distribution Channel (Hospital Pharmacy, Retail Pharmacy, Online Pharmacy, Others) https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-postpartum-depression-market

Telepsychiatry Market , By Product (In-home Solutions, Forensic Solutions, Routine Solutions, Crisis Solutions, Others), Age Group (Adult, Pediatric and Adolescent, Geriatric), End-Use (Community Mental Health Centers, Specialty Care Settings, Skilled Nursing Facilities, Homecare, Others), Country (U.S., Canada, Mexico, Germany, Italy, U.K., France, Spain, Netherland, Belgium, Switzerland, Turkey, Russia, Rest of Europe, Japan, China, India, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Rest of Asia-Pacific, Brazil, Argentina, Rest of South America, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Israel, Rest of Middle East & Africa) https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-telepsychiatry-market

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Data Bridge Market Research has over 500 analysts working in different industries. We have catered more than 40% of the fortune 500 companies globally and have a network of more than 5000+ clientele around the globe. Data Bridge adepts in creating satisfied clients who reckon upon our services and rely on our hard work with certitude. We are content with our glorious 99.9 % client satisfying rate.

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Company invites individual and institutional investors, as well as advisors and analysts, to attend real-time, interactive presentations on VirtualInvestorConferences.com



VANCOUVER, British Columbia and REHOVOT, Israel, Sept. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BioHarvest Sciences Inc. (CSE: BHSC) (OTCQB: CNVCF) (FSE:8MV), a biotechnology company focused on growing plant cells without the plant via its patented CELLicitation platform, today announced that Ilan Sobel, Chief Executive Officer, will present live at VirtualInvestorConferences.com on September 15, 2022.

DATE: September 15, 2022

TIME: 12:30 PM ET

LINK: https://bit.ly/3StcgIH



Available for 1x1 meetings: September 16, 19, 20

This will be a live, interactive online event where investors are invited to ask the company questions in real-time. If attendees are not able to join the event live on the day of the conference, an archived webcast will also be made available after the event.

It is recommended that investors pre-register and run the online system check to expedite participation and receive event updates.

Learn more about the event at www.virtualinvestorconferences.com.

Recent BioHarvest Sciences Highlights

August 2022  BioHarvest launched its first major US integrated marketing campaign including television, promoting VINIA, its unique Piceid Resveratrol supplement derived from red grape cells which supports heart health

September 2022 - BioHarvest was awarded the Business Intelligence Groups Award for Sustainability Leadership. The award recognizes the sustainability impact of BioHarvests Bio Plant CELLicitation technology, which enables industrial production of plant metabolites without growing the plant itself, using a fraction of the energy, water, or land required for traditional or indoor agriculture, with no chemicals, solvents or heavy metals.

using a fraction of the energy, water, or land required for traditional or indoor agriculture, with no chemicals, solvents or heavy metals. May 2022 - BioHarvest announced it was the first company in the world to grow full- spectrum non-GMO Cannabis biomass containing 93% trichomes without growing the plant itself, and is now focusing its efforts on commercializing its consistent, clean and efficacious Cannabis, produced with the highest ESG credentials and capital efficiency, in North America in H1 2023.

CNVCF (BioHarvests US Trading Symbol) shares began trading on the OTCQB in summer 2022

About BioHarvest Sciences Inc.

BioHarvest Sciences Inc. (CSE: BHSC) is a fast-growing Biotech firm listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange. BioHarvest has developed a patented bio-cell growth platform technology capable of growing the active and beneficial ingredients in fruit and plants, at industrial scale, without the need to grow the plant itself. This technology is economical, ensures consistency, and avoids the negative environmental impacts associated with traditional agriculture. BioHarvest is currently focused on nutraceuticals and the medicinal cannabis markets. Visit: www.bioharvest.com

About Virtual Investor Conferences

Virtual Investor Conferences (VIC) is the leading proprietary investor conference series that provides an interactive forum for publicly traded companies to seamlessly present directly to investors.

Providing a real-time investor engagement solution, VIC is specifically designed to offer companies more efficient investor access. Replicating the components of an on-site investor conference, VIC offers companies enhanced capabilities to connect with investors, schedule targeted one-on-one meetings and enhance their presentations with dynamic video content. Accelerating the next level of investor engagement, Virtual Investor Conferences delivers leading investor communications to a global network of retail and institutional investors.

CONTACTS:

BioHarvest Sciences

Justin Meiklem

Investor Relations

778.686.3855

justin@bioharvest.com

Virtual Investor Conferences

John M. Viglotti

SVP Corporate Services, Investor Access

OTC Markets Group

(212) 220-2221

johnv@otcmarkets.com
RICHMOND, Va., Sept. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Curtis&Co, a leading management consulting firm, today announced the addition of Tim Williams as Partner. Curtis&Cos ability to help their clients achieve their objectives has fueled the companys growth and resulted in the opportunity to expand the firms leadership. Tims experience in client delivery, market development, and intelligent automation will help support the continued growth of Curtis&Co.



Tim has over 20 years of experience focused on operational transformation that delivers impactful business outcomes through inventive problem solving, process design, and intelligent automation. His consulting career includes Partnership roles at both Accenture and EY, working across multiple industries, and living in the UK and Singapore. Most recently, Tim served as SVP and Director for Intelligent Automation at Truist, the 7th largest U.S. bank.

Tony Curtis, Founder and CEO, shared, The addition of Tim to our leadership team is a true game changer for Curtis&Co. He brings with him years of top tier management consulting experience that includes operational transformations and international assignments. Most recently, Tim has been at the forefront of technology and process automation in his role leading Intelligent Automation for a leading U.S. bank. Tims unique experiences and capabilities solidify our firms burgeoning focus on digital transformation, automation, and analytics and allows us to bring holistic solutions to our clients. Welcome Tim!

Im really excited to be joining Curtis&Co, Tim commented. Tony and team have really built something special, a unique culture that begins on day 1 of an internship and is reinforced every day in how we support each other and our clients. The growth that Curtis&Co has seen over the last several years is a testament to this culture and I feel privileged to be a part of it and help accelerate our growth even more.

About Curtis&Co

Curtis&Co, founded in 2014, is a management consulting firm that creates clarity for their clients through the art and science of dynamic, inventive solutions. The firm is comprised of leaders and experts in the management consulting community who work with businesses across all industries and sectors.

Leveraging their diverse and experienced delivery team, Curtis&Co supports clients nationwide and across the globe by bringing clarity to unique business issues through cognitive automation, process intelligence, and data analytics.

Visit curtis-co.com to learn how Curtis&Co can partner with your business.

Media Contact:

Lauren Blain

lblain@curtis-co.com

800-581-4906

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/75e48007-8ed8-478f-8cb2-ff9ccca1b83a

The photo is also available at Newscom, www.newscom.com, and via AP PhotoExpress.
PURCHASE, N.Y., Sept. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Titan Aircraft Investments, the joint venture between Titan Aviation Holdings, Inc. and Bain Capital Credit, today announced the placement of three 767-300ER converted freighters on long-term dry leases with Ethiopian Airlines Group.

We are delighted to welcome Ethiopian Airlines as a strategic customer and support its growing freighter fleet, said Michael Steen, President and Chief Executive Officer of Titan Aviation Holdings and Chief Commercial Officer of Atlas Air Worldwide. We are honored that Ethiopian Airlines recognizes our industry and technical expertise and has placed its trust in Titan.

Ethiopian Airlines is expected to take delivery of the first of these aircraft later this month, with the second delivery planned for later this year, and the third aircraft planned for 2023.

The addition of these three aircraft brings Titan Aircraft Investments freighter fleet to 10 aircraft, five of which are Boeing 767 converted freighters.

Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Mesfin Tasew said: This dry lease agreement will be fundamental to our fast growing cargo operation as Ethiopian is a key global player in the air cargo business. We are glad about the partnership with Titan Aircraft Investments to enhance our capacity with three more B767 converted aircraft in addition to the existing nine widebody freighters and four B737 converted aircraft.

About Titan Aviation Holdings and Titan Aircraft Investments Ltd.:

Titan Aviation Holdings, a subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide, is a freighter-centric leasing company that provides dry leasing solutions to airlines worldwide. Titans fleet of cargo aircraft support customers, including international flag carriers, express operators, e-commerce providers, and regional and domestic carriers. Titans deep airfreight domain expertise and innovative asset management solutions help customers quickly ramp up their aviation operations while minimizing capital investment. Since its inception in 2009, Titan has grown to become the third largest freighter lessor globally by fleet value, owning and/or managing 33 aircraft on lease to customers worldwide with a book value of over $1.5 billion.

Titan Aircraft Investments Ltd. is a long-term joint venture Titan Aviation Holdings entered into with Bain Capital Credit, LP to develop a diversified freighter aircraft Dry Leasing portfolio that aims to capitalize on demand for cargo aircraft, underpinned by robust e-commerce and express market growth. Under the joint venture, Bain Capital and Titan have committed to provide $360.0 million and $40.0 million of equity capital, respectively, which may be supplemented with additional commitments over time, to acquire aircraft over the next several years with an anticipated portfolio value of approximately $1.0 billion. Titan Aviation Holdings provides management services to the joint venture, including aircraft acquisitions, lease-management, passenger-to-freighter aircraft conversion oversight, technical expertise and disposal of aircraft.

About Atlas Air Worldwide:

Atlas Air Worldwide is a leading global provider of outsourced aircraft and aviation operating services. It is the parent company of Atlas Air, Inc., and Titan Aviation Holdings, Inc., and is the majority shareholder of Polar Air Cargo Worldwide, Inc. Our companies operate the worlds largest fleet of 747 freighter aircraft and provide customers the broadest array of Boeing 747, 777, 767 and 737 aircraft for domestic, regional and international cargo and passenger operations.

Atlas Air Worldwides press releases, SEC filings and other information may be accessed through the companys home page, www.atlasairworldwide.com .

About Ethiopian Airlines:
MENTOR, Ohio, Sept. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Niagara Systems, a leading producer of industrial parts washers, will introduce a new modular tunnel washer design at IMTS, the International Manufacturing Technology Show. This new design is the culmination of multiple years of dedicated focus and development on creating a customizable, modular tunnel washer to meet today's unique business needs and challenges.

Through independent research and collaborative insights provided by their customers, Niagara Systems developed a comprehensive tunnel washer solution that satisfies the generic and particular needs of a wide range of industries without the added cost of complete customization. Their development of this new tunnel washer program focused on modular capabilities that meet consumer needs in the areas of efficacy, efficiency, safety and sustainability.

The International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) is the largest industry trade show in North America. Held biennially in Chicago, the IMTS brings together industry professionals from around the globe to unveil the latest innovations in traditional manufacturing and digital technology. Exhibitors, vendors and visitors alike will experience more than 15,000 new technologies in nearly two dozen industries including machining, automation, materials handling and maintenance.

IMTS 2022 will be held from September 12-17th at McCormick Place. The modular tunnel washing system will be on display at the Niagara Systems booth located on Level 3 of the South Building, booth #339484. Along with their innovative new technology, Niagara Systems will be on-site to provide visitors with more information regarding their modular tunnel system, potential applications and its impact on various industries.

Niagara Systems, a South Shore Controls company, has more than 80 years of experience in the design, engineering and manufacturing of industrial parts washing and custom automation systems. With a focus on meeting consumer needs through technological innovation, Niagara Systems has become a worldwide leader in high-quality industrial washers and dryers. South Shore Controls is a single-source provider of industrial automation and process control solutions. Their core competencies include systems integration, process controls and automation services for a diverse portfolio of industries.

For media inquiries, please contact Danny Wilkinson at dwilkinson@southshorecontrols.com

For sales inquiries, call 1-440-259-2500 or email us at sales@niagarasystemsllc.com

Related Images











Image 1: Tunnel Washer Unveiling at IMTS









This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com.

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San Diego, CA, Sept. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A delegation composed of members of the French Senate and representatives from the French Consulate in Los Angeles recently toured the DIII-D National Fusion Facility, which is operated by General Atomics (GA) for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science.

During the Sept. 6 visit, which was arranged and hosted by Dr. Vivek Lall, Chief Executive of the General Atomics Global Corporation, the delegation observed a fusion experiment and learned about GAs initiatives in fusion and advanced nuclear energy. GA is heavily involved in the ITER project, currently being carried out in France. ITER is an international collaboration of 35 nations that will prove the feasibility of fusion as a means of producing virtually limitless clean, safe, and sustainable energy.

General Atomics has had a longstanding strong strategic partnership with France in the energy and defense sectors including unmanned aircraft, said Dr. Lall. We look forward to continue growing the depth and breadth of our relationship in the various domains furthering our mutual national security interests.

France is thrilled to be working with such a pioneering company in the energy sector. We are looking forward to seeing the development of fusion energy and we commend GA for its key contribution to the ITER project. said Sophie Primas, President of the Economic Affairs Committee of the French Senate.

It was a great pleasure to welcome the Senators to the DIII-D Facility hosted here at General Atomics, said Dr. Wayne Solomon, Vice President of Magnetic Fusion Energy. We enjoyed discussing our plans to bring fusion power to the electrical grid through our efforts in developing a fusion pilot plant.

DIII-D is the largest magnetic fusion research user facility in the United States. The heart of the facility is a tokamak that uses powerful electromagnets to produce a toroidal (doughnut-shaped) magnetic bottle for confining a fusion plasma. GA has been a leader in fusion research since the 1950s.

The delegation also learned about GAs activities in developing advanced nuclear technologies and materials, both for nuclear energy and emerging applications for nuclear space propulsion. GA-Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) is developing advanced materials for the DOEs Accident Tolerant Fuel program, advanced reactors, and additional high temperature/harsh environment applications.

We were very pleased to have an opportunity to discuss how GAs advanced nuclear power technologies and materials, including our 50 MWe Fast Modular Reactor, and our close collaboration with Framatome, are working to secure the future of safe, distributed clean power generation by the mid-2030s, said Dr. Ron Faibish, Senior Director of Business Development with GA-EMS.

About General Atomics: Since the dawn of the atomic age, General Atomics innovations have advanced the state of the art across the full spectrum of science and technology  from nuclear energy and defense to medicine and high-performance computing. Behind a talented global team of scientists, engineers, and professionals, GAs unique experience and capabilities continue to deliver safe, sustainable, economical, and innovative solutions to meet growing global demands.

About the DIII-D National Fusion Facility. DIII-D is the largest magnetic fusion research facility in the U.S. and has been the site of numerous pioneering contributions to the development of fusion energy science. DIII-D continues the drive toward practical fusion energy with critical research conducted in collaboration with more than 600 scientists representing over 100 institutions worldwide. As a U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science User Facility, participation in DIII-D research is open to all interested parties. For more information, visit www.ga.com/diii-d.

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VENICE, Italy, Sept. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The prize awarded to the web series Artitude was presented in Venice as part of the Film Festival. The Social World Film Festival jury's special plaque for the project created by Pomilio Blumm was received by Lorenzo Balbi, director of MAMbo (Museum of Modern Art in Bologna), artistic director of ArtCity as well as a narrator in the various episodes of the series. Artitude was created by Pomilio Blumm as part of Italy is simply extraordinary: beIT the campaign aimed at promoting Italian-made products launched by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, in collaboration with ICE - Agency for the promotion abroad and internationalisation of Italian companies. As Lorenzo Balbi himself explained: "The campaign explored Made in Italy and did it through different languages, those of art, creativity, the languages of knowledge. A way of talking about Italy through artists, creatives, visionaries."



The project was also awarded during the WMF 2022 - the largest Digital Innovation Festival in Rimini, where it won the Best International Content & Digital Campaign an acknowledgement received for the innovation of the narrative and strategic structure adopted with respect to the objective of the Nation branding and promotion of Made in Italy.

From the outset, the campaign curated by Pomilio Blumm set for itself ambitious goals: to tell the international public about the values of Italy and its talents, to support the internationalisation of the production system, and finally to expand and diversify the foreign markets of reference for small and medium-sized Italian companies. The campaign began by telling the Made in Italy story through six very specific values: creativity, passion, tradition, innovation, style and diversity. Personalities of the stature of Giorgio Armani, Mira Sorvino, Peter Gabriel, Marcell Jacobs, Sebastiao Salgado, Renzo Rosso and many others have offered their testimonials in support of this project all of them can be found on the Nation Branding Flagship Site. madeinitaly.gov.it

For more information:

LaPresse SpA Communication and Press Office Director

Barbara Sanicola - barbara.sanicola@lapresse.it

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0e2890a5-2c72-40d5-adc3-b74128295580

The photo is also available at Newscom, www.newscom.com, and via AP PhotoExpress.
Santa Clara, California, Sept. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SAPEON (CEO Soojung Ryu, www.sapeon.com), a global AI semiconductor company, announced that its first commercialized artificial intelligence semiconductor chip, X220, was acknowledged for its groundbreaking AI processing speed and unrivaled efficiency in the latest MLPerf benchmark test.

SAPEON X220 has demonstrated industry-leading performance, outperforming A2[1], NVIDIA's latest GPU, which dominates the market. In MLPerfs Inference: Datacenter benchmark test, which evaluates the performance of AI cloud services for data centers, X220-Compact outperformed NVIDIA A2 by 2.3 times, while X220-Enterprise achieved 4.6 times faster performance.

The benchmark test results also showed that SAPEON is superior in terms of power efficiency in addition to absolute performance. In terms of performance-per-watt capabilities (based on maximum power consumption), the X220-Compact was 2.2 times more efficient than the NVIDIA A2, and the X220-Enterprise was 2.0 times more efficient.

One surprising revelation from the MLPerf benchmark results is that even though SAPEON X220 is a product released in 2020 that  in order to increase price competitiveness  uses a 28nm process technology rather than an ultra-fine semiconductor process, it is more efficient than competitors that mostly use a 7nm process.

The Inference: Datacenter benchmark measures the performance of large-scale artificial intelligence services in precisely the type of data centers that SAPEON is targeting. In addition, SAPEONs product commercialization stage was verified as Available, with the company having demonstrated the maturity of both its hardware and software offerings.

SAPEON began as a project started by SK Telecom to improve SK Groups artificial intelligence computing infrastructure. SAPEON has been used in artificial intelligence speaker NUGU, intelligent video security solution T-view, AI-based media quality upscale solution SUPERNOVA, and others. To establish itself in the global AI semiconductor industry, SAPEON have founded an independent corporation this year based on the technology and expertise gained through these projects. Expanding upon its previous achievements, SAPEON has now demonstrated the superiority of its product performance through this MLPerf result and plans to expand its business.

Soojung Ryu, CEO of SAPEON said, SAPEON is one of the worlds leading AI semiconductor companies, and we are pleased that X220  the competitiveness of which has already been verified through internal commercialization  has been independently recognized for its performance excellence in MLPerf benchmark testing and has received great attention in the global market. We plan to expand X220s various application fields in the future, and in the second half of next year, we are confident that we will create a gap with competing products with the next-generation chip X330, which represents a further improvement in performance.

About MLPerf

The MLPerf benchmark evaluates how quickly AI semiconductors output accurate results.

MLPerf is an artificial intelligence-related performance test contest conducted by a consortium of AI leaders from academia, research institutes and industries, including Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Stanford, and Harvard, with the mission to build a fair and useful benchmark. MLPerf is divided into Training and Inference testing, and MLPerf training consists of eight workloads covering use cases such as computer vision, reinforcement learning, and language.

About SAPEON Inc.

SAPEON is an independent corporation targeting the global market with SK Telecoms self-developed AI semiconductor SAPEON as the first result of cooperation among the three companies of SK Telecoms SK ICT Alliance with SK Square and SK Hynix. For global business, SAPEON's headquarters is US corporation SAPEON Inc. in Santa Clara, California, Silicon Valley. SAPEON Korea, a Korean company, oversees businesses in Korea and Asia. The SAPEON chip is the first Korean non-memory semiconductor for data centers that executes large-scale calculations necessary for realizing AI services at high speed and low power. For more information about SAPEON and its products, visit https://www.sapeon.com/, LinkedIn (sapeon), Facebook (@SAPEON.Korea), Instagram (sapeonkorea), and YouTube (sapeon).

[1]A2: NVIDIAs latest GPU for data center service, comparable to SAPEON X220 (PCIe Low-Profile Form factor, 60W power consumption).

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HOUSTON, TX, Sept. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- For the past several months, Bertney Langley, member of the Coushatta Tribe and native speaker of Koasati, had been carefully watching the process unfold as the Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS) prepared to unveil its newly revamped John P. McGovern Hall of the Americas to the public this fall. He sat in the same room as his wife Linda Langley, retired Professor of Anthropology from McNeese State University and the Coushatta Tribe of Louisianas first Historic Preservation Officer for the past decade, attended numerous team meetings as part of HMNS Indigenous Advisory Council.

Mr. Langley describes his memories of growing up, learning what museums are, and the importance behind forming the Indigenous Advisory Council: "When I was a boy, I thought museum exhibits about Native peoples were cold, inaccurate stories told by outsiders. In my lifetime, I have seen a significant shift in how our peoples are treated by museum curators and academics, with a new focus on centering Native perspectives. The Houston Museum of Natural Science has led the way in this regard, by inviting Native tribes into true partnerships. In fact, they have redone their entire exhibition to focus more on Indigenous viewpoints. This kind of collaboration is a prime example of a new model for museums  to work together in friendship with Indigenous peoples to share the stories of our peoples, to show how we have survived against all odds, and to share the lessons of our cultures with all people. We can breathe life into our own histories, because after all, we are still here."

And that is what both Mr. and Mrs. Langley want patrons to understand the most when visiting the newly redone exhibition  how theirs and many other Native cultures have always populated the Americas and continue to do so. They intend to convey that message with the help of the aforementioned Indigenous Advisory Council that HMNS formed to tell a more complete narrative, and bring Indigenous stories to the forefront to reexamine the history of many diverse groups. Demonstrating the Museums desire for collaboration and willingness to seek guidance, the Council represents Indigenous peoples from across the Americas.

The exhibition presents the stories of Indigenous people from North, Central and South America through some 600 items (or belongings as many Indigenous people reference them), texts, photos, and videos. The timespan covered is immense, starting with Ice Age populations and their achievements and taking the narrative into the present. For example, at the center of the exhibition, both in a literal and philosophical sense, is an inuksuk (i-NOOK-shook) stone monumentused by Inuit as a directional marker or to note a place for hunting or fishing. Within the context of the John P. McGovern Hall of the Americas, it symbolizes the presence of Indigenous peoples in the Americas since time immemorial, a reminder that they have always been here and continue to be here.

Many belongings on display reflect traditions and ideas still found among the communities represented: instruments and headdresses used during the Marake ritual of initiation into adulthood of boys; traditional beadwork from the Gordon Smith collection demonstrating Plains Indians artistry; and a totora reed boat, commissioned by the Government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia for HMNS, demonstrating the importance of reeds to the everyday lives of the Uros and the skill needed to build the vessel. Several objects are further examined through the interactive CultureConnect platform, which offers a broader context to a story represented in the exhibit. HMNS will continue to add information to this platform, making this exhibit a living, breathing embodiment of Indigenous people and Nations, updated when new discoveries are made.

The exhibition also discusses notable Indigenous peoples from the 20th and 21st centuries, bringing stories that have historically been kept in the background to the forefront. From five Indigenous ballerinas who achieved international recognition to code talkers who used their language skills as a secret weapon for the U.S. in World War I and World War II, many such stories are highlighted.

With the new John P. McGovern Hall of the Americas, we present some stories that will bring a smile to your face, and others that invite you to reflect on painful events that continue to affect many Indigenous people, said Dr. Dirk Van Tuerenhout, Curator of Anthropology for HMNS. These include the impact of colonization, land theft, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (the disproportionate violence directed towards Indigenous women in the Americas), and boarding and residential schools established to assimilate Indigenous children.

The John P. McGovern Hall of the Americas opens Sept. 24, 2022 at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Museum members see the exhibition first on Sept. 23. Entrance into the exhibition is included with general museum ticket hall purchase. Visit HMNS.org for tickets and information.

About Houston Museum of Natural Science

The Houston Museum of Natural Scienceone of the nations most heavily attended museumsis a centerpiece of the Houston Museum District. With four floors of permanent exhibit halls, and the Wortham Giant Screen Theatre, Cockrell Butterfly Center, Burke Baker Planetarium and George Observatory and as host to world-class and ever-changing touring exhibitions, the Museum has something to delight every age group. With such diverse and extraordinary offerings, a trip to the Houston Museum of Natural Science, located at 5555 Hermann Park Drive in the heart of the Museum District, is always an adventure.

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- K92 Mining Inc. (K92 or the Company) (TSX: KNT; OTCQX: KNTNF) is pleased to announce the results of its Integrated Development Plan (IDP) for its Kainantu Gold Mine Project (the Kainantu Project) in Papua New Guinea. The IDP comprises two scenarios: 1) Kainantu Stage 3 Expansion Definitive Feasibility Study Case (DFS or DFS Case); and 2) Kainantu Stage 4 Expansion Preliminary Economic Assessment Case (PEA or PEA Case). The results of the IDP will be set forth in an independent technical report prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101- Standards for Disclosure of Mineral Projects (NI 43-101) within forty-five days from this date.



Integrated Development Plan Highlights:

The DFS Case evaluates the Stage 3 Expansion to 1.2 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), representing a 140% throughput increase from the Stage 2A Expansion. Stage 3 involves a new standalone 1.2 mtpa process plant and supporting infrastructure constructed with mining focused on the Kora Central Zone within the Kora Deposit and Judd Deposit, utilizing a cut-off grade of 3.0 grams per tonne (g/t) gold equivalent (AuEq). After-tax NPV5% of US$586 million at US$1,600 per ounce gold, with no internal rate of return (IRR) as the project generates cashflow during construction. After-tax NPV5% of US$855 million at US$2,000 per ounce gold. Average annual run-rate production of 290,771 ounces AuEq per annum, run-rate achieved in 2025 and a peak annual production of 308,793 ounces AuEq in 2026. Life of Mine average cash costs of US$366 per gold ounce and all-in sustaining cost (AISC) ( 2) of US$545 per gold ounce over a 7-year mine life. Growth capital cost of US$177 million, sustaining capital cost prior to commissioning of US$125 million and life of mine sustaining capital cost of US$218 million.





The alternate PEA Case evaluates two-stages of expansions to a run-rate throughput of 1.7 mtpa, representing a 240% throughput increase from the Stage 2A Expansion. The ultimate run-rate throughput of the second expansion is referred to as Kainantu Stage 4 Expansion, operating two standalone process plants, larger surface infrastructure and mining throughputs achieved through mining Kora Upper, Lower, and Central Zones within the Kora Deposit, and the Judd Deposit, utilizing a cut-off grade of 4.5 g/t AuEq.

After-tax NPV5% of US$1.3 billion at US$1,600 per ounce gold with no IRR as the project generates cashflow during construction. After-tax NPV5% of US$1.8 billion at US$2,000 per ounce gold. Average annual run-rate production of 405,661 ounces AuEq per annum, run-rate achieved in 2027 and a peak annual production of 500,192 ounces AuEq in 2027. Life of Mine average cash costs of US$275 per gold ounce and AISC ( 2) of US$444 per gold ounce over an 11-year mine life. Growth capital cost of US$187 million, sustaining capital cost until operating both process plants of US$235 million and life of mine sustaining capital cost of US$429 million.





Both the DFS and PEA Cases are fully funded from mine production and mine cash flow. K92 has a strong financial position having, as at June 30, 2022, a cash balance of US$82 million and no debt, and on July 6, 2022, closed a C$50 million bought deal equity financing.





Low environmental impact through being supplied with clean hydroelectricity, mining high grades with both the DFS and PEA Cases outlining a low footprint, no-cyanide operation, with a majority of tailings reporting underground as paste fill, and an environmentally friendly paste binder solution. K92 plans to upgrade the grid infrastructure, which is expected to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emission intensity per ounce produced near-term. WSP Consultants has been engaged to complete a green house gas emissions forecast for the IDP which will improve K92s corporate climate change goal and target setting, and which will be released in due course.



AuEq  calculated on the following metal prices: Au  US$1,600/oz, Ag  US$20.00/oz, Cu  US$4.00/lb. Note that gold equivalence factors for the production estimates are different to those used for reporting the Mineral Resource estimate.



AISC  All-In Sustaining Costs include cash costs plus estimated corporate general and administrative (G&A) costs, sustaining costs and accretion.

The IDP, which includes the Kainantu Stage 3 Expansion DFS Case and the alternative Kainantu Stage 4 Expansion PEA Case, was independently prepared by Lycopodium Minerals Pty Ltd (Lycopodium) of Brisbane, Australia; Entech Pty Ltd of Perth, Australia and Entech Mining Ltd of Toronto, Canada (collectively referred to as Entech); ATC Williams Pty Ltd (ATC Williams) of Brisbane, Australia; MineFill Services Pty Ltd. (MineFill) of Newcastle, Australia, and; H & S Consultants Pty. Ltd of Sydney, Australia.

The PEA is preliminary in nature 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, and there is no certainty that the PEA will be realized. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Mineral Reserves are defined by the Definitive Feasibility Study and are not predicated on the Preliminary Economic Assessment in any way.

John Lewins, K92 Chief Executive Officer and Director, stated, The Integrated Development Plan represents a major milestone for K92, providing independent verification by some of the worlds leading engineering firms of Kainantus robust economics. The Stage 3 Expansion Definitive Feasibility Study delivers capital expenditures fully funded from mine cash flow, Tier 1 peak production scale of 309 koz AuEq, Tier 1 costs averaging over the life of mine of $366/oz cash costs and all-in sustaining cost of $545/oz and a solid after-tax NPV5% of $586 million at US$1,600/oz or US$855 million at US$2,000/oz over a 7-year mine life.

The Preliminary Economic Assessment, shows potential for further growth, increasing throughput by 240% from the Stage 2A Expansion for a run-rate for a peak production of 500 koz AuEq, low life of mine average cash costs of $275/oz and all-in sustaining costs of $444/oz with a NPV5% of $1.3 billion at US$1,600/oz or US$1.8 billion at US$2,000/oz over an 11-year mine life. PEA capital expenditures are also fully funded from mine cash flow and it is important to highlight that K92s financial position has never been stronger than it is today.

It is also important to highlight that we see a tremendous opportunity to enhance the outcomes of the Integrated Development Plan through exploration in addition to other regional targets and have placed a major focus on this. Since late-2021, we have increased our exploration budget and our drills have shifted from predominantly infill drilling to resource growth exploration. There are up to 11 drill rigs operating on surface and underground, targeting multiple near-mine targets including Kora, Kora South, Judd and Judd South, with plans to target Kora Deeps later this year from the twin incline. Porphyry exploration has also made considerable progress with the maiden inferred resource at Blue Lake announced last month and surface exploration at A1 has already commenced.

1  Kainantu IDP - Definitive Feasibility Study Case

1.1 - DFS Overview

The DFS evaluates an expansion of mining and processing to a run-rate throughput of 1.2 mtpa, representing a 140% increase from the Stage 2A run-rate of 500,000 tonnes per annum (tpa). This expansion is referred to as the Stage 3 Expansion and involves on-site treatment of ore by a new standalone 1.2 mtpa process plant, utilizing single stage crushing, SAG and ball milling, gravity and flotation recovery.

The DFS and mineral reserve statement is derived from the Companys Mineral Resource estimate for Kora (effective date of October 31, 2021) and Judd (effective date of December 31, 2021), with Kora depleted based on mining actuals until December 31, 2021, and does not incorporate post-resource-estimate drilling results.

Table 1.1: DFS Highlights

US Dollars unless otherwise stated Life of Mine

(starting January 2022) Stage 3 Expansion

(Q3 2024 onwards) Production Mine life (years) 7 years Total mill feed (000s tonnes) 6,153 Average mill throughput (tonnes per annum) 879 ktpa 1.2 Mtpa (run-rate)(1) Total Metal Production AuEq (000s ounces) 1,544 1,049(2) Gold (000s ounces) 1,224 799(2) Copper (mlbs) 114 89(2) Silver (000s ounces) 2,773 2,164(2) Peak Annual Production Year 2026 AuEq (000s ounces per annum) 309 Average Annual Metal Production AuEq (000s ounces per annum) 221 291 (run-rate)(1) Gold (000s ounces per annum) 175 224 (run-rate)(1) Copper (mlbs per annum) 16 24 (run-rate)(1) Silver (000s ounces per annum) 396 574 (run-rate)(1) Average Grade AuEq grade (g/t) 8.4 g/t Gold grade (g/t) 6.7 g/t Copper grade (%) 0.9% Silver grade (g/t) 18 g/t Average Recovery Gold Recovery (%) 93% Copper Recovery (%) 95% Silver Recovery (%) 80% Costs Mining cost per tonne (US$/t) $66.54 $61.97 (run-rate)(1) Processing cost per tonne (US$/t) $17.36 $15.32 (run-rate)(1) G&A cost per tonne (US$/t) $32.43 $28.88 (run-rate)(1) Total operating cost per tonne of mill feed (US$/t) $116.34 $106.17 (run-rate)(1) Sustaining capital per tonne of mill feed (US$/t) $35.50 $19.26 (run-rate)(1) Total cost per tonne of mill feed (US$/t) $151.83 $125.43 (run-rate)(1) Expansion capital expenditure ($m) $177 Sustaining capital expenditure ($m) $218 Total capital expenditure with closure costs ($m) $402 Cash cost per ounce AuEq ($/oz)(3) $574 $554 (run-rate)(1) All-in sustaining cost per ounce AuEq ($/oz)(4) $716 $634 (run-rate)(1) Cash cost per ounce gold ($/oz)(3) $366 $313 (run-rate)(1) All-in sustaining cost per ounce gold ($/oz)(4) $545 $416 (run-rate)(1) Base Case Economic Analysis at US$1,600/oz Gold, US$4.00/lb Copper and US$20.00/oz Silver After-tax NPV0% $729 million After-tax NPV5% $586 million IRR (%) and Payback Period (years) N/A (Self-Funded) Economic Analysis at $2,000/oz Gold, US$4.00/lb Copper and US$20.00/oz Silver After-tax NPV0% $1,051 million After-tax NPV5%(5) $855 million IRR (%) and Payback Period (years) N/A (Self-Funded)

Run-rate excludes the final partial calendar year of production. Excludes 2H 2024 commissioning and initial ramp-up stage. Cash costs are net of by-product credits and are inclusive of mining costs, processing costs, site G&A and refining charges and royalties. AISC includes cash costs plus estimated corporate general and administration costs, sustaining costs and accretion. Net present value is calculated utilizing mid-year discounting.





1.2 - Kainantu Mineral Reserve Statement

The mineral reserve estimate outlined in the DFS was prepared by Patrick McCann PEng, of Entech Mining Ltd and Shane McLeay FAusIMM of Entech Pty Ltd, in accordance with the classification criteria set out in the 2014 CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions. Patrick McCann and Shane McLeay are independent consultants of the Company and are Qualified Persons as defined by NI 43-101. The total Mineral Reserve for the Kainantu Project is shown in Table 1.2. The mineral reserve estimate is based on the Judd mineral resource estimate (December 31, 2021 effective date  refer to Table 1.3) and the Kora mineral resource estimate (October 31, 2021 effective date  refer to Table 1.3), net of post-resource mining depletion from November 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021 of 36,765 tonnes at 12.94 g/t Au, 0.59 % Cu and 9.29 g/t Ag.

Table 1.2  Kainantu Mineral Reserve Statement (Effective Date January 1, 2022)

Tonnes Gold Silver Copper AuEq Mt g/t moz g/t moz % kt g/t moz Kora Proven 2.26 7.58 0.55 14.96 1.09 0.82 18.52 9.17 0.67 Probable 3.55 5.88 0.67 19.46 2.22 0.95 33.90 7.76 0.89 Total P&P 5.81 6.54 1.22 17.71 3.31 0.90 52.41 8.31 1.55 Judd Proven 0.21 9.99 0.07 16.88 0.11 0.57 1.17 11.18 0.07 Probable 0.14 6.50 0.03 10.65 0.05 0.59 0.81 7.65 0.03 Total P&P 0.34 8.60 0.09 14.40 0.16 0.58 1.98 9.77 0.11 Kora and Judd Proven 2.46 7.78 0.62 15.12 1.20 0.80 19.69 9.34 0.74 Probable 3.69 5.90 0.70 19.13 2.27 0.94 34.70 7.75 0.92 Total P&P 6.15 6.65 1.32 17.53 3.47 0.88 54.39 8.39 1.66

The long-term metal prices used for calculating the financial analysis is US$1,600/oz gold, US$4.00/lb Copper, US$20/oz Silver.

Gold Equivalents are calculated as AuEq = Au g/t + Cu % *1.7143 + Ag g/t*0.0125. Metal payabilities and recoveries are not incorporated into this formula.

A minimum mining width of 3.0 m has been applied for stoping, inclusive of a 1.0 m dilution skin.

In addition to the 1.0 m dilution skin, dilution of 5% has been added for Avoca mined stopes and 2.5% for long hole stoping with paste fill. This results in a total average dilution of 20%.

Mining recoveries of 90% have been applied to Avoca mined stopes, and 95% for long hole stoping with paste fill.

A cut-off grade of 3.0 g/t AuEq was used to define stoping blocks. Stope shapes with uneconomic development were excluded. The cut-off grade takes into account site operating costs, G&A costs, sustaining capital costs and relevant processing and revenue inputs.

Measured Mineral Resources were used to report Proven Mineral Reserves.

Indicated Mineral Resources were used to report Probable Mineral Reserves.

Tonnage and grade estimates include dilution and recovery allowance.

The Mineral Reserves reported are not added to Mineral Resources.

1.3 - Kainantu Mineral Resource Estimate

The Companys current mineral resource estimate for Kora (effective date of October 31, 2021) and Judd (effective date of December 31, 2021) was completed by H & S Consultants Pty. Ltd. (Table 1.3). The Irumafimpa deposit was not incorporated into the IDP and will be reviewed at a later time.

Table 1.3  Global Kora and Judd Mineral Resource Estimate for Kora and Judd, 1.75 g/t gold cut-off)

Tonnes Gold Silver Copper AuEq Mt g/t moz g/t moz % kt g/t moz Kora Measured 2.8 9.07 0.8 15.7 1.4 0.85 24.1 10.51 1.0 Indicated 4.4 6.68 0.9 20.2 2.8 0.97 42.4 8.35 1.2 Total M&I 7.2 7.62 1.8 18.4 4.3 0.92 66.4 9.20 2.1 Inferred 8.1 7.12 1.8 27.3 7.1 1.38 111.1 9.48 2.5 Judd Measured 0.22 11.26 0.08 19.9 0.14 0.72 1.59 12.56 0.09 Indicated 0.15 7.46 0.04 13.9 0.07 0.77 1.20 8.76 0.04 Total M&I 0.38 9.70 0.12 17.5 0.21 0.74 2.79 11.00 0.13 Inferred 1.01 4.24 0.14 11.0 0.36 0.87 8.82 5.66 0.18 Kora and Judd Measured 3.1 9.23 0.9 16.0 1.6 0.84 25.7 10.66 1.0 Indicated 4.5 6.70 1.0 20.0 2.9 0.97 43.6 8.36 1.2 Total M&I 7.6 7.72 1.9 18.3 4.5 0.91 69.2 9.29 2.3 Inferred 9.1 6.80 2.0 25.5 7.4 1.32 119.9 9.05 2.6

Estimates are from Technical Report titled, Independent Technical Report, Mineral Resources Estimate Update Kora and Judd Gold Deposit, Kainantu Project, Papua New Guinea dated January 20, 2022.

The independent and Qualified Person responsible for the mineral resource estimate is Simon Tear, P.Geo. of H & S Consultants Pty. Ltd., Sydney, Australia. The effective date of the estimate for Kora is October 31, 2021 and the effective date of the Judd estimate is December 31, 2021.

Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.

Resources were compiled at 1.75,2.5,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 and 10 g/t gold cut-off grades for Kora and 1.75,2.5,3,4,5 for Judd.

Density (t/m 3 ) is on a per zone basis, K1, K2: 2.84 t/m 3 ; Kora Link: 2.74 t/m 3 ; Judd: 2.71 t/m 3 ; Waste: 2.67 t/m 3 .

) is on a per zone basis, K1, K2: 2.84 t/m ; Kora Link: 2.74 t/m ; Judd: 2.71 t/m ; Waste: 2.67 t/m . Minimun mining width for wireframes: Kora: 5.2 m; Judd: 5.2 m.

Reported tonnage and grade figures are rounded from raw estimates to reflect the order of accuracy of the estimate.

Minor variations may occur during the addition of rounded numbers.

Estimations used metric units (metres, tonnes and g/t).

Gold equivalents are calculated as AuEq = Au g/t + Cu%*1.607*92.8% + Ag g/t*0.0125*89%. Gold price US$1,600/oz; Silver US$20/oz; Copper US$3.75/lb. Metal payabilities and recoveries are incorporated into the AuEq formula. Recoveries of 92.8% for copper and 89% for silver.

1.4 - DFS Mining Operations

The Company engaged Entech to undertake the DFS for the Kainantu Project, which involved:

Applying financial and processing parameters to determine cut-off grades for stope design.

Generating three-dimensional stope shapes and mining inventory using the Datamine Mineable Shape Optimiser (MSO) program.

Creating a conceptual development layout to suit the MSO inventory.

Geotechnical assessment and generating the stoping parameters.

Ventilation design and ventilation tradeoff studies.

Mining capital and operating costings.

The Stage 3 Expansion mine plan considered in the DFS is designed as an incline access operation with a series of ore passes for efficient material movement between sublevels and the twin incline for material transport to surface. The DFS mine plan initially employs a long hole open stoping mining method utilizing Avoca and modified Avoca mining methods, which are currently employed at the mine. Upon construction of the paste fill plant, the mining method transitions to long hole open stoping with paste fill in Q2 2024.

Long hole open stoping has been successfully executed at both the Kora and Judd deposits, with the first long hole stope mined in Q1 2020 at Kora and Q4 2021 at Judd. The Avoca methods involve backfilling from the overcut sublevel while the long hole stope is advanced from the undercut sublevel to limit the strike length of the open stope. By limiting the strike length of the open stope, the method is designed to maintain stability of the stope walls and backs and increase the ultimate strike length extracted. The application of cemented paste fill provides improved geotechnical conditions for less dilution and higher mining recovery factors, greater operating flexibility through the ability to mine above and below paste fill and a reduction in surface tailings.

Stopes were identified for the mine plan contained in the DFS based on the Datamine Mineable Shape Optimiser (MSO) program at a cut-off grade of 3.0 g/t AuEq. Stope shapes with uneconomic development access requirements were excluded. Dilution was estimated based on a 0.5 m dilution skin for both the footwall and hanging wall using the MSO program for a minimum stope width of 3.0 m. An additional dilution factor of 5% for long hole stoping utilizing Avoca and modified Avoca and 2.5% for long hole open stoping with paste fill. The overall dilution averaged 20%. Mining recovery factors of 90% and 95% were applied for long hole open stoping with Avoca and long hole open stoping with paste fill, respectively. The life of mine average head grade is 6.65 g/t Au, 0.9 % Cu and 18 g/t Ag or 8.4 g/t AuEq.

The DFS Case ramps up to the Stage 2A 500,000-tonnes-per-annum throughput rate in late-2022 and continues to operate at that rate until early 2024, where the operation commences ramp up to the Stage 3 Expansion run-rate of 1.2 mtpa. Mining is predominately from the Kora Central Zone within the Kora deposit and the Judd deposit. See Table 1.6 for a material movement summary as part of the simplified economic model.

Figure 1.1  DFS life of mine plan lateral, vertical development and stope shapes at 3.0 g/t AuEq cut-off grade (looking West)

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1.4 - DFS Mineral Processing, Tailings and Infrastructure

K92 engaged Lycopodium Minerals Pty Ltd to complete the DFS Stage 3 Expansion process plant and integration of surface infrastructure design. The DFS involves the construction of a standalone 1.2 mtpa processing plant and supporting infrastructure. The new plant is adjacent to the existing process plant, which is undergoing a Stage 2A Plant Expansion with a design throughput of 500,000 tpa. The existing plant will be placed on care and maintenance at the end of 2024 upon the ramp-up of the Stage 3 Process Plant commencing in Q3 2024.

Run-of-mine (ROM) material is trucked ~6km from the 800 Portal to the Kainantu Process Plant, where it is either stockpiled or direct tipped. The 1.2 mtpa processing plant design flowsheet incorporates a conventional single stage jaw crushing (200tph) reporting to a crushed ore overflow surge bin and dead stockpile providing 16 hours of stockpile capacity. The primary crushed ore supplies a SAB milling circuit (150tph) that includes an open circuit SAG mill and closed circuit ball mill. The ball mill product reports to hydrocyclones, with cyclone overflow reporting to the flotation circuit and the cyclone underflow stream being split between the gravity circuit, flash flotation circuit and ball mill for grinding.

The gravity circuit involves one batch centrifugal concentrator followed by two stages of gravity separation using shaking tables to upgrade the gravity concentrate, which is then calcined and smelted to produce gold dore. The flotation circuit includes flash flotation and conventional sulphide flotation, followed by thickening and filtering to produce a gold-copper-silver concentrate. The circuit is based on simple conventional technology with the flowsheet largely similar but optimized from the existing Kainantu processing plant. The key difference between the existing plant and the proposed Stage 3 Expansion process plant is the implementation of a one stage crushing circuit (vs two stage crushing) and two stages of milling with a SAG and ball milling (vs one stage of ball milling).

Tailings management upgrades would be part of the Stage 3 Expansion, through the construction of a paste fill plant to provide improved underground support and mitigate surface tailings deposition. Thickened tailings at the process plant are designed to be pumped to the paste fill plant at the 800 Portal, with the final paste fill product pumped underground to void stopes for fill. Remaining thickened tailings report to the tailings impoundment on the surface. To support the increased processing capacity, implementation of the paste fill plant and increased underground mining activity, the standby diesel generator capacity is expanded. Additionally, the DFS involves an upgrade of the local electrical grid to facilitate improved availability and distribution of clean hydroelectricity to the mine. This is expected to considerably reduce the mines Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emission intensity per ounce produced - the amount of diesel fuel consumed for backup generators. K92 has already engaged with Papua New Guinea Power Limited (PNG Power) to commence this project and the Company expects it to have a notable improvement on our greenhouse gas emission intensity over the next 12 to 24 months.

The tailings storage facility (TSF) design was completed by ATC Williams. With the application of paste fill significantly reducing the amount of tailings reporting to surface, the current storage facility approval has sufficient capacity (constructed as staged development) for the DFS mine plan. The TSF is constructed as a downstream type, utilizing industry best standards and practices.

Figure 1.2  DFS 1.2 mtpa Process Plant Flowsheet

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1.6 - DFS Capital and Operating Costs

The initial capital cost estimate in the DFS includes contingency ranging from 10% to 20% depending on the capital item, with the major items outlined in Table 1.4. Operating costs are presented in terms of three categories: mining, processing and G&A per tonne processed. Processing costs also include costs related to the TSF and mining costs also include all paste fill costs.

Table 1.4: DFS - Capital Cost Estimates

US Dollars unless otherwise stated Process Plant $80.2m Power Station $9.6m Power Supply $13.8m Camp Upgrade $5.5m EPCM $20.4m Owners Cost $4.2m Other Infrastructure $3.7m Paste Plant $39.9m Initial Pre-Expansion Capital $177.3m Total Life of Mine Sustaining Capital $218.4m

Totals may differ due to rounding



Table 1.5: DFS - Operating Cost Estimates (Life of Mine Average)

US Dollars unless otherwise stated Mining Cost ($/t) $66.54 Processing Cost ($/t) $17.36 General & Administrative Cost ($/t) $32.43 Total Cost Per Tonne Processed ($/t) $116.34 Sustaining Capital per Tonne of Processed ($/t) $35.50 Total Cost Per Tonne Processed ($/t) $151.83

Totals may differ due to rounding



1.7 DFS  Economic Analysis

Lycopodium prepared a pre-tax conceptual cashflow and discounted cashflow derived from the life of mine schedule. Tax calculations for the after-tax cashflow and discounted cashflow were prepared by K92. A summary of the cashflow analyses is shown in Table 1.6 and a sensitivity analysis to gold price is shown in Table 1.7.



Table 1.6: DFS - Simplified Financial Model at US$1,600/oz Au, US$4.00/lb Cu, US$20.00/oz Ag

Year 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 Mill Throughput (ktpa) 435 500 850 1,200 1,200 1,200 768 Gold Grade 9.06 8.65 7.00 6.45 6.60 5.71 5.48 Copper Grade 0.56% 0.64% 0.75% 0.91% 1.02% 0.89% 1.12% Silver Grade 11.47 12.85 14.45 17.77 19.93 18.08 22.41 AuEq Grade 10.16 9.91 8.45 8.24 8.60 7.46 7.67 Gold Production (000s oz) 118 129 178 231 237 205 126 Copper Production (m lbs) 5.1 6.7 13.3 23.0 25.7 22.4 18.0 Silver Production (000s oz) 128 165 316 548 615 558 442 AuEq Production (000s oz) 132 147 212 291 303 263 172 Net Revenue (US$m)(1) $195 $218 $311 $421 $438 $379 $245 Total OPEX (US$m)(1) $63 $73 $112 $130 $128 $123 $87 Growth Capital (US$m) - $71 $106 - - - - Sustaining Capital (US$m) $46 $54 $42 $31 $27 $11 $7 Pre-Tax Net Cashflow (US$m) $81m $14m $43m $249m $271m $236m $145m After-tax Net Cashflow (US$m) $47m ($14m) $11m $192m $208m $181m $109m Cumulative After-tax Net Cashflow (US$m) $47m $34m $44m $237m $445m $625m $734m

Net revenue in summary model excludes the impact of royalty payments.





Table 1.7: DFS - After-Tax NPV5% Sensitivity to Gold Price

Gold Price After-Tax NPV5% (US$M) $1,400 $451 $1,600 $586 $1,800 $721 $2.000 $855 $2,200 $990 $2,400 $1,125



2 - Kainantu IDP - Preliminary Economic Assessment Case

2.1  PEA Overview

The alternative PEA Case conceptualizes a multi-expansion plan to an ultimate plant run-rate of 1.7 mtpa, representing a 240% increase from the Stage 2A run-rate of 500,000 tpa. The PEA Case involves the construction of a standalone 1.2 mtpa process plant adjacent to the 500,000 tpa Stage 2A process plant. At the end of 2024, the Stage 2A process plant is idled as the 1.2 mtpa Stage 3 process plant ramps up, with commissioning of the Stage 3 process plant commencing in Q3 2024. Upon achieving the Stage 3 run-rate throughput in 2025, the Stage 2A plant is recommissioned in mid-2026, ramping up to run-rate throughput of 500,000 tpa by year end, for a combined processing run-rate of 1.7 mtpa at the beginning of 2027.

To support the higher throughput rate, the underground mining fleet is significantly increased to support expanded mining operations opening up multiple mining fronts concurrently: Kora Upper, Lower and Central Zones within the Kora deposit, and the Judd deposit. Site infrastructure is also expanded, including power, camp facilities and the paste fill plant. Several capital items, such as the paste fill system, are configured during the construction of Stage 3 to be amenable to the larger ultimate Stage 4 run-rate.

The PEA uses the conclusions of the Companys mineral resource estimate for Kora (effective date of October 31, 2021) and Judd (effective date of December 31, 2021) and does not incorporate post resource drilling results. The effective date of the PEA life of mine plan is January 1, 2022; therefore, Kora is net of post-resource mining depletion from November 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021 which totals 36,765 tonnes at 12.94 g/t Au, 0.59% Cu and 9.29 g/t Ag.

The PEA is preliminary in nature 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, and there is no certainty that the PEA will be realized. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

Table 2.1: PEA Highlights

US Dollars unless otherwise stated Life of Mine

(starting January 2022) Stage 4 Expansion

(3Q 2026 onwards) Production Mine life (years) 11 years Total mill feed (000s tonnes) 12,156 Average mill throughput (tonnes per annum) 1,105 ktpa 1.7 Mtpa (run-rate)(1) Total Metal Production AuEq (000s ounces) 3,398 2,134(2) Gold (000s ounces) 2,555 1,579(2) Copper (mlbs) 302 198(2) Silver (000s ounces) 7,040 4,726(2) Peak Annual Production Year 2027 AuEq (000s ounces per annum) 500 Average Annual Metal Production AuEq (000s ounces per annum) 309 406 (run-rate)(1) Gold (000s ounces per annum) 232 297 (run-rate)(1) Copper (mlbs per annum) 27 39 (run-rate)(1) Silver (000s ounces per annum) 640 928 (run-rate)(1) Average Grade AuEq grade (g/t) 9.3 g/t Gold grade (g/t) 7.0 g/t Copper grade (%) 1.2% Silver grade (g/t) 23 g/t Average Recovery Gold Recovery (%) 93% Copper Recovery (%) 95% Silver Recovery (%) 80% Costs Mining cost per tonne (US$/t) $72.05 $65.43 (run-rate)(1) Processing cost per tonne (US$/t) $18.02 $17.65 (run-rate)(1) G&A cost per tonne (US$/t) $28.19 $25.89 (run-rate)(1) Total operating cost per tonne of mill feed (US$/t) $118.26 $108.97 (run-rate)(1) Sustaining capital per tonne of mill feed (US$/t) $35.33 $20.79 (run-rate)(1) Total cost per tonne of mill feed (US$/t) $153.59 $129.76 (run-rate)(1) Expansion capital expenditure ($m) $187 Sustaining capital expenditure ($m) $429 Total capital expenditure with closure costs ($m) $628 Cash cost per ounce AuEq ($/oz)(3) $546 $527 (run-rate)(1) All-in sustaining cost per ounce AuEq ($/oz)(4) $674 $604 (run-rate)(1) Cash cost per ounce gold ($/oz)(3) $275 $220 (run-rate)(1) All-in sustaining cost per ounce gold ($/oz)(4) $444 $325 (run-rate)(1) Base Case Economic Analysis at US$1,600/oz Gold, US$4.00/lb Copper and US$20.00/oz Silver After-tax NPV0% $1.8 billion After-tax NPV5% $1.3 billion IRR (%) and Payback Period (years) N/A (Self-Funded) Economic Analysis at $2,000/oz Gold, US$4.00/lb Copper and US$20.00/oz Silver After-tax NPV0% $2.5 billion After-tax NPV5%(5) $1.8 billion IRR (%) and Payback Period (years) N/A (Self-Funded)

Run-rate excludes the final partial calendar year of production. Excludes 2H 2026 Stage 4 commissioning and initial ramp-up stage. Cash costs are net of by-product credits and are inclusive of mining costs, processing costs, site G&A and refining charges and royalties. AISC includes cash costs plus estimated corporate G&A, sustaining costs and accretion. Net present value is calculated utilizing mid-year discounting.





2.2 - PEA Mining Operations

The Company engaged Entech to undertake the PEA Case for the Kainantu Project, which involved:

Applying financial and processing parameters to determine cut-off grades for stope design.

Generating three-dimensional stope shapes and mining inventory using the Datamine Mineable Shape Optimiser (MSO) program.

Creating a conceptual development layout to suit the MSO inventory.

Geotechnical assessment and generating the stoping parameters.

Ventilation design and ventilation tradeoff studies.

Mining capital and operating costings.

The mine plan considered in the PEA is designed as an incline access operation with a series of ore passes for efficient material movement between sublevels and the twin incline for material transport to surface. Initially, the mine plan employs a long hole open stoping mining method utilizing Avoca and modified Avoca, with waste rockfill. This mining method has been successfully employed at the mine since Q1 2020 at Kora and Q4 2021 at Judd. The mining method will then transition to long hole open stoping with paste fill in Q2 2024, upon the construction of the paste fill plant. Cemented paste fill provides improved geotechnical conditions for less dilution, higher mining recovery factors, and greater operating flexibility through the ability to mine above and below paste fill, plus a reduction in surface tailings.

Stopes were identified for the PEA mine plan based on the MSO program at a cut-off grade of 4.5 g/t AuEq. Stope shapes with uneconomic development access requirements were excluded from the assessment. Dilution was estimated based on a 0.5 m dilution skin for both the footwall and hanging wall using the MSO program for a minimum stope width of 3.0 m. An additional dilution factor of 5% for long hole stoping utilizing Avoca and modified Avoca and 2.5% for long hole open stoping with paste fill. Dilution overall averaged 24%. Mining recovery factors of 90% and 95% were applied for long hole open stoping with Avoca and long hole open stoping with paste fill, respectively. The life of mine average head grade is 7.0 g/t Au, 1.2% Cu and 23 g/t Ag or 9.3 g/t AuEq.

The mine plan ramps up to the Stage 2A 500,000-tpa throughput rate in late-2022 and continues to operate at that rate until the end of 2024, with the operation commencing ramp up to the Stage 3 Expansion run-rate of 1.2 mtpa, sequentially ramping-up to the Stage 4 Expansion run-rate of 1.7 mtpa at the beginning of 2027. To support the Stage 4 mining rate, multiple mining fronts are mined concurrently: Kora Central, Kora Upper and Kora Lower within the Kora deposit, and the Judd deposit. See Table 2.6 for a material movement summary as part of the simplified economic model.

Figure 2.1  PEA life of mine plan lateral, vertical development and stope shapes at 4.5 g/t AuEq cut-off grade (looking West)

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2.4 - PEA Mineral Processing, Tailings and Infrastructure

K92 engaged Lycopodium to complete the PEA Stage 4 Expansion process plant and surface infrastructure design. The PEA conceptualizes constructing a new standalone processing plant for the Stage 3 Expansion adjacent to the existing Stage 2A Expansion process plant. The existing Stage 2A process plant operates until the end of 2024, where it is idled as the Stage 3 Expansion ramps-up (starting in Q3 2024). The process plants are fed from run-of-mine (ROM) material that is trucked ~6km from the 800 Portal to the Kainantu process plant, where it is either stockpiled or direct tipped.

The Stage 3 Expansion process plant design flowsheet incorporates a conventional comminution circuit, utilizing a single stage of jaw crushing (200 tph) reporting to a crushed ore overflow surge bin, followed by a SAB milling circuit (150 tph) with an open circuit SAG mill and close circuit ball mill. The ball mill product reports to cyclone classification, where the cyclone overflow reports to the flotation circuit and the cyclone underflow stream being split between the gravity circuit, flash flotation circuit and ball mill for grinding. The gravity circuit involves one batch centrifugal concentrator followed by two stages of gravity separation using shaking tables. The upgraded gravity concentrate is then calcined and smelted to produce gold dore. The flotation circuit consists of flash flotation and conventional sulphide flotation, followed by thickening and filtering to produce a gold-copper-silver concentrate.

The PEA incorporates tailings management upgrades, with underground paste fill commencing in Q2 2024 on the completion of construction of the paste fill plant. The delivery of paste fill involves pumping thickened tailings from the process plant to the paste fill plant at the 800 Portal, followed by pumping the final paste fill product underground to void stopes. Remaining tailings are pumped to the tailings impoundment. The significant increase to processing capacity, mining rates and underground infrastructure requires additions to the standby diesel generating capacity on site. The PEA also involves an upgrade to the local electrical grid to facilitate improved availability and distribution of clean hydroelectricity to the mine. This upgrade is expected to materially reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emission intensity per ounce produced.

The implementation of paste fill significantly reduces the amount of tailings reporting to the TSF. The existing TSF has sufficient tailings capacity until 2027, where tailings then report to the new TSF. The development of the new tailings facility is adjacent to the existing TSF with a number of suitable sites identified. The new tailings facility design has significant capacity beyond the material movements in the PEA. The existing and new TSF design is downstream type, utilizing industry best practices and standards. The TSF design work was completed by ATC Williams.

Figure 2.2  PEA 1.7 mtpa Process Plant Flowsheet

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2.5 - PEA Capital and Operating Costs

The initial capital cost estimate includes a contingency ranging from 10% to 20% and the major items are outlined in Table 2.4. Operating costs are presented in terms of three categories: mining, processing and G&A per tonne processed. Processing costs also include costs related to the TSF and mining costs also include all paste fill costs.

Table 2.4: PEA - Capital Cost Estimates

US Dollars unless otherwise stated Process Plant $80.2m Power Station $12.5m Power Supply $13.8m Camp Upgrade $7.3m EPCM $20.4m Owners Cost $4.2m Other Infrastructure $3.7m Paste Plant $45.0m Initial Pre-Expansion Capital $187.1m Total Life of Mine Sustaining Capital $429.4m

Totals may differ due to rounding



Table 2.5: PEA - Operating Cost Estimates (Life of Mine Average)

US Dollars unless otherwise stated Mining Cost ($/t) $72.05 Processing Cost ($/t) $18.02 General & Administrative Cost ($/t) $28.19 Total Cost Per Tonne Processed ($/t) $118.26 Sustaining Capital per Tonne of Processed ($/t) $35.53 Total Cost Per Tonne Processed ($/t) $153.59

Totals may differ due to rounding



2.6 PEA - Economic Analysis

Lycopodium prepared a pre-tax conceptual cashflow and discounted cashflow derived from the life of mine schedule. Tax calculations for the after-tax cashflow and discounted cashflow were prepared by K92. A summary is shown in Table 2.6 and a sensitivity analysis to gold price is shown in Table 2.7.

Table 2.6: PEA - Simplified Financial Model at US$1,600/oz Au, US$4.00/lb Cu, US$20.00/oz Ag

Year 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 Mill Throughput (ktpa) 435 500 850 1,200 1,500 1,700 1,700 1,700 1,502 845 224 Gold Grade 9.50 8.08 6.62 6.51 7.36 7.89 6.45 6.61 5.45 6.94 14.02 Copper Grade 0.76% 0.82% 1.18% 1.28% 1.09% 1.00% 1.12% 1.33% 1.52% 1.28% 0.94% Silver Grade 14.42 14.98 22.52 23.28 19.43 17.79 22.59 26.43 30.86 24.18 15.13 AuEq Grade 10.99 9.66 8.92 9.00 9.48 9.83 8.66 9.22 8.45 9.44 15.83 Gold Production (000s oz) 124 121 168 234 330 401 328 336 245 175 94 Copper Production (m lbs) 7 9 21 32 34 36 40 47 48 23 4 Silver Production (000s oz) 161 193 492 719 750 778 988 1,156 1,192 525 87 AuEq Production (000s oz) 143 145 227 323 425 500 441 469 380 239 106 Net Revenue (US$m)(1) $210 $210 $319 $451 $604 $717 $619 $653 $515 $334 $156 Total OPEX (US$m)(1) $77 $90 $122 $142 $163 $184 $187 $180 $154 $101 $37 Growth Capital (US$m) - $75 $110 $3 $1 - - - - - - Sustaining Capital (US$m) $46 $56 $59 $49 $61 $62 $38 $32 $17 $6 $3 Pre-Tax Net Cashflow (US$m) $82m ($17m) $19m $247m $364m $453m $379m $425m $330m $218m $102m After-tax Net Cashflow (US$m) $48m ($37m) ($10m) $188m $268m $325m $270m $303m $231m $153m $71m Cumulative After-tax Net Cashflow (US$m) $48m $11m $1m $189m $457m $783m $1,053m $1,356m $1,587m $1,740m $1,811m

Net revenue in summary model excludes the impact of royalty payments.





Table 2.7: PEA - After-Tax NPV5% Sensitivity to Gold Price

Gold Price After-Tax NPV5% (US$B) $1,400 $1.1 $1,600 $1.3 $1,800 $1.6 $2.000 $1.8 $2,200 $2.1 $2,400 $2.3



Diamond Drill and Face Sampling Methodology, Data Verification and QA / QC

Diamond drill hole is first logged to determine the sampling intervals, which range from a minimum of 0.1 metres to generally 1 metre. The drill core is sawn half core cut along a reference line, with the remainder of the core returned to the core tray. Core samples are then placed in numbered calico and plastic bags, with a numbered sample ticket for dispatch to the assay laboratory. Samples are separately assayed for gold, copper and silver. K92s procedure includes the insertion standards, blanks and duplicates. Gold assays are by the fire assay method. Copper and silver assays are by three-acid-digestion method (nitric, perchloric & hydrochloric mix).

Face channel samples under geological control, were taken across the full face of both the exposed lode system and any waste rock, with sample intervals ranging from 0.1 to 1m in width depending on the geologists interpretation. Two samples were taken per interval at waist and knee height and the corresponding widths recorded. Sample lengths are <1.5m, with samples approximately 3.5 kg in size. Samples were separately assayed for gold, copper and silver, and the results averaged out using length weighting and channel orientation before entry into the database. K92s procedure includes the insertion standards, blanks and duplicates for the face sampling. Gold assays are by the fire assay method. Copper and silver assays are by three-acid-digestion method (nitric, perchloric & hydrochloric mix).

K92 maintains an industry-standard analytical quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) and data verification program to monitor laboratory performance and ensure high quality assays. Results from this program confirm reliability of the assay results. All sampling and analytical work for the mine exploration program is performed by Intertek Testing Services (PNG) LTD, an independent accredited laboratory that is located on site. External check assays for QA/QC purposes are performed at SGS Australia Pty Ltd in Townsville, Queensland, Australia.

The analytical QA/QC program is currently overseen by Andrew Kohler, PGeo, Mine Geology Manager and Mine Exploration Manager for K92. Andrew Kohler, a qualified person under the meaning of Canadian National Instrument 43-101  Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

Qualified Person

K92 Mine Geology Manager and Mine Exploration Manager, Mr. Andrew Kohler, PGeo, a Qualified Person under the meaning of NI 43-101 has reviewed and approved the technical content of this news release. The Company strictly adheres to CIM Best Practices Guidelines in conducting, documenting, and reporting the exploration activities on its projects.

Simon Tear, P.Geo of H & S Consultants Pty. Ltd. of Sydney, Australia is a Qualified Person as defined under NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the contents of this press release. Mr. Tear is an independent consultant and is responsible for the 2022 Mineral Resource Estimate for Kora and Judd.

Patrick McCann, P.Eng of Entech Mining Limited of Toronto, Canada is a Qualified Person as defined under NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the contents of this press release. Mr. McCann is an independent consultant and is responsible for mine planning and mine design. Mr. McCann completed a site visit from October 14th to 21st 2021.

Shane McLeay, FAusIMM of Entech Pty Ltd of Perth, Australia is a Qualified Person as defined under NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the contents of this press release. Mr. McLeay is an independent consultant and is responsible for mine planning and mine design.

Sandra (Sandy) Hunter, FAusIMM(CP) of Lycopodium Minerals Pty Ltd of Brisbane, Australia is a Qualified Person as defined under NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the contents of this press release. Ms. Hunter is an independent consultant responsible for the process plant and integration of surface infrastructure design.

Matt Helinski, P.Eng of MineFill Services Pty Ltd of Newcastle, Australia is a Qualified Person as defined under NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the contents of this press release. Mr. Helinski is an independent consultant and is responsible for the paste fill delivery and paste fill plant design.

Ralph Holding, FIEAust CPEng of ATC Williams Pty Ltd of Brisbane, Australia is a Qualified Person as defined under NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the contents of this press release. Mr. Holding is an independent consultant and is responsible for the tailing storage facility design.

On Behalf of the Company,

John Lewins, Chief Executive Officer and Director

For further information, please contact David Medilek, P.Eng., CFA at +1-604-416-4445.

About K92

K92 Mining Inc. is engaged in the production of gold, copper and silver at the Kainantu Gold Mine in the Eastern Highlands province of Papua New Guinea, as well as exploration and development of mineral deposits in the immediate vicinity of the mine. The Company declared commercial production from Kainantu in February 2018, is in a strong financial position. K92 is operated by a team of mining company professionals with extensive international mine-building and operational experience.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In this press release, we use the terms cash costs" and "all-in sustaining costs ". These should be considered as non-GAAP financial measures as defined in applicable Canadian securities laws and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with GAAP.

Cash costs per ounce is a non-GAAP term typically used by gold mining companies to assess the level of gross margin available to the Company by subtracting these costs from the unit price realized during the period. This non-GAAP term is also used to assess the ability of a mining company to generate cash flow from operations. Cash costs per ounce includes mining and processing costs plus applicable royalties, and net of by-product revenue and net realizable value adjustments. Total cash costs per ounce is exclusive of exploration costs.

Cash costs per ounce is intended to provide additional information only and does not have any standardized meaning under IFRS and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other mining companies. It should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. The measure is not necessarily indicative of cash flow from operations under IFRS or operating costs presented under IFRS.

The Company adopted an "all-in sustaining costs per ounce" non-GAAP performance measure in accordance with the World Gold Council published in June 2013. The Company believes the measure more fully defines the total costs associated with producing gold; however, this performance measure has no standardized meaning. Accordingly, there may be some variation in the method of computation of "all-in sustaining costs " as determined by the Company compared with other mining companies. In this context, "all-in sustaining costs" for the consolidated Company reflects total mining and processing costs, corporate and administrative costs, exploration costs, sustaining capital, and other operating costs.

All-in sustaining costs per gold ounce is intended to provide additional information only and does not have any standardized meaning under IFRS and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other mining companies. It should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release includes certain forward-looking statements under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation: (i) the results of the Kainantu Project DFS, and the Kainantu 2022 PEA, including the Stage 3 Expansion, a new standalone 1.2 mtpa process plant and supporting infrastructure; (ii) statements regarding the expansion of the mine and development of any of the deposits; and (iii) the Kainantu Stage 4 Expansion, operating two standalone process plants, larger surface infrastructure and mining throughputs.

All statements in this news release that address events or developments that we expect to occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, although not always, identified by words such as expect, plan, anticipate, project, target, potential, schedule, forecast, budget, estimate, intend or believe and similar expressions or their negative connotations, or that events or conditions will, would, may, could, should or might occur. All such forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on estimates and assumptions that are inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond our ability to control, that may cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, without limitation, Public Health Crises, including the COVID-19 Pandemic; changes in the price of gold, silver, copper and other metals in the world markets; fluctuations in the price and availability of infrastructure and energy and other commodities; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; volatility in price of our common shares; inherent risks associated with the mining industry, including problems related to weather and climate in remote areas in which certain of the Companys operations are located; failure to achieve production, cost and other estimates; risks and uncertainties associated with exploration and development; uncertainties relating to estimates of mineral resources including uncertainty that mineral resources may never be converted into mineral reserves; the Companys ability to carry on current and future operations, including development and exploration activities; the timing, extent, duration and economic viability of such operations, including any mineral resources or reserves identified thereby; the accuracy and reliability of estimates, projections, forecasts, studies and assessments; the Companys ability to meet or achieve estimates, projections and forecasts; the availability and cost of inputs; the price and market for outputs, including gold, silver and copper; inability of the Company to identify appropriate acquisition targets or complete desirable acquisitions; failures of information systems or information security threats; political, economic and other risks associated with the Companys foreign operations; geopolitical events and other uncertainties, such as the conflict in Ukraine; compliance with various laws and regulatory requirements to which the Company is subject to, including taxation; the ability to obtain timely financing on reasonable terms when required; the current and future social, economic and political conditions, including relationship with the communities in jurisdictions it operates; other assumptions and factors generally associated with the mining industry; and the risks, uncertainties and other factors referred to in the Companys Annual Information Form under the heading Risk Factors.

Estimates of mineral resources are also forward-looking statements because they constitute projections, based on certain estimates and assumptions, regarding the amount of minerals that may be encountered in the future and/or the anticipated economics of production. The estimation of mineral resources and mineral reserves is inherently uncertain and involves subjective judgments about many relevant factors. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The accuracy of any such estimates is a function of the quantity and quality of available data, and of the assumptions made and judgments used in engineering and geological interpretation, Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance, and actual results and future events could materially differ from those anticipated in such statements. Although we have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actual results to differ materially from those that are 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 disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Lincolnton, Sept. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lincolnton, North Carolina -

Drums Discount Dumpsters, a leading dumpster rental company in Lincolnton, NC is offering various size dumpsters for rent at affordable rates in Hickory, NC and the surrounding areas. The company specializes in providing a growing inventory of 10 yard dumpsters starting at $300, 15 yard dumpsters starting at $350, and 20 yard dumpsters at $425 for residential and commercial needs.

For more information about the companys service areas, dumpster size, and prices, visit their website here: https://www.drumsdiscountdumpsters.com/

Drums Discount Dumpsters is a family owned business with a reputation for providing quality dumpster rental services in Lincolnton, Hickory, Cherryville, Denver, Stanley, NC and their surrounding areas.

Dumpster rentals are an excellent solution for homeowners and business owners for their waste producing projects such as kitchen renovations, basement cleanouts, and roofing projects to name a few. By taking advantage of dumpster rentals services a person can remove the stress of managing the waste disposal process. The dumpster rental company handles the proper waste disposal at a landfill. The homeowner or business owner only need to fill the dumpster, then notify the dumpster rental company when the waste bin is full and ready to be emptied. According to Drums Discount Dumpsters website, delivery, pick up, applicable taxes, and the rental period are included with the rental.

It is important to be aware of what materials are prohibited from being disposed of in a dumpster. There are local, state, and federal laws that governs the waste disposal industry. Violation of these laws can bring serious financial penalties to the violators. It is best to consult with the dumpster rental company for guidance.

According to company owner, Cassondra Drum, The most common items not allowed in our dumpsters are paint cans, aerosol cans, oil, tires, chemicals, sewage, hazardous wastes, liquids of any kind, and batteries. We suggest anyone with any questions regarding what can be put in our dumpsters to contact us for clarification. Its best to know to avoid potential fines and it keeps everyone safe.

Drums Discount Dumpsters makes ordering their service easy for their customers. The company has a state of the art website with an online booking system, which makes reserving a dumpster as simple as a few mouse clicks on a computer or smartphone. The company's office staff is always available to answer questions from customers about their services. They can assist customers in tracking their orders and keeping them updated at all times throughout the rental process.

One only needs to look at some of the companys online reviews to get a sense of the quality service Drums Discount Dumpsters is providing to their customer base. One recent Google reviewer stated, Wonderful customer service, clean dumpsters, and great reasonable rates. Have used Drums several times already and am never disappointed. Highly recommend.

This reviewer was so satisfied with the service they gave the company a five star rating. Five stars is the highest rating a customer can provide on a companys Google Business Page.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nM5Hfs3n90

For more related news about Drum's Discount Dumpsters visit this link: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2022/07/26/2486235/0/en/Dumpster-Rental-Lincolnton-NC-Company-Drum-s-Discount-Dumpsters-Increase-Vehicle-Fleet.html

###

For more information about Drum's Discount Dumpsters, contact the company here:



Drum's Discount Dumpsters

Geoffrey and Cassondra Drum

(704)-701-7449

drumsdiscountdumpsters@gmail.com

1550 Buffalo Shoals Rd

Lincolnton, NC 28092
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) - At least two Burkinabe soldiers were killed and four others wounded on Monday in an attack on a military detachment in the Oudalan province in the Sahel, a security source said
Max Verstappen showed in his first lap that he was going to claim victory in Italy. According to F1 expert Peter Windsor, Verstappen was the only driver in the field who had useful knowledge about tyre compounds (due to perfect preparation).

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In Saturday's qualifying session of the Italian Grand Prix, Ferrari treated the home crowd to another highlight that the tifosi have been craving for months now. Charles Leclerc set the fastest lap and was able to start the race from pole position without any grid penalties. Verstappen was dropped from P2 to P7 due to a grid penalty, but almost made up for it on lap one. Entering the first corner of the second lap, the Dutchman already had full view of Mercedes driver George Russell on P2.

Preparation Verstappen gave him great advantage

Verstappen was in control of the race and seemed to be angling for victory on strategy. Even on the track, the Red Bull Racing driver could have caught up with his rival Leclerc. The Dutchman's perfect preparation this weekend meant he had a major advantage; Windsor said in a YouTube video . "Everything Verstappen did on Friday and Saturday in terms of those long runs, paid off on race day. He went into the Grand Prix with the only driver with any real knowledge of what the soft tyre and the medium tyre were going to be like under various fuel loads, various track conditions."

Windsor saw that in the race: "When it started to go off, or if things changed [he'd know] when to adapt his style. One thing to say good tyre management and deg in general was quite low, all credit to Pirelli for that, but it's quite another to know how to react to what's going on around you. That's what Verstappen did. He had the confidence to start on the soft tyre and pushing that right through to lap 23."
RCEP contributing to sustainable, inclusive economic recovery: officials, scholars

Xinhua) 15:11, September 12, 2022

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said here on Monday that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has been contributing to a sustainable and inclusive post-COVID-19 economic recovery.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) must "take full advantage of free trade agreements, especially the RCEP agreement, which is the largest free trade agreement in global history," he said in a speech at the opening ceremony of the 2022 ASEAN Leadership and Partnership Forum.

Hun Sen, the chair of ASEAN for 2022, said ASEAN must continue to promote economic integration and turn the bloc into an attractive and dynamic trade and investment hub by reducing tax and non-tax barriers.

He also officially announced the opening of the ASEAN Economic Club.

"The club will play a key role in promoting a more cohesive ASEAN economic integration through contribution in monitoring, evaluating and advising ... on the implementation of agreements reached by ASEAN leaders, particularly on free trade agreements, the RCEP agreement and other agreements related to the economic pillar," he said.

Cambodian Ministry of Commerce's undersecretary of state and spokesman Penn Sovicheat said the RCEP has further facilitated cross-border trade and investment flows, and created a huge market.

"RCEP is comprehensive, covering trade in goods, trade in services, investment, economic and technical cooperation, dispute settlement, e-commerce, competition, and intellectual property, among others," he told Xinhua. "This trade pact has promoted multilateralism and free trade and all participating countries will benefit from it in the long term."

Kin Phea, director-general of the International Relations Institute at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, said the RCEP is multilateral trade cooperation and its structure is truly meant to benefit all participating countries.

Phea said the RCEP "is instrumental in subverting creeping unilateralism because it pulls all bilateral free trade agreements into one economic sphere, under one blanket trade ruling."

Joseph Matthews, a senior professor at the BELTEI International University in Phnom Penh, said RCEP has been giving a big boost to regional and global economic recovery in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era.

"This mega-trade deal holds huge potential for all participating countries to boost their trade and investment ties and to quicken their economic recovery from the pandemic," he told Xinhua.

"Under the RCEP, all member countries will reap long-term benefits by integrating further into regional and global supply chains and creating new jobs for their respective peoples," Matthews said.

Entered into force in January 2022, the mega-regional trade pact comprises 15 Asia-Pacific countries including 10 ASEAN member states, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, and their five trading partners, namely China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Bianji)
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If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





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Roland Busch, CEO of Siemens AG, Dr. Richard Lutz, CEO of Deutsche Bahn, and Hartmut Hoppner, State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV), took their first ride in the Mireo Plus H hydrogen train and then demonstrated the trains refueling procedure using a mobile hydrogen fueling station.





Hydrogen technology is planned to replace diesel-powered trainsets in regional transport in the future. Siemens Mobility and Deutsche Bahn presented the H2goesRail project to the public in November 2020. In addition to the refueling and commissioning tests conducted over recent months, DB employees have been trained to operate the system when it enters service.

The project is being funded with 13.74 million by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport as part of the National Innovation Program for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NIP 2). NIP 2 is coordinated by NOW (National Organization for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology) GmbH and is being implemented by project lead Julich.

For the projects one-year trial operation, Siemens has developed a two-car regional train using a next-generation hydrogen drive system. The train operates with two propulsion systems, each consisting of a fuel cell and a lithium-ion battery. The Mireo Plus H is as powerful as an electric multiple-unit train and has a range of up to 800 kilometersdepending on operating conditions such as season or route. A three-car variant has a range of up to 1,000 kilometers. Due to its reduced maintenance and repair costs, the train has low lifecycle costs. The Mireo Plus H has a top speed of 160 kilometers an hour.

One key factor needed to make hydrogen technology competitive with diesel fuel in daily operation is a fast refueling process. To provide this, DB has developed a new method that, for the first time, enables a hydrogen train to be refueled as fast as a diesel-powered train. This is especially important considering the closely timed scheduling of DBs regional passenger service.

Hydrogen for the trains will be produced in Tubingen by DB Energy with green electricity taken directly from the overhead power line.

On the route between Tubingen and Pforzheim, for example, switching from diesel to the H2goesRail project train will save around 330 tons of CO 2 emissions a year. In general, and depending on the route, the Mireo Plus H can save 520 tons of emissions per year (calculated on a total mileage of 200,000 kilometers).

The Mireo Plus H will begin test runs in Baden-Wurttemberg in 2023. As of 2024, it will be underway in regular passenger service for the H2goesRail project, operating between Tubingen, Horb and Pforzheim and replacing a diesel railcar currently in use on that route.

The DB maintenance depot in Ulm will be converted to handle the servicing of the hydrogen trains. Extensively trained DB Region staff, supported by Siemens Mobility employees, will service and maintain the trains.

After completing a test phase, the train will enter passenger service in 2024 and operate between Tubingen, Horb and Pforzheim. Approximately 120,000 kilometers of scheduled rail service are planned. The route is particularly suitable for the tests, with its typical regional service frequency and topography.
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Alex Jones goes on trial in Waterbury Tuesday where a jury of six will decide how much he has to pay an FBI agent and eight Sandy Hook families he defamed when he called the massacre of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School staged, synthetic, manufactured, a giant hoax, and completely fake with actors. This is the second trial in as many months where a jury takes up the task of awarding defamation damages. In August, a Texas jury awarded $49 million to the parents of a slain Sandy Hook boy who Jones defamed.

Here are 5 things to know about the Connecticut trial

1. This trial caps a four-year battle

The Connecticut case has been in the national news since an FBI agent and eight Sandy Hook families filed a defamation lawsuit against Alex Jones in 2018, from social media companies such as Facebook and YouTube dropping Jones channels for spreading misinformation and hate speech to repeated warnings from state Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis for Jones to comply with pretrial procedures, such as sharing business documents with the families. Bellis first punished Jones by taking away his right to argue what he considered a key line of defense and then defaulted Jones for crossing the line one time too many. Jones appeals to the higher courts failed. Even after Jones was found liable for default, his trouble with the court continued, including Jones failing to appear for court-ordered depositions in March. Jones wound up flying to New Haven to give his sworn testimony after Bellis slapped him with an escalating fine starting at $25,000 per day.

2. New Haven defense attorney Norm Pattis in the spotlight

Norm Pattis, who has been called Connecticuts most colorful and controversial lawyer, has made headlines of his own while defending Alex Jones in the Connecticut lawsuit. Most recently, Pattis was the subject of a disciplinary hearing to determine whether he did anything improper by sharing with other lawyers the confidential medical records of Sandy Hook families. Pattis also made news by sharing that he had lost Jones confidence and needed the assistance of Jones Texas lawyer in the Connecticut case. When Bellis granted the Texas lawyer only limited privileges to defend Jones in Connecticut, Pattis withdrew his request. The result is Pattis will run Jones defense, starting with opening statements in Waterbury Superior Court on Tuesday.

3. Jones innocence will not be argued at trial

Alex Jones will not be able to argue his innocence during the trial, since Jones has already been defaulted and found liable for defamation, after calling the slaying of 20 first-graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School staged, synthetic, manufactured, a giant hoax, and completely fake with actors. As such, the Connecticut trial will follow a similar route as the Texas case in early August, where a jury awarded the parents of a slain Sandy Hook boy $49 million in damages. In Connecticut, the attorneys for an FBI agent and eight families who lost loved ones in the Sandy Hook massacre will argue that Jones profited from the families pain by claiming that the worst crime in Connecticut history was a hoax. The families attorneys will argue they are entitled to substantial compensation and punitive damages.

4. Alex Jones finances will be debated

Expect Jones defense to make the case that he has been drained by four years of litigation and has been driven into bankruptcy twice this year as a result. Jones first bankruptcy was circumvented by the families who simply dropped from their lawsuit the shell companies Jones filed to protect under Chapter 11 laws. The second bankruptcy has had mixed results for Jones. Jones put the parent company of his Infowars broadcast and merchandising business into bankruptcy in early August, stalling the start of a second Texas defamation awards trial. But the bankruptcy of the parent company Free Speech Systems has not stopped the start of the Connecticut trial. The only bankruptcy Jones hasnt filed is for himself. Expect the families to argue Jones has plenty of money to compensate them. An expert called by the parents in the Texas trial testified that Jones was worth between $135 million and $270 million, for example.

5. What is Alex Jones mindset?

Jones behavior surprised observers in Texas who were told he would not be at the courthouse because of failing health, and then observed Jones showing up and making headlines. The judge in the Texas case reprimanded Jones for having an impromptu press conference in the hallway outside the courtroom, for example, and for discussing his case on the air during an Infowars broadcast. What appearances Jones makes for the Connecticut trial remain to be seen. Last week, however, in what was billed as Jones first interview since the $49 million verdict in Texas against him, a visibly frustrated Jones made a series of apparently facetious remarks including I killed the children and Im done.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342
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Peter DaPuzzo gave them their start.

But for dozens of bond traders and computer programmers who DaPuzzo helped get a foot in the door at Cantor Fitzgerald, the promise of a bright future proved to be fleeting.

And that start exacted an unspeakable toll.

DaPuzzo lost 658 colleagues at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, many of whom reported to him as the then-head of the institutional equities division at the bond trading firm.

"It was a guilty feeling that I had, having hired them," DaPuzzo said.

"The other thing was, why wasn't I there? Some of these boys were like children to me."

DaPuzzo took off the morning of Sept. 11 to meet with a home-refinancing appraiser in Greenwich.

The married father of three wound up with a new lease on life, one that he said has caused him to re-evaluate everyday trials and tribulations and to lean on his Roman Catholic faith.

"So the market's down five days in row," said DaPuzzo, now retired. "These guys are gone. Really, everything is small stuff when you compare it to life."

DaPuzzo was recently asked by his estate planner how long he expects to live.

Five years seemed like a reasonable estimate to the Riverside resident, who celebrated his 70th birthday this year and his 50th wedding anniversary to his high school sweetheart, Mary Jane DaPuzzo.

He is living on borrowed time, the reminders ever-present.

Like the framed photo from a 1996 company party at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, which DaPuzzo plastered with tiny stickers after the attacks.

His is the only face without a star next to it.

"Look at all the stars. Look at all these dead people," DaPuzzo said. "Everybody that's from Cantor here is dead."

Nine out of 134 people in DaPuzzo's division cheated death. They owe their lives to oversleeping, a timely business trip or vacation.

"We were saved for a reason," DaPuzzo said. "God must have saved us for a reason so we could do something more than we were doing."

Cantor Fitzgerald occupied the 101st through the 105th floors of the iconic north tower. No one above the impact zone of American Airlines Flight 11, which tore a gaping hole from the 93rd to the 99th floors, survived.

Among the dead was Brian Cummins, 38, a Greenwich resident and college roommate of DaPuzzo's middle son, Doug, from the University of Colorado.

There was Alex Steinman, 32, a high school mentor to DaPuzzo's youngest son, Pete, and John Candela, 42, a childhood friend of DaPuzzo's eldest son, Jeff.

"He had gotten married and had two kids," DaPuzzo said of Candela. "And we went to his funeral."

DaPuzzo lost his secretary, Joan McConnell, 47, a newlywed who he recalled as willing to go the extra mile, as well as one of his closest friends, Edward Mazzella Jr., 62.

"Ed was to retire on Friday, Sept. 8," DaPuzzo said. "But he offered to keep working until Sept. 14, as his co-worker was on vacation until then."

Another one of the lost was Charles Zion, 54, an equities trader and a senior vice president of the firm from Greenwich.

"He was the No. 1 salesman in the firm," DaPuzzo said of Zion.

Without the moral support of his family and the spiritual guidance of the Rev. Michael Moynihan, then-pastor of St. Michael the Archangel Roman Catholic Church on North Street, DaPuzzo said he doesn't know how he would have been able to overcome the psychological toll of Sept. 11.

He attended 33 memorial services and funerals after the attacks, and delivered eulogies at several.

"The same God that created us, and if you think God is so good, can take us away," said DaPuzzo, who lived in Wilton for 11 years before moving to Greenwich in 1996.

Cantor Fitzgerald maintains a suburban office in Darien, as it did before the attacks, though in a different location. It was there that DaPuzzo said that the final words of his fallen colleagues could be heard over an intercom system the morning of the attacks.

"They had live mikes open and people were yelling through them," DaPuzzo said. "The stories you were hearing were just horrible."

DaPuzzo couldn't help but think back to Feb. 26, 1993, when a truck bomb was detonated beneath the north tower, killing seven people and injuring more than 1,000. He had joined the firm one month earlier.

"We walked down to 86, tried to get off and take the elevators down," DaPuzzo said. "The lights went out. We all had handkerchiefs in front of our faces. It was so dark you were afraid someone was going to fall."

The scenes inside the stairwell of a pregnant woman struggling to make the descent and several volunteers carrying a man in a wheelchair remain vivid.

"What else can bring you closer?" DaPuzzo said. "What other bonding is there when you think might die?"

Some of his colleagues were so spooked by the experience that they lobbied for the firm to break its lease, according to DaPuzzo, who said that his bosses ultimately balked because of the favorable lease terms.

"I said, `Well, all right, let's have more fire drills,' " DaPuzzo said.

DaPuzzo's office in the north tower faced southwest toward the Statue of Liberty. From 1985 to 1993, he worked on the 106th floor of the south tower for what was then Shearson Loeb Rhoades, an investment banking and retail brokerage firm run by fellow Greenwich resident Sandy Weill.

While he never could have envisioned what happened on Sept. 11, some aspects of the towers' design were cause for concern, from the opening of desk drawers to the swaying of the building during a hurricane.

"This is like being on a ship," DaPuzzo said. "They had elasticity because of the wind. We used to tease, God forbid if the building falls, you could walk across the Hudson River to New Jersey."

DaPuzzo will join his former colleagues on the 10th anniversary at a Cantor Fitzgerald memorial service in Central Park. Later, he will attend a Mass and luncheon at Fordham University in the Bronx, N.Y., where he is scheduled to deliver a speech at an event sponsored by the school and the Security Traders Association of New York.

Ground zero isn't on his itinerary, at least not on the anniversary. While he has donated money to the National Sept. 11 Memorial & Museum, DaPuzzo still hasn't set foot in the chasm where the towers once stood.

"I didn't want to see a hole in the ground," DaPuzzo said. "I didn't want to see where all my friends died. It was good people, hard-working people who just wanted to succeed."

Staff writer Neil Vigdor can be reached at neil.vigdor@scni.com or at 203-625-4436.
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GREENWICH  To mark the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, students at Greenwich High School took part in an annual food drive, collecting food items for the needy in memory of those killed in 2001.

The event was organized by students in the Roots 'N Shoots Club and Neighbor to Neighbor Club and held in the Student Center at Greenwich High School in Greenwich on Friday.
In the spring of 2012, portrait artist Ralph Heimans stood on the Cosmati pavement of Westminster Abbey and awaited the subject of his latest commission, Queen Elizabeth II. When she approached, he says, it was an extraordinary moment.

"She was wearing her Robe of State, with four footmen holding it, and as she came down the long corridor it was a very theatrical kind of entrance, Heimans said soon after he had learned that the queen had died Thursday at age 96.

After spending an hour the queen, discussing niceties, he came away with a sense of how thoughtful she was, almost a sense of shyness, an introspective quality. In his oil painting, which hangs in Westminster, he drew her as a solitary, even brooding figure, her eyes cast down, with the vastness of Westminster behind her like so much weight from the past  and present.

I wanted to show her in this private moment, with a certain gravity about her, he says.

Over the past 70 years, authors, filmmakers, playwrights, songwriters and painters have responded to the queen as both symbol and human being, whether commenting on the heights of her position or attempting to tease out the inner life of a woman who spoke infrequently in public and avoided personal revelations. The dual qualities, majesty and mystery, found her imagined in settings ranging from the sobriety of royal art to the rage of punk music to the varied characterizations of film and television.

I think because she was a constant presence who didn't say very much, it allowed people to project on her in different ways, says Elizabeth Holmes, whose HRH: So Many Thoughts on Royal Style was published in 2020. Also, you can very easily make people look like the Queen. You can take that as a starting point and run.

On film, the queen has been fictionalized in everything from Helen Mirren's Oscar-winning portrayal in The Queen to the farcical Naked Gun movies and the grim Spencer, with Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana and Stella Gonet as Elizabeth. But she has been dramatized most fully in the Emmy-winning Netflix series The Crown," which follows her life from the beginning of her reign to recent times  and whose production was suspended Friday after her death.

When played by Claire Foy as a young and glamorous monarch, she is seen as finding her way in her new life, trying to maintain a happy relationship with her husband, Prince Philip. while approaching her royal duties with the sobriety of someone years older. Olivia Colman takes over as Elizabeth ages and becomes more mature and prickly, and flawed, failing initially to travel to the scene of a devastating mining tragedy in Wales and comfort the townspeople, and proving unsympathetic to Diana's troubles with her son Prince Charles.

I emote. The queen is not meant to, Colman told Vanity Fair in 2018. Shes got to be a rock for everyone, and has been trained not to (emote).

The queen herself didn't comment on works about her or always seem aware of cultural trends: Greeting Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page at a 2005 palace reception, she seemed unsure of who he was and what instrument he played. But she sensed her place in world and had enough savvy to appear with Daniel Craig, in character as James Bond, for a 2012 Olympics video, and enough good humor to allow herself to be pictured as parachuting from a helicopter with him (the former was really her, the latter a stunt double).

Fiction writers enjoyed setting the queen off on unusual adventures. In Emma Tennant's The Autobiography of the Queen, the monarch flees to St. Lucia in the Caribbean. S.J. Bennett worked from the premise What if the queen solved crimes? in writing the mystery novels The Windsor Knot and A Three Dog Problem.

She had such a unique perspective on the world. She was always looking out when everyone else was looking at her, so she must see a lot of things the rest of us dont see, Bennett, the daughter of a military veteran who had met the Queen, told The Associated Press.

It was her character that fascinated me, not her position as a symbol," she added. "She was intelligent, frequently underestimated because she wasnt traditionally educated, and endlessly curious about people. In the books I have her eagerly looking out of the windows of Buckingham Palace while being painted for a portrait, to see what was going on outside, because thats what she really did. She had a very wry sense of humor and a huge instinct for fun, but equally an almost supernatural instinct for diplomacy, and a world-class sense of duty.

Musicians have paid tribute, condemned her and invoked her name for a quick laugh.

For punk and New Wave artists, she was a monument to be torn down. The Smiths' The Queen Is Dead mocks the royal family and the succession to power: I say, Charles, dont you ever crave/To appear on the front of the Daily Mail/Dressed in your Mothers bridal veil? The Sex Pistols helped define the punk movement in 1976 with God Save the Queen," in which Johnny Rotten (now Lydon) declares No future as he snarls out some of the most scathing, nihilistic lyrics ever to top the British charts:

God save the queen

The fascist regime

They made you a moron

A potential H bomb

God save the queen

Shes not a human being ...

Songwriters otherwise responded with affection. Duke Ellington met her in the late 1950s and found her so inspiring he soon collaborated with Billy Strayhorn on the pensive The Queen's Suite, for which he arranged a single gold pressing just for her. In the late 1960s, Paul McCartney dashed off the acoustic, 23-second Her Majesty, with its cheeky refrain, Her Majesty's a pretty nice girl/But she doesn't have a lot to say," and the Beatles tacked it onto the end of Abbey Road.

As he explained in Paul McCartney: The Lyrics, published in 2021, he wrote the song in part because the queen really didn't offer many public statements, beyond her annual Christmas address and the opening of Parliament. McCartney would meet the queen numerous times, as a Beatle and a solo performer, and even played the song for her. But, he reaffirmed in his book: She didn't have a lot to say.

____

AP National Writer Jocelyn Noveck contributed to this report.
Although officially still unconfirmed, Reuters reports that Biden's administration is preparing a new set of sanctions that would stop the exports of sub-14nm semiconductors with AI capabilities as well as chipmaking tools.

The Commerce Department already sent out letters to some of the big companies in the industry that work with China and provide chips to China-based companies. Some of the companies include Nvidia, AMD and Intel and the companies have publicly acknowledged these letters, but most of the officials refrain from commenting.

This sounds a lot like the current restrictions that allow US companies to work with China only after the Commerce Department's license.

These letters are a common practice that ensures swift enforcement, but only companies receiving the letter are obligated to comply. In the meantime, the Commerce Department is working with Biden's administration to produce rules that would apply to the whole industry and is expected to be officially revealed next month.

Some believe that even US companies using such chips will be denied access to the Chinese market. Such companies include Dell, HP and Super Micro Computer.

If this goes into motion, it spells trouble for China because despite its technological advancements and production capabilities, there's not a single Chinese company that has the know-how or the tools to produce competing modern chips at scale. This industry is dominated by the USA, South Korea and Taiwan. So this ban may serve as a choke point for China.

The Biden office will look for support from its allies outside of the US in order to make the ban more effective.

Source
Jayven Coco Jay Mesa, a Valley of the Latte Adventure Park employee, demonstrates how to kacha, or husk a coconut, during the Guam Museums Silebra I Kottura-ta yan i Hinanao-ta event in Hagatna March 31, 2022.
A total of 12 candidates are seeking the nine seats on the utilities commission and education board this year, according to the Guam Election Commission registries.

As of Monday, four incumbents have filed their candidacy for the six seats on the Guam Education Board, which oversees the islands public schools:

Board member Maria Gutierrez

Vice Chair Mary Okada

Member Ron McNinch

Member Peter Ada

Two newcomers seeking seats on the education board include Astumbo Elementary first grade teacher Elain Duenas Ulloa and Mayors' Council of Guam Executive Director Angel Sablan.

With 30 years in front of a classroom, Ulloa wants to bring what she knows about the challenges teachers and staff have to the education board. She said "something isn't right" and that Guam's education system has seen better days.

Ulloa said empowering teachers to put students first and think outside of the box instead of using a one-size-fits all education is one of her main goals. "So many teachers are retiring or going off island. If we take care of our teachers, we listen to them, we give them the tools that they need, then guess what? The children are going to win."

Sablan said that his aim is to get the Guam Department of Education on track with the 14 points of the islands nearly two-decade-old Every Child is Entitled to an Adequate Education Act. His experience with the Mayors' Council is also a plus, he said.

Being with the Mayors' Council and dealing with all the mayors of all the different villages, I know firsthand what it is really that the mayors have to deal with: making sure that our kids, our teachers, or administrators, get the assistance and the help, they need to have a successful school system, even when the resources are limited.

CCU

Three incumbents are seeking to retain their seats on the Consolidated Commission on Utilities, which has three seats open:

Francis Santos, vice chairman and finance committee chair

Michael Limtiaco

Simon Sanchez

Santos, a former CCU commissioner and current acting superintendent of Guam DOE, said he is running in the event a permanent superintendent can be found. He said he has informed the education board, Ill help until such time that the position is filled, and if the people of Guam want to elect me to the CCU, I hope that they will.

N. V. "Nito" Blas, a project manager with Life Cycle engineering and a retired captain in the Navy who supervised the maintenance of nuclear power plants aboard maritime vessels, is looking to grab a seat on the CCU.

He said he has a six-point plan for how to improve Guams utilities: Operate it like a business, pass profits onto the consumers, increase transparency, provide workforce wellness, listen to employees, and encourage mentorship.

Former GPA General Manager Ricardo Unpingco, who also helped stand up local wastewater systems as a private contractor, is seeking a return to the public utilities field. He said his experience will help him hit the ground running at the commission and coordinate with GPA and GWA leadership.

By 1998, we added an additional 170 megawatts to the system. We ended load shedding then, but now  after I retired, 20 years later we're back to load shedding again. So, I think with my expertise, I can help the utilities, Unpingco said.

Melvin Duenas, a former GPA employee for 18 years, said he wants to carve out the unnecessary waste he saw while working with the Power Authority. He said he worked his way up from being a line man to servicing the Cabras 1 and 2 generators, and helping to install the islands fast track gas turbines.

I want to fight for the people. Because the power bill keeps going up and up and up on the utilities. The waste is not being recognized, and they're always passing it on to the people of Guam, he said, adding he wants to eliminate any unnecessary expenses.

AG race

Ron McNinch, a University of Guam public administration professor, believes that write-in candidates should not be allowed to run for the attorney general seat in the general election.

Public Defender Peter Santos last week announced his intention to run as a write in against Attorney General Leevin Camacho and former attorney general Doug Moylan, who ended the primary in a dead heat.

McNinch wrote the GEC over the weekend, stating Only two candidates are allowed on the general election ballot for AG. Having a write in line creates a third candidate line and negates the intent of the legislature to ensure a majority at the general election for the AG.

GEC Executive Director Maria Pangelinan told the PDN that McNinchs letter couldnt be addressed during the commissions meeting on Tuesday because of public notice requirements, but they would address it at the following meeting.

She said as far as she knew, write-in candidates for the attorney general race have always been allowed, If you look at all the ballots in the past, all of them have a write-in space, except the Guam Education Board.

Tabulation

The Election Commission is scheduled to tabulate absentee and provisional ballots cast in the 2022 primary election at 5:30 p.m. today. Commissioners will convene at 12 p.m. on Tuesday to certify the results.

Pangelinan said that with just 380 absentee and provisional ballots, a change in the line up of who proceeds to the General Election is unlikely. There was a narrow margin of 214 votes in the primary between Ian Catling, the 15th ranked Republican legislative candidate, and Harvey Egna, the 16th.
Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero signed the governments fiscal 2023 budget act Monday, but criticized lawmakers for spending unaudited excess government revenues to the tune of tens of millions of dollars through the bill.

The government of Guam was on track to collect about $99.7 million more in tax revenue than what it projected this fiscal year. But between the fiscal 2023 Budget Act and other legislation, including the $500 power credit program, that was winnowed to around $2 million when budget talks closed two weeks ago.

Though my administration is committed to implementing the budget bill, I must express concern about several provisions in the bill that continue the Legislatures recently adopted practice of appropriating so-called excess revenues. Government financial management involves principles and protocols that address complex accounting and cash management realities, Leon Guerrero wrote in a letter to Speaker Therese Terlaje.

Cash flow is often fluid in government finance, with bills often coming due in years after an expense is incurred and incoming revenue being delayed until proper accounting can be completed, Leon Guerreros letter stated.

It is for this reason that, time and again, I have cautioned the Legislature against appropriating so-called excess revenues, which remain fluid until such time an audit is completed for the period and actual earned revenues are identified.

Lawmakers werent taking into consideration the accounting principles Adelup uses to track cash flow and pay bills on a daily basis, she stated.

Ignoring our administrations fiscal policy ... carries the risk of blind spending before financials are audited, and threatens the resurgence of the decades-old deficit our administration worked hard to retire. ... It is important for the Legislature to observe sound accounting principles in its appropriations, and to refrain from continuing to appropriate from excess revenues prior to the audit.

Teacher pay raises

Leon Guerrero also took issue with lawmakers who questioned Adelups authority to enact across-the-board raises for educators earlier this year, repeating previously made legal arguments about the director of the Department Administrations authority to adjust agency pay scales.

It is disheartening that some of the senators who voted against this budget bill vocally opposed our administrations May 2022 implementation of the Educator Pay Plan. Some further suggested the rate of the implemented increases should have been lower than those approved, Leon Guerrero stated. The lack of support for our teachers from these senators is deplorable. It demonstrates a fundamental lack of respect and compassion for our teachers. I am encouraged by the actions of the senators who passed this budget bill, disregarding the political circus stirred up by its detractors, and carrying funding for the Educator Pay Plan forward into the next fiscal year.

She added: Notwithstanding the noted concerns, we are committed to make this budget work as we have done with other budgets since taking office.
A $220 million land dispute between the government of Guam and construction company Core Tech International will continue in the Superior Court of Guam after Judge Elyze Iriarte denied Core Techs request to rule in the companys favor.

Iriarte on Sept. 9 issued a decision and order denying Core Techs motion for summary judgment against the government of Guam and the director of the Department of Land Management.

At issue in the case is whether Core Tech now owns the Dededo property, the site of the islands largest wastewater treatment plant, operated by the Guam Waterworks Authority since 1980.

2018 lawsuit

GovGuam and Land Management sued Core Tech in 2018, seeking the courts permission to revoke or change the certificates of title Land Management issued in 2010 for the disputed property, which used to belong to the U.S. military.

According to Land Management, one of its land registrars erroneously issued certificates of title for the property, making four different mistakes.

(Land Management) asks to cancel, amend and rescind the (certificates of title) because they fail to consider various interests, easements, rights of way and other restrictions, court documents state.

Various interests

One of those various interests is the presence of the Northern District Wastewater Treatment plant on land which Core Tech now claims to own.

GWA joined the lawsuit in 2019 as an interested party, asking the court to reject Core Techs ownership of the land.

Core Tech countersued in January 2020, claiming GovGuam and GWA illegally condemned its land without paying for it and are encroaching on Core Tech property after tearing down Core Techs fences to expand the wastewater facility.

GWA customers

If Core Techs claims are successful, GWA and its customers could be asked to pay Core Tech as much as $220 million, retroactive to 1980, although Core Tech acquired the property only seven years ago.

Iriarte in November 2021 rejected GovGuams request to decide the case in the governments favor, stating Core Tech has an ownership interest in the property.

Land history

The wastewater site is on ancestral land  part of a former Air Force communications annex the federal government later declared excess and returned to the government of Guam. The military, when it owned the property, leased it to GovGuam for use as a wastewater plant.

The Guam Ancestral Lands Commission deeded 257 acres of excess federal land to the estate of Jose Martinez Torres, including part of the communications annex.

The Torres estate in September 2007 sold 252 acres of its ancestral land to Kil Yoo Yoon for $21.4 million. Yoon in January 2010 deeded the land to his company, Younex Enterprises Corporation.

Core Tech acquired the property in May 2015, for $178.1 million, after Younex defaulted on its mortgage with Core Tech.

Core Tech argued there already is a court ruling from 2010  related to whether the Torres family legally received the disputed property  which resolved the ownership issue. Therefore, GovGuam and Land Management shouldnt be allowed to sue over the same property and the case should be dismissed, Core Tech argued.

But Iriarte, in her Sept. 9 decision and order, said the governments lawsuit can continue because Land Management wasnt part of the Torres lawsuit and the issues in the Torres case are different from the current lawsuit.

According to the judge, the Torres lawsuit was related only to a 2006 deed. The current lawsuit asks the court to consider the full chain of title, going to back to 1980 (if not earlier).

The state of title remains an issue in active litigation, Iriarte wrote.

New argumentsGWA has asked the court for permission to raise new arguments in the case. Core Tech on Aug. 10 opposed the request, stating GWA missed the deadline three years ago and the water agencys new arguments are meritless.





One of GWAs new arguments is the Torres family lost ownership when the property was condemned by the federal government in 1950, for which the family received just compensation.

GWAs other new argument is the Torres estate, when it reacquired the land through the Guam Ancestral Lands Commission, expressly released all claims against the subject property, including those that Core Tech has brought.

Iriarte hasnt yet issued a decision on GWAs request.
The community is at low risk from the first confirmed case of monkeypox on Guam  a traveler who arrived Saturday, Territorial Epidemiologist Ann Pobutsky said Monday.

The person is in isolation and being monitored by the Department of Public Health and Social Services, she said. Public Health is identifying and notifying any possible close contacts.

Dont worry about it. This is bound to happen. People are always bringing stuff into Guam, and this just happens to be an isolated case of monkeypox. And its not like COVID. We observe and monitor all kinds of infectious diseases. Im more worried right now about flu season coming up, she said.

Guam remains in a public health state of emergency for COVID-19. Public Health also said theres a case of dengue fever, confirmed Friday.

Pobutsky said Public Health received a call Sunday morning from an epidemiologist in another jurisdiction to report there is a confirmed monkeypox case involving a person who traveled to Guam. The person was advised not to travel, but traveled anyway, she said.

The person is not a risk to the public for any outbreak or anything. We are just doing our job and thats it, she said.

What is it?

People with monkeypox get a rash that may be located on or near the genitals or anus, or the hands, feet, chest, face or mouth.

Monkeypox can spread to anyone through close, personal, often skin-to-skin contact, including:

Direct contact with monkeypox rash, scabs or body fluids from a person with monkeypox.

Touching objects, fabrics (clothing, bedding, or towels) and surfaces used by someone with monkeypox.

Contact with respiratory secretions.

Dr. Hoa Van Nguyen, president of American Medical Center and former chairman of the governors Physicians Advisory Group, on Monday urged more public education to prevent monkeypox from spreading.

So far, I dont see any effort by Public Health to educate the (most at-risk) and try to prevent this from spreading, he said.

While anyone can get monkeypox, data shows 99% of patients in the U.S. are gay or bisexual men who have sex with men, so there should be local public education for this group, Nguyen said.

We have to openly talk about it. So that way, we can prevent it from spreading, he said. Again, we respect everyones sexual preference but it happens that disease right now is affecting that subpopulation. (Public Health) needs to go out, educate them, and prevent it from spreading.

Pobutsky said Public Health hasnt done any major public education campaign.

Task force

A monkeypox task force was formed in August, Public Health Monkeypox Incident Commander Jon Lujan said.

Annette Aguon, administrator for Public Healths Bureau of Communicable Disease Control, said theres minimal supply of monkeypox vaccine on Guam, but more can be requested.

However, in line with the national vaccination strategies, CDC is not recommending we do a mass vaccination campaign as what weve done and continue to do with COVID, she said. The vaccine is being targeted for known or presumed contacts to a confirmed case of monkeypox.

Vaccines are also for those who have occupational risks  laboratory workers, public health investigators, and contact tracers.

The U.S. on Aug. 4 declared the monkeypox virus a public health emergency, about a month after the World Health Organization said the outbreak represented a public health emergency of international concern.

Monkeypox is a rare disease. The virus is part of the same family of viruses as the variola virus, which causes smallpox, according to the CDC. Its symptoms are similar to smallpox but milder. Monkeypox is rarely fatal. Its not related to chickenpox.

Other symptoms

In addition to the rash, which may initially look like pimples or blisters and will go through several stages, including scabs, before healing, symptoms of monkeypox include fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes, exhaustion, aches and respiratory symptoms.

Sometimes, people have flu-like symptoms before the rash. Some people get a rash first, followed by other symptoms. Others only experience a rash.

A person with monkeypox can spread it to others from the time symptoms start until the rash has fully healed and a fresh layer of skin has formed. The illness typically lasts two to four weeks.

Haidee Eugenio Gilbert can be reached at hgilbert@guampdn.com.
The president and owner of Hansen Helicopters is facing life in prison and was taken into custody on Monday.

John D. Walker is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 8 in the District Court of Guam.

On Friday, a federal jury found Walker guilty of 100 charges including conspiracy to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration, aircraft parts fraud, employing uncertified mechanics, money laundering and wire fraud.

Walker and his company were accused of acquiring scrapped, destroyed or otherwise damaged aircraft, then falsifying records and defrauding federal authorities for profit, according to PDN files.

In Mondays hearing, the government asked Walker be taken into custody immediately and held until his sentencing, as prosecutors said he was a flight risk and a danger to the community.

We believe he has no intention of following the law, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Marie Miller.

The government also brought up a recent incident in the Philippines relating to Walker, involving the Aug. 16 death of a pilot at his helicopter business in the country.

He just wont stop operating his fraudulent business. He will continue to fraud unless apprehended, Miller said. Its really serious, because these are peoples lives here. People are dying.

Walkers attorney, Mack Martin, argued that Walker didnt need to be in custody. He suggested Walker should be allowed to wear an ankle monitor until his sentencing. Martin said Walker is willing to put up additional assets.

Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood said that because the August death hasnt been fully investigated, it would not be fair to connect it to Walker.

However, she decided that he will be in custody until his sentencing on Dec. 8.

Serious crashes

According to court documents, several of Hansens helicopters were involved in serious crashes years ago. After they were listed as either being destroyed or having substantial damage, the company put them back into service.

In 2019, Federal Aviation Administration safety inspector Timothy J. Cislo pleaded guilty to charges that he issued airworthiness certificates to Hansen Helicopters without inspecting the aircraft. In exchange, he got an airplane for his personal use.
Former Gov. Carl TC Gutierrez is the president and CEO of Guam Visitors Bureau, Guam Permit Czar, and chairman of the Governors Economic Strategy Council. Send comments or questions to GVB at

communityrelations@visitguam.org.
By William Schwartz | Published on 2022/09/11

According to FlixPatrol figures, "Narco-Saints" was the eighth most popular Netflix drama on September 10th, only just barely edging out "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" in ninth place. It's easy to see why. "Narco-Saints" may have a cinematic high concept, but the typical worldwide South Korean drama fan doesn't like this stuff because it involves violence and gang wars. But I also find that, even on the aesthetic level of cinematic style appreciation, the second episode wasn't as impressive as the first.

Advertisement

To recap- In-goo thought that Pastor Jeon (played by Hwang Jung-min) was a guardian angel, swooping in with Christian charity to rescue In-goo's business. But actually, Pastor Jeon only helped with the skate scheme to try and find a delivery method for cocaine to South Korea, leaving In-goo the patsy, and in jail, for his trouble. So In-goo is approached by Agent Choi (played by Park Hae-soo), to try and take Priest Jeon down...by provoking an invasion from DEA agents into Suriname.

FlixPatrol does not have popularity rankings for Suriname, as the local Netflix branch there doesn't offer top ten lists to subscribers. This is just as well, since the second episode escalates Suriname from being a country that's somewhat corrupt to one which Pastor Jeon appears to basically run. Pastor Jeon's such a good con artist he has the country's military dictator as a major ally.

The implication that people from Suriname are really stupid about foreigners isn't a good look. And the explicit goal of In-goo and Agent Choi to stop Pastor Jeon by having American officials violate the country's sovereignity is just plain laughable. It's possible that "Narco-Saints" is setting up a twist down the line, but it's far more intuitive to interpret the plot as being entirely sincere, with the characters assuming the American government has fundamentally noble motives in regards to the drug war.

The transition here of In-goo going from smarter-than-the-average-businessman to a drug dealer talent in his own right reenforces this straightforward reading. I had to remind myself that In-goo's only real combat experience was that he used to do judo as a kid, because his combat prowess here is improbable bordering on the edge of self-insertion fantasy. Most incredibly of all, by the end of the second episode, we're still technically in the introduction because In-goo spends most of the episode being a badass in prison and doesn't get into Pastor Jeon's compound until the very end.

Review by William Schwartz

___________

"Narco-Saints" is directed by Yoon Jong-bin, written by Kwon Seong-hwi, Yoon Jong-bin, and features Ha Jung-woo, Hwang Jung-min, Park Hae-soo, Jo Woo-jin, Yoo Yeon-seok, Choo Ja-hyun. Broadcasting information in Korea: 2022/09/09~Upcoming, Fri on Netflix.
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News Release

Sept. 12, 2022



Contact information

MDH finds proposed Fairview Health Services and Acadia Healthcare mental health hospital in the public interest

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has found that moving forward with a new, free-standing mental health hospital in Saint Paul is in the public interest due to a lack of inpatient mental health beds. Despite this conclusion, MDH acknowledged significant concerns about the new facility as proposed.

Fairview Health Services and Acadia Healthcare have formed a partnership to finance and operate a new facility licensed for 144 inpatient beds at the former Bethesda Hospital site in St. Paul. In part, the new hospital is intended to replace services formerly provided by Fairview Health Services at St. Josephs Hospital, according to the proposal.

MDH has determined that the project is in the public interest because it provides additional inpatient mental health beds in the midst of a bed capacity crisis. However, as documented by MDHs analysis, the new stand-alone mental health hospital will not replace the comprehensive services previously offered at St. Josephs Hospital, which Fairview Health Services closed in July. There will be significant inpatient care gaps remaining after the establishment of the facility that other providers will need to fill. For example, the new facility lacks an emergency department for receiving patients undergoing a mental health crisis, and because it does not offer a full complement of medical care, it will only serve a subset of mental health patients. In addition, the facility is scheduled to operate under a leaner staffing model than is the norm nationally and in Minnesota. Similar concerns were also raised in public comments about the proposal.

The public review of this proposal shows how much need there is for additional mental health beds in Minnesota, said Minnesota Commissioner of Health Jan Malcolm. As we seek to address the acute shortage we are facing, we hope this review highlights the need for policy makers, health care organizations, mental health care providers, employers and insurers, and patients to work on solutions to fully meet the states mental health needs.

As part of the review process, MDH reached out to mental health care stakeholders and the public through presentations, letters and a public meeting held on June 9 to collect comments and feedback. In total, MDH received 67 written public comments from a variety of perspectives, including from four other health systems operating in the region, ten community/social services organizations, 27 providers, two unions, and 24 patients and family members.

Most comments recognized the need for additional mental health beds.

Among those supporting the proposal, commenters acknowledged Fairview Health Services as a trusted community partner and expressed the belief that the new facility would help underserved populations.

Among those not in support of the proposal, the most common concern was that the facility would not serve all patients in need, based on limited medical capabilities and limited access with no emergency department. Other concerns included questions about the quality of health care offered by Acadia Healthcare nationally; the plan to have fewer nursing staff than other comparable units in the state; and the extent to which the facility would accept transfers from outside of Fairview Health Services.

Two main concerns highlighted by the review are that the hospital will serve only a subset of the patient population based on diagnosis and potentially lower care needs, and that the staffing plan at the proposed hospital is much leaner than other inpatient mental health units in Minnesota. The review also found that most of the increased patient load from the closure of the emergency department and beds at St. Josephs Hospital had already been absorbed by surrounding hospitals, though it is placing a strain on emergency rooms and inpatient mental health units.

In finding the project in the public interest, a key element was the recognition that the Minnesota Legislature expects close, ongoing scrutiny of how the new facility will impact care delivery and the economics of inpatient mental health services in the community. As part of that legislation (Minnesota Session Laws of 2022, Regular Session, chapter 99), MDH has been directed to monitor patient and payer mix, transfers and patient flow for inpatient mental health care in the state.

In addition to granting the conditional exception in 2022, the Minnesota Legislature made other changes to the hospital construction moratorium (Minnesota Statutes, section 144.551). One significant element creates a process for establishing additional inpatient mental health capacity without a public interest review. This process includes additional oversight activity and a report on the impact of any expanded inpatient mental health capacity in 2027.

Materials associated with the public interest review, including the initial proposal, questions MDH posed to Fairview Health System and Acadia and their responses are accessible online at MDH Public Interest Review - Fairview Health Services and Acadia Healthcare.

-MDH-

Scott Smith

MDH Communications

651-503-1440

scott.smith@state.mn.us
Helsingin Sanomat on Sunday wrote that the act would grant regional state administrative agencies the right to order the unions to suspend strikes and, if necessary, order individual employees to work under the threat of fine.

THE MINISTRY of Social Affairs and Health has finalised a draft proposal for a patient safety act that would enable authorities to limit certain industrial actions taken by the Finnish Union of Practical Nurses (Super) and the Union of Health and Social Care Professionals in Finland (Tehy).

The proposal is being drafted in response to strikes targeting intensive care units in Hameenlinna, Oulu and Turku.

Millariikka Rytkonen, the chairperson of Tehy, on Sunday accused Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP) and Minister of Education Li Andersson (LA) of trying to eradicate the right to strike for social and health care workers and destroy the sector.

The draft bill would make unions primarily responsible for ensuring access to essential care during industrial actions.

If employee and employer representatives fail to agree on the extent of protected work at least five days before the scheduled start of the strike, the regional state administrative agency could forbid the strike or mass resignation at the request of the employer under the threat of fine.

If the unions fail to secure essential social and health care, the agencies could order individual employees to work under the threat of fine. The bill states that officials would have to grant the employee an opportunity to speak but not obtain their consent before issuing the order.

The amount of the fine would be determined on a case-by-case basis, according to the draft bill.

The bill also recognises the possibility of mass resignations, granting regional state administrative agencies the right to order also resigned employees to perform tasks deemed essential for patient safety.

Representatives of Tehy claimed last week that in the worst case police officers could be used to ensure nurses return to work. The bill, however, forwards fines as the only forcible measure to enhance the work order.

Minister of Family Affairs and Social Services Aki Linden (SDP) on Thursday said the government will unveil its bill for the act early this week.

The government is hardly unanimous on the issue, however. The Left Alliance and the Green League, to a lesser extent, would prefer to limit the scope of the bill to intensive care, pre-hospital care, emergency care and childbirth care. The draft bill would also apply to essential forms of social care.

It thus remains uncertain whether the bill will be amended before it is presented to the Parliament.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT
Tuomo Turja , the research director at Taloustutkimus, stated to the public broadcasting company last week that support for the right-wing opposition party rose due to its ability to hold on to its old supporters while winning over new supporters from other right-wing parties.

POPULAR SUPPORT for the National Coalition has increased by 0.8 percentage points to 24.2 per cent since early August, according to the latest opinion poll commissioned by YLE.

The National Coalitions slight rise is clearly based on male voters, he stated.

While the Social Democratic Party saw its popularity decrease by 0.9 points to 19.4 per cent, the decrease cannot be attributed to the recent controversy involving Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP). Footage of the prime minister singing, dancing and partying in a private residence appears not to have affected the partys support structure, according to Turja.

The Social Democrats popularity is still based firmly on over 50-year-olds. If it was thought that the support would drop visibly and older voters would abandon the party due to the controversy, that hasnt happened, he explained.

The party, he added, remains as popular as before also among pensioners. The losses it incurred during this polling period have benefited the Left Alliance, the National Coalition and the Finns Party.

The pecking order between the parties remains unchanged, though. The Finns Party continues to poll as the third most well supported party after seeing its support creep up by 0.1 points to 16.2 per cent.

It has been the case for many months now that the changes are pretty modest, told Turja.

Support for the Centre Party increased by 0.7 points to 11.7 per cent, close to the level it was at about two months ago. Turja revealed that the party succeeded in winning over supporters from the so-called sleeping party and Christian Democrats.

While the Green League saw its popularity creep up 0.3 points to 9.6 per cent, it continues to underperform, according to him.

No major swings were detected among the smaller parties, either: Support for the Left Alliance and Christian Democrats stayed unchanged at 8.1 and 3.0 per cent, respectively. The Swedish Peoples Party and Movement Now registered losses of 0.3 and 0.4 points to drop to 4.1 and 1.8 per cent, respectively.

Taloustutkimus contacted 2,973 people for the poll between 8 August and 6 September.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT
An opinion from the Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the EU advises the Court to define, in a restrictive way, the possibility for Member States to provide pesticide derogations. If followed by the Court, this Opinion would lead to a dramatic reduction in derogations and better protection of citizens' health and the environment. The advice comes in the frame of to legal proceedings initiated by PAN Europe and Nature et Progres Belgique on pesticide derogations .

In essence, the Opinion of the Advocate General published on 8 September recommends the Court to clarify that derogations can be used only exceptionally but not for pests occurring every year. The Opinion further details that these exceptions can only be provided after a thorough evaluation, demonstrating that the benefits of the derogations in terms of agricultural production and food security will significantly outweigh the risks for human health and the environment. Such demonstrations must be carried out independently and with independent data. The Opinion confirms that citizens' health and the environment must be given priority to agricultural yields.

Martin Dermine, coordinator at PAN Europe said: "If followed by the Court, this Opinion would prevent Member States from abusing the derogation system as they systematically do. Highly toxic pesticides banned for health and environmental reasons are maintained on the market by many Member States through derogations. This goes against the law and this is the reason we went to Court. Derogations are often given to fight common pests that have nothing exceptional and for which less harmful alternative treatments exist".

Highly toxic substances that are not approved at EU-level or that have been banned because of their excessive toxicity are used on a yearly basis against common pests in many Member States. Neonicotinoids (bee-toxic, banned in 2018), mancozeb (genotoxic, banned in 2020), as well as dichloropropene and chloropicrin (both never approved because highly toxic but receiving derogations in countries like Spain) are just a few examples of the yearly misuses by Member States of the system.

Martin Dermine added: "Many Member States disregard the dramatic consequences on citizens' health and the environment. Instead of truly evaluating the urgency and the necessity of such derogations, they simply copy/paste industry misleading arguments that they endorse. If a pesticide is banned because of its toxicity, it does not make sense to keep exposing citizens and the environment with it. We highlighted the problem many times to the European Commission, without any effective reaction on their side".

Background information:

In 2019, PAN Europe challenged a derogation provided by Belgium for the use of neonicotinoids on sugar beet, despite an EU-wide ban from 2018 to protect pollinators. PAN Europe suggested the Belgian Court to seek preliminary guidance from the Court of Justice of the EU, in order to clarify the conditions under which such derogations can be granted.

Following PAN Europe's suggestion, the Belgian administrative Court submitted 5 preliminary questions to the Court of Justice of the EU. The European Commission, Finland, Greece, France, Belgium and Hungary took part in the legal proceedings. A hearing took place on 17 March 2022. The answers from the Court of Justice to the 5 questions will have an EU-wide impact on the use of derogations.

HT

Source: PAN Europe
Local product makes semifinals in 'Coolest Thing Made in NC' contest

Hendersonville-based Byers Precision Fabricators is in the running for Coolest Things Made in NC for its Arras Hotel architectural panels and metal logo.

Byers Precision Fabricators, a Hendersonville plant that created metal accents and a logo for the Arras Hotel in Asheville, has reached the semifinals of the Coolest Thing Made in NC contest.

The fabricator at 675 Dana Road, visible from I-26, was in the running with 80 other North Carolina businesses for its Arras Hotel Architectural Panels. Byers Precision Fabricators has a long history of taking on complex projects that require creative engineering and precise fabrication.

What an incredible honor this is," company President Anthony Byers said. "Considering the tens of thousands of unique products made in North Carolina, for Byers Precision to be recognized for one of the sixteen coolest things to be manufactured this year is a testament to the creativity and skill that our employees provide for our customers. Said Byers Precision, located in Hendersonville, was announced to the public as a semi-finalist on September 8along with 36 other semifinalists, for their Arras Hotel Architectural Panels in Asheville.

The company got its start in 1942 when Paul Byers opened a general sheet metal shop in Hendersonville. Byers Sheet Metal Works quickly became one of the largest ductwork and roofing contractors in the state, the company says in a history on its website. Now led by Paul's son, Roger Byers, Byers Precision Fabricators operates in a 60,000-square-foot facility that it calls "one of the cleanest, most modern job shops in the world."

Byers Precision Fabricators has a long history of taking on incredibly complex projects that require huge feats of engineering and fabrication precision, and this project was certainly no exception!

When the Arras Hotel approached Byers with their vision for visually stunning metal accents on a grand scale, the local company welcomed the challenge and got to work, creating astonishing window metal panels and a 6 metal logo for the hotel. For more information about what Byers Precision created for the Arras Hotel, click here: https://www.byersprecision.com/projects/hotel-arras-architectural-panels

The second round of voting continues through Friday, Sept. 16.

The top 5 businesses in each category will be announced on Thursday, Sept. 22, when Byers may move on to the last round, and compete as a Top 5 contender. The winner will be announced on Oct. 6.

The vote tally has been reset to level the field for all semifinalists. As in the first round, the community may still only vote once a day with a valid email address.

Go here to cast your vote.

When the Arras Hotel approached the company with their vision for visually stunning metal accents on a grand scale, the company welcomed the challenge and got to work, creating astonishing window metal panels and a 6-foot metal logo for the hotel.

"Their vision was to transform the former BB&T building in downtown Asheville to the boutique French-styled hotel, Arras," Byers says in a feature on the project. "Part of this design included incorporating the Arras logo into decorative metal panels as large as 20 feet in height and width."
ART dealer Simon Hearnden still thinks of Henley as home, even though he has not lived here for years.

He now lives in the Malvern Hills after spending a decade in Berlin, where he began collecting art.

He will be returning to his home town from next week with an 11-day exhibition of some of his collected German works at the Old Fire Station Gallery.

I grew up in Crazies Hill, up the hill, says Simon. My first house was in Gravel Hill, about 50 yards from the gallery, so I consider myself local.

The gallery is tucked away behind the town hall but its one of the nicest venues I exhibit at and, of course, I have people who know me coming in all the time, which is lovely.

This is the third time in seven years he has brought his Berlin Walls show to the venue. It is focused on the monotype prints of the enigmatic but talented artist Walter Lindner (1936-2007), whose work Simon had stumbled across while browsing in an antiques shop in the German capital in 2006.

He decided to buy up the entire collection using the money from the sale of his then home in Roke, near Benson.

He quit his graphic design business and focused on selling the work of Berlin artists around Britain, France and the Netherlands.

Lindner worked obsessively for 40 years, producing highly accomplished and original monotypes and Simon befriended him briefly.

He says: His artworks and prints continue to attract significant interest wherever they are displayed. The techniques and use of materials, as well as the subject matter, humour and even melancholy, attract other artists.

I am always pleased when an artist comes back to find me and tells me how Walter Lindner helped change the way they paint or make prints. It happens regularly and that makes me happy.

The latest exhibition, called Dare to be Different?, will feature some pieces by Lindner as well as an eclectic selection of modern, decorative and collectable late 20th century artworks and prints.

Simon says: This is a chance to view excellent quality art by artists of promise and renown from the former East and West and now unified German capital, which will be available at affordable prices.

The show will include a collectable lithograph by neo-expressionist artist A R Penck (1939-2017), whose work was recently shown in a retrospective at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.

Simon says: Penck had operated under various pseudonyms as an artist, attempting to avoid the attention he regularly attracted from the Stasi (the East German secret police), who refused his primitive art any accolades.

He managed to move to West Germany in 1980 but achieved the greatest recognition after he moved to London a few years later.

Another featured artist is painter and dancer Alexander Camaro (1901-1992), who was banned from exhibiting his paintings in Berlin by the Nazis, who branded his work degenerate. He survived that time mainly by dancing for a living.

Simon says: Following a comprehensive exhibition of his surviving works in 1951, Camaro became professor of painting at the Berlin University of the Arts.

He worked alternately on the island of Sylt and in Berlin until his passing.

He almost certainly taught Walter Lindner while at the university and gained notoriety following exhibitions at the Akademie Der Kunste in Berlin in the Seventies.

A charitable foundation was set up in Berlin by his widow, Renate, which continues to award bursaries to promising artists connected to the city.

Simon does his own homework to ensure that he gets the best results for the artists and their families.

He says: Im not a dealer trying to get rich on the back of unknown artists. Im quite philanthropic.

Im friends with a lot of these artists, or they are deceased artists whose widows or husbands or uncles Im friendly with.

I do really enjoy what I do. I dont know what Im going to see and I dont know whether Ill be trying to sell it over there or saying to them, Take it to a museum, or putting it into my next show.

 Dare to be Different? is at the Old Fire Station Gallery in Upper Market Place, Henley, from Friday, September 16 to Monday, September 26, open 11am to 6pm daily. For more information, call Simon on 07850 656856 or email simon@berlinwalls.co.uk
PREPARATIONS are well under way for the biggest event in the Greener Henley calendar  the second Great Big Green Week, which runs from Saturday, September 24 to Sunday, October 2.

This year Greener Henley is working with Henley Town Council to put on a feast of activities, so here is a brief rundown.

Do you remember the endangered species trail the shops enthusiastically embraced last year? Well, this year even more of our lovely traders will be doing special Great Big Green Week windows. Look out for the ABC of easy climate solutions in their displays.

Would you like to try some new vegetarian or plant-based dishes? Thirteen local restaurants and cafes have signed up for a green dish of the week theme highlighting what they already serve as well as some special new dishes for Great Big Green Week.

We will have a big display of whats on offer in Falaise Square on September 24 but if you want to book now, these businesses are particularly keen to take part: Buddys, the Bull on Bell Street, the Catherine Wheel, the Cheesy Grape, Costa, Crockers of Henley, Drifters, including Pig & Eel, Gails bakery, Harris + Hoole, The Pavilion, Pizza Express, Sage and Squash and the Spoon deli.

Earlier this year, Greener Henley set primary schools an environmental science challenge. In answer to our question How important are insects? we received fantastic drawings, charts, pamphlets and artwork. Come and see some on display at the library all week.

There will also be some choice examples in the gallery at the Great Big Green Fair in Market Place on September 24 (10am to 4pm). The Mayor will present awards to representatives of the schools.

Children are our future so it is wonderful to see they understand important issues that have taken us adults a long time to grasp.

We are delighted to be having many local organisations alongside us at the fair.

Gillotts Schools eco club will demonstrate how to recycle paper into useful objects.

Henley Youth Festival will be talking about its exciting green theme for next springs festival.

Young Climate Warriors will show how they are making a difference.

We also hope to see some examples of childrens art done at Greys Court on the National Trusts Gratitude for Nature stall.

Come and enjoy what Greenshoots and the Meteor Club have to offer  produce from their nursery in Peppard and some surprises too.

Henley Rotary Club will be there promoting its End Plastic Soup campaign, sharing a stall with Tools for Self-Reliance.

Henley Quakers will be explaining what climate justice really means.

Walkers are Welcome will give details of their litter-pick walk taking place during the week.

Professor Richard Forteys fabulous fungi roadshow is returning by popular demand. Henleys very own expert will amaze you with his collection of weird and wonderful fungi.

The town council is exhibiting some of the things it is doing to improve the environment thanks to the hard work of its parks staff, transport strategy group and climate emergency 2030 working group.

We will also have many good local food growers and producers, Bosley Patch, Honeys of Henley, Three Oaks Orchard, GAPS Fermented Foods and teas from Wild & Rust and therell be a special outing for Mabel, the vintage ice cream van, with Jane Tutill, of the Willow Basket.

Please come and support them all.

Greener Henley will be giving away trees and showing how to get involved with nature as well as offering information on its pop-up climate and nature hub.

Plus theres the Clean Air for Henley campaign, the Henley Toad Patrol and much more.

Greener Henley will host two events at the town hall:

Tuesday, September 27, 7pm to 9pm  public meeting and workshop on the proposed climate and nature hub.

Thursday, September 29, 5pm to 7pm  seminar called Green tactics for Henley businesses. A diverse group of local businesses will provide first- hand insights into the highs and lows of working towards net zero and treading more lightly on the planet. For tickets, visit https://greenerhenley.org.uk

We would like to thank Henley Town Council, the Tony Lane Foundation, Henley Royal Regatta, Thamesfield Youth Association, Mercers solicitors and Hobbs of Henley for their support of this years Great Big Green Week.

Diana Barnett
NINE Below Zero originals Dennis Greaves and Mark Feltham will perform an evening of the blues later this month.

Vocalist and guitarist Dennis and Mark (vocals and harmonica) started out with Stans Blues Band in 1977.

Two years later, when they began to take off, the band changed their name in tribute to a Sonny Boy Williamson cover of a Muddy Waters song. They garnered a reputation for blues on speed, touring pubs and rock venues across London.

In 1980, they signed to A&M Records and released their debut album Live at the Marquee. They played a sellout gig at the Hammersmith Odeon, supported by Jools Holland, before touring as support for The Who and The Kinks.

In 1981, the band appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test playing the shows theme, Stone Fox Chase, featuring the famous harmonica section. A year later, they appeared in the pilot episode of The Young Ones performing their hit 11+11.

Then the band split. Dennis and Mark continued to perform with stars from blues, rock and pop.

In 1990, after much cajoling, Nine Below Zero agreed to play an anniversary gig at Londons Town & Country Club (now the 02 Forum Kentish Town). The gig sold out so the band went on a UK tour which also sold out.

Dennis and Mark will play a stripped back and raw blues session reflecting their careers while chatting about the many musicians they have worked with.

 Nine Below Zero play the Crooked Billet, Newlands Lane, Stoke Row, on Wednesday, September 21. There is a full regular menu and tickets are 20 in the form of a music cover charge. For more information and to book tickets, call (01491) 681048 or visit thecrookedbillet.co.uk
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) charged Spring Creek Homeowners Association, the governing body of approximately 131 residential housing units in Jackson, Wyo., with discriminating against two homeowners because of disability by imposing restrictions on their assistance animals and retaliating against them for filing a Fair Housing Act complaint.

HUD alleges that Spring Creek Homeowners Association employed rules limiting the rights of residents with assistance animals, including requiring documentation typically provided to certain airlines.

Read on to learn more.
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
ASEAN must work together to ensure regional peace, stability, prosperity: Cambodian PM

Xinhua) 15:12, September 12, 2022

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen of Cambodia, the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for 2022, said here on Monday that bloc members must work together to address challenges to safeguard regional peace, stability and prosperity.

"In the context where geopolitical competition is heating up, ASEAN must act as a role model and work together to ensure regional peace, stability and prosperity by strengthening ASEAN unity and centrality and strictly adhering to partnerships and multilateral mechanisms to address challenges," he said in a speech at the opening ceremony of the 2022 ASEAN Leadership and Partnership Forum.

"Furthermore, ASEAN must also play a central role and serve as a platform for dialogues and cooperation, while reinforcing an open, transparent, inclusive, and rules-based regional architecture," he added.

The Cambodian leader said that as the ASEAN chair for 2022, Cambodia has worked actively in expanding and strengthening ASEAN's cooperation and partnership in various forms and fields, including socio-economy, trade and investment with friendly countries, development partners and international communities.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Bianji)
Opwest Partners, a Scottsdale-based investment and development firm, has partnered with Tucson-based Iridius Capital to open Tucson's first soft branded lifestyle hotel inside the iconic One South Church building in early 2023. The first nine floors of the building are currently being renovated into The Leo Kent, a Marriott Tribute Portfolio Hotel, while the upper floors of the tower have been upgraded and will continue to function as office space. The repositioning from office to hotel at One South Church is one of only a few high-rise adaptive reuse conversions that have been executed in the state of Arizona.

In addition to 145 rooms, a fitness center and function hall, guests and passersby will have access to the St. Cruz, a casual dining restaurant that offers to-go options, along with an elevated bar and lounge. The Leo Kent is located steps away from the SunLink Modern Streetcar Route, connecting guests to the rest of Downtown Tucson and the University of Arizona. Other nearby attractions include the Arizona State Museum, Fox Theatre, and numerous retail stores, bars and restaurants.

The project is also part of the Rio Nuevo District Project, and is exemplary of Rio Nuevo's greater mission to stimulate growth and re-energize Tucson into a vibrant hotspot for tourists and residents alike.

Hotel website
Global luxury travel network Virtuoso has honored Valentina De Santis as 'Hotelier of the Year' in this year's sought-after Virtuoso Awards during the evening gala closing the 34th annual Virtuoso Travel Week in Las Vegas.

For nearly 50 years, Valentina and her family have been an integral part of Lake Como's history, as owners of the Grand Hotel Tremezzo since 1973, now continuing paving the way for luxury hospitality with the June 2022 opening of their latest passion project, Passalacqua.

Each year, more than 4,000 of the industry's top travel advisors and partners gather at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas to reward the 'Luminaries, Legends and Leaders' of tourism and hospitality, celebrating individuals and brands alike who demonstrate unconditional passion for this sector. Announced on August 18th, the awards are considered the gold stamp of the travel industry.

Of the 12 recipients of the prestigious Virtuoso 'Hotelier of the Year' awards - the Oscar of Hotellerie - this is the fifth time that an Italian hotelier will be receiving the award, an incredible honor for the country, and only the second time that an owner of an independent hotel has been recognized in this category.

About Valentina De Santis Bio: As a third-generation entrepreneur with a great passion for her heritage and the field of hospitality, Valentina De Santis was born in Como in 1982. After earning her degree in Economics for the Arts, Culture and Communication followed by a specialization in General Management, Valentina began her career in Bain & Company, a strategic management consulting firm, mainly dealing with projects in the field of fashion and luxury.

In 2010, the centenary year of Grand Hotel Tremezzo, acquired by her grandfather in 1973, she began to immerse herself in the family business with a focus on developing the sales & marketing strategy for the hotel. With a fresh perspective on the industry and generations-long talent, Valentina pursued a new career following in the footsteps of her parents and in keeping the perfect balance between honoring tradition and infusing innovation, all with inspiration drawn from Lake Como.

In 2014, Valentina was nominated among five finalists as Best Hotelier of the Year. In 2019 she was ranked one of the 100 most successful Italian women for Forbes and in 2021 she won the Patrizio Cipollini Award as "Italian Hotelier of the Year" during Duco, a luxury travel show dedicated to Italian excellence.
Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP (JMBM) is pleased to announce that Real Estate Partner David Sudeck has been recognized in the National Law Journals 2022 list of Real Estate/Construction Law Trailblazers.

This list honors legal professionals who have made significant marks on the practice, policy and technological advancements in their sector.

Davids legal expertise and excellent client service have been essential to the success of the Global Hospitality Group and to the Firm as a whole, said Jim Butler. We are pleased that he has received this recognition as a Trailblazer.

Sudeck is a seasoned dealmaker with an international reputation as an expert in hospitality projects. He provides critical business and legal advice to owners and lenders in the purchase, sale, development, construction, financing, leasing, and sale-leaseback of hotel, resort and mixed-use properties, including structuring complex hotel management and branding agreements.

In 2021, David and his team at JMBMs Global Hospitality Group closed more than $210 million in Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) loans and in 2022 assisted in structuring the largest ever C-PACE transaction in the United States. His trailblazing work in this area has led to him representing the top lenders in the space. As David told the National Law Journal, [C-PACE financing] has been a critical part of the capital stackBorrowers have embraced the fact that it is non-recourse financing at a low cost.

To read Davids profile, click here.

See how JMBMs Global Hospitality Group can help you.

About JMBM

Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP is a full-service law firm committed to providing clients with outstanding results. From our offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Orange County, we serve our clients needs worldwide. For more information about our attorneys and our services, visit JMBM.com.

About the National Law Journal

The National Law Journal is a monthly magazine that publishes online daily and is owned by American Lawyer Media, ALM. The magazine reports legal information of national importance to attorneys, including federal circuit court decisions, verdicts, practitioners columns, coverage of legislative issues and legal news for the business and private sectors.

About the Global Hospitality Group

We have helped clients with more than 4,500 hospitality properties worth more than $112 billion, providing one of the most extensive virtual databases of market terms for deals and financings in the hospitality industry. For more information, visit www.HotelLawyer.com.

Jim Butler

+1 310 201 3526

JMBM

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Once the playthings of hobbyists, unmanned aerial vehicles  better known as drones  appear in the skies more frequently than ever, performing a range of commercial tasks, from documenting the construction of high-rise buildings to mapping large rural properties to detecting leaks in natural gas pipelines.

A Houston company is helping to lead businesses into the drone-assisted future. Founded five years ago, Professional Drone Services of Texas is flying drones for a roster of clients throughout Texas and parts of Louisiana. The companys drones not only can capture aerial images from as high as 400 feet, but also collect massive volumes of data through sensors and sophisticated cameras.

Professional Drone Services was among the first wave of companies offering drone services in Texas, launching not long after the Federal Aviation Administration adopted rules that opened the skies to commercial drones in 2016. But unlike many early entrants into the market, PDS has stayed in business.

The drone industry itself is kind of going through the growing pains of any young industry, said Jared Janacek, founder and president of Dallas-based Texas Drone Co. Just as fast as drone companies are popping up, they're also fading away.

Wayne Franks, the founder and CEO of Professional Drone Services, launched the company 2017 with the help of his three sons, all of whom were involved in aviation or technology. Brent, the eldest, is a fixed-wing pilot and owner of East Texas Charter. Middle son Garrett, a Navy veteran with a nuclear background, helped develop the young company with logistics and technical support.

Hayden, the youngest of the three is a certified by FAA to fly drones, He became Professional Drone Services first employee and drone pilot. He now works for Amazons Prime Air drone delivery program.

Professional Drone Services, or PDS, got its start by offering basic aerial photography for residential and commercial clients. But with a background in technology gained from almost 20 years working at Nortel Networks, Franks also wanted to offer high-tech, drone-aided solutions.

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I wanted to push our product set, so we went into more complex aerial solutions, such as mapping and thermal imaging, he said.

Franks admitted he first few years in business were difficult as the company tried to gain its footing. Potential clients, particularly those in the residential real estate market, still viewed drones with suspicion, because of the vehicles early reputation as flying peeping Toms, Franks said.

Perceptions, however, changed as companies began to see the versatility of drones and their cost savings compared to planes or helicopters.

We've been in this business five years now, which kind of makes us a veteran, Franks said. We can leverage the experience we've had.

Specialists v. generalists

Janacek, whose company provides drone services to the mining, architecture and construction industries, said the drone business in Texas is becoming increasingly specialized.

Among the specialists are Houston-based Trumble Unmanned, which services the oil and gas industry. Another drone service company based in Houston, Dimensional Geomatics. focused on the high-tech aspects of mapping.

Other companies, such as Professional Drone Services, tend to provide a broader range of services

Dawn Zoldi, a drone market expert, said companies such as Professional Drone Services often start out servicing one market segment before shifting attention to other faster-growing markets.

Zoldi, a lawyer, Air Force veteran and founder and CEO of P3 Tech Consulting, said the oil and gas industry presents one of the biggest opportunities for growth for Texas drone companies. Aerial mapping is another as government agencies increasingly use drones to create maps and data banks for disaster planning and other applications.

There are definitely a lot of applications right now, she said, The industry's starting to pick up, especially after COVID.

Ready to soar

Before launching Professional Drone Services, Franks worked as a corporate executive and an entrepreneur. He began his career at Nortel, where he worked for 19 years, rising to the position of senior vice president. He then ran his own company, Outdoor Homescapes of Houston, building outdoor kitchens until he decided to sell and make another career change.

Franks sons encouraged him to get into the aviation industry. At the time, the buzz in aviation circles focused on the potential for explosive growth in commercial drone services as the FAA prepared to finalize its drone rules.

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The idea of owning a technology-driven business appealed to Franks, who funded the startup himself. Although he declined to disclose financial details, he said the company is profitable, growing an average of 15 to 18 percent each year over the past five years.

I run this company the same as I ran my division for a Fortune 500 company, he said. There's just not as many zeros now.

With its headquarters in north Houston, Professional Drone Services employs nine drone pilots in Texas, four in Houston, three in the Austin/San Antonio area, and two in Dallas.

PDS maintains a fleet of five drones, supplemented by some of its pilots own drones. All of the companys drones are manufactured by Da-Jiang Innovations, the worlds largest drone maker, based in Shenzhen, China.

Security controversy

In recent years, the federal government has raised security concerns over the use of DJI drones. Their use by the Department of Defense and other federal agencies has been banned, except under special circumstances.

Recently, the Department of Homeland Security issued an industry alert to companies and government agencies, such as police and fire departments, warning of potential security risks from Chinese-manufactured drones.

Despite the controversy, Franks defends his companys use of Da-Jiang Innovations drones.

I've thought about it quite honestly over the last year or two and here's my answer. I don't do any Defense Department or government work. That's number one, Franks said. Number two, DJI is by far the best manufacturer out there.

Drone applications

About 80 percent of Professional Drone Services business is related to real estate. Drones play an increasingly important role in the construction of apartment complexes and other commercial developments, and in mapping large tracts of land.

Commercial real estate accounts for about 60 percent of the companys business. Professional Drone Services performs what is known as aerial asset documentation, in which the company flies a drone over a construction site once a month to document the changes. The builders use this data to demonstrate to investors the progress made on multi-million-dollar projects.

The companys commercial real estate industry business also includes conducting flights over large tracts of undeveloped land, accounting for about 20 percent of revenues, Franks said. Basically, we're a surveyor in the sky, he said.

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Although not authorized to create surveys for legal records purposes, drone-enabled technology, such as high-resolution cameras, can create sophisticated maps. For landowners, PDS mapping technology allows them to see what's on their land and determine the best way to develop it, Franks said.

Much of the rest of the companys business comes from the oil and gas industry. PDS flies drones equipped with thermal imaging, infrared sensors and other equipment to detect leaks and emissions from refineries and pipelines. Concern about methane -- a powerful greenhouse gas that escapes into the atmosphere during the production, transportation and refining of oil and natural gas -- is growing among energy companies and regulators.

Flying a drone along a stretch of pipeline is a faster, more efficient and less expensive than alternatives, such as satellite monitoring or using handheld devices that sniff out methane leaks.

The old method is literally taking a four-wheeler, an ATV, and a handheld methane detection device and start driving the pipeline. Franks said. Its not very efficient, especially if the EPA, the government, is on their tail.

Expansion mode

Franks said the next step in his companys evolution is expanding into cities across the nation.

We've recreated what we do here, how we handle clients, the drones that we fly, he said. We've kind of standardized those processes and procedures and we're able to duplicate that in other cities.
EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP)  As Queen Elizabeth II's four children walked silently behind, a hearse carried her flag-draped coffin Monday along a crowd-lined street in the Scottish capital to a cathedral, where a service of thanksgiving hailed the late monarch as a constant in all of our lives for over 70 years.

Four days after the 96-year-old queen died at Balmoral Castle in the Scottish Highlands, a military bagpiper played as her oak coffin, draped in the red-and-yellow Royal Standard of Scotland, was borne from the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh in a solemn procession.

King Charles III, dressed in army uniform, and his siblings Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward walked behind as the hearse traveled to St. Giles Cathedral, flanked by a bearer party of the Royal Regiment of Scotland and a detachment of the Royal Company of Archers, the king's ceremonial bodyguard in Scotland.

Inside the church, the coffin was placed on a wooden stand and topped with the golden Crown of Scotland, encrusted with 22 gems and 20 precious stones along with freshwater pearls from Scotlands rivers.

And so we gather, to bid Scotlands farewell to our late monarch, whose life of service to the nation and the world we celebrate. And whose love for Scotland was legendary, said the Rev. Calum MacLeod.

Because the queen died at her summer home of Balmoral, Scotland has been the focus of the worlds attention for the first part of Britains 10 days of national mourning. Large crowds have lined the route as her coffin journeyed from the castle to Edinburgh, underscoring the deep bond between the queen and Scotland. That bond persisted even as relations soured between the Conservative U.K. government in London and the pro-independence Scottish administration in Edinburgh.

Church of Scotland Moderator Iain Greenshields said most of us cannot recall a time when she was not our monarch.

Committed to the role she assumed in 1952 upon the death of her beloved father, she has been a constant in all of our lives for over 70 years, he said. She was determined to see her work as a form of service to others."

The coffin will remain at the cathedral until Tuesday so the public can pay their respects. Thousands of people lined the 0.7-mile (1 kilometer) route between palace and cathedral, some arriving hours early to catch a glimpse.

I just wanted to be here, just to show  last respects. I cannot believe she is dead, said Marilyn Mclear, a 70-year-old retired teacher. I know she was 96, but I just cannot believe the queens dead.

One man shouted at the passing hearse, while others called out: God save the king! But the procession was greeted mostly with a respectful silence under a blue sky flecked with clouds.

Charles and his siblings later stood in silent vigil at the church, lowering their heads as they stood at four sides of their mother's oak coffin alongside members of the Royal Company of Archers. As they performed the traditional vigil, members of the public filed past.

Charles, Anne and Edward all wore military uniforms, but Andrew did not. The Royal Navy veteran was stripped of his honorary military titles and was removed as a working royal over his friendship with the notorious U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Charles later donned a kilt as he visited the Scottish parliament, where he was greeted by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

The queen, like so many generations of our family before her, found in the hills of this land and in the hearts of its people a haven and a home, Charles told Scottish lawmakers.

Earlier, the queen's grandson, Prince Harry, hailed her as a guiding compass and praised her unwavering grace and dignity."

The government, meanwhile, announced the nation will observe a minute of silence on Sunday, the evening before the queen's funeral. The moment of reflection will take place at 8 p.m. (1900 GMT, 3 p.m. EDT).

Before flying to Scotland, Charles received condolences at Parliament on Monday and told lawmakers he would follow his late mothers example of selfless duty.

Hundreds of lawmakers crowded into the 1,000-year-old Westminster Hall for the service, rich in pageantry, in which Parliament offered its condolences to the king. A trumpet fanfare greeted him and Camilla, the Queen Consort.

Charles told the House of Commons and the House of Lords that he would follow his late mother in upholding the precious principles of constitutional governance that underpin the U.K.s political system.

As I stand before you today, I cannot help but feel the weight of history, which surrounds us and which reminds us of the vital parliamentary traditions to which members of both Houses dedicate yourselves, with such personal commitment, for the betterment of us all, Charles said.

The ceremony was held in Westminster Hall because monarchs are not allowed inside the House of Commons since King Charles I tried to enter and arrest lawmakers. That confrontation led to a civil war which ended with the king being beheaded in 1649.

In a personal tribute to his grandmother, Prince Harry said he cherished their times together from my earliest childhood memories with you, to meeting you for the first time as my Commander-in-Chief, to the first moment you met my darling wife and hugged your beloved great-grandchildren.

Amid acrimony in the House of Windsor, Harry quit as a senior royal and moved to the U.S. two years ago. On Saturday, there was a possible sign of a reconciliation as Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, joined his brother Prince William and sister-in-law Catherine, the Princess of Wales, in meeting mourners outside Windsor Castle.

Harrys statement alluded to the death of his grandfather, Prince Philip, last year: We too smile, knowing that you and grandpa are reunited now and both together in peace.

The queen's coffin will be flown Tuesday to London, where it will lie in state at the Houses of Parliament from Wednesday afternoon until the morning of her funeral on Sept. 19. U.S. President Joe Biden is among the world leaders and dignitaries planning to attend the service at Westminster Abbey.

Authorities already have issued rules for people wanting to pay their respects in London.

Vanessa Nathakumaran showed up more than two days early to stake out a place. I really, really want to be part of it, she said.

Judging by the size of the crowd in Edinburgh, the line behind Nathakumaran will be long.

Rosamund Allen, 67, came to Edinburgh from Rothbury in northern England to be part of history.

It was very moving. It was very quiet," she said. "I felt very sorry for the family itself to be on show. They are very brave to do that. And I really hope and pray that they get something out of today and have a chance to mourn themselves.

"They were very kind to allow us to be part of their sadness.

___

Corder and Lawless reported from London.

___

Follow AP stories on the death of Queen Elizabeth II and Britains royal family at https://apnews.com/hub/queen-elizabeth-ii
Two months out from Election Day, the politically charged debate over crime and public safety in Harris County already has hit a boiling point.

Rev. Ed Young of Houstons Second Baptist Church recently called his hometown the most dangerous city in America as he urged congregants to oust left-wing progressives from local office. Democratic county leaders insist crime is down and they are pumping money into law enforcement. And their Republican challengers are staking their campaigns on the opposite assertion: crime is out of control, and Democrats are to blame.

In reality, the situation is far more complicated.

While violent crime has spiked in Houston and Harris County, the same can be said of nearly every large city and county in the nation  many of which have far higher rates of murder and other violent crime. Criminologists also point to many possible factors underpinning the crime surge, making it impossible to sum up the situation with a single statistic or policy decision.

It's not a Republican thing or a Democrat thing, especially with the increase over the last four years. It's been a national increase, clearly, said New Orleans-based criminologist Jeff Asher, who added that Houstons murder rate is middle of the pack for major American cities.

Further complicating the debate are the myriad ways of interpreting Harris Countys public safety spending, a topic that has taken center stage since Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar last month accused the county of defunding its constables, allegedly in violation of a newly enacted state law.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, a Democrat who presides over Commissioners Court, repeatedly has said the sheriff, constables and district attorney have received funding boosts in each county budget since Democrats won a 3-2 court majority in 2018. The annual increases are comparable to those adopted under Republican control, relative to the size of the countys overall general fund budget, with some caveats.

Critics argue the full picture must account for Democrats decision last year to scrap a policy that let departments retain unspent funds into future budget cycles. The change led to the county recouping a significant amount of rollover funds from law enforcement and other departments, some of which had accumulated millions of unspent dollars over the years.

Michael Adams, a political science professor at Texas Southern University, said this years Commissioners Court elections offer a stark choice between Republicans who are pitching a return to the countys traditional focus on public safety and infrastructure, and Democrats who have pushed for a more expansive role, including social services, for county government.

The success of the GOP approach depends less on statistical trends and more on whether crime is visible to voters on the nightly news, Adams said.

Certainly, the crime issue has been a staple for the Republican side, said Adams, the director of TSUs master of public administration program. They feel that they can galvanize and gin up voter support by running on an anti-crime platform, and its nothing new for them. You can go back to Richard Nixon, in terms of being tough on crime, law-and-order.

Violent crime rates

Contrary to Youngs claim, Houston is far from the most dangerous city in the country. In 2020, the first year of the homicide surge, Houston tallied about 17 murders per 100,000 people, less than half the rates recorded by several other large cities, including St. Louis, Baltimore, New Orleans, Detroit, Memphis and Cleveland.

Still, Houston has seen a sharp rise in homicides each of the last two years, starting with a 43 percent surge from 2019 to 2020  similar to the increase measured across all of Harris County, including Houston and the other incorporated cities. Murders across the country spiked by 29 percent that year, as a number of large cities  including Chicago and New York  recorded increases north of 50 percent.

Counts of assault also rose about 30 percent across Harris County in 2020, while property crimes saw a slight decline, according to the Texas Department of Public Safetys index crimes report, which collects data from local law enforcement.

Experts have offered a number of theories for why the country saw such a dramatic surge in homicides. Some of the leading theories include mental and financial stress of the COVID-19 pandemic; strained police-community relations; and officers taking a less proactive approach in the face of widespread scrutiny, known as de-policing.

I think it was a complex confluence of factors related to, but not inherently caused by, a sort of increasing distrust in police, increasing de-policing, and exacerbated but not caused by the pandemic, and a nation awash in guns, Asher said, stressing he was offering only a hypothesis.

Homicides climbed again in Houston last year, from 400 to 469. With a rate of about 20 murders per 100,000 people, 2021 marked one of the citys deadliest years over the last three decades. Houston also surpassed Dallas for the highest murder rate among Texas large cities  though still well behind other big cities around the country.

Overall, Harris County law enforcement agencies tallied 632 homicides last year, a 12 percent increase from the previous year, according to DPS data. The uptick was driven almost entirely by murders in Houston, however, with the homicide rate in unincorporated Harris County staying flat at about 5 killings per 100,000 people.

Now, following back-to-back years of sharp increases, the murder rate has begun to recede in Houston and the county as a whole. And each major category of violent crime  murder, rape, robbery and assault  has declined countywide through the first half of 2022 compared to the same point last year, according to DPS data.

Hidalgo, up for re-election in November, has cited the reversing murder trend in her attempts to counter Republican challenger Alexandra del Moral Mealer, who has vowed to prioritize public safety and hike law enforcement spending if elected.

Even with the initial decrease through June, however, the countywide tallies of murders and assaults remained on pace to far exceed their levels from 2019, the year before those two categories spiked.

Law enforcement funding

While the political dispute over constable funding has attracted headlines in recent weeks, the combined budget of Harris Countys eight constable precincts makes up only a fraction of the countys overall public safety spending. In the most recent annual spending plan, Commissioners Court budgeted about $879 million for the sheriffs office, constables and district attorney, nearly two-thirds of which went to the sheriff.

That amounted to about a 15 percent increase in funding for the countys main public safety departments across the first three years of Democratic control on Commissioners Court, which began in January 2019. Those same departments saw their funding rise at roughly the same rate  14.5 percent  over the final three years of the Republican court majority, from 2015 to 2018.

A key difference, however, is the countys decision to do away with rollover funds in March 2021, shortly after Commissioners Court approved the county budget that year.

Some constables said they submitted their annual budget requests based on the assumption they would retain their rollover funds, only to later discover otherwise. Republican Commissioner Jack Cagle, a critic of the move, has compared the situation to stealing someones savings right before their bills are due at the end of the month.

Now I don't have the money to pay my bills when the next month rolls around, Cagle said. I think that that was not fair to those who are dependent upon their rollover (funds) to come in and take, in essence, their savings account away from them.

County budget officials note they allowed each department, including constables, to retain unspent funds last year for specific proposals and demonstrated needs, as long as they were used for one-time expenses. They were not allowed to use the funds to pay for personnel, as some constables regularly had done.

When the county ended the rollover policy last year, the eight constables had a collective $18.9 million in unspent funds, mostly accumulated over multiple years, according to the Office of the County Administrator. They requested about $5 million in one-time expenses out of those funds, all of which were approved, while the rest were returned to the county, County Administrator David Berry said.

Most of the remaining funds came from Republican Constables Mark Herman and Ted Heap, who later filed the complaint that sparked Hegar to weigh in on the issue.

During a court meeting last year, Hidalgo said the policy change was intended in part to end the practice of departments using rollover money to fund baseline operations, including hiring personnel, outside the traditional budgeting process.

The problem is, if we allow folks to fill unfunded positions that have not been approved as part of the budget, and retroactively say, hey, now I want you to make them permanent, it sets a terrible precedent, Hidalgo said. ...We cannot set a precedent where folks fill positions that are unfunded, and then expect us to fund them, and if we don't you call it defunding the police.

Hidalgo and county budget officials also said Harris County largely was an outlier in allowing departments to keep unspent funds for future budgeting cycles. In a memo last year outlining the change, Berry said some departments were not filling all their funded positions so they could increase their rollover amount.

Former county judge Ed Emmett, a Republican whom Hidalgo unseated in 2018, said he favored the use of rollover budgeting because he thought it incentivized fiscal discipline among departments and discouraged end-of-year spending sprees on unneeded items.

He also took a swing at Hidalgo and Democratic Commissioners Rodney Ellis and Adrian Garcia, without mentioning the latter two by name, for preserving their own rollover funds in the county budget.

I think Judge Hidalgo and the Democrats would be on firmer ground if they'd done away with their own rollover budgets, Emmett said. I mean, how can they say that? It's an absurd argument to say, oh, rollovers are terrible, but we kept ours. Really?

Hidalgo and all four commissioners are exempt from the policy change. The county's latest proposed budget for the next fiscal year estimates the four commissioners would retain at least $85 million in combined unspent funds, while Hidalgo would not carry over any money.

Emmett said he sides with Mealer and other Republicans who argue the county should be spending more on law enforcement, but he also took issue with Hegars intervention in the budgeting process.

I don't think the state helps by getting involved, is all Im saying, he said. I think thats something that the local residents can pick up on.

Editor's note: Based on the county budget proposal, this story originally stated County Judge Lina Hidalgo's office was expected to roll over less than $1 million in the new year. An updated budget plan released Monday eliminates that carry-over altogether.

jasper.scherer@chron.com
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In some ways, "Love Island USA" is the antithesis of ABC's "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" franchises. Yes, they are all reality dating shows, but the similarities pretty much stop there.

Season four of "Love Island USA," an American spin-off of the popular British series, was picked up by Peacock. A fifth season is already in the works. On "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette," contestants often live together in a mansion; the challenges are romantic, over-the-top and require a full wardrobe of tuxedos and evening gowns. "Love Island USA" castmates take shelter in a Southern California setting that feels like a love child of "The Truman Show"-meets-"Pleasantville." Some challenges are more ick than slick, and for 40 days, the 20-somethings looking for love frolic around in bikinis and swim trunks.

Two young Houstonians, Jesse Bray and Sydney Paight, competed on the most recent season of "Love Island USA" which premiered on July 19. By the finale on Sept. 1, both appeared as finalists. Neither took home the $100,000 cash prize. "The Bachelor/The Bachelorette" finales typically conclude with a proposal and diamond ring but all the shows have one thing in common in how the contestants often are scouted: Instagram.

"I hadn't watched any previous seasons (of "Love Island")," says Bray, 27, who's originally from Ohio. "I was contacted before for another show, "20 Something" on Netflix. Then that same casting producer from Instagram hit me up again."

He initially auditioned in January 2022. The lengthy interview process was conducted over Zoom. By June, Bray landed the gig.

Paight, 22, grew up in Katy and graduated from James E. Taylor High School. Unlike Bray, she'd seen "Love Island USA" season two and part of season three, plus at least one season of the original UK show. A casting recruiter slid into her social media direct messages, too.

"I was very intrigued and thought, 'Let's just see where this goes,'," she says. "I started getting very excited because I was very single."

As a COVID-19 precaution, cast members were isolated from each other in quarantine for nearly a month. When they emerged to start filming, Bray describes the location as a tropical paradise.

"Everything looked so perfect, the attention to detail," he says. "Everything was really bright and colorful. My favorite part was the treehouse. It's literally in a tree with a daybed that's private and secluded. (Deborah Chubb) and I had our first conversation up there."

Chubb, a 26-year old personal assistant and Dallas-native who now lives in Redondo Beach, Calf., immediately caught his eye.

"It was the blond hair and black swimsuit," Bray says. "Looking into her eyes was like looking into the ocean. We connected on a spiritual level and were raised very, very similarly."

Spoiler alert: they're still together. Bray works in Houston as a delivery courier in Houston and already has plans to visit Chubb this month. The couple finished season four in third place.

Besides falling in love, his second favorite part of the experience was forging friendships with the male cast members.

"Honestly, I loved just bonding with my bros and getting with guys -- you know, giving each other haircuts and brotherhood," Bray says.

Walking into the "Love Island" villa can be intimidating, he admits. "You walk in and everyone is drop dead gorgeous. Fit and in perfect shape with perfect teeth."

Fortunately, a gym was available. Most contestants spent one to two hours working out each day.

For Paight, who works at a tech start-up, being camera-ready at all times was challenging.

"In my normal life I don't wear a lot of makeup," she says. Cast members were required to wear microphones and battery packs 24/7, too.

Like Bray, she also found love. Paight coupled up with Isaiah Campbell, 21, a server and TikTok personality. Their relationship had its fair share of ups and downs, though ultimately, they won second place. Zeta Morrison and Timmy Pandolfi, both 29, were named winners of "Love Island USA" and awarded the six-figure prize.

Paight and Campbell have plans to test their connection in the real world, as well.

Filming the show was an intense process, she says. "If you have tough skin, and are unapologetically yourself and can be vulnerable, I would recommend it. I will say, not everyone is right for the show."

Bray agrees, and has zero regrets. "For the most part we had high respect for one another, we're all big-hearted people," he says. "We all got ready together, slept together -- shared clothes and shared beds. The common ground was respect."



amber.elliott@chron.com
Michael Hsus growth as an architect has taken a parallel path to architecture in general: more experiential and meaningful and with a broader view that good design can solve problems for both people and the planet.

Architecture is a part of the environment. We use a tremendous amount of resources and those buildings go on to use more resources, Hsu said of the carbon footprint of the built environment. Even from Houston to Austin, we make adjustments on things. In Houston its about waterproofing, dealing with water; in Austin, they dont have enough of it.

Though he was born in Taiwan, Hsu grew up in southeast Houston, Kinney and Ellen Hsu, brought him and his younger brother, Jonathon, in the early 1970s.

Hes been an architect for 30 years, opening his award-winning firm, the Michael Hsu Office of Architecture in 2005 and a second office in Houston in 2019, with a total staff of 86. Theyve designed high-profile commercial projects such as the Montrose Collective on Westheimer and M-K-T and Heights Mercantile in the Heights, plus well-known restaurants such as Uchi and Uchiko, Loro and Il Bracco.

In the past several years, the work of Hsu and his growing staff has won a flurry of awards, including some from the Texas Society of Architects and from AIA chapters in Austin and Houston. In the recent AIA Houston Design Awards, Hsu and his staff brought home three prizes, for the Austin Habitat for Humanity Mueller Row Homes, a family pavilion at Waterloo Park in Austin and for Renovation/Restoration for its work on the Loro restaurant in Houstons Heights.

An immigrant experience

When Hsu was growing up in the Sagemont area, his experience was that of a first-generation immigrant, learning English more quickly than his parents and flexing his independence as he found his way on his own.

A ship captain, his father had traveled the world sailing cargo ships and fell in love with America  Houston in particular  deciding to bring his family here to live in an Asian community that included other ship captains whod made similar moves, Hsu said.

He attended Dobie High School and waited tables at Uncle Tais Chinese restaurant in Houston, ever mindful of his parents hard work and sacrifice and their expectations of him.

His family was thrilled when Hsu earned a scholarship to study engineering at the University of Texas-Austin. His first semester grades were proof, though, that engineering wasnt for him, and when he told his mother he was changing his major to fine art, she was disappointed.

When I told my mother, she burst into tears. She assumed I was in for a life of very hard work and improbable success, said Hsu, 52 and a father of two. While Hsu lives in Austin, he travels to Houston once or twice a month to visit both his mother and his office here.

Now that Im a parent, I have an enormous amount of gratitude for what they did. What you take on to do that, adapting to a new culture and everything, Hsu said. When you come from a place of scarcity it forces you to be practical.

He pivoted to architecture, the perfect place for the combined skills of engineering and art  structure and creativity. In the 30 years since, hes proved he made the right choice, first working at an architecture firm in The Netherlands, then returning to Austin to work at Dick Clark Architecture before founding his own firm.

Hsus architectural inspiration comes from classic European modernists but he also appreciates the lasting design of ancient structures.

I try to take an architectural tour every summer with my kids. We went to Italy this summer and last year we spent time in France. In Italy, the work of Carlo Scarpa is so beautiful and interesting to me, the way he uses materials and textures and patterns is so rich, Hsu said.

One of the most emotional experiences I have had in a building is a classic one, a high Gothic cathedral like Sainte-Chapelle in Paris where theres more glass than there is stone. I dont know how it is supporting itself and it was built 600 years ago, Hsu continued. Or a space like the Pantheon, and it was built 2,000 years ago and is still incredibly beautiful

He and his staff have found success in commercial, hospitality and residential projects in Houston. Theyve flexed their creative muscle with new buildings such as the Montrose Collective, as well as reshaping old buildings into something new, as they did at Heights Mercantile and M-K-T.

The residential experience

Gaining public attention from those projects, his office has launched two residential projects, both of which are in the Heights. One is for Houston interior designer Linda Eyles and her husband, Simon, and the other is for Houston Realtor Bill Baldwin and his partner Fady Armanious, creative director at Tootsies, both of whom are bold-faced names on the social circuit.

Eyles is the interior designer on the Baldwin-Armanious house, and thats how she came to know the work of Hsu and his staff. Eyles home under construction is more compact, and its gable roof is meant to blend into its older neighborhood with a more sculptural approach to the architecture.

Bill and Fadys house isnt my style at all, but I really like their approach Eyles said of the Hsu team. She described her home under construction as one that will have big windows that frame the sky and trees, but also with a mix of curves and rectilinear forms.

I might be more frustrating than their other clients because I have pretty big ideas myself, but theyve been good about collaboration, Eyles said. We were  coming to a time to talk about interior doors. I reached out to the Houston team and one guy out of Austin and said 'this slab door doesnt seem like what we want.' He put pencil to paper and the lead architect, Jay Colombo, shot me back 10 quick sketches for interior door design. It was a nice back-and-forth design conversation. Were all trying some things and going outside the box.

Baldwin, who owns Boulevard Realty and has been a Realtor for 25 years, said he feels like hes earned a masters degree in design from all hes learned through the process of designing his new home.

Along the way, hes seen 3D virtual models of his future home, factoring in some of his existing furniture and artwork, too. The home will be around 8,000 square feet  large enough to accommodate parties with 200 or more guests.

They consider how the wind blows and sun rises. We have a very large window in the kitchen with no overhang and I was concerned about whether it would be hot at 5:30 when Im cooking, Baldwin said of the attention to detail in the planning of their energy-efficient home that will include solar panels and an underground cistern to collect rainwater. We brought in energy consultants, native landscaping consultants, generator people and migratory bird consultants to make sure birds dont hit the windows and die. Were trying to be sensitive to issues about the climate and topography and geography of where we live.

diane.cowen@chron.com
Two Houston doctors are part of a group in the U.S. helping Ukrainian physicians set up sites to diagnose and treat traumatic brain injuries suffered in the countrys war with Russia.

Dr. Kenneth Podell, a neuropsychologist who is the director of the Houston Methodist Concussion Center, and Dr. Mary Rose Newsome, a cognitive neuroscientist and associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine, are among a half-dozen American doctors who are providing medical and financial aid to their counterparts in Ukraine.

Doctors in Ukraine said they have seen a spike in traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder since Russian troops invaded the country more than 200 days ago. The injuries have affected soldiers and volunteers who have taken up arms during the war, as well as civilians hurt by Russian offensives that have devastated cities and towns across Ukraine.

Traumatic brain injuries can have a range of long-term effects depending on the type and its severity. It could cause memory and concentration problems; seizures; trouble sleeping; mental health symptoms such as depression and anxiety, among other issues.

The U.S. doctors are primarily offering guidance on how to diagnose and treat TBIs or PTSD, and how to set up a database to collect information that could be used to refine and improve the program going forward, Podell said. Doctors in Ukraine will set up the sites and provide the staff and equipment necessary to run them. Podell expects the assessment sites will be up and running within the next few weeks.

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What we're envisioning is to be able to set up a system [where] they have a sturdy assessment protocol that will address effects of traumatic brain injury, address treatment options, and address psychiatric difficulties, Podell said.

The U.S. doctors have provided their expertise virtually, Podell said, by sending information via Dropbox or other internet-based services. They also plan to help raise money to buy supplies for the Ukraine assessment sites, Podell said. He also set up a GoFundMe page, "Ukrainian Neuropsychologists, where the public can contribute to the effort.

Both Podell and Newsome said they joined the effort because they saw it as an ideal way for them to help the people of Ukraine amid the war. While only a half-dozen American doctors are currently involved in the project, Newsome expects that number to grow.

"People in neuropsychology are big-hearted people," she said. "I have a feeling that once word gets out about this, others will want to contribute as well.

The American doctors became involved in the effort through Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg, the director of the Luria Neuroscience Institute and a clinical professor at New York Universitys Grossman School of Medicine. Goldberg, who is Podells mentor, was born in Russia and immigrated to the U.S. in 1974.

Ukrainian doctors reached out to Goldberg to ask for his advice shortly after Russia invaded in late February, he said.

When the war started, they anticipated a lot of soldiers would [suffer] head wounds, and they anticipated the general population would be traumatized with PTSD and such, Goldberg said. They were just seeking help, seeking advice.

Goldberg reached out to Podell, who also agreed to help. The partnership grew to include Newsome and several colleagues at the University of Utah. One of the Utah neuropsychologists has a son who did missionary work in Ukraine and can speak the language, so he was also brought in to help translate, Podell said.

Ukrainian doctors first reached out to Goldberg because U.S. doctors have more experience diagnosing and treating TBIs during armed conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Dr. Dmitry Garyshkin, a neuropsychologist who is helping to treat wounded soldiers at two hospitals in Ukraine. Ukrainian doctors do not have the same expertise, he said.

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America has more information. More methods of treatment. They have experience with rehabilitation after wars, Garyshkin said through a translator. We had no methods or metrics [for] testing, because this isnt something Ukraine has [gone] through.

Garyshkin noted that, in addition to TBIs, many Ukrainian civilians are suffering from PTSD, anxiety and depression. The United Nations has estimated at least 12 million Ukrainians have been forced to flee their homes during the war, and many of them are worried they may never be able to return, Garyshkin said.

Garyshkin declined to provide specifics about the assessment sites, but Podell said he believes there will be about 10 throughout Ukraine. Most will offer in-person treatment, but some could offer virtual visits with doctors, he said.

While American doctors have more experience treating soldiers who who suffered TBIs in Iraq and Afghanistan, Podell and Goldberg noted that the types of injuries being seen in Ukraine are different.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. soldiers often suffered blast injuries from improvised explosive devices (IEDs), Podell said. In Ukraine, a larger number of injuries are from objects like bullets or shrapnel penetrating the skull, or from blunt force trauma from falls and building collapses, he said.

Penetrating injuries could affect motor skills, speech and perception. Blast injuries could cause concussions or affect memory, thinking and concentration, Podell said.

The difference in the types of injuries being seen in Ukraine could help American doctors in the future, Podell and Goldberg said. Once the assessment sites are up and running, Ukrainian doctors will be able to collect data that can be shared with and analyzed by doctors in the U.S. The hope is that data will offer a better understanding of TBIs, and will help American doctors treat U.S. soldiers who suffer brain injuries.

The nature of head injuries is probably very different," Goldberg said. "So this will be an experience from which obviously their doctors will learn, but also our doctors and our neuropsychologists.
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After her son's death in February, its been very important for Margie Taylor to stay connected to other moms who understand what shes going through.

Joey Lenz, a specialist in the U.S. Army, died unexpectedly and of still undetermined causes at age 32 on Feb. 1 at Fort Hood.

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People just dont know what to say to you, she said. It did happen and it did change my life just like it would any other mother or father who has lost a child, thats why its so important to be connected with other moms and families who you can communicate with that understand.

Before Lenz death Taylor, 63, didnt know anything about the Gold Star Mothers, a national organization for mothers and family members who have lost a child in the military while actively serving.

Now shes found her community among this group and is working to launch a Montgomery County chapter.

American Gold Star Mothers, Inc is a federal charter incorporated in 1929 by 25 mothers in Washington, D.C. During the 74th Congress in June 1936.

As a part of her efforts locally, the Spring Creek Area TX18 Blue Star Mothers of America, Inc.  for mothers and family members of active service members and the Montgomery County Veterans Commission will host the first Gold Star Moms and Families Sunrise Service for Gold Star Mothers & Family Day.

The service is set for 7 a.m. Sept. 25 at the Montgomery County Veterans Memorial Park in Conroe.

Gold Star Mothers Day is observed in the United States in honor of Gold Star Mothers, on the last Sunday in September as a day to honor and recognize those who have lost a child while serving in the United States Armed Services. The day is set aside to commemorate the contributions, commitments and sacrifices made by the parents individually and through the American Gold Star Mothers, Inc.

The commission has also purchased a Gold Star Mothers flag that will be raised on Sept. 25 and flown on Freedom Row at the park.

On YourConroeNews.com: Baker's Signs honored for signage at Veteran's Park

We honor our veterans and our fallen soldiers, so this is a time to honor those who have lost a loved one while in active service, said Judge Jimmie Edwards III, Chairman of the Montgomery County Veterans Memorial Commission.

The event will also feature a transitioning Blue Star Military Mothers to Gold Star Mothers Pinning Ceremony, a presentation of the Gold Star Wreath in recognition of the fallen service members and a short service.

Taylor, now a member of the national Gold Star Mothers organization, will receive her Gold Star flag and Gold Star pin on Sept. 25.

Three other Montgomery County mothers who lost their sons while in active service will receive their Gold Star pins Sept. 25.

Ana Hernandez, of Splendora, lost her son, Armando, 20, in June 2021 in an on-duty accident while serving in Okinawa in the U.S. Marine Corps.

A memorial bench was placed in his memory at the Conroe veterans park in July. Since his passing, the Hernandez family has participated in walks in Armandos memory and Ana is now working with Taylor to organize a Gold Star Mothers unit in Montgomery County.

Sherry Guy, of Splendora, will received her Gold Star pin in memory of her son, Kristofer, who was in the U.S. Navy and died March 3, 2015 in Virginia.

Nancy Harrison, of The Woodlands, will receive her Gold Star pin in memory of her son, Michael Mahony, who died on Christmas Day 2018 while serving in the U.S. Air Force.

For Taylor, who is on the Montgomery County Veterans Memorial Commission and Edwards, this is just the start of the recognition of Gold Star Mothers in Montgomery County.

Edwards is planning a large Jeffersonian-style dome to honor Gold Star Mothers at the park.

Edwards said the dome will be made of marble, have 13 columns that support a 50-foot dome.

The dome is currently in the funding and planning stages, he said. The dome will be located between the two larges ponds at the park.

The dome will come to the park following the construction of a $3.5 million education and visitor center at the Park which is scheduled to begin in November.

Following the ceremony refreshments will be available for everyone in attendance sponsored by The Red Brick Tavern.

For additional information on the Gold Star Mothers Montgomery County chapter, contact Margie Taylor at Margie@TaylorizedPR.com or call 936-828-6881.
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David Barnes spent years devising a plan to go to Russia and at least see his children, with the hope of bringing them home, after his ex-wife fled there following a custody battle that played out in a Montgomery County courtroom.

The 65-year-old man from The Woodlands finally made it to Moscow last December. But since January, he's been in a Russian jail, apparently accused of a crime that Texas authorities also pursued but determined had no merit.

Many of his friends and family warned him not to travel alone.

There was no talking him out of it," said Barnes eldest sister, Carol Barnes, from her home in Madison, Ala. He was sick and tired of not seeing his children for three years.

Barnes left for Russia on Dec. 10 and was arrested a month later, on Jan. 13, after his ex-wife Svetlana Koptyaeva told authorities there he had sexually abused their children, the sister said. She and another sibling shared his story earlier this year, in an ABC News report, following the arrest of WNBA player and Houston native Brittney Griner, who was arrested in a Moscow airport in February with vape cartridges containing hash oil. Griner pleaded guilty in July and was sentenced to nine years in prison for drug possession and smuggling. U.S. officials are working on her case and have called her a political pawn. Griner and Barnes are among a handful of U.S. citizens being held in Russia.

Im scared to damn death, Carol Barnes said, fearing the criminal justice system abroad. She said her brothers lawyer in Moscow, Gleb Glinka, told her the system is punitive, not judicial, and that 99 percent of the accused that go to trial are convicted. I told somebody if God can come down from heaven and have proof that David was 100 percent innocent, it wouldnt matter to the Russians.

Feds monitoring case

A U.S. State Department spokesperson said the agency is monitoring Barnes situation.

Embassy representatives have been able to meet with Mr. Barnes, the agency said in a statement. However, we continue to urge the Russian government to allow consistent, timely consular access to all U.S. citizen detainees in Russia, in line with its legal obligations, and allow us to provide consular services for U.S. citizens detained in Russia.

U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, called Barnes situation a child custody dispute, not a criminal matter."

Mr. Barnes has been arrested and detained for political purposes, and my office is working with the State Department to bring him back to Texas as soon as possible, Brady said in a statement. We continue to urge the Biden Administration to do all it can to resolve this situation and free Mr. Barnes.

His preliminary hearing in Moscow is set for Sept. 13, his sister said.

TIMELINE: Brittney Griner's rise to her detention in Russia

Koptyaeva first accused Barnes of sexually abusing his then 7-year-old in 2014, while the couple was in the middle of a divorce. In 2018, she accused him of sexually abusing their 4-year-old son and filed a petition to gain full custody of the children. Barnes suspected she would leave the country and filed an emergency motion requiring her lawyer to hold onto the childrens passport in 2018, said William Harrison, Barnes lawyer for his custody case.

The Montgomery County District Attorneys Office, Sheriffs Office and Texas Child Protective Services found no evidence supporting the abuse claims.

They were extremely outrageous allegations  that just had no credibility to them, whatsoever, said Kelly Blackburn of the District Attorneys Office.

On March 27, 2019, a Montgomery County court judge ruled that both Koptyaeva and Barnes would have joint custody of their sons.

The decision in the jury trial, said Barnes criminal attorney, Andrea M. Kolski, showed he had not harmed his children. Because if they thought he had done something wrong, then they wouldnt let him have regular custody with the son(s), said Kolski.

Barnes was preparing a room at his apartment in The Woodlands, and buying them new toys, according to his youngest sister, Margaret Aaron.

He was so excited, said the 58-year-old woman who lives in Huntsville, Ala. And then they never showed up.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Brittney Griner's hometown sees the Houston native, WNBA star as a 'bright light'  not a criminal

Barnes hired Global Pursuit Investigations, a private investigations agency that specializes in retrieving abducted children and adults from overseas, shortly after he deemed his children missing. The agency determined Kopyaeva had traveled from Houston to Turkey with the children and eventually to Moscow, said Jackie Mudd, executive assistant with the organization.

Interpol, an international police organization, has issued yellow notices for the two children. A yellow notice is a global alert for a missing person.

In December 2019, a Montgomery County judge granted Barnes full custody of his children, while Koptyaeva was criminally charged with interference of child custody. Koptyaeva remains wanted in the U.S., court records show.

An effort Monday to reach Koptyaeva's attorney in the Montgomery County custody case was unsuccessful.

The trip to Moscow

Barnes hired Glinka, hoping to get legal clearance to see his sons. He was then told by Glinka that he would have to live in Moscow for six months to a year in order to accomplish this, Mudd said. After his plans were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Barnes flew to Moscow on Dec. 10, 2021.

Koptyaeva had filed for full custody in Russia by then, terminating his parental rights, the eldest sister said  something her brother was unaware of before leaving. He was never served in the U.S., she said.

Upon his arrival, Barnes rented an apartment at the same complex where Koptyaeva was living.

He never went to the door, Carol Barnes said. He knew exactly where his children were, but he was not going to bypass the legal system.

When Koptyaeva saw Barnes walk out of his apartment, she notified the authorities immediately, the sister said.

He called me (on) Jan. 13, and he said 'Sis, Im on my way to the police station,' Carol Barnes said. They just picked me up. My attorneys are going to meet me there for interrogation. Thats the last time Ive heard my brother's voice.

She said that her family had waited for another call that afternoon. The next day Glinka told her that her brother been interrogated for over eight hours before he was officially detained.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Solomon: Cheering Brittney Griner's prison sentence is un-American

Barnes' family contacted Global Pursuit Investigations, the firm he hired after his children went missing, to help get him back home. Mudd said the group has contacted former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who has been involved in negotiations for the release of American prisoners in Russia like Griner, and President Joe Biden. The agency has acted as a support system for Barnes' lawyers and his eldest sister since his detainment.

Barnes' family describes him as someone who was attentive to his children, taking them camping and never plopping them in front of a TV.

His boys adored him, Aaron said. His life was his two boys. He was just a wonderful father.

They also say he emptied his savings and retirement just to see his kids. Barnes continued to work nights at KBR, a Houston-based engineering firm, while trying to gain legal visitation of his children during the day.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Will Brittney Griner serve prison term? An expert explains why Russia might not want to cut a deal

Conditions bleak in Russian jail

Detained for nine months now, Barnes lives in a cell that he told his family is no bigger than his oldest sister's dining room. He's shared some of those living conditions in letters to them, exchanged through Glinka, the sisters said. A recent letter said he had been sharing the cell with eight others, but then two more people were added. Temperatures would reach 90 degrees, then cool to 70 at night. Dogs bark constantly and a television is on all day.



When U.S. Embassy officials visited Barnes in Moscow on Aug. 18, they told his family that he was back in fighting mode," the eldest sister said.

Carol Barnes said that if the only way Barnes was to come back to the U.S. was to plead guilty to his sexual abuse allegations, he wouldnt.

I believe in my heart, that if he has the choice  them saying OK, you plead guilty, well put you on the (detained) list, and then maybe years down the road, youll be exchanged for another prisoner, she said.

I think my brother would stay there in a detention center before the word 'guilty' comes out of his mouth.
GENEVA (AP)  The acting U.N. human rights chief on Monday urged European Union member states to avoid backtracking on their efforts to develop renewables and energy-efficiency projects at a time when soaring energy prices have prompted some to ramp up use of and searches for fossil fuels.

Nada al-Nashif, the acting U.N. high commissioner for human rights, laid out rights concerns about more than 30 countries, regions and territories including Ethiopia, Ukraine, Myanmar and Haiti in an opening speech to the latest session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Beyond expressing concerns about the direct impact of Russias war in Ukraine, she noted how the war has dented exports of food and fuel from those two countries - that are major producers of both - forcing EU states, for example, to scramble for more energy sources.

In the face of soaring energy prices which threaten to impact the most vulnerable as winter approaches, some EU member states are turning to investments in fossil fuels infrastructure and supplies, al-Nashif said.

While such an impulse was understandable, she warned of the long-term consequences of boosting use of fossil fuels that contribute to global warming and called for faster development of energy-efficiency projects and renewables.

There is no room for backtracking in the face of the ongoing climate crisis, she said.

In Germany, the EUs biggest economy, use of carbon-spewing coal rose as a share of the countrys total electricity production in the first half of 2022 compared with a year earlier. The Dutch government this summer issued permits for a joint gas exploration project with Germany.

EU nations have been looking to tap new sources of natural gas to help them wean themselves off supplies from Russia.

Al-Nashif made only passing reference to a report raising concerns about Chinas controversial campaign to fight terrorism and extremism in Western Xinjiang that could at times have amounted to crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other minorities. It was released in the waning minutes of the tenure of former rights chief Michelle Bachelet. Beijing lashed out at the report, calling it part of a plot by Western nations to block Chinas rise.

Al-Nashif has held the temporary post since the term of former Chilean President Bachelet expired on Aug. 31. Her successor  Austrian diplomat and U.N. veteran Volker Turk -- takes over the job in coming days.

The four-week autumn session at the council, which brings together 47 U.N. member states, is expected to take up country situations in many places including Afghanistan, Congo, Myanmar, Ukraine and Venezuela.
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Investigators linked two men accused of killing a Harris County constables deputy in August to their ankle GPS monitors  devices that judges ordered them to wear for more than a year following charges in the deaths of others.

Prosecutors outlined Monday how Ahsim Taylor Jr., 21, and Jayland Womack, 20, arrested Friday, were free on bond and wearing monitors to track their whereabouts at the time of a possible road rage clash with off-duty Precinct 3 deputy Omar Ursin. Both defendants on Aug. 28 were in the vicinity of where Ursin was shot in the face and killed as he went to pick up food for his family.

Courtesy

A witness saw another vehicle driving side-by-side with Ursins car in the moments before four gunshots were heard, prosecutor Ryan Trask said. Ursin was struck by the gunfire and lost control of his vehicle  which went onto the curb and slammed into a tree, he continued. The other vehicle turned onto a nearby street.

The vehicle stopped a half hour later at a gas station near Womacks home.

INVESTIGATION: As killings tied to defendants out on bond rise in Houston, crime data reveals a crisis in courts

Ursin, meanwhile, was rushed to a hospital but did not survive. Authorities were unaware that Ursin was a law enforcement official until his family arrived at the hospital.

Constable Sherman Eagleton sat in the courtroom as the prosecutors read the probable cause that led to both defendants arrest. He was joined by Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, who rarely sits so early in the criminal proceedings. Both officials addressed the case outside the courtroom.

Michael Wyke/Contributor

He wasnt just an employee of mine  he was a personal friend, Eagleton said.

The district attorneys office stressed in court and afterward that Taylor and Womack were out on bond in connection to prior killings. Defendants are, in most cases, entitled to bail under federal and state constitutions. It can be denied in limited circumstances, such as capital cases.

Courtesy

Ogg said the GPS monitors were not enough of a deterrence for Taylor and Womack from re-offending while out on bond, going as far to say that defendants charged with violent offenses must remain in jail. Taylor, while free on bond, was attempting at one point to find a job, according to her office.

It just seems highly unlikely that somebody charged with murder or capital murder could even go get a job, Ogg said.

Judge Denise Collins, a visiting jurist who was among the officials who lost their benches following the 2018 election, revoked and raised the bonds on the defendants earlier cases  and asked both parties to return to 263rd District Court on Friday and argue why the men should or should not be held without bail on the new charges.

Theres no way theyre getting out of jail before Friday, Trask said. At the hearing, we hope that the judge will understand the facts and see them for what they are and then hold them at no bond until their trial.

Michael Wyke/Contributor

Taylor was charged with capital murder in June 2021 in the death of a man whom he and a second defendant were selling a vehicle to. A Harris County magistrate initially set bail at a combined $220,000 on the capital murder and a tampering with evidence charge but Judge Amy Martin in the 263rd District Court lowered the amount to $95,000. He made bail that same day and was later released, according to court records.

NEW DETAILS: Ex-NFL player Kevin Ware stabbed, strangled girlfriend and burned her body, court docs say

He remained free on bond for more than a year  appearing in court when mandated, including a disposition setting nearly two weeks before the deputys death. He was ordered to wear an ankle monitor and abide by a curfew from the start of his case, court records show.

While on bond, Taylor attempted to secure employment at a Chilis chain restaurant, Trask said.

Taylors murder case is among the more than 42,800 pending felonies in Harris Countys beleaguered criminal court system  more than half of which are 180 days or older, according to county records. A Houston Chronicle investigation exposed a growing backlog in the courts stemming from Hurricane Harvey and the pandemic and that more defendants were going on to accrue murder charges as their time on bond grew longer.

It takes so long in this backlogged courthouse to get to trial, four to five to six years in these cases, Ogg continued. Neither defendants prior cases were set for trial, she said.

Womacks initial murder charge, meanwhile, is older. In January 2021, he was arrested in connection to a fatal shooting during a suspected marijuana deal, according to court documents.

Courtesy

A magistrate ordered that he be held on a $35,000 bond  which he made that week. Judge Greg Glass in the 208th District Court revoked his bail last December following accusations that he had been in contact with an accomplice.

Bond was raised to $75,000  an amount Womack also made to secure his release.

The district attorneys call for violent offenders to remain jailed comes as the Harris County lockup faces a non-compliance notice for failing to process new inmates within 48 hours. The delays at booking have been attributed to the growing jail population and a lack of space for those defendants. The jail has recorded a population of 10,000 or more for every day since Sept. 2  and nearly half of those defendants are charged with violent crimes.

The non-compliance notice has forced the Harris County Sheriff's Office make a plan to alleviate the intake delay within 30 days.

nicole.hensley@chron.com
A man fled from officers with an infant in the car after a domestic dispute and eventually had to be talked out of the vehicle by negotiators, Houston police said.

Police responded at about 1 a.m. to reports of a domestic assault at about 1 a.m. Monday in the 8800 block of JC Oaks Circle. Jose Ivan Padron, 31, fled with an 8-month-old infant after officers arrived, police said. A 15-to-20 minute police chase ensued.

At the end of the chase, he returned to the original location with the infant, Houston Police SWAT Commander Megan Howard said at a news conference.

She said Padron communicated with officers and appeared to be stalling. He appeared to be willing to fight the police, Howard said.

We don't think he had any intention of harming the baby, Howard said.

CRIME OVER THE WEEKEND: Two shootings on Liberty Road leave two dead, one injured.

SWAT and hostage negotiators arrived at the scene and after about 15 minutes of speaking with Padron, negotiators were able to convince him to come out of the vehicle. He handed off the baby and surrendered without further incident, Howard said.

Padron is in custody and the child is safe. He had open warrants: one for evading police and a DWI. There have also been recent incidents involving the complainant and suspect.

Padron has been charged with two felonies in relation to Monday's incident: endangering a child and evading in a motor vehicle.
On Scene TV

A man was shot and killed, after being removed from a restaurant, returning with a tire iron and charging at a uniformed officer Sunday at Gulfgate Center Mall in southeast Houston, police said.

After being removed, the suspect was seen coming back in with a tire iron around 11:10 p.m., Houston Police Assistant Chief Yasar Bashir said, catching the attention of one of the workers, who immediately informed a uniformed Liberty County District Attorney Office investigator, who was working as security.
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The scene at Rice Stadium on Sept. 12, 2022, looked much like it did on Sept. 12, 1962, with young people sweating in the bleachers as politicians rallied support for trips to the moon.

But while President John F. Kennedy committed 60 years ago to landing a human on the lunar surface, NASA and Rice University officials took Kennedys goal one step further on Monday: Go back to the moon  and then to the next planet.

We must never stop daring to take the next moonshot, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said. This generation will choose to go to Mars.

Houston history: JFKs moon speech at Rice Stadium was 60 years ago. Has the U.S. lived up to it?

In Houston, Nelson and other officials shared Kennedys words as a refrain for the modern age, one that would motivate them in the next pursuits of science and space exploration.

Just as young Houstonians in the 1960s were part of the Apollo generation, young Houstonians are now part of the Artemis generation  both named after the moon missions of the day, NASA officials said.

(The launch of Artemis I has been canceled twice because of technical difficulties, but NASA is eyeing late September for a next attempt.)

NASA intends to send a crew to orbit the moon on the Artemis II mission in 2024, and if that flight is successful, plans to put astronauts  including the first woman and first person of color  back on the lunar surface with Artemis III in 2025. The research from those explorations is meant to advance later efforts to send astronauts to Mars.

Francisco Chavez, who studies aerospace engineering in Charles H. Milby High Schools magnet program, said that the 60th anniversary celebration inspired him to look harder at the potential results of his work. About 5,000 Houston Independent School District students from 48 high schools and 20 middle schools watched the event, according to a spokesman.

It was pretty beautiful, Chavez, a senior, said. Seeing these developments, not just in space exploration but diversity, that was great.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Looking back at JFKs historic speech, through photos

Officials said they hope young students embrace NASAs efforts in the way the Apollo generation did, taking personal roles in the missions or cheering on U.S. progress from the sidelines. Kennedys speech also strengthened NASAs relationship with Rice University, and some students at the time conducted research and built materials for the Apollo program.

Rice President Reginald DesRoches said that space continues to be an important focus for the university.

We gather here in Rice Stadium to celebrate a challenge and to renew a commitment, he said. We are partners in the pursuit of knowledge.

Kennedys speech at Rice was not the first time he told Americans he wanted to go to the moon - but it is credited with galvanizing the public behind him and more seriously launching the U.S. into the Space Race.

The speech appealed to Americans can-do spirit: Kennedy presented a task that was thought to be out-of-reach and made it as simple as a choice. Astronauts completed the first moon mission in 1969 but havent been back since 1972.

We choose to go to the moon, the late president said. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.

U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Waco, who chairs the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, on Monday encouraged the Houston ISD students at the stadium to remain interested in American advances, as well as their own.

Whether or not you pursue a career in space exploration, I hope you keep the words spoken here 60 years ago in mind. Choose to do the hard things more often than not. Your efforts will land you where you never thought would be possible.

Paloma Ayala, another senior at Milby High School, said she left Rice Stadium feeling optimistic about the U.S. chances of success.

It was really hot, but I felt it was worth it to be sitting there, she said. We were seeing it all over, 60 years later.

samantha.ketterer@houstonchronicle.com
The ripple effects from the Supreme Courts seismic decision to overturn Roe v. Wade have forced anti-abortion candidates to reckon with energized voters who woke up one day with fewer constitutional rights.

Abortion activists have already played a key role in primary races, including in unlikely places such as Kansas and Alaska. The success of pro-choice candidates has forced some Republicans to contort their previous statements on abortion to seem less extreme. Most notably, several now claim to support exceptions to abortion restrictions such as in instances of rape or incest or situations that put the mothers life in danger.

And yet Gov. Greg Abbott, who signed the most restrictive abortion law in the nation months before the Supreme Courts Dobbs decision that overturned Roe, appears determined to toe the hard line.

Abbott has doubled down  supporting an abortion ban with no exceptions for rape and incest  a calculated gamble showing hes willing to prioritize the extreme demands of his base over the views of the majority of his constituents, who strongly support at least some abortion rights. While hes backed off of his far-fetched vow to eliminate rape in the state of Texas  a hasty response to a reporters question about how the abortion ban would affect sexual assault victims  his latest attempt to address the issue is almost as cringe-worthy.

We want to support those victims, but also those victims can access health care immediately, as well as to report it, Abbott said during a segment on Lone Star Politics. By accessing health care immediately, they can get the Plan B pill that can prevent a pregnancy from occurring in the first place.

Well give Abbott credit for coming back to reality. Perhaps it dawned on him that ending rape just wasnt feasible, what with Texas leading the nation in rape offenses in 2020 and the clearance rate for rape arrests dropping by nearly half over the course of his tenure. Or maybe he considered the states enormous backlog of untested rape kits, which have left thousands of victims in limbo as they await justice.

Yet telling rape victims to go out and get a pill thats most effective within 72 hours of unprotected sex reflects Abbotts fundamental misunderstanding of the effects of trauma.

Plan B, also known as the morning-after pill, is a critical tool to prevent pregnancy. Yet many women who suffer the trauma of sexual assault dont immediately realize they can be pregnant. As Piper Stege Nelson, chief public strategies officer for the SAFE Alliance, told NPR last year, many rape victims sometimes cope with the abuse by numbing themselves to the reality that they could be pregnant.

That dissociation can lead to a detachment from reality and the fact that shes pregnant, Nelson said.

Even for victims who want to follow the governors advice and immediately pursue Plan B, the Supreme Courts dismantling of Roe has made obtaining the pill far more difficult. Pills have been in such high demand in Texas that some pharmacies have been forced to limit sales because of dwindling supply. Its one reason why the owner of a suburban Lubbock coffee shop started giving away the pill for free.And, in another testament to the extremism and ignorance that exists in the anti-abortion movement in this state, protesters were quick to condemn her as well, apparently believing Plan B to cause abortion.

Perhaps the governors promotion of it will clear up that misconception. But other obstacles remain: When Plan B is available over the counter, its not exactly cheap. It can cost up to $50 at a pharmacy unless you have an insurance plan that covers it. And for a state with the highest uninsured population in the nation, that means many low-income women are forced to pay what could be a prohibitive price for a pill that could restore some modicum of control over their reproductive lives.

If Abbotts desire were genuine to help rape victims  or any woman, for that matter  avoid unwanted pregnancy, hed make a serious effort to expand health access for Texas woman. That starts with a step he has refused to take for years: expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, a program that requires insurance companies to cover womens contraceptives. Texas is one of only a dozen states that has steadfastly refused to expand the program. The states recent plan to extend Medicaid postpartum coverage is so restrictive  it excludes women who terminate pregnancies, even in medical emergencies  that the federal government is likely to reject it.

If Abbott wanted to encourage more pharmacies and other stores to sell Plan B over the counter, he could direct the attorney general to clarify the legality of doing so since there seems to be so much confusion. Emergency contraception does not require a doctors prescription or parental consent to people over 17 years old, and yet that coffee shop outside Lubbock, Tumbleweed + Sage in Wolfforth, has had the police called on them for making the pill available.

Another thing the governor could do to truly aid rape victims and catch predators before they rape again is help local law enforcement investigate the crimes. The Lavinia Masters Act Abbott signed into law in 2019 provided $50 million in grant funding for local authorities, and requires labs to process a kit within 90 days of receipt. Yet the Dallas Observer reported that data from late 2021 shows that over 1,000 kits which had been sent to labs between September 2019 and late November 2021 were not analyzed within the required time frame. Strengthening the law by threatening to pull grant funding from governments that lag in testing could go a long way.

Women in Texas dont need Abbott to continue feigning compassion. They need him to restore their rights to control their own bodies. Short of that, they need him to take realistic steps to reduce rapes and improve access to emergency contraception. Its not nearly enough  but its better than some impossible promise he couldnt keep if he wanted to.

Update: This editorial was updated to reflect that Plan B is most effective within 72 hours of unprotected sex.


Gyanwapi case verdict The Varanasi court on Monday said that the Hindu petition for worship in Shringar Gauri was maintainable and the five Hindu women's plea seeking right to worship in the Gyanvapi complex will be heard. The Varanasi court on Monday said that the Hindu petition for worship in Shringar Gauri was maintainable and the five Hindu women's plea seeking right to worship in the Gyanvapi complex will be heard.



District judge A.K. Vishvesha dismissed the petition filed by the Muslim side citing the Places of Worship Act and questioning the maintainability of the petition.



Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu side said, "The court rejected the Muslim side's petition and said the suit is maintainable. The next hearing in the matter will be on September 22."



"Muslim petitioners are likely to approach the Allahabad High Court in appeal," petitioner Sohan Lal Arya said, but added that they will continue to contest the case.



Well known Sunni cleric Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahali said that their legal team would study the verdict and act accordingly.



He expressed concern over the fact that the Places of Worship Act 1991 was being set aside and such cases were being raised.



"We will fight the matter legally," he added.



In May, the Supreme Court had assigned the case to the Varanasi district judge's court, shifting it from a lower court where it was being heard till then.



The Supreme Court had ordered that "Keeping the complexity and sensitivity of the matter in view, the civil suit before the civil judge in Varanasi shall be heard before a senior and experienced judicial officer of the UP judicial service."



A month before the Supreme Court's intervention in the case, the Varanasi civil court had ordered the filming of the Gyanvapi mosque, based on the petition by the Hindu women who claimed that there are idols of Hindu Gods and Goddesses in the Gyanvapi mosque complex.



A report of the filming at the mosque was then submitted to the Varanasi court in a sealed cover, but the Hindu petitioners controversially released details just hours later.



The report claimed a 'Shivling' had been found in a pond within the mosque complex used for 'wuzu' or purification rituals before Muslim prayers.



The judge hearing the case at the time had ordered the sealing of this pond.



This filming inside the centuries-old mosque was challenged in the Supreme Court by the Gyanvapi mosque committee.



The petitioners said the filming goes against the Places of Worship Act of 1991, which maintains the religious status of any place of worship as of August 15, 1947.



"Such petitions and sealing of mosques will lead to public mischief and communal disharmony, will affect mosques across the country," the mosque committee had argued.



The mosque committee made similar arguments before the Varanasi district judge's court in the 'maintainability' case, while lawyers for the Hindu petitioners claimed the law does not bar their case and that they could establish in court that the mosque premises was actually a temple as on the day of Independence.






In Uvalde, the children of Robb Elementary  those who survived the mass shooting, that is  are back in school. A newly installed 8-foot-tall security fence is meant to protect them from the horror that invaded their world in the spring. The fence, of course, will do nothing to shield them from the horrific memories and the emotional scars that may be lifelong.

In Austin, Gov. Greg Abbott barrels ahead in his campaign for a third term. Hes sticking to his guns, so to speak, despite promises to the people of Uvalde that things would be different.

In the aftermath of the May 24 massacre, angry, grieving family members pleaded with the governor to support measures that would keep military-style weapons out of the hands of 18-year-olds like the one who slaughtered their children and two of their teachers. Abbott gave them their answer a few days ago, contending on the campaign trail that the courts do not allow lawmakers to raise the legal age to buy AR-15 style rifles and other guns crafted to kill human beings as quickly and efficiently as possible.

There have been three court rulings since May that have made it clear that it is unconstitutional to ban someone between the ages of 18 and 21 from being able to buy an AR, Abbott said.

Legal experts say hes wrong. On this particular matter, dead wrong.

Meanwhile, the culture of guns that Abbott has proudly helped mold  as state supreme court justice, Texas attorney general and as governor  continues apace. Heres a sampling:

 In Detroit a few days ago, a man randomly shot four people in four separate shootings. The attacks left three people dead, one wounded;

 In Bend, Ore., a 20-year-old man walked onto a Safeway parking lot, firing rounds from an AR-15. Continuing into the store, he shot and killed an 84-year-old customer and a 66-year-old store employee who tried to disarm him. Before heading to Safeway, the young man had published at least 35 blog entries announcing his intention. He was hoping to kill 40 people, he said.

 Early on a Sunday morning here in Houston, a man dressed all in black set fire to a building and then began shooting at people fleeing the fire. He killed four and injured two;

 In Indianapolis, a Dutch soldier in this country for a training was shot and killed at a hotel. Two others were wounded;

 At least 16 mass shootings (involving four or more people shot or killed) took place nationwide during Labor Day weekend, leaving at least 10 people dead, according to Gun Violence Archive.

How many more officers have to be shot? How many more community members have to be killed before those in our community take a stand? Phoenix police chief Jeri Williams asked after the recent mass shooting in her city. A gunman had emerged from a hotel and begun randomly shooting, killing two people and wounding two police officers.

Its a good question, an urgent question. Apparently, the answer is, quite a few. More than a hundred people die every day from gun violence; 5 are children. Like the proverbial frog plopped into a simmering pot of water set to boil, weve gradually grown accustomed to senseless death at the barrel of a gun.

Think of that Dutch soldier, shot and killed at random in downtown Indianapolis. Something like that is almost unimaginable in his native land. The Netherlands, along with every other advanced nation, has to deal with crime of various sorts  two brothers go on a stabbing spree in Canada, killing 10 and wounding 18  but other nations are relatively free of gun violence.

Its not because their citizens are more loving or kind, the late James Atwood, a Presbyterian minister, wrote in his 2012 book America and Its Guns. It is something else, something simple: Holland, Japan, Britain, Australia, New Zealand  the list could go on  do not permit easy access to guns.

Should their citizens be able to get a gun as easily as we can, Atwood writes, they would suffer the same levels of gun deaths; they would feel entitled to use violence against the immigrants who cross their borders; their children, on occasion, would be afraid to go to school for fear of being shot; they too would grieve over drive-by and mass shootings; they too would worry that fired workers might go postal; they too would spend enormous amounts of money paying medical bills for paraplegics and the exorbitant costs of incarceration for the shooters.

With more than 400 million guns in circulation, all of us, including gun owners, are at the mercy not only of gun misuse but also of gun zealots who place their right to own guns  any type of gun  before every other issue. Second Amendment absolutists, they cannot concede that every constitutional amendment is limited in some way, including their favorite one.

The absolutists would have had trouble in the Old West a century and a half ago. Had they lived in Dodge City, Kansas, for example, a city ordinance would have prevented them from bringing their guns to town. The ordinance was drafted with rip-roarin' Texas cowboys in mind, who, after a long, arduous cattle drive from down this way, were inclined to shoot up the place when they got to town.

Contrary to the Hollywood stereotype, common sense often prevailed in the actual Old West. And somehow, the Second Amendment was not considered defiled.

In Tombstone, Arizona, in 1881, city marshal Virgil Earp, his two deputized brothers and their pal Doc Holliday shot it out with the Clanton brothers at the O.K. Corral, because the brothers were flouting the towns law requiring visitors to disarm.

"Tombstone had much more restrictive laws on carrying guns in public in the 1880s than it has today, UCLA law professor Adam Winkler told Smithsonian Magazine in 2018. Today, you're allowed to carry a gun without a license or permit on Tombstone streets. Back in the 1880s, you weren't.

Winkler, a constitutional law scholar who researches gun policy, was one of the experts who told the Chronicles Taylor Goldenstein last week that Abbott is wrong when he says that laws imposing age restrictions on weapons are unconstitutional.

Its an unsettled question whether states can restrict guns to people under 21, he said. There are court cases going both ways. . . . This is one of many issues the Supreme Court is going to have to take up in the coming years.

These days, relying on the U.S. Supreme Court for sensible rulings on gun policy may be as iffy as Doc Hollidays tubercular health. Nonetheless, at least seven states have gone ahead with legislation raising the legal purchase age for sales of long guns. Texas, of course, is not one of them.

Weve built that fence in Uvalde, though. Thats good, and yet those youngsters have to walk through the gate on their way home every afternoon. Thanks to the Second Amendment absolutists, they step into a world where guns are everywhere. Its a world where men, women and children have gotten shot going to the grocery store, enjoying an outdoor concert, worshiping in a church or synagogue, strolling through a mall, watching a Fourth of July parade, sitting at their desk in the workplace, eating in a restaurant, riding the subway, enjoying a picnic in the park.

Thats the world we have made for those Uvalde kids and their counterparts around the country. For their sake, at least, its a world that needs extensive remodeling, starting with such relatively small steps as raising the legal age for buying assault weapons, imposing universal background checks and relying on red flag laws to keep guns out of the hands of those deemed by a judge in a court of law to be a danger to themselves or others. In bondage to a gun obsession, we need a little Wild West common sense.
Regarding Opinion: Why help Pakistan when we cant handle flooding at home? (Sept. 6): The recent devastating flood in Pakistan has impacted at least 33 million people and caused a loss of $10 billion to this country. Pakistan contributes less than 1 percent to global warming but is considered one of the top 10 countries in the world most vulnerable to the consequences of global warming and climate change. This requires our empathy as one of the most advanced countries in the world and one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gases. Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee and Al Green, in addition to being the representatives of their respective congressional districts, are also the face of our nation to the rest of the world. They are in Pakistan to show the empathy and sympathy of the American people to the people of Pakistan in this hour of grief and offer our friendly support. They are representing the good face of the American people.

Siraj Narsi, Sugar Land

Regarding Opinion: Unless Pakistan flood response prioritizes women, we risk destroying entire generation, (Sept. 7): As someone who spent three years overseas in a foreign aid capacity, I was taken aback by the gist of Farzana Baris op-ed, which implies that the global community is somehow responsible for the countrys current misfortunes and/or for providing massive amounts of aid to ameliorate the situation.

Such a response is not unlike our own local and state officials entreaties to the federal government, when massive flooding events such as Hurricane Harvey descend on the Houston area. In both instances, those who are responsible and have done nothing about it, are asking the rest of society to bail them out  either from their ineptitude, their complicity with others or just their plain indifference. They seek to blame or shame others. Global policymakers and aid agencies have missed a lethal blind spot in their response, she writes. Whether it is to help women or some other group is beside the question. Is this not that an internal matter for Pakistani society to determine?

When I went overseas, we were emphatically told not to involve ourselves in such delicate matters. We were invited by the government of a country. We were not there to change the culture or society, but to help people acquire the skills necessary to improve their ability to take care of their basic needs in life. While our activities may have changed peoples thinking in other areas, it was a residual effect, not our goal.

If the people of Pakistan want to change how their culture and society functions, and begin to treat women in a different manner, then the changes that Ms. Bari suggests must come from their society. It is not the responsibility of the United States or the global community to do so or to incessantly pay for it, after resources have been otherwise spent.

We have many similar problems in Houston and this country that are festering and equally as scary. Only the people here at the local and state level can change our cultural and societal priorities that may impinge on our ability to address the calamities we face and that may lead to even larger societal ills. We shouldnt be asking the federal government or the global community to pay for remedies to problems that have befallen us.

Kenneth Booth, Seabrook
WASHINGTON  Gov. Greg Abbott was in Laredo last week touting his efforts to get the roughly 7 million Texans without broadband access online, something he deemed an emergency item in the last legislative session.

"No matter what corner of the state of Texas you may live in, you will have access to fast, reliable internet," the governor said, promoting a $500 million investment of federal COVID funds the state plans to put toward broadband expansion and a new state office overseeing that expansion. The future of business in Texas is online, and in Texas, we are now bringing that future to absolutely everyone.

But Abbotts Democratic challenger, Beto O'Rourke, has been hammering him for vetoing a bill that would have shored up state funding used to build and maintain phone lines that carry broadband service in rural areas. ORourke blamed the veto for phone bills jumping by as much as $4.61 in August for some rural Texans.

This guy has left you high and dry, O'Rourke told a crowd in Lubbock. Hes taking you for granted. He thinks your votes are in the bank.

BACKGROUND: Texas' big plan for closing the digital divide: at-home broadband internet for every student

The political sparring underscores how tenuous the state of broadband remains in Texas, where some 2.8 million homes do not have access to high-speed internet, according to the comptrollers office. State officials are gearing up for a massive, federally funded buildout of the service, but have not figured out how to fund it in the long run.

Texas is on tap to receive $500 million from the American Rescue Plan and as much as $4 billion through the bipartisan infrastructure law, though the actual amount has yet to be determined. Its also unclear how many homes the federal funding will be able to get online. By some estimates, it could cost as much as $15 billion to get every home connected to high-quality fiber networks.

The Legislature has created the Broadband Development Office to oversee the expansion and appropriated $5 million to the comptroller, where the office is housed.

Comptroller Glenn Hegar is optimistic that the state will be able to get internet to every Texan, but cautioned that it might not be through the highest-quality fiber networks. He said getting a connection, even through lower-quality lines, is the first step as millions of Texans still cannot use the internet for school, work or telehealth.

If you dont have broadband access, its like you dont have access to your property, Hegar said. I think youll take a gravel road.

Hegar estimates the work could be completed in five to six years, barring any unforeseen labor shortages or supply chain issues.

The federal funding comes with a required 25 percent state or local match, and Hegar said he thinks the state can and should cover the match.

I have a lot of members continuing to talk to me about this issue, Hegar said of the Legislature. Theres a lot of interest in it. They know theres a lot of constituents that dont have service that want that service.

A disputed veto

The longevity of any expansive broadband program is still up in the air. Right now, the state uses money from the Texas Universal Service Fund to build and maintain rural phone lines that often carry broadband signals as well.

Having a healthy and robust universal service fund to support those networks is very important, said Kathryn de Wit, director of the Pew Charitable Trustss broadband access initiative. Networks need long-term maintenance and operations  thats why universal service funds exist.

But in recent years, that funding has dwindled as cell phone companies changed how they allocated costs. The fee that pays for the fund is assessed on telecommunications providers receipts for voice services, a charge that has become less relevant with the rise of unlimited voice plans and growing data plans.

The shrinking contributions virtually stopped all new network development, meaning the expansion of telecom services in rural Texas was put on hold for almost three years, said Mark Seale, executive director of the Texas Telephone Association, which represents 43 rural telecoms.

Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

Lawmakers last year passed a bill that would modernize the fund, in part by expanding the fee to include calls made over programs like Skype, known as Voice Over Internet Protocol calls.

Abbott vetoed the bill, likening it to a new tax for millions of Texans.

The only meaningful change made to the Texas Universal Service Fund was, in House Bill 2667, to expand the number of people paying fees, the governor said in a statement after the decision.

In response, the Public Utility Commission of Texas, which oversees the fund and had declined in the past to raise rates, found itself staring down a court order to pay $200 million in overdue bills. It voted in July to raise the existing fee  from 3.3 percent to 24 percent.

The new rate took effect Aug. 1, and added a couple of dollars a month for a consumer with a typical individual cell phone plan, although the amount customers pay varies depending on their plan and service provider. The commission has said the added fees were imposed on the telecom companies, and they are not required to pass on the costs onto residential and business customers.

Jeremy Wallace contributed reporting.

ben.wermund@chron.com
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Genesis Energy is pleased to announce that Malcolm Johns has been appointed Chief Executive. Johns will commence the role on 13 March 2023 and is currently Chief Executive of Christchurch International Airport.

Genesis Chairman, Barbara Chapman said, After an extensive global search, the Board is pleased to have appointed Malcolm as Chief Executive. This is an exciting time for the Company which has an important role to play in New Zealands energy transition.

Malcolm brings experience in leading large organistions through transformational change, while delivering value for shareholders. He has shown considerable leadership in sustainability, is committed to action on climate change and has a proven track record in decarbonising organisations.

Johns said, I am looking forward to joining the energy sector and one of New Zealands iconic companies. With its innovative retail business, diverse generation assets and strong culture, I am excited by the opportunity to contribute to its future success and for the business to continue to make a significant contribution to New Zealands transition to a low carbon future.

As previously announced, outgoing Chief Executive, Marc England, will leave Genesis after six years on 14 October. Chief Customer Officer, Tracey Hickman, will lead the Company in the interim.

Malcolm Johns' business experience

Johns has been the Chief Executive of Christchurch Airport since January 2014. He has previously been Chief Executive of InterCity Group and has held several governance roles within New Zealands transport and tourism sectors.

He is a founding signatory and member of the Climate Leaders Coalition Steering Group, and Chair of the APEC Business Advisory Council Climate Leadership for Businesses Task Force.

Johns is a graduate of the University of Waikato and Northwestern University. He has completed executive leadership programmes at the University of Cambridge and The Wharton School.

ENDS

Genesis Appoints Malcolm Johns as Chief Executive

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MCLA gets $250,000 Grant for Science Programs

NORTH Adams, Mass.  The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, under the Workforce Development Capital Program, has awarded MCLA a $253,542 grant to purchase equipment to advance its biology, chemistry, and health sciences programming.

The funds, which are to advance student training and career preparation, are to be utilized over the next two fiscal years. The equipment purchases will allow MCLA to continue to pursue an interdisciplinary approach to a Life Sciences curriculum that prepares students for a variety of careers in research, biomanufacturing, teaching, diagnosis, lifesaving treatment, and other biotechnology fields.

"Thanks to institutions such as MCLA, we are able to continue to accelerate educational and geographic equity in the life sciences," said Massachusetts Life Sciences Center President and CEO Kenneth Turner. "Western Massachusetts has a growing cluster of innovation and entrepreneurship. We are emboldened by the opportunities to support economic and workforce development in this region that is critical to our strategy for remaining the global leader in the life sciences."

Tools and supplies that support such programs include a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), an osmometer, sonicator, and lyophilizer, which are important in pharmaceutical design, manufacturing, and biomedical research. Additionally, common equipment such as pH meters and micropipettes will be updated, and more sophisticated instruments such as the inductively-coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES) and gas chromatograph (GC) will receive maintenance and updated parts in order to improve data integrity and accuracy. These specific instruments are equivalent or identical to the equipment used in the industry and can benefit student training and career preparation.

"The Workforce Development Capital Program is a fundamental stepping stone for MCLA to reach new heights and allow students to attain necessary skills in health sciences," said MCLA President Dr. James F. Birge. "Im elated to hear that the College can better support our liberal arts programs by strengthening the life sciences studies and attain tools that are equivalent to those being used in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry."

"Typically, small liberal arts colleges such as MCLA offer students close mentorship by faculty and small, intimate, hands-on class experiences, while larger institutions provide more state-of-the-art equipment and resources," said Professor of Chemistry Dr. Carolyn Dehner.

She and fellow faculty members Professor of Biology Dr. Ann Billetz and Chair and Associate Professor of Biology Dr. Justin Golub said what makes this partnership between MCLA and MLSC so powerful is that students will benefit from the best of both worlds.

"Since we have such a small student-to-faculty ratio, all our biology and chemistry students will have the opportunity to train on the most advanced technology currently being utilized by biotech and health science industries in the Berkshires and across Massachusetts," she said.
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Name: Michel Andre

Company: Banking Circle

Job title: CIO

Date started current role: October 2018

Location: Copenhagen, Denmark

Michel Andre has 20 years of experience under his belt as a senior technology leader and CIO within Financial Services. Hes worked with internet trading platforms, exchange technology, DMA broker networks, real-time risk management, information distribution and other areas requiring extreme scalability. For the past 3.5 years, Andre has been the CIO of Banking Circle where he has led huge projects including the companys full migration to Microsoft Azure  the cloud-based infrastructure is enabling Banking Circle to respond to evolving industry demands. Currently, Andre is working to build the next-generation platform for cross border fx payments and value add services for Financial Institutions and Payments businesses.

What was your first job? While I was still at university, I got a job as a consultant at a Financial Services firm. I was focused on portfolio and mutual fund management systems, leading the architectural design of reporting and calculation solutions, and contributing to the next generation of products. It was there where I first got a glimpse of the overlap between finance and tech, which I would later realise is something I was good at.

Did you always want to work in IT? Ive always had a love for learning and problem solving, which steered my fascination for tech. I loved the idea of using technology to solve problems for businesses and people as it would enable me to pursue a career path packed with continuous learning and challenges, which still rings true today.

What was your education? Do you hold any certifications? What are they? I hold an MSc in Computer Science and Engineering from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Following this, while I was CTO at Saxo Bank, I attended Stanford University Business School which really helped me level up as a leader and executive.

Explain your career path. Did you take any detours? If so, discuss. I didnt take any detours per se, because I never had a clear-cut plan. In fact, my first few roles were probably more of an accident than a conscious decision which catapulted me into the world of tech and financial services.

Along the way, I founded my own software company where I headed up strategy and sales alongside consulting a range of clients in financial services. In turn, I discovered FinTech. The early stages certainly shaped the path I went down as it enabled me to utilise and apply my technology skills to financial services.

What business or technology initiatives will be most significant in driving IT investments in your organisation in the coming year? Last year, Banking Circle completed its shift to Microsoft Azure, migrating our core banking system so its hosted fully in the cloud. This was a huge milestone, enhancing the efficiency, speed and value for money of cross-border payments. Were now able to process several multiple times the number of daily transactions we could previously. So really, this year were dedicated to capitalising on this to continue to deliver fast cross-border payments and empower our now rapidly growing client base.

Committing to the cloud has futureproofed Banking Circles infrastructure to quickly evolve our architecture in response to ever-changing client demands and accelerating digital transformation. That said, alongside digital transformation trends come savvier tactics for fraudulent activity, so compliance is a key focus. Due to the flexibility, control, computer resource and scalability of Microsoft Azure, we have greater opportunity for investment and research into Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Anti Money Laundering (AML) and fraud prevention.

Our AI solution for AML increases holistic detection based on connections and enriched data. In fact, the accuracy of our data has meant that hundreds of client accounts have been closed or escalated to compliance due to AI related findings. Ultimately, the cloud migration has unlocked potential to scale and develop innovation and well continue to make the most of this in the coming year.

What are the CEO's top priorities for you in the coming year? How do you plan to support the business with IT? Cross-border payments are at the core of Banking Circles offering, so investments will continue to be channelled into making them as fast and cost-effective as we can. Our mission is to reduce the cost of international transactions to 50 cents and the time to under 5 minutes. This goal is propelling our geographical expansion as we aim to broaden our reach, and work towards providing real time payments. As CIO, I will be supporting these initiatives by developing our cloud infrastructure through updates, upgrades and the development of new services. This way, we can ensure Banking Circle stays as agile and reactive as possible whilst allowing space for ultimate scalability.

Does the conventional CIO role include responsibilities it should not hold? Should the role have additional responsibilities it does not currently include? I am not sure what a conventional CIO role and its responsibilities include because I have always worked in businesses where technology has been engrained in the operating model like it is for us -providing an instant cross-border payments infrastructure. When working in an environment such as this, you need to be close to the business and clients directly, whilst indirectly be a compassionate and servant leader to understand how to apply and shape technology to business needs.

Are you leading a digital transformation? If so, does it emphasise customer experience and revenue growth or operational efficiency? If both, how do you balance the two? As mentioned, last year I led the final steps of the migration of our entire infrastructure to Microsoft Azure. This part of our digital transformation journey has empowered us to deliver more efficient, speedy and compliant cross-border payments for our customers at a global scale. Were able to reach an equilibrium between customer experience, revenue growth and operational efficiency. Our customer-first approach means we listen to clients so we can help them evolve; by serving them, we have increased operational efficiency, have scaled our business and offering and, in turn, gained more clients and increased revenue growth.

These transformation efforts dont stop here. In fact, this is just the beginning. The cloud has opened a whole new realm of potential. And with my hunger to learn and find solutions, I hope to continue to pave the way for further digital development and growth so that Banking Circle can constantly evolve and enhance its offerings.

Describe the maturity of your digital business. For example, do you have KPIs to quantify the value of IT? Our business is digital at its core and in the way it operates, so I would say it is highly digitally mature, especially when it comes to our core areas like cross-border payments where we are at the forefront; delivering instant cross-border payments over an API. Technology and engineering are deeply engrained in everything we do, hence there are no separate KPIs for the quantification of IT investments, its all part of running and doing the business.

What does good culture fit look like in your organisation? How do you cultivate it? Even before the pandemic, Banking Circle offered hybrid working structures to accommodate our international team. Rigid working structures breed disempowerment, so a cultural pillar within the organisation is about making employees feel empowered and ensuring that their thoughts and opinions are heard; whether that means working remotely 1-2 days a week or coming into the office on a regular basis.

We cultivate a culture by thinking outside the box; there is no single ideal cultural fit; we have a diverse workforce with employees across the globe, so we ensure workers are integrated into their teams and wider organisational society from the outset to bridge differences whilst embracing unique ideas.

What roles or skills are you finding (or do you anticipate to be) the most difficult to fill? This is an interesting one. Banking Circle recently surveyed CTOs and CIOs across Europe and found the most common skills gap  seen by 57% of surveyed respondents  was cloud skills, followed by Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, which is lacking in 51% of organisations. This comes as no surprise given the current climate. In particular, within financial services there is a skills shortage preventing the future proofing of Banks and FinTechs, with all FinTechs and 99% of Banks confirming they have skills gaps in their organisations.

Upskilling your current team is one solution. You could also look to partner with a relevant expert organisation to plug certain gaps. Utilising cloud-based systems via an external partner, for example, is a faster route to gaining flexibility, speed-to-market and competitive edge.

What's the best career advice you ever received? The best career advice is probably not to listen to career advice but to follow your passion, be true to your values and work hard  the rest will sort itself.

Do you have a succession plan? If so, discuss the importance of and challenges with training up high-performing staff? The reality is that the training and upskilling of high performing staff will take time and investment  but its worth it. Though it can sometimes feel like a rat-race against a ticking time bomb due to the fast-paced nature of the industry, organisations ought to take a more holistic stance to upskilling beyond the numbers. Across all sectors, teaching and learning is all part and parcel of good leadership. We must prioritise investing back into employees and their professional development - people arent robots, and there is much to be gained from both the employer and employee in terms of upskilling, output, employee loyalty and happiness.

What advice would you give to aspiring IT leaders? There is a broad palette of skills needed to be a successful CTO or CIO. You need technical competency and an understanding of the technology landscape, then its knowing how to apply technology to business challenges that becomes really key. The combination of business sense and technology skills is crucial to success.

Above all, however, you should be curious and willing to learn. By being open to learning, you can help yourself, your team and organisation stay ahead of the curve. Always strive to learn new things about both technology and the business youre solving problems for.

What has been your greatest career achievement? They say you are only as good as your last performance, so transforming and building the engineering team in Banking Circle, whilst growing and developing the technology that underpins our cross-border business to become fully cloud native, is definitely a highlight. What we have achieved and built fills me with great pride.

Looking back with 20:20 hindsight, what would you have done differently? I am not the kind of person to look back with regret. I am confident in most of my decisions, which are always made to the best of my knowledge within the specific context of that point in time. I prefer to focus on looking forward and anticipating whats to come.
A National Action Plan (NAP) on the Safety of Journalists, was adopted at the end of a three-day consultative forum organised by IFJ-affiliate, the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) in Mogadishu with the support of the African Union and with the technical assistance of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and UNESCO. The International Federation of Journalists welcomes the plan and supports its affiliate in the fight to end the spiral of violence targeting journalists and the climate of impunity in the country.

The NAP is based on the realisation of the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity and the African Unions initiative Silencing the Guns which aspires to end wars and conflict in the continent. The newly launched plan aims to accelerate actions for safe journalism through a journalist-centred process.

Since 2012, when the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity was launched, 52 journalists have been killed in the country, according to annual data collated by NUSOJ. The discussions in the forum assessed what has worked after 10 years of the UN Plan of Action and how it can be improved to safeguard the safety and security of journalists.

The Secretary General of NUSOJ, Omar Faruk Osman said: Our drive for safe journalism is action-oriented, journalists-centred, conscious of local realities and conforms to global standards, while also fulfilling international obligations in defending media freedom. Osman described the gathering as an important step in charting practical approaches to addressing the safety challenges facing journalists.

IFJ Secretary General Anthony Bellanger welcomed the launching of a Somali-owned and Somali-led roadmap to strengthen safety and security at work, and end impunity against journalists. It is crucial to tackle the safety crisis engulfing the media industry in Somalia. Press freedom and the safety of journalists must be strongly protected to enhance democracy, he added.
Born to an incarcerated mother, Lorenzo P. Lewis struggled with depression throughout his youth. Growing up, he said his aunt's hair salon brought him comfort. He found that Black barbershops were a space where he could have reflective conversations with members of the Black community of all ages. After a decade of working in behavioral health, Lewis founded The Confess Project, an Arkansas-based social enterprise that offers mental health programs for men of color. In the past six years, his team has trained over 1,300 barbers in more than 46 cities. The business doubled its revenue from last year, mainly from offering online courses and on-site training programs. Fast Company named The Confess Project one of "The 10 most innovative health companies of 2021." --As told to Xintian Tina Wang

I always tell people that my journey started in prison because I was born in prison. Due to the lack of parenthood and mental health resources, I almost re-entered the system of mass incarceration at age 17.

In fact, only 25% of African Americans seek treatment for mental health issues, compared to 40% of white individuals. The reasons for this drop-off include misdiagnosis by doctors, socioeconomic factors, and a lack of African American mental health professionals.

I didn't really notice my journey until I served as a mental health technician for several years. I worked at various private hospitals and community-based clinics in Arkansas such as Rivendell Behavioral Health Services and Pinnacle Pointe (all owned by United Health Services). I also served as a youth care worker with juvenile offenders before I entered the hospital facility. I was seeing myself through a lot of the patients who I worked with at the hospitals.

Working on the front line for 14 years, I realized that there was a shortage of Black people working to help folks get the care they deserved. That's when I remembered my childhood experiences at Black barbershops.

My aunt used to own a beauty salon for about 20 years in Arkansas. There's a big part of my childhood where my brother and I went to the hair salon every Saturday just talking about everything that happened throughout the week. The Black hair salon is a safe space where we can talk about anything unapologetically.

So in 2016, I founded The Confess Project in Little Rock, Arkansas, a business that adopts a social entrepreneurial model that is dedicated to transforming barbershops into mental health resources. I was helping Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health conduct an eight-month study in which we interviewed over 35 barbers across multiple cities to find out how barbers can be effective listeners and problem solvers in the community on issues such as violence and public safety. The study confirms that Black barbers play an essential role in Black communities as change agents. So we'd like to enhance the visibility of Black barbers and train them to bridge the gap in Black communities between unmet mental health needs and mental health care.

In 2021, we trained 1,500 barbers to be mental health advocates. Each barber reaches 100 clients per month. Currently, we are reaching about 2 million people in the Black community annually to give out mental health services. The company has a training and advocacy model, in which we charge moderate fees for services and it helps tremendously within our cash flow strategies. We also offer online mental health courses that charge fees. For example, we charged $29.99 for an online course "Trauma-Informed Care & Resiliency."

We also partnered with razor brand Gillette in 2020 to expand our barbershop coalition. We have gone on two tours across the country in key cities such as Philadelphia, New York, and San Francisco. The key to the tour's success is building peer-to peer-relationships. We helped them master skills in listening, validation, communication and stigma reduction.
We list the outcomes of the first in-person IPEF Ministerial conference, held on September 8-9, 2022. At the conference, 14 partner countries collectively developed consensus on subscribing to the respective pillars of cooperation. Out of the four pillars  trade, supply chain, clean economy, and fair economy  India has joined three pillars and opted out of the trade pillar. India has cited lack of clarity in focus areas like labor, environment, digital trade, and public procurement.

The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) recently concluded its first in-person Ministerial conference held on September 8-9, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Indias Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal attended the conference and also conducted various bilateral dialogues with member countries, including the US.

The Ministerial conference was deemed successful by the 14 member countries, including the US, India, Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The partner countries were able to reach a consensus on ministerial statements for each of the four IPEF pillars namely:

Trade

Supply chain

Clean economy

Fair economy

Which partner countries have joined the respective pillars?

Pillar I  Trade Pillar II  Supply chain Pillar III  Clean economy Pillar IV  Fair economy US India India India Australia Australia Australia Australia Brunei Darussalam Brunei Darussalam Brunei Darussalam Brunei Darussalam Fiji Fiji Fiji Fiji Indonesia Indonesia Indonesia Indonesia Japan Japan Japan Japan South Korea South Korea South Korea South Korea Malaysia Malaysia Malaysia Malaysia New Zealand New Zealand New Zealand New Zealand Philippines Philippines Philippines Philippines Singapore Singapore Singapore Singapore Thailand Thailand Thailand Thailand Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam  US US US

Highlights of IPEF Ministerial statements on different pillars

Pillar I  Trade

With the exception of India, all other 13 partner countries have agreed to join the trade pillar, aimed at seeking high-standard, inclusive, free, fair, and open trade commitments that build upon the rules-based multilateral trading system. The 13 countries have collectively agreed to develop such approaches to trade and technology that can fuel economic activities and generate investments; promote resilient, sustainable, and inclusive economic growth and development; and benefit workers, consumers, indigenous peoples, local communities, women, and micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

The countries party to the trade pillar have agreed to focus on devising provisions and initiatives with respect to following areas of cooperation in mind:

Digital economy : Advancing inclusive digital trade by helping in adaption of tools in the digital economy; enhancing access to online information and use of the internet; addressing discriminatory practices; and advancing resilient and secure digital infrastructure and platforms. The IPEF countries identified following areas of focus: Trusted and secure cross-border data flows Inclusive, sustainable growth of the digital economy Responsible development and use of emerging technologies

: Advancing inclusive digital trade by helping in adaption of tools in the digital economy; enhancing access to online information and use of the internet; addressing discriminatory practices; and advancing resilient and secure digital infrastructure and platforms. The IPEF countries identified following areas of focus: Labor : Ensuring free and fair trade for promoting sustainable and inclusive growth. This will entail adopting and maintaining, and enforcing, national laws based on internationally-recognized labor rights, based on the International Labor Organization (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work; encouraging corporate accountability in cases of national labor law violations; and cooperative mechanisms on emerging labor issues to support labor rights and workforce development, including with respect to workers in the digital economy.

: Ensuring free and fair trade for promoting sustainable and inclusive growth. This will entail adopting and maintaining, and enforcing, national laws based on internationally-recognized labor rights, based on the International Labor Organization (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work; encouraging corporate accountability in cases of national labor law violations; and cooperative mechanisms on emerging labor issues to support labor rights and workforce development, including with respect to workers in the digital economy. Environment : Ensure environmental protection through effective enforcement of respective environmental laws and strengthening environmental protection, while facilitating trade and investment in relevant clean technologies and environmental goods and services, and enhancing renewable energy, energy efficiency, and zero and low carbon sourcing; green investment and finance; circular economy approaches; promoting an environmentally sustainable digital economy; responsible business conduct; implementation of our respective obligations under multilateral environmental agreements; and enhanced environmental cooperation.

: Ensure environmental protection through effective enforcement of respective environmental laws and strengthening environmental protection, while facilitating trade and investment in relevant clean technologies and environmental goods and services, and enhancing renewable energy, energy efficiency, and zero and low carbon sourcing; green investment and finance; circular economy approaches; promoting an environmentally sustainable digital economy; responsible business conduct; implementation of our respective obligations under multilateral environmental agreements; and enhanced environmental cooperation. Agriculture : Advancing food security and sustainable agricultural practices, including promoting the use of appropriate technologies to improve climate-smart, sustainable production practices. Further, in a manner consistent with World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreements, enhance food and agricultural supply chain resilience and connectivity; avoid unjustified measures that restrict food and agricultural imports; improve transparency of regulatory processes and procedures, avoid unjustified prohibitions or restrictions on food and agricultural exports; and promote the use of digital tools and other relevant means or arrangements to reduce compliance costs in international food supply chains.

: Advancing food security and sustainable agricultural practices, including promoting the use of appropriate technologies to improve climate-smart, sustainable production practices. Further, in a manner consistent with World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreements, enhance food and agricultural supply chain resilience and connectivity; avoid unjustified measures that restrict food and agricultural imports; improve transparency of regulatory processes and procedures, avoid unjustified prohibitions or restrictions on food and agricultural exports; and promote the use of digital tools and other relevant means or arrangements to reduce compliance costs in international food supply chains. Trade facilitation : Harnessing international best practices with respect to facilitating trade, including effective implementation of the WTOs Agreement on Trade Facilitation; facilitating trade through simplified customs procedures and clearance while maintaining customs control; digitalization of trade facilitation measures; addressing logistics and transportation issues, including, in particular, maritime issues, as appropriate; and promoting transparency.

: Harnessing international best practices with respect to facilitating trade, including effective implementation of the WTOs Agreement on Trade Facilitation; facilitating trade through simplified customs procedures and clearance while maintaining customs control; digitalization of trade facilitation measures; addressing logistics and transportation issues, including, in particular, maritime issues, as appropriate; and promoting transparency. Transparency and good regulatory practices : Promoting, supporting, and improving transparency in policymaking; allowing an opportunity for public feedback by stakeholders on proposed new or amended regulatory measures; improving accessibility of information, including online, about existing laws and regulatory processes; promoting internal coordination in regulatory development; and taking account of available information, science, and evidence-based policymaking.

: Promoting, supporting, and improving transparency in policymaking; allowing an opportunity for public feedback by stakeholders on proposed new or amended regulatory measures; improving accessibility of information, including online, about existing laws and regulatory processes; promoting internal coordination in regulatory development; and taking account of available information, science, and evidence-based policymaking. Technical assistance and economic cooperation : Supporting technical and economic cooperation, including existing bilateral and regional trade-related technical assistance and capacity building.

: Supporting technical and economic cooperation, including existing bilateral and regional trade-related technical assistance and capacity building. Inclusivity : Expanding meaningful access to, and participation in, the regional economy for all segments of society, including indigenous peoples, minorities, women, people with disabilities, rural populations, and local communities.

: Expanding meaningful access to, and participation in, the regional economy for all segments of society, including indigenous peoples, minorities, women, people with disabilities, rural populations, and local communities. Competition policy: Adopting or maintaining competition and consumer protection laws to ensure open, fair, transparent, and competitive markets, including digital markets, and cooperating on competition and consumer protection enforcement and policy issues.

Why has India decided to skip joining trade pillar?

Citing concerns around lack of clarity on the nature as well as potential benefits of binding commitments under this pillar, especially in digital trade and labor, public procurement and environment, India has opted out of the pillar. India has clarified its stance that it shall continue to closely engage with the trade talks as an observer in the IPEF and pursue negotiations with other partner countries with an open mind.

India also expressed apprehensions about making haste while being party to the pillar while its own policy concerning digitalization and user privacy are under formulation.

Few Asian geopolitical watchers are touting Indias move as a balancing act vis-a-vis the US on one hand and China and Russia on the other.

Pillar II  Supply chain

In the supply chain pillar, the partner countries will seek to coordinate actions to mitigate and prevent future supply chain disruptions and secure critical sectors and key products for the manufacturers. Further, the IPEF partners will identify sole sources and choke points in critical supply chains, and make collaborative efforts to address them by promoting and supporting investments in new physical and digital infrastructure. Partner countries have also agreed to make use of use data to improve supply chain logistics to further supply chain resilience.

The member countries have decided to focus on following areas:

Establish an information-sharing and crisis-response mechanism in case of supply chain vulnerabilities

Strengthen supply chain and logistics including land, air, waterway, maritime and port infrastructure, in close cooperation with the private sector

Establish criteria to identify goods and sectors critical to national security, health and economic resilience.

Increase resilience and investment in critical goods and sectors

Improve supply chain transparency by developing tools and measures to advance transparency with the aid of private sector

Enhance role of workers to create increased number of skilled workforce through training initiatives

Pillar III  Clean economy

In this pillar, the partner countries seek to increase investment opportunities, spur innovation in realizing the potential of abundant clean energy resources of the region as well assess its substantial carbon sequestration potential.

The partner countries intend to advance cooperation in clean energy and climate-friendly technologies, as well as promote usage of low and zero-emission good and services. The partners countries aim to stimulate transition to a cleaner economy with the active participation of stakeholders, including the private sector, workers, and local communities.

The main areas of focus, as per this pillar, will be:

Ensuring energy security and enabling smooth transition to clean energy

Reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the priority sectors through support policies, incentive framework and infrastructure investment.

Develop solutions to enhance cooperation with respect to sustainable use of land, water and ocean resources.

Devise and facilitate adoption of innovative technologies to reduce GHG emissions.

Provide incentives, technical cooperation, and ensure workforce development to enable transition to clean energy.

Pillar IV  Fair economy

In this pillar, the IPEF partner countries intend to provide a level playing field for businesses and workers in the Indo-Pacific region, by preventing and combatting corruption, curbing tax evasion, and enhancing transparency.

This fair economy pillar aims to ensure inclusiveness, the rule of law, accountability and transparency. By innovating and strengthening shared approaches to implementing anticorruption and tax measures, the countries will seek to improve the investment climate and boost flows of commerce, trade, and investments in the region.

The primary areas of cooperation under this pillar will be:

Institute anti-corruption measures by effectively implementing and accelerating the progress of United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), standards of Financial Action Task Force (FATF), and OECD Bribery Convention, where applicable.

Tax transparency by exchanging information as well as make collective efforts to improve tax administration in the region. The IPEF countries have also agreed to support G20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS)s two pillar solution to address tax challenges arising out of digitalization of economy.

Ensure cooperation, inclusive collaboration and transparency among respective authorities of the partner countries. It also aims to increase engagement with concerned stakeholders, such as civil society, industry associations, business enterprises, academia, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) etc.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharifs visit to New York will coincide with Sindhi groups holding protests, including a week-long hunger strike, in front of the UN headquarters. The Sindhi diaspora is protesting over human rights abuses and man-made catastrophe of floods in Sindh.

Sharif plans to attend the 77th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) with Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar and Federal Minister for Broadcasting and Information Maryam Aurangzeb, and officials.

Sufi Laghari, Executive Director of the Sindhi Foundation, blamed the Pakistan government for the massive flooding in the country, saying the UN should investigate and audit humanitarian aid that has been given to Islamabad over the years. Laghari added that UN member nations should directly support the people of Sindh.

Many complaints that Shia, Hindu, or other religious affectees were not given ration. In Badin, one of the organizations refused to offer rations to Hindus, reports @veengasj on #SindhFloods Affects for @Therisenews_ https://t.co/ObWXrnErUj #ClimateChange #floodsituation pic.twitter.com/UOBzW3gY5X  The Rise News (@Therisenews_) September 12, 2022

In a press release, Laghari announced that the week-long hunger strike will be held alongside the 77th UNGA session on September 13 and end on September 20.

Besides holding the Pakistani government accountable for the worst-ever floods the country has experienced, the Sindhi Foundation also highlighted human rights abuses by Pakistani security forces such as enforced disappearances and extra judicial killings of Sindhi nationalists and political dissidents.

The organisation also highlighted how young Sindhi Hindu girls are being forced into conversion to Islam.

The press release said:  therefore, Sindhis have the right to exercise the right of self-determination and are at the liberty to declare independence from Pakistan. We appeal to the United Nations to appoint a special envoy to investigate and support the people of Sindh in their demand for the right of self-determination.

The protests by the Sindhi Foundation are important as the UNGA 2022 is holding its first in-person summit of world leaders after a two-year disruption by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dawn reports that Sharif will address the UNGA on September 23 and return to Pakistan the same evening. The newspaper did not say whether Sharif will meet US President Joe Biden.

The Sindhi Foundation said the nonviolent protest was meant to highlight the human rights violation and atrocities committed by Pakistan and its security agencies. Last year the Sindhi Foundation had organised a series of Sindh Long Marches in Canada to raise awareness on the poor human rights situation in the Sindh province.

Also Read: Sindh nationalists to commemorate death anniversary of Raja Dahir  the last Hindu ruler of Sindh

Interview: Sindh will become a Chinese colony if Pak fails to pay back its debts: Zafar Sahito
The Varanasi Districts and Sessions court on Monday upheld the maintainability of the Hindu sides petition in the Gyanvapi mosque complex case.

Hindu women vs Masjid committee

Five women had filed a petition seeking permission for daily worship of Hindu deities whose idols are claimed to be located on an outer wall of the Gyanvapi mosque. The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee had said the Gyanvapi mosque is a Waqf property and had questioned the maintainability of the plea.

Gyanvapi mosque

The Varanasi District Court on Monday rejected the petition of the Muslim side. The court said that the suit by Hindu parties is maintainable in the court. The court has posted the matter for hearing on September 22 and it will now hear the arguments based on merits.

A single bench of district Judge AK Vishvesh delivered the verdict in the Gyanvapi Shrinagar Gauri dispute case today. "The court rejected the Muslim side's petition and said the suit is maintainable.

Big step forward for Hindu women

It is a big step forward for the five women, who want permission for year-long puja and rituals in a part of the mosque complex. They claim there are idols of Hindu gods and goddesses in the complex.

BCCL

Muslim petitioners, mainly mosque administrators, want the petition thrown out and say they are ready to fight till the Supreme Court. The court said three laws cited by the Muslim petitioners are not really a legal barrier for the Hindu women to pray in the Gyanvapi complex.

The next hearing of the case is on Sep 22," advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu side, said. "Muslim petitioners are likely to approach Allahabad High Court in appeal," petitioner Sohan Lal Arya told India Today.

The court delivered its judgment on the maintainability of the suit challenging the title of the Gyanvapi mosque and the land surrounding it.

BCCL

Hindu hardliners believe Gyanvaapi mosque built on ruins of temples

The Gyanvaapi mosque located in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency (Varanasi), is one of the several mosques that Hindu hardliners believe were built on the ruins of temples.

Earlier this year, a lower court ordered the filming of the centuries-old mosque based on the petition of the women. The report of the filming was submitted to the Varanasi court in a sealed cover, but the Hindu petitioners controversially leaked details just hours later.

The report claimed a "Shivling" or relic of Lord Shiva had been found in a pond within the mosque complex used for "Wazoo" or purification rituals before Muslim prayers. A court then sealed the pond and banned large namaz gatherings in the high-profile mosque.

Gyanvapi Mosque Row

The gatherings should be limited to 20 people, said the court. The filming inside the mosque was challenged in the Supreme Court by the Gyanvapi mosque committee, which said the move violates a 1991 law (Places of Worship Act) that freezes the religious status of places of worship as of 1947.

The Muslim petitioners argued that "such petitions and sealing of mosques will lead to public mischief and communal disharmony, will affect mosques across the country".

In May, the Supreme Court assigned the case to the city's most senior judge, referring to the "complexity and sensitivity" of the dispute that it said requires experienced handling.

For more on news and current affairs from around the world please visit Indiatimes News.
The entry of the Bangladeshi groups to Assam is partly due to the severe crackdown by the government of Bangladesh that had disrupted the networks of all Islamist groups where the demographic composition is favourable for concealment.

There are few noted arrests were made by police to nullify multiple ABT (Ansar al-Islam/Ansarullah Bangla Team)-linked/inspired modules, spread across Dhubri, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Goalpara, Morigaon, Kamrup (Metropolitan) and Nagaon Districts, which have come to focus since March 2022. On March 4, 2022, the Assam Police arrested five ABT cadres including Saiful Islam aka Haroon Rashid, a Bangladeshi national, from Barpeta.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) took over Saiful Islams case on March 22, 2022. According to the NIA First Information Report, there is an active module of ABT in Barpeta District, led by Saiful Islam, who entered India illegally and was engaged as an Arabic Teacher at the Dhakaliapara Masjid. Saiful Islam was active in motivating impressionable youth/men to join jihadi outfits and to work in modules, Ansars (sleeper cells), to create a base for Al-Qaeda and its manifestations in India. The other members of the module were Khairul Islam, Badshah Suleiman Khan, Noushad Ali and Taimur Rahman Khan. All the accused persons were involved in the commission of various offences, including conspiracy, waging war against the state, harbouring, and collecting funds for committing unlawful and terrorist acts.

A file photo of Border Security Force jawans checking villagers along the India-Bangladesh border.[ Photo  Asian Age]

According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), at least 30 ABT-linked extremists have been arrested by the Police from different Districts of the State since March 4, 2022, (till September 11, 2022).

Though details about ABT activities are still emerging, Assam Chief Minister (CM) Himanta Biswa Sarma stated on August 4, 2022, that ABT had increased its focus on Assam during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the administration and police were busy handling the crisis. He disclosed,

These people [ABT cadres] were working as preachers in mosques  as a cover job  their aim was to wage jihad against India and establish shariat law. Several training camps were organised by these people especially during COVID-19 times. They were trained in tradecraft (techniques/technology used in modern espionage), radicalisation, indoctrination, gun training and bomb-making They [ABT] do not use mobile calls but use chat apps to communicate. Not Telegram, but these chat apps found are unheard of. They are peer-to-peer encrypted chat apps and are more sophisticated and beyond the end-to-end chat apps.

Further, on August 28, 2022, Special Director General of Police (Law and Order) G. P. Singh noted that, till now, we havent received any indication of arms training. When asked whether the madrasas (seminaries)-linked to ABT were registered, he asserted, We will take action if they are not as per govt guidelines. Earlier, on April 25, 2022, Additional Director General of Police (Special Branch) Hiren Nath added that, though there was no formal arms training by the ABT, they have started indoctrination.

Also, on September 1, 2022, a long-time observer of militancy in the Northeast, Rajeev Bhattacharya, comparing ABT with others like Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), wrote, Jamatul-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), for instance, was structured unlike the ABT which is loosely organised and decentralized.

There have been earlier instances of infiltration by ABT into Assam as well. The interrogation of a Bangladeshi ABT cadre, Faisal Ahmed, arrested from the Bommanahalli area of Bangalore city, Karnataka, on July 1, 2022, revealed that he had arrived in Silchar in the Cachar District of Assam in 2015. He, thereafter, made a fake voter ID card under the name, Shahid Majumdar, and also obtained an Indian passport. Importantly, Faisal Ahmed was one of the four ABT militants convicted for killing Bangladeshi blogger Ananta Bijoy Das in thr Subidbazar area of Sylhet on May 12, 2015. On March 30, 2022, the Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal-based in Sylhet convicted and sentenced four persons, including Faisal Ahmed to death.

Meanwhile, another Bangladesh-based Islamist terrorist group, the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) continues with its efforts to extend its influence in Assam. The presence of JMB came to notice when, on October 2, 2014, Shakil Ahmed and Suvon Mandal aka Subhan, both active members of the JMB, were killed, and Abdul Hakim aka Hassan sustained injuries in an accidental explosion in a rented two-story house at Khagragarh under the Burdwan Police Station of Burdwan District, West Bengal. All three were found to be Bangladeshi citizens. A spate of arrests that followed the incident underscored the extent of the spread of the outfit.

According to the SATP database, since October 2, 2014, at least 61 JMB cadres have been arrested in Assam. The last arrest was made on July 7, 2022, when two JMB terrorists, Mokkodos Ali Ahmed and Sofiqul Islam, were arrested from Barpeta District.

The interrogation of arrested JMB militants revealed that their objective was to counter purported Bodo aggression. Between 2008 and 2014, there have been periodic clashes between Bodos and Muslims in lower Assam. In 2008, at least 55 persons were killed in such clashes; 109 were killed in 2012 and 46 in 2014.

Before the advent of these Bangladesh-based jihadi groups, several Islamist extremist formations existed in Assam. The then Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rockybul Hussain informed the State Assembly on December 15, 2014, that between January 2001 to November 2014, a total of 130 Islamist extremists, including 106 Muslim United Liberation Tigers of Assam (MULTA) militants, 14 Harakat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM) militants and 10 JMB militants had been arrested in the State. Since then (December 1, 2014) another 149 Islamic extremists [including 55 JMB, 30 ABT, 26 Muslim Tiger Force of Assam (MTFA), 21 MULTA,10 Hizb-ul-Mujahedeen (HM), five Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), one each from Muslim Liberation Army (MLA) and Peoples United Liberation Front (PULF], have been arrested in Assam.

A majority of the Islamist militant groups in Assam were founded between 1990 and 1996 with the prime objective of safeguarding the overall interests of the minority Muslim communities in the region. These groups had the backing of Pakatans Inter-Services Intelligence and the then Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led regime in Bangladesh. According to SATP, at least 21 Islamist terror formations have operated in Assam at different periods.

The entry of the Bangladeshi groups is partly due to the severe crackdown by the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government of Bangladesh that had disrupted the networks of all Islamist groups, including the JMB and ABT, forcing them underground or to seek refuge in bordering regions of Indian states like Assam, Bengal or Tripura, where the demographic composition is favorable for concealment.

Moreover, the present polarized political debates have created a perception of targeting/isolating religious minorities (especially Bengali speaking Muslims) in the state, due to recent events, including the Supreme Court monitored updating of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) 1951, followed by the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), as well as administrative measures such as anti-encroachment drives to free government land. The division of Muslims along ethno-linguistic lines can also be a pull factor for these jihadi groups.

The conflict in Assam is largely shaped on the discourse of identity-based politics based on insider-outsider identification, as well as claims to autochthonous status and primacy over local resources, but has gradually been transformed into a religious struggle, and a polarizing politics to consolidate electoral gains. The dominant narratives are likely to be counterproductive, rupturing social bonds and leading to destabilization.

This article is a part of SLG Syndication project. Giriraj Bhattacharjee, Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management in Delhi wrote this for South Asia Terrorism Portal, where this piece first appeared. Click here to read the complete article.
Microsofts CBL-Mariner Linux distribution is becoming more and more important to Azure, both in the cloud and on premises. As well as hosting the GUI features of WSL 2 in Windows 11, its the container host in Azure Kubernetes Service and is available as a base container image in the Microsoft Container Registry, plus it supports distro-less containers on Azure. That makes it worth spending time with CBL-Mariner, learning its features and capabilities and seeing how it can affect your code.

Working with CBL-Mariner is a lot easier now with the release of Version 2.0. Early releases needed to be built from scratch, which required a Go-based toolchain running on Linux. Now you can simply download an ISO and install it in your choice of virtual server tools. As I was using Windows, I used Hyper-V to host my install. If you prefer Azure as a host, you can set up your own virtual machine or use a preconfigured installation from Azures VM library. An alternative approach is to use Docker to download and run a base image straight from Microsofts own Container Registry.

Installing CBL-Mariner on Hyper-V

CBL-Mariner is very much a modern Linux, designed to work with UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) systems so you can use a Gen2 Hyper-V virtual disk to get the most from your install. There is one possible pitfall: You need to ensure that your Hyper-V UEFI environment is using the correct certificate; otherwise, the ISO will fail to boot. In the Security section of the Hyper-V settings for your virtual machine, make sure youre using the Microsoft UEFI Certificate Authority for secure boot, not the default Windows certificate.

On first boot, youll be offered the choice of a text-based or graphical installer. The graphical option lets you choose a full install or a core install. I chose the full install to see how much space it used and what services it installed.

Once youve chosen your install, select the disk it will use and whether or not it will be encrypted. Encryption is useful in a multitenant environment or where you dont know who has access to your system disks. The installer then formats your chosen drive and installs CBL-Mariner.

IDG The graphical installer offers the choice of a full or core install.

On my test system, a full install took 85 seconds and used 2.2GB of disk space. A CBL-Mariner core install using the text installer took even less time, only 21 seconds, and needed only 297MB of space.

IDG A full install of CBL-Mariner took less than two minutes.

After its installed, one more boot takes you to a log-in prompt. Like Windows Server Core, theres no desktop. That shouldnt be surprising. CBL-Mariner is intended to be a headless system running on cloud servers, hosting cloud-native applications that have web UIs. A user-mode desktop only adds security risks, making the system more complex. The big benefit you get with a lightweight, console-only distribution like Microsofts is simplicity. If you do feel like experimenting, there is an X11 release in the CBL-Mariner package repository, most likely as part of its role in providing graphics support for WSL 2.

Small, fast, and ideal for containers

A small install like this is important when working with containers. It means that your base image will load quickly, ensuring rapid deployment of containers as applications scale in Kubernetes or in lightweight orchestration environments such as Azure Container Instances, using the default Moby-containerd package. Thats where the core release comes in; its small enough that it should download extremely fast over Azures internal network or from a local container registry to an Azure Stack HCI system. Small images will allow even greater density on systems like this, a useful feature when youre running resource-constrained hardware on the edge.

Microsoft recommends prebuilt images like the ISO I downloaded or its own container images. Although you can take the source and customize and build it yourself, it wont have gone through the validation process used to create Microsofts own releases.

To make things easier, CBL-Mariner looks like any other text-mode Linux. It doesnt have very many services running, mainly basic file system, networking, and handling logs. Thats what youd expect from a platform like this: the minimum possible set of services to ensure theres very little attack surface. Its worth spending time with the basic documentation to understand how to manage your install.

One important philosophical point with CBL-Mariner: This is not a Linux distribution thats installed once and then continually updated. You can get security updates from Microsoft, but its a lot better to treat it as a piece of infrastructure that only changes when you install a whole new version. Anything that needs to live in userland should be installed as a container. The base OS is updated monthly, which gives a schedule for adding new releases to a continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) process.

Adding packages to CBL-Mariner

Thats not to say you cant customize it for your own projects. Microsoft provides documentation and tools to add packages or build your own forks. If you are building your own version, you should build on a fork of Microsofts code, using git rebase to bring your code and Microsofts into sync with security updates and releases so you dont get left behind with an insecure version of CBL-Mariner.

Now you can add packages to your base install. Microsoft supports RedHats RPM package format, with the TDNF package manager installed as part of the base release. If you havent used TDNF before, think of it as an updated version of the familiar yum tool. TDNF in CBL-Mariner is configured to use Microsofts own repositories, which contain security-patched versions of packages that are tested with CBL-Mariner. Microsoft has a service-level agreement for patching packages, which is based on the severity level of any vulnerabilities.

You can find a directory of the curated packages online. Its a relatively short list compared to RedHat or Ubuntu, but its what youd expect for a container image running on Azure. Microsoft-specific packages include .NET and ASP.NET Core (along with the Kestrel web server), as well as Microsofts OpenJDK release and SQL Server tool, including ODBC connectors. Alongside Microsofts own tools, the CBL-Mariner repository contains a long list of common Linux tools and programming environments, including Python 3, Kubernetes, and node.js. Packages are split into base and extended collections, allowing you to host most applications, with the resulting userland a way to build and manage containers for use in Azure.

With Microsoft now rolling out ARM-based servers as part of Azure, its good to see ARM builds of many of the CBL-Mariner packages. If youre building containers intended to run on those new servers, its important to check for supported ARM versions of the packages you intend to use.

With containers the foundation of cloud-native development, its clear that Microsoft needed its own host OS for Azure, if only to avoid the issues that came with the loss of CoreOS. While the purchase of Kinvolk brought Flatcar in-house, theres still a need for a tightly focused OS like CBL-Mariner thats targeted at Azures needs, not just any Kubernetes platform. Combined with Kestrel and YARP and running on ARM, CBL-Mariner could also allow more applications to run on fewer servers, using less energy. Thats a very good reason for getting familiar with Microsofts own Linux.
Thompson succeeded Ziad Alex Tadmoury, who was named head of the global middle-market division. He was most recently vice president, manager, global sales in the APAC region. Based in Melbourne, Thompson is now tasked with oversight of all operations for FM Globals Asia-Pacific division. He joined the insurer in 1993 as a risk consultant engineer and has since served in various engineering and leadership roles in client service, sales, and underwriting within the US, UK, and Australia markets. Prior to FM Global, Thompson was an environmental project engineer for a Mobil/Exxon joint venture.

Tan (pictured directly above) will head FM Globals operations in Asia. He was previously vice president, division underwriting manager, responsible for Asia and Australia. He is based in Singapore and will report to Thompson.

Tan joined FM Global in 2004 as a risk consultant engineer. Since then, he has held various roles, including account engineer, account manager, and client service manager, with a primary focus on Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong and South Korea. Prior to FM Global, Tan was a process engineer for ABB Lummus Global.

Stafford (pictured directly above) is based in Sydney and is responsible for FM Globals operations in Australia, reporting to Thompson. He succeeded Lynette Schultheis, who now oversees FM Globals Western division. Stafford was previously regional senior vice president, AFM EMEA and Australia.

Since joining FM Global in 1994 as a consultant engineer in Melbourne, Stafford has held a wide range of roles, including manager for field engineering training in Norwood, Massachusetts, in 2000, and account manager for London operations in the UK in 2005. Stafford relocated back to Australia in 2008 as an account manager in Sydney, before assuming the role of client service manager for Australia operations in 2011.
Read more: Three property insurers see their ratings downgraded, withdrawn

Our hope is that were going to go forward with a process that is going to protect the insured properties in this state and benefit the insurance companies so we have more competition, deputy chief financial officer Julie Jones told the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (LBC).

The $1.5 million is a cap on consultation contracts, and the consultants will offer recommendations to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the Legislature, Florida Politics said.

Florida chief financial officer Jimmy Patronis and state insurance commissioner David Altmaier had previously each written a letter to Demotech president Joseph Petrelli, as well as federal housing officials, to petition to call off the downgrades.

Read more: Ratings downgrade of 17 insurers granted stay of execution  for now

Demotech shortly after the letter postponed the downgrade, but Petrelli cautioned that the firm may still publish the remaining ratings updates.

Florida Politics reported that Petrelli believes Demotech is a fair evaluator of the states market, and that the LBCs decision to find another ratings agency is unnecessary.

Todays action is an unnecessary response to a problem that does not exist, the president said in a statement. The reality is that when Hurricane Andrew devastated the state nearly 30 years ago, the rating agencies involved in Florida chose to step away  but Demotech stepped up.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine conflict have exacerbated deglobalisation, creating concerns about supply chain resilience, energy and food security, according to a new report from Swiss Re Institute.

Friend-shoring of supply chains to allied countries and reshoring production capacity domestically, investments in green energy and mitigating a food crisis will reshape the risk landscape and likely spur increased investment into the real economy, the study found.

Six months into the war in Ukraine, our world has changed dramatically, said Jerome Haegeli, group chief economist at Swiss Re. Triggered by the war and the pandemic, we are shifting from an interconnected to a multi-polar world faced with disrupted supply chains, energy and food crises. Insurance is becoming even more vital to the economy, contributing to the financial stability of businesses by covering supply chain risks.

The industry can also facilitate the transitions to a green economy by insuring and investing in renewable energy infrastructure, and by expanding agricultural insurance, it can contribute to global food security.

Supply chain restructuring is predicted to create investments in new infrastructure and production facilities, driving increased demand for engineering insurance, Swiss Re said. Reshoring is predicted to generate an additional $30 billion in global commercial insurance premiums over the next five years, mostly from engineering, property and liability coverage. Friend-shoring would add $3 billion in premiums, Swiss Re said. Marine and trade credit premiums would see a slight decline, as global trade is expected to slow.

In the changing risk landscape, commercial property and casualty insurance will remain a mainstay of resilience, for instance by helping businesses maintain financial stability as operating circumstances change, providing solutions to help reduce cash-flow volatility and stabilising earnings while supply chains are being realigned, said Gianfranco Lot, head of global reinsurance at Swiss Re.

The effects of climate change have already hammered home the importance of the green transition, and the Russia-Ukraine war has added new urgency to the shift to renewables, Swiss Re said. Building and operating renewable energy assets involves complex risks that need to be managed to avoid large revenue losses.

The insurance industry can play a key role in enabling the expansion of renewable energy by providing risk protection covers for the complex risks inherent in constructing and operating renewable energy infrastructure, Swiss Re said.

Since renewables are only one component of the green transition, more investment in decarbonisation is also needed if the world is to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, Swiss Re said. If countries succeed in building all the renewable energy capacity they have targeted so far, Swiss Re Institute estimates these investments will generate additional premiums from the energy sector of $237 billion by 2035. However, the transition to a green economy requires a global effort, and fragmentation due to geopolitical and security concerns could impede the coordinated action needed.

Food prices have soared due to supply chain disruptions from the pandemic and the Ukraine war, Swiss Re said. With the global population expected to hit 10 billion over the next 30 years, global food security has become more and more vital. Agriculture insurance can play a key role in helping farmers maintain income levels and continue farming even in the event of a crop loss, Swiss Re said. Global agriculture insurance premiums are expected to hit $80 billion by 2030, from $46 billion in 2020.
A September 8 U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing on current issues in insurance included useful discussion on some of the industrys most pressing concerns. Comments from the committees members and from one witness, Maryland Insurance Commissioner Kathleen Birrane, shed light on insurance for cyber and pandemic events; the impact of private equity firms acquiring pension obligations from life insurers (pension risk transfer); and pressures on the United States to conform to global regulatory regimes, which impact U.S. insurer capital standards. The hearing also featured profound evasiveness from the other witness, Federal Insurance Office (FIO) Director Steven Seitz.

The hearing began with opening statements that included expected points. Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) intoned the need to maintain policyholder protections and for insurers to remain solvent in the event of catastrophic events that could rattle their capital base, leaving policyholders exposed. In his opening remarks, the ranking member, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), defended the state-based insurance regulatory framework, pointed out the dangers of insurers allowing social movements to guide their business agenda and highlighted the perils of international bodies imposing solvency regimes at odds with insurers sound capital management practice. So far, so good. But sparks began to fly when Sen. Toomey asked Seitz questions which went unanswered, or drew bureaucratic doublespeak responses. A heated exchange between Sen. Toomey and Seitz, in which Sen. Toomey grew visibly irritated, demonstrated Seitz frustrating equivocation in explaining FIOs relationship to the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS). An excerpt from the exchange below gives a flavor of the tone:

Sen. Toomey: Are you involved in an effort to make recommendations to the IAIS regarding private equitys involvement in insurance?

Seitz: Umm. As part of our work at the IAIS, were closely coordinating the NAIC with the Federal Reserve and the states on a variety of issues, including work relating to the capital standards and the holistic framework which the NAIC is adopting.

Sen. Toomey: You didnt answer my question. Are you personally involved in research or development of a memo, or an analysis that will include policy recommendations to the IAIS regarding private equity in insurance?

Seitz: You know, our teams are working closely with the NAIC and the states. You know, I am a member of the executive committee, and there are a variety of topics that the IAIS is discussing. And one of those topics at upcoming meetings that we will be discussing is private equity.

Sen. Toomey: Youre obviously trying to evade my question. I dont know why its such a difficult question to answer

The FIO directors ambiguity was not reserved for Sen. Toomey. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.)

indicated it is not prudent for the United States to import capital standards from Europe, and that the FIO should be engaged in protecting the state-based system of insurance regulation. Seitz responses remained vague, shedding no light on FIOs contributions to global solvency regimes being advanced by the IAIS.

What is more, the FIOs refusal to answer straightforward questions was bipartisan. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) asked repeatedly if pension risk transfers from life insurance companies to private equity firms result in retiree pension assets being exposed to higher risk of loss of value. Rather than provide a response or share insights, the FIO director replied in multiple hollow versions of its an issue we are monitoring closely.

The September 8 hearing also provided an opportunity to answer two fundamental questions dogging the FIO since its establishment in 2010. First, does the FIO harbor ambitions to go beyond its scope as a monitor and influence insurance regulation at a federal level? Second, is the FIO providing value to insurance policyholders and insurance providers? As revealed in last weeks hearing, the answers to the questions are apparently yes and no, respectively.
Ahead of the 21st anniversary of 9/11, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed several bills into that that seek to support to 9/11 victims and survivors and their families. This new laws target barriers and delays in the Victim Compensation Fund and workers compensation claims.

Legislation (S.6810/A.7425) establishes a simplified alternative method for Victim Compensation Fund awards, consisting solely of non-economic losses such as emotional damages. The VCF will issue a detailed award breakdown and allocation of the award between economic loss and non-economic loss.

Currently, under New Yorks wrongful death statute, an award issued by the VCF is treated the same as any action for wrongful act, neglect or default causing the death of a decedent. Once an award is issued by the VCF, the personal representative must apply to the Surrogates Court for a court order allowing the compromise, collection, and distribution of the award. The Surrogates Court is responsible to ensure the adequacy of the award and the proper allocation of the funds to the interested parties.

Another new law (S.6812/A.7426) will require the Victim Compensation Fund Award to treat all victims of the World Trade Center terrorist attack and the processing of their claims equally without unnecessary delay, removing certain restrictions that caused delays for filers and their families. This bill minimizes the administrative burden on the family, VCF, and the Surrogates Court by allowing personal representatives of 9/11 decedents to file and process claims, regardless of whether the decedent died of the 9/11 illness or simply sustained a 9/11 injury but died of a different cause.

A third law S.9370/A.9922A) provides a presumption for workers compensation claims for any health impairment or death of individuals who participated in the World Trade Center rescue, recovery and clean-up operations. Many of the first responders and rescue and recovery workers have a timely claim for benefits with the New York State Workers Compensation Board, but have been denied without cause. Other dependents of workers who died of 9/11 certified illnesses are barred from filing claims for workers compensation benefits because the statute of limitations expired before the CDC World Trade Center Health Program certified illnesses was accepted as presumptive cause. This bill helps those first responders and rescue and recovery workers who contracted an illness or died of a certified illness get benefits.

The final bill (S.9294A/A.10416) allows any participant who became disabled between September 11th, 2017 and September 11th, 2021 to file a claim before September 11th, 2026. If a participant filed a claim in this period and it was disallowed, the application will be reconsidered by the workers compensation board. This will also extend the time period to September 11th, 2026 for filing a notice of participation in New York States public retirement systems.

Assemblymember Peter J. Abbate, Jr. said the enactment of the bills will streamline the procedures for receiving awards for victims and survivors of the terrorist attack.

Topics Claims Workers' Compensation New York Talent
A 48-year-old worker entered a tanker-trailer in Lemont, Illinois to inspect it as part of an annual U.S. Department of Transportation requirement and was overcome from exposure to bleach and chlorine gas. The worker was found unconscious in the tanker-trailer, he later died of his injuries.

An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labors Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined his employer, B & R Repair Inc. of Lemont, failed to identify and evaluate atmospheric hazards in the confined space, train workers on the confined space program, and ensure employees filled out a confined-space permit before entry into a confined space. OSHA also found the employer failed to equip the worker rescuing the unconscious employee with a retrieval system, implement its own procedures for summoning rescue and emergency services, and numerous other violations of its permit-required confined space regulations. The company was also cited for failing to provide fall protection to an employee working on top of tanker trailers and provide training on fall hazards, respirators and hazard communication.

In total, OSHA cited two willful and 10 serious violations and proposed penalties of $326,306.

B & R Repair is an American truck and trailer repair company that provides services to all makes and models of tractors, tankers, trailers, trucks, buses and various cargo transport units. In addition to the main facility in Lemont, the company has service locations in Lansing and Wampum, Pennsylvania.

Topics Commercial Lines Business Insurance Illinois Trucking
Officials in three southeastern Indiana counties have declared local disasters following flash flooding last weekend that killed one woman and damaged numerous homes and roads.

Staffers with the Indiana Department of Homeland Security will now visit Ohio, Jefferson and Switzerland counties this week to assess the scope of flood damage there, said Anna Shei, a spokeswoman for the state agency.

Based on their findings, Gov. Eric Holcomb will decide whether to issue state disaster declarations for the counties and whether to seek funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Shei said.

Torrential rains fell on the counties Saturday night, turning normally small creeks into raging torrents after perhaps eight inches of rain fell in a short period of time, officials said.

The Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency said one woman died, two homes were destroyed and more than 20 buildings were damaged by floodwaters around the rural community of Manville.

Jefferson County officials closed at least two flood-damaged bridges indefinitely in the area about midway between Louisville, Kentucky, and Cincinnati, while the state highway department closed a bridge for Indiana 250 in Switzerland County for repairs.

Tara Flint said the deluge forced her and her family out of their home, sending them fleeing to a hill in their backyard where they watched floodwaters take their home and barn and other property.

It was just surreal to see that, Flint told WXIX-TV.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Flood Indiana
Citigroup Inc. is entitled to recoup about $500 million of its own money that it accidentally wired Revlon Inc. lenders three years early, a U.S. appeals court said on Thursday.

Reversing a lower court ruling, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said it was improper to give the lenders a huge windfall by letting them keep Citigroups money, and that they had been on notice the wiring was a mistake.

The case highlights risks in a banking industry that wires an estimated $5.4 trillion each day.

Citigroup, acting as Revlons loan agent, had in August 2020 intended to make a $7.8 million interest payment on a loan for billionaire Ronald Perelmans now-bankrupt cosmetics company, but instead paid off the $894 million loan though it was not due until 2023.

Citi Sues Revlon Over Lender Status After $900 Million Mistake

Some creditors returned what they received, but 10 asset managers including Brigade Capital Management, HPS Investment Partners and Symphony Asset Management, whose clients included the Revlon lenders, did not.

They said Citigroup paid exactly what was owed, and they had no reason to believe a sophisticated bank would err so badly. They also noted that Perelman had bailed out Revlon before.

In February 2021, U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman in Manhattan ruled against Citigroup after a nonjury trial, saying the prepayment was a discharge for value.

But in Thursdays 3-0 decision, Circuit Judge Pierre Leval rejected that conclusion.

Here, the debt on which Citibank mistakenly made a payment was not due for another three years, Leval wrote in a 93-page opinion. Defendants may not invoke the discharge-for-value rule as a shield against Citibanks claims for restitution.

Lawyers for the Revlon lenders did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Citigroup praised the decision.

Todays ruling reaffirms our long-held belief that these mistakenly transferred funds should be returned as a matter of law, as well as ethics, Citigroup said in a statement. It also said it has taken steps to avoid a recurrence.

INDUSTRY WARNING

Industry groups warned a ruling against Citigroup could subject banks to excessive liability risks and destabilize the approximately $1.2 trillion U.S. syndicated loan market.

Revlon filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors on June 15, and Thursdays decision could result in the asset managers being involved in restructuring talks.

The New York-based companys shares fell about 10% within minutes of the Citidecision, but recouped those losses.

Citigroup argued its appeal last September 29.

Leval said the court took a long time to rule in part because it initially planned to ask New York states highest court for guidance on the complex case, before deciding it would take even longer and that Citigroups arguments were persuasive.

Finding the best accommodation between the objectives of speed and legal soundness is not always easy, Leval wrote.

The case is In re Citibank August 11, 2020 Wire Transfers, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 21-487.
A visit to Houston last week by the Dutch queen highlighted a long friendship between Texas and the Netherlands that grew from their fight against a mutual enemy: flooding.

While meeting with Houstons mayor, Queen Maxima learned how the Netherlands has worked with local officials on efforts to mitigate the impact of flooding following the deadly destruction that Hurricane Harvey wreaked on the city in 2017. Harvey dumped more than 50 inches (127 centimeters) of rain on parts of the Houston area. The storm caused $125 billion in damage in Texas.

The queen also met with state and federal officials and heard about how Dutch engineers and academics have been helping Texas in the development of what could be the largest storm surge barrier in the world. The coastal barrier system in nearby Galveston, which has been in discussion since Hurricane Ike in 2008 battered the Texas Gulf Coast, was inspired by structures in the Netherlands.

Queen Maxima, who also visited the San Francisco Bay Area and Austin, Texas, said she was impressed that the two countries strategies for flood mitigation could preserve the economy and the environment, but also (produce) knowledge to actually help the rest of the world.

We need you, so thank you very much and I hope you continue this fantastic cooperation, she said.

Texas and the Netherlands are natural partners in the fight against flooding.

Houston, the nations fourth-largest city, floods frequently because it doesnt have sufficient infrastructure to handle heavy rain. Development of the area has sharply reduced the natural wetlands that previously soaked up storm water runoff. Every hurricane season, the Texas Gulf Coast faces potentially devastating storms. Hurricane-fueled storm surges can pose a flooding danger to the Houston Ship Channel, which is home to 40% of the nations petrochemical industry.

The Netherlands is a global leader in flood-management design and initiatives. About 26% of its 17 million people live below sea level and the country has spent billions of dollars to build a system of dams, levees and storm surge barriers.

Michael Braden, chief of the mega-project division with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Galveston District, said his agencys efforts to build the barrier system along the Texas Gulf Coast would not be where they are today without help from the Dutch.

The barrier system, which borrows from a similar project nicknamed the Ike Dike and was first proposed by a Galveston professor, is expected to soon get final approval by Congress before being forwarded to President Joe Biden for his signature. Funding for the nearly $31 billion project, which could take up to 20 years to build, would have to be approved separately.

Were addressing a regional issue here with the coastal project, but the things we learn in the design and the construction will eventually be needed by coastal communities all around the world, Braden said.

Dutch and U.S. officials said Friday that their efforts to tackle flooding have become more important because global warming has made torrential rainfall and stronger hurricanes more common.

A United Nations report released in March warned that states along the Gulf of Mexico, including Texas, are under serious threat from rising seas, collapsing fisheries and toxic tides due to climate change.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said many of the flood mitigation strategies that have been developed with the help of the citys Dutch partners, including prairie conservation efforts that will help reduce water runoff and neighborhood resilience plans, will soon be implemented.

But we want our community not only to respond and to recover but to grow and to thrive, to build forward from recovery. We dont want to build back. Building back is building for failure. We want to build forward, Turner said.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Texas Flood
A second patient has died after surgery at a Brazilian butt-lift clinic in south Florida, and the state medical board has banned a surgeon there from performing the procedures.

The Miami Herald reported that Dr. John Sampson will be allowed to keep his medical license, despite the allegation that he performed several unauthorized surgeries in 2021, after he told authorities he would not cut on patients.

An administrative complaint from state medical authorities said that a patient died in 2021 at the age of 33, after Sampson punctured the patients liver and intestines and injected fat from the abdomen into her buttock muscles, a procedure that was banned in Florida in 2019. The complaint also charged that Sampson and the Seduction Cosmetic Center in Coral Gables had submitted untruthful paperwork, the Herald reported.

Its the second death and disciplinary action at the clinic. In 2017, the Florida Board of Medicine stripped Dr. Osakatukei Omulepu of his authority to perform the butt lifts after a patient died at the clinic, which was operating in Doral, Florida, at the time, the newspaper noted.

After the second death, Sampson can keep his license but was fined $20,000; was charged $5,626 for investigation costs; must take medical education courses; and cant serve as the designated physician at any of the clinics surgery centers.

Topics Florida
The U.S. Forest Service is resuming its practice of intentionally lighting fires to clear brush and small trees from forested areas nationwide after a three-month hiatus to review the risks of runaway wildfires under increasingly severe climate conditions, the agency announced Thursday.

The prescribed fire program was put on hold in late May in the midst of a devastating wildfire sparked by the federal government near Las Vegas, New Mexico. The flames burned across more than 500 square miles through remote communities in the southern reaches of the Rocky Mountains.

Forest Service Chief Randy Moore said prescribed burns will require new safeguards such as same-day authorization to keep pace with evolving weather and ground conditions.

He said the Forest Service will adopt mandatory tactics, taken from an in-depth review and public consultation process, that include a more robust scientific analysis of burn plans and a final on-site evaluation of the potential for human error linked to fatigue or inexperience.

Permission to light fires and other communications will be standardized to avoid missteps, amid efforts to learn from the small share of prescribed fires that escape control.

Its our due diligence and I cant overstate that, Moore told The Associated Press. Every time one of these fires happened, like the one down in New Mexico, you know, we lose trust and credibility in the communities that we serve and so we have to do this right.

Moore said the agency wont back away from intentional burns that he sees as a crucial tool in reducing the buildup of combustible material on forest floors and grasslands.

Our climate is changing and we have the science to back that up, Moore said. We need to increase the amount of work that were doing by up to four times. We do feel that if we want to make a difference on that landscape, between forest thinning and prescribed burning, we really need to ramp it up. And we need to do it in a way that is safe, in a way that really instills public trust.

By the end of the year, the agency also wants to expand training not only for Forest Service staff but also community members who could be certified to participate directly in controlled wildfires.

To instill greater accountability, Moore said he will soon designate a specific Forest Service member at the national level to oversee implementation of the new requirements and tactics for prescribed burning.

Many forestry experts outside the federal government say prescribed burns need to be accompanied by sufficient oversight and new scientific tools for modeling of fire behavior.

Owen Burney, director of the John T. Harrington Forestry Research Center at New Mexico State University, said the Forest Service could instill greater trust in prescribed burns with independent oversight from outside the agency, not just Forest Service administrators.

I dont think the Forest Service should be self-serving, Harrington said. What they need to have is external advisers.

Jennifer Carbajal, who lived in Las Vegas as the government-sparked wildfire skirted the city, said she no longer considers prescribed burns viable after seeing people left homeless by the fire and the debris-choked flooding afterward.

Everything needs to be reevaluated in light of the climate. Everything is getting exponentially worse, she said. I dont think burning, prescribed burns, should be a tool in the kit anymore.

The Forest Service typically ignites 4,500 prescribed fires a year, aimed at treating more than 2,000 square miles across the National Forest system. Very few of the fires escape control, a fraction of 1% by Forest Service calculations.

Anticipated changes to the prescribe burn program also will be geared toward economic development and the possible introduction of new composite building products made from small diameter trees and wood particles, products that might incentivize better forest management and create local jobs.

Las Vegas resident Elmo Baca, a movie theater owner and chairman of a community foundation overseeing wildfire relief funds, said people with a lifetime of knowledge about local forests and weather conditions feel left out of decisions on prescribed burns.

I would hope that going forward that the Forest Service would be more sensitive and cognizant of local people and their knowledge of the land, he said. I like the idea of them training people outside of the Forest Service.

Topics Mexico New Mexico
An oil company on pleaded guilty in federal court to negligently discharging crude off the Southern California coast when its underwater pipeline ruptured last year, a spill that closed miles of shoreline and shuttered fisheries.

Meanwhile, in state court, Houston-based Amplify Energy and two of its subsidiaries agreed to enter no contest pleas to killing birds and water pollution in a settlement with the county and state officials stemming from the same October 2021 oil spill.

Amplifys pipeline broke off the Orange County coast, spilling about 25,000 gallons of oil into the Pacific Ocean. The rupture closed beaches for a week and fisheries for more than a month, oiled birds and threatened local wetlands.

Amplify unequivocally hit the snooze button. They knew they had a leak. Their leak detection system detected a leak, said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. Over and over, they kept ignoring it. That is criminal and that is why theyve been charged.

Spitzer and state Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the filing of six misdemeanor state charges against the company and two of its subsidiaries from the spill.

The company will plead no contest to all six charges and pay $4.9 million in penalties and fines as part of a settlement, Spitzer said. Bonta called the penalty historic, believed to be the largest state misdemeanor criminal fine ever in Orange County.

The company will also be placed on 12 months of probation and make changes designed to avoid future spills, including increased inspections and technology to detect leaks, Bonta said.

Martyn Willsher, Amplifys president and chief executive officer, said in a statement that the companys agreement with state and federal officials further reflects the commitments we made immediately following the incident to the communities and environment impacted by the release. He said the company remains committed to safely operating in a way that ensures the protection of the environment and the surrounding communities.

The criminal charges do not resolve the states civil claim against the company, Bonta said.

The companys failure to properly sound the alarm led to the expansive spill that shut down beaches and led to the recovery of 116 live and dead birds soiled by oil, Bonta said, and the full economic impact of the oil spill is still emerging.

The criminal charges include discharging oil into state waters, failing to immediately report it to state officials, and four counts of killing birds.

In federal court in Santa Ana, Amplify and its subsidiaries each pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge on Thursday, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorneys office in Los Angeles. The plea comes after the companies agreed with federal prosecutors to pay a $7 million fine and nearly $6 million in expenses incurred by agencies including the U.S. Coast Guard.

In the federal agreement, Amplify also agreed to install a new leak detection system for the pipeline that ferried crude from offshore platforms to the coast. They also said theyd train employees to identify and respond to potential leaks. Federal authorities said the company and its subsidiaries failed to respond to eight leak detection alarms over a 13-hour period that should have alerted workers to the October 2021 spill.

Amplify contends that two ships dragged their anchors across the pipeline and damaged it during a January 2021 storm, but the company wasnt notified about the dragging until after the spill. Without this damage, Amplify has argued that the spill would not have happened.

The announcement of the state deal led to unusual and unexpected praise between Bonta, a progressive Democrat running to retain his office, and Spitzer, a Republican who has faced significant controversy in recent months.

Bonta called Spitzer a true fighter and champion for Orange County, while Spitzer was effusive in his praise for Bonta, who faces a Republican opponent in November.

To have an attorney general who is so deeply committed to protecting the community and our environment is a very, very big blessing to me as a district attorney, Spitzer said.

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Topics California Fraud Energy Oil Gas
ATLANTA, Georgia, September 12, 2022  Breckenridge Insurance welcomes Sam Frihart as a commercial property underwriter to its specialty property program team. Frihart has four years of underwriting experience on the carrier side of the business and is skilled at property risks having worked with agents and brokers nationally, including Breckenridge.

Previously, Frihart was property facility underwriting director at Arch Reinsurance and an underwriter in the wholesale property division of Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies for more than two years prior to this. He graduated with a degree in risk management and insurance with a certificate of legal studies from the University of Georgia while also demonstrating his leadership skills among his work and student activities.

Sam is a great addition to our team at the ideal time. We are experiencing overall program growth while also expanding our scope of property coverages to best serve our clients. With his carrier underwriting perspective, our commitment to underwriting integrity is clearly in good hands, stated Michael Marks, senior vice president of the specialty property team.

As part of the growing specialty property program team, Frihart is focused on facilitating competitive coverage solutions for diverse property risks including vacant, residential real estate investor portfolios, and commercial properties nationally by way of access to top-rated carrier partners. The scope of coverage also includes general liability, wind deductible buy backs, TRIA and new buffer excess capacity.

Frihart is located in the Atlanta area and can be reached at sfrihart@breckis.com or 678.269.4808.

About Breckenridge Insurance:

BRECKENRIDGE INSURANCE is a wholesale brokerage, binding and programs insurance provider

delivering competitive commercial coverage solutions to independent agents and brokers nationally. With problem-solving specialists spanning a variety of industries and insurance lines, the team provides expertise and access to top-rated markets to help clients win business with underwriting integrity. As part of Breckenridge Group, access to additional specialty programs and a commitment to significant compliance and technology investments support the companys growth. For more information, please visit WWW.BRECKIS.COM or call 855.728.8822. CA Insurance License #0G13592

About Breckenridge Group:

Headquartered in Atlanta, Breckenridge Group is the parent company of several best-in-class brands that provide insurance and risk management solutions and services to diverse audiences across three practice areas: insurance, financial and member services. For more than a decade, the company has built a reputation for strategic growth by empowering expert talent who achieve inspiring results. More than 400 employees work across its six divisions including Breckenridge Insurance, Breckenridge General Agency, OSC Insurance Services, Southeastern Underwriters, Target Markets Program Administrators Association and Insurance Networks Alliance. For more information, please visit WWW.BRECKGRP.COM

Topics Commercial Lines Excess Surplus Business Insurance Underwriting Property
Ukrainian farmers are likely to cut the winter grain sowing area by at least 30% because of a jump in prices for seeds and fuel combined with low selling prices of their grain, the Ukrainian Agrarian Council, or UAC, has said.

Ukraine has already started 2022 winter grain sowing and the agriculture ministry said last month it expects the winter wheat sowing area could shrink to 3.8 million hectares (9.3 million acres) from 4.6 million a year earlier.

The country is a major grower of grains and the war at one stage this year helped push up the prices of many global foodstuffs.

Winter wheat

Ukraine sowed more than 6 million hectares of winter wheat for the 2022 harvest, but a large area was occupied during the Russian invasion that began in February and only around 4.6 million hectares of wheat would be harvested in Ukrainian-controlled territory.

"The main reasons that encourage agricultural producers to reduce sown areas are the high cost of fertilisers, problems with the sale of grain, as well as too low purchase prices for agricultural products," the UAC said in a statement.

The council represents thousands of small and medium-sized agriculture producers across Ukraine.

"We will reduce the sowing of winter crops by almost half. I consider it impractical to sell wheat today at cost price and still sow when there is no sale. I am looking for a sales market. In order to sow now, the farm needs to sell 500-700 tonnes," the UAC quoted farmer Valery Martyshko from the Kyiv region as saying.

Ukrainian grain exports have slumped since the start of the war because its Black Sea ports, a key route for shipments, were closed off, driving up global food prices and prompting fears of shortages in Africa and the Middle East.

Three Black Sea ports were unblocked at the end of July under a deal between Moscow and Kyiv, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey. Reuters
A convicted Limerick gangland murderer has been found with an unauthorised luxury mattress in his jail cell.

Christopher Costello of the McCarthy-Dundon crime gang who was convicted of murdering rival crime boss Kieran Keane in 2003 had previously received extra jail time after mobile phones were found in his cell.

But in recent weeks, he was also found to have a mattress from the luxury brand, Emma. It is understood that the mattress originally belonged to another inmate who had been granted it on health grounds.

It is believed the mattress was taken into the Midlands Prison when a prisoner from Portlaoise Prison was transferred there and had been permitted the special mattress due to back problems. Following the search, the mattress was removed from Costellos cell, it is understood.

Cell searches in the Midlands Prison are frequent and if unauthorised items are found, those items are removed from the prisoner's cell and a P.19 disciplinary process is activated. This disciplinary process can result in prisoners losing privileges, like visits from family and friends or reduced phone calls.

The Irish Prison Service said that it does not comment on individual prisoner cases.

Costello was part of the notorious McCarthy-Dundon gang in Limerick.

In 2003, Costello, Desmond Dundon, David Stanners, James McCarthy and Anthony McCarthy, all from the Limerick area, were convicted for their part in the murder of rival Keane gang boss, 36-year-old Kieran Keane.

They were sentenced to life in prison for the murder. They were also jailed for 15 years for the attempted murder of Keanes nephew Owen Treacy and for seven years for the false imprisonment of both men.

Keane, a notorious Limerick crime boss who ran the Keane gang in Limerick was found shot dead with his hands tied behind his back during a bloody feud between warring Limerick drug families. His body was found dumped on a country road in Drombana, Co. Limerick.

His nephew Owen Treacy was stabbed 17 times in the attack but he survived and became the chief prosecution witness. It is understood that Costello remains an influential member of the McCarthy-Dundon gang.
YOU know that statement, Im not a racist, but?

How about this for a variation describing hundreds of thousands of Irish people: Im not a royalist, but? Or Im not a monarchist, but

The phrase typically serves as an advance apology for paying attention to every jot and tittle of coverage following the death of Britains Queen Elizabeth, obsessing over the relative positions in Westminster Abbey during the upcoming royal funeral, or taking a view of King Charles capacity.

Its not new, this ambivalence. My grandmother used to describe the IRA as our lads and drop a few bob into the collection boxes on the ground outside the GPO where our lads sold their newspapers.

My mother would try to convey to passersby (who had less than no interest in what this sweet little old lady did with her loose change) that she wasnt with her, but thats a difficult one to sell when youre linking said little old lady by the arm that isnt throwing the coins.

Yet, at Christmas, as well as listening to the Popes message, my grandmother would sit down and listen to the queens broadcast. Not sure she fully understood it, because the queen had a preserved-in-aspic-since-the-19th-century way of pronouncing words that provoked constant double-takes in her listeners. The point is; she listened. Reverently. Nana was indubitably not a royalist, but

Many people in Ireland who eschew the very notion of royalty are happy to follow the doings of the British royals  including tuning in to the monarch's Christmas Day address which was televised for the first time in 1957. File picture: PA

That contradiction was evident, too, at home.

My father, a rabid socialist, would now and again let loose about the royal family owning half of Scotland, being party to the worst excesses of colonialism, and personifying all that was bad in the (capitalist) system. My mother went along with this while at the same time pointing out that nobody does pomp and circumstance with military uniforms and brass bands like the British on occasions generated by royalty dying. Or near-royalty such as Churchill dying.

They were just egging to break out the protocols along with the trombones. As an argument for the continuation of the monarchy, it was tangential but meritorious.

I remember my mother, who would sneer at any suggestion that she was a royalist, quoting what the doctors had said about Elizabeths father, George V, delivered on BBC radio by Stuart Hibberd: The kings life is moving peacefully to its close.

She did add that what this actually meant was that theyd hit him with a megadose of morphine that was going to make him comfortable, while also speeding up the shuffling off of his mortal coil.

Last week, the royal medics in Balmoral did the 21st century version of this, announcing that the queen was under medical supervision, while her family rushed to be beside her. Everybody, particularly Joe Duffy, knew the minute they heard it that she had already snuffed it at that point.

How America crowned the fake Anastasia We mock the Americans as suckers for the royalty thing, and it must be admitted that theyre bigger into it than we are, with countless glossy magazines at the checkouts in Walmart, Winn-Dixie, and Walgreens offering the latest on Kate Midleton or Prince Andrew or retrospectives on Princess Diana. Barnes & Noble bookshops carry massive coffee table picture books of royal weddings, breakups, mistresses, and tragedies. The real princess Anastasia, third from right, with other Romanov royalty, princess Olga, Czar Nicholas II, prince Alexei, and princess Tatiana. The fake Anastasia duped the people of the US without even trying. File picture: AP It was the Americans who fell for the girl they believed to be Anastasia, the daughter of the Russian tsar who had escaped from the mass murder at Ekaterinburg. They feted the young woman, financed her, married her (well, one doctor did) and made a movie about her, starring Ingrid Bergman. It was only years after her death that DNA analysis proved Anastasia wasnt her name and she wasnt royal at all. She was a despairing servant girl who had jumped into the Danube to do away with herself and, in the hospital after she was fished out, had been identified by some visiting member of the aristocracy as resembling the arch-duchess. The girl became an imposter without much active participation in the imposture: She hardly spoke, made no claims, and barely knew which way was up, especially in the early days after her failed suicide attempt. That attempt was used by her growing cohort of supporters to explain away the fact that she spoke little Russian and seemed to have only sporadic memories of court life. They would point out that she had to have been traumatised by the massacre of her family and subsequent escape from the death house, so it was no wonder she wasnt the full rouble any more. But she was still royal, they believed, and that factor drew crowds wherever she went. She lacked lucidity, charm, looks, education, or humour  but her assumed lineage protected her right up to and beyond her death in a filthy bed shared with a couple of dozen adopted feral cats. Such was the mystique of royalty.

That mystique attached itself to Queen Elizabeth as soon as she appeared on black and white television and in black and white photographs in newspapers, smiling despite a crown weighing five pounds and robes that required a small army of ladies-in-waiting to manage. It is a mystique that is much more than fame, not unrelated to history tourism.

People visiting Pompeii or Athens have a need to relate to the continuum of humanity. Similarly, the popularity of TV programmes tracing the ancestry of even B-list celebrities speaks to the thrill of spotting the same forehead or eyes as possessed by the contemporary celebrity in oil paintings or sepia photographs of a long-dead relative.

The other link is with cults.

The market for stories of children brought up in cults never diminishes. Readers want accounts of those indoctrinated as toddlers with beliefs and values outside the norm, habituated to rituals foreign to the rest of us. Something of that informs our unwilled response to royalty.

Not to mention willful self-deception: The constant theme running through, for example, the apotheosising of the late Princess Diana was that she was just like us, that she was, in Tony Blairs tacky phrase, the peoples princess.

Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Diana enjoying the Braemar Highland Games in September 1982. While aspects of the royals' lives may seem perfectly relatable, they are not like us at all  and that includes 'the people's princess', Diana. File picture: PA Archive

She, of course, wasnt the least bit like the garage-flower brigade who came out to mourn her in the festival of mawkishness consequent upon her sudden death.

Diana was rich, beautiful, instantly identifiable worldwide. Nobody she couldnt reach within minutes. Or dance with  remember John Travolta? There was no cause she couldnt make people care about  witness the impact on the perception of leprosy delivered by photographs of her with sufferers from the oldest disease known to humanity.

Many famous beautiful women serve as charity ambassadors. None has ever had the impact of Diana, and her impact depended on membership of The Firm, just as Meghans does today.

That said, one has to wonder if the 10-day mourning period imposed on Britain in the wake of the queens death can avoid becoming a tiresome national duty enlivened by too few ceremonial events.

Theres a limit to how many Ripleys Believe It Or Not details we can take about the royals in one 10-day dose.
Burma Arakan Army Seizes Another Myanmar Junta Outpost

Firearms and ammunitionA seized by the Arakan Army in a raid on a military outpost in Maungdaw Township on Saturday. / Arakan Army

The Arakan Army (AA) seized another Myanmar junta outpost in Maungdaw Township in northern Rakhine State on Saturday.

Nineteen junta police officers were killed when a police outpost near the Bangladesh border in the township was occupied by the AA on August 31.

On Saturday morning, AA troops seized an Infantry Battalion 352 hilltop outpost about 3km away from Jade Chaung village in the township, an AA statement said on Sunday.

The AA said there was an hour of fighting and many regime soldiers were killed while others were captured.

It submitted photos of seized weapons and ammunition.

Western News reported that 13 regime soldiers were killed and four were captured.

A video shows four detainees being told not to be afraid and that they would not be harmed.

Following the raid, junta fighter jets and helicopters conducted airstrikes for several hours and on Sunday, the AA said.

There has been heavy fighting in the area since the seizure of the police outpost last month with aerial bombardments and deploying large numbers of reinforcements, the AA said.

The junta is reportedly losing men and territory amid regular raids from resistance groups and ethnic armed organizations across the country.
Junta Watch: Yet Another Top-Level Trip to Russia; ex-UK Envoy Becomes a aHostagea; and More
Burma Like Father, Ex-Generalas Son Blasts Myanmar Democracy Movement, Independent Media

Feat: Aye Chan (left) and his father Soe Thane

A son of an admiral who served in the previous Myanmar military regime used a UNESCO-funded regional media forum to attack Myanmaras democracy movement and independent journalists while defending the militaryas 2021 coup.

The UNESCO supported Dili Dialogue Forum-2022 was held in Timor-Lesteas capital Dili on Aug. 25 and 26. The two-day meeting was attended by chairs of press councils from Timor-Leste, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Myanmar to discuss media challenges in their countries.

Aye Chan, son of ex-admiral and former minister Soe Thane, joined the forum as a member of the Myanmar Press Council (MPC), which has been reshuffled in the wake of the takeover to include pro-military writers and publication owners.

Soe Thane, as a minister in the previous military-proxy Thein Sein government (2011-early 2016), fooled the world into believing that Myanmaras military dictatorship was at an end and that he himself and the administration to which he belonged were reform-minded. He was a rear admiral in the Myanmar Navy in the previous military regime, which ruled the country from 1988 to 2010.

Ten years later, his reformist veneer cracked with his support for the militaryas latest coup against the democratically elected, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy (NLD) government in 2021. The former admiral badmouthed her and the NLD government that succeeded Thein Sein administration while stoking pro-military sentiment and rumor-based nationalism.

At the Dili forum, Aye Chan followed in his dadas footsteps, voicing support for the military takeover and attacking the NLD government while defaming Myanmaras independent media, which has been reporting the regimeas day-to-day atrocities against its own people to the world. So far, the junta has killed more than 2,000 people while raiding and burning communities that oppose military rule.

His presentation merely parroted the regimeas worn-out excuses for the coup: accusing the NLD of voter fraud during the 2020 election, something local and international poll observers denied. He called the NLD athe party of the corrupta and said athey cheated the electiona, resulting in the coup. Repeating the regimeas propaganda, he defamed the countryas anti-regime movement and its attempt to restore democracy, calling it aterrorisma.

Echoing the regimeas spokesman and Deputy Information Minister Major General Zaw Min Tun, Aye Chan said Myanmar media, especially those in exile, had contributed to the spread of misinformation and disinformation after the coup, becoming a tool for terrorists. The regime has branded the parallel National Unity Government (NUG) and its armed wing, the Peopleas Defense Force (PDF) as terrorists for their ongoing attempts to root out the military dictatorship.

aTwenty percent of donations collected by them [the NUG and PDF groups] go to media for writing fake news on Facebook,a he said, citing a acaptured terrorista as the source.

However, he didnat mention the juntaas crackdown on local media. Since the takeover, 135 journalists have been arrested, and six were sentenced to prison in March this year alone, according to Detained Journalists Information Myanmar. Three journalists were killed last year. The regime has revoked the licenses of nine media outlets and the country was ranked 140th out of 180 countries in the 2021 Global Press Freedom Index. Currently, independent media barely exist inside the country as many journalists have gone into hiding or fled. A number of mainstream independent media, including The Irrawaddy, now operate from exile.

In response to Aye Chanas remarks at the forum, 33 independent Myanmar media organizations on Friday strongly condemned the representation of the so-called Myanmar Press Council at the Dili Dialogue Forum, saying its characterization of Myanmars current media situation was regime misinformation.

aIndependent media organizations in Myanmar strongly condemn regional and international media organizations and governments that have invited the Myanmar Military Council and engaged in spreading misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech,a it said.

UNESCOas Jakarta office, which funded the forum, didnat respond to The Irrawaddyas email asking for comments.

Like father like son

In the wake of the 2021 military takeover, Aye Chanas father Soe Thane praised coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaingas seizure of power from the NLD as aa very smart move.a The former admiral couldnat hide his elation at the takeover, writing: aOur Myanmaras independence was restored on Feb. 1, 2021.a

It was a stark contrast to his previous image as a reformist minister taking steps to help Myanmar reengage with the world as part of the political, economic and social reforms during the Thein Sein administration. In his latest book,A The Hidden History of Burma, historian Thant Myint-U, who served as an adviser to that administration, called him the aprinciple architect of the normalization of ties with the Westa and aBurmaas main cheerleader abroad, speaking frankly but optimistically about the countryas prospects.a

Aye Chan, 49, joined the Myanmar Press Council as the owner of Myanmar Insider, a publication he has used to promote regime propaganda, such as the claim of NLD vote fraud. In this article including his lame and clumsy arguments for why the anti-regime activities would fail, and he openly admits at the end: aMyanmar Insider has become a mouthpiece for the junta.a

Furthermore, the address of the publicationathe same as a KFC outlet on Bogyoke Aung San Road in downtown Yangonais questionable, as the building used to be a state asset under the Transportation Department. How it ended up in Aye Chanas hands is unknown. On the Myanmar Insider website, the building is listed as being for rent in an ad for aquality office space in central downtown.a

Moreover, according to his LinkedIn profile, Aye Chan is the chairman of the E-Commerce Association of Myanmar and deputy chairman of the Myanmar Digital Economy Association. He is the director of rgo47, a popular online shopping site that has become one of the targets of a popular boycott of military-related businesses since the coup. His wife is Win Nandar Thike.

Privileged siblings

Aye Chan has two sisters, Theta Aye and Yimon Aye.

Theta Aye is the acting CEO of Mother Finance Co., Ltd., the first digital lending mobile application platform in Myanmar. She used to be deputy managing director at KBZ Group and director at Dymon Asia Capital, a Temasek Holdings-backed Southeast Asia-focused private equity fund. She received her undergraduate and graduate education at the University of Oxford (UK), Massachusetts Institution of Technology (US) and Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (Singapore).

Yimon Aye is a chemist and molecular biologist and a professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL). Since January 2022, she has been serving as an associate editor of ACS Chemical Biology.

The trio were found to have studied in Singapore, England and the US while their father Soe Than was internationally sanctioned. For example, when Soe Thane was among the former regime individuals targeted by international sanctions in the early 2000s, Aye Chan was studying for an MBA at Emory University in the US, according to his LinkedIn profile. His father was a rear admiral at the time.

As Presidentas Office minister in the Thein Sein administration, Soe Thane acted as the countryas economic czar and was widely believed to be corrupt. In that capacity, he chaired the Myanmar International Cooperation Agency (MICA), a quasi-governmental agency, in 2012 to coordinate with local and foreign companies to develop underutilized assetsamainly farms, fisheries, and plants. MICA took control of about 60 factories and businesses and hundreds of acres of land. It then signed controversial land lease deals with the private sector and failed to publicize the details. In 2017, the Upper House voted to abolish it following allegations that the agency was thoroughly corrupt.
Burma Myanmar Military Light Infantry Battalion Refuses to Fight After Taking Heavy Casualties

Six junta soldiers were captured by Cobra Column on the Myawaddy-Waw Lay Road on September 9. / Cobra Column

An entire Myanmar junta Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) involved in operations in Karen Stateas Myawaddy Township disobeyed orders and refused to fight after taking heavy casualties, according to Myanmar military personnel who have defected to Karen resistance forces.

Private Zaw Htut from Infantry Battalion (IB) 8, who defected to the Karen National Union (KNU) at the frontline last week, said: aAt Kyaw Wah Poe Hill, the entire LIB 102 handed over their arms to the tactical commander and said they would retreat. The tactical commander requested them not to retreat.a

Soldiers from LIB 102, who are normally based in Mon Stateas Mottama Town, are among the military regime forces fighting the armed wings of the KNU and allied resistance forces along the Myawaddy-Waw Lay Road in the south of Myawaddy Township.

aWe [troops from IB 8] dared not climb the hill [Kyaw Wah Poe Hill] and LIB 102 didnat want to either. When [commanders] put pressure on us to advance, the deputy battalion commander of LIB 102, Major Aung Thu, laid down his weapons and said that he would go back,a said Zaw Htut.

LIB 102 was then withdrawn from combat duty and assigned as a tactical auxiliary column that stays with the tactical commander at the rear, added Zaw Htut.

IB 8 previously served as the tactical auxiliary column, which is mainly tasked with logistics, said Private Soe Aung who defected along with Zaw Htut.

Fierce fighting at a place known locally as athree-tiera on the Myawaddy-Waw Lay Road has been ongoing since early July when the Cobra Column resistance group, which fights alongside Karen National Liberation Army-led resistance forces, ambushed six battalions of junta soldiers including LIB 102 and IB 8 travelling from Falu Village to Thay Baw Boe Village.

aWe donat want to fight anymore. Thatas why we have come here [to the KNU],a said Zaw Htut.

The Irrawaddy could not independently verify reports of regime troops disobeying orders and refusing to fight. However dozens of junta soldiers from Division 44, which includes LIB 102 and IB 8, involved in the fighting at athree-tiera have deserted because of heavy junta casualties, according to defectors.

Since clashes broke out in July, 14 junta soldiers have defected through the KNU. Other personnel have fled the Myanmar military on their own.

The high numbers of defections and casualties saw the Division 44 commander replaced at the end of August with the commander of Division 101, based in Pakokku.

Over the past two months, junta forces have only been able to seize one hill at athree-tiera. To reach Thay Baw Boe Village, regime forces have to capture six more hilltop bases occupied by resistance fighters.

On September 9, Cobra Column said that it captured six junta soldiers led by Captain Ye Yint Maung of LIB 2012 on the Myawaddy-Waw Lay Road along with weapons and ammunition.
Burma Over 80 Regime Soldiers Reportedly Killed in Southeast Myanmar

Karenni Army troops parade in Kayah State. Photo- KNDF / Photo- KNDF

Myanmaras junta has pounded the small town of Moebye in Pekon Township, southern Shan State with air and artillery strikes, after regime forces reportedly lost over 80 soldiers killed during four days of intense fighting with resistance groups.

An eight-year-old child was killed in the junta bombardment and some 100 houses and buildings were destroyed, said the Progressive Karenni Peopleas Force, a Karenni rights group documenting human rights violations in southeast Myanmaras Kayah State and neighboring townships in southern Shan State.

Intense clashes broke out in Moebye last Thursday when several Peopleas Defense Forces (PDFs) and ethnic armed organizations (EAOs), including the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) and the Karenni Army, attacked some 300 regime troops trying to raid Moebye, according to the resistance groups.

Between September 8 and 11, a total of 85 regime soldiers were reportedly killed by the Karenni resistance forces. Two resistance fighters were killed and over 50 were injured, according to Moebye-PDF, who were involved in the clashes.

However, The Irrawaddy was unable to confirm the militaryas casualties independently.

Fierce firefights continued in Moebye on Sunday, as resistance groups attacked military regime troops trying to occupy a residential area of the town, according to the KNDF.

Moebye-PDF claimed to have killed at least 25 regime soldiers. Resistance fighters were targeted with air and artillery strikes during the battle.

KNDF released photos of dead junta soldiers and captured weapons and ammunition.

On Saturday, at least 15 regime troops were killed while 13 resistance fighters suffered injuries, Moebye-PDF said. Two regime fighter jets conducted at least seven airstrikes during Saturdayas fighting, while junta artillery shelled Moebye.

Another 45 Myanmar military troops were killed on Thursday and Friday, while many weapons were seized along with ammunition. Junta forces based in Moebye and Pekon and Loikaw townships responded with artillery strikes.

Over 5,000 residents were forced to flee their homes due to the fighting.

Regime forces now face near-daily attacks from PDFs and EAOs across the country.
GUEST INTERVIEW: In a digital-first world, having a low-code platform built on the pillars of abstraction, automation, cloud, and collaboration dramatically increases developer productivity, and empowers a legion of not-so-technical, citizen developers to create apps guided by their particular domain expertise, facilitated by engineered-in collaborative capabilities and an intuitive visual interface.

Mendix. Recognised as a leader and visionary by industry analysts, its platform is cloud-native, open, extensible, agile, and proven.

From artificial intelligence and augmented reality to intelligent automation and native mobile, Mendix has become the backbone of digital-first enterprises, adopted by more than 4,000 leading companies in 46 countries.

In today's world, customers want their every need anticipated, employees want better tools to do their jobs, and enterprises know that sweeping digital transformation is the key to survival and success.

Enterprises encountered imperatives to digitalise operations and customer interactions and support remote and hybrid work arrangements, accelerating low-code even faster to become the go-to technology for rapid solution development.

These imperatives redefined the way enterprises approach digitalisation both now and for the future, with advanced low-code platforms such as Mendix playing a pivotal role.

That's why the Mendix low-code platform and comprehensive ecosystem continues seeing meteoric growth, integrating the most advanced technology to support solutions that boost engagement, streamline operations, deliver more value and relieve IT logjams.

To learn more about the low-code revolution, we spoke with Jornt Moerland, Regional Vice President - APAC at Mendix, with our video interview embedded immediately below, followed by a summary of the topics we spoke about, so please watch and read on!

I started by introducing Jornt, and asked him to tell us about Mendix, and when the company arrived in the ANZ market.





Jornt then told us about the Mendix platform and what makes it unique compared to other low-code platforms, as well as Mendix's cloud native approach, benefits to the enterprise, and the types of apps its customers are creating.





We spoke about the skills shortage in the Australian IT industry, the emergence of "citizen development", the app development process and how quickly developers - whether citizen developers or traditional developers - can get up to speed.





Jornt told us about Mendix customers in Australia, how he sees Mendix evolving over the next couple of years and the future of the low-code movement, memories of his first computer, great advice received in life, and his final message to iTWire viewers and readers, and to customers and partners, current and future.

So, please watch the video interview above with Jornt Moerland to learn more!
GUEST INTERVIEW: Digital agility is the ability of an organisation to rapidly adapt to business disruptions by leveraging digital capabilities to not only restore business operations but also capitalise on the changed conditions in order to thrive, so how does Australia compare to the region, and why are some organisations still lagging?

Workday. The company is one of the best providers of enterprise cloud applications for finance and human resources, with Workday stating it helps customers adapt and thrive in a changing world.

The company's applications for financial management, human resources, planning, spend management, and analytics have been adopted by thousands of organisations around the world and across industries, from medium-sized businesses to more than 50% of the Fortune 500.

Since 2020, Workday and IDC have been working together to build a picture of the state of digital agility among Asia/Pacific organisations, assessing how they score in four dimensions, with these scores aggregated into the digital agility index (DAI).

In August 2022, Workday and IDC released the latest version of the study, titled "Thriving in uncertainty: how digital agility maximises business success" which shows Australian and New Zealand organisations lead the region in digital agility, with Australia ranking first, Singapore second, and New Zealand third.

The DAI is able to track agility progress, where the challenges lie, and recommended actions for improvement. An agile organisation is one where digital is business-as-usual, has an adaptable workforce whose work is augmented by AI intelligence and automated processes, and has a modular and extensible digital platform that supports business and operational models. It is best positioned to capitalise on change.

Workday also has a Digital Agility Assessment tool here, which will give you IDCs independent analysis of your organisations maturity on the four key dimensions: organization and culture, people and capabilities, processes and governance, and technologies.

To learn more about the latest version of the Digital Agility Index, Workday's Business Solution Lead Adam Krebet joined us at iTWireTV again to explain it all and more, with that video interview directly below, followed by links to other relevant video interviews, and a summary of the topics we spoke about.

We last spoke with Adam in February 2022, where he spoke about customer scenarios, engaging employee experiences and more.

In addition, as referenced in the new interview with Adam below, iTWireTV also interviewed three of Aurecon's top executives, who are unified in working together as the architects and enablers of digital transformation for, and within, the entire organisation, helping to continue Aurecon's leadership globally - and with deft digital agility in spades.

So, in the new video interview embedded above, I started by welcoming Adam back to iTWireTV, and asked Adam to recap Workday in 2022 and give us an update on his new position at the company.





We then discussed the Digital Agility Index in more detail, starting with the definition, the four dimensions, Australia's position in the index, digital acceleration, great examples of companies truly leading in the digital agility space, and more.





Adam shared information on customer success stories, including Aurecon, as well as advances in AI and ML, followed by thoughts on Workday's evolution over the next couple of years, great advice about life, and Adam's final message to viewers and readers, and to current and future customer and partners.

If you want to know more, please check out the report here, and watch the video interview above!

The ASEAN and HK edition of the index is here, and the enterprise resource centre is here.

The Digital Agility Assessment tool is here, which will give you IDCs independent analysis of your organisations maturity on the four key dimensions: organization and culture, people and capabilities, processes and governance, and technologies.
The founder of open-source technology provider WSO2, Dr Sanjiva Weerawarana, is visiting Australia this month to discuss the latest in technology innovation and showcase the recently announced Avinya Foundation, a not-for-profit giving more children in Sri Lanka the opportunity for a professional future via vocational careers.

WS02 says that while building and investing his energies into his company, Weerewarana has remained dedicated to improving the lives of others in his home country of Sri Lanka explaining that the current education system sets up young people for failure.

Most parents in Sri Lanka want their children to go to university and get a good, respectable job, Weerawarana says.

Yet, of the about 350,000 students who reach the age of 18 each year, much less than 20% of them actually make it to any university  be it a state university, a private one in Sri Lanka, or a foreign one.

How can we help children get an excellent technical and vocational education and training without forcing them to fail first? How can we do this outside of the existing system as a private initiative?

The not-for-profit Avinya Foundations mission is to provide world-class technical and vocational education and its eventual goal is to have 320 such schools in Sri Lanka, one in every divisional secretariat area.

At full scale, that means the foundation will provide opportunities for 38,400 students each year  the opportunity to get a world-class vocational education. There are plans to launch the first school in January 2023 with a full 120-student cohort, notes WSO2.

At the forefront of digital entrepreneurship, Dr Weerawarana founded WSO2 with the vision to reinvent the way enterprise middleware was developed, sold, delivered and supported through an open-source model.

Known for his work on Web Services standards, including WSDL, BPEL, and WS-Addressing, he is also the creator of the Ballerina programming language and recipient of the 2022 IEEE TCSVC Research Innovation Award.

I have been lucky to be at the centre of several major software technology waves that have provided opportunities to reshape how technologists build solutions and experiences that improve the way we work, live and play, said Weerawarana.
UNSW is set to launch a new flagship university-wide research institute that supports the activities of over 300 UNSW academics working in artificial intelligence (AI), data science, and machine learning.

The launch will be held tomorrow at Leighton Hall, John Niland Scientia Building, UNSW Sydney, Kensington campus.

Interim Director of the UNSW AI InstituteAssociate Professor Haris Aziz, says AI is becoming better than humans in performing many key tasks.

Harnessing its potential and ensuring its responsible use is important. The UNSW AI Institute is a platform to help connect UNSW AI researchers with each other and the rest of the world, Professor Aziz said.

We have a wealth of world-class researchers working on fundamental AI problems or applying AI techniques to their respective domains. The main consideration for setting up the institute was to make sure that we capitalise on our strengths and make it easier for the world to engage with us.

UNSW says prominent AI academics and leading AI industry experts will attend the launch, including Stela Solar, the Director of the National AI Centre at CSIROs Data61; Professor Peter Bartlett, Head of Research at Google Australia; Professor Toby Walsh, Chief Scientist at the UNSW AI Institute; and Dr Ian Oppermann, Chief Data Scientist at the NSW Department of Customer Service.
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Many faculty in the United States and worldwide are concerned that accounting enrollments are dropping. The number of U.S. students completing bachelor's degrees in accounting declined from 2016 to 2020, according to the AICPA's 2021 Trends Report. The number of students in U.K. accounting programs declined from 2016 to 2020, according to the Financial Reporting Council, and accountant shortages have been reported in countries including Malaysia and South Africa.

Though some of this decline can likely be attributed to the pandemic, and to demographic trends that have led to a drop in the number of college students as a whole, accounting faculty may still want to do what they can to attract more students to the major.

Accounting faculty must actively recruit students, said Elizabeth Gordon, CPA, Ph.D. She's been in academia for more than two decades, and during that time, students have changed, said Gordon, chair of the department of accounting at the Fox School of Business at Temple University in Philadelphia.

Today's students are seeking careers that combine passion and purpose, she said. It's important for faculty members to show students that accounting offers both. That's especially true as new majors grow in popularity and sometimes offer higher starting salaries, Gordon said.

Temple is a large public university where many accounting majors come from community colleges, which saw declining enrollments during the COVID-19 pandemic, Gordon said. Experts agree that enrollment trends are cyclical. But right now, the industry is facing a challenge that requires help on multiple fronts, said Mark Dawkins, CPA, CGMA, Ph.D.

Dawkins is a professor of accounting at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville and current president of the American Accounting Association. "This is all-hands-on-deck," he said, adding that solving the problem will take a concerted effort by faculty, firms, and state societies.

Trust Chireka, ACMA, CGMA, is a senior lecturer of accounting at Walter Sisulu University in South Africa. "There has been a worrying decline in the number of students enrolling in accounting programs in higher education institutions here in South Africa," he said. Most South African students in university accounting programs began studying accounting in high school, where it can be a challenging subject to understand. "The shortage of skilled accounting teachers in the high schools exacerbates the struggle," Chireka said.

4 ways faculty can attract accounting majors

"We feel like it's a very complex problem," said Kathleen Schaum, executive director of university talent acquisition at KPMG. Schaum, who's based in San Francisco, helps the firm recruit about 9,000 recent graduates each year. "We're trying to attack from a variety of perspectives," she said.

Schaum, Chireka, Dawkins, and Gordon offered these recommendations for how faculty can attract accounting majors:

Actively recruit students to accounting. Earning a U.S. CPA credential requires an intense slate of coursework and exams, and many other countries have strict educational standards for accountants. That's one reason universities, firms, and associations need to reach out to young students and steer them toward the profession.

For example, KPMG has partnered with the University of Houston and the National Association of Black Accountants to host secondary school students for tours at its local office as part of a weeklong program. It's important to identify potential accounting majors early, Schaum said. Her firm recently hosted 150 first- and second-year college students from underrepresented backgrounds at its new training center in Orlando, Fla. The participants were nominated by their professors, and "most of those students walked away thinking, 'I want to major in accounting,'" she said.

Temple held its first residency program for underserved high school students with an interest in accounting this summer and is preparing to host an accounting career day in October for several hundred Philadelphia secondary school students in partnership with the Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs. Local accounting firms have funded the residency program for three years, Gordon said. Professors can seek this kind of support by contacting the firms that recruit their students or connecting with alumni in the accounting field. Gordon's department aims to reach new and undecided students by supporting accounting clubs and offering info sessions on topics that apply to accounting students throughout their college journey, she said.

In South Africa, it's equally important to attract students early since they cannot qualify for many university accounting programs unless they complete an advanced math course in secondary school, which many avoid in favor of a mathematical literacy course, Chireka said.

Help students gain real-world accounting experiences. Offering experiential learning can help attract students and inspire them to stick with accounting. Temple students can participate in its volunteer income tax assistance program for credit, helping families file their returns.

Schaum recommends that faculty members stay in touch with alumni in the field who might be able to serve as guest speakers or offer internship opportunities for students. Gordon and Dawkins said that students want careers that involve problem-solving and creativity. Exposing students to real accounting work can broaden their understanding of the industry.

Graduates of four-year U.S. accounting programs have a chance to gain hands-on experience and mentorship in finance jobs, earn a paycheck, and pursue a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) designation. AICPA & CIMA launched the apprenticeship program in 2022.

Address what's important to students. Last year the theme for Temple's accounting program was "a profession with a purpose." Another year it was "accounting as technology." It's important to highlight the aspects of the industry that excite students, Gordon said. She noted that accounting is a smart major for students who want to become entrepreneurs, a factor that also attracts South African students to the field, Chireka said. Highlighting this benefit of the major may speak to today's students.

It can also be helpful to develop initiatives with your student population in mind. The majority of University of North Florida accounting students work through school. The university offers a Supplemental Instruction program that allows Dawkins and his colleagues to hire successful intermediate accounting students as tutors to support future cohorts. They earn money to advance their studies and deepen their connection to accounting.

Work with accounting firms. For university accounting programs to be successful they must teach students the skills accountants will need in practice, Dawkins said. The best way to understand what firms are looking for is to maintain relationships with them. Chireka agrees that it would benefit the profession in South Africa to have more firms and associations on campuses.

KPMG offers a variety of tools available to faculty including Career Catalyst for audit and tax, which provides realistic virtual auditing experience. The firm also offers programs like CPA Kickstart, which allows recent graduates to join the firm early and receive financial support while they study for the CPA Exam as a cohort. If faculty members know about programs like these, they can promote them among students who may be weighing accounting against other fields.

 Megan Hart is a freelance writer based in Florida. To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Courtney Vien at Courtney.Vien@aicpa-cima.com.
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Russia invaded neighbouring Ukraine early on February 24, sparking the worst conflict in Europe in decades.

Thousands of civilians have been killed in the fighting, which has taken a new turn over the past week as Ukrainian forces drive Russian forces from key eastern towns in a swift, surprise counter-offensive.

- February: invasion -

Russian President Vladimir Putin announces on February 24, 2022 a "special military operation" to protect the Russian-speaking self-declared separatist republics of Lugansk and Donetsk in the east, whose independence he has just recognised.

He says he wants to "de-Nazify" Ukraine, a former Soviet state, and demands a guarantee it will never join NATO.

A full-scale invasion starts with air and missile strikes on several cities. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pledges to stay in Kyiv to lead the resistance.

The West imposes unprecedented sanctions on Russia, which are toughened over time. The EU and US send arms to Ukraine, with the amount of aid pledged by Washington rising into the billions.

- March: advances in south but Kyiv holds -

Russian troops attack Ukraine's south coast, seizing most of the strategic region of Kherson, crucial for agriculture, and close to the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula.

Russian troops seek to surround the capital Kyiv and to take Ukraine's second city Kharkiv in the northeast but face fierce resistance.

A month into the fighting, Russia withdraws from the Kyiv area and northern Ukraine to focus on conquering the eastern industrial Donbas region, partly held by separatists, along with the south.

- April: war crimes revealed -

On April 2 and 3, the corpses of dozens of civilians are found scattered on the street or buried in shallow graves in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, which Russian forces had occupied, sparking an international outcry.

Similar grisly discoveries follow in other northern towns and Kyiv suburbs.

- May: Mariupol falls -

Russia besieges and relentlessly bombards the strategic southeastern port city of Mariupol from the start of its invasion.

The city becomes a symbol of the suffering caused by the war, with bodies piling up in the cellars where residents hide out for weeks.

On May 21, Russia announces that it is in full control of the city, after the troops that held out for weeks at a steelworks surrender.

Also in May, Sweden and Finland apply to become members of NATO, fearing they could be future targets of Russian aggression.

- June: Donbas battle rages -

In June, all eyes are on the Donbas, where Russia harnesses its superior firepower to conquer the city of Severodonetsk after one of the bloodiest battles of the war.

Shortly after they take the neighbouring city of Lysychansk, as Ukraine pleads for more heavy weapons from the West.

- July: grain unblocked, gas supplies cut -

On July 22, Kyiv and Moscow sign a deal brokered by the UN and Turkey to resume stalled grain exports from Ukraine, Europe's so-called breadbasket, in a bid to relieve a global food crisis caused by Russia's blockade of the country's ports.

The first official shipment of grain since the invasion leaves Odessa with 26,000 tonnes of maize 10 days later.

The breakthrough on grain is overshadowed however by the escalating gas dispute between Russia and Europe.

Russian energy giant Gazprom slashes its supply to Europe through the Nord Stream pipeline before turning off the tap altogether, prompting fears of gas shortages this winter.

- August: nuclear fears -

In August, concerns mount over the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, with constant shelling of the area raising the spectre of a nuclear disaster.

UN inspectors visit the plant in early September and call for a security zone to be set up around it.

As the US and EU step up their supplies of heavy weapons, Kyiv launches a major offensive to retake the city of Kherson in the south.

- September: Russia in retreat in north-east -

Two weeks later Ukraine announces that its troops have retaken more than 3,000 square kilometres of terrain in a second, lightning counter-offensive around Kharkiv in the north-east which appears to have caught Russia off guard.

Kyiv says the area recaptured includes part of Izyum district, which sits on a vital supply route for Russian troops.

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GAZPROM
JUSTICE INFO: Were the Nuremberg trials really a starting point for the criminal liability of companies and their executives?

GUILLAUME MOURALIS: Yes. We should start by saying that the International Military Tribunal (IMT), established in August 1945 by the victors of the Second World War, represents a major innovation in international legal history. It was the first international criminal tribunal. There were other international jurisdictions before, but they were not criminal in nature. I am thinking of the Permanent Court of International Justice, which was the predecessor of the International Court of Justice, which tries States, not individuals. With Nuremberg, it was considered that the agents of a State, including its leaders, could and should be held accountable when they committed one or more of the four international crimes newly defined in 1945: war crimes, crimes against humanity, the crime against peace or crime of aggression, and a fourth cross-cutting one of criminal conspiracy  that is, participation in a concerted plan leading to the first three crimes.

In its Statute, the IMT stipulated that it should try individuals not entities. It did not try companies or States. In fact, there is an ongoing debate to this day as to whether States have legal liability, just as there is a debate as to whether corporations have criminal liability as corporations. And that question is not settled. On the other hand, the Nuremberg trials established the principle of the criminal responsibility of individuals in international law. Managers or executives of companies that collaborated with the Nazis were tried both in the international Nuremberg trials (1945-1946) and in the twelve so-called "successor" trials organized by the Americans at Nuremberg from 1946 to 1949.

These were all relatively light sentences that came at a time when the desire to condemn the Nazis was diminishing"

Which German business leaders were tried in these trials?

These trials tried executives from Krupp, the leading steel and weapons producer under the Third Reich; from Flick, a mining, steel and weapons company; and from IG Farben, a large chemical conglomerate that also supported the Nazi war effort.

Shortly before the opening of the international Nuremberg Trials, the main leader of the Krupp company, Gustav Krupp Von Bohlen und Halbach, was declared unfit to appear due to his advanced age [76 years], although the Allies wanted to try him. In the tenth of the so-called "successor trials", the Americans organized a trial against the managers of the Krupp company in Nuremberg and this time it was his son, Alfred Krupp, who was tried along with eleven other managers of the family company. Krupp was sentenced to twelve years in jail for crimes against humanity, with all his assets seized.

Alfried Krupp and his co-accused executives of the steel, artillery, munitions and other armaments group, in the tenth of twelve trials held by the US military tribunals in Nuremberg in December 1947.

IG Farben was the target of the sixth successor trial, which involved 24 executives of the company, ten of whom were acquitted in 1948. The other 14 were sentenced to between 1.5 and 8 years in jail for crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity. It was during this trial that the production of Zyklon B, used in the gas chambers particularly at Auschwitz-Birkenau, was mentioned. As for Friedrich Flick, he was judged in 1947 during the fifth successor trial, alongside five other senior executives of the company. He was sentenced to seven years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

These were all relatively light sentences that came at a time when the Cold War was taking hold, and the desire to condemn the Nazis and their accomplices was clearly diminishing. In the early 1950s, as part of the policy of reintegration of Germans approved by the Allies, most of the convicts were either amnestied (as in the case of Krupp) or pardoned, and most of them got back the jobs they had lost in 1945. Overall, German companies were spared because the Allies wanted to promote economic reconstruction and thus anchor the Federal Republic of Germany in the Western bloc. So even if they agreed that German capitalism was a player in Nazism and a major accomplice in its crimes, the Allies only considered the responsibility of companies in individual terms (that of company directors).

The principle of individuality in criminal law, established in the interest of protecting individual rights, still weigh in the debate on the criminal responsibility of legal entities"

So companies were not considered responsible?

No, but what was very new was the fact that State agents and political leaders were tried. And then, at the same time, we started to judge company executives and managers. In international law, this was completely new.

I would add that the international Nuremberg trial, if we leave aside the companies per se, also introduced the idea of the responsibility of collective entities, of criminal organizations. Among the seven organizations indicted, four were finally condemned by the IMT: the Nazi party's political leaders, the Schutzstaffel (SS), the Gestapo and the Sicherheitsdienst (SD, the intelligence agency of the Nazi party). The Allies idea was to facilitate the trials that would follow the great Nuremberg trial by creating a sort of suspicion of guilt for all the members of these organizations. But it was the individuals who were ultimately tried and convicted, as individuals. It is important to understand that this principle of individuality in criminal law is a major principle that has a long history. It is in the interest of protecting individual rights that this principle has been progressively established, because obviously if this principle did not exist, forms of collective guilt would have to be recognized. These questions still weigh heavily in the debate on the possible criminal responsibility of legal entities under international law.

In these trials, were reparations for the victims ordered?

In fact, until recently, there has been little compensation and restitution for the victims of Nazism. In the 1990s, German companies negotiated with victims' organizations on the specific issue of the employment of forced labourers, millions of workers used by German companies as slave labour under Nazism. Forced to work in the countries of central and eastern Europe, they worked for several years without pay in deplorable conditions, often in the service of the German war machine. Complaints were filed in American courts, under a very old American law, the Alien Tort Claims Act, which allows foreigners to assert their rights in American courts when there is a question of violation of international rules.

The companies targeted negotiated to avoid lawsuits, as they were concerned about their image on the American market which was very important to them. The result of these negotiations was a final comprehensive settlement reached in the late 1990s. Prior to that, victims of Nazism had only received meagre compensation under bilateral agreements between the Federal Republic of Germany and several states (including Israel), as well as modest compensation from major German companies on a case-by-case basis.

Does this mean that reparations have been paid quite recently by German companies, more than 70 years after the events?

Yes, it does. As a result of these agreements and to avoid lawsuits from survivors and their descendants, 26 major German companies created the "Memory, Responsibility and Future" foundation in 2000. This was the result of long negotiations between companies, victims' associations and the German and American governments. It required a bilateral agreement between Germany and the United States, and an international agreement between Israel and the countries of central and eastern Europe that were occupied by the Nazis. Up to 2007, the deadline for obtaining reparations, nearly 5 billion euros were paid to the entitled parties. Individual compensation, calculated according to the number of hours or months during which these forced labourers were requisitioned, could reach up to several tens of thousands of euros. In any case, this agreement meant the companies concerned avoided civil lawsuits.
Russia invaded neighbouring Ukraine on February 24, sparking the worst conflict in Europe in decades.

Thousands of civilians have been killed in the fighting, which has taken a new turn over the past week, as Ukrainian forces drive Russian forces from key eastern towns in a swift counter-offensive.

- February: invasion -

Russian President Vladimir Putin announces a "special military operation" on February 24.

He says this is to protect the Russian-speaking, self-declared separatist republics of Lugansk and Donetsk in the east of Ukraine, whose independence he has just recognised.

He says he wants to "de-Nazify" Ukraine, a former Soviet republic and demands a guarantee it will never join NATO.

A full-scale invasion starts, with air and missile strikes on several cities.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pledges to stay in the capital, Kyiv, to lead the resistance.

The West imposes unprecedented sanctions on Russia. The European Union and United States send weapons to Ukraine. The aid pledged by Washington rises into the billions.

- March: advances in south but Kyiv holds -

Russian troops attack Ukraine's south coast, seizing most of Kherson, a strategic region crucial for agriculture and close to the Russian-annexed Crimean Peninsula.

Moscow's forces seek to surround Kyiv and take Ukraine's second city Kharkiv in the northeast. They meet fierce resistance.

A month into the fighting, Russia withdraws from the Kyiv area and the north to focus on the eastern industrial Donbas region (Lugansk and Donetsk), partly held by separatists, along with the south.

- April: war crimes revealed -

On April 2 and 3, the corpses of dozens of civilians are discovered on the streets and in shallow graves in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, which Russian forces had occupied, sparking an international outcry.

Similar grisly discoveries follow in other northern towns and Kyiv suburbs.

- May: Mariupol falls -

Since the start of the war, Russia has besieged and relentlessly bombed the strategic southeastern port city of Mariupol, particularly its vast Azovstal steelworks.

Bodies pile up in cellars where residents hide out for weeks.

On May 21, Russia announces it is in full control of the city, after the Ukrainian troops that held out for weeks at Azovstal surrender.

Sweden and Finland apply to become members of NATO, fearing they could be future targets of Russian aggression.

- June: Donbas battle rages -

In June, all eyes are on the Donbas, where Russia harnesses its superior firepower to take the city of Severodonetsk after one of the bloodiest battles of the war.

Shortly after they take the neighbouring city of Lysychansk, as Ukraine pleads for more heavy weapons from the West.

- July: grain unblocked, gas supplies cut -

On July 22, Kyiv and Moscow sign a deal to resume grain exports from Ukraine, Europe's breadbasket, in a bid to relieve a global food crisis caused by Russia's blockade of the country's ports.

Ten days later, the first official shipment of grain since the invasion leaves Odessa with 26,000 tonnes of maize on board.

The breakthrough on grain, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, is overshadowed by the escalating gas dispute between Russia and Europe.

Russian energy giant Gazprom slashes its supply to Europe through the Nord Stream pipeline before turning off the tap altogether, prompting a spike in gas prices and fears of shortages this winter.

- August: nuclear fears -

In August, concerns mount over the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. Constant shelling of the area raises the spectre of a nuclear disaster.

UN inspectors arrive at Zaporizhzhia -- Europe's largest nuclear power plant -- on September 1 and call for a security zone to be set up around it.

As the US and EU step up their supplies of heavy weapons, Kyiv launches a major offensive to retake the city of Kherson in the south.

- September: Lightning counter-offensive -

On Sunday, Ukraine claims it has retaken more than 3,000 square kilometres (1,158 square miles) of terrain in a second, lightning counter-offensive around Kharkiv in the northeast which appeared to catch Russia off guard.

Kyiv says the area includes the key city of Izyum and accuses retreating Russian forces of targeting the electricity grid, causing massive power cuts in the east.

On Monday, the military says it has recaptured 20 more settlements in 24 hours.

The reaction in Moscow is muted but a map released by the defence ministry confirms a major withdrawal from the Kharkiv region.

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Queen Elizabeth had a special bond with Scotland, but it will now forever mark a turning point for her son Charles and the United Kingdom.

In Scotland, at Balmoral Castle, Queen Elizabeth died on Thursday at the age of 96, sealing the rise to the throne from Charles III.

In his inaugural speech as monarch on Friday, Charles pointed out that his son William, now heir to the crown, also inherited the Scottish titles that meant so much to him.

At the top is that of the Duke of Rothesay, a title held by the heir to the British monarchy and now passed to William, 40, his eldest son.

Charles was the longest holder of the title for 70 years, equaling the length of his mothers reign, a record for the British monarchy.

Earlier this month, Prince Charles, as he often does, wore the kilt at the Braemar Royal Highland Gathering, an event celebrating Scottish heritage with traditional events such as tug-of-war.

 Colditz in a kilt 

At 13, Charles was sent to Gordonstoun, the strict Scottish boarding school his father attended. Desperately lonely, he hated it, describing his years there as absolute hell, a prison sentence, and Colditz in a kilt.

But in 1975 he recalled that his years at boarding school had taught him to accept challenges and take the initiative.

Always a nature lover, Charles, who has a private home on the Balmoral estate, painted watercolors of Scottish landscapes.

According to Whiskey Magazine, he traveled the same landscapes as he skied or hunted, always with a bottle of Bruichladdich or Laphroaig whisky.

In 1994, Prince Charles awarded the Laphroaig Distillery the Royal Warrant, allowing it to display the Royal Coat of Arms on its products.

Eager to preserve Scottish heritage, Charles intervened to save Dumfries House, an ancient residence bought by a consortium led by the Prince in 2007 and incorporated into his foundation in 2018.

 Picnics in the Cairngorms 

Not only did Queen Elizabeth have Scottish ancestry  her parents had a common ancestor in Robert II, King of Scots in the 14th century  but spent much of her childhood at Balmoral, her summer residence, where she breathed her last.

Scotland has played a very special role in our lives and those of my family over the years, she said on a visit to Perth in 2012.

The Queen, who appeared beaming in a recent photo with her late husband Prince Philip in the Cairngorms massif, where she loved to picnic, had traveled to Scotland to celebrate her silver, gold and diamond jubilees.

But she was also there in times of tragedy, like the Lockerbie plane bombing that killed 270 people in 1988, or the Dunblane school shooting in 1996 that killed 16 children and their teacher.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other senior US officials visited Mexico on Monday for high-level economic talks, with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador striking a conciliatory tone despite trade tensions.

Washington filed a formal complaint against Mexico under a North American free trade agreement in July, saying its energy policies discriminate against US firms.

Lopez Obrador says the complaint is unfounded but his government has pledged to work towards a solution.

When asked if he would discuss the energy dispute with Blinken, Lopez Obrador told reporters that there was no set agenda for their meeting, but that if the issue was raised, it would be dealt with.

He welcomed the tone of a recent letter from US President Joe Biden, in which he said Mexico appreciated its respectful attitude compared to the trade complaint, which he described as not the most diplomatic.

Lopez Obradors push to roll back the effects of liberalization, which he says has benefited private companies, has alarmed foreign investors and environmentalists, who see the moves as favoring fossil fuels over renewable energy.

Washington has requested dispute settlement consultations under the US-Mexico-Canada deal, the first step in a process that could lead to retaliation for actions it says harm US companies and hinder clean energy development .

Lopez Obrador visited Washington in July for talks with Biden, who said both sides needed to rebuild ties.

A month earlier, the Mexican leader snubbed Biden by refusing to attend the Americas summit in Los Angeles, saying Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua had not been invited.

In addition to economic issues, Blinken plans to speak with Lopez Obrador and Secretary of State Marcelo Ebrard about working together on dealing with irregular migration and the synthetic opioid fentanyl, the State Department said.

The senior US diplomat will later lead the co-chair of the high-level US-Mexico economic dialogue.
In "Big Mouth" Episode 14, everything aligned according to Park Chang Ho's (Lee Jong Suk) plan, and did everything to win against Choi Do Ha (Kim Joo Hun).

'Big Mouth' Episode 14: Park Chang Ho Negotiates With Chairman Kang

Park Chang Ho finally met Chairman Kang. The lawyer mentioned that he needed his help. He discussed NK Chemicals and how he could help the chairman clear his name.

The chairman was impressed by the lawyer and got him intrigued at the same time. He invited him and his wife, Go Mi Ho (YoonA), to his upcoming birthday party.

On the other hand, Choi Do Ha (Kim Joo Hun) was not in the mood after hearing about the negotiation between his nemesis and the chairman.

Go Mi Ho Visits Tak Kwang Yeon in Jail

After learning about the secret factory, Go Mi Ho went to Gucheon prison and visited Tak Kwang Yeon (Yoo Tae Joo). She asked about the secret factory, but he told her not to do anything against the factory as it would be dangerous for her. Her questions were left unanswered.

However, Kwang Yeon asked for a favor from her - to know whether his mother received the bone marrow transplant. Go Mi Ho looked for his family and was shocked to find out that Tak Kwang Yeon's mother had already died.

Choi Do Ha Forms Alliance With Park Yoon Gab

Choi Do Ha find out that Park Yoon Gab is under Park Chang Ho. He then made an offer to him in return of killing the lawyer. The ex-warden then showed his interest in Choi Do Ha's offer.

On the other hand, Go Mi Ho and Mr. Go discovered that Choi Do Ha's real name was Cho Sunghyun, the grandson of Cho Hae Soo, NK Chemical's former lab director.

Choi Do Ha changed his identity to stay by Mr. Kang's side. Park Chang Ho realized Choi Do Ha wanted revenge for his grandfather's death.

Park Chang Ho Goes Head-to-Head Against Choi Do Ha

Go Mi Ho attended Chairman Kang's party alone since Park Chang Ho had a sudden commitment to attend.

Choi Do Ha received a call from Yoon Gab, who informed him that Chang Ho would die soon.

Later on, the mayor got direct feed from Park Yoon Gab's murder of the lawyer. Jerry (Kwak Dong Yeon), who came out of the car trunk, immediately called Soon Tae to tell him that Park Yoon Gab betrayed them.

Park Chang Ho told Park Yoon Gab that Choi Do Ha would soon betray him. But he was not in the mood to listen. He took his gun and shot Park Chang Ho.

Choi Do Ha, who was watching the scene, was overjoyed seeing the lawyer's end.

the amount of yells, screams, and cries i had during this part THIS IS THE MOST STRESSFUL AND HEARTBREAKING SCENE IN THE WHOLE KDRAMA HISTORY IM AM THROWING HANDS #BigMouthEp14 #BigMouth # pic.twitter.com/2rf3uhjuHd   (@warmsukkie) September 10, 2022

Later on, it was revealed that it was just a ploy.

Park Yoon Gab's kept his loyalty to Park Chang Ho. The lawyer went to Chairman Kang and informed him about Choi Do Ha's real identity. Mr. Kang was surprised but thanked Park Chang Ho for letting him know.

Chairman Kang called Choi Do Ha to come over, while Park Chang Ho immediately went to Go Mi Ho and told her everything was planned.

The chairman waited for Choi Do Ha, who promptly killed him and got a hand on his will.

What are your thoughts about "Big Mouth" Episode 14? Share your comments/replies with us!

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news and updates, keep your tabs open here at KDramastars.

KDramastars owns this article.

Shai Collins wrote this.
Song Hye Kyo flew from Seoul to New York to attend a fashion show. The Hallyu actress also became a hot topic online after she was spotted with this actor at the event.

Can you guess who the South Korean actor is? Read on to know!

Song Hye Kyo, Lee Min Ho Attend Fendi Fashion Show in New York

Ahead of her comeback drama, Song Hye Kyo attended Fendi fashion event. As an A-lister and fashion icon in her homeland, it's not surprsing her fans look forward to her activities.

On September 11, the "Descendants of the Sun" lead star made headlines as she made appearance at Fendi's Fashion Show in New York. Apart from the fact that she was present at the prominent event, the public was surprised to see the actress with K-actor and heartthrob Lee Min Ho sitting beside each other, watching the runway together.

The Korean actor was also at the fashion show as he is endorsing the same luxurious brand with Song Hye Kyo. The two looked stunning as they exhibited elegance with their 'fits from the luxury brand.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Lee Min Ho Spotted Leaving Korea For THIS Reason

The heartthrob sported a printed long coat paired with black slacks.

Meanwhile, Song Hye Kyo wore a buttoned dress over stockings and pumps.

Hollywood stars Kim Kardashian, Karlie Kloss, Naomi Watts, Amber Valletta, Sarah Jessica Parker, and more attended the Fendi Fashion Show in New York.

Lee Min Ho Shares Snaps of His Fashion Show Experience in New York

Though he didn't walk on the runway, Lee Min Ho stole the spotlight with his dashing visuals at the Fendi Fashion Show. His red carpet appearance also received praise from his fans worldwide.

Aside from the published photos from various media outlets, the actor gifted fans with more snippets of his fashion show experience on Instagram.

The "Boys Over Flowers" lead star spoiled his followers with new behind-the-scenes photos. Lee Min Ho was also happy to see his international fans at the event.

As of this writing, his post already surpassed more than 2 million hearts on SNS.

Song Hye Kyo, Lee Min Ho's Comeback Dramas: 'The Glory' & 'Ask the Stars'

Both Hallyu stars Song Hye Kyo and Lee Min Ho are preparing for their much-anticipated small screen return.

Song Hye Kyo is expected to meet viewers with her revenge drama "The Glory," along with Lee Do Hyun.

Lee Min Ho, on the other hand, is currently filming his K-series "Ask the Stars" with rom-com queen Gong Hyo Jin.

What are your thoughts about Song Hye Kyo and Lee Min Ho's appearances at the New York fashion show? Share your comments with us!

For more and faster K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity updates, follow KDramastars on Facebook and Twitter.

KDramastars owns this article.

Shai Collins wrote this.
For two decades, Nam Ji Hyun enjoyed the limelight as she jumped from one promising work to another, proving herself as a great star.

With "Little Women," her new drama, booms with success, Nam Ji Hyun is criticized for her "unfortunate and buzzless career" as an actress.

Nam Ji Hyun Criticized For Two-Decade Buzzless Career

At 27, Nam Ji Hyun has accomplished many great things not only as an actress but also as a person.

She began her career as a child star in 2002, and has appeared in many popular works like "East of Eden," "Queen Seondeok" and more.

Nam Ji Hyun's career flourished, and was deeply loved by the public. Despite that, she didn't forget her schooling and graduated high school at the top of her class.

In college, Nam Ji Hyun majored in psychology. She never allowed her acting career to ruin her perfectly curated school schedule, earning respect from the public.

She also continued to receive acting offers after she finished university. Unfortunately, the actress has been typecast as she often plays characters with unfortunate fates, which stuck to her until recently.

Though she is loved for her impressively gripping acting performances in "Suspicious Partner," "100 Days My Prince" and more, she didn't manage to gain popularity as her same age actresses, even those who made their debuts later than her.

According to fans, Nam Ji Hyun's works remained "boring" and "similar to one another," failing to achieve her much awaited work of the lifetime.

After two decades, Nam Ji Hyun is now creating non-stop buzz as she shows off her excellence as one of the sisters in tvN's newest drama "Little Women."

Though fans criticize Nam Ji Hyun for choosing another ill-fated character, the actress undoubtedly knows her craft, making her one of the best stars in the industry.

Nam Ji Hyun On Why She Chose 'Little Women'

Nam Ji Hyun has always wanted to play a character with a strong personality and mind, which is why she chose to appear in "Little Women" without inhibitions.

She describes her character, Oh In Kyung, as "tenacious." She is a journalist who doesn't stop until she unravels the truth.

Oh In Kyung is also headstrong, never fazed with money and power, unlike her sisters played by Kim Go Eun and Park Ji Hu.

According to Nam Ji Hyun, her character doesn't easily give up as she is armed with limitless determination and perseverance.

Catch Nam Ji Hyun in "Little Women" every Saturday and Sunday at 9:10 p.m. KST on tvN and Netflix!

KDramaStars owns this article.

Written by Elijah Mully.
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Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran said the city's progress can't exist with what he called the "darkness" represented by his election rivals as he kicked off his campaign last week.
Last Friday, members of Irish Wheelchair Association Kilkenny addressed the Mayor and Cathaoirleach of Kilkenny County Council as well as prominent local politicians in a bid to highlight the current lack of accessible local authority housing.

The meeting gathered people from the disability sector in Kilkenny, people connected with the construction industry, as well as local councillors and TDs to explore the issues around accessible housing locally and nationally.

The group heard representations from Katie Kelly, Ballyragget and John Grace, Kilkenny city who are both disabled and who both spoke passionately about their experiences trying to live independent lives in unsuitable housing.

Rosemary Lally, National Access Manager, Irish Wheelchair Association addressed the meeting first and outlined the hidden crisis for people with disabilities who are looking for a home in Kilkenny or across the country.

"A quick scan of Daft.ie in Kilkenny quickly reveals that there are currently no wheelchair liveable homes available to rent in the county at the moment. And that is the same across the country," she said.

According to Rosemary, "the reason for this is that builders will only build to the national building regulations, they won't go beyond that. So, accessible homes are not being built. The only solution is that guidance for wheelchair liveable housing is included in part M of Ireland's building regulations.

"We're not saying every new house should be wheelchair liveable, but the guidance needs to be there for builders and local authorities so that there are choices. Then local authorities can easily direct builders to include a percentage of wheelchair liveable housing in any development.

"A 2021 Ombudsman Report, 'Wasted Lives' revealed that there were 1300 under 65s living in nursing homes, and many of these people cannot move to independent living because there is no wheelchair accessible accommodation in communities across Ireland. This is how serious the housing crisis is for wheelchair users across Ireland."

John Grace is a wheelchair user who has lived independently for about fifteen years with support from Irish Wheelchair Association.

He spoke about the struggles for people living rurally in Ireland how difficult it is to navigate daily life in rural towns and villages in Ireland.

He has experienced living in apartments with high door saddles and thick carpets, small features that made day-to-day life with a wheelchair very difficult.

"I am here today to urge the government to change the building regulations. I would urge people to think about what they would like to see change about housing. I hope local TDs will help me to get our national TDs to listen," he said.

Katie Kelly (25) is still living at home and she addressed that meeting by also referred the challenge of living rurally for a disabled person, depending on lifts from her Dad for education and work and how ultimately unsustainable that is for any family.

Despite her qualifications Katie was unable to continue an internship because of transport.

She applied for local authority housing for an opportunity to live her life independently. But Katie is still waiting years later.

"All I could do was be at home with my negative thoughts. And I just gave up. And my mental health suffered," she says.

"I want to be happy and I want to be proud of myself again and I live in hope that someday I will get a phone call that I have a home. My mental health is so important but so many people are struggling like me to be independent and to live independently."

[Picture: Christopher Dunne]

John McGuinness TD was the first politician to speak, saying he was moved and impacted by John and Katie's stories.

"People with disabilities should be prioritised on local authority housing lists" he said.

Mr McGuinness also said he would like to invite Irish Wheelchair Association members to speak to both councillors in Kilkenny and TDs in Dublin in the future.

Mayor of Kilkenny David Fitzgerald thanked all the speakers and noted that despite is background in property he had learned a lot from the speakers and the information about accessible housing and building regulations.

David Fitzgerald added, "We are all talking about retro-fitting homes for climate change and for energy but we also need to look at accessibility and usability for people within that."

Cathaoirleach Pat Fitzpatrick, who has worked alongside people with disabilities for over twenty years, told the Kilkenny People that the Council will be taking active steps in the next few months to develop a strategy that better addresses the needs of local citizens with disabilities.

Irish Wheelchair Association's National Advocacy Manager Joan Carthy spoke after the event saying she was happy with such a strong representation from Leinster House and Kilkenny Local Authority, which also included Jennifer Murnane O'Connor TD.

"People with wheelchairs have a right to live in homes where they can put their children to bed at night and read them a story. These are fundamental human rights and we are looking forward to seeing what progress can come from today," she said.
The Funeral for Queen Elizabeth II will be held September 19 at Westminster Abbey. The queen here arrives for the state banquet in her honor on June 24, 2015 in Berlin, Germany.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
It's complicated. That's how a couple might explain a relationship that's closer than its history would suggest it should be. It also could describe the relationship between the United States and Britain. Witness the admiration for Queen Elizabeth II expressed by many Americans after her death Thursday.



The leader of a country that didn't want our nation to exist was mourned as if she were an American, too. "She stood in solidarity with the United States during our darkest days after 9/11, when she poignantly reminded us that 'Grief is the price we pay for love,'" said President Biden, one of 13 American presidents who met with Elizabeth during her 70-year reign. He was quoting Elizabeth's words of support to America after the 9/11 attack.



Philadelphia has a cherished memory of Elizabeth of when she visited our city in 1976 and left a 10-ton replica of the Liberty Bell to commemorate this country's Bicentennial. She said Britons should also celebrate Independence Day because the American Revolution taught her country a valuable lesson.



"We lost the American colonies because we lacked the statesmanship to know the right time and the manner of yielding, what is impossible to keep," the queen said. She didn't mention the War of 1812, which showed that lesson wasn't learned quickly. But after World War II, Elizabeth successfully guided her country's transition from a colonial power to a trusted world leader.



More than 40 countries, many of them in the Caribbean or Africa, gained their independence from Britain after Elizabeth became queen in 1952, including the Bahamas, Barbados, Botswana, Cyprus, Ghana, Jamaica, Kenya, Kuwait, Malaysia, Malta, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.



Upon Elizabeth's death, her eldest son immediately became King Charles III. His challenge  as titular leader of a nation that clings to the pomp and circumstance of royalty even as it questions its monarchy's continuation  will be great. Charles must be the public face that reassures Britons when Parliament seems to be failing them, especially with Russia's Vladimir Putin seemingly pushing Europe toward another world war with his invasion of Ukraine.



For now, he and his family will be given time to mourn his mother, who will long be remembered not only by them but the world. At age 25, Elizabeth immediately became queen upon the death on Feb. 26, 1952, of her father, King George VI, who died in his sleep at the royal family's Sandringham estate. Elizabeth, 4,000 miles away on safari in Kenya, was said to be perched in a tree watching rhinoceroses when she received word that she was queen.



Who knew then that the length of her reign would surpass that of her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, who died at age 81 after being Britain's monarch for 63 years, from 1837 to 1901? Elizabeth suffered from health issues associated with being 96, which prepared the public for her death. "As you can see, I can't move," she told visitors to Windsor Castle for her Platinum Jubilee celebration in February. She shuffled her feet while leaning on a cane.



Despite her age, millions hoped Elizabeth would be with us longer. After 70 years as queen, she  more than any other person or symbol  represented what England has stood for in the world: small but mighty, a presence to be respected, an ally that can be counted on, a spirit that dares to soar when the odds are against it. Without Elizabeth, another page turns. What it will say is a mystery.





This article was published in the Philadelphia Inquirer and distributed by Tribune Content Agency.




By Kim Won-soo





World politics is going through a great upheaval. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is the latest manifestation of the growing malaise in big power relations. At its center lies the rising rivalry between the United States and China, the world's two most powerful states and leaders of their respective blocs.



Inevitably, this great upheaval poses great diplomatic challenges to the countries along the geopolitical fault line between the two. The Korean Peninsula is situated squarely on this fault line.



Many foreign policy pundits continue to regard North Korea as the No. 1 challenge for South Korea. North Korea's unbridled nuclear buildup poses an existential threat to South Korea. Pyongyang's self-imposed isolation, further aggravated by international sanctions, has caused devastating hardship for its people, which could have a long-term impact on a unified Korea. These North Korean headaches will be there for many years to come as the country is intent on keeping its nuclear arsenal at any costs.



I believe, however, that the far greater challenge for South Korea is to figure out what to do in the face of the U.S.-China rivalry. The U.S. and China are not only the most powerful states, but also the closest geopolitical neighbors of Korea. As an old proverb says, when either of them sneezes, Korea catches cold.



Then the next logical question is what is the best way forward for South Korea. Simply put, there are three options: pro-U.S., pro-China and neutrality.



The majority view in South Korea is pro-U.S., primarily given its security dependence on the U.S., including extended nuclear deterrence against North Korea. However, it comes with the dual risk of entrapment and abandonment. A situation may arise where South Korea gets dragged into a confrontation between the U.S. and China for reasons other than vital South Korean interests. Or worse, the U.S. may decide not to defend South Korea for reasons beyond Seoul's control. This dual risk lurks in the minds of policymakers and can introduce some degree of ambiguity to the conduct of South Korean diplomacy.



Calculated ambiguity is fine. But ambiguity arising from indecisiveness or lack of thinking is not acceptable, as it contains two fatal flaws of passivity and simplicity. The two flaws together can lead to what I consider the worst outcome: determinism.



Passivity should be avoided as there is still diplomatic space in which South Korea can maneuver. South Korea can try many things to encourage the U.S. and China to find common ground. South Korea can be a proactive facilitator that can help the two think outside the box and start a dialogue on issues of low political difference and high universal consequence.



Simplicity should be avoided as there are a number of gray areas in diplomacy. Depending on the nature of the issue area, South Korea can identify its diplomatic options on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the most pro-U.S. and 10 being the most pro-China. For example, on the security front, it can place itself anywhere between 1 and 3, and on the economic front, between 3 and 5.



The options can be refined further according to the specifics of a sub-issue area. For instance, on security, South Korea's option should vary in accordance with its priority interests. It can be 1 on issues directly related to the Korean Peninsula while 3 on extra-regional issues. South Korea's economic policy can be similarly calibrated. Special care must be given to the growing nexus between security and economy  what we call economic security.



There may not be much South Korea can do to ease the tensions between the U.S. and China. Many experts consider the rivalry inescapable and almost predestined. This view depicts South Korea as a shrimp sandwiched between two whales and forces it to choose sides for its security. The bottom line is that either way, the outcome is sub-optimal for South Korea. In the event of a clash between the two whales, it will be the first one to get hurt. Passivity and simplicity do not provide South Korea with optimal policy outcomes. South Korea cannot and should not sit idly by only to be swallowed up by its neighbors.



Therefore, it is vital for South Korean policymakers to take a different approach, no matter how difficult it is. A new approach requires proactivity and creativity. South Korea must mobilize its intellectual capital to craft alternative avenues of ushering the U.S. and China toward a managed competition. With open communication lines with both powers, South Korea is in a rare position to help them compete responsibly within the mutually agreed guardrails. This outcome is much better not only for the U.S. and China, but also for the rest of the world.



This is a tough task. But it is doable if the U.S. and China take heed of their responsibility for the whole of humanity. Without the two working together, existential threats such as weapons of mass destruction and the climate crisis cannot be addressed. South Korea can help the two powers get off the collision course. Then it will cease to be a shrimp and instead can serve as a global safety valve.





Kim Won-soo (wsk4321@gmail.com) is the former under secretary-general of the United Nations and high representative for disarmament. As a Korean diplomat, he served as secretary to the ROK president for foreign affairs as well as for international security. He is now the chair of the international advisory board of the Taejae Academy (Future Consensus Institute) and a chair professor of Kyung Hee University.


Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, left, poses with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador after requesting support for the World Expo 2030 to be hosted in Busan, at the Mexican president's office in Mexico City, Mexico, Thursday. / Courtesy of Samsung Electronics



By Kim Hyun-bin



Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong visited Mexico City on Sept. 8 (local time) and met with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, requesting Mexico's support for Korea's bid to host the World Expo 2030 in Busan, according to company officials Monday.



Lee talked to Obrador about Samsung Electronics' local businesses in Mexico and thanked the Mexican government for its support, the tech giant said. Lee and Obrador also discussed mid- to long-term cooperation between Samsung and Mexican companies as well as Mexico's support for Busan to host the World Expo 2030.



The Samsung chief explained that the World Expo 2030 in Busan will be a venue for presenting visions and innovative technologies for a "better future of mankind" and emphasized that Busan is the best place to host the World Expo.



The host country for the upcoming expo will be selected at the end of 2023 through a vote from the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) member states.



Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, center, poses with employees at the company's Queretaro home appliance factory in Mexico, Friday. / Courtesy of Samsung Electronics
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Steve Garbacz is executive editor of KPC Media Group and editor of The News Sun. Hed like one of those vacations to a secluded, unplugged area where all he would be able to do is like sit in a chair and look at a placid lake and not be bothered by anyone. Email him at sgarbacz@kpcmedia.com.
BTS V recently graced the cover of Vogue Korea for its October edition and he did not disappoint even a bit.

From his face to the clothes he wore, everything looks good to a tee. Because of that, BTS fans, or ARMYs, are bulk-buying the stunning new covers of VOGUE Korea.

After appreciating his heavenly looks, it is time to take a look at his clothes and accessories. If you liked his fashion, here are some of the bits and pieces of it.

BTS V Fashion: Vogue Korea Cover for October

On his first cover, he wore a simple white polo shirt from the latest collection and recently back men's fashion of Miu Miu.

For his accessories, he wore Cartier accessories. From left to right are a Panthere de Cartier watch ($24,800 USD), bracelet ($27,000), and ring ($10,900), totaling more than $60K in jewelry on his person!

We all know BTS members are hella rich, that is why they also deserve expensive things, and that is what BTS V wore for the cover.

Many of us don't really have that kind of money so we found more affordable accessories for you!

You can find these items to wear on Amazon. Here is an MVMT watch for $128, a 14k gold-plated ring for $11.95, and a bracelet for only $25.99!

BTS V Fashion: Miu Miu's New F/W Collection

Although he wears expensive clothing on each of his three covers, attention is drawn to his breathtaking images, model-like poses, and heart-stopping eyes.

But we can't still take our eyes off of his cool-looking clothes. With this cover, we can see more of his body. His outfit from head to toe is all from the Miu Miu men's fall winter 2022-2023 collection.

However, we have found an alternative for you!

Here is a gray knitted vest for only $28.87 that you can order from Amazon. For his leather shorts, you can get this online for more than half the price of the original item, $75.

Meanwhile, a copy of his leather jacket will only cost you around $180. As for his accessories, here is a lookalike of the belt he wore that you can buy in black and brown color.

The most expensive detail of BTS V's outfit is his necklace. The white gold necklace with emeralds and diamonds is another item from Cartier and it costs about $26,700.

BTS V Fashion: Simple, Elegant Suit

His final cover is a portrait of his side profile showing his sullen sultry eyes. He has a Panthere de Cartier earring and the same necklace from his second cover.

Panthere de Cartier earring that costs $46,600 is what is on his ears. He is also wearing a black suit with a white top that is not really shown that much in the photo.

To look as elegant and rich as BTS V's fashion in his Vogue Korean magazine cover is not that expensive if you know where to search.

On the other hand, this collaboration between BTS V and Vogue Korea does not end with magazine covers. The magazine will release an editorial, a film, and an interview.

So ARMYs, better wait for that and check it out!

YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN: BTS Members Rank #1 Among Korean Stars Who Bought Gifts for Family- How Much Did They Spend?

KpopStarz owns this article

Written by Jaswin Singh
Guwahati, Sep 12 (PTI) A total of 4,449 families have been evicted across Assam for alleged encroachment since the BJP-led government took charge in May last year, the state Assembly was informed on Monday.

On whether the evicted families were Indians or foreigners, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the government has not carried out any investigation on their citizenship.

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Allegations of illegal migration form an important part of the political narrative in this northeastern state bordering Bangladesh.

In a written reply to a query by Congress MLA Sherman Ali Ahmed, Sarma said 4,449 families have been evicted till date by the new government.

Also Read | Madhya Pradesh Assembly Monsoon Session 2022 to Begin From September 13, Opposition Set To Attack Ruling BJP.

He said that the government is also "not aware" if the families that had encroached on government land were homeless people due to erosion, a claim that most of such victims usually make.

Sarma became the chief minister of Assam after the BJP returned to power for the second time in a row last year. He succeeded Sarbananda Sonowal who helmed the state from 2016 to 2021.

(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], September 12 (ANI): Former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday skipped the chance to speak at the NCP's national convention meeting despite being one of the top leaders in the party.

He left midway in front of party supremo Sharad Pawar.

Also Read | Stray Dog Menace: Kerala Minister MB Rajesh To Hold High-Level Meeting Tomorrow.

Ajit Pawar left the stage just moments after party leader Jayant Patil was given the chance to speak before him which sparked rumours of a rift in the party.

Although the Maharashtra leader later clarified that he did not speak in the meeting because it was a national-level meeting.

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NCP MP Praful Patel had announced on the stage that Ajit Pawar will speak before Sharad Pawar's concluding remark but the former deputy Chief Minister was missing from his seat.

It was later on announced by Patel that Pawar had excused himself to go to the washroom and will come back for the speech in front of cadres who raised slogans in support of the former Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister.

Meanwhile, NCP MP Supriya Sule was seen convincing Ajit Pawar to return for his speech on the stage.

When Ajit Pawar entered the meeting venue, party veteran Sharad Pawar had already started his concluding remarks after which the former didn't get any chance to speak.

In 2019, while Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress in Maharashtra were still discussing the alliance, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on November 23, 2019, took oath as CM with NCP leader Ajit Pawar as his deputy. The duo were sworn in at an early morning ceremony but the government lasted only 80 hours.

Earlier on Saturday, Sharad Pawar was re-elected as the President of the National Congress Party (NCP) for the next four years.

Sharing the information, the chief spokesperson of NCP, Mahesh Bharat Tapase said that Sharad Pawar unanimously was re-elected as the chief of the party.

Notably, Pawar has been holding the office since 1999 when he founded the party with P.A. Sangma and Tariq Anwar after splitting from Indian National Congress.

At present, the General Secretaries of the party are Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel.From NCP, Ajit Pawar is the current leader of the Opposition in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly.

However, for the upcoming Lok Sabha election, Sharad Pawar has advocated the unity of Opposition parties. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Amaravati, Sep 12 (PTI) The Andhra Pradesh government on Monday said it would be purchasing over five lakh tablet computers (tabs) with pre-loaded Byju's e-learning content, meant to be provided to students of state-run schools while over 72,000 TV sets would be set up in classrooms in a phased manner, at a total expenditure of Rs 512 crore.

Also Read | Indian Railways to Provide Free Meals to Passengers, But Heres A Catch.

Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy held a meeting with senior officials to review Nadu Nedu (our school: then and now).

Also Read | Gyanvapi Case Verdict: VHP Chief Alok Kumar Says Everyone Should Accept It Peacefully, Not Consider It As Victory or Defeat.

The government would be purchasing 5,18,740 tabs with pre-loaded Byju's content besides smart TVs and interactive TVs. The officials said that 72,481 TV sets are needed and would be set up in classrooms in phases and the expenditure would be Rs 512 crore. By March next, the first phase of digitization would be complete, a release said quoting officials.

Reddy categorically stated that monthly audit should be carried out at schools revamped under Nadu Nedu scheme about the amenities and other aspects.

He said the scope of audit should also cover the utilisation of Maintenance Fund and a phone number should be displayed for complaints if any. The officials said a toll free number is already in place.

On digitisation of classrooms, the CM said that by March next, the first phase has to be complete and all schools should be provided with internet facilities. Besides schools, all Village Secretariats, RBKs (Rythu Bharosa Kendram) and Village Clinics should have internet facilities.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Jaipur, Sep 12 (PTI) The ashes of Gurjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsla, who spearheaded agitations in Rajasthan demanding reservation for the community, will be immersed in the Pushkar lake on Monday.

Bainsla died on March 31. His ashes reached Pushkar on Saturday night.

Also Read | The #SupremeCourt Dismissed a Plea of a Father to Hand over the Body of His Son, Who Was   Latest Tweet by IANS India.

An 'Asthi-visarjan' yatra began from Jhunjhunu district on August 17 and covered 75 Assembly segments in over 20 districts before reaching Pushkar. Condolence meetings were held in these 75 constituencies.

Members of the Gurjar community from all over the state have reached Pushkar. This is expected to be a political show of strength of the community in the state where Assembly elections are slated next year.

Also Read | Vadodara Shocker: Octogenarian Woman Seeks Help After 'Hypersexual' 89-Year-Old Husband Frequently Demands Sexual Gratification; Asked To Consult Sexologist.

"Along with the immersion of the ashes of Colonel Bainsla, a mass meeting of the community will be held in Pushkar today in which political and social decisions will be taken," said his son Vijay Bainsla

He claimed that lakhs of people are going to attend the ceremony.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and several other leaders have been invited to the ceremony.

(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], September 12 (ANI): After the silicon valley of India, Bengaluru, reeled under severe waterlogging, as incessant heavy rainfall lashed the city, Aam Aadmi Party President of Mahadevpura Constituency slammed BJP MLA Arvind Limbavali and said that the latter should answer the submerging of the areas including the irregularities in the development of Rajkaluve.

"In 2020, MLA Arvind Limbavali initiated many Rajakaluve works worth Rs 14.95 crore. In spite of this, in just two years, many roads of the constituency have been submerged and water has entered the houses. The question of whose pocket the crores of rupees were released to, to do the work is troubling the people of the constituency. Limbavali has to answer this," said Ashok Mruthyunjaya while speaking live on Facebook.

Also Read | Stray Dog Menace: Kerala Minister MB Rajesh To Hold High-Level Meeting Tomorrow.

"The quality of Rajakaluve work in the last two years under the leadership of Limbavali is of sub-standard quality. Even though the Rajakaluve has encroached at most of the places, MLA Limbavali has shown ignorance. The common man has the right to know what kind of agreement was made between the influential people who have occupied Rajakaluve and MLA Limbavali. We challenge Limbavali to speak about Rajkaluve encroachment," he added.

He also demanded investigations into the matter and said," There should be a comprehensive investigation into the expenditure made. Aam Aadmi Party will release the information and question the government about how much money the government has spent on the Rajakaluve in Bengaluru."

Also Read | Madhya Pradesh: More Than 25 Cheetahs Will Be Brought to Kuno National Park from South Africa in Future, Says Union Minister Bhupender Yadav.

Locals in Bengaluru continued to bear the brunt of severe waterlogging due to heavy rain in the region.

After taking the overview of the state, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that the decision has been taken to release Rs 300 crore to deal with the current situation and to maintain the basic infrastructure of the city.

Chief Minister Bommai held a meeting with the Bangalore Water Supply & Sewerage Board (BWSSB), deputy commissioners of 15 districts and senior officials related to rains and floods in the state.

"The central team will arrive in Bengaluru on Tuesday night to study the rains and flood situation in the state. A memorandum will be submitted and after that, the government will hold a meeting with the team members," Bommai 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)
Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], September 12 (ANI): Expressing concerns over the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2022, that was introduced in the monsoon session in Parliament this year, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Monday said that if the Centre is planning to bring power reforms then it will be forced to withdraw the legislation just like farm laws that were withdrawn after a nationwide protest.

He further requested to take back the power reforms the government has introduced for the sake of the poor, Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) people.

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"Please, for the sake of God, withdraw the power reforms that have been introduced by you. You're a tradesman of introducing and taking back laws. You made three wrong laws, against farmers, you took them back and apologised. So before the people raise their voices again, I request you to take back the power reforms you have introduced for the sake of our poor, SC/ST people," said KCR.

The contentious Electricity Amendment Bill, 2022 aimed at giving multiple players open access to distribution networks of power suppliers and also allowing consumers to choose any service provider was introduced in the Lok Sabha in the monsoon session of the Parliament, despite reservations raised by the states.

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KCR had earlier also criticized the Centre alleging that the BJP-led central government intends to impose electricity bills on farmers who are being given free electricity in the state.

The Chief Minister said that he would "die but not do so".

"Before Telangana became a state, a lot of farmer issues persisted. Farmers were dying by suicide. We are improving, giving farmers free electricity. The centre is asking us to impose electricity bills, put meters. We would die but not install meters," he said.

Recalling Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's support to the farmers who sat on the national capital's borders protesting against the three farm laws (which are now withdrawn), KCR said that the AAP supremo is "lucky" to have got a chance to serve them (farmers).

Meanwhile, Union Power Minister RK Singh said defending the legislation said that once the Bill becomes a law, consumers will have an option to choose the power supply service providers "just like they have in the telecom sector".

"License Raj has to go so that investors can enter this sector. If no investment comes, then we are in darkness," he added.

The Power Minister also assured that there will be provisions in the new bill to fix costs for power distribution companies that would be protected.

"There would be a ceiling tariff to protect the interest of the consumers. The draft bill will have a provision where two or more distribution companies are registered to operate in the same area and the State Commission shall fix the ceiling tariff suo moto after calling for requisite information from the distribution companies," he said.

Several states have opposed the Bill demanding withdrawal of it.

The Kerala Assembly had also unanimously passed a resolution demanding the Centre to withdraw the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2021. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Panaji, Sep 12 (PTI) A shortage of policemen was giving rise to illegal activities on Goa's beaches, state tourism minister Rohan Khaunte said on Monday.

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Activities of unauthorised touts, guides and hawkers must be curbed and tourists driving their vehicles on beaches despite it being prohibited must be penalised, he told reporters.

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Speaking after chairing a meeting with coastal belt MLAs of the state, he said, "There is a shortage of tourism security force, which needs to be addressed through a policy. For the upcoming tourist season, we should be ready with the number of police required to patrol beaches."

He said a meeting of deputy superintendents of police who have beaches under their jurisdiction will be called soon to discuss the issue.

The state government wants to eradicate illegalities on beaches and give visitors the best experience, the minister added.

The move would include providing tourist guides with proper certification courses and ensuring only these are allowed to be part of the business.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Ahmedabad, Sep 12 (PTI) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will interact with auto-rickshaw drivers, businessmen and lawyers in three different town hall meetings in Ahmedabad on Monday, ahead of the Gujarat Assembly polls due later this year.

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Aam Aadmi Party's national convener Kejriwal reached Ahmedabad on Sunday evening to attend various public programmes and meet local party leaders on Monday and Tuesday as part of the AAP's election campaign in BJP-ruled Gujarat.

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As per the schedule shared by the Gujarat AAP unit, Kejriwal will participate in three town hall meets here on Monday where he will interact with auto-rickshaw drivers, businessmen, and lawyers.

On Tuesday, Kejriwal will hold another town hall meet with sanitation workers. He will also hold discussions with local AAP leaders and workers and welcome new members to the party in Ahmedabad.

He will also announce an "important guarantee" for the people of Gujarat, as per the party.

Kejriwal on Sunday said his next "guarantee" to the people of Gujarat will be to provide a "corruption-free" government.

During his multiple visits to Gujarat in the recent past, Kejriwal had announced a slew of "guarantees", including allowances for women and unemployed youth, free and quality healthcare and education, creation of jobs, and free electricity up to 300 units.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Bank Nizwa has signed a RO250 million ($650 million) agreement with Palm Beach for Al Nakheel Project, an integrated tourism complex (ITC), that will be developed by Alargan Towell Investment Company in Oman.

Al Nakheel, being built under the auspices of the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, is a mixed-use community real estate development is idyllically located on the seafront between Al Seeb and Barka, in close proximity to the Daymaniyat Islands Nature Reserve.

Planned to be constructed on a land area of 500,000 sq m, it will have a total built-up area of 369,000 sq m, envisaged to be developed in three phases. Bank Nizwa financing will be extended to for the development of Phase 1A of the project, development of which will commence in 2022.

Major anchor

The development is centered on a Crystal Lagoon of 51,000 sq m, which will be the first in Oman and will act as a major anchor for the development, thus differentiating Al Nakheel from other ITC developments.

Once completed, the project is expected to include three hotels, villas, apartments, serviced apartments, mixed-use souks, an aqua park, a mall, and a school, all of which are carefully spread over different phases.

Critical component

Khaled Al Kayed, CEO of Bank Nizwa, said: The real estate sector is a critical component of the national economy, and the upcoming Al Nakheel Project, which is set to be an iconic destination, will certainly attract significant investments. We are indeed delighted to join hands with a reputable company as Palm Beach and be a part of this prestigious development. While this project will significantly boost the real estate sector in the country, it also reaffirms our commitment to support national initiatives that offer sustainable, long-term benefits while strengthening Omans position as a lucrative investment destination.

He said: Targeting the middle-income strata of the local and expatriate population, Al Nakheel Project has various offerings for the residential, tourism, and retail market. Positioned as an attractive and affordable tourism destination, it also closely resonates with the banks values of promoting inclusivity while also ensuring that an exciting lifestyle experience is more accessible to all.

Through initiatives like these, Bank Nizwa will continue to remain steadfast in fulfilling the strategic goals of the nation while keeping pace with the evolving trends of the market and leveraging its industry expertise to deliver innovative Sharia-compliant solutions that add value to the community.-- TradeArabia News Service
New Delhi [India], September 12 (ANI): The Delhi High Court on Monday took Suo moto cognizance on basis of media reports stating two persons died last week after allegedly inhaling toxic gases inside a sewer in the outer Delhi area.

The HC issued notice to the municipal corporation, Government of NCT Delhi others on basis of media reports stating two persons died last week after allegedly inhaling toxic gases inside a sewer in the outer Delhi area.

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The bench of Justice Satish Chander Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad on Monday directed to register public interest litigation (PIL) in the matter while the south response of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), Delhi Jal Board (DJB), and Delhi Government.

The bench decided to take Suo Moto cognizance of media reports published stating a sweeper and a security guard died on Friday in Outer Delhi's Mundka area after they inhaled toxic gases inside a sewer they had gone down to clean", said the police.

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The bench also appointed senior advocate Rajshekhar Rao as the amicus curiae to assist the court in the matter and fixed September 21, 2022, the next date of hearing.

Last week, one cleaner and one guard died in the Bakarwala area of outer Delhi and the cause of death was due to suffocation and toxic gases in the sewer.

The names of the deceased were Ashok Kumar and Rohit, whose bodies have been fished out of the sewer with the help of the fire brigade.

Ashok was a guard in the DDA society, while Rohit was called to clean the sewer of the society.

According to police, something got stuck in the sewer line inside the society, for which Rohit, who worked as a sweeper, went inside.

When he did not come out, Ashok went inside to see him. The matter was reported to the police when Ashok and Rohit did not come out for a long time.

Police called JCB, fire brigade, and road cutter and pulled both of them out of the sewer, but on reaching the hospital, the doctor declared them dead. (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], September 12 (ANI): In another highlight of the Indian Defence Forces, the Indian Army's impressive engineering skills came to the fore on Sunday after a video depicted the troops constructing a bridge across the Indus river.

The video was titled 'Bridging Challenges - No Terrain nor Altitude Insurmoutable' and was shared on Twitter by the South Western Command of the Indian Army.

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The drill was carried out by the Sapta Shakti Engineers in Eastern Ladakh.

The building of the bridge included carrying out mobility tasks and training.

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"Bridging Challenges - No Terrain nor Altitude Insurmoutable'. SaptaShaktiEngineers in EasternLadakh carrying out mobility tasks and training. Bridging the mighty #Indus River, enabling movement of both combat and logistic echelons," tweeted South Western Command of the Indian Army.

The video depicts the mechanical launch of heavy metal parts into the waterbody as the bridge is shown to be completed at the end of the video.

Army personnel engrossed in teamwork can be seen in the exercise while heavy trucks cross the terrain after the bridge has been completed.

Earlier on Sunday, the Indian Army chief General Manoj Pande, who is on a two-day visit to the Ladakh sector, flew in an Indian Air Force Apache attack helicopter.

The request for a sortie from the Ladakh air base was received yesterday and today, the Army chief flew in the chopper over the area, IAF officials said.

Gen Pande was familiarised with the flying characteristics of the platform and briefed about its capabilities and roles, they said.

The Apache has been deployed in the Ladakh sector since the beginning of the military standoff with China along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh.

The Indian Air Force has 22 of these American-origin attack helicopters while the Indian Army is soon going to get six of its own.

Indian Army teams were also in the US for training purposes led by the Director General of Army Aviation himself.

However, the mainstay of the Army in the future would be the indigenous Light Combat Helicopter being developed by the HAL.

The Army chief was in the Ladakh sector from Saturday where he visited forward areas during the ongoing disengagement in the Gogra Heights Hot Springs area near Patrolling Point 15.

Earlier on Saturday, during his visit, General Pande witnessed the wargames codenamed Exercise Parvat Prahar and was briefed on operational preparedness by commanders on the ground, the Indian Army said.

He interacted with the troops and complimented them for their steadfastness and professional standards, the officials said.

Moving towards resolving the issues created on the LAC post-May 2020, India and China have agreed to dismantle and verify the temporary structures and other allied infrastructure created in the Gogra-Hot Springs (PP-15) area of the LAC in eastern Ladakh, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had said on Friday. (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, Sep 12 (PTI) Lambasting the Lieutenant Governor administration for alleged public discontent, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Monday said Jammu and Kashmir today stands at crossroads where people have neither any right and nor any forum to project their grievances.

She also hit out at the BJP for allegedly weaponising the pain and sufferings of the Kashmiri Pandits to garner support for its political objectives.

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"While the public anger is simmering, the LG administration is busy in showcasing its phony achievements in order to justify what ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has done with Jammu and Kashmir," Mehbooba said while meeting various deputations which called on her here on the second day of her tour to Jammu.

The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said the administration has only compounded the issues of general masses with its "red tapism, inertia and public discontent".

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"As result of this, Jammu and Kashmir today stands at crossroads where citizens have neither any right, nor a forum to project their grievances," she said.

Talking to a deputation of Kashmiri migrant employees, Mehbooba said while the BJP and its run administration was weaponising the pain and sufferings of the community to garner support for its political objectives, it ignores their issues and grievances.

"It's unfortunate that the community faced one of the worst times after migration during the last few years right under the rule of those who criminalised their sufferings and politicised their pain in furtherance of their own communal agenda," she said.

Mehbooba said the administration has miserably failed to instil a sense of security among the Kashmiri migrant community.

She said the issues of Kashmiri Pandits need companionate and humanitarian approach. Instead, an arm-twisting approach is being adopted to muzzle their voice, she alleged.

The deputation while highlighting their grievances and said the administration has selectively transferred some employees form Kashmir while others have been left at the mercy of god.

"Most of the families are without ration for several months and the new relief cases are pending approval. The employees are protesting seeking transfer to safer places while the administration has withheld salaries of migrant employees in order to pressure them to return," a delegation member said.

Responding to other deputations, Mehbooba said, "Corruption has touched new heights, while the competent and honest officers are pushed to walls to ensure that the dictates from party headquarters of BJP are followed without any query or justification."

Even the local governance institutions, which the LG administration is showcasing its one of the greatest achievements, have been made reductant, she added.

Employees, unemployed youths, traders, industrialists, transporters, farmers and every section of the society is facing the brunt of political blunder committed by the ruling dispensation just to satisfy its political ego, the PDP chief said.

"We have to collectively fight back and struggle for restoration of our identity and dignity," she said.

A deputation of Small Scale and Micro Industries Unit holders apprised the PDP chief about the administration's claims to bring industrial revolution in Jammu and Kashmir.

But the reality is that most of the industries were either being closed or seized by the banks due to non-payment of dues, it said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Patna, Sep 12 (PTI) JD(U) spokesperson Nikhil Mandal on Monday resigned from the post he had been holding for more than six years citing "personal reasons".

Former ally BJP, which has been licking its wounds since losing power in Bihar, claimed that the development cited "discomfort" of JD(U) spokespersons in defending Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, their de facto leader.

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Mandal (41), among the youngest spokespersons of the party, announced his resignation on Twitter.

He also shared a screenshot of the communication he sent to the party leadership on his official letter head.

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In his letter which is addressed to no one in particular, Mandal has said, "I am resigning from the post of JD(U) state spokesman. I am thankful to you all for having assigned this post to me since 31.01.2016. Please accept my resignation."

The party's chief spokesperson and MLC Neeraj Kumar, when asked about the development, said "had he resigned because of political reasons I could have said something. But since the reasons have been stated to be personal, it would not be proper to comment".

Meanwhile, state BJP spokesman Nikhil Anand issued a statement wondering whether JD(U) spokespersons were "in a state of discomfort having to defend the Mahagathbandhan which has the RJD as its ally".

Notably, Mandal had contested the 2020 assembly polls from Madhepura but lost to RJD veteran Chandrashekhar, the minister for education in the new government.

Anand also sought to underscore that before the exit of Mandal, JD(U) had removed two other spokespersons, Suheli Mehta and Ajay Alok, for their perceived proximity to disgraced former national president RCP Singh.

Mehta continues to be in the party, while Alok, incidentally seen on the same page as BJP on a number of issues, has been expelled.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Noida, Sep 12 (PTI) A 46-year-old businessman battling depression due to health issues allegedly shot himself dead in Noida on Monday, police officials said.

He lived with his family in Sector 12, under Sector 24 police station limits, and had a clothing store in Khoda on Noida-Ghaziabad border, the officials said.

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"The businessman shot himself dead with his own licensed revolver. His family rushed him to a hospital but he did not survive," a police spokesperson said.

"The family told police that the businessman was suffering from health issues such as diabetes, blood pressure, etc and undergoing depression," the official added.

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Sector 24 police station in-charge Amit Kumar told PTI that the man lived with his parents, wife and two children.

The local police inspected the incident site after which the body was sent for post-mortem and further legal proceedings in the case are being carried out, he added.

According to central government data, India recorded over 1.64 lakh deaths due to suicides in 2021  an average of nearly 450 deaths daily or 18 every hour, with the figures reaching highest for any calendar year so far.

Mental health experts believe depression is treatable and suicide preventable if first observers, like parents or spouse or friends, recognise the behavioural changes in the person and talk to them.

(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], September 12 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Centre on a plea seeking to issue direction to the Ministry of Urban Development to convert the entire land admeasuring 1.33 acres allotted to the top court behind the petrol pump near ITO on the Ring Road into chamber blocks for lawyers.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India UU Lalit directed the Centre to file a reply on the plea in two weeks.

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The court was hearing a plea filed by the Supreme Court Bar Association. Senior Advocate Vikas Singh appeared for the association. The plea was filed through an advocate-on-record Yugandhara Pawar Jha.

In the plea, SCBA has urged the top court to issue direction to the Ministry of Urban Development to grant permission for the conversion of the entire land admeasuring 1.33 acres allotted to the Supreme Court behind the petrol pump near ITO as a chamber block for lawyers.

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The petitioner also sought to direct the ministry to convert the entire area around the Supreme Court into a Supreme Court Complex so that all the buildings across the top court on Bhagwan Das Road including the Foreign Correspondents Club of South Asia, Indian Law Institute, Indian Society of International Law among others can be utilized either for conversion into the chamber or for re-development as chamber block/use for the activities of the Supreme Court or for other amenities for lawyers.

The plea also sought to issue direction to the ministry to allot the government bungalow presently being occupied by Foreign Correspondents Club to the Petitioner.

SCBA said that in recent years, the number of advocates practising in the Supreme Court has increased manifold and the same has spiked the requirement of chambers and other Supreme court-related activities in the Supreme Court vicinity. The Petitioner Association has a duty towards its members to meet their growing requirements and ensure that chambers are allotted as per the Seniority list expeditiously.

In this backdrop, it is pertinent to mention that chamber blocks of the Supreme Court can no longer accommodate the growing number of lawyers eligible for allotment. As a result, the Petitioner Association requires additional space to cater to the accretion in the number of members in the Association in and around the Supreme Court of India, the plea said. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Mumbai, Sep 12 (PTI) The Shiv Sena on Monday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party by claiming that those who are crying hoarse over the grave of Yakub Memon, executed for his role in the 1993 serial blasts, were "hiding in burrows" during the Mumbai riots.

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In an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana', the Shiv Sena claimed it had borne the brunt of the 1993 serial blasts, an apparent reference to a bomb going off near Shiv Sena Bhavan in Dadar.

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It was the Shiv Sena that came forward to protect everyone during the time, it added.

The BJP and the Shiv Sena were involved in a slugfest last week over the beautified grave of Yakub Memon, with the BJP claiming it had happened when Uddhav Thackeray was Maharashtra chief minister. The BJP had sought an apology from Thackeray.

The Shiv Sena, on its part, had said it had nothing to do with development and was being unnecessarily dragged into the controversy.

"It was the Shiv Sena that bore the brunt of Mumbai riots and bomb blasts. At that time, today's torchbearers of Hindutva were hiding in burrows. Those doing politics on Yakub Memon today were never part of that battle, the editorial said targeting the BJP.

The party also slammed Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who was Maharashtra chief minister when Memon was executed (in July, 2015), for not burying his body in Nagpur jail where he was executed.

Instead, Memon's body was brought to Mahim (where he resided) and from there a huge procession was taken out to the Bada Qabrastan graveyard, the Sena editorial pointed out.

The Sena said had Memon's body been disposed of like Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru in Tihar after his hanging, the issue (of the grave) would not have come up.

The Saamana editorial said the issue of Memon's grave was being raised when the state was facing natural calamities and farmer suicides.

(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], September 12 (ANI): Making a scathing attack at Rahul Gandhi for meeting people including controversial Catholic priest George Ponnaiah, Union Minister Ajay Bhatt on Sunday slammed for supporting people who are hell-bent on dividing India, and said that Congress has been opposing every decision of PM Modi including the scrapping of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir and the surgical strikes in Pakistan.

Reacting to Catholic priest George Ponnaiah's controversial statement "Jesus Christ is the real God, not like Shakti," Bhatt said that Rahul Gandhi is meeting "divisive personalities, Congress has consistently stood in support of former party president Rahul Gandhi on the priest controversy. The party claims that they don't meet people after doing background checks and in Parliament, their MPs sit with the worshipers of Godse".

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Speaking to ANI, Bhatt said, "The people who have tried to divide the country and those who used to say that India will be divided into pieces, the Congress give respect to them, which clearly shows that those who work to divide the country, agitate, and break people are today talking about connecting India. First of all, Congress should answer why they have kept those people who talk about dividing our country. Those who were talking about breaking the country were doing big agitations, are today saying that they are working to unite India."

Referring to the development in Jammu and Kashmir post the abolition of Article 370, he further slammed Congress for opposing the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and said Congress stated that with the change in the status of Jammu and Kashmir rivers of blood will flow.

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"Whether there has been a surgical strike or an air strike, a country that differs from us is our neighbour, the questions they raised, the same questions were raised by these people (Congress) who are today talking about connecting India," he said.

"The public is much aware and understands everything and they don't believe such people at all. Very irresponsible statements keep coming again and again from them. Democracy is strengthened if the opposition is sensible. It is very good that in a democracy there is a ruling party and Opposition and when both work properly, the purpose is served. But here, whatever Prime Minister Narendra Modi does, it has become a habit of the Opposition to find fault in it. This Bharat Jodo Yatra is nothing but their inability to do anything," he said while several criticizing Congress for not supporting the government for the welfare of the people.

What Prime Minister did in Har Ghar Tiranga is called an attempt to connect India. All castes, religions, classes and regions came up with a flag, this is called connecting India.

Rahul Gandhi, who is on a 150-day-long Bharat Jodo Yatra, on Friday met a controversial catholic priest George Ponnaiah in the Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu.

A video clip of Rahul Gandhi's interaction with the Tamil Nadu pastor went viral, in which Rahul Gandhi can be heard asking, "Jesus Christ is a form of God? Is that right?" to which the Tamil Nadu priest George Ponniah replied, "He is the real God."

Ponniah goes on to say, "God reveals him(self) as a man, a real person...not like Shakti...so we see a human person."

Ponniah has a history of delivering provocative statements that have landed him in trouble in the past. He was arrested last year in July in Kallikudi, Madurai for allegedly making a 'hate speech' against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, DMK Minister and others.(ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Guwahati, Sep 12 (PTI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday said that his government encourages private sector investment instead of setting up new Public Sector Units (PSUs) as it "does not subscribe to socialism".

Opposition Congress sought to know if the chief minister wants to amend the Constitution as its preamble says India is a socialist country.

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Replying to a query by Congress MLA Abdul Batin Khandakar during the Question Hour in the Assembly, Sarma said that the government has no intention to run companies, especially loss-making ones.

"The government's job is in the field of law and order, health, education, roads and other welfare areas. We don't want to set up companies, but encourage private investments," he said.

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He also emphasised that the Union government has also moved away from running companies as it is not "socialist".

"Setting up PSUs is socialism and we are not (socialists). After forming a company, a humanitarian crisis evolves if it makes losses. Our IAS officers are not competent to run a company. They are not industrialists. Instead, we want to create an atmosphere of investment," Sarma said.

On this statement, the opposition protested saying that the preamble of the Constitution says that India is a socialist country.

The Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia asked if the chief minister does not subscribe to the ideals of the Constitution and whether he wants it to be amended.

"Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had introduced the word socialism in our Constitution. We do not subscribe to the socialism of Karl Marx, Lenin and Stalin. Socialism is a matter of interpretation," Sarma said, leading to a noisy scene in the House.

Earlier, Public Enterprises Department Minister Bimal Bora said Assam has 41 PSUs, of which 17 were declared closed between 2005-06 and 2010-11. Besides, three more PSUs are defunct as of now.

"Since the BJP came to power in 2016, around Rs 1 lakh crore investment has come to the state in different sectors," he informed the House.

In a written reply to a separate query by BJP MLA Bidya Sing Engleng, Bora said a total of 86 big industries have been registered in Assam during 2016-21 as per the Secretariat for Industrial Assistance statistics of the central government.

In the five years from 2016, a total of 32,770 micro, small and medium enterprises were registered in the state as per the Central government data, he added.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Karachi [Pakistan], September 12 (ANI): Baloch women who were demanding the release of missing persons were dragged on the streets of Karachi by police.

"This is so-called Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Baloch women being dragged on the streets of Karachi for demanding release of Baloch missing persons. Unfortunately, Pakistan is member of UN," tweeted Ashraf Baloch, a human rights activist.

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Despite efforts by civil society, there is no end to the issue of enforced disappearances in Pakistan, as the State continues to use it with impunity.

The irony is that successive Pakistan governments have pledged to end the practice of enforced disappearances, however, there is no end to it, reported Canada-based think tank, International Forum for Rights and Security (IFFRAS).

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The reality is that the Pakistani state is comfortable with using it as a tool to throttle dissent and to terrorize people who question the all-powerful Army or seek individual or social rights.

Former lawmakers and human rights activists on the International Day of the Enforced Disappearances (August 30) demanded legislation to ensure that limits were imposed on state institutions and laws were introduced in Pakistan that laid down boundaries for intelligence agencies over enforced disappearances.

The armed forces of Pakistan are widely accused of being responsible for the 'disappearance' of an estimated 5,000 to 8,000 persons. As per local media reports, activists from Balochistan are high on the list of the 'missing', reported IFFRAS.

Baloch 'nationalists', forming many groups, have been fighting the state to oppose curbs on civil rights and the CPEC projects that they claim deprive Balochs of natural resources while giving few jobs.

Cases of enforced disappearances have been majorly recorded in the Balochistan and the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces which host active separatist movements.

Families and activists have described being harassed, arbitrarily arrested and detained, and subject to violence for simply exercising their right to peaceful protest - a right protected by international human rights law and domestic law, reported IFFRAS.

Enforced disappearance violates international human rights law and is a crime under international law. It also violates the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution of Pakistan.

Amnesty International South Asia has noted, "Victim families who have exhausted all legal avenues are forced to publicly campaign in search of the fate and whereabouts of their loved ones." (ANI)

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Bahrains Labour Fund (Tamkeen) has announced the opening of applications for its Young Entrepreneur (Mashroo3i 2.0) programme.

The programme was previously known as Mashroo3i and was launched by Tamkeen in 2012 following which it ran for six editions.

The updated version of this programme aims to empower Bahrainis who are between the ages of 16 and 30 and who possess an entrepreneurial spirit and passion for innovation. It also grants them the opportunity to bring their concepts to life and launch new business ventures, enhancing economic growth led by Bahraini Youth.

Over the course of the programme, participants will gain the skills and knowledge required to pursue entrepreneurship as a career path, which contributes to building sustainable businesses in the local economy. These include skills around ideation, concept validation, prototype planning and development, financial planning and forecasting, developing go-to market strategies, and pitch development, among other key skills.

Commenting on this initiative, Maha Mofeez, Acting Chief Executive of the Labour Fund (Tamkeen), said: We strongly believe in the importance of entrepreneurship in the economy. At the same time, we have faith that the energy and spirit of Bahraini youth can catalyze entrepreneurship in the Kingdom, paving avenues for innovation which in turn creates job opportunities, fosters competitiveness, enhances productivity, and challenges the local market. She added: This program will help equip Bahraini youth with the fundamental skills and knowledge required to set up and launch a successful business and provide them with opportunities to benefit from Tamkeens financial support to kickstart their entrepreneurial journey. New businesses drive economic diversity and growth, thus contributing to the realization of Tamkeens mandates and the goals of the national economic recovery plan.

The Young Entrepreneur (Mashroo3i 2.0) programme was designed to support youth with a business idea to develop their personal and entrepreneurial competencies and encourage them to innovate and commercialize their concepts. It will create a pipeline of quality startups ready to benefit from accelerators and raise funds from venture capital investors. The program will offer advisory support through a deep bench of expert mentors that will help them validate their ideas and de-risk their entry to the labor market therefore accelerating their growth and expansion, said a statement.

Innovative youth with a business idea can apply to the programme online from September 11 through Young Entrepreneur (Mashroo3i 2.0) page on Tamkeens website (www.tamkeen.bh).

The programme accepts applications from both teams and individuals with a viable business concept or who have startups that are in the idea stage and early-stage. The programme will run for six weeks, with the first phase comprising a comprehensive bootcamp focused on helping participants refine and validate their business ideas.

The second phase will be an intensive Startup Advisory Program dedicated to equipping startups with the skills and connections to accelerate their launch and develop their minimum viable product. At the end of the program, up to ten teams will have the opportunity to pitch their developed business concepts to potential investors during a demo day event.

Following which, the top participants will receive Tamkeen grants to launch new businesses while a number of participants will gain access to Tamkeens support through other relevant programmes. - TradeArabia News Service
New Delhi [India], September 12 (ANI): In its endeavour to promote the export of agricultural products inherent to India, the Centre organized a Virtual Networking Meet for Agri and Food GI products in association with the Embassy of India in Doha and IBPC Qatar, an official statement read on Monday.

According to the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, more than 80 participants including exports, importers, representatives from IBPC, officials of the Indian Embassy and the Agriculture and Processed Food Export Development Authority (APEDA) participated.

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Indian ambassador to Qatar Deepak Mittal during the occasion addressed the participants on the opportunities in enhancing the India-Qatar bilateral trade. He stated that such trade meets will provide an opportunity for B2B interaction to enhance exports.

M Angamuthu, Chairman, APEDA, in the statement issued by Ministry of Commerce & Industry emphasized on Centre's focus in promoting GI, organic and natural products. The attributes of Geographical Indication (GI) adds value to the products exported.

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These products are sourced directly from farmers and play a pivotal role in linking farmers with the export market. India can offer wide range of products and our exporters are keen to export to Qatar.

As pere the statement, the Meet provided a platform for interaction between the India exporters and importers of Qatar on the strength of India in export of agri and food products of Indian origin and distinct attributes.During interaction, the exporters informed about the potential GI products for exports such as Basmati Rice, Mango, Pomegranates, products of NER and several processed products.

These events are expected to further strengthen the confidence of the Importers in Indian Products to facilitate exports.

Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) under Ministry of Commerce & Industry has contributed significantly in promoting export of agriculture and processed food products with a share of around 50 per cent (USD 24.77 bn) in overall agri exports during 2021-22.

Besides being the leading producer of several agri commodities such as rice -- fruits and vegetables, tea. India also has a distinct advantage of having registered geographical indication for several agricultural products.

At present, there are more than 400 registered Geographical Indications in India of which around 150 are agricultural and food products GI. More than 100 registered GI products fall under the category of APEDA scheduled products (fresh fruits and vegetables, processed foods, animal products and cereals).

APEDA has also taken initiatives to promote new, innovative and GI products and export to new destinations. (ANI)

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Jeddah, September 12: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has called on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and handed over a written message from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and apprised him of the progress in bilateral ties.

Jaishankar arrived in Saudi Arabia on Saturday on a three-day visit to discuss ways to further strengthen relations between the two countries. It is his first visit to Saudi Arabia as External Affairs Minister. Mohammed bin Salman Orders Release of 850 Indian Prisoners, Increases Haj Quota After Meeting PM Narendra Modi.

He met the Saudi Crown Prince in Jeddah on Sunday. Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and the Deputy Prime Minister, received a written message from Prime Minister Modi, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

The written message was handed over to the Crown Prince by visiting Foreign Minister Jaishankar during a meeting at the Crown Prince's office in Jeddah, it said.

During the meeting, bilateral relations between the two countries and opportunities for enhancing them were reviewed and the latest regional and international developments, as well as the efforts being exerted towards them, were discussed, it said.

"Honoured to call on HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah this evening. Conveyed the warm greetings of PM @narendramodi. Apprised him of the progress in our bilateral relations. Thank him for sharing his vision of our ties," Jaishankar tweeted after the meeting.

Earlier on Sunday in Riyadh, Jaishankar held "warm and productive" talks with his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan during which they discussed current global political as well as economic issues and agreed to work closely together in G-20 and multilateral organisations.

They co-chaired the first ministerial meeting of the Committee on Political, Security, Social and Cultural Cooperation (PSSC), established under the framework of the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council. Jaishankar also addressed diplomats at the Prince Saud Al Faisal Institute of Diplomatic Studies in Riyadh.

India and Saudi Arabia enjoy cordial and friendly relations reflecting the centuries-old economic and socio-cultural ties. Saudi Arabia is India's fourth-largest trading partner.

More than 18 per cent of India's crude oil imports are sourced from Saudi Arabia. During FY22 (April -December), bilateral trade was valued at USD 29.28 billion. During this period, India's imports from Saudi Arabia were valued at USD 22.65 billion and exports to Saudi Arabia were worth USD 6.63 billion.

The approximately 2.2-million-strong Indian community is the largest expatriate community in the Kingdom, according to the Indian embassy in Riyadh. The top leadership of both countries remained in close touch even during the Covid-19 pandemic, the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

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New Delhi [India], September 12 (ANI): India on Monday issued a statement on promoting reconciliation, accountability, and human rights in Sri Lanka and noted with concern the lack of measurable progress by the government on their commitment of political solutions to the Tamil issue.

Speaking at the interactive dialogue on the report of OHCHR at the 51st session of the Human Rights Council, the Indian delegation said: "India has always believed in the responsibility of States for promotion and protection of human rights and constructive international dialogue and cooperation guided by the principles of the UN Charter."

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"In this regard, the Indian delegation notes with concern the lack of measurable progress by the government of Sri Lanka on their commitments of a political solution to the ethnic issue- through full implementation of the 13th Amendment of the Constitution, delegation of powers to Provincial Councils and holding of Provincial Council elections at the earliest," it added.

India said its consistent view on peace and reconciliation in the neighbouring island nation has been for a political settlement within the framework of an United Sri Lanka, ensuring justice, peace, equality and dignity for the Tamils living there.

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"The current crisis in Sri Lanka has demonstrated the limitations of debt driven economy and the impact it has on the standard of living. It is in Sri Lanka's best interests to build capacity of its citizens and work towards their empowerment, for which devolution of power to the grassroots level is a pre-requisite," the statement read.

"In this connection, operationalization of Provincial Councils through early conduct of elections will enable all citizens of Sri Lanka to achieve their aspirations for a prosperous future," the statement read further. (ANI)

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Muzaffarabad [PoK], September 12 (ANI): Nationalists in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) have launched a massive campaign against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shah Ghulam Qadir, who they think is active in replacing incumbent PoK PM Sardar Tanveer Ilyas. Trend "Shut up slave Ghulam" is in full swing on social media.

Nationalists described Shah Ghulam Qadir as a "Kashmir seller" and "PoK's biggest pimp," saying that he will be one of the most shameless and mean person to sit on the throne of Muzaffarabad.

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They ask how such persons who are enemies of freedom can lead Kashmiris. They said that "slave Ghulam apparently chant slogans of Nawaz Sharif" but he is habitual of licking the boots of Pakistan intelligence agencies including ISI, local media reported.

They added that Shah Ghulam Qadir is a pupil of Muslim Conference leader Sardar Attique, the establishment's puppet and protagonist of accession to Pakistan. Such leaders are actually facilitators of Pakistan, not representatives of Kashmiris. They are Pak puppets and are serving their masters.

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Insolent PoK leaders are so hungry for power that they can go to any length to block freedom. Their properties are in Pakistan and Europe and they have nothing to do with PoK people's interests, added the nationalists as reported by the local media.

Meanwhile, a poster shows Tanveer Ilyas licking a military boot with a bag of money (bribe) in hand. Shah Ghulam Qadir is shown as a pet dog with the caption: Ghulam (slave) by name- Ghulam by work. Pet Ghulam-Obedient Ghulam.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson for PoK's Prime Minister, Touseef Abbasi on Sunday said that there is no threat to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's government, reported The News International.

He said the government under the leadership of Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan would complete its five-year term. "Those who are dreaming to become PM are living in a fool's paradise."

Notably, amid stiff opposition from the people, the Pakistan government withdrew the 15th Constitutional Amendment bill to the Interim Constitution of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), thus failing in its 24th attempt to provide provincial status to PoK.

The introduction of the bill led to massive protests and public meetings in all ten districts of the Pakistani-occupied region. Protestors strongly objected to the Pakistan government's plan to bring in the 15th amendment to fix the region's constitutional status, reported Asian Lite International.

The protests against the 15th Amendment and oppressive taxes spread like wildfire across the area, calling the amendment a conspiracy to dilute the identity of PoK.

All those who oppose the government in PoK are labelled as traitors or agents and put through a series of torture, humiliation, or jail.

The bill envisaged the establishment of a separate election commission for local bodies (LB), which was tabled by the government on August 13, 2022, with the backing of the Opposition Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

The people of the territory illegally occupied by Pakistan in 1947 protested vociferously against the attempt by Islamabad to take away their rights.

The Pakistan government's plan is to bring in the 15th Constitutional Amendment that will transfer the financial and administrative powers of the local government to Islamabad.

Kashmiris have been long-suspicious of Islamabad's intentions to exploit the region's vast reserves of natural resources.

There have been repeated allegations that the Pakistan state exploits the rich forest, mining, and water resources in PoK while the Kashmiri people do not get any benefit. (ANI)

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Kabul [Afghanistan], September 12 (ANI): Almost all major online shopping services in Afghanistan have shut down, with the two major online shopping services recently announcing to shut down their services due to the financial crisis in the country.

Almost a year since the Taliban took over Afghanistan, the gap in legitimate governance power in the country took it into a total crisis. The sudden collapse of the Afghanistan administration has resulted in an economic crisis and financial issues in the country.

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According to Khaama Press, a well-known online shopping app, Click.af, with a six-year-old successful marketing experience announced its closure on Saturday evening.

A message published on Click.af's Facebook page said they are no longer able to continue operations due to financial issues.

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"The precarious economic situation, the capital flight, and the stalling of the economic cycle led sales in the market to be severely affected, and Click.af is no exception," the application's operator/s stated in a Facebook note.

The owner of the Click online store, Masih Stanekzai, said that he is not yet ready to express his feelings.

"I'm not interested in giving a negative feeling about it," he said.

"I hope the future is better in coming years so that businesses like Click.af could start again and flourish and become a success!", Stanekzai added.

A day later, Baqal, another online shopping service with a 3-year-old background announced its closure due to financial hardships.

A message published on Baqal's Facebook page said that it was a medium-sized investment which eventually collapsed as the citizens' purchasing power turned down and the local banks froze people's funds in the bank accounts due to the limitations applied by the Taliban on the banking sector, Khaama Press reported.

Online shopping services in Afghanistan had facilitated and improved communications between customers and shopkeepers but this come as some other major online businesses including an online Taxi service called 'Bubar', Finest superstores online shopping portal and Hindukosh online shopping website were closed months after the collapse of the Afghanistan republic administration.

Right after the Taliban took over in August 2021, the first two months were particularly difficult for many Afghan civilians.

As Afghanistan continues to witness a debilitating rights situation, the UN body for humanitarian affairs expressed concerns over the grave condition pointing out that 25 million people in the country are living in poverty, media reports said.

The human rights situation in the country has been exacerbated by a nationwide economic, financial and humanitarian crisis of unprecedented scale, however, the Taliban has repeatedly denied the reports of the violations of human rights, and called them baseless.

As per a report by a global analytics firm, under the Taliban regime, Afghanistan ranked first among the list of unhappiest countries in terms of physical pain, mental stress, mental disorders triggered by poverty and unemployment, anxiety, and anger.

Since Taliban took over authority in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of US forces, Afghans' emotional state reflected the instability and uncertainty as per the survey report.

The Taliban dismantled the system to respond to gender-based violence, created new barriers to women accessing health care, blocked women's aid workers from doing their jobs, and attacked women's rights protesters.

With the US troops' withdrawal from the country, large-scale violence has been unleashed creating political uncertainty in different parts of the country. At least 59 per cent of the population is now in need of humanitarian assistance - an increase of 6 million people compared with the beginning of 2021, according to UNAMA. (ANI)

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New Delhi [India], September 12 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to meet his Pakistani counterpart Shehbaz Sharif, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit scheduled to be held on September 15 and 16 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

PM Modi will be visiting Samarkand to attend the 22nd Meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State, as per an MEA press release.

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PM Modi will be in Samarkand at the invitation of Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

"At the invitation of the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will be visiting Samarkand, Uzbekistan on 15-16 September 2022 to attend the 22nd Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)," read an MEA press release.

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The SCO Summit will be attended by leaders of SCO Member States, Observer States, Secretary General of the SCO, Executive Director of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), President of Turkmenistan and other invited guests.

During the Summit, the leaders are expected to review the organization's activities over the past two decades and discuss the state and prospects of multilateral cooperation. Topical issues of regional and global importance are also expected to be discussed at the meeting.

Prime Minister Modi is also likely to hold a few bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the Summit.

The 21st Meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State was held on September 17, 2021, in Dushanbe in a hybrid format. President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon chaired the meeting.

PM Modi led the Indian delegation and addressed the plenary session of the Summit via video link. At Dushanbe, India was represented by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

It was the first SCO Summit being held in a hybrid format and the fourth Summit that India participated in as a full-fledged member of SCO. The Summit assumed significance as the organization celebrated its 20th anniversary this year.

The 20th Summit of the SCO Council of Heads of State was held on November 10, 2020 (in Video Conference Format). The Meeting was chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

PM Modi led the Indian delegation. The other SCO Member States were represented by their Presidents, while India and Pakistan were represented at the level of Prime Minister. Other participants were -- Secretary General of the SCO Secretariat, Executive Director of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure, the Presidents of the four Observers (Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, Mongolia) of the SCO.

This was the first SCO Summit held in Virtual Format and the third meeting that India participated in after becoming a full member in 2017. PM Modi in his address to the SCO leaders congratulated President Vladimir Putin for organizing the meeting despite challenges and constraints arising due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier, PM Modi attended the 19th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State (CHS) of SCO from June 13-14, 2019 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. (ANI)

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Washington [US], September 12 (ANI): US President Joe Biden on Sunday paid tribute to the victims of the 9/11 terror attack by al-Qaeda terrorists, taking part in a remembrance event at the Pentagon, and delivered remarks to honour those killed.

"I know for all those of you who lost someone, 21 years is both a lifetime and no time at all," Biden said at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial in Arlington, Virginia. "It's good to remember. These memories help us heal, but they can also open up the hurt and take us back to that moment when the grief was so raw."

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Biden in his remarks urged for national unity on the 21st anniversary of the September 11, 2002 attack.

"I hope we'll remember that in the midst of these dark days, we dug deep. We cared for each other. And we came together," Biden said, as rain fell on troops standing behind him.

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"We honour the police officers and firefighters, the passengers on Flight 93, and the civilians and service members who all leapt into action. And, we honour the young men and women who joined the thousands of American troops who served around the world to protect our nation," Biden said.

The President talked about a message sent to the American people on September 11, 2001, from Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, who died Thursday, recalling that she "pointedly reminded us, quote, 'Grief is the price we pay for love.'

Before the speech, Biden participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Pentagon, pausing briefly before a ceremonial wreath to touch it and then putting his hand over his heart. He was joined at the event by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

A total of 2,977 people lost their lives on this day, 21 years ago in a fatal terror attack. On September 11, 2001, the United States faced the deadliest terrorist attack in its history. More than 3,000 people were killed in the terror attacks. In a span of just 102 minutes, the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center collapsed after planes hijacked by Al Qaeda operatives crashed into them.

On the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners scheduled to travel from the northeastern US to California. They seized control of the jets to use them as passenger-filled missiles.

The hijackers crashed the first two planes into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, and the third plane into the Pentagon (the headquarters of the American military) in Arlington, Virginia, and yet another one crashed in Pennsylvania before reaching its presumed target. The attacks claimed nearly 3,000 lives.

Passengers on United Airlines Flight 93 overcame the hijackers and the plane crashed in a field, preventing another target from being hit.

The first lady, Jill Biden, attended a ceremony in Pennsylvania on Sunday morning, while Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff attended one in New York City.

"We will never forget the 2,977 lives lost on 9/11. Today standing at Ground Zero, I am reminded of the impact this attack had on our nation and those who lost loved ones. Doug and I stand with you today and every day," US Vice President tweeted.

Harris attended an event at Ground Zero in Manhattan. She said that she stood with those lost at Ground Zero, Shanksville, and the Pentagon twenty-one years ago. The vice President was accompanied by her husband and second gentleman Doug Emhoff, Mayor Eric Adams and former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

"On this solemn day of remembrance, we honour those who lost their lives, as well as our first responders who risked everything in the face of grave terrorism. Today, we continue to honour their courage and strength," Harris said, adding, "My heart is with those who lost loved ones."

By a joint resolution approved December 18, 2001, US Congress had designated September 11 of each year as "Patriot Day," and by Public Law 111-13, approved April 21, 2009, the Congress has requested the observance of September 11 as an annually recognized "National Day of Service and Remembrance."

Last year, on September 10, US President Joe Biden proclaimed September 11 as Patriot and National Day of Service and Remembrance and noted that on this day, all government entities should display the US flag at half-staff. (ANI)

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RSS Joint General Secretary Manmohan Vaidya on Monday said the Congress wants to connect people through hatred, while asserting that the party's earlier generations party too harboured hatred and contempt for the Sangh.
Akshay Kumar took to Twitter today (September 12) and mourned the death of his hairstylist, Milan Jadhav. In an heart-wrenching note, the Khildai Kumar mentioned how the deceased was working with him since past 15 years. Along with it, he also shared a picture that sees Milan doing the superstar's hair. Check it out. Ajay Devgn Mourns the Death of Drishyam Producer Kumar Mangat's Mother (View Tweet).

Akshay Kumar's Hairstylist Dies:

You stood out of the crowd with your funky hairstyles and infectious smile. Always ensured not even one hair of mine was out of place. The life of the set, my hairdresser for more than 15 years,Milan Jadhav. Still cant believe youve left usI will miss you Milano Om shanti pic.twitter.com/5yO7eXzEpJ  Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) September 12, 2022

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#Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said that Association of Southeast Asian Nations (@ASEAN) members must work together to address challenges to safeguard regional peace, stability and prosperity. pic.twitter.com/6NkrzPC8cf IANS (@ians_india) September 12, 2022

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Indonesia is set to host the official World Tourism Day celebration in Bali on 27 September, highlighting the shift towards tourism being recognized as a crucial pillar of development.



With the theme of Rethinking Tourism, the International Day of Observance will this year focus on re-imagining the sectors growth, both in terms of size and relevance, reported Emirates News Agency WAM.



The official day will be marked though all UNWTO Member States, as well as non-members and stakeholders from across the private sector, are being invited to host their own celebrations as well as to promote the day and its central theme.



The theme "Rethinking Tourism" aims to inspire the debate around rethinking tourism for development, including through education and jobs, and tourisms impact on the planet and opportunities to grow more sustainably.



UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: "The potential of tourism is enormous, and we have a shared responsibility to make sure it is fully realized. On World Tourism Day 2022, UNWTO calls on everyone, from tourism workers to tourists themselves, as well as small businesses, large corporations and governments to reflect and rethink what we do and how we do it."



Tourisms International Observance Day will put people at the centre of key discussions. Where is tourism going? Where do we want to go? And how do we get there? The one-day celebration will bring together stakeholders from every part of tourisms uniquely broad value chain - from political and private sector leaders to community representatives, and youth and indigenous ambassadors.



World Tourism Day 2022 will:



1. Provide a platform for inclusive dialogue to identify solutions to realize tourisms potential as a vehicle for recovery and transformation.



2. Amplify the message of tourism as an inspirational and transformational force, and the role of UNWTO and the whole of the sector in fulfilling this potential.



3. Mobilize political will and cooperation to ensure tourism is a central part of policymaking.



4. Ask big questions and identify solutions to realign tourism for the future.



World Tourism Day has been held on 27 September each year since 1980. The date marks the anniversary of the adoption of the Statutes of the Organization in 1970, paving the way for the establishment of UNWTO five years later.
 Lithuania lifts taxes for Ukrainian individual entrepreneurs for prewar contracts.



Ukrainian individual entrepreneurs that are not required to pay taxes nor submit a declaration for contracts concluded with clients in Ukraine before the forced relocation. The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) September 12, 2022

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 Reuters: German Defense Minister rejects requests to supply Ukraine with battle tanks.



German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht rejected the requests on the ground that "no country has delivered Western-built infantry fighting vehicles or main battle tanks so far." The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) September 12, 2022

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Islamabad, September 12: A plane carrying former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan returned to Islamabad soon after takeoff due to bad weather conditions over the weekend, a leader of his party has clarified, dismissing reports that the ex-premier escaped a "plane accident" after the aircraft made an emergency landing due to a technical fault.

The clarification came from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Azhar Mashwani in response to reports claiming that Khan, 69, escaped a plane crash after it experienced technical glitches. Imran Khan Escapes Plane Crash: Former Pakistan PMs Aircraft Develops Technical Problem Midair, Lands Safely Averting Fatal Accident.

Khan was on his way to Gujranwala city in Punjab province to address a public gathering on Saturday. Reports of any technical fault in the aircraft are incorrect, Mashwani wrote on his official Twitter handle on Sunday.

"Chairman Imran Khan's plane was brought back to Islamabad shortly after takeoff due to bad weather conditions," he said. He continued his journey to the venue by road after landing.

Khan is currently addressing rallies across Pakistan to mobilise support for his demand to hold early elections. Earlier this month, a vehicle of Imran's security convoy caught fire in Islamabad. However, the former premier was not hurt in the incident.

The incident occurred while Khan was returning to his Bani Gala residence in the federal capital after attending a public rally in Gujrat in Punjab province.
Washington, September 12: Kashyap "Kash" Patel, the controversial top aide to former President Donald Trump and also a close associate, said he feels "forsaken and vilified" by the Indian American community at a time when he has been "unfairly targeted by the US justice department for the colour of his skin".

"I think it's the height of hypocrisy that they won't support people who are first generation Indian Americans, who have made it to somewhat the highest levels of the United States government just because they disagree with you politically," Patel said in an exclusive interview to IANS, which is his first to an Indian news publication. Racist Attacks: Indian-Americans Protest Against Hate Crimes, Vandalism of Gandhi Statue; Urge President Joe Biden To Take Action.

He added: "I will help any Indian American and everyone looking to advance in government service or in other ways, in law enforcement, national defence, wherever I can. But they take the opposite position because they have the fake news media to back them. All they care about is publicity and media. The only thing I care about is the mission. I put the mission first every time.'

Patel said that he has been getting hateful messages from the Indian American community on "email, or messages on social media, hateful messages, spiteful messages, disgusting messages, which is sad because these are supposed to be our brothers and sisters".

Patel is an Indian American who was born in New York to Gujarati parents who came to the US via East Africa. He is an attorney by training and rose to become the chief of staff to the acting secretary of defence in the dying days of the Trump administration and almost came to head the CIA as acting director.

He is now a leading member of a small group of Republican Indian Americans disliked intensely by the rest of the community, which remain overwhelmingly Democratic. This so-called rogues' gallery of Desis includes former Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, who earned the community's wrath for not wanting to be called an Indian American because he was opposed to the concept of hyphenated Americans; and Dinesh D'Souza, a Ronald Reagan White House staffer who went on to reinvent himself as a documentary filmmaker and was jailed for election funding fraud and became the first Indian American to receive a Presidential pardon, from Trump.

He remains a close associate of the former President. "The President and I talk all the time. I'm not going to reveal our private conversations, but he's been pretty public about what his intentions are and how much he wants to fix the country," Patel said, when asked if Trump is planning to run again. "So I think you'll see that an announcement will be coming in the next couple of months and then we'll follow behind it."

Patel had travelled to Ahmedabad with Trump in February 2020 and calls its a "special moment".

"It was extremely humbling for the President to invite me. At the time, I was the highest ranking Indian American official at the White House, to invite me to see Prime Minister Modi in Gujarat, in my hometown and have my parents there on my birthday... ," Patel said, adding, "It was, you know, a moment of a lifetime to go into the stadium, give my mom and dad a hug, see the Prime Minister, meet him in person. It was just such a surreal experience."

Patel was named recently in an affidavit that the Department of Justice filed before a federal judge to secure a warrant to search Trump's Mar-a-Lago beach home for presidential documents that he had carried there with him from the White House in violation of the Presidential Records Act, which required him to turn them over to the National Archives.

The affidavit, a heavily redacted copy of which has been released, cited a news report in which Patel had characterised as "misleading" reports in other news organizations that the National Archives had found classified materials among records that provided by Trump from Mar-a-Lago. "Patel alleged that such reports were misleading because POTUS had declassified the materials at issue," the affidavit said.

Patel took issue with the naming. "Me, as a former National Security prosecutor, knows that the policy of DOJ (department of justices) and FBI is redact names of people just to protect their security and the only name they didn't un-redact last Friday, when they released the affidavit besides Donald Trump was mine and the next seven pages were redacted," Patel said.

He said that he believes he is a victim of "racism against Republican minorities". He had hash-tagged a recent post on Truth Social, a twitter-like social media site promoted by Trump, "Brown Live Matter", his take on "Black Lives Matter", a movement for racial justice and equality.

His naming was egregious also because, Patel said, it coincided with the FBI informing his lawyers that the investigation into death threats against him was being closed even though there were some leads. These threats he had received in the aftermath of him of being subpoenaed by a congressional committee investigating the January 6, 2021 insurrection by Trump's supporters who stormed the Capitol, home to US Congress to prevent a joint session from certifying Joe Biden as the next president. "The only reason they do that is for political targeting, and intentionally jeopardising my safety which is disgusting," he said.

Patel has received hateful emails and death threats since his days from the time he led the congressional investigation of the Russia probe, but they "escalated" after he was summoned by the January 6 committee.

Asked about US help to Indian in the face of the Chinese incursion in May of 2020, Patel said, "President Trump travelled to India even though he did not do too many foreign trips, and he decided to go there, not China, not Pakistan, or, you know, other places in the region, but India because he and Prime Minister Modi have a tremendous relationship. And, you know, it wasn't our job to advertise all the help we were giving. It was our job to give the help and hey, we did that, in both defence and intelligence and diplomatic matters."

He added: "They were just never talked about because it all happened under Trump. And now look at what's happening. America's number one adversary is China. No one will disagree about that, except maybe this Biden administration and we're not helping our Indian allies counteract the Chinese aggression, not just to India but to the rest of the world. And that is a massive security failure by the American administration that's currently in charge."

The Trump administration had helped India with information, cold-weather clothing and some equipment in the aftermath of the Galwan skirmishes. Defence department sources at the time had told the reporter that the word from the White House was to process and clear each and every help asked by India.

When and how does he expect to see the Mar-a-Lago papers scandal end? After November midterm elections when the House of Representatives is expected to pass into Republican hands? "I hope there's some serious accountability because as I've said publicly, it's the same corrupt FBI and DOJ officials who started Russia gate by lying to a federal judge to unlawfully surveil a president that are now back in charge executing this raid," he said, adding, "That's Russia gate all over again. And we have to get the documents out showing the FBI and its corruption and I think that will happen when we get rigorous congressional oversight, like we did in the Russia gate investigation."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 12, 2022 09:15 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
The Incas ruled a vast empire across South America, stretching from Ecuador all the way to central Chile. However, its culture can be most felt in the heart of the empire itself, Peru.

The Incan Empire was formed by ethnic Quechua people, also known as Amerindians, in 1438 in the Andean city of Cuzco, Peru.

While the entire empire was nearly wiped out by the Spanish since its conquest began in 1532, much of its cultural aspects remained in Peru, as the Incas left an indelible mark on its people.

4 Cultural Aspects of Inca Empire Still Alive in Peru Today

Unfortunately, the Incas did not have any written text, which frustrated the archeologists and anthropologists. However, while the Incas did not leave behind any written records, their culture can still be felt in Peru. Here are some aspects of the ancient Inca Empire that can still be seen in the country up to this day.

Inca Ruins

Inca ruins can be found throughout Peru. The most famous of which is Machu Picchu, the 15th-century mountain citadel. However, there are also other famous places.

According to Exodus Travels, these include the Sacred Valley, which belonged to the Inca emperor, and many other ruins in Chinchero, Ollantaytambo, Pisac, and Tipon. The Incas were great at stone works, as the Peru Rail noted that the Incas believed that stones have a spiritual aspect to them.

READ NEXT: Peru to Sue Oil Giant Repsol for $4.5 Billion Over Oil Spill

Incan Domesticated Animals

In the rest of the world, cattle, pigs, chickens, and ducks are common forms of domesticated animals. However, in Peru, there are other more common domesticated animals, and they are still being used as livestock or pack animals in Peru today. Thanks to the Incas.

The most well-known are llamas and alpacas, which are common beasts of burden. Guanacos and Vicunas are also used throughout the country.

While they are not exclusive to the Incas, the former empire has helped spread their use, from having their dung serve as fuel and fertilizer to having their wool used for textiles.

Traditional Peruvian Clothing

Traditional Peruvian clothing traces its lineage to the Incan times. It is not a fashion thing since it is part of their culture. Their traditional clothing is usually bright and colorful.

Less than an hour from the Inca capital Cusco is the Chinchero town, which is world-renowned for its textiles. Women in the area focus on age-old weaving practices and sell their wares to tourists.

Quechua Language Still Being Spoken in Peru

Most Peruvians speak Spanish, as much of the ancient Incan language had been wiped out by the Spanish colonizers.

However, the ancient language known as Quechua is still being spoken in the country. This is evident in the Andean region, where Quechua and Spanish are frequently intermixed.

Peru also recognizes it as one of its official languages. Exodus Travels reported that Quechua has also very much influenced the English language, as several Quechua words are now being used in English. These include coca, condor, guano, jerky, llama, poncho, puma, quinine, quinoa, and vicuna.

READ MORE: LGBTQ Activists in Peru Demand Autopsy for Peruvian Transgender Man Who Died in Indonesia

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: The Rise and Fall of the Inca Empire - From TED-Ed
SNAP benefits 2022, formerly known as food stamps, used Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards to deposit the SNAP benefits payments to recipients. However, the recipient's EBT card can be used for other things in Texas and California aside from being the usual food stamps.

In Texas, EBT cards are called the Lone Star Card and can be used to buy food, ingredients, seeds, and non-alcoholic beverages, according to GOBanking Rates.

Being qualified for SNAP benefits 2022 in Texas can make you eligible for benefits across the state other than a discounted Amazon Prime membership.

READ NEXT: SNAP Benefits Update: Is Your EBT Payments Expiring Soon? Check Now!

Texas EBT Card

Using your Texas EBT card may have you eligible for a free or discounted museum entry the next time you visit the Discovery Place Interactive Museum in Texarkana.

You can also visit the Galveston Children's Museum on Broadway in Galveston and the National Museum of the Pacific War for free or with a discount.

Also included in the list are the International Museum of Art & Science, the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, and the LBJ Library and Museum, among others.

Lone Star card holders can also receive up to a $30 discount on their internet service provider if the company participates in the Affordable Connectivity Program.

The program provides a one-time $100 discount on a qualified laptop, desktop computer, or tablet.

Texas EBT cardholders can also qualify for the Lifeline Program, which serves around 13 million Americans.

Several cell phone providers participate in the state of Texas, with eligible customers getting at least $9.25 toward their monthly bill.

Food Stamps Now noted that qualified customers could use the program for either phone or internet service, but not both.

Texans qualified for food stamps might also be eligible for Energy Assistance, a program that helps low-income residents meet immediate energy needs.

California EBT Card

The SNAP benefit payments program in California is called CalFresh. Like in Texas, it also offers other benefits to those eligible for the SNAP program.

GOBanking Rates reported that discounts for computers, internet, or cell phones can be provided to SNAP recipients and households who earn less than 200% of federal poverty guidelines.

The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) allows eligible CalFresh recipients to receive up to a $30 per month discount on internet service and up to a $75 per month discount if a household is on qualifying Tribal lands.

California also has a specific program that can help recipients with food stamp benefits: the Farmers Markets.

According to Food Stamps Now, participating farmers' markets will match what recipients spend with their EBT card, up to a certain amount per visit.

It would mean doubling customers' buying power and allowing them to get twice as much food and pay only half the price.

The program is also called Market Match or Double Up Food Bucks. The Farmers' Markets program will double the first $10 you spend per visit, giving beneficiaries $20 worth of food.

READ MORE: SNAP Benefits 2022 Update: $301.8 Million Texas Payments Confirmed for July 2022

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Food Stamps' Can Now Be Used to Buy Groceries on Amazon - From KIRO 7 News




The U.S. Senate Committee on Intelligence wanted to officially dip its toes in the current FBI investigation on former President Donald Trump's alleged mishandling and retention of government records in his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida.

Committee chair Mark Warner (D-Virginia) is leading the call for the committee to be briefed by the law enforcement agency as they would want to know the potential damage the mishandling caused to the government.

The committee's vice chair, Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida), has already emerged as a major critic of the investigation as he defended Donald Trump.

Why Does the Senate Want to Be Briefed by the FBI?

According to The Guardian, the U.S. Senate Committee on Intelligence, through its Democratic chair Mark Warner, demanded that a federal judge allows the committee to be briefed about the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago and the possible damage caused by Donald Trump's hoarding of top-secret White House documents at his Florida residence.

Trump was accused of unlawful retention, and mishandling of top-secret government records after the FBI executed a search warrant on his Mar-a-Lago home - all coming from a National Archives discovery of missing documents.

Warner said in a statement that Trump's alleged mishandling of documents could have "disastrous consequences."

"Some of the documents involved human intelligence, and if that information got out, people will die. If there were penetration of our signals intelligence, literally years of work could be destroyed," the senator from Virginia noted.

He also expressed concern about the country's capability to receive shared intelligence from allies that could be undermined if proven that the records were mishandled.

Last week, Trump's request for a "special master" was granted by Judge Aileen Cannon, a former Trump appointee in Florida.

The judge's legal opinion officially halted the current investigation of the Department of Justice on Trump's documents. However, DOJ officials were appealing the decision to have an independent reviewer checking the seized documents in Mar-a-Lago.

According to Warner, the committee still does not know what are in the documents found in Trump's residence last August 8, underscoring the need for an "essential" briefing. Both Warner and Rubio have requested the FBI briefing.

READ NEXT: Florida: Here Are the Shocking Findings During the FBI Raid of Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Home

Marco Rubio: A Key Defender of Donald Trump on Mar-a-Lago Raid?

In an interview with CBS' "Face The Nation," Mark Warner called the Intelligence Committee "one of the last functioning bipartisan committees" in the Senate.

In the past few days, Marco Rubio, a longstanding supporter of Donald Trump, has been questioning the FBI's "full-scale" raid on Mar-a-Lago.

The committee's vice chair has also called for an FBI briefing and requested the National Intelligence Director for more information about the documents.

According to Tampa Bay Times, the Republican senator noted that this was all about a "storage argument."

"They don't deny that he [Trump] should have access to those documents. What they deny is that they were not properly stored. I don't think a fight over storage of documents is worthy of what they've done, which is a full-scale raid," Rubio told NBC 6.

Last month, some legal analysts noted that Donald Trump had violated the Espionage Act, and if proven guilty, he could face 10 years in prison.

READ MORE: Donald Trump Documents Probe: DOJ Appeals Appointment of Special Master, Asks for Pause to Order for National Security Reasons

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Ivan Korrs

WATCH: Warner Wants Damage Assessment From Intel Community Over Trump Documents - From CBS Face the Nation
Vice President Kamala Harris has declared that she will run again with U.S. President Joe Biden on his 2024 re-election bid.

Daily Mail reported that the vice president said that people are "going to demand justice," adding that they would "rightly be doing so."

The future of Harris and Biden's re-election bid in 2024 would come once the Justice Department charges former U.S. President Donald Trump on grounds of mishandling classified documents once its investigation proved that the former president violated federal law. However, political experts noted that it is "highly unlikely" that federal charges will be a hurdle for Trump launching a campaign.

Harris had later on said that she would not "dare tell the Department of Justice what to do." She added that they know best the facts and the evidence "as applied to the law."

READ NEXT: Jill Biden Says Husband Joe Biden Sidetracked by Roe v Wade, Ukrainian War to Bring Progress in White House

U.S. President Joe Biden 2024 Re-election Bid

President Joe Biden has faced several questions from both elected officials and base voters who are Democrats, asking whether the president should run for another term in the office.

The president said that he plans to run for re-election in 2024 if his health allows him to. Biden would be 82 at the time of his second inauguration in January 25 if he were to launch his re-election bid and win the election in 2024, according to a Business Insider report.

There is also the possibility that Biden would be facing Trump once again in 2024. He defeated the former president in the 2020 election.

Vice President Kamala Harris discussed the re-election run possibility in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" with host Chuck Todd.

It was reported that Biden is preparing to launch his 2024 campaign shortly after the midterm elections. However, some believe that it is time for "generational change" in leadership, as stated by Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan. Ryan is currently in a close race with Republican JD Vance for Ohio's open Senate seat.

Ryan said in a Yahoo News report that he thinks the environment politically across the nation "is poisonous" and that people "want some change." He also noted that he is campaigning as an "independent" and has agreed with Trump when it comes to some trade and defense issues.

However, Ryan clarified that is not asking anyone, including the U.S. president, to campaign for him.

On the other hand, he said that he agrees with Biden on semiconductor chips and infrastructure, but does not think he is being "tough enough" on China.

Donald Trump on 2024 Election

More than six in 10 Americans do not want Trump to run in 2024, according to a PBS NewsHour report.

Director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, Lee Miringoff, said that the only good thing for the former president is that his "numbers don't drop." However, it only comprises about a "third of the electorate who are in his corner." He added that it is not a great place to start an election campaign.

The poll found that only 28% of independents believe Trump should run again while two-thirds said that the former president should opt out of the 2024 election.

READ MORE: Donald Trump Says He Needs to Win Election 2024 to Avoid Criminal Probes Against Him

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Kamala Harris: 'If' Biden Runs In 2024, I Will Proudly Join His Ticket - from NBC News


Mexico's Senate has passed a bill that hands control of the National Guard to the Mexican Army.

Mexico News Daily reported that senators with the ruling Morena party and its allies favored the bill. The contentious debate for the measure last Friday lasted 12 hours, with a total of 71 senators voting in favor of it and 51 opposing it.

Morena Senate leader Ricardo Monreal abstained due to concerns about the measure's legality. Meanwhile, opposition lawmakers noted that they would bring the soon-to-be law to the Supreme Court and would challenge its constitutionality.

Mexico's Senator Claudia Anaya Mota said that "public safety is not achieved by violating the rule of law." Anaya is a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party.

Last month, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced plans to put the National Guard under the army's control. He is now set to sign the bill into law.

Security Ministry has control over the National Guard, but it operates under army leadership on the ground.

READ NEXT: Mexico: 2 Men Killed in Span of 24 Hours in Guanajuato State Plagued by Drug Cartel Violence

Opposing National Guard Control Given to Army

Executive director of Amnesty International Mexico, Edith Olivares Ferreto, said they have already seen the "disastrous results of the militarization of public security forces" in the country, according to an Al Jazeera News report.

Ferreto calls on the executive branch to create a plan for the "progressive withdrawal of the armed forces" in the streets and instead strengthen the civilian police forces and the development of public prevention policies.

High Commissioner for Human Rights of U.N., Nada Al-Nashif, also opposed the move, saying that the reforms "effectively leave Mexico without a civilian police force at the federal level."

Al-Nashif added that the change in the operations and control of the National Guard solidifies the already "prominent role" of the army in Mexico.

The Mexican president then lashed out at those opposing the measure, including U.N. Lopez Obrador said during a regular news conference, "when did the United Nations take a stand," then referring to the organization's stance on the war between Russian and Ukraine.

Mexico Law Enforcement and Violence

The National Guard started its operations in early 2019, with Lopez Obrador arguing that it should be under military command to prevent corruption, as reported by The Washington Post.

Mexican politicians had agreed that the country needs civilian police forces, which are often "corrupt, underpaid, and ill-trained." They also noted that they should stop relying on military forces to combat violence brought by Mexican drug cartels.

The president dissolved the old civilian Federal Police in 2019 and promised the National Guard would remain under the control of the civilian Public Safety Department.

Amnesty International claimed that the change in control will result in "more human rights violations."

More than 80% of the over 110,000 members of the National Guard came from the army and the navy. However, the National Guard nor the army have managed to curb violence in the country, with critics saying that the National Guard lacks the "investigative and intelligence capacities of a police force."

READ MORE: El Chapo's Sinaloa Cartel Continues to Thrive Despite the DrugLLord's Absence: Report

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Mexico plan to militarise premier police force draws rights fears - from Al Jazeera English


A Florida man identified as Travis Ray Thompson has been arrested and charged in connection with the death of a toddler.

The Florida man is accused of murder in the first degree while engaged in aggravated child abuse after the toddler, who was left in his car, was left with her spine "completely severed," according to a Law & Crime report.

The Marion County Sheriff's Office said that Thompson waited 30 minutes before he took her to the hospital. The Sheriff's Office issued a press release noting that Thompson applied "significant, gradual force to the victim's upper and lower body."

Fort Pierce's autopsy report also noted that the child died from traumatic injuries that resulted in "disarticulation of the lumbar spine." The autopsy report added that the toddler suffered large amounts of internal bleeding due to the injuries.

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Florida Man Severing Toddler's Spine

CBS 12 News reported that the case investigation started on May 3 when emergency room doctors responded to save the girl's life. However, the girl died three hours after she arrived at the hospital.

On the night of May 2, investigators said that the woman and the toddler stayed at Thompson's camper so she could help him in getting his car fixed the next day. Thompson then took the woman's oldest child to the school bus stop at 7 a.m. before returning to the camper.

The toddler's mother went to work at 9:30 a.m., and Thompson then took the girl down to the lake near the camper, according to investigators. He returned to the camper 15 minute later to use the bathroom and left the girl on a futon.

Thompson alleged that he heard a loud thud in the other room while he was in the bathroom. The arrest report then stated that he claimed to have found the toddler limp and "gurgling."

Investigation of Toddler Girl's Severed Spine Incident

NBC Montana report noted that Thompson continued to say that he had no idea how or why the little girl died. However, investigators learned later on that Thompson and his girlfriend, the children's mother, broke up a week before the murder. The mother of the children moved out of the camper they shared.

Detectives then found text messages that reflect Thompson's anger over the breakup. In addition, the mother reportedly told investigators that Thompson was angry about their breakup.

Detectives also said Thompson waited 30 minutes for the child's mother to arrive, and they both took the girl to the hospital. The Florida man also made eight phone calls instead of driving to the hospital, according to the arrest report.

The Florida man admitted to being the only person to have contact with the child. However, he denied physically harming her in any way.

Law enforcement officials noted that Thompson had also become a suspect in a 2019 child abuse investigation, where he claimed to have accidentally sat on the arm of a four-year-old child. He was not arrested in the case.

Thompson is currently at the Marion County Jail on no bond.

READ MORE: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Ignores U.S. Pres. Joe Biden's Request for National Guard Troops at State of the Union

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Child Abuse in the COVID-19 Era - from American Academy of Pediatrics


W Maldives, pat of global hospitality brand W Hotels, is offering guests an all-inclusive Suite Escape package this Saudi National Day to revel in some of its best experiences on and off this stunning island.



The Suite Escape package is exclusively available to guests staying in the two-bedroom Extreme WOW Ocean Haven or WOW Ocean Escape suites, the ultimate in modern design and luxury while offering the comfort of home with dreamy views of the Indian Ocean.



From the moment guests arrive, a celebratory welcome kick off the mood, with other dining treats during the vacation to experience the innovative W cuisine, including a floating breakfast served in-villa, a private sunset in-villa DIY BBQ dinner, and sunset in-villa beverages with a W Mixologist.



For that physical and mental rest and reset, in addition to simply relishing the white-sand beaches, turquoise lagoons and one of the best house reefs in the Maldives, guests can also unwind with a 60-minute AWAY Spa treatment, a 60-minute private sunset yoga session and reset on the ocean with free daily non-motorized water sport activities.



But there is so much to see around this idyllic tropical paradise, so guests on the package staying in an Extreme WOW Ocean Haven can hop aboard the gorgeous ESCAPE for a free sunset cruise as well as enjoy a one-hour Gaathafushi day excursion with drone photography to ensure the memories of W last a lifetime.



Guests wake up to the sound of the ocean waves in this heart-shaped island resort playground, where the white sands are just footsteps away.



The Suite Escape package is valid for up to four guests for four consecutive nights stays, available for stays until April 9, 2023.  TradeArabia News Service
State Auditor Shad White, right, speaks to U.S. House of Representatives District 4 Republican nominee Mike Ezell at a reception in White's honor Thursday. (Photo by Cam Bonelli)
A teenager who drove towards oncoming traffic while being pursued by gardai avoided a conviction at Portlaoise District Court.

Conor Barry, 18, of Clonad, Daingean, Co Offaly was charged with endangerment at Fairgreen, Portlaoise on April 5 last year. He was also charged with possession of a small quantity of cannabis at Portlaoise Garda Station on the same day.

Sgt JJ Kirby said the defendant, who has no previous convictions, was followed by gardai while narrowly avoiding oncoming vehicles on the date in question. He said Garda Fergus Crowe was injured while effecting an arrest.

Barrister Suzanne Dooner said the mans mother was in court to support him. She pointed to his positive probation report and said he does seem to have learned his lesson. She said he was very apologetic, had engaged fully with probation services and was deemed at low risk of reoffending. Ms Dooner said her client had a job in construction earning 400 per week.

Judge Michelle Finan told the man to gather a sum of 500 and write a fulsome letter of apology. She warned the defendant that you could be barred off the road and he could go to jail. The defendant said, I havent driven since.

Judge Finan told the man to go get the money. I want a letter to Garda Crowe and I want 500, she said. You probably werent going to prison on it but your insurance rates would go through the roof, Judge Finan added.

On receiving the letter and 500, Judge Finan said that is an excellent letter. Hand it over to the gardai. She ordered that the money be handed over to Garda Crowe and marked the case facts proven while striking out the charges.
Laois People urged to take on a hill for Jack and Jill this October to raise money to fund home nursing care for 11 local children.

This is a significant year for the Jack and Jill Childrens Foundation, as it celebrates 25 years of funding and providing specialist in-home nursing care and respite support for children with severe to profound neurodevelopmental delay, up to the age of six.

This includes children who may have a brain injury, cerebral palsy, a genetic diagnosis or other undiagnosed condition. Another key part of the service is end-of-life care at home for all children up to the age of six who require it, irrespective of diagnosis.

The nationwide charity has reached its own summit in 2022 by providing support to 412 children, the highest number in its 25-year history.

Jack and Jill has provided support to 48 Laois families since it was first established. To meet its steep care commitment, the charity is asking people across Laois to support local families in their community by going Up the Hill for Jack and Jill.

With Jack and Jill, there is no means test, no waiting list and no unnecessary red tape. The core nursing team devises a home nursing care plan that is tailored around the child and the familys needs, with the charity funding and providing up to 80 hours support each month. Jack and Jills funding model relies heavily on public donations to mobilise over 500 nurses and carers at community level and, in 2021, they delivered almost 110,000 hours of in-home nursing care and respite support.

Jack and Jill Liaison Nurse Manager for Laois, Mary Joe Guilfoyle, says every parent needs a break.

Its a privilege to be a part of the lives of Jack and Jill families. These are ordinary parents facing the extraordinary care needs of a child with a complex medical condition; a child who may not be able to walk or talk, who may be tube-fed or oxygen-dependent, requiring intensive, around-the-clock care, at home. But everyone needs a break, and thats where we come in, literally, into the home, to give them relief and we are very proud to walk this care journey with them, she said.

Carmel Doyle, CEO, Jack and Jill Childrens Foundation, believes charity really does begin at home with Jack and Jill.

Every year, its an uphill challenge to raise the money we require to provide our service. But, like the families we support, we just keep going, with a gentle push from the people who donate in the knowledge that their support means so much to local children. With Jack and Jill, charity really does begin at home and our Up the Hill challenge is all about community.

"Every 18 raised funds one hour of in-home nursing support, allowing Jack and Jill parents to grab 40 winks, go for a walk with their other children, or get a coffee, knowing that their precious child is being well cared for at home, where they belong. That sense of community really matters, now more than ever, she said.

There are three Simple Steps to Go Up the Hill for Jack and Jill supported by Abbott pharmaceuticals.

Step 1  Register today for just 18 per person at JackandJill.ie, which will support one hour of specialist in-home nursing care for a local Jack and Jill family. Your pack will include a colourful, eco-friendly, Up the Hill banner

Step 2  Choose your Hill. Theres a local hill around the corner to suit your fitness level and ability, and whether you go high or go low, its the taking part that keeps Jack and Jill on the go!

Step 3  Grab some friends, family, neighbours or colleagues, pick a date that suits and make it a day out to remember. Bring a picnic to celebrate when you get to the top and remember to take a photo with your Up the Hill banner and tag Jack and Jill on social media with #UptheHill22 so everyone can see you!

Sean Langan, Site Director from Abbott, explained why the global healthcare company is proud to be supporting Jack and Jill.

At Abbott, we are passionate about helping people in Ireland, and around the world, to realise their full potential. This idea is at the core of our business and drives our commitment to support the communities in which we work. The Jack and Jill team embodies this same principle and has inspired us through their compassionate care for children and families across the country. We are delighted to be supporting this years Up the Hill campaign and hope that this enables more people to live better lives, he said.

For more information on Up the Hill for Jack and Jill 2022, visit www.jackandjill.ie or telephone Jack and Jill at 045 894538.

Follow on social media at Facebook @jackandjillfoundation; Instagram @jackandjillcf; Twitter @jackandjillcf; Tik Tok @jackandjillcf; and LinkedIn @Jack and Jill Children's Foundation and use #UpTheHill22

The Jack and Jill Childrens Foundation is an Irish childrens charity that funds and delivers specialist home nursing and end-of-life care for children from birth to six years of age who have highly complex and life-limiting medical conditions. Its mission is to empower parents to care for their child at home, in communities across Ireland.

Jack and Jill was set up by two pioneering parents  Mary Ann OBrien and Jonathan Irwin  25 years ago in 1997. They had been caring for their son Jack at home in Kildare with the help of local nurses, until he passed away at the age of 22 months. Mary Ann and Jonathan vowed that no parent should have to walk this difficult care journey alone, and Jacks home nursing care plan became the blueprint for over 2,700 children who have been supported by Jack and Jill since then.

Today 412 children and their families are supported with up to 80 hours of home nursing care per month at a cost of 1,440 per month, or 17,280 per year. The support is often described as a gift of time, giving parent carers a break from their 24/7 care regime, safe in the knowledge that their Jack and Jill child is well cared for at home.

For more information, visit www.jackandjill.ie
Aer Lingus is expecting to operate its full schedule of flights on Monday after a systems outage resulted in 52 flights being cancelled on Saturday.

The airline said it is communicating directly with customers after complaints about its customer service and communications, as thousands of passengers attempted to rearrange plans.

It said the system outage was caused by a break in connectivity in services from a UK network provider.

The airline apologised to customers after it had to cancel 51 flights to and from Dublin Airport involving UK or European destinations on Saturday.

Footage on social media showed thousands of people queueing outside Terminal 2 on Saturday morning at the airport after digital systems failed.

The airline said that customers affected by the disruption will be able to change their travel plans free of charge.

An Aer Lingus statement said: Any customer impacted by todays disruptions will be able apply for a refund or change their travel plans, free of charge through Aerlingus.com, our call centres and our social media channels.

As systems have now been restored we are contacting customers directly in order to re-accommodate them as efficiently as possible.

We have made additional customer service agents available to deal with high call volumes  please bear with us as we try to service all customer queries.

We will also share information regarding customers rights.

Aer Lingus advises customers that its operations for tomorrow are planned to operate as normal.

Customers are advised to come to the airports at the normal time for their scheduled flight.

The technical failure affected check-in, boarding and the company website.

It led to the airline having to cancel most flights to and from Dublin Airport to Europe and the UK after 2pm.
Payments to Irish pig farmers of up to 100,000 have commenced, the Minister for Agriculture has confirmed.

Minister Charlie McConalogue today (September 12) confirmed payments under the Pig Exceptional Payment Scheme 2 (PEPS2) - introduced for pig farmers impacted by a prolonged cost-price squeeze, exacerbated by Russias illegal invasion of Ukraine - have begun.

Minister McConalogue said he was "pleased" to announce the news.

He said, "Our pig farmers have faced unprecedented challenges over recent times due to a significant market downturn in combination with surging input costs. The targeting of this significant support will assist in the continued viability of this very important sector.

"I want to see the pig sector continue to develop in the time ahead and I am glad to see a recent improvement in market conditions."

Funded by Ireland's allocation of EU funds for exceptional aid, it is the second support package put in place this year to support pig farmers.

Chair of the Pig Roundtable, Minister of State Martin Heydon, said, "These payments under PEPS 2 are an important support for pig farmers as we navigate our way through a challenging period for the sector. In addition to helping coordinate this emergency response, the Pig Roundtable continues to work on the future development of the sector and will be meeting again in the coming weeks."
New findings from National Youth Council of Ireland 'paints a bleak picture', one Kildare councillor has said.

Social Democrats Cllr Chris Pender expressed his concerns in recent statement, three weeks after he said that better information is needed in relation to housing crisis in County Kildare.

His statement read: "According to the Red C research findings, more than 70 per cent of young people aged 18 to 24 are thinking about moving abroad for a better quality of life."

"But, worryingly, eight in ten surveyed said they were fearful for the future, with 50 per cent reporting worse mental health due to the cost of living crisis."

The Newbridge-based politician continued: "Almost half of those who participated in the study said they struggled to make ends meet.

"In addition, many believe the housing situation is now worse than it was six months ago.

"These findings are particularly concerning given that young people sacrificed so much during the pandemic, from disrupting their education to missing out on important milestones and lack of socialisation.

'FAILED' POLICIES

Cllr Pender said that the survey results reveal the 'harsh reality' of young people's experiences of living in Ireland: "We risk becoming a nation of emigrants again due to failed Government policy in several areas impacting our youth, including housing, education, low pay, and transport."

"The reality of owning  or even renting  a home is nothing more than a pipe dream for many young people today: my generation is the first in recent history where our quality of life will be worse than our parent's.

"Even once dependable jobs, such as teaching or working in healthcare, do not pay enough to meet rent and living expenses in Dublin and other cities.

"As a result, schools are crying out for new teachers, and the HSE is finding it increasingly challenging to recruit recent graduates.

"Young people clearly believe they will enjoy a better quality of life in places like Canada, Australia and New Zealand, so it's hardly surprising seven out of ten would consider relocating abroad.

He also said that the situation is 'even starker in rural areas', where young people move away for college at 18 and may never return.'

Cllr Pender said that additional schemes and incentives are needed in order to retain young people across a range of key professions  'which will require further investment in third-level education, apprenticeships and affordable housing,' he added.
Dhaka, Sep 12 (UNI) Bangladesh banks have fixed the maximum exchange rates of the US dollar against the Bangladeshi taka for export-import bills and remittances in a bid to ease pressure on foreign exchange reserves and end volatility in the forex market.



The rates were fixed at a meeting between the Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers Association (BAFEDA), a platform of banks, and the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB), a platform of managing directors of banks in Bangladesh, on Sunday.
The TSI Building Maynooth University will host an all-ages event next month to explore the vastness of space, and humanity's place in it.

Hosted by the Departments of Theoretical and Experimental Physics at Maynooth University, audiences will have the chance to hear from world leaders in astrophysical research.

The event, which takes place in Maynooth Universitys new 300 seater lecture theatre in the TSI building is suitable for all ages.

Speaking on the event, organiser Dr John Regan said: "This is a fantastic opportunity for visitors to come, visit the University and learn about our work in astrophysics, meet scientists and ask questions about the universe.

He added: "We really want to inspire the next generation with the work that we do, so we would encourage families to come and join us for what will be a really inspiring event."

The event will feature short  visual presentations from Doctors Emma Whelan and John Regan, who are on the hunt for exoplanets and black holes respectively.

Dr Creidhe OSullivan and Prof Peter Coles will show audiences how scientists are imaging the cosmic background radiation at the edge of our universe and how physicists are pushing the boundaries of our current theories about how our universe evolved.

The audience will have a chance to meet with student physicists and ask questions on everything from dark matter and dark energy to the search for life on other planets.

First-come-first served and only ticket holders will be admitted.

Those interested can register here.

Space week at Maynooth University is supported by Science Foundation Ireland and the Royal Society.

PROGRAMME:

18.30 Welcome

18.35: Emma Whelan: Planet Hunting: How Maynooth University Astronomers are Searching for New Worlds

As of this month over 5000 exoplanets or new worlds have been discovered orbiting far flung stars millions of light years away from us. Emma will explore the hunt for exoplanets  planets outside our own solar system - and what scientists can learn about them. Emma will take you on a behind the scenes tour of the techniques astronomers use for finding new planets and the new insights astronomers hope the James Webb Space Telescope will bring.

18.55: John Regan: "Black Holes in Our Universe"

Black Holes are among the most exotic objects in our Universe. In this talk John will discuss the basics of black hole formation, how we can detect them today and the future of black hole hunting using gravitational wave observatories that Maynooth University is a part of. John will also discuss some of the strange effects you might encounter near a black hole - like time slowing down!

19.15: Tea & Coffee Break

19.45: Creidhe O'Sullivan: "Observations of the early Universe"

Creidhe will take us back to the origins of our universe. In her talk she will show you how scientists observe The Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) - a specific type of radiation left over from the Big Bang - and what it can tell us about the early Universe and its formation. Creidhe will also take us close to home and talk about the experiments that Maynooth University are involved with to observe the CMB.

20.05: Peter Coles: "The Evolution of our Universe"

Peter will discuss how our Universe evolves over cosmic time from the Big Bang to the Universe we see around us today and the role of dark energy and dark matter in that process. Peter will also talk about the upcoming missions he is involved with which hope to measure dark energy - the unknown force that is pushing our Universe apart.

20.30: Finish

The event will take place on October 6.
European democracy is sometimes taken for granted. However, our EU democracy is unique as it places citizens well-being and rights at the heart of policymaking.

We should treasure our values, freedoms and democratic systems, which are part and parcel of EU membership.

This message highlights the forthcoming State of the European Union address - the EUs most important annual policy speech. The speech is delivered every September by the President of the European Commission and takes stock of the past year, as well as setting out the Commissions priorities and ambitions for the year ahead.

This year on September 14, President Ursula von der Leyen delivers her speech as the EU emerges from the coronavirus pandemic crisis but is faced with a new crisis: Russias unjustified war against Ukraine and its fallout, including pressing challenges in relation to energy supply.

The European Commission successfully coordinated the EUs response to the COVID-19 pandemic and procured safe and effective vaccines. It also managed to preserve the right to free movement of people by developing the EU COVID Vaccination Certificate. This is proof that when countries work together  the outcome can be much better.

As we seek to modernise our economies after the pandemic, NextGenerationEU - Europes recovery plan - has facilitated significant investment, giving new confidence to families, businesses and investors.

The European Union has shown unwavering support for Ukraine and introduced unprecedented sanctions against Russia, to reduce its capacity to wage war against Ukraine.

To ensure Europes security of supply, the European Commission has presented the REPowerEU plan to phase out Russian fossil fuels. This helps further accelerate the green transition, through massive investments in renewable energy.

The Commission has tabled ambitious actions to cut greenhouse gas emissions, invest in green technologies and protect the natural environment.

To advance Europes digital decade, the Commission has proposed rules that will shape the digital age beyond our borders, based on safe and trusted technology.

And what is more, the EU empowers people to shape their future.

Over the past year, people across the EU were invited to contribute to a joint vision for how Europe should respond to new challenges and meet people's evolving needs. Key ideas and feedback have been harvested and will be followed-up over the coming months and years.

In this years State of the Union speech, President von der Leyen will outline the initiatives that will bring peoples ideas to life. Delivering on promises - this is people-centred European democracy.

It is therefore no surprise that the latest Eurobarometer survey revealed that 83% of Irish people look upon the future of the European Union with optimism  the highest percentage of any country in the EU.
North West Simon Community has announced details of its first Charity Motorbike Ride supported by Supermacs. Starting at 11 am on Saturday, September 24, three groups of motorbikes will simultaneously ride between the Supermacs outlets in Carrick-on-Shannon, Donegal, and Sligo.

CEO of North West Simon Community explains that in 2021, the charity provided support to 246 adults and 168 children from across the region, and 58% of the money to pay for this work came from public fundraising.

"Homelessness can happen anywhere in the North West and we hope as people see the motorbikes travel through the three counties, they will consider supporting us once again".

Supermacs owner/operators Ken Foley in Sligo and Donegal and Enda Mc Govern in Carrick-on-Shannon will contribute 500 on behalf of each outlet, and provide parking for the bikes throughout the day. Each Supermacs Outlet will have donation buckets on their counters where members of the public will be able to support the Bike Ride.

Ken Foley explained that groups of bikers will depart their local Supermacs outlet at 11am on Saturday September 24th and ride anti-clockwise through the 3 counties, stopping at each of the other outlets in turn.

Enda Mc Govern said that bikes will be coming and going to the outlets throughout the day and he is hoping that the opportunity to see some of the biggest motor bikes in the region will attract spectators to support this very worthy cause.

Anyone who can't make it to Supermacs on the day can support North West Simon Community by visiting https://www. northwestsimon.ie/donate-now/
Ireland has pledged to increase its offshore wind power following an agreement with other EU energy ministers from coastal states.

In a joint declaration of the North Seas Energy Cooperation group, environment minister Eamon Ryan confirmed that they will aim to install offshore wind turbines to generate 73 gigawatts by 2030 and at least 260GW of offshore wind energy by 2050.

The group, which includes Ireland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, aims to promote offshore wind energy and develop offshore grids.

It aims to make offshore wind energy one of the major sources of power within Europe.

"No one has ever weaponized access to the sun or the wind. We need to move off fossil fuels as fast as possible, for our security, for our society,and for our economy" Kicking off the session 'establishing an efficient and residential global supply chain for offshore renewables' pic.twitter.com/WStObJfGUV  Eamon Ryan (@EamonRyan) September 12, 2022

The agreement reached represents more than 85% of the EU-wide target of 300GW for 2050.

Mr Ryan described it as a very significant project for the future of our energies.

The North Seas Energy Cooperation is critical to the development of our offshore wind resources.

What we did, nine ministers coming together, is making sure that actually we do this in a collective organised properly structured way.

We set out new levels of ambition, 73 gigawatts of offshore wind to be developed among our countries by 2030, 300 megawatts by 2050.

Its central to meeting our climate targets. Its a huge industrial development opportunity for each of our countries and for Europe and its critical for meeting our energy security.

This project is the response to the war on energy that has been started by the Russian government. Its our opportunity to switch to our own resources, to protect our people having a secure supply, lower cost, cleaner power.

The declaration today is a declaration of real intent. We are going offshore, were going on scale and speed to develop our own power, a new industrial revolution.

Its also the peace project of our time. It switches away from gas, at this time when its been used as a weapon of war. It switches to power that we can rely on that we have in Ireland and particularly at scale.

Mr Ryan added: If we deliver some of those 300 gigawatts, its roughly 10% of European energy supply and thats not insignificant.

When you start matching that with solar from the south, hydro from the Alps and from Scandinavia, we still match that with energy efficiency, you start to reduce our dependence on imported fossil fuels. Its is one of the big scale renewable projects which we have to hand.

The Dublin declaration is a signal to all that europe will deliver 260GW of offshore wind by 2050. Giving our industries, our regulatory systems and our environmental groups the clarity and confidence to help us achieve energy security with clean low cost energy. #offshore pic.twitter.com/ng9AMvqAH6  Eamon Ryan (@EamonRyan) September 12, 2022

Rob Jetten, the energy minister for the Netherlands, said it was a a peace project of our time.

Weve been faced by these Russian aggression. Its a true wake up call that weve been over dependent on fossil fuels and weve been over dependent on imports of cheap energy from Russia.

The North Sea is actually the region to become the energy power hub for the whole European Union.

Some 85% of our winds ambition from the EU can be realised here in this region. The work of the Irish presidency has been crucial to take important steps for the upcoming years.

Its crucial that we work together with the UK if we want to be as much as energy independent as we can be.
Fianna Fail TD Robert Troy has said he will run in the next general election despite resigning as a junior minister over his property dealings.

The Longford-Westmeath TD reiterated his apology over his unintentional errors, adding that he was willing to answer further questions on the matter.

Mr Troy resigned as minister of state at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment last month for failing to correctly declare properties on the Irish parliaments register of members interests and also failing to register a rental property with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB).

Mr Troy said: For my own part, I dealt with the unintentional errors that I made.

I issued a fulsome apology, and I do so again today. And Ive taken a direct decision in that regard in terms of stepping down as a minister. But today, its not about that.

Today and tomorrow is about focusing on the issues that are affecting the people who have given us the honour to represent them.

Mr Troy was speaking at a Fianna Fail parliamentary party think-in in Co Westmeath.

Asked whether he would run in the next general election, he replied: Most certainly.

He said he had provided a fulsome statement on his property dealings and answered questions comprehensively and he had no problem doing so again.

Im more than happy to answer any questions Revenue, RTB, the local authority, or Sipo (Standards in Public Office Commission) have in relation to any of my dealings, he added.
The Taoiseach has said there is no appetite in Government to reduce the inheritance tax threshold.

Micheal Martin said he believed many families would be disadvantaged if the thresholds were reduced.

His comments come after reports suggested the Commission on Taxation and Welfare has proposed to drastically reduce the amount of money parents can leave to their children tax-free.

A report by the Commission is set to be published on Wednesday.

Mr Martin said: I dont believe theres an appetite in Government to reduce that threshold.

Many, many families and family homes I think would be disadvantaged by that.

Were talking after all about people who have bought their family homes with after income tax.

Many people throughout their lives pay tax. And in fact, our taxation system is very progressive.

Those on the highest earnings, pay the highest amount of tax. I think the top 20% pay up to 80% of income tax for example.

So I think that proposal to say to people youve worked hard all on your life, weve bought your house.but now actually we want to take more off you when you die and you cant leave it to family members, I think theres an issue with that in terms of fairness.

He added that the Government would look at the report in its entirety but I dont see that happening.

Mr Martin made the comments at his parliamentary party think-in meeting at the Mullingar Park Hotel in Co Westmeath on Monday.

He said the Government would use the Budget to help people with the increased cost of living.

We are now looking at price increases in energy that we have not seen the likes of ever before, not even in the terrible crises of the 70s when oil prices went up very high, Mr Martin said.

Were looking at very, very high levels of increases, which are impacting on peoples livelihoods under household disposable incomes, and also threaten enterprises and threatened jobs so once again the Government will have to intervene to protect people first of all, in terms of basic incomes, and also to make sure that we protect jobs.

He said the Government would also work with the European Union through the crisis.

The European Union will be making its intervention in the marketplace to try and stabilise the energy market, he said.

But we also in the next number of weeks through a cost of living package, and the budget will bring in measures to alleviate the pressures on people insofar as we can and to the best and most substantial way that we can.

He added that Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe and Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath are working on proposals with the three party leaders and that meetings would be held later in the week on the matter.
1,000 euros per megawatt-hour: That's the astronomical amount of the wholesale price of electricity reached at the end of August in France. Faced with this devastating surge for households and economies, European energy ministers met in Brussels on Friday, September 9, to urgently find solutions.

Why are wholesale prices rising so much?

An accumulation of factors has led to the explosion of electricity prices, which is affecting Europe as a whole, and has not spared France:

The economic and industrial recovery. Demand, linked to the exit from the Covid-19 economic crisis, has been pulling prices upwards since late 2021, early 2022.

Demand, linked to the exit from the Covid-19 economic crisis, has been pulling prices upwards since late 2021, early 2022. The war in Ukraine. A significant share of electricity in Europe is produced from natural gas, which has led to the coupling of gas and electricity prices. However, the price of gas has increased with the European embargo on Russian gas and further rose (up 30%) in early September with the indefinite suspension of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.

A significant share of electricity in Europe is produced from natural gas, which has led to the coupling of gas and electricity prices. However, the price of gas has increased with the European embargo on Russian gas and further rose (up 30%) in early September with the indefinite suspension of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. In France, the status of the nuclear park. Between the weather conditions  the drought has affected the rivers used for their cooling  and aging infrastructure, which requires maintenance operations, a large part of the nuclear fleet has been shut down. Thus, on September 1, only 24 of EDF's 56 nuclear reactors were operational. Yet France, usually self-sufficient and even exporting, has been forced to dip into the European electricity market as well, contributing to the tension on prices.

Why are electricity rates so volatile?

Since the 1990s, the European Union has gradually opened up national electricity markets to competition to standardize and liberalize the European market and better interconnect it. Today, the European electricity transmission network ensures the security of supply and exchange between 35 countries.

This market is based on a European stock exchange, Epex Spot SE, on which megawatt-hours (MWh) are traded, with prices varying from country to country according to supply and demand. It is a speculative exchange that brings together producers, suppliers and traders who buy and sell electricity (nuclear, renewable or fossil) for immediate or deferred delivery.

However, in this wholesale market, the price is set not according to the average cost of electricity production in Europe, but from the marginal production cost of the last MWh injected into the grid. When demand is low, nuclear or renewable facilities are sufficient, but when demand is high, thermal power plants are used, and the cost of electricity is indexed to the price of gas (or coal). In addition, there is a tax on CO2 emissions, as part of the European carbon market.

Read more Energy crisis: Rethinking the European electricity market

Can the European Union act on prices?

Yes, on Wednesday, September 7, President of the European Commission Ursula Von der Leyen presented a number of ways to reduce the energy bill:

Cap the price of Russian gas imported by the EU, which would limit the high volatility of the price of MWh on the wholesale markets, indexed to the price of gas.

Cap the MWh produced at 200 euros, excluding gas power plants, in order to de-index the selling price of electricity from that of natural gas.

Establish a solidarity contribution for fossil fuel companies.

Redistribute the windfall profits of electricity producers, who mobilize nuclear power plants, wind, solar and hydroelectric dams and "make unexpected revenues that do not reflect their production costs," to help vulnerable households and businesses.

Allow EU Member States to use this financial windfall to help consumers and also invest in clean energy sources.

Finally, the Commission is aiming for a "smart demand reduction" with a mandatory target to reduce electricity consumption at peak times.

Do the French pay the European price for electricity?

Not totally, despite a very clear increase. "Only a part of the kilowatt-hours is bought at the 'high price' on the wholesale market," Patrice Geoffron, professor of economics at the University of Paris Dauphine PSL and director of the Center for Geopolitics of Energy and Raw Materials explained to Agence France-Presse. The rest "corresponds to nuclear production, whose cost is well below the level of wholesale prices." However, prices would be much more contained if the nuclear fleet were able to operate at full capacity.

Read more Subscribers only France's nuclear fleet receives another blow

Moreover, the French consumers' bill is not directly indexed on the wholesale market prices, but on the tariffs regulated by the state. However, the government is protective. In September 2021, then prime minister Jean Castex's government put in place a tariff shield limiting the downstream price increase to 4%.

In concrete terms, it involves a double mechanism:

A tax cut. The domestic tax on the final consumption of electricity (TICFE) was reduced from 22.50 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) to 50 cents on February 1 in order to limit the increase in the regulated tariff.

The domestic tax on the final consumption of electricity (TICFE) was reduced from 22.50 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) to 50 cents on February 1 in order to limit the increase in the regulated tariff. A reorientation of nuclear power. The government has obliged EDF to increase by 20%, or from 100 to 120 TWh in 2022, the volume of its nuclear production sold to its competitors at low prices by the ARENH (Regulated Access to Historic Nuclear Electricity). In compensation, the price charged for this reserved electricity increased from 42 to 46.20 euros per MWh.

By comparison, the United Kingdom's regulated tariffs are set to rise sharply, by 80% on October 1.

In France, the crisis may be easing more quickly, but the factors are uncertain. "Our gas stock is pretty good. If we manage to revive nuclear power, if the weather conditions are good enough for wind power and if the state maintains the tariff shield, this should limit the damage, but it is difficult to predict," said Carine Sebi, an economist at Grenoble Ecole de Management (GEM).

Will the rate shield be renewed in 2023?

Yes, but not necessarily the same one. The minister delegate for public accounts, Gabriel Attal, announced at the start of September that it would be renewed on February 1. Its precise contours will be discussed at the time of the 2023 finance bill from late September. "There will be an increase in energy prices in early 2023, but it will be contained and reasonable compared to this worst-case scenario," Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire told French newspaper Les Echos.

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At stake is the question of the cost to the government. The measures to cap electricity tariffs will cost France 10.6 billion euros by 2022, according to the Ministry of Finance. And in total, all the measures constituting this tariff shield, with the freeze on gas prices and the discount at the pump on fuels, amount to 24 billion euros, equivalent to 1% of GDP. Will it be bearable for public finances to postpone such a device?

Another challenge is ensuring social equity. According to a recent analysis by INSEE, France's national statistics institute, the tariff shield has failed to reduce the gaps between social categories. Overall, it has halved the spike in energy prices, but the lowest-income households are more heavily impacted by the rate increases. In Le Parisien, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne promised "specific provisions to support the most fragile."

William Audureau and Romain Imbach Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.
THE POPULAR Pigtown Festival is returning to Limerick for its sixth year this weekend.

The family-friendly festival will feature a series of specially curated events and immersive experiences celebrating the countys food culture.

Over the course of three weekends, Pigtown will offer up a smorgasbord of one-off events and exclusive experiences that will offer locals and visitors to the area a deep-dive into Limericks rich and diverse food culture.

From Michelin star Pigtown dining experiences to cookery demos with top chefs in the famous Milk Market, historical talks and walks around the city, opportunities to Meet The Makers, and the return of the popular Pigtown Pig Parade, theres something to suit all tastes and ages.

This year, Pigtown is also one of the festivals that has been selected for the Global Irish Festival Series initiative by Failte Ireland.

Commenting on what visitors to the festival can expect, Pigtowns Olivia OSullivan said: "This year, we have reinstated events that could not happen during the pandemic so that is particularly exciting for us as organisers.

"There has been great support for the festival again in Limerick from chefs, restaurants, and cultural organisations, all enthusiastic to get involved and celebrate our food culture and rich food heritage.

"From chef demonstrations in the Milk Market, and street food on Kings Island, to Michelin star dining at Adare Manor, and cultural walks and talks, as well as Meet the Maker collaborations bringing chefs to a farm and a brewery.

"Plus Pigtown-themed dinners in many restaurants, and lots of family fun topped off with the return of our Pigtown Parade through the city streets on Culture Night."

The Pigtown Festival 2022 runs from Saturday, September 17 to Saturday, October 1.

The full schedule of confirmed events and experiences can be found online at www.pigtown.ie.
THREE Limerick-based companies have been shortlisted as finalists in a major sustainable energy awards programme.

Weener Plastics, based in Dromcollogher, Wyeth from Askeaton and J&J Vision Care in Plassey are in the running for 2022 Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) awards.

Also nominated is SSE Airtricity for an energy upgrade project it carried out in Limerick last year.

These firms are among the cohort of energy-conscious businesses and communities that have been selected for their dedication to an energy-efficient way of working.

The annual awards recognise and reward excellence in sustainable energy in business, communities, research, buildings, renewables and the public sector.

Some 33 applicants across 10 categories have been shortlisted, with the winners will be announced at a national awards ceremony next month.

The successful finalists were chosen for their innovative sustainable energy solutions, inspiring energy action among colleagues and peers and their dedication to the climate action movement.

Fergus Sharkey, head of business supports and transport with SEAI said: "It is the 19th year of the energy awards and each year the SEAI team, and our external judges, continue to be blown away by the quality of entries, and the grassroots climate action underway in all pockets of our society. We received 107 entries from businesses, communities, and organisations across the country who are leading the movement, reshaping our communities and businesses, and encouraging every one of us through their action. With the urgent need to accelerate climate action in the context of energy supply constraints and rising costs, their work is more important now than ever and we hope they can provide an example to others."

Weener Plastics is nominated in the category of innovative deployment of renewable energy, Wyeth is in the running for best large business, as is J&J Vision Care.
Manila, Sep 12 (UNI) Seven people were injured last night in the Philippine city of Cotabato as a result of a grenade explosion in a restaurant, local media reported on Monday.

The blast occurred in the evening when the victims were having dinner in the restaurant, Philippine newspaper Inquirer reported, citing local police.

"We are still determining the motive [of the crime], we are reviewing the CCTV, but initially, it was a quarrel among the restobar clients," the newspaper quoted a police representative as saying.
THE Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee has visited Limerick Prison to review its major expansion project, which is nearing completion.

The 60million euro development will provide a new accommodation block for male prisoners and a new standalone female prison.

The opening of the new male accommodation later this year will result in an additional 90 prisoner cell spaces being made available while the completion of the new standalone female prison will provide accommodation for at least 22 additional prisoners.

During her visit to Limerick Prison at Mulgrave Street, the Minister was accompanied by the Director General of the Irish Prison Service. She also took the opportunity to speak with management and staff.

These works are clear evidence of the Governments continued investment in the capital development of the prison estate to ensure we have adequate capacity in our prisons. I am hugely impressed by the new facility here in Limerick Prison which demonstrates the Irish Prison Services commitment to the provision of safe and secure custody in facilities that are designed to support prisoner rehabilitation, said Ms McEntee.

A number of years ago, The Irish Prison Service committed, in its strategic plan, to the elimination of slopping out through the provision of in-cell sanitation in the older parts of the prison estate where that practice remains.

Completion of the works at Limerick Prison will end the practice at the facility.

During her visit, Minister McEntee also noted the highly innovative accommodation which is being built specifically for the needs of women.

It is important that our prisons cater for the specific needs of women. This new facility has been carefully designed to meet these needs and will help the women prisoners there to address the factors that led to their offending and provide them with opportunities for a better life post imprisonment.
THE MAN who passed away following a road traffic accident in Newcastle West last week has been named as Fr Florian Farrelly O.F.M.

Fr Florian was based at the Franciscan Friary in Rossnowlagh, Donegal and was travelling to Kerry for a holiday when the incident occurred.

The 87 year-old lost his life in a two-car collision on the N21, Ballingowan, Newcastle West last Wednesday.

Fr Florian was previously the guardian in the Killarney, Drogheda and Multyfarnham communities after joining the friars in 1953.

He was ordained to the priesthood in Rome in 1961 and his younger brother Paschal also joined the Franciscans, he predeceased him in 2000.

The Franciscan Abbey in Multyfarnham paid tribute to Fr Florian and said he was a well-loved friar during his time there.

"He presided over the celebrations of the 750th Anniversary of the foundation of the Multyfarnham Friary. He reveled in those happy days and he took great joy from being here during that special time.

"While Fr Florian was 87 years of age, he was far from retired from his ministry and frequently celebrated Mass and heard confessions in Rossnowlagh. At the time of his accident, he was on his way to the friary in Killarney for a short holiday."

Fr. Florian will be sadly missed by those who knew him, his sudden death is a huge loss to his devastated sister Mary, his nephews Gerard and Denis (Debbie), his niece Maeve (Mark), grandnephews and grandnieces and all his extended family and to the Franciscan community in Ireland and all those who know and loved him.

Fr Florian was laid to rest in the Franciscan Cemetery in Multyfarnham Friary, Westmeath on Sunday.
A LIMERICK college has announced a vastly-experienced new Head of Department as it welcomes its very first intake of first year students into a brand-new psychology programme.

Professor Niamh Stack has recently been appointed as the new Head of Psychology at Mary Immaculate College (MIC) for the new academic year.

The Clare native takes up the position at an exciting time for the discipline at MIC as the College welcomes the first students on the new Bachelor of Science in Psychology this September.

She described the new role as coming full circle having completed career defining professional placement as an undergraduate, much like new BSc in Psychology students will in their time at MIC.

Professor Stack joins MIC following a two-decade long spell at Scotlands University of Glasgow, where she latterly served as Director of Teaching and Learning in the School of Psychology and Neuroscience.

This interest led to important research collaborations with the Childrens Wood and G20 Youth Group charities in Glasgow and to long term volunteering roles within the British Psychological Society, where she is currently Chair of the Education and Training Board.

Professor Stack has been published on a wide range of topics including high ability pupils, diverse learning, early childhood education and special education.

Welcoming Professor Stack to MIC was Dean of Arts, Professor William Leahy, who said:

Professor Stack's professional achievements in Higher Education and voluntary roles within the British Psychological Society in the United Kingdom speaks for themselves and I look forward to the expertise and leadership these will bring the Department in the coming years."

Professor Stack spoke of the immense challenges the world is facing, in terms of climate change, global health issues, poverty, war, racism and discrimination against minority groups.

It is imperative our future graduates are equipped with the agile skills they will need to best contribute to society whatever field of psychology they chose, she added.
THE FIRST Culture Night in two years is living up to the hype as a large programme of events is announced.

The night which takes place on Friday, September 23 will celebrate the cultural, artistic and creative communities of Limerick city and county.

A live concert in King Johns Castle to celebrate the best of local and national hip hop and electronic music will be one of the highlights of the event.

Limerick Arts Officer Dr Pippa Little commented: We are thrilled to be welcoming audiences back to a bumper Culture Night, with family friendly events, late night offerings and many of our community and voluntary groups participating for the first time since 2019.

The Belltable will host the Limerick Jazz Fest in their foyer until late in the evening.

There will also be a host of events at the Hunt Museum, Dance Limerick and the Milk Market.

For a full list of events click here.

The city wont be having all the fun however, as plenty of events are lined up in towns and villages throughout the county.

In Newcastle West the local Foroige Group will take part in an evening of different craft and activities.

GROWRemote will host music workshops for kids in Bruff, while Mungret College will open their doors for a tour and talk on the history of the site.

The University of Limerick will also join in on the action to host a panel discussion by the Irish Algerian Friendship group.

Dr Little continued: Never has it been more important for an event like Culture Night to take place as it presents the opportunity for our creative community to work in partnership to nurture the cultural life of our region and support our audiences within their communities.
IT'S ALL set for the city of lights as Shannon Airport launches its fourth newest direct service this year.

There was an air of excitement at the departures gate for passengers bound for Orly Airport, as the first flight to Paris took off for the French capital.

The twice weekly service to Paris Orly Airport, with brand-new carrier, Vueling, will operate on Mondays and Fridays from Monday, September 12.



There have been celebrations in @ShannonAirport this afternoon for the launch of the new @vueling service to Paris Reporter @cianobroin1 has been chatting with Mary Considine, CEO of @SNNAirportGroup. Full details to come at https://t.co/zS09FEWBPe pic.twitter.com/5Tbgn7qhWh  Limerick Leader / Limerick Live (@Limerick_Leader) September 12, 2022

Mary Considine, CEO of The Shannon Airport Group, warmly welcomed new scheduled partner Vueling, part of the IAG group that owns Aer Lingus to Shannon.

"Paris is a wonderful city break destination for outbound holiday makers and opens the way for French tourists to explore the Wild Atlantic Way via Shannon Airport," she added.

Orly Airport is the nearest airport to the centre of Paris, just 13km from the city. It is the second largest airport in France and provides onward connections to major European cities and Middle Eastern countries.

Minister of State for Transport, Hildegarde Naughton TD said: A connection to Paris Orly not only provides significant opportunities for the people within this region, but also for inbound traffic from Paris  further boosting tourism connections between the Mid-West of Ireland and Paris.The first passengers to jet off from Shannon to Paris were treated to a taste of France at the blue, white and red dressed gate area before they boarded.

Freshly made crepes by a French chef were served in celebration of the new service, along with a Parisian themed cake.



Dr Loic Guyon, Honorary Consul of France for the Midwest region, congratulating The Shannon Airport Group on the new service said: The new Shannon / Paris Orly connection, the second connection to Irelands closest EU neighbour, will be a huge boost to French tourism to the West of Ireland and to Irish tourism to France, but also for businesses located in the airports catchment area."
In its latest attack on Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday alleged that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and corruption have become synonyms and demanded his resignation. This comes after Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena gave a nod to the CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in the purchase of low-floor buses.

Addressing a press conference with Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta here, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said that every department of the AAP government is involved in corruption with contracts and tenders being tailor-made to benefit Kejriwal's friends.

"Earlier, it was the excise policy, and now there are irregularities in the purchase of buses. Money has become an important part of Kejriwal's politics. He and corruption have become synonyms," Bhatia said as quoted by news agency PTI.

He also raised questions over the party's "hardcore honesty" and said that people have understood that they have become "hardcore corrupt".

"Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot was made the chairman of the committee for tendering and procurement of buses by DTC with the intention of giving benefits to friends. The party has not responded to the charges of irregularities, but have raised another unrelated issue to divert people's attention," the BJP spokesperson said.

As per PTI reports, Adesh Gupta also accused the Kejriwal government of violating tender rules and guidelines of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) to favor some companies.

"Kejriwal doesn't believe in CVC, his only motive is DCC -- direct cash collection... The journey from scheme to scam has become very easy for Kejriwal," he said.

Delhi BJP leader Vijender Gupta also claimed that 1,000 buses would cost  870 crore but the AAP government decided to give 3,500 crore to a private company as maintenance charges.

Saxena on Sunday gave his nod to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged irregularities in Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses procurement scam. The complaint was registered by the Chief Secretary of Delhi Transport Corporation on June 9.

Following this, the AAP government took a dig at Delhi over the CBI probe into this case, saying that "the national capital needs more educated LG".

"LG is facing many serious allegations of corruption. To divert attention, he is making such inquiries. All inquiries so far have yielded no results. After making frivolous complaints against three ministers (CM, Dy CM, and Health Min), he has now made a complaint against the fourth minister. He should first respond to the allegations of corruption against him," the AAP said in an official statement.

Responding to these allegations, AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said, In this case, neither a single bus was purchased nor even a rupee was paid to anybody. Then where did the corruption take place? It was earlier decided not to go ahead with the tender process till the conclusion of the inquiry. It is still on hold for the past two years and we could not purchase even a single bus."

He said that AAP leaders have levelled three "big and serious allegations" of corruption against LG Saxena "with proof".

AAP MP Sanjay Singh also alleged that the LG has been levelling one after another "baseless allegations" against the Kejriwal government as "he wants commission from the contractors" in award of the government works.

(With PTI inputs)
The Centre has organized a virtual networking meeting between exporters of India and importers of Qatar to boost agri and food GI products exports in Qatar, the ministry of commerce and industry said on Monday.

This comes after India banned exports of broken rice and imposed 20% duty on certain varieties of rice excluding parboiled rice and basmati rice. Exporters said that the rice exports will decline sharply after the move.

Rice is the largest exported agricultural product from India and contributed to more than 19% of the total agriculture export during the year 2021-22, as per India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF).

More than 80 participants including exports, importers, representatives from Indian Business and Professionals Council (IBPC), officials of the Indian Embassy and Agriculture and Processed Food Export Development Authority (APEDA) participated," the ministry said.

M. Angamuthu, chairman of APEDA in his address emphasized on the governments focus on promoting GI, organic and natural products. The attributes of Geographical Indication (GI) add value to the products exported.

The exporters were informed about the potential GI products for exports such as basmati rice, mango, pomegranates, products of northeast region and several processed products.

There are more than 400 registered Geographical Indications in India of which around 150 are agricultural and food products GI, the ministry said adding that over 100 registered GI products fall under the category of APEDA scheduled products.
New Delhi: Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France Catherine Colonna will visit India during 13-15 September to further the bilateral ties between the two countries, external affairs ministry said in a statement.

The minister will hold talks with the External Affairs Minister, Dr S. Jaishankar, on Wednesday on bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest," read the ministry press release.

On Thursday, she will travel to Mumbai for engagements with industry leaders and site visits.

India and France have a long-standing strategic partnership, strengthened by regular high-level consultations and growing convergences in various areas.

The French foreign ministers visit will pave the way for further strengthening of the partnership across trade, defence, climate, migration and mobility, education and health sectors, added the ministry release.
NEW DELHI: Nitin Gadkari, Union minister for road transport and highways, has urged investors from the US to invest in roads and highways projects in India which is a gold-mine for investors, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways said in a statement.

Virtually inaugurating the 19th Indo-US Economic Summit of The Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, Gadkari said the US and India are prominent democracies of the world with strong bilateral relations.

According to the ministry, Gadkari said India and the US are natural partners and have a lot to contribute for mutual growth. Both the countries have always shown mutual trust, respect and co-operation on the social, economic and strategic front. The theme for this year The New Agenda for next 25 years will set the roadmap for strengthening this relationship, he added.

Gadkari said there has been an emphasis on creating a sustainable business ecosystem with an inclusive growth model, and that there was a need to encourage out-of-the-box thought process and promote creative agenda to weave new pathways.

The Minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a vision for India to become a $5 trillion economy by 2025. He emphasized that today, India is one of the fastest growing economies and stands at fifth position in the world. A well-developed infrastructure enhances economic activity, creates new businesses and promotes job creation," the MoRTH statement said.

Gadkari said the Union government has drawn up plans to invest $1.4 trillion in infrastructure development through National Infrastructure Pipeline. The road sector will account for 19% of this capital expenditure over 2019 -25.

The minister also said that road infrastructure plays a critical role in the growth of the Indian economy as 70% of goods and nearly 90% of passenger traffic uses the road network to commute. In 2014, there were around 91,000 km of national highway network. At present, this is around 1.47 lakh km.

The government is dedicatedly working towards expanding national highway network to 2 lakh kilometers by 2025, he added.

The minister said India was constructing 27 greenfield expressways of 10,000 km across the country with an investment of 5 trillion, or about $60 billion. He said these corridors would result in 14% reduction in travel distance between key economic centres and ensure reduction in transportation cost by 2.5%.

In addition, there would be saving of around 110 crore litre of fuel and reduction of carbon dioxide emission by 250 crore kg every year, he said.

The minister said we are bringing innovative and investor friendly products like InvIT to allow retail investors participate in the funding drive.

We have well-developed framework for Public-Private-Partnerships (PPP) in the highway sector. Asian Development Bank has ranked India at the first spot in PPP operational maturity and also designated India as a developed market for PPPs. All project documentation, contractual decisions and approvals are now being done through the digital portal," he added.
India's restrictions on rice exports have paralysed trading in Asia, with buyers scouring for alternative supplies from Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar where seller are holding off on deals as prices rise, industry officials said.

India, the world's biggest exporter of the grain, banned shipments of broken rice and imposed a 20% duty on exports of various other types on Thursday as the country tries to boost supplies and calm prices after below-average monsoon rainfall curtailed planting.

Rice is the latest in a string of commodities that have faced export curbs this year as governments struggled to raise supplies and fight inflation amid trade disruptions triggered by the Ukraine war. Rice prices have jumped 5% in Asia since India's announcement and are expected to rise further this week keeping buyers and sellers on the sidelines.

"Rice trading is paralysed across Asia. Traders don't want to commit anything in a hurry," said Himanshu Agarwal, executive director at Satyam Balajee, India's biggest rice exporter.

"India accounts for more than 40% of global shipments. So, nobody is sure how much prices will rise in the coming months."

Rice is a staple for more than 3 billion people, and when India banned exports in 2007, global prices shot to record highs of around $1,000 per tonne.

India's rice exports reached a record 21.5 million tonnes in 2021, more than the combined shipments of the world's next four biggest exporters of the grain: Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan and the United States.

LOADINGS HALTED

Rice loading has stopped at Indian ports and nearly one million tonnes of grain are trapped there as buyers refuse to pay the government's new 20% export levy on top of the agreed contract price.

Though there are some buyers ready to pay higher prices for new contracts, shippers are currently sorting out pending contracts, Nitin Gupta, vice president for Olam India's rice business.

As Indian exporters stopped signing new contracts, buyers are trying to secure supplies from rival Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar, which have raised the price of 5% broken white rice by around $20 per tonne in the past four days, dealers said.

But even these suppliers are reluctant to rush for contracts as they are expecting prices to strengthen.

"We expect prices to rise further over the coming weeks," a trader based in Ho Chi Minh City said.

Vietnam's 5% broken rice was offered at $410 per tonne on Monday, up from $390-$393 per tonne last week, traders said.

China, the Philippines, Bangladesh and African countries such as Senegal, Benin, Nigeria and Ghana are among leading importers of common grade rice, while Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia import premium grade basmati rice.

Supply disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic and more recently the Russia-Ukraine war has jacked up the prices of grains but rice has largely bucked the trend due to bumper crops and ample inventories at exporters over the past two years.

Buyers now fear India's move could boost rice prices and make the staple expensive like wheat and corn, said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trading firm.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.
Milma makes strong presence at 'World Dairy Summit'

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 12 (UNI) Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation, one of Indias largest dairy networks known by its brand Milma, has made a strong presence at the four-day World Dairy Summit, organised by the International Dairy Federation (IDF), which began in New Delhi on Monday.

Milma delegation at the Summit, which has returned to India after 48 years, is led by its Chairman KS Mani. The delegation includes Chairmen and Board members of its three Regional Unions and also top officials from the Federation and the Regional Unions, a statement said.

Milma has also put up an attractive display pavilion that showcases its products, services and initiatives for the benefit of dairy farmers in Kerala.

As the premier dairy co-operative operating in the home state of the Father of Indias White Revolution, late Dr Verghese Kurien, Milma has an active presence at the IDF summit. The summit will have meaningful discussions that will contribute substantially to the growth of the dairy sector in the country, and the world over," Mani said.

An annual meeting of global dairy sector, over 1500 participants are attending the IDF summit in New Delhi. The participants include CEOs and senior employees of dairy processing companies, dairy farmers, representatives of suppliers to the dairy industry, academics, government representatives and technical professionals.

The World Dairy Summit that is a forum to share knowledge and ideas, and will deliberate on how the dairy sector can contribute to nourish the world with safe and sustainable dairying.

UNI DS SY
While addressing a ceremony to commemorate the 21 anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, US President Joe Biden vowed to protect the democracy of America and said the US would not hesitate to use its military power against terrorist threats even though the Afghanistan war is over.

We have an obligation, a duty, a responsibility, to defend, preserve and protect our democracy. The very democracy that guarantees the rights of freedom that those terrorists on 9/11 sought to bury in the burning fire and smoke and ash. That takes a commitment on the part of all of us," he said.

Also Read: 9/11 attacks: Jill Biden recollects her memories of the fateful day

The President further added that Pentagon played the dual role of being a victim of terrorist attacks and also becoming a command center for America's response to defend and protect the American people.

US President also mentioned America's united response to the 11 September 2001 attack by Al Qaeda and vowed to "never give up" in the face of terrorist threats.

To pay tribute to those who died in the terrorist attack, Joe Biden laid a wreath at the military headquarters outside Washington, the spot where American Airlines Flight 77 crashed on the morning of the attack. The air crash took the lives of 184 people. First lady Jill Biden also participated in an observance at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania.

Also Read: Joe Biden does not appear to get why America is in trouble

He said, Its not enough to stand up for democracy once a year or every now and then. Its something we have to do every single day. So this is a day not only to remember, but also a day for renewal and resolve for each and every American in our devotion to this country, to the principles it embodies, to our democracy."

In the unfortunate 9/11 terrorist attack, nearly 3000 people lost their lives. Al Qaeda hijackers flew planes into the New York's World Trade Center towers and into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, while a fourth plane crashed in Pennsylvania.

The fourth plane missed the target as the passengers on United Airlines Flight 93 overcame the hijackers and the plane crashed in a field.

The anniversary comes a year after America pulled off its forces from Afghanistant ending the two decade old war in the country. The US led war was started to root out the al Qaeda militant group that carried out the 9/11 attacks after plotting them from Afghanistan.

However, the chaotic withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan left the nation in the hands of Taliban.

(With inputs from agencies)
Xi Jinping will leave China this week for the first time in more than two years for a trip to Central Asia where he will meet Vladimir Putin just a month before Xi is poised to cement his place as the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong.

The trip, his first abroad since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, shows just how confident Xi is about his grip on power in China and just how perilous the global situation has become: Russia's confrontation with the West over Ukraine, the crisis over Taiwan and a stuttering global economy.

Xi is due on a state visit to Kazakhstan on Wednesday and will then meet Putin at the Shanghai Cooperation Organizations summit in the ancient Silk Road city of Samarkand in Uzbekistan, according to Kazakhstan and the Kremlin.

Putin's foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, told reporters last week that Putin was expected to meet Xi at the summit. The Kremlin declined to give details on the substance of the talks. China has yet to confirm Xis travel plans.

The meeting will give President Xi an opportunity to underscore his clout while Putin can demonstrate Russia's tilt towards Asia; both leaders can show their opposition to the United States just as the West seeks to punish Russia for the Ukraine war.

"It is all about Xi in my view: he wants to show just how confident he is domestically and to be seen as the international leader of nations opposed to Western hegemony," said George Magnus, author of "Red Flags", a book about Xi's challenges.

"Privately I imagine Xi will be most anxious about how Putins war is going and indeed if Putin or Russia are in play at some point in the near future because China still needs an anti-western leadership in Moscow."

Russia suffered its worst defeat of the war last week, abandoning its main bastion in northeastern Ukraine.

The deepening "no limits" partnership between the rising superpower of China and the natural resources titan of Russia is one of the most intriguing geopolitical developments of recent years - and one the West is watching with anxiety.

Once the senior partner in the global Communist hierarchy, Russia after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union is now considered a junior partner of a resurgent Communist China which is forecast to overtake the United States as the world's biggest economy in the next decade.

Though historical contradictions abound in the partnership, there is no sign that Xi is ready to drop his support for Putin in Russia's most serious confrontation with the West since the height of the Cold War.

Instead, the two 69-year-old leaders are deepening ties. Trade soared by nearly a third between Russia and China in the first 7 months of 2022.

XI SUPREME

Xi is widely expected to break with precedent at a Communist Party congress that starts on Oct. 16 and secure a third five-year leadership term.

While Xi has met Putin in person 38 times since becoming China's president in 2013, he has yet to meet Joe Biden in person since the latter became U.S. President in 2021.

Xi last met Putin in February just weeks before the Russian president ordered the invasion of Ukraine which has left tens of thousands of people dead and sown chaos through the global economy.

At that meeting at the opening of the Winter Olympics, Xi and Putin declared a "no limits" partnership, backing each other over standoffs on Ukraine and Taiwan with a promise to collaborate more against the West.

China has refrained from condemning Russia's operation against Ukraine or calling it an "invasion" in line with the Kremlin which casts the war as "a special military operation".

"The bigger message really isn't that Xi is supporting Putin, because it's been pretty clear that Xi supports Putin," said Professor Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.

"The bigger signal is that he, Xi Jinping, is going out of China for the first time since the pandemic in the run-up to the party congress. If there were going to be plottings against him this is when the plottings would happen. And he's clearly confident that the plottings are not going to take place because he is out of the country."

Xi, the son of a communist revolutionary, is poised to secure a historical third leadership term at the 20th Communist Party Congress beginning on Oct. 16. He last left China in January 2020, before the world went into COVID lockdown.

KREMLIN CHIEF

After the West imposed on Moscow the most severe sanctions in modern history due to the war in Ukraine, Putin says Russia is turning towards Asia after centuries of looking to the West as the crucible of economic growth, technology and war.

Casting the West as a declining, U.S.-dominated coalition which aims to shackle - or even destroy - Russia, Putin's worldview chimes with that of Xi, who presents China as an alternative to the U.S.-led, post-World War Two order.

Putin aide Ushakov said the Xi-Putin meeting would be "very important". He did not give further details.

As Europe seeks to turn away from Russian energy imports, Putin will seek to boost energy exports to China and Asia.

He will also hold three-way Russian-Chinese summit with Mongolia - a potentially much shorter route for Russian energy from Western Siberia to China.

He said last week that a major gas export route to China via Mongolia had been agreed. Gazprom has for years been studying the possibility for a major new gas pipeline - the Power of Siberia 2 - to travel through Mongolia taking Russian gas to China.

It will carry 50 billion cubic metres of gas per year, around a third of what Russia usually sells Europe  or equivalent to the Nord Stream 1 annual volumes.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which includes Russia, China, India, Pakistan and four Central Asian states, is due to admit Iran, one of Moscow's key allies in the Middle East.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.
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Director Edward Berger and producer Malte Grunert are set to follow up their new adaption of Erich Maria Remarques harrowing war novel All Quiet on the Western Front with a much more upbeat work, a remake of the rollicking 1967 French-Italian pic The Last Adventure, which starred Alain Delon, Lino Ventura and Joanna Shimkus.

Grunert and Berger had been working on the remake and were already in development when All Quiet on the Western Front, which makes its world premiere at the Toronto fest Sept. 12, came along.

They are now planning to return to the project after Berger finishes his next pic, the Vatican-set thriller Conclave, based on the Robert Harris novel and set to star Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow, Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rossellini. Berger goes into prep on Conclave in October in Rome, with production scheduled to start in January.

Directed by Robert Enrico, The Last Adventure follows two down-on-their luck adventurers and a similarly destitute artist who team up to find a sunken plane full of treasure off the coast of Congo.

That is going to happen after Conclave, Berger says.

Adds Grunert: With all the intangibilities of the film industry, thats definitely what Im planning for and it would make me very happy because basically I want to make every single film in the future with Edward.

After the traumatizing subject matter of All Quiet on the Western Front, lighter fare would bring a welcomed change for the filmmakers.

I need to get it out of my system and make something fun, Berger stresses. The immediate impulse is, lets do the opposite. Lets do something that is extremely entertaining and just fun for the audience.  Thats the main goal.

For Grunert and Berger, the opportunity to adapt Remarques novel was nevertheless something neither could pass up.

Its such an important book, such a unique perspective on the First World War, Grunert notes. It is the bestselling German-language novel of all time for a reason.

It tackles certain issues that are extremely relevant. Its a story about young boys who are, through propaganda, being pushed into a misguided sense of patriotism and who set off to war thinking its an adventure and are confronted with the realities of war.

It feels to me as if there are political instances happening all over Europe and the U.S., a growing nationalism, a sense of the European Union being under attack  the very things that enabled us to live peacefully and prosperously for 70 years now are being questioned. I think the book, and hopefully our film, talks about the consequences of that happening. And that felt very timely.

Indeed, while Grunert says the film is not a direct comment on the Ukraine war, its story of war and the atrocities that happen to both sides can be seen as a message that this should be avoided at all costs, if at all possible, because its a horror for everybody. It didnt matter whether you were German or French, you died in exactly the same horrible way in the trenches. Thats whats at the core of the novel: there are no heroes. The death of an enemy is not a good thing.

When Grunert first approached him with the offer to direct the film, Berger recalls, It just made so perfect sense.

Describing the book as a national treasure, Berger says it seems like a complete oversight that it had never been adapted as a German-language film.

It was probably also lack of opportunity. We fortunately live in a film funding time where suddenly that opportunity also came with the collaboration with Netflix. Now we can make international movies of that scale.

The novel was adapted by Lewis Milestone in his Oscar-winning 1930 U.S. version and again by Delbert Mann in a 1979 TV movie starring Richard Thomas.

Berger and Grunert intended from the outset to make their version in German.

There was no question about it. The only possibility was German, Berger says, adding that the script by Lesley Paterson and Ian Stokell served as a great basis.

Berger further developed the script, adding more of a German perspective and sensibility to the story.

American and British films have a different heritage. They bring a different feeling to a war movie. They bring a feeling, inevitably, of victory and heroism to it. As a German, you cannot bring that. You bring the feeling of guilt and shame and terror to it. From that perspective, the movie must feel very different.

All Quiet on the Western Front, Germanys contender for a best international feature film nomination at next years Academy Awards, boasts a large cast that includes some of Germanys leading actors, among them Daniel Bruhl, Albrecht Schuch, Devid Striesow and Edin Hasanovic. Its Austrian newcomer Felix Kammerer, making his big-screen debut, who is at the center of the film as the young protagonist Paul Baumer, however.

The filmmakers discovered Kammerer at Viennas Burgtheater, where he is an ensemble member.

For Berger, the young actor had the right look  a face that was old-fashioned and transparent  and the necessary acting chops for the demanding role, impressing the director with a fantastic performance in his first audition and continually outdoing himself. He was so eager to learn and to inhale the world of film.

Berger shot the film in the Czech Republic, outside of Prague, where set designers built the German and French trenches and the no-mans land in between, and a battlefield covered in barbed wire, bomb craters, corpses and animal carcasses.

Working with cinematographer James Friend and composer Volker Bertelman, Berger set out to create an atmosphere that reflected the terror and disorientation felt by the young main character. Everything in this movie is there to express what Paul Baumer is feeling, whats inside his stomach. The music, the set design and especially the position of the camera is always trying to give the audience the feeling of being in Pauls boots, Berger adds.

He asked Bertelman to make music that doesnt emotionalize what this boy is [feeling], that doesnt tell the audience what to feel but that tries to copy what the character is feeling. The music was supposed to break or destroy the image rather than score it.

All Quiet on the Western Front screens Monday at the Toronto Film Festival and also unspools at the upcoming Zurich Film Festival.

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Causeway, starring Jennifer Lawrence as a U.S. Army soldier recovering from injuries that are physical, mental, and spiritual, is the furthest thing from a genre film. Yet it belongs to what Ive almost come to think of as a genre: the slow-burn non-verbal indie gloomfest. In saying that, I dont mean to make light of the subject. Lawrence plays Lynsey, a member of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who returns from Afghanistan after riding in a vehicle that was struck by a bomb, which caused her to have a cerebral hemorrhage. At the start, shes seated in a wheelchair, waiting for the home health-care worker (Jayne Houdyshell) whos going to look after her as she undergoes rehab. Tentatively, Lynsey starts to walk, but for a while she struggles to bathe, drive, remember things. The brain injury has smashed and weakened her; shes a person in fragments.

The director, Lila Neugebauer, establishes a mood of despairing reticence, framing Lynsey in scenes where she doesnt do or say much, because she cant. Before long, though, she starts to recover. She gains strength, the color comes back in her face, and the film lets us know that her brain, though frazzled, is working fine. Yet the mood persists. (Her spirit remains broken.) Causeway is set in Lynseys hometown of New Orleans, and after she arrives at her mothers house to continue her recovery, shes resting in the bedroom when the mom, Gloria (Linda Emond), walks in and sees her for the first time. They talk about why shes there a few days early. And thats the whole conversation. Not one So how are you feeling? Is Gloria an insensitive monster parent? No, as we get to know her, she seems well-attuned enough to her daughters well-being. So why wouldnt she even inquire about how she was?

Because that would break the monosyllabic downer spell. Theres a certain kind of independent film thats still mirroring the model of Tender Mercies, showing us characters who express their trauma by choosing not to express it, as if it would make them explode. That mood  of pain hanging in the air, of unvoiced despair  creates a kind of signifying art atmosphere of authenticity. Neugebauer, making her first feature, is good at it; shes got the instincts of a true filmmaker. Yet Causeway is a drama of redemption thats both touching and a little arduous. Just because your characters are suffering doesnt mean they have to mostly stop talking.

Lawrence, returning to her indie roots, starring in a film that will likely make people think of Winters Bone (the 2010 drama that put her on the map), gives a solid performance thats raw, plain, stripped of pretense. She makes Lynsey vulnerable and rather impassive; we keep studying her unmade-up face for clues to whats happening inside. Lynsey gets a job cleaning swimming pools, yet she yearns to go back to the theater of war. From the moment she visits her neurologist, played by the always excellent Stephen McKinley Henderson, she talks about wanting to be redeployed. She was not in combat (she was a water engineer), but this strikes everyone she knows, and also the audience, as a terrible idea, given all shes been though. Is it toughness, stubbornness, or is she trying to escape something?

Stopping at a garage after her familys truck breaks down, Lynsey meets James, a laid-back mechanic, who chats with her a bit and then offers to give her a ride. They chat some more, which is encouraging in a movie that doesnt prize conversation. James, played with a poky spontaneity by Brian Tyree Henry, is a comforting bear of a man who has issues of his own (he was in a serious car accident), and these two like hanging out. It seems like it could be a romance, until she squashes any thoughts in that direction  for James and for the audience  by revealing that shes gay. They become friends, but the dialogue, by co-screenwriters Luke Goebel, Ottessa Moshfegh, and Elizabeth Sanders, remains on the minimalist side. The two share some rather important confessions but never just sit around and talk aboutstuff. Any levity would dilute the despondency.

It will sound, to some, like Im carping. Causeway traces the healing of a soul, takes its time doing so, and allows actors as good as Lawrence and Henry to vibe together, so whats the problem? By the end, the film delivers you to a place that feels real. But we have to travel through a zone of fairly arid desolation to get there. Thats been a hallmark of some indie cinema, but its one that fewer and fewer moviegoers may now want to walk through.

Reviewed at Toronto Film Festival, Sept. 11, 2022. MPA rating: R. Running time: 92 MIN.

Production

An Apple Original Films, A24 release of an A24, Excellent Cadaver production. Producers: Jennifer Lawrence, Justine Ciarrocchi. Executive producers: Lila Neugebauer, Jacob Jaffke, Sophia Lin Patricia Clarkson, Kirk Michael Fellows, Christopher J. Surgent.

Crew

Director: Lila Neugebauer. Screenplay: Otessa Moshfegh, Luke Goebel, Elizabeth Sanders. Camera: Diego Garcia. Editors: Robert Frazen, Lucian Johnston. Music: Alex Somers.

With

Jennifer Lawrence, Brian Tyree Henry, Linda Emond, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Jayne Houdyshell.

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More than a year and a half since the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department confirmed that it had launched an investigation into Marilyn Manson over allegations of sexual abuse, the L.A. District Attorney says it hasnt received a filing yet. In an unusual move, George Gascon, the district attorney for L.A. County, posted an Instagram reel addressing the investigation into the musician, whose real name is Brian Warner.

The Brian Warner matter is still under investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department and has not yet been submitted to our office, Gascon said. Please be assured that we are requesting regular updates on the status of the investigation. The District Attorney is committed to investing in trauma-informed care for all victims of sexual assault, abuse, and intimate partner violence. We understand how difficult it may be to come forward as a victim, especially when the case involves this level of notoriety, and are dedicated to treating all victims with the highest levels of care and respect.



Once we have received the case, he continued, it will be carefully evaluated by an experienced prosecutor to determine if it is appropriate to file charges at this time. We are hopeful that the LASD will present the case to us sometime this month.

The LASD did not immediately respond to Rolling Stones request for comment on Gascons statement.

In Feb. 2021, the same month that Westworld star Evan Rachel Wood claimed Warner sexually abused her, the LASD told ABC News that its Special Victims Unit was looking into abuse allegations against Warner that occurred between 2009 and 2011. Since Wood came forward, more than a dozen women have also accused Warner of sexual misconduct with allegations ranging from sexual assault to unlawful imprisonment. Several lawsuits are pending; Warner has also filed a countersuit against Wood. (Warner has denied all claims.)

In Nov. 2021, the LASD raided Warners home, executing a search warrant for his belongings. Mr. Warner was not home at the time of the warrant service, a rep for the LASD told Rolling Stone at the time. During the search, detectives seized items such as media storage devices.

In March, Woods allegations against Warner were the focus of a two-part HBO docuseries, Phoenix Rising. In interviews, she alleged that Warner threatened her if she were to speak out against him, that he tried to separate her from her family, and that he essentially raped her on camera during a music video shoot. The #MeToo movement did give me a lot of hope, Wood said in an interview on The View about Phoenix Rising. And sexual assault has had its day, and we are speaking about things like grooming and gaslighting. These words were not on our lips just a few years ago. Now I truly believe domestic violence has had its day.
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Prince Harry honored the late Queen Elizabeth II, who died last week at the age of 96, in a personal statement that celebrates her as both his grandmother and his Commander-in-Chief.

In celebrating the life of my grandmother, Her Majesty The Queenand in mourning her losswe are all reminded of the guiding compass she was to so many in her commitment to service and duty, the Duke of Sussex wrote. She was globally admired and respected. Her unwavering grace and dignity remained true throughout her life and now her everlasting legacy.

The 37-year-old Prince of Wales also recalled a quote from Her Majestys late husband, Prince Phillip: Life, of course, consists of final partings as well as first meetings.

He continued with a recollection of his own first meetings with Queen Elizabeth II, adding: Granny, while this final parting brings us great sadness, I am forever grateful for all of our first meetingsfrom my earliest childhood memories with you, to meeting you for the first time as my Commander-in-Chief, to the first moment you met my darling wife and hugged your beloved great-grandchildren. I cherish these times shared with you, and the many other special moments in between.

During an accession ceremony on Saturday, Prince Harrys father was proclaimed King Charles III. You are already sorely missed, not just by us, but by the world over, the prince wrote. And as it comes to first meetings, we now honour my father in his new role as King Charles III.

Shared through Archewell, the organization founded by Meghan Markle and Prince Harry as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, the statement concluded with thanks to the Queens commitment to service, sound advice, and infectious smile.

We, too, smile knowing that you and grandpa are reunited now, and both together in peace, he added.
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Rebecca (Margaret Qualley), a mysterious, mercurial careerist, enters Zachary Wigons Sanctuary with a determined knock on the door of an expensive hotel suite. The room  make that the entire 40-plus story hotel, and the 111 other hotels in the luxe Porterfield chain  belongs to Hal Porterfield (Christopher Abbott), the founders son, a self-loathing lump in pleated khakis who is in line to become the successor of a billion dollar company.

Presumptive successor, Rebecca says.

Successor, Hal rebuts, with middling conviction.

Hals ascension to power hinges on Rebecca  at least, so she claims  and his quavering insistence that he can do the job on his own doesnt convince her (or us) otherwise. Unlike Hal, Rebecca was raised in poverty. (She didnt even see a dentist until she turned 19.) What clout does she believe she holds? The film has the confidence and generosity to allow the audience to ask its own questions before it makes its first (of many) giddily upending reveals. In essence, screenwriter Micah Bloomberg has ushered the audience into his lair, placed us atop a pile of lush rugs, and now pulls them out from under us one after the other.

From the moment Rebecca crosses the hotel rooms threshold, its readily clear that she possesses every quality that Hal lacks. Shes crisp, decisive, and commanding, stalking their quarters like a predatory bird. But Wigon seeds clues that shes not the woman shes pretending to be. First, you might notice that her blond bob is a wig. Then comes the creeping sense that their conversation is screwy. What starts as a formal interview quickly becomes personal, then impolite, then plain wrong. Within minutes, its admitted that both characters are acting out a play, and not long after, Wigon will reveal what the characters already know: Hal has hired Rebecca as a dominatrix, and this humiliating scene theyre enacting is his prewritten fantasy. But the twist is just Sanctuarys opening gambit, a hand the film plays early to warn everyone to stay on high alert.

Look closely whenever cinematographer Ludovica Isidori moves her active, intelligent camera. As she pans over to the script pages of this scene-within-a-scene, tossed into a corner of the bathroom, those who read fast will see that Rebecca is reciting her right lines, but refusing to obey her stage directions. Its a hint that she believes she knows Hal better than he knows himself. This might be true. But its also true that neither she, nor he, have exactly planned out the wreckage that will ensue once Rebecca discovers a chance to squeeze even more cash from her client  and in turn, Hals would-be CEO realizes that this night is his chance to see if his employee has done her job and empowered him with boss-level courage.

What comes next is a showdown between her force and his financial clout, between labor and the lordly class. I-I pay you, Hal stutters, as he attempts to redefine their roles and put himself in charge. But who is he under the bluster? The dweeb weve seen scrub a toilet on her demand? Or the spoiled scion who truly can order her downfall as easily as weve seen him ring up room service for a steak, two martinis, a bottle of wine, a hot fudge sundae, and a Belgian waffle with passion fruit jam. Hal looks soft. But greed and privilege are in his bones, and the fun of Abbotts performance is seeing his character strain to transform his puppyish features into those of a wolf.

This is a terrifically nasty thriller about seizing control, over others and over oneself. Wigon proves to have a great grasp on it, as well; his assuredness is half of the films success. In look and style, sound and execution, Wigons hand is felt on every frame  a steadiness thats essential when each scene is constructed on a sand dune of constantly shifting emotional dynamics. One moment, the characters are using a formal corporate dialect (Pleasure doing business) over a sophisticated piano score that could have played for Ilsa and Rick in Casablanca; the next moment, theyre smashing lamps.

While its tough to buy the characters final choices  and the climax feels more tidy than correct  the details that build us toward it are precisely right, from the long, slow squeak of Rebeccas finger as it investigates a mantle for dust, to the exactitude of Isidoris camerawork as it observes Rebecca enter a room as a blur and stride forward into sharp focus. Qualley can play all angles of her character from ferocious to vulnerable. She does for the film what Rebecca does for Hal: grab a fiction by its neck and will it into credibility by her own bravado.

Reviewed in Los Angeles, Aug. 30, 2022. Running time: 96 MIN.

Running Time: Running time: 96 MIN.

Production

A Rumble Films production, in association with Charades, Mosaic Films, and Hype Film. (World sales: Charades.) Producers: Pavel Burian, David Lancaster, Ilya Stewart, Stephanie Wilcox. Executive producers: Carole Baraton, Micah Bloomberg, Elizaveta Chalenko, Yohann Comte, Maxim Dashkin, David Gendron, Ali Jazayeri, Lisa Kjerulff, Pierre Mazars, Margaret Qualley, Jon Shiffman, Nick Shumaker.

Crew

Director: Zachary Wigon. Screenplay: Micah Bloomberg. Camera: Ludovica Isidori. Editors: Kate Brokaw, Lance Edmands. Music: Ariel Marx.

With

Margaret Qualley, Christopher Abbott.

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U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Laredo have arrested two men wanted for sexual offenses, according to authorities said.

Both fugitives attempted to enter the country via Laredo international bridges.
Quetta(Pakistan), Sep 12 (UNI) Tucked in the Kachhi district of Balochistan in the tiny village of Jalal Khan, the local Hindu community opened the doors of the Baba Madhodas Mandir to the flood-hit people and their livestock.

Jalal Khan is still reeling from the flooding that destroyed houses and left mass destruction in its wake. The village was cut off from the rest of the province due to inundation in the Nari, Bolan, and Lehri rivers, leaving the residents of the remote area to fend for themselves, a Dawn report said.

According to locals, Baba Madhodas was a pre-partition Hindu dervish (saint) equally cherished by Muslims and Hindus of the area. He used to travel on camel, says Iltaf Buzdar, a frequent visitor to the village from Bhag Nari tehsil.

The worship place  frequented by Hindu worshippers from across Balochistan  is made of concrete and covers a large area. Since it is located on high ground, it remained relatively safe from the floodwaters and could serve as a sanctuary to the flood-hit people in their bleakest hour.

Most members of the Hindu community in Jalal Khan have migrated to other cities of Kachhi for employment and other opportunities, but a couple of families remain on the temple premises to look after it.

Buzdar says as per the stories narrated by his parents, the saint transcended religious boundaries. He would think of people through the prism of humanity instead of their caste and creed, he quotes his parents.

Rattan Kumar, 55, a shopkeeper in the Bhag Nari tehsil, in charge of the temple, told the newspaper: There are over one hundred rooms in the temple as a large number of people from all over Balochistan and Sindh come here for pilgrimage every year."

Its not like the temple did not bear the brunt of abnormal rains. Sawan Kumar, Rattans son, told Dawn a few rooms were damaged, but overall the structure remained safe. At least 200-300 people, mostly Muslims, and their livestock were given refuge on the premises and looked after by Hindu families.

Initially, the area was completely cut off from the rest of the district. The displaced said they were provided rations via helicopter sorties, but after their moved to the temple, they were being fed by the Hindu community.

Israr Mugheri a doctor in Jalal Khan, said: There were announcements on the loudspeaker by the local Hindus, calling upon Muslims to rush to the temple to take refuge, he adds.

Those who took refuge there say they are indebted to the local community for coming to their aid and providing them food and shelter during this difficult hour.

UNI ING
Courtesy/Webb County Sheriff's Office

The Webb County Jail passed its inspection for the 14th consecutive year, the Webb County Sheriffs Office said on Friday.

I am pleased to announce that the Webb County Jail has passed inspection for a record-breaking 14th consecutive year. The yearly inspection, held this week and conducted by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, culminated on Thursday afternoon, said Sheriff Martin Cuellar.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP)  The Tigray forces battling Ethiopian troops say theyre willing to abide by an immediate cessation of hostilities and participate in a peace process led by the African Union, a significant shift to which Ethiopia's government has not yet responded.

The conflict in northern Ethiopias Tigray region has killed an estimated tens of thousands of people and left millions without basic services for well over a year after fighting erupted in late 2020.

The Tigray authorities statement Sunday night came after new pressure by the United States and others following the renewal of fighting last month that shattered months of relative calm. Witnesses have described heavy fighting along the region's borders.

The Tigray authorities had criticized AU mediation efforts under special envoy Olesegun Obasanjo. Their new statement makes clear they expect mutually acceptable mediators along with international observers and experts to guide the process.

The Ethiopian government has said it was ready for talks anywhere at any time and without preconditions. Tigray authorities had demanded the resumption of basic services and the removal of hostile forces from neighboring Eritrea, among other things.

The recent fighting has triggered new diplomatic activity behind the scenes. The U.S. has played a leading role in mediating between the two sides, according to two diplomatic sources in Addis Ababa, who also said talks were expected in Djibouti. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

The U.S., AU, United Nations and European Union welcomed the Tigray authorities new statement, and the U.S. called on Eritrea and unnamed others to stop fueling the conflict.

The AU statement notably referred to the regional government of Tigray, while Ethiopia's government last year designated the Tigray authorities and their forces as a terrorist organization. The EU statement by foreign policy chief Josep Borrell also referred to the regional government and said this opportunity should be seized by all. Now.

Ethiopia's national security adviser, Redwan Hussein, did not comment on the Tigray statement. Instead, he told The Associated Press that the U.N.-established International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia was no longer welcome in the country. There's no point for Ethiopia to cooperate with a politically motivated" group seen as trying to demonize the government, he said.

The commission, which recently visited Ethiopia, last week issued a statement of concern about the renewed fighting, saying Eritrean forces are involved and that the conflict risks spreading to other states.

The fighting has again cut off deliveries to Tigray of humanitarian aid, which had revived in a limited way during the lull in fighting earlier this year. Aid deliveries also have been suspended to parts of the neighboring Amhara region affected by the fighting.

An aid worker told the AP on Friday there has been heavy fighting on seven or eight fronts along Tigrays borders. A second aid worker said Eritrean troops had shelled the Tigray towns of Adigrat and Sheraro and had launched attacks against Tigray forces' positions in several places.

The second aid worker said several thousand people displaced by the fighting around Sheraro arrived in the city of Shire last week. They also said a bridge linking Shire to the Amhara region has been destroyed. The bridge was blown up last year and later repaired.
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PRAGUE (AP)  Former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis went on trial on Monday in a $2 million fraud case involving European Union subsidies.

The case involves a farm known as the Storks Nest that received EU subsidies after its ownership was transferred from the Babis-owned Agrofert conglomerate of around 250 companies to Babis family members. Later, Agrofert again took ownership of the farm.

The subsidies were meant for medium- and small-sized businesses, and Agrofert wouldnt have been eligible for them.

Agrofert later returned the subsidy.

Lawmakers have had to lift Babis immunity from prosecution three times in the course of the years in the case that dates to 2007.

Pragues public prosecution office completed the review of the case in March and went ahead with Babis indictment. It was repeatedly recommended by police investigators.

Babis, a populist billionaire, denies any wrongdoing and has repeatedly said the allegations against him were politically motivated.

He was present at Pragues Municipal Court on Monday. His former associate, Jana Nagyova, who signed the subsidy request, stood trial with him.

I don't feel guilty, Babis said in his opening statement. I'm innocent. I'm standing here only because Im in politics. If I wasn't in politics, nobody would ever hear about the Stork's Nest."

Babis centrist ANO movement stormed Czech politics in 2013, finishing a surprise second in the parliamentary election with an anti-corruption message to become a junior partner in the government with Babis as finance minister. Four years later he won the election and became premier.

A quarter of a million people took to the streets  the biggest such demonstrations since the 1989 anti-Communist Velvet Revolution  twice in 2019 to demand that Babis step down due to his scandals, including the conflict of interest over EU subsidies involving his former business empire.

The prosecution asked for suspended sentences and fines for Babis and Nagyova, though they might face up to 10 years in prison. It's not immediately clear when a verdict might be issued.

Babis movement lost the parliamentary election in October. A coalition of five parties formed a new government, and ANO ended up in opposition.

He's currently considering running for the largely ceremonial post of the country's president.
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TANAGRA, Greece (AP)  Greece's air force on Monday took delivery of a first pair of upgraded F-16 military jets under a $1.5 billion program to modernize its fighter fleet amid increasing tensions with neighboring Turkey.

The two F-16s presented at the Tanagra airbase northwest of Athens are the first of 83 to be refitted with advanced electronics, radar and weapons capabilities by late 2027 by Greece's Hellenic Aerospace Industry, in coordination with U.S. manufacturer Lockheed Martin.

The head of Greece's joint chiefs of staff, Gen. Constantinos Floros, said the program's successful and timely completion is an issue of the highest national importance.

Any potential aggressor will have to think twice or thrice before trying their luck, once the upgrade is completed, he said at Monday's presentation.

Relations with historic regional rival Turkey have hit a new low following repeated, thinly-veiled threats from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that his country might invade Greece's eastern Aegean Sea islands.

Turkey claims the islands have been illegally militarized. Greece says it needs to defend them against potential attack. The two NATO allies are also at odds over offshore gas and oil rights, and their fighter jets routinely intercept each other or engage in simulated dogfights over the Aegean.

Asked Sunday by The Associated Press whether the recent escalation in rhetoric from Turkey could be the prelude to an armed conflict, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis replied negatively.

I dont believe this will ever happen," he said. "And if, God forbid, it happened, Turkey would receive an absolutely devastating response.

On Monday, Mitsotakis said Athens always keeps a window open to dialogue and discussion with Turkey. He spoke in Paris ahead of talks with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Following years of forced savings during the 2010-2018 financial crisis, Greece has embarked on a multibillion-dollar spending spree to boost its armed forces. It has bought or ordered French Rafale fighter jets and FDI frigates, and plans to purchase F-35 fighters from the U.S.

The F-16s, developed in the 1970s, are the workhorse of Greece's air force. It acquired a first batch of 40 in 1989, and another 130 over the years. The latest upgrade will bring the 83 planes to the Block 72 variant that's the most advanced F-16 version in service in Europe.

Another four F-16s will be upgraded by the end of this year.
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STOCKHOLM (AP)  A populist anti-immigration party has surged to become Sweden's second-largest political force after a national election dominated by fears of gang violence, which has given the once-safe Scandinavian country one of Europe's highest levels of gun violence.

Overall, a conservative opposition bloc including the anti-immigration party, the Sweden Democrats, had an extremely narrow lead over the incumbent center-left with 94% of the votes counted.

Analysts expect the final tally will confirm a conservative bloc win, but the election was so close that electoral officials said they would not have the final result until outstanding postal votes and votes from abroad are counted.

With eight parties contending for seats in the 349-member Riksdag, Swedens parliament, none can secure a majority of 175 seats, meaning that laws can only be passed with different parties working together. The parties campaigned under two general blocs, one conservative and the other a center-left group headed by Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, Swedens first female prime minister.

The not-yet-final count indicated that the conservative bloc would have 175 seats and the center-left would have 174.

It is extremely close. Things can change, but I doubt it, said Zeth Isaksson, a sociologist at Stockholm University, who added that votes from abroad are traditionally conservative. As it is now, it is more likely that the right side will win.

One certainty, however, is that the result marked a success for the right-wing populist Sweden Democrats, which won its best result since entering parliament in 2010. The party's founders in the 1980s had links to fascist and neo-Nazi movements but over the past two decades it has worked to move to the mainstream under its 43-year-old leader Jimmie Akesson.

Its transformation included changing its official logo from a torch to a flower and expelling the most radical members.

Those who support it like its tough vows to crack down on crime and strictly limit immigration, while opponents fear that its historic roots make it a threat to Sweden's democratic identity.

Mark Johnson, a 50-year-old Swedish finance worker, said while the party's strong showing was expected, it is still shocking for many Swedes because its hard to understand that we would be taking such an obvious turn to the right, to the far-right even.

The Sweden Democrats, which won 20.6% support in Sunday's vote, according to preliminary figures, up from 17.5% four years ago, gained on the rising fears of crime in largely immigrant neighborhoods.

This year so far there have been 273 shootings, 47 of them fatal, according to police statistics. Those shootings also wounded 74 people, including innocent bystanders.

Andersson's Social Democrats, who have been in power in Sweden since 2014, remain the largest party, even gaining slightly to take 30.5% of the vote Sunday, according to the incomplete results. Andersson said Sunday night it was obvious that the social democratic movement, which is based on ideals of creating an equal society and a strong welfare state, remains strong in Sweden.

The Sweden Democrats wants to be part of a government, but this is unlikely to happen because there are parties in the center-right bloc that oppose it, Isaksson said.

Richard Jomshof, the Sweden Democrats party secretary, said Monday: "It is clear that we must be able to discuss ministerial posts. It is clear that we must be able to talk about the position of prime minister, speaker of parliament and the presidium positions in the various Riksdag committees.

But a senior member of the center-right Liberals told Swedish radio Monday that it cannot allow the Sweden Democrats to be part of a government.

Still, if the right prevails, the Sweden Democrats will have very strong leverage" and will push for some of its issues, like tightening immigration laws, Isaksson said. He said a likely outcome could be for the Sweden Democrats to end up outside a government but as supporters of it.

In Germany, the far-right Alternative for Germany party congratulated the Sweden Democrats on their sensational success in the parliamentary elections. Frances far-right leader Marine Pen also tweeted her congratulations to the patriotic Swedish party, saying: Everywhere in Europe, people aspire to take their destiny back into their own hands!

Isaksson also ruled out a governing coalition combining the center-right Moderates, which have been leading the center-right bloc, and the Social Democrats. Such a coalition has not occurred since World War II.

The Moderates dropped to become Sweden's third-largest party and won 19% support, based on the incomplete vote tally. However, party leader Ulf Kristersson on Monday appeared to be the most likely candidate to be the next prime minister. He told his supporters that he stands ready to try to create a stable and effective government.

Andersson, a 55-year-old economist, became Swedens first female prime minister less than a year ago and led Swedens historic bid to join NATO following Russias invasion of Ukraine in February.

___ Olsen reported from Copenhagen, Denmark. Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed.
Triumph launches innovative new product series 17 Sep 2022 | 9:27 PM Mumbai, Sep 17 (UNI) Triumph International India, the maker of lingerie since 1886 and one of the worlds largest intimate apparel companies, has announced the launch of its latest AW22 Collection -- the innovative Triumph Flex Smart, an underwear concept that follows the unique movements of a womans body. see more..

Adopt new technologies, suggests Sitharaman to MSMEs 17 Sep 2022 | 7:08 PM Mumbai, Sep 17 (UNI) MSME (micro, small & medium enterprises) businesses should adopt new technologies like Artificial Intelligence, IOT, data analysis techniques and focus on implementation of skill-development and training centres with the help of cluster associations, advised Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. see more..

Telangana Solar energy to cross 8000 MW next yr :TSGENCO CMD 17 Sep 2022 | 6:55 PM Hyderabad, Sep 17 (UNI) Telanganas per capita electricity consumption has increased from 970 units in 2014 to 2126 units in 2021-22, which is 70 per cent more than the national average of 1255 units, said TSGENCO and TSTRANSCO Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) D.Prabhakar Rao here on Saturday. see more..

Kottayam-Kochi Rubber Market Rates 17 Sep 2022 | 6:11 PM Kottayam, Sep 17 (UNI) Following were the Rubber Market rates announced by the Rubber Board here Saturday per quintal

KOTTAYAM

RSS FOUR: 14900

RSS FIVE : 14500

KOCHI

RSS FOUR : 14900

RSS FIVE : 14500

UNI PA SY SHK1810. see more..
People gather at a memorial for Eliza Fletcher on September 7 near where she was abducted in Memphis, Tennessee.
A criminal investigation has been launched into a car fire which left two children dead and their mother seriously injured in Co Westmeath.

Lynn Egar remains in a hospital in Dublin after she was pulled from the burning car by a passer-by on Friday.

Her five-year-old daughter Thelma and two-year-old son Michael both died in the incident.

The car went up in flames while on a rural road near Multyfarnham.

Post-mortem examinations on the bodies of both children by the state pathologist Dr Sally Ann Collis have concluded.

Gardai will not release the results of the post-mortems for operational reasons.

The Garda Technical Bureau is continuing to forensically examine the car.

Ms Egar, aged in her 40s, continues to be treated for serious, but non-life threatening, injuries in hospital.

Gardai have appealed to anyone with any information in relation to the incident to contact them.

A Garda family liaison officer continues to keep the family updated, gardai said.

On Monday, Taoiseach Micheal Martin extended his deepest sympathies to the family and friends of the two young children.

Speaking in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, Mr Martin said: Were all deeply conscious of the terrible tragedy that happened at nearby Multyfarnham where two young little children, Michael and Thelma, passed away in the most tragic of circumstances.

To their family, their classmates, their teachers we extend our deepest sympathies at this very, very traumatic time for the entire community.

A vigil took place on Sunday in memory of the two children.

Around 500 people took part in the vigil in the village of Multyfarnham, which was attended by school teachers, parents and children and members of the wider community.

Some carried candles and framed pictures of the victims.

Those who took part walked from Michaels pre-school, Children of Lir, to St Cremins National School where Thelma was a pupil, on Sunday evening.

Fr John OBrien, of Multyfarnham Franciscan Abbey, said there is a deep sadness in the village.

There is a terrible feeling of sadness, like a cloud coming down on us. There is a feeling of being dazed and confused, what do we say? How do we come to terms with this? Fr OBrien told RTE Morning Ireland.

This sense of unreality we have to face this terrible tragedy.

Did this really happen? The two little kids are dead. There is an overwhelming feeling of sadness, disbelief and not being able to find the words.

People are meeting informally. Mothers are talking about it and they are worried about their kids going to school and how they will face the news.

It will be hard on the teachers and very hard on the little ones who have to face this sense of grief and loss.

I cant find the words, but just sitting with someone and listening to how they feel and their confusion, in that way we create a healing spirit between us.

We have to do that and do it for each other in the community. We are in shock, it is simply unbelievable.

We dont have a magic wand to take away the tears, we have to sit and be with somebody. It is a lonely time for everybody.

It has been a tremendous shock.

Karl Dermody, principal of St Cremins, said the school community had been devastated by the loss.

In a short statement, Mr Dermody described Thelma as warm, happy and vibrant. The school reopened on Monday.

Gardai have urged anyone with information to contact Mullingar Garda station on 044 9384000, or contact the Garda confidential line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station.
The volunteer crew of Lough Ree RNLI was involved in the rescue of 133 people in 42 different incidents on the lake and River Shannon so far this year.

The charitys volunteers received the first callout of 2022 on the afternoon of St. Patricks Day (17 March) and has since gone to the assistance of 40 boats in difficulty on inland waterways.

Fortunately, all 133 people who needed the charitys assistance were rescued safely and no injuries were reported. In the most significant incident ten people were escorted to safety when a small boat capsized near the N6 motorway bridge in August, while nine people were on board a cruiser which ran aground on the Hexagon Shoal in June and was towed to safety by the volunteer crew.

Groundings of boats on the Hexagon Shoal accounted for a quarter of all call outs this year. Speaking at the charitys headquarters at Coosan Point this week Lough Ree RNLI Operations Manager Kevin Ganly said: it appears that the provision of additional markers around the Hexagon Shoal recently by Waterways Ireland has improved safety in that area of the lake. Nonetheless the charity and its volunteers remain always on call to respond to any emergencies.

The new lifeboat station, which was operational for the first time this summer, has proven to be a particular asset. In recent weeks volunteer crew from across the midlands and west have used the facility for casualty care training. The stations designated slipway at Coosan Point has also contributed to more efficient launches of the charitys lifeboat Tara Scougall.

The lifeboat station is an excellent base for more than forty volunteers who along with their families generously give of their time and expertise to assist the local community.
A young man accused of possession of cannabis will return before Mullingar District Court in October. Eddie Busher of 27 The Grove, Lakepoint Poark, Mullingar, Westmeath was facing two counts of unlawful possession of cannabis and two counts of unlawful possession of cannabis with intent to supply.



The Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) consented to summery disposal of the matter. The defendant was represented in proceedings by solicitor Louis Kiernan

Judge Bernadette Owens asked for an outlines of the details of the allegations against Mr Busher to decide on jurisdiction.



Sergeant Kevin O'Brien told Mullingar District Court that at 2:00pm on Wednesday May 5, 2021 the defendant went to Mullingar Posts Office and handed over a package for posting. The staff at the Post Office were suspicious about the content of the package and alerted Gardai.



The defendant returned later with a second package. Staff at the post office retained the packing and notified Gardai. It was alleged the officer examining the package found green plant material from a cannabis plant, described in court as CBD flower.

The value of the plant material was set at 120. Mr Kiernan explained that his client's father owns a CBD business. Judge Bernadette Owens said given the value of the material she would accept jurisdiction.

At present Irish law permits the sale of such material only if they contain no more than 0.2% THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol).



The Irish High Court is set to decide on an application seeking to challenge the countrys outright ban on products that contain any amount of THC, including CBD products legal in the rest of the EU.

Judge Owens adjourned the matter to October 13 for a plea or date and an update on the status of the High Court case.
Pupils from St Joseph's National School in Longford have only just returned to the classroom, but they are already making a difference in developing countries.

Sixth class students presented a cheque, raised as part of a school fundraiser run in June, to a local GOAL representative.

John OShea founded GOAL in 1977 when he experienced first hand the plight of street children in Kolkata (Calcutta). Since then GOAL has responded to almost all of the worlds major humanitarian crises since, working with vulnerable communities in more than 60 countries.

GOALs purpose is to save lives and empower communities to develop resilience and greater control over their lives and livelihoods.

The St Joseph's National School student's fundraiser is in keeping with the school's misson to provide a holistic education for all pupils in developing the social, personal, spiritual, academic and aesthetic aspect of the child.

The Sixth Class students along with their Principal, Orla Egan, and Deputy Principal, Ann Harte, presented the cheque for 650 to Tiernan Dolan from GOAL.

The money raised was the proceeds from the non-uniform day which took place last June. Tiernan thanked students and staff for their generous contribution. The money will be put towards a children's project supported by GOAL.

Tiernan also visited pupils from the school's three Sixth Classes and talked about the work undertaken by GOAL in developing countries.
SL gets tough on human smugglers

Colombo, Sep 12 (UNI) The Sri Lankan government on Monday vowed to get tough on human smugglers involved in sending people overseas illegally by boat despite several arrests and warnings in recent months.



The latest attempt was foiled by the police Special Task Force in the early hours of Monday when five men, who allegedly smuggled people to Australia illegally by boats, were arrested during raids in the Mugaththuvaram beach in Kattankudi in Sri Lanka's east, police said.
The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has signed an order making birth information and tracing services accessible from October 3.

Minister Roderic O'Gorman today (September 12) signed the order providing the services under the new Birth Information and Tracing Act.

The Act provides a full and clear right of access to birth certificates, birth and early life information, where available, for all persons who were adopted, boarded out, the subject of an illegal birth registration or who otherwise have questions in relation to their origins.

It also allows for access to available information by a child of a relevant person where their parent has died, and for access by the next of kin of children who died in an institution.

Minister O'Gorman said, "This Act finally and conclusively addresses the wrongful denial of people's identity rights over many decades in this State. We have finally found a way to provide a clear right for each person to full and unredacted access to all of his or her information where available.

"Now, as all affected persons will be able to avail of these new provisions, allowing unfettered access to their birth information, we will be able to see the positive, real world impact of the work we have undertaken on this Act.

Applications for records can be made to the Adoption Authority of Ireland and Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. A bespoke website, www.birthinfo.ie, has been established for persons seeking to make an application or seeking further information.


Irelands environment minister said the Government will consider the EUs plans for windfall taxes on energy companies as part of its budget.

Eamon Ryan said he spoke to the Minister for Finance on Monday about Brussels plans for national windfall taxes on energy firms earnings.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is to set out detailed plans on the five-point plan to respond to energy crisis on Tuesday.

Mr Ryan said the government will expect to find out how much money is set to come to Ireland from the EUs plans to target energy firms.

Mr Ryan also said Europes energy ministers will meet later this month to sign up to the deal, but this will be after the budget.

As part of the Budget, the Government is considering introducing a windfall energy tax, as consumers face soaring energy bills over the coming months.

Speaking on Monday, Mr Ryan said an EU-wide agreement on windfall tax will be made after the budget.

I talked to (Finance) Minister Paschal Donohoe this morning about this, and I think with the details of the European Commission presented tomorrow, well have a much better estimate of what revenues will be from these measures, Mr Ryan said.

We will take that into account in the budget process, its only one element of the mix that we need to put in place.

I think wed have a clearer understanding of the scale of potential revenues and that will help Minister Donohoe and Minister (Michael) McGrath shape the budget.

Mr Ryan added: President Ursula von der Leyen will set out that more detailed assessment of those European five point plan tomorrow, and we will return before the end of this month to agree it as energy ministers.

The provisions to take money back from some of the excess profits being developed in the power generation sector and from the fossil fuel companies, are one that there was absolute agreement.

They will provide a very similar mechanism to what we were looking for in the introduction of windfall tax, it will address the same issue, it will return a similar amounts of revenue.

We were very supportive.

We believe it is the right approach.

It helps us, its one part of the jigsaw that we need to put in place to protect our people.

I think the Commission are heading in the right direction at the scale and speed which what we need to do and we really support their their approach.
Community, Charity & Cause

By Chris Boyle Published: September 12 2022

Lance Corporal Falcone dedicated his life to serving the community and his fellow Veterans until tragically passing due to COVID in the early days of the pandemic.

On Saturday, Sept. 10, NYS Senator Anna M. Kaplan (D-North Hills) and NYS Assemblywoman Gina L. Sillitti (D-Port Washington) posthumously honored Marine Corps Veteran and beloved community member Lance Corporal Matthew A. Falcone, by officially dedicating a bridge over the Northern State Parkway in Nassau County in his name. Today's dedication ceremony, held in Mary Jane Davies Green in Manhasset, NY, followed passage of a law in New York State by Senator Kaplan and Assemblywoman Sillitti, S.3107B/A.3483, to formally designate the bridge as the Lance Corporal Matthew A. Falcone Memorial Bridge.

Lance Corporal Falcone was affectionately known as Mr. Manhasset by the many people who knew him, having dedicated so much of his life to local civic involvement in addition to his dedicated service to our Nation in the Armed Forces. A tireless advocate for the Veteran community, Lance Corporal Falcone was a Past President of the Marine Corps League, a member of the Town of North Hempsteads Veterans Advisory Committee, as well as Past President of American Legion Post 304 in Manhasset. An active civic leader, he held leadership positions and donated his time and talents to organizations including the Church of Saint Mary, the Manhasset Community Club, IBEW Local 3, the Knights of Columbus, the Manhasset Public Library, the Kiwanis Club, and the North Hempstead Country Club. The Lance Corporal Matthew A. Falcone Memorial Bridge will honor the lasting legacy of this incredibly deserving individual in a place where thousands travel every day.

Senator Anna M. Kaplan said Matt Falcone was an extraordinarily special person whose generosity of spirit was a constant source of inspiration to me and so many others. I will always remember Matt not only for his dedication to his country, his fellow Veterans, his family, and his community, but also for his big heart, and his inability to say no when someone needed help. He was a true giant in our community, and Im honored to share his legacy with everyone by dedicating this bridge in his name that so many of us travel every day.

Assemblywoman Gina L. Sillitti said Today the Manhasset community came together to celebrate the life of Matthew Falcone and dedicate the Shelter Rock Road Bridge in his honor. I am so glad that we were able to join together with his family, friends, and the community to highlight the legacy and the impact he had on all of us. A Veteran, Civic Leader, and Community Activist. Mr. Falcone was affectionately known as Mr. Manhasset. His community service and achievements, along with todays dedication, is a testament to all he has done for our community and our country.

The event, which was attended by approximately 200 local residents, friends and family of Lance Corporal Falcone, was a fitting tribute to a man who was so beloved by the Manhasset community and beyond. The Manhasset High School String quartet played a beautiful musical ensemble as guests arrived. American Legion Post 304 led the Presentation of Colors and Post Commander John Iacono led the pledge of allegiance. Reagan Stone performed a stirring rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, and Father Dominik Wegiel of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church led a moving invocation. The event included remarks from Senator Anna Kaplan, Assemblywoman Gina Sillitti, Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena, USMC Veteran Bruce Marsanico, and Lance Corporal Falcone's daughter, Denise Cestone. As a commemorative sign replicating those that now grace the Falcone Bridge was revealed for the crowd, the Nassau County Firefighters Pipes and Drums played a moving rendition of Amazing Grace, as a massive flag graced the sky above courtesy of the Manhasset Lakeville Fire Department.

Following the event, Lance Corporal Falcone's family joined Senator Kaplan to unveil signage at the Falcone Bridge itself, which spans the Northern State Parkway in North Hills and carries Shelter Rock Road, a gateway to the Manhasset community.

Senator Kaplan added "I wanted to find a way to honor Matty that was larger than life, because Matty was a larger than life kind of a guy. I thought a bridge would be a fittingly big way to recognize him, but most importantly, bridges bring communities together, and that's what Matty was all about."

Matthew Falcone was an institution in Manhasset, rightfully earning him the affectionate moniker of Mr. Manhasset. I always knew Matt as a man dedicated to his family, his community, and to service, both to his country during his time in the Marine Corps, and to those in need that he came across in life, Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Jennifer DeSena said. I will forever be thankful for his wisdom, guidance, and generosity in helping me establish the St. Vincent de Paul Society. This posthumous dedication in his honor is a well-deserved tribute to his enduring legacy.
Arch Resources Supports UW School of Energy Resources With $500,000 Gift

Arch Resources Inc. has committed a $500,000 gift to the University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources (SER) to advance the schools globally recognized carbon management initiatives as well as its ongoing efforts to drive innovative land reclamation practices.

The gift will augment the Arch Resources Technology and Sustainability Fund, an existing endowment the company first established more than a decade ago and that was matched by the state at that time. The gift reflects Archs deep and long-standing commitment to Wyoming and to the highest principles of sustainability and good corporate citizenship.

The School of Energy Resources is focused on supporting the states energy sector, including to minimize the impact of energy production while maintaining and preserving Wyomings natural environment, says SER Executive Director Holly Krutka. We are incredibly grateful to Arch for its commitment to support the state of Wyoming and for this generous gift that will allow us to work toward important environmental applications such as reducing global CO2 emissions and optimal approaches to reclamation.

One of the states oldest and largest coal producers, Arch currently operates the Black Thunder and Coal Creek mines in Campbell County, where it employs more than 1,100 people. Since initiating operations in Wyoming more than 50 years ago, Arch has paid bonus bids, royalties, ad valorem taxes and severance taxes that have resulted in more than $4 billion in revenue for the state and Campbell County while paying more than $3 billion in wages and benefits to its Wyoming-based workforce.

We greatly value our deep and long-standing partnership with the state of Wyoming and are equally appreciative of the tremendous contribution the people of the state have made to our long-term success, says Arch CEO and President Paul Lang. We welcome the opportunity to demonstrate our great appreciation via this gift to the university and specifically to the School of Energy Resources, which we view as a global leader in building the bridge to a more promising, productive and healthy energy future.

Lang served as a member of the Energy Research Council (ERC) board, which governs the School of Energy Resources, for 10 years starting with its inaugural year, and he departed as chairman of the ERC in 2016.

In addition to supporting the energy-driven research efforts led by SER, Arch also has moved proactively to protect the long-term environmental and financial health of the state via the establishment of an industry-first thermal mine reclamation fund. Through this fund, Arch has taken steps to ensure that the necessary cash is available -- when the time comes -- to complete final reclamation at its Wyoming operations.

In its more than 50 years in the state, Arch has successfully and effectively operated and reclaimed mines in Sweetwater and Carbon counties. In the past 18 months, Arch has reclaimed approximately 75 percent of its Coal Creek mine -- work that was recognized by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality with the 2022 Excellence in Mining Reclamation Award for Coal -- while maintaining a small active operation at the site.

While the preparations for final closure are necessary given the ongoing decline in U.S. thermal coal demand, Arch is striving to ensure that its many stakeholders -- including employees, neighboring communities and customers -- are kept informed about the plans for the transition and given as much lead time as possible to prepare for it.

We view world-class reclamation as an essential component of the mining process, Lang says. We believe it is our job -- as a responsible natural resource company -- is to leave the land in a natural and highly productive condition that can benefit greatly future generations. Just as important, we are committed to remaining engaged with the state and the surrounding communities for as long as it takes to ensure that we achieve a positive outcome on this front.

Arch Resources support of the University of Wyoming has been a part of the companys more than 50-year operating history in the state, says Angela Ver Ploeg, UW Foundation director of corporate engagement. We are extremely grateful for the opportunity to connect with the Arch team to help share the story of coal in Wyoming and to partner on impactful opportunities that make a meaningful difference to the energy industry in Wyoming.
Kefi Gold & Copper PLC - Cyprus-based gold and copper exploration and development company with projects in Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia - Says the Tigrayan rebel leadership has called for a permanent ceasefire in Ethiopia. On Sunday, the communique asked for mediation by the African Union and participation in the national reconciliation process already being arranged by the Federal Government of Ethiopia, the company adds.

Kefi says that this development is "positive" for the country as well as its Tulu Kapi Gold project. The project is currently clearing the last regulatory processes required ahead of the expected signing of financing documentation at the end of October. This will enable the project launch to proceed, it adds.

Current stock price: 0.64 pence, up 9.1% on Monday afternoon

12-month change: down 63%

By Sophie Rose; sophierose@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Spain's former king, Juan Carlos, will attend next Monday's funeral of Queen Elizabeth. The Royal Household says that it received an invitation on Sunday for King Felipe and Queen Letizia and also for the ex-king and the Queen Mother, Sofia. It adds that the decision to attend is a "personal" one taken by Juan Carlos and Sofia.

The Royal Household explains that the British Royal Family has invited the heads of state and their spouses as well as the former heads of state and their partners in the case of Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark. Spain's foreign affairs minister, Jose Manuel Albares, said on Friday that once the invitations were received, the Spanish government would decide together with the Royal Household "the best representation" for the funeral, acknowledging that King Felipe and his father are related to the British Royal Family.

For Felipe and Juan Carlos, the funeral will be the first time they have met since May 23 at the Zarzuela Palace. This was at the end of a four-day visit to Spain by the former king, who moved to the United Arab Emirates in August 2020.
It's been a long time since Harrison Ford and Ke Huy Quan have seen each other.

Back in 1984 is when the film 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom' was shot was when they last met, but the time taken has been worth an emotional reunion.

The reunion between the pair was one of the big surprises of the second day of the Disney convention held this weekend in California. It was so emotional that everyone was moved by the nostalgia aroused by the meeting.

This is how Ke Huy Quan expressed himself when he shared the moment on social media: "I love you, Indy. Indiana Jones and Short Round reunited after 38 years", wrote the actor Ke Huy Quan on his official Instagram account in which he attached two images.

Ke Huy Quan has been confirmed for the second season of the 'Loki' series, while Ford has unveiled the trailer for the fifth instalment of 'Indiana Jones'.

Ford has been one of the most prominent and respected actors of the past few decades and his films have grossed more than 5.4 billion dollars in North America and more than 9.3 billion dollars worldwide, making him the seventh-highest-grossing actor in North America.

He is the recipient of various accolades, including the AFI Life Achievement Award and the Cecil B. DeMille Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and four Golden Globe Awards.
There's a second possible death related to Monkeypox in the United States,

According to a media briefing made by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health's Chief Medical Officer and Director Rita Singhal, there was an ongoing investigation related to a Monkepox death in California.

The second possible monkeypox death

Rita Singhal mentioned the death of a California resident could link to the first alleged case of a Texas resident who died on August 28 from Monkeypox.

"This is one of two deaths in the United States that are currently under investigation to determine whether monkeypox was a contributing cause of death," Singhal mentioned.

On August 28, Harris County Public Health confirmed the death of a resident from Texas who had a positive Monkeypox test.

Nevertheless, officials didn't determine Monkeypox as the cause of death. However, they began investigating the possible role of Monkeypox the in the individual's disease.

"We are sharing this information to err on the side of transparency and to avoid potential misinformation about this case," Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said.

"The best way for us to fight this virus is through vaccines. Our goal is still to get as many people who qualify vaccinated as quickly as possible - I have always felt that vaccines are the key to reducing spread."

Monkeypox in the United States

According to the CDC, 21,000 people have a confirmed diagnosis of Monkeypox in the United States.

People get infected when someone spends a prolonged time and contact with a person with Monkeypox. It is a disease that spreads by skin-to-skin contact, body fluid, or lesions.

You can prevent the spread of Monkeypox with the Jynneos smallpox vaccine. The CDC mentioned that the vaccine could have effect on infected persons.
Seidel Names Inaugural UW Presidential Fellows

Four University of Wyoming faculty members have been selected by President Ed Seidel from among 26 applicants to serve in the first cohort of UWs Presidential Fellows Program.

The program is designed to stimulate and facilitate projects by faculty members to help realize institutional goals. The faculty selected by the president as fellows will work in close collaboration with the Office of the President and other units to develop projects that enhance the academic, research, economic development and civic engagement missions of the university.

The inaugural fellows are:

-- Chelsea Escalante, an assistant professor of Spanish and applied linguistics in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages. She will work with the Office of the President on international partnerships and continue her work on dual language immersion programs in K-12 schools across the state.

-- Ray Fertig, an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. The Wyoming native and UW alumnus will work with the Office of the President and Vice President for Governmental Affairs and Community Engagement Mike Smith on state government and community relations.

-- Adrienne Freng, a professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Sociology, and former Faculty Senate chair. She will work with the Office of the President on strategic alignment, helping implement ideas generated in joint sessions between administrators and Faculty Senate representatives earlier this year.

-- Mark Lyford, the executive program director of the Science Initiative and an academic professional in the Department of Botany. The Wyoming native will lead efforts to engage in science with Wyoming communities across the state.

After personally speaking with all 26 applicants for these inaugural fellowships, I was so impressed with all of them and their ideas to move the university forward, Seidel says. While we hope to find ways to implement all of their ideas, these four stood out as we participate in a campuswide effort to envision UWs future; identify challenges; celebrate the potential and successes we already have; and then weave that all into a real action plan we can all work toward.

The Presidential Fellows Program is funded by the Office of the President, and the time commitment can vary from four to 20 hours per week. The length of the fellowship is expected to be a full academic year, full calendar year or another 12-month period.

For more information, go to www.uwyo.edu/president/faculty-fellow.
Sweetwater County Innovation Launchpad Pitch Night Set Sept. 27

(from left) Adam Roundy, Kade Hallows and Ladd Hallows, all of Hallows and Company, a CPA firm in Rock Springs, conduct an accounting boot camp for Sweetwater County Innovation Launchpad (SCIL) applicants at Western Wyoming Community College Aug. 8. In its first year, SCIL will host a Pitch Night Sept. 27 for six businesses chosen as finalists. Winners will receive seed funding for their businesses. (Monica Patten Photo)

The first Sweetwater County Innovation Launchpad (SCIL) is down to six finalist teams that will compete in a Pitch Night competition Tuesday, Sept. 27. This is a date change from when the event was originally scheduled.

The event begins at 6 p.m. at the Broadway Theater, located at 618 Broadway St. in Rock Springs. The public is invited to attend and cheer on the finalists.

SCIL is a competition for local entrepreneurs that provides valuable mentorship from the University of Wyomings IMPACT 307 and local professionals. It is administered by IMPACT Sweetwater, a collaboration between UWs IMPACT 307 and Western Wyoming Community College. It is made possible by an Economic Development Administrations Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act grant.

SCILs program is sponsored by the Wyoming Business Council, Gov. Mark Gordons Wyoming Innovation Partnership, Rock Springs Main Street Urban Renewal Agency (URA), Rock Springs Chamber of Commerce, Green River Chamber of Commerce and the Green River Main Street URA.

To better prepare for the upcoming Pitch Night, SCIL participants attended two August boot camps, where accounting and banking topics were presented. Accounting topics were presented Aug. 8 at Western Wyoming Community College by Hallows & Company representatives Ladd Hallows, president of business development; Kade Hallows, CEO and CPA; and Adam Roundy, president of tax and accounting, and CPA. The Aug. 22 bankers panel, which also took place at Western Wyoming Community College, consisted of Cody Bateman, president and CEO, and David OConnell, vice president for business development, both from State Bank; Tiffany Kindel, vice president and branch manager, and Shannon Alam, vice president and branch operations manager, both from Commerce Bank of Wyoming; Ben Bell, regional market manager, and Jeff Killpack, branch manager, both from First Bank of Wyoming; Ozzie Hay, vice president of RSNB Bank; and Ted Ware, president of Uinta Bank.

The first competition attracted 28 applicants. Nine semifinalists gave pitches to local judges Rick Lee, CEO of the Rock Springs Chamber of Commerce; Lisa Herrera, CEO of the Green River Chamber of Commerce; and Bateman.

The six finalist teams will compete for seed funding, which is made possible by the Wyoming Innovation Partnership, JP Morgan Chase, First Bank of Wyoming, State Bank, Commerce Bank of Wyoming, RSNB Bank and Rocky Mountain Power. Local judges will determine the winners.

The six finalists are:

A banking boot camp for SCIL participants took place at Western Wyoming Community College Aug. 22. Here, the group networks after the event. Pictured (from left) are Cody Bateman, Aaron Lobo, David OConnell, Cody Gray, Dawn Hood, Brittany Gray, Justin Hood, Laurie Carollo, Tiffany Kindel, Jean Joseph, Dylan Covington and Ozzie Hay. (Monica Patten Photo)

-- GM Valley Processing, started by Glen and Mindy Reddon, is a custom meats processing facility in Farson. Born and raised in Wyoming, the Reddons strive to close the gap in their area for domestic meat processing.

-- High Desert Technology LLC, founded by Cody and Brittany Gray, is a startup technology company specializing in safety and reliability for the recreational and automotive industry. Cody is a controls engineer for Enterprise Products. He is a graduate of Western Wyoming Community College and a member of the schools Electrical and Instrumentation Advisory Board. Brittany is the director of stewardship for Climb Wyoming. She is a UW graduate, a UW Alumni Association board member and a Leadership Wyoming graduate.

-- Meridical Health Solutions was founded by Amanda Finch, a board-certified holistic health care practitioner, certified functional nutrition counselor, certified personal trainer and a functional nutrition specialist. Finch uncovers the root causes of symptoms and develops customized lifestyle programs -- focused on prevention and mediation -- to improve her clients health. She has 24 years of experience in fitness and 12 years of nutritive intervention.

-- Shop Dog Custom, founded by Dylan Covington, is a woodworking business that focuses on custom cabinetry and built-ins. Covington says he came up with the idea for his company when he waited several months for kitchen cabinets from a big-box store. When the shipment arrived, several of the units were badly damaged. For more information, go to www.facebook.com/shopdogcw.

-- Wild Sage Market is increasing access to locally produced foods and other healthy products by opening a community-owned grocery store. Memberships provide the initial capital needed to develop the business and open the store. Founders include Nick Walrath, Stacey Dolinar, James Chavez, Aaron Slaton, Megan McComas, Chelsie Naylor, Pete Rust and Laurie Carollo. For more information, go to www.WildSageGreenRiver.com.

-- Wyoming Apparatus was founded by Justin Hood in 2020 as an avenue for small fire departments to maintain older equipment. Today, the company offers a multitude of services centered on fire trucks throughout Wyoming. Wyoming Apparatus helps fire departments achieve and maintain National Fire Protection Association compliance for Wyoming emergency vehicles. For more information, go to www.wyomingapparatus.com, or follow on Facebook or Instagram.

IMPACT 307 is a statewide network of innovation-driven business incubators committed to growing and strengthening Wyomings entrepreneurial community by providing resources and support for founders to thrive.

For more information, call Monica Patten, IMPACT Sweetwater assistant director, at (307) 466-3963 or email monica.patten@uwyo.edu.
India is rich in its culture, folk tales and mythology but it has seldom been the inspiration for movies. However, thats changing. We are seeing a rise in films based on the Hindu mythology, Ayan Mukerjis Brahmastra: Part One  Shivaand SS Rajamoulis RRR being a couple recent ones.

If you liked these films, for their cinematic experience, unique storyline and retelling of the Hindu mythology and its characters, there are many more such films in the making that you should look forward to.

Here are four Indian upcoming mythological filmsthat you should add to your watchlist.

1. Adipurush

##JUMPLINK##

This Om Rauts film which is inspired from the epic Ramayana and is one of the most expensive films ever made. Prabhas, Saif Ali Khan and Kriti Sanon star in it as Lord Ram, Janaki (Sita) and Lankesh (Ravana) respectively. The film is shot in Hindi and Telugu and will have a theatrical release on 12 January 2023.

2. Shakuntalam

This south film starring Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Dev Mohan is based on the love story of mythological characters King Dushyantha and Shakuntala, daughter of sage Vishwamitra and Menaka. The Telugu-language film will be released next year.

3. Ram Setu

Akshay Kumar plays an archeologist who investigates whether Ram Setu aka Adam's Bridge mentioned in the epic Ramayana is a myth or reality. Jacqueline Fernandez and Nushrratt Bharuccha also star in it. It is releasing on Diwali this year, 24 October 2022,.

4. Sita: The Incarnation

Kangana Ranaut is all set to play the centric female character of Lord Rams wife Goddess Sita from Ramayana in this epic period drama. The film is directed by Alaukik Desai and written by KV Vijayendra Prasad who also wrote the actress earlier film Thalaivii. It will go on floors next year.

How many of these are you excited for?
UW Encourages Observance of Constitution Day Sept. 17

The University of Wyoming encourages students, faculty and staff to observe Constitution Day, the annual federal observance that recognizes the ratification of the United States Constitution.

Constitution Day is observed each year on Sept. 17, the day the U.S. Constitutional Convention signed the nations founding document in 1787. Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and George Washington were among the 39 delegates from the original 13 colonies who signed the Constitution.

To learn more about Constitution Day, visit www.uwyo.edu/acadaffairs/constitution-day/ or www.constitutionday.com.
BIG RAPIDS  Calling all creatives.

Artworks fall classes and workshops begin this week with everything from tango lessons to photography to Japanese book binding.

For students ages 7-13, After School Art takes place from 3:45-5:15 p.m. each Wednesday.

Attendees will learn a variety of techniques each week including painting, drawing, sculpture, painting, and more, from Courtney Steers. Steers has lived in Big Rapids for the last 7 years, working as a special education teacher for Big Rapids Public Schools, and she also has a passion for art.

The schedule this year includes a discussion on warm colors, an exploration of pointillism techniques for international dot day, oil pastel sunflowers, and a rainbow watercolor collage.

Pre-registration is free and must be done each Monday before the class. For more information on After School Art, visit artworksinbigrapids.org/after-school-art.

Here are other classes and programs beginning this fall. Register at artworksinbigrapids.org or at The Painted Turtle gift shop inside the Artworks building, 106 N. Michigan Ave., Big Rapids.

PAINTING

Wine & Canvas: A relaxed, social acrylic painting experience where attendees are encouraged to bring beverages and snacks. No experience is necessary, and all materials are provided.

Cost: $40

Date: 6-9 p.m. Fridays, Sept. 16, Oct. 14, and Nov. 11

Instructor: Toinette Wicks

Introduction to Watercolor: A beginner class that emphasizes hands-on class projects, where attendees will learn to use the basic tools of watercolor painting to complete a finished project. No experience is necessary, and all materials are provided.

Cost: $60

Date: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24

Instructor: Joyce Capen

Intermediate Watercolor: An intermediate watercolor class that will cover a more advanced variety of techniques. Participants will leave class with a finished landscape painting using many of the learned techniques. No experience is necessary, and all materials are provided.

Cost: $60

Date: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22

Instructor: Joyce Capen

DANCE

Argentine Tango: A one-and-a-half-hour workshop that covers the fundamentals of Argentine Tango. No previous dance experience is necessary, though guests are asked to bring shoes with a leather or suede sole and clothes that feel comfortable to move in. It is not required to come with a partner, guests may dance whichever role they like (leading or following). Visit www.erinanddoruktango.com for more information about Erin and Doruk.

Cost: $15 for drop-in, Sept. 16 and Nov. 4 only. $50 for a 4-week session.

Session 1: 6:30-8 p.m. Fridays, Sept.16, 23, 30, and Oct. 7

Session 2: 6:30-8 p.m. Fridays, Nov. 4, 11, 18, and Dec. 2

Instructors: Erin Malley & Doruk Golcu

Argentine Tango Milonga: A Milonga is a social dance event of Argentine Tango. Those who are curious about tango or want to brush up on their basis are invited to join Malley and Golcu for a one-hour introductory class at 7:00 p.m. then stay for an evening of dancing.

Cost: $20

Date: 7-10 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3

Instructors: Erin Malley and Doruk Golcu

PHOTOGRAPHY

Fundamentals of Photography  Beginner's Course: Attendees will learn to utilize the various settings of their DSLR or mirrorless camera to take better photos.

Age: 14 years and older

Date: 5:30-7:30 p.m Tuesdays, Sept. 13-Oct. 18

Cost: $75

Instructor: David Johnson

Fundamentals of Photography  Intermediate Course: Photographers who are already comfortable with the basics of shooting manually will get a more in-depth look at how utilizing various camera settings can advance their photography. Topics discussed include aperture, depth of field, shutter speed, composition, histogram, as well as macro photography.

Age: 14 years and older

Date: 5:30-7:30 p.m Tuesdays, Oct. 25-Nov. 29

Cost: $75

Instructor: David Johnson

POTTERY

Open Pottery Studio: Open studio hours offer a comfortable atmosphere for anyone to work independently.

Age: 16 years and older

Date: 5-8 p.m. Tuesdays

Cost: Studio packages drop-in is $10; eight session punch card is $60 (additional firing fees apply)

Note: Students currently enrolled in a 6-week pottery class may attend an open studio for the drop-in or punch-card cost. Firing fees will be waived for students for work completed during open studio.

Open studio hours are also available by appointment. Call 231-796-2420 to schedule your session.

Hand Built Pottery: Students will learn to make jewelry, functional pottery, and sculpture with traditional hand-building methods, and embellish projects by creating surface designs. The creation will be fired and glazed. The flexible nature of this class makes the experience ideal for students of any skill level.

Date: 6-8 p.m. Mondays, Sept. 12, 19, 26, Oct. 3, 17, and 24

Cost: $160

Instructor: Joe Percy

Beginning Wheel: The technique is emphasized as students are guided through the step-by-step process of creating pottery on the wheel, by completing about five glazed pieces, usually bowls. Open to those with prior experience, or not.

Date: 6-8 p.m. Wednesdays, Sept. 14, 21, 28, Oct. 5, 12, 19, and Nov. 2

Cost: $175

Instructor: Margo Berke

SPECIALTY CLASSES

Japanese Book Binding: Attendees will get the special opportunity to stitch a journal using a traditional Japanese stab binding technique. Decorative papers called chiyogami will be used for the covers.

Date: 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Sept.17

Cost: $20

Instructor: Sally Rose

Japanese Floral Design: Students will learn the structure of the Japanese floral arrangement, by focusing on its three main points, asymmetry, space, and depth. Students will create floral arrangements as they learn how to apply these principles with a real floral designer.

Date: 7-9 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 27,

Cost: $50

Instructor: Bob Patterson

GLASS

Beginning Stained Glass: In this two-session class, students will learn the process of creating and finishing a corner window or door frame piece of stained glass art.

Date: 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays, Oct. 15 and 22

Cost: $75

Instructor: Shannon Willett

BASKET WEAVING

Quaker Style Basket: Students will learn to weave a basket that features a round, slotted base, made by the Amish, which is made with all-natural reed and available with or without a handle.

Age: 16 years and older

Date: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 8

Cost: $85

Instructor: Nancy Randall

The Organizer Basket: Students will learn how to create a market basket made with smoked reed and several different colors.

Age: 16 years and older

Date: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 12

Cost: $75

Instructor: Nancy Randall

Beginning Basket Weaving  Farmers Market Basket: This class is designed for beginners to learn about the basics of basket weaving by creating a market basket. No experience is necessary, all materials are provided.

Age: 16 years and older

Date: 5-8 p.m.Wednesdays, Oct. 12 and 19

Cost: $75

Instructors: Gayle Driggers and Roxanne Cullen

ARTWORKS GALA

There will also be the 2022 Artworks Gala, which will take place at 4:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 7, at Artworks, 106 N. Michigan Ave. It will feature music by Paddy's Cure, food from Pere Marquette Bistro & Catering, and Silent & Live auctions. Tickets are $70, Cash Raffle tickets are $10. Tickets are available at artworksinbigrapids.org/tickets-gala
Contractors managed by Three Rivers Corporation completed upgrades and replacements to all 28 apartments in Cleveland Manors west wing last week. Work has already begun on the northwest wing, with completion expected during this winter.

The northeast and east wings will be renovated in 2023.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP)  New Zealand removed most of its remaining COVID-19 restrictions Monday as the government signaled a return to normalcy for the first time since the pandemic began.

People will no longer be required to wear masks in supermarkets, stores, busses or planes. The last remaining vaccine mandates  on health care workers  will end. And tourists will no longer need to be vaccinated in order to visit the country.

The government announced it was ditching its so-called COVID traffic light framework altogether and leaving in place just two main restrictions  that those who test positive for the virus isolate for seven days, and that people wear masks when visiting health care facilities like hospitals and aged-care homes.

The changes come as an omicron variant outbreak wanes and the Southern Hemisphere winter ends. Case numbers in New Zealand are at the lowest point since February.

The changes weve made today are significant. They mark a milestone in our response, said Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. This is a time when finally  rather than feeling COVID dictates what happens to us, our lives, and our futures  we take control back.

She said the changes will help drive business activity, which is vital to the nation's economic recovery.

This will be the first summer in three years when there won't be the question of: What if? Ardern said.

The end to government restrictions won't stop individual workplaces or stores imposing their own rules, although most people expect mask use to plummet as soon as the government restrictions end just before midnight Monday.

The moves were welcomed by business leaders.

BusinessNZ Chief Executive Kirk Hope said it was encouraging to see the government trusting individual businesses again.

No two sites are the same and each business can decide what works for their own environment when it comes to minimizing the spread of COVID-19," he said.

New Zealand enjoyed initial success in fighting the pandemic, managing to eliminate the virus entirely after closing its borders and carefully contact-tracing cases. But its approach changed as more transmissible variants proved impossible to stamp out.

As late as March, the country of 5 million had reported only 65 virus deaths. Since an omicron wave took hold, that number has risen to nearly 2,000. But that still remains low when compared with the death rates in many other countries.
BIG RAPIDS  Officers with the Big Rapids Department of Public Safety responded to the following calls Sept. 9-11. All calls may not be reported. All suspects are assumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

This is part of a report compiled by associate editor Julie Norwood.

Friday, Sept. 9

8:18 a.m.  Officers met with Newaygo Country at U.S. 131 and 8 Mile Road and arrested a male for a failure to appear warrant.

10:16 a.m.  Officers responded to the 100 block of North Warren for a report of trespassing. Police say a female was caught on video being on the property. The case is being submitted for charges.

1:06 p.m.  Officers responded to the 500 block of North State for a report of disorderly conduct. According to police reports, a security officer asked a male who had some mace with him to take the mace out to his car. The man complied, but allegedly came back and began videoing the office, yelling at the employees about violating his rights. When the officers arrived on the scene, police said, the male continued videotaping the event. He and his girlfriend eventually left the office.

6:45 p.m.  Officers responded to the 1100 block of Catherine for a report of breaking and entering. Complainant reported that sometime between Monday and Friday, someone had broken into her residence and ransacked it. The suspect was identified, and a follow-up will be conducted.

8:20 p.m.  Officers responded to the 300 block of South Stewart for a report of malicious destruction of property. The complainant reported his windshield wiper had been broken off his vehicle the night before.

Saturday, Sept. 10

12:05 a.m.  An anonymous caller reported that a house in the 300 block of South Stewart was having a party with several minors in attendance. Officers checked the scene and reported that all was fine. The party was dispersed.

12:40 a.m.  A noise warning was written to a resident in the 400 block of Maple Street.

2:08 a.m.  Officers performed a check wellbeing on a male who was sitting in his car parked in City parking lot 4. The bar staff was concerned he was too intoxicated to drive. According to police, the male had three warrants for his arrest, one for failure to appear for no insurance. Police noted his car still didnt have insurance and had an expired plate. The male was arrested and lodged at the Mecosta County Sheriff's Office.

4:14 a.m.  Officers assisted the Mecosta County Sheriff's Office with a call in the 15000 block of 157th Avenue. Deputies were tied up with a patient at the hospital and requested a city unit and a Ferris State University unit respond to a breaking and entering in progress. The caller reported that his ex-girlfriend allegedly broke into his residence and accused him of being with another girl. She left before officers arrived and was not located. The caller wanted it documented only.

1:03 p.m.  Officers responded to Millpond and Taft to check the area for an older male walking in the roadway who appeared confused. Officers located a male walking along South Third. He told officers that he was new to the area and was trying to walk to a gas station. Police noted he was able to answer questions appropriately and gave him a ride to a nearby gas station.

8:03 p.m.  Officers responded to the 1100 block of Fuller for a report of extortion. The complainant reported that during a two-day breakup with his girlfriend, he sent explicit videos of himself and his ex to someone he met online. Shortly afterward, the unknown party requested money to not distribute the material.

8:15 p.m.  Officers were dispatched for a disorderly patient. Then they received a 911 call for the same male chasing people at Lilac and River. The male was located and, according to police, was less than cooperative. Police reported the man appeared to be having a mental health crisis and he was taken to the hospital.

Sunday, Sept. 11

6:43 a.m.  Officers responded to an alarm in the 600 block of Maple Street. The alarm turned out to be false. The employee did not turn off the alarm in time.

12:09 p.m.  Civil issues between a male and a female were reported in the 300 block of South Third Avenue. The male stated he would be moving.

3:41 p.m.  Officers responded to a one-vehicle property damage accident near South Stewart and Maple Street.

6 p.m.  Officers conducted a warrant arrest in the 1100 block of Catherine Street. The female was arrested for an original assault warrant and the male was arrested for a parole violation.

6:19 p.m.  Officers responded to the 400 block of Elm Street to pick up a female on her probation violation warrant.
As Russian troops were retreating in northeastern Ukraine amid a fierce counteroffensive by Kyiv, Muscovites were celebrating the 875th anniversary of the city's founding. Fireworks boomed and President Vladimir Putin inaugurated a huge Ferris wheel, a new transportation link and sports arena.

The Russian capital's festive holiday weekend stood in stark contrast to the military debacle unfolding in Ukraine that seemed to catch the Kremlin by surprise in the nearly 7-month-old war.

The rapid and reportedly chaotic troop withdrawal in the Kharkiv region, in which some weapons and ammunition were left behind, was a huge blow to Russian prestige. It was its largest military defeat in Ukraine since Moscow pulled back its forces from areas near Kyiv after a botched attempt to capture the capital early in the invasion.

As he attended the holiday celebrations that included the inauguration of the Ferris wheel  bigger than the iconic London Eye and now Europe's largest such amusement ride  Putin said nothing about the key moment in Ukraine.

Indeed, the Ukrainian counteroffensive appears to have left the Kremlin struggling for a response.

The Defense Ministry declared the troop pullback was intended to strengthen Russia's forces in the Donbas, a somewhat weak excuse, given that Russia-held areas in the Kharkiv region provided a key vantage point for Moscow's operations in the Donetsk region to the south.

The ministry hasn't offered any specifics about the pullback, but it released a map Sunday showing the Russian troops that were pressed back along a narrow patch of land on the border with Russia  a tacit admission of big Ukrainian gains.

Russian state television and other government-controlled media followed suit, avoiding a direct mention of the retreat while extolling the performance by Russian forces in individual combat episodes.

A Defense Ministry video showed a Russian helicopter gunship attacking Ukrainian troops trying to cross the Oskil River in a previously quiet part the Kharkiv region, an acknowledgement of the broad scale of the ongoing Ukrainian attack.

Many in Russia blamed Western weapons and fighters for the setbacks. Its not Ukraine but all of NATO who is fighting us, wrote Alexander Kots, a war correspondent for the pro-Kremlin newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda.

The new Ukrainian blitz, which has boosted the country's morale as the war passed 200 days on Sunday, could set the stage for further gains in the east and elsewhere.

But it also could potentially trigger an even more violent Moscow response, leading to a new and dangerous escalation of hostilities. On Sunday night, Russian missiles struck key Ukrainian infrastructure targets, knocking out power in several regions.

The Kremlin seems stunned, and has not yet come up with a plan as to how to try and spin this, so to a large extent the media are ignoring the bad news until they get a directive, said Mark Galeotti, a professor at University College, London, who specializes in Russian security affairs.

He described the situation a sign that the states control over the narrative is cracking.

In a stark reflection of internal tensions provoked by Kyiv's successes, the Kremlin-backed regional leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, openly criticized the Russian Defense Ministry for mistakes that made Ukrainian gains possible.

The criticism from Kadyrov, who has sent Chechen units to fight in Ukraine and repeatedly pushed for tougher action in bellicose language, has revealed new rifts over the course of action in Ukraine.

On another flank, liberal politician Boris Nadezhdin warned on broadcaster NTV that Russia wont be able to defeat Ukraine, and he called for negotiations.

Nadezhdins statement, made during a carefully orchestrated talk show, appeared to reflect widening doubts in some quarters of Russian officialdom about the future of the Ukraine operation and could be part of efforts to float possible policy shifts.

The Ukrainian blitz and the Kremlin's failure to mount a quick response has infuriated Russian nationalist commentators and military bloggers, who chastised Defense Ministry brass for failing to foresee and fend off the counteroffensive.

Igor Strelkov, a Russian officer who led Moscow-backed forces in the early months of the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine after it erupted in 2014, denounced top Russian military officials as morons for underestimating Kyiv.

Strelkov pointed out that a sizable Russian force blunted Ukrainian attacks in late August and early September in the country's south. But he said the number of troops in the Kharkiv region was woefully insufficient to handle a counteroffensive.

It turned out that the enemy is capable of simultaneously mounting large-scale offensives at several fronts, including the one where we only had a thin chain of outposts lined up in one echelon with even tactical reserves missing, Strelkov said.

He warned that Ukraine could launch a new offensive in the Donetsk region south to Mariupol. The city on the Sea of Azov fell in May after nearly three months of fierce battles, giving Russia a long-coveted land corridor from its border to the Crimea Peninsula that Moscow annexed in 2014.

Having the initiative, high combat spirits and powerful groups of strike forces, the enemy will be unlikely to give our troops time to regroup, Strelkov said, noting Ukraine will try to take advantage of the few remaining weeks of good weather before autumn rains make it harder to maneuver.

Many military bloggers criticized the Kremlin for failing to take stronger action and stubbornly trying to win what Moscow calls a special military operation with a limited force smaller than Ukraine's.

Ukraine has conducted a broad mobilization with a goal to reach an active military of 1 million fighters, but Russia has continued to rely on a limited contingent of volunteers, fearing that a mass mobilization could fuel broad discontent and cause political instability.

Russia has not said how many of its troops are involved in the war, but Western estimates at its start put the invading force at up to 200,000. Western observers said the recruitment of new volunteers and the use of private military contractors failed to compensate for the heavy losses.

While Moscow hasnt reported its own losses since March when it said that 1,351 soldiers had been killed in the war's first month, Western estimates put the toll as high as 25,000 dead, with the wounded, captured and deserters bringing overall Russian losses to more than 80,000.

Many pro-Moscow military bloggers also wondered why Russia has failed to destroy Ukrainian power plants, communications facilities and bridges on the Dnieper River that are a conduit for Western weapons, fuel and other supplies to the front line. They say Russian missile strikes on railway facilities and power plants have been sporadic and insufficient for inflicting lasting damage.

The Sunday night missile barrage on Ukrainian power plants seemed to respond to those questions in an apparent signal that Moscow could ramp up strikes on vital infrastructure. Ukrainian authorities said Monday that power was quickly restored to most areas.

Strelkov and other nationalist commentators are urging even stronger blows.

It was necessary to strike Ukraines critical infrastructure from Day One of the operation, Strelkov said on his messaging app channel. Strikes on power plants will be quite useful for winning the war.

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Follow AP war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
UW Wallop Engagement Program Expands Partnership With Teachers, Launches Community Project

The Malcolm Wallop Civic Engagement Program at the University of Wyoming is expanding its partnership with Wyoming teachers and launching a community resilience conversations program, with three planned listening sessions later this month.

The Wallop K-12 program has added new content focused on Wyomings energy and extractive industries for the Wallop K-12 social studies catalog. This partnership with UWs School of Energy Resources is composed of 14 new multimedia content blocks on topics including cost-effective wind power and trona, oil and gas, storing carbon dioxide underground and the planned Natrium advanced nuclear reactor project in Kemmerer.

This content was created in response to multiple requests by teachers for new content focused on this key Wyoming industry and its place in the national and global energy contexts, says Jean Garrison, the co-director of UWs Malcolm Wallop Civic Engagement Program.

This past summer, 29 social studies and English language arts teachers participated in the second professional development workshop supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) titled Integrating the Humanities Across Civics Education in Wyoming; UWs School of Politics, Public Affairs and International Studies; and UWs College of Education Trustees Education Initiative (TEI).

The teachers and UW faculty members worked in interdisciplinary teams to create lesson plans using content in the Wallop social studies catalog and link it to English language arts standards.

NEH project co-directors Garrison and Jason McConnell, a UW School of Politics, Public Affairs and International Studies assistant professor; Colby Gull, UW TEI director; and Curtis Biggs, Wyoming Innovation Partnership director, will lead the project with UW and community college faculty members along with Wyoming teachers in English language arts and social studies.

The team will launch a new English language arts catalog -- available in December -- focusing on three themes: culture and people of the West; identity, community and rural life; and rights, liberties and civic responsibilities.

The Wallop catalog is free to all Wyoming teachers and the public, and it can be found at UWs WyoLearn catalog website at https://civic.catalog.instructure.com/.

Since the launch of the K-12 project in late 2020, more than 80 middle and high school educators have accessed the social studies content, with 50 schools located in 19 counties and the Wind River Indian Reservation using the catalog to increase their online learning resources. This fall, the Wallop team will visit schools across the state to share these resources, Garrison says.

The Malcolm Wallop Civic Engagement Program is hosting a series of Wyoming resilience community conversations this month in Riverton, Cody and Sheridan.

These conversations engage community members in discussions of opportunities and barriers in education, employment and community resilience, Garrison says.

Events are scheduled:

-- Tuesday, Sept. 27, from 5-6 p.m. in the Community Room of the Riverton Branch Library.

-- Wednesday, Sept. 28, from 5-6 p.m. in the Grizzly Room of the Park County Library in Cody.

-- Thursday, Sept. 29, from 5-6 p.m. in the inner circle of the Sheridan County Fulmer Public Library.

These conversations build upon the UW Profiles in Wyoming Resilience Research Project, which collected underrepresented community perspectives from a broad range of citizen and stakeholder voices, Garrison says.

By gathering photos and peoples descriptions of these photos and hosting community conversations, we can develop profiles of our communities -- based on local voices -- and better inform state and local programming, Garrison and McConnell say. This brings new voices to the effort to diversify and grow Wyomings economy, address workforce development and retention, and leverage educational/training programs to retain our talent and promote community resilience.

Data from the photovoice project will be available to the public on an interactive website supported by a Wyoming DataHub grant.

For more information about the Malcolm Wallop Civic Engagement Program, visit the website at www.uwyo.edu/wallop.

The Malcolm Wallop Civic Engagement Program is inspired by former Wyoming U.S. Sen. Malcolm Wallop who, in his distinguished career serving in the U.S. Senate for three terms and in the Wyoming Legislature, is remembered for his commitment to civil discourse, public education and public service.

About the National Endowment for the Humanities

Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, NEH supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals throughout the nation.

For more information about NEH and its grant programs, visit www.neh.gov.
MANCHESTER  A national cannabis cultivator and retailer plans to move a medical dispensary from Hartford to a former Friendly's restaurant near the Buckland mall.

Curaleaf plans to relocate its dispensary at 92 Weston St. in Hartford to Manchester at 240 Buckland St. The new business is to be a hybrid, offering medical and recreational sales, Manchester officials said.

The planning and zoning commission approved the new use for the 4,322-square-foot building this week. Benjamin Clack, an attorney for Curaleaf, said Friday the company now must get state approval both to move the medical dispensary license from Hartford to Manchester and to offer recreational sales at the Manchester location. The goal, Clack said, is to get those approvals within the next several months and begin operating as a hybrid store early next year.

No significant changes are planned for the Buckland Street building, which is on 1 acre in the general business zone. Nearby businesses include a Chili's restaurant. A state-owned park-and-ride lot is just north of the site.

Business hours are expected to be Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The store interior is to include spaces for employees, a vault for product storage, a packaging and processing area and an employee break room. A total of 10 to 12 employees are to be on site each day, including five or six workers per shift, according to town documents.

Curaleaf operates 134 dispensaries and 26 cultivation sites in 22 states, including Massachusetts, Maine, New York and New Jersey, according to the company website. In Connecticut, along with the Hartford dispensary, the company has medical dispensaries in Stamford, Groton and Milford, according to its website.

"Providing patients with quality cannabis for health and wellness has been our focus for the last decade," the company stated on the website.

A company representative could not be reached for comment.

The planning and zoning commission had to consider local zoning regulations that say no cannabis establishment can be within 500 feet of a school or within 200 feet of a religious or charitable institution, hospital or veterans' home. Local rules also prohibit operation of cannabis stores/dispensaries outside the hours of 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.

In June, the commission approved retail cannabis sales for Fine Fettle Dispensary, one of three tenants in a building at 91 Hale Road. Fine Fettle has cannabis dispensaries in Stamford, Willimantic, Newington, Martha's Vineyard and Rowley, Mass. Planned security provisions at the Manchester site included a 360-degree surveillance camera, two intrusion detection systems and controlled access via key cards, according to a town report.

The Buckland Street site has two entrance points off Buckland Street, one shared with Chilis. Because that part of Buckland Street is separated by a median, the access points are only accessible from the southbound lane, which makes both entry and exit a right-turn only, town officials said. During peak business, a traffic engineer's report says, 35 vehicles are expected to enter the site each hour and the same number will leave. No disruption to local traffic is expected, the engineer reported.
SAN DIEGO  The U.S. government posted a $40,000 reward Friday for information leading to the arrest of the Malaysian defense contractor nicknamed Fat Leonard," who disappeared weeks before he was set to be sentenced for one of the largest bribery scandals in the nations military history.

Leonard Glenn Francis cut off his ankle monitoring bracelet around 7:35 a.m. last Sunday at a San Diego home where he was being held, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. Neighbors reported seeing U-Haul trucks coming and going from the home days before he disappeared.

Francis had been allowed to remain in home confinement to receive medical care while he cooperated with the prosecution. With his help, prosecutors secured convictions of 33 of 34 defendants, including more than two dozen Navy officers.

Francis pleaded guilty in 2015 to offering prostitution services, luxury hotels, cigars, gourmet meals and more than $500,000 in bribes to Navy officials and others to help his Singapore-based ship servicing company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia Ltd. or GDMA. Prosecutors said the company overcharged the Navy by at least $35 million for servicing ships, many of which were routed to ports he controlled in the Pacific.

Ten U.S. agencies are searching for Francis. U.S. authorities also issued a red notice, which asks law enforcement worldwide to provisionally arrest someone with the possibility of extradition. Malaysia and Sinapore both have extradition agreements with the United States.
The U.S. Coast Guard Foundation will be hosting "Tribute to the 14th Coast Guard District " Sept. 23 at Nico's Upstairs, an event that's expected to bring local leaders and top service brass to an increasingly busy area of Coast Guard operations.

Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan and District 14 Commander Rear Adm. Michael Day are expected to attend, along with other Coast Guard personnel and community leaders. Coast Guard District 14, headquartered in Honolulu, is the largest of the service's operating districts, spanning 14 million square miles of land and sea.

Coast Guard members assigned to the district are tasked with providing search and rescue services to Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, as well as responding to requests for help from Pacific island nations that often have limited resources of their own.

"Men and women of this U.S. Coast Guard district have a heroic, vital mission that covers an incredibly vast area, " said the Coast Guard Foundation's Susan Ludwig in a news release announcing the event. "The service members of the Fourteenth District inspire us every day with their bravery and dedication, and so it is a great privilege for us to be able to honor them."

In recent years, policymakers have pushed for an increased Coast Guard presence in the region as concerns about illegal fishing have become a topic of discussion in national security circles.

In 2020, Fagan's predecessor, Adm. Karl Schultz, wrote in a report that illegal fishing had supplanted piracy as the top security threat on the high seas, warning that "this exploitation erodes both regional and national security, undermines maritime rules-based order, jeopardizes food access and availability, and destroys legitimate economies."

Much of the renewed attention on illegal fishing has focused on China's distance fishing fleet. By far the world's largest, it benefits from government subsidies that allow vessels to stay out longer and collect much more fish than its competitors. But there are also other concerns for military leaders.

In joint report released in December 2020, the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard warned that China "deploys a multilayered fleet " that includes "naval auxiliaries disguised as civilian vessels." Australian and U.S. Navy vessels have reported being followed by mysterious Chinese vessels.

In December, District 14 responded to a request from Palau to assist in tracking Da Yang Hao, a Chinese survey vessel that Palau said illegally entered its waters in late November. A Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules based out of Barbers Point flew to Palau and made radio contact with Da Yang Hao's crew, which told the Americans they were waiting out a storm.

Before coming to Palau, the ship had been spotted moving through the maritime territories of India, the Philippines and Malaysia.

But it's not just Chinese vessels that the Coast Guard is chasing. Documents obtained by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser earlier this year showed that in 2020, District 14 personnel intercepted Taiwanese vessels illegally fishing in Guam waters. And in February 2020, a Taiwanese fishing vessel attacked a much smaller Honolulu-based tuna longliner just on the edge of Hawaii waters.

In 2019, the Coast Guard Foundation hosted its tribute to District 14 at the Bishop Museum, where celebrity chef Roy Yamaguchi was among those preparing meals. Local Hawaii chefs and Coast Guard culinary personnel will be preparing the meals for this year's event.

Individual tickets start at $450 with different rates for groups and sponsors. For more information go to coastguardfoundation.org.

___

(c)2022 The Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Visit The Honolulu Star-Advertiser at www.staradvertiser.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The United States Space Force was established nearly three years ago to maintain America's "edge in space," but current and former leaders in the National Guard believe lawmakers' denial of a reserve group under the fledgling military branch is undermining that mission.

Former National Guard Bureau chief Gen. Joseph Lengyel (USAF, Ret.) and Adjutant Gen. of Colorado U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Laura Clellan discussed the need for a Space National Guard during an online roundtable event Friday.

When the Space Force was created, active duty Air Force units with space-related missions transferred to the new service. But the 1,000-plus individuals in the National Guard's 14 space units spanning seven states  including Colorado  were left under the Air Force, effectively "orphaning" those units, Clellan said.

Without a corresponding reserve component, Clellan and Lengyel argued, the Space Force lacks mobilization, training effectiveness and standardized culture.

"I was there when they had these painful discussions and made the decision to move the space mission  because of its unique aspects of its own domain  out (of the Air Force) and into its own service," Lengyel said. "The only way a reserve component can be credible and can be effective is if it goes with it."

Lengyel said the Department of Defense has studied the issue since 2019 and has, along with the secretary of the Air Force, chief of space operations and other higher-ups, concluded that integrating existing Air Guard space units into a Space Guard is the "most cost effective and efficient" option for capitalizing on the critical space-related functions guard members serve, including operating missile warning and detection systems, electronic warfare, flying satellites and analyzing space intelligence.

Senators Dianne Feinstein, D- Calif., and Marco Rubio, R- Fla., have spearheaded the effort in Washington, D.C., writing in July that the Space Force and National Guard space units should "operate as a seamless team, but they can't do that while divided between two services" and that the units having to answer to both the Air Force and Space Force complicates their ability to "conduct basic functions."

They said the House Armed Service Committee in June voted to establish the Space National Guard, but the effort has struggled to gain further traction on Capitol Hill.

"The ( Senate Armed Service Committee) is where we're held up," Lengyel said, noting that the Senate has, most recently, left a Space National Guard out of its 2021 and 2022 National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAA) due to what Lengyel believes is misinformed concern over cost and increasing bureaucracy.

Senators, as well as the Biden administration, have cited a 2020 study by the Congressional Budget Office that estimated a price tag of "up to $500 million annually" in their opposition to a Space National Guard. But Lengyel said the report overestimates what the military is proposing, and that the Space National Guard would simply integrate the individuals already in the Air Guard space units rather than require the funding of additional personnel.

"The National Guard Bureau has made it clear it requires no additional funds or personnel to transfer current space units that are in the Air National Guard into the Space Force, once the Space National Guard is created," Lengyel said.

Lengyel said he believes lawmakers have also based their opposition on a misunderstanding of National Guard duties, which expand past "cleaning up" after domestic floods and fires to federal warfighting missions, especially as powers like China and Russia race to expand their own space capabilities. He said the National Guard, whose 450,000 members make up 20% of all uniforms of the DOD but cost one-third the price of an active-duty servicemember during peacetime, is a sustainable source of manpower that can be called upon "if and when" wartime comes.

"You need to have a force big enough to beat China or Russia or whoever it is that we're fighting as a peer adversary and you can't afford that in peacetime without reserve units and reserved capacity," Lengyel said.

While he doesn't believe a Space Guard will form through a future NDAA approved by the president, Lengyel hopes Feinstein and Rubio can submit a floor amendment supporting its creation.

"There is a path forward," he said. "It's certainly not as easy as it would have been had they just written it in both the House and the Senate bill."

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(c)2022 The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.)

Visit The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.) at www.gazette.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
For a moment, just a fraction of a second, the crowd took a collective inhale, unsure whether to laugh, groan or storm down the stairs and out of the German restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia, when John Burton told a whopper of a 9/11 joke Sunday night to kick off his set.

That moment hung -- an unpracticed comic's worst nightmare. But Burton, seemingly expecting the reaction, gave a 'Come on, really?' smirk and flipped the joke into a double entendre about the end of the Afghan war, landing a one-two punch straight to the audience's gut and forcing them to exhale into a burst of laughter with some shocked "oohhs" thrown in. Had anyone else told it, it might have flopped.

Burton, an Army veteran, was one of seven comics that night who had the background to take aim at some of those topics with authenticity and earnest candor. It was the anniversary of 9/11, the Global War on Terror was fading, and everyone in the little bar in Virginia, veteran or not, was there to laugh. And laugh they did.

Read Next: Worlds First Nuclear-Powered Submarine Returns Home After a $36 Million Facelift

Wicked Comedy, a stand-up group founded and run by two Massachusetts-based veterans, arranged an all-veteran lineup for the evening. No topic was off limits. In fact, the somber date seemed to fuel the comedy; #neverforgettolaugh, some of the group's promotionals read. No crowd member was safe from the frontal assault of the dialed-in routines that not only touched on military and veteran topics, but really anything.

"It's a voice where we never really had a voice before," Payton Warner, a Marine veteran and one of the founders of Wicked Comedy, told Military.com as patrons ascended the stairs perhaps unwittingly into the comedy kill zone. "Politicians usually speak for us.  This is an opportunity for the people who actually did it to actually go out and say, 'This is how I feel about X, Y and Z. This is stupid, and here's why."

Comics who hailed from almost every branch of service flicked, squeezed and outright ruptured every raw nerve the country had exposed over the last two decades. The crowd -- a mix of veterans in on some of the more service-specific jokes and civilians who may not be -- laughed and laughed hard.

"I think the reason is -- and not to sound at all cocky or overconfident -- but we've kind of earned the right to express ourselves about the things that have happened," said Vinny Lombardi, a 26-year Air Force veteran and co-founder of Wicked Comedy. "Why? Because we're the ones that went."

Laughing Wicked Hard, Finding Community

Five months before patrons flooded the little German bar, Lombardi and Warner were marching down busy King Street, the heart of brick- and cobblestone-laden Alexandria, handing out cards for Wicked Comedy.

Physically, Lombardi and Warner couldn't be more different: Lombardi is roughly two heads taller than Warner, who playfully joked on set about her experience as a gay Marine. And while Lombardi had two decades of service on Warner, both left the service relatively recently, both are from Massachusetts (hence the reference to the word Wicked), and both were looking for ways to pad their transition out of the military and into civilian life.

Both founders, and many of the veterans in the lineup, were acolytes of the Armed Services Arts Partnership (ASAP), a nonprofit organization that offers veterans classes in the arts -- acting, storytelling, writing, improv and, of course, stand-up comedy.

"So comedy is a weird thing; in fact, it's very cliquish and it's sometimes really hard to break into," said Dewayne White, the headliner, a 23-year Army veteran and instructor for ASAP's comedy courses. "An open mic can crush your soul.  But the one thing that I love about ASAP and the whole veteran comedy community in general is when you go and you first start out -- you're nervous, you don't know anybody -- but when you walk in, you have a friendly face."

Several veterans at the event told Military.com about the burgeoning veteran comedy community in Washington, D.C., and how the camaraderie during and after the show rivaled even the tightest of fire teams or smoke pits.

"It's a community that I didn't know existed," said Demi Chang, a comic and Marine veteran. "They'll have like an all-Asian show and an all-female show  and I feel like, even though I've struggled with my identity, whenever you meet other veterans, it doesn't matter what branch you're from, or what rank you are -- officer or enlisted -- you have a common thread."

Marine veteran and Wicked comedy co-founder, Payton Warner, performs stand-up at the Village Brauhaus, Sept. 11, 2022. (Drew F. Lawrence/Military.com)

On Sunday, the comics teased each other during transitions between sets and slammed other branches, jokingly referencing stereotypes about the "gay Navy" and dumb Marines.

But often, and sometimes in the same breath, those stereotypes were torn down or given a new perspective. And at the very least, perception of those topics -- from branch quirks to serious topics about suicide or post-traumatic stress -- were given the kind of knowing and raw treatment that reflected the life experience of the comics on stage.

Can You Joke About 9/11 and the Afghan Withdrawal? Sure.

Like many veterans who joined the military before 9/11, Lombardi, who enlisted in the '90s as a cook ("serving and serving," he said), felt that once the Twin Towers fell, his service had irrevocably changed.

"It brought us together as a country," he said, "but also as service members  so I think people will receive it better from us versus a civilian up there," adding that law enforcement and first responders might have a similar effect.

That isn't to say that Wicked Comedy doesn't fold in talent without military service or connection, but when Lombardi and Warner realized that the event would be on 9/11, they decided that the show had to be all veterans.

"It was kind of happenstance, but I think we want to honor it with an all-veteran lineup and have some positive emotion on an obviously tragic day in history," Lombardi said.

"The only people that are going to make it funny, or at least make it more comfortable for the people that are in the audience, are probably veterans," Warner added.

Topics ranged from hot items like the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and abortion to whimsical references to xenophobic deer and the best ways to avoid toxic shock syndrome from overripe menstrual products.

And yes, the veteran and war jokes flowed plentifully. The exit from Kabul was brought up along with dark references to 9/11, veteran suicide, weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," Department of Veterans Affairs wait times and improvised explosive devices. None of the comics were Navy veterans, which was good -- they might have cried at the number of cracks about sailors.

While some jokes received gasps and groans, no joke bombed outright. There was always a laugh, whether it was the whole room or just some veterans who were in on the joke. And it worked, because beneath the darkness and the ribbing, the jokes were made in good faith and good humor. They were genuine.

"Nothing's off limits, as long as it's funny," said Mike Connell, a Marine veteran who told Military.com that he joined stand-up because it's cheaper than drugs and the VA doesn't answer phones as quickly as you can go to an open mic. "I'm sure you heard a couple of veterans suicide jokes, but that's the way I honor my buddies who did commit suicide."

Many of the comics told Military.com that stand-up acts as a type of therapy for them, especially in ways that pick up the slack from traditional institutions.

Personal issues were deftly worked into jokes -- failed marriages, racism in the ranks, tough deployments and missing out on the "normality" of civilian life when the military took precedence. But some veteran comics warned others to use the stage as a supplement, not a solution.

"We always say in ASAP, 'it's not therapy, but it's therapeutic," White told Military.com after the show. "Therapy is a real, necessary thing that most of us, if not all of us, need, and this is not a substitute for it."

ASAP's own research supports the therapeutic aspect of art for veterans, acknowledging that, while recent data points may be skimpy, art therapy interventions have helped reduce symptoms of post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries. A majority of veteran participants reported "enhanced self-esteem and confidence" and 14% reported a decrease in stress overall.

And their data also indicates that veteran art performances give insight into the military and veteran population, with over half of surveyed civilians reporting a changed perception of the demographic as a result of attending a performance.

"[It's] just to show a side of us that isn't necessarily a uniform," Lombardi said. "We have a personality. You see a Marine go up there and just floor you with jokes, your impression changes a little bit."

"We're not just a number on the back of a card," Warner added.

Wicked Comedy holds an open mic night for comics, veteran or not, looking to test out new material every Monday at 7 p.m. at the German bar, Village Brauhaus, on King Street in Alexandria. The group also partnered with Honor Brewing Kitchen -- a veteran-run brewery that will sling beers while comics sling jokes every Wednesday at 7 p.m. at their Fairfax, Virginia, location.

"We're here.  Come do some time on our stage," Lombardi said. "It's a very welcoming environment."

-- Drew F. Lawrence can be reached at drew.lawrence@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @df_lawrence.

Related: 11 Stand-Up Comics Who Served in the Military
Each ib designs bracelet has its own little story.
The Navy has a new top enlisted sailor after Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy James Honea took over for now-retired Master Chief Russell Smith on Thursday.

The change not only marks the start of Honea's term as the sea service's 16th senior enlisted adviser but also a shift in priorities for the enlisted community.

In a video posted Monday, Honea told sailors that his "top priority will be you and your families" before acknowledging that the Navy has "to be better at investing in you and meeting your needs."

Read Next: Laughing Through Tragedy: Veterans Rib Services and Tackle Suicide and Afghanistan in Comedy Show

The remarks serve as a shift from what Smith told sailors in the last months of his service, when he described being fairly powerless to change their living conditions and suggested that sailors learn to cope with hardships.

In a statement, the Navy praised Smith's service, saying that he instituted "an updated leadership development career path, revised the command master chief instruction, and the Sailor of the Year program."

Smith had served as the master chief petty officer of the Navy since 2018.

"More importantly, he tirelessly advocated policy and program improvements for the Navy's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response program as well as increased Sailor access for mental health care," the statement added.

However, in 2022, Smith generated headlines for controversial statements and an inspector general investigation.

In April, Military.com broke the news that the aircraft USS George Washington was experiencing a staggering cluster of suicides that sailors attributed in large part to poor living conditions and arduous work schedules. Less than a week later, Smith visited the ship yard to speak to the crew.

When a sailor asked the then-top enlisted sailor about those living conditions, Smith said that the Navy "probably could have done better to manage your expectations coming in here."

"I hear your concerns and you should always raise them, but you have to do so with reasonable expectations and then understanding what ... what this is like," Smith went on to tell the crew.

'What you're not doing is sleeping in a foxhole like a Marine might be doing."

The remarks not only struck the sailors on the ship as callous but resonated with the fleet as a whole. Navy groups on social media ran with the idea that the service's top sailor told the fleet to lower their standards.

After the comments became public, Smith's office pushed back by noting the master chief never said the words "lower your standards" and even released a transcript of the conversation. However, the phrase continues to crop up in online conversations months later.

Days after Smith made those comments, the Navy announced it was moving all the sailors living aboard the George Washington -- a major point of stress and frustration -- off the ship.

Smith also dealt with an inspector general investigation, first reported in February by Navy Times, though the details of that investigation were never made public. The news drew comparisons to Smith's predecessor, Master Chief Steven Giordano, who retired early after reports surfaced of his own inspector general investigation that was looking into allegations that he bullied subordinates and mistreated his staff. Several of the allegations against Giordano were later substantiated.

Navy spokeswoman Lt. Alyson Hands, told Military.com that Smith retired honorably with no pending adverse or reportable matters.

Meanwhile, Honea appears to be setting his sights on shifting the narrative and perception junior sailors have of the office.

In a Saturday post on Facebook, Honea's office noted that "he will be making his way around the fleet to discuss and work with Sailors to get after his top priorities." In his remarks on Thursday, Honea told the crowd assembled for the change of office that "you can depend on us to fight for you," as he looked to Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday.

Gilday is the Navy's top officer.

Although the post of master chief petty officer of the Navy exists largely to advise "the CNO [and] the Chief of Naval Personnel in matters dealing with enlisted personnel and their families," the sailors who hold the post are often able to highlight and advocate for changes. Most notably, they are able to voice concerns or issues directly to top officers and Congress -- something no average sailor can do.

Gilday, in his own remarks Thursday, said that Honea "brings the exact kind of professional experience we need for this immense responsibility."

"I've said it before: He's got saltwater running through his veins," Gilday said, before alluding to Honea's job when first joined the Navy -- boatswain's mate.

According to the service record provided by the Navy, Honea enlisted in 1987 and has served on five ships, including the now destroyed USS Bonhomme Richard. He also had postings from Newport, Rhode Island, and Norfolk, Virginia, to San Diego, California, and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Before becoming the master chief petty officer of the Navy, Honea served as the senior enlisted leader for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

-- Konstantin Toropin can be reached at konstantin.toropin@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @ktoropin.

Related: Despite Housing Troubles Plaguing Sailors, Navy Determined to Spend Money on Shipyards
The opinions expressed in this op-ed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Military.com. If you would like to submit your own commentary, please send your article to opinions@military.com for consideration.

This year, the U.S. military is behind recruiting goals by 23%, with the Army alone estimating it will miss goals by nearly 40,000 personnel over the next two years. Now, with the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, a new front has emerged that will likely exacerbate the militarys personnel struggle. The recent decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide abortion access to female veterans is much needed; unfortunately, active duty service members must still work through the militarys health care system to access it.

The Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization ruling adds additional stressors to female service members who already face a difficult military culture and environment that often appear quite hostile to their needs. Nearly 1 in 4 servicewomen report experiencing sexual assault in the military, more than half report sexual harassment, and last year, reports of sexual assault surged in the military by 13% The suicide rate for women in the military is already double that of the national population, a fact that holds true today. Women in the military will now face increased risks if theyre stationed in a state that doesnt provide access to reproductive care.

The Pentagon acknowledged as much July 29 in a congressional hearing on the growing military personnel crisis. A 2017 report revealed that 7% of women on active duty reported an unintended pregnancy in 2011  an estimated total of 14,000 unplanned pregnancies alone  compared to 4.5% of civilian women. More than 90 abortions since 2016 have occurred at Department of Defense facilities. The militarys struggles to bring in new recruits are often viewed as a pressing national security concern. Following this logic, anything that exacerbates personnel problems is also a national security issue. Restrictive reproductive health laws are now one of those factors.

Due to the militarys recruiting crisis, there have been calls to Congress to fix the issue through various actions, yet theres been little dialogue about how to ensure that women who do choose to join are guaranteed reproductive rights at their assigned duty stations. Policymakers who ignore this fact when complaining about the risks of having a weakened military  while simultaneously blocking legislation to enshrine the protection of reproductive rights into law  are being disingenuous. One in 5 service members are women. They make up 51% of eligible recruits. And as of 2015, all jobs previously closed to women in the military were opened after years of debate.

Still, the militarys culture has continued to be hostile to women. The military justice system continues to inadequately apply equal punishment across its ranks, not only in cases of sexual misconduct but also in cases of domestic violence, which occurs at a higher rate than in the civilian population.

These issues already push women to leave the military early at a rate almost 30% higher than men. Federal law prohibits military health facilities from providing abortion unless the pregnant person, service member or dependents life is in danger or if the pregnancy was caused by rape or incest. That means service members who seek abortions for issues such as fetal abnormalities already face obstacles such as having to ask for time off from commanders and being forced to travel hundreds of miles for treatment. Now, the Dobbs decision has lessened the already slim available medical options for female service members and may open them up to future prosecution.

Additionally, there is no Defense Department regulation that clarifies whether women are guaranteed time off if they need such treatment. That means they are required to obtain approval from their chain of command before going on any type of medical leave for reproductive care not covered by current regulations. This is an immediate privacy concern, as female service members run the very real risk of retribution from commanders who may be against abortion. Women already face retaliation for reporting sexual assaults: A 2015 report from the Human Rights Watch found that 62% of those who reported sexual assaults faced vindictive consequences and retaliatory behavior, often from their own leaders who now hold the power to force decisions upon thousands of women in the armed services who need reproductive care.

Without legislative action, the military will rapidly become unviable to the millions of women in the nation who now have to choose colleges, jobs and homes based on individual states reproductive laws. Worse, for service members with wives or daughters, the restrictions may push them to quit out of fear for their loved ones, an additional detrimental effect on military personnel strength.

Its hard to convince anyone to join or stay in an organization that prides itself on defending our American ideals when that same organization holds the power to require its members to serve in places where basic human rights have been taken away.

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ABOUT THE WRITER

Daniel Johnson is a Roy H. Park doctoral fellow at the Hussman School of Media and Journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Johnson was a journalist in the Army in 2016 in Iraq.

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2022 Chicago Tribune. Visit at chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
You Are Not Forgotten -- that's the central phrase behind the POW/MIA remembrance movement that honors America's prisoners of war, those who are still missing in action and their families.

Many of our service members suffered as prisoners of war during several decades of varying conflicts. While some of them made it home, tens of thousands more never did.

Here are four things to know about how this important movement got started, what it means and how you can help recognize it.

POW/MIA Recognition Day

POW/MIA Recognition Day is commemorated on the third Friday of every September, a date that's not associated with any particular war. In 1979, Congress and the president passed resolutions making it official after the families of the more than 2,500 Vietnam War POW/MIAs pushed for full accountability.

During the first POW/MIA Recognition Day commemoration, a ceremony was held at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., while the 1st Tactical Squadron from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia flew the missing man formation. Most ceremonies since then have been held at the Pentagon, and many smaller observances have cropped up across the nation and around the world on military installations.

Related: A Missing ID Card Spent 50 Years in Vietnam. Now It's Coming Home

The point of POW/MIA Recognition Day is to ensure that American remembers to stand behind those who serve and to make sure we do everything we can to account for those who have never returned.

POW/MIA Numbers

In order to comprehend the importance of this movement, all you need to do is look at the sheer number of Americans who have been listed as POW/MIAs.

American POW Numbers

According to a Congressional Research Service report on POWs:

130,201 World War II service members were imprisoned; 14,072 them died.

7,140 Korean War service members were imprisoned; 2,701 of them died.

725 Vietnam War service members were imprisoned; 64 of them died.

37 service members were imprisoned during conflicts since 1991, including both Gulf wars; none is still in captivity

American MIA Numbers

According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, 83,114 Americans who fought in those wars are still missing, including:

73,515 from World War II (an approximate number due to limited or conflicting data)

7,841 from the Korean War

1,626 from Vietnam

126 from the Cold War

6 from conflicts since 1991

The DPAA said about 75% of those missing Americans are somewhere in the Asia-Pacific. More than 41,000 have been presumed lost at sea.

Efforts to find those men, identify them and bring them home are constant. For example, the DPAA said that in the past year, it has accounted for 41 men missing during the Korean War: 10 had been previously buried as unknowns, 26 were from remains turned over by North Korea in the 1990s, one was from a recovery operation, and four were combinations of remains and recovery operations.

The POW/MIA Flag

The traditional POW/MIA flag that's well-known across America was actually created many years before the remembrance day became official.

In 1971, Mary Hoff contacted a flag company near her home to see whether a flag reminding people of POWs and the missing could be made. She was one of the many waiting to see whether her husband, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Michael Hoff, would ever return home after his plane had been shot down over Laos.

World War II pilot Newt Heisley designed the now-famous flag, which was made in black and white to represent the sorrow, anxiety and hope symbolized by the image of the gaunt man featured on it.

For every POW/MIA Recognition Day since 1982, the flag has flown just below the stars and stripes at the White House  the only other flag to ever do so. In 1998, Congress ordered it to also be displayed on Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day and Veterans Day.

Bracelets Help Continue the Support

While the POW/MIA flag reminds us to never forget our prisoners of war and missing in action, bracelets also became a popular personal form of remembrance in the 1970s. They're still worn and purchased by families and veterans, who are also wearing bracelets for those who were killed in action in more recent wars.

If you don't feel the need to buy a flag or bracelet, it's still important to remember the extreme sacrifices of our POW/MIAs and America's pact to them: That we will take care of them, and no matter how much time has passed, they will make it back home.

Stay on Top of Your Veteran Benefits

Military benefits are always changing. Keep up with everything from pay to health care by signing up for a free Military.com membership, which will send all the latest benefits straight to your inbox while giving you access to up-to-date pay charts and more.
How to use the mindat.org media viewer

Click/touch this help panel to close it.

Welcome to the mindat.org media viewer. Here is a quick guide to some of the options available to you. Different controls are available depending on the type of media being shown (photo, video, animation, 3d image)

Controls - all media types

Zoom in and out of media using your mousewheel or with a two-finger 'resize' action on a touch device.

Use the mouse or your finger to drag the image or the view area of the image around the screen.

< and > at the left and right hand side of the screen move forwards and backwards for the other images associated with the media you selected. Usually this is used for previous/next photo in a gallery, in an article or in search results. Keyboard shortcuts: use shift + the left and right arrow keys.

< and > in the bottom center are used for switching between the photos of the same specimen. Keyboard shortcuts: use the left and right arrow keys.

> in the bottom center, raises the information box giving details and further options for the media, < at the top of this box then hides it. Keyboard shortcuts: use the up and down arrow keys.

? opens this help window. Keyboard shortcuts: use the H key or the ? key.

Other keyboard shortcuts:

1 Fit image to screen 2 Fill screen with image 5 Display at full resolution < Make background darker > Make background lighter space Hide/dim titles and buttons

Scalebar

If the field of view (FOV) is specified for the photo, the scalebar appears in the left bottom corner of the viewer. The scalebar is draggable and resizeable. Drag the right edge to resize it. Double click will reset the scalebar to it's default size and position. If the scalebar is in default position, double click will make it circular.

Controls - Video

Video files have a standard set of video controls: - Reset to start, - Skip back, - Play, - Pause, - Skip forwards. Keyboard shortcuts: You can stop/start video play with the P key.

Controls - Animation (Spin Rotation)

Animation (usually 360 degree spin rotations) have their own controls: - enable spin mode. Note that while images are loading this option will not be available but will be automatically activated when the animation has loaded. Once active you can spin the image/change the animation by moving your mouse or finger on the image left/right or by pressing the [ or ] keys.

The button switches to move mode so that you can use your mouse/fingers to move the image around the screen as with other media types.

The button, or the P key will start playing the animation directly, you can interrupt this by using the mouse or finger on the image to regain manual movement control.

Controls - 3D Stereoscopic images

If a stereoscopic 3D image is opened in the viewer, the 3D button appears in the bottom right corner giving access to "3D settings" menu. The 3D images can be viewed in several ways:

- without any special equipment using cross-eyed or parallel-eyed method

- with stereoscope

- with anaglyph glasses.

- on a suitable 3D TV or monitor (passive 3D system)

For details about 3D refer to: Mindat manuals: Mindat Media Viewer: 3D

To enable/disable 3D stereo display of a compatible stereo pair image press the 3 key. If the left/right images are reversed on your display (this often happens in full-screen mode) press the 4 key to reverse them.

Controls - photo comparison mode

If a photo with activated comparison mode is opened in the viewer, the button appears in the bottom right corner giving access to "Comparison mode settings" menu.

Several layouts are supported: slider and side by-side comparison with up to 6 photos shown synchronously on the screen. On each of the compared photos a view selector is placed, e.g.: Longwave UV . It shows the name of currently selected view and allows to select a view for each placeholder.

Summary of all keyboard shortcuts
Lydia Forson, actress

12.09.2022 LISTEN

Lydia Forson, a popular Ghanaian actress, has issued a solemn call to her fellow entertainers in the music industry to return the support she gives them.

In a tweet spotted by Modernghana News today, September 12, she asks musicians and the entire country to put aside their issues with Ghanaian films and help promote them.

Im very intentional about promoting Ghanaian music; I dont always get it right but I try. When I make reels, a Ghanaian song is always my first choice, before others, she wrote.

Her tweet adds support is intentional.

But errr I want yall to give the same support to our movie industry dammit.

For years now, actors and actresses, as well as movie enthusiasts, have been putting in much effort to redeem the once vibrant movie industry.
Former President John Dramani Mahama has praised Togbe Afede XIV, the Agbogbomefia of the Asogli State and President of the Asogli Traditional Area for holding high his integrity in the chieftaincy institution.

He said Togbe Afede is a man who is always ready to defend the truth and criticize evil irrespective of whose ox is gored.

Speaking to the chiefs and people of Asogli State at the grand durbar of this year's "Te Za" (Yam Festival) in Ho on Saturday, September 10, Mr. Mahama reiterated his commitment to the development of Volta region.

Mr. Mahama has promised to complete all abandoned projects by the Akufo-Addo government.

One traditional leader, who stands by the truth no matter who gets angry, he said.

He continues Volta deserves all it can get from an NDC administration and just as we have done before, we shall do it again for our beloved Region. I am personally committed to the development of the Volta Region.

In a speech dubbed "Let's Eschew Greed, Unite for Peace, Development, and Prosperity, the former President lamented the delay in the construction of the Ho Airport.

People are criticising the reason underpinning the construction of the Ho Airport. But I am unwavering in the reason that underpins that infrastructure.

The Volta Region was the best for the project just as it would have been for Wa or Takoradi, he said while assuring them of his eagerness to complete it when elected.
President Vladimir Putin on Sunday warned his French counterpart of the potential "catastrophic consequences" of what he said were Ukrainian attacks on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine.

During a telephone call with Emmanuel Macron, Putin "drew attention to regular Ukrainian attacks on (Zaporizhzhia nuclear) facilities, including a radioactive waste storage facility, which is fraught with catastrophic consequences," the Kremlin said in a statement.

The statement said that the call was made "at the initiative of the French side" and that the conversation comprised a "detailed and frank exchange of views on the situation in Ukraine."

Putin said Russian specialists at the plant were taking steps to ensure its safety and said Moscow was ready to continue work with the UN's atomic agency to agree on "non-politicised" solutions to problems at the facility.

Ukraine's nuclear energy agency said Sunday the final reactor at Zaporizhzhia was shut off as a safety measure.

During the call with Macron, Putin also accused Ukrainian forces of using Western-supplied weapons to target civilian infrastructure in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine.

The call took place after Ukraine reported that its forces were pushing back Russia's military from strategic holdouts in the east of the country.

Moscow announced a retreat from Kyiv's sweeping counter-offensive.

Safety measure

Meanwhile, Ukraine's nuclear energy agency said the final reactor at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe's largest nuclear power station and a focal point of the conflict, was shut off as a safety measure.

The speed of Ukraine's fightback against Russia's invasion has apparently caught Moscow's military off-guard, bringing swathes of territory Russia had controlled for months back into Ukraine's fold.

Crates of dumped munitions and abandoned military hardware were seen scattered in territory left by the Russian forces, images posted by the Ukrainian military showed.

"The liberation of settlements in the Kupiansk and Izyum districts of the Kharkiv region is ongoing," the Ukrainian military said in a general battlefield update Sunday, 200 days into Russia's invasion.

These are key supply and logistics hubs that Russia depends on to restock its frontline positions in the east.

Military observers have said their capture by Ukraine would be a serious blow to Moscow's military ambitions in Kharkiv.

(With agencies)
12.09.2022 LISTEN

A study by the University College of London and Vue Cineman in 2021 established a positive relationship between mental focus and fixation and the movies that we watch. The research indicates that movies might generally improve cognition and memory; however, people who watch movies are fixated on the movies. This may be the reason for rating movies in terms of age and content, to determine the appropriate age for watching the contents of a particular movie. Even the age ratings do not necessarily take away the psychological effects of the movie on the individual. A movie with a graphic scene, for example, may affect an adult who watches it. The importance of advice and warnings contained at the beginning of movies can thus not be overemphasized.

The recent spate of ritual killings in Ghana especially among teenagers has been blamed largely on occult movies, which portray characters getting rich overnight after engaging in human sacrifice. Some of these movies portray struggling young men and women who become wealthy suddenly after engaging in demeaning and unnatural sacrifices. In West Africa, the Nollywood movie industry has mostly been accused of this phenomenon. The effect of such movies on the psyche of the individuals who watch them may be devastating. A few days ago, a 42 years old man was arrested for allegedly attempting to sacrifice his 11 years old daughter in a ritual ceremony that was supposed to make him wealthy. The incidence of ritual killings in Ghana seems to be on the ascendance and whilst there may be many reasons for the same, the role of occult movies as suggested by many cannot be overruled.

Occult movies especially those depicted in Nollywood movies are scary and the scenes look very real. However, most of these movies do portray the end of the individuals engaged in the ritual killings to be disastrous, which should have been a caution or deterrent to anyone motivated to engage in the practices in the movies. Unfortunately, most people fail to follow the plot of the movies and pick up snippets. They focus and fixate on the parts that appeal to them, contemplate on the same, and then follow up to act on it. The moral and ethical lessons thus contained in these movies are thus completely ignored. Most African movies are written and acted around interesting themes that focus on the appreciation of positive values like respect, hard work, and integrity among others. The occult movies do not necessarily establish a positive relationship between occultism and wealth. On the contrary, the movies try to establish a negative relationship and disastrous end that awaits individuals engaged in occultism. Whilst occult movies may contribute to the general perception of easy ways of becoming wealthy among the youth especially, it is not the objective of the screenwriters to send such a message to the public.

The causes of the increased cases of ritual killings are varied and many. They may be classified generally into individual and social factors. The individual factors are those caused by our disposition and ideologies whilst the social factors are the ones imposed on us as a result of our membership in society.

The desire for wealth by whatever means possible has become a cancerous tumor afflicting the youth in recent times. The failure of society to question the source of wealth of individuals and groups before praising them for their hard work and success is one of the motivating factors leading many to ritual killings. The shifted focus from meritocracy to praise singing and the desire to get rich overnight is another reason for ritual killings in Ghana. What must we do to minimize the canker?

The national commission for civic education must as a matter of urgency and necessity take up the task of educating Ghanaians on the negative effects of ritual killings. Our religious leaders must also take up the challenge of preaching against the phenomenon. Ghanaians, in general, must be watchdogs against ill-gotten and unexplained wealth.

Writer's Email:[email protected]


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Members of the Coalition of Aggrieved Customers of Menzgold are set to embark on a demonstration exercise today, Monday, September 12 to the Jubilee House over their locked-up monies.

As today marks exactly four years since the gold dealership firm, Menzgold was collapsed by the government; customers say efforts made towards the retrieval of their monies have been unsuccessful.

Spokesperson of the group, Fred Forson spoke to Citi News on modalities for the presentation of a petition to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

We will converge at 9am at the Customs traffic light. From there, we will do a walk through the Ministries to the Black Stars Square. There, we shall have a press briefing. At 11am, we will present our petition. It is exactly four years since Menzgold was collapsed and for four years, we have done whatever we could but it appears there are no results. So this time around, we want to petition the president for a presidential intervention.

Menzgold was asked to suspend its gold trading operations with the public by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2018.

According to the SEC, Menzgold had been dealing in the purchase and deposit of gold collectibles from the public and issuing contracts with guaranteed returns with clients, without a valid license from the Commission.

The SEC said this was in contravention of section 109 of Act 929 with consequences under section 2016 (I) of the same Act.

Menzgold customers have in the past bemoaned the lack of commitment on the part of the government to have their monies paid to them.

They are also unhappy about the delay in the prosecution of Menzgold's CEO, Nana Appiah Mensah.

---citinewsroom
Beneficiaries of the Youth in Afforestation program have appealed to government to pay them their eight-month-old allowances.

Members of the group embarked on an indefinite strike on August 1 as part of efforts to demand the payment of their locked-up funds.

They say, although they have held several meetings with stakeholders to demand their arrears, their issues have not yet been addressed.

National Secretary of the group, Ernestina Nyarko, has been narrating to Citi News the severe hardship some of the beneficiaries have been subjected to as a result of the situation.

From January till now, we have not been paid. It is really sad and very difficult for all of us. I can say on record that, they walk long distances to get to work. People are also being ejected from their houses because they can't pay rent, she decried.

The Youth in Afforestation programme was launched in 2018 in line with the government's commitment to reforestation, forest rehabilitation and forest protection activities.

There are about 100,000 beneficiaries of the programme across the country.

The Forestry Commission had assured that allowances in arrears of beneficiaries of the youth in afforestation programme will be paid.

But the workers keep complaining that their allowances had not been paid. According to them, some of their members are even owed up to ten months of arrears.

The group had insisted that its members who are made up of about 45,000 people will also lay down their tools to drum home their demands.

---citinewsroom
The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) is optimistic about winning the 2024 general elections with the current crop of experienced and dedicated leadership.

Director of External Affairs of the party, Frederick Kofi Ameyaw was of the notion the new leadership blended with old ones have what it takes to make it a reality.

In an interview with this reporter, Mr. Kofi Ameyaw indicated that the NPP is poised to break the 8-years political jinx of the country and therefore takes the 2024 elections seriously in order to ensure the party win the presidential polls massively.

"It is not about just winning the presidency but also ensuring we secure more seats in Parliament to support government business in the House. We need to work hard as a party to make all our dreams a reality." he indicated.

Mr. Kofi Ameyaw however, called on all party supporters as well as Ghanaians to support and work hard to retain the NPP in power to ensure all projects and programmes initiated are fully completed.

He said "I am urging all Ghanaians, especially party supporters to work hard by campaigning on the achievements of the Akufo-Addo-led administration and also assure them of many to come in the next NPP administration in 2025. Let us capitalise on what the NPP has done since 2016 and let the ordinary Ghanaian know our achievements".
The Secretary to the Asogli State has apologised to the Asogli State Council and the MP for Assin North Kennedy Agyapong for an administrative lapse which resulted in an invitation sent to the lawmaker to attend the 2022 Asogli Yam Festival.

There are wide spread reports that the Paramount Chief of the Asogli State, Togbe Afede allegedly rejected Mr Agyapongs gifts at the durbar grounds.

Explaining what transpired in a statement, the secretary to the Asogli State Council, Stephen Tetteh, said Mr Agyapong requested through his representatives for an invitation to attend the Yam festival.

However, the Asogli State Council disapproved of it because of several loose comments and utterances he made which the council viewed as unbecoming of an honorable member of Ghanas parliament.

Mr Tetteh said in view of this he takes responsibility for the administrative lapse which resulted in sending of an invitation letter to Mr Agyapong and has, thus, apologised to Mr Agyapong and the Asogli State Council.

Source: Classfmonline.com
12.09.2022 LISTEN

Ghanaians have been urged to sympathise with the Akufo-Addo-led government over current economic crises being experienced locally and globally.

Mr. Effah Ameyaw, Ghana National Council of Chicago and Midwest in the US disclosed this to Ohene Amoako (The Flag bearer) on Homebase TV's 'Delivering On Our Promises' political show.

According to the US resident, the effect of COVID-19 and the impact of the Russian-Ukraine war have negatively affected world economies.

He revealed that homelessness in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic to the beginning of this year increased by 20%, according to the US Department of Housing.

He indicated many people who could not afford their house rent were forced to relocate to the Department of Housing for shelter as they were ejected by property owners.

On the Russian-Ukraine war, Mr. Ameyaw explained that it has delved a heavy blow on livelihoods as prices of goods and services have increased astronomically.

"Due to the war, prices of goods have gone up because sellers factor cost of transportation in pricing them. And I must say it has really affected many people," he stated.

He complained of buying gas at $45-50 dollars as compared to the $24 dollars before the Russian-Ukraine war struct.

The Host, Ohene Amoako also assured Ghanaians that the IMF bailout will help deal with most of the economic challenges.

He further urges Ghanaians to support policies and measures of Government to deliver them from the economic hardship.
The Vice President of Ghana, H.E Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has travelled to Nairobi, Kenya, where he is set to attend the swearing-in ceremony of new President William Ruto.

William Ruto, age 55, was announced the winner of the election on August 15 by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

Although the result of the election was challenged in Kenyas Supreme Court, the result was upheld last week after a three-day hearing to pave way for the swearing-in of the new president.

Ahead of the ceremony to be held on Tuesday, September 13, Ghanas Vice President has travelled to Kenya to attend as a special guest.

Dr. Bawumia is accompanied by the 2nd Lady, Samira Bawumia, Thomas Mbomba, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, and other senior government officials.

Already, the Vice President in a Tweet has extended his best wishes to the Kenya President-elect, praying that his steps will be guided by God for a successful tenure.

I congratulate Vice President of the Republic of Kenya, Williams Ruto on being affirmed by the Supreme Court of Kenya as the President-elect of the country.

All the best as you take over the baton to serve your beloved Kenya. May God continue to guide your steps, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia posted on September 5.
Samuel Koku Anyidoho, the founder and CEO of the Atta Mills Institute, has slammed Mr. John Dramani Mahama, the 2020 NDC Presidential candidate for planning to contest again.

He said Mr Mahama was sworn in as president on two different occasions.

Having been sworn in on July 12, after the sudden demise of President Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, and subsequently on January 7, 2013 after the general elections, Anyidoho believes a third one would be a breach of the 1992 Constitution.

In a tweet on Sunday, September 11, spotted by Modernghana News, the former NDC deputy general secretary is asking if the Constitution can still allow Mr. Mahama a third chance.

Is the 1992 Constitution not very explicit that if a person is President on 2 occasions, that person is NOT eligible to become President again? So, if I am sworn in as President on July 24th, 2012 & January 7th, 2013, will the spirit of the Nation allow me a 3rd time? Hmm! he tweeted.
Werley Nortreus, a Haitian politician and a current candidate says Haiti needs new faces in Haitian politics. Many people think that young leaders should be involved in the country's politics to make their contributions to society in order to help the country develop and escape from its miserable situation.

Werley, who is a young leader in Haiti's politics, and new too, think that the new President of the country must be a new person on the political scene. The new President must not be the same leaders who have already come to power.

He stated that the new constitution approved by former President Jovenel Moise must be an opportunity for young leaders to participate in the country's politics so that a new figure on the political scene can be elected President.

It makes more sense if the new President is a new person in politics. Werley states that the new constitution is not something that people should ignore or take for granted because the future of the country must depend on it.

For some years now, Haiti has been enduring a political crisis that has left the country unable to function normally. Insecurity, kidnappings, and gang violence have put the country in a critical state. Even after the death of the former President, insecurity, kidnappings, and gang violence continue.

Many Haitians continue to take boats to other countries, but because they enter other countries illegally, they are deported by the authorities. In the past months, gunmen killed thousands of residents in some areas across the Capital. Insecurity, kidnappings, and gang violence continue, and Haitian authorities are powerless in this situation.

The new President of the country must be a new face on the political scene because it will make more sense instead of electing leaders who have already been elected to power. I think the future of the country is based on the new constitution approved by the former President. The new constitution is not something that Haitians and foreign communities should ignore or take for granted. I think young leaders must have their seats on the political scene as well. The new President must be a new face and competent too. This is more serious than people think, and it's not a fairytale, says Werley about the new constitution and the country's future.

The new president must be a new political figure because the country's former President has given current Prime Minister Ariel Henry a job to secure the country and hold elections on the new constitution he approved.

This means that the new Head of State who will replace the former President must be elected either by-election fairly or otherwise legally.
Ghanaian actress, model and pharmacist, Ruth Nutifafa Bosomprah, popularly known as Ruthy Nutifafa, over the weekend, donated assorted items worth GH5000 to Teshie Childrens Home in Accra.

The items include bags of rice, gallons of cooking oil, flour, noodles, soap, tissue, bottle water, beverages, toiletries and other confectionaries to support the children at the orphanages to give them a feel of her birthday.

Ruthy Nutifafa said the gesture was a token of her own effort to improve the conditions of those in need, adding that the children are special who deserves every support, and so if God blesses you, you help the less privileged.

She further observed that she decided to celebrate her birthday with less privileged children in the home in order to put smiles on their faces

This year, I wanted to celebrate my birthday with the disadvantaged and vulnerable people in the society, giving them hope in the face of hopelessness. I am here to help not only orphanages but groups and individuals who are in need, she added.

Ruthy Nutifafa further expressed optimism that the relationship that has been established will not be a one-off engagement.

Responding, the Administrator for the Teshie Childrens Home, Moses Lamptey, expressed appreciation to the actress for the kind gesture, saying the items would impact the lives of the children in the home.

Together with the children and caretakers of this orphanage, we say a very big thank you and may God bless you in more ways than one, he added.

Mr Lamptey also called on Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and other philanthropists to support the Orphanage financially to make life more dignifying and comfortable for the children.
The National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) and Kintampo College of Education, a branch of the Tertiary Students' Confederacy of the NPP (TESCON) in good standing have honoured the wife of the majority leader and CEO of Sompahemaa Foundation for her massive contribution and support towards their respective association.

Presenting the awards to the industrious and visionary woman by Mr Kwasi Owusu Frimpong, the then Committee Chairman for the NUGS Health Committee and immediate past TESCON president for CoHK showed their appreciation to Majority Leader's wife for always coming to their aid in times of difficulty as an association when they call on her.

Mr Frimpong recounted when the NUGS Health Committee needed resources and finance to undertake health screenings at the Bantama Market. He added that at a point where all means for support had proved futile, Mrs Irene Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu came to their aid and supported them enormously.

Sompahemaa Papabi Mrs Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu expressed her gratitude to both NUGS and CoHK TESCON for the honour bestowed upon her.

Below is the inscription on the CoHK TESCON Citation:

TESCON CoHK is extremely grateful for your selflessness and dedication toward the development of members in the College Of Health and Wellbeing, Kintampo.

You have demonstrated this through the unflinching support given to us during all our activities in the college.

We the executives of TESCON COHK wish to thank you for the good work you are doing and admonish you to keep up the good work as together we hope to contribute to the advancement of the TESCON members in the College and Beyond.

God richly bless you

Ayekoo
The 2020 presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama has assured that all projects in the Volta Region abandoned by President Akufo-Addos administration will be completed in his next government.

Speaking at the grand durbar to mark the climax of the Asogli Yam Festival in Ho over the weekend, the former President accused the current government of forcing contractors to stop work on some projects he started.

He assured that if the people of the Volta Region vote for the NDC in the 2024 general elections, all abandoned and uncompleted projects will be done.

Projects started by the NDC have been abandoned and others that are to be completed in the region are being done at a slow pace. For some of the projects, this government asked contractors to stop work.

But I make a commitment of the NDC that, God willing and thanks to your votes in 2025, all these projects will be resumed, John Dramani Mahama stressed.

In his address, the former President also accused President Akufo-Addos government of losing control over the fight against corruption.

He said the revelations in the Auditor Generals report are an indication of how corruption has been institutionalised under the current administration.

The NPP government has completely lost control of the fight against corruption. President Akufo-Addo in his inaugural address promised to protect the purse.

Today, that public purse cannot be found. Revelations in the Auditor General report for 2021 are only a microcosm of the seeming institutionalisation of corruption under this administration.

I am using this festival to draw attention to this important national issue that requires the support of all citizens. Economic difficulties in the country are unbearable, former President John Dramani Mahama indicated.
Hon. Naana Eyiah, Member of Parliament for Gomoa Central and a Deputy Minister for Interior

12.09.2022 LISTEN

Member of Parliament for Gomoa Central and a Deputy Minister for Interior, Hon. Naana Eyiah has bemoaned the high rate of teenage pregnancies in her constituency.

"It saddens my heart to say that Gomoa Central is becoming a hub for teenage pregnancies, a situation which was alien to us in this constituency.

"Let all come together in unison to fight this menace which could ruin the lives of our future leaders especially the Girl-child. As a mother, am doing everything possible to reduce it, if not total eradication because it is a concern to all of us in the constituency," he stated.

Hon. Naana Eyiah said this when she commissioned an ICT center for the local Basic School, and a market complex for Gomoa Manso to enhance effective teaching and learning and also boost the local economy respectively.

She used the occasion to appeal to parents to show concern about the movement of their children especially the young girls.

"We all know women play important role in our family setup and so we must do everything possible to encourage them to further their education because that is the best way to detach from economic related hardships.

"His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo-led NPP Government has put in place pro-poor policies that has lessened financial burdens on parents. The Free SHS for example has come to reduce the financial stress parents go through in an attempt to seek admission for their children. This intervention is a God-sent and we must take advantage of it," Hon. Naana Eyiah stated.

The commissioning of the two projects was part of programmes and activities to climax the annual Akwambo festival of the Chiefs and people at Gomoa Manso last Saturday.

The Member of Parliament reiterated the commitment of the NPP Government to community development adding that the national cake was being shared equally for all communities across the nation.

"As a Member of Parliament, am collaborating with Gomoa Central District Assembly, Nananom, Assembly Members and NPP Constituency Executives to provide the needed social amenities in every community. We need your prayers and support for President Akufo Addo and the NPP Government. Rally behind us to fully implement programmes and policies to facilitate national development."

The Gomoa Central District Chief Executive, Hon Benjamin Kojo Otoo noted that the Assembly with support from the Gomoa Ajumako Traditional Council led by Obrempong Nyanful Krampah XI was implementing bye-laws especially on education to strictly check the movement of school-going children during occasions like funerals, weddings, festivals and other outdoor activities that sweep into the night.

The Gomoa Central DCE confirmed that the district leads in the teenage pregnancy league table in the Central Region describing it as an eyesore and unfortunate situation.

He added his voice to the call on parents to keep their eyes on their children. Hon. Benjamin Kojo Otoo also lamented the use of hard drugs among the youth in the district.

"Gomoa Central is a very peaceful District and we won't allow few people to tarnish its image through the use of hard drugs and other anti-social activities."

In his welcome address, the Chief of Gomoa Manso, Nana Okyeadzi Dontoh IX made a passionate appeal to the Member of Parliament and the DCE to as a matter of urgency renovate the local basic school building which he said was in a deplorable state.

He noted that the roof leaks badly thus affecting teaching and learning. Nana Okyeadzi Dontoh IX expressed hope the reroofing would be done as early as possible.

The Chief, who is also the Obaatan of the Gomoa Ajumako Traditional Area assured that he and his Nananom will join the crusade against teenage pregnancies, hard drugs abuse and other social vices in the community.

Later in an interview, the Presiding Member of Gomoa Central District Assembly, Hon. Kweku Nyarko Koomson disclosed that Assembly Members have been tasked to ensure full implementation of the Assembly's bye-laws on education to reduce teenage pregnancies in their various electoral areas.

"I have directed that no social outdoor activities apart from that of Nananom should travel deep into the night. This and other measures have been put in place to improve the academic standards in Gomoa Central," Hon. Kweku Nyarko Koomson emphasised.
Nairobi, 12 September, 2022  Nairobi-based pan African Investment and Credit Risks solutions provider, African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Ghana for the roll out of the Regional Liquidity Support Facility (RLSF).

This is in line with the countrys mission to promote access to reliable, clean, and affordable electricity.

The RLSF, a joint initiative of ATI, the KfW Development Bank and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), is a financial product that is designed to address the short term liquidity risks faced by small and medium sized Independent Power Producers (IPPs) that sell electricity to state owned power utilities  improving bankability and helping such projects reach financial close.

The signing of the MoU has come at an opportune time when the demand for energy in Ghana is increasing by 10% per year, coupled with the countrys focus on expanding the contribution of renewable energy sources towards the countrys energy mix. Thanks to the MoU, IPPs in Ghana will benefit from RLSF which was not only created to help tackle climate change and attract investments by supporting renewable energy projects in ATIs member countries, but also to protect the IPPs against the risk of delayed payments by public offtakers, the company said in a statement.

Ghana has one of Africas highest rates of access to electricity at 86.63 percent with 74 percent of rural residents and 95 percent of urban residents connected to the electricity grid.

Ghana also exports excess power to the neighboring countries of Benin, Burkina Faso and Togo. Additionally, the country, which currently has a total installed capacity of over 5,300 MW - aspires to industrialize, modernize its agriculture, and provide economic opportunities for its growing population. However, one of the key constraints to this vision is access to reliable and cost-efficient electric power, and the sectors current financial deficit. RLSF will therefore be available to relieve the financial burden of the national utility, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), which is often asked to provide collateral for similar liquidity instruments under power purchase agreements.

Ghana is the ninth ATI Member State to have signed the RLSF MoU - joining Benin, Burundi, Cote d'Ivoire, Madagascar, Malawi, Togo, Uganda and Zambia.
Ukrainian armed forces early on Monday claimed to have recaptured more than 20 settlements in the regions of Donetsk and Kharkiv over the past 24 hours following a major counter-offensive against units of the Russian army. Moscow has issued no response to the Ukrainian claims.

"In the past 24 hours, Ukrainian armed forces drove the enemy away from more than 20 settlements" and are regaining "full control over them", the Ukrainian army said in its daily briefing.

"In their retreat, Russian troops are hastily abandoning their positions and fleeing," the army statement added.

Over the weekend, Ukraine claimed sweeping successes against Russia in the south and the east, including the cities of Izyum, Kupiansk and Balakliya.

On Sunday night, regions in eastern Ukraine saw widespread electricity blackouts after strikes described by Kyiv foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko as an "act of desperation following Russia's immense losses and retreat in eastern Ukraine".

There was "a total blackout in the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, a partial one in the Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions", Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his daily address on Sunday.

Power was quickly restored in most places.

In the Kharkiv region 80 percent of the water and electricity supply had been restored on Monday morning, according to the Ukrainian president's office.

Ukraine's nuclear energy agency also said on Sunday that the final reactor at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe's largest nuclear power station, was shut off as a safety measure.

Russia unable to position reinforcements

The success of Ukrainian forces in pushing Russian troops out of the Kharkiv region will have "significant implications for Russia's overall operational design, according to the UK Ministry of Defence, and for the morale of its soldiers on the ground.

"The majority of the force in Ukraine is highly likely being forced to prioritise emergency defensive actions," the London-based ministry said in a Twitter post on Monday morning.

"The already limited trust deployed troops have in Russia's senior military leadership is likely to deteriorate further."

Moscow has probably ordered the withdrawal of its troops from the whole of the occupied Kharkiv region west of the Oskil river, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.

The ministry suggests Russia could be struggling to bring sufficient reinforcements across the Dnipro river to the front line on the west bank of the river near Kherson.

"An improvised floating bridge Russia started over two weeks ago remains incomplete," the MoD says. "Ukrainian long-range artillery is now hitting crossings of the Dnipro so frequently that Russia cannot carry out repairs to damaged road bridges."
12.09.2022 LISTEN

Much water has passed under the bridge since President Ogwanfunus shocking and humiliating defeat at the hands of then Candidate Nana Dee. We all saw how Candidate Nana Dee gave President Ogwanfunu devastating punches, which sent him crushing to the canvass. He left the electoral ring with a battered face and an uninspiring mouth-twisting e dey be keke.

One could liken the Ogwanfunu-Nana Dee contest to the first Dogboe-Navarrete fight. With no intention to lampoon Dogboe, we all saw how Navarrete gave him a very sound beating. Champion Dogboe was practically clueless as he received devastating punches, which ended up disfiguring his face.

Though Dogboe and his father, who doubled as his trainer, accepted defeat, they gave the excuse that Dogboe underrated his opponent. A very defiant Dogboe insisted that a better preparation could guarantee him a win in the second fight. With an uninspiring NEHO chant, he left the ring with a puffy face hoping for a successful comeback.

I watched the fight over and over again to convince myself that indeed Isaac Dogboe had underrated his Mexican opponent. But the more I reviewed the fight, the more I realised that Dogboe would regret if he went for a return fight.

The much-anticipated and much-talked about rematch took place some five months later. While Dogboe tried to inspire hope in his compatriots, many were those who knew the outcome wasnt going to be any different from the first.  

We all saw the outcome, didnt we? Unlike the first, Dogboe could not finish the fight as he was beaten courtesy to a technical knockout (TKO). The defiant NEHO chanter was once again on the losing end.

A similar scenario played out in the Ogwanfunu-Nana Dee contests. After receiving a merciless beating at the hands of Candidate Nana Dee, President Ogwanfunu resorted to drinking the infamous Onaapo Bitters to aid the healing process.

Indeed, the bitters worked wonders as it helped the puffy-looking Ogwanfunu to lose weight, thereby helping in his speedy recovery. But the potions main side effect is that it serves as a hallucinogen, thereby making users hallucinate. In the case of President Ogwanfunu, it kept him in a state of denial as he struggled to come to terms with his embarrassing 2016 defeat.  

It was, therefore, not surprising that he tried in vain to ride on the back of the irresponsible hacking comments by Referee Charlotte Osei to discredit the 2016 polls. But we knew better because the electronic transmission of results was not the main mode used for the 2016 polls. The mode used was the manual transmission system. So, unless a person was under the influence of a hallucinogen, it made no sense talking about hacking a manual transmission system.

Just like the Dogboe-Navarrete fight, a rematch did not yield a different outcome between President Nana Dee and Mr. Dead-Goat in 2020. He received another merciless beating at the hands of President Nana Dee. Once again, the infamous Onaapo Bitters came to the rescue, but not without its side effect.

His hallucinatory target,  this time, was Jean Adukwei Mensa, the chair of the countrys Electoral Commission (EC). He rejected the presidential result and contested it in the Supreme Court (SC) with no evidence to support his claim. The SC threw away his application, and the judiciary has since become his number one enemy. No wonder he uses the least opportunity to attack the Justices of the SC.

From his utterances, it is obvious Mr. Dead-Goat seeks to resurrect in 2024. But his corruption baggage and lack of candour on the countrys current economic situation could be his nemesis. On international platforms, he accepts the theory that the dreaded COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war have had a debilitating effect on many economies including Asomdwekrom; but quickly makes a U-turn and accuses the Nana Dee administration of bad governance when speaking to the local media.

Yes, times are hard. But many of us know it could have been worse if Mr. Dead-Goat had been in-charge. Indeed, evidence shows that he did a very bad job at managing the economy even without external shocks.

It is worth noting that Dogboe has recovered from his two losses to Navarrette and gone ahead to win his subsequent fights, but yet to win another title. Mr. Dead-Goat might have recovered from his second loss to President Nana Dee, but can he resurrect in 2024?

Frankly, I cannot tell. But I have a hunch Dogboe winning a world title before December 2024 may spell a good fortune for Mr. Dead-Goat. In my minds eye, I see their destinies intertwined like that of Siamese twins. Time will definitely prove me right or otherwise!

See you next week for another interesting konkonsa, Deo volente!
The Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu Constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has added to calls for an independent enquiry into Aisha Huangs illegal activities in the country.

The popular Chinese illegal miner has been arrested in the country for her alleged involvement in galamsey and trading of minerals without a license, an act she was found guilty of and deported to her home country in 2018.

With many shocked by her return to the country, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has said investigations have revealed that Aisha Huang was not physically handed over to relevant or competent Chinese authorities when she allegedly landed in China which is inconsistent with deportation protocols.

The Ghanaian lawmaker wants Ghana to immediately begin a full-scale independent enquiry to find the accomplices of the Chinese galamsey queen for sanctions.

The morbid fear of Aisha Huang by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government cannot be opportunistically blamed on others. When Tanzania jailed Chinese Ivory Queen, Yang Fenglan in February 2019 for 15 years, it didnt and hasnt affected cordial China-Tanzania bilateral relations.

Ghana needs an immediate full-scale independent enquiry to unravel this mystery and to identify Aisha Huangs collaborators in high places for swift sanctions, Samuel Okudzeto ABlakwa has said in a post on Facebook.
Authorities at the St. Hubert Seminary Senior High School in Kumasi are calling on government to as a matter of urgency address structural defects associated with a recently completed 12-unit classroom block, which poses serious danger to students and teachers.

Established in 1970, St. Hubert Seminary Senior High School, which was run by the Catholic Church since its inception, was absorbed by the government in 2005 and has since been under the management of the Ghana Education Service.

Citi News sources in the school say despite the numerous infrastructural challenges facing the school, no infrastructural projects were initiated until 2014.

The school heaved a sigh of relief when the construction of a 12-unit classroom block and a dormitory project began in 2014.

Their excitement was however short-lived as the dormitory project was abandoned in 2016 and the contractors handed over the 12-unit classroom block project for use the same year.

Shortly after using the newly completed classroom block, the students and teachers realized some parts of the building were falling off, and they fear it could collapse any time soon.

Visible cracks have developed in the building. The headmaster of the school, Eric Kyei tells Citi News, experts have advised them to stop using the facility but due to the infrastructural deficit facing the school, they have been compelled to use part of the building and have cordoned off some parts.

According to the headmaster, several reports have been sent to relevant authorities but no action has been taken.

The schools board at its last meeting resolved that henceforth, it will not admit form one students until the infrastructural challenge is addressed. The schools current population stands at 1650.

It is a 12-unit classroom block which can take about 500 students at a go. But because of its structural defects, we cant use all. At the moment, we are using about seven classrooms. Even the seven that we are using, we are risking the lives of the students in the sense that, anything at all can happen. When you walk on it, you will feel that there are some problems and for this reason, we are appealing that stakeholders should come to our aid and build a new 12 unit classroom block so we pull all the students out and leave this block. As at now, there is nothing that we can do because we have nowhere to put the students. So the classrooms that we are using, its risky and weve been advised by the board and also the minister (of education) that we should take all the students out. For this reason, the board has even advised that, during the next admission, if nothing is done, we shouldnt admit students, the headmaster of the school stated.

He tells Citi News the schools authorities have over the years written a lot of letters to the relevant authorities on the issue but the situation remains the same.

I came here in 2019. When I came, my predecessors had already written letters to the minister. A lot of letters have been written to Accra, weve been to the regional but as we speak, nothing has been done, the headmaster, Eric Kyei added.

The headmaster has also been highlighting other infrastructural challenges facing the school which he wants addressed.

The main challenge with infrastructure is that we have problems with classrooms, then dormitory and staff bungalow (staff accommodation). At the moment, we have only four teachers staying on campus plus two assistants and Reverend Fathers. So, we dont have staff accommodation. Even the headmaster doesnt have accommodation. I stay outside. In addition to this, the dinning hall is too small. Apart from that, we have challenges with sanitation in terms of toilet facilities and also, we have a problem with water systems. With all these challenges, we need assistance so that we can have a smooth running of the school.

The Headmaster made these remarks when the mayor of Kumasi visited the school.

The mayor, Samuel Pyne attributed the structural defects on the 12 unit classroom block to poor work done by the contractor.

He however tells Citi News that his outfit will work to ensure the matter is given the necessary attention it deserves.

citinewsroom
Member of Parliament for the North Tongu constituency, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has alleged that galamsey queen Aisha Huang was not escorted during her supposed deportation.

It has emerged that Aisha Huang was not escorted during her supposed deportation as international standard practice requires during such high profile deportations, the opposition lawmaker said in a Facebook post on Monday, 12 September 2022.

Mr Ablakwa said painstaking investigations into the Aisha Huang gate are leading to very explosive findings.

He noted that Ms Huang was not physically handed over to relevant or competent Chinese authorities when she allegedly landed in China which is inconsistent with deportation protocols.

He further noted: Chinese officials had no prior communication and were only informed by the Ghanaian government two days after Aisha Huangs so-called deportation making it difficult for her to be tracked.

There is no available credible evidence suggesting that the Chinese government at any time appealed to their Ghanaian counterparts not to prosecute Aisha Huang or making her freedom a precondition for bilateral trade relations as former Senior Minister Yaw Osafo-Maafo recklessly claimed, he stated.

The North Tongu MP indicate that the morbid fear of Aisha Huang by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government cannot be opportunistically blamed on others.

Mr Ablakwa, who had earlier called for an independent enquiry into the matter, maintained his stance to identify the galamsey queens accomplices in high places for swift sanctions.

Meanwhile, the Attorney General, Mr Godred Dame, has called for the new docket prepared on Aisha Huang with regard to the offences she is suspected to have committed recently.

This was disclosed in a tweet by the office of the AG on Tuesday, 6 September 2022.

The Attorney General has called for the new docket on En Huang a.k.a. Aisha, regarding offences she is suspected to have recently committed, the tweet said.

The AG will also re-initiate prosecution in respect of the old offences for which she was standing trial before her deportation in 2018, it added.

The AG further promised to prosecute the Chinese fully for alleged old offences.

There shall be a full prosecution for her alleged new and past offences.

The AG will also re-initiate prosecution in respect of the old offences for which she was standing trial before her deportation in 2018, it added.

The AG further promised to prosecute the Chinese fully, for alleged old offences.

There shall be a full prosecution for her alleged new and past offences.

Aisha Huang was arrested and deported for engaging in illegal mining in 2018 but has returned to the country to engage in the same crime that led to her deportation.

She was re-arrested recently and facing two charges of mining without licence and engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals without a valid licence.

Her arrest has sent social media agog as people wonder how she gained access back into the country.

Some reports suggest she smuggled herself into Ghana through neighbouring Togo and acquired a Ghana card in February 2022 with a new name, Huang En.

Source: classfmonline.com
From Kenya and Nigeria to South Africa and Uganda, Queen Elizabeth's death met with an outpouring of official condolences, mourning and memories of her frequent visits to Africa during her seven decades on the throne.

But the British monarch's passing also revived a sensitive debate over Africa's colonial past.

Her death came at a time when European countries are under pressure to reckon with their colonial histories, atoning for past crimes and returning stolen African artefacts held for years in museums from London and Paris.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta were among those expressing condolences for the loss of an "icon."

But many Africans reflected more on the tragedies from colonial times, including events that occurred in the first decade of her rule.

Kenya gained independence from Britain in 1963, after an eight-year-long rebellion that left at least 10,000 people dead.

Soldiers examine spears and poisoned arrows used in the Mau Mau revolt -- one of the bloodiest episodes in British colonial rule. By - (INTERCONTINENTALE/AFP)

Britain agreed in 2013 to compensate over 5,000 Kenyans who had suffered abuse during the Mau Mau revolt, in a deal worth nearly 20 million pounds ($23 million).

"The Queen leaves a mixed legacy of the brutal suppression of Kenyans in their own country and mutually beneficial relations," The Daily Nation, Kenya's biggest newspaper, wrote in a weekend editorial.

Elizabeth was visiting Kenya in 1952 when her father died and she became queen.

"What followed was a bloody chapter in Kenya's history, with atrocities committed against a people whose only sin was to demand independence."

"While the ties with Britain have been useful, it is difficult to forget those atrocities."

Treasures, Biafra war

As part of recent restorations for the past, Nigeria and neighbouring Benin have seen the return from Britain and France of the first of thousands of artefacts plundered during colonial times.

The Benin Bronzes are among the thousands of treasures plundered from Africa during colonial rule. By Adam BERRY (AFP)

Nigeria's so-called Benin Bronzes -- 16th to 18th century metal plaques and sculptures -- were looted from the palace of the ancient Benin Kingdom and ended up in museums across the US and Europe.

Nigeria's Buhari said the country's history "will never be complete without a chapter on Queen Elizabeth II".

While some praised her role leading up to Nigeria's independence, others pointed out she was head of state when Britain supported Nigerian army during the country's civil war.

More than one million people died between 1967-1970, mostly from starvation and disease, during the conflict after ethnic Igbo officers declared independence in the southeast.

"If anyone expects me to express anything but disdain for the monarch who supervised a government sponsored genocide...you can keep wishing upon a star," Nigerian-born US-based professor Uju Anya said, in a Twitter reference to the Biafra war that triggered fierce debate on social media.

Similar mixed reactions were expressed in South Africa, where President Cyril Ramaphosa called her an "extraordinary" figure.

But the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters or EFF movement was more dismissive, recalling decades of apartheid, in which Britain, the former coloniser, was often passive.

"We do not mourn the death of Elizabeth, because to us her death is a reminder of a very tragic period in this country and Africa's history," EFF said in a statement.

Ugandan legacy

In Uganda, some went back further, recalling the Bunyoro Kingdom's ruler Omukama Kabalega, who resisted British rule in the late 1890s.

He was deposed and exiled to the Seychelles and the kingdom was then absorbed into the British empire.

"As much as the queen was able to maintain cohesion of the former British colonies, she had not addressed adequately the injustices meted out on some of the states including Uganda," said former intelligence director and now political analyst, Charles Rwomushana.

Demonstrators in Johannesburg after the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre, when 69 black anti-apartheid protestors were shot dead by police. By - (AFP)

Last month, the Uganda Tourism Association called for a committee to lead the return of Ugandan artefacts from British and other foreign museums, including some 300 from Bunyoro, according to the parliament.

Charles Onyango-Obbo, writer and Uganda government critic, said on Twitter many long-ruling African leaders used Queen Elizabeth's 70-year reign to justify their own decades in power.

"Now that she has passed, they are scrambling to learn how to make their case convincingly in the past tense."

Mukoma Wa Ngugi, the son of Kenya's world renowned writer Ngugi wa Thiong'o and who is himself a novelist as well as an associate professor of English at Cornell University, also questioned the Queen's legacy in Africa.

"If the queen had apologised for slavery, colonialism and neocolonialism and urged the crown to offer reparations for the millions of lives taken in her/their names, then perhaps I would do the human thing and feel bad," he wrote on Tweeter.

"As a Kenyan, I feel nothing. This theater is absurd."
12.09.2022 LISTEN

Ms. Gifty Nyarko, the Chief Executive Officer of the G2 Foundation is urging government to put in additional measures to make agricultural and agribusinesses attractive to the unemployed youth and women in the country.

In her view, having more young people in the agricultural sector would help improve food security and reduce poverty among unemployed youth, particularly in the rural areas.

Ms Nyarko, who is also the Sunyani West Municipal Physical Planning Director, was speaking to journalists at Odumase near Sunyani after a week-long training programme organised by her foundation in partnership with the Environmental Dialogue Network.

It brought together 103 rural farmers made up of 73 youth and 30 adults to benefit from the smart agriculture-training programme.

Ms Nyarko said financial support in the form soft loans to young people and women was crucial to enable them start or expand their farming activities and agri-businesses.

Access

She mentioned easy access to land acquisition for agricultural purposes, affordable prices for farm inputs such as improved seedlings, fertilizers and other agrochemicals, low transport fares from farm gate and ready market for farm produce as well as available processing and storage facilities as some of the key factors that could motivate farmers and attract the youth to venture in agriculture.

Ms Nyarko said the easy access to those factors, including empowering the African youth in the smallholder farming business was the way forward to achieving food security, stall importation of consumables and increase employment opportunities.

She said the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (2022) indicated that the agricultural sector was the second largest employer in the country.

Ms Nyarko said the FAO report showed that about 52% of the labour force was engaged in agriculture, 29% in services and 19% in industry, while women contribution to the farm labour force was 39 per cent.

She observed that despite various interventions by the government in recent years to improve agri-businesses, agricultural land keeps losing its size to residential development.

The phenomenon, Ms Nyarko said, was culminating in difficult access to land for agricultural purposes coupled with global climate change and other menaces gradually engulfing the nation that could cause severe food scarcity.

Although there is high rate of urbanization, the global environment cannot do without food, hence, a crucial need to zone some lands for agriculture purposes to avert the situation of food insecurity in the country, she said.

On the contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), she said the FAO indicated that the agricultural sector contributes 54 per cent to Ghana's GDP and accounts for over 40 per cent of export earnings while at the same time providing over 90 per cent of the food needs of the country.

Ms Nyarko said the Statistics Research and Information Directorate (SRID) of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) in 2020 also reported that employment in the agricultural sector was estimated to be more than 38.3%, with the services and industry sectors accounting for 43.5% and 18.2% respectively.

Planting for Food and Jobs

Ms Nyarko reiterated the need for smart agriculture knowledge and modernization techniques in smallholder farming and agricultural business as other possible ways to improve homegrown food systems in Ghana and Africa in general.

She said the government of Ghana in 2017 launched the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJs) project under which there were modules outlined to improve the food system and employment opportunities in the country.

Ms Nyarko said in Bono region, what was conspicuously missing in the outcome of the policies was the active involvement of the targeted number of young people and women in the sector.

She explained that beneficiaries under the food crops module in the first year of the project (2017) were 20,812 with only 8,681 females against 12,131 males.

Ms Nyarko said under the same food crops module in 2018, 11,361 females benefited from the programme against 40,836 males, totaling 52,197 beneficiaries that year, adding that the female representation kept decreasing with 21,760 female beneficiaries in 2019 out of a total 68,551 made up of 46,791 males.

She said in 2020, data was not an exception, as a total of 105,191 were the beneficiaries under the same food crops module with 72,172 males and a few 33,019 females and in 2021, there were a total of 38,603 beneficiaries of the programme made up of 27,695 males and 10,908 females.

Ms Nyarko therefore called for enhanced government and community support systems for families, farmers' cooperatives, smallholder farmers and youth as means to increase homegrown food systems to avert the situation of severe food shortage.
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12.09.2022 LISTEN

REAL MEN CRY

Before James Brown sang " It's a Man's Man's Man's World", a large majority of cultures of the world have always been patriarchies.It is seemingly a man's world,but I think men tend to leave it earlier for women to control.

This weekend has been marked by an avalanche of activities and buzz on social media connoting the expiry of the Queen of England.Condolences have poured in from far and near and deferring opinions have flared on social media and more.

One of Voltaire's sayings goes "we owe respect to the living; to the dead, we owe only the truth. This is a sharp contrast to our realities here in Ghana,I am even tempted to say Africa.We refrain from dishonoring the dead and rather celebrate them irrespective of how questionable their character may have be.

Nigerian Prof.Uju Anya received a lot backlash for her opinion about the late Queen Elizabeth.Some people were equally receptive of her position.Seeing the Queen as complicit in the UK's role in slave trade and the aftermath.The wars,brutalities,the excesses.How they have lived off Africa's resources,building themselves a kingdom,a fortune and an "eldorado" in comparison to the realities of most African territories they colonized.This is a big subject l on its own that I intend shelving but I am beginning to have the opinion that,this

draconian experience of slavery and colonialism left Africans with a lot of traumas and complexes (Inferiority Complex and also the Stockholm Syndrome).

These may be the reason why we may proudly start hanging the late Queen of England on our walls,cry profusely about her demise,name streets and monuments in remembrance of her but we want nothing to do with our ancestors.We still find our ancestors who fought "intruders" that came to oppress us unworthy of our respect and love.Europeanized,we think they are of the devil and everything connected to them is ungodly.

I have deduced from the Bible that Adam and Eve's primary responsibility was supervision and maintenance of what was created.These and many more our ancestors have done prior to the coming of the slaveships and the bible.The customs and traditions we have discarded today were never in contravention with the laws of nature.They only preserved and multiplied what the creator gave with so much sacredness attached.

If you have been thinking our ancestors are burning in "hell" ,you may be disappointed.They have honored the creator and have been responsible and accountable.What is more important to the creator than his/her creation?

As much as bitterness about the past may not be helpful, our lack of reverence for our ancestors and the bubbling love for our oppressors,I believe is a mix of Inferiority Complex and Stockholm Syndrome.I hope we are healed of these traumas we live with as Africans.

I have also seen videos of the gold reserves of the UK,haven't you? I nurse the wish that at least 10% of it is returned to where most of it was looted from as we await our reparations.Yes,the Gold Coast of yesterday and the Ghana of today.

Although,the UK has a life expectancy of about 78.6 years for males and 82.6 years for females,Queen Elizabeth has indeed lived a long life.In Ghana figures are about 63.7 years for males and 69.2 years for females.In the USA the figures are 76.1 years for Male and 81.1 years for females.From the numbers women tend to have more longevity than men. Don't you agree?

There is a common assertion that women are more emotional than men are.At least it is very believable at this part of the world.As Ghanaians our culture bars men from being emotionally expressive.It is demeaning for men to cry or openly express their love in our society.These are signs of weakness on the scales of our society.Education has not yet succeeded in helping us unlearn this.

Women tend to cry more often than men generally and a study suggests that women have 60% more of the hormone prolactin compared to men and this hormone stimulates tears in both sexes.Crying comes with many advantages which include relieving us of emotional stress.Emotional stress may cause changes in our body and affect our overall health.Times have become hard and has brought so much stress to many.Crying may be useful in getting a relief from emotional stress and this comes to our women easily whiles many Ghanaian men bottle up their emotions to show strength and masculinity.This may have dire long term consequences on the health of some men.

As African men,it is about time we start crying too even if in secrecy.Just like smiling ,we may add some days,weeks,months or even years to our lifespan.There is no shame in crying.Even Jesus Christ wept,and Christians will confirm this.Prophet Muhammad also cried profusely when he visited his mothers grave.Men it is our time to cry,hahaha. Long live Ghana.

Dumenu Charles Selorm
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has cleared the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to continue the auction of state vehicles and other goods.

On August 19, the Special Prosecutor directed the Commissioner of the Customs Division of Ghana Revenue Authority to halt and discontinue all auction sales in aid of facilitating investigation into suspected corruption and corruption-related offences in respect of auction sales of vehicles and other goods by the Customs Division between 1 July 2016 and 15 August 2022.

After several weeks, the OSP has issued a press release indicating that auctioning can resume.

It has however cautioned the Custom Division and its officers to ensure that it does so with strict compliance with legal requirements, especially the provisions of the Customs Act, 2015 (Act 891).

The Customs Division may commence auction sales of vehicles and other goods from Monday 12 September 2022.

The auction sales should be conducted strictly in accordance with legal requirements, especially the provisions of the Customs Act, 2015 (Act 891).

The Customs Division should cooperate and work closely with authorised officers of the Office of the Special Prosecutor in respect of the investigation and the conduct of auction sales, parts of the release from the OSP signed by Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng has said.

Below is a copy of the release from the OSP:
12.09.2022 LISTEN

A former General Secretary of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Kwabena Agyepong, is calling for a freeze on the mining of minerals in Ghana if they cannot be used profitably for the country.

In his view, Ghana can take a cue from Angola and put a freeze on mining then go back to the drawing board and think of how best to mine to inure to the benefit of the citizenry.

His comment comes on the back of recent conversations about illegal mining and its devastating effects on the countrys water bodies and forest reserves.

Making a point on the Class Morning Show on Class91.3FM on Monday, 12 September 2022, on unemployment in the country, Mr Agyepong said mining, for example, has not benefited the ordinary Ghanaian.

Look at the extractive industry, its something Ive spoken about; if we know we cant really mine our resources profitably for the Ghanaian to feel it, then we better keep it in the ground.

He said: Angola did it for some time, so, we put a freeze on the mine and try and sanitise the atmosphere, the environment; maybe the younger generation will be sharper, smarter and more nationalistic.

The Akufo-Addo government has been fighting illegal mining but the canker lingers.

Dwellers in mining communities continue to live in poverty as multi-national companies extract the minerals and export them.

Recently, a Chinese woman nick-named the galamsey queen, Aisha Huang, was busted for being neck-deep in the galamsey business.

She had been deported for the same crime in 2018 but managed to sneak into the country to engage in the same business.

Apart from her, other Chinese nationals and their Ghanaian collaborators have been and still being arrested for engaging in galamsey, which has destroyed the countrys water bodies.

Source: Classfmonline.com
Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame has raised concerns over what he describes as unjustified attacks on Ghana's Judiciary recently by former President John Dramani Mahama.

Mr. Dame says the unwarranted utterances dent the image of the judiciary, a development that threatens the peace and well-being of the country.

It was a great dismay and embarrassment that, I heard a person who has occupied the highest office of state that is the former President recently launched an unwarranted attack on the integrity of Ghanas Judiciary. I observe that, this was the latest instalment of systematic attack by the former President, albeit unjustified.

The Attorney General who was addressing lawyers at the Ghana Bar Association Annual Conference in Ho said well-meaning Ghanaians ought to call out the former president, lest his conduct derails Ghana's democratic growth.

I am compelled to comment on same in this address because they border on the security of the state and constitute a deliberate pattern of conduct aimed at undermining the independence of the Judiciary, an arm of government whose autonomy is crucial to its proper functioning.

Such conduct is clearly deplorable, coming from one who has occupied the highest office of President and aspires again to that office. At this moment, it is important for all to note that I express this sentiment not because I stand in opposition to former President Mahama as a politician, Mr. Dame said.

Recently, John Dramani Mahama called for a change in the leadership of the country's judiciary to repair what he describes as its broken image.

Mr. Mahama stated, the current state of the judiciary has sunk so low that it has lost the trust and faith of the ordinary person.

So badly has the image of our Judiciary deteriorated that many of our citizenry openly make mockery of our justice system and of our justices. The phrase 'Go to Court' is these days met with derisive laughter, instead of hope that one will truly get justice.

There is therefore the urgent need for the Ghanaian Judiciary to work to win the trust and confidence of the citizenry, and erase the widely held perception of hostility and political bias in legal proceedings at the highest courts of the land, the former President suggested.

Mr. Mahama was addressing the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Lawyers' Conference.

There, he mentioned, the current leadership of the Judiciary lacks the qualities to redeem its sunken image, hence the need for a new Chief Justice.

Unfortunately, we have no hope that the current leadership of our Judiciary can lead such a process of change. We can only hope, that a new Chief Justice will lead the process to repair the broken image that our Judiciary has acquired over the last few years.

---
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused the Egyptian government of undermining the work of environmental groups two months before the country hosts the much-anticipated UN global summit Cop27.

Some 200 nations will be at the annual Conference of the Parties in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, along with hundreds of observers and NGOs.

"The Egyptian government has imposed arbitrary funding, research, and registration obstacles that have debilitated local environmental groups, forcing some activists into exile and others to steer clear of important work," said Richard Pearshouse, HRW's environment director.

Such restrictions, HRW added, violated the rights to freedom of assembly and threatened Egypt's ability to uphold its commitments as the host of Cop27 in November.

Activists 'fearful'

The rights group said it had gotten its information after speaking to 13 activists, academics, scientists and journalists involved in climate action in Egypt.

Its sources, who remain anonymous, said activists were fearful of drawing attention to issues including industrial pollution and the military's involvement in "destructive forms of quarrying", as well as major infrastructure projects.

Critics have condemned Egypt's rights record under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 before becoming head of state the following year.

It is alleged the country holds some 60,000 political prisoners, many on charges of "spreading false news".

Despite the criticism, Egyptian authorities have pushed for the big-polluting industrialised countries to commit to helping developing African nations to tackle the impacts of climate change.
President Nana Akufo-Addo has re-asserted his determination to build the National Cathedral.

He said the national cathedral project was something dear to his government, stressing that it will be built at all cost to the glory and honour of God.

The President made the statement when he joined the family and friends of Dr. Joseph Siaw Agyepong at his late father's Service of Thanksgiving on Sunday at the Pentecost International Worship Centre (PIWC), Graceland Teshie Nungua in Accra.

While commiserating with Dr. Agyepong and his family for their loss during this difficult moment, the President encouraged him to take consolation in the fact that his late father gave birth to him to affect lives positively.

"In fact, the name Dr. Agyepong has been lost on Ghanaians. Now Zoomlion has become his [Dr. Agyepongs] household name, all thanks to his entrepreneurial skills and his passion to help transform lives in the country," he praised Dr. Siaw Agyepong.

According to President Akufo-Addo, his government will continue to support Dr. Siaw Agyepong and his JGC and any other private person who was ready to support Ghanas development efforts.

My administration will continue to create the enabling environment for private businesses to thrive so they can support the government in its development agenda, he reinforced.

Dr. Siaw Agyepong, the President averred, has a lot to offer the country, hence his government will continue to support him.

Though the economic hardships are having a toll on Ghanaians, I am very optimistic that things will get better, adding that these challenges too will pass.

He implored Ghanaians to always foster unity to bring about peace and development.

Early on, the Director of Pentecost Men's Ministry (PEMEM) and Executive Council Member of the Church of Pentecost, Reverend Vincent Anane Denteh, who gave thanksgiving service sermon, charged Christians and Ghanaians in general to carry the burdens of one another.

Carrying someones burden is not easy as it is laden with challenges but doing that fulfils the law of Christ, he said.

Preaching on the theme: Raising Burden Bearers in Our Generation, the man of God explained burden as a worrying responsibility.

He stressed that the nation, churches and families can progress if there were burden bearers.

According to the man of God, every individual has a dual purpose: one, to worship God, and; two, to serve humanity.

God created us to serve him and serve humanity. The combination of this two is not easy at all, but we must do it since it is a glorious affair, he added.

Rev. Denteh pointed out that in times of troubles and hardships, there was the need for someone to bear the burden of the people.

He, therefore, urged Christians to always build their joy on the strength of the Lord and not on what people will say.

For his part, Dr. Siaw Agyepong, on behalf of his family, used the opportunity to thank first, God for His mercies and favour upon the Agyepong family.

He also thanked in particular President Akufo-Addo and all those who have mourned with them through this short period.

Source: Classfmonline.com
The 2022 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidates in Anomabo in the Central Region of Ghana have been advised to be guided by the country's current unemployment situation and select more Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programmes.

This, according to the guidance and counselling coordinator at the Mfantseman Municipal Education Directorate in the Central Region, Jacob Essilfie Taylor, would among other things, not make the pupils find themselves wanting after completing secondary school.

Mr Taylor was addressing a section of Junior High School (JHS) finalists at a senior high school selection briefing seminar organised by Non-Governmental Organisation; Boys and Girls Club of Ghana, for the candidates in the Anomabo area.

According to him, he could not force them to choose particular programmes but only advise them to do so following a pronouncement by the finance minister that the payroll was chocked.

Our finance minister made it clear that our payroll is chocked and this is a signal to us that all of us cannot be employed by the government so what we have to do is to encourage skill training where most of our students can go into such programmes and at the end of the day there are two options; either you employ yourselves or employed by the government.

Currently, most of our students who graduate from nursing and other institutions are all looking up to the government because they don't have the skills to establish on their own so I'll entreat you all, you know as counsellors we do not force so I'm not forcing you; I'm just encouraging you to select TVET programmes so that if you're not employed by the government, you can establish your own companies and even employ others, Mr Taylor explained.

He indicated that government had as of 2021 added 139 TVET schools to the mainstream schools which had brought the total number of TVET institutions in the country to 186 and are all benefitting from the free SHS programme.

He dismissed the assertion that TVET programmes were meant for dull students, saying: those tags are false. It's never true. Infact TVET graduates now, unlike before, have a future, one can now rise through from National proficiency 1 to PhD i.e Doctor of Technology.

Mr Essilfie Taylor then took the pupils through the dos and don'ts in school placement selection.

He finally charged head teachers, teachers and counsellors to assist the finalists in the selection process.

The purpose of the seminar according to the club's executive director, Mr Isaac Kweku Quainoo, was to equip the pupils to acquaint themselves with better understanding of how schools and programmes were selected at the basic school level and also how the Computerised School Selection Placement System (CSSPS) works at the Ghana Education Service (GES).

Source: classfmonline.com
When formal apartheid ended in South Africa in 1994, several policies were introduced to address the racial and economic segregation of the past. One such policy was Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), designed mainly to facilitate an increase in black ownership across sectors.

The media was one of the sectors BEE legislation aimed to transform. Media ownership has notably transformed from no black owned media companies prior to 1994 to now substantial black ownership of South Africa's commercial media. Four of the biggest operators are black controlled and smaller operators have substantial black shareholding.

But has an increase in black media ownership led to diverse, transformed content? In a context like South Africa's racist past, has black media ownership in the democratic era led to a less racist framing of news content?

To find out, I conducted a content analysis of six newspapers from the English-language press in the period from 1994 to 2014. These were Business Day , Sowetan , Sunday Times , The Star , Sunday Independent , and Mail & Guardian . The sample of newspapers was selected to ensure that the country's diverse newspaper types and readership profiles were well represented.

My study focused on three issues that have framed democratic-era South Africa: socio-economics, labour, and black government versus big business or the white economic elite.

My fundamental finding is that a change from white ownership to considerable black ownership through BEE did not significantly transform historical racist tropes (over-used themes and cliches) of blackness in South Africa's newspaper content. Coverage was laden with racist assumptions about blackness and black people  as deviants, disorderly, criminals, lawless, incompetent, the damned, or excessively violent in stories about black protesters, black labour and black leadership's misdemeanours.

It is imperative that the modern South African media become a transformer of historical racist ideologies. Racism of various kinds and in different societal spaces can only be disrupted or ended if South Africa's media stops perpetuating past racism.

Inferential racism

The racism I identified in my research is not overt. The language used isn't the sort that would invoke a shocked response from readers. Instead, it's a more subtle and naturalised form of racism embedded in news reporting that is less discussed and condemned. This is known as inferential racism , a term coined by well-known British sociologist Stuart Hall in a 1981 book on racist ideologies and the media. Inferential racism is those events or situations or statements that have racist premises inscribed in them as a set of unquestioned assumptions.

This kind of racist reporting especially flourishes in societies where racist stereotypes of black people have become internally ingrained without question or conviction. That eventually become seen as the accepted perspective and norm. It tends to go undetected and unchecked. But it enables and perpetuates racist discourses. As Hall warned :

These enable racist statements to be formulated without ever bringing into awareness the racist predicates on which the statements are grounded.

My content analysis was also performed through the decolonial lens, which is centred on the belief that there are continued operations of colonial patterns of power after the end of colonial administration referred to as coloniality . Decoloniality uses the concepts of power, knowledge and being as its organising principles of critique.

Analysing core issues

The first issue I analysed was coverage of socio-economics. This refers to reporting on poverty, inequality and unemployment. These make up the country's three-part socio-economic crisis .

Most of the socio-economic front page news was about: economics news for the elite (29%); simplistic socio-economics news as it relates to government updates (27%); sensational news with a socio-economic component (18%); and basic coverage of socio-economics news (13%). Poverty and inequality news only received 2% coverage. Notably, rural people were mostly visible as violent and voiceless protesters who cause havoc during social protests. They were hardly ever depicted positively.

The coverage of labour issues, meanwhile, was near invisible. It often demonised labourers and unions. No stories represented labour positively, while 34% of labour stories depicted labour negatively. The remainder were neutral, however in many instances these reports were missed opportunities for the press to fulfil its watchdog role and to also hold government accountable for labour injustices and issues.

Most of the coverage of labour protests showed a protest paradigm . This refers to a pattern of protest news coverage that is negative or shows disapproval. Many articles represented labour protesters in a single narrative as infuriatingly angry, lawless, disorderly, social deviants, unruly, unmannerly: the dangerous other .

Read more: How the dimensions of human inequality affect who and what we are

The third issue I analysed, black government versus big business or the white economic elite, showed a high visibility of corruption and shortcomings of black leadership. I found that the print media over-scrutinised the black elite. It overwhelmingly neglected big business which, according to Johannesburg Stock Exchange statistics , is mostly made up of the white economic elite.

A significant 45% of stories about government between 1994 and 2014 represented it negatively, compared with 3% positive coverage. Big business was represented in a mostly neutral tone. Only one story was about business corruption.

Broadly, I found that various racist assumptions undergirded the way in which black people were covered by the media. The six newspapers presented narratives of danger, incompetency and corruption. Taken together, this painted a damaging and demeaning picture of blackness in print media content.

Producer or reproducer?

The media possess incredible power. In South Africa, the media could stagnate the racial justice progress achieved by liberation movements, democratic processes and activism. Even worse, it could take the country backwards.

That's because, as Hall argued  and as my research has proved  the modern media still have the power to be producers or reproducers of racist tropes and discourses.

But there's a third role the media might play, according to Hall: the transformation of ideologies. Modern media can do this by rejecting racist tropes and disrupting the current dominant discourse. This can be done by reporting with respect, inclusion, equality and diversity.

This work was supported by The National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS).

By Prinola Govenden, Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study, University of Johannesburg
The informal sector plays an important role in the development of skills among Zimbabwe's disadvantaged groups, and should be recognised as an alternative training path for those who cannot access formal training.

Yet, training in Zimbabwe remains tied to the formal education system. To be recognised as trained, one must go through and attain passes in primary, secondary and tertiary education or training. Without this certification, one is generally not recognised as adequately trained or skilled. This is regardless of expertise or competence in a particular trade.

Formal training plays an important role in skills development in Zimbabwe, but it is has some serious limitations. For example it is expensive and most families cannot afford the high tuition fees after the government stopped tertiary education grants in 2006 and 2011 .

Moreover, tertiary institutions' entry requirements exclude learners with a poor academic record. High schools are producing far too many students whose exam results are not good enough for university or college entrance. In 2020 for example, only 24.8% of all O-level learners passed at least five subjects required to enrol into a formal training institution.

My research queries the effectiveness of such an exclusionary training. It highlights the fate of all the learners who are excluded from tertiary training for different reasons.

Skills are empowerment tools the disadvantaged can use to fight poverty and inequality. Skills enhance their chances of getting better jobs , which also improve their earning capacity and increase their self-sufficiency. This will in turn improve their food security , livelihoods and living standard.

What does the future hold for young people who are denied a chance to acquire life-changing and poverty-fighting skills? I argue that, since most of them end up in the informal sector, harnessing the training benefits of the sector can be a positive step towards addressing this uncertainty.

Zimbabwe's labour market is dominated by informal employment. In 2011, 94.5% of its employed population were working in the informal economy.

The country's formal education and training system is structured as follows:

Primary school Ordinary level Advanced level Tertiary training (such as university, technical, teacher, agricultural, vocational, nursing, professional colleges; offering certificates, diplomas and degrees)

Most learners do not proceed beyond Ordinary level. Statistics from 2019 show that only 13.5% of young people proceed to post-secondary and tertiary training. As such, while formal training is the recognised form training, only a minority access it.

Vocational skills

My research found that the informal sector plays a crucial role in the acquisition of vocational skills. These include trades such as carpentry and joinery, metal fabrication, plumbing, construction, and domestic electrical installation. Others repair electrical gadgets such as televisions, laptops, cellphones and refrigerators. Some master garment making, shoem aking, cosmetology, panel beating, spray painting and catering.

The research encountered highly skilled people who did not get formal training, but gained their expertise through participating in the informal economy. Some failed their high school exams while others could not afford college or university tuition, and sought refuge in the informal sector. After years of learning and perfecting those skills, they are equally skilled to or better than those who attended formal training.

The study involved speaking to clients most of whom expressed satisfaction with their products and services. They noted that based on their experience, there was no real difference between products made by tradespeople with formal training and those trained informally.

In addition, consumers also applauded their products, arguing that in most cases, there was little or no notable difference between products made by those informally trained and tradespeople with formal skills.

One example involved a builder who mastered construction skills through participating in informal construction work. He mastered expertise in site preparations, foundations, masonry, bricklaying, stonework, decorations, plastering, skimming, painting, renovations, tiling and others. He could also manage big construction projects like church, school and storey buildings. Had it not been for the informal sector, he would not have to mastered these skills as he had dropped out of high school. He could not qualify for tertiary training and would probably be unemployed.

This applies to many others in such trades as garment making, beauty therapy, catering and carpentry who could not get into formal training institutions, but were now highly skilled and experienced professionals.

Soft skills

People who participate in informal economy activities also acquire many soft skills necessary for both employees and entrepreneurs. These include knowledge and thinking skills, planning, objective or goal setting, basic numeracy and market research. Other skills are literacy and computer skills, networking, interpersonal communication, negotiating and bargaining, teamwork, problem solving and decision making. These skills are important on their own, but they also complement vocational skills. It is difficult for one to thrive on vocational skills alone without soft skills.

The informal economy is a rich hub from which these skills are learnt, nurtured and perfected. For example, the informal sector is a very contested space as entrepreneurs compete for business, and is also often criminalised by the law. Operating successfully in such environments requires negotiating and bargaining skills.

Moreover, the highly competitive nature of the sector makes conflicts inevitable. Entrepreneurs in the same trade often clash over clients and deals. However, because working together is unavoidable, they learn to resolve their conflicts amicably to continue working together.

Entrepreneurial skills

The informal sector is also equipping its participants with a range of entrepreneurial skills. Entrepreneurial skills in this context refer to the ability to device and exploit an idea to make income out of it.

Taking part in informal sector activities exposes actors to complex situations which require them to learn various skills. These include:

project planning and management,

delegation of work and tasks,

building relationships through networking,

time management, budgeting,

costing and pricing,

marketing and advertising,

leadership and decision making, and

customer care.

To boost their businesses it is imperative for them to be innovative and inventive, creative, identify niche markets, marketing, leadership, risk-taking skills and ability to raise, invest and manage money.

They also include the ability to be productive, hire and manage people and identify new trends and niche markets. Together with soft skills, entrepreneurial skills complement vocational skills and turn one from a mere trades-person into a complete entrepreneur.

Why it matters

Promoting the informal sector as an equally important alternative training platform as well as recognising and standardising informally acquired skills will allow skill holders to participate in the main or formal economy. They will have a chance to challenge for formal jobs and tenders in private and public sectors.

Since most of these skill holders are from disadvantaged backgrounds, recognising their skills and allowing them to participate in the formal economy will play an important role in uplifting their living skills.

Martin Magidi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

By Martin Magidi, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Cape Town
The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame has reacted to former President John Dramani Mahamas attack on the countrys justice system.

The ex-president speaking at a gathering at the NDCs Lawyers Conference on Sunday, August 28, bemoaned what he termed the growing mistrust in the justice system.

He said there is an urgent need for the Ghanaian judiciary to work towards regaining the trust of the citizenry.

There is, therefore, the urgent need for the Ghanaian Judiciary to work to win the trust and confidence of the citizenry and erase the widely held perception of hostility and political bias in legal proceedings at the highest courts of the land.

Unfortunately, we have no hope that the current leadership of our Judiciary can lead such a process of change, former president John Dramani Mahama said.

The 2020 presidential candidate of the NDC added, We can only hope, that a new Chief Justice will lead the process to repair the broken image that our Judiciary has acquired over the last few years.

Speaking at the Ghana Bar Associations Annual Conference on Monday, Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame has hit out at the former president, insisting that his attack on the judiciary was deplorable.

I am compelled to comment on same in this address because they border on the security of the state and constitute a deliberate pattern of conduct aimed at undermining the independence of the Judiciary, an arm of government whose autonomy is crucial to its proper functioning.

Such conduct is clearly deplorable, coming from one who has occupied the highest office of President and aspires again to that office. At this moment, it is important for all to note that I express this sentiment not because I stand in opposition to former President Mahama as a politician, the Minister of Justice shared.

Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame added, My dismay is founded more on the fact that I am a lawyer and every lawyer ought to be concerned about these kinds of views expressed by a political leader in this country.

According to the Attorney General, such comments by the former president should not be coming from someone who has occupied the high office of a president before.
The President of the Republic, H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has charged the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame to ensure that Aisha Huang is prosecuted to the fullest when found guilty.

The popular Chinese national is in the custody of the police for her illegal mining and trading of minerals without a license among other offences.

She was arrested after sneaking back into the country after she was deported a few years ago for similar offences.

Addressing the 2022/23 Annual General Conference of the Ghana Bar Association in the Volta Region capital city, Ho, on Monday, September 12, President Akufo-Addo said he is behind the Attorney General to prosecute Aisha Huang.

He said he expects Godfred Yeboah Dame to go after Aisha Huang as well as her collaborators and ensure they are prosecuted to the fullest when found guilty of the charged offences.

May I, learned colleagues, assure you of my full support of the Attorney General in his determination to prosecute Aisha Huang and her collaborators who apparently insist on flouting our laws against galamsey and illegal mining, President Akufo-Addo said in his address.

The President added, I expect if they are found guilty that the courts will apply the full rigour of the new amended act, Act 995, which has increased substantially the punishment for breaches of the law.

Already, Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame has requested the file of Aisha Huangs recent offences, for which she is standing trial at an Accra Circuit Court.

His office is determined to prusue the case to the latter for the Chinese galamsey kingpin to suffer the consequences of her crime if found guilty.

Aisha Huang will on Wednesday, September 14, reappear in court.
Liberian President George Weah on Monday accepted the resignations of three close allies after the United States last month accused them of corruption, the office of the presidency said Monday.

Nathaniel McGill, the former minister for Presidential Affairs who served as chief of staff to the president, Bill Twehway, who headed the National Port Authority, and Sayma Syrenius Cephus, Liberia's solicitor general and chief prosecutor have all resigned, according to two statements from the presidency.

The president suspended the men from their roles in mid-August after Washington imposed sanctions on them over corruption allegations tied to multi-million-dollar contracts and at least $1.5 million in diverted public funds.

The affair dominated headlines in Liberia for weeks and Weah had been criticised by opposition leaders and human rights groups for not dismissing them.

In letters written to the president last month, McGill and Cephus responded to the allegations, with McGill denying some accusations and decrying others as "vague".

Cephus had said he rejected and denied all accusations.

They formally tendered their resignations on Monday.

All three had on August 15 been designated by the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control "for being a foreign person who is a current government official who is responsible for or complicit in, or who has directly or indirectly engaged in, corruption."

This included the "the misappropriation of state assets, the expropriation of private assets for personal gain, corruption related to government contracts or the extraction of natural resources, or bribery."

Fighting corruption was one of Weah's major commitments before taking office in 2018, but he has struggled to fulfil his election promise.

It remains endemic, with the watchdog Transparency International ranking Liberia 136th of 180 countries in its 2021 corruption perceptions index.

The accusations came just over a year ahead of Liberia's presidential election, slated for October 10, 2023.
Uganda said on Monday it would allow a popular music festival to go ahead this month, reversing a ban imposed over claims the event promoted sex, homosexuality and drug use.

The four-day Nyege Nyege festival brings together artists from across Africa to entertain 10,000 revellers on the banks of the Nile.

Last week, Uganda's parliament banned the event for the second time since 2018, saying it "promotes a lot of immorality".

The move prompted an outcry, with Uganda's tourism minister among those warning it would have a harmful impact on the economy as the tourism industry recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic.

On Monday, Information Minister Chris Baryomunsi said the September 15-18 festival could go ahead, but would be ordered shut if there were breaches of Uganda's laws or its culture and norms.

"The clearance of the festival was after taking note of the benefits that will accrue from the festival presenting Uganda as a tourism destination of choice," Baryomunsi told AFP.

He said that under guidelines distributed to organisers, minors would not be allowed to attend and that "sex orgies and nudity are prohibited at the festival".

"Contraband, narcotic drugs, vulgar language, songs, expressions and gestures are prohibited," the minister said, warning that if there were serious breaches the police would halt the event and clear the site.

Nyege Nyege means an irresistible urge to dance in the local Luganda language, but it can have a sexual connotation in other languages in the region.

The festival was banned in 2018 by former ethics minister Simon Lokodo, a fervent Christian and outspoken homophobe, who described it as an orgy of homosexuality, nudity and drugs akin to "devil worship".

But he was forced to lift the ban barely a day later, following outrage on social media.

Uganda is notorious for its intolerance of homosexuality -- which is criminalised in the country -- and strict Christian views on sexuality in general.

In 2013 Ugandan lawmakers passed a bill that called for life in prison for people caught having gay sex, although a court later struck down the law.
The National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) has held a two day workshop at Ho, the Volta regional capital on Ghana's Voluntary National Review 2022 on Sustainable Development Goals on Thursday September 8, 2022.

The Planning Analyst Mr Charles Kofi Konglo also disclosed that Ghana made progress and achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) despite the Covid 19 pandemic.

He said Ghana was able to bridge the gender parity at kindergarten, primary as well as Junior high levels and further made strides in formal and informal education.

He also stated that the engagement was necessary since it forms part of moves the government is putting across to enhance citizens' inclusiveness regardless of physical appearance, educational level, gender among others.

Mr Charles Kofi Konglo added that they educated those at the local level about the importance of SDGs and efforts to attain them.

"We had a great improvement in the outcome of women's participation in Parliament, tackling maternal mortality, children with obesity and also a greater achievement in accessing improved electricity and drinking water.

"The government is doing everything beyond its powers regardless of any difficulties and challenges in to achieve Sustainable Development Goals with the focus on all," he stated.

He added that government's initiatives which include Planting for Food and Jobs, Planting for Export and Rural Development, Review of Person with Disability Act,2006(Act 715), Inclusive and Special Education among others are pushing the nation forward.

Mrs Winifred Asare, a member of the Implementation Coordination Committee in her address stated that the government is ensuring the implementation of SDG in all areas which require all to partake in the process for the targeted goal to be achieved.

She urged all Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies within the region to help ensure citizens' participation in the Sustainable Development Goals.
Sammy Gyamfi, the National Communications Director, National Democratic Congress (NDC) has slammed the Attorney General and Minister of Justice Godfred Dame for disputing former President John Mahama's criticism of the judiciary.

Following Mr. Mahama's assertion on Saturday, August 28, that the judicial system has lost its image, Godfred Yeboah Dame, the Attorney-General believes otherwise.

Delivering his speech at the Ghana Bar Associations conference on Monday, September 12, the Minister of Justice reacted that I am compelled to comment on same in this address because they border on the security of the state and constitute a deliberate pattern of conduct aimed at undermining the independence of the Judiciary, an arm of government whose autonomy is crucial to its proper functioning.

He continued such conduct is clearly deplorable, coming from one who has occupied the highest office of President and aspires again to that office. At this moment, it is important for all to note that I express this sentiment not because I stand in opposition to former President Mahama as a politician.

The AG stressed, my dismay is founded more on the fact that I am a lawyer and every lawyer ought to be concerned about these kinds of views expressed by a political leader in this country.

In reaction, Sammy Gyamfi in a tweet on Monday, September 12, jabs Godfred Yeboah Same asking him to read wide and he will appreciate Mr Mahama's comment.

If the Minister for injustice, Godfred Dame was the reading type, he would have known that his governments own national security strategy document confirms the fact that public confidence in the judiciary is at an all time low. @JDMahama spoke the gospel truth, Sammy Gyamfi wrote.

He cited the recent CDD-Afrobarometer report as proof of Mr. Mahama's comment.

Objective minds know that @JDMahamas view on dampened public confidence in the judiciary is a fact. The latest CDD-Afrobarometer report bears this fact out. The Minister of national security has publicly buttressed same and cautioned the judiciary accordingly. #DameCanGotoHell his tweet reads.
Rev. Enoch Nii Narh Thompson, new Executive President of GBC

12.09.2022 LISTEN

Reverend Enock Nii Narh Thompson, the newly inducted Executive President of the Ghana Baptist Convention (GBC) has unveiled "Ezekiel 34:26-27: Operation Showers of Blessing" as his new vision which falls in line with the 10 year strategic plan of the Convention.

He also promised to work hard to ensure that the 10 years strategic plan of the Convention is fully implemented and sustained to ensure the welfare of the members of the Convention.

Rev. Enoch Thompson revealed the vision at the weekend when he was inducted into office as the leader of the Convention for the next four years.

Rev. Charles Oppong-Poku, Vice President in-charge of Ministries and an 11-member Denominational Board were also inducted by the Convention to work hand-in-hand with the executive president to ensure the betterment of the Convention.

The induction service which was held at the Calvary Baptist Church at Shiashie in Accra was officiated by the immediate past executive president, Reverend Dr. Ernest Adu-Gyamfi and Rev. Steve Asante, a former president of the Convention.

Rev. Enoch Thompson who takes over from Rev. Ernest Adu-Gyamfi, the first-ever executive president, becomes the second Executive President of the GBC.

The officiating minister, Rev. Dr. Adu-Gyamfi led the incoming executive president to take the Oaths of Office and Secrecy.

According to Rev Enock Thompson, he would rely solidly on the strength and direction of the holy spirit to drive his vision of ensuring: spiritual revival, financial solvency, discipline, human resource development and infrastructure for worship.

He expressed his appreciation to the members of the Convention for reposing their trust and confidence in him.

Rev Adu-Gyamfi the outgoing executive president congratulated the new President and reminded him of his roles and responsibilities under the Constitution of the GBC.

He indicated that the new president shall now represent the Convention at the local and international levels and become the official spokesperson of the Convention among others.

Rev Adu-Gyamfi urged all members of the Convention to support the new executives spiritually, physically, financially, morally and socially to succeed.

The Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei Mensa Bonus was the special guest for the occasion.

Brief Profile

Rev. Thompson was born on 5th February 1964 and is married to Mrs. Dina Susanna Abena Thompson who are blessed with four daughters.

He is currently pursuing his PhD at the Trinity Theological Seminary, Legon.

Rev. Thompson has masters in Biblical Studies from the Prairie Graduate School, Alberta in Canada; Master of Philosophy in the Study of Religions from the University of Ghana and also has Bachelor's of Art Degree in French and Spanish Studies from the University of Ghana and Complutense de Madrid, Spain.

Rev. Enoch Nii Narh Thompson has served the Ghana Baptist Convention in various capacities. Prior to his election, he served two terms as the Vice President, Ministries of the Convention.
The International Criminal Court on Monday ordered the review of a $30 million reparation package for victims of DR Congo warlord Bosco Ntaganda, saying the number eligible for compensation was absolutely unclear.

Named the "Terminator" for his reign of terror in the vast African country in the early 2000s, Ntaganda was jailed for 30 years in 2019 for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Last year the Hague-based court awarded $30 million (29.6 million euros) in reparations including for victims of crimes by child soldiers, rape and sexual slavery.

But judges Monday agreed with Ntaganda's lawyers on a number of points on appeal -- including on the exact number of victims who needed to be compensated and how trial judges determined the amount which Ntaganda had to pay.

"The reparations order was made without having any concrete estimate as to one of its fundamental parameters, namely the number of victims" to be compensated, Judge Marc Perrin de Brichambaut said.

Trial judges not only failed to say how many thousands of victims there may have been, "but also at least gave the impression that the relevant figure might be anywhere between at least 1,100 to... 100,000," victims, he said.

This had a domino effect, meaning it was also "not discernable... how the sum of $30 million was then arrived at," De Brichambaut said.

"Setting an amount for the award without reference to the concrete estimated number of victims constitutes an error," the judge said.

The ICC's appeals judges "reversed the findings of the Trial Chamber" and sent it back so a new reparations order based on more accurate numbers could be issued.

It was not known when a new ruling on compensation will be issued but the decision delayed the payment of reparations to victims -- many who have been waiting for years.

The ICC last year upheld a 30-year sentence on appeal for war crimes against Ntaganda.

The Rwandan-born 48-year-old was convicted of five counts of crimes against humanity and 13 counts of war crimes, including murder, sexual slavery, rape and using child soldiers.

Ntaganda was the first person to be convicted of sexual slavery by the court.

Many of the other charges related to massacres of villagers in the mineral rich Ituri region of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

jhe/ach
12.09.2022 LISTEN

Three persons have died in a ghastly accident on the Sunyani-Techiman highway in the Bono Region.

The accident reportedly occurred when a Daewoo Matiz Taxi with registration number BA 1163 -19 heading towards Sunyani violently collided head on with a Hyundai Mini Truck with registration number GT 2438 -19 also heading towards Techiman.

It took rescuers from the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), Techiman Fire Station 5 minutes to arrive at the crash scene on Thursday to swiftly rescue 3 trapped victims involved in the accident after receiving a distress call at 12:01pm.

According to GNFS, its preliminary investigation revealed that the two drivers were trying to dodge potholes, hence the head-on collision.

Both vehicles suffered massive impact as three passengers onboard the Taxi car were pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital with the help of the Police.

The driver of the Matiz Taxi and two others onboard the Hyundai Mini Truck who sustained various degrees of injury were successfully rescued by the crew and sent to the hospital for treatment.

---DGN online
Two teenagers have been put before an Accra Circuit Court for allegedly defiling a 14-year-old girl at Abossey Okai, in Accra.

Ebenezer Agyakwa, a 19-year-old mechanic and Alex Addy, an 18-year-old student, charged with defilement, pleaded not guilty.

The 14-year-old victim is five months pregnant.

The Court presided over by Mrs Rosemary Baah Tosu has admitted them to bail in the sum of GHS 100,000 each with two sureties each.

The matter has been adjourned to October 4, 2022.

Prosecuting Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Agnes Boafo said the complainant (name withheld) in the case was an Electrician residing at Abossey Okai and the father of the victim.

DAP Boafo said Agyakwa and Addy resided at Ablekumah and Abossey Okai, respectively.

Prosecution said in January 2022, Agyakwa proposed love to the victim, and they started a relationship.

According to prosecution, in February and April 2022, Agyakwa lured the victim to a corridor where he sleeps after work at Abossey Okai and had sex with her.

In April 2022, the prosecutor said during the easter holidays, Agyakwa travelled to Kwahu and whiles there, the victim called and informed him that she had met Addy and they were now in a relationship.

The prosecutor said Addy and the victim also began a relationship in June, this year.

In July and August this year, Addy lured the victim into his room at Abossey Okai and had sex with her.

Prosecution said on September 1, this year, the complainant noticed some changes in the victim and when she was quizzed, she confessed being pregnant and mentioned accused persons names.

The prosecutor said accused persons were picked up.

Prosecution said during interrogation the complainant told the Police that the victim was 14-years old but had no document to prove her age.

The Prosecutor said when age assessment was conducted at the Police Hospital Radiology Department indicated that the victim's bone age was estimated at 14 and 15 years.

GNA
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo Monday pledged unflinching commitment to the prosecution of foreign nationals caught mining illegally in the country.

He said the judiciary remained crucial to ending the menace of illegal mining and its attendant environmental degradation and should readily apply the law when needed.

The President gave the assurance while opening the 2022 Annual General Meeting of the Ghana Bar Association on the theme: Ghanas Democracy under the Fourth Republic: Gains, Challenges and Prospects.

May I learned colleagues, assure you of my full support to the attorney general in his determination to prosecute Aisha Huang and her collaborators, who apparently insisted on flouting our laws against galamsey and illegal mining.

I expect that if they are found guilty, the courts would apply the full rigours of the new amended act 995, which has increased substantially, the punishment for breaches of the Law, President Akufo Addo stated.

He said although the nation had not attained full growth potential despite gains made under the Fourth Republic, constitutional adherence should remain the basic rule, and said it would help deliver progress.

President Akufo-Addo said the Government was committed to sending the nation back to the growth rate of the pre-coronavirus era.

The basic commitment to resolving these challenges within the framework of due process and democratic institutions, must remain unshaken, and I am confident that God willing, we will overcome these challenges.

We overcame the fearsome Covid 19 menace with a resolution, desire for action and correct policy, and we will overcome our current economic challenges with the same mixture of determination, energy, and appropriate policy.

He said it was important to maintain and protect the place of the Judiciary, and, therefore, the government had committed more to help the independent institution advance.

He said the government was helping bridge the technology gaps within the Justice systems, among others, the electronic court system, adding that the increase in the number of courts, would enhance access to justice across the nation.

The President said 100 courts and bungalows for judges were at various stages of completion across all 16 regions, and that 60 per cent would be handed over for use before the coming legal year commences.

Other several court projects are ongoing, including new high courts for all the new regions.

President Akufo-Addo said the Justice Department must be preserved as the main pillar for the reinforcement of the rule of law and called on members of the Bar not to be fazed by individuals and entities bent on marring the image of the Judiciary for personal and political gain.

President Akufo-Addo was welcomed to the ceremony with a Guard of Honour, and a 21-gun salute.

Mr Godfred Yeboah Odame, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, said the country has gained a worldwide reputation for its justice system and legal services with a call for the GBA to uphold to glow.

He said, central to that reputation is the integrity of her Judiciary and the quality of judgments emanating from our courts, with decisions of our Superior Courts cited in cases in other jurisdictions, with the court recognised for excellence and openness to innovation.

The Attorney-General said it took decades, arguably over a century, to build the integrity of Ghana's Judiciary.

Let us not condone the imprudent actions of citizens to destroy it through baseless attacks.

The Minister said the essential elements of the profession must be guarded against elements, who seek to destroy the same, saying our reactions to adverse rulings given against us by the courts do not traverse the bounds of ethical behaviour.

He called on lawyers to support the Electoral Commission as presently constituted to persist in its quest to deliver for the nation a free, fair and credible election capable of measuring up to the test of international standards.

I entreat the Bar to resist the misguided and parochial efforts of certain characters to undermine our democracy through unwarranted attacks on the Electoral Commission.

Mr Odame, however, outlined some fundamental problems with the justice system, including representation for accused persons to face prosecutors, a long summary trial of criminal cases, which militates against the rights of fair trial and overcrowding and understaffed seminaries, not a functional prison system should be of prime concern to the members of the Bar.

Chief Justice Anin Yeboah, in his address, read for him by Mr Justice Jones Dotse, Justice of the Supreme Court, said the Bar existed to protect the democratic order and should be active on issues of national concern.

He noted how the right to regress continued to enrich our electoral process and said the present hung parliament calls on us to once again strengthen our democracy, and, therefore, the Bar Association should take up the challenge to help form consensus on the way forward.

Mr Yaw Acheampong Boafo, the President of the Ghana Bar Association, appealed to Ghanaians to be less partisan and more nationalistic and exhibit a renewed and stronger spirit of patriotism.

Can we be a little bit more selfless, more hardworking and exhibit more honesty and integrity? Can we be less partisan and be more nationalistic?

He urged all to support activities in consolidating the gains in the fourth republic as imperfect that it was, it could remain a better option for military takeovers, saying, We owe a collective obligation to ensure that the Fourth Republic remains the last ever Republic.

We must all appreciate that an imperfect constitutional democracy that gives the opportunity to citizens to either change governments or extends their mandate is a far better option than any form of military adventurism where our lives and opportunities would be at the whims and caprices of some lawless few.

We still have the time, talents, resources and will to turn back from the political and economic precipice and stand tall in the comity of nations. 

The Weeklong conference features a legal outreach in selected schools, a medical outreach at the Volta Serene Hotel, and tours of tourist attractions and sites in the Region.

There will also be a sod cutting in Ho for the first regional Bar Centre of the Association.

GNA
President of the Republic, H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has taken a swipe at his predecessor, Mr. John Dramani Mahama over his recent criticism of the judiciary.

Ex-president Mahama speaking at a gathering at the NDCs Lawyers Conference on Sunday, August 28, bemoaned what he termed the growing mistrust in the justice system.

He said there is an urgent need for the Ghanaian judiciary to work towards regaining the trust of the citizenry.

There is, therefore, the urgent need for the Ghanaian Judiciary to work to win the trust and confidence of the citizenry and erase the widely held perception of hostility and political bias in legal proceedings at the highest courts of the land.

Unfortunately, we have no hope that the current leadership of our Judiciary can lead such a process of change.

We can only hope, that a new Chief Justice will lead the process to repair the broken image that our Judiciary has acquired over the last few years, former president John Dramani Mahama said.

Reacting to these and other comments relating to the unanimous 7-0 ruling of the Supreme Court, President Akufo-Addo has taken a swipe at his predecessor, insisting that his attacks against the judiciary are for his selfish, parochial, partisan interest.

Just as government continues to implement policies to advance the rule of law and thereby reinforce the confidence of the people and shore up our nations reputation as a country governed by the rule of law, there are some who have made it their political agenda to discourage systematically the image of the Judiciary for selfish, parochial, partisan reason, the President said while delivering an address at the Ghana Bar Associations annual conference in Ho today.

President Akufo-Addo further argued, These are the plaintiffs who go to court indeed to the highest court of the land, provide evidence to back their claim and yet insist that their claims be upheld despite the elementary violation of the ancient common laws of the discharge of the burden of proof that such a result will entail. It is no wonder that their claims were unanimously dismissed 7-0 by the apex court.

The result of this case is in contrast for the result of a similar one in 2013 when the unsuccessful plaintiffs managed to persuade four out of nine-member court and yet the earlier plaintiffs chose not to wage a political war against the court.

On his part, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame has described the conduct of ex-president Mahama as deplorable.

In his view, such comments should not come from a former President.
Former President John Dramani Mahama

12.09.2022 LISTEN

Former President, John Dramani Mahama has rubbished claims that sanctioning Chinese galamsey kingpins will ruin Ghanas relationship with China.

According to him, he deported almost 5,000 Chinese nationals who were involved in illegal mining (galamsey) when he was president but it never soiled the relationship between Ghana and China.

When I was president, we valued the relations with China but if you are a Ghanaian and you go to China and you engage in illegality, they dont say because of the good relation they have with Ghana, they are going to let you go scot-free. You are going to face the full rigours of the law in China and I dont doubt that there are some of our citizens in jail in China.

When I became President I was faced with this same illegal gold mining.

I deported almost 5,000 illegal Chinese miners. I didnt say because of the good relation we have with China, we should allow them to continue to engage in illicit activities and we collaborated with the Chinese Embassies, they got 747s and they came and took their nationals away. It didnt destroy our relationship, ex-president John Dramani Mahama has disclosed.

The 2020 presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress said this in an interview with TV3.

The revelations have come at a time when there are growing calls for the government to subject Chinese galamsey kingpin, Aisha Huang, to the full force of the law if found guilty of illegal mining and the trading of minerals without a license.

The popular galamsey kingpin is currently in police custody and will be arraigned before court on Wednesday, September 14.
'The Assistance Hub', a leading Youth and Women empowerment centre in Tamale, has held a startup summit to create the opportunity for businesses in Agricultural Digitization to pitch and solicit support to launch their businesses.

The event was held on Saturday on the theme "Digitizing Agriculture for Business Development and Job Creation in Northern Region."

It was attended by many businesses especially the youth and women in agriculture digitisation.

Four businesses such as Tiyumba Agro, Rolex Pepper, Mean Group and Agrotech pitched their innovative Agric digitisation solutions supervised by three judges.

'Tiyumba Agro' emerged winner at the end of the pitching and would represent the Northern Region at the National Summit in Accra.

The Team Lead for 'The Assistance Hub', Madam Humu-Hani Adam, in an interview with this reporter on the sidelines of the summit, said there were many opportunities for people in agric-digitisation, and urged women to take advantage of the opportunities to grow their businesses.

She explained that the Summit named "Sagnerigu Startup Summit" was part of the Base Project under the Ghana Tech Lab (GTL), a project that equips startups with the needed skills and tools to grow their businesses, supported by the World Bank, Ministry of Communication and Digitalisation, Young Africa Works, Kumasi HIVI, Inohub and the Accra Digital Centre.

She stated that the 'Hub' since its establishment, has trained many youths and women in diverse ventures to help them grow their startups and businesses.

"GTL runs several programs, but we are on a contract with them just on the BASE program, which is a Web development program, and the Hub had the opportunity to choose either WebApp development or Mobile App development. But for 'The Assistance Hub, we went in for the WebApp development program that digitalises agriculture," she stated.

She expressed gratitude to the World Bank, MasterCard Foundation, the Ghana Tech Lab and the Ministry of Communication and Digitization for assisting them to organise the summit.

"I wish to thank our partners, the World Bank, Young Africa Works, Master Card Foundation, Ministry of Communication and Digitisation and the GTL for supporting us," she said.

The Women In Agriculture Development (WIAD) Officer at the Department of Agriculture for the Northern Region, Madam Dennis Amponsah, in her keynote address, urged the youth and women to venture into agriculture.

She also thanked The Assistance Hub for the initiative and advised startups in the region to take advantage of the opportunity to help them grow into bigger companies.
The whole world traded or exchanged slaves. We must apologize to the children of those so stigmatized and make appropriate amends. The Iniquity of the father shall follow the children to their graves unless they amend their sins and those of their parents with good deeds to all. What we have today are some extremist hypocrites who double down on iniquities twisting laws, privilege and religion to perpetrate and justify injustice in the name of law and order. https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/how-god-visits-sins-on-the-third-and-fourth-generation

We now have people that are viscerally angry taking extreme positions because they want privileges over children of those that were dispossessed by their fathers. They have seized control of governments by any means they could. If they could not do it by votes, they rigged elections, gerrymandering, outright coup d'etat or insurrection. They claim the law and God are on their side so that they can subjugate minorities and women in their societies.

Anyone that dares to inform or educate based on science or history accepted universally is projected as preaching hate or "fake" news while they counter with their own disinformation. Their intention is to confuse the polity, especially those uninformed. They split communities, families and homes into two. So much so that peaceful gathering, extended family meetings, even picnics are avoided for peace's sake.

The fear of past injustice is real. The way people express fear may be to make amends, reject the past or put on a defense mechanism to justify the unjustifiable. Some people believe the best defense for past uncivilized behavior is to go on offense. They double down on exaggerated privileges that they may lose if they do not fight like hell.

Can anyone defend slavery of the past in most societies without making amends? Apologists that excuse the iniquities of the past by preaching the good they created on the silver lining without seeking justice for their wrong are part of the perpetrators looking for escape or even justifying past wrongful deeds. They come up with "Holy or Saint" to honor evil doers in churches, and mosques and even name captured land or slave plantations.

Years of compromise in politics, moderation, Federal character and years of delicate precedents in courts are overturned with impunity. Africans are becoming un-African buttressing their positions with the privileges of alien cultures. We are no longer our Brothers' Keepers. No matter how long or immediate it is, the children of the oppressed will recover from their nightmare, religious opium and euphoria to challenge the status quo.

Reparation has become controversial in the Americas and Commonwealth countries. The ancient residents of Britain from African and Caribbean countries were denied legal papers in the Country for social benefits they worked and died for until some amends were made lately. Unfortunately, our Youths are confused, embarrassed, expecting salvation from outside, not from their own within since their leaders stretched hands out begging for foreign assistance. The efforts that should have been directed towards self-actualization are channeled into fraud, terrorism or easy endeavors turning them into bandits, ritualists, drug mules and terrorists.

We mourned more than the bereaved for the loss of their Queen, Dictator and Pharaoh as if they were Mother Theresa of the world, wishing for the return of colonial power. Youths want to relocate to locations of the good old days. Anything foreign, even in the form of bananas handed to monkeys, is enough to make some, thankfully not most, turn against their own. They use the same obscenities used by those who enslaved their grandparents against one another.

While on Iniquity and Reparation, some Africans and African Americans have savagely attacked Prof. Uju Anya, an Igbo African that happens to be a Professor in the United States. Unlike the Iniquity here, her sin is pointing to the role of Britain during the Nigeria/Biafran War. By right of her Free Speech, her views on the Queen that presided over the Commonwealth. We cannot hide the decimation and destruction of Native cultures and people in Americas, Asia and Africa.

She is not the only one that has spoken out on this, many scholars did. What is more embarrassing is the circular firing squad created by a few well informed African Americans feigning ignorance. The Yoruba word AKATA is not the problem, rivalry between some earlier African American, many before Columbus and recent Africans is older than the awareness of the AKATA word. Prof. Anya is not Yoruba where the word comes from. Indeed, Yoruba call Nigerians coming back from overseas Akata, Oyinbo, Omowale, Sobowale,Tokunbo etc.

When Arthur Ashe came home to Nigeria, they named him Omowale. Though Akata or Oyinbo may not be as faltering, Black Panther is another wild beast meaning AKATA. They were not named by Yoruba! But any name that people feel is not proper must be dropped from civilized discussion. Akata or Oyinbo is not a name most Nigerians find flattering. Believe it or not, some Yoruba, especially some Youths find it amusing when so called. Some even called one another NIGGA for which they were cautioned against like African Americans caution their Youths.

Trying to create uproar out of poor Prof. Uju Anya for expressing the obvious about the Queen that came from the line of those who pride themselves as the conquerors of Africa, Asia and Americas is misplaced. Turning it into a tribal war between Africans and African Americans with the word AKATA or Oyinbo is despicable. Many of us still remember the last time this tribal war raised its ugly head: OBAMA IS NOT ONE OF US!

However, most African Americans voted for Obama. Even during the Democrats Primary, some well informed and educated African American colleagues campaigned against Obama. Some of those claimed it was not his turn. Recently, another friend said openly that Africans sold them and then followed them to America to take the Quota reserved for them. The Asians sue in court because they think they are cheated out because of the same Quota!

Haba! We are yet to see Irish, Polish, Scottish or Greek Americans attack their own immigrants from home the way some African Americans attack Africans. Quota like Affirmative Action has become a dirty word all the way to the U.S Supreme Court. Indeed, African Americans before or after Columbus and African students have denied their minority status to the Admission Offices in the Ivy League Colleges because of the Stigma. Prof. Uju Anya qualified for her position in her own right, not because she snatched a position reserved for African American.

African Americans are not only respected all over the world, Africa places them on a higher pedestal. Nkrumah, Azikiwe, Awolowo, Nyerere and others invited African Americans home during and after the fight for Independence. Chief Justice Alexander of Nigeria, reputable scholar W.E.B Dubois in Ghana and the United States Justice in South Africa were just three cases in point that worked in Africa. Please show love and direct your anger to the right places.
A screen shot of Meaza Mohammed (left), founder and chief editor of YouTube-based news channel of Roha TV, interviewing Gobeze Sisay (right), founder and editor of YouTube-based broadcaster The Voice of Amhara in May 2022. On Wednesday, September 7, Ethiopian police officers arrested Gobeze and Meaza.

12.09.2022 LISTEN

The Committee to Protect Journalists on Monday called for the immediate and unconditional release of Ethiopian journalists Gobeze Sisay and Meaza Mohammed, and urged authorities to stop arresting members of the media for their work.

About 8 a.m. Wednesday, September 7, federal police officers arrested Gobeze, editor and founder of privately owned YouTube-based broadcaster The Voice of Amhara, from his home in the capital, Addis Ababa, according to news reports, his brother Kedir Sisay, and one of his lawyers, Henok Aklilu, who both spoke to CPJ by phone. At around 5 p.m. that day, police officers arrested Meaza, founder and chief editor of privately owned YouTube-based news channel Roha TV, while she was shopping, according to news reports, her husband Robel Gebeyehu and Henok, also one of her lawyers, who both spoke to CPJ by phone.

On Thursday, September 8, authorities brought both Gobeze and Meaza before the Federal First Instance Court, Lideta branch, in Addis Ababa, according to Henok. However, citing time constraints, the court adjourned their case until Friday, September 9, when authorities did not file formal charges but said they were holding the two journalists on suspicion of having links with the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front, a rebel group at war with the federal government, and attempting to terrorize the public by disseminating information that supports the rebel group through various media platforms, according to a court document reviewed by CPJ. The document did not specify the content in question or when it was published. Robel told CPJ that the court granted police seven more days to keep them in custody while investigating the case.

Both journalists have been arrested previously in connection to their work. Meaza was held without charge for several weeks following arrests in December and again in May, according to CPJ reporting and media reports. In May, armed men thought to be military officers abducted and detained Gobeze for over a week without ever producing him in court, as CPJ documented at the time.

Ethiopian journalists should not have to work under threat of arrest. The pattern of throwing critical journalists behind bars, which has become entrenched during the civil war, must be reversed, said CPJ sub-Saharan Africa representative, Muthoki Mumo. Police should release Meaza Mohammed and Gobeze Sisay, and ensure that they do not face further harassment in connection to their work.

Roha TVs recent coverage includes a news report about the reignition of fighting on the ground in northern Ethiopia following a months-long lull, a round table discussion on how to stop the war, and a long field report on the killing of civilians in western Ethiopia. Recent coverage by The Voice of Amhara is overwhelmingly about the ongoing war in northern Ethiopia.

CPJ has documented a drastic deterioration in press freedom in Ethiopia amid an ongoing civil war. Since November 2020, when the war started, at least 63 journalists and media workers have been arrested in the country, often without formal charges, according to CPJ research. Some of those arrested have been accused of supporting or communicating with the rebel group, which was declared a terrorist organization by Ethiopias parliament in 2021, as CPJ has documented.

Recently, federal government officials warned members of the press against reporting misinformation or promoting the terrorist groups agenda, according to media reports.

In a statement sent over messaging app, federal police spokesperson Jeylan Abdi told CPJ that he could not comment on the specific cases of Gobeze and Meaza because they were pending in court, adding that anyone violating the law would be held liable, whether or not they are a journalist.
13.09.2022 LISTEN

A three-year-old boy has died at Lebanon Zone 2, a suburb of Ashaiman in the Greater Accra Region after falling into an open septic tank in the area.

The boy fell into the septic pit while he was playing with his sibling.

Residents of the area spotted the slippers and playing toy of the boy around the toilet pit, raising suspicion that he could be in the pit.

Persons in the vicinity began breaking down the pit and later called in the Fire Service for assistance.

The crew dashed to the scene and drained the sewage so as to gain access to the casualty and after 26 minutes, the men descended into the pit with a ladder to recover the body.

The body was taken away by the community members to Trinity Hospital in the area but medics pronounced the boy dead on arrival, according to the GNFS.

A preliminary investigation revealed that the 3-year-old boy accidentally fell into the open sewage pit, got drowned and suffocated as a result.

The GNFS has therefore advised parents to keep an eye on their wards whenever they are playing and all open septic tanks/pits not in use should be covered to avert the recurrence of this unfortunate incident.

---DGN online
Justice Jones Dotse of Ghanas Supreme Court has asked lawyers and politicians to refrain from making statements that could lead to the 1982 incident of kidnapping and murder of three high court judges.

The senior judge stated that lawyers and politicians must be cautious in their comments so that judges are not singled out for criticism.

He stated that Ghana has a terrible history where three High Court judges were murdered.

According to him, he was saying these things not because he is a judge but was concerned that judges might become targets of assassination as a result of comments made by others.

We have had three distinguished judges of the high court abducted and killed. We celebrate this incident since it occurredAs lawyers, we should not make disparaging comments and remarks that will revisit the occurrences of 1982.

"Therefore, it takes all of you to be very circumspect in making dangerous comments against the judiciary. I do not say so because I am a judge. After all, once you are in it, you are in it. But comments of members of the bar and senior politicians should be such that judges are not put up for sale by those who want to cause commotion and confusion in the country, he stated.

Background

On June 30, 1982, three High Court judges were assassinated. They were Justices Kwadwo Adjei Agyepong, Poku Sarkodie, and Mrs. Cecelia Koranteng-Addow, a nursing mother.

The three justices were assassinated alongside a retired Major from the Ghana Armed Forces. The retired major, Sam Acquah, was the Director of Personnel at the Ghana Industrial Holding Corporation (GIHOC).

According to Roger Gockings History of Ghana, the judges overturned decisions made by the Armed Forces Revolutionary Councils Peoples Revolutionary Courts. It turned out that all three judges were sitting in court, reviewing cases brought to them by disgruntled citizens regarding the treatment meted out to them by the AFRC junta led by Mr Rawlings following the June 4, 1979 coup.

---Rainbowradioonline
Lithium developer Liontown Resources [ASX:LTR] has tasked Zenith Energy to supply power at LTRs Kathleen Valley Lithium Project.

Liontown said it expects the project to be the largest off-grid wind-solar-battery storage hybrid power station for a mining project in Australia.

LTR shares were largely flat on Monday, however, with the market seemingly indifferent to the news.

LTR shares are up 30% over the past year but have traded sideways year to date.

Source: www.tradingview.com

Liontowns award for Zenith

LTR has awarded a letter of award (LOA) to Zenith Energy, an Australian power utility.

The award includes a 15-year term based on a Build, Own, and Operate (BOO) basis.

Zenith will provide 46MW of emissions-free power generation for LTRs planned 95MW hybrid power station in Kathleen Valley, WA.

Zenith will be expected to not only maintain the 95MW power, but also to finance, design, and construct it.

The power station is expected to enter the commissioning stage in the first half of 2024.

The Hybrid Power Station includes:

Wind generation from five wind turbines (each capable of generating 6MW)

A 16MWp fixed axis solar PV array with a 17MW/19MWh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS)

Provision of clean energy, with reliable synchronous condensers providing system stability and resilience

A thermal power component comprising of 27MW of gas generation and 5MW of diesel standby generation

The added ability to run in engine off mode for substantial periods of time

Liontown also said that the facility will enable the company to strive for renewable power production (over thermal power), supporting Liontown to meet and exceed its renewable energy factor commitments.

Both Zenith and Liontown are hoping to finalise a binding Power Purchase Agreement within the next 90 days.

LTR and rising demand for lithium

Liontowns CEO Tony Ottaviano commented:

We are delighted to partner with Zenith Energy, an experienced and highly competent power producer, following completion of a thorough competitive tender and commercial negotiation process. We believe Zenith Energy is an ideal partner to deliver an industry leading hybrid power station to meet Liontowns energy needs and requirements for a high-capacity renewable solution. When fully constructed, this hybrid power station will enable Liontown to exceed our target of achieving at least 60% renewable energy at Project start-up and beyond.

And Zeniths Managing Director Hamish Moffat offered his thoughts:

The very thorough tender and commercial negotiation process conducted by Liontown has enabled Zenith Energy to demonstrate our innovation, flexibility, and ability to work as a valued partner to Liontown to deliver the Kathleen Valley power solution. The Letter of Award enables the partnership to move forward with the next stage of delivery of this industry leading, highly innovative, secure, low carbon emissions hybrid power solution to the Kathleen Valley project. Zenith Energy is proud to continue to play a lead role in the energy transition and to provide our partners with a glide path to net zero.

Lithium stocks and the green future

Liontown expects the lithium market deficit to grow into 2030 due to tight supplies, while greenfield projects take 810 years to reach first production, slowed by permit issues, funding limitations, and geopolitical impacts.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) states demand for lithium will increase sixfold to 500 kilotonnes by 2030 and will need 50 more mines to cater for the incoming wave.

UBS and Macquarie have also been expressing concerns over increasing demand and current production channels not yet forecast to meet demand.

Now, back in 2021, eight out of 10 of the top performance stocks were lithium stocks.

And while lithium stocks have eased off somewhat in 2022, the demand outlook for the white metal itself is still strong.

With the easy money already made in the lithium sector, are there still any overlooked lithium stocks out there?

Yes, according to our latest research report on the lithium industry.

In a free research report, we have profiled three Aussie neglected lithium stocks we think are worth checking out.

Regards,

Kiryll Prakapenka,

For Money Morning
September 12, 2022 Russia Retaliates For Ukrainian Strikes On Russian Controlled Electricity Networks A typical U.S. attack on a foreign country begins with a swarm of cruise missiles which will disable the countries basic infrastructure. The U.S. attack on Iraq and other countries demonstrated that electricity and water supply will be gone in first days of a U.S. waged war. Over more than 200 days the Russian special military operation in Ukraine had never attacked the basic infrastructure of the country. When the Ukraine used its electrified railway network to bring in weapons from the 'west' the Russian forces only took out electric substations that supplied the railway. But it never attacked the general electricity production for the population. The lights in Ukraine staid on. One thus wonders about the Ukrainian decision makers and their 'western' intelligence minders who thought that attacking electricity networks under Russian control would somehow benefit their cause. The Ukrainian military has for weeks attacked the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, since early March under Russian control and guarded by Russian troops, with artillery strikes. Yesterday the last of the plant's six reactors had to shut down after its connection to external emergency power supply was destroyed during another Ukrainian artillery attack. (The line was later restored.) It was not the only target of Ukrainian infrastructure attacks. As British intelligence asset Bellingcat mouthpiece Christo Gorzev tweeted gleefully: Christo Grozev @christogrozev - 23:05 UTC  Sep 7, 2022 Half of Belgorod is left without electricity after what appears to be a Ukrainian attack on its central electricity distribution station

Embedded video Belgorod is a city in Russia a few miles north of the border to Ukraine. Yesterday's report by the Russian Defense Ministry about its war effort complained about systematic Ukrainian attacks on the electricity infrastructure of Donetsk city and other places: In order to destabilize the situation in the territory liberated by the Russian Armed Forces and the suffering of civilians, the Kiev regime continues its deliberate shelling of energy infrastructure: generating facilities, transformer substations, and power lines. Since September 1 this year, the territory of the Zaporozhye NPP and the city of Energodar have been subjected to artillery fire from the Ukrainian Armed Forces 26 times, including the territory of the nuclear plant. At the same time, as a result of aimed fire on the transformer substation on September 6 and the power line on September 8, the city of Energodar was twice remained without electricity. In the territory of the Donetsk People's Republic, Ukrainian artillery repeatedly struck 22 important power supply facilities in order to de-energize populated areas, kindergartens, life support facilities for the population, and industrial enterprises. On September 1, three mines of the Donetsk Coal Energy Company, where dozens of miners were trapped underground, were de-energized as a result of the strike. Yesterday, September 10, 19 transformer substations in the Petrovsky district of Donetsk were de-energized due to shelling by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. More than 1,600 civilian objects were remained without electricity as a result of the shelling. It's important to say that the daily strikes against civilian infrastructure are carried out by the Kiev regime in a deliberate and targeted manner. By systematically attacking the power infrastructure in Russia and in Russian held territory the Ukrainian government has launched deliberate terror attacks against the populations in those areas. It seemed to have forgotten the remarks of Russian President Vladimir Putin who had said: [E]veryone should know that, by and large, we have not started anything in earnest yet. Yesterday evening Russian cruise missiles were launched from Russian ships in the Black and the Caspian Sea. They were targeted to interrupt, not yet destroy, four Ukrainian power plants and to temporarily disable the Ukrainian electricity network: Russia attacked power stations and other infrastructure Sunday, causing widespread outages across Ukraine as Kyivs forces pressed a swift counteroffensive that has driven Moscows troops from swaths of territory it had occupied in the northeast. The bombardment ignited a massive fire at a power station on Kharkivs western outskirts and killed at least one person. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced the deliberate and cynical missile strikes against civilian targets as acts of terrorism. Ukraines second-largest city of Kharkiv appeared to be without power Sunday night. Cars drove through darkened streets, and the few pedestrians used flashlights or mobile phones to light their way. The attacks also disrupted the Ukrainian military railway transports which currently move troops from the north and west towards the Vuhledar area in the southeast from where they plan to attack in the direction of Mariupol.

Flash symbols show attacks on electricity infrastructure

bigger Weeks after he himself had ordered attacks on civilian power infrastructure in Russian held territory the Ukrainian President Zelenski cynically denounced the obvious retaliation by Russia as 'terrorism':   @ZelenskyyUa - 18:52 UTC  Sep 11, 2022 A total blackout in the Kharkiv & Donetsk regions, a partial one in the Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk & Sumy regions. RF terrorists remain terrorists & attack critical infrastructure. No military facilities, the goal is to deprive people of light & heat.

#RussiaIsATerroristState The Russian attacks were a mere warning shot. It can take out ALL of Ukraine's power infrastructure at any time:

bigger Will the Ukrainian leadership pay heed to the warning? Don't bet on that. As long as 'western' media cover for the Zelenski regime, by not reporting on its preceding efforts to disrupt power supplies in Russia and in Russian held territory, such attacks will naturally generate more false sympathy for the Ukrainian side. Ukrainian media are already preparing the population for more attacks: How to survive in a house without gas, water supply, electricity, cellular reception How? By watching Youtube videos: Nadiya Matveyevas Nadiyni Porady (Reliable advice) YouTube playlist offers simple but important rules that will help to maintain health, solve everyday issues, protect yourself and your family during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. The TV presenter provides answers to questions that concern everyone: ... Good luck with that when the networks are down. Vladimir Zelinski is not a rational politician or decision maker. He is an actor who pretends to have a huge dick with which he can play a piano (vid). Everything that he and his producer team in Kiev do must be seen in that light. They are playing to the Ukrainian and 'western' public for personal profits. Each of their moves is calculated with that in mind. Telling the truth and the welfare of the local population are of no concern to them. When they decided to attack power infrastructure in Russia and Russian held territory they had already calculated that the inevitable retaliation by Russia would help their primary cause and will shuffle many more millions of 'western' subsidies into their off-shore bank accounts. Our media and politicians are cynically supporting them in this. Posted by b on September 12, 2022 at 7:45 UTC | Permalink Comments next page  next page 
The Weekend Quiz: 17th September

Did you miss out on the Pop Quiz this week? It's time to catch up and get ready for next week!
For the first time ever, Disney Cruise Line is coming to New Zealand and it looks like fun for the whole family, no seriously, even the adults will love it!

Disney announced at its D23 Expo over the weekend that Disney Magic at Sea is bringing the wonderful world of Disney to our shores, where you can experience all of the amazing Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars characters in one go.
Over in the US, a cat has saved its owner's life after buglers break in during the night.

The Mississippi guard cat named Bandit noticed the intruders entering her home in the middle of the night and woke up her owner to warn him of the danger.



68-year-old Fred Everitt told The Associated Press that between 2:30 am and 3 am, his calico cat Bandit woke him up with her meows.

When Bandit first started to enter his room and started yanking his comforter off of him and biting his arm, he realised something wasn't right.

She had never done that before, I went, 'What in the world is wrong with you?

When Everitt got up, he saw two men trying to force open his backdoor with a crowbar, one armed with a handgun!

Thanks to Bandits quick response, Everitt was able to return to the kitchen promptly with his handgun, which sent the two men fleeing.

It did not turn into a confrontational situation, thank goodness, but I think it's only because of the cat

Who needs an alarm system when you have a cat!

Source
Anywho, not only did Tim Long reveal Lizzo's involvement, he said she loved Bret Mckenzie so much, she recognised him on sight via a Zoom call.

"She was like 'Oh, it's Brit!'," he said, referencing Bret's Kiwi accent. "And she started singing the Flight of the Conchords song 'Bret, You've Got It Goin' On'."
The origin story of the original King of Pride Rock explores a young Mufasa growing up with his evil brother Scar, who - fun fact - was originally named Taka, because who names their cub Scar just for fun?

Of course, our friend Rafiki takes us on the journey, telling the tale of the King to some young lion cubs.

"In this place, a lion was born without a drop of nobility in his blood, Rafiki narrates. The lion who would change our lives forever.

Here is the inside scoop, Mufasa wasnt actually born into his royalty - in fact, he grew up as an orphan. Does this not make his rise to king even more intriguing?

Director Barry Jenkins told us that the story is told "over two time frames" and explained the reason he was so keen to make the film is because he watched the video tape of the original 1994 'Lion King' "about 97 times" and honestly? Same.
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A Midland fugitive has been added to the Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitive list.

Antonio Martinez Gonzalez, 41, is wanted for assault by impeding breath/circulation and parole violation (original offense: possession of a controlled substance). Gonzalez is affiliated with the West Texas Tango gang and has ties to Midland and to Mexico, according to the DPS bulletin.

On Feb. 24, 2021, Gonzalez was arrested in Midland for assault of family/household member by impeding breath/circulation and subsequently bonded out, according to the bulletin. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles issued a warrant two days later for his arrest for a parole violation. The Midland County Sheriff's Office also issued an arrest warrant for his arrest on May 3, 2021, for assault by impeding breath/circulation.

Gonzalez had previously served time in the early 2000s after convictions for burglary of a building, retaliation and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. In 2006, he was convicted of injury to a child and sentenced to two years of probation, which was later revoked and replaced with a six-month sentence in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

In 2009, he was convicted of assault against a public servant and received a two-year sentence. In 2015, he was given a three-year sentence after a DWI conviction, and in 2017, he was convicted of possession of a controlled substance and received an eight-year sentence. He was released on parole in June 2019.

Texas Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward of up to $7,500 for any information that leads to Gonzalez's arrest. Callers will remain anonymous. To be eligible, tipsters must provide information to authorities using one of the following methods:

 Call the Texas Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477)

 Submit a web tip through the Texas 10 Most Wanted website or Facebook page

 Submit a tip through the DPS Mobile App

Gonzalez should be considered armed and dangerous, according to the bulletin.
Tim Fischer/Midland Reporter-Telegram

The city of Midland is investigating after a city vehicle crashed into a business in the 300 block of East Illinois Avenue, according to a city spokesperson.

The accident happened Monday at about 8 a.m. The business was closed, and no employees or customers were inside the facility at the time.
The Midland County Sheriff's Office Honor Guard was in attendance Sunday at the Dallas Cowboys' season opener game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The MCSO sent four members of the Honor Guard to represent the agency during the presentation of colors, according to the MSCO's spokesperson. First responders from across Texas covered the field from end zone to end zone with the American flag. They were all in attendance for First Responder Appreciation, according to the MSCO's spokesperson.
Bonds and tax ratification elections are likely going to come up in 2023 and 2024. How do you approach the conversation and where can the board do better than what other boards did in the last eight years?

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Bonds have been a hot topic over the last several years, and we have witnessed these failures in our community and across the state. Repeatedly I have been asked if I would support a bond moving forward. Any savvy businessperson should never agree or disagree with this type of questioning. As a Realtor I know the devil is in the details and can also appreciate the distinction of a needs and wants list. We should all want our children to have functional air conditioning and functioning safe plumbing, but we should also use common sense when asking our community to pick up an additional bill.

Stakeholders have witnessed our schoolboard vote and pass multiple high-end expenditures, ranging from real estate purchases to the renovation of YWLA at the previous Washington STEM campus resulting in millions being spent, thus leaving a sour taste for many. It is certainly clear we need a priority list to discern these needs and establish a strategic plan moving forward.

It was refreshing to see the board meet with parents, administration and other members of the public following the outcome of the last bond election. I believe that this is the best practice in order to make progress. Community support is essential and has been overshadowed by previous MISD boards and administrations. It is imperative that blunt, hard and honest conversations need to be held between all parties -- teachers, administrators, parents, board members and the community. Community members want to know the details before they can decide if a bond is right for them.

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Federated States of Micronesia President David Panuelo signs an executive order on Sept. 6, establishing an educational task force to focus on informing the community about eight proposed amendments to the country's constitution. A special election for citizens to vote on the proposals can occur as soon as March 2023.
Duncan_Andison/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Jacksonville City Council is scheduled to meet in regular session by 7 p.m. today in the Municipal Building, 200 W. Douglas Ave. The meeting will follow a 6 p.m. workshop and will be streamed live on the city's website.

Among the items on the agenda are:
BLUFFS  The village is seeking a grant that could provide thousands of dollars to improve one of its parks.

Bluffs is applying for an Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development Grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. These grants are given to communities to help acquire and develop land to be used for public parks and open spaces.

Communities such as Bluffs can receive up to 90% funding assistance for projects. Grants for land acquisition can be worth as much as $750,000, while development grants can go up to $400,000.

The village is pursuing a grant for $600,000 to improve Lewis Park.

Mayor Linda Sapp said the grant money would go toward changes such as Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant parking, areas for cornhole and pickleball playing, improvements to the park's electrical systems, and restrooms and sun shades for pedestrians.

Bluffs is asking for help from residents to get the grant, requesting they send photos taken at the park, as well as any history they might be able to share. Those interested can drop off photos and information at Village Hall or can email Sapp.

She said she was hopeful the village would receive the grant, but added that Bluffs has been turned down for grants in the past.

The deadline for the village to apply for the grant is 5 p.m. Sept. 30.

Village board members discussed the application process during a meeting last week. In other business, they talked about the need to remove an old elevator with Darla Columbus, the property owner. Columbus said she consulted someone about tearing it down, and it would cost about $100,000.

After Columbus said she does not have the money needed, Sapp suggested she look for grants and assistance based on it being a safety hazard. Columbus said people have gone into the elevator to tear it up, spray-paint it, start fires and climb to its top.

The village is also in talks with GFL Environmental about considering a five-year trash collection contract for an estimated 340 residents.
Provided

The Illinois Chamber of Commerce has named state Sen. Steve McClure a "champion of free enterprise."

The Springfield Republican was selected because of what the chamber said is his support of pro-growth economic policies. The Champion of Free Enterprise Award is based on a lawmakers voting record.
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KHARKIV, Ukraine (AP)  Ukrainian troops expanded their territorial gains Monday, pushing all the way to the country's northeastern border in places, and claimed to have captured a record number of Russian soldiers as part of the lightning advance that forced Moscow to make a hasty retreat.

A spokesman for Ukrainian military intelligence said Russian troops were surrendering en masse as they understand the hopelessness of their situation. A Ukrainian presidential adviser said there were so many POWs that the country was running out of space to accommodate them.

Blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flags fluttered over newly liberated towns across a wide swath of reclaimed land. The Ukrainian military said it had freed more than 20 settlements in 24 hours. In recent days, Kyivs forces have captured territory at least twice the size of greater London, according to the British Defense Ministry.

After months of little discernible movement on the battlefield, the momentum has lifted Ukrainian morale and provoked rare public criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putins war.

In some areas of the front, our defenders reached the state border with the Russian Federation, said Oleh Syniehubov, governor of the northeastern Kharkiv region.

The counteroffensive left the Kremlin struggling for a response to its largest military defeat in Ukraine since Russian forces pulled back from areas near Kyiv after a botched attempt to capture the capital early in the invasion.

The Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged the setback in a map that showed its troops pressed back along a narrow patch of land on the border with Russia  a tacit admission of big Ukrainian gains.

Reports of chaos abounded as Russian troops pulled out.

The Russians were here in the morning. Then at noon, they suddenly started shouting wildly and began to run away, charging off in tanks and armored vehicles, Dmytro Hrushchenko, a resident of recently liberated Zaliznychne, a small town near the eastern front line, told Sky News.

Video taken by the Ukrainian military showed soldiers raising the Ukrainian flag over battle-damaged buildings. In one scene, a fighter wiped his boots on a Russian flag on the ground. Other videos showed Ukrainians inspecting the wreckage of Russian military vehicles, including tanks.

In his evening address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his forces have liberated more than 6,000 square kilometers (2,300 square miles) in the east and the south since the beginning of September.

Now Ukrainian teams are disarming land mines and other unexploded weapons in the recaptured areas and searching for any remaining Russian troops, officials said.

It was not yet clear if the Ukrainian blitz could signal a turning point in the war. Momentum has switched back and forth before, but rarely with such a big and sudden swing.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovich did not specify the number of Russian prisoners but said the POWs would be exchanged for Ukrainian service members held by Moscow. Military intelligence spokesman Andrey Yusov said the captured troops included significant numbers of Russian officers.

Ukraines deputy interior minister accused fleeing Russian forces of burning official documents and concealing bodies in an attempt to cover up rights violations in the areas they controlled until last week.

The mood was jubilant across the country.

In Kharkiv, Ukraines second-largest city and the capital of the region where the gains have been made, authorities hailed that power and water had been restored to about 80% of the region's population following Russian attacks on infrastructure that knocked out electricity in many places across Ukraine.

You are heroes!!! Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov wrote on Telegram, referring to crews who restored utilities in Ukraine's second-biggest city. Thanks to everyone who did everything possible on this most difficult night for Kharkiv to normalize the life of the city as soon as possible.

Meanwhile in Russia, signs of disarray emerged as Russian military bloggers and other commentators chastised the Kremlin for failing to mobilize more forces and take stronger action against Ukraine.

Russia has continuously stopped short of calling its invasion a war, instead describing it as a special military operation and relying on on a limited contingent of volunteers instead of a mass mobilization that could spur civil discontent and protest.

Ramzan Kadyrov, the Moscow-backed leader of the Russian region of Chechnya, publicly criticized the Russian Defense Ministry for what he called mistakes that made the Ukrainian blitz possible.

Even more notable, such criticism seeped onto state-controlled Russian TV.

People who convinced President Putin that the operation will be fast and effective ... these people really set up all of us, Boris Nadezhdin, a former parliament member, said on a talk show on NTV television. Were now at the point where we have to understand that its absolutely impossible to defeat Ukraine using these resources and colonial war methods.

Some in Russia blamed Western weapons and fighters for the losses.

Its not Ukraine that attacked Izium, but NATO, read a headline in the state-supported Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, referring to one of the areas where Russia said it has withdrawn troops.

Elsewhere, residents of a Russian village just across the border from Ukraine were evacuated after shelling by Ukrainian troops killed one person, according to Russias Tass news agency.

The report cited the head of the local administration in Logachevka, who said Ukrainian troops opened fire at a border checkpoint.

Pro-Kremlin separatists reported that Ukrainian troops were approaching the town of Lyman, a rail hub captured by Russia in late May that offers access to bridges over the nearby Siversky Donets river.

Denis Pushilin, head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk Peoples Republic, acknowledged that the situation was difficult.

Even amid Ukraine's ebullience, the casualties kept mounting. Ukraines presidential office said Monday that at least four civilians were killed and 11 others wounded in a series of Russian attacks in nine regions of the country. The U.N. Human Rights Office said last week that 5,767 civilians have been killed so far.

Among Monday's attacks were strikes on residential areas in Kharkiv that killed at least one civilian and set multiple fires, local officials said.

In a reminder of the war's toll, a council member in Izium accused enemy forces of killing civilians and committing other atrocities. Maksym Strelnikov told reporters Monday in an online briefing that hundreds of people had died during the fighting and after Russia seized the town in March.

Many died from shelling and could not get a proper burial, he said. His claims could not be immediately verified, but similar scenes have played out in other places captured by Russian forces.

The Ukrainian military also claimed to have found more evidence of human rights violations by Russian occupiers. It did not elaborate.

Izium was a major base for Russian forces in the Kharkiv region. The first Ukrainian flag was raised over the city on Saturday, according to Strelnikov. Residents, some wrapped in the country's flag, greeted Ukrainian forces and offered them food.

Ukraine said the Russians continued shelling Nikopol across the Dnieper River from the Zaporizhzhia power plant, damaging several buildings there and leaving Europe's largest nuclear facility in a precarious position. The last operational reactor in that plant has been shut down in a bid to prevent a radiation disaster as fighting raged nearby.

The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said Monday that Kyiv "will likely increasingly dictate the location and nature of the major fighting.

The British Defense Ministry said the retreat would likely further deteriorate the trust Russian forces have in their commanders and put Moscow's troops on the back foot.

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Arhirova reported from Kyiv.

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Follow AP war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
JUBA, South Sudan (AP)  South Sudans government has declared flood-affected parts of the country as national disaster areas and appealed for assistance.

Fridays appeal came after torrential rains in the Upper Nile and Bahr el-Ghazal regions.

Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth said the floods have displaced thousands of people and claimed hundreds of lives.

Earlier this week, President Salva Kiir appealed to humanitarian partners for help.

South Sudan has experienced extreme flooding over the past three years, with more than 800,000 people affected in 2021 alone.

Since the beginning of rainy season in May, flooding in parts of the country has forced some health centers to close and stranded populations, leaving them vulnerable to water-borne diseases and snake bites.

By DENG MACHOL

Associated Press
Live updates: King and siblings stand vigil to honor queen View Photo

EDINBURGH, Scotland  King Charles III and his siblings have stood in silent vigil around their mother Queen Elizabeth IIs coffin in St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh.

Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward lowered their heads as they stood at four sides of the oak coffin. They stood for about 10 minutes alongside four members of the Royal Company of Archers, who stood guard armed with arrows and quivers.

As they performed the traditional vigil, a procession of members of the public lined up to view the queens coffin and filed past. Some bowed as they passed the king, while others walked solemnly by with their heads lowered.

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KEY DEVELOPMENTS:

 Queen hailed in Scotland as a constant in our lives

 Loss of unifying queen could fray the bonds of fractious UK

 People wanting to pay final respects to queen face long wait, strict rules

 For Queen Elizabeth II, Balmoral estate was place to be normal

 Queen Elizabeth II loved corgis breed from childhood

 Former British colonies are conflicted over Queen Elizabeth IIs legacy

 Whats next for the UK as Queen Elizabeth II laid to rest

 What will happen to all the currencies that feature the queen?

 The queen, as imagined  from punk rock to mystery novels

 Find more AP coverage here: https://apnews.com/hub/queen-elizabeth-ii

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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

LONDON  Officials in charge of the park outside Buckingham Palace have told people to stop leaving marmalade sandwiches as a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II because of the negative impact on the parks wildlife.

Some mourners have left the snacks alongside floral tributes at Buckingham Palace and neighboring Green Park. The sandwiches are a reference to a comedy sketch featuring the queen and an animated Paddington Bear filmed for the late monarchs Platinum Jubilee earlier this year.

In the video, the queen said that like Paddington Bear she also favors marmalade sandwiches and hides them in her purse for later.

The Royal Parks organization said Monday people should not leave the snacks but could leave teddy bears and other items if they wished.

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EDINBURGH, Scotland  St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh has opened to members of the public who wish to pay their last respects to Queen Elizabeth II, whose coffin is lying at rest inside.

The Scottish government is warning that the line, and waiting times, are expected to be long, with perhaps hours of standing. Visitors can leave the line to use toilet facilities.

Authorities have introduced airport-style security, banning people from taking inside the cathedral any large bags, sharp items, or food or liquids.

Similar crowds are expected in London, where the coffin can be visited from Wednesday.

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EDINBURGH, Scotland  Four members of the Royal Company of Archers are standing vigil over Queen Elizabeth IIs flag-draped coffin in St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh.

They are a striking presence, wearing hats called Balmoral bonnets adorned with a single eagle feather. Each of them is holding a wooden bow and a quiver of arrows.

The company, which officially functions as the British sovereigns bodyguard in Scotland, is an archery club established in 1676, according to the royal website.

Membership to the ceremonial company is by election  members must be Scots or have strong Scottish connection, the site says.

Steeped in history, the company is endowed with perpetual access to public locations including plains and pasturages legally allotted for shooting arrows, in return for presenting the sovereign with three barbed arrows on request.

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LONDON  A line has already started forming to view Queen Elizabeth IIs coffin when she lies in state in London, even though that wont start till Wednesday evening.

Security staff are preparing for millions of people to pay their respects to the late monarch, whose coffin will be in Londons Westminster Hall until her state funeral on Sept. 19.

Vanessa Nathakumaran, 56, travelled Monday from Harrow near London to Lambeth Bridge in central London, where the entrance of the line is expected to be set up.

I really, really want to be part of it, said Nathakumaran, who is originally from Sri Lanka  a country once called Ceylon and ruled by Britain.

The line is expected to stretch from Parliament along the bank of the River Thames.

Officials have advised commuters in the city to change their working patterns because London is expected to be extremely busy in coming days.

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EDINBURGH, Scotland  A memorial service for Queen Elizabeth II at St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh has ended, and members of the public will soon be allowed inside to pay their respects.

The coffin, with the Crown of Scotland resting on a cushion on top of it, is to stay in the 12th-century cathedral through Tuesday.

Thousands of people lined the route of the procession through the Scottish capitals Old Town to the cathedral, as the former monarchs children  including new sovereign King Charles III  walked behind the hearse.

The memorial service featured Karen Matheson singing Psalm 118 in Gaelic, with harp accompaniment, and a reading from Ecclesiastes by the head of the Scottish government, Nicola Sturgeon.

The congregation sang The Lords My Shepherd, said to be one of the queens favorite hymns.

Members of the royal family were to hold a vigil by the coffin in the evening.

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EDINBURGH, Scotland  Queen Elizabeth IIs coffin has arrived at St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh for a memorial service.

A hearse containing the coffin headed a procession Monday through the Scottish capitals Old Town. Thousands of people lined the street known as the Royal Mile, which links Edinburgh Castle with the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

St. Giles Cathedral, founded in the 1130s, is holding a service of thanksgiving.

Afterward, members of the public will be allowed inside to file past the coffin. Some have been waiting since around dawn.

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EDINBURGH, Scotland  The children of Queen Elizabeth II are accompanying their mothers coffin on a procession through the Scottish capital.

A military bagpiper played mournful music as the coffin, draped in the royal standard, was carried from the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh and placed in a hearse Monday.

King Charles III, dressed in army uniform, and his siblings Princes Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward are walking behind the hearse as the procession moves slowly toward St. Giles Cathedral.

The hearse is flanked by a bearer party of the Royal Regiment of Scotland and a detachment of The Kings Body Guard in Scotland, the Royal Company of Archers.

The coffin will remain at the cathedral until Tuesday so that members of the public can pay their respects.

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LONDON  A plane carrying King Charles has landed in Edinburgh, where the new monarch is due to accompany his late mothers coffin in a procession through the heart of the Scottish capital.

The procession Monday will bear the former sovereigns coffin to a cathedral, where it will remain for 24 hours to allow the public to pay their last respects.

Lines of people waiting to file past the coffin at St. Giles Cathedral began forming around dawn.

Charles flew to Scotland after earlier receiving condolences from both Britains houses of parliament.

He told lawmakers he will follow his late mothers example of selfless duty.

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LONDON  Britain is to observe a nationwide minute of silence Sunday, on the eve of Queen Elizabeth IIs funeral.

The British government says the moment of reflection will take place at 8 p.m. (1900GMT).

People are encouraged to mark the silence at home or at community events.

The queens funeral will be held next Monday at Westminster Abbey.

Britains monarch of the past 70 years died Thursday in Scotland at the age of 96.

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LONDON  King Charles and his wife Camilla, the Queen Consort, have boarded a flight to Edinburgh where the new monarch will take part in a procession bearing his late mothers coffin to St. Giles Cathedral.

The plane left RAF Northolt on the outskirts of London for the flight to Edinburgh Airport on Monday.

In the Scottish capital, Charles and Camilla were due at Hollyroodhouse palace where Queen Elizabeths coffin stayed overnight. It arrived there after a six-hour journey in a hearse from the queens beloved Balmoral Castle summer retreat, where the 96-year-old sovereign died Thursday.

The royal couple are to attend a service of remembrance for the queen, visit the Scottish Parliament and meet senior officials.

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LONDON  A 100-year-old British woman says she received a congratulatory telegram from Queen Elizabeth II the day after the monarchs death.

Gwendolyn Hoare read out the telegram in a recording shared with the BBC by her family and aired Monday.

She said it made her feel quite tearful and added: Im a royalist  old fashioned.

Hoares niece, Sue Beckett, posted a message to a BBC online page which is compiling tributes to the late queen. She said the telegram arrived Friday, a day before her aunts 100th birthday, and a day after the 96-year-old queen had died at her Balmoral estate in Scotland.

For decades she talked about receiving a telegram from the Queen and was devastated to hear the news  but her telegram arrived (on Friday) and she was ecstatic, Beckett wrote.

The British monarch traditionally sends a telegram of congratulations to citizens who reach the age of 100.

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LONDON  King Charles III has addressed lawmakers in Britains Parliament, telling them: I cannot but help feel the weight of history which surrounds us.

Charles told members of the House of Commons and House of Lords that he would follow his late mother Queen Elizabeth II in upholding the precious principles of constitutional governance that underpin the U.K.s political system.

He paid tribute to his mother, saying: As Shakespeare said of the earlier Queen Elizabeth, she was a pattern to all princes living.

Charles is due to travel from Parliament to Edinburgh and accompany the queens coffin to St. Giles Cathedral for a service of remembrance.

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LONDON  In a first official statement since the queens death, her grandson Prince Harry has hailed her as a guiding compass and praised her unwavering grace and dignity.

The personal statement, posted Monday on Harry and his wife Meghans Archwell website, said he cherished their times together from my earliest childhood memories with you, to meeting you for the first time as my Commander-in-Chief, to the first moment you met my darling wife and hugged your beloved greatgrandchildren.

Harry quit as a senior royal and moved to the U.S. two years ago. On Saturday, he and Meghan joined his brother Prince William and his wife Catherine in meeting mourners outside Windsor Castle.

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WELLINGTON, New Zealand  New Zealand has announced it will mark the death of Queen Elizabeth II with a public holiday on Sept. 26.

The nation will also hold a state memorial service in the capital, Wellington, on the same day. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Elizabeth was an extraordinary person and many people would appreciate the opportunity to mark her death and celebrate her life.

As New Zealands queen and much-loved sovereign for over 70 years, it is appropriate that we mark her life of dedicated public service with a state memorial service and a one-off public holiday, Ardern said.

She also said she would be leaving this week for Britain to attend Elizabeths funeral.

By The Associated Press
Teacher shortages are real, but not for the reason you heard

Teacher shortages are real, but not for the reason you heard View Photo

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP)  Everywhere, it seems, back-to-school has been shadowed by worries of a teacher shortage.

The U.S. education secretary has called for investment to keep teachers from quitting. A teachers union leader has described it as a five-alarm emergency. News coverage has warned of a crisis in teaching.

In reality, there is little evidence to suggest teacher turnover has increased nationwide or educators are leaving in droves.

Certainly, many schools have struggled to find enough educators. But the challenges are related more to hiring, especially for non-teaching staff positions. Schools flush with federal pandemic relief money are creating new positions and struggling to fill them at a time of low unemployment and stiff competition for workers of all kinds.

Since well before the COVID-19 pandemic, schools have had difficulty recruiting enough teachers in some regions, particularly in parts of the South. Fields like special education and bilingual education also have been critically short on teachers nationwide.

For some districts, shortages have meant children have fewer or less qualified instructors.

In rural Alabamas Black Belt, there were no certified math teachers last year in Bullock Countys public middle school.

It really impacts the children because theyre not learning what they need to learn, said Christopher Blair, the countys former superintendent. When you have these uncertified, emergency or inexperienced teachers, students are in classrooms where theyre not going to get the level of rigor and classroom experiences.

While the nation lacks vacancy data in several states, national pain points are obvious.

For starters, the pandemic kicked off the largest drop in education employment ever. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of people employed in public schools dropped from almost 8.1 million in March 2020 to 7.3 million in May. Employment has grown back to 7.7 million since then, but that still leaves schools short around 360,000 positions.

Were still trying to dig out of that hole, said Chad Aldeman, policy director at the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University.

Its unknown how many of those positions lost were teaching jobs, or other staff members like bus drivers  support positions that schools are having an especially hard time filling. A RAND survey of school leaders this year found that around three-fourths of school leaders say they are trying to hire more substitutes, 58% are trying to hire more bus drivers and 43% are trying to hire more tutors.

Still, the problems are not as tied to teachers quitting as many have suggested.

Teacher surveys have indicated many considered leaving their jobs. Theyre under pressure to keep kids safe from guns, catch them up academically and deal with pandemic challenges with mental health and behavior.

National Education Association union leader Becky Pringle tweeted in April: The educator shortage is a five-alarm crisis. But a Brown University study found turnover largely unchanged among states that had data.

Quit rates in education rose slightly this year, but thats true for the nation as a whole, and teachers remain far more likely to stay in their job than a typical worker.

Hiring has been so difficult largely because of an increase in the number of open positions. Many schools indicated plans to use federal relief money to create new jobs, in some cases looking to hire even more people than they had pre-pandemic. Some neighboring schools are competing for fewer applicants, as enrollment in teacher prep programs colleges has declined.

The Upper Darby School District in Pennsylvania has around 70 positions it is trying to fill, especially bus drivers, lunch aides and substitute teachers. But it cannot find enough applicants. The district has warned families it may have to cancel school or switch to remote learning on days when it lacks subs.

Its become a financial competition from district to district to do that, and thats unfortunate for children in communities who deserve the same opportunities everywhere in the state, Superintendent Daniel McGarry said.

The number of unfilled vacancies has led some states and school systems to ease credential requirements, in order to expand the pool of applicants. U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told reporters last week that creative approaches are needed to bring in more teachers, such as retired educators, but schools must not lower standards.

Schools in the South are more likely to struggle with teacher vacancies. A federal survey found an average of 3.4 teaching vacancies per school as of this summer; that number was lowest in the West, with 2.7 vacancies on average, and highest in the South, with 4.2 vacancies.

In Birmingham, the school district is struggling to fill around 50 teaching spots, including 15 in special education, despite $10,000 signing bonuses for special ed teachers. Jenikka Oglesby, a human resources officer for the district, says the problem owes in part to low salaries in the South that dont always offset a lower cost of living.

The school system in Moss Point, a small town near the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, has increased wages to entice more applicants. But other districts nearby have done the same. Some teachers realized they could make $30,000 more by working 30 minutes away in Mobile, Alabama.

I personally lost some really good teachers to Mobile County Schools, said Tenesha Batiste, human resources director for the Moss Point district. And she also lost some not-so-great teachers, she added  people who broke their contracts and quit three days before the school year started.

Its the job that makes all others possible, yet they get paid once a month, and they can go to Chick-fil-A in some places and make more money, Batiste said.

A bright spot for Moss Point this year is four student teachers from the University of Southern Mississippi. They will spend the school year working with children as part of a residency program for aspiring educators. The state has invested almost $10 million of federal relief money into residency programs, with the hope the residents will stay and become teachers in their assigned districts.

Michelle Dallas, a teacher resident in a Moss Point first-grade classroom, recently switched from a career in mental health and is confident she is meant to be a teacher.

Thats why Im here, she said, to fulfill my calling.

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This story is part of an Associated Press collaboration with AL.com, The Christian Science Monitor, The Dallas Morning News, The Fresno Bee in California, The Hechinger Report, The Seattle Times and The Post and Courier in Charleston, South Carolina.

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Associated Press writers Brooke Schultz in Harrisburg, Pa., Collin Binkley in Washington, D.C., and Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, N.Y. contributed to this report. Rebecca Griesbach is a member of The Alabama Education Lab team at AL.com. She is supported through a partnership with Report for America. AP journalist Sharon Lurye reported from New Orleans. Schultz 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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The Associated Press education team receives support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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For more back-to-school coverage, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/back-to-school

By SHARON LURYE and REBECCA GRIESBACH

Associated Press and AL.com
SAO PAULO (AP)  Antonio Luis Durao is a member of a small minority in Brazil: He's an undecided voter with mere weeks until presidential elections.

Had the vote taken place a year ago, the 61-year-old fruit farmer would have supported Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the leftist former president who governed between 2003 and 2010. During that period, da Silva's government granted Durao some rights to farm a 26-hectare (64-acre) piece of land in Porangatu in the heartland state of Goias.

But last month, Durao finally received a title for that same plot, giving him full ownership  with the right to sell  though after 10 years. It also will allow him to apply for a loan from a state-run bank, and he hopes to finance a tractor. He's also considering rewarding incumbent Jair Bolsonaro with his vote.

I got in here during the Lula years, and I'm grateful, but there was nothing in place. I think this document will make things better for me now," he told The Associated Press in a phone interview. One gave me access 14 years ago, and the other is opening my path to the future.

Durao's grant is part of the president's Title Brazil program, which aims to give ownership rights to some 340,000 people who now live on lands that are either state owned or were privately held but unused. The far-right leader, who is trailing in the polls, is also hoping it will help boost his odds of reelection.

Bolsonaro has often touted the program as a means of settling old disputes, creating legal certainty and weakening the leftist Landless Workers Movement, a key ally of da Silva's that has long staged occupations of what it considers vacant or unused lands  though there have been far fewer seizures in recent years.

It's a partial, free-market approach to land reform in a vast nation that since colonial times has seen great inequalities in the distribution of land, with a few farmers and corporations holding enormous expanses while millions toil on small plots to which they hold little if any legal claim.

Title Brazil proceedings usually start with rural mayors who reach out to the federal government on behalf of local farmers. Local officials and farmers sit on regional commissions to evaluate the claims. Only those who had already registered for earlier land reform programs are eligible.

The governments National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform says 733 of Brazil's more than 5,500 municipalities so far have reached agreements to work with the land titles program, though many have yet to distribute any new titles. The AP reached out to 17 municipalities listed by Incra as participants of the program, but only two had the program up and running and offered contacts of beneficiaries.

Bolsonaros adversaries claim that the program is a gimmick that will fade as soon as the election is over. While it was announced shortly after he took office in 2019, most of the activity appears to have come in recent months.

They also note that full ownership won't come until a final review in 10 years  and question whether it will solve the problem of unequal land distribution. saying the small plots are likely to wind up being sold to big landholders eventually.

These are provisional land titles," said Alexandre Conceicao, one of the leaders of the Landless Workers Movement. He said the administration "wants to destabilize any attempts to lead a land reform in Brazil, now and in the future.

The president argues his opponents challenge the policy because they fear it will weaken the Landless Workers Movement that he labels as a terrorist organization. Bolsonaro is a staunch agribusiness advocate and frequently invokes individuals' right to own property.

With the (land) title, you have access to credit, you increase the value of your property, you become real citizens, Bolsonaro told a crowd in April in Goias state. You are no longer in the hands of those who used you as a body of troops to invade property.

A Datafolha poll on Sept. 1 found that 46% of rural respondents intended to vote for da Silva, while 33% were on the presidents side. Four years ago, going into a runoff against leftist Fernando Haddad, Bolsonaro had 36% in the same poll versus 24% for his opponent. The margin of error in both polls was two percentage points.

Rodrigo Sa Motta, a history professor at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, said the governments policy helps provide access to credit, but it doesn't move the ball forward in land regularization and distribution, which is the essence of land reform. That's because so far it does not expand land distribution to poor farmers, but only broadens the legal rights of people who already occupy small farms.

It is more of rhetoric to say they are doing something, that the administration isn't standing still, he added.

Brazils Landless Workers Movement says about 90,000 families are still seeking lands to grow crops, and very few of those will gain anything from Title Brazil.

But the program is showing signs of resonating with rural voters.

Another beneficiary told the AP she waited for years before finally receiving rights to farm a piece of land during the administration of Dilma Rousseff, da Silvas ally and successor. She's receiving a title under Bolsonaro  and plans to vote for him, though she spoke on condition of anonymity, because she believes her family would not support her views.

I dont like much of what Bolsonaro did, I dont like the way he expresses himself, but it is true that I see a better future for me and my family because of his support to agriculture, she said by phone. I think it is important to be grateful.
H-E-B

H-E-B is offering customers a new way to pay for their groceries and home goods, along with added savings.

On Monday, September 12, the H-E-B debit account program will officially launch for Texan shoppers, according to a news release.
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A Michigan man, who had reportedly been sucked into QAnon and 2020 election conspiracies, was killed by police after shooting and killing his wife over the weekend.

According to the Oakland County Sheriffs Office, at around 4 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 11, police responded to a call from a young woman in Walled Lake, Michigan, who said shed been shot by her father. When police arrived, they heard gunshots and soon confronted Igor Lanis, 53, who allegedly came out of his house with a shotgun and began firing. Police reportedly fired back and killed Lanis (no officers were harmed).

Inside, police found Lanis wife, Tina, 56, dead from multiple gunshot wounds to the back. Police also found one of Lanis daughters, Rachel, trying to crawl from the home after being shot in the back and legs. Rachel told the police that her dad had shot her and her mother. Rachel was then taken to a hospital and is now in stable condition following emergency surgery. The Lanis family dog was also shot multiple times and killed.

Though authorities have yet to identify Lanis wife and daughter, his other daughter, Rebecca, confirmed their names to The Detroit News. Rebecca (who was at a friends house when the shooting occurred) said her father had always been prone to mental health issues, but hed grown more agitated as he fell into internet conspiracy theories involving QAnon, vaccines, and the lie that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump.

[N]obody could talk him out of them, Rebecca said, adding, Its really so shocking, but it really can happen to anybody. Right-wing extremism is not funny, and people need to watch their relatives, and if they have guns, they need to hide them or report them or something because this is out of control.

Rebecca also shared her story on the QAnon Casualties subreddit. She said that, as her father became more engrossed by these conspiracies, he told his family he wanted to keep them safe and healthy. Though Rebecca said her father verbally snapped at the family a few times, it didnt become physically violent until an early morning fight with Tina that preceded the shooting.

Im shocked and I dont even know what to say, Rebecca wrote. Fuck you, Qanon. I hope the FBI tightens its grip on you and that your lackies rot in prison (and hell) for poisoning so many people.
B.J. Novak's new movie Vengeance proves Texans don't need a reason to love Whataburger  they just do. A recent viral TikTok from valsofie27 showed a clip from the film where B.J. Novak's character Ben Manalowitz is trying to learn why a family loves Whataburger.

The dark comedy adventure set in West Texas is The Office alum's directorial debut. Novak's plays a journalist and aspiring podcaster from New York City who finds himself in West Texas attending the funeral of a girl he'd hooked up with. Manalowitz spends time with her family while trying to figure out how the girl died. It was released on July 28.

In one of the scenes displayed on the viral TikTok, Manalowitz asks the family to tell him something they love about where they live. All yell, "Whataburger." He then asks what makes it the best, to which they reply, "Wherever you are there's a Whataburger."

"It's always right there (very true)," the family explains.

Manalowitz then shares a scenario of which restaurant they would choose if the fast-food joint was around a Burger King or a Sonic. Again, all say they would choose Whataburger because "it's right there." Manalowitz still doesn't get it.

"Asking why you love Whataburger is like asking why you love Christmas or a summer night or why you love your dog," the family explains. "I mean, you could point to the reasons, but the reasons aren't really the point. You just love it, and that's how love works."

The clip went viral on TikTok, receiving more than 395,000 views and about 45,000 likes. Many Texans in the comments agreed with the Whataburger love.

"You just love it," Rudy A pointed out.

And, he's right. Texans just do.

Check out the TikTok video below:
The Deco District's Elotitos Corn Bar, purveyor of aguas frescas and elote in a cup, is expanding their reach to the Government Hill area.

After a successful year and a half of business on Fredericksburg Road, Elotitos is opening a second location at 1943 N. New Braunfels. While the timeline for opening is still rough, owner Jesus Arreaga tells MySA that he plans on opening up the new shop sometime in late fall or early winter.

Elotitos second location will operate in the same building as Folklores Coffee House.

After Arreaga teased the opening on Instagram, the coffee shop took to Instagram to welcome the corn shop to the previously Sam Houston-adjacent neighborhood.

"I'm just very excited to be a part of that community," says Arreaga.

Arreaga shares that the new shop will offer the same old corn favorites, including Hot Cheetos, chipotle and jalapeno flavors, as well as the cucumber pineapple agua fresca. That being said, he intends to introduce some fresh menu items to keep the people of San Antonio interested.

"It's one thing for the media to like you, but another thing for the people to really embrace you and I think that's exciting. That's the exciting part for me, that the people have kind of responded so well, that we decided, okay, let's do it all over again, let's open up a second location," says Arreaga.

Since its inception, the shop has attracted attention from everyone from MySA to local influencers like SA Lunchador  a mysteriously masked foodie that dons a luchador mask while staking out the local food scene.

Before the second location opens, you can find Elotitos at 1933 Fredericksburg Road, San Antonio, TX 78201.
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP)  A Black pastor who was arrested by white police officers while watering the flowers of a neighbor who was out of town filed a federal lawsuit alleging the ordeal violated his constitutional rights and caused lingering problems including emotional distress and anxiety.

Michael Jennings filed the lawsuit Friday night against three officers and the central Alabama town of Childersburg requesting a jury trial and seeking an unspecified amount of money.

Jennings lawyers held a news conference outside the Birmingham federal courthouse on Saturday to discuss the lawsuit, and the NAACP, the nations oldest civil rights organization, and other groups planned a rally afterward at a downtown park.

Im here for accountability, and Im here for justice, Jennings told the news conference.

The suit alleged the actions of Officers Christopher Smith and Justin Gable, Sgt. Jeremy Brooks and the city violated rights protecting against unlawful arrest and guaranteeing free speech. He cited multiple continuing problems including post traumatic stress disorder and humiliation.

Childersburg city attorney Reagan Rumsey didnt return an email seeking comment.

Jennings, 56, was arrested in May after a white neighbor called 911 and said a younger Black male and gold SUV were at a house while the owners  who are friends of Jennings and had asked him to watch their home  were away.

Jennings identified himself as Pastor Jennings but refused to provide identification to the officers, who arrested him on a charge of obstructing government operations after a 20-minute confrontation that included raised voices on both sides.

Filed in municipal court, the charge was dismissed within days at the request of the then-police chief. Jennings attorneys last month released police body camera video that was obtained following a records request to the city, located 55 miles (88 kilometers) southeast of Birmingham.

Benard Simelton, president of the Alabama branch of the NAACP, said the officers who arrested Jennings did so many things that weren't in line with good community policing tactics.

These poor judgment decisions reflect poorly on the type of training the Childersburg police officers receive  if they were acting in accordance within police guidelines, Simelton said in a statement.

While Jennings could have filed a claim against the city seeking damages, attorney Harry Daniels said that wasn't done because the arrest was well within the time frame allowed by law for a lawsuit.
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WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden has formally accepted an invitation to attend the state funeral service for Queen Elizabeth II.

The White House said Sunday that the president will be accompanied by First Lady Jill Biden. The service will be held on Sept. 19.

Earlier in the day, Biden remembered the words of comfort that the late monarch had provided to the United States following the Sept. 11 attacks more than two decades ago.

Grief is the price we pay for love, said Biden, quoting part of the Queens message to America during remarks on the 21st anniversary of the attacks.

Speaking at a commemoration at the Pentagon, Biden said the queen's words remain as poignant as they did 21 years ago but the weight of loss also remains heavy.

On this day, the price feels so great, Biden said.

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KEY DEVELOPMENTS:

 Queen Elizabeth II loved corgis breed from childhood

 Former British colonies conflicted over Queen Elizabeth II

 Queen Elizabeth II's coffin begins journey through Scotland

 Whats next for the UK as Queen Elizabeth II laid to rest

 King Charles III is officially proclaimed monarch in London

 What will happen to all the currencies that feature the queen?

 Explainer: The formal rules around Charles' accession

 Mourners in the street: Sincere grief flows out across Britain

 Will Charles be loved by his subjects, like his mother was?

 Find more AP coverage here: https://apnews.com/hub/queen-elizabeth-ii

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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

DONCASTER, England - British horse racing has paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth II as the late monarchs favorite sport returned after a pause following her death.

Two minutes of silence were held at Doncaster on Sunday. A video was then played on the big screens of the queen at various races through the years, along with some of her greatest triumphs as a racehorse owner.

Horse racing was the big sporting fascination of the queen, who became one of the biggest faces of the sport both in Britain and globally and had more than 1,800 winners.

No one person ever has, or ever will, do so much for so long for horse racing, than did her majesty the queen, narrator Brough Scott, a former jockey turned TV presenter, said during the video. The sport worldwide will forever be in her debt.

It was followed by a long ovation from the jockeys and officials who lined up for the tribute ceremony.

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EDINBURGH, Scotland - Queen Elizabeth IIs flag-draped coffin has arrived at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the British monarchys residence in the Scottish capital city of Edinburgh.

The arrival followed a slow, somber and regal procession through the Scottish countryside on Sunday. Mourners had packed city streets and lined rural roads to take part in a historic goodbye to the monarch who reigned for 70 years.

The hearse drove past piles of bouquets and other tributes as it led a seven-car cortege from Balmoral, where the queen died Thursday at age 96, for a six-hour trip through Scottish towns to the palace in Edinburgh. The late queens coffin was draped in the Royal Standard for Scotland and topped with a wreath made of flowers from the estate, including sweet peas, one of the queens favorites.

Members of the Royal Regiment of Scotland carried the coffin past the queens only daughter, Princess Anne, and into the throne room. It will remain there until Monday afternoon so residence staff can pay their last respects.

King Charles III and his Queen Consort Camilla will travel to Edinburgh on Monday to take the coffin to St. Giles Cathedral on the citys Royal Mile. The coffin will remain there for 24 hours before being flown to London on Tuesday.

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A young Bosnian girl is remembering Queen Elizabeth II for her love of dogs and her kindness.

Asya Isovic, 12, says she will never forget the day she found a letter waiting for her at home in Sarajevo that was sent on the queens behalf.

Isovic had made a card decorated with a drawing of a Queens Guard with three corgi dogs and mailed it to the Queen along with some poems and a couple of more things.

She did not expect a reply, but one signed by the queens lady-in-waiting had arrived. The letter said the Queen was touched by your thoughtfulness and really appreciates the time and care taken to create your card and gifts.

Isovic said she hoped the royal family will find a way to cope with the loss. She also hoped that King Charles III will take care of the (late Queens) corgis.

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LONDON  King Charles IIIs son William, the new Prince of Wales, has told the First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford, he will serve the country with humility and great respect.

William was given the title when his father, the previous Prince of Wales, ascended to the throne following the death Thursday of Queen Elizabeth II.

William told Drakeford that he and his wife Catherine have a deep affection for Wales, having made their first family home in Anglesey, including during the earliest months of Prince Georges life.

He said the couple would travel to Wales very soon and want to do their part to support the aspirations of the Welsh people and to shine a spotlight on both the challenges and opportunities in front of them.

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BEIJING  Chinese President Xi Jinping has sent a message of congratulation to Britains King Charles III on his accession to the throne, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Sunday.

I am willing to work with King Charles III to enhance mutual understanding and friendship ... and strengthen communication on global issues, so as to benefit the two countries, Xinhua quoted Xi as saying.

The Chinese president also commemorated the 50th anniversary of formal diplomatic relations. The message comes amid strained relations over trade, human rights and Chinas crackdown on the democratic opposition in the former British colony of Hong Kong.

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King Charles III has been formally proclaimed the monarch in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The moves Sunday in the rest of the United Kingdom came a day after the same proclamation was made in London at a pomp-filled accession ceremony steeped in ancient tradition and political symbolism.

In Belfast, bells chimed and a bugler played before the proclamation was read. It was followed by a 21-gun salute and a military band playing the anthem, God Save the King. In Wales, a regimental mascot goat accompanied the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Welsh regiment at the ceremony at Cardiff Castle.

Earlier, proclamations were held in other parts of the Commonwealth  the group of former British Empire colonies  including Australia and New Zealand.
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WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP)  Five people died Saturday in New Zealand after the small charter boat they were aboard capsized, authorities say, in what may have been a collision with a whale. Another six people aboard the boat were rescued.

Police said the 8.5-meter (28-foot) boat overturned near the South Island town of Kaikoura. Police said they were continuing to investigate the cause of the accident.

Kaikoura Police Sergeant Matt Boyce described it as a devastating and unprecedented event.

Our thoughts are with everyone involved, including the victims and their families, their local communities, and emergency services personnel, Boyce said.

He said police divers had recovered the bodies of all those who had died. He said all six survivors were assessed to be in stable condition at a local health center, with one transferred to a hospital in the city of Christchurch as a precaution.

Kaikoura Mayor Craig Mackle told The Associated Press that the water was dead calm at the time of the accident and the assumption was that a whale had surfaced from beneath the boat.

He said there were some sperm whales in the area and also some humpback whales traveling through.

He said locals had helped with the rescue efforts throughout the day but the mood in the town was somber because the water was so cold and they feared for the outcome of anybody who had fallen overboard.

Mackle said hed thought in the past about the possibility of a boat and whale colliding, given the number of whales that frequent the region.

It always plays on your mind that it could happen, he said, adding that he hadnt heard about any previous such accidents.

Mackle said the boat was a charter vessel typically used for fishing excursions. News agency Stuff reported the passengers belonged to a bird enthusiasts' group.

Police said they were still notifying the relatives of those who died, and couldn't yet publicly name the victims.

Vanessa Chapman told Stuff she and a group of friends had watched the rescue efforts unfold from Goose Bay, near Kaikoura. She said that when she arrived at a lookout spot, she could see a person sitting atop an overturned boat waving their arms.

She said two rescue helicopters and a third local helicopter were circling before two divers jumped out. She told Stuff that the person atop the boat was rescued and a second person appeared to have been pulled from the water.

Kaikoura is a popular whale-watching destination. The seafloor drops away precipitously from the coast, making for deep waters close to the shore. A number of businesses offer boat trips or helicopter rides so tourists can see whales, dolphins and other sea creatures up close.

Compliance agency Maritime New Zealand said it sent two investigators to the scene and would be conducting a thorough investigation once recovery operations had concluded.

Principal Investigator Tracy Phillips said the agency offers its heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of the people who have died.
Gregg DeGuire/WireImage

Comedian Cristela Alonzo, labor leader Dolores Huerta, and gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke will meet in downtown San Antonio this weekend as the latter campaigns for Texas governor.

Huerta's "Juntos Se Puede" tour will stop in Brownsville, McAllen, San Antonio, and Corpus Christi on Saturday, September 17 and Sunday, September 18. San Antonio's event is planned for the final day of the jaunt at 401 Villita (Venue Villita) from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
An eighth grader in Texas was arrested and charged with a first-degree felony after allegedly attacking a teacher over what appears to be a cell phone dispute. A video of the fight has gone viral on social media, showing the student hitting the educator at Bowie Middle School.

Ector County Independent School District released a statement over the weekend. The spokesperson for Ector County ISD, Mike Adkins, said the incident happened on September 7. The boy was arrested and charged with a first-degree felony: aggravated assault of a public servant, according to the statement sent to Odessa outlets like KPEJ.

"This is shocking and terrible, and will not be tolerated. We have been dealing with fights and violence recently, and want our community to know that behavior is unacceptable and we will do all we can to prevent it," Adkins said.

"The student was arrested and charged with a first-degree felony and will also face disciplinary action through the Student Code of Conduct. We have watched violence among children on the rise here, around the state and across the country; we know our children are hurting and need us to address mental health challenges, while we also hold them accountable for their actions. Our district will continue to address these concerns with students and families."

The behavior isn't only reaching the children but also educators. On August 31, Edgewood Independent School District fired a teacher for speaking to a student in an unprofessional manner. In a video, the teacher can be heard saying to a young student the following: "The very fact that you exist annoys me! You are an annoying human being."

Districts across the state have also been dealing with threats on social media. On August 29, a South Texas student was apprehended for threatening to bring a gun on campus. Rio Grande City Grulla Independent School District said they were told about the threat from a parent and have been investigating the student. Similarly, a number of students were apprehended in Lockhart after graffiti was flagged in one of the girls' bathrooms at the local high school.
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Its been a dynamic last few days in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. And its also put the issue of often dubious quality of war-related information front and center. That applies most of all to the kinetic war, as in the fighting. But it also applies to the economic war.

Even though this post will be mainly about military operations, lets not bury the lede. Weve spoken again and again about timetables, how market time moves faster than political time. Market time also moves faster than military time. It looks ever more likely that the speed of developments in the real economy and markets will well outpace the resolution of the war. We can see some dim recognition of that possibility with government officials in Europe preparing for unrest via increasing policing. But what happens in the face of Tarhir Square level protests? Or a market seizure that threatens Europes wobbly banks? How will a finance bailout on top of giving Ukraine an open credit line work if the real economy hits the skids?

In other words, while the physical war is where the action is now, it could easily shift to a real economy and resultant financial crisis taking the fore as early as October.

Now to the war war. The Western press is predictably agog with Ukraine getting off its first successful offensive since 2014. Even Russian Telegram was apparently in hair-tearing mode with what a great loss this was for Russia, how Putin was in trouble.

Russian defeat or pullback? As a reflexive skeptic, I was bothered by the emotionality of many of the takes. This is a very thinly populated area, mainly with small settlements. The population of Izyum is only 45,000. In the early Kharkiv offensive both sides had pushed each other back and forth with few men and few casualties.

As Alexander Mercouris pointed out, Russia has earlier planned to use Izyum as a key foundation for moving further south. But they found the advance blocked by a very heavily bunkered Sherwood forest. So Izyum became a bit of an albatross: not useful for prosecuting the war, and subject to attacks from Ukraine.

The widespread initial reaction was that Ukraine had forced Russia out, when this operation looks more like a pullback. There were few Russian casualties, no evidence of a rout or even an over-hasty retreat.1 Larry Johnson pointed out that modern militaries do not turn on a dime and that Russia had to have planned to leave. Aside from the lack of a meaningful Russian body count, which is what youd see if Russia really was caught with its pants down, Military Summary provides anectata that Russian soldiers were being pulled out

What about all that terrain, and the civilians? Part of the distress is falling for map thinking, which is normally imperative in a conflict but is not the driving framework for Russia in this campaign. It is out to destroy Ukraines warmaking capacity. It needs to clear the Donbass as a key aim of the Special Military Operation, but territorial targets beyond that are elective,2 and are chosen significantly to advance the destruction of the Ukraine forces. Experts have pointed out repeatedly that in the fighting in Donbass, Russia has often pulled back in the face of a Ukraine advance, which suits Russia just fine, since those advances often make the Ukraine forces more exposed.

But but butRussia abandoned all those civilians whod been friendly to the tender ministrations of the SBU. That seems to be much less true than Telegram hand-wringing would have you believe.

Andrei Martyanov provides a must-listen assessment of laffaire Kharkiv. Dont be put off by his dismissiveness (although I agree it puts a lot of noise in his signal).

Andrei makes many important points, particularly on the poor quality of Telegram commentary and the map-reading efforts (he has a takedown of Rybar, generally well regarded in the Russia-favoring community, in a related post). Andrei finds only three commentators to be reliable: Graham Phillips, Eva Bartlett and one Russian commentator whose name I cant hear well enough to render (at 18:55).

Andrei points out that the area had already been significantly depopulated, with only 1/3 to 1/4 of the earlier residents remaining, and that Russia had already evacuated many of the friendlies (and per TASS, apparently made a last run at it on September 8). Andrei argued that the Russians didnt see much upside in fighting to hold territory when the people left werent on your side.

He also mentions the horrific casualties, a point I mentioned yesterday morning in comments, before hearing Andreis remarks:

So everyone is freaking out over the map. All the talk is fixated on that. What is being ignored is the body count. The MoD, as quoted in various sources yesterday, said: The RF Armed Forces destroyed more than 2,000 Ukrainian and foreign fighters, as well as over 100 pieces of armored vehicles and artillery in three days. This was quoted after the end of day Saturday in Russia. But not sure when MoD gave the account. If the MoD figures are accurate, and most commentators have taken the MoD as accurate or at least not very exaggerated, they killed 2,000 men by at the latest end of day Sat, more likely earlier that day or end of Friday. That implies another 6,000 wounded. That is out of 9,000 to 15,000 troops. 15,000 is the highest number I have heard attributed to the Ukraine side. So more than half taken out in at most three days. If this is true, the misreporting/cognitive capture is massive. This counteroffensive will have been a worse slaughter than Kherson, but since Russia has not yet moved its troops in to retake ground, and instead is taking them out largely from the air (not the normal Russian order of battle, BTW) this will be the biggest PR headfake in a very long time. The reason this is not implausible is Big Serge indirectly confirmed that Ukraine was taking a beating in his account, citing a Ukraine reporter: There is heavy fighting near Kupyansk, worse than Balakleysky. We are taking heavy losses. The enemy is transferring a bunch of reserves by air. The Wagnerites have already arrived in the city itself. The sky is filled with aircraft. Hearing about all this, a haunting feeling of an ambush arises in the soul. What if this all really turns out to be a strategic level ambush?

The Ministry of Defense reported another 450 total killed in the Kharkiv region in its Sunday report. That would bring the total of dead and wounded, assuming the usual 1:3 ratio, to 10,000 (although between Kharkiv and Kherson, from September 6 to 10, the MoD is reporting a total of over 4,000 eliminated and 8,000 wounded; perhaps they are being conservative on wounded?). Andrei claims that the MoD estimates for Kharkiv are low and insinuates he has some reports from the field.

I have heard second hand that there are higher estimates for Ukraine forces committed to Kharkiv, now more like 30,000. Even so, the loss rate is awful and the fighting isnt over. And was this increase planned or were reinforcements sent in?

Was this a trap? The Russia bulls seem a bit over-confident that Russia will (further) lower the hammer on Ukraine. But if so, my guess is not that they planned this lure but saw Ukraine massing forces and figured out where they could best take that. But this is the argument, as made by Larry Johnson:

I agree with Andrei Martyanovs takethe Russians knew it was coming and chose to let the Ukrainians flood the zone in order to eventually hit the Ukrainian forces with a massive counter attack. The Ukrainians are no longer in fortified defensive positions and their lines of communication to support the forward troops are now defined precisely. The Ukrainian attack has not destroyed nor disrupted Russias air, artillery, rocket and missile assets. Attacking the Ukrainian units is an easier task, not more difficult. I am not privy to the Russian plan. But what I do know is that the planning process required to deploy the troops and equipment moving into Kharkov was not a panicked response. Hollywood can create the illusion of rapid movement of military troops, but the real world requires alerting units, making sure they are properly supplied and then undertaking the logistic task of moving those units into combat. This means the planning was deliberate, not a crisis response.

What about damage to Putin? Even though the professionals have been pretty chill about the Kharkiv offensive, that does not mean they have a lot of share of mind in Russian media or social media. The explosion of criticism on Telegram suggests there are a lot of people there, and probably in Russia too, whod like to see the war prosecuted more aggressively.

Brian Berletic pointed out that Putin got a lot of criticism during the Syrian conflict, where he repeatedly allowed humanitarian corridors to be opened, which not only slowed the resolution of the war but even allowed the rebels to get food. Berletic argued that even though Putin looked wrong in the short term, he played the right long game. Russia would not have been able to restore relations with Turkey if it had gone full bore.

Some have said Putin doesnt have as many degrees of freedom with public opinion with Ukraine as he did with Syria. But Russia engaged in major strikes in southern and eastern Ukraine to take out part of the electrical grid (Ukraine is whining about the damage). This follows Ukraine operators shutting off the last reactor in the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and thus taking that electricity supply to Ukraine to zero.

This move was not in retaliation for the Kharkiv offense. Among other reasons, it would have taken some planning to identify targets. Moon of Alabama says instead it is to whack Ukraine for hitting civilian electrical infrastructure, both in Donbass and Belgorod. But the timing worked out well for shoring up optics in Russia.

And in the style Russia has chosen to adopt, this was pretty mild on the pain scale compared to what they could have inflicted. From Moon of Alabama:

Over more than 200 days the Russian special military operation in Ukraine had never attacked the basic infrastructure of the country One thus wonders about the Ukrainian decision makers and their western intelligence minders who thought that attacking electricity networks under Russian control would somehow benefit their cause. The Ukrainian military has for weeks attacked the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant It was not the only target of Ukrainian infrastructure attacks. As British intelligence asset Bellingcat mouthpiece Christo Gorzev tweeted gleefully: Christo Grozev @christogrozev  23:05 UTC  Sep 7, 2022Half of Belgorod is left without electricity after what appears to be a Ukrainian attack on its central electricity distribution station

Embedded video Belgorod is a city in Russia a few miles north of the border to Ukraine. Yesterdays report by the Russian Defense Ministry about its war effort complained about systematic Ukrainian attacks on the electricity infrastructure of Donetsk city and other places: In order to destabilize the situation in the territory liberated by the Russian Armed Forces and the suffering of civilians, the Kiev regime continues its deliberate shelling of energy infrastructure: generating facilities, transformer substations, and power lines. Its important to say that the daily strikes against civilian infrastructure are carried out by the Kiev regime in a deliberate and targeted manner. By systematically attacking the power infrastructure in Russia and in Russian held territory the Ukrainian government has launched deliberate terror attacks against the populations in those areas. It seemed to have forgotten the remarks of Russian President Vladimir Putin who had said: [E]veryone should know that, by and large, we have not started anything in earnest yet. Yesterday evening Russian cruise missiles were launched from Russian ships in the Black and the Caspian Sea. They were targeted to interrupt, not yet destroy, four Ukrainian power plants and to temporarily disable the Ukrainian electricity network: Russia attacked power stations and other infrastructure Sunday, causing widespread outages across Ukraine as Kyivs forces pressed a swift counteroffensive that has driven Moscows troops from swaths of territory it had occupied in the northeast.The bombardment ignited a massive fire at a power station on Kharkivs western outskirts and killed at least one person. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced the deliberate and cynical missile strikes against civilian targets as acts of terrorism. Ukraines second-largest city of Kharkiv appeared to be without power Sunday night. Cars drove through darkened streets, and the few pedestrians used flashlights or mobile phones to light their way. The attacks also disrupted the Ukrainian military railway transports which currently move troops from the north and west towards the Vuhledar area in the southeast from where they plan to attack in the direction of Mariupol.

And it appears that theres more attacks today. From the comments section of Andrei Martyanovs video post, translating a Telegram channel:

New explosions are reported in Kharkov. An air alert has been declared in the city. The local Gauleiter has already confirmed the new arrivals. Electricity went out again in some districts of Kharkov after the shelling Kharkov, critical infrastructure facilities have been disabled, electricity and water have gone, the metro has stopped The mayor confirmed. A strike on a target in the Kiev region. There is strong smoke. Kharkov According to the mayor of the city, yesterdays situation on the disabling of critical infrastructure facilities is repeated: the city lost power and stopped water supply. Thus, the attacks on the Ukrainian energy infrastructure in the east of the country have been going on for the second day, which gives some hope for the emergence of a systematic approach. @milinfolive

And an interesting thought from midori as to why only now to hit electrical grids:

Kolmogorov was saying months ago that Russia will start advance to West Ukraine by cold/late Autumn, guess knocking power grid now means less time to fix and adapt psychologically for Russian advance, Ukrainians are panicking now, they probably believed that Russians wont do it due to fear of NATO intervention, even recently clown Zelensky said theyll export electricity to help EU cope with consequences of sanctions LOL

Needless to say, this is an overly dynamic situation with dodgy data. But it still seems like that the economic war will reach a critical phase before the kinetic one does.

______

1 Im not persuaded by photos of alleged abandoned equipment without some corroboration. Ukraine has been doing fakes of Ukraine dead tanks or Russian dead tanks from earlier combats as fresh kills since the start of this conflict. Dead soldiers would be more persuasive

2 Russia is assumed to be likely to want to take the Black Sea coast, but the probable expansion of aims is due to the need to subjugate the rest of Ukraine as cheaply as possible, since they reneged on initial settlement commitments.
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Lambert and I, and many readers, agree that Ukraine has prompted the worst informational environment ever. We hope readers will collaborate in mitigating the fog of war  both real fog and stage fog  in comments. None of us need more cheerleading and link-free repetition of memes; there are platforms for that. Low-value, link-free pom pom-wavers will be summarily whacked.

And for those who are new here, this is not a mere polite request. We have written site Policies and those who comment have accepted those terms. To prevent having to resort to the nuclear option of shutting comments down entirely until more sanity prevails, as we did during the 2015 Greek bailout negotiations and shortly after the 2020 election, we are going to be ruthless about moderating and blacklisting offenders.

Yves

P.S. Also, before further stressing our already stressed moderators, read our site policies:

Please do not write us to ask why a comment has not appeared. We do not have the bandwidth to investigate and reply. Using the comments section to complain about moderation decisions/tripwires earns that commenter troll points. Please dont do it. Those comments will also be removed if we encounter them.

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Stuck in Vermont: Donna Bister Has Been Raising Monarch Butterflies Since 2016 Seven Days (Re Silc).

From a single domestication, donkeys helped build empires around the world Science

San Francisco Braces for Epic Commercial Real Estate Crash The San Francisco Standard

Whats the deal with all those weird wrong-number texts? Read Max

Climate

#COVID19

China?

Indonesias president Joko Widodo under pressure to import Russian oil FT

India

Syraqistan

UK/EU

Why EU finance ministers face a tough balancing act FT. Because the entire circus is collapsing?

New Not-So-Cold War

Biden Adminstration

Supply Chain

Handy chart (1): The backlog of cargo ships at the port of LA-Long Beach has fallen strongly from its pandemic-induced highs. Some hopeful signs that supply chain bottlenecks in the US are easing. Chart via @JosephPolitano pic.twitter.com/RKTb3rknwh  Philipp Heimberger (@heimbergecon) September 12, 2022 Handy chart (2): Global container shipping costs are now down almost 50% year-on-year. Some major East -> West routes are down even more, and still falling week-on-week. pic.twitter.com/1fBmWXJDll  Mike Bird (@Birdyword) September 12, 2022

Queen Elizabeth

9/11

2024

Big Brother Is Watching You Watch

Republican Housewife Insists On Cleaning Baseboards In Case FBI Raids House Tomorrow Babylon Bee

Healthcare

Human genomics vs Clinical genomics Eric Topol, Ground Truths

Our Famously Free Press

Groves of Academe

Realignment and Legitimacy

Guillotine Watch

Class Warfare

A Photographers Intimate Look at Burning Man Inside Hook

The Art of Excess and the Excess of Art From the Forests of Arduinna. Whats needed is not less-wasteful art and ritual, but rather more of it.

Antidote du jour (via):

Bonus antidote:

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.
If youve been watching our fundraiser headings, youll we were had started on fourth goal, that of bonuses for Lambert, Nick plus Jerri for her work the first half of the year, John McGregor, Conor Gallagher, and KLG, plus other honoraria. Your enthusiastic responses to the John Z Double Your Donation challenge pushed it over the top!

And you gave quickly in light of announcing that challenge on a weekend evening. We are now well on our wayto our new target of $24,000 for Karoshi, aka burnout, prevention.

This year, weve had generous and modest gifts, and the latter are often particularly meaningful, since those donors often tell us they are on tight budgets but want to do what they can to support this community. Please give now at our Tip Jar if you havent had a chance to do so yet, by check, credit or debit card, or PayPal. And if you doing well, dig deep to bolster the donations from people who gave despite having limited means.

We are on our way to meeting our fifth target, support for extra manpower so we can keep the make our 365 day a year, just about 24/7 coverage more sustainable.

If Yves the publisher and Yves the employee were two different people, Yves the employee would have gone on strike a long time ago.

Perhaps youve heard of karoshi, a Japanese word that translates roughly into death by overwork. The Guardian reported on this phenomenon:

Japan has again been forced to confront its work culture after labour inspectors ruled that the death of a 31-year-old journalist at the countrys public broadcaster, NHK, had been caused by overwork. Miwa Sado, who worked at the broadcasters headquarters in Tokyo, logged 159 hours of overtime and took only two days off in the month leading up to her death from heart failure in July 2013. Sados death is expected to increase pressure on Japanese authorities to address the large number of deaths attributed to the punishingly long hours expected of many employees.

Youve shown in the past how essential this coverage is. In the last 16 months Yves was able sneak away to Maine, and get titanium hips and have a second medical procedure (Yves has never needed maintenance like this before_but did you even much notice her absences? Perhaps that was due to the great job everyone on this site does, but it was also due to Yves taking off as little time as possibleincluding working on her nominal vacation. Back in 2021, Jerri also had not one but two urgent needs for treatment, and Nick had a rough case of Covid and had to put off some posts, but you readers are lucky enough that everyone pitched in to work around these schedule changes.

Even though your generous support of the site have allowed her to have a day and a half off from posting every week, and shift more of daily Links duty to Lambert, this hasnt translated into more personal time for Yves. Even on her days off from posting, Yves is managing the business of the site, discovering and responding to e-mails she embarrassingly didnt see, sometimes catching up on research, and often vetting story ideas or articles pitched to her.

A big reason that the site consumes more writing/production time than in the past is that weve kept improving our output and expanding our beats. Our Links section used to be 25-30 links. It is now 55 and sometimes more.

Similarly, in runup to the crisis, when anyone who knew about finance was a one-eyed man in the land of the blind, many of our posts had only a few hundred words of commentary on an extract or extracts from news articles. Now, a significant portion of what Naked Capitalism does is quick turn-around political economy analysis of a very high caliber. We often produce think tank level work but with the aim of stripping away obfuscation and holding people accountable. That means more writer time on average per post.

We joke that we run the site with 1.6 people, although with our increased commitment as a result of Covid-19, it might be up to 1.8 writer equivalents. Regardless of the precise figure, its a way to highlight that we provide a remarkable level of output and the consistency of coverage with very thin resources.

The amount we are seeking for this target, $24,000 for weekend, holiday, and shit happens support.. We hope youll recognize how essential this is and donate generously to keep Yves in fighting fettle and have other talented writers like Lambert and Jerri-Lynn Scofield contribute more regularly.

Donors keep sending kind notes. A sampling. From Petter:

NC is my go to trusted English language news site and has been since I discovered it around 2008, maybe a year or two later. For anyone who reads NC on a regular basis, my thinking is that you HAVE to contribute if you can. There is no other site like it, from the quality of the posts to the commentariat.

From Skip Intro:
My Nashville Post role has evolved since 2000 when I joined the now-defunct The City Paper. TCP became a Post sister publication in 2008 (when I began doing some Post work) and folded in 2013. I have been managing editor of the Post since late 2011.

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KateLynn White graduated from Tennessee State University, where she was an editor of the student newspaper. She interned for The Tennessean and The Tennessee Tribune before joining the Nashville Post in 2022. She also contributes to the Nashville Scene.

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(Natural News) While I made sure to retire to bed early on Thursday night to avoid the election-stealers babbling as if it were itself distributing the plague via the airwaves, a Daily Mail story that Steve Quayle linked to on his website reporting on the Biden babbling summed up what I knew would be coming, with Biden calling President Trump supporters a threat to Democracy while his deep state cronies plan out their next false flag terrorist attack upon Americans, to be blamed upon the same MAGA that brain-dead-biden was demonizing.

(Article by Stefan Stanford republished from AllNewsPipeline.com)

With it quite obvious to all but the completely dumbed down that the 2020 election was stolen out from under Americas noses by globalists who DO NOT have Americas best interests in mind during that late night election shutdown, weve arrived at the point of time Tucker Carlson just called a turning point in American history as heard in the 2nd video at the bottom of this story, with Biden quite literally calling for a one-party America. Yet Biden is more than happy to keep the uni-party that keeps on launching all of the false flag terror attacks upon the rest of the country while theyre lying to our faces daily about everything.

Helping to show why one of the most recent Gallup polls showed Americans trust and confidence in the presidency, Congress and just about all major institutions are down to historic lows, even CNN blasted Biden for using the US military as the backdrop of his huge speech (although they were caught color-shifting his hell-red stage to a more neutral pink.) Yet cant you see Biden using the US military as his and the Democrats own personal prop weapons against the American people, in full violation of Posse Comitatus?

With several different ANP commenters pointing out in our comment sections that numerous people are talking about how Bidens babbling is setting America up for the next huge false flag as the globalists seek to complete the demonization of MAGA and forever end putting America first (who in their right minds would support govt when theyre using American taxpayer money to support illegal immigrants and launch false flag terror attacks upon Americans?), well be taking a look within this story at all of the signs now pointing at something huge coming down the pike at us at a time when Biden and the communists are intentionally collapsing America and our way of life all across the board.

As the Geller Report pointed out in this new story of Bidens babbling, surrounded by military with a blood-red background, Benedict Biden has incited violence against half of the country, the half that didnt vote for him and truly know in our hearts and our minds that he and his clan of Communists stole it.

And we shouldnt be the least bit surprised that Bidens babbling happened on the night of September 1st with that date being the kick off of World War II decades ago and, as pointed out by a reader via email to us, the satanic, warmongering globalists loving to do rituals on dates that they hold dear, so the date of Bidens speech to go along with this particular topic was very deliberate.

With JD Vance over at Fox News pointing out that Biden basically used his speech to declare war upon half the country, with Conservatives and Christians clearly the targets of Bidens ire, how long will it be until Americans are witnessing from our own homes the F-15s that Biden spoke of the other day, that WE the American people payed for, raining down hell from above if the Biden cabal doesnt like you?

In the first video weve embedded at the bottom of this story, Steve Quayle joins Doug Hagmann of the Hagmann Report to discuss Battlefield USA and where were heading now with Biden using his personal platform, paid for by the American people, to incite violence against half the country.

Check out the four top-voted comments below from this Daily Mail story reporting on Tucker Carlsons warning that Biden wants to turn America into a one party system.:

LogicalYank, Pleasant Area, United States: Tucker nailed it a usual and that folks is the reason hes #1 according to Nielson viewership. Well #2 the FIVE is #1, only MSNBC had a showing at #8 in the top 15 with FOX dominating viewership ratings. Go Tucker!

ToyFox, Somewhereinthe, United States: Biden is either pure evil or an angry, combative old coot riddled with dementia.

Ral50, Florida , United States: What a disgrace! Biden is truly an evil senile fool!

Anita Break, Up Here, United States: Biden has gone full blown N A Z I!

So while Biden declares President Trump supporters as a threat to Democracy while surrounded by the US Military and an intentionally blood red stage, as the website America First Report asked in this story, will Bidens remarks spark a Civil War or a Revolution? Certainly Tucker Carlson summed up Bidens remarks perfectly from this Liberty Daily story.:

The threat is not coming from barefoot religious extremists in caves. Its not the Chinese government. Its not even Vladimir Putin himself, the most diabolical and evil man in history. No, ladies and gentlemen, this threat is worse than all of that, and its homegrown. As they say in the horror movies, Its coming from inside the house.

The single gravest threat to America today is Republican voters, all 77 million of them. They are Nazis and destroyers of democracy. They must be stopped. That is the message of Joe Bidens speech.

He referred to MAGA forces apparently marshaling at a Red Lobster near you to take over this country. To underscore how deeply Joe Biden means all this, tonights address in Philadelphia is not being categorized as a campaign event ahead of the midterm elections, which is what it looks like. No. He said this speech has the fool sponsorship of the White House.

In other words what Joe Biden is saying right now is the official position of the entire executive branch of the U.S. government. That includes the Justice Department, the various intel agencies, and the worlds most powerful standing military.

Think about that. Does it make you nervous? You dont have to be a Trump voter to see a speech like this as a turning point in American history. For hundreds of years the U.S. has had a political system comprised of two competing parties. If you are to declare one party criminal and illegitimate, what would you be left with? You would be left with a one-party state. That is what Joe Biden is calling for tonight: a one-party state. Its shocking.

Read more at: AllNewsPipeline.com
(Natural News) New data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that 55 percent of children between the ages of six months and two years suffer a systemic reaction after getting their first dose of an mRNA (messenger RNA) vaccine from either Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna.

Following the second dose, the CDC survey found, a whopping 60 percent of children suffer some kind of negative reaction. This is based on an assessment of more than 13,000 children who were evaluated as part of a post-market analysis.

A system reaction is a response beyond the injection site, reported Margaret Menge from The Epoch Times.

While the most common systemic reactions were fatigue, fever, irritability, and crying, parents of more than 6 percent of the children in the study said their child was unable to perform normal activities after the second dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine.

The CDC collected this data between July 18 and August 21 of this year using a smartphone-based monitoring app called V-Safe. Parents can download the app and track the health of their children post-injection. (Related: Christine Grady, Tony Faucis wife, played a major role in unleashing Chinese Virus injections on children and babies.)

Parents of 8,338 children ranging in age from six months to two years who received the Moderna shot reported a 55.7 percent systemic reaction rate following the first dose, and a 58 percent systemic reaction rate following the second dose.

Parents of Pfizer-injected children, which numbered at 4,749, reported a 55.8 percent systemic reaction rate following the first dose, and a 47 percent systemic reaction rate following the second dose.

These are astounding figures that suggest the shots harm children more often than not while providing minimal, if any, benefits.

The most frequently reported reactions for children 6 months to 2 years were irritability or crying, sleepiness, and fever, Menge explained. The most common reactions for children aged 3 to 5 years were injection site pain, fatigue, and fever.

One in 10 children between six months and two years of age suffers a more serious health impact post-mRNA injection

A special section of the CDC survey also looked at more serious health reactions, which were dubbed any health impact. Amazingly, about 10 percent of children in the six month-to-two years age demographic suffered a health impact after their first dose of either Pfizer or Moderna.

Once again, the injury rate after the second injection was slightly worse for Modernas shot than for Pfizers shot, possibly because the Moderna shot contains a higher dose of mRNA chemicals.

The data was released on September 1 before the CDCs Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which is supposed to be keeping track of this kind of stuff for guidance purposes.

Also presented before ACIP was data collected from the governments official Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), as well as data from several large health maintenance organizations across the United States.

Despite a profusion of evidence to the contrary, CDC vaccine safety team head Tom Shimabukuro claimed before the committee that there are no statistical signals to suggest that the injections are in any way unsafe for children. Parents, he suggested, should still line their children up for whatever shots the government tells them to get.

What are these parents thinking? asked a commenter at the Times about parents who choose to inject their children for covid. I guess some people still think the government would never kill anyone with a vaccine on purpose. This has gone too far.

Parents arent thinking  thats the problem, responded someone else. They are afraid to question the government or the media propaganda.

To learn more about the dangers and ineffectiveness of Fauci Flu shots, visit ChemicalViolence.com.

Sources for this article include:

TheEpochTimes.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) The federal government is urging all Americans over twelve years of age to line up and get a fifth dose of the COVID vaccine, again stressing the importance of doing your part to slow the spread of coronavirus.

However, a new study, titled, Covid-19 vaccine boosters for young adults: A risk-benefit assessment and five ethical arguments against mandates at universities finds that COVID booster shots are BOOSTING THE CURVE of hospitalizations, not preventing them. According to the studys findings, COVID boosters cause up to 98 serious vaccine injuries in young adults just to prevent ONE COVID-19 hospitalization. The team of researchers are now calling the COVID-19 vaccine mandates unethical because the jabs are nearly 100 times more likely to cause a young person to suffer a serious vaccine injury than prevent a COVID-19 hospitalization.

There are many ways to prevent COVID-19 hospitalizations that dont require an additional 98 serious injuries. There are many ways to treat patients and achieve natural immunity that dont require such extreme risk to young peoples lives and livelihoods. The conclusions of the study are extra shocking, considering that the study author, Dr. Kevin Bardosh, received funds from the pro-vaccination Florida Department of Health and the vaccine-worshiping Wellcome Trust.

Young adults more likely to be seriously harmed by coercive, abusive covid-19 vaccine program

In order to prevent one COVID-19 hospitalization in adults aged 18-29, at least 22,000-30,000 have to be boosted with the mRNA vaccine. According to adverse event data, approximately 18 to 98 serious adverse events occur in a population of that size. These serious adverse events are not the typical cases of arm soreness, fever, chills and fatigue that often come with this poorly designed vaccine. These serious adverse events include medical issues like myocarditis, blood clots, facial paralysis, seizures and other medical issues that interfere with a persons daily life, long term. Between 1.7 and 3 young adults will be forced to live with myocarditis just to prevent one serious case of covid-19.

The government is telling the majority of the population to take on thousands of new medical issues just to prevent a handful of illnesses. There are countless ways to improve the innate immune system to prevent covid-19 hospitalization. These nutraceuticals, antivirals, adaptogens and treatments do not require the population to take on new medical issues that disrupt daily life, and cause suffering and death.

As the population acquires natural immunity and adapts to the vaccine-induced shedding and mutations, the risk profile for taking new COVID boosters becomes even more insane. Yet the federal government continues to instruct young people to take it. Why are young people being coerced and put under duress to take something that is causing nearly 100 more hospitalizations than the sickness itself? Why are college campuses and public schools pushing children to obey abusers and isolate themselves, to dwell on sickness, to gag themselves for hours every day, and take injections that are more likely to injure and kill them  all out of fear of something from which most easily recover?

The researchers warn that there is:

No formal risk-benefit assessment for the age group (18-29), or for children. Young adults are being coerced to do something that is insane from a standpoint of risk assessment.

Vaccine mandates may result in a net expected harm to individual young people, trading the possibility and inevitability of a simple sickness for the deliberate risk of taking on a serious, unnecessary medical issue.

The expected harms of vaccine mandates are not outweighed by the alleged benefits, especially when the vaccines fail to stop transmission.

Mandates violate the reciprocity principle because rare serious vaccine-related harms will not be reliably compensated due to liability shields in current vaccine injury schemes.

Mandates create wider social harms, discrimination, segregation, etc. Any argument in support of vaccine mandates for the benefit of public safety was found to be weak and lacking scientific and ethical support.

Sources include:

DailySceptic.org

Papers.SSRN.com

NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) We have seen and heard different iterations of one common theme, that the Democrats of today are nothing like the democrats of yesteryear, and some recent, highly disturbing events are proof positive that it is true this is not the Democrat party of your parents or grandparents.

(Article by Susan Duclos republished from AllNewsPipeline.com)

This is so important to get through to those that still consider themselves moderates. Those that disagree with almost everything conservatives believe but not because of party positions, just a difference in world views, yet havent had the actuality of what the party has become adequately shown. Not just with words, not just with accusations, but with real examples of the radical extremism that defines the Democrat (There is nothing democratic about them) party of today.

The truth is not shown by the MSM, in fact the national media, much like in the case of Hunter Bidens laptop scandal, are doing everything in their considerable power to hide the truth from Americans.

NATIONAL MEDIA CONTINUES TO HIDE LIBERAL EXTREMISM



While we will be providing recent examples of the liberal playbook of today, a quick reminder of news from 2017 that would have had wall-to-wall coverage had it been Republicans or conservatives, yet it is possible, in fact probable, that the majority of Americans never heard a peep about it from the MSM, because it was impeach Trump liberals asserting that MAGA supporters are fascists, right before applauding a very short speech made up of nothing but Hitler quotes.

I highlighted a 2017 video is for a variety of reasons.

 To highlight the MSM journalistic malpractice by hiding the level of extremism within the democrat party, proven by the fact that most never heard of the event above.

That would have been dug up within days had that been conservatives clapping for Hitler quotes and we would still be hearing about it 5 years later.

 The party is becoming even more radically extreme and the video above offers a dated reference.

 The Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) that blinded almost half a nation, so busy obsessing over the Orange Man Bad, that they couldnt even see how radical they have become.

They still cant see it, and those that do, dont care.

This dovetails with recent assertions that TDS is actually getting worse, not better, nearly two years after Trump left the White House.

Mark Bauerlein recently discussed Trump Derangement Syndrome, how he has never witnessed so many people, from the opposing politic side, so obsessed with just one man, and he predicts it is going to get worse.

It doesnt occur to the diseased ones to ask why they cant get the Orange-Haired Man out of their heads. They hate him; they loathe him; they fear him . . . We get it nonstop; we hear them; they cant stop saying so. But the expression doesnt bring them any reliefnot that we can see. Their exasperation only grows and sputters. Voicing what one feels deep inside is supposed to ease the feeling, to externalize it and let the anger, love, bitterness, joy, etc. flow, not be dammed up within. One of Freuds patients called it the Talking Cure, when he asked her to speak, just speak of anything that pops into her mind, and she and other patients found that they did feel a little better once the session concluded. But those with TDS dont. He lingers in their heads. Like a bad penny, he wont go away. Nothing that has happened has disappeared him. Jeb Bush couldnt beat him, nor could Hillary, the Mueller Team, Avenatti and Stormy, Vindman and House Democrats, or The Washington Post, NPR, and MSNBC. Not even the 2020 defeat, January 6th, and Liz Cheneys hearings have removed him from the body politic. If anything, the Mar-a-Lago raid will only ensure his continuance. Martyrs have sticking power. The prospect of Trump 2024 appears ever more likely, and if the inconceivable happened once (November 2016), it can happen again.

The more their obsession expands, the more radically extreme they seem to get, which just begs the question of whether TDS has more symptoms than we previously thought.

 Last but not least, the video above was delieberately set up by a Trump supporter to prove how that Trump-haters, and those claiming to be anti-fascists, would applaud actual Hitler quotes.

DEMOCRATS NOW THE PARTY OF NAZISM AND FASCISM



Merriam Webster offers a what to know information box at the top of their fascism page, which states in part, Fascism refers to a way of organizing society with an emphasis of autocratic government, dictatorial leadership, and the suppression of opposition.

Autocracy is a system of government in which absolute power over a state is concentrated in the hands of one person, whose decisions are subject neither to external legal restraints nor to regularized mechanisms of popular control (Source).

Sounds an awful lot like what the Biden regime is doing. He bypassed Congress on student loan forgiveness. He threatened to bypass Congress on climate change , gun control and police reform, just to name a few examples of Biden running an autocratic government.

That is also dictatorial leadership.

Suppression of opposition: Look at the censorship that has been waged against conservatives in social media. From the suppression of the Hunter Biden scandal before the 2020 election, which the majority of Americans believe changed the entire election.

This continued after the election with the Biden regime admitting it tells Facebook what to censor.

But the most eyebrow-raising portion of her remarks was her confirmation that were flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread disinformation. Facebook declined the Callers request for comment on the revelation.

If that is not suppression of opposition or opposing views, what is?

The point here is that it is not a fringe portion of the democrat party that are fascist Nazis, but the party itself, from Joe Biden, to the MSM puppets pushing his propaganda, filtering their fascism all the way down to the radical extremists voters of the party.

Read more at: AllNewsPipeline.com
(Natural News) Dr. Martin Kulldorff, a prominent epidemiologist and statistician from Harvard University, says that the current paradigm of science and public health is clearly broken.

The Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) plandemic has exposed the corruption of the system to a degree not seen perhaps ever. When the average person is really starting to question the legitimacy of the government and its public health impositions, you know something is not quite right.

For some reason, a public official narrative was established, and you werent allowed to question it  which, of course, is very detrimental, both to the pandemic and how to deal with the pandemic, because you have to have a vibrant discussion to figure out how best to deal with these things, Kulldorff told The Epoch Times in a recent interview.

Early on in the plandemic, you may recall that Kulldorff put himself in the crosshairs by exposing the plandemic for what it was, even when people were still being told that it would just take two weeks to flatten the curve.

In March 2020 when the plandemic first began, Kulldorff, a native of Sweden, was already trying to publish studies showing that the Fauci Flu was really not all that big of a deal. He tried to present evidence of what people could do to help minimize their risk of infection as opposed to just panicking and living in fear.

Kulldorffs research was patently rejected, as you might expect  but he did not stop fighting. In fact, he has continued to tell the truth, putting his entire career and reputation on the line.

I was able to publish in Sweden, in the major daily newspapers there during the spring of 2020, so that was not a problem, he says. But the United States was not allowed to have a debate, which is very troubling.

Kulldorff has been fighting the good fight since the beginning of the plandemic

Kulldorffs early efforts culminated in the release of the Great Barrington Declaration, which was published by Drs. Sunetra Gupta and Jay Bhattacharya in October 2020. This declaration called for a more nuanced approach to the plandemic as opposed to the one-size-fits-all restrictions that were forced on primarily Westerners.

The most compassionate approach that balances the risks and benefits of reaching herd immunity, is to allow those who are at minimal risk of death to live their lives normally to build up immunity to the virus through natural infection, while better protecting those who are at highest risk, that declaration states.

Gupta, by the way, is an epidemiologist with an expertise in immunology, vaccine development and mathematical modeling of infectious diseases who also works as a professor at the University of Oxford. Bhattacharya is an epidemiologist, health economist and public health policy expert who focuses on infectious diseases and vulnerable populations, and also teaches at the Stanford University Medical System.

Its just the basic fundamental principles of public health that existed in the pandemic preparedness plan that was prepared many years before, Kulldorff says about the Great Barrington Declaration. Its sort of astonishing that it wasnt followed from the very beginning of the pandemic.

Kulldorff says that the Great Barrington Declaration was not intended for politicians, scientists or even doctors, despite the fact that thousands of them signed it. Instead, it was intended for the general public.

The most important audience was the public, he says. Because its the public that ultimately will end these misguided public health policies. Its the public, regular people, who are suffering the consequences.

The key thing was to break the pretense that there was scientific consensus for these lockdowns  which there wasnt.

The latest news coverage about the plandemic can be found at Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

TheEpochTimes.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) If you skipped college, chances are you were more keenly aware of the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccination scam, according to a new study.

The Economist and YouGov conducted a poll which found that college graduates were much more likely to get injected with Fauci Flu shots than people with no college degree (see p.67 of the above-linked document).

Conducted from August 28-30, the study included 1,500 adult citizens who were polled using a variety of questions and statements. One of them asked participants to indicate whether or not they have taken at least one shot from any covid jab manufacturer.

Among white men, 88 percent of those who completed college said they took at least one shot while only 67 percent of white men with no degree did the same.

Among white women, 82 percent said they got jabbed compared to just 64 percent among those who never graduated from college. (Related: A survey from OnePoll that was conducted last fall found that most fully vaccinated Americans were too scared to visit their unvaccinated friends and family members during the holidays.)

Liberals and people who live in suburban areas were most fooled by Operation Warp Speed

The YouGov poll asked many other demographic-based questions that paint a clearer picture as to who fell for the plandemic scam: primarily left-wing, higher education ghouls who took not just the bait but also the hook, line, and sinker.

A whopping 91 percent of people who voted for Joe Biden in the 2020 election took at least one Chinese Virus shot  this compared to just 66 percent of people who voted for Donald Trump.

Democrats overwhelmingly fell for Operation Warp Speed at 86 percent compared to just 65 percent of Republicans and 61 percent of Independents.

Upwards of 88 percent of those who specifically identify as liberal took at least one injection, while only 75 percent of those who consider themselves moderate did the same.

The lowest compliance group for the shots was conservatives at just 60 percent.

Interestingly, urban versus rural did not make a difference in compliance. Both city dwellers and rural dwellers lined up for an injection  67% each  while 78 percent of suburban folks got shot.

This actually makes sense when considering the fact that blacks and Hispanics, who tend to live in urban areas, were much more resistant to the shots than white people who went to college and mostly live in the suburbs.

By the time you get up into the two and three shot questions, the number of conservatives and moderates who said they got more than one injection quickly drops.

Only 54 percent of Trump voters say they followed through with two primary shots and a third booster shot, while 72 percent of Biden voters fall into that category.

Less than half of conservatives got three shots while 56 percent of moderates and 69 percent of liberals got three shots, the data further shows.

As for urban dwellers, only 52 percent got jabbed with three injections compared to 60 percent of suburban dwellers and 61 percent of rural dwellers.

By a long shot, the most popular injection taken by Americans was the mRNA (messenger RNA) shot from Pfizer and BioNTech, followed by the mRNA shot from Moderna.

Only a small fraction took one of the other available shots from lesser-known brands, while an even smaller number  likely due to brain damage  say they dont remember which brand of covid shot was dispensed into their arms.

It is a myth that the unvaccinated spread covid,' noted a commenter at Natural News.

Replace fully vaccinated with fully idiotized and it all makes sense, wrote another.

More Fauci Flu shot-related news can be found at ChemicalViolence.com.

Sources for this article include:

YouGov.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) In July, August and September of 2021, death claims for adults aged 35 to 44 doubled, according to a new report from the Society for Actuaries (SOA).

An analysis of 2.3 million death claims submitted to nearly two dozen life insurance firms between April 2020 and March 2022, led the SOA to determine that death numbers increased massively at the height of the Operation Warp Speed mass vaccination campaign.

A small percentage of these excess deaths is being blamed on covid, but it is clear from their timing that covid injections are more than likely the true cause. (Related: Hundreds of participants dropped out of Pfizers covid jab trials due to injury or death.)

While COVID-19 played some role in the majority of the excess deaths for adults over the age of 34 during the two pandemic years, the opposite was true for younger people, reported The Epoch Times.

For people 34 and younger, the number of excess non-COVID deaths was higher than those related to COVID, the data show.

Most life insurance carriers are labeling covid jab deaths as Covid-19 deaths

According to the data, deaths in the 25-34 age bracket during the third quarter of last year were 78 percent above the expected level. For people aged 45-54, death figures were 80 percent above normal.

For adults 55 to 64, excess mortality was determined to be 53 percent above baseline.

All 20 participating life insurance firms were asked by the SOA to investigate the cause of death behind all the excess claims. Of the 18 that responded, 17 listed Covid-19 as the cause of death. Eight of these 18 did, however, say that they would go even further than that and probe relatives and medical examiners to try to learn more.

One life insurance carrier indicated that it only lists Covid-19 as a cause of death if it can be determined via a death certificate that the alleged virus was, in fact, responsible for a policyholder perishing.

The demographic within the 35-44 age bracket that saw the most deaths during the study period are white collar workers. This includes lawyers, accountants, computer programers, and other positions that typically work in an office setting.

White collar deaths were 23 percent higher, in fact, than blue collar and other deaths during the same timeframe.

Scott Davison of the Indianapolis-based OneAmerica life insurance company was the first to bring up this phenomenon. His carrier saw a massive 40 percent increase in death claims among the 18-64 age group after Fauci Flu shots were introduced.

What Davison has seen at OneAmerica is unprecedented, representing a three-sigma event  meaning a once-in-200-year catastrophe that is exceptionally rare.

OneAmerica is one of the 20 companies that participated in the SOA report, along with Aflac, Anthem, The Hartford, Lincoln Financial Group, MetLife, New York Life, and Principal Financial.

Former hedge fund manager Edward Dowd has also spoken out about the issue, stating that the Biden regimes Chinese Virus injection mandates directly coincide with this uptick in deaths.

Temporally, in that three-month period, the change was such that, there was something that occurred, Dowd is quoted as saying.

Well, we all know what occurred in August, September, and October. It was Bidens mandates on September 9, and a lot of corporations anticipating those mandates.

It was almost one year ago to the day of Queen Elizabeth IIs death that the Biden regime issued a decree to force all federal employees and health care workers at facilities certified by Medicare and Medicaid to get jabbed for the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19).

What seems to be emerging with more evidence daily of the mass murders caused under the covid scamdemic is the mother of all legal morasses, pointed out a commenter at The Epoch Times about what likely comes next.

The latest Chinese Virus injection news can be found at ChemicalViolence.com.

Sources for this article include:

TheEpochTimes.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) By any means necessary, the USA and the globalists are attempting to reduce the population of the world by several billion, including starting nuclear wars and using genocidal bioweapons (vaccines) as medicine for the masses. For fear of the Russians exposing all the US bioweapons labs in Ukraine, the Biden Regime and US fake news media have created a massive diversion meant to hypnotize Americans into another Russia hoax.

So now, the communist Biden Regime is sending billions of dollars, weapons and sending NATO forces to Ukraine to fight Russia and stop them from taking over the world, like Vietnam or during the Trump-Russia collusion fairytale.

US bioweapons labs in Ukraine are just like Wuhan laboratory  they work on gain of function SARS and depopulation schemes for spreading disease

If you dont know by now, the USA and the CDC are in bed with the Chinese Communist Party, creating and disseminating lab-concocted viruses, high-threat pathogens and vaccines that spread those viruses, and Ukraine is an epicenter for those labs, just like Wuhan. Follow the bouncing ball, as the USA creates another media-infused Russia hoax, claiming Russia is trying to take over the world again, one country at a time. This time, instead of fixing a US election, they are taking over some innocent country and killing all the women and children, or something like that.

When in reality, the US and NATO are collaborating to defend their own global attack of nations, and theres a lot to be uncovered in Ukraine, including more bat coronavirus bio-labs where this whole pandemic was created and is continually being waged against humanity.

These bioweapons labs have been confirmed: USA admits there are bio-labs in Ukraine and now says if a biological attack happens, its Russias fault. Of course, everything is Russias fault, according to mainstream media.

These labs prove the conspiracy theorists were right all along, saying that the Fauci Flu was unleashed on the world on purpose, after being created with gain of function so it could jump from bats to humans, and from humans to humans.

Pentagon-run bio-labs in Ukraine were going to be used to attack Russia

One might even sympathize with Russia over the war in Ukraine, given the fact that the USA was building a bio-weapons arsenal right next door to their country. These viruses are weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), as well as the vaccines used to further the health decimation. Moscow has connected EcoHealth Alliance and the Biden crime family to these labs, that were being used to prepare bioweapon-filled drones to attack Russia.

Now much of this proof is in the hands of the Russian military, as they invade Ukraine in order to protect themselves from total destruction by communist Americans and corrupt NATO forces. Russias concern about NATO and the USA loading up Ukraine with weapons of mass destruction is comparable to US concern over the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, for those who may recall. The USA (plus NATO, Fauci and the CDC) are rushing to destroy pandemic-related genocidal materials in their dozen or more bioweapons labs in Ukraine before Russia finds and reveals everything.

The Russia hoax continues, as every American is led to believe we are supposed to blame Trump and Russia for everything bad, including nuclear war, the pandemic, all vaccine-induced deaths, and the upcoming fixed elections where the Demoncrats lose BIG and order is restored to the Republic.

Tune your scamdemic frequency to Censored.news for truth news about Ukraine, NATO and the highly corrupt Biden/CCP Regime thats being censored from the rest of media as you read this.

Sources for this article include:

NaturalNews.com

NewsTarget.com
Many regions of the UK will have a good weekend before severe weather arrives at the beginning of next week.

The United Kingdom continues to grieve the death of Queen Elizabeth II, whose casket will travel from Balmoral to Edinburgh on Sunday morning, which is forecasted to be dry for the cortege on Scotland's east coast.

Temperatures will surge into the mid-20s in southern and eastern England on Monday as the post-tropical storm sweeps across the country.

Ground temperatures might reach 30 degrees Celsius where the sun shines, which is substantially more than normal for this time of year.

24C temperatures in Britain this weekend

The worst of the weather is expected to impact Northern Ireland, with overcast and rain sweeping through the west coasts of Scotland, Wales, and England, as per Mirror.

The weather is anticipated to increase during the day, especially in Northern Ireland.

According to Met Office forecaster Greg Dewhurst, any mist and fog patches will quickly clear on Sunday morning, providing plenty of sunshine.

However, clouds and outbreaks of rain will spread across Northern Ireland and then into the afternoon across western parts of Scotland, Wales, and the west country.

Only isolated showers are expected in England as the majority of the country basks in the sun and dry weather, with temperatures reaching highs of 24 degrees Celsius in the southeast and the rest of the country hoping to reach the 20s before the rain moves eastwards due to low pressure from the Atlantic Ocean.

"The outbreaks of rain will continue to advance eastwards through the north of the UK into Sunday evening, with the driest weather remaining across the central sections of England and southeast England until the later part of Sunday," Dewhurst added.

Looking ahead to Monday, the rain will continue its eastward trek, while the southeast of the nation will defy normal circumstances for this time of year with dry and pleasant temperatures.

Dewhurst said, "Rain will continue to move east and south as we approach Monday, with sunshine and showers throughout Northern Ireland and Scotland."

The south and southeast of the United Kingdom are continuing to experience warm and sunny weather.

Also Read: Hurricane Danielle Becomes Stationary in the Atlantic; Tropical Storm Earl Expected To Strengthen in the East Caribbean

Hurricane Danielle raises temperatures in portions of England

Ground temperatures might reach 30 degrees Celsius where the sun shines, which is substantially more than normal for this time of year, as per Express.

Scotland and northern England will be spared the sweltering plume, and temperatures will fall across the country by Tuesday.

Earl, the remnants of a second ex-hurricane, will approach the UK following Danielle, but instead of delivering additional rain, it will aid develop settling high pressure.

"It will be a windy start to the week," Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGivern said, "but that breeze since it is coming around ex-hurricane Danielle, is bringing in the tropical warmth."

So, at the start of next week, it appears to be very warm, especially in the east if we have some sunny periods.

Temperatures will reach the low- to mid-20s if we get some sunlight in the south and southeast.

Computer models, which have been thrown off by the arrival of two ex-hurricanes, predict that high pressure will increase after mid-week.

Low pressure was expected to continue to push unstable conditions into the weekend, according to some experts.

They now prefer that Britain's weather stabilize after Wednesday, with the possibility of greater temperatures during the day before frigid evenings.

According to Ian Simpson, a netweather forecaster, current model outputs indicated a strong signal for high pressure to return, bringing largely dry sunny weather to much of the country.

Warm weather will begin on Monday as a result of tropical winds surrounding ex-Danielle and warm air pushed up from the Continent.

This will, however, stall across southern England, with Scotland and the north barely reaching the mid- to high-teens.

Both hurricanes will dissipate over the Atlantic after causing an uncertain start to the week.

As pressure builds over the Atlantic ahead of next weekend, the remnants of Hurricane Earl will join a weak jet stream before making landfall in Britain.

Instead of an early fall storm, Britons should expect a calm run up until the middle of September.

Related article: Tropical Storm Earl Threatens US Atlantic Coast, Caribbean Region After Hurricane Danielle Weakens
American homes are projected to be submerged by rising sea levels by 2050 amid climate change and global warming, scientists warned.

A new analysis published last week indicated that hundreds of thousands of individual American properties, including houses, are under threat.

The analysis showed that coastal properties are the ones to be first impacted by the global sea level rise, as shown already by previous studies.

The new study assessed not only the looming infrastructural threat of the coastal submersion but also the chain effect of the potential natural disaster, specifically in the aspect of property values, property tax, government tax revenue, and climate mitigation efforts.

The assessment entails that submerged properties will cause a cascade of impact to the US economy and eventually in its capability to fight the climate crisis.

Earlier this year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a related report showing that sea level along the US coastline is expected to rise by several inches in the coming decades.

The sea level rise will contribute to coastal flooding caused by high tides and storm surge from weather events.

These weather hazards will push sea or ocean water further inland, even beyond coastal communities.

The mentioned projections are not final since it still depends and base on the current human-induced emission levels of greenhouse gases, including from various industries and burning fossil fuels.

Unless significant climate-mitigating efforts are implemented, the long-term forecasts are possible to continue, as claimed by scientists.

Land and Property at Risk

In the study published on September 8, Climate Central, a non-profit news organization, analyzed on the possibility of a sinking tax base for hundreds of US coastal counties.

The assessment primarily warns of the potential loss of taxable properties due to shifting tidal boundaries.

The new research showed that approximately 4.4 million acres of land, consisting of around 650,000 individual properties will be inundated by raging waters from rising sea levels in the next three decades.

If the projections come into fruition, it will result in a large amount of land and money lost.

In particular, the research highlights the possible loss of "private (taxable) property" in the coastal US.

The scientists involved in the assessment explicated that the absence of taxable properties will also yield in lower tax revenues for the local and federal governments of the US.

Some of the following repercussions include population decline, disinvestment, reduced tax base, and reduced public services, as cited by Camden Media.

Also Read: South Korea Is Sinking Due To Climate Change and Sea Level Rise

Sea Level Rise Report

The Central Climate study is reportedly profound but other related research have been produced in the past showing the impact of climate change-triggered global sea level rise, including in the US.

In recent months, the NOAA also issued an assessment entitled the 2022 Sea Level Rise Technical Report, which showed a rise in sea level by 10 to 12 inches (0.25-0.30 meters) from 2020 to 2050.

This will be reportedly greater than the measured rise in the last 100 years from 1920 to 2020.

Related Article: Sea Level Rise to Affect New Zealand Sooner than Expected
The inch-long crawlers that are generally found on oak and elm trees are currently making a comeback, as is the case for many inhabitants of Central Florida.

According to the Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida, the caterpillars, sometimes known as asps, have furry-looking hair covering very deadly spines that adhere to your skin.

Puss caterpillars and how harmful are them

Puss caterpillar stings can cause swelling, blisters, rashes, stinging, and burning at various locations on the body.

The puss caterpillar, which is about an inch long, is widespread in Texas, Florida, New Jersey, and Arkansas, as well as nearby places.

The months of fall and spring are when the bugs are most common, as per KTLA.

Logan Pergola, 15, reported to WFLA in Tampa that while he was out with his family, a puss caterpillar attacked him, leaving a sizable grid-like imprint on his wrist before the discomfort spread.

Perhaps you're wondering where its head and legs are. They're just obscured by their hair. The AgriLife Extension at Texas A&M University noted that puss caterpillars have biting mouthparts.

The feces of puss caterpillars are propelled. According to the University of Florida, this may be done to prevent feces off their meal.

The caterpillars will transform into flannel moths, also referred to as southern flannel moths, after a winter cocoon phase.

According to the Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida, adults' wingspans are roughly 1 to 1.5 inches long. Typically, the front wings are yellow and black, and the hidden wings are cream yellow.

Their thoraxes are orange.

Even while it's best to completely avoid them, doctors advise that if you get stung, you should use cellophane tape to remove the spines from your skin as quickly as possible.

You can also use ice packs, oral antihistamines, and hydrocortisone cream to relieve pain.

Despite the fact that southern flannel moths are less dangerous than puss caterpillars, authorities advise against handling them.

Also Read: Virginia Invaded by Venomous Caterpillars Which Appear Like Walking Toupees

Respond to seeing Puss caterpillars in your surroundings

The majority of these organisms are benign. However, some of them have the potential to cause some rather major issues if left unchecked, as per Third Coast.

Asp caterpillars, often referred to as puss caterpillars, are among the most troublesome pests that may take over your yard.

How can we remove their toxic presence from your yard without touching them and running the danger of an allergic reaction?

Inform your loved ones that these caterpillars might be dangerous, especially if you have children. As you strive to remove them from your yard, this will assist you to prevent mishaps.

It's unlikely that you or a family member will require medical attention if a puss caterpillar stings you or them. Usually, you can take care of the sting at home.

Remove any embedded hairs and clean the sting with water and soap. Next pour isopropyl alcohol and apply a calamine lotion to relieve sting or itch.

Consider eradicating puss caterpillars from your yard if you see them scurrying around on plants (if possible).

The caterpillars will be forced to relocate because their current home will be removed.

Wear gloves and goggles to ensure your safety when removing plants that are home to puss caterpillars, this will offer some additional protection.

When dealing with puss caterpillars, stay away from traditional insecticides because they can hurt your plants or eradicate beneficial insects.

And lastly, it's preferable to let professionals tackle the matter if you have a significant puss caterpillar infestation on your hands.

Related Article: Toxic Caterpillar With Powerful Venom Wreaks Havoc in England Village
As East Africa continues to struggle with drought, diminishing supplies can occasionally have unexpected effects on animals.

As a result of low water levels at a dam close to the Tanzanian border, two elephants were stranded in the mud left last week in Kenya.

Elephants saved from mud caused by drought

Elephants enter drying dams in search of water, according to a statement issued by the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust on Sunday.

After one slip, they find themselves in a dangerous predicament after getting trapped in the mud for good, as per Africa Times.

The elephants fell and cannot stand up again with what the wildlife experts describe as an all-too-common situation. Without assistance, it becomes a death trap, they continued.

Fortunately, Wildlife Works, a community-based conservation organization operating in Kenya, received a videotape of the two elephants after they were sighted.

The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust was approached for aviation support via their helicopter, and the Kenya Wildlife Service was sent to investigate.

Once rescue workers were able to dig into mud and lay bands underneath one female elephant, thought to be in her teens, she was extracted.

Then, after being extracted by a car, she was able to stand by herself.

The second elephant, perhaps eight years old, was even harder to free, but after being extricated from the muck, she fled into the woods.

These situations will recur if the drought persists, according to the Kenya-based foundation.

This time, they added, the squad was back in action just a few days after a similar incident happened in August, saving a very precious pair from the same muddy trap.

Also Read: Australia Inquiry on Bushfires Held as Fires Further Devastate Wildlife and Economy

Effects of natural disasters on animals

Wild animals are especially at risk during natural disasters.

Devastating effects can result from earthquakes, storms, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, and forest fires, as per Animal Ethics.

All of this causes health issues for marine species and alters water circulation, which also has an impact on water temperature and nutrient availability.

Natural catastrophes frequently cause harm to nonhuman creatures in addition to humans. For wild animals, even odd natural occurrences that seem mild to humans can have disastrous effects.

Non-human animals' chances of surviving a natural disaster depend on a variety of circumstances, such as their adaptations, the stage of life they're in, whether it's the breeding season if they migrate or have other means of escaping, and the habitat they inhabit.

Their physical state or capacity for self-care are other issues she may be juggling.

Creatures with keen eyesight, hearing, or other senses, as well as birds that can fly away, and larger animals that can run swiftly, are more likely to escape.

Small animals are more likely to drown, have their burrows flooded by strong rains or floods, or be crushed or burned when confined and unable to flee.

Animals may be uprooted because they moved to safer areas or because strong winds or flood waters carried them away.

In a small space, displaced animals run the risk of serious disease epidemics and parasite infestations.

Due to the scarcity of food, malnutrition and famine also become significant threats. If the animals do not have access to proper shelter, they may also suffer from exposure to the sun, cold, or wind.



Related Article: Abandoned Baby Elephant Found Drowning in Muddy Well -Kenya
Air quality alerts have been placed for most parts of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho due to smoke coming from the ongoing wildland fires across the Western US, as of Sunday, September 11.

Following a massive heat wave and scorching temperatures, local authorities have reported that there are 94 active wildfires across the region, leading to poor air quality and posing risk to respiratory health and travel.

Multiple 'red flag warnings' were issued for Washington and air quality alerts were issued for other states across the Pacific Northwest, including Montana, Oregon, Utah, California, Wyoming, and Colorado. This is also the same case with California, where a recent heavy rainfall from Tropical Storm Kay helped doused some ongoing wildfires. Still, this week's onset saw firefighters still attempting to battle the fires.

The current catastrophic events have already led to several casualties and disruption to road traffic movement, as well as mandatory evacuations of thousands of people. Infrastructural damage was also reported as the raging blaze also reached establishments, with other structures still under threat. In the coming days, the continuance of poor air quality is possible due to fire weather conditions.

Western US Air Quality

CNN on Sunday reported that air quality has significantly declined due to the smolder from the ongoing flames.

CNN meteorologists said an increase in dew points could support firefighters in their progress into earlier this week.

According to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), there are currently 34 fires in Idaho, 23 in Montana, 12 in Washington, 11 in California, 11 in Oregon, one each for Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado.

In California, the Fairview Fire has already killed two civilians and injured another. Engulfing a total land area of 28,307, the fire forced thousands of people to evacuate and destroy 30 buildings.

Also Read: Ancient Ambers Reveal That Raging Wildfires Impacted Antarctica 75 Million Years Ago

Third Hottest Summer

On September 9, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) stated the US experienced its third hottest summer in August, which saw a combination of record-breaking extreme heat dome and historic flash floods.

The NOAA computed the US meteorological summer, which spans from June 1 to August 31, to have an average temperature of 73.9 degrees Fahrenheit, which is above average and earned its ranking for the first time in 128 years.

Air Quality Index

Government agencies, including health authorities, use the so-called Air Quality Index (AQI) as a basis to measure the current or forecasted air pollution level. According to AirNow.gov, the numeric value 0 is the lowest and the least hazardous and the value 500 is the highest and most hazardous air quality.

Determining the severity of AQI depends on the level of the following eight major types of air pollutants:

particulate matter

ozone

Sulphur dioxide

Nitrogen dioxide

Carbon monoxide

lead

ammonia

While smoke from wildfires or fires contribute to the deterioration of AQI, human-induced emissions are still the major sources of these air pollutants.

Related Article: Wildfires Cause a 'New Peak to Air Pollution' in the Pacific Northwest and Unhealthy Air Pollutants: New Study
A 13-foot-tall giant deep-sea squid carcass is discovered by a group of tourists on New Zealand's sandy coastlines.

The squid was discovered while on a trip with Farewell Spit Tours in Golden Bay, New Zealand. As he guided the group along the beach in the tour bus, tour guide Anton Donaldson received a text message from a colleague informing him of an exciting surprise.

They arrived and discovered the 13-foot creature on the sand.



Squid Carcass

According to Donaldson, he informed the passengers, and the tourists all disembarked to take a look. All of the tourists were ecstatic to stumble upon such a rare sighting.



According to Donaldson, for the majority of people, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, if not even that. It isn't frequently discovered on any beach. People need to be around at the right time because organic material that washes up on the beach does not persist there.

According to Donaldson, the tentacles on it had been chewed back, and it appeared that small sharks or fish had done the chewing. Although Donaldson is unsure for sure, he surmises that it floated in the water for a while before washing ashore.

Read also: A Giant Squid With a Size of 9-Ft Found in the Seas of Japan

Giant Deep-Sea Squid

The creature, which measured almost 13 feet, was a giant squid, according to Donaldson. The second-largest mollusk after the colossal squid, the giant squid can reach lengths of up to 43 feet. Due to the distribution of the locations where bodies have washed ashore, it is believed that they are widespread. However, they are quite rarely seen alive and are typically only observed in the ocean at depths of between 1,000 and 3,300 feet.

The elusive species was not seen alive until 2005, and it was not until 2006 that it was seen on camera off the Japanese island chain of the Ogasawara. And per the Two Oceans Aquarium located in South Africa, there have only been 677 documented giant squid sightings throughout history.

According to National Geographic, the giant squid has the biggest eyes of any animal, measuring a hefty 10 inches in diameter, or the same size as a standard dinner plate. It is believed that these enormous eyes developed to help squid capture bioluminescent light fragments from prey in the deep dark waters beneath 1,000 feet.

The giant squid is frequently discovered in the stomachs of southern sleeper sharks, pilot whales, and occasionally killer whales in addition to being thought to be a common prey item for sperm whales. To add to that, other enormous squids eat them as well.

Rare Sighting, Sad Sighting

Donaldson added that it is a special experience for everyone involved when it is a little bit different. However, there was also some sadness about such a creature. Sadly, this magnificent representation of a sizable sea creature that once lived at the ocean's bottom was dead when it was found on the beach, Newsweek reports.

Related article: Giant Squid Mom Spotted Carrying String of Eggs 4,500 Feet Below the Pacific Ocean Off the California Coast
Our County Editor

Dave Hinton is editor of The News-Gazette's Our County section and former editor of the Rantoul Press. He can be reached at dhinton@news-gazette.com.
A new study has revealed that exposure to pollutants from petroleum refineries has a strong link to stroke rates across the Southern United States. The results were published today in IOP Publishing's journal Environmental Research Letters.

The southern United States (US) has a high concentration of petroleum production and refining (PPR). This process emits multiple pollutants which have previously been linked to diseases which lead to strokes. However, the relationship between residential exposure to PPR and their link to causing strokes was not previously well studied, until now.

"The geographic concentration of economic sectors, and their associated by-products, is an underexplored, plausible risk factor for stroke. By-products of petroleum production and refining include a mixture of pollutants that may impact the quality of adjacent air, soil, and potable water in residential areas," explains Honghyok Kim, lead author of the study, who will join the University of Illinois at Chicago as an Assistant Professor in September.

Researchers from Yale University, Brown University and Seoul National University have investigated the association between petroleum exposure and the number of strokes in adults. The team took data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the US's Population Level Analysis and Community EStimates (PLACES) for seven southern US states and looked at areas within a 2.5 km or 5 km radius of petrol refineries. In these areas, the presence of sulphur dioxide  a chemical which may increase the risk of stroke - is high as it is a pollutant of PPR. They found that living near petrol refineries accounted for 5.6% of strokes in adults. This number differs by state with Mississippi having petrol refineries potentially explaining the prevalence of strokes to the highest degree (11.7%). This number further differs by census tract with one census tract located in Texas having the highest prevalence of strokes potentially explained by petrol refineries (25.3%).

Moreover, the team found that the increased prevalence of strokes due to PPR may differ by sociodemographic factors. People with lower socioeconomic status typically lived closer to petroleum refineries, meaning that they were disproportionately affected.

"Our research has the potential to inform both public health and environmental regulatory interventions to mitigate the potential health risks conferred by PPR exposure," Kim concludes.
In a recent study posted to the medRxiv* preprint server, researchers assessed immune responses to homologous and heterologous coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine combinations among Cordoba, Spain, residents.

Several vaccines have shown efficacy against SARS-CoV-2; however, the comparative effectiveness of homologous and heterologous vaccine regimens needs further investigation. Determination of the most effective prime-boost vaccination strategy could enhance immune protection against SARS-CoV-2 and reduce the global health burden of COVID-19.

Study: Distinct immune signatures discriminate SARS-CoV-2 vaccine combinations. Image Credit: AnaLysiSStudiO / Shutterstock

About the study

In the present study, researchers compared several heterologous and homologous COVID-19 vaccination regimens to determine the most effective vaccine strategy against SARS-CoV-2.

Different SARS-CoV-2 vaccines (based on three mechanisms [adenovirus vector-based, messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA)-based and inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccines) were administered in homologous [same vaccine administered for the first/prime dose (D1) and the second/booster dose (D2)] or heterologous (different vaccines used for D1 and D2) combinations.

As a result, 16 vaccination regimens were evaluated. The vaccines used for the analysis were AZD, BBIBP, Sput 26, mRNA-1273, Sput 5, and Ad5 vaccines. Vaccine combination-induced humoral and cell-mediated immunological responses to SARS-CoV-2 were assessed. D2 was administered four to 12 weeks post-D1.

Blood samples were obtained from the study participants four to 12 weeks post-D1 (T1), two weeks post-D2 (T2), and four weeks post-D2 (T3). Individuals were excluded in case of prior SARS-CoV-2 exposure and/or those with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-confirmed presence of immunoglobulin G (IgG) against the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N) protein at T1.

A total of 1,491 samples obtained from 497 participants were analyzed. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) isolated from participants sera obtained at T1 and T3 (n=583 samples) were subjected to IFN (interferon-gamma) ELISpot assays and spectral FC (flow cytometry) analysis to evaluate cell-mediated and humoral immune responses to vaccination, respectively.

In addition, serum samples and plasma obtained at the three timepoints (n=1,491 samples) were analyzed to measure IgG titers against the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein receptor-binding domain (RBD) and neutralizing antibody titers (nAb), respectively.

Further, single-cell proteomic analysis was performed using 70 proteomic markers for 754 samples. The team monitored all individuals for 6 months post-D2 for vaccination-related AEs (adverse events). Fluorescently-labeled wild-type (wt) SARS-CoV-2 S probes were used for identifying SARS-CoV-2-specific memory B cells (mBCs).

Furthermore, the impact of vaccination regimens on the S-binding mBC phenotype was evaluated at T3, and the team investigated whether the phenotypes indicated the magnitude of humoral responses. The potential correlation between humoral and cell-mediated immune responses was assessed.

Results

AT T3, the highest anti-SARS-CoV-2 Ab titers were observed when mRNA-1273 vaccinations were administered as D2, irrespective of the vaccine type used for D1. Prime BBIBP-CorV vaccinations led to lesser class-switching (i.e., from IgM to an IgG or IgA isotype) among S-binding mBCs and the greatest SARS-CoV-2 antigen-specific T lymphocyte responses to heterologous vaccine combinations.

Heterologous vaccine combinations showed higher immunogenicity with respect to targeted Abs and cell-mediated responses than homologous ones. The proteomic analysis showed specific T and B lymphocyte immune signatures of the different vaccination combinations, indicative of distinct differences in the immunological responses.

Detectable IgG titers against SARS-CoV-2 S RBD (greater than 50 AU/ml) were observed among all participants post-D2, which increased significantly at T2 and at T3 among all participants except for those who received AZD (prime)/BBIBP (boost) vaccinations. The Ab titers peaked at T2, and reduced slightly at T3, among nearly all participants. Similar trends were observed for nAb titers, although all participants did not demonstrate detectable nAb titers.

Both anti-S RBD IgG and nAb titers increased the most post-mRNA-1273 vaccinations except when AZD vaccines were administered as D1, where Ad5 vaccinations as D2 most strongly boosted NAb titers. However, at T3, nAb titers and anti-S RBD IgG titers were the highest among individuals who received homologous mRNA-1273 vaccinations and among all those who received heterologous vaccinations with mRNA-1273 vaccines as D2.

At T3, the anti-S RBD IgG titers and nAb titers correlated positively with each other, and the percentages of all B lymphocyte populations except the S-binding mBC population were comparable among all 16 groups of vaccinated individuals. A significant drop in mBC frequency was observed among all groups at T3, except for BBIBP-boosted individuals. The mBC frequency correlated with both Ab titers, indicating that it could be used as an indicator for systemic Ab response, at least for the initial days post-vaccination.

A strongly negative association was found between Ab responses and the expression of cluster of differentiation 21 (CD21), CD38, and C-X-C chemokine receptor type 5 (CXCR5) on S-binding mBCs, whereas CXCR3 and IgA correlated positively with Ab responses. Higher post-COVID-19 vaccination anti-S RBD IgG titers and lower expression of CD38 and CD21 by S-binding mBCs were associated with robust humoral and cellular immune responses. AEs reported were comparable across all vaccination groups.

Overall, the study findings showed that heterologous combinations of COVID-19 vaccines elicited stronger Ab responses than homologous ones, except in cases where BBIBP vaccines were administered as the second dose. In addition, mRNA-1273 booster vaccinations induced the most robust Ab responses, irrespective of the prime vaccination.

*Important notice

medRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information.
In a recent study posted to the bioRxiv* preprint server, researchers retrospectively assessed the association between climate change and disease spillover risks triggered by bat distribution changes based on historical climate and vampire-bat occurrence data for the previous century (1900-2020).

Study: Climate change has affected the spillover risk of bat-borne pathogens. Image Credit: Pablo Jacinto Yoder / Shutterstock

Background

Bat-borne viruses have threatened global public health with increased morbidity and mortality among humans. Examples of bat-borne diseases include rabies, Ebola, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 1 (SARS-CoV-1) infections, and SARS-CoV-2 infections or coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Studies on climate change impacts on disease are scarce and have focused on vector-borne diseases based on future climate change projections instead of empirical retrospective data, which could hamper progress in global preparedness against infectious diseases.

Desmodus rotundus species (common vampire bat) is considered the key species of rabies transmission to other animal species (spillover) among Latin American regions. There is an ongoing debate on whether Desmodus rotundus (common vampire bat) will shift its range northward into warm-temperate areas at higher latitudes in the United States (US) in the future due to climate change.

About the study

In the present study, researchers assessed the impacts of climate change on the spillover risks of bat-borne pathogens based on climate and vampire bat distribution data from the previous century.

Desmodus rotundus-transmitted rabies is a well-documented and understood model of directly-transmitted illnesses to animals and humans in the tropical and subtropical American areas where rabies is transmitted commonly from Desmodus rotundus to cattle. Outbreaks of bat-borne rabies in cattle have increased in the previous 40 years and indicate a rise in spillover events in America. Further, there is an ongoing debate on the potential range shift of D. rotundus northward to more temperate areas in the United States (US).

Thus, the team assessed changes in Desmodus rotundus distribution in response to climate change using ecological niche modeling and machine learning between 1901 and 2019. Data on D. rotundus occurrence in the previous century and historical climatic data obtained from the CRUTS (climatic research unit gridded time series) database were used for the analysis.

Box plots of annual bovine rabies outbreaks were prepared, and the percentage change in rabies outbreaks in cattle was assessed for Latin America. In addition, uncertainty maps were assessed to identify areas with high uncertainty concerning the potential regions of D. rotundus range expansion.

Results

There were no statistically significant changes found in the total region of Desmodus rotundus abundance and distribution during the aforementioned period; however, the geographical range of D. rotundus was found to shift northward. The findings indicate that the common vampire bat species has steadily moved into North Mexican regions at an annual average rate of eight km/year and could extend its range further into the US continent.

Additionally, a few regions of uncertainty for Desmodus rotundus range extension were found by the team, which included the Andes Mountain highlands and temperate regions of the US. The study variable which influenced the Desmodus rotundus range shift the most was temperature variations, indicating that the abundance and distribution of D. rotundus and associated potential disease spillovers were linked to climatic variations.

Conclusions

Overall, the study findings showed climate change, in particular, temperature variability, could affect bat distribution and associated risk of bat-borne disease spillovers. The authors believe that the present study is the first of its kind to assess the impact of climate change on the distribution patterns and transmission risks of bat-borne disease pathogens.

Thus, they recommend that further research must be conducted on the association between climate change and bat-borne diseases and that the effects of climatic variations on bat distributions must be incorporated into security measures. The findings showed that climatic variations had caused direct effects on rabies incidence risks by increasing virus reservoirs in temperate regions of America, thereby increasing the infection risks among humans, livestock, and wildlife.

The study has provided evidence of climatic variation-driven range expansion of bats, indicating that the emergence of infectious diseases and viral spillovers would only increase in the future. Therefore, further research must be conducted to improve the understanding of climate change variations on bat distributions for preparing against potential bat-borne pandemic occurrences in times to come.

*Important notice

bioRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information.
Minimally invasive, catheter-based transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has revolutionized treatment of aortic stenosis (AS), and both American and European guidelines have approved its use. However, there is a perception that TAVR is more expensive than surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). A budget impact analysis comparing the two options now shows that TAVR is an affordable and effective strategy for the treatment of AS. The study appears in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology, published by Elsevier.

More than 3% of elderly adults suffer from advanced AS, with the majority of patients experiencing symptoms. Left untreated, AS has a poor prognosis and survival rate. Symptomatic patients develop chest pain, breathing difficulty, and fatigue, leading to diminished health-related quality of life. AS is traditionally treated with SAVR, but the use of TAVR is increasing. Patients who were previously considered inoperable have better survival with TAVR compared to medical therapy. In contrast, patients at high and intermediate surgical risk have equivalent outcomes when undergoing either TAVR or surgery.

Although the cost-effectiveness of most transcatheter valve interventions is well studied, given the incremental costs associated with TAVR, the affordability from the hospital payer's perspective was unknown. As low-risk AS patients likely represent the majority of severe AS patients requiring intervention, understanding the cost impact of treating more patients with TAVR becomes critically important for health policy and resource planning." Derrick Y. Tam MD, PhD, Study Co-Author, Division of Cardiac Surgery, University of Toronto

"Traditionally, patients with severe AS were treated with SAVR through open heart surgery," added coauthor Hamid Sadri, PharmD, MSc, MHSc, Medtronic Canada, Brampton, ON, Canada. "Because there is a perception that TAVR is expensive, hospital management often hesitates to increase funding for TAVR or reallocate some of the open heart surgery funding to TAVR cases. We hypothesized that despite the higher upfront procedural cost, the total cost of managing AS patients with TAVR was not substantially more than SAVR."

Studies have shown that low-risk AS patients who are treated with TAVR have fewer procedure-related complications and adverse events and use less healthcare resources. To understand the incremental cost to hospitals in shifting low-risk AS patients from SAVR to TAVR at various risk levels, the researchers developed a budget impact model to estimate the one-year total cost of treating and managing low-risk AS patients from a hospital payers' perspective.

Then, researchers used a scenario analysis to estimate the total cost of care for various uptake rates of TAVR for a hypothetical center with 100 low-risk AS patients. This showed that increasing the use of TAVR from baseline (10% of patients) to 50% and 70% had a small impact on the hospital budget (increases of 3% and 4.5% respectively). Furthermore, in the first year of managing these patients, the upfront cost of the TAVR procedure was partially offset by the reduced cost of adverse events. The main contributors to the cost difference were TAVR ICU length of stay, new permanent pacemaker implantation rate, and total hospital length of stay. The average total cost of managing a low-risk AS patient for one year with TAVR (CAN$45,897) represents a nominal increase compared to SAVR (CAN$42,659).

"Our study demonstrates the importance of incorporating the total cost of care as opposed to a narrow focus on episodic or procedural costing," noted Dr. Sadri. "The opportunity cost of not optimizing resource utilization often goes beyond a departmental silo and is a useful tool for hospital management."

The researchers concluded that while survival rates do not vary, studies have shown that TAVR is associated with more rapid improvement in quality of life compared to SAVR, and that these findings persist to one year.

"As such, it is very reasonable that TAVR may be preferential to patients after a discussion of the risks and benefits. Similarly, the nominal incremental in hospital cost, can be offset by improved efficiencies in the system. Reduced overall length of hospital stay and ICU stay can relieve pressure on hospital bed capacity for optimizing resource use," noted Dr. Tam.

In an accompanying editorial Fiona Clement, PhD, and Derek Chew, MD, MSc, both of the Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada, welcome the study as an important contribution to support evidence-informed policy decisions about the adoption and balance between TAVR and SAVR. They point out that the true value of the work is making the model underlying the analysis openly available to decision-makers and researchers globally.

"This model represents a significant infrastructure. By making the model open access, the required investment of time and human resources need not be duplicated as decision-makers face similar questions about shifting from SAVR to TAVR. Further, the model can be responsive as science continues to develop."

However, Dr. Clement and Dr. Chew warn that costs alone should not drive the discussion of technology adoption and implementation. Recognition of other important factors should be taken into consideration, such as whether an intervention is immediately lifesaving; impact on quality of life; number of people eligible; vulnerable patient populations (e.g., children or the elderly); underlying baseline health; likelihood of the treatment being successful; and its impact on equality of access to therapy.

"Looking through this lens with respect to TAVR funding underscores the complexity of the decision-making process in the context of finite resources and the associated opportunity costs. These decisions will only become more challenging as innovation continues, often coming at increased cost," Dr. Clement and Dr. Chew concluded.

Based on a strong body of evidence, TAVR was recently approved for use by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association and European Society of Cardiology/European Association for Cardiothoracic Surgery for the entire spectrum of surgical risk, including low-risk AS patients.
The first detection and transmission of the monkeypox virus (MPXV) outside its endemic areas in May 2022 was followed by a huge multi-country outbreak worldwide. As of the 23rd of August 2022, a total of 42,807 cases along with 12 deaths were reported across 97 member states that belong to six World Health Organization (WHO) Regions. It was declared a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) by the WHO director on the 23rd of July, 2022.

A new study published in Eurosurveillance aimed to analyze the epidemiological features of MPX, disease severity, as well as the impact of smallpox vaccination on all infected cases that were reported in the WHO European Region.

About the study

The study was carried out using data submitted to the European Surveillance System (TESSy). Nowcasting of the TESSy data was carried out up to 17 days before the last reported symptom to understand the current epidemiological situation.

Study findings

The first non-travel-associated family cluster of MPX cases was reported to the WHO by the United Kingdom (UK) on the 13th of May 2022, following which it was reported in other neighboring countries. The MPXV cases were found to be caused by Clade II (formerly West African clade) and most commonly affected men who have sex with men (MSM). Europe remained the epicenter of this outbreak until the end of July.

Out of the total 21,098 cases detected in the WHO European Region, 20,690 cases provided case-based data, most of which were laboratory confirmed. Nowcasting results suggested an overall plateauing of cases with a few inter-country differences. Additionally, most cases were males with a median age of 37 years. Among them, 96.9% self-identified themselves as MSM, while 37.2% were found to be HIV positive. Very few cases were reported among children and women.

The most common symptoms were rashes along with at least one systemic symptom, such as fatigue, fever, muscle pain, headache, or chills. 48.1% of cases reported the occurrence of rashes in the anogenital region. Moreover, 6% of cases were reported to require hospitalization, with three requiring admission to an intensive care unit (ICU). Out of these three cases, two were found to die of encephalitis.

Furthermore, the case hospitalization ratio was reported to be 10 per 1,000 cases, with younger cases having a higher risk of hospitalization. Regarding transmission routes, sexual contact was the most possible route followed by person-to-person routes or fomites. Exposure at bars and household exposures were also reported to play a role in transmission. Additionally, 64 of the cases were observed in health workers, of whom 62 were male, and 55 were MSM.

Concerning smallpox vaccination, most cases reported being unvaccinated before and for this outbreak, 423 reported getting vaccinated before the outbreak, and 42 reported post-exposure preventative vaccination (PEPV). In contrast, one reported primary preventive (pre-exposure) vaccination (PPV). However, the impact of smallpox vaccination was observed not to be quite significant.

Therefore, the current study demonstrated the pattern of virus transmission, the vulnerable population, as well as impact of vaccination. However, a strong interaction between public health authorities, communities, and international health organizations is required to overcome the current outbreak of MPXV infections.

Limitations

The study has certain limitations. First, the data submitted to TESSy can vary in completeness and depend on the availability of national data. Second, clinical data submitted to TESSy does not indicate the full course of the disease. Finally, the nowcasting estimates might be uncertain.
Cancer doctors, care providers and payers need to get ready for a major shift in early cancer detection that will affect almost every stage of cancer diagnosis and treatment. New data supporting the accuracy of multi-cancer early detection (MCED) blood testing, presented at the ESMO Congress 2022, have major implications for future cancer care provision, said Fabrice Andre, ESMO 2022 Scientific Co-Chair.

It is a duty of professional societies like ESMO to raise awareness of the fact that within the next five years, we will need more doctors, surgeons and nurses, together with more diagnostic and treatment infrastructure, to care for the rising number of people who will be identified by multi-cancer early detection tests. We need to involve all stakeholders in deciding new pathways of care. We need to agree who will be tested and when and where tests will be carried out, and to anticipate the changes that will happen as a result of these tests, for example in the diagnosis and treatment of people with pancreatic and other cancers that are usually diagnosed at a much later stage." Fabrice Andre, Director, Research, Gustave Roussy Cancer Centre

Fabrice Andre is the newly elected future president of the Society for the years 2025-2026.

New MCED tests in development can detect a common cancer signal from over 50 different types of cancer and predict where the signal has come from in the body. The signal arises from small sequences of circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) in the blood which have some different methylation patterns from non-tumour DNA.

In the PATHFINDER study reported at the ESMO Congress 2022, an MCED test detected a cancer signal in 1.4% of 6621 people aged 50 years and over who were not known to have cancer, and cancer was confirmed in 38% of those with a positive test. Of 6290 people who were cancer free, 99.1% received a negative test result. Among those with a positive test result, the time to achieve diagnostic resolution (i.e. to find cancer or decide there was no evidence of malignancy requiring further investigation) was a median of 79 days. Among participants with a positive screening test, diagnostic resolution was achieved within three months for 73%.

"The results are an important first step for early cancer detection tests because they showed a good detection rate for people who had cancer and an excellent specificity rate for those who did not have cancer. In people with a positive test, it took less than two months to confirm the diagnosis if they had cancer and it took a bit longer if they did not have cancer primarily because physicians opted to perform imaging studies and then repeat them a second time several months later to investigate the possibility of a cancer diagnosis," explained study senior author Deb Schrag, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, USA.

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"An important finding was that few participants with a false positive screening test required multiple invasive procedures such as endoscopies and biopsies. This finding should help to allay concerns that these tests could cause harm by generating unnecessary procedures in people who are well," added Schrag.

She stressed the importance of continued standard screening for tumours, such as breast and colorectal cancer, while MCED tests are being refined and validated for cancers such as pancreatic, small bowel and stomach cancer where there are currently no screening options.

"This study indicates that hope is on the horizon for detecting cancers that are currently unscreenable, but of course much more work is needed and, with experience and larger samples, these assays will improve. The tests need to be refined so they are better at distinguishing tumour DNA from all the other DNA that is circulating in the blood," said Schrag. "It is also critical to note that the purpose of cancer screening is not to decrease the incidence of cancer, but rather to decrease cancer mortality. It is premature to reach any conclusions about how MCED testing affects mortality which was not measured in the PATHFINDER study and requires lengthy follow-up."

The study reported at the ESMO Congress 2022 is the first prospective investigation to show that an MCED test can detect cancer in patients with undiagnosed cancer, as previous studies used tests only in patients already known to have cancer. A number of further studies are now underway including a major randomised clinical trial enrolling 140,000 asymptomatic people in England to investigate the clinical effectiveness of MCED testing on cancer outcomes.

"We need comparative trials across all types of cancer to find out if having an early detection test affects morbidity and mortality. We also need to know how the tests benefit patients, and how to discuss the results with them," said Andre. "In addition, we need to know more about the small proportion of false positive tests  MCED results that indicate cancer is present but this is not confirmed by standard diagnostic procedures. We need some of these answers before we can calculate the cost impact of introducing MCED tests in routine clinical practice," Andre concluded.
In a recent study published in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) Psychiatry, researchers investigated the association of psychological distress before coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) with the risk of post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC).

PASC, also known as long COVID, is defined as the persistence of COVID-19 signs/symptoms beyond four weeks from the initial onset of the disease. Fatigue, dyspnea, brain fog, loss of smell/taste, depression, and digestive issues are common symptoms of long COVID. PASC is associated with an inability to return to work and lower quality of life.

Systematic reviews primarily involving hospitalized COVID-19 patients report that 54% to 73% might experience long COVID. Psychological distress correlates with increased clinical severity and more extended periods of acute respiratory tract infections, and only three studies have investigated psychological distress as a risk factor for post-COVID-19 syndrome.

Study: Associations of Depression, Anxiety, Worry, Perceived Stress, and Loneliness Prior to Infection With Risk of PostCOVID-19 Conditions. Image Credit: eamesBot /Shutterstock

About the study

In the present study, researchers assessed whether pre-infection psychological distress, including anxiety, depression, loneliness, worry, and perceived stress, were associated with the risk of developing PASC. Participants from three extensive ongoing longitudinal studies were invited to complete an online questionnaire on COVID-19.

After that, respondents were administered monthly surveys. Surveys were administered quarterly from August 2020 until November 3, 2021. The frequency of anxiety and depressive symptoms in the past two weeks was evaluated with a four-item patient health questionnaire (PHQ-4). This comprised a two-item generalized anxiety disorder scale (GAD-2) for anxiety and a two-item depression measure (PHQ-2).

Worry about COVID-19 was also examined. Further, two additional distress types were analyzed in those who were not active health care workers (HCWs). The four-item perceived stress scale (PSS-4) assessed the frequency of stress in the past month. The three-item loneliness scale examined the frequency of feeling isolated, left out, or lacking companionship. SARS-CoV-2-positive test results, COVID-19 symptoms, and hospitalization were self-reported.

PASC was assessed in the last questionnaire 336 days after baseline. Sociodemographic factors, types of distress at baseline, and COVID-19 severity risk factors were compared between participants who responded to PASC items and those who did not. Relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for PASC were estimated using a generalized estimating equation.

Findings

Most of the 54,960 participants were White (96.5%), females (96.6%), and 38% were active HCWs, with a mean age of 57.5 years. There were 3193 participants with a positive result for the SARS-CoV-2 test over 19 months of follow-up. At baseline, subjects who had probable anxiety (GAD-2 score of  3) or depression (PHQ-2 score of  3) were younger, more likely to be active HCWs, and had asthma.

Individuals worried about COVID-19 were more likely to be females, have asthma, and be from racial and ethnic minorities. Participants with probable depression, anxiety, loneliness, who were worried about COVID-19, or in the highest quartile of perceived stress were more likely to have a body mass index (BMI) of  35. Approximately 44% of those with a positive SARS-CoV-2 test result reported PASC. Among them, 86.9% had symptoms longer than two months.

Common symptoms were fatigue (56%), impaired smell/taste (44.6%), dyspnea (25.5%), confusion/brain fog/disorientation (24.5%), and memory complications (21.8%). All types of psychological distress were significantly associated with an elevated risk of PASC. Participants with multiple types of distress at baseline had an increased risk of developing PASC. Moreover, researchers investigated the relationship of pre-infection distress with symptoms and impairment among participants reporting PASC.

All COVID-19 symptoms, except for impaired smell/taste and persistent cough, were more prevalent in those with distress than those without. Participants with distress at baseline had more symptoms of long COVID. Symptoms of anxiety, depression, perceived stress, and worry about COVID-19 were associated with a 25% to 51% higher risk of experiencing symptoms that interfered with activities.

Conclusions

The researchers found a strong association between pre-COVID-19 psychological distress and the risk of PASC. On average, at baseline, individuals with at least one distress experienced one additional PASC symptom compared to those without distress. All distress types except loneliness were associated with a higher risk of PASC-related impairment of daily life.

The authors cautioned against interpreting the findings that PASC is psychosomatic because 40% of respondents who reported PASC had no psychological distress at baseline. Moreover, PASC symptoms are considerably different from mental illness symptoms, and over 50% of PASC subjects reported relapses triggered by physical activity, which, contrastingly, is protective against mental illness relapse.

Of note, a majority of the study population was White, female, and HCW, limiting the generalizability of results. In summary, the findings suggest that pre-existing psychological distress increases the risk of developing PASC. Future studies should investigate whether distress-reducing interventions help to prevent or treat PASC.
Significant improvement in progression-free survival and response rate combined with reduced symptoms and better quality of life are reported as outcomes of a new treatment approach for patients with desmoid tumors, which are benign, but locally aggressive and invasive soft tissue tumors. By targeting the Notch pathway with the novel gamma secretase inhibitor nirogacestat, researchers from the DeFi trial have obtained positive results for the first time with this approach. The results are reported at the ESMO Congress 2022.

Desmoid tumors are rare, with an incidence of 3-5 cases per million people worldwide each year. Patients have an unpredictable disease course and, although not generally fatal, the soft tissue tumors can cause symptoms that greatly impair quality of life. "Due to local and aggressive growth, desmoid tumors can cause pain, disfigurement and functional problems that can be a real burden for patients," said lead author Bernd Kasper, Mannheim Cancer Center, Germany.

The DeFi study included 142 patients with progressive desmoid tumors who were recruited from 37 centers across the world. "This is the largest and most rigorous randomized controlled study ever carried out in this tumor type," reported Kasper. "Results showed a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival in patients randomized to nirogacestat compared to the placebo group, with a 71% lower risk of disease progression on average." The response rate was also much higher  41% in the nirogacestat arm and only 8% in the placebo arm; nearly one in ten patients (7%) showed a complete response with the agent.

The study measured patient-reported outcomes because of the major impact of desmoid tumors on quality of life. "We saw a statistically significant benefit in reduction of pain and symptom burden and improvement in physical and role functioning and in health-related quality of life, which was really impressive," noted Kasper. "In providing treatment we try to optimize local tumor control and reduce the symptom burden. But we have previously had no approved therapy for desmoid tumors. This study has the potential to lead to the first registration of a drug to treat patients with this disease."

"This is a unique study, very important in many aspects," said Jean-Yves Blay, Cancer Center of Lyon, France, who was not involved in the study. "The results show benefit for the first time with a novel treatment with a new mode of action in patients where treatment options are currently limited." The Notch signaling pathway is implicated in the development and progression of many tumor types.

"The findings are practice-changing," added Blay. He predicted: "We are going to use nirogacestat as part of the treatment armamentarium for patients with desmoid tumors. But we will have to figure out how best to use it." Remaining questions include which patients should be offered this treatment, where it fits in relation to current approaches, how to identify responders and the optimal duration of treatment. DeFi included patients with progressing tumors but both Blay and Kasper said that nirogacestat could also be considered in patients with pain and impaired functioning.

This was a very smart study: it demonstrated the feasibility of carrying out a large, placebo-controlled trial - which is the highest quality clinical study to investigate the activity of an agent - in a rare cancer by recruiting patients from a multinational group of reference centers and it demonstrated the importance of targeting the right patients with the right drug when designing clinical trials." Jean-Yves Blay, Cancer Center of Lyon, France

"The trial included patients with volumetrically progressive disease, which provided a measurable way to select patients in need of treatment." He added: "The success of this study puts even more emphasis to the concept of having patients with rare cancers referred into reference centers, where clinical studies can be accomplished in record times with the potential to deliver new treatments to patients with orphan diseases." The number of cancer patients being referred to reference centers is increasing but could still be better in some regions, improving the outlook for patients with rare cancers.
A novel treatment strategy with personalized cell therapy significantly improves progression-free survival compared to standard immunotherapy in patients with advanced melanoma, according to ground-breaking results reported at the ESMO Congress 2022 from the phase 3 M14TIL trial.

"This study shows for the first time in a randomized, controlled trial that cell therapy can be efficacious and beneficial for patients with solid cancers," said lead author John Haanen, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands. "For patients with melanoma, we see a 50% reduction in the chance of progression of the disease or dying from the disease, which is absolutely practice changing. This is the first time that a TIL-based approach has been compared directly to standard-of-care treatment, in this case ipilimumab. So we are now able to position TIL treatment much better in the management landscape for patients with metastatic melanoma."

"TIL therapy is an extraordinary therapy," commented George Coukos, Lausanne University Hospital and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne, Switzerland, who was not involved in the study. "TIL is a new paradigm for treating cancers and, as these results clearly demonstrate, it's efficacious and feasible at large scale. The findings raise hopes for the management and potential cure of metastatic solid tumors."

The treatment essentially involves taking a small sample from a patient's resected tumor, growing immune T cells from the tumor in the laboratory and then infusing the personalized TIL therapy back into the patient following chemotherapy. TILs recognize tumor cells as abnormal, penetrate them and then work to kill them.

The phase 3 M14TIL trial randomized 168 patients with unresectable stage IIIC-IV melanoma to immunotherapy with the anti-CTLA-4 antibody ipilimumab or to TIL treatment; most patients had failed prior anti-PD-1 treatment. Results reported for the first time at the ESMO Congress 2022 showed that patients treated with TIL therapy had significantly longer median progression-free survival of 7.2 months compared to 3.1 months in those receiving ipilimumab; the overall response rate to TILs was 49% versus 21% for ipilimumab; median overall survival was 25.8 months versus 18.9 months. Patients are still being followed up for overall survival.

Treatment options for patients with metastatic melanoma have changed considerably over the last 10 years with the development of checkpoint inhibitors, including the PD-1 inhibitors nivolumab and pembrolizumab and the CTLA-4 inhibitor ipilimumab. These drugs release a natural brake on the immune system so that the body's own immune cells can recognize and attack tumor cells. "They have a very good safety profile and quite high efficacy and are now often given as first-line therapy. But if patients fail first-line treatments then the options become very scarce, particularly for patients failing anti-PD-1 drugs so there is a real unmet need," explained Haanen. He added: "In our study, 89% of patients had failed anti-PD-1 treatment." The remaining patients joined the trial before anti-PD-1 therapies were licensed.

Exploring the possible mechanism by which TIL therapy is effective in patients who have failed anti-PD-1 treatment, Haanen suggested: "We think that the mechanism of resistance to anti-PD-1 treatment is mostly delivered by the tumor microenvironment. So when we take these cells out of their natural environment, reactivate them in the laboratory, grow them up to very large numbers and give them back to the patients we can overcome some of the escape mechanisms. And that's what we are seeing  otherwise TILs wouldn't work in this setting."

Even though grade 3 or higher adverse events occurred in all patients treated with TIL therapy and 57% of those randomized to ipilimumab, Haanen specified: "The side-effects are well manageable and most resolve by the time patients leave the hospital after their TIL therapy". He also added that most side-effects are related to the other therapies, including chemotherapy and interleukin-2, that patients receive as part of the TIL regimen. About the impact of TIL therapy, Haanen concluded: "TIL has the potential to benefit patients with a wide range of solid tumors and trials are currently underway in many cancer types, including lung, cervical and head and neck cancers."

Haanen explained that the trial was run by academics in the Netherlands and Denmark, with no industry involvement. The researchers are now working to obtain EMA approval for their TIL therapy to try to ensure that it remains affordable, free from commercial pressures.

"The results from this phase 3 study could potentially lead to regulatory approval that would be practice changing," said Coukos. "It would enable countries that would consider this path to establish centers that can deliver TIL therapy for patients and establish this a potential second-line treatment in advanced melanoma."
New research has suggested that recommended vaccinia virus (VACV)-based vaccines will mount a robust immune response against the monkeypox virus observed in the current outbreak (MPXV-2022).

Since the new virus was first observed in early May 2022, over 52,000 cases have been confirmed in more than 90 countries and regions, including Hong Kong, as the city recorded the first imported case on Monday.

The study, co-led by University of Melbourne Prof. Matthew MCKAY, ARC Future Fellow at the University and Professorial Fellow (Honorary) at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity (Doherty Institute), and Prof. Ahmed Abdul QUADEER, Research Assistant Professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), was published in the international journal Viruses.

Weeks after the new strain emerged, the team undertook genomic research to find out if the genetic mutations observed in MPXV-2022 may affect vaccine-induced immune responses against monkeypox.

Specific VACV-based vaccines have demonstrated high efficacy against monkeypox viruses in the past and are considered an important outbreak control measure." Matthew McKay, Adjunct Professor, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

"However, given this is a novel monkeypox virus, we still lack scientific data on how well human immune responses triggered by VACV-based vaccines will recognize MPXV-2022 and provide protection against disease."

Using genomic and immunological data, the team evaluated the genetic similarities and differences between VACV and MPXV-2022, specifically within the protein regions that are targeted by vaccine-induced neutralizing antibodies or T cells.

Genetics & Genomics eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today

"While we identified a small number of distinct mutations in MPXV-2022, our study more broadly demonstrates that VACV and MPXV-2022 are highly genetically similar in the regions targeted by the immune system through vaccination," Prof. McKay explained.

Prof. Quadeer said that the findings are reassuring.

"Based on our analysis, we anticipate that the immune responses generated by VACV-based vaccines would continue to do a good job of recognizing and responding to MPXV-2022, as was the case for monkeypox viruses in the past," Prof. Quadeer said.

"Our data lends further support to the use of vaccines being recommended globally for combating MPXV-2022."

The World Health Organization has recommended primary preventive vaccination against the new monkeypox virus, which is also known as pre-exposure prophylaxis, for individuals at high risk of exposure. In Hong Kong, the first shipment of the vaccine is expected to arrive within this month.

"While bringing together sequencing and immunological data provides evidence to anticipate a strong immune response, clinical studies are required to determine the exact efficacy of these vaccines against MPXV-2022," Prof. McKay concluded.

This research was supported by the General Research Fund of the Hong Kong Research Grants Council and through the Australian Research Council Future Fellowship, funded by the Australian Government.
AMES, Iowa  Aug. 18, 2022  The Secondary Road Fund Distribution Committee will meet at Thursday, Aug. 25 at 7:30 a.m. at the Veterans Memorial Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center, Room 311, 833 Fifth Ave., in Des Moines, Iowa.

AGENDA

Introduction of Committee Members Approval of the March 10, 2022, Minutes Review of the Secondary Road Fund Distribution Committee Formula & Final Fiscal Year 2023 Secondary Road Fund Distribution Committee Factors Update on Road Use Tax Revenue Projections Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act Update Electric Vehicle impact to Road Use Tax Fund Committee Membership Other Business Adjourn

For more information, contact Craig Markley, Iowa Department of Transportation, by phone at 515-239-1027 or email craig.markley@iowadot.us.

Iowa DOT ensures nondiscrimination and equal employment in all programs and activities in accordance with Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other nondiscrimination statutes. If you need more information or special assistance for persons with disabilities or limited English proficiency, contact Iowa DOT Civil Rights at 515-239-1111 or by email at civil.rights@iowadot.us.

#

The intent of the Secondary Road Fund Distribution Committee is to determine a methodology to distribute secondary road funds and farm-to-market funds. The methodology was to be phased in over a five-year term period beginning July 1, 2006 (Iowa Code 312.3C). Most recently, the mission of the committee is to review and revise the secondary road and farm-to-market distribution factor formulas.
Fairbanks, AK (99707)

Today

Showers early with some clearing overnight. Low around 45F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Showers early with some clearing overnight. Low around 45F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Staff Reporter

In line with the existing space cooperation agreements between India and Bahrain, many employees of the Kingdoms National Space Science Agency (NSSA) participated in a training programme at Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, a premier technological institute in the country.

Over 20 individuals participated in the three-day course titled Application of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems in Agriculture Sector. The sessions covered a number of topics related to remote sensing and agriculture, obtaining geographical data and other things.

Professor Aisha Al Hajri, senior space data analyst at NSSA, said she was privileged to be able to participate in the programme. Participating in such international courses has an important role in transferring knowledge and exchanging experiences with experts and specialists from different countries of the world. Achieving the necessary skills in remote sensing will be vital for developing space applications to support the Kingdoms agricultural sector, she added.

Roya Bubshait, another space data analyst, said: We are living in a time when agriculture has become an economic activity that depends on the use of cutting-edge technologies to achieve sustainable and climate-smart agricultural patterns.

There are several environmental and human factors that affect the agricultural sector, such as climatic and urban changes, and decision makers must be aware of them. The NSSAs laboratories are one of the primary sources of high-quality space data and images. India and Bahrain had signed agreements to cooperate during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Kingdom in August 2019.

The Kingdoms first-ever satellite has just been launched into orbit from the International Space Station on February 3,2022, after having arrived at the ISS at the end of last year. Light-1 was launched in co-operation with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) from the Japanese section of the ISS alongside another satellite designed to detect terrestrial gamma rays. The Light-1 satellite is a joint project between Bahrains National Space Science Agency (NSSA), UAE Space Agency, Khalifa University and New York University Abu Dhabi.

It will be used to conduct research during lightning storms that will help civil aviation safety experts in future. The Light-1 CubeSat represents the regions first scientific mission to monitor and study Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes (TGFs) from thunderstorms and lightning.

Data gathered from the Light-1 CubeSat, which aims to leverage space science to support sustainable economic growth, will be shared globally to support scientific analysis and encourage cooperation with research centres around the world.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

His Highness Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, representative of His Majesty the King for Humanitarian Work and Youth Affairs, praised the steps of Hope Ventures, the investment arm of Hope Fund, to raise BD 1.5 million as a capital increase in partnership with 30 investors from the private sector.

He stressed the importance of integrating roles between Hope Ventures and the private sector in order to launch and adopt many future quality initiatives and creative projects to develop a supportive and stimulating investment environment for young entrepreneurs in the Kingdom. He noted that this is in line with the directives of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the vision of the esteemed government led by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and Bahrains vision 2030.

HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa was speaking during a function held under his patronage at Bahrain Bourse to announce the capital increase of Hope Ventures in cooperation with the private sector. It was attended by Minister of Industry and Commerce Zayed bin Rashid Al Zayani, Minister of Youth and Sport Affairs, Board Chairman of Hope Ventures, Aymen bin Tawfeeq Al-Moayyed, Bahrain Bourse Chief Executive Shaikh Khalifa bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa and the 30 Hope Ventures investors, including experienced entrepreneurs and executive directors who pledged to empower promising Bahraini entrepreneurs by providing investment, mentorship, and facilitating the entrepreneurs access to their extensive network of knowledge to expand their businesses to global markets.

HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa commended joint investment of the private sector in Hope Ventures and the common goals of supporting the Bahraini youth through the entrepreneurship world. He directed the private sector and Hope Ventures to create an ideal environment guaranteeing continuity of those partnerships which contribute to building a supportive force to entrepreneurship locally.

For his part, the Minister of Youth and Sport Affairs expressed thanks and appreciation to HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa for his continuous support to the initiatives of Hope Ventures aimed at promoting the viable youth projects. He voiced keenness of Hope Ventures on building solid partnership with the private sector to support the Bahraini youth in launching their small and medium projects.

Hope Ventures is the investment arm of Hope Fund, which was established under the directives of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and the leadership of HMs Representative for Humanitarian Work and Youth Affairs, His Highness Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, with a vision aimed at supporting projects and youth initiatives, investing in youth ideas and skills, and enabling the Bahraini youth to enter the world of economy, launch pioneering projects, and achieve success and continuity. Hope Ventures was established with a vision that aims to support national competencies and ambitious local entrepreneurs by providing expertise and funding to develop their entrepreneurial projects. The company's mission is based on three main pillars: building knowledge, investing, and facilitating opportunities.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain attaches great importance to the environment sector, thanks to the ongoing support of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and the constant follow-up of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister.

The kingdom will continue launching policies to protect and sustain environmental and natural resources, as well as back the concerted international efforts to address the various phenomena of climate and environmental changes to achieve sustainable development goals.

Oil and Environment Minister, Special Envoy for Climate Affairs, Dr Mohammed bin Mubarak bin Daina, made the statements during the opening session of the preparatory workshop organised by the Supreme Council for Environment in cooperation with a number of supporting entities.

The event was aimed at raising the readiness of the Kingdoms delegation to the 27th session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 27), set to be held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, in November.

Dr Bin Dina highlighted to the directives of the Personal Representative of HM the King, and President of the Supreme Council for the Environment, His Highness Shaikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Khalifa, regarding the importance of carrying on efforts to fulfill the obligations of the Kingdom related to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and to develop programmes and plans to protect the environment in various sectors, in the interests of the nation and the citizens.

The Minister asserted that the two-day workshop aims to prepare the national competencies and ensure their effective participation in COP 27.

He stressed Bahrains keenness to unify international efforts aimed at confronting climate change and adapting to its impacts, as reflected in its effective role and participation in various environment-related international gatherings, particularly its endeavours to implement the provisions of the Paris Climate Agreement.

He added that the delegation to COP 27 will inform the other delegations about the kingdoms major role in enhancing international environmental cooperation, as well as shed light on its efforts to reduce emissions and adapt to the effects of climate change, through legal legislation, climate initiatives and national projects adopted by the Kingdom within the Bahrain Economic Vision 2030.
Connecticut nurtures the best talent when it comes to the great American pastime of grousing about the economy, the way Jamaica begets sprinters. Ever since the original Great Recession of the early 90s hollowed the place out, weve set records that will never be matched for badmouthing our home state.

We do still have plenty to grumble about: prices for housing, energy and utilities threaten blue-collar families, not to mention the working poor. Lets not even start with the one-two punch of income and property taxes.

And even at its best, Connecticut adds jobs more slowly than the nation as a whole, which has the effect of limiting opportunity for people who live and work here.

But a funny thing has happened since the start of the pandemic in early 2020, and even a bit before then: Connecticuts prosperity has improved so clearly, in so many measures, that even the grouchiest experts now say the main worry is that we wont sustain the momentum were feeling in the middle of 2022.

Nowhere was this sea change more clearly on view than in an economic forum convened last week at the Yale School of Management, by Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, the senior associate dean and an expert on leadership and CEO culture. For the second time, Sonnenfeld brought together more than 75 of the most influential people in Connecticut business, politics, higher education, health care and the nonprofit sector for a wide-ranging look at the state of the state.

It was a sharp constrast to Sonnenfelds first Connecticut economic forum in February, 2017  the depths of a lost decade for the state, when the economy shrank for years as the rest of the nation recovered. That was the week then-Gov. Dannel P. Malloy pitched a budget that would take legislators four months past the deadline to seal, so dire was the picture.

Are we better off than we were five years ago? I think that the answer is unequivocally, yes. Were better off fiscally, were better off economically. I think were better off psychologically, said Jim Smith, retired chairman and CEO of Webster Bank and its parent company.

Surprising tributes for Lamont

How ebullient was the mood? Consider: Smith, of Middlebury, who briefly considered a run for governor as a Republican in 2018; Bob Patricelli, a Republican who founded and headed several large health care businesses; and Paul Lemmo, president of Sikorsky, all but publicly endorsed Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat, for re-election.

We need four more years. We need to keep at this, said Patricelli, who was co-chairman, along with Smith, of the states Commission on Fiscal Sustainability and Economic Growth in the winter of 2017-18. And the governor will have to double down on improving the states competitive position.

He was talking about four more years of dedicating extra payments toward the states huge pension liabilities and other unfunded obligations, which total an estimated $95 billion, as Lamont has done to the tune of more than $5.4 billion over the last two years. But he was also, it seemed clear, talking about four more years in office for Lamont, who is vying for reelection against Republican Bob Stefanowski.

Sonnenfeld quipped that seven or so people at the forum 5 1/2 years ago were positioned to possibly run the state, including Smith. We got the right guy as governor, Smith responded.

Lemmo weighed in based on a recent deal between the state and the helicopter giant, and an earlier one, under Malloy, which will assure Sikorsky remains in Stratford for decades. Ive run businesses for Lockheed Martin in a number of states including Florida and New Jersey and Maryland, and this has been the most friendly state. Flat out, weve had the most communication with the political establishment, the governor and the senators.

It didnt hurt that Lamont was in the room as a forum participant  Sonnenfeld, a Lamont adviser, said Stefanowski couldnt make it  and lets remember, these business executives are moderate politically, not right-wing Republicans. But thats part of the point; as Lamont and Stefanowski fight for the middle, these are extraordinary tributes from people who, in the past, might have had little good to say about state government.

Housing and other headaches

Not that anyone is blinded by the glare.

Weve made progress but we have a long way to go, Smith said, in a comment that could be made in most any time and place, including February, 2017  but this time, the progress has led to measurable results.

Much of the 90-minute conversation on Sept. 7 focused on ways to spread Connecticuts propserity to turn struggling cities into engines of growth; on those unfunded liabilities, whose total has barely budged in five years; and especially on how to create housing that workers can afford.

Without a workable and working housing plan, the apparent influx of people were seeing could prove a mirage, or at best a blip of a year or two. So far, the mostly rich, mostly white towns in the state have balked at efforts to do anything that adds up.

Im seeing a population of blue-collar workers that are not going to be able to afford to live here, said Nicole Russo, president and CEO of Microboard Processing Inc., an electromics manufacturing company in Seymour. And if we think its bad now, she told me after the forum, its a crisis that we havent even seen coming yet.

If Stefanowski had been there, he most likely would have said what he has repeated all over Connecticut in the campaign: State taxes, local taxes, utilities, apartments and houses are all far too costly to allow a sustained recovery by the state. Whether hes right depends on what we see as the competition. Connecticut and its cities are lower cost than the big-city growth magnets of New York, Boston, Brooklyn, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Chicago and Seattle.

Perception matters, as James Loree, retired charman and CEO of Stanley Black & Decker, made a point of saying. Most lists still rank Connecticut in the high-30s or 40s as a place to do business  another point Stefanowski drives home.

The perception I think is not quite keeping up with the substantive progress, said Loree, who was a very active member of the fiscal and economic commission.

Can CT grow over the long haul?

I was a participant at the forum, declaring, in my 60 seconds in the spotlight, that Connecticut is outperforming the nation in 2022. Sonnenfeld presented a compelling case for that, with data.

Briefly here: The jobless rate has fallen from 5.3 percent to 3.7 percent, far more sharply than the nations decline this year. The state budget surplus topped $4.3 billion, not just on the strength of investment gains and federal pandmic relief. The state has seen a healthy return by thousands of the people who exited the work force in 2020.

Venture capital investment is way up; overall economic activity, while not great, with a decline in the first three months of this year, has nonetheless clocked in at the top half of states in the last two reported quarters. Registration of new busnesses with employees has topped 1,100 per month for the first time since 2006.

An Sonnenfed noted, Surprisingly, we actually have retained younger workers more than neighboring states, which was a shocker to us.

The takeaway for the state of the state: The positive view, for a change, has the upper hand and the big concern is whether what were seeing is real enough to last.

In some ways we are outpacing, in some were not, Patrick Flaherty, economist for the state Department of Labor, told me the day before the Yale forum, citing strong manufacturing growth. Were certainly holding our own with the rest of the country.

UConn economist Fred V. Carstensen worries about the quality of jobs and the lack of fast-growing, high-paying industries.

Right now it looks like were in the best shape weve been in in a long time, Carstensen said to me after the Yale forum. The big question...are we making the investments that are going to sustain us in the long run?....Three years from now, are we going to be happy about where we are?

Thats the unknown, and as Carlton Highsmith, the New Haven area civic leader and entrepreneur made clear, equitable growth receives far too little attention.

All true. But its better to argue about whether progress is real and whether its reaching enough disadvantaged people, than to wonder whether we will ever see progress at all.

dhaar@hearstmediact.com
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TOCCOA, Ga. (AP)  When Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp made one of his first general election campaign swings in August, he went straight to the modern heartland of the state's Republican Party.

It wasn't Buckhead, the glitzy Atlanta neighborhood where Kemp lives in a governor's mansion dwarfed by other nearby estates. And it wasn't suburban Cobb County, once the bastion of Newt Gingrich.

Instead, Kemp kept going north, deep into the Georgia mountains that have become one of the most Republican areas in the country over the last three decades. He stopped at a gas station turned coffee shop in Toccoa to urge people to turn out an even bigger vote here in this county and in northeast Georgia than weve ever seen before.

Ask your kids, your grandkids, your friends kid, are they registered to vote? Kemp told attendees. If theyre eligible, and theyre not, we got to get them registered, and weve got to go tell them to pull it for the home team.

The emphasis on this rural region represents a notable shift in the GOP's strategy in Georgia. The party grew into a powerhouse in Georgia once it began combining a strong performance in the Atlanta suburbs with growing dominance in rural areas. But that coalition has frayed in recent years as voters in the booming Atlanta region rejected the GOP under former President Donald Trump, turning this onetime Republican stronghold into the South's premier swing state.

A 41-county region, including some distant Atlanta suburbs encroaching into north Georgia, now has as many GOP voters as the core of metro Atlanta, according to an analysis by The Associated Press. Those changing dynamics have intensified pressure on Kemp to maintain  or strengthen  his support in rural mountainous communities like Toccoa to offset losses closer to the capital city.

"The party  in terms of understanding where theyre going to get votes, understands that now they need those votes in north Georgia to compensate for their losses in the suburbs, said Bernard Fraga, an Emory University political scientist.

Kemp won the governor's office in 2018 by defeating Democrat Stacey Abrams by just 1.4 percentage points. As the two wage a rematch for the post this year, early summer polling found a close race, with some suggesting Kemp has a narrow advantage.

But his reliance on voters like those in Toccoa is driving the party further to the right.

In a diversifying state, north Georgia is overwhelmingly white. While Democrats attack and Republicans fret over abortion restrictions in the suburbs, there's little public wavering in the mountains. Voters love guns so much that they cut out the middleman and chose gun dealer Andrew Clyde as one of north Georgia's two very Trumpy members of Congress. The other member? Marjorie Taylor Greene.

It reflects a lot of the country right now, in the sense that its very populist, very close to the vest, very isolated in the sense of distrust of government, very strong-willed, mountain Appalachian-type individuals that are very self sufficient," said former Rep. Doug Collins, the Republican who preceded Clyde in representing northeast Georgia's 9th Congressional District.

Kathy Petrella, a Clarkesville retiree who was visiting the state Department of Driver Services in early September in Toccoa, said she's a true blue conservative.

It means I dont believe in the government telling me anything I have to do, except law and order," said Petrella, who cites her Christian faith as an important anchor of her political affiliation and fears a decline into communism.

Lee MacAulay of the north Georgia town of Cleveland, also visiting Toccoa, said she believes Trump won the 2020 election and calls President Joe Biden a ridiculous joke and an idiot.

I was a Trumper, MacAulay said. I am a Trumper.

She discounts the idea that lingering doubts about the 2020 election will suppress turnout as they appeared to do in the 2021 Senate runoff elections, when victories by Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff gave their party control of Congress. MacAulay said she believes many neighbors are eager to vote for Republicans this year, but we need everybody.

Jay Doss, a Toccoa lawyer, said he feels working-class people are benefited more by the conservative party and that I just feel that less government is better for everybody.

There was once another conservative tradition in north Georgia  in the Democratic Party. While there were always some Republicans, a legacy of white mountaineers who backed the Union over the Confederacy in the Civil War, they won few elections.

It used to be slap Democrat. If you ran Republican, you could not get elected. Now, if you run Democrat, you aint got a chance much of getting elected, said Stephens County Commissioner Dennis Bell, a Republican who owns Currahee Station, the coffee shop where Kemp campaigned in Toccoa.

That Democratic lineage, nourished by the 1930s-era New Deal, produced former Gov. Zell Miller, a proud son of the mountains and titan of Georgia Democratic politics a generation ago.

Miller rode high in the 1990s as a Democrat who combatted crime and overhauled welfare, while creating lottery-funded college scholarships. Miller even squeaked out a reelection victory in the 1994 Republican Revolution that vaulted Gingrich to U.S. House speaker.

That year, Miller actually lost his home region to Republican Guy Millner, a self-financed millionaire businessman. But Miller lost by fewer than 4,000 votes across north Georgia, and Millner's strength in suburban Atlanta wasn't enough, leaving the Republican 32,000 votes short statewide.

By 2004, as a U.S. senator, Miller was giving the keynote speech at the Republican National Convention that renominated George W. Bush. By then, Miller had written A National Party No More, a book that blamed his own party for abandoning Southern conservative Democrats.

Obviously, southerners believe the national Democratic Party does not share their values, Miller wrote in the 2003 book. They do not trust the national party with their money or the security of the country.

North Georgia was 19% of Millners vote in 1994. It was 26% of Kemps vote in 2018. Some of that is due to population growth, but reflects a partisan shift to Republicans. Millner won less than 51% of the vote in the region. Kemp won almost 72%.

Democrats, enduring steep decline, grew demoralized. June Krise, who then chaired the Democratic Party in north Georgia's White County, remembers crying when the county probate judge, clerk of court and sheriff all switched to run as Republicans.

'If we dont switch, we will lose because the Republicans are going to run somebody against us,' Krise remembers the men telling her. "And guess why they were going to lose. Barack Obama was the Democratic nominee for president.

Republicans say formerly Democratic voters gravitated to their party because of cultural issues, but those who study the electorate note white voters are much more likely to be Republican, and Appalachia made a hard turn against Obama, the nation's first Black president.

The Republican Party has now started organizing itself, I think, to be more in line with the white people who are there  more rural, less urban-interested, even less suburban-interested, in terms of the state party, Fraga said. "And thats looks more like North Georgia in a lot of ways.

Fraga sees the split in the Georgia Republican Party over Trumps attempt to overturn Joe Bidens 2020 presidential victory in Georgia in part as a conflict between suburban and rural. Suburban-identified politicians including Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger were willing to oppose Trump, Fraga said, while Republicans representing more rural areas, such as Greene, were on the Trump train.

Democrats have been trying to rebuild. Mike Maley, a Toccoa pediatrician who chairs the Stephens County Democratic Party, says just getting people on the ballot helps get the message out.

I have hope for our community, Maley said. I feel like we can make a difference and this is worth fighting for.

Democrats note that even if theyre not going to win in places like Stephens County, where more than 80% of voters chose Kemp in 2018 and Trump in 2020, each additional vote counts in Georgias ultra-close statewide elections. That's what brought Abrams to the mountain town of Clayton on July 28.

Why would you go there?" Abrams told Rabun County Democrats she was asked about her trip. "Because counties dont vote, people do.

Abrams' strategy is simple. Get more Democrats to vote across the state, backed up by a campaign that sometimes seems focused more on rural areas than her home turf of Atlanta.

Weve got to boost turnout dramatically across the board, Abrams said that day. But weve already seen its possible.

But many voters, like Bell, will be looking to Kemp and other Republicans. The Stephens County commissioner says Democrats are going way too far to the left and says debt, spending and restrictions on oil and gas drilling make a GOP vote in north Georgia a no-brainer.

___

Follow AP for full coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ap_politics
VANCOUVER, BC, Sept. 12, 2022 /CNW/ - Capella Minerals Ltd. ( TSXV: CMIL) (OTCQB: CMILF) (FRA: N7D2) ("Capella" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has applied for an Exploration Reservation ("Perho") covering an area of 50 sq km over the Erajarvi Lithium-Cesium-Tantalum ("LCT") pegmatite field in southern Finland. The Perho Reservation (VA2022:0056 and shown in green in Figure 1) covers the former Seppala lithium mine and lies adjacent to the former Viitaniemi and Juurakko feldspar-quartz(-lithium) mines, which are reported by the Finnish geological survey ("GTK") to have ceased production in 1965 and 1935, respectively. Significantly, more than 70 pegmatite dykes, enriched in B, Be, Li, Nb, Sn and Ta, are reported from the area (Eilu 2012, Lahti 1981, Aviola 2004). Little modern systematic exploration for lithium deposits has been undertaken in the area.

Figure 1. Perho reservation over the Erajarvi LCT pegmatite field. (CNW Group/Capella Minerals Limited)

The new Perho Reservation has been applied for by local subsidiary Cullen Finland Oy, which is currently owned 70:30 by Capella and ASX-listed Cullen Resources Ltd (ASX: CUL). Cullen Finland Oy is also owner of the Katajavaara-Aaeknus gold-copper project in the highly-prospective Central Lapland Greenstone Belt.

Figure 1. Perho reservation over the Erajarvi LCT pegmatite field.

Eric Roth, Capella's President and CEO, commented: "The application for the Perho Reservation over the Erajarvi lithium pegmatite field has the potential to provide Capella with further exposure to the metals required for Europe's green energy transition and energy storage. LCT pegmatites are important global sources of lithium, cesium, and tantalum as well as other by-products. In conjunction with our high-grade copper-cobalt assets in Norway, the Company is well placed to participate in the global electrification and decarbonization process. I look forward to keeping the market updated on progress at Perho".

Qualified Persons and Disclosure Statement

The technical information in this news release relating to the Perho lithium project has been prepared in accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements set out in NI 43-101, and approved by Eric Roth, the Company's President & CEO, a Director, and a Qualified Person under NI 43-101. Mr. Roth holds a Ph.D. in Economic Geology from the University of Western Australia, is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) and is a Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists (SEG). Mr. Roth has 30 years of experience in international minerals exploration and mining project evaluation.

On Behalf of the Board of Capella Minerals Ltd.

"Eric Roth"

___________________________

Eric Roth, Ph.D., FAusIMM

President & CEO

About Capella Minerals Ltd

Capella is engaged in the acquisition, exploration, and development of quality mineral resource properties in favourable jurisdictions with a focus on high-grade copper(-zinc-cobalt) and gold deposits. With respect to base and battery metals projects, the Company's current focus is on i) advancing its recently-acquired Hessjgruva project and the adjacent Kongensgruve and Kjli projects in the northern Rros copper mining district of central Norway, as well as ii) the discovery of further high-grade VMS-type deposits in a district-scale land position around the past-producing Lkken (Lkken Verk District) copper mine. The recent Perho reservation application over the Erajarvi pegmatite field is ultimately expected to provide the Company with further exposure to battery metals, including lithium, cesium, and tantalum.

The Company's precious metals focus is on the discovery of high-grade gold deposits on the Katajavaara-Aakenus JV in Finland, its active Canadian Joint Ventures with Prospector Metals Corp ( TSXV: PPP) at Savant (Ontario) and Yamana Gold Inc. at Domain (Manitoba), and its 100%-owned Southern Gold Line Project in Sweden. The Company also retains a residual interest (subject to an option to purchase agreement with Austral Gold Ltd) in the Sierra Blanca gold-silver divestiture in Santa Cruz, Argentina.

Cautionary Notes and Forward-looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking information is 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. Such statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the future results of operations, performance and achievements of Capella, including the timing, completion of and results from the exploration and drill programs described in this release. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurances that such expectations will prove to be correct. All such forward-looking information is based on certain assumptions and analyses made by Capella in light of their experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors management believes are appropriate in the circumstances. This information, however, is 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. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from this forward-looking information include those described under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" in Capella's most recently filed MD&A. Capella does not intend, and expressly disclaims any obligation to, update or revise the forward-looking information contained in this news release, except as required by law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

References

Alviola, R. 2004, Oriveden Seppala-Vittaniemi alueen pegmatiittitutkimus. Geologcal Survey of Finland, Report M19/2141/2004/1/85. 9p. 60 app. (In Finnish).

Eilu, P.(ed.) 2012. Geological Survey of Finland, Special Paper 53,224.

Lahti, S.I. 1981, On the granitic pegmatites of the Erajarvi area in Orivesi, southern Finland. Geological Survey of Finland, Bulletin 314, 82p.

SOURCE Capella Minerals Limited

For further information: Capella Contacts: Eric Roth, Email: [email protected]; Karen Davies, +1.604.314.2662
TORONTO, Sept. 12, 2022 /CNW/ - Desjardins has supported Kids Help Phone for over 30 years and today announced a $1 million gift, the organization's largest donation to Kids Help Phone yet. The funds will be directed to the highest priority needs at Kids Help Phone to support youth mental health, starting with the Back-to-School Campaign powered by Desjardins.

Back-to-school is a time where Kids Help Phone sees high demand, coupled with heightened feelings of stress and anxiety. This transitional time is difficult for students, as well as parents, caregivers and educators. The donation from Desjardins will support people of all ages, but particularly youth to navigate this time of uncertainty.

"We are so grateful to Desjardins for this transformational gift, an incredible example of their enduring commitment to young peoples' mental health and well being," said Katherine Hay, President and CEO, Kids Help Phone. "Today, they take their support to a new level to show youth from coast to coast to coast that there is a place to turn to for anything, big or small, and at any hour of the day. As we return to school admidst an on-going pandemic, Desjardins is investing in the supports that will ensure that youth and the adults who care about them have a space to feel safe, supported and heard."

"Right now, our youth are paying a high price in society. Not only throughout the pandemic but their inheritance of the challenges we face today. That's why Desjardins must invest in our youth, we must support young people. To help them dream, to encourage them, to be there when they need us and to act," said Guy Cormier, President and CEO of Desjardins. "We're proud to be partnering with Kids Help Phone, who shares our vision of helping youth reach their full potential."

Desjardins continues to create tremendous impact for the young people of Canada by building stronger communities and investing in their education, health and well-being through its Together For Our Youth program. This partnership is in alignment with Desjardins and its focus on promoting academic success. To read more about the organization's impact, visit: desjardins.com/supporting-youth.

ABOUT DESJARDINS

Desjardins Group is the largest cooperative financial group in North America and the fifth largest cooperative financial group in the world, with assets of $404 billion. It was named one of Canada's Top 100 Employers in 2022 by MediaCorp. To meet the diverse needs of its members and clients, Desjardins offers a full range of products and services to individuals and businesses through its extensive distribution network, online platforms and subsidiaries across Canada. Ranked among the world's strongest banks according to The Banker magazine, Desjardins has some of the highest capital ratios and credit ratings in the industry.

ABOUT KIDS HELP PHONE

Kids Help Phone is Canada's only 24/7 e-mental health service offering free, confidential support in English and French to young people. As the country's virtual care expert, we give millions of youth a safe, trusted space to talk over phone or through text or in self-directed supports in any moment of crisis or need. Through our digital transformation, we envision a future where every person in Canada is able to get the support they need, when they need it most, however they need it. Kids Help Phone gratefully relies on the generosity of donors, volunteers, stakeholder partners, corporate partners and governments to fuel and fund our programs. Learn more at KidsHelpPhone.ca.

SOURCE Kids Help Phone

For further information: or to book an interview, please contact: Kids Help Phone, Lindsey Coulter, 647-390-4841, [email protected]; Desjardins, Dana Sharman, 705-878-6493, [email protected]
/NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES WIRE SERVICES/

TORONTO, Sept. 9, 2022 /CNW/ - Fire & Flower Holdings Corp. ("Fire & Flower" or the "Company") (TSX: FAF) (OTCQX: FFLWF) will release its financial and operational results for the second quarter of 2022 ended July 30, 2022 before financial markets open on September 13, 2022.

Fire & Flower's second quarter financial and operational results will be available on SEDAR and on the Company's website at https://investors.fireandflower.com.

Following the release of the results, Fire & Flower will host a conference call with Stephane Trudel, Chief Executive Officer and Judy Adam, Chief Financial Officer at 8:30 a.m. EDT on September 13, 2022. The conference call will discuss Fire & Flower's second quarter financial and operational results.

Dial-In Information

Canada dial-in number (Toll Free): 1 833 950 0062

United States (Toll Free): 1 844 200 6205

All other locations: +1 929 526 1599

Access code: 573575

Webcast Sign-Up

https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/217086686

Replay Information (Available until October 4, 2022 )

US Toll Free: 1 866 813 9403

Canada: 1 226 828 7578

All other locations: +44 204 525 0658

Replay Code: 292857

Upon completion of the live conference call, a replay of the conference call will be accessible on Fire & Flower's website at https://investors.fireandflower.com.

About Fire & Flower

Fire & Flower is a leading, technology-powered, adult-use cannabis retailer with more than 90 corporate-owned stores in its network. The Company leverages its wholly owned technology development subsidiary, Hifyre, to continually advance its proprietary retail operations model while also providing additional independent high-margin revenue streams. Fire & Flower guides consumers through the complex world of cannabis through education-focused, best-in-class retailing while the Hifyre digital retail and analytics platform empowers retailers to optimize their connections with consumers. The Company's leadership team combines extensive experience in the technology, cannabis and retail industries.

Through the strategic investment of Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (owner of Circle K convenience stores), the Company has set its sights on global expansion as new cannabis markets emerge and is poised to expand into the United States when permitted through its strategic licensing agreement with Fire & Flower U.S. Holdings upon the occurrence of certain changes to the cannabis regulatory regime.

To learn more about Fire & Flower, visit www.fireandflower.com.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This news release contains certain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). All statements other than statements of present or historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "achieve", "could", "believe", "plan", "intend", "objective", "continuous", "ongoing", "estimate", "outlook", "expect", "project" and similar words, including negatives thereof, suggesting future outcomes or that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions.

Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management of Fire & Flower at the date the statements are made based on information then available to the Fire & Flower. Various factors and assumptions are applied in drawing conclusions or making the forecasts or projections set out in forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to and involve a number of known and unknown, variables, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of Fire & Flower, which may cause Fire & Flower's actual performance and results to differ materially from any projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors, among other things, include: regulatory and other approvals or consents; fluctuations in general macroeconomic conditions; fluctuations in securities markets; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; the ability of the Company to successfully achieve its business objectives and political and social uncertainties.

No assurance can be given that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of the Company believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure shareholders that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking statements, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release. Additional information regarding risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's business are contained under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual information form dated April 26, 2022 and the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" in the management discussion and analysis for quarter ended April 30, 2022 filed on its issuer profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking statements contained in this new release are made as of the date of this news release, and the Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

SOURCE Fire & Flower Holdings Corp.

For further information: Investor Relations: [email protected], 1-833-680-4948; Media Relations: [email protected], 780-784-8859
First harvest of steelhead trout from Bay d'Espoir, Newfoundland within project timeline

Revenue generation projected by the end of calendar Q3 2022

Three marine sites stocked in Atlantic Canada with expectations of producing approximately 1,000 metric tonnes of product over the next 18 months

HALIFAX, NS, Sept. 12, 2022 /CNW/ - Ocean Trout Canada Inc. ("OTC" or the "Company") is pleased to report commencement of its first harvest of Steelhead Trout from Bay d'Espoir, Newfoundland. OTC will be marketing these Steelhead Trout into the Eastern North American markets as both fillets and head on gutted fish.

W.D. (Bill) Robertson, CEO of OTC commented: "OTC has achieved its initial steelhead production in Newfoundland, an important milestone in the rapid evolution of the Company. This accomplishment is the result of the hard work and diligence of the entire team. I would like to congratulate the team for exceeding expectations in the start-up of production. We expect that we will achieve revenue from our first harvest before the end of calendar Q3 2022, well within the timeline established in our multi-year plan. We remain on track to commercializing the largest portfolio of Steelhead Trout licenses in North America."

Chris Grimes-Goard, CFO of OTC added, "This marks a critical operational milestone in our development plan. The reintroduction of OTC's Steelhead product into the marketplace is an exciting step for both the Company and our consumers to have access to premium Steelhead, farmed responsibly".

The Company is also pleased to report that it has over 1,500,000 juvenile Steelhead Trout at various development stages at its freshwater hatcheries, and it expects to stock additional marine sites this fall. OTC plans to continue to build its inventory and has embarked on a strategic development plan aimed at upgrading and expanding its freshwater production capacity to support the stocking additional production sites in Atlantic Canada. The Company anticipates that its hatchery expansion will be completed by calendar Q2 2023.

About Ocean Trout Canada Inc.

Ocean Trout Canada Inc. is a leading Canadian aquaculture company focused on supplying premium Steelhead products to North American seafood markets. OTC is dedicated to the responsible production of Steelhead in Canada with operations in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland.

www.oceantroutcanada.com

Cautionary Statement on Forward Looking Information

This news release may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws, including, but not limited to, statements with respect to Ocean Trout Canada's plans, financial performance and operating performance, anticipated growth in aquaculture, the estimation of revenue, the timing and targets of M&A activity, costs, future capital expenditures, and the success of integration. Forward-looking statements are based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive risks including but not limited to: risks related to the successful integration of acquisitions; risks related to operations; risks related to general economic conditions and credit availability, ability to obtain sufficient and suitable financing, actual results of current production and decorating, fluctuations in prices of aluminum; failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; accidents, labour disputes, title disputes, claims and limitations on insurance coverage and other risks of the aquaculture industry; delays in the completion of capex activities, changes in national and local government regulation of manufacturing operations and labour laws in light of the current COVID pandemic, tax rules and regulations, and political and economic developments where Ocean Trout Canada operates. These statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as "may", "should", "will", "could", "intend", "estimate", "plan", "anticipate", "expect", "believe" or "continue", or the negative thereof or similar variations. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause future results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from the estimated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by those forward-looking statements and the forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Forward-looking statements expressed or implied by Ocean Trout Canada are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and conditions, many of which are outside of Ocean Trout Canada's control, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. Although Ocean Trout Canada 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. Forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by the inherent risks and uncertainties related to Ocean Trout Canada's business, including that Ocean Trout Canada's assumptions in making forward-looking statements may prove to be incorrect; delays in filing of financial information; adverse market conditions; risks inherent in the aquaculture sector in general; that future results may vary from historical results; and competition in the markets where Ocean Trout Canada operates. Except as required by securities law, Ocean Trout Canada does not assume any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, events or otherwise.

SOURCE Ocean Trout Canada Inc.

For further information: Inquiries can be directed to: [email protected]
CALGARY, AB, Sept. 9, 2022 /CNW/ - Sugarbud Craft Growers Corp. ( TSXV: SUGR) ( TSXV: SUGR.DB) ( TSXV: SUGR.WR) ( TSXV: SUGR.WS) ( TSXV: SUGR.WT) (OTCQB: SBUDD) ("Sugarbud" or the "Company") provides an update with respect to the management cease trade order (the "MCTO") issued by the Alberta Securities Commission on August 30, 2022. The MCTO was issued in connection with the delayed filing of Sugarbud's Q2 2022 interim financial statements, the related management's discussion and analysis and related CEO and CFO certificates, which were due to be filed by August 29, 2022 (collectively, the "Filings"). The MCTO does not affect the ability of shareholders who are not insiders of the Company to trade their securities.

The delay in completing the Filings is the result of staffing limitations faced by the Company, which have resulted in additional time being required to prepare the Filings. The Company continues to work diligently on completing these, and expects to complete the Filings by September 30, 2022. This is within the previously-estimated four-week extension period, and the Company will use its best efforts to complete the process within this timeframe.

The Company is providing this status update in accordance with the provisions of the Alternative Information Guidelines set out in National Policy 12-203-Management Cease Trade Orders. The Company confirms that as of the date of this news release, the only material change to the information contained in the announcement issued on August 19, 2022 relates to the resignation of John Kondrosky as President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director, the resignation of Janice Comeau as a Director, and the appointment of Dan Wilson as President and CEO, which was announced in a news release filed on August 22, 2022. The Company confirms that there is no other material information concerning the affairs of the Company that has not been generally disclosed.

About Sugarbud

"Hand-Crafted Cannabis for a New Era"

Sugarbud is a consumer-driven craft cannabis company focused on the cultivation and production of superior, select-batch, craft cannabis products. Our vision and mission are to become a trusted and well-respected consumer brand renowned for providing exceptional high-quality craft cannabis products to legal markets by delighting the most discerning of cannabis consumers.

The Sugarbud Craft Cannabis Collection offers consumers "Hand-Crafted Cannabis for a New Era". The Company is proudly Albertan and is proud to share Western Canada's long tradition of exceptional craft cannabis with the most discerning of enthusiasts. Sugarbud strives to define the intersection of product craftsmanship, quality, and value for consumers in the Canadian craft cannabis space.

Sugarbud Craft Cannabis products are currently available to adult recreational consumers in the Yukon Territory, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and nationally to registered medical patients through MendoCannabis.ca.

We Take Pride.

We Take Our Time.

Experience The Difference.

Websites:

http://www.sugarbud.ca/

http://craftcannabiscollection.ca/

The TSXV has not in any way passed upon the merits of and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

SOURCE Sugarbud Craft Growers Corp.

For further information: Dan Wilson, President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, Sugarbud Craft Growers Corp., Phone: 403-874-9862, E-mail: [email protected]
TORONTO, Sept. 12, 2022 /CNW/ -- Wavemaker, the growth focused agency named 2021 Silver Agency of the Year by Strategy is excited to announce that they've been appointed as the new media agency of record for Sun Life and will handle their media strategy, buying, and planning in Canada. The appointment, following a competitive agency review, is effective immediately.

Sun Life is a leading international financial services organization providing a diverse range of wealth solutions and customize health programs to Clients. Sun Life and its partners have operations in Canada and key markets worldwide.

Chris Hewitt, Chief Marketing Officer of Sun Life Canada, said "We are excited to partner with Wavemaker. This partnership is an important step in our marketing transformation journey. Wavemaker has a proven ability to deliver robust and data-driven marketing media strategies, along with an eagerness to push the boundaries and drive innovation. As we continue to scale up our focus on digital media and marketing strategies, we'll team up to deliver more marketing impact with Clients, prospects, and partners while continuing to strengthen our performance-based culture."

Ryan Webber, CEO Wavemaker Canada added: "We are extremely thrilled and honored to be chosen by Sun Life to handle their media business moving forward. Sun Life Canada has been very transparent in their goals for ambitious growth and performance as they diversify their services and offering to Canadians. Our provocative approach and willingness to push boundaries has resonated and we are excited to partner together to grow their business."

Wavemaker has had strong business success in the last 24 months, with the addition of a number of new economy and growth category clients including Audible, Beiersdorf, Corby Spirit & Wine and Square. With a point of view and agility for the future, the agency has been partnering with like-minded challenger brands to provoke growth through media, content and technology solutions, scaled through the support of GroupM.

About Wavemaker Canada

We believe there is always a better way to grow. We positively provoke growth for our clients by reshaping consumer decision-making and experiences through media, content and technology. The Wavemaker way is globally consistent. Fueled by the world's most powerful consumer data, we understand where and how marketing can intervene decisively to help brands win more sales.

We are a part of GroupM, WPP's global media investment management company, with offices in Canada in Toronto and Montreal. Wavemaker Canada has been named a 'Great Place To Work' five years running, including recognition for Inclusion, Workplaces for Women and Mental Wellness. Discover more on wavemakerglobal.com, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Media Contact:

Cindy Goulart [email protected]

SOURCE Wavemaker
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Harry Styles, who starred in Dont Worry, Darling, was reserved in his speech when he accepted a prize at the Toronto International Film Festival this year for one of his first significant film performances.



Styles, a man of few words, and the actors of My Policeman was presented with the ensemble prize at the festivals Tribute Awards on Sunday night, according to Variety. Styles, who plays a closeted police officer in the love drama, expressed his gratitude to everyone in attendance for the amazing prize. We all had a great time making this movie. You should appreciate it, we hope.

After carrying the train of his co-star Emma Corins long, black dress outside of the Fairmont Royal York, where the annual gala is placed, Styles hurriedly left the venue.



There were enough additional A-listers present, though, to keep the three-hour party lively. Toronto held its fourth annual tribute awards ceremony even while the festival was still in progress, honouring celebrities including Michelle Yeoh, Sam Mendes, Brendan Fraser, and Oscar-winning composer Hildur Gunadottir of Joker, Women Talking, and Tar.

Buffy The evenings other prize recipient Sainte-Marie, an Oscar-winning composer, made a comment regarding the need of casting Indigenous people in Indigenous roles. Its more crucial than merely deceiving white folks, Sainte-Marie proclaimed. These people will see your films alongside their whole civilizations. Could Italians have been cast in The Sopranos without them?



Fraser then reconnected with Yeoh, his The Mummy 3 co-star, while Colman and Mendes presided over a table towards the front of the room and people flocked to them to show their appreciation for their work.

Frasers emotional start to the awards season saw him cry during the Venice world premiere of The Whale, which was followed by Sunday nights gala. Its expected that his depiction of a 600-pound gay man in a wheelchair would put him in the lead for this years best actor Oscar. At TIFF, his performance received equivocal praise (though the standing ovation was slightly shorter).



In his introduction of Fraser at the event on Sunday, director Darren Aronofsky said, We need more individuals like Brendan Fraser, the guy, and the actor.

As his first significant film role in years, The Whale represents a career rebirth for Fraser. He praised the crowd for keeping me in the work that I love and asserted that the audience is what gives film life.



You should know that [Aronofsky and screenwriter Samuel D. Hunter] took a chance on me, and I will be eternally thankful to them, he said. Art is about taking a risk, and you should know that, he said. The Whale is a narrative of salvation.



Fraser held out his award and said, For me, this is novel. Usually, Im the one at the platform who distributes these items.

In the 1950s drama My Policeman, Harry plays the role of Tom, a police officer who falls in love with a Brighton schoolteacher. However, despite the fact that homosexuality was prohibited at the time, he quickly starts a same-sex relationship with a museum curator.

Read more: Weak reviews of Brahmastra have tanked shares of Indias biggest theater chains
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Former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar left the Nationalist Congress Partys (NCP) 8th national convention just before his speech in New Delhi on Sunday. From NCP, Ajit Pawar is the present opposition leader in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly.

NCPs national convention was held at the Talkatora Stadium situated in the national capital. Party president Sharad Pawar along with politician Jayant Patil was in attendance. Opposition leader Ajit Pawar left the convention just before his turn to address the gathering that sparked rumors of a rift in the party.

NCP MP Supriya Sule tried to convince Pawar to return for his scheduled speech. Ajit Pawars speech was scheduled before the party presidents concluding speech. When asked by the reporters, Pawar said Everyone was curious (to address the crowd at the convention). I will speak in Maharashtra.

When Ajit Pawar entered the convention venue, party president Sharad Pawar had already started his concluding speech, which didnt give the former a chance to speak. The gathered party workers were demanding Ajit Pawar address the crowd. While Pawar had left the venue, Jayant Patil told the gathering that Ajit had gone to the washroom.

Later during the event, NCP president Sharad Pawar said, We have to democratically challenge the present government, which is misusing central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and their money power. We have to be prepared for a fight during his speech.

NCPs Sharad Pawar was re-elected as the party president for the next four years on Saturday. Pawar has encouraged the unity of opposition parties. In his speech, Pawar alleged that the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) was trying to distract the youth from important topics such as unemployment overshadowing it with religious matters.

Pawar said, We will have to be alert and careful about the Union governments divisive policies on the basis the basis of religion, caste. He added that there was a need to bring like-minded political parties in accord against the communal politics of the BJP.

Read more: Raids conducted on AAPs Gujarat office; Kejriwal responds We are honest and patriotic people
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Joe Biden, the vice president of the United States, attended a ceremony at the Pentagon on Sunday to remember those who lost their lives in the 9/11 terrorist assault and paid respect to them.

Join me as I deliver remarks to honor and remember the victims of September 11th. https://t.co/2KTs8Z1ZqZ  President Biden (@POTUS) September 11, 2022



In his speech at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, President Joe Biden observed, I know for those of you who lost someone, 21 years is both a lifetime and no time at all.

In his remarks on the 21st anniversary of the September 11, 2002 assault, President Joe Biden advocated for national unity. Its good to remember. These memories help us heal, but they can also open up the anguish and transport us back to that time when the loss was so fresh.

I hope we will never forget how far we pushed ourselves during these difficult times. We cherished one another. As rain rained on the soldiers lining up behind him, Biden added, And we came together.



We honour the first responders who sprung into action, including the passengers on Flight 93, police officers, and firemen. And we honour the young people who joined the thousands of American soldiers serving overseas to defend our country, Biden continued.

We honor the police officers and firefighters, the passengers on Flight 93, and the civilians and service members who all leaped into action.



And, we honor the young men and women who joined the thousands of American troops who served around the world to protect our nation. pic.twitter.com/KwnHOfTdeq  President Biden (@POTUS) September 11, 2022



The British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away on Thursday, addressed the American people in a message on September 11, 2001. The President recalled that she pointedly reminded us, quote, Grief is the price we pay for love.

Prior to his address, Biden took part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Pentagon. He touched a symbolic wreath before placing his palm over his heart. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley also attended the occasion with him.



In all, 2,977 individuals perished in a deadly terror assault on this day, 21 years ago. The United States saw the bloodiest terrorist assault in its history on September 11, 2001. The terrorist assaults resulted in the deaths of almost 3,000 individuals. The World Trade Center twin buildings in New York fell in under 102 minutes after being struck by hijacked aircraft from Al Qaeda.

Four commercial aircraft intended to fly from the northeastern US to California were hijacked by 19 al-Qaeda terrorists on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001. They took control of the planes and turned them into missiles carrying people.



The first two hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center twin towers in New York City. The third plane crashed into the Pentagon (the American militarys headquarters) in Arlington, Virginia. A fourth plane crashed in Pennsylvania before it was believed to have been headed for its intended target. In the attacks, over 3,000 people died.



United Airlines Flight 93s hijackers were defeated by the passengers, and when the jet landed in a field, no further targets were targeted.

The vice president, Kamala Harris, and the second gentleman, Doug Emhoff, attended a ceremony in New York City on Sunday morning while the first lady, Jill Biden, was in Pennsylvania for one.



The 2,977 lives lost on September 11th will live in infamy. Standing at Ground Zero today, Im reminded of how this tragedy affected our country and the people who lost loved ones. Doug and I are here for you today and always The President of the US tweeted.

On this solemn day of remembrance, we honor those who lost their lives, as well as our first responders who risked everything in the face of grave terrorism.



Today, we continue to honor their courage and strength.  Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) September 11, 2022



Harris went to a Manhattan event at Ground Zero. She said that twenty-one years ago, she stood with the victims who lost their lives at Ground Zero, Shanksville, and the Pentagon. Mayor Eric Adams, former mayor Michael Bloomberg, and the vice presidents spouse and second gentleman, Doug Emhoff, were all in attendance.

Harris stated, My heart aches with those who lost loved ones. On this melancholy day of memory, we celebrate those who lost their lives, as well as our first responders who risked all in the face of terrible terrorism. Today, we continue to honour their courage and resilience.



In accordance with a joint resolution passed on December 18, 2001, the US Congress declared September 11 of every year to be Patriot Day, and in accordance with Public Law 111-13, passed on April 21, 2009, the Congress requested that September 11 be observed as a yearly National Day of Service and Remembrance.

US President Joe Biden declared September 11 as a Patriot and National Day of Service and Remembrance on September 10 of last year. He also stated that all government buildings shall fly the American flag at half-staff on this day.

Read more: SCO summit: Modi to attend summit in Samarkand with Xi, Putin, Shehbaz on September 15 and 16
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King Charles III on Monday, delivered his first speech to Parliament as the ruler of the United Kingdom.

Members of both Houses of Parliament are meeting now in Westminster Hall for the Presentation of Addresses to His Majesty King Charles III.



Watch live https://t.co/fdWrbCWtZL  UK Parliament (@UKParliament) September 12, 2022



After his mother Queen Elizabeth II passed away last week, King Charles III was declared the next king of England on Saturday. He paid respect to his late mother Queen Elizabeth II in his statement at St. Jamess Palace and spoke of the huge legacy and the obligations and weighty responsibilities of Sovereignty which have now passed to me.

"I am deeply grateful for the Addresses of Condolence by the House of Lords and the House of Commons, which so touchingly encompass what our late Sovereign, my beloved mother The Queen, meant to us all."



The Kings reply to the addresses of condolence at Westminster Hall:  The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) September 12, 2022



King Charles paid respect to his mother by telling the gathering nobles, It is my most sorry duty to report to you the death of my dear Mother, The Queen.

The Queen, the monarch with the longest reign in the UK, passed away quietly on Thursday afternoon at Balmoral Castle. She was 96 years old.



I am deeply aware of this great inheritance and of the duties and heavy responsibilities of Sovereignty that have now passed to me. In taking up these responsibilities, I shall strive to follow the inspiring example I have been set in upholding constitutional government and seek the peace, harmony, and prosperity of the people. Even as we grieve, we give thanks for this most faithful life.

In an homage to his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles Philip Arthur George talked of the huge inheritance and of the obligations and weighty responsibilities of Sovereignty.



Before Charles III was crowned king, the Accession Council made an official announcement of the Queens passing. Before the contracts were signed, the 200 or so attendees in the chamber chanted God save the King.



He reaffirmed his desire to carry on the custom of giving up the inherited profits, including the Crown Estate, and his plan to do so.

King Charles continued, I take this opportunity to reaffirm my willingness and intention to carry on the custom of ceding the hereditary revenues, including the Crown Estate, to My Government for the benefit of All, in exchange for the Sovereign Grant, which supports My official duties as Head of State and Head of Nation.



The 96-year-old Queens passing brought to an end a seven-decade reign that spanned generations and made her a symbol of stability in a turbulent globe. Official mourning has begun in the UK, and condolences are flooding in from all around the world.

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Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, the top pontiff of Sri Murugha Mutt, will appear at the district sessions court today.

The seers first authorised police custody expires today, therefore the appearance is scheduled at 11 a.m.

This comes after the police performed a spot check at the Murugha mutt on Sunday.

Previously, on Saturday, the Chitradurga District Court postponed the bail motion seeking anticipatory relief for Murugha Mutt seer Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, who is accused of sexual assault.

The anticipatory bail application for all four accused was heard in court, and the judge directed the state public prosecutor to file an objection to the bail motion on Monday.

According to a source, the seer has asked for medical bail. The seer is now being questioned by authorities at the DSP Office in Chitradurga.

Earlier on Friday, the district sessions court ordered the arrest of Murugha Mutts head pontiff, Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, for four days. He will be detained by police until September 5. According to reports, the police had asked the court for 5 days in jail.

Sharanaru was detained earlier on Thursday after allegedly sexually assaulting two juvenile girls.

In an interview with the media, Chitradurga SP Parashurama K stated, We arrested him (Sri Murugha Mutt Chief) under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO). The second defendant is being questioned. She is under our care. We are not under any political pressure. Following the medical examination, we shall bring the seer to the magistrate.

Earlier, on August 30, the District Sessions Court in Chitradurga postponed the top pontiff of the Murugha Mutts anticipatory bail appeal till September 1.

An FIR has been filed under the POCSO Act against the pontiff of the famous Muruga Mutt in Chitradurga after two teenage girls accused him of sexual harassment.

The FIR was filed against Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru of Chitradurgas Murugha Mutt. The girls were molested for nearly two years, according to the FIR.

Read more: Lingayat mutt chief arrested over allegedly raping minors
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Assam police on Monday arrested two more suspects with possible links to the banned terrorist group Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) from Morigaon district.

Suspected terrorists have been identified as Musadik Hussain and Muslim Ikramul. Ikramul was a leader and was captured in Nagaon prefecture. On the other hand, the state police arrested Hussain from the Moirabari area in Morigaon district.

Morigaon Prefectural Police Superintendent Aparna N told ANI that the two arrests were related to prohibited clothing.

Last month, the Morigaon district government demolished a madrassa in Moirabari after the police destroyed a terror module on the campus of the religious education academy.

So far, the state administrations have demolished three madrassas across the state following the arrests of around 40 persons so far including the Imam and madrasa teachers on charges of being linked to terror outfits  Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) and Al Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).

In addition, one more such educational institute was razed by locals themselves after a cleric associated with it was held for alleged anti-national activities.

There were reports that some militants disguised as religious teachers had sneaked into the state and silently gone ahead with their subversive and anti-state activities.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that some madrassa managements were not running the institution but were running a terrorist hub.

I dont want to generalise (all madrassas), but we investigate and take appropriate action when a complaint of fundamentalism comes, Sarma had said.

Recently, Minister Sarma said in a press conference that six Bangladeshi nationals who are members of Ansarullah Bangla (ABT)/Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), entered Assam in 2016-17 and Assam police have arrested one of them and five are still big.

For better supervision, Minister Assam reiterated that Muslim teachers entering the state will be closely monitored and furthermore the state is developing a portal to enter their details.

We have laid down standard operating procedures. Locals must inform police if any religious teacher (Imam) coming outside of the state and are not known to them, Sarma told reporters.

Police will verify the person and then he can carry out his religious teaching in the Madrassas, he said, adding that Muslims of Assam have been cooperating with the government in this process.

Assam currently doesnt have any government-run madrassas as they have recently been converted into regular schools.

However, individual or privately-run madrassas continue to exist.

Also Read: Union Minister Ajay Bhatt slams Congress for supporting people who are want to divide India

ULTRA-PROCESSED GATEWAY FOODS MIGHT LEAD TO UNHEALTHY ADOLESCENT EATING: STUDY
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Union Minister Ajay Bhatt on Sunday slammed Rahul Gandhi for supporting those who are hell-bent on dividing India and attacked him for meeting with controversial Catholic priest George Ponnaiah. He claimed that Congress has opposed every decision made by Prime Minister Modi, including the removal of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir and the surgical strikes in Pakistan.

Reacting to Catholic priest George Ponnaiahs controversial statement Jesus Christ is the real God, not like Shakti, Bhatt said that Rahul Gandhi is meeting divisive personalities, Congress has consistently stood in support of former party president Rahul Gandhi on the priest controversy. The party claims that they dont meet people after doing background checks and in Parliament, their MPs sit with the worshipers of Godse.

Speaking to ANI, Bhatt said, The people who have tried to divide the country and those who used to say that India will be divided into pieces, the Congress give respect to them, which clearly shows that those who work to divide the country, agitate, and break people are today talking about connecting India. First of all, Congress should answer why they have kept those people who talk about dividing our country. Those who were talking about breaking the country were doing big agitations, are today saying that they are working to unite India.

Referring to the development in Jammu and Kashmir after the repeal of Section 370, he went on to criticize Parliament for opposing the repeal of Section 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and said that Congress has declared that with the change of status quo of Jammu and Kashmir, rivers of blood will flow.

Whether there has been a surgical strike or an air strike, a country that differs from us is our neighbour, the questions they raised, the same questions were raised by these people (Congress) who are today talking about connecting India, he said.

The public is much aware and understands everything and they dont believe such people at all. Very irresponsible statements keep coming again and again from them. Democracy is strengthened if the opposition is sensible. It is very good that in a democracy there is a ruling party and Opposition and when both work properly, the purpose is served. But here, whatever Prime Minister Narendra Modi does, it has become a habit of the Opposition to find fault in it. This Bharat Jodo Yatra is nothing but their inability to do anything, he said while several criticizing Congress for not supporting the government for the welfare of the people.

What Prime Minister did in Har Ghar Tiranga is called an attempt to connect India. All castes, religions, classes and regions came up with a flag, this is called connecting India.

Rahul Gandhi, who is on a 150-day-long Bharat Jodo Yatra, on Friday met a controversial catholic priest George Ponnaiah in the Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu.

A video clip of Rahul Gandhis interaction with the Tamil Nadu pastor went viral, in which Rahul Gandhi can be heard asking, Jesus Christ is a form of God? Is that right? to which the Tamil Nadu priest George Ponniah replied, He is the real God.

Ponniah goes on to say, God reveals him(self) as a man, a real personnot like Shaktiso we see a human person.

Ponniah has a habit of making provocative statements that have gotten her into trouble in the past. He was arrested last July in Kallikudi, Madurai, for allegedly having hate speech against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, DMK Minister and others.

Also Read: Sonali Phogat case: Goa CM Pramod Sawant to write to Shah for CBI probe

DRINKING SWEETENED, UNSWEETENED COFFEE MAY LOWER RISK OF DEATH: STUDY
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Shah Chokha, a hamlet in Punhana subdivision of Haryanas Nuh on Monday, reported the discovery of the body of an 11-year-old pupil who had been attending a madrasa close to the Mazar of Pir Dada Shah Chaukha.

Forensic Science Laboratory Division (FSL) team arrived at the scene, according to the police, and looked into the occurrence. The event has been reported to the authorities as a murder after the deceaseds relatives suspected foul play.

We arrived here after learning that a dead corpse had been discovered at the madrasa. The FSL team has been contacted, and we are looking into the situation.

According to the deceaseds familys complaint, a murder investigation has been opened, and the body has been taken to the Al-Afia Hospital in Mandikheda for a post-mortem, according to ASP Usha Kundu on Monday.

According to reports, the dead youngster had been attending the madrasa for about a year.

The students family wanted action against the murder suspect since they suspected murder.

He had been attending this madrasa for a year when he was 11 years old. My nephew had reportedly left the madrasa but had not returned home, so I was informed. He was nowhere to be found despite our efforts. This is homicide. The deceaseds relatives stated, We demand that action be made in this.

The child attended the evening prayers, but vanished during attendance, according to Maulana Zakir, the director of the Islamic Madrasa Dargah Shah Chaukha.

He said that the kid was discovered in a mosque room, buried beneath a crusher.

Director of the Islamic Madrasa Dargah Shah Chaukha, Molana Zakir, stated, For about a year, the 11-year-old was enrolled in this programme. Here, he learned Arabic and Urdu. He was there during the prayers on Saturday night. However, he was not there when the attendance was taken at 7 oclock. Everybody searched for him. We alerted the family when we were unable to locate him. He was investigated in the adjacent mosques and villages.
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On Thursday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar will attend the 2nd India-Japan 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in Tokyo.

According to an official release, the Japanese side will be represented by Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada and Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi.

The 2+2 Dialogue will review bilateral cooperation across domains and chart out the way forward, the statement issued by the Ministry of Defence.

India and Japan are working on establishing a Special Strategic and Global Partnership. This year celebrates the 70th anniversary of the two nations diplomatic relations.

In addition to the 2+2 conversation, Rajnath Singh will undertake bilateral meetings with his Japanese counterpart to boost bilateral defence cooperation in a variety of areas. During his visit, he will also meet with Japans Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida.

The Defence Minister will also attend a community event hosted by the Indian Embassy in Tokyo and meet with members of the Indian diaspora in Japan.
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In connection with a contract to sell its Mumbai power-distribution business to Adani Transmission Ltd., Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. said it filed an arbitration claim for 134 billion rupees ($1.7 billion).



According to a stock exchange filing, Reliance filed its statement of claim with the Mumbai Centre for International Arbitration, citing a breach in the terms of an agreement from December 2017. The disagreement was not further discussed.

The final result of the arbitration and any following legal challenges will determine the financial impact, according to Reliance.

Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. (R-Infra), a subsidiary of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, began arbitration proceedings on one particular issue under the Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) in December 2021, according to a statement released by Adani Group to the media.

The media release said, This was a demand for Rs 500 crores and after the appropriate procedure, ATL/Adani Electricity denied the R-Infra claim.



According to a spokesperson for the Adani Group, ATL/Adani Electricity is adhering to the fair procedures outlined in the SPA for dispute resolution and will present its own claims against R-Infra in the arbitration processes.
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The Supreme Court on Monday is slated to hear several petitions contesting the constitutionality of the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act. There are 220 petitions on the list for consideration by a bench made up of Chief Justice U U Lalit and Justice S Ravindra Bhat. The group of PILs against CAA, which includes the lead argument from the Indian Union of Muslim League, is one of them.

The court presided by the Chief Justice will consider many petitions that have been languishing for a few years, including one challenging the legality of the CAA, whose passage caused huge demonstrations around the nation.

The revised law aims to offer citizenship to non-Muslim immigrants who arrived from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan on or before December 31, 2014, and who are members of the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Christian, Jain, and Parsi groups.

While hearing the group of appeals on December 18, 2019, the supreme court declined to halt the application of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). However, the Centre had received notifications from the SC.

The top court had asked for the Centers answer by the second week of January 2020, however owing to COVID-19-induced limitations and the number of attorneys and litigants involved, the subject could not be heard in its entirety.

The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), one of the petitioners, said that the statute violates the fundamental right to equality and seeks to offer citizenship to some illegal immigrants by enacting an exclusion based on religion. A temporary halt to the application of the statute was requested in the petition.

Another petition was submitted by Congressman Jairam Ramesh, who referred to the Act as a brazen attack on essential constitutional rights and said it treats equals as unequal.

Other individuals who oppose the law have signed petitions, including RJD leader Manoj Jha, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi, Muslim organisation Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, Peace Party, CPI, NGOs Rihai Manch and Citizens Against Hate, attorney M L Sharma, and law students.

Read more: SCO summit: Modi to attend summit in Samarkand with Xi, Putin, Shehbaz on September 15 and 16
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As per media sources, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be travelling to Samarkand, Uzbekistan, for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization conference on September 15 and 16.

After the SCO summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, in June 2019, this will be the first summit to take place in person.

According to the current vacation itinerary, the Prime Minister will probably leave for Samarkand on September 14 and return on September 16.

Indias participation at the summit is crucial since, after the Samarkand summit, it will take up the rotating chairmanship of the SCO. From September 2023, Delhi will rule over the organisation for a full year. Thus, India will host the SCO summit the following year, which will include participation from the presidents of China, Russia, and Pakistan, among others.

The Prime Ministers trip to Samarkand will be extensively scrutinised for potential side talks between the two leaders.

The world leaders scheduled at the conference are Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Although there has been no formal announcement on the bilateral meetings, it is anticipated that the leaders will be in the same room for both the summit and the leaders lounge.

The most recent bilateral encounter between Modi and Xi took place in November 2019 during the BRICS summit in Brazil.

Following the military clash between Indian and Chinese forces at the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh in May 2020, relations between the two nations have taken a hit.

The two sides now have the chance to engage at the highest level following the pullout of Chinese and Indian forces from Patrolling Point 15, one of the final areas of conflict in the Gogra-Hot Springs area.

However, how well the disengagement process goes will have a big impact. It began on Thursday and is expected to end on Monday (September 12).

Meetings between the prime minister and Raisi and Putin are reportedly a possibility.

According to sources, the conference is likely to cover the geopolitical crisis brought on by Russias invasion of Ukraine and its effects. Since several SCO members are neighbours of Afghanistan, the situation there under the Taliban government will also be discussed.

According to officials, there will undoubtedly be a meeting between the Prime Minister and President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

In Samarkand, 300 kilometres from Tashkent, preparations for the SCO summit have been ongoing for the past six months.

In June 2001, the SCO, an intergovernmental organisation, was established in Shanghai. Presently, it consists of eight Member States (China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan), four Observer States (Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, and Mongolia), six Dialogue Partners, and one Associate Member (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Turkey).

Egypt, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia were appointed discussion partners in 2021 when it was decided to begin the process of Iran becoming a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

The SCO has concentrated chiefly on regional security problems, and its battle against regional terrorism, ethnic secession, and religious extremism since its founding in 2001. The development of the region is another priority for the SCO.

Read more: India opts out of trade talks with US-led group of Asian nations
WINDSOR LOCKS  A large military plane made an emergency landing at Bradley International Airport Monday.

An Air National Guard C-130 Hercules transport plane landed safely about 11:20 a.m., according to Alisa D. Sisic, a public information officer with the Connecticut Airport Authority.

There is no impact to airport operations, she said.

There was a mechanical problem with one of the aircrafts four engines while it was on a training flight, said Maj. Dave Pytlik, public affairs officer with the Connecticut National Guard. The flight returned to Bradley as a precaution, he said.

Back safely at Bradley, all crew is safe, Pytlik said.

In December 2020, a similar type of plane made an emergency landing when it had trouble with one of its four engines, Pytlik said at the time. It was a different plane than the one on Monday.

Just last week, a commercial aircraft made an emergency landing at the airport.

An incoming Breeze plane made an emergency landing Wednesday, the airport said. It was the airlines first day of its new nonstop service to Las Vegas.

Staff writer Peter Yankowski contributed to this report.
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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP)  Joseph Hazelwood, the captain of the Exxon Valdez oil tanker that ran aground more than three decades ago in Alaska, causing one of the worst oil spills in U.S. history, has died, the New York Times reported. He was 75.

He died in July after struggling with COVID-19 and cancer, his nephew Sam Hazelwood told the newspaper for a story reported Friday. Hazelwood's family members and business associates did not respond to The Associated Press for comment.

The Exxon Valdez, a 987-foot (301-meter) tanker, grounded on Alaskas Bligh Reef at 12:04 a.m. on March 24, 1989, spewing nearly 11 million gallons (41 million liters) of oil into the rich fishing waters of Prince William Sound. Currents and storms carried the crude over 1,200 miles (1,931 kilometers) of Alaska coastline.

The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council estimates the spill killed a quarter million seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles, up to 22 killer whales and billions of fish eggs. It took years for the fish numbers to rebound following the spill, and oil can still be found under the surface of some beaches in Prince William Sound.

The grounding, along with other oil spills in 1989 and 1990, prompted passage of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, which strengthened how the U.S. government responds to oil spills. Exxon Valdez was surpassed as the nation's worst oil spill when Deepwater Horizon exploded in 2010, releasing 168 million gallons (635 million liters) of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

An Anchorage jury awarded nearly 33,000 plaintiffs affected by the Alaska spill $5 billion in punitive damages in 1994, but that amount was cut in half by other courts on appeals by Exxon. In 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court cut the punitive damages to $507.5 million.

Hazelwood, whom prosecutors accused of being drunk when the tanker grounded, was the only crew member criminally charged after the spill. He had left a third mate in control of the ship while he went below to do paperwork. Hazelwood was accused of one felony, criminal mischief, and three misdemeanors  reckless endangerment, operating a vessel while intoxicated and negligent discharge of oil.

During his 1990 Anchorage trial, witnesses reported he drank vodka at a Valdez bar before the ship sailed, but how much he drank and at what hour were in dispute. No witnesses described Hazelwood as appearing drunk, staggering or slurring his words. Crew members called him cool, calm and in command before and after the grounding, according to Associated Press coverage of the trial.

His blood-alcohol reading was .061, but he wasnt tested until about 10 hours after the tanker grounded. In most states, the legal limit is .08 percent.

The jury ultimately found Hazelwood guilty of negligent discharge of oil into state waters and acquitted him of the other charges. He was sentenced to spend 1,000 hours in community service and ordered to pay $50,000 in restitution.

During his sentencing, then-Superior Court Judge Karl Johnstone said he was disappointed Hazelwood had not publicly apologized for his role in the disaster.

Im sure deep down, he is very shameful, Johnstone said.

In June 1999, Hazelwood, of Huntington, New York, spoke to the New York Times as he prepared to leave for Anchorage to complete his community service.

As master of the vessel, I accept responsibility for the vessel and the actions of my subordinates, he told the newspaper. Ive never tried to avoid that. Im not some remorseless oaf.

He then noted that he was convicted of a low-level misdemeanor. Theres no lower crime in the state of Alaska. The judge had to come up with a sentence. I can understand it. I dont have to agree with it, Hazelwood told the Times.

However, a decade later, he issued the apology that Judge Johnstone wanted to hear.

Hazelwood took responsibility in the book, The Spill: Personal Stories from the Exxon Valdez Disaster, by Sharon Bushell and Stan Jones.

Occasionally people have called me a scapegoat, but Ive never felt comfortable with that term when applied to me in regard to the oil spill, he says. I was captain of a ship that ran aground and caused a horrendous amount of damage. Ive got to be responsible for that. Theres no way around it.

Following the spill, he worked at a New York law firm as a paralegal and also was an instructor at a maritime college.

Hazelwood is survived by his wife, Suzanne; a daughter, Alison; two grandsons, and a brother, Joshua, the Times reported.
MILFORD  A teenager's case in connection with the fatal stabbing of James McGrath earlier this year has been continued to November while his attorneys review the evidence against him.

Raul Eliah Valle, 16, appeared in state Superior Court in Milford Monday morning with his parents while more than a dozen people, including McGrath's family, sat in the courtroom. Valle's lawyer, Kevin Smith, asked Judge Peter Brown to grant a continuance as he had received a "terabyte" worth of evidence in the case  which can equal roughly 500 hours of video or 250,000 photos, according to Dropbox.

Smith said there is still more discovery expected, but his team has reviewed at least 80 percent of the evidence they've received so far. Smith said the defense wants to review all of the evidence before deciding whether to request a probable cause hearing, where a judge would decide if the prosecution has enough to support the charges.

Brown approved the continuance to Nov. 1, adding that Valle has been compliant in his release guidelines.

Valle, a former student of St. Joseph High School in Trumbull, is accused of fatally stabbing McGrath, a Fairfield Prep student, during a house party in Shelton. Police said McGrath, a Shelton resident, and three others suffered stab wounds after a fight broke out at the party.

Valle was charged on May 18 with murder and three counts of first-degree assault in connection with McGrath's death. He was initially held on a $2 million bond, but has since been released on house arrest while wearing an electronic tracking device. Valle has not yet entered a plea to his charges.

Shelton police later charged three other teenagers  a 16-year-old boy and two 17-year-old boys  in August in connection with a fight that preceded the one that killed McGrath. One of the 17-year-olds was charged with second-degree assault and second-degree breach of peace. The two other teens were each charged with third-degree assault and second-degree breach of peace. All three were later released.

In a brief hearing in July, Judge Peter Brown approved a request to allow Valle to be outside his home prior to 6 p.m. Brown also said he didn't want Valle to have access to the internet and wanted his cellphone turned over to his parents.

On Monday, judicial marshals had Valle wait in a room upstairs before he was called before Brown. Smith said this was due to a group of McGrath's friends confronting Valle as he left court in July.

McGrath's family declined to comment on Monday.

liz.hardaway@hearst.com
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)  Oral arguments over the constitutionality of North Carolina's photo voter identification law will be held next month, the state Supreme Court has decided in another ruling determined along partisan lines.

In a 4-3 decision, the justices who are registered as Democrats agreed with attorneys for minority voters who had asked the state's highest court in July to move the case along more quickly.

These voters are plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed in December 2018 moments after the Republican-controlled General Assembly approved a photo ID law. That law has never been administered.

A panel of judges held a trial, and in September 2021 a majority struck down the law, saying it intentionally discriminated against Black voters. Earlier this year, in a similar 4-3 decision, the justices agreed to hear the case, instead of waiting for the intermediate-level Court of Appeals to deliberate first.

The plaintiffs wrote in July that an expedited argument date as soon as September would help state officials and voters prepare for future elections without the risk of voter confusion and disenfranchisement.

An order filed Friday and signed by Senior Associate Justice Robin Hudson granted the request, citing the great public interest in the subject matter of this case, the importance of the issues to the constitutional jurisprudence of this state, and the need to reach a final resolution on the merits at the earliest possible opportunity. The order said oral arguments would occur either the week of Oct. 3, or no later than Oct. 18.

The scheduling means oral arguments now will occur weeks before elections for two of the seats on the Supreme Court currently held by Democrats. Hudson is retiring and Associate Sam Ervin IV is seeking reelection.

Republicans would retake a majority on the court in January if they win one of the two seats. Any final ruling would have to be issued by years end for all seven current justices to participate. The Democratic majority has already has issued consequential rulings this year favoring Democrats and their allies.

Chief Justice Paul Newby, in a dissent that was supported by the other two registered Republicans on the court, wrote Friday that the majority expedites the hearing of a case where no jurisprudential reason supports doing.

Newby added that speeding up the matter provides no additional relief to the plaintiffs because a permanent injunction by the trial court panel last year means the law remains unenforceable. That follows with an argument by Republican legislative leaders who were sued and who opposed the expedited scheduling.

A federal lawsuit challenging the same voter ID law is pending and could become moot if the state Supreme Court upholds the state trial court's decision.

In another 4-3 ruling last month, the state Supreme Court's Democratic majority said it was possible a constitutional amendment mandating photo ID and approved by voters in November 2018 could be thrown out because state legislators who put it on the ballot were elected from districts tainted by illegal racial bias.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The Justice Department said Monday that it was willing to accept one of Donald Trump's picks for an independent arbiter to review documents seized during an FBI search of the former president's Florida home last month.

The accommodation could help accelerate the selection process and shorten any delays caused by the appointment of the so-called special master. The judge in the case, granting a request from the Trump team, said last week that she would appoint a neutral arbiter to go through the records and weed out any that may be covered by executive privilege or attorney-client privilege.

Department lawyers said in a filing Monday night that, in addition to the two retired judges whom they earlier recommended, they would also be satisfied with one of the Trump team selections  Raymond Dearie, the former chief judge of the federal court in the Eastern District of New York. He is currently on senior active status, and the department said he had indicated he was available and could perform the work expeditiously if appointed.

It was not immediately clear whether U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon would name Dearie or someone else. The Trump team said earlier Monday that it opposed both Justice Department selections.

The back-and-forth over the special master came as Trump's lawyers in a 21-page filing Monday dismissed the former president's retention of top-secret documents at Mar-a-Lago as a storage dispute and urged Cannon to keep in place a directive that temporarily halted key aspects of the Justice Departments criminal probe. The Trump team referred to the documents that were seized as purported classified records, saying the Justice Department had not proven that the materials taken by the FBI during its Aug. 8 search were classified or remain so now.

The filing underscores the significant factual and legal disagreements between lawyers for Trump and the U.S. government as the Justice Department looks to move forward with its criminal investigation into the retention of national defense information at Mar-a-Lago. Department lawyers in their own filings have rejected the idea that the documents, many of them classified at the top-secret level, belonged to Trump or that Mar-a-Lago was a permissible place to store them.

This investigation of the 45th President of the United States is both unprecedented and misguided, they wrote. In what at its core is a document storage dispute that has spiraled out of control, the Government wrongfully seeks to criminalize the possession by the 45th President of his own Presidential and personal records.

The investigation hit a roadblock last week when Cannon granted the Trump team's request for a special master and prohibited the department, for now, from examining the documents for investigative purposes.

The Justice Department has asked the judge to lift that hold and said it would contest her ruling to a federal appeals court. The department said its investigation risked being harmed beyond repair if that order remained in place, noting that confusion about its scope had already led the intelligence community to pause a separate risk assessment.

But Trump's lawyers said in their own motion Monday that Cannon should not permit the FBI to resume its review of classified records. It said the government had unilaterally determined the records to be classified but had not yet proven that they remain so.

In opposing any neutral review of the seized materials, the Government seeks to block a reasonable first step towards restoring order from chaos and increasing public confidence in the integrity of the process," the lawyers wrote.

Both sides on Friday night proposed different names of candidates who could serve as special master, though they disagreed on the scope of duties the person should have. Cannon has said the yet-to-be-named arbiter would be tasked with reviewing the documents and segregating out any that could be covered by claims of either executive privilege or attorney-client privilege.

The Justice Department recommended either Barbara Jones, a retired judge in Manhattan who has served as special master in prior high-profile investigations, or Thomas Griffith, a retired federal appeals court jurist in the District of Columbia who was appointed to the bench by former President George W. Bush. The department said in its proposal that the special master should not have access to classified documents, or be empowered to consider claims of executive privilege.

On Monday, the Trump team told the judge it was objecting to both those candidates but was not prepared to say why publicly at the moment.

Trump's lawyers proposed either Dearie, a senior judge on active status in the federal court in Brooklyn who also previously served on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, or Florida lawyer Paul Huck Jr. They have have said the arbiter should have access to the entire tranche of documents and should be able to evaluate executive privilege claims.

The Justice Department said it was willing to support Dearie's selection but it opposed the selection of Huck because of what it said was a lack of relevant experience.

In its filing Monday, the Trump team again voiced a broad view of presidential power, asserting that a president has an unfettered right of access" to his presidential records and absolute authority to declassify any information without the approval of bureaucratic components of the executive branch"  though it did not say, as Trump has maintained, that he had actually declassified them.

The Justice Department has said Trump had no right to hold onto the presidential documents. And the criminal statutes the department has used as the basis of its investigation, including one criminalizing the willful retention of national defense information, do not require that the records be classified.

In any event, the Justice Department says more than 100 documents with classification markings were found in last month's search.

Trump, who often spends time at his various properties, was at his Virginia golf club Monday.

____

Associated Press writer Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this report.

Follow Eric Tucker at http://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP

Follow APs coverage of Donald Trump-related investigations at https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump
South Africa: Eskom works to restore broken down units

Eskom says it has returned at least 37 generation units to service following what Chief Operating Officer (COO), Jan Oberholzer, called a disastrous week for the power utility.

Last week, Eskom announced that Stage 2 load shedding would be implemented throughout the week. However, the breakdown of some 42 generation units quickly escalated load shedding to Stage 4 by Saturday.

Oberholzer, together with Eskom management, briefed media on Monday morning on the state of the power system and the challenges it faces.

Describing a week in which Eskom suffered generation unit breakdowns and slow returns to service, Oberholzer acknowledged that the performance of generationis extremely disappointing.

If you add all of the [generation unit breakdowns] up, we had 42 units tripping during the week just under 24 000 MW - some of them more than once.

We managed to return 37 units [to service], totalling about 22 000MW - a really poor performance of our generation coal fleet during last week, he said.

As of Monday morning, Eskom has some 5 319MW of power out on planned maintenance, with more than 15 000MW offline due to breakdowns.

Some 7 500MW capacity, from 13 generation units, is expected to return to service over the next three days.

Stage 4 load shedding on Saturday and Sunday allowed us to replenish the damn levels at the pump storage power stations and there has been progress in filing the diesel tanks at the open cycle gas turbine cycles but the diesel levels are still low.

Stage 3 load shedding will remain implemented until 5am on Tuesday morning. For the remainder of the week until midnight on Friday, Stage 2 load shedding will be required while we attempt to return those 13 units to service. This outlook may change at short notice, should we experience unforeseen breakdowns, Oberholzer said.

Koeberg

Oberholzer said some 920MW of capacity at Koeberg Nuclear Power Stations Unit 2 remains offline, since the beginning of this month.

The big unit  one of Eskoms most reliable  tripped during routine testing ahead of its full return to service following maintenance outage since January.

Industry experience indicates that this type of issue can be experienced for a period following the replacement of the control rod drive mechanism, which we did during the last outage.

I can assure the public that the Koeberg team, together with the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), continue to perform tests on the system and are analysing the results in detail to ensure the reason is fully understood.

Once all the tests are completed and all the measures to reduce the risk of production impact have been assessed and if possible, implemented, the unit will be returned to service, Oberholzer said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2022-09-12. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The suit against the Academic Staff Union of Universities which was filed by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, has been ...





The suit against the Academic Staff Union of Universities which was filed by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, has been adjourned

The matter, came up before Justice Polycarp Hamman of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria in Abuja.

The Federal Government on Monday urged the National Industrial Court to order ASUU to call off its seven months strike.

Joined as a claimant in the matter is the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, with the President of ASUU, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, as sole defendant.

When the matter slated for mention came up, human rights activist, Ebunolu Adegoruwa, SAN, informed the court that he was representing the Socio- Economic Rights and Accountability Project and that he had filed a suit on the same subject matter before the same court.

He also stated that in the suit NICN/ABJ/269/2022, SERAP was the claimant with the Federal Government as the defendant.

He, therefore, proceeded to apply that the extant suit be consolidated and SERAP be joined in the suit as a defendant, instead of multiple suits on the same matter before the same court.

Counsel to the claimant, Mr T.A Gazali, SAN, in response, said the application was premature and added that there was no need for SERAP to pray to be joined in a suit, orally, in a matter that did not have its name on the cause list.

Mr Femi Falana, SAN, counsel to ASUU, in his response, informed the court that both counsel had informed him on Monday that they were both filing some papers.





Falana, in addition, urged the court to step down the matter to enable both counsel to file their papers and then return at a later date after which he would have responded to the claimants process.

Adegoruwa replied that the defendant had not denied the existence of the suit SERAP filed and served on them.

Gazali, on his part, also informed the court that his process would be filed Monday, and Falana said he would need three days to reply to the process.

The judge, in his ruling, adjourned the matter until Friday, for further mention.

He also directed that the claimant should file, serve his process, and the defendant to also file and serve his response before the adjourned date.

Hamman, in addition, ruled that SERAPs application to be joined in the suit was premature.

The suit filed by the claimant is also seeking the court to give the matter an accelerated hearing in order to bring the dispute to an end.

The claimant, also, in the instrument of referral, is praying the court to: Inquire into the legality or otherwise of the on-going prolonged strike by ASUU leadership and members which had continued even after apprehension by the Minister of Labour and Employment.

Interpret in its entirety the provisions of Section 18, LFN 2004 especially as it applies to cessation of strike once a trade dispute is apprehended by the Minister of Labour end Employment and conciliation is on-going.
Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has condemned the attack on Senat...

Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has condemned the attack on Senator Ifeanyi Ubah.

NE recalls that yet-to-be-identified assailants opened fire on the convoy of the Senator representing Anambra South Senatorial District late on Sunday killing an unspecified number of police officers attached to the lawmaker.

Reacting to the development on his Facebook page late Sunday night, Atiku said the attack on Ubah stands condemned and offered condolences to the families of those injured and killed in the attack.

The PDP presidential flagbearer wrote, The attack on the convoy of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah stands condemned. My condolences go to the families of those injured and killed in the attack. I share my sympathy with the Distinguished Senator. May the souls of the departed Rest In Peace. Weve got work to do to ensure that safety and security returns to our dear country.

Confirming the incident, the spokesperson of the Anambra State Police Command, DSP Toochukwu Ikenga, said there was an attack on the men of the command at Enugwu-Ukwu, but insisted that the casualty figure were still unknown.

He said, The Commissioner of Police Anambra State Command, CP Echeng Echeng, has today(Sunday), led police operatives to the scene where sporadic shootings took place in Enugu-Ukwu.

Though the details of the incident are still sketchy, operatives are on the ground there as operations are going on and the situation is being monitored. Further details shall be communicated please.
Spokesman for the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential campaign, Mr. Festus Keyamo, has weighed in on the controversy rocking the r...

Spokesman for the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential campaign, Mr. Festus Keyamo, has weighed in on the controversy rocking the ruling partys presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

Among the controversies trailing Tinubu is that of identity, with his critics claiming he had changed his names at different times to hide his record.

Tinubus critics have claimed that his real name is Amoda Ogunlere, an allegation that the politician has distanced himself from.

Weighing in on the conversation during a Twitter Spaces Programme organised by the ABAT (Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu) media team, Keyamo, who is the Minister of State for Labour and Productivity, said The Constitution section 131, Paragraph A says you have to be a Nigerian by birth. Thats the first requirement. So if Tinubu is from Osun State or from Lagos State, thank God they are not saying he is from Cameroon. He is not in the mode of those who claimed to come from one part of the country whereas by the time they were born that part of the country was in Cameroon.

So whether Asiwaju is from Osun, Lagos or anywhere, Asiwaju is from Nigeria. So Asiwaju is qualified. It is very disrespectful and unfair to just generate cock and bull story against families. Either the family from Osun State, Amoda Ogunlere or the Tinubu family, you are disrespecting the families. The Amoda family has not come out to say this is my son or my brother and the Tinubu family has also not denied him. So what are they looking for? Is it that the Amoda family or Ogunlere family are not Nigerians or they are of lesser human beings. They need to tell us what they are saying.

He added that Tinubu gave the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential candidate, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, a lifeline when he was thrown out of the PDP.

He said at every point in his political career, Tinubu had always put national interest above himself.

According to him, Atikus decision to contest by not respecting the zoning principle is one of the reasons the opposition party is in crisis.

He recalled that Asiwaju in 2007 gave Atiku a soft landing by handing the Presidential ticket of the then Action Congress (AC) to him to contest the 2007 election.

He said, In 2007, Asiwaju decided to call on Atiku who had been thrown out of the PDP at that time because Obasanjo ordered a re-registration of all PDP members because he wanted to wield out people like Atiku.

And so when Atiku went back to his Jada ward, even as Vice-President, they refused to give him a membership card. That was how they threw Atiku out of the PDP. What happened? Asiwaju had already oiled the political machine called the AC at that time. He invited Atiku and gave him the ticket on a platter of gold. Asiwaju could have gone for President but he saw the mood of the nation because Obasanjo was just finishing his Presidency. So he knew that the presidency could not remain in the South. Thats a kind of nationalist, patriotic person that Asiwaju is. He decided to give Atiku the ticket, Atiku failed in 2007.

In 2011, Asiwaju was still the leader of the ACN, he had every right to pick the ticket of the party, he did not. He decided to invite Mallam Nuhu Ribadu to run for President. And what happened after 2011, he stretched his hand across the Niger through President Muhammadu Buhari and created a platform and supported President Muhammadu Buhari. At every point in time Asiwaju has put the nation before himself. He has never thought of himself. He bided his time and when the North had finished its eight years, that was what brought the popular phrase of Emilokan. He is not doing it as a matter of right, but he is just saying that, I have paid my due, its time for the nation to look at my way, he is not doing it out of arrogance.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan aide, Reno Omokri has said that presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi has already los...

Former President Goodluck Jonathan aide, Reno Omokri has said that presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi has already lost Yoruba votes for mocking Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.

Omokri, who made this assertion on Sunday via his verified Twitter handle.

The human rights activist said, Peter Obi just lost the entire Yoruba vote! See the way he lied against Yoruba leaders. Talking down on Tinubu. Mocking his health and wealth. He sounded more like Nnamdi Kanu. That is the real @PeterObi we saw. The one we have been seeing is the audio Peter Obi! #TableShaker.

According to Omokri, Obi should represent Nigeria in lying at the next Olympics to guarantee that Nigeria brings home Gold medal.

He can lie for Africa. How can Yoruba leaders ask Yoruba not to vote for Peter because he will build a port in SS, when SS already has many ports? #TableShaker, he added.

He said, Why would Tinubu send such a WhatsApp message and you and I have not seen it. It is only @PeterObi that has. I mean that right there is suspicious. I know many IPOB at night and Obidient by day people will lie that they received it. But lying is what they do!

This is a ship offloading goods from Port Harcourt Port. The name of the town is Port Harcourt for goodness sakes! It means there is a port there. How can Tinubus people ask Yoruba not to vote @PeterObi because he will build a port where a port already exists? Lie! he said.

Omokri further stated, That message is typical of IPOB. Tinubu people dont operate that way. Asking Yoruba not to vote Peter Obi, because he will build a port in the South-South. First of all, there are already 3 ports in the SS (Ph, Warri and Koko). That message is from IPOB, not Tinubu.

I seriously doubt that that message @PeterObi claimed emanated from Tinubu is actually from

@officialABAT. I know that the IPOB core around Peter are good at creating such messages and sending them out, claiming they are from Atiku and Tinubu. Theyve done it to me! he added.

Breaking: In Leaked Video, @PeterObi Says Tinubu Is Not Well and is Against Igbos#ObiTapes#TableShaker pic.twitter.com/sasQ9PsGCf  Reno Omokri (@renoomokri) September 11, 2022

Peter Obi just lost the entire Yoruba vote! See the way he lied against Yoruba leaders. Taking down on Tinubu. Mocking his health and wealth. He sounded more like Nnamdi Kanu. That is the real @PeterObi we saw. The one we have been seeing is the audio Peter Obi!#TableShaker  Reno Omokri (@renoomokri) September 12, 2022
The Director of Media and Public Affairs and Official Spokesperson for the All Progressives Congress Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo, on Mon...

The Director of Media and Public Affairs and Official Spokesperson for the All Progressives Congress Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo, on Monday, alleged that the presidential candidate of Labour Party, Peter Obi, was planning to fake an assassination attempt on himself and hire some supporters dressed in the APC caps and T-shirts to attack some of his party offices.

This is even as the Minister of State for Labour and Employment accused the former Anambra governor of circulating a hate-filled video online to disparage the presidential candidate of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

Keyamo made the claim in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday.

While challenging Obi to reveal the source and name(s) of the culprits behind the nebulous WhatsApp message, the minister noted that it was obvious Obi deliberately concocted the message and circulated the offensive video himself as a campaign strategy.

The allegation is coming hours after Labour Party held a two-day retreat for its national officers, trade unions and party candidates.

The statement partly read, Our attention has been drawn to an offensive, hate-filled video made and circulated by the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, in which he accused an amorphous and non-existent Tinubus Group of spreading a WhatsApp message calling on the Yoruba people not to vote for him. The purported message, according to Mr. Obi, forewarned the Yoruba that a vote for Obi would be a vote for a seaport in South-South and South-East.

We are also aware that plans are afoot by Mr. Peter Obi to fake an assassination attempt on himself and hire Labour Party boys dressed in the APC caps and T-shirts to attack some Labour Party offices. It is all part of the US Plan. It is the first in a series of incendiary actions planned by this ill-prepared but desperate candidate.

Firstly, we vehemently deny the existence of any of such Tinubu group that made and circulated such a message. All groups supporting the APC presidential candidate and his running-mate have clear designations with well-known promoters. In addition, it is only messages released by the APC Presidential Campaign Council that are officially authorised and for which we take responsibility.

As the takeoff date for campaigns draw closer, Mr. Peter Obi has suddenly realised that Nigerians are beginning to burst his bubbles as his messages are bereft of ideas, depth and clear-cut solutions to our challenges. His messages are only full of false data and highfalutin jargons in what is clearly a disingenuous ruse to distract a scrutiny of his empty records as a Governor of Anambra State and nothing else. Hence, his easy recourse to playing ethnic card and fanning the ember of hate.

We have in on good authority that part of the US Strategy (just like the failed Dubai Strategy his former boss and himself adopted in 2019) was to return to the country and spread ethnic hatred amongst the voters and cause chaos, then pose as the victim. They have just begun that plot by orchestrating and circulating the said video.

We find it utterly disgusting, demeaning and insulting to the sensitivities and sensibilities of Nigerians for a presidential candidate of the ilk of Peter Obi to make such a video parroting a spurious, unverified and sham message that has the potential of deepening our fault lines as a nation and further promoting ethnic tensions. This is completely unbecoming of a presidential candidate that hopes to unite this country.

Again, we note that Mr. OBJs latest stunt is consistent with what is now widely perceived as his adoption of hate as campaign strategy, having consistently failed to rein in his known and identifiable supporters, mostly domiciled on social media, threatening political opponents with violence and death.

We call on all well-meaning Nigerians, irrespective of ethnic origins or political divides, to rise up and condemn this tactless tactics and cheap maneuver by a desperate non-starter of a presidential candidate who has decided to resort to crude revisionism, ethnic jingoism and crass insensitivity with a view to whipping up undeserved sentiment to fuel his faltering ambition that is nothing but a flash in a pan. Our advice to Mr. Peter Obi is to quit the race if he has nothing more to tell Nigerians.




Dele Alake, director of strategic communication in the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council, says Bola Tinubu, th...

Dele Alake, director of strategic communication in the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council, says Bola Tinubu, the partys flagbearer, made his money from buying stocks in blue chip companies.

Alake spoke on Sunday during an interview on Channels Television.

Ahead of the 2023 elections, the source of Tinubus wealth has again come under scrutiny.

Commenting on the matter, Alake said the former Lagos governor was not a pauper before he become a senator in 1992.

I knew him to have been spending money ever before he got to office. In 1991, he was going into politics, he contested a senatorial election  Lagos west  and he won, he said.

Most Nigerians know that contesting elections in Nigeria is not a childs play. Paupers dont contest elections. How much more a senatorial election?

He must be a man of some means. In fact, before then, he had been contributing to political organisations and causes before he took up the gauntlet and went into the senate.

He polled the highest number of votes nationwide in that senatorial election of that year and became a senator in 1992.

Fast forward to 1993, we started the June 12, he was in the YarAduas caucus  the Peoples Font  within SDP at that time. He was also funding. He was not a pauper.

Alake said those questioning Tinubus source of wealth are expressing the hatred they have for the former Lagos governor.

What I know is that right from his days in the corporate world, he has been trading in stocks even in foreign currencies, he added.

He has been buying stocks, bonds and all of that. Im not a finance person. Im not going to be interested in the nitty-gritty of it all.

But I know he has been trading in stocks. He was buying stocks of blue chip companies and all of that. He was making money and spending money. He has been doing all of these years before he got to office.

Why people are querying his source of wealth is because he had been a successful governor of Lagos and a successful politician even after office.

He is about the only one of the class of 1999 who is at that enviable height, politically. He is bound to attract all of these negative comments.
The Department of State Services (DSS) has described the outcome of its investigation on Tukur Mamu, publisher of Desert Herald, as mind-...

The Department of State Services (DSS) has described the outcome of its investigation on Tukur Mamu, publisher of Desert Herald, as mind-boggling.

Mamu was arrested at the Kano International Airport, after he returned from Egypt where he had been detained on his way to Saudi Arabia for lesser hajj.

Mamu, an aide to Ahmad Gumi, a popular Islamic cleric, has been involved in negotiations for the release of persons abducted during an attack on a train in Kaduna, in March 2022.

Commenting on his arrest, Gumi had said detaining Mamu is an act of terrorism and that the DSS should either charge him to court or release him.

Reacting in a statement on Sunday, Peter Afunaya, DSS spokesperson, said the security agency would not be distracted by skewed utterances.

Afunaya asked the public to wait for the commencement of court proceedings.

The Department of State Services (DSS) has followed, with keen observation, overzealous comments by sections of the public in view of issues relating to the arrest and investigation of Tukur Mamu, he said.

The service wishes that it is not distracted with some of the skewed narratives pervading the media space.

Instead, it requests to be left alone to concentrate on the ongoing investigations, the outcomes of which have remained mind-boggling.

Meanwhile, the service will cease further comments on the subject matter since the court will determine its course.

Consequently, the public is hereby enjoined to desist from making unguarded utterances and await the court proceedings.
Two young men in Adamawa State have been arrested by the police for allegedly killing an old man accused of witchcraft. The youths: Gayawan ...





Two young men in Adamawa State have been arrested by the police for allegedly killing an old man accused of witchcraft.





The youths: Gayawan Danzaria, 22; and Thank-God Obadia, 18, who hail from Shimba in Song Local Government Area, are being investigated by the Adamawa State Police Command over the murder.





The youths, it was gathered on Monday, axed the 85-year-old man to death after he was accused of witchcraft by a woman who allegedly hired them.





The woman, now at large, had allegedly accused the deceased of bewitching her son and then arranged with the young killers to go after the old man.





Those familiar with the matter said the woman paid N2,000 to the accused with a promise to add N3,000 after they had killed the old man.





When they collected the part payment, sources said, Thank-God armed himself with an axe and stormed the residence of the deceased by 10:00am, with Gayawan Danzaria outside the house to watch against intruders.





Thank-God confessed to finding the octogenarian lying down in his apartment and hitting him with the axe around his forehead, following which he died instantly.





Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer for Adamawa State, SP Suleiman Nguroje, said the two youths arrested over the matter were being investigated.





The accused will be thoroughly investigated and charged to court, Nguroje assured.
Senator Ifeanyi Ubah (YPP-Anambra South) has confirmed the deaths of some of his personal and security aides during Sundays attack on his...

Senator Ifeanyi Ubah (YPP-Anambra South) has confirmed the deaths of some of his personal and security aides during Sundays attack on his convoy.

Recall that Ubahs convoy was attacked on Sunday around Nkwo Enugwu Ukwu Market axis of Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra while the lawmaker was on his way to Nnewi his country home on Sunday night.

The armed men suspected to be assasins opened fire on Ubahs convoy leaving several persons dead.

The senator, who confirmed the unfortunate incident to newsmen on Monday in Awka, confirmed that the assassins killed one Obum Ikechukwu and Goodness Mathias.

Ubah also confirmed that some of his security aides from the Police and Department of State Services, DSS, were also killed during the attack.

DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Anambra State Command, confirmed the incident but did not give the figure of the victims.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr Echeng Echeng visited the scene and there were blood stains at the place indicative of the fact that the attack was bloody, but to give the number I cannot say anything on that, he said.
Locally reported news and sports

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Workers stand near a conveyor belt carrying aggregate from the Elektra boring machine as it commences works on a tunnel project in Stockholm, Sweden, in February, 2020. Elektra will pierce through the citys rock of granite and gneiss to build a tunnel for new power cables needed to meet soaring demand. Mikael Sjoberg/ Bloomberg
A man was killed in a shooting Sunday night in Algiers near the troubled Oakmont apartment complex, New Orleans police said.

Gunfire was reported to police at 6:10 p.m. in the 2200 block of Westbend Parkway (map). Responding officers found a man, who had been shot multiple times, lying on the ground in a grassy area. Paramedics took him to a hospital, where he later died.

His name and age have not been released.

No other information was immediately available, including a possible motive or a description of a shooter.

The shooting was near the Oakmont Apartments, which has been empty since the city paid to relocate tenants after the ownership company filed for bankruptcy and the complex fell into disrepair.

In April, two people were killed in shootings at the complex.

Murders so far this year

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Including Sunday's killing, there have been 193 murders in New Orleans this year, which is 30% more than at the same time in 2021, according to an analysis of information from the New Orleans Police Department and the Orleans Parish Coroner's Office.

The total is for murders only, which are defined as intentional and unlawful killings. They usually involve a weapon, such as a gun or knife.

Murders are a subset of homicides, which include accidental, negligent and justified killings. So far, 15 killings have been found to be justified or due to negligence.

+3 New Orleans murders: See map of locations, neighborhood totals and 2022 statistics After years of falling murder rates in New Orleans, killings in the city are once again on the rise.

Editor's note: Previously, The Times-Picayune tracked homicides  a category that includes accidental, negligent and justified killings. The totals and the graphics, including all historic data, were updated Sept. 6, 2022, to focus solely on murders, which are defined as intentional and unlawful killings.
STOCKHOLM, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --

EQT Growth raises EUR 2.2 billion in fee-generating AUM, with total commitments of EUR 2.4 billion

in fee-generating AUM, with total commitments of Final close above EUR 2 billion target underlines attractiveness of EQT Growth's thematic and active approach to investing in European growth-stage tech firms

target underlines attractiveness of EQT Growth's thematic and active approach to investing in European growth-stage tech firms Record final close positions EQT Growth to help take leading tech companies to the next level, supported by the global power of EQT

EQT is pleased to announce the final close of EQT Growth (the "Fund") above its EUR 2 billion target, raising EUR 2.2 billion in fee-generating assets under management (AUM) and total commitments of EUR 2.4 billion1. As the largest first-time growth fund based in Europe2, the raise underlines the strong investor demand for EQT Growth's thematic investment strategy and active approach to unleashing sustainable growth in Europe and Israel's leading technology companies.

EQT Growth was launched to support fast-growing technology companies, especially in Europe and Israel, as they continue to scale. Having invested in technology for nearly three decades, EQT sees the large opportunity for a growth investor with European roots and local expertise and capabilities to help elevate the region's tech innovators to the world stage. Investment in European technology companies has grown vastly, increasing from around USD 20 billion in 2017 to over USD 100 billion in 20213, but European-based investors only made-up 30 percent of investors in growth-stage rounds in 20214.

The strategy seeks to invest around EUR 50 million to EUR 200 million, backing strong management teams of companies supported by secular macro trends primarily within four tech sub-sectors: enterprise, con/prosumer, health, and climate. It explores opportunities at the point where companies have achieved product-market fit and are taking the next step to scale. The Fund, which still has over two-thirds of capital available, has made seven investments to date and already includes some of Europe's most innovative companies in its portfolio, such as Epidemic Sound, Mambu and Vinted.

With a team based in five countries across Europe, EQT Growth's local presence ensures direct access to many of the continent's most-established tech hubs. The diverse team has extensive investing and operating experience, which makes it well positioned to actively collaborate with CEOs and management teams on their company's growth journey. When combined with a focus on sustainability  initiatives include requiring portfolio companies to set greenhouse gas emission reduction targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative  EQT Growth is a very attractive partner for companies committed to long-term, responsible growth.

EQT Growth's value-add approach is enhanced by Motherbrain, EQT's proprietary AI driven investment platform that is designed to enhance every decision in the investment process. It also benefits from EQT's broad suite of inhouse experts, which includes dedicated digitization, sustainability and capital markets teams.

Marc Brown, Partner and Head of EQT Growth's Advisory Team, said: "The speed at which the European and Israeli tech ecosystem has developed over the past decade is a testament to the number of innovative, young companies that call the region home. However, a lack of growth-stage capital and European investors with scale-up expertise has meant that many of these firms have gone elsewhere when embarking on the next step of their journey. With this fund, EQT Growth has the experience, expertise and now capital to change this. We're excited to actively partner with a select group of Europe and Israel's tech champions to help drive them to the world stage."

The Fund is backed by a global and diverse group of investors including pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, asset managers and high-net-worth individuals from across Europe, Asia, North America and the Middle East.

Per Franzen, Head of Private Capital and Deputy Managing Partner at EQT, said: "Closing the largest ever first-time growth equity fund raised in Europe clearly illustrates the demand for EQT's active ownership approach and thematic investment strategies. In a strong vote of confidence for our multi-strategy approach, the fund received support from a significant portion of investors in existing EQT funds. We are honored by their ongoing support and look forward to continuing to earn their trust."

Notes to editors

1Total commitments include funds raised from EQT employees and the EQT Network, which are not fee-generating.2 Source: Preqin database. 3Source: Atomico, State of European Tech Report, 2021. 4Growth-stage rounds defined as EUR 50 million plus raised. Source: EQT Motherbrain.

ContactFinn McLaughlan, finn.mclaughlan@eqtpartners.com, +44 77 1534 1608EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/eqt/r/eqt-growth-closes-above-target--making-it-the-largest-first-time-growth-fund-based-in-europe,c3628838

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Advancing Geothermal Data Through the Eyes of an Early-Career Scientist

Nicole Taverna

If every journey starts with one footstep, Nicole Taverna knew exactly where to begin: Colorado.

A love of science led her to focus on physics and other STEM courses as a teenager in Pennsylvania, but the lure of the West ultimately guided her path to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

Taverna is a member of the Data Analytics, Tools, and Applications Group within the NREL Strategic Energy Analysis Center. Along with her other responsibilities, she helps locate priority geothermal energy drilling locations through combining and analyzing relevant data. For the past five years, she has curated the Geothermal Data Repository, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. She has also expanded her expertise to include machine learning, interactive data visualization, and data pipeline development, as well as statistical methods and analyses, primarily focused on geothermal energy.

"I kind of specialize in solving problems," Taverna said. "I do that using data science and data analytics. Whatever approach makes sense."

Watching the arc of her career, her curiosity for science guided it all. She landed an internship out of high school doing geophysical surveys with an environmental consulting firm and then held an internship at NREL during college.

While studying geophysics and minoring in computer science at the Colorado School of Mines, she realized a career in the oil and gas industries was not for her.

"I wanted to study energy, and I would rather do something renewable, so I ended up in geothermal," she said. "I got to go out in the field and do geophysical surveys, and I think that helped set it more in stone for me. That passion for field work was what drove me here, but my desire to use data analytics and data science to create a better future has kept me moving in a similar direction."

As a young female data scientist working in geothermal energy, Taverna finds herself in a unique situation. She views the industry with fresh eyes and feels a duty to analyze traditional industry norms for ways new scientific methods may advance the field.

"I just want to come in with a new and open creative mind and change the way we think about these kinds of things. We've been doing it the same way for so long. Are there better ways to do things knowing what we know now?" she said. "More broadly than just geoscience, I want to apply that way of thinking anywhere I can. I want to change the norm in some ways to improve our scientific abilities."

Taverna is interested in data-centric machine learning, which is focused on improving the quality of the data rather than improving the model parameters. She also wants to continue to create better access to well-managed and secure data for the geothermal industry.

"Another thing I am really into right now is reducing our reliance on expert opinions within geothermal exploration, using statistics to improve our understanding of how things work," she said. "The human brain is imperfect and prone to bias. We can't think of everything, and it's hard for our brains to overcome preconceived ideas."

While the future is pointing toward machine learning and artificial intelligence, she said it is also important to focus on doing it right.

At the 2022 Geothermal Rising Conference held in Reno, Nevada, Taverna (left) received the 2022 Geothermal Rising Young Professional Award (Technical).

"I don't think we should be rushing to replace everything with machine learning. We need to be careful about it. How can we improve what we're doing, as opposed to replace?" Taverna said. "Those are the things I'm really passionate about right now, that are really driving my research today."

Taverna said she found a new sense of confidence while working on the recent DEEPEN project. She traveled to Iceland for a workshop on geothermal energy, meeting up with many European experts and counterparts. DEEPEN aims to provide better understanding of the roots of magmatic geothermal systems. The project is a multinational collaboration among several universities, institutes, and energy companies.

"It was really cool to be in a room with all of them and learn from them, but also to feel confident enough to share my opinion," she said. "The DEEPEN project has given me freedom to think and problem solve, but also it's given me a lot of confidence."

Taverna is now poised to help mentor young students and show them paths toward careers in renewable energy. She can relate. Early on in her career, she found that the industry could be rather intimidating to young professionals. Since then, she has found a voice, learning that "you don't always need to obey the hierarchy. New ideas are what lead to scientific advancement," she said. "Your opinion is worth sharing, even if you don't think so in the moment."

Becoming a member of the Women in Geothermal (WING) organization also proved helpful in terms of networking and advancing her career.

"Nicole is a strong contributor to NREL's geothermal research projects," said Amanda Kolker, NREL laboratory program manager for geothermal research. "Her multidisciplinary skill set related to geophysics and data science is a solid asset to the program, and her reliability and enthusiasm make her a pleasure to work with. The scientific and geothermal communities are fortunate to have her expertise!"

Taverna received the 2022 Geothermal Rising Young Professional Award (Technical) and was recognized at the Geothermal Rising Conference, Aug.2831, 2022.

Learn more about NREL geothermal research.


The ancient discipline of Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is practiced around the world. A parade in Poland over the weekend celebrated the beauty of the practice and its principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance. Over 1,000 Falun Gong practitioners from Europe and other parts of the world traveled to Warsaw to attend the event, which also asked for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong in China.
The BP Whiting Refinery has resumed regular production after a fire severely disrupted operations and briefly reversed an ongoing slide in gas prices.

The refinery along the Lake Michigan shoreline in Whiting, Hammond and East Chicago has restarted its crude distillation unit.

"Production has been restored," Media Relations Manager Christina Audisho said. "Operations are approaching normal levels at the Whiting Refinery."

BP fired back up production after completing repairs last week, including by restoring all five of its boilers, steam power and electrical utilities.

An electrical fire at the powerhouse on Aug. 24 led to a loss of utilities at the sprawling refinery, the largest inland refinery in the United States, supplying gas to seven Midwestern states, including Indiana, Illinois and Michigan.

The outage at London-based BP's largest refinery caused wholesale gas prices to shoot up by 30 cents per gallon. Gas prices briefly shot back up in Northwest Indiana after 10 straight weeks of decline but have been falling again, dropping by around 20 cents a gallon in Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties over the past week.

Gas now costs an average of $3.99 a gallon in Lake County, $4.02 a gallon in Porter County and $3.80 per gallon in LaPorte County, according to GasBuddy.com. As of Monday, the average price of gas was $3.87 a gallon in Newton County, $3.89 a gallon in Pulaski County, $4.00 in Jasper County and $3.79 in Starke County.

Nationally, domestic crude oil production stayed steady at 12.1 million barrels per day last week, or about 2.1 million barrels per day higher than a year ago.

Gasoline inventories fell 1.6 million barrels in the Midwest while refinery utilization declined by 9.6% last week, according to Gasbuddy.com.

"The lower the utilization percent, the lower output  which has a direct impact on local gasoline prices," GasBuddy Head of Petroleum Analysis Patrick De Haan said. "If refiners in your region have low output, youre more likely to see gas prices rise."
VALPARAISO  Bond was revoked Monday morning for a 56-year-old Burns Harbor man who has twice been arrested for having contact with an individual he was ordered to avoid while his earlier child pornography case proceeds.

Porter Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Clymer granted the request by prosecutors after determining the accused, Harold Harvey, violated the conditions of the no-contact order in his case.

The judge ordered Harvey be held without bond at Porter County Jail and affirmed a status hearing for Oct. 28.

Harvey was granted the right to attend a Child in Need of Services hearing Oct. 7 from the jail via a video conferencing system or in person if an order is entered.

Monday's ruling came after prosecutors argued Harvey, while out of jail on bond in the pornography case, was first arrested Aug. 1 on an invasion of privacy charge.

After bonding out on that new charge, Harvey was arrested again Sept. 2 on a second charge of invasion of privacy for allegedly having contact again with the same person he was told to avoid, court records show.

"In a span of approximately three months, defendant has been charged in two separate cases of Invasion of Privacy," prosecutors wrote in their motion seeking to revoke bond. "This demonstrates a repeated disdain for court authority."

Prosecutors argue Harvey poses a danger to the alleged victim in the invasion of privacy cases and that Harvey has a high likelihood to re-offend while out on bond.

Harvey was arrested in May after allegedly being nabbed with nearly 900 child pornography videos, including videos of children estimated to be as young as 4 years old, according to a charging document.

"I like young young," Harvey reportedly wrote on Facebook Messenger as part of his alleged sharing and collection of the illegal pornography. "Do you like young young porn?"

Harvey is charged with five counts of possessing child pornography, court records show. Each count carries a potential sentence of one to six years behind bars.

While at first required to wear a GPS device, the court granted a request in July by the defense to remove the device over objections of prosecutors, according to the motion to revoke bond.

Harvey was then arrested Aug. 1 on the first invasion of privacy charge after police were provided with a photograph of him in Portage allegedly with the person he was told to avoid, court records show.

Prosecutors say they made an unsuccessful attempt in late August to have the GPS monitor reinstated for Harvey, with the judge saying Harvey does not have the money to pay for the device.

Harvey was then arrested again Sept. 2 and accused of having contact in Chesterton with the same person he was told to avoid, court records show.
Hoosier lawmakers are encouraging Northwest Indiana college students and recent graduates to apply to work as paid interns at the Statehouse during the 2023 General Assembly.

Interns work on the front lines of the legislative process serving alongside elected officials in committees and the House and Senate chambers, researching pressing state issues, responding to constituent inquiries, producing media content and tracking proposals.

"Our interns are invaluable assets during session, and it is important that we have a group of civic-minded college students and recent graduates who can work closely with us during the 2023 legislative session," said state Sen. Rick Niemeyer, R-Lowell.

"I encourage those interested in learning more about how they can participate in their state government to apply," he added.

The internships are full-time positions that require daily attendance at the Statehouse from early January until the legislative session ends in late April.

Interns are paid $800 every two weeks and can earn college credit for their experience. The four top-rated interns also receive a $3,000 college scholarship. Interns are responsible for their own housing and transportation.

"If you are interested in how government works or are looking for a challenging position, this is a great opportunity," said state Rep. Pat Boy, D-Michigan City.

Interns generally can request to work in legislative services, policy analysis, fiscal analysis, media relations, video production or information technology.

No specific college major is required to be an intern. Applicants are evaluated based on their academic record, work experience, writing sample, recommendations and other skills.

"Being an intern at the Statehouse is an excellent opportunity for college students to gain insight into how government works, as well as insight into themselves. Working in a fast-paced and consequential environment teaches students about work ethic and being part of a team," said state Rep. Earl Harris Jr., D-East Chicago.

Statehouse interns work only in one chamber and for one political party. Each caucus  House Republicans, House Democrats, Senate Republicans and Senate Democrats  hires its own interns.

More information about the internship programs, including applications, is available by clicking the "Session" tab on the General Assembly website at iga.in.gov and following the internship links.

All Statehouse internship applications are due by Oct. 31. Applicants interested in priority consideration should submit their materials prior to Oct. 15.
GARY  State Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary, believes minorities living in Northwest Indiana are among those who stand to benefit most if Democratic President Joe Biden's plan to forgive a portion of their federal student loan debt goes through.

The longtime Hoosier lawmaker, who also is professor of educational leadership at Indiana University Northwest, said Monday that Biden's debt forgiveness proposal is "a monumental step towards giving students of color a chance to build financial stability post-college."

"It is an unfortunate truth that minorities have historically been disenfranchised, largely through economic injustices," Smith said. "I have nieces and nephews who have completed higher degrees and are suffering due to the hardship of their debts imposed on them."

"In fact, so many in my district are unable to pay off their student loans, constantly having to choose whether to put their hard-earned money towards repayments or basic necessities such as food or housing," he added.

Data show up to 900,000 Hoosiers, or about 1 in 5 adults living in the state, have federal student loan debt, and approximately one-third of them will see their debt completely erased if the president's plan is enacted.

Under the plan, individuals earning less than $125,000 a year, or $250,000 for a married couple, could have up to $10,000 in federal student loan debt wiped from the books. Students who received a Pell Grant for their education can eradicate up to $20,000 in debt.

"This economic relief will not only help more Hoosiers of color receive an education without fear of crippling debt, but will also help minorities in Indiana who have completed their degree to move forward free from the debt which too often leads to them living paycheck to paycheck," Smith said.

The U.S. Department of Education is expected to put out its debt forgiveness application in October. Though a coalition of Republican state attorneys general, likely including Indiana's Todd Rokita, is expected to file a federal lawsuit in the weeks ahead trying to stop the loan forgiveness program from going through.

U.S. Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind.; U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind.; and Jennifer-Ruth Green, the Republican candidate seeking to represent Northwest Indiana in the U.S. House, also oppose Biden's student loan forgiveness program.

Smith, the top Democrat on the Indiana House Education Committee, said that's the wrong course if Indiana is to continue making higher education, and other post-secondary job training programs, more affordable and attainable to all Hoosiers.

At the same time, Smith pledged to support efforts during the 2023 General Assembly to rewrite current state law that counts forgiven student loans as income and obligates Hoosier beneficiaries to pay state and county income tax on their eradicated debts.

In Lake County, for example, a resident with $10,000 in forgiven student loan debt will have to find $473 in extra money by early next year to pay the additional income tax ($323 state, $150 county) on their forgiven debt.

"Indianas current taxation of student debt relief makes this advancement for hard-working Hoosiers largely ineffective," Smith said. "A reversal of this policy would allow Hoosiers to truly benefit from the well-deserved aid provided to them by the Biden administration."
GARY  Northwest Indiana Democratic candidates are optimistic that strict limits on abortion access enacted by Statehouse Republicans and GOP indifference to the real needs of Hoosiers will propel Democrats to victories up and down the ballot at the Nov. 8 general election.

That message was enthusiastically received Thursday night by some five dozen Region union members, party leaders and campaign workers during a post-Labor Day rally at the United Steelworkers' McBride Union Hall in Gary.

Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Thomas McDermott Jr., the five-term mayor of Hammond, said women voters in Northwest Indiana and across the state have an opportunity to make clear in this election they will not stand for Republican men taking away their reproductive rights.

"This is the year of the woman," McDermott said. "Ladies, when I get elected your U.S. senator, and when I end up in Washington, D.C., in the U.S. Senate, I'll know why I'm there. I'll know how I got there. Not because of my charming personality. It's because women got me elected."

"And I want you to know this, I'm going to fight so hard for you I should put a 'W' (for women) behind my name, instead of a 'D' (for Democratic)," he added. "It takes two people to make a baby and only one sex is being penalized right now, and it's not fair what's going on in America."

McDermott pledged to codify the abortion rights previously guaranteed by U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling prior to the high court rescinding that decision June 24, which opened the door for Indiana's Republican-controlled General Assembly to approve a near-total abortion ban that takes effect across the state Thursday.

He also promised to do better than incumbent U.S. Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., at creating new jobs and protecting organized labor, reducing the price of insulin and other prescription drugs, taking steps to legalize cannabis and ensuring veterans receive all the benefits to which they are entitled.

"You can't tell the working men and women of Indiana that you're pro-labor and then you go to Washington, D.C. and you vote against an $8 billion (for Indiana) infrastructure package. It doesn't jive. You know, Todd Young, my opponent, thinks we're stupid," McDermott said. "He thinks he thinks he can tell veterans, 'I'm a veteran, I'm with you,' and then he votes against veterans that are exposed to burn pits in Afghanistan and Iraq. That's doublespeak. People are sick of that stuff."

"Why are we sending you to Washington, D.C., if you're just going to go there to fight with the president? We don't need that. We need people that are going to bring money home and bring jobs home and bring economic development home," he added.

That message appears to be resonating with Hoosiers. A Change Research survey of 2,111 likely Indiana voters conducted between Aug. 20-24 on behalf of the McDermott campaign found Young only leading McDermott, 45% to 42%, with 13% undecided and a 2.6% margin of error.

Focus on Statehouse

Democrats declared that the need for change also extends to Indianapolis where state Sen. Michael Griffin, D-Highland, state Rep. Mike Andrade, D-Munster, and state Sen. Eddie Melton, D-Gary, said the Republican House and Senate supermajorities are hoarding taxpayer dollars and ignoring the needs of Hoosier communities.

"If you look at our budget, that tells you what we care about, and we ought to be doing what you care about," Griffin said. "Government that's responsive; schools that are successful; students that learn; teachers that feel professional gratification because they're respected, compensated well and get to teach; roads that are well-kept; air that's clean to breathe; water that's drinkable."

Andrade said the Democratic Party always has advocated for the people, instead of the powerful, and it's long past time for Hoosiers to flip Indiana from Republican red to Democratic blue.

"The supermajority continues to fight against us, continues to want to bring everyone down. They don't care about the Black and brown community, they don't care about our women, they don't care about us succeeding," Andrade said. "But I tell you what, we're going to stand up because enough is enough."

Former state Rep. Lisa Beck, D-Crown Point, who is running to reclaim her old seat in House District 19, said there's seemingly no limit to GOP hypocrisy when Republicans talk about freedom but act to ban library books, criminalize teachers, strip women of their rights and ignore police warnings about the dangers of permitless handgun carry in public places.

GlenEva Dunham, a Gary school teacher and vice president of the American Federation of Teachers, echoed those sentiments by pointing out that Republicans dragged their feet and ultimately voted against the funding needed to reopen and rehabilitate schools across the country following the COVID-19 pandemic though didn't hesitate to severely limit abortion access as soon as the Supreme Court gave them the green light.

"To the women, as we go to the polls on Nov. 8 in record numbers, we will say to the male extremists: Our bodies, our choice; My body, my choice," Dunham said. "This is the slogan I'm going to the polls with  we brought you into this world, and we will vote you out."

Indeed, women comprise the entirety of the statewide Democratic ticket, except for McDermott, including Destiny Wells for secretary of state, ZeNai Brooks for state auditor and Jessica McClellan for state treasurer.

McClellan, the two-term elected treasurer in Monroe County, told the audience in Gary that trio of experienced Democratic women is prepared and ready to check the power of Statehouse Republicans and to genuinely look out for the needs of Hoosiers.

"We care about the programs that are not being funded while that $6 billion surplus sits there. We care about funding teachers and unions. We care about bringing those dismal health metrics across our state up and we care about having clean air and cleaning up our rivers and streams," McClellan said.
SCHERERVILLE  Rain made for a somber setting Sunday at the town's 9/11 Memorial, where a number of people stopped to pay their respects.

Schererville resident Trevor Davison said he was in high school Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists flew airplanes into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon.

Though Davison didn't have any family members who were personally affected that day, he thought all Americans were affected in some way, he said.

He lay a bouquet of pink flowers at the memorial and reflected on where he was when he first learned of the attacks, he said.

"We can never forget that day," Davison said.

Members of Cub Scout Pack 504 in Schererville greeted visitors to the memorial and offered up programs, pins and small American flags.

Cub Master Dena Beaderstadt said the boys talked about the attacks and what the memorial means.

They also learned about the memorial's twin cylinders, which were installed in 2017 and include 2,977 points of light  one for each life lost.

Many of the boys had watched a video created by Sept. 11 survivor Don Bacso, of Dyer, and Schererville Fire Chief Robert Patterson several times by the end of their day, Police Chief Pete Sormaz said.

The short video featured footage of the Twin Towers, journalists reporting on the attacks and audio of phone calls people made to loved ones during the tragedy.

Beaderstadt said the boys were asking questions, "which is good."

It's important for younger generations to know their country's history, remember those who lost their lives and honor the sacrifices others made by joining the military in the years afterward, she said.

The town's 9/11 Memorial Committee didn't invite any speakers this year, opting instead to welcome visitors to pay their respects at the memorial throughout the day.

Planning for the memorial at Junction and Joliet streets began many years ago, Patterson said.

"It's a tragic event," he said. "It's just like Pearl Harbor, but it's our generation."

The town acquired a beam from the Twin Towers from the New York Port Authority in 2011, and it was installed in 2013.

The two cylinders, which represent the Twin Towers, typically are lit up with white light, but were expected to feature red, white and blue lights Sunday night, Sormaz said.

Patterson said the town added a sidewalk around the memorial this year, which made the site accessible to all.

Travelers on the Pennsy Greenway Trail, which now has a trailhead adjacent to the memorial, often stop by to pause and reflect, officials said.
LAPORTE COUNTY  A Valparaiso motorcyclist was killed and three others were injured in a crash Saturday afternoon south of Westville, the LaPorte County sheriff's police said.

Matthew W. Spicker, 58, was riding a red and black 1993 Harley-Davidson motorcycle west on U.S. 6 about 4 p.m. when he disregarded a stop sign at U.S. 421 and struck a van, Capt. Derek Allen said.

A 27-year-old Wanatah woman driving the van had the right of way and was not required to stop at the intersection.

The motorcycle hit the rear driver's side door of the van, police said.

Spicker was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The Wanatah woman and two of her passengers, an 80-year-old woman and a 47-year-old man, were all taken to a local hospital for further evaluation, police said.

Toxicology results were pending, Allen said.
VALPARAISO  Porter County could spend as much as $4.25 million to fully implement the recommendations of its new wage study, although thats a high figure. The cost of not increasing wages, however, is already being felt.

Debby Gunn, director of the countys E911 dispatch operation, asked the Board of Commissioners last week to approve transferring $50,000 to the overtime budget to cover costs incurred by the loss of full-time employees seeking higher-wage jobs elsewhere.

Gunn, a long-time Porter County employee, is one of several new department heads, the result of an exodus of county employees for higher salaries elsewhere.

When you can leave a job and make $40,000 a year more, I understand why theyre leaving, she said.

The 911 dispatch center has lost 17 employees in the last 1.5 years, she said.

Thats not bleeding, thats bled out, Commissioner Jim Biggs, R-North said.

Weve had problems with overtime out there over more than the past 1.5 years, Board of Commissioners President Jeff Good, R-Center, said. That operation needs proper staffing to reduce overtime, he added.

Biggs asked why employees are leaving.

Were hearing the 911 center is a very good training facility for the private sector, Gunn explained. Railroads, trucking companies and others value the dispatchers trained by the county.

We cant continue down that road, Biggs said. Its not sustainable.

Were going to have to look at wages and make these adjustments somehow, some way, he added.

Four dispatchers from Lake County have been hired from the beginning of July. Thats a help for Porter County because their training period is expedited. It normally takes six months to train a dispatcher.

Were looking at the cost of inaction, Gunn said.

The commissioners approved a big spending request for chairs for the dispatchers, at more than $1,000 per chair. But dispatchers sit in them 12 hours a day, and the chairs are used 24/7, so they must be comfortable and provide proper support, Gunn said.

Addie Rooker, of Waggoner, Irwin, Scheele and Associates, told the County Council the results of a wage study that took several months to complete. Just equalizing pay among county employees in similar positions, following the principle of equal pay for equal work, would cost just over $1 million, she said.

We generally recommend this be your No. 1 priority, Rooker said.

You have a lot of jobs. Youre a very large county, she said.

Rooker gave the example of eight custodians. Six were paid $30,900, one $32,824 and another $37,319. All these custodians have the same basic job description, she said.

Bringing employees up to par with their counterparts elsewhere would cost a bit more than $2.5 million, an 8.72% increase overall. We did find the county is lagging behind the external market in pay levels, she said.

Accomplishing all this and giving the employees a 5.6% cost of living adjustment would cost about $4.25 million, for an average increase of 14.59%. Thats more of a luxury page, Rooker said.

The wage study found large pay discrepancies in some areas, Rooker told the council. Some departments had wide discrepancies. Rooker recommended pay differences of about 5% between ranks, for example, to make sure supervisors were paid more than their subordinates to incentivize promotions.

The Juvenile Services executive director, for example, is paid $82,835, the same as the two subordinates the position supervises.

Rookers study created job classifications for county employees for better comparisons. She recommended additional pay for extra duties that require specialization. They can have as many specialties as they want, she said, so the county should consider capping the extra pay for specialties.

The county could consider phasing in the increases, as some other local governments have done, she said.

Some positions are higher than would be expected, though there are very few outliers in the county. Rooker said pay cuts arent recommended, but those employees might have to wait for other employees to catch up before seeing any significant raises.

Its a lot of information. I know it will take a while for you to digest, Rooker told the council. Budget hearings for next year start soon, so the council will have a lot to think about  including where to get the additional money.

I think this is a long time coming, council President Jeremy Rivas, D-2nd, said.

There clearly is a phenomenal amount of information here, council Vice President Mike Jessen, R-4th, said.

We have plenty of people and plenty of categories that are woefully underpaid, he said. Theres going to be some significant changes.

Its a tall order, Jessen said. Weve got to come up with a pay philosophy. We certainly dont want to be the lowest paid.

I think our goal is to get our employees paid to the highest level possible, Councilman Mike Brickner, R-at large, said. He asked last fall for this study to be done.

Jessen has asked for a wage study for years. Now that the first study had landed, the county should expect to have to redo the study periodically  Rooker suggested every three years or so  to make sure salaries dont go out of balance again.

The county had a previous wage study done more than 20 years ago, but it wasnt this comprehensive, County Auditor Vicki Urbanik said.

The council will have a committee of up to three members  more than that would violate the Indiana Open Door Law  to work with the auditors office on implementation.

Weve got to keep this thing moving forward, he said.
This review contains spoilers for the first two seasons of War of the Worlds.

As you make your way through the cavernous emporium that television has become, brand loyalty may be your best hedge against disappointment. It can be limiting, sure. But if you know you are likely to enjoy the latest Taylor Sheridan drama or Adult Swim animated comedy, thats valuable time saved.

There is a logo that signals happiness for me, but its a little farther afield. Someone in Paris has my number: For the last decade or so, a handful of my very favorite shows have begun life on the French channel Canal+.

A lot of shows from Canal+  an ad-free subscription service analogous to HBO  dont make it to America, and Im sure there are plenty that I wouldnt care for. But its programmers have a taste for atmospheric, complicated genre pieces, and over the years there has been a succession of its series that Ive eagerly consumed: the Paris police procedural Spiral, the eerie supernatural-metaphysical melodrama The Returned, the superlative spy thriller The Bureau. My fixation continues with War of the Worlds, a particularly dark and dystopian science-fiction adventure whose third season begins Monday on Epix. (Seasons of all four shows are available at Amazon Prime Video.)
The delay in announcing the results came after an unusually antagonistic election campaign characterized by the growing popularity of the far-right Sweden Democrats and their effect on the neck-and-neck competition for voters between the right-wing and center-left blocs.

Given the closeness of the race and unusually fragile negotiations before the vote, the formation of a governing coalition could take some time.

Over the course of the past four years, the barrier between the Sweden Democrats, once a fringe party, and the seven other parties has dissolved. In 2018, none of the other parties wanted to touch the Sweden Democrats. But gradually, three parties on the right agreed to some form of cooperation with the far-right group. The Center Party is the only party from the former center-right alliance that has steadfastly refused any kind of cooperation with the Sweden Democrats.

Its a pivotal election because the Sweden Democrats have reached a stage where they have made other parties accept them, said Li Bennich-Bjorkman, a political scientist at Uppsala University.
American investigators returned a rare silver coin to Israel on Monday that they say was minted as a marker of independence during the Great Revolt against Roman oppression of A.D. 66-73 and centuries later was looted from an archaeological site in the Valley of Elah.

The coin was seized in 2017 when collectors tried to sell it at an auction in Denver, where it was listed as having an estimated value between $500,000 and $1 million. But it did not clear the legal hurdles to be returned to Israel until this summer.

Experts say the coin, a quarter-shekel piece featuring palm branches and a wreath and dated to A.D. 69, is among the rarest coins remaining from the bloody Jewish uprising against imperial Rome. The Roman response included the sacking and burning of the Temple Mount in A.D. 70 and, in A.D. 73, the demise of the last Jewish holdouts at Masada.
Beaton had come to Fort McMurray at the height of one of Albertas oil booms, when the promise of good wages had sparked a rush of workers from across Canada, particularly from provinces like Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, where the collapse of coal and fishing industries had played havoc on the local economies.

The joke one guy told me was that Fort McMurray was the second-largest city in Newfoundland, said Chris Turner, the author of The Patch: The People, Pipelines, and Politics of the Oil Sands.

Most of the boom time workers were men. At the oil sands, Beaton entered an environment where male workers routinely leered at women, and worse; many thought nothing of discussing womens bodies, including hers, at work. The experience stayed with Beaton. When someone would ask me about Fort McMurray, I would start talking, and theyd be like, Please stop talking! They didnt want to hear it.

Beaton began working on Ducks in 2016. She revisited scores of old letters and emails and photos to jog her memory, and talked to dozens of colleagues and co-workers at the camps to gather their side of things and get their permission to write about them (many names in the book were changed).

In one case, she reached out to a man who went into a tailspin after his divorce and subsequently got canned; in another, she contacted the family of a man killed in a workplace accident. Thats such a weird phone call to get, she said. But thats better than them reading the book and going, Hey, thats my brother who died in 2008.
Though Napoleon would shrewdly bring the church back into society, he did so on his terms. He was crowned emperor under Notre-Dames vault, the clerical powers kneeling before him, and he put one pope under house arrest for five years.

A faith that had long relied on kings and despots as staunch allies took a more cautious view of the many democracies that sprouted between the American Revolution and the various revolts of the 19th century. Its no surprise that a top-down, insular institution did not know what to make of government by the people. In an 1832 encyclical, Pope Gregory XVI said freedom of conscience was likely to spread ruin, and freedom of the press seemed monstrous. In 1864, Pope Pius IX formally rejected the idea that the Vatican should come to terms with progress, liberalism and modern civilization, as McGreevy notes.

Pius IX was by turns tyrannical and delusional, a not unusual personality pairing for certain popes. At one point he declared, I, I am tradition; I am the church, while overseeing a document that claimed historical facts could never disprove a divinely revealed truth.

The reformers thought otherwise, and never stilled their voices. McGreevy cites the case of a bishop in Ireland, John MacHale, mischievously offering a toast to the people, the source of all legitimate power. He was rebuked by Rome, but his words guide the Ireland of today. In South America, reform Catholics were influential in the movement to abolish slavery.

McGreevy does a particularly good job describing how Catholic institutions  schools, hospitals, universities, houses of charity  were founded throughout the New World. Church growth followed. In 1910, two-thirds of the worlds Catholics lived in Europe. By the end of the century, the global South was home to two-thirds of church members.

McGreevy is dutiful  and, at times, outraged  in sections that show how the contagion of antisemitism infected so many Vatican leaders. Social justice attacks on the excesses of capitalism turned into ugly and undisguised tropes against Jews. It was the same story in criticism of the rise of communism.Father Charles Coughlin, the most famous Catholic priest in the United States, promoted conspiracy theories of Jewish global cabals and defended the 1938 Nazi violence of Kristallnacht.
Milch grew up in Buffalo. His father was a doctor who, when it came to the midnight side of life, had certain appetites. He drank; he wrote himself phony prescriptions; he cheated on his wife; he took the bullets out of Mafia types who didnt want to go to the hospital; he helped his son place his first bets.

Milch got into Yale, in an era when Jews there were rare. He studied under Robert Penn Warren, who would become a big influence. John Kerry was there. At least once he went duck hunting with George W. Bush, a fraternity brother.

He felt too degenerate for Yale, and probably he was. He drove a car into the ocean. He was a serious drug user. He shot up traffic lights while on acid. There were motorcycles. A body gets buried in Mexico.

Milch rubs the readers nose in his dirtbag youth, in a way that reminded me of J.D. Salingers observation: A confessional passage has probably never been written that didnt stink a little bit of the writers pride in having given up his pride.

He mostly gets away with this because hes also capable of writing sentences like, Sometimes hating yourself is a fair response to the data.

Milch gets a book deal for a novel he never finishes. He goes to the Iowa Writers Workshop, where Vonnegut and Richard Yates think hes a pretentious lout. Later, when Yates is ill, forgotten and broke, Milch gives him work and money.
SUGAR STREET, by Jonathan Dee

Jonathan Dee, at 60 years of age and with eight books to his credit  one of which, The Privileges, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2011  should by now be regarded as, if not officially a national treasure, then at the very least a natural resource: a rare bird, perhaps, or a dependable supply of fresh water. Especially to his credit is the fact that he has resisted the considerable temptation, widespread among comfortably established writers, to endlessly refine (read: repeat) a successful formula, which often seems to be what readers want and publishers, however tacitly, demand. Dee is a risk taker, in other words, and his restless, adventurous, at times reckless approach is nowhere more evident than in his latest roll of the dice: the taut, bare-bones, not entirely user-friendly Sugar Street.

The novel opens with a bravura dissection of the romance of the American Interstate highway system: not the wide-open, liberating human river of Kerouac, but the constricting, recursive, hyper-surveilled Mobius strip of DeLillo. Our nameless narrator  hereafter to be referred to as X  is on the run: from the law, we soon gather, though the specifics of the crime remain vague. (The fact that hes heading east, not west, is an early clue that this story has no intention of feeding us the genre bonbons we might crave.) X is looking not merely to escape, he tells us, but to disappear completely  to murder his former self and live out his remaining days as someone else.

Hes headed not for Rio de Janeiro, however, or Hong Kong, or Casablanca, but to the most featureless, forgettable locale he can find  call it the Place Without Qualities. The hideout he settles on is an apartment behind a decrepit two-story house in a medium-size postindustrial city. And what befalls him there is not, to put it mildly, the stuff of summer thrillers.
The founder of Nikola Motor, a maker of electric trucks, went on trial on fraud charges on Monday in a case seen as a cautionary tale about the hazards of investing in companies that are not yet generating any sales or delivering any products.

The defendant, Trevor Milton, faces federal charges of fraud and securities fraud stemming from accusations that he exaggerated the companys technology, leading to crushing losses for people who bought Nikola stock before it collapsed.

The trial is expected to last four or five weeks in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, where jury selection began Monday. Mr. Milton has pleaded not guilty. He is being represented by Marc Mukasey, who has represented the Trump Organization and Edward Gallagher, a member of the Navy SEALs who was accused of war crimes in Iraq.
We dont have access to testing in Africa so we dont know where cases are, so you cant use that as a basis for decisions on the use of resources, said Dr. Boghuma Titanji, an assistant professor of medicine at Emory University who responded to a monkeypox outbreak in 2018 in her native Cameroon.

Most people who die from monkeypox are Africans. There are two different strains of the disease, a more lethal one circulating in the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring countries, and a less virulent version in West Africa, which is the one now being seen in high-income countries. Though deaths from monkeypox are rare, the risk of a fatal case is greatest in children and pregnant women, and the disease is excruciatingly painful for anyone infected.

The rapid spread of the disease to high-income nations, beginning four months ago, set off a scramble for vaccines. While there is no shot specifically for monkeypox, data from trials with nonhuman primates suggested that vaccines against the closely related smallpox virus might also prevent transmission of this one. The focus became the Jynneos smallpox vaccine made by the Danish firm Bavarian-Nordic, which is the easiest to administer of several smallpox vaccines and has the lowest number of side effects.

Bavarian-Nordic had approximately 16 million doses of the vaccine, most of which were owned by or contracted to the United States, which contributed more than $1 billion to develop the vaccine as a defense strategy after 9/11 when officials feared small pox could be used as a bioweapon. Those U.S. doses were earmarked as a defense stockpile and in the form of bulk drug, not bottled vaccines, which slowed distribution. The roughly 1 million that remained were quickly purchased by Canada, Australia and European countries starting in May.

There are no doses purchased or ordered for African countries to date. A clinical trial of the Jynneos vaccine led by the National Institutes of Health is beginning in Congo but that country has no vaccine supply available for health workers or contacts of people who fall ill.
Her students walked in on the first day of school last month to find bookshelves in her room shrouded in red paper. On the paper she had written books the state doesnt want you to read.

Boismier said the display was a reaction to a state law known as HB 1775 that was enacted in May to limit what public schools could teach about race and gender. She said she spent two minutes of class time talking about the QR code. A parent soon complained. She was placed on administrative leave and summoned to a meeting with school administrators.

She said she resigned a few hours after the meeting because it had become pretty clear to me that there was absolutely zero way that I was going to be able to do my job with HB 1775 hanging over my head. Ryan Walters, the state education secretary, demanded that Boismiers teaching credentials be revoked, writing on Twitter that she did not have Oklahoma values.

Asked if Boismier had violated any regulations, a spokesman for the Norman public schools said, I dont know if there are specific regulations.
Top New York officials voiced grave concerns about the quality of education in Hasidic Jewish private schools on Monday, a day after The New York Times revealed that many of the schools taught only rudimentary English and math and virtually no science or history.

Two Democratic congressmen  Jerrold Nadler, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and Hakeem Jeffries, the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus  said they had serious concerns, with Mr. Nadler saying it was clear that some of the Hasidic schools were utterly failing.

It is a paramount duty of government to make sure that all children  whether its those educated in parochial, private or public schools  are provided a quality education, said Mr. Nadler, the senior Jewish member of the House, whose current district encompasses a major Hasidic neighborhood and who was himself yeshiva-educated. It is our duty to all New York students to ensure that the law is enforced.
Im not saying these arent worthy subjects for public consideration. Memphis, like many cities, has a problem with violent crime. Five days after Ms. Fletchers abduction, another Memphis man went on a shooting rampage, killing four people and wounding three more, at least part of which he livestreamed on Facebook. But the reaction online to that crime has been far more muted  maybe because mass shootings are ubiquitous now or because it takes the abduction of a beloved kindergarten teacher to catch peoples attention. Or maybe its just that people outside Tennessee dont care all that much about Memphis in the end. (For the record, violent crime there for the first six months of this year was down 6.1 percent from the same period in 2021.)

There are complicated reasons for the violence in any American city, but none of them have anything to do with the moral character of the vast majority of the people who live there. Certainly they have nothing to do with the race of the people who live there. When conservatives in the national media wax nostalgic for a time before the civil rights era, a time when they say it was safer to live in a big city like Memphis, its worth remembering that the entire Delta region has a long, terrible history of violence. For decades, a kidnapping that ended in murder was called a lynching.

We need to work continually toward making our cities less dangerous and our criminal justice system more just. We need news coverage of everything  not just crime  to be completely accurate and completely fair, particularly on a subject as sensitive as race. God knows we need to find a way to make it safer for all women to move through the world at any time of day.

Any discussion of such subjects is bound to become heated, and thats as it should be. Open public discourse is a privilege of living in a democracy. But while this kind of conversation is appropriate in a discussion of public policy, it is not at all appropriate in the discussion of an innocent person who lost her life to a seemingly random act of violence. Tragedies will always garner public interest. Thats just human nature. But tragedies should never be reduced to tweets and talking points or turned into a narrative to justify a political agenda.

Perhaps this, too, is only human nature. Maybe we turn these terrible stories into allegories, distant symbols of something that doesnt really touch us, because we find them so dislocating. It is easier to say, She should have known better than to run in the dark  or Shed be alive today if only liberals werent soft on crime or This is why everyone should carry a gun or We need to take our cities back by lethal force or any other tired trope of our weary age  than it is to face the much more frightening truth that nothing we do will ever absolutely guarantee our safety. Evil exists. Random things happen. Terrible, unbearable, irrevocable things happen, and sometimes we have no possible way to avoid them.

Ms. Fletcher leaves behind a grieving community and two young children who will grow up without their mother. She didnt live and die to illustrate any point. She was not the representative of any cultural ideology or the emblem of any political stance. By all accounts, she was a person who loved her family, loved her church and loved her work, a dedicated athlete who found a bit of time for herself in the midst of a full life by getting up early for a run. Surely thats more than enough for any beloved, irreplaceable life to mean.

Margaret Renkl, a contributing Opinion writer, is the author of the books Graceland, at Last: Notes on Hope and Heartache From the American South and Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. Wed like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And heres our email: letters@nytimes.com.

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Robert J. Firestone

New York

To the Editor:

King Charles III may be the last British royal. The British monarchy has grown increasingly detached from everyday life in Britain and is terribly expensive to maintain. King Charles may be rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

The British royals can do pomp and circumstance like no one else, but they are becoming a tourist attraction and nothing else. They do not pay their own way. It may be time to wind up the affairs of the firm, and let it go.

Bruce Higgins

San Diego

To the Editor:

The same day that Queen Elizabeth II died, The Times published online (and later, on Sunday, in print) a churlish guest essay by Maya Jasanoff about her life (Mourn the Queen, Not Her Empire). While Ms. Jasanoff acknowledges the dedication of the queen and the honorable way she served Britain and the Commonwealth for more than seven decades, the vast majority of her article is nothing more than chapter and verse about the evils of the British Empire.

Could you imagine a similar piece in a British newspaper about, say, the death of Jimmy Carter in which the writer quickly passed over the incredible decency of the man but instead went on to catalog all the evils of the American empire, from its treatment of the Native Americans to all its dubious interference in the affairs of countries around the world?
How much doubt can the system take on? I really wonder how we get out of a situation in which some segment of the population believes people rigged the vote against Mr. Trump and some other segment believes, maybe a little hazily, that something must have been amiss, given all the noise from Mr. Trump and people like Mr. Finchem. Doubt can be difficult to overcome once its in the air.

How would you talk someone out of this? Pull out a bunch of maps and charts and show how Mr. Trump improved his share with voters in some cities and places like the border, but it was no match for Mr. Bidens performance in the suburbs in enough states  the kind of demographic pattern that you can see in states both won and lost by Mr. Trump? Ask them to get involved and see the process themselves? Hope this just fades, if Mr. Trump fades?

If Mr. Trumps endless refusal to concede has vastly expanded and sustained the universe of fraud believers and election skeptics, the sentiment has begun to detach from his personal fortunes.

Kansas officials recently had to perform a recount of the blowout referendum to keep abortion legal in the state; candidates whove won primaries this year have suggested there might be fraud inherent in the process; one Texas county election staff member who quit his job recently told The Associated Press, Thats the one thing we cant understand. Their candidate won, heavily. But theres fraud here? In a town hall this summer, after detailing how Utahs elections work and its security measures, Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, called unsubstantiated fraud claims dangerous and not healthy. He added, Making people prove a negative  something that doesnt exist  is virtually impossible.

One of Mr. Finchems big plans as Arizonas would-be secretary of state hinges on the idea that theres space for fraud in the unseen. He wants to end Arizonas early voting program, which the state began in the 1990s and many, many voters in both parties regularly use. He claims that to end fraud, you must end early voting. Heres what happened: You received a ballot in the mail, he told an interviewer this year. You fill that ballot out. And then you put it in the mail. You have just broken chain of custody. You have just put somebody in between you and the county official whos supposed to be counting your ballot.

Instead, as a federal judge outlined recently in his dismissal of a lawsuit Mr. Finchem and the gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake filed, Mr. Finchem envisions ballots counted by hand, at the precinct level, one at a time, by three independent counters in full view of multiple, recording, streaming cameras, with a serial number known to the voter but no other personal identification on each ballot.
Just over a century ago, Lytton Strachey, a literary lion of the Bloomsbury Group, tried to sum up the impact of Queen Victorias death. She had succeeded in her 63-year reign in becoming profoundly familiar, he wrote, occupying with satisfying ease a distinct and memorable place. Consequently, when Victoria died in 1901, Strachey went on, it seemed to many  and not just in the United Kingdom  a monstrous reversal of the course of nature, a breach in the whole scheme of things.

Much the same might be said of the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Both women came to the British throne young, though Elizabeth beat Victoria in the longevity stakes, reigning for over 70 years. Both were global, not just domestic figures; and both wore the crown so long, that many felt tempted to believe that they would somehow go on forever.

Yet, for all these similarities, the differences between Britains present situation and when Victoria died are fundamental and immense. By 1901, Britain was already tilting into decline, but its empire, navy, mercantile marine and financial system remained the biggest in the world. By now, these sources of global power and reach have long since been diminished. Moreover, some of the inner workings of this polity have fallen into disrepair and become progressively controversial.
On Aug. 29 Tucker Carlson of Fox News attacked President Bidens policy on Ukraine, asserting among other things: By any actual reality-based measure, Vladimir Putin is not losing the war in Ukraine. He is winning the war in Ukraine. Carlson went on, by the way, to assert that Biden is supporting Ukraine only because he wants to destroy the West.

Carlsons timing was impeccable. Just a few days later, a large section of the Russian front near Kharkiv was overrun by a Ukrainian attack. Its important to note that Putins forces werent just pushed back; they appear to have been routed. As the independent Institute for the Study of War reported, the Russians were driven into a panicked and disorderly retreat, leaving behind large amounts of equipment and supplies that Ukrainian forces can use.

The Russian collapse seemed to validate analyses by defense experts who have been saying for months that Western weapons have been shifting the military balance in Ukraines favor, that Putins army is desperately short on quality manpower and that it has been degraded by attrition and missile attacks on its rear areas. These analyses suggested that Russian forces might eventually reach a breaking point, although few expected that point to come so soon and so dramatically.
As doubt set in, a new opportunity materialized. A friend called to let Mr. Brown know that a recording studio in Manhattan had opened up: Did he want to take the lease? The answer was an obvious, immediate yes.

$3,500 | Weehawken, New Jersey

Stanley Brown, 54

Occupation: Music producer

His weekend hobby: Im a motorcycle guy. I ride bikes really hard. But its always on open highways, so its safer. Ill ride with my friends to Jones Beach or the Hamptons. [Interstate] 495, at the right time of day, is wide open.

On taking days off: I have no problem working weekends, but I dont like to kill my engineers. So I give them the weekends off. Sundays Im working, because Im at my church in Jamaica, Queens. I run the music department. Ive been there for 21 years.

For Mr. Brown, having a studio is like water to a fish  I need it to exist, he said, laughing at his accidental rhyme. Music is all I know. Its all Ive ever done. And if I have a studio, I can always write, I can always play music, I can always play with other artists.
Drivers in New Jersey and nationally are independent contractors who work when and where they want  an overwhelming amount do this kind of work because they value flexibility, said Alix Anfang, the spokeswoman. We look forward to working with policymakers to deliver benefits while preserving the flexibility drivers want.

The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development initially demanded payment of the back taxes from Uber in 2019, the first time a local government had sought back payroll taxes from the company. The move was a significant change in the way states treated the employment practices at the heart of gig economy companies like Uber.

In recent years, states and cities across the country have tried to rein in gig-economy companies that depend on inexpensive and independent labor. These efforts could reshape the business models of companies like Uber, but the legal landscape is far from settled.

California and Massachusetts have laws requiring that gig workers be designated as employees if certain criteria are met. Mr. Asaro-Angelo said those laws followed the lead of New Jersey, which has similar protections on the books.
Hours into Shoah, Claude Lanzmanns colossal 1985 documentary about the Holocaust, an urbane, silver-haired man sits before the camera in suit and tie, gathering his courage to tell a story. This is Karski. He takes a breath.

Now I go back 35 years, he begins, a strong Polish accent flavoring his words. But almost instantly his poise crumbles, and he begins to weep; the memories he is being asked to tap are too excruciating.

No. I dont go back, Karski says. As the camera watches, he flees the room.

To Strathairn, who saw the nine-hour-plus Shoah in a single stretch when it was first released, that microscopic moment in the movie is the portal into 35 years of silence. In the theaters dressing room, glasses perched atop his head, he traced a timeline of Karskis life on the tabletop  events that, in Strathairns mind, are all contained somehow in that brief, tormented bit of film.

At the start of the timeline, Karskis childhood, when his Roman Catholic mother taught him to tell her when he saw bad Catholic boys throwing dead rats at Jews, so she could do something about it. Next his late 20s, in German-occupied Poland, when Jewish leaders sneaked him into the Warsaw Ghetto and a German concentration camp, so that he could tell the world what hed seen happening there. Then the many postwar years when, having written a book about his experiences, he no longer spoke of them, even as he taught for decades in Georgetown Universitys School of Foreign Service. Last, the chapter that began in the late 1970s, when Lanzmann convinced him that it was his responsibility to bear witness again for Shoah  which, after that initial loss of nerve, Karski did, and kept doing elsewhere.

Remember This, which opens on Thursday in Brooklyn and is scheduled to run through Oct. 9, was created as a multicharacter piece at Georgetown for a centennial celebration in 2014 of Karskis birth. Written by Derek Goldman, the artistic director of the universitys Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics, and one of his former students, Clark Young, who graduated in 2009, it was initially titled My Report to the World, a phrase borrowed from the subtitle of Karskis best-selling 1944 war memoir, Story of a Secret State.
As Californias legislative session drew to a close last month, lawmakers approved two major bills aimed at transforming malls, office buildings and parking lots into housing. Affordable housing advocates cheered the measures, which could result in millions more homes in the Golden State.

The last six years have played out this way in Sacramento, with each session ending with a flurry of new laws devised to increase housing. Californias housing crisis is dire  we have some of the nations highest rents and more than 100,000 people living on our streets  and state leaders are increasingly trying to tackle the problem through legislation.
Mr. Gertler of U.S. News countered that the rankings strove to be the pre-eminent, objective resource to help high school students and their families make the most well-informed decisions about college and ensure that the institutions themselves are held accountable for the education and experience they provide to their students.

Many critics of the rankings are especially troubled by the peer assessment, a survey of school reputation sent out to presidents and deans. They argue that it is impossible for anyone to know enough about hundreds of institutions to accurately rank their reputations, a survey that counts for 20 percent of the U.S. News score.

But schools continue to cooperate with the rankings because they are afraid that if they do not, U.S. News will use data from other sources that may be unfavorable to them, Mr. Diver said.

Mr. Gunja recalled that the Obama administration had created a college scorecard that compares institutions. What youll see is not a ranking, but it does give important information about salary after graduation, graduation rate, field of study, demographic information, he said.

U.S. News tries to boil all of that stuff down to one number, and I get that  families are looking for some help here  but I dont think its the answer, he said. He said the scorecard had become increasingly popular among guidance counselors.

Columbias downfall began in February, when Dr. Thaddeus questioned the accuracy of the universitys data, saying he had compared it to publicly available sources and found discrepancies.
You have taken my kindness as weakness, she wrote, adding: Despite your disdain this investigation continues and will not be derailed by anyones antics.

The phrase I dont like a bully, is one Ms. Willis deploys often. After taking office in January, she had a quote from Malcolm X painted on the wall as a sort of mission statement: Im for truth no matter who tells it. Im for justice, no matter who it is for or against.

Ms. Willis, as a child, split time between her divorced parents. Her father was a former Black Panther and criminal defense lawyer who practiced in the Washington, D.C., area. He brought her to the courthouse often and put her to work as his file clerk starting in elementary school. A career in law, she said, was never in doubt.

She attended Howard University, then moved to Atlanta to attend Emory Law School. She felt at home in Atlanta: As an undergraduate, she had attended Freaknik, the boisterous, mostly Black Atlanta street party that became a headache for city leaders and an inspiration for the novelist Tom Wolfes satirical exploration of the Southern city and its racial divides. She settled down in the area, raising two girls as a working single parent and finding her calling in the prosecutors office. She took on murder cases for eight years straight.

I wore a pager and got up in the middle of the night and walked over bodies, she said. And I know what kind of pain it causes when you lose someone.

The experience helped set her on a philosophical course to the right of Americas new wave of progressive prosecutors, as well as her liberal father (We have knockdown, drag em out arguments, she said) but to the left of the traditional lock-them-up crowd.
Thank You for Getting Me Through Cancer

Jon Ellis had never been afraid to die. And he still wasnt. But it was becoming more difficult to live through the pain.

Pancreatic cancer, with which he was diagnosed not long after the pandemic hit, and chemotherapy rendered him a stranger in his own body. As a pilot for 50 years, Mr. Ellis knew how tenuous life really is. But at least in the sky he was free. Down in his 1,500-square-foot home in Maine, Mr. Ellis, 75, could hardly pull himself off the couch.

Mr. Ellis probably wouldnt have survived, he said, if not for his wife.

Rita Ellis would drive him to chemotherapy appointments, then shepherd him home and make sure he drank his smoothies. She knew better what I needed than I did, he said.

Mrs. Ellis, 72, refused to complain, even when, on top of everything else, the Ellises daughter became ill and was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

The Ellises had moved to Maine from Memphis about five years earlier, in part to be closer to their children living in the Northeast. Now, forced to spend time with each other more than ever, the couple spoke about what Mrs. Elliss future might look like in practical terms: She would have to move, they agreed, to a less rural part of town, if Mr. Ellis were to die.

I was ready to hear that I wasnt going to make it for another year, Mr. Ellis said. We had some really good heart-to-heart talks about our longevity on this planet. In our case, at least, it made us very much closer. Im grateful for that.
First, society polarizes, often over a backlash to social change, to demographic change, to strengthening political power by racial, ethnic or religious minorities, and generally amid rising social distrust.

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.

This leads to a bottom-up desire for populist outsiders who will promise to confront the supposed threat within, which means suppressing the other side of that social or partisan or racial divide, asserting a vision of democracy that grants special status for my side, and smashing the democratic institutions or norms that prevent that side from asserting what is perceived to be its rightful dominance.

You also tend to see political parties and other establishment gatekeepers, who are in theory meant to keep authoritarians from rising in politics, either weaken or become co-opted. Once populist hard-liners gain enough power to begin eroding democratic checks, such as an independent judiciary or the rule of law, its usually a steady slide toward democratic erosion.

This trend has really picked up speed, globally, only in the last 20 years or so. So its hard to say exactly how common it is for countries that begin on this path to end up like Hungary or Turkey. But very few democracies have begun to slide and then reversed course.

You have a new book called The Chaos Machine: The Inside Story of How Social Media Rewired Our Minds and Our World. In your reporting and research for the book, what sorts of effects on democracy did you find social media is having? Im old enough to remember when techno-evangelists like Clay Shirky were predicting that social media would unleash a wave of democratization in the developing world. Obviously, that hasnt happened. Or has it?

I had that same arc of initially seeing social media as a democratizing force.

So did a lot of Arab Spring activists from the early 2010s, like Wael Ghonim, the Egyptian revolutionary and Google engineer. But, within a few years, Ghonim had come to conclude, he has said in a TED Talk, that the same tool that united us to topple dictators eventually tore us apart by amplifying the spread of misinformation, rumors, echo chambers and hate speech.
The subpoenas seek information in connection with the fake electors plan.

For months, associates of Mr. Trump have received subpoenas related to other aspects of the investigations into his efforts to cling to power. But in a new line of inquiry, some of the latest subpoenas focus on the activities of the Save America political action committee, the main political fund-raising conduit for Mr. Trump since he left office.

What we consider before using anonymous sources. 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 fact that the Justice Department is now seeking information related to fund-raising comes as the House committee examining the Jan. 6 attack has raised questions about money Mr. Trump solicited under the premise of fighting election fraud.

The new subpoenas encompass a wide variety of those in Mr. Trumps orbit, from low-level aides to his most senior advisers.

The Justice Department has spent more than a year focused on investigating hundreds of rioters who were on the ground at the Capitol on Jan. 6. But this spring, it started issuing grand jury subpoenas to people like Ali Alexander, a prominent organizer with the pro-Trump Stop the Steal group, who helped plan the march to the Capitol after Mr. Trump gave a speech that day at the Ellipse near the White House.

While it remains unclear how many subpoenas had been issued in that early round, the information they sought was broad.

According to one subpoena obtained by The New York Times, they asked for any records or communications from people who organized, spoke at or provided security for Mr. Trumps rally at the Ellipse. They also requested information about any members of the executive and legislative branches who may have taken part in planning or executing the rally, or tried to obstruct, influence, impede or delay the certification of the presidential election.
But on Monday, Mr. Trumps lawyers dismissed the governments claims, saying that those assertions appeared to be exaggerated and that only a brief pause would be required for the special masters review to be completed. (On Friday, Mr. Trumps lawyers indicated that they expected the review to take three months.)

This convenient, and belated, claim by the government relative to enjoining the criminal teams access to these documents only arises because the F.B.I. concedes the intelligence community review is actually just another facet of its criminal investigation, they argued.

But Mr. Trumps filing left open an ambiguous possibility: that the F.B.I. could undertake further actions related to the documents  including using criminal investigative tools like subpoenas  if their purpose was to assist the intelligence communitys risk assessment.

That concession did not address the possibility that such actions could also further the criminal inquiry.

The dispute over the special master has already delayed a briefing on the seized materials to top leaders in Congress and leaders of congressional intelligence committees, a person familiar with the matter said.

The clash traces back to an order issued early last week by Judge Cannon, a Trump appointee, in which she said she would appoint a special master with broad authority to review all the seized materials. In her order, the judge said they could be scrutinized not only for any documents potentially covered by attorney-client privilege, a relatively common measure, but also for executive privilege, which would be unprecedented in a federal criminal inquiry.
You couldnt possibly do that with Charles, Dr. Clancy said. Because we know what he thinks about lots of things.

Charless views on architecture, aesthetics and the environment are widely reported. He is seen by some as a meddler, achieving notoriety for sending handwritten messages to government ministers about political matters  messages known as black spider letters because of the messiness of his handwriting and the black ink of his pen.

But even if Charless accession offers a chance for republicans to construct a different narrative about monarchy, commentators and campaigners say that any success will be slow.

The ruling Conservative Party strongly supports the monarchy. The Labour Party, the largest opposition group, contains prominent republicans, but an elected head of state is not a priority for the party, let alone official policy. Under Keir Starmer, the current Labour leader, the party has sought to build a reputation of sobriety and respect for tradition  an effort that would be undermined by pushing for major constitutional change.

A British republic is still a very long way off, Dr. Clancy said. Instead, Charless accession offers the chance for a slight shift in discourse.

Talking about Republicanism in the U.K. is still, actually, quite taboo, Dr. Clancy said. Is there going to be a moment when it becomes less taboo? Thats what I feel like is coming.
Presidents, princes and prime ministers from across the globe are expected to travel to London next week to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II, who, at her death, had become historys second-longest reigning monarch.

President Biden is among the leaders who have already announced their plans. I dont know what the details are yet, but I will be going, he told reporters after a speech in Ohio on Friday.

Many leaders from the Commonwealth, a voluntary association of 56 countries, are expected to attend. Among those likely to make the trip are President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa and New Zealands Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, who referred to the queen on Monday as our sovereign, our head of state.
LONDON  One topic was at the heart of King Charles IIIs address to the British Parliament on Monday, and, many experts would say, of almost all his public statements and actions since the death of Queen Elizabeth: upholding Britains system of constitutional monarchy.

He ended his speech by recalling his mothers promise to maintain the precious principles of constitutional government which lie at the heart of our nation, and by vowing to follow her example.

For some foreign observers, that has raised the question: How can you have a constitutional monarchy when you dont have a written Constitution?
LONDON  In April 1989, Queen Elizabeth II had just finished lunch with Mikhail S. Gorbachev, who was in Britain to discuss the relationship between the Soviet Union and the West. Yet the monarch had another visitor to prepare for.

Monty Roberts, a renowned American horse trainer, had just arrived in Windsor, England, from his ranch in Solvang, Calif. Months earlier, the queen had read articles about Mr. Robertss training technique, in which the animal is taught to see the rider as a member of its herd, rather than as a master. She sent one of her horse trainers to California to observe Mr. Robertss methods, and, soon after, invited him to see her.

Mr. Roberts, 87, recalled his visit to see the queen  and their subsequent three-decade-long friendship  during a phone interview after her death last week at 96.
When the queen mother died in 2002, aged 101, about 200,000 people paid their respects in a line of mourners that extended for more than a mile from the Palace of Westminster, over Lambeth Bridge, and packed the sidewalks along the south bank of the River Thames.

The queue of mourners for Queen Elizabeth II is likely to stretch far longer.

For about five days  first in Scotland and then in London  the late queens coffin will be on view to allow the public to pay their respects, with enormous crowds expected to turn out in honor of Britains longest-reigning monarch. The crowd could approach the one million that gathered after the death of Winston Churchill in 1965.

The queens coffin was carried on Sunday from Balmoral Castle, where she died on Thursday, to Edinburgh. On Monday, it was be taken to St Giles Cathedral, where a service will take place attended by King Charles III and members of the Royal Family.
EDINBURGH  On a day of solemn ceremony and ancient tradition, a huge crowd jammed the center of the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, to mourn Queen Elizabeth II, reciprocate her deep affection for Scotland, and watch the arrival of the new king, Charles III, who led tributes to his mother and her seven-decade reign.

In a procession through narrow, cobbled streets, the new monarch walked slowly behind the hearse carrying the coffin of his mother, flanked by a Scottish military guard. Thousands of waiting well-wishers fell mainly silent as the convoy approached St. Giles Cathedral.

There the crown of Scotland was placed alongside a wreath on the queens coffin, which was draped in the royal standard of Scotland, as leading political, civic and military figures paid their respects at a service of thanksgiving. Both Britains new prime minister, Liz Truss, and Scotlands first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, were in attendance.
Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II last week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand reaffirmed her support for the country to eventually become a republic, but said it was not an urgent issue for her government to pursue.

I do believe that is where New Zealand will head in time, she told reporters on Monday. Ms. Arderns comments came a day after she expressed support for the new British sovereign, King Charles III.

King Charles has long had an affection for Aotearoa New Zealand and has consistently demonstrated his deep care for our nation, using the Maori and English names for the country at a proclamation ceremony for the new head of state. That relationship is deeply valued by our people, she said, and added: I have no doubt it will deepen.
Although Mr. Putin has dominated Russian politics for more than two decades, he has long used elections that carry a veneer of competitiveness to try to legitimize his rule. And while the elections are often rife with fraud, they typically offer an opening for the political opposition to express discontent.

In some instances, especially at the relatively low level of municipal councils, candidates who have been critical of the Kremlin were able to get elected. And on Monday, already-serving municipal deputies from 18 councils in Moscow and St. Petersburg signed a petition calling on Mr. Putin to resign. The petition came after a municipal council in St. Petersburg last week called on the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, to investigate Mr. Putin for treason over his decision to invade Ukraine. Those deputies have been charged by police with discrediting the Russian army, an administrative offense.

Mr. Putins grip on Russias political system has held largely because of his policymakers ability to maintain relative economic stability. The elections this weekend were an early test of whether the economic upheaval caused by Western sanctions stemming from Mr. Putins invasion of Ukraine has had an effect on voters.

They took place in the climate of almost total censorship of the mainstream press, making it hard to gauge peoples true attitudes toward the government. Following the invasion in February, Mr. Putin tightened media laws, forcing the few remaining liberal news outlets to shut down.
More than 40 local elected officials across Russia signed a two-sentence petition on Monday that ended with: We demand the resignation of Vladimir Putin from the post of president of the Russian Federation!

The petition, pushed by opponents of the Ukraine invasion, had no practical impact, and it was roundly ignored in Russias state-controlled media. But it was striking in its very existence, showing that despite the Kremlins extraordinary crackdown on dissent, Ukraines counteroffensive successes have left opponents of President Vladimir V. Putin newly emboldened  and his supporters looking for someone else to blame.

Pro-war commentators and politicians have pointed to the military leadership or senior officials, saying they have not waged the war with sufficient decisiveness and competence, or have not delivered all the facts to Mr. Putin. Longtime Kremlin critics have seized on that discord, and Russias setbacks at the front, to take the risk of speaking out against Mr. Putin.
As Russia suffered its most humiliating defeat since the initial stage of the war in Ukraine, cracks emerged in the official narrative as lawmakers and pundits on state television cast doubt on Moscows prospects.

While some urged the Kremlin to start peace negotiations, others demanded that its forces double down. The divergence of views, even on tightly controlled state television networks, highlighted how Moscows narrative has quickly shifted from a conviction that it was only a matter of time before Russia subjugated Ukraine to a sense of alarm over the rapid progress of Kyivs forces. And it was a contrast from the muted response after Russias drive to take Kyiv failed in the spring.

On Friday, as the Russian front line in northeastern Ukraine collapsed, Boris Nadezhdin, a Russian municipal lawmaker, told viewers of a political talk show on NTV, a state-owned television channel, what had once been unspeakable: Moscow cannot, under current conditions, win this war.
DNIPROPETRIVSK REGION, Ukraine  After Ukraines stunning offensive in its northeast drove Russian forces into a chaotic retreat and reshaped the battlefield by hundreds of miles, Ukrainian leaders on Monday were weighing critical gambles that could determine the near-term course of the war.

Stretching the Ukrainian forces  a military still much smaller and far less equipped than its Russian foe  too far could leave the troops vulnerable to attack. Moving too slow, or in the wrong place, could leave an opportunity squandered. And waiting too long could allow the front lines to freeze as winter sets in.

By expelling Russian troops from a large slice of strategic territory in the northeastern Kharkiv region, Ukrainian forces are now positioned to make a move on the Donbas, the industrialized eastern territory that Russias president, Vladimir V. Putin, has made central to his war aims. Just before flooding troops across the border in February, Mr. Putin declared the Donbas independent from Ukraine, and he held up the regions sovereignty as a key justification for the invasion.
KYIV, Ukraine  The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency said on Monday that there were active negotiations with both Ukraine and Russia to end military actions in and around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

The nuclear complex in southern Ukraine  Europes largest  has been imperiled by frequent shelling, raising global fears of a nuclear catastrophe.

I have seen signs that they are interested in this agreement, Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said at a news conference. While Mr. Grossi declined to go into details given the delicate diplomacy involved, he said he had witnessed two sides that are engaging with us and are asking questions, lots of questions.
Kimberly Romero, 18, and her brother Clyde, 8, sat in their RV outside an evacuation center in Hemet.

Their family left their home near Sage on Wednesday. It felt crazy, it was hectic, said their mother, Alicia Mims.
If you think scorching hot potato chips are bold, these new pus*y-flavored potato chips recently launched in Lithuania will probably leave an interesting taste in your mouth.

According to recent research young people are three times less likely to fall in love than their parents were at the same age. Social media and our transition to virtual lives are partly to blame, but one Lithuanian potato chip company is trying to reverse the trend with a controversial line of chips aimed exclusively at 18-year-olds and older. The CHAZZ potato chip line features flavors like mussels and white wine, or Bloody Mary cocktail, but its the pus*y flavor that has been attracting the most attention

So how does one recreate the flavor of the female reproductive organ and adapt it to potato chips? Well, according to the CHAZZ website, the entire marketing department took the task very seriously, relying on their own experiences and those of acquaintances who had experienced the taste to reproduce it.

After a series of debates and arguments, the team responsible for the project realized that the ingredients they had selected were too weak, so five members (both boys and girls) were tasked with coming up with a proper list. They took to the internet, asking people what the taste of vulva reminds them of, did a bit of scientific research, and in the end came up with a mix of dozens of different flavors.

Once the list of flavors was done, it was sent to the 3 largest manufacturers of spices in Europe. They came up with various samples, of which only the closest ones were selected by CHAZZ. The company tweaked the flavor further by changing the ingredient proportions until they were satisfied with the taste.

Do these chips really taste like pus*y? Well, I couldnt tell you, but they are definitely great conversation starters, which is just what CHAZZ intended. The company points out that they are aimed at brave and free people who can afford to live the way they want, who are not afraid to stand out from the crowd, have no complexes and do not care what others say about them.

The Lithuanian chip maker claims that its likely that girls who have been orally pleasured in the last six months were directly involved in creating that taste of their controversial new flavor.
A woman in India is accusing her husband of stealing and then selling one of her kidneys on the black market without her consent.

Ranjita Kundu, a middle-aged woman from Kodameta, a village in Indias Odisha state, claims that her husband stole and sold one of her kidneys four years ago. She only recently came to know about his actions, after seeing a doctor for abdominal pain and learning that she only had one kidney. The woman claims that in 2018, under the pretext of taking her to a hospital to undergo an operation to remove kidney stones, her husband arranged for one of her kidneys to be removed so he could sell it on the black market.

Photo: Wendy Scofield/Unsplash

In 2018, my husband admitted me to a private hospital in Bhubaneswar after I developed a stone and there he had sold one of my kidneys without my knowledge and consent, the woman told Indian reporters. I was unaware of the whole incident as I was administered anesthesia. My husband has sold the kidney to one Asim Haldar of MV-38 village in our district.

Ranjita claims that her husband, identified as Prasant Kundu, is a Bangladeshi national who had been staying in her village as an illegal immigrant. They had been married for 12 years and share two children, a son and a daughter. Eight months ago, he allegedly abandoned his family and ran off with another woman. Ranjita has been kicked out of the family home and is currently living with her parents.

Kalinga TV reported that, around the time the alleged incident took place, the couple were having arguments over dowry-related issues, and the husband decided to steal and sell Ranjitas kidney to obtain the money he felt he was owed.

Ranjita Kundu recently filed a complaint against both her husband and her sister-in-law, accusing them of plotting to steal and then sell her kidney without her consent using forged documents. Police have since taken Prasant into custody and are reportedly investigating the matter.



All possible angles are being examined and the complainants husband and sister-in-law will be interrogated and necessary action will be taken, the inspector in charge of the case told TOI.
At just over 200 square feet in size and a yearly yield of 29 bottles of wine, Via Mari 10 is considered the worlds smallest vineyard.

Located on the rooftop of a 16th-century palazzo in the heart of Reggio Emilia, Via Mari 10  named after the name and number of the street  is not your average vineyard. Not only is it incredibly small in size, it also has an extremely modest yearly yield of wine. However, the most peculiar thing about the Via Mari 10 wine is that youre not supposed to drink it. The owner of the vineyard considers the 29 or so bottles of wine produced every year as works of art that should be collected and admired rather than consumed. Thats kind of a problem, considering that you are expected to pay 5,000 euros ($5,000) for a bottle of wine youre not even supposed to drink.

Photo: Via Mari 10/Facebook

My wine is a form of artistic expression, a philosophical provocation, something to keep in your living room so you can chat about it with your friends and tell them about the lunatic who put a vineyard on his rooftop, Tulio Masoni, the owner of Via Mari 10, told CNN. If you see a bicycle wheel in a living room rather than a repair shop, you realize how beautiful it is. My vineyard is like that: Its unexpected; it stimulates the brain; it sparks new thoughts.

Masoni founded the unusual vineyard after selling the countryside vineyard he had inherited from his father. At the time, he thought operating a vineyard wouldnt make any financial sense, but he later regretted it, so he decided to start his own miniature vineyard atop his medieval palazzo.

The Sangiovese vines that make up Via Mari 10 are reportedly fed with eggs, bananas, seaweed and nightingale droppings, apart from the urban noise that Tulio Masoni insists gives them an edge over countryside grape vines. However, that doesnt count for much, considering that youre not supposed to drink the wine.

Im the only wine producer in the world who says you shouldnt drink his wine, Masoni said, adding every bottle is a work of art designed to be contemplated, not consumed.

Via Mari 10 wine bottles cant be purchased at regular wine shops or even at the producer itself. Instead, they are offered through the local Bonioni Art Gallery at a price of 5,000 euros ($5,000). That sounds steep for a wine bottle, but if you think of it as a collectible artwork, I guess the price starts to make sense.

According to the Bonioni website, 10 Vila Mari 10 wine bottles are still available from its latest vintage (2019), with all previous yields being sold out. However, Masoni points out that not all of them were actually bought. Many were offered by the gallery as gifts to loyal clients.



And just in case youre curious what this incredibly exclusive red wine tastes like, Masoni claims that at the first sip you get a lot of perplexity, but after a few seconds something comes alive in your palate that opens up your mind to a new dimension. Unless you have $5,000 to burn, youll just have to take his word for it.
A student at an Offaly school excelled in her Leaving Cert getting over 600 points.

Colaiste Iosagain in Portarlington had its biggest ever number sitting Leaving Cert exams this year, at 179 and another 18 in LC Applied.

Among the highest achievers with over 600 points is Ruth Whittle who is pictured above.

It is our biggest year so far and next year's Leaving Cert class will be probably bigger. It will probably hold steady after that," Principal Seamus Bennett said.

The students are generally very happy, the results are very good. The government are still giving an extra little boost by reviewing marks and upping them in line with last year so that students who deferred are not at an advantage. There will still be oversubscribed courses and a lotto system for some courses," he said.

Deputy Principal Brendan McGlynn, said the teachers are very proud of the students and the excellent results.

A large percentage of our students attained in excess of 450 points. Our LCA students excelled with their results with over 90% attaining distinctions and three students receiving full marks. The Management Team wish to acknowledge the work ethic of the LC class of 2022 and the team effort of the teaching staff to ensure that every student that attending Colaiste Iosagain reach their potential. Congratulations and well done to all involved, he said.

The new online system which emails students directly, replacing schools handing out paper results was strange and surreal Principal Bennett said.

We had an empty school, it's a bit of a downer, with no gathering or excitement. The only service we are providing now is guidance".

The huge secondary school has over 1,000 students and is awaiting construction of a new building for over a decade.

It is the last time for the principal to oversee the big occasion, as Seamus Bennett retires this month after 22 years.

Colaiste Iosagain is in the process of recruiting a new Principal that will take up the role on October 2.
After a stretch of wet and miserable weather, the weather is set to improve this week according to the latest forecast for Ireland from Met Eireann.

According to the latest forecast, high pressure will gradually build in from the west bringing a good deal of dry and fine weather.

However before the weather improves, Monday morning will be largely cloudy with scattered outbreaks of rain and drizzle. Whilst sunnier skies will gradually develop over Connacht, Ulster and north Leinster, it will remain cloudier further south with lingering outbreaks of rain and drizzle. Most areas will however be dry by evening. Highest temperatures will range 15 to 20 degrees, with best values away from the northwest, all with just light northerly breezes.

Any showers will die out early on Monday night, leaving a mostly dry night with long clear spells. A cooler night than recently with lowest temperatures of 8 to 11 degrees in light northerly breezes.

According to the latest Met Eireann weather forecast for Ireland, Tuesday looks set to be a mainly dry day with long spells of sunshine. Fresher than recent days with highest temperatures ranging from 15 to 19 degrees, warmest in the south in moderate northerly winds.

Mainly dry overnight on Tuesday with long clear spells to start. Cloud will increase from the northwest towards morning. Lowest temperatures of 7 to 12 degrees in light northerly winds.

The weather will continue to improve on Wednesday with Met Eireann forecasting that it is expected to be a dry day with a mix of cloud and some good sunny spells. Highest temperatures of 15 to 19 degrees in light northerly breezes.

Remaining largely dry on Wednesday night and fairly cloudy with some patchy outbreaks of drizzle developing in the northwest towards morning. Lowest temperatures of 8 to 12 degrees in north to northwest breezes.

According to the latest Met Eireann weather forecast, Thursday will be mostly cloudy with patchy outbreaks of drizzle, but brightening up towards evening. Highs of 14 to 17 degrees in mostly moderate northerly breezes.

Looking ahead to Friday and the weekend, Met Eireann says that high pressure will continue to keep conditions settled up to and including the weekend. It will however become cloudy at times with occasional patches of mist or drizzle.
Groups representing thousands of public sector employees will be going up against the Ontario government in court this week as the two sides argue over a law that has capped wages for workers.
They knew shed been gone for days but this sight, of Elizabeth II on her last great journey as the King called it on Friday, was a moment all on its own.
The prime minister was asked on Monday why he had suspended Parliament for two weeks when the House of Commons was continuing to meet in Westminster.
A short but elaborate ceremony was held before the King boarded a private jet to inspect the Queens coffin lying-in-state in Edinburgh.
Paying tribute to The Queen, Prime Minister Liz Truss described her as "an example to us all"

The Argus 08 Sep 2022
In recent days, Kyivs forces have captured territory at least twice the size of greater London, according to the British Defence Ministry.
The Queens oak casket has now been moved to St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, a man wearing a Melbourne City FC shirt has been arrested after shouting at Prince Andrew during the procession and independent MPs are urging the prime minister to introduce integrity laws this year.
Ohio Republican Congressman Jim Jordan addressed Biden's latest military aid package to Ukraine, arguing U.S. taxpayers should not be paying for more weapons
The war in Ukraine has made wheat farming and export difficult. So local farmers are turning to oil-producing plants instead. The government plans to build an innovative pipeline into Poland to help them.
German Defense Minister Lambrecht has said Germany must take on a leadership role militarily whether it wants to or not. "Germany does not have to be afraid" of doing so, she said.
German Chancellor Scholz and Israeli Prime Minister Lapid have held talks on topics including the nuclear deal with Iran. Lapid stressed the danger that would be posed by a nuclear-armed Iran.
The German government is now under even more pressure to deliver high-tech battle tanks to bolster the Ukrainian military advance. But the Chancellor and his Defense Minister say its not that easy.
Berlin says it wants to know more about Switzerland's plans for a nuclear waste site close to the German border. The German government had already expressed some concern about the proposal.
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New Zealand Herald 13 Sep 2022

The Queen has left Scotland for the last time, and is on her way back to Buckingham Palace, where she will spend one final..
The head of the UN nuclear watchdog Rafael Grossi has started consultations with Ukraine and Russia for his idea of a nuclear safety and security protection zone around the Zaporizhzhia power plant.
34-year-old Pavel Filatyev has served in Russia's military twice. Now, after posting a scathing manuscript on social media criticizing the military's actions Ukraine, he has fled to Paris, where he spoke with CBC News.
Ukrainian soldiers appear to have Russian troops on their heels. But Russian officials want everyone to know things are going exactly as planned.


Ukraines military is gauging how far its forces can press the attack, at risk of their ability to hold the new lines. Russian leaders are trying to regroup after a dramatic, demoralizing rout.
Israel "must expand cooperation with regional partners" amid Iranian agression, Gantz said at The Jerusalem Post Annual Conference in New York.
Ukrainian authorities ordered the complete shutdown of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant amid threats to safety due to shelling in the area. President Volodymyr Zelensky has also called for a demilitarization around the area to prevent a nuclear catastrophe.
The King will carry out a number of engagements in Northern Ireland on Tuesday as part of the new monarchs programme of visits across the UK.
People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll has said he will not attend a special Assembly sitting in tribute to the life of Queen..

Belfast Telegraph 12 Sep 2022
The death toll from a major earthquake in western China rose to 93 as the search for survivors continued, authorities said.
When Elizabeth II was crowned in 1953 at Westminster Abbey her throne sat above the stone, which will become the centrepiece of the..

Daily Record 13 Sep 2022
Two friends and former civil service members joined a long queue in Edinburgh today to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II.
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The First Minister and the new Prime Minister clearly don't see eye-to-eye and the feud between them hit the world stage earlier..
King Charles III and his siblings paid a poignant tribute to the Queen by staging a silent vigil around her coffin after she was praised by politicians in Westminster and Edinburgh.
A renowned American horse trainer described his three-decade-long friendship with Queen Elizabeth II, and the time she called him, unexpectedly, at 2:30 a.m.
The bombardment ignited a massive fire at a power station on Kharkiv's western outskirts and killed at least one person. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced the strikes as acts of terrorism.
A Swiss billboard is making the rounds on social media depicting a young woman on the telephone. The caption reads, Does the neighbor heat the apartment to over 19 degrees (66F)? Please inform us. While the Swiss government has dismissed the poster as a fake, the penalties Swiss citizens face for daring to warm their homes...
The Kremlin made its first public response following Ukraine's success on the battlefield in recent days.
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The Minister for International Trade and Investment, Hon. Richard Maru said he was happy to welcome more investments from India to Papua New Guinea (PNG), especially in its agriculture and manufacturing sectors.

We are also keen for Indian Investors to invest in the garment industry in Papua New Guinea, he said.

Minister Maru said this in response to Indian High Commissioner, Inbasekar Sundaramamurthi who said that India was ready to support Papua New Guinea (PNG) in its vision to go into downstream processing, as reported on The National Newspaper on September 5, 2022.

We will be focusing on Indian Investors to come in and help us to go into commercial rice farming, invest in factories for oil palm, coconut oil and cocoa, to process our coffee into premium coffee products, and the processing of all our coconut into final products rather than exporting raw materials from Papua New Guinea, said Minister Maru.

We are happy to welcome Indias investment in these areas, he said.

Minister Maru added that his office was looking forward to working with the Indian High Commissioner and the Indian Government to start work on a Bilateral Trade Agreement between PNG and India.





Media statement/One PNG News





Next: PNG Royal Constabulary Mourns the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia:

Private investor Ardian has raised $2.1bn (2bn) for its latest Americas infrastructure fund, to target telecommunications, transportation, and energy-transition sector assets.

Secondaries giant said in a media release that the capital raised for Ardian Americas Infrastructure Fund V (AAIF V) exceeded the fund's $2bn hard cap and was larger than the inaugural AAIF IV fund which raised $800m in 2018.

The Ardian Infrastructure team now has over US$21bn assets under management across the globe.

"The successful fundraise attracted over 60 investors from 17 countries across the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Asia, comprising major pension funds, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, Fund of Funds, endowments, and high-net-worth investors," said the release.

With a mix of returning investors, who on average doubled their previous commitments to the strategy, and new investors, the successful fundraising of AAIF V demonstrates the growing appetite for Ardian's Americas infrastructure and asset management strategies, it added.

Indiana Public Retirement System made a $150m commitment to the fund. Public Employees Retirement Association of New Mexico also disclosed it was investing up to $75m directly into the fund and was putting $25m into a co-investment vehicle that could invest alongside the AAIF IV or AAIF V funds.

"We are thankful for the support of our new and existing investors. The success of our latest fundrai......................

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Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia:

BayPine, a Boston-based midmarket buyout firm led by David Roux (ex-Silver Lake) and Anjan Mukherjee (ex-Blackstone), raised $2.2 billion for its debut fund, exceeding its $2.0 billion target.

Including the invested capital of co-investors participating directly and indirectly alongside the fund, the fund's capital totals approximately $3.0 billion.

According to a press release from the private investment firm that drives digital transformation in market-leading businesses, BayPine Capital Partners Fund I's investor base is comprised of leading global institutions, including public and private pension plans, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and foundations, insurance companies, family offices and high net worth individuals.

BayPine was formed in 2019 by Managing Partners David Roux, Co-Founder, and former Co-CEO and Chairman of Silver Lake, and Anjan Mukherjee, former Senior Managing Director at Blackstone and Counselor to the Secretary and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

The firm's strategy seeks to instill durable core-economy companies with the execution speed, innovation mindset, and technology infrastructure of leading "new economy" businesses, said the press release.

BayPine's team of established investors and seasoned operators aims to drive value in its portfolio companies by developing and implementing a comprehensive digital transformation agenda, ena......................

To view our full article Click here
Currently: Long Looking to: Hold for 61,600



As of 3/21/21 @ 10:08pm EST: 56,590



LAST WEEK: We suggested buying BTCUSD from last weeks levels down to 47,352 with stops below 43,016 and with an upside target of 64,600.



UPDATE: Bitcoin is setting up to trade around within a range from 53,500 to 61,600 in the short-term.



Look to buy BTCUSD at 54,850 and sell it at 61,600 in the short-term. We would then look to re-buy it down at 53,500 and sell it at 64,000.
Activist investor Daniel Loeb said Sunday that he is no longer pushing Disney Corp. to spin off or sell its blockbuster cable network ESPN.

Disney CEO Bob Chapek had rejected Loeb's urging in an interview with the Financial Times, published Sunday, in which Chapek said Disney had been deluged by companies expressing interest in ESPN, which he took as a sign of ESPN's potential.
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WASHINGTON (AP)  When Emmanuel Obeng-Dankwa is worried about making rent on his New York City apartment, he sometimes holds off on filling his blood pressure medication.

If theres no money, I prefer to skip the medication to being homeless, said Obeng-Dankwa, a 58-year-old security guard.

He is among a majority of adults in the U.S. who say that health care is not handled well in the country, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

The poll reveals that public satisfaction with the U.S. health care system is remarkably low, with fewer than half of Americans saying it is generally handled well. Only 12% say it is handled extremely or very well. Americans have similar views about health care for older adults.

Overall, the public gives even lower marks for how prescription drug costs, the quality of care at nursing homes and mental health care are being handled, with just 6% or less saying those health services are done very well in the country.

Navigating the American health care system is exceedingly frustrating, said A. Mark Fendrick, the director of the University of Michigan Center for Value-Based Insurance Design. The COVID pandemic has only made it worse.

More than two years after the pandemic's start, health care worker burnout and staffing shortages are plaguing hospitals around the country. And Americans are still having trouble getting in-person medical care after health centers introduced restrictions as COVID-19 killed and sickened millions of people around the country, Fendrick said.

In fact, the poll shows an overwhelming majority of Americans, nearly 8 in 10, say they are at least moderately concerned about getting access to quality health care when they need it.

Black and Hispanic adults in particular are resoundingly worried about health care access, with nearly 6 in 10 saying they are very or extremely concerned about getting good care. Fewer than half of white adults, 44%, expressed the same level of worry.

Racial disparities have long troubled America's health care system. They have been abundantly clear during the COVID-19 pandemic, with Black and Hispanic people dying disproportionately from the virus. Black and Hispanic men also make up a disproportionately high rate of recent monkeypox infections.

Fifty-three percent of women said they are extremely or very concerned about obtaining quality care, compared to 42% of men.

While Americans are united in their dissatisfaction with the health care system, that agreement dissolves when it comes to solutions to fix it.

About two-thirds of adults think it is the federal governments responsibility to make sure all Americans have health care coverage, with adults ages 18 to 49 more likely than those over 50 to hold that view. The percentage of people who believe health care coverage is a government responsibility has risen in recent years, ticking up from 57% in 2019 and 62% in 2017.

Still, theres not consensus on how that coverage might be delivered.

About 4 in 10 Americans say they support a single-payer health care system that would require Americans to get their health insurance from a government plan. More, 58%, say they favor a government health insurance plan that anyone can purchase.

There also is broad support for policies that would help Americans pay for the costs of long-term care, including a government-administered insurance plan similar to Medicare, the federal governments health insurance for people 65 or older.

Retired nurse Pennie Wright, of Camden, Tennessee, doesnt like the idea of a government-run health care system.

After switching to Medicare this year, she was surprised to walk out of her annual well-woman visit, once fully covered by her private insurance plan, with $200 worth of charges for a mammogram and a pap smear.

She prefers the flexibility she had on her private insurance plan.

I feel like we have the best health care system in the world, we have a choice of where we want to go, Wright said.

A majority of Americans, roughly two-thirds, were happy to see the government step in to provide free COVID-19 testing, vaccines and treatment. Roughly 2 in 10 were neutral about the governments response.

The governments funding for free COVID-19 tests dried up at the beginning of the month. And while the White House says the latest batch of recommended COVID-19 boosters will be free to anyone who wants one, it doesn't have money on hand to buy any future rounds of booster shots for every American.

Eighty percent say they support the federal government negotiating for lower drug prices. President Joe Biden this summer signed a landmark bill into law allowing Medicare to negotiate the price of prescription drugs. The move is expected to save taxpayers as much as $100 billion over the next decade.

Medication costs should be low, to the minimum so that everyone can afford it, said Obeng-Dankwa, the Bronx renter who has trouble paying for his medication. Those who are poor should be able to get all the necessary health they need, in the same way someone who also has the money to pay for it.

___

AP polling reporter Hannah Fingerhut in Washington contributed to this report.

___

The poll of 1,505 adults was conducted July 28-Aug. 1 using a sample drawn from NORCs probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.

___

Follow AP's coverage of health care costs at https://apnews.com/hub/health-care-costs.
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A 40-year-old Auburn man was taken into custody on Friday afternoon after reportedly breaking into a convenience store that morning.

Around 1:35 a.m. on Friday troopers for the Michigan State Police responded to a breaking and entering alarm at JoJo's Refresh Shop, located at 401 Midland St., according to MSP in a recent press release.
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FRANKFORT  It wasnt just a busy weekend for participants in the Ironman 70.3 Michigan on Sept. 11, local and state law enforcement agencies, as well as volunteer groups, had a lot going on over the weekend.

Lt. Travis House, post commander for the Michigan State Police Post in Cadillac, said about 50 troopers from across the state had been called in to work the event.

Colin Merry/Record Patriot

Ironman 70.3 has a huge operation, and part of that operation here is securing traffic for the bike portion of the race, House said. They have contacted the Michigan State Police to provide troopers and other assets here for that function, to keep the riders safe as they move through the bike portion of the course.

House said troopers were mostly directing traffic at points along the bike race. He also said the state police also directed some traffic for the run portion of the race.

The state police also provided some security for the race in downtown Frankfort.

House said the state police knew that traffic would be rough and did some advertising to remind people the event would be causing traffic delays and asking drivers to be patient with troopers the day of the event.

We dont completely close the roads but they are very restricted, he said. Bikes can be traveling 50 miles per hour and that can be hard to judge for the average motorist.

House said Ironman organizers paid the Michigan State Police to help direct traffic.

Ironman funds this event through a contract with the state police, he said. I dont want people to think taxpayer money is being spent on this. 

House said he appreciated the community support and the patience they had with traffic delays.

We know for some people this is an inconvenience, and we appreciate their patience, he said.

The Benzie County Sheriffs Office also helped keep Ironman participants safe.

Benzie County Sheriffs Office are doing marine assets only, said Rebecca Hubers, emergency manager for Benzie County. They were on the water for the entire time for the swim portion.

After the swim portion was over, sheriffs office deputies continued with their regular daily duties.

Everybody has been accounted for so we can clear the water, Hubers said. A few people were removed from the water, but not for medical or emergency reasons. They felt they were tired or they couldnt continue for other reasons.

Hubers said those people were guided back to shore by Ironman staff.

The Benzie County Citizens Emergency Response Team also was operating at Ironman providing support services.

I had some CERT members watching the swim from the Elberta side and I have some CERT members at a few traffic points supplementing troopers, Hubers said. I have a group way up by Riverside Canoe Rentals on M-22 making sure the people crossing there get out of the way, because those bikes go really fast and people misjudge that.

Hubers said CERT teams was going to be finished after the bike portion of the race had completed. However, she would continue to monitor communications in the CERT mobile command center until the event was done.

I will remain here in communications, were listening to all the radio channels involved, she said. We have one for the swim portion, one for the bike portion, one for Benzie County Emergency Services and one for fire departments.
SEATTLE (AP)  Students in Seattle on Monday will miss a fourth day of school as teachers strike over pay and classroom support.

The school district Sunday afternoon announced the cancellation of Monday classes and said negotiations with the union were ongoing.

We are optimistic an agreement will be reached soon so that students can begin school, Seattle Public Schools said.

The strike began Wednesday, what was supposed to be the first day of school for the approximately 49,000 students in the district.

Striking teachers said their main concern was educational and emotional help for students, especially those with special needs or learning difficulties. The Seattle Education Association said 95% of its voting members approved the strike.

In Seattle, the school district had offered pay raises of an additional 1% above the 5.5% cost-of-living increase set by state lawmakers  far less than the union says it wants  plus one-time bonuses for certain teachers, including $2,000 for third-year Seattle teachers earning an English language or dual-language endorsement.

The union says it is opposing the districts efforts to eliminate staffing ratios for special education students, saying that will mean more work for general education teachers and special education teachers alike.

Districts around the country have faced labor challenges as the pandemic put extraordinary stress on teachers and students.
NEW BOSTON, Texas (AP)  A Texas woman accused of killing a woman to steal her unborn baby to present as her own went on trial for capital murder Monday.

Taylor Rene Parker has pleaded not guilty to capital murder and kidnapping in the October 2020 deaths of 21-year-old Regan Michelle Simmons-Hancock and the daughter who died after being cut from her mothers womb. Authorities say Simmons-Hancock was stabbed and cut more than 100 times and had her skull crushed with a hammer in her New Boston, Texas, home before a scalpel was used to remove her unborn baby. She is also charged with non-capital murder in connection with the baby's death.

Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp told the Bowie County jury Monday that Parker, 29, acted not because she wanted a baby but to keep from losing her boyfriend. Crisp said Parker disguised herself to make her look pregnant for nearly 10 months, faked ultrasounds, had a gender-reveal party and posted about her fake pregnancy on social media while searching for a possible victim, Crisp said.

How did we get here? Crisp asked the jury. How did it get this far? She is an actress, an actress of the highest order. The lies and fraud go on and on; the layers of fraud are staggering. You are going to have to understand the fraud to understand what happened on Oct. 9. This started months and months ahead of time until it passed the point of no return, and it ended up in homicide.

Leaving the victim's 3-year-old daughter alone with her dying mother, Parker then drove with the baby in her lap when a state trooper stopped the car and sent the child to a hospital in nearby Idabel, Oklahoma, authorities say. The child later died.

Witnesses said Parker, who could not conceive after a hysterectomy, had offered $100,000 for a surrogate mother and told her boyfriend that she would have an induced delivery the day of the killing.

Defense attorney Jeff Harrelson asked the six male and six female jurors not to fall prey to their emotions and to keep an open mind.

Its a complicated case, factually and emotionally, he said. The law is the lens and filter you must view these facts through. Sometimes its not black and white but a shade of gray."

Parker could get the death penalty or life in prison without parole if convicted of capital murder. Attorneys estimated they would present at least two weeks of testimony.

New Boston is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Texarkana, Texas.
It may take a day, a week, or a month to catch them, but Midland police officers are working with area businesses and other jurisdictions to catch shoplifters through the Business Watch program.

Business Watch is an offshoot of Neighborhood Watch. It provides a way for businesses to get involved in fighting crime.

The purpose of Business Watch is to work together with all the businesses willing to work with us, said Midland Police Officer Jose Deleon. The program aims to protect local businesses from being easily targeted by criminals.

Business owners and their employees can help deter crime within certain watch areas, Deleon said.

Business Watch participants act as the eyes and ears of the business district, and assist police in fighting crimes that are typical in business such as larceny, credit card theft, breaking and entering, etc. Businesses can report suspicious activities to the Midland Police Department, which then follows up on leads.

Deleon said police go in the stores and talk with the managers.

We learn the layout of the businesses and the weaknesses that criminals will exploit, Deleon said.

By working with the store managers, store security offers a good presence. The police also work with the stores to seek prosecution of alleged criminals.

Deleon has tracked some criminals for several months, paying attention to what they take from the store, what they are wearing, what they are driving and any other features to help him catch them. One time, it was a criminals COVID mask that helped officers track him. From the evidence, offiers gain a playbook of what items criminals steal, along with where and when.

This helps in creating a timeline of a suspects behavior and what thefts they are responsible for. Deleon said sometimes when he catches them, he not only has a timeline of all the local places the person allegedly struck  but also places where they stole in other counties.

He said the advantage of working together with Saginaw, Bay, Clare and Isabella counties is that the departments share information on suspected criminals.

We have incidents where we dont know who the person is, but we have a pattern of behavior and their picture, Deleon said.

Among the things police watch for are skip scanning, where criminals scan the cheaper items but don't scan the high-dollar items. He acknowledged that mistakes can be made, but with career criminals the skip is more often intentional.

Criminals also have moves of buying a comforter, trash can or storage tote and lodging a more expensive item, such a laptop, inside - then only scanning the exterior item.

Deleon said addiction is one of the things fueling theft. For example, he said if someone cant afford their drugs, their dealer might give them a grocery list -- i.e., a list of things they can bring in exchange for marijuana, heroin, cocaine, and other substances. Deleon cites home surveillance equipment, televisions and certain styles of clothing as items on drug dealers lists.

Its easy for some people to fall into theft, Deleon said. They wanted (drugs) and didnt have the money to buy it.

Out-of-town culprits play a role in Midland-area shoplifting. Deleon said the density of traffic, how one can easily hide, and the proximity to US-10 play a key role.

A lot of cases we see, the people arent from around here, he said.

He once tracked alleged thieves for months and found out-of-towners as they pulled into Midland. Confronted with much of Deleons evidence against them, they told him they had just gotten into town and hadnt stolen anything yet. That case is in the prosecutors hands.

Deleon said the reasons why people steal run the gamut. It could be a senor citizen stealing arthritis cream, a mother lifting baby items or someone wanting to steal in exchange for drugs. Deleon examines the motive behind the theft. Ultimately, he said, all stealing is illegal. Still, he looks at the mitigating circumstances and tries to get people help. Deleon said the great thing about the community is there are programs to help meet the needs of the poor and those addicted.

Midland Police Department Community Relations Officer Brennon Warren said many people in the community go to these area stores. When shopper see police or a patrol car at one of them, it helps them feel more protected. Also, it demonstrates for criminals that they never know where police are and when they are watching.

We may not catch them that day, that week or in a couple of months, Deleon said. But when we do catch them, they are going to get charged for all the cases on the timeline.

To learn more about Business Watch, contact the Midland Police Departments Community Relations Division for more information, at 989-839-4777.
The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Tereasa Nims.

Sunday, Sept. 11

9:14 p.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a Greendale Township location regarding a horse in the roadway. Deputies checked the area but were unable to locate the horse.

7:49 p.m. - Police responded to the 500 block of Hutchinson Lane for a verbal domestic complaint.

10:08 a.m. - The manager of an adult foster care home called deputies because she needed assistance to check on a 20-year-old male resident who locked himself in his room and made threatening statements. Deputies contacted the man who stated he would not harm himself or others. The manager was satisfied.

9:24 a.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a Lee Township residence regarding a Midland County Probate Court mental health pickup order for a 28-year-old man. Deputies transported the man to MyMichigan Medical Center emergency room for a mental health evaluation without incident.

9:14 a.m. - A 43-year-old woman requested deputies to check the wellbeing of her 50-year-old husband. The complainant believed her husband may be suicidal. Deputies spoke to the man who denied being suicidal.

3:24 p.m. - Police were called to Buttles and Jerome streets for a property damage crash.

3:10 a.m. - A 21-year-old Midland man was cited following a traffic stop in Lee Township for no cycle endorsement. A report was completed and forwarded to the prosecutor for review.

1:52 a.m. - A deputy transported a 22-year-old man from Oil City to the Midland County Jail without incident. The man was arrested in Mount Pleasant on warrants out of Midlands 42nd Circuit Court.

1:02 a.m. - Police responded to the 500 block of Buttles for a carrying a concealed weapon and a traffic offense.

Saturday, Sept. 10

11:53 p.m. - Deputies arrested a 63-year-old man for operating while intoxicated following a traffic stop in Lee Township. The man was transported to Midland County Jail without incident. A report was forwarded to the prosecutor.

11:37 p.m. - A deputy conducted a traffic stop at a Jerome Township location. The deputy spoke with the 35-year-old male driver who was subsequently arrested for operating while intoxicated. The man was lodged at the Midland County Jail. A report was sent to the prosecutor.

9:49 p.m. - A deputy was dispatched to a Lee Township residence for a report of an unknown subject knocking on the front door of the home. The deputy checked the area, but the subject was gone on arrival.

9:32 p.m. - A deputy was dispatched to a Homer Township roadway to check on a woman sitting on the side of the road. The deputy contacted the woman who said she was all set.

9:33 p.m. - A deputy was dispatched to a Lee Township location regarding a report of fireworks being set off in the area. The deputy checked the area; however, no fireworks were located.

8:44 p.m. - Police were called to the 2900 block of Blairmont Drive for a larceny from a vehicle.

7:49 p.m. - A deputy responded to an adult foster care facility in Ingersoll Township regarding a possible assault. There were no injuries, and all parties involved declined to prosecute.

2:50 p.m. - Police responded to the US-10 ramp at Eastman Avenue for a property damage crash.

1:39 p.m. - A deputy was dispatched to a Lee Township residence to assist the Midland Police Department in locating a subject. No contact was made.

12:34 p.m. - The Midland County Sheriff's Office staff participated in a community outreach program with Midland's Open Door at Trinity Lutheran Church.

12:34 p.m. - The Midland County Sheriff's Office staff assisted with traffic and participated in the Village of Sanford's Founders Day Parade.

11:48 a.m. - Police were called to East Buttles and State streets for a property damage crash.

10:32 - Deputies were dispatched to a Porter Township residence to assist Breckenridge Fire Department in extinguishing an illegal burn.

8 a.m. - Police responded to a property damage crash at West Wackerly Road and US-10.

4:22 a.m. - Deputies spoke to a 50-year-old man who stated he was assaulted in Lincoln Township while walking home. The suspects were not known to the victim. This incident is under investigation.

3:09 a.m. - A deputy conducted a traffic stop at a Jerome Township location. The deputy spoke with the 59-year-old male driver who was subsequently arrested for operating while intoxicated. The man was lodged at the Midland County Jail. A report was forwarded to the prosecutor.

12:56 a.m. - Police responded to the area of South Saginaw Road and East Haley Street for a verbal domestic complaint.

Friday, Sept. 9

11:53 - Police were called to the 200 block of West Indian Street for a loud party.

11:38 p.m. - Deputies checked a Lee Township location regarding a woman crying on the ground. The area was checked, but no one was located.

11:35 p.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a Warren Township residence to check the wellbeing of a 29-year-old woman and her children. Deputies spoke with the woman at the residence and everything checked out OK.

11:13 p.m. - A deputy was dispatched to a Jerome Township residence regarding a party with loud music. The 48-year-old male homeowner advised he would keep the party quiet for the rest of the evening.

9:52 p.m. - Deputies spoke to a 47-year-old woman who stated her 50-year-old husband was suicidal. The man was transported to the ER for a mental evaluation. Deputies completed a mental petition.

8:11 p.m. - Deputies responded to a Jasper Township residence regarding an issue over a shared driveway between a 38-year-old man and his 35-year-old sister/neighbor. The deputy provided both parties with advice on how to handle the situation.

8:06 p.m. - A deputy was dispatched to a Jerome Township residence for a report of a loud party. The 48-year-old male homeowner was advised to turn the music down.

8:01 p.m. - Police were called to Vance Road and Isabella Street for a property damage crash.

7:33 p.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a Jerome Township location to assist Midland Police Department in locating two vehicles that were involved in an accident in the City of Midland.

6:14 p.m. - Police were called to East Patrick Road and Lincoln Street for an injury crash.

5:56 p.m. - A deputy was dispatched to the courthouse for medical transport of a male inmate. The deputy stood by while the inmate was evaluated at the hospital. The deputy left after being relieved by corrections staff.

5:18 p.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a Warren Township residence regarding an unwanted person. The 31-year-old caller advised that the unwanted person left and that she no longer needed deputies on scene. The woman requested that a deputy call her for questions she had, and the deputy answered all her questions.

3:03 p.m. - Deputies were called for a possible intoxicated driver driving all over the roadway. A deputy located the vehicle and made a traffic stop after observing a violation. The subject was not intoxicated.

3:29 p.m. - A deputy was sent to a Coleman business for a suspicious semi-trailer. The trailer appeared to have been damaged and is awaiting parts.

2 p.m. - Police were called to the 3800 block of Todd Street to assist the Saginaw Police Department.

1:52 p.m. - Police responded to a property damage crash at Jefferson Avenue and Saginaw Road.

10:06 a.m. - Deputies were given a tip that a 26-year-old man with a warrant out of Isabella County was located at a Warren Township business. Deputies arrived on scene and discovered that the man no longer works there.

9:48 a.m. - Deputies responded to a property damage crash involving two vehicles with no injuries in Midland.

4:55 a.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a Lincoln Township residence for a verbal dispute between a 60-year-old woman and her 67-year-old male roommate. There was no assault, and the parties were separated.
Photo: (Photo : JackieLou DL)

Janelle Wright pleads with the public for the return of the tandem bike that was stolen from her home that she uses with her grandson, who has special needs. Caleb Hooten, 12, who has microcephaly and health issues, rides the bike with his grandmother as the young man is terrified to ride alone.

Due to the little boy's fear of riding a bike, his grandmother thought of purchasing a tandem bike and having him ride behind her to check if he won't be scared. The Ohio grandmother was thrilled that her grandson, Caleb, fell in love with the tandem bike, per 13 ABC.

She bought the tandem bike during the height of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 for $400 from Walmart, and they have it taken to the streets of Toledo ever since.

Read Also: Five-month-Old Baby Became First Human To Receive Partial Heart Transplant

The grandmother said she was about to get the bike before yesterday to pick up Caleb from 7th grade at Ottawa River Elementary but found the beloved bike missing. She first worried about how Caleb would feel but then started getting mad at the person who stole the bike.

Due to the heat, they have not been on the bike since Point Place days in early June.

While Wright appealed for the bike's return, she said she was already saving for a new tandem bike to share with Caleb.

Sacramento boy asks for help to track down his stolen custom bike

Another youngster with special needs had asked for his custom bike to be returned, KCRA 3 reported.

Korrie Erickson, 11, from Sacramento, California, was confused about why people would steal something they don't even need. The Sacramento boy with special needs pleaded to the public to help him locate his stolen specialized therapeutic bike. The bike is a red boy ProSeries Amtyke Therapeutic Tricycle with serial #50FC1416, costing more than $1,000.

The young man was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. April Witt, the boy's mother, said they found out about the disorder when he was one year old. Korrie had a small blood clot in the middle of his brain.

His parents decided to buy the bike because it helps him balance and walk. They dropped it off for him to use for therapy at school.

According to Sacramento Police Department, a report had already been filed regarding the stolen bike, and someone likely stole it between March 9 and March 14, 2022.

Invest in good-quality cable locks for your bikes

Bike Cleveland recommends installing good-quality cable locks to avoid your bike being stolen. Cheaper and older locks can be easily broken even without using any tools. Thus, invest in a good bike lock and make your bike the hardest one on the rack or garage to steal. Also, secure both the wheels and seat. Bikes are usually stolen from garages or shared basements.

Related Article: Florida Man Charged With Stalking 6-Year-old; Threatening He Would Turn the Girl Into a Woman
Photo: (Photo : Photo by Kirsty O'Connor - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's kids remain without titles despite earlier reports that Archie, 3, and Lilibet, 1, would be known as prince and princess following the proclamation and ascension of their grandfather, King Charles III.

Under the new monarch, the Royal Family official site has updated its line of succession, but only the children of Prince William and Catherine, the Prince and Princess of Wales, have titles attached to their names. Before the update, numerous outlets, including CNN, reported that Archie and Lilibet are now to be known as prince and princess.

However, the children of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are still listed as Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor and Miss Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor on the royal's website, realigning with their parents' decision to step back from their royal roles and move to California.

Read Also: White Supremacist Threatened to 'Put Down' Archie, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Son

Palace spokesperson clarifies missing titles for Archie and Lili

On Saturday, following the proclamation, a palace spokesperson acknowledged that only Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis' names had been updated on the official site to reflect their new family name from Cambridge to Wales. This was because the King publicly announced that his heir to the throne, William, would now be known as the Prince of Wales. William's children and his wife will automatically carry his title.

However, the King has not publicly announced any changes to Harry and Meghan's status, except to acknowledge that they will continue their life in California. While numerous reports cited Archie and Lili's automatic entitlement to royal titles, as their grandfather is now the Sovereign, the palace spokesperson said that the updates would follow once there is an order from the King. The King's spokesperson did not say whether Archie and Lilibet are actually entitled to "prince" and "princess," as was reported in the press.

"At the moment, we're focused on the next 10 days and as and when we get information, we will update that website," the spokesperson said, per Elle.

Why the title is a major issue

In March 2021, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, went public with a private family disagreement about Archie's title at birth. Speaking with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan implied that her children with the Duke of Sussex would not be given the titles prince or princess because they were of mixed race, per Marie Claire. Allegedly, Prince Harry and Meghan wanted royal titles for their children to guarantee their security protection.

However, the Palace denied the allegations by stating that it was an issue of royal protocols, not racism. Technically, they could not confer titles to Prince Harry's kids because of his place as the second son of the then heir to the throne. Royal protocols limit such privileges to firstborn children, William and his family.

As the king, Charles may issue a Letters Patent to make the necessary changes, but there are speculations he will still not confer the titles to the children of Harry and Meghan as they gave up their royal duties in 2018. This suggested that the Sussex pair might have been told of this arrangement long before they left their royal life.

Related Article: King Charles Extends Love for Prince William and Harry in First Speech After Mom's Death
Photo: (Photo : Feliphe Schiarolli/Unsplash)

A Florida teacher, who twerked in front of her students at a Christian school event, has landed in jail for engaging in lewd conduct and was reported by a teen student to the authorities.

Julie Kinsey Hoover, 39, was arrested on Tuesday, September 6, based on complaints about an incident at the Point of Grace Christian School in Perry in April 2022. She has paid a bond for her temporary freedom.

A 17-year-old student has accused Hoover of pressuring him to drink alcohol by putting a straw in his mouth. According to WCTV, a school staff brought the alcohol to the high school event because they had planned on drinking after the kids left, but Hoover brought the boy to the back of the stage and tried to give the alcohol.

The teacher was latching onto the teenager the whole night and admitted his discomfort to the authorities. Two people also corroborated the claims of lewd conduct, who said they tried to get in between Hoover and the student a few times to make the teacher stop harassing the teenager.

Read Also: New Jersey Teacher With Curvy Body Denies Rumors Parents Want Her Fired for Her School Outfits

Florida teacher also solicited sex from another student

In a separate incident, Hoover was arrested in June for sending lewd text messages and soliciting sex from another high school senior. The mother reported the teacher to the sheriff after she learned that Hoover was hoping to sneak the student into her house while her husband was away for work.

According to Today, Hoover stayed in jail for at least a night because of this incident. Investigators discovered that the teacher and the teenager started exchanging text messages in March 2022.

Following the latest arrest, Point of Grace Christian School confirmed that Hoover was a former teacher. The school has been cooperating with the investigation and thus cannot provide more details about the incidents to the press out of "respect for the judicial process."

Hoover faces charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a misdemeanor, and soliciting or engaging in lewd conduct against students by an authority figure, a felony.

A trio of Florida teachers made sexual advances on students

Meanwhile, three other teachers were charged for making sexual advances in class in separate incidents in Florida. Rafael Guzman, 37, Andy Barbosa-Morrell, 40, and Carlos Aguirre Rendon, 29, have been in legal hot water for preying on minors, per People.

Guzman admitted to the sex act but has not pleaded guilty to the charges. He is currently out on a $50,000 bond but has been banned from contacting minors or returning to campus.

Barbosa-Morrell was accused of attempting to engage with a student, but his lawyer said these were absurd allegations. Other students corroborated the victim's claims.

On the other hand, Rendon was charged for his lascivious conduct against a 15-year-old student. The girl's parents expressed concern after seeing the teacher with his arm on their daughter at a park. Investigations revealed that the teacher was pursuing a relationship with the teenage girl.

Related Article: Florida Teacher Caught Punching Preschool Student on the Head More than Once
Photo: (Photo : Diego Fabian Parra Pabon)

Police authorities said a Houston dad admitted faking a story that his infant child was inside his car when it was stolen early Thursday morning in the hopes that cops would search for his vehicle quicker, according to Inside Edition.

Anthony Gray, 38, called 911 about 5 a.m. on Thursday, saying his Jeep Cherokee had been stolen from a gas station. According to the surveillance video obtained, Gray pulled over into a gas station at the 22500 block of Imperial Valley that morning, when a red Kia pulled right next to his Jeep. Gray said that men, possibly in their 20s, jumped out, got into his vehicle, and took off with it.

Gray claimed that his infant son was onboard, prompting authorities to take immediate action to search for the child and put out an alert to all local news stations and on social media.

However, after the news broke out across different local stations, a relative of Gray's called the cops and said the child was safe and sound with them. Law enforcement officers found the Jeep Cherokee about 7 a.m. in a house three miles from the gas station.

Read Also: 11-Year-Old Boy Says He's Happy To Be Alive Recalling Moments a Bull Shark Bit Him

"It was a hoax," law enforcement sources say

Maj. Susan Cotter of Harris County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) told a news outlet that Sgt. Ben Beall confirmed, around 10 a.m., that the baby, Noah Gray, was with his grandmother, who lives around a half mile from the gas station, the entire time and was never in the car with the father.

According to reports, Gray eventually admitted that he lied to them about his son being in the Jeep so they would do a faster and more vigorous search for his vehicle. Sheriff Ed Gonzales of the Harris County Sheriff's Office soon confirmed the news on Twitter.

"Update: The six-month-old baby has been located and is safe. An update will be provided shortly at the original location, 22523 Imperial Valley."

The authorities later added that "HCSO Investigators have determined the infant was never with him. The child was at a relative's house, and the male claims he falsified the kidnapping to get a better response to his stolen vehicle. Anthony Ray Gray (38) has been arrested and charged with Filing a False Report."

This was after news came out that the abandoned Jeep was found in the 16400 block of Eton Brook Lane, but the baby remained unaccounted for, Click2Houston reported.

A massive manhunt, including helicopters, conducted for the child

The father seemed anxious as the authorities took immediate action and conducted a massive search, including helicopters, to find the reportedly abducted child.

Gray was out on a bond Friday morning, but it remained unclear whether he had legal representation and if he had entered a plea, per ABC 13.

The neighbors who found and reported the stolen Jeep said they woke up and noticed a car parked, partially blocking their driveway.

Related Article: 17-Year-Old Victim of Sex Trafficking Pleads Guilty To Killing Her Alleged Rapist
Photo: (Photo : Hans)

Shawn Reilly, 56, from Thorhurst Township, Pennsylvania, was swimming with his 21-year-old son near 12th street in Ocean City, New Jersey, when he started struggling and eventually drowned, according to People. They were, unfortunately, in a section of the beach not protected by lifeguards.

Police said Reilly was swept out to sea by strong currents.

The National Weather Service reported a high risk of rip currents Thursday for the entire Jersey Shore coastline, with strong northeast winds creating rough surf conditions at the time, which probably caused trouble for Reilly.

Reilly began struggling in the water at around 12:20 p.m., seeing this, his son attempted to save him, but also got into trouble with the rough surf.

The Ocean City Beach Patrol's Rapid Response Team was alerted at approximately 12:23 p.m. that two bathers were in distress in the surf at an unprotected beach. Lifeguards were able to rescue both of them and brought them to the shore.

Read Also: What To Do if the Child's Immune System Is Weak?

Authorities exerted effort to save the drowning victims

While the son was responsive and eventually survived, Reilly was not. The three lifeguards from Ocean City Beach Patrol performed Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). However, he remained unresponsive; thus, the lifeguards and Ocean City Fire Department decided to rush him to Shore Medical Center in Somers Point, where he was eventually pronounced dead.

Ocean City Beach Patrol Captain Stephen McNamara told NBC 10 that swimming during bad weather is very dangerous as there is a high likelihood of getting drawn out and being held under the water. He suggested swimmers and bathers not venture into the water unless they see a lifeguard manning the area.

McNamara added he believes some people like to take the chance, but he warned that even experienced swimmers struggle, so they should not take the risk when lifeguards are not present or if there is a strong wind blowing from the sea or ocean.

What to know before entering the water?

Before going for a swim, especially in open waters, the first thing to do is to check the weather forecast in your zone. You can ask the hotel or rental agency for the weather and condition of the beach forecasts before deciding to go into the water.

According to the United States Lifesaving Association (USLA), learning how to swim is the best defense you can use against drowning. Bathers must remember that swimming in a pool is not the same as swimming on surf beaches with strong winds and dangerous currents. Changing ocean currents and winds can immediately take all of your energy and strength.

National Weather Service also suggests knowing what the warning flags, usually found near the beach's entrance or near the lifeguard stand, means. A green flag would usually signify that water conditions are safe. It is best to find out what other colors mean.

Related Article: 7-Year-Old Hailed as New Hero After Saving Toddler From Bottom of Swimming Pool
Photo: (Photo : OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

Sheriff's investigators arrested a mother involved in a brawl on her kid's middle school bus in Chester County, South Carolina, according to the Charlotte Observer.

Two students started fighting on the Chester Middle School bus on Friday afternoon, just before the bus arrived at a stop. According to a news release from the sheriff's office, a parent of one of the brawling juveniles stepped onto the bus, causing the situation to escalate.

This prompted the bus driver to drive to the parking lot of the Sheriff's Office and honk the horn to get the attention of law enforcement. Deputies then broke up the children's fight on the bus, but other kids' parents soon arrived in the parking lot, according to sheriff's officials.

Investigators pursuing charges against parent of brawling juvenile

The parents started a fight of their own, and the deputies had to step in again. Fortunately, Chester High School and Chester Middle School staff arrived and helped dismiss the students on the bus to the parents who came to fetch them.

Investigators are now pursuing a charge of interfering with the operation of a school bus against the parent they arrested, while

the other parent involved in the fight was ticketed for disorderly conduct. The sheriff's office has not released the names of the parents involved in the brawl, as the investigation is still ongoing and charges have yet to be filed.

A student on the bus told Charlotte Observer news partner WSOC that the woman boarded the bus and hit two children in the jaw while she protected her kid. Reporter Glenn Counts talked to Jayden Mondragon and Jacob Hall, two students who said they were on the school bus during the fight.

Read Also: Criminal Hackers Escalating Attacks on K-12 Schools and Institutions

Things escalated when the parent boarded the school bus

Hall said he was nervous and concerned because they might come up to the front and start fighting there, too, and that was where he was. Mondragon added that he heard someone screaming in the back, so he looked back. He then saw random girls jumping another girl and punching her.

In a video shared exclusively with Channel 9, a parent was seen boarding the school bus to come to the aid of her kid, who was in a fight.

And that was when Mondragon and Hall said things escalated.

Mondragon narrated the mom stepped out of her vehicle, got inside the bus, and started protecting her child. She then hit two kids in the jaw. Hall said it was concerning because they could end up killing each other by the way they were fighting.

Chester County Schools Superintendent Antwon Sutton issued a statement, thanking sheriff's investigators for their swift action in diffusing the serious situation. Sutton said that school officials would continue to fully cooperate with the sheriff's office during their investigation.

Related Article: Students in Turmoil as Jackson, Mississippi Water Crisis Worsens
Photo: (Photo : John Moore/Getty Images)

A local group in Las Vegas, Nevada is making space for more fathers to become better role models at home and in their community, according to News 3 LV.

Vegas Dads Group get together several times a week, with or without children to support each other and socialize. A special guest joined their play date over the weekend to discuss deeper matters that concern the dads as parents.

Twin brothers Gavin and Carter Zelenka are honest that potty training was a little difficult for the both of them. However, they say that their father was knocked out of the park. The brothers said it has been rough, but their father got through it. They said that he is an awesome dad and they don't know what they would do without him.

Dad shares experience with potty training

With that experience already under his belt, the twin boys' father, Kevin Zelenka, said that he is sharing those skills and more with other members of the Vegas Dads Group. Zelenka said that they talk about everything in the group, either there are problems at home or no problems at all.

Zelenka added that they talk about the good and the bad things in the group. One of their favorite topics is their kids' education, with Zelenka saying that they talked about school before the boys even went to school. One of the common questions in the group is "Where are your kids going to school?"

Zelenka said he created the group because they felt like there was a lack of resources for dads. Zelenka was not alone in thinking that as the Vegas Dads Group has now grown to almost 500 members years later.

The fathers get together several times a week for play dates and nights out. The dads had a special guest lately with Governor Steve Sisolak joining the group for a discussion. Sisolak said there is no guidebook for this sort of thing and it is not written down in a how-to book. He is glad there is a Vegas Dads Group, saying that meeting with a group of guys that could be your peers and exchange ideas with is important. He encourages more people to join the group.

Read Also: Medicaid Extensions Grow for New Mothers in the US

Fathers enjoy discussing topics such as daycare and education

Apart from education, the dads say they enjoy discussing topics like the cost of daycare. The Vegas fathers said that it felt good to have their concerns heard by the governor himself. Vegas Dads Group member James Robertson said that he is going to eventually go into that school district so he's got to think whether he wants to stick around it or leave. He said it was nice to have that conversation with someone that cares and wanted to listen to their concerns.

Vegas Dads Group keeps on growing and for those who want to learn more about this organization, they can click on the link here.

Related Article: Dad of Woman Who Drowned While Livestreaming on Facebook Cried While Watching Video of Her Death
Firing a shot back at AMD official Ryzen reveal, Intel officials said the upcoming 13th gen Raptor Lake desktop CPUs will hit 6GHz. Intels boost clock of 6GHz for its upcoming chip was revealed at a press event at the companys famous Haifa design center in Israel, according to numerous press reports.

Much of the briefing is under embargo for the launch of the CPU later this year, but company officials did confirm some performance claims which was covered by Paul Alcorn of Toms Hardware here. Alcorn reports that the 13th gen Raptor Lake is touting a 15 percent improvement in single-threaded performance and an eye-opening 41 percent increase performance in multi-threaded performance using SPECintrate_2017. Many consumers may not be familiar with the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation, but its a decades-old industry organization where hardware designers themselves agree what the meaning of performance is and to measure it.

Why 6GHz matters

Raptor Lakes 6GHz clock comes two weeks after AMD unveiled that its Ryzen 7000 chips will boost up to 5.7GHz. While both CPUs essentially operate on their own different scales due to power and thermal limits as well as internal core designs, clock speeds still largely influence consumers. And although its just a 5.7 percent difference between AMDs best Ryzen 7000 and Intels best 13th gen chip, a nice round 6GHz figure is going to matter more to consumers. The company also showed off liquid nitrogen overclocks of the Raptor Lake hitting 8GHz but that is far less significant for general consumers.

Although Intel is touting a 6GHz clock for 13th gen, its not clear if that will come immediately or if it will be limited to a far more special edition version of the chip, Alcorn notes. If its the latter, thats less exciting than all top-end chips hitting 6GHz since KS parts usually demand a premium and are generally far more limited in distribution.

Raptor Lake is an emergency edition

Besides its big round numbers, Raptor Lakes very existence was revealed to be an emergency edition, developed as a contingency plan.

According to tweets by analyst Dr. Ian Cutress, Intels Isic Silas said that Raptor Lake only exists because Meteor Lake wasnt going to be ready on time. Raptor Lake development started two years ago.

Meteor Lake is, of course, Intels next-generation CPU that will move the company from its long-held monolithic chips to a Lego-like, multi-chip design. It will be a sea of change for Intel when introduced next year. Such a big change and Intels well-known stumbles in the past is likely why the company decided it needed a contingency plan should Meteor Lake be delayed.

Raptor Lake itself will be largely compatible with existing 12th gen Alder Lake 600-series of motherboard infrastructure, but will also usher in a higher-end and likely tuned for the chips performance 700-series of motherboards. Toms Hardware recently outlined MSI documents for an upcoming Z790 board leaked with DDR4 support.

Raptor Lake is scheduled to launch by the end of this year while AMDs official on date sale for Ryzen 7000 is September 27.
Izwe Savings and Loans has donated medical equipment to the Yabi Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compound at Atwima Kwanwoma district of the Ashanti region.



This forms part of the company's 10th anniversary corporate social responsibility initiatives, for which Izwe set out to improve healthcare and educational edifices in the communities the company operates.



The CHPS Compound serves thousands of residents in communities including Kwanwoma, Atwima Akosomo, Atwima Dida, Techiman Mmerewadwa and Akyeremade. Some of the items donated were delivery beds, autoclave (sterilizing machine), bed sheets, curtains, screens, dressing instruments among others.



The District Director of Health for Atwima Kwanwoma, Ms Comfort Suglo, who received the items on behalf of the facility, expressed appreciation to Izwe for the gesture. Miss Suglo said the items would improve the CHPS Compound and ensure quality healthcare delivery to the people. She was elated that the company presented the items needed most by the facility and expressed her heartfelt appreciation to the team.



We cannot thank you enough for the medical equipment. This is exactly what we needed at this time. Its going to serve many mothers in this community and help ensure quality health service at the Yabi CHPS compound, she said.



Staff of the Yabi CHPS Compound also thanked Izwe Savings and Loans and encouraged the company to continue to support them.





Izwe Savings & Loans Plc is a subsidiary of Izwe Africa which was originally founded in South Africa in 2004 with its headquarters in Mauritius, and subsidiaries in Kenya and Zambia. Izwe has for the last 10 years, worked towards uplifting people for the greater good of the country.The core of its mandate is improving lives and delivering social upliftment in Ghana while generating solid financial returns through innovative financial solutions and services. Izwe strives to unlock potential by fueling developmental aspirations in Ghana, aimed at real community and economic development.Izwe has dedicated GHS150m to support Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) this year and ready to scale up where needed. If you are an SME in need of financial assistance, text SME to 4993 and lets talk business.

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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Former Ashanti Regional Director of Ghana Audit Service has reportedly been burnt to death following a fire incident that swept his house.



Stephen Dapaah, 71, had his 5 bedroom house gutted by fire at Aburaso in the Ashanti Region this dawn.



The incident which occurred 1am on Saturday also left five others with serious injuries.



According to information, the victim got trapped in one of the rooms when the fire started.



His charred body was found by personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) after the incident.



The GNFS said it has initiated investigation to ascertain the cause of the fire.



Meanwhile, the injured are receiving treatment at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.



The body has also been deposited at the morgue of the aforementioned health facility.

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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A private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu has asked the Attorney General to hire more lawyers for prosecution.



He said most of the prosecutors in the Attorney Generals department are not lawyers hence, the difficulties in securing convictions.



Mr Kpebu said these on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday September 10 while commenting on the arrest of Chinese galamsey queen Aisah Huang.



Most of the prosecutors are not lawyers, we need to make the law better, he said.



He added Subsequently, we should know how to refine the law in terms of fine when the galamsey operators are picked up.



For his part, the Director, Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research, Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, Professor Kwesi Aning, said the offence of Aisha Huang should be elevated to a treasonable action.



Prof Aning also said the cartel behind her, including the Ghanaians involved in the network should be tackled as well.



This womans danger to us needs to be elevated so that we can use the law as much as possible, he said on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday September 10.



Her action  should be elevated to treasonable act. Let us not rush to quickly try Aisha Huang.



It is not only Aisha, let us identify Ghanaians who have facilitated her criminal enterprise.

Source: 3news









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The Deputy Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Honourable Ama Pomaa Boateng, has lauded Vodafone Ghana for supporting the youth in developing core digital skills that add value to their careers and ventures.



The Deputy Minister commended the telecommunications network during her opening remarks at the Vodafone Skills Fair held on 1st September 2022. The Minister added that she was especially impressed with Vodafones support for the governments agenda of driving digital growth among the youth.



According to her, Vodafone Ghana has shown this commitment over the years by partnering with the Ministry to embark on various initiatives such as the Girls in ICT programme, the Tertiary Digital Innovation programme, and others.



While applauding Vodafone for hosting the Skills Fair, she urged the youth to take advantage of the platform to gain digital skills that will prepare them for future challenges.



We thank you, Vodafone Ghana, for your support over the years. We encourage you, the youth, to take up this space. Pay attention, ask questions, and be relevant. Thank you, Vodafone Ghana, for supporting our youth, making them digital citizens, and making them secure online, she added.



The Vodafone Skills Fair is a flagship corporate social responsibility programme championed by Vodafone. It creates a platform for young Ghanaians to connect with experienced professionals who have built enviable careers in their respective fields.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Ghanas leadership in the rule of law on the African continent has been acknowledged by the newly appointed Attorney-General of the United Kingdom, Michael Ellis.



Speaking at a meeting with Ghanas Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, in his office at the House of Commons in London, UK, last Thursday, Mr Ellis also praised Ghana for the strength of its justice system.



Mr Dame had been the guest of Cambridge University for its 39th Annual Symposium on Economic Crime, at which he had given an address on September 5, 2022.



It was the first official meeting Mr Ellis, who had been appointed as Attorney-General by the new Prime Minister a day before, held with any guest.



The two Attorneys-General discussed issues bordering on economic crimes, reforms of the criminal justice system to achieve speedy and efficient delivery of justice, the application of the death penalty, the roles of their offices in the drafting of legislation in their respective countries, as well as other matters of mutual concern to Ghana and the UK.



Mr Ellis acknowledged efforts by Ghana to reform its criminal jurisprudence through the introduction of plea bargaining, a move driven by the efforts of the Attorney-General.



He expressed the hope that the reform would be implemented efficiently to achieve the expected goals.



The UK Attorney-General expressed his deep appreciation for the position taken by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in the Russia-Ukraine war.



Describing the Presidents position as exemplary, he said it underscored the status of Ghana as a strong voice on global issues.



Mr Dame expressed his appreciation for being the first guest of the UK Attorney-General on his first full day at work.



He underscored the need for closer cooperation between his office and that of the UK Attorney-General since the two outfits performed similar and important roles in the administration of justice in their jurisdictions, which had similar legal systems.



Legal aid



Mr Dame informed the UK Attorney-General of his intention to strengthen legal aid as a vehicle to boost access to justice and requested for collaboration from his counterpart in that regard.



He also indicated that there was a huge discontent in Ghana for trials with juries, noting that he was seriously considering sponsoring a bill in Parliament to scrap the jury trial system.



Mr Ellis expressed his willingness to assist in any way possible, as a strong justice system was fundamental to every facet of the life of every nation.

Source: Graphiconline









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Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has given a hint of his intention to sponsor a bill to abolish one of the bulwarks of the countrys legal system, the jury trial.



According to him, scrapping the system of trial by jury is a top priority for most Ghanaians, who have expressed discontent about centuries-old system right to be tried by ones peers, while yearning to adopt the French system of justice by a judge and a couple of court-appointed experts.



At a meeting with the newly appointed Attorney General of the United Kingdom, Michael Ellis on September 8, 2022, at his office in the House of Commons, Mr. Dame also informed his host of his intentions to strengthen legal aid as a vehicle for boosting access to justice.



He consequently requested for collaboration with his counterpart in this regard, while expressing his appreciation for being the first guest of the Attorney General of England and Wales on his first full day at work.



He underscored the need for closer cooperation between his office and the office of the AG in the UK, pointing out that the two outfits perform similar and important roles in the administration of justice in their jurisdictions with similar legal systems.



The UK AG also expressed his willingness to assist his counterpart in any way possible, noting that a strong justice system is fundamental to every facet of the life of every nation.



He acknowledged Ghanas leadership in the rule of law on the African continent and the strength of its justice system.



Michael Ellis expressed appreciation for the position taken by President Akufo-Addo in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.



For him, this is exemplary and underscored the status of Ghana as a strong voice on global issues.



Mr. Ellis again recognised efforts by Ghana to reform its criminal jurisprudence through the introduction of plea bargaining, pursuant to the efforts of Mr. Dame, hoping that it would be implemented efficiently so as to achieve the desired results.



The discussions centred on a number of issues, including economic crime, criminal justice reform to achieve speedy and efficient delivery of justice, application of the death penalty, and the roles of their offices in the drafting of legislation in their respective countries.



Present at the meeting were the UK High Commissioner to Ghana, Harriet Thompson and her Ghanaian counterpart, Paapa Owusu-Ankomah.



Mr. Dame was a guest of Cambridge Universitys 39th Annual Symposium on Economic Crime held on September 5, 2022.



The meeting with Mr. Dame happened to be the first official meeting with any guest for the Rt Hon Michael Ellis QC, who had been appointed as Attorney General by the new Prime Minister only a day before.

Source: dailyguidenetwork.com









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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is embarking on a two-day working visit to the Volta Region today.



The President is scheduled to commission projects, inspect ongoing ones and confer with traditional leaders of the area during the two-day working visit from Monday, September 12, 2022, to Tuesday, September 13, 2022.



On Monday, President Akufo-Addo will attend the opening of the Ghana Bar Association Conference in Ho, followed by an interview session on Stone City Radio. He will then depart to Kpeve to inspect the progress of work on the Eastern Corridor Road and the Agenda 111 Hospital Project, both in South Dayi Constituency.



In Kpando, the President will call on the Chief of the Akpini Traditional Area and inspect the construction of the Steel Bridge to end the days schedule.



The second day of the tour will begin with a visit to the 66 Artillery Regiment Military Barracks in Ho and an inspection of the Ghana Secondary Cities Support programme at the Ho Central Market.



President Akufo-Addo will then depart to Aflao to Commission the Aflao Community Day School, in the Ketu South constituency.



He will proceed to the North Tongu constituency to commission the North Tongu District Magistrate Court, after a courtesy call on the Paramount Chief of the Battor Traditional Area, to climax the Presidents visit to the region.

Source: dailyguidenetwork.com









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Former Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayensuano constituency, Samuel Ayeh-Paye says Aisha Huang must face the full rigors of Ghana's laws without mercy or favor.



He noted that Aisha Huang's deportation may not have followed due process, hence giving her the leeway to return to Ghana.



Until recently news broke out about the resurface of the galamsey queen, Ghanaians were living under the impression that she had been deported to China but the reality was she was residing in the Ashanti Region, Ghana, where she continued her illegal mining activities.



Aisha Huang was arrested again together with three accomplices; Johng Li Hua, Huang Jei and Huaid Hai Hun and has been slapped with two charges which are mining without licence, engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals without a valid licence.



Speaking on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" morning show, Samuel Ayeh-Paye advised that Aisha Huang should be imprisoned when found guilty of the charges.



"If she has to be sent to prison, we must do it. If she has to be deported again for some reason, let's do the necessary requirements; her finger prints, passport and so forth, the things that will make it difficult for her come back to the country."





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has indicated in new information he shared on his Facebook page, that the Government of Ghana had little communication with its counterparts in China regarding issues on Aisha Huang, the infamous Chinese 'galamsey' kingpin.



According to what he described as 'explosive findings,' the MP said while a picture was painted to Ghanaians that the Government of Ghana constantly stayed in touch with its counterparts in China, that was not exactly the case.



In an itemized post, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa also called for a full-scale investigation into unraveling the identities of Aisha Huang's collaborators in the government.



He added that contrary to claims by the former Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Maafo, that the Chinese government pleaded with its counterparts in Ghana not to prosecute Aisha Huang, no such evidence exists.



The MP further stated that China was only informed of Aisha Huang's 'deportation' two days after she'd been sent away.



Below is the list of four things the MP stated in his post:



1) It has emerged that Aisha Huang was not escorted during her supposed deportation as international standard practice requires during such high profile deportations;



2) Aisha Huang was not physically handed over to relevant or competent Chinese authorities when she allegedly landed in China which is inconsistent with deportation protocols;



3) Chinese officials had no prior communication and were only informed by the Ghanaian government TWO DAYS AFTER Aisha Huang's so-called deportation making it difficult for her to be tracked;



4) There is no available credible evidence suggesting that the Chinese government at any time appealed to their Ghanaian counterparts not to prosecute Aisha Huang or making her freedom a precondition for bilateral trade relations as former Senior Minister Yaw Osafo-Maafo recklessly claimed.



The morbid fear of Aisha Huang by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government cannot be opportunistically blamed on others. When Tanzania jailed Chinese Ivory Queen, Yang Fenglan in February 2019 for 15 years, it didn't and hasn't affected cordial China-Tanzania bilateral relations.



Ghana needs an immediate full-scale independent enquiry to unravel this mystery and to identify Aisha Huang's collaborators in high places for swift sanctions.















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Samuel Ayeh-Paye, a former Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayensuano constituency, has established his stance on a 'shoot to kill' order for illegal miners as solution to illegal mining (galamsey) menace in Ghana.



Galamsey has been outlawed in the country and the fight continues with the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources and security operatives going to the mining sites to discourage this practice.



In order to clamp down on the menace, there are suggestions for government to adopt a shoot-to-kill approach to deter the galamseyers.



On Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo' programme morning show, former Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayensuano constituency, Samuel Ayeh-Paye was asked to give his take on this proposal.



In his submission, he called on the government to use necessary force to end the illegal mining.



Samuel Ayeh-Paye likened the illegal miners to armed robbers and stressed he sees nothing wrong with shooting armed robbers.



"When you go to the galamsey site, they are more or less armed robbers because you will meet them holding guns . . . and guiding the person who is doing the illegal activity. Our laws say that if you use a gun or ammunition to protect someone or swindle someone of the person's property, you are an armed robber. So, you are an armed robber if you are protecting a thief to steal government's property. If you are going to arrest an armed robber and he builds a resistance to endanger your life, you shoot to kill the armed robber," he explained.





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The funeral of the late Queen Elizabeth II has been scheduled for Monday, September 19, 2022.



Ahead of the funeral, the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office has issued strict protocols for attending foreign heads of state and officials.



According to multiple reports by UK media, the funeral for attending foreign officials is by strict invitation with numbers limited to a head of state and their spouse or a senior government official in their stead.



Multiple and comprehensive layers of security will be in place across London and at all the official venues used for the state funeral and associated events, portions of FCDO documents quoted by the press state.



As part of the arrangements, the office has also warned foreign leaders to if possible, arrive in the UK onboard commercial flights as Londons Heathrow Airport will be closed to private jets.





As part of the arrangements, heads of state have been asked to gather at a site in West London where they will be bussed to Westminster Abbey for the funeral. The heads of state will be returned to the same location for their departure after the funeral.



The FCDO recommended that arriving heads of state fly to less busy airports around London and further warned that the use of helicopters to transfer from airports to other venues is banned due to the expected congestion in the regions airspace.



The directive implies that foreign heads of state aside from being unable to fly to London in their private jets will not be able to use their official cars for the funeral.



Westminster Abbey where the Queens funeral will be held has an official capacity of 2,200 and is expected to be overfilled on the day of the funeral, a situation which has informed the decision to admit a limited number of foreign officials.



The FCDO in its protocol document said it regrets that, because of limited space at the state funeral service and associated events, no other members of the principal guests family, staff or entourage may be admitted.



Meanwhile, opposition Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has described the directive as welcoming and timely to many Ghanaians.



The MP has for several months been monitoring and reporting on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addos foreign travels.



Mr Ablakwa has accused the president of living a profligate lifestyle with his use of expensive chartered private jets for foreign travels instead of the states presidential jet.















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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"Ghana Beyond Aid' to my mind describes a Ghana that is able to reduce imports through industrialization. The slogan can be literally explained in its pure literal discourse to mean Ghana doesnt want help in any form.



Clearly focusing on the literal meaning limits ones ability to appreciate its deep call to revolutionized the fundamental structures of our economy through digitalization, servant leadership and industrialization.



Remember, religion teaches us of God is the ONLY one who never and would never need help of any kind. Thus, Ghana not being God would need aid! But for a leader to declare that a country doesnt need aid; be sure he has the human resources and natural resources to change the fundamental structures of his country.



This the leader does through strategic appointments of resourceful and visionary persons into institutions that has a role of leveraging the untapped natural resources of the country.



Admittedly, Alhaji Farouk Aliu Mahamas appointment to be the second Board Chairman of Ghana Integrated Iron and Steel Development Corporation (GIISDEC) was an appropriate, strategic and practical example of the creation of confluence of vision and mission.



Alhaji Farouks role of being the highest technical powerful person certainly has a bearing in the operationalization of the core mandate of the corporations activities whilst visible results are being felt every single day.



Just as Yendi is fortunate to have him as Member of Parliament; GIISDEC is not only fortunate but graciously lucky to have him lead the charge!



GIISDEC was established in March 2019 by an act of Parliament (Act 988). The vision of the corporation is to become a catalyst for Ghanas accelerated industrialization agenda; this vision is perfectly tied nod with the mission of the grandchild of Imoro Egala, former foreign minister of the First Republic between 1960 and 1961; Alhaji Farouk Aliu Mahama. The young energetic man with an innate mechanism of turning things around!



Yes, the president called on him to provide leadership as leadership changes everything! Leadership cannot be taught; it is an inborn quality which is always inherited. Do you doubt me? Just a whisper, his father was the Vice President of Ghana (2000 to 2008). You get it? The legacy of service continues!



GIISDECs vision and mission would lead to the exploration of Iron Ore deposits at Sheini, Opun-Mansi, Akpafu and Pudo in different regions of Ghana. Being the second Board Chairman of the Corporation means; leading the overall strategic matters, overseeing the groups business and setting high governance standards.



In all these vex matters lies the mating of a self-mission of an individual leading a group and the vision of a corporation: Alhaji Farouk Aliu Mahamas mission of unearthing opportunities to accelerate development and turn the tide of poverty for an improved society and humanity at large certainly resonates with the vision of the corporation he chairs.



This mission clearly manifests in the corporations people-centered activities as seen in various dialogue and community engagements being led by no other person but the board chairman himself despite his preoccupied schedules.



As an action-oriented Board Chairman, GIISDEC has already engage a number of investors with one investor said to establish $1 billion iron and steel industry plant in Ghana. When this singular investment is carried out, the fundamental indicator of cedi depreciation can be reduced drastically as the importation of iron and steel would be reduced significantly.



Thus, Ghanas agenda on industrialization which requires high demand for iron and steel would be met domestically with no foreign aid. Strategically, the board chairman also led a delegation to B5 company, one of the largest irons and steel company trading in iron and steel products not only in Ghana but also all over the West African countries.



This was a strategic move birthed and championed by the board chair who understands the local content management ecosystems in corporate governance.



Undoubtedly, GIISDEC is moving at a supersonic speed engineered by a Board Chairman whose mission fell in love with a corporate vision; consummated and sooner than later the offspring of a billion-dollar iron and steel plant will be birthed. The country shall smile and thank the son of Dagbon, Alhaji Farouk Aliu Mahama for a job well done!!!

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Moderator of the Global Evangelical Church, the Rt. Rev. Prosper Samuel Dzomeku, has assured Ghanaians not to give up in the face of the rising cost of living but to remain focused on God for the supply of their needs.



To that end, he called on every Ghanaian, irrespective of their faith, ethnicity or social status to remain faithful to their individual works and God will reward their efforts with success.



The Moderator was speaking at the Triennial National Rally of the National Church Choirs Union of the Global Evangelical Church.



He spoke on the theme: The Chorister as a faithful Steward, the Lord is your Provider.



He said, We are all faced with numerous challenges now. Nobody should look up to any human being, church, or elsewhere for solutions to our problems. But I can assure you that, if we all remain faithful in our duties, God will turn our individual and national statuses around.



The Rt. Rev. Dzomeku commended the Choristers for their immeasurable and valuable contributions towards the growth of the church.



He said God is aware of their individual challenges as well.



Before humans, people will laugh at you because they might think you are wasting time. You do not dress like the way others dress and expose their bodies. But dont worry, he is Jehovah Jireh, God our provider. He will certainly provide all your needs, he said.



The Moderator called on them to desist from immoral acts, hatred and unfaithfulness in tithe payments.



He encouraged them to rather dedicate themselves and to use their ministry to bring others to the saving knowledge of Christ.



The Rev. Dr. Yohanes Ahiabu, the Synod Clerk, who was the main speaker at the Rally appealed to the Church Choir Members to perform their roles in purity and holiness in order to attract the blessings of the Lord.



He also urged them to remain faithful and resolute in all their Christian life in general and singing life in particular in order to bring all to the saving knowledge of God and also receive the crown of glory at the end of time.



Mr. Ferdinand Abodakpi, the National President of the National Church Choirs Union expressed gratitude to the Church leadership and the entire membership of the Union for re-electing them for another tenure of four years.



The other National Executives include Presbyter Samuel Kwadzo, Vice President, Mr. Richard Addo, Secretary, Mr. Gladstone Kwagbela, Assistant Secretary, Mr. William Dumenya, Financial Secretary, Mr. Ephraim Tsifodze, Treasurer, Mrs. Dzifa Adzorlolo, Mother, Mad. Joyce Buamah, Assistant Mother, Mr. Isaac Tiase- Organising Secretary, Mr. Gustav Dzisah, Assistant. Organizing Secretary, Mr. William Tamekloe, Choirmaster, Mr. Shine Nuworti, Assistant Choirmaster, Rev. Nelson Nyavor Bonsi, Coordinator and Presbyter Timothy Nortsu, Advisor.



The programme was attended by some high-profile personalities of the church including Mrs. Dieu Donnee Joyce Ahiabor, the Female Presbyter Executive of the Church, Mrs. Fortune Dzomeku, wife of the Moderator, Mrs. Joyce Ahiabu, wife of the Synod Clerk, Rev. Eric Faakor Avah, Director of Church Life and Nurture, Rev. Mawuli Dzidula Agudogo and some pastors of the Church.





Source: GNA









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Residents of Ridge, a suburb in Sunyani, on Thursday, August 25, 2022, woke up to witness an operation by armed policemen who had surrounded the house of a businessman in search of two children aged four and 18 months.



The businessman, Mr Sam Bennet, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Eusbett Hotel in Sunyani, is the maternal grandfather of the two children.



The children are at the centre of a tussle over which of their parents is entitled to their custody after separation.



The couple, Ms Ernestina Angela Owusuaa Bennet and Mr Eric Asante who lived in the United Kingdom (UK) are now separated after some marital misunderstanding.

When Miss Bennet relocated to Ghana, she brought the two children with her, and their custody has since become a tussle between the couple.



The matter is currently before a Sunyani High Court, but Mr Asante is said to have also sent the matter to a court in the United Kingdom which granted him the custody of the children.

To execute the order, Mr Asante has filed a motion at the Tema High Court while lawyers of Miss Bennet have also filed a stay of execution against the order which is expected to be heard on Friday, September 23, 2022.



Search



However, Mr Bennet told The Mirror that a bailiff from the Kumasi High Court had since been coming to his house with armed policemen in search of the two children without a warrant from the court.



He said on Thursday, August 25, 2022, the bailiff who was accompanied by about 40 policemen was at his residence and even though he had no warrant, I allowed him to search my house because of the sheer number of policemen who accompanied him.



Not satisfied with the result of their search in my house, they also searched my hotel, Eusbett Hotel which is adjacent to my house, Mr Bennet stated.



Bailiff



According to him, the bailiff, whom he identified as Jude Owusu, had come to his residence four times in a bid to search for the two children.



Today, they were here at about 4.30 a.m. during which they surrounded my house and blocked all access roads until 11 a.m, he explained.



I feel traumatized and insecure and call on both parties in this matter to allow the rule of law to take its course in this matter, he stated.



He called on the police to follow due process in the matter adding that since the matter was before a court of competent jurisdiction, they should stop the harassment and allow the court to come out with its ruling before embarking on any venture.







Source: graphic.com.gh









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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A new education reform outline by the Ministry of Education, Ghana Education Service and National Council for Curriculum Assessment has emerged on social media.



Per the document, all students in JHS 1 - SHS 1 shall run a Common Core Programme (CCP), which comprises 9 subjects; namely - Maths, Languages, Science, RME (standalone subject), Physical and Health Education (not examinable), Career Technology, Social Studies, Computing and Creative Arts and Design.



Furthermore, WASSCE will be replaced by a university entrance exam at SHS 3 while Students after successful completion of SHS 3 will be rewarded a Diploma Certificate instead of a WASSCE certificate.



Meanwhile, the Education Ministry is yet to release an official statement on this matter.



Below is a post on the new curriculum





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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NIGERIA: A retired Deputy Superintendent of Police identified as Gamy Ugwu was paraded after he was allegedly caught having sexual intercourse with a mentally-ill girl in Enugu-Ezike in Igbo Eze North local government area of Enugu State.



Chijinkem Ugwuanyi, who disclosed this via Facebook on Monday, September 12, said the incident happened in Amufie community.



"A Retired Deputy Superintendent Of Police from Amufie named Gamy Ugwu was caught having affair with an imbecile Called Ugo Nwa Eke in Amufie Community." he wrote.



Members of the community, Eze Hillary Oluchukwu and Nnaemeka Omeh, also confirmed the incident on Sunday.



"The said man in the pictures raped/slept with a mad woman beside him. The man is a retired police officer in Umuopeke." one said.













Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Former Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister under the erstwhile NDC administration, Joseph Yamin, has cautioned the government to be transparent in handling the issue of Aisha Huang.



He claimed the most talked about Chinese national is not only into illegal mining but a notorious criminal.



Joseph Yamin who was discussing issues relating to Aisha Huang also made a wild allegation of her connection to high-profile New Patriotic Party (NPP) members.



They know themselves, and I will name them, he said on NEAT FMs morning show, 'Ghana Montie'.



According to Joseph Yamin, Aisha Huang is also a sponsor of the ruling NPP, a top-secret he said he will bring full details soon.



She mobilized funds for the NPP. She is so connected to the NPP circles and has a special role she plays within the party, he emphatically said.



The galamsey queen was found guilty of charges against her with her involvement in illegal mining, locally called 'galamsey', and expatriated to China, but the woman reportedly re-entered Ghana in January this year.



She came through the Togo border under a new identity, and in February, 2022 had her Ghana Card (non-citizen) renewed in Tamale in the Northern Region, then proceeded to Kumasi in the Ashanti Region to continue her illegal activities.



Aisha Huang has been re-arrested and remanded into Police custody following a court order.



Her case is also being pursued by the Attorney-General (A-G) as a tweet from the A-G's office indicated that, "the Attorney-General has called for the new docket on En Huang a.k.a Aisha, regarding offences she is suspected to have recently committed. The A-G will also re-initiate prosecution in respect of the old offences for which she was standing trial before her deportation in 2018".

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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Seasoned Journalist, Kwesi Pratt Jnr. has reiterated his position on Ghana seeking financial help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).



Ghana seeks IMF bailout of US$3 billion to help the country navigate through her economic crisis resulting from the adverse effects of the deadly coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.



President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Monday, 5th September 2022, met with the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, in Rotterdam, Netherlands.



The IMF boss expressed the institution's determination to work with government and the Ministry of Finance and ensure an agreement before the end of the year.



We have started very constructive discussions already and to the people of Ghana, like everybody on this planet, you have been hurt by exogenous shocks.



We have to support Ghana because your strength contributes to the strength of your neighbours; it contributes to a stronger world, Kristalina Georgieva pledged.



But Mr. Pratt maintains his position that IMF deal is not, has not and will never be a good deal for the country in terms of development and progress.



He replied; "The President said that our proposal to the IMF is ready. As at that time, it had not been submitted. As at the time of the closed-door meeting, that proposal has not been submitted . . . So, what is basis for the IMF Managing Director's statement that the deal will be finalized by December?"



He further alluded to the stringent conditions that accompany the IMF help to the country which do not benefit the citizenry.



"We have gone to the IMF for seventeen (17) times and it didn't help us. What's the assurance that going for the 18th time will help us?", he questioned.



He made these submissions on Friday's edition of "Kokrokoo" on Peace FM.





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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Civil Society activist in Ghana, Dr Steve Manteaw has criticized comments by the Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgina that Ghanas economic challenges are not due to bad policies.



According to the IMF boss, Ghanas prevailing weak economic conditions are rather due to shocks from the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian-Ukraine war.



Like everybody on this planet you have been hurt by exogenous shocks. First the pandemic, then Russia-Ukraine. And then we need to realise is not because of bad policies in the country, but because of this combination of shocks, she added.



But in a Facebook post, Dr Manteaw said: "Let's wait till the NPP leaves office, and we will hear the true IMF verdict on the government's management of the economy. Those who have followed the IMF and the World Bank for sometime now, know what I'm talking about".

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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Togbe Afede XIV, the Agbogbomefia Paramount Chief of Asogli State, has bemoaned the plundering of the nations resources by its duty-bearers, calling on them to consider the nations present economic status and avoid excessive spending to protect the public purse.



He said although the founding fathers and the present constitution directed leadership to secure progress and development, the high living cost and sinking economy had become the nations portion.



Addressing the grand durbar of the Asogli Yam Festival on Saturday, Togbe Afede, who is also an investment accountant, said the nation would require truthful leadership to consolidate the tenets of governance.



He called on leaders to avoid what he called, deceit but admit the reality and show concern for the plight of the people.



Those who fought for our independence thought we were going to rule ourselves, but the dream of self-governance has eluded us. We have not been able to deliver as our people wanted.



The traditional ruler, also the executive chairman of World Trade Centre, Accra, lamented how political leadership continued to be institutionalised as an avenue for personal gain.



He said: Leaders are concerned about politics and not development. They are only concerned about how to secure and retain power, and not the development of the nation. The money outlook is affecting leadership and has made governance a matter of life and death.



Everyone is seeking to rob the nations resources, and those who steal the nations wealth cannot bring development. It is very challenging, and we must fight against it.



Stealing the nations money has become part of us. People do not take national projects seriously.



Togbe mentioned the payment of gratuitous emoluments and the present procurement regimes, all which he said milked the nation and should be reconsidered.



He said the citizenry had a greater role to play in realising the needed development and called for the commitment to unity and hard work, which he said was, very important.



Togbe Afede said, the theme for the festival, Lets eschew greed and corruption, would help deliberate on the nations current disposition.



An anti-corruption day celebration, youth empowerment forum, and a summit of chiefs, counts among a novelty introduced as the festival returned from a three-year break.



Mr John Dramani Mahama, former President, who graced the durbar, commended Togbe Afede for rebranding the festival and giving it an international appeal.



There was a display of Asogli culture at the festival, and the festival brought together the various divisions in a mega procession that emptied the Ho community into Jubilee Park.



Togbe Adzi Lakle Howusu, Awafiaga, (warrior division) of Asogli State, in a welcome address, recounted the struggles to establish the State, and appealed to all to study history in order to help sustain peace and unity.



Sugandh Rajaram, Indian High Commissioner, congratulated the friendly people of Asogli, and commended the chiefs for enforcing peace and unity.



He said agricultural and rural activities remained common grounds for both Ghana and India and assured the traditional rulers that technology exchanges would continue for mutual benefits in the areas of education, renewable energy and water supply among others.

Source: GNA









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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Ghanaian-born US-based musician, Richmond Kyei Manu, popularly known as CashBiggy, is set to release his maiden song titled Obiara Difor.



The talented hiplife musician seeks to use his maiden work which translates in English as Everyone is Guilty to send a strong message to all Ghanaians.



The three-minute music is scheduled to be released on Thursday, September 15.



The Pee GH produced-craft seeks to inspire patriotism amongst the populace.



While chastising leaders, CashBiggy seeks to communicate to everyone to chip in their quota for the country to be transformed.



The Ghanaian music industry is vibrant and CashBiggy promises to carve an exceptional niche that will boost his music craft beyond the borders of Ghana.



Nonetheless, CashBiggy is a Ghanaian-born US-based afrobeat artiste passionate about his roots.



Born and raised in Ghana, Richmond Kyei Manu, loved music and practiced often.



He moved to the United State of America after graduating from Asanteman Senior High School and has worked his way to become President of Richma Logistics, a trucking company based in US.



But since his first love is music, he has decided to revisit his craft.



CashBiggy seeks to use his talent to raise self-awareness and ensure patriotism is reinstated in the country.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Actors Eddie Redmayne, left, as Charlie Cullen and Jessica Chastain as Amy Loughren are shown in this handout image provided by Netflix. Redmayne and Chastain star in "The Good Nurse," about a woman who becomes suspicious that her colleague is killing off patients. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Netflix-JoJo Whilden **MANDATORY CREDIT**
Respiratory therapist Alisha Clark, left, and registered nurse Joy Turner take a rest in the employee break room in the intensive care unit at the Humber River Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on Tuesday, January 25, 2022. Groups representing thousands of public sector workers are taking the Ontario government to court over a law that caps wages.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
"Rvrruner" Takes Down WSOP.com Bracelet Event #2: $500 Monster Stack ($64,590)

September 12, 2022 Matt Hansen Live Reporting Executive

Event #2: $500 Monster Stack on WSOP.com came to an end after 11 hours of play and "Rvrruner" is the champion. The second tournament of the opening weekend kicked off a series of 33 events that will take place over the next five weeks for players in Nevada and New Jersey.

The event drew a field of 508 players that tossed in an additional 214 rebuys to generate a prize pool of $324,900. "Rvrruner" defeated Aditya "Roronoa" Sadhu in heads-up play to win $64,590 and the WSOP gold bracelet.

Lily "theslimshady" Newhouse finished in third, while Guy "PhilLaak" Dunlap and Andrew "KittyXoXo" Gonder round out the top five.

Event #2: $500 Monster Stack Final Table Results

Rank Player Country Prize 1 "Rvrruner" United States $64,590 2 Aditya "Roronoa" Sadhu United States $39,930 3 Lily "theslimshady" Newhouse United States $27,041 4 Guy "PhilLaak" Dunlap United States $19,851 5 Andrew "KittyXoXo" Gonder United States $14,296 6 David "dbaba" Baba Canada $10,462 7 Evan "RaiseOrDie" Pantano United States $7,765 8 "owned" United States $5,848 9 Robert "PokerDog18" Campbell Australia $4,484

Final Table Action

Several bracelet winners made a run to the money stages but bowed out before the final table, including Nick "CashUsKlay" Schulman, Robert "NeverEven" Peacock, Giuseppe "Pantalette" Pantaleo, Brett "Metanemesis" Apter, and Ian "APokerJoker2" Steinman.

It was two-time bracelet winner and 2019 WSOP Player of the Year Campbell that hit the rail first to kick off the final table. Campbell got it in with pocket aces, but eventual winner "Rvrruner" cracked them with a straight that was made from a five-two starting hand. Close behind in eighth was "owned", who was picked off by "Rvrruner" after an untimely bluff.

Evan "RaiseOrDie" Pantano was out in seventh after he picked up pocket aces and jammed after the flop. Dunlap called with a flush draw and improved to crack the best hand. David "dbaba" Baba was eliminated soon after in sixth when he shoved with eights but ran into the pocket nines of Rvrruner.

Dunlap continued to cause damage at the final table with the elimination of Gonder in fifth place. Gonder got it all in with ace-two, but Dunlap was waiting with ace-jack to send the tournament to four-handed play. However, Dunlap was next to go when his king-jack couldnt improve against the ace-eight of Sadhu.

Three-handed play was over quickly when Newhouse got it in with king-seven from the short stack, but Rvrruner had pocket aces to eliminate her in third place.

Heads-up play started out with both Sadhu and "Rvrruner" relatively equal in stack size, but "Rvrruner" won a series of early hands to pull away. Sadhu theatened to bring the match back to even for a brief moment, but he fell back just as soon and "Rvrruner" kept the pressure on. The big moment came when Sadhu shoved with pocket fives and "Rvrruner" made a flush on the river to seal the victory.

Be sure to keep it with PokerNews throughout the week for more coverage of the WSOP.com bracelet series.

Sharelines Check out the latest results from Event #2: $500 Monster Stack on WSOP.com in Nevada and New Jersey
Swedes Shine in the PartyPoker MILLIONS Online Main Events; Leonard Captures Gold

September 12, 2022 Matthew Pitt Editor

The second of six MILLIONS Online Main Event and Mini Main Event flights took place at PartyPoker on September 10, and Swedish players topped the chip counts in both. The legendary figure of Simon Mattsson (lead image) came out on top in the $3,200 buy-in $2 million guaranteed MILLIONS Online Main Event, while Emil Olsson bagged the chip lead in the $320 buy-in $500,000 guaranteed Mini Main Event.

Day 1B of the $2 million guaranteed Main Event drew in a crowd of 117 entrants, taking the running total to 269. Only 18 players navigated their way from Day 1B to Day 2, and nobody had more chips than Simon Mattsson.

Mattsson was one of two Day 1B players that finished the night with more than 10 million chips. The super-talented Swede now has 16,010,939 chips in his arsenal, which are enough to place him third overall. Only Gabriele Re (27,674,473) and Rodrigo Sirichuk (17,229,755) are ahead of Mattsson as things stand.

Robert Heidorn (13,432,501) was the other Day 1B entrant who ended the flight with more than 10 million betting tokens.

Leonard Excited to Grind Prestigious PartyPoker MILLIONS Online Series

The list of surviving players reads like a who's who of the online poker world. Caribbean Poker Party Online Main Event champion Diego Ventura (9,770,018), Finnish star Tomi Brouk (9,557,982), Ivan Luca (7,293,388), and Alexandros Theologis (6,328,392) each ended Day 1B in the flight's top ten.

Day 1C of the MILLIONS Online Main Event commences at 7:05 p.m. BST on September 18. There is then a Day 1D at the same time on September 25, with Day 1E and a Day 1 Turbo scheduled for 2:05 p.m. and 5:05 p.m. on September 26.

MILLIONS Online #05 Main Event Day 1B Top 10 Chip Counts

Place Player Country Chips 1 Simon Mattsson Sweden 16,010,939 2 Robert Heidorn United Kingdom 13,432,501 3 Diego Ventura Peru 9,770,018 4 Sergio De Pedro Estonia 9,628,438 5 Tomi Brouk Finland 9,557,982 6 Ivan Luca Argentina 7,293,388 7 Dalton Hobold Brazil 6,416,592 8 Alexandros Theologis Austria 6,328,392 9 Eugenio Peralta Ireland 6,149,664 10 Rimantas Boguzas Ireland 5,259,462

Olsson Bags Mini Main Event Day 1B Lead; Leads Overall

Emil Olsson

Emil Olsson, who has already taken down a brace of MILLIONS Online side events, was busy climbing to the summit of the $320 MILLIONS Online Mini Main Event while his fellow Swede, Mattsson, was navigating his way to the top of the $3,200 Main Event counts. Olsson turned his 1,000,000 starting stack into 18,614,212 chips, which are enough not only for the Day 1B lead but to lead this $500,000 guaranteed tournament overall.

Olsson won a $320 6-Max Turbo PKO for $8,506 and a $215 7-Max Turbo PKO for $5,672, and now has a realistic shot at becoming the MILLIONS Online Mini Main Event champion. He will not have matters his own way, however, because everyone who finished in the Day 1B top ten did so with eight-figure stacks in front of them.

Brazil's Brener Vicente finished Day 1B with 17,890,838, hot on the heels of the leader. Alexandros Theologis (12,818,521) finds himself in the top five of the Mini Main Event in addition to the top ten of the Main Event.

Other PartyPoker players safely through to Day 2 include Mathias Siljander (11,774,891), Team Online's Matthew Staples (10,915,293), Leon Sturm (7,530,581), Sami Kelopuro (5,722,629), and Sylvain Loosli (2,827,966).

Only 51 of the 338 starters punched their Day 2 tickets, which means 583 players have bought in so far.

Future Day 1s mirror those of the $3,200 Main Event.

PartyPoker MILLIONS Online Off to a Flying Start; Skalas Banks $71K

MILLIONS Online #06 Mini Main Event Day 1B Top 10 Chip Counts

Place Player Country Chips 1 Emil Olsson Sweden 18,614,212 2 Brener Vicente Brazil 17,890,838 3 Ricardo Silva Malta 17,432,348 4 Darren Floyd Ireland 14,955,314 5 Alexandros Theologis Austria 12,818,521 6 Mihai Ciorteanu United Kingdom 12,414,862 7 Barry Cole United Kingdom 12,026,764 8 Mathias Siljander Finland 11,774,891 9 Igor Dursel United Kingdom 11,448,831 10 Andrew Aspinall United Kingdom 11,174,444

Patrick Leonard Crowned The Grand MILLIONS Online Edition

Patrick Leonard

Patrick Leonard became a MILLIONS Online champion and found his PartyPoker account contains $29,731 more than it did a couple of days ago. This is because Leonard came out on top in the $1,050 buy-in The Grand. A field of 152 players fought it out for a slice of the $151,633 prize pool, with Brazil's Dennys Ramos busting in 28th and popping the money bubble.

The likes of Dan Wilson, Alexandros Theologis, Samuel Vousden, Andrei Kotelnikov, Team Online's Jaime Staples, Jerry Odeen, Joshua McCully, and Christian Rudolph all cashed but fell short of a top nine and, therefore, final table appearance.

Recent winner of the MILLIONS Online Opener PKO event, Vojtech Skalak, finished sixth here for $6,295 only days after winning more than $71,466.

The top four finishers each turned their $1,050 investments into five-figure sums. Johannes Straver collected $10,134 for his fourth-place finish, Andrii Derzhypilskyi netted $14,653 for third, before Leonard resigned Leonard Maue to the $20,745 runner-up prize. Leonard got his hands on the title and $29,731 in prize money.

MILLIONS Online #07 The Grand Final Table Results

Place Player Country Prize 1 Patrick Leonard United Kingdom $29,731 2 Leonard Maue Austria $20,745 3 Andrii Derzhypilskyi Ukraine $14,653 4 Johannes Straver Austria $10,134 5 Jiri Lipina Czech Republic $7,566 6 Vojtech Skalak Czech Republic $6,295 7 Carlos Villamarin Canada $5,277 8 Gustravo Mastelotto Brazil $4,521 9 Tauan Naves Brazil $3,901

SPINS Your Way to a MILLIONS Online Seat

All the buy-ins for the prestigious PartyPoker MILLIONS Online start at $109 and increase to $3,200 but that does not mean you have to miss out on the chance to become a MILLIONS Online champion. PartyPoker has a plethora of satellites from only $0.01 that run around the clock, opening the door for every PartyPoker player to compete at the highest level.

In addition to the traditional satellite format, players can jump into $30 buy-in SPINS MILLIONS Online edition. Most of the time these hyper-turbo sit & go tournaments pay $60 in cash, but they also award MILLIONS Online tickets worth from $109 to $3,200, and do so in a matter of a few minutes.
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Vice President Kamala Harris turned the tables on Chuck Todd as he tried to divide Democrats.

Video of Vice President Harris:

Transcript via Meet The Press:

CHUCK TODD:

Youre not worried that this reflects poorly on the Democrats?

VICE PRES. KAMALA HARRIS:

I think that what we have to focus on is that in 60 days as of this interview, in less than two months, we are looking at a midterm election in which so much is on the line. Take, for example, the issue of choice. The United States Supreme Court, in the Dobbs decision, just took a constitutional right that had been recognized from the women of America, from the people of America. Well, how does that relate to the midterms? Our president has said he will not let the filibuster get in the way. If the Senate, through a majority vote, votes to pass the Womens Health Protection Act, he will sign it into law. You know what that means in the midterms? We need to hold on to the Senate and get two more. And then we can put into law the protections of Roe v. Wade. Everything is on the line when you think about the millions of women and people in America who care about them, who understand the significance of protecting a womans right to make decisions about her own body 

Chuck Todd was trying to split Democrats on the move by some Democratic campaigns to run ads boosting extremist MAGA candidates in GOP primaries, but instead of playing Todds game, Vice President Harris smartly turned Todds question into the issue of choice and what it would mean if Democrats add to their Senate majority.

Vice President Harris was able to talk about the issue that is motivating Democratic voters to flock to the polls. At the same time, all the Meet The Press moderator seemed interested in was getting Harris to say something that would divide the Democratic Party.

Americans arent holding family discussions to talk about the merits of candidate campaign strategy. The corporate media is out of step with the American people.

Vice President Harris knows what matters, even if Chuck Todd wants to waste interview time on corporate media nonsense.
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Last Week Tonights John Oliver discussed the bleak state of the UK. The queen is dead, and the new Prime Minister was described as Margaret Thatcher if she were high on glue.

Video:

Oliver described Truss as Margaret Thatcher if she were high on glue, and later discussed the fact that UK energy prices are set to increase by eighty percent next month.

The Last Week Tonight host said, Im just going to say this and you may not like it, but it doesnt make it any less true. The nicest thing the queen ever did for anyone was die the week that woman became Prime Minister because for just a week, shes not going to be getting justifiably destroyed for answers like that. Look, things are pretty bleak in the UK right now, This fing guy (King Charles) is about to be on all the money, morning TV is basically the Hunger Games, but dont worry Britain, your future is now securely in the hands of Dollar Store Leslie Knope.

Republicans are trying to make the United States sound like hell on Earth before the midterm election, but the US is in really good shape compared to what is happening in the UK under conservative leadership.

President Biden has often said that the US is leading the world in the pandemic recovery, and he looks completely right because what is going on in the UK looks like a disaster compared to the relatively smooth sailing under the leadership of Biden and the Democrats in America.
Aiken, SC (29801)

Today

Mostly clear. Low 63F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Mostly clear. Low 63F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.
A North Charleston business that got its start when a couple went on a quest in 2018 to find a quality-made American flag is expanding for the second time this year.

Allegiance Flag Supply is spending $1.25 million to double the size of its operations with a move to a new warehouse on Business Circle Drive near Ashley Phosphate Road.

The 13,000-square-foot facility will house the companys sewing shop, offices and distribution center, which packages and ships the finished product nationwide. It's roughly twice the size of Allegiance's Scott Avenue warehouse, the site of prior expansion in January.

"We just kept growing and hiring more people and needing more space," said co-founder Max Berry, who started the business with husband-and-wife Wes Lyon and Katie Lyon.

In addition to more room for Allegiance's 30 employees and a growing in-house sewing operation, he said, a key feature of the new site is its air conditioning.

"We've been operating with just a lot of fans, so air-conditioned space will be great," Berry said.

The company said it recently hired a director of operations plans to bring on more workers, with an emphasis on employing veterans and their families. The company regularly donates money and flags to veterans and nonprofits.

"Our whole mission is hiring American jobs and bringing textile manufacturing back to this country," Berry said. "Veterans and military spouses are an important pillar of our business."

The business grew out of frustration the Lyons felt when trying to find an American flag for their home. The couple said they grew tired tired of buying foreign-made flags from big-box stores that would only last for a few months before falling apart. Allegiance initially operated out of the Lyons' garage but quickly grew out of those cramped quarters.

These days, the company is experiencing triple-digit growth year over year and ships about 1,000 flags a week to homes nationwide  almost all of the sales generated from the company's website, which features thousands of positive customer reviews. Allegiance flags can also be found in a handful of mom-and-pop stores.

Allegiance makes its flags with heavy nylon fabric which is double-stitched to prevent them from unraveling. Stress points are reinforced with bar tacking, and a mold-resistant grommet strip is added for stability. Allegiance also makes wooden poles from Vermont white ash, with metal spinners that rotate as the flag is blown by the wind so it doesnt get tangled. The flags are tri-folded military-style and shipped in triangular boxes.

Berry said the bigger space will allow Allegiance to branch out into other products, with state flags and display cases a possibility. "Whatever new products we might introduce, we want to make sure they're of the same quality as the American flags we produce now," he said, adding the "Made in America" label is an important selling point for the company. "I think there's definitely a standard for things that are made in the USA  they're very high-quality and made with care," Berry said. "I think COVID taught us that maybe it's not the best idea to have everything we consume made in other countries. Maybe we should make more things in this country, and that all starts with the American flag." Round and round

The wheels of justice are turning slowly in a dispute over a container-load of tires that was seized at the Port of Charleston earlier this year.

The company that brought the tires into South Carolina from Asia wants to retrieve the shipment.

The hang-up is that the Texas-based importer and two of its executives are set to stand trial in federal court in Houston for allegedly conspiring to falsify U.S. Customs and Border Protection documents to avoid an estimated $6.5 million in tariffs over a 10-year period. So the Charleston judge declared a temporary pause in the South Carolina seizure matter until the criminal case is resolved.

The Texas trial was scheduled to begin next week. Not anymore. In a monthly status report, the U.S. Attorneys Office in Greenville informed U.S. District Court Judge Richard Gergel that the proceedings have been pushed until February to allow the prosecution more time to complete its investigation.

The government sued Winland International Inc., which does business as Super Tire, in March to take ownership of around 800 tires that the company tried to bring into Charleston from China in early 2021, saying the merchandise is tied to a decade-long global trade fraud. Prosecutors have pointed to an alleged plot by the importer and others to circumvent punitive "anti-dumping" fees imposed on overseas-made goods sold in the U.S. at below fair-market value.

Winland International argued earlier that it lawfully obtained the product during the course of its lawful business, and is not the proceeds of any illegal activity."

Gergel denied the company's request to dismiss the case on Sept. 8, saying it can ask again when the criminal case is wrapped up.

Making the cut

Two Charleston-area businesses are among four entrepreneurs from South Carolina selected by Walmart through this year's "Open Call" competition to have their products sold in stores or through the company's online marketplace.

They include Lowcountry Pet Specialties of Johns Island and Flanders Skin Care of Charleston.

Lowcountry Pet Specialties was selected for its Mobowl Pet Bowl with Pouch product that provides a portable, lightweight water bowl that is flexible and durable for pet owners to take anywhere.

The company was founded by John Hagerman and Laurie Hagerman.

In Charleston, Flanders Skin Care was selected for Flanders Buttocks Ointment, a product used to help soothe and prevent diaper rash. The business was founded by Kevin Floyd and Gary Anderson. It is now run by the Floyd family and is led by Matt Floyd.

Both products will be sold through the retail giant's e-commerce Walmart Marketplace.

Two other companies in the Palmetto State also received good news after the Open Call competition in June.

They include Spatty of Easley for its Spatty Handyman Tool Set and Industrial Test Systems Inc. of Rock Hill for two products: Pool Check 4+ Test Strip Pocket Pack and ITS Water Quality Test Kit.

Spatty's tool set was selected for in-store sales while the Industrial Test Systems products will be for sale through the retailer's online marketplace.

Speedy delivery

A Moncks Corner-based broadband provider is providing high-octane internet service at deeply discounted prices as the school year gets underway.

Home Telecom said families who qualify will pay $9.95 a month for service at a speed of 100 megabytes per second.

The telecommunications provider said it combined a program that offers low-income households affordable service with another that give families a $30 monthly credit to upgrade to a speedier broadband option.

"We want to ensure they have-high speed internet service to further their education and complete their schoolwork at home," CEO Will Helmly said in a written statement. "Equally as important is ensuring that all residents have reliable, affordable internet for any needs they may have, like virtual telehealth visits and telework opportunities.

The company said the new offering is available to more than 90 percent of its service areas in Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties. It includes a modem, self-installed in-home Wi-Fi and eight email addresses. Customers don't have to sign a contract and can cancel anytime without penalty.
Maura Hogan is the arts critic at The Post and Courier. She has previously written about arts, culture and lifestyle for The New York Times, Gourmet, Garden & Gun, among other publications.
COLUMBIA  Columbia-based Great Southern Homes, one of the largest homebuilders in the Southeast, has signed agreements to become a publicly traded company, expanding its operations nationally.

Great Southern has signed a merger agreement with Diamondhead Holdings Corp., to become United Homes Group. The deal, expected to close during the first quarter of 2023, has a projected value of $572 million for the combined companies.

"I am excited for the next chapter for GSH, where, through the combination of my operational expertise with David Hamamotos public company and capital markets experience, we plan to grow UHG into a leading national homebuilder," Great Southern founder Michael Nieri said.

Diamondhead is a $345 million special purpose acquisition company, an alternative vehicle to an initial public offering on the Nasdaq stock exchange that allows private companies to become publicly traded. Diamondhead will raise the money from investors to fund the merger and take Great Southern public.

Among its board members will be former United Nations Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, as well as Clemson University President Jim Clements, Columbia attorney Eric Bland, and First Reliance Bank President Robert Dozier.

With this move, Columbia will once again be headquarters to a publicly traded company.

South Carolina's capital was previously home to SCANA Corp. before the utility company was bought out by Virginia's Dominion Energy. And when South State Bank merged with Florida-based Center State Bank, its headquarters were moved to the central Florida town of Winter Haven.

"It's exciting for Columbia," said Carl Blackstone, president of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce. "I think this will highlight this region well in the sense that good things are coming." Blackstone hopes other publicly traded companies will follow Great Southern in headquartering here.

The merger adds Great Southern to the ranks of other publicly traded national builders, like D.R. Horton Inc.; Ryan Homes parent company, NVR Inc.; and PulteGroup Inc.

Hamamoto, co-CEO of DiamondHead Holdings Corp., said his company is "impressed with the scale and operational performance of GSH, and we are excited to work with the GSH team in continuing their growth as a public homebuilder."

Nieri, in a statement, said the merger will give Great Southern more capital to compete with larger national builders.

"As well as we have done over the past decade, we havent been able to grow as fast as I would like," he said. "Over the past 15 years, the market share for public builders has gone from 25 percent to 45 percent. Its hard to be a little fish in a big pond."

In addition to continuing its growth in the Southeast, Nieri said they will look for merger opportunities with other smaller regional homebuilders in fast-growing markets.

Nieri said the company also will have a build-to-rent business, tapping into the demand to rent single-family homes for consumers who prefer to rent rather than own yet don't want to live in an apartment complex.

Nieri got into home construction in 1993 after building his own home. He and his brother partnered to form their own company. Impacted by the Great Recession, that company was disbanded for two years. Nieri picked back up in 2012 and under his leadership Great Southern has built more than 11,000 homes, making it the 41st largest builder in the country.
The Hampton County School District will receive millions in state funds to repair and replace outdated school infrastructure.

More coverage To read more in-depth stories from The Post and Courier's Education Lab, go to postandcourier.com/education-lab.

State Education Superintendent Molly Spearman announced in early September the district will receive $52 million to construct modern school buildings that align with the current and future enrollment needs of the Lowcountry county.

The sum comes from the $140 million approved by state legislators last year for addressing South Carolinas rural schools.

Districts typically rely on bonds to raise capital for projects. But for districts in lower-income areas, officials may not have the ability to raise enough funds from communities to match the costs for the necessary repairs or new construction.

Spearman emphasized the need for the state to assist in such instances in a press release announcing Hamptons funding allocation.

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It is crucial that the state provides financial support for counties like Hampton that cannot afford to build new facilities on its own, Spearman said.

In April 2022, the state Department of Education commissioned independent evaluations of schools in the poorest districts to determine how to best distribute funding. In the last few months, Spearman has announced the school districts in Abbeville, Clarendon, Lee and Saluda counties would each receive $38 million for school infrastructure.

The department also announced in June that Dillon County would receive $15 million to improve and build schools. Among the districts buildings is a space that was built nearly a century ago.

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In Hampton County, the Education Departments commissioned facility assessment determined addressing Wade Hampton High School was the districts most critical need. The school dates back to 1954 and was renovated in 1983, according to an assessment report from 2017, which also noted evidence of mold and water damage in the facilitys walls and ceilings at the time.

More Information The Post and Courier Education Lab is a multi-year project, employing four reporters, focused on the need for public education reform in South Carolina. The Coastal Community Foundation and Spartanburg Foundation serve as fiscal sponsors for the Education Lab, which is supported by grants from the Jolley Foundation, Intertech, anonymous donors, and generous donations on behalf of donors to The Post and Courier Public Service and Investigative Fund who designate to the Education Lab.

Ron Wilcox, Hamptons superintendent, applauded the state for assisting the district in funding new buildings in the press release.

Our students and educators deserve safe, state-of-the art facilities to learn and grow in each day, he added.

Prior to the S.C. Department of Educations announcement, Hampton was already preparing for changes to come to Wade Hampton High School. Next year, the school will combine with Estill High School into a consolidated institution, Hampton County High School.

Senate Minority Leader Brad Hutto, whose district includes Hampton County, noted the moneys impact would be felt beyond the schools.

This focus on education shows the commitment to our students and families and will result in stronger economic development for the entire region, Hutto, D-Orangeburg, said in a statement.

Still, while the $52 million allocation for Hampton County is significant, more school infrastructure projects remain across the state. The independent facility assessments estimated that more than $1.5 billion will be needed to tackle all of the needs in the poorest districts.
Laurens native and mother Erica Hunter has lived with sickle cell disease, a genetic blood disorder that affects roughly 100,000 people in the U.S., her whole life.

Diagnosed at 2 years old, Hunter grew up in and out of the hospital due to complications with the disease.

Sickle cell disease is an inherited red blood cell disorder in which there are not enough healthy red blood cells to carry oxygen throughout the body. People affected by the disease need blood with specific antigens to help their red blood cell count.

Many sickle cell patients endure periodic pain episodes called pain crises. These episodes can last for days at a time or just a few hours. But the most severe cases require hospitalization and many require monthly blood transfusions to stave off frequent pain crises and other complications.

This was the case for Hunter, who started receiving eight to 10 pints of blood every three weeks in 2017 after suffering a stroke from an ongoing pain crisis.

But when the pandemic scared many blood donors away from normal donation centers and community blood drives, the country saw its worst blood shortage in over 30 years.

Hunter was forced to ration her monthly transfusions, only receiving three to four pints of blood every 6 to 8 weeks.

Now Hunter is calling on people in South Carolina, especially those in the Black community which the disease predominantly affects, to consider donating blood on a regular basis.

And studies show that 1 in 3 Black blood donors are a match for people with sickle cell disease, yet the number of Black blood donors is slim compared to other ethnicities.

If I don't have donors, then that means I don't get what my body actually needs to be able to survive and fulfill my everyday duties, Hunter said.

Overcoming pain

Hunter started having complications with the disease between the ages of 5 and 8 years old, spending weeks at a time in the hospital every other month.

My organs were slowing down and I was starting to slip away, Hunter said, remembering how she clung to life at 8 years old. Doctors had given up on me.

Hunter said it was a miracle she pulled through. Between the ages of 8 and 12 years old Hunter said the disease was pretty much dormant, allowing her to be a normal kid. But when she started middle school she recalled doing more work at home than at school. The disease laid dormant once more as Hunter finished high school and went off to college.

She said her worst pain crises occurred her sophomore year at Benedict College in Columbia. At the time she was studying to be a microbiologist and planning to pledge one of the Divine Nine sororities on campus, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated.

It was almost like someone taking a chainsaw and sawing me in half, Hunter said. It was worse than labor pains.

From then on, her battle with the disease worsened.

After graduation, pain crises led to major complications including a brain hemorrhage and suffering a stroke just three years after giving birth to her daughter, Jaliyah.

Ive been in the hospital more times than I've been out of the hospital, Hunter said.

Hunter was a single mother when she suffered her stroke and leaned on her mom and grandmother to help take care of her toddler. She said back then, the disease took her away from Jaliyah for long periods of time and caused her to shuffle from one house to the next while Hunter recovered at home.

It was hard on us both, especially with Jaliyah being so young at the time and me in the hospital, Hunter said.

Fortunately, things changed for Hunter and Jaliyah when doctors at The Medical University of South Carolina recommended she receive monthly blood exchanges and transfusions, where doctors would remove some of her sickled blood and replace it with normal blood.

Dr. Christina Abrams is the pediatric sickle cell director at MUSC.

She said many of her patients, like Hunter, found themselves in similar situations during the pandemic, decreasing the amount of blood they were able to get during transfusions.

Its the treatment that we use to help prevent people from having recurrent strokes, Hunter said. Its a life saving thing.

Abrams said transfusions also help sickle cell patients with lung infections like acute chest syndrome and those in the intensive care unit.

More Black donors

Vesha Jamison is the sickle cell account manager for the American Red Cross SC. Her 12-year-old son, Dreylan was diagnosed with sickle cell as an infant and has endured frequent pain crises throughout his elementary and middle school years.

Many times hes needed blood transfusions to get through prolonged crises.

At the time Jamison spoke with The Post and Courier, Dreylan was home from school battling another pain crisis.

Were hoping that we can get through this one without a hospital stay, Jamison said.

For Jamison, watching Dreylan go through these frequent pain episodes is a driving force behind the work she does for the Red Cross.

We absolutely encourage people in our African American communities to not only become donors, but to also become consistent donors,'' Jamison said. We need this lifesaving blood all the time.

Abrams said minor blood matches are more common among people of the same race.

Its really important to have blood thats as closely matched as possible, because you can risk developing antibodies, Abrams said. Once you develop antibodies, it's really hard to find new blood thats matched.

Since 2021 the number of first time Black blood donors for the Red Cross has increased 60 percent. Thats due to the organization's partnerships with historically Black fraternities and sororities through a program called Joined by Blood.

The program launched in 2021 as part of the national Red Cross Sickle Cell Initiative to grow the number of Black blood donors and improve health outcomes for sickle cell patients.

To learn more about the initiative, visit redcrossblood.org/OurBlood.
A Charleston man accused of shooting a 9-year-old boy while on bail in a murder case has been indicted on federal drug and firearm charges.

Justin Moultrie was arraigned Sept. 12 in U.S. District Court on two firearm offenses and possession with intent to distribute marijuana. A magistrate judge read his rights and appointed him a public defender.

He waived his right to a detention hearing. He is being held at the Charleston County jail.

Moultrie, 21, faces from three years to life in prison if convicted of one of the weapons charges  possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. The other offense, felon in possession of a firearm, is punishable by up 10 years in prison. The drug charge carries a maximum sentence of five years.

A message left with Moultrie's defense attorney was not returned Sept. 12.

Moultrie has been in jail since April on allegations he fired a stray round that struck a boy in the foot as he played near America and Johnson streets.

A Ford Explorer sped from the scene after the April 18 shooting. Six suspects were later seen exiting the vehicle at Bridgeview Apartments on Romney Street.

Moultrie was arrested April 27 after detectives canvassing the public housing complex noted he was wearing the same clothing as the suspect vehicle's driver. Moultrie's mother looked at a photo from surveillance footage of the Explorer and confirmed it was her son driving, authorities say.

Police officers found nearly 4 ounces of marijuana in Moultrie's room at his mother's apartment, according to an arrest warrant. The marijuana was divided between four separate plastic bags.

Police Sgt. Beth Wolfsen said officers also found an AR-15  a military-style, semi-automatic rifle  in the room. Photos found on Moultrie's phone showed he was attempting to sell the weapon, the sergeant said.

A Charleston officer assigned to a federal task force asked the U.S Attorney's Office to prosecute the gun and marijuana charges, Wolfsen said.

Moultrie's criminal history made him "Public Enemy No. 1" for the task force, which partners local law enforcement officers with agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearm and Explosives, Wolfsen said.

Moultrie was awaiting trial in a murder case when detectives arrested him in the boy's shooting. In that case, he and another man are accused of fatally shooting a 33-year-old man in June 2020 outside the Gadsden Green apartments on Norman Street.

Moultrie was twice denied bail in the case. On March 11, Circuit Judge Bentley Price granted Moultrie bail of $70,000. The defendant was required to live on Romney Street, obey a 6 p.m. curfew, and wear an electronic-monitoring bracelet for 60 days, court records state.

That bond was revoked June 29.

Before his most recent arrest, Moultrie also had pending charges of cocaine distribution, possession of MDMA, also known as ecstasy, and unlawful carrying of a weapon.

Former U.S. Attorney Corey Ellis met with law enforcement officials from across the state this year to discuss ways to tamp down on growing gun violence. As part of those discussions, Ellis said his office would loosen its guidelines for what gun cases can be filed federally.

Charleston Police Chief Luther Reynolds said local law enforcement agencies needed help detaining and convicting the small number of criminals who commit the majority of violent crimes in the region.
Syndicated and guest columns represent the personal views of the writers, not necessarily those of the editorial staff. The editorial department operates entirely independently of the news department and is not involved in newsroom operations.
Normally, when we prefer a bill passed by the South Carolina Senate to one passed by the House, we would urge House members to accept the Senate version.

But of course theres nothing normal about our state's first post-Roe debate over abortion.

So instead, we join the vast majority of South Carolinians in expressing relief that the full Senate refused to accept the extreme approach that its Medical Affairs Committee adopted last week  a ban on nearly all abortions, with no exceptions for victims of rape or incest, or even for women who receive the heartbreaking news that their babies will not survive outside the womb.

Its excruciating to imagine being forced to carry a developing child inside your body for weeks or months, knowing it will die when you finally deliver it  and frightening to realize that a fifth of our senators, and most House members, thought it was just fine to impose this sentence on women in our state.

We respect those who genuinely believe that abortion is always murder and that the circumstances of conception do not change that, and we share their dismay over our societys casual embrace of the procedure over the past half century.

But we believe, as GOP Sen. Tom Davis has expressed so eloquently and so often over the past week, that there are competing rights at play, and that as in all such cases, we must balance those rights: the right of an unborn child to live against the right of a pregnant woman to make decisions about her own body  a balance that tilts more toward the baby with each passing day.

So we also join most South Carolinians in welcoming the upper chambers refusal to outlaw nearly all abortions (although a bare majority of senators was prepared to do this), which would have dismissed the rights of women as completely inconsequential.

Since even before Roe v. Wade was reversed in June, weve urged our lawmakers to delay any additional action while they monitor the effects of their 2021 law banning nearly all abortions after about six weeks. Assuming the S.C. Supreme Court doesnt decide that law violates the state constitution, it looks like thats essentially whats going to happen.

With even Gov. Henry McMaster welcoming the Senate-passed measure to tweak the current law, the only real question is whether the House will accept those changes or insist on banning most abortions  which will result in no changes at all to the law. We soon will see if House members will be pragmatists who reduce the number of abortions in our state a tiny bit or purists who dont reduce the number at all.

And thats where were ambivalent, because while the Senate changes will in fact make getting an abortion slightly more difficult for victims of rape and incest and women whose babies are doomed to death outside the womb, we tend to agree with Sen. Dick Harpootlian, who called the changes feel-good window dressing and political cover for lawmakers who want to be able to tell constituents they toughened South Carolinas already-tough abortion law. Passing those changes could even have the effect of reducing pressure next year to do more.

What were not ambivalent about is what needs to happen after the House either accepts those changes to H.5399 or demonstrates its ideological purity: Lawmakers need to get serious about reducing the number of abortions in South Carolina  by focusing on demand rather than supply. It is our hope that last week's demonstration that our Legislature is not going to outlaw abortion will convince the most committed abortion opponents to finally try this approach.

One part of this approach should be easy: making adoption easier, by providing financial assistance and helping to walk would-be parents through the process. Lawmakers across the political spectrum are talking a good game right now; they need to put their words into action come January.

Democrats have long supported better sex education and increased access to contraceptives, but it was Sen. Davis who championed this approach in committee and on the Senate floor last week, without any support from Democrats, who did not want to be part of any effort that could have made a near-total abortion ban seem palatable. We expect them to follow through on their promises to join with him in the coming session, along with the Republicans who supported some of his proposals.

There are legitimate concerns that giving out contraceptives to adolescents can encourage them to become sexually active, but again, those are concerns that need to be balanced  in this case with the reality that far too many of them are sexually active, and that too many girls and young women are getting pregnant as a result. Which is something that should trouble all of us, regardless of what we think South Carolina's abortion law should look like.
Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Krystle Matthews is rejecting calls to abandon her campaign, claiming recorded comments released by a conservative watchdog group where she is heard badmouthing White people were cut and spliced.

In a Sept. 9 press conference, Matthews, who is Black, insisted she is not influenced by race and that the conversation recorded by Project Veritas without her knowledge and released this week is a mischaracterization.

"These right-wing chaos agents can distort what I say and misrepresent my views all they want," she told Charleston media. "I will never stop fighting for working families all across this state."

She charged the recording is presented out of context.

"What they did was cut one sentence and put it with the 'S'-word to make it sound like I said they were that," she said.

Matthews, who is challenging Republican U.S. Sen. Tim Scott in November, is facing calls to drop out of the Senate race and resign her Statehouse seat after Veritas released a recording of a conversation she had with someone they described as one of their undercover journalists where she talked about White people.

You gotta treat them like (expletive)," she is identified as saying. "I mean, thats the only way theyll respect you. I keep them right here  like under my thumbs. Thats where I keep  like, you have to. Otherwise, they get out of control  like kids.

She also acknowledged representing a "mostly White district."

In her press conference, Matthews said the thrust of her comments was aimed at Republican elected officials in the Legislature, not the state's White population as a whole or her Berkeley County House District 117 constituents.

Project Veritas leader James O'Keefe this week stood behind the recording's accuracy and said nothing was done to doctor it. He rejected Matthew's call to release the entire conversation. A Veritas spokesman reiterated their defense of the recording Sept. 9.

Matthews also gave more insight into how the conversation came about, saying it was with a mixed-race male and held at a restaurant in Nexton after he claimed to be interested in helping her Senate bid.

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"I never knew he was as a journalist," she said. "Never."

She also rejected calls for her to step down, including from Republicans and also leading Democrats who expressed fears her comments would be a drag on the rest of the ticket.

That included rebuffing Democratic nominee for governor Joe Cunningham, who is among those asking her to exit.

"Joe Cunningham is already struggling with support from the minority community and I'm not sure where attacking a Black woman who has shown her worth not through words but through actions" is helpful, she said.

Scott was asked about Matthews' recording during a campaign event in Myrtle Beach on Sept. 9.

I think she should apologize for her comments," he told The Sun News. "The Democrats should condemn her comments. Racial bigotry in any form should be criticized and condemned by all people.

Scott also said The voters of this state should be aware of who she is and what she said and let them decide her fate.

Matthews, of Ladson, who won the Democrats' U.S. Senate nomination in the June primary, is also seeking to defend her Statehouse seat on the November ballot at the same time. She faces a challenge from Republican Jordan Pace for the seat she originally won in 2018.

The district map has since been redrawn, going from 59 percent White and 41 percent non-White when she entered office, to 75 percent White and 25 percent non-White as a result of this year's reapportionment.

Election Day is Nov. 8.
COLUMBIA  The chairman of the South Carolina House Judiciary Committee says he's getting help for alcohol abuse and hopes to return to the Legislature for the 2023 session.

Republican Chris Murphy of Dorchester County said it's a "deeply personal" issue, but he wanted to address public questions about his health.

"I would like to share that after struggling with alcohol abuse, I have sought treatment and am currently taking steps to ensure I am healthy moving forward," he said Sept. 12 in a statement to The Post and Courier.

"Unfortunately, alcoholism is a disease that affects many families throughout generations, and mine is no different," he continued. "I am aware of the challenges moving forward and look forward to taking them head on and being healthy and present come when the session begins in January."

The 54-year-old attorney, first elected in 2010, faces Democrat Sydney Clinton in November. Murphy easily defeated fellow Republican Greg Ford in the June primary with 68 percent of the vote.

Murphy has been chairman of the powerful Judiciary Committee since December 2020 when his colleagues elected him to the key leadership role without opposition or debate. He replaced Charleston Republican Peter McCoy, who resigned earlier that year to be U.S. attorney for South Carolina.

While Murphy has a North Charleston address, his home and district are entirely in Dorchester County. Before winning election to the House, he spent eight years on Dorchester County Council, including a stint as chairman.

House Speaker Murrell Smith, R-Sumter, declined to discuss Murphy's treatment.

"The speaker's office does not wish to comment on the personal lives and affairs of House members," said his spokeswoman, Nicolette Walters. "Without question, Speaker Smith wishes for the health and well-being of Rep. Murphy and his family and is supportive of anyone seeking treatment for addiction."

Murphy's statement to The Post and Courier followed a report in the political blog FITSNews that he'd entered treatment for substance abuse.

His Democratic challenger said his treatment is not a relevant issue for the campaign.

"I certainly hope he has a full and lasting recovery," Clinton said. "Substance abuse is a serious health matter, and I am glad he is seeking the assistance he needs."

What matters to voters, she said, is an "out-of-touch agenda which includes a no-exception abortion ban bill that takes away freedoms from the individual and transfers it to politicians like himself." Her other criticisms included an "abysmal attendance record."

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Murphy was out for most of the 2022 legislative session with an excused medical leave, first because he had COVID-19 and later because of lingering symptoms and problems from the disease.

At his first Judiciary Committee meeting of the session in mid-February, he had to leave shortly after it started and was taken to the hospital for an overnight stay. The next day, his colleagues stood in the House chamber in silent prayer for his recovery. He returned April 19 for the rest of the session.

On Aug. 16, Murphy's committee advanced a near-total abortion ban drafted by Rep. John McCravy, R-Greenwood, that gave exceptions only for the mother's life and long-term health. It was a near-guarantee that the bill, forwarded by McCravy's 12-member panel, would be sent to the House floor by Murphy's GOP-dominated committee. But Murphy upset his colleagues with an unusually testy call to end the discussion and move to a vote, first cutting off a Democrat and then a Republican as they were talking.

Murphy did not return two weeks later for floor debate on the abortion ban, which the GOP pushed through only after some last-minute maneuvering that added exceptions for rape and incest victims up to three months pregnant. A divided Senate gutted the measure last week and eventually reverted to the current law that bans abortions once an ultrasound detects the sound of a heartbeat, usually around six weeks.

The Senate's proposed changes to existing law include shortening the exception for rape and incest victims, giving them up to three months to get an abortion instead of five.

The House will return Sept. 27 to decide whether to agree to the Senate's vastly different version. If the House votes to concur, the measure will go to Gov. Henry McMaster's desk. If they don't, the effort will likely die for the year, since senators made clear they don't have the votes to go any further.

Murphy is not expected to return for the special session.

His wife, Circuit Judge Maite Murphy, had applied for a spot on the state Supreme Court. She was among five judges seeking to replace retiring Justice Kaye Hearn. Hearings before a legislative panel that screens judicial candidates are set for November. But Judge Murphy dropped out of the five-way race two weeks ago, The State newspaper reported.

South Carolina is among two states where the Legislature elect judges. It is not unusual for former legislators and family members of sitting legislators to win a judicial seat. Hearn, for example, was elected to the state's highest court in 2009 while her husband was in the House.
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Some clouds. Low 68F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds. Low 68F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph.
Lt. Gov. Josh Tenorio, in the governors stead, is attending a gathering of the Pacific Islands Conference of Leaders in Hawaii.

The East-West Center, which is hosting the event alongside its Pacific Islands Development Program, stated the meeting will feature closed leaders meetings and dialogues, as well as plenary sessions, ceremonies and side events which will be open to the public.

Twenty nations, states and territories of the Pacific are represented in the conference, including Guam. The Federated States of Micronesia will be chairing the talks, FSM President David Panuelos office confirmed.

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Carlotta Leon Guerrero, the governors chief adviser on military and regional affairs, told The Guam Daily Post that specific topics to be addressed in the talks include climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical challenges involving China and diversification of industries in the Pacific.

The group, according to the former senator, allows Guam to have closer coordination with the 19 other governments.

Gov. (Lou) Leon Guerrero and Lt. Gov. Tenorio are interested in using Guams 124-year history with the U.S. to help them use their assets and resources to become indispensable partners on these key issues with Pacific leaders, she said. We feel that we can help to foster the partnerships and initiatives that reflect the goals of the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent that has been created with input from stakeholders across the vast Pacific.

Guam also will share information gleaned and lessons learned from local involvement in the Micronesian Conservation Trust, based in Pohnpei in the FSM.

MCT and a handful of other organizations across the Pacific have been able to apply successfully to the Green Climate Fund and the Adaptation Fund for projects to alleviate the impacts of rising tides, water and food insecurity and degraded coastal fishing areas, Carlotta Leon Guerrero said. What we can offer is that we have a relationship with the United States, and they are highly motivated to be a better friend to the Pacific than China is or could be.

The trust, according to Carlotta Leon Guerrero, is one of the few groups that have cracked the climate change funding code that is tripping up so many Pacific governments right now.

Representatives of the 20 participating governments confirmed details of the meeting in Hawaii in August, the East-West Center stated in a press release.

This will be the first in-person meeting of the conference since 2016, PIDP interim Director Mary Therese Hattori stated, adding that the talks can lead to collective action on regional issues in ways that are more organic to our Island cultures, we are coming together and working toward a prosperous future for the Pacific and for Pacific Islanders.

Tenorio will be returning to Guam on Sept. 18, according to Krystal Paco-San Agustin, the governors director of communications.
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New York City Mayor Eric Adams must be a weird dude. He bitches about the illegal immigrants Texas Governor Greg Abbott buses up to his sanctuary city and dispatches an official greeter to welcome them. Hes funny that way. Perhaps he illustrates the contradictions inherent in making the Democrats platform of national suicide real.

I wondered about that official greeter. Why havent we heard more about him? He walks the Democrats walk, shall we say.

According to CNNs Ray Sanchez, his name is Manuel Castro. Appointed by Adams, Castro is Commissioner of the NYC Mayors Office of Immigrant Affairs. The city has posted his biography here.

Sanchez is vague on Castros status. It states: Castro himself crossed the US-Mexico border with his mother when he was 5.

Castros city bio is somewhat clearer: As a child, Castro crossed the border with his mother to reunite with his father who immigrated to NYC years earlier.He was part of the early generation of undocumented youth activists known as DREAMers fighting for the right to an education and legal status. So he comes by his job as the official greeter honestly, so to speak.

Sanchezs story lobs a shot at the site of the illegals destination: He has been greeting migrants at the much maligned Port Authority terminal, a notorious commuter gateway once called a hall of unfathomable nightmares by the website Failed Architecture. The illegals deserve something more befitting their exalted status  maybe something more along the lines of Grand Central Station or Yankee Stadium.

The notion of illegality does not cross Sanchezs keyboard. The illegal aliens are of course undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers. They are the heroes of Sanchezs story.

Despite its deficiencies, Sanchezs story contradicts Adamss assertion that Texas is deceiving illegals into taking the bus to New York: Thousands have chosen the Texas-chartered buses to New York City and the nations capital  Sanchez cant let it go at that  where they have no connections or know where [sic] to turn for help.

Do they have connections or know where to turn for help in Texas? I dont think so. Everybody knows this is know where, as the Neil Young song almost goes.

Sanchezs story gives adds a dimension to the Port Authority terminals status as a hall of unfathomable nightmares. Its not just an architectural nightmare.
Weve already seen how graceless the hateful left can be in their reaction to the death of Queen Elizabeth II, but Squad Member Rep. Pramila Jayapal takes the cake with this one:

There were 2,977 killed in the twin towers and at the Pentagon that day. How does Jayapal get the 2,996 figure? By adding in the 19 hijackers.

Pretty clear whose side shes on.

UPDATE: Jayapal has deleted the Tweet. Maybe she got a phone call from Nancy Pelosi telling her not to be an idiot that embarrasses other Democrats?

Reminder that this isnt a new dodge with The Squad:

But just how the hell did Kevin McCarthy totally f this up? (You just know Lucretia is going to hang this around my head on the next podcast. . .)
Many Nigerians seem to have a liking for Ibom Air, a commercial airline wholly owned by the Akwa Ibom State Government, in the South-south region of the country.

Set up just three years ago, Ibom Air has built a solid reputation and is gradually dominating Nigerias aviation sector, in what analysts attribute to the foresight of the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel, and the professionalism and dedication of the airlines management and staff.

The selling point for Ibom Air is, some passengers told PREMIUM TIMES, its scheduled reliability  its ability to keep to scheduled time for departures and arrivals.

Besides, their aircraft are clean. And they have a reputation for excellent customer service, according to several passengers who have shared their experiences on Ibom Air flights.

Stories abound of how several Nigerians have missed their Ibom Air flights simply because they could not keep up with the airlines punctuality.

In March 2021, for instance, Ibom Air achieved 99.8 per cent schedule reliability and 96 per cent on-time performance, a remarkable feat in Nigerias aviation history where passengers have become accustomed to several hours of delayed flights and flight cancellations.

Ibom Air operated all its 708 scheduled flights for that month, and 706 of those flights were on schedule, while 678 [its 678] were on time.

It is the airline with the second highest number of domestic flights in 2021, and the one with the overall best on-time performance for that year, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) said in a recently published data.

The airline, with seven aircraft (five Bombardier CRJ900 and two Airbus A220-300) in its fleet, flies 11 routes, covering six Nigerian cities  Abuja, Calabar, Enugu, Lagos, Uyo, and Port Harcourt, and has operated 23, 630 flights and carried close to two million passengers as of 31 July 2022.

Its two Airbus were acquired as part of a recent deal to purchase 10 Airbus A220 aircraft.

Ibom Air has edged out competitors in Victor Attah International Airport, Uyo, where it is headquartered, and remains one of the only two airlines operating from the Margaret Ekpo International Airport, Calabar. The other is Air Peace.

It is one of the most preferred airlines for the lucrative Lagos-Abuja routes because of its scheduled reliability.

Surpasses average domestic flight

Chidozie Uzoezie, an aviation analyst and CEO of The Afritraveller, was on Ibom Air flight QI0602 from Lagos to Enugu on 24 October, 2021, and here is how he rated the flight which was his first with the airline: Check in: 85 percent, Boarding: 80 percent, Punctuality: 90 percent, Aircraft: 90 percent, Crew: 90 percent, In-flight service: 80 percent, Flight: 95 percent, and Seat comfort: 95 percent.

The aircraft was a CRJ-900LR.

Most of my expectations were met and even exceeded, especially with respect to punctuality, crew and the actual flight, Mr Uzoezie said in his review of the flight.

Speaking in relative terms, the flight was everything I had expected, it surpassed the average domestic flight in Nigeria. And Ill definitely fly with Ibom Air again, he added.

Mr Uzoezie gave a description of the aircraft cabin.

This particular aircraft (with registration number 5N-BWK) was delivered to Ibom Air in 2019. It is configured with 90 seats in an all-economy class layout.

The aircraft cabin was very clean, and smacked of freshness as I stepped onboard. And my first impressions were those of comfort, elegance, and luxury. My seat was 12D  a window seat  which I had deliberately selected during online check-in to help me put my avgeek skills to good use, he said.

With a four abreast configuration in a 2-2 layout, the CRJ-900 is one of the most comfortable narrow body aircraft in the skies today. I didnt get to measure the seat dimensions, but the aircraft offered impressive seat width and generous leg room, better than the industry standard.

The legroom was so generous that I could cross my legs in-flight without space constraints. And to make good things even better, the seats were made of leather, taking seat comfort to another level.

Many Nigerians are really talking about Ibom Air. They are happily helping to amplify the beautiful experiences shared by the airline passengers.

A Twitter user, Nayomi (@Naayoomee) said in June that she went for Ibom Air after her Lagos-Abuja flight on another airline was rescheduled from 3p.m. to 9p.m.

I went down and got Ibom Air, best flight I ever had. Didnt even know when we landed. I rate them five (5) stars, she tweeted.

Oluwole Dada (@oluwole_dada), a sales and marketing expert, said on Twitter that from a minor survey, Ibom Air is the best domestic airline when it comes to punctuality.

Many of the (other) airlines delay flights with no regard for the customers, he said. They care less if they (passengers) have an appointment or business engagement.

Kate Nanyongo (@KateNanyongo), a Cameroonian, said she had a wonderful experience on her first visit to Nigeria, courtesy of Ibom Air.

She said she could not stop telling people about Ibom Air when she got back to Cameroon.

Insulated from politics

The running of Ibom Air is insulated from unnecessary political influence, those familiar with its operations told PREMIUM TIMES.

For the Akwa Ibom government to allow the young airline to be so business-focused and be managed independently by professionals is a rare thing in a country where political and ethnic considerations seem to influence most decisions of government officials, says Julius Ugwu, an entrepreneur, who is into home interior design business in South-south and South-east.

For a person to fly a CRJ 900, theres a minimum number of freighting hours he must have on the airplane, Governor Emmanuel, a 56-year-old former banker, said in 2019 when he explained why most of the Ibom Airs employees were from outside Akwa Ibom State.

We need to have our people rated on the aircraft and we will spend money and train our people so that in a short period, we will also have Akwa Ibom names in the cockpit, he said.

The governor said the state government was arranging training programmes for youths in the state willing to become pilots, aeronautic engineers, or take up other career paths in the aviation sector.

Today, the airline has over 500 staff.

Ibom Air, in collaboration with the Akwa Ibom government, is training 100 young pilots in batches for its future operations. The second batch had been scheduled to leave Nigeria for their training at Airbus in France, according to the airline.

Weathering the storms

Ibom Air flew into terrible storms as soon as it began its operations: the Covid-19 pandemic which crippled the worlds economy, the #EndSars, a 2020 mass protest against police brutality that shook Nigeria, and now the scarcity of aviation fuel in Nigeria and the continuous devaluation of the naira against the U.S dollar.

The airline Chief Operating Officer, George Uriesi, spoke on the challenges the airline has faced.

This is an industry of tempestuous storms. One moment youre faced with the existential threat of a total lockdown due to a totally unforeseen pandemic. You think to yourself, is it that we chose the wrong time to start?

Then you survive and soon start recovering only to experience #EndSars! Again you manage to recover, Mr Uriesi said a few weeks ago.

And then the price of aviation fuel suddenly takes you on a roller coaster ride where you find yourself hanging on for dear without a clear sense of how long it will last and how far it will go.

All of these are not to mention the depreciating naira and unavailability of forex that the business depends on.

It has really been a hair-raising roller coaster ride. But we have no intention of rolling over and dying anytime soon. We will just keep weathering it and working hard to succeed in spite of these obstacles, Mr Uriesi added.

Even with the enormous challenges, Ibom Air is still doing greatly, and still getting praises from Nigerians.

In July this year, for instance, Ibom Air achieved 72 per cent schedule reliability and 68 per cent on-time performance, still a remarkable feat in the face of the crippling challenges in the aviation sector.

The airline operated 848 out of 933 scheduled flights for that month, 265 of the flights were either rescheduled or cancelled, while 271 of the flights were delayed beyond five minutes, according to the data released by the airline.

Again, it has been rated as the airline with the second highest number of domestic flights (2,981) in the first quarter of 2022, and the one with the overall best on-time performance within the period, according to data from NCAA.

From the data, Air Peace, Arik and Max Air are ranked as airlines that recorded the most delayed flights at Nigerian airports within the period.

We continue to manage the difficulties arising from fuel scarcity and the closure of the domestic runway of the MMIA (Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos), Ibom Air said on 2 August, while alerting the public to the challenges they and other domestic airlines have continued to face in Nigerias aviation sector.

But you really cant put Ibom air side by side with any airline in the country, a Twitter user, @marvelumoh, tweeted recently.

Yes they have some issues these days, I experienced one recently. But they are still ahead as compared to any of the others, he said.

Expansion drive

The Victor Attah International Airport, named after the second civilian governor of Akwa Ibom State, is undergoing extensive expansion to prepare it for Ibom Airs plan to go international, around the West Africa sub-region.

A new International Terminal Building constructed by a renowned civil engineering firm, VKS Nigeria Construction Ltd., is near completion, so is the second phase of the 3.6 kilometre runway.

The airports Maintenance, Repairs and Overhaul (MRO) facility is also near completion.

A lot of people dont understand what we have put in here, these are technical details that can facilitate certain aspects of economic growth in the state, Governor Emmanuel said of the MRO when he went on an inspection visit to the project.

The MRO can take two 747 aircraft series, eight of our A-220 300 series and all the CRJs for now, all installations are near completion and you can imagine we are the newest bride for all the aircraft maintenance companies across the globe and we have received offers from aircraft maintenance companies, you can imagine the foreign exchange this will bring to the state, Mr Emmanuel added.

The governor calls the new terminal building in the airport, the smartest terminal building in Africa.

I dont know what other countries would do tomorrow, but I think what people should look at in Akwa Ibom is not just the building, it is not just the infrastructure that we are building, the question there is, how can a sub-national take up this level of responsibility? These are not small projects, these are massive national projects.

As of today, there is no country in West Africa that has an MRO, I stand to be corrected, he said.

Governor Emmanuel said the establishment of Ibom Air and the upgrade at the Uyo airport are all parts of his blueprint to make Akwa Ibom State become an industrial hub.

The blueprint hinged around the opening of major gateways  the air, sea, and land  to the oil rich state.

When I came into office, I met one private jet and before I leave office I will not leave with not less than 10 airplanes that would be beneficiary to all Akwa Ibomites.

Of course, the success of this airline (Ibom Air) holds immense benefits to the people of Akwa Ibom, it shows the people our positive attitude, it shows the people our creative minds, it shows the people our capacity, it shows our people how we can weather the storm, it shows the people that we are the eagle that can fly no matter the weather condition, the governor said.
Troops of the Nigerian Army in Kaduna rescued six kidnapped victims during clearance patrols conducted around the Kangon Kadi area in Chikun Local Government Area.

The states Commissioner for Internal Security, Samuel Aruwan, announced this to reporters in Kaduna on Monday.

According to operational feedback, the troops, under Operation Forest Sanity, embarked on a clearance operation from Damba to Kang on Kadi and fired on identified bandit locations around the Kangon Kadi forest, Labi and the Udawa River.

Bandits fled from the Kangon Kadi area under the superior firepower of the troops, leaving behind six kidnapped victims at their camp, the official statement said.

Mr Aruwan identified some of the victims as: Iliya Gide, Rabi Ali, Hussain Gide, Naomi Nuhu, and her baby, Pamela Baraje.

Mr Aruwan said the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, noted the report with gratitude and commended the troops for sustaining valiant efforts across several fronts.

He said citizens will be updated on further developments.

The latest operational success recorded by the security forces follows the killing of several bandits at the Tollgate area of Chikun Local Government Area on Saturday.

In the Saturday operation, officials disclosed that notorious terror gang leader, Boderi Isiya, narrowly escaped being killed, but his second in command and several other fighters were gunned down by the troops.

Boderis deadly second in command, one Musti, was among those identified to have been eliminated, alongside one Yellow Mai-Madrid and one Dan-Katsinawa, with others yet to be identified, the official said.

Messrs Musti and Boderi were responsible for the security breach at the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna.

They were also responsible for the kidnapping of students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, the Emir of Bungudu and several other citizens in 2021, Mr Aruwan said.
Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), the parent company of the Ecobank Group, on Monday announced that the current Group Chief Executive Officer, Ade Ayeyemi, will retire after he attains the age of 60, in accordance with ETI policy. The Board of Directors selected Jeremy Awori to succeed Ade Ayeyemi as Group Chief Executive Officer. The relevant effective dates will be communicated in due course.

Alain Nkontchou, Ecobank Group Chairman, thanked Mr Ade for his immense contribution during his seven years at the helm of the Ecobank Group as Group CEO. He added that, Ade can be rightly proud of his success in leading the implementation of the Roadmap to Leadership strategy, navigating Ecobank through challenges, seizing opportunities, and positioning Ecobank for sustainable long-term growth. Ades deep knowledge, unrivaled vision, commitment and infinite passion made all the difference. It has been a real pleasure working with him. I count on his continuous support to ensure a smooth transition as we onboard Jeremy Awori as the new Group CEO.

Jeremy Awori is a highly respected leader in the banking industry with significant achievements in his previous capacities. The Board of Directors strongly believes that his drive and strong focus on results will be vital in steering the Group in its next phase, Alain Nkontchou stated.

The Board of Directors of ETI has appointed @JeremyAwori as the new Ecobank Group CEO. He will succeed @AAyeyemi when he retires. Jeremy brings onboard a wealth of experience, skills, and industry expertise. Read more here: [https://t.co/PAv7q3UM4I]#Ecobank #Update pic.twitter.com/WdfN5dyTXj  Ecobank Nigeria (@ecobank_nigeria) September 12, 2022

Mr Ayeyemi expressed his deep gratitude for the opportunity to lead the Ecobank Group and stated: It is a privilege to lead an amazing team of Ecobankers in bringing the Ecobank Group back to growth and continuing to realise our commendable pan-African mandate. He also expressed his commitment to a smooth transition and onboarding of his successor.

The incoming Group CEO, Jeremy Awori, responding to the announcement of his appointment said: It is a great honour to be appointed Ecobank Groups Chief Executive Officer. I look forward to consolidating the transformation of Ecobank, a truly pan-African institution full of talented people, while innovating to create value for all Ecobanks stakeholders. I am humbled by the opportunity to contribute to the continents economic development and financial integration with Ecobank Group.

Jeremy Awori is joining Ecobank Group following a 25-year long career in the banking industry, with almost a decade leading Absa Bank Kenya Plc as the CEO & Managing Director.

Before joining Absa, Mr Awori held multiple leadership roles at Standard Chartered Bank across the Middle-East and Africa. He brings a wealth of experience, skills, and industry know-how to the Ecobank Group.

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) is the parent company of the Ecobank Group, the leading independent pan-African banking group. The Ecobank Group employs about 13,000 persons and serves over 32 million customers through its consumer, commercial and corporate and investment banking businesses across 33 African countries.

The Group has a banking licence in France and representative offices in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Johannesburg, South Africa; Beijing, China; London, the UK and Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. ETI is listed on the Nigerian Exchange in Lagos, the Ghana Stock Exchange in Accra, and the Bourse Regionale des Valeurs Mobilieres in Abidjan.
The APC Presidential Campaign Council has dismissed a report circulating on social media that its candidate in the 2023 election, Bola Tinubu, is planning to drop out of the race on health grounds.

The council, in a statement by one of its spokespersons, Festus Keyamo, described the report as fake news planted by supporters of the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

The council said Mr Tinubu is fit and ready for the upcoming campaign for the election.

We also wish to use this medium to debunk the false and misleading posts on various social media handles of supporters of Mr Peter Obi that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is withdrawing from the race on health grounds.

This is nothing but a figment of their warped imaginations. Our candidate is strong, healthy and fit enough for the coming campaigns. The opposition will hear loud and clear from him soon, Mr Keyamo said.

He also reacted to a viral video where Mr Obi attacked the former governor of Lagos State based on a WhatsApp message.

In the viral video, Mr Obi claimed that a Tinubu support group sent out a message urging Yoruba people not to vote for him based on ethnic sentiments.

The message which Mr Obi read out in the video said Yoruba shine your eyes o, if you vote for Peter Obi, it is automatically voting for seaports in South-South and South-East. The Igbos will stop coming to Lagos State to invest, rather they will go to Delta and Rivers States, they may even stop building houses in Lagos. It will affect a lot of Yorubas. Yoruba ro nu o.

Mr Keyamo said the message did not emanate from the council.

Firstly, we vehemently deny the existence of any of such Tinubu group that made and circulated such a message. All groups supporting the APC Presidential Candidate and his running mate have clear designations with well-known promoters. In addition, it is only messages released by the APC Presidential Campaign Council that are officially authorised and for which we take responsibility, he stated.

The team further criticised Mr Obi for making claims that can divide Nigerians along fault lines.

We find it utterly disgusting, demeaning and insulting to the sensitivities and sensibilities of Nigerians for a presidential candidate of the ilk of Peter Obi to make such a video parroting a spurious, unverified and sham message that has the potential of deepening our faultlines as a nation and further promoting ethnic tensions, Mr Keyamo said.
The State Security Service (SSS) on Sunday advised Nigerians to be mindful of their utterances regarding the arrest of Tukur Mamu, the man who negotiated the release of some of the victims of the Kaduna train abduction.

The SSS spokesperson, Peter Afunanya, said Mr Mamu will be charged to court following an investigation.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the SSS arrested Mr Mamu and raided his Kaduna residence and office claiming that it recovered military uniforms and an amount of money on Thursday.

The raid on Mr Mamus residence and office follows his arrest at the Aminu Kano International Airport on Wednesday.

Mr Mamu, a newspaper publisher, negotiated the release of some of the hostages in the March 2022 train abduction in Kaduna.

Following the raid, the management of the Desert Herald Newspaper in a statement said the allegation against its publisher, Mr Mamu was concocted by the secret police in its desperation to give the publisher a bad name to rope him.

Also, an Islamic cleric, Ahmad Gumi, an associate of Mr Mamu faulted the SSSs raids on Mr Mamus residence and office describing them as terrorists who break into peoples homes with guns without recourse to the law.

We are fighting terrorists because they are outlaws, the security agent can also be regarded as outlaws if they refused to act based on the law of the land, Mr Gumi said.

SSS hits back

The SSS said it is observing comments by section of the public following the arrest. It said Mr Mamu is being investigated by the operatives and he will be charged to court, thus, warning people to desist from interfering.

Below is the full statement from the SSS

The Department of State Services (DSS) has followed, with keen observation, overzealous comments by sections of the public given issues relating to the arrest and investigation of Tukur Mamu.

The Service wishes that it is not distracted by some of the skewed narratives pervading the media space. Instead, it requests to be left alone to concentrate on the ongoing investigations, the outcomes of which have remained mind-boggling.

Meanwhile, the Service will cease further comments on the subject matter since the Court will determine its course.

Consequently, the public is hereby enjoined to desist from making unguarded utterances and await the court proceedings.

Peter Afunanya, PhD, of Public Relations Officer

Department of State Services

National Headquarters

Abuja

11th September 2022
Despite a debt figure of over N41 billion, Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State has built another governors lodge in Abuja which he said is valued at N1.2 billion.

Mr Umahi boasted that the lodge is the best in the country.

He stated this on Friday after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa in Abuja.

The governor said he was at the presidential villa to invite Mr Buhari to commission the governors lodge and that the president had accepted the invitation.

Ebonyi State has a debt profile of N41.6 billion as at 31 March 2022, according to data released by Debt Management Office.

Mr Umahi said he decided to build the new lodge because the existing one in Maitama, Abuja, was not fit enough for him to discharge his duties.

He said he bought a 3,000 square meters land in Asokoro, Abuja, in 2016, for the building of the new lodge.

Luckily, I got land. Very good price, at N350 million and I paid in 2016 but I didnt start building until about November 2020. And by June 2022, I had completed it, he said.

When I say it is the best governors lodge anywhere in this country. I mean, its the best governors lodge anywhere in this country, Mr Umahi stated.

The governor said although he could not give the exact amount the project gulped, he is certain that the cost was within N1.2 billion.

I wouldnt be able to say how much it took, but I know it should be under if its up to N1 billion, it cannot be more than N1.2 billion. But when you see it, you will think it is something built with N10 billion. Mark my words, you will not find any other lodge not like that (in Nigeria), he said.

Asked to comment on the benefits of the lodge to Ebonyi people, Mr Umahi claimed the project would help to build the self-confidence of Ebonyi people and overcome the feeling that they are being marginalised.

And to some people, we use it to punish those of them that neglect us. They are being punished by this gigantic project. And my projects are projects you cant find anywhere in the South-east. You can crosscheck that. So, it is punishment, Mr Umahi said.

Almost all the states in Nigeria have a governors lodge in Abuja, which is largely used by state governors and other officials of the state governments for hosting visitors and lodging during meetings in Abuja.

The National Bureau of Statistics, in 2020, ranked Ebonyi State as the fourth poorest state in Nigeria and the least in the South-east, regarding economic development.

When Francis Nwaze, the media aide to the governor, posted photographs of the lodge on his Facebook page on 3 August, some Facebook users criticised the governors decision to build the lodge. They said it as a waste of economic resources for a state that was struggling with poverty.

Ebonyi doesnt need this. The governor doesnt live in Abuja. The teeming and unemployed youths in the state need this money invested in their education and empowerment, said Steve Emmanuel, a Facebook user.

What a waste of resources! People are dying of hunger here in Ebonyi, and our money is being used to build house in the name of Ebonyi Lodge in Abuja, said Solomon Ukpai, another Facebook user.

Apart from the N41 billion debt figure, a report by a civic organisation, BudgIT showed that Ebonyi State was among eight states yet to pay its pensioners in the last six months as at 28 July.

Mr Umahi denied the report, claiming his administration never owed salaries in the state.

BudgIT said it conducted the survey to spotlight and identify state governments that have consistently failed to meet the essential requirements of governance and employee compensation in Nigeria.

Mr Umahi, a member of Nigerias ruling party, All Progressive Congress, will exit office as governor in May, 2023.
Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State has condemned the attack on the convoy of Nigerian Senator, Ifeanyi Ubah, and the killing of some police officers in the convoy.

Also a video clip, apparently filmed after the attack, has gone viral on various WhatsApp groups.

Mr Soludos remarks is contained in a statement on Sunday from his spokesperson, Christian Aburime.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how gunmen ambushed the senators convoy and opened fire on them, killing a yet to be confirmed number of police officers attached to the senator.

The incident happened on Sunday evening in Enugwu-Ukwu, a community in Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State, Nigerias South-east.

Governor Soludo said his administration is fully determined to wipe out every act of criminality in the state.

This is the last-ditch effort of a sinking boat by these criminals, he said.

The governor said security agencies have been alerted to track down the gunmen that carried out the attack.

He commiserated with the senator and families of his aides who were killed in the attack.

He also commiserated with the Commissioner of Police in the state, Echeng Echeng, over the killing of police officers by the gunmen.

Mr Ubah represents Anambra South District in the Senate.

He is a member of the Young Progressives Party (YPP).

The lawmaker hails from Otolo, Nnewi, a community in Nnewi North Local Government Area of the state.

He was a governorship candidate of the YPP in the 2021 governorship election in the state which was won by the incumbent governor, Mr Soludo of All Progressives Grand Alliance.

Viral video clip

In the video clip, about three vehicles, including a police patrol vehicle, a Tundra truck and a Toyota SUV, were seen parked along the road.

The vehicles doors all left wide open. A light bar on the police patrol vehicle was still on.

Two bodies of police officers were inside the patrol vehicle, while the body of another officer was seen in a nearby shop.

Two more bodies, believed to be the lawmakers aides, were seen in the Toyota SUV.

Some of the vehicles were riddled with bullet holes. The vehicles windshields and windows were damaged by bullets.

One other body, believed to be one of the senators aides, was seen inside the Tundra truck.

Residents were heard saying in the clip that some police officers and senators aides left the scene with bullet wounds.

It is not clear, for now, if some bodies had been evacuated before the clip was shot.

Anambra, like other states in the South-east, has witnessed several attacks by by gunmen.

A state lawmaker was recently kidnapped and subsequently murdered in the state.

The Nigerian government has repeatedly blamed the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra for the attacks. But the group has denied their involvement.
The National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN), on Monday, adjourned the suit filed by the federal government challenging the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

The judge, P.I Hamman, adjourned the suit until 16 September for further mention.

At Mondays proceedings, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), sought to join the suit as an interested party.

SERAPs lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, said his client had filed a similar suit asking the court to compel the federal government to honour its 2009 agreement with the striking varsity lecturers.

We filed a similar suit on 8 September, asking the court to compel the federal government to honour an agreement it willingly entered into with ASUU, Mr Adegboruwa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) said on Monday.

He based SERAPs joinder request on the need to forestall duplicity of outcomes concerning the industrial dispute.

But the federal governments lawyer, Tijjani Gazali, also a SAN, opposed Mr Adegboruwas application to consolidate the suits.

He told the judge that SERAPs application was premature as the case was billed for mention on Monday.

Reacting to Messrs Adegboruwa and Gazalis arguments, Femi Falana, another SAN, who represents ASUU, said he was aware of efforts by the lawyers to file court papers in the suit on Monday.

Ruling

In his ruling on the SERAPs joinder application, the judge agreed with the federal government that the suit was not ripe for consolidation.

Mr Hamman said he was only presiding as a vacation judge as the case would be assigned to another judge for full adjudication.

Thereafter, the judge ordered parties in the suit to file and exchange their written submissions, and adjourned the case until Friday, 16 September.

Govts suit delay tactic

Addressing journalists shortly after Mondays proceedings, Mr Falana said the Nigerian government often adopts dilatory tactics that have a way of prolonging strikes.

Mr Falana, in company with ASUU president, Emmanuel Osodeke, and other officials of the striking lecturers, referenced the resident doctors dispute with the government last year which resulted in a suit at the NICN.

They government is yet to put its house in order. The government has not been able to make a case for the intervention of the court, hence the basis of adjournment.

This is not the first time the government has adopted this rather dilatory tactics that have a way of prolonging strike.

We were here last year when you had the resident doctors strike. It was the same approach. They (government) said they (resident doctors) wont be paid, but at the end of the day, government had to pay them. And that is what happens all the time.

On his part, Mr Adegboruwa told journalists that the federal government had abdicated its responsibility of funding public universities, necessitating the filing of SERAPs suit.

Background

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the federal government sued ASUU over the lingering strike that kept Nigerian public universities shut since February.

The Nigerian government said in the suit that it wants the court to determine the legality or otherwise of the strike.

It further said; It asked the court to interpret in its entirety the provisions of Section 18 LFN 2004, especially as it applies to the cessation of strike once a trade dispute is apprehended by the Minister of Labour and Employment and conciliation is ongoing.

The ministry also wants the court to determine whether ASUU members are entitled to emoluments for the period they have been on strike.

ASUU embarked on an initial four weeks strike on 14 February, and has continued to extend it as talks with the government fail.

On 29 August, ASUU announced an indefinite extension of the strike, accusing the government of insincerity.

Unlike other university-based unions, ASUU refused the governments plea to resume while the government worked on its demands.

The Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities and other Associated Institutions (NASU), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) have all suspended the strike but with ultimatum issued to the government to meet their requests.

But the Nigerian government said it wants the court to adjudicate on the propriety or otherwise of the strike.

It asked the court to interpret in its entirety the provisions of Section 18 LFN 2004, especially as it applies to the cessation of strike once a trade dispute is apprehended by the Minister of Labour and Employment and conciliation is ongoing, a statement from the Ministry of Labour said on Sunday.

The government requested an order of the Court for ASUU members to resume work in their various universities while the issues in dispute are being addressed by the NICN in consonance with the provisions of Section 18 (I) (b) of the TDA Cap T8. LFN 2004, the statement reads in part.
Sitting in his wooden kiosk, Ademola Kazeem shared his experience of trading and eventually quitting the Ayegbaju International Market in Osogbo, Osun State.

Mr Kazeem is one of the hundreds of traders who feel disappointed by what the market has become.

The government changed the agreement and promises. That is why we left, he said, as he munched a piece of akara (beans cake). Many businesses have been ruined. A woman here ran at a loss in her frozen food business after most of her fish got spoilt due to lack of electricity, he added.

In Osogbo, the capital city of Osun State, the Ayegbaju international market, a multi-billion naira project, lies deserted.

Before the construction of the international version, the local Ayegbaju market was one of the most patronised in the city. However, things changed soon after the state government upgraded the facility. Many roadside traders who were supposed to be the prime beneficiary of the new market took their businesses elsewhere because of some issues they faced.

Background story

The Ayegbaju Ultra-modern International Market was commissioned on 7 July, 2014 by the then governor, Rauf Aregbesola.

According to several news reports, the project estimated at N2.3 billion was awarded to Edward Consult Limited, an estate developer, in a private-public partnership (PPP) deal.

They envisaged the market would provide a good business environment for market women and men, as it was designed with facilities that include public toilets, health centres, police posts, car parks, electricity connection and CCTV cameras.

The official claim was that the shops were rented to traders at affordable costs. But this does not seem to be the case as traders said the actual rent they pay is expensive. Many of them said it is the high rent, among other factors, that chased them away from the market.

Segun Adeyemo, the director of the market, refused to disclose the official rent per shop when asked. Instead, he explained that there are about 1,000 shops built into different categories; from the exclusive shops to the mini and open shops meant for butchers and pepper sellers.

This reporter observed that less than 50 shops were occupied and opened out of the 1, 000 shops in the facility.

International Market shunned by local traders

In October 2017, Punch newspaper published a report with the headline Traders shun Osuns Ayegbaju market. The story reported that the state government complained over traders refusal to utilise the market even though 95 per cent of the shops had been leased out and paid for. Nothing has changed since then.

In August when UDEME spoke with some of the traders, they said the shops were not occupied because they were rented or sold to civil servants and politicians who have kept them locked up, with no apparent intention to put them to use.

I have been here since the market was opened, and believe me, this market is very convenient. However, the lack of traders caused by those who bought shops and didnt use them affected its growth, Alarape Aminat, a trader who sells clothing materials in the market, explained.

Mr Kazeem sells beef at Akindeko Market, a roadside market in another part of Osogbo. He had rented a shop and relocated to the new market until poor sales forced him out.

He told UDEME that traders were disappointed because the state government did not provide most of the facilities it promised at the market.

We all went there and rented shops and spaces in the market immediately we heard it was open. But all the things that we were expecting were not there, including power supply. Our businesses started destroying, so we came back here to the roadside, Mr Kazeem said.

At Oroki Market, another roadside facility opposite Akindeko Market, a trader who preferred not to be mentioned for fear of a backlash expressed her disappointment with the market.

I spent money on that market myself, but all was wasted because what we were promised was different from what we met.

The disappointed trader added that the traders are no longer interested in the Ayegbaju Market. This is our market here, and we cannot move from here again to Ayegbaju, she said.

Blessing in disguise

Ironically, a shopper, Oladeji Olawale, who spoke with UDEME at Ayegbaju market, said he finds the new market more convenient for shopping than the roadside option.

I love to always come here to buy my stuff because of the parking space and security. Indeed, the market is okay. But it is not properly organised and I found out that this market may not work because of the creation of sub-market and complexes elsewhere in the city, where most business owners are turning to instead of coming here, he said.

Current administration working to resuscitate market

Mr Adeyemo, the official running Ayegbaju market, explained that the situation of the facility was worse before he took over its administration.

I resumed as the marketing director of the market last May. Before I came, it was something else, but since I resumed office, I have done some work to encourage people to enter the market. That is why it is at this stage you met it. I did so many jingles and bonanzas to lure people in, which actually yielded result with time, he said.

Mr Adeyemo also added that the poor situation of the market was worsened by the location and the planning.

Two main factors caused the condition of the market; first is the construction of the market that was built behind the city, the main entrance is at the back, while the market is at the back. Another reason is the many rising markets and complexes in the city today.

UDEME could not reach the developer but sources privy to the PPP arrangement said Edward Consult Limited has sold all the shops and cashed out.

Mr Adeyemo confirmed that the shops and complexes were indeed sold out, and most of the buyers were career officers and some individuals who do not live in Nigeria.

Ministry reacts

Jibola Falode, the director of commerce, who spoke on behalf of the Commissioner for Commerce and Industry in the state, said the authorities had made many attempts to increase the utilisation of the market, but the efforts were affected by many new complexes and sub-markets rising almost daily in the state.

The problem is that if some individuals had not paid for some shops, it would have been easier to advertise for people to subscribe. But it is difficult owing (to the fact) that there are owners of the shops. There was a time we went on air to tell people to come and use the shops for free for three months.

Mrs Falode added that the ministry was liaising with the Ministry of Justice to follow a legal route to open the shops that were abandoned by owners.

Mr Adeyemo and Mrs Falode said the state government still generates revenue from the service charges and rents in the market.

Though it is in the markets account, the money will be transferred to the government very soon, Mrs Falode said.

The former governor, Mr Aregbesola, who is currently the minister of interior, did not respond to several calls and emails sent to him for this report.
Ifeanyi Ubah, the Senator representing Anambra South District, has confirmed the deaths of some of his personal and security aides during a Sunday attack on his convoy.

Mr Ubahs convoy was attacked around Nkwo Enugwu Ukwu Market axis of Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State.

The senator was on its way to Nnewi, his country home, on Sunday night.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that gunmen opened fire on the convoy and left many members of the convoy dead including other persons at the scene of the incident.

Senator Ubah, who confirmed the incident to reporters on Monday in Awka, identified some of those killed in the attack as Obum Ikechukwu and Goodness Mathias.

He did not give details of their identity.

Mr Ubah said that some officials of Nigerias secret police, State Security Service, were among those killed by the gunmen. He also confirmed that some police officers were among the dead victims.

The police spokesperson in Anambra, Toochukwu Ikenga, confirmed the incident but did not give the figure of the victims.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr Echeng Echeng visited the scene and there were blood stains at the place indicative of the fact that the attack was bloody, but to give the number I cannot say anything on that, he said.

(NAN)
The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State, Stephen Ntukekpo, is yet to be charged for forgery, despite his indictment by a police investigation.

Mr Ntukekpo, backed by a former minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, used forged documents to get a court judgement which ousted Austin Ekanem, the man that was duly elected the chairman of the APC in Akwa Ibom.

The report of a police investigation issued on 4 July by the legal section of the force headquarters, Abuja, confirmed that Mr Ntukekpo forged his party documents which made it appear as if he, and not Mr Ekanem, was elected the APC chairman in Akwa Ibom.

The report recommended that Mr Ntukekpo be prosecuted for forgery and impersonation.

The police, however, are yet to charge Mr Ntukekpo, two months after, fueling speculations of a cover-up.

When PREMIUM TIMES contacted the spokesperson of the force headquarters, Muyiwa Adejobi, on 5 September, to find out the status of the case, he promised to get back to our reporter. But he had not as of the time of filing this report.

Mr Ntukekpos forgery and the subsequent removal of Mr Ekanem as the APC chairman in Akwa Ibom led to an intractable crisis in the party, which is almost causing it not to have a governorship candidate in the state for the 2023 elections.

When PREMIUM TIMES contacted Mr Ntukekpo in May, he did not deny that the documents he presented to the court were forged.

He said the APC, and not him, could say if the documents were forged or not.

I wasnt the author, I didnt manufacture, I didnt produce in any form or fashion the so-called result sheet of the congress. I was only an aspirant like any other person, he said.

The forgery investigation was prompted by a complaint from Yusuf Banki, the leader of the APC panel that conducted the APC state congress in which Mr Ekanem was elected the party chairman in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

Mr Banki had complained that his signature was forged in the documents, which proclaimed Mr Ntukekpo as the elected chairman of the APC in Akwa Ibom.

You can only lie against a dead person, you cant lie against a living person. Im alive and nobody can lie against me.

The person that forged my signature will be arrested and prosecuted, Mr Banki had said of Mr Ntukekpo.

The former minister, Mr Akpabio, to date, has not commented on the forgery case against Mr Ntukekpo.

Akpabio deliberately set off APC crisis?

Meanwhile, Ita Enang, a former senior special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Niger Delta Affairs, said Mr Akpabio may have deliberately set off the APC crisis in Akwa Ibom to block the party from having a governorship candidate.

The truth is that he (Akpabio) had told people on 26 March at Eagle Square (Abuja) during a convention to elect a new leadership of the party that Akwa Ibom will not have a (governorship) candidate in the (2023) election.

So he had already planned this to create a situation where there will be no other person coming up either as candidate or senator or anything so that at every time they want to talk about APC in the state, he will be the biggest person, having been a former governor, Mr Enang, a former senator, told PREMIUM TIMES in July.

Jackson Udom, a media aide to Mr Akpabio, said they would not respond to hearsay from Mr Enang.

He challenged Mr Enang to provide evidence that the former minister made the remarks about the APC not going to have a governorship candidate in Akwa Ibom.

We wont react to issues like that. We dont react to hearsay, Mr Udom said.
President Muhammadu Buhari warmly lauds Governor of Ekiti State Kayode Fayemi who has been elected as President of the Forum of Regions of Africa (FORAF), in his capacity as Chairman of Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF).

The election was held after a conference in Casablanca region, Morocco, at the weekend.

Receiving a delegation made up of Mr Fayemi, Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State, and Governor Umar Ganduje of Kano State at State House on Monday, the president said: In spite of the security challenges we have, it is good to see that other countries still believe in our potentialities. Congratulations for doing justice to Nigeria. We thank you.

President Buhari also thanked all other countries that queued behind Nigeria to emerge FORAF President, noting that it was a good show of brotherhood and solidarity.

Governor Sule said the conference was well attended by governors and participants from about 22 African countries, where regional issues were discussed, and memorandum of understanding (MOUs) signed on different areas like agriculture, mining, education, scholarships, and many others.

He added that while Nigeria, from West Africa, clinched the Presidency, Vice Presidents emerged from South Africa, for Southern Africa; Kenya, East Africa; Morocco, Northern Africa; and Cameroon for Central Africa.

READ ALSO:

Governor Fayemi, who relinquishes the presidency to the next NGF President at the expiration of his tenure in office, said the idea of FORAF was for sub-nationals to become engines of growth, and reduce pressure on central governments.

He added that FORAF was a unifying force for States (called Regions, Counties, or Provinces in other countries) to create a globally respected continent, submitting that Nigerias election was a testimony to the huge respect President Buhari enjoys in Africa.

Other countries simply withdrew their bids, once they saw that Nigeria was interested in the position, he disclosed.

Femi Adesina

Special Adviser to the President

(Media and Publicity)

September 12, 2022
The occupants of buildings in Akinyemi Street, Akinwunmi Estate, in Maryland, Lagos, have distanced themselves from claims by emergency responders that they were trapped in their homes after heavy rainfall and were rescued.

The occupants, who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES on Monday said flooding was a usual occurrence in the area and they have improvised ways to overcome the challenge.

This morning, we witnessed an unusual flooding in this environment. Im the landlord of that place, I have been living here since 2008, said Daniel Okereke, the owner of the building where emergency responders said they rescued trapped occupants.

We have been experiencing this for a while, when it happens, it flows down from the canal when it is not properly dredged and it ends up receding after two to three hours. It will become dry again, then you can go wherever you want to again.

Emergency responders claims

On Monday morning, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) put out a statement saying they received a distressed alert that nine residents were trapped in a sinking building due to the heavy rainfall.

Ibrahim Farinloye, the NEMA South-west coordinator, said the agencys advance team called for reinforcement of personnel.

Speaking with the trapped victims, the lady Ms Blessing disclosed that there are up to 9 people, mostly women, he said in the statement.

The landlord of the building had used a ladder to escape but NEMA questioned him for failure to contact emergency responders but someone from one of the trapped victims offices contacted NEMA.

Alongside the statement, the agency shared pictures of its officers carrying some women in the flooded area.

Also, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) in its own statement said that when they got to the scene, they discovered that nine female adults were trapped in a storey building which is sinking given the terrain of the environment and coupled with the overnight heavy rain downpour leading to flooding.

The firefighters swiftly swung into action, rescuing all nine alive without any form of injury with the compliments of other emergency responders at the scene.

The rescued victims are all in stable condition while search and rescue operations have been concluded with the evacuation of all at risk.

Residents speak

However, Mr Okereke denied the claim that he escaped from the building leaving his tenants to their fate.

Mr Okereke explained that he took his pregnant wife for an appointment at the hospital and by the time he came back he was surprised to see government officials at his residence.

He said the area is always flooded during heavy rains.

The worst it can get is knee level, he said of the water level.

Based on the construction as we were told that is going on in the Lekki Opebi link bridge link, they were having problems with dredging that area, so, they returned the water to this way.

He added that nobody was rescued from the property. We started noticing that the rain was unusual, I decided to be preemptive I noticed that some of the tenants where a bit agitated especially the new ones, so I told them that if anyone wants to go down and you dont want to enter the water, you can use a ladder 

When I got back I saw the gathering, and later realized that they were there because of the situation

Of course, I like what is happening. Whoever made that call has been able to draw the attention of the government that we have been experiencing since 2008.

Mr Okereke said that due to the floods he has lost at least five real quality cars.

Corroborating Mr Okerekes claim, his tenants, Tosin Ademuyiwa and Amina Muhammad, who had just gotten back from work, told this newspaper that their landlord left a ladder on the balcony for them to access the ground floor.

READ ALSO: Over 50 families displaced as flood sacks Ebonyi community

Miss Ademuyiwa, a tenant of three years, said the unusual rain led to the collapse of the fence which contributed to the floods.

The fence fell due to the rain and the water entered our compound. Water doesnt enter our compound, immediately the fence fell, and the water came into our house because the house in the next compound is abandoned.

We cannot go out, we cannot do anything. Thats when a co-tenant, Blessing said she will call someone from her work to come and rescue us.

And we didnt know that it was the agency that she was calling, we thought it was normal people. We didnt expect them (emergency), we only expected a few guys.

Another landlord in the area, Sylvanus Diugwu, said that such scenes are not uncommon in the area due to the heavy rainfall and the canal.

The problem we have here is the blockage of the canal. The canal is not flowing. As you see that bamboo tree, that axis is blocked, he said.

Those people were not trapped because this is not the first time. This is what happens in Lagos when there is much flooding. And as you see it, after some time, it will go down.

The caller

Speaking with this newspaper, Ms Blessing said she didnt call anyone.

She said she informed her office on WhatsApp that she wouldnt be coming to work due to the situation.

I forwarded the picture to my group and my office reacted. Our safety management was the one who called the rescue agents, she said.

She added that they had to use the ladder because the stairs were flooded.

She also said the rescue team swam inside the compound and carried them out.
That culture of defending the dead, even when we know their excesses while alive, is what the rest of the world seems to be espousing with Queen Elizabeths transition. While I agree that wishing evil on the living as Professor Anya did was not tidy enough and sounds very inhuman, I am not against her dwelling on the perceived soft landing for genocide that Britain under the Queens watch gave the Nigerian war.

Like a prude confronted with sexually explicit images, the world didnt hide its shock at Nigerian-born American professor, Uju Anyas negative comments last week about the late British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The world had waited with bated breath at manifest indications that Elizabeths last hours had come. Amid this apprehension, the Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics, Critical Sociolinguistics and Critical Discourse at Carnegie Mellon University launched her salvo. It came in the form of a tweet that brimmed with bile and hate. She had twitted: I heard the chief monarch of a thieving, raping genocidal empire is finally dying. May her pain be excruciating. It was a bazooka that upset and shook the world out of its sanctimony.

Billionaire Jeff Bezos, the worlds third richest man, had an immediate riposte for Anya. This is someone supposedly working to make the world better? I dont think so. Wow, he had written. Not one to be cowed, Anya launched another diatribe at both Bezos and the now-confirmed-dead 96-year old monarch. If anyone expects me to express anything but disdain for the monarch who supervised a government that sponsored the genocide that massacred and displaced half my family and the consequences of which those alive today are still trying to overcome, you can keep wishing upon a star, she tweeted. Uju was apparently making reference to the 19671970 Nigerian-Biafran war, during which time the British Empire, supporting Nigeria, had supplied arms and ammunition that helped Nigeria vanquish Biafra. About one million people reportedly died in the needless war. For Bezos, Anya had a retort: May everyone you and your merciless greed have harmed in this world remember you as fondly as I remember my colonizers.

Uju is apparently an against-method academic. Born of a Nigerian/Trinidadian origin, her parents lived in Enugu, Nigeria and her fathers embrace of African polygyny fractured the wedlock, necessitating her Trinidadian mother to flee to America with her and siblings. A self-confessed lesbian, Uju got legally separated from her husband in 2017, even as she publicly announced her against-the-grain sexuality.

While Uju may be considered to have stepped off the borders of humanity by wishing another person excruciating pain and death, the facts of her grouse are in the public domain and need not be glossed over. An analysis of Anyas tweet reveals three key elements in her accusations against the British Empire, viz theft, rape and genocide-support. There is none of these allegations, which historical renditions, especially by African and Africanist scholars, have not leveled against the British colonisers.

Apparently because of her vested interest in Nigeria, Britain overtly supported the country in the civil war and indeed supplied arms and ammunition to Nigeria. Thousands of Igbo were killed in the 1966 pogrom, with Britain, the immediate past suzerain, lifting no finger. The Harold Wilson government, through its lackey High Commissioner in Lagos, David Hunt, was unapologetically against Biafra. As the war raged, 1.8 million refugees sprang up in Biafra, many of whom were living skeletons, and kwashiorkor-stricken kids. Karl Jaggi, head of the Red Cross at the time, estimated that about a million children were killed by hunger and bullets, though Red Cross saved about half a million through its interventions.

With the help of BBC correspondent, Fredrick Forsyth, the terrifying pictures of skeleton-like children appeared on British TV and unsettled Britons, leading to lack of appetit,e as those figures disrupted their dinner meals. The hitherto covered grim situations of the war, which Wilson had shielded from the British peoples view, sparked outrage and revealed Britains complicity in the genocidal war against the people of Nigeria. Queen Elizabeth was so powerful that if she indeed desired that the war should not be fought by both youthful soldiers, Yakubu Gowon and Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, no blood would have been shed by both parties.

Before Anya, Forsyth had revealed this connivance within Britains top echelon of power. He had written, What is truly shameful is that this was not done by savages but aided and assisted at every stage by Oxbridge-educated British mandarins. Why? Did they love the corruption-riven, dictator-prone Nigeria? No. From start to finish, it was to cover up that the UKs assessment of the Nigerian situation was an enormous judgmental screw-up. And, worse: with neutrality and diplomacy from London, it could all have been avoided. The truth is that, if Britain and her monarchy had insisted that the Aburi Accord, struck by the two leaders in Ghana, should be observed to the letter, there would not have been the bloodshed that eventually occurred.

Thus, while we criticise Professor Anya, we should also not gloss over this history. By our human conventions and norms, Anya tripped over the borders. The convention is for us to beatify fellow residents of this human space who transit mortality for immortality, with their earthly sins forgiven. Our laws are no less guilty, as even criminals undergoing trial have their cases discontinued. But should we allow the dead to escape that easily?

Britain was stung by the allegation of vicarious complicity in the multiple deaths. It became clear that it either did not seek armistice between the warring countries or it failed in its peremptory bid to reconcile them. Dr Akanu Ibiam, former governor of the Eastern Region, disclaimed the Knight of British Empire (KBF) bestowed upon him by Queen Elizabeth in protest of UKs biased involvement in the war. To further press home his protest, Ibiam reportedly renounced his English name, Francis. So many other people protested the British complicity in the deaths of the people who later became re-assimilated into Nigeria.

What in Harold Wilson and David Hunts actions showed that they did not mirror the mind of Queen Elizabeth and her desire for the deaths of people who, a few years before then, were her subjects, under the British colonial umbrella? People who had now taken on the new name of Biafra? If the debonair Queen didnt stop Wilson from supporting the war on Biafra, why does anybody want to spare her of historys unkind jab for the colossal deaths during the Biafran war?

Facts of history do not see Britain and Queen Elizabeth as benevolent but cruel conquerors. Till today, Britains foundational roles in the socio-political woes that Nigeria currently faces have not ceased from jutting out of remembrancers lips. The 1914 amalgamation was effected by Britain for the business pleasure of the Empire, without any regard for the future of Nigeria. The Royal Niger Company, a mercantile concern formed in 1879, was chartered by Britain in the nineteenth century for this purpose. It became part of the United Africa Company, which was used for the purchase and formation of colonial Nigeria. Through the activities of the company, Britain fenced off Bismarcks Germany from the acquisition of Nigeria and enabled this colonial empire to establish firm control over the lower Niger.

In Kenya, Britains conquistador role was no less benumbing. Between 1952  the year Queen Elizabeth ascended the throne  and 1960, a revolt of the Kikuyu tribe against British rule reigned. The war was fought over three issues  the expulsion of Kikuyu tenants from settler farms, white settlers taking over the lands and Britains failure to ascribe political representation to Kenyans in their own land. In the uprising, 32 white settlers and about 200 British police, as well as soldiers, were said to have been killed. More than 1,800 African civilians were killed in return, while the number of Mau Mau rebels killed was put at around 20,000. When Britain hunted and captured the leader of the uprising, Didan Kimathi, on 21 October, 1956, it signaled the beginning of the move to grant Kenya its independence. Kimathi was executed by hanging in the early hours of 18 February, 1957 at the Kamiti Maximum Security Prison.

Many of the empires under British suzerainty will also remember Britain and the Queen with grim-laced hearts.

Thus, while we criticise Professor Anya, we should also not gloss over this history. By our human conventions and norms, Anya tripped over the borders. The convention is for us to beatify fellow residents of this human space who transit mortality for immortality, with their earthly sins forgiven. Our laws are no less guilty, as even criminals undergoing trial have their cases discontinued. But should we allow the dead to escape that easily?

Britain dealt unkindly with the nations under it like merchandise and forcefully and unjustly expropriated their natural endowments in a very mercantile manner. In the process, many lives were lost and futures destroyed. While many of those Mephistophelean activities of Britain took place before Queen Elizabeth ascended the throne, as the monarch who the rest of the world has known in the last 70 years, she should be recipient of responses to the cruelty of her recent forebears. Methinks this was what Anya was saying but which, either due to her unbridled anger and lack of diplomatese, she failed to pad with niceties  as the world would have wanted. Attempts at suppressing the angst against the past, rather than placate the offspring of those whose kindreds blood was spilled by African rulers, in connivance with colonial authorities, have boomeranged. Treating them dismissively and dressing them in derogatory words like a dot in a circle have led to the metastasis of hate and raised angry persons like Anya and Nnamdi Kanu.

The way to go is to allow those who lived miserably be apportioned blames commensurate with their measly existence and those who live life as puritans be so accorded same at their departure. We have taken this apportioning of blanket beatification on the dead to such an absurd level that it encourages evil doers to bask in the warmth of their evil broths.

The culture of not speaking ill of the dead is ancient and perhaps spans the whole of humanity. Africa has carried this culture on its head, probably more pretentiously than the rest of the world. History has, however, not allowed us to close our eyes to the evils perpetrated around us, even by ancient African monarchies who are the precursors of the current kings. From Sunni Ali Ber, the first King of the Songhai Empire and 15th ruler of the Sunni dynasty, who conducted a repressive policy against the scholars of Timbuktu; Askia the Great, the emperor of the Songhai empire; Shaka the Zulu; Idris Alooma; Benhazin Bowelle of Dahomey; Menelik II; Mansa Musa of Mali and down to some of our ancient Alaafins of the old Oyo Empire, as well as their chiefs, like the wicked Bashorun Gaa, Africa too does not have a sparse supply of despots. Today, we paper over these excesses in history, just as we are doing with the Kings and Queen of England.

British monarchy and some monarchies in the world are realising that modernity may make it hard for them to continually assert the fiery powers of their fiefdoms as they did in time past. This, I think, is the most enduring manifestation of the monarchy superintended by Elizabeth II. Under Elizabeth as Queen, though the monarchical power was huge and awesome, it was dressed in ceremonial robe. The political power, on the outward, was then made to look like the decider of the destinies of Britain and its erstwhile colonies. This however does not remove from the fact that the monarchy was an umpire of bloodshed and tears in colonial territories some centuries ago.

The realisation of this wave shift in power was espoused by the author of the celebrated Yoruba classic, Igbi Aye Nyi  Life swivels like a wind  Chief T. A. A. Ladele. Written in 1978, Ladele, an Okeho, Oyo State-born History teacher in Durbar College, Oyo and pioneer Headmaster of Baptist School, Iwere-Ile, was one of Nigerias early writers. In Igbi Aye Nyi, the 1920-born writer sought to teach us all about the ephemeral worth of political power and the un-enduring texture of raw brawn. Set in a town called Otolu at the outset of the colonial incursion into Nigeria, Oba Bankarere, the Otolu king, in concert with his sons, inflicted huge terror on his subjects through his excessive wielding of power. He flaunted the wealth that accrued from power and defied all known societal norms. Two of Oba Bankareres subjects however rose to save the sanity of the traditional institution and the lives of the people. In the end, the colonial government waded in to curtail these excesses in a manner that rubbished the king and curtailed his outlaw sons.

That culture of defending the dead, even when we know their excesses while alive, is what the rest of the world seems to be espousing with Queen Elizabeths transition. While I agree that wishing evil on the living as Professor Anya did was not tidy enough and sounds very inhuman, I am not against her dwelling on the perceived soft landing for genocide that Britain under the Queens watch gave the Nigerian war. By not treading this path of beatifying the dead, in spite of themselves, Professor Anya and travelers on her kind of boat have received flaks on their persons. Some even went to the extent of deploying Anyas sexuality to attack her and a queer character said that because she tweets positive comments on the Labour Partys presidential candidate, she epitomises the negative energies some online rats ascribe to the candidate. Yes, Africans cannot stand same-sex relationships, but the fact of our global existence is that the biology of some people is misdirected towards such sexuality, in spite of themselves. There are so many citizens of the globe who share our admirable opposite-sex biology but whose minds are as odious and repugnant as the sewer. So why beatify the latter and incinerate the former?

To me, the culture of beatifying the dead with a blanket of a life well lived is self-serving. Most of the time, we spread this omnibus blanket as shawl on the disreputable lives of the dead simply because we all dread what the world would say when we too exit the world. This was aptly explained by the late Ilorin, Kwara State Dadakwada maestro, Odolaye Aremu, who sang that no one can predict who will be free of being drenched by a rain that is yet to abate. He had expressed it in his lyrics as Ojo ti nro ti o da, Olohun lo mo iye eni ti o pa.

The way to go is to allow those who lived miserably be apportioned blames commensurate with their measly existence and those who live life as puritans be so accorded same at their departure. We have taken this apportioning of blanket beatification on the dead to such an absurd level that it encourages evil doers to bask in the warmth of their evil broths. This does not discourage the living from evil. While it is nice to beatify Queen Elizabeth as it is being done all over the world for her recorded great footprints while alive, let non-conformists like Anya freely dwell on the misgivings they have about her too. They should not be made victims of unfavourable censor or censure.

Festus Adedayo is an Ibadan-based journalist.
We must do whatever it takes to improve the relationship between Nigerians, leaders, and our institutions. Like the Brits love and cherish functional institutions that add value to their society, such as the monarchy, may Nigerians learn to cherish institutions that impact their lives positively and use opportunities that present themselves to show the world that we love our institutions.

A critical chapter in the history of the British empire was closed on Thursday, 8th September, and a new one opened. Queen Elizabeth II died at her holiday home, Balmoral Castle in Scotland. Her over 70-year reign on the British throne meant that no monarch has reigned as long as she did in more than a thousand years of British history. No other head of state today is as well travelled, politically experienced or astute as the Queen was. She was one of the most recognised figures in the world.

The Queen was the symbol of true Britishness, the embodiment of its democracy and a stoic representation of stability and continuity, bridging the old and new in a dynamic and increasingly turbulent world. The Queen, a figure of great respect and admiration by many globally, was dearly loved in Britain and the Commonwealth. Her death has many implications for people worldwide, particularly those searching for identity, stability, continuity, and a symbol of unity.

Elizabeth II was not only the Queen of England but a symbol of an enduring monarchy that has triumphed for all seasons and successfully united the past and present, while marching into the future without losing relevance. This Queen was so good at controlling the monarchy that people around the world tend to forget that the monarchy is an institution, like other organic institutions of everyday life, subjected to the vagaries of change and vicissitudes of the socio-political drudgeries of life beyond anybodys control. The Queens astute devotion to duty and modesty made the average Briton proud of the monarchy, which is evident in peoples responses to her death in Britain and globally. She is held in the highest esteem by many. And this is due to her uncommon sense of decency, duty, and loyalty to her family and the state.

The dynamism of the British monarchy has seen it survive rapid changes and adapt to a new world system. Under the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the monarchy survived a world war, the spread of democracy, the end of colonialism, the decline of similar institutions elsewhere, the rise of individualism and the unprecedented influence of technology. Yet, in all these changes, by simple reason of self-discipline, devotion and adaptability, the Queen, the symbol of the monarchy, continued to be seen and admired as a symbol of stability, continuity, and responsibility, uniting the proud legacies of the British empire of old and the aspiration of modern Britons.

In performing these duties and caring for the interests of her subjects, the Queen won the hearts and minds of Britons and had many admirers globally. She inspired a sense of pride in the monarchy, albeit a constitutional monarchy with most state power devolved to the parliament.

The answer to these questions lies in the role of such institutions and their impact on the people. Many Nigerians distrust these institutions and hate relationships with them and those leading them. This lack of trust is a product of their experience with these institutions, which is often negative, and unimpactful. Historically and presently, the actions and inactions of these institutions do not inspire a loving feeling amongst citizens.

The British monarchy has managed to operate above politics, maintained neutrality, and has done everything possible to unite the people and give them hope. Whereas it does not interfere with the day-to-day management of government business, it has remained relevant in protecting the interest and welfare of the average British. This complementarity of the relationship between the people and the monarchy creates immense pride in the institution. And it inspires the people to love, cherish and defend the monarchy and the Queen against the scathing attacks of the anti-monarchists.

Love for the monarchy is seen in the outpouring of grief in Britain and globally at Queens death. This grief is succinctly captured by the French president, who told the British that Elizabeth II was not just their Queen, but she was the Queen to him too. World leaders and ordinary citizens in Britain are in solidarity with the royal family, the British government, and the citizens of Britain in grieving over the Queen. The question is: How is it that the British are so proud of their monarchy as an institution, which ordinarily ought to be an ancient historical artefact, whereas Nigerians are not proud of their countrys national institutions, such as the National Assembly, judiciary, the military and traditional rulers? Are Nigerians loyal to these institutions? Do they trust the representation of these institutions?

The answer to these questions lies in the role of such institutions and their impact on the people. Many Nigerians distrust these institutions and hate relationships with them and those leading them. This lack of trust is a product of their experience with these institutions, which is often negative, and unimpactful. Historically and presently, the actions and inactions of these institutions do not inspire a loving feeling amongst citizens. The military institution in Nigeria is increasingly smeared in sleaze, allegations of corruption, and the perception of ineffectiveness. It is seen as failing to tackle insecurity within the country, and when it relates to citizens, some unscrupulous soldiers lord it over or even maltreat the citizens that they are supposed to protect. Their political incursion left a sour taste in the mouths of many citizens who blame the military involvement in politics as the cause of Nigerias myriads of problems.

The traditional monarchies are quickly losing the respect and love of the people because many are hugely political, and others are corrupt and do not uphold the high moral and traditional standards of the people as custodians of our shared cultural heritage. The National Assembly is perceived as an institution that oppresses the people, instead of defending their interests through representation and law-making. The ties that bind citizens with these institutions are loosening by the day because they do not positively impact Nigerians, and they have become part of the problem, instead of solutions to our collective problems.

Many Nigerians do not believe these institutions have their interest at heart, and some are not even fit for purpose. The ordinary person does not see the judiciary as his last hope, because he believes that justice has become commercialised, and the courts are the playground of the rich, where justice is bought and sold to the highest bidder. Ask any average Nigerian whether he wants to settle a court case. Many will rather be victims of injustice than accept the arduous journey through our courts.

All institutions must reinvent themselves to survive. The monarchy in Britain was adept at constantly reinventing itself to make a meaningful impact on society. The Queen was an expert in doing this. She understood that change is constant and managing it becomes an expanding discipline, while how we embrace change defines our future.

Some Nigerians will accuse the executive arm of the government of mismanaging Nigeria, and some of the leaders in the executive arm have been proven to be either incapable of leading their own homes, much more a country, or are crassly and fantastically corrupt, such that they engage in wanton primitive accumulation of wealth by stealing from our commonwealth. The recent sleaze emanating from the defence of some corrupt leaders who claim that snakes, rats, and other animals swallow financial documents or lump sums of money does not inspire a love relationship between them and citizens. This is made worse by the fact that these allegations often go unpunished, and perpetrators continue to serve in government in one way or the other.

Many Nigerians see these institutions as agents of their subjugation and oppression. They feel these institutions serve the narrow interests of the elite and do nothing for ordinary people. The more citizens suffer economic hardship and political brutality from the government and its institutions, the more the hate relationship intensifies between them. In the end, it will be interesting to see a credible survey on the trust rate of citizens in six critical national institutions: the army, police, National Assembly, traditional rulers, the executive, and judiciary. It may open our eyes to the gap between the leaders and the led and why our institutions cannot get the same level of loyalty as Queen Elizabeth got from Britons.

Loyalty is won through a positive impact on the citizens. Great leaders like Awolowo, Azikiwe and Tafawa Balewa received similar grieving from citizens when they died. Their contributions to the development of Nigeria were clear to the citizens, who developed connections with these leaders because of the impact their leadership had on peoples lives. Like Queen Elizabeth and patriotic Nigerian leaders of national institutions, new leaders and institutions must change and impact positively on the people by putting their interests above personal interest.

All institutions must reinvent themselves to survive. The monarchy in Britain was adept at constantly reinventing itself to make a meaningful impact on society. The Queen was an expert in doing this. She understood that change is constant and managing it becomes an expanding discipline, while how we embrace change defines our future. The benchmark for managing change is positive and impactful leadership. Doing it selflessly, quietly, and with a sense of decorum, no matter the prevailing circumstance, is what endears leaders and institutions to citizens.

We must do whatever it takes to improve the relationship between Nigerians, leaders, and our institutions. Like the Brits love and cherish functional institutions that add value to their society, such as the monarchy, may Nigerians learn to cherish institutions that impact their lives positively and use opportunities that present themselves to show the world that we love our institutions.

Dakuku Peterside is a policy and leadership expert.
The 56-year-old media mogul and PR guru-turned-politician, has become the new face of hope in Niger State politics, and champion of politics of non-violence as espoused by Mahatma Ghandi; and the strategy of Su Tzu, who wants to win every battle without firing a gun.

It is not the critic who counts,

Not the man who points out

how the strong man stumbles,

or where the doer of deeds

could have done them better

 Theodore Roosevelt

For centuries, media moguls and entrepreneurs have staked their claim in the political affairs of their countries, beyond being drivers of conscience of their societies as members of the fourth estate of the realm.

The world abounds with the history of successful media owners emerging as outstanding leaders and politicians.

From pre-independence Nigeria, the media did not just play important roles in the independence struggle; practitioners and owners have been active participants and played pivotal roles seeking political offices and making successes of them. In the pre-independence era, two prominent Nigerians stood out as media practitioners who were very active politicians  Sir Herbert Macaulay and Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, who became Nigerias first president at independence on the 1st of October, 1960.

This intervention by the media and media practitioners have continued till date with Chief Lateef Jakande, Lagos State governor in the Second Republic and Chief Segun Osoba, Ogun State governor following the tradition established by the pre- and early independence media practitioners. Others have vied for other elective positions as legislstors, chairmen of councils or heads of professional bodies.

Following this trajectory in October 2019, Alhaji Mohammed Idris (Malagi), media owner and renowned public relations practitioner, decided to tread the path taken by other media entrepreneurs, by not just taking keen interest in politics and politicians, but in seeking political office.

And here began a journey of over 31 months of consultations, engagements, lobbying, bridge building, consensus building and negotiations.

When he started, some considered him a joker. Others took him for a money-miss-road adventurer. Still there were those who felt he was an outsider venturing into a space that was not his own.

All those who held various views about his foray into politics were unanimous that he was going to fade away  he couldnt go the whole hog. They thought  out of ignorance or limited knowledge of the persona  that like some before him, he just wanted to show face and disappear.

But the same thing happened when he ventured into newspaper publishing with the establishment of Blueprint newspapers. He took the media industry by storm and was taken for granted by some practitioners. Likewise, when he started his political journey, he was taken for granted by those who considered themselves the veterans and, whose right it was to determine those to contest for the governorship of Niger State.

Over 30 months down the line, he remains steady and has proved all the naysayers wrong by not just going the whole hog, but beating their imaginations with political dexterity.

From when he started and gradually warmed his way into the hearts of his people, Alhaji Mohammed Idris Malagi positively influenced the political landscape of Niger State by preaching politics of non-violence, while sustaining an issue-based campaign.

While other political actors and their social media insurgents blackmailed, insulted as well as used divisive tendencies in their messages and actions, Alhaji Mohammed Idris Malagi continuously, consistently and deliberately amplified messages of hope, of unity, and of a greater and more prosperous Niger State.

Within this period, he met various stakeholders across all the geopolitical zones and different political tendencies in the state. He became the rallying point of even known political foes, who before Malagi emerged on the political scene hardly saw eye to eye. He visited elder statesmen, traditional rulers, religious leaders, and community leaders. He engaged the young, old, men and women. While building a broad-based network of followers, he was mindful of the value of key stakeholders in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Deploying his resources, time, network and unique style, the media mogul breathed life into the Niger State chapter of the All Progressives Congress. He invested resources in the infrastructure and logistics requirements of the state wing, funding it and donating operational vehicles. His one-off donation of 31 buses and N43 million were unprecedented.

While picking his nomination, the Kakaaki Nupe re-echoed his central message about why he was in the race thus: Our path to the development of Niger State is clear and unambiguous. I will work from my first hour in office as the Governor of Niger State to unleash the potentials of our people; men, women, youth, educated and uneducated, farmers and artisans, traders and everyone else living in all parts of the state to be the best they can be under a stable and in a secure environment.

My vision is to work with the solid foundation and God-given human and material resources we already possess as a state to unlock our capacity in education, agriculture, science, technology and innovation to make Niger a truly frontline state in all its ramifications.

Throughout his consultation, engagements, lobbying and meeting with stakeholders, he never lost his cool as a quiet, calm and calculated personality. While some political actors in the state have institutionalised thuggery, politics of bitterness, vendetta, character assassination and violence, Alhaji Mohammed Idris Malagi popularised the politics of non-violence, unity, peace and peaceful co-existence, and productive engagements. It is on record, that Malagi reached out to almost all the gubernatorial aspirants on the platforms of APC before the primaries.

Even during his engagements with various local governments and federal constituencies, Malagi only preached his hope and desire to see a greater Niger State, of development, of prosperity, of unity. In his travels from Lapai to Agaie to Bida to Kutigi to Borgu to Kontagora and Minna, meeting with traditional rulers, community leaders, politicians, he was never carried away by the heat of the moment to say anything that could overheat the polity or stir animosity.

The Kakaaki Nupe ran a good race and when the outcome of the process didnt turn out as projected, despite the obvious shortcomings in the process, he was the first to congratulate the winner and immediately directed an official statement be issued to that effect. Even when his mature and civil disposition after the APC gubernatorial elections was taken for granted and even misconstrued as a sign of weakness by some stakeholders and their political jobbers, he kept his cool and maintained a studied calm.

When the executive council of Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Niger State Chapter, paid him a thank-you visit for redeeming his pledge to provide a bus for the secretariat, despite the outcome of the primaries, the media owner said: After the primaries, the support I got from the people of Niger State has motivated and encouraged me to remain in politics. We cannot go back. I will have to remain in politics.

I have no enemy in or outside politics. I have continued to impress on my supporters to always maintain peace and harmony. I dont want any of my supporters to take laws into their hands. We should be law abiding citizens so that together we can make Niger State great again.

Whatever the outcome of the APC gubernatorial primaries, which Malagi was projected to win, it is clear that Malagi may have lost the battle, but certainly won the war, in the political chess game. He has won the hearts and minds of millions of Nigerlites and indeed, well-meaning Nigerians who knew that his only mission was an opportunity to build a greater Niger State.

Little wonder, he has since the announcement of results of the APC gubernatorial primaries, become the political bride that is now the rallying point of Niger State politics. More than three months after the primaries, Malagi has remained the most sought afterand most talked about political figure in Niger State with all the political parties, not just reaching out to him, but wanting, in some instances, begging him to be their flagbearer.

Whatever may be the outcome of Malagis race to Niger Government House, what is most important is that the amiable media guru ran a good race and left an indelible mark on the political landscape.

The 56-year-old media mogul and PR guru-turned-politician, has become the new face of hope in Niger State politics, and champion of politics of non-violence as espoused by Mahatma Ghandi; and the strategy of Su Tzu, who wants to win every battle without firing a gun.

There may be mistakes, missteps and learnt lessons from the outcome of the gubernatorial primaries. There may be criticism of how he ran the race. There may be misgivings of how he engaged and his political rules ofengagement. There may be regrets of what needed to be done or what should have been done. There may be criticism of his soft style, decent, issue-based politics. But history favours those who venture, those who take risks. As Theodore Roosevelt famously noted:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

Jibrin Baba Ndace is an Abuja based journalist.
Queen Elizabeth II has played her role and will be laid to rest on Monday, 19 September. It is left for King Charles III to play his role. Whatever the case, the sun will continue to set on the English monarchy.

As a child growing up on Lagos Island, I frequently walked through the Race Course to school. The premises of the old House of Representatives building was in that complex. Sitting outsize in a regal flowing gown was the huge bronze statue of Queen Elizabeth II. Sculptured by Nigeria artist, Ben Chukwukadibia Enwonwu, it was commissioned in 1956 by the Queen during her visit to Nigeria. She was the Nigerian Head of State then because the country was a British colony.

I loved the sculpture, more so when hanging on the wall of my home was a photograph of my beautiful mother striking the same pose. However, a major contrast was that while the Queen was quite slim, my mother had some bulge, and I was told that I was the bundle of joy growing in her.

Then a few years later, it was reported that the statue had to be removed because protesting students had tried to destroy what was the symbol of neo-colonialism and British interference in Nigerian politics. The statue, which was conceived as a symbol of British-Nigerian friendship, later found a home in the Museum in Lagos, where such relics are housed.

Under colonialism, it was a crime to insult the British crown. You can therefore imagine the courage of a Nigerian youth, Raji Abdallah, who on being hauled before the colonial courts in 1948 for treason, famously told the judge: I hate the crown of Britain with all my heart because to me and my countrymen, it is a symbol of oppression, a symbol of persecution, and in short, a material manifestation of iniquity.

There were many cases of brutish acts by the British colonialists in Nigeria, which supported Abdallahs characterisation of the British Crown. In 1929 when unarmed women in Eastern Nigeria protested against the imposition of taxes on them, the British army attacked them, killing 55 women and injuring 50. On 18 November, 1949 when striking workers in the Iva Valley Mines in Enugu refused to assist the management to evacuate explosives, armed British policemen opened fire on the unarmed workers. Within minutes, 21 Nigerian workers were shot dead, with 51 injured.

This image of the iniquity of the British Crown also manifested to Kenyans, whose lush lands the British wanted to convert to their permanent settlement. On 6 February, 1952, while on holidays in Kenya, Princess Elizabeths father, King George VI, died and she was immediately named Queen. That same year, the Kenyans began their campaign for independence. In the eight-year insurgency, 32 white settlers and about 200 British soldiers, policemen and auxiliaries were killed, while in the name of Queen Elizabeth II, the British killed an estimated 20,000 Kenyans. Officially, 1,090 Kenyans, including their leader, Dedan Kimathi, were hanged, and entire Kenyan villages were detained en masse in Nazi-style concentration camps.

There have been mixed reactions following the 8 September passing of Queen Elizabeth II. Some mourn her death, while others snigger at her, allegedly for being the greatest receiver of stolen goods in world history. This is quite uncharitable because unlike Queen Elizabeth I, who invested in the dubious but quite lucrative business of piracy and even knighted her leading pirate, Francis Drake, Elizabeth II is not known to have taken part in any direct criminality. Her guilt stems from the fact that she was Queen of England, the nation that conquered and annexed Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and invaded, occupied or fought 90% of the countries that today make up the United Nations; that is 171 of the 193 countries in the UN. In the process, it looted countries around the world, stealing, amongst other treasures, human beings, land, crowns, gold, diamonds and artifacts. One of the crowns that Queen Elizabeth II held on to is the Kohinoor Crown with 2,800 diamonds, which contains the 105 carat Kohinoor diamond stolen by Britain in the mid-19th Century from the Mughal Peacock throne in Delhi, India. This is the crown Queen Camilla is billed to wear at Charles IIIs coronation.

Britain, under her, was quite wealthy; in terms of gold alone, it held about 400,000 bars worth over 200 billion. But a lot of that wealth was stolen. For instance, between 1705 and 1938, Britain stole over 45 trillion from India alone. But that was not under the reign of Iya Charlie, as many Nigerians called the Queen; she was just the inheritor.

Britain, under her, was quite wealthy; in terms of gold alone, it held about 400,000 bars worth over 200 billion. But a lot of that wealth was stolen. For instance, between 1705 and 1938, Britain stole over 45 trillion from India alone. But that was not under the reign of Iya Charlie, as many Nigerians called the Queen; she was just the inheritor.

After the 26 May, 1908 discovery of oil in Iran, Britain cornered virtually the whole oil wealth until the Iranians revolted. The British government, which in 1914 formally took control of the Iranian oil, decided that only 16% of the oil wealth would go to Iran. Despite this level of insatiable greed, it was Britain alone that calculated how much wealth the Iranian oil generated, then decided how much of it was paid as tax to itself, before purporting to pay the 16%.

In protest, Iran decided on 2 May, 1952 to nationalise its oil. This did not go down well with Britain which, with the United States on 19 August, 1953, overthrew the Iranian government led by Mohammed Mussadeq and imposed Shah Reza Pavlavi as the dictator of the country. This was in the sixth month of Elizabeth IIs reign as Queen. Iranians were not to regain control of their oil wealth until 1979 when it staged its revolution.

There is a trite saying: Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. This may be true of the Queen, as she tried to balance crown and family; it appears the latter suffered. Despite her best efforts and interventions, three of her four children were enmeshed in endless scandals, especially marital ones. It told of her judgment of character because under the Royal Marriages Act 1772, she had to consent to the marriages of her children and lineage.

Her only daughter, Princess Anne, like many young people, had various relationships before marrying Captain Mark Phillips on 14 November, 1973. They had two children, Peter and Zara Philips, before they divorced in 1992. On 12 December, that same year, she married her current husband, Sir Timothy Laurence.

Part of the complication is that Princess Anne dated Andrew Parker Bowles in 1970, but the problem was that he was a Catholic, so technically the Queen would not approve their marriage. On 4 July, 1973, Bowles married Camilla Rosemary Shand. They had Tom and Laura Bowles.

Perhaps the most complicated of all is Prince Andrew, the Queens third child who was married to the feisty Sarah Margaret Ferguson, better known as Fergie. They got married on 19 March, 1986, had two daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, and after some scandals, divorced in 1996, but still live together.

Prince Charles dated Lady Sarah Elizabeth Spencer but they could not be allowed to marry, some say it was because she was not a virgin. So, Sarah Spencer introduced her younger sister, Diana to Charles. They met thirteen times before their clearly, pre-arranged marriage on 29 July, 1981.

Despite both being married, Prince Charles and Mrs Camilla Parker Bowles began dating in 1986. Camilla was actually Dianas ninth cousin. This infidelity led to complications in the marriages, with Camilla divorcing Bowles in 1995 and Charles divorcing Diana in 1996, a year before she was killed in a car crash.

Queen Elizabeth, who ordered the Charles-Diana divorce, would not accept Camilla, a divorcee, as her new daughter in-law, more so as she would be in line to be Queen. Eventually, she bowed to pressure and Charles married Camilla in 2005.

Perhaps the most complicated of all is Prince Andrew, the Queens third child who was married to the feisty Sarah Margaret Ferguson, better known as Fergie. They got married on 19 March, 1986, had two daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, and after some scandals, divorced in 1996, but still live together.

Prince Andrew was implicated in an international paedophile scandal for which he paid a financial settlement to Virginia Giuffre, whom he had sexual relations with when she was 17.

Queen Elizabeth II has played her role and will be laid to rest on Monday, 19 September. It is left for King Charles III to play his role. Whatever the case, the sun will continue to set on the English monarchy.

Owei Lakemfa, a former secretary general of African workers, is a human rights activist, journalist and author.
The ongoing strike by lecturers in public universities, which began on 14 February, took a turn for the worse when their umbrella body, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) declared it total and indefinite on 29 August. A series of meetings between the Union and the Federal Government to resolve the impasse had always ended in a fiasco largely because sincerity and realism did not underpin those engagements.

At issue is a charter of demands by ASUU, pursuant to the implementation of a 2009 Agreement with the government regarding the proper funding of universities. Governments breach of the pact resulted in its renegotiation in 2013. Three successive committees headed by Wale Babalakin, Munzali Jibril and Nimi Briggs were appointed by government. All failed to resolve the crisis. The Federal Government has been roundly criticised, and rightly so, for not honouring the pacts it reached with ASUU; and for creating more universities it is not prepared to fund adequately.

Specifically, ASUU wants the Federal Government to pay N200 billion annually as a revitalisation fund for five years; adopt the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), a payment platform it says is unique to its system, as against the use of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS); pay arrears of Earned Academic Allowances of about N284 billion; and significantly increase the salaries of its members. A modicum of progress appeared to have been in the offing two weeks ago when ASUU took governments offers to their respective local branches for critical evaluation and possible approval. However, the union back-pedalled, with governments insistence on no work, no pay for the six months the strike has lasted. Nigeria has 108 public universities, of which 49 are federally-owned, 59 owned by states while 111 others belong to private entities.

All are agreed that our universities as citadels of teaching, learning, research and innovation are travesties of models in other parts of the world. Their rock-bottom positions in global university rankings speak volumes. Infrastructural decay, in terms of ill-equipped libraries and laboratories; shortage of classrooms and students hostels (most of which are insanitary); dearth of skilled manpower; paucity of research funds; irregular electricity and water supply; and mismanagement of resources offer a panoramic view of the negligence and irresponsibility of government in its obligations to these universities. The outlined deficiencies are contained in the 2012 Needs Assessment of Universities report. One media tally recently indicated that ASUU has been on strike for five calendar years since 1999; the longest period being 270 days of the 2020 strike. 180 days were lost in 2003 and 150 days in 1999.

The Emmanuel Osodeke-led ASUU has been in the trenches since its formation in 1978. The decadence above triggered the brain-drain that began in the late 1980s. Students have also joined the exodus to the point that 65,929 Nigerians were studying in the United Kingdom as recently as June this year, according to the UK Home Office National Statistics report. This ranks Nigeria as the third largest nationality, after China and India, with students in the UK system. Interestingly, this does not come cheap. In the US too, Nigeria ranks among the top 10 globally, and first in Africa, out of the 914,000 foreign students which Open Door Report on International Educational Exchange, documented in 2021, as released by the US Embassy. Thousands of Nigeria are also studying in Benin Republic, Ghana, South Africa, Canada, Malaysia, Egypt, India, Cyprus, and Ukraine (until the outbreak of war).

With the six-month strike, it is crunch time once again for all the stakeholders in the Nigerian education sector to put heads together towards finding a solution to this problem. The crises over the years underscore the fact that alternative funding options need to be explored for the universities to function optimally. Students should be made to pay an agreeable range of fees to augment governments grants. The addition of endowments, money from consultancy services, gifts and donations, normally make up the financial pool of universities.

Unfortunately, ASUU is opposed to students paying fees. The position vitiates the potency of its logic or desire for a revitalisation of the system. In real terms, there is nothing like free education anywhere. Where it exists as a public policy, the bill is picked up somehow by corporate bodies and individuals who pay heavy taxes to government, which ultimately defrays the cost.

Even in advanced democracies where free college education movements are cradled, like in the US, due to liberal and progressive politics, ostensibly to deal with inequality and decline in investment in public good, it has not been a smooth sail. Largely, students still pay for their education. But government mitigates the burden by setting up loan portfolios for students and scholarships for brilliant and/or indigent ones. Beneficiaries of such credit pay back on a progressive scale when they start working upon graduation. A former US President, Barack Obama, liquidated his student loan only during his presidency. President Biden has just cancelled about $244 billion students debts, in which about 20 million people got a relief of $10,000 each.

In the UK too, the populist policy ended in 1998 when reforms introduced modest fees. According to Brookings Institution, two decades later, most public universities in England charged about 9,250 per annum. But before then, decline in these institutions had set in; just as the universities operated with governments caps on enrolment in order to reduce per student expenditure. Absolute dependence on public financing brought them under pressure, which also infringed on their autonomy.

Autonomy, the much-cherished self-governance instrument of universities, gives them power or freedom to establish a set of rules and capacity to control their own affairs. ASUU, in exploiting the University Autonomy 2004 Act, has accused the government of tampering with the independence of universities, with the attempt to impose the controversial IPPIS payment system on them. They may be right. ASUU cannot have it both ways on autonomy  it insists government should be the sole funder of universities but should have no say on how it operates, including the payments platform for salaries. University Councils need to take substantive decisions on addressing the crisis in our universities and, specifically, address the question of alternative sources of funds.

Any ASUU insistence on a public funding arrangement that has woefully failed over the years is tantamount to preparing the ground for the next strike. A former Vice-Chancellor of Federal University of Technology, Minna, between 2002 and 2007, Hamman Tukur Saad, in his reaction to the ongoing strike, pointed the way forward. He deviated from the no fees from students norm during his tenure. A situation where students paid N90 per session for a bed space and rented it out at N15,000 to their colleagues, robbed the university of valuable resources. During his time as Vice Chancellor, he had introduced a fee of N50,000 per student, and also a range of charges that transformed the university to the delight of parents and the students, who subsequently urged his successor to sustain that trajectory. When ASUU insists that no contribution should come from parents and students to run a university, let them visit our permanent site at FUTMIN, Prof. Saad said. As other universities were steeped in perennial darkness, the university had a dedicated power line from the Shororo substation at the cost of N50 million. Prof Saads revelation that a university hid a whopping N10 billion from the knowledge of a Federal Governments visitation panel he chaired, says a lot about how corruption and lack of transparency have ruined the ivory tower.

As critical as the paucity of funds might have contributed to the rupture of the university system in Nigeria, incompetent and corrupt administrators have undoubtedly done much worse. This is why Peter Okebukola, a former Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), noted a few years ago that Universities need to be in the hands of managers who can run the institutions efficiently and prudentially manage resources. Inept leadership and corruption were behind the one million illegal admissions that the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) discovered in March this year. The beneficiaries had already graduated.

In 2016, the NUC indicted 37 universities for running 150 illegal courses. Admissions beyond the carrying capacity of any university have corrosive effects on infrastructure and the quality of degrees awarded. In fact, there is enough blame to go around. Establishing more universities should stop, whether public or private, as they draw from the same pool of human resources, already adjudged to be inadequate. Both the government and ASUU should critically reflect on their positions and find a common ground in the interest of the students and the country.

Commitment to earlier agreements must be respected by the Federal Government. The bid for improved wages for lecturers should be treated with a sense of urgency. There is dignity in intellectual labour. That a professor earns less than $1,000 a month is a national embarrassment we should end.
Kebbi State Government on Sunday announced the donation of N100 million to Hisbah, the moral police, at an event marking the twentieth anniversary of the establishment of the organisation in the state.

During the event, the government also announced the co-optation of religious organisations into a security outfit.

The Governor of the state, Atiku Bagudu, explained that the N100 million was donated to the organisation by the state government, the State House of Assembly, and Chairmen of the 21 local government councils in the state, Yahaya Sarki, the governors media aide, said in a statement.

Mr Bagudu acknowledged the immense contribution of Hisbah in instilling moral values into the citizenry, partaking in social welfare services and fighting societal ills, such as alcohol consumption and prostitution.

He said the Hisbah has been at the forefront in preventing crime and criminality in society which made his administration co-opt the Hisbah into the state security machinery.

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Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu made it clear that given its proactive approach to the prevention of social vices and crime, the incumbent administration has co-opted Hisbah into the security machinery of the state, the statement said.

He praised members of the group for their perseverance in upholding the tenets and objectives of cleansing the society, the statement added.

In a remark, the Secretary to the State Government, Babale Yauri, expressed satisfaction about the achievements of Hisbah since its creation 20 years ago.

Mr Yauri listed the closure of beer parlours, brothels, rescuing abandoned children and newly born babies as well as other activities of charity as hallmarks of the operations of Hisbah in the State.

Mr Sarki, did not, however, explain the amount donated by each donor but announced that the Chairman of the Occasion, and Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami, donated N5 million

Mr Malami was represented by the states former Commissioner for Works and Transport, Abubakar Ladan.

The minister commended the performance of Hisbah in the state, saying their operations have reduced acts of alcoholism and prostitution in the state.

Also, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Nasir Idris, donated N500,000, the statement said.
A staff member of a Nigerian university has reportedly committed suicide over his inability to pay school fees for his two daughters.

The Nation newspaper, which reported the news on Sunday morning, identified the man as Carter Oshodin, a non-teaching staff member of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) in Edo State, South-south Nigeria.

Both teaching and non-teaching staff of UNIBEN, like other federal government-owned universities, have not been paid their salaries because of the lingering strike by workers unions.

The Non-Academic Staff Union, of which Mr Oshodin is a member, had suspended its strike for two months, but their members are yet to be paid their six months salaries.

The Nation reported that Mr Oshodin was a data entry officer at UNIBEN.

The paper said the man took his life on Friday at Umelu in Upper Sokponba area of Benin City, after failing to get financial help from people around him.

The police spokesperson in Edo State, Chidi Nwabuzor, has confirmed the incident, according to The Nation.

Mr Nwabuzor, a superintendent of police, said his family had taken Oshodins body away

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that about 703,000 people commit suicide yearly, and that every 45 seconds someone dies by suicide around the world.

The WHO, in 2021, said many suicides happen impulsively in moments of crisis, with a breakdown in the ability to deal with life stresses, such as financial problems, relationship break-ups or chronic pain and illness.
The Alumni Association Building within the University of Lagos was razed by fire on Sunday.

The management of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) in a statement via its Twitter handle on Sunday said that no fatality was recorded in the incident.

The management said the fire started at about 10 a.m. but did not mention what triggered the incident.

The fire was swiftly checked by officers of the Fire Service, after it was detected by security operatives at the location, the statement reads.

This prompt response prevented any further damage to the building.

The affected area has since been cordoned off for investigation.

ALSO READ: Kano fire service rescues boy stuck in flyover bridge

Members of the university community and general public are hereby assured that no fatality was recorded, and the situation is fully under control.

Meanwhile, video footage posted by a Twitter user showed a thick smoke emanating from a GTbank structure within the campus.

Adejoke Alaga-Ibrahim, the institutions spokesperson, told PREMIUM TIMES that the GTbank is part of the several buildings in the Alumni section.
Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State has said that the north cannot retain power after producing the president who has spent eight years in office.

Mr Akeredolu, who spoke on Sunday at the 40th Holy Ghost Convention Dinner of The Sword of the Spirit Ministries held at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, Oyo State, said voting for a northern candidate would be a misnomer in the present political situation in the country.

He urged Christians not to undermine the struggle to return power to the south due to the choice of his party to field a Muslim/Muslim ticket in the coming presidential election.

Mr Akeredolu has been at the forefront of the struggle for power shift from the North to the South before the presidential primary of the All Progressives Congress.

While the APCs presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, is from the South-west the candidate of the main opposition party, Atiku Abubakar, is from the North-east

Mr Akeredolu, who is also the Chairman of the Southern Governors Forum, advised that the struggle for the President of Nigeria to come from the Southern part of the country in 2023 should not be in vain.

He had led his colleagues in the Southern Governors Forum to demand a Southern Presidency despite stiff opposition from some quarters.

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He called on the people not to throw away the chances of producing the next President, particularly from the Southwest where Bola Tinubu hails from.

He described Mr Tinubu as the best choice, adding that he has the experience and courage to tackle the challenges facing the country.

On the Muslim/Muslim ticket, the governor pleaded with Christians to look beyond religion and focus on the competency of the presidential candidate.

While stressing that the buck stops on the presidents table, the governor added that what is important is to have a southern president in 2023.

I discussed with Bishop Francis Wale Oke that presidency must come to the south. Take it or leave it, it is the minimum we can get. It must come to the south, he said.

The north cannot produce a president for eight years and still want to retain it for another eight years. It is not going to work.

That is why under the Southern Governors Forum where, luckily, God made me the chairman, we kept hammering on that. It must come to the south. And when it also got to our party in APC, we fought that it must come to the south.

Luckily, it did not only come to the south, but it also came to the South West. Now, where do we stand? I understand our feelings because Im one of you. I am a Christian. All of us here are worried. What will be our gain, and that, why is my party, the APC throwing up a Muslim/Muslim ticket?

Mr Akeredolu said the APCs Muslim/Muslim ticket has been an issue for members of the party, including himself.

We have debated it, fought it and we have done so many things on it. I have always said to people, my fight was for Southern President, he said.

Now it has come to the South West, will I now throw the baby away with the bathwater? Can I, in all honesty, do it? Should I, in all honesty, do it?

We call it a matter of coincidence. It is a matter of conscience. All of us are here, why dont we look at it from one angle. The buck stops on the table of the President. Do we have a capable hand who can manage the affairs if given the opportunity? Do you have a man who is bold enough to challenge incursion into our land? That is it.

All of us here have lived together for years and we didnt allow religion to bring fight among us. We have Muslims in our families and there is no fight. We have many leaders in Yoruba land who have both Muslims and Christians in their families and there is no fight.

So, we want to appeal to our people that this is our time. I want to appeal to all our senior Pastors and General Overseers to help talk to their followers. We politicians can only do little. This is our time, please dont be angry.

Earlier, the Founder, The Sword of the Spirit Ministries, who is also the President, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Francis Oke, appreciated God for His good works and the journey so far.
Carlos Alcaraz emerged as the winner of the 2022 edition of the U.S. Open on Sunday at Flushing Meadows.

The 19-year-old Spaniard battled to a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 victory Sunday night over Norways Casper Ruud to claim his first Grand Slam title.

The victory for the 19-year-old saw him become the new world No 1 as well as being the youngest mens Grand Slam singles champion since Rafael Nadal in 2005.

With the likes of Novak Djokovic not in action and Rafael Nadal crashing out early, many had rightly predicted Alcaraz as a potential champion.

The youngster did not let down those who had faith in him, as he repeatedly had a capacity crowd of 23,000 rising to their feet in salute of his scintillating shot-making during his epic matches.

Having shown a great deal of potential in recent times, the U.S. Open triumph is a significant breakthrough for a teenager who many say can dominate the ATP tour in the years to come.

For Sundays final, Alcaraz was in his their first ever Grand-Slam final while Ruud was in his second after a first appearance in the French Open final, but it was the Spaniard who successfully crossed the mental hurdle, backing up his win over the Norwegian at the Miami Masters Open final.

With the maiden major title and the world No 1 ranking now achieved, it is probable that the floodgates have now opened for the power-playing Alcaraz, whose forehand returns have been a delight.

During the post-match on-court interview, Alcaraz said, Its something that I dreamed of since I was a kidto be No. 1 in the world, to be the champion of a Grand Slam.

Its something that I worked really, really hard [for], adding, Its tough to talk right now, a lot of emotions.

His first Grand Slam title was not an easy one as he spent 23 hours and 39 minutes on the Flushing Meadows courts, surpassing South Africas Kevin Anderson at Wimbledon 2018 for the most time spent on the court at a Grand Slam since match durations started being fully logged in 1999.

It is also worthy to note that Alcarazs new status as world ATP No 1 is historic, as he is the youngest to claim that position.

He eclipsed the record that Australias Lleyton Hewitt set at 20 in 2001.
OTTAWA, ON, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Overall favourability of Greece continues an upward trend with three in ten Canadians (29%) and over four in ten Americans (43%) saying they have a favourable impression of Greece overall, which is an all-time high since tracking began in 2013.

Nanos Research has been tracking the Greek brand in the United States and Canada since 2013.

Additionally, there has been improvement with the perception of Greece as a safe place to travel which saw the biggest gains since 2013 for Canadians (mean score of 6.8 out of ten, up from 5.4 in 2013) and Americans (mean score of 7.0 out of ten, up from 6.4 in 2013). Perceptions of Greece as a NATO ally also saw positive gains among Canadians (mean of 7.0, up from 6.0 in 2013). "We are seeing a longer-term positive trend where North Americans are increasingly favourable in their impressions of Greece," according to Chief Data Scientist Nik Nanos.

In the wake of the pandemic, the appetite for international travel in general continues to decline in North America but openness to visiting Greece remains strong.

"When it comes to travelling specifically to Greece for a vacation, both Canadians (62%) and Americans (66%) are open to it and Greece's scenery, natural beauty and history remain the top attractions for Canadians and Americans" added Nik Nanos.

About Nanos

Established in 1987, Nanos is a research firm which gathers world-class intelligence. Since 2013, the Team has been monitoring and tracking the Hellenic brand in Canada. The purpose of the initiative is to support the Republic and its important work advancing the reputation of Greece as a great place to visit, a dynamic place to invest and as an important NATO security partner.

About the Research

This project was initiated and is sponsored by Nanos Research with no expectation other than to share insight on the opportunities to make Greece stronger and is based on dual representative online samples of Canadians and Americans completed this summer.

To view the full report, the tabulations and methodology, please visit our website at nanos.co.

Contact: Nik Nanos, English Interviews, Chief Data Scientist, nik@nanos.co

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1894718/Nanos_Research_Corporation_Greek_brand_on_the_rise_in_Canada_and.jpg

SOURCE Nanos Research Corporation
LONDON, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- FutureFit, VERMEG's regulatory reporting conference and the largest specialising in prudential and finance reporting, will showcase AGILE, the company's cloud-based digital regulatory reporting system on 28th September. The solution now benefits from VERMEG's substantial expertise in digital solutions and brings opportunities to banks and other financial institutions to substantially improve reporting automation. Moving to a cloud-based workflow enables greater sophistication and audited senior management engagement and approval, which was otherwise not so easily achievable.

FutureFit Annual Regulatory Conference 2021 Get future-fit for key regulatory reporting challenges

Register to attend the FutureFit conference: https://www.vermeg.com/event/futurefit-2022-regulatory-conference/?utm_source=press_release

FutureFit, the UK's leading regulatory reporting conference, offers presentations from relevant partners and expert advice and solutions on key regulatory reporting challenges. In addition, the conference informs about UK onshoring from EU, the advantages of digitising compliance and reporting processes in the cloud, key ESG data gathering and reporting challenges, crypto asset risks for reporting firms and the reporting impact, and the reinvention of how regulatory reporting is done - including the UK regulator's Transforming Data Collection joint transformation program. This essential event from VERMEG is a must-do on the regulatory reporting calendar.

VERMEG's Regulatory Reporting Strategy Advisor James Phillips, a 25-year veteran, says: "Just don't miss it! FutureFit is the major event of the year. Into just one day we have created end to end content for firms looking to optimise their regulatory reporting process for the future with a secure, performant, flexible, scalable solution.

Malcolm Arnold, Head of Regulatory Product, VERMEG, says: "VERMEG has outstanding expertise in digital solutions, and this deployment brings AGILE, our cloud-based regulatory reporting solution to the forefront, with an array of powerful functions, and builds substantially on the solution experience. We have created a solution which every firm looking seriously at regulatory reporting should carefully review".

About the conference

VERMEG's annual regulatory reporting conference is back. Attracting senior management, regulatory reporting compliance and IT professionals from banks, building societies and investment firms, the conference will deliver a day of unmissable content, free of charge, focussed on getting reporting firms fit for the rapidly changing regulatory reporting challenge.

Register here: https://www.vermeg.com/event/futurefit-2022-regulatory-conference/?utm_source=press_release

When: 28th September 2022

Where: Pan Pacific Hotel, London (near to Liverpool Street Station)

About VERMEG:

VERMEG has expertise across financial services, but is focussed on banking, insurance and capital markets. The company is expert in solutions that assist clients in their digital transformation objectives, seeking always to improve processes and reduce costs. VERMEG has specialised solutions in each sector, and additionally has tools which, combined with the company's expertise, deliver bespoke solutions to digitisation requirements. The company has over 1500 staff, with offices and markets globally, supplying over 500 clients in 40 countries. For banks, VERMEG has a number of applications, including a market-leading regulatory reporting solution.

Link to our market leading products and awards (AGILE: Regulatory Reporting Solutions)

https://www.vermeg.com/banking-challenge-regulatory-reporting/?utm_source=press_release

VERMEG chosen as Best Reporting System Provider in the 2021 Waters Ranking Awards

https://www.vermeg.com/vermeg-chosen-as-best-reporting-system-provider-in-2021-waters/?utm_source=press_release

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1895733/VERMEG_1.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1895734/VERMEG_2.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1895735/VERMEG_Logo.jpg

For more information, contact:

Amal Jolly

Marketing Lead - UK

ajolly@vermeg.com

+44 (0)2075936700

SOURCE VERMEG Regulatory Reporting Team
Amwins Connect offers full suite of benefit services to brokers in Florida providing resources to agencies of all sizes.

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Amwins Connect, a national general agency delivering a wide variety of health and ancillary insurance solutions to benefits brokers and their clients, recently announced their expansion into the Florida market. Offering their full suite of services, Amwins Connect provides dedicated, knowledgeable support assisting broker partners with sales, renewals, administrative help, and post-sales servicing, while promoting a distinct value proposition to help brokers manage and grow their business.

The Florida webpage and Amwins Connect map are now live. The local Florida sales team invites brokers to visit the site and schedule a meeting to learn more about the available products and services. Moving forward, the Amwins Connect Marketing and Business Development teams will continue to develop best-in-class tools and services for brokers in the coming months. Initial partners include Florida Blue, Aetna, Ameritas, Guardian, MetLife, Principal, Unum, Morgan White Group, Heartland, Mineral, PrimePay, Sterling and ACA Compliance Solutions Services.

"At Amwins Connect, our mission is to seamlessly connect every point of the benefits journey for brokers, carriers and their clients through continued innovation and extraordinary service from passionate people," said Becky Patel, chief executive officer of Amwins Connect. "Our in-depth knowledge, consultative approach and industry relationships enable us to support and empower the brokerage community to deliver the very best for their clients. We will continue to provide the trusted service our brokers expect, empowering them to deliver benefits solutions in Florida while building programs around their needs."

Amwins Connect is a dynamic sales, marketing, and service organization dedicated to the success of health insurance brokers, providers and partners throughout the U.S. Amwins Connect provides expansive access to markets by partnering with more than 150 carriers across ten states.

About Amwins Group, Inc.

Amwins is the largest independent wholesale distributor of specialty insurance products in the U.S., dedicated to serving retail insurance agents by providing property and casualty products, specialty group benefit products, and administrative services. Based in Charlotte, N.C., the company operates more than 155 offices globally and handles premium placements in excess of $26.4 billion annually. To learn more, visit amwins.com .

For further information contact:

Amwins Group, Inc.

Lisa Kuszmar

Telephone: 704.749.2780

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Amwins
AUBURN, Ala., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A few hours from the oak trees and picturesque brick buildings of the Plains lies the gemstone of the forestry and wildlife programs in Auburn University's College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment: The Solon Dixon Forestry Education Center.

The Solon Dixon Forestry Education Center in Andalusia, Alabama, is where students in the forestry and wildlife programs in Auburn University's College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment immediately practice in the field what is learned in the classroom. The combination of traditional and experiential learning makes the summer practicum experience renowned for preparing students for the fields of forestry and wildlife sciences.

The Dixon Center, located in Andalusia, Alabama, was created by a gift from Solon and Martha Dixon to Auburn University in 1978. The donation, which included 5,350 acres of land and a $500,000 monetary contribution for the purpose of building the educational facilities, was at that time the largest gift in Auburn University history.

As a graduate of Auburn's Class of 1926, Solon Dixon aspired to promote excellence in forestry education by providing students with a hands-on laboratory to develop and practice responsible forest management.

It is at the Dixon Center, with its state-of-the-art classrooms and diverse forest habitats, that Solon Dixon's vision to provide experiential learning is manifested as students travel to the center each year for the college's summer practicum experience.

First established in 1980, the summer practicum allows students the valuable opportunity to immediately practice in the field what is learned in the classroom. It is this unique combination of traditional and experiential learning that makes the practicum experience renowned for preparing students for the fields of forestry and wildlife sciences.

Before beginning courses in their major, forestry students attend the practicum for nine weeks between their sophomore and junior years to learn the foundational concepts and technical field skills that form the building blocks of their education.

Tom Gallagher, Auburn's Regions Bank Endowed Professor of Forest Operations, said one of the greatest takeaways for students is "an understanding of what it takes to work in the woods," as the summer can be "an eye-opening first experience."

Auburn's six-week wildlife summer practicum, launched in 2010 as a senior-year capstone to the wildlife curriculum, provides students with the necessary field skills for their careers.

BEYOND THE CLASSROOM

In addition to the field immersion, students live among forestry and wildlife faculty and often work with various state, corporate and private entities. These connections provide students with invaluable networking opportunities and the ability to apply their classroom learning to real-world situations, often leading to internships and post-graduation job opportunities.

Brae Buckner, a graduate of the wildlife program who previously worked with the Southeastern Raptor Center, said that the summer yields "a lot of networkingyou get to work with the best ornithologists, the best herpetologists and the top minds in today's wildlife research."

Students also participate in the Dixon Center's instruction and training exercises provided for government agencies, landowners and practitioners. In the past, students have trapped hogs with local property owners to remove sounders, or herds of wild pigs. They have also assisted Conecuh National Forest rangers with trapping and removing invasive or destructive animals.

According to Joel Martin, the center's director, students who experience a combination of classroom theory and hands-on learning are often those who are most competitive in the job market, and typically advance more quickly. Noted Martin, "It's impressive how many people working today in decision-making or policy-influencing positions within the state and region have 'cut their teeth' at the center."

For decades the summer practicum experience at the Solon Dixon Forestry Education Center has been a cornerstone of Auburn's forestry and wildlife programs. It is this unique educational asset that has made the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment a top institution in the Southeast for natural resources education.

SOURCE Auburn University
ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Holiday Inn Club Vacations Incorporated, a national vacation ownership company, today announced that it has been recognized by J.D. Power for providing "An Outstanding Customer Service Experience" with its Owner Support team in 2022. Holiday Inn Club Vacations is the first company in the timeshare or vacation ownership industry to achieve this prestigious certification.

"It's easy to claim to be a customer-centric organization, but it's something quite different to earn recognition for great customer service from a globally respected organization like J.D. Power. It speaks volumes about our team's dedication to placing customers at the heart of all we do," said John Staten, President and Chief Executive Officer of Holiday Inn Club Vacations Incorporated.

"While this certification is an important milestone and one of many ongoing initiatives designed to transform our customer journey into an even more personalized and innovative experience for all owners, Club members and guests, we're constantly looking for more ways to do better. That includes embracing best practices from all industries not just the hospitality or timeshare space. That's what customer-obsessed organizations like HICV do," added Staten.

"This certification includes a detailed evaluation of Holiday Inn Club Vacations policies, practices, and procedures, as well as primary research where they must meet our cross-industry customer satisfaction benchmark from recently serviced customers. They have proven that they are dedicated to providing excellent service and exceeding customer expectations," said Mark Miller, Practice Leader, Customer Service Advisory, J.D. Power. "With our Certified Customer Service Excellence Program, we independently verify the organization is following best practices consistent with cross-industry top performers by the channel in which they are certified and deliver outstanding customer service experiences. We're excited to present this certification to a timeshare company for the first time and congratulate Holiday Inn Club Vacations for achieving this prestigious distinction."

The extensive and rigorous J.D. Power certification program uses a series of national benchmarks to measure excellence in customer service. J.D. Power establishes these benchmarks through comprehensive research, which span across several industries. Additionally, program's best practices and benchmarks are updated annually to account for changing consumer preferences.

Holiday Inn Club Vacations offers a points-based membership program and a network of 28 family-friendly resorts located across the U.S. in top travel destinations. The resorts provide spacious, home-away-from-home villas with multiple bedrooms and kitchens, along with on-property amenities that provide memorable experiences to families, from lazy rivers and waterparks to horseback riding and hiking trails. For more information on Holiday Inn Club Vacations, visit holidayinnclub.com.

J.D. Power 2022 Certified Customer Service ProgramSM recognition is based on successful completion of an evaluation and exceeding a customer satisfaction benchmark through a survey of recent servicing interactions. For more information, visit www.jdpower.com/ccc.

About Holiday Inn Club Vacations Incorporated

Encompassing 28 resorts across 14 U.S. states, Holiday Inn Club Vacations Incorporated is a resort, real estate and travel company with a mission to be the most loved brand in family travel by delivering easy-to-plan, memorable vacation experiences that strengthen families.

Based in Orlando, Fla., the company has been a leader in the vacation ownership industry since 1982, when it was established by Holiday Inn founder Kemmons Wilson with the opening of the company's flagship property, Holiday Inn Club Vacations at Orange Lake Resort next to Orlando's Walt Disney World Resort.

Today, the Holiday Inn Club Vacations resort portfolio spans across the United States. Throughout its history, the company has maintained the core family values true to its founding Wilson family, while aggressively pursuing growth, transforming its member engagement model and building an industry-leading team passionate about the guest experience.

Media Contact:

Ashley Pipa, Holiday Inn Club Vacations

407.315.8866

[email protected]

SOURCE Holiday Inn Club Vacations
U.S. students solved more than 228,000 Imagine Math problems, converting earned math points to $5,000 for the American Red Cross Jackson Mississippi Flood Relief Fund

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Students who use Imagine Learning's Imagine Math program completed math problems and donated earned points from the program to raise $5,000 for the American Red Cross Jackson Mississippi Flood Relief Fundall in 3 days after hearing about the funding opportunity. During the donation period, students solved more than 228,000 math problems and donated more than 5 million earned math points, which translates to $5,000 for the Jackson Mississippi Flood Relief Fund.

The donation is a part of Imagine Learning's charitable giving program. Since the incentive program's inception in 2008, students who have used Imagine Math have donated 1.6 trillion math points, completed more than 2.5 million math lessons, and worked through more than 82 million math problems for a total giving of $167,173 to the American Red Cross. Over the years, students have converted their point donations to a variety of American Red Cross causes, including the Haitian Relief Fund, the Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund, numerous hurricane relief funds, and the Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund.

It's inspiring to see our students donate their hard-earned Imagine Math points to make a difference for a community. Tweet this

Top donating schools from around Mississippi and the U.S. include:

Northwest Rankin Middle School, Rankin County School District in Mississippi

School District in East Tate Elementary School, Tate County School District in Mississippi

School District in I.T. Montgomery Elementary School, North Bolivar Consolidated School District in Mississippi

Petal Elementary 3-4, Petal School District in Mississippi

Robert Healy Elementary School of Chicago Public Schools in Illinois

Public Schools in IDEA Brownsville Middle School of IDEA Public Schools in Texas

Davis Intermediate of Wylie Independent School District in Texas

Henderson Hammock Charter School in Tampa, Florida

"It's inspiring to see our students donate their hard-earned Imagine Math points to make a difference for a community," said Jeff Pendleton, SVP and General Manager of Supplemental and Intervention for Imagine Learning. "We're proud of the many students across Mississippi and the U.S. who are sharpening their math skills while also helping people in need."

"Imagine Math has given our students and teachers the perfect opportunity to show kindness during the water crisis in Jackson," said Shauna Gregg, Math/Science Curriculum Specialist for Tate County School District. "We are so proud of our students that selflessly gave in order to help our southern neighbors."

"Pearl River County School District is so proud to have been a part of the charitable donation toward the American Red Cross of Jackson Flood Relief," said Ashley Franatovich, Technology Integration Specialist for Pearl River County School District. "It is a beautiful way for our students to be able to contribute toward local charities. Having the option to donate brings a new and exciting motivation for our students to give their best efforts when completing math lessons. This sort of selfless giving is what we would like to encourage all children within Mississippi to participate in. Our district theme this year is 'Be the Light' and we are so extremely proud that our students are embracing this idea and being the light for children around our great state."

Imagine Math combines a rich curriculum with fun, adaptive digital experiences to help students become confident math learners. Ideal as a supplement to standards-based PreKGeometry core instruction, its two age-appropriate learning environments are designed for student engagement. Rigorous, standards-rich content adapts to the unique needs of each learner to develop essential foundations and conceptual understanding they need to achieve grade-level mastery. Two recent studies revealed that elementary and middle school students who used Imagine Math demonstrated significant academic gains on standardized assessments. Findings from one study showed that after one year of using Imagine Math, students demonstrated significantly greater gains on the Renaissance Star Math assessment than their nonparticipating peers. A second study that analyzed Fall 2020 to Spring 2021 NWEA MAP Growth Math data showed that students who used Imagine Math demonstrated a significantly greater growth rate than non-users.

More information about Imagine Math is available at imaginelearning.com/imagine-math.

About Imagine Learning

Imagine Learning is a PreK12 digital learning solutions company that ignites learning breakthroughs by designing forward-thinking solutions at the intersection of people, curricula, and technology to drive student growth. Imagine Learning serves more than 15 million students and partners with more than half the school districts nationwide. Imagine Learning's flagship products include Imagine Edgenuity, online courseware and virtual school services solutions; supplemental and intervention solutions for literacy, language, mathematics, and computer science; and high-quality, digital-first core curriculum, including Illustrative Mathematics, EL Education, and Odell Educationall on the Imagine Learning Classroomand Twig Science. Read more about Imagine Learning's digital solutions at imaginelearning.com.

SOURCE Imagine Learning LLC
BEIJING, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Innovation and globalization will continue to drive Asian growth in the coming years despite challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic and current recession, panelists said on Thursday at the 24th Academic Seminar of the International Finance Forum (IFF).

Asia, which has seen phenomenal growth in the past 50 years, has benefited from pragmatic policies and approaches of many Asian governments, said Takehiko Nakao, Chairman of the Mizuho Research Institute and former President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The seminar commenced with Nakao's introduction of his memoir "The Rise of Asia: Perspectives and Beyond" (published in July 2022 and available on ADB's website), in which he looked back at his tenure at the Asian Development Bank between 2013 and 2020.

The IFF also invited renowned economists to discuss current challenges and opportunities in Asia. The panelists included Professor Justin Yifu Lin from Peking University, Daniel Runde, Senior Vice President of the Center of Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and Hoe Ee Khor, Chief Economist of ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO Asia).

Industrialization, technological development, demographic dividend and globalization have been the driving forces of Asia's rise, said Nakao.

"There is no such thing as Asia Consensus," said Nakao, "But effective policies, strong institutions, governments' decisiveness in introducing reforms, an ability to learn, and a clear vision for the future often championed by forward-looking leaders, mattered."

Justin Lin from Peking University said standard economic theories such as the Washington Consensus failed to differentiate between developed economies and emerging markets.

"It is important to have an Asian voice in the global community," Lin said.

Asia's dynamic growth in the past decades and growing proportion in the global GDP to 24% from 4.1% in the past 50 years, best explains the region's success, said Lin.

The panel also agreed on the important role the government played in the innovation-driven development of Asia, in promoting education, deployment of investment, protecting intellectual property and the private sector.

Though supply chain disruptions have impeded growth during the pandemic, Runde argued that companies should rethink supply chain issues as many have adopted the "China Plus One strategy" to shift some of the manufacturing from China.

Khor, however, said China's manufacturing ecosystem was too advanced to be replaced.

"The global supply chain is so efficient and complex that any attempt to dismantle it is almost impossible," Khor said.

As tensions between China and the US mount, the panel agreed that the two sides should have open communications. Experts said that a stable and cooperative Sino-US relationship will benefit the region.

Khor added that developing countries can benefit from the infrastructure investment competition between China and the US. Lin stressed that China's growth would benefit the rest of the world.

China has adopted a slew of policies, such as investment in infrastructure to boost the economy, which will boost Chinese people's confidence and spur consumption and investment, said Lin.

Jianhai Lin, Vice President of the IFF and ex-Secretary of the IMF moderated the discussion. The IFF Academic Seminar is one of International Finance Forum (IFF)'s flagship events where we bring top officials, economists and academics together to discuss the latest events and development around the world.

The International Finance Forum (IFF) is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental international organization founded in Beijing in October 2003 and established by financial leaders from more than 20 countries and regions, including China, the United States, the European Union, emerging countries and leaders of international organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IFF is a long-standing, high-level platform for dialogue and communication and multilateral cooperation that has played the role as the F20 (Finance 20).

SOURCE International Finance Forum (IFF)
PITTSBURGH, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- "I wanted to create a durable device to aid home builders when installing exterior walls," said an inventor, from Fair Haven, Mich., "so I invented the WALL JACK. My design would simplify the work while reducing labor costs and potential wall-related damage."

The patent-pending invention provides an improved device to simplify the installation of exterior walls. In doing so, it enables exterior walls to be lifted in a controlled and professional manner. As a result, it saves time and effort and it helps to prevent damage. The invention features a durable design that is easy to use so it is ideal for home builders, construction workers, etc. Additionally, it is producible in design variations and a prototype is available.

The original design was submitted to the Detroit sales office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 20-DTI-102, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com.

SOURCE InventHelp
PITTSBURGH, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- "I wanted to create a way to keep a drywall putty knife close at hand while working at a jobsite," said an inventor, from Fort Worth, Texas, "so I invented the DRYWALL KNIFE HOLDER. My design would offer a more professional-looking alternative to storing the knife in a pocket or tool belt. My father has 25 years in the drywall business, and he has never seen anything like this before, something like this in the market would be successful and its time to everyone to have one."

The patent-pending invention provides an effective belt holder for securing a drywall knife. In doing so, it ensures that the drywall knife is readily available for use. As a result, it increases convenience. It also helps to reduce messes and it provides a more professional appearance. With the years of experience in the inventor's family they have seen many workers carry their drywall knife in their back pocket with the knife pointing up. This has cost a lot of injuries in the workplace, and is a great inconvenience, so besides giving the worker a professional look, their objective is to also bring safety to its owner. The invention features a practical design that is easy to attach and use so it is ideal for drywall contractors, painting contractors, construction workers, do-it-yourselfers, etc. Additionally, it is producible in design variations and a prototype is available.

The original design was submitted to the Dallas sales office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 20-DAL-202, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com.

SOURCE InventHelp
WESTPORT, Conn., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- LCR Capital Partners are excited to announce Nadine Orosa has joined the LCR team as a Commercial Director in our Dubai office. Nadine is a rare finance professional who understands immigration programs, has raised capital for private equity firms, and been a wealth management advisor to high-net-worth families through private banks. She is also a true global citizen having lived, studied and worked in Dubai, New York, Washington and London.

Nadine Orosa

"When we met Nadine we could tell immediately that she understands the needs of global high-net-worth families and the finance professionals who support them. At LCR we have expanded our offerings beyond immigration investment offerings, and we are upgrading our team to be able to engage our clients across our entire platform," said Sherman Baldwin, CEO of LCR Capital Partners.

"I'm excited to join LCR. I love the depth of experience in the team and the entrepreneurial energy. LCR has built its reputation on high-quality immigration investments in the US, and now also has strong options for families interested in Europe as well as other Advisory Services and Alternative Assets. For global families, having a partner who can give advice on the US market and brings vetted relationships to global funds is extremely important," said Nadine.

Nadine joins LCR from Sanctuary Services and RIF Trust/ Latitude where she helped high-net-worth families understand their residency options. Previously she worked in wealth management for ADS Securities and HSBC Private Bank, having moved from New York where she worked in Private Client Services for JPMorgan. She has an MBA, Finance from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, a MSc Economics from London School of Economics, and a BA in International Studies from American University.

She will join Bassel Sweid who joined LCR in June. They have replaced our previous team who have moved to Iron Pillar, a venture investment fund manager that is offered on LCR's platform.

About LCR Capital Partners

LCR Capital Partners is a private investment and advisory services firm that serves families interested in global opportunities. Founded in 2012, the firm's primary focus is working with clients interested in immigrant investor programs. LCR has helped over 850 clients move to the United States via the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa, which grants investors and their immediate family members US Green Cards. LCR also works with the E-2 Investor Visa, the Portuguese Golden Visa, and Grenada's Citizenship by Investment program which are all government-approved investments. Through its affiliates, International Investors Mortgage and LCR Wealth Management , the firm also offers US loan solutions and wealth management to foreign nationals moving to the United States. LCR has built long-term, trust-based relationships with a global client base of high-net-worth families in over 30 countries around the world. LCR is headquartered in Westport, CT, and runs a global network with teams in Miami, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Dubai, Singapore, and Mumbai.

Website: http://www.lcrcapital.com

For more information please contact:

John M. Baker

Chief Marketing Officer, LCR Capital Partners LLC

[email protected]

+1 (203) 883-1940

SOURCE LCR Capital
MIDLAND, Pa., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 160 students, parents, and staff attended PA Cyber's grand opening of its Erie regional office on Tuesday, September 6. Senator Dan Laughlin and members of the Erie Chamber of Commerce, including Vice President of Economic Development Jake Rouch, stood near as PA Cyber CEO Brian Hayden performed the ribbon cutting ceremony. The senator commented that it was great to see so many young people who were excited about the start of the school year.

"It was a lively atmosphere, with a nice mix of families who have been with PA Cyber for many years and families who are new to the school," said Dave Veon, PA Cyber's supervisor of regional offices.

Headquartered in Midland, the K-12 online school maintains a network of nine regional offices around the state that serve as hubs for enrollment, orientation, and year-round enrichment activities. The school relocated its Erie office within the same metropolitan area in 2020 to provide an enhanced facility for students and their families, but the celebration was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The office is located at 1980 Edinboro Road.

PA Cyber relocated the office to increase square footage and improve visibility and accessibility for students and their families. The new 11,000-square-foot facility serves approximately 1,200 PA Cyber students in Erie County and its surrounding counties. The location is under a ten-year lease.

"We want to provide the best facilities that we can for students and their families," said Brian Hayden, CEO of PA Cyber. "We are invested in the many families that we serve, and we are committed to being an active member of their communities."

At the grand opening, students met staff from many areas of the school and enjoyed interactive activities. They met principals, Archie the mascot, a school nurse, and a guidance counselor. They enjoyed face painting, balloon art, ice cream, as well as hands-on art and STEM activities. PA Cyber's Supervisor of STEM Education Tom Brambley led students through hands-on activities with robots and a piano comprised of bananas.

About PA Cyber

Serving students in kindergarten through 12th grade, the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School is one of the largest, most experienced, and most successful online public schools in the nation. PA Cyber's online learning environments, personalized instructional methods, and curricula choices connect Pennsylvania students and families with state-certified and highly qualified teachers and rich academic content aligned to state standards. Founded in 2000, PA Cyber is headquartered in Midland (Beaver County) and maintains a network of support offices throughout the state. As a public school, PA Cyber is open for enrollment to any school-age child residing in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and does not charge tuition to students or families.

Pictures from event available upon request.

Media Contact: Jennie Harris

[email protected]

724-313-5842

SOURCE The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School (PA Cyber)
Introducing ECO suite plus Energy Management System

CHICAGO, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The executive leadership team at Okuma America Corporation is pleased to announce the release of a next-generation energy management and optimization technology designed exclusively for Okuma CNC (computer numeric control) machine tools. This new software-driven technology  ECO suite plus - will be demonstrated for the first time in the Western Hemisphere on two Okuma machines (MB-80V bridge mill and MA-8000H machining center) in booth #338500 at the 2022 International Manufacturing Trade Show at McCormick Convention Center in Chicago, Illinois, on September 12  17, 2022.

Commitment to Sustainability

The ECO suite plus technology is the company's latest addition to a suite of products designed to support global and corporate sustainability initiatives. Initial sustainable product developments began in 1963 with the launch of the proprietary Okuma numeric control system. In 2001 the company further advanced sustainability initiatives with the Thermo-Friendly Concept, a technology design to manage thermal temperature ranges during the machining process. In 2014 the company released the inaugural ECO suite system which could monitor and control machine usage as a macro level. Today the company is pleased to unveil the next-generation technology - ECO suite plus - which builds upon the prior technology releases by providing management and control of specific machine operations and peripheral devices during the machining process and in idle mode. Both the Thermo-Friendly Concept and ECO technologies are powered by Okuma's proprietary OSP control, a Windows-based, open-architecture platform which offers maximum machining capabilities to users.

ECO suite plus Features at a Glance

The ECO suite plus technology harbors several features to aid in energy savings opportunities, including:

ECO Idling Stop

The application's ECO Idling Stop function monitors the cooling stays of the milling and turning spindles. It will automatically turn off the coolers for those spindles when spindle temperature is stable.





The application's ECO Idling Stop function monitors the cooling stays of the milling and turning spindles. It will automatically turn off the coolers for those spindles when spindle temperature is stable. ECO Power Monitor

The ECO Power Monitor feature displays the power consumption of various components directly on the machine tool's display. This includes the power consumption of spindles, feed axes and peripheral equipment, giving the operator a view of the total energy being saved at a glance, without requiring a data export or separate smart device.





The ECO Power Monitor feature displays the power consumption of various components directly on the machine tool's display. This includes the power consumption of spindles, feed axes and peripheral equipment, giving the operator a view of the total energy being saved at a glance, without requiring a data export or separate smart device. Additional Optional Features

ECO Hydraulics - utilizing SERVO technology, actively monitors the demand of hydraulics to activate the hydraulic pump only as necessary to maintain pressures as called



ECO Operation is recommending to users with multiple peripherals, as this function will run peripheral equipment only when needed and turn off peripherals once machining is complete

For more information on Okuma's ECO suite plus technology and to request a demo, please visit: okuma.com/eco-suite-energy-saving-cnc-control-applications.

Additional Sustainability Initiatives

In addition to sustainable product technologies, Okuma has instituted multiple corporate initiatives that support global sustainable development goals (SDGs); please visit https://www.okuma.co.jp/english/about/csr.html to learn more.

About Okuma America Corporation

Okuma America Corporation is the U.S.-based sales and service affiliate of Okuma Corporation, a world-leading builder of CNC (computer numeric control) machine tools, controls and automation systems. The company was founded in 1898 in Nagoya, Japan, and is the industry's only single-source provider of CNC machines, drives, motors, encoders, spindles and automation systems, all manufactured by Okuma. The company designs its own CNC controls to integrate seamlessly with each machine tool's functionality. In 2014 Okuma launched the Okuma App Store, the industry's only centralized online marketplace for machine tool apps and related content. Along with its extensive distribution network (largest in the Americas), and Partners in THINC network of enhanced manufacturing technologies, Okuma is committed to helping users gain competitive advantage through the open possibilities of machine tools today and into the future. For more information, visit Okuma.com or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

SOURCE Okuma America Corporation
TORONTO, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Orvana Minerals Corp. (TSX: ORV) (the "Company" or "Orvana") ") is pleased to announce that it will be attending the Precious Metals Summit in Colorado.

Ms. Nuria Menendez, Chief Financial Officer and Mr. Raul Alvarez, Director of Exploration and Technical Services, will be attending the Precious Metals Summit held at Beaver Creek, Colorado during September 13-16, 2022. Ms. Menendez will be presenting on Wednesday September 14, 2022 at 10.00 (MT).

The Company Presentation is available on Orvana's website at: https://www.orvana.com/English/investors/presentations/default.aspx

ABOUT ORVANA  Orvana is a gold-copper-silver company. Orvana's assets consist of the producing Orovalle Operation in northern Spain, the Don Mario property in Bolivia, currently in care and maintenance, and the Taguas property located in Argentina. Additional information is available at Orvana's website (www.orvana.com).

Cautionary Statements  Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements in this presentation constitute forward-looking statements or forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, potentials, future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "believes", "expects", "plans", "estimates" or "intends" or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will", "are projected to" or "confident of" be taken or achieved) are not statements of historical fact, but are forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking statements herein relate to, among other things, Orvana's ability to achieve improvement in free cash flow; the ability to maintain expected mining rates and expected throughput rates at El Valle Plant; the potential to extend the mine life of El Valle and Don Mario beyond their current life-of-mine estimates including specifically, but not limited to, in the case of Don Mario, the processing of the mineral stockpiles and the reprocessing of the tailings material, and sufficient funding to proceed with the processing; Orvana's ability to optimize its assets to deliver shareholder value; the Company's ability to optimize productivity at Don Mario and El Valle; estimates of future production (including without limitation, production guidance), operating costs and capital expenditures; mineral resource and reserve estimates; statements and information regarding future feasibility studies and their results; future transactions; future metal prices; the ability to achieve additional growth and geographic diversification; and future financial performance, including the ability to increase cash flow and profits; future financing requirements; mine development plans; and the possibility of the conversion of inferred mineral resources to mineral reserves.

Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the date of such statements, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, which includes, without limitation, as particularly set out in the notes accompanying the Company's most recently filed financial statements. The estimates and assumptions of the Company contained or incorporated by reference in this information, which may prove to be incorrect, include, but are not limited to the various assumptions set forth herein and in Orvana's most recently filed Management's Discussion & Analysis and Annual Information Form in respect of the Company's most recently completed fiscal year (the "Company Disclosures") or as otherwise expressly incorporated herein by reference as well as: there being no significant disruptions affecting operations, whether due to labour disruptions, supply disruptions, power disruptions, damage to equipment or otherwise; permitting, development, operations, expansion and acquisitions at El Valle and Don Mario being consistent with the Company's current expectations; political developments in any jurisdiction in which the Company operates being consistent with its current expectations; certain price assumptions for gold, copper and silver; prices for key supplies being approximately consistent with current levels; production and cost of sales forecasts meeting expectations; the accuracy of the Company's current mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates; labour and materials costs increasing on a basis consistent with Orvana's current expectations; and the availability of necessary funds to execute the Company's plan. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, this news release also contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, including, without limitation, references to the results of the Company's exploration activities, including but not limited to, drilling results and analyses, mineral resource estimation, conceptual mine plan and operations, internal rate of return, sensitivities, taxes, net present value, potential recoveries, design parameters, operating costs, capital costs, production data and economic potential; the timing and costs for production decisions; permitting timelines and requirements; exploration and planned exploration programs;; and the Company's general objectives and strategies.

A variety of inherent risks, uncertainties and factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control, affect the operations, performance and results of the Company and its business, and could cause actual events or results to differ materially from estimated or anticipated events or results expressed or implied by forward looking statements. Some of these risks, uncertainties and factors include: the potential impact of the COVID-19 on the Company's business and operations, including: our ability to continue operations; our ability to manage challenges presented by COVID-19; the accounting treatment of COVID-19 related matters; Orvana's ability to prevent and/or mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases at or near our mines; the general economic, political and social impacts of the continuing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, our ability to support the sustainability of our business including through the development of crisis management plans, increasing stock levels for key supplies, monitoring of guidance from the medical community, and engagement with local communities and authorities; fluctuations in the price of gold, silver and copper; the need to recalculate estimates of resources based on actual production experience; the failure to achieve production estimates; variations in the grade of ore mined; variations in the cost of operations; the availability of qualified personnel; the Company's ability to obtain and maintain all necessary regulatory approvals and licenses; the Company's ability to use cyanide in its mining operations; risks generally associated with mineral exploration and development, including the Company's ability to continue to operate the El Valle and/or ability to resume long-term operations at the Carles Mine; the Company's ability to successfully implement a sulphidization circuit and ancillary facilities to process the current oxides stockpiles at Don Mario; the Company's ability to successfully carry out development plans at Taguas; sufficient funding to carry out development plans at Taguas and to process the oxides stockpiles at Don Mario; the Company's ability to acquire and develop mineral properties and to successfully integrate such acquisitions; the Company's ability to execute on its strategy; the Company's ability to obtain financing when required on terms that are acceptable to the Company; challenges to the Company's interests in its property and mineral rights; current, pending and proposed legislative or regulatory developments or changes in political, social or economic conditions in the countries in which the Company operates; general economic conditions worldwide; the challenges presented by COVID-19; fluctuating operational costs such as, but not limited to, power supply costs; current and future environmental matters; and the risks identified in the Company's disclosures. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements and reference should also be made to the Company's Disclosures for a description of additional risk factors.

Any forward-looking statements made herein with respect to the anticipated development and exploration of the Company's mineral projects are intended to provide an overview of management's expectations with respect to certain future activities of the Company and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Forward-looking statements are based on management's current plans, estimates, projections, beliefs and opinions and, except as required by law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements should assumptions related to these plans, estimates, projections, beliefs and opinions change. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements made in this information are intended to provide an overview of management's expectations with respect to certain future operating activities of the Company and may not be appropriate for other purposes.

SOURCE Orvana Minerals Corp.
OSHKOSH, Wis., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Pacur, LLC, a market leading supplier of specialty plastic packaging materials for the medical device industry, today announced that Jason Eckel has been named Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Pacur. Jason comes to Pacur with 20 years of global senior leadership experience in the specialty materials, polymer and packaging industries. Pacur is a portfolio company of middle market private equity firm Gryphon Investors.

"Jason brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that will help guide Pacur's commercial activities as we serve our customers in growing markets," said John Carlson, CEO of Pacur. "We welcome him to the team, and look forward to leveraging his relationships to secure new opportunities."

Most recently, Mr. Eckel was the Vice President of Sales, Healthcare at Transcendia, Inc. where he was responsible for setting strategic direction and leading the global healthcare business to profitable growth. Prior to joining Transcendia, Mr. Eckel held various senior executive roles at Accenture, where he consulted on customer experience and commercial excellence. Previously he had full P&L responsibility with Avient Corporation (formerly PolyOne) as North America General Manager for its Specialty Engineered Materials business, and also served as its Global Marketing Director. Mr. Eckel began his career with Dow Chemical's North America Packaging business unit holding various commercial roles, including marketing, where he created and launched the HEALTH+TM brand, a unique portfolio of medical-grade polymers for medical device and pharmaceutical packaging applications.

About Pacur

Founded in 1979 and based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Pacur (www.pacur.com) is the leading supplier of extruded PETG sheet used principally to provide rigid, high-performance packaging for medical devices. Pacur offers eco-friendly packaging solutions and utilizes materials which provide exceptional clarity and high temperature and chemical resistance, are ETO and gamma sterilizable, and have received FDA approval for use in medical and food packaging.

About Gryphon Investors

Based in San Francisco, Gryphon Investors (www.gryphoninvestors.com) is a leading private equity firm focused on profitably growing and competitively enhancing middle-market companies in partnership with experienced management. As of December 31, 2021, the firm has over $9 billion of assets under management. Gryphon targets making equity investments of $50 million to $300 million in portfolio companies with enterprise values ranging from approximately $100 million to $600 million. Gryphon prioritizes investment opportunities where it can form strong partnerships with owners and executives to build leading companies, utilizing Gryphon's capital, specialized professional resources, and operational expertise.

Contact

Lambert

Jennifer Hurson

845-507-0571

[email protected]

SOURCE Pacur
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The personal injury attorneys at Manning Law, APC proudly announce they have secured a six-figure judgment on behalf of their injured client "James Z" in the Superior Court of Los Angeles without the need to go to trial. "Our client is ecstatic to obtain a fair and generous financial recovery without the need for a stressful and time-consuming trial" said Manning Law, APC co-founder Joseph R. Manning, Jr.

Babak (Bobby) Hashemi, lead personal injury counsel in this matter, said "I am proud to have secured a judgment that far exceeds the insurance company's initial offer for my client."

Manning Law, APC is known for its personal injury, civil rights, consumer, and environmental protection litigation including its precedent setting litigation under the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") and the Unruh Civil Rights Act ("UCRA"). In particular, the firm is known for its role as plaintiff's counsel in the first federal appellate case to recognize the application of the ADA and UCRA to websites and mobile applications, see Robles v. Domino's Pizza, LLC, No. 17-55504 (9th Cir. 2019).

Manning Law, APC has also been recognized by the Office of the Secretary of Defense of the United States as a "Patriotic Employer" for its support of employee participation in the National Guard and Reserve Force.

SOURCE Manning Law APC
New Investor Time BioVentures Leads Round, With Risk & Return (R) and Existing Backers

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Phantom Neuro , the first-of-its-kind neurotech startup that delivers a low power, high accuracy system for lifelike control of robotic orthopedic technologies, today announced a $6 million funding round led by new investor Time BioVentures . The round included participation from another new investor, Risk & Return (R) , an innovative venture fund focused on "capitalism for good". Support from returning investors LionBird Ventures, Draper Associates & Breakout Ventures now brings the company's total funding to $9.5M. With the financing, co-founder of Time BioVentures, D.A. Wallach, will join the company's board. The company also announced the addition of two key hires: Aurel Bouvier, PhD, Vice President of Implantable Systems and Erik Lloyd, Senior Neuroengineer.

Launched just six months ago, Phantom Neuro aims to dramatically enhance the lives of amputees and other patients with function deficits. The company's solution combines low-risk implantable sensors, AI, and enabling software to offer unparalleled control of orthopedic technologies, such as prosthetic limbs and exoskeletons.

"Our rapid progress demonstrates the importance of our mission and the strength of our team." - Dr. Glass, Phantom Neuro Tweet this

"The field of advanced robotics has enormous potential to augment patients' daily lives, and yet we lack practical and effective commercially available devices to control these systems outside of the lab. Phantom Neuro is filling this void by creating an elegant link between biology and prosthetics that has the potential to revolutionize the standard of care for patients," says D.A. Wallach, General Partner of Time BioVentures. "Connor Glass, Phantom Neuro's founder, brings to this challenge formidable talents as a physician, inventor, and company builder. We believe he and his growing team have what it takes to deliver real solutions to patients with urgency and creativity."

Today over two million Americans live with limb loss , a number that is expected to nearly double by 2050. Over 185,000 amputations are conducted in the U.S. yearly due to trauma, increasing age, diabetes, and vascular disease; estimates of hospital charges to amputation patients in the United States total $10 billion annually. Illuminating new prosthetic technologies exist, yet modern device abandonment rates are still as high as 50%+ due to difficulty in operation, weight, and inconvenience. Phantom Neuro's answer to these obstacles is superior control of existing and next-generation orthopedic technologies. With improved patient outcomes through superior control, the incentives align for enhanced innovation in the robotic orthopedic space. Unique to Phantom's tech is also its promise of scalability - the platform has the safety and simplicity required to grow into a platform for lifelike control of virtually any wirelessly compatible device.

"We're privileged today to announce our second round of funding. I believe our rapid progress demonstrates the importance of our mission and the strength of our team. I'm thrilled to have the support of like-minded investors such as Time BioVentures and Risk & Return helping us hit our targets and work towards human trials," remarked Dr. Connor Glass, Founder and CEO of Phantom Neuro and primary inventor of Phantom's technology. "With their and returning investors' steadfast backing and advice, not to mention our growing team of experienced engineers, we're excited to achieve our next milestones."

The startup has been on an exhilarating trajectory since launch, fulfilling strategic steps leading them closer to human trials. Most recently the company announced a partnership with Blackrock Neurotech and the appointment of Dr. Geoffrey Ling , the current CEO of On Demand Pharmaceuticals and previously the Founding Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Biological Technologies Office, to the board.

About Phantom Neuro

Phantom is a neurotechnology company, spun out of a lab at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, that is enabling lifelike control of robotic orthopedic technologies like prosthetic limbs and exoskeletons. You can find out more at www.phantomneuro.com

About Time BioVentures

Time BioVentures is a life sciences and healthcare investment firm based in Southern California. www.TimeBioVentures.com

CONTACT

Shannon Wilsey, Public Relations | Phantom Neuro

[email protected]

SOURCE Phantom Neuro Inc.
Three-day online event attracted 14,600+ bidders from 46 countries to compete for 8,300+ items

EDMONTON, AB, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Ritchie Bros. latest Edmonton, AB auction included 8,300+ equipment items selling for CA$76+ million (US$58+ million) in gross transaction value, which is a 29% increase over the same event last year.

The three-day online event on September 7  9, 2022, attracted more than 14,600 bidders from 46 countries. Approximately 94 percent of the equipment in the unreserved auction was sold to Canadian buyers, including 59 percent sold to Albertans. The remaining six percent of the equipment was sold to international buyers from as far away as Colombia, India, and Ireland.

"We had a lot of happy consignors, with equipment and trucks bringing strong demand and pricing through all three days of the auction," said Andrew Lutic, Regional Sales Manager, Ritchie Bros. "Leading up to the event our Edmonton site was busy with buyers inspecting items to add to their fleet for upcoming projects. For those that were unable to get the equipment they need for the winter season, we have a ton of upcoming buying opportunities including our next big Edmonton auction in late October."

More than 1,100 consignors sold equipment in the Edmonton auction, including a major realignment for Ninkovich Gravel Ltd.

"When you work with Ritchie, you get a company that's thoughtful, considerate, and always looking out for your best interests," said Dave Ninkovich of Ninkovich Gravel Ltd. "They provided direction on how to increase the value of my assets at auction and it worked, as we surpassed my original expectations and hit the price I was hoping for."

Five Big Sellers from Edmonton :

2017 Komatsu D155AXI-8 dozer  CA$400,000 (US$304,040)

2014 Kenworth C500 National NBT45TM 45-ton straight boom truck - CA$357,500 (US$271,736)

2015 Caterpillar 740BEJ ejector articulated dump truck  CA$325,000 (US$247,033)

2014 Caterpillar 349FL hydraulic excavator  CA$265,000 (US$201,427)

2013 Peterbilt 367 2012 vacuum industrial on 8x6 hydro vac truck  CA$260,000 (US$197,626)

AUCTION QUICK FACTS: EDMONTON, AB ( SEPTEMBER 2022 )

Gross Transaction Value: CA$76+ million (US$58+ million)

CA$76+ million (US$58+ million) Items Sold: 8,300+

8,300+ Bidders: 14,600+

14,600+ Consignors: 1,100+

About Ritchie Bros .

Established in 1958, Ritchie Bros. (NYSE and TSX: RBA) is a global asset management and disposition company, offering customers end-to-end solutions for buying and selling used heavy equipment, trucks and other assets. Operating in a number of sectors, including construction, transportation, agriculture, energy, mining, and forestry, the company's selling channels include: Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, the world's largest industrial auctioneer offering live auction events with online bidding; IronPlanet, an online marketplace with weekly featured auctions and providing the exclusive IronClad Assurance equipment condition certification; Marketplace-E, a controlled marketplace offering multiple price and timing options; Ritchie List, a self-serve listing service for North America; Mascus, a leading European online equipment listing service; Ritchie Bros. Private Treaty, offering privately negotiated sales; and sector-specific solutions GovPlanet, TruckPlanet, and Ritchie Bros. Energy. The Company's suite of solutions also includes Ritchie Bros. Asset Solutions and Rouse Services LLC, which together provides a complete end-to-end asset management, data-driven intelligence and performance benchmarking system; SmartEquip, an innovative technology platform that supports customers' management of the equipment lifecycle and integrates parts procurement with both OEMs and dealers; plus equipment financing and leasing through Ritchie Bros. Financial Services. For more information about Ritchie Bros., visit RitchieBros.com.

Photos and video for embedding in media stories are available at rbauction.com/media.

SOURCE Ritchie Bros.
Fueling Folds of Honor to benefit military and first responder families through gallons of gas and diesel sold

SALT LAKE CITY, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sinclair Oil (Sinclair), an HF Sinclair ( NYSE: DINO) brand, today announced an initiative supporting the children and spouses of fallen or disabled veterans and first responders through Folds of Honor, devoted to providing educational scholarships to these family members.

A portion of fuel purchased at participating Sinclair stations from Sept. 12 through Oct. 16, 2022, will be donated to Folds of Honor through the aptly named Fueling Folds of Honor initiative. The company is currently on track to raise more than $700,000 over five weeks, with the support of Sinclair-branded retail partners and Sinclair Oil customers.

"This fall, fueling up at participating Sinclair stations will do more than fill up a gas tank  it will show gratitude by the gallons to the families of service members and first responders who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect American freedoms," said Jack Barger, Sinclair's senior vice president of marketing. "We believe that together we can support and honor those who have given so much, and we're proud of our station partners for making this a priority."

According to available data, several states in which Sinclair-branded retail stations or Sinclair Oil customers are present rank among the top 10 states for veteran populations, including Idaho, Nevada, Montana and Wyoming. Funds raised through Fueling Folds of Honor will support veteran and first responder families in the communities surrounding participating Sinclair locations. Customers may also choose to donate to the initiative via online donations promoted on site, through merchandise sold at participating stations and online from Sinclair's website.

Founded more than a century ago, Sinclair works closely with its distributor partners to both serve customers and support businesses, communities and organizations in need. Parent company HF Sinclair also has a history and passion for veterans' causes, including supporting Carry the Load, a nonprofit committed to honoring American heroes, as part of its corporate philanthropy initiatives.

To find a station participating in Fueling Folds of Honor and to learn more, visit SinclairFuelingFolds.com.

About HF Sinclair Corporation

HF Sinclair Corporation (HF Sinclair), headquartered in Dallas, Texas, is an independent energy company that produces and markets high value light products such as gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, renewable diesel and other specialty products. HF Sinclair owns and operates refineries located in Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Wyoming, Washington and Utah and markets its refined products primarily in the Southwest U.S., the Rocky Mountains extending into the Pacific Northwest, and in other neighboring Plains states. HF Sinclair supplies high-quality fuels to more than 1,300 Sinclair branded stations and licenses the use of the Sinclair brand at more than 300 additional locations throughout the country. In addition, subsidiaries of HF Sinclair produce and market base oils and other specialized lubricants in the U.S., Canada and the Netherlands and export products to more than 80 countries. Through its subsidiaries, HF Sinclair produces renewable diesel at two of its facilities in Wyoming and also at its facility in Artesia, New Mexico. HF Sinclair also owns a 47% limited partner interest and non-economic general partner interest in Holly Energy Partners, L.P., a master limited partnership that provides petroleum product and crude oil transportation, terminalling, storage and throughput services to the petroleum industry, including HF Sinclair subsidiaries.

About Sinclair Oil

Sinclair Oil, an HF Sinclair brand, is one of the oldest continuous brands in the energy business. Recognized for its iconic dinosaur, Sinclair has more than 1,600 independent branded and licensed stations, featuring DINOCARE TOP TIER gasoline. For more information, visit SinclairOil.com and follow the brand on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

About Folds of Honor

Folds of Honor is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides educational scholarships to the spouses and children of military members serving in the United States Armed Forces and to first responders who have fallen or been disabled. Our educational scholarships support private school tuition or tutoring in grades K-12, tuition for college, technical or trade school and post-graduate work, including a master's degree, doctorate, or professional program. Funds for a second bachelor's degree or trade/technical program certification are also available. Since its inception in 2007, Folds of Honor has awarded nearly 44,000 scholarships totaling nearly $200 million in all 50 states to military dependents. Among the students served, 41% are minorities. Academic scholarships for first responders' families were added in 2022. It is rated a four-star charity by Charity Navigator and platinum on GuideStar. It was founded by Lt Col Dan Rooney, the only F-16 fighter pilot (with three combat tours in Iraq) and PGA Professional. For more information or to donate in support of a Folds of Honor scholarship visit FoldsofHonor.org.

SOURCE Sinclair Oil
PHOENIX, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Dr Ankita Singh Scholarship for Future Doctors of America is a recently launched scholarship program by the namesake backer, Dr Ankita Singh, that is primarily aimed at students who wish to pursue a career in medicine as a doctor. The scholarship is opening its application to students who are currently enrolled in university and taking up studies that involve medicine and intend on becoming a doctor in the future. Applicants aren't only limited to just university students but it is also accepting applications from high school students who are graduating and intend on going to university with plans of becoming a doctor. Prize money of $1000 will be awarded to the scholar that will be chosen through a 1000-word scholarship essay that answers the question: "Having a degree in medicine is a powerful responsibility. How will you use your degree in medicine to give back to your community?"

No matter the kind of career you wish to pursue, education plays a central role in all of them. Attending university trains you to do your job properly as well as equips you with the necessary skills and knowledge to overcome any challenges that get thrown your way. Dr Ankita Singh understands this and hopes that her scholarship program will also bring awareness not only to the struggles of students studying to become a doctor but also to the rising costs of education which can be difficult for some families to realistically keep up. She sees this scholarship as a fair opportunity she can provide to all students as well as a reward for any deserving student with the opportunity to pursue their dream career without worrying about the financial side

Students who are keen on applying for the scholarship should go over to the Dr Ankita Singh Scholarship website. This website will allow you to learn more about the woman herself as well as any information you need about the scholarship. The website contains everything you need to know from updates on the scholarship as well as any additional requirements you might need to accomplish besides the essay. It will also allow you to send in your complete application together with your essay and other requirements.

SOURCE Dr Ankita Singh Scholarship
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Republic of El Salvador (the "Republic"), announced today the commencement of an invitation for each holder to submit offers (the "Offers") to tender for cash the notes set forth in the table below (collectively, the "Notes"), upon the terms and subject to the conditions described in the invitation dated September 12, 2022 (the "Invitation"), subject to an aggregate amount not to exceed U.S.$360,000,000 to purchase the principal amount of Notes accepted for tender and pay accrued interest and any premium with respect to such Notes (the "Aggregate Maximum Tender Amount").

The Invitation will begin on the date hereof and, unless extended or earlier terminated, the Invitation and withdrawal rights will expire at 12:00 p.m., New York time on September 20, 2022 (such time, as may be extended, the "Expiration Time"). The settlement of validly tendered and accepted Notes is scheduled to occur on or about September 22, 2022 (the "Settlement Date"). The Republic reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to delay the Settlement Date without extending the Expiration Time.

Acceptance of tenders of Notes may be subject to proration if the amount to purchase the principal amount of Notes tendered and pay Accrued Interest and any premium with respect to such Notes is greater than the Aggregate Maximum Tender Amount. El Salvador reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to accept only a portion of Notes tendered in the event that the Aggregate Maximum Tender Amount is reached, not to accept any or all Offers and to extend or terminate the Invitation with respect to one or more series for any reason. There is no priority between each series of Notes and El Salvador may decide in its sole discretion the aggregate principal amount of each series of Notes to be accepted for purchase. El Salvador reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to decrease the Aggregate Maximum Tender Amount.

The following table sets forth certain terms of the Invitation:

Securities CUSIPs, ISINs and Common

Codes Principal Amount

Outstanding as of

September 12, 2022 Purchase

Price(1) 7.75% Notes due 2023

(the " 2023 Notes ") Rule 144A CUSIP: 283875 AK8 ISIN: US283875AK83 Common Code: 015690844 U.S.$800,000,000 U.S.$910.00

Regulation S CUSIP: P01012 AJ5 ISIN: USP01012AJ55 Common Code: 015690909











5.875% Notes due

2025 (the " 2025

Notes ") Rule 144A CUSIP: 283875 AR3 ISIN: US283875AR37 Common Code: 086183617 U.S.$800,000,000 U.S.$540.00

Regulation S CUSIP: P01012 AS5 ISIN: USP01012AS54 Common Code: 086183609

























(1) Offered as Purchase Price per each U.S.$1,000 principal amount of Notes validly tendered at or prior to the Expiration Time and accepted for purchase. The Purchase Price does not include the applicable accrued and unpaid interest to (but excluding) the Settlement Date (as defined below) ("Accrued Interest"). On the Settlement Date, holders will also receive Accrued Interest on Notes validly tendered and accepted for purchase.

Any holder desiring to submit Offers for Notes should (a) submit through The Depository Trust Company ("DTC") pursuant to DTC's Automated Offer Program ("ATOP"), and (b) request the holder's broker, dealer, commercial bank, trust company or other nominee to effect the transaction. Notes tendered pursuant to the Invitation may only be withdrawn in accordance with the procedures specified under "The InvitationIrrevocability; Withdrawal Rights," prior to the Expiration Time, but not thereafter. El Salvador is making the Invitation only in those jurisdictions where it is legal to do so. There is no letter of transmittal for the Invitation.

The Republic reserves the absolute right to amend or terminate the Offer in its sole discretion, subject to disclosure and other requirements as required by applicable law. In the event of termination of the Offer, Notes tendered and not accepted for purchase pursuant to the Offer will be promptly returned to the tendering holders. The complete terms and conditions of the Offer are described in the Offer to Purchase, a copy of which may be obtained from D.F. King & Co., Inc., the tender agent and information agent (the "Tender and Information Agent") for the Offer, at www.dfking.com/salvador, [email protected], by telephone at 1 (800) 628-8532 (U.S. toll free) and (212) 269-5550 (collect), in writing at 48 Wall Street, 22nd Floor New York, New York 10005.

The Republic has engaged Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. to act as the dealer manager (the "Dealer Manager") in connection with the Invitation. Questions regarding the terms of the Invitation may be directed to Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. by telephone at +1-212-250-2955 (collect) or +1-866-627-0391 (U.S. Toll-free).

Disclaimer

This announcement is not an offer to purchase or the solicitation of an offer to sell the Notes. The invitation for each holder to submit Offers is only being made pursuant to the Invitation. Holders of Notes should read the Invitation carefully prior to making any decision with respect to tendering Notes because it contains important information.

The distribution of materials relating to the Invitation, and the transactions contemplated by the Invitation, may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions. The Invitation is made only in those jurisdictions where it is legal to do so. The Invitation is void in all jurisdictions where it is prohibited. If materials relating to the Invitation come into your possession, you are required to inform yourself of and to observe all of these restrictions. The materials relating to the Invitation do not constitute, and may not be used in connection with, an offer or solicitation in any place where offers or solicitations are not permitted by law. The Invitation does not constitute an offer to buy or a solicitation of an offer to sell any securities in any jurisdiction to any person to whom it is unlawful to make such offer or solicitation in such jurisdiction. In any jurisdiction in which the Invitation is required to be made by a licensed broker or dealer and in which the Dealer Manager or any of its affiliates is so licensed, it shall be deemed to be made by the Dealer Manager or such affiliates on behalf of El Salvador. See "Certain Legal Restrictions" and "Jurisdictional Restrictions" in the Invitation.

El Salvador will make (or cause to be made) all announcements regarding the Invitation by press release issued to an international news service, which is expected to be PR Newswire or another appropriate international news service, (the "News Service"), and will subsequently publish such announcement on the website of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (www.bourse.lu).

NONE OF EL SALVADOR, THE DEALER MANAGER OR THE INFORMATION AND TENDER AGENT MAKES ANY RECOMMENDATION THAT ANY HOLDER TENDER OR REFRAIN FROM TENDERING ALL OR ANY PORTION OF THE PRINCIPAL AMOUNT OF SUCH HOLDER'S NOTES, AND NO ONE HAS BEEN AUTHORIZED BY ANY OF THEM TO MAKE SUCH A RECOMMENDATION. HOLDERS MUST MAKE THEIR OWN DECISIONS WHETHER TO TENDER NOTES, AND, IF SO, MUST DECIDE ON THE PRINCIPAL AMOUNT OF NOTES TO TENDER.

Important Notice

The distribution of the Invitation and the transactions contemplated hereby may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions. Persons into whose possession this Invitation come are required by El Salvador and the Dealer Manager to inform themselves of and to observe any of these restrictions. Each person accepting the Invitation shall be deemed to have represented, warranted and agreed (in respect of itself and any person for whom it is acting) that it is not a person to whom it is unlawful to make an Invitation pursuant to this Invitation (including under the applicable securities laws referenced below), it has not distributed or forwarded this Invitation or any other documents or materials relating to the Invitation to any such person, and it has (before offering the Notes for exchange) complied with all laws and regulations applicable to it for the purposes of its participation in the Invitation.

This Invitation does not constitute, and may not be used in connection with, an offer or solicitation by anyone in any jurisdiction in which an offer or solicitation is not authorized or in which the person making an offer or solicitation is not qualified to do so or to any person to whom it is unlawful to make an offer or solicitation. Neither El Salvador nor the Dealer Manager accepts any responsibility for any violation by any person of the restrictions applicable in any jurisdiction.

In any jurisdiction in which the Invitation is required to be made by a licensed broker or dealer and in which the Dealer Manager or any of its affiliates is so licensed, it shall be deemed to be made by the Dealer Manager or such affiliates.

European Economic Area

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Tomorrow.io to Provide Air Force With Global Weather and Ocean Data Under Multi-Year $19.3 Million Contract Funded Through Commercial Weather Data Pilot Program

BOSTON, Sept. 12, 2022 The Tomorrow Companies Inc. ("Tomorrow.io"), developer of a leading platform for global weather and climate security, has completed assembly and testing of its first precipitation radar and delivered the payload to Astro Digital for satellite integration. Tomorrow.io was awarded a multi-year $19.3 million contract last year from the U.S. Air Force, funded through the Air Force's Commercial Weather Data Pilot Program, to support deployment of the company's first four satellites.

Tomorrow.io selected Astro Digital's Corvus-XL satellite platform for the first two satellites of its constellation. Delivery of the radar payload, after Tomorrow.io and the Air Force conducted a successful critical design review earlier this year, puts Tomorrow.io on track to launch its first satellite in early 2023, with a full constellation expected in orbit during 2025.

Tomorrow.io will offer operational satellite data-as-a-service to the U.S. Department of Defense and governmental agencies worldwide, while also ingesting the data into its proprietary modeling suite that powers its Weather and Climate Security Platform, which is used by hundreds of organizations to proactively manage weather-related challenges.

Precipitation measurements are critical to weather forecasting and are ranked the top priority out of 152 Earth observations by the intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations. Radar provides detailed observations of precipitation that no other sensor can see, yet much of the world lacks reliable ground-based radar coverage, including many areas of interest to the Department of Defense.

Tomorrow.io plans to launch a constellation of approximately 30 small satellites to provide high-resolution global coverage of 3-D precipitation and other key parametersrevisiting each point on the globe every hour on average, compared to the 2- to 3-day revisit rate of existing spaceborne radar missions.

"Global environmental data is essential to effective mission planning and execution of air and ground operations," said John Dreher, materiel leader, Weather Systems Branch, in an Air Force news release . "This satellite constellation partnership with Tomorrow.io will give Air Force weather operators a vastly improved awareness of current and forecasted weather conditions."

The constellation will enhance the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) mission to provide authoritative and accurate 24/7 global weather intelligence to the warfighter. Capabilities delivered under this contract are expected to further the Department of Defense's ability to address the Joint Requirements Oversight Council Meteorological and Oceanographic Collection Requirements and bolster weather observations around the globe.

Tomorrow.io announced earlier this year the addition of microwave sounders to its planned satellite constellation, which would create the first multi-sensor weather satellite system owned and operated by a private company. The combined sensing capabilities from radars and sounders will allow Tomorrow.io to acquire multiple types of near real-time, global atmospheric data critical to improving operational weather forecasts.

About Tomorrow.io

Tomorrow.io is the world's leading Weather and Climate Security Platform, helping countries, businesses, and individuals manage their weather and climate security challenges. The platform is fully customizable to any industry impacted by the weather. Customers around the world, including Uber, Delta, Ford, National Grid, and more use Tomorrow.io to dramatically improve operational efficiency. Tomorrow.io was built from the ground up to help teams prepare for the business impact of weather by automating decision-making and enabling climate adaptation at scale. To learn more, please go to: www.tomorrow.io

CONTACT: [email protected]

SOURCE The Tomorrow Companies Inc
Illustrious Roster of International Leaders, Global Energy Experts, Clean Energy Philanthropists Join More Than 5,000 Attendees and over 300 CEOs at the World Premier Event to Advance the Implementation of Clean Energy Deployment and Innovation

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), announced an updated roster of speakers for the inaugural 2022 Global Clean Energy Action Forum (GCEAF). Held in Pittsburgh, PA from September 2123, this landmark event will bring together energy leaders from around the world to turn clean energy ambition into action and accelerate the transition toward a more secure energy future, creating millions of good paying jobs. Pittsburgh serves as an exemplary host city as one of the world's preeminent communities that is successfully transitioning to a new, just, fair, and prosperous clean energy economy.

The GCEAF will showcase clean energy action aimed at leveraging the trillions of dollars in investment opportunities that will be unleashed this decade by the global transition to net-zero emissions. Hundreds of side events and business forum sessions will focus on every sector of the clean energy economy from renewables to abated fossil energy, to nuclear, to new emerging sectors like hydrogen.

Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko will join other ministers from around the world in Pittsburgh. Senior White House officials in attendance include Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, Director of the National Economic Council Brian Deese, newly appointed Senior Advisor to the President for Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation John Podesta, and Special Presidential Coordinator for Global Infrastructure and Energy Security Amos Hochstein. Other U.S. leaders including President of the AFL-CIO, Elizabeth Shuler, Governor Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania and Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) will headline mainstage events during the three-day conference.

Click HERE for media registration

International leaders attending include:

Leila Benali , Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, Morocco

Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, Chris Bowen , Minister of Climate Change and Energy, Australia

, Minister of Climate Change and Energy, Khashayar Farmanbar , Minister for Energy and Digital Development, Sweden

Minister for Energy and Digital Development, Leonore Gewessler, Federal Minister for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology, Austria

Federal Minister for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology, Rob Jetten , Minister for Climate and Energy Policy, The Netherlands

Minister for Climate and Energy Policy, Dr Tan See Leng , Second Minister for Trade and Industry, Singapore

, Second Minister for Trade and Industry, Kadri Simson , Commissioner for Energy, European Commission

, Commissioner for Energy, European Commission Dr Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, India

of State for and and Earth Sciences, Jonathan Wilkinson , Minister of Natural Resources, Canada

, Minister of Natural Resources, Fatih Birol , Director, International Energy Agency

, Director, International Energy Agency Rafael Grossi , Director General, International Atomic Energy Association

, Director General, International Atomic Energy Association Gim Huay , Managing Director, Centre for Nature and Climate, World Economic Forum

, Managing Director, for Nature and Climate, World Economic Forum Francesco La Camera , Director General, International Renewable Energy Agency

, Director General, International Renewable Energy Agency Angela Wilkinson , Secretary General and Chief Executive Officer, World Energy Council

Secretary General and Chief Executive Officer, World Energy Council Bill Gates , Co-chairperson, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Co-chairperson, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Dr. Rita Baranwal , Chief Technology Officer, Westinghouse

Chief Technology Officer, Westinghouse Dominique Boies , CEO and CFO, Enerkem

, CEO and CFO, Enerkem Bo Cerup-Simonsen, CEO Mrsk Mc-Kinney Mller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping

CEO Mrsk Mc-Kinney Mller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping Claudio Facchin , CEO, Hitachi Energy

, CEO, Dr. Jennifer Holmgren , CEO, LanzaTech

, CEO, LanzaTech Praveer Sinha , CEO and Managing Director, Tata Power Company

, CEO and Managing Director, Tata Power Company JB Straubel, Co-Founder & CEO, Redwood Materials and Tesla co-founder

Co-Founder & CEO, Redwood Materials and Tesla co-founder Malcolm Turnbull , Chairman, Fortescue Future Industries

The GCEAF follows on the heels of the opening of the UN General Assembly and will convene industry executives, young professionals, civil society and others with science and energy ministers from over 30 countries representing the majority of global emissions and 90% of public financing for clean energy. It will also host the joint convening of the annual Mission Innovation and Clean Energy Ministerials, two platforms created over the last 15 years to advance clean energy innovation and deployment to meet our global climate goals.

Click here for the full list of attendees for the Global Clean Energy Action Forum

Click here the full agenda for the Global Clean Energy Action Forum

Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE U.S. Department of Energy
Waqas Durrani promoted as leader of Enterprise Shared Services Counsel

SAN ANTONIO, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- USAA announced Waqas Durrani has been promoted to senior vice president, Enterprise Shared Services (ESS) Counsel in USAA's Chief Legal Office. In this role, Durrani will lead teams supporting technology and transactions, privacy and data security, labor and employment, and USAA's Chief Financial Office. He previously led the technology and transactions team as vice president and will report to USAA Chief Legal Officer Bob Johnson.

USAA announced Waqas Durrani has been promoted to senior vice president, Enterprise Shared Services (ESS) Counsel. Tweet this Waqas Durrani, senior vice president, USAA Enterprise Shared Services (ESS) Counsel

Durrani joined USAA in 2017 as legal counsel for USAA's property and casualty company. In his subsequent role leading the technology and transactions team, he advised on USAA's prior sale of its investment management company and mutual fund portfolio to Schwab and Victory Capital, respectively and on the acquisition of insurer Noblr, which now offers USAA members "pay as you drive" auto insurance. Prior to joining USAA, he worked at Allstate for 16 years in various roles, including serving as associate general counsel at Esurance, an affiliate of Allstate. Before that, Waqas served as corporate counsel at U.S. Office Products Company, a startup company.

"Waqas has played an essential role in critical transactions for USAA while providing strong leadership and legal advice in support of our members," Johnson said. "I am excited to see the momentum continue under his leadership as we deliver on our mission to serve the military community."

Waqas received a Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, from Loyola University in Chicago. He also received Master of Science in journalism and a law degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

"USAA has served the military for over 100 years, and I've been privileged to support that mission," Durrani said. "I am eager to continue providing that support as we care for our 13 million members and more than 38,000 employees."

About USAA

Founded in 1922 by a group of military officers, USAA is among the leading providers of insurance, banking, and investment and retirement solutions to more than 13 million members of the U.S. military, veterans who have honorably served and their families. Headquartered in San Antonio, USAA has offices in eight U.S. cities and three overseas locations and employs more than 38,000 people worldwide. Each year, the company contributes to national and local nonprofits in support of military families and communities where employees live and work. For more information about USAA, follow us on Facebook or Twitter (@USAA), or visit usaa.com.

Contact: USAA Media Relations

[email protected]

210-498-0940

SOURCE USAA
DUBLIN, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Automotive Artificial Intelligence Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2022-2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global automotive artificial intelligence market reached a value of US$ 2.12 Billion in 2021. Looking forward, the publisher expects the market to reach a value of US$ 13.53 Billion by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 36.19% during 2021-2027. Keeping in mind the uncertainties of COVID-19, we are continuously tracking and evaluating the direct as well as the indirect influence of the pandemic. These insights are included in the report as a major market contributor.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most progressive technologies of computer science concerned with building smart machines capable of performing tasks that are usually done by humans. It is associated with human intelligence through similar characteristics, such as reasoning, language understanding, problem-solving and learning.

It is widely used in autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles to analyze road conditions, predict malfunctions, control smart devices, provide driver assistance functions, schedule maintenance programs, and collect data on events, including accidents, speeding, and traffic violations. This, in turn, assists in enhancing workflow, user experience, privacy, and data security, enabling faster innovation cycles, and ensuring a safe driving experience.



The increasing demand for autonomous vehicles across the globe is one of the key factors driving the growth of the market. Autonomous vehicles are widely adopted due to their features, such as self-driving, autopilot and automatic parking that minimize human effort during driving.

In line with this, automotive AI aids in predicting the movements of objects in the vicinity of the vehicle, lane driving, self-parking, auto changing lanes, thus enhancing driver comfort and reducing accidents, which, in turn, is favoring the market growth. Moreover, various technological innovations, such as the driver monitoring system, that utilizes a driver-facing hi-tech camera on the dashboard to track drivers eye movements for alerting drivers from distraction and drowsiness to avoid fatal road accidents, are providing a thrust to the market growth.

Additionally, the introduction of vehicle tracking software that is set to provide a live update of a vehicle on different locations efficiently and effectively is positively impacting the market growth. Other factors, including the increasing demand for premium vehicles and the implementation of various government initiatives to create awareness and promote road safety, are anticipated to drive the market growth further.

Competitive Landscape:

The competitive landscape of the industry has also been examined along with the profiles of the key players being Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, Daimler AG, Ford Motor Company, Hyundai Motor Company, Intel Corporation, International Business Machines Corporation, Micron Technology Inc., Microsoft Corporation, NVIDIA Corporation, Qualcomm Incorporated, Tesla Inc., Toyota Motor Corporation and Uber Technologies Inc.



Key Questions Answered in This Report:

How has the global automotive artificial intelligence market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years?

What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the global automotive artificial intelligence market?

What are the key regional markets?

What is the breakup of the market based on the component?

What is the breakup of the market based on the technology?

What is the breakup of the market based on the process?

What is the breakup of the market based on the application?

What are the various stages in the value chain of the industry?

What are the key driving factors and challenges in the industry?

What is the structure of the global automotive artificial intelligence market and who are the key players?

What is the degree of competition in the industry?

Key Topics Covered:



1 Preface



2 Scope and Methodology



3 Executive Summary



4 Introduction

4.1 Overview

4.2 Key Industry Trends



5 Global Automotive Artificial Intelligence Market

5.1 Market Overview

5.2 Market Performance

5.3 Impact of COVID-19

5.4 Market Forecast



6 Market Breakup by Component

6.1 Hardware

6.1.1 Market Trends

6.1.2 Market Forecast

6.2 Software

6.2.1 Market Trends

6.2.2 Market Forecast

6.3 Services

6.3.1 Market Trends

6.3.2 Market Forecast



7 Market Breakup by Technology

7.1 Machine Learning and Deep Learning

7.1.1 Market Trends

7.1.2 Market Forecast

7.2 Computer Vision

7.2.1 Market Trends

7.2.2 Market Forecast

7.3 Natural Language Processing

7.3.1 Market Trends

7.3.2 Market Forecast



8 Market Breakup by Process

8.1 Data Mining

8.1.1 Market Trends

8.1.2 Market Forecast

8.2 Image Recognition

8.2.1 Market Trends

8.2.2 Market Forecast

8.3 Signal Recognition

8.3.1 Market Trends

8.3.2 Market Forecast



9 Market Breakup by Application

9.1 Semi-Autonomous

9.1.1 Market Trends

9.1.2 Market Forecast

9.2 Autonomous

9.2.1 Market Trends

9.2.2 Market Forecast



10 Market Breakup by Region



11 SWOT Analysis



12 Value Chain Analysis



13 Porters Five Forces Analysis



14 Price Analysis



15 Competitive Landscape

15.1 Market Structure

15.2 Key Players

15.3 Profiles of Key Players

15.3.1 Bayerische Motoren Werke AG

15.3.1.1 Company Overview

15.3.1.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.1.3 Financials

15.3.1.4 SWOT Analysis

15.3.2 Daimler AG

15.3.2.1 Company Overview

15.3.2.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.2.3 Financials

15.3.2.4 SWOT Analysis

15.3.3 Ford Motor Company

15.3.3.1 Company Overview

15.3.3.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.3.3 Financials

15.3.3.4 SWOT Analysis

15.3.4 Hyundai Motor Company

15.3.4.1 Company Overview

15.3.4.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.4.3 Financials

15.3.4.4 SWOT Analysis

15.3.5 Intel Corporation

15.3.5.1 Company Overview

15.3.5.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.5.3 Financials

15.3.5.4 SWOT Analysis

15.3.6 International Business Machines Corporation

15.3.6.1 Company Overview

15.3.6.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.6.3 Financials

15.3.6.4 SWOT Analysis

15.3.7 Micron Technology Inc.

15.3.7.1 Company Overview

15.3.7.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.7.3 Financials

15.3.7.4 SWOT Analysis

15.3.8 Microsoft Corporation

15.3.8.1 Company Overview

15.3.8.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.8.3 Financials

15.3.8.4 SWOT Analysis

15.3.9 NVIDIA Corporation

15.3.9.1 Company Overview

15.3.9.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.9.3 Financials

15.3.9.4 SWOT Analysis

15.3.10 Qualcomm Incorporated

15.3.10.1 Company Overview

15.3.10.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.10.3 Financials

15.3.10.4 SWOT Analysis

15.3.11 Tesla Inc.

15.3.11.1 Company Overview

15.3.11.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.11.3 Financials

15.3.11.4 SWOT Analysis

15.3.12 Toyota Motor Corporation

15.3.12.1 Company Overview

15.3.12.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.12.3 Financials

15.3.12.4 SWOT Analysis

15.3.13 Uber Technologies Inc.

15.3.13.1 Company Overview

15.3.13.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.13.3 Financials

15.3.13.4 SWOT Analysis

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/ax8zgf

Media Contact:

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SOURCE Research and Markets
5G in healthcare industry is anticipated to register 35% CAGR between 2022 and 2030 due to increasing integration of emerging and latest technologies with 5G.

SELBYVILLE, Del., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- 5G in healthcare market value is set to reach USD 80 billion by 2030, according to a new research report by Global Market Insights Inc.

5G in Healthcare Market

The incidence of chronic diseases at an alarming rate in rural areas will augment the technology adoption. A vast majority of the underprivileged population in emerging economies does not have a proper access to high-quality medical facilities. 5G technologies can be useful in such cases as it will give doctors the opportunity to increase the reach of their services by conducting virtual consultations to understand a patient's health status.

Innovative digital technologies have improved the delivery of care to patients living in remote locations, thereby reducing the need for emergency visits and hospitalization. Since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the deployment of communication networks in healthcare services has increased the number of telehealth visits. The percentage of people applying for Medicaid and Medicare insurance and reimbursements has also risen significantly, bolstering the demand for 5G networks.

Request for a sample of this research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/5317

5G technology will improve remote patient monitoring capabilities

5G in healthcare market share from the remote patient monitoring segment is projected to surpass USD 35 billion by 2030. The prevalence of chronic diseases is rising at a worrying rate across the world. Remote monitoring devices are used to continuously measure vital signs, such as heart rate, pulse rate, blood pressure, blood oxygen saturation, and several other physiological data.

Asthma is among the major noncommunicable diseases that require continuous monitoring to improve the diagnosis and treatment. For instance, according to the WHO data for 2019, nearly 262 million people were suffering from asthma across the globe. Similar factors are likely to drive the demand for remote patient monitoring solutions and fast communication technologies.

Browse key industry insights spread across 240 pages with 181 market data tables & 17 figures & charts from the report, "5G in Healthcare Market Size By Offering (Hardware, Services), By Application (AR/VR, Virtual Consultations, Remote Patient Monitoring, Connected Ambulance, Inventory Management Devices), By End-use (Healthcare Providers, Healthcare Payers, Pharmaceutical Companies), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook, Application Potential, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2022  2030" in detail along with the table of contents:

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/5g-in-healthcare-market

Pharmaceutical companies can use 5G to develop novel drugs

5G in healthcare market from the pharmaceutical company's segment is predicted to observe more than 40% CAGR through 2030. Pharma companies are adopting 5G infrastructure and connectivity to develop a wide range of new drugs to combat complex health disorders. They can also use IoT-connected monitoring devices on a large scale during clinical trials for better efficiency and accurate results. Moreover, 5G technology can reduce the total cycle time and help these firms up-scale their production batch, due to low latency and high-speed features.

Asia Pacific to record strong growth across 5G in healthcare industry

Asia Pacific 5G in healthcare market size will record a healthy CAGR of over 35% through 2030. This is attributed to variables such as increasing prevalence of chronic ailments, rising awareness regarding 5G technology in healthcare, and growing integration of 5G with other technologies. The high incidence of heart diseases among the regional population will increase the need for remote patient monitoring devices, visual consultancy, and connected ambulance services. These applications may increase the integration of 5G across healthcare facilities.

BT Group, Deutsche Telekom AG, Vodafone, China Mobile Limited, China Unicom, Saudi Telecom Company (STC), and T-Mobile, among many others, are the reputed organizations in the global 5G in healthcare market. These companies are signing merger & acquisition agreements and partnership deals to diversify their product portfolios.

Request for customization of this research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/roc/5317

About Global Market Insights

Global Market Insights Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider, offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy, and biotechnology.

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SOURCE Global Market Insights Research Pvt. Ltd
PORTLAND, Ore., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- AGAE Technologies, LLC ("AGAE"), an Oregon-based leading specialty green chemical and biotech company, has discovered how to use selected strains and media under optimized fermentation conditions to achieve record-high yields of rhamnolipids at its lowest production cost. AGAE's novel fermentation methods have increased yields nearly 200% when compared to the conventionally optimized fermentation conditions, and at the same time production costs have been reduced to nearly one-third of the conventionally optimized conditions.

AGAE has optimized fermentation conditions to achieve record-high yields of rhamnolipids at its lowest production cost Tweet this Figure 1. The Representative HPLC-ELSD Profiles of the High-Yield Rhamnolipids

AGAE filed a provisional patent application in August 2022 to protect its newly developed production methods. The patent application, when coupled with AGAE's already existing technologies, including the company's ability to economically control excessive foam during fermentation, places the company in an ideal position to rapidly scale production. AGAE's foam-controlling methods are equally effective to fermentation production of 3-(3-hydroxyalkanoyloxy)alkanoate (HAA)  a natural biosurfactant and precursor for biosynthesis of rhamnolipids.

"The recent technology breakthroughs in rhamnolipid production enable AGAE to secure its position as a world leader in mass bio-manufacturing of rhamnolipids. AGAE can now supply global customers with large quantities of rhamnolipids at very competitive prices. AGAE's innovative rhamnolipid production technologies can guarantee its worldwide customers the readily availability of customized rhamnolipid products for diverse specific applications."

Xihou (Michael) Yin, Founder and Principal Scientist.

AGAE's production methods enable it to avoid the costly failures in fermentation resulting in low or no- yield production of rhamnolipids, and further enable AGAE to produce, at its discretion, a di-rhamnolipids-predominant mixture instead of a mono-rhamnolipids-predominant one, or vice versa. Di-rhamnolipids have better foam-generating capacity, and are better wetting, moisturizing, and cleaning agents, while mono-rhamnolipids have better antimicrobial and antiviral activities, and act as better emulsifying agents for oil-like formulations.

About AGAE Technologies, LLC

AGAE is dedicated to manufacturing and supplying its worldwide customers with the best rhamnolipid products available. Promotion of utilization of rhamnolipids is supported by 75 years of solid science. Rhamnolipids are the most highly studied and widely applicable biosurfactant. Yin and his team at AGAE firmly believe that rhamnolipids will lead the shifting wave from use of conventional chemical surfactants to natural green rhamnolipid biosurfactants, and will replace significant portions of the environmentally incompatible, chemically synthesized or petroleum-derived surfactants in broad industrial applications.

To learn more about AGAE and its technologies, products, and business development plans, please send email inquiries to [email protected].

SOURCE Agae Technologies, LLC
STAMFORD, Conn., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Aircastle Limited ("Aircastle") announced today that it increased the size of its unsecured revolving credit facility to $1 billion from $900 million by way of a $100 million commitment from BMO Harris Bank N.A. ("BMO"). The facility expires in April 2025 and provides working capital for general corporate purposes, including aircraft acquisition.

In addition to BMO, the facility's participants consist of nine leading global financial institutions, with Citibank, N.A., Goldman Sachs Bank USA, J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., Royal Bank of Canada, Fifth Third Bank, National Association, Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank, MUFG Bank, Ltd., BNP Paribas and Mizuho Bank, Ltd., as lenders.

Michael Inglese, Aircastle's CEO, stated, "We appreciate the commitment of BMO joining the strong, ongoing support of our bank group to bring this revolving credit facility to $1 billion. As we pursue exciting investment opportunities in a profitable and disciplined manner, our strong access to capital markets is a strategic strength along with our investment grade rating and unique ownership structure."

About Aircastle Limited

Aircastle Limited acquires, leases and sells commercial jet aircraft to airlines throughout the world. As of May 31, 2022, Aircastle owned and managed on behalf of its joint ventures 250 aircraft leased to 74 customers located in 44 countries.

Contacts:

Aircastle Advisor LLC

Jim Connelly, SVP ESG & Corporate Communications

Tel: +1-203 504-1871

[email protected]

SOURCE Aircastle Limited
As Master Distiller, Owen Martin will lead production, oversee innovation and continue producing ANGEL'S ENVY's portfolio of finished whiskeys

Martin is ANGEL'S ENVY's first appointed Master Distiller since co-founder and Master Distiller Lincoln Henderson's passing in 2013

LOUISVILLE, Ky., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ANGEL'S ENVY , the Louisville-based distiller that produces finished whiskeys, today announced that Owen Martin will be joining the company as Master Distiller. Beginning on October 17, Martin will lead all aspects of production and oversee innovation for ANGEL'S ENVY, including its annual Cask Strength program and limited release Cellar Collection and Founder's Collection programs. Martin is the first appointed Master Distiller of ANGEL'S ENVY since co-founder and Master Distiller Lincoln Henderson's passing in 2013.

ANGEL'S ENVY Names Owen Martin Master Distiller (Photo Credit: Twist & Tailor)

"Angel's Envy has always strived to revere tradition while embracing progress, so when looking for our new Master Distiller, we knew we needed to find someone who fully embodied that philosophy and innovative spirit," said Gigi DaDan, General Manager of ANGEL'S ENVY. "Owen's experience in product development and experimentation and his progressive outlook regarding what's next for the industry, as well as the leadership he has demonstrated throughout his career in defining and championing American whiskey categories, make him a perfect fit to lead Angel's Envy into our exciting future."

Martin, working at ANGEL'S ENVY's newly expanded distillery in downtown Louisville, will lead ANGEL'S ENVY's production team as it remains dedicated to bringing new and innovative finished whiskeys to fans while continuing to produce its highly acclaimed core offerings  a Kentucky Straight Bourbon Finished in Port Wine Barrels and a Rye Whiskey Finished in Caribbean Rum Casks.

"Angel's Envy has been a trailblazer in redefining the finished whiskey category in the US, and the chance to be a part of the next chapter for a young brand that has already made such a large impact on the industry is truly the opportunity of a lifetime," said Martin. "I look forward to bringing my knowledge of secondary cask finishing and unique perspective of European and American production techniques, as well as my expertise in product development and passion for experimentation, to the foremost secondary-finished bourbon and rye producer in the country."

Martin will be joining ANGEL'S ENVY from Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey. While at Stranahan's, Martin quickly rose through the ranks during his six-year tenure; he was most recently serving as Head Distiller. His love of finished whiskeys was born while studying at the prestigious Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, and throughout his career, he has continued to gain a unique knowledge of whiskey maturation techniques from across the country and globe.

About ANGEL'S ENVY

ANGEL'S ENVY is a Louisville, Kentucky-based distiller that produces finished whiskeys. Founded in 2010, ANGEL'S ENVY was among the first American whiskey producers to employ a secondary finishing process broadly across its portfolio. Today, each of its award-winning whiskeys are finished in hand-selected barrels to add a distinct layer of flavor and complexity, and the ANGEL'S ENVY team continues to produce several highly acclaimed core offerings  a Kentucky Straight Bourbon Finished in Port Wine Barrels and a Rye Whiskey Finished in Caribbean Rum Casks  as well as a variety of innovative, special releases.

ANGEL'S ENVY opened the doors to its Brand Home at 500 East Main Street in 2016, making it the first full-production whiskey distillery in downtown Louisville. In June 2022, ANGEL'S ENVY completed an $8.2 million expansion to its Brand Home, doubling annual guest capacity.

ANGEL'S ENVY is available in all 50 U.S. states and several international markets, and it is produced by Louisville Distilling Company, a subsidiary of Bacardi Limited.

For more information, please visit us at www.angelsenvy.com , or on:

Facebook: facebook.com/AngelsEnvyBourbon or facebook.com/TourAngelsEnvy

Twitter: @angels_envy

Instagram: @angelsenvy

ENJOY RESPONSIBLY.

Heaven can wait. Please drink responsibly.

2022. Angel's Envy is a registered trademark. Bottled by Louisville Distilling Company, Louisville, KY. Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Port Wine Barrels  43.3% Alc. By Vol.

SOURCE ANGEL'S ENVY
NICB and CDI to Meet Sept. 12 to Discuss Strengthening Partnership

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), the insurance industry's association dedicated to predicting, preventing, and prosecuting insurance crime, is strengthening its longstanding relationship with the California Department of Insurance (CDI). California currently ranks third in the nation for vehicle thefts per 100,000 people, and CDI is committed to reducing crime through its enforcement actions targeting insurance fraud.

NICB President and CEO David Glawe will meet with CDI Assistant Chief Shawn Conner on Monday, Sept. 12 in San Diego to discuss their continued partnership and ways to combat insurance fraud and crime.

NICB and CDI meet to discuss their continued partnership and ways to combat insurance fraud and crime. Tweet this

"CDI is a valued partner of NICB, and we have maintained a strong partnership with them for many, many years," said Glawe. "We are eager to meet face-to-face with Assistant Chief Conner to discuss ways to strengthen our partnership and identify collaboration opportunities to help combat rising crime."

As crime continues to increase across the U.S., including the highest vehicle theft numbers since 2008, staggering catalytic converter thefts, and fraud exceeding $300 billion nationwide each year, California is experiencing some of the highest crime rates, and therefore is the perfect place to address these issues.

"CDI and NICB have worked together hand-in-hand since 1992," said CDI Assistant Chief Shawn Conner. "We value the intelligence and support that NICB Special Agents offer us during an investigation."

NICB and CDI are looking forward to continuing their valued partnership as they battle the ever-growing crime trends seen in California. Together, they will investigate all areas of insurance fraud including, auto fraud, staged accidents, health care fraud, workers' compensation, and property investigations.

If you believe you have been a victim of fraud, call the NICB at 1-800-TEL-NICB. For additional information, visit NICB's website, WWW.NICB.org. Or contact the California Department of Insurance at 916-854-5760 and visit their website http://www.insurance.ca.gov/0300-fraud/reportingfraud.cfm to submit a request for assistance of fraud reporting.

REPORT FRAUD: Anyone with information concerning insurance fraud or vehicle theft can report it anonymously by calling toll-free 800.TEL.NICB (800.835.6422) or submitting a form on our website.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL INSURANCE CRIME BUREAU: Headquartered in Des Plaines, Ill., the NICB is the nation's leading not-for-profit organization exclusively dedicated to combatting and preventing insurance crime through Intelligence, Analytics, and Operations; Education and Crime Prevention; and Strategy, Policy, and Advocacy. The NICB is supported by more than 1,200 property and casualty insurance companies and self-insured organizations. NICB member companies wrote over $582 billion in insurance premiums in 2021, or more than 82% of the nation's property-casualty insurance. That includes more than 96% of the nation's personal auto insurance. To learn more, visit www.nicb.org.

SOURCE National Insurance Crime Bureau
TEMPE, Ariz., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The newest U.S. News & World Report rankings are out, and the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University kept its No. 23 ranking in the country for undergraduate business programs, ahead of University of Arizona, Purdue University, and Boston College. In addition, the school has 10 undergraduate disciplines or departments ranked in the top 20.

"The last several years have been brimming with change in higher education. These rankings show that W. P. Carey continues to lead that change and prepare students for success in a similarly changing business landscape," said Michele Pfund , senior associate dean of undergraduate programs at the W. P. Carey School of Business. "It's an honor to be recognized by our peers across the country."

The 10 undergraduate disciplines or departments ranked in the top 20:

Accounting, No. 13

Analytics, No. 8

Finance, No. 16

Management information systems, No. 10

International, No. 18

Entrepreneurship, No. 17

Management, No. 13

Marketing, No. 15

Production operations, No. 11

Supply chain management, No. 2

In spring and early summer, U.S. News asked deans and senior faculty members at the 516 undergraduate business programs accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business to rate the quality of all programs. Average peer assessment scores were used to calculate the rankings.

"The new U.S. News rankings demonstrate that W. P. Carey delivers something unique in business education," said Ohad Kadan , Charles J. Robel Dean and W. P. Carey Distinguished Chair. "As the largest business school in the country, we provide expansive access for students across Arizona, the United States, and the world  all while delivering truly excellent education."

In March, U.S. News also released the latest graduate school rankings. The school is ranked No. 13 nationwide for executive MBA programs and No. 18 for part-time MBA programs, while the school's Full-time MBA ranks in the Top 30. In total, U.S. News ranks 31 W. P. Carey programs and disciplines among the Top 25, the most of any business school in the country.

See the school's full list of rankings at wpcarey.asu.edu/rankings .

About the W. P. Carey School of Business

The W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University is the largest and one of the top-ranked business schools in the United States. The school is internationally regarded for its research productivity and its distinguished faculty members, including a Nobel Prize winner. Students come from more than 100 countries and W. P. Carey is represented by alumni in over 160 countries. Visit wpcarey.asu.edu .

For more information/media contact:

Shay Moser, W. P. Carey School of Business

[email protected]

SOURCE W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University
Leading Attorneys from Two Firms Establish Baker Donelson's Second South Carolina Location

CHARLESTON, S.C., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Baker Donelson has launched a new location in Charleston, South Carolina, with the addition of four attorneys from two well-respected firms.

Joining Baker Donelson as shareholders in the Firm's new Charleston location are corporate attorney J. Ashley Cooper and employment attorney Jennifer K. Dunlap, both previously with Parker Poe, and health law attorneys Alissa Fleming and Catherine F. Wrenn, both previously with Womble Bond Dickinson.

[L-R] Jennifer K. Dunlap, Ashley Cooper and Alissa Flemming. Catherine F. Wrenn

This is Baker Donelson's second new office in the Carolinas in less than a year. In October 2021, the Firm added a team of health care attorneys in Raleigh/Research Triangle, launching its first North Carolina location. Baker Donelson has maintained a location in Columbia, South Carolina, since 2016.

"Charleston is a vibrant and fast-growing market that is critically important to serving our clients with South Carolina operations," said Baker Donelson Chair and CEO Timothy M. Lupinacci. "Establishing a foothold there leverages our capabilities in areas such as manufacturing, global trade, health care, and energy. We're proud to have such an outstanding group of attorneys launch our Charleston office, and we look forward to working with them as we continue to build on our presence across the Carolinas."

Baker Donelson's Chief Growth Officer Mark A.B. Carlson said, "Our firm is intensely focused on recruiting leading attorneys across our footprint in an extremely competitive market for talent. This expansion is an example of the broader growth trajectory we have implemented and will continue to pursue. We look forward to partnering with these exceptional attorneys to drive client and attorney growth across South Carolina, North Carolina, and beyond."

In launching this new location, Baker Donelson has established temporary office space, but the Firm plans a larger permanent office in the coming months to accommodate further additions in Charleston.

Mr. Cooper, who will serve as managing shareholder of the Charleston office, chaired the Energy Industry Team at his previous firm. He represents companies with energy interests before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), and state utility commissions. He counsels clients on a range of compliance, transactional, and litigation matters. He works on new and emerging energy technologies and emerging solutions. His previous experience includes serving as chief compliance officer and assistant general counsel for a Fortune 500 energy-based holding company and as legislative director and counsel to former U.S. Senator Ernest F. Hollings.

Mr. Cooper said, "I first learned of Baker Donelson's strong reputation when I worked in Washington, D.C. I am excited to offer clients the expanded resources of a national law firm that understands our market needs."

Ms. Dunlap is an employment attorney with more than 20 years of experience in handling employment and business disputes in federal and state courts for clients in the manufacturing, technology, health care, banking, and hospitality industries. She advises businesses on all issues related to employment, including drafting employment agreements, handbooks, and policies. Her litigation experience includes serving as lead counsel in lawsuits involving allegations of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation tied to race, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, whistleblowing, and veteran status.

The addition of Ms. Fleming and Ms. Wrenn marks the latest expansion of Baker Donelson's nationally recognized Health Law practice. Beyond the addition of the six-lawyer health team in North Carolina, the Firm has made nine other health law hires across the Firm's footprint in the past year.

Ms. Fleming's practice touches on almost every aspect of health care operations, including regulatory compliance; operations and risk management; certification; reimbursement and Medicare and Medicaid repayment audits and voluntary repayments; investigations and disclosures under the CMS and OIG self-disclosure protocols involving potential violations of the Fraud and Abuse Anti-kickback Statute; confidentiality of medical information and HIPAA; facility licensing; and certification of need. In addition to her health care practice, Ms. Fleming also counsels and represents public and private employers on employment issues.

Ms. Wrenn litigates cases for businesses and health care providers, including physicians, hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and assisted living facilities. Her practice includes advising clients on regulatory compliance and handling matters that involve Medicare fraud, wrongful death, personal injury, negligence, breach of contract, and breach of warranty. Ms. Wrenn represents clients at all stages of litigation and has significant trial and appellate experience.

Baker Donelson is a national law firm with more than 650 attorneys and public policy advisors representing more than 30 practice areas to serve a wide range of legal needs. Clients receive knowledgeable guidance from experienced, multi-disciplined industry and client service teams, all seamlessly connected across 23 offices in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.

SOURCE Baker Donelson
DALLAS, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- BAL Partner Frieda Garcia has been honored with a 2022 Women, Influence & Power in Law Award by Corporate Counsel. Frieda was honored in the Thought Leadership category, an area where she has excelled throughout her two decades at BAL. Frieda heads the firm's management committee and is key in influencing the direction of all legal and operational functions at BAL.

Frieda has been instrumental in shaping BAL's innovative culture through her leadership and ability to create inclusive environments. The empathy and compassion with which she approaches her work has its roots in her own immigration experience. Frieda's compelling story, from her childhood in war-torn El Salvador to her top leadership role at BAL, inspires the next generation of lawyers.

"I'm honored to accept this award and for the career guidance I received early on from BAL named partners, David Berry, Jeff Appleman and Warren Leiden.," Frieda said. "I'm grateful for the opportunity to pay it forward by providing mentorship to younger attorneys, discussing everything from law firm management to how working parents can succeed in the corporate world while feeling accomplished as parents."

Frieda's unique approach to leadership has nurtured an organizational model that incentivizes collaboration and teamwork instead of competitiona rare feat in the legal industry.

"Frieda has helped shape our 'oneBAL' culture that empowers us to collaborate across offices to grow and thrive," said BAL Managing Partner Jeremy Fudge. "I'm thrilled that she is being honored for the incalculable ways she has led and inspired the 1,500 team members at BAL."

Though Frieda has reached a career position with considerable influence, she encourages younger attorneys to dream bigger sooner. "I wish I had realized how much potential there is to grow and be a person of influence  no matter your title or role," Frieda said. "The secret, at least at BAL, is to encourage innovation and fresh ideas from every corner of the firm and empower every individual to raise their hand if they have an idea to make things better."

The awards dinner reception will take place Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022, 7 p.m. at the JW Marriott, 1331 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, in Washington, D.C.

About Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP (BAL)

BAL, the world's leading corporate immigration law firm, is singularly focused on meeting the immigration challenges of corporate clients around the world in ways that make immigration more strategic and enable businesses to be more successful. Established in 1980, BAL has consistently provided immigration expertise, people-centered client services, and leading technology innovation. In 2018, BAL entered into a first-of-its-kind strategic alliance with Deloitte U.K. to create the world's first global immigration service delivery model. BAL's proprietary Cobalt digital immigration services platform won the 2020 CODiE Award for Best Legal Tech Product, the prestigious CIO100 award for Innovative Use of Intelligent Automation in Immigration Services, and Legalweek's Most Innovative Law Firm Operations Team of 2021. BAL and its leaders are highly ranked in every major legal publication, including Best Lawyers, Chambers and Partners, The Legal 500, and Who's Who Legal. BAL has ranked #1 on multiple industry rankings for diversity, equity and inclusion, including the #1 Law Firm for Women on the National Law Journal's Women in Law Scorecard the past four years in a row (2019-2022), #1 on the Diversity Scorecard by The American Lawyer (2020 and 2021), and #1 on Law360's Diversity Snapshot for three years running (2020-2022). In 2022, BAL won the "Best Company for Diversity," the "Best HR Team" and the "Best Company for Career Growth" by Comparably, based solely on employee ratings. The Dallas Business Journal named BAL one of only a handful of the 2022 Best Places to Work based exclusively on a confidential employee survey. See website for details: https://www.bal.com

SOURCE Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP
DENVER, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - BellRock Brands Inc. ("BellRock" or the "Company") (CSE: BRCK.U) an industry-leading cannabis consumer packaged goods ("CPG") and intellectual property platform, announces that Chairman of the Board of Directors, Andrew Schweibold, and Director, Jonathan Rosenthal, are resigning in good standing with the Company from their respective roles on the Board, effective immediately.

Schweibold and Rosenthal have served BellRock as Directors since BR Brands, LLC ("BR Brands") completed its reverse takeover of Dixie Brands Inc. ("Dixie") in October of 2020, with Schweibold serving as the Company's Board Chairman during that same time.

"Alongside current restructuring efforts at the business, I believe it is an appropriate time for me to step aside as Chairman to allow the future leaders of the Company to drive BellRock forward," said Andrew Schweibold. "Rose Capital recently introduced West 4th Holdings to lead the Company through its next evolution and, in short order, they have driven material changes in improving the Company's profitability, operations, and capital structure. I leave the BellRock Board knowing that the Company is in the very capable hands of West 4th and I continue to believe in the strength of the BellRock platform and its future as a leading cannabis CPG company." Schweibold added, "I would like to thank the BellRock Board and management for all of our collective work together to overcome a myriad of challenges during particularly challenging times. While I am resigning from the Board, Rose and myself will continue to support BellRock and I look forward to the Company's next chapter."

West 4th Holdings co-founder, Zachary L. Venegas, said, "Rose Capital's prescient vision of a national CPG platform built upon leading brands led to a brand platform unique in its size and scope, and it continues to evolve and advance. West 4th is focused on supporting their pioneering work by focusing on critical company performance and governance. Venegas added, "the Company would like to thank Rose for all their efforts and support over the years in building BellRock alongside of management."

The Company will timely seek to fill the vacant Director positions.

BellRock also announces an agreement in principle for one of its U.S. subsidiaries to purchase JRMI27, LLC ("JRMI27"), a medical and adult use marijuana product manufacturer located in Jackson, Michigan, subject to approval by Michigan's Cannabis Regulatory Agency and applicable local agencies. BellRock's flagship brands, Dixie Brands and Mary's Medicinals, currently enjoy a presence in Michigan under a Licensing Agreement with JRMI27, but the acquisition of the license by the subsidiary of the Company, if approved, will offer BellRock a lasting presence in the Michigan market.

"The agreement to acquire JRMI27 is a product of BellRock's focused efforts to build and ultimately control the Company's brands and growth initiatives in both the country's emerging and most established markets," said Brian Jansen, CEO of BellRock. "This is yet another step by BellRock towards its goal of being a national industry leader and the premier cannabis house of brands."

ABOUT BELLROCK BRANDS:

BellRock Brands is a cannabis multi-state house of brands and intellectual property focused CPG operator that possesses one of the industry's broadest branded product portfolios. BellRock's two flagship brands, Dixie Brands and Mary's Medicinals, offer over 200 SKUs and reaches nearly every key consumer group and addresses the needs of a diverse cannabis consumer base. The BellRock manufacturing and distribution footprint continues to expand and currently spans nine US states and Canada, and the Company holds strategic alliances with licensed production facilities in its largest markets. For more information, visit www.bellrockbrands.com.

SOURCE BellRock Brands Inc.
NEW YORK, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Berkshire Bancorp Inc. ( OTCQB: BERK) reported today that the New York State Department of Financial Services has approved the previously disclosed application submitted by TBB Investments LLC ("TBB Investments"), an entity formed by certain individuals and entities that collectively own more than 90% of the common stock of BERK, to acquire ownership of 100% of the outstanding common stock of BERK through a merger of a wholly-owned subsidiary of TBB Investments with and into BERK. The potential acquisition had previously been approved by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the approval by New York's Department of Financial Services was the last remaining regulatory approval needed to allow TBB Investments to proceed with the potential transaction.

Prompt public notice will be given if the potential transaction occurs. BERK has been informed that TBB Investments has not yet determined whether to proceed with the acquisition of the remaining BERK shares, but that the determination will be made shortly. Under Delaware law, no action would be required by the Board of Directors of BERK or the stockholders of BERK (other than TBB Investments) to authorize TBB Investments' acquisition of 100% of the outstanding common stock of BERK.

If the transaction occurs, it is anticipated that the holders of BERK common stock outstanding immediately prior to the transaction, other than TBB Investments and its subsidiary, would become entitled, subject to surrender of their BERK shares (together with certain other required documentation), to receive, as merger consideration, a cash payment for their shares in an amount to be determined by TBB Investments based on advice of its independent financial advisor. Alternatively, such holders would be entitled to exercise certain appraisal rights under Delaware law. It is expected that following any such transaction, the BERK common stock would no longer be publicly traded

Berkshire Bancorp Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in New York City. Berkshire Bancorp has one banking subsidiary, The Berkshire Bank, a New York State chartered commercial bank. The Berkshire Bank has its main office and branch at 4 East 39th Street in New York City and additional branches located in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Orange County, New York and Teaneck, New Jersey.

SOURCE Berkshire Bancorp Inc.
Berlin to host Yondr's 42MW data center project, deliver major network and fibre routes

BERLIN, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Yondr Group , a global leader, developer, owner operator and service provider of data centers today announced its plans to develop a number of data center facilities in Berlin, Germany. The first phase of the project, located in the municipality of Ragow, is expected to deliver 10MW of capacity and is expected to be ready for service in 2024. When fully developed, the data center campus will have a total capacity of 42MW.

Yondr's latest project in Berlin will bring the company's total IT capacity in the German market to 82MW and deliver critical network routes across key German and European metros, including opening up new network routes into Eastern Europe. This announcement follows the recent launch of the company's 40MW data center facility in Frankfurt.

The German data center market size will see an investment of $6.46 billion by 2026, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 2.35 percent during the 2020-2026 period. Berlin's strength as an emerging technology hub and its proximity to major network routes makes this metro a highly attractive location for cloud providers looking for a viable alternative to Frankfurt.

"We're bullish in our growth expectations for 2022. We see significant client interests in tier II metros, closely interconnected to the FLAP markets. Berlin will bolster our German portfolio and allow us to serve a greater number of clients with growing cloud computing and connectivity needs," said Pete Jones, Chief Development Officer and Founder at Yondr Group.

Yondr's Berlin site is in close proximity to primary network routes connecting Dresden and Leipzig. The main network routes additionally connect east towards Eastern Europe, where multiple carriers such as Colt Technology Services, EXA Infrastructure, Arelion (formerly Telia Carrier), euNetworks and Zayo are present.

Berlin joins Yondr's growing European presence, with data center projects currently under development in Amsterdam, London, and Frankfurt.

About Yondr Group

Yondr Group is a global developer, owner operator and service provider of data centers. The company specialises in delivering and operating dedicated infrastructure that is engineered for scale. As an organisation, our mission 'Global capacity responsible delivery' ensures that we achieve our vision of a tomorrow without constraints. For more information, visit www.yondrgroup.com

SOURCE Yondr USA LLC
The national boutique coffee chain now has three stores in The Golden State

PORTLAND, Ore., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Black Rock Coffee Bar, a national boutique coffee chain founded in Portland, Oregon, is opening a new Drive-Thru only store in Escondido, California. With more than 100 stores across seven states, this is Black Rock's third location in the San Diego area following the openings in Oceanside and Vista.

Black Rock Coffee Bar Fall 2022 Drinks

Known for its premium roasted coffees, teas, smoothies and flavorful Fuel energy drinks, Black Rock Coffee Bar is set to open on Friday September 16th at 1906 East Valley Parkway in Escondido. To celebrate its grand opening, Black Rock Coffee Bar will offer all customers free 16 oz. drinks all day on September 16th at this location. The store opens just in time for customers to enjoy Black Rock's delicious lineup of Fall drinks including a fan favorite, the Pumpkin Blondie.

"We are excited to add another store in the San Diego area," said Josh Pike, CEO of Black Rock Coffee Bar. "Escondido is a diverse, vibrant community with just the right mix of small-town friendliness and big-city buzz, and we look forward to our baristas serving great coffee and providing a fun, high-energy experience for the community."

This Drive-Thru only location brings to the community Black Rock's updated branding, signage and building design. Drawing from it's past while incorporating a clean modern feel, customers can still count on exceptional customer service and industry-leading speed of service when ordering their favorite drinks.

Founded in 2008 in Portland, Oregon, an area of the Pacific Northwest known for its coffee excellence, Black Rock Coffee Bar continues its rapid expansion through the west and into the sunbelt, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Texas and Washington. The boutique coffee chain recently was named the Fastest Growing Private Company in Oregon and SW Washington in 2021 by the Portland Business Journal. Most recently, Black Rock Coffee Bar ranked 837th among America's Fastest-Growing Private Companies by Inc. Magazine's 5000 Annual List.

The Black Rock culture prides itself on providing opportunities for young people to learn how to lead, run a business, and develop people skills.

About Black Rock Coffee Bar

Black Rock Coffee Bar is a national boutique coffee shop that is known for its premium roasted coffees, teas, smoothies and flavorful Fuel energy drinks. Founded as a family owned and operated business in Oregon in 2008, Black Rock Coffee Bar has grown to more than 100 retail locations in seven states. The Black Rock culture prides itself on not only being a positive force for the communities it serves, but also the team members that fuel their locations day in and day out. An important aspect of their team mission is to recognize those that go above and beyond by displaying the 4G's of Black Rock  grit, growth, gratitude and grace.

For more information, visit https://br.coffee/

SOURCE Black Rock Coffee Bar
To Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, BlockBar Will Exclusively Auction an Extra-Rare Vintage of 1800 Coleccion Tequila, Custom-Designed Decanter by Renowned Artist Leonora Carrington, a Once-in-a-Lifetime Invitation to the Birthplace of Tequila and a Tour of Leonora Carrington's Exclusive Art Collection in Tequila, Mexico

JERSEY CITY, N.J., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, 1800 Tequila, the world's most awarded tequila, will release its first ever NFT corresponding to a bottle of its coveted 1800 Coleccion Tequila, one of the rarest tequilas in the world. 1800 Tequila worked closely with celebrated surrealist artist Leonora Carrington, prior to her passing, to curate a unique decanter titled "El Rey del Tequila" complementing 1800 Coleccion rare extra anejo tequila. Carrington created only 15 of these silver-sculpted masterpieces fifteen years ago; never released for public sale. Now only one of these prized decanters is available for the first time as an ultra-exclusive collectible with a starting bid of USD $25,000 exclusively on BlockBar.com, the world's first DTC NFT marketplace for luxury wines and spirits.

Leonora Carrington El Rey del Tequila (2009) decanter with corresponding bottle of 1800 Coleccion Tequila BlockBar

To celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, 1800 Tequila will be the first ever tequila to auction on BlockBar.com. Ownership of the NFT includes the "El Rey del Tequila" (2009) Leonora Carrington-designed decanter accompanied by a bottle of 1800 Coleccion Tequila. The buyer will be invited to visit Jalisco, Mexico for a private tequila tasting at La Rojena distillery, Latin America's oldest distillery and the birthplace of tequila. They will also tour Leonora's Carrington's exclusive art collection showcasing her connection to the heritage of 1800 Tequila and allowing for a complete immersion in the land that inspired both Carrington and 220 years of 1800 Tequila quality and tradition.

"We're delighted to mark Hispanic Heritage Month by hosting our first ever tequila auction with the iconic 1800 Tequila," comments Dov Falic, Co-Founder and CEO of BlockBar. "1800 Tequila has a history of partnering with world-renowned artists and this unique, never-made-available-before decanter designed by surrealist artist Leonora Carrington makes this auction highly desirable for tequila and art lovers alike."

1800 Coleccion Tequila celebrates excellence in taste, in both tequila and in art, with past vintages having been paired with decanters custom-designed by renowned creators including Gary Baseman, Bosco Sodi and Hector Velazquez Ortus. As a first for luxury collectors worldwide, this year the brand is releasing one exclusive, limited-edition 1800 Coleccion Tequila vintage aged in ex-single malt whiskey casks from the United Kingdom as a nod to Leonora Carrington's birthplace. As a deep-rooted Mexican heritage brand, 1800 Tequila commissioned Leonora Carrington, widely considered one of the most important artists in Mexico during the 20th century, to design a unique decanter complementing the ultra-rare liquid of 1800 Coleccion Tequila. The British surrealist artist was such an admirer of the agave plant and the liquid derived from it after arriving in Mexico in the 1940's, that she designed "El Rey del Tequila" ("The King of Tequila") decanter as a tribute. To be paired with the corresponding bottle of 1800 Coleccion Tequila, the silver sculpture is infused with amorphous characteristics intrinsic to her work, reflecting the fascinating magic of the heart of the agave.

Only produced and released in the finest years of production, 1800 Coleccion Tequila is the pinnacle of liquid superiority and a result of a delicate artisan process meticulously supervised by Master Distiller Alejandro Coronado, who creates a special balanced blend between it and the finest aged tequila reserves. 1800 Coleccion Tequila begins with the selection of the highest-quality agaves that have reached optimum maturity. Following 1800 Tequila tradition, the agaves are steam cooked for several days in stone ovens obtaining a very selected extract, which is then distilled twice, followed by several years of slow aging in ex-single malt whiskey casks. The result is an exquisite, distinctively aged extra anejo tequila with a silky consistency, deep golden color and smooth mellow taste with a subtle touch of caramel, honey and almond that is one of the finest vintages in existence  numbered, limited and certified.

"Always at the forefront of culture, 1800 Tequila partnered with BlockBar to release its first NFT to bring the centuries-old tequila-making tradition to a new audience who appreciates luxury spirits and unique, high-value art," says Lander Otegui, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Proximo Spirits. "A decades-long champion and benefactor of art and culture, 1800 Tequila will contribute 50% of the proceeds from the 1800 Coleccion Tequila NFT sale directly back to the Council of Leonora Carrington for preservation of various collections including drawings, sculptures and textiles. With a new generation of luxury spirits drinkers and art collectors, this will be the first of many 1800 Coleccion Tequila NFTs to come."

1800 Coleccion El Rey del Tequila bottle and decanter will be auctioned off with a starting bid of USD $25,000 from 10:00am EST on Monday, September 12th, ending at midnight on Thursday, September 15th. Bids can be placed via BlockBar.com and payment may be submitted via ETH, credit card or wire transfer. To make a bid using ETH you must have the funds in your wallet and be connected to BlockBar. At midnight, the winning bidder has two hours to submit the full balance. Full terms and conditions may be found on BlockBar.com. Bidders planning on using wire transfer must pre-approve the funds by going to BlockBar.com, selecting payment method under the profile icon on the top right of the screen and clicking payment methods, and select verify funds for pre-approval. The user who successfully checks out will receive an NFT representing ownership of the Leonora Carrington El Rey del Tequila decanter and corresponding bottle of 1800 Coleccion Tequila, which is stored with BlockBar until the bottle owner is ready to redeem. For more information, please visit https://blockbar.com/brands/1800%20Tequila/2506e3f0-aa79-47e4-bdcd-9ef259336d2c

About 1800 Tequila:

1800 Tequila, the world's most awarded tequila and the #1 premium tequila brand in the US, is made with 100% blue Weber agave harvested at its peak in Tequila, Mexico. Named after the year of origin, 1800 Tequila has never wavered from its original formula and distillation process. Now, as the best taste in tequila, 1800 Tequila has reached category leadership through its liquid superiority, deep-rooted Mexican heritage and culture-driving collaborations with musicians and artists. The iconic bottle is also recognized for its trapezoidal shape, reminiscent of the centuries-old Mayan stone pyramids found throughout Mexico. Please visit 1800Tequila.com to learn more about the 1800 Tequila portfolio: Blanco, Coconut, Reposado, Anejo, Cristalino, Milenio, Coleccion and The Ultimate Margarita. Trademarks owned by JC Master Distribution Limited 2022 Proximo, Jersey City, NJ. Please drink responsibly.

About BlockBar:

Founded in October 2021, BlockBar sells NFTs directly from luxury wines and spirits brands. Each NFT corresponds to an actual physical bottle, exclusive to BlockBar, available to purchase with ETH, credit card or wire transfer. Owners can resell, collect, gift or at any point burn their NFT in exchange for the physical bottle, shipped from BlockBar's secure facility in Singapore with 24/7 security, motion sensors and temperature control. BlockBar only partners directly with brand owners including LVMH, Diageo, Bacardi, Pernod Ricard, Sazerac, William Grant & Sons and more, and does not take collections from third parties or collectors. BlockBar is democratizing access to luxury wines and spirits allowing anyone, anywhere in the world to participate, while offering bottle owners storage, insurance and a marketplace to re-sell their bottles purchased on BlockBar's platform. BlockBar's proprietary smart contracts verify authenticity tracing every transaction directly back to the partnering brand, and its partnership with top cyber- and crypto-security firms ensures that transactions are fully protected and transparent. For more information, please visit BlockBar.com.

Press Contact:

Exposure PR

[email protected]

SOURCE 1800 Tequila
BOSTON, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Matter, a leading strategic consulting firm focused on the life sciences industry, is pleased to announce that it has opened an office in Boston, MA. The new office officially opened on September 8, and will enhance the firm's ability to serve clients in Boston and the surrounding area. It will be the firm's seventh, joining offices in San Francisco, New York, London, Berlin, Zurich, and Mumbai.

Managing Partner, Ashwin Dandekar, said that the new office was a logical next step in Blue Matter's growth path. "Over time, we have built a significant base of clients in the Boston area. Our business there continues to grow rapidly, and we strongly believe that we can best serve our clients with teams that are located close by."

Dandekar added that Blue Matter has been adding remote team members in Boston for a while, but the time is right for an office. He said, "Our remote team members in Boston have been doing a great job. But the team there has grown to a certain size, and the new office is a great thing for them. There's tremendous value in a shared space for collaborating on projects, meeting with clients, setting up our tools and resources, and fostering a team spirit. We maintain a flexible working environment, and the office is a key part of that."

According to Dandekar, the team in Boston will continue to expand for the foreseeable future. "The Boston area is a key hub for biotech innovation. We plan to continue building the team and expanding our presence in the region for a long time to come."

About Blue Matter

Blue Matter (www.bluematterconsulting.com) is a strategic consulting firm serving the life sciences industry. From its offices in North America, Europe, and Asia, Blue Matter serves pharmaceutical and biotech companies from around the globe. The firm helps clients maximize value at the product, portfolio and organization levels, with a focus on commercial strategy for complex therapies in the development and launch stages. It has broad therapeutic experience with concentrations in oncology, CNS, and rare diseases.

SOURCE Blue Matter Consulting
Supersonic aircraft pioneer hosts global sustainability thought leaders from more than 50 companies to accelerate move to a sustainable travel future

DENVER, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Boom Supersonic , the company building the world's fastest airliner, optimized for speed, safety, and sustainability, today announced its plans for the second annual Net Good Summit, an invitation-only event dedicated to shaping a more sustainable future for the travel industry. The second annual Net Good Summit will take place October 23-25, 2022 in Del Mar, California.

Supersonic aircraft pioneer hosts global sustainability thought leaders from more than 50 companies to accelerate move to a sustainable travel future. (Photo: Boom Supersonic)

Boom Supersonic convened the inaugural Net Good Summit in November 2021 and hosted sustainability thought leaders and senior executives from American Express, Amazon Air, Climeworks, IWC Schaffhausen, HMMH, Shell Aviation, Oklo, Global Sustainable Tourism Council, U.S. Travel Association, Boston Consulting Group, and more.

This October's Net Good Summit will focus on three themes critical to creating systemic change in sustainable travel: enabling the exponential growth of sustainable technologies, integrating sustainability across the travel journey, and engaging and educating the traveler. Among the program speakers already announced are Michael Shellenberger, President, Environmental Progress; Stephanie M. Jones, Founder & CEO, Cultural Heritage Economic Alliance, Inc. and Founder, National Blacks in Travel & Tourism Collaborative; and Steven Davis, Head of Climate Science, Watershed and Professor of Earth System Science at University of California-Irvine. Additional speakers and panelists will be announced as the event programming is finalized.

"For travel to remain a net good for society, it must also be sustainable," said Kathy Savitt, President and Chief Business Officer of Boom Supersonic. "We're proud to host the 2022 Net Good Summit, bringing together a dynamic group of thought leaders, sustainability experts and industry leaders to further the sustainable future of travel."

The Net Good Summit is the annual symposium for the Sustainable Travel Forum, which Boom launched late last year to propel learnings from the Summit into solutions. Members of the Sustainable Travel Forum include Amazon Air, Archer Aviation, American Express, American Express Global Business Travel, IDEO, Japan Airlines, Prometheus Fuels, Shell Aviation, South African Tourism, Tourism Australia, U.S. Travel Association, United Airlines, Visit Britain, and Volta Charging.

A commitment to speed, safety and sustainability has been at the core of Boom's philosophy since the company's founding in 2014. Overture, the company's supersonic airliner, will be the first commercial airliner program to be net-zero carbon from day one, optimized to run on 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). In May 2022, Boom released its first annual Environmental Sustainability report , detailing the company's achievement of carbon neutrality in 2021 and reiterating its commitment to net-zero carbon by 2025.

In July 2022, Boom released the findings of an extensive research project led by Ben Murphy, VP of Sustainability at Boom, and Akshay Ashok Ph.D., Sustainability and Regulatory Specialist at Boom. The report highlights key drivers of exponential growth which can help achieve rapid scaling of the SAF industry. Boom also recently announced a 10-year agreement with Climeworks to remove part of Boom's residual CO emissions from the atmosphere and permanently store them underground. Further adding to Boom sustainability efforts, the Overture Superfactory, which will be designed and built by BE&K Building Group and BRPH, will be LEED certified. Boom was named one of this year's honorees in Travel + Leisure's Global Vision Awards, which highlights changemakers creating more sustainable and responsible travel products, practices, and experiences.

For more information about Boom's sustainability efforts, please visit: https://boomsupersonic.com/sustainability

About Boom Supersonic

Boom Supersonic is transforming air travel with Overture, the world's fastest airliner, optimized for speed, safety, and sustainability. Serving both civil and government markets, Overture will fly at twice the speed of today's airliners and is designed to run on 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Overture's order book, including purchases and options from American Airlines, United Airlines, and Japan Airlines stands at 130 aircraft. Boom is working with Northrop Grumman for government and defense applications of Overture. Suppliers and partners collaborating with Boom on the Overture program include Collins Aerospace, Eaton, Safran Landing Systems, the United States Air Force, American Express, Climeworks, and AWS. For more information, visit https://boomsupersonic.com

Connect with Boom Supersonic on Twitter , LinkedIn , Facebook , Instagram, YouTube

SOURCE Boom Supersonic
Broadridge earns recognition as a "Fast Track FinTech," rises four places in ranking

NEW YORK, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its eighth consecutive year being recognized, Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. ( NYSE: BR), a global Fintech leader, is pleased to announce it ranks #10 on the 2022 IDC FinTech Rankings, rising four places from its 2021 ranking. Broadridge was also named among a select group of companies as a "Fast Track FinTech," an accolade given only to those firms that continue to demonstrate consistent year-over-year financial growth.

The 19th annual vendor ranking represents leading hardware, software, and service providers to the financial services industry from around the world. Companies are ranked based on 2021 calendar year revenues attributed to the financial services and FinTech industries.

"Being recognized as a "Fast Track FinTech" by IDC and making this distinguished list eight years in a row is a true testament to Broadridge's thriving culture of innovation and the belief in the power of transformative, next-generation technology," said Tim Gokey, CEO of Broadridge. "We remain steadfast in our commitment to helping financial institutions across the globe embrace innovation and implement cutting-edge technologies that drive growth, enhance customer experience and realize exceptional operational performance."

The Fortune 500-style ranking categorizes and evaluates the top global providers of financial technology based on calendar year revenues from financial institutions for hardware, software and/or services. These providers supply the technological backbone of the financial services industry, an industry in which IDC forecasts worldwide spending on IT across the globe to reach $590 billion (USD) by 2025.

"Being named in the IDC FinTech Rankings is a significant accomplishment, demonstrating a provider's commitment to the success of its financial institution clients," states Marc DeCastro, Research Director at IDC Financial Insights. "The IDC Fintech Rankings, now in its 19th year, is the global standard list of fintech providers to the industry, and we congratulate the 2022 winners."

To thrive in a digital economy, the financial services organizations must embrace and integrate innovative technology effectively to enhance the customer experience and achieve operational excellence. Broadridge and the companies featured on the IDC FinTech Rankings represent those providers committed to helping financial institutions successfully execute their digital transformation initiatives for the betterment of their customers around the world.

Broadridge provides technology-driven solutions to banks, broker-dealers, portfolio managers, and public companies. The company's infrastructure serves as a global communications hub for thousands of mutual funds and millions of institutional investors.

For more information about the IDC rankings, visit http://www.idc-fi.com and follow them on Twitter @IDC and look for #IDCFinTechRankings.

About Broadridge

Broadridge Financial Solutions ( NYSE: BR), a global Fintech leader with $5 billion in revenues, provides the critical infrastructure that powers investing, corporate governance, and communications to enable better financial lives. We deliver technology-driven solutions that drive business transformation for banks, broker-dealers, asset and wealth managers and public companies. Broadridge's infrastructure serves as a global communications hub enabling corporate governance by linking thousands of public companies and mutual funds to tens of millions of individual and institutional investors around the world. Our technology and operations platforms underpin the daily trading of more than U.S. $9 trillion of equities, fixed income and other securities globally. A certified Great Place to Work, Broadridge is part of the S&P 500 Index, employing over 14,000 associates in 21 countries.

For more information about us please visit broadridge.com .

Investors:

W. Edings Thibault

Investor Relations

+ 1 516-472-5129

[email protected]

Media:

Gregg Rosenberg

Corporate Communications

+1 212-918-6966

[email protected]

SOURCE Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.
LAS VEGAS, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cannabis Community College , a leading online cannabis education platform, announces the addition of Evan Marder as Professor of Cultivation for the Cultivation Essentials course. Part of the recently launched 5 Course Essentials Bundle , the curriculum offers a 360 degree view of the cannabis life cycle, equipping students with the skills they need to succeed in their cannabis career paths.

Register for a free virtual tour of a commercial cannabis cultivation facility by grower & Fleur President, Evan Marder Tweet this Evan Marder: Cannabis Community College, Professor of Cultivation, President of Fleur Cannabis and Evergreen Organix

"We are beyond thrilled to welcome Evan to our team of expert instructors," said Christi McAdams, CCC Chairman. "We strive to bring the best the industry has to offer to our students. Evan is truly a top-notch grower and operator. We couldn't be luckier to have him on our team." To promote Evan and his courses, CCC is offering a priceless virtual tour of his commercial cultivation facility in Las Vegas, NV to anyone who registers: https://cannabiscommunitycollege.com/mk/cultivation-virtual-tour/

As a veteran grower, President of Fleur Cannabis and Evergreen Organix, and owner of Redram Consulting, Marder brings with him unparalleled knowledge and experience that promises to be of immense value to CCC students. As President and grower in Nevada's largest licensed organic cultivation facility,

"I'm honored to join the esteemed faculty of Cannabis Community College," Marder said. "My goal is to provide students with everything they'll need to operate a successful grow, achieve higher yields, and craft high-quality, potent plants."

Marder's course covers a wide variety of relevant topics, preparing students for a range of jobs within the industry from seed-to-sale. Modules include:

Introduction to cultivation facilities

Let's talk plants!

Pest control

Personal protection equipment

Trimming

Order fulfillment

Lab testing

The Cultivation Essentials training course is accessible on its own or as part of the larger 5 Course Essentials Bundle. The package currently has an introductory rate of $270, providing high-value education at a fraction of the cost of traditional coursework. Scholarships and payment plans are available for those in need.

For more information about Cannabis Community College, visit www.cannabiscommunitycollege.com

Media contact:

Rachelle Gordon

[email protected]

SOURCE Cannabis Community College
VANCOUVER, BC, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Capella Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: CMIL) ( OTCQB: CMILF) (FRA: N7D2) ("Capella" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has applied for an Exploration Reservation ("Perho") covering an area of 50 sq km over the Erajarvi Lithium-Cesium-Tantalum ("LCT") pegmatite field in southern Finland. The Perho Reservation (VA2022:0056 and shown in green in Figure 1) covers the former Seppala lithium mine and lies adjacent to the former Viitaniemi and Juurakko feldspar-quartz(-lithium) mines, which are reported by the Finnish geological survey ("GTK") to have ceased production in 1965 and 1935, respectively. Significantly, more than 70 pegmatite dykes, enriched in B, Be, Li, Nb, Sn and Ta, are reported from the area (Eilu 2012, Lahti 1981, Aviola 2004). Little modern systematic exploration for lithium deposits has been undertaken in the area.

Figure 1. Perho reservation over the Erajarvi LCT pegmatite field. (CNW Group/Capella Minerals Limited)

The new Perho Reservation has been applied for by local subsidiary Cullen Finland Oy, which is currently owned 70:30 by Capella and ASX-listed Cullen Resources Ltd (ASX: CUL). Cullen Finland Oy is also owner of the Katajavaara-Aaeknus gold-copper project in the highly-prospective Central Lapland Greenstone Belt.

Figure 1. Perho reservation over the Erajarvi LCT pegmatite field.

Eric Roth, Capella's President and CEO, commented: "The application for the Perho Reservation over the Erajarvi lithium pegmatite field has the potential to provide Capella with further exposure to the metals required for Europe's green energy transition and energy storage. LCT pegmatites are important global sources of lithium, cesium, and tantalum as well as other by-products. In conjunction with our high-grade copper-cobalt assets in Norway, the Company is well placed to participate in the global electrification and decarbonization process. I look forward to keeping the market updated on progress at Perho".

Qualified Persons and Disclosure Statement

The technical information in this news release relating to the Perho lithium project has been prepared in accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements set out in NI 43-101, and approved by Eric Roth, the Company's President & CEO, a Director, and a Qualified Person under NI 43-101. Mr. Roth holds a Ph.D. in Economic Geology from the University of Western Australia, is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) and is a Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists (SEG). Mr. Roth has 30 years of experience in international minerals exploration and mining project evaluation.

On Behalf of the Board of Capella Minerals Ltd.

"Eric Roth"

___________________________

Eric Roth, Ph.D., FAusIMM

President & CEO

About Capella Minerals Ltd

Capella is engaged in the acquisition, exploration, and development of quality mineral resource properties in favourable jurisdictions with a focus on high-grade copper(-zinc-cobalt) and gold deposits. With respect to base and battery metals projects, the Company's current focus is on i) advancing its recently-acquired Hessjgruva project and the adjacent Kongensgruve and Kjli projects in the northern Rros copper mining district of central Norway, as well as ii) the discovery of further high-grade VMS-type deposits in a district-scale land position around the past-producing Lkken (Lkken Verk District) copper mine. The recent Perho reservation application over the Erajarvi pegmatite field is ultimately expected to provide the Company with further exposure to battery metals, including lithium, cesium, and tantalum.

The Company's precious metals focus is on the discovery of high-grade gold deposits on the Katajavaara-Aakenus JV in Finland, its active Canadian Joint Ventures with Prospector Metals Corp (TSXV: PPP) at Savant (Ontario) and Yamana Gold Inc. at Domain (Manitoba), and its 100%-owned Southern Gold Line Project in Sweden. The Company also retains a residual interest (subject to an option to purchase agreement with Austral Gold Ltd) in the Sierra Blanca gold-silver divestiture in Santa Cruz, Argentina.

Cautionary Notes and Forward-looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking information is 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. Such statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the future results of operations, performance and achievements of Capella, including the timing, completion of and results from the exploration and drill programs described in this release. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurances that such expectations will prove to be correct. All such forward-looking information is based on certain assumptions and analyses made by Capella in light of their experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors management believes are appropriate in the circumstances. This information, however, is 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. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from this forward-looking information include those described under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" in Capella's most recently filed MD&A. Capella does not intend, and expressly disclaims any obligation to, update or revise the forward-looking information contained in this news release, except as required by law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

References

Alviola, R. 2004, Oriveden Seppala-Vittaniemi alueen pegmatiittitutkimus. Geologcal Survey of Finland, Report M19/2141/2004/1/85. 9p. 60 app. (In Finnish).

Eilu, P.(ed.) 2012. Geological Survey of Finland, Special Paper 53,224.

Lahti, S.I. 1981, On the granitic pegmatites of the Erajarvi area in Orivesi, southern Finland. Geological Survey of Finland, Bulletin 314, 82p.

SOURCE Capella Minerals Limited
The acquisition signals the evolution of Celerium's business to powering active cyber defense from facilitating cyber threat sharing.

TYSONS CORNER, Va., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Celerium Inc., a leader in innovative cyber defense solutions, today announced it has acquired Dark Cubed, the company providing automated network defense to small- and medium-sized businesses and U.S. Department of Defense contractors.

Celerium Inc., a leader in innovative cyber defense solutions, has acquired Dark Cubed, the company providing automated network defense to SMBs and U.S. Department of Defense contractors. Dark Cubed's advanced, patented, and automated solution will work with Celerium's Cyber Defense Network suite of solutions to provide enhanced capability and functionality for Celeriums customers and the MSP partners working with Dark Cubed.

With this acquisition, Celerium is shifting its overall focus to powering active cyber defense from enabling cyber threat sharing. The Dark Cubed solution will work with Celerium's Cyber Defense Network suite of solutions to provide enhanced capability and functionality for Celerium's customers and the MSP partners working with Dark Cubed.

"Celerium's mission has always been to help companies fortify their overall cyber defense posture. The reality of today's climate  in which ransomware and other cyber threats continue to increase while organizations face a cyber skills gap and lack of resources  requires active defense. We look forward to enhancing Dark Cubed's active cyber defense solution and expanding its reach and adoption," said Aubrey Chernick, founder and chairman of Celerium.

Dark Cubed's product is an advanced, patented, and automated network defense solution. The company has focused on building a growing community of Managed Service Providers (MSPs) to deliver this solution to the SMB community, servicing a market segment that enterprise security vendors have been reluctant to address. At the high end of the market, U.S. Department of Defense contractors are using the Dark Cubed product hosted on AWS GovCloud.

"Our team has demonstrated that it is possible to deliver effective and affordable cybersecurity capabilities to the SMB using intelligent automation and partnering with exceptional MSPs," added Vince Crisler, founder and CEO of Dark Cubed, who will become Celerium's Chief Strategy Officer. "Joining forces with the team at Celerium will enable us to accelerate the development of that community and allow us to expand our reach and influence into additional markets that need active, effective automated cyber defense. This is a huge win for Dark Cubed, our MSP partners, and the cybersecurity industry -- and I look forward to what's next."

Over the next few months, Celerium will make additional product announcements, including planned enhancements of Dark Cubed's signature product and new active defense solutions.

About Celerium

Celerium powers active cyber defense solutions to help companies in the fight against increasing cyberattacks. With a rich 16-year history of facilitating cyber threat sharing for critical industry sectors and government agencies, Celerium is an established leader in providing innovative cybersecurity solutions, with solution directions based on the evolving needs of the overall industry.

Celerium's CMMC Academy initiative, launched in early 2020, provides resources to help government contractors navigate the Department of Defense's cybersecurity compliance programs (CMMC and NIST 800-171).

Visit us online at www.Celerium.com and on Twitter at @CeleriumDefense.

About Dark Cubed

Designed to stop just the types of threats targeting the SMB community, Dark Cubed is bringing genuine cyber security to the 99% of small businesses that can't afford - and don't need - products designed and priced for large enterprises. Designed from the ground up for the SMB community, we sell our solution exclusively through our growing network of MSP partners. The Dark Cubed set-it-and-forget-it solution delivers 100% automated threat detection and blocking, is deployed in minutes, is 100% SaaS, and requires no new hardware, no software to install, no agents, and no cyber security analysts to operate.

SOURCE Celerium
DAPHNE, Ala., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Charles W. Anders is being recognized by Continental Who's Who as a Distinguished Executive in U.S. Maritime Security by offering outstanding professional security and transportation services on the rivers, waterways, and Gulf Coast ports. Following Hurricane Katrina, Mr. Anders formed U.S. Maritime Services in 2010 in Daphne, AL.

Previously he provided security to vessels in the Port of New Orleans. He developed a client base of national and international shipping agencies during his career.

Mr. Anders has dedicated his career to maintaining a safe environment for visiting vessels and crew members by following restrictions and guidelines established by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and other government agencies.

These restrictions can be placed on visiting vessels needing additional security measures to ensure the integrity of the ports. U.S. Maritime Services offers transportation, guards, medical repatriations, national and international repatriations, and consultations. He has served thousands of vessels during his career and has provided repatriation services to over two thousand stowaways and crew members.

At 70 years old, Ms. Anders continues to expand his market and always seeks out new opportunities. He attributes his success to being in the right place at the right time and developing a solid team of dedicated associates, demonstrating his commitment to quality services. He serves the Gulf Coast area from Panama City, FL, to the Texas Gulf region.

On a personal note, Mr. Anders volunteers at his local church in an armed safety capacity. Mr. Anders and his wife Margaret were also featured in the MOBILE BAY magazine for their hydroponic facility. Focusing on growing products in a soil-less environment was one of the first such farms in the region.

For more information, visit https://www.maritime.dot.gov/.

Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected]

SOURCE Continental Who's Who
CHICAGO, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Concentrating Solar Power Market is projected to grow from USD 6.0 billion in 2022 to USD 19.9 billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 26.9% according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets. The key drivers for the Concentrating Solar Power Market include environmental concerns over carbon emissions and efforts to reduce air pollution, and the integrability of CSP systems with thermal storage systems.

Browse in-depth TOC on "Concentrating Solar Power Market"

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35  Figures

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Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=199506567

The 50 MW to 99 MW by capacity, is expected to be the second largest Concentrating Solar Power Market during the forecast period

By capacity, the Concentrating Solar Power Market has been segmented into less than 50 MW, 50 MW to 99 MW, and 100 MW and Above. 50 MW to 99 MW is expected to be the second largest segment during the forecast period. Growing demand for mid-range power from applications such as desalination and process heating is driving the 50 MW to 99 MW segment.

Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) segment, by end user, is expected to be the second largest Concentrating Solar Power Market during the forecast period

By end user, the Concentrating Solar Power Market has been segmented into utilities, enhanced oil recovery (EOR), and others. Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) is expected to be the second largest segment during the forecast period. The Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) segment is driven by the constant volatility in crude oil prices and the generation of cheap steam power from CSP compared to other technologies.

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Asia Pacific is expected to dominate the global Concentrating Solar Power Market during the forecast period

In this report, the Concentrating Solar Power Market has been analyzed for 5 regions, namely Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, Middle East & Africa, South America. Asia Pacific is expected to lead the market during the forecast period. The growing of renewable thermal energy schemes in the region are among the reasons for the region's significant market size.

To enable an in-depth understanding of the competitive landscape, the report includes the profiles of some of the top players in the Concentrating Solar Power Market. These include Abengoa (Spain), BrightSource Energy (US), ACWA Power (Saudi Arabia), SolarReserve (US), and Aalborg CSP (Denmark). The leading players are trying to establish themselves in the markets of developed countries and are adopting various strategies such as product launches, contracts, agreements, partnerships, collaborations, alliances, acquisitions, and expansions to increase their respective market shares.

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SOURCE MarketsandMarkets
Proceeds from note sales enable additional affordable home construction

CEDAR CITY, Utah, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- CBC Mortgage Agency (CBCMA), a nationally chartered housing finance agency and a leading source of down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers, announced its CRA Note Exchange platform has completed the sale of mortgage notes on behalf of Habitat for Humanity Affiliates in Florida and South Carolina, supplying much needed liquidity to enable them to build more affordable homes.

The CRA Note Exchange is a secondary market platform that makes it possible for non-profit homebuilders and other Community Housing Development Organizations (CHDOs) to generate capital by selling their affordable mortgages. CBCMA launched the exchange in 2018 to sell its second mortgages and has since expanded its scope to include affordable homebuilders, allowing CBCMA to provide reduced-cost home financing for lower-income families.

CRA Note Exchange enables the sale of Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) eligible loans through an online portal to free up capital for additional affordable home construction. Banks and other financial institutions can review, select and purchase loans in specific areas that support their CRA or other lending objectives.

Even when an Affiliate's collateral documents are not in perfect order, CRA Note Exchange works closely with their teams and guides them through the tedious process until all documents are in good shape and a sale is completed.

Recently, Habitat for Humanity of St. Augustine/St. Johns County in Florida successfully sold 14 mortgage notes utilizing CRA Note Exchange. It was the first note sale ever for the Affiliate, which was founded in 1993.

"While the notes we hold can each bring in a few hundred dollars a month, the cash flow isn't enough to cover the hundreds of thousands of dollars necessary for new affordable housing transactions," said Malinda Everson, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity of St. Augustine/St. Johns. "The CRA Note Exchange arranged the sale of a portion of our portfolio and gave us significant liquidity, enabling us to double our home building production. It was an excellent opportunity for growth."

Everson noted her team engages with their homebuyers for six months after they close on their new homes to help mentor them through the transition of homeownership. While most homebuyers can get help from family members, many Habitat for Humanity buyers do not always have access to this type of support.

Habitat for Humanity Georgetown, SC utilized CRA Note Exchange to sell five notes. The Georgetown Affiliate was founded in 1991 and has built 117 homes to date. Its sweet spot is its own exclusive project that houses extremely low-income seniors in a 675-square-foot cottage for just $300 a month.

"As long as an Affiliate can get their paperwork in order, CRA Note Exchange is a very easy way to generate additional capital for housing more people," said Habitat for Humanity Georgetown, SC Executive Director Laura Gassler. "After educating our board about the note selling process, we started with a small sale of two notes, then felt comfortable enough to sell another three notes."

Gassler explained that the note sales, which took just a few weeks from start to finish, has provided a financial cushion for the Georgetown Affiliate following a difficult fundraising period during the COVID pandemic. Plus, it avoided recourse on the notes by paying a small fee, thus averting assuming the risk in case the loans default.

"There are few more noble causes than helping people achieve homeownership, which is why I'm proud to help organizations like Habitat for Humanity Affiliates increase the number of families they can serve," CRA Note Exchange Senior Advisor Mark Tribuna said. "We provide a turnkey secondary marketing solution to help the Affiliates organize the loan files into a salable condition, and only collect a fee when the loans are successfully sold."

To learn more about the CRA Note Exchange, visit https://cranoteexchange.com/.

About CBC Mortgage Agency

Founded in 2013, CBC Mortgage Agency is a nationally chartered housing finance agency. As a leading source of down payment assistance, the company helps low-to-moderate income consumers, often in minority neighborhoods, achieve the dream of homeownership. CBCMA, which was recognized as one of the Top 25 Companies in Mortgage & Servicing by MReport, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cedar Band Corp., a federally chartered tribal corporation founded by the Cedar Band of Paiute Indians. More information can be found at chenoafund.org.

About Habitat for Humanity Georgetown County, SC

As an Affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International, Habitat for Humanity Georgetown County SC is a non-profit, ecumenical, Christian-based organization that builds decent and affordable homes for low-income working families in Georgetown County, South Carolina. The Affiliate helps families purchase homes with affordable, no-profit mortgages and sweat equity thanks to generous donations of time, money, grants and building materials from people and organizations in their local communities. Read more about Habitat for Humanity Georgetown, SC at www.habitatgeorgetown.com.

About Habitat for Humanity of St. Augustine/St. Johns County

Habitat for Humanity of St. Augustine/St. Johns County is an Affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International that serves Florida families in St. Augustine and St. Johns County. Habitat for Humanity of St. Augustine/St. Johns County is a Christian ministry that builds strength, stability and self-reliance through shelter. It brings people together to build homes for those in need and transforms communities. Read more about Habitat for Humanity of St. Augustine/St. Johns County at www.habitatstjohns.org.

Press Contact

Sam Garcia, Publicist

Strategic Vantage Marketing and Public Relations

214.762.4457 | [email protected]

SOURCE CBC Mortgage Agency
DENVER, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Big return of CREATE Restaurant Technology event in downtown Denver. The Kiosk Association is a returning sponsor (three years now)  Sponsors this year are Johnsonville, Coca-Cola, and Tyson. Participants include iHop, Nations Restaurant News (NRN), Noodles, Denny's, Wendy's and many more top tier speakers . Registration info is here . Supporting sponsors include Revel, Stratcache, the Kiosk Association (KMA), Keurig/Dr. Pepper and Presto to name some.

Date: September 19-21, 2022

Location: Sheraton Denver

Are you a restaurant executive wanting to attend? We can help with a free pass ($500 value). Send an email to [email protected] with your information.

CREATE: The Future of Foodservice connects together the most exciting restaurant leaders  from the biggest brands and the most exciting emerging brands  through live virtual sessions, on-demand educational resources and a one-of-a-kind in-person event in Denver. Thousands of CREATE members have already leveled up their leadership, made authentic connections and reignited their businesses.

Resources At A Glance

Sponsors

Johnsonville

The Coca-Cola Company

Text Pete

Tyson

restaurant technology Create Sponsors

Sessions

Tuesday 1:15pm - 1:45pm

ASK THE EXPERTS

Technology innovation to drive digital sales and improve customer experience

Speakers: Scott Boatwright,

Chief Restaurant Officer,

Chipotle Mexican Grill

Sponsor: Kiosk Association

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:

What's the future holds for restaurant tech and digital innovation





How technology can help create better, more meaningful restaurant jobs





How the softening economy will impact the restaurant labor market

For more information contact [email protected] or visit https://kioskindustry.org. Since 1996 for 26 years serving the self-service technology market. For a complete list of verticals visit The Industry Group .

LOGO Link for media: https://www.Send2Press.com/300dpi/22-0912-s2p-kmalogo-300dpi.jpg

This release was issued through Send2Press, a unit of Neotrope. For more information, visit Send2Press Newswire at https://www.Send2Press.com

SOURCE Kiosk Association
BALTIMORE and PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Delfi Diagnostics, a pioneering developer of a new class of high-performance, accessible liquid biopsy tests for early cancer detection and monitoring, has been selected as the liquid lung cancer biopsy partner in Europe's multi-national, randomized, prospective lung cancer screening trial known as 4-IN-THE-LUNG-RUN, or 4ITLR.

Delfi Selected as Liquid Biopsy Partner for 4ITLR Study

Through 4ITLR, European investigators are studying how often  every year, or every other year  individuals should get screened if their initial CT scan is negative. Delfi's technology is paired to the study objectives by measuring whether Delfi can identify individuals in Europe's screen-eligible population who are most likely to benefit from a CT scan. The collaboration, initiated and facilitated through a partnership between the Netherlands Cancer Institute ((NKI), with Dr. D. van den Broek as PI) and the institute for DiagNostic Accuracy (iDNA), includes Delfi analyzing the first 9,000 subjects enrolled through the trial in the Netherlands and France (Gustave Roussy) - generating data that can support Delfi's research and subsequent implementation within the European Union.

"One of the goals of our study is to examine how a liquid biopsy test might improve screening in a manner that is cost-effective," said prof. Matthijs Oudkerk, MD, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer at iDNA and leading the Radiology and AI readings of 4ITLR. "We are eager to explore how a low-cost liquid biopsy platform could help us screen more high-risk Europeans."

Based on the results of the NELSON trial, the European Union is expected to initiate a European lung cancer screening program for individuals at risk due to their smoking and age.

"We know that LDCT screening is effective in reducing lung cancer mortality," said Peter B. Bach, Delfi Diagnostics Chief Medical Officer. "This study should lay the groundwork for widespread, cost efficient screening of those at risk in Europe. Delfi is honored to be part of it."

Lung cancer kills more than 380,000 Europeans each year, and more than half of all new lung cancer diagnoses in Europe occur at stage IV, when 5-year survival rates can be as low as 2 percent. But screening older heavy smokers with low-dose CT could save up to 80,000 lives in Europe per year.

About Delfi Diagnostics

Delfi is developing a new class of liquid biopsy tests for early detection based on altered genome-wide fragmentation profiles, also known as "fragmentomes," representing aberrant packaging of DNA in cancer cells. By applying advanced machine learning algorithms, these fragment patterns are detectable at a very low sequencing cost. Delfi ("DNA Evaluation of Fragments for early Interception") is using this technology to develop highly sensitive and specific cancer detection assays intended for wide and cost-effective distribution and adoption.

About The Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) and CVV (NKI Center for Early Diagnostics).

The NKI is among the world's foremost comprehensive cancer centers, combining innovative fundamental, translational, and clinical research with dedicated patient care. Our research institute gratefully acknowledges funding from the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, the Dutch Cancer Society, and individual donors. The NKI Center for Early Diagnostics is an initiative of the NKI. Our Center combines innovation and scientific research to provide certainty in an early stage for risk factors or signs that may indicate cancer.

About iDNA

iDNA is a Contract Research Organization specialized in early-stage lung cancer, and researching new technologies for the early detection and treatment of lung cancer, with comorbidities in cardiovascular diseases and COPD/emphysema. Key to the early detection of lung cancer are high quality lung cancer screening programs and therefore iDNA wants to set the ''golden standard'' for worldwide lung cancer screening. iDNA works with relevant, early-stage, asymptomatic, high- to medium-risk lung cancer (sub)populations, up to a large, multi-national scale. In addition, iDNA provides several services facilitating the required validation of liquid- and imaging biomarkers and/or therapeutics, while working with KOLs and research partners worldwide. iDNA thereby provides leading pharmaceutical, biotech and AI partners with the opportunity to implement their disruptive technology much quicker and more cost-effective, fully capitalizing on the current momentum within the lung cancer screening landscape.

About Gustave Roussy

Ranked as the leading European Cancer Centre and sixth in the world, Gustave Roussy is a centre with comprehensive expertise and is devoted entirely to patients suffering with cancer. The Institute is a founding member of the Paris Saclay Cancer Cluster. It is a source of diagnostic and therapeutic advances. It caters for almost 50,000 patients per year and its approach is one that integrates research, patient care and teaching. It is specialized in the treatment of rare cancers and complex tumors and it treats all cancers in patients of any age. Its care is personalized and combines the most advanced medical methods with an appreciation of the patient's human requirements. In addition to the quality of treatment offered, the physical, psychological and social aspects of the patient's life are respected. 4,100 professionals work on its two campuses: Villejuif and Chevilly-Larue. Gustave Roussy brings together the skills, which are essential for the highest quality research in oncology: a quarter of patients treated are included in clinical trials.

SOURCE Delfi Diagnostics
Cere Reimagines Sexual Wellness Through Innovative Products that Prioritize Pleasure and Sexual Health for Women

NEW YORK, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cere, the first-ever pleasure products brand designed by physicians, announced today the launch of its innovative line of sexual wellness essentials that marry pleasure and anatomy, harmoniously. Founded by board-certified OB/GYN Dr. Amir Marashi, Cere has reimagined the traditional idea of "sex toys" to reflect a range of solo and partner sexual wellness devices and lubricants that aim to boldly place pleasure at the forefront, alongside health.

"I see sexual wellness as an integral part of overall physical and mental health. As doctors, we have a responsibility to eliminate the taboo and stigma of sexual wellness for women and eradicate orgasm inequity. We must address society's failure to educate women about their bodies and correct the myth that discomfort, pain, and the absence of pleasure with sex is normal," said Dr. Amir Marashi, internationally acclaimed OB/GYN, vaginal surgeon and Founder of Cere. "Using what I have learned in my 20 plus years of experience, I want to close the pleasure gap and empower women to take charge of their orgasms through specialized products that cater to the female anatomy and enhance sexual experiences and pleasure."

Cere's pleasure products were designed alongside Dr. Kimberly Lovie, a Harvard and Yale-trained physician, chemist and engineer. Together, Dr. Marashi and Dr. Lovie combined their collective knowledge of anatomy and engineering to create Cere with women in mind. The Cere line includes:

Wand ($87) : A water-safe and soft, nonporous, medical grade silicone vibrator can be set for any gentle or intense sensation for solo and partner desires. The flexible head adapts to your unique anatomy.

: A water-safe and soft, nonporous, medical grade silicone vibrator can be set for any gentle or intense sensation for solo and partner desires. The flexible head adapts to your unique anatomy. Reverie ($57) : A soft, nonporous, medical grade silicone toy that can be inserted rectally using lubricant to change the rectal angle to enhance the angle of the vaginal canal. This angle change, also known as making the vaginal slope more 'steep,' can make intercourse more enjoyable, or the toy can be used alone for experimenting with safe anal play.

: A soft, nonporous, medical grade silicone toy that can be inserted rectally using lubricant to change the rectal angle to enhance the angle of the vaginal canal. This angle change, also known as making the vaginal slope more 'steep,' can make intercourse more enjoyable, or the toy can be used alone for experimenting with safe anal play. Spellbound Stimulator ($97) : This soft, nonporous, medical grade silicone toy uses quiet, air-wave technology to emulate the suction and pulsation feel of oral sex. Simultaneously, the other end can be inserted vaginally to stimulate the G-Zone. The angle of the toy adjusts to adapt to your anatomy. With 14 modes (seven sucking, seven vibration), consumers can feel mesmerized from head to toe.

: This soft, nonporous, medical grade silicone toy uses quiet, air-wave technology to emulate the suction and pulsation feel of oral sex. Simultaneously, the other end can be inserted vaginally to stimulate the G-Zone. The angle of the toy adjusts to adapt to your anatomy. With 14 modes (seven sucking, seven vibration), consumers can feel mesmerized from head to toe. Available for pre-order:

Lalalena ($97) : The first-ever vibrator in the shape of a clitoris, intended to uniquely stimulate the entire clitoris, not just the glans.

: The first-ever vibrator in the shape of a clitoris, intended to uniquely stimulate the entire clitoris, not just the glans.

Enchantment Gel ($67) : A luxurious play gel made with l-arginine and l-citrulline to increase blood flow, warmth, and pleasure. Added chamomile promotes muscle relaxation, making it easier to reach climax.

Throughout his career, Dr. Marashi, penned as the "Vagina Whisperer," has aimed to eliminate the taboo around female sexuality and has led the charge in normalizing sex positive conversations  even leading revolutionary work worldwide by helping victims of female genital mutilation (FGM). In continuing this work, in 2017, he took New York Fashion Week by storm, hosting the first Designer Vagina Fashion Show and in 2020, he authored A Woman's Right to Pleasure in collaboration with BlackBook, a compilation of art and essays by female-identifying artists aiming to destigmatize female sexual pleasure. To continue his support, Cere will donate a portion of proceeds to different funds and organizations that help improve sexual wellness, as well as victims of FGM.

To learn more about Cere and its product offerings, visit: https://getCere.com/.

About Cere

Cere is pursuing an end to the pleasure gap with the first-ever pleasure product brand designed by physicians. Founded by Dr. Amir Marashi, an internationally acclaimed OB/GYN and vaginal surgeon, Cere is helping people find and reach their most pleasurable parts, eradicate sexual shame, and put an end to orgasm inequity. Cere's pleasure products were developed alongside Dr. Kimberly Lovie, a Harvard and Yale-trained physician, chemist and engineer, through a multi-faceted approach that leveraged their collective understanding of anatomy and engineering to put sexual wellness at the forefront of every person's health.

SOURCE Cere
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ellen M. Stein is being recognized by Continental Who's Who as a Trusted Gastroenterologist in the Medical field and in acknowledgment of her past achievements at Rutgers Health - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Ellen M. Stein, MD

Practicing medicine since 2010, Dr. Stein is a respected researcher, associate professor, and gastroenterologist. Dr. Stein knew from a young age that she wanted to be a doctor and was inspired by her father's optometry practice. To begin her education, Dr. Stein attended the George Washington University School of Medicine in 2004. She then completed an Internal Medicine residency at Mount Sinai Hospital in 2007. Dr. Stein pursued Fellowship in Gastroenterology at the Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, PA, in 2010.

She worked with the esteemed Dr. Philip Katz during her training, studying esophageal motility. She is now deeply involved with research and clinical care in this study area. Dr. Stein is board certified in gastroenterology through the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), and she has been actively maintaining her certification. The ABIM is a physician-led non-profit organization created by doctors who aim to achieve higher standards for better care in a rapidly changing world.

Dr. Stein was previously a Motility faculty member at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, and the Clinical Director of Johns Hopkins Bayview Gastroenterology Division, as well as a leader in Informatics for her Division. She joined Johns Hopkins in 2010 as an Assistant Professor and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2018. She researched the postoperative recovery of motility functions, specifically for patients after pancreas auto islet cell transplant. She also completed research with a grant from the ROME Foundation to build patient-physician communication and relationships. Her research interests include dysphagia (swallowing disorders), gastroesophageal reflux disease, esophageal motility, IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), constipation, and other types of gastrointestinal motility disorders.

In her current role, she serves as Director of Motility for the Robert Wood Johnson Hospital, the academic hub of Rutgers University, and Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Their active motility laboratory has a full complement of motility testing options. She is building a Motility Center to care for patients with motility disorders.

To remain knowledgeable and connected to colleagues in the field, Dr. Stein has been a member of the American College of Physicians (ACP), the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), and the American Foregut Society (AFS). She was elected to fellowship status in the ACP, ACG, and AGA. She currently serves on the Clinical Practice Committee of the American Foregut Society and was recently featured as a lecturer at their annual meeting.

On a personal note, Dr. Stein has a new hobby of cooking with her two children, and she has recently found nature walks and practicing yoga to be a good balance to her busy clinical schedule.

For more information, visit https://rutgershealth.org/.

Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected]

SOURCE Continental Who's Who
Europe is expected to possess 30.4% market share for personal care ingredients market in 2022. North America is expected to hold 21.3% market share for personal care ingredients market in 2022. Asia Pacific personal care ingredients market is expected to procure 25% market share for in 2022.

NEWARK, Del., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The global personal care ingredients market is projected to reach a value of US$ 19,452 Mn in 2032, with the market growing at a moderate CAGR of 4.9% over the forecast period of 2022 to 2032. Climbing up from a value of US$ 12,056.20 Mn in 2022, the personal care ingredients market is likely to be driven by the heightened emphasis on personal care and self-grooming.

The increasing investments in research and development of skin-specific products is supposed to augment the market expansion of personal care ingredients over the projected period.

Personal care ingredients are synthetic chemicals that are utilized in different cosmetics and beauty products. People now have access to a variety of international personal care ingredients owing to rising globalization and escalating digitalization. People all over the globe are aware of various regional personal care ingredients due to a combination of globalization and technology. This bodes well for the future prospects of the personal care ingredients market.

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The immense stress on hygiene and grooming along with a desire to look good across all age groups is propelling the market growth of personal care ingredients market. The escalating influence of social media also creates an emphasis on personal care which facilitates the growth for the personal care ingredients market. Moreover, rising start-up activity with regards to product innovation keeping in mind the different skin types and age group will positively influence the target market growth.

Changing consumer preferences coupled with an urban and active lifestyle, especially of the younger generation, has generated more market possibilities. Conventionally, these ingredients have registered a steady demand, however, in the past few years, shifting consumer preference toward herbal and organic, has altered the status quo.

The growing inclination for herbal and organic products may further stimulate the demand for personal care ingredients in the market. At the same time, a growing awareness among consumers about the harmful effects of some of these personal care ingredients may stunt the market growth for the personal care ingredients.

"Rising focus on personal hygiene and grooming activities across all age groups and genders is expected to strengthen the market growth of personal care ingredients over the forecast period," says an FMI analyst.

Key Takeaways:

Preference for natural products may propel the market growth.

Growing consumer awareness about harmful effects may hinder the market prospects.

In 2022, North America is expected to account for about 21.3% of the total market share.

is expected to account for about 21.3% of the total market share. Europe is predicted to acquire around 30.4% of the market share by the end of 2022.

is predicted to acquire around 30.4% of the market share by the end of 2022. Asia Pacific market is predicted to be driven by the use of natural ingredients.

market is predicted to be driven by the use of natural ingredients. Based on product type, emollients are expected to dominate the market.

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Competitive Landscape

Croda International plc. (U.K.), BASF SE (Germany), Ashland Global Inc. (U.S.), Evonik Industries AG (Germany), Akzo Nobel N.V. (Netherlands), Clariant AG (Switzerland), The Dow Chemical Company (U.S.), Wacker Chemie AG (Germany), Lonza Group Ltd. (Switzerland) and Solvay SA (Belgium) and Beiersdorf., and others, are some of the major players in the personal care ingredients market that are profiled in the full version of the report.

Major market players are focusing on product innovation and development as well as employing a more environment-friendly operations strategy to strengthen their market penetration.

More Insights into the Personal Care Ingredients Market Report

In its latest report, FMI offers an unbiased analysis of the global personal care ingredients market, providing historical data from 2016 to 2021 and forecast statistics for 2022 to 2032. To understand the global market potential, growth, and range, the market is segmented on the basis of product type (emollients, surfactants, emulsifiers, antimicrobials, UV absorbers, conditioning polymers, rheology modifiers, colorants and preservatives), application (skin care, make-up, oral care, hair care), consumer (personal care manufacturer, chemical industries, end-use industries), and region.

According to the latest FMI reports, based on region, the personal care ingredients market in the U.S is predicted to present substantial growth over the forecast period. The presence of a massive consumer base coupled with heightened demand for skin care products will propel the country's personal care ingredients market to grow during this period of observation.

The personal care ingredients market in Europe is expected to account for 30.4% of the overall market share in 2022 and continue its streak of growth over the assessment period. The release of a wide range of products for all age groups is expected to fuel the regional market growth.

Based on segmentation, by product type, the emollients segment will likely rule the market, accounting for 35% of the global market share in 2022.

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Key Segments Profiled in the Personal Care Ingredients Industry Survey

Personal Care Ingredients Market by Application:

Personal Care Ingredients for Skin Care

Personal Care Ingredients for Make-up

Personal Care Ingredients for Oral care

Personal Care Ingredients for Hair Care

Personal Care Ingredients Market by Product Type:

Emollients

Surfactants

Emulsifiers

Antimicrobials

UV Absorbers

Conditioning Polymers

Rheology Modifiers

Colorants and Preservatives

Personal Care ingredients by Consumer:

Personal Care Manufacturer

Consultants in Chemical Industries

End-use-Industries

Personal Care Ingredients by Region:

North America Personal Care Ingredients Market

Latin America Personal Care Ingredients Market

Europe Personal Care Ingredients Market

Asia Pacific Personal Care Ingredients Market

Middle East & Africa Personal Care Ingredients Market

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Table of Content

1. Executive Summary

1.1. Global Market Outlook

1.2. Demand-side Trends

1.3. Supply-side Trends

1.4. Technology Roadmap Analysis

1.5. Analysis and Recommendations

2. Market Overview

2.1. Market Coverage / Taxonomy

2.2. Market Definition / Scope / Limitations

3. Market Background

3.1. Market Dynamics

3.1.1. Drivers

3.1.2. Restraints

3.1.3. Opportunity

3.1.4. Trends

3.2. Scenario Forecast

3.2.1. Demand in Optimistic Scenario

3.2.2. Demand in Likely Scenario

3.2.3. Demand in Conservative Scenario

3.3. Opportunity Map Analysis

3.4. Product Life Cycle Analysis

3.5. Supply Chain Analysis

3.5.1. Supply Side Participants and their Roles

3.5.1.1. Producers

3.5.1.2. Mid-Level Participants (Traders/ Agents/ Brokers)

3.5.1.3. Wholesalers and Distributors

3.5.2. Value Added and Value Created at Node in the Supply Chain

3.5.3. List of Raw Material Suppliers

3.5.4. List of Existing and Potential Buyer's

3.6. Investment Feasibility Matrix

3.7. Value Chain Analysis

3.7.1. Profit Margin Analysis

3.7.2. Wholesalers and Distributors

3.7.3. Retailers

3.8. PESTLE and Porter's Analysis

3.9. Regulatory Landscape

3.9.1. By Key Regions

3.9.2. By Key Countries

3.10. Regional Parent Market Outlook

3.11. Production and Consumption Statistics

3.12. Import and Export Statistics

4. Global Personal Care Ingredients Market Analysis 2016-2021 and Forecast, 2022-2032

4.1. Historical Market Size Value (US$ Mn) & Volume (Tons) Analysis, 2016-2021

4.2. Current and Future Market Size Value (US$ Mn) & Volume (Tons) Projections, 2022-2032

Full TOC..

Explore wide-ranging Coverage of FMI's Chemicals & Materials Market Insights Landscape:

Cosmetic Chemicals Market: The cosmetic chemicals market is likely to be valued at US$ 15.89 Billion in 2022 and is expected to reach US$ 26.84 Billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 5.4% during the forecast period.

ASEAN Cosmetic Chemicals Market: ASEAN Cosmetic Chemicals Market growing beauty products market has been increasing the demand for value-enriched cosmetics. The market is flooded with various cosmetic chemicals.

Super Absorbent Polymers Market: Super absorbent polymers market sales will increase at 4.9% CAGR between 2021 and 2031. The market is set to benefit from increasing application across diverse industries. Among all, application in disposable diapers manufacturing will account for over 76% sales in 2021.

Agricultural Colorants Market: Agricultural colorants market players are seen working on exploring the possibilities of the future aspects of the agricultural colorants owing to their wide applicability.

UV Absorbers Market: UV absorbers market provide protection to polyurethanes against photo degradation by competing with the polymer for absorption of ultraviolet light.

About Future Market Insights, Inc.

Future Market Insights, Inc. is an ESOMAR-certified business consulting & market research firm, a member of the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce and is headquartered in Delaware, USA. A recipient of Clutch Leaders Award 2022 on account of high client score (4.9/5), we have been collaborating with global enterprises in their business transformation journey and helping them deliver on their business ambitions. 80% of the largest Forbes 1000 enterprises are our clients. We serve global clients across all leading & niche market segments across all major industries.

Contact:

Future Market Insights Inc.

Christiana Corporate, 200 Continental Drive,

Suite 401, Newark, Delaware - 19713, USA

T: +1-845-579-5705

For Sales Enquiries: [email protected]

Report: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/cosmetic-ingredients-market

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1197648/FMI_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Eminent Research And Advisory Services
Continues course to become the leading e-commerce solution for residential and commercial furniture in North America

SHERBROOKE, QC, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - eSolutions Furniture is pleased to announce the appointment of Luc Mongeau as President and CEO effective immediately. Luc will succeed Mike Evans, President, and CEO, who will be retiring on September 30, after 24 years of service to the company.

The retirement of Mike Evans is consistent with the planned changes following the merger of Bestar and Bush Industries to create eSolutions Furniture more than two years ago.

"This is a very exciting time for me. I'm looking forward to the next chapter of my life, spending more time with family and pursuing other interests. I welcome Luc to the team and am confident that the company will be in good hands with a leader of his caliber," said Mike.

The arrival of Luc Mongeau at eSolutions Furniture is an important step in achieving the company's vision of becoming the leading e-commerce solution for residential and commercial furniture in North America. He will be instrumental in ensuring that the company remains innovative, competitive, and growing.

"I look forward to working with our teams to strengthen eSolutions Furniture's position in existing markets, seek out new business opportunities, and most importantly, create a work environment where our talented employees can use their full potential in a meaningful way," says Luc.

Prior to joining eSolutions Furniture, Luc Mongeau was President of Mars Petcare North America, where he spent 14 years of his career, and most recently, President of Weston Foods.

''I am happy to support Mike in his decision to retire, and I want to thank him for his service over the years, leading the company through an unprecedented pandemic," said Frederick Perrault, Chairman of the Board of eSolutions Furniture. ''Luc's arrival will be a catalyst for expansion, and his expertise in marketing, sales and supply chain will be essential to our next stage of growth.''

About eSolutions Furniture

Founded in 2021 and based in Sherbrooke, Canada, eSolutions Furniture is transforming the furniture industry with cutting-edge e-commerce solutions for B2B customers and consumers. The company has five product brands: Bestar, Bush Furniture, Bush Business Furniture (BBF), kathy ireland Home by Bush Furniture and Office by kathyireland. For more information, visit esolutionsfurniture.com

About Novacap

Founded in 1981, Novacap is a leading North American private equity firm with CA$8 billion of AUM that has invested in more than 100 companies and completed more than 150 add on acquisitions. Applying its sector-focused approach since 2007 in TMT, Industries, Financial Services and Digital Infrastructure, Novacap's deep domain expertise can accelerate company growth and create long-term value. With experienced, dedicated investment and operations teams as well as substantial funding, Novacap has the resources and knowledge to build world-class businesses. Novacap has offices in Brossard, Quebec and Toronto, Ontario. To find out more, visit www.novacap.ca.

SOURCE eSolutions Fourniture
IR laser cleave technology enables nanometer-precision layer transfer through silicon, eliminating glass substrates for advanced packaging and enabling thin-layer 3D stacking

ST. FLORIAN, Austria, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- EV Group (EVG), a leading provider of wafer bonding and lithography equipment for the MEMS, nanotechnology and semiconductor markets, today introduced NanoCleave, a revolutionary layer release technology for silicon that enables ultra-thin layer stacking for front-end processing, including advanced logic, memory and power device formation, as well as semiconductor advanced packaging. NanoCleave is a fully front-end-compatible layer release technology that features an infrared (IR) laser that can pass through silicon, which is transparent to the IR laser wavelength. Coupled with the use of specially formulated inorganic layers, this technology enables an IR laser-initiated release of any ultra-thin film or layer from silicon carriers with nanometer precision.

EV Groups revolutionary NanoCleave layer release technology uses an infrared (IR) laser that can pass through silicon and inorganic release materials to enable an IR laser-initiated release of any ultra-thin film or layer from silicon carriers with nanometer precision. Source: EV Group.

As a result, NanoCleave enables silicon wafer carriers in advanced packaging processes such as Fan-out Wafer-level Packaging (FoWLP) using mold and reconstituted wafers as well as interposers for 3D Stacked ICs (3D SIC). At the same time, its compatibility with high-temperature processes enables completely novel process flows for 3D IC and 3D sequential integration applications  enabling hybrid and fusion bonding even of ultra-thin layers on silicon carriers, thereby revolutionizing 3D and heterogeneous integration as well as material transfer in next-generation scaled transistor designs.

Company executives will be available to discuss this IR laser transfer technology breakthrough at SEMICON Taiwan, taking place at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center Hall 1 (TaiNEX 1) in Taipei, Taiwan, from September 14-16. Event attendees can visit EVG at Booth #L0316 (4th Floor) to learn more.

Silicon Carriers Benefit 3D Stacking and Back-end Processing

In 3D integration, carrier technologies for thin-wafer processing are key to enabling higher performance systems with increasing interconnection bandwidth. Glass carriers have become an established method for building up device layers through temporary bonding with organic adhesives, using an ultraviolet (UV) wavelength laser to dissolve the adhesives and release the device layers, which are subsequently permanently bonded onto the final product wafer. However, glass substrates are difficult to process with semiconductor fab equipment that have been designed primarily around silicon, and that require costly upgrades to enable glass wafer processing. In addition, organic adhesives are generally limited to processing temperatures below 300C, which limits their use to back-end processing.

Enabling silicon carriers with inorganic release layers avoids these temperature and glass carrier compatibility issues. In addition, the nanometer precision of IR laser-initiated cleaving opens up the possibility of processing extremely thin device wafers without changing processes of record. Subsequent stacking of such thin device layers enables higher bandwidth interconnects and opens up new opportunities to design and segment dies for next-generation high-performance systems.

Next-generation Transistor Nodes Demand Novel Layer-transfer Processes

At the same time, transistor roadmaps for the sub-3-nm node are calling for new architectures and design innovations such as buried power rails, backside power delivery networks, complementary field-effect transistors (CFETs) and even 2D atomic channels, all of which will require layer transfer of extremely thin materials. Silicon carriers and inorganic release layers support process cleanliness, material compatibility and high processing temperature requirements for front-end manufacturing flows. However, until now, silicon carriers had to be completely removed using grinding, polishing and etching processes, which results in micron-range variations across the surface of the working device layer, making this method unsuitable for thin-layer stacking at advanced nodes.

EVG's new NanoCleave technology utilizes an IR laser and inorganic release materials to enable laser debonding on silicon with nanometer precision. This eliminates the need for glass substrates for advanced packaging, avoiding temperature and glass carrier compatibility issues, and enables the ability to transfer ultra-thin (single micron and below) layers via carriers in front-end processing without changing the processes of record. The nanometer-precision of EVG's new process supports advanced semiconductor device roadmaps calling for thinner device layers and packages, increased heterogeneous integration, and reduced processing costs through thin-layer transfer and the elimination of glass substrates.

"Semiconductor scaling has become increasingly complex and difficult to achieve due to tighter process tolerances," stated Paul Lindner, executive technology director at EV Group. "The industry needs new processes and integration approaches to enable higher integration density and device performance. Our NanoCleave layer release technology is a game-changer for semiconductor scaling through thin-layer and die stacking, with the potential to address the most pressing requirements of the industry. NanoCleave will help enable our customers to realize their advanced device and packaging roadmaps through a highly versatile and universal layer release technology that works with standard silicon wafers and wafer processes  enabling seamless integration in the fab and saving our customers both time and money."

Unique IR Laser Technology

Using EVG's NanoCleave technology, the backside of the silicon wafer is exposed with an IR laser, which utilizes a unique wavelength that silicon is transparent to. An inorganic release layer that is pre-built into the silicon stack through standard deposition processes absorbs the IR light, resulting in the cleaving of the silicon at a predetermined and precisely defined layer or area. The ability to use inorganic release layers enables more precise and thinner release layers to be used (in the range of a few nanometers versus a few microns for organic adhesives). In addition, the inorganic release layers are compatible with high-temperature processing (up to 1000C), enabling layer transfer for many new front-end applications, such as epitaxy, deposition and annealing, where organic adhesives are incompatible.

Product Availability

Demonstrations of EVG's NanoCleave layer release technology are now available at the company's headquarters.

About EV Group (EVG)

EV Group (EVG) is a leading supplier of equipment and process solutions for the manufacture of semiconductors, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), compound semiconductors, power devices and nanotechnology devices. Key products include wafer bonding, thin-wafer processing, lithography/nanoimprint lithography (NIL) and metrology equipment, as well as photoresist coaters, cleaners and inspection systems. Founded in 1980, EV Group services and supports an elaborate network of global customers and partners all over the world. More information about EVG is available at www.EVGroup.com.

Contacts:



Clemens Schutte David Moreno Director, Marketing and Communications Principal EV Group Open Sky Communications Tel: +43 7712 5311 0 Tel: +1.415.519.3915 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]

SOURCE EV Group
DUBLIN, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Fiber Optics Market by Fiber Type (Glass, Plastic), Cable Type (Single-mode, Multi-mode), Deployment (Underground, Underwater, Aerial), Application, and Region (North America, Europe, APAC, Rest of the World) - Global Forecast to 2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The fiber optics market is projected to grow from USD 4.9 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 8.2 billion by 2027; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10.9% from 2022 to 2027.

The growth of this market is driven by factors such as growing internet penetration and data traffic, rising number of data center facilities worldwide, and mounting demand for high bandwidth.



Market for single-mode segment to grow at the high CAGR during the forecast period.



The single-mode segment is expected to witness high growth during the forecast period. The market growth is attributed increasing demand for single-mode fiber optic cables from telecom service providers across the globe. The single-mode fiber optic cables are majorly used by telecom companies for long-distance and high-bandwidth requirements. The rising demand has led market players to focus on new product development and launches.

For instance, in February 2021, Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable Joint Stock Limited Company (China) launched 'X-band', a new optical fiber brand that will focus on manufacturing ultra-reduced diameter bending insensitive, single-mode fibers. Such active brand and product launches will propel the market growth over the forecast period.



Aerial deployment segment will grow at a high CAGR during the forecast period.



The aerial deployment segment will witness a high growth during the forecast period. Aerial deployment offers several advantages such as cost efficiency, easy repairs and maintenance, and faster deployment compared to other mediums. Aerial deployment is well suited for areas with flat terrain and small undulations. The rising penetration of over-the-top (OTT) media services is expected to increase the aerial deployment of fiber optics.

According to the India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), the number of paid subscribers for OTT services in India stood at 22.2 million in March 2020, which increased by 30% to 29.0 million in July 2020. The growing multimedia consumption increases the demand for fixed broadband connections, further fueling the aerial fiber optics deployment.



Asia Pacific will be the fastest growing region in the fiber optics market during the forecast period



Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing region in the fiber optics market during the forecast period. Market growth is driven by extensive penetration of Fiber to the Home (FTTH) networks across Asia Pacific economies such as China, India, and Japan.

According to the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) August 2021 report, as of June 2021, the number of FTTH connections reached 918 million, a net increase of 37.9 million over December 2020. The total length of fiber optic cable lines has steadily increased. As of June 2021, the length of fiber optic cable lines in China totaled 53.52 million kilometers, a net increase of 1.83 million kilometers from December 2020. The growing FTTH installation will fuel the adoption of fiber optics in the Asia Pacific region over the forecast timeline.



Key Topics Covered:



1 Introduction



2 Research Methodology



3 Executive Summary

4 Premium Insights

4.1 Fiber Optics Market Overview

4.2 Fiber Optics Market, by Fiber Type

4.3 Fiber Optics Market, by Cable Type

4.4 Fiber Optics Market, by Deployment

4.5 Fiber Optics Market, by Application and Region

4.6 Fiber Optics Market for Communication Applications

4.7 Fiber Optics Market, by Country

5 Market Overview

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Market Dynamics

5.2.1 Drivers

5.2.1.1 Growing Internet Penetration and Data Traffic

5.2.1.2 Rising Number of Data Center Facilities Worldwide

5.2.1.3 Mounting Demand for High Bandwidth

5.2.2 Restraints

5.2.2.1 Rising Preference for Wireless Communication Systems Over Wired Systems

5.2.3 Opportunities

5.2.3.1 Surging Deployment of 5G Communication Networks

5.2.3.2 Rising Demand for Fiber Optics Due to Their High Performance and Reliability

5.2.3.3 Increasing Penetration of Fiber to the X (Fttx)

5.2.4 Challenges

5.2.4.1 Challenges in Installing Fiber Optic Networks in Hard-To-Reach Terrains and High Cost of Installation

5.3 Technology Analysis

5.3.1 Plastic Optical Fibers (Pofs)

5.3.2 Glass Optical Fibers

5.3.3 Nanf Hollow-Core Fibber

5.4 Value Chain Analysis

5.5 Ecosystem

5.6 Trends and Disruptions Impacting Customers

5.7 Porter's Five Forces Analysis

5.8 Asp Analysis

5.8.1 Asp Analysis of Fiber Optic Products Offered by Market Players for Top 3 Applications

5.9 Case Study Analysis

5.9.1 Use Case 1: Alma Telecom Upgraded Its Network Using Fttp Solution Offered by Corning Incorporated

5.9.2 Use Case 2: Cnt Built Ftth Network with Cable Solutions Offered by Fiberhome Telecommunication Technologies

5.9.3 Use Case 3: Baldwin City Achieved High-Speed Broadband Connectivity Using Corning's Flexnap System

5.9.4 Use Case 4: Commscope Helped E-Fiber Commercialize Fttx Networks in the Netherlands

5.9.5 Use Case 5: Sterlite Technologies Designed Smart City Ecosystem in Kakinada, India Using Fiber Optic Solutions

5.10 Trade Analysis

5.11 Patent Analysis

5.12 Key Conferences & Events to be Held During 2022-2023

5.13 Tariff Analysis

5.14 Standards & Regulatory Landscape

5.15 Key Stakeholders and Buying Criteria

5.15.1 Key Stakeholders in Buying Process

5.15.2 Buying Criteria

6 Fiber Optics Market, by Fiber Type

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Glass

6.2.1 Glass Fiber Optics Deliver High Performance in Extreme Conditions

6.3 Plastic

6.3.1 Plastic Fiber Optics Suitable for Industrial and Automotive Lighting Applications

7 Fiber Optics Market, by Cable Type

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Single-Mode

7.2.1 Telcos Use Single-Mode Fiber Optic Cables to Meet Long-Distance and High-Bandwidth Requirements

7.3 Multi-Mode

7.3.1 Growing Demand for Unlimited Bandwidth Capacity Boosts Multi-Mode Fiber Requirement

8 Fiber Optics Market, by Deployment

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Underground

8.2.1 Rapid Development of Telecom Infrastructure to Fuel Underground Optic Fiber Deployment

8.3 Underwater

8.3.1 Increasing Installation of Submarine Optical Fiber Cables to Propel Market Growth

8.4 Aerial

8.4.1 Rising Penetration of Over-The-Top (Ott) Media Services to Increase Aerial Deployment of Fiber Optics

9 Fiber Optics Market, by Application

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Communication

9.2.1 Telecom

9.2.1.1 Cost Efficiency, Higher Bandwidth, and Higher Speed Than Copper to Drive Demand for Fiber Optics

9.2.2 Premises

9.2.2.1 Expansion of Lan and Datacenters to Drive Fiber Optics Market

9.2.3 Utility

9.2.3.1 Growth of Power Industry to Drive Fiber Optics Market for Utility Applications

9.2.4 Cable Antenna Television (Catv)

9.2.4.1 Shifting Consumer Preference Toward High-Definition (Hd) Content to Drive Market Growth

9.2.5 Industrial

9.2.5.1 Proliferation of Smart Factories Across Developed Economies to Fuel Demand for Fiber Optics for Industrial Applications

9.2.6 Military

9.2.6.1 Increase in Military Budget Worldwide to Create Opportunities for Market Growth

9.2.7 Others

9.3 Non-Communication

9.3.1 Sensors

9.3.1.1 Use of Fiber Optics in Distributed Sensing Applications to Support Market Growth

9.3.2 Fiber Optic Lighting

9.3.2.1 Growing Demand for Fiber Optics Lighting from Museum Displays, Pools, and Star Field Ceilings to Underpin Market Growth

10 Fiber Optics Market, by Region

11 Competitive Landscape

11.1 Overview

11.1.1 Overview of Key Growth Strategies Adopted by Market Players

11.2 Revenue Analysis

11.3 Market Share Analysis (2021)

11.4 Company Evaluation Quadrant

11.4.1 Stars

11.4.2 Emerging Leaders

11.4.3 Pervasive Players

11.4.4 Participants

11.5 Startup/SME Evaluation Matrix

11.5.1 Progressive Companies

11.5.2 Responsive Companies

11.5.3 Dynamic Companies

11.5.4 Starting Blocks

11.6 Competitive Benchmarking

11.7 Fiber Optics Market: Company Footprint

11.8 Competitive Scenario and Trends

11.8.1 Product Launches

11.8.2 Deals

11.8.3 Others

12 Company Profiles

12.1 Key Players

12.1.1 Corning Incorporated

12.1.2 Prysmian Group

12.1.3 Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.

12.1.4 Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable Joint Stock Limited Company

12.1.5 Fujikura Ltd.

12.1.6 Hengtong Group Co. Ltd.

12.1.7 Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd.

12.1.8 Leoni

12.1.9 Ls Cable & System Ltd.

12.1.10 Hitachi Cable America, Inc.

12.1.11 Coherent Inc.

12.1.12 Ii-Vi Incorporated

12.1.13 Optical Cable Corporation

12.1.14 Finolex Cables Ltd.

12.1.15 Commscope Holding Company, Inc.

12.2 Other Key Players

12.2.1 Sterlite Technologies Ltd

12.2.2 Ztt

12.2.3 Fiberhome Telecommunication Technologies Co. Ltd.

12.2.4 Aksh Optifibre

12.2.5 Art Photonics Gmbh

12.2.6 Rpg Cables (A Division of Kec International Limited)

12.2.7 Nestor Cables

12.2.8 Orbis Oy

12.2.9 Birla Cable Ltd.

12.2.10 Belden Inc.

13 Appendix

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/1ey4q

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

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Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Research and Markets
CAMBRIDGE, England, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Amphista Therapeutics, a leader in next generation targeted protein degradation (TPD) approaches, today announced that Fierce Biotech has named it as one of 2022's Fierce 15 biotechnology companies, designating it as one of the most promising early-stage biotechnology companies in the industry.

Amphista is a world leading next-generation Targeted Protein Degradation (TPD) company with the mission to unlock the full therapeutic potential of TPD by addressing the limitations of first-generation approaches. Amphista advantages include: targeting of a non-cereblon component with a more consistent expression profile that enables increased tissue reach, broader disease applicability and potentially greater clinical efficacy. This mechanistic approach, leveraging an essential protein, offers the potential for reduced clinical resistance. Amphista's TPD therapeutics are designed to be drug-like molecules with oral bioavailability and the potential for CNS penetration. Amphista has built a strong IP foundation for the platform including its proprietary warheads, forming the basis of a true platform approach to TPD.

Nicki Thompson, CEO of Amphista, said "We are delighted to be selected as a 'Fierce 15' company in a year where we have made outstanding progress in advancing our proprietary Eclipsys platform and therapeutic portfolio and in expansion of our world-leading team. This also comes in a year where our technology has been further recognized and validated by our strategic collaborations with global pharmaceutical companies Merck Healthcare, a division of Merck, and Bristol Myers Squibb worth more than $2 billion. We remain dedicated to advancing our ground-breaking science with the potential to open up this exciting modality by delivering medicines to patients across a wider range of diseases."

Every year Fierce Biotech evaluates hundreds of early-stage companies from around the world for its annual Fierce 15 list, which is based on a variety of factors such as the strength of its technology, partnerships, venture backers and a competitive market position. The Fierce 15 celebrates the spirit of being "fierce"  championing innovation and creativity, even in the face of intense competition.

About Fierce Biotech

Fierce Biotech is the biotech industry's daily monitor, an email newsletter and web resource providing the latest biotech news, articles, and resources related to clinical trials, drug discovery, FDA approval, FDA regulation, patent news, pharma news, biotech company news and more. More than 450,000 top biotech professionals rely on Fierce Biotech for an insider briefing on the day's top stories. Signup is free at www.fiercebiotech.com/signup.

About Amphista Therapeutics

Amphista Therapeutics is focused on transforming the lives of patients with severe diseases including cancer. The company is applying its proprietary Amphista degrader platform to advance new approaches in targeted protein degradation (TPD) that address the challenges faced by earlier stage TPD research and to realise the full therapeutic potential of this transformational approach. Founded by Advent Life Sciences, Amphista is a spin-out of TPD expert Professor Alessio Ciulli's labs at the University of Dundee. The company has raised over $60M to date and is funded by leading life science investors including Forbion, Gilde Healthcare, Novartis Venture Fund, Advent Life Sciences, BioMotiv and Eli Lilly & Company.

For more information, please visit: https://amphista.com/

CONTACTS:

Lynn Granito

Berry & Company Public Relations

[email protected]

212 253 8881

SOURCE Amphista Therapeutics
TULSA, Okla., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Folds of Honor provides life-changing scholarships to the spouses and children of fallen or disabled US service members. Today, the foundation's mission expands to America's first responders including police, fire, EMTs, and paramedics.

There are over 2 million first responders in the US; made up of 800,000 law enforcement officers , 1,062,800 firefighter personnel , and 241,000 full-time EMTs and paramedics . They respond to approximately 240 million calls made to 9-1-1 each year.

Folds of Honor Anthem Video Folds of Honor scholarship recipient, Tayler Garber, holding a folded American flag.

"This move reflects our purpose to meet sacrifice with hope. The decision to launch our first responder scholarships is in reverence to those who paid the ultimate price on September 11th, 2001. The following day was a defining moment in our history, as Americans responded to tragedy by putting differences aside, rallying together, and standing as one. It is our hope that the expanded Folds of Honor mission will inspire unity once again. Without question, it will let first responders and their families know that they are not alone."  Folds of Honor Founder and CEO, Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rooney.

The story of Folds of Honor began when Rooney was on a flight home from his second tour of duty in Iraq. As his flight landed, the pilot announced they carried the remains of Corporal Brock Bucklin on board. Rooney watched through the window as Bucklin's twin brother walked somberly alongside the flag-covered casket to meet his family on the tarmac. Among them was the deceased Corporal's young son. At that moment, Rooney truly understood the meaning of the term "freedom isn't free".

Since that night, Rooney has committed his life  through the Folds of Honor  to provide scholarships to spouses or children of America's fallen and disabled service members. From its inception in 2007, Folds of Honor has awarded nearly 44,000 scholarships totaling nearly $200 million. The scholarship recipients are as diverse as the place they call home. Minority recipients represent 41% of all scholarships awarded.

Helping the dependents of American heroes pursue their educational dreams is possible only with the generosity of corporations and everyday citizens. If you would like to support our nation's military and first responder families, you can become a Squadron member by joining thousands of committed American patriots who pledge $13 every month.

The Folds of Honor needs the help of corporate partners for this mission to be successful. The expansion into America's first responders creates a powerful opportunity for new corporate partners to show their community where their values lie. Those corporations interested in partnering should contact the foundation for more information.

For those interested in a scholarship, the application window is open between February 1 and March 31 each year. More information can be found on our scholarships page.

Folds of Honor is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization that provides educational scholarships to the spouses and children of military members who have fallen or been disabled while serving in the United States armed forces. Beginning in 2022, Folds of Honor expanded its mission to include first responders. Its educational scholarships support private-school tuition or tutoring in grades K-12 as well as post-secondary tuition. It is rated a four-star charity by Charity Navigator and Platinum on GuideStar. It was founded by Lt Col Dan Rooney, an F-16 fighter pilot, who is currently stationed at Headquarters Air Force Recruiting Service Detachment 1, at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, TX. For more information visit FoldsOfHonor.org.

CONTACT: BECKY COTTRELL

[email protected]

918-936-3956

SOURCE Folds of Honor
KUWAIT CITY, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- If you are a pop and rock enthusiast, this one will interest you a great deal. Over the course of two days, on September 29 - 30, the National Theater at Jaber Al-Ahmed Cultural Center, will entertain two high-profile concerts, by the US group Boyce Avenue, who will meet the fans for the first time in Kuwait.

Uninterrupted Return

JACC Presents Boyce Avenue (PRNewsfoto/Jaber Al-Ahmed Cultural Center)

"Hello again" is the suitable label for this musical tour, especially as it comes after a year of the band's forced pause. However, the lack of shows does not mean a lack of music. As a result, the band released their fifth album in early 2021 titled : Boyce Avenue Greatest Hits. It features the group's best songs and top hits.

Of Sarasota Into The World

2004 on Boyce Street in Sarasota, Florida, where the siblings' talent was no secret. After graduating from Pine View High and completing their studies at Florida and Harvard colleges, the band was set up to have three members: Alejandro Luis Manzano, Fabian Rafael Manzano, Daniel Enrique Manzano. And with a strong desire, a big ambition and better chances than ever, the band was formed as amateurs.

Entering Music, Exiting Internet

Halfway through the band's career, YouTube came along, and in September of this year, 15 years have gone by since their first video was published - a cover song of Before It's Too Late by the Goo Goo Dolls - and with brilliant collaborations with other groups, different artists and very successful musical choices, They managed to get six billion views and win millions of subscribers, Today, Boyce Avenue is regarded as one of the site's unparalleled and most popular bands .

Back To Roots

Music is a special treat and Boyce Avenue knows it, so independence has always been the plan. To date, the group has released five albums of their own production, and after a brief troubled experience with a music production company, the band went back to playing by their rules : singing to a certain style, at their convenience and with fewer restrictions. Even-though the band has its own musical assets, it continues to perform covers, considering that at the end of the day, the sole purpose of art is to create it and, as long as the experience is fun, the band insists on repeating it.

Exceptional, Varied, And Original

A mix of pop and rock side by side, no admiration is lost or diminished. So, what can you expect?

You'll find yourself facing a changing, variable performance, not-in-the-least strayed or distorted. Sure thing here, you won't fall into the trap of monotone even for once. It's just fun and different.

Jaber Al-Ahmed Cultural Center JACC is an architectural and cultural landmark in the heart of Kuwait that opened in 2016 and aims to highlight and showcase local and international arts and creations and is a national center for culture in the country .It consists of 4 buildings with attractive jewel-inspired design and contains theaters, conference halls, concert halls,exhibition halls and restaurants surrounded by parks and green spaces.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1896237/Boyce_Avenue.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1829320/Jaber_Al_Ahmed_Cultural_Centre_Logo.jpg

Contact: + 965 22060880, [email protected]

SOURCE Jaber Al-Ahmed Cultural Center
LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Frigo Cheese Heads is hosting an online gaming livestream with YouTube gaming influencer Jerome Aceti, also known as JeromeASF, beginning at 7 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Sept. 20, to celebrate National String Cheese Day and support Make-A-Wish during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

The brand has donated $3.4 million to Make-A-Wish since 2005, and this year is committing an additional $5 per livestream participant, up to $25,000, to fund life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses.

Join Frigo Cheese Heads for an online gaming livestream with YouTube gaming influencer Jerome Aceti at 7 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Sept. 20, to celebrate National String Cheese Day and support Make-A-Wish during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

"We know wishes inspire hope, renew joy and give a child with a critical illness a piece of their childhood back, which is why we're proud to support Make-A-Wish with this charity livestream and help more wish kids realize their dreams," said David Cherrie, Saputo Dairy USA vice president, marketing and innovation.

"We appreciate the opportunity to partner with Frigo Cheese Heads for this charity livestream during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month," said Richard K. Davis, president and CEO of Make-A-Wish America. "There's a gap between the number of wishes we're granting and the wishes waiting. When you donate to Make-A-Wish, you have a direct, immediate and positive impact on a child's medical journey, because a wish can be an important part of the healing process, helping kids deal with and even overcome their illness."

JeromeASF, who has 5.5 million YouTube subscribers, will play his favorite game during the livestream and share more about Make-A-Wish and where he gets his inspiration. The event will include Frigo Cheese Heads snacks and swag giveaways as well as other fun surprises for live-streamers. Participants can also make their own contribution to Make-A-Wish during the livestream to add to the donation total or at any time at Wish.org.

"Combining gaming and charity is something I passionately support, so I am excited to partner with Frigo Cheese Heads to support Make-A-Wish in honor of National String Cheese Day," said Jerome Aceti, online entertainer and digital media entrepreneur. "I can't wait for everyone to join me on Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. EDT for some fun, cheesy surprises and an awesome livestream."

To join the livestream, which begins at 7 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, Sept. 20, go to JeromeASF's YouTube channel. Plus, follow along for updates on Facebook and Instagram @FrigoCheeseHeads.

About Frigo Cheese Heads

The Frigo Cheese Heads brand features a variety of delicious, fun on-the-go snacks that encourage creative snacking and self-expression. Chomp, peel, twist, rip, nibble or tie into a braid; the only wrong way to eat Frigo Cheese Heads is to not eat them at all. With everyday snacking options like regular or light string cheese, as well as cheese and meat combo packs, Frigo Cheese Heads are a good source of calcium and protein in a convenient individually wrapped, tasty snack. Learn more at FrigoCheeseHeads.com.

About Saputo Dairy USA

Saputo Dairy USA is part of Saputo Inc., one of the top ten dairy processors in the world. Through the Dairy Division (USA), Saputo produces, markets and distributes a vast assortment of cheeses. Furthermore, the Company converts, markets and sells a broad range of specialty cheeses and holds an important portfolio of import licenses for specialty cheeses manufactured abroad. Saputo Dairy USA also produces a variety of dairy and non-dairy extended shelf-life products. Additionally, Saputo produces, markets and distributes dairy ingredients in the USA, and on the international market. Products are sold under a variety of the Company's brand names, as well as under customer brand names.

Saputo Dairy USA is among the top mozzarella, string cheese, and domestic blue and goat cheese producers and is one of the largest producers of extended shelf-life and cultured dairy products in this region.

About Make-A-Wish

Make-A-Wish creates life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, Make-A-Wish is the #1 most trusted nonprofit operating locally in all 50 states throughout the U.S. Together with generous donors, supporters, staff, and more than 24,000 volunteers across the country, Make-A-Wish delivers hope and joy to children and their families when they need it most. Make-A-Wish aims to bring the power of wishing to every child with a critical illness because wish experiences can help improve emotional and physical health. Since 1980, Make-A-Wish has granted more than 520,000 wishes in nearly 50 countries worldwide; more than 350,000 wishes in the U.S. and its territories alone. For more information about Make-A-Wish America, visit Wish.org.

Media contact:

Jenna Greene

612-375-8597

[email protected]

SOURCE Frigo Cheese Heads
Geek+ has accelerated US and Europe market penetration with regional leaders

market penetration with regional leaders With partnership network, order volume in first half 2022 has doubled compared to first half 2021

BEIJING, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Geek+, the global leader in autonomous mobile robot technology, announces that it has established formal agreements with over 50 integrators to accelerate its international expansion. The global network enables Geek+ to meet the increasing demand for logistics robots in the US and Europe, in addition to Korea and new developments in South America.

Lit Fung, VP and Managing Director of International Business at Geek+, said: "Our network of integrators is an extremely valuable part of our success. We view each robot deployed by our partners as a vote of confidence in our technology. Their extensive experience makes them ideally positioned to deliver large scale robotics projects to customers and enable Geek+ to accelerate our business growth."

Multinational group Korber Supply Chain has worked extensively with Geek+ around the world, with landmark projects in the United States and a new cooperation in Brazil undertaken since the beginning of 2022. Key partners in the Americas include KPI Integrated Solutions, Bosch Rexroth, Boreal Technologies, Conveyco Technologies, Numina Group, and Systemex Automation. Across Europe, Geek+ technology has been deployed by Lalesse Logistics Solutions, Breathe Technologies, and AMH Material Handling. In the Asia Pacific region, Geek+ has a rich history of collaboration with integrators such as Ally Logistic Property (ALP) and Unitech Automation.

Earlier this year, Geek+ honoured top integrator partners with awards recognizing their commitment. Since then, Geek+ has brought on more than 10 new partners, a list that will continue to grow as several large scale projects are implemented in Europe and the US.

About Geek+

Geek+ is a global technology company leading the intelligent logistics revolution. We apply advanced robotics and AI technologies to realize flexible, reliable, and highly efficient solutions for warehouses and supply chain management. Geek+ is trusted by over 500 global industry leaders and has been recognized as the world leader in autonomous mobile robots. Founded in 2015, Geek+ has over 1500 employees, with offices in Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, and Singapore.

For more information, please visit: https://www.geekplus.com/

SOURCE Geek+
DUBLIN, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Genomics Global Market Report 2022, By Product Type, By Process, By End User" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global genomics market is expected to grow from $27.58 billion in 2021 to $32.56 billion in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.1%. The growth is mainly due to the companies resuming their operations and adapting to the new normal while recovering from the COVID-19 impact, which had earlier led to restrictive containment measures involving social distancing, remote working, and the closure of commercial activities that resulted in operational challenges. The market is expected to reach $63.50 billion in 2026 at a CAGR of 18.2%.



The genomics market consists of sales of single-cell genomics and related goods. The study of genomes is called genomics. Single-cell genomics is an innovative method of classifying individual cells from a tissue sample, capable of defining unique traits and identifying rare cell types. Genomics is used in different fields of study such as intragenomic phenomenon including pleiotropy, epistasis, heterosis, and other interactions between loci and alleles within the genome.



The main product types of genomics are instrument (including systems, service contract and software), reagents (including reagents and consumables). A reagent is a material or compound that is added to a system to produce a chemical reaction or to determine whether or not a reaction occurred. The different processes include cell isolation, sample preparation, and genomic analysis that are used by academic institutes, biopharmaceutical companies, and clinical research institutes.



Rising government funds for research on genomics drives the growth of the single-cell genomics market. The government funding focuses on efforts to resolve the complexity of the human genome, define the genomic basis of human health and disease, and ensure that genomics is used safely to enhance patient care and benefit society through government, public and private institutions.

For instance, in 2019, the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology in Huntsville, Alabama, has been selected by the All of Us Research Program to investigate the application of cutting-edge DNA sequencing technologies that could potentially enhance diagnosis and treatment of many common and rare diseases. The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) has funded $7 million for the research.



The technology limitation in single-cell genomics hinders the growth of the single-cell genomics market. Due to cost and technical constraints, the use of genetic sequencing to better target and treat rare and chronic diseases was largely out of reach for most health care organizations. Therefore, limiting the market growth.



Companies are investing in new product launches to increase their revenue and expand their consumer base and also for gaining a competitive edge over their rivals.

For instance, in June 2021, QIAGEN, a Netherlands-based provider of sample and assay technologies for molecular diagnostics, applied testing, academic, and pharmaceutical research, has announced the release of the QIAprep&CRISPR Kit and CRISPR Q-Primer Solutions, which enable researchers to analyse edited genetic material with unprecedented speed and efficiency to determine how their interventions have changed the function of the DNA sequence in question.





Scope

Markets Covered:

1) By Product Type: Instrument (Including Systems, Service Contract And Software); Reagents (Including Reagents And Consumables)

2) By Process: Cell Isolation; Sample Preparation; Genomic Analysis

3) By End User: Academic Institutes; Biopharmaceutical Companies; Clinical Research Institutes



Key Topics Covered:



1. Executive Summary



2. Genomics Market Characteristics



3. Genomics Market Trends And Strategies



4. Impact Of COVID-19 On Genomics



5. Genomics Market Size And Growth



6. Genomics Market Segmentation



7. Genomics Market Regional And Country Analysis



8. Asia-Pacific Genomics Market



9. China Genomics Market



10. India Genomics Market



11. Japan Genomics Market



12. Australia Genomics Market



13. Indonesia Genomics Market



14. South Korea Genomics Market



15. Western Europe Genomics Market



16. UK Genomics Market



17. Germany Genomics Market



18. France Genomics Market



19. Eastern Europe Genomics Market



20. Russia Genomics Market



21. North America Genomics Market



22. USA Genomics Market



23. South America Genomics Market



24. Brazil Genomics Market



25. Middle East Genomics Market



26. Africa Genomics Market



27. Genomics Market Competitive Landscape And Company Profiles



28. Key Mergers And Acquisitions In The Genomics Market



29. Genomics Market Future Outlook and Potential Analysis



30. Appendix



Companies Mentioned

10X Genomics

Qiagen NV

Fluidigm Corporation

Johnson & Johnson Private Limited

Zephyrus Biosciences Inc.

Illumina Inc.

Affymetrix

Angle PLC

Denovo Sciences Inc.

Diagnologix LLC

DNA Electronics Ltd.

Enumeral

Epic Sciences

Kellbenx Inc.

Resolution Bio Science Inc.

Wafergen Bio-systems Inc.

Yikon Genomics Co. Ltd.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

CellBio

Beckman Coulter

Becton Dickinson

Bio-Rad

Carl Zeiss Microscopy

Cell Microsystems

Cellsee Diagnostics

CellSorter

Cytena

CytoTrack

Dolomite Bio

Agilent Technologies Inc.

Fluxion Biosciences

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/n70jaq

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1904

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Research and Markets
DUBLIN, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Water Infrastructure Repair Technologies: Global Markets" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The scope of the market analyzed in this report includes water infrastructure repair technologies used in global drinking water distribution and wastewater collection (e.g., sewer, stormwater) piped infrastructure systems.

Components of these piped systems include water distribution and wastewater collection pipes, along with the connectors, fittings, flanges, couplings, valves and adaptors connected to these pipes. The types of WIRT included in this report include assessment, spot repair, rehabilitation and replacement technologies.

With the dramatic temperature increases and climate change over the past years, water consumption has risen dramatically across the globe. Despite being a critical asset, water is undervalued across many parts of the world, and its use is largely unsustainable. The rise in water demand coupled with limited supply and uneven distribution are leading to water stress across the various region around the globe.



Water losses are often caused by inadequate maintenance of the distribution network. With a 75- to 100-year lifespan, much of America's underground pipes are due for replacement. Based on an analysis by the American Water Works Association, approximately one-third of water mains nationwide will require replacement by 2040.

As an indication of mounting needs, water mains currently experience an estimated 240,000 breaks annually. Similarly, in many European countries, the infrastructure has come to an end of its lifespan, causing numerous water breaks and leaks. For this reason, timely pipeline rehabilitation and replacement are crucial to ensure the smooth operation of the entire water supply network.



There are several other factors driving growth within the global water infrastructure repair technology market. Some of them include population increases; newly built water distribution and wastewater collection systems; diminishing water supplies; new and improved technologies; increased interests in sustainability; and numerous other economic, political, social, demographic and technological factors.

The report will also have a separate section highlighting the impact of COVID-19 on water infrastructure repair technology market at the global level. The section will include COVID-19 disruptions on demand and supply of technologies used for water infrastructure rehabilitation.

A separate section on the Russia-Ukraine war provides detailed analysis of the impact the war on water infrastructure repair technology market.

The market size and estimations are provided in terms of value ($ million), considering 2021 as base year and market forecasts from 2022 to 2027. Regional-level market size, with respect to category, application and system type, will also be provided. The impact of COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war are considered while estimating the market size.

Report Includes

37 data tables and 63 additional tables

An updated review and analysis of the global markets for water infrastructure repair technologies

Analyses of the global market trends, with market revenue for 2021, estimates for 2022, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2027

Understanding of the new technologies and developments in the water infrastructure repair technologies industry, and identification of segments with high growth potential and their future growth prospects

Estimation of the actual market size for water infrastructure repair technology, market forecast in USD million values, and corresponding market share analysis by category, system type, technology type, application and geographic region

In-depth information (facts and figures) concerning market drivers, deterrents and challenges affecting the global market for water infrastructure and repair technology

Highlights of the impact of COVID-19 and Russia - Ukraine war on the market for water infrastructure repair technology

- war on the market for water infrastructure repair technology Discussion of the industry value chain analysis providing a systematic study of key intermediaries involved, with emphasis on recent developments and region-specific macroeconomic factors

Identification of the major stakeholders and analysis of the competitive landscape based on recent developments and segmental revenues

Updated information on mergers, acquisitions, partnerships, business expansions, and product launch strategies within the water infrastructure repair technology industry

Company profiles of major players within the industry 3M , Aegion Corp., Applied Felts Inc., Aries Industries Inc., Advanced Trenchless Inc.

Key Topics Covered:

Chapter 1 Introduction

Market Definition

Study Goals and Objectives

Reasons for Doing this Study

Intended Audience

Scope of Report

Methodology

What's New in this Report?

Chapter 2 Summary and Highlights

Population Growth

Increasing Global Water Consumption

Water Pollution

Increased Water Value Good for Wirt

Chapter 3 Market Overview

Water Infrastructure Repair Technology by Category

Pipe Failure Types

Common Pipe Types

Asbestos Cement

Cast Iron

Copper

Cross-Linked Polyethylene

Ductile Iron

Glass-Reinforced Polymer

High-Density Polyethylene Pipe

Galvanized Steel Pipe

Lead Pipe

Polybutylene Pipe

Polyethylene Pipe

Prestressed Concrete Cylinder Pipe

Polyvinyl Chloride Pipe

Steel Pipe

Pipe Life Expectancies

Drinking Water and Wastewater Systems

Public Facility and Industrial Water Supply

Astm International and Other Regulatory Guidance for Wirt

Chapter 4 Impact of Covid-19 and Russia-Ukraine War on the Market

Covid-19 Impact

Russia-Ukraine War

Russian Weaponization of Water in Its Invasion of Ukraine

Chapter 5 Growth Factors

Overview

Water Highly Undervalued

Non-Revenue Water Loss Dramatic in Some Areas

More People Translates to Higher Demand for Wirt

Population Shifts Guide Wirt Market

Increasing Global Water Consumption and Wirt Demand

Freshwater Depletion and the Increased Need for Wirt

Water Scarcity and Stress Affecting Wirt Market Need

Pollution Makes Water More Precious

Climate Change Undeniable as Weather Changes Become Increasingly Dramatic

Action Taken to Adjust to Climate Change

Utilities Respond to Climate Change

Mass Migrations and Their Impact on Infrastructure Systems

Need for Wirt Increases as Pipes Continue to Age

Europe

New Zealand

United States

Mexico City

Canada

Concerns Over Lead Promote Pipe Replacement Projects

Impact Investing and Sustainability

Funding for Wirt Often An Issue

Rural and Urban Utilities Both Struggle for Funding

Pipe Insurance

Leaks and Their Effect on Wirt Investment

Assessment Technologies Fuel Wirt Market Growth

Smart Meters Everywhere

Trenchless Technologies Spur Wirt Market Growth

Trenchless Technologies More Green

Wirt Enthusiasts Must Compete for Attention

Pipe Installation and Repair Avoidance

Regulation Improvements Supporting Growth in Some Regions

European Union

United States

China

Mexico

Canada

Australia

United Kingdom

Public-Private Partnership Involvement in Wirt

Government Push for Ppps

Public/Private Partnerships and Private Ventures Benefit Developing Regions

Differing Opinions Regarding Public/Private Partnerships

Private Utility Companies on the Rise

Push to Separate Combined Sewer Systems Promotes Wirt

Hidden Troubles Easy to Ignore

Public Education Supporting the Wirt Market

Proactive Repair Outshining Emergency Repair

Aid to Developing Countries Boosting the Wirt Market

Aid Not Always Welcome

Improved Sanitation and Drinking Water Coverage Good for Wirt

Maintenance Just as Important as Building

World is Becoming Richer: Wirt to Benefit

Governments Supporting Wirt Projects

United States

Mexico

Canada

China

Hong Kong

Role of Non-Governmental Organizations in Supporting the Wirt Market

World Works to Eradicate Open Defecation

Poop : Not a Savory Subject

: Not a Savory Subject Cybersecurity Becoming More of An Issue

Danger of Free or Inexpensive Services

So Many Questions: Difficult to Choose Wirt Technology

Successful Projects Promote Wirt

Reliable Data Elusive in Poorer Regions

Food, Water and Energy Packaged

Concerns Over Styrene in Cipp Supports Some Wirt Products

Hazards of Polyvinyl Chloride Pipe

More Long-Distance Pipelines, More Pipe and More Wirt

Employment Opportunities and Career Options in the Wirt Market

Associations and Organizations Propel Market Growth

United Kingdom Water Industry Research

American Water Works Association

Canadian Water and Wastewater Association

Chapter 6 Global Market Growth by Segment

Overview

Market by System Type

Drinking Water Market by Technology Type

Wastewater Market by Technology Type

Market by Category

Assessment

Spot Repair

Rehabilitation

Replacement

Market by Application

Public Facility

Industrial Water Supply

Chapter 7 Global Market by Region and Country

Overview

North America

Europe

Asia-Pacific

Middle East and Africa

and Latin America

Chapter 8 Wirt Technologies

Overview

Open Cut Pipe Repair Versus Trenchless Pipe Repair

Assessment

Visual Inspection

Acoustic Leak Detection

Electromagnetic Inspection

Ultrasonic

Other Assessment Technologies

Spot Repair

Pipe Wrapping

Pipe Sleeves

Sprays

Pipe Clamps

Joint Repair

Rehabilitation

Pipe Lining

Sliplining

Close-Fit Lining

Spray Liners

Cured-In-Place Pipe Lining

Spiral Wound Lining

Replacement

Pipe Bursting

Pipe Splitting

Pipe Reaming

Pipe Extraction

Innovative Technologies and Product Trends

Chapter 9 Competitive Landscape

Competitive Landscape: Global

Major Developments

Chapter 10 Company Profiles

3M

Aclara Technologies LLC

Advanced Trenchless Inc.

Aegion Corp.

Applied Felts Inc.

Aquarius Spectrum Ltd.

Aries Industries Inc.

Brawo Systems GmbH

Cues Inc.

Echologics

Hammerhead Trenchless Equipment

Hermes Technologie GmbH & Co Kg

Hydratech, LLC

Lanzo Companies

Link-Pipe Inc.

National Liner LLC

Picote Oy Ltd.

Steve Vick International Ltd.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/383px4

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Research and Markets
Philanthropic foundation to enhance donor insight with best-in-class reporting on account activity, fee transparency, and investment performance

GAITHERSBURG, Md., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- GreenHill today announced that the Jewish Community Foundation (JCF) of San Diego has selected its investment performance reporting services to provide enhanced transparency and insight to the foundation's donor network. GreenHill's offering, together with its strategic partnership with the GiftingNetwork, represents a best-in-class level of reporting transparency and detail that offers JCF donors enhanced visibility into account activity, fee transparency, and investment performance measurement.

JCF combines donor-driven philanthropy, investing and education for maximum benefit in the community. Pursuing these goals, the organization seeks to keep donors updated at all times on all gifting and investment detail. GreenHill Investment Performance Reporting will help JCF in their mission to provide full oversight to their donors.

"Through our integration partnership with the GiftingNetwork's donor-advised fund platform, we are pleased to be able to provide the Jewish Community Foundation with the first-class performance reporting tools and solutions their donors have come to expect," said Bill McFadden, President of GreenHill. "We applaud and support their mission to leverage donor-driven philanthropy, investing, and education to enable individuals and organizations to effectively dedicate their resources for maximum benefit in the community."

"Communication and clarity are important to our donors," said Jeremy Pearl, J.D., LL.M., Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. JCF Eli Landau, Director of Finance, added "granting, gifting history, and investment performance are among the top details our donors seek when they access JCF Connect. They expect transparency to administrative items like fees, especially if fees have been bundled in the past. GreenHill enables us to deliver our donors timely investment information, including performance measurement, that correlates directly to their fund and cash flows."

In September of 2021, GreenHill and the GiftingNetwork announced a strategic partnership to bring integrated investment performance reporting to participating nonprofit organizations, blending GreenHill's personalized investment analysis, reporting and monitoring services with the GiftingNetwork's donor advised SaaS platform to provide nonprofits tracking and reporting solutions catered to their needs.

"GreenHill is a welcome value add we can present to our donors and many community partners who entrust us with their funds. JCF views itself as a leader in the community foundation space and has earned a degree of trust in its selection of partners. We have a reputation in the community for being very conservative and very mindful of excellence in governance. When we put a partner's label on something and we select a partner for an important need, there's a high bar and an expectation that there is a gold seal of approval. We are confident that GreenHill represents that high standard for the benefit of our donors and of our organization," added Pearl.

About Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego

Jewish Community Foundation San Diego builds flourishing Jewish communities and advances sustainable, just, and vibrant societies in San Diego, Israel, nationally, and around the globe. Founded in 1967, the Jewish Community Foundation is the oldest community foundation in the region. The Jewish Community Foundation collaborates with individuals and organizations and leverages philanthropic capital for positive impact. Guided by Jewish values, the Jewish Community Foundation combines donor-driven philanthropy, investing, and education with trusted, personalized service, enabling individuals and organizations to effectively dedicate their resources for maximum benefit in the community. To learn more, please visit JCFSanDiego.org.

About GreenHill Investment Reporting

GreenHill started in 1991 by bringing investment performance reporting to the wealth management industry. Over the last 30 years, GreenHill leveraged its extensive investment consulting experience to deliver personalized investment analysis, reporting and monitoring services designed to keep pace with the changing needs of the industry. As an independent provider, GreenHill services a breadth of clients across channels  bank and independent trust companies, RIA, not-for-profit, family offices, law firms and endowments. To learn more, please visit GHill.com.

Contacts

GreenHill

Jack Curran

EVP, Sales

Tel: (301) 444-1908

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE GreenHill Investment Reporting
EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- HAUS LABS BY LADY GAGA , a supercharged clean artistry makeup brand powered by innovation announces its expansion into 480 Sephora doors, across the United States and Canada. At Sephora, Haus Labs is now in 45 states and over 300 cities in the U.S. and in 8 Canadian provinces and 40 cities. For the full list, go to: www.hauslabs.com/pages/store-locator

Haus Labs by Lady Gaga

The timing of the roll out aligns with the September Sephora Animation, featuring Lady Gaga -and the brand's launch of three groundbreaking clean complexion products: TriClone Skin Tech Foundation Bio-Blurring Loose Setting Powder , the Haus Labs Foundation Brush . Staking its claim in the clean and artistry makeup categories, the brand will further amplify its distribution in Sephora stores, launching in a total of 500 stores by year end, with an appetite for more.

"We have been overwhelmed by the brand and product love from our initial June launch of Haus Labs. We are thrilled and eager to get Haus Labs beauty products on as many faces as possible, with the roll out of 480 stores in sync with the introduction of our highly anticipated clean foundation. The roll out will ensure additional discovery, play and trial. We are truly appreciative of our exclusive Sephora North America partnership, and the love we have seen from their Beauty Advisors and Store Directors, Sephora leadership and day to day teams." - Kelly Coller, Chief Marketing Officer at Haus Labs

Haus Labs has had growing success, with products flying off the shelves and selling out online and in stores, including but not limited to viral sensation Atomic Shake Lip Lacquer , the many shades of Hy-Power Pigment Paints , Optic Intensity Eco Eyeliners , and Bio-Radiant Gel-Powder Highlighters . The products speak for themselves, racking up 5-star reviews from consumers and influencers alike.

HAUS LABS BY LADY GAGA // @hauslabs // hauslabs.com // #hauslabs #cleanhaus

HAUS LABS BY LADY GAGA is a new CLEAN makeup brand powered by innovation  delivering high-tech, high-pigment high performance products that are proprietary, first-to-market or patent-pending, infused with skin-loving ingredients, in chic, sustainable packaging. HAUS LABS celebrates all ages, shapes, sizes, colors, genders, identities and artistry skill sets. Created with kindness: clean, cruelty-free and vegan. ONLY at Sephora U.S. and Canada and hauslabs.com, where $1 from every purchase goes to Lady Gaga's Born This Way Foundation , supporting mental health.

SOURCE Haus Labs By Lady Gaga
AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Manifest, the top sustainable ecommerce fulfillment provider in the US, announced the publication of an 11 page market analysis including carbon footprint measurement from core clients Definite Articles, PiperWai, SUAVS, Thousand Fell, and TopFoxx. This highlights the increasing consumer requirement for direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands to demonstrate a clear pathway towards achieving personal sustainability goals. The market analysis indicates that this now impacts the entire supply chain, and predominantly the click-to-deliver segment that Manifest is responsible for.

Metrics That Count Which is more important: Sustainability or CX? Brands are looking for sustainability tools and customer experience tools separately from one another. [Sustainability] is [customer experience] 2023 is here, and people now have their own personal sustainability goals. Its no longer just mega-corporations creating roadmaps to ensure their political piggy banks or private equity wallets stay full. Its no longer just independent permaculture farms living off their land.

Customers are begging for brands to become more responsible with their sustainability practices.

Brands are begging for easy and impactful ways to meet their customers' new personal sustainability requirements.

Manifest, founded by one of the Cofounders of ShipBob along with many early employees from ShipBob, provides sustainable packaging and clear data to show DTC brands and their customers exactly how they offset their carbon in the process. Manifest focuses on DTC brands that procure between 1,000 and 100,000 domestic-US orders per month. Brands that have adopted Manifest early span from newly launched VC-funded brands to newer DTC brands launched by repeat-Founders. The door is also wide open to the more matriculated high-growth DTC brand.

The Manifest executive leadership team includes:

George Wojciechowski, CEO & Cofounder

George Wojciechowski is a Cofounder and CEO at Manifest. Prior to launching Manifest, George cofounded ShipBob, a predominant name in the global ecommerce fulfillment space. George has held several roles in various investment communities including Goldman Sachs, among others.



Bob Sixsmith, VP Operations & Cofounder

Bob Sixsmith is a Cofounder and VP of Operations at Manifest. Prior to launching Manifest, Bob was an Operations Leader at ShipBob, first as the General Manager of their Los Angeles fulfillment center and in additional Senior Management roles spanning Project Management and Operations Management. Prior to ShipBob, Bob was at Groupon. He has a BA from University of Wisconsin-Madison.



Max Stevens, VP Fulfillment & Cofounder

Max Stevens is a Cofounder and VP of Fulfillment at Manifest. Prior to launching Manifest, Max spent 6 years at ShipBob serving in both Director of Operations and Director of Fulfillment roles. Max has a BA from The University of Kansas and an MBA from the University of Illinois.



Peter Hillowe, VP Marketing

Peter Hillowe is the VP of Marketing at Manifest. Prior to joining Manifest, Peter served X Delivery as their Head of Marketing. Peter has been an Operating Advisor for PAKA Apparel. Pete has also served ONELIVE as their Director of Marketing, and 237 Global as their VP of Operations. Peter has a BA from the College at Oneonta and an MBA from Syracuse University.

Over twenty reports from predominant research firms indicate that customers are more inclined to shop from brands that clearly connect the dots between sustainability metrics. These metrics should be focused on product packaging and shipping; with a clear line to resolving their personal sustainability goals. "We've done this before, we're doing it again, and now we've made it more sustainable" said CEO & Cofounder at Manifest, George Wojciechowski. "Every part of our community is built on the belief that sustainable commerce needs to be more accessible to brands and ultimately their customers."

"Partnering with Manifest for PiperWai's fulfillment has been an eye-opening experience. Their team not only delivers an above-average merchant experience that matches our high-standard for logistics performance; they also provide easy-to-digest carbon footprint data that is important to both us and our customers" said Sarah Ribner, Cofounder of PiperWai.

"The future of fulfillment is here" said VP of Marketing at Manifest, Peter Hillowe. "The needs of our merchants and their customers force us to live in the present. What's always worked no longer works for the new breed of sustainability-driven Founder/CXOs. Manifest is focused on building a story that speaks directly to them in the ways they prefer to be spoken to by way of content consumption. It's a welcome challenge that a new cohort of talent is being drawn to - myself included. Big fundraising checks and relatively high revenue is magnetizing the younger-skewing generation away from blue-chip and SaaS technology. It's been uplifting to see the new breed of go-to-market professionals completely reinvent the buying experience".

Visit https://manifest.eco/sustainable-commerce-101/ to read the full market analysis.

About Manifest [Sustainable Ecommerce Fulfillment]:

Manifest provides sustainable ecommerce fulfillment. Oversized 3PL models produce too much waste and resort to cutbacks on the client experience. Manifest illustrates the future of fulfillment by providing biodegradable packaging and clear data to show brands exactly how we offset their carbon footprint. The future roadmap of Manifest is focused on validating a methodology for sustainable commerce with its partner network including higher education institutions, supply chain infrastructure, and commerce infrastructure.

Media Contact

Peter Hillowe, VP of Marketing

[email protected]

(516) 661-9715

SOURCE Manifest
MEMPHIS, Tenn., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- International Paper Company ( NYSE: IP) (the "Company") announced today that it has commenced a cash tender offer (the "Offer") for up to $400 million aggregate principal amount (the "Aggregate Maximum Amount") of its outstanding 8.700% Notes due 2038 (the "8.700% Notes"), 7.75% Notes due 2025 (the "7.75% Notes"), 7.35% Notes due 2025 (the "7.35% Notes"), 7.30% Notes due 2039 (the "7.30% Notes"), 7.20% Notes due 2026 (the "7.20% Notes"), 7.15% Notes due 2027 (the "7.15% Notes"), 6 7/8% Notes due 2023 (the "6 7/8% 2023 Notes"), 6 7/8% Notes due 2029 (the "6 7/8% 2029 Notes"), 6.65% Notes due 2037 (the "6.65% Notes"), 6.40% Notes due 2026 (the "6.40% Notes"), 6.00% Notes due 2041 (the "6.00% Notes"), 5.150% Notes due 2046 (the "5.150% Notes"), 5.000% Notes due 2035 (the "5.000% Notes"), 4.80% Notes due 2044 (the "4.80% Notes"), 4.400% Notes due 2047 (the "4.400% Notes") and 4.350% Notes due 2048 (the "4.350% Notes" and, together with the 8.700% Notes, the 7.75% Notes, the 7.35% Notes, the 7.30% Notes, the 7.20% Notes, the 7.15% Notes, the 6 7/8% 2023 Notes, the 6 7/8% 2029 Notes, the 6.65% Notes, the 6.40% Notes, the 6.00% Notes, the 5.150% Notes, the 5.000% Notes, the 4.80% Notes and the 4.400% Notes, the "Notes"). The terms and conditions of the Offer are described in the Company's offer to purchase dated September 12, 2022 (as may be amended or supplemented from time to time, the "Offer to Purchase").

In the Offer, the Company is offering to purchase, upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase, its 8.700% Notes, 7.75% Notes, 7.35% Notes, 7.20% Notes, 7.30% Notes, 7.15% Notes, 6 7/8% 2023 Notes, 6 7/8% 2029 Notes, 6.65% Notes, 6.40% Notes, 6.00% Notes, 5.150% Notes, 5.000% Notes, 4.80% Notes, 4.400% Notes and 4.350% Notes as summarized in the table below, which sets forth certain information regarding the Notes and the Offer:





Principal Amount Acceptance Priority Reference U.S. Treasury Bloomberg Reference Fixed Spread Early Tender Premium Title of Security CUSIP Nos. Outstanding Level Security Page (basis points) (per $1,000)(1) 8.700% Notes due 2038 460146CC5 $264,591,000 1 3.375% due August 15, 2042 PX1 205 bps $30 7.75% Notes due 2025 (2) 158525AQ8 $31,429,000 2 3.125% due August 15, 2025 PX1 95 bps $30 7.35% Notes due 2025 (2) 158525AR6 $43,832,000 3 3.125% due August 15, 2025 PX1 95 bps $30 7.30% Notes due 2039 460146CF8 $722,481,000 4 3.375% due August 15, 2042 PX1 205 bps $30 7.20% Notes due 2026 (2) 158525AT2 $57,938,000 5 3.125% due August 31, 2027 PX1 117 bps $30 7.15% Notes due 2027 (2) 158525AV7 $7,494,000 6 3.125% due August 31, 2027 PX1 123 bps $30 6 7/8% Notes due 2023 460146AP8 $94,188,000 7 3.250% due August 31, 2024 PX1 90 bps $30 6 7/8% Notes due 2029 460146BD4 $37,119,000 8 2.750% due August 15, 2032 PX1 147 bps $30 6.65% Notes due 2037 (2) 158525AU9 $3,555,000 9 2.750% due August 15, 2032 PX1 187 bps $30 6.40% Notes due 2026 (2) 158525AS4 $5,360,000 10 3.125% due August 15, 2025 PX1 97 bps $30 6.00% Notes due 2041 (3) 460146CH4 $585,000,000 11 3.375% due August 15, 2042 PX1 195 bps $30 5.150% Notes due 2046 (3) 460146CN1 $449,264,000 12 2.875% due May 15, 2052 PX1 185 bps $30 5.000% Notes due 2035 (3) 460146CM3 $406,703,000 13 2.750% due August 15, 2032 PX1 160 bps $30 4.80% Notes due 2044 (3) 460146CK7 $686,478,000 14 3.375% due August 15, 2042 PX1 175 bps $30 4.400% Notes due 2047 (3) 460146CQ4 $647,145,000 15 2.875% due May 15, 2052 PX1 178 bps $30 4.350% Notes due 2048 (3) 460146CS0 $740,131,000 16 2.875% due May 15, 2052 PX1 173 bps $30

(1) Upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase, an early tender premium (the "Early Tender Premium") will be paid to holders of Notes who validly tender, and do not validly withdraw, their Notes at or before the Early Tender Deadline (as defined below). (2) Originally issued by Champion International Corporation and assumed by the Company in connection with its acquisition of Champion International Corporation on May 12, 2000. (3) The applicable Total Consideration (as defined below) for this series of Notes will be calculated taking into account the par call date (rather than the maturity date) for such series. An overview of the calculation of the Total Consideration (including the applicable par call date) is set forth in the Offer to Purchase.

The aggregate principal amount of Notes purchased in the Offer will not exceed the Aggregate Maximum Amount. Tendered Notes will be accepted in the order of the acceptance priority level for such series (in numerical priority order) as set forth in the table above, with 1 being the highest acceptance priority level, and based on whether the Notes are tendered at or before the Early Tender Deadline or after the Early Tender Deadline, as described in the Offer to Purchase. Notwithstanding the acceptance priority level, if any Notes are purchased in the Offer, Notes tendered at or prior to the Early Tender Deadline will be accepted for purchase in priority to Notes tendered after the Early Tender Deadline and at or prior to the Expiration Time (as defined below). Accordingly, if the Aggregate Maximum Amount is reached in respect of tenders made at or prior to the Early Tender Deadline, no Notes tendered after the Early Tender Deadline (regardless of acceptance priority level) will be accepted for purchase, unless we increase the Aggregate Maximum Amount. Under certain circumstances, Notes accepted for purchase in the Offer may be subject to proration, so that the aggregate principal amount of Notes accepted for purchase in the Offer will not exceed the Aggregate Maximum Amount.

The Offer will expire at 11:59 p.m., New York City time, on October 7, 2022 unless extended (such date and time, as the same may be extended, the "Expiration Time") or earlier terminated. Holders of Notes must validly tender and not validly withdraw their Notes at or before 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on September 23, 2022, unless extended (such date and time, as the same may be extended, the "Early Tender Deadline") to be eligible to receive the Total Consideration for the applicable series of Notes. Any Notes tendered before the Early Tender Deadline may be withdrawn at any time at or prior to 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on September 23, 2022, unless extended (such date and time, as the same may be extended, the "Withdrawal Deadline").

Holders of Notes that are validly tendered and not validly withdrawn at or before the Early Tender Deadline, and that are accepted for purchase will receive the applicable Total Consideration for such Notes, subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase. Holders of Notes that are validly tendered after the Early Tender Deadline and at or before the Expiration Time and accepted for purchase will receive the applicable Tender Consideration for such Notes, which equals the Total Consideration for Notes of such series minus the applicable Early Tender Premium for the applicable series, subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase (the "Tender Consideration").

The date of payment for Notes validly tendered at or before the Early Tender Deadline and accepted for purchase is referred to as the "Early Settlement Date." The date of payment for Notes validly tendered after the Early Tender Deadline and at or before the Expiration Time and accepted for purchase is referred to as the "Final Settlement Date." The Early Settlement Date is expected to be September 27, 2022 and the Final Settlement Date is expected to be October 12, 2022. The Early Settlement Date and the Final Settlement Date are each referred to as a "Settlement Date." Holders whose Notes are accepted for purchase pursuant to the Offer will also receive accrued and unpaid interest on their purchased Notes from the last interest payment date for such Notes to, but excluding, the Early Settlement Date or the Final Settlement Date, as applicable.

The "Total Consideration" for each $1,000 principal amount of Notes tendered and accepted for payment pursuant to the Offer will be determined in the manner described in the Offer to Purchase by reference to the applicable Fixed Spread specified in the table above for a series of the Notes over the yield based on the bid-side price of the applicable Reference U.S. Treasury Security specified in the table above, as calculated by Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. at 10:00 a.m., New York City time, on September 26, 2022, unless extended (the "Price Determination Time").

Notes tendered may be validly withdrawn at any time at or before the Withdrawal Deadline, but not thereafter, except in certain limited circumstances where additional withdrawal rights are required by law (as determined by the Company). Notes tendered after the Withdrawal Deadline may not be withdrawn except in certain limited circumstances where additional withdrawal rights are required by law (as determined by the Company).

The Offer is subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase.

The Company has retained Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. to serve as Lead Dealer Manager for the Offer. The Company has also retained Global Bondholder Services Corporation to serve as depositary and information agent for the Offer.

Requests for documents relating to the Offer may be directed to Global Bondholder Services Corporation by telephone at (855) 654-2015 or (212) 430-3774, in writing at 65 Broadway, Suite 404, New York, New York 10006. Questions regarding the Offer may be directed to Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. at 1 Columbus Circle, New York, New York 10019, Attn: Liability Management Group, Toll-free: (866) 627-0391, Collect: (212) 250-2955.

This press release is not a tender offer to purchase or a solicitation of acceptance of a tender offer, which may be made only pursuant to the terms of the Offer to Purchase. In any jurisdiction where the laws require the Offer to be made by a licensed broker or dealer, the Offer will be deemed made on behalf of the Company by one of the Dealer Managers or one or more registered brokers or dealers under the laws of such jurisdiction.

None of the Company, its board of directors, the depositary, the information agent, any of the Dealer Managers or the trustee for the Notes is making any recommendation as to whether holders should tender Notes in response to the Offer. Holders must make their own decisions as to whether to tender Notes, and, if so, the principal amount of Notes to tender.

Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements related to the expected timing, terms and completion of the Offer, and similar statements concerning anticipated future events and expectations that are not historical facts. Such forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "may," "will," "could," "should" and "would," and variations of these words or comparable words. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions, and inherently involve risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, the following: the amount of Notes tendered and satisfaction of the conditions of the Offer contained in the Offer to Purchase. Other factors that could cause or contribute to actual results differing materially from such forward looking statements are discussed in greater detail in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings. You should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. We undertake no obligation to make any revision to the forward-looking statements contained in this press release or to update them to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this press release.

About International Paper

International Paper ( NYSE: IP) is a leading global producer of renewable fiber-based products. We produce corrugated packaging products that protect and promote goods, and enable worldwide commerce, and pulp for diapers, tissue and other personal care products that promote health and wellness. Headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., we employ approximately 38,000 colleagues globally. We serve customers worldwide, with manufacturing operations in North America, Latin America, North Africa and Europe. Net sales for 2021 were $19.4 billion. Additional information can be found by visiting internationalpaper.com.

SOURCE International Paper
Additional pre-clinical data of Avacc 10  indicate reduction in upper respiratory tract viral load and cross neutralization of variants of concern

indicate reduction in upper respiratory tract viral load and cross neutralization of variants of concern Avacc 10 toxicology data support the start of a phase I clinical trial in Q4 2022

BILTHOVEN, Netherlands, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Intravacc, a world leader in translational research and development of preventive and therapeutic vaccines, today announced additional favorable preclinical and toxicology data for Avacc 10, the company's SARS-CoV-2 intranasal candidate vaccine. These results demonstrate a reduction in upper respiratory tract viral load, broad cross protection against circulating variants of concern. and a good safety profile, allowing progression towards a phase I clinical study.

Dr. Jan Groen, Intravacc's Chairman & CEO, comments:

"Based on our additional pre-clinical data, Avacc 10 has the potential to reduce the spreading of the virus as well as providing broad protection against circulation variants. Combined with the favorable toxicological safety data, this puts us a good position for our Phase I clinical trial, which will commence in Q4 2022."

The first set of pre-clinical studies of Avacc 10, published in Frontiers of Immunology in December 2021, demonstrated high levels of spike-binding immunoglobulin G (IgG) and A (IgA) antibodies in serum, and the nose and lungs after two intranasal vaccinations 3 weeks apart. Avacc 10 vaccinated hamsters challenged with SARS-CoV-2 were protected from weight loss and viral replication in the lungs and histopathology showed no lesions in lungs 7 days after challenge.

The objectives of the additional pre-clinical and toxicology study of Avacc 10 were to study the dosing, cross neutralization and safety of the intranasal vaccine. For the dosing study, mice were vaccinated intranasally with two doses of various concentrations of OMV and Spike protein. Three weeks after the last vaccination neutralizing antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 Wuhan strain and variants of concern Delta, Gamma and Omicron were determined in the sera. High virus neutralizing antibody titers were detected against all the variant viruses. Syrian hamsters were used to study viral replication after challenge with SARS-CoV-2. A reduced viral load in throat and lungs and highly reduced lung lesions were observed in Avacc 10 vaccinated animals exposed to placebo vaccinated, challenged animals. Furthermore, delayed transmission of Avacc 10 vaccinated, challenged animals to placebo vaccinated animals was observed.

The purpose of the repeated dose toxicity study was to assess the safety and tolerability of Avacc 10 when administered through the intranasal route in New Zealand White Rabbits. Animals were vaccinated 3 times with Avacc 10 , and control animals with OMV only, or saline buffer. Toxicity was monitored until 2 weeks after the final vaccination. No clinical signs of toxicity nor morbidity/mortality were found in any of the groups, and no gross pathological changes were observed, demonstrating the safety of OMV based vaccine. All Avacc 10 vaccinated animals showed high IgG antibodies levels against Spike as well as virus neutralizing antibodies.

Based on the outcome of the Phase I trial, Intravacc will seek manufacturing and commercialization license partners.

About Intravacc's OMV platform technology

For the development of vaccines, Intravacc has designed and developed a platform based on outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) - spherical particles with intrinsic adjuvant properties. The OMVs can be rigged with immunogenic peptides and/or proteins that stimulate effective adaptive immunity. The OMV carrier has been optimized to induce a more effective immune response against these newly introduced antigens. Intravacc has also developed genetic tools to increase the yield of OMVs, reduce the toxicity and achieve the desired antigenic composition. Intravacc's OMV platform is fully scalable and allows rapid and efficient modification of the antigen composition, either through genetic modification of the bacterial host or by associating antigens with stored OMVs.

About Intravacc

Intravacc, located at Utrecht Science Park Bilthoven in the Netherlands, is a leading global contract development and manufacturing organization for infectious diseases and therapeutic vaccines. As an established independent CDMO with many years of experience in the development and optimization of vaccines and vaccine technologies, Intravacc has transferred its technology world-wide for many vaccines including polio-, measles-, DPT-, Hib- and influenza. Around 40% of childhood disease vaccines are based on Intravacc's know-how and proprietary technology. Intravacc offers a wide range of expertise for independent vaccine development, from concept to Phase I/II clinical studies for partners around the world, including universities, public health organizations (WHO, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), biotech and pharmaceutical companies. For more information, please visit www.intravacc.nl.

Contact info



Intravacc

Dr. Jan Groen, CEO

P: +31 30 7920 454



Mirjam Hartman, Media relations

P: +31 6 115 969 94

E: [email protected]

LifeSpring Life Sciences Communication, Amsterdam

Leon Melens

P: +31 6 538 16427

E: [email protected]

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1334670/Intravacc_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Intravacc
TORONTO, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Over 200 senior leaders will gather in Toronto at Operational Excellence Week Canada this October 17-20, 2022.

Executives from Vale, Nova Chemicals, PepsiCo, Sanofi, Amazon, Manulife, Ovintiv, Airbus, BP, Wolseley and many more will share their expertise on how they are accelerating digital transformation, operationalizing sustainability, improving supply chain agility and boosting productivity.

More than 30 industry leading speakers are confirmed to attend, including:

Walter Pesenti , Vice President, Manufacturing Excellence, NOVA Chemicals

Les Cyfko , Director, Engineering & Continuous Improvement, PepsiCo

Luc Nguyen , Head of Manufacturing Technologies  Vaccines, Sanofi

Shikha Mehta , Senior Director, Global Head Supply Chain Customer Fulfillment, Philips

Anu Pujji, Principal, Operational Excellence, Amazon

Vineeta Maguire , Vice President Supply Management, Ovintiv

Andrew Thorne , VP Mining and Operational Excellence, Cameco Corporation

Alison Burgess , Head of Operational Excellence - Base Metals, Vale

Biju Misra , Director, Operations - Enterprise Services, Enbridge

Les Cyfko, Director of Engineering & Continuous Improvement at Pepsico said: This was the best run event of this kind that I have attendedand I heard similar feedback from others around me during the week. I equally look forward to working with you all again next year! It won't be easy to top this year's conference but together we will make next year's even bigger and better ;)"

The event offers pre-conference workshops, interactive discussion groups, panels, case studies, workshops, networking sessions and more, on a variety of topics including: The Connected Worker, Data-Driven Operational Excellence, Process Automation, Cybersecurity, Data & Analytics, Sustainability & ESG, Digital Strategy and more.

"Congratulations on running an excellent event. Feeling energized about the learning. Look forward to staying connected and attending next year" says Christine Pelley, Director, Six Sigma & Operational Excellence, Maple Leaf Foods

Download the 2022 Event Guide: https://bit.ly/3D8H0K6

Visit the website: https://bit.ly/3BpaX7c

Press are invited to attend this leading industry summit. If you'd like to apply for a complimentary press pass or would like to discuss a partnership collaboration, please email [email protected].

Tickets and full event program are available online at opexweekcanada.com

SOURCE IQPCs Industrial Transformation Network
SAN DIEGO and ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Island Fin Poke Co., one of the fastest growing fast-casual franchises in the country, is set to host its second annual national franchise conference at Disney World Resort in Orlando September 18-21, 2022. The conference will feature guest speakers and sessions and team building activities with 45 franchisee attendees, while offering the opportunity to connect with each other and expand on the unified brand, vision and plans for their future growth.

"We're excited to welcome our franchise community to the conference where we'll celebrate our brand," says Setterington. Tweet this From left to right, Taylor Setterington, Zoe Setterington, Mark Setterington (Co-Founder and CEO of Island Fin Poke Co.) and Terri Setterington.

Island Fin Poke Co. is accelerating its national expansion, recently entering into four new markets, with 24 locations open, 58 sold, with multiple franchise areas under development. Island Fin Poke Co. is a Florida-based fast-casual concept known for its Hawaiian-style build-your-own poke bowls that are more than just a bowl, but a lifestyle. From boat to bowl and farm to fork, the brand uses the freshest ingredients to capture the taste of the islands and transfer the vibrant flavors into the hearts and souls of each guest who visits in a welcoming and friendly environment that makes them want to keep coming back.

The second annual conference at Disney World Resort welcomes franchisees, support teams and speakers at the three-day event, which is an opportunity for the Island Fin network to continue expanding on their tight-knit culture of Ohana that the brand has been built on. The conference will also discuss business models, vendors, marketing and trends. The keynote speaker for the event will be Dr. Amy Bosley, vice president of organizational development and human resources at Valencia College. It will also present awards for best gross sales, outstanding reviews, social media presence and best brand ambassadors.

"We are very excited to welcome our franchise community to our hometown where we will celebrate our brand and learn new ways to make our businesses successful in the coming year," says Mark Setterington, Co-founder and CEO of Island Fin Poke Co. "This year, we will focus on an 'obsessive level of detail' in all we will do. Our partners, vendors and Disney are all excited to be a part of this celebration of 2022 and beyond and we can't wait for this experience for all of us."

Island Fin Poke Co. was founded in 2016 by Mark and Paul, a dream come to reality. The duo set out to create a restaurant serving Hawaiian-style poke, serviced in a cool and casual environment that would transport guests from their everyday lives to an idyllic surf shack on the beach.

On the wave of incredible growth, the brand aspires to rapidly expand its footprint and become the one choice when it comes to poke. They offer more than just a healthy meal, but a lifestyle and experience, which is evident at every touchpoint.

Guests choose from responsibly sourced ingredients and can customize and curate their own poke bowl, with options including over eight proteins, 25 different toppings, gluten-free house-made sauces that have been creatively crafted, and specialty mix-ins.

From the curated music to the friendly service at each counter, the smiling team members carrying food to each table and the genuine farewell each guest receives upon leaving, Island Fin Poke Co. offers a full-service experience to each and every guest that walks through their doors.

Coming in at #22, between Chipotle and Jersey Mike's, Island Fin Poke is a top mover and shaker, recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's 2022 Top Food Franchises Ranking, Top New & Emerging Franchises Ranking and Fast Casual's Movers & Shakers List. To learn more about Island Fin Poke Co., please visit IslandFinPoke.com. To learn more about Island Fin Poke Co., please visit IslandFinPoke.com or contact [email protected].

About Island Fin Poke Co.

Island Fin Poke Co. is a Florida-based fast-casual concept known for its Hawaiian-style build-your-own poke bowls. From farm-to-fork, the brand uses the freshest ingredients to bring traditional flavors from the islands to local communities nationwide. Founded in 2017, Island Fin Poke Co. has 24+ locations open, with numerous others in various stages of development. Island Fin Poke Co. was listed in Fast Casual's 2022 Movers & Shakers List. For more information, or if interested in joining the brand's Ohana, please visit https://www.islandfinpoke.com/ .

SOURCE Island Fin Poke Co.
TULSA, Okla., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Janet L. Hogan has joined ONEOK, Inc. ( NYSE: OKE) as senior vice president, chief human resources officer, reporting to Pierce H. Norton II, president and chief executive officer of ONEOK.

Before joining ONEOK, Hogan was senior vice president, human resources, for Hormel Foods, a global, branded food company with 20,000 employees worldwide. In this role, Hogan led all strategies and initiatives for talent development, employee engagement and total employee rewards.

With more than 25 years of human resources expertise, Hogan has specialized in collaborating with leaders to cultivate and sustain high-performance workplaces while creating inclusive and diverse, great-place-to-work environments. Her experience spans developing teams across broad industry sectors including agriculture, food and specialty truck manufacturing.

Janet brings to ONEOK great expertise in the creation and sustainment of inclusive and diverse workplaces that drive business performance, said Norton. Her experience will be key to help accelerate our strategic business, people and inclusion and diversity initiatives that fully align with ONEOK's Mission, Vision and Core Values.

Hogan will be based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in mathematics from Southern Illinois University.

ONEOK, Inc. (pronounced ONE-OAK) ( NYSE: OKE) is a leading midstream service provider and owner of one of the nation's premier natural gas liquids (NGL) systems, connecting NGL supply in the Rocky Mountain, Mid-Continent and Permian regions with key market centers and an extensive network of natural gas gathering, processing, storage and transportation assets.

ONEOK is a FORTUNE 500 company and is included in the S&P 500.

For the latest news about ONEOK, find us at www.oneok.com or on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

Analyst Contact: Megan Patterson, 918-561-5325

Media Contact: Megan Washbourne, 918-588-7572

SOURCE ONEOK, Inc.
Gifting more than $10,000 in school supply shopping sprees to educators across the country

Season Two of "Abbott Elementary" Premieres

Wednesday, September 21 at 9/8c on ABC

CARSON, Calif., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Lakeshore Learning Materials, a leading provider of educational products and services, is excited to team up with seven-time Emmy-nominated ABC series "Abbott Elementary" to give back to teachers with special offers throughout the month of September.

Teachers can post a photo of their classroom (with no students, please!) to Instagram using #AbbottElementarySweepstakes and follow @abbottelemabc for a chance to win a $500 Lakeshore Learning gift card!

Lakeshore Learning Teams Up with Hit Sitcom Abbott Elementary to Gift Back to Teachers

Then, all teachers that visit a Lakeshore store September 16-18 will receive $5 off* their purchase and "Abbott Elementary" giveaways.

Plus, Lakeshore will also be offering double Loyalty Points for all Rewards Members when they shop either in-store or online from September 16-18.

Entering its second season on ABC, "Abbott Elementary" is a mockumentary series following the lives of teachers in a Philadelphia public school. "Abbott Elementary" received seven Emmy nominations this year, including Best Comedy Series. With Lakeshore's founding mission of supporting teachers, it was a natural fit to team up with the popular series to give back to educators across the country.

"Teachers are truly at the heart of everything we do and we're always looking for ways to help them especially during back-to-school time," said Bo Kaplan, Lakeshore's president and CEO. "We're passionate about our educators and excited to invite them in store to take advantage of these fun giveaway opportunities made possible through our partnership with ABC."

In addition to developing classroom furniture and hands-on learning materials, Lakeshore also provides teachers with organizational tools and decorating essentials, such as classroom borders, bulletin board sets, posters and wall accents. Lakeshore's wide selection of teaching materials and supplies is available both online and in Lakeshore's 61 stores nationwide.

To find the nearest Lakeshore store visit the store locator on LakeshoreLearning.com. For more information about the weekend of giveaways in partnership with "Abbott Elementary," visit lakeshorelearning.com/abbottelem

Season two of "Abbott Elementary" premieres on Wednesday, September 21 at 9/8c on ABC. Season one is currently available to stream on Hulu.

About LakeshoreProducts Designed with Learning in Mind

Lakeshore Learning Materials is a leading developer and retailer of top-quality materials for early childhood education programs, elementary schools and homes nationwide. Since 1954, Lakeshore has offered innovative learning materials distinguished by their quality, educational merit and safety. To learn more, visit LakeshoreLearning.com.

About Abbott Elementary

In this workplace comedy, a group of dedicated, passionate teachers  and a slightly tone-deaf principal  are brought together in a Philadelphia public school where, despite the odds stacked against them, they are determined to help their students succeed in life. Though these incredible educators may be outnumbered and underfunded, they love what they do  even if they don't love the school district's less-than-stellar attitude toward educating children.

*In-store only, minimum $5 purchase, with teacher/school ID, valid Fri-Sun (Sept. 16-18, 2022)

**

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Enter Sweepstakes between 9/7/22 at 9:00 AM PT and 10/5/22 at 11:59 PM PT. Open to legal residents of the 50 U.S. & D.C., who are 18+ & a teacher in a private or public school of grades of K-8 at time of entry. Limit 1 entry per person. See Official Rules www.AbbottElementarySweepstakes.com for full details on how to enter, eligibility requirements, odds of winning, prize descriptions and limitations. Void where prohibited. Sponsors: American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., 500 South Buena Vista St, Burbank, CA 91521 and Lakeshore Learning Materials, LLC, 2695 East Dominguez Street, Carson, CA 90895.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Madeline Zenz

[email protected]

SOURCE Lakeshore Learning
NEW YORK, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Lifestyle and wellness brand, Warmies, known for their lavender-infused plush toys and wellness products, has been named a winner in the "Best-Selling Product" category of the Summer 2022 NY NOW Market Awards. The company has sold millions of their microwavable plush toys, designed to bring comfort and relaxation to consumers of all ages.

Warmies Sloth

"Receiving this award is quite an honor. It's nice to be recognized, but even better when you love what you do. The entire Warmies team is truly dedicated to bringing comfort and smiles to those we touch every day."  Scott Wehrs, President of Warmies

The NY NOW Awards recognizes outstanding products in innovation and design. Among hundreds of products showcased, Warmies was one of ten products chosen for the award by a panel of esteemed industry leaders. The brand is best known for their animal plush toys along with numerous health and wellness products, including slippers, eye masks, and heating pads. In addition to providing quality to their customers, Warmies is dedicated to giving back by regularly donating product to organizations that distribute them to children and adults in need.

All products are available on warmies.com and range from $29 to $40. Hi-res imagery is available here.

PRESS CONTACT:

Louisa Morgan

Michele Marie PR

[email protected]

646.863.3923

About Warmies

For over 25 years, Warmies has set the standard for comfort and wellness for all ages. In addition to their best-selling, microwavable plush toys, the brand also offers wellness products, including heating pads, eye masks, slippers and more. Warmies also donates to various charitable initiatives, including product donations to children and adults suffering from cancer. All products are available to shop at warmies.com.

SOURCE Warmies by Intelex
PyTorch Foundation to foster an ecosystem of vendor-neutral projects alongside founding members AMD, AWS, Google Cloud, Meta, Microsoft Azure, and NVIDIA

DUBLIN , Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Linux Foundation, a global nonprofit organization enabling innovation through open source, today announced PyTorch is moving to the Linux Foundation from Meta where it will live under the newly-formed PyTorch Foundation. Since its release in 2016, over 2400 contributors and 18,0000 organizations have adopted the PyTorch machine learning framework for use in academic research and production environments. The Linux Foundation will work with project maintainers, its developer community, and initial founding members of PyTorch to support the ecosystem at its new home.

Projects like PyTorchthat have the potential to become a foundational platform for critical technologybenefit from a neutral home. As part of the Linux Foundation, PyTorch and its community will benefit from many programs and support infrastructure like training and certification programs, research, and local to global events. Working inside and alongside the Linux Foundation, PyTorch will have access to the LFX collaboration portalenabling mentorships and helping the PyTorch community identify future leaders, find potential hires, and observe shared project dynamics.

PyTorch has become one of the leading AI platforms with more than 150,000 projects on GitHub. Tweet this

"Growth around AI/ML and Deep Learning has been nothing short of extraordinaryand the community embrace of PyTorch has led to it becoming one of the five-fastest growing open source software projects in the world," said Jim Zemlin, executive director for the Linux Foundation. "Bringing PyTorch to the Linux Foundation where its global community will continue to thrive is a true honor. We are grateful to the team at Metawhere PyTorch was incubated and grown into a massive ecosystemfor trusting the Linux Foundation with this crucial effort."

"Some AI news: we're moving PyTorch, the open source AI framework led by Meta researchers, to become a project governed under the Linux Foundation. PyTorch has become one of the leading AI platforms with more than 150,000 projects on GitHub built on the framework. The new PyTorch Foundation board will include many of the AI leaders who've helped get the community where it is today, including Meta and our partners at AMD, AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and NVIDIA. I'm excited to keep building the PyTorch community and advancing AI research," said Mark Zuckerberg, Founder & CEO, Meta.

The Linux Foundation has named Dr. Ibrahim Haddad , its Vice President of Strategic Programs, as the Executive Director of the PyTorch Foundation. The PyTorch Foundation will support a strong member ecosystem with a diverse governing board including founding members: AMD, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, Meta, Microsoft Azure and NVIDIA. The project will promote continued advancement of the PyTorch ecosystem through its thriving maintainer and contributor communities. The PyTorch Foundation will ensure the transparency and governance required of such critical open source projects, while also continuing to support its unprecedented growth.

Member Quotes

AMD

"Open software is critical to advancing HPC, AI and ML research, and we're ready to bring our experience with open software platforms and innovation to the PyTorch Foundation," said Brad McCredie, corporate vice president, Data Center and Accelerated Processing, AMD. "AMD Instinct accelerators and ROCm software power important HPC and ML sites around the world, from exascale supercomputers at research labs to major cloud deployments showcasing the convergence of HPC and AI/ML. Together with other foundation members, we will support the acceleration of science and research that can make a dramatic impact on the world."

Amazon Web Services

"AWS is committed to democratizing data science and machine learning, and PyTorch is a foundational open source tool that furthers that goal," said Brian Granger, senior principal technologist at AWS. "The creation of the PyTorch Foundation is a significant step forward for the PyTorch community. Working alongside The Linux Foundation and other foundation members, we will continue to help build and grow PyTorch to deliver more value to our customers and the PyTorch community at large."

Google Cloud

"At Google Cloud we're committed to meeting our customers where they are in their digital transformation journey and that means ensuring they have the power of choice," said Andrew Moore, vice president and general manager of Google Cloud AI and industry solutions. "We're participating in the PyTorch Foundation to further demonstrate our commitment of choice in ML development. We look forward to working closely on its mission to drive adoption of AI tooling by building an ecosystem of open source projects with PyTorch along with our continued investment in JAX and Tensorflow."

Microsoft Azure

"We're honored to participate in the PyTorch Foundation and partner with industry leaders to make open source innovation with PyTorch accessible to everyone," Eric Boyd, CVP, AI Platform, Microsoft, said. "Over the years, Microsoft has invested heavily to create an optimized environment for our customers to create, train and deploy their PyTorch workloads on Azure. Microsoft products and services run on trust, and we're committed to continuing to deliver innovation that fosters a healthy open source ecosystem that developers love to use. We look forward to helping the global AI community evolve, expand and thrive by providing technical direction based on our latest AI technologies and research."

NVIDIA

"PyTorch was developed from the beginning as an open source framework with first-class support on NVIDIA Accelerated Computing," said Ian Buck, General Manager and Vice President of Accelerated Computing at NVIDIA. "NVIDIA is excited to be an originating member of the PyTorch Foundation to encourage community adoption and to ensure using PyTorch on the NVIDIA AI platform delivers excellent performance with the best experience possible."

Additional Resources:

Visit pytorch.org to learn more about the project and the PyTorch Foundation

to learn more about the project and the PyTorch Foundation Read Jim Zemlin's blog discussing the PyTorch transition

discussing the PyTorch transition Read Meta AI's blog about transitioning PyTorch to the Linux Foundation

blog about transitioning PyTorch to the Linux Foundation Read this blog from Soumith Chintala, PyTorch Lead Maintainer and AI Researcher at Meta, about the future of the project

from Soumith Chintala, PyTorch Lead Maintainer and AI Researcher at Meta, about the future of the project Join Soumith Chintala and Dr. Ibahim Haddad for a fireside chat on Thursday, September 15 , at 3pm GMT / 11am ET / 8am PT

Soumith Chintala and Dr. for a fireside chat on , at / / Learn more about PyTorch training opportunities from the Linux Foundation

about PyTorch training opportunities from the Linux Foundation Follow PyTorch on Facebook, LinkedIn, Spotify, Twitter, and YouTube

About the Linux Foundation

Founded in 2000, the Linux Foundation and its projects are supported by more than 3,000 members. The Linux Foundation is the world's leading home for collaboration on open source software, hardware, standards, and data. Linux Foundation projects are critical to the world's infrastructure including Linux, Kubernetes, Node.js, ONAP, Hyperledger, RISC-V, PyTorch, and more. The Linux Foundation's methodology focuses on leveraging best practices and addressing the needs of contributors, users, and solution providers to create sustainable models for open collaboration. For more information, please visit us at linuxfoundation.org .

The Linux Foundation has registered trademarks and uses trademarks. For a list of trademarks of The Linux Foundation, please see our trademark usage page: https://www.linuxfoundation.org/trademark-usage . Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

Media Contact

Dan Whiting

for the Linux Foundation

202-531-9091

[email protected]

SOURCE The Linux Foundation
Industry veterans Tracy Vasquez and Steven Getty to lead hotel-franchise practice within

newly expanded Restaurant and Hospitality Finance team

NEW YORK, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) announced today the expansion of its restaurant-finance platform to cover hotel franchises with the hiring of two veteran bankers to its Restaurant and Hospitality Finance team, which is part of MUFG's Corporate and Investment Banking division.

Director Tracy Vasquez will lead loan underwriting and portfolio management of hotel-franchisee clients, and report to Quinn Hall, the team's Head of Loan Underwriting and Portfolio Management. Director Steven Getty will serve a senior relationship management function spearheading business development within the hospitality industry, and will report to Brian Geraghty, the team's Head of Loan Originations.

"With the addition of Tracy and Steven, we are scaling out our deep talent bench and expertise in franchise lending to pursue a significant new platform expansion in the hospitality industry," says Nick Cole, Head of Restaurant and Hospitality Finance. "Tracy and Steven are seasoned professionals who position us to deliver robust financing and advisory capabilities to franchisees of mid-scale, limited-service hotel chains, which represent a market segment with attractive risk/return credit characteristics, as well as growth opportunities for MUFG."

Ms. Vasquez will be based in Scottsdale, AZ, and has two decades of industry experience. Previously she was a Director of Underwriting and Portfolio Management for Wells Fargo's hotel-loan portfolio. Before then, Vasquez held senior roles at GE Capital's Franchise Finance Unit and at Western Alliance Bank that included the management of hotel-loan portfolios and underwriting responsibilities.

Mr. Getty will be based in Atlanta, GA. He was previously a Director of Hotel Franchise Finance at Wells Fargo, where he helped develop relationships with hotel investors and drove loan origination. Formerly, Getty assumed a number of key positions with similar responsibilities at Western Alliance Bancorporation's and GE Capital's Franchise Finance businesses.

MUFG's newly expanded Restaurant and Hospitality Finance team comprises investment banking professionals across multiple other locations including San Diego, Chicago, and Boston.

Press contact:

Oksana Poltavets

646-767-1326

[email protected]fg.jp

About Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc.'s U.S. Operations including MUFG Americas Holdings Corporation

The U.S. operations of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MUFG), one of the world's leading financial groups, has total assets of $342.4 billion at June 30, 2022. As part of that total, MUFG Americas Holdings Corporation (MUAH), a financial holding company, bank holding company, and intermediate holding company, has total assets of $152.5 billion at June 30, 2022. MUAH's main subsidiaries are MUFG Union Bank, N.A. and MUFG Securities Americas Inc. MUFG Union Bank, N.A. provides a wide range of financial services to consumers, small businesses, middle-market companies, and major corporations. As of June 30, 2022, MUFG Union Bank, N.A. operated 297 branches, consisting primarily of retail banking branches in the West Coast states. MUFG Securities Americas Inc. is a registered securities broker-dealer which engages in capital markets origination transactions, domestic and foreign debt and equities securities transactions, private placements, collateralized financings, and securities borrowing and lending transactions. MUAH is owned by MUFG Bank, Ltd. and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. MUFG Bank, Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc., has offices in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, and Canada. Visit www.unionbank.com or www.mufgamericas.com for more information.

About MUFG

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MUFG) is one of the world's leading financial groups. Headquartered in Tokyo and with over 360 years of history, MUFG has a global network with approximately 2,400 locations in more than 50 countries. The Group has about 170,000 employees and offers services including commercial banking, trust banking, securities, credit cards, consumer finance, asset management, and leasing. The Group aims to "be the world's most trusted financial group" through close collaboration among our operating companies and flexibly respond to all of the financial needs of our customers, serving society, and fostering shared and sustainable growth for a better world. MUFG's shares trade on the Tokyo, Nagoya, and New York stock exchanges. For more information, visit https://www.mufg.jp/english

SOURCE MUFG
Boosts investment in nonprofit capacity building by nearly $2 million

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Park Foundation (NPF) announced more than $1.7 million in new funding to support 41 park partner organizations across the country. The grants will enable partner organizations to invest in strategic planning, community engagement, improving visitor experience in parks, increasing organizational relevancy and resiliency, and launching new fundraising campaigns.

The funding initiative is part of the National Park Foundation's Strong Parks, Strong Communities program to cultivate and expand national park philanthropy working in partnership with the National Park Service, and Friends Alliance.

"Philanthropy and partnership are essential to the success of America's national parks," said Will Shafroth, president and CEO of the National Park Foundation. "New funding will help park partners across the country to build capacity, improve strategic planning and fundraising initiatives, and to more deeply engage the communities and national parks they serve. Ultimately, investing in the growing community of park partners is a commitment to expanding and transforming the role philanthropy plays to ensure national parks reach their full potential."

"These strategic investments in local groups elevate the creative opportunities, organizational efficacy, and bandwidth of the professional network that Friends Alliance serves," said Vickie Mates, Executive Director of the National Park Friends Alliance. "We look forward to our continued collaboration and celebrating the outcomes created by these incredible grantee projects."

The new grants will go directly to National Park Service nonprofit partners across the country, enabling organizations to invest in tailored solutions to increase the impact they can deliver in national parks they support.

"We are developing a long-term strategy for reimagining Floyd Bennett Field, an underused NPS site in South Brooklyn that once served as New York's first municipal airport," said Scott Middleton, Partnership Planner with Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy. "With the support of NPF, and in cooperation with our many projects partners, we are planning for a more resilient, equitable, and accessible park that will accommodate the education, recreation, and workforce development needs of New Yorkers for decades to come."

"The St. Croix National Scenic Riverway has over a million visitors a year, but with the lack of official gates and entrances, compounded by declining visitor center attendance, the challenge of creating meaningful visitor experiences grows," said Deb Ryun, Executive Director of the Wild Rivers Conservancy. "This grant supports the visioning needed to create a mobile visitor center in the park to engage visitors from all walks of life and cultural backgrounds."

The Strong Parks, Strong Communities program also helps connect park partners with similar needs, building a network to share lessons learned, support one another, and problem solve together.

"The Friends of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park is honored to participate in the National Park Foundation's Strong Parks, Strong Communities program. Under our Wing is a project that will enable us to support Puuhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park," said Elizabeth Fien, president & CEO of The Friends of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. "This park has significant historical importance to indigenous people of Hawai'i. We are creating a new friends group with a focus on preserving the culture, sharing it with residents and visitors alike, and protecting the natural resources."

"This grant will help the Blue Ridge Music Center increase visitors, income, and tourism spending in a rural, economically distressed region," said Carolyn Ward, CEO of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation. "We believe this work will create a valuable model for expanding visitor experiences and revenue in other rural communities throughout the national park system."

Approximately 450 local and regional park partner organizations across the country provide critical support to national parks and programs.

View the full list of 2022 Strong Parks, Strong Communities Capacity Building grantees here.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION

The National Park Foundation works to protect wildlife and park lands, preserve history and culture, educate, and engage youth, and connect people everywhere to the wonder of parks. We do it in collaboration with the National Park Service, the park partner community, and with the generous support of donors, without whom our work would not be possible. Learn more at nationalparks.org.

SOURCE National Park Foundation
www.mynnb.com

EL CAJON, Calif., Sept 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Neighborhood National Bank (NNB) announced today that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has terminated the Consent Order in place since March 24, 2016 related to deficiencies in NNB's Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML) compliance program.

CEO Scott Andrews commented that he was "extremely proud of the work done by the team at Neighborhood to bring the Bank's BSA/AML program into full compliance." Mr. Andrews continued, stating "while working to repair the Bank's compliance program during the early stages of the pandemic, Neighborhood provided nearly $80 million in PPP loans at an average loan size of less than $100,000 continuing our commitment to serving small businesses most severely impacted during the pandemic. Today, we are growing our customer base and serving clients throughout San Diego County and southern California with state of the art treasury management and digital banking products, an experienced SBA Lending team, and we continue to enjoy strong support from our shareholder base, adding over $4 million in new capital to our parent company, Neighborhood Bancorp, in the first six months of 2022."

Chairman Stephen Taylor noted that "achieving a satisfactory BSA/AML compliance program leading to termination of the Consent Order has been the primary objective of the Board and I am grateful to the Neighborhood board members for their hard work and dedication to achieving this goal." Mr. Taylor continued, stating "he looks forward to working with CEO Scott Andrews and the entire management team on the next phase of Neighborhood's long history of serving small-to-medium sized businesses in San Diego County and achieving sustained growth and profitability in the years ahead."

Neighborhood National Bank, the first nationally chartered Community Development Financial Institution, is a full-service, business-focused community bank providing financial services to small-to-medium sized businesses, professionals, non-profit organizations, investors and individuals throughout San Diego County, focusing on low-to-moderate income communities and underserved markets in South and East San Diego County. The Bank operates a full-service branch in El Cajon. Additional information may be found at the Bank's website at www.mynnb.com.

Information contained herein may contain certain forward-looking statements that are based on management's current expectations regarding economic, legislative, and regulatory issues that may impact the Bank's ability to be approved and open in the future. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. The Bank undertakes no obligation to release publicly the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

For Further Information Contact:

Scott R. Andrews

President & CEO, Neighborhood National Bank

[email protected]

619-789-4423

SOURCE Neighborhood National Bank
GOTHENBURG, Sweden, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In accordance with a resolution taken at the Annual General Meeting of AB SKF, this is to announce the representatives of the four largest shareholders by number of votes, who, together with the Chairman of the Board, Hans Straberg, constitute the Nomination Committee in preparation of the Annual General Meeting 2023.

Representatives:

Marcus Wallenberg, FAM

Anders Algotsson, AFA Forsakring

Christer Gardell, Cevian Capital

Anders Jonsson, Skandia

The Annual General Meeting of AB SKF will be held in Gothenburg on Thursday, 23 March 2023.

Shareholders who wish to submit proposals on members of the AB SKF Board, Board Chairman, Board fees, Chairman of the Annual General Meeting 2023 or amendments to the instruction for the Nomination Committee, may, at the latest two months before the Annual General Meeting 2023, contact the Chairman of the Board of AB SKF on e-mail: [email protected]

Aktiebolaget SKF

(publ)

For further information, please contact:

PRESS: Carl Bjernstam, Group Communication

tel: 46 31-337 2517; mobile: 46 722-201 893; e-mail: [email protected]

INVESTOR RELATIONS: Patrik Stenberg, Head of Investor Relations

tel: 46 31-337 2104; mobile: 46 705-472 104; [email protected]

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/skf/r/nomination-committee-of-ab-skf-for-the-annual-general-meeting-2023,c3629335

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/637/3629335/1625561.pdf 20220912 Nomination Committee

SOURCE SKF
DALLAS, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- NPact, a leading provider of grant and donor management software, today announced it has signed an agreement with Blackbaud Inc. to acquire its FIMS and DonorCentral NXT products. NPact will immediately dedicate new development and maintenance resources to both products and is committed to supporting and enhancing them for the foreseeable future.

This acquisition expands NPact's presence in its core community foundation and religious verticals, providing customers with the ability to quickly and seamlessly integrate and migrate to NPact's Foundation Cloud solution. This combination also provides its existing customers with a set of donor portal options and industry-leading accounting tools to further support their mission.

NPact will work with Blackbaud over the coming months to successfully transition both products to NPact's secure independent infrastructure and in-house support services. NPact will be in direct contact with FIMS and DonorCentral NXT customers to guide and support them through this transition.

"We're extremely excited to add FIMS and DonorCentral NXT to our product suite and welcome these new organizations to the growing NPact family," said NPact co-CEO Jeffrey Conn. "Our deep experience in donor advised fund management well positions NPact to serve this unique set of customers, as we continue to improve existing solutions and build new solutions which meet their specific needs."

NPact is excited to begin a long-term partnership with this customer base. We invite them to join our upcoming Welcome to NPact webinars, where we will provide additional detail about the acquisition and answer questions. We will offer two sessions to ensure everyone is able to attend  September 19 and 22.

For nearly 20 years, NPact has offered donor management, grant management, and content management solutions that help foundations and other non-profits accelerate their impact. The company serves hundreds of community, faith-based, education and independent foundations across the United States and Canada.

Existing FIMS and DonorCentral NXT can visit NPact's website (www.npact.com) or email [email protected] for additional information.

Media Contact:

Krissy Vaio

[email protected]

SOURCE NPact
Q1 GAAP Earnings per Share $0.56 , Non-GAAP Earnings per Share $1.03

Q1 Total Revenue $11.4 billion, up 18% in USD, up 23% in constant currency

Q1 Cloud Revenue (IaaS plus SaaS) $3.6 billion, up 45% in USD, up 50% in constant currency

Q1 Cloud Infrastructure (IaaS) Revenue $0.9 billion , up 52% in USD, up 58% in constant currency

Q1 Cloud Application (SaaS) Revenue $2.7 billion , up 43% in USD, up 48% in constant currency

Fusion ERP Cloud (SaaS) Revenue, up 33% in USD, up 38% in constant currency

NetSuite ERP Cloud (SaaS) Revenue, up 27% in USD, up 30% in constant currency

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Oracle Corporation ( NYSE: ORCL) today announced fiscal 2023 Q1 results. Total quarterly revenues were up 18% year-over-year in USD and up 23% in constant currency to $11.4 billion. Cloud services and license support revenues were up 14% in USD and up 20% in constant currency to $8.4 billion. Cloud license and on-premise license revenues were up 11% in USD and up 19% in constant currency to $0.9 billion. For the first quarter of fiscal 2023, Cerner contributed $1.4 billion to total revenues.

Q1 GAAP operating income was $2.6 billion, down 23% in USD and down 17% in constant currency. Non-GAAP operating income was $4.5 billion, up 3% in USD and up 10% in constant currency. GAAP operating margin was 23%, and non-GAAP operating margin was 39%. GAAP net income was $1.5 billion, and non-GAAP net income was $2.8 billion. Q1 GAAP earnings per share was $0.56 while non-GAAP earnings per share was $1.03.

Short-term deferred revenues were $10.5 billion. Operating cash flow was $10.5 billion during the trailing twelve months.

The strengthening of the U.S. dollar compared to foreign currencies had a significant impact on results in the quarter. Without the impact of the U.S. dollar strengthening compared to foreign currencies, Oracle's reported Q1 GAAP and non-GAAP earnings per share would have been 8 cents higher.

"In Q1, total revenue grew 23% in constant currency beating guidance by $200 million," said Oracle CEO, Safra Catz. "Even without Cerner, our total revenue grew 8% in constant currency driven by Oracle's rapidly growing applications and infrastructure cloud businesses. These two cloud businesses now account for more than 30% of our total revenue. As our cloud businesses become a larger-and-larger percentage of our overall business, we expect our constant currency organic revenue growth rate to hit double-digits with a corresponding increase in earnings per share. Cerner will also positively impact revenue and earnings per share growth in the coming quarters as we fully integrate Cerner into Oracle and benefit from the resulting cost efficiencies. This is the first quarter we owned Cerner and they just delivered the best revenue quarter in their history. We expect Cerner to do even better in the coming quarters as we develop an all-new suite of healthcare cloud services."

"Multi-Cloud access to the Oracle Database and Oracle's MySQL HeatWave database will make the world's two most popular databases even more popular," said Oracle Chairman and CTO, Larry Ellison. "In Q1 we expanded our relationship with Microsoft by providing all versions of the Oracle database directly to Microsoft Azure customers. Now all Microsoft customers can directly access the Oracle Exadata Cloud Service, the Oracle Autonomous Database and every other Oracle Database version directly from the Azure Cloud. Today we are also announcing that Amazon Web Services customers can directly access Oracle's MySQL HeatWave database running in the Amazon Cloud. This enables AWS users to run transaction processing, real-time analytics, and machine learning on the single unified MySQL service. MySQL HeatWave delivers 7X better price performance compared to Amazon Redshift and 10X better than Snowflake, 25X faster than Redshift ML, and up to 10X higher throughput than Aurora. See today's MySQL HeatWave press release for customer performance benchmark verification."

The board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.32 per share of outstanding common stock. This dividend will be paid to stockholders of record as of the close of business on October 12, 2022, with a payment date of October 25, 2022.

A sample list of customers which purchased Oracle Cloud services during the quarter will be available at www.oracle.com/customers/earnings/ .

A list of recent technical innovations and announcements is available at www.oracle.com/news/ .

To learn what industry analysts have been saying about Oracle's products and services see www.oracle.com/corporate/analyst-reports.html .

Earnings Conference Call and Webcast

Oracle will hold a conference call and webcast today to discuss these results at 4:00 p.m. Central. A live and replay webcast will be available on the Oracle Investor Relations website at www.oracle.com/investor/.

About Oracle

Oracle offers integrated suites of applications plus secure, autonomous infrastructure in the Oracle Cloud. For more information about Oracle ( NYSE: ORCL), please visit us at www.oracle.com.

Trademarks

Oracle, Java, and MySQL are registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation.

"Safe Harbor" Statement: Statements in this press release relating to Oracle's future plans, expectations, beliefs, intentions and prospects, including statements regarding the size of our cloud businesses, our organic revenue and earnings per share growth rates, Cerner's impact on our financial results, Cerner's future performance and the development of new healthcare cloud services, the popularity of the Oracle Database and Oracle MySQL HeatWave, and the impact of access to the Oracle Database and Oracle's MySQL HeatWave database by Microsoft Azure customers and Amazon Web Services customers, are "forward-looking statements" and are subject to material risks and uncertainties. Risks and uncertainties that could affect our current expectations and our actual results, include, among others: our ability to develop new products and services, integrate acquired products and services and enhance our existing products and services; supply chain constraints and third-party manufacturing and logistics delays; significant coding, manufacturing or configuration errors in our offerings; risks associated with acquisitions; the COVID-19 pandemic; economic, political and market conditions; information technology system failures, privacy concerns and cybersecurity breaches; unfavorable legal proceedings, government investigations, and complex and changing laws and regulations. A detailed discussion of these factors and other risks that affect our business is contained in our SEC filings, including our most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, particularly under the heading "Risk Factors." Copies of these filings are available online from the SEC or by contacting Oracle's Investor Relations Department at (650) 506-4073 or by clicking on SEC Filings on the Oracle Investor Relations website at www.oracle.com/investor/. All information set forth in this press release is current as of September 12, 2022. Oracle undertakes no duty to update any statement in light of new information or future events.

ORACLE CORPORATION

















Q1 FISCAL 2023 FINANCIAL RESULTS

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

($ in millions, except per share data)























Three Months Ended

August 31,

% Increase





% Increase (Decrease)







% of

% of (Decrease) in Constant





2022 Revenues 2021 Revenues in US $ Currency (1)

REVENUES















Cloud services and license support $ 8,417 73 % $ 7,371 76 % 14 % 20 %



Cloud license and on-premise license 904 8 % 813 8 % 11 % 19 %



Hardware 763 7 % 763 8 % 0 % 5 %



Services 1,361 12 % 781 8 % 74 % 84 %



Total revenues 11,445 100 % 9,728 100 % 18 % 23 %

OPERATING EXPENSES















Cloud services and license support 1,735 15 % 1,214 13 % 43 % 48 %



Hardware 249 2 % 245 2 % 2 % 6 %



Services 1,053 9 % 644 7 % 63 % 72 %



Sales and marketing 2,177 19 % 1,854 19 % 17 % 23 %



Research and development 2,093 19 % 1,684 18 % 24 % 27 %



General and administrative 411 4 % 298 3 % 38 % 42 %



Amortization of intangible assets 919 8 % 303 3 % 203 % 204 %



Acquisition related and other 41 0 % 21 0 % 106 % 110 %



Restructuring 144 1 % 38 0 % 276 % 310 %



Total operating expenses 8,822 77 % 6,301 65 % 40 % 45 %

OPERATING INCOME 2,623 23 % 3,427 35 % (23 %) (17 %)



Interest expense (787) (7 %) (705) (7 %) 12 % 12 %



Non-operating expenses, net (180) (1 %) (41) (1 %) 340 % 346 %

INCOME BEFORE INCOME TAXES 1,656 15 % 2,681 27 % (38 %) (30 %)



Provision for income taxes 108 1 % 224 2 % (52 %) (46 %)

NET INCOME $ 1,548 14 % $ 2,457 25 % (37 %) (29 %)



















EARNINGS PER SHARE:















Basic $ 0.58

$ 0.89









Diluted $ 0.56

$ 0.86







WEIGHTED AVERAGE COMMON SHARES OUTSTANDING:















Basic 2,685

2,769









Diluted 2,747

2,861

































































































(1) We compare the percent change in the results from one period to another period using constant currency disclosure. We present constant

currency information to provide a framework for assessing how our underlying businesses performed excluding the effect of foreign currency

rate fluctuations. To present this information, current and comparative prior period results for entities reporting in currencies other than United

States dollars are converted into United States dollars at the exchange rates in effect on May 31, 2022, which was the last day of our prior fiscal

year, rather than the actual exchange rates in effect during the respective periods. Movements in international currencies relative to the United

States dollar during the three months ended August 31, 2022 compared with the corresponding prior year period decreased our total revenues

and total operating expenses, each by 5 percentage points, and operating income by 6 percentage points.





















ORACLE CORPORATION









































Q1 FISCAL 2023 FINANCIAL RESULTS RECONCILIATION OF SELECTED GAAP MEASURES TO NON-GAAP MEASURES (1) ($ in millions, except per share data)















































Three Months Ended

August 31,

% Increase (Decrease)

in US $ % Increase (Decrease) in Constant Currency (2)





2022





2022



2021





2021

GAAP Non-GAAP GAAP Non-GAAP







GAAP

Adj.

Non-GAAP



GAAP

Adj.

Non-GAAP













































TOTAL REVENUES

$ 11,445

$ -

$ 11,445



$ 9,728

$ -

$ 9,728

18 % 18 % 23 % 23 %











































TOTAL OPERATING EXPENSES

$ 8,822

$ (1,854)

$ 6,968



$ 6,301

$ (907)

$ 5,394

40 % 29 % 45 % 34 %



Stock-based compensation (3)

750

(750)

-



545

(545)

-

38 % * 38 % *



Amortization of intangible assets (4)

919

(919)

-



303

(303)

-

203 % * 204 % *



Acquisition related and other

41

(41)

-



21

(21)

-

106 % * 110 % *



Restructuring

144

(144)

-



38

(38)

-

276 % * 310 % *

OPERATING INCOME

$ 2,623

$ 1,854

$ 4,477



$ 3,427

$ 907

$ 4,334

(23 %) 3 % (17 %) 10 %

OPERATING MARGIN %

23 %





39 %



35 %





45 %

(1,231) bp. (544) bp. (1,123) bp. (484) bp.

INCOME TAX EFFECTS (5)

$ 108

$ 574

$ 682



$ 224

$ 420

$ 644

(52 %) 6 % (46 %) 14 %

NET INCOME

$ 1,548

$ 1,280

$ 2,828



$ 2,457

$ 487

$ 2,944

(37 %) (4 %) (29 %) 4 %

DILUTED EARNINGS PER SHARE

$ 0.56





$ 1.03



$ 0.86





$ 1.03

(34 %) 0 % (26 %) 8 %

DILUTED WEIGHTED AVERAGE COMMON SHARES OUTSTANDING

2,747

-

2,747



2,861

-

2,861

(4 %) (4 %) (4 %) (4 %)





















































































(1) This presentation includes non-GAAP measures. Our non-GAAP measures are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for comparable GAAP measures, and should be read only in conjunction

with our consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. For a detailed explanation of the adjustments made to comparable GAAP measures, the reasons why management uses these

measures, the usefulness of these measures and the material limitations on the usefulness of these measures, please see Appendix A.











































(2) We compare the percent change in the results from one period to another period using constant currency disclosure. We present constant currency information to provide a framework for assessing how our

underlying businesses performed excluding the effect of foreign currency rate fluctuations. To present this information, current and comparative prior period results for entities reporting in currencies other than

United States dollars are converted into United States dollars at the exchange rates in effect on May 31, 2022, which was the last day of our prior fiscal year, rather than the actual exchange rates in effect

during the respective periods.











































(3) Stock-based compensation was included in the following GAAP operating expense categories:

























































Three Months Ended



Three Months Ended

















August 31,

2022



August 31,

2021

















GAAP

Adj.

Non-GAAP



GAAP

Adj.

Non-GAAP













Cloud services and license support

$ 91

$ (91)

$ -



$ 40

$ (40)

$ -













Hardware

4

(4)

-



3

(3)

-













Services

25

(25)

-



14

(14)

-













Sales and marketing

124

(124)

-



95

(95)

-













Research and development

422

(422)

-



344

(344)

-













General and administrative

84

(84)

-



49

(49)

-













Total stock-based compensation

$ 750

$ (750)

$ -



$ 545

$ (545)

$ -





















































(4) Estimated future annual amortization expense related to intangible assets as of August 31, 2022 was as follows:



Remainder of fiscal 2023

$ 2,753



































Fiscal 2024

3,086



































Fiscal 2025

2,105



































Fiscal 2026

1,615



































Fiscal 2027

664



































Fiscal 2028

635



































Thereafter

1,641



































Total intangible assets, net

$ 12,499











































































(5) Income tax effects were calculated reflecting an effective GAAP tax rate of 6.5% and 8.4% in the first quarter of fiscal 2023 and 2022, respectively, and an effective non-GAAP tax rate of 19.4% and 18.0% in

the first quarter of fiscal 2023 and 2022, respectively. The difference in our GAAP and non-GAAP tax rates in each of the first quarter of fiscal 2023 and 2022 was primarily due to the net tax effects related

to stock-based compensation expense and acquisition related and other items, including the tax effects on amortization of intangible assets, partially offset by the net deferred tax effects related to an

income tax benefit that was previously recorded due to the partial realignment of our legal entity structure.

* Not meaningful







































ORACLE CORPORATION













Q1 FISCAL 2023 FINANCIAL RESULTS CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS ($ in millions)



















August 31, May 31,





2022 2022 ASSETS







Current Assets:









Cash and cash equivalents $ 10,448

$ 21,383



Marketable securities 772

519



Trade receivables, net 5,937

5,953



Prepaid expenses and other current assets 3,847

3,778





Total Current Assets 21,004

31,633

Non-Current Assets:









Property, plant and equipment, net 12,280

9,716



Intangible assets, net 12,499

1,440



Goodwill, net 61,629

43,811



Deferred tax assets 12,065

12,782



Other non-current assets 10,832

9,915





Total Non-Current Assets 109,305

77,664

TOTAL ASSETS $ 130,309

$ 109,297

LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' DEFICIT







Current Liabilities:









Notes payable and other borrowings, current $ 16,097

$ 3,749



Accounts payable 1,461

1,317



Accrued compensation and related benefits 1,958

1,944



Deferred revenues 10,473

8,357



Other current liabilities 4,830

4,144





Total Current Liabilities 34,819

19,511

Non-Current Liabilities:









Notes payable and other borrowings, non-current 75,480

72,110



Income taxes payable 12,128

12,210



Deferred tax liabilities 7,693

6,031



Other non-current liabilities 5,638

5,203





Total Non-Current Liabilities 100,939

95,554

Stockholders' Deficit (5,449)

(5,768)

TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' DEFICIT $ 130,309

$ 109,297

















ORACLE CORPORATION











Q1 FISCAL 2023 FINANCIAL RESULTS CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS ($ in millions)















Three Months Ended

August 31,



2022 2021 Cash Flows From Operating Activities:







Net income $ 1,548

$ 2,457

Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:







Depreciation 547

454

Amortization of intangible assets 919

303

Deferred income taxes (344)

(15)

Stock-based compensation 750

545

Other, net 156

(27)

Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of effects from acquisitions:







Decrease in trade receivables, net 761

852

Decrease in prepaid expenses and other assets 44

270

Decrease in accounts payable and other liabilities (166)

(713)

Increase (decrease) in income taxes payable 145

(221)

Increase in deferred revenues 2,034

1,486

Net cash provided by operating activities 6,394

5,391

Cash Flows From Investing Activities:







Purchases of marketable securities and other investments (57)

(7,671)

Proceeds from sales and maturities of marketable securities and other investments 138

8,002

Acquisitions, net of cash acquired (27,798)

(50)

Capital expenditures (1,719)

(1,062)

Net cash used for investing activities (29,436)

(781)

Cash Flows From Financing Activities:







Payments for repurchases of common stock (552)

(7,995)

Proceeds from issuances of common stock 515

148

Shares repurchased for tax withholdings upon vesting of restricted stock-based awards (829)

(820)

Payments of dividends to stockholders (860)

(887)

Proceeds from borrowings, net of issuance costs 20,046

-

Repayments of borrowings (5,883)

(1,500)

Other, net (127)

(414)

Net cash provided by (used for) financing activities 12,310

(11,468)

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents (203)

(181)

Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents (10,935)

(7,039)

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 21,383

30,098

Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $ 10,448

$ 23,059





































ORACLE CORPORATION Q1 FISCAL 2023 FINANCIAL RESULTS FREE CASH FLOW - TRAILING 4-QUARTERS (1) ($ in millions)

























Fiscal 2022 Fiscal 2023





Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4





















GAAP Operating Cash Flow $ 15,325 $ 10,255 $ 10,396 $ 9,539 $ 10,542





























Capital Expenditures (2,761) (3,118) (3,805) (4,511) (5,168)





























Free Cash Flow $ 12,564 $ 7,137 $ 6,591 $ 5,028 $ 5,374





























% Growth over prior year 9 % (41 %) (49 %) (63 %) (57 %)



















































GAAP Net Income $ 13,952 $ 10,262 $ 7,560 $ 6,717 $ 5,808





























Free Cash Flow as a % of Net Income 90 % 70 % 87 % 75 % 93 %



















































(1) To supplement our statements of cash flows presented on a GAAP basis, we use non-GAAP measures of cash flows on a trailing 4-quarter basis to analyze cash flow generated

from operations. We believe free cash flow is also useful as one of the bases for comparing our performance with our competitors. The presentation of non-GAAP free cash flow

is not meant to be considered in isolation or as an alternative to net income as an indicator of our performance, or as an alternative to cash flows from operating activities as a

measure of liquidity.





































ORACLE CORPORATION

Q1 FISCAL 2023 FINANCIAL RESULTS

SUPPLEMENTAL ANALYSIS OF GAAP REVENUES (1)

($ in millions)



































Fiscal 2022









Fiscal 2023





Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 TOTAL

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 TOTAL



REVENUES BY OFFERINGS

























Cloud services $ 2,461 $ 2,667 $ 2,791 $ 2,890 $ 10,809

$ 3,579





$ 3,579



License support 4,910 4,887 4,846 4,722 19,365

4,838





4,838



Cloud services and license support 7,371 7,554 7,637 7,612 30,174

8,417





8,417



Cloud license and on-premise license 813 1,237 1,289 2,539 5,878

904





904



Hardware 763 767 798 856 3,183

763





763



Services 781 802 789 833 3,205

1,361





1,361



Total revenues $ 9,728 $ 10,360 $ 10,513 $ 11,840 $ 42,440

$ 11,445





$ 11,445































AS REPORTED REVENUE GROWTH RATES

























Cloud services 19 % 22 % 24 % 19 % 21 %

45 %





45 %



License support 1 % (1 %) (3 %) (5 %) (2 %)

(1 %)





(1 %)



Cloud services and license support 6 % 6 % 5 % 3 % 5 %

14 %





14 %



Cloud license and on-premise license (8 %) 13 % 1 % 18 % 9 %

11 %





11 %



Hardware (6 %) (9 %) (3 %) (3 %) (5 %)

0 %





0 %



Services 8 % 7 % 7 % 3 % 6 %

74 %





74 %



Total revenues 4 % 6 % 4 % 5 % 5 %

18 %





18 %































CONSTANT CURRENCY REVENUE GROWTH RATES (2)

























Cloud services 18 % 22 % 26 % 22 % 22 %

50 %





50 %



License support (1 %) (1 %) 0 % (1 %) (1 %)

4 %





4 %



Cloud services and license support 5 % 6 % 8 % 7 % 6 %

20 %





20 %



Cloud license and on-premise license (9 %) 16 % 4 % 25 % 12 %

19 %





19 %



Hardware (7 %) (8 %) 1 % 2 % (3 %)

5 %





5 %



Services 7 % 7 % 11 % 7 % 8 %

84 %





84 %



Total revenues 2 % 6 % 7 % 10 % 7 %

23 %





23 %































CLOUD SERVICES AND LICENSE SUPPORT REVENUES

























BY ECOSYSTEM

























Applications cloud services and license support $ 3,041 $ 3,149 $ 3,187 $ 3,235 $ 12,612

$ 4,016





$ 4,016



Infrastructure cloud services and license support 4,330 4,405 4,450 4,377 17,562

4,401





4,401



Total cloud services and license support revenues $ 7,371 $ 7,554 $ 7,637 $ 7,612 $ 30,174

$ 8,417





$ 8,417































AS REPORTED REVENUE GROWTH RATES

























Applications cloud services and license support 8 % 9 % 8 % 6 % 8 %

32 %





32 %



Infrastructure cloud services and license support 5 % 5 % 3 % 1 % 3 %

2 %





2 %



Total cloud services and license support revenues 6 % 6 % 5 % 3 % 5 %

14 %





14 %































CONSTANT CURRENCY REVENUE GROWTH RATES (2)

























Applications cloud services and license support 7 % 8 % 10 % 9 % 8 %

37 %





37 %



Infrastructure cloud services and license support 3 % 5 % 7 % 5 % 5 %

7 %





7 %



Total cloud services and license support revenues 5 % 6 % 8 % 7 % 6 %

20 %





20 %































GEOGRAPHIC REVENUES

























Americas $ 5,321 $ 5,736 $ 5,849 $ 6,774 $ 23,679

$ 7,192





$ 7,192



Europe/Middle East/Africa 2,784 2,953 3,014 3,260 12,011

2,691





2,691



Asia Pacific 1,623 1,671 1,650 1,806 6,750

1,562





1,562



Total revenues $ 9,728 $ 10,360 $ 10,513 $ 11,840 $ 42,440

$ 11,445





$ 11,445



























































(1) The sum of the quarterly information presented may vary from the year-to-date information presented due to rounding.















(2) We compare the percent change in the results from one period to another period using constant currency disclosure. We

present constant currency information to provide a framework for assessing how our underlying businesses performed

excluding the effect of foreign currency rate fluctuations. To present this information, current and comparative prior period

results for entities reporting in currencies other than United States dollars are converted into United States dollars at the

exchange rates in effect on May 31, 2022 and 2021 for the fiscal 2023 and fiscal 2022 constant currency growth rate

calculations presented, respectively, rather than the actual exchange rates in effect during the respective periods.







































APPENDIX A

ORACLE CORPORATION

Q1 FISCAL 2023 FINANCIAL RESULTS

EXPLANATION OF NON-GAAP MEASURES

To supplement our financial results presented on a GAAP basis, we use the non-GAAP measures indicated in the tables, which exclude certain business combination accounting entries and expenses related to acquisitions, as well as other significant expenses including stock-based compensation, that we believe are helpful in understanding our past financial performance and our future results. Our non-GAAP financial measures are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for comparable GAAP measures and should be read only in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. Our management regularly uses our supplemental non-GAAP financial measures internally to understand, manage and evaluate our business and make operating decisions. These non-GAAP measures are among the primary factors management uses in planning for and forecasting future periods. Compensation of our executives is based in part on the performance of our business based on these non-GAAP measures. Our non-GAAP financial measures reflect adjustments based on the following items, as well as the related income tax effects:

 Stock-based compensation expenses : We have excluded the effect of stock-based compensation expenses from our non-GAAP operating expenses, income tax effects and net income measures. Although stock-based compensation is a key incentive offered to our employees, and we believe such compensation contributed to the revenues earned during the periods presented and also believe it will contribute to the generation of future period revenues, we continue to evaluate our business performance excluding stock-based compensation expenses. Stock-based compensation expenses will recur in future periods.

 Amortization of intangible assets : We have excluded the effect of amortization of intangible assets from our non-GAAP operating expenses, income tax effects and net income measures. Amortization of intangible assets is inconsistent in amount and frequency and is significantly affected by the timing and size of our acquisitions. Investors should note that the use of intangible assets contributed to our revenues earned during the periods presented and will contribute to our future period revenues as well. Amortization of intangible assets will recur in future periods.

 Acquisition related and other expenses; and restructuring expenses : We have excluded the effect of acquisition related and other expenses and the effect of restructuring expenses from our non-GAAP operating expenses, income tax effects and net income measures. We incurred expenses in connection with our acquisitions and also incurred certain other operating expenses or income, which we generally would not have otherwise incurred in the periods presented as a part of our continuing operations. Acquisition related and other expenses consisted of personnel related costs for transitional and certain other employees, certain business combination adjustments including certain adjustments after the measurement period has ended, and certain other operating items, net. Restructuring expenses consisted of employee severance and other exit costs. We believe it is useful for investors to understand the effects of these items on our total operating expenses. Although acquisition related and other expenses and restructuring expenses may diminish over time with respect to past acquisitions and/or strategic initiatives, we generally will incur certain of these expenses in connection with any future acquisitions and/or strategic initiatives.

SOURCE Oracle
AWS users can now run transaction processing, real-time analytics, and machine learning in one service with MySQL

MySQL HeatWave delivers 7X better price performance compared to Amazon Redshift and 10X better than Snowflake, 25X faster than Redshift ML, and up to 10X higher throughput than Aurora

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Oracle today announced that MySQL HeatWave is available on Amazon Web Services (AWS). MySQL HeatWave is the only service that combines OLTP, analytics, machine learning, and machine learning-based automation within a single MySQL database. AWS users can now run transaction processing, analytics, and machine learning workloads in one service, without requiring time-consuming ETL duplication between separate databases such as Amazon Aurora for transaction processing and Amazon Redshift or Snowflake on AWS for analytics and SageMaker for machine learning.

"Oracle believes in giving customers a choice. Many of our MySQL HeatWave customers migrated from AWS. Others wish to continue running parts of their application on AWS. Those customers face serious challenges including exorbitant data egress fees charged by AWS and higher latency when accessing a database service running in Oracle's cloud," said Edward Screven, chief corporate architect, Oracle. "We are addressing these issues while delivering outstanding performance and price performance across transaction, analytics, and machine learning compared to other database cloud providerseven Amazon's own databases running on AWS, where you'd think they would have an advantage. We wanted to offer AWS customers this choice to benefit from MySQL HeatWave innovation without moving their data from AWS, or developers needing to learn a new platform."

Johnny Bytes is an innovative digital agency for web and app development based in Germany. "MySQL HeatWave on AWS simplifies our data platform with a consolidated database for both transaction processing and analytics," said Thomas Henz, chief executive officer, Johnny Bytes. "We have seen 60-90X faster complex queries compared to AWS RDS and Aurora that generates real-time analytics we need for targeted, multichannel campaigns. We now have greater scalability to onboard more data and new clients of any size without increasing IT administration."

As part of today's news, Oracle is also introducing several new capabilities and benchmarks for MySQL HeatWave on AWS.

Unmatched performance and price performance: MySQL HeatWave on AWS is optimized for AWS with a superior architecture that delivers higher performance and lower cost compared to competitive offerings, as demonstrated by industry standard benchmarks. On the 4TB TPC-H* benchmark, MySQL HeatWave on AWS delivers price performance that is 7X better than Amazon Redshift, 10X better than Snowflake, 12X better than Google BigQuery, and 4X better than Azure Synapse. For machine learning, MySQL HeatWave on AWS is 25X faster than Redshift ML. On a 10GB TPC-C* workload, MySQL HeatWave offers up to 10X higher and sustained throughput compared to Amazon Aurora at high concurrency. All of these fully transparent benchmark scripts are available on GitHub for customers to replicate.





MySQL HeatWave on AWS is optimized for AWS with a superior architecture that delivers higher performance and lower cost compared to competitive offerings, as demonstrated by industry standard benchmarks. On the 4TB TPC-H* benchmark, MySQL HeatWave on AWS delivers price performance that is 7X better than Amazon Redshift, 10X better than Snowflake, 12X better than Google BigQuery, and 4X better than Azure Synapse. For machine learning, MySQL HeatWave on AWS is 25X faster than Redshift ML. On a 10GB TPC-C* workload, MySQL HeatWave offers up to 10X higher and sustained throughput compared to Amazon Aurora at high concurrency. All of these fully transparent benchmark scripts are available on GitHub for customers to replicate. Native AWS experience : MySQL HeatWave on AWS delivers a true native experience for AWS customers through millisecond-level latencies for applications and a rich interactive console. It facilitates schema and data management, and executes queries interactively from the console. Users can monitor the performance of their queries and monitor the utilization of the provisioned resources. MySQL Autopilot is also integrated with the interactive console, making it easier to use.





: MySQL HeatWave on AWS delivers a true native experience for AWS customers through millisecond-level latencies for applications and a rich interactive console. It facilitates schema and data management, and executes queries interactively from the console. Users can monitor the performance of their queries and monitor the utilization of the provisioned resources. MySQL Autopilot is also integrated with the interactive console, making it easier to use. Advanced security features: MySQL HeatWave service now offers several comprehensive security features which provide additional differentiation with Amazon Aurora. These include server-side data masking and de-identification, asymmetric data encryption, and a database firewall. Asymmetric data encryption enables developers and DBAs to increase the protection of confidential data and implement digital signatures to confirm the identity of people signing documents. Database firewall provides real-time protection against database-specific attacks, such as SQL Injections. These features are designed to provide best in class security for database users and provide a contrast with Aurora, where security methods are layered on top of the database.





MySQL HeatWave service now offers several comprehensive security features which provide additional differentiation with Amazon Aurora. These include server-side data masking and de-identification, asymmetric data encryption, and a database firewall. Asymmetric data encryption enables developers and DBAs to increase the protection of confidential data and implement digital signatures to confirm the identity of people signing documents. Database firewall provides real-time protection against database-specific attacks, such as SQL Injections. These features are designed to provide best in class security for database users and provide a contrast with Aurora, where security methods are layered on top of the database. MySQL Autopilot: Autopilot provides workload-aware, machine learning-based automation of various aspects of the application lifecycle, including provisioning, data management, query execution, and failure handling. Autopilot features include auto provisioning, auto parallel loading, auto encoding, auto data placement, auto scheduling, auto query plan improvement, auto change propagation, and auto error handling. Combined, these features improve performance of the application, reduce cost by predicting the optimal configuration to run a workload, and reduce manual database administration. Today, Oracle is introducing additional Autopilot capabilities designed for OLTP workloads which further improve MySQL HeatWave price performance compared to Amazon Aurora. Auto thread pooling provides higher and sustained throughput at high concurrency by determining the optimal number of transactions which should be executed. Auto shape prediction determines the optimal shape which should be provisioned to provide the best price performance for OLTP workloads. In a running system, the recommendation could be to continue using the existing shape, to upgrade to a larger shape for better performance or to downgrade to a smaller shape to reduce costswhichever shape provides the best price performance.





Autopilot provides workload-aware, machine learning-based automation of various aspects of the application lifecycle, including provisioning, data management, query execution, and failure handling. Autopilot features include auto provisioning, auto parallel loading, auto encoding, auto data placement, auto scheduling, auto query plan improvement, auto change propagation, and auto error handling. Combined, these features improve performance of the application, reduce cost by predicting the optimal configuration to run a workload, and reduce manual database administration. Today, Oracle is introducing additional Autopilot capabilities designed for OLTP workloads which further improve MySQL HeatWave price performance compared to Amazon Aurora. provides higher and sustained throughput at high concurrency by determining the optimal number of transactions which should be executed. determines the optimal shape which should be provisioned to provide the best price performance for OLTP workloads. In a running system, the recommendation could be to continue using the existing shape, to upgrade to a larger shape for better performance or to downgrade to a smaller shape to reduce costswhichever shape provides the best price performance. Machine Learning: HeatWave ML provides in-database machine learning capabilities, including training, inference, and explanations. This enables customers to securely use machine learning on real-time data without the complexity, latency, and cost of ETL. HeatWave ML fully automates the ML lifecycle and stores all trained models inside the MySQL database, eliminating the need to move them to a separate machine learning tool or service. It's available at no additional charge for MySQL HeatWave customers. No other cloud database vendor or open source database provides such advanced ML capabilities inside the database. On average, HeatWave ML trains models 25 times faster than Redshift ML and scales with the cluster size. MySQL HeatWave customers can now train models more often and keep them updated for increased prediction accuracy.

Ready for the Distributed Cloud

MySQL HeatWave is available in multiple clouds today, including OCI, AWS, and Microsoft Azure in the near future. It's available on-premises as part of Oracle Dedicated Region [email protected] for organizations that cannot move their database workloads to the public cloud. Customers can also replicate data from their on-premises MySQL OLTP applications to MySQL HeatWave on AWS or OCI to obtain near real-time analytics. MySQL HeatWave is always running the latest version of the MySQL database which is not the case for many of the other MySQL based services.

"While AWS offers a smorgasbord of cloud database services specialized for each data type and capability, MySQL HeatWave on AWS follows Oracle's converged database strategyoffering transaction, analytics, ML, and Autopilot automation all in one. For AWS users, this means no charges for add-on services, extra storage, data egress fees, connectors, and more. For cost conscious IT teams and developers, MySQL HeatWave on AWS represents a whole new TCO calculation with zero cost for what are add-on services on AWS and no data egress fees," said Marc Staimer, senior analyst, Wikibon. "And just as Usain Bolt left all of his competitors in the dust and set new world records that have yet to be broken, the latest price performance benchmark results demonstrate that MySQL HeatWave on AWS is 7X better than Amazon Redshift. If you follow the money, the choice is easy."

Customer Commentary

Additional customers commenting on today's news include:

Anish Kumar, associate vice president at 6D Technologies, an India-based high-tech solution provider in the telecom industry with customers in over 80 countries, said "MySQL HeatWave on AWS has 139X faster complex queries compared to Amazon RDS and Aurora that gives us a great opportunity to simplify our data infrastructure for both OLTP and OLAP with sub-second response time. Also, the web console is easy to configure and provides us the visibility to workload-related performance metrics with interactive reporting. MySQL HeatWave is a great fit for our microservices and cloud native product roadmap to deliver a superior experience and performance for our customers."

ITSP, Inc. is a high-tech solution provider and Oracle partner, based in Canada. "MySQL HeatWave on AWS is a game changer. We were pleasantly surprised with the ease-of-use and performance with 10-30X faster queries without complicated database tuning and performance improvement, using a similar database configuration," said Wenjin Zhou, PhD, chief technology officer, ITSP, Inc. "With a single database for OLTP and OLAP workloads for large volume of data sets, we no longer need index creation and maintenance which accelerates time-to-value for our clients."

U.S.-based Centroid Systems is a leading cloud services and technology company with over 200 customers and is an Oracle partner for more than 20 years. "We found MySQL HeatWave on AWS improved query performance by 15X with no changes to our application compared to using MariaDB on AWS RDS," said Ajay Arora, chief technology officer, Centroid. "With MariaDB for analytics along with Tableau for visualization, we had been experiencing multiple outages because of the volume of data and patches impacting the SQL query performance. The performance gains from MySQL HeatWave gave our business confidence to expand and bring more offerings to the market."

LeanTaaS is a predictive analytics and machine learning company that transforms healthcare operations through its platform, iQueue, for over 490 hospitals and 125 health systems in the United States. "MySQL HeatWave on AWS is an excellent solution for us as a small team. Having one database for both OLTP and OLAP workloads with 6X better performance compared to AWS RDS delivers real-time insights that helps us to continually enhance our iQueue platform, improve the user experience, and reduce complexity and administrative overhead for our team," said Gokhan Oner, senior engineering manager, LeanTaaS.

Bionime is a Taiwan-based, leading medical device manufacturer for diabetes monitoring systems in more than 100 countries. "MySQL HeatWave on AWS has 50X faster complex queries compared to AWS RDS and that not only provides us with real-time insights to accelerate application development, but also helps us improve patients' lives," said Kyle Yang, assistant manager, Bionime.

Additional Resources

Run your own benchmarks here

Watch the MySQL HeatWave explainer video

* Benchmark queries are derived from the TPC benchmarks, but results are not comparable to published TPC benchmarks results since these do not comply with the TPC specifications.

About Oracle

Oracle offers integrated suites of applications plus secure, autonomous infrastructure in the Oracle Cloud. For more information about Oracle ( NYSE: ORCL), please visit us at www.oracle.com.

Trademarks

Oracle, Java, and MySQL are registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation.

"Safe Harbor" Statement

Statements in this press release relating to Oracle's future plans, expectations, beliefs, intentions and prospects are "forward-looking statements" and are subject to material risks and uncertainties. A detailed discussion of these factors and other risks that affect our business is contained in Oracle's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, including our most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q under the heading "Risk Factors." These filings are available on the SEC's website or on Oracle's website at http://www.oracle.com/investor All information in this press release is current as of September 12, 2022, and Oracle undertakes no duty to update any statement in light of new information or future events.

(The preceding is intended to outline our general product direction. It is intended for information purposes only, and may not be incorporated into any contract. It is not a commitment to deliver any material, code, or functionality, and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions. The development, release, timing, and pricing of any features or functionality described for Oracle's products may change and remains at the sole discretion of Oracle Corporation.)

SOURCE Oracle
NEW YORK, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- OUTFRONT Media Inc. ( NYSE: OUT) announced today that Matthew Siegel, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, is scheduled to present at the Deutsche Bank 30th Annual Leveraged Finance Conference on Tuesday, September 20, 2022 at 5:35 p.m. Eastern Time. A live and replay audio webcast will be available on the investor relations section of the Company's website at www.OUTFRONTmedia.com.

About OUTFRONT Media Inc.

OUTFRONT leverages the power of technology, location, and creativity to connect brands with consumers outside of their homes through one of the largest and most diverse sets of billboard, transit, and mobile assets in North America. Through its technology platform, OUTFRONT will fundamentally change the ways advertisers engage audiences on-the-go.

Contacts:

Investors

Media Stephan Bisson

Courtney Richards Investor Relations

Communications & Event Manager (212) 297-6573

(646) 876-9404 [email protected]

[email protected]

SOURCE OUTFRONT Media Inc.
DUBLIN, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Costume Jewelry Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2022-2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global costume jewelry market reached a value of US$ 30.78 Billion in 2021. Looking forward, the publisher expects the market to reach a value of US$ 47.13 Billion by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 7.36% during 2021-2027. Keeping in mind the uncertainties of COVID-19, we are continuously tracking and evaluating the direct as well as the indirect influence of the pandemic on different end use sectors. These insights are included in the report as a major market contributor.

Costume jewelry refers to fashion accessories or decorative items generally manufactured using inexpensive materials, such as beads, non-precious metals, synthetic stones, ivory, plastic, terracotta, and glass. It can also be made from pearls and semi-precious metals such as silver, aluminum, and brass.

Costume jewelry is widely available in impressive designs and is worn for personal adornment or to complement current fashions, specific outfits, or garments. Apart from this, it helps the wearer add aesthetics, enhance beauty, and provide versatility cost-effectively. Earrings, anklets, finger and nose rings, bangles and necklaces are some of the common types of costume jewelry.

The evolving fashion trends owing to inflating income levels and increasing consciousness regarding personal appearances are creating a positive outlook for the market. In line with this, the rising working populace has facilitated the demand for affordable pieces of adornments, such as costume jewelry, which is further propelling the market growth.

Additionally, manufacturers are experimenting with different semi-precious stones, beads, and metals to provide numerous varieties of costume jewelry that cater to diverse fashion needs at cost-effective rates. This, in turn, is favoring the market growth. Apart from this, various product innovations, such as the introduction of customized costume jewelry that can be engraved with specific quotes, names, designs, and colors to create uniqueness and add emotional connection, are providing a considerable boost to the market growth.

Moreover, the widespread adoption of aggressive promotional activities, including celebrity endorsements and various discount offers, is positively impacting the market growth. Other factors, including the increasing purchasing power of the masses, the rising penetration of the internet, easy product availability across e-commerce platforms, innovations in jewelry packaging styles, and the increasing demand for men's costume jewelry, are anticipated to drive the market toward growth.

Competitive Landscape:

The competitive landscape of the industry has also been examined along with the profiles of the key players being Avon Products Inc. (Natura & Co), Buckley London, Chanel, Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA, David Yurman Enterprises LLC, Gianni Versace S.r.l. (Capri Holdings Limited), Giorgio Armani S.p.A., H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB, H.Stern Jewelers, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Pandora A/S, Prada S.p.A., Stuller Inc. and Yanbal.

Key Questions Answered in This Report:

How has the global costume jewelry market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years?

What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the global costume jewelry market?

What are the key regional markets?

What is the breakup of the market based on the product type?

What is the breakup of the market based on the gender?

What is the breakup of the market based on the distribution channel?

What are the various stages in the value chain of the industry?

What are the key driving factors and challenges in the industry?

What is the structure of the global costume jewelry market and who are the key players?

What is the degree of competition in the industry?

Key Topics Covered:

1 Preface



2 Scope and Methodology



3 Executive Summary



4 Introduction

4.1 Overview

4.2 Key Industry Trends



5 Global Costume Jewelry Market

5.1 Market Overview

5.2 Market Performance

5.3 Impact of COVID-19

5.4 Market Forecast



6 Market Breakup by Product Type

6.1 Rings

6.1.1 Market Trends

6.1.2 Market Forecast

6.2 Necklaces and Chains

6.2.1 Market Trends

6.2.2 Market Forecast

6.3 Earrings

6.3.1 Market Trends

6.3.2 Market Forecast

6.4 Cufflinks and Studs

6.4.1 Market Trends

6.4.2 Market Forecast

6.5 Bracelets

6.5.1 Market Trends

6.5.2 Market Forecast

6.6 Others

6.6.1 Market Trends

6.6.2 Market Forecast



7 Market Breakup by Gender

7.1 Female

7.1.1 Market Trends

7.1.2 Market Forecast

7.2 Male

7.2.1 Market Trends

7.2.2 Market Forecast



8 Market Breakup by Distribution Channel

8.1 Offline

8.1.1 Market Trends

8.1.2 Market Forecast

8.2 Online

8.2.1 Market Trends

8.2.2 Market Forecast



9 Market Breakup by Region



10 SWOT Analysis



11 Value Chain Analysis



12 Porters Five Forces Analysis



13 Price Analysis



14 Competitive Landscape

14.1 Market Structure

14.2 Key Players

14.3 Profiles of Key Players

14.3.1 Avon Products Inc. (Natura & Co)

14.3.1.1 Company Overview

14.3.1.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.2 Buckley London

14.3.2.1 Company Overview

14.3.2.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.3 Chanel

14.3.3.1 Company Overview

14.3.3.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.4 Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA

14.3.4.1 Company Overview

14.3.4.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.5 David Yurman Enterprises LLC

14.3.5.1 Company Overview

14.3.5.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.6 Gianni Versace S.r.l. (Capri Holdings Limited)

14.3.6.1 Company Overview

14.3.6.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.7 Giorgio Armani S.p.A.

14.3.7.1 Company Overview

14.3.7.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.8 H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB

14.3.8.1 Company Overview

14.3.8.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.8.3 Financials

14.3.8.4 SWOT Analysis

14.3.9 H.Stern Jewelers

14.3.9.1 Company Overview

14.3.9.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.10 LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton

14.3.10.1 Company Overview

14.3.10.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.11 Pandora A/S

14.3.11.1 Company Overview

14.3.11.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.12 Prada S.p.A.

14.3.12.1 Company Overview

14.3.12.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.13 Stuller Inc.

14.3.13.1 Company Overview

14.3.13.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.14 Yanbal

14.3.14.1 Company Overview

14.3.14.2 Product Portfolio

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/wnvyoo

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

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SOURCE Research and Markets
Company has bolstered its resource bench with key experts to better support its brand partners in the home service industry

CHICAGO, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, P1 Service Group, an industry-leading business growth partner that provides world-class resources to its home service partner companies across the country, announced the hiring of five new team members. The new additions to P1's experienced leadership team demonstrate the company's exceptional growth rate and early success since its founding in 2021.

P1 Service Group has added several new team members to their resource bench to better support its brand partners. Pictured are (top), Jake Meister, Justin Carrol, Jeff Belk and Steve McConnell and (bottom), Michelle Fadeley, Dan Friesen, Lisa White and Donata Hammonds.

"Adding these seasoned subject-matter experts with long-standing industry relationships to our team elevates our ability to deliver our 'people first' approach to a growing number of first-class home service companies around the nation," said Jeff Belk, CEO of P1 Service Group. "Our new team members help P1 stand out as the most experienced business growth partner in the home service industry. Their integrity and commitment to excellence perfectly complement our values and will support our partners in creating unique growth avenues."

The new team members include:

Steve McConnell , Chief Financial Officer. McConnell, who has more than 20 years of experience supporting the profitable growth of multiple private-equity- backed companies, will assist P1 and its partner companies in developing functional programs for the accounting and human resources departments. Lisa White , Vice President of Partner Relations. White has spent more than 22 years in the trades, including 21 years with the Nexstar Network. She has a decades-long relationship with both Belk and P1 President Justin Carrol , and now joins P1 to lead business development, guide partner companies in operations, and help contractors navigate the changing dynamics of the home services industry. Dan Friesen , Vice President of Training. Friesen started in the trades in 1993 and spent 17 years at Nexstar, where he trained more than 50,000 people. Friesen, who joined P1 after knowing Belk, Carrol, and White for nearly 20 years, supports partners by managing and advising on the continuous training of their team members. Michelle Fadeley , Vice President of Marketing. Fadeley has more than 20 years of comprehensive experience leading marketing strategies and initiatives for companies ranging in size from start-ups to those with established national footprints. Recruited for her breadth of experience in growth marketing, Fadeley helps P1's partner brands grow by delivering personalized recommendations on marketing best practices and lead generation. Donata Hammonds , Vice President of Recruiting. Hammonds previously spent seven years running a successful recruiting business that worked with home service companies, including working with Carrol for more than two years, before coming to P1. At P1, Hammonds collaborates with partner companies to optimize recruiting strategies and ensure a reliable pipeline of strong talent.

"This group's expertise will help P1 achieve long-term growth and success," Carrol said. "We're delighted to have each of them on the P1 team and to assist our growing partner network."

For more information about P1 Service Group, please visit www.p1servicegroup.com. P1 Service Group is financially backed by River Sea Network and The Edgewater Funds.

About P1 Service Group

Founded in 2021, P1 Service Group is an industry-leading growth partner to home service companies across the country. P1 supports its residential HVAC, plumbing, and electrical partner companies with a 'people first' approach, providing resources in the areas of recruiting, marketing, finance, training, leadership, acquisitions, business strategy, call center management, equipment pricing and procurement, and more. P1 partners with home service companies in the range of $10 to $100 million in annual revenue that share in the belief of its mission. P1 believes growth and profits come as a result of satisfied and supported team members through a positive, thriving culture. For more information, please visit www.p1servicegroup.com.

About River Sea Network

River Sea Network, founded in 2020, is a private investment management firm located in New York City. Although it pursues other strategies, River Sea is currently investing committed capital in the residential heating & air conditioning industry. Following a transaction, River Sea provides capital investment, strategic advice, business consultation and human resources to help companies achieve their full potential. For more information, please visit www.riverseanetwork.com.

About The Edgewater Funds

The Edgewater Funds is a Chicago-based private equity firm with over $2.8 billion of capital commitments raised since 2001. Through Edgewater Growth Capital Partners, they partner with management to help accelerate growth in their businesses. They are a flexible partner and can execute control and non-control investments. Please contact [email protected] for any questions or information.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Heather Ripley

Ripley PR

865-977-1973

[email protected]

SOURCE P1 Service Group
CHICAGO, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- (From the International Manufacturing Technology Show, Booth #134963)  Paessler AG, the monitoring experts, announced that David Montoya will lead Paessler's global IoT market initiative to help industrial manufacturing operations bridge the convergence gap between OT and IT, bringing data from both systems into one pane of glass with actionable alerts through its PRTG software platform to help keep operations running. In this new role, Montoya is responsible for driving growth in the IoT and IIoT markets and work with industry leaders to support better interoperability and visibility of machine data, as well as datacenter supervision, while increasing the scope of technologies with visualization and historical reporting.

David Montoya, Global IoT Business Development Manager, Paessler AG

Montoya is responsible for strategic planning, sales management and prospecting for new clients and partnerships while evangelizing the benefits of real-time monitoring for IIoT environments, including current resource usage and reduction, and how it also helps organizations to maintain compliance with industry regulations and certifications.

Montoya joined Paessler as the Channel Sales Manager for Mexico in 2016, where he developed that market by finding new resellers, organizing partner events and empowering channel partners through training and certifications. Montoya then stepped into the role of Latin America Channel Sales Manager for two years and most recently, held the role of Vice President of Sales for the Americas where he focused on growing Paessler's industrial/manufacturing offering, including OT/IoT convergence and monitoring.

"I am excited to take this next step with Paessler," says Montoya. "I'm very passionate about designing and deploying direct and channel go-to-market strategies for new products and new markets and I look forward to providing support to the IT/OT convergence gap and making the most out of our customers transformational efforts."

"David is an IoT visionary," says Helmut Binder, CEO, Paessler. "He has deep knowledge and a strong cross-cultural background that gives him insight on market potential across the globe. We look forward to the impact he will help Paessler make in the global industrial manufacturing market."

During 2023, under Montoya's leadership, Paessler will bring more IIoT specific features into the PRTG solution to address unique needs of industrial manufacturing environments.

Paessler has been offering monitoring solutions for businesses across all industries and sizes, from

SMB to large enterprises. More than 500,000 users in over 170 countries rely on PRTG and other Paessler solutions to monitor their IT, OT and IoT infrastructures. Monitoring places a vital part in reducing humankind's consumption of resources, and Paessler's products help customers optimize their IT, OT and IoT infrastructures, thus reducing their energy consumption and/or emissions.

About Paessler AG

Paessler believes monitoring plays a vital part in reducing humankind's consumption of resources. Monitoring data helps its customers save resources, from optimizing their IT, OT and IoT infrastructures to reducing energy consumption or emissions  for our future and our environment. That is why Paessler offers monitoring solutions for businesses across all industries and all sizes, from SMB to large enterprises. Paessler works with renowned partners, and together they tackle the monitoring challenges of an ever-changing world.

Since 1997, when Paessler first introduced PRTG Network Monitor, it has combined its in-depth monitoring knowledge with an innovative spirit. Today, more than 500,000 users in over 170 countries rely on PRTG and other Paessler solutions to monitor their complex IT, OT and IoT infrastructures. Paessler's products empower its customers to monitor everything, and thus help them optimize their resources.

Learn more about Paessler and their products at https://www.paessler.com/.





SOURCE Paessler AG - The Monitoring Experts
Why Traditional Mediation Methods Do Not Work

IRVINE, Calif., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Are you attending the 2022 AAML/BVR Divorce Conference in Las Vegas? TALG is! And they are bringing Tenny Amin, LL.M. Tenny is the Co-Owner and Partner at TALG's Irvine, California office. TALG is a multi-jurisdictional law firm with offices in five states: Nevada, California, Arizona, Texas, and North Carolina. TALG's practice areas include business litigation and transactions, intellectual property & life sciences, biotechnology, real estate, and family law litigation and mediation services. Check out TALG at https://talglaw.com/.

After practicing exclusively as a family law litigator for over fifteen years, in 2020 Tenny earned her Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine University School of Law. Pepperdine's dispute resolution program is currently ranked as #1 in the nation.

Why Traditional Mediation Methods Do Not Work Tweet this

"Splitting the pie" is a traditional mediation approach that should be rethought! Tenny published an article about why she has focused her practice on utilizing skilled negotiation techniques, assessing and considering plausible alternative options, and carefully navigating the zone of possible agreement. You can read her article here: https://talglaw.com/traditional-mediation-methods-fail/.

Stop by the TALG booth at The Venetian Resort Hotel & Casino, September 18-20, 2022, and meet Tenny. The National Divorce Conference brings together the leading matrimonial attorneys and financial experts to gain critical insights from nationally recognized presenters and a unique opportunity to network with other professionals that will help you expand your own skill set to offer clients a broader solution to complex issues. Here is the link to the Divorce Conference: https://www.bvresources.com/events/2022-aaml-bvr-divorce-conference/home. Get registered and let's meet!

SOURCE Talg
Application deadline is Nov. 18

HARRISBURG, Penn., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency today is issuing a Request for Proposals soliciting applications from organizations for projects to improve the availability and affordability of housing across the commonwealth. Funding for this RFP is being provided through the Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement (PHARE) Fund. The total PHARE funding available this year exceeds $45 million.

PHARE receives its funding from the impact fee levied on natural gas drilling companies and a portion of the Realty Transfer Tax. Funding is available for housing initiatives in all of Pennsylvania's 67 counties. PHFA is charged with administering the allocation of PHARE dollars.

"This year we mark a full decade of the PHARE program, and its impact on housing across Pennsylvania has been tremendous," said PHFA Executive Director and CEO Robin Wiessmann. "New affordable housing has been created, existing affordable housing has been preserved, and families that could have become homeless have places to live. We're proud of the many ongoing successes of the program."

PHARE applications are completed and submitted entirely online, eliminating the need for paper submissions and simplifying the process for applicants. The RFP is located on PHFA's website at https://www.phfa.org/legislation/act105.aspx, and the application is accessible on the PHARE webpage at https://phare.phfa.org/. Applications are due to PHFA no later than 2 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 18.

PHFA is planning two, 90-minute informational webinars for organizations interested in applying for PHARE funds. Both webinars will cover the same information. Webinar dates and times are:

Sept. 21 at 10 a.m.

at Sept. 28 at 2 p.m.

A link has been posted at https://www.phfa.org/legislation/act105.aspx for webinar registration. Questions may be directed to Clay Lambert at PHFA via email at [email protected].

The PHARE fund has been allocating money for local housing initiatives since 2012. These funds are producing significant housing benefits that include:

More than 7,200 individuals and families have received rental or utility assistance

More than 2,000 homes have been rehabilitated and preserved for continued use

More than 2,600 new rental units have been created

180 new single-family homes have been constructed

420 future home sites have been prepared through site acquisition and demolition

More than 250 new residents have received assistance to purchase their first home

PHARE funds have been used to leverage an additional $800 million of investments in housing across Pennsylvania

About PHFA

The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency works to provide affordable homeownership and rental housing options for older adults, low- and moderate-income families, and people with special housing needs. Through its carefully managed mortgage programs and investments in multifamily housing developments, PHFA also promotes economic development across the state. Since its creation by the legislature in 1972, it has generated more than $16.5 billion of funding for more than 189,374 single-family home mortgage loans, helped fund the construction of 139,974 rental units, distributed approximately $239 million to support local housing initiatives, and saved the homes of more than 50,660 families from foreclosure. PHFA programs and operations are funded primarily by the sale of securities and from fees paid by program users, not by public tax dollars. The agency is governed by a 14-member board.

Media contact:

Scott Elliott

[email protected]

717-649-6522 (cell)

SOURCE Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency
WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- IPO Education Foundation (IPOEF) will award its 2022 IP Champion honor to Dr. Gary K. Michelson, a spiral surgeon, inventor, and founder of a network of foundations. The IP Champion award recognizes extraordinary leadership in advocating for the value of intellectual property to stimulate the progress of innovation.

A holder of more than 950 patents, Dr. Michelson has long championed a strong patent system and the value of IP protections. In 2016, he established the Michelson Institute for Intellectual Property (Michelson IP) at his education nonprofit the Michelson 20MM Foundation, providing free intellectual property educational resources for inventors and entrepreneurs, with a strong focus on underrepresented communities.

Dr. Gary Michelson wins IPOEF's IP Champion award for leadership in advocating for the value of intellectual property. Tweet this

Michelson IP produces various free high-quality IP resources including an interactive digital text and introductory college textbook that makes patents, copyright, and trademarks understandable for students and non-lawyers. Michelson IP also developed an animated video series that breaks down the content into digestible 3-4 minute videos, and a comprehensive online course available at a global scale on the Udemy platform. More than 20,000 students worldwide have taken the course since it was introduced. Nearly 400 institutions have embedded Michelson IP's resources into their curricula.

In 2021, Michelson IP also partnered with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to launch the HBCU IP Futures Collaborative, bringing IP curricula, resources, and grants to participating institutions. This year, one HBCU student who received IP education through the Collaborative went on to invent a fast food automation machine and file for a patent with the USPTO, which is currently reviewing the application.

Dr. Michelson will be honored for his IP education advocacy with the IP Champion Award at the 2022 IPOEF Awards on December 7 at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. For tickets and information, visit IPOEF.org .

About IPO Education Foundation

Started in 2000, Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation is a non-profit organization devoted to educational and charitable activities designed to teach about the value of intellectual property rights and encourage innovation. The Foundation is committed to promoting an understanding and respect of intellectual property rights and their value for society. To learn more visit www.ipoef.org . IPO Education Foundation is a subsidiary of Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO), established in 1972, a trade association for owners of patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets.

Contact: Nyree C. Berry

202.507.4514 | [email protected]

SOURCE Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation
NOIDA, India, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new report published by UnivDatos Markets Insights the Power Rental Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 6% from 2021-2027. The analysis has been segmented into Application (Continuous Load, Standby Load, and Peak Load); Equipment (Generators, Transformers, Load Banks, and Others); Power Rating (Up to 50 kW, 51 kW  500 kW, 501 kW  2500 kW, and Above 2500 kW); Region/Country.

The report has been aggregated by collecting informative data from various dynamics such as market drivers, restraints, and opportunities. This innovative report makes use of several analyses to get a closer outlook on the Power Rental Market in the Global context. This report offers a detailed analysis of the latest industry developments and trending factors that are influencing market growth. Furthermore, this statistical market research repository examines and estimates the Global Power Rental Market at the regional & country levels.

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Market Overview

The global power rental market is expected to witness a CAGR of around 7% during the forecast period (20212027).

Rising investments in power transmission and distribution networks coupled with the growing augmentation and modernization of transmission and distribution networks across the globe are expected to drive the market. Power rental refers to the facility of temporarily renting power equipment for supplying energy across industries. It delivers functioning power equipment along with various scalable components, which are installed in power stations. It also offers reliability, flexibility, speed, and cost-effectiveness to businesses for coping with brief shortages of power. The power rental services are aimed to stabilize utility power grids and provide additional energy to industries and support communities. Owing to this, it finds extensive application across the construction, mining, and oil & gas industries.

Click here to view the Report Description & TOC

https://univdatos.com/report/power-rental-market-2/

COVID-19 Impact

Industry growth witnessed some stress and negative impact due to COVID-19. The sudden outbreak of COVID-19 has sent shockwaves across industries, including mining. Encouragingly, major miners have shown resilience during the pandemic through appropriate risk management to reduce infection risks that could have potentially jeopardized operations. Now, more than ever, mining companies are required to play a crucial role in protecting the health of employees and partners, support local economies, as well as become purpose-driven, adaptable, and resilient organizations.

The global Power Rental Market report is studied thoroughly with several aspects that would help stakeholders in making their decisions more curated.

Based on application, the market is classified into continuous load, standby load, and peak load. Amongst them, in 2020, the continuous load category dominated the market. This is mainly due to the rising need for continuous power supply in remote locations such as mining, construction, oil & gas operations, ships, etc. where the access to grid supply is not present. Here, the equipment installed act as primary power equipment such as the use of generators as the primary power source. In addition, the rise in population and urbanization rate coupled with the increasing demand for electricity has resulted in the expansion of prime power generation capacity.

Based on equipment, the market is classified into generators, transformers, load banks, and others. Amongst them, the generators category is accounted for a significant market share in 2020. Robust infrastructure expansion, as well as the growing importance of power backup solutions and emergency preparedness among end-users, is expected to drive the category's growth. The generator category is further bifurcated into diesel, natural gas, and other fuel types. Diesel-fueled units are set to witness a steady deployment rate driven by their ability to provide weather-independent, scalable, and flexible operations. These systems offer round-the-clock power availability and low up-front costs which is further expected to support the generator category's growth. However, stringent emission control norms may hamper the sales of these systems during the forecast period.

Based on power rating, the market is categorized into Up to 50 kW, 51 kW  500 kW, 501 kW  2500 kW, and Above 2500 kW. During the forecast period, the 5012,000 KW category is expected to witness significant growth in the global power rental market owing to its greater applicability driven by increasing demand for backup power in commercial spaces such as hotels, telecom towers, and educational institutions Furthermore, the rising population and rapid urbanization have increased the demand for a consistent supply of electricity. Demand for power rental systems will be driven by the lack of additional infrastructure requirements and lower setup costs, as well as the growing urgency to maintain continuous business operations.

Have a Look at the Chapters - https://univdatos.com/report/power-rental-market-2/

Power Rental Market Geographical Segmentation Includes:

North America ( United States , Canada , and Rest of North America )

( , , and Rest of ) Europe ( Germany , United Kingdom , Italy , France , Spain , and the Rest of Europe )

( , , , , , and the Rest of ) Asia-Pacific ( China , India , Australia , Japan , and the Rest of Asia-Pacific )

( , , , , and the Rest of ) Rest of the World

For a better understanding of the market adoption of the power rental industry, the market is analyzed based on its worldwide presence in the countries such as North America (US, Canada, Rest of North America); Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Italy, Spain, and the Rest of Europe); Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, India, Australia, Rest of Asia-Pacific); and the Rest of World. Asia Pacific holds the extensive market share predominantly because the region is witnessing some of the largest T&D expansions due to rapidly increasing demand in countries such as India and China. Furthermore, the demand for power rental systems is increasing in the region due to their cost-effectiveness as they require low installation costs and negligible maintenance, as well as provide an uninterrupted and reliable power supply.

The major players targeting the market include

Caterpillar Inc.

Cummins Inc.

Aggreko plc

Ashtead Group plc

United Rentals Inc.

Atlas Copco AB

Herc Rentals Inc.

Generac Holdings Inc.

Wacker Neuson SE

Kohler Co.

Competitive Landscape

The degree of competition among prominent companies has been elaborated by analyzing several leading key players operating in the global context. The specialist team of research analysts sheds light on various traits such as global market competition, market share, most recent industry advancements, innovative product launches, partnerships, mergers, or acquisitions by leading companies in the Power Rental Market. The major players have been analyzed using different research methodologies for getting insight views on market competition.

Key questions resolved through this analytical market research report include:

What are the latest trends, new patterns, and advancements in the Power Rental Market?

Which factors are influencing the Power Rental Market over the forecast period?

What are the challenges, threats, and risks in the Power Rental Market?

Which factors are propelling and restraining the Power Rental Market?

What are the demanding regions of the Power Rental Market globally?

What will be the market size in the upcoming years?

What are the crucial market acquisition strategies and policies applied by the companies?

We understand the requirement of different businesses, regions, and countries, we offer customized reports as per your requirements of business nature. Please let us know If you have any custom needs.

Browse Other Related Research Reports from UnivDatos Market Insights

About UnivDatos Market Insights (UMI)

UnivDatos Market Insights (UMI) is a passionate market research firm and a subsidiary of Universal Data Solutions. We believe in delivering insights through Market Intelligence Reports, Customized Business Research, and Primary Research. Our research studies are spread across topics across the world, we cover markets in over 100 countries using smart research techniques and agile methodologies. We offer in-depth studies, detailed analysis, and customized reports that help shape winning business strategies for our clients.

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UnivDatos Market Insights

Ankita Gupta

Director Operations

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SOURCE Univdatos Market Insights Private Limited
HOUSTON, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Quikserv, Inc. ("Quikserv") and United States Bullet Proofing, Inc. ("USBP"), today announced the formation of a new parent company, Specialty Fenestration Group ("SFG"). The new company brings together two iconic brands and renowned market leaders for high-level security and transaction systems, under one joint enterprise to streamline customer access to products and operations while extending market access across both companies.

Specialty Fenestration Group - Quikserv and U.S. Bullet Proofing

The companies will continue to operate as two independent brands operated under one strategic direction for growth and innovation in the security space. The new company will also utilize synergies through cross-selling, product development and manufacturing to provide the most comprehensive and best-in-class line of high security aluminum doors, windows, louvers, and transaction systems available on the market for the security, glazing and architectural community.

"The creation of Specialty Fenestration Group allows us to closely integrate our companies under one powerhouse," said Jason Epps, Chief Executive Officer of Specialty Fenestration Group. "This will allow us to fortify our market position, accelerate and expand our domestic and international growth and allow us to deliver more value from the back to the front end of our businesses for the benefit of our customers."

Jason Epps will provide leadership for the new entity as Chief Executive Officer of Specialty Fenestration Group, while maintaining the same title and leadership role for Quikserv. Joining him in the SFG executive management team will also be Lisa Csikos as Chief Financial Officer, Hector Vallejo as Chief Revenue Officer, and Chris Cordle as Chief Operating Officer. Ken Sampson, founder of U.S. Bullet Proofing, will continue as leader and President.

Quikserv acquired U.S. Bullet Proofing in June 2021 and with the creation of this new parent company will provide a unified direction for both brands. Click here to read the full press release regarding the acquisition.

Specialty Fenestration Group will share its headquarters with Quikserv in Houston, TX and USBP will continue to operate in their office and manufacturing facility in Upper Marlboro, MD.

For more information on Specialty Fenestration Group, visit www.specialtyfenestrationgroup.com.

Specialty Fenestration Group continues to seek complementary strategic company partners. Specialty Fenestration Company is a portfolio company of River Associates Investments, a longstanding lower middle-market private equity firm based in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

About Quikserv

Quikserv Incorporated is a premier manufacturer of pass-thru and security transaction systems based in Houston, Texas. For over 35 years Quikserv has been a market leader in transaction window and drive-thru window systems employing expert craftsmanship, custom solution designs, and exceptional customer service. They offer one of the widest product lines available for transaction windows, ticket windows, transaction drawers and bullet resistant transaction solutions. Their tagline "We Put More In - You Get More Out" is synonymous to the quality and craftmanship expected by their customers.

About U.S. Bullet Proofing

Founded in 1988 for the purpose of Protecting People and Property, United States Bullet Proofing supplies the industry the most advanced forced entry, ballistic, storm impact and blast resistant high security aluminum-fabricated product lines available on the market. They are pioneers in solutions designed and certified for the Department of State with products also commonly sourced for Federal Buildings, Military Bases, International Embassies, Police Stations, Schools and Universities, Data Centers, Banks and other Government Facilities around the world.

SOURCE Quikserv
LONDON, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- REVIV President and CEO Sarah Lomas announces that REVIV has partnered with Australian premium skincare brand Grown Alchemist.

Beauty and urban lifestyle brand, Grown Alchemist, have launched into the UK partnering with Nobu Hotel London Portman Square to deliver their revolutionary three phase system; Cleanse, Detox, Activate  which works to restore skin cell function for healthy, radiant skin.

Grown Alchemist's treatments have been crafted to embody the brand's values, viewing beauty in the context of overall health and wellness. Grown Alchemist are at the forefront of innovation in skincare, and alongside the typical facials and massages, they will be delivering IV drip therapy to perfectly complement the benefits of their treatments. A truly great fit for those that want a holistic approach to skincare and wellness.

Grown Alchemist partnered with REVIV, the global leader in IV drip therapy, to design a bespoke infusion. Designed by expert doctors and scientists The Grown Alchemist Exclusive IV focuses on aiding the hydration and detoxification of the body - nourishing skin, hair and nails, in addition to supporting the body's processes for energy and collagen production and digestion. REVIV's highly skilled medical practitioners will be administering our exclusive IV for a quality experience.

Jeremy Muijs, co-founder and CEO of Grown Alchemist says: "Part of being a skincare company is to find the opportunity - whatever the mechanism, to create function and health. Restoring health is anti-aging. Health restoring and anti-aging are identical. So for us, if we can do those two things  restore health and create function in the body, it doesn't matter the mechanism we employ to do it and if science moves in a better way to deliver that, we need to be there. Partnering with REVIV allows us to remain right at the forefront of innovation in beauty and wellness."

About REVIV

REVIV is a life science led provider of nutritional health solutions, and their goal is to be the only personalized nutritional health company that offers precision nutrition solutions, using big data coupled with AI, to evidence that nutrition can have a positive impact on medical conditions or disease. REVIV's vision is to pioneer the democratization of nutrition-based treatments which will reduce disease, extend life and allow people to live better and healthier lives.

For more information about REVIV Global visit our website: www.revivme.com or email Emma Robertson on [email protected], +44 7398 213452

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SOURCE Reviv Global
McKone Recently Launched McK Strategies, a Political Consulting and Lobbying Firm that will Draw Upon His More than Three Decades of Legislative Affairs Experience

McKone Most Recently Served as Executive Vice President for Federal Relations at AT&T

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Roberti Global, a leading bipartisan federal government affairs and public affairs firm, announced today the appointment of Tim McKone as a Senior Advisor. In this role, Mr. McKone will leverage more than three decades of experience as a political strategist in the telecommunications space to provide advice and counsel to Roberti Global's clients on a range of critical issues before Congress and the administration. McKone recently launched McK Strategies, a political consulting and lobbying firm, following his retirement from AT&T where he served as Executive Vice President for Federal Relations.

"We're thrilled to have Tim join us as a Strategic Advisor during this critical time as, more than ever, our clients are seeking expert counsel to effectively navigate challenging dynamics and sensitive issues at the intersection of business and politics," said, Vin Roberti, Chairman of Roberti Global. "Tim's expertise and deep relationships on the hill are unmatched, and he has a proven track record of building strong cross-party coalitions and effecting legislative change. I'm confident Tim will be an invaluable asset to our firm's clients, and we warmly welcome him to our team."

"Vin and the Roberti Global team have established an impressive reputation as a preeminent bipartisan government affairs firm for domestic and foreign companies," said Mr. McKone. "I am grateful for the opportunity to work alongside Vin and his colleagues and look forward to helping counsel clients on pivotal lobbying and advocacy issues in this increasingly volatile partisan environment. In particular, the regulatory and competitive landscape for telecommunications is rapidly evolving, and I'm eager to help clients manage the policy implications of these changes. "

About Tim McKone

Mr. McKone is an experienced government affairs professional. This month, he launched McK Strategies, a global and domestic political and government consulting firm that will build upon Mr. McKone's 30+ years of experience representing some of the world's largest private companies and most prominent trade associations. He recently retired from AT&T where he served as Executive Vice Present for Federal Relations in Washington, D.C. In that role he oversaw legislative efforts within Congress and multiple presidential administrations on behalf of the company. During his tenure, he facilitated significant legislative successes for AT&T and managed legislative strategy for several industry-defining transactions, including Southwestern Bell's (SBC) acquisition of AT&T, as well as AT&T's purchase of BellSouth, DirecTV, and TimeWarner. Previously, Mr. McKone was a partner at Davis Manafort, where he represented high-profile clients including SBC and Fannie Mae. Mr. McKone also has advised on congressional and presidential campaigns, including those for Dole, Bush-Cheney, and McCain.

For more information, visit https://www.mckstrategies.com/.

About Roberti Global

Roberti Global is a leading bipartisan federal government affairs and public affairs firm with offices in Washington, D.C., New York City, and London. The firm's team has more than 75 years of experience in political advocacy and strategic issues management, including at the highest levels of government, on the campaign trail, and as top advisors to Fortune 500 companies, philanthropic institutions, trade associations, and foreign governments.

With its team of seasoned Republican and Democratic strategists, Roberti Global effectively navigates political and partisan influences to represent its clients' interests. The firm's deep bench and decades of experience are fundamental to its success in helping clients of all sizes and stripes realize their legislative and public affairs objectives.

For more information, visit https://robertiglobal.com/.

Media Contact

August Strategic Communications

Steven Goldberg

[email protected]

323.892.5562

SOURCE Roberti Global
First and Only Home Energy Monitor that Validates Solar Production Without Relying on

3G or Other Cellular Networks

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Sense announced the debut of the new Sense Solar Revenue Grade, the first home energy monitor with revenue grade capabilities that validates solar production without relying on a cellular network. Sense Solar Revenue Grade ensures that solar homeowners can continue to participate in SREC programs and take advantage of financed solar systems that require revenue grade monitoring as cellular carriers end their 3G services.

Available only to solar providers, Sense Solar Revenue Grade validates solar generation data at an accuracy level of +/- 0.5%. This enhanced accuracy meets the obligations required by nearly any third party for monitoring residential solar production for a home. Sense Solar Revenue Grade has been UL certified and delivers robust and secure measurement of production at revenue grade accuracy.

Between 2010-2020 more than 2 million residential solar panels were installed in the U.S. Affordable financing options for homeowners accelerated market adoption by reducing upfront costs, and SREC markets shortened the time for a positive return on investment. These financial models rely on solar meters that provide accurate measurement of solar production and communicate that information back to both homeowners and third parties that service them. However, as wireless providers retire their 3G networks, communications for many of these customers' systems are at risk, creating a problem for both solar providers and their customers.

Sense Solar Revenue Grade lowers the cost and risk of bridging this gap while delivering added value to customers. It validates system production data without added subscription costs or cellular data fees. Also, Sense Solar Revenue Grade eliminates the need for costly meter swap-outs with each cellular network upgrade, future-proofing the customer's investment and reducing provider costs.

In the award-winning Sense app, homeowners see real-time solar production and home energy usage, giving them insights that help them maximize savings. Solar providers that integrate Sense into their offerings experience increased customer satisfaction, loyalty and referrals.

The Sense Solar Revenue Grade unit installs easily inside the main service panel in a home. Production and consumption data can be monitored from the Sense partner platform or through integrations with other third party platforms leveraging the Sense API.

Today more than 500 solar providers have partnered with Sense to add value to their offerings across North America, including Solgen Power, SUNation and Energy Service Partners. Solar installers trust Sense to increase engagement and energy literacy with their customers. Partners are now installing Sense earlier in the sales cycle to help customers understand their usage and increase customer retention and satisfaction. With electricity rates increasing and solar adoption expanding, Sense is continuing to add installers to its partner program. For more information about becoming a Sense partner, visit sense.com/pro .

About Sense

Sense's mission is to reduce global carbon emissions by making homes smarter and more efficient. We empower people to care for their homes and families while contributing to a cleaner, more resilient future. Founded in 2013 by pioneers in speech recognition, Sense uses machine learning technology to provide real-time insights on device behavior, even for those devices that are not "smart." Customers rely on Sense for a wide range of uses including monitoring their home appliances, determining whether they left appliances running and identifying how to reduce their energy costs. Sense is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass. To make sense of your energy, visit: https://sense.com .

SOURCE Sense
WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division trial lawyer Ryan Sandrock has moved to Shook, Hardy & Bacon as co-chair of the firm's Antitrust Practice, effective September 12, 2022. Expanding Shook's antitrust capabilities, Sandrock will focus on litigation, transactions, investigations, and counseling with a competition or consumer protection nexus.

U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division trial lawyer Ryan Sandrock has moved to Shook, Hardy & Bacon as co-chair of the firms Antitrust Practice, effective September 12, 2022.

"Ryan brings a wealth of experience in complex antitrust litigation for technology, consumer and healthcare companies," said Shook Chair Madeleine McDonough. "In addition to his trial strength, he provides a strategic outlook for clients in this increasingly active and important area of law."

For more than two years, Sandrock served as a Digital Markets Trial Attorney in the DOJ's Antitrust Division. His most notable DOJ work included United States v. Google, United States v. UnitedHealth Group, and United States v. United States Sugar Corporation, as well as confidential civil and criminal matters.

Before joining DOJ, Sandrock was an antitrust partner in Sidley Austin's San Francisco office. He secured wins for life sciences and technology clients in antitrust cases in the Northern District of California and around the country. He also litigated FTC consumer protection matters as well as antitrust and non-antitrust consumer class actions.

"Companies are having to think about antitrust more than ever before," said Sandrock. "There is a dramatic increase of enforcement and private litigation and the possibility of antitrust legislation that would overhaul the Sherman Act. I'm really excited to bring my DOJ insight to Shook's team, which is renowned for its reputation in counseling and trial strategy."

Sandrock earned his law degree from the University of Chicago Law School and his A.B. from Harvard University. He is also an adjunct professor at Hastings Law School, where he co-teaches Antitrust and Intellectual Property. He has written for a wide range of publications on antitrust-related topics, including pieces on the direct purchaser rule, refusal to deal standards, and predatory pricing claims.

Shook's Antitrust Practice includes counsel formerly with the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, among other government agencies. This team is positioned to analyze antitrust issues, advise companies on investigation and enforcement, and develop strategies to protect some of the country's best known brands. Shook attorneys who advocate for clients in this area include Michael Cargnel, Gary Miller, Lynn Murray, Laurie Novion, Patrick Oot and Joseph Rebein. In 2021, the firm also welcomed Elliott Davis, a seven-year veteran of the DOJ, where he served as the principal deputy to the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. Sandrock will divide his time between Shook's San Francisco and Washington, D.C., offices.

"We've known Ryan and his outstanding trial capabilities for many years," said Shook Partner Lynn Murray, who will co-chair Antitrust with Sandrock. "We're delighted to bring him on board to expand our antitrust group and lead us to the next level of antitrust litigation and counseling services for clients."

About Shook, Hardy & Bacon

Founded in 1889, Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P. has 18 offices in the United States and London, with attorneys and professional staff serving clients in the health, science and technology sectors in areas ranging from product liability defense and business litigation to intellectual property prosecution and litigation, environmental and toxic tort, privacy and data security and regulatory counseling.

SOURCE Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P.
STOCKHOLM, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Skanska signed a contract amendment with Oregon Health & Science University for its Hospital Expansion Project in Portland, Oregon, USA. The contract amendment is worth USD 63M, about SEK 620M, which will be included in the US order bookings for the third quarter 2022.

The contract includes early site and foundation work and long lead equipment procurement. Construction is underway and completion for work under the amendment is scheduled for the end of June 2023. Work on the OHSU Hospital Expansion Project began in April 2022, and substantial completion is scheduled for 2026.

For further information please contact:

Daniela Arellano, Communications Director, Skanska USA, tel +1 (213) 317 4977

Jacob Birkeland, Head of Media Relations and Public Affairs, Skanska AB, tel +46 (0)10 449 19 57

Direct line for media, tel +46 (0)10 448 88 99

This and previous releases can also be found at www.skanska.com.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/skanska/r/skanska-signs-additional-contract-to-expand-hospital-in-portland--oregon--usa-for-usd-63m--about-sek,c3629058

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/95/3629058/1625327.pdf 20220912 US hospital expansion

SOURCE Skanska
Electrically driven, alternative-fuels-capable pump supports vehicle electrification

DETROIT, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Stanadyne, a leading global fuel and air management systems supplier, has developed an electrically driven gasoline direct injection (GDI) fuel pump as part of its approach to fuel delivery system technology based on electrification. Called the "E-Pump Module," it is powered by 24- and 48-volt vehicle architectures and is decoupled from the internal combustion engine drivetrain. This enables the fuel flow and pressure to be electrically controlled to optimize and reduce fuel consumption, as the pump speed is now independent of engine revolutions per minute.

"Moving to an electrically powered GDI pump breaks from the standard design of connecting it to the engine for operation," said Stanadyne Chief Technology Officer Dr. Brad Stroia. "This is an important innovation for hybrid vehicles. Pump operation can be reduced, or even suspended entirely, when the engine has low fuel delivery demand to improve overall vehicle efficiency."

The E-Pump's compact, modular, and scalable design uses a Stanadyne proprietary controller and software. It is scalable for 250- to 500-bar fuel systems and suitable for a wide range of engine applications. The pump is compatible with E10 to E85 and M15 fuels with a top-end fueling capacity of 1000 cc per revolution (up to 100 liters per hour).

When tested on a demonstration vehicle and compared to base 200-250 bar GDI system technology on a 2.0 liter turbo engine:

Emissions were reduced by an approximately 10 percent.

Mechanical noise emission was reduced by approximately 9 dB(A).

Start time was improved by approximately 0.7 seconds.

A system pressures of up to 400 bar were achieved.

"Stanadyne's new E-Pump enables vehicle electrification by offering lower power absorption, a quieter noise signature, and features such as start-stop and on-demand fueling, providing higher system efficiency by decoupling vehicle accessories from the engine," said Stroia. "Its lower fuel consumption provides environmentally friendly emissions benefits that help reduce pollution."

Stanadyne's Electrified Gas Direct Injection Fuel Pump is the first in a line of electrified products being developed by Stanadyne to enable clean propulsion for electrified applications. It is making its industry debut at the North American International Auto Show (aka Detroit Auto Show) and will be on display at the company's Automobili-D vehicle pod during Industry Days being held September 14-15, 2022.

About Stanadyne

Stanadyne designs, manufactures, and remanufactures fuel delivery systems and components for gasoline and diesel engines, as well as low-carbon alternative fuels. Founded in 1873, the company specializes in pioneering technology for engines that move our world and remanufactured components that help keep them operating efficiently. The company provides customers with customized design, engineering, and manufacturing solutions from its United States, China, Italy, India, and United Arab Emirates locations in partnership with its global aftermarket service dealers and distributor network. For more information, visit stanadyne.com.

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SOURCE Stanadyne LLC
The Fast-Growing Hydration Solutions Brand Brings Support Closer To Customers And Retailers In The Heart of Distribution in America

COSTA MESA, Calif., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Takeya USA , the Southern California-based global hydration brand, has opened its brand new 120,000-square-foot distribution center in New Albany, Ohio to support operations and continued company growth.

Takeya opened its brand new 120,000-square-foot distribution center in New Albany, Ohio to support operations and continued company growth

"Strategically placed in the heart of distribution in the U.S., our new Takeya Distribution Center officially opened on Friday, September 9," said Ken Tran, President and CEO of Takeya USA. "This new facility will be integral in our efforts to improve efficiency for customers and retailers alike. As we forge ahead with our expansive growth, the distribution center is yet another step in building Takeya's future while offering exciting opportunities to our company and employees."

The New Albany distribution center demonstrates both a strategic and sizable investment by the hydration solutions brand to reduce lead times, improve quality, and automate services to better serve key retailers and customers. The Takeya Distribution Center features 8,000 square feet of office space, 23 dock doors, and 65,000 square feet of staging space, playing a pivotal role in Takeya's fast-growing business development. The new hub will also power TakeyaUSA.com and boost the brand's ecommerce line, as well as increase efficiency of deliveries for retailers with nationwide shipping access, and support operations closer to customers.

"Upholding Takeya's mission to be an employees-first company, we're proud that this development has had zero impact on our current employees," Tran continued. "We're thrilled that the facility will not only offer new opportunities for our current workforce, but will also open up 50 jobs to the local community, uniquely positioning us to find fresh talent and expand our incredible team."

Continuing its wide-ranging growth in the global hydration market, Takeya recently unveiled a complete website rebrand and has plans to release an innovative new product line, in addition to its distribution center this year. Further establishing itself as a leader in the industry, Takeya's continued developments will deliver on the brand's mission to inspire, energize, and celebrate fitness enthusiasts everywhere.

ABOUT TAKEYA USA

Headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, Takeya USA is a fast-growing active fitness brand that specializes in insulated hydration solutions for people on the go. Established in 2008, Takeya USA brings 55 years of Japanese design heritage and innovation to provide simple solutions that work. Whatever you do to keep active and strong, Takeya will be there to keep you refreshed and hydrated along the way. For more information, visit www.TakeyaUSA.com .

MEDIA CONTACT

Chelsea Becker

[email protected]

SOURCE Takeya USA
COVID-19 Maintained Its Ranking in the Top Five Telehealth Diagnoses across the Nation, according to FAIR Health's Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker

NEW YORK, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In June 2022, after two months of growth, national telehealth utilization fell 3.7 percent, from 5.4 percent of medical claim lines in May to 5.2 percent in June, according to FAIR Health's Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker.1 Declines also occurred in the Northeast (4.8 percent) and South (2.4 percent), but there was an increase in telehealth utilization of 2.9 percent in the West and no change in the Midwest. The data represent the privately insured population, including Medicare Advantage and excluding Medicare Fee-for-Service and Medicaid.

FAIR Health Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker: June 2022 Telehealth National

Diagnoses

In June 2022, COVID-19 maintained the same ranking among the top five telehealth diagnoses that it held in May, both nationally and in every US census region. It ranked at number two nationally and in every region but the South, where it ranked at number three. This stability contrasted with the period from April to May, when COVID-19 climbed in the rankings nationally and in every region except the Northeast, where it remained stable.

Certain other diagnoses shifted in the rankings in June 2022. For example, from May to June, developmental disorders and joint/soft tissue diseases and issues traded places nationally, with the latter ending in fourth place and the former in fifth place. Similarly, skin infections and issues and urinary tract infections traded places in the South, with the latter ending in fourth place and the former in fifth place.

Specialties

From May to June 2022, in the West, psychologist fell from fourth to fifth place in the list of top five telehealth specialties, switching places with primary care nonphysician.

Procedure Codes

In June 2022, the rankings of the top five telehealth procedure codes did not change nationally or in any region when compared to the prior four months. The number one telehealth procedure code nationally and in every region remained CPT2 90837, one-hour psychotherapy.

Costs

For June 2022, the Telehealth Cost Corner spotlighted the cost of CPT 90836, 45-minute psychotherapy with evaluation and management visit. Nationally, the median charge amount for this service when rendered via telehealth was $180.72, and the median allowed amount was $111.81.3

About the Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker

Launched in May 2020 as a free service, the Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker uses FAIR Health data to track how telehealth is evolving from month to month. An interactive map of the four US census regions allows the user to view an infographic on telehealth in a specific month in the nation as a whole or in individual regions. Each infographic shows month-to-month changes in telehealth's percentage of medical claim lines, as well as that month's top five telehealth procedure codes, diagnoses and specialties. Additionally, in the Telehealth Cost Corner, a specific telehealth procedure code is featured, with its median charge amount and median allowed amount.

FAIR Health President Robin Gelburd stated: "We welcome sharing these varying windows into telehealth utilization as it continues to evolve. This is one of the many ways we pursue our healthcare transparency mission."

For the Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker, click here.

Follow us on Twitter @FAIRHealth

About FAIR Health

FAIR Health is a national, independent nonprofit organization that qualifies as a public charity under section 501(c)(3) of the federal tax code. It is dedicated to bringing transparency to healthcare costs and health insurance information through data products, consumer resources and health systems research support. FAIR Health possesses the nation's largest collection of private healthcare claims data, which includes over 38 billion claim records and is growing at a rate of over 2 billion claim records a year. FAIR Health licenses its privately billed data and data productsincluding benchmark modules, data visualizations, custom analytics and market indicesto commercial insurers and self-insurers, employers, providers, hospitals and healthcare systems, government agencies, researchers and others. Certified by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as a national Qualified Entity, FAIR Health also receives data representing the experience of all individuals enrolled in traditional Medicare Parts A, B and D; FAIR Health includes among the private claims data in its database, data on Medicare Advantage enrollees. FAIR Health can produce insightful analytic reports and data products based on combined Medicare and commercial claims data for government, providers, payors and other authorized users. FAIR Health's systems for processing and storing protected health information have earned HITRUST CSF certification and achieved AICPA SOC 2 compliance by meeting the rigorous data security requirements of these standards. As a testament to the reliability and objectivity of FAIR Health data, the data have been incorporated in statutes and regulations around the country and designated as the official, neutral data source for a variety of state health programs, including workers' compensation and personal injury protection (PIP) programs. FAIR Health data serve as an official reference point in support of certain state balance billing laws that protect consumers against bills for surprise out-of-network and emergency services. FAIR Health also uses its database to power a free consumer website available in English and Spanish, which enables consumers to estimate and plan for their healthcare expenditures and offers a rich educational platform on health insurance. An English/Spanish mobile app offers the same educational platform in a concise format and links to the cost estimation tools. The website has been honored by the White House Summit on Smart Disclosure, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), URAC, the eHealthcare Leadership Awards, appPicker, Employee Benefit News and Kiplinger's Personal Finance. FAIR Health also is named a top resource for patients in Dr. Marty Makary's book The Price We Pay: What Broke American Health Careand How to Fix It and Dr. Elisabeth Rosenthal's book An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back. For more information on FAIR Health, visit fairhealth.org.

Contact:

Rachel Kent

Senior Director of Marketing

FAIR Health

646-396-0795

[email protected]

1 A claim line is an individual service or procedure listed on an insurance claim.

2 CPT  2021 American Medical Association (AMA). All rights reserved.

3 A charge amount is the provider's undiscounted fee, which a patient may have to pay when the patient is uninsured, or when the patient chooses to go to a provider who does not belong to the patient's plan's network. An allowed amount is the total fee paid to the provider under an insurance plan. It includes the amount that the health plan pays and the part the patient pays under the plan's in-network cost-sharing provisions (e.g., copay or coinsurance if the patient has met the deductible).

SOURCE FAIR Health
PARIS, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Brattle Group announced today that it has expanded its global reach with the launch of an office in Paris, the economic consultancy's fifth location in Europe and fourteenth across the globe.

"Paris is an important strategic location for many of our clients," said Brattle President David Hutchings. "Our new Paris office reflects Brattle's strong and growing client base in France, and the ever-expanding nature of our global work."

The Paris office will be jointly led by Principal Carlos Lapuerta, a renowned international arbitration and competition expert who has been with Brattle for more than three decades; and Principal Laurent Eymard, an expert with more than fifteen years of experience with merger, antitrust, and state aid cases before the Autorite de la concurrence, French courts, and other European jurisdictions.

"Brattle is committed to providing exceptional services to our European clients, and our ability to do so is further enhanced with a local presence in a city that is globally recognized as an important hub for arbitration," said Mr. Lapuerta, who will split his time between Paris and London.

"The Paris market is also characterized by increasingly complex mergers, antitrust investigations, and civil litigations," added Mr. Eymard, who will split his time between Paris and Brussels. "Our presence here is an ideal complement to our strong global competition team, as we continue to help clients address complex issues in France, across the EU, and worldwide."

Brattle's experts in Paris will work closely with the firm's broad network of internal experts as well as industry experts and academics from across Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region. In the past three years, the firm's experts across the globe have provided oral testimony in arbitrations with an aggregate claim value of over $20 billion. Brattle's competition experts include over 100 internal and external experts specializing in jurisdictions across the world.

Learn more about Brattle's Paris office.

ABOUT BRATTLE

The Brattle Group answers complex economic, finance, and regulatory questions for corporations, law firms, and governments around the world. We are distinguished by the clarity of our insights and the credibility of our experts, which include leading international academics and industry specialists. Brattle has over 500 talented professionals across four continents. For more information, please visit brattle.com.

SOURCE The Brattle Group
GURUGRAM, India, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --

Economic Growth in Philippines

Steady economic growth in Philippines serve as a catalyst for the increasing adoption of EVs in the country. Even though, the share of electric passenger cars was comparatively lower than that of e-tricycles and electric two wheelers in 2022 but in coming years, the demand for EV will witness massive surge supported by strong economic growth coupled with increasing domestic investment and rising per capita disposable income. GDP per capita in Philippines expanded with a CAGR of 3.2% in between 2017 and 2021.

Nickel Mining

Majority of EVs use lithium-ion batteries as of 2022, relying on a combination of minerals such as copper, nickel, lithium, manganese and cobalt. Therefore, the greater adaptability of EVs in will serve as a major determinant for the growth in demand for these minerals in coming years. Philippines had the fifth largest nickel reserves in the world, serving as the world's largest nickel ore supplier as of 2022. 370,000 metric tons of nickel was mined in Philippines in 2021, contributing significantly to country's overall mining sector and economic growth. Therefore, the enhancement of the country's nickel mining sector will result in improved export prospect of the mineral from Philippines, ultimately contributing to the surging global electric vehicle production.

Request for Free Sample Report @ https://www.kenresearch.com/sample-report.php?Frmdetails=NTg4ODY4

Reduction in Import Duty

In 2022, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) announced the proposal for scrapping of import duty on electric vehicles to accelerate the country's shift in adapting to environmental friendly transportation ecosystem. The proposal if implemented, will contribute in bringing down the cost for this mode of transportation that will encourage more people to avail e-vehicles than those run by fuel products in coming years, assisting the country in limiting carbon emissions. The proposal aims to adjust the tariff rate from 30% to 0% in order to populate the market with e-vehicles. The electric vehicles imported from ASEAN region already enjoys a zero-percent tariff rate as of 2022.

Installation of Charging Stations

As of 2018, there were only 19 charging stations installed in Philippines, mostly concentrated in the mainland of Luzon. Government's push through their EVIDA legislation to install more charging stations at public locations such as parking spaces, will drive the demand for EVs in coming years.

Improvements in Battery Technology

Improvement in battery technology contributes in increasing the range and longevity of EVs. EVs that can cover more miles between charges are more practical for those with longer commutes. Coupled with that, advancement in technology will make two-wheeler EVs more affordable, positively impacting the furure demand for EVs.

Introduction of New EV Models

In the initial years of EV inception, there were an extremely limited number of makes and models to choose from, many of which could be cost prohibitive. As EVs become more common, many more styles and models of vehicles will become available, appealing to the wants and needs of a wider array of consumers.

The publication titled "Philippines Light Electric Vehicle Market Outlook to 2027: Driven by government initiative to develop the EV industry and increasing consumer preference towards limiting carbon footprint" provides a comprehensive analysis of the light electric vehicle industry by analyzing historical statistics and corresponding developments in the LEV market. The report covers various aspects including market size of two/three-wheeler, four-wheeler and consolidated LEV industry on the basis of revenue, average price & volume. Further the report covers insights on LEV market overview, ecosystem, operating model, different stages in LEV manufacturing process, value chain analysis, GDP per capita, urbanization rate, trends and developments, Porter 5 Forces Analysis, government initiatives and regulations, growth drivers, impact of COVID-19, risk factors governing the future outlook of industry, consumer demographics & preferences, and demand analysis on the basis of TAM, SAM and SOM. Insights on competitive landscape of two/three wheeler and four-wheeler brands have been covered in the report along with cross comparison between major players operating in the ecosystem on the basis of operational and financial parameters such as year of establishment, technology type, model, price, number of electric vehicles sold, market share on the basis of volume, EV range, battery type, battery capacity, company overview, geographical presence, dealerships, recent developments, business model, strengths, pain points, USP, collaboration, revenue streams, product portfolio, average price, operations, recent developments, revenue, sales, operating profit and global sales figure.

The report focuses on Philippines Light Electric Vehicle Market segmentation By Type of Two/Three-Wheeler EV (E-Trikes and E-Motorcycles); By Type of Four-Wheeler EV (Passenger Car and Light Commercial Vehicle); By Type of Four-Wheeler EV Technology (HEV, PHEV and BEV); By Price of Four-Wheeler EV (Less than PHP 2,000,000, PHP 2,000,000-4,000,000 and More than PHP 4,000,000); By Type of Four-Wheeler EV Battery (Nickel Metal Hydride Battery, Lithium-Ion Battery, Nickel Manganese and Cobalt Battery); By Four-Wheeler EV Battery Capacity (Less than 2 kWh, 2-20 kWh, 20-40 kWh and More than 40 kWh); By Four-Wheeler EV Brands (Toyota, Lexus, Nissan and BYD) and By Region (Ilocos, Central Luzon, National Capital Region, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Mimaropa, Mindanao Region, Caraga, Bikol Region, Caragan Valley and Cordillera Administrative Region). Philippines LEV Market report concludes with projections for the future of the industry on the basis of revenue volume & average price, industry speaks and analysts' take on the future highlighting the major opportunities.

Key Segments Covered in Philippines Light Electric Vehicles Industry

By Type of Two/Three Wheeler EV

E-Trikes

E-Motorcycles

By Type of Four-Wheeler EV

Passenger Car

Light Commercial Vehicle

By Type of Four-Wheeler EV Technology

HEV

PHEV

BEV

By Price of Four-Wheeler EV

Less than PHP 2,000,000

PHP 2,000,000 -4,000,000

-4,000,000 More than 4,000,000

By Type of Four-Wheeler EV Battery

Nickel Metal Hydride Battery

Lithium-Ion Battery

Nickel Manganese and Cobalt Battery

By Four-Wheeler EV Battery Capacity

Less than 2 kWh

2-20 kWh

20-40 kWh

More than 40 kWh

By Four-Wheeler EV Brands

Toyota

Lexus

Nissan

BYD

Request for Free Sample Report @ https://www.kenresearch.com/sample-report.php?Frmdetails=NTg4ODY4

By Region

Ilocos

Central Luzon

National Capital Region

Western Visayas

Central Visayas

Eastern Visayas

Mimaropa

Mindanao Region

Caraga

Bikol Region

Caragan Valley

Cordillera Administrative Region

Time Period Captured in the Report:-

Historical Period: 2017-2022

2017-2022 Forecast Period: 2023F-2027F

Philippines Light Electric Vehicle Market Players

Electric Two-Wheelers

NWOW

Inokim

Maeving

KYMCO

Motor Star

Electric Three-Wheelers

Bemac

Terra Motors

Tojo Motors

SunE

Electric Four-Wheelers

Toyota

Nissan

BYD

Lexus

BMW

Audi

Porsche

Jaguar

Key Topics Covered in the Report:-

Overview of Light Electric Vehicle Industry

Ecosystem of Light Electric Vehicle Industry

Value Chain Analysis of Light Electric Vehicle Industry

Operating Model of Light Electric Vehicle Industry

Market Size of Light Electric Vehicle Industry by Revenue, Volume, and Average Price

Market Segmentation of Light Electric Vehicle Industry (By Type of Two/Three Wheeler EV, By Type of Four-Wheeler EV, By Type of Four-Wheeler EV Technology, By Price of Four-Wheeler EV, By Type of Four-Wheeler EV Battery, By Four-Wheeler EV Battery Capacity, By Four-Wheeler EV Brands and By Region)

Issues and Challenges in Electric Vehicles Market

Trends and Developments, Porter's Five Forces Analysis, Growth Drivers, Government Regulations and Initiatives

Impact of COVID-19

Consumer Demographics and Consumer Preferences

Demand Drivers of LEV Market

Demand Analysis on the basis of TAM, SAM and SOM

Product Analysis of Major Four-Wheeler EV Brands (Toyota, Nissan, Lexus and BYD)

Competitive Landscape of the Four-Wheeler and Two/Three Wheeler Light Electric Vehicle Industry

Cross Comparison of Major Four-Wheeler LEV Players on the basis of Operational Parameters (Year of Establishment, Technology Type, Model, Price, Number of Electric Vehicles Sold, Market Share on the basis of Volume, EV Range, Battery Type, and Battery Capacity)

Cross Comparison of Major Four-Wheeler LEV Players on the basis of Financial Parameters (Revenue for 2021, Total Sales for 2021, Auto Parts' Exports for 2021, Procurement from Suppliers for 2021, Global Sales Volume for 2021, Revenue for 2021, Global Operating Profit for 2021, Global Revenue for 2021 and Net Profit Margin for 2021)

Company Profiles of Major Four-Wheeler LEV Players (Company Overview, Geographical Presence, Dealerships, Recent Developments, Business Model, Strengths, Pain Points, USP, Collaboration, Revenue Streams, Product Portfolio, Average Price, Operations and Recent developments)

Company Profiles of Major Two/Three-Wheeler LEV Players (Company Overview, Operations, Strenghts, Recent developments, Product Portfolio, Business Strategies and Pain Points)

Future Market Size of Light Electric Vehicle Industry by Revenue, Volume, and Average Price

Future Market Segmentation of Light Electric Vehicle Industry

Analyst Recommendations

Industry Speaks

For more information on the research report, refer to below link:-

Philippines Light Electric Vehicle Market Outlook

Related Reports:-

Malaysia Electric Vehicle Market Outlook to 2026: Driven by government initiatives along with the need to curb vehicular emissions, and increasing charging infrastructure

The electric vehicle market in Malaysia recorded a negative growth on the basis of revenue in between 2016 and 2021. The slowdown in growth is attributed to the lack of domestic manufacturers in the ecosystem, resulting in imports of these vehicles which ultimately, shoots up the price of EVs. Coupled with that, the advent of COVID-19 also impacted the EV market due to consumer's financial constraints and job losses. The electric vehicle market in Malaysia is heavily dependent on international manufacturers as national brands such as Proton and Perodua have not been able to establish its presence in the EV market as of 2021. However, consumers increasing awareness on environmental hazards along with favorable government initiatives such as income tax and sales tax exemptions for purchasing EVs will contribute in the growth of EV four-wheeler market in coming years. Malaysia wants to encourage people to adopt electric vehicles and other fuel-efficient vehicles. The electric vehicle market in Malaysia will witness rapid transformation with the advancement of solid-state battery technology which increases the efficiency of the battery performance. The Malaysian electric vehicle market is still in its early phases of development. The Malaysian government's EV rules and the continued introduction of new models contribute to the country's EV market growth.

UAE Electric Vehicle Charging Equipment Market Outlook To 2026: Driven By Government Support And Incentives With The Increasing Focus To Achieve Green And Sustainable Economy

UAE is the second largest automotive market in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) after Saudi Arabia owing to the growing population and high disposable income. The demand for vehicles in the country mainly originates from the construction, infrastructure, logistics, tourism, and public transport sectors have turned the emirate into a major exporter and re-exporter of vehicles. The transportation sector is one of the most significant contributors to CO2 emissions in UAE, second to the industrial sector. Incentives offered by the government, banks, and car dealers, has also led to the growth in the UAE's imports of EVs and increased environmental awareness among citizens. The Battery Electric Vehicles sales grew at a CAGR of ~49% during 2017 and 2021.

Indonesia Electric Vehicle Charging Equipment Market Outlook to 2026: Driven by influx of investment from abroad coupled with increasing focus on emission control

Indonesia is the fourth largest country in the world, with a population of nearly 250 million people. With fast economic growth and rapid urbanization in Indonesia, it is projected that more people will acquire a personal vehicle for mobility. The transportation sector is one of the most significant contributors to CO2 emissions in Indonesia, second to the industrial sector. In 2019, Presidential Regulation Number 55 Year 2019 regarding the Acceleration Program for Battery Electric Vehicles for Road Transportation was enacted. This regulation acts as the legal umbrella for Indonesian electric vehicle development and creates a domino effect for several ministries to start electric vehicle (EV) projects in Indonesia. The Battery Electric Vehicles sales grew at a CAGR of 719% during 2017 and 2021.

India EV Charging Equipment Market Outlook to FY'2026  Driven by Increasing Adoption of Electric Vehicles along with Implementation of FAME II Policy by Government

India, the world's 6th largest economy by nominal GDP and the 3rd largest by PPP, is characterized as a middle-income developing market economy. 2- and 3- Wheelers that account for close to 50% share dominate the Indian urban mobility modal share. EVs are slowly gaining traction with less than 2% of vehicles deployed as EVs in India. The charging infrastructure in India is currently quite under-developed with as many as 26 EVs per charger available in the country, compared to only 8 in China and 17 in the US. There are ~300 community charging stations in India, of which 22 were fast-charging points in 202. However, India EV Charging Equipment Market gained significant momentum after the implementation of the FAME India scheme. The Department of Heavy Industry (DHI) also planned to incentivize 1,000+ charging stations with 6,000+ chargers, which is the major growth driver for the market. Lack of Space, Infrastructure, and Manpower for Setting-Up along with High Initial Cost of Charging Equipment and Installation are the major challenges in India EV Charging Equipment Market.

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Wellness Pet Company's new charitable partners, Pet Partners, Pets & People Foundation, and Boynton Health's PAWS, will support Foundation activities that highlight the reciprocal benefits of pet companionship

TEWKSBURY, Mass., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Wellness Pet Company, maker of premium natural food and treats for dogs and cats, today announced three new partners and the new vision for the Wellness Foundation: to enhance the human experience and promote the mutually beneficial relationship between people and pets. Every animal lover knows the joy, comfort, and companionship a connection with a pet can bring. The relationship between a pet and pet parent undeniably has mental, physical, and emotional benefits that stay with us forever. To celebrate those positive impacts pets have on our daily lives, the foundation will be introducing new support, funding, and programming with Pet Partners, Pets & People Foundation, and Boynton Health's PAWS (Pet Away Worry & Stress) organizations.

The Wellness Foundation Announces New Partnership with Pet Partners

Through its partnership with Pet Partners, the national leader in demonstrating and promoting the health and wellbeing benefits of animal-assisted therapy, activities, and education, the Wellness Foundation will sponsor the World's Largest Pet Walk happening in 2022 on September 24, as well as other employee engagement opportunities. In turn, Wellness Pet employees will also have the option of participating in learning how to become registered therapy animal handlers. Based in Bellevue, Wash., Pet Partners makes millions of visits annually to patients in recovery, people with intellectual disabilities, seniors living with Alzheimer's, students, veterans with PTSD, and people who have experienced crisis events.

"At Wellness Pet Company, we know the positive impacts stemming from the bond between pets and pet parentsit's something we recognize and celebrate every day. The Wellness Foundation remains committed to helping pets and pet parents fulfill a life of wellbeing together, as we work to enhance opportunities for more individuals to experience the benefits," said Reed Howlett, CEO of Wellness Pet Company. "We look forward to working with our newest partners who believe in these shared values as we continue to facilitate and encourage shared wellbeing for more pets and pet parents across the country."

The Wellness Foundation has also announced regional core partnerships with Pets & People Foundation, based in Westford, Mass., and Boynton Health's PAWS, based out of the University of Minnesota. The Pets & People Foundation, Inc. offers pet-assisted therapy to residents of nursing homes, assisted living homes, special needs facilities, half-way houses, children's facilities, colleges and universities, and senior daycare centers and hospitals. The Wellness Foundation will support Pets & People to recruit, train, and credential new therapy animal teams to meet the growing demand, as well as support training and credentialing programs.

Boynton Health's PAWS sessions feature registered therapy animal teams as part of the University of Minnesota's initiative to support student mental health. Together, the Wellness Foundation and PAWS will significantly contribute to the wellbeing of one of the most at-risk age cohorts. The Wellness Foundation Animal-Assisted Interactions (AAI) Scholarship for University of Minnesota students will support 10 students and their animals to become registered therapy animal teams, including providing access to the Pet Partners online Handler Course, an in-person evaluation with their animals and veterinary exams, and a Pet Partners registration application.

Learn more about the Wellness Foundation partnerships, programs, and actions at WellnessFoundation.org.

About Wellness Pet Company:

Wellness Pet Company, the largest independent premium pet food company in North America, is home to pet food and treats brands Wellness, WHIMZEES by Wellness, Old Mother Hubbard by Wellness, Good Dog by Wellness, Holistic Select, Sojos, and Eagle Pack. Wellness is on a mission to fulfill a shared life of wellbeing between pets and the next generation of pet parents with a foundation of premium, natural nutrition. We're committed to doing things the right way, never the easy way, crafting natural pet food and treat recipes that are carefully sourced and thoughtfully prepared. Our expert veterinarians and animal nutritionists ensure that every recipe combines the perfect balance of high-quality natural ingredients with the latest scientific research and technologies to deliver proven health outcomes pets will feel and pet parents will see. Through our products and our people, we strive to enhance the human experience and promote the mutually beneficial relationship between people and pets. To learn more about Wellness, visit www.wellnesspetfood.com and Facebook.com/WellnessPetFood, and find Wellness on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter: @wellnesspetfood.

SOURCE Wellness Pet Company
DUBLIN, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "US Bionics Market (2022-2027) by Product, Technology, Fixation, Competitive Analysis and the Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The US Bionics Market is estimated to be USD 3.48 Bn in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 5.64 Bn by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 10.12%.



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 Sonova, Demant A/S, Cochlear Ltd, MED-EL Medical Electronics, Touch bionics (Ossur Corporate), Ekso Bionics, ReWalk Robotics, Scheck & Siress, Open Bionics, Medtronic, Abbott, Boston Scientific, Syncardia, Edward Lifesciences Corp, etc.



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 US Bionics 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 US Bionics Market using the Ansoff Matrix to provide the best approaches a company can take to improve its market position.



Why buy this report?

The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the US Bionics 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.

Company Profiles

Sonova

Demant A/S

Cochlear Ltd

MED-EL Medical Electronics

Touch bionics (Ossur Corporate)

Ekso Bionics

ReWalk Robotics

Scheck & Siress

Open Bionics

Medtronic

Abbott

Boston Scientific

Syncardia

Edward Lifesciences Corp

Advanced Bionics AG

Abiomed

Asahi Kasei Medical Co. Ltd

Baxter International Inc

Cochlear Ltd

Cyberonics Inc

Roche Holding Ag

Livanova plc

Orthofix Holdings Inc

Retina Implant AG

Syncardia Systems

William Demant Holding A/S

BionX Medical Technologies Inc

LifeNet Health Inc

Baxter International Inc

Key Topics Covered:



1 Report Description

1.1 Study Objectives

1.2 Market Definition

1.3 Currency

1.4 Years Considered

1.5 Language

1.6 Key Stakeholders



2 Research Methodology

2.1 Research Process

2.2 Data Collection and Validation

2.3 Market Size Estimation

2.4 Assumptions of the Study

2.5 Limitations of the Study



3 Executive Summary

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Market Size, Segmentations and Outlook



4 Market Dynamics

4.1 Drivers

4.1.1 Rising Disposable Income and well-developed Reimbursement

4.1.2 Escalating Incidences of Disabilities and Organ Failure

4.2 Restraints

4.2.1 Technical Complication in Device and its Consequences

4.3 Opportunities

4.3.1 Technological Advancements in Bionic Devices

4.3.2 Usage of Bionics Device in Defense Sector

4.4 Challenges

4.4.1 High Cost Associated with Bionic Device



5 Market Analysis

5.1 Regulatory Scenario

5.2 Porter's Five Forces Analysis

5.3 Impact of COVID-19

5.4 Ansoff Matrix Analysis



6 US Bionics Market, By Product

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Neural/Brain Bionics

6.2.1 Deep Brain Stimulators (DBS)

6.2.2 Spinal Cord Stimulators (SCS)

6.2.3 Others

6.3 Cochlear Implants

6.4 Heart Implants

6.5 Orthopedic Bionics

6.5.1 Bionic Hand

6.5.2 Bionic Leg & Socket

6.5.3 Exoskeleton



7 US Bionics Market, By Technology

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Electronic

7.3 Mechanical



8 US Bionics Market, By Fixation

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Implantable

8.3 Wearable



9 Competitive Landscape

9.1 Competitive Quadrant

9.2 Market Share Analysis

9.3 Strategic Initiatives

9.3.1 M&A and Investments

9.3.2 Partnerships and Collaborations

9.3.3 Product Developments and Improvements



10 Company Profiles

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/5585734/us-bionics-market-2022-2027-by-product?utm_source=CI&utm_medium=PressRelease&utm_code=gx3s8t&utm_campaign=1746865+-+United+States+Bionics+Markets+Report+2022-2027+-+Focus+on+Neural%2fBrain+Bionics%2c+Cochlear+Implants%2c+Heart+Implants%2c+%26+Orthopedic+Bionics&utm_exec=chdo54prd



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SOURCE Research and Markets
The newest edition ranks 1,500 colleges and universities across the country.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. News & World Report, the global authority in education rankings, today announced the 2022-2023 Best Colleges . Serving as a guide for prospective students and their families, the rankings evaluate 1,500 colleges and universities on up to 17 measures of academic quality.

"For nearly 40 years, the Best Colleges methodology has continuously evolved to reflect changes in the higher education landscape and the interests of prospective students," said Kim Castro, editor and chief content officer at U.S. News. "Guiding that evolution is U.S. News' mission of providing useful data and information to help with one of life's biggest decisions."

This year's rankings include:

Update to SAT/ACT calculation: In previous editions, SAT/ACT scores were, in effect, reduced if too few students submitted scores. For this edition, U.S. News discontinued this practice. For schools that reported SAT/ACT scores for less than 50% of new entrants in consecutive years, U.S. News did not use those scores to calculate the school's rank. Instead, U.S. News increased the weights of two other ranking factors: high school class standing and average graduation rate. This change was made due to the pandemic's effects on testing in 2020, when the supply and demand for taking the SAT/ACT plummeted, particularly among students from low-income backgrounds.





In previous editions, SAT/ACT scores were, in effect, reduced if too few students submitted scores. For this edition, U.S. News discontinued this practice. For schools that reported SAT/ACT scores for less than 50% of new entrants in consecutive years, U.S. News did not use those scores to calculate the school's rank. Instead, U.S. News increased the weights of two other ranking factors: high school class standing and average graduation rate. This change was made due to the pandemic's effects on testing in 2020, when the supply and demand for taking the SAT/ACT plummeted, particularly among students from low-income backgrounds. More comprehensive measure of faculty resources: The percent of faculty with a terminal degree now includes the share of part-time faculty with a terminal degree. Previously, this metric assessed only full-time faculty. This is a more comprehensive measurement that now includes highly credentialed faculty regardless of their employment contract. This change reflects the growing number of part-time instructors at schools.





The percent of faculty with a terminal degree now includes the share of part-time faculty with a terminal degree. Previously, this metric assessed only full-time faculty. This is a more comprehensive measurement that now includes highly credentialed faculty regardless of their employment contract. This change reflects the growing number of part-time instructors at schools. Updates to the ranking categories: About 10% of ranked schools moved into different categories this year. For example, a school ranked previously as a Regional University may now be ranked as a National University . This is due to the "2021 update" from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, which U.S. News has used since the first Best Colleges rankings in 1983 to compare schools with similar missions.

To calculate the rankings , U.S. News focuses on academic quality and places emphasis on outcome measures  including graduation rates, retention rates, graduate indebtedness and social mobility. Outcomes are the most highly weighted ranking factor, contributing 40% to each school's overall score.

Visit USNews.com/colleges for more information, and share what makes your school the best fit for you on Facebook and Twitter .

2022-2023 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges

National Universities  Top 3

1. Princeton University (NJ)

2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

3. Harvard University (MA) (tie)

3. Stanford University (CA) (tie)

3. Yale University (CT) (tie)

National Liberal Arts Colleges  Top 3

1. Williams College (MA)

2. Amherst College (MA)

3. Pomona College (CA)

Top Public Schools

National Universities  Top 3

1. University of California, Berkeley (tie)

1. University of California, Los Angeles (tie)

3. University of Michigan  Ann Arbor (tie)

3. University of Virginia (tie)

National Liberal Arts Colleges  Top 3

1. United States Naval Academy

2. United States Military Academy at West Point

3. United States Air Force Academy

Top Performers on Social Mobility

National Universities  Top 3

1. Keiser University (FL)

2. University of California, Riverside

3. California State University  Long Beach

National Liberal Arts Colleges  Top 3

1. Salem College (NC)

2. Lake Forest College (IL)

3. Tougaloo College (MS)

Alongside the rankings, U.S. News publishes editorial content related to the college selection experience. This includes advice on topics such as how parents should approach college visits , when to submit your college application , how to choose a major and more.

On Sept. 21, U.S. News will host a free webinar on the new edition of Best Colleges, with presentations from the lead ranking analysts. Those interested in attending can register here .

To learn more about the U.S. News College Compass, which provides access to the most complete rankings and data, or to order a copy of the "Best Colleges 2023" guidebook (ISBN 979-8-9864591-0-3), visit the online U.S. News store .

U.S. News Academic Insights is a higher education analytical tool that provides instant access to U.S. News historical rankings, tracks important metrics over time, and creates a comparative analysis of peer institutions. For more information, visit ai.usnews.com .

About U.S. News & World Report

U.S. News & World Report is the global leader in quality rankings that empower consumers, business leaders and policy officials to make better, more informed decisions about important issues affecting their lives and communities. A multifaceted digital media company with Education, Health, Money, Travel, Cars, Real Estate, News and 360 Reviews platforms, U.S. News provides rankings, independent reporting, data journalism, consumer advice and U.S. News Live events. More than 40 million people visit USNews.com each month for research and guidance. Founded in 1933, U.S. News is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

SOURCE U.S. News & World Report, L.P.
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of Uzbekistan, chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), sees the group's summit to be held later this week as a way to repair fraying international ties in the modern world.

Writing in the international news outlet bne IntelliNews, the president said the world is at a moment of major change. It is a period of "historical fracture, when one era ends and another begins, still unpredictable and unknown," he said.

Uzbekistan President Sees SCO Summit as Solution to Historical Fracture

Full text: https://www.intellinews.com/exclusive-samarkand-sco-summit-dialogue-and-cooperation-in-an-interconnected-world-256201

"The modern system of international cooperation, based on universal principles and norms, is beginning to malfunction significantly. One of the main reasons for this is a deep crisis of confidence at the global level, which, in turn, provokes geopolitical confrontation and risks reviving stereotypes of bloc thinking. This process of mutual alienation complicates the return of the world economy to its former course of development and the restoration of global supply chains."

The summit, to be held 15-16 September in the ancient city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, will bring together the leaders of China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Member nations have a population of 3.2 billion, or about half the world's population. Their total area exceeds 34 million square kilometers, or more than 60 per cent of the Eurasian land mass. Based on World Bank data, the area generates 24% of global GDP.

In addition to the leaders of the eight member countries, the Samarkand summit will be attended by the leaders of Belarus, Iran and Mongolia, who have observer status. Turkey and Turkmenistan have also been invited as guests.

President Mirziyoyev said the past year had seen the organisation of 80 major SCO events focusing on mutual security cooperation, transport, economic linkages and positioning within the international community so as to seek new ways to develop. Results of these events included 36 separate programme concepts, agreements and decisions.

At the 2021 summit in Dushanbe, President Mirziyoyev recommended strengthening the SCO's potential and authority, stepping up efforts to ensure peace and stability in the region, reducing poverty and ensuring food security. Specifically, he made the following proposals:

- A specific plan to develop intra-regional trade, which would include measures to remove trade barriers, convergence of technical regulations and digitalization of customs procedures.

- Adoption of an industrial cooperation programme, the preparation of an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in tourism and an infrastructure development program in the SCO area.

- Establishment of an expert forum on information security and introduction of the institution of SCO Goodwill Ambassador.

"Uzbekistan's chairmanship in the SCO is a logical continuation of the active and open foreign policy course pursued by our country over the past six years. This policy is being implemented primarily in Central Asia, the geographical centre of the SCO, where positive and irreversible processes of strengthening good-neighborliness and cooperation are taking place today. All SCO member states are our closest neighbours, friends and strategic partners."

The president made special reference to neighbouring Afghanistan, citing the SCO's "moral obligation to lend a helping hand and to offer Afghanistan effective ways out of its long-standing crisis." He proposed that Afghanistan become a link between Central and South Asia through the development of new transport infrastructure.

"The construction of the trans-Afghan corridor can become a symbol of such mutually beneficial interregional cooperation. Implementing common infrastructure projects, such as the Termez-Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar railway, we not only solve socio-economic, transport and communication problems, but we also make a significant contribution to regional security."

President Mirziyoyev has already proposed holding regular high-level SCO-Afghanistan meetings, expressing readiness to host the first of them in Tashkent.

He also paid credit to the host city Samarkand, citing its long history, first as the capital of the medieval Timurid Empire where famous artists, scientists and writers congregated under the patronage of the emperor Tamerlane.

"Historically, Samarkand was a melting pot of ideas and knowledge, in which a common goal was developed - to live better, to be more successful and to become happier. And everyone understood that friendly neighbours are half of your wealth," he said.

"These unique qualities of Samarkand, which today has a modern and fast-developing infrastructure, turn it into the most suitable and popular platform for joint discussion, search and coordination of the necessary answers to regional and global challenges."

In recent days, Tashkent officials have sought to counter claims in the Russian media that the summit was called by Russia and China, and that the conflict in Ukraine was on the agenda.

"Of course, the leaders of the states can exchange views on global and regional problems," Rakhmatulla Nurimbetov, National Coordinator of the SCO for Uzbekistan, told the domestic media. "But in the draft resolution, joint documents and, most importantly, in the Samarkand Declaration, there are no and will not be any statements and appeals on issues pursuing any geopolitical goals.

"In this organisation, every issue and agenda is formed on the basis of consensus. First of all, the national coordinators agree on each issue on the agenda of the event. It is then considered at the level of foreign ministers. The agenda of the Samarkand summit was confirmed by the foreign ministers on July 29. And there is no talk of global geopolitical crises in it," Mr. Nurimbetov said.

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1896549/Uzbekistan_SCO_Summit.jpg

SOURCE Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan, London
Get a comprehensive report summary describing the market size and forecast along with research methodology. The FREE sample report is available in PDF format

Vegan Cheese Market 2022-2026: Scope

The vegan cheese market report covers the following areas:

Vegan Cheese Market 2022-2026: Segmentation

Source

Soy milk: This segment will be the largest contributor to market growth during the forecast period. The growth of this segment is driven by factors such as the growing awareness among consumers about the health benefits associated with soy-based derivatives. Moreover, increasing product innovation from vendors in the soy-based food derivatives category will boost the sale of soy milk-based vegan cheese worldwide.



Almond milk



Rice milk



Others

Geography

North America : This region will account for 38% of the market's growth during the forecast period. The growth of this region is attributed to factors such as Increasing investments in the plant-based foods sector, including vegan cheeses, and frequent product launches. Moreover, market growth in this region will be faster than the growth of the market in other regions. The US and Canada are the key countries for the vegan cheese market in North America .

: This region will account for 38% of the market's growth during the forecast period. The growth of this region is attributed to factors such as Increasing investments in the plant-based foods sector, including vegan cheeses, and frequent product launches. Moreover, market growth in this region will be faster than the growth of the market in other regions. The US and are the key countries for the vegan cheese market in .

Europe



APAC



South America



Middle East And Africa

Learn about the contribution of each segment summarized in concise infographics and thorough descriptions. View a FREE PDF Sample Report

Vegan Cheese Market 2022-2026: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the vegan cheese market, including Absolute Vegan Empire GmbH and Co. KG, Bute Island Foods Ltd, Chicago Vegan Foods, Dairy Free Down Under, Danone SA, First Grade International, Fresh Start, Good Carma, GreenSpace Brands Inc, I AM NUT OK, Kite Hill, Maple Leaf Foods Inc., Miyokos Creamery, Nush foods, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Parmela Creamery, Tofutti Brands Inc., Treeline Cheese, Upfield BV, and Vromage are some of the major market participants.

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Vegan Cheese Market 2022-2026: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2022-2026

Detailed information on factors that will assist vegan cheese market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the vegan cheese market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the vegan cheese market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of vegan cheese market vendors

Related Reports

Vegan Food Market Growth, Size, Trends, Analysis Report by Type, Application, Region and Segment Forecast 2022-2026

Vegan Supplements Market by Distribution Channel and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026

Vegan Cheese Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2021 Forecast period 2022-2026 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 8.41% Market growth 2022-2026 USD 1.26 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 7.84 Regional analysis Europe, North America, APAC, South America, and Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution North America at 38% Key consumer countries US, Canada, Australia, Germany, and France Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Companies profiled Absolute Vegan Empire GmbH and Co. KG, Bute Island Foods Ltd, Chicago Vegan Foods, Dairy Free Down Under, Danone SA, First Grade International, Fresh Start, Good Carma, GreenSpace Brands Inc, I AM NUT OK, Kite Hill, Maple Leaf Foods Inc., Miyokos Creamery, Nush foods, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Parmela Creamery, Tofutti Brands Inc., Treeline Cheese, Upfield BV, and Vromage Market Dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and future consumer dynamics, and market condition analysis for the forecast period. Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized.

Browse Consumer Staples Market Reports

Table Of Contents

1 Executive Summary

1.1 Market overview

Exhibit 01: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Overview



Exhibit 02: Executive Summary  Data Table on Market Overview



Exhibit 03: Executive Summary  Chart on Global Market Characteristics



Exhibit 04: Executive Summary  Chart on Market by Geography



Exhibit 05: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by Source



Exhibit 06: Executive Summary  Chart on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 07: Executive Summary  Data Table on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 08: Executive Summary  Chart on Vendor Market Positioning

2 Market Landscape

2.1 Market ecosystem

Exhibit 09: Parent market



Exhibit 10: Market Characteristics

3 Market Sizing

3.1 Market definition

Exhibit 11: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition

3.2 Market segment analysis

Exhibit 12: Market segments

3.3 Market size 2021

3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2021-2026

Exhibit 13: Chart on Global - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 14: Data Table on Global - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 15: Chart on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 16: Data Table on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

4 Five Forces Analysis

4.1 Five forces summary

Exhibit 17: Five forces analysis - Comparison between 2021 and 2026

4.2 Bargaining power of buyers

Exhibit 18: Chart on Bargaining power of buyers  Impact of key factors 2021 and 2026

4.3 Bargaining power of suppliers

Exhibit 19: Bargaining power of suppliers  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.4 Threat of new entrants

Exhibit 20: Threat of new entrants  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.5 Threat of substitutes

Exhibit 21: Threat of substitutes  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.6 Threat of rivalry

Exhibit 22: Threat of rivalry  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.7 Market condition

Exhibit 23: Chart on Market condition - Five forces 2021 and 2026

5 Market Segmentation by Source

5.1 Market segments

Exhibit 24: Chart on Source - Market share 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 25: Data Table on Source - Market share 2021-2026 (%)

5.2 Comparison by Source

Exhibit 26: Chart on Comparison by Source



Exhibit 27: Data Table on Comparison by Source

5.3 Soy milk - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 28: Chart on Soy milk - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 29: Data Table on Soy milk - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 30: Chart on Soy milk - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 31: Data Table on Soy milk - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.4 Almond milk - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 32: Chart on Almond milk - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 33: Data Table on Almond milk - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 34: Chart on Almond milk - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 35: Data Table on Almond milk - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.5 Rice milk - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 36: Chart on Rice milk - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 37: Data Table on Rice milk - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 38: Chart on Rice milk - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 39: Data Table on Rice milk - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.6 Others - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 40: Chart on Others - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 41: Data Table on Others - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 42: Chart on Others - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 43: Data Table on Others - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.7 Market opportunity by Source

Exhibit 44: Market opportunity by Source ($ million)

6 Customer Landscape

6.1 Customer landscape overview

Exhibit 45: Analysis of price sensitivity, lifecycle, customer purchase basket, adoption rates, and purchase criteria

7 Geographic Landscape

7.1 Geographic segmentation

Exhibit 46: Chart on Market share by geography 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 47: Data Table on Market share by geography 2021-2026 (%)

7.2 Geographic comparison

Exhibit 48: Chart on Geographic comparison



Exhibit 49: Data Table on Geographic comparison

7.3 Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 50: Chart on Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 51: Data Table on Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 52: Chart on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 53: Data Table on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.4 North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 54: Chart on North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 55: Data Table on North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 56: Chart on North America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 57: Data Table on North America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.5 APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 58: Chart on APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 59: Data Table on APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 60: Chart on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 61: Data Table on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.6 South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 62: Chart on South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 63: Data Table on South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 64: Chart on South America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 65: Data Table on South America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.7 Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 66: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 67: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 68: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

and - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 69: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.8 US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 70: Chart on US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 71: Data Table on US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 72: Chart on US - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 73: Data Table on US - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.9 Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 74: Chart on Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 75: Data Table on Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 76: Chart on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 77: Data Table on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.10 France - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 78: Chart on France - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 79: Data Table on France - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 80: Chart on France - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 81: Data Table on France - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.11 Australia - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 82: Chart on Australia - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 83: Data Table on Australia - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 84: Chart on Australia - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 85: Data Table on Australia - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.12 Canada - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 86: Chart on Canada - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 87: Data Table on Canada - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 88: Chart on Canada - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 89: Data Table on Canada - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.13 Market opportunity by geography

Exhibit 90: Market opportunity by geography ($ million)

8 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

8.1 Market drivers

8.2 Market challenges

8.3 Impact of drivers and challenges

Exhibit 91: Impact of drivers and challenges in 2021 and 2026

8.4 Market trends

9 Vendor Landscape

9.1 Overview

9.2 Vendor landscape

Exhibit 92: Overview on Criticality of inputs and Factors of differentiation

9.3 Landscape disruption

Exhibit 93: Overview on factors of disruption

9.4 Industry risks

Exhibit 94: Impact of key risks on business

10 Vendor Analysis

10.1 Vendors covered

Exhibit 95: Vendors covered

10.2 Market positioning of vendors

Exhibit 96: Matrix on vendor position and classification

10.3 Absolute Vegan Empire GmbH and Co. KG

Exhibit 97: Absolute Vegan Empire GmbH and Co. KG - Overview



Exhibit 98: Absolute Vegan Empire GmbH and Co. KG - Product / Service



Exhibit 99: Absolute Vegan Empire GmbH and Co. KG - Key offerings

10.4 Bute Island Foods Ltd

Exhibit 100: Bute Island Foods Ltd - Overview



Exhibit 101: Bute Island Foods Ltd - Product / Service



Exhibit 102: Bute Island Foods Ltd - Key offerings

10.5 Chicago Vegan Foods

Exhibit 103: Chicago Vegan Foods - Overview



Exhibit 104: Chicago Vegan Foods - Product / Service



Exhibit 105: Chicago Vegan Foods - Key offerings

10.6 First Grade International

Exhibit 106: First Grade International - Overview



Exhibit 107: First Grade International - Product / Service



Exhibit 108: First Grade International - Key offerings

10.7 Fresh Start

Exhibit 109: Fresh Start - Overview



Exhibit 110: Fresh Start - Product / Service



Exhibit 111: Fresh Start - Key offerings

10.8 Maple Leaf Foods Inc.

Exhibit 112: Maple Leaf Foods Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 113: Maple Leaf Foods Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 114: Maple Leaf Foods Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 115: Maple Leaf Foods Inc. - Segment focus

10.9 Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.

Exhibit 116: Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 117: Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. - Product / Service



Exhibit 118: Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. - Key offerings

10.10 Tofutti Brands Inc.

Exhibit 119: Tofutti Brands Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 120: Tofutti Brands Inc. - Product / Service



Exhibit 121: Tofutti Brands Inc. - Key offerings

10.11 Treeline Cheese

Exhibit 122: Treeline Cheese - Overview



Exhibit 123: Treeline Cheese - Product / Service



Exhibit 124: Treeline Cheese - Key offerings

10.12 Upfield BV

Exhibit 125: Upfield BV - Overview



Exhibit 126: Upfield BV - Product / Service



Exhibit 127: Upfield BV - Key offerings

11 Appendix

11.1 Scope of the report

11.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist

Exhibit 128: Inclusions checklist



Exhibit 129: Exclusions checklist

11.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

Exhibit 130: Currency conversion rates for US$

11.4 Research methodology

Exhibit 131: Research methodology



Exhibit 132: Validation techniques employed for market sizing



Exhibit 133: Information sources

11.5 List of abbreviations

Exhibit 134: List of abbreviations

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provide actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contact

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

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UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.technavio.com/

SOURCE Technavio
The ground-breaking metaverse office tower, named The V, will provide an interactive, end-to-end ecosystem for digital nomads, remote workers and global entrepreneurs.

The V will house a state-of-the-art virtual office environment, and will offer a host of features, such as metaverse avatars, online video conferencing and communication capabilities, virtual meeting rooms, event spaces, town halls and more.

DUBAI, UAE, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Virtuzone  the UAE's leader in company formation and corporate services  has unveiled its plan to build a flagship metaverse office tower in partnership with pax.world, a blockchain metaverse with an early-mover advantage.

Purposefully designed to meet the needs of a burgeoning global digital nomad economy, the ground-breaking metaverse office tower, named The V, will provide an interactive, end-to-end ecosystem for digital nomads, remote workers and global entrepreneurs.

pax.world Founder Frank Fitzgerald and Virtuzone CEO George Hojeige unveil The V at MetaWeek Dubai.

The V will house a state-of-the-art virtual office environment, and will offer a host of features that individuals can use simultaneously, such as metaverse avatars, online video conferencing and communication capabilities, virtual meeting rooms, event spaces, town halls and more.

In addition to providing a wholly digital environment where entrepreneurs can seamlessly connect and network, The V integrates real-world corporate services and business solutions, thus providing a truly global and real-time solution. These services include global banking services, accounting and auditing, Know Your Customer (KYC) and compliance procedures, visas, and HR solutions.

The V also enables businesses to establish highly tax-efficient legal entities, utilise legal decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) structures and benefit from real-world office spaces and mailing addresses, backed by a digitalised mail distribution system.

The iconic metaverse skyscraper is meant to attract and provide a virtual headquarters to millions of digital nomads around the world, further foster and strengthen the UAE's digital economy, attract foreign direct investment and cater to the changing needs of today's modern entrepreneurs and remote workers.

George Hojeige, CEO of Virtuzone, said: "It is our vision as a company to be at the helm of creating a borderless business environment, where geographical boundaries do not exist and entrepreneurs from all over the world enjoy the freedom to do business and transact with one another in a secure environment. Working hand in hand with pax.world signifies our solid commitment to making this a reality and to creating a future filled with possibilities and opportunities for startups, professionals and multinational corporations, especially in the Web 3.0 space."

Frank Fitzgerald, Founder of pax.world, said: "Virtuzone is the perfect partner for our professionally-based metaverse. They will serve as a launch pad for Dubai-based businesses to enter the world of Web3. We are excited and look forward to endless possibilities."

About Virtuzone

Virtugroup is a Dubai-based holding company consisting of Virtuzone, which offers free zone and mainland company formation services; and Next Generation Equity, which offers a range of citizenship and residency-by-investment programmes. With over 100 staff speaking 30 languages, Virtuzone provides impartial advice on UAE company setup while being an end-to-end solution provider for a host of business services, including everything from visas and trade licences to accounting and branding. As the leading company formation specialists in the UAE, Virtuzone removes the complexities of setting up a business so that entrepreneurs can focus on what really matters to their company's success. For more information visit www.vz.ae.

About pax.world

pax.world is a platform that allows you to create your own metaverse and is a meta-universe that enables interested parties to develop and engage with each other within a virtual island. Within pax.world, users can build educational places and businesses and much more.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1896426/V_unveiled_at_MetaWeek_Dubai.jpg

SOURCE Virtuzone
RICHMOND, Va., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Williams Mullen is pleased to announce that James M. Burns and Cari Lyn B. Pierce have joined the firm. Burns joins the Litigation Section, and Pierce joins the Corporate Section. Both Burns and Pierce will be located in our Tysons office.

James M. "Jim" Burns Cari Lyn B. Pierce

Burns returns to Williams Mullen to serve as chair of our Antitrust & Trade Regulation Practice Group. He has practiced antitrust law for over 30 years and has litigated antitrust and related claims in trial and appellate courts all across the country. He also advises clients on antitrust compliance issues and has represented clients before the DOJ Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission on a wide variety of antitrust matters, including mergers. While he has represented clients in antitrust matters in a wide variety of industries, he has extensive experience assisting clients in the health care and insurance industries with the unique antitrust challenges they often face.

Burns earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law and his Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from Colgate University.

Pierce focuses her practice on the various elements of business transactions and the creation of new businesses. She has experience handling asset transactions with commercial real estate components and assists clients with the organizational documents involved in these transactions. She also has experience advising landowners through the potential risks and negotiation process of proposed solar farm leases, along with additional experience in the area of tax controversy, specifically regarding small businesses.

Pierce received her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Georgia School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from Harvard University.

Williams Mullen is a regional full-service law firm with approximately 240 attorneys in offices across North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Since our firm began in 1909, our goal has been to provide business and legal solutions to help our clients' businesses thrive. Visit us at www.williamsmullen.com.

SOURCE Williams Mullen
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Singleton Foundation for Financial Literacy & Entrepreneurship announces today the donation of $250K to the Williamson College of the Trades. The donation comes as a part of the Foundation's CEO Prize event which recognizes and honors a living CEO whose work demonstrates a combination of talent, vision, focus, and commitment, thereby producing exceptional shareholder returns over decades. This year's prize was awarded to W. Nicholas Howley, Founder and Executive Chairman of TransDigm Group, Inc. With the award is a cash donation to the charity of his choice that is aligned with the Singleton Foundation's mission: Williamson College of the Trades.

Williamson College, a private men's junior vocational college in Middletown Township, Pennsylvania, provides a rigorous three year academic and trade education to its talented and deserving student body. The college serves students who are financially challenged and provides them with full scholarships for a tuition-free education, and free room and board. Students experience a highly structured and nurturing campus environment, meant to prepare them to be top-tier tradesmen in the workforce. The combination of rigorous instruction and a living-learning community that imparts the College's core values of faith, integrity, diligence, excellence and service produce the kind of tradesmen who companies compete to hire.

"We are honored to have Nick Howley as our partner. He has helped to provide the resources necessary to educate young men in the trades, expand our enrollment, and support a new trade program here," said Williamson President Michael J. Rounds. "Williamson emphasizes character development and leadership as an important part of its educational model. At graduation, 96% of our students have jobs in their field. Williamson had over 206 employers from 16 states attending our Career Fairs last year to recruit one of our 65 seniors."

"Increasing our enrollment over the next five years is one of our strategic goals. We turn away hundreds of applicants each year because we do not have room for them. We want more young men to benefit from a Williamson education and go out into the world with the trade skills and character traits that are necessary for personal and professional success. It is critical to have a place to house the additional students, because residential life is integral to Williamson's teaching of character and leadership. We are grateful to Nick Howley for directing his prize from the Singleton Foundation to Williamson and for investing in our mission," added President Rounds.

"The CEO Prize is an important component of the Singleton Foundation," said Shelley Miles, CEO of the Singleton Foundation for Financial Literacy & Entrepreneurship. "This donation exemplifies the entrepreneurial spirit on which our organization was founded, and by allowing Williamson College to expand their mission, we give much needed assistance for better head starts as these young people enter the workforce."

About The Singleton Foundation for Financial Literacy & Entrepreneurship

The mission of The Singleton Foundation for Financial Literacy & Entrepreneurship is to inspire entrepreneurship and to make financial competence fun, engaging and accessible to all. Our goal is to help give everyone the financial skills they need to better manage their lives and their businesses.

About Williamson College of the Trades

Williamson College of the Trades was established in 1888 through a $2 million gift from Isaiah V. Williamson. For over 134 years, Williamson has provided an opportunity for financially challenged young men to receive an education for a career in the trades. Williamson graduates 75 percent of students who enroll and 96 percent of the students have employment upon graduation. Williamson graduates earn an Associate in Specialized Technology Degree in one of the following programs: Construction TechnologyCarpentry Emphasis; Construction TechnologyElectrical Emphasis; Construction TechnologyMasonry Emphasis; Landscape Construction and Management; Machine Tool Technology; and Power Plant Technology.

Media Contact

Jeff Hare /The Singleton Foundation

(818) 726-9238

[email protected]

SOURCE The Singleton Foundation
Company will display first Ford Mustang Mach-E fitted with WiTricity Halo wireless charging receiver

Official reveal of WiTricity Halo wireless EV charger

First park-and-charge hands-on demonstrations of WiTricity Halo wireless EV charging at the Detroit Smart Parking Lab

Watertown, Mass., Sept 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Building on the momentum of its recent investments from Siemens AG and others, WiTricity, the leader in wireless EV charging, is set to demonstrate a host of new wireless charging "firsts" at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. Attendees will experience the first-ever look at a Ford Mustang Mach-E outfitted for wireless charging; world reveal of the WiTricity Halo wireless EV charger; and can be among the first to experience WiTricity Halo with hands-on demonstrations at the Detroit Smart Parking Lab.

WiTricity will display its first 2022 Ford Mustang Mach-E upgraded with the WiTricity Halo wireless charging system at the North American International Auto Show.

"WiTricity wants to accelerate EV adoption, which means eliminating the hassle of charging," said Alex Gruzen, CEO, WiTricity. "We have created hassle-free, end-to-end solutions for automakers, residential customers, and fleets, delivering the best charging experience for electric vehiclesjust park and charge."

Ford Mach-E joins WiTricity's fleet of Tesla Model 3 EVs with upgraded charging capabilities

WiTricity will display its first 2022 Ford Mustang Mach-E upgraded with the WiTricity Halo wireless charging system. NAIAS visitors can see the simplicity of the park-and-charge experience in the vehicle pod adjacent to the company's booth in the AutoMobili-D section of NAIAS. The Mach-E joins WiTricity's upgraded fleet that includes a number of Tesla Model 3 vehicles as well as factory-installed wireless charging EVs that have been launched by OEMs in Asia.

First public reveal of WiTricity Halo wireless EV charger

WiTricity will also reveal WiTricity Halo wireless EV chargers at NAIAS. These hands-free chargers connect to the WiTricity Halo mobile app for fingertip operation and to cloud-based telemetry, performance, and charger management tools. This first model of the WiTricity Halo wireless EV charger can charge most vehicle batteries with ~35 miles of charge per hour for most newer vehicles, without the hassle and clutter of plug-in cables or stress about forgetting to plug-in. Rated at 11 kW, the WiTricity Halo charger is robust enough to be driven over and IP rated for indoor or outdoor installation.

The WiTricity Halo system also enables a range of essential features, including foreign and living object detection to turn off the charger in the event a pet or other object obstructs the product, plus parking assistance with position detection to guide drivers over the charging pad.

First-hand experience at Detroit Smart Parking Lab

In addition to all the activities at NAIAS, WiTricity will also open its showcase demonstration at the Detroit Smart Parking Lab, an open innovation platform for parking-inspired mobility technologies that was established through the collaboration of Bedrock, Ford, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and Bosch, and operated by the American Center for Mobility. Beginning at media days and by appointment during public days, NAIAS visitors will be able to take a free shuttle to the DSPL and get a hands-on experience of the WiTricity Halo wireless EV charging system.

For more information about WiTricity, visit www.WiTricity.com .

About WiTricity

WiTricity is the trailblazer in wireless charging for electric vehicles, leading the development and implementation of magnetic resonance technology across passenger and commercial vehicles alike. The company's technology is backed by an extensive patent portfolio and is the foundation for ratified global EV wireless charging standards including SAE, ISO and GB. Automakers and Tier 1 suppliers turn to WiTricity to help accelerate the adoption of EVs by eliminating the hassle of plug-in charging, enabling always-available wireless V2G, and setting the stage for future autonomy. Beyond EVs, WiTricity technology is essential to the wireless charging of all products, from consumer electronics to micro-mobility to robotics.

SOURCE WiTricity
DUBLIN, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global 5G Smartphone Market: Analysis By Sales Channel (Online and Offline), By Shipments, By Region Size And Trends With Impact Of COVID-19 And Forecast up to 2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global 5G smartphone market in 2021 was valued at US$32.21 billion. The market is expected to reach US$4167.07 billion by 2027. The 5G Smartphone is a mobile phone with advance features and functionality beyond traditional functionalities such as sending text messages and making calls and primarily support the fifth standard network. The consumers interest in 5G devices has been growing, therefore chipmakers are also pushing brands to use 5G chips in their new line-up of smartphones.

Due to the rise in urban population, growth in consumer awareness about the increasing usage of mobile devices, surging integration of AR technology, expanding over-the-top (OTT) platform subscriptions would propel the market growth in the forthcoming years. The market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 124.90 % during the forecast period of 2022-2027.

Market Segmentation Analysis:

By Sales Channel: The report provides the bifurcation of the market into two segments based on the component: offline and online. In 2021, offline held a major share of more than 61% in the market. The common offline sales channels include variety of outlets, including retailer outlets, hypermarkets, mobile stores, and brand stores. A large number of consumers prefer to buy electronics and consumer goods from local authorized brand stores as these stores enable consumers to have the touch-and-feel experience of a phone before purchase.

By Shipments: The report further provided the analysis based on the shipments: The shipment of 5G smartphones is predicted to increase during the forecast period owing to the surging demand for high-speed data connectivity for integrated IoT (Internet of Things) applications, such as smart home products and growing integration of Augmented Reality (AR) & Virtual Reality (VR) technology.

By Region: The report provides insight into the 5G Smartphone market based on the regions, namely Asia Pacific , North America , Europe and Latin America , Middle East & Africa . Asia Pacific held the major share of more than 65% in the market, owing to the increasing middle class, along with higher levels of disposable income, has boosted internet access and smartphone ownership. Many major countries such as India and Vietnam would switch on their 5G networks in the near future, which would contribute to the total 5G smartphone count. In the Asia Pacific region, China held almost 58% share in the market owing to the accelerating economic growth, and digital technologies. In North America , Mexico is expected to be the fastest growing region in the forecasted period.

Market Dynamics:

Growth Drivers: One of the most important factors impacting the global 5G Smartphone market is mounting penetration of internet users. With the increasing penetration of internet, smartphones have become popular because of the ability to surf the internet and doing the same activities that are done on a computer or a laptop. Often times, people use their smartphones in order to access their favorite video streaming sites and apps. Hence, mounting penetration of internet catalyzed the widespread of 5G smartphone market. Furthermore, the market has been growing over the past few years, due to factors such as surging integration of AR technology, expanding over-the-top (OTT) platform subscriptions, mounting penetration of internet users and upsurge in number of e-sports in recent years, and many other factors.

Challenges: However, the market has been confronted with some challenges specifically, security and privacy issues, massive power consumption, etc.

Trends: The market is projected to grow at a fast pace during the forecast period, due to various latest trends such as rising trend of connected IoT devices, accelerating adoption of 5G smartphones, escalating penetration of mobile e-commerce, etc. 5G smartphones support advanced applications like e-commerce with enhanced speed. Thus, escalating penetration of mobile e-commerce is predicted to help in the market expansion of 5G smartphones, globally.

Impact Analysis of COVID-19 and Way Forward:

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has notably hampered the overall electronics manufacturing industry across key countries, such as China, Japan, Taiwan and several other Asian countries. The pandemic has also affected the exports and imports of electronic and other products globally, owing to the shutdown of borders of key countries. However, the growing number of COVID-19 cases across the globe increased the usage of smartphones as a result of sedentary lifestyle during lockdown and it is expected to boost the 5G smartphone market growth.

Competitive Landscape:

The global 5G Smartphone market is highly consolidated, with a few number of large scale manufacturers accounting for a major revenue share.

The key players in the global 5G Smartphone market are:

Apple Inc.

Alphabet Inc. (Google)

Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd

Lenovo Group Limited

Motorola Solutions, Inc.

Nokia Corporation

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

TCL Technology

Xiaomi Corporation

BBK Electronics Corporation

Transsion Holdings

Some of the strategies among key players in the market for 5G smartphones are mergers, acquisitions, and collaborations. For instance, in 2022, Lenovo Group Limited and PCCW Limited entered into definitive agreements to establish a strategic partnership to create a technology solutions business in the Asia Pacific region. And, in 2022, Motorola Solutions launched WAVE PTX, an instant communication service via broadband subscription, with nationwide coverage, allowing companies to connect their different work teams instantaneously and reliably in order to keep operations up and running, independent from network technology.

Key Topics Covered:

1. Executive Summary



2. Introduction

2.1 5G Smartphone: An Overview

2.2 5G Smartphone Segmentation: An Overview

2.2.1 5G Smartphone Segmentation



3. Global Market Analysis

3.1 Global 5G Smartphone Market: An Analysis

3.1.1 Global 5G Smartphone Market: An Overview

3.1.2 Global 5G Smartphone Market by Value

3.1.3 Global 5G Smartphone Market by Sales Channel (offline and online)

3.1.4 Global 5G Smartphone Market by Region (Asia Pacific, North America, Europe and Latin America, Middle East & Africa)

3.2 Global 5G Smartphone Market: Shipment Analysis

3.2.1 Global 5G Smartphone Market by Shipments: An Overview

3.2.2 Global 5G Smartphone Market by Shipments

3.2.3 Global 5G Smartphone Shipments by Region (Asia Pacific, North America, Europe and Latin America, Middle East & Africa)

3.3 Global 5G Smartphone Market: Sales Channel Analysis

3.3.1 Global 5G Smartphone Market by Sales Channel: An Overview

3.3.2 Global Offline 5G Smartphone Market by Value

3.3.3 Global Online 5G Smartphone Market by Value



4. Regional Market Analysis

4.1 Asia Pacific 5G Smartphone Market: An Analysis

4.1.1 Asia Pacific 5G Smartphone Market: An Overview

4.1.2 Asia Pacific 5G Smartphone Market by Value

4.1.3 Asia Pacific 5G Smartphone Market by Shipments

4.1.4 Asia Pacific 5G Smartphone Market by Region (China, India and Rest of Asia Pacific)

4.1.5 China 5G Smartphone Market by Value

4.1.6 China 5G Smartphone Market by Shipments

4.1.7 India 5G Smartphone Market by Value

4.1.8 Rest of Asia Pacific 5G Smartphone Market by Value

4.2 North America 5G Smartphone Market: An Analysis

4.2.1 North America 5G Smartphone Market: An Overview

4.2.2 North America 5G Smartphone Market by Value

4.2.3 North America 5G Smartphone Market by Shipments

4.2.4 North America 5G Smartphone Market by Region (The US, Canada and Mexico)

4.2.5 The US 5G Smartphone Market by Value

4.2.6 The US 5G Smartphone Market by Operating System (Android, iOS and others)

4.2.7 The US Android 5G Smartphone Market by Value

4.2.8 The US iOS 5G Smartphone Market by Value

4.2.9 The US Other 5G Smartphone Market by Value

4.2.10 Canada 5G Smartphone Market by Value

4.2.11 Mexico 5G Smartphone Market by Value

4.3 Europe 5G Smartphone Market: An Analysis

4.3.1 Europe 5G Smartphone Market: An Overview

4.3.2 Europe 5G Smartphone Market by Value

4.3.3 Europe 5G Smartphone Market by Shipments

4.3.4 Europe 5G Smartphone Market by Region (UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain and rest of Europe)

4.3.5 UK 5G Smartphone Market by Value

4.3.6 France 5G Smartphone Market by Value

4.3.7 Italy 5G Smartphone Market by Value

4.3.8 Germany 5G Smartphone Market by Value

4.3.9 Spain 5G Smartphone Market by Value

4.3.10 Rest of Europe 5G Smartphone Market by Value

4.4 LAMEA 5G Smartphone Market: An Analysis

4.4.1 LAMEA 5G Smartphone Market: An Overview

4.4.2 LAMEA 5G Smartphone Market by Value

4.4.3 LAMEA 5G Smartphone Market by Shipments



5. Impact of COVID-19

5.1 Impact of COVID-19

5.1.1 Impact of COVID-19 on 5G Smartphone Market

5.1.2 Impact of COVID-19 on Industrial Production

5.1.3 Impact of COVID-19 on Video Conferencing Apps

5.1.4 Impact of COVID-19 on Work from Home Culture

5.1.5 Impact of COVID-19 on Online Learning

5.1.6 Impact of COVID-19 on Penetration Rate of 5G Smartphones



6. Market Dynamics

6.1 Growth Drivers

6.1.1 Growing Population

6.1.2 Increasing Usage of Mobile Devices

6.1.3 Mounting Penetration of Internet Users

6.1.4 Surging Integration of AR Technology

6.1.5 Expanding Over-The-Top (OTT) Platform Subscriptions

6.1.6 Upsurge in the Number of e-Sports Audience

6.2 Challenges

6.2.1 Security & Privacy Issues

6.2.2 Massive Power Consumption

6.2.3 High Operational and Infrastructure Cost

6.3 Market Trends

6.3.1 Accelerating Adoption of 5G Smartphones

6.3.2 Rising Trend of Connected IoT Devices

6.3.3 Escalating Penetration of Mobile E-Commerce

6.3.4 Rising Integration with Artificial Intelligence



7. Competitive Landscape

7.1 Global 5G Smartphone Players by Market Share

7.2. Global 5G Smartphone Market Players by Shipments



8. Company Profiles

8.1 Apple Inc.

8.1.1 Business Overview

8.1.2 Operating Segments

8.1.3 Business Strategy

8.2 Alphabet Inc. (Google)

8.2.1 Business Overview

8.2.2 Operating Segments

8.2.3 Business Strategy

8.3 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

8.3.1 Business Overview

8.3.2 Operating Segment

8.3.3 Business Strategy

8.4 Lenovo Group Limited

8.4.1 Business Overview

8.4.2 Operating Segment

8.4.3 Business Strategy

8.5 Motorola Solutions, Inc.

8.5.1 Business Overview

8.5.2 Operating Segment

8.5.3 Business Strategy

8.6 Nokia Corporation

8.6.1 Business Overview

8.6.2 Operating Segment

8.6.3 Business Strategy

8.7 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

8.7.1 Business Overview

8.7.2 Operating Segments

8.7.3 Business Strategy

8.8 TCL Technology

8.8.1 Business Overview

8.8.2 Operating Segment

8.8.3 Business Strategy

8.9 Xiaomi Corporation

8.9.1 Business Overview

8.9.2 Operating Segments

8.9.3 Business Strategy

8.10 BBK Electronics Corporation

8.10.1 Business Overview

8.11 Transsion Holdings

8.11.1 Business Overview

8.11.2 Business Strategy

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/6yywzz

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]

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SOURCE Research and Markets
As a former professional musician, one who played the violin for the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Dr Paul Jourdans move into fund management looks, to the outsider at least, like the career equivalent of a handbrake turn.

But for the founder and chief executive of Edinburgh-based Amati Global Investors, it was more a gentle pivot that saw him turn a pastime into a profession almost two and a half decades ago.

And, as Jourdan points out during our chat, his former job, its disciplines and principles, provided excellent preparation for the world of stock-picking.

Transferrable skills

Musics a very mathematical language, which requires analysis and deep thought, he says, assessing the transferrable skills that can be used in fund management.

You cant fake it either; when you play, if you havent done the work there is nowhere to hide. You learn about judgement; you learn about dealing with different views and integrating them into your own thinking.

And, most importantly, like fund management, its quite a humbling experience to be a musician because you'll never reach your ideal.

That pushes you on to strive; to be better. And thats fantastic.

The unconventional career path began when Jourdan completed his music PhD at Cambridge and found himself at a crossroads.

What I'd initially intended to do was to go into teaching in a university music department, he explains.

And suddenly that got lost in realising, actually, there's this other thing I could do; a whole different world that I never expected to be able to discover.

And it was just such an exciting prospect that I thought I've got to give this a go and I've got to try it now.

A new world of investing

This other thing, the whole different world he refers to, was his keen interest in investing which he parlayed into the world of work.

His first job was with a company called Stewart Ivory, which he joined in 1998.

When it was taken over by First State in 2000 Jourdan became manager of what is now TB Amati UK Smaller Companies Fund, and, five years later, he launched what is now the Amati AIM Venture Capital Trust (VCT).

Eventually, he was invited to manage the funds independently, which prompted the formation 12 years ago of Amati Global Investors.

The name of the business is a nod to Jourdans musical roots. Specifically, its a reference to the foundational family of violin makers dating back to the 16th century Andrea Amati in Cremona, whose grandson Nicolo Amati, was a teacher of Antonio Stradivari.

Guiding principles

His first job with Stewart Ivory helped provide some of the guiding principles at play at Amati today.

Theres no shame in copying when you see something that is good, says Jourdan.

So, Amatis overarching aim, according to the companys website, is to create savings vehicles, suitable for a wide range of UK investors, with diverse portfolios of carefully analysed businesses.

Actively managed, the idea is they are capable of performing in a variety of market conditions.

Crucially, the environment at Amati eschews the silos found at other larger houses and allows investment teams to work together focusing on coming up with the best investment ideas.

Thats the theory, but what does it mean in practice?

Collaborative culture

The culture of the firm, I think, is one where we're very collaborative, Jourdan says.

We share a lot between the teams and part of the idea of building out the funds base was to strengthen the intellectual property in the business  and that's really around idea sharing.

Today, as well as the smaller companies and VCT funds, he and his team manage Amatis AIM IHT Portfolio Service, the TB Amati Strategic Metals Fund and the TB Amati Strategic Innovation Fund.

Smaller companies, VCT and AIM IHT have been top long-term performers, beating by some way their individual benchmarks.

For example, the long-established smaller companies fund is up 252% in the last 10 years, compared with an average return of 171%, which puts it very firmly in the top quartile in its peer group.

And the picture is similar for the venture capital trust and AIM IHT fund.

Impressive specialist teams

The metals and innovations funds are yet to fully demonstrate their potential; in the case of the former, it is at the very formative stage of its evolution. But both are backed by impressive specialist teams.

So, Georges Lequime and Mark Smith, the leads on strategic metals who joined Amati almost two years ago, have a huge hinterland of knowledge about the mining sector that will, Jourdan says, stand the fund in good stead.

The strategic innovation fund, meanwhile, can call on the expertise of Mikhail Zverev, who ran global equities teams at Standard Life Investments and joined in February, working alongside Graeme Bencke and Dr Gareth Blades.

What weve done in the last two years is to bring in new investment teams; some fantastic specialists, says Jourdan.

Those specialists have also brought with them an international perspective to investing in smaller, innovative companies that Jourdan had in mind when he founded the business 12 years ago.

When we named the business Amati Global Investors back then, we recognised that UK Small Cap covers companies with operations across the globe.

Now we have taken that a step further and launched funds that invest in different stock markets around the world too.
Thousands of mourners who have flocked to the capital for the opportunity to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II have been told to stay away after the queue reached nearly five miles.

The line was closed earlier today for six hours in order to reduce the length of the queue, starting at Westminster Hall with the end closer to Southwark Park.

Here, according to the Daily Mail, some 2,000 people are being kept in a holding area until the queue shortens.

Crowds of people were begging to join the main queue, with security letting roughly 100 people join every 10 or 15 minutes.

According to the BBC, the queue is at capacity, although it is unclear exactly how many people that is.

With that being said, the estimated wait time is about 14 hours, with those waiting told to expect little time to sit down as the queue is constantly moving.

People will be able to visit up until 6.30am on Monday 19 September, the day of her funeral.

Monday 19

The Queens state funeral will take place at Westminster Abbey.

Plans involve the Queens coffin to be carried along by carriage pulled by sailors rather than horses, with senior members of the Royal Family following behind.

The military will line the streets and join the procession, as well as heads of governments, prime ministers and presidents, European royals and key public figures.

The service will be televised and a national two minutes silence is expected to be held.

The Queens coffin will be taken to St Georges Chapel at Windsor Castle, and her final resting place will be the King George VI memorial chapel, an annexe to the main chapel.

Here, her mother and father are buried, as well as the ashes of her sister, Princess Margaret.

Her late husbands coffin, the Duke of Edinburgh, will be moved from the Royal Vault to the memorial chapel to join the Queen's.
Following the appointment of Fuhrman, trading in Quantum Blockchains AIM-listed securities will resume with effect from 7.30am on September 12, 2022

Quantum Blockchain Technologies PLC (AIM:QBT) has announced the appointment of Peter Fuhrman as a non-executive director with immediate effect, and said trading in the company's shares will resume today.

The company noted that Fuhrman has extensive experience in high-technology, semiconductors, finance and investment industries. Currently, he is chairman and chief executive of China First Capital which advises on and invests in the technology sector with expertise, inter alia, in Chinas semiconductor industry, advanced manufacturing, robotics, precision automation, nano-positioning and photonics.

In a statement, Francesco Gardin, CEO and executive chairman of Quantum Blockchain commented: I have known Peter for some time, and I have always been impressed by his views on technology and its economic impact. I believe that Peter's appointment to the Board will have a strong positive impact, not only because of his experience, but also due to his vast network that he has developed in over 30 years of international business in the US, Europe and China.

Fuhrman is also a strategic adviser on advanced technologies and market expansion to the board and chairman of one of Chinas largest listed high-technology manufacturing companies and to one of Germanys largest semiconductor technology companies. He was previously CEO of Los Angeles based Awareness Technologies, a cloud-based enterprise security software company (which he successfully sold in 2008) and Head of Europe for the publisher, Forbes Inc.

Fuhrman graduated summa cum laude with a bachelors degree in Chinese History from Tufts University in 1980, and with a masters degree in International Relations from Cambridge University in 1985. He did postgraduate studies at Nanjing University and as a Yale-in-China Fellow at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

In addition to the appointment of Fuhrman, the company said it has committed to appoint a further non-executive director to its board within the next three months. Further announcements regarding such appointment will be made in due course, it added.

Following the appointment of Fuhrman, trading in the companys AIM-listed securities will resume with effect from 7.30am on September 12, 2022.

Quantum Blockchain ordinary shares were suspended in August as a result of the company having only one director (Francesco Gardin) and therefore being unable to comply with Companies Act requirement to have at least two directors.
His career in banking over the past 30 years has also encompassed roles with HBOS, RBS and Standard Chartered

Franchise Brands PLC (AIM:FRAN) has announced that Andy Brattesani has joined its board as a non-executive director.

The company noted that Brattesani is an experienced banking professional with extensive experience in the franchising sector. From 2016 until recently he was UK Head of Franchise at HSBC, the market leader in the UK franchise sector with an extensive client base including many of the largest franchise brands.

As well as supporting the growth of HSBC's franchise business in the UK, Brattesani also led the expansion of HSBC's franchise model internationally. His career in banking over the past 30 years has also encompassed roles with HBOS, RBS and Standard Chartered.

In a statement, Stephen Hemsley, Franchise Brands executive chairman, commented: "We are pleased to welcome Andy to the board of Franchise Brands as a Non-Executive Director. His substantial franchising experience, profile in, and knowledge of the market, and business development expertise will be particularly valuable as we continue to grow our business both in the UK and internationally".

Brattesani added: "I am delighted to be joining the board of Franchise Brands at this time. The Group has an impressive track record of growth, having built a high-quality, technology-enabled portfolio of brands in the UK, Europe and North America. I look forward to contributing my franchising and business development experience to support the team in driving the future growth of the business".

Brattesani, aged 60, does not have any current directorships and has not held any directorships in the past five years, the international multi-brand franchise business noted.
Quantum Blockchain Technologies chief executive Francesco Gardin joins Proactive to talk about the appointment of Peter Fuhrman as a non-executive director and the resumption of trading in its shares today.

Fuhrman is currently chairman and chief executive of China First Capital which advises on and invests in the technology sector with expertise in Chinas semiconductor industry, advanced manufacturing, robotics, precision automation, nano-positioning and photonics.
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The pilot plant is designed to produce 120 kilograms per day of Silumina Anodes coated battery anode material.

Altech Chemicals Ltd (ASX:ATC) is forging ahead with the required building modifications and panel installation for its Silumina Anodes pilot plant in Saxony, Germany, in preparation to kick off plant construction next month.

The battery materials technology company is in the race to get its patented technology to market and recently completed a preliminary feasibility study (PFS) for the construction of the 10,000 tonnes per annum plant, which outlines a net present value of US$507 million.

This pilot plant is designed to produce 120 kilograms per day of Silumina Anodes coated battery anode material, which will be made available to selected European battery manufacturers and auto-makers.

Equipment ordered

Procurement of equipment for the pilot plant in Dock3, a leased warehouse space adjacent to Altechs land in Schwarze Pumpe Industrial Park in Saxony, is well advanced, with all long lead equipment already ordered.

Detailed design is nearing completion, with the Kuttner Engineering team focusing on the development of commissioning and operational documentation, while Altech is preparing for pre-commissioning of the wet circuit when key equipment arrives.

Wasting no time

To accelerate the plant commissioning, Altech has set about getting the definitive feasibility study (DFS) completed ahead of schedule. The DFS will run in parallel with the pilot plant construction, with the Kuttner Engineering detailed design team transferring to the DFS.

The mass and energy balance from the PFS is being validated, with minor changes to the process design to simplify the process in certain areas, and once finalised, process flow diagrams and piping and instrument diagrams will be established and equipment specifications will be finalised.

Significant moment

German Federal Chancellor HE Olaf Scholz (centre) arrives at Altechs Silumina Anodes site in Schwarze Pumpe Industrial Park.

The Schwarze Pumpe site recently received a special visitor in German Chancellor His Excellency Olaf Scholz, who was heading a special delegation to boost economic development in the Saxony region.

Altechs German managing director Uwe Ahrens hosted the visit, an event the company said was significant for Altech as the company pushes for higher battery efficiency for the German electric vehicle industry.

Energy security is a significant concern within Germany and represents a key focus, as evidenced by the federal governments promise of 40 billion in related investments to German regions and industries.

For a slice of the pie, the company has begun applying for the various federal and state grants under the battery development program, as well as other infrastructure and regional financial support programs within the framework of the European Battery Alliance, Structural Development Funds and other special programs initiated by the Federal State of Germany.

Altechs Silumina Anodes game-changing technology is considered as a key project for industrial development for the State of Saxony, as well as Germany at large, and hence, has been invited to present the technology and the project to the federal government.
Amplia Therapeutics Ltd (ASX:ATX) CEO and managing director Dr John Lambert has tendered his resignation, effective November 2022, in order to facilitate a change of executive leadership and seek new challenges.

Dr Lambert will leave the company in November but is expected to remain available to assist with an orderly transition of the role.

It has been a great privilege to serve as CEO of Amplia for the last few years and I am incredibly proud to have overseen the growth of Amplia over that time, outgoing CEO and MD Dr Lambert said.

I am pleased to have built an outstanding team with the resources to progress the pipeline to significant value inflexions.

There are even more exciting times ahead for Amplia but I feel that it is an appropriate time for an executive leadership transition and for me to seek new challenges.

I have enjoyed exceptional support from the board and I thank them for their guidance and oversight during my time as CEO.

Taking Amplia to next stage

Amplia will begin the search for a new CEO will begin immediately in order to facilitate a smooth transition without interruption to the companys operations.

The Amplia board would like to thank John for his contributions to Amplia over the last four years and we wish him well with the next stage of his career, Amplia Therapeutics chair Dr Warwick Tong said.

John has successfully led Amplia through the major and important transition from a pre-clinical stage company to one with clinical stage programs.

Our lead asset, AMP945, recently started a Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with pancreatic cancer and a second Phase 2 trial in pulmonary fibrosis is in advanced preparation.

We will be seeking to identify a new CEO with the ability to build on the established clinical development capability and to take the company to its next stage.
A greener future will require more mining than ever before, meaning collaboration and the adoption of new technologies across the industrys entire value chain is no longer an option, but a necessity.

This will be among the key challenges being addressed by industry leaders and innovators at the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) in Sydney this November.

According to key players in Mining Equipment, Technology and Services (METS), who will be speaking at the forum, theres an urgent need for the industry to dramatically increase their uptake of sustainable technologies.

AspenTech vice president and general manager of Metals and Mining Jeannette McGill says not being at the cutting edge of available technology can be risky for mining companies.

Technology is mandatory as it underwrites the future for mines, especially the ones mining lower grade metals. It's these technologies that are going to allow us to mine and process more efficiently and allow us to have less impact on the environment.

We can be more robust in how we push out the technologies into the market but the constraints are around a skills base to absorb it, but also the adoption of technologies doesn't come without a cost, McGill said.

Paul Berkovic, chief commercial officer at I4 Mining by Rayven, agrees initially some technologies are hard to adopt but will eventually have an extremely significant impact on productivity, safety and in meeting demand for critical minerals vital to future energy solutions, including solar panels and wind farms.

Competitively, it will be unavoidable, but there will also be huge environmental benefits to the adoption of this technology which consumers should understand because mining is not going anywhere. It's a really important part of our economy but how do we make it a more friendly part of the economy than it currently is perceived as? Berkovic said.

Ethically conscious consumers are one of the major driving forces behind the mining sectors transition according to METS Ignited general manager Kylah Morrison, who says they are more influential on the industry than ever before thanks to the pressure they put on end-user manufacturers.

You're seeing a lot of those end users which maybe had two or three steps before the raw materials got to them, starting to have to take responsibility for what those interim steps are and make them more secure, so were seeing miners have a more direct relationship with end users, Morrison said.

Fortunately, with data and computing power, we can offer that transparency. Apple, for example, could say to the consumer who's purchasing an iPhone or an iPad, we know for sure that we were providing a carbon neutral or carbon low carbon product, she added.

With that community influence in mind, its also the responsibility of mining companies around the world to ensure they are engaging these technologies in a thoughtful way, rather than making reactionary decisions to engage in short-term solutions that may not be manageable in the future.

The mining space has been at the vanguard of technology to a certain extent. It's had self-driving vehicles and all sorts for 20-30 years now, but what is happening now is a whole lot of these new novel technologies are coming out but they're being adopted in a sort of a point and shoot manner, said Berkovic.

IMARC conference director Sherene Asnasyous says with such a diverse cross-section of the mining and resources industry attending, the event is a unique opportunity for collaboration to address evolving challenges such as this.

IMARC will shine a spotlight on the role the METS sector is taking in driving the global energy transition, how it is bringing innovation to the exploration and development of new future-facing resources, and how it is helping balance the needs of the developed and the developing world, as well as local communities and environments, in the resource transition.

"At its core, IMARC creates a global conversation and is all about the business of mining and resources, providing extensive opportunities for collaboration, knowledge sharing and cross-sector engagement to help drive a smarter, more productive industry of the future."
Gateway Mining Ltd (ASX:GML) managing director Mark Cossom gives Andrew Scott from Proactive an introduction to the gold exploration and development company operating in the Murchison region of Western Australia. Cossom discusses the potential to grow the 450,000-ounce resource and an ongoing 60,000-metre drilling program. The company has already drilled 40,000 metres and plans to be finished by the end of 2022. Cossum also speaks about changes to the board as the company sets up for its next phase and the potential that brings.
Greatland Gold PLC (AIM:GGP, OTC:GRLGF) shares rose early on Monday as the company revealed it has secured up to A$340mln (200mln) in new funding that it expects will fully fund its 30% share of developing the world-class Havieron gold-copper deposit in Western Australia into production, and unveiled three transformational board appointments.

Shares in the AIM-traded development and exploration company jumped over 11% to 9.25p following the announcements.

Greatland said three of Australia's top corporate and mining industry leaders will join its board to help with its growth strategy and transition into a gold and copper producer.

Mark Barnaba, an eminent natural resources investment banker and deputy chair of A$50bn ASX-listed Fortescue Metals Group Ltd will become Greatlands non-executive chairman, and Elizabeth Gaines, former Fortescue chief executive and managing director, will become a non-executive director and deputy chair.

They both intend to take up a consulting role with effect from today before joining the board on or before 1 January 2023.

James 'Jimmy' Wilson, a former senior executive at BHP Group including the former president of its iron ore division, will join Greatland as an executive director from today.

Greatland said it plans to undertake a cross-listing on the Australian Securities Exchange to increase liquidity and provide additional access to capital.

Funding Greatlands flagship asset

The company said it has signed a commitment letter, including a terms sheet, for a A$220mln, seven-year debt facility with Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, HSBC Bank, and ING Bank (Australia).

It also announced a proposed strategic equity investment of up to A$120mln from Wyloo Metals, a privately owned metals company, that would see the Perth-based group becoming Greatlands biggest shareholder with a stake of about 8.6%.

"This is a tremendous announcement for Greatland to have a pathway to being fully funded for its share of the development costs of Havieron, Greatland's managing director Shaun Day said in a statement.

"The significant size of each bank's commitment together with the strategic support from Wyloo highlights the long-term confidence in the Havieron gold-copper project and the strength of this world-class asset," he added.

Wyloo will subscribe for about 430mln shares at 8.2p per share, a 1.2% discount to Greatlands closing share price on Friday, for a total initial investment of A$60mln. It will also receive warrants to subscribe for an additional 352.6mln shares at an exercise price of 10.0p per share.

Both the placement and the warrants are subject to the approval of Greatland's shareholders.

Wyloo CEO Luca Giacovazzi said the Havieron deposit was one of the most exciting recent mineral discoveries in Western Australia.

The Paterson range is emerging as Western Australias next prolific mining province, and Greatland has an expansive tenement package, which we believe has great potential for further discovery, Giacovazzi said in a separate statement.

We are excited to be a part of the development of what we expect will be a low-cost, modern mining operation with very high environmental and social standards, and proud to be supporting another great Western Australian project," he added.

Completion of the debt facilities and Wyloos investment will enable Greatland to fully fund its share of the Havierons development to a 2mln tonnes per annum (Mtpa) operation, based on an October 2021 pre-feasibility study.

Greatland said it will also be well positioned to be fully funded for the targeted expansion to about 3Mtpa based on a feasibility study expected to be released in the December 2022 quarter.

Havieron was discovered by Greatland and is being developed through a joint venture with Newcrest Mining Ltd, one of the world's largest gold mining companies, which has a 70% interest in the venture.

World-class board for a world-class company

"The addition of such a high-quality team of successful professionals is a strong validation of the quality of Greatland's asset, said Alex Borrelli, non-executive chairman of Greatland.

"In combination with our existing directors, we will have a world-class board to act as stewards of Greatland's interest in the Tier 1 discovery we have made at Havieron, he added.

Borrelli will assume a senior non-executive director role as Lead UK Director following the new board appointments.

His successor, Barnaba, has been deputy chairman of Fortescue, the world's fourth-largest iron ore producer, since November 2017 and is also a board member of the Reserve Bank of Australia.

-- Updates with funding details, share price --
Johnson & Johnson was ordered to pay $1.7 million to three Australian women in March 2020

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) has reached a A$300 million ($204.90 million) settlement in two Australian class action suits filed by Shine Lawyers for selling defective pelvic mesh implants to Australian women, Reuters reported.

"The settlement reached on September 9, 2022 is the largest settlement in a product liability class action in Australian history, and is subject to approval by the Federal Court," Shine Lawyers said in a statement on its website.

The settlement follows multiple court proceedings involving more than 11,000 claimants, the pharmaceutical giant, and its subsidiary Ethicon.

An Australian federal court judge had previously found that Ethicon had sold implants to treat urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse without warning women and surgeons about the risks, and had rushed the products to market before proper testing.

The company was ordered to pay $1.7 million to three Australian women in March 2020.

A second class action suit was then filed by Shine Lawyers in April 2021 on behalf of women who received their implants on or after July 4, 2017, and were not eligible to join the first class action, with allegations similar to the first one. Reuters noted.

J&J has faced similar lawsuits on its pelvic mesh products in the United States, Canada and Europe.

Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com
Advance United Holdings Inc. (CSE:AUHI, OTCQB:AUHIF) CEO Jim Atkinson tells Proactive that the company has the edge over some of its competitors due to the incorporation of new technology into mining exploration, including artificial intelligence (AI).

Atkinson said the company focuses on acquiring undervalued and often abandoned gold properties which it can apply modern data management, data processing and AI to old records to bring them to a stage where they may be 43-101 compliant and more interesting to mid- and large-tier producers.

#Proactive Investors #AdvanceUnitedHoldings #GoldExploration #OTCQB #CSE
Greatland Gold PLC (AIM:GGP, OTC:GRLGF)'s Shaun Day speaks with Proactive's Andrew Scott soon after revealing it's secured up to A$340mln (200mln) in new funding that it expects will fully fund its 30% share of developing the world-class Havieron gold-copper deposit in Western Australia into production.

He also discusses three 'transformational' board appointments.

GGP has signed a commitment letter, including a terms sheet, for a A$220mln, seven-year debt facility with Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX:ANZ), HSBC Bank, and ING Bank (Australia).

It also announced a proposed strategic equity investment of up to A$120mln from Wyloo Metals, a privately owned metals company, that would see the Perth-based group becoming Greatlands biggest shareholder with a stake of about 8.6%.
QC Copper and Gold reminded investors that it has now reinterpreted Opemiska's geological model, such that it now views the project as having mineralized envelopes rather than veins and 'halos'

QC Copper and Gold Inc. (TSX-V:QCCU, OTCQB:QCCUF) has updated investors on the progress of the new resource for its Opemiska copper project in Quebec - an asset, which it says, could be the "most compelling high-grade open pit copper-gold deposit in Canada".

The report is now expected to be published in early 2023 as opposed to late 2022, which had been earmarked before. This is due to delays around turnaround times from the lab, noted QC Copper.

The company reminded investors that it has now reinterpreted Opemiska's geological model, such that it now views the project as having mineralized envelopes rather than veins and 'halos'.

In the 2021 resource estimate, said QC Copper, the 'halos' around the veins were interpolated with only a 20 metre (m) search radius so "substantial" material above the cut-off grade was not included in the report.

"Drilling conducted post-2021 MRE confirms the presence of extensive mineralization within the original halos, which is expected to be incorporated into Opemiska's updated MRE," said the company in the statement.

"Additionally, new economic mineralized zones were encountered in the Saddle Zone, between the Springer and Perry mines, and the Gap Zone between veins 1 and 3 at Springer. The Saddle and the Gap Zones were not mined historically as the veins were too narrow for underground mining. These Zones are expected to expand the in-pit mineral resources," highlighted the company.

QC said it was also completing geotechnical drilling analysis to optimize the pit wall angles for the Opemiska open pit design, which could have "material" impacts on both the strip ratio and depth of recoverable resources.

The firm has also hired SRK Consulting to complete a structural study to better understand the different veins and mineralized faults of this structurally-hosted deposit and named Global GPR as behind a ground penetrating radar geophysical survey.

It has also hired G-Mining Services and SGS-Laboratories to use the wealth of historical data and conduct preliminary, PEA-level metallurgical studies.

"This study will provide copper and gold recoveries data for the lower head grades expected compared to the historical underground mine. These recoveries will inform the upcoming MRE, and make recommendations for additional work that will be needed as the project goes through its development steps," the company said.

The 2021 in-pit resource showed 81.7 million tonnes at a grade of 0.88% copper-equivalent in the measured and indicated category and 32,773m of drilling in 139 holes have been completed since then.

A total of 28,253 samples have been collected and results have been received for 24,867 samples.

In parallel with the metallurgical work being completed on Opemiska, QC has also engaged the same contractors to complete preliminary stage metallurgical work on its Roger deposit, it added.

As noted in a release in August this year, QC Copper has also switched its assay reporting format from copper-equivalent grades to the total metal weight of the individual metals.

The company is focused on acquiring and developing copper projects in the Chibougamau region that share synergies with its past-producing Opemiska Copper Mine Complex.

Through acquisitions, QC Copper has been able to expand its Opemiska property to over 13,000 hectares in the heart of Quebec with significant infrastructure, including direct rail and road access, already in place.

Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com
The drill results included one hole which intersected 5.7 metres at a grade of 514 grams per tonne silver

GR Silver Mining (TSX-V:GRSL) Ltd said it has uncovered more broad zones of mineralization at its Plomosas project in Sinaloa, Mexico, including high-grade gold and silver which puts the company firmly on track to deliver an updated mineral resource in the first quarter of next year.

The company said it has drilled 96 holes for a total of 4,946 metres (m) in the Plomosas Mine Area since the NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate (MRE) was revealed in 2021, and it expects to complete an additional 4,200m by year-end.

"Our targeted infill drill program at the Plomosas Mine Area is now over 50% complete with the remainder fully funded. We remain on track to provide an updated mineral resource estimate in Q1 2023, GR Silver Mining chairman and CEO Eric Zaunscherb said in a statement.

Our geological team is successfully identifying new zones of polymetallic and precious-metal dominant mineralization and replacing unsampled intervals in the resource block model with significant mineralization, he added.

In addition to this low-hanging fruit, our geologists are refining their geological model with immeasurable long-term impact on the explorational potential, not just at Plomosas Mine Area but also at the expanding San Marcial Area and throughout the broader Plomosas Project," Zaunscherb concluded.

The current drill program was designed to replace historical holes used in the 2021 NI 43-101 (MRE), where zero values were assigned, and to test new near-surface and underground high-grade silver-gold mineralized zones identified in the recent underground sampling/mapping program.

Some of the result highlights from the latest infill drilling include:

5.7 metres (m) at 514 grams per tonne (g/t) silver (Ag), 0.1 g/t gold (Au), 0.4% lead (Pb) and 0.5% zinc (Zn); including 1.0m at 1,634 g/t Ag, 0.28 g/t Au, 1.2% Pb and 1.0% Zn including 0.2m at 3,163 g/t Ag, 0.61 g/t Au, 2.5% Pb and 4.3% Zn;

7.3m at 55 g/t Ag, 8.66 g/t Au, 2.7% Pb, 6.6% Zn and 0.5% copper (Cu) including 0.3m at 190 g/t Ag, 44.4 g/t Au, 1.3% Pb, 2.1% Zn and 1.0% Cu;

5.0m at 88 g/t Ag, 0.33 g/t Au, 5.1% Pb, 2.8% Zn and 0.2% Cu; and

21.2m at 2.1% Pb and 1.3% Zn.

Un-mined zones

The current underground drilling and mapping program in the Plomosas Mine Area has identified un-mined zones as well as better delineated the precious metals-rich stockwork zones located on the hanging wall of the hydrothermal breccia and often associated with northwest-trending fault zones, GR Silver Mining said.

The company said the completion of 4,946m of drilling represents a significant addition of results to be incorporated into the upcoming resource estimate.

The information collected during the past 12 months has indicated that not only are there zones with well-preserved precious and base metal-rich hydrothermal breccias, but also well-defined, wide silver-gold only stockwork zones on the hanging wall of the hydrothermal breccia, where historical mine operations did not fully investigate.

Additionally, the infill drilling program is improving the definition of the boundaries of a broad lead-zinc mineralized zone.

Company directors re-elected

GR Silver Mining also announced that the five nominees proposed by the company were re-elected as directors at the Annual General & Special Meeting of shareholders held on September 6, 2022.

Shareholders also voted in favour of all matters brought before the meeting, including re-appointing Davidson and Company LLP as the company's auditors and approving the new Omnibus Long-Term Incentive Plan that gives the company a variety of security-related mechanisms to attract, retain, and motivate qualified directors, employees, and consultants.

GR Silver Mining is a Canadian-based, Mexico-focused junior mineral exploration company engaged in cost-effective silver-gold resource expansion on its 100%-owned assets, located on the eastern edge of the Rosario Mining District, in the southeast of Sinaloa State, Mexico.

The company wholly controls two past producer precious metal underground and open pit mines, within the expanded Plomosas project, which includes the integrated San Marcial Area and La Trinidad acquisition.

It also holds a portfolio of early to advanced stage exploration targets and 734 square kilometres (km) of concessions containing several structural corridors totaling over 75 km in strike.

Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com
Dan Wilton, CEO of First Mining, said in a statement that he was excited about the new resource

First Mining Gold Corp. (TSX:FF, OTCQX:FFMGF) has hailed the publication of an NI 43-101 updated resource for its Duparquet gold property in the Abitibi in Quebec, which pegs it as one of the top four undeveloped gold projects in the Canadian province.

The new report comes from the master database of drill data, which contains 904 holes for 270,119 metres (m) and 173,831 sampled intervals. It includes 57 holes for 9,548m, which were not included in the previous 2013 estimate.

With these holes included, the resource increases to 3.4 million ounces (Moz) in the measured and indicated (M&I) category, an increase of 327,000 ounces, and to 1.6 Moz in the inferred, an increase of 193,000 ounces.

The total measured resource estimate for Duparquet comes in at 8,500 ounces at a grade of 1.43 grams per ton (g/t); the indicated is 3.43 million ounces at 1.55 g/t, while inferred is 1.63 million ounces at 1.36 g/t.

Dan Wilton, CEO of First Mining, said in a statement that he was excited about the new resource.

"Duparquet is an advanced stage project that has benefited from 270,000m of historical drilling and was advanced to a PFS level in 2014.

"This resource growth from incorporating the 2013-2018 drilling is just the beginning of what we see as immense value potential here at Duparquet.

"Based on the size of its current resource, Duparquet represents one of the top four undeveloped gold projects in the province of Quebec. Its above average M&I open pit grade of 1.52 g/t Au (gold) provides excellent mining flexibility and along with its size and location, make it a very versatile deposit amenable to different potential mining scenarios with good future growth potential," he said.

Wilton also noted the project had access to "excellent infrastructure and skilled labour" and the firm intended to complete an updated economic study in the near future and to develop an "exploration path to support potential resource expansion, resource classification upgrading, and discovery of new deposits in this underexplored district".

Duparquet comprises the Beattie, Donchester, Central Duparquet, Dumico properties and the tailings from the former Beattie mine over an area of 1,079.2 hectares (Ha) covering a strike length of 8 kilometres (km).

Gold was initially discovered in the Duparquet Township in 1910 by John Beattie.

The Beattie and adjoining Donchester mines were in production from 1933 to 1956, producing over 1.3 million ounces of gold. In the mid-1930s, Beattie Gold Mines was the largest gold producer in Quebec.

From the 1980s to 2007, very limited exploration was carried out.

Clifton Star had an option on the property between 2009 and 2014 and surface diamond drilling and channel sampling was carried out, along with an environmental baseline study, environmental assessment study and numerous metallurgical studies.

Mineral resource estimates were also carried out that were included in the preliminary economic assessment and a pre-feasibility study. The Clifton Star option was terminated in 2014 and the property was returned to the previous owners, with Clifton Star retaining a 10% interest in the companies that held the properties.

Based on metallurgical tests, First Mining said the Duparquet project appears amenable to standard gold recovery processes. A combination of flotation, pressure oxidation and cyanide leach processes has shown a gold recovery ranging from between 94.7% and 96.5%.

Additional diamond drilling on multiple zones would likely upgrade some of the inferred resource to the indicated category and/or add to the inferred since most of the mineralized zones have not been fully explored at depth or close to surface infrastructures, the company added.

First Mining has a portfolio of gold projects in Canada, with the most advanced being the Springpole asset in northwestern Ontario, which is one of the largest undeveloped gold projects in Canada. Here, it has commenced a feasibility study and permitting activities are on-going with a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the project submitted in June this year.

First Mining also owns the Cameron, Duparquet, Duquesne and Pitt gold projects, all advanced-stage gold projects in Ontario (Cameron) and Quebec. Its portfolio of gold project interests also includes the Pickle Crow gold project being advanced in partnership with AuTECO Minerals Ltd, the Hope Brook gold project being advanced in partnership with Big Ridge Gold Corp, an equity interest in Treasury Metals Inc and a portfolio of 21 gold royalties.

Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com
The Twitter whistleblower, its former head of security, Peiter Zatko is also set to give testimony to the US Senate in Washington DC on Tuesday

Shareholders in Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) have voted to approve Elon Musks $44 billion bid to buy the social media company and take it private.

The vote came as Musk seeks to scrap the deal, casting doubt on Twitters self-reported percentage of fake accounts and alleging the company was not as forthcoming as it should have been with its explanation of the calculation.

The shareholder approval now sets the stage for the battle between Musk and Twitter in the Delaware Courts, though analysts at Wedbush think that there is "the high possibility ... that some form of negotiation likely takes place ahead" of the trial start date on October 17, 2022.

In a note to clients on Monday, the Wedbush analysts noted that: "Once both parties step into court its a high risk/high reward scenario for both parties with the major X variable now being the Zatko whistleblower claims."

They added: "Up until the Zatko development, the Street was factoring in Twitter to have a clear win in the Delaware Courts in October. There are a range of possibilities that can come from the Delaware court including settlement, breakup fee paid, deal enforced, and a myriad of other outcomes."

The analysts highlight Four Key Scenarios for Twitter/Musk:

Scenario #1. Deal ends, Musk pays breakup $1 billion breakup fee and walks (low likelihood).

Scenario #2. "Specific performance" uphold by the court; Musk needs to buy Twitter at $54.20 in the $44 billion agreed upon deal. (high likelihood)

Scenario #3. Musk needs to settle or pay significant damages to Twitter with Street ranges from $5 billion to $10 billion based on court ruling/trial trajectory. (high likelihood)

Scenario #4. Musk wins in Delaware and pays no breakup fee around fake account/bot information cited in 13D filing. (very low likelihood)

Last month, whistleblower allegations became public that provided Musk, the world's richest person, with fresh ammunition to bolster his attempt to walk away from the Twitter deal without paying a $1 billion termination fee.

Twitter's former head of security, Peiter Zatko, a well-known hacker known as 'Mudge', said in a complaint to regulators that the company falsely represented that it had a solid data security plan. Zatko is set to give testimony to the US Senate in Washington DC tomorrow.

The Wedbush analysts noted: "In a tangential but important related note, Zatko will be testifying in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee in DC tomorrow at 10 am. This will be a full Committee hearing to examine allegations of widespread security failures at Twitter."

They said: "With the Musk camp now being allowed to include the Zatko claims in its testimony for Delaware, tomorrow's hearing will be closely watched by the Street to better understand the details around security issues as well as the bot/fake account issue at the centerpiece of Musk's focus. We continue to view the Zatko situation as a Pandora's Box scenario for Twitter with for now the Senate hearing front and center."

The Wedbush analysts added: "For now Twitter's stock will continue to trade on deal odds as the long and ugly courtroom battle now begins to play out in Delaware courts."

They concluded: "We maintain our NEUTRAL rating and $50 price target which is based on our view of the deal likely being done at this lowered price point."

Twitter shares were 0.7% higher in pre-market reading on Tuesday at $41.68, still well below the Musk bid price of $54.20 per share.

-- Adds Reuters tally comment, updates share price --

Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com
The companys previous CEO Ralph Shearing will continue as president and director

Altaley Mining Corporation (TSX-V:ATLY) has announced that it has appointed Mike Struthers as its new CEO and director.

The company said Struthers was a seasoned professional and chartered engineer with more than 40 years of international mining experience.

His experience includes project management in feasibility and engineering studies, project development, technical reviews, financial evaluations, strategic planning, mine expansions, construction management, and project due diligence over a wide range of commodities and jurisdictions including base metals, gold, and diamonds, in jurisdictions including Africa, Australia, North America, South America, Europe and Russia, according to Altaley.

Altaley chairman David Rhodes welcomed Struthers' appointment and noted his experience would augment and strengthen the company's management team, especially in operations, project engineering, and construction management.

The company has experienced a number of delays with bringing our flagship Tahuehueto project on stream, so in his new role Mike will bring his extensive experience to bear to ensure Tahuehueto is successfully delivered to add significant value to shareholders through sustained and consistent production, he said.

Together with more consistent production from our Campo Morado operation, this will provide the foundation for the company to grow to meet its aspiration of becoming Mexicos next mid-tier metals producer.

Struthers added that he was delighted to join the Altaley team to help build the company into a significant player in the Mexican mining scene.

Im confident we can overcome recent challenges to successfully deliver the Tahuehueto project efficiently for shareholders, and thereafter to ensure both operations in Mexico produce consistently to create that foundation for growth, he said.

The Altaley organization will also continue to evolve and strengthen as it completes its transition from an explorer to dependable producer.

The companys previous CEO Ralph Shearing will continue as president and director, with Altaley noting that his long tenure and experience in senior management would continue to provide invaluable knowledge and insight to the company.

Altaley is a Canadian-based mining company with two 100% owned Mexican gold, silver and base metal mining projects.

Contact the author at emily.jarvie@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow her on Twitter @emilyjjarvie
The addition of Chan is a significant move for interim CEO Sabas Carrillo, who was appointed on August 12

Unrivaled Brands Inc (OTCQX:UNRV) has found its interim chief financial officer in seasoned cannabis and financial services executive Patty Chan, the company announced, effective Monday.

Chan brings more than 14 years of accounting, financial reporting, compliance and operational experience across the cannabis, real estate, and financial services industries, the company said. She previously served as CFO of Upexi Inc (formerly Grove Inc), a manufacturing, distribution, wholesale and retail company in the CBD industry.

The addition of Chan is a significant move for interim CEO Sabas Carrillo, who was appointed on August 12.

Patty brings the talent and leadership required for this moment at Unrivaled, Carrillo said in a statement. Her extensive forensic accounting experience will be instrumental in effectively addressing certain litigation and claims alleged against Unrivaled. Once again, per the companys engagement with Adnant, we are able to add to the puissance of a formidable team at no additional cost to the company.

Chan is currently a manager at Adnant LLC, an accounting and consulting firm advising cannabis companies on technical and operational accounting, strategic transactions and the public offering process.

Patty has the experience to make tough decisions and the foresight to capitalize on opportunity. Her instincts and fearlessness will be part of Unrivaleds transformation story, Carrillo added.

Unrivaled Brands operates four dispensaries in California, as well as direct-to-consumer delivery, a state-wide distribution network, company-owned brands, and two cultivation facilities. In Oregon, it operates a state-wide distribution network, company-owned brands and outdoor and greenhouse cultivation.

Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow him on Twitter @andrew_kessel
Varanasi, Sep 12 : Prohibitory orders under Section 144 have been imposed in Varanasi, ahead for the verdict by the district judge on the maintainability of the suit seeking worshiping right at Shringar Gauri and other deities in Gyanvapi mosque compound, filed by five women plaintiffs.

Varanasi Commissioner of Police (CP) A. Satish Ganesh said that a fool proof security plan is in place for Monday.

He said that police and paramilitary forces will also be deployed in and around areas having mixed population.

Claiming that patrolling vehicles will be positioned at strategic points, the official said quick reaction teams have been formed to act in case of eventuality. Any bid to disturb the law-and-order situation would be dealt with strictly, Ganesh said, appealing to people not to get misled by rumours.

Following the directive of the Supreme Court to decide the maintainability of the case 693/2021 on priority, the district judge had started the hearings on May 20.

With final submissions by Anjuman Intezamia Masjid -- the mosque management committee -- and advocates of the five women plaintiffs seeking worshipping rights at Shringar Gauri in Gyanvapi mosque compound on August 24, the hearing on maintainability of case 692/2021 Rakhi Singh vs state of Uttar Pradesh and others had concluded at the court of district judge Ajay Krishna Vishvesha.
Frankfurt, Sep 12 : One man was killed and another one was seriously injured in a shooting incident in Offenbach am Main in western Germany on Sunday evening, according to the regional police headquarters.

The victims were gunned down at around 8:18 p.m. local time in the downtown of the city, said a police spokesman of the police headquarters of Southeast Hesse, which is located in Offenbach am Main, Xinhua news agency reported.

The suspected perpetrator is on the run. A large-scale manhunt with a police helicopter is underway, said the police.
Damascus, Sep 12 : Islamic State (IS) militants killed six people driving on a road in the northeastern Syrian province of Hasakah, a war monitor reported.

The six victims, whose identities are not yet known, were ambushed by IS militants on the Khurafi road leading to the eastern province of Deir al-Zour, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

With the latest ambush, the IS has carried out 130 attacks in 2022 in areas controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeastern Syria, leaving 104 killed, including 37 civilians and 67 SDF fighters, according to the UK-based watchdog.
Kiev, Sep 12 : Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has blamed Russia of "depriving people of light and heat" by causing power cuts across the eastern part of the war-torn nation to seek revenge for a counter-offensive launched by Kiev.

Blackouts have reportedly affected around nine million people in eastern regions including Kharkiv, Donetsk, Poltava, Sumy and Dnipropetrovsk.

It comes after Ukraine said it had retaken over 3,000 sq.km during the rapid counter-offensive in the east, reports the BBC.

Taking to social media on Sunday night, the President said: "Even through the impenetrable darkness, Ukraine and the civilized world clearly see these terrorist acts.

"Deliberate and cynical missile strikes on civilian critical infrastructure. No military facilities. Kharkiv and Donetsk regions were cut off. In Zaporizhia, Dnipropetrovsk, and Sumy there are partial problems with power supply." He further said that "cold, hunger, darkness and thirst are not as terrible and deadly for us as your 'friendship and brotherhood'".

"But history will put everything in its place. And we will be with gas, light, water and food.. and without you." Zelensky also asked Russia if it still believed that it can intimidate Ukrainian people, break their will, or force them to make concessions; if it has failed to grasp the real state of affairs.

He also shared footage of the aftermath of Russian attacks on Sunday evening, reports Ukrayinska Pravda.

Regarding the counter-offensive, the President claimed that 1,000 sq.km had been retaken on September 8 evening, adding that figure rose to 2,000 sq.km on September 10, then to 3,000 the following day.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces entered the key town of Balaklyia on September 9, which was later confirmed by Russia saying it withdrew troops, to "bolster efforts" on the Donetsk front, the BBC reported.

The vital Russian-held supply towns of Izyum and Kupiansk were taken by Ukraine on September 10. Russia also confirmed its forces' retreat from both towns, which it said would allow them to "regroup".

Speaking to the BBC, Izyum Mayor Valerii Marchenko said residents should be able to return to the town in about 10 days for the first time since it was captured by Russia in March.

According to the Mayor, the city was probably the biggest logistical hub for the Russian army as it is a gateway to Sloviansk and Kramatorsk in the Donbas region, where Moscow wanted to advance.

Regardless of the retaking of cities an regions, Russia still holds around a fifth of Ukraine.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
Chitradurga : , Sep 12 (IANS) A local court will on Monday take a call on granting of bail to rape-accused seer Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru of Chitradurga Murugha Mutt in the Lingayat mutt sex scandal case.

Two minor girls have lodged a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) act and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against the accused seer and others.

The counsel for accused seer has moved a petition seeking permission from the Second District and Sessions Court to shift the accused seer to the Jayadeva hospital in Bengaluru on medical grounds.

He has stated that the accused seer is suffering from a cardiovascular disease and needs to be shifted to Bengaluru for coronary angiogram and other tests.

Meanwhile, according to sources, the accused is spending time in the library and writing a diary in the prison. He is taking food cooked for prisoners and has been prevented from going to walk in the open area.

The court had remanded him to judicial custody till September 14. Earlier, the court had slammed the prosecution's move of admitting the accused to ICU immediately after his arrest and making preparations to shift him to Bengaluru hospital without taking the court's permission.

It had given directions to treat him at the local medical facility.

In a related development, the uncle of one of the survivors had stated that the girl had been tutored to frame charges against the seer.
Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 12 : A passenger died while several others were injured when a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus fell into a ditch in Kerala's Idukki district on Monday.

The deceased has been identified as Sanjeevan (33). Of the injured, the condition of five is stated to be critical. The injured are undergoing treatment at a private medical college at Thodupuzha and government Taluk hospital, Thodupuzha.

According to police, the bus which was en route to Munnar from Ernakulam, was overtaking another vehicle when it fell into the ditch after one of its tyres burst. However, it did not fall into a deep gorge below as it halted after hitting a tree.
Los Angeles, Sep 12 : A visibly emotional Brendan Fraser fought back tears as 'The Whale' received a passionate standing ovation at its Toronto International Film Festival premiere on Sunday.

The crowd stood for roughly five minutes until festival organisers quieted the applause to begin a question and answer session with Fraser, director Darren Aronofsky, writer Samuel D, reports 'Variety'.

Hunter and cast members Sadie Sink and Ty Simpkins. The reception was one of the strongest yet at this year's festival, a gathering that has already included the premieres of Steven Spielberg's 'The Fabelmans' and 'Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery'.

'The Whale' stars Fraser as Charlie, a man living with severe obesity who struggles to reconnect with his 17-year-old daughter.

Fraser told the crowd at TIFF that he hopes the film will inspire more compassion in the people who watch it.

"You need to be an incredibly strong individual to be that man," Fraser said.

"Because at the end of the day, I could take the apparatus off and, while I felt dizziness, something about that stayed with mea I learned that when you just invest everything you can and give it what you've got as if it's the first and last time you ever will, something important can come of that." "And I think that with your help we might be able to change some hearts and minds." TIFF was set to be a big festival for Fraser even before 'The Whale" screened to huge acclaim.

The actor is receiving the TIFF Tribute Award for Performance at the 2022 festival, with TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey saying, "Brendan Fraser gives a performance of staggering depth, power and nuance in 'The Whale.' This former Torontonian has been an action star, a screen comic, and a romantic lead. We're thrilled to welcome him home as the actor behind one of the finest performances of the year." The supporting cast also includes Hong Chau and Samantha Morton.

The movie is based on the play of the same name by Hunter, who adapted the stage script into Aronofsky's feature. The director labored for a decade to make the movie, but he couldn't find the right person to bring Charlie to life.

"It's such a demanding role emotionally and technically, and I considered pretty much every single actor on the planet and nothing clicked," Aronofsky said. That changed after he saw a trailer to a low-budget film that Fraser appeared in, a chance encounter that sparked something profound in the filmmaker.

"From that moment on I knew we had found Charlie, and I never doubted him for a second," he added.

Fraser, a major star in the 1990s and early aughts, had moved away from the studio system in recent years.

'The Whale' could revitalise his career, just as another Aronofsky film, 2008's 'The Wrestler', led to a resurgence for Mickey Rourke. Aronofsky was asked about the similarities.

"Actors that are hungry is a super important thing, because these roles are really difficult," he said.

"You just have to find the actor at the right time in their career who is ready to work hard." The film got its start at the Venice Film Festival, where it was met with a huge six-minute standing ovation that left Fraser in tears.

The actor even tried to leave the Venice theater at one point, but the outpouring of clapping was so loud that he stayed longer and took a bow. Variety wrote out of Venice that 'The Whale' will "likely put Fraser at the forefront of this year's best actor Oscars race." To play the lead character in the film, Fraser relied on prosthetics and spent up to six hours in the make-up chair each day to fully transform into the character.

"I developed muscles I did not know I had," Fraser told journalists at the Venice press conference about wearing the prosthetic suit.

"I even felt a sense of vertigo at the end of the day when all the appliances were removed; it was like stepping off the dock onto a boat in Venice.

"That (sense of) undulating. It gave me appreciation for those whose bodies are similar. You need to be an incredibly strong person, mentally and physically, to inhabit that physical being.

In his review of 'The Whale' out of Venice, Variety chief film critic Owen Gleiberman called Fraser "slyer, subtler, more haunting than he has ever been," adding that he gives an "intensely lived-in and touching performance.

'The Whale' will be released in theaters on December 9.
Amman, Sep 12 : Jordan has warned against the noticeable decline in international support extended to refugees in the Middle East and the related UN institutions.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi made the remarks at a meeting with UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Filippo Grandi in Amman, where he stressed the need for mobilizing joint action to provide a decent life for refugees and help host countries shoulder the burden of hosting them, reports Xinhua news agency.

Safadi praised the solid partnership between Jordan and UNHCR to present necessary services to about 1.3 million Syrians residing in Jordan, of which only 10 percent live in refugee camps, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

He also underlined the role of UNHCR in supporting refugees and maintaining their cause on the international agenda.

The two sides agreed to intensify efforts to rally international support for refugees.

For his part, the UN official commended Jordan's role in hosting and providing Syrian refugees with needed health and education services.

Also on Sunday, Jordan's Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh discussed with Grandi the prospects of cooperation between Jordan and UN agencies providing humanitarian and relief services to Syrian refugees, the state-run Petra news agency reported.

King Abdullah II of Jordan received Grandi on Sunday and underlined the need for the international community to shoulder its responsibilities towards host countries, especially in light of challenges related to global food security, according to a statement by the Royal Hashemite Court.

According to the UN, Jordan now hosts some 675,000 registered refugees from Syria, who began fleeing in 2011 when the crisis in their country brought unimaginable suffering on its citizens.

Most Syrian refugees in Jordan live in its towns and villages, among local communities.

Only 17 per cent live in the two main refugee camps, Za'atari and Azraq.
Los Angeles, Sep 12 : Hollywood star Idris Elba hopes fans can "see themselves" in his new movie 'The Beast'.

Starring as recently widowed Dr. Nate Samuels who visits a South African game reserve with his two teenage daughters and the trio must fight to survive when stalked by a lion, the 50-year-old actor explained that he wants audiences to "relate" to the survival thriller, reports aceshowbiz.com.

"There's definitely a lot of ingredients in this film, it's a genre film, it's popcorn and it's designed to thrill. But at the same time, we want to add a layer that you care about.

"In some of these films, you have to have characters that you can relate to and care about and see a little bit of yourself within so that you care whether they get away from the beast or not and that is part of the c," he said, reports aceshowbiz.com.

The 'Sonic the Hedgehog 2' star, has a 20-year-old daughter Isan with his former Kim Norgaard as well as eight-year-old son Winston with his former Naiyana Garth but is currently married to Sabrina Dhowre, went on to explain that although it was a "challenge", he was inspired by his own fatherhood to complete the role.

He told HeyUGuys: "We spoke about how we layer the characters and the people's story into this genre of film and what we led with is the fact that I'm a father and that connection with my children is quite universal. It's always complex and it can be quite unique. It was a challenge for us but I think it worked in the end."
Mumbai, Sep 12 : Actors Arjun Kapoor and Bhumi Pednekar, who have recently wrapped shooting for an edgy thriller 'The Ladykiller', have signed another film that pairs them together.

The actors have left for London to begin work on this new film. The untitled romantic comedy features both in supremely fun and entertaining roles.

According to sources, the project is set to be directed by Mudassar Aziz. While there has been no confirmations about this project, industry has been speculating that this is a project to watch out for because it has an interesting cast and dabbles in a genre that is a huge crowd pleaser.

Arjun and Bhumi will start shooting this project post September 12 and will be shooting in and around London for about 30 days straight.

The film will also be shot in Mumbai and maybe a few more cities of India.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, Sep 12 : Direct-to-consumer (D2C) company Mensa Brands on Monday said it has acquired healthfood startup MyFitness for an undisclosed sum, with an aim to make it a Rs 1,000 crore brand in the next three-four years.

The acquisition will help Mensa Brands launch new categories, scale D2C, invest in brand-building and expand to global markets.

"MyFitness is a fast-growing consumer-loved brand and we will scale the brand to have an omni-channel global presence by leveraging our tech-led playbook. We believe we can build MyFitness into a Rs 1,000 crore brand in the next three-four years," said Ananth Narayanan, Founder and CEO, Mensa Brands.

Founded in 2019 by Mohammad Patel and Rahil Virani, MyFitness is popular among fitness enthusiasts, Millennials, Gen Z, and sportsperson.

MyFitness is the first to launch a chocolate variant of Peanut Butter in India and the world's first crispy Peanut Butter.

It is also the official snacking partner of IPL teams, Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals.

"We're thrilled to be partnering with Mensa Brands, a market leader proven to exponentially scale brands," said Patel.

MyFitness currently has more than 30 SKUs (stock keeping units) with an average selling price of Rs 500.

Mensa Brands, founded by Narayanan who is former CEO of Myntra and Medlife, is backed by global investors like Accel Partners, Falcon Edge Capital, Norwest Venture Partners, Prosus and Tiger Global Management.

It registered a net revenue run rate of Rs 1,500 crore in the first 12 months of operations.
New Delhi, Sep 12: India has had strong traditional ties with Russia. After the break-up of the Soviet Union and the emergence of Ukraine as an independent country, India has had friendly ties with it. Our relations with Russia have, of course, a historical depth, which is lacking in our ties with Ukraine. This has to condition our thinking and policies in the current Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The issue of a security architecture in Europe based on the West's strategy of expanding NATO eastwards or one responding to Russia's concept of "indivisible security" has been of concern to India only to the extent that US/EU-Russia tensions leading to the imposition of a series of sanctions on Russia by the West have presented challenges to our diplomacy. We have had to protect our national interest by steering our way through, on the one hand, expanding ties with the US and strong ties with major European powers, and, on the other, our "time-tested" trustworthy ties with Russia.

Our interests are not served by choosing sides in the current conflict between the West and Russia over Ukraine. We are not in alliance with either side and therefore have no treaty obligations to honour. Those who say we should choose sides should tell us which country has chosen sides in the decades old conflicts we have with China and Pakistan. Even our own neighbours have not, despite the power differential between us and them.

The US-China economic relationship is the biggest in the world at the bilateral level and remains so despite China designated as an adversary and the current tensions over Taiwan. The US has over many years helped build communist China that neither believes in a free economy nor free people into a major power, in preference to a democratic India. The US-China relationship continues despite the current Chinese aggression against India in Ladakh. The US has not chosen between India and Pakistan despite the latter's involvement in terrorism against India over decades and periodic triggering of military conflicts. Europe has not chosen between India and Pakistan or India and China. It has ties with our adversaries to the degree they serve individual country or collective interests.

Russia has been more sensitive to our concerns about Pakistan but has lately expanded its options vis-a-vis Islamabad. Russia is well aware of our problems with China but has not only remained neutral on India-China issues, it has under western geopolitical and economic pressure deepened its strategic ties with China, the implications of which we cannot overlook. Ukraine, of course, has not chosen sides in our conflicts with either Pakistan or China.

If in our joint statements with western countries or Russia terrorism is condemned and, in some cases, Pakistan based terror organisations are mentioned by name, it is because both the West and Russia have deep concerns about the threat of terrorism to their own security, independently of India. They are not taking sides with India; they are accepting that a shared threat from terrorism exists. In the case of Ukraine, India and the West have no shared concern over military threats from Russia.

If moral questions are raised by the West in criticising our neutral position on the Ukraine conflict, it can be equally validly argued that moral questions are equally involved in a jihadi militaristic regime in Pakistan exporting terror to India and an expansionist, bullying autocracy in China exercising its sovereignty claims over Indian territory with military tools.

Beyond all this, larger issues exist that would prevent us from aligning ourselves with the West on the Ukraine issue. Having suffered from western sanctions for decades aimed at obstructing our technological progress in strategic areas, we cannot support sanctions as a matter of principle, be it on Russia or other countries, unless approved by the UN Security Council. It is a different matter that we are forced to comply with unilaterally declared US sanctions in order to protect ourselves from secondary consequences. The policy of imposing sanctions has shown that there is scant regard for the interests of the developing world.

The Ukraine conflict has demonstrated the power of the West to control narratives about a situation or a country. Today, it is Russia, tomorrow it can be another country. India has a taste of it through the narratives being propagated by western media, including the social media, and the NGOs as well about the decline of democracy in India, violation of minority rights, Hindu nationalism, and so on. There is open interference in India's internal affairs. In this, local Indian elements are complicit, and the goal is to shape India's politics and society. India has to learn a lesson from the demonisation of Putin and Russia being promoted by western circles, including at the governmental level.

India has been backing the reform of the international system that would give more say to developing countries in international governance. The outlook for this is becoming darker. The fracturing of the international system currently happening will make any consensual reform impossible in the foreseeable future. The UN Security Council, already ineffective on matters of peace and security, will become even more so, with the West ranged on one side, Russia and China on the other, and India and developing countries in between. A false narrative of democracies versus autocracies is being constructed to replace the dichotomy between capitalism and communism during the Cold War. The G7 risks replacing the G20 (in which China and Russia are present) as the preferred forum for global financial management. This will be at the cost of the emerging economies and the furthering weakening of globalisation.

Wrong precedents have been set by confiscating Russia's foreign exchange reserves, the private properties of Russian businessmen without due process of law and Russia's expulsion from Swift. Others are closing the western airspace and ports to Russian planes and ships, calls for a blanket ban on visas for Russians to travel to the West, the capping the price of Russian oil etc.

If a call can be made for a regime change in Moscow or trying Putin as a war criminal and collection of evidence for that (egregiously even at the Heathrow airport), or seeking a military defeat of Russia through a proxy war disregarding the nuclear risks involved in confronting the world's foremost nuclear power along with the US, the non-western world has to take cognisance of the consequences for global peace and cooperation of such excesses.

If India bats for multipolarity, the reasons are many and valid for our own global interests and role as we rise.

(Kanwal Sibal is India's former Foreign Secretary and Ambassador to Russia. Views expressed are personal and exclusive to India Narrative) (The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Kiev, Sep 12 : The success of Ukrainian forces in pushing Moscow's troops out of the Kharkiv region "have significant implications for Russias overall operational design", and for the morale of its soldiers on the ground, the UK Ministry of Defence said on Monday.

"The majority of the force in Ukraine is highly likely being forced to prioritise emergency defensive actions," the Guardian quoted the Ministry as saying in a Twitter post.

"The already limited trust deployed troops have in Russia's senior military leadership is likely to deteriorate further." British military intelligence said that "isolated pockets of resistance remain in this sector, but since September 7, Ukraine has recaptured territory at least twice the size of Greater London", which would be the equivalent of 3,000 sq km.

In the south of Ukraine, near Kherson, the Ministry says Russia could be struggling to bring sufficient reserves forward across the Dnipro river to the front line on the west bank of the river.

"An improvised floating bridge Russia started over two weeks ago remains incomplete," the MoD says.

"Ukrainian long-range artillery is now probably hitting crossings of the Dnipro so frequently that Russia cannot carry out repairs to damaged road bridges."

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
Kolkata, Sep 12 : Rectifying the error in the mention of timing of appearance in its earlier notice, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has served a fresh notice to Maneka Gambhir, the sister-in-law of Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamool Congress national general secretary, asking her to be present at the central agency's office here by 12.30 p.m. on Monday.

Gambhir is under probe by the ED in connection with the multi-crore coal scam.

ED sources said that after Maneka Gambhir reached the agency's office at 12.30 a.m. on Monday (September 12), it came to the notice of their sleuths that in the earlier notice the timing of appearance was mistakenly mentioned at "12.30 AM on September 12, 2022." Admitting that there had been a typing and technical error, an ED official said that after noting the timing, Gambhir could have contacted them or even emailed them about the oddness of the timing mentioned in the earlier notice.

"But instead of doing that she reached our office at that odd hour. But anyway, we cannot really describe this as her fault, since she is on the right side by being present at the time mentioned in the notice. The technical error had been at our end. So, we have issued a fresh notice to her and asked to be present at our CGO complex office by 12 p.m. today," an ED official said.

Earlier, on late Sunday night she reached the ED office at 12.30 a.m. along with her counsel, Soumen Mohanti, and waited there for ten minutes and left. Before leaving, her counsel said that they were there honouring the time of appearance given to them by the ED.

To recall, Gambhir, who is under probe by the ED in connection with the multi-crore coal scam, was stopped from travelling abroad on Saturday night following an objection by the ED.

She was stopped at the immigration department soon after she submitted her ticket and passport there before boarding a flight to Bangkok. Later, she was denied boarding on grounds that a lookout notice had been issued against her in a particular case and hence she cannot leave the country.

As a supporting document, the immigration department furnished an email printout of a notice from the ED, through which the latter had summoned her to be present at the ED office in Kolkata for questioning in a particular case. In that notice the error in the mention of timing of appearance happened.
New Delhi, Sep 12 : Aviation Regulator the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) proposed amendments to the minimum requirements for the grant of an Air Operator Permit (AOP) to operate non-scheduled passenger flights in India.

Non-scheduled passengers may be carried out by using single or multi engine airplanes, seaplanes and helicopters duly registered in India. It also includes Gliders, Hot-air balloons, Airships, and Micro light aircraft duly registered in India, only for the purpose of joy rides and single engine, turbine powered aero planes.

The draft proposal said that the grant and continuation of AOP is subject to security clearance from MHA. Denial or withdrawal of security clearance by the MHA at any stage will lead to rejection of the application for AOP, and AOP if already issued, shall be liable to be cancelled/withdrawn.

It said that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is the competent authority for the grant of Security Clearance. The request for grant or renewal of security clearance shall be submitted to the Ministry of Civil Aviation through eSAHAJ portal.

The validity of security clearance for the Company and Board of Directors shall be co-terminus with the validity of AOP, and a fresh security clearance shall be required for renewal of AOP, it said.

Moreover, the import/acquisition of aircraft for the purpose of undertaking nonscheduled air transport service shall be governed by Air Transport Circular 02/2017 as amended from time to time.

The aircraft imported for the purpose of non-scheduled operations shall not be disposed of to a party within India intending to use it for private purposes, unless the clearance from Customs Authority is obtained, it said.

The applicant shall have at least one aircraft either by outright purchase, or, through commercial dry lease. The aircraft shall be registered in India and hold a Certificate of Airworthiness in the Normal Passenger category. For import/ acquisition of aircraft, the applicant shall obtain permission from DGCA, it said.
New Delhi, Sep 12 : With the inauguration of its first full-range store in Mumbai, India, Victoria's Secret, the top specialty retailer of lingerie and beauty items featuring modern, fashion-inspired collections, luxury perfumes, body care, and loungewear, as well as Victoria's Secret's PINK, expands its global footprint.

The brand-new store has cutting-edge designs and is a component of the company's recently established retail concept, Store of the Future, which offers each consumer a distinctive shopping experience.

Store of the Future offers a modern fitting room experience, as well as a warm and smooth shopping experience. It also has simplified navigation to seamlessly move clients throughout the space. Since Victoria's Secret and PINK are interwoven, customers can simply move from one area to the next while being able to look into the store from front to back.

The brand's newest Dream Angels and Victoria's Secret PINK Wear Everywhere Bra Collection will be featured in the store, which will be situated in Phoenix Palladium Mall Lower Parel. The store will offer a large selection of the brand's signature bras, panties, and sleepwear across a multitude of collections. Along with the brand's online presence at https://www.victoriassecretbeauty.in, the store is now open and joins the more than 1,350 others that are located throughout the world.

The new store will also offer individualised, one-on-one bra fitting visits with professionally trained Bra Fit Experts. No appointment is necessary, and bra fittings are free.

The popular fine fragrances, scents, and mists from Victoria's Secret Beauty will be available alongside the company's best-selling lingerie. This shop will soon launch Bare Eau de Parfum, its newest fine fragrance, which promotes uniqueness and self-expression through a campaign starring a varied ensemble of women who stand for the power of being present and genuine in daily life.

(IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)
Chennai, Sep 12 : Tamil Nadu Police are on a high alert over smuggling of ration rice to Kerala.

A special team of Civil Supplies Crime Detachment (CD) unit of Madurai seized 15 tonnes of PDS rice on Sunday while it was being smuggled to Kerala.

The truck carrying the rice was interrupted by the CD unit at Koppalur toll plaza and 300 bags of Public distribution system (PDS) rice was being transported illegally to Kerala. Each bag weighed 50 kg.

The Civil supplies department officials said the rice that is supplied free in the state is being sourced by middlemen who appoint agents across the state and transport it illegally to Kerala.

A senior officer of the civil supplies department of Tamil Nadu told IANS that in Kerala the rice is sold to rice mills at a higher price. The Civil Supplies department of Tamil Nadu has appointed several flying squads to try and prevent the smuggling of rice to the neighbouring state as it was meant for consumption of the ration card holders of Tamil Nadu.

Nagercoil, Theni and the Walayar areas are the most vulnerable checkposts on the TN-Kerala border.

Sources in the Civil Supplies department told IANS that the department has already informed the police to be part of the joint search operation to prevent rice smuggling from the state.

According to the Civil Supplies department, the rice that is given from the ration shops of Tamil Nadu is of much higher quality which was making organised gangs to smuggle it to the neighbouring state.

During the recent Onam festivities, ration rice in large quantities was smuggled out to Kerala.

In Kerala, an organised network was operating which takes the rice to the rice mills safely. Recently in the Walayar area in Kerala, two local CPI-M leaders were arrested by the Kerala Police for assisting and abetting in the smuggling of rice.
New Delhi, Sep 12: Earlier this year when Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar visited Tashkent for the meeting of foreign ministers of the states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), he pitched for Uzbekistan's participation in the Chabahar port. His counterpart from Pakistan, on the other hand, pitched for the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

For landlocked countries of Central Asia, connectivity is the greatest priority, both in economic and strategic terms. For double landlocked countries like Uzbekistan, it assumes even greater salience. And the shortest route to the warm waters of the Indian Ocean and to South Asia and further afield is through Af-Pak. That is why Central Asian countries have been expending special effort for integrating Afghanistan in their regional connectivity plans and by extension in their foreign policy. This policy has been followed regardless of the government in power in the war-torn country. In 2021 Uzbekistan organised a grand connectivity conference where President Ashraf Ghani was one of the participants, as well as then Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan who batted for the Central Asian countries too. And this year again it organised an international conference on Afghanistan, where the Taliban were the representatives, signaling Tashkent's willingness to do business with whoever was in power.

Afghanistan's geography was the prime reason for Central Asian countries' decision to welcome the Taliban in Kabul a year ago, with the exception of Tajikistan. Afghanistan's geostrategic location as the roundabout connecting South and Central Asia makes its territory a highly coveted transit route for landlocked states of Central Asia in order to access the markets and resources of South Asia and perhaps even further. Transit passage through Afghanistan provides the shortest route. To that end a number of mega regional projects like CASA 1000 - the project for providing power from Central Asia to South Asia, and TAPI - the Turkmenistan Afghanistan Pakistan India gas pipeline was conceived with the active support and encouragement of major powers like the US.

To that end Uzbekistan has been constructing the Termez - Mazar-i-Sharif - Kabul - Peshawar railway, and also teamed up with Iran to use the Chabahar Port. At the connectivity conference last year, Uzbekistan also became part of the South Asia- Central Asia QUAD along with the US, Afghanistan, and Pakistan for "Regional Support for Afghanistan-Peace Process and Post Settlement", "in principle to establish a new quadrilateral diplomatic platform focused on enhancing regional connectivity". To that end too Turkmenistan has been pursuing the TAPI pipeline which would take Turkmen gas to energy starved Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, while diversifying Turkmenistan's export market, dependent almost entirely currently on China.

For this very reason in 2016 Turkmenistan opened a railway link to Afghanistan. On the Turkmen part the link terminated at the Ymamnazar customs control point where Turkmenistan has built an oil product terminal with an annual capacity of 540,000 tonnes, and on the Afghan side, the link went up to the Aqina dry port in the Faryab province. In January 2021 Afghanistan and Turkmenistan inaugurated three major energy projects aimed at bolstering bilateral and regional ties. One was a 153 km long power transmission line which was part of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) route project to export and import of electric power between the three countries. The second was a fiber optic project aimed at providing internet to users in Afghanistan's Herat and surrounding provinces and the third was a rail link between Turkmenistan and Afghanistan.

In the same vein in March this year the Uzbek president Shavkat Mirziyoyev paid a state visit to Pakistan - his first ever visit to the country after taking charge in Tashkent in 2016. Both countries agreed to develop and expand their strategic collaboration in all sectors and to sign a strategic partnership treaty but at the heart of the meeting was trade and investment, and therefore connectivity. For Uzbekistan's vast resources and search for markets from its landlocked geography, Pakistan provides the shortest route to the warm waters of the Arabian Sea and markets in Asia and Africa.

Nevertheless, the ongoing turmoil in the region has put a spanner in the plans of the landlocked Central Asian states. In Afghanistan, turmoil continues even after the Taliban's takeover as seen in the spate of violence fomented both by the Taliban against its civilian population, as well as in the attacks by the ISIS-KP; and in Pakistan, particularly in its Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa and Balochistan province through which all trade routes from Uzbekistan via Afghanistan have to transit and where the Gwadar port is located. Recently in August Reuters reported that the $1.2 billion Western backed CASA 1000 project - meant to connect Central Asia to South Asia through a power line, had been suspended in Afghanistan due to ongoing turmoil.

Though Af-Pak provides the shortest routes, geopolitical realities have forced these states to look elsewhere. And the most obvious transit points come through Iranian ports - in particular the Chabahar port which India is developing; and the multi-modal International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC) which connects Russia through Iran's Bandar Abbas port with India. On July 7th, 2022, Russian company RZD Logistics successfully completed its first transport of goods to India via the INSTC. This has further given a fillip to the landlocked Central Asian states that of the two routes, one via Afghanistan and the other via Iran, the latter is currently more feasible and sustainable given the relative stability of the latter. The importance of Chabahar where India is developing the Shahi Beheshti terminal can be gauged from the fact that it was exempted from the slew of sanctions that the Donald Trump administration had slapped on Iran. Initially important for India's connectivity to Afghanistan bypassing Pakistan, it has become an important gateway for India to access Central Asian markets and resources without transiting Pakistani territory, given Pakistan's obduracy in refusing to grant India transit rights through its territory.

In 2021 External Affairs Minister pitched for connecting the INSTC to Chabahar port for obvious logistical soundness. He also proposed including Afghanistan and Uzbekistan in the INSTC to form its "eastern corridor".

In 2020, Uzbekistan participated in the first trilateral working group together with India and Iran in discussing joint use of the Chabahar port. While simultaneously it has been backing routes through Pakistan, its more recent discussions with Indian deputy NSA Vikram Misri in Tashkent hinged on the sober realization that trade through Chabahar port was more realistic for the time being. In July India and Uzbekistan agreed to do a pilot container cargo shipment from Tashkent to India, using the multimodal route via Iran's Chabahar Port. This was agreed at a meeting between Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Uzbekistan's Deputy Prime Minister and minister of investment & foreign trade, Jamshid Khodjaev. "Both India & Uzbekistan agreed that this new vista may unlock future possibilities of a Trans Caspian Multi Modal Transit Corridor between the Central Asia and South Asia regions," a ministry of ports, shipping, and waterways document said.

Similarly, Afghanistan's other Central Asian neighbour Turkmenistan which has expended significant effort in cultivating relations with Afghanistan, now understands that joining the INSTC will serve it better. Also bordering Iran, Turkmenistan had not been part of the INSTC. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his 2015 visit to Ashkhabad had invited the gas rich but cash strapped country to join the INSTC. Last month in August, following an international conference on connectivity of landlocked countries in Turkmenistan, the country announced that it was going to join the India-Iran-Russia founded INSTC. Turkmen Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov stated on August 19 that "Today Turkmenistan began the process of joining this agreement at a briefing following the international conference of landlocked countries.

Adding grist to the mill has been the Ukraine crisis and the sanctions slapped on Russia by the Western countries. Most Central Asian countries remain dependent on transit routes through the Russian Federation, and the Ukraine conflict has necessitated search for alternate routes. In the foreseeable future the usefulness of Chabahar and the INSTC will triumph over those of others.

(Aditi Bhaduri is a columnist specializing in Eurasian geopolitics.Views expressed are personal and exclusive to India Narrative) (The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
Islamabad, Sep 12 : Pakistan will not seek a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi when the two along with the 13 regional leaders would be under one-roof later this week in the historic city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, to attend the 22nd Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, sources said.

"Islamabad could consider positively if New Delhi requests for a structured meeting," highly-placed sources in the Prime Minister's Office told The News.

The chance meeting of any two leaders in the corridors of the summit couldn't be ruled out, the sources hinted.

The Foreign Office will brief about the final schedule of the meetings later this week.

The maiden meeting between Sharif and Chinese President Xi Jinping, will be notable as it will be part of the latter's first trip abroad since the coronavirus pandemic, The News reported.

The sideline meeting will have a conspicuous significance since the two countries have several subjects on their agenda to discuss, including the acceleration of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and much-needed Chinese fiscal assistance for the economy.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Azerbaijan counterpart Ilham Aliyev will be among the leaders who will have bilateral meetings with Sharif on the sidelines of the SCO.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite domestic complexities, will attend the summit and has scheduled a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi.
New Delhi, Sep 12 : The disengagement of Indian and Chinese troops from the Gogra-Hotsprings area will be completed on Monday.

The disengagement process began on September 8 after the two sides issued a joint statement following a consensus at the 16th round of the India-China Corps Commander-level meeting on July 17.

After successful military talks between the two sides four days ago, Indian and Chinese troops decided to conclude their disengagement process from the Gogra-Hotsprings area at Patrolling Point 15 in eastern Ladakh on Monday.

The talks marked a major progress in the ongoing military standoff between the two countries along the Line of Actual Control.

According to the joint statement, the Indian and Chinese troops in PP-15 are "disengaging in a coordinated and planned manner, which is conducive to peace and tranquility in the border areas." Over the weekend, Army Chief General Manoj Pandey conducted a comprehensive review of the overall security situation in eastern Ladakh, even as Indian and Chinese armies began withdrawing from Patrolling Point 15 in the Gogra-Hotsprings area.

The Army said that General Pandey witnessed the mountain strike exercise besides interacting with the officers and soldiers posted in the area. The exercise demonstrated operational capabilities by artillery guns and other major weapon systems.

"General Manoj Pandey visited Ladakh and witnessed the exercise. He was briefed about the operational preparedness by the commanders at the ground level. He interacted with officers and soldiers and appreciated them for their tenacity and professional standards.

Most of the issues related to the PP-15 were resolved in the last military talks between the two sides. "Only minor differences were pending, which were later taken up for discussion at a Major General level meeting between the two sides," the statement read.

While the withdrawal process in the Gogra-Hotsprings area is being seen as a major progress, there has been no progress in resolution of the deadlock in the Demchok and Depsang areas.

On Friday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that the process of relaxation at Patrolling Point 15 would be completed by Monday.

"As per the agreement, the disengagement process in the area started at 08.30 a.m. on September 8, and is scheduled be completed by September 12.

Both sides have agreed to prevent further deployment in the region in a phased, coordinated and verified manner, resulting in the withdrawal of troops from both sides to their respective areas," as per the joint statement.
Guwahati/Agartala, Sep 12 : Two more suspected cadres of the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), an affiliate of the Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) terror group, were arrested in Assam on Monday, officials said.

Police officials said that Musadik Hussain was arrested in Morigaon and Ikramul Islam, was arrested from neighbouring Nagaon.

The duo were absconding for over a month and they were associated with cleric Mufti Mustafa, who had been earlier arrested.

Earlier, one madrasa was demolished in Morigaon after suspected terror links with the AQIS backed ABT, a Bangladesh-based terror outfit.

Four private madrasas in Assam have been demolished in three districts in the past one month over the alleged links with the terror outfits and attempts to set up "jihadi sleeper cells" in the northeastern state.

Since April this year, Assam Police have arrested around 40 terror suspects in connection to AQIS-backed modules and a strict vigil is being maintained, particularly in the minority-dominated areas of western and central Assam.

Many of the detainees are imams at mosques or teachers at private madrasas.

Last week, the villagers of Pakhiura Char in Goalpara district voluntarily demolished a private madrasa that had employed two suspected Bangladeshi nationals linked to jihadi terror outfits The Assam government had handed over some of the cases of "jihadi terror modules" to the NIA after preliminary investigation.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who also holds the Home portfolio, said that Assam has become a hotbed of "jihadi activities" and also announced that religious teachers at mosques and madrasas in Assam will be required to register themselves on a government portal if they come from outside the state.

Following the arrest of many jihadi cadres, the northeastern states which share a border with Bangladesh have stepped up the vigilance.

Police and intelligence officials in Agartala and Shillong separately said the strict surveillance over the jihadi activities have further intensified and intelligence inputs between the various security agencies being shared for taking further course of action.

Meghalaya Director-General of Police Lajja Ram Bishnoi said in Shillong that after getting the inputs of jihadi activities in Assam, directions have been given to all the police stations and outposts particularly in those areas having borders with Bangladesh to keep a close watch on the bordering villages.

"Our intelligence officials and police personnel are alert over the jihadi activities," the police officer told the media.

In Agartala, a senior police officer said that Border Security Force (BSF) troopers and the people of the bordering areas have been alerted to keep a close watch in their respective areas.

The three cadres, who were recently arrested in Tripura for their links with the banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), have been subsequently taken to Assam as part of the investigation against the jihadi group.

Intelligence officials found links between these three persons with the four arrested in Bhopal in April for their affiliation to the JMB.

A senior Tripura police official on Monday said that issues related to illegal immigration of Bangladeshi national in Tripura were reviewed at a high level meeting of the top police officials.

"It has been decided that important cases relating to the illegal entry of Bangladeshi nationals into Tripura would be transferred to a Special Investigation Team formed at Tripura Police Crime Branch.This is to enable and ensure concentrated, focused and end to end investigation in coordination with other security agencies working in Tripura and at the Central level to identify organised networks involved in such anti-national activities," the official told IANS.

He said that in the recent past a large number of illegal Bangladesh nationals were arrested and specific cases were registered with various police stations of Tripura.

So far, six important cases have been transferred for investigation to the SIT of Crime Branch, the official said.
Kolkata, Sep 12 : Honouring the Enforcement Directorate (ED)'s fresh summons, Maneka Gambhir, the sister-in-law of the Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, on Monday appeared before the probe agency at its Salt Lake office in connection with the coal smuggling scam case.

In the fresh notice, Gambhir was asked to be present at the ED's office by 12.30 p.m. She reached the CGO complex in her Land Rover Defender at 12.40 p.m and walked straight to the ED office escorted by the central armed forces personnel deputed there.

She is being questioned by ED officials in connection with the multi- crore coal smuggling scam.

Adhering to timing mentioned in the summons, Gambhir reached the agency's office at 12.30 a.m. only to realise that it was a typing error by the officials. In the notice, the timing of appearance was mistakenly mentioned as "12.30 a.m. on September 12, 2022." Later, this Monday morning, she was served a fresh notice asking her to appear at the central agency's office by 12.30 p.m today.

Her questioning has already started.
Tokyo, Sep 12 : A man was stabbed to death in the Japanese city of Kawasaki in the Greater Tokyo area, local media reported on Monday.

Local police said they found the victim, a 57-year-old Vietnamese national, bleeding on the street late on Sunday, reports Xinhua news agency.

A man was seen fleeing the scene carrying a knife after the attack took place, according to the police.

The police said they have opened a murder investigation and are searching for the attacker.

They are yet to recover the knife used in the stabbing.

At the same time, they are asking people in the vicinity of the attack to remain cautious.
New Delhi, Sep 12 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that milk production in the country has gone up to 210 million tonnes from 146 million tonnes in 2014, which is an increase of 44 per cent.

Addressing dignitaries after inaugurating the International Dairy Federation World Dairy Summit 2022 in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, Modi said that as compared to 2 per cent production growth at the global level, India is clocking 6 per cent growth in milk production.

He informed that the government is working on developing a blanched dairy ecosystem where challenges of the sectors are being addressed along with a focus on increasing production.

"Extra income for the farmers, empowerment of the poor, swachhta, chemical-free farming, clean energy and care of the cattle is interlinked in this ecosystem," he informed.

The Prime Minister pointed out that unlike other developed countries of the world, the driving force of the dairy sector in India is small farmers. India's dairy sector is characterized by "production by masses" more than "mass production", he said.

India is the largest milk-producing country on the basis of the efforts of these small farmers with one, two or three cattle. This sector provides employment to more than eight crore families in the country, Modi informed.

He reiterated that there is a huge network of dairy cooperatives in India and one cannot find such an example in the whole world elsewhere.

The Prime Minister further informed that these dairy cooperatives collect milk twice a day from about two crore farmers in more than two lakh villages in the country and deliver it to the customers. He underlined the fact that there is no middleman in the entire process, and more than 70 per cent of the money that is received from the customers goes directly into the pockets of the farmers.

"No other country has this ratio in the whole world", he added, while underlining the efficiency of the digital system of payment in the dairy sector and said that it has many lessons for other countries.
Lucknow, Sep 12 : Uttar Pradesh is all set to emerge as a hub of distilleries.

As many as 18 new companies have invested in distillery plants in the state and three of them have even begun production.

Besides, 15 companies have been granted permission to set up distilleries while three others have proposed to invest in setting up distillery plants, officials said.

According to a state government spokesman, "the distillery business in the state has increased to more than Rs 1.80 lakh crore and is likely to play big role in achieving Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's vision of making the state a $1 trillion economy".

In the last five years, 19 distilleries were set up in the state with an investment of Rs 5,000 crore, enhancing the state's alcohol production capacity from 170 crore litres to 282 crore bulk litres.

Besides, around 18 more distillery plants set up at the cost of more than Rs 4,000 crore will start production soon.

"It is our endeavour to complete the construction of distilleries and start production at the earliest so that the state can also be number one in the export of liquor," the spokesman said.

Several national and international companies have started production of liquor by investing in the state. They include Pernod Ricard, Diageo, William Grant & Sons, ABD, and Alcobrew. Radico Khaitan Distillery located in the state, recently launched an international brand.

In liquor export, UP has jumped two spaces to be currently ranked third above Andhra Pradesh and Goa.

"In the last five years, an investment of Rs 9,000 crore has been made and more than 60,000 people have got employment," officials said.

As per a government release, alcohol production has more than doubled and is likely to exceed 170 crore bulk litres this year.

Wine production has also more than doubled thereby increasing the excise revenue of UP from Rs 17,000 crore to Rs 36,000 crore.

In the financial year 2021-22, liquor worth more than Rs 167 crore and ethanol worth Rs 3,537 crore have been exported from the state.

Additional chief secretary, excise, Sanjay R. Bhoosreddy said to promote industrial development, extensive remedial work has been done due to which investment in distillery and export of liquor has increased.

"Now the state is number one in the country in the production of alcohol and ethanol," he added.
Bengaluru, Sep 12 : Karnataka surgeon Dr Govind Nandakumar's efforts to reach the Manipal hospital beating the traffic jam to perform surgery on scheduled time has won numerous hearts.

The doctor had to run for 15 minutes to reach the hospital as his car was stuck in the traffic jam following heavy rains and waterlogging.

His video of running towards the hospital has gone viral on social media winning him appreciation by netizens. "Saviour in white coat beats traffic to save a soul," says Subodh Kumar on Monday.

Ranjan Rai praised the doctor on his social media as the unsung hero. "Proud of Bengaluru Dr Govind Nandakumar who was stuck in a traffic jam and getting late for the surgery of his patient, so he runs 3 km to perform crucial surgery on time, leaving his car behind," he says.

"Meet Dr Govind Nandakumar from Bengaluru who ditched his car in the heavy traffic and decided to run towards the hospital to perform an important surgery. Not every hero wears a cap, some wear white coats," said another user.

The incident took place on August 30, when Gastroenterology surgeon Dr Govind Nandakumar was en route to Manipal Hospital in Bengaluru's Sarjapur Road for an emergency laparoscopic gallbladder surgery.

Sharing his experience, Dr Nandakumar stated: "During the traffic, the Google map showed 45 minutes to get to the hospital. Normally, it takes 5 to 10 minutes to reach the hospital through that route.

"I waited but time didn't change on Google maps and I had an important surgery scheduled for morning besides several others during the course of the day.

At that point, I just decided to walk. I run and workout, so I used that to my advantage, crossed over the street and finished 3 kilometres in about 15 minutes." He further stated that his car driver took two-and-a-half hours to reach the hospital.

Nandakumar has performed more than 1,000 surgeries in the past 18 years. He says this was not the first time he ran to reach out to the operation theatre on scheduled time.
Anand : , Sep 12 (IANS) As many as 25 youth including women, who were enjoying a liquor party to celebrate a birthday, were arrested after Anand district police carried out a raid in a farm house.

Gujarat is a dry state where sale and consumption of liquor is prohibited.

Anklav Police Station head constable Narendrasinh Pravinsinh in his complaint stated that Police Inspector H.M. Rana had received a tip-off that a liquor party is going on in Greenstone Villa farm house in the Navakhal village. When police team entered the villa and inquired about the loud music and party, a 22-year-old Siddhi Bhuva informed the police that friends have gathered to celebrate her birthday.

Some 15 males and 10 women, all in their early 20's were enjoying the liquor party. Police have seized IMFL's five empty bottles, three sealed bottles and two half empty bottles. Total 10 bottles were recovered, all partying youth were from Vadodara and had come all the way to Anand to celebrate the party. Property worth Rs 11 lakh was also seized from them including vehicles.
Patna, Sep 12 : Former Union Minister R.C.P. Singh on Monday targeted Nitish Kumar and commented that the latter was struggling in the initial period while he was an IAS officer.

Such a sensational statement given by R.C.P. Singh came soon after reporters asked him about Nitish Kumar's comment on him. As soon as he heard Nitish Kumar, he said: "Before joining politics, I was an IAS officer. When he was roaming on the streets, I was an IAS officer," Singh said.

"I passed the Civil Service Exam in 1982 and became an IAS officer. Where was he? Was he appearing in the examination? Has he given any examination after passing engineering? My capacity was better than him as I was sitting as an IAS officer in an office and he was roaming the road. He contested in 1977 Vidhan Sabha election. What was the result? He lost the election. He lost again in 1980. Hence, no one is born a politician," Singh said.

"Nitish Kumar believes that he would beat BJP after making an alliance with Lalu Prasad Yadav. This is just his false belief. Mahagathbandhan will lose the 2024 Lok Sabha election," Singh said.

"At present, there is not a single caste in support of Nitish Kumar in Bihar. He has cheated everyone. No one trusts him," he added.
Guwahati, Sep 12 : Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday fired a fresh salvo at the Congress over a tweet by the party.

The Congress' tweet read: "To free the country from shackles of hate and undo the damage done by BJP-RSS. Step by step, we will reach our goal." The party also shared a picture showing a partially burnt RSS uniform, mentioning that "145 days more to go".

The reference was made to the number of days left for the completion of the party's ambitious 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'.

Reacting to the post, the Chief Minister tweeted: "Such a shameful tweet representing such a shameful mindset. Congress Party is not even hiding its true intentions. In the garb of 'Bharat Jodo', it is indulging in 'Bharat Todo'. India will not forgive them for their intentions of hurting nationalists!" Sarma had earlier attacked Rahul Gandhi over the campaign, saying that the senior Congress leader should have gone to Pakistan for launching the yatra as his party was responsible for the partition.
New Delhi, Sep 12 : Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari called for investors from the US to come forward and invest in roads and highways projects in India which is a goldmine for investors.

The Union Minister also talked about Electric Highway which will be powered by solar which will facilitate charging of heavy duty trucks and buses while running.

Inaugurating virtually the Indo-US Economic Summit of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, he said the United States of America and India are prominent democracies of the World with strong bilateral relations. "we are natural partners and have a lot to contribute for mutual growth. Both the countries have always shown mutual trust, respect and co-operation on the social, economic and strategic front. The theme chosen this year 'The New Agenda for next 25 years' will set the roadmap for strengthening our relationship," he added.

The Minister said that the government is bringing innovative and investor friendly products like InvIT to allow retail investors participate in the funding drive. "We are designing the products so that retail investors can get good annual returns which are more than the fixed deposit rates," he said adding that the Chamber should take a lead and identify areas where our talented human resources can contribute to design best Financial Instruments to enable investments in Indian infra space.

"We have well-developed framework for Public-Private-Partnerships (PPP) in the highway sector. Asian Development Bank has ranked India at the first spot in PPP operational maturity and also designated India as a developed market for PPPs. All project documentation, contractual decisions and approvals are now being done through the digital portal," the minister added.

The minister said that the government is also working on development of the Electric Highway which will be powered by solar, this will facilitate charging of heavy duty trucks and buses while running. "US-based companies can collaborate with our research and development efforts towards EV battery technologies and retrofitting industry," he said.

He said the government has launched the Prime Minister National Gati Shakti Master Plan for holistic and integrated infrastructure development in the country. With Gati-Shakti, all stakeholders will follow the rule of 3 C's: Co-operation, Coordination & Communication.
Chennai, Sep 12 : Actor Jiiva has disclosed that actor Vijay is likely to play the lead in the 100th film of well known production house, Super Good Films.

The production house, which is known for having produced 'Poove Unnakaaga', a film that many consider to be the turning point of Vijay's career, is now in the process of making its 96th film.

At a recent media interaction, actor Jiiva, the son of producer R B Choudhary, who owns Super Good Films known for having introduced several top directors and actors in Tamil cinema, was asked whether Vijay, who got a big break in his career because of the production house, would agree to work in its 100th film.

Jiiva said, "Definitely. I am announcing this on stage. I believe a meeting in this regard took place only a week ago and Vijay sir has told that he would do the 100th film of Super Good Films.

"I too have requested my dad for an opportunity to act in that film even if it means acting without pay," he said, evoking laughter.

"God willing, it looks like, in all probability, it will be Vijay sir who will be playing the lead in the 100th film of Super Good Films," he said.

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
Srinagar, Sep 12 : One terrorist has been killed in an ongoing encounter between terrorists and security forces at Heff Shirmal area in South Kashmir's Shopian district, officials said on Monday.

"One terrorist killed. Operation in progress," police said.

The firefight started after a joint team of police and security forces got an input about the presence of terrorists in that area.

After security forces cordoned off the area, terrorists hiding there started firing and drew retaliation of the security forces.

There have been a series of encounters between terrorists and security forces across Kashmir over the last few months in which many terrorists and their commanders have been eliminated.
New Delhi, Sep 12 : The Varanasi court on Monday said the Hindu petition for worship in Shringar Gauri was maintainable and the plea of five Hindu women seeking right to worship in the Gyanvapi complex will be heard.

"Muslim petitioners are likely to approach the Allahabad High Court in appeal," petitioner Sohan Lal Arya said, but added that they will continue to contest the case.

Here is the timeline of the case: 1998: Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee approached the Allahabad High Court that the temple-mosque land dispute could not be decided by a civil court as it was not permissible by the law. The High Court granted stay to the proceedings for 22 years.

2019: The case was revived when a plea was filed on behalf of Swayambhu Jyotirlinga Bhagwan Vishweshwar as the deity's next friend in the Varanasi court demanding a survey by ASI in the disputed area.

2020: Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee opposed the petition seeking ASI survey of the entire Gyanvapi complex.

2020: The petitioner approached the lower court for the resumption of the hearing of the 1991 petition.

March 2021: The Places of Worship Act 1991 was taken up by a Supreme Court bench headed by then former Chief Justice S.A. Bobde. The petitioner was Ashwani Upadhyay.

August 2021: Five female Hindu devotees filed a petition in the Varanasi Court seeking to worship deities Hanuman, Nandi, and Shringar Gauri, inside the Gyanvapi complex.

September 2021: Allahabad High Court said that the court should wait for further judgement in the already proceeding cases of the matter.

April 2022: Based on the petition filed in August 2021, the Varanasi district court appointed a court commissioner and videography survey of the complex. Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee challenged it in the Allahabad High court, which upheld the lower court order. The Masjid Committee also filed a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court.

May 6, 2022: The videographic survey of the complex began.

May 12, 2022: The court appointed senior advocate Vishal Singh to supervise the survey. He was appointed as special court commissioner. The court directed them to report details of the survey by May 17.

May 14-19, 2022: The survey was resumed again and was conducted for two days. All the survey findings were submitted in a report to the court.

May 20, 2022: The case proceedings were transferred to a district judge by the Supreme Court.

May 26, 2022: The district court began hearing the maintainability petition of the case.

June 21, 2022: Varanasi civil judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar, who had ordered the video survey of Gyanvapi mosque, is transferred to Bareilly.

July 11, 2022: The Hindu petitioners in the Gyanvapi case decide to form a new trust, Shri AdiMahadev Kashi Dharmalaya Mukti Nyas.

July 18, 2022: The Supreme Court agreed to list a plea seeking 'puja', 'darshan', ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey and carbon dating by the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) of the Shivling purportedly discovered in the Gyanvapi mosque's ablution area during a court-ordered survey.

August 24, 2022: Varanasi Court reserved its order till September 12. The time was given to both parties to complete their arguments.
New Delhi, Sep 12 : The Congress on Monday hit back at the CPI-M for questioning the duration of Rahul Gandhi's stay in Kerala and Uttar Pradesh during his 'Bharat jodo yatra'.

Taking a dig at the Gandhi scion, the CPI-M had ridiculed his prolonged yatra in Kerala and only a few days in UP.

As per the schedule, the former Congress president will be in the LDF-ruled Kerala till September 30.

Along with Rahul's caricature, the CPI-M had tweeted: "Bharat Jodo or seat jodo, 18 days in Kerala and 2 days in UP... strange ways to fight the BJP-RSS." In a retort, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said: "Do your homework better on how and why yatra was planned the way it is. And silly criticism from a party that is the team of BJP in the land of MunduModi." Notably, Rahul Gandhi is in Kerala where the Congress plans to cover a big stretch. Both LDF and UDF have been on loggerheads in the state with UDF led by Congress losing the election for the second time in a row, while at the national level, the two share a warm bonhomie with the Congress aligning with the Left in the West Bengal elections.

Jairam Ramesh said that though Rahul Gandhi is in the lead, but the yatra is the party's programme and all are participants.

On BJP criticising Rahul for meeting controversial Tamil pastor George Ponnaiah, he said that his party does not subscribe to the latter's views but RSS is a rumor spreading society and the party.

"We don't want to stoop to the levels of BJP leaders. They are afraid. They can't talk about the real issues that Bharat Jodo Yatra raises among the people. No wonder they talk about T-shirts, underwear, containers," he added.

He said BJP was not used to aggressive response from Congress but now if they indulge in mischief they will get a befitting response.

The Congress yatra has got a good response in the last five days with widespread media coverage, he said thanking the media for the spotlight.

After covering Kerala, the rally will enter Karnataka on October 1.
Kolkata, Sep 12 : On Monday afternoon, while Meneka Gambhir, the sister-in-law of the Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, was being interrogated by Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials in connection with the multi-crore coal smuggling scam, her counsel filed a contempt of court petition at Calcutta High Court against the Central agency.

In the petition, her counsel has claimed that ED has resorted to contempt of court by violating an earlier order of a single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court that stayed the Central agency from taking a strong action against her client till further orders.

On August 30, Calcutta High Court's single-judge bench of Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya approved Gambhir's prayer to appear for questioning at the ED office at the Central Government Office (CGO) complex at Salt Lake in northern Kolkata on that date instead of the agency's New Delhi office. In that order, the bench also said that the Central agency sleuths should not take any drastic step against Gambhir till further orders.

In the contempt of court petition filed at the same bench on Monday, Gambhir's counsel argued that in the order by the bench of Justice Bhattacharya on August 30, nowhere was it mentioned that she is barred from foreign travels in the interim period.

However, on the night of September 10, she was stopped at the immigration department soon after she submitted her ticket and passport there before boarding a flight to Bangkok. Later, she was denied boarding on grounds that a lookout notice had been issued against her in a particular case and hence, she cannot leave the country.

As a supporting document, the immigration department furnished an email printout of a notice from the ED, through which the latter had summoned her to be present at the ED office in Kolkata for questioning in a particular case.

In the petition filed at the same bench on Monday, Gambhir's counsel has argued that ED has resorted to contempt of court by stopping her from going for a foreign trip on Saturday night. The matter has been admitted and will come up from hearing soon.
Hyderabad, Sep 12 : Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday claimed that it is Andhra Pradesh which owes Rs 17,828 crore towards electricity dues to Telangana.

On the Centre's direction to Telangana to pay over Rs 6,000 crore dues to Andhra Pradesh, he demanded the Centre make Andhra Pradesh pay his state the remaining dues.

KCR told the Assembly that the power dues from Telangana were only Rs 3,000 crore but the Centre has asked it to pay another Rs 3,000 crore towards interest. The Centre has also stated that if the dues were not cleared in a month, action would be taken.

He argued that the dues receivable by Telangana distribution companies (discoms) from Andhra Pradesh are over Rs 17,000 crore, and the Centre should ask Andhra Pradesh pay remaining dues after adjusting Rs 6,000 crore dues as claimed by it.

The Chief Minister questioned the silence of the Centre over Telangana's request to order Andhra Pradesh to pay power dues.

The Power Ministry on August 30 directed the power distribution companies (discoms) of Telangana to pay the dues of Rs 6,757 crore to the Andhra Pradesh Generation Corporation (APGenco) within 30 days.

Citing the provisions C(2) and (7) of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, the Power Ministry stated that there was no dispute regarding the amount to be paid for the power dues - the principal amount of Rs 3,441.78 crore and late payment surcharge of Rs 3,315.14 crore up to July 31, 2022 - to be paid in addition to the principal amount as per the applicable provisions.

Telangana's Energy Minister G. Jagadish Reddy has already announced that the state will wage a legal battle against the Centre's direction.

Terming the Centre's order as "absurd" and "politically motivated", Jagadish Reddy said this was an act of vengeance against Telangana. He alleged that the Centre was conspiring to create a situation of power cuts in Telangana.

KCR told the Assembly that per capita power consumption in Telangana is 1,250 units against the national average of 957 units. He said power capita consumption in India is less compared to even smaller countries.

He alleged that the BJP government is misleading the country with wrong statistics about power consumption, and that the Centre is working to hand over the electricity sector to big corporates.

KCR also threw the challenge that if the statistics he has given about electricity are proved to be wrong, he would immediately resign.

The Chief Minister said the power situation in Telangana would improve further with the completion of Yadadri power plant.
Chandigarh, Sep 12 : To ensure optimum use of clean and green energy in the agriculture sector, Punjab government has decided to solarise one lakh existing electric tubewells in the state, Minister for New and Renewable Energy Sources Aman Arora said on Monday.

He said the project would save around Rs 200 crore per annum on account of power subsidy, besides going a long way to save the natural resources.

"The energy sector is transitioning in an unprecedented way and this revolutionary step will pave a way to ensure cheaper and green energy," said the minister. With the implementation of this project, Punjab will avail four major benefits -- reduce the burden of subsidy on the exchequer, reduce the demand of power supply, reduce input cost on agriculture and save the environment by replacing conventional power with the solar energy, he added.

He said Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) has already invited e-bids for selection of Solar Power Generators (SPGs) for feeder-level solarisation of 25,000 grid connected agriculture pumps.

The government provides free power to 13.88 lakh farmers of the state for their grid connected tubewells for irrigation and bears the expenditure of approximately Rs 7,000 crore as subsidy being paid to the Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL).

The minister said a proposal for solarisation of one lakh grid connected electric tubewells had been sent to the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and it has accepted the proposal and allocated the target of 1 lakh pumps to the state.

Arora said presently the agriculture power tariff is Rs 5.66 per unit and after solarisation of these one lakh tubewells the rate per unit would be much lower, resulting in saving government's subsidy to the tune of Rs 200 crore annually.

The Union government will provide a subsidy of Rs 1.05 crore per MW for setting up of solar power plants for solarisation of the tubewells, said PEDA Chief Executive, Sumeet Jarangal, while adding the scheme will be implemented under RESCO mode through private investment.

Solar power plants of capacity around 215 MW will be set up for solarisation of one lakh pumps with an outlay of Rs 1,030 crore. Of which, Rs 804 crore will be generated from private investors, while the Central government as its share will pay Rs 226 crore as subsidy, he added.
Bengaluru, Sep 12 : With the proposal mooted by Karnataka Sahitya Parishat, the nodal agency for promotion of Kannada language has run into a controversy with the Karnataka Jain community opposing the idea of renaming the arterial AdiKavi Pampa road of the Chamarajpet locality in Bengaluru.

The president of Karnataka Sahitya Parishat, Mahesh Joshi has sent a proposal to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to rename AdiKavi Pampa Road as 'Kannada Sahitya Parishat Road'. Karnataka Jain Association has registered a strong protest in this regard.

The association has stated that such a move is an insult to the Jain poet. Kannada litterateurs have also objected to the proposal. They maintain that AdiKavi Pampa has a special place in the realms of Kannada literature.

Representatives of the Jain community from all over Karnataka have submitted a memorandum to the President of the Parishat requesting withdrawal of the proposal to change the road's name.

AdiKavi Pampa Road is situated between a short stretch of the Minto Hospital and Makkala Koota Park. The Parishat has grand plans of elevating this total stretch of road to promote Kannada language. The office bearers of the Parishat have also decided to meet Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai in this regard.

Mahesh Joshi has defended the proposal to change the name as the decision has been made after studying roads being developed on specific themes in foreign countries. "This stretch of road will be elevated in such a way that it is going to be a feast for lovers of Kannada language," he said.

"The plan is being made in such a way that every tourist who visits Bengaluru would be compelled to visit this stretch. All stakeholders on this stretch of road have been invited to discuss the proposal," he explained.

"Statues of major Kannada litterateurs would come up, Kannada songs would be played and special lighting arrangements would be made, popular statements by Kannada writers would be installed as per the proposal," Mahesh Joshi stated.
New Delhi, Sep 12 : Technology company Kodak TV on Monday forayed into the premium Matrix QLED Series with Google TV in India.

With a starting price of Rs 33,999, Matrix QLED TV is available in three sizes -- 50-inch, 55-inch, and 65-inch on Flipkart as Big Billion Days Sale (BBD) Specials.

"We are proud to be recognised as one of the premium Smart TV brands in India. Kodak has a history of introducing new technologies in the market and we believe that this launch will prove to be a game-changer in the future of technology," Avneet Singh Marwah, Director and CEO, Super Plastronics Pvt Ltd (SPPL), the official manufacturer of Kodak TVs, said in a statement.

"We are highly excited to bring Kodak's new variants under the Matrix series, which are an outcome of investments that we made in technology research within India. With the 65-inch model, we will be a tough competitor in the premium QLED Smart TV segment," he added.

The TVs have improved sound with DTS TruSurround sound, a QLED 4K display with 1.1 billion colours, Dolby MS12, HDR 10+ with 2GB RAM and 16GB of internal storage.

SPPL said it will also be the first Indian manufacturing company in the country to introduce QLED TVs with Google TV.

With an integrated Google Assistant, the Kodak TVs offer a large screen for Chromecast video meetings, documents and built-in apps, such as YouTube Learning and Google classroom, assisting in learning and upgradation.
Chennai, Sep 12 : Actor Vikram on Monday attended the wedding of the son of a member of the housekeeping unit at his home, much to the delight of everybody present at the wedding.

Sources close to the actor said that the wedding of Deepak with Varshini took place at the Kandaswamy temple in Thiruporur.

Actor Vikram visited the temple, wished the young couple and also presented the 'Thali' (Mangalsutra) to the bridegroom who then tied it around the bride's neck, signifying the wedding.

Sources point out that Deepak is the son of Ozhimaran, who worked for several years in Vikram's home before passing away, and Mary, who is a part of the housekeeping team in Vikram's home for over 40 years.

Vikram's gesture of attending the wedding of the son of someone who works for him has delighted his fans.

Recently, the actor, who had got to know the desperation of a fan in Kerala who was intent on meeting him, promised to him that he would definitely meet him. He recently kept that promise and posted a video of the fan along with him.
Kolkata, Sep 12 : Two days after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seized Rs 17.32 crore in cash from the residence of a city- based businessman in connection with a mobile gaming app fraud case, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee echoed her Cabinet colleagues in slamming the recent central agency activities in the state.

"The Union government does not want more jobs to be created. An attempt is being made to establish an 'Agency Raj'. There is absolutely no development," the Chief Minister said at an event to hand over appointment letters to various beneficiaries under 'Utkarsh Bangla', a skill development scheme of the state government, at the Netaji Indoor Stadium here.

She also launched a scathing attack on the Centre over disinvestment of government stake in public sector entities.

"The Union government is selling Railways, SAIL and CIL. How will new jobs be created? In the midst of this Agency Raj, we are trying to develop industries and create jobs in the state. I am proud that after being trained here, the youth of West Bengal are getting job offers from outside. I request those who are going outside to come back to the state as there will be enough jobs in West Bengal only," the Chief Minister said.

She also attacked the opposition parties in the state and the media for showing West Bengal in poor light.

"They are always resorting to slander. Had they highlighted the positive works of the state government, both Bengal and its people would have benefited," Banerjee said.

Ever since the sezure of large amount of cash by the ED on Saturday, Trinamool Congress leaders have been slamming the recent central agency activities in the state.

When the counting of notes was on on Saturday, state minister and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim had said that the continuous raids and search operations by the central agencies were part of the Centre and BJP's ploy to show West Bengal in poor light.

"Such excessive central agency actions, in my opinion, is a ploy to send a negative image about West Bengal to potential investors," Hakim said.

Soon after that, veteran Trinamool leader Lok Sabha MP Saugata Roy had said that the ED raids were deliberately meant to deprive Trinamool from any assistance from the business community in the future.

"This is not happening just in case of Trinamool Congress. This happens in any state which is not ruled by the BJP. The idea is to conduct raids and search operations at the premises of businessmen so that they refrain from helping the Trinamool in the future," Roy had said on Saturday.
Agartala, Sep 12 : Former Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, who submitted his nomination papers on Monday as BJP nominee, will take on CPI-M led Left Front candidate and former Tripura Finance Minister Bhanulal Saha in the September 22 elections to the lone Rajya Sabha seat in the state.

Deb, 51, accompanied by Chief Minister Manik Saha, Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma, Union Minister Pratima Bhowmik, BJP state party President Rajib Bhattacharjee, submitted his candidature to the returning officer S. Mog. Deb's election to the Rajya Sabha is almost certain as the ruling BJP (36) along with its ally -- Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (8) -- has the strength of 44 in the 60-member Assembly while the opposition CPI-M has 15 MLAs.

Expressing his gratitude to the Central leadership, Deb tweeted, "Submitted my nomination as a BJP candidate for the Rajya Sabha election from Tripura. Tripura CM Shri Manik Saha, Dy CM Jishnu Dev Varma, MoS, Sushree Pratima Bhowmik, Cabinet Ministers, Chief Whip, MLAs and party colleagues accompanied me for filing nomination." Before nominating Deb as Rajya Sabha candidate, earlier on Friday, BJP President J.P. Nadda appointed him as the state observer of Haryana. On May 14, Deb stepped down from the post of Chief Minister following the directions of the Central leaders. The BJP, however, is yet to disclose why Deb was removed from the top post.

Dental surgeon-turned-politician Manik Saha, who became Chief Minister on May 15, and was elected to the Assembly in the June 23 by-elections, resigned from the Rajya Sabha on July 4, causing the vacancy.

The lone Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman, according to the party sources, is likely to support the CPI-M led Left Front nominee in the RS polls. The election officials would scrutinise the nomination papers on Tuesday and counting of votes of the September 22 elections would take place on the same day.
New Delhi, Sep 12 : The Delhi High Court on Monday extended, till November 29, the interim protection granted to SpiceJet Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh, who is facing a cheating case related to some alleged fake share certificates.

A bench of Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta had clarified that there is no stay of investigation in the case while dealing with Singh's anticipatory bail plea.

On September 8, the court had said there cannot be any coercive action against Singh till the matter is examined by the court.

The matter will be further heard on November 29.

Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, appearing for Singh, argued that his client is cooperating in the probe and the FIR clearly amounts to an abuse of the criminal machinery to prematurely enforce a commercial contract.

Two similar FIRs were registered against Singh who had allegedly delivered fake depository instruction slips (DIS) of 10 lakh shares of SpiceJet to certain individuals.

As per a complaint, there was a share-purchase agreement between businessman Sanjiv Nanda and Singh, and the former paid Rs 10 lakh for 10 lakh shares of SpiceJet which, however, were not transferred by the latter.

Later, Nanda approached the police and registered a complaint of cheating against Singh.

On April 7, Singh, who had secured interim protection from the Delhi High Court from arrest or any coercive action, termed the police complaint in the alleged fraud case "frivolous in nature".

In an earlier hearing, the same bench had also noted that it cannot be ignored that the petitioner is a Chairman and Managing Director of Spice Jet Airlines and has deep social roots in the society, and has no criminal antecedent except for the FIRs in relation to the transactions referred by the complainant.
Chennai, Sep 12 : The BJP and Congress on Monday engaged a war of words over Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's meeting with controversial Christian pastor, George Ponniah, at Kanniyakumari during his Bharat Jodo Yatra.

BJP woman's wing President Vanathi Sreenivasan, in a statement, sought an apology from the Congress leader over his meeting with Ponniah and also demanded that he clarify if he subscribed to the views aired by the controversial Christian pastor on Hinduism.

She also asked what had transpired between Ponniah and Rahul Gandhi, alleging that the Congress leader does not have any time for Hindus and Hindu temples, but finds time to meet controversial people like George Ponniah.

During his Bharat Jodo Yatra, Gandhi met the Christian priest George Ponnaih and the priest, in a video clipping, purportedly told him that "Jesus was a real god unlike Shakthi and other gods and goddesses".

As this has turned into a major controversy, the priest stated that he had not insulted the Hindu religion.

Meanwhile, the Congress has come out strongly against the BJP on the issue and with party leader Jairam Ramesh, in a statement on Monday, saying that "the BJP hate factory was sharing tweets about Rahul Gandhi which had no relevance".

Gandhi is now in Thiruvananthapuram as part of the 3,570-km-long Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanniyakumari to Kashmir.

On Monday, he met the Latin Catholic priests who are agitating against the Vizinjam port.
St Lucia, Sep 12 : Saint Lucia Kings kept their Hero CPL hopes alive with dominant win over St Kitts & Nevis Patriots.

The Patriots opted to field first after winning the toss. That decision seemed to have backfired as Johnson Charles and Faf Du Plessis put on a blistering opening partnership that saw them post 61 runs in the PowerPlay.

They put on 86 for the first wicket, before Charles was dismissed in the ninth over. His 41 included four fours and two sixes. The Lucia Kings faltered after losing nine wickets for 75 runs and totalled 161 for nine, which was a challenging total. Some late hitting from Matthew Forde ensured the Kings were able to post a par score of 161.

However, the Patriots got off to a bad start in the PowerPlay losing three wickets for 48 runs. They never recovered from that position.

The Lucia Kings blew them away with an excellent performance in the field and leading the way was Tim David with a CPL record equalling five catches in the outfield.

The Patriots were in deep trouble very early on. Forde ripped through the top three to leave the Patriots in a mess. From that point the Patriots failed to build any meaningful partnership as their top order continued to struggle.

When Alzarri Joseph removed Darren Bravo for 20 to leave the Patriots on 81 for six, the end was near and the Patriots were bowled out for 100.

Brief scores: St Lucia 161/9 in 20 overs (Johnson Charles 40, Faf du Plessis 61, Dwaine Pretorius 3/37, Rashid Khan 2/12, Sheldon Cottrell 2/41) beat St Kitts and Nevis Patriots 100 all out in 19 overs (Evin Lewis 24, Darren Bravo 20, Matthew Forde 3/19, David Wiese 3/17) by 61 runs.
Chandigarh, Sep 12 : A drone from Pakistan was spotted close to the international border near Punjab's Gurdaspur on Monday morning, officials said.

The drone flew back towards Pakistan when Border Security Force (BSF) troops fired several rounds at it.

A search operation was underway jointly by a team of the BSF and Punjab Police.

A day earlier, Punjab Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav told the media that 95 per cent of the RDX is coming through Punjab borders mostly by using drones.

As per the police records, nearly 125 drone sorties from Pakistan to Punjab were recorded this year, much higher than the last year.

However, the BSF has neutralised many drones, Yadav added.
London, Sep 12 : Soldiers with British accents have been filmed fighting in Ukrainian colours as the country makes stunning advances against Russian forces, Daily Mail reported.

Footage taken on GoPro cameras reportedly shows foreign legionaries fighting during Ukraine's Kharkiv Oblast counter-offensive.

The country's advances have caught the Kremlin by surprise, with intelligence experts hailing a 'major turning point' in the six-month war, Daily Mail reported.

It has led to the recapture of several key towns in the east as Vladimir Putin's forces fled in disarray from a collapsing frontline.

In a compilation of footage uploaded on social media, soldiers with British accents can be heard speaking to one another while wearing blue armbands to identify themselves as Ukrainian forces.

One clip appears to show soldiers moving POWs through a compound, while others show soldiers hurling grenades, running to take cover, and climbing through windows.

Ukraine said that its forces had recaptured more than 1,158 square miles (3,000 square kilometres) this month from Russian troops in a counter-offensive centred on the country's northeast.

Ukrainian general Valeriy Zaluzhny said in a statement on social media: "Since the beginning of September, more than 3,000 square kilometres have been returned to Ukrainian control." "Around Kharkiv, we have begun to advance not only in the south and east, but also to the north. We are 50 kilometres (31 miles) from the border." The speed of Ukraine's advance, with photographs shared by Kyiv officials of their troops raising the Ukrainian flag in liberated towns after advancing more than 30 miles, has sparked open talk in Moscow that their invasion will end in humiliating defeat, Daily Mail reported.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
New Delhi, Sep 12 : For over three decades, Indian spy Mahmood Ansari, now 75, fought a battle for his legal rights. Caught and jailed in Pakistan on espionage charges, he lost his job in the Postal Department, due to "long absence from work", and ran from courts to government offices for justice - but in vain.

However, the Supreme Court, considering the facts of the matter, on Monday directed the Centre to pay Ansari Rs 10 lakh ex-gratia payment.

Advocate Samar Vijay Singh, representing Ansari, submitted before a bench comprising Chief Justice U.U. Lalit and S. Ravindra Bhat that the petitioner, who was working in the Railway Mail Service, Jaipur, in June 1974, received an offer from Special Intelligence Bureau to render services towards the nation and he was twice sent to Pakistan to do a specific task.

However, he was unfortunately intercepted by the Pakistani Rangers and arrested on December 12, 1976. Ansari was prosecuted under Official Secrets Act in Pakistan, and in 1978, he was sentenced to 14 years of imprisonment.

Meanwhile, in July 1980, an ex-parte order was passed to dismiss him from the postal department services. During the period of his incarceration in Pakistan, Ansari wrote several communication informing the authorities concerned about his whereabouts, but to no avail.

"The petitioner always communicated all facts and circumstances to the department, before going to the assignment, submitted his leave application to the respondent and they all had knowledge about why the petitioner is taking leave. Further petitioner also updated his address in the department and after arrest in Pakistan, he has sent information to the department which was duly served on it", said the plea.

Petitioner's counsel submitted all relevant documents before the apex court.

In 1989, Ansari, who came back to the country after his release, was informed about his dismissal from services, which he challenged before the Central Administrative Tribunal, Jaipur (CAT). The tribunal in July 2000, declined to entertain his application due to delay in filing. His review petition was also dismissed by CAT in September same year.

He filed an appeal to the Member of Postal Board of the Directorate of Posts, Dak Bhawan, New Delhi, but in October 2006, the government department upheld his dismissal from service.

In 2007, he moved back to the CAT, Jaipur, which dismissed his application saying it was not maintainable. In 2008, he moved the high court, which in 2017, held that the petition is not maintainable on the ground of jurisdiction as well as delay, and in 2018, Ansari moved the apex court with a glimmer of hope that he may get some relief.

"The petitioner explained each and every fact and circumstances to the higher office as well as Home Minister of India through representation or letter from Pakistan jaila," said the plea.

Ansari's counsel urged the apex court to consider his client's advanced age and imprisonment in Pakistan, and since his release in 1989, he has been fighting a battle for his legal rights. The Centre's counsel vehemently opposed the court's direction for Rs 10 lakh ex-gratia to the petitioner, but the court was unmoved.
Mumbai, Sep 12 : Amid reports of widespread havoc in farmlands and the delays in District Planning & Development Council meetings, Maharashtra's opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Monday attacked the state government, demanding the appointment of Guardian Ministers for various districts.

"Many regions of Maharashtra have received heavy rainfall during the monsoon causing widespread losses to agriculture. The dams and water reservoirs are also overflowing and water is being discharged, causing further damage to crops," Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar said.

Targetting Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, he said its over two months since the new government came to power and more than a month since ministers were sworn-in and allocated portfolios.

"So far, Guardian Ministers have not been appointed for the 36 districts. This must be done without any further delays. The DPDC meetings are chaired by the Guardian Minister and they are directly responsible for all issues pertaining to their respective districts," Pawar demanded.

The Congress too slammed the Shinde-Fadnavis government for stopping funds to all sanctioned works from April onwards creating huge chaos at the ground level in the absence of Guardian Ministers.

Shiv Sena's farmer face Kishore Tiwari said that he has been touring the floor-ravaged regions of Vidarbha (eastern Maharashtra) since the past few days and witnesses the growing agrarian distress.

"This year, there have been a record number of farmers' suicides in the state yet the local administration has not bothered to reach out the people and ensure that aid reaches them. Without Guardian Ministers, the aggrieved farmers have nobody to approach, and the Opposition is trying to air their plight," said Tiwari.

Since the past fortnight, Maharashtra has been lashed by heavy rains in several regions resulting in waterlogging or flooding of orchards and farmlands and consequently farmers have complained of losses in many areas, especially Vidarbha and Marathwada districts.

Last month, a delegation of opposition leaders including Congress state President Nana Patole had called on Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari urging him to declare a "wet-drought" in the worst-hit regions.
New Delhi, Sep 12 : In a latest development in connection with the Rs 200 crore Prevention of Money Laundering case involving multimillionaire conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police on Monday issued fresh summons to Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez to join the investigation on Wednesday.

She was asked to appear on Monday but due to some reasons it was postponed. She had written an email to the Delhi Police, requesting them to postpone her questionning, which was scheduled to take place on Monday. Her request was accepted by the police.

Now, the officials have issued fresh summons to her.

Earlier in the first week of September, the EOW officials had recorded the testimony of another Bollywood actress Nora Fatehi in the matter.

Chandrashekhar was arrested for allegedly cheating and extorting money from some high-profile people, including former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh's wife Aditi Singh. Many Bollywood actors and models have been questioned by the Enforcement Directorate for their alleged links to Chandrashekhar.

In April last year, he was arrested in another money laundering case linked to the 2017 Election Commission bribery case, which allegedly involved a former AIADMK leader, among others.
Moscow, Sep 12 : Russian President Vladimir Putin is receiving round-the-clock updates on the situation in Ukraine and Moscow's military action there, his Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Monday, after being questioned on Russian troops withdrawal from some areas to "regroup", RT reported.

"Certainly, everything happening and all actions of the military during the special operation (in Ukraine) are being reported to the commander-in-chief," the spokesman told the media on Monday.

Putin can be in touch with Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and Russian military commanders "at any time of the day" as he is supposed to, Peskov added, RT reported.

Russian journalists were questioning Peskov over Putin's awareness and communication schedule after Ukrainian forces conducted a successful offensive last week.

Kiev's troops managed to push Russian forces in northern Ukraine out of a number of settlements in the Kharkov region. The Russian Ministry of Defence made few remarks about the development, acknowledging only a retreat, which it described as necessary to "regroup" the troops.

US Senator Mark Warner who chairs the chamber's Intelligence Committee, confirmed in an interview with CNN that the offensive had been prepared with the help of the US and British intelligence services. The assistance "kept the Russians, and Putin in particular, on their backheel," he claimed.

Commenting on what the setback meant for the outcome of the Russian military operation, Peskov reiterated that Moscow will continue it "until the goals that were set in the beginning are achieved".

The official was responding to questions about a social media post made by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, now the deputy chair of the Russian national security council, who appeared to suggest that Moscow may up the ante in Ukraine, RT reported.

Responding to the refusal of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to talk to Russia due to its "ultimatums", Medvedev said on Monday his country's demands were just "a warm-up" compared to the "demands of the future". He added that Moscow may seek "a total capitulation of the Kiev regime, on Russia's conditions".

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
Moscow, Sep 12 : Russian President Vladimir Putin is reported to have sacked a top-ranking general just 16 days after appointing him following his crushing defeat in eastern Ukraine, media reports said.

The Russian President is thought to have relieved Lieutenant General Roman Berdnikov of his duties over the failure of Kremlin troops to keep hold of vast swathes of Ukrainian territory over the last few days, Daily Mail reported.

A counter-offensive by Ukrainian forces has seen troops push to within 30 miles of the border, amid reports that 'panicked' Russian troops have been abandoning tanks, weapons and supplies.

There have been claims from some sources that Russian soldiers have "literally ran from their positions", even leaving behind their clothes as they ran away from the advancing Ukrainian army in the Kharkiv oblast in the north-east of the country, Daily Mail reported.

It came as Ukrainian soldiers surge into the east of the country in an effort that has seen them take more than 1,000 square miles of territory in a matter of days, in a period of time that could prove to be a turning point in the war.

The move came after a sustained Ukrainian 'disinformation campaign' about a counter-offensive in the south, which succeeded in diverting Russian troops in that direction and leaving the north east vulnerable to attack, Daily Mail reported.

The main advance in the area began six days ago and has forced Moscow to withdraw its troops to prevent them being surrounded.

According to the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Lt General Berdnikov was appointed as commander of the Western Armed Forces on August 26.

However, it seems his time in charge was short lived, with Ukrainian intelligence saying he has been sacked by Putin due to the rout in Kharkiv. There has been no confirmation from the Kremlin on this.

This came after unconfirmed reports back in June that he had been killed during fighting in the Donbas region of Ukraine.

As Russian troops desperately scrambled to get clear from oncoming forces in recent days, one Ukrainian unit said the chain of command had been broken and Kremlin troops were running away without even attempting to fight back, Daily Mail reported.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
Patna, Sep 12 : BJP MLA Neeraj Kumar Bablu claimed that trading of contraband is taking place at large scale in Bihar's Saharsa jail.

Bablu further claims that 80 per cent of the inmates are addicted to contraband. The smuggling of contraband is happening with the connivance of jail superintendent and warders. The situation is alarming here as if any inmate dared to complain against the illegal activities, they were brutally beaten and humiliated by fellow inmates and gangsters.

"We have demanded a thorough inquiry in this matter. He also urged the district and session judge of Saharsa to take cognizance of the matter and take action against the culprits," Bablu said.

"The units of Bihar military police, home guard, SAP, and police personnel of jail entered the certain sections of the prison between September 4 to September 8 and brutally assaulted some of the inmates. As a result, three inmates named Abhijeet Singh, Vihay Thakur and Siti Mian are seriously injured," Bablu said.

Beside contrabands, the prison officials are also involved in smuggling of mobile phones. The rate of passing an android phone is Rs 3,000 and for simple phone, it is Rs 1,000. The relatives of the criminals used to give money to the employees deployed at the gate or through the personnel deployed at the watchtowers. The relatives used to throw mobile phones inside the jail from certain sections of the wall and on the signal of personnel deployed at the watchtowers," Bablu said.
Chennai, Sep 12 : The bell curve appraisal system, junked by many big organisations including consultancy firm KPMG is being proposed to be implemented in General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re), the company unions said.

They also wondered as to how the bell curve appraisal system would be good for GIC Re when its own consultant - KPMG - was not in favour of it.

"The bell curve appraisal system that has already been defunct in many organisations is being proposed to be implemented in GIC Re very soon at the cost of Rs 4 crore approx," five unions of the national reinsurer have told their management.

Citing various news reports, the five GIC Re unions, in a letter to the Board of Directors and its Chairman and Managing Director Devesh Srivastava, listed names of several big companies that have scrapped the bell curve appraisal system.

"The most surprising part is that even our KPI (key performance indicator) consultant, KPMG has also scrapped the aforesaid appraisal system as it was toxic for the work environment," the letter notes.

"While removing this mode of appraisal, KPMG stated that 'We want to encourage a collaborative work culture and take away the internal competition between employees, thus encouraging qualitative discussions on performance'. The bell curve, the way it is understood and implemented, is wrong sometimes, making it a forced normalisation and forces rating. It cannot be a rigid curve. It could be a steep curve, flat curve depending on the business performance," the GIC Re unions said.

The GIC Re is the national reinsurer with about 470 employees.

In an earlier letter, the five unions had said if KPMG's recommendations are implemented, the work-life balance of employees will be adversely affected.

"KPMG has proposed a phone application which will be installed in every employee's handset which will inform one's performance 24/7, thus further deteriorating work life balance," the unions had told the GIC Re management.

"We also demanded the consultant's preliminary report with SWOT analysis and final pre-implementation report which has not been provided till date," the letter written by the unions notes.

"Be it known to all that the recent transfers, re-transfers and retro transfers fiasco and the various departments which have mushroomed overnight were based on KPMG's report which is not even approved by the management nor has our board's sanctity. Hence, it does not adhere to the current transfer policy. This is akin to clinical trials," the earlier letter added.

According to the unions, quality parameters are totally ignored, and all the employees will be judged on quantity and what the phone app reflects.

(Venkatachari Jagannathan can be reached at v.jagannathan@ians.in)
New Delhi, Sep 12 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has now officially confirmed the pan India raids which were conducted at 50 locations in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and the Delhi-NCR region to dismantle and disrupt the emerging nexus between terrorists, gangsters and drug smugglers and traffickers based in India and abroad.

"The NIA crackdown followed the launch of investigations against this nexus by the NIA after the re-registration of 2 cases, earlier registered by the Delhi Police, on August 26. A few of the most desperate gang leaders and their associates based in India and abroad, who are spearheading and carrying out such terror and criminal activities were identified and booked," said the official.

The official said that the recent sensational crimes and extortion calls by criminal syndicates and gangsters to businessmen, professionals including doctors had created panic among the people. These gangs were using cyber-space to publicise these crimes to create terror among the public at large.

The NIA learnt during it's investigations that such criminal acts were not isolated local incidents but there was a deep rooted conspiracy involving terrorists, gangsters and drug smuggling cartels and networks, who were operating from both within and outside the country.

"Many gang leaders and members have fled India and were now operating from foreign countries, including Pakistan, Canada, Malaysia, Australia. The ongoing probes by the NIA in cases being investigated by the Agency, such as the killing of Shaurya Chakra Awardee Comrade Balwinder Singh in Punjab also revealed that most of these conspiracies were being hatched from inside the jails of different states and were being executed by an organised network of operatives based abroad," the official said.

Preliminary investigations have revealed that these gangs were carrying out target killings to terrorise the public to extort money for running and promoting their criminal syndicates and activities. These gangs were also raising funds through smuggling of drugs and weapons.

In its ongoing efforts to dismantle these transnational terror and crime networks, the NIA conducted searches at 50 locations in Fazilka, Faridkot, Muktsar Sahib, Moga, Tarn Taran, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Mohali district of Punjab, East Gurugram, Bhiwani, Yamunanagar, Sonepat and Jhajjar districts of Haryana, Hanumangarh and Ganganagar districts of Rajasthan and Dwarka, Outer North, North West, North East and Shahdara districts of Delhi-NCR.

"Searches were conducted today morning at the premises of Goldy Brar (Canada), Lawrence Bishnoi, Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, Varinder Pratap alias Kala Rana, Kala Jathedi, Vikram Brar, Gaurav Patyal alias Lucky Patyal (who was earlier arrested in Armenia), Neeraj Bawana, Koushal Chaudhary, Tillu Tajpuria, Amit Dagar, Deepak Kumar alias Tinu, Sandeep alias Bandar, Umesh alias Kala, Irfan alias Cheenu Pahalwan, Ashim alias Hashim Baba, Sachin Bhanja and their associates.

"During the searches, six pistols, one revolver, one shotgun, have been seized, along with ammunition. Apart from the above, drugs, cash, incriminating documents, digital devices, details of benami property, threat letters have also been seized by the NIA.

"Further investigations will continue to dismantle these terror networks as well as their funding and support infrastructure," said the official.
New Delhi, Sep 12: Chinese and Indian troops are set to complete disengagement from friction points Gogra and Hot Springs on Monday, but ahead of the event, Army Chief Manoj Pande has sent Beijing a message.

Making it plain that India was disengaging from a position of strength, Gen. Pande during his visit to Eastern Ladakh over the weekend travelled in a US-made Apache helicopter of the Indian Air Force (IAF). The Apache is arguably the best attack helicopter in the world, capable of flying in all-weather conditions both during the day and night. It carries a heavy weapon load including the deadly Hellfire missiles, whose variant was used recently to kill terror kingpin Ayman Al Zawahiri in a Taliban safehouse in Kabul.

The Gogra-Hot Springs disengagement has been carefully timed, just ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Samarkand on September 15, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Chinese President Xi Jinping will be present.

On Sunday, the Ministry of External Affairs announced that PM Modi will be attending the summit. It added that the, "Prime Minister is also likely to hold a few bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit." It is, however, unlikely that Modi and Xi will meet on the sidelines of the summit. India has demanded that the status quo ante be restored on the Line of Actual Control, which is only possible if the Chinese troops pull back forces to their peace locations before their intrusions in end April/May 2020. President Xi is also heading for the 20 th Party congress next month, where he would not like to look "weak" due to troop pullbacks from the border.

On Sunday, The IAF briefed Gen. Pande about the flying characteristics of the Apache, which has been deployed in the Ladakh sector since the beginning of the military standoff.

The IAF has 22 of these machines. The Indian Army will also buy six of these choppers. Army teams led by the Director General of Army Aviation were in the US for training.

In a further demonstration of preparedness, General Pande on Saturday witnessed Exercise Parvat Prahar, and was briefed about operational preparedness by commanders on the ground.

Separately, the South Western Command of the Indian Army released a video on Sunday which showed troops laying a bridge over the Indus river in eastern Ladakh.

Heavy trucks then cross over the bridge once it is completed. Army personnel engrossed in teamwork can be seen in the exercise while heavy trucks cross the terrain after the bridge has been completed.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative
Bhopal, Sep 12 : The Economic Offences Wing sleuths in Madhya Pradesh on Monday detained P. C. Singh, bishop of the Church of North India's Jabalpur Diocese, at Nagpur Airport in Maharashtra for questioning in a cheating case registered against him. As per the official sources, Singh was picked up from the airport on Sunday night and brought to Jabalpur. He is now being quizzed in a Rs 2.70-crore cheating case.

On Thursday, the EOW personnel had raided the bishop's residence in Jabalpur and had recovered Rs 1.60 crore in Indian and foreign currencies.

The EOW with the help of other central agencies including the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) was monitoring the movements of Singh, EOW's Superintendent of Police Devendra Singh Rajput told the press on Monday.

"Singh was taken into custody from Nagpur Airport for interrogation in connection with the cheating case registered against him," he said.

The EOW last month registered the case against Bishop Singh after a complaint alleged that he indulged in financial misconduct in running an educational society, of which he was the chairman, the official said.

A preliminary investigation had revealed that Rs 2.70 crore collected as students' fees by the society's various institutions between 2004-05 and 2011-12 were allegedly transferred to religious institutions, misused and spent by the bishop for personal needs, an EOW official had said earlier.

A case was then registered against Singh and former assistant registrar of Firms and Societies B S Solanki under Indian Penal Code Sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using a forged document or electronic record) and 120 B (punishment for criminal conspiracy), the official had said.

Following the EOW's searches, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday had ordered a probe to check whether the money was being used for religious conversions or any other illegal activity.
New Delhi, Sep 12 : A Special CBI Court in Lucknow on Monday awarded six years rigorous imprisonment to Arvind Mishra (IRS-1989 batch officer), the then Deputy Commissioner, Income Tax, Lucknow and imposed a fine of Rs 1.50 lakh in a CBI case.

According to information, a case was registered on November 29, 1999 on a complaint against Arvind Mishra, alleging a demand for a bribe of Rs 20,000 by him for issuing a "No Dues Certificate" in the prescribed format 34(A).

Subsequently, the CBI laid a trap and caught Mishra red handed while demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 15,000 from the complainant.

After completing the investigation, a chargesheet was filed against the accused before the special court.

In this case, trial had remained stayed for most of the period as different petitions were pending in the matter before the High Court. The petitions filed by the accused were adequately countered by the CBI prosecutors. The CBI was successful in convincing both the trial court and the High Court about the merits of the prosecution case which led to the rejection of the petitions of the accused and waiver of interim relief in favour of the accused.

The trial court found the accused guilty and convicted him.
Chennai, Sep 12 : Children belonging to the tribal Irula community were not being provided with eggs during the midday meal at their school in a tribal settlement in Tamil Nadu's Krishnagiri district, leading to protests.

Nine Irula children - five boys and four girls - are studying in the Panchayat Union Primary School at Kadambakuttai in Denkanikottai taluk of Krishnagiri.

While the Tamil Nadu government has been stressing a highly nutritious noon meal scheme for Scheduled Tribe students in the state but, the Irula children here are not getting even an egg a day.

The school does not have a cook and a student's mother M. Deviani cooks for them. She said that the school receives dry ration for noon meals once in two months. Deviani also said that she used to receive eggs for two weeks from the noon meal organiser and that she had to carry eggs and other provisions uphill to the school.

The headmaster of the school also said that he had reminded the noon meal organiser to supply eggs, but she did not agree. Officials, however, claim that the eggs are not supplied due to rains.

Social activist and NGO Krishnagiri study centre's chief coordinator M.K. Gopalakrishnan told IANS that the official who is in charge of the school has to supply the food to the educational institution concerned and if he or she is not doing that, stringent action has to be taken... the shortage of eggs in the noon meal scheme is totally unjustified." Several other activists also came out strongly against the failure of the district administration to deliver the eggs to a tribal school that is exclusively for Irula tribals.
Mumbai, Sep 12 : A clinical trial conducted at the Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) has indicated that a simple, low-cost intervention can drastically increase the cure and survival rate among breast cancer patients, top officials said here on Monday.

The landmark multi-centre clinical trials were conducted in women undergoing breast cancer surgery and it emerged that injection of a commonly used drug around the tumour - just prior to surgery, on the operation table - could drastically enhance the cure and survival rate of the patients on a long-term basis.

Director of TMC, Rajendra Badwe, who carried out the trials, presented the results at the ongoing European Society of Medical Oncology Congress in Paris on Monday, and simultaneously TMC's professor Sudeep Gupta addressed the media on the findings in Mumbai.

The trial outcome shows that the injection needs no additional expertise, is affordable, barely Rs 100 per patient, but can result in saving at least 100,000 lives of breast cancer patients annually worldwide, said Badwe.

In comparison, expensive, targeted drugs costing over Rs 10 lakh per patient have shown far less benefits in early breast cancer patients, as per the study titled 'Effect of Peri-Tumoral Infiltration of Local Anaesthetic Prior to Surgery on Survival in Early Breast Cancer'.

Spearheaded by Badwe, the study was conducted on 1,600 women planning to undergo early breast cancer surgery at 11 cancer centres in India, including TMC, over 11 years from 2011-2022, said Gupta.

"This is the first study of its kind globally showing a sizable benefit by single intervention prior to surgery. For scientists, it opens a window of peri-operative intervention to modulate the environment of cancer in such a way as to prevent its deleterious reaction to the surgery," Badwe told the Paris conference.

Gupta said in Mumbai that the inexpensive and immediately implementable treatment in breast cancer can be practised by any surgeon who treats the disease, as shown from a large randomised trial, which is the 'gold standard' of evaluating the worth of new treatments.

Detailing on the study, the duo said half the patients (out of the 1,600) were part of the 'control group', who received standard surgery followed by the usual post-operative treatment comprising chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone therapy as per guidelines.

The other half was the intervention group, who received an injection of a common local anaesthesia agent, 0.5 per cent lidocaine, all around the tumour just before the surgery, and later underwent the same post-operative treatment as given to the control group.

After treatment, the patients were regularly followed-up for several years till the cut-off date of September 2021 to compare the cure and survival rates between the control group and the local anaesthesia group.

"As expected, there was no toxicity of lignocaine in patients who received it (the injection). The six-year disease-free survival was 81.7 per cent in the control group and 86.1 per cent in the local anaesthesia group for a 26 per cent relative reduction in the risk of a relapse or death - considered significant in statistical terms.

Similarly, the six-year over survival rate was 86.2 per cent versus 89.9 per cent in the two groups for a 29 per cent reduction in death risk with the local anaesthetic injection, again critically important, said Badwe.

His earlier research suggested a window of opportunity just prior to, during and immediately after surgical removal of the primary cancer when anti-cancer interventions could reduce the risk of development of disseminated Stage 4 metastatic cancer during the patient's lifespan.

The institutions where the clinical trials were conducted are: TMC Mumbai, Kolhapur Cancer Centre, Sterling Multi-speciality Hospital, Pune, and Siddhivinayak Ganapati Cancer Hospital, Sangli (all Maharashtra); All India Institute of Medical Sciences and Max Superspeciality Hospital (both Delhi); B. Borooah Cancer Centre, Guwahati; Basavatarakam Indo-American Cancer Hospital & Research Centre, Hyderabad; Gujarat Cancer & Research Institute, Ahmedabad; Malabar Cancer Centre, Thalassery (Kerala); and North-Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health & Medical Sciences, Shillong.
Munich, Sep 12 : Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday embarked on a series of engagements in Germany to promote Punjab as a preferred investment destination and woo global investers into the state during the first day of his tour in the country.

The Chief Minister was invited by CEO of Messe Munchen GmBH, Reinhard Pfeiffer, to attend DRINKTEC 2022, the world's leading trade fair for the food industry.

During his one-on-one interactions with industry at the event, he extended a warm welcome to the global industrialists to attend the Progressive Punjab Investors' Summit scheduled for February 23-24, 2023.

During the event, Mann held deliberations with the key companies like Zepplin, Buehler, Pro Minent, Donaldson, Igus, Cipriani Harrison Valves, Pentair and others about various technology solutions pertinent for Punjab's industry like oil seed processing machinery, industrial air filtration systems, purification technology, measurement of chemicals in water, tossing equipment for chemicals, conversion of biomass to energy, industrial water treatment and others.

During the parleys, the Chief Minister showcased Punjab as a land of opportunities and asked the companies to invest in the state.

He said Punjab has long been known as the food bowl of India and the food processing sector has significantly contributed to the progress of the state. "The state Government stands ready to fully support global industry in setting up their operations in Punjab." Describing Punjab as the most preferred destination for doing business, the Chief Minister said companies will be immensely benefitted by investing in the state.

He said the complete communal harmony, peace and amity were mainly responsible for overall development and prosperity in the state.

Mann urged the industrialists to make optimum use of this congenial atmosphere backed by excellent infrastructure, power, skilled human resources and best industrial and work culture to spread their business.

Extending a red carpet welcome to the industrialists, the Chief Minister said the state government was always open for new ideas and innovations to boost up the industrial growth in Punjab.

He envisioned that this visit will give a major boost to the process of industrialisation in the state. Mann said that the day is not far away when Punjab will emerge as the industrial hub of the country.

Meanwhile, giving an affirmative response to the Chief Minister, the leading companies assured him massive investments in the state.
Bengaluru, Sep 12 : The Karnataka government's cyber security centre of excellence, CySecK, has tied up with IT major Dell Technologies to develop enhanced security practices in the state, especially among students.

After the MoU was signed on Monday, Dr CN Ashwath Narayan, Karnataka minister for higher education and IT/BT, said that the MoU will facilitate imparting cyber security awareness and practices to students, start-ups and public offices. He added that this will also benefit small and medium scale enterprises.

As per the agreement, Dell will provide learning of cyber safety practices through its interactive courses and will be available both in Kannada as well as in English, the minister informed.

Dell will also contribute to the start-up ecosystem of the state through its 'Ascend' initiative. This will help in expanding the start-up market in the state, he opined.

To achieve the target of the state becoming a 300 billion dollar digital economy by 2025, putting in place an efficient cyber security system is very necessary, Narayan stated.

Dr Karthik Rao Bappanadu, Head, CySecK, stated that the centre is working to expand the cyber security practices to tier 2 and 3 centres also.
New Delhi, Sep 12 : The Union Health Ministry will start a mega drive for voluntary blood donation 'Raktdan Amrit Mahotsav' from September 17 to October 1, which is National Voluntary Blood Donation Day.

As per official source, the mega drive aims to collect 1.5 lakh unit of the blood on the first day of the drive on September 17, breaking the previous world record of highest blood donation in a single day. September 17 also coincides with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday.

Currently, India has the capacity to store around 1.5 lakh units of blood. However, if the number of the people exceeds, then blood will not be taken but he/she will be given the participating certificate. The registrations have also begun for voluntary blood donation on the Aarogya Setu portal under the 'Raktdaan Amrit Mahotsav' which invites people to donate blood and be a part of Prime Minister's mission for humanity.

The campaign is being launched to increase the awareness about the need of regular non-remunerated blood donation and to ensure availability, affordability and accessibility of blood and its components to all, an official said. Presently, there is a huge gap between demand and supply of the blood. As per 2021 statistics, the demand and supply ratio was 1.46 vs 1.25 crore units. The data of people registered for donating blood on Aarogya Setu App will be made accessible to blood banks or organisations conducting the drive through the e-RaktKosh web portal, the source said.

The Nikshay Mitra initiative launched by the President on September 9 has seen total enrolment of 1,78,443 TB patients and 1667 Nikshay Mitras (donor) so far, the source added. He said that for the effective engagement of the community in eradicating TB, the Health Ministry was implementing the community support to TB patients - Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan.

Nikshay Mitra (Donor) for this programme includes co-operative societies, corporates, elected representatives, individuals, institutions, non-governmental organisations, political parties and partners who can support by adopting the health facilities in state, district, block and peripheral health care facilities. The minimum duration for the support will be one year and the maximum will be three years. The Nikshay Mitra will provide nutritional support, diagnostic and the vocational support to the patients under the programme.
Hyderabad, Sep 12 : BJP's Telangana unit chief Bandi Sanjay said on Monday that his 'Praja Sangrama Yatra' would continue irrespective of whether the police give permission for it.

Sanjay launched the fourth phase of his 'padayatra' at Quthbullapur near Hyderabad after offering prayers at the Chittaramma temple along with BJP national General Secretary Sunil Bansal, the party's in-charge for Telangana.

Addressing the inaugural public meeting, Sanjay said he would not stop his padayatra despite the obstacles being created by the state government as his march enjoys full support of the people.

Describing Qutubullapur as 'Mini India', he said people here are facing problems due to the inefficient governance of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS). He also alleged that Chief Minister KCR's family is demanding share in the industries and as a result industries ate shifting to other states.

Sanjay said by constructing a few flyovers, the government is claiming development in Hyderabad, but even light rains result in overflowing of drains in the city.

The BJP leader reacted strongly to KCR's allegation that the BJP government at the Centre wants to install meters to agricultural pump sets through the Electricity Amendment Act.

He threw a challenge that if the Bill talks of installing meters, he would resign.

"If KCR fails to prove his claim, he should resign," he said.

Sanjay alleged that the CM's official residence turns into a 'bar' every night, adding that it is used only as a 'bar' and not as 'Praja Durbar'.

The fourth phase of the padyatra will cover eight Assembly constituencies in 10 days during which Sanjay plans to walk 115 km.

The fourth phase will cover Qutubullapur, Kukatpally, Secunderabad Cantonment, Malkajgiri, Medchal, Uppal, LB Nagar and Ibrahimpatnam Assembly constituencies.

During this phase, Sanjay would focus on civic issues. The non-allocation of Rajiv Swagruha houses which have been lying vacant, 2BHK houses not being constructed, damaged roads, traffic congestion, encroachment of lakes and pollution will be among the issues to be raised by the BJP leader.

In the three phases of his padayatra, Sanjay had walked through 40 Assembly constituencies. He had interacted with the people and enquired about the problems faced by them.

Earlier, Praja Sangrama Yatra pramukh G. Manohar Reddy said they applied for permission to all three police commissionerates (Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda), but did not receive the permission. He said they would go ahead with the padayatra as scheduled as they believe that the permission is deemed to have been given.

Manohar Reddy said that if the state government tries to create any hurdles, they will approach the high court as they did during the third phase.
Bhubaneswar, Sep 12 : As many as 2,231 missing persons were reunited with their families during a 10-day special drive conducted by Odisha Police, the police said on Monday.

The police in coordination with the Crime Against Women and Children Wing (CAW&CW) of the Odisha crime branch carried out the drive from September 1 to 10 to trace missing persons.

Out of the total persons traced, 1,536 are female and 390 are male. The police traced 305 minors, including 272 girls, during the drive, the state crime branch informed in a tweet.

On the other hand, the state transport authority (STA) in association with the police has conducted a drive against drunk driving from September 7 to 9.

During the three-day drive, a total of 599 people were found driving under the influence of alcohol, of which 222 drunk drivers were arrested in accordance with the directives of the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety, an official said.

Similarly, 338 driving licences have been confiscated for suspension. A total of 455 prosecution reports (PRs) have been submitted to courts for further action.

Besides, 1,568 other cases have been detected for violation of Motor Vehicles Act, against whom 1,532 e-challans have been issued.

Despite a set of strict laws and regulations, drunk driving continues to be one of the major reasons behind road accidents in India. As many as 246 road accidents took place in Odisha in 2021 due to drunken driving, claiming the lives of 79 people besides injuring 151 others.

The amended Motor Vehicles Act says that in the case of drunken driving, first-time offenders will face imprisonment up to six months and/or fine up to Rs 10,000 and the second offence can lead to up to two years' prison term and/or fine of Rs 15,000.
410 bodies found in Ukraine's Bucha to be examined Image Source: IANS News

Russia-Ukraine war shows no signs of winding down despite Moscows advance in the east(IN) Image Source: IANS News

Kharkiv, Sep 12 : Ukrainian forces outnumbered Russians by eight to one in last week's counter-attack in the Kharkiv region, Russia's top occupation official there said, as per media reports.

Vitaly Ganchev told Russian TV that Ukraine's army had taken villages in the north and broken through to the Russian border, BBC reported.

Ukraine says it has regained control over 3,000 sq km of territory in a potential breakthrough in the war.

The Ukrainian army says it took back 20 villages in the past 24 hours alone, in its continued counter-offensive in the north-east of the country, BBC reported.

It also said its forces have taken control of around 500 sq km in the southern Kherson region of the country.

UK defence officials say the Ukrainian army's successes will have "significant implications" for Russia's overall operational design.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was, however, undeterred, saying operations in Ukraine would continue "until all the tasks that were initially set" had been fulfilled.

President Vladimir Putin is constantly being updated with the latest developments, he added.

Russia said its forces were carrying out strikes in those areas that Ukraine had retaken recently.

This included targets in Izyum and Kupiansk which were taken by Ukraine on Saturday. Russia confirmed its forces' retreat from both towns, which it said would allow them to "regroup".

Valerii Marchenko, mayor of Izyum, told the BBC the Ukrainian army was in his city and the state flag had been raised.

The military is now engaged in cleaning up the war-torn city and Ukrainian forces are searching for Russian soldiers potentially hiding in people's houses.

Marchenko said that after "about 10 days", residents who had to flee the city would be able to return "safely", BBC reported.

Russia has been accused of targeting civilian infrastructure in revenge for setbacks on the battlefield.

A wave of missile strikes on Sunday caused power cuts across the region.
Patna, Sep 12 : The personal secretary of an Aam Aadmi Party Delhi MLA was held at Patna airport on Sunday night for carrying a live cartridge but released after a probe, police said.

The personal secretary was identified as Noman Ahmed (32), associated with Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan.

An official said that Ahmed was scheduled to fly SpiceJet flight (SG 8390) to the capital when the cartridge was detected during the security check at the Jay Prakash Narayan International Airport at around 8.30 pm.

The security personnel detained him and also called the airport police. During investigation, it appeared that he was carrying the cartridge as a part of the licensed weapon of the MLA's personal security officer.

After two hours of questioning, Noman was handed oved to Patna police, who released him later after verification.

SHO, Patna airport said: "It was an unintentional act of that person. We had cross checked with the MLA of Delhi. The live cartridge was part of a licensed weapon belonging to his PSO. Noman came to Patna by train and was returning by flight on Sunday. The cartridge appeared in the screening." "Noman brought the license of the weapon on mobile phone and presented it to us. We have verified it and his claim was true. As there are specific guidelines about unintentional acts, we have released him after filing a CR bond. No FIR registered in this matter."
New Delhi, Sep 12 : The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a plea seeking analysis of a link between watching internet porn and sex crimes, including child abuse.

A bench of Chief Justice U.U. Lalit and Justice S. Ravindra Bhat said child sex abuse is a crime by itself and police investigation into individual cases would show whether or not viewing of pornography had triggered the crime.

It observed a judicial declaration from the apex court that porn on the Internet has led to child sex crimes would be like giving a go-ahead to online surveillance. "What you are advocating may be surveillance and collection of data," the bench told senior counsel and BJP leader Nalin Kohli, who was the petitioner-in-person.

During the hearing, Justice Bhat cited a US Supreme Court verdict in connection with a question of banning the Internet to a certain class in order not to give them access to porn. He said one of the judges there observed 'We cannot set the house on fire to roast a pig'." The top court said the government has sufficient resources to deploy to ensure that criminal material is not uploaded on the Internet.

The bench queried Kohli whether the court should intervene, if petitioner's final goal is that such material should not be uploaded, and added that this is a tiger and if it gets loose, the problem is at what point the court would control it.

Kohli cited an incident in Assam where a direct link was found between pornography and sexual assault on a minor girl. To this, the bench said: "The issue of the link between viewing pornography and crime is individual case specific." The plea sought a direction to the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) to collect data in a time bound from all the state police organisations on the specific issue of investigations revealing a direct link between viewing of pornographic material and acts of rape.

After hearing arguments, the top court declined to entertain the plea and Kohli withdrew the petition.
New Delhi, Sep 12 : Delhi on Monday reported sharp decline in new Covid cases, which fell into single figures, at 63, in the last 24 hrs, against 137 the previous day, while there was one more death, as per the government health bulletin.

Meanwhile, the Covid positivity rate of the capital city has marginally risen to 1.83 per cent. The number of active cases stands at 619 out of which 496 patients are being treated in home isolation.

With 160 patients recovering in the last 24 hours, the total number of recoveries has gone to 19,74,656, while Delhi's total caseload is 20,01,769 and the death toll in the city 26,494.

The number of Covid containment zones stands at 99.

A total of 3,434 new tests -- 2,739 RT-PCR and 695 Rapid Antigen - were conducted in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 4,00,79,378 while 27,354 vaccines were administered - 1,472 first doses, 4,118 second doses, and 21,764 precaution doses.

The total number of cumulative beneficiaries vaccinated so far stands at 3,68,55,598, according to the health bulletin.
Amritsar, Sep 12 : The Spring Dale School in Amritsar has received a bomb threat on social media, following which the school authorities have lodged a complaint with the police.

The threat came four days after the DAV Public School got a similar threat, which later proved to be a prank made by three students of the school.

A message uploaded on social media on Monday evening read that there would be a blast in Spring Dale School on September 16 .

As the matter was reported to the police, heavy security arrangements have been made in and around the school.

"It came to the notice of the school that a threatening message was in circulation in social media of similar nature as was circulated against another school in the city last week. Taking serious note of the social media message, the school authorities informed the police to ensure the safety and security of the students and staff of the school," read a statement issued by the school.

It added, "The police authorities informed the school management that the situation is under control and safety and security of the school children will be ensured as an FIR has been lodged and the matter is being investigated." As per the management, the school will function on Tuesday as per the routine.
Jaipur, Sep 12 : Shoes were hurled at Rajasthan's Minister of State for Youth Affairs & Sports, Ashok Chandna, during an event to mark the immersion of ashes of Colonel Kirori Singh Bainsla, who played an important role in the Gurjar reservation movement, in the holy waters of Pushkar.

As per reports, as soon as Chandna came to deliver his speech, people started protesting and hurled shoes at him, raising 'Sachin Pilot Zindabad' slogans.

Taking to Twitter, Chandna said: "Today a wonderful sight was seen when Rajendra Rathod, (then cabinet member) who ordered the killing of 72 persons was applauded when he came on the stage and shoes were thrown at those whose family members went to jail during the (Gurjar reservation) agitation." In another tweet, he said, "The family members of the martyrs were sitting on the platform on which the shoes were thrown, at least they should have been taken care of." "Time will tell how far these people who have tarnished the last memory of the Colonel will go," he added.

Slogans of 'Sachin Pilot Zindabad' were heard from the very beginning at the programme. The protests started when Industries Minister Shakuntala Rawat came to deliver her speech. She announced the opening of a college in the name of Colonel Bainsla at Karauli, but people did not allow her to continue as they raised 'Sachin Pilot Zindabad' slogans.

However, Rawat managed to deliver her speech.

After this, Chandna came to deliver his speech, but some people from the crowd hurled shoes and other items at him. While the police pacified the agitators, Chandna had to leave midway.
New Delhi/Kohima, Sep 12 : Amidst frantic efforts of the Nagaland government and all state parties to resolve the decades-old Naga political issue before the Assembly elections, less than 6 months away, the Parliamentary Core Committee headed by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Monday.

A senior Nagaland government official in Kohima said that a delegation of the all important Core Committee on Naga Political Issue (CCoNPI), led by Rio, urged Shah to finalise the Naga political settlement at the earliest.

Deputy Chief Minister Yanthungo Patton, who is also the BJP legislature party leader and a key member of the CCoNPI, also attended the meeting, where Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, senior Home Ministry officials and other members of the core committee were present.

United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Chairman and former Chief Minister T.R. Zeliang and UDA Co-Chairman Kuzholuzo (Azo) Neinu were also present.

After the meeting, Rio tweeted : "Parliamentary Core Committee to discuss the Naga Political Issue. Once again, we urged the GoI to expedite the protracted negotiations on the issue and bring about an early and honourable solution." Patton tweeted: "Together with Hon'ble CM Shri Neiphiu Rio Ji and members of the Parliamentary Core Committee, had a meeting on the Naga Political Issue with Hon'ble Union HM Shri Amit Shah Ji and urged the GoI to bring about an early and honourable solution, in line with the people's aspirations".

The official said that the Chief Minister handed over the July 16 resolution of the CCoNPI to sign a final agreement for securing the much delayed solution to the Naga political issue.

The CCoNPI held a meeting with Centre's representative for Naga political talks A.K. Mishra last week at Nagaland House in the national capital and submitted a copy of the July 16 resolution, which noted that the talks have concluded officially on October 31, 2019 and therefore, urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister to invite NSCN-IM leaders for early conclusion of the long pending issue.

Ahead of the meeting with the Central government, Rio and other members of the CCoNPI last week met Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in Guwahati.

The Centre has been separately holding peace talks with the NSCN-IM and other Naga groups, which came together a few years ago under the banner of the Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs).

Since 1997, the Centre has held more than 85 rounds of negotiations with the NSCN-IM and other Naga groups.

However, the NSCN-IM's insistence on a separate Naga flag and Constitution became big hurdles.

Former government interlocutor and then Nagaland Governor R.N. Ravi, who is now holding the gubernatorial post in Tamil Nadu, had rejected these demands on a number of occasions.

The ruling parties in Nagaland, all other Naga bodies and civil society organisations are making all out efforts to resolve the Naga political issue before the next Assembly elections, expected to be held in February next year.

The BJP, the NDPP, into which the Naga People's Front merged earlier, had formed the opposition-less all-party UDA government last year to take forward the Naga political issue between the Centre and Naga outfits and various other groups.

The NDPP is the dominant party of the ruling alliance in Nagaland while the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has 12 MLAs, is one of the important constituents of the alliance.
New Delhi, Sep 12 : The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to Jitendra Tyagi, formerly known as Wasim Rizvi, accused for making alleged inflammatory speeches against Muslims in Dharam Sansad case.

A bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and B.V. Nagarathna directed Tyagi not to indulge into such alleged activities anymore and also furnish an undertaking before the trial court that he will not address electronic media or social media. At the end of August, the apex court had declined to extend Tyagi's interim bail, granted on medical grounds, and directed him to surrender.

On Monday, the top court said that Tyagi should be produced before the trial court within three days and he should be released on bail on terms and conditions to the satisfaction of the court.

It made it clear that if he breaches any of the bail conditions, the prosecution may move an application seeking cancellation of his bail.

On May 17, the Supreme Court had granted interim bail for three months to Tyagi arrested in connection with hate speeches at the Haridwar Dharam Sansad held in December last year. The top court imposed a condition that Tyagi would not indulge in hate speech and give a statement to any media.

The top court had told counsel representing Tyagi to ask his client not to indulge in hate speech, as harmony has to be maintained in society. Uttarakhand government counsel submitted before the top court that Tyagi could only be released on bail if he mended his ways and also assured that he would not indulge into making hate speeches.

The state government added that if one wants to talk about her/his religion is not a problem, but the person should not indulge in hate speech against other religions. In January this year, the Uttarakhand Police arrested him for inflammatory speech at the event in Haridwar.
Patna, Sep 12 : Bihar Agriculture Minister Sudhakar Singh has termed officials and employees of his department "thieves", and quipped that this made him "a chief of thieves".

"There are many thieves in my department and they are stealing money. As I am the in-charge of the department, I become their chief. There are many other chiefs above me. This government is old and its style of work is also old. It's up to the duty of common people to alert the government," he said while addressing a gathering of farmers in Kaimur district on Sunday.

"If you burn effigies, I will realise that something is going wrong. But if you don't do it, I believe that everything is okay," he said.

Singh, the son of RJD state President Jagadanand Singh and the MLA from Ramgarh in Kaimur, is holding the key portfolio in the Nitish Kumar government.
Vadodara, Sep 12 : Three youths were arrested in Gujarat's Vadodara on Monday -one for raping a minor girl and two for murder, police said.

In the first case, Gotri police station officer said that accused Mohin Pathan was working in an automobile garage when he came in contact with the victim, they became friends on social media, and used to chat.

On Saturday, when the victim was returning from tuition classes, Mohin asked her to come to his birthday party and took her to his residence, where he raped her and injured her. Her father lodged a complaint on Sunday, and he was arrested on Monday.

In the other crime, Assistant Commissioner of Police D.K. Rathod told the media that accused Shahrukh Pathan, with the help of his friend, on Saturday afternoon murdered Dakshaben Parmar after mistaking her for her daughter-in-law with whom he had an affair earlier.

During primary questioning, Shahrukh said that he had an affair with Bhavna, before she married Parmar's son Ashwin and broke all links with him, the ACP said. Yet he kept calling her, and she had filed a complaint with the police, which led to Shahrukh being summoned to the Manjalpur police station for a warning.

Shahrukh also told the police that to take revenge, he decided to murder Bhavna, but when he knocked on the flat door, instead of her, her mother-in-law opened it and in anger and mistake, he slit her throat, Rathod added.
Tokyo, Sep 13 : Japan's Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki has said his re-election underscored local opposition to the Japanese government's contentious plans to relocate a US military base within the island.

"It is an undeniable fact that I was elected by the people who oppose the relocation plan, meaning the Okinawans true feelings have not changed," he told local media on Monday, a day after securing his second four-year term as Governor of Okinawa.

Tamaki, 62, whose election campaign was largely based on his opposition to the government's plan to relocate the US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, secured more than half the votes in Sunday's gubernatorial election, Xinhua news agency reported.

Opposition-backed Tamaki beat former Ginowan Mayor Atsushi Sakima, who was supported by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party-led coalition, and was a proponent of relocating the US base within the island, as well as former lawmaker Mikio Shimoji.

The Okinawa Governor said the people of Okinawa reelected him to express their own opposition to the plans to relocate the US base within Okinawa, adding that Okinawans want to have their overall US base-hosting burdens lifted.

Along with saying he would visit Tokyo in person to urge the Central government to abandon its plan to relocate the base, he also suggested he may employ other means, including dialogue with the international community.

The local Okinawa and Central governments have long-been at odds over the relocation of the base, with local Okinawans feeling their occupation by US forces has continued long beyond 1972 when Okinawa was officially reverted to Japanese control.

Okinawa hosts the majority of US bases in Japan, yet the tiny subtropical island accounts for a tiny fraction of Japan's land mass.

The disproportionate number of US bases hosted by Okinawa has been a protracted source of tension for its local citizens.

They have had to endure a near-constant string of US military-linked accidents and mishaps involving aircraft, firing drills and pollution, as well as some heinous crimes involving US military and military-linked personnel, as widely reported.

LDP election chief Hiroshi Moriyama, however, told reporters on Monday that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said his government still plans to move ahead with the relocation plan.

The contentious plan is based on a pact made between the United States and Japan in 1996, with the coastal region of Henoko being selected as the replacement site in 1999.

Okinawans have effectively voted for the base to be relocated outside the island or Japan altogether in the latest gubernatorial election as well as in similar elections held in 2014, 2018 and a referendum in 2019.
Doha, Sep 13 : Parental uproar greeted the death of an Indian kindergarten student in a school bus in Qatar, a day after the tragedy on Sunday, which was the child's birthday.

The girl from Kerala succumbed purportedly to extreme heat after school bus staff failed to notice the child who had probably slept off, and locked the vehicle after parking it out in the open, media reports said.

Four-year-old Minsa Mariam Jacob was the student of Springfield Kindergarten in Al Wakra, a town in the outskirts of capital Doha.

Local media reports said the driver and the vehicle attendant found the girl when they returned to the bus nearly four hours later. She was rushed to hospital but could not be revived.

Minsa was the younger daughter of Abilash Chacko and Soumya, who have two children.

Showing utter disdain for what is being seen as carelessness by the school, several parents expressed outrage over the tragedy.

"The bus staff responsible for the gruesome incident should be hanged and the management held accountable," said an angry father on an online forum.

Another parent, Abdelaal Abdallah Abdelaal Khalil, an Egyptian national, whose four children study in an Indian school in Doha, said that such an incident hasn't happened for the first time in the country and so it is all the more sad.

"After the attendant has checked the bus, even the driver should repeat the drill. In this way such unfortunate incidents can be avoided," said the lawyer from Alexandria, who has lived in Qatar for close to 15 years.

Another young Indian student of a CBSE school met a painful death in 2010 under similar circumstances at DPS-Modern Indian School in Doha. She was left locked in the school bus after dozing off on way to school.

A senior Indian teacher at a CBSE school in Doha called it utter carelessness on the part of the dead child's school. "Our school has a system of calling the parents to find the reason for absenteeism before classes begin. Or alternatively, schools can make it compulsory that parents send an email or WhatsApp message before classes start if their child is absent. This will alert parents or school authorities if something untoward happens," said the middle-aged educator on condition of anonymity.

Children must be educated on how to deal with such situations, if it comes to this, she added, showing an educative video in which a school child uses the bus horn to draw attention after being locked inside the vehicle. The video has been doing the rounds of social media here.

Qatar's Ministry of Education and Higher Education said it had started a probe into the incident with the "competent authorities". Expressing remorse over the death, a statement issued by the Ministry said it will slap the most severe penalty based on the results of the investigation.

The Minister of Education and Higher Education, Buthainabint Ali Al Nuaimi paid a condolence visit to the grieving family on Monday.

According to friends of the Chacko family, they are hoping to take the child's body to India after all formalities are completed.
Sonke Kewitz

 P3 Logistic Parks

The chicken-and-egg problem - An guest article by Sonke Kewitz, Managing Director of P3 Logistic Parks Germany, on the influence of the logistics industry for the entry into electromobility and the reduction of greenhouse gases.

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The e-mobility revolution requires a massive expansion of the infrastructure. But this represents a challenge that should not be underestimated, which calls for new creative solutions. Logistics centers could provide the valuable space and thus confront the dilemma of the lack of charging stations.



The mobility revolution has long since ceased to be a marginal issue and is slowly but surely becoming a simple necessity in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the long term. It is a responsibility for society as a whole to focus on more sustainability, and a politically explosive topic at that. Germany, the country with the largest car manufacturers and the largest sales market in Europe, has not yet been able to bring itself to a uniform position. But time is running out. From 2035, only climate-neutral vehicles may be placed on the market. Mere purchase rewards are not sufficient for a definitive mobility turnaround.



The share of electric vehicles on the market is still manageable, which is not surprising. Because so far there is hardly any progress. According to the German Association of the AutomotiveIndustry (VDA), 250 new charging points are being built in Germany every week, but 2000 are needed per week. Only with the right infrastructure is there a real incentive to invest in electromobility. Examples from previous developments in mobility offer hope. A well-known example of this is the transition from horse-drawn carriages to motorized vehicles. After a gradual development, a rapid triumphal march followed from the middle of the 20th century. We too could be on the verge of such a turnaround.



One indicator of the tipping point is the business success of market leader Tesla. While the company was on the verge of insolvency in 2019, the e-car maker sold 360,000 Model 3 vehicles a year later and is now worth many times its stock market value at the time. Forecasts by market researchers at IHS Markit confirm the development and predict a 70 percent increase in sales of electric vehicles this year.



Legal framework conditions promote innovation efforts

The use of electric vehicles is also increasingly coming into focus for logistics. Due to the Paris Climate Agreement, more and more European cities are planning to drive combustion engines in the near future. Most vans of the courier, express and parcel services drive with diesel engines and should therefore soon no longer be heading for the urban destinations from the logistics centers on the outskirts of the city. By 2023, all Spanish cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants are to ban the traffic of particularly climate-damaging vehicles in certain zones. Paris wants to enact a complete diesel driving ban from 2024 and Norway is the first nation to plan a nationwide ban by 2025.



Contrary to what is often claimed, heavy commercial vehicles and e-mobility are no longer mutually exclusive, especially because car manufacturers have been able to significantly improve the performance of lithium-ion batteries and electric motors. Accordingly, Deutsche Post wants to increase the share of the e-vehicle fleet on the last mile from 18 to 60 percent worldwide by 2030 and Tesla has scheduled series production and delivery of its Semi electric truck for this year.



More than simple charging stations

The BDEW's current charging station register lists over 33,000 public charging points, of which one in ten is a fast charger. Almost 20 percent of these were created in the second half of 2020 alone. However, the establishment of a nationwide fast-charging infrastructure requires several hundred thousand charging points and thousands of stations the size of filling stations. However, the filling stations alone cannot provide the necessary charging infrastructure for the mobility transition to a sufficient extent. Nor can operators simply convert their plants, because the majority of vehicles will continue to be powered by fossil fuels in the medium term. Charging stations at supermarkets, hotels or train stations also do not meet the rapidly increasing demand. The decisive bottleneck of electrification is not technical equipment or resources, but the lack of space.



However, there is space where the trucks and vans to be electrified enter and exit: in the logistics properties. There are parking areas on the site that offer space for charging stations, and the properties are also located in conurbations or transport hubs with convenient connections to the motorways. Due to the increasing market share of online retail, the demand for logistics and warehouse properties is recording high growth rates. Investments are constantly reaching new highs, and by 2030 the annual demand for new construction space will be around seven million square meters. If project managers take different solutions for electromobility into account when designing these logistics locations, logistics companies could establish themselves as an important driver of the charging infrastructure. The owner and developer of logistics properties P3 Logistic Parks is already implementing these plans for employees of the logistics properties as well as for delivery vehicles. For example, for the logistics center currently under construction in Ansbach near Nuremberg, which will have e-charging stations in the car park.



However, charging points alone are not enough for the e-infrastructure of the future, especially charging large batteries for trucks requires a sophisticated redesign of the buildings and adjacent infrastructure. Batteries for trucks and CEP vehicles must be able to be connected to the grid at the gates during loading and unloading in order to reduce downtime. Logistics centers of the future could also supply electric vehicles of all kinds with electricity, this applies to 40-ton vehicles as well as to Sprinters and e-bikes.



Last but not least, logistics properties with e-infrastructure make it easier for their tenants, i.e . numerous companies in industry and trade, to get started with electromobility. Locations with many employees who use electric vehicles, such as online retailers or logistics and postal companies, particularly benefit. DHL has already installed several thousand charging points at logistics locations in Germany. The parcel service is retrofitting existing logistics centers for this purpose and planning new locations with an integrated infrastructure for electrically powered vehicles.



Logistics companies can produce and offer green electricity

Although the electric delivery cars do not emit any emissions on the last mile in the cities, ob the drives actually drive CO2-neutrally depends on the type of electricity at the charging stations. Logistics buildings are therefore increasingly using large-scale photovoltaic systems on their roofs. Own wind turbines could soon be part of the equipment. Operators would have the ability to combine the green power sources into a park-wide microgrid that supplies all tenants with renewable energy, including providing fast charging stations for commercial vehicles. The electricity generated by this microgrid could even be used for an onsite EV service station where private users charge their vehicles for a fee.



For logistics real estate, there is undreamt-of potential in various directions. Operators can become supporters of the green energy supply and offer e-vehicle owners a much-needed service. Real estate developers with a willingness to innovate could not only provide their tenants with the energy for their vehicles, but also grant them access to these vehicles. This would represent a completely new business model in which logistics real estate would evolve from a mere space for warehousing, picking and distribution of goods, to producers of sustainable electricity and rental companies of electricvehicles. In this way, they can make a valuable contribution on the way to sustainable mobility and actively shape this process.


Page Content

Protector is a role we accept as parents, spouses and partners, employers, and leaders, among other roles in our lives. Its daunting, even on the good days. Introduce the unknown and this commitment to others becomes nothing short of frightening.



Thats how I felt when the pandemic turned the world upside down in 2020. How can I help Benchmark protect its 13,000 residents and employees? It kept me up at night.



The initial action steps were clear: Find supplies (masks, gloves, gowns, etc.), train staff, track cases, and create policy. The nagging question, however, was whether the execution of these steps would be effective. Constantly changingand often contradictorylocal, state, and federal guidelines only contributed to my uncertainty.

I wanted a guide. Thus, the Benchmark Coronavirus Advisory Council was born.

At an absolute minimum, the council members would help ensure that the infectious disease prevention and containment protocols that we developed would be consistent with leading-edge thinking on COVID-19.

National Health Leaders

In the fall of 2020, Benchmark asked several long-time, trusted medical advisors to help us recruit a team of medical and scientific experts to provide ongoing advice in responding to COVID-19. Soon after, nine esteemed members were in place:



Alice Bonner, PhD, GNP, RN, FAAN, former Massachusetts Secretary of the Executive Office of Elder Affairs

Richard Carmona, MD, MPH, FAC, former U.S. Surgeon General

Brent P. Forester, MD, MSc, chief of the division of geriatric psychiatry, McLean Hospital, and past president of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry

David Ives, MD, the medical director of a large primary care practice serving skilled nursing facilities in Massachusetts

Michael R. Jaff, DO, chief medical officer at an international medical device manufacturer and former CEO of Newton-Wellesley Hospital

Timothy Johnson, MD, MPH, former medical editor for ABC News and a resident of a Benchmark community

Dr. Roger Schutt, DO, veteran geriatrician and executive lead for post-acute care at Beth Israel Lahey Health

Steve Schweon, RN, MPH, MSN, CIC, FSHEA, FAPIC, board-certified infection preventionist

David Shulkin, MD, former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs



It didnt take long for lively and insightful conversations, as well as debate, to ensue among the group during our first virtual meeting. Issues have since ranged from COVIDs short- and long-term impact on seniors, advances in treatment and testing, and general health carephysical and mentalrelated to our workforce, to vaccine policies, COVID-19 subvariants, and the future of the virus and vaccines.

Getting to Know Us

Before our experts could help, they needed to understand assisted living, particularly how the business differs from nursing homes, where a higher level of medical care takes place.

They needed to understand that prior to the pandemic, assisted living was focused on the benefits of socialization and providing fine dining, beautiful grounds, and engaging programming. Infection control was not what it is today.

Benchmarks leadership and clinical teams, who ultimately created and implemented COVID-19 policy in our 64 communities, credit the advisory council for giving us a roadmap for creating a comprehensive infection prevention program.

Today, Benchmark has a robust structure that is better prepared to identify and curb the spread of not only COVID-19, but also other infections such as norovirus, flu, and respiratory infections.

We expanded our infection prevention expertise by hiring an epidemiologist to serve as corporate director of infection prevention. This person provides community support and education, as well as helps update protocols based on regional and national trends.

We also added a vice president of quality resident services and nearly doubled the size of that team, with each member certified in infection prevention. Many of our regional nurses are also infection prevention-certified, while community nurses, and even some plant operations associates, participated in an infection prevention boot camp. Validating Concerns, Creating Solutions

The kneejerk decision to lock down residential care settings nationally at the onset of COVID-19 had a well-documented negative impact on the physical and mental health of seniors across the country.

The advisory committee acts as a sounding board for our concerns in this area, as well. They help fuel innovations made in our communities to better engage our residents, whether by using technology or by employing creative methods to keep residents connected to family, friends, and neighbors.

In fact, mental health dominates many of our council meeting conversations, including the impact stress and anxiety has on our employees. During the height of COVID, these dedicated professionals worked long hours caring for beloved residents who were getting sick and, in some cases, dying. Employees were also getting sick or overwhelmed with the fear of getting COVID-19 and bringing it home to loved ones. Many of these COVID challenges remain for frontline employees.

Advisory council member Dr. Forester, MD, MSc, the division chief of geriatric psychiatry at McLean Hospital, located outside Boston, and a Harvard Medical School adjunct professor, is passionate about this subject. He shares his expertise beyond council meetings by leading support group calls with our communities executive directors, offering advice to them and providing ideas and tools the community leaders could use to help frontline staff.

Dont Go It Alone

The council helps lead us through the unknown and to navigate hurdle after hurdle, wave after wave. Their guidance reinforces that we are doing everything we can to protect our residents and the associates that care for them.

They are just one of several resources Benchmark has worked closely with throughout COVID-19. We also learn from and share advice with state and federal assisted living advocacy groups, other senior care providers, and all levels of government.

If the pandemic teaches the nation anything, I hope its the importance of shedding silos and facing the unknown together. It will help everyone sleep better at night.

Tom Grape is Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Benchmark Senior Living, a provider of senior living in the Northeast with 64 communities in seven states.


3-ship of Top Aces F-16s flying over Arizona. With our fleet of F-16 AAFs, we deliver a caliber of adversary air training that was previously non-existent. Our commitment is to deliver professional excellence and significant cost efficiencies, says Russ Quinn, President, Top Aces Corp., USAF veteran and former Aggressor pilot.

Top Aces Corp. (Top Aces), the world's only commercial owner/operator of F-16 fighter aircraft, today announced that it was selected under the US Air Force (USAF) Combat Air Force Contracted Air Support program to provide advanced adversary air training to pilots at Eglin Air Force Base (AFB) in Florida and Luke AFB in Arizona.

Top Aces will begin training in support of USAF F-35A and F-22 fleets later this month. Valued at up to $175 million USD, this five-year contract will significantly enhance the training of fifth generation combat pilots.

Top Aces is the first commercial provider to deliver contracted air training to the USAF using the supersonic F-16 platform, and is the only company in the world to operate the F-16 Advanced Aggressor Fighter (AAF)  an upgraded version of the aircraft with unique open system architecture capabilities, including Advanced Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, helmet-mounted cueing systems, tactical datalinks and high off-boresight missile capabilities.

A pioneer of adversary air training, Top Aces group of companies has delivered more than 100,000 accident-free flight hours in the past 17 years. This partnership will provide an unprecedented opportunity for USAF pilots to train with a team of professionals including the most experienced former Aggressor pilots and tactical controllers in the country.

Top Aces cadre of highly-experienced Aggressor pilots and maintenance crews looks forward to supporting Luke and Eglin to fulfill their advanced combat training needs, says Russ Quinn, President, Top Aces Corp., USAF veteran and former Aggressor pilot. With our fleet of F-16 AAFs, we deliver a caliber of adversary air training that was previously non-existent. Our commitment is to deliver professional excellence and significant cost efficiencies.

About Top Aces Inc.

With more than 100,000 accident-free flight hours, Top Aces Inc. and its subsidiaries (including Top Aces Corp. and Blue Air Training Corp.) provide advanced adversary air (ADAIR) and joint terminal attack controller (JTAC) technology and training to the worlds leading armed forces. It has the largest fleet of commercially operated fighter aircraft in active service and is the world's only commercial owner/operator of the F-16. Top Aces' mission-critical training enhances the operational readiness of combat forces by delivering real-world experience while creating significant cost efficiencies and extending the lifecycle of military aircraft fleets. For more information, please visit http://www.topaces.com.

Note:

Russ Quinn, President, Top Aces Corp., will attend the AFAs Air, Space & Cyber Conference in National Harbor, MD, September 19-21. Visit Top Aces at booth 1703.

Media Contact:

Erin Black

Communications Manager

Top Aces

+1 (514) 867-0886

media@topaces.com
ConnexFM provided an opportunity for these leaders to come together to share ideas and collaborate on how to be successful in todays environment.

ConnexFM (formerly PRSM, Professional Retail Store Maintenance Association), the authority on Retail and Multi-site Facilities Management, recently partnered with industry leaders to host Summer of Connexion Roadshow Reunion Tour. The tour made six stops that spanned North America, connecting industry thought leaders with leading minds to share insights and trends on the state of the multi-site facilities management industry.

We put in thousands of miles on what we considered to be THE event of the Summer, exclaimed Bill Yanek, CEO of ConnexFM. It was exciting to present a variety of Facility Management insights as well as share some key findings from industry research. We are seeing Digital Transformation and Smart Facilities change the way Facilities Managers and companies do business; and we are proud to have businesses part of ConnexFM lead the way in how organizations can translate all kinds of data into usable and actionable information.

Each stop on the tour set up a professional environment where members of the industry convened for Facility Management updates, participated in thoughtful roundtable discussions addressing the current state of the industry and more! Those in attendance networked together over lunch, engaged in interactive discussions and ended the event with a reception to commiserate on the days events.

Theres a lot of challenges facing retail and multi-site facility managers today, said Mike McAlister, Global Vice President of Sales and Marketing, CBRE Retail & Multi-Site. ConnexFM provided an opportunity for these leaders to come together to share ideas and collaborate on how to be successful in todays environment. Facility Managers not only need to maintain optimal service levels, they are also being asked to contain costs and, in some cases, make recommendations on how to meet recent environmental, social, and governance objectives.

The Summer of Connexion Roadshow Reunion Tour kicked off in Dallas, Texas on June 23, 2022 and made stops in Tampa, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, New York City, Seattle and Portland. As part of the tour, ConnexFM worked with leaders from CBRE and others to reveal insights and various strategies they found to be successful for adapting to the "everchanging normal" that has affected the multi-site facility management industry.

For more information on previous events hosted by ConnexFM, visit https://bit.ly/ConnexFM-WebinarsEvents.

About ConnexFM

ConnexFM is an industry association that serves as the thought leader and authority on Retail and Multi-Site Facilities Management. ConnexFM empowers the facilities management professionals with best practices, benchmarking, education, discussion forums and trusted partnerships.

Established in 1995, and with approximately 750 member companies, the ConnexFM community values are founded on a spirit of innovation, resourcefulness, the quest for knowledge and ethical business relationships.

ConnexFM exists so that members have a competitive advantage in multi-site facilities management.

To learn more about the story of ConnexFM, visit https://www.connexfm.com/Our-Story.

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Tatnuck Park at Worcester Assisted Living Residents Participate in Creative Projects with Worcester State University Students The energy and knowledge the students and staff bring to our community is tremendous. We feel very fortunate to be able to provide this type of programming to our residents. -Jennifer LaCroix, executive director, Tatnuck Park

When Ellyn Schmalzer participated in occupational therapy projects at Tatnuck Park at Worcester while a student at Worcester State University over a decade ago, she never imagined today shed be teaching those same projects as a full-time assistant professor.

This summer, Worcester State and Tatnuck Park, a Benchmark senior assisted living and Mind & Memory Care assisted living community, resumed its 12-year-long partnership, now under Schmalzers direction, after putting it on hold for two and a half years due to COVID.

Its been a wonderful reunion between the students and our residents who are mostly in their 80s and 90s, said Tatnuck Parks programming director Ellen Meagher. We keep hearing how excited they are to have their Worcester State students back. Everyone looks forward to it.

Partnerships between academic institutions and senior living communities can create a win-win for both students and seniors. A wide variety of programs provide students with real-life experiences while bringing purposeful activities to residents that increase their socialization and physical, sensory and cognitive skills.

This summers program tested the students competence in developing, commanding and connecting with groups. Meagher, Schmalzer and the students collaborated to identify topics. Drawing on the residents interest in art, students were paired with a small group of residents on both the traditional assisted living and memory care sides of the community to create gratitude journals, handprint lilies and other creative projects.

Previous offerings have featured music bingo, dancing and fitness.

Its not about the specific project; its more about understanding what each resident does in their daily life and whats interfering with their activities. Also, providing a meaningful connection between our first-year students and the residents, said Ellyn.

Worcester State and Tatnuck Park are excited to embark on a new project together  a falls prevention pilot program  in October.

According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), one out of four older adults will fall in the U.S. annually. About 36 million falls are reported among older adults each year  resulting in more than 32,000 deaths.

For Worcester State, the assisted living with memory care community has filled a critical need for providing its senior and graduate students with additional hands-on experience with an older population.

Students will be paired one-on-one with assisted living community residents. Weekly for a month, strength and balance will be evaluated and dynamic and static balance exercises focusing on ankle, knee and hip strength will be tailored to residents needs.

This program is really exciting because we wont just be teaching exercises, well be teaching how to integrate this into their normal, daily routine, said Jessica OConnor, academic fieldwork coordinator for Worcester State.

Jessicas goal is for students to gain additional experience working one-on-one with seniors, setting weekly goals and becoming more comfortable in teaching this program as another tool.

In addition to the Worcester State falls prevention program, Tatnuck Park offers a comprehensive, physical therapist-created program called Benchmark Strong that works to improve residents balance, posture and alignment. A combination of educational and fitness classes occurs weekly and is aimed at improving balance and reducing falls.

We are excited to provide enhanced evaluation and education for such an important health concern that goes beyond our traditional offerings, said Jennifer LaCroix, executive director of Tatnuck Park.

In the seven and a half years shes led the community, Jennifer has seen the Worcester State partnership flourish and its positive impact on her residents. The energy and knowledge the students and staff bring to our community is tremendous. We feel very fortunate to be able to provide this type of programming to our residents.
Mario Martinez Jr., CEO, and Founder of Vengreso has been accepted into the Forbes Business Council, the foremost growth and networking organization for successful business owners and leaders worldwide.

Mario Martinez Jr. was vetted and selected by a review committee based on the depth and diversity of his experience. Criteria for acceptance includes a track record of successfully impacting business growth metrics, as well as personal and professional achievements and honors.

We are honored to welcome Mario Martinez Jr. into the community, said Scott Gerber, founder of Forbes Councils, the collective that includes Forbes Business Council. Our mission with Forbes Councils is to bring together proven leaders from every industry, creating a curated, social capital-driven network that helps every member grow professionally and make an even greater impact on the business world.

As an accepted member of the Council, Mario has access to a variety of exclusive opportunities designed to help him reach peak professional influence. He will connect and collaborate with other respected local leaders in a private forum and at members-only events. Mario will also be invited to work with a professional editorial team to share his expert insights in original business articles on Forbes.com, and to contribute to published Q&A panels alongside other experts.

Finally, Mario Martinez Jr. will benefit from exclusive access to vetted business service partners, membership-branded marketing collateral, and the high-touch support of the Forbes Councils member concierge team.

When I set out my journey 6-years ago, I never thought I would be a Forbes Business Council member and a contributor to Forbes as well. This is an honor beyond compare, said Martinez Jr.

ABOUT FORBES COUNCILS

Forbes Councils is a collective of invitation-only communities created in partnership with Forbes and the expert community builders who founded the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC). In Forbes Councils, exceptional business owners and leaders come together with the people and resources that can help them thrive.

To learn more about Forbes Councils, visit councils.forbes.com.

ABOUT VENGRESO, INC.

Vengreso is the creator of FlyMSG, the text expander and personal writing assistant. FlyMSG helps individuals and teams automate the written word by removing the time drain it takes to find, copy, paste or write messages. Vengresos cloud-based productivity platform saves users 1-hour+ a day by expanding text of any length  anywhere online  with just a few short keystrokes. Today, users around the globe, in companies like Uber, Google, and Netflix use FlyMSG to communicate more effectively, simplify writing and drive better personal and business outcomes.

To learn more about Vengreso, visit vengreso.com.
MWC Las Vegas 2022, in partnership with CTIA, is the GSMAs flagship event in North America showcasing the hottest trends in connectivity and mobile innovation.

The seminar will take place on Wednesday, September 28th from 14:00 to 17:00 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Title: Determining Serviceable Addressable Market (SAM) and Developing The Business Case for Private 5G Networks in the US

Abstract: US Private 5G Networks Market Size and Market Forecast (2022-2026)

Wi-Fi 6 versus CBRS Private 5G Total Cost of Ownership (Market Size, Capex, Opex, KPIs)

The Besen Group Tesla Smart Factory CBRS Private 5G Network Case Study 2022

Enterprises need to have a solid understanding of the ROI and the opportunity cost of the private 5G networks when making their investment decisions, said Alex Besen, Founder and CEO of The Besen Group LLC. 

To purchase a copy of the private 5G seminar presentation, please send an email to seminar@thebesengroup.com.

To register for The Besen Groups private 5G seminar, please visit:

https://www.mwclasvegas.com/agenda/session/how-to-launch-a-successful-private-5g-network-in-the-us.

Alex Besen has over 27 years of hands-on experience in the mobile industry working for operators and vendors in North America and Europe in numerous roles including business development, marketing, project management and finance. He has been working with mobile network operators and enterprises in developing their digital transformation strategies and advising MVNOs to launch their mobile and mobile data services. He provides strategic advisory, business development, market research and training services for private networks.

Previously, he worked at Ericsson with mobile operators on MVNO and UMTS projects in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region. He was also responsible for identifying potential partners and hosting workshops at Ericsson Mobility World (a mobile data laboratory) where developers create, optimize and commercialize mobile applications.

Prior to this position, he was employed at T-Mobile USA (formerly known as Omnipoint Communications) where he was responsible for partnerships, and joint ventures and provided billing, customer care, marketing and vendor financing solutions to mobile operators. He began his mobile career with Pocket Communications based in Washington, DC where he managed the companys auction activity for C-block spectrum licenses as well as other activities associated with market research, market segmentation, pricing plans and market distribution strategies.

He holds a BS degree in Management from the University of Tampa and an MBA degree in International Business from the American University. He is fluent in French, Turkish and proficient in Italian.

About The Besen Group

The Besen Group is an international management consulting practice to the mobile industry headquartered in the Washington DC area, with representatives in Paris and Tokyo. Its mission is to provide mobile players with tools, knowledge, and services enabling them to perform optimally in their mobile environment. The Besen Groups competitive edge is based on practical experience with mobile operators, mobile vendors, and a mobile data laboratory.
Jodi is a key addition to our firm, she boasts over 20 years of communications experience working with SMBs, large international brands, municipalities, private healthcare conglomerates, and financial institutions, said Jennifer Beckage, The Beckage Firm Founder.

The Beckage Firm PLLC, a women-owned boutique data security and privacy law firm, is proud to announce the addition of Jodi Beaubien PMP, SHRM-CP, as Senior Vice President, Global Partnership Operations.

The Beckage Firm counsels organizations and high-net-worth individuals on innovation, data security and privacy, tech business strategy, crisis preparedness, merger and acquisition data due diligence, and litigation and regulatory inquiry defense.

Ms. Beaubien, a data security and privacy industry veteran, has consulted and led as a project manager on hundreds of matters, including incident response, proactive cyber risk planning, crisis event management (hurricane and disaster relief), virtual internal communication strategy, data breach remediation and coordination of activities, identity theft protection solutions, and numerous high-profile matters involving the City of New York, most notably in the devastating aftermath of 9-11.

Jodi is a key addition to our firm, she boasts over 20 years of communications experience working with SMBs, large international brands, municipalities, private healthcare conglomerates, and financial institutions, said Jennifer Beckage, The Beckage Firm Founder. Her vast experience, plan/protocol development and communication skills are central in helping our clients navigate a myriad of roadblocks while exposing opportunities.

Ms. Beaubien assists the organization in streamlining results for their clients and business partners. She joins The Beckage Firm team members, which include lawyers who are also technologists, tech experts, and professionals in forensics, AI (Artificial Intelligence) technologies, web-based applications, and more.

The Beckage Firm is dedicated to maintaining its own readiness while facilitating client preparedness, said Beaubien. Typically, time is a limited commodity during incidents. Therefore, my goals in this role are simple, to inform, protect and serve the business needs of our clients by harnessing our streamlined and integrated resources.

About The Beckage Firm: The Beckage Firm is a women-owned law firm that focuses on technology, data security and privacy, incident response, litigation, and regulatory inquiries. The Beckage Firm attorneys and team counsel clients on matters pertaining to data security and privacy compliance, government investigations, litigation and class action defense, incident response, technology, and emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI). The Beckage Firms headquarters are located in New York. Learn more at TheBeckageFirm.com.
With close to one-fourth (23.8%) of ACP participants qualifying as power users, the impact of an expanding ACP subscriber base has significant implications for broadband traffic, particularly in the last mile.

Broadband usage patterns of participants in the FCCs Affordable Connectivity Program are significantly exceeding those of the broader connected population, according to initial results contained in the 2Q 2022 OVBI (OpenVault Broadband Insights) report. The report was issued today by OpenVault, a market-leading source of SaaS-based revenue and network improvement solutions and data-driven insights for the broadband industry.

Launched in January 2022, the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) provides low-income households with a $30 per month ($75 for tribal households) subsidy that can be applied towards a monthly internet subscription. Data from several thousand ACP households during 2Q22 has revealed the following:



ACP participants average usage of 654 GB per month is 33.3% higher than the average of 490.7 GB for all subscribers.

ACP participants median usage of 499.3 GB per month is almost 60% higher than the median of 313.9 GB per month for all subscribers.

ACP participants are 36% more likely to be power users of 1 TB or more, and 52% more likely to be super power users of 2 TB or more.

Early indications suggest these participants have a healthy appetite for broadband, driving significantly higher usage patterns in comparison with the average subscriber, the report states. With close to one-fourth (23.8%) of ACP participants qualifying as power users, the impact of an expanding ACP subscriber base has significant implications for broadband traffic, particularly in the last mile.

Another key finding in 2Q22 was the continued change in the usage patterns of Usage-Based Billing (UBB) subscribers, which traditionally had lower growth rates in relation to those on Flat-Rate Billing (FRB) plans. As UBB operators are driving subscribers to higher-speed, higher-ARPU tiers, average UBB subscriber usage is growing at a faster rate than average FRB usage. In 2Q22 UBB usage grew 20.6% year-over-year to 310.7 GB, while FRB usage grew only 8.1% to 322 GB during the same time period.

Other findings in the 2Q22 report include:



Average monthly usage of 490.7 GB dropped below the half-a-terabyte mark for the first time since 3Q21, but still was up 13.1% from 2Q21s average of 433.5 GB.

Thirty-six percent of all subscribers consume half a terabyte of data each month in 2Q22.

In just four years, the number of super power users consuming 2 TB or more has increased more than 2,200%. Super power users now represent 2.21% of all subscribers, while power users of 1 TB or more represent 13.6% of all subscribers.

The average upstream data usage of 31.2 GB in 2Q22 is 2.3x the 2018 average of 13.6 GB.

OpenVault will host a webinar to elaborate on the report on Thursday, Sept. 29 at 11 a.m. EST. Registration is at https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_G4rR04K6RIWy6zT6DnzBMA. OpenVault also will be available at its booth (9074) at SCTE Cable-Tec Expo Sept. 18-20 in Philadelphia to discuss the findings and implications of the report. To set up a meeting with OpenVault at Cable-Tec Expo please use this link.

The entire report is at https://xprss.io/zczTc. OpenVault also provides continuously updated broadband consumption figures at https://openvault.com/broadbandtracker/.

About OpenVault

OpenVault and OpenVault Europe GmbH are market-leading sources of broadband technology solutions and data-driven insights into worldwide broadband consumption patterns. Using the companies cloud-based SaaS or on-premises solutions and tools, service providers can optimize network performance, increase revenue, and improve subscriber satisfaction. OpenVault and OpenVault Europe aggregate and analyze the resulting market data to provide unparalleled granular views of consumer usage that can be used to anticipate residential and business broadband trends.

For more information, please visit openvault.com.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Kristen Nihamin at knihamin@openvault.com or 917-509-9028

Paul Schneider at paul@paulschneiderpr.com or 215-817-4384
Dacier Technologies, a cloud provisioning and governance platform, announced the appointment of Scott McCausland as its CEO. Scott will be responsible for growing the companys market share and building a world class team. Mark Leone, one of the original developers of the Dacier platform, stated while we were in stealth mode, we looked for someone who had experience scaling companies from the ground up and Scotts record speaks for itself.

Scott has served in numerous senior leadership roles during his more than 30-year career in the tech sector. Most recently, Scott provided consulting services to software companies in various stages of growth. Clients included companies in Cybersecurity, Cloud Governance, and Infrastructure as Code (IaC).

Scott founded MVP Systems Software, Inc. in 2009. MVP Systems Software is a leader in enterprise job scheduling and workload automation solutions. During his time at MVP, the company grew from two people to more than seventy people, with offices in the US, United Kingdom, and Australia. MVP experienced tremendous revenue growth during Scotts tenure, as the companys customer base expanded to almost one thousand organizations. In November 2018, Scott sold MVP Systems to Help Systems, a private equity backed software company. He stayed on as General Manager of Workload Automation Solutions until 2020.

Prior to MVP, Scott was the EVP Sales and one of two shareholders of a privately held software company that specialized in application monitoring. Scott led the company from its infancy in 1991 until 2007, at which time the company had more than 150 people in eleven offices. In 2007, Scott sold his stake in the company.

Scott stated I am excited to help launch Dacier Technologies. From the conversations I have had with early adopters of the platform, Dacier solves critical issues that have been plaguing developers for years. If you are a developer and hope to avoid corporate bottlenecks, you should check out Dacier.

If you are using Terraform, Pulumi, Bicep or any other IaC tool and want to learn more, you can register for a demo at http://www.CloudAutomation.com.

About Dacier Technologies, Inc.

Dacier helps DevOps teams deploy and manage Infrastructure as Code (IaC) with self-service capabilities. Dacier manages complex cloud infrastructure, providing greater efficiencies, power, and governance. You can learn more about Dacier at http://www.CloudAutomation.com or by calling 844-40CLOUD.
There are young people in our communities and around the world tackling issues and championing causes  from climate change and racism to access to education and homelessness. Empowered Flower Girl is committed to honoring those using their gifts and talents to create change.

Empowered Flower Girl (EFG), a social enterprise on a mission to transform the way young people relate to one another and themselves, will host the 2022 Be the Impact Summit on Saturday, October 8, 2022, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. ET. The virtual youth service event will be held during National Bullying Prevention Month and the weekend before International Day of the Girl.

The event showcases and celebrates young people making or aspiring to make positive contributions to society as well as helps them discover their passion for community service.

The summit is free and open to youth and youth advocates globally and includes:

Youth Power Panel:



Avery Kelley (Atlanta, Ga.), producer and host of the Teendom Talk Show and CEO of Inspired Melanin

Vanesha and Varshini Hari (Redmond, Wash.), sisters and co-founders of Joys of Giving

Rosemary Nwaosuagwu (Houston, Texas), 9-year-old author and founder of Books by Rossy

Workshop:



Passion. Purpose. Profession: Introduction to Strategic Service facilitated by Rasheda Kamaria Williams, mentor turned social entrepreneur and chief empowering officer for Empowered Flower Girl; and featuring Tia Russell, founder of Take My Hand.

Presentation:



Youth Service America featuring Nikki Liles, director of partnerships, who will discuss community service initiatives and funding opportunities for young people and youth-serving organizations.

To close out the event, Empowered Flower Girl will announce the winner of its $250 Impact Ideas giveaway.

There are young people in our communities and around the world tackling issues and championing causes  from climate change and racism to access to education and homelessness, Williams said. I am inspired by the courage and commitment of youth globally and Empowered Flower Girl is committed to honoring those using their gifts and talents to create change.

The 2022 Be the Impact Summit is sponsored by the Consulate General of Israel to the Midwest. Empowered Flower Girl was one of three Detroit-area organizations/social enterprises to receive a Social Impact Grant from the Consulate in June.

For more information visit http://www.empoweredflowergirl.com/2022BetheImpact.
Ideal Option, a national leader in evidence-based outpatient treatment for addiction to opioids  such as fentanyl, heroin, and oxycodone  methamphetamine, alcohol and polysubstance, is now welcoming patients at its second clinic in Bismarck. The beautiful new clinic, located at 221 W Divide Ave, offers primarily buprenorphine-based medication-assisted treatment led by an onsite addiction medicine specialist delivering personalized, face-to-face patient care.

Due to its cheap, potent and plentiful supply, fentanyl, a dangerous and highly addictive synthetic opioid, has begun to take over the illicit drug scene in North Dakota.

As a department and as an agency, statewide we are seeing a substantial increase in the amount of fentanyl arrests and the amount of possessions, says Bismarck Police Lieutenant Jeff Solemsaas. Bismarck police seized nearly 10,000 pills containing either fentanyl or oxycodone in 2021.

Ideal Option recently released its 2021 Annual Patient Outcomes Report for patients living in North Dakota. The report shows fentanyl positive rates at enrollment were up by 95% displacing heroin positive rates which were down by 49% compared to 2020. The data also support the effectiveness of treatment. Among patients who remained in treatment with Ideal Option during 2021, urine drug testing shows:



98% less fentanyl use

93% less total opioid use

95% less heroin use

82% less methamphetamine use

60% less benzodiazepine use

The new clinic is Ideal Options second location in Bismarck and comes at a time of desperate need for expanded access to evidence-based treatment from experienced providers. Ideal Option has been specializing in addiction medicine using Suboxone for 10 years and currently operates 81 clinics across 10 states.

The opioid epidemic is destroying families and communities across the United States, and the Bismarck-Mandan community is not immune, said Carissa Cornell APRN, FNP, addiction medicine specialist for Ideal Option in Bismarck. Just as an individuals environment contributes to their addiction, so too does it contribute to a successful recovery. Finding the right atmosphere that offers you the treatment options best suited to meet your needs is the first step toward recovery. By opening a second Bismarck location we can expand our services and help decrease the transportation barriers that affect many.

The new Ideal Option clinic in Bismarck is open Monday  Thursday, 7:30 a.m.  6 p.m. and is located at 1221 W Divide Ave, Bismarck, ND 58501.

Most insurance plans are accepted, including Medicare and Medicaid, and patients can typically get started on treatment for fentanyl, heroin, alcohol or other substances within 1-3 business days.

Patients can make an appointment by calling 1.877.522.1275 or visiting http://www.idealoption.com.

About Ideal Option

Headquartered in Kennewick, Washington, Ideal Option was founded in 2012 and has since helped nearly 60,000 patients through a network of 81 office-based medication-assisted treatment (MAT) clinics across 10 states. With a mission to serve under-served communities, Ideal Option accepts all forms of insurance including Medicaid and Medicare. Financial assistance and payment plans are also available.

Ideal Option's team of medical providers carry certifications in Addiction and Emergency Medicine, Internal, and Family Medicine, among other specialties. The company also employs social workers, caseworkers, counselors, and mental health practitioners. This holistic approach helps drive positive outcomes, including family stability, stable housing, improved overall health, and reduced rates of recidivism.

In all the communities it serves, Ideal Option collaborates with existing stakeholders and providers to improve the continuum of care. This approach includes partnerships with emergency rooms and county jail systems, where individuals with substance use disorder often appear, as well as collaborating with numerous support agencies and municipal programs addressing social needs such as housing, mental health, and nutrition support.
It is a proud day for VELOX Media to be ranked on the Inc. 5000 list for the fourth year in a row," said Joe Rowett, CEO of VELOX Media.

Growth is in VELOX Medias DNA. The digital marketing agencys organic and paid search campaigns are designed to enable client revenue growth and maximize ROI. In addition to helping clients climb search engine rankings and expand market share, VELOX Media has grown considerably over the past four years.

Much of this industry-leading growth can be attributed to the agencys innovative, revenue-focused approach to SEO and paid search campaigns. With aggressive campaign goals, VELOX is able to capitalize on the accelerating online consumer trends to produce revenue results for clients across the board.

Since 2019, VELOX Media has been featured on the Inc. 5000 and Financial Times lists of fastest growing companies in the U.S. Both lists receive applications from millions of organizations each year. VELOX Media is proud to announce once again that it has been featured on both lists, recognizing the agency as one of the fastest growing companies in the country based on verifiable revenue growth. Additionally, VELOX Media has been recognized as among the top 3% of Google Partners.

Inc. 5000 features VELOX Media for the fourth year in a row, ranking the agency in position #2836 nationally and #252 in Advertising and Marketing. Millions of businesses across the country apply for a spot on this list. To be featured, Inc. analyzes verified revenue and ranks applicants based on their percentage growth over the previous year. This list includes companies from all industries, making it a top honor to be recognized with other industry leaders.

Of the millions that apply, only 5,000 U.S. companies make the list which is .07% of companies, with VELOX Media ranking #2836 in 2022. In addition to its ranking on the Inc. 5000 list, VELOX Media was featured on the publications regional list, achieving position 49 on Inc.s Rocky Mountain regional list.

VELOX Media has achieved position 186 in the Financial Times 2022 rankings. Every year, Financial Times publishes its special report on The Americas Fastest-Growing Companies list, ranking businesses across nearly every industry. The publication based this years rankings on the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2017 and 2020. This year, VELOX Media has placed in position 186, netting an absolute growth rate of 342.7% and a CAGR of 64.2%. The agency generated $6.7 million in revenue in 2020 alone.

VELOX Media is honored with the 2022 Google Premier Partner Award. The Google Premier Partner Award is given to the top 3% of Partners worldwide. Google awards this based on four factors: client growth year-over-year, client retention, product diversification, and annual ads spend across the Google Marketing Platform. VELOX Media is proud to be recognized among the top 3% of Partners in the world.

It is a proud day for VELOX Media to be ranked on the Inc. 5000 list for the fourth year in a row," said Joe Rowett, CEO of VELOX Media. "This achievement is a continuing testament to our hardworking and incredibly talented team. We expect to continue our growth substantially into 2023 and continue to diversify ourselves as leaders in the digital marketing space. We are beyond thrilled to be recognized by Inc. once again."

In addition to this revenue growth, the VELOX Media team also continues to grow, with the agency hiring new digital marketing experts every month. Across the sales, content creation, and account management teams, VELOX Media has hired 21 new team members in 2022 alone and continues to hire in many core positions.

With a commitment to excellence and innovation, the VELOX Media team pushes the boundaries and raises the bar each year. VELOX Media partners with organizations across the business realm, including beauty, luxury goods, consumer packaged goods, cosmetics, and much more. Learn about VELOX Medias revolutionary approach to SEO, paid media management, content development, and digital marketing as a whole at http://www.veloxmedia.com.

About VELOX Media

VELOX Media offers industry-leading digital marketing services to help clients grow and unlock new revenue streams. Through innovative strategies, VELOX Media helps companies generate more web traffic, achieve higher organic search rankings, and maximize their paid ads budget. Since 2007, VELOX Media has partnered with countless enterprise brands such as CUUP, doTERRA, Democracy Clothing, Chinese Laundry, Magliner, BeautyBIO, and more. As a Google Premier Partner, VELOX Media is among the top 3% of digital marketing agencies in the world. In addition, VELOX Media is recognized as one of the Best Places to Work in Idaho. Learn more about VELOX Medias award-winning digital marketing services at http://www.veloxmedia.com.
Creating an experience agency is an acknowledgment of how interconnected our work in CX really is with the employee and shareholder experience, though. Bret Starr, CEO of The Starr Conspiracy

The Starr Conspiracy, the experience agency for brands that put people first, today announced a rebrand that positions the company at the center of a universe thats reinventing work in real time.

For over 20 years, the company has worked with more than 1,000 of the most innovative Work Tech software and services companies  including 63 unicorns  to bring the collective vision of a better workplace to life. While staying true to its roots of being the go-to agency for Work Tech vendors seeking velocity and growth, the timing is right to seek out co-conspirators who are ready to bring a better experience to work and unlock better value for shareholders.

Our vision for delivering defining moments in customer experience is unwavering, said Bret Starr, founder and CEO of The Starr Conspiracy. Creating an experience agency is an acknowledgment of how interconnected our work in CX really is with the employee and shareholder experience, though. The future of work is a place where employees, customers, and shareholders are aligned and motivated by shared innovation, engagement, and outcomes.

As B2B marketing has become more personalized and human, it has become more than just a buying journey. It has become a series of experiences, said Steve Smith, CMO and partner at The Starr Conspiracy who led the brand work with a large, cross-functional team. Where we are going is not vastly different from where we have been. Our unique experience in Work Tech as industry observers and doers has accelerated our transformation, though.

The launch of the experience agency also gave the company license to take a wholesale examination of the brand itself. Sometimes we wear a tie with wingtips. Sometimes we wear Chucks and a t-shirt. We created a new brand that could flex to the multitudes of audiences and experiences we want to create, Smith said.

The company is launching its new vision at the HR Technology Conference & Exhibition at Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas being held September 1316, 2022. Work Tech co-conspirators can experience the brand firsthand in The Starr Conspiracy-sponsored exhibitor lounge on the expo floor.

ABOUT THE STARR CONSPIRACY

Put your people first and everything else grows. Your mantra is our mission. To build better experiences for employees, customers, and shareholders, get a partner that gets it. The Starr Conspiracy is an experience agency for brands that put employees first to build business value. We have the expertise to create defining moments that will transform your business.

The Starr Conspiracy is a digital-by-default organization with employees working remotely around the world and from our headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas. Learn more at thestarrconspiracy.com.
Weve always said a great employee experience starts with onboarding. Lauranos in-depth research only underscores the critical role onboarding plays in retaining talent.

Click Boarding, LLC, the best-in-class onboarding and employee journey platform, will unveil their Valley of Uncertainty campaign next week during HR Tech Fall 2022 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. The Valley illustrates the worrisome time of uncertainty that employees feel amidst career transitions. Its the stark period of chaos during onboarding when employers fail to invest in the new hire experience or at any pivotal transition in an employees tenure.

The HR Tech Talk will include a share-out of The Onboarding Valley of Uncertainty: Its Worse than You Thought, the most comprehensive onboarding report published since 2015. Delivered by Click Boarding CEO Mike Ehrle and chief analyst Madeline Laurano from Aptitude Research, the report features extensive data highlights and powerful research collected in June 2022.

Michelle Graham, Head of Marketing at Click Boarding, feels the much-anticipated research will resonate with HR staff at every level. Weve always said a great employee experience starts with onboarding. Lauranos in-depth research only underscores the critical role onboarding plays in retaining talent. Graham looks forward to interacting with HR professionals to learn how theyve experienced the Valley firsthand. We're excited to discuss the opportunity to leverage onboarding and optimal employee transitions to bridge the gap and act as a catalyst to solve the retention problem once and for all.

HR Tech attendees can find Click Boarding at Booth #6023 in the Expo Hall September 13-16 for 1:1 discussions, a crowd-pleasing game highlighting the Valley and a chance to win a $200 YETI cooler.

For additional details about the Valley of Uncertainty or the Click Boarding Tech Talk at HR Tech, contact Julie Kuepers at (952) 457-0306.

###

About Click Boarding, LLC

Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Click Boarding, LLC is an employee experience platform providing compliant HR solutions that impact first-year employee growth and retention. With a seamless, mobile-first platform, we help leading enterprise organizations deliver modern, guided lifecycle experiences throughout the entire employee journey, from preboarding to offboarding. Our technology and unparalleled expertise help Fortune 500 companies achieve a higher return on investment. For more information, visit https://www.clickboarding.com.
AMSTAT is celebrating our 40th year, and wed like to thank each of our customers for their continued support and our employees for their hard work to reach this incredible milestone, said Peter Koeppel, AMSTAT Director of Operations.

AMSTAT, the leading provider of objective business aircraft market, fleet, and operator information, is happy and proud to celebrate our 40th year of providing the best-in-class market research information to our customers.

In 1982, AMSTAT started as a small family-run business dedicated to providing objective research specific to the business aviation market. Since then, AMSTAT has grown and evolved to continue to meet their customers needs through the years. Mailed printed reports on the jet market in the 1980s gave way to faxes and then PCs and diskette and coverage expanded to include turboprops. In the 1990s, services evolved into Windows based applications with modem data transmission. The 2000s saw coverage expand into the turbine helicopter market and services migrate to web-based PC and mobile platforms and access to the latest market research data from anywhere. More recently AMSTAT has further expanded its services to support Salesforce and to provide estimated aircraft values.

While the technology used to deliver our data has changed over the years, what has not changed is our dedication to our clients, said Kit Tankhiwale, AMSTAT Senior Product Innovator. He added, AMSTAT remains focused on tracking business aviation and only business aviation, as we believe in doing one thing and doing it exceptionally well. As a result, AMSTAT has grown to serve thousands of customers a day across almost every vertical in this industry.

Judy Nerwinski, AMSTAT Research Director said, AMSTAT recognizes that its not just hard work that results in success, but hard work done right that makes AMSTAT a market leader. Thats why AMSTAT employees maintain the highest ethical standards in whatever they do, whether its our Research team cultivating long-term relationships with the brokers and dealers and operators, or the Development and Service teams that ensure the security and safety of your information. It is no surprise that customer loyalty is at an all-time high, with a retention rate of over 95%.

AMSTATs success has not gone unnoticed. AMSTAT was purchased by CAMP, the leading independent provider of aviation management products and services, in 2003, and CAMP was later acquired in 2017 by Hearst, a leading global, diversified information, services and media company. AMSTAT also had its own opportunity to be an acquirer with its purchase of Aircraft Shopper Online (ASO), the first fully online aircraft listing service in 2005. This history of acquisitions not only demonstrates AMSTATs value but also our commitment to long-term success, said Andrew Young, AMSTAT General Manager.

AMSTAT believes in not just the sustainability of the business aviation industry but also the world in general. AMSTAT is a proud supporter of the National Forest Foundation, a partner of the United States Forest Service that promotes the development and enjoyment of Americas National Forests. AMSTAT contributes to the National Forest Foundation with each new subscription.

AMSTAT is celebrating our 40th year, and wed like to thank each of our customers for their continued support and our employees for their hard work to reach this incredible milestone. We look forward to another 40 years in serving you and supporting you grow your business in the years to come, said Peter Koeppel, AMSTAT Director of Operations.

AMSTAT will be exhibiting at NBAA-BACE 2022, October 18-20, Orlando, FL  Booth #4501.

About AMSTAT, Inc.

AMSTAT is the leading provider of market research information and services to the corporate aviation industry. Founded in 1982, and based in Tinton Falls, NJ, AMSTAT introduced the concept of providing researched information to corporate aviation professionals. AMSTATs mission is to provide timely, accurate, and objective market information to its customers. AMSTAT products and services provide aviation market and statistical information that generates revenue and delivers competitive advantage to brokers/dealers, finance companies, fractional providers, and suppliers of aircraft parts and services.

Information:

AMSTAT, Inc.

Andrew Young

New Jersey: (732) 530-6400 x1470

andrew@amstatcorp.com

http://www.amstatcorp.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/amstat/?viewAsMember=true
Thanks to HFA, Skyetel is now in that upper echelon of elite service providers in the country. Weve become a giant overnight, and I cannot wait to disrupt this industry.

Skyetel is excited to announce that they have been acquired by HFA and look forward to sharing new and magnified business services as they are further developed during this key transition phrase. As part of the business model strategy, Skyetel will continue to remain its own entity moving forward under the HFA umbrella.

We are excited to keep Skyetel intact, with their platform continuing to be developed with more releases coming in the upcoming months, said Lauren Halperin, Chief Marketing Officer of HFA. By coupling their technology with the size and scope of the HFA brand of carrier services will only lead to incredible things in the future.

Skyetel will continue to remain an ongoing independent operation with full autonomy moving forward and will be developed and enhanced further with HFAs deep well of development staff. They will also now take advantage of having an industry leading, nationwide origination footprint and the ability to complete more sophisticated termination based routing.

Thanks to HFA, Skyetel is now in that upper echelon of elite service providers in the country, said Skyetel President Chris Bardos, who has transitioned into the role of Chief Technology Officer to HFA and all of its brands. Being acquired was a great recognition of all the great things weve done over the last eight years. It was extremely humbling and made me very proud of everything the team and I have done. The offer that was put on the table for us to join a much larger carrier who is still independently family owned, entrepreneurial in spirit and understanding the culture and ecosystem that we foster both internally and externally to our clients was very important to us. The fit has been phenomenal, and the future is very bright.

For existing Skyetel customers, not only will service not be disrupted, but they will be able to take advantage of new offers and services. Skyetel will continue to roll out new products and features and are very excited for whats in the pipeline.

This is simply game changing. The brands that HFA already owns consolidating into the Skyetel network will create a super-network that will change this industry. There will be no one in the market that will be able to rival our combined market power and technology. This is magnified because we have no greedy shareholders, impatient investors, or negative P&L statements. Weve become a giant overnight, and I cannot wait to disrupt this industry.

About HFA:

HFA and its entities are an industry leading provider of DIDs with one of the largest footprints in North America. With purchases of Blitz and other well-known industry brand names, HFA offers a customer portal making it easy to purchase and provision DIDs in real time, enable termination trunks and utilize our full suite of ancillary services.

About Skyetel:

Skyetel is a nationwide carrier that delivers VoIP services in over 18,000 rate centers throughout North America. Skyetel enables resellers to leverage their services to be their own VoIP Service Provider For more information, visit https://www.skyetel.com/
The Campbell-Hill Aviation Group, LLC is pleased to announce the hiring of Robyn Platt as Director.

The Campbell-Hill Aviation Group, LLC is pleased to announce the hiring of Robyn Platt as Director.

Ms. Platt brings nearly twenty years of diverse aviation planning experience to Campbell-Hill. Most recently, she served as Program Manager, Air Service Development for the San Diego Airport Authority managing air service development efforts with seventeen airlines offering more than seventy nonstop routes. Robyn previously was Senior Manager  Route Planning for Spirit Airlines and held a number of roles with US Airways in Route Strategy, Sales Analysis, and Revenue Management.

Robyn has extensive experience working and partnering with both internal and external stakeholders on air service issues. In addition to years of network planning, forecasting and financial analysis experience, Robyn is well versed in demand forecast and flight profitability models, cost analysis, economic impact analysis, and the emerging field of consumer demographic and behavior analytics. "We are thrilled to announce that Robyn will be joining Campbell-Hill," said Kevin Healy, President & CEO, "Robyn brings a unique set of skills and experience that will greatly benefit our current and future clientele."

In addition, Ms. Platt served as the Vice Chair of the ACI-NA Air Service Committee, is a member of the Steering Group and Co-Chair of the Air Service Policy sub-committee. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from The University of Virginia.

The Campbell-Hill Aviation Group, LLC (Campbell-Hill) is a privately-owned U.S. consulting firm providing a wide range of services to the aviation industry. Campbell-Hill's client base includes airports, passenger airlines, all-cargo carriers, industry associations, and city, state, and federal government agencies.

Campbell-Hill is located in the Washington, D.C. area, which provides ready access to U.S. government agencies, law firms, and leading transportation and public policy research centers.

For more information, contact Kevin Healy at +1-407-491-6499 or at khealy@av-econ.com; Robyn can be reached at +1- 202-746-9027 or at RPlatt@av-econ.com.
John Gurski, President & Chief Revenue Officer, Integrate Im excited to join a talented team that is committed to the challenge, has the resources and momentum to drive results, and a powerful platform that will transform B2B marketing," said John Gurski, President & CRO, Integrate.

Integrate, the leader in B2B Precision Demand Marketing (PDM), today announced that John Gurski has joined the company as President and Chief Revenue Officer. Gurski has an extensive SaaS leadership background, including over two decades in leadership roles at SAP with experience across general management, sales, operations, customer success, business development and marketing. At Integrate, Gurski will lead a unified Revenue Organization that includes the Sales, Marketing, Customer Success & Professional Services functions.

As buying behaviors continue to evolve, its never been more important to focus on building predictable pipeline and revenue, and ensuring tight alignment across the entire customer journey, said Jeremy Bloom, co-founder, and CEO of Integrate. I am thrilled to welcome John to the team. He is a capable leader who is uniquely skilled to lead a unified, customer-centric, and modern revenue function, and also serve as a culture-keeper who empowers team members to thrive.

Integrate is committed to a Precision Demand Marketing approach that enables better alignment across team structures, processes, and technology to address todays increasingly complex and digital world. A core tenet of Precision Demand Marketing is to be buyer-centric, which enables organizations to break down the silos so prevalent across todays marketing, sales, and customer success teams to deliver more personalized and relevant experiences for customers. The company recently launched a new book, Precision Demand Marketing: Achieving the Promise of Predictable Pipeline, that provides a practical, hands-on approach to adopting a buyer-driven, omnichannel Precision Demand Marketing strategy that enables marketers to find and attract ideal buyers, wherever they are, right when theyre ready to buy.

Today, so many B2B organizations are struggling with demand management and building quality pipeline. Marketing processes, programs, and strategies must evolve to be effective in todays digital, buyer-centric world. Integrate is uniquely positioned to deliver on the promise of Precision Demand Marketing, said Gurski. Im excited to join a talented team that is committed to the challenge, has the resources and momentum to drive results, and a powerful platform that will transform B2B marketing.

Gurski was most recently Chief Sales Officer at PointClickCare, a cloud-based healthcare software provider where he led sales, presales, demand generation, business development, enablement and sales operations teams. Prior to PointClickCare, Gurski was on the Executive Leadership Team at SAP North America holding several senior executive leadership positions including Senior Vice President and General Manager  eCommerce and Customer Experience, Senior Vice President and General Manager  Solutions, and Vice President of Sales  Strategic Accounts. Gurski holds an MBA from George Washington University and received his bachelors degree from Penn State University.

About Integrate

Integrate activates, governs, and measures marketing campaigns across demand channels. This enables marketers to launch cross-channel buyer experiences, ensure data integrity, measure the impact of their programs, and inform the next best investments. Integrate works with high-growth and enterprise organizations like Salesforce, Microsoft, Akamai, and Pluralsight to power their Precision Demand Marketing strategies. Today, Integrates Demand Acceleration Platform helps create more precise and personalized buying experiences that reach the right buyer with the right message at the right point in their buying journey, and ultimately convert more leads to revenue. For more information, please visit http://www.integrate.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook,Twitter and Instagram.
For diners, the message of our Tweet-to-Win contest is, capture the deliciousness in 280 characters,. For restaurants, the contest says, Keep doing what youre doing'..." - Eric R. Gustafson, CEO

You cant eat just one  and apparently, you can't tweet just one, either. Back for another helping, Coast Packing Companys Fifth Annual #BeefTallowFrenchFries Tweet-to-Win Contest (http://coastpacking.com/beeftallowfrenchfries) combined wit and whimsy in the service of French fry goodness.

Contestants entered for a chance to win 1st prize, Cash Fries ($500 MSRP); 2nd prize, a gift certificate to a restaurant that serves beef tallow fries ($200 MSRP)  in this case, Outback Steakhouse in Murrieta, Calif.; or 3rd prize, the Ultimate French Fries Crate & Tub of Coast Packing beef tallow ($100 MSRP).

Coast asked contestants to submit their most poetic/ecstatic/witty/tasty tweets around a special summer favorite -- beef tallow (that is, beef fat) French fries. Back in the day, beef fat fries were what helped make a certain major burger chain famous.

All told, a record number of foodies entered the contest, representing 64 unique restaurants. Of that total, Outback was most popular submission, followed by Buffalo Wild Wings, Bojangles, 4505 Burgers & BBQ, Graze Burgers, Kennys Wood Fired Grill, Salt + Smoke, and Top Round.

And the winners are:



Shirley Franklin of Norman, OK, 1st prize

Mine? From Buffalo Wild Wings!! I go pick up the family order & eat an extra order of fries alone all the way home! So I proclaim: Ask not what you can do with a potato @bww- ask if its been fried the BEST way- in beef tallow!!



John Signorelli Jr., Murrieta, CA, 2nd prize

When I told my wife I wanted to go to Outback for some fries, she sent me to the backyard with the air fryer. I guess she heard only "out back." We put the fryer away & headed down under to Outback Steakhouse, which fries up our favorite #BeefTallowFrenchFries.



Lisa Andrews of Sarasota, FL, 3rd prize

"Ready for some Delish!? The best EVER #beeftallowtrenchfries at the Summer House, Siesta Key, FL."

An initiative of The Healthy Fats Coalition, #NationalBeefTallowDay is a celebration of a traditional animal fat  pure beef tallow shortening  that is enjoying a resurgence within Americas food culture, in restaurants, fast food operations and home kitchens.

Our hearty congratulations to Shirley, John and Lisa for their creativity and their good taste, said Eric R. Gustafson, Coast Packing CEO. For diners, the message of our Tweet-to-Win contest is, capture the deliciousness in 280 characters,. For restaurants, the contest says, Keep doing what youre doing. In terms of freshness, flavor and texture, there really is no comparison to beef tallow French fries, which is why we encourage consumers to taste for themselves  truly, one bite is all it takes, Gustafson said. We urge everyone to tweet their love for French fries fried in beef tallow far and wide. And then go have some.

For the occasion, Coast is releasing an updated version of the Ultimate French Fry List (http//coastpacking.com/tallowfriesfatmap/), which made its debut on National Beef Tallow Day in 2019.

About Coast Packing Company

Now marking its 100th year in business, Coast Packing Company (http://www.coastpacking.com), a closely held corporation, is the number one supplier of animal fat shortenings  particularly lard and beef tallow -- in the Western United States. The company sells to major manufacturers, CPG companies, QSR and fast-food restaurant chains, broadline food service distributors, retailers, smaller food service operations, and leading bakeries. The company participates actively in diverse ethnic markets  from Hispanic retail chains, with its VIVA brand, to various Asian specialty markets. Based in Vernon, Calif., Coast Packing Company is regional, national and, increasingly, global. In some cases, relationships are multigenerational, extending back 50 years and more. Coast is a founding member of the Healthy Fats Coalition (http://www.healthyfatscoalition.org/).

For more information about Coast Packing Company, visit: http://www.coastpacking.com. Follow us via social media on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/coastpackingco, Twitter @coastpackingco and Pinterest http://www.pinterest.com/coastpackingco.
Hydra Technologies showcases their defense and UAS solutions. MSPO represents an interesting development for Hydra. Were presenting fully mature systems to a new market for the company, one that is seeing an increased need for these solutions.

As part of this years exhibition in Poland, the S45 Baalam unmanned aerial system, with its weaponized version and its traditional intelligence surveillance reconnaissance and targeting solutions, is part of the Hydra offer to the defense markert in this important eastern european exhibition. As a novelty, Hydra is also offering synthetic aperture radar solutions on its platfroms for coastal security and naval operations.

The S45 system is a 70 mile or 120 km line of sight range tactical aircraft with an operational ceiling of 17,000 feet and 12 hours of effective mission time. It is equipped with state of the art gimbal systems that include medium wave infrared sensors and visual spectrum high definition cameras with up to 100X zoom. These systems also offer multiple solutions to support ground forces through repeater systems in their communication networks and state of the art remote video terminals.

A novelty for this 2022 Poland Exhibition is the new MB40 BLUEFISH long range attack UAV. This particular solution is a 500 km range, 17,000 feet ceiling single engine and 10 kg payload with a 10 m accuracy option for the defense market. It has standard takeoff and landing. It also counts with catapult launch for fire and forget options. This particular solution is manufactured in Europe with strategic associates of Hydra within the European Continent.

Hydras presence in Poland reflects the companies commitment in offering the European defense market with its proven solutions with more than 150,000 flight hours and a 15 year track record in the unmanned aerial systems industry.
MakeShift recognized as a Great Place to Work An engaged workforce thats proud of the work they do and why they do it, is certainly one of the things that really matters to me.- Adam Greenberg, CEO MakeShift

MakeShift, a cloud-based employee scheduling and time tracking platform, is proud to announce its Great Place to Work certification after a thorough, independent analysis conducted by the Great Place to Work Institute. The award is based entirely on what current employees have to say about their experience working at the company via an extensive, anonymous survey.

Based on the survey results, well over 90% of MakeShift employees believe strongly that they work in a fair and respectful environment and feel a sense of pride and camaraderie.

This distinction comes at a time of accelerated growth under CEO Adam Greenbergs leadership and underscores the companys commitment to fostering a positive employee experience, with inclusivity, equity, and ample opportunity to make a real difference in society.

MakeShift gives shift workers their time back to focus on what really matters to them. It's not easy to create an app that cuts the time it takes to build schedules by as much as 83% and reduces the time to fill open shifts by as much as 55%," said Adam Greenberg, CEO. This type of innovation, which gives workers control over their schedules, is only made possible through a dedicated team of employees. An engaged workforce thats proud of the work they do and why they do it, is certainly one of the things that really matters to me."

MakeShifts growth strategy which is rooted in the belief that happier employees drive growth as they provide exceptional customer experience, is already proving successful. The company was recently recognized as a Top Employee Scheduling Software by Gartner Digital Markets based on customer feedback.

Nancy Fonseca, Senior Vice President of Great Place to Work Canada, says that a great workplace is about the level of trust that employees experience in their leaders, the level of pride they have in their jobs, and the extent to which they enjoy their colleagues. "Our data shows that great workplaces benefit from stronger financial performance, reduced turnover, and better customer satisfaction than their peers. What's more, work environments with trust at the foundation are ripe for innovation, agility, resilience, and efficiency," Fonseca said.

As the company celebrates this award, the team is gearing up for an exciting Q4 2022. MakeShift will soon be available on the SAP Store bringing its intelligent employee scheduling solution to new and existing SAP SuccessFactors customers.

About MakeShift

MakeShift (http://www.makeshift.ca) is an online employee scheduling platform that empowers businesses to build staff schedules in less time with none of the hassles of clunky, error-prone systems of the past.

Established in 2014 to address the need for web and mobile scheduling for the healthcare industry, MakeShift has grown to serve organizations of all sizes across diverse industries including healthcare, hospitality, retail, and recreation.

About Great Place to Work Certification

Great Place to Work is the global authority on high-trust, high-performance workplace cultures. Through proprietary assessment tools, advisory services, and certification programs, Great Place to Work recognizes Canada's Best Workplaces in a series of national lists including those published by The Globe & Mail (Canada) and Fortune magazine (USA). Great Place to Work provides the benchmarks, framework, and expertise needed to create, sustain, and recognize outstanding workplace cultures. Visit us at http://www.greatplacetowork.ca or find us on Twitter at @GPTW_Canada
Tampa Bay Tech's quarterly meeting included discussions about the market and strategies for the future. "Its a very exciting time, and as a leadership group its safe to say were very optimistic about the future.

360 Advanced and Ballast Services Co-Host Tampa Bay Techs Quarterly Meeting.

Tampa Bay Tech CEOs August meeting, co-hosted by Dan Collins of 360 Advanced and Keith Archibald of Ballast Services, focused on the current market economy and how tech CEOs are responding.

Collins said the TBT CEO happy hour meeting was productive, as leaders exchanged ideas on business sustainability and growth strategies amid the current economic climate.

While our conversation was steered by whats going on in the market right now, it paved the way for some really clever and innovative concepts, he said. The Tampa Bay tech community is one of the hottest places to be, with capital, founders, companies, and talent flowing in from across the country. Its a very exciting time, and as a leadership group its safe to say were very optimistic about the future.

The quarterly meetings foster a collaborative environment where tech business leaders challenge and support one another to gain insights and strengthen connections. The primary goal is to learn about each others experiences and support one another.

Its an excellent opportunity to talk with leaders of some of the best performing companies in the market, Archibald said.

We talked about what were doing to weather the economic storm and keep our businesses thriving, and I cant tell you how valuable this shared knowledge is, he said. Our discussions are always incredibly motivating, but the support we offer each other, and the guidance  priceless.

The next quarterly TBT CEO meeting is due to be held in November.

About Tampa Bay Tech

Tampa Bay Tech is a 501(c)6 non-profit technology council that has been engaging and uniting the local technology community for 20 years. With over 100 companies representing thousands of tech employees  as well as thousands of students within the areas colleges and universities  Tampa Bay Tech provides programming and initiatives to support all those in the technology space. Through their membership and partnerships, their mission is to build a radically connected, flourishing tech hub where opportunity is abundant for all. Join the TBTech community at tampabay.tech.

About 360 Advanced

360 Advanced is Making Better Businesses through our cybersecurity and compliance offerings. For nearly 20 years, weve delivered integrated compliance solutions to a global base of clients in a wide range of industries, from Tech Startups to the Fortune 500. Our services include SOC, PCI DSS, Penetration Testing, HITRUST, HIPAA/HITECH, NIST, CMMC, ISO 27001, GDPR, CRPA, Microsoft SSPA, CSA STAR, FISMA, Risk Assessments, GLBA, MARS-E, FFIEC, FedRAMP, StateRAMP, and more. Visit us at 360advanced.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

About Ballast Services

Ballast Services is a leading security-focused IT solutions provider. The company offers a wide range of executive advisory, professional and managed services that improve the security, availability and reliability of technology, while consistently optimizing customer IT spend. Ballasts mission is to innovate, optimize, stabilize and secure customer technology environments. For more information about Ballast Services, or to contact us, please visit https://www.ballastservices.com and follow us on LinkedIn.
Adams Arms: Backpack, AR-15 with folding Stock Outfitting law enforcement officers and assigned School Resource Officers with the tools they can immediately use to arm themselves against an active shooter, breach locked and chained doors, and reach children, teachers, and administrators in order to save lives is our ultimate goal at Adams Arms

According to the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO), there are currently between 14,000 and 20,000 SROs in service nationwide. Ninety-one percent are armed. (1)(2) The officers operate through 18,000 federal, state, city, and local agencies including 3,081 sheriff departments across the nation. (3) Each day that number grows as school boards around the country increasingly consider, approve funding for and hire SROs or add to an existing force. (4) Adams Arms President, Jason East, points to a logistical problem with effective response time for many officers when faced with an active shooter incident. Officers forced to store their firearm in a locked safe in the school office or their secured vehicle may waste precious time retrieving it and initiating action to thwart tragedy, notes East. We looked at our technology and felt there must be a better way to protect students, teachers, and administrators, and yet appease those who question the appearance of guns in schools.

Locking rifles in gun safes in the offices of school resource officers (SROs) is not a new idea nor is having the firearm secured in the officers vehicle. The NASRO wants officers to be able to go directly to the threat. (5) Large school campuses would lengthen the amount of time it would take an officer to access the firearm from a safe and reach the incident area. The period since the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado has produced active shooter protocols stipulating that the sole focus of first responders is to immediately locate and neutralize the shooter or shooters. In active threat situations, such as a recent incident in Bend, Oregon, training and the actual outcome specifically relied on the fact that if an officer is the first one on the scene, he or she is the first one going in. (6)

Critics, concerned that a push to arm teachers in the classroom or have an armed presence on campus would turn schools into militarized zones, (7) would have their fears allayed by School Resource Officers wearing special high-tech backpacks; an item students are comfortable seeing every day.

Their solution: Adams Arms foldable stock, short barrel AR-15 rifles fit into a special backpack and can be deployed within seconds. These backpacks also double as an armored vest and contain pry bars and bolt cutters to force entry into locked or chained classrooms and campus doors. Outfitting law enforcement officers and assigned School Resource Officers with the tools they can immediately use to arm themselves against an active shooter, breach locked and chained doors, and reach children, teachers, and administrators in order to save lives is our ultimate goal at Adams Arms, notes Jason East. To date, we have shipped over 60 units and are in conversations with dozens of agencies across the country. Our goal is to deploy at least 1,000 units before the end of the year. We will continue to produce these special AR-15s and backpacks as long as there is a demand from law enforcement agencies across the U.S.

East recognizes the concerns of parents, teachers, and administrators charged with educating our nations children  to foster an environment of safe learning. At Adams Arms, we designed this package as a means to provide safety in education, says East.

Our AR-15 piston system, historically a favorite of law enforcement, is seen for its technical merit and reliability, as each use is critical. Training and education demonstrate that the rifle is cleaner, cooler, and more reliable. In short, Adams Arms is there when it counts the most, which helps law enforcement officers feel in control, points out East.

About Adams Arms

In a changing nation where the fastest growing markets of first-time gun owners are millennials, women and people of color, the old public impression of gun owners has faded. Skill proficiency, adventure and empowerment are spearheading the sharp demand for firearms and ammunition, while personal and home defense continues to be a driving force. Adams Arms, headquartered in Brooksville, Florida, is the face of reliable, clean, and cooler AR15 firearms operation with its patented piston drive actionfavorites of gun enthusiasts across the country. Known for their years of parts experience and their engineering and design prowess, their Retro-Fit system can be installed by owners or piston-action arms can be purchased new. Adams Arms proprietary PVD and Melonite process and their lifetime warranty make their lineup of products dependable for years to come. Adams Arms are there when it counts the most. Visit https://adamsarms.net/

Sources:

1) Sawchuk, Stephen. School Resource Officers (SROs) Explained, Education Week, 16 November 2021, edweek.org/leadership/school-resource-officer-sro-duties-effectiveness

2) Staff Writer. How Many School Resource Officers Are There in the United States?, NASRO.org, 2022, nasro.org/faq/

3) Staff Writer. Law Enforcement in the United States, Wikipedia, 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_enforcement_in_the_United_States

4) Otte, Emilia. Madison Board of Education Adds Armed Guards, CT Examiner, 29 August 2022, ctexaminer.com/2022/08/29/madison-board-of-education-adds-armed-guards/

5) Tonsall, Sonseeahray. Interview with Mac Hardy of NASRO, Fox 40 KTXL in Sacramento, 11 August 2022, nasro.org/news/2022/08/11/in-the-media/sros-might-lack-time-to-access-rifles-nasro-to-fox-40-sacramento/

6) Eadens, Savannah. Seconds Matter: Training Prepared Bend Officers for Worst Case Shooter Scenario; Enterin a Scene Alone, Oregon Live, 03 September 2022, oregonlive.com/crime/2022/09/seconds-matter-training-prepared-bend-officers-for-worst-case-shooter-scenario-entering-scene-alone.html

7) Sunnucks, Mike. School Safety Part 4: Seeking Safety After High Profile Shootings, Ensuring Security, Lessening Anxiety, Top Schools Lists for New Year, Herald and News, 02 September 2022, heraldandnews.com/law_enforcement/school-safety-part-4-seeking-safety-after-high-profile-shootings-ensuring-security-lessening-anxiety-top/article_a8f3cf12-2b17-11ed-8269-1f031dda9c11.html
First, I want to credit the Lord with giving me the desire to just sit down and put my thoughts on paper.

Author Larry Trapp introduces the premier book in his entertaining Christian fictional series, The Harlin Saga Part One: Sara's Legacy ($16.99, paperback, 9781662858000; $7.99, e-book, 9781662858017).

Part one of Trapps Harlin Saga series begins with a story that demonstrates the courage and endurance of a young Mid-Western woman named Sara Harlin. Readers will follow Saras journey from leaving her parents who disowned her, to arriving at the silver mining town of Virginia City, Nevada, and then onto the gold stampede of the Alaskan Territory. Danger and hardship are persistent on this trek, but Sara courageously faces the challenges and navigates unbelievable odds to secure her godly legacy. Readers will enjoy every page of this action-packed adventure as Sara enters a new era of Americas past. What will Sara do and how much will she risk to save the life of a newborn baby? How far will she go to fulfill the charge of Matthew 25:40? This book provides a lesson of overcoming challenges and learning a legacy of redemption and Christian heritage at the turn of a new and modern century.

When asked what inspired the author to write this book, Trapp said, First, I want to credit the Lord with giving me the desire to just sit down and put my thoughts on paper. But there are two things that I am passionate about: fictional literature and historical veracity. In other words, I wanted to write a book, or series of books, that are challenging to Christians, fictional in structure and true to the facts.

Larry Trapp was born in California and has spent his entire life, other than his service in the U. S. Army, residing less than 50 miles away from his birth city of Bakersfield. Trapp earned a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Management from the masters University in Santa Clarita, California. During his 22 years of teaching at Heritage Oak School in his hometown of Tehachapi, he earned a Master of Education from Ashford University. Teaching at a Classical Christian school allowed Trapp to teach both literature and history, along with Bible.

Trapp felt the desire to write so he followed this endeavor to become an author. In doing so, he spent a long period of time formulating and planning his Harlin Saga trilogy. Trapps passion is reading literature and history, along with music. He also enjoys playing electric bass guitar in his churchs worship team. He also played bass guitar in a semi-professional Contemporary Christian Band called, Secondwind. The band released 3 albums with many original songs written by Trapp or his brother.

###

Xulon Press, a division of Salem Media Group, is the worlds largest Christian self-publisher, with more than 15,000 titles published to date. The Harlin Saga Part One: Sara's Legacy is available online through xulonpress.com/bookstore, amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com.
With its expansion to San Francisco, Endeavor Schools is ensuring that more California families will have the opportunity to give their children a highly effective and enriching Montessori education from one of the top Montessori providers in the country.

Endeavor Schools has expanded its California presence by acquiring Mission Montessori, a highly regarded Montessori school serving infants through Elementary-aged children in San Francisco.

With its expansion to San Francisco, Endeavor Schools is ensuring that more California families will have the opportunity to give their children a highly effective and enriching Montessori education from one of the top Montessori providers in the country.

Mission Montessori was founded in 2017 and offers high-quality Montessori programs for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, kindergarteners, and elementary students. Led by a teaching staff of trained Montessorians who are passionate about children's education, the school has developed a stellar reputation in the San Francisco community for providing excellent programs that empower children.

The school also offers a Spanish-immersion program for children between 18 months and nine years, making Mission Montessori one of the only schools in the area to provide a bilingual Montessori program.

"We are very excited to welcome Mission Montessori to our growing family of schools," said Endeavor Schools CEO Ricardo Campo. "Mission Montessori embodies the values and quality of education that we strive for in every one of our schools. The schools faculty and administration are exceptionally talented, and we are thrilled to be partnering with them. We look forward to working with this excellent team to help them achieve their goal of nurturing children who will ultimately thrive in a diverse and global community.

Pari Schact, the founder of Mission Montessori, praised Endeavor Schools for its well-deserved reputation of continuing the legacy of former school owners while providing support for teachers and high standards of education for students.

"As the founder of Mission Montessori, it has been an honor to serve San Francisco families for the past five years, Schacht said. While looking for a new owner, our top priority was finding one that would continue the great work our staff has done and maintain close ties to our community. Endeavor Schools showed us that they are just as committed to their teachers and students as we are, and I am confident they will continue that commitment with Mission Montessori."

Mission Montessori is a highly acclaimed Montessori school, and Jana Morgan Herman, the Director of Montessori Education at Endeavor Schools, recognized its academic excellence and talented teaching staff.

"The quality of programs offered by Mission Montessori is impressive, and we look forward to helping the school's educators to continue their excellent work," Morgan Herman said. "We strongly believe in giving educators the resources they need to excel, and the Mission Montessori team can be sure they will always have our support."

Endeavor Schools' expansion into Northern California gives the fledgling education management company a total of 78 schools across the United States, including six Montessori schools in Southern California. With a combination of Montessori and project-based schools for all children from the infant stage up to high school, Endeavor continues to show its commitment to providing high-quality education choices for families in all areas of the country.

About Endeavor Schools

Endeavor Schools is a leading education management company with a family of unique, well-established private schools that serve as pillars to their respective communities in many markets across the United States. Each one of the company's schools subscribes to proven, research-based curricula delivered by seasoned educators who are encouraged to embrace their uniqueness and traditions. Endeavor Schools supports academic excellence by providing robust tools and resources to help each school thrive.

Founded in 2012, Endeavor Schools is headquartered in Miami, Florida. For more information, visit the company's website and follow the company on LinkedIn.
GPR Ventures has sold a two-building flex warehouse space located on Main Avenue in Sacramento. The company originally acquired the property in September 2020. After originally purchasing the property in September 2020 at 74 percent occupancy, GPR Ventures successfully reached full tenancy prior to executing the sale on August 19.

GPR Ventures, a privately held real estate investment firm based in Sacramento and the Silicon Valley, has executed the sale of a two-building flex warehouse space located at 110-120 Main Avenue in Sacramento. The sale of the 33,719 square foot property was completed on August 19 and closely follows the July sale of a second GPR Ventures building, an industrial space in South Sacramento.

TWEET THIS: Real estate investment firm #GPRVentures has sold two properties in Sacramento, including a flex warehouse portfolio on Main Avenue in Natomas and a one-building industrial space in South Sacramento. https://gprventures.com/

The Main Avenue property features a combination of dedicated office space and warehouse and storage facilities and is situated in a business park setting with lush landscaping and walking paths. The well-maintained property required no capital improvements which allowed GPR Ventures to focus on increasing occupancy with additional tenants.

After originally purchasing the property in September 2020 at 74 percent occupancy, GPR Ventures successfully reached full tenancy prior to executing the sale on August 19.

GPR Ventures Sells South Sacramento Industrial Property

In July, GPR Ventures announced the sale of a 23,000 square foot industrial property in the Power Inn submarket of Sacramento. Located at 6201 27th Street, the building includes 10,000 square feet of office space and is situated on a 1.38-acre lot. The six grade-level doors provide easy access throughout the warehouse area.

GPR Ventures originally acquired the building in January 2021. At the time of purchase, the property was fully occupied by a single tenant, which renewed its leasing agreement for five additional years in 2022.

For more information on GPR Ventures and its complete portfolio, visit https://www.gprventures.com/.

About GPR Ventures

Founded in 2011, GPR Ventures is a privately held real estate investment firm with offices in Silicon Valley and Sacramento that specializes in providing real estate opportunities for a select group of sophisticated investors. GPR Ventures uses a dynamic, fully developed process and the acquisition-to-disposition expertise of founders Glen Yonekura and Phillip Rolla to yield consistent results. GPR Ventures portfolio includes 112 industrial and office buildings totaling over 4 million square feet and an additional 36 acres of land. For additional information, please visit GPRVentures.com or call (408) 559-3300.
Greenup Industries provides a full range of onboarding solutions, maintenance, design services, and specialty construction services to its diverse client base. We want our company to increase diversity at all levels and by doing so, improve the work environment for women and minorities.

Certified as a minority-owned business by the National Supplier Diversity Council, Greenup Industries has been committed to expanding and diversifying its employee base since its founding in 2012. Now in its tenth year, the Louisiana-based company is proud of its track record, with 64 percent of its non-seasonal employees identifying as Black or African American and many of those in leadership roles. Furthermore, CEO Rodney Greenup, a strong proponent of women working in construction, is always seeking to grow the number of women in his firm. At Greenup, we believe in hiring more women as they enhance our diversity and contribute fresh perspectives, he said. Presently, women compromise 26 percent of Greenups employees.

With operations in Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama, Greenup Industries continues its expansion throughout the Southeastern Region of the United States. When asked what contributed to his company's success, Greenup said there were two factors, "the diversity of our workforce and our innovative project management software, Greenup Tracker."

According to construction industry research, the most common ethnicity of construction workers is White (58.7 percent), followed by Hispanic or Latino (24.5 percent) and Black or African American (10.7 percent). Women only comprise 6.2 percent of construction workers, while men comprise 93.8 percent. Through intentional actions, Greenup Industries' goal was to help create a unified construction industry that attracts and retains the best talent. "We want our company to increase diversity at all levels, and by doing so, improve the work environment for women and minorities. We believe a diversified construction industry will help employers build the workforces they need to sustain future growth."

As the company continued to expand, Greenup Tracker was designed to help its clients and vendors connect with other minority-owned businesses. The Greenup Tracker allows project managers to take their work efficiency to the next level. With the platform, contractors can easily access qualified vendors and manage everything from onboarding to invoicing, tracking project timelines, and more. And vendors can register their companies to perform work in dozens of client sites across the country.

To learn more about Rodney Greenup and his companys efforts in diversification, visit http://www.greenupind.com.

Rodney Greenup

Greenup Industries

+1 225-383-4843

Email: info@greenupind.com

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Greenup Industries - Our Relationships Fuel Our Success
Law Office of Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP For more information about the class action lawsuit against Ultra Personnel, LLC, call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today.

The San Francisco employment law attorneys, at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP, filed a class action lawsuit against Ultra Personnel, LLC alleging the company violated the California Labor Code. The lawsuit against Ultra Personnel, LLC is currently pending in the Monterey County Superior Court, Case No. 22CV002398. To read a copy of the Complaint, please click here.

According to the lawsuit filed, Ultra Personnel, LLC allegedly (a) failed to pay minimum wages, (b) failed to pay overtime wages, (c) failed to provide legally required meal and rest periods, (d) failed to provide accurate itemized wage statements, (e) failed to reimburse employees for required expenses, (f) failed to provide wages when due, and (g) failed to pay sick pay wages, all in violation of the applicable Labor Code sections listed in California Labor Code Sections  201-204, 226, 226.7, 233, 246, 510, 512, 1194, 1197, 1197.1, 2802, and the applicable Wage Order(s), and thereby gives rise to civil penalties as a result of such alleged conduct.

Ultra Personnel, LLC allegedly failed to reimburse employees for required business expenses. California Labor Code 2802 expressly states that "an employer shall indemnify his or her employee for all necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee in direct consequence of the discharge of his or her duties..." During employment, Plaintiff and other California Class Members were allegedly required to use their personal cellular phones and personal home offices as a result of and in furtherance of their job duties.

For more information about the class action lawsuit against Ultra Personnel, LLC, call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today.

Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP is a labor law firm with law offices located in San Diego County, Riverside County, Los Angeles County, Sacramento County, Santa Clara County, Orange County and San Francisco County. The firm has a statewide practice of representing employees on a contingency basis for violations involving unpaid wages, overtime pay, discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination and other types of illegal workplace conduct.

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"We are thrilled to be joining forces with The 20," said Kevin Peterson, CEO of Peterson Technology Group. "This partnership gives us a tremendous boost in the form of resources, talent, and capabilities, which means more advanced services and higher-value offerings for our clients."

Peterson Technology Group today announced its acquisition by The 20 MSP, a leading managed IT services provider with offices nationwide.

As a member of The 20's growth platform, Peterson Technology Group has benefitted from The 20's model, leveraging it to achieve consistent growth and success across a variety of industry verticals. With this acquisition, The 20 MSP and Peterson Technology Group seek to deepen their preexisting relationship, continuously enhance service offerings to keep up with client businesses' ever-evolving needs, and remain on a trajectory of rapid growth.

"This is an incredibly exciting time for both organizations, and another step forward in The 20's mission to build the best national MSP platform out there," said Tim Conkle, CEO of The 20 MSP. " Peterson Technology Group is a people-first company just like us, which makes this not only a great fit operationally, but culturally too. I know firsthand that when talented, likeminded people come together, great things happen. It's my pleasure and privilege to welcome Peterson Technology Group to The 20 family."

Peterson Technology Group is a managed IT services provider based in Madison, Wisconsin. They boast a proven track record of client satisfaction and have experienced steady growth over the past several years.

"Our organization is thrilled to be joining forces with The 20, a company led by peers we've worked with closely in the past, and who have helped Peterson Technology Group get this far," said Kevin Peterson, CEO of Peterson Technology Group. "This partnership gives us a tremendous boost in the form of resources, talent, and capabilities, which means more advanced services and higher-value offerings for our clients. Every business we serve is going to notice the difference," added Kevin Peterson.

This acquisition by The 20 MSP expands the company's national footprint, and is the latest move in an aggressive growth plan that mirrors the vigorous consolidation activity across the MSP industry. The 20 MSP has more acquisitions lined up in the coming months. "The plan is to continue growing and improving, so that our clients can too," said Conkle. "This is just the beginning."

About The 20 MSP

The 20 MSP has been helping businesses succeed through better technology since 1986. As a leading provider of managed IT services, The 20 MSP serves hundreds of businesses nationwide, providing each one with white glove service, secure and streamlined IT infrastructure, and 24/7/365 support. We believe in building lasting relationships with clients founded on trust, communication, and the delivery of high-value services for a fair and predictable price. Our clients' success is our success, and we are committed to helping each and every organization we serve leverage technology to secure a competitive advantage and achieve new growth. To learn more, visit The20MSP.com.

About Peterson Technology Group

Peterson Technology Group is your trusted IT business partner. We provide Information Technology consulting services with the highest level of quality, integrity, and reliability. Our specialties include network design and engineering, server installation and support, wireless design and implementation, security consulting, enterprise project management, and network monitoring and management.
At Rapid Healthcare, we can provide the tools our patients need to successfully achieve a healthier weight to help them look and feel great, says a Rapid Healthcare representative.

Rapid Healthcare is the source for exceptional primary care with the accessibility of a walk-in medical center at their advanced, cutting-edge clinic near Woodridge and Romeoville, IL. These top-notch medical professionals offer many services, including x-rays/imaging, physicals, EKGs, STD tests, minor burns, strains/sprains and vaccines/flu shots and the management of chronic illnesses. If patients want to look and feel better or have weight-related health issues, the Rapid Healthcare team can also provide support and guidance. For many individuals, medical weight loss is the solution to finding the right plan to get to a healthy weight. The physicians at Rapid Healthcare understand that losing weight is complex, and what works for one person may not be the right solution for someone else. These knowledgeable doctors personalize every weight loss plan to the individual, considering their lifestyle, medical history, age, health and many other factors. Rapid Healthcare assists patients in finding the right combination of nutrition-based eating, exercise and safe medications to offer the solution patients need for personalized weight loss management. Patients also receive nutritional counseling and a strategic plan to meet their weight loss and health goals.

At Rapid Healthcare, we can provide the tools our patients need to successfully achieve a healthier weight to help them look and feel great, says a Rapid Healthcare representative.

More about Rapid Healthcare:

Rapid Healthcare, located at 215 Remington Blvd, Suite K in Bolingbrook, Illinois, provides a comprehensive range of primary and urgent care services for the entire family. From routine check-ups and wellness exams to managing chronic conditions and treatment for injuries, they offer it all for families at their walk-in clinic in Bolingbrook, IL. Rapid Healthcare provides emergency treatment on short notice without long waits. Same-day services are available anytime to treat non-life-threatening illnesses, injuries and immediate medical needs such as lacerations, sore throats, headaches/migraines, abdominal pain, asthma attacks, ear infections and UTI treatment. The clinic can also provide COVID-19 testing and vaccines. The clinic accepts almost all healthcare insurance plans, which includes Medicaid, and their helpful staff will assist patients in utilizing health insurance. For information on weight loss and management services at Rapid Healthcare or to schedule an appointment, visit http://www.rapidhealthcare.org or call 630-518-4444.
Company logo In our partnership with Spear Technologies, weve hit several milestones. First, we moved our infrastructure to their cloud-hosted environment, and now, were configuring SpearClaims to enable a highly automated and electronic claims process," said Chris Shaffer, COO at George Hills.

Spear Technologies and George Hills have partnered on two technology initiatives and plan to commemorate the progress theyve made at the California Joint Powers Association (CAJPA) Conference in South Lake Tahoe, Sept. 13  16. At the show, Spear Technologies will be at booth #206 and George Hills at booth #220.

Earlier this year, George Hills went live on Spears cloud-hosting environment, SpearCloud. Since then, George Hills has selected and started implementation of SpearClaims, Spears claims system built on the Microsoft Power Platform, and upon which George Hills will go live this fall. As a third-party administrator (TPA), George Hills provides claims services to California public and private entities, as well as insurance carriers. It will use SpearClaims to manage claims for multiple lines of insurance, including auto liability, general liability, property, and more.

Its been great to work with a TPA of George Hills caliber. Their organization is dedicated to providing personalized service to customers. To aid in this endeavor, their leaders have utilized cutting-edge cloud technology and low-code / no-code platforms to facilitate efficient operations and enhance overall programs, said Jose Tribuzio, CEO of Spear Technologies.

In our partnership with Spear, weve hit several milestones, said Chris Shaffer, COO at George Hills. First, we moved our infrastructure to their cloud-hosted environment, and now, were configuring their claims system to enable a highly automated and electronic claims process. We decided to announce these milestones at CAJPA, as both of our organizations will be exhibiting at the show, and we both have a long heritage of serving public entities and their JPAs.

Brian Mack, CRO at Spear Technologies, added, Many public agencies attend CAJPA to learn best practices from their peers. Theyre eager to hear from innovators, like George Hills, that have undergone a digital transformation. Chris and his team are taking a Microsoft-centered approach, which includes Azure, OneDrive, Microsoft Business Central, and Office 365. SpearClaims fits into this IT strategy because its built on the Microsoft Power Platform.

One of the things that George Hills appreciates is that SpearClaims comes with all the benefits of the Power Platform. For example, we have the peace of mind in knowing this platform provides a high level of security to safeguard our customers data. And the platform will enable us to improve interactions with our customers, as well as our business partners, said Shaffer.

Most importantly, well have the ability to innovate far into the future. SpearClaims and its platform come with many ready-made solutions, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and electronic processing. We are already beginning to utilize electronic payment rails to expedite secure payments to customers and claimants, and we look forward to providing new and improved services, as well as further enhancing our programs for customers, said Shaffer.

ABOUT GEORGE HILLS

George Hills is a well-respected TPA and JPA management firm. The organization strives to provide the best solutions to its clients and to serve as a true partner. George Hills serves over 300 public and private sector organizations, including cities, counties, school districts, joint powers authorities, transit, insurance carriers, and private sector organizations from a broad spectrum of industries. It strives to provide an unmatched level of service, to foster trusted relationships with customers, and to deliver quantifiable results. For more information, visit https://georgehills.com/.

ABOUT SPEAR TECHNOLOGIES

Spear Technologies aims to provide property and casualty insurance companies with an enterprise claims management system for the future. Developed on the Microsoft Power Platform, SpearClaims delivers unparalleled control, speed, and results. By leveraging this top-rated low-code / no-code development platform, Spear Technologies empowers companies with the ability to easily and quickly configure and tailor SpearClaims to meet their unique needs. SpearClaims architecture provides the capabilities for using built-in AI and automation tools to extend an organizations capabilities, as well as to ensure competitive differentiation and results. For more information, visit http://www.spear-tech.com/.
Im so thrilled to receive this recognition, personally and on behalf of Wilkes Recovery Revolution, Lyall said.

Window World, Americas largest replacement window and remodeling company headquartered in Wilkes County, is celebrating local leader Devin Lyall with the 2022 Todd Whitworth Distinguished Humanitarian Award.

With owners of the more than 200 local franchises across the country in attendance in Phoenix, Ariz., Window World Chairman and CEO Tammy Whitworth announced Lyall as the winner thanks to her commitment to works in the community through Wilkes Recovery Revolution.

Im so thrilled to receive this recognition, personally and on behalf of Wilkes Recovery Revolution, Lyall said . We were treated to an amazing week with the Window World family, and I could not be more humbled to be a part of this event. This award will forever hold a special place in my heart!

Lyall attended the 2022 Family Reunion and received a custom crystal award after franchise owners learned more about her background and her recent work. She accepted the award with a heartfelt address which was met by a standing ovation from the 1,400 attendees. Wilkes Recovery Revolution aims to create a supportive community to help individuals recover from addiction. The organization opened the first transitional housing facility in the county less than a decade ago, and has already become an invaluable addition to the community.

The Todd Whitworth Distinguished Humanitarian Award was created to honor Todds commitment to giving back and making the world a better place. The primary criteria for the award is that the recipient makes a positive difference in the lives of others through service and raises awareness about important causes.

Devins efforts in our community exemplify the commitment to serving a community which this honor represents, said Tammy Whitworth. Her journey to becoming a community leader with Wilkes Recovery Revolution is one that has inspired our company, and were so proud to recognize a local Wilkes County leader on the national level for their vital work.

About Window World

Window World, headquartered in North Wilkesboro, N.C., is Americas largest replacement window and exterior remodeling company, with more than 200 locally owned franchises nationwide. Founded in 1995, the company sells and installs windows, siding, doors and other exterior products, with over 21 million windows sold to date. Window World is an ENERGY STAR partner and its windows, vinyl siding and Therma-Tru doors have all earned the Good Housekeeping Seal. Through its charitable foundation, Window World Cares, Window World and its franchisees provide funding for St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital. Since its inception in 2008, the foundation has raised over $13 million for St. Jude. Window World also supports veterans and the military through its Window World Military Initiative (WWMI). WWMI defines Window Worlds commitment to honor and serve Americas veterans, active military and military families across the entire franchise system by focusing on three pillars: Careers, Community Outreach and Partnerships. The Veterans Airlift Command has been a partner since 2008. During that time, Window World has contributed over $2.5 million in flights and donations to the organization. For more information, visit WindowWorld.com or call 1-800 NEXTWINDOW. For home improvement and energy efficiency tips, decor ideas and more, follow Window World on Facebook and Twitter.
Sarkis Garabedian, Managing Director, Ziegler Senior Living Finance stated, We are thrilled to serve Carmel Valley Manor for its first public bond financing. Carmel Valley Manor is a unique community with strong leadership...

Ziegler, a specialty investment bank, is pleased to announce the successful closing of Northern California Congregational Retirement Homes, Inc. d/b/a Carmel Valley Manors (Borrower) Series 2022 Bonds (the Bonds) for the Senior Living Finance Practice.

Carmel Valley Manor is a California not-for-profit public benefit corporation operating a life plan retirement community on 25 acres in Carmel, California (the Community). The Community is comprised of 27 residential living cottages, 119 residential living apartments, 24 assisted living units and 36 skilled nursing beds.

The Borrower will use the proceeds of the Bonds, together with an equity contribution, to i) fund various campus improvement projects, ii) refinance existing bank debt, iii) fund capitalized interest, iv) fund a debt service reserve fund, and v) pay costs of issuance.

The Series 2022 Bonds are rated AA- by Standard & Poors based on credit enhancement provided by the Cal-Mortgage Loan Insurance Program. The Bonds were issued through the California Municipal Finance Authority and amortize over a 30-year period. The Bonds were issued with a 7-year call at 103, declining to par in 2032.

This successful round of financing will allow Carmel Valley Manor to initiate a campus wide repositioning plan, culminating in a Phase 2 expansion across independent living, assisted living, memory care and rehab services, stated Jay Zimmer, President and CEO, Carmel Valley Manor.

Sarkis Garabedian, Managing Director, Ziegler Senior Living Finance stated, We are thrilled to serve Carmel Valley Manor for its first public bond financing. Carmel Valley Manor is a unique community with strong leadership and a storied history that help it really stand out amongst its competition. It was a pleasure to help introduce them to the capital markets, establishing a strong investor base to tap into for future campus improvements.

Ziegler is the nations leading underwriter of financings for not-for-profit senior living providers. Ziegler offers creative, tailored solutions to its senior living clientele, including investment banking, financial risk management, merger and acquisition services, seed capital, FHA/HUD, capital and strategic planning as well as senior living research, education, and communication.

For more information about Ziegler, please visit us at http://www.ziegler.com.

About Ziegler:

Ziegler is a privately held, national boutique investment bank, capital markets and proprietary investments firm. It has a unique focus on healthcare, senior living and education sectors, as

well as general municipal and structured finance. Headquartered in Chicago with regional and branch offices throughout the U.S., Ziegler provides its clients with capital raising, strategic advisory services, fixed income sales, underwriting and trading as well as Ziegler Credit, Surveillance and Analytics. To learn more, visit http://www.ziegler.com.

Certain comments in this news release represent forward-looking statements made pursuant to the provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This clients experience may not be representative of the experience of other clients, nor is it indicative of future performance or success. The forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, in particular, the overall financial health of the securities industry, the strength of the healthcare sector of the U.S. economy and the municipal securities marketplace, the ability of the Company to underwrite and distribute securities, the market value of mutual fund portfolios and separate account portfolios advised by the Company, the volume of sales by its retail brokers, the outcome of pending litigation, and the ability to attract and retain qualified employees.
As the new school year kicks off, educators are invariably reaching into their pockets to supplement their classroom resources. According to the Scholastic Teacher & Principal Report, 56% of teachers report spending their own money on books. But thanks to the ongoing Scholastic ClassroomsCount initiative, they can gain access to books, teaching kits, and other educational tools that can bolster their existing suppliessimply by signing up for their own account and promoting it online for possible contributions.

Building Their Libraries

Introduced in 2020, Scholastic ClassroomsCount was created in response to teachers expressing their need for greater classroom support, which ties directly into the companys mission of guiding educators. We were eager to launch this platform for our teacher community and to help them put even more books and resources in the hands of their students, said Stacey Jaffe, senior v-p, digital services at Scholastic.

To create their own platforms, teachers can visit the ClassroomsCount webpage; provide some basic information (a brief description of their campaign, how much money they would like to raise, and what they plan to use it for); and then share their program on social media. Scholastic enables teachers to use 100% of the funds earned to purchase materials from the Scholastic Teacher Store, Scholastic Classroom Magazines, and Scholastic Book Clubs.

Jaffe noted the myriad ways teachers have utilized ClassroomsCount since its inception. We are proud of the ways educators have so creatively used the platform to enhance special lessons, make students birthdays extra special by gifting books, help build home libraries, and even kickstart summer reading efforts by creating a book mobile that drives through local neighborhoods like a library on wheels and allows kids to check out books, Jaffe said. Another recent partnership with ABCs Abbott Elementary invited fans of the show to contribute to teachers through curated ClassroomsCount wish lists.

In the last year, participating educators have created more than 18,000 ClassroomsCount campaigns nationwide, raising more than $2 million in resources. One such teacher is Danielle Iannelli of Chicago, who has used this platform to raise funds for her classroom library. Reading has always been crucial to me as a middle school ELA teacher and reading specialist, which is why I took advantage of this opportunity, she said. Having grown her library thanks to the campaign, she is now able to provide her students with greater access to books of different genres and reading levels. I love the joy I see when my kids cant wait for someone to finish a book, so they can snatch it up next!, Iannelli said.
Focused on creating more book-filled classrooms across the countryparticularly in underserved communitiesWashington, D.C.based nonprofit First Book, along with education researcher Susan Neuman, has launched a tool to assist educators with designing libraries that maximize their potential. The Literacy Rich Classroom Library Checklist, which helps assess a librarys functionality and usefulness, was released last month in conjunction with a nationwide educator survey, providing greater insight into the struggles and financial challenges pervading low-income school systems.

Kids living in poverty come from book deserts, said Neuman, professor of teaching and learning at New York University, who led this research study. As further evidence, she pointed to the U.S. Department of Educations finding that 2.5 million children are enrolled in districts without school libraries. People dont realize what a classroom library should look like, and we wanted to support our teachers in designing one, she said.

Survey Says

To gain a better understanding of the current state of classroom literacy in the U.S., First Book surveyed more than 1,200 registered member educators working in Title I (or Title I-eligible) schools about students accessibility to books for independent reading. Among the key takeaways: 96% of teachers personally funded some or all of their classroom libraries, spending an average of $346 on books and other literacy materials. In addition, 47% of the respondents said it took more than six years to build their libraries, and 28% noted that it took at least 10 years to obtain enough books for a well-stocked library. First Books survey also called attention to a lack of robust collections, revealing that 54% of educators had 10 or fewer books in their respective classroom libraries.

Perhaps the biggest surprise that came out of First Books survey, according to Neuman, was how highly teachers had initially rated their libraries. When given our checklist, they realized it wasnt as good as they had thought; it didnt have cozy areas to read, multiple levels of books, or books of diversity, she explained.

When creating the checklist, First Book and Neuman sought to take the guesswork out of constructing a high-quality classroom library. We know that educators are strapped for time and money, said Julianne Appleton, director of research and insight at First Book. The checklist gives them the guidelines to build a library from scratch or to enhance an existing one. Classroom libraries with at least 1020 books on a revolving basis are designed to maintain students interest and engagement. We also recommend books that represent diverse characters and storylines where kids can learn about themselves and others, Appleton added.

Tools They Can Use

After completing the checklist, educators can arm themselves with the results of their individual assessment when seeking assistance from authority figures. We are hoping the checklist will enable classroom teachers to take this to their administrators and policy makers and advocate for their libraries, Neuman said. With a pending list of 200 classroom libraries on tap to receive funding from First Book, the checklist is positioned to benefit schools across the countryallowing for fewer book deserts and more literacy-rich meccas.
Neither a statewide heat wave nor a tropical storm kept bibliophiles from the California Independent Booksellers Alliances Fall Fest in Sacramento over the weekend. The in-person meeting, on hold since NCIBA and SCIBAs March 2020 merger to form CALIBA, brought booksellers, publishers, reps, and authors together for long-awaited networking and the ritual stuffing of canvas tote bags with must-have ARCs.

CALIBA co-executive directors Ann Seaton and Kristin Rasmussen welcomed members to a Friday night reception held at Ross and Heidi Rojeks game-centered There and Back Again cafe, around the corner from Capital Books. Sacramentos environs are home to numerous indie bookstores, from established businesses like Face in a Book and Underground Books to newer arrivals like Wild Sisters Book Company and A Seat at the Table, and attendees got acquainted with the owners and staff or dropped by the stores for a visit.

Booksellers met authors including Ross Gay, Jenny Odell, Alka Joshi, Caldecott Medalist Jason Chin, and Newbery Medalist Matt de la Pena, all touting their forthcoming titles. U.S. Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine) spoke about her legislative career and her April 2023 memoir, I Swear, with ABA CEO Allison Hill, and CALIBA's exhibit hall provided opportunities to snag galleys of upcoming work from Maggie OFarrell, Celeste Ng, and Joy Harjo, among many others. The chance to handle gift items and preview cookbooks--like Jorge Gaviria's Masa (Chronicle, Sept. 13), which inspired the appetizers at Saturday evening's cocktail hour--got everyone prepped for the holiday season ahead.
In post-trial briefs made public late on September 10, lawyers for the U.S. Department of Justice say they have proven that Penguin Random Houses proposed blockbuster acquisition of rival Big Five publisher Simon & Schuster is anti-competitive and should be blocked.

Offering their view of the law and the evidence after months of fact-finding and three weeks of live testimony at last months high profile trial, DOJ attorneys call the proposed acquisition precisely the march toward concentration and monopsony power that Congress enacted the Clayton Act to prevent, and insist the proposed merger would "substantially lessen competition" for authors' manuscripts.

One entitys control of almost half of the nations anticipated top-selling books threatens competition in multiple ways, the DOJ brief concludes. Authors advances would falladvances that they use to pay their bills and that reflect compensation for their work. The contractual terms publishers offer authors would worsen. Authors would have one fewer independent outlet for their work, and, as PRHs CEO acknowledged, as advances fall the diversity of stories being told would narrow. These are not abstract concerns. They are shared by many agents, authors, and even Defendants executives.

In PRH's post-trial filings, also made public on September 10, PRH attorneys reiterated their claims that the governments case focuses on a flawed, non-existent market segmentadvances for "anticipated top-selling books" over $250,000and thus fails as a matter of law. Furthermore, even if the court somehow accepted the DOJ's allegedly ill-defined relevant market, PRH attorneys contend the government has failed to show harm enough to justify blocking the deal.

But in its 152-page "finding of fact" post-trial brief, and in a separate reply to PRH's post-trial brief, DOJ lawyers insist the government has met both their legal and factual burdens.

The United States proved that the relevant market here is anticipated top sellers, i.e. books that receive an advance of $250,000 or more, the brief states, noting that the incontrovertible reality is that authors of anticipated top sellers face a far more limited market of purchasers than other authors because their books require substantial financial, marketing, reputational and distribution needs. And while the evidence suggests that smaller publishers can occasionally compete for a handful of titles, these publishers do not compete successfully enough to create any doubt about the enduring market power of a combined PRH and S&S.

The record evidence shows that competition among the Big Five publishers is what drives advance levels for anticipated top-selling books, the DOJ brief states. The idea that everything is random in the publishing industry and therefore there can be no value attributed to how and where publishers set advance levels is contradicted by the everyday dealings of the publishing industry.

 The idea that everything is random in the publishing industry and therefore there can be no value attributed to how and where publishers set advance levels is contradicted by the everyday dealings of the publishing industry. 

DOJ attorneys insist the case is in fact straightforward: the merger would eliminate a key competitor to the top player in the market and lead to a nearly 50% market share for the combined entity, the brief states. This easily clears the thresholds used in this Circuit to identify mergers presumed to be illegal.

Furthermore, DOJ attorneys argue that PRH's defense did not come close" to rebutting the governments case.

First, in terms of competition, the fact that on some occasions small publishers win big books does not change the competitive reality, the DOJ brief points out. Second, the argument that literary agents can control and manufacture competition is unpersuasive, with the record showing numerous examples of publishers ability to insist on terms that are beneficial to them and detrimental to authors: standardized royalty terms, mandatory transfer of audio rights, lengthened payout timetables, and reduced digital royalty rates. In fact, allowing the merger to proceed would would "enhance" the ability of the major publishers to force more odious contract terms on authors, DOJ lawyers argue, by creating an undisputed industry leader whose terms other firms might follow.

And third, DOJ attorneys insist that PRHs suggestion that internal competition" among the PRH/S&S editors could eliminate the harm from the merger runs contrary to common business sense.

Citing the projections of its own expert, Dr. Nicholas Hill, DOJ attorneys conclude that advances for "anticipated-top sellers" would decline by about 4% for PRH authors, and about 11.5% for S&S authors, adding that the loss of S&S as an independent bidder would be felt in more that just head-to-head bidding scenarios. S&S will no longer be a stalking horse that agents can point to as an alternative when negotiating one-on-one with an editor, or soliciting bids in a single-round auction, the DOJ brief argues.

"The evidence and law support a permanent injunction," the brief concludes. "The Court should block the merger."

In November of 2020, Penguin Random House parent Bertelsmann announced its proposed acquisition of Viacom CBS subsidiary Simon & Schuster for a hefty $2.175 billion. Nearly a year later, on November 2, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice announced its suit to block the deal. If the worlds largest book publisher is permitted to acquire one of its biggest rivals, it will have unprecedented control over this important industry, said U.S. attorney general Merrick Garland in announcing the action.

The briefs are likely the final act in the DOJ's effort to block the acquisition of S&S before Judge Florence Y. Pan issues her ruling, expected later this fall.

Editors Note: This is a breaking story. We will more fully break down both sides lengthy post-trial briefs in the coming days.

PW's extensive coverage of the merger and the the three-week trial can be found here.
John Koehler, author, graphic artist, and founder of Koehler Books Publishing, understands the frustrations of authors who, despite the quality of their writing, have found that there isnt a place for their work within the limited landscape of traditional publishing. Tired of the agent waiting game and the lack of authorial control over the publishing process, Koehler began publishing his own books in 2004. His titles include a collection of his art, a reflection on life with bipolar disorder, and numerous works of fiction.

When several of his author friends saw the quality of the finished books, they wanted in too. And so, a hybrid publishing company was born. Only, when he launched Koehler Publishing in 2010, Koehler says, he didnt use the term hybrid press. Instead, he preferred copublisher. The moniker gets to the heart of what matters most to Koehler and the mission statement behind his eponymous platform. We believe in working very closely with our authors... collaboration is the key, he says. Thats because the author is the most knowledgeable person, the expert for the work.

Koehler primarily publishes nonfiction, though it also welcomes novels. That said, the house doesnt publish every submissionin fact, it is highly selective, publishing fewer than 20% of the books submitted. Koehler emphasizes that the quality of writing is the single most important ingredient that goes into a successful book. And if that quality isnt present in the work from the get-go, its a hard pass. The biggest chunk of the iceberg is quality, Koehler says. The readers as a group cannot be fooled.

For Koehler, the benefits of publishing with a hybrid press are numerous. Writers can expect to get their books to market much faster than if theyd pursued the traditional publishing route. It also gives authors more participation with editing and creative development. And publishing with Koehler provides authors with something that is perhaps even more valuable: the knowledge they need to protect the integrity of their work and to find their readers.

Among hybrid publishers, Koehler notably stands apart: in addition to hybrid publishing, the house offers traditional publishing contracts to select booksaround 5%10% of titles published each month. For Koehler, this helps to establish credibility in a publishing world that still maintains a degree of skepticism about hybrid houses, and it enables them to showcase deserving titles.

Another perk of publishing with Koehler: if a title sells 2,000 or more combined copies of e-books, print editions, and audiobooks, including copies the author purchases from the publisher, the author is offered a traditional publishing deal for their next book. The opportunity serves as additional motivation for writers to champion their work. Which is not to say that Koehler authors are left to promote their books on their own. In addition to a full range of in-house services, including editing, cover design, and distribution through Ingram, Koehler provides robust marketing supportsomething Koehler personally takes very seriously.

Im the marketing guru, Koehler says. After publishing over 1,300 books and talking to a lot of agents, Ive picked up a thing or two. Hes even added to his own body of work, with two books on publishing and marketing booksThe Pocket Guide to Book Marketing and The Pocket Guide to Publishing. Both are free downloads on the website.

From development to editing and promotional campaigns, Koehler Books Publishing remains transparent every step of the way. Authors can see exactly what they will spend before they begin their publishing journey. And should they have questions or want to compare experiences with other authors, theres a community there to support them. Koehler hosts a private Facebook page just for that purpose. Via the Koehler website, authors and readers can even vote on cover design options for their books.



Beyond the houses comprehensive approach to publishing, Koehler books speak for themselvesas do their successful, satisfied authors. According to author Betsy Ashton, Writers fortunate enough to sign with Koehler Publishing experience a true partnership between writer and editors, and writer and publisher. Its a well-deserved endorsement for a publisher thatthrough a commitment to quality, integrity, and building communityis truly meeting the moment for todays authors.
Since founding Morgan James Publishing in 2003, entrepreneur David Hancock has helped launch the careers of thousands of authors. Whether its a business- or faith-based title, a novel, or a childrens story, the books accolades speak for themselves. To date, Morgan James has more than 29 New York Times bestseller listings, more than 80 on the USA Today and Wall Street Journal lists, and a dozen titles on PW bestseller lists. Recently, Extra Virgin Olive Oil by David M. Neuman was featured on The Kelly Clarkson Show. Another author, Natasha Graziano (Be It Until You Become It), was featured on the cover of Glamour magazine. And those are just a few of Morgan Jamess many success stories. If an author has a goal, we know how to help them reach it, Hancock says.

Publishing with Morgan James allows authors to have the credibility, distribution muscle, and opportunity of a traditional house but with key differences. Authors can retain control, ownership, and involvement in the process while benefitting from a faster time to market.

We dont offer any services, sell any packages, or have any upsells with an author once they are part of the family, Hancock says. Morgan James covers all the costs of production, printing, and distribution, and they pay higher than industry average royalties as well as small advances. Through their Entrepreneurial Vision Mastermind platform, authors can track the progress of their books development from design decisions to marketing strategies.

One of the cornerstones of the Morgan James philosophy is that, more than a book or a genre, the house is investing in the authors themselvestheir lived experiences, unique strengths and abilities, and distinctive voices. The Morgan James team also looks for projects that exist in conversation with broader communities. We love publishing books that are part of something, Hancock says, whether its an entrepreneurial venture, small business, big business, nonprofit, or faith message.

Morgan James works actively to help authors find the right readers. That support comes in the form of consumer direct marketing via social media, landing pages, keyword optimization, newsletters, and more. They seek out professional reviews for their authors and, prior to the pandemic, hosted three live events in Nashville each year to celebrate new book releases and to form deeper relationships with their authors.

Morgan James, the first hybrid publisher to market, as reported by PW, is one of the few hybrids today that actually invest in marketing for the books we publish after publication, Hancock says. We are in it for the long haul.

In addition to direct support from a qualified group of publishing and marketing experts, Morgan James believes in providing authors with the tools they need to advocate for their work and develop robust author platforms. In exchange, Hancock also has a few asks of authors: that they bring their entrepreneurial spirit to the publishing partnership, provide a fully edited manuscript, be willing to invest time and effort in doing what successful authors do, and commit to purchasing 2,000 copies of their work at a few dollars above print cost over the life of the agreement.

In addition to empowering authors to tell their stories, Morgan James is giving back in another wayby partnering with the charitable organization Habitat for Humanity, supporting the construction of homes, donating books, and more. Building homes and publishing books may seem like strange bedfellows, but for Hancock, its all about investing in community and sharing in a world of ideas and positive human endeavors.

In the early days of Morgan James, nobody knew who we were, Hancock says. The independent bookstores were the only ones giving us a chance. They saw us building houses down the street from their bookstore and supporting their communities. As is the case with authors who choose to publish with Morgan James, the partnership with Habitat for Humanity has been a rich and rewarding experience from the very beginning.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  The Purdue College of Agricultures Department of Entomology is partnering with Arizona State University to co-host the inaugural Cold Case Symposium, an in-person and online event that will spotlight Americas cold case crisis. The symposium will take place Sept. 23, during National Forensic Science Week.

Krystal Hans, assistant professor of forensic entomology at Purdue, said the symposium will highlight several disappearances in Arizona. Families will discuss their own loved ones disappearance cases, focusing on some of the challenges they faced while trying to move forward in solving the disappearances and offering advice to families in similar situations.

This year well be focusing on a lot of Arizona cases, particularly ones in the Phoenix area, with the hope that families that are local can attend in person to better network with people who have shared experiences and to understand the resources that are available to them, Hans said. We will have counselors on site as well, as we realize the nature of this topic and its accompanying material is triggering. We want to support families and our participants as much as we can.

David Robinson II, whose son Daniel went missing in Buckeye, Arizona, more than a year ago, will speak about his sons case, the evidence recovered and his continued search to locate his son. He recently founded the Daniel Robinson Foundation to support families in similar situations.

Sarah Turney, advocate and host of the podcast Voices for Justice, will speak about the power of social media and her experience with propelling missing persons cases farther into the spotlight.

Kelsi German, who received a bachelors degree in forensic psychology from Purdue in May, will speak about the 2017 unsolved double murder of Abigail Williams and Liberty German, Kelsis younger sister, and the experiences and challenges her family faced in their pursuit of justice.

The registration fee for attending virtually is $7, and Purdue students enrolled in the forensic science course can register for free. The in-person attendance fee, which includes lunch and parking at the ASU campus, is $25. The symposium takes place 11:30 a.m. EDT (8:30 a.m. MST) to 5 p.m. EDT (2 p.m. MST). For more information, registration and a full schedule of the Cold Case Symposium, visit https://na.eventscloud.com/coldcase22

Writer: Jillian Ellison, 765-494-0948, ellison1@purdue.edu

Source: Krystal Hans, 765-494-1079, hans3@purdue.edu

Agricultural Communications: 765-494-8415; Maureen Manier, Department Head, mmanier@purdue.edu

Agricultural Communications: 765-494-8415;

Maureen Manier, Department Head, mmanier@purdue.edu

Agriculture News Page
Continued commitment to affordability, high number of applicants pushes enrollment numbers up

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  Growing up in Indianapolis, Victor Chukwuocha dreamed of becoming an engineer and an entrepreneur.

Chukwuocha and the 50,000-plus students at Purdue University this year who are persistently pursuing a Purdue education have been influenced and shaped by several strategic decisions made by Purdues Board of Trustees and President Mitch Daniels.

One of those decisions that most directly impacted Chukwuochas dream was Daniels 2016 announcement of plans to create a network of Purdue Polytechnic High Schools across the state. The schools would recruit and prepare students from areas such as Indianapolis that struggle to produce graduates ready for and interested in a Purdue education. The number of new students arriving at Purdue from the entire Indianapolis Public Schools system in 2016 was just 12, and only five of those were Black. Including PPHS, IPS now sends 35 more students to Purdue annually, and Chukwuocha is one of the almost 60 PPHS students from the public charter schools first two graduating classes now attending Purdue.

Another decision was to grow the university  both in strategic academic areas and student enrollment. Paraphrasing another academic leader, Daniels declared in 2015, We shouldnt seek to be known by how many we turn down but by how many we turn out. What proceeded was a rapid expansion of enrollment and an increase in the number of Indiana residents offered admission to Purdue by about 350 more annually, and the number accepting that offer and enrolling at Purdue reached new highs.

Chukwuocha is part of the largest student body on Purdues West Lafayette campus in history. This fall, total enrollment reached a record 50,884 students  just topping last years 49,639 students  and marked the universitys eighth straight record high. This includes 37,949 undergrads  also a record. The incoming freshman class is 9,354, still one of Purdues largest but smaller than last years record of 10,191, by intent.

Purdue admissions officers and recruiters have delivered this growth without diminishing the preparedness of incoming Boilermakers. Purdue received 68,309 applications for the fall of 2022, 28,284 more than in 2014, when Purdue switched to the Common Application, and 37,093 more than when Daniels arrived. The average new student in Fall 2022 had a 3.74 GPA, an average SAT total of 1317 and an average ACT composite of 29.8. New, admitted students had an average SAT and ACT disclosure rate of 82.4%.

Purdues commitment to affordability, highlighted by 11 years of frozen tuition and savings of more than $1 billion dollars for families since 2012-13, has played a central role. But investments in quality have also been key, as has a rising national profile as a top national university.

To keep pace with the enrollment growth, Purdue has added more student housing and expanded the faculty each year, with 213 faculty hired this fall, the largest group of hires in university history.

In addition to the growing number of applicants for enrollment from across the country, evidence of Purdues enhanced national profile include being the only university named a Brand That Matters by Fast Company magazine, a No. 4 ranking as the most trusted public university in the country, and a top 3 ranking as a university that protects free speech and open inquiry. U.S. News & World Report also ranks Purdue as one of the most innovative schools in the country in addition to ranking numerous academic programs highly.

Even with the national spotlight, Purdue continues to serve students from Indiana. In fact, nearly every Indiana resident who completed an application received an enrollment offer somewhere in the Purdue system, and over 75% were offered a place at West Lafayette.

Purdues minority enrollment continues to grow, with 4,326 underrepresented minority undergraduates representing 12.8% of domestic enrollment. 10,108, or 30%, of domestic undergraduates are U.S. minorities, which include Asian American students. This is an increase of 13.6% over the 4,140 enrolled in 2012.

Purdue Polytechnic High Schools, like the one Chukwuocha attended on Indianapolis east side, are intended to recruit and prepare underrepresented students. PPHS now enrolls more than 1,000 students across three locations, with a fourth location planned. To further diversify Purdue, the university is also working with the Posse Foundation, which helped bring 11 students from northwestern and northern Indiana to Purdue in this first year of collaboration.

Another focus of Purdue is increasing the number of degrees in science, technology, engineering and math disciplines. In 2022, 71% of undergraduate degree recipients received a STEM degree, up from 44% in 2010. With enrollment growth, Purdue has also seen the growth in the number of degrees conferred, with the largest increase in number in baccalaureate degrees. In 2012-13, Purdue conferred 9,704 degrees. In 2021-22, Purdue conferred 12,943 degrees.

Purdue Global, the universitys accredited and affordable online solution designed for the working adult with life experience and often some college credit, but no degree, reported an enrollment of 34,246 for September 2022.

Other West Lafayette campus enrollment highlights are:

Graduate enrollment: 12,017, including 3,612 online-only, surpassing last years record of 11,613.

Professional degree enrollment: 918.

Undergraduate residency: Indiana students, 17,964; U.S. non-Indiana students, 15,773; and international students, 4,212.

Total enrollment by gender: women, 21,634; men, 29,250.

Total enrollment by ethnicity: Black or African American, 1,350; Asian, 5,747; Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 23; Hispanic/Latino, 3,203; American Indian/Alaska Native, 61; and two or more races, 2,023.

Total enrollment in West Lafayette: 50,884.

Polytechnic statewide: 645. Purdue Polytechnic Institute degrees are offered in Anderson, Columbus, Indianapolis, Kokomo, Lafayette, New Albany, Richmond, South Bend and Vincennes.

Statements from Purdue officials regarding enrollment numbers:

Kristina Wong Davis, vice provost for enrollment management

We are excited to welcome this record-setting number of students to campus this year. With more than 100,000 students overall across the Purdue system and including Purdue Global, the demand is still strong for a Purdue education. The number of applicants for our programs continue to rise year-on-year. Also, some of our other efforts through early outreach coordinators are ensuring that Purdues profile remains top of mind for talented young students.

Jay Akridge, Purdue provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and diversity

Our Fall 2022 enrollment is a clear demonstration that students and their families see Purdue as an exceptional educational value. Our commitments to outstanding teaching and experiential education and the resulting nationally ranked programs, combined with our commitment to an affordable and accessible education, are bringing record numbers to West Lafayette. And the most exciting part is thinking about the mark these Boilermakers will leave on our world after they complete their studies here.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a top public research institution developing practical solutions to todays toughest challenges. Ranked in each of the last five years as one of the 10 Most Innovative universities in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at https://stories.purdue.edu.

Media contact: Matthew Oates, 765-586-7496 (cell), oatesw@purdue.edu, @mo_oates

Sources: Kris Wong Davis, kwongdav@purdue.edu

Jay Akridge, akridge@purdue.edu
With 59 days left until the November election, Democratic candidates and officeholders gathered on Wednesday at Terrapin Beer Co. for the Day of Labor Rally to support union workers, service workers and William Boddie, the Georgia Commissioner of Labor candidate. They advocated for increasing workers' rights, raising the minimum wage and unionizing workplaces.
Family and board members of the Clarke County Board of Education gather around the plaque that was dedicated to Rev. David Nunnally Sr. and Ileane Nunnally for photos on Sept. 8, 2022, at the Clarke County School District Atrium. (Photo/Keshondra Shipp)
Members of the Brattleboro Police Department and Wilmington Police Department run from the old police station, at the Municipal Center in Brattleboro, to the Dummerston town line for the annual Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics Vermont on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022.
Andrew Ielpi enters a plea of no contest on Friday, March 15, 2019, for his behavior that resulted in the crash of an off-road vehicle that caused the death of Angelique Frost in 2016.
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A drone normally used to support attack helicopters entered Taiwans air defense identification zone on Sunday .

Taiwanese troops in Kinmen have been issued with drone jamming guns, Sept. 2022.

The Chinese military has intensified its drone incursions into the skies above Taiwan with almost daily flights of combat and reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Taiwans Defense Ministry said a Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) TB-001 drone was spotted crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait, the de facto boundary between the island and Chinas mainland, for the first time on Thursday.

China sent UAVs into Taiwans air defense identification zone (ADIZ) every day over the weekend, the latest on Sunday was a KVD-001 drone that is usually used to support attack helicopters.

Last week the PLA also sent a number of BZK-007 tactical reconnaissance drones and a TB-001 twin-tailed scorpion combat and spy drone.

Currently China wants to conduct their activities against Taiwan more aggressively, with more crossings of the median line of the Strait and even to challenge Taiwanese territorial air space, said Sheu Jyh-Shyang, a military expert at the Taiwans Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR), a defense ministry-affiliated think tank.

Drones would be very useful for gray zone activities since it's easier to control the situation to prevent further escalation and they dont have to worry about the loss of pilots lives, Sheu said.

Gray zone activities are generally not explicit acts of war but are considered harmful to the security of a nation.

Flight paths of Chinese UAVs spotted inside Taiwans ADIZ on Sept. 11, 2022. CREDIT: Taiwan Defense Ministry





Relatively new phenomenon

China is one of the largest drone manufacturers in the world, according to the analyst.

In the past decade weve seen Chinese-made drones in battlefields in the Middle East, North Africa and so on... Its unsurprising that the PLA puts more drones into use, he said.

The military expert said that the use of Chinese military drones to perform reconnaissance tasks around Taiwan is a relatively new phenomenon.

Just a week ago on Sept. 6, the Taiwanese defense ministry released, for the first time, public information and the flight path of a Chinese BZK-007 tactical reconnaissance UAV that was detected inside Taiwans ADIZ.

However, according to Japans Self-Defense Forces, Chinese military drones have been used in maritime surveillance operations in the East China Sea for several years now.

On Aug. 4, Japan reported a BZK-005, a TB-001 and at least one other UAV flying over waters off northeastern Taiwan and Japans Nansei islands and said fighter jets were dispatched to intercept the drones.

The incidents took place at the same time as China conducted military drills around Taiwan in an angry response to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosis visit to Taipei.

Pelosi is the most senior U.S. official to visit Taiwan, which China considers one of its provinces, in 25 years.

Experts say that UAVs are often deployed on reconnaissance missions before fighter jets which play combat roles.

Taiwan has been relatively restrained in dealing with both civilian and military Chinese drones.

Only two weeks after Chinese civilian drones were seen publicly buzzing Taiwanese military posts in the outlying Kinmen County, Taiwan shot one down.

Troops in Kinmen and elsewhere have been instructed to follow a four-step procedure of firing warning flares, reporting the incursion, expelling the drone and ultimately shooting it down.

Drone incursions

Taiwans military have been issued anti-drone jamming guns that disrupt radio frequency links for command and control, said Wendell Minnick, a Taipei-based military expert.

These drones appear to be harassment by civilians, not the military, and ignored by local Chinese law enforcement in Fujian province, Minnick told RFA.

The analyst suggested that, as China runs tour boats around Taiwanese outer islets, Taiwans military could disrupt them to force local Chinese politicians to take action to stop the drones.

To deal with military UAV threats it was reported in May that Taiwans defense ministry approved a U.S. $146 million budget to buy indigenous drone defense systems designed by the National Chung Shan Institute of Science & Technology (NCSIST).

The systems would be installed at 45 military bases across Taiwan, including on outlying islands such as Kinmen and Matsu, to disrupt and neutralize hostile drones.

Both Kinmen and Matsu are much closer to China than Taiwans main island and thought to be the first targets should a conflict occur between Beijing and Taipei.

On Sept. 9 a Taiwanese news outlet reported that an unidentified Chinese aircraft entered Matsus controlled airspace. The Liberty Times said the aircraft entered the civil airspace twice at around 11:30 a.m. and was warned away.

Taiwan's defense military declined to confirm the information when contacted by RFA.

Last month, Taiwan's government proposed U.S. $19 billion in defense spending for next year, a near 14% increase on this year's budget to a record U.S. $19.41 billion.
Many from Hong Kong mourn the British monarch's passing alongside that of their former freedoms.

UPDATED at 3:58 P.M. EDT on 2022-09-12

The death of Queen Elizabeth II has been a hot topic on Chinese social media since it was announced on Sept. 8, amid complaints that the queen's passing seemed to be getting more public attention than the anniversary of the death of late supreme leader Mao Zedong a day later.

"We should me more concerned with [mourning] 'Grandpa Mao' than an old British lady," one comment said amid a flurry of comments and likes, particularly surrounding floral tributes outside Buckingham Palace, and offerings of Paddington Bear toys and marmalade sandwiches -- a reference a video clip made in honor of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June 2022."

"There's no need to be so sad about the death of the Queen of England," Sina Weibo user @Bone-Goose wrote on Monday. "I saw a lot of people posting about a lot of video clips, and that they were mainly doing to follow a trend or to look classy. It think this is very well said."

Another comment read: "The news of the death of the Queen of England is all over the internet, just one day away from the anniversary of our founding leader's death. People who drink water shouldn't forget those who dug the wells."

Others continued to post photos and video of mourners and photos of the queen and other royals on public engagements well into Monday evening local time.

"Thank you, Ma'am, for everything," Weibo user @JiaziJianziJessica commented with a candle and a heart emoji on Monday.

However, it appeared that the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s supporters had staged something of a comeback over the weekend, with some quoting veteran CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour as calling for the U.K. to focus more on the harm done by its colonialist and imperialist history, now that King Charles III has ascended to the throne.

"I really do believe that we have to have this conversation right now, even at this moment," she said of British colonialism during a live, on-air analysis of the national mourning period, which has already seen two people arrested  one in Oxford for questioning the imposition of an unelected king on the British people and a woman in Edinburgh who is being charged with public order offenses after she held up a placard calling for the abolition of the monarchy.

"What were saying is that there is the generation of multicultural and diverse Britons who want this answered, who want to see their monarch finally talk about what it means and, you know, potentially the idea of reparations, definitely justice, right? Justice," Amanpour said in comments quoted by Fox News.

Another post referenced a Sept. 9 statement from the Communist Party of Britain's youth arm calling for a republic.

"It is fundamentally clear, now more than ever, that Britain must become a modern republic. A tiny interbreeding sect of a decaying aristocracy cannot and will never reflect the interests of working people in Britain," the statement said.

"The Royal Familys wealth and the Crown estates, vast tracts of land and resources across Britain, are centuries of stolen wealth from the working people of this country and the oppressed and exploited peoples in Britains colonies," it said, calling the late Queen "a symbol of the archaic, corrupt and racist institution."

The statement was retweeted on Weibo on Monday by @ShadowInvisibleCicero, with a brief paraphrase.

People gather next to flowers placed as a tribute outside the British Consulate in Hong Kong on Sept. 12, 2022, following the death of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. Credit: AFP

A bit of nostalgia

While some U.K.-based critics on Twitter referenced the Opium Wars, during which the British Navy imposed the opium trade on Qing Dynasty China, leading to mass addictions and massive profits, Hong Kongers told RFA that they were saddened by the queen's passing.

"I have very strong feelings about her; it's like she's my grandmother," a woman surnamed Chan said after making a trip to express her condolences publicly in Hong Kong on Friday.

"I respected her as a great leader who brought us peace of mind."

A man who gave the surname Fung said he and his wife grew up in colonial-era Hong Kong, where there was a portrait of the queen in every classroom.

"We all grew up in colonial Hong Kong, which helped us improve our lives, and develop the city, so we love the queen very much," Fung said. "She came here many times ... she was very close to the people."

"Many people benefited from a lot of [new] hospitals, better medical care, education and housing in Hong Kong [during that time]," he said.

Sociologist and current affairs commentator Chung Kim-wah said the late queen was a symbol of a Hong Kong that no longer exists since the CCP started to clamp down on the city's traditional freedoms in the wake of mass protests and calls for full democracy in recent years.

"People already had a bit of nostalgia for the British-style administration and methods of governance ... like human rights, freedom and democracy, which have all regressed [lately]," Chung told RFA.

"The memory of the queen, her death, naturally evokes this past era, and naturally people in Hong Kong feel very strongly about that," he said.

Hong Konger Lee Chi-lung, who now lives in London, said that while the queen hadn't been directly involved in the running of colonial-era Hong Kong, she has come to represent that time.

"For Hong Kongers, it's not so much they have special personal feelings about the queen, but an emotional projection of [the memory] of old Hong Kong," said Lee, who now curates a museum of Hong Kong in London.

"[She] was there as a lot of people in Hong Kong were growing up."

CCP leader Xi Jinping and Hong Kong chief executive John Lee both sent messages of condolence after the queen's death was announced.

"Queen Elizabeth II won wide acclaim as the longest-reigning monarch of the United Kingdom," Xi's statement said. "Queen Elizabeth II was the first British monarch to visit China, and her passing is a huge loss to the British people."

"We attach great importance to the development of China-U.K. relations and are willing to work together with King Charles III to take the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level between the two countries as an opportunity to promote the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations and benefit the two countries and peoples," the statement said.

Premier Li Keqiang also sent a message of condolence to the British Prime Minister Liz Truss.

John Lee said: "The queen reigned for 70 years and was the longest reigning monarch in the U.K. She was highly respected, loved and praised by the British people."

Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

CORRECTION: The offerings of Paddington Bear toys and marmalade sandwiches were in reference a video clip made in honor of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June 2022 and not to her appearance in a Paddington movie.
Some analysts say it is a first step in the juntas plan to develop nuclear weapons.

An agreement signed by Myanmars military regime and Russias state-owned nuclear energy corporation to jointly assess building a small reactor in the Southeast Asian country underscores the juntas long-term pursuit of nuclear weapons, analysts said.

Myo Thein Kyaw, the regimes minister of science and technology; Thuang Han, minister of electric power; and Alexey Likhachev, chief executive officer at Russias State Atomic Energy Corporation, signed the roadmap for cooperation while they attended the Eastern Economic Forum on Sept. 5-8 in Vladivostok. Junta leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing oversaw the signing of the agreement.

The deal would further Russian-Myanmar cooperation in the field of nuclear energy, and assess the feasibility of a small-scale nuclear reactor project in Myanmar, Rosatom said in a statement issued Sept. 6.

The same day, the junta announced that it would use nuclear energy for electricity generation, scientific research, medicine production and industry.

The roadmap fixes the defined steps for further Russian-Myanmar cooperation in the nuclear sphere, the statement said. In particular the document provides for the expanding of bilateral legal framework, possibility of implementing a small modular reactors project in Myanmar, as well as personnel training and work related to the improvement of public acceptance of nuclear energy in Myanmar.

Small modular reactors are smaller than conventional nuclear reactors and can be built in a factory and shipped to the site where they will operate and produce electric power.

Nevertheless, Myanmars political opposition and military analysts expressed concern over the agreement, fearing it could be the beginning of efforts to use nuclear technology for nefarious purposes, given the countrys ongoing internal armed conflict and widespread popular opposition to the regime following the February 2021 coup.

Captain Kaung Thu Win, an army officer who joined the anti-junta Civil Defense Movement (CDM), told RFA Burmese that the agreement is part of the juntas efforts to eventually develop nuclear weapons.

This deal demonstrates their goal to develop nuclear weapons, he said. They will try to develop nuclear weapons after they initially use the technology to generate electricity. They have been trying to recruit the nuclear technicians required for this goal. They have teams of technicians who completed the training in Russia.

This is part of the strategy to govern the people by fear, he said. They think that if they possess nuclear weapons, it will increase peoples fear.

Successive military regimes that ruled Myanmar in the past harbored the same ambition of obtaining nuclear weapons, and the current junta is no different, Kaung Thu Win said.

Myanmar and Russia signed a previous preliminary agreement in June 2015 to work together in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

Min Aung Hlaing has visited Russia three times in the 19 months since the military seized power from the democratically elected government in the Feb. 1, 2021 coup, and met with Rosatom officials during his second visit in July.

'A very risky and costly decision'

Hla Kyaw Zawl, a China-based political analyst, said Myanmar's military regime should use non-nuclear resources that are cheaper and more easily available if their intention is only to generate electricity.

A decision to build costly and risky nuclear reactors in Myanmar, while the countrys economy is in shambles, is a self-serving act that will not serve the interest of the people, she said.

We see the trend of countries that dont have good relations with Western countries considering the need for nuclear weapons to survive, Hla Kyaw Zawl told RFA. If the military regime genuinely cares about the peoples well-being, they can use other sustainable energy sources.

Choosing nuclear energy is a very risky and costly decision, she added. Myanmar doesnt have any infrastructure to support that technology. This is an overblown ambition that would serve nothing but their own interests. 

Min Zaw Oo, executive director of the Myanmar Institute for Peace and Security, said Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states would need to monitor fellow bloc member Myanmar more cautiously and thoroughly if the military regime builds a nuclear reactor.

If they move forward, there will be more concerns among the ASEAN countries, he said. Their concerns would be not limited to Myanmar possessing nuclear weapons. There also would be concerns about safeguarding a nuclear reactor.

If there was any nuclear fallout [following a blast], it would affect the entire region, he said. The world will be watching and criticizing Myanmar more thoroughly if the regime moves forward with this goal.

Myanmars military has been working to obtain nuclear weapons for decades, political analysts said.

The regime under Senior Gen. Than Shwe in 1999 negotiated with Russia to build a nuclear reactor that year, but the plan was canceled in 2002.

When Myanmar re-established relations with North Korea, attaining nuclear technology once again became a goal, and Thura Shwe Mann, a top military general, visited Pyongyang in 2008 to observe the rogue countrys military and missile facilities. Maj. Sai Thein Win, a military officer who defected, leaked information about how the Myanmar military under Than Shwe was trying to develop nuclear weapons with technology from Pyongyang.

Political analyst Than Soe Naing said Min Aung Hlaing is following in the footsteps of other military dictators in pursuing nuclear technology, and then developing weapons.

They always advance to developing nuclear weapons after they achieve a nuclear reactor, and not just in Myanmar he said.  Min Aung Hlaing is pretty determined that he can deter pressures from the U.S. and Western countries if they achieve their nuclear ambition and are able to prolong military rule. Thats why Russia is helping them achieve this goal.

But Thein Tun Oo, executive director of the pro-military Thayninaga Institute for Strategic Studies think tank, said the world need not be concerned about the prospect of Myanmar developing nuclear weapons as long as the military regime works under the supervision of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Building a nuclear reactor in Myanmar is acceptable because it would help meet the countrys electricity needs, he said.

As for the prospect of developing nuclear weapons from nuclear waste, it shouldnt be a concern as long as the waste is returned to Russia under the supervision of the IAEA.

Myanmar was a founding IAEA member, though it did not generate any nuclear power. In 2016, it signed a country program framework with the agency and joined the Convention on Nuclear Safety, which commits parties operating land-based civil nuclear power plants to maintain a high level of safety.

Since 1992, Myanmar has been a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the objective of which is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology. The country also signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty in 2016, which bans nuclear weapons test explosions, and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in 2018, a legally binding international agreement that comprehensively prohibits nuclear weapons with the final goal of total elimination.

Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung for RFA Burmese. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
A lack of doctors, medicine and oxygen mean the death toll could also rise.

Medical workers vaccinate students over 12-years-old for the first time in Sittwe township, Rakhine State on October 17, 2021.

COVID-19 cases are rising again in Myanmar as the country faces an acute lack of medical workers and medicine and aid groups warn of rising complacency against the deadly virus.

The State Administration Councils (SAC) Ministry of Health reported 189 daily infections on Sunday.

A total of 9,378 laboratory samples were tested, the ministry said, with 2.01% of them testing positive for COVID-19, the highest rate of daily infections this month.

Of the 189 people testing positive, 173 people were infected locally, while the remaining 16 were infected in other countries, according to the SAC Ministry of Healths statement.

Myanmars healthcare system has been struggling since the coup on Feb. 1, 2021. Most doctors have joined the anti-junta Civil Disobedience Movement and no longer work in government hospitals. There is also an acute shortage of medicine and oxygen, with prices doubling since the coup.

A housewife in Yangon told RFA she was worried the COVID resurgence would result in a similar death toll to the last wave and said she thought people had become complacent.

Although people have been vaccinated, they are infected. Many people have died from the Coronavirus, so we have to learn a lesson from what happened in the third wave and stay safe, she said.

People forget to wear masks and even when they wear one, it's just on their chin. We have to remind each other to wear masks.

Yangon social aid groups, which often volunteer to assist people with serious health issues, also urged people to follow the rules and regulations related to COVID-19.

Since the start of the COVID outbreak in Myanmar in late 2019 some 616,663 people have been infected and 19,442 people have died, according to the Ministry of Health.

The highest daily rate of infections was 6,093 on July 21, 2021, according to Reuters, which stopped updating its data in July this year.

Only 64.5 million Coronavirus vaccine doses have been administered in the country which has a population of around 55.2 million, according to the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
Killings by the shadowy 'Blood Comrades' group may be linked to the country's military, sources say.

Four men were found slain in Myanmars central city of Mandalay on Sunday in what appears to be the latest in a series of killings by a shadowy pro-junta militia group, sources in the country told RFA.

The victims, all over 30 years old, were found next to cards bearing the logo of the Thway Thauk or Blood Comrades group believed responsible for the deaths since April of at least 20 opponents of military rule.

All of the four killed at the weekend were found with their throats cut, a member of a local social assistance group told RFA on Monday.

Three of the bodies were found near the Tadarbyu Bridge on the Sagaing-Mandalay road, RFAs source said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons. The other body was found in front of the Pan Taw Oo Hotel in Chan Mya Thazi township.

I dont know who the victims are. Their bodies have been taken to a hospital, he added.

RFA was unable to independently confirm reports of the killings, and calls seeking comment from a junta spokesman and from Thein Htay, Minister of Economy for the Mandalay Regional Government, rang unanswered on Monday.

On April 21, a statement posted on the Telegram social media network by the Thway Thauk Group in Mandalay said it was targeting for assassination members of the National League for Democracy (NLD), fighters with the anti-junta Peoples Defense Force paramilitary group, and other opponents of military rule in Myanmar.

Mandalay residents say that at least 20 people have since been killed by the shadowy group, which is believed linked to Myanmars military, which overthrew civilian rule in the country in a Feb. 1, 2021 coup.

The group has also threatened reporters and editors working for news outlets in Myanmar including The Irrawaddy, Mizzima, Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), and The Irrawaddy Times, as well as their family members.

Tha Lun Zaung Htet, a media editor named in Thway Thauks list, told RFA in an earlier report that he believes the group is acting on the orders of authorities, despite junta claims to the contrary.

This group is surely linked to the military because the victims were taken away by police or military vehicles, and the bodies were later dropped by those same vehicles, he said, adding that he is in possession of photos taken by witnesses.

Photos obtained by RFA show leaflets or cards bearing the groups logo, the same logo seen on the social media accounts of junta supporters, of crossed swords over the image of a man from Myanmars royal era left near the bodies of eight NLD members and supporters killed in late April.

Translated by Khin Maung Nyane for RFA Burmese. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Chau Bui had expressed sympathy over Queen Elizabeth IIs death but was accused of ignoring Vietnams history.

Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence and Britain's Princess Anne stand solemnly as the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped with the Royal Standard of Scotland, completes its journey from Balmoral to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, in Edinburgh, Scotland, Britain September 11, 2022.

A Vietnamese actress and model has received an online backlash after expressing grief over the death of Britains Queen Elizabeth II.

Artist Chau Bui, 24, has an Instagram following of more than 3 million people.

In her online status she included a quote from the former monarch, followed by the comment "Farewell to you."

Online critics accused Bui of loving all things foreign and forgetting Vietnams history as well as the attitude of the British Royal Family towards Vietnam in the past.

One comment that received many Likes said Queen Elizabeth had "twice supported the French in its invasion of Vietnam" and accused Chau Bui of not understanding her nation's history.

Hanoi-based lawyer Tran Dai Lam said the negative comments were misguided.

In the UK, the royal family only play a role as a national symbol, they play very little role in political decisions, so to say that she supported France is very ambiguous.

Lam said when the French invaded Vietnam for the first time, on September 1, 1858, the Queen was not yet born, so she could not have supported it. When the French invaded Vietnam for the second time, on September 23, 1945, she was only 19-years-old and was not yet Queen.

He said during her reign Queen Elizabeth also contributed a lot in returning British colonies to the people of many countries, so to say she supported invasion and colonization showed a lack of historical knowledge.

Former military intelligence officer Vu Minh Tri said millions of people around the world have expressed their condolences, not just Chau Bui.

Surely in the next few days, senior leaders of the State of Vietnam will send condolences to the Royal Family and the British Government on the passing of Queen Elizabeth, he said, adding that he understood why some people may not share that view.

Queen Elizabeth is respected and appreciated for her lifelong dedication to the British people. That dedication, if it harms any other country, is understandable. She is not the queen of the whole world.

After receiving many objections to her comments, Chau Bui deleted or hid her status and apologized for her "reckless" statements.

Chau Bui is very young, Tri said. Her right to freedom of expression must be respected, especially when she speaks in a personal capacity. Anyone who wants to mention that the Queen of England supported France in the Indochina war, should just speak out publicly and not make Chau Bui speak for them."

Lam said he was not surprised by the self-censorship of artists in Vietnam because they do not want to offend their fans.

It is not too difficult to understand that the majority of netizens who oppose Queen Elizabeth are young people. These people have a lot of enthusiasm but a lack of culture, so it is common sense for the artist to censor herself to avoid wasting time arguing, said the lawyer.

Vietnamese writer Vo Thi Hao, who lives in Germany, said she read some comments about Chau Bui's status and felt "shocked and fearful" because of the attempt to silence her.

"In recent years, Vietnam's security and propaganda agencies have used the force of influencers to use social networks to attack, in order to enslave, divide, and cause hatred between people and nations," she said.

Hao said artists and writers who dare to speak the truth in Vietnam, have been subjected to threats, subject to censorship and even imprisonment. Vietnamese authorities use censorship and inhumane laws to imprison and assassinate culture and knowledge, she said, adding that self-censorship was not uncommon given the political climate.
The speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, has confirmed she will visit Armenia this weekend after the worst fighting in two years between Armenia and Azerbaijan left more than 200 dead.

Pelosi confirmed the trip after the Armenian Defense Ministry said a truce with Azerbaijan appeared to be holding.

Speaking to reporters in Berlin, she said she would travel on September 17 with a delegation that includes Representative Jackie Speier (Democrat-California), who is of Armenian descent.

"Tomorrow we are visiting Armenia because we received an invitation from the Armenians a long time ago. I wouldn't want to discuss the details of the visit, because when we travel, we don't want to be targeted, so I wouldn't want to say anything in advance," Pelosi said.

Pelosi said the trip was planned before the recent escalation of violence on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

The Armenian Defense Ministry earlier on September 16 said the "situation was unchanged" at the border following a deadly flare-up in fighting linked to a decades-old dispute between the Caucasus neighbors over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

"As of [9 a.m.] on September 16, no change in the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border has been recorded, said the ministry's press secretary, Aram Torosian.

The clashes that had erupted on September 13 -- the worst since the two sides fought a war in 2020 -- ended "thanks to the international involvement" overnight on September 15, Armenia's Security Council said, after earlier failed attempts by Russia to broker a truce.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Uzbekistan, telling him the conflict had stabilized.

"Border conflicts happen. Unfortunately, they have been associated with numerous casualties on both sides, but the main thing is that we have managed to stabilize the situation and shift it to a peaceful course," Aliyev said.

Putin said it was good that the conflict had de-escalated, but that the situation was still tense.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on September 16 announced an updated death toll from this week's clashes with Azerbaijan, saying the number of the dead had risen from 105 to at least 135.



"For the moment, the number of dead is 135," Pashinian told a cabinet meeting.

"Unfortunately it is not the final figure. There are also many wounded."

Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry said on September 15 that a total of 71 of its servicemen had been killed during clashes this week on the border with Armenia, updating a previous death toll of 50.

The United States and the United Nations on September 15 welcomed the cease-fire.

"We welcome the cessation of hostilities between Azerbaijan and Armenia and will continue to work with the parties to seek to cement it," tweeted U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.



In a later tweet, Blinken said that he discussed the situation in a phone call with Pashinian. "I offered my condolences for the loss of life in the recent fighting," Blinken wrote.

Both sides have blamed each other for starting the recent hostilities, with Armenia accusing Azerbaijan of an unprovoked attack that reached into Armenian territory and Baku saying it was responding to shelling by Armenian forces.

Before the cease-fire was announced, Pashinian said Azerbaijani forces had struck and seized several Armenian settlements along their shared border and in territory beyond Nagorno-Karabakh. Baku said it was responding to "provocations" by the Armenian side.

Baku and Yerevan have been locked in a conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh for years. Armenian-backed separatists seized the mainly Armenian-populated region from Azerbaijan during a war in the early 1990s that killed some 30,000 people.

The two sides fought another war that lasted six weeks in late 2020 and killed an estimated 6,000 people before a Russia-brokered cease-fire, resulting in Armenia losing control over parts of the region and seven adjacent districts.

Under the cease-fire Moscow deployed about 2,000 troops to the region to serve as peacekeepers. Russia moved quickly to negotiate an end to the latest hostilities, but a renewal of the cease-fire has failed to hold.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, dpa, and AFP
Chinese President Xi Jinping will leave China for the first time in more than two years in a trip to Central Asia that aims to boost Chinese leadership in the region and reaffirm Beijing's partnership with Moscow in a meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

The trip marks Xi's return to the world stage and kicks off with a visit to Kazakhstan on September 14 followed by a trip to the ancient Silk Road city of Samarkand, in Uzbekistan, for the annual Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit. At the SCO meeting, Xi will meet with various leaders from the region as well as Putin, who he has not seen since they declared a "no limits" Russian-Chinese partnership in February just days before the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine.

The Xi-Putin meeting is likely to attract the most attention, but the fact the Chinese leader has chosen Kazakhstan and the SCO summit as the venues for his first international trip since January 2020 sends a powerful message about Beijing's vision for Central Asia and the importance of the SCO -- a political and security bloc that includes India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan as members -- for China.

The timing of the trip -- which comes a month before Xi is poised to receive a third five-year term as leader of the Chinese Communist Party -- is also significant and showcases the confidence he has even before his expected October 16 confirmation that will cement his position as the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong.

Here are the storylines to follow and what to expect as Xi embarks on a week of high-profile diplomacy that is set to shape China's vision for Central and South Asia, the Middle East, and beyond.

Face Time With Putin

Against a backdrop of Moscow's confrontation with the West, its war in Ukraine, and escalating tensions between Beijing and the West over Taiwan -- all eyes will be on Xi and Putin in Uzbekistan.

Few details are available about what kind of meeting will take place between the pair. Beijing has confirmed Xi's travel plans, but no other information. Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told reporters last week that the Xi-Putin meeting will be "very important," but did not elaborate.

On September 7, Li Zhanshu, a member of the Chinese Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee and the country's No. 3 leader, visited Vladivostok in Russia's Far East to attend the Eastern Economic Forum and meet with Putin.

Li called for increased cooperation with Moscow and, according to an official Russian readout of a meeting with lawmakers from the State Duma on September 9, said that China "understands and supports Russia," especially "on the situation in Ukraine."

The comments received added attention as they appeared to be a more full-throated endorsement of Russia's war than past public statements from Chinese officials and the mentions of Ukraine were notably absent from Li's comments from the meeting published in Chinese state media.

The extent of China's support for Russia has been in the spotlight since the Kremlin invaded Ukraine, but Beijing and Moscow's relationship is slated to receive added scrutiny as Russia faces new setbacks from a Ukrainian counteroffensive that has seen Kyiv retake large amounts of territory.

Beijing has refused to condemn Russia's actions, has criticized Western sanctions, and boosted the Kremlin's narrative about fighting in Ukraine in its state media -- though it has also been cautious about explicitly endorsing Moscow's invasion.

Chinese companies have bought Russian energy supplies at record levels, with Russian energy giant Gazprom saying recently that it signed an agreement to start switching the currency of payments by China for gas supplies to yuan and rubles instead of U.S. dollars.

But China has been careful to avoid violating Western sanctions on Russia and many analysts say its support has largely been out of self-interest. Beijing has bought up Russian energy at steep discounts and amplified anti-American rhetoric throughout the war. But it has held back from providing military aid or technological support that could improve Moscow's standing on the battlefield.

With the stakes high, the SCO summit in Uzbekistan will be an important litmus test for where the Chinese-Russian partnership stands after nearly seven months of war.

Symbolic Trip Abroad

While a meeting with Putin comes with its own unique symbolism, the fact Xi will begin his first tour abroad in Kazakhstan sends an important message about China's vision for Central Asia and how it is adapting to the geopolitical fallout from the war in Ukraine.

Kazakhstan was where Xi launched the overland portion of what would morph into the globe-spanning Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and the country has become a strategic partner for Beijing as a top energy and resource provider that borders China's western Xinjiang Province, where Chinese authorities have launched a mass-internment program targeting more than 1 million Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Muslim minorities.

The stop in Kazakhstan provides a chance for Beijing to deepen its relationship with Nur-Sultan and also burnish its foreign policy credentials.

The Ukraine war has created a new and tumultuous era for Russia's historic ties to Central Asia, with governments in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan providing aid to Ukraine in the early months of the conflict and distancing themselves from Moscow. Kazakhstan has also been the target of threats from hard-line Russian commentators and officials about possibly annexing its territory in the north.

This sets the stage for Beijing to be an even more appealing partner to countries in the region -- a tough balancing act for China to maintain as it looks to preserve its strategic relationship with Moscow and simultaneously expand its influence in a part of the world that the Kremlin has traditionally seen as its "backyard."

Breathing Life Into The SCO

The exact agenda of the SCO summit is still being set, but the bloc's 22nd leaders' summit is slated to be an important one.

The meeting in Samarkand will be the first in-person summit since 2019 and is expected to focus on security and economic issues related to Afghanistan, the admission of Iran -- whose membership was approved last year -- and potential member status for Belarus, which is currently an observer.

Founded in 2001, the SCO has been criticized for being an empty vessel unable to tackle the big issues on its security mandate and often divided by the rivalries of its members.

Despite its flaws, Beijing -- and Xi -- still see value in the SCO as an umbrella organization for pushing China's interests across Eurasia and as a geopolitical vehicle for Chinese leadership.

In Samarkand, Xi will likely look to use the SCO as an opportunity to highlight a gathering of countries under Chinese guidance that exists as an alternative to Western-led alliances. The summit will also provide a chance for important face-to-face diplomacy for a host of countries: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi confirmed his attendance on September 12 and leaders from other members and observer states -- such as Turkmenistan -- will also attend.

This provides useful optics for Xi and will perhaps give the SCO a boost in credibility as a regional leader.

But doing so will certainly keep Beijing's hands full in a year that is already full of upheaval across Eurasia -- from the war in Ukraine to unrest in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, as well as a deepening global economic crisis.
Hossein Razzagh, an Iranian journalist imprisoned in notorious Tehran's Evin prison, faces new charges over his social media activities.

Saeed Dehghan, Razzaghs lawyer, wrote in a tweet on September 11 that his client has been accused of "conspiring and colluding against the regime" for managing a popular room on the Clubhouse social media network.

He also faces two other new charges, including "propaganda against the system and publishing lies with the intention of disturbing the public mind," which he is accused of for defending people of the Baha'i faith and supporting Sepideh Rashno, a woman who was arrested for protesting mandatory head-scarf rules.



Razzagh was arrested by security forces in the northern Iranian city of Amol on August 21, less than a year after his release on bail of 20 billion Iranian Rials ($67,000) for his previous critical comments and activism.



Razzagh was one of the founders of a room in the Clubhouse social network called "Freedom Square" which, according to him, was forced to be removed from the platform due to pressure and threats from the Intelligence Ministry.



An audio-based, social-media application, Clubhouse has become a major platform for dialogue among Iranians who join virtual chat rooms to hear from analysts, journalists, and dissidents.

Many also joined Clubhouse virtual rooms during last year's presidential campaign to follow debates and listen to analysis.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda
Imprisoned Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi was awarded the Special Jury prize at the Venice International Film Festival over the weekend for his latest film, No Bears.

Panahi, 62, was imprisoned in July after a Tehran court ruled he must serve a six-year sentence he was handed more than a decade ago for supporting anti-government demonstrations.

Iranian actor Reza Heydari told journalists after the award ceremony that Panahi had sent him message from prison.

"He told me do not get in trouble for him," Heydari, who plays one of the main characters in No Bears, said. "The award he has received brings a message -- an artist in a prison or outside a prison can still produce his message because he loves art and he loves cinema."

Panahi's arrest was part of a renewed crackdown by Iranian authorities on dissent as antiestablishment sentiment and near daily protests across the Islamic republic rattle the government.

Days prior to his arrest, Panahi was among more than 300 Iranian filmmakers and cultural activists who issued a statement condemning the arrests of activist cinematographers Mohammad Rasulof and Mostafa al-Ahmad.



Panahi originally served two months in prison after his 2010 conviction before being granted a conditional release, which was revocable. As part of his release, he was banned from directing or writing screenplays and from traveling abroad.

The filmmaker has won a number of international awards for films critiquing modern Iran, including the top prize in Berlin for Taxi in 2015 and best screenplay at Cannes for his film Three Faces in 2018.
C.A. ROSETTI, Romania -- Mirela Dobrescu lives atop natural gas reserves that a Romanian prime minister once called "the most important discovery since the revolution."

So why, the 68-year-old widow wondered aloud recently, had she just spent a whole month hauling a winter's worth of firewood -- one cartful at a time -- from her front gate to a shed in her backyard here in this communal village 100 or so kilometers from the capital, Bucharest?

"I'd switch to gas immediately," she said. "It's amazing." Her grown daughter in the city of Buzau, 30 kilometers away, has gas and it's "beautiful" and "clean," she said.

Dobrescu's frustration, in part, reflects a confluence of societal trends and geopolitical problems. From Romanians' ongoing urbanization, to unfulfilled dreams of connectivity and energy independence, to the fallout from a six-month-old war next door in Ukraine, the challenges are mounting for her and her fellow villagers.

If only a gas distribution network were built in hers and a handful of surrounding villages, she told RFE/RL's Romanian Service, her hardships would ease.

Instead, like half of Romania's 7 million households, she's reliant on seasonal stockpiles of firewood to heat her home. "It's hard for me here. I go in with wood into the house, take the ashes out of the stove, and make a mess," Dobrescu, who is retired, said.

"I have no one to ask to help me -- the young people have all left the villages." They want to live in the city, she added, "in decent conditions."

Buried 'Treasure'

Six years ago, state-owned Romgaz announced that two years of exploration had confirmed a massive deposit of around 30 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas, worth tens of billions of dollars. The so-called Caragele gas field mostly lay under the six villages that make up the commune of C.A. Rosetti, in Buzau county in eastern Romania, near the Ukrainian border and the Black Sea.

Current Transport Minister Sorin Grindeanu, who was prime minister at the time, was the one who dubbed it "the most important discovery" since the fall of communism 2 1/2 decades before. It could "ensure Romania's energy independence," he assured the country. Extraction efforts began the following spring.

But all this time later, with energy dependence taking on whole new dimensions as the West tries to wean itself off Russian oil and gas in response to Moscow's decision to invade Ukraine, it has still extracted just 2 percent of the Caragele field.

Reports suggest that only small pockets of Caragele's deposits were extracted at depths of up to 3,500 meters, while Romgaz experts say most of the deposits lie at least 4,000 meters underground.

Romania consumes around 12.5 bcm a year of natural gas, 8 bcm-9 bcm of it extracted domestically and the other 3.5 bcm-4.5 bcm imported from Russia.

Spurred most recently by Russia's war on Ukraine, gas prices have roughly tripled since the initial assessment in 2017 of Caragele's value. At an estimated 30 bcm, the Caragele deposits thus represent at least six years' worth of the 3.5 bcm-4.5 bcm of gas purchased from Russia annually.

Romgaz declined to respond to RFE/RL's questions about why so little extraction work has been done, despite the potential upside for Romanian consumers, the economy, and the inhabitants of CA Rosetti and its fellow villages who could also profit financially.

The company has suggested that more intensive extraction will begin by early 2024 at the latest.

Energy Minister Virgil Popescu told RFE/RL's Romanian Service in August that "probably in 2023 we are talking about the first gas" from Caragele.

Marcel Ciolacu, leader of the senior ruling Social Democrats (PSD) and a prime minister-in-waiting under the current coalition agreement who is originally from nearby Buzau, estimated that Caragele's gas could come online in early 2024.

"Romania will have a surplus of natural gas, practically doubling its production well above the current domestic consumption requirement -- but also enough time to prepare to develop industries that will consume the gas in the country," Ciolacu said recently, adding, "Also, our country will become a provider of regional energy security."

Up In Smoke

Debates on energy alternatives to fossil fuels have intensified since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February set off a chain of unprecedented sanctions against Moscow and countermeasures that have contributed to skyrocketing energy prices.

Part of policymakers' calculus in Central and Southeastern Europe involves woodburning for home heating and cooking.

The European average for the proportion of households that use wood and other solid fuels is around 20 percent. But estimates are that about half of Romanian households use firewood for heating.

Bucharest had already pledged itself to more tightly regulate the burning of wood and other biomass from next year. In view of the war's knock-on effects, however, officials are now sending slightly different -- and frequently contradictory -- messages.

Environment Minister Tanczos Barna recently told RFE/RL's Romanian Service that his ministry was proposing a subsidy of 150 lei ($0.31) per cubic meter per month of firewood for households, up to 750 lei.

But the PSD and its finance minister have objected, saying they want the subsidy limited to the most vulnerable homes.

So Close, So Far

C.A. Rosetti Mayor Costel Craciun feels like his constituents are vulnerable enough.

Nearly 93 percent of villages and rural communities like his still lack connections to a gas network, according to a recent industry study.

"Here's the gas treasure," Craciun told RFE/RL's Romanian Service, "Or here's where [Romgaz] hopes it is!" He was stabbing at a map on his office wall, circling a wide swath of the plateau where his and five other villages sit atop around $90 billion worth of gas at today's prices.

He estimates that it would cost just $6 million or so to connect CA Rosetti to the gas network.

Experts say around 27 bcm of Caragele's 30 bcm of gas is exploitable. According to the Oil and Gas Employers' Federation, an industry alliance, all the villages in Romania combined would consume under 1 bcm per year if they were connected to the gas grid. So in theory, Caragele alone could meet every villagers' gas needs for nearly three decades.

But even in relatively rural Romania, villages like CA Rosetti are also a waning minority. Nearly half of Romanians -- around 9 million in a population of 19 million -- live in villages or other small communities. That's high by European standards -- 46 percent compared to the EU average of just 25 percent who don't live in bigger cities, according to the World Bank.

But it is 3 million fewer than three decades ago, according to data from Romania's National Institute of Statistics. And nearly 5 million of those rural residents are elderly, as younger generations leave in search of work or simply urban life in Romanian cities or abroad.

There's also an environmental aspect to the debate, even putting aside carbon emissions and other obvious contributors to climate change.

Romania has struggled for decades to combat legal and illegal deforestation. Official assessments of energy needs and strategies readily acknowledge gaps in the data.

Conservation group Greenpeace Romania's Ciprian Galusca told RFE/RL that Romania loses 13 hectares a day to logging. "The calculation is simple," Galusca said. "We have 38 million cubic meters of wood leaving the forest every year."

The problem, he adds, is that half of it simply disappears without a trace.

Written by Andy Heil based on reporting by Marian Pavalasc of RFE/RL's Romanian Service
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, several social media groups have sprung up where members of the Russian military can -- anonymously or otherwise - talk about the problems they face due to their participation in the war in Ukraine and ask for help from a lawyer.

Their complaints reflect the current poor situation in the Russian Army. Many Russian soldiers have never been rotated home after more than six months; combat payments have been delayed; and volunteers of the "special reserve" who signed a contract with a mysterious "authority" have been deprived of compensation for injuries.

As for those unfortunate enough to have been wounded in Crimea or the Belgorod region, the Russian authorities do not consider these areas to be included in the "special military operation," the euphemism the Kremlin insists on using when discussing the war in Ukraine, although there are explosions and shelling there, too.

Groups where lawyers offer help to military personnel are sometimes blocked by social media administrators, and some lawyers have been threatened.

"I get anonymous threats: 'We wrote a complaint against you to the FSB, to the prosecutor's office, get ready to come, they will summon you now, a task force has left for you,'" Moscow lawyer Maksim Grebenyuk, the author of the Military Ombudsman Telegram channel, tells RFE/RL's Russian Service.

In August 2022, a court in Moscow sentenced Vladimir Vorontsov, the author of a similar Telegram channel dedicated to the police, to five years in prison for extortion. When Grebenyuk hears that RFE/RL's Russian Service once interviewed Vorontsov, he sadly jokes, "Will they put me in jail now, too?"

In fact, Grebenyuk may indeed have problems because of his professional activities: He is currently representing a serviceman on trial in Ryazan, who, for refusing to participate in the war, received a stamp on his military ID saying: "Prone to betrayal, lies, and cheating." According to Grebenyuk, after the trial began, a representative of the commander of the unit where his client served wrote a complaint to the military court calling for Grebenyuk to be charged with "discrediting Russia's armed forces."

'There Are More Complaints Now'

Grebenyuk says that compared to March and April, when he gave his first media interviews, he now receives many more requests from military personnel and their relatives. The leading regions where the appeals come from are the North Caucasus and Russia's Far East.

"The number of requests has increased. A lot of legal-service agreements have been concluded. Now I receive about 20 to 30 messages a day, of which about five to 10 go into consultations. We conclude a legal-service agreement once or twice a day. This is not counting consultations and simple correspondence. There is also a lot of such communication. If the issue is simple, I try to consult for free, if possible," he says.

Complaints about compensation for injuries not being paid are now the most common.

"I tell the military member: You have a difficult case. There are no medical documents. Let's go to court, and through the court and medical examination let's prove that there was some kind of diagnosis, [that] the injury was from the 'special operation,'" Grebenyuk says. "Now there are a lot more military personnel and their families with such complaints."

In Grebenyuk's group on the VKontakte social network, such complaints appear every day.

On the morning of May 16, the quiet village of Mayske near Dzhankoi in Crimea awoke to the sound of "pops." As it turned out, ammunition was exploding at a Russian Army depot on a former farm. The inhabitants of the village were evacuated, the roads leading to it were blocked, and railway traffic between Dzhankoi and Kerch was stopped. The Russian Defense Ministry declared it was Ukrainian sabotage, although Kyiv until recently refused to take responsibility for this or any other such incidents in Crimea.

"Good evening! I am a member of the 'special military operation' in Ukraine who was injured by shrapnel after the explosion in the village of Mayske (Crimea). Am I entitled to a presidential payment?" one service member complained in Grebenyuk's group. "Immediately after the injury, I was taken to a civilian hospital in Dzhankoi for an operation, then to Simferopol, and then to a hospital in Grozny. I only learned about the payment and medical paperwork in Grozny. All the doctors say that it was necessary to get a certificate of injury in Dzhankoi, but it was like a civilian hospital and they just gave me a discharge summary."

More experienced soldiers in the comments section answer that the certificate does not play a major role: Since he was injured in Crimea, which the Russian authorities consider part of Russia, he is not entitled to compensation.

Grebenyuk agrees.

"Of course, in this case, it will be problematic for him to receive [compensation] because it's not clear why he was injured. Most likely, he was just guarding this munitions depot. In addition, it matters whether his unit is a participant in the 'special military operation,' Grebenyuk says.

"For example, sailors from the sunken cruiser Moskva were also not recognized as participants in the 'special operation' because they were not in the waters of Ukraine -- that is, on its territory. Then they were retroactively included in the list of military units that were involved in the 'special operation.' They were then paid all the payments -- for injuries, for the death of military personnel, in those cases where the death was recognized," he says.

He explains that, officially, the "special military operation" is only taking place in the parts of Ukraine initially controlled by Kyiv and the separatist territories in Donetsk and Luhansk.

"But this is only its name, it does not mean that the injury must necessarily be received there. If a unit is involved in the 'special operation,' but at some point enters the Belgorod region...or is stationed in Crimea, then its soldiers should also be entitled to payments and social guarantees. But if they are not included in the list of units participating in the [invasion], and the injury happened inside Russia, then he is most likely not entitled to compensation," Grebenyuk explains.

Finding out if a unit is listed as participating in the "special military operation" is difficult, he says, but it's possible to do it through a lawyer's request.

There are some other complaints related to the navy that military personnel post in Grebenyuk's social media group. Given the shortage of infantry, the Russian command is apparently trying to "plug holes" at the front lines with sailors.

WATCH: Ukraine's counteroffensive has shown some early success by liberating 20 towns in the country's embattled east. Footage of Ukrainian soldiers being greeted by emotional locals, as well as hoisting the Ukrainian flag over administrative buildings, has flooded social media sites.

"Guys, have there been cases when sailors were forcibly expelled from ships for the 'special operation' (to the infantry)? They say either we go there or we'll be fired. I'm more concerned with what's going in the Northern Fleet," a Russian sailor wrote on September 5 in Grebenyuk's group.

On September 6, Ukrainian journalist Roman Tsymbalyuk said on Facebook that the Russian Navy couldn't find enough personnel to form a crew for a large anti-submarine ship, the Admiral Chabanenko, which was being refitted in Severodvinsk. This was because the main requirement was that sailors sign a document saying they were prepared to participate in the "special military operation," and because so many sailors had been used in combat operations as infantry, recruits were afraid to sign such a paper.

'Volunteers' And 'Vagnerites'

Much more accommodating are the "volunteers," including those who are recruited to participate in the war in the Russian regions under the Special Combat Army Reserve (BARS) program. They eagerly sign blank "contracts" without even receiving a copy, and then discover that the Russian state does not consider them military personnel and they are not entitled to social protection or bonuses for military personnel, such as preferential mortgages.

"Not one of these 'BARS guys' has shown me a signed contract yet. They sign blank contract forms with some kind of 'authority,' and no copy is returned to them. I'm helping one of them now: I just made requests to the military registration and enlistment office, to the military unit to which he was assigned there, so that they give us a contract and explain their status, which is unclear to me," Grebenyuk says.

"BARS was created under the auspices of the Defense Ministry, but it's not yet clear whether they have an organization, some kind of legal entity, what kind of structure it is, if it's part of the ministry. Most likely, they are not military personnel and do not have the right to social guarantees from the state."

According to Grebenyuk, volunteers recruited to fight in Ukraine through the private Vagner Group military contractor face the same problem.

"The status of the so-called 'Vagner PMC' is also unclear to me, and not only to me, but to many people. Recently, the mother of one 'Vagnerite' contacted me and said that he had died in Popasna (in eastern Ukraine), and she had not received any payments at all. Now I send lawyer's requests. I try to figure out if they still have something to do with the Ministry of Defense. If so, then they are entitled to social guarantees. If not, then most likely not."

An Offer You Shouldn't Refuse

A huge number of complaints and questions in the Military Ombudsman group are from soldiers who have become disillusioned with the war in Ukraine and no longer want to take part. The problem is that as soon as a contract soldier declares his unwillingness to fight, they stop paying him even the money that he has already earned.

"My husband's contract has expired. They don't want to send him home. How do you write an appeal to the prosecutor's office?"

"Please, tell me the process to resign correctly. Now I am in the hospital, but I will return to my unit and they will start sending me to [Ukraine], and if I refuse, referring to my health, will I be fired for [failing to fulfill the terms of the contract]?"

"Please describe the process: If they are going to fire me [for failing to fulfill the terms of the contract] for the refusal to leave for [Ukraine], what should I do to be fully provided with clothing, vacation?"

As Grebenyuk says, if a soldier refuses to participate in the war in Ukraine, he has little chance of getting what he has earned. On the other hand, he says, there hasn't been a single criminal case filed against a soldier for terminating the contract.

"As soon as they get there and, for example, come under fire, they can change their attitude to what is happening and decide to refuse further participation [in the operation]. After they refuse, they are very much limited in their rights, very noticeably, both servicemen and volunteers," Grebenyuk says.

"What matters is the location where a serviceman or volunteer refuses to participate in the 'special military operation.' If he is at a point of permanent deployment of a unit in Russia, then he's simply dismissed due to 'failure to fulfill the terms of the contract.' He violates the contract and to he is subject to early dismissal.

"Commanders, of course, are dealing with the servicemen, trying to explain that refusal can be criminally liable, but as of today, there are no criminal cases in Russia for refusing to participate in the 'special operation,'" he adds. "And if you are already in Ukraine, then a refusal there can threaten a number of adverse consequences. The media wrote a lot about them in connection with the camps in Bryanka, Krasny Luch, and other 'basements.' Such soldiers are often subjected to illegal imprisonment and violence."

In August, after numerous appeals by Grebenyuk, the camps for "refuseniks" in Krasny Luch and other places in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region were liquidated. There were rumors that the "500s" (army slang for those who refuse to participate in the war) in these camps are guarded and beaten by Vagner troops.

According to Grebenyuk, "refuseniks" turned to him for advice from the very beginning of the war. Now there are more such appeals, he says, but it is difficult to say whether this is due to the failures of the Russian Army in Ukraine, because the flow of complaints has increased in general.

Why do so many Russian military personnel want to terminate their contract? The answer to this question is also easy to find in the Military Ombudsman group: The army, in the face of a shortage of personnel, is fighting "wear and tear." Many soldiers and officers have not been on rotation from the very beginning of the invasion of Ukraine.

"Please tell me if my husband can be sent to serve at home from [Ukraine] if he has two small children (3 years, 4 months). A year ago, we moved to a new city, and my parents would come in turn to help with the children, but now I am alone with them. Maybe there are some privileges, laws, according to which the father of the children can be returned home to serve. He has been there since February," one soldier's wife asked.

Grebenyuk says that there is no legal way to demand leave for a participant in the "special military operation."

"This is a common problem. Unfortunately, I explain to family members of military personnel that there is no right to rotate. There are orders from the Defense Ministry that military personnel must not be on a mission for more than a year without leave. If there are any family circumstances -- a relative is seriously ill, if he has many children, for example, and he has several small children -- then a soldier can demand leave for family reasons, including from 'special operations,'" he says.

"And if there are no illnesses or preferential grounds for granting leave at a convenient time, then only the commanders decide when to replace a soldier," Grebenyuk says. "This is the exclusive right of the commanders. They, like the generals in the famous [1934 Soviet] film about [Vasily Ivanovich] Chapayev, 'move potatoes on the map,' and they determine who goes into battle, and who is replaced and rests. It is impossible to demand this by legal means."
The Ukrainian military has pushed Russian forces out of hundreds of cities and towns in the northeast of the country, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says the stabilization of the liberated communities is under way.



Zelenskiy said in his nightly address on September 13 that Ukraine was in full control of more than 4,000 square kilometers of territory recaptured from Russian forces and is stabilizing another 4,000 square kilometers.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, how Kyiv is fighting back, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.

"The commander in chief held another charge. As of this time, stabilization measures have been completed in areas with a total area of more than 4,000 square kilometers, and stabilization continues in approximately the same liberated territory," Zelenskiy said.

"Remnants of occupying forces, sabotage groups are discovered, collaborators are detained, full security is restored," he said.



Just one day earlier, Zelenskiy said Ukraine had retaken 6,000 square kilometers in its recent counteroffensive in the northeast, where dozens of areas, including the cities of Izyum, Kupyansk, and Balaklia have been retaken.



Ukrainian forces in the Kharkiv region have since September 6 reclaimed more than 300 settlements and areas home to around 150,000 people, said Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar, speaking in the central square of Balaklia.



A senior U.S. military official said Russia had largely ceded territory near Kharkiv and pulled many of its troops back over the border.

Ukrainian troops have shared videos of themselves raising Ukrainian flags on buildings in the Kharkiv region and being greeted by grateful residents. Some of the videos show pieces of Russian artillery and tanks left behind by fleeing troops.



With the recapture of nearly all of the Kharkiv region, the Ukrainian advance could soon spread into neighboring Luhansk and Donetsk, where Russia has concentrated its forces in an effort to expand territory held by Kremlin-backed separatists since 2014.

Serhiy Hayday, governor of the Luhansk region, said troops had already retaken the city of Lyman in northern Donetsk, a claim that could not be independently verified. He said Svatove to the east would likely be the next battle front.



Though the recent territorial shifts marked one of Russia's biggest setbacks since its troops were repelled from Kyiv in the early days of the war, Moscow signaled it was no closer to agreeing to a negotiated peace, and the Kremlin insisted it would achieve its military goals.



Russia said it was carrying out strikes across the Ukrainian front line and accused Ukrainian soldiers of abusing civilians in the recaptured territories.



"Air, rocket, and artillery forces are carrying out massive strikes on units of the Ukrainian armed forces in all operational directions," the Russian Defense Ministry said in its daily briefing on the conflict.

"High-precision" strikes have also been launched on Ukrainian positions around Slovyansk and Kostyantynivka in the eastern Donetsk region, it added.

WATCH: Russian artillery litters the fields in areas of the Kharkiv region that Ukrainian troops have taken back in the last few days. Ukrainian soldiers have posted videos of themselves raising Ukrainian flags on buildings and being greeted by grateful residents.

In a phone call on September 13, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to find a diplomatic solution for the conflict based on a cease-fire and the complete withdrawal of Russian troops, a spokesman for the chancellor's office said.



Putin told Scholz that Russia provides the Red Cross access to Ukrainian prisoners of war and highlighted Russia's willingness to remain a reliable energy supplier, the Kremlin said in a statement.



Putin and Scholz also discussed the situation around the Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant in Ukraine, the Kremlin said.



The UN nuclear watchdog said later on September 13 that all three of the backup power lines at the Zaporizhzhya power plant had been restored. One of the lines is providing the plant with the external electricity it needs for cooling and other essential safety functions, while the other lines are being held in reserve, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a statement.

Ukraine, meanwhile, called on the West to speed up deliveries of weapons to back its dramatic advance.



U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Washington would announce a new military aid package for Ukraine in the "coming days."



Kirby said it was too early to say whether gains by Ukraine signalled a turning point in the war.



"What you're seeing is certainly a shift in momentum by the Ukrainian armed forces," he said, but Zelenskiy should be the one to "determine and decide whether he feels militarily they've reached a turning point."

With reporting by AP, Reuters, dpa, and AFP
Much political alignment is taking place to create a new Eurasian bloc from the Middle To The Far East

China is ready to work together with Russia in order to jointly safeguard common interests, Yang Jiechi, a member of the Chinese Communist Party Politburo, and director of the general office of the CCP Central Committees Central Foreign Affairs Commission, stated at a meeting with Russias ambassador to China Andrey Denisov today (Monday September 12).

China is ready to work together with Russia, to continuously implement high-level strategic cooperation, protect the common interests of the two countries, and promote the development of the international order in a more just and reasonable direction, the Chinese Foreign Ministry quotes Yang as saying.

Yang noted that under the guidance of the two countries leaders bilateral relations had always moved firmly along the right track. The parties firmly support each other on issues involving the key interests of the two countries, and cooperate closely in international and multilateral mechanisms.

For his part, Denisov noted that under the guidance of the two heads of state Russian-Chinese relations had achieved significant results, reached an unprecedentedly high level in history and were entering a new era.

A large Chinese delegation has just returned from the Far East Economic Forum in Vladivostok, resulting in significant underscoring of trade, investment and development ties between China and the Russian Far East. Our analysis of that can be read here.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Putin are also due to meet in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on Thursday and Friday (September 15/16) at the Heads of State meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. Our preview of that meeting can be found here.

Interestingly, the SCO meeting was preceded last week by a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) who met with the Central Asian Finance Ministers last week and who have agreed to establish a C5 bloc that provides strategic links between the Middle East and Central Asia. Our overview of that can be read here. Most of the attendees of that will also be at the SCO summit.

It is clear that a massive Eurasian trade, security and investment bloc is now emerging throughout Eurasia as a consequence of perceptions of unfair global management by the G7 and a reaction to perceived US hegemony. That is manifesting itself with China and Russia at the head, but with SCO, EAEU, the GCC and BRICS countries all aligning themselves and signing off on mutual MoU and strategic development plans. Chinas statements today are purely a precursor to what is happening and underline Beijings support for Moscow during these changing times.

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The reconstruction works on the 66-kilometer section of Baku-Guba-Russia state border highway are progressing well and expected to complete later this year, according to the Azerbaijan State Automobile Roads Agency.

The route will offer a faster, more efficient way for Russia-Azerbaijani trade to transit overland from Russia to Baku through the Guba border crossing, and onto destinations via ship East to Turkiye and Europe, West to Central Asia and China, and south via Irans INSTC to markets in South Asia. The alternative had been shipping further north from Russias Astrakhan Port, adding several thousand kilometers for some Russian export-oriented manufacturers.

Work is now underway on the construction of the new road base. After the completion of excavation work on these sites, work will be carried out on the laying of asphalt concrete payment. The highway will have four lanes, two-way traffic in either direction, while the usual highway measures are now being put into place, such as appropriate marking and signs.

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After about five decades designing other peoples buildings, Del Mar architect Dean Meredith decided it was time to create his own home for himself and his wife, Monica.

They had the good fortune to find a ridgeline property on Seaview Avenue where they are constructing a 4,200-square-foot residence with spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean and San Dieguito River Valley.

This is the chance of a lifetime, Dean Meredith said.

Less than two months remained before the expected completion of the home when the unexpected happened.

A section of the bluff underneath Seaview collapsed April 21, blocking the northbound roadway and sidewalk of Jimmy Durante Boulevard to traffic.

Technically, the landslide occurred underneath the property next door to the lofty perch on which the Meredith home sits.

Yet, the visual connection between the construction site, the scarred cliff face and the tons of fallen dirt below inevitably led to questions.

A couple of television news teams interviewed longtime SDSU geology professor and current Professor Emeritus Patrick Abbott at the site.

Abbott said recent heavy rains and irrigation runoff led to the slide, while conjecturing that the home-building project might have contributed.

That last bit of speculation was wrong, Abbott admitted before the Del Mar City Council on May 6, while delivering a public apology.

Expert analyses by professionals showed the construction had nothing to do with the collapse.

The face of the bluff that collapsed April 21 in Del Mar is seen looking south from a location near the coastal railroad tracks. Michael J. Williams

Nonetheless, the association of the slide with the Meredith project produced an onslaught of malevolent commentary.

The negative attention undoubtedly was exacerbated by the architects prominence in what is San Diego Countys smallest city, and one of its most affluent.

There was this incredibly horrible firestorm on social media, Monica Meredith said.

Dean Meredith said the project and its alleged connection to the slope collapse and road closure became the talk of the town.

All of a sudden, we were the bad guys. ... When something like this gets out, its really difficult to dig out of, he said.

Abbotts apology as well as supportive statements by city officials that aired on Del Mars cable TV channel from the City Councils May 6 meeting have helped quell the controversy, the Merediths said.

The facts are out, said Dean Meredith. Its not fake news anymore.

Les Reed, who heads Geotechnical Exploration Inc., did the geological analyses supporting the Meredith project, which received all required approvals and permits from local government agencies.

The city of Del Mar blessed everything, Monica Meredith said. I think the most important thing is our house is on solid ground.

The main structure is supported by a basement with a foundation installed on solid bedrock and there is no threat of causing slides, Reed said.

The only aspect of the structure built on a slope is a deck supported by caissons, he said.

The whole intention of the caisson was to minimally impact the soil, Dean Meredith said.

Reed said the caissons are round shafts dug vertically to get down to bedrock, buttressed by a steel cage of vertical bars with horizontal straps.

Thats become a really routine thing on hillside properties, Reed said. Its real common now to build caissons to support (decks). Its less destructive.

Dean Meredith put his experience and know-how into the design of the house. That knowledge stems from a career that began with his fascination with structural design while growing up in Ocean Beach in San Diego and attending Point Loma High School.

He described the two-story residences style as a warm mix of Contemporary and Craftsman.

Monica Meredith said the couple is not building the house for profit.

This is our dream home, she said. We dont plan to sell it. Our plan is for our children to inherit it.

She is hoping the house will be completed and ready to occupy in June.
Paleontologists from France and Germany have focused on the postcranial skeleton  including a remarkable gliding apparatus called the patagium  of Coelurosauravus elivensis, a neodiapsid reptile that lived in Madagascar during the Late Permian epoch, between 258 and 252 million years ago.

Coelurosauravus elivensis belongs to the family Weigeltisauridae, a group of neodiapsid reptiles that lived during the Late Permian epoch.

Fossils of these gliding creatures have been found in Madagascar and Europe; a possible weigeltisaurid, Wapitisaurus, been found in North America.

The weigeltisaurids possessed long, hollow rod-shaped bones extending from the torso; these structures formed folding wings used for gliding flight.

Pennsylvanian forests (323-299 million years ago), while taxonomically and vertically heterogeneous, had rather open canopy strata with spatially separated arborescent taxa resulting in little crown overlap, said Dr. Valentin Buffa, a paleontologist with the Centre de Recherche en Paleontologie  Paris at the French Natural History Museum.

In contrast, Cisuralian forests (299-273 million years ago) show evidence of denser communities suggestive of more continuous canopy strata.

Such change in forest structure could explain why no gliders have been reported prior to weigeltisaurids although several arboreal or scansorial amniotes have been described from Pennsylvanian and Cisuralian deposits.

These dragons werent forged in mythological fire  they simply needed to get from place to place. As it turned out, gliding was the most efficient mode of transport and here, in this new study, we see how their morphology enabled this.

In the study, Dr. Buffa and his colleagues examined three known fossils of Coelurosauravus elivensis as well as a number of related weigeltisaurids.

They focused on the postcranial skeleton, including the torso, limbs, and the patagium. The latter is the membranous flap spanning the forelimbs and hindlimbs, also found in living flying squirrels, sugar gliders, and colugos.

Previous analysis of Coelurosauravus elivensis had assumed that its patagium was supported by bones that extended from the ribs, as they do in modern Draco species of Southeast Asia.

However, the new study suggests that its patagium either extended from the gastralia  an arrangement of bones in the skin that covers the belly of some reptiles, including crocodilians and dinosaurs  or from the musculature of the trunk.

This would mean that the gliding apparatus sat lower on the abdomen than it does in modern gliding lizards.

Sharp, curved claws and compressed body form support the idea that Coelurosauravus elivensis was perfectly adapted to moving vertically up tree trunks, Dr. Buffa said.

The similarity in length of the forelimbs and hindlimbs further indicate that it was an expert climber  their proportional length assisted it in remaining close to the trees surface, preventing it from pitching and losing its balance.

Its long, lean body and whiplike tail, also seen in contemporary arboreal reptiles, further supports this interpretation.

The findings were published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

_____

Valentin Buffa et al. The postcranial skeleton of the gliding reptile Coelurosauravus elivensis Piveteau, 1926 (Diapsida, Weigeltisauridae) from the Late Permian of Madagascar. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, published online September 8, 2022; doi: 10.1080/02724634.2022.2108713
(Photo : Angelo Giordano) Earthquake Rubble Collapse

Papua New Guinea was hit by a powerful 7.6 earthquake that resulted in landslides, cracked roads, and collapsed buildings Sunday. Yet, the extent of the damage is still unknown.

An Earthquake Hits Papua New Guinea in 2022

According to the United States Geological Survey, the earthquake occurred close to Kainantu, a town with a population of about 8,500, at a depth of about 90 kilometers (about 56 miles). The US National Tsunami Warning Center added that there was no threat of tsunami waves. Although earlier that day, there were reports of a possible hazardous tsunami wave within 1,000 kilometers (roughly 621 miles) along the coasts of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.

In 2018, CNN reported an earthquake of a similar size that hit the country's remote highlands. It killed more than 60 people and wounded 500. The earthquake has destroyed houses, causing landslides and damaging a major gas plant.

Papua New Guinea Earthquake 2022 Casualties and Damages

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Asia and the Pacific reported at least four deaths and four injuries, despite the government withholding a death toll.

According to a report sent on Twitter by the OCHA's PNG disaster management team, one person was killed in a landslide in Rai Coast, Madang, while three others were buried in Wau, Morobe.

The airport is still open, although there were reported damages to the local electricity grid, internet cables, and local roadway. For immediate care, some of the injured were airlifted.

Papua New Guinea Earthquake History

A 7.0 magnitude earthquake with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII struck Papua New Guinea on July 17, 1998. It is classified as a severe earthquake.

The incident occurred on a reverse fault near Papua New Guinea's north coast region, about 25 kilometers (16 miles) from the coast near Aitape. It killed at least 2,183 to 2,700 people and injured thousands more. It was regarded as one of the deadliest tsunamis of the twentieth century.

Hugh Davies wrote in his book Aitape Story about the 1998 event that families in the coastal villages were gathered for their evening meals when the initial earthquake struck. It was also the start of week-long school vacation, so students had returned from boarding schools to spend time with their families.

However, the villagers heard a loud boom soon after and went to the beach to investigate the strange noise. They noticed that the sea was boiling or bubbling.

In the distance, they could see a large wave forming. Most of the villagers were caught as they fled from the oncoming waves. A few managed to escape by scaling trees or pushing their boats into the lagoon. People in the waves were violently tumbled and smashed in debris-filled water.

Those who were lucky enough to cling to floating debris were swept out to sea, while those who were unlucky were killed by piles of logs and debris. Three tsunami waves hit in rapid succession. It killed and injured nearly everyone, erasing entire villages.

ALSO READ: Researchers Can Forecast Earthquake with 80% Accuracy By Examining the Ionosphere

Papua New Guinea Earthquake 2018 Root Cause

Unlike most tsunamis, which are caused by earthquakes, the tsunami that devastated Papua New Guinea was caused by something else. Scientists determined that the tsunami was caused by a submarine landslide generated by the earthquake because it arrived 10 minutes later than predicted by earthquake sources.

The unusual event sparked interest in tsunami hazards in many parts of the world that were previously not thought to be at high risk of earthquake-generated landslide tsunamis. It also highlighted the importance of every country determining the scope of their tsunami probability hazard and developing a tsunami preparedness plan.

Why Do Earthquakes Occur in Papua New Guinea?

Papua New Guinea is prone to earthquakes because it is included in the Pacific Ring of Fire, a particularly seismically active region of the world. In fact, the Ring of Fire is responsible for 75% of the world's earthquakes.

The country lies at the intersection of two major plates, the Pacific Plate and the Australian Plate. When two plates collide, an earthquake occurs. The collision generates an earthquake that can be felt for miles around. This explains why earthquakes are so common in this region.

RELATED ARTICLE: Magnitude 7.2 Earthquake Jolts Haiti; Here's Why This Caribbean Country Is Prone to Disasters

Check out more news and information on Environment in Science Times.
Mali: trois Casques bleus blesses dans l

Trois Casques bleus ont ete blesses dimanche dans le nord du Mali quand leur vehicule a heurte une mine entre Ber et Tombouctou, a indique la mission de l'ONU (Minusma) dans le pays sur Twitter.





La Minusma n'a pas precise la nationalite des blesses, ni la gravite de leurs blessures.





La Minusma, comme l'armee malienne, est regulierement visee par des attaques des jihadistes qui combattent toute presence etrangere ainsi que les representations de l'Etat.





Les mines et les engins explosifs improvises (EEI) sont une des armes de predilection des jihadistes. Ils explosent au contact d'une roue ou sont actionnes a distance.





Un rapport de la Minusma arrete au 31 aout denombrait 245 attaques aux EEI et aux mines en 2021 et 134 en 2022. Les mines et les EEI ont fait 103 morts en 2021 et 72 en 2022, dit le rapport. Un quart des victimes sont des civils.




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When San Francisco police used DNA taken from a rape victim in 2016 to accuse her of burglary five years later, they were met with denunciations, local and state legislation to ban the practice, and, on Monday, a lawsuit seeking damages.

This is government overreach of the highest order, using the most unique and personal thing we have  our genetic code  without our knowledge to try and connect us to crime, attorney Adante Pointer said in a statement announcing the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court.

The woman, identified only as Jane Doe, told police in 2016 that she had been raped by her mothers boyfriend. Officers took her DNA, standard practice in a rape case, but did not tell her they would store it in their general collection of genetic material for investigations of other crimes.

In December, Jane Doe was charged with burglary and held in jail for several months because she could not afford bail, Pointer said. In February, then-District Attorney Chesa Boudin revealed the Police Departments policy since 2015 of storing rape victims DNA in their database, and said this was the basis of the charge against Jane Doe.

Boudin immediately dismissed the burglary charge. Amid an outcry from crime victims advocates, the Police Departments crime laboratory said it would no longer use rape victims DNA in investigations of unrelated crimes. Such uses have now been prohibited by an ordinance sponsored by Supervisor Hillary Ronen, and signed by Mayor London Breed.

And legislation to bar the practice statewide, SB1228 by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, sailed through the Legislature with only a single dissenting vote  from Assembly Member Marie Waldron, R-Escondido (San Diego County)  and is awaiting Gov. Gavin Newsoms signature. The bill was sponsored by the San Francisco district attorneys office, then under Boudin. Newsom has until Sept. 30 to weigh in on the measure.

Its deeply harmful to use a survivors DNA for any purpose other than investigating and prosecuting that particular sexual assault, Wiener said Monday.

Even after her release, Jane Doe told The Chronicle in March, she stayed at home depressed for days.

When you feel like you have nobody to talk to about it, its a lonely feeling, she said.

At a news conference Monday, Pointer said Does experience is one shared by countless other victims who relied on the San Francisco Police Department and the city and county of San Francisco to do the right thing.

At least 80% of all sexual assaults are not reported to law enforcement, the attorney said. So when someone has the courage to step up and report this to law enforcement, report this to authorities, rely upon authorities to do the right thing and investigate and prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes, the last thing a survivor is thinking is, This will one day come back and be used against me.

Although there have been no reports of other law enforcement agencies using San Franciscos former practice, the privacy-rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation has reported a policy by prosecutors in Orange County of offering to drop low-level misdemeanor charges if a defendant agrees to provide DNA to the district attorneys database.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

The report also cited a practice by San Diego police, challenged by the ACLU and later barred by state law, requiring juveniles who had been stopped by officers to allow their mouths to be swabbed for DNA in order to be released.

In New York, police collected DNA samples from 360 Black men who were in custody on other charges after the beating and strangling death of a woman in 2016. The Black man who was later convicted of her murder was not among the 360.

In Jane Does lawsuit, her lawyers said police took her DNA under the pretense of using it to investigate the sexual assault and instead tested it, and other samples in their database, against every genetic sample from every crime scene. All of those tests were illegal, the suit said, because Jane Doe had provided the DNA only for her rape case and did not consent to any other use.

In response, Jen Kwart, spokesperson for City Attorney David Chiu, said, The city is committed to ensuring all victims of crime feel comfortable reporting issues to law enforcement and has taken steps to safeguard victim information.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko
UPDATE: Another El Dorado County community ordered evacuated as massive Mosquito Fire grows.

Firefighters battling the Mosquito Fire, burning in sparsely developed parts of Placer and El Dorado counties, expanded their containment of the blaze to 16% by Monday evening, after making progress during cooler weather over the weekend, fire officials said.

The fire grew to 48,700 acres Monday, large enough to make it the states biggest currently burning wildfire. The blaze, which started on Sept. 6 near OxBow Reservoir east of Foresthill, was moving northeast of containment lines, fire officials said.

Nearly 2,700 firefighters were battling the blaze in the Tahoe and El Dorado national forests, using bulldozers and hand tools to carve protective lines around the fire. In the past two days, as temperatures cooled and the fires spread slowed, crews took advantage, extending lines, particularly on the west and southeast through steep and rugged territory, said Chris Vestal, a spokesperson for the inter-agency team battling the fire.

More than 11,000 people have been evacuated across a roughly 400-square-mile area threatened by the fire. Some 5,848 structures in both counties remain at risk, fire officials said. Twenty-five homes and 21 minor structures have been destroyed and damaged, fire officials said Monday night.

Weather continues to be a concern after a smoke inversion layer in the morning was pushed away by light southwest winds in the early afternoon. When that happens, Vestal said, intense sunshine heats the already dry vegetation, the clear skies feed more oxygen to the flames and the winds help push the fire.

The wind is the key, Vestal said.

The Mosquito Fire is burning toward areas including Stumpy Meadows, Michigan Bluff, Buckeye and Volcanoville  mainly clusters of homes along rural roads as opposed to traditional small communities.

Fire Tracker Follow wildfires across the state Latest updates on wildfires burning across Northern and Southern California

The area was once the province of miners and Gold Rush merchants, including Leland Stanford, who made a fortune selling supplies and equipment to gold miners, and gunmaker Sam Colt, who lived in Deadwood.

The Western States 100, the worlds oldest 100-mile trail race, passes every June through the area where the Mosquito Fire is burning. Its also home to several camps, staging areas and trails where four-wheelers and other off-road riders gather.

Michael Cabanatuan (he/him) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan
Jacom Stephens/Getty Image

Three people were injured, two critically, following a shootout during an alleged robbery at an indoor marijuana cultivation operation in San Leandro, according to a Sunday statement from the San Leandro Police Department.

The burglary was reported in the 2000 block of Adams Avenue at 4:20 a.m. and led to a 20-minute car chase between the burglars and police, officials said. Two suspects were detained, and two others have yet to be found, police said.
One of the Bay Areas most popular pandemic-born food delivery services is shutting down.

Pastel, known for delivering many of the regions most in-demand baked goods and foods, announced in an email on Saturday that its service will end Sept. 30. The owners, citing a change in customers pandemic dining habits, plan to shift to building software for local food businesses.

Pastel solved a really important problem during the pandemic for customers. When families were cautious and staying inside, they needed sustenance and something to look forward to, they wrote in an email to vendors. But as the pandemic wound down in May and the whole family was vaccinated, habits changed and customers started eating out, traveling, and packing their kids schedules with playdates.

Amanda Nguyen and Ted Moran, who started Pastel in 2021 with Anh Mai, a former Uber Freight software engineer, said they made changes as demand started to drop off to unsustainable levels, but it ultimately wasnt enough. The ideal Pastel customer  the food obsessive whos constantly stalking Instagram for the latest pop-ups  may now be dining out and traveling more instead of scheduling pastry pickup times. Inflation is also changing peoples spending habits, they said.

At a certain point we had to just make this call that the demand side is just different now that were outside of the pandemic, Moran said.

Its just the latest example of a food delivery company abruptly closing and resuscitates questions about the long-term sustainability of their business models. Zero Grocery, a fast-growing Bay Area grocery delivery startup, suddenly closed in the spring, leaving vendors with unpaid bills. Popcorn, a newer app that promised on-demand food delivery 24 hours a day, recently pivoted to a different, more limited model.

The pandemic sparked a new wave of delivery companies connecting customers with their favorite restaurants and bakeries. They generally positioned themselves as positive, local alternatives to delivery giants like DoorDash and UberEats. Many of them shut down as the Bay Area reopened, but Pastel was arguably one of the most visible and buzzy players that held on.

The company started by delivering pastries all over the Bay Area from hit bakeries like San Franciscos B. Patisserie and later expanded into savory food. Pastel charges a 10% commission rate, in contrast to fees as high as 35% from large delivery companies.

Monica Lopez Feybesse, co-owner of viral pastry pop-up Tarts de Feybesse, has worked with Pastel since its earliest days. She said the loss for her business now is more visibility rather than sales, but she is worried about smaller operations that rely primarily on Pastel.

The distance that they cover really helps us out in terms of our deliveries and people who cant normally get to our products, she said.

Lopez Feybesse was also surprised by the closure news since Pastel has grown rapidly in the last two years.

Their expansion was super inspiring, she said, adding that she thought to herself often: We need to move as fast as them.

While demand for delivery has changed, food businesses are still clamoring to get on Pastel. The company has over 200 businesses on the wait list, according to the founders email, and was on track to pay out $2 million to owners over the next 12 months. They hope to bring food delivery back in some fashion, whether through a partnership or otherwise, but nothings set here quite yet, their email states.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

They now plan to focus on helping small food businesses navigate web issues, such as building websites or gathering feedback from customers.

Pastel will pay its operations, partnerships and marketing teams through the end of the month, and they will also get four weeks of severance and two months of health care benefits. The company promised to pay vendors remaining invoices within seven days.

The owners said theyre not sure what the future of local food delivery looks like, except that it will likely continue to narrow.

Where there were five, there will probably be one. Its just a question of who has enough cash to make it through a time period such as this, Moran said.

This story was updated to include an interview with Pastel founders Amanda Nguyen and Ted Moran.

Elena Kadvany (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: elena.kadvany@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ekadvany
Katy Raddatz/The Chronicle 2006

Arinell Pizza, a pioneering purveyor of New York-style slices in the Bay Area, has closed its location in San Franciscos Mission District after 33 years in business. The small but spirited shop was between a rock and a hard place, Arinell owner Ron Demirdjian told The Chronicle in an interview last month, with sales foundering and costs rising.

The closure was first reported by Mission Local. Reached by phone, Demirdjian confirmed the news, citing staff shortages and a continued business slump. Arinells original Berkeley location, founded in 1975, remains open.
UPDATE: Here are the latest updates on COVID in the Bay Area and California.

A new study found climate change was increasing the likelihood of extreme epidemics. U.S. doctors are concerned about a potential influenza twindemic after watching Australia go through a particularly tough flu season. The CDC recommends anyone 12 and older get a booster at least two months after their last COVID shot or three months after recovering from a COVID infection.

Latest updates:

White House COVID booster imperative: get it by Halloween

Those deliberating when to get the updated bivalent booster against COVID-19 shouldn't wait too long, according to the White House COVID-19 response coordinator.

In an interview for Andy Slavitts In the Bubble podcast, Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator, said high-risk individuals should get the new shots right away and everyone else should get it in early fall. I think its really important for people to get it by Halloween, he said. Why Halloween? Because three weeks after Halloween is Thanksgiving, and theres a lot of travel, and youre seeing family, and youre seeing friends. And few weeks later, its the holidays.

Jha added that one of the primary reasons the Biden administration is considering making the vaccines available annually like the flu shot is because they expect the virus to follow a seasonal pattern. We know respiratory viruses circulate at much higher levels in the fall and winter, Jha said. Its a really good time to get yourself protected. And even if you yourself are on the low-risk side, youre going to have family and friends youre going to see. You dont want to be the person who gives it to your grandma.

U.S. weekly average of COVID cases fall 19%

The seven-day average for new daily COVID-19 cases in the U.S. decreased to 70,488 last week, marking an 18.8% decrease compared to the 86,853 daily average reported in the previous week, according to the latest update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The omicron BA.5 lineage remained dominant, making up 87.5% of the new sequenced cases, followed by BA.4.6 at 9.2%.

New COVID-19 hospital admissions nationally also dipped 10.5% compared to the previous week, with an average of 4,620 a day. Daily deaths are trended down about 28.1%, with an average of 315 per day.

That remains higher than the pandemic low of 215 per day recorded last July. The average nationwide coronavirus test positive rate also remains high at 13.2%. About 17.2% of U.S. counties have a high COVID-19 community level, with most of the country reporting moderate to high SARS-CoV-2 levels in wastewater.

Low marks for American health care system in new AP poll

A majority of adults in the U.S. say that health care is not handled well in the country, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

The poll reveals that public satisfaction with the U.S. health care system is remarkably low, with fewer than half of Americans saying it is generally handled well. Only 12% say it is handled extremely or very well.

More than two years after the COVID-19 pandemics start, health care worker burnout and staffing shortages are plaguing hospitals around the country. And Americans are still having trouble getting in-person medical care after health centers introduced restrictions as COVID-19 killed and sickened millions of people around the country.

A majority of Americans, roughly two-thirds, were happy to see the government step in to provide free COVID-19 testing, vaccines, and treatment. Roughly 2 in 10 were neutral about the governments response. But the governments funding for free COVID-19 tests dried up at the beginning of the month. While the White House says the latest batch of recommended COVID-19 boosters will be free to anyone who wants one, it doesnt have money on hand to buy any future rounds of booster shots for every American.

COVID emergency orders remain in just 10 states

With Gov. Kathy Hochuls announcement Monday that she will let the states COVID-19 state of emergency expire at midnight, New York becomes the latest state to drop measures enacted in March 2020 to help various government agencies battle the coronavirus pandemic. Were in a different place now, Hochul said.

There are now 10 states with emergency powers in place, according to a tally by The Hill. That includes California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom extended the COVID-19 state of emergency in June  but with just 5% of the provisions in place.

Declarations also remain in place in Washington until Oct. 31; Kansas through Jan. 2023; and Connecticut through at least Dec. 28. Governors in the following states renewed the orders for one month in August and will reevaluate them later this month: New Mexico, Texas, Delaware, Illinois and Rhode Island.

S.F. COVID cases fall to March low, but hospitalizations edge up

San Francisco reported a seven-day average of 83 new coronavirus cases per day, the lowest figure since the lull in early March preceding the omicron BA.2 surge in the spring.

Despite the improving trends, August was the fourth deadliest month this year for COVID-19 patients, with 41 city residents losing their lives due to the virus. The city recorded 74 deaths in February, 73 in January, and 46 in July. As of Friday, the Bay Area region reported about 13 daily cases per 100,000 residents, down by 60% from a month ago. California reported 15 cases per 100,000, compared to 36 per 100,000 in the same period.

Despite the improvements in case numbers, hospitalizations are ticking back up. There were 82 patients with COVID-19 in San Francisco as of Friday, up from 69 a week earlier. In the Bay Area, that number increased to 539 from 515.

Long COVID associated with increase in suicidal thoughts, study shows

Long COVID may potentially be linked with an increased risk of mental illness and suicidal thoughts, according to emerging research analyzed by Reuters.

In an analysis of 20 major U.S. hospital systems, including more than 1.3 million adults with a COVID diagnosis and 19,000 with a long COVID diagnosis between May 2020 and July 2022, patients with long COVID were nearly twice as likely to receive a first-time antidepressant prescription within 90 days of their initial COVID diagnosis compared with people diagnosed with COVID alone, the Seattle-based health data firm Truveta showed.

Up to 23 million Americans suffer from long COVID  a complex and poorly understood medical condition with more than 200 symptoms  based on estimates published in March by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Many recover but as many as 15% experience symptoms after 12 months, according to the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, the report says. Survivor Corps, an advocacy group for long COVID patients, found that 44% of nearly 200 survey respondents in May said they had considered suicide.

COVID illnesses keeping 500,000 Americans out of work, study finds

Estimates show that COVID-19 illnesses have reduced the U.S. labor force by approximately 500,000 people, according to a new report by economists Gopi Shah Goda of Stanford University and Evan J. Soltas at MIT.

Approximately 10 workers per 1,000 missed a week of work for health reasons during the coronavirus pandemic, on average  up from 6 health-related absences per 1,000 before the pandemic. Each absence results in forgone earnings of at least $9,000 over the 14 months following the initial week of infection. Using an event study, we find that workers who miss a full week of work due to probable COVID-19 illnesses become about 7 percentage points less likely to be in the labor force one year later compared to similar workers who do not miss work for health reasons, the authors conclude.

Fifth & Mission Podcast: When should you get the omicron booster?

Theres a reformulated booster shot that targets the omicron variants of COVID-19 as well as the ancestral strain of the virus.

The booster is a milestone in how quickly science is able to respond to the ever-evolving virus. But with pandemic and vaccination fatigue setting in, does such a breakthrough even matter? On this episode of the Fifth & Mission podcast, Chronicle health reporter Catherine Ho joins host Cecilia Lei to talk about how to think about boosters, and if and when you should get them.

Ive never tested positive for COVID. How can I know if Ive ever been infected?

The Chronicles Pandemic Problems advice columnists tackled a question from a reader who asked if theres any way to know whether theyve had an asymptomatic COVID case, since theyve never tested positive for a coronavirus infection.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

In April of this year, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that 40% of the U.S. population had still not been infected with COVID-19, but that was before the highly contagious BA.5 variant, so that number could be far lower now.

Why Australias flu season is stoking fears about a U.S. twindemic

Scientists and health professionals are raising concerns about the possibility of a particularly bad flu season in the U.S. and across much of the Northern Hemisphere this year after taking stock of what doctor called the worst flu season in five years in Australia, Yahoo News reported.

Since the Southern Hemisphere is just getting through its flu season, scientists and doctors look to countries like Australia as a barometer for what people in the Northern Hemisphere might face when it comes to influenza. After a difficult flu season in Australia, doctors and U.S. officials are concerned that a similarly dangerous situation could develop stateside as flu season approaches, which would collide with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Influenza numbers will be especially to monitor beginning next month, experts said.

Climate change to increase risk of more extreme epidemics, study finds

Climate change is likely to increase the likelihood of an extreme or a pandemic similar to COVID-19 by about threefold over the next several decades, according to a new study.

The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reviewed 400 years worth of available information on epidemics to conclude that, in addition to more frequent, extreme epidemics, the average person was 38% more likely to experience a COVID-like pandemic in their lifetime.

The study focused in part on estimates of the rate of increase in diseases that emerge from non-human animal populations associated with climate change, the authors wrote.

Whens the best time to get the new COVID booster shot? Heres what experts say

Millions of Americans became eligible late last week to get a reformulated COVID booster shot that targets both the ancestral and omicron strains of the virus  a step that health officials hope will help mitigate a potential fall or winter surge.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that anyone 12 and older get a booster at least two months after their last COVID shot or three months after recovering from a COVID infection. Read more here about the best time to get a bivalent booster.
I went to Petaluma to learn what might become of the worlds ugliest dogs  and saw the future of California democracy.

That future arrived in the form of the Petaluma Fairgrounds Advisory Panel, a form of citizens assembly, a type of democratic body gaining in popularity worldwide.

Citizens assemblies are composed of everyday people, chosen by lottery. The assemblies offer a potential path around problems that discredit democracy in California and elsewhere: the money that corrupts elections, the lobbyists who own politicians and the polarization that makes complex and contentious issues too difficult for elected governments to solve.

Petalumas leaders decided to try a citizens assembly to avert a community-wide fight over the future of the Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds and Event Center. The property is home to the annual five-day Sonoma-Marin Fair and its signature event, the Worlds Ugliest Dog Contest.

The site also hosts a speedway, schools, emergency shelters and so many different events that Petalumans have come to depend on it.

So when city officials said they wanted to rethink the fairgrounds future, some Petalumans grew worried. Conflict loomed between the city, the fair and the obscure state agency that leases the property.

How to avoid fighting and expensive litigation?

Petalumas answer was to spend $450,000 to hire the Oregon-based nonprofit Healthy Democracy, to organize a citizens assembly that would answer this question: How might we use the citys fairgrounds property to create the experiences, activities, resources and places that our community needs and desires now and for the foreseeable future?

The process started with mailing 10,000 randomly selected residential addresses in Petaluma, inviting people to participate in the panel. A few hundred said yes. From that group, Healthy Democracy used a computer program to create 1,000 randomized potential panels of 36 people, each representative of Petaluma by age, gender, race/ethnicity, location, housing status, educational attainment and disability. In April, organizers selected one of those panels by lottery  number 811  to become Petalumas citizens assembly.

Unable to find a location at the fairgrounds itself  its venues were already booked  the panel met at a community center and at Kenilworth Junior High School. Over three months, it would hold 81 hours of meetings.

This wasnt volunteer work. Panelists received a stipend, equivalent to $20 per hour, as well as child care and elder care, reimbursement for transportation costs, laptops and language interpretation and translation.

The panel needed every minute. It reviewed complicated documents (including the citys general plan) and summoned fairgrounds stakeholders from a menu of more than 100 people for hearings.

The meetings were more detailed, with more actual content per minute  and less political throat-clearing  than any city council meeting I have seen in this state.

I was struck by how careful the Healthy Democracy staffers were to stay out of the discussion. They declined to answer questions from panelists about the fairgrounds (content being the exclusive province of the panelists themselves).

They also left these ordinary people to write three reports themselves. The first, Principles, detailed the bodys own values, criteria and methods. A second, Pathways, outlined 100-plus visions for the fairgrounds.

The third and final report offered specific recommendations for land use at the fairgrounds. The panel ultimately took a cautious approach to reimagining the site, seeking to preserve the fairgrounds most popular elements. Five Key Points of Agreement had 90 percent support from the body. Four preserved the status quo: maintaining the practice and history of agriculture at fairgrounds (before it was a North Bay suburb, Petaluma was the Egg Basket of the World), having a farmers market, keeping the fair and its ugly dogs, and continuing to operate an emergency evacuation center during earthquakes and wildfires.

A fifth idea, urging greater noise mitigation, was a response to fairground neighbors (in a related note, the panel expressed only mixed support for keeping the speedway for motor racing). The group was cool to novel ideas, from building a YMCA on the site to returning fairgrounds land to the Miwok people for a sweat lodge.

The panel had struggles. Its schedule got scrambled because of rising COVID numbers. Four panelists dropped out; others complained that, even with 100 hours, they didnt have enough time to ask all their questions. Some stakeholders wanted a more detailed vision from the panel rather than a list of recommendations.

There are questions about what legal impact the panel will have. In some other countries, citizens assemblies can implement decisions themselves or put their proposals on ballots. The Petaluma panels work could inform a citywide ballot measure, but the group itself has no legal power to force that.

Still, city officials and other stakeholders say the process has defused conflict and created a more positive atmosphere for negotiations.

Panelists who agreed to be interviewed, on condition that I use only their first names, said the process has power because its controlled by the citizens themselves. I participated in government-community processes where you have to lobby a committee of officials, one panelist told me. I think this works much better, and I would like to see more of it.
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Three months after San Francisco created a new law to crack down on illegal street vending, the city is about to fully enforce it. But its unclear if the new rules will meaningfully address the problem or instead create a game of cat and mouse between vendors and city workers.

Public Works employees, backed up by police, took to vending hotspots at the 24th and Mission BART Plaza Monday to hand out information and final warnings. Officials let vendors know that if they return Tuesday to sell without a permit, they would be asked to pack up their goods. If they dont move them, they could be given a notice of violation and their goods confiscated.

Supervisors, backed by Mayor London Breed, passed the law, which bans vending in U.N. Plaza and requires a permit to sell on the streets anywhere else.

Officials said illegal vending has become a huge challenge in the city, with residents and businesses complaining about blocked sidewalks, stolen goods and general chaos on the streets. Supervisor Hillary Ronen, who co-authored the legislation, said that in the Mission, which she represents, illegal vending has led to chaos, violence and threats.

Police said they have heard the same reports from community members and have encouraged victims to come forward to file reports so they can start investigations.

Though the legislation went into effect in June, it took three months to create regulations for the program and staff up to process permits and enforce the law. It costs $430 a year for a permit, although the fee will be waived for low-income people or those receiving public benefits. Public Works will now have inspectors on the ground six days a week.

The programs advocates say they want to create a legal path for legitimate vendors, many of whom are poor people of color, but opponents fear it will penalize people selling goods to get by in an outrageously expensive city.

The clash with opponents of the program escalated after Ronen requested that BART temporarily fence off the 24th Street plaza to deter illegal activity until the permit program was up and running. But after activists took the fence down in protest, the plaza remained open.

As of Friday, Public Works had approved 41 permits with two still under review. It referred 16 prospective vendors, who wanted to sell non-packaged food, to the health department. All applicants qualified for a fee waiver.

At 24th and Mission Streets, nine cops stood in the plaza on Monday morning, observing a line of vendors with boxes of masks piled on tables or bottles of lotion laid out on blankets. Two Public Works staff walked between the blankets and tables, handing out fliers and letting people know they needed to leave six feet of space on the sidewalk. Staff members warned vendors that starting Tuesday, a permit would be required.

Public Works employees will lead enforcement, although police will be on scene if there are threats of violence. Its unclear what would happen, if a vendor refuses to move or give up their goods starting Tuesday.

The role of the SFPD in the permitting process is simply to support DPW in their enforcement endeavor, Mission District Captain Michael McEachern wrote in an email Monday. At this point we do not intend to become involved unless the safety of the (Department of Public Works) workers come into question. The matter of a person who is (resisting) their efforts, whether to confiscate items or issue a citation is a question best answered by DPW.

Public Works did not immediately answer a question about how resistance would be handled.

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.

One vendor, Karmeisha, who declined to give her last name, stood on the sidewalk near 24th and Mission Monday morning with her three-year-old daughter beside a small row of items, including her handmade hair-growth oil, a part of her budding organics business. She didnt have a permit, but said she would try to get one. The risk of having her goods confiscated and arguing with police, was enough to make her stay away Tuesday, she said, but she criticized the permit program.

Its just trying to make San Francisco look more modern day, said the city native who was formerly homeless. We shouldnt need to have a permit. There are people who had stuff sitting at home for decades that they just want to come out and sell. I feel theyre just trying to do the permit to lower the risk of people who do steal stuff.

Karmeisha criticized the presence of cops Monday and said police shouldnt harass anyone who has a permit. Shes wary, she said, because she knows people who have been victims of police brutality.

She said officers should focus instead on violent crimes, mentioning a fatal stabbing at the plaza on Aug. 28. Its not clear if the stabbing was related to vending or other illegal activity. BART police, who are handling the homicide investigation, arrested a suspect on Sept. 9.

Karmeisha said the community needs more funding for food and other necessities, so people wouldnt steal them.

People do what they need to do to survive, she said.

Mallory Moench (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@mallorymoench
Mayor London Breed has come out against a San Francisco ballot measure that would change the timing of mayoral elections, saying it would help the progressives whove put it on the ballot and needs more public input before it goes to voters.

But a Chronicle analysis of San Francisco election data found that while the measure would probably boost overall voter turnout, areas that are more moderate  and therefore more likely to back Breed  could actually see the biggest increases. Moreover, neighborhoods with higher support for Breed in her most competitive election in 2018 may have larger increases in turnout.

In the upcoming Nov. 8 election, voters will face Proposition H, which its backers say is an effort to boost turnout by moving mayoral elections, currently held in odd-numbered years, to coincide with presidential elections in even-numbered ones.

Supporters of the proposition call it a crucial voting rights measure that aligns with the citys progressive policies. Leading the group is Supervisor Dean Preston, who proposed the measure and is considered the citys most progressive supervisor, according to a previous Chronicle analysis of roll call votes.

Breed opposes the initiative, saying a robust public input process is needed before putting it on the ballot. Breed went even further on KCBS Radio, telling the station that the measure was being pushed by Preston and a group of democratic socialists who want to have more control and power of being able to get more of their people elected. Breed is generally considered a moderate among San Francisco politicians.

The city currently has three major elections  presidential, gubernatorial and mayoral  that operate on different four-year cycles. Mayoral elections, which include contests for other city officials like district attorney, city attorney and sheriff, happen in November of odd-numbered years. The next one is scheduled for 2023  or 2024 if the measure passes in November. Gubernatorial races coincide with federal midterm elections, which happen two years after every presidential election; the next gubernatorial election is coming up in November. Between these major elections are municipal races for other local offices and special elections, like recalls and runoffs.

S.F. voter turnout is typically highest in presidential elections. Since 1995, average turnout in presidential races was 75%, compared with 59% for governor and 44% for mayoral and primary elections. Other special races have even fewer voters, with an average of just 30%.

Results from the most recent elections show the greatest differences between mayoral and presidential turnout. While 42% of San Francisco voters cast ballots in the 2019 mayoral election, 86% did in the 2020 presidential race.

The gap, however, is probably narrower, as some voters leave questions regarding local races blank on presidential ballots. In 2020, an average of 37,000 voters left the 13 city propositions unmarked, bringing the actual voting rate on local races down to 79%.

Still, the difference in turnout from 2019 to 2020 is almost 40 percentage points, and moving mayoral elections to the presidential cycle could nearly double voter turnout.

After Los Angeles moved local races from odd years to even years, it found a significant boost in turnout across the city. According to research from California Common Cause, the city saw four times more ballots cast in city races in 2020 compared with the previous local race in 2015.

To understand the political implications of this change, The Chronicle compared neighborhood-level turnout with the progressivity of each area. To do this, we used the Progressive Voter Index (PVI), which uses an areas voting history on different ballot measures to score it from most to least progressive by San Francisco standards. Each area gets a score ranging from 0 to 100, with a higher score indicating more progressive voting records.

We found that neighborhoods with low PVI scores (i.e. less progressive voting behavior) are more likely than high-PVI areas to have higher turnout in presidential than mayoral elections.

Take, for instance, the Marina and Pacific Heights area, which has a relatively low PVI of 42. In the last two mayoral elections, the average turnout there was 40%, compared to 89% in the previous two presidential elections. Thats a 49-percentage-point difference, the largest gap among 26 San Francisco neighborhoods, as defined by the San Francisco Department of Elections.

In contrast, the north Bernal Heights area  the highest-PVI-scoring neighborhood, at 91  saw a 36-percentage-point difference in turnout between the most recent presidential and mayoral elections.

Moreover, the population in low-PVI neighborhoods is much larger than in high-PVI areas. In other words, switching the timing of mayoral races  in which the dynamics between progressives and moderates are more pronounced  could shift the progressivity of the electorate more to the right than in past municipal elections.

Its important to note that we dont know whether the progressivity of this group of voters  those who vote in presidential but not mayoral elections  reflects the PVI of their neighborhood. Its possible that they hold significantly different viewpoints from those in the area who regularly voted in past elections.

According to Supervisor Preston, the measure is not meant to favor one side over the other. Nonpartisan groups, like California Common Cause, the League of Women Voters and Advancing Justice-Asian Law Caucus, led the initiative to gather support for the measure.

Its not about picking winners, its about making sure the most San Franciscans have a meaningful voice in choosing the citys most powerful elected leaders. Its about strengthening our local Democracy, Preston wrote in an email to The Chronicle.

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The measure, in fact, received support from supervisors who typically disagree politically. Among the seven supervisors who voted to put the measure on the ballot were Supervisor Catherine Stefani, Ahsha Safai and Myrna Melgar, who are among the least progressive board members and typically do not vote in agreement with Preston on contentious issues.

According to political strategist Ruth Bernstein from EMC Research Inc., we can expect other changes in voter demographics. Compared to low-turnout elections, voters in high-turnout races tend to be younger, more diverse and generally look more like the overall city demographic.

When you have 80 to 85% turnout, its going to look like the full demographic of the voting population or community, Bernstein said.

What might the scheduling change mean specifically for Breed and her reelection chances in 2024? We compared the turnout difference from recent elections with results from Breeds 2018 win over Mark Leno and Jane Kim. The citywide results from ranked-choice voting show over a third of voters chose Breed as their first choice, compared to 24% each for Leno and Kim.

The neighborhood-level data shows that areas with more first-choice votes for Breed in 2018 are associated with greater increases in turnout between presidential and mayoral elections.

When the ballot measure was introduced to the Board of Supervisors, Mayor Breed voiced objections, saying not enough public opinion had been gathered to understand the effects of the change. She pointed to the public input process that Los Angeles and San Jose  two cities that made similar election changes  went through to gather feedback about how to improve turnout before putting something on the ballot.

A poll from David Binder Research found that 43% of likely voters would vote in favor of the measure, while 15% were against it and 41% were undecided. The poll surveyed 600 likely Nov. 2022 voters in San Francisco from May 31 to June 5, 2022.

The supervisors who opposed putting the measure on the ballot voiced concerns around reducing the number of elections and the specific timing of Prestons proposal. When asked about other potentially negative effects, Bernstein said it may be harder for local candidates to get their messaging across to voters because of the many federal and statewide ballot items, which typically get more attention. This is evident when looking at the campaign finance totals going to statewide propositions compared to city measures in the upcoming November election.

When you vote in presidential elections, there are a lot of things on the ballot, like the presidential race, statewide measures and other offices, Bernstein said. It can be harder for local candidates to break through in communications because theres a lot more going on.

Nami Sumida (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle data visualization developer. Email: nami.sumida@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @namisumida
Bronte Wittpenn/San Francisco Chronicle via AP

Heat waves in California will soon be ranked by severity in a manner similar to hurricanes and other extreme weather events.

On Friday, after one of the worst heat waves in recent memory, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill authored by Assemblywoman Luz Rivas that would require the state to devise a "a statewide extreme heat ranking system" no later than Jan. 1, 2025. The bill's text says the system  which would be the first in the nation for heat waves  should be modeled after "red flag" warnings for wildfires, as well as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's naming and ranking system for hurricanes and tropical storms.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP)  Freight railroads and their unions are facing increasing pressure from business groups and the White House to settle their contract dispute before Friday's looming strike deadline.

The pressure stems from concerns that halting railroad deliveries of raw materials and finished products that so many companies rely on would be, in the words of the head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, an economic disaster.

A White House official said President Joe Biden and members of his cabinet were in touch with the unions and railroads Monday as part of their efforts to avert a strike. And for the second time in the past week, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh sat down at the negotiating table Sunday to urge the parties to reach a deal. Walsh postponed a planned to trip to Ireland this week to remain close to the talks.

A Labor Department spokesperson said Monday that its crucial that the parties remain at the negotiating table and come to an agreement because a shutdown of our freight rail system is an unacceptable outcome for our economy and the American people.

Suzanne Clark, the head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said Monday that a national rail strike would be an economic disaster  freezing the flow of goods, emptying shelves, shuttering workplaces and raising prices for families and businesses alike.

The chamber joined a number of other business groups, including a coalition of 31 agricultural shipping trade groups, in sending letters to Congress urging lawmakers to be prepared to step in and block a strike if the two sides can't reach an agreement by the end of the week. The chamber said if it comes to that, Congress should impose the terms recommended by a Presidential Emergency Board that Biden appointed this summer.

The Association of American Railroads trade group put out a report last week estimating that shutting down the railroads would cost the economy $2 billion a day.

The coalition negotiating on behalf of the nation's biggest freight railroads  including Union Pacific, CSX, Norfolk Southern, BNSF and Kansas City Southern  has announced eight of the 13 tentative agreements needed to avert a strike by some 115,000 rail workers.

The deals that have been announced so far have closely followed the Presidential Emergency Boards recommendations that called for 24% raises over five years, $5,000 in bonuses and one additional paid leave day a year. But the two biggest unions representing conductors and engineers have been holding out because they want the railroads to go beyond those recommendations and address some of their concerns about strict attendance policies and working conditions.

The railroads have said they would begin curtailing shipments of hazardous materials and some other goods Monday in advance of a possible work stoppage at the end of the week. That would ensure that containers of those dangerous goods aren't left stranded along the tracks.

The heads of the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers  Transportation Division union that represents conductors, and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union that represents engineers, criticized that decision as a move to increase pressure on shippers and Congress to intervene.

The federal law governing railroad contract talks won't allow a strike or lockout before Friday.

___

Associated Press reporter Josh Boak contributed to this report from Washington, D.C.
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Follow along here for more on the nights buzziest moments from the 74th Emmy Awards, coming to you live from the AP.



Succession, Ted Lasso top Emmys; 1st time winners shine

By LYNN ELBER

The HBO drama Succession and comedy Ted Lasso took top honors at the Emmy Awards in a ceremony that spread its awards between repeat winners and also honored several first-timers.

Jason Sudeikis and Jean Smart collected back-to-back acting trophies, while Zendaya picked up her second drama actress prize for Euphoria.

Several new Emmy winners were minted, with Lizzo, Lee Jung-jae of Squid Game and Quinta Brunson and Sheryl Lee Ralph of Abbott Elementary collecting trophies.

Read the full story here: https://apnews.com/article/2022-emmys-show-74e969a265d171c2f990ce98074cf534



11:07 p.m. ET

Sorry, Squid Game, Succession once again took the best drama series Emmy.

Evidently a little bit more voting involved in our winning than Prince Charles, said showrunner Jesse Armstrong.

Star Brian Cox chimed in to keep it royalist.

Im not saying were more legitimate in our position than he is, Ill leave that to other people, Armstrong added.

He and his cast spent quite a long time hugging each other on stage before Armstrong realized that their time was running out and got to his speech.



11:04 p.m. ET

Selma Blair was tapped to present the final award of the night, best drama series. People stood as the actress walked out sporting a black-and-gold dress and cane. The actress and recently announced Dancing With the Stars contestant has been public about her multiple sclerosis diagnosis, raising awareness with a 2019 documentary and this years memoir, Mean Baby.



11:00 p.m. ET  More from backstage

Ive been singing that song for years. I think of myself as an artist, as a woman, a woman of color. Im an endangered species. I dont sing any victim songs. Im a woman. Im an artist. Its so many young actors, artists and even kids that think they know. Find your voice and put it where it belongs.

Sheryl Lee Ralph spoke backstage about when she used to watch Tinker Bell on television and would say to herself: Im going to Hollywood, Im going to Hollywood. Im going to be an actress. Im going to drive a Mustang. Im going there.

The fact that Im here, recognized after all this time as one of the best of the best in my industry with a group of women, they are all the best. And to top it off, this particular year, theres tons of great TV. My little show to breakthrough and be seen the way it is, oh my God. Ive got the golden ticket. Yes, I do. Wheres my chocolate? Im ready.

Long overdue?

If this would have taken place any other time, it wouldnt happen. But it happened right here, right now. In Abbott Elementary at a time when the whole world and country needed a show they could look at, love it, laugh and plan their TV viewing around Wednesday nights.



10:58 p.m. ET

Ted Lasso won its second straight award for best comedy series, presented by a sunglasses-sporting Pete Davidson. What seemed like two dozen members of the cast and crew swarmed the stage as star Jason Sudeikis accepted the Emmy.

This show is about good and evil, this show is about like the truth and lies, this show is about all that stuff, but its mostly about our response to those things and your response to our show has been overwhelming, Sudeikis said.



10:53 p.m. ET

The White Lotus is unstoppable, as far as the Emmys are concerned. The Mike White show, which is currently filming its second season, won best limited or anthology series, allowing White to thank HBO which he missed out on in his previous speeches.

I know its unconditional love, but sorry... White said.



10:48 p.m. ET

Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae made history as the first Asian actor to win lead actor in a drama series. He beat out the likes of Brian Cox, Jason Bateman, Jeremy Strong and Bob Odenkirk in the competitive category.

The South Korean star thanked Netflix and the Squid Game creators for making realistic problem we all face come to life so creatively and, in Korean, thanked those watching from Korea.



10:43 p.m. ET

Jesse Armstrong won the best writing for a drama award, taking home the second award of the night for Succession.



10:36 p.m. - Backstage tidbit

Ted Lasso star Brett Goldstein has no problem with singer Lizzo calling him a big girl.

Before Lizzo handed Goldstein the award for best supporting actor, the Grammy winner was seemingly caught off guard when read the teleprompter then referred to the actor as a really big girl. The singer quickly clarified that she didnt write that, they did.

When Goldstein collected his award, he took part in the punchline saying I am a very big girl. He reiterated backstage that the moment was fun for him.

If Lizzo wants to call me a big girl, she can call me that all she wants, he said.

Lizzo won an Emmy for her Amazon Prime Video series Lizzos Watch Out for the Big Grrrls.



10:35 p.m.

Its really boring when non-famous people do this.  Ted Lasso director and comedy directing winner M.J. Delaney on thank-you lists during acceptance speeches



10:32 p.m.

Both lead acting in a comedy awards were repeats from last year, with Jean Smart nabbing the best actress award for Hacks on HBO Max. Channeling her prickly character, Smart playfully accused fellow nominee Rachel Brosnahan of trying to sabotage her by sending her designer cookies so she wouldnt fit into a dress.

Smart also won out over Quinta Brunson for lead actress in a comedy series.

I didnt realize the breadth and appeal of our show, Smart said, recounting a moment in a mall where several young boys shouted out her Hacks characters name Deborah Vance. She told them they were too young to be watching the HBO Max comedy.

It was a difficult category but there was a groundswell of support for Brunson, who would have made history as the first Black actor to win in the category since 1981, when Isabel Sanford won for The Jeffersons.



10:27 p.m. ET

I dont think I can use my translator because I have 45-- 41 seconds, Hwang Dong-hyuk said while accepting his outstanding directing for a drama series award. He won for the first episode of Netflixs Squid Game, the Korean juggernaut that he also created.



10:25 p.m. ET

Zendaya added another Emmy to her mantle winning best actress in a drama series for her role as Rue in HBOs Euphoria for the second year.

My greatest wish for Euphoria was that it could help heal people, she said. I want to say thank you to everyone who has shared their stories with me. I want you to know that anyone who has loved a Rue or feels like they are a Rue, I want you to know that Im so grateful for your stories and I carry them with me and I carry them with her. So thank you.



10:15 p.m. ET

Jimmy, wake up, I won, said Quinta Brunson, who won for writing for a comedy series for her show Abbott Elementary -- the first of three major awards shes up for, including acting and producing the freshman sitcom. Laying at her feet was Jimmy Kimmel, who committed to an elaborate bit in which he was passed out on stage for the duration of presenting and accepting. Before announcing the winner, Will Arnett dragged his limp body out on stage, explaining that This is like the 13th time in a row hes lost...He got into the skinny margaritas back there.

Committing to the bit until the end, Arnett dragged Kimmel all the way off stage as the show went to commercial.



10:08 p.m. ET

Jason Sudeikis is in no danger of relegation, notching back-to-back wins in lead actor in a comedy series for Ted Lasso.



10:02 p.m. ET

The lengthy in memoriam segment opened with a tribute to Betty White and closed with Sidney Poitier. Playing to the hometown crowd, the montage included an audio clip of beloved Dodgers announcer Vin Scully as John Legend played his song Pieces. Also remembered were Nichelle Nichols, Bob Saget, James Caan, Gilbert Gottfried, Dean Stockwell, Ray Liotta, Paul Sorvino, Willie Garson, Robert Morse, Louie Anderson, Anne Heche, journalist Bernard Shaw and John Madden,



9:58 p.m. ET

Nothing like a good burger to bring Kenan and Kel back together. Kel Mitchell made a surprise appearance at the Emmy Awards, in a bit about a bar run by honorary bartender Kumail Nanjiani, in which he orders a good burger. Thompson and Mitchell jumped up and down and hugged.

Make it two good burgers, Thompson said. Lets do some kung fu as they roll into the next batch.



9:57 p.m. ET

Jerrod Carmichael, clad in a fur coat and no shirt, won best writing for a variety special for his comedy special Jerrod Carmichael: Rothaniel.

Im not a sore winner, but Im going to go home because I cant top this right now, he said.



9:51 p.m. ET

Presenting Mike White with the writing award were The Office writer-actors and old flames-turned-best friends Mindy Kaling and B.J. Novak, who references their infamous roller coaster of a relationship while castigating the nominees for only having to write a handful of episodes each season:

We came up doing network sitcoms. Twenty-two episodes a year, Kaling said.

And that show, that would take up your whole life: No time for other projects, Novak continued.

No time for a social life, Kaling jumped in. You had no choice but to form insanely complicated relationships with your co-stars.



9:44 p.m. ET

The award for outstanding director for a limited or anthology series or movie went to Mike White for The White Lotus.

I had funny things to say, White said in accepting his first Emmy, deciding instead to deliver an earnest speech. He thanked his parents, breaking down briefly as he mentioned his father whos struggling right now.

White was called back to the stage practically seconds later to accept the award for outstanding writing for a limited or anthology series or movie went to Mike White for The White Lotus.

Now I forgot what I was going to say, he said.



9:40 p.m. ET

Geena Davis was on hand to accept the 2022 Governors Award on behalf of her non-profit organization, The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, which she founded in 2004. The group researches and advocates for equal representation in film and television.

Tonights about honoring the best of television, and as you know, as Lizzo knows, television can often directly impact how people see themselves, Davis said. In the time since I launched the institute, weve made a great deal of progress. But still theres more work to do.



9:28 p.m. ET

Lizzo upset Emmys darling RuPauls Drag Race, winning best competition program for Lizzos Watch Out For The Big Grrrls. She was fittingly presented the award by fellow Prime Video stars from The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power.

When I was a little girl all I wanted to see was me in the media: Someone fat like me, black like me, beautiful like me, she recounted in her acceptance speech, saying she eventually had to be that person. Her competition series features women competing to be her backup dancers.



9:21 p.m. ET

No awkward dancing here, Amanda Seyfried was emotional and sincere accepting her first Emmy for  The Dropout  in which she plays disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes. She was up against several other ripped-from-the-headlines roles, including Lily James, for Pam & Tommy and Julia Garner for Inventing Anna.

Seyfried made sure to tell her kids to go to bed before thanking her family and her dog Finn.

Read more about Seyfried's performance here: https://apnews.com/article/elizabeth-holmes-technology-business-health-arts-and-entertainment-8d95cc7c6e805fc4e08274bcaa2f23db



9:15 p.m. ET

Cheers! Jennifer Coolidge won her first Emmy for her turn as the grieving Tanya McQuoid in The White Lotus, in a category where she was up against four of her co-stars and two actors from Dopesick.

I just want to say I took a lavender bath tonight and it made me swell up inside my dress and Im having a hard time speaking, Coolidge said.

As her time ran out, she rushed through thank yous and pleaded with the producers to hold on before resorting to simply dancing along to the play-off music. But she didnt get to finish her speech and was escorted off stage.



9:10 p.m. ET

Bowen Yang, self-anointed Emmys backup host, on what could happen to Kenan Thompson: Did you see the Oscars? he said. You could straight up disappear like a show on HBO Max.



9:03 p.m. ET

With a win for Variety Talk Series, thats 24 Emmys for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, but whos counting?

Oliver nets the variety talk series award for the seventh year in a row. He and his staff took whats become an annual stroll to the stage, as the onscreen text cheekily thanked and teased missing staffers over Oscar Isaac.

Its saying Stop Now in big letters. I dont know whether thats to this speech or in general, but either way, fair point, Oliver concluded.



8:58 p.m. ET

Thank you so much for what was in my head, a standing ovation, said Martin Short, presenting alongside his Only Murders in the Building co-stars Selena Gomez and Steve Martin.



8:57 p.m. ET

Saturday Night Live won yet again for variety sketch series, with only A Black Lady Sketch Show as a foe. SNL is the most nominated show in the history of the Emmys, with 315 nods. Its nominated in nine categories this year alone.



List of Emmy Award winners

Early winners Monday night at the Emmy Awards include Michael Keaton and Murray. Keaton won for best actor in a limited series or TV movie for his work in Dopesick. Bartlett won the supporting actor trophy in that category for The White Lotus and Julia Garner won best supporting actress in a drama Series for Ozark. Although HBOs Succession, which won the best drama series award in 2020, and Ted Lasso from Apple TV+ are considered the frontrunners for top series honors, theres potential for surprises.

Follow the award winners here: https://apnews.com/article/emmy-awards-entertainment-movies-tv-644ef4de2886ce7d4395765fb34b44fa



8:53 p.m. ET

Brett Goldstein cant help himself. The Ted Lasso actor and writer thanked the television academy for a second chance at giving an acceptance speech after his expletive-filled thank yous were bleeped out last year, before launching into another forcing the censors to cut the audio once more. Maybe next year his family will get to hear what he was to say.

https://twitter.com/APEntertainment/status/1569490396333461506



8:49 p.m. ET

Succession star J. Smith-Cameron used her purse to make a political statement: She walked the gold carpet holding a red satin clutch with the words bans off our bodies prominently displayed in gold. Its the slogan of the national abortion rights campaign led by Planned Parenthood in response to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.



8:47 p.m. ET

Sheryl Lee Ralph was stunned by her win for best supporting actress in a comedy series -- before turning around and stunning the audience with a song. She was treated to a standing ovation as she was visibly overcome by emotion while taking the stage. The Abbott Elementary star sung Dianne Reeves Endangered Species before delivering her speech to another standing ovation.

Her choice of song, Endangered Species, was originally by Dianne Reeves. Reeves is a jazz singer and five-time Grammy winner who has been releasing albums since 1987.



8:39 p.m. ET

Viewers of Julia Garners acceptance speech were treated to a new innovation at this years Emmys, meant to cut down the time spent on a laundry list of thank yous. Nominees were allowed to submit ahead of time a list of people whose names would flash onscreen upon a win. Think agents, managers, significant others and anyone else who could fit into the 350 characters allotted. While Garner used the onscreen text to thank people like Netflix executive Reed Hastings, she used her 45 seconds on the stage to verbally thank the cast and crew of Ozark.



8:38 p.m. ET

Sorry, Saul fans, Rhea Seehorn is going home empty handed. Julia Garner won the supporting actress in a drama series Emmy for Ozark, beating out Sydney Sweeney, Sarah Snook, J. Smith Cameron, Patricia Arquette, Jung Ho-yeon and Christina Ricci.

Thank you for writing Ruth, shes changed my life, Garner said.



8:32 p.m. ET

If it is to be said, so it be. So it is. Matthew MacFadyen won best supporting actor in a drama series and his first Emmy for his bonkers gift of a role as Tom Wambsgans in Succession. Co-stars Nicholas Braun and Kieran Culkin were also nominated in the category.



8:29 p.m. ET

Yellowstone didnt get any Emmy nominations this year, but the wildly popular show starring Kevin Costner was still prominently featured on the television drama sizzle reel.

 8:26 p.m. ET

Ah, the obligatory Leonardo DiCaprio girlfriend joke, this time directed at Zendaya who just turned 26, which Thompson quipped makes her too old to date the actor.



8:24 p.m. ET

Wishful ratings thinking? Kenan Thompson explained to the theoretical under 20 viewers that, NBC is a network that used to show The Office.



8:20 p.m. ET

Who hasnt been caught mid-sip of wine on national television early in a long awards show? The White Lotus showrunner Mike White was not quite ready for his close-up when winner Murray Bartlett turned to thank him for his role as the stressed out manager of the luxury hotel.



8:17 p.m. ET

Murray Bartlett beat out two of his White Lotus co-stars to win supporting actor in a limited or anthology series or movie for his role as an uptight hotel manager who slowly and dramatically unravels. There were just three shows represented among the six nominees altogether.



8:12 p.m. ET

Michael Keaton takes home the first award of the night -- and his first Emmy -- for lead actor in a limited or anthology series or movie. The Dopesick actor is also nominated for producing the Hulu show.

My face hurts so much from all the fake smiling Ive been doing, said Keaton, Emmy in hand.



8:07 p.m.

Hey, yall seen Living Single? I think youd like it, Kenan Thompson said after dancing through an elaborate homage to the Friends opening credits, with backup dancers, the orange couch and a remix of Ill Be There For You.



8:03 p.m. ET

Donning a top hat, the self-described mayor of television Kenan Thompson opened the show from amid the audience:

Tonight, we come together to honor the greatest invention in the history of mankind: television



8:01 p.m. ET

A full, ceiling-high bar is set up behind one of the stages but nothings on tap: This bar right here is not real, producer-writer Chris Spencer told the audience as he announced the rules for the show before the telecast. This is a set. Do not touch this.



8:00 p.m. ET

Inside the theater, most of the orchestra seats have been removed and replaced by dozens of tables. Six large trees line the perimeter of the room and window panels provide view of the LA skyline. Strings of tiny white lights, intermixed with green ferns, hang above a crowd thats largely eschewed social distancing.



Emmy Awards: Stars look to keep cool on sweltering carpet

By LYNN ELBER

Emmy Awards host Kenan Thompson and the ceremonys producers are promising a feel-good event. That description doesnt apply to several of the top nominated shows. Among the best drama contenders at Monday nights ceremony are the violently dystopian Squid Game and Succession, about a powerful and cutthroat family. Even comedy nominee Ted Lasso, the defending champ, took a dark turn last season. But after several pandemic-affected awards seasons, Emmy producers say the night will be big and festive.

Read the full story: https://apnews.com/article/2022-emmys-show-74e969a265d171c2f990ce98074cf534



7:58 p.m. ET

The stars are inside the Microsoft Theater so its time to roll up the gold carpet. Well take you through the highly anticipated show, so stick around for more!



7:48 p.m. ET

Emmys host Kenan Thompson moved quickly along the carpet, making his way inside the Microsoft Theater to prepare for the show. Sorry, we cant stop, a handler called to reporters out as Thompson strode by.



7:47 p.m. ET

Last year seemed to be the year of the velvet suit for men, but if the Emmy carpet is any indication, white is having a moment: Andrew Garfield, Seth Rogen and Nicholas Braun all turned up in bright white suits.



7:35 p.m. ET

Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham wears a pink corset gown on the #Emmys gold carpet. She is nominated for best supporting actress in a comedy series.

https://twitter.com/APEntertainment/status/1569469663855124480



7:28 p.m. ET ' Photo

Rhea Seehorn, or Kim Wexler if youre a Better Call Saul fan, made a grand entrance to the Emmy Awards where many onlookers have decided its her year to win. Shes up for supporting actress in a drama series, her first, for the recently wrapped show in an ultra-competitive category where shes up against Julia Garner for Ozark, Sydney Sweeney for Euphoria and Succession actors Sarah Snook and J. Smith Cameron.



7:27 p.m. ET

This was Puff Daddys coat. He wore it in a video.

Nominated for two Emmys tonight -- guest actor in a comedy series for Saturday Night Live and writing for a variety special -- comedian Jerrod Carmichael laughed at the heat and humidity, strolling the carpet in a long white fox fur coat with nothing on underneath.



7:26 p.m. ET

Henry Winkler, nominated for his portrayal of Gene Cousineau in HBOs Barry, is wearing his lucky tie tonight. He sported the light lime green neckwear in 2018, when he won his very first Emmy -- best supporting actor in a comedy series -- for the same role.



7:19 p.m. ET

Hire women!  Only Murders in the Building director Cherien Dabis, to the AP, on how to get more women behind the camera in television.



7:14 p.m. ET Twitter

At the #Emmys, #TheRingsOfPower star Cynthia Addai-Robinson says she isnt paying attention to online trolls review-bombing the Lord of the Rings prequel series.

https://twitter.com/APEntertainment/status/1569464208206569473



7:10 p.m. ET ' Full Story

Elle Fanning Old Hollywood for Emmys, others in red zone

By LEANNE ITALIE

The Emmys red carpet kicked off in sticky Los Angeles with a strong show of red on the fashion carpet. Natasha Rothwell of The White Lotus chose red for a gown with balloon short sleeves and a hot commodity on fashion carpets  pockets! Megan Stalter also went for red in a sheer dress that celebrated her curves. Jen Tullock of Severance was in the red zone, a thigh high slit and structured sleeve number by Thierry Mugler, worn with drop pearl earrings. Mark Indelicato was in the red club, sort of. Indelicatos hair was bright red and his black tux sported long split tails like a train.

Read the full story: https://apnews.com/article/2022-emmys-fashion-photos-d8624fd7435099009be675646fd426d5



7:01 p.m. ET ' Video

Ben Stiller isnt worried about being banned from Russia, he told the AP on the Emmy carpet before the show. Ill take it, he said. Its all right.

Im a Goodwill Ambassador for the UNHCR, Stiller said referencing the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Theres over 100 million displaced people all over the world. So all of those people deserve a right to a home and be able to go back home and to be welcomed. Thats the message I like to put out there.

https://twitter.com/AP/status/1569461288161386496



7:00 p.m. ET

Euphoria star Colman Domingo said hes been celebrating his first Emmy nomination all week long and even had to take a few ibuprofen this morning because of all the dancing hes been doing.

Colman wore a shimmering suit by Dolce & Gabbana, who hes been collaborating with all season. I wanted to feel like a king, he said. They brought that out with this number. One of their earlier looks was a cream tuxedo that he said was a cross between Cary Grant and Teddy Pendergrass.



6:53 p.m. ET ' Photo

Comfort was key for Dopesick star and nominee Kaitlyn Dever at her first Emmy Awards, she told the AP. She came sporting a red off-the-shoulder Naeem Khan dress chosen for her by her stylist Ryan Hastings.

It feels almost like a heavy nightgown, she said.



6:40 p.m. ET

Jamie Tartt and Roy Kent might be on tenuous terms on Ted Lasso but off-camera Phil Dunster and Brett Goldstein were happy to mug for the cameras. Goldstein played the curmudgeon at first, giving Dunster a suspicious side-eye as he neared and photographers shouted, Pretend like you like each other. But he soon broke character and both ended up laughing with arms linked.



6:39 p.m. ET

Its hot and humid in Los Angeles this afternoon, but Laverne Cox gets to chill. The E! host has an air conditioner unit pointing at her, nominee Seth Meyers revealed while being interviewed on the gold carpet. Meanwhile, AP reporters witnessed suit-clad men are pushing a wheeled cooler full of bottled water along the carpet, moving deftly between the logjam of sweating stars and stopping frequently to grab and pass out the cool beverages.



6:32 p.m. ET

While she doesnt leave him, I think she will eventually.  Alexandra Daddario weighs in on the ultimate fate of her White Lotus characters troubled marriage while talking to E! on the gold carpet.



6:32 p.m. ET ' Photo

Ozark nominee Laura Linney wore a white and black-trimmed Christian Siriano gown to the Emmy Awards Monday night. She told the AP that, The whole entertainment industry is at a crossroads of trying to figure out how to proceed in a whole new world... Television has had to sort of absorb much of the film industry and consequently, theyve had to change their culture to satisfy the artistic needs of a different type of community. But consequently, television is better because of that.



6:24 p.m. ET ' Photo

Hacks breakout Megan Stalter arrived to the show in a nearly naked red slip dress to support her nominated co-stars, Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder, Jane Adams, Harriet Samson Harris, Kaitlin Olson and Christopher McDonald.



6:24 p.m. ET ' Photo

Abbott Elementary star and first time Emmy nominee Sheryl Lee Ralph said five days ago she didnt have an outfit to the show, but designer Brandon Blackwood heard about it and came to her rescue.



6:05 p.m. ET

Get your fashion fix on E! starting at 6 p.m. Eastern/3 p.m. Pacific for red carpet arrivals. Peacocks stream from the carpet starts an hour later and NBC will air the show live while Peacock streams it in real time at 8 p.m. Eastern/5 p.m. Pacific. If you dont have cable: Yes, Peacock has a seven-day free trial.



6:03 p.m. ET ' Photo

Comedian Emily Heller was one of the early arrivals to the Emmy Awards with a statement outfit, literally: She had a sign with the words Kick Me! pinned to the back of her frock. Its not a first for Heller who in 2018 carried a purse that said gettyimages.



5:55 p.m. ET

Theres still more than two hours to get your own Emmys picks in, but if youre stuck, take a leaf out of our experts book. APs Mark Kennedy and Lynn Elber discuss who will win and who should win from the highly competitive 25 awards presented during tonights telecast.



5:52 p.m. ET

The gold carpet is ready for TVs top stars at the #Emmys in downtown Los Angeles.

https://twitter.com/APEntertainment/status/1569437442180263939
TORONTO (AP)  Untitled Amblin Film, read Gabriel LaBelle's audition sheet. Director TBD."

LaBelle, a 19-year-old actor from Vancouver with a handful of credits in TV and film, taped his audition and sent it off, not thinking too much about it. A couple days later, he began to hear whispers. That movie? It's a Steven Spielberg film. And the part? Playing Steven Spielberg.

LaBelle didn't get a call back until three months later  and even then he didn't really know what he was in for. It wasn't until LaBelle was cast and received the full script that it dawned on him. He was the lead of Spielberg's The Fabelmans, playing a fictionalized younger version of the legendary director.

When I was auditioning, the characters name was Teenage Sammy  I thought as opposed to Adult Sammy, LaBelle said in an interview the day after The Fabelmans premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

I get the script and youre reading it for 30 pages and hes 6 and 8 years old. Page 35 or so Teenage Sammy comes along. OK, good! Now this is my part. Its going to be a three-act movie, its going to be a Moonlight or something. I kept waiting for my exit but it never came.

Instead, LaBelle makes a very big entrance in The Fabelmans" playing the legendary American film director in his most autobiographical film. As Spielberg's fictionalized stand-in, Sammy Fabelman, he plays the 75-year-old filmmaker through some of his most formative teenage years as an aspiring filmmaker. Much of the film belongs to Michelle Williams and Paul Dano, who play Sammy's parents and turn in extraordinarily nuanced, performances. But LaBelle's Sammy is the through-line in The Fabelmans, a deeply felt portrait of an American movie icon as a young man.

For a young, little-known actor just getting a role in a Spielberg film can launch a career. Christian Bale and Drew Barrymore are just a few of the actors who got their big break with the director. LaBelle's challenge, though, added the considerable wrinkle of also playing Spielberg, himself.

After I got cast, it was really like: Did I just bite off more than I can chew? said LaBelle, who goes by Gabe. It was like the universe just dropped down. Ah, you want to be an actor, do you? You want to be in the movies?

Before The Fabelmans, LaBelle's most notable credit was probably a small part in the 2018 reboot The Predator. His father, Rob LaBelle, is a veteran actor with dozens of film and television credits. At the premiere, when the younger LaBelle saw The Fabelmans for the first time, he sat with his parents and brother, often clutching his mother's hand. On stage after the film, LaBelle described the odd feeling of being on a film set surrounded by masters."

Then there's me, that kid with the good audition.

But LaBelle quickly became part of the company, Spielberg said. In a talk with Cameron Bailey, TIFF director, at the festival, Spielberg said the role was especially difficult for him to cast.

None of this is really easy because we dont often see ourselves the way our friends and our family sees us," Spielberg said. As a kid growing up, I always had a lot of reasons why I was always in the corner, why I was always not the center of conversation.

I needed someone who wasnt going to bring too much self-awareness to Sammy."

The Fabelmans," which Universal Pictures will release Nov. 11, tracks Sammy through his first exposure to cinema as a child (Mateo Zoryna Francis-Deford plays him as a boy) through his high-school years. The film captures Spielberg's growing wonder with the possibilities  and manipulative power  of filmmaking during a time of increasing marital toil for his parents. That meant that LaBelle would be acting out some seminal moments in Spielberg's life: Making his first war movie; kissing his first girlfriend; stepping onto a studio lot for the first time.

LaBelle found Spielberg a ready resource but their talks didn't often stray outside of the work at hand.

Our main focus was the movie, said LaBelle. Yes, I could talk to him and go off about his life but I could tell he wasnt going to unload it all to us. We had to ask. We had to go at it scene by scene. It was really just about whats the purpose of each moment. How did you feel? What do you want out of me? Sometimes hed tell me and sometimes he wouldnt want me to know and hed want me to just do what I thought Sammy should do.

Other times, Sammy's own anxiety mirrored LaBelle's exactly. One scene reenacts 15-year-old Spielberg's famous encounter with the director John Ford, who is played by David Lynch in the film. Lynch, LaBelle said, scared the s- out of me.

I mean, hes a great guy. But leading up to it, Sammys nervous, so Im getting nervous, said LaBelle. He walks into the room and Steven goes over. Its David Lynch and Steven Spielberg talking. My coverage wasnt going to be until later, so Im waiting and waiting to do that scene. It really helped me get nervous to meet him.

LaBelle stars in the recently debuted Showtime series adaptation of the 1980 film American Gigolo," playing the younger version of Jon Bernthal's lead character. He said that making The Fabelmans"  along with some COVID studying (watching Masterclasses by Samuel L. Jackson and Natalie Portman, reading Michael Caine's biography)  has taught him how if he committed to working hard he has to be as an actor. Which isn't to say that leaping into The Fabelmans wasn't head-spinning.

To think that it goes from an audience to this, LaBelle said, shaking his head in disbelief. Its just absolutely wild.

___

Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
Like a Rolling Stone: A Memoir (Little, Brown)

Jann S. Wenner takes us on a long, strange trip with his accessible and entertaining rock n roll memoir.

As the founder, co-editor and publisher of Rolling Stone magazine, Wenner had an unusual back stage pass to the rock n roll revolution as he chronicled how the Baby Boomer generation reshaped postwar America.

Now 76, Wenner was just in his 20s when he helped found the magazine in 1967. Rolling Stone went on to chronicle not only the music of those times, but also politics and cultural change, from Woodstock and Vietnam to Altamont and Watergate.

The magazine soon became popular for its 20,000-word profiles and essays and bold photography and graphics. Among the major figures profiled on its pages over the years were musicians John Lennon, Jerry Garcia, Bob Dylan and Bono, and politicians Bill Clinton, John Kerry and Barack Obama.

Wenner started writing about rock music for The Daily Californian student newspaper at the University of California, Berkeley. While still in college, he plunged into the rock scene, traveling to London where he saw performances by a 17-year-old Steve Winwood, as well as the Yardbirds featuring a young Eric Clapton.

After launching Rolling Stone with music critic Ralph J. Gleason, Wenner was soon befriending top rock stars like Mick Jagger, when they were both still in their 20s. A young Pete Townshend told him about his early idea for a rock opera about a deaf, dumb and blind boy that went on to become The Who's Tommy.

Wenner also befriended Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, serializing his book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas in the magazine, then assigning him to cover Richard Nixon's reelection campaign. He helped launch the career of photographer Annie Leibovitz.

The memoir allows Wenner to tell his story in his own words after being disappointed with the 2017 biography he commissioned journalist Joe Hagan to write for the magazine's 50th anniversary.

Wenner later said Hagan's Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine," was deeply flawed and tawdry as it detailed his complicated sexual life, drug use and feuds with musicians and others.

In his own memoir, Wenner does touch on the personal, including his life as a closeted man during a long marriage to Jane, who remained an important part of his life after he started a relationship with partner Matt Nye. But his narrative could leave the reader feeling like some interesting details have been left out.

Wenner mentions his past drug use while recalling famous popular icons who died from overdoses such as close friend and comedian John Belushi.

He also details Rolling Stone's 2014 story by a freelance writer about a gang assault at a fraternity at the University of Virginia and the discovery that the alleged victim made it all up.

Wenner acknowledged errors, including a lack of corroborating sources and reluctance to challenge the alleged victim. We had been humiliated, humbled and shamed, he recalled.

Then, amid discussions five years ago to sell the magazine, Wenner broke his femur and suffered a heart attack. During an operation for a triple coronary bypass and valve replacement, the surgeons listened to a playlist personally assembled by Bruce Springsteen.

Eventually, Wenner reluctantly did sell.

And just as he had for more than a half-century, Wenner wrote passionately about a key issue of the times in his last letter from the editor in March 2020.

With young Swedish activist Greta Thunberg on the cover, Wenner invited his readers to contemplate the dangers of climate change: We will answer for what we did to protect our children and the miracle of nature and her diversity of species on this planet, when we still had the time.
Nothing gets people excited like Taco Bells Mexican pizza. Back in April, the Tex-Mex fast food chain announced the item would return for a brief time after a two-year hiatus from the menu. But the company, which is owned by Yum! Brands, was running out of the coveted snack just weeks after it returned.

SFGATEs own Joshua Bote wrote a love letter to what he deemed the best Taco Bell item, which basically consists of beans mixed with ground meat layered between two tostada shells, then topped with melted cheese and cut into four sections, making it more of a pizza-meets-sandwich combination. Theres even an FAQ page on Taco Bells website dedicated to informing the public of anything and everything Mexican pizza related. Much to the delight of every Taco Bell stan, the late night snack is scheduled to return to the menu for good on Sept. 15, 2022.

But theres a better Mexican pizza right here in the Mission District of San Francisco: the Oaxacan specialty known as the tlayuda. It can be found at a few of the Oaxacan restaurants throughout the city. The version at La Oaxaquena at 2128 Mission St., though, holds a special place in my heart, like a first love, because it was the first time I ever experienced a Mexican pizza.

Charles Russo Charles Russo Charles Russo Charles Russo (Charles Russo/SFGATE) (Charles Russo/SFGATE)

Sometime in the winter of 2013, I was out along the Valencia Street corridor, most likely at the Elbo Room, with friends who were visiting home one last time as the final semesters of college approached. We were in desperate need of some good food to sober us up when we happened upon La Oaxaquena. My first instinct was to order tacos or a burrito, but the tlayuda on the menu caught my eye. The cashier described it as a large tostada and it instantly brought to mind my mothers tostada, one of her specialties.

The cashier undersold exactly how large it would be. Much to my surprise, the tlayuda was gargantuan. The edges of the circular, flat, thin and crispy shell of masa brimmed over the edges of an extra-large white dinner plate. A smooth layer of refried pinto beans covered the entire tlayuda hull. Shredded green lettuce, milk-white Oaxacan quesillo, sliced avocados and chicken in an acidic-red chipotle sauce blanketed the giant, edible disk. I was so hypnotized by the tlayuda that I neglected to share it with my two buddies.

Charles Russo

In the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, the tlayuda is usually found as a street food. At night, vendors set up their tents and heat up their comals, shaping the tlayuda shells by hand, which are made with higher-starch corn so that they can stretch wider than a regular corn tortilla. A clay comal is used, specifically to pull any moisture from the masa while getting it to a masterful state of crunchy yet rigidness  strong enough to hold all of the ingredients without breaking. As celebrated Los Angeles food writer and notable Mexican food historian Bill Esparza put it, the tlayuda is a symbol of Oaxacan culture.

On a recent return to La Oaxaquena, and my first time since that fateful night of companion negligence and tlayuda worship, the restaurant was just as I remembered: a narrow space, yet cavernous with a high ceiling, yellow walls trimmed red and adorned with paintings of a woman in floral dress offering food on a platter and another commemorating the day Mexicos army defeated France in what came to be known as the Battle of Puebla (also known as Cinco de Mayo). I ordered the exact same thing as I did eight or nine years ago, though, so I could try and re-live one of my most treasured food memories.

Charles Russo

To my delight, the powers of recall brought me back to my first ever tlayuda bite; this second first bite was a near replica. It was just as I had remembered: The warm veneer of velvety brown beans was offset by the crunchy, wet lettuce; the stringy, creamy Oaxacan specialty cheese balanced out the spiciness of the orange-ish red sauce that smothered the pulled chicken meat. Of course, the firm, crunchy shell held up under the pressure of a professional photographer snapping pics and didnt break for the camera. Its all in a days work for the emblem of Oaxacan cuisine.

On La Oaxaquenas own website, it says, think of it as a Mexican pizza. But dont get it twisted. (How could you? All of the water from masa evaporated leaving it unpliable). A tlayuda is not a Mexican pizza. It is a tlayuda and should be respected as such. Otherwise, this symbol of Oaxacan culture can get erased by changing its name to something more well-known, something more Americanized.

So many of the best things Ive ever eaten were not white-washed, and they helped shape my world view. History and culture gleam from cuisines. One can perhaps begin to understand the history of diaspora, migration, amalgamation, colonization and atrocity that has shaped a place and its people to what it is today. The tlayuda is no exception.

Charles Russo

Taco Bell lovers can have their Mexican pizza. Theres no shame in that. Ill be at La Oaxaquena, though, devouring a tlayuda.

La Oaxaquena, 2128 Mission St., San Francisco. Open daily, 6 a.m.-2 a.m.
DENVER (AP)  The intensifying crisis facing the Colorado River amounts to what is fundamentally a math problem.

The 40 million people who depend on the river to fill up a glass of water at the dinner table or wash their clothes or grow food across millions of acres use significantly more each year than actually flows through the banks of the Colorado.

In fact, first sliced up 100 years ago in a document known as the Colorado River Compact, the calculation of who gets what amount of that water may never have been balanced.

The framers of the compact  and water leaders since then  have always either known or had access to the information that the allocations they were making were more than what the river could supply, said Anne Castle, a senior fellow at the Getches-Wilkinson Center at the University of Colorado Law School.

EDITORS NOTE: This is part of a collaborative series on the Colorado River as the 100th anniversary of the historic Colorado River Compact approaches. The Associated Press, The Colorado Sun, The Albuquerque Journal, The Salt Lake Tribune, The Arizona Daily Star and The Nevada Independent are working together to explore the pressures on the river in 2022.

During the past two decades, however, the situation on the Colorado River has become significantly more unbalanced, more dire.

A drought scientists now believe is the driest 22-year stretch in the past 1,200 years has gripped the southwestern U.S., zapping flows in the river. Whats more, people continue to move to this part of the country. Arizona, Utah and Nevada all rank among the top 10 fastest growing states, according to U.S. Census data.

While Wyoming and New Mexico arent growing as quickly, residents watch as two key reservoirs  popular recreation destinations  are drawn down to prop up Lake Powell. Meanwhile, southern Californias Imperial Irrigation District uses more water than Arizona and Nevada combined, but stresses their essential role providing cattle feed and winter produce to the nation.

Until recently, water managers and politicians whose constituents rely on the river have avoided the most difficult questions about how to rebalance a system in which demand far outpaces supply. Instead, water managers have drained the countrys two largest reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, faster than Mother Nature refills them.

In 2000, both reservoirs were about 95% full. Today, Mead and Powell are each about 27% full  once-healthy savings accounts now dangerously low.

The reservoirs are now so low that this summer Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton testified before the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that between 2 million and 4 million acre-feet would need to be cut next year to prevent the system from reaching critically low water levels, threatening reservoir infrastructure and hydropower production.

The commissioner set an August deadline for the basin states to come up with options for potential water cuts. The Upper Basin states  Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming  submitted a plan. The Lower Basin states  California, Arizona and Nevada  did not submit a combined plan.

The bureau threatened unilateral action in lieu of a basin-wide plan. When the 60-day deadline arrived, however, it did not announce any new water cuts. Instead, the bureau announced that predetermined water cuts for Arizona, Nevada and Mexico had kicked in and gave the states more time to come up with a basin-wide agreement.

STILL LEFT OUT

A week before Toutons deadline, the representatives of 14 Native American tribes with water rights on the river sent the Bureau of Reclamation a letter expressing concern about being left out of the negotiating process.

What is being discussed behind closed doors among the United States and the Basin States will likely have a direct impact on Basin Tribes water rights and other resources and we expect and demand that you protect our interests, tribal representatives wrote.

Being left out of Colorado River talks is not a new problem for the tribes in the Colorado River Basin.

The initial compact was negotiated and signed on Nov. 24, 1922, by seven land-owning white men, who brokered the deal to benefit people who looked like them, said Jennifer Pitt of the National Audubon Society, who is working to restore rivers throughout the basin.

They divided the water among themselves and their constituents without recognizing water needs for Mexico, the water needs of Native American tribes who were living in their midst and without recognizing the needs of the environment, Pitt said.

Mexico, through which the tail of the Colorado meanders before trickling into the Pacific Ocean, secured its supply through a treaty in 1944. The treaty granted 1.5 million acre-feet on top of the original 15 million acre-feet that had already been divided, 7.5 million each for the Upper and Lower Basins.

Tribes, however, still dont have full access to the Colorado River. Although the compact briefly noted that tribal rights predate all others, it lacked specificity, forcing individual tribes to negotiate settlements or file lawsuits to quantify those rights, many of which are still unresolved. Its important to recognize the relationship between Native and non-Native people at that time, said Daryl Vigil, water administrator for the Jicarilla Apache Nation in New Mexico.

In 1922, my tribe was subsistence living, Vigil said. The only way we could survive was through government rations on a piece of land that wasnt our traditional homeland. Thats where we were at when the foundational law of the river was created.

COMPETING INTERESTS

Agriculture uses the majority of the water on the river, around 70% or 80% depending on what organization is making the estimate. When it comes to the difficult question of how to reduce water use, farmers and ranchers are often looked to first.

Some pilot programs have focused on paying farmers to use less water, but unanswered questions remain about how to transfer the savings to Lake Powell for storage or how to create a program in a way that would not negatively impact a farmers water rights.

Antiquated state laws mean the amount of water that a water right gives someone access to can be decreased if not fully used.

Thats why the Camblin family ranch in Craig in northwest Colorado plans to flood irrigate once a decade, despite recently upgrading to an expensive, water-conserving pivot irrigation system. Nine years out of 10, theyll receive payment from a conservation group in exchange for leaving the surplus water in the river. But in Colorado, the state revokes water rights after 10 years if they arent used.

Not only would losing that right mean they cant access a backup water supply should their pivot system fail, but their propertys value would plummet, Mike Camblin explained. He runs a yearling cattle operation with his wife and daughter, and says an acre of land without water sells for $1,000, about a fifth of what it would sell for with a water right attached.

There are other ways to improve efficiency, but money is still often a barrier.

Wastewater recycling is growing across the region, albeit slowly, as it requires massive infrastructure overhauls. San Diego built a robust desalination plant to turn seawater to drinking water, and yet some agricultural users are trying to get out of their contract since the water is so expensive. Some cities are integrating natural wastewater filtration into their landscaping before the water flows back to the river. Its all feasible, but is costly, and those costs often get passed directly to water users.

One of the biggest opportunities for water conservation is changing the way our landscapes look, said Lindsay Rogers, a water policy analyst at Western Resource Advocates, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting water and land in the West.

Converting a significant amount of outdoor landscaping to more drought-tolerant plants would require a combination of policies and incentives, Rogers explained. Those are going to be really critical to closing our supply-demand gap.

After years of incentive programs for residents, Las Vegas recently outlawed all nonfunctional grass by 2026, setting a blueprint for other Western communities. For years, the city has also paid residents to rip out their lawns.

Several water agencies, including the one that serves Las Vegas, recently wrote to the Bureau of Reclamation committing to more water reuse and lawn replacement. Denver Water signed it, although it does not offer incentives for replacing residential lawns. Its neighbor, Aurora Water, has done so for 15 years and recently restricted non-functional grass in new housing.

This summer, in southern California, the Metropolitan Water District instituted an unprecedented one-day-a-week water restriction.

Still, regardless of the type of water use, more concessions must be made.

The law of the river is not suited to what the river has become and what we see it increasingly becoming, Audubons Pitt said. It was built on the expectation of a larger water supply than we have.

___

Outcalt is a reporter with The Colorado Sun and Peterson is an Associated Press video journalist. Both reported from Denver.

___

The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of APs environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment
LAS VEGAS  As one of four reporters on the investigative team of Las Vegas main newspaper, Jeff German wrote stories that reached nearly every sordid corner of Sin City.

Even as old-school reporting jobs dwindled, Germans watchdog articles and columns pried back the curtain on mobsters, crooked politicians, casino titans and just about anyone who misused wealth or power in the city. In the past few years, he had scrutinized lavish spending by the citys tourism agency, claims of sexual harassment at the coroners office and allegations that the Las Vegas Raiders football organization had violated discrimination and labor laws.

After four decades of surviving reporting on the most unsavory characters in a city with a reputation for mob-linked killings, there was little reason to think that German, 69, would be in danger when he turned his attention earlier this year to an obscure government office where some employees claimed their boss was a bully. The article didnt even run on the front page.

But authorities now say that the boss in that story, Robert Telles, went to Germans home on a quiet cul-de-sac this month and stabbed him to death, months after the expose that may have cost him reelection was published. Telles has not yet entered a plea, and his lawyer has not responded to requests for comment.

The killing has rattled and outraged the readers, journalists and sources who had grown to trust Germans brand of shoe leather reporting in a town where little is to be trusted, from the glittering billboards to the gamblers across poker tables.

BRIDGET BENNETT/NYT

German endured a changing industry, going from typewriters to Twitter, from one struggling newspaper to another. As news organizations across the country lost money, laid off reporters and found it harder to keep up with corruption, German continued to expose malfeasance at a remarkable pace.

He persisted through periods of blowback and intimidation, such as the time a man he interviewed had punched him in the face. The resulting gash on his lip needed stitches, he told a reporter at The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle.

Jeff was pretty fearless, said Geoff Schumacher, who was one of Germans editors at The Las Vegas Sun in the 1990s. Once he believed a story needed to be told, he was unwavering in wanting to get that story published.

German first got hooked on journalism back in his native Milwaukee, where he got an internship in the late 1970s and befriended the local police reporter, Jim Romenesko.

The two of them were soon gathering after hours to get drinks at a bar called Major Goolsbys or chasing stories off the clock, said Romenesko, who went on to a long career of his own.

He just had that determination to get the story, Romenesko said.

At the time, German sported a look that resembled John Travolta, with feathered hair and a shirt that exposed both his chest and a gold chain that he wore around his neck. He expressed interest in reporting on the mob and was soon headed to a new job in Las Vegas.

BRIDGET BENNETT/NYT

He quickly developed sources across the city and became known for his skill at coaxing everyone from cops to defense lawyers into trusting him with information as he wrote about organized crime, mobsters and political leaders in need of scrutiny.

In 2001, he wrote a book called Murder in Sin City about the killing of casino magnate Ted Binion. After the mass shooting in Las Vegas in 2017, German published an exclusive report detailing how the gunman had fired at jet fuel tanks on the ground  seemingly in hopes of causing an explosion  before opening fire on a concert below him. Last year, he co-wrote an investigation about troubles in the coroners office, where there were allegations of sexual harassment, retaliation and delays in autopsies.

German spent much of his career at The Las Vegas Sun, but as the newspaper went through a series of layoffs more than a decade ago, he moved over to a rival, The Las Vegas Review-Journal. That paper was having its own struggles, but German continued to produce the kind of work that made him a vital asset to the newspaper and the city.

On a breezy day this spring, when he was supposed to be taking time off, German met at a table outside a Starbucks with two new sources. They shared troubles in the office of the public administrator, a small department that handles the estates of dead people, wondering if German might be interested in writing an article.

German listened intently, calming their jitters and jotting notes in his notepad. He made no promises about writing a story and spent weeks after the meeting checking with other sources and vetting the employees accounts.

He was interested. He was caring. He was professional, said Rita Reid, a deputy in the office of the Clark County Public Administrator and one of the people who met German that day. You could tell, he just wanted to do the right thing.

German eventually produced a story in May that was far from a blockbuster  the agency was so obscure that few in town knew what it did  but was the kind of impactful work he was known to produce. In the story, current and former employees of Telles office said he had been such a bad boss that some of them had suffered headaches; they said he had played favorites, given some employees unreasonable assignments and prohibited them from using their phones. They also said that he had been having an inappropriate relationship with an employee and that it had made the office dynamic worse.

Telles denied the claims and criticized the article in statements on Twitter and his website, but the county went on to hire a consultant to try to resolve the turmoil in the office. Telles then lost a Democratic primary campaign to Reid. Online, Telles continued to rail against German, accusing him of writing a lying smear piece. German discussed the online posts with his editor.

He brushed it off and said, Ive had much worse than that, said Rhonda Prast, an assistant managing editor at the Review-Journal who worked closely with German in recent months. He wasnt nervous about it. He wasnt concerned. Neither was I.

Journalists often face intense criticism, but German would be only the ninth journalist over the past three decades to be killed in the United States in response to their work.

In recent weeks, German had continued to report on the public administrator office, recently filing a records request for text messages and emails that Telles had sent. Reid said Telles remained infuriated by the scrutiny.

Authorities said that on a Friday morning this month, Telles, who lived about a 15-minute drive from German, went to the reporters house and got into some altercation with him.

Police said that they had not recovered a murder weapon but that they did find Telles DNA at the crime scene. Investigators also searched Telles home and car and found a hat and shoes that matched those worn by a person seen on surveillance video of the scene. Both the hat and shoes had been cut up, police said, and the shoes had blood on them.

The man pictured on the surveillance video was wearing an orange construction vest, gloves and a large straw hat that hid his face. Police said Telles had been trying to conceal his identity. A series of road construction projects were taking place near Germans home last week, and many workers wore similar outfits.

Before he was arrested, Telles ignored reporters questions outside his home.

Telles former wife, Tonia Burton, said she had been stunned to see that Telles had been accused of the killing.

Im just watching and in shock and not sure of anything, said Burton, who was married to Telles until 2008. I dont think that theres any explanation that we can come up with until he either confirms or denies that this happened.

Burton said that two of Telles children had been at his home when police showed up to search the house but had left before he was arrested. Police said Telles had hurt himself before he was taken into custody. He appeared in court Thursday with bandages on both of his arms, and a judge ordered him to remain in jail as the case proceeded.

At the Review-Journal, Germans desk is now covered with flowers and a framed copy of a front page featuring an article he wrote about irresponsible spending by the tourism agency.

Germans colleagues at the newspaper now face the difficult task of covering his killing while mourning a friend. They were among the journalists at Telles home, peppering him with questions in the hours before he was arrested.

The coverage of Germans death has dominated the front page of the paper that used to carry his byline. RJ reporter is killed, read the first headline about the crime, followed by Suspects image released and New details in stabbing. And then, finally, on Thursday: Stunning arrest.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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KHARKIV, Ukraine (AP)  Among the boarded-up windows and blast-scarred buildings of Ukraines second-largest city, where Russian missiles and rockets strike during the day and the night, fear forms the backdrop of life.

As Ukrainian forces advance in their counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region, pushing Russian forces out of territory they have held for months, strikes have continued unabated on the city, already hammered by artillery during months of war.

A missile strike on a power station Sunday night sparked a major fire and plunged Kharkiv into darkness for hours. In the blackness, another missile slammed into a residential building at around midnight, collapsing part of it and killing one person, local officials said.

Its dangerous to live in Kharkiv, every day is dangerous. Its dangerous during the day and night, said Kateryna Protsenko, a 29-year-old veterinarian living across the street from the apartment building.

The nights are sleepless, but anyway you continue to live because you have a family and you need to survive and work somehow, she said, visibly shaken at the sight of the building, a gaping hole where part of the third story used to be.

The buildings facade had peeled off and piles of rubble lay strewn on the ground, mixed with the twisted metal shrapnel of the missile. On the buildings second story, a closet stood suddenly exposed, a single coat hanger dangling precariously from its rail.

Protsenko said she couldnt leave Kharkiv  she needed to work, and there were still sick animals to treat.

So you live where you can live, and you understand that today you are alive but you can be gone in a minute," she said.

More explosions sounded out in the middle of the day Monday, with a police administrative building set on fire by a strike that killed one person in a neighboring building.

Russia carried out a rocket attack against a peaceful city, where peaceful people live, just the same as the people living in the United States of America, or anywhere else in the world, who go to school, have their ordinary lives, raise their children, Kharkiv regional police chief Volodymyr Timoshko said.

Behind him, firefighting crews clambered up ladders with hoses, dousing the flames leaping out of the top story of the building as choking smoke billowed out over the city.

Timoshko said authorities believed the building was hit by a rocket from a Smerch multiple rocket launcher.

Its quite a powerful weapon which is used for mass destruction, I repeat, mass destruction of the population, he said. They are using it during the daytime in the city center, the city which is living a normal life.

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Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP)  Bangladeshs prime minister said Monday that the prolonged stay of more than 1 million Rohingya refugees in crowded camps in the country has become a serious security and stability concern.

Apart from their own miseries, their prolonged presence is causing a serious impact on the economy, environment, security and sociopolitical stability of Bangladesh, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said at the opening ceremony of a three-day meeting of military officials from 24 countries in the Indo-Pacific region.

The United States is the co-host of the gathering, called the Indo-Pacific Armies Management Seminar, along with the Bangladesh army.

While the militaries of the participating countries are discussing disaster management, transnational crime, security issues and women's empowerment, Bangladesh is using the platform to highlight the issue of Rohingya refugees who have fled from violence in Myanmar.

Participants in the meeting, including the U.S., Canada, Australia, Japan, Indonesia, India, China and Vietnam, will visit the sprawling Rohingya refugee camps to see their plight firsthand, said Gen. S.M. Shafiuddin Ahmed, chief of Bangladesh army.

Ahmed said the military leaders are being taken to the camps in Coxs Bazar district to give them a clear perception of the gravity of the refugee crisis and why their repatriation to Myanmar is necessary.

Last month, the refugees marked the fifth anniversary of a mass exodus of more than 700,000 Rohingya into Bangladesh who were fleeing a harsh crackdown by Myanmars military. In total, Bangladesh is hosting more than 1 million Rohingya refugees.

Hasina has said that repatriation is the only solution to the crisis, but that Bangladesh would not force them to go back to Myanmar.

Bangladeshi officials have expressed frustration after at least two attempts to repatriate the refugees failed under a bilateral agreement brokered by China. The Muslim Rohingya have said that conditions remain too dangerous in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, where they face extensive discrimination.

Charles A. Flynn, commanding general of the U.S. Army Pacific, told reporters that he could not reply to policy questions such as how militaries can help repatriate the Rohingya to Myanmar, but thanked Bangladesh for arranging the trip for the delegation to the refugee camps.

What I will say is this. I am thankful that the chief of the Bangladesh army has found a way in the program to bring us to Coxs Bazar and to see the magnitude of the humanitarian assistance that Bangladesh has provided for five years to that situation, he said.

The Rohingya crisis has gone to international courts, where Myanmar has denied any wrongdoing.

Last month, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. remains committed to advancing justice and accountability for Rohingya and all people of Myanmar.
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NEW ORLEANS (AP)  The U.S. Department of the Interior said Monday that it wants to reverse some Trump administration rollbacks of offshore safety rules to prevent blowouts like the BP catastrophe that killed 11 people and fouled the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.

"This proposed rulemaking will help ensure that offshore energy development utilizes the latest science and technology to keep people safe, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a news release. As our nation transitions to a clean energy economy, we must commit to strengthening and modernizing offshore energy standards and oversight.

The changes are a step in the right direction but not far enough, said Diane Hoskins of the ocean environmental nonprofit Oceana.

No operator can promise there wont be another disaster like BPs Deepwater Horizon blowout. The only way to prevent offshore drilling disasters is to permanently protect our coasts and workers from new offshore leasing, she said in an emailed staatement.

Under Trump, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement acted in 2019 to change rules put in place three years earlier while Barak Obama was president.

The agency is proposing to change seven out of the scores of revisions and additions made in 2019, director Kevin M. Sligh Sr. said during a phone news conference with Haaland.

He said one would require the bureau to accredit independent agencies that inspect offshore rigs and equipment.

Another would require blowout preventers  the equipment that failed in 2010  to always be able to handle the well's maximum gas flow specifications.

Others would require operators to send failure data to the federal offshore safety agency rather than to designated third parties, and would cut a month off the time allowed to begin failure analyses and investigations, allowing three months rather than four.

The 2019 revisions to the Well Control Rule addressed technical problems and cleared up ambiguity, changing 68 of the original rules 342 provisions, said Erik Milito, president of the National Ocean Industries Association, which represents oil and gas companies. Any further updates ... should follow a similar tailored approach.

Environmental groups sued in 2019, claiming the changes would make oil and gas exploration and development off the Pacific, Atlantic, Alaska, and Gulf coasts significantly more dangerous.

"We are still reviewing the proposed rule to determine the best way forward with the lawsuit, said Chris Eaton, senior attorney at Earthjustice, which filed the lawsuit.

Scientists still worry about effects of the nations worst offshore oil spill on dolphins, whales, sea turtles, small fish vital to the food chain and ancient corals in the cold, dark depths.

The proposal opens a 60-day public comment period, which ends Nov. 14.

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This story has been corrected to show the rules up for revision were made in 2019, not 2010.
LANSING  To better help fight the Omicron variant of COVID-19, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued an emergency use authorization for bivalent COVID-19 vaccine for booster doses. This was followed by Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommendation for use of the Pfizer bivalent booster vaccine for ages 12 and older and the Moderna bivalent vaccine for ages 18 and older.

This is great news as we go into the fall and winter when we expect cases of COVID-19 to increase, said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) chief medical executive, in a press release. COVID-19 vaccines remain our best defense against the virus, and we recommend all Michiganders stay up to date.

The bivalent boosters target two strains of COVID-19  the original strain of the virus and the most widely-spread Omicron variants (BA.4 and BA.5).

Midland County Medical Director Dr. Cathy Bodnar is optimistic about the bivalent boosters and their impact on the fight against COVID-19.

Its a good match for the strains that are currently circulating, she said. I think the expectation is it will be more effective.

Both the Moderna and Pfizer bivalent boosters are now available for Midland residents through the Midland County Department of Public Health. The booster will be available during the departments weekly clinics, 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Sept. 13, 20 and 27. To reduce wait times, recipients are encouraged to schedule an appointment to receive the vaccine or boosters by calling 989-832-6665 or visiting https://www.co.midland.mi.us/HealthDepartment/ClinicServices/Immunizations/COVIDVaccineInformation.aspx

Individuals ages 12 and older who have received their primary series of vaccines or monovalent booster doses at least two months ago are eligible to receive one Pfizer bivalent COVID-19 booster. The Moderna bivalent booster is approved for individuals ages 18 years and older who have received their primary series of vaccines or monovalent booster doses at least two months ago.

Individuals may choose to receive either the Pfizer or Moderna bivalent booster, regardless of which primary series vaccine or original booster dose theyve received. Influenza vaccines, which are now available in Michigan, can also be co-administered with the COVID-19 bivalent booster doses. Older formulations of booster doses will no longer be available to persons 12 and older as the FDA has removed authorization for those boosters.

To date, nearly 6.8 million Michiganders ages 5 and up have gotten at least their first dose of COVID-19 vaccines.

Bodnar encourages Midland County residents to stay up to date on vaccinations in accordance with their ages and medical history.

MDHHS encourages Michigan residents to pay attention to local guidance as some communities may be at a higher risk of COVID-19 transmission.

As of Sept. 1, Midland County has a medium risk of community transmission, according to MI Safe Start Map. Bay, Gladwin and Isabella counties have low community transmission while Saginaw has high community transmission.

Through the summer, Bodnar had heard health experts predict a surge of COVID cases in the fall; now those predictions have been tempered.

Barring a new variant, were hoping we wont see that surge that was predicted, Bodnar said.

Bodnar reported that Midland County saw an uptick in COVID cases since the start of school more than two weeks ago. She said the increase was not unexpected, nor was it as high as the May increase. Currently, the largest school outbreaks in Midland County schools include one school with 41 cases and another with 31 cases, according to Bodnar.

Hospitals are doing well in Midland County, according to Bodnar. The region's seven-day average hospitalization rate for COVID patients as of Aug. 30 is 5.2%.

In terms of the severe outcomes, were seeing a lot more cases, but were not seeing a lot of hospitalizations or deaths, Bodnar said.

To schedule a primary or booster dose of the COVID vaccine, visit vaccines.gov.

To learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine, visit Michigan.gov/COVIDvaccine.

For more information about COVID-19 in Michigan, visit Michigan.gov/coronavirus.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP)  Anne Burke, chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, announced her retirement on Monday.

The 78-year-old jurist will end her 16-year high-court tenure on Nov. 30.

I have been blessed to serve as a Supreme Court Justice..., Burke said in a prepared statement. The past three years as chief justice have been a challenging time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but I am thrilled with the progress made by the Illinois courts.

The seven-member court, which has the authority to fill interim vacancies, has chosen Joy Cunningham, a justice on the First District Appellate Court, to take Burke's place.

Cunningham will be the court's second Black woman. The first took her oath just three months ago. Lisa Holder White was appointed to replace the retiring Rita Garman.

Burke herself replaced the first woman on the court, Mary Ann McMorrow, in 2006.

Burke will leave just weeks after the fall election, in which two seats are up for grabs and Republicans hope to gain control of the court for the first time in decades.

Burke's husband, Edward Burke, a Chicago alderman for half a century, is scheduled to go on trial next year on federal racketeering and extortion charges. He has pleaded not guilty and denies wrongdoing.
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JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP)  Hundreds of conservative Muslims marched in Indonesias capital on Monday demanding that the government revoke its decision to raise fuel prices, saying it hurts people already reeling from the economic impact of the pandemic.

Authorities blocked streets leading to the Presidential Palace as the demonstrators, many wearing white Islamic robes, filled a major thoroughfare. Many waved red and white national flags and flags bearing the Islamic declaration of faith.

Prices of gasoline and diesel fuel jumped by about 30% last month after President Joko Widodos administration cut fuel subsidies to reduce the countrys multibillion-dollar budget deficit. The price of gasoline rose from about 51 cents to 67 cents per liter and diesel fuel from 35 cents to 46 cents.

Protests against the increases have been held across Indonesia, mostly by students and workers, but calm had largely returned to Jakarta, the capital, over the past three days before Monday's demonstration.

The protest was organized by a conservative Muslim alliance that held mass demonstrations in 2016 against Jakartas ethnic Chinese Christian governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, that led to him being imprisoned for blasphemy.

In a speech, Ahmad Khozinudin, a protest coordinator, condemned the governments decision. He said people were already suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic and the price hikes would further increase their woes.

Widodo's government "has failed in dealing with poverty in this country, he said, standing on top of a truck. Instead, he has lied to the people by breaking his promise not to increase fuel prices.

Protesters chanted God is great and We stand with workers near the blocked roads.

The government decision to cut the energy subsidy and raise fuel prices is unfair! said Budi Darma, a protester. The increase in fuel prices will trigger hikes in other prices, especially the price of basic foods which have a direct impact on the poor.

Several hundred workers and students also staged protests on Monday near the heavily guarded Presidential Palace.

Widodo said the decision to increase fuel prices was his last option because the government's energy subsidies had tripled this year from 152 trillion rupiah ($10.2 billion) to 502 trillion rupiah ($33.8 billion) because of rising global oil prices and the weakening of the Indonesian rupiah currency.

The government has announced an additional 24.2 trillion rupiah ($1.6 billion) aid package for 20.6 million poor families and workers through the end of the year to cushion the impact of the fuel price increases.

The government has subsidized fuel for decades in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.

Fuel prices are a politically sensitive issue that can trigger other price hikes and possible mass protests. In 1998, an increase in fuel prices sparked riots that helped topple longtime dictator Suharto.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)  An Oklahoma County inmate found dead in his jail cell over the weekend was a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the county alleging that in 2019, he and other inmates were tortured by jail employees who forced them to repeatedly listen to the childrens song Baby Shark" for hours.

John Basco, 48, was found unresponsive in his cell early Sunday morning, Oklahoma County Detention Center officials said in a news release. He was pronounced dead after jail workers began lifesaving efforts, they said. Basco's death is the 14th this year at the jail, which has faced criticism over inmate deaths, escapes and other incidents.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  The forced shutdown of Ukraines endangered and crippled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant  Europes largest  significantly reduces the risk of a radiation disaster that has haunted the world for weeks.

The last of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia plants six nuclear reactors was shut down Sunday because Russias military actions in Ukraine had repeatedly cut reliable external power supplies. That power is needed to prevent the reactors from overheating to the point of a meltdown that could breach the surrounding concrete and steel containment buildings and spew radiation through Ukraine, Russia and other nearby countries.

Since a Sept. 5 fire caused by shelling knocked the plant off of all external transmission lines, the sixth reactor had had to keep operating  at reduced output  to power reactor cooling and other crucial safety equipment. This island mode is unreliable and not designed to be more than a stopgap measure, Ukrainian officials say. On Sunday, one plant connection to Ukraines power grid was restored, so the sixth reactors power wasnt needed for the safety systems.

Here is a look at the risks, impact and what could be done if external power is lost again.

WHY WAS THE SIXTH REACTOR SHUT DOWN?

The Zaporizhzhia plants Ukrainian operators apparently decided that it was too risky to operate any of the six reactors, because the fighting had endangered external power supplies for cooling and other safety systems. But when all external power was lost, they couldnt shut down all the reactors. They needed power from at least one reactor to run the safety systems. When external power was restored using a reserve transmission line, they executed a cold shutdown of the sixth reactor  inserting control rods into the reactor core to stop the nuclear fission reaction and generation of heat and pressure.

HOW DOES THE SHUTDOWN REDUCE THE RISKS?

With all nuclear reactions stopped, temperatures and pressure inside reactors gradually decline, reducing the required intensity of water cooling of the radioactive fuel. This is a nuclear power plants safest operating mode.

A cold shutdown enormously reduces the meltdown risk, Steven Arndt, president of the American Nuclear Society and a scientist at the U.S. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, said in an interview Sunday.

Still, International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi said Sunday he remains gravely concerned about the situation at the plant, which remains in danger as long as any shelling continues.

WHAT HAPPENS IF EXTERNAL POWER IS LOST AGAIN?

With all reactors shut down, if fighting or other problems cause another loss of external power, plant operators would have more time to arrange a backup power source to run the cooling systems, and the cooling load would be decreased, Arndt said. This is because the heat is coming from decaying fuel, not an active fission reaction.

Every hour that goes forward, the possibility of a meltdown of fuel becomes less and less, he said.

Cooling systems are also needed for spent nuclear fuel  that is, fuel that has already been used in the reactors but must be kept under water until its cool enough to be moved outside the reactor containment buildings into dry storage.

If external power to the Zaporizhzhia plant is lost again, engineers could turn to 20 emergency backup diesel generators, as theyve done at least once since the war began. The IAEA said only power from one diesel generator per reactor is needed to maintain safety. While Ukrainian authorities have estimated that they have enough diesel fuel in storage to operate the safety systems for at least 10 days, Petro Kotin, the head of the plants operator, Energoatom, said last week, Diesel generators are actually the stations last defense before a radiation accident can be expected.

Commenting after the restoration of external power on Sunday, Arndt gave a more upbeat assessment: We are cautiously optimistic that the plant is in a relatively stable place because of cooling from offsite power and the backup diesel generators.

IS THE SHUTDOWN OF ZAPORIZHZHIA CAUSING POWER BLACKOUTS?

While power blackouts have plagued Ukraine repeatedly during the war, they appear to be largely a result of shelling of other electricity generation plants and infrastructure, rather than loss of generation from the Zaporizhzhia plant. The Zaporizhzhia regional administrations spokesman, Volodymyr Marchuk, said villages around Enerhodar, where the plant is situated, are without electricity because of the plants shutdown but that alternative power plants, such as the Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Plant, are feeding power to the electric grid.

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Katell reported from New York.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Russian state television pundits and officials for months painted Moscow's invasion of Ukraine as a well-oiled "special military operation" that is methodically achieving its goals of "demilitarizing" and "denazifying" the Kyiv "regime."

But the embarrassing rout of Russian forces from northeastern Ukraine in recent days sent a normally harmonious choir of Kremlin-friendly television shows and newspapers into a frenzy, struggling to explain to the audiences that they had been assuring of victory why Ukraine had recaptured more land than Russia took since April.

The result was the broadcast of unusually tense scenes to millions of Russian households, with some uncharacteristically blunt concessions.

"We have come to a point where we have to understand one simple thing: It's impossible to defeat Ukraine using the resources that Russia is now trying to fight with, using this 'colonial war' method, with contract soldiers, mercenaries and no general mobilization," Boris Nadezhdin, a former Russian lawmaker, lamented in a weekend show on NTV, in a stunning public criticism of the Kremlin strategy.

"We either call for mobilization and go for a full-scale war, or we get out," he added, saying the only other option for Moscow, and the one he preferred, was to try to negotiate a peace deal.

"Non-comrade Nadezhdin, I urge you to watch your language," warned another guest, Alexander Kazakov, co-chair of A Just Russia party led by fervent proponents of the war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has resisted calling a general mobilization and putting the entire country on a war path because forced conscription would be widely unpopular, especially in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Instead, Putin opted for a massive enlistment campaign, recruiting contract soldiers and mercenaries who are promised salaries that eclipse national averages.

The heated exchange between the two political commentators on NTV and other emotional debates that unfolded during the weekend programs were a departure from the typically staged theatrics of Russian television.

Striking a seldom-seen pessimistic note, one of the top Russian propagandists, Dmitry Kiselev, opened his flagship Sunday show by saying it "was the toughest of weeks on the front lines of the special operation" but also called the rout a "regrouping" in line with the military-approved language.

Others viewed the setback as an opportunity to bolster the calls for the Kremlin to be even more aggressive in its onslaught and called for unity in their fervent pro-war patriotism.

"I can't stand tantrums," Margarita Simonyan, the head of the pro-Kremlin RT network, wrote Saturday on Telegram, in attempts to smooth over the outrage coming from popular pro-Russian military bloggers and correspondents, who called the retreat "a catastrophe," urging punishment for officers responsible for the collapse in Kharkiv.

"Quietly, calmly, help where you can help, pray, quench your indignation . . . do everything you can for our inevitable, with God's grace, Victory," she wrote.

Many outlets, however, chose to simply ignore the retreat from the occupied territories.

Russia's official admissions of the setback did not go beyond a Saturday announcement from the Russian Defense Ministry that said the forces had "regrouped," leaving Izyum and Balakliya.

Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Russia's official government newspaper, duly reported on the latest Defense Ministry claims - which are unverifiable - that the Ukrainian army suffered 4,000 casualties during the past week's counteroffensive.

Another report on the newspaper's website praised the crew of a Russian Mi-35 attack helicopter, which it said thwarted Ukrainians from crossing the Oskil river, just on the eastern outskirts of the Kharkiv region, but made no mention of Ukraine's advances - though the location of troops conceded that Russians were in retreat.

"By placing the action at Senkove, on the Oskil river . . . it is admitting just how deeply the Ukrainians have already gone," Mark Galeotti, head of the Mayak Intelligence group, tweeted.

Galeotti added that the Defense Ministry and Rossiyskaya Gazeta rely on the audience "imbibing the triumphalist tone and not digging into the detail."

"The Kremlin seems stunned, and has not yet come up with a plan as to how to try to spin this, so to a large extent, the media are ignoring the bad news until they get a directive," Galeotti said, adding that this "tends to be a sign that the state's control over the narrative is cracking."

In the run-up to the Ukrainian breakthrough, state-media anchors and reporters played down the threat, suggesting that the Ukrainian counteroffensive was just a "facade" to launder "billions of dollars" in aid to Kyiv, or a cunning Russian plan to reveal the enemy's positions in the east.

Last Wednesday, Rossiya 1 anchor Vladimir Solovyov, famous for his anti-Western bellicose rants, rejoiced, saying that the counteroffensive "is not going as breezy as the Ukrainians had hoped."

"If you remove the hysteria, then there are no results," he said. "Ukraine has not been able to return a single significant settlement through military means."

That narrative, however, changed dramatically on his flagship Sunday show, during which he explained Russia's strategic losses by claiming that the country is battling not just Ukraine but the overwhelming power of the entire NATO alliance.

"Is there no civilian infrastructure left in the rest of Ukraine, in the non-liberated parts? Are there no power lines, nuclear power plants, hubs that [if destroyed] could easily take out of commission the enemy state," Simonyan said on the show.

"I've been calling for [infrastructure strikes] for a long time; this is part of the NATO strategy, which involves the destruction of infrastructure, including civilian one," Solovyov agreed.

As the show was airing, Russian forces hit the Ukrainian power grid, causing blackouts in more than 30 settlements in northeastern Ukraine.

The strikes ignited a fire at a station near Kharkiv, killing at least one person. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced the "deliberate and cynical missile strikes" against civilian targets as an act of terrorism.

Scenes of flames engulfing the power station in Kharkiv and reports of thousands of Ukrainians left without electricity or water were celebrated in Russia by pro-war hawks who perceived the attack as the aggressive retaliation they had long hoped to see from the Kremlin amid this onslaught.

"It's a pleasure to hear all these squeals coming from the other side," Solovyov said.

"I am happy [there were] strikes on the energy infrastructure of the Kyiv regime, because it is important for victory," pro-Kremlin war correspondent Evgeny Poddubny wrote on his Telegram blog.

Simonyan echoed the sentiment by posting a short Russian poem, concluding with a line: "What happened to your electricity, neighbors?"

By Monday, the Russian state TV narrative had mostly reverted to the usual triumphant proclamations, as the Defense Ministry insisted it was undertaking heavy airstrikes.

"We are striking the enemy not just from the ground but from the air; you can see the missiles flying even from the Caspian Sea," said Olga Skabeeva, the host of the 60 Minutes show, adding that Russia's destruction of critical Ukrainian infrastructure signaled a turning point in Russia's strategy and the entire operation.

"Two months ago, Putin said that Russia hasn't even started anything serious yet," she said. "Now it seems it has."

Skabeeva added: "Despite the limited successes of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the West still gives Russia dominance in this war. And the main ally - time - is playing in our favor."
PHOENIX (AP)  Joe Hart, a businessman and former state lawmaker who served as Arizona's elected mine inspector for 15 years before resigning last year, has died, Gov. Doug Ducey' office announced Monday.

Hart was 78 and died on Sunday, according to Ducey's office. The cause of death and where Hart died was not known.

Ducey called Hart a pillar of state government, who was a dedicated advocate for the mining industry and mine safety. He ordered flags lowered to half-staff in Hart's honor.

A lifelong Kingman resident, Inspector Hart proudly served the people of Arizona for decades, Ducey said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and loved ones during this time.

Hart was an advocate for closing off the tens of thousands of abandoned mines that are the remnants of Arizona's past, and have at times been deadly. In 2007, two girls riding an ATV in western Arizona drove into an abandoned shaft and plunged into a 125-foot deep mine shaft near the town of Chloride, 220 miles (354 milometers) northwest of Phoenix. A 13-year-old died, and rescuers found a 10-year-old in the old mine the next day.

While seeking reelection in 2018, Hart noted his efforts to close off some of the old mines that litter the state.

During my time in office, hundreds of abandoned mines have been permanently sealed and many more have been fenced and posted to advise the public of their danger, Hart wrote.

Hart resigned last October, telling Ducey in a letter that he was doing so with a heavy heart.

As a fourth generation Arizona miner, the profession of mining has long been a personal passion. It is an industry so fundamental to the success and progress of Arizonas past, present and future, Hart wrote. However, the time has come for my wife Rhonda and I to focus our undivided attention on our health and our family.

Arizona is the only state with an elected mine inspector, and mining is a major Arizona industry. The state leads the nation in copper production.

The mine inspector is responsible for overseeing the safety and overall condition of mines to ensure worker and public safety. The office also oversees an abandoned mine program that helps identify and ensure the safety of mine shafts and mining sites and close them to public access.

Hart was a member of the Arizona House of Representatives from 1992 to 2001, and served as speaker pro tem.

Hart and his wife owned several radio stations serving the northern part of Arizona and the Grand Canyon. His official biography from 2021, no longer available on the mine inspector's website, said he was a a fourth generation Arizonan and he and his wife have four daughters and 10 grandchildren. Hart worked in the mining industry for 20 years.

He closed his resignation letter to Ducey by wishing continued blessings to the state of Arizona.

For this cowboy, it was one heckava ride.
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GREENWICH  When it comes to another proposal for a new cancer care facility at Greenwich Hospital, its supporters and opponents are coming out in force.

A new application to build a 55,700-square-foot structure near the main hospital campus underwent its first official review by the Planning & Zoning Commission last week, attracting numerous positive and negative remarks.

The commission voted down an earlier version of the plan last year, but hospital administrators and supporters say the new design is substantially more neighborhood-friendly  though a number of local residents speaking Thursday were skeptical.

Greenwich Hospital President Diane Kelly highlighted what she said were alterations made to the design to make the structure more attractive to the neighborhood along Lafayette Place and Lake Avenue. The changes were made after local opposition to the proposal was a substantial reason for last years denial.

We have done a lot of work, she said, and the new plans were crafted with the interests of our neighbors first and foremost.

Kelly continued, We have listened to the neighbors concerns and their needs. The need for a construction partner that is respectful and accountable to our neighbors. ... The need for green space that enhances the look of the entire neighborhood.

The overall aim of the project is to provide comprehensive care to cancer patients in the area, particularly those facing more challenging and complicated cases.

A patient in treatment for an acute case of cancer would benefit from a team collaborating together all in one place, Kelly said. As a result, Its requiring more people per patient, and that requires more space, she said.

Other locations would not come close to the main hospital campus in providing the comprehensive care the institution is looking to provide at the Greenwich Hospital Smilow Cancer Center.

Engagement with the community has been a cornerstone of our efforts over the last year, Marc Kosak, chief operating officer at the hospital, told the planning commission.

Adding underground parking to the new plan would allow for more green space, by a factor of 30 percent, he said. Traffic issues have been studied extensively, with a proposed new layout to mitigate any problems, Kosak said.

But critics say they are still concerned about the scale of the project and maintain that the proposed building would harm the neighborhood.

Karen Fassuliotis, a vocal opponent, cited the towns Plan of Conservation and Development, the comprehensive plan for development, which she said calls for enhancing our exceptional neighborhoods and maintaining small-town character and a New England feel.

This proposal does not jibe with that. ... This does not do that at all, said Fassuliotis, a neighbor of the hospital.

Henry Orphys, another neighbor, said, Additional cancer facilities can be added in a location that does not impose the hardships on thousands of residents of central Greenwich.

He said he had serious concerns about parking, traffic, noise and flooding associated with the proposed construction.

And citing an estimate that the addition would generate hundreds of additional car trips during the day, Orphys said, Thats an awfully large number of cars to add to a road network that already gets a great deal of use everyday.

Local resident Alice Ryan said of the proposed cancer care center, Its the wrong location.

Amy Souchuns, the hospitals attorney for the project, and other supporters noted that the towns Plan of Conservation and Development also calls for leaders in Greenwich to maintain state-of-the-art health and safety services.

Commissioners said they had their work cut out for them in reviewing the new application.

Commissioner Dennis Yeskey said the P&Z was facing a big balancing act. He said he wanted to see data on how many town residents would use the facility, as opposed to patients from other communities in the region.

How many Greenwich residents do you think are going to use this facility? ... We want a hospital that is focused on Greenwich residency, he said.

Commissioner Peter Lowe asked, Isnt it potentially intrusive and disruptive to a residential neighborhood? He said the preservation of town character is up front and center and runs through the POCD.

Souchuns responded, We think this is consistent with the surrounding neighborhood, its certainly substantially different than the prior application.

Commissioner Nick Macri wanted more information on the construction techniques and timetable for the project. Its time to get in the weeds of the logistics and the construction schedule, he said, in particular the phases for digging and blasting as part of the construction.

Questions about parking, traffic flow and noise will also be scrutinized closely, Chairwoman Margarita Alban said, as the P&Z continues its review.

A total of 107 people were listening to the teleconferenced P&Z hearing Thursday. The application requires a zoning change and a special permit.

The hospital administration has been seeking to build community-wide support for the cancer center. A group of cancer specialists at the hospital spoke about the need for the upgraded medical services as they gathered for a large outdoor press briefing last Wednesday.

Dr. Karen Santucci spoke of her brother, Bob, who died of an aggressive form of leukemia at the age of 47.

He received his care locally, she recalled, and was able to spend more time with family members as a result, which was a significant benefit. That his cancer care was close to home, she said, lifted a big burden off the family and allowed Bob Santucci to spend a lot more time with his children in his final days.

It was not a convenience, it was a necessity, she said.

Dr. Bruce McGibbon said the team-based approach the hospital is seeking to implement with a new Smilow Cancer Center is how we get to the next level.

The medical team noted that nearly all cancer types are expected to rise between 20 percent and 26 percent in the next decade, and southern Connecticut has a higher cancer rate than the rest of the country.

rmarchant@greenwichtime.com
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ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP)  Hard Rock International, the global gambling, entertainment and hospitality company, said Monday it is spending over $100 million to give significant raises to 10,000 non-tipped workers, most of them in the U.S.

The raises, which include an immediate increase to a minimum starting salary of $18 to $21 an hour, are designed to help employees deal with persistent inflation, and to help the company attract and retain top talent, lessening employee turnover.

Some salaried workers will receive increased merit raises as well.

In some cases, workers will be getting an immediate raise of 60%. The raises apply to 95 job classifications, including cooks, housekeepers, front desk clerks, security workers and cage cashiers.

We looked at all the starting salaries of all our (front) line employees, certainly recognizing the economic conditions that have been going on, said Jim Allen, the company's chairman and CEO. We just wanted to do something to really help out and show appreciation to our employees. We're trying to find the highest quality employees, thanking them for their efforts and recognizing that with compensation."

Hard Rock said the raises will go to half its U.S. workforce.

It will give Hard Rock a competitive advantage at a time when labor is relatively tight, said David Schwartz, a gambling historian at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The service industry may be at a crossroads, and raising pay is one way to attract excellent employees.

It comes as wages in the casino industry, as in many others, are increasing due to several factors including a shortage of workers and rising salaries in other fields that are luring casino workers.

In July, the main casino workers union in Atlantic City reached what it termed an historic contract with the city's nine casinos, providing for the largest salary increases ever granted in a casino pact in New Jersey. It provides for an $18 hourly starting rate, and classifications such as housekeeping will earn $22 an hour in the fourth year of the deal.

Bob McDevitt, president of Local 54 of the Unite Here union that negotiated the Atlantic City contract, said Hard Rock's setting of a national salary scale is a great move."

It's going to have a big impact everywhere they operate, he said.

Representatives of several other national casino companies did not respond to inquiries Monday about their pay rates.

The $18 hourly starting salary announced Monday by Hard Rock is 2 1/2 times the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, and exceeds the local minimum wage in every state in which the company operates, Allen said.

An entry-level worker in Florida, for example, will receive an immediate pay increase of $8 to $11 an hour above the states $10 an hour minimum wage. The hourly rate increase equates to more than $16,000 per year.

In Atlantic City, an entry-level hire will receive up to $6 an hour above the states $13 an hour minimum wage. That equates to an annual raise of more than $10,000, going from $27,040 to $37,440, the company said.

Hard Rock is owned by the Seminole Indian tribe of Florida. It has 265 locations in 70 countries.

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Follow Wayne Parry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/WayneParryAC
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)  The second largest school district in Iowa improperly and repeatedly shut students with disabilities in seclusion rooms and restrained them in violation of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, federal authorities said Monday.

The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and the federal prosecutor for the Northern District of Iowa announced a settlement with the Cedar Rapids Community School District in which school officials have agreed to end the use of seclusion rooms and reform its restraint practices.

The district based in Cedar Rapids, about 120 miles (193.1 kilometers) east of Des Moines, also promised in the settlement agreement to improve staff training on how to address and de-escalate students disability-related behavior through appropriate measures.

A justice department investigation found that the district subdued students with disabilities through unnecessary restraints and improper confinement in small seclusion rooms, sometimes multiple times in a day and often for excessive periods of time.

The investigation covered the three school years ending in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Investigators found 4,968 incidents where students were secluded, restrained or transported from class and more than 83% of cases involved a student with a disability.

The Cedar Rapids district has an enrollment of more than 16,850 students making it second largest behind Des Moines Public Schools.

A letter from the Justice Department to Cedar Rapids Superintendent Noreen Bush dated Monday indicated that district had used seclusion and restraint as a substitute for appropriate educational or behavioral support despite state regulations and the districts own policy against such practices.

The investigation also found that the school district did not end seclusion where students showed signs of crisis or trauma, or when there was no longer any threat of harm, the Justice Department said in a statement announcing the settlement agreement which was signed by Bush on Thursday and by federal agencies on Monday.

Some students lost hundreds of hours of instruction time.

When schools isolate and unlawfully restrain children with disabilities, rather than provide them with the supports needed for success in the classroom, they violate the promise of the Americans with Disabilities Act, said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division.

Bush said the DOJ did not identify any specific incident, complaint, child or school as being the source of the review that began in October 2020.

Im proud of the hard work our staff have already done before and throughout this investigation, she said in a statement. Over the next 30 days, the district will be in communication with staff, parents, students, and other stakeholders about the changes on the horizon.

The district cooperated with the investigation and in May began discussions with federal officials to settle complaints about the use of restraints and seclusion, the Justice Department said.

The agreement says agreed upon changes will be made within 30 days including the dismantling of all seclusion rooms.

Physical restraint may be used only when a student is engaging in behavior that presents an immediate and imminent risk of substantial bodily injury to the student or others and as a last resort to all other interventions.

The district also agreed to provide counseling and other services to students who were restrained.

The district also has agreed to hire two new administrators to oversee schools use of restraint and ensure the districts compliance with the agreement and federal law.

The Iowa district is not the first to reach an agreement on the use of seclusion and restraints in schools, the DOJ said.

In December 2021 the agency said it reached an agreement with the Frederick County Public School District in Maryland prohibiting the use of seclusion and in December 2020 a similar agreement was reached with North Gibson School Corporation in Princeton, Indiana.

In November 2020 the Iowa State Board of Education adopted new rules that limited educators to using seclusion and restraint of students as a last resort and only when theres a threat of bodily injury. The change came after years of criticism and pushback on use of seclusion rooms in schools.
BEIRUT (AP)  The Islamic State group killed six U.S.-backed Syrian fighters in eastern Syria saying on Monday that the killing was in retaliation for an ongoing operation inside a sprawling camp housing tens of thousands of family members of the extremist group.

The IS-linked Aamaq news agency released a video showing the shooting of the six members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces near the eastern village of Ruwaished where they were captured alive and later shot dead late Sunday.

Despite their defeat in Syria in 2019, when IS lost the last sliver of land its fighters once controlled, the extremists sleepers cells have continued to carry out deadly attacks in Syria and Iraq where they once held large parts of the two countries.

The latest attack occurred in Syrias eastern province of Deir el-Zour bordering Iraq, and where U.S. troops are based at an oil facility known as the Omar Field.

Last week, the U.S. military said SDF fighters arrested dozens of IS militants and rescued four women who were being held chained inside tents at the massive al-Hol camp that houses IS families.

The operation that has been ongoing for three weeks is part of an effort to dissolve a major IS network at the camp, which is widely seen as a breeding ground for the next generation of IS extremists.

The al-Hol camp in Syrias northeastern Hassakeh Province, has long been viewed as a growing problem and there have been a number of military operations and raids there to root out IS threats.

Some 50,000 Syrians and Iraqis are crowded into tents in the fenced-in camp. Nearly 20,000 of them are children; most of the rest are women, the wives and widows of IS fighters. In a separate, heavily guarded section of the camp known as the annex are an additional 2,000 women from 57 other countries  they are considered the most die-hard IS supporters  along with their children, numbering about 8,000.
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LOS ANGELES (AP)  Los Angeles County leaders announced Monday a lawsuit settlement agreement that commits hundreds of millions of dollars to expand outreach and supportive services for homeless residents, marking the potential end of two years of litigation over the crisis of people living on the streets.

The deal puts LA County, operator of the local public health system, in direct partnership with the city of Los Angeles, which has committed to sheltering thousands of homeless residents as part of its settlement in the lawsuit reached earlier this year.

The suit was brought in 2020 by the LA Alliance for Human Rights, a coalition that includes businesses, residents, landlords, homeless people and others who allege that inaction by the city and county has created a dangerous environment.

The homeless population was once largely confined to downtown LAs notorious Skid Row, but encampments have spread widely, including within sight of City Hall and the Hall of Administration, where the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meets.

Supervisor Holly Mitchell said the county will commit an estimated $236 million in new funding to address homelessness through 2027, with an emphasis on expanding street outreach teams to make sure people who need help get it. That's on top of more than $530 million in homelessness funding created by a sales tax approved by voters in 2017.

Mitchell said the new money will also go toward a comprehensive suite of services for eligible residents of the 10,200 permanent housing units and 3,100 interim shelter beds that the city of LA has committed to build under its agreement. Services will include case management, medical and mental health support, benefits advocacy, family reunification, childcare and addiction treatment.

I cannot underscore enough how this adds to our toolkit for stemming the tidal wave of people who are experiencing homelessness, Mitchell said at a news conference with city and county officials.

Matthew Umhofer, attorney for the alliance, said the monumental settlement seals the deal with the city by ensuring county support.

But most importantly, this deal provides something that has been desperately missing on this issue for decades: real accountability in the form of supervision over the next five years by a federal judge, he said. The countys agreement requires the approval of U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, who is overseeing the case and will supervise the settlements implementation through 2027.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti conceded there's been a collective failure of properly addressing the crisis at a local level. He said the new partnership is a step toward putting a game plan on paper for how we can continue to march towards our ultimate goal of eliminating homelessness."

The city has said it will spend around $3 billion over five years to construct the new housing units. But the exact commitment will be based on the results of the 2022 point-in-time count of homeless people that was released last week. As of February, there were more than 69,100 homeless people in Los Angeles County, with about 42,000 within LA city limits.

Last year, Carter issued an order that would have required the city and county to offer shelter to all unhoused people on Skid Row within six months.

An appeals court struck down the order on grounds that the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring most claims. The alliance then filed an amended lawsuit.

Under the citys agreement, announced in April and approved by the judge in June, Los Angeles will create shelter or housing for 60% of homeless people in the city who do not have a serious mental illness, substance abuse disorder or chronic physical illness.

The city, which does not have its own health department, had contended the county is obligated to provide services and housing for people with those problems but was failing.
A 59-year-old Michigan man was sentenced Sept. 9 to nearly 22 years in prison after being convicted of coercion and enticement of an 11-year-old Texas child.

U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hansen ordered Raymond Dale Carr Jr. to serve 262 months in prison. Hansen also ordered that, upon Carr's release, he will have 10 years of supervision and face numerous restrictions "designed to restrict his access to children and the internet."

"In imposing the sentence, the court considered victim impact statements and heard how the victims family has been forever changed," a U.S. Department of Justice press release read. "The victim herself has made several suicide attempts. She and her family are devastated, according to arguments presented."

Carr pleaded guilty to the crimes he committed Jan. 27, 2022.

According to the press release, Carr met an 11-year-old female online and proceeded to cultivate a relationship with her. Carr and the child communicated via text message, social media, and FaceTime. In September 2020, Carr traveled from Michigan to Texas, picked up the child, and took her to a local motel where he had intercourse with her.

"Carr gave the minor a ring and suggested they were going to be married when she came of age," the release read. "The investigation revealed images of their hands wearing matching rings. Carr even bragged to the victim that he told his children about her but not her age. He believed it might upset his daughter that the victim was younger than her."

Despite knowing the child's age, Carr said he loved her and imagined a future together with her.

Carr is in custody pending a transfer to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

The investigation into this case was conducted by FBI Houston, which was assisted by FBI Detroit.

"Assistant U.S. Attorney Sherri L. Zack is prosecuting the case, which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative the Department of Justice launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse," the release reads. "U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section leads PSC, which marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and identifies and rescues victims."
MANISTEE  Drivers on U.S. 31 at the M-22 intersection can expect to be driving on the in-progress roundabout starting as early as this week.

The ongoing construction of a roundabout on U.S. 31 in Manistee is progressing and is expected to enter into the next phase, according to Manistee Township and Michigan Department of Transportation officials.

Dennis Bjorquist, Manistee Township supervisor, said in an interview Monday that he had received an update from MDOT that the temporary traffic signals would be removed soon.

Currently, there are traffic signals that indicate when northbound or southbound U.S. 31 drivers can pass through. Then drivers use a runaround system that bypasses the roundabout construction at the area. This setup started on July 12.

Direct access to M-22 from U.S. 31 is currently blocked and drivers are expected to use a detour. The Little River Casino also installed a temporary driveway on U.S. 31 near the temporary northbound traffic signal.

It is illegal to cut through a parking lot to avoid a traffic light, but that hasnt stopped a number of people aiming to skirt the roundabout construction in the last two months.

James Lake, MDOT North Region communications representative, said in an interview on Monday that the exact day that the signs will be removed is not yet known.

Our hope is to remove the traffic signals and get traffic moved in to to the new roundabout some time later this week or early next week, Lake said.

He said contractors and subcontractors are responsible for the removal of the temporary signals, but Lake added that the contractors often have more projects going on at this time, which is why the exact day of the removal is not yet known.

He said about three quarters of the roundabout is ready for use, and the plan is to remove the traffic signals, add temporary lighting to the roundabout and direct traffic to use the portions of the roundabout that are ready.

Then, the runaround area that had been constructed to allow north and southbound traffic to bypass the roadwork will be removed and the work will continue on the remaining southern leg or one quarter of the roundabout that needs to be completed.

Signage and permanent lighting will be installed and minor restoration work done, Lake said.

It will remain a construction zone (after the signals are removed) so drivers should be aware, slow down, have patience, he said.

Lake added that while roundabouts have become much more common in the region, there are still going to be drivers who are less acquainted with the type of intersection.

About 1,300 vehicles pass through the intersection each day, according to data from MDOT.

The $1.8 million project is being funded jointly by the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians and Michigan Department of Transportation after a MDOT report assessed three potential alternatives for the intersection.

The report looked at the construction of a roundabout, the installation of a traffic signal or no action being taken at the intersection. The study found that both a roundabout and traffic signal would improve operations and safety at the intersection.

A roundabout is expected to reduce the risk of severe crashes by decreasing speeds along U.S. 31, the report stated.

The tentative completion is expected before Oct. 31. Lake added that the project also would entail planting bushes around the area but that would likely take place in the spring.
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NEW FAIRFIELD  A proposed 2.5 mile trail between Danbury and New Fairfield could still be years away, but community leaders are set to plan how to build and maintain one.

The committee responsible for kicking off the planning phase of the long-proposed Margerie Reservoir Trail will hold its first meeting next week, according to New Fairfield officials.

After all of these years, were finally at that point. Its really exciting, First Selectman Pat Del Monaco said during last weeks Board of Selectmen meeting.

The Margerie Reservoir Trail Advisory Committee will convene for the first time Sept. 19, according to Selectman Khris Hall.

She said Danbury will control the meetings, which she believes will be in person.

Like Del Monaco, Hall says shes happy to see another step being made to bring the Margerie Reservoir Trail to fruition. The project has been discussed for at least 15 years.

We are delighted that the process is about to begin to design a trail that the residents of both Danbury and New Faifield will enjoy for years to come, she said Monday.

The New Fairfield Board of Selectmen voted last year to establish the Margerie Reservoir Trail Advisory Committee for the purpose of developing a plan for a roughly 2.5-mile multi-use path along the Margerie Reservoir that connects New Fairfields town center to Peck Road in Danbury.

It took nearly eight months, but the city of Danbury finally got on board with New Fairfields plan and assigned David Day, Vinny DiGilio and Antonio Iadarola to serve on the advisory committee.

Day is Danburys public utilities superintendent, DiGilio is president of the City Council, and Iadarola is the citys public works director and engineer.

They will be joined by New Fairfield residents Peter Hearn, Jeff Main and Ann Marie Mellas. Hearn and Main will be regular members of the committee, according to Hall, and Mellas will serve as an alternate.

Hearn is a longtime Margerie Reservoir Trail proponent and Main is an experienced trail-planner. Hall described Mellas as a trail advocate.

The committee will be responsible for not only planning the trail, but advising the municipalities on requirements for establishing and maintaining it.

It wont be an easy task, but Hall says the Western Connecticut Council of Governments Route 37 corridor study will be a good starting point for the committee as it begins planning the Margerie Reservoir Trail.

Following a more-than-yearlong study of traffic and safety conditions along Route 37, WestCOG published a report that looked at various aspects of the corridor, addressed the proposed trail and provided recommendations on how to best lay it out.

WestCOG estimated the trail project to cost between $2 million and $3.5 million and take about five years to complete. Thanks to the efforts of state Rep. Ken Gucker, D-Danbury, $2.28 million in state grant money has been secured for the design and planning of the trail.

The state has been very generous in providing us with funding, and the money is already available, said Hall, who looks forward to seeing the plans the advisory committee comes up with.
Dhante Jackson, the alleged killer of 8-year-old Sophia Mason, eluded capture for six months with the help of three accomplices who provided him money, shelter and transportation, Merced police officials said Sunday.

Jackson, 34, was arrested on Saturday in the Bay Area community of Newark and returned to Merced County where he is charged with second-degree murder and felony child abuse for the death of Sophia.

Also arrested were Daberka Thompson of San Jose, Laronna Larkins of Merced and Mayra Gonzalez of Newark. Each suspect is facing a charge of accessory to murder after the fact.

Jackson had an outstanding murder and felony child abuse warrant for his arrest in Sophias death. The childs body was found inside a Barclay Way residence in Merced on March 11, where Jackson lived.

He had been on the run since Sophias body was found. Details also emerged Jackson may have physically and sexually abused the child prior to her death.

The co-defendant in Sophias homicide, her mother Samantha Johnson, 31, was previously arrested on murder and felony child abuse charges, not long after the childs body was found.

During a Sunday news conference at police headquarters, Merced police and state Department of Justice officials provided some new details on how they finally captured Jackson.

Lt. Joey Perez said that during the past six months detectives issued 20 search warrants, interviewed numerous witnesses and family members, analyzed hundreds of hours electronic data and spent hours conducting surveillance.

It all paid off, Perez said, when agents with the state DOJ and members of the Merced Area Gang and Narcotic Enforcement Team arrested Jackson outside of a home in Newark.

In a photo released by Merced police, Jackson is shown wearing a T-shirt that says Tyson Tough. He also grew a beard.

Detective John Pinnegar, who delayed retiring until Jackson was caught, said the accomplices helped hide him along with providing him transportation. At one point, Jackson was trying to make his way to Las Vegas where he has family, but he was deterred.

Pinnegar was at Sundays news conference and was thankful Jackson is in jail.

The motivation to stay was to make sure we got him into custody and to get justice for Sophia and her family, Pinnegar said.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta also attended Sundays news conference and applauded the work of the Merced police, Merced Area Gang and Narcotic Enforcement Team and the DOJs Special Operations Unit.

As much as I am grateful that Dhante Jackson is behind bars, like so many of us up here I am also damn angry, Bonta said. I am damn angry that we are here because little Sophia should be alive, she should be playing, learning and growing up. She should be pursuing her dreams but unfortunately she is not. And those accused of her murder must pay a steep price for their abhorrent crimes.

Merced County Deputy District Attorney Katie Gates, the prosecutor in the Jackson case, expects the defendant to be arraigned on Tuesday. Jackson remains in the Merced County jail with no bail.

A trial date for Samantha Johnson, Sophias biological mother, has not yet been set.

If convicted, Jackson and Johnson face a minimum of 15-years-to-life in prison. However, Jackson has a previous felony strike and it could double his sentence to 30-years-to-life in prison.

A cousin of Sophia said Sunday that while she is thankful Jackson was arrested, her death has forever changed her family.

No amount of punishment can be just for what he did to Sophia, said Melissa Harris.

Police have said Sophia was the victim of long-term abuse. By the time Merced police found her severely malnourished body inside a Merced home, she had been dead about a month. Perez said she was forced to live in a backyard shed or inside of a closet.

In my 20 years of law enforcement this case is the most disturbing and horrific I have seen, Perez said. To know what that poor little angel went through at the hands of pure evil breaks my heart.

Harris family has been outspoken since Sophias body was found, saying her death could have been prevented because they alerted several agencies she was in danger, yet their pleas went unheard.

Harris says when her family had suspicions Sophia was being abused by Jackson, they alerted Child Protective Services in Alameda County, the Hayward Police Department and the Hayward Unified School District.

She said none of those agencies would help their family. The Sun-Star has previously reached out to those agencies, but they declined comment on the familys allegations.

Harris also said Sophias mother is developmentally challenged. Harris believes Sophia and her mother were both sexually trafficked by Jackson.

Harris also hopes systemic changes will happen to prevent cases like Sophias from happening again, particularly when the warning signs have been reported.

(Those agencies) had multiple chances to intervene and they never did, Harris said. My hope is those who minimized the anguish of a small child will be fired.
MAPUTO, Mozambique (AP)  Extremists allied with the Islamic State group have spread their attacks further south into Mozambique's most populous province, Nampula, including an assault on a Catholic mission in which an Italian nun was among those killed.

The extremists first struck the province earlier this month and have sustained the offensive, attacking rural centers and beheading some residents.

Their insurgency had been confined to Mozambique's northernmost Cabo Delgado province, where an estimated 4,000 people have been killed and 950,000 displaced over four years.

The violence has also disrupted big economic projects, including one by the France-based TotalEngergies to produce liquified natural gas and the development of a large mine to extract graphite to make lithium batteries for Tesla motors.

The extremists' push into Nampula comes despite the deployment for more than a year of a military force from the 16-nation Southern Africa Development Community, along with troops from Rwanda, in support of the Mozambican military.

The Islamic State Mozambique Province group has claimed responsibility for setting fire to two churches and more than 120 homes of Christians last week in Nampula province.

In their attack on the Catholic Chipene Mission, the jihadi rebels shot and killed Sister Maria de Coppi and set fire to the church, health center and residential quarters, according to Mozambican reports.

At the Vatican on Sunday, Pope Francis said he was remembering in prayer the 83-year-old Italian nun who had served with love for nearly 60 years as a Comboni missionary in Mozambique.

The population is disoriented and suffers a lot because they live in uncertainty and do not know what to do, many are fleeing but do not know where to go," the Archbishop of Nampula, Inacio Saure, said in comments carried by Agenzia Fides, the Vatican news agency.
Cathy and Bob Randall of Jacksonville met 55 years ago while attending different local colleges.

Friends of both of ours introduced us when I was attending MacMurray and Bob was attending Illinois College, Cathy said. I was dating a friend from home, too. Bob was more serious. He had to be patient.

Bob was indeed patient, and he and Cathy now have been married for 53 years. For more than five decades, the Randalls have been involved in many central Illinois causes, creating a legacy of service few couples can match.

We just hope that everybody gives back to their community, Cathy said. We dearly love Jacksonville, its been so wonderful to us.

We both have a love of history, we like theater, music and nature, Bob said. We enjoy helping out people and organizations.

Catherine Horn Randall grew up in Quincy, where her architect father designed the high school she attended. She was one of thousands of children in the 1940s and 1950s who developed retinopathy of prematurity  blindness caused by too much exposure to incubator oxygen. Cathy could see partially through her right eye into her early 30s, but has been blind since.

Cathy enrolled in MacMurray College, even though her great-grandfather and two of her mothers cousins went to Illinois College. She earned an English degree and taught in White Hall, at Jacksonville High School and at the Illinois School for the Visually Impaired.

I just couldnt get anybody to hire me permanently as a blind person, Cathy said. Its the part of my life that I regret the most, that I wasnt hired more than I was.

Robert Randall was born and raised in Jacksonville, was part of the first graduating class at the then-new Jonathan Turner Junior High School, graduated from Jacksonville High School, and earned a biology degree from Illinois College.

After college, the service wanted me because of Vietnam, Bob said. I went down to join officers candidate school, passed all of the tests, but failed the physical. I was too tall, too thin, and I found out I had genetic high blood pressure.

Bob instead was hired by Affiliated Laboratories in White Hall and worked there for 11 years as a microbiologist.

I had been working in a building with no windows for 11 years and wanted something else, Bob said. My good friend Pat Ward, who was teaching in the Jacksonville school system, and I put our collective money together and started Jacksonville Landscape Nursery. We were a very successful nursery in town for about 20 years and then he bought me out, and I retired.

Bob is the sole surviving founding member of Morgan County Audubon Society and personally has seen more than 7,000 of the worlds estimated 11,000 known bird species during trips to more than 100 countries.

Bob has served on the Illinois College Alumni Board and was an Illinois College trustee for six years. He also has been actively involved on boards concerning libraries, theater, music and the Dana-Thomas House in Springfield. It was on the latter board that Bob developed an appreciation for the architectural style of Frank Lloyd Wright.

Our house at the time was an eclectic Cape Cod-style house, Bob said. Cathy didnt want to move and build a new house, so I drew up plans to change this house into an Arts and Crafts-style house, one room at a time.

Those familiar with the Dana-Thomas House will immediately recognize that Arts and Crafts Movement style throughout the Randall house on Pitner Place in Jacksonville.

My father would have loved it. He called himself laughingly Frank Lloyd Horn', Cathy said. He liked Wright, so I think he really would have enjoyed seeing this house.

Cathy was a MacMurray College trustee for 24 years and, like Bob, has been actively involved in numerous local boards. She also has been a member of the American Association of University Women and the League of Women Voters, through which she met all of these fabulous women.

Thats how I met the late Mayor Helen Foreman. She called me one day and said, Cathy, I want you to think about running for alderman. Youve got 48 hours to think about it', Cathy said. Then she slammed down the phone in typical Helen fashion. Being an alderman was wonderful. I loved it.

Cathy served four and a half years on Jacksonville City Council and, in 1982, was contacted by the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois. She since has served the federation as president and in numerous board positions.

I didnt know very many blind people, and now I know all of these blind people all over the country, Cathy said. I now know enough Braille that I have labels all over the kitchen, I have phone and address files all over the house in Braille.



The Randalls love to travel and spend seven months of the year at their home on Amelia Island in Florida. They also have a cottage on the Illinois River, where they like to spend weekends. The Randalls purchased land near their cabin and donated it to The Nature Conservancy to protect the watershed for an adjacent nature reserve.

Bob and Cathy are physically active, and people frequently may see Bob on the pickleball court or Cathy working out at Bob Freesen YMCA.

The Randalls have slowed the pace of their community involvement somewhat as the years have ticked by, and they know how they would like to be remembered.

Weve already got our tombstones set, Bob said. Mine says birder and Cathys says philanthropist.

Mine also has my birding nickname, Seriema, which is a large, long-legged bird from South America, Bob said.
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New York is poised to strengthen its oversight of private and religious schools following years of complaints that thousands of children are graduating from ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools lacking basic academic skills, including the ability to read English.

A Board of Regents committee unanimously approved guidelines Monday to make sure instruction at the state's private and religious schools is equivalent to that of its public schools.

The rules would apply to all of New York's 1,800 nonpublic schools but would have the greatest impact on the ultra-Orthodox schools, called yeshivas, some of which provide rigorous religious instruction but little or no teaching in secular subjects like English, math, science and history.

Defenders of the schools say parents have the right to send their children to programs consistent with their beliefs and traditions. As the Regents met Monday, protesters assembled outside, some with signs reading: We will sit in jail rather than change our childrens education.

Many yeshivas in New York state are modern Orthodox schools that provide a full secular curriculum along with religious studies. But there have been complaints that some yeshivas run by strictly observant Hasidic Jews were not meeting basic academic standards.

A New York Times investigation published Sunday cited instances of English teachers speaking only Yiddish to students, teachers using corporal punishment and graduates who said they were woefully unprepared for life or employment outside of their communities.

Virtually all of the Hasidic boys who took state standardized math and reading exams in 2019 failed, the report said.

A final vote is scheduled for Tuesday on new Board of Regents rules that would give private schools multiple pathways to show they meet a longstanding legal mandate to provide an education that is "substantially equivalent to that of a public school. Among the criteria is that primary subjects be taught in English.

We are trying to obviously adhere to the law but also create some flexibility around that as well, state Education Commissioner Betty Rosa said.

State education officials have spent years trying to strike a balance. An initial set of guidelines released in 2018 was struck down by a state judge who said they were not implemented correctly. The department reviewed about 350,000 public comments following the release of the latest proposal and made adjustments in response, authorities said.

The regulation respects that parents have a constitutional right to send their children to an independent school and that we respect the worldviews of the schools and their communities, assistant commissioner Christina Coughlin said.

The group Parents for Educational and Religious Liberty in Schools, which represents yeshivas, said families choose to pay for private or religious schools because they believe in their educational approach.

A government checklist, devised by lawyers and enforced by bureaucrats, hampers rather than advances education, the group said in an email. Parents in New York have been choosing a yeshiva education for more than 120 years, and they are proud of the successful results, and will continue to do the same, with or without the blessing or support of state leaders in Albany.

Under the rules, a school can demonstrate equivalency, for example, by using state-approved assessments or operating a high school registered by the Board of Regents. It also can be reviewed by the local school district.

Groups representing Roman Catholic and Christian schools said they are confident their schools meet the substantially equivalent standards.

Naftuli Moster, who founded a group to improve secular standards at yeshivas, said he worried the schools would use the issue of cultural sensitivity to exploit loopholes without clearer guidance on how the regulations will be enforced, something the state is expected to address in the next few months.

How you teach it or what you incorporate into the teaching is not what matters, Moster said by phone. Its objective whether you teach science. Theres no Jewish science. Its objective whether you do or do not teach social studies.

Private schools that fall short of the threshold will be given time to adjust their instruction, state education officials said.

But those that may refuse to comply could lose state funding and their standing as a school with the state. Parents who continue to send their children to such a school could find themselves in violation of the states compulsory education law requiring that children between the ages of six and 16 be provided with a program of instruction, either at a public school or elsewhere.

Daniel Morton Bentley, a lawyer for the state Education Department, said Friday that much of the public pushback has focused on philosophical opposition to state regulation of nonpublic schools, which he said is required by law and not changed by the Regents' action.

Public school districts would be required to complete initial reviews of nonpublic schools within their boundaries by the end of the 2024-25 school year.

___

Thompson reported from Buffalo, N.Y. Associated Press reporter Michael Hill contributed from Albany, N.Y.
ELK MILLS, Md. (AP)  The fatal shooting of a Maryland couple and their three children at their home last week is considered a murder-suicide, officials announced Monday.

The investigation is continuing into the deaths of Marcus and Tara Milligan and their children, Teresa, 14; Nora, 11; and Finn, 8, the Cecil County Sheriffs Office said in a news release. The shooting happened at their Elk Mills home on a cul-de-sac in an area of residential streets interspersed with wooded areas about 60 miles (97 kilometers) northeast of Baltimore and a few miles west of the Delaware state line.
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ISLAMABAD (AP)  Pakistan is grappling with food shortages after deadly floods left the impoverished country's agriculture belt underwater, the prime minister told the Turkish president by phone, as authorities scaled up efforts Monday to deliver food, tents and other items.

Shahbaz Sharif spoke to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan overnight to thank Turkey for dispatching food, tents and medicine by 12 military aircraft, four trains and Turkish Red Crescent trucks. The International Rescue Committee estimated that the floods have damaged more than 3.6 million acres of crops in Pakistan.

A government statement said Sharif briefed Erdogan about the government's relief activities and sought assistance from Turkey in overcoming the food shortage." Sharif also sought help from Turkey on reconstruction work in the flood-hit areas.

More than 660,000 people, including women and children, are living at relief camps and in makeshift homes after floods damaged their homes across the country and forced them to move to safer places. Pakistan, the country's military, U.N. agencies and local charities are providing food to these flood victims.

Pakistan heavily relies on its agriculture and occasionally exports its surplus wheat to Afghanistan and other countries. Now it is in talks to import badly needed wheat and vegetables, including to people not directly affected by floods.

Meanwhile, the price of vegetables and other food has started increasing.

Until last week, floodwater was covering around a third of Pakistan, including the country's agriculture belt in eastern Punjab and southern Sundh provinces which are the main food basket. Initially, Pakistan said the floods caused $10 billion in damages, but authorities say the damages are far greater than the initial estimates.

That's forced Pakistan and the United Nations to urge the international community to send more help.

In response, U.N. agencies and various countries, including the United States, have sent more than 60 planeloads of aid. Since last week, Washington has sent three military planes to deliver food.

Three more U.S. military planes carrying aid landed in Pakistan's worst flood-hit southern Sindh province Monday, according to a Foreign Ministry statement. So far ten such flights have arrived in the area.

Washington days ago set up a humanitarian air bridge to flood-ravaged Pakistan to deliver aid through 20 flights, which will arrive in Pakistan before September 16. The U.S. authorities also plan to distribute cash among needy people.

Last week, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during a visit to Pakistan traveled to flood-hit areas, where deluges from floods are still causing damage.

Guterres has called on the world to stop sleepwalking through the dangerous environmental crisis. He assured Sharif in a meeting with him that he will do his best to highlight the ordeal of Pakistanis facing floods.

Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said at a news conference Monday that Pakistani authorities and international aid agencies are assessing the flood damage that has affected 33 million people. He said the government would proceed with transparency in the distribution of aid.

Meanwhile, the IRC, a prominent international aid group, on Monday warned of mounting economic losses, likely leading to food shortages and an increase in violence against women. In a statement, the group said the floods destroyed over 3.6 million acres of crops in Pakistan.

The acute loss of farmland and agriculture is likely to be felt in the months and years ahead. It is vital that the humanitarian response remains fully funded in order to give the people of Pakistan the best chance of rebuilding their lives, said Shabnam Baloch, IRCs director in Pakistan.

She said so far the IRC has reached 29,000 women and girls with aid in flood-hit areas.

Deluges from the rising Indus river and the Lake Manchar in the Sindh province were still posing threat to Dadu, a district in the south where rescuers using boats were evacuating villagers to safer places Monday. Light rain is expected in flood-hit areas this week, according to the Meteorological Department.
MANILA, Philippines (AP)  Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is extending a state of calamity declared by his predecessor more than two years ago to deal with continuing concerns over the coronavirus pandemic, an official said Monday.

Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles also said a previously announced plan to lift the compulsory wearing of masks outdoors will take effect immediately throughout the country, except in crowded areas where people cannot observe social distancing.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  Los Angeles police shot and killed a man who officials said was armed with a gun and led officers on a foot chase over the weekend.

Officers were patrolling the Westlake neighborhood when the spotted a man with a gun around 3:20 a.m. Sunday, police said.

When the officers made contact with him, an officer-involved shooting occurred, said Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Bruce Borihanh.

The suspect, a man in his 20s, ran from the scene and officers chased him on foot. They shot at him a second time, killing the man, according to police.

Steve Flowers said he heard the shooting from his apartment.

I hear the first two pops, Flowers told the Los Angeles Times. There was a pause, Flowers said, then he heard a second volley of gunfire with about seven shots.

Police said a handgun was recovered at the scene and video from cameras worn by the involved officers is being reviewed, the Times reported.

It was unclear if the suspect fired at officers.

More information on how the interaction unfolded would be released after an administrative investigation, Borihahn said.
VATICAN CITY (AP)  Pope Francis had hoped his trip to Kazakhstan this week would offer a chance to meet with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church  who has justified the war in Ukraine  and plead for peace. Patriarch Kirill bowed out a few weeks ago, but Francis is going ahead with the trip that is nevertheless being overshadowed by Russias seven-month war.

Francis travels to the majority-Muslim former Soviet republic on Tuesday to minister to its tiny Catholic community and participate in a Kazakh-sponsored conference of world religious leaders. The conference had as its original goal to promote interfaith dialogue in the post-pandemic world, but Russias invasion of Ukraine has given it a more immediate cause: for faith leaders from around the world to appeal for peace with a united voice.

It will be an occasion to meet so many religious representatives and to dialogue as brothers, animated by the common desire for peace, the peace for which our world is thirsting, Francis told thousands of people in St. Peters Square on Sunday.

In a way, Kirills absence will make life easier for all involved: Kazakhstan wont have its showcase gathering of Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Shinto and Jewish leaders from 50 countries overshadowed by a headline-grabbing photo op between the pope and the patriarch. Francis wont have the diplomatic headache of having to explain to Ukraine why he met with an ideological supporter of Russias war before Francis even visited Kyiv. And Kirill will avoid the embarrassment of being present when a global congress of imams, rabbis, ministers and a pope issues a final statement largely expected to denounce war.

But for Kazakhstans Catholic leaders, Kirills absence represents something of a lost opportunity.

Personally I am pained, said Bishop Adelio DellOro of the Kazakh diocese of Karaganda. I think a meeting between them on the sidelines of the congress would have been a notable contribution, notable in this process of peace to clarify what religions can contribute to human coexistence in the world. So I am disappointed, but you have to accept it.

The interfaith congress is an important triennial event for Kazakhstan, a country that borders Russia to the north, China to the east and is home to some 130 ethnic groups: Its a showpiece of its foreign policy and a reflection of its own multicultural and multiethnic population that has long been touted as a crossroads between East and West.

We can say that Kazakhstan is really a place where dialogue is not some formal slogan, but this is a Kazakh brand," said Monsignor Piotr Pytlowany, spokesman for the Kazakh bishops conference. "Kazakhstan wants to share dialogue not only during this congress but also after it, offering the dialogue as one of the possible ways to resolve the various difficulties that the world now faces.

When St. John Paul II visited in 2001, 10 years after independence, he highlighted Kazakhstans diversity while recalling its dark past under Stalinist repression: Entire villages of ethnic Poles were deported en masse from western Ukraine to Kazakhstan beginning in 1936, and the Soviet government deported hundreds of thousands of ethnic Germans, Chechens and other accused Nazi collaborators to Kazakhstan during World War II. Many of the deportees descendants remained and some of them make up the countrys Catholic community, which only numbers about 125,000 in a country of nearly 19 million.

Kazakh bishops had asked Francis to visit a former Soviet detention camp during his three-day visit, but the 85-year-old pope declined due to his strained knee ligaments, which have forced him to use a wheelchair and cane to get around.

His program has time for private meetings with religious leaders attending the congress. While the Vatican hasnt released a list, expected participants include Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar, the seat of Sunni learning in Cairo.

One visitor not currently on his agenda: Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is expected in Kazakhstan on his first foreign trip since the coronavirus pandemic. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said there were no current plans for any meeting and noted that Xi isnt attending the religious conference. China and the Holy See havent had diplomatic relations for over a half-century.

Francis has repeatedly denounced Russias war in Ukraine as an unjust violent aggression, expressed solidarity with the martyred Ukrainian people and sent personal envoys to Ukraine to provide humanitarian and spiritual aid. At the same time, he has refrained from calling out Russia or President Vladimir Putin by name, trying to maintain a path of dialogue with Moscow in keeping with the Vaticans diplomatic tradition of not taking sides in a conflict.

Kirill has justified Russias invasion of Ukraine on spiritual and ideological grounds, calling it a metaphysical battle with the West. He has blessed Russian soldiers going into battle and invoked the idea that Russians and Ukrainians are one people.

The Kazakh congress would have provided a neutral location and coincidental excuse for their second-ever meeting, and both Kirill and Francis had originally confirmed their presence. But Kirill pulled out last month. A former Vatican ambassador to Moscow has suggested that grumblings within the Russian Orthodox hierarchy might have factored into Kirills decision.

Perhaps they saw the writing on the wall. Just last week, the general assembly of the World Council of Churches, a fellowship of more than 350 churches representing more than a half-billion Christians worldwide, denounced what it called an illegal and unjustifiable invasion and demanded the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine.

The Russian Orthodox Church, which is a member of the WCC, refused to vote for the politicized declaration and complained about what it called unprecedented pressure on members to condemn Moscow and the Russian church.

Kazakhstan, for its part, has had to walk a thin line with the war. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has vowed to respect Western sanctions against Russia while trying to maintain close ties with Moscow, an important economic partner and ally. At the same time Tokayev refused to recognize the Russia-backed separatist peoples republics in Ukraine, which Moscow recognized days before invading Ukraine.

While Kazakhstan could have emerged as the mediator if Francis and Kirill had met, maybe its even better that this is not happening because Kazakhstan would have looked like as a country that is getting involved in the Ukraine crisis, and this is the last thing that Kazakhstan wants to do right now, said Temur Umarov, a Central Asia expert and fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

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Manenkov reported from Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.
BEIRUT (AP)  An international human rights group called Monday on the United Nations to ensure that countries hosting its climate conference commit to meeting human rights standards after it documented instances of repression against environmental groups in Egypt, the host of COP27 later this year.

Human Rights Watch said in a report based on interviews with more than a dozen academics, scientists and activists that government restrictions amount to a violation of basic human rights and throw into question the Egyptian government's ability to meet basic climate commitments.

Egypts government has engaged in a widespread crackdown on dissent in recent years that has detained thousands, many without trial, according to rights groups. Under President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, Egypt has also intimidated activists and new laws have practically barred many civil society organizations from operating.

The world needs more climate activism, not less, and there can be no such effective activism when the government treats civic groups as a threat, not an asset, said Richard Pearshouse, environment director at Human Rights Watch, in the report. The UN Framework Convention member states and the Secretariat should press the Egyptian government to make sure environmental groups feel it is safe to engage in and beyond the COP."

Egypt's human rights record is coming under scrutiny as the country prepares to host the international conference aimed at slowing climate change through coordinated global action.

In July, several dozen organizations called on Egypt to end its crackdown and allow people to exercise freedom of expression ahead of the summit.

In a joint statement signed by 36 groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, they expressed concern that Egypt will largely keep in place its prohibition on protests during the conference in November.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, who is also the president-designate of the next annual Conference of the Parties, told The Associated Press in a May interview that a facility is being developed next to the conference venue where demonstrations can take place. He also said activists would be given access, as is customary, to negotiations in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh. He did not elaborate on whether protests would be allowed elsewhere.

An Egyptian government media officer did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Monday report from Human Rights Watch. The UN office responsible for overseeing the climate conference, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, also did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the right's group's call.

All of those interviewed for the report spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, the group said, and six declined to speak at all. Those who spoke described harassment by authorities, obstruction, and a general atmosphere of fear in the country and said they were wary of voicing opinions that could be seen as critical even during the UN-led conference.

Some described a partial opening in government policy for environmental campaigns in the run-up to the summit, but only for initiatives deemed to be compatible with authorities' aims, like trash collection. They said speaking up about the country's use of coal, and mega-infrastructure projects such as the construction of a new administrative capital, are deemed too risky of issues to tackle.

Some expressed hope that this year's conference could be a chance to try to raise awareness of the free-speech environment that has existed inside Egypt for years.

There can be no improvement in the environmental situation without improvement in freedom of expression and the overall human rights situation, one person was quoted as saying in the HRW report.
Ukraines rout of Russian forces this weekend is creating a new kind of political challenge for President Vladimir Putin: It undercuts the image of competence and might that he has worked for two decades to build.

On Sunday, the Russian military continued to retreat from positions in northeastern Ukraine that it had occupied for months. State television news reports referred to the retreat as a carefully planned regrouping operation, praising the heroism and professionalism of Russian troops.

But the upbeat message did little to dampen the anger among supporters of the war over the retreat and the Kremlins handling of it. And it hardly obscured the bind that Putin now finds himself in, presiding over a six-month war against an increasingly energized enemy and a Russian populace that does not appear to be prepared for the sacrifices that could come with an escalating conflict.

Strength is the only source of Putins legitimacy, Abbas Gallyamov, a former speechwriter for Putin who is now a political consultant living in Israel, said in a phone interview. And in a situation in which it turns out that he has no strength, his legitimacy will start dropping toward zero.

As Ukraine pressed its advantage Sunday, seizing towns and territory, Putin escalated the brutality of his campaign, a concession to the pro-war voices on Russian television and social media. Missile strikes on infrastructure across eastern and central Ukraine plunged parts of the country into darkness.

But it was unclear how far Russia  with its cyber, chemical and nuclear arsenals  might be willing to go to halt Ukraines momentum, even as the scale of the battlefield setback became clearer and more evidence emerged of disarray inside Russias ruling class.

Ramzan Kadyrov, the strongman leader of the Chechnya region in southern Russia that has sent thousands of its own troops to Ukraine, accused the Russian military of making mistakes and failing to explain the retreat to the public. Sergei Mironov, the leader of a pro-Putin party in Parliament, criticized the authorities for celebrating Moscows annual City Day this weekend, posting on Twitter: It cannot be and it should not be that our guys are dying today, and we are pretending that nothing is happening!

Because of some mistakes unknown to us, control over political processes is being lost, a pro-Kremlin analyst who often appears on state television, Sergei Markov, said on social media. I guarantee you that this confusion will not last long. But right now, its a mess.

The fundamental problem, analysts said, is that Putins penchant for misleading his own people is catching up to him. The reality of the Russian setback is poking holes in the Kremlins message that the Russian army is undefeatable, Ukraine is riddled with corruption and cowardice and Putin is a brilliant geopolitical strategist. It was just last Wednesday that Putin declared that Russia had not lost anything as a result of the war, an assertion at odds with Western estimates of tens of thousands of Russian casualties.

For now, the wars supporters have mainly directed their anger over this weekends setbacks at Moscow bureaucrats or at the military leadership. But an early indication that the frustration could damage Putins own prestige came on the Telegram social network after Moscow went ahead with a grand fireworks display Saturday evening to mark the 875th anniversary of the citys founding  a slap in the face to the Russian military, some said, on perhaps the most humiliating day for Russia since the invasion began Feb. 24.

We wont support this government in the 2024 elections, the administrators of a pro-war Telegram account with more than 400,000 followers said, referring to Russias next presidential election. Its been a long time coming, but this is the last drop.

The discontent was evident even in Moscow, a city that the authorities have worked to shield from the costs of war.

As Moscow residents celebrated the citys birthday this weekend with concerts and block parties, Vladislav, a taxi driver who moved to a city near Moscow from the Krasnoyarsk region in Siberia, looked upon all of the celebratory flags and stages with a bit of scorn. He said his 34-year-old cousin had been killed two weeks ago near Donetsk in Ukraines Donbas region, after having been conscripted into the pro-Russian forces.

Here, people are drinking late through the night, he complained Sunday morning after a weekend of revelry in the city. No one cares about what is happening on the front.

Tatiana Stanovaya, a Russian political analyst, said the Kremlins decision to play down the intensity and scale of the war in Ukraine had created parallel worlds: the reality of Europes biggest land war in generations on the one hand, and the business-as-usual atmosphere in Moscow. on the other.

The strategy to describe the war as a special military operation that need not affect most Russians daily lives relied on the expectation that Russia would quickly win it, she said. But with setback after setback, the fact that things are not going according to plan is becoming increasingly difficult to hide.

The Kremlin, in principle, based its entire policy on the idea that there can be no defeats, she said. They didnt prepare for the fact that there could be a collision with this second parallel world.

There were signs Sunday evening that the Kremlin was responding to the criticism that it was not being honest with the public about the extent of the recent setbacks. On the main weekly news show on state television, the presenter Dmitri Kiselyov described the last week as probably one of the most difficult since the start of the war.

Under the onslaught of superior enemy forces, the allied forces were forced to leave the previously liberated settlements, Kiselyov said, referring to Russias alliance with Kremlin-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

It was a rare acknowledgment on the airwaves of what pro-Russian military bloggers have been warning about for weeks. With the Kremlin appearing determined to avoid a nationwide draft to increase the ranks of its army, Russias forces are outnumbered by the Ukrainians in many parts of the front line.

There were also signs that the Kremlin could be trying to escalate its military campaign, as supporters of the war have long said it should. A Russian strike knocked out power and water Sunday evening to much of the northeastern city of Kharkiv, the citys mayor said, referring to the attack as an act of revenge.

It seems its time to get rough, the host Vladimir Solovyov said on his state television talk show earlier Sunday, complaining that Russia had not done enough to break Ukraines military and fuel supply lines. Its just time to get rough.

How badly this weekends battlefield setbacks hurt Putin politically will depend most of all, of course, on his ability to reverse them, while continuing to shelter Russians from the consequences of Western sanctions. This week, Putin is expected to meet with President Xi Jinping of China at a regional summit in Uzbekistan, seeking to expand a critical relationship for Russia as it pursues economic partners outside the West.

Gallyamov, the former speechwriter, said the struggles in Ukraine could lead the elites around the Russian president to push for a successor to be appointed.

If they continue to destroy the Russian army as actively as they are now, Gallyamov said of Ukraines forces, then all this can accelerate even faster.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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Monica White had gone through a painful divorce, but at 53 she was ready to begin dating again in the fall of 2020. She created profiles on dating sites and soon got a message from a potential suitor - a man authorities would allege was a serial killer a year later.

Anthony Robinson, 36, who police have dubbed the "Shopping Cart Killer," allegedly met women on dating sites and lured them to hotels, before killing them and loading their bodies into shopping carts to dump in vacant lots. He has been charged in two killings and been linked publicly by police to three others.

"Hi beautiful," White recalls Robinson writing in his first message. "I'd like to get to know you better."

The whirlwind romance that followed was by turns intense, bizarre and menacing. White's account provides the richest picture yet of a man who has largely remained a mystery since authorities labeled him a serial killer at a news conference that garnered national attention in December.

Police have said little about Robinson, other than that the D.C. man moved frequently and held a range of jobs. His family has never given media interviews. Louis Nagy, an attorney for Robinson, declined to comment for this story.

Robinson is slated for a preliminary hearing on two counts of murder Monday in Harrisonburg, Va., where he is accused of killing 54-year-old Allene Redmon, of Harrisonburg, and 39-year-old Tonita Lorice Smith, of Charlottesville, last fall.

The Post has also learned police are re-examining the 2018 death of a Maryland woman who Robinson was engaged to marry in light of the allegations against him.

White said her brush with an alleged serial killer has left her shaken. She said she has not been able to go on dates since.

"It really rocked my world," White said. "I went into a depression."

White, who lives outside Harrisburg, Pa., said her relationship with Robinson proceeded quickly after that first message. White said Robinson was flattering, telling her what he found attractive about her profile. She said he liked that she was into art and had been a preschool teacher.

White said she told him she was looking for a serious relationship, and he confided in her that he preferred older women because they were more mature.

The messages soon progressed to video chats. White said Robinson would call her from the Metro as he commuted to or from his job in the District of Columbia, where White said he was working removing snow and cleaning streets for the city. At the time, Robinson was living in a friend's apartment in D.C. and occasionally stayed with his mother in Maryland.

Robinson told White he had never been married, but he did have a son who died when the child was around 2 years old and a daughter who was around 5 or 6 at the time. White said she never learned much about the children's mother, but sensed Robinson had a difficult childhood himself.

White and Robinson grew closer.

"He seemed to have an attachment to me, so he would call me every day," White said.

By late 2020, Robinson scheduled his first visit to Pennsylvania. White said she and Robinson spent a weekend together, hanging out, watching movies and eating Chinese food. White introduced Robinson to her adult son.

The relationship continued, and White said Robinson said he hoped they could be a couple and move his daughter to Pennsylvania to live with her. Robinson returned to the Harrisburg area for White's birthday in February 2021.

White said Robinson's visit held a surprise: He bought a one-way bus ticket.

"When he got here, he said I'm going to have to get a job or something in order to get back home cause I don't have my ticket money," White said.

White said Robinson got a job at a warehouse for an online pet supply store and stayed with her for three weeks while he raised money for his return trip.

White said Robinson never discussed killing or hurting women, but he did have darker moments.

At one point, White said he pulled up his shirt to show her a scar and said he had been stabbed. White said Robinson never explained how the stabbing occurred, but promised he would kill anyone that came at him with a knife again. When they were intimate, White said Robinson sometimes choked her briefly, leaving her gasping for breath.

Robinson mentioned he had been engaged to a woman who died.

The woman was 30-year-old Skye Allen, who passed away on Valentine's Day in 2018. Robinson had met Allen online in 2016, and the pair were planning a wedding, her family said. The couple were living with Allen's mother in Glenarden, Md.

Stacey Allen, Skye's mother, said she found her daughter barely breathing and with a light pulse in her bed on the morning of Feb. 14, 2018. Skye Allen had spent the night with Robinson in the room the pair shared, Stacey Allen said. Skye Allen was rushed to the hospital, where she died a short time later.

Skye Allen's death was found to be caused by "fatal cardiac arrhythmia," according to a copy of her death certificate obtained by The Post. Prince George's County police said they are taking a fresh look at the case.

"The Prince George's County Police Department did not open an investigation into Ms. Allen's death in 2018," the department said in a statement. "Our agency was not notified of her passing, which occurred at a hospital, and therefore had no involvement in documenting any aspect of her death. She was cremated following her death. In January of 2022, a PGPD Homicide supervisor did speak to Ms. Allen's relatives. Based on those conversations, the PGPD's Cold Case Unit is reviewing the facts surrounding her death."

At White's house, her relationship with Robinson came to a tumultuous end. White held a birthday party for herself in mid-February 2021. At the party, White said Robinson drank heavily and made sexually suggestive comments toward her son and the teenage son of a friend, which were confirmed by a cousin of White's who attended.

White said she confronted Robinson about the comments the next day. White said she told Robinson the comments were inappropriate and asked if he had an interest in men. White said Robinson told her he did.

White said she felt blindsided because Robinson had not been forthcoming about that side of himself and said she couldn't trust him any longer. "He could be anything," White said.

A fight ensued, during which Robinson called police before he finally left, White said. Local police confirmed they responded to a call involving White and Robinson. White thought it would be the last she would see of Robinson, but it wasn't.

Weeks later, White said Robinson messaged her on Facebook and said he was living at a hotel in Harrisburg. Robinson asked her to come to the hotel, saying "I will give you whatever you want." White said he was also interested in buying "spice," or synthetic marijuana. White declined to meet him.

About a month later, White was driving in Harrisburg and saw Robinson walking down the street. White said she was shocked by his appearance. Robinson had always been clean-cut and neatly groomed, but now he had an untidy beard and a knotty Afro. White never saw him again.

Roughly eight months later, in October 2021, police said Robinson killed Redmon in Harrisonburg, about 130 miles south of D.C., after going there for work. Police said Robinson killed Smith in November.

Robinson was arrested on Nov. 23 after both women's bodies were found in an open lot in a commercial district in Harrisonburg. Police said surveillance video and cellphone records connected Robinson to both victims.

Fairfax County police announced in December they were investigating Robinson in connection with the slaying of two women whose bodies were found in a trash can in a vacant lot in the Route 1 corridor. Robinson has not been charged in the slayings of Cheyenne Brown, 29, of D.C., and Stephanie Harrison, 48, of Redding, Calif.

Fairfax County police have interviewed White as part of their investigation, a spokesman said.

D.C. police are also investigating Robinson in connection with the killing of Sonya Champ, 40, of D.C., whose body was found in a shopping cart near Union Station in September 2021.

White said she was stunned when a relative forwarded her a story about Robinson being called a serial killer by police in December. She was supposed to be with her niece, who was giving birth, but she couldn't leave her home. She thought of the women who had been killed and her own experience with Robinson.

"It was all kinds of emotion flooding my head," White said.
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LOS ANGELES (AP)  Succession and Ted Lasso topped the Emmy Awards on Monday, in a ceremony that touted the influence of TV and extended honors to global sensation Squid Game and winners who delivered messages of empowerment.

The evening's uplifting tone, as voiced especially by Zendaya, Lizzo and Sheryl Lee Ralph, was in contrast to the darkness that pervaded the storytelling of best drama series winner Succession and even comedy series victor Ted Lasso."

Thanks for making such a safe space to make this very difficult show, said Zendaya, claiming her second best drama actress award for Euphoria, about a group of teens' tough coming-of-age.

My greatest wish for Euphoria was that it could help heal people. Thank you for everyone who has shared your story with me. I carry them with me, and I carry them with Rue, her character, Zendaya said.

Succession, about a media empire run by a grasping and cutthroat family, split drama series honors with Squid Game, the bold South Korean-set drama about the idle rich turning the poor into entertainment fodder.

Lee Jung-jae of Squid Game, who played the show's moral center, became the first Asian to win the Emmy for best drama series actor.

Thank you for making realistic problems we all face come to life so creatively on the screen, Lee said to Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk, who earned the Emmy for best drama series directing. In Korean, Lee thanked the audience in his native country for watching.

Backstage, Hwang said this was "a major moment for us, and Lee said he expected the awards to open doors for other Asian actors.

Jason Sudeikis and Jean Smart collected back-to-back acting trophies, but several new Emmy winners were minted, with Lizzo and Quinta Brunson and Sheryl Lee Ralph of Abbott Elementary" collecting trophies.

Brunson, who created and stars in the freshman series, won the Emmy for comedy series writing. ABC's Abbott Elementary, also nominated for best comedy, is a rare bright spot for network broadcasting in the age of streaming and cable dominance.

Sudeikis won his second consecutive trophy for playing the unlikely U.S. coach of a British soccer team in the comedy Ted Lasso, with Smart matching that haul for her role as a veteran comedian in Hacks."

Sudeikis gave a rare awards show shoutout to TV consumers: Thanks to the people who watch this show and dig it as much as we dig making it."

There was a ripple of reaction in the theater when Succession creator Jesse Armstrong mentioned Britains new king, Charles III, in accepting the shows trophy, the cast standing alongside him.

Big week for successions, new king in the U.K., this for us. Evidently a little bit more voting involved in our winning than Prince Charles, Armstrong said. Im not saying were more legitimate in our position than he is. Well leave that up to other people.

Ralph stopped the Emmy Awards show by accepting the best supporting actress comedy award for Abbott Elementary" with a brief but rousing song of affirmation.

I am an endangered species, but I sing no victim song. I am a woman, I am an artist and I know where my voice belongs, she belted out. She then encouraged anyone doubting their dream I am here to tell you this is what believing looks like.

The audience, including Lizzo and many of television's biggest stars, leapt to their feet to cheer on Ralph.

When Lizzo herself accepted the award for best-competition series trophy for Lizzos Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, she offered another emotional pep talk.

When I was a little girl, all I wanted to see was me in the media. Someone fat like me, Black like me, beautiful like me, the music artist said.

There were also cheers for presenter Selma Blair, who has discussed her multiple sclerosis diagnosis publicly and who used a cane on stage.

Ted Lasso co-star Brett Goldstein, won comedy supporting actors, while Matthew Macfadyen of Succession and Julia Garner of Ozark earned drama series supporting actor honors.

It's such a a pleasure and privilege for me to play this bonkers gift of a role in this wonderful show, Macfadyen said in accepting the trophy for his role as a scheming member of a media empire family.

Garner was among the winners who took advantage of covering all bases by thanking her husband and others in an on-screen message.

The White Lotus collected several honors, including best limited or anthology series.

The achievements of Squid Game, Abbott Elementary and a few other shows didnt change the relative lack of diversity in this years nominations, which included significantly fewer people of color than in 2021.

Host Kenan Thompson kicked off the Emmys with a tribute to TV, dismissing Tik-Tok as tiny vertical television, and a musical number saluting series theme songs from Friends to The Brady Bunch to Game of Thrones.

Once the music stopped, Thompson provided a mic drop moment  announcing Oprah Winfrey as the first presenter. Winfrey strutted onto the stage holding an Emmy statuette, declaring the night a party! The nights first award went to Michael Keaton for his role in Dopesick. Winfrey and Keaton hugged before she handed him his trophy.

It means something, Keaton said of the award for playing a caring doctor ensnared with his patients by addiction. He went on to recall the magic of being introduced to TV when his dad won a set at a raffle and thanked his parents for not mocking his youthful attempts at acting.

Amanda Seyfried earned the limited-series lead actress trophy for The Dropout, in which she played ill-fated Silicon Valley whiz kid Elizabeth Holmes. She thanked a list of family and colleagues and even her dog, Finn.

Murray Bartlett won the best supporting actor award for The White Lotus, a tragicomedy set in a Hawaii resort. Jennifer Coolidge, who won best supporting actress honors for the show, delighted the audience by shimmying to the music intended to cut off her acceptance speech.

The award for best variety talk show went to Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, with stand-up special Jerrod Carmichael: Rothaniel winning for best writing for a comedy special.

"Good night, everybody. Ima go home. Im not like a sore winner, but Im going to go home because I cant top this right now, an overcome Carmichael told the audience.

Glamour was back with some metallic sparkle and lots of bright color as an otherworldly Britt Lower, Old Hollywood Elle Fanning and their fellow stars posed for photographers.

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AP Writers Beth Harris and Jonathan Landrum Jr. contributed to this report.

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For more on this years Emmy Awards, visit: www.apnews.com/EmmyAwards
BRUSSELS (AP)  More than six years after the deadliest peacetime attack on Belgian soil, the trial of 10 men accused over the suicide bombings at Brussels airport and an underground metro station opened Monday amid high security.

The only survivor among the Islamic State extremists who in 2015 struck the Bataclan theater in Paris, city cafes and Frances national stadium, Salah Abdeslam, is among the accused. In all 32 people were killed in the March 22, 2016 Brussels attacks. Around 900 people were hurt or suffered mental trauma.

The 10 face charges including murder, attempted murder and membership of, or participation in, the activities of a terrorist group over the morning rush hour attacks at Belgiums main airport and on a central commuter line. If convicted, some of them could be sentenced to terms of up to 30 years in prison.

Abdeslam, who was sentenced to life in prison without parole over the atrocities in Paris, was at the Brussels court on Monday but refused to take part, saying it was unfair that he should have to watch proceedings from inside a reinforced glass cubicle.

Sebastien Courtoy, a lawyer for another suspect, Smail Farisi, also complained about conditions. He said his client was put on display like an animal in a cage. I want  I demand  to see the sick person who designed these cages to ask what kind of pleasure that person gets from this.

For those who were hurt or lost loved ones, the trial will revive painful memories, but it also offers an opportunity for them to take a fresh step in their long recovery.

It was a long wait for the victims, six years is very long. I think that on March 22, 2016, a very dark page started and the chapter is not finished today. But this is an important step for their recovery, said Guillaume Lys, a lawyer for the V-Europe association representing the victims.

No images of the defendants in Mondays trial proceedings were made public. Even a sketch artist who was allowed into the court room to work was advised not to release his drawings after the accused and their lawyers said they did not want the images published.

The hearing in what is one of the biggest jury trials ever held in Belgium was chiefly aimed at resolving technical and practical issues.

The court  located at the former headquarters of NATO on the outskirts of the Belgian capital  is due to sit again on Oct. 10 to pick a jury, with the trial proper starting on Oct. 13. More than 300 witnesses could be heard during the trial, which is expected to run for six to nine months.

___

Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.
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WASHINGTON (AP)  Peiter Mudge Zatko, the Twitter whistleblower who is warning of security flaws, privacy threats and lax controls at the social platform, will take his case to Congress on Tuesday.

Senators who will hear Zatkos testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee are alarmed by his Twitter allegations at a time of heightened concern over the safety of powerful tech platforms.

Its Zatkos second Capitol Hill appearance, and in some ways a 21st-century echo of his first. In 1998, he testified before a Senate panel along with fellow members of a hacker collective who warned about the security dangers of the then-emerging internet age.

Zatko, a respected cybersecurity expert, was Twitters head of security until he was fired early this year. He has brought the stunning allegations to Congress and federal regulators, asserting that the influential social platform misled regulators about its cyber defenses and efforts to control millions of spam or fake accounts.

Sen. Dick Durbin, the Illinois Democrat who chairs the panel, called Zatko's allegations serious business."

If it's anywhere along the lines that (he) suggested, I think it's a matter of grave personal-privacy concern," Durbin told reporters Monday. The question is whether information gathered by Twitter has been used for purposes which we're not aware of."

Zatko's accusations are also playing into billionaire tycoon Elon Musk's battle with Twitter. The Tesla CEO is trying to get out of his $44 billion bid to buy the company; Twitter has sued to force him to complete the deal. The Delaware judge overseeing that case ruled last week that Musk can include new evidence related to Zatkos allegations in the high-stakes trial set to start Oct. 17.

The allegation that Twitter engaged in deception in its handling of automated spam bot accounts is at the core of Musks attempt to back out of the Twitter deal.

At the same time, many of Zatkos claims are uncorroborated and appear to have little documentary support. In a statement, Twitter has called Zatkos description of events a false narrative.

Also on Tuesday, Twitters shareholders are scheduled to vote on the companys pending buyout by Musk. The vote is something of a formality given that the deal is on hold while the court case plays out. But if the measure passes as expected, it would also pave the way for a Musk takeover should Twitter prevail in court.

Zatko also filed complaints with the Justice Department, the Federal Trade Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Among his most serious accusations is that Twitter violated the terms of a 2011 FTC settlement by falsely claiming that it had put stronger measures in place to protect the security and privacy of its users.

The SEC is questioning Twitter about how it counts fake accounts on its platform. Twitter uses counts of its presumably real users to attract advertisers, whose payments make up about 90% of its revenue. The spam bots have no value to advertisers because theres no person behind them.

San Francisco-based Twitter has an estimated 238 million daily active users worldwide. The company says it removes 1 million spam accounts daily.

Zatkos 84-page complaint alleges that he found extreme, egregious deficiencies" on the platform, including issues with "user privacy, digital and physical security, and platform integrity/content moderation.

It accuses CEO Parag Agrawal and other senior executives and board members of making false and misleading statements to users and the FTC" about these issues. Twitter denies those claims and said that Zatko was fired in January for ineffective leadership and poor performance. Zatkos attorneys say the performance claim is false.

Twitter also hinted that Zatko's complaint might be designed to bolster Musk's legal fight with the company. Twitter called Zatkos complaint a false narrative that is riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies, and lacks important context."

News of Zatkos complaint surfaced on Aug. 23, almost two months before the Twitter-Musk trial is scheduled to begin. One of Zatkos attorneys has said hes never met Elon Musk. Doesnt know Elon Musk. They know people in common.

The company also says it has significantly tightened security since 2020.

Among Zatko's specific allegations:

 The company had such poor cybersecurity that it easily could have been exposed to outside attacks or attempts to siphon off its internal data.

The company lacked effective leadership, with its top executives practicing deliberate ignorance of pressing problems. Zatko described former CEO Jack Dorsey as extremely disengaged during the last months of his tenure, to the point where he wouldnt even speak during meetings on complex issues. Dorsey stepped down in November 2021.

That Twitter knowingly allowed the government of India to place its agents on the company payroll, where they had direct unsupervised access to highly sensitive data on users. It makes a parallel but less detailed accusation that Twitter took funding from unidentified Chinese entities who may have been enabled to access the identities and sensitive data of Chinese users who secretly use Twitter, which is officially banned in China.

The 51-year-old Zatko, better known by his hacker handle Mudge, first gained prominence in the 1990s. He was the best-known member of the Boston-based collective L0pht, which pioneered ethical hacking, embarrassing companies including Microsoft for poor security. His work raised awareness in the computing world that forced such major companies to take security seriously. He co-founded the consultancy @Stake, which was later acquired by Symantec.

Zatko later worked in senior positions at the Pentagons Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and Google. He joined Twitter at Dorseys urging in late 2020, the same year the company suffered an embarrassing security breach involving hackers who broke into the Twitter accounts of world leaders, celebrities and tech moguls, including Musk, in an attempt to scam their followers out of bitcoin.

__

AP technology writers Frank Bajak in Boston and Matt OBrien in Providence, Rhode Island, contributed to this report.

__

Follow Marcy Gordon at https://twitter.com/mgordonap
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BERLIN (AP)  The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency said Monday that he has started consultations with Ukraine and Russia on his call for a nuclear safety and security protection zone around the Zaporizhzhia power plant, and the two sides appear to be interested.

Rafael Grossi, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, made his proposal last week after leading a team of inspectors to the nuclear plant, Europe's biggest with six reactors, but gave few details at the time.

What we need here really is Ukraine and Russia to agree on a very simple principle of not attacking, or not shelling, at the plant, Grossi told reporters at the agency's Vienna headquarters. The IAEA has not assigned blame for recent shelling, for which Ukraine and Russia have blamed each other.

The plant has been occupied by Russian forces but operated by its Ukrainian employees since early in the war.

Pressed on whether his proposal includes demilitarization, Grossi said: Basically, its a commitment that no military action will include or will imply aiming ... at the plant, or a radius that could be affecting its normal operation.

Grossi said of the two sides that he has "seen signs that they are interested in this agreement. He added that technical details are being explored, including the radius that an accord would apply to and how IAEA experts would work. Two IAEA experts remain at the plant after the rest of Grossi's team returned home.

What I see  is two sides that are engaging with us, but that are asking questions, lots of questions, he added. He said that we try to keep it simple, we try to keep it practical, because we need it as soon as possible.

The Zaporizhzhia plant was reconnected to Ukraines electricity grid at the weekend, allowing engineers to shut down its last operational reactor in an attempt to avoid disaster as fighting rages in the area.

The plant had lost its outside source of power after all its power lines were disconnected because of shelling. It operated in island mode for several days, generating electricity for crucial cooling systems from its only remaining operational reactor. Thats considered an unstable way of operating a nuclear plant.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
ISLAMABAD (AP)  The United Nations mission in Afghanistan has accused Taliban authorities of harassing its Afghan female employees, urging local officials to respect all its staff in a statement Monday.

There has been an emerging pattern of harassment of Afghan U.N. female staff by the de facto authorities, the statement said, referring to the country's Taliban rulers.

Three Afghan women working for the U.N. were recently detained briefly and questioned by "armed security agents of the de facto authorities, it added.

The U.N. called for an immediate end to all such acts of intimidation and harassment targeting its Afghan female staff, and reminded local authorities of their obligations under international law to guarantee the safety and security of all U.N. personnel operating in Afghanistan.

A statement released by the Taliban late Monday evening denied that local authorities had detained any U.N. employees.

The statement added in southern Kandahar province authorities had stopped a group of women, but when they realized they were U.N. employees, stopped questioning them.

A year after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, teenage girls are still barred from school and women are required to cover themselves from head to toe in public, with only their eyes showing. Hard-liners appear to hold sway in the Taliban-led government, which imposed severe restrictions on access to education and jobs for girls and women, despite initial promises to the contrary.

On Saturday, Taliban authorities shut down five girls schools above the sixth grade in eastern Afghanistans Paktia province which had briefly opened after a recommendation by tribal elders and school principals.

Earlier this month, four girls schools in Gardez, the provincial capital, and one in the Samkani district began operating without formal permission from the Taliban Education Ministry.

On Saturday, all five schools were once again closed by authorities.

The U.N. has repeatedly urged the Taliban to ensure respect for international human rights in the country.
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  A rape victim whose DNA from her sexual assault case was used by San Francisco police to arrest her in an unrelated property crime on Monday filed a lawsuit against the city.

During a search of a San Francisco Police Department crime lab database, the woman's DNA was tied to a burglary in late 2021. Her DNA had been collected and stored in the system as part of a 2016 domestic violence and sexual assault case, then-District Attorney Chesa Boudin said in February in a shocking revelation that raised privacy concerns.

This is government overreach of the highest order, using the most unique and personal thing we have  our genetic code  without our knowledge to try and connect us to crime, the woman's attorney, Adante Pointer, said in a statement.

The revelation prompted a national outcry from advocates, law enforcement, legal experts and lawmakers. Advocates said the practice could affect victims willingness to come forward to law enforcement authorities.

Federal law already prohibits the inclusion of victims DNA in the national Combined DNA Index System. There is no corresponding law in California to prohibit local law enforcement databases from retaining victims profiles and searching them years later for entirely different purposes.

California lawmakers last month approved a bill that would prohibit using the DNA profiles collected by police from sexual assault survivors and other victims for any purpose other than aiding in identifying the perpetrator. Local law enforcement agencies would also be prohibited from retaining and then searching victim DNA to incriminate them in unrelated crimes under the legislation, which is pending before Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Boudin said the report was found among hundreds of pages of evidence against a woman who had been recently charged with a felony property crime. After learning the source of the DNA evidence, Boudin dropped the felony property crime charges against the woman.

The police department's crime lab stopped the practice shortly after receiving a complaint from the district attorneys office and formally changed its operating procedure to prevent the misuse of DNA collected from sexual assault victims, Police Chief Bill Scott said.

Scott said at a police commission meeting in March that he had discovered 17 crime victim profiles, 11 of them from rape kits, that were matched as potential suspects using a crime victims database during unrelated investigations. Scott said he believes the only person arrested was the woman who filed the lawsuit Monday.

The woman filed the lawsuit under the alias of Jane Doe to protect her privacy, Pointer said The Associated Press generally does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they choose to be named.

California allows local law enforcement crime labs to operate their own forensic databases that are separate from federal and state databases. The law also lets municipal labs perform forensic analysis, including DNA profiling, and use those databases  without regulation by the state or others.
Texas was made great by a spirit of independence and innovation. While we continue to build on this foundation, our ability to collaboratelocally, regionally and statewide  will ultimately power us through some of the states most pressing issues.

Midland and Odessa are uniquely positioned to lead the state in this style of collaboration. By bolstering our regional alliances, we can tackle Texas greatest challenges and ensure the Permian Basin continues to thrive.

From the 30,000-foot view, this shouldnt be difficult. Midland-Odessa is an economic driver for the state. One of the largest energy hubs in the world, the area generates billions of dollars in gross domestic product, supports more than half a million jobs and continually leads the nation toward energy independence.

Even with that success, this region and our state face challenges that have been heightened by the pandemicsuch as strengthening our education system, readying the workforce and expanding broadband access.

These issues were top of mind for our Midland and Odessa Chambers of Commerce when Texas 2036, along with board member Tracee Bentley, president and CEO of the Permian Strategic Partnership, hosted a luncheon for business and community leaders in late spring.

The big takeaway: sharing ideas and joining forces better equips us to keep up with an evolving business landscape thats still recovering from the pandemic.

And this starts with education. Too many schools across the state are failing to meet the needs of our students. For starters, only half of students are performing at grade level in reading and only one-third earn post-secondary credentialssomething more than a high school diploma.

However, were making strides. Both Midland ISD and Ector County ISD recently earned their best Texas Education Agency school performance ratingsalso known as the AF ratingssince the system began in 2017.

Collectively, we would also be stronger if school and business connections deepened across city limits with a unified goal of keeping more of our talent pool in the region.

The backbone to keeping our education and workforce pipeline moving in the Permian Basin and across Texas is broadband. But one in four Texans dont have access to reliable, high-speed internet at home, including 10% without any internet access at all.

Working together, Ector County ISD and the Permian Strategic Partnership have developed a potential model to overcome this by teaming up with SpaceX to provide free internet service to local families, already reaching about 150 and counting.

These are the types of partnerships Texas 2036a nonprofit dedicated to solving Texas big challenges  has been exposed to as part of a 10-region, statewide Road Show. The tour fostered dialogue about the issues that matter most to local communities and how we can work together to support those causes at the Capitol.

Throughout the Road Show, weve seen a consistent theme emergea renewed enthusiastic spirit toward collaboration, from the RGV Partnership in the Rio Grande Valley to the Borderplex Alliance in El Paso and greater: SATX in San Antonio.

Midland and Odessa have been fostering regional collaborations for years, from the Two Cities, No Limits campaign last decade to the current efforts of the Permian Strategic Partnership working with our local chambers. Its time to reinvigorate and recommit to this cause.

Its a lesson for all of Texas: The more we collaborate to solve our biggest issues, the better we can stake our historic claim as the state of independence and innovation that put us on the map in the first place.

--

Renee Earls is the president and CEO of Odessa Chamber of Commerce; Bobby Burns is the president and CEO of Midland Chamber of Commerce; and A.J. Rodriguez is the executive vice president of Texas 2036.
This November, Proposition C will give San Francisco voters the opportunity to approve the creation of a new oversight commission for the citys Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. This body would join the more than 100 commissions, committees, councils and working groups  supplemented by a city services auditor, a budget and legislative analyst, a city attorney, a district attorney, an ethics commission and a civil grand jury  already tasked with overseeing the delivery of municipal services.

Under the watchful eye of this impressive edifice, San Francisco ought to have the cleanest, most efficient government in the world. Instead, over the last 20 years, multiple city officials have been indicted on federal corruption charges, the mayors annual budget has ballooned from $5 billion to $14 billion, and the governments performance on several key metrics has only gotten worse or remained stagnant. According to one ranking, San Francisco is the second worst-run city in America.

We think theres a better way: municipal services oversight should be centralized in a unified agency that reports to a board of auditors, which would be elected every four years and empowered to summon witnesses, subpoena documents, impound wasteful spending and levy civil penalties.

Leading audit standards bodies, whether in the public or the private sector, agree that auditor independence is the sine qua non of effective oversight. But, in San Francisco, the entities charged with ensuring that taxpayers get what they pay for are instead beholden to the very departments and agencies theyre supposed to oversee. For example, the city services auditor is hired by the city controller, who is appointed by the mayor, while commissioners are appointed by varying combinations of the mayor, the supervisors and other interested parties. The city attorney and district attorney are elected by the voters, but, as political offices, they have other priorities beyond investigating corruption and waste.

San Franciscans deserve the option to vote for oversight officials who answer directly to them, and who are politically incentivized to focus exclusively on cleaning up city hall. Creating the agency we propose would align San Francisco with other California counties and U.S. states whose auditors (or controllers with audit powers) are elected, rather than appointed. It would also professionalize the citys audit function by entrusting it to full-time, qualified civil servants, rather than a patronage network of politically connected activists moonlighting as commissioners. Our current system is the one that put Jon Jacobo, a legislative aide, on the Building Inspection Commission, and Victor Makras, a real estate developer, on the Police Commission. Jacobo resigned last year after being accused of sexual assault; Makras was found guilty last month of bank fraud.

Variations of this proposal have been put before the voters and the Board of Supervisors before, in 2016 and 2020, but were rejected due to cost, politicization and implementation concerns. Our proposal is responsive to those concerns. First, this new agency would supplant, not supplement, the existing oversight commissions in the city, and would be funded by the resultant savings. Is this feasible? Certainly. The budgets of San Franciscos city services auditor, Ethics Commission and Department of Police Accountability alone combine to equal the entire budget of the California state auditor, or the audits division of the state controller. To be clear, this isnt about eliminating funds for oversight programs; its about entrusting them to a body that has the proper expertise and incentives to conduct them effectively. Second, electing a board, each member of which is equally authorized to deploy resources, rather than a single official to lead this agency, alleviates concerns that it would spend four years investigating that one officials political enemies and no one else. Finally, to ensure continuity of oversight, existing commissions could temporarily operate under the authority of the board of auditors during a phase-in period until the new agency is fully provisioned.

Many government employees are competent, conscientious and committed. But, over time, even the most well-meaning public servant cant fight waste and corruption in a system that holds no one accountable. The result is a city that spends $60,000 on a tent and $20,000 on a trash can. The Board of Supervisors is empowered to put a charter amendment on the ballot to create the agency we propose and put an end to this kind of irresponsible spending. Our system is broken  lets live up to our reputation as the City That Knows How and fix it.

Jay Donde and Bill Jackson are co-founders of the San Francisco Briones Society, a center-right club that develops and advocates for consensus solutions to urgent local issues.
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BRANFORD  Lisa Peterson recalled telling her feet to move. They wouldnt. Then there were her fingers.

Id say to one finger, bend, and it was like I had 30 pounds in my hand, and my hand was shaking, she said, settled in the sitting area of Trinity Stretch Studio, which held its first classes last week in the lower level of Avant Garde Wellness Center on East Main Street.

The struggle Peterson was describing happened three weeks before, she said, roughly the day Trinity was slated to open, with more than thirty, 30-minute classes each week, including classes for people who dont exercise regularly, seniors, parents and toddlers, athletes, and people with special needs.

On July 26, Peterson, also the owner and head trainer at Lisas Bike & Bootcamp Studio in Branford, was boogie-boarding with her son Grayson in Rhode Island when a wave slammed into her, causing her head to crash into the ocean floor.

I must have lost consciousness because I was just there, in the water, and another wave was coming up from behind and hitting me, and then I couldnt move my neck, she recalled.

She remembered Grayson grabbing her hand  Grayson saved my life, she said  and getting others over to help her, and she remembered the petrified look on Graysons face.

But she had no memory of the woman on the beach; by then she was out, she said, because of the pain.

She learned later, she said, the woman was a nurse and she was telling all the lifeguards to keep my neck stabilized, and at the same time she was telling Grayson to call the ambulance.

Peterson also didnt remember meeting the surgeon known as Dr. W, Dr. Shirvinda Wijesekera, at Yale New Haven Hospitals St. Raphaels campus in New Haven, where she was transferred from a local hospital in Rhode Island.

One of the nurses at the studio told me later that if youre going to get anybody, he was the guy to get, she said.

He was on call, he was there, and he stabilized the three broken vertebrae in my neck with a titanium rod, she said. He saved my life as well.

She learned later about the ferocity of the waves around that time, about the death of a 9-year-old boy caught in a rip current on Eastons Beach on July 19, and three men suffering injuries as a result of swimming in heavy surf at Misquamicut State Beach in Westerly on July 21, as reported by Newport This Week on July 28.

They should never have let people in the water, she said.

Of the next two weeks at St. Raphaels, Peterson recalled bits and pieces.

There was a visit from her pastor from Vox Church, she said. There was the member who made a sign that read dont quit and one from another members young son that said, simply, try. There was a picture of her four kids from her ex-wife that Grayson set in front of her bed.

But mostly there was the pain.

My neck hurt so bad, it affected all my nerves from the neck down, and it was constant and it was relentless, she said. And all I could do was lie there.

After a week at Milford Hospital, where she went for rehabilitation, she requested to be discharged three days early to go home.

Those were the hardest days, she said, of the effort to tell her feet to move, her finger to bend. I thought I could do it myself, and it was only a matter of time, but nothing was working.

Amid all that, she learned that her church had been holding prayer groups for her, and providing a meal train for her kids. From her bootcamp studio came video clips, countless gift cards for food, a constant stream of encouraging messages, and a group that took turns walking her dog Bentley.

All that helped, definitely, she said. Because then came the fighting moment, as she put it. I just said you have to get up, youve got to go. Soon she was walking to the kitchen and back, then walking to the end of her driveway.

In the third week of August, Peterson returned to the bootcamp studio for the first time, stationing herself on a red lawn chair that members dubbed her throne.

Lisa has created such a strong, supportive community that we were able to keep it going in her absence because of her and for her, said Brianna Gavigan, among the trainers at the studio.

But there was nothing like Lisa walking through that door at 4:15 a.m. I would have bear-hugged her if she hadnt just had spinal surgery.

She was so grateful that she was saved, her close friend and business manager Allison Maloney said. She knew she was given a chance and thats what drove her to get back to her life and doing what she does, which is helping anyone she can feel better about themselves.

While its an entity separate from the bootcamp studio, Trinity is part and parcel of that mission.

It would be irresponsible for me to not address stretching, or the lack thereof, Peterson said. Its the reason for most injuries, and its simple. People are impatient if they dont get an immediate result.

Every body needs to stretch, she said, emphasis on body. Stretching stops injuries from occurring, and that prevents physical therapy, which gets expensive. It prevents soreness. It keeps your muscles long, lean and flexible. Plus it just feels good.

I cant wait for a cool fall night where the leaves are rustling, she said. You come inside, theres a pumpkin candle, the fireplace is crackling, and were just stretching.

I should have died, but Im still here, and I believe theres a reason for that, said Peterson, whos back to teaching four to five classes at the bootcamp each day. If I can get people to come here and leave feeling a little bit better about themselves and their life, thats as good a reason as any.

Trinity Stretch Studio is located at 328 E. Main St. For more information, visit trinitystretchstudios.com or call 203-738-9658.
Pixar Animation Studios

Pixars Oscar-winning hit Inside Out will finally get a sequel  and the storyline will pick up right where it left off in San Francisco, a spokesperson for the animation studio confirmed with SFGATE on Monday.

Amy Poehler, who portrays Joy, made a brief appearance at the D23 expo in Anaheim on Friday to announce the news alongside one of the original films directors, Pete Docter. The sequel will explore the new emotions of a teenage Riley, introducing a broader cast that has yet to be confirmed.
WFO LAS VEGAS Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Monday, September 12, 2022

_____

FLASH FLOOD WARNING

The National Weather Service in Las Vegas has issued a

* Flash Flood Warning for...

Southeastern Inyo County in south central California...

San Bernardino County in southern California...

Southeastern Nye County in south central Nevada...

West Central Clark County in southern Nevada...

* Until 415 PM PDT.

* At 111 PM PDT, Doppler radar indicated thunderstorms producing

heavy rain along a line from Sandy Valley and southeast Inyo

County extending to the north across Highway 160 and across the

Spring Mountains. Between 0.5 and 1 inch of rain has 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 low-water

crossings, creeks, normally dry washes and roads.

* Some locations that will experience flash flooding include...

Pahrump, Rainbow Canyon, Spring Mountains, Mt. Charleston, Mary

Jane Falls Campground, Lovell Canyon Campground, Mcwilliams

Campground, Dolomite Campground, Fletcher View Campground, Kyle

Canyon Campground, Mahogany Grove Campground, Hilltop Campground,

Sandy Valley and Willow Creek Campground.

The rain gauge at Harris Springs in the Springs has received nearly

one inch of rain the 30 minutes.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

In hilly terrain there are hundreds of low water crossings which are

potentially dangerous in heavy rain. Do not attempt to cross flooded

roads. Find an alternate route.

...FLOOD ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 315 PM PDT THIS AFTERNOON...

* WHAT...Flooding caused by excessive rainfall is expected.

* WHERE...Northeast portion of the Bobcat burn scar in the eastern

San Gabriel mountains in Los Angeles County.

* WHEN...Until 315 PM PDT.

* IMPACTS...Heavy rainfall could trigger shallow debris flows in and

near recent wildfire burn scars. Dangerous flows over low-water

crossings.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...

- At 112 PM PDT, a stationary thunderstorm has supported heavy

rain with rainfall rates around one inch per hour, with the

heaviest amounts just outside of the Bobcat burn

scar.Flooding and minor debris flows in and near the Bobcat

burn scar is ongoing or expected to begin shortly in the

advisory area.

- Some locations that will experience flooding include...

Angeles Crest Highway between Mount Waterman and Wrightwood.

- http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood

Move away from recently burned areas. The rain will likely trigger

shallow mud and debris flows, minor rock falls, and flooding capable

of localized damage, especially in steep terrain in and near burn

scars.

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.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO LAS VEGAS Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Monday, September 12, 2022

_____

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING

The National Weather Service in Las Vegas has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...

South central Mohave County in northwestern Arizona...

Southeastern San Bernardino County in southern California...

* Until 400 PM PDT/400 PM MST/.

* At 312 PM PDT/312 PM MST/, a severe thunderstorm was located over

Parker Dam, moving north at 20 mph.

HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Expect damage to roofs and trees.

* Locations impacted include...

Lake Havasu City, Parker Dam, Three Dunes Campground, Cattail Cove

State Park, Desert Hills, Black Meadow Landing Campground, Earp and

Big River.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a

building.

If on or near Lake Havasu, get away from the water and move indoors

or inside a vehicle. Remember, lightning can strike out to 15 miles

from the parent thunderstorm. If you can hear thunder, you are close

enough to be struck by lightning. Move to safe shelter now! Do not

be caught on the water in a thunderstorm.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO LOS ANGELES Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Sunday, September 11, 2022

_____

FLASH FLOOD WARNING

The National Weather Service in Los Angeles/Oxnard has issued a

* Flash Flood Warning for...

North Central Santa Barbara County in southwestern California...

* Until 645 PM PDT.

* At 437 PM PDT, 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...

Highway 166 between Twitchell Dam and the Cuyama Valley.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood

deaths occur in vehicles.

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.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO LOS ANGELES Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Sunday, September 11, 2022

_____

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING

The National Weather Service in OXNARD has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...

North central Santa Barbara County in southwestern California...

Southeastern San Luis Obispo County in southwestern California...

* Until 515 PM PDT.

* At 442 PM PDT, a severe thunderstorm was located 10 miles northwest

of Cuyama, moving north at 10 mph.

HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage

to roofs, siding, and trees.

* Locations impacted include...

Highway 166 between Twitchell Dam and the Cuyama Valley...

and Carrizo Plain.

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.

...A strong thunderstorm will impact portions of Riverside County

through 530 PM PDT...

At 443 PM PDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near

San Jacinto, or 8 miles southeast of Moreno Valley, moving west at 25

mph.

HAZARD...Wind gusts of 50 to 55 mph and pea size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around

unsecured objects. Minor damage to outdoor objects is

possible.

Locations impacted include...

Riverside, Moreno Valley, Hemet, Perris, San Jacinto, southern

Beaumont, March Airforce Base, Woodcrest, Lake Mathews, Menifee,

Lakeview, Lake Perris Recreation Area, Nuevo and Homeland.

If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.

LAT...LON 3386 11695 3374 11702 3382 11741 3400 11733

TIME...MOT...LOC 2343Z 108DEG 22KT 3383 11710

MAX HAIL SIZE...0.25 IN

MAX WIND GUST...55 MPH

...FLOOD ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 645 PM PDT THIS EVENING...

* WHAT...Flooding caused by excessive rainfall is expected.

* WHERE...A portion of central California, including the following

counties, Fresno and Tulare.

* WHEN...Until 645 PM PDT.

* IMPACTS...Minor flooding in low-lying and poor drainage areas.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...

- At 444 PM PDT, Doppler radar indicated heavy rain due to

thunderstorms. Minor flooding is ongoing or expected to begin

shortly in the advisory area. Between 0.5 and 1.0 inch of

rain has fallen.

- Additional rainfall amounts of 0.5 to 1 inch are expected

over the area. This additional rain will result in minor

flooding.

- Some locations that will experience flooding include...

Park Ridge, Sunset Campground, Grant Grove Visitor Center,

Grant Grove, Azalea Campground, Crystal Springs Campground

and Pinehurst.

- http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood

Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood

deaths occur in vehicles.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO LOS ANGELES Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Sunday, September 11, 2022

_____

AREAL FLOOD ADVISORY

Flood Advisory

National Weather Service Los Angeles/Oxnard CA

523 PM PDT Sun Sep 11 2022

...FLOOD ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 715 PM PDT THIS EVENING...

* WHAT...Flooding caused by excessive rainfall is expected.

* WHERE...Eastern Los Angeles County in the mountains to Antelope

Valley.

* WHEN...Until 715 PM PDT.

* IMPACTS...Heavy rainfall could trigger shallow debris flows in and

near the Bobcat burn scar. Ponding of water, including Highway

138, in urban or other areas is occurring or is imminent.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...

- At 516 PM PDT, A line of thunderstorms was producing rainfall

rates of around one inch per hour. Urban and roadway flooding

as well as minor debris flows are ongoing or expected to

begin shortly in the advisory area.

- Some locations that will experience flooding include...

Acton, Palmdale, Pearblossom, Llano, Littlerock, Valyermo, as

well as portions of Highway 138 and the Angeles Crest.

- http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Move away from recently burned areas. The rain will likely trigger

shallow mud and debris flows, minor rock falls, and flooding capable

of localized damage, especially in steep terrain in and near burn

scars.

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 San Diego has issued a

* Flash Flood Warning for...

Riverside County in southern California...

East Central Orange County in southwestern California...

* Until 830 PM PDT.

* At 524 PM PDT, Doppler radar indicated thunderstorms producing

heavy rain across the warned area. Between 1 and 2 inches of rain

have fallen. Additional rainfall amounts of 0.5 to 0.75 inches are

possible in the warned area. Flash flooding is ongoing or expected

to begin shortly.

HAZARD...Life threatening flash flooding. Thunderstorms

producing flash flooding.

SOURCE...Radar.

IMPACT...Life threatening flash flooding of creeks and streams,

urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses.

* Some locations that will experience flash flooding include...

Lake Elsinore, Murrieta, Perris, Sun City, Temescal Valley,

Menifee, Ortega Highway, Wildomar, Canyon Lake and Lakeland

Village.

Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood

deaths occur in vehicles.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO LOS ANGELES Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Sunday, September 11, 2022

_____

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT

Special Weather Statement

National Weather Service OXNARD CA

609 PM PDT Sun Sep 11 2022

...A strong thunderstorm will impact portions of north central Los

Angeles County through 700 PM PDT...

At 608 PM PDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm over

Palmdale, moving west at 25 mph.

HAZARD...Wind gusts up to 50 mph.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around

unsecured objects.

Locations impacted include...

Lancaster...

Palmdale...

Lake Hughes...

and Highway 138 between Quail Lake and Lancaster.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.

Frequent cloud to ground lightning is occurring with this storm.

Lightning can strike 10 miles away from a thunderstorm. Seek a safe

shelter inside a building or vehicle.

LAT...LON 3444 11803 3467 11863 3482 11849 3482 11810

3473 11791

TIME...MOT...LOC 0108Z 110DEG 22KT 3460 11808

MAX HAIL SIZE...0.00 IN

MAX WIND GUST...50 MPH

The National Weather Service in San Diego has issued a

* Flash Flood Warning for...

San Bernardino County in southern California...

* Until 915 PM PDT.

* At 610 PM PDT, Doppler radar indicated thunderstorms producing

heavy rain across the warned area. Between 0.75 and 1.25 inches of

rain have fallen. Additional rainfall amounts of 0.75 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...

San Bernardino, Rialto, I-15 Through The Cajon Pass, Highland,

Muscoy, Hwy 18 Between San Bernardino And Crestline, Crestline,

Devore, Silverwood Lake Rec Area and Cedarpines Park.

Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood

deaths occur in vehicles.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO LOS ANGELES Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Sunday, September 11, 2022

_____

FLASH FLOOD WARNING

The National Weather Service in Los Angeles/Oxnard has issued a

* Flash Flood Warning for...

East Central Los Angeles County in southwestern California...

* Until 900 PM PDT.

* At 656 PM PDT, Doppler radar and automated rain gauges indicated

thunderstorms producing heavy rain across the warned area. The

expected rainfall rate is 1 to 2 inches per hour. Flash flooding

is ongoing or expected to begin shortly.

HAZARD...Flash flooding caused by thunderstorms.

SOURCE...Radar and automated gauges.

IMPACT...Flash flooding of small creeks and streams, urban

areas, highways (including 210), streets and

underpasses as well as other poor drainage and low-

lying areas.

* Some locations that will experience flash flooding include...

San Dimas, Glendora, Pomona, La Verne and Claremont.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood

deaths occur in vehicles.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO LOS ANGELES Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Sunday, September 11, 2022

_____

FLASH FLOOD WARNING

The National Weather Service in Los Angeles/Oxnard has issued a

* Flash Flood Warning for...

East Central Los Angeles County in southwestern California...

* Until 930 PM PDT.

* At 746 PM PDT, Doppler radar and automated rain gauges indicated

thunderstorms producing heavy rain across the warned area. The

expected rainfall rate is 1 to 2 inches per hour. Flash flooding

is ongoing or expected to begin shortly.

HAZARD...Life threatening flash flooding is expected.

Significant and potentially deadly debris flows are

also expected in and near the Ranch and portions of

the Bobcat burn scars

SOURCE...Radar and automated gauges.

IMPACT...Life threatening flash flooding of creeks and streams,

urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses.

* Some locations that will experience flash flooding include...

Glendora, Falling Springs, Azusa, and Monrovia.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A Flash Flood Warning for a recent burn area means that flooding and

debris flows are imminent or occurring. Residents living in or

immediately downstream should take immediate precautions to protect

life and property. Quickly move away from the burn area only if it

is safe to do so, otherwise shelter in place and move to a second

story or the highest location in your home to stay out of the path

of fast-moving water and debris flows.

Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood

deaths occur in vehicles.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO LOS ANGELES Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Sunday, September 11, 2022

_____

FLASH FLOOD WARNING

The National Weather Service in Los Angeles/Oxnard has issued a

* Flash Flood Warning for...

Northwestern Los Angeles County in southwestern California...

Northeastern Ventura County in southwestern California...

* Until 915 PM PDT.

* At 750 PM PDT, Doppler radar indicated heavy rain across the

warned area. The expected rainfall rate is 1 to 1.5 inches in 1

hour. Flash flooding is ongoing or expected to begin shortly.

HAZARD...Flash flooding caused by heavy rain.

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...

Pyramid Lake, Interstate 5 over the Grapevine, Alamo Mountain,

Lake Piru, Topatopa Peak, Castaic Lake and Highway 138 between

Quail Lake and Lancaster.

The Route, Emigrant and Tumbleweed burn areas will also be impacted

with mid and debris flows likely.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood

deaths occur in vehicles.

A Flash Flood Warning for a recent burn area means that flooding and

debris flows are imminent or occurring. Residents living in or

immediately downstream should take immediate precautions to protect

life and property. Quickly move away from the burn area only if it

is safe to do so, otherwise shelter in place and move to a second

story or the highest location in your home to stay out of the path

of fast-moving water and debris flows.

...A strong thunderstorm will impact portions of south central Kern

County through 830 PM PDT...

At 751 PM PDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm 8

miles southeast of Stallion Springs, or 30 miles northwest of

Lancaster, moving northwest at 10 mph.

HAZARD...Winds in excess of 40 mph.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around

unsecured objects.

Locations impacted include...

Stallion Springs.

If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.

Torrential rainfall is also occurring with this storm and may lead to

localized flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded

roadways.

Frequent cloud to ground lightning is occurring with this storm.

Lightning can strike 10 miles away from a thunderstorm. Seek a safe

shelter inside a building or vehicle.

LAT...LON 3501 11846 3490 11852 3495 11870 3509 11859

TIME...MOT...LOC 0251Z 128DEG 7KT 3500 11855

MAX HAIL SIZE...0.00 IN

MAX WIND GUST...40 MPH

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Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO LOS ANGELES Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Sunday, September 11, 2022

_____

FLASH FLOOD WARNING

Flash Flood Statement

National Weather Service Los Angeles/Oxnard CA

805 PM PDT Sun Sep 11 2022

...FLASH FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 845 PM PDT THIS

EVENING FOR NORTHWESTERN LOS ANGELES COUNTY...

At 805 PM PDT, Doppler radar indicated thunderstorms with heavy rain

across the warned area. The expected rainfall rate is 1 to 1.5

inches in 1 hour. Flash flooding is ongoing or expected to begin

shortly.

HAZARD...Flash flooding caused by heavy rain.

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...

Lancaster, Lake Hughes, Elizabeth Lake and Highway 138 between

Quail Lake and Lancaster.

The Lake Burn area will also be impacted with mud and debris flows

likely.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood

deaths occur in vehicles.

A Flash Flood Warning for a recent burn area means that flooding and

debris flows are imminent or occurring. Residents living in or

immediately downstream should take immediate precautions to protect

life and property. Quickly move away from the burn area only if it

is safe to do so, otherwise shelter in place and move to a second

story or the highest location in your home to stay out of the path

of fast-moving water and debris flows.

...Areas of Smoke With Poor Air Quality...

*Smoke from the Mosquito Fire is bringing unhealthy to hazardous

air quality to many areas this evening. The worst conditions,

based on observations, is from Donner Summit east into the Tahoe

Basin, stretching into the Greater Reno/Sparks/Carson City/Minden

areas. Visibility is below 2 miles in smoke through many of

these locations, so please be careful while traveling as well.

*Looking ahead, the latest high resolution near surface smoke

model is indicating these areas will remain in the smoke

overnight into Monday morning, with smoke likely to continue

eastward. Smoke is expected to follow a similar pattern on Monday

as we saw on Sunday.

*There will be some improvement mid-morning into the early

afternoon for many locations. The one exception will be areas

immediately downwind of the fire, such as Donner Lake and Truckee

where air quality is likely to remain poor. Another wave of

smoke is forecast to push into the region tomorrow afternoon and

evening.

*Additional smoke is moving into far northern California and

Nevada near the Oregon border due to the Barnes Fire, with minor

air quality reductions.

*For the latest air quality information: fire.airnow.gov, or

check with your local Air Quality Management Division. Please

follow their recommendations to stay safe from the degraded air

quality.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Sunday, September 11, 2022

_____

AREAL FLOOD ADVISORY

Flood Advisory

National Weather Service Hanford CA

448 PM PDT Sun Sep 11 2022

...FLOOD ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 545 PM PDT THIS

AFTERNOON...

* WHAT...Flooding caused by excessive rainfall continues.

* WHERE...A portion of central California, including the following

county, Tulare.

* WHEN...Until 545 PM PDT.

* IMPACTS...Minor flooding in low-lying and poor drainage areas.

Overflowing poor drainage areas.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...

- At 444 PM PDT, Doppler radar indicated heavy rain due to

thunderstorms. Minor flooding is ongoing or expected to begin

shortly in the advisory area. Between 0.5 and 1.5 inches of

rain have fallen.

- Additional rainfall amounts up to 1 inch are expected over

the area. This additional rain will result in minor flooding.

- Some locations that will experience flooding include...

Giant Forest, Buckeye Flat Campground, Lodgepole, Lodgepole

Campground, Potwisha Campground, Marble Fork Kaweah and Dorst

Creek Campground.

- http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood

deaths occur in vehicles.

Be aware of your surroundings and do not drive on flooded roads.

In hilly terrain there are hundreds of low water crossings which are

potentially dangerous in heavy rain. Do not attempt to cross flooded

roads. Find an alternate route.

...A strong thunderstorm will impact portions of northeastern Fresno

County through 515 PM PDT...

At 448 PM PDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm 18

miles west of North Lake Campground, or 20 miles west of Aspendell,

moving south at 10 mph.

HAZARD...Winds in excess of 40 mph and pea size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around

unsecured objects. Minor damage to outdoor objects is

possible.

Locations impacted include...

Upper Burnt Corral.

Torrential rainfall is also occurring with this storm and may lead to

localized flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded

roadways.

This storm may intensify, so be certain to monitor local radio

stations and available television stations for additional information

and possible warnings from the National Weather Service.

LAT...LON 3722 11903 3724 11892 3716 11881 3711 11899

TIME...MOT...LOC 2348Z 342DEG 9KT 3717 11895

MAX HAIL SIZE...0.25 IN

MAX WIND GUST...40 MPH

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
Nhieu Loc  Thi Nghe Wastewater Treatment in Binh Thanh District of HCMC



The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry has informed that the volume of household sewage in urban areas in Vietnam now is at 3,650m3 a day, yet only 12-14 percent of that amount is collected and treated properly. Among 846 urban areas nationwide, only 38 possess special facilities for sewage processing, accounting for 4.4 percent. The proportions of treated wastewater in Hanoi, HCMC, and Da Nang City are 22 percent, 21.2 percent, and 33 percent, respectively. 53 out of 69 sewage treatment facilities in Vietnam use the Official Development Assistance (ODA) capital and 2 follow the PPP model.

Obviously, most wastewater treatment plants in the country now operate under the ODA capital and cannot answer the publics demands. Meanwhile, the application of PPP still encounters obstacles since the private sector is not enthusiastic about this task.

This results from low profit but high maintenance cost of these plants, plus a lack of commitment or support to create a favorable, open, and safe investment environment for investors. Adding to that is a complicated PPP contract that requires long-term budget commitment, which might not be guaranteed when there is a change in local leadership tenure or policy.

The national green growth for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050, by the Government states that by 2030, the percentage of collected and treated sewage in level-2 urban areas must reach over 50 percent, while the proportion of lower-level urban areas should be 20 percent.

To better attract the participation of the private sector in this task, Deputy Director General Nguyen Thuong Hien of the Vietnam Environment Administration (under the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry) proposed the development of a reasonable planning strategy in order to promote the growth of infrastructure; a clear legal frame for PPP with specific mechanisms, credit policy, service fees, and land use.

The State should perfect the corresponding legal documents, mechanisms, policies, and detailed instruction on current preferential policies and support for the task of sewage treatment. It is also necessary to introduce a guideline for investor selection, with favorable conditions for environmentally friendly technologies. Public bidding to choose investors where international ones are prioritized should be held to minimize contractor appointment.

Expert on PPP from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Doan Tien Giang said that PPP is a popular method used in many countries for wastewater treatment. To boost the use of such a model in Vietnam, the State should introduce practical solutions to address financial balance issues, to ensure the supply, and to tackle problems or inadequacies in contract content.

Dr. Vu Tien Loc, Head of the Vietnam International Arbitration Center shared that the PPP Law, issued by the National Assembly, has come into effect since 2021 in hope of attracting more investments from the private sector for socio-economic infrastructure projects. However, due to certain reasons, the PPP model in sewage treatment has not been popular in Vietnam.

Calculations show that the goal of increasing the proportion of collected and treated sewage by 15-70 percent in the next 10 years requires a large capital amount of US$10-20 billion. The mobilization of resources from the private sector is an optimal answer. That means the State must adopt a comprehensive solution to create an open investment environment with specific support for investors.

By Minh Hai  Translated by Thanh Tam
The Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry will revive Tac Thu boat lock



Tac Thu boat lock is sited at the confluence of Ong Doc River and Trem River at the border between Khanh An Commune of U Minh District and Ho Thi Ky Commune of Thoi Binh District (Ca Mau Province). It was built by the Transport Ministry for a cost of VND80 billion (US$3.4 million) and came into operation in 2006. Due to the inconsistent construction of a salinity control system in the West Coast and Ninh Quoi boat lock, Tac Thu boat lock could not work as expected, greatly annoying the community there.

The project area is now deserted, surrounded by wild trees and weeds. In addition, a lack of regular maintenance completely destroys the gates at this boat lock while other structures are seriously degraded. Although the lock is on the main water route of Ca Mau Province to neighboring areas, there are many difficulties for boats to use the lock, especially at low tide, as its channel is too narrow (a width of only 14m) and shallow.

Recently, Ca Mau Province has received investments for many irrigation works; yet as these projects are of a small scale, the control of the salinity level here is not at all effective, severely affecting rice crops and daily acitivites of local people.

When properly revived, Tac Thu boat lock can work synchronously with Cai Lon  Cai Be sluice gate, An Bien  An Minh sluice gate, and Quan Lo  Phung Hiep salinity control system to regulate the water source for the South of Cai Lon River and the North of Ca Mau Province to serve agricultural activities on a surface area of around 75,000ha in the two districts of U Minh and Thoi Binh (Ca Mau Province), Vinh Thuan District (Kien Giang Province).

Theses irrigation works can also reduce flooding and supply low-saline water for aquacultural activities in the dry season on a surface area of 120,000ha in Thoi Binh District and Ca Mau City (Ca Mau Province), Phuoc Long District, Gia Rai Town (Bac Lieu Province), Vinh Thuan District (Kien Giang Province).

Head of the Ca Mau Province Irrigation Department Nguyen Long Hoai voiced the support of the locality for this important project. He mentioned the necessity for a consistent construction and synchronous operation of Tac Thu boat lock with other irrigation works in order to provide sufficient freshwater for effective shrimp raising activities in the North of Ca Mau Province. These works are also supposed to deliver freshwater for crops in the second and third zones in the dry seasons.

The scale of this reviving project includes expanding the gate, repairing damaged structures and building one new boat lock, developing corresponding facilities from Tac Thu boat lock to Ca Mau sluice gate. In the end, this boat lock will work with Cai Lon  Cai Be sluice gate to regulate water for the South of Cai Lon River and the North of Ca Mau Province successfully.

The reviving project will be done in 4 years, invested by the Irrigation Construction and Investment No.10 Management Board with an estimated cost of VND715 billion ($30.4 million).

At present, the Transport Ministry is carrying out the procedure to transfer this boat lock to the Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry for the project to launch.

By Tan Thai  Translated by Vien Hong
Page Content

Workplace investigations in Canada can be complex to navigate, with few rules governing the process. While some legislation addresses investigations, there is wide leeway to implement them.

"In Ontario, we have the Occupational Health and Safety Act, which creates a duty to investigate where there are incidents of workplace harassment or violence. That creates an obligation for employers to prepare and implement some policy on how employee complaints are to be investigated," said Geoffrey Wong, a workplace investigator at Rubin Thomlinson in Toronto.

For federal entities, the Canada Labor Code applies. "The Canada Labor Code was recently amended by Bill C65, and it was revamped in everything that is related to workplace investigations and how employers in the federal sector are supposed to handle concerns of harassment and workplace violence," said Catalina Rodriguez, Employment Lawyer at Forte Law in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.

Still, the format of the investigation is mostly left up to interpretation. "There's no prescribed procedure," said Howard Levitt, an attorney with Levitt Sheikh in Toronto. The courts have said "give the person a chance to know the case against them and give them a chance to explain. And that's it."

Workplace investigations become necessary for a variety of reasons, so it's important for companies to have policies in place. If a company has been sued, an employee makes inappropriate or racist remarks, or a company is planning to terminate an employee for cause, workplace investigations are needed to explain the company's decision-making.

It's the only way in which an employer can defend itself or show due diligence in various instances, Rodriguez said. If an employer is going to terminate someone without severance, it has to be able to show that it had what at law amounts to just cause, she added.

To get the facts, employers should ask these questions, according to Levitt:

What are the employee's imperfections?

How did the reasons for termination occur?

What else was going on?

Who else was involved?

Who Should Conduct an Investigation

Choosing who conducts the investigation is one of the most important decisions that a company will make during a workplace investigation.

"Sometimes the situation calls for an external investigator in cases where there's a conflict of interest, because the internal investigator is their boss, is their CEO, is someone very high up that needs to be investigated, so it's not appropriate for [HR or internal leaders] to do so," Wong said.

That said, "outside investigators are often just seen as hired guns who will give you what you want, give you what you pay for and they don't have a lot of credibility," according to Levitt.

In most cases, he said, the investigation should be done by somebody trained in HR who's good at investigations. An HR professional already knows the company culture and the staff and has a sense of what policies are and are not being breached, he noted.



If external investigators are required, retired judges present an alternative to lawyers. "They don't charge any more than lawyers, and their opinions are far more respected by everybody, including the court," Levitt said. "There are retired judges that are doing mediation. Use them for investigations."

What Employees Should Know

In unionized workplaces, employees are entitled to union representation. All employees should be made aware of the concerns brought against them. "Even before there's an issue, before there's a complaint, I think employers need to lay the groundwork by just making the process transparent, explaining, 'Here's a policy that we have,' " Wong said.

Employees "should also be aware of the fact that workplace investigations are never done in a week.  They need to be aware that they need to be patient and that they need to trust the process," Rodriguez said. At the same time, employees are not going to have control over the process, "and that is anxiety-inducing."

Four Pillars of Investigations

"We focus on four pillars: fairness, thoroughness, timeliness and confidentiality," Wong said. "Everything that we do through every step of the process, we have to keep those four things in mind."

That said, an internal investigator should not promise complete confidentiality since some facts might have to be disclosed internally on a need-to-know basis or to advance the investigation, or the issue may subsequently go to court.

Suspending an employee is not a neutral act, but sometimes it's necessary because witnesses often won't speak if the accused is still in the workplace, Levitt said.

Navigating workplace investigations might be tricky, but doing them correctly can help resolve workplace issues.

Katie Nadworny is a freelance writer in Istanbul.
American Express Banking Corp., (AEBC) today announced the appointment of Sanjay Khanna as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Country Manager, AEBC Corp., India. Sanjay heads the Country Executive Team and is responsible for driving growth across the organizations consumer and commercial businesses. In his new role, Sanjay will also spearhead several strategic and business development initiatives for the company while steering smooth collaboration across its diverse businesses in India. His position will be key to advancing and strengthening the companys strategic focus in India.

Speaking on the appointment, Rob McClean, Executive Vice President, International Card Services, American Express stated, I am pleased to welcome Sanjay to this new role. With over 30 years of experience in the industry, Sanjay has exceptional credentials of delivering strong results coupled with a natural knack for leading from the front. We are confident that his commitment to excel in everything he does, his strong values and work ethics will further the brands leadership in the Indian market.

Detailing his appointment, Sanjay Khanna, said, India is undoubtedly one of the fastest growing economies of the world, characterized by its ever-expanding consumer base, evolving lifestyle and spending needs. As a premium payment solution brand, American Express has a definitive competitive edge in providing high-quality service. My role will be to further enhance the quality and service culture through premium products, service, and solutions to meet the ever-growing needs of the affluent population in India. I am extremely happy to take on this new role with American Express - one of the worlds most trusted and respected service brand.

In his previous roles Sanjay has held many leadership positions in the company including Head of Global Financial Operations, India Center Lead for Finance and Chairman of the American Express India Pvt Limited (AEIPL) Legal Entity Board. He has also led large-scale enterprise projects, multiple business transformation initiatives and established a number of centers of excellence.
Bitcoin, the apex digital token of the market, is believed to be the best cryptocurrency worldwide. Moreover, the popularity of the cryptocurrency bitcoin is rising every day, and some of the most prominent reasons led to this situation. You cannot simply say that bitcoin is popular because it is the first digital token in Bitcoin Prime. There are some logical reasons why bitcoin is gaining additional popularity among investors and traders. In countries like India, the vast population contributes to the bitcoin ecosystem, making it even more sophisticated and popular in other countries. So, it can be very well said that the hype around bitcoin is exceptional; therefore, looking into the ecosystem will provide you with much more insights.

Bitcoin can allow you to make more money than any other digital token, and that is the first advantage people look up to. Moneymaking is the only thing people want to do with bitcoin. However, multiple other things can also lead you to understand why bitcoin is very popular worldwide. People know about it even if they are not using it. So, the popularity of bitcoin is higher than any other commodity or cryptocurrency you can trade. But, if you want to know the reasons behind the same, you must get additional information about it. To understand why bitcoin is the best digital token and has the highest popularity worldwide, you need to read the details.

The good reasons!

Bitcoin popularity is very high. Well, it is not simply the situation. It would help if you understood that the cryptocurrency market is all about making money, but more than that, it can also provide other things. There may not be any more worldly things you can get from the cryptocurrency market, but it will be usable in multiple other things. So, you need to know about the multiple reasons why bitcoin is widespread, and we will specify these reasons in this post. Make sure to have a detailed understanding of the points given below.

The transaction cost of bitcoin is a primary reason everyone knows about it. In the traditional finance system, the cost of making a transaction is significantly higher. It is so high that people are very much worried about their money. So, people like to invest and trade using the modern world cryptocurrency options and, more importantly, bitcoin. Bitcoin charges a minimal amount for making a transaction, which is why people know about it. People would like to save their money from being degraded because of the cost they are paying for making transactions with their own money.

Wealth storage is an essential function accomplished by bitcoin, and therefore, it is gaining additional popularity worldwide. However, if you store your wealth with the banking system of any nation, you have to pay huge taxes. Therefore, there are multiple reasons why going with the traditional options is impossible. So, storing your wealth with bitcoin is the best thing you can do because your money value will increase over the years.

The extraordinary security features you can find in bitcoin are the primary reason it is gaining popularity everywhere. On the contrary, if you stick to the traditional options available everywhere in the world, you may lose all your money because hackers can easily use it. So, if you are using bitcoin, you get exceptional security standards; therefore, it is the best option.

Getting access to the financial system is sometimes considered to be very difficult. You must go through paperwork, which you will have to spend a lot of time. But, bitcoins do not make you go through this kind of complication. With bitcoin, you have to purchase it from the online store; therefore, it is simple. So, using bitcoin is much simpler than the traditional form of money, which is why it is highly beneficial.

Bottom line

With a detailed explanation of why bitcoin is famous worldwide, perhaps now you have got why this is the situation. Moreover, there are many other additional benefits that bitcoins can offer you, and a few of them are flexibility, liquidity, and much more.
The US and India launched a new initiative called trees outside forests in India, with the objective of increasing tree coverage in India and, in the longer term, curbing the climate change crisis

On September 8, 2022, the ministry of environment, forest, and climate change, the government of India and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) declared the launch of a new programme called Trees outside forests in India. This initiative is carried out to expand tree coverage outside of forest lands to improve carbon sequestration, help local communities, and enhance the climate resilience of agriculture, which leads to supporting global climate change alleviation and adaptation objectives.

This new 25 million USD programme aims to bring together farmers, companies, and private institutions in India to rapidly expand tree coverage outside traditional forests by 28 lakh hectares. The initiative also seeks to improve the resilience of farming systems and increase their income through the implementation of agroforestry or integrating trees into farming systems. It will also use innovative financing mechanisms and optimise Indias private sector to promote tree-based organisations to help in developing sustainable markets and boost rural economies and livelihoods with the potential to benefit more than 13 million people. This programme will be carried out in seven states, including Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh, by a consortium led by World Agroforestry (ICRAF) and the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).

While announcing the launch, Leena Nandan, the Secretary for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, stated that India and the US are strongly committed to working closely in various fields, including the forestry sector. India plays a significant role in forming and shaping affirmative responses to the challenges faced by the forest and environmental sector at the global level. Through strategic planning and focused implementation, India has successfully pursued rapid economic expansion while successfully preserving and developing its forest resources, and it will continue to do so.

While indicating US-India cooperation on climate change and forestry, the U.S. Charge dAffaires Patricia A. Lacina stated that India, as one of the worlds largest economies and a global leader in science and innovation, plays a vital role in helping solve the climate crisis. The new initiative tackles the climate crisis by enhancing carbon sequestration and strengthening resilience in the face of climate threats. Indias accomplishments on these issues can offer models for the world.

In support of the US-India Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 Partnership, USAID engages in forestry activities in India that contribute to the Forestry Pillar of the Climate Action and Finance Mobilisation Dialogue. USAID works with India to implement its ambitious emissions mitigation measures by shifting to renewable energy and adapting ongoing activities, like health and disaster risk reduction, to todays climate issues, along with protecting India's forests and other critical ecosystems.
The 2+2 Intersessional and Maritime Security Dialogues held on September 7 discussed several initiatives to strengthen the US-India relationship, particularly to address various security challenges

A statement provided by John Supple, Department of Defense Spokesperson, released yesterday stated the readout of US-India 2+2 inter-sessional and maritime security dialogues.

According to the released statement, Dr Ely Ratner, Assistant Secretary of Defence for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, co-chaired the sixth US-India 2+2 Intersessional Dialogue in New Delhi on September 7th with other delegates, including Donald Lu, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Vani Rao, Additional Secretary of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, and Colonel Shailender Arya of the Indian Ministry of Defence. Assistant Secretary Lu, Assistant Secretary Ratner, and senior Indian officials had chaired the previous maritime security dialogues held in 2019 in Monterey.

The 2+2 Intersessional Dialogue promoted a comprehensive set of initiatives spanning the spectrum of the US-India alliance, including trade, people-to-people relations, science and technology, public health, and defence and security. On the defence front, Assistant Secretary Ratner and his counterparts spoke about recent events in East Asia and several other crucial regional security challenges. The officials also examined the status of operationalizing significant bilateral initiatives on information-sharing, defence industry partnerships, and joint service engagements to enable integrated, multi-domain operations. They agreed to increase collaboration in emerging fields like defence technology, cyberspace, and artificial intelligence.

Yesterday, during the maritime security dialogue, US and Indian officials discussed ways to increase US-India partnerships both bilaterally and with like-minded countries. To address challenges, including the undersea domain, the countries identified new opportunities to coordinate capacity-building activities in the south and southeast Asia, strengthen logistics cooperation, and drive forward high-end navy-to-navy collaboration. As the United States and India collaborate to promote a shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific, Assistant Secretary Ratner underlined the Department's dedication to keeping U.S.-India cooperation at the centre of its regional strategy.
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The financial crimes watchdog will investigate online wagering giant Entain, owner of betting brand Ladbrokes, after a supervisory campaign of corporate bookmakers.

The AUSTRAC investigation could lead to $22 million in fines and other regulation for Ladbrokes less than a month after the London-listed Entain was fined $28 million following a similar UK-based inquiry.

The Australian probe will consider whether Entain has complied with its anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing obligations.

Ladbrokes owner Entain is being investigated by Austrac. Credit:Getty Images

Entain, which operates in more than 20 countries, offers sports betting, as well as casino, poker and bingo gambling online. It also operates major betting brands including Ladbrokes, Coral and BetMGM.
A new animal-free milk promising to be more sustainable than dairy but with near-identical taste and nutritional content could hit supermarket shelves in the next two years, adding to the growing roster of milk alternatives available to Australian consumers.

Jim Fader, founder and chief executive of Eden Brew, which has replicated the process of making milk using the same fermentation process that happens in dairy cows. Credit:Nick Moir

CSIRO-backed start-up Eden Brew, which has worked out how to brew milk in a lab in a way that emulates the natural fermentation process that happens in cows, is working on industrialising the process and expects to have its animal-free products on the market by 2024.

Founder and chief executive Jim Fader said the companys business model would be based on global beverages giant Coca-Colas supply chain, where the main ingredient - in this case the animal-free milk protein - is brewed centrally and then shipped to dairy companies across the world.

Were taking it from two- to 10-litre scales to 500,000-litre scale so that we can make it at a cost and scale that makes the whole thing worthwhile, he said.
Adanis now using those financial resources to supercharge his ambitions, the centrepiece of which is a commitment to invest $US70 billion by 2030 in green energy infrastructure. Last month, his group also unveiled $US7.2 billion of investment in alumina and iron-ore projects and recently acquired the Indian operations of cement-maker Holcim for $US10.5 billion. Other forays include moves into media and digital services, airports, data centres and telecommunications. As long as Modi remains in charge, and Adanis companies keep generating enough cash to offset the significant debt hes accumulated to fund expansion, his position appears robust  at least within India, according to Tim Buckley, the director of the Sydney-based Climate Energy Finance think tank and a long-time observer of the billionaire. His political power, his ability to understand the lay of the land in India, is second to none, Buckley said. The organisation works very, very effectively, unlike a lot of Indian competitors, and they get things done. Adani has been a target of environmental activists around the world. Credit:Bloomberg Beyond India, however, Adanis power is less assured. And thats where his grandiose bet on renewables comes in. The $US70 billion pledge is the blueprint that Adani hopes will make his empire the worlds largest producer of clean power by the end of the decade. Yet his green investments so far still pale in comparison to his fossil-fuel exposure, a dichotomy that risks undermining Adanis quest to be taken seriously on the world stage. According to SumOfUs  an activist organisation that runs digital campaigns intended to apply pressure on powerful corporations  Adanis mining operations account for at least 3 per cent of global carbon-dioxide emissions from coal. The Adani Group declined to comment on this figure, and for this story more broadly. Its hard not to see Adanis green investments as anything but cover for his companys coal expansion, said Nick Haines, a SumOfUs campaign manager in Melbourne, or at best having his cake and eating it too.

Adanis wide-ranging group was built on a bedrock of coal, and it continues to be central to his business. The main Adani units that rely on the fuel account for 62 per cent of his conglomerates revenue. Coal is a domestic resource, one critical to Modis ambitions for self-reliance, and Adani is Indias largest private developer of coal mines. In a 2019 interview with Bloomberg News, Adani insisted that Indias economic goals would be impossible to achieve without coal power, which must play a big role in expanding electricity generation capacity. The country is the worlds third-largest carbon emitter, after China and the US, and while Modi has signed on to targeting net-zero emissions, his 2070 timeline lags Chinas by 10 years, and the US and UK by two decades. As global asset managers move to decarbonise their portfolios, speeches extolling the ambition of Adanis green-energy plans may not be enough to keep the money flowing. While Adani says boosting Indias energy security is behind his new green play, the billionaires experience in Australia may at least partially explain the shift. Adani is developing a large mine in Queensland to augment Indian supplies, and the pushback hes seen there shows the challenge hell likely face expanding his influence beyond Indias borders. Lawsuits, protests, and government inquiries repeatedly delayed Carmichael, as the project is known, since it was proposed more than a decade ago; in 2020, Adanis Australian mining unit pleaded guilty to misleading environmental authorities over land-clearing at the site, drawing a fine of $US20,000 ($29,000). Banks such as Goldman Sachs Group ruled out providing loans for the project, forcing Adani to finance the mine himself. Carmichael involves a major port expansion in environmentally sensitive waters, and activists believe it poses an unacceptable risk to wildlife as well as the Great Barrier Reef. Theyre also concerned about what a major investment in Australian coal production will mean for Indias power mix. Carmichael began exporting coal earlier this year, feeding soaring demand for the fuel in India as temperatures soared this summer. Yet during the 32-minute speech at the India Economic Conclave, Adani hardly mentioned coal. Part of his motivation for ramping up public appearances, people familiar with the billionaires strategy say, is to change the perception of his business, better aligning himself with asset managers  and lenders  who are making green energy and ESG a priority. The Adani Group says it has a pipeline of 20.4 gigawatts of clean-power projects, equivalent to about 20 per cent of current US solar capacity. But just over a quarter of that is operational, primarily in the form of solar and wind farms in Indian states including Karnataka in the south and Uttar Pradesh in the north.

At the same time, the company is almost doubling its coal-fired power capacity to 26 gigawatts, according to environmental non-profit group Market Forces, and is still pursuing natural gas projects. Loading For the immediate future, at least, thats where the money is. Energy-supply constraints caused by the war in Ukraine have pushed coal prices to multi-year highs, and the International Energy Agency expects global demand to set annual records through 2024. European countries including Germany and the Netherlands are reopening coal plants to make up for tighter stocks of natural gas. In late May, after attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Adani couldnt resist something of an I-told-you-so. Developed nations that were setting targets and giving stern lectures about climate change to the rest of the world now appear to be less censorious as their own energy security is threatened, he posted on LinkedIn. Building this empire has required borrowing on a scale rarely seen in India. The Adani Group has about $US8 billion of foreign-currency bonds outstanding, the most of any Indian business, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The groups combined net debt was 1.6 trillion rupees ($29 billion) as of end-March, according to company data. The Adani Group, however, says its deleveraged consistently over the past few years and its metrics are healthy.

This enormous scale has raised some questions about the groups activities in India  and its relationship to power. Without any experience in aviation, Adani won bids to operate a raft of airport facilities through a federal government tender about three years ago. Adani has close close ties to Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Credit:AP More recently, lawmakers sought an investigation into whether a series of Mauritius-based funds, which were some of the largest investors in Adani companies, were being used to stoke the astonishing share surges that have propelled them to among the highest multiples in India. The Indian department overseeing import and export regulations is probing the matter, and the capital markets regulator is examining compliance with securities rules, Indias junior finance minister told parliament last year. Representatives of Adani have said the group complies with all regulatory requirements and has made required disclosures. Outside India, Adani faces a different experience, as the situation in Australia showed. Though he has made other forays overseas, and partnered with French oil giant TotalEnergies SE  which pledged to invest $US7.3 billion in Adani businesses, including his renewable energy and green hydrogen units  expansion will expose Adani to a level of scrutiny hes never seen before. As global asset managers move to decarbonise their portfolios, speeches extolling the ambition of Adanis green-energy plans may not be enough to keep the money flowing.
In these trying times, make sure to check in on any monarchists in your life. That includes former prime minister Tony Abbott, a bloke so smitten with the royals he requested an audience with her majesty after being dumped from The Lodge, and who described himself as sad and numb at the Queens passing.

Abbott was meant to be speaking at a private dinner for the Australian Monarchist League in Sydney next week, which now joins the long list of events that have been cancelled because of the Queens death. Its not a complete shutdown for the league, with a gala dinner at the University of Queensland still going ahead. Perhaps its just that Abbott is still too deep in mourning.

Tony Abbott could be mourning a while. Credit:Shakespeare

But once the misty-eyed pageantry wears off, and Australians grow accustomed to the reign of a charmless King Charles III, theres every chance Tony will be needed on the frontlines, fighting hard to keep Australia a constitutional monarchy. Its no time for sooking.

While were still on her majestys death, the office of Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus writes to take issue with any suggestion in Mondays column of tardiness on the first law officers part in updating his title from Queens Counsel to Kings Counsel, which we reported as occurring over the weekend.
If it all gets too much for me you will find me at The Gap, Melissa Caddick told her brother Adam Grimley, the inquest into the missing fraudsters presumed death has heard.

In his opening address, counsel assisting the coroner, Jason Downing, SC, also said that, in August 2020, three months before she disappeared, Caddick was in severe financial stress.

Melissa Caddicks mother, Barb Grimley, and brother Adam Grimley at the coronial inquest on Monday. Credit:Nick Moir

As she walked along the cliffs near her Dover Heights home, she told a friend, If I am going to end it, it is going to be here.

The inquest also heard that, in 2012, Caddick had gone missing during a tumultuous period of her life. Her then-husband Tony Caddick discovered her affair with her hairdresser, Anthony Koletti, whom she later married.
On February 1, 2020, the babys 17-year-old mother - who Fisher had met about a year earlier - put the infant down in their unit in Corinda in Brisbanes south-west.

Diquan Erwin Lloyd Fisher, 21, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter of the baby, who was not his child.

After a few hours locked in custody, Diquan Fisher changed his story about what had happened to the baby girl. Credit:Facebook

This was the explanation offered by a man who fatally shook an 11-month-old girl in a Brisbane home when she would not settle and go to sleep.

The mother then went to get cigarettes, and was gone for up to 10 minutes. Upon her return, Fisher ran to her holding the baby and saying she was not breathing.

He rang triple-zero and was told how to perform CPR. Paramedics arrived quickly, took over resuscitation efforts, and got the baby breathing again.

She was rushed to Queensland Childrens Hospital, where four days later she was declared brain-dead.

Several of the responding ambulance officers noted bruises to the babys lower abdomen, and described them as spotty and scattered - likened to thumb-size injuries.

Fishers initial explanation was he heard the baby coughing, so he picked her up and patted her on the back, after which she vomited.
A psychologist was attacked and sexually assaulted after interviewing a man previously arrested for raping a 15-year-old girl.

The interview subject was Jack Christian Dillon, 21, being held at a Brisbane jail after the earlier attack in the Moreton Bay area in March 2021.

Dillon pleaded guilty to a series of charges including rape and sexual assault in the Brisbane District Court on Monday.

During the prison assault in July 2021, the psychologist stood up to leave the interview when Dillon attacked her and held his forearm against her throat, causing her to lose consciousness.

She was able to activate her duress alarm beforehand, but Dillon went on to sexually assault her.
Some of the nations biggest companies are backing a push to substantially increase regional Australias population over the coming decade.

The Commonwealth and National Australia banks, Woolworths and Australia Post are among the businesses supporting the Regional Australia Institute's target of 11 million people living outside capital cities by 2032.

Geelong has absorbed much of the flow of residents outside of Melbourne. Credit:Justin McManus

The population outside Australias major cities is projected to grow from 9.5 million people in 2021 to 10.5 million in a decade.

The Regional Australia Institute is calling for a population increase of 500,000 above those projections, which it argues would deliver $13.8 billion in economic benefits to the nation by 2032.
Prime Minister Anthony Albaneses international diplomacy, including his response to the Queens death and the Kings accession, has been exemplary.

Despite his own republicanism, he has expressed the perfect tone and an appropriate level of respect in his tributes to Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III. He said her majesty was a rare and reassuring constant amid rapid change, that she was engaging and warm and that she embodied a timeless decency and enduring calm. And he cleverly suggested that King Charles could potentially continue to support climate action as a humanitarian issue as opposed to a party political one.

Governor-General David Hurley, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Linda Hurley at the Proclamation of King Charles III, on the forecourt of Parliament House on Sunday. Credit:AAP

This follows Albaneses recent success in smoothing diplomatic tensions with French President Emmanuel Macron over Australias decision to cancel a $90 billion submarine deal and his recent boost in popularity polls.

But the mistakes of other centre-Left administrations around the world should serve as a warning to Australias Labor government against hubris and inaction.
A 51-year-old drug dealer whose body was found inside a wheelie bin dumped in a dam in Perths east last year had been stabbed 28 times, a court has heard.

The trial of two men alleged to have murdered Dinh Lam Nguyen in January 2021 began in the WA Supreme Court on Monday.

Dinh Lam Nguyens body was found wrapped in plastic in a wheelie bin dumped in a dam in Perths east. Credit:Nine News Perth/WA Police

Todd Nathan Kiernan and Gervaise Sakib Geoffrey Widdowson have already each pleaded guilty to criminal damage by fire but deny there was any intent to murder Nguyen.

In his opening statement, state prosecutor Justin Whalley said Kiernan had owed Nguyen an estimated $4000 and Nguyen had been desperate to get the money back as he had been having financial difficulty.
A man has been shot dead by police in suburban Perth after he allegedly rushed at officers while brandishing a large knife.

Police were called to the 35-year-old mans Padbury home at around 10pm on Sunday to assist paramedics after an apparent self-harm incident.

Superintendent Tony Flack said the man was bleeding profusely when officers arrived.

Police have shot and killed a man in Padbury. Credit:Ezra Holt

As theyve approached the front door, a fairly large male  covered in his own blood, naked, brandishing a large knife  has run at them and unfortunately theyve had to discharge their firearm, Flack said.
A giant 3D printer has built a pool cabana on the outskirts of Melbourne in a rare feat that could pave the way for 3D-printed houses in the future.

The printing technology used a special type of concrete to construct the building as part of the reality renovation TV show The Block. It was among the first 3D-printed builds in Australia.

The 3D printer in action, building a pool cabana. Credit:David Cook/Channel Nine

Nick Holden, chief executive of Contour 3D, the company that designed the printing technology and used it on the show, said 3D printers had come a long way in Australia in the past few years.

The technology is so good it can now print a structure such as a pool cabana in a matter of hours, as seen on the show. The Block airs on Nine, owner of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
In a working paper to the meeting it warned of the potentially catastrophic consequences of accidents and exposure as well as the danger of highly enriched uranium being diverted to weapons programs.

Joko Widodos government has since raised major concerns about the sharing of nuclear material for military reasons at the month-long UN nuclear non-proliferation review conference in the US.

Jakarta expressed anxiety about Australia acquiring a fleet of nuclear-propelled submarines in the wake of the AUKUS defence agreement with the United States and Britain, announced last September.

Singapore/Jakarta: Australias submarine plans may be subject to greater safeguards and transparency after Indonesias bid for stricter regulations on nuclear naval power won wide support at a United Nations conference in New York.

Indonesia is now claiming success with its proposal for tight monitoring and openness around the distribution of nuclear technology for submarines, saying it had received backing from Australia and its AUKUS partners as well as Beijing.

China said AUKUS should be dismissed as it is not in line with the international law. AUKUS said they are in line with the international law, said Tri Tharyat, the director-general for multilateral cooperation at Indonesias foreign ministry.

It is no way to come to one meeting point. After two weeks of discussion in New York in the end all parties agreed to look at the proposal as the middle path.

Indonesia has [sea lanes] passed by the international traffic that we cannot avoid. However, we should feel safe. We should not be worried about some dysfunctional nuclear machines or a leak etc. It is related to safety and secondly to safeguards. More important than them is the process of developing the nuclear-powered subs. They must be made in a transparent manner.

There was no official consensus arising from the conference, which is held every five years, because a joint statement was vetoed by Russia, which opposed the inclusion of concern about Ukraine in the communique.
The ancient Stone of Scone beneath the Coronation Chair in Londons Westminster Abbey. Credit:AP

London: As King Charles III arrives in Edinburgh, Scotland, to receive the condolences of the Scottish Parliament and to stand vigil over his mothers coffin, an ancient symbol of power sits and waits for him high above in Edinburgh Castle.

It is a simple block of red sandstone.

But it has a restless history stretching back 1200 years.

It speaks silently of the fragile nature of the relationship between the two largest countries of the United Kingdom  Scotland and England  and of the mysterious rituals embedded within the British monarchy.
London: The Duke of York will today join his siblings in a solemn procession behind Queen Elizabeth IIs coffin as he prepares to play a central role in national mourning.

He will appear alongside the King, the Princess Royal and the Earl of Wessex at key moments in the coming days, as the family publicly unites in grief.

Britains Prince Andrew views the messages and floral tributes left by members of the public at Balmoral. Credit:Pool via AP

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will also appear at any relevant events involving the Queens grandchildren and their spouses.

That any of them would have been excluded was out of the question, a Palace source said. These plans will be signed off by the King in accordance with his mothers wishes.
London: The Duke of York may have been granted a temporary reprieve to mourn his beloved mother - but he remains persona non grata as far as the Firm is concerned.

While Buckingham Palace is willing to accommodate his presence at both Mondays state funeral and the events leading up to it, once Queen Elizabeth II has been finally laid to rest there is little hope of a comeback.

Britains Prince Andrew views the messages and floral tributes left by members of the public at Balmoral. Credit:Pool via AP

When his mother was alive, there was more tolerance for the royal described by some as her favourite son. Despite stepping down from public life in disgrace in November 2019 over his relationship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, the duke, 62, played a prominent role in accompanying the former monarch to the Duke of Edinburghs memorial service in March. It was his first public appearance since he paid an undisclosed sum to settle a civil sex abuse case in the US brought by Virginia Giuffre, one of Epsteins victims. He has denied the allegations.

The move was taken as a sign that the duke still had maternal support - although his absence from her subsequent Platinum Jubilee celebrations owing to COVID three months later solved a conundrum for the palace, who were fearful he would prove an unwelcome distraction.
Washington: The United States believes Russia has largely ceded its gains near Kharkiv and many retreating Russian soldiers have exited Ukraine, moving over the border back into Russia, a senior US military official said.

Overall we assess the Ukrainians are making progress as they fight to liberate and reclaim territory in the south and east, the US military official told reporters on Monday, US-time, speaking on condition of anonymity, without offering a number.

A Ukrainian soldier inspects a Russian tank destroyed in a battle in a freed territory on the road to Balakleya in the Kharkiv region. Credit:AP

On the ground in the vicinity of Kharkiv we assess that Russian forces have largely ceded their gains to the Ukrainians and have withdrawn to the north and east. Many of these forces have moved over the border into Russia.

Ukrainian troops retook a wide swath of territory from Russia on Monday, pushing all the way back to the northeastern border in some places, and claimed to have captured many Russian soldiers as part of a lightning advance that forced Moscow to make a hasty retreat.
The Russian Defence Ministrys own daily briefing on Sunday featured a map showing Russians retreating behind the Oskil river on the outskirts of the Kherson region. Evidence of the Ukrainian gains continued to emerge Sunday, with images of Ukrainian soldiers raising a flag in central Izium, after it was abandoned by Russian forces, and similar images from other towns and villages such as Kindrashivka, Chkalovske and Velyki Komyshuvakha. A Ukrainian soldier carries away a tank shell in the liberated village of Zaliznychne on September 11. Credit:The Washington Post/Heidi Levine Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declined to elaborate on his armys next moves, except to say in a CNN interview, We will not be standing still. We will be slowly, gradually moving forward. Ukrainians emerged into the string of just-liberated villages southeast of Kharkiv hailing the end of their ordeal, and wondering whether it is truly over. Only God knows if they will be back, said Tamara Kozinska, 75, whose husband was killed by a mortar blast soon after the Russians arrived.

It is not over by any means, military experts warned. Russia still holds about a fifth of Ukraine and continued heavy shelling over the weekend across several regions. And nothing guarantees that Ukraine can keep recaptured areas secure. A counteroffensive liberates territory and after that you have to control it and be ready to defend it, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov cautioned in an interview with the Financial Times. But as Ukrainian soldiers continued on Sunday to sweep deeper into territory that had been held by Russia, more of them were willing to see the campaign as a possible turning point. In Zaliznychne, a tiny agricultural village 37 miles east of Kharkiv, residents were feeling their way back to normality, sleeping in bedrooms rather than basements for the first time in months and trying to make contact with family on the outside. Kozinska hasnt seen her daughter since February  even though she lives 20 kilometres away  but had just received word that she will come to pick her up as soon as officials open access to the village, just as the weather turns cold. I have been so scared about winter, said the woman with lung problems, clutching a just-distributed paper giving her a number to call if she finds a land mine. We have no power and its hard for me to collect firewood.

The first Russian soldiers who set up in the village, turning the sawmill into their base and launching rocket attacks at Ukrainian troops in the next town, had at first not harassed the residents, she said. When they shot pigs on an abandoned farm, they sometimes let residents butcher some of the meat. But as the occupation ground on, with the Russians rotating out every month, the troops became more aggressive. One of them asked to borrow Kozinskas phone. I gave it to him so he could call his mother, but he took my SIM card, she said. One of the medics treated Halyna Noskovas back after she was hit by mortar shrapnel in her front yard in June. Her 87-year mother pulled out the metal shard. It was still hot, she said. The Russian bandaged her up. They helped me, but Im glad we are liberated, said Noskova, 66.

The residents, all of whom are Russian-speaking in this region adjacent to the Russian border, described treatment generally more humane than that experienced by occupied communities farther to the west. The discovery of more than 450 bodies in Bucha, near Kyiv  many showing signs of torture  set off international outrage over atrocities. Loading They were not monsters, they were kids, said Matvienko, who once asked Russian troops to move the tank they parked in front of her house. I asked what they wanted from us and they said, We can either be here or we can be in jail.  Others told the villagers they werent there to fight Ukraine, but to protect us from America. The Russians biggest rule for residents was to get inside by 6pm and stay there, quiet and in the dark, several said. Violating that order could be fatal, as two men on the street learned early on. The friends were drinking and had a light on, said Maria Grygorova, who lives in the attached house next door. The next morning she found them on the floor.

Konstiantyn had two bullet holes in his head, she said. She and two friends buried them in the side yard. The same two friends dug them up on Sunday, with Ukrainian war crimes investigators looking on. The team from Kharkiv collected two other bodies during their visit, including a security guard whose remains have been rotting on the floor of a gravel elevator at an asphalt plant for months, even as the Russians used it as a sniper tower. One investigator vomited over a guardrail repeatedly as officers collected the remains. Were here looking into war crimes, said Serhii Bolvinov, chief investigator of the Kharkiv Regional Police, as his crew waited on de-mining techs to clear one area of explosives before they could recover some of the bodies.

The residents were scared of the Russians, several village residents said. But they almost pitied them in their scramble to escape the recent Ukrainian onslaught. Half of the soldiers fled in their vehicles in the first hours of the offensive, they said. Those stranded grew desperate. Some residents overheard their radio pleas to unit commanders for someone to come get them. Loading They said, Youre on your own, Matvienko recounted. They came into our houses to take clothes so the drones wouldnt see them in uniforms. They took our bicycles. Two of them pointed guns at my ex-husband until he handed them his car keys. Buoyant Ukrainian officials said they would no longer negotiate a peace deal that would let Russia keep an occupying presence in any territory, even in Crimea and part of the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions controlled by Russia or Russian-backed separatists for years.
Washington: The US Justice Department has subpoenaed dozens of campaign operatives and allies of former President Donald Trump as part of a broad effort to collect information related to the plot to overturn the 2020 presidential election, according to people familiar with the matter.

The subpoenas were issued in recent days as part of the sweeping investigation playing out mostly behind the scenes compared to the public battle that the Justice Department and Trump are fighting over the former presidents handling of classified documents, according to people who asked to remain anonymous when speaking about the sensitive matter.

Along with the subpoenas, the department also seized phones last week from Trumps lawyer Boris Epshteyn and Mike Roman, a campaign strategist who directed election day operations for the Trump campaign in 2020, according to The New York Times, which first reported on the developments.

Boris Epshteyn in one of his many TV appearances supporting Donald Trump.

Epshteyn and Roman didnt respond to requests for comment. The Justice Department declined to comment.
~Two new MPs support the coalition~



PHILIPSBURG:--- In a joint statement issued by the leadership of the National Alliance (NA) and United Peoples (UP) Party it has been confirmed, that it was a success; a proactive measure to ensure stability within the governing coalition. This was mentioned many weeks ago when they began exploring options to broaden the coalition.

After many discussions regarding support for the sitting government, we hereby inform the public that the government, coalition, and by extension its governing accord in its present form, despite the announcements of independence by sitting coalition members, has the support of two extra members of Parliament, namely MPs A. Arrindell and C. Brownbill. Said Member of Parliament and Leader of the UP Party, Mr. Rolando Brison.

The decision has been confirmed to His Excellency, Governor Eugene Holiday, who is aware of the governments majority support in Parliament which allows it to continue to govern.

The public can rest assured that we will continue to work in the best interest of St. Maarten and her people. We ask that you not be deterred by those who seek to create further confusion in the minds of the population for political gain. Said Prime Minister and Minister of General Affairs Silveria Jacobs, in her capacity as the leader of the NA Party.
The Caribbean Shark Coalition (CSC) will host the first regional workshop in St. Maarten from September 12-16, 2022. The goal of this workshop is to provide in-field training and support the long-term goals of building capacity for shark and ray science and conservation in the Greater Caribbean region. Over 20 participants consisting of scientists, divers, conservationists, government officials, students, and marine park managers will attend, representing 12 different countries from around the Caribbean.

Caribbean Shark Coalition

The Caribbean Shark Coalition (CSC) was co-founded by the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance (DCNA) and Beneath the Waves (BTW) in 2020 in response to international calls for enhanced, collaborative conservation efforts for sharks and rays in the Greater Caribbean region. The CSC members represent a collection of experts from NGOs, local communities, intergovernmental organizations and governments, academia, and policy institutes working together to advance the study and conservation of Caribbean sharks and rays.

Workshop Focus

Through the workshop, the CSC aims to raise awareness about the presence and importance of sharks and rays within the Caribbean. Members of the Caribbean Shark Coalition will be taught different baseline collection methods to prepare, understand, and inform others on the effectiveness of their marine park areas where sharks and rays are protected. Another important workshop goal is to generate scientific data in support of advocacy efforts to improve shark management throughout the migratory corridors of various shark species. The CSC stimulates international cooperation and data sharing which is essential to effectively protect these cross-boundary species.

Participants will receive in-field training and learn how to create and set drum lines for shark tagging, equipment required for safely catching, handling, and releasing animals, data collection, sampling, and management processes, and training on the use of baited remote underwater video stations. Furthermore, participants will learn about the benefits of additional methodologies like sediment coring, using acoustic receivers and environmental DNA analysis to build a more robust database of habitat and biodiversity. In-field training will be led by Dr. Oliver Shipley (BTW) and Tadzio Bervoets (DCNA).

Importance for other Caribbean islands

This workshop is an exercise in collaboration, fostering the relationships necessary to provide support, guidance, advice and resources, virtually and in-person, for future research. At the end of the workshop, the CSC aims to have all participants return to their home nations with real-life, hands-on experience and training for shark conservation research, and the tools and guidance required to establish their own research projects.

Sharks and rays play key roles in maintaining the balance and biodiversity within local and regional marine ecosystems, shares Dr. Oliver Shipley, Senior Research Scientist at BTW. Their protection is critical for a strong and healthy future in the Greater Caribbean region.

Tadzio Bervoets, Director at DCNA adds with this regional workshop, we hope to foster the collaboration necessary to identify needs and provide resources for all of these stakeholders to work together not just for the conservation of sharks and rays, but the Greater Caribbean as a whole."

The workshop is coordinated by the DCNA and BTW and is made possible thanks to funding from Blue Marine Foundation, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-NL) and operational support from GoPro for a Cause.
Lithium is the white gold

Sustainability was the driving force behind electromobility. Now the issue of energy dependency has been added.

Decarbonization and the added issue of energy dependence will continue to drive electromobility strongly. Energy dependence now also has something to do with geopolitical security. The energy transition has become all the more important today. This is true not only in this country, but also in other countries that had placed their emphasis on fossil fuels.

The raw materials involved in decarbonization, such as copper, lithium or nickel, must be available in sufficient quantities for this. However, increased financing costs, existing uncertainties, especially economic ones, and environmental regulations are burdens. This makes producers hesitant to launch new projects. There are also lockdowns in China and fears of recession.

The transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy is likely to be the most significant decarbonization plan, including the change in infrastructure. The need for charging facilities is increasing. Some even call charging an electric vehicle a basic right. The breakthrough technology of electromobility is rapidly becoming part of global life. Many well-known carmakers are therefore working together and investing heavily, including in technology.

One company that is a specialist in this regard is Li-Metal  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPXZaHPDibE&t=1s -. The company is focusing on the development of next-generation anodes.

The lithium for lithium-ion batteries, for example, is held by Cypress Development -A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UyTvZ8scHI  at its Clayton Valley lithium project in Nevada. The feasibility study is expected to be completed soon.

Current company information and press releases from Li-Metal (- https://www.resource-capital.ch/de/unternehmen/li-metal-corp/ -) and Cypress Development (- https://www.resource-capital.ch/de/unternehmen/cypress-development-corp/ -).

In accordance with A34 WpHG (German Securities Trading Act), I point out that partners, authors and employees may hold shares of the respective companies addressed and therefore a possible conflict of interest exists. No guarantee for the translation into German. Only the English version of this news is valid.

Disclaimer: The information provided does not constitute any form of recommendation or advice. Express reference is made to the risks involved in securities trading. No liability can be accepted for any damages arising from the use of this blog. I would like to point out that shares and especially warrant investments are generally associated with risk. The total loss of the invested capital cannot be excluded. All information and sources are carefully researched. However, no guarantee is given for the correctness of all contents. Despite the greatest care, I expressly reserve the right to make a mistake, especially with regard to figures and prices. The information contained is taken from sources that are considered reliable, but in no way claim to be correct or complete. Due to judicial decisions the contents of linked external pages are to be answered for (so among other things regional court Hamburg, in the judgement of 12.05.1998  312 O 85/98), as long as no explicit dissociation from these takes place. Despite careful control of the contents, I do not assume any liability for the contents of linked external pages. The respective operators are exclusively responsible for their content. The disclaimer of Swiss Resource Capital AG applies additionally: https://www.resource-capital.ch/de/disclaimer-agb/.
For many Connecticut police departments, recruiting and retaining officers has become intensely competitive as applicant pools shrink and young cops move to other agencies after only a short time in the municipality where they were hired.

Last year, four Hartford police officers quit the force and came across the river to East Hartford, attracted in part by better benefits.

In a four-year period, Cheshire Police Chief Neil Dryfe said his agency lost six young officers who took jobs with other departments that offered pensions  outshining his towns defined contribution plan.

Dryfe, who is also president of the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association, said the states larger departments are having a particularly tough time filling vacancies. Job postings for officers are drawing far fewer applicants, he and other police leaders said.

Gone are the days when you would see hundreds, sometimes more than a thousand people applying to be police officers, even when there were just a handful of vacancies, Danbury Police Chief and former CPCA head Patrick Ridenhour said.

Police recruitment and retention has been challenging throughout the nation, and some law enforcement experts have labeled the situation a crisis as retirements and resignations outpace hiring. A survey of police leaders across the U.S. last year found that resignations increased by 18 percent in 2020-21 compared with 2019-20. The Police Executive Research Forum survey, which garnered 194 responses, also found a 45 percent increase in retirements.

Police leaders who responded to the survey cited struggles that included poaching of experienced officers by neighboring departments, a decline in above average candidates due in part to negativity surrounding law enforcement, and social media posts that disqualified candidates because, as one respondent wrote, their thoughts and ideals do not align with the guiding principles of our department.

Law enforcement administrators also cite low unemployment and the variety of career choices available to young people as barriers to attracting quality candidates. Millennials and Generation Z  those born from 1981 to 2012  are also more apt to value work-life balance than their Baby Boomer counterparts, according to a study on police recruitment by the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

For younger people, leaving a job after a few years is commonplace, and moving from job to job is often how younger generation U.S. workers move up the ladder in their careers, an author of the study wrote.

Connecticut police chiefs agreed.

Today's generation isn't motivated solely by money and benefits, Ridenhour said. Favorable work schedules and working conditions are just as important. These things are often governed by collective bargaining agreements, and in many cases, haven't been changed for decades.

Law enforcement leaders in Connecticut and nationwide have said that negative perception of police, driven in part by the murder of George Floyd in 2020 and other fatal confrontations between officers and suspects, is generational and young people view police differently than their parents.

Overall, a majority of police officers feel their jobs have gotten more difficult since high-profile use-of-force incidents have dominated the national conversation, the IACP study states. Line-of-duty deaths have also become more highly publicized, including the killings of police due to community tension such as the mass shooting of Dallas police officers in 2016.

Many Connecticut police officers fought bitterly against an accountability law that the state legislature passed in 2020. The law banned many vehicle searches, expanded municipal civilian review boards statewide and created an independent inspector general to investigate officers use of deadly force, among other provisions.

The law also included changes to whats known as qualified immunity, making it easier for people to file lawsuits against police officers, departments and municipalities. Supporters of the bill noted that officers would only be liable for malicious, wanton or willful acts, but police say they have no trust in the process and fear unfounded complaints will succeed.

Some good news, however, came in a study this year by the financial information site, WalletHub, which found Connecticut was the best state in the nation to be a police officer. The study compared the 50 states and District of Columbia across 30 key indicators of police friendliness, including compensation, training, police deaths per 1,000 officers and crime rates.

In 2020, Connecticuts overall violent crime rate per 100,000 people was 181.6, a decrease from 184.6 in 2019, the FBI reported. Only Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont had lower rates. Nationally, the property crime rate declined 8 percent to 1,958.2 offenses per 100,000 people. Connecticuts rate, however, rose from 1,432 in 2019 to 1,565.1  higher than 14 other states, including Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Hampshire and New Jersey.

The study also considered training requirements around mental health, substance abuse, behavioral disorders and deescalation, along with income and benefits.

The median pay for a police officer in the U.S. is $66,020 per year, or $31.74 per hour, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employment of police officers and detectives is projected to grow 7 percent between 2020 and 2030  about as fast as the average for all occupations, according to the agency.

In Cheshire, where the police force is one officer short of its authorized strength, entry-level pay is $56,594. That rises in five years to $82,698, and officers who pursue extra training can make as much as $90,255 annually, not counting overtime, Dryfe said. Police throughout the state often pile up many hours of overtime on road jobs and other extra-duty work, to sometimes double their annual compensation.

Departments throughout the state are hiring experienced officers from other agencies. Fairfield police recently welcomed three new officers, including a former New York City cop and an officer who had worked for the Dekalb County Police Department in Georgia.

In Norwalk, police administrators said they hoped a group of recently hired officers with previous experience in law enforcement would help ease staffing shortages that the chief called almost untenable.

In Bridgeport, where the police department has been criticized for spending $97 million in overtime in the last fiscal year to cover staffing shortages, a new recruitment drive has been launched with an Oct. 30 deadline.

In Greenwich, where police say as many as 200 candidates applied to be a member of the department in years past, only 50 people showed up this year to take the civil service test.

Officer Marc Caruso, a spokesperson for the East Hartford Police Department, said law enforcement agencies are struggling to find good quality candidates for a variety of reasons. However, Caruso feels his department is faring better because it has resisted shifting from a pension program to a 401k and is among the few agencies in Connecticut that offer a schedule of four days on and three days off.

Caruso said another challenge is simply supply and demand.

Right now, there is a large demand for police across the state, and few applicants, meaning those who apply can sometimes pick where they want to work, he said. In the past, for example, 20 years ago when I was hired, there were few officer slots available so the officer essentially went where ever he/she could get hired. Now there are too many jobs, not enough officers, so the applicants are in the drivers seat.

East Hartford is now accepting applications for officer positions up to Oct. 11, with an annual pay range of $71,914 to $78,751. Manchester has advertised for an entry-level officer at a starting salary of $65,329.54. Conditions and requirements for the job include no criminal record and no drunk driving charge within five years of the application date.

People excluded from consideration include convicted felons, those with dishonorable discharges from the military and those who take or possess cannabis without a prescription within one year of the written exam, according to Manchesters hiring rules.

Candidates in Manchester, as is the practice in other departments, also will undergo background checks and will have to pass a lie detector test. Also, candidates must have an associates degree in law enforcement or related field, 60 college credits or two years of full-time active military service with honorable discharge.

Tattoos are allowed, but must not represent links with any group or organization which could place the employees impartiality and/or judgment into question, thereby, rendering them ineffective in law enforcement, according to recruiting information. Vulgar and lewd images visible to the public are prohibited, along with any tattoos on the face, head, neck and hands.

Attitudes about pot have eased in recent years and many police leaders say they would not dismiss a candidate from consideration for experimenting with the drug.

As drug laws become more relaxed, Ridenhour said, we may have to consider adjusting standards on what is acceptable usage of certain drugs. But we're not there yet and we have to be very careful going down that road.

jesse.leavenworth@hearstmediact.com
ELLINGTON  Rocky the police dog tried to find the scent of the large man Richard Dabate said fatally shot his wife and tied him up during a home invasion two days before Christmas in 2015.

But instead of leading his handler off the 3-acre Ellington property, police said, the K-9 sniffed his way to Dabate and began to climb into the ambulance where he was being treated for superficial cuts.

It was perhaps the first of many signs of what authorities say was Dabates big lie, that a camouflage-wearing, 6-foot-2, masked stranger with a stocky build and deep voice killed Connie Dabate and poked her husband with a blade before running off empty-handed.

A jury didnt believe the story, either, finding Dabate guilty on May 10 of murder, tampering with evidence and making a false statement to police. The verdict followed a 22-day trial during which the prosecution leaned heavily on electronic evidence  including the victims waistband activity tracker that catapulted the case into national headlines as the Fitbit murder.

Saying the world is truly a lesser place without Connie in it, a judge on Aug. 18 sentenced Dabate to 65 years in prison, one year short of the maximum allowed by law. The term is essentially a life sentence for Dabate, 46, but the case will continue to live on in the courts. His attorneys plan to file an appeal this month.

We have issues we can fight with, said Trent LaLima, who defended Dabate alongside fellow lawyers Michael Fitzpatrick and Virginia Gillette.

Dabate has steadfastly maintained his innocence, calmly testifying in his own defense and telling the judge on sentencing day that he will never stop fighting for justice for his wife, who I think about every single day.

Permanent or not, the resolution in the case was a long time coming. The 39-year-old mother of two was killed more than 6  years ago. It took almost 16 months for troopers to make an arrest, and while state police investigated, Dabate lived with his sons in the house where their mother was killed. Leery that a killer was on the loose, some locals began to carry handguns.

After his arrest on Good Friday in 2017, Dabate posted $1 million bail. He was seen around this farming town of 16,000, and people were uneasy once again.

Jury selection was almost complete in March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic stopped the case in its tracks. Then LaLimas partner, the widely-respected Hubert J. Santos, died in June 2021, causing more delays.

Judge Julia D. Dewey dismissed the jury in August 2021, saying too much time had passed to start hearing testimony with the same jury, according to The Hartford Courant. Some jurors had moved, at least one no longer lived in Connecticut.

Jury selection began again in March 2022, with Judge Corinne L. Klatt presiding over the trial, during which Tolland States Attorney Matthew Gedansky sought to prove Dabate, motivated by greed, lust and a desire to save face, staged the home invasion.

This was a cold, methodical plan to avoid the consequences of his infidelity, Gedansky said on sentencing day.

Smokey haze, trail of blood

The warrant for Dabates arrest paints a picture of a frightening scene on the morning of Dec. 23, 2015.

A firefighter was the first to respond when Richard Dabate triggered a panic alarm and called 911, the warrant said. He opened the front storm door of the Colonial-style house on Birch View Drive, a street with high-end homes and buried utilities, to find a smoky haze on the first floor. There was a trail of blood coming from the basement door to the kitchen, he told police, and Dabate was lying on his right side, entangled in a folding chair. He was moaning.

Theyre still in the house, Dabate said, according to the warrant.

The firefighter went out the way he came in and told dispatchers to warn police the incident might be a home invasion.

State police arrived and found Dabate face down on the kitchen floor, his right wrist tied to a folding chair on his back with a zip tie, the warrant said. He had zip ties around his ankles, too, and one tightly fastened around his neck. Dabate told them an intruder had shot his wife in the basement, and two sergeants and a trooper went downstairs.

On the basement floor, they found a small pile of paper that appeared to have been burnt, a butane torch, a box cutter and a hammer. As they moved into a different part of the basement, the mechanical room, they found a .357 Magnum Ruger on the floor, the warrant said. Connie Dabate was lying near the boiler, lifeless, with bullet wounds to her abdomen and head.

Outside, K-9 Rocky tried to track the intruder from the basement hatchway, where the man was believed to have left the house. The dog tracked a scent to the backyard where he found Dabates wallet  its contents intact  but instead of tracking off the property, the dog followed a scent back to the house, approaching Dabate twice in a row, according to the warrant. The K-9s handler, Trooper Ryan Cloukey, guided the dog farther from the home to allow the dog to catch any scent trails leading away from the property, but Rocky wasnt able to pick up on anything.

These efforts produced no indication by K-9 Rocky that an individual had fled the property on foot, and no additional items of evidence were located, the warrant said.

Two more police dogs were brought in, with similar results, the warrant said, although one state trooper testified during the trial that his dog crawled under a fence and traveled another 75 yards before losing the scent, according to the Journal Inquirer.

Manhandled

Richard Dabate was cooperative when he talked to detectives, the warrant stated, although police said some of his statements were vague and contradictory, raising more questions than they answered.

The interview, which spanned more than six hours, was in Hartford Hospital where Dabate was being treated for cuts and a burn. Dabate said he left for work that morning after putting his boys on the school bus, but pulled over when he realized he forgot his laptop, the warrant said. At the same time, he got an alert that an alarm had gone off at the house, so he turned around and came home.

He claimed he wrote an email to his boss at the side of the road in his car, but investigators later learned it actually was written in his house, after he logged in through his homes IP address, according to the warrant.

Dabate was on the main floor of the house when he heard a noise coming from upstairs that he thought might have been his cat, he told police. But when he went upstairs to check, he encountered a large man going through a bedroom closet who manhandled him and demanded his wallet, credit cards and PIN numbers, which he gave him, the warrant said.

He had a hard time describing the man to police, according to the warrant, but he said he was about 6-foot-2 with a stocky build and was covered in a dark green camouflage suit with a mask. Dabate said he couldnt see his eyes or skin color, but said he had a deep voice like Vin Diesels, prompting Gedansky to repeatedly refer to the intruder by the actors name years later when questioning Dabate the day he testified in his trial.

Much later in the interview with police, Dabate said the intruder had a knife, which he said was curved, with jags on the bottom of the silver blade, the warrant said. At other times, he said the man had a box cutter.

Dabate said he heard Connie come home from a canceled spin class and he yelled for her to run. The intruder yelled at him and pushed him down the stairs, although Dabate also said he fell down the stairs, police said in the warrant. He then altered the statement slightly to say he tripped, and later added that he was pretty sure he tripped, according to the warrant. At another point, he said the intruder used a pressure point on his wrist to guide him to the floor.

Instead of running out of the house, Connie  who relatives later said hated guns  ran to the basement and must have grabbed a gun that was in a safe, Dabate told the detectives. The intruder was close behind, followed by Dabate, according to the warrant. Then he heard the shots. The basement was dark, but he thought he saw his wife go down, he told police.

The intruder did some sort of pressure point thing on his neck and wrist and walked him, like a dog, to a metal folding chair in the storage area of the basement, where he tied one foot and his left wrist to the chair behind his back, he told police. Then the gloved man used a utility knife to cut him in jabbing motions to his legs, left shoulder and the top of his head in a manner that Dabate said wasnt overly aggressive, according to the warrant.

The intruder tried to find things to burn in a cardboard box and used Dabates small torch to light the box on fire, Dabate told the detectives. He also burned some of the clothes Dabate was wearing and his left ankle, the warrant said.

Dabate stated he then saw an opening and pushed the blow torch toward the intruders forehead, the warrant said. Dabate stated the intruder then dropped the torch and ran out of the bulkhead.

The references to the fire and basement bulkhead conjure up images of the 2007 home invasion in Cheshire that killed Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, and considered one of the most horrific crimes in Connecticut history. The killers got into the home through the basement bulkhead doors, hit the father, Dr. William Petit, in the head with a bat and tied him up. Hawke-Petit was forced to take money out of the bank before returning to the house, which was set on fire. Dr. Petit was able to escape.

The similarities were too much for Gedansky to ignore when Dabate was on the witness stand. He twice asked Dabate if he was trying to create a little mini-Cheshire scene, drawing objections from LaLima.

Dabate told police that even though he was tied to a chair, he was able to crawl up the basement stairs to the kitchen, push the panic button for the alarm system and hurl himself up at the stove to get his phone and call 911, according to the warrant.

Fitbit and forensics

Even though Dabate worked in IT, technology worked against him on Dec. 23, 2015.

The Fitbit raised questions about Dabates story in more ways than one. For one, it showed the deadly shooting happened about an hour later than Dabate claimed. Dabate told police it happened about 9 a.m., but the Fitbit registered Connie Dabates last movement at 10:05 a.m., the warrant said.

It also showed that from 9:18 a.m., when Connie Dabate returned home from the Indian Valley YMCA, to the time it stopped registering activity, the Fitbit recorded a distance of 1,217.68 feet, while the total distance to get from Connies car to the spot where she was found in the basement would be no more than 125 feet, according to the warrant.

In addition to the Fitbit data, investigators also reviewed surveillance camera footage from the YMCA, phone records, alarm system data and internet usage and merged the information to create an eight-page timeline of events. The timeline shows Dabate never left the house that morning, the warrant said. The timeline starts with the night before Connie Dabates death, when she angrily texted her husband, complaining he doubled their cable bill by adding sports channels  a claim he denied.

Some forensic evidence could have given jury members pause.

The Ruger .357 revolver found on the basement floor had no identifiable fingerprints, according to the warrant. This could be interpreted as confirming Dabates statement to police that the intruder wore gloves.

And some DNA evidence pointed to the possibility of the presence of a third person. While Richard Dabates DNA was on the guns grip, there also was DNA from another, unknown person there as well, the warrant stated.

In addition, there also was DNA from an unidentified source and from an unidentified man on the doorknob to the second-floor bedroom where Dabate said he found the intruder, LaLima said during closing arguments.

A supervisor at the forensic lab testified that finding mixtures of DNA is very common, though, because DNA can stick around for years, according to the Journal Inquirer.

Affairs, baby on the way: Like a frickin soap opera

While there appeared to be no reason for an intruder to break into the home and kill Connie Dabate, it didnt take police long to come up with a possible motive for Richard Dabate.

When detectives asked during the hospital interview if there were any relationship issues their investigation would reveal, Dabate took a deep breath, the warrant said.

Yes and no, he told them.

Connie couldnt have a third child for medical reasons, he told police, and he did some nontraditional things and got another woman pregnant, the warrant stated. The three decided to co-parent the baby, he said, according to the warrant.

The situation popped up like a frickin soap opera, he told investigators.

Asked if he thought it bothered his wife that he had gotten another woman pregnant, he said, She was amazing. I never expected it to go that way, according to the warrant.

He said the pregnancy was Connies idea  in a way  then acknowledged that the pregnancy was not expected, the warrant said.

Police later got a treasure trove of information from the woman Dabate got pregnant and nearly all of it contradicted what he told detectives, according to the warrant.

The woman told investigators she had known Dabate since junior high school, and they had become romantically involved in the spring of 2015, the warrant said.

She also said the pregnancy was completely unexpected, and Connie Dabate did not know about it. Connie Dabates family members confirmed she was unaware of the pregnancy. The Dabates did not plan to have a third child, the woman told police, according to the warrant.

The woman told police Dabate was to have divorce papers served on Connie that week or the week before, but she didnt know if it happened, the warrant said. No divorce documents had been served, the warrant stated.

Something else the woman might not have known is that Dabate apparently cheated on her, too. It was revealed in court during a hearing in February 2020 that Dabate had another ongoing affair that overlapped hers in addition to a one-night fling, according to The Hartford Courant.

In addition, Dabate visited a Tolland strip club, the Electric Blue Cafe, and stayed at the Motel 6 on the Vernon-Manchester line, according to charges on a credit card he hid from his wife, the warrant said.

Hes going to lose so many friends

The pregnant girlfriends Facebook posts and private messages to friends gave even more detail about her relationship with Dabate, some of it contradicting what she told police, the warrant stated. One highlight was Dabates reluctance to divorce his wife.

The woman said on Facebook that she and Dabate had been in love since they were 14 and she had an affair with him after he was married but before he had children, the warrant said.

She also revealed that Dabate was stressing out about divorcing Connie.

He needs to calm down and collect his thoughts and focus, she wrote in a message, according to the warrant. But hes already so worked up.

Hes going to lose so many friends; he never thought hed be the kind of person who would have people hate him; if his parents reject him for this, where will he live?; hes going to be broke, the womans message continued, according to the warrant.

Theres a reason Dabate was worried what people would think if he divorced his wife. A lot of people liked Connie. According to the warrant and statements made in court, her family adored her, and his family and friends liked her as well.

A graduate of Ellington High School and the University of Connecticut, Connie Margotta Dabate was an energetic, upbeat and giving person, her family and friends said. A former vice president of the Ellington Ambulance Corp, she was a full-time pharmaceutical rep who made time to do fundraisers and deliver meals to sick neighbors.

She took charge of the medical needs of one of her sons, who had a birth defect, driving him to countless doctor appointments, her family said, and helped her father recover from a stem cell transplant. Her father died before Richard Dabate was convicted, and did not live to see justice served, Gedansky said on sentencing day.

Outside the courthouse that day, the Margotta family said they were pleased with the lengthy sentence. With replica sunflowers  Connies favorite flower  and pictures of her pinned to their clothes, some members stepped up to TV station microphones and talked about the sentence and Connie.

Connies mother, Cindi Margotta, the last family member to talk to her, recounted that brief conversation the morning of her death. Connie called and immediately said, Mom, I love you.

She also said, Ricks a mess.

Margotta said she wishes she asked her to come over to her house and have breakfast, but thats, you know, past and we cant do anything about it.

She then said she felt her daughters presence, a surge of strength, outside the courthouse in the Rockville section of Vernon on that sunny, but windy, afternoon.

Holding her hands up, palms out, she said, Shes here.

Asked what legacy her daughter leaves behind, Margotta said its Connies sons, who were 6 and 9 at the time of the homicide.

Ninety-nine percent of her was in the hearts of her boys, she said. She did a beautiful job. She worked hard to cure one of them. I think thats her legacy  that she brought up two beautiful boys.

One is very, very smart, very good technically, Margotta said. And the other one is funny, she said  a trait family members attribute to his mother. Hes always joking around.
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Approximately 350 young people from Romania and the Republic of Moldova will gather in central-western Cluj-Napoca, between September 15-18, at the Youth Summit, an event in its 7th edition, dedicated to learning, debating and generating policies for young people.

"The Youth Summit, the 7th edition, brings together, in Cluj-Napoca, over 350 young people and youth workers between September 15-18, within the largest event of the youth movement in Romania. During three days, the participants will have the opportunity to take an active part in dozens of learning and debate sessions, whose hosts will be well-known figures from public structures, leaders of non-governmental organizations that have made notable contributions in the development and implementation of youth programmes, and informal leaders from public sphere," a statement sent, on Monday, by the organizers, reads.

According to the source, the topics for discussions, debates and interactive sessions will revolve around the concepts of sustainability and youth participation, topics of particular importance in educating young people for a better present and future for all.

"Sustainability Pill, Green education, Democracy here. Democracy now, Transforming advertising waste into sustainable products, Green European perspectives for young people - challenges and opportunities are just some of the topics of discussion this year, these being put into practice in various forms: workshops, panels, round tables a.s.o. Youth Summit 7.0 | Radacini (Roots) is one of the most ambitious projects dedicated to learning, debating and generating policies for young people. The concept of the current edition, the return to the roots, represents the connection of young people with the environment in which they live and their return to Cluj-Napoca, the city that started many initiatives that stimulated the growth of the youth movement in RomaniaVaslui!" the press release states.

This edition of the Youth Summit also comes with a novelty: the creation of a fair of sustainable products, so that young people can get to know local brands that contribute to the development of communities. This fair will take place during the entire period of the event.

At the same time, according to tradition, on the last day of the Youth Summit, it will be announced which is the next Youth Capital in 2024. This year's finalist cities are Oravita, Ploiesti and Vaslui.AGERPRES
Romania's Chief of the Defense Staff, General Daniel Petrescu opened the proceedings of the main conference of the Defender Europe 23 exercise, a major training event led by the command of U.S. Army Europe and Africa (USAREUR-AF), which took place on Monday, in Bucharest, the National Ministry of Defence (MApN) informs in a press release.

According to the cited source, the annual large-scale US Army-led, multinational, joint exercise Defender Europe is designed to build readiness and interoperability between militaries of the United States, other NATO Allies and partners.

Soldiers from more than 20 other allied and partner states were present at the activity, along with the Romanian and US co-organizers. Through the Defender Europe program, as well as through other training platforms, allies develop their flexibility, force projection and integration capability. At the same time, military cooperation strengthens the ties that the allies have with partners who share NATO values, reads the press release.

General Daniel Petrescu emphasized the importance of the Defender Europe exercises both at the level of troop training on the European continent and in terms of the commitment of the United States within the North Atlantic Alliance.

"The organization of this very important training event contributes to the strategic message regarding the strengthening of the allied deterrence and defence posture. In 2023, Defender Europe will bring to the Romanian military a novelty in the training plan of the forces - the preparation and the role of the host nation that we have on certain components of the exercise program will take place together with American and allied troops that are already deployed on the national territory. Defender Europe 23 will therefore represent an excellent training opportunity," said the Chief of the Defense Staff, quoted in the MApN press release.AGERPRES
President Klaus Iohannis signed, on Monday, the decree for the decoration of maestro Cristian Macelaru, principal conductor of the WDR Radio Symphony Orchestra in Cologne and artistic director of the "George Enescu" International Festival.

According to the Presidential Administration, the head of state awarded conductor Cristian Macelaru the Order of "Cultural Merit" in the rank of Knight, Category B - "Music" as a sign of "appreciation for the excellence he has shown throughout his international conducting career, for his significant contribution in the Romanian-German cultural dialogue, establishing himself as a highly respected ambassador of Romanian culture in the Federal Republic of Germany", told Agerpres.

Cristian Macelaru was proposed artistic director of the "George Enescu" International Festival in 2021.
The Ombudsman believes that the elimination of social grants for students from rural areas who go to high school in a different locality than their own is "surprising" and "unfair."

"Under the Order of the Minister of Education no. 5379/2022 on the approval of the general criteria for granting scholarships to students in pre-university education, the social aid scholarships granted to students from rural areas who go to high school in a different locality than their own has been eliminated. The decision to eliminate this category of social grants is as surprising as it is unfair, given that it affects students from rural areas who are forced to go to high school in a different locality, because they do not have such an educational institution in their own locality. Moreover, this measure was not publicly announced by the Ministry of Education, as it should have been, according to the provisions of Law no. 52/2003 on decision-making transparency in the public administration, republished," reads a press release of the Ombudsman.

In the Ombudsman's opinion, by eliminating these scholarships "the inequities" between students from the rural environment and those from the urban environment "will be maintained and deepened," which "contradicts" even the Educated Romania Project, which "expressly" highlights the principles that refer to equity, told Agerpres.

The Ombudsman also underscored that, regardless of the place where they were born, the family's economic situation or ethnicity, all children have the right to quality education, and they must be provided with equal opportunities for education and later access to the labour market.

The Minister of Education, Sorin Cimpeanu, declared on Saturday that the provision of free student transport and social scholarships "are of maximum importance for the Government of Romania" and are provided from the state budget.

He added that all students who need support from a socio-economic or medical perspective this year receive social grants worth 200 lei per month, 12 months a year.
The Ministry of Finance borrowed, on Monday, 290.5 million RON (rd 60 million euros) from the commercial banks, through an issue of benchmark state bonds, with a residual maturity of 164 months, at an average yield of 8.38% per year, according to data published by the National Bank of Romania.

The nominal value of Monday's issue was 300 million RON, and the banks subscribed 404.1 million RON.

An additional auction is scheduled for Tuesday, through which the state wants to attract another 45 million RON at the yield set on Monday for the bonds.

The Ministry of Finance has planned, in September 2022, loans from commercial banks in the amount of 4.1 billion RON, to which the amount of 525 million RON can be added through additional sessions of non-competitive offers, related to bond auctions, told Agerpres.

The total amount, of 4.625 billion RON, is 960 billion RON below that which was scheduled in August, of 5.585 billion RON, and will be intended for refinancing the public debt and financing the state budget deficit.
Border guards of Dolj County have caught four Syrian nationals who tried to enter Romania illegally via Calafat using identity documents that did not belong to them.

According to the Dolj Border Police Service (STPF), a 37-year-old Syrian citizen, driving a minibus registered in Germany, showed up at the Calafat Border Crossing Point to enter Romania. Ten Syrian citizens were travelling with him as passengers, four of whom did not have legal documents.

"Those persons identified themselves with Travel Document and residence permits bearing the insignia of the authorities in Germany. After inspecting the travel documents, the border police found that four of the persons are not one and the same with the people in the photos of the documents. As a result, a thorough check was carried out on the people, the luggage and the minibus, and no documents were found to certify the real identity of the people," according to STPF Dolj, told Agerpres.

The border policemen proceeded to halt the travel of the persons in question, and according to the Romanian-Bulgarian protocol, they and their means of transport were taken over by the the Bulgarian Border Police for further investigations.
The Ministry of Health announces, on Monday, a new case of monkeypox confirmed in Romania, in a 23-year-old man from Bucharest, told Agerpres.

The source mentions that the man is in good health and is in isolation.

Until now, 37 patients have been diagnosed with monkeypox in Romania.
The General Inspectorate of the Border Police informs that 105,491 people entered Romania, on Sunday, through the border crossing points throughout the country, of whom 10,843 were Ukrainian citizens, down by 6.4pct compared to the previous day.

According to a press release sent to AGERPRES on Monday, approximately 258,000 people, Romanian and foreign citizens, with more than 63,000 means of transport, passed the control formalities at the border crossing points throughout the country, both on the way in and on the way out, told Agerpres.

As of February 10, 2022 (pre-conflict period), 2,276,692 Ukrainian citizens entered our country.

As part of the specific activities at crossing points and the green border, the border police found 77 illegal acts (23 infractions and 54 contraventions) committed by both Romanian and foreign citizens.

20 foreign citizens who did not meet the legal requirements were denied entry to the country, and 28 Romanian citizens were also not allowed to leave the country for various legal reasons.
Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca welcomed the signing of the agreement between the Ministries of Transport from Romania and France aimed at facilitating the transit of grain from Ukraine, stressing that the approach contributes to the acceleration of efforts for global food security.

"I welcome the signing of the agreement between the Ministries of Transport of Romania and France on the facilitation of the transit of grain from Ukraine. One of the priorities is to increase the capacities of the port of Galati. We are accelerating our efforts for global food security," Nicolae Ciuca said, on Monday, in a post on the Government's Twitter page.

French Transport Minister Clement Beaune said last Sunday that he would sign an agreement with Romania to increase Ukrainian grain exports to developing countries, especially in the Mediterranean area, Reuters reported.

"Tomorrow, I will sign an agreement with Romania that will allow Ukraine to export even more grain... to Europe and developing countries, especially in (countries in) the Mediterranean, which need (grain) for food," said Clement Beaune on the LCI television station.AGERPRES
Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca proposed the "One book per year for each pupil" programme's unfolding, at a meeting he had on Monday, at the Victoria Palace, with publishers, librarians and cultural personalities on the topic of promoting reading, especially among young generation, according to a press release from the Government.

The discussions focused on the difficulties of Romanian books or books edited in the Romanian language to reach the public, as well as proposals for solutions to encourage reading, especially among children and young people.

"I had a very good meeting today with people of culture - academics, teachers, editors, librarians, authors of Romanian books - and I responded with great openness to their proposals. We want to bring the book closer to the younger generations and encourage their leaning towards reading, promoting, at the same time, Romanian authors and books in the Romanian language," said the prime minister, as quoted in the press release.

The Government will support the proposal of the Publishers' Association to promote, especially to pupils, publishing houses, books by Romanian authors and writings in the Romanian language, by allocating a dedicated budget for their acquisition by public libraries, in order to make them available to readers.

Prime Minister Ciuca proposed the unfolding of the "One book per year for each pupil" programme, and the Publishers' Association expressed its willingness to support it, the press release states.

The Head of the Executive agreed with the editors, librarians and book authors participating in the meeting on a public campaign through which the reading of books by Romanian authors and in the Romanian language, the applied reading of classical and contemporary Romanian literature and in the Romanian language will be promoted.AGERPRES
The 11th edition of the National Poetry Book Fair and the 12th edition of the Bucharest International Poetry Festival (FIPB) started on Monday, and will end on September 18, informs Bucharest City Hall (PMB).

The event organized by the National Museum of Romanian Literature includes public readings, film screenings, visual art exhibitions, recitals by famous actors, theater performances, music concerts, performances and experimental digital art and new media progarmmes.

As many as 35 poets from Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Great Britain, the Republic of Moldova, Peru, Poland, Serbia, Spain, Turkey and Hungary and 85 poets from Romania will give public readings.

There will be meetings with publishers and translators from Bulgaria, Italy and Greece, fine art and photography exhibitions will be opened, documentary films will be screened, classical, jazz and folk music concerts will be organized. There will also be no shortage of recitals by actors.

"At this year's edition, new events were introduced, among which the most important is Jeudi de la Francophonie, dedicated to the celebration of poetry, culture and values of Francophonie, an event carried out in partnership with the Francophone University Agency, the Central and Eastern Europe regional office - AUF ECO, the Group of Francophone Embassies, Delegations and Institutions in Romania accredited to Bucharest (GADIF), the Embassy of France in Romania and the French Institute," transmits PMB.

This edition brings two novel events, the evenings dedicated to the best debut volumes of the last two years, as well as to feminist poetry.

The most representative publishing houses that publish poetry are invited to organize book launches and debates at the 11th edition of the National Poetry Book Fair.
The Romanian state owns, through the Government of Romania, 216 companies, which employ around 83,000 people and generate approximately 7 percent of Romania's GDP, Mihai Calin Precup, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Finance said on Monday.

"I have realized that since I have been at the Ministry of Finance, the topic of state-owned companies has become extremely interesting for all the international bodies we work with. And here we are talking about the OECD, with whom we work on the development of the capital market, we are talking about PNRR [the National Recovery and Resilience Plan], in relation to which we even have a very clear objective of improving corporate governance regarding state companies. Especially since the Romanian state owns, through the Government of Romania, 216 companies, which employ around 83,000 people and generate around 7 percent of Romania's GDP. Hence, Romania's Government has a rather large impact on the real economy through these companies and it has become a priority in terms of monitoring the performance of these companies, as well as of corporate governance efficiency," stressed Mihai Calin Precup, at an event on the capital market, told Agerpres.

He stated that another element the institution is working on is the code of conduct on state companies governance.

"There is already a code of conduct at the level of the Stock Exchange, which is optional for now. The Romanian government has 18 companies that are listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange and have subscribed to that code. Together with the OECD, we are working on defining a wider corporate governance code that includes all these 216 state companies," said Mihai Calin Precup, at the 5th edition of the Capital Market Forum, organized by Financial Intelligence.
As many as 1,474 new cases of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 were recorded in the last 24 hours in Romania, up 568 from the previous day, with over 10,000 RT-PCR and rapid antigenic tests performed, the Health Ministry informed on Monday.

Of the new cases, 320 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 - 204, and in the counties of Cluj - 85 and Timis - 83 and Brasov - 83, told Agerpres.

The highest 14-day notification rate is in Cluj County - 2.59, followed by Timis County - 2.38, and Arad County - 2.1.

As of Monday, 3,241,772 cases of people infected with the novel coronavirus were confirmed in Romania.

- Hospitalisations -

As many as 1,941 people with COVID-19, up 66 from the previous reporting, including 264 minors, are hospitalised in Romania at specialist care facilities.

Out of the total number of hospitalised patients, 156, including one minor, are in intensive care.

Of the 156 patients admitted to ICU, 127 are unvaccinated against COVID-19.

- Deaths -

According to the ministry, three Romanians, two men and one woman, are reported dead in the last 24 hours.

Of the three deaths, one was recorded in the age group 60-69 years, one in the age group 70-70 years and one in the age group over 80 years.

Two deaths were in patients with comorbidities, and one death was in a patient with no comorbidities.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 66,856 people diagnosed with the SARS-CoV-2 infection have died in Romania.
Bucharest immigration officers have fined six commercial companies, and a return decision was issued on a foreign citizen, after a mission conducted at the weekend to prevent and combat illegal stay and employment of foreign nationals.

"Six commercial companies were fined for violations of Government Ordinance 25/2014 regarding the employment and posting of foreigners in Romania and Government Emergency Ordinance 194/2002 regarding foreigners, as subsequently amended and supplemented, with the total value of the fines being 10,500 lei," the Immigration General Inspectorate (IGI) reported on Monday.

On their mission, the immigration officers and police officers of the 22nd Precinct of the General Directorate of the Bucharest City Police detected two illegally staying foreign nationals: a 36-year-old man from Pakistan and a 37-year-old woman from Cuba, told Agerpres.

A return decision was issued for the man that includes a 15-day voluntary departure from Romania.

Since the woman is the parent of a minor child, she was instructed to report to the local offices of IGI to have her right of residence clarified.
David Nicklaus David Nicklaus is a business columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow David Nicklaus 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

After decades of industrial decline in St. Louis, it may finally be time to retire the term Rust Belt.

It was an appropriate label for a metro area that lost 40% of its factory jobs between 1990 and 2010, but manufacturing employment here has been steady or growing for the past dozen years. Now, flush with a $25 million federal grant, the region is betting part of its future on a rebirth of manufacturing.

The grant, announced Sept. 2, will help build an advanced manufacturing innovation center in North St. Louis and fund job-training and entrepreneurship programs. Officials see the center as a catalyst for industrial innovation and growth, just as the 1998 opening of the Danforth Plant Science Center was a magnet for up-and-coming agricultural firms.

St. Louis may never again be the mass-production powerhouse it was in the mid-20th century, when local factories churned out everything from electric motors to Corvettes to candy. The region still, however, supports 119,000 manufacturing jobs, and employers in the sector are eager for an image upgrade.

This will raise awareness of manufacturing and give us more resources, said Chris Seyer, owner of aerospace manufacturer Seyer Industries in St. Peters. He says recruiting is his No. 1 challenge: Hes seeing 75% fewer applicants for machinist positions than he got two years ago.

Seyer thinks too many high school graduates  and their parents  are stuck in the Rust Belt view of manufacturing. Theres the perception that its dark and dirty  but if you come into our facility youll see how clean and automated everything is, he said. And its a career where you can start out debt-free and make $60,000 a year or more.

Greater St. Louis Inc., a business and civic organization, led the federal grant application. The groups jobs plan, issued last year, identified advanced manufacturing as one of five industry clusters that could produce quality jobs and drive inclusive growth over the next decade.

While there have been a lot of changes in that sector, it is a huge base of good-paying jobs, said Jason Hall, chief executive of Greater St. Louis. It is a strength on which we must build.

Global trends should help St. Louis meet its aspirations in manufacturing. After being battered by COVID-19, trade tensions and Russias invasion of Ukraine, companies are rethinking their supply chains. Instead of offshoring production to cut costs, they are onshoring to ensure a reliable source of key components.

A $1 million portion of St. Louis grant, for example, supports a pharmaceutical ingredients manufacturing program in the Cortex district. The government is encouraging domestic production to alleviate shortages.

St. Louis central location should make it a desirable link in other industries supply chains too. Theres a huge structural shift brewing in the economy, Hall said. We have to be positioned to take advantage of it.

Hall said he hopes ground can be broken next year for the advanced manufacturing innovation center, which will be located next to Ranken Technical College, which is near Kingshighway and Page boulevards. It will help manufacturers develop new technologies and production processes, while partners such as Ranken and St. Louis Community College and Southwestern Illinois College will train the workers they need.

And its a good bet that, unless the centers designers include a sculpture that pays homage to St. Louis industrial past, nary a speck of rust will be found in the place.
A Christian boarding school in southwestern Missouri can remain open despite the state attorney general alleging a dark pattern of behavior, a judge ruled Monday.

Judge David Muntons ruling allows continued round-the-clock monitoring of Agape Boarding School in Stockton by Missouri child welfare workers. The school serves about 60 boys.

The Kansas City Star reported that the state was prepared to call two former Agape students to testify on Monday. Agape attorney John Schultz told the judge there was no proof of any immediate health or safety concern for students and allowing former students to testify was simply for publicity, the Star reported.

The judge didnt allow the testimony but scheduled another hearing for Sept. 21.

Attorney General Eric Schmitts office first sought to shut down Agape on Wednesday after learning that someone on the state registry for child abuse and neglect was actively working there. On Friday, the attorney generals office filed an amended motion alleging systemic abuse.

Agapes operation of a residential care facility must cease because it presents an immediate health and safety concern for the children residing at Agape, the court filing stated. It also accused Agape of providing the state with incomplete information concerning which adults have access to children.

These new developments are sadly consistent with the dark pattern of behavior at Agape previously exposed by the Attorney Generals Office and the Missouri Department of Social Services, the filing stated.

Agapes website proclaims, Were still open and accepting students! It calls itself a Christian Boarding School That Turns Around Rebellious Boys.

Munton last week considered closing the school, but Agape officials told authorities that the person on the abuse and neglect registry was fired on Wednesday. Munton allowed the school to remain open, with state supervision.

Allegations of physical and sexual abuse at Agape and nearby Christian boarding school Circle of Hope Girls Ranch prompted a state law last year requiring stricter oversight of such facilities. Among other things, the new law allows state or local authorities to petition the court for closure of a facility if there is believed to be an immediate health or safety threat to the children.

Last year, Agapes longtime doctor, David Smock, was charged with child sex crimes, and five employees were charged with low-level abuse counts. Schmitts office contended that 22 workers should have been charged, and with more serious crimes. But in Missouri, only the local prosecutor can file charges, and Cedar County Prosecuting Attorney Ty Gaither has said no additional employees would be charged.

Meanwhile, the husband-and-wife founders of Circle of Hope, Boyd and Stephanie Householder, face a combined 99 charges that include child abuse and neglect, sex crimes and other counts. The school was ordered shut down in 2020.

Several lawsuits filed on behalf of former students also have named Agape and Circle of Hope.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham has introduced a bill calling for a nationwide abortion ban. The bill would prohibit abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, except in cases of rape, incest or danger to the physical health of the mother. The legislation introduced Tuesday is sending shockwaves through both parties with just weeks before voters go to the polls. Grahams own Republican colleagues did not immediately embrace his abortion ban bill, which has almost no chance of becoming law in the Democratic-held Congress. Democrats reject it as extreme and an alarming signal of where Republicans are headed if they win control of the House and Senate in November.
Joe Holleman Joe Holleman is a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow Joe Holleman 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

A reminder to movie buffs and Jon Hamm fans:

STLs No. 1 celeb will hit the big screens (and the streams) on Friday with Confess Fletch, the latest take on the fictional newspaper reporter Irwin Fletch Fletcher created in a series of Gregory Mcdonald novels.

Hamm signed on to star in the movie back in 2020; shooting, delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, was delayed for about a year.

The character of Fletch was brought to the big screen twice in the 1980s with Chevy Chase in the lead role: Fletch (1985) and Fletch Lives (1989).

This latest effort will be based on Mcdonalds second novel, in which our hero finds himself in Boston, in the middle of multiple murders while he tries to locate his girlfriends stolen art collection.

The cast also includes Hamms Mad Men co-star John Slatterty, Marcia Gay Harden and Kyle MacLachlan. The movie was written and directed by Greg Mattola, best known for helming Superbad and Adventureland.

Fans of the Chase movies should take note that Hamm has said he did not copycat those prior performances.

I dont want to imitate Chevy. Im not interested in that and I dont think anybody else would be, Hamm told the Hollywood Reporter after signing on to the film.

The character in the books a lot different than Chevys portrayal ... so maybe theres a way to get a version thats more true to life for the book, he said.

Several attempts to reboot the Fletch series have come and gone in recent years, with A-list actors such as Ben Affleck and Ryan Reynolds being linked to the false starts.

The studios official trailer, which runs about 2.5 minutes, can be seen on YouTube.
Tony Messenger Tony Messenger is the metro columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow Tony Messenger Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

Some of the seeds of Americas judicial dysfunction were sown in Missouri in the summer of 2007.

That was when then-Gov. Matt Blunt appointed Judge Patricia Breckenridge to the Missouri Supreme Court. Breckenridge, like the governor, was a Republican. She was an accomplished judge, and that was the problem. She cared  and still does  more about the law than partisan politics.

Blunts pugnacious chief of staff, Ed Martin, tried to rally Republicans against her, chief among them Leonard Leo, the co-chairman of the conservative Federalist Society. Fifteen years ago, that organization was mostly known in law school circles as the nerdy group that conservative students joined. Few people outside of Beltway politics knew who Leo was.

Thats no longer the case. Leo is a judicial king-maker, and hes sitting on a pile of campaign loot, thanks to a secretive $1.6 billion donation from a Chicago billionaire. Nearly every judge appointed by President Donald Trump during his time in office owes some allegiance to Leo, including federal Judge Aileen Cannon of Florida.

Last week, Cannon threw a wrench into the investigation of Trumps alleged mishandling of top-secret records by agreeing to appoint a special master to review the records FBI agents recovered from Trumps home at Mar-a-Lago. The ruling has been panned by legal experts as bizarre and not rooted in federal law.

When judges, Republicans or Democrats, make rulings that appear to be based more on politics than the law, Americans question the independence of the judiciary  the branch of government we expect to balance out the partisanship of the executive and legislative arms.

Thats why, back in 2007, Blunts appointment of Breckenridge was so important. Since 1940, Missouri has appointed its judges to higher courts through a nonpartisan plan. Commissions made up of attorneys, judges and citizens nominate a slate of three candidates to the governor. Those nominees compete before the commission based on merit. And because of the staggered appointments to the commission, the political balance of its membership evens out over time.

The plan limits the ability of one politician to assert too much influence on the judiciary, which doesnt sit well with those who want judges chosen based on political loyalty tests. Heres how Leo responded to Blunts selection of Breckenridge, in an email that wasnt made public until the Post-Dispatch, Associated Press and Kansas City Star sued to obtain the records.

Your boss is a coward, Leo wrote, and conservatives have neither time nor patience for the like of him.

The email from 15 years ago revealed that the political goals of Leo and his organization had little to do with judicial philosophy and everything to do with raw political power.

Fast forward to today. Confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court has sunk to an all-time low, according to the most recent Gallup poll. Taken this summer, before the courts overturning of Roe v. Wade, the poll found that only 25% of Americans have confidence in the courts independence. The number is likely lower now.

Thats bad for democracy. Its nearly impossible to look at Cannons ruling in the Trump case, for instance, and not believe that she was doing the bidding of the man who appointed her to the court. The ruling was an epic mess that defies defense, wrote the editors of the Lawfare website, which is published by the nonprofit Brookings Institution. Even William Barr, the former U.S. attorney general under Trump, called the ruling deeply flawed.

After Blunt appointed Breckenridge, Martin secretly tried to rally conservative forces to undo Missouris nonpartisan court plan. He asked Leo to send an unsolicited email that he could forward to the governor. He also helped write the talking points for a news conference conducted by a former Republican lawmaker attacking the plan.

Some Missouri Republicans even put forth a ballot issue to repeal the plan and select state Supreme Court judges similarly to how federal judges are chosen  opening the door to Leo or other deep pockets to hand-pick judges.

Missouri voters saw through the ruse. The Missouri Plan lives. Breckenridge is still on the court. Martin lost his job and his reputation, and then he became a rabid Trump supporter. But what Leo failed to do in Missouri, he has done on a national scale, to devastating consequences. He threatened a fury from the conservative base the likes of which you and the governor have never seen if he didnt get his way when Blunt was choosing a judge.

That fury has taken root in the federal courts, poisoning the once-fertile soil of American judicial independence.
The body of Steve Asplund, a Moline, Illinois, man missing for 28 years, has been found in St. Louis County.

Police said Monday they believe Asplund went into the river on his own volition near the Interstate 74 Bridge in Bettendorf, Iowa, became entangled in a barge and was dragged down river.

Asplund was last seen on Jan. 9, 1994, when he went to borrow a caulking gun from a friend. He was reported missing by his fiancee on Jan. 10, and investigators found his car parked in Bettendorf to the east of the Interstate 74 Bridge.

When they searched the car, police found no evidence of foul play and nothing that hinted at Asplunds whereabouts, according to previous reporting.

The Moline Police Department announced theyd found his body in a news conference Monday.

Asplunds family released a statement thanking police and others in the community for their continued commitment to finding his body:

Thanks to all the media for shining light on Steves disappearance today, and over the past 29 years. The news, while bittersweet, will allow us some closure. Well still think of Steve every day, and miss him just the same, but these answers will provide comfort to us and his friends.

We would like to thank the hundreds of people who attended the vigils, and helped with searches we did when he first disappeared. The community support and concern has meant a lot to us, and we appreciate it more than we can possibly express.

Wed also like to thank the Moline Police Department, and all the detectives who have been involved over the years, but we would especially like to thank Detective Mike Griffin, whos been working with us for many years now. He has stayed in touch and communicated with us even when there wasnt anything new to report. Hes a good man ... and his compassion, and concern for getting us answers has always been obvious. We feel blessed that he became involved in the case.

We would also like to thank the Doctor of Forensic Anthropology for the St. Louis County Medical Examiners office, Dr. Lindsay Trammell and Forensic Scientist Aaron Small from the Illinois State Police. Without their assistance we might never have known what happened. Their work will allow us to bring Steve back home, and we thank you for that.

Thanks to everyone for your concern over the years, and know that it has been appreciated.

The statement was signed Mike Asplund, who is Steve Asplunds brother.
UPDATED 10 a.m. Tuesday with condition of boys

ST. LOUIS  Two boys were shot and critically injured Monday in the city's Greater Ville neighborhood.

Police reported the shooting shortly after 4 p.m. in the 4000 block of Palm Street.

The boys, 9 and 16, are recovering at a hospital. The 9-year-old was shot in the back, and the teenager was shot in the neck. They were listed in critical condition at a hospital, police said.

Officers were knocking on doors at the scene Monday afternoon and had about five houses blocked off.

Police had no suspects and said none of the witnesses cooperated with investigators.

Shots apparently were fired between several people, police said. The older boy told police the shots were fired in his direction, and the 9-year-old was hit while he was outside playing.

Taylor Tiamoyo Harris contributed to this article.
ST. LOUIS  City residents are set to vote Tuesday in the race to be St. Louis most powerful lawmaker. Whether the results will stick is anyones guess.

Tuesdays special primary election for aldermanic president is mostly an elaborate poll: New election rules will pick the top two candidates in the primary, meaning that, no matter what, both on the ballot this week  aldermen Megan Green and Jack Coatar  are guaranteed a rematch in Novembers general election.

Its absurd, said Lana Stein, a longtime political scientist at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. This is an unnecessary election.

Still, whoever ultimately wins this fall will hold significant power over what bills get heard at the Board of Aldermen and what the city spends its money on, at least until new elections in the spring. Theyll also do so at a time when leadership is being tested: The city is struggling to pick up the trash and answer 911 calls. Theres growing alarm over public safety. And there are still decisions to make about a massive haul of federal aid and a big settlement from the NFL.

And of course, theyll also be the presumptive favorite in the spring.

That leaves Coatar, of Soulard, and Green, of Tower Grove South, unwilling to give up any ground, even a meaningless primary.

You want your supporters to come out and have a strong show of support, Coatar said.

Green agreed.

It matters, she said, for momentum.

And for weeks, both candidates have been raising money, hiring staff and knocking on thousands of doors across the city to get their messages out. Green tells people about her plan to build a city that works for everyone. Coatar talks up plans to fix basic services.

Theyve also rolled out their major endorsements. Coatar has former mayors Francis Slay and Lyda Krewson in his corner. Mayor Tishaura O. Jones and U.S. Rep. Cori Bush are vouching for Green.

Still, there are good reasons to doubt that voters reaction Tuesday will predict November, observers say:

Special election dates usually attract fewer voters as a rule. Advocates are worried confusion over Missouris new voter ID law, which requires a government-issued photo ID, could keep more people away. And candidates say the election boards controversial decision to reduce the number of polling places on Tuesday, from the usual 70 to just 15, could do the same.

Ben Borgmeyer, the Democratic director at the city elections board, said hed be surprised if more than 20% of the electorate showed up. Gary Stoff, the Republican director, guessed no more than 10%.

The November contest, on the other hand, will coincide with the regular midterm election day, when all the usual polling places will be available and a U.S. Senate race could push turnout above 50%.

Its two entirely different elections, Coatar said.

The time between them could also change the race. Coatar likely started his campaign at a disadvantage to Green in a crucial category: name recognition. People like to vote for who they know, and Green got her name out in a previous run for aldermanic president in 2019 and then ran for a state Senate seat covering roughly half of the city in 2020. Coatar has never run outside his ward, so more time could boost his standing.

Unforeseen events could also benefit one candidate or the other. A spike in crime could focus attention on Coatars promise to hire more police, for instance.

Ken Warren, a political scientist at St. Louis University, said Tuesdays election will predict the favorite in the race.

But thats about all you can get out of it, he said. Its not going to say whos going to win.

That proved true multiple times in aldermanic primaries last spring, the first to be held under the new election rules. Three of the losers on the first ballot ended up winning the second.

Green said last week those candidates learned from the initial results.

It gave them some good information on where they were weak, and where they were strong, Green said. And it helped them adjust.
Prisoners making license plates is a popular stereotype, but most of the nations 800,000 incarcerated workers hold jobs more similar to those on the outside: They cook and serve food, mop floors, mow lawns and cut hair.

Unlike other workers, though, the incarcerated have little say, if any, in what jobs they do. They face punishment if they refuse to work and are paid pennies per hour  if that.

The nations racial reckoning of the past few years has prompted a reevaluation of penal labor as a legacy of slavery, spurring people to question whether incarcerated people should be required to work in 2022. Activists are pressing for an end to work requirements or, if they continue, for higher wages.

Among the proponents of fully voluntary work in prison are the American Civil Liberties Union and the Global Human Rights Clinic at the University of Chicagos School of Law. The groups released a report in June calling, among other recommendations, for the elimination of any laws and policies that punish incarcerated people who are unwilling to work.

Other groups and lawmakers insist its appropriate to require prisoners to work to maintain prison facilities.

We still have to run our prisons, California state Sen. Steve Glazer, a Democrat, said in an interview. We need hygiene, kitchen service and groundskeeping to keep our prisons going. Those are all appropriate work elements to being in prison.

Glazer favors different legislative solutions to inequities in the criminal justice system. The California Senate recently asked the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for a plan to raise inmate pay.

That is exactly the way we should be approaching this issue, Glazer said.

Other states also are considering whether and how to improve prison work and pay.

In March, Colorado enacted a law that will pay the state minimum wage of $12.56 an hour to inmates who are within a year of their release date and work for private companies through the state-run Take TWO (for Transitional Work Opportunity) program.

This is actually a very conservative approach, Colorado state Rep. Matt Soper, the Republican sponsor of the bipartisan measure, said in an interview. We need workers, and they need to gain skills before release.

To pass the bill, though, Soper first had to explain why paying prisoners the minimum wage was a good idea.

Some victims and victims advocacy groups opposed the idea at first, and then they wanted every dollar to come back in restitution, he said. But thats not a good system, because we want (the former offenders) to have savings as seed money to restart their lives. My goal is to disrupt the current model of recidivism.

But no Colorado inmates are participating right now. Take TWO, which began in 2019 and reportedly had about 100 participants in March, is on a pause while we review and update logistics and criteria and address some of our immediate staffing shortages, the Colorado Department of Corrections said in an email.

Prison minimum wage bills are pending in New York and Illinois. Since 2019, bills have failed in Arizona, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, Texas and Virginia, according to the ACLU.

Former inmate Samual Nathaniel Brown seeks more sweeping change. When COVID-19 struck, Brown had served more than 20 years of a life sentence in California state prisons for attempted murder and had a parole hearing coming up.

A janitor in a health care facility at the prison in Los Angeles County known as Lancaster, he was ordered to clean rooms that had blood, feces and other bodily fluids on the floors and walls.

I was terrified for my life. I didnt want to die this close to going home, Brown, who suffers from asthma and has had a collapsed lung, said in an interview.

He was told if he did not work, he would be written up with a 115 disciplinary report, which Brown calls the modern-day equivalent of the whip on your back. A 115 signifies a serious violation of prison rules and can result in loss of good time credits for good conduct, delaying an inmates release date. Brown went to work despite, he said, a lack of social distancing and inadequate personal protective equipment.

Then, encouraged by his wife, he wrote a proposed amendment to the state constitution prohibiting involuntary servitude. Brown earned a bachelors degree in communications from California State University, Los Angeles while he was in prison. He was granted parole last December.

Browns amendment, introduced by California state Sen. Sydney Kamlager, failed in the legislature in June after the state Department of Finance estimated it would cost $1.5 billion in 2022 to pay the states $15 minimum wage to the 65,000 incarcerated Californians.

A similar push in Illinois also has stalled.

Yes, its expensive, Illinois state Sen. Robert Peters, a Democrat who twice has introduced a prison minimum wage bill in his state, told Stateline. But we always find the money to build other things. Why are we not able to find the money for this? The challenge is: Why are there so many people in prison doing work that you cant afford to pay them?

State prisoners in Illinois did receive a pay increase last year  their first in 11 years. It was about 14 cents a day, on wages that average 85 cents to $2.50 a day. Peters wants the state to pay prisoners the state minimum wage of $12 an hour.

Theres a disproportionate impact on Black and Hispanic people. It hits at class and race and gender, he said.

A study last year by The Sentencing Project, a nonprofit that works on criminal justice issues, found that Black people are incarcerated in state prisons at nearly five times the rate of White people, and Hispanic people are incarcerated at a rate 1.3 times than White people.

But even though Illinois has a Democratic governor and Democrats control both chambers of the legislature, Peters bill, the End Prison Slavery Act, has gone nowhere.

Its very complicated, Peters said. We do have some legislators who want to do it, but they think the electorate is against it.

Three Republican Illinois state legislators who are typically involved in criminal justice matters did not respond to requests for comment on the prison minimum wage bill.

Peters argues that incarcerated workers deserve wages sufficient to purchase essentials at the prison commissary, the only market to which they have access. He is also looking for ways to reduce commissary prices.

Proponents of making prison work more remunerative and meaningful also argue its not productive for society to keep incarcerated workers in dead-end jobs that fail to prepare them for employment outside the prison walls or allow them to accumulate some savings for when they are released. Studies show poverty and unemployment lead to recidivism.

Some crime victims groups also support raising prison wages, said Lenore Anderson, founder and president of the Alliance for Safety and Justice, an Oakland, California-based group that works to end mass incarceration, reduce crime and support survivors of violent crime.

The public assumes that people hurt by crime and violence would want the worst possible prison experience for those who committed the crimes, Anderson said.

But thats not what we find. People want them to succeed, she said. How do we know after someone has served time theyre prepared for living in society? Thats what rehabilitation, work and education programs do. Wages are part of that. It would be very consistent with smart rehabilitation to align prison wages with wages on the outside.

The average wage nationwide for incarcerated workers who maintain prison facilities ranges from 13 cents to 52 cents an hour, according to the ACLU and Global Human Rights Clinic. In seven Southern states  Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas  almost all work by prisoners goes unpaid.

Its not hard to imagine thats a vestige of slavery, said Jennifer Turner, the ACLUs principal human rights researcher and primary author of the report, Captive Labor: Exploitation of Incarcerated Workers.

An inmate survey by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, cited in Captive Labor, found 80% of state and federal prison workers have jobs that maintain the prison facilities. Only about 6.5% work in correctional industries, state-run programs that provide goods for state and local agencies, and less than 1% in private company work programs.

Cheap prison labor is profitable for states. The value of goods and services produced by correctional industries programs totaled $2 billion in 2021, according to the Captive Labor report, citing the National Correctional Industries Association. The value of labor to maintain prisons is unknown, although it was estimated in 2004 at $9 billion, according to the report.

New York Democratic state Sen. Zellnor Myrie introduced a bill last year that would increase prison wages to $3 an hour.

In the depths of the pandemic, incarcerated New Yorkers, making 16 cents an hour, produced 11 million bottles of hand sanitizer for the rest of us while COVID raged inside our prisons and jails, killing dozens and sickening thousands, Myrie said in an email. We shouldnt need a once-in-a-century virus to awaken us to the moral indignity of paying slave wages to those doing essential work.

Myries wage bill though, was eclipsed by other legislative efforts to change the criminal justice system in New York.

Advocates of prison changes put energy into mobilizing against a proposal floated by New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul in February to bring back contract labor to New York state prisons, after it had been banned for 100 years. Hochuls proposal went nowhere, leaving the states incarcerated labor situation unchanged.

Worth Rises, a group based in New York City that works to end exploitation of incarcerated people and their loved ones, also found more enthusiasm to push the U.S. Congress to repeal the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which allows slavery and involuntary servitude as punishment for crime, and for making phone calls for incarcerated people in state prisons free.

We had to go with what resonates with the public  and it wasnt the minimum wage for incarcerated workers, said Bianca Tylek, founder and executive director of Worth Rises.

2022 The Pew Charitable Trusts. Visit at stateline.org.
The list of flimsy excuses and desperate explanations keeps growing for Donald Trumps unlawful possession of highly classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago compound. Members of Congress and other Republican influentials keep falling all over themselves either to minimize the importance of the documents, blame the FBI for a witch hunt against Trump, or even to suggest that it was the FBIs delays in searching Mar-a-Lago  not Trumps possession of secret documents there  that endangered national security. But the one culprit who never seems to come up for blame in their accounting is Trump himself.

For members of Congress, the more they appear to be defending one mans lawlessness and impunity, the more they betray their sworn duty to defend the Constitution and the law of the land. The most recent round of excuse-making comes courtesy of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who wondered aloud in a television interview why all the commotion over a simple storage argument. He added: I dont think a fight over storage of documents is worthy of what theyve done, which is [a] full-scale raid and then these constant leaks.

Rubio falsely asserted that Justice Department officials dont deny that he should have access to those documents. They do, in fact, insist he had no business possessing them. One document in particular reportedly contained intelligence about other countries nuclear defense capabilities.

Trump himself has offered differing and often contradictory accounts of why he possessed government documents in violation of federal law. He asserted that there was no need for an FBI raid because he had cooperated in Justice Department efforts to recover the documents. That is false. His refusal to cooperate and apparent efforts to hide some documents were what prompted first a federal subpoena, then a search warrant approved by a federal judge.

Trump falsely asserted that he had declassified the documents, as if to minimize the security risks. He had not, and even if he did, he still had no legal right to possess them.

Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, minimized the issue as little more than failing to return an overdue library book. Wrong. Trump didnt check anything out. He took government property then tried to hide it.

Then theres the time-honored finger-pointing fallback position: What about Hillary? She did, in fact, divert government emails to her private server  an action this newspaper labeled stupid because it was. And she paid a heavy price for it: the loss of the presidency in 2016. But unlike Trump, she didnt attempt to hide her mistake. She apologized and made no excuses.

It almost seems beyond the capability of Trump and his supporters to admit wrongdoing and offer a simple apology. Its the refusal to abide by the law and to be held accountable to it that distinguishes Trump as the most dangerous threat to democracy this nation has faced since the Civil War.
Regarding New Mexico banishes Trump ally from office for insurrection (Sept. 6): A New Mexico judge has disqualified Cowboys for Trump cofounder Couy Griffin from holding public office because of his part in the Jan. 6 Capitol violence. He was declared constitutionally disqualified from serving because of his conviction for his part in the insurrection.

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment (paraphrased) states no one can hold office under the state who has engaged in insurrection or rebellion, or given aid and comfort to the enemies there of.

I would like readers to consider the famous photo of Sen. Josh Hawley, fist raised, egging on the protesters before the riot that day. In my opinion, it looks like he was in on it. Should Hawley be removed from office and considered constitutionally disqualified? I think the case could be made.

Steve Wulff  Richmond Heights
While the U.S. Navy has been quiet about how it plans to defend its ships against Chinese ship-killer ballistic missiles, they have not been idle. The navy has quietly expanded its layered air defense system with the addition of new electronic defenses. The navy is particularly quiet about any efforts to conduct realistic tests of its defenses against Chinese ballistic missiles.

After two decades of effort, the Chinese Navy has developed and tested its DF-21D ballistic missile equipped to hit warships at sea and over a thousand kilometers distant. The basic DF-21 is a 15 ton, two stage, solid fuel missile that is 10.7 meters (35 feet) long and 140cm (4.6 feet) in diameter. Range varies (from 1,700-3,000 kilometers) depending on model. The DF-21D is believed to have a range of 1,500-2,000 kilometers. While the 500-2,000 kg (.5-2 ton) warhead usually contains a nuclear weapon, there are also several types of conventional warheads, including one designed for use against warships. Some of these conventional warheads are for use against targets in Taiwan. This is because the DF-21, as a longer-range ballistic missile that comes down on the target faster than the 1,200 shorter-range ballistic missiles aimed at Taiwan, is more difficult to intercept. The DF-21D warheads were too fast for the American Patriot Pac-3 BMD (Ballistic Missile Defense) missiles Taiwan was installing around crucial installations a decade ago. BMDs have improved since then, but so has the Chinese ballistic missile arsenal.

In 2020 China tested the DF-26B, a longer-range version of the DF-21D. The 20-ton DF-26B has a max range of 4,000 kilometers. This is a larger 14-meter long 140cm diameter missile that entered service in 2016 as the conventional DF-26. By this time the DF-21D had been tested and proved that it could work. Why not a larger version that could hit enemy warships, especially aircraft carriers, even farther away? Five years later the DF-26B was tested and in service. By 2022 China had the smaller YJ-21 missile that could be carried by bombers or large (destroyers or cruisers) warships and use the same target detection tech as the DF-21D and DF-26B to hit distant ships.

Until 2013 there was no evidence that the complete DF-21D system had been tested. But then satellite photos showed a 200-meter-long white rectangle in the Gobi Desert (in Western China) with two large craters in it. This would appear to be a target for testing the DF-21D, and two of the inert practice warheads appear to have hit the target. American carriers are over 300 meters long, although the smaller carriers (amphibious ships with helicopter decks) are closer to 200 meters long. It appears China is planning on using the DF-21D against smaller warships, or perhaps they just wanted to see exactly how accurate the missile could be.

Over the last five years several similar missile testing sites were discovered in the vast desert areas of western China. Some of these test targets portrayed air bases or even larger targets like naval or army supply depots as well as harbors where American warships are regularly found. China was seeking a way to carry out another Pearl Harbor type attack and they appear to have found it.

Out in the desert China also found ways to improve the accuracy and reliability of their remote-sensing satellite. Back in 2011 an odd, geometric pattern was spotted in a Chinese desert that was used to calibrate satellite sensors, including those used to locate and identify targets for DF-21D type missiles.

For three years (2011-13) various components of the DF-21D were tested, but until these satellite photos showed up there was no evidence that there had been any tests of the complete system against a carrier size target. Since 2012 there have been photos of DF-21Ds on TELs (transporter erector launcher vehicles), and announcements of the first units activated three years ago. By 2013 there was evidence of the successful tests. What has not been tested, apparently, is a dress rehearsal test against a large ship (an old tanker or container ship would do) at sea and moving. That might yet happen.

Before the 2013 tests China put three "remote sensing" satellites in orbit, moving in formation at an altitude of 600 kilometers across the Pacific. Equipped with either radar (SAR or synthetic aperture radar) or digital cameras, these three birds can scan the ocean for ships, even though the Chinese say their purpose is purely scientific. A typical SAR can produce photo quality images at different resolutions. At medium resolution (3 meters) the radar covers an area 40x40 kilometers. Low resolution (20 meters) covers 100x100 kilometers. This three satellite Chinese posse looks suspiciously like a military ocean surveillance system. This is the missing link for the Chinese ballistic missile system designed to attack American aircraft carriers.

China has been developing the DF-21D since about 2002. Most of the development effort was devoted to targeting systems that would enable them to seek out and find aircraft carriers. On the DF-21D warhead itself, sensors would use infrared (heat seeking) technology for their final approach. This sort of thing had been discussed for decades, but China appears to have put together tactics, sensors, and missile systems that can make this all happen. The key was having multiple sensor systems which would include satellites, submarines, or maritime patrol aircraft that could find the general location of the carrier before launching the ballistic missile. Those sensors were eventually revealed as operational, as was the DF-21D itself.

Meanwhile the U.S. Navy has quietly upgraded its ABM defenses that use short range RAM (Rolling Airframe Missile) and long-range SM-2 missiles that have proved very effective against ballistic missiles and, in one case, a space satellite. The navy is more secretive when it comes to its electronic defenses, which involve lasers and other light-based devices as well as a growing assortment of electronic devices that apparently concentrate on disabling or diminishing the terminal guidance systems of the ballistic missiles that make them accurate enough to hit individual ships. The navy and air force are apparently also developing techniques for disabling Chinas remote sensing satellites. Developing multiple attacks on Chinese satellites and ballistic missile sensors is what the layered defenses are all about. This adds a degree of uncertainty about the usefulness of the Chinese anti-ship ballistic missiles. Uncertainty is a goal here and one of the more important aspects of the layered defense systems. The Chinese can collect some details about the new American electronic defenses by following announcements in the trade journals, where new features are mentioned, although not always with links to any specific navy system being upgraded. A lot of Chinese espionage, using human agents or hacking, is devoted to sorting out that specific new capabilities the Americans have introduced and for what piece of equipment.
Illinois Tool Works (NYSE: ITW) announced:



On September 9, 2022, the Companys Board of Directors elected Kelly J. Grier as a director, effective immediately, to serve until the May 2023 Annual Meeting and determined her to be independent. Ms. Grier, age 53, retired as US Chair and Managing Partner/Chief Executive Officer of Ernst & Young LLP (EY) in July 2022, having served in that capacity since 2018. Ms. Grier had over 30 years of service at EY, serving in various roles with increasing levels of responsibility. Ms. Grier has been appointed to the Audit and Finance Committees of the Company. There are no reportable transactions under Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K.

Ms. Grier will participate in the standard non-employee director compensation arrangements described in the Companys 2022 proxy statement.


MAUMEE, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Fiberon, a leading manufacturer of outdoor living products, announces the launch of their updated website, including greater accessibility to product information, digital tools and inspiration for homeowners and trade professionals alike. The new fiberondecking.com is now live.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220912005174/en/

Fiberon's new website will provide greater accessibility to product information, digital tools and inspiration for homeowners and pros alike. (Photo: Business Wire)

New features on the website include an enhanced user experience with a focus on outdoor living and consumer education; content reorganized to lead with the most sought-after information, making it even easier for visitors to find what they need; and a comprehensive focus on each product, via individual product detail pages with additional resources, tools and content.

Weve taken the time to make thoughtful, impactful changes to our website, said Mark Ayers, senior vice president of marketing and product development for Fiberon. Weve paid close attention to the ever-changing consumer journey when it comes to purchasing outdoor living products and adjusted our website tools and features to evolve the customer experience.

The new website includes e-commerce capabilities, enabling customers to purchase various products directly from the website. The website also features an optimized multi-platform experience for enhanced browsing, meaning website content is easy to view and navigate on all devices including PCs, tablets and smart phones. This means that no matter the device you use, the new Fiberon website will be able to provide the product information, education and inspiration you need. Plus, new data integration allows for a more agile approach, ensuring consistency across all digital spaces.

Not only are we providing comprehensive educational resources for consumers, but we are also making our products and content more accessible as a point of strategic growth within e-commerce, said Brian Kirby, senior digital manager for Fiberon.

About Fiberon

Founded in 1997, Fiberon is a leading U.S. manufacturer of wood-alternative decking, railing and cladding distributed worldwide. Fiberon also provides products like lighting and outdoor furniture, for a complete outdoor experience. Fiberon products are available in a wide range of styles and price points, all providing the warmth and beauty of natural wood without the costly, time-consuming maintenance. With a goal of improving sustainability and environmental responsibility, Fiberon PE composite decking contains a minimum of 94% recycled content. Fiberon maintains operations in North Carolina and Idaho. For more information, visit www.fiberondecking.com or call 800-573-8841.

Fiberon is part of the Outdoors & Security division of Fortune Brands Home & Security, Inc. (NYSE: FBHS), a Fortune 500 company, part of the S&P 500 Index and a leader in the home products industry. The Companys growing portfolio of complementary businesses and innovative brands include Moen and the House of Rohl within the Water Innovations Group, outdoor living and security products from Therma-Tru, LARSON, Fiberon, Master Lock and SentrySafe, and MasterBrand Cabinets wide-ranging offerings from Mantra, Diamond, Omega and many more. Visit www.FBHS.com to learn more about FBHS, its brands and how the Company is accelerating its environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220912005174/en/

Anna Palagi

402.850.9820

[email protected]

Source: Fiberon
Total capital raised of $330 million since the Companys launch in 2020

Financing expands planned usage of Companys 20 cGMP suites containing multiple 50L, 500L, 1,000L and 5000L bioreactors for research-to-commercial gene therapy manufacturing

COLUMBUS, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Forge Biologics, a gene therapy-focused contract development and manufacturing organization, today announced that it has raised $90 million in a Series C financing, bringing its total funding raised to date to $330 million. The current round was co-led by Drive Capital and Aisling Capital with an additional undisclosed strategic investor.

We continue our ambitious mission to enable access to life changing gene therapies by fulfilling a key goal of bringing them from concept to reality, said Timothy J. Miller, Ph.D., CEO, President, and Co-Founder of Forge Biologics. To deliver on that mission, weve made great strides in our facility development, technology advancement, and hiring expansion. These new funds will help support this next measured phase of our growth focused on delivering new services to our clients so that we can support them from idea to impact. Each advancement we make goes towards serving our clients and their patient communities, and we are grateful to our investors for their confidence in our mission.

The Company will use the funding to expand client offerings, including proprietary technologies, manufacturing systems, cell lines, and additional services to bolster its end-to-end manufacturing platform. Through the Companys 200,000 square foot cGMP facility dedicated to AAV viral vector manufacturing, Forge will expand the number of offerings available to clients to help scale gene therapy programs from research to clinical and commercial manufacturing in its 20 cGMP suites utilizing its operational 50L, 500L, 1,000L and 5,000L bioreactors.

Forge has grown tremendously over the last two years, hiring experienced talent and scaling the facility, technology, and client offerings according to their unique hybrid business model, said Molly Bonakdarpour, General Partner at Drive Capital. We believe that Forge is becoming an established leader in gene therapy manufacturing, consistent with Drive Capitals focus to build and support market-defining companies.

We have confidence in the caliber of leadership at Forge, their technical expertise at all levels, and the meticulous attention to detail in every facet of the business, said Andrew Schiff, M.D., Managing Partner at Aisling Capital. The gene therapy industry has been constrained by technical, operational, and capacity constraints, and Forge is poised to tackle each of those areas to alleviate the manufacturing bottleneck as they set out to do.

Recent Milestones Reached

Technology:

Hired notable talent for key technical roles with gene therapy-specific expertise: Agnieszka Gornicka, Ph.D., Director, GMP Manufacturing; Ganesh Krishnamoorthy, Associate Director, Process Development

Scaled the Companys proprietary HEK 293 suspension platform process from 50L to 1000L

Integrated new systems into its platform process such as single-use chromatography and automated fill-finish

Facility Expansion:

Increased overall manufacturing footprint to over 200,000 square feet; buildout includes 20 cGMP suites utilizing 50L, 500L, 1,000L, and 5,000L bioreactors, with additional cGMP suites planned

Manufacturing Expertise:

Formed an independent board of preeminent experts, a Scientific and Manufacturing Advisory Board (SMAB), to advise the Company on its gene therapy manufacturing offerings and therapeutics pipeline development with a distinct and strategic emphasis on manufacturing advancements

About Forge Biologics

Forge Biologics is a hybrid gene therapy contract manufacturing and clinical-stage therapeutics development company. Forges mission is to enable access to life changing gene therapies and help bring them from idea to reality. Forges 200,000 square foot facility utilizes 20 cGMP suites in Columbus, Ohio, the Hearth, to serve as its headquarters. The Hearth is a custom-designed cGMP facility focused on AAV manufacturing and can host end-to-end manufacturing services to accelerate gene therapy programs from preclinical through clinical and commercial stage manufacturing. By taking a patients-first approach, Forge aims to accelerate the timelines of these transformative medicines for those who need them the most. To learn more, visit www.forgebiologics.com.

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Media Inquiries

Marina Corleto

Senior Manager, Marketing and Communications

[email protected]

Investor Relations

Christina Perry

Senior Vice President, Finance and Investor Relations

[email protected]

Source: Forge Biologics
***11:30 a.m. Wednesday, September 14, 1800 Martha Street, Shreveport, LA 71101***

SHREVEPORT, La.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Representatives from Cadence Bank, Hancock Whitney, Origin Bank and Red River Bank will join with the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) to award $34,200 in Partnership Grant Program (PGP) funds to The Fuller Center for Housing of Northwest Louisiana (The Fuller Center NWLA) during a ceremonial check presentation Wednesday.

The Fuller Center NWLA builds new homes for low-income homebuyers who are unable to obtain adequate financing through other conventional means. Recipients receive a no-interest mortgage and affordable payments.

FHLB Dallas provides 3:1 matches of member contributions to provide grants up to $12,000 per member to help promote and strengthen relationships between Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and FHLB Dallas members. The PGP also complements development activities fostered by FHLB Dallas Affordable Housing and Community Investment programs. The media is welcome to attend.

WHAT: Check presentation for The Fuller Center NWLA WHEN: 11:30 a.m.  12:00 p.m., Wednesday, September 14, 2022 WHO: Adam Sistrunk, Division President, Cadence Bank Stefanie YBarbo, Vice President, Cadence Bank LaCarsha Babers, Assistant Vice President, Community Development Officer, Hancock Whitney Shelia Grayson, Vice President, CRA & Community Development Officer, Origin Bank Bridges Hall, Senior Vice President, Credit Policy Officer, Red River Bank Judy Madison, Vice President, Community Outreach Lender, Red River Bank Lee A. Jeter Sr., The Fuller Center for Housing of Northwest Louisiana Melanie Dill, Community and Economic Development Product Manager, FHLB Dallas WHERE: 1800 Martha Street, Shreveport, LA 71101

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Corporate Communications

Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas

fhlb.com

(214) 441-8445

Source: Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas
Updated qPCR system now includes integrated software to support growing test menus for clinical laboratories and assay developers

CARLSBAD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Thermo Fisher Scientific has certified the Applied Biosystems QuantStudio 7 Pro Dx Real-Time PCR System* to meet new In Vitro Medical Devices Regulation (IVDR) requirements. The updated system now includes new, complementary Applied Biosystems Diomni Software ecosystem to empower clinical labs and test developers to leverage flexible PCR testing onsite.

Designed for maximum productivity and fast ramp-up, the QuantStudio 7 Pro Dx Real-Time PCR System enables users to transition from development to validation on a single system. The expandable, automated platform comes with interchangeable 96-well and 384-well blocks and also includes remote desktop and touchscreen controls, facial authentication, voice command and smart tech support to increase user productivity.

We have continued to support our customers throughout the transition to IVDR, first by introducing the updated Applied Biosystems QuantStudio 5 Dx Real-Time PCR System earlier this year and now with the launch of the IVDR-compliant QuantStudio 7 Pro Dx Real-Time PCR System and new complementary Diomni Software ecosystem, said Fernando Beils, vice president and general manager of qPCR instruments at Thermo Fisher Scientific. As test developers and laboratories expand their assay menus and IVD testing capabilities, we are committed to continue providing innovative solutions to meet their evolving needs.

Whether performing a routine test or developing a new assay, the integrated, IVDR-compliant Applied Biosystems Diomni Software ecosystem is designed to streamline the entire workflow with a plug-and-play design and simplified set-up to enhance efficiency and minimize user error. The centralized set-up allows connection to multiple real-time PCR instruments and secure data sharing across a user network.

The ability to import plate set-up files from external software and export result sets in a customizable structure made it easy to integrate the QuantStudio 7 Pro Dx Real-Time PCR System with our laboratory information management software, said Dr. Gustav Quade, laboratory medicine and technical development specialist at the Quade Laboratory in Germany. The new Diomni Software makes it easy to work collaboratively and we can set up runs, manage past runs and documentation, and interpret fluorescent curves remotely and efficiently without the need to install special software.

The QuantStudio 7 Pro Dx Real-Time PCR System is available in all regions that recognize CE-IVD certification and is also listed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a class II medical device.

For more information, please visit www.thermofisher.com/quantstudio7prodx.

*The QuantStudio 7 Pro Dx Real-Time PCR System is For In Vitro Diagnostic Use.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is the world leader in serving science, with annual revenue of approximately $40 billion. Our Mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. Whether our customers are accelerating life sciences research, solving complex analytical challenges, increasing productivity in their laboratories, improving patient health through diagnostics or the development and manufacture of life-changing therapies, we are here to support them. Our global team delivers an unrivaled combination of innovative technologies, purchasing convenience and pharmaceutical services through our industry-leading brands, including Thermo Scientific, Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Fisher Scientific, Unity Lab Services, Patheon and PPD.

For more information, please visit www.thermofisher.com

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Media Contact Information:

Mauricio Minotta

Phone: 760-805-5266

Email: [email protected]



Jennifer Heady

Phone: 413-237-5141

Email: [email protected]

Source: Thermo Fisher
Company to hold conference call and webcast on Monday, September 12th at 4:30 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST)

VANCOUVER, British Columbia & SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Zymeworks Inc. (NYSE: ZYME), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing multifunctional biotherapeutics, today presented preliminary results from the companys Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating zanidatamab zovodotin (ZW49) for the treatment of HER2-positive tumors. The presentation, entitled Preliminary Results From a Phase 1 Study Using the Bispecific, Human Epidermal Growth Factor 2 (HER2)-targeting Antibody-drug Conjugate (ADC) zanidatamab zovodotin (ZW49) in Solid Cancers, was presented by Komal Jhaveri, MD, FACP, medical oncologist, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in NYC, in a mini-oral presentation today during the European Society for Medical Oncology Annual Congress at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles in Paris, France.

A total of 77 patients were enrolled in this first-in-human trial, which was designed to determine the maximum tolerated dose of zanidatamab zovodotin, characterize its safety and tolerability, and evaluate anti-tumor activity in HER2-expressing cancers as monotherapy. The patients represented a variety of HER2-expressing cancers including breast, gastroesophageal, ovarian, endometrial, bladder, biliary tract, anal, colorectal, pancreatic and lung. At the time of the analysis, the maximum tolerated dose had not yet been reached.

Commenting on the data, Dr. Jhaveri noted, The preliminary results of this trial are very encouraging. Zanidatamab zovodotin dosed on an every three week (Q3W) schedule is active and has a manageable safety profile. I am excited to see further clinical development of zanidatmab zovodotin across a variety of HER2-expressing cancers.

In the trial, zanidatamab zovodotin was shown to have a manageable safety profile with the majority of adverse events being Grade 1 or 2 in severity. In patients with HER2-positive cancers treated with zanidatamab zovodotin at 2.5 mg/kg Q3W (dose escalation + dose expansion), the confirmed objective response rate was 31% and the disease control rate was 72%. The Phase 1 clinical trial is ongoing and continues to enroll patients to study safety, tolerability and activity for an alternate qW dosing regimen. The Company expects to present results of this dosing regimen at a medical meeting in 2023.

We are grateful to the patients who participated in this trial and appreciate the collaborative efforts and dedication of the outstanding group of clinical investigators who are participating in this Phase 1 study, said Neil Josephson, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Zymeworks. These promising results provide significant momentum for the further clinical development of zanidatamab zovodotin, as a monotherapy, and in combination with standard of care agents, for the treatment of cancers expressing HER2 or harboring HER2 gene alterations.

Conference Call

Dr. Jhaveris complete presentation at the ESMO 2022 Congress is available for review on Zymeworks website. Zymeworks will hold a conference call to discuss Dr. Jhaveris presentation and future clinical development plans for zanidatamab zovodotin on Monday, September 12th at 4:30 pm EST. Interested parties can access the live webcast via Zymeworks website at https://ir.zymeworks.com/events-and-presentations. A recorded replay will be accessible after the event through the Zymeworks website.

Disclosure: Dr. Jhaveri has a consulting relationship with Zymeworks.

About Zymeworks Inc.

Zymeworks is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of next-generation multifunctional biotherapeutics. Zymeworks suite of therapeutic platforms and its fully integrated drug development engine enable precise engineering of highly differentiated product candidates. Zymeworks lead clinical candidate, zanidatamab, is a novel Azymetric HER2-targeted bispecific antibody currently being evaluated in multiple Phase 1, Phase 2, and pivotal clinical trials globally as a targeted treatment option for patients with solid tumors that express HER2. Zymeworks second clinical candidate, zanidatamab zovodotin (ZW49), is a novel bispecific HER2 targeted antibody-drug conjugate currently in Phase 1 clinical development and combines the unique design and antibody framework of zanidatamab with Zymeworks proprietary ZymeLink linker and cytotoxin. Zymeworks is also advancing a deep preclinical pipeline in oncology (including immuno-oncology agents) and other therapeutic areas. In addition, its therapeutic platforms are being leveraged through strategic partnerships with global biopharmaceutical companies. For more information on our ongoing clinical trials visit www.zymeworksclinicaltrials.com. For additional information about Zymeworks, visit www.zymeworks.com and follow @ZymeworksInc on Twitter.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws, or collectively, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements that relate to the potential therapeutic effects of zanidatamab, zanidatamab zovodotin and Zymeworks other product candidates; Zymeworks clinical development of its product candidates and enrollment in its clinical trials; anticipated clinical data presentations; and other information that is not historical information. When used herein, words such as will, plans, may, potential, and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements or information that refer to expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, performance or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking. All forward-looking statements are based upon Zymeworks current expectations and various assumptions. Zymeworks believes there is a reasonable basis for its expectations and beliefs, but they are inherently uncertain. Zymeworks may not realize its expectations, and its beliefs may not prove correct. Actual results could differ materially from those described or implied by such forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, without limitation: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Zymeworks business, research and clinical development plans and timelines and results of operations, including impact on its clinical trial sites, collaborators, and contractors who act for or on Zymeworks behalf, may be more severe and more prolonged than currently anticipated; clinical trials may not demonstrate safety and efficacy of any of Zymeworks or its collaborators product candidates; any of Zymeworks or its partners product candidates may fail in development, may not receive required regulatory approvals, or may be delayed to a point where they are not commercially viable; regulatory agencies may impose additional requirements or delay the initiation of clinical trials; the impact of new or changing laws and regulations; market conditions; inability to maintain or enter into new partnerships or strategic collaborations and the factors described under Risk Factors in Zymeworks quarterly and annual reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for its quarter ended June 30, 2022 (a copy of which may be obtained at www.sec.gov and www.sedar.com). Consequently, forward-looking statements should be regarded solely as Zymeworks current plans, estimates and beliefs. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Zymeworks cannot guarantee future results, events, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Zymeworks does not undertake and specifically declines any obligation to update, republish, or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, future events or circumstances or to reflect the occurrences of unanticipated events, except as may be required by law.

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Jack Spinks

(604) 678-1388

[email protected]

Media Inquiries:

Diana Papove

(604) 678-1388

[email protected]

Source: Zymeworks Inc.
Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Sotyktu (deucravacitinib), a first-in-class, oral, selective, allosteric tyrosine kinase 2 (TYK2) inhibitor, for the treatment of adults with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis who are candidates for systemic therapy or phototherapy.1,2 Sotyktu is not recommended for use in combination with other potent immunosuppressants.

The approval is based on results from the pivotal Phase 3 POETYK PSO-1 and POETYK PSO-2 clinical trials, which demonstrated superior efficacy of once-daily Sotyktu compared to placebo and twice-daily Otezla (apremilast) in 1,684 patients aged 18 years and older with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis.1 The superior efficacy of Sotyktu compared to placebo and Otezla was demonstrated at both 16 and 24 weeks, and responses with Sotyktu persisted through 52 weeks. See below for more information.

Sotyktu has the potential to become the new standard of care oral treatment for people with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, given its profile in helping patients achieve clearer skin as demonstrated in the POETYK PSO clinical program, said April Armstrong, MD, MPH, clinical investigator in the POETYK PSO-1 trial and Associate Dean and Professor of Dermatology at the University of Southern California. People living with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis face significant burdens, and Sotyktu is a welcome first-line systemic treatment option.

Psoriasis is a widely prevalent, chronic, systemic immune-mediated disease that affects approximately 7.5 million people in the U.S.3 Up to 90 percent of patients with psoriasis have plaque psoriasis, which is characterized by distinct, round or oval plaques typically covered by silvery white scales. Nearly one-quarter of people with psoriasis, or around two million in the U.S., have cases that are considered moderate-to-severe.3

The approval of Sotyktu represents an exciting day for patients suffering from moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis who are not satisfied with topical and conventional treatments. This is another extraordinary achievement for Bristol Myers Squibb, as we bring forward a new mechanism of action, the first oral treatment approved in nearly 10 years, and the first orally dosed once-daily treatment for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, said Samit Hirawat, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Bristol Myers Squibb. We believe Sotyktu is a breakthrough in the treatment of patients with this condition, and were excited about its potential in other immune-mediated diseases.

In the POETYK PSO trials, at Week 16, the most common adverse reactions (1 percent and higher than placebo) in patients on Sotyktu were upper respiratory infections (19.2 percent), blood creatine phosphokinase increase (2.7 percent), herpes simplex (2.0 percent), mouth ulcers (1.9 percent), folliculitis (1.7 percent) and acne (1.4 percent).1 In addition, 2.4 percent of patients on Sotyktu, 3.8 percent of patients on placebo, and 5.2 percent of patients on Otezla experienced adverse reactions leading to discontinuation.1,4

Despite the availability of therapies, many people living with plaque psoriasis in the United States are untreated or undertreated,5,6 said Leah M. Howard, JD, President and CEO of the National Psoriasis Foundation. The FDA approval of a new oral treatment is exciting news for the psoriasis community. We welcome this new treatment option.

Bristol Myers Squibb thanks the patients and investigators involved in the POETYK PSO clinical trial program. Sotyktu is expected to be available to patients in the U.S. in September 2022.

About POETYK PSO-1 and POETYK PSO-2

The pivotal Phase 3 POETYK PSO-1 and POETYK PSO-2 clinical trials evaluated the safety and efficacy of Sotyktu (6 mg once daily) compared to placebo and Otezla (apremilast) (30 mg twice daily) in patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. Both were multi-national, multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo- and active comparator-controlled 52-week Phase 3 studies. POETYK PSO-2 included a randomized withdrawal and retreatment period after Week 24. In total, 664 patients were enrolled in POETYK PSO-1 and 1,020 patients were enrolled in POETYK PSO-2. All participants had moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis and were candidates for phototherapy or systemic therapy. Patients had a body surface area involvement of 10 percent, a Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) score 12, and a static Physicians Global Assessment (sPGA) 3 (moderate or severe).

The co-primary endpoints of both POETYK PSO-1 and POETYK PSO-2 were the percentage of patients who achieved Psoriasis Area and Severity Index 75 and the percentage of patients who achieved static Physician's Global Assessment score of 0 or 1 at Week 16 versus placebo. Key secondary endpoints included the percentage of patients who achieved PASI 75, PASI 90 and sPGA 0/1 compared to Otezla at Week 16 and Week 24.

POETYK PSO-1 (n=664) Results at Week 16 and Week 24 Endpoint* Time Sotyktu 6 mg

(n=330) Placebo

(n=166) P-value vs.

placebo Otezla

30 mg

(n=168) P-value vs.

Otezla PASI 75*a Week 16 58%* 13%* P<0.0001 35% P<0.0001 Week 24 69% - - 38% P<0.0001 PASI 90b Week 16 36% 4% P<0.0001 20% P=0.0002 Week 24 42% - - 22% P<0.0001 sPGA 0/1*c Week 16 54%* 7%* P<0.0001 32% P<0.0001 Week 24 59% - - 31% P<0.0001 POETYK PSO-2 (n=1,020) Results at Week 16 and Week 24 Endpoint Time Sotyktu 6 mg

(n=511) Placebo

(n=255) P-value vs.

placebo Otezla

30 mg

(n=254) P-value vs.

Otezla PASI 75*a Week 16* 53%* 9%* P<0.0001 40% P=0.0004 Week 24 58% - - 38% P<0.0001 PASI 90 b Week 16 27% 3% P<0.0001 18% P=0.0046 Week 24 32% - - 20% P=0.0002 sPGA 0/1*c Week 16* 50%* 9%* P<0.0001 34% P<0.0001 Week 24 49% - - 30% P<0.0001

*Co-primary endpoints for POETYK PSO-1 and POETYK PSO-2 were PASI 75 and sPGA 0/1 for Sotyktu vs. placebo at Week 16.

a. PASI 75 is defined as at least a 75% improvement from baseline in Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) scores.

b. PASI 90 is defined as at least a 90% improvement from baseline in Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) scores.

c. sPGA 0/1 is defined as a static Physicians Global Assessment (sPGA) score of clear or almost clear.

Responses persisted through Week 52, as 82 percent (187/228) of patients who achieved PASI 75 with Sotyktu at Week 24 maintained their response at Week 52 in POETYK PSO-1. In POETYK PSO-2, 80 percent (119/148) of patients who continued on Sotyktu maintained PASI 75 response compared to 31 percent (47/150) of patients who were withdrawn from Sotyktu.

Through Week 16, infections occurred in 29 percent of patients treated with Sotyktu compared to 22 percent of those treated with placebo. The majority of infections were non-serious and mild to moderate in severity and did not lead to discontinuation of Sotyktu. Serious infections were reported in five patients receiving Sotyktu and two patients treated with placebo. Through Week 52, the most common serious infections reported were pneumonia and COVID-19. Malignancies (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) were reported in three patients treated with Sotyktu.
Community Heritage Financial, Inc. (the "Company") (OTC PK: CMHF), the parent company of Middletown Valley Bank (the "Bank"), today announced the launch of a public offering of 1,500,000 shares of common stock under Regulation A, Tier 2. The public offering price is expected to be between $21.00 and $23.00 per share.

The Company is offering the shares of common stock through an underwriter, Piper Sandler & Co. The underwriter will have a 30-day option to purchase up to 225,000 additional shares of common stock.

The Company intends to use the proceeds of the offering (substantially all of which the Company intends to contribute to the capital of the Bank) to increase lending and investment activities and to expand client relationships through the ability to make additional loans with a larger legal lending limit. The Company may also use a portion of the proceeds to fund potential acquisition opportunities, and for working capital and other general corporate purposes. The Company does not have any current plans, arrangements, or understandings relating to any specific acquisitions.

The shares of common stock will be issued pursuant to an offering statement on Form 1-A (File No. 024-11920) filed by the Company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), which was qualified by the SEC on September 9, 2022, and only by means of an offering circular. A preliminary offering circular related to the offering has been filed with the SEC. Prospective investors should read the preliminary offering circular, and the final offering circular, when available, and other documents the Company has filed with the SEC for more complete information about the Company and the offering. Copies of these documents are available for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC website at www.sec.gov or may be obtained from the Piper Sandler Equity Capital Markets department at 800-747-3924.

This press release is for informational purposes only and shall not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, the securities, nor shall there be any offer, solicitation, or sale in any jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.
Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, and Eisai today announced the first presentation of results from the final analysis of the Phase 3 LEAP-002 trial investigating KEYTRUDA, Mercks anti-PD-1 therapy, plus LENVIMA, the orally available multiple receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) discovered by Eisai, versus LENVIMA monotherapy as a first-line treatment for patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC). Results are being presented during a proffered paper session at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2022, being held in Paris, France and virtually from Sept. 9-13 (abstract #LBA34).

In the final analysis of the trial, there was a trend toward improvement for one of the studys dual primary endpoints, overall survival (OS), for patients treated with KEYTRUDA plus LENVIMA versus LENVIMA monotherapy; however, the results did not meet statistical significance per the pre-specified statistical plan (HR=0.84 [95% CI: 0.71-1.00]; p=0.0227). The median OS was 21.2 months (95% CI: 19.0-23.6) for KEYTRUDA plus LENVIMA and 19.0 months (95% CI: 17.2-21.7) for LENVIMA monotherapy. Additionally, treatment with KEYTRUDA plus LENVIMA resulted in a trend toward improvement in the trials other dual primary endpoint of progression-free survival (PFS) versus LENVIMA monotherapy; however, the results did not meet the pre-specified threshold at the first interim analysis for statistical significance (HR=0.87 [95% CI: 0.73-1.02]; p=0.0466).

The LEAP-002 trial reflects our research strategy to build on evolving standards of care to further improve outcomes for more people with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma, said Dr. Gregory Lubiniecki, Vice President, Global Clinical Development, Merck Research Laboratories. The median overall survival of 21.2 months seen with KEYTRUDA plus LENVIMA provides critical insights for further research into the potential role of this combination.

While the outcome is not what we had hoped, it is important for us to see that patients in the trial treated with LENVIMA monotherapy had a median overall survival of 19.0 months, said Corina Dutcus, M.D., Senior Vice President, Clinical Research, Oncology at Eisai Inc. Findings from the LEAP-002 trial will not only help advance our understanding and application of KEYTRUDA plus LENVIMA across our clinical development program but will also provide physicians with additional information on LENVIMA monotherapys use in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma, where it is currently approved as a treatment option in multiple regions around the world, including the U.S., the European Union (EU), Japan and China.

LENVIMA monotherapy is approved for the first-line treatment of patients with uHCC in the U.S., the EU and China and for patients with uHCC in Japan. The approval of LENVIMA was based on results of the Phase 3 REFLECT trial, which evaluated the efficacy and safety of LENVIMA versus sorafenib for the first-line treatment of patients with uHCC.

KEYTRUDA plus LENVIMA (marketed as KISPLYX for renal cell carcinoma [RCC] in the EU) is approved in the U.S., the EU and Japan for the treatment of certain types of advanced endometrial carcinoma and advanced RCC. Merck and Eisai are studying the KEYTRUDA plus LENVIMA combination through the LEAP (LEnvatinib And Pembrolizumab) clinical program in multiple tumor types, including but not limited to endometrial carcinoma, HCC, melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, RCC, head and neck cancer, colorectal cancer, gastric cancer and esophageal cancer, across more than 15 clinical trials.
Ra Medical Systems, Inc. (NYSE American: RMED) (Ra Medical or the Company) announces it has entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the Definitive Merger Agreement) with privately held Catheter Precision, Inc. (Catheter Precision), a medical device and technology company focused in the field of cardiac electrophysiology. Under the terms of the agreement, Catheter Precision will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Ra Medical in a stock for stock reverse merger transaction (the Merger). If completed, the Merger will result in a combined publicly traded company that will focus on the cardiac electrophysiology market, one of the most robust and growing areas of medical devices. Medtech veteran David Jenkins, who has extensive experience growing medical device start-ups, will act as Chief Executive Officer of the combined company. Before taking the role as CEO of Catheter Precision, Mr. Jenkins was instrumental in operating several medical device start-ups, including Transneuronix, Inc., which was acquired by Medtronic plc (NYSE: MDT) for $267 million in July 2005, and EP MedSystems, Inc., which was acquired by St. Jude Medical for $95.7 million in July 2008.

Catheter Precision has three product areas that it intends to pursue. Its lead product, named VIVO (an acronym for View Into Ventricular Onset), is an FDA-cleared and CE Mark product that utilizes non-invasive inputs to locate the origin of ventricular arrhythmias, and, through its use, the physician can identify patients for invasive catheter ablation, and with those patients, reduce the amount of time in the invasive procedure. Ventricular arrhythmias include ventricular tachyarrhythmias and premature ventricular arrhythmias, diseases which affect millions of patients that are not well treated today. While much past growth in the electrophysiology market has been for atrial fibrillation, Catheter Precision believes that ventricular arrhythmias represent a large growth area moving forward. It also intends to pursue a second generation of Amigo, a robotic arm previously cleared by both FDA and CE, which serves as a catheter control device that can be remotely controlled outside of the procedure room. Catheter Precision has demonstrated that patient outcomes could potentially be enhanced by utilization of this device. Catheter Precision is working toward a third product release in the first half of 2023, which is a vessel closure device that would assist in the closure of the insertion site of the percutaneous catheter or other device used within the body. It is estimated that the worldwide market for this closure assist device is over one million procedures per year.

After undertaking a comprehensive process with external advisors to explore and evaluate a range of strategic options, our board and management team believe this transaction with Catheter Precision is the best strategic alternative for Ra Medical and represents an opportunity to create substantial value for our stockholders, said Will McGuire, Ra Medical CEO. This business combination, if completed, will result in Ra Medical investors having an equity stake in a company that is focused on developing and commercializing novel technologies and solutions to improve the lives of patients with cardiac arrhythmias under the leadership of a world-class team with decades of medical device industry experience.

We look forward to welcoming Ra Medical stockholders to our combined company following the completion of the proposed merger transaction, said Mr. Jenkins, Catheter Precision founder and CEO. Catheter Precision is committed to producing cost-effective, user-friendly and technologically differentiated tools for use in percutaneous catheter procedures that physicians will embrace. Our VIVO non-invasive 3D imaging system enables physicians to identify the origin of arrhythmias pre-procedure, thereby streamlining workflow and reducing procedure time. We are also considering development opportunities for the Amigo remote catheter system, which incorporates the most modern technologies while remaining easy to learn and use, and we are looking forward to the launch of our vessel closure device, currently targeted for the first half of next year. We envision a significant opportunity afforded by this merger by providing access to the public capital markets.

About the Transaction

The Merger is structured as a stock for stock reverse merger whereby all of Catheter Precisions outstanding convertible promissory notes and equity interests are to be exchanged for shares of Ra Medical common stock and Catheter Precision options assumed by the Company. Catheter Precision stakeholders are expected to own approximately 80% of the combined company, and pre-merger Ra Medical equity holders are expected to own approximately 20% of the combined company, on a fully diluted basis calculated using the treasury stock method, subject to certain adjustments provided for in the Merger Agreement and further described in our Form 8-K filed today, including adjustment based on the amount of Ra Medicals net cash at closing.

The boards of directors of both companies have approved the Definitive Merger Agreement. The merger is expected to close before the end of 2022, subject to satisfying certain closing conditions, including the receipt of shareholder approval by both companies. The Definitive Merger Agreement follows the signing by Ra Medical and Catheter Precision of a non-binding summary of proposed terms on June 18, 2022, which was publicly disclosed on July 22, 2022. Investors in Ra Medical are encouraged to review the Definitive Merger Agreement, which contains the definitive terms of the Merger.

The descriptions of the Merger, the Ra Medical Special Meeting of Stockholders, Catheter Precision, and the other transactions and matters contemplated thereby or referenced herein do not purport to be complete and are qualified in their entirety by reference to the Companys Current Report on Form 8-K filed on the date hereof, the Companys Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2022, and any prior or subsequent reports on Form 10-K, Form 10-Q or Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) from time to time and available on the SEC website. The Company also intends to file a proxy statement with the SEC.

Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc. is acting as the exclusive financial advisor to Ra Medical in connection with the proposed Merger with Catheter Precision.

Management and Organization

The combined company will be led by David Jenkins as Executive Chair and Chief Executive Officer following the Merger. Will McGuire, the current CEO, and Brian Conn, the current interim CFO, have agreed to remain with the Company through the closing of the Merger.

Immediately following the closing of the Merger, the combined companys board of directors will consist of five directors, with David Jenkins joining the board of directors as the Executive Chair and a to-be-determined current director of Ra Medical resigning at the closing of the Merger.

Conditions of the Merger Agreement

The Company cannot provide any assurance that it will effect the Merger with Catheter Precision or, even if it is able to consummate such a Merger, that the intended benefits of the Merger will be fully realized. The Merger is also subject to specified conditions precedent that must be satisfied or waived, including certain conditions precedent that are subject to the approval or consent of third parties including, among others, (a) Catheter Precision shall have delivered the PPM/Joint Information Statement (as defined in the Definitive Merger Agreement) to Catheter Precision securityholders, (b) no law or order prevents the closing of the Merger and the related transactions, (c) conditions relating to the HHS Confirmation (as defined in the Definitive Merger Agreement) and other litigation matters shall be satisfied or waived, (d) the Company furnishing Net Cash greater than $8,000,000, (e) the entry into the Executive Chairman Agreement (as defined in the Definitive Merger Agreement) pursuant to which David Jenkins shall be appointed to the board of directors of the Company and shall be paid an annual salary of $300,000, (f) the last closing sale price of the Companys Common Stock prior to 4:00 p.m. (New York City time) on the last Trading Day (as defined in the Definitive Merger Agreement) prior to the Closing is equal to or greater than $0.09, and the average of the last closing sale price of the Companys Common Stock prior to 4:00 p.m. (New York City time) on each of the five (5) consecutive full Trading Days prior to the Closing is equal to or greater than $0.09, in each case as adjusted for the Reverse Stock Split (as defined in the Definitive Merger Agreement), (g) other than the letter dated August 31, 2022 from the NYSE American LLC, the Company shall not have received correspondence from the NYSE American or the staff thereof relating to the delisting, or maintenance of listing, of the Companys Common Stock on the NYSE American, and Catheter Precision shall have received assurance in form and substance satisfactory to Catheter Precision that the transactions contemplated by the Definitive Merger Agreement will not cause the Company to be delisted from the NYSE American, (h) Catheter Precision shall have entered into a Debt Settlement Agreement with each of the holders of Catheter Precision Notes, (i) lock-up agreements have been entered into by and among the Company, Catheter Precision, and certain persons who are directors, officers and/or significant stockholders of either Parent or the Company, (j) the Company shall have sublet or terminated the lease with respect to its corporate headquarters and manufacturing facility, (k) Catheter Precision and the Company shall have received the approval from their respective stockholders necessary to approve the Merger and the transactions contemplated by the Definitive Merger Agreement, (l) that the Company has entered into release agreements with certain of its officers and employees relating to existing change of control and severance agreements, and (m) each of the representations and warranties of the Company and Catheter Precision set forth in the Definitive Merger Agreement shall have been true as of the date of the Definitive Merger Agreement and as of the Closing Date as though made on and as of the Closing Date (except to the extent such representations and warranties are specifically made as of a particular date, in which case such representations and warranties shall be true and correct as of such date), in each case, except where the failure to be true and correct, individually or in the aggregate, has not had, and is not reasonably likely to have a Parent Material Adverse Effect (as defined in the Definitive Merger Agreement) with respect to Parent, or a Material Adverse Effect (as defined in the Definitive Merger Agreement) with respect to Catheter Precision. The Company cannot assure that all conditions precedent will be satisfied or waived, that it will receive any of the required third-party consents or approvals or that it will be able to satisfy or waive all the conditions precedent to consummate the Merger. If the conditions precedent are not satisfied or waived in a timely manner or at all, the Merger may not occur or may be delayed, and the Company may lose some or all of the intended benefits of the proposed Merger with Catheter Precision. In addition, the parties have the right to waive or modify certain key closing conditions of the Merger Agreement, including the minimum stock price condition, and these conditions should not be interpreted as representations or covenants by either or both of the parties.

The Definitive Merger Agreement also contains certain customary termination rights, including, (a) the right of the parties to terminate the Definitive Merger Agreement by mutual written consent, (b) the right of either party to terminate the Definitive Merger Agreement if the Merger has not occurred by December 31, 2022, (c) the right of either party to terminate the Definitive Merger Agreement due to a material breach by the other party of any of its representations, warranties or covenants which would result in the closing conditions not being satisfied, subject to certain conditions, (d) the right of Catheter Precision to terminate the Definitive Merger Agreement if any of the closing conditions are not capable of being satisfied, and (e) the right of either party to terminate the Definitive Merger Agreement if a court of competent jurisdiction or other governmental body issues a final and non-appealable order, decree or ruling, or has taken any other action, having the effect of permanently restraining, enjoining or otherwise prohibiting the Merger and related transactions.

About Catheter Precision

Catheter Precision is an innovative U.S.-based medical device company bringing new solutions to market to improve the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. It is focused on developing groundbreaking technology for electrophysiology procedures by collaborating with physicians and continuously advancing its products.

About Ra Medical Systems

Ra Medical Systems, Inc. is a medical device company that owns intellectual property related to an advanced excimer laser-based platform for use in the treatment of vascular immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. Its excimer laser and single-use catheter system, together referred to as the DABRA Excimer Laser System, is used as a tool in the treatment of peripheral artery disease.

No Offer or Solicitation

This communication is not intended to and shall not constitute an offer to buy or sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any securities, or a solicitation of any vote or approval, nor shall there be any sale of 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. No offering of securities shall be made, except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

Additional Information and Where to Find It

The shares of Common Stock being issued in the Merger (the Securities) are being offered and sold in transactions exempt from registration under the Securities Act, in reliance on Section 4(a)(2) thereof. Catheter Precision and Ra Medical intend to distribute a Private Placement Memorandum/Joint Information Statement (the PPM/Joint Information Statement) to the stockholders of Catheter Precision, and Catheter Precision stockholders are encouraged to carefully read the PPM/Joint Information Statement, together with Ra Medicals concurrent SEC filings, which will contain important information concerning the transaction.

The Securities have not been registered under the Securities Act and such Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration under the Securities Act and any applicable state securities laws.

The Company intends to file a proxy statement (the Proxy) to call, give notice of and hold a meeting of its stockholders to vote to approve, among other matters, (a) the Merger, and (b) the issuance of the shares of the Ra Medical Common Stock to be issued pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement. Catheter Precision also intends to furnish an information statement to its stockholders in connection with the proposed Merger as part of the PPM/Joint Information Statement. The only matters that the Company is seeking approval for at the Special Meeting of Stockholders are the matters that will be set forth in the Proxy.

The Proxy and PPM/Joint Information Statement will contain important information about Catheter Precision, the proposed Merger and related matters. In addition, the Company is filing on the date hereof a Current Report on Form 8-K that includes certain audited financial statements of Catheter Precision for the two-year period ended December 31, 2021 (the Catheter Audited Financial Statements), the unaudited financial statements of Catheter Precision for the periods ended June 30, 2022 and June 30, 2021 (the Catheter Precision Unaudited Financial Statements and together with the Catheter Precision Audited Financial Statements, the Catheter Precision Financial Statements), and the unaudited pro forma combined financial information of the combined company as of June 30, 2022 and for the year ended December 31, 2021 and the six months ended June 30, 2022 (the Pro Forma Financial Information, and collectively with the Catheter Precision Financial Statements, the Financial Information).

Ra Medical intends to mail the Proxy to Ra Medical stockholders, and Catheter Precision intends to electronically disseminate the PPM/Joint Information Statement. INVESTORS AND SECURITYHOLDERS OF RA MEDICAL AND CATHETER PRECISION ARE URGED TO READ THESE MATERIALS WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT RA MEDICAL, CATHETER PRECISION AND THE PROPOSED MERGER. THIS COMMUNICATION IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR THE PPM/JOINT INFORMATION STATEMENT, THE PROXY, THE CURRENT REPORT ON FORM 8-K BEING FILED ON THE DATE HEREOF, THE COMPANYS QUARTERLY REPORT FOR THE PERIOD ENDED JUNE 30, 2022, OR ANY OTHER DOCUMENTS THAT RA MEDICAL AND/OR CATHETER PRECISION MAY FILE WITH THE SEC OR SEND TO THEIR RESPECTIVE SECURITYHOLDERS IN CONNECTION WITH THE PROPOSED TRANSACTIONS. INVESTORS AND SECURITYHOLDERS MAY OBTAIN FREE COPIES OF RA MEDICALS DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC, ONCE AVAILABLE, ON THE RA MEDICAL WEBSITE OR ON THE SECS WEBSITE.

The unaudited pro forma combined financial information does not purport to represent the actual results of operations that the Company and Catheter Precision would have achieved had the companies been combined during the periods presented in the unaudited pro forma combined financial statements and is not intended to project the future results of operations that the combined company may achieve after the Merger. The unaudited pro forma combined financial information does not reflect any potential cost savings that may be realized as a result of the Merger and also does not reflect any restructuring or integration-related costs to achieve those potential cost savings.

Participants in the Solicitation

Ra Medical, Catheter Precision and their respective directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the stockholders of Ra Medical in connection with the proposed transaction. Information about Ra Medicals directors and executive officers is set forth in Ra Medicals Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, which was filed with the SEC on March 17, 2022, as amended, and in subsequent filings made by Ra Medical with the SEC. Other information regarding the interests of such individuals, as well as information regarding Catheter Precisions directors and executive officers and other persons who may be deemed participants in the proposed transaction, will be set forth in the proxy statement and other relevant materials to be filed with the SEC when they become available. You may obtain free copies of these documents as described in the preceding paragraph.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This communication contains forward-looking statements which include, but are not limited to, statements regarding expected timing, completion and effects of the proposed Merger, future access to capital markets, and the plans and expectations of the combined company regarding Catheter Precisions products, including its plans, strategies, projected timelines and estimated markets, for and/or related to VIVO and the Amigo and vessel closure devices described above. These forward-looking statements are subject to the safe harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Companys expectations and beliefs regarding these matters may not materialize. Actual outcomes and results may differ materially from those contemplated by these forward-looking statements as a result of uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances, including but not limited to risks and uncertainties related to: the ability of the parties to consummate the proposed Merger, satisfaction of closing conditions precedent to the consummation of the proposed Merger, potential delays in consummating the Merger and the ability of the Company to timely and successfully achieve the anticipated benefits of the Merger, including the ability of the combined company to access the capital markets at such times and in such amounts, and on such terms, as needed to meet the Net Cash requirements of the Merger Agreement, execute its future business strategies and maintain its listing on the NYSE American or other national stock exchange, potential application of SEC and/or exchange shall company rules, and the ability of the combined company to successfully pursue its product lines in the manner and in the timeframe described here. The Merger Agreement contains certain closing conditions, including a minimum prevailing stock price for Ra Medical and Net Cash amount at closing, which do not constitute representations or covenants of either party, and are subject to waiver by the parties. If Ra Medicals stock price drops below certain levels, the amount of merger consideration, if any, received by Catheter stockholders will be adversely impacted. The parties have reserved the right to waive conditions to the closing of the Merger and revise the Merger Agreement. Additional risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements are included under the caption Risk Factors and elsewhere in the Companys most recent filings with the SEC, including the Companys Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2022, the Current Report on Form 8-K being filed on the date hereof and any prior or subsequent reports on Form 10-K, Form 10-Q or Form 8-K filed with the SEC from time to time and available at www.sec.gov. Important business and financial information about Catheter Precisions business and the related discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations of Catheter Precision is set forth in the Current Report on Form 8-K being filed on the date hereof and the exhibits thereto and should be read in conjunction with the Catheter Precision Financial Statements and the pro forma financial statements for the combined company that are attached as exhibits thereto. Risks and uncertainties related to the Merger, Catheter Precision, and the projections and estimates described above that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statement are included Risk Factors  Risk Related to the Merger with Catheter Precision and  Risks Related to Our Evaluation of Strategic Alternatives for our Legacy Assets, and Risk Factors  Risks Related to the Business of Catheter Precision, which are filed as the exhibits to the Current Report on Form 8-K being filed on the date hereof. These documents can be accessed on the Companys Investor Relations page at https://ir.ramed.com/ by clicking on the link titled SEC Filings. The risks and uncertainties may be amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused significant economic uncertainty, and ongoing volatility in the stock markets and the U.S. economy in general. The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic impacts the Companys and Catheter Precisions businesses, operations, and financial results, including the duration and magnitude of such effects, will depend on numerous factors, which are unpredictable, including, but not limited to, the duration and spread of the outbreak, its severity, the actions to contain the virus or treat its impact, and how quickly and to what extent normal economic and operating conditions can resume.

The forward-looking statements included in this communication are made only as of the date hereof. The Company and Catheter Precision assume no obligation and do not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

Disclaimer

This press release relates to a proposed business combination between the Company and Catheter Precision. This document does not constitute an offer to sell or exchange, or the solicitation of an offer to buy or exchange, any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, sale or exchange would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220912005366/en/

Ra Medical Systems Contact:



LHA Investor Relations



Jody Cain



310-691-7100



[email protected]

Source: Ra Medical Systems, Inc.
Stepan Company (NYSE: SCL), announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the surfactant business and associated assets of PerformanX Specialty Chemicals, LLC. The acquisition will include intellectual property, commercial relationships, and inventory. The definitive agreement is subject to normal closing conditions and the transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022.

"PerformanX is a strong strategic fit within Stepan's Surfactants business and provides attractive market diversification opportunities for our alkoxylation product line," said Scott R. Behrens, President and Chief Executive Officer of Stepan Company. "The acquisition of PerformanX's business should increase annual revenue by approximately $20 million and be accretive to Stepan's EBITDA margin. We look forward to welcoming PerformanX's customers to Stepan by continuing to provide the same high level of quality and service to which they have been accustomed."

In 2021 Stepan Company announced plans to build and operate a new alkoxylation plant at its existing Pasadena, Texas facility. Alkoxylates are a core surfactant technology critical to the agricultural, oilfield, construction, pulp and paper, lubricant and household end use markets. Stepan's $245 million investment is expected to provide flexible capacity of 75,000 metric tons per year, capable of both ethoxylation and propoxylation, and positions the Company to serve the growing global demand of our Surfactant and Polymer businesses. The new alkoxylation capacity in Pasadena, Texas is expected to come online in early 2024.

Corporate Profile

Stepan Company is a major manufacturer of specialty and intermediate chemicals used in a broad range of industries. Stepan is a leading merchant producer of surfactants, which are the key ingredients in consumer and industrial cleaning and disinfection products and in agricultural and oilfield solutions. The Company is also a leading supplier of polyurethane polyols used in the expanding thermal insulation market, and CASE (Coatings, Adhesives, Sealants, and Elastomers) industries.

Headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois, Stepan utilizes a network of modern production facilities located in North and South America, Europe and Asia.

The Company's common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol SCL. For more information about Stepan Company please visit the Company online at www.stepan.com.

More information about Stepan's sustainability program can be found on the Sustainability page at www.stepan.com. Contact: Luis E. Rojo 847-446-7500

Certain information in this news release consists of forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements include statements about Stepan Company's plans, objectives, strategies, financial performance and outlook, trends, the amount and timing of future cash distributions, prospects or future events and involve known and unknown risks that are difficult to predict. As a result, Stepan Company's actual financial results, performance, achievements or prospects may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "may," "could," "expect," "intend," "plan," "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "guidance," "predict," "potential," "continue," "likely," "will," "would," "should," "illustrative" and variations of these terms and similar expressions, or the negative of these terms or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Stepan Company and its management based on their knowledge and understanding of the business and industry, are inherently uncertain. These statements are not guarantees of future performance, and stockholders should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

There are a number of risks, uncertainties and other important factors, many of which are beyond Stepan Company's control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this news release. Such risks, uncertainties and other important factors include, among other factors, the risks, uncertainties and factors described in Stepan Company's Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K reports and exhibits to those reports, and include (but are not limited to) risks and uncertainties related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; accidents, unplanned production shutdowns or disruptions in manufacturing facilities; reduced demand due to customer product reformulations or new technologies; our inability to successfully develop or introduce new products; compliance with laws; our ability to identify suitable acquisition candidates and successfully complete and integrate acquisitions; global competition; volatility of raw material and energy costs and supply; disruptions in transportation or significant changes in transportation costs; downturns in certain industries and general economic downturns; international business risks, including currency exchange rate fluctuations, legal restrictions and taxes; unfavorable resolution of litigation against us; maintaining and protecting intellectual property rights; our ability to access capital markets; global political, military, security or other instability; costs related to expansion or other capital projects; interruption or breaches of information technology systems; our ability to retain executive management and key personnel; and our debt covenants.

These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof, and Stepan Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/stepan-company-executes-agreement-to-acquire-us-surfactants-producer-301621639.html

SOURCE Stepan Company
Trio Petroleum Corp (NYSE: TPET) has filed for a proposed IPO.

The company describes itself as: "We are an oil and gas exploration and development company headquartered in Bakersfield, California, with operations in Monterey County, California. The Company was incorporated on July 19, 2021, under the laws of Delaware to acquire, fund and develop oil exploration and production assets in California. We have no revenue-generating operations as of the date of this prospectus. The Company was formed to acquire Trio Petroleum LLCs (Trio LLC) approximate 82.5% working interest (WI) in the large, approximately 8,600-acre South Salinas Project (the South Salinas Project), and subsequently partner with certain members of Trio LLCs management team to develop and operate those assets."

Spartan Capital Securities will serve as sole underwriter.
A self-driving GM Bolt EV is seen during a media event where Cruise, GM's autonomous car unit, showed off its self-driving cars in San Francisco, California, U.S. November 28, 2017. REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage

By Hyunjoo Jin

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -General Motors' self-driving technology unit Cruise plans to expand its driverless ride service to include Phoenix, Arizona, and Austin, Texas, in 90 days, Cruise Chief Executive Kyle Vogt said on Monday.

Speaking at a Goldman Sachs conference, Vogt also said the loss-making Cruise unit aims to hit $1 billion in revenue by 2025 - or half its current level of annual investment from GM.

In June, Cruise started charging for self-driving car rides in San Francisco at night, using Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles. Cruise operated as many as 70 driverless AVs concurrently in San Francisco, and plans to double or triple the number by the end of the year, Vogt said.

Vogt said its operations in Austin and Phoenix will initially involve a small number and will be "revenue-generating," with a plan to scale up operations next year.

Cruise has obtained all the permits necessary for using the driverless cars for ride-hailing and delivery services in Phoenix, where it has already tested its self-driving delivery service with Walmart, one of its investors.

Alphabet's Waymo is already operating a driverless taxi service in suburban Phoenix. In San Francisco, Waymo gives autonomous rides free of charge to a limited number of people with safety drivers on board.

Some investors are backing away from riskier bets on technology and reassessing how soon robot vehicles of any kind will be deployed in large scale on public roads.

Vogt said the self-driving car industry has swung back from "extreme optimism" to "extreme pessimism," but this will change.

"I think people are going to be caught off guard by how quickly AVs (autonomous vehicles) go from the first ride that you've taken to available pretty much everywhere," he said.

Cruise recalled and updated software in 80 self-driving vehicles after a June crash in San Francisco that injured two people.

Vogt acknowledged "some rough spots we've got to keep working on" but said AV technology was "no longer the main bottleneck."

(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Additional reporting by Joe White; editing Deepa Babington and Stephen Coates)
The Zoom Video Communications logo is pictured at the NASDAQ MarketSite in New York, New York, U.S., April 18, 2019. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

(Reuters) - Zoom Video Communications Inc said on Monday it has renamed its chat product and added some features, including third party integration, as it looks to compete with rivals including Microsoft's Teams and Slack.

Zoom's app, now known as Zoom Team Chat, will also include features such as the ability to share in-meeting chat to Team Chat, schedule a meeting from chat or channel. The featured will be released by the end of the month.

Zoom was a little-known company when the pandemic hit in early 2020, but posted triple-digit revenue growth at the peak of the crisis as people stuck at home took to video-conferencing to communicate.

The company, which competes with WeChat Work, Microsoft Teams, Cisco WebEx and Slack, faces an uphill task of onboarding high-paying clients to sustain its growth at a time when several firms are shifting to hybrid work.

Last month, Zoom cut its annual profit and revenue forecasts as demand cools off from pandemic highs.

Shares of the pandemic darling was up 1% to $83.43. The stocks is down 55% in the year up to Friday close.

(Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; editing by Ankur Banerjee)
AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aspira Womens Health Inc. (Aspira), a bio-analytical based womens health company focused on gynecologic disease, today announced publication of a study on the use of its multivariate index assay, MIA2G (OVERA), in the detection of ovarian cancer in Filipino women in the peer-reviewed International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

The paper, entitled: Clinical Performance of a Multivariate Index Assay in Detecting Early-Stage Ovarian Cancer in Filipino Women, highlights the first prospective study evaluating the clinical performance and overall utility of MIA2G (OVERA) ovarian cancer risk assessment in a non-White population. In the study, researchers prospectively compared various diagnostic methods, including ultrasound/IOTA (International Ovarian Tumor Analysis Rules), the biomarker CA-125, and OVERA, evaluating them for their ability to detect ovarian cancer. Results were correlated with surgical findings.

The data showed MIA2G (OVERA) to exhibit the best overall performance in detecting ovarian cancer with a sensitivity of 91.7%, regardless of menopausal status, compared to CA-125 with a sensitivity of 76.7%. Notably, MIA2G (OVERA) was shown to be more sensitive in detecting early-stage disease for this population. MIA2G (OVERA) demonstrated 92.4% early-stage sensitivity vs CA-125 at 74.3%. The study also showed that MIA2G (OVERA) had the best overall performance of all individual classifiers, including in some of the most difficult to detect cancers cohorts such as premenopausal women, and early-stage disease.

The study concluded that incorporating MIA2G (OVERA) rather than CA-125 into clinical assessment would increase the detection of early-stage ovarian cancers, regardless of menopausal status.

The data were remarkable and adds to the growing body of evidence confirming the advantage of MIA2G (OVERA) versus CA-125 testing in the patients initial clinical assessment to detect ovarian cancer at its earliest stages, said Dr. Charles Dunton, Chief Medical Officer of Aspira Womens Health. Early detection of ovarian cancer is crucial for improving overall survival rates. Over 65% of ovarian cancers are detected at late stage, which has such a significant mortality rate. Clearly, we need to do better job of detecting ovarian cancer earlier in all women, and this study indicates that OVERA may substantially improve the effectiveness of clinical assessment in Filipino women with adnexal masses.

Nicole Sandford, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aspira added, This large study is a first of its kind and is very exciting. It confirms our belief that OVERA in conjunction with clinical assessment performs very well in assessing early-stage ovarian cancer risk regardless of menopausal status and should become the standard of care for all women. We are firmly committed to health equity and will continue to be a driving force behind research like this milestone study.

About the OVASuite of Products (OVA1plus, including OVA1 and OVERA)Ova1 is a blood test intended as an aid to further assess the likelihood of malignancy in women with an ovarian adnexal mass for which surgery is planned. OVERA is a second-generation biomarker panel intended to maintain OVA1s high sensitivity while improving specificity. OVA1plus is a reflex test performed for those OVA1 test results that are in the intermediate range.

About Aspira Womens Health Inc.Aspira Womens Health Inc.SM is transforming womens health with the discovery, development, and commercialization of innovative testing options and bio-analytical solutions that help physicians assess risk, optimize patient management, and improve gynecologic health outcomes for women. Aspira Womens Health is particularly focused on closing the ethnic disparity gap in ovarian cancer risk assessment and developing solutions for pelvic diseases such as pelvic mass risk assessment and endometriosis. OVA1plus combines our FDA-cleared products, OVA1 and OVERA, to detect risk of ovarian malignancy in women with adnexal masses. Aspira GenetiXTM testing offers both targeted and comprehensive genetic testing options with a gynecologic focus. With over 10 years of expertise in ovarian cancer risk assessment, Aspira Womens Health is working to deliver a portfolio of pelvic mass products over a patients lifetime with our cutting-edge research. The next generation of products in development include OVAWatchTM and EndoCheckTM. To improve patient accessibility, Aspira Womens Health has recently launched our Aspira SynergySM technology transfer platform to empower health systems, academics, regional labs, and physician group labs to conduct genetic and specialty tests in-house. Visit our website for more information at www.aspirawh.com.

Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding, without limitation, the Companys plans, forecasts, projections, potential expansion and focus, current and future test offerings. These statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. Words such as may, expects, intends, anticipates, believes, estimates, plans, seeks, could, should, continue, will, potential, projects and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, including the risks and uncertainties described in the section entitled Risk Factors in Aspira Womens Healths Annual Report on Form 10Q, dated May 11, 2022. The events and circumstances reflected in Aspira Womens Healths forward-looking statements may not be achieved or occur and actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Aspira Womens Health expressly disclaims any obligation to update, amend or clarify any forward-looking statements to reflect events, new information or circumstances occurring after the date of this press release, except as required by law.

Investor Relations Contact:Ashley R. RobinsonLifeSci Advisors, LLCTel: 617-430-7577Email: [email protected]

Source: Aspira Women's Health Inc.
NEW YORK, Sept. 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C., a nationally recognized shareholder rights law firm, is investigating potential claims against PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: PRG) and UiPath, Inc. (NYSE: PATH). Our investigations concern whether these companies have violated the federal securities laws and/or engaged in other unlawful business practices. Additional information about each case can be found at the link provided.



PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: PRG)

On August 25, 2022, Pennsylvania's Attorney General filed a lawsuit against PROG's Progressive Leasing unit for allegedly violating the Rental Purchase Agreement Act ("RPAA"), a law that requires companies to clearly disclose fees for rent-to-own financing. According to the lawsuit, agents of the Attorney General's Office visited multiple stores across the state that use Progressive Leasing to offer rental-purchase agreement to their customers. "The investigation revealed widespread non-compliance" with the RPAA's disclosure requirements by Progressive Leasing and its merchant partners, the Attorney General's Office said in a statement.

On this news, PROG's stock price fell $2.51 per share, or 12.14%, to close at $18.16 per share on August 26, 2022.

For more information on the PROG investigation go to: https://bespc.com/cases/PRG

UiPath, Inc. (NYSE: PATH)

On September 6, 2022, UiPath reported second quarter earnings including a reduction in its forecast for the year. The Company blamed the disappointing news on foreign currency concerns and macroeconomic uncertainty.

Based on this news, UiPaths stock price fell $2.27 per share, or 14%, to close at $13.84 per share on September 7, 2022.

For more information on the UiPath investigation go to: https://bespc.com/cases/PATH

About Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.:

Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. is a nationally recognized law firm with offices in New York, California, and South Carolina. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in commercial, securities, derivative, and other complex litigation in state and federal courts across the country. For more information about the firm, please visit www.bespc.com . Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

Contact Information:

Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.

Brandon Walker, Esq.

Melissa Fortunato, Esq.

(212) 355-4648

[email protected]

www.bespc.com
Caroline Sasia joins Soitecs Executive Committee as Senior Vice President, Head of Communications & Chief of Staff to the CEO

Bernin (Grenoble), France, September 12, 2022 - Soitec (Euronext Paris), a world leader in the design and production of innovative semiconductor materials today announced the appointment of Caroline Sasia as Senior Vice President, Head of Communications & Chief of Staff to the CEO. In this role, she joins Soitecs Executive Committee.

The appointment of Caroline Sasia is part of Soitecs continuous effort to strengthen its organization around three divisions which was initiated at the beginning of the year to support the company's growth ambitions and meet the expectations of its different stakeholders.

With over 20 years of professional experience, Caroline Sasia has a strong expertise in designing and executing communications strategies in complex and dynamic international environments with a focus on high-tech, mobility, and sustainability sectors. Before joining Soitec Caroline spent most of her career at the Renault Group and at the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance where she held various roles in communications, strategy, and public affairs. Caroline Sasia graduated from Sciences Po Paris.

About Soitec

Soitec (Euronext, Tech 40 Paris) is a world leader in designing and manufacturing innovative semiconductor materials. The company uses its unique technologies and semiconductor expertise to serve the electronics markets. With more than 3,500 patents worldwide, Soitecs strategy is based on disruptive innovation to answer its customers needs for high performance, energy efficiency and cost competitiveness. Soitec has manufacturing facilities, R&D centers and offices in Europe, the U.S. and Asia. Fully committed to sustainable development, Soitec adopted in 2021 its corporate purpose to reflect its engagements: "We are the innovative soil from which smart and energy efficient electronics grow into amazing and sustainable life experiences. 

Soitec, SmartSiC and SmartCut are registered trademarks of Soitec.

For more information, please visit www.soitec.com and follow us on Twitter: @Soitec_EN .

Investor Relations: Media Relations:

[email protected] [email protected]

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Soitec is a French joint-stock corporation with a Board of Directors (societe anonyme a conseil dadministration) with share capital of 70,301,160, having its registered office located at Parc Technologique des Fontaines - Chemin des Franques - 38190 Bernin (France), and registered with the Grenoble Trade and Companies Register under number 384 711 909.

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Attachment
CALGARY, Alberta, Sept. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSX: CVE) (NYSE: CVE) announced today the early tender results for its tender offers to purchase for cash certain of its outstanding series of Notes.



Cenovus also announced it has increased the previously announced Pool 1 Maximum Amount (as defined below) from $1,000,000,000 to a total cash amount sufficient to accept for purchase all 4.250% Notes due 2027, 4.400% Notes due 2029, 4.450% Notes due 2042, 5.200% Notes due 2043 and 5.375% Notes due 2025 validly tendered and not validly withdrawn prior to or at the Early Tender Date (as defined below). The Pool 2 Maximum Amount (as defined below) remains unchanged at $500,000,000 and as a result, Cenovus expects to accept for purchase the 6.750% Notes due 2039 validly tendered and not validly withdrawn prior to or at the Early Tender Date on a prorated basis.

References to "$" in this news release are to United States dollars, unless otherwise indicated.

Details of tender offers

Cenovus initially offered to purchase for cash: (i) up to $1,000,000,000 aggregate purchase price, excluding accrued and unpaid interest (the Pool 1 Maximum Amount), of its 4.250% Notes due 2027, its 4.400% Notes due 2029, its 4.450% Notes due 2042, its 5.200% Notes due 2043, its 5.375% Notes due 2025 and its 5.400% Notes due 2047 (collectively, the Pool 1 Notes) and (ii) up to $500,000,000 aggregate purchase price, excluding accrued and unpaid interest (the Pool 2 Maximum Amount and, together with the Pool 1 Maximum Amount, the Maximum Amounts), of its 6.750% Notes due 2039, its 6.800% Notes due 2037 and its 5.250% Notes due 2037 (collectively, the Pool 2 Notes and, together with the Pool 1 Notes, the Notes), subject to prioritized acceptance levels listed in the table below (Acceptance Priority Levels) and the terms and conditions of the tender offers.

Cenovus has amended such tender offers to increase the previously announced Pool 1 Maximum Amount from $1,000,000,000 to a total cash amount sufficient to accept for purchase all 4.250% Notes due 2027, 4.400% Notes due 2029, 4.450% Notes due 2042, 5.200% Notes due 2043 and 5.375% Notes due 2025 validly tendered and not validly withdrawn prior to or at the Early Tender Date. All other terms of the tender offers as previously announced in the offer to purchase dated August 26, 2022 (as amended and supplemented hereby, the Offer to Purchase) remain unchanged. Cenovus refers investors to the Offer to Purchase for the complete terms and conditions of the tender offers.

As of the previously announced early tender date and time of 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on September 9, 2022 (the Early Tender Date), according to information provided by D.F. King & Co., Inc., the tender and information agent for the tender offers, the aggregate principal amount of each series of Notes listed in the table below had been validly tendered and not validly withdrawn in each tender offer. Withdrawal rights for the Notes expired at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on the Early Tender Date.

Title of Security CUSIP/ISIN

Principal Amount

Outstanding Maximum Amount(1) Acceptance Priority

Level(2) Principal Amount Tendered at Early Tender Date Pool 1 Tender Offers

4.250% Notes due 2027 15135UAM1 / US15135UAM18



15135UAL3 / US15135UAL35 (144A)



C23555AF9 / USC23555AF96 (Reg S) $961,851,000 $1,700,000,000



1 $588,945,000 4.400% Notes due 2029 448055AP8 / US448055AP89 $750,000,000 2 $510,402,000 4.450% Notes due 2042 15135UAH2 / US15135UAH23 $155,264,000 3 $58,260,000 5.200% Notes due 2043 15135UAK5 / US15135UAK51 $57,726,000 4 $29,177,000 5.375% Notes due 2025 15135UAS8 / US15135UAS87 $665,674,000 5 $532,292,000 Pool 2 Tender Offers 6.750% Notes due

2039 15135UAF6 / US15135UAF66 $1,390,534,000 $500,000,000 1 $819,723,000

(1) $1,700,000,000 represents the approximate total cash amount, excluding accrued and unpaid interest, sufficient to accept for purchase all 4.250% Notes due 2027, 4.400% Notes due 2029, 4.450% Notes due 2042, 5.200% Notes due 2043 and 5.375% Notes due 2025 validly tendered and not validly withdrawn prior to or at the Early Tender Date. $500,000,000 represents the maximum aggregate purchase price payable, excluding accrued and unpaid interest, in respect of the 6.750% Notes due 2039 in Pool 2 which may be purchased in the tender offers.

(2) Subject to the Maximum Amounts and proration, the principal amount of each series of Notes that is expected to be purchased in each tender offer will be determined in accordance with the applicable Acceptance Priority Level (in numerical priority order) specified in this column.

The terms and conditions of the tender offers are described in the Offer to Purchase. Cenovus expects to elect to exercise its right to make payment on September 13, 2022 (the Early Settlement Date) for Notes validly tendered prior to or at the Early Tender Date and accepted for purchase. Cenovus intends to fund the purchase of validly tendered and accepted Notes on the Early Settlement Date with cash on hand and certain short-term borrowings.

Because the aggregate principal amount of Pool 1 Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn prior to or at the Early Tender Date has an aggregate purchase price, excluding accrued and unpaid interest, that exceeds the Pool 1 Maximum Amount, Cenovus does not expect to accept for purchase all Pool 1 Notes that have been validly tendered and not validly withdrawn prior to or at the Early Tender Date. Rather, subject to the Pool 1 Maximum Amount and the Acceptance Priority Levels set forth in the table above, in each case as further described in the Offer to Purchase, Cenovus expects to accept for purchase all of the 4.250% Notes due 2027, 4.400% Notes due 2029, 4.450% Notes due 2042, 5.200% Notes due 2043 and 5.375% Notes due 2025 validly tendered and not validly withdrawn prior to or at the Early Tender Date. Cenovus does not expect to accept for purchase any 5.400% Notes due 2047. As described further in the Offer to Purchase, Notes tendered and not accepted for purchase will be promptly credited to the tendering holders account. Additionally, because the aggregate principal amount of Pool 1 Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn prior to or at the Early Tender Date has an aggregate purchase price, excluding accrued and unpaid interest, that exceeds the Pool 1 Maximum Amount, Cenovus does not expect to accept for purchase any Pool 1 Notes tendered after the Early Tender Date on a subsequent settlement date. The tender offers for the Pool 1 Notes will expire at midnight, New York City time, at the end of September 23, 2022, or any other date and time to which Cenovus extends the applicable tender offer, unless earlier terminated.

Because the aggregate principal amount of Pool 2 Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn prior to or at the Early Tender Date has an aggregate purchase price, excluding accrued and unpaid interest, that exceeds the Pool 2 Maximum Amount, Cenovus does not expect to accept for purchase all Pool 2 Notes that have been validly tendered and not validly withdrawn prior to or at the Early Tender Date. Rather, subject to the Pool 2 Maximum Amount and the Acceptance Priority Levels set forth in the table above, in each case as further described in the Offer to Purchase, Cenovus expects to accept for purchase the 6.750% Notes due 2039 validly tendered and not validly withdrawn prior to or at the Early Tender Date on a prorated basis using a proration factor to be announced following the determination of the Total Consideration. Cenovus does not expect to accept for purchase any 6.800% Notes due 2037 or 5.250% Notes due 2037. As described further in the Offer to Purchase, Notes tendered and not accepted for purchase will be promptly credited to the tendering holders account. Additionally, because the aggregate principal amount of Pool 2 Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn prior to or at the Early Tender Date has an aggregate purchase price, excluding accrued and unpaid interest, that exceeds the Pool 2 Maximum Amount, Cenovus does not expect to accept for purchase any Pool 2 Notes tendered after the Early Tender Date on a subsequent settlement date. The tender offers for the Pool 2 Notes will expire at midnight, New York City time, at the end of September 23, 2022, or any other date and time to which Cenovus extends the applicable tender offer, unless earlier terminated.

The applicable consideration (the Total Consideration) offered per $1,000 principal amount of each series of Notes validly tendered and accepted for purchase pursuant to the applicable tender offer will be determined in the manner described in the Offer to Purchase by reference to the applicable fixed spread for such Notes plus the applicable yield based on the bid-side price of the applicable U.S. Treasury Reference Security at 10:00 a.m., New York City time, on September 12, 2022 (the Price Determination Date). Only holders of Notes who validly tendered and did not validly withdraw their Notes prior to or at the Early Tender Date are eligible to receive the applicable Total Consideration, which is inclusive of the applicable early tender payment, for Notes accepted for purchase. Holders will also receive accrued and unpaid interest on Notes validly tendered and accepted for purchase from the applicable last interest payment date up to, but not including, the Early Settlement Date.

Promptly after the Price Determination Date, Cenovus will issue a news release specifying, among other things, (i) the aggregate principal amount of each series of Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn as of the Early Tender Date and expected to be accepted for purchase in each tender offer, (ii) the proration factor for the 6.750% Notes due 2039 and (iii) the Total Consideration for each series of Notes expected to be accepted for purchase.

All Notes accepted for purchase will be retired and cancelled and will no longer remain outstanding obligations of Cenovus.

Cenovuss obligation to accept for payment and to pay for Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn in the tender offers is subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions described in the Offer to Purchase. Cenovus reserves the right, subject to applicable law, to (i) waive any and all conditions to any of the tender offers, (ii) extend or terminate any of the tender offers, (iii) further increase or decrease either of the Maximum Amounts, or (iv) otherwise further amend any of the tender offers. Cenovus may take any action described in clauses (i) through (iv) above with respect to one or more tender offers without having to do so for all tender offers.

Information relating to the tender offers

BofA Securities, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Mizuho Securities USA LLC are the lead dealer managers and BMO Capital Markets Corp. and CIBC World Markets Corp. are the co-dealer managers for the tender offers. Investors with questions regarding the terms and conditions of the tender offers may contact BofA Securities at (888) 292-0070 (toll-free) or (980) 387-3907 (collect) or by email at [email protected], J.P. Morgan Securities LLC at (866) 834-4666 (toll-free) or (212) 834-3554 (collect) and Mizuho Securities USA LLC at (866) 271-7403 (toll-free) or (212) 205-7736 (collect). D.F. King & Co., Inc. is the tender and information agent for the tender offers. Investors with questions regarding the procedures for tendering Notes may contact the tender and information agent by email at [email protected], or by phone at (212) 269-5550 (for banks and brokers only) or (888) 644-5854 (for all others, toll-free). Beneficial owners may also contact their broker, dealer, commercial bank, trust company or other nominee for assistance.

The full details of the tender offers, including complete instructions on how to tender Notes, are included in the Offer to Purchase. Holders are strongly encouraged to read carefully the Offer to Purchase, including materials incorporated by reference therein, because they contain important information. The Offer to Purchase may be downloaded from D.F. King & Co., Inc.s website at www.dfking.com/cve or obtained from D.F. King & Co., Inc., free of charge, by calling (212) 269-5550 (for banks and brokers only) or (888) 644-5854 (for all others, toll-free).

This news release does not constitute an offer to purchase, or a solicitation of an offer to sell, or the solicitation of tenders with respect to, the Notes. No offer, solicitation, purchase or sale will be made in any jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The tender offers are being made solely pursuant to the Offer to Purchase made available to holders of the Notes. None of Cenovus or its affiliates, their respective boards of directors, the dealer managers, the tender and information agent or the trustee with respect to any series of Notes is making any recommendation as to whether or not holders should tender or refrain from tendering all or any portion of their Notes in response to the tender offers. Holders are urged to evaluate carefully all information in the Offer to Purchase, consult their own investment and tax advisors and make their own decisions whether to tender Notes in the tender offers, and, if so, the principal amount of notes to tender.

Advisory

Forward-looking Information

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively referred to as forward-looking information) within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, about Cenovuss current expectations, estimates and projections about the future, based on certain assumptions made in light of the companys experience and perception of historical trends. Although Cenovus believes that the expectations represented by such forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information as actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied. Cenovus undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information except as required by law.

Forward-looking information in this document is identified by words such as may, will, expect or similar expressions and includes suggestions of future outcomes, including statements about: the purchase of the Notes and the timing thereof; the expected sources of funds for the tender offers; the deadlines, determination dates and settlement dates regarding the tender offers; increasing or decreasing the Maximum Amounts; the payment of accrued and unpaid interest; the use of a proration factor in respect of the 6.750% Notes due 2039; and the series of Notes to be accepted for purchase pursuant to the tender offers.

Developing forward-looking information involves reliance on a number of assumptions and consideration of certain risks and uncertainties, some of which are specific to Cenovus and others that apply to the industry generally. Material factors or assumptions on which the forward-looking information in this news release is based include: risks related to the acceptance of any tendered Notes, the availability of funding for the tender offers on acceptable terms, the expiration and settlement of the tender offers, the satisfaction of conditions to the tender offers, whether the tender offers will be consummated in accordance with the terms set forth in the Offer to Purchase or at all, and the timing of any of the foregoing.

Readers are cautioned that other events or circumstances, although not listed above, could cause Cenovuss actual results to differ materially from those estimated or projected and expressed in, or implied by, the forward-looking statements. For a full discussion of material risk factors, refer to Risk Management and Risk Factors in Cenovuss Managements Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) for the year ended December 31, 2021 and in Cenovuss MD&A for the three and six months ended June 30, 2022 and to the risk factors described in other documents Cenovus files from time to time with securities regulatory authorities in Canada, available on SEDAR at sedar.com , and with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on EDGAR at sec.gov , and on its website at cenovus.com .

Cenovus Energy Inc.



Cenovus Energy Inc. is an integrated energy company with oil and natural gas production operations in Canada and the Asia Pacific region, and upgrading, refining and marketing operations in Canada and the United States. Cenovus is focused on managing its assets in a safe, innovative and cost-efficient manner, integrating environmental, social and governance considerations into its business plans. Cenovus common shares and common share purchase warrants are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange, and Cenovuss preferred shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. For more information, visit cenovus.com.

Find Cenovus on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram.

Cenovus contacts

Investors Media Investor Relations general line Media Relations general line 403-766-7711 403-766-7751




SOMERVILLE, Mass., Sept. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FORGE, the nonprofit that helps bridge the gap between startups and manufacturing, today announced the opening of a new grant for cleantech startups with leadership from historically marginalized communities. The latest edition of the FORGE Product Development Grant program will award non-dilutive grants up to $25,000 in partnership with the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2). The application deadline is October 28, 2022 and winners will be announced in December 2022.

The winning startups will be able to use the FORGE Product Development Grants to address a specific product development challenge critical to the companys ability to scale and reach the marketplace. Successful applications will pinpoint that challenge and articulate how the grant funds will be used to overcome the roadblock.

There are several underserved sectors within our ecosystem, said Laura Teicher, FORGE executive director. By working with organizations like IN2, we can perform the due diligence and groundwork to ensure accessibility, and address the specific needs of historically marginalized communities. The entire application process is streamlined. The application and instructions are available in both English and Spanish. And, based on input from the startups themselves, we stipulated that funds from this program can be used to directly compensate product development staff.

IN2 is funding FORGE through a Channel Partner Strategic Award, said Kimberlee Ott, Wells Fargo Innovation Network Manager. The goal of this funding is to eliminate barriers startups face on the path to commercialization and contribute to the diversification of the cleantech space. Manufacturing and supply chain is a proverbial valley of death many startups face that prevents them from scaling their technologies and solutions.

FORGE is also offering applicants the opportunity to ask questions anonymously through September 30, 2022. All questions and answers will be publicly shared by October 7th in both English and Spanish.

Eligibility Applicants must have at least an early-stage physical prototype. For this program, historically marginalized communities are defined as Black or African American, Hispanic or Latinx, and/or Indigenous, Native American, or Alaska Native. Cleantech refers to a wide variety of environmentally-friendly practices and technologies.

Find more information here. A Spanish version of the application and instructions is here.

About the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2)

The Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) is a $50 million technology incubator and platform funded by the Wells Fargo Foundation. Co-administered by and housed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado, IN2s mission is to speed the path to market for early-stage, clean-technology entrepreneurs. NREL also works with the Frontier Observatory for Geothermal Energy Research, also known as FORGE. Launched in 2014 with an initial focus on supporting scalable solutions to reduce the energy impact of commercial buildings, IN2 has since expanded its focus to advance technologies that address the sustainable production of agriculture and housing affordability. For more information, visit in2ecosystem.com.

About FORGE FORGE is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit that helps startups go from physical prototype to commercialization and impact at scale. FORGE identifies gaps and accelerates the path to market for startups with manufacturable products by making right-fit introductions to industry expertise, combined with the training and support needed to ensure readiness to manufacture. FORGE programming and resources prepare startups and manufacturers to work effectively together, driving local manufacturing contracts from initial prototyping through to full-scale production.

FORGEs mission to identify, support and build resources for startup companies has yielded considerable success. More than 90 percent of the 500+ startup companies that have engaged with FORGE have matured and thrived. FORGE has helped to add more than $34 million to the local economy and more than 5,000 innovation and manufacturing jobs. Learn more at FORGEMass.org.

Bobbie Carlton CPRM781-718-7619

Source: FORGE
ST. JOHNS, Newfoundland, Sept. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kraken Robotics Inc. (TSX-V: PNG, OTCQB: KRKNF), Canadas Ocean Company, is pleased to announce that after successful completion of an Innovative Solutions Canada (ISC) Testing Stream contract with the Royal Canadian Navy earlier this year, Kraken has been among the first Canadian companies qualified to sell its innovation directly to the Government of Canada without further competition. This qualification for Krakens OceanVision solution is under Canadas new Pathway to Commercialization framework1 initiated by ISC. While this approval does not have a value in of itself, direct purchases can be up to $8 million per contract and are available to all government departments.

Commenting on this new PTC program, Karl Kenny, Kraken President and CEO noted, Over the past year, Kraken has had significant interest in its technologies and services from various Canadian Government departments and agencies. We are excited to be able to offer the OceanVision service via ISCs new PTC program to be an avenue for these departments and agencies to avail of our needed and innovative solutions. Potential applications of the OceanVision service could include habitat mapping and monitoring of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), high resolution seabed mapping for augmenting Route Survey applications in Port and Harbour Security, or even shipwreck search and survey for marine archaeological requirements. We see significant potential for this service here in Canada.

About Krakens OceanVision ServiceKrakens OceanVision service provides off the shelf, turnkey ultra-high resolution Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS) seabed imagery and bathymetry at an affordable price, delivering higher resolution, range, and area coverage rates (ACR). The increased range, resolution and associated higher ACR of SAS over traditional Side Scan Sonar and Multibeam Sonar systems significantly expands the capabilities of military, scientific, and commercial applications. Krakens OceanVision is capable of 2 cm x 2 cm Ultra High-Definition imaging at long ranges.

Krakens OceanVision Service can provide significant benefits to government agencies, offering access to cutting edge technology as needed, without concern for equipment obsolescence, life cycle costs, or operator skill fade. As it relates specifically to the Government of Canada, Krakens OceanVision offers many advantages:

Krakens technology greatly enhances image quality and significantly reduces the time of traditional seabed surveys due to its advanced world-leading technology.

OceanVision assets can be deployed to assist in mapping areas of interest ahead of regular operations, with the image quality required to enable change detection and optimize revisit rates. This has the potential to provide the Government of Canada a competitive edge for detecting bottom objects in complex seabeds.

The OceanVision service application can augment existing survey activities while simultaneously supporting nearshore hydrographic mapping and charting requirements on an annual basis with high-definition resolution, freeing up valuable Government assets for other mission critical functions.

OceanVision provides online and offline data analysis capabilities, enabling users to leverage Krakens extensive experience in image processing, target detection, and bottom classification.

Three figures accompanying this announcement are available at:

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d67064c6-93a9-44a4-b5c0-4ea9c832bceb

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4e363a86-6065-4f59-b3bc-877e74ca9fbb

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a09eac09-44f9-4603-90ba-6427247102c3

1 https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/101.nsf/eng/00179.html

LINKS

www.krakenrobotics.com

SOCIAL MEDIALinkedIn Twitter Facebook YouTube Instagram

ABOUT KRAKEN ROBOTICS INC.Kraken Robotics Inc. (TSX.V: PNG) (OTCQB: KRKNF) is a marine technology company dedicated to the production and sale of software-centric sensors, subsea batteries, and underwater robotic systems. The company is headquartered in Newfoundland with offices in Canada, U.S., Germany, Denmark, and Brazil. In July 2021, Kraken acquired PanGeo Subsea, a leading services company specializing in high-resolution 3D acoustic imaging solutions for the sub-seabed. PanGeo with offices in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Kraken. Kraken is ranked as a Top 100 marine technology company by Marine Technology Reporter.

Certain information in this news release constitutes forward-looking statements. When used in this news release, the words "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "seek", "propose", "estimate", "expect", and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking statements with respect to, among other things, business objectives, expected growth, results of operations, performance, business projects and opportunities and financial results. 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. Such statements reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events based on certain material factors and assumptions and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, including without limitation, changes in market, competition, governmental or regulatory developments, general economic conditions and other factors set out in the Company's public disclosure documents. Many factors could cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to vary from those described in this news release, including without limitation those listed above. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in this news release and such forward-looking statements included in, or incorporated by reference in this news release, should not be unduly relied upon. Such statements speak only as of the date of this news release. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange Inc. nor its Regulation Services Provide (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release, and the OTCQB has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.

For further information, please contact:Joe MacKay, Chief Financial Officer(416) 303-0605[email protected]

Greg Reid, Chief Operating Officer(416) 818-9822[email protected]

Sean Peasgood, Investor Relations(647) 955-1274[email protected]

Figure 1 Sonar Imagery of Complex Seabed Collected with Legacy Technology (top) vs. Kraken's OceanVision (bottom), clearly highlighting targets of interest Figure 2 Sample Kraken OceanVision Data of Seafloor Habitat Figure 3 Sample Kraken OceanVision Data of Seafloor Habitat, Automatically Classified into Bottom Types

Source: Kraken Robotics Inc.
TORONTO, Sept. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NP Digital, a leader in performance marketing, strengthens its solutions team announcing Ian Spencer as Vice President of SEO to accelerate growth for Canadian clients. In this role, Spencer will advance the SEO team and offering in Canada while creating synergies across channels and international teams.

Spencer joins with a tremendous amount of experience across a variety of marketing functions both on the agency and brand side, having worked with Hudson's Bay, Scotiabank, Holt Renfrew and most recently as Global Director of Paid Media at Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. At NP Digital his leadership will continue building on the business momentum happening in Canada over the last several months, most recently with notable client additions of Decathlon and Vetster. Spencers deep understanding and integrated approach to performance marketing brings a unique advantage to drive business growth for Canadian brands across all verticals.

Throughout his career Ian has embodied a vision of looking beyond boundaries to seize opportunities and expand business in quantifiable and meaningful ways. We share that vision, said Ronnie Malewski, Managing Director of NP Digital Canada. Integrated omnichannel marketing is essential to reach consumers today. Ians deep specialty in this area will be instrumental in helping our clients grow and we could not be more excited to welcome his leadership to the team.

Having been accountable for performance marketing for some of the largest brands and agencies in Canada, Spencer is adept at optimizing performance across regions and generating new global revenue.

Its clear NP Digital is building momentum in Canada and Im looking forward to bolstering a team of top local talent and innovating strategies that exceed client expectations, said Spencer.

###

About NP Digital: NP Digital is a performance marketing agency focused on enterprise and mid-market challenger brands. NP Digital also supports the small business market with its NP Accel division. Underpinned by its proprietary technology division and platform Ubersuggest, NP Digital is regarded as one of the fastest-growing, award-winning performance marketing agencies in the industry. NP Digital views marketing through a consultative lens that takes a holistic view when applying specialist execution to build meaningful partnerships. These partnerships include some of the worlds most prominent Fortune 500 brands in addition to mid-size, DTC challenger-type organizations. NP Digital spans across the globe with 700 employees in 15 different countries and 40 of the 50 U.S. states. For more information visit npdigital.com or neilpatel.com/ubersuggest.

Attachment

Kimberly Deese NP Digital [email protected]

Source: NP Digital
UAB EPSO-G (hereinafter  the Company), legal entity code: 302826889, registered at: Gedimino pr. 20, Vilnius, the Republic of Lithuania. The total nominal value of the issued notes of the Company: EUR 75,000,000; ISIN code: LT0000406530.

The Company informs that, in accordance to the requirements of Transparency Directive 2004/109/EC, The Republic of Lithuania is its Home Member State.





For more details, please contact

Antanas Bubnelis, EPSO-G Head of Communication

Tel.: +370 699 23404, email: [email protected]
Shenzhen, China, Sept. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The SUPER team announced that it would hold the first FAM China offline meeting at the end of September, making full preparations for opening IDO worldwide in early October. Blockchain technology has become a trend internationally in recent years, attracting many funds and entrepreneurs. They hope to break down industrial barriers and build a decentralized business world without national boundaries through blockchain technology. After exploring the market accurately, SUPER first adopted DeFi3.0 technology and a unique automatic compound interest algorithm, which made it stand out among many products and had a number of loyal users. In order to better realize the synchronization between traffic closed loop and technology, and to solve the single technical problem, SUPER team decided to move towards the direction of super public chain, so as to seize the application field of WEB3.0, and provide all-round support for WEB3.0, such as technical infrastructure, ecological counseling, application interface, traffic bearing tools, trading platform, etc., to help WEB3.0 achieve ecological sustainable development.

During this period, SUPER team will cooperate with a number of large organizations and charitable organizations to launch its 2.0 stage: PEOPLE TOP, which uses new economic models such as compound interest reduction, deflation destruction and NFT appreciation, and is managed and operated by PEOPLE DAO. Compared with the traditional DAO, PEOPLE DAO does not simply use codes to set rules, but uses new functions such as online voting, equity dividends, election ranking, contribution screening, etc. In addition, PEOPLE DAO has put forward a new concept of "gradual decentralization" and established a cultural center FAM, which provides all-round guidance from the perspective of human nature. This can't be replaced by code. DAO must do this if it wants to build its own brand and cohesion.

Throughout history, people have not kept repeating the centralization and decentralization of power, but have sought more fair and reasonable public participation. The continuous awakening of human beings will surely make the distribution of social wealth truly transcend class and return to the hands of the people. "PEOPLE TOP" chants the slogan of "people first", and has been adhering to the tenet of "everyone for all " for many years, step by step towards this grand goal. It is not only a platform of financial ecology or blockchain, but also a collection of ideas and values, and a diversified, coordinated and diversified development model.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/peopletop105

Telegram: https://t.me/peopletop105

Website: http://www.people.top

Laro Piet peopleDAO fam -at- people.top

Source: PEOPLE TOP
TORONTO, Sept. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Becker Milk Company Limited (the Company) (TSX-BEK.B) is pleased to report the results for the three months ended July 31, 2022.

HIGHLIGHTS

Total revenues for the three months ended July 31, 2022 were $697,122 compared to $728,422 for the same period in 2021.

Net income for Q1 fiscal 2023 was $ 0.02 per share, compared to $ 0.13 per share in fiscal 2022.

The non-GAAP financial measure Net Operating Income for Q1 fiscal 2023 was $592,376 compared to $606,740 in fiscal 2022.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

Revenues and net income

Total revenues for the three months ended July 31, 2022 declined $31,300 compared to the three months ended July 31, 2022, a result of reduced property revenue from property disposals.

Three months ended July 31 2022 2021 Property revenue $678,652 $717,407 Finance income 18,470 11,015 Total revenues $697,122 $728,422 Net income attributable to common and special shareholders $32,763 $232,921 Average common and special shares outstanding 1,808,360 1,808,360 Income per share $0.02 $0.13

Components of the $200,158 decrease in net income for the three months ended July 31, 2021 compared to the three months ended July 31, 2020 are:

Changes in net income - Three months ended July 31, 2022 compared to three months ended July 31, 2021 Decrease in fair value adjustment ($259,000) Increase in current taxes (32,116) Increase in strategic review expenses (14,440) Decrease in net operating income (14,364) Increase loss on disposal (10,254) Increase in finance income 7,455 Decrease in administrative expenses 7,864 Decrease in deferred tax charges 114,697 Decrease in net income ($200,158)

Non-GAAP financial measures

Net operating income

The non-GAAP financial measure Net Operating Income for the three months ended July 31, 2022 was $592,376, a $14,364 decrease compared with the previous year as a result of decreased revenue for the quarter.

Three months ended July 31 2022 2021 Property revenue $678,652 $717,407 Property operating expenses (86,276 ) (110,667 ) Net operating income $592,376 $606,740

Funds from operations and adjusted funds from operations

For the three months ended July 31, 2022 the Company recorded funds from operations of $204,176 ($0.10 per share) compared to $246,493 ($0.14 per share) in 2021. Adjusted funds from operations were $189,736 ($0.10 per share) in the three months ended July 31, 2022 compared to $246,493 ($0.14 per share) in 2021.

Three months ended July 31 2022 2021 Net income $32,763 $232,921 Add (deduct) items not affecting cash: Fair value adjustment to investment properties 240,000 (19,000 ) Loss (gain) on sale of investment properties 10,254 0 Tax on gains from sale of property 30,984 27,700 Deferred income taxes (109,825 ) 4,872 Expenses related to strategic review (14,440 ) 0 Adjusted funds from operations $189,736 $246,493 Adjusted funds from operations per share $0.10 $0.14

STRATEGIC REVIEW

The Board of Directors continually evaluates strategic directions for the Company and has engaged in discussions with potential acquirers. While the Company has engaged in some discussions within the last year, none of those discussions are active at this time. The Board has followed a programme of divesting less desirable sites, which has resulted in the sale of 28 investment properties over the past 8 years. The Company continues to review its strategic alternatives and will update the market as appropriate, and as required.

DIVIDEND

The Directors of the Company have declared the regular semi-annual dividend on Class B Special and Common Shares of 40 cents per share. This dividend of 40 cents will be paid to those shareholders of record as of September 21, 2022 and payable on September 30, 2022.

The dividends for Canadian tax purposes will be considered as an eligible dividend.

The Companys interim financial statements for the three months ended July 31, 2022, along with the Managements Discussion and Analysis will be filed with SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Readers are cautioned that although the terms Net Operating Income, and Funds From Operations are commonly used to measure, compare and explain the operating and financial performance of Canadian real estate companies and such terms are defined in the Managements Discussion and Analysis, such terms are not recognized terms under Canadian generally accepted accounting principles. Such terms do not necessarily have a standardized meaning and may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by the other publicly traded entities.

For the Board of Directors G.W.J. Pottow, President Tel: 416-698-2591

Source: The Becker Milk Company Limited
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ValOre Metals Corp. (ValOre; TSXV: VO; OTC: KVLQF; Frankfurt: KEQ0, the Company) today announced high-grade rock assay results from the Sao Francisco target (Sao Francisco) at ValOres 100%-owned Pedra Branca Platinum Group Elements (PGE, 2PGE+Au) Project (Pedra Branca) in northeastern Brazil.

Sao Francisco represents an exciting new exploration target, with multiple high-grade PGE grab sample assay results from outcropping chromitites and mineralized ultramafic samples within a 300-metre-long by 100-metre-wide zone, stated ValOres VP of Exploration, Colin Smith. Trado auger drilling and soil sampling is on-going at Sao Francisco, with ultramafic rocks encountered in all 14 auger holes (53 m) completed to date. Follow-up trenching will commence upon receipt and review of the Trado auger and soil assays.

Sao Francisco Rock Sample Assay Highlights:

13.69 grams per tonne palladium + platinum + gold (g/t 2PGE+Au)  Sample 103250;

 Sample 103250; 12.18 g/t 2PGE+Au  Sample 103243;

 Sample 103243; 6.51 g/t 2PGE+Au  Sample 103249;

 Sample 103249; 1.15 g/t 2PGE+Au  Sample 103241.

Sao Francisco 2022 Exploration Program

The Sao Francisco target is located approximately 1 kilometre (km) south of the prospective Galante geological corridor, and approximately 8 km north of the Curiu deposit (NI 43-101 inferred resource 150,000 oz 2PGE+Au grading 2.20 g/t in 2.1 Mt). Sao Francisco has no record of historical field exploration activities, except for 3 shallow diamond drill holes targeting ground magnetic anomalies.

ValOres exploration program at the Sao Francisco target commenced with reconnaissance mapping and prospecting. Several previously un-mapped and unknown chromitite and ultramafic (UM) rock outcroppings were identified, defining a 300-metre-long by 100-metre-wide zone. Follow-up soil sampling and Trado auger drilling is in progress.

Fourteen Trado auger holes (53 m) have been drilled to date, with UMs intercepted in all 14 holes, from surface to end-of-hole (all 53 m augered), with all holes terminating in impenetrable UMs. To date, 700 soil samples have been collected, covering a trend of approximately 1.8-km-long, along >15 km of soil lines. All Trado and soil sample assays are pending.

Historical Core Drilling

Three shallow core drill holes were completed by Anglo American Platinum in 2010 to investigate ground magnetic anomalies. Two of three core holes intercepted chromite-bearing UMs, with the following reported PGE grades (catalogued in the historical project database):

DD10SF01: 12.25 m grading 0.24 g/t 2PGE+Au from 33.77 m;

DD10SF02: 21.45 m grading 0.43 g/t 2PGE+Au from surface.

ValOres ongoing exploration program confirms an extension of the known PGE mineralization intercepted in the historical drill program, defines a broader target footprint at surface, and advances Sao Franciscos potential for mineralization continuity along strike and at depth. Following the receipt and review of phase 1 soil and Trado auger assays, trenching will further evaluate the near-surface PGE potential of Sao Francisco before potential Reverse Circulation (RC) and/or core drill testing.

Table 1: Rock Assay Highlights for Sao Francisco Target

Sample ID UTM E UTM N Elev Lithotype Au (g/t) Pd (g/t) Pt (g/t) 2PGE+Au (g/t) 103250 405158 9395866 531 Chromitite 0.04 7.89 5.76 13.69 103243 405177 9395887 537 Chromitite 0.01 7.95 4.22 12.18 103249 405165 9395909 540 Chromitite 0.01 3.27 3.23 6.51 103241 405221 9395920 552 Ultramafic 0.01 0.98 0.16 1.15 103254 405070 9395850 493 Ultramafic derived 0.01 0.30 0.32 0.63 103248 405203 9395985 555 Ultramafic derived 0.01 0.08 0.10 0.19 103242 405260 9395984 562 Ultramafic derived 0.01 0.06 0.07 0.14 103252 405945 9395362 592 Ultramafic derived 0.07 0.03 0.03 0.13

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3f1d0d28-2022-489c-857c-af0e58f60bdd

Figure 1: Plan map of Sao Francisco target, locating high-grade rock samples, Trado auger holes and soil sampling sites (assays pending).

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/87d73f62-d478-4275-8c40-f6818bae0967

Figure 2: Photographs of high-grade chromitite and ultramafic rock samples from Sao Francisco target: A  Sample 103250, 13.69 g/t 2PGE+Au; B  Sample 103243, 12.18 g/t 2PGE+Au; C  Sample 103241, serpentinized peridotite outcrop, 1.15 g/t 2PGE+Au and Trado auger core (D) showing well preserved serpentinized peridotite in hole AD22SF12 (assays pending).

About the Trado Auger and Trenching methodology

CLICK HERE for more information regarding Trado Auger and Trenching methodology

Quality Control/Quality Assurance (QA/QC) and Grade Interval Reporting

CLICK HERE for a summary of ValOres policies and procedures related to QA/QC and grade interval reporting.

Qualified Person (QP)

The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements set out in NI 43-101 and reviewed and approved by Colin Smith, P.Geo., ValOres QP and Vice President of Exploration.

About ValOre Metals Corp.

ValOre Metals Corp. (TSXV: VO) is a Canadian company with a portfolio of highquality exploration projects. ValOres team aims to deploy capital and knowledge on projects which benefit from substantial prior investment by previous owners, existence of high-value mineralization on a large scale, and the possibility of adding tangible value through exploration, process improvement, and innovation.

In May 2019, ValOre announced the acquisition of the Pedra Branca Platinum Group Elements (PGE) property, in Brazil, to bolster its existing Angilak uranium, Genesis/Hatchet uranium and Baffin gold projects in Canada.

The Pedra Branca PGE Project comprises 52 exploration licenses covering a total area of 56,852 hectares (140,484 acres) in northeastern Brazil. At Pedra Branca, 7 distinct PGE+Au deposit areas host, in aggregate, a 2022 NI 43-101 inferred resource of 2.198 Moz 2PGE+Au contained in 63.6 Mt grading 1.08 g/t 2PGE+Au (CLICK HERE for news release dated March 24, 2022). All the currently known Pedra Branca inferred PGE resources are potentially open pittable.

Comprehensive exploration programs have demonstrated the District Scale potential of ValOres Angilak Property in Nunavut Territory, Canada that hosts the Lac 50 Trend having a current Inferred Resource of 2,831,000 tonnes grading 0.69% U3O8, totaling 43.3 million pounds U3O8. For disclosure related to the inferred resource for the Lac 50 Trend uranium deposits, please CLICK HERE for ValOres news release dated March 1, 2013.

ValOres team has forged strong relationships with sophisticated resource sector investors and partner Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) on both the Angilak and Baffin Gold Properties. ValOre was the first company to sign a comprehensive agreement to explore for uranium on Inuit Owned Lands in Nunavut Territory and is committed to building shareholder value while adhering to high levels of environmental and safety standards and proactive local community engagement.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Jim Paterson

James R. Paterson, Chairman and CEO

ValOre Metals Corp.

For further information about ValOre Metals Corp., or this news release, please visit our website at www.valoremetals.com or contact Investor Relations at 604.653.9464, or by email at [email protected].

ValOre Metals Corp. is a proud member of Discovery Group. For more information please visit: http://www.discoverygroup.ca/

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Although ValOre believes that the expectations reflected in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements have been based on factors and assumptions concerning future events that may prove to be inaccurate. These factors and assumptions are based upon currently available information to ValOre. Such statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could influence actual results or events and cause actual results or events to differ materially from those stated, anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. A number of important factors including those set forth in other public filings could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include the future operations of ValOre and economic factors. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The statements in this press release are made as of the date of this release and, except as required by applicable law, ValOre does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. ValOre undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third parties in respect of ValOre, or its financial or operating results or (as applicable), their securities.

Figure 1: Plan map of Sao Francisco target, locating high-grade rock samples, Trado auger holes and soil sampling sites (assays pending). Figure 1: Plan map of Sao Francisco target, locating high-grade rock samples, Trado auger holes and soil sampling sites (assays pending). Figure 2: Photographs of high-grade chromitite and ultramafic rock samples from Sao Francisco target. Figure 2: Photographs of high-grade chromitite and ultramafic rock samples from Sao Francisco target: A  Sample 103250, 13.69 g/t 2PGE+Au; B  Sample 103243, 12.18 g/t 2PGE+Au; C  Sample 103241, serpentinized peridotite outcrop, 1.15 g/t 2PGE+Au and Trado auger core (D) showing well preserved serpentinized peridotite in hole AD22SF12 (assays pending).

Source: ValOre Metals Corporation
FILE PHOTO: CEO and founder of U.S. Nikola Trevor Milton attends a news conference held to presents its new full-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell battery trucks in partnership with U.S. Nikola, at an event in Turin, Italy, December 3, 2019. REUTERS/Massimo

NEW YORK (Reuters) -The U.S. fraud trial of Trevor Milton, the founder and former chief executive of Nikola Corp who prosecutors accuse of lying to investors about the electric- and hydrogen-powered truck maker, began on Monday in New York with jury selection.

Prosecutors have said Milton sought to deceive investors about the company's technology starting in November 2019. He left the company in September 2020 after a report by short seller Hindenburg Research called the company a "fraud."

Milton, 40, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of securities fraud and two counts of wire fraud in federal court in Manhattan. His lawyers have indicated they will argue that Milton had no intent to defraud investors and that other top executives at Nikola, including its general counsel, approved of Milton's statements.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos told an initial pool of around 80 potential jurors that they should be prepared to sit for five weeks if selected. The panel will include 12 jurors and four alternates, Ramos said.

Milton was indicted last year. Prosecutors said he made false statements about Nikola's progress on developing its technology as the company joined the mounting number of tech and electric vehicle companies going public through special purpose acquisition vehicles, or SPACs.

Prosecutors said Milton's improper statements included that Nikola had built an electric- and hydrogen-powered "Badger" pickup from the "ground up," developed batteries in-house that he knew it was purchasing elsewhere, and had early success in creating a "Nikola One" semi-truck he knew did not work.

Milton's statements on social media and in podcasts targeted retail investors who piled into the stock market during COVID-19 pandemic-related lockdowns, they said. Milton also stands accused of defrauding the seller of a Utah ranch, who said in a civil lawsuit that he accepted Nikola stock options as part of the purchase price based on the former CEO's claims about the company.

Nikola has spent more than $20 million on Milton's legal defense so far, according to its public filings.

The company went public in June 2020 through a reverse merger with VectoIQ Acquisition Corp. Nikola's market value topped $33 billion that month, but has since fallen below $3 billion.

Nikola agreed in December to pay $125 million to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's claims that the company defrauded investors by misleading them about its products, technical advancements and commercial prospects.

(Reporting by Jody Godoy; Additional reporting by Luc Cohen; Editing by Will Dunham and Grant McCool)
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 12, 2022) - Gelum Resources Ltd. (CSE: GMR) (OTCQB: GMRCF) (the "Company" or "Gelum) reports that John Robins, P.GEO. has been appointed as an advisor to the Company.

Henk van Alphen, Director, stated, "On behalf of Gelum Resources I want to welcome John Robins to the Company in his capacity as Advisor. Mr. Robins brings 35 years of technical geological, business development and opportunity recognition experience to the Company and we look forward to working with him."

John Robins, P.GEO.

John Robins is a professional geologist, prospector and entrepreneur with over 35 years of experience in the mining industry. In 2008 he was awarded the Spud Huestis award for his contributions to mineral exploration in British Columbia and Yukon.

Mr. Robins has been involved in several notable discoveries including the Dixie Lake Gold Deposits in Red Lake Ontario, the 5 million oz Coffee Gold deposit in Yukon, Three Bluffs gold deposit in the Committee Bay greenstone belt and the Aviat/Churchill diamond districts of Nunavut. He has been involved in over a 2.5 billion dollars in M&A activity and has generated over $500 million in direct and indirect mineral expenditures throughout Canada, Latin America and Australia.

Mr. Robins is the Founder and Co-Founder of several notable companies including Great Bear Royalties, Hunter Exploration, Kaminak Gold Corp., Stornoway Diamond Corp., Northern Empire Resources Corp., Bluestone Resources Inc. and Fireweed Zinc Corp.

Mr. Robins is the former Chairman of Great Bear Royalties and holds board positions with K2 Gold, Fireweed Metals and Elemental Royalties. Mr. Robins is Strategic Advisor to Prospector Metals, Kodiak Copper Corp., ValOre Metals and Baroyeca Gold and Silver Inc. and was previously an advisor to Great Bear Resources.

About Gelum Resources

Gelum Resources is a Company led by seasoned management and advisors in the mining and financial sectors. The Company currently has two objectives under management. The first is to define a multi-million-ounce economic gold deposit on the 9028-hectare Eldorado Gold Project, located within the Bralorne-Bridge River gold district, only 190 kilometres north of Vancouver and 74 km northwest of the town of Lillooet, B.C. The Bralorne mines historically exploited the largest, highest-grade, longest-producing lode-gold deposit in B.C. Management is proud to have developed an excellent working relationship with the Bridge River Indian Band (Xwsten) the project is within the traditional territory within the St'at'imc territory (Traditional Territory) in which Xwisten and its members assert, hold and exercise constitutionally protected Aboriginal Title and Rights ("Indigenous Title and Rights"). The Company plans to complete a 3000m drill programme this fall.

The second objective is to discover an alkalic porphyry and related skarn deposit within a prolific B.C. porphyry belt in the Interior Plateau region. The recently acquired ML property is accessible by 90% paved roads via Williams Lake, and the remainder by all-season dirt roads and secondary logging roads. The low to moderate relief allows year-round access and work. Airborne geophysics comprising magnetics and radiometrics was completed in early spring of 2022.

For further information about the Company and its exploration portfolio, please refer to Gelum Resources Corporate Presentation:

PowerPoint Presentation (gelumresources.com)

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of

GELUM RESOURCES LTD.

David Smith, President

For further information about Gelum, please contact:

David Smith, President

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 604 484-1228

Cell: 778-834-1141

Forward-Looking Information:

This press release may include 'forward-looking information', within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, about the business of the Company and its plans to list on the CSE. Forward-looking information is based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the Company's management, including future plans for the Company. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking information is based are reasonable, investors should not unduly rely on the forward-looking information because the Company cannot assure that it will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/136602
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 12, 2022) - PORTOFINO RESOURCES INC. (TSXV: POR) (OTCQB: PFFOF) (FSE: POTA) ("Portofino" or the "Company") reports that its geological team has been mobilized to the Greenheart Lake ("GL") and McNamara Lake ("ML") lithium properties and has commenced a mapping, sampling, and reconnaissance exploration program.

The GL Property comprises approximately 1,200 hectares and the ML Property approximately 1,120 hectares. Both properties are strategically located in the Balmoral and McNamara Lake areas of northwestern Ontario within 15 kilometres ("km") of the town of Ignace and are accessible by well-established logging roads branching from the Trans Canada highway.

Each property occurs proximal to a triple boundary junction of three Archean-age terranes: the Wabigoon, East Wabigoon and Winnipeg River (Figure 2). Terrane boundaries are recognized as important geological settings for lithium ("Li") and rare metal pegmatites (Breaks et al., 2003).

The GL Property lies 10km southeast of International Lithium's Raleigh Lake lithium project and 15km northwest of Grid Metals Campus Creek lithium project (Figure 1). Grid Metals recently announced a new Li-bearing pegmatite discovery at Campus Creek where initial grab sample results assayed between 0.22 and 4.35% Li 2 O (Grid NR - Oct 5, 2021).

The ML Property is contiguous with the southern claim boundary of Grid's Campus Creek property. The Company has the right to earn a 100% interest in each of the GL and ML claim groups. (NR -Dec. 14, 2021).

Portofino's CEO, David Tafel, comments: "As the pace and breadth of lithium exploration by multiple companies in the region has expanded, it's clear that the GL and ML Properties are very well situated in terms of ideal geological setting. The Raleigh Lake pegmatite field and recent discovery by Grid Metals in the area bodes well for our potential exploration success."







Figure 1. Portofino's Greenheart Lake (GL) and McNamara (ML) properties claim locations

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3751/136651_1affe2a8b4968b15_001full.jpg







Figure 2. Portofino's lithium properties of northwestern Ontario.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3751/136651_1affe2a8b4968b15_002full.jpg

Qualified Person

Mike Kilbourne, P. Geo, an independent qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed, and approved the technical contents of this news release on behalf of the Company.

About Portofino Resources Inc.

Portofino is a Vancouver-based Canadian company focused on exploring and developing mineral resource projects in the Americas. Portofino has an opportunity to earn a majority interest in multiple lithium projects in Salta, Argentina and up to 100% of the Yergo Lithium property in Catamarca. The properties are situated in the heart of the world-renown Argentine Lithium Triangle and in close proximity to multiple world-class lithium projects. The Company also has the right to earn 100% interest in three northwestern Ontario, Canada lithium projects: Allison Lake North, Greenheart Lake and McNamara Lake.

Portofino's South of Otter and Bruce Lake projects are in the historic gold mining district of Red Lake, Ontario, Canada proximal to the Dixie gold project discovered by Great Bear Resources and now owned by Kinross Gold Corp. In addition, Portofino holds three other northwestern Ontario gold projects; the Gold Creek property located immediately south of the historic Shebandowan mine, as well as the Sapawe West and Melema West properties located in the rapidly developing Atikokan gold mining camp.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"David G. Tafel"

Chief Executive Officer

For Further Information Contact:

David Tafel CEO,

Director 604-683-1991

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release may contain forward looking statements concerning future operations of Portofino Resources Inc. (the "Company"). All forward- looking statements concerning the Company's future plans and operations, including management's assessment of the Company's project expectations or beliefs may be subject to certain assumptions, risks and uncertainties beyond the Company's control. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual performance and exploration and financial results may differ materially from any estimates or projections.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/136651
Montreal, Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - September 12, 2022) - QcX Gold Corp. (TSXV: QCX) (OTCQB: QCXGF) (FSE: 21MA) ("QcX" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it will conduct a surface exploration program on its Golden Giant Project, located in the James Bay region of Qubec. The objectives of the program are to follow up on promising results obtained from the inaugural 2021 drill program, as well as conduct initial surface prospecting on the Kali East block, which to date has not been explored by the Company.

Program Highlights and Goals:

- Focused exploration along the southern limb of a folded gabbroic unit, found on the eastern side of the Golden Giant East Block. Drill holes GG-21-14 and GG-21-16, which were drilled on the northern limb of this unit, produced 0.52g/t Au over 5.5m and 0.4g/t Au over 10.2m respectively. The hinge zone and southern limb will be explored in further detail to look for extensions to the observed mineralization (see Figure 2).

- Boots on the ground on the Kali East Block (see Figure 3). This will be the first time the Company has sent geologists to this portion of the project for surface prospecting, which was previously obtained from Harfang Exploration (see press release dated September 9, 2020).

- Follow up surface work on the Golden Giant West Block, where drilling obtained anomalous results of up to 1.44g/t Au over 0.8m in GG-21-02 and 0.9% Zn over 0.5m in GG-21-03. Potential for both gold and VMS mineralization exists in this area.

The Company also recently obtained high-resolution satellite imagery of the three Golden Giant blocks from Pacific Geomatics Limited. Images were taken by Maxar satellites with resolutions of up to 15cm high definition. With this high-resolution dataset, outcrops are easily observable, which can then be mapped and digitized. This data will greatly aid geologists while performing the surface prospecting program.

The Golden Giant project comprises 3 properties, Golden Giant East, Golden Giant West and the Kali East block, covering 18,992 hectares and is contiguous to Azimut Exploration Inc.'s Patwon project as shown in Figure 1.





Figure 1: Location of the Golden Giant Project (red) with respect to neighbouring companies.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/1791/136743_2ed154ce5471597c_001full.jpg













Figure 2: Map showing completed drilling across the Golden Giant East block and highlighting the folded gabbroic unit (brown) to the east that contains anomalous gold intercepts. It can be seen that no sampling has been conducted in the hinge zone of this fold and little work done along the southern limb.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/1791/136743_2ed154ce5471597c_002full.jpg

Figure 3: The Kali East Block of the Golden Giant Project, where work is yet to be completed. Proximal gold, zinc and lithium showings are displayed.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/1791/136743_2ed154ce5471597c_003full.jpg

About QcX Gold

QcX Gold is exploring for gold and VMS style mineralization on its highly prospective and well-located properties in Quebec, Canada. The Golden Giant Project is located in the James Bay region of Quebec, only 2.9 km away from Azimut Exploration Inc.'s Patwon discovery on their Elmer gold project. The Fernet Project is located in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt in the Province of Quebec and is contiguous with Wallbridge Mining Company Limited's Fenelon/Martiniere property. Both properties are in close proximity to major discoveries which bodes well for exploration.

On behalf of the Board of Directors:

Aaron Stone, P.Geo.

Vice President Exploration

[email protected]

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-looking statements:

This news release contains forward-looking statements. All statements, other than of historical facts, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future including, without limitation, the planned exploration program, the expected positive exploration results, the timing of the exploration results, the ability of the Company to continue with the exploration program, the availability of the required funds to continue with the exploration and the potential mineralization or potential mineral resources are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by use of the words "will", "should", "continue", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "believe", "intend", "to earn", "to have', "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. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, failure to meet expected, estimated or planned exploration expenditures, failure to establish estimated mineral resources, the possibility that future exploration results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations, general business and economic conditions, changes in world gold markets, sufficient labour and equipment being available, changes in laws and permitting requirements, unanticipated weather changes, title disputes and claims, environmental risks as well as those risks identified in the Company's annual Management's Discussion and Analysis. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described and accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Although the Company has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and factors which could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be others that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements except as otherwise required by applicable law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/136743
BOSTON, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE: BHLB), the parent company of Berkshire Bank, a leading socially responsible community bank with financial centers located in New England and New York, is excited to announce that Ashlee Flores, an experienced industry and Berkshire veteran was promoted to EVP, Chief Compliance Officer. Ms. Flores will replace Deborah A. Stephenson, SEVP, Chief Compliance Officer, who is resigning her position effective September 30, 2022, to pursue another opportunity.

"I want to thank Ms. Stephenson for her years of hard work, dedication, professionalism, and commitment to leading a best in class compliance function at Berkshire Bank. On behalf of the entire Berkshire family, we wish Deb all the best in her next chapter," stated Nitin Mhatre, CEO of Berkshire.

"We are delighted to welcome Ms. Flores to our executive team. She is a proven leader with deep knowledge of Berkshire Bank, our employees, customers, and communities. She has consistently demonstrated her performance in key roles within our compliance function and actively participates in strategic initiatives to advise on potential compliance impacts. Her positive energy and breadth of experience make her the ideal candidate to lead our compliance function into the future under our Berkshire's Exciting Strategic Transformation (BEST) program," added Mhatre.

Ms. Flores will oversee all aspects of the compliance risk management program, including compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act, Community Reinvestment Act, consumer protection laws and regulations, as well as the Security and Fraud Investigations functions. She will report directly to SEVP, Chief Risk Officer, Greg Lindenmuth.

"I'm honored to step into this leadership role at Berkshire as we look to deliver on our vision to be a high-performing, leading socially responsible community bank. Central to this vision is maintaining a strong culture of compliance, risk management and consumer financial protection so that we can best serve our customers and communities," stated Ashlee Flores.

Ms. Flores brings more than 15 years of financial industry, risk management and compliance experience, most recently serving as SVP, Compliance, where she oversaw Berkshire Bank's compliance program. Prior to joining Berkshire Bank, Ms. Flores was a compliance officer at Hampden Bank in Springfield, MA where she managed the compliance and audit program. She holds a Bachelor of Applied Sciences in Journalism from Boston University in Boston, MA. Outside of work, Ms. Flores volunteers with Leadership Pioneer Valley on their finance committee, Dress for Success, and is a former board member for the Western MA Compliance Association.

ABOUT BERKSHIRE HILLS BANCORPBerkshire Hills Bancorp is the parent of Berkshire Bank. The Bank's goal is to be a high performing, leading socially responsible community bank in New England, Upstate New York, and beyond. Berkshire Bank provides business and consumer banking, mortgage, wealth management, and investment services. Headquartered in Boston, Berkshire has approximately $11.6 billion in assets and operates over 100 financial centers in New England and New York, and is a member of the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index. To learn more, call 800-773-5601 or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Investor Relations ContactsKevin Conn, SVP, Investor Relations & Corporate DevelopmentEmail: [email protected] Tel: (617) 641-9206

David Gonci, Capital Markets DirectorEmail: [email protected] Tel: (413) 281-1973

Media Contact:Gary Levante, SVP, Corporate Responsibility & CommunicationsEmail: [email protected] Tel: (413) 447-1737

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SOURCE Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc.
Sam Gioia, a real estate and semiconductor manufacturing veteran, joins as Head of U.S. Manufacturing & Assembly

SEATTLE, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Modulous, a Seattle and London-based construction technology company helping developers and construction firms build modular housing without capital intensive factories, has raised $11.5 million of Series A funding to further grow its physical and digital technologies. The funds were raised from investors that include SFV, the venture arm of German real estate developer Patrizia, Regal London, one of the U.K.'s best-regarded real estate developers, CEMEX Ventures, the venture arm of construction giant CEMEX, Blackhorn Ventures (U.S.), GroundBreak Ventures (Canada), Goldacre (U.K.), and Leela Capital (U.K.). The funding is a rare example of a tech firm increasing its valuation as global markets slide  a testament to growing interest in companies that help decarbonize the real estate and construction industries.

The Modulous software platform automates multifamily real estate project design, costing, and programming  meaning developers, architects, and contractors can figure out pricing and decide whether a site is viable in hours, not weeks. In addition, Modulous has developed a configurable Kit of Parts, which is a set of proprietary sub-assembles that allows developers, architects, and contractors to build modular homes without a fixed factory. The company's end-to-end platform enables 50% faster project delivery, 60% reduction in embodied carbon, and 70% reduction in construction waste.

Modulous also announced today that it has appointed Sam Gioia as Head of U.S. Manufacturing & Assembly. Gioia will oversee the successful U.S. market delivery of the company's modular Kit of Parts for the construction of residential multifamily housing. His role is to develop and manage the firm's supply chain partners that provide the Kit of Parts, and to ensure the physical product's manufacturability.

An Integrated Physical and Digital Solution for Net-Zero Multifamily Housing

With a world-class team from the likes of Microsoft, Google, Katerra, Ramboll, 3i, WeWork, Rolls Royce, and Netflix, Modulous has developed a software platform that works in concert with the Kit of Parts to solve major pain points across the three core areas of the home-building process:

Architecture and design  Modulous' software generates optimized designs and massing for a site and bases these on its physical Kit of Parts. This not only guarantees the technical feasibility of the design, but also provides accurate costs and schedule, all completed in hours. Architects can avoid spending weeks on speculative work, designing schemes that may turn out to not be economically viable, and instead present clients with a variety of options inside a day, upping their chances of winning work while letting them focus on more productive tasks.

Construction  Modulous' Kit of Parts enables general contractors to deliver multi-story apartment blocks with no upfront investment. Instead of requiring complex and costly factories, Modulous' established supply chain partners deliver sub-assemblies to assembly facilities near site, increasing margin, employing local labor, and improving working capital efficiency.

Development  The Modulous platform produces 3D visualizations and detailed cost plans, and it will provide developers a real-time analysis of return-on-investment calculations, enabling them to quickly option sites and establish land values driven by accurate data.

Modulous' supply chain partners have focused their collaboration on continuously reducing the number of components required, similarly to the approach previously taken by the automotive and aviation industries. By tracking each of these components, it will be possible to measure and calculate the accurate carbon content of a scheme, and to ensure the use of healthy, non-toxic materials.

Chris Bone, CEO at Modulous, said:

"Building energy efficient, affordable housing without the waste and carbon footprint that accompanies traditional construction has never been more critical. Modular delivery is really the only way the housing crisis can be resolved, but, for many, the upfront capital investment has held back the industry's ability to scale. We are keen to prove that by collaborating with each other, the industry can move forward with transparency and cost certainty front and center. That's why we are delighted to have completed this Series A round in the most testing funding environment for decades. It's a testament to the potential we have to solve the housing crisis and to the amazing team we have built."

Sam Gioia, Head of U.S. Manufacturing & Assembly, said:

"The AEC industry is at an inflection point where we are just beginning to see the advantages of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC). The U.S. urgently needs more housing, a clear pathway to net-zero development, and an approach to home-building that enhances communities by integrating new construction seamlessly with the surrounding environment. MMC enables all three goals by standardizing processes to gain manufacturing efficiencies, and by providing modularity in the form of interchangeable variations for wall panels, flooring, and finishes. The Modulous Kit of Parts allows a housing project to be rendered in digital 3D before being manifested physically, which means that project partners can pre-emptively solve all the issues that would normally delay a construction project."

Conan Lauterpacht, Partner at Sustainable Future Ventures, said:

"We are very pleased to back the outstanding Modulous team, which brings together experts across design, construction, and technology. Modulous stands out for us in the way it has brought together the physical and the digital in the built environment by combining its ground-breaking 'Kit of Parts' modular solution with a digital design platform. We are excited to support the company's mission to reinvent the way homes are delivered while prioritizing better outcomes for people and planet."

Jonathan Seal, CEO at Regal London, said:

"We are delighted to be participating in this funding round and entering into a strategic relationship with Modulous. We believe that Modulous is making great strides to truly disrupt the real estate industry as the sector moves towards delivering net zero developments. We are thrilled to be partnering with Modulous, bringing together Regal London's fully integrated delivery model and Modulous' technological innovation  we are excited to be part of this journey."

Philip O'Connor, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Blackhorn Ventures, said:

"Construction, an industry largely unchanged for more than 100 years, is ripe for evolution. Much like the transportation and energy industries, sector-specific innovation relies on a blend of digital and physical technologies that improve productivity and accelerate a net-zero future. Modulous' low-capex, asset-light approach has significant scalability potential, which is why Blackhorn Ventures is so excited to invest in this world-class team."

Mateo Zimmermann, Investment Manager at CEMEX Ventures, said:

"We're taking bold steps to try and decarbonize construction and house building. Precision-engineering homes offsite is an important way to drive up quality, reduce safety problems, and cut carbon all at once. Modulous' 'asset-light' approach  that goes direct to suppliers  strips out the need for costly factories, one of the biggest barriers to making offsite manufacturing a mass-market solution. These are universal challenges, and we firmly support the approach of forging partnerships with all relevant stakeholders in the market to solve it together."

Liam Poole, Head of Marketing at Knauf UK & Ireland

"We came on board as an early supply-chain partner because Modulous has built an inspired solution to some of the biggest pain points in construction and development. Their technology removes many of the inefficiencies which, for too long, have stifled innovation, and better promotes demonstratable decarbonized design and build. The future of construction is changing, the U.K. Government, through its purchasing power are driving Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) such as offsite / modular to help improve safety, improved productivity, quality, and sustainability. Our values."

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SOURCE Modulous
BALTIMORE and PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Delfi Diagnostics, a pioneering developer of a new class of high-performance, accessible liquid biopsy tests for early cancer detection and monitoring, has been selected as the liquid lung cancer biopsy partner in Europe's multi-national, randomized, prospective lung cancer screening trial known as 4-IN-THE-LUNG-RUN, or 4ITLR.

Through 4ITLR, European investigators are studying how often  every year, or every other year  individuals should get screened if their initial CT scan is negative. Delfi's technology is paired to the study objectives by measuring whether Delfi can identify individuals in Europe's screen-eligible population who are most likely to benefit from a CT scan. The collaboration, initiated and facilitated through a partnership between the Netherlands Cancer Institute ((NKI), with Dr. D. van den Broek as PI) and the institute for DiagNostic Accuracy (iDNA), includes Delfi analyzing the first 9,000 subjects enrolled through the trial in the Netherlands and France (Gustave Roussy) - generating data that can support Delfi's research and subsequent implementation within the European Union.

"One of the goals of our study is to examine how a liquid biopsy test might improve screening in a manner that is cost-effective," said prof. Matthijs Oudkerk, MD, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer at iDNA and leading the Radiology and AI readings of 4ITLR. "We are eager to explore how a low-cost liquid biopsy platform could help us screen more high-risk Europeans."

Based on the results of the NELSON trial, the European Union is expected to initiate a European lung cancer screening program for individuals at risk due to their smoking and age.

"We know that LDCT screening is effective in reducing lung cancer mortality," said Peter B. Bach, Delfi Diagnostics Chief Medical Officer. "This study should lay the groundwork for widespread, cost efficient screening of those at risk in Europe. Delfi is honored to be part of it."

Lung cancer kills more than 380,000 Europeans each year, and more than half of all new lung cancer diagnoses in Europe occur at stage IV, when 5-year survival rates can be as low as 2 percent. But screening older heavy smokers with low-dose CT could save up to 80,000 lives in Europe per year.

About Delfi DiagnosticsDelfi is developing a new class of liquid biopsy tests for early detection based on altered genome-wide fragmentation profiles, also known as "fragmentomes," representing aberrant packaging of DNA in cancer cells. By applying advanced machine learning algorithms, these fragment patterns are detectable at a very low sequencing cost. Delfi ("DNA Evaluation of Fragments for early Interception") is using this technology to develop highly sensitive and specific cancer detection assays intended for wide and cost-effective distribution and adoption.

About The Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) and CVV (NKI Center for Early Diagnostics).The NKI is among the world's foremost comprehensive cancer centers, combining innovative fundamental, translational, and clinical research with dedicated patient care. Our research institute gratefully acknowledges funding from the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, the Dutch Cancer Society, and individual donors. The NKI Center for Early Diagnostics is an initiative of the NKI. Our Center combines innovation and scientific research to provide certainty in an early stage for risk factors or signs that may indicate cancer.

About iDNAiDNA is a Contract Research Organization specialized in early-stage lung cancer, and researching new technologies for the early detection and treatment of lung cancer, with comorbidities in cardiovascular diseases and COPD/emphysema. Key to the early detection of lung cancer are high quality lung cancer screening programs and therefore iDNA wants to set the ''golden standard'' for worldwide lung cancer screening. iDNA works with relevant, early-stage, asymptomatic, high- to medium-risk lung cancer (sub)populations, up to a large, multi-national scale. In addition, iDNA provides several services facilitating the required validation of liquid- and imaging biomarkers and/or therapeutics, while working with KOLs and research partners worldwide. iDNA thereby provides leading pharmaceutical, biotech and AI partners with the opportunity to implement their disruptive technology much quicker and more cost-effective, fully capitalizing on the current momentum within the lung cancer screening landscape.

About Gustave RoussyRanked as the leading European Cancer Centre and sixth in the world, Gustave Roussy is a centre with comprehensive expertise and is devoted entirely to patients suffering with cancer. The Institute is a founding member of the Paris Saclay Cancer Cluster. It is a source of diagnostic and therapeutic advances. It caters for almost 50,000 patients per year and its approach is one that integrates research, patient care and teaching. It is specialized in the treatment of rare cancers and complex tumors and it treats all cancers in patients of any age. Its care is personalized and combines the most advanced medical methods with an appreciation of the patient's human requirements. In addition to the quality of treatment offered, the physical, psychological and social aspects of the patient's life are respected. 4,100 professionals work on its two campuses: Villejuif and Chevilly-Larue. Gustave Roussy brings together the skills, which are essential for the highest quality research in oncology: a quarter of patients treated are included in clinical trials.

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SOURCE Delfi Diagnostics
Audited ESG Report 2022 shows accelerated progress toward industry-leading targets for 2025

GENEVA, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Firmenich, the world's largest privately-owned fragrance and taste company, today releases its annual Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report, tracking progress toward the group's groundbreaking sustainability targets. Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 was marked by strong sustainability performance across the Group's three key pillars, climate, nature, and people, backed by growing, best-in-class independent evaluation and reinforced ESG governance.

"I am proud that we continued to accelerate our industry-leading ESG actions despite the challenging economic climate and kept making measurable progress toward our 2025 targets, even exceeding them for renewable ingredients and Living Wage," said Gilbert Ghostine, CEO Firmenich. "Our Firmenich Inclusive Capitalism business model is gaining more traction and proving more and more relevant in today's world. Every year, new climate extremes are having a growing impact across the globe: Firmenich's bold environmental ambition is a vital business investment today and for the future."

"Firmenich ESG strategy keeps progressing across our own operations and along our supply chain," said Thomas Andro, Senior Director, Corporate Sustainability. "Furthermore, consumer demand for sustainable products is a structural growth trend in our industry and Firmenich's outstanding ESG credentials, combined with our leadership and innovation in natural and renewable ingredients, are becoming even more relevant for our customers as they progress with their own sustainability roadmaps."

FY2022 ESG Performance Highlights

Acting on Climate Change: Firmenich was one of only two companies to receive a fourth consecutive CDP Triple A rating for climate, water, and forests. Three manufacturing sites, in Norway, Singapore and South Africa, were carbon neutral in FY22, all operating without the use of offsets. Firmenich maintained decoupling of growth in manufacturing output from its CO2 emissions: in FY22, Scope 1 and 2 emissions were reduced by 36.1% vs. 2017, and the new ingredients sites reduced Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 12.2% vs. 2020. The Group maintained 100% Renewable Electricity in its operations including in new acquisitions[1]. Firmenich aims to reach carbon neutrality in its direct operations by 2025, absolute carbon emissions reduction by 2030 in line with limiting temperature rise to 1.5C, as well as net-zero emissions by 2039 across its direct operations and value chain (Scopes 1, 2, and 3). Its net-zero targets were validated by the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in August 2022, making Firmenich the first company in its industry to receive SBTi approval.

Firmenich was one of only two companies to receive a fourth consecutive CDP Triple A rating for climate, water, and forests. Three manufacturing sites, in Norway, Singapore and South Africa, were carbon neutral in FY22, all operating without the use of offsets. Firmenich maintained decoupling of growth in manufacturing output from its CO2 emissions: in FY22, Scope 1 and 2 emissions were reduced by 36.1% vs. 2017, and the new ingredients sites reduced Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 12.2% vs. 2020. The Group maintained 100% Renewable Electricity in its operations including in new acquisitions[1]. Firmenich aims to reach carbon neutrality in its direct operations by 2025, absolute carbon emissions reduction by 2030 in line with limiting temperature rise to 1.5C, as well as net-zero emissions by 2039 across its direct operations and value chain (Scopes 1, 2, and 3). Its net-zero targets were validated by the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in August 2022, making Firmenich the first company in its industry to receive SBTi approval. Embracing Nature: Building on UEBT validation of the Group's biodiversity strategy, work began on restoration at 15% of Firmenich sites with biodiversity risk, in line with Science-Based Targets for Nature. Implementation of 100% verified Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) was increased. Firmenich continued to expand the proportion of ultimately or partially biodegradable ingredients in its fragrances to 96.6% on average, having surpassed its 95% target a year earlier. Firmenich reinforced green proteins in product development, enabling customers to accelerate the plant-based food revolution and contribute to climate change mitigation.

Building on UEBT validation of the Group's biodiversity strategy, work began on restoration at 15% of Firmenich sites with biodiversity risk, in line with Science-Based Targets for Nature. Implementation of 100% verified Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) was increased. Firmenich continued to expand the proportion of ultimately or partially biodegradable ingredients in its fragrances to 96.6% on average, having surpassed its 95% target a year earlier. Firmenich reinforced green proteins in product development, enabling customers to accelerate the plant-based food revolution and contribute to climate change mitigation. Caring about People: Building on gender pay equity and its work to strengthen inclusion, Firmenich achieved Living Wage certification by Fairwage Network in 2022 ahead of the Group's 2025 target, a key step to ensure decent living standards for all employees and their families. The Group advanced its high global health and safety standards with an improved 0.26 Total Recordable Case (TRC) rate, and a third consecutive Gold Award from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA). Firmenich continued to maintain zero human rights non-compliance and scaled up its effort to drive concerted business action by becoming United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Impact Sponsor for Labor and Decent Work.

Overall, Firmenich achieved an upgraded rating from Sustainalytics with a score of 7.5, in the global top 50 of approximately 15,000 companies, that highlights the Group's low ESG risk profile. A second consecutive Platinum rating by Ecovadis with an industry-leading score of 88% placed Firmenich in the top 1% of all companies assessed worldwide. The Group was also rated for the first time as one of the "2022 World's Most Ethical Companies" by Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices.

Firmenich continued to work actively in alliances and partnerships, including the UN Global Compact, the Union for Ethical Biotrade (UEBT), One Planet Business for Biodiversity (OP2B), and the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi), to drive positive change at scale and foster effective action on climate, nature, and people in the business community.

More detailed information on Firmenich's ESG journey is available online in the ESG Report 2022.

The attached visuals from pp 9-10 of the report provide a snapshot of ESG performance highlights and progress against targets in the climate, nature and people pillars.

Disclosure

The Firmenich ESG Report 2022 is aligned with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the SASB Materiality Map, and is prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative's (GRI) standards. The ESG Report's contents also provide an update on the Group's progress with the implementation of the ten principles of the UN Global Compact, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as B Corp certification. The document has been independently audited, receiving a reasonable level of assurance.

About Firmenich

Firmenich, the world's largest privately-owned fragrance and taste company, was founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1895, and has been family-owned for 127 years. Firmenich is a leading business-to-business company specialized in the research, creation, manufacture and sale of perfumes, flavors, and ingredients. Renowned for its world-class research and creativity, as well as its leadership in sustainability, Firmenich offers its customers superior innovation in formulation, a broad and high-quality palette of ingredients, and proprietary technologies including biotechnology, encapsulation, olfactory science, and taste modulation. Firmenich had an annual turnover of 4.7 billion Swiss Francs at end June 2022. More information about Firmenich is available at www.firmenich.com.

[1] Firmenich moved to majority ownership of ArtSci in May 2022. This entity is not included in the scope of the report and will be integrated gradually in the Group's ESG framework in FY2023.

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SOURCE Firmenich
VANCOUVER, BC, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - First Mining Gold Corp. ("First Mining" or the "Company") (TSX: FF) (OTCQX: FFMGF) (FRANKFURT: FMG) is pleased to provide an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (the "MRE") on the Duparquet gold project ("Duparquet" or the "Project") located in Quebec, prepared by InnovExplo Inc. in accordance with the National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101").

The updated MRE is derived from the master database of drill data, which contains 904 holes totalling 270,119m and 173,831 sampled intervals. This MRE includes 57 drill holes totaling 9,548m not included in the previous MRE with drilling occurring after the effective date of February 28, 2013. The drilling was carried out by Clifton Star Resources Inc., Beattie Gold Mines Ltd., and 2588111 Manitoba Ltd. By incorporating these previous drill holes, Duparquet's resource increases to 3.4 Moz in the measured and indicated category, an increase of 327 koz, and to 1.6 Moz in the inferred category, an increase of 193 koz.

"First Mining is very excited to announce an updated mineral resource estimate at the Duparquet Gold Project," stated Dan Wilton, CEO of First Mining Gold. "Duparquet is an advanced stage project that has benefited from 270,000m of historical drilling and was advanced to a PFS level in 2014. This resource growth from incorporating the 2013-2018 drilling is just the beginning of what we see as immense value potential here at Duparquet. Based on the size of its current resource, Duparquet represents one of the top four undeveloped gold projects in the province of Quebec. Its above average M&I open pit grade of 1.52 g/t Au provides excellent mining flexibility and along with its size and location, make it a very versatile deposit amenable to different potential mining scenarios with good future growth potential. The project site is well located and has access to excellent infrastructure and skilled labour. First Mining intends to complete an updated economic study in the near future and to develop an exploration path to support potential resource expansion, resource classification upgrading, and discovery of new deposits in this underexplored district."

Table 1: Duparquet Gold Project Mineral Resource Estimate

Area Cut-off Measured resource Indicated resource Inferred resource (mining method) (g/t) Tonnage (t) Au Ounces Tonnage (t) Au Ounces Tonnage (t) Au Ounces (g/t) (g/t) (g/t) Open Pit 0.40 163,700 1.37 7,200 59,410,600 1.52 2,909,600 28,333,000 1.07 970,400 UG Mining 1.50 - - - 5,506,900 2.26 399,300 9,038,900 2.29 665,600 Tailings 0.40 19,900 2.03 1,300 4,105,200 0.93 123,200 - - - Total 183,600 1.43 8,500 69,022,700 1.55 3,432,100 37,371,900 1.36 1,636,000

Notes to accompany the Mineral Resource Estimate: 1. The independent and qualified persons for the mineral resource estimate, as defined by NI 43 101, are Marina Iund, P.Geo. and Carl Pelletier, P.Geo., both from Innovexplo. The effective date of the estimate is September 12, 2022. 2. These mineral resources are not mineral reserves, as they do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is currently insufficient data to define these Inferred mineral resources as Indicated or Measured mineral resources and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in upgrading them to an Indicated or Measured mineral resource category. The mineral resource estimate follows current CIM Definition Standards. 3. The results are presented in situ and undiluted and have reasonable prospects of economic viability. 4. In-pit and Underground estimates encompass sixty (60) mineralized domains and one dilution envelop using the grade of the adjacent material when assayed or a value of zero when not assayed; The tailings estimate encompass four (4) zones. 5. In-pit and Underground: High-grade capping of 25 g/t Au; Tailings: High-grade capping of 13.0 g/t Au for Zone 1, 3.5 g/t Au for Zone 2, 1.7 g/t Au for Zone 3 and 2.2 g/t Au for Zone 4. High-grade capping supported by statistical analysis was done on raw assay data before compositing. 6. In-pit and Underground: The estimate used a sub-block model in GEOVIA SURPAC 2021 with a unit block size of 5m x 5m x 5m and a minimum block size of 1.25m x 1.25m x1.25m. Grade interpolation was obtained by ID2 using hard boundaries. Tailings: The estimate used a block model in GEOVIA GEMS with a block size of 5m x 5m x 1m. Grade interpolation was obtained by ID2 using hard boundaries. 7. In-pit and Underground: A density value of 2.73 g/cm3 was used for the mineralized domains and the envelope. A density value of 2.00 g/cm3 was used for the overburden. A density value of 1.00 g/cm3 was used for the excavation solids (drifts and stopes) assumed to be filled with water. Tailings: A fixed density of 1.45 g/cm3 was used in zones and waste. 8. In-pit and Underground: The mineral resource estimate is classified as Measured, Indicated and Inferred. The measured category is defined by blocks having a volume of at least 25% within an envelope built at a distance of 10 m around existing channel samples. The Indicated category is defined by blocks meeting at least one (1) of the following conditions: Blocks falling within a 15-m buffer surrounding existing stopes and/or blocks for which the average distance to composites is less than 45 m. A clipping polygon was generated to constrain Indicated resources for each of the sixty (60) mineralized domains. Only the blocks for which reasonable geological and grade continuity have been demonstrated were selected. All remaining interpolated blocks were classified as Inferred resources. Blocks interpolated in the envelope were all classified as Inferred resources. Tailings: The Measured and Indicated categories were defined based on the drill hole spacing (Measured: Zones 1 and 2 = 30m x 30m grid; Indicated: Zone 3 = 100m x 100m grid and Zone 4 = 200m x 200m grid). 9. In-pit and Underground: The mineral resource estimate is locally pit-constrained with a bedrock slope angle of 50 and an overburden slope angle of 30. The out-pit mineral resource met the reasonable prospect for eventual economic extraction by having constraining volumes applied to any blocks (potential underground extraction scenario) using DSO. It is reported at a rounded cut-off grade of 0.4 g/t Au (in-pit and tailings) and 1.5 g/t Au (UG). The cut-off grades were calculated using the following parameters: mining cost = CA$70.00 (UG); processing cost = CA$11.9 to 17.0; G&A = CA$8.75; refining and selling costs = CA$ 5.00; gold price = US$ 1,650/oz; USD:CAD exchange rate = 1.31; and mill recovery = 93.9%. The cut-off grades should be re-evaluated in light of future prevailing market conditions (metal prices, exchange rates, mining costs etc.). 10. The number of metric tons and ounces was rounded to the nearest hundred, following the recommendations in NI 43 101. Any discrepancies in the totals are due to rounding effects. 11. The authors are not aware of any known environmental, permitting, legal, title-related, taxation, socio-political, or marketing issues, or any other relevant issue not reported in the Technical Report, that could materially affect the Mineral Resource Estimate.

Project Description

Duparquet consists of four (4) contiguous mineral exploration properties: Beattie, Donchester, Central Duparquet, Dumico and the tailings from the former Beattie mine. The Project is located in the Abitibi region of the province of Quebec, approximately 50 km north of the city of Rouyn-Noranda.

The Project site has infrastructure which includes paved, provincial highways from Rouyn-Noranda to the south and LaSarre to the north, both mining communities that can provide mining infrastructure and skilled labour to develop a mine. The Project site is also proximal to Quebec's hydroelectric power grid.

Duparquet, previously comprised of 2 separate Mining Concessions (Beattie and Donchester mines), now comprises of fifty (50) map-designated claims ("CDC") covering an area of 1,079.2 ha covering a strike length of 8 km in an E-W direction.

Duparquet is geologically located in the southern portion of the Abitibi, straddling the SE trending prolific Destor-Porcupine Fault Zone (DPMFZ). Structurally the project includes numerous E-W mineralized splays off of the Destor-Porcupine Fault Zone, as well as several syenite intrusions. Surrounding host rocks include mafic to ultramafic volcanic rocks and younger Temiskaming age conglomerates.

The predominant structures on Duparquet are the E-W splays of the DPMFZ. The Beattie Fault Zone ("BFZ") is located along the north contact of the main syenite body, whereas the Donchester Fault Zone ("DFZ") is located along the south contact. The Central Duparquet Fault Zone ("CDFZ") is located along the south contact of the second smaller syenite intrusive to the east.

Figure 1: Geology of the Duparquet Project. Structural and geometric details are represented by surface projections of the relevant structural elements from the deposit-scale 3D litho-structural model

The main style of gold mineralization in the Duparquet deposit generally occurs within shears or brecciated zones along or within the adjacent intrusive syenitic masses and is associated with finely disseminated pyrite and minor arsenopyrite replacement. Sulphide content is generally low (0.5 to 4%), although it can be up to 10% in some cases. Gold is associated and hosted with the pyrite and lesser arsenopyrite and arsenian pyrite.

Gold was initially discovered in the Duparquet Township in 1910 by John Beattie. The Beattie and adjoining Donchester mines were in production from 1933 to 1956, producing upwards of 1.3 million ounces of gold. In the mid-1930's Beattie Gold Mines was the largest gold producer in Quebec. From the 1980's to 2007, very limited exploration was carried out. Clifton Star had an option on the property between 2009 and 2014. During this time a substantial amount of surface diamond drilling, channel sampling was carried out. The company also completed an environmental baseline study, environmental assessment study and numerous metallurgical studies. Mineral resource estimates were also carried out that were included in the preliminary economic assessment and a prefeasibility study. The Clifton Star option was terminated in 2014 and the property was returned to the previous owners, with Clifton Star retaining a 10% interest in the companies that held the properties.

Drilling Summary

Since the effective date of the previous mineral resource estimate (InnovExplo, Poirier et al., 2014), the Company (Clifton Star) and the previous owners (Beattie Gold Mines and 2588111 Manitoba Ltd.) had completed an additional 57 surface drill holes totalling 9,548 m, that were not included in the MRE. Significant assay results added to this new MRE include 5.65 g/t Au over 34.0 m (BD13-22) on Beattie and 5.58 g/t Au over 5.0 m (D13-18) on Donchester.

The 2022 MRE contains 904 drillholes and 892 channel samples in outcrops. It contains 173,831 sampled intervals taken from 270,119 m of drilled core and 2,371 analyses from 1,827 m of channels. The 904 DDH cover the 4.5-km strike length of the Project at a reasonably regular drill spacing of 25-50 m.

Metallurgical Testing Summary

Bench-scale and pilot plant metallurgical testwork programs have been carried out for the Project. SGS carried out preliminary metallurgical testwork in 2012 to support a PEA at that time. In 2013, SGS carried out further flotation, pressure oxidation, cyanidation, rheology and environmental testwork, including a pilot plant for a PFS. Outotec was also mandated in 2013 to carry out filtration testwork.

The overall gold results from flotation concentrate, pressure oxidation (POX) and CIL circuit as well as flotation tail cyanidation for the ore resulted in an overall recovery of gold ranging from 91.9% to 95.4%.

A preliminary pilot test program investigated pressure oxidation and hot curing processing of a Duparquet flotation concentrate to render precious metals extractable by cyanidation. The recovery of gold from the pilot plant hot cure discharge ranged from 94.7% to 96.5%

Bench-scale test work was also performed on two samples of existing tailings on the Project. The test work for the flotation-POX/CIL flowsheet resulted in overall gold recoveries ranging from 83.5% to 93.3%.

Mineral Resource Summary

The MRE update for the Project (the "2022 MRE") was prepared by Marina Iund, P.Geo. and Carl Pelletier, P.Geo., using all available information. The main objective was to update the results of InnovExplo's previous mineral resource estimate for the Project, dated June 26, 2013 (Poirier et al., 2014). The updated MRE includes new drill holes on the Beattie, Donchester and Central Duparquet properties.

The resource area has an E-W strike length of 4.5 km, a width of approximately 1 km, and a vertical extent of 1,050 m below surface.

The 2022 MRE was prepared using GEOVIA GEMS 6.8.2.2 ("GEMS") and GEOVIA Surpac 2021 ("Surpac") software. GEMS was used for updating the mineralized domains and the compositing. Surpac was used for the estimation, which consisted of 3D block modelling and the inverse distance square ("ID2") interpolation method. Statistical, capping and variography studies were completed using Snowden Supervisor v8.13 and Microsoft Excel software.

The 60 mineralized domain wireframes were created and updated by digitizing an interpretation onto sections spaced 25 m apart or 12.5 m in areas with higher drill hole density. However, if barren intervals were encountered, the mineralized zones were extended only to the mid-distance between the last known occurrence of mineralization and the barren hole. A 50-m extension around the zones was used for the secondary mineralized domains.

A dilution envelope was defined as the parts of the block model that are not included in any of the mineralized domain solids. The solid for the envelope contains "floating" gold intersects for which continuity has not yet been demonstrated or interpreted.

High-grade capping was set at 25 g/t Au for all zones, including the envelope zone. Twenty-two (22) DDH samples and one (1) channel sample were capped.

Analysis of 3,633 bulk density values and a 12 t composite drill core bulk sample from the mineralized zones, yielded 2.73 g/cm3 (mean density of the syenite) for all 60 mineralized domains and the envelope. A density of 2.00 g/cm3 was assigned to the overburden, and 1.00 g/cm3 was assigned to excavation solids (drifts and stopes) assumed to be filled with water.

The intervals defining each mineralized domain were composited to 1-m equal lengths. A grade of 0.00 g/t was assigned to missing sample intervals as it was assumed that unsampled intervals were considered to be unmineralized by the geologist in charge of the core logging.

A block model was built to enclose a sufficiently large enough volume to host an open pit. The model corresponds to a sub-blocked model in Surpac with no rotation. The user block size was defined as 5m x 5m x 5m with a minimal sub-block size of 1.25m x 1.25m x 1.25m. Block dimensions reflect the sizes of mineralized domains and plausible mining methods. All blocks with more than 50% of their volume falling within a selected solid were assigned the corresponding solid block code.

Individual zones and the envelope were estimated separately using their own search ellipsoid. The available geological and geostatistical information was used to establish the size of each search ellipsoid. Seventy-two (72) distinct mineralized domains were studied. The mean azimuth and dip of each domain were used to define 23 search ellipsoids, grouping zones of similar geometry.

Figure 2: Plan view and isometric view of the categorized mineral resources and the Whittle optimized pit-shells (blocks selection: in pit-shells or in DSO and above the respective COG)

Table 2: Cut-off grade sensitivity for the in-pit and underground portions of the Duparquet Project

Area (Mining Method) Cut-off (g/t) Measured Resource Indicated Resource Inferred Resource Tonnage (t) Au (g/t) Ounces Tonnage (t) Au (g/t) Ounces Tonnage (t) Au (g/t) Ounces Open Pit 0.7 137,321 1.53 6,755 23,142,210 2.05 1,525,279 2,592,695 1.62 135,038 0.65 141,757 1.5 6,836 25,666,698 1.98 1,633,902 3,334,098 1.48 158,647 0.6 149,158 1.46 7,001 32,690,577 1.86 1,954,908 5,716,620 1.34 246,283 0.55 154,634 1.42 7,060 36,556,977 1.77 2,080,340 7,727,020 1.23 305,568 0.5 156,938 1.41 7,122 41,152,335 1.70 2,253,068 11,007,061 1.13 400,881 0.45 161,081 1.39 7,187 53,548,726 1.58 2,722,586 22,032,449 1.16 824,601 0.4 163,709 1.37 7,222 59,410,612 1.52 2,909,551 28,332,980 1.07 970,424 0.35 165,800 1.36 7,248 66,307,600 1.46 3,117,172 37,354,222 0.96 1,147,282 UG Mining 1.9 - - - 5,891,904 2.67 505,871 7,168,869 2.91 669,750 1.7 - - - 5,224,787 2.47 414,153 7,378,504 2.51 595,956 1.5 - - - 5,506,861 2.26 399,356 9,038,871 2.29 665,629 1.3 - - - 5,302,381 2.10 357,603 11,459,118 2.05 756,440 Tailings 0.6 19,000 2.10 1,284 4,104,400 0.93 123,189 - - - 0.5 19,400 2.07 1,290 4,104,800 0.93 123,196 - - - 0.45 19,600 2.06 1,295 4,105,000 0.93 123,200 - - - 0.4 19,900 2.03 1,297 4,105,200 0.93 123,203 - - - 0.35 20,000 2.02 1,299 4,105,400 0.93 123,206 - - -

InnovExplo, the authors of the MRE report concluded that:

The database supporting the 2022 MRE is complete, valid and up to date.

Geological and gold-grade continuity has been demonstrated for all 72 mineralized zones.

The key parameters of the 2022 MRE (density, capping, compositing, interpolation, search ellipsoid, etc.) are supported by data and statistical and/or geostatistical analysis.

The 2022 MRE includes measured, indicated and inferred resources for a combination of two mining scenarios: open pit and selective underground. The 2022 MRE complies with CIM Definition Standards and CIM Guidelines.

Two cut-off grades of 0.40 and 1.50 g/t Au were used, corresponding to potential open pit and selective underground mining scenarios.

Cut-off grades were calculated at a gold price of US$1,650 per troy ounce and an exchange rate of 1.31 USD/CAD, using reasonable mining, processing and G&A costs.

In a combined pit and selective underground mining scenario, the Project contains an estimated M+I Resource of 65,081,200 t at 1.58 g/t Au for 3,316,100 oz of gold and an Inferred Resource of 37,371,900 t at 1.36 g/t Au for 1,636,000 oz of gold. The Project also contains the Beattie mine tailings with an estimated M+I Resource of 4,125,100 t at 0.94 g/t Au for 124,500 oz of gold.

The results of the 2022 MRE represent a 10.5% increase in the M+I Resource and a 13.4% increase in the Inferred Resource compared to the previous 2014 MRE of Poirier et al., 2014. The increase in the M+I Resource is due to a deeper optimized shell and the updated economic parameters. The same reasons combined with the addition of 55 drill holes explain the increase in Inferred resources.

Based on metallurgical tests, the Duparquet project appears amenable to standard gold recovery processes. A combination of flotation, pressure oxidation and cyanide leach processes has shown a gold recovery ranging from 94.7% to 96.5%.

Additional diamond drilling on multiple zones would likely upgrade some of the Inferred Resource to the Indicated category and/or add to the Inferred Resource since most of the mineralized zones have not been fully explored at depth or close to surface infrastructures.

Updated Technical Report

The effective date of the updated MRE is September 12, 2022. A NI 43-101 Technical Report prepared by InnovExplo Inc. will be filed on SEDAR within 45 days of this news release and will be available at that time on the Company website.

Qualified Persons

The independent and qualified persons for the MRE, as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, are Marina Iund, P.Geo. and Carl Pelletier, P.Geo., both from Innovexplo. The effective date of the estimate is September 12, 2022.

Mr. Louis Martin P.Geo., (OGQ 0364), a consultant of First Mining, is a "Qualified Person" for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and he has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical disclosure contained in this news release.

About First Mining Gold Corp.

First Mining is a gold developer advancing a portfolio of gold projects in Canada, with our most advanced project being the Springpole Gold Project in northwestern Ontario, which is one of the largest undeveloped gold projects in Canada, and where we have commenced a Feasibility Study and permitting activities are on-going with a draft Environmental Impact Statement ("EIS") for the project published in June 2022. First Mining also owns the Cameron, Duparquet, Duquesne and Pitt gold projects, all advanced-stage gold projects in Ontario (in the case of Cameron) and Quebec. Our portfolio of gold project interests also includes the Pickle Crow gold project (being advanced in partnership with Auteco Minerals Ltd.), the Hope Brook gold project (being advanced in partnership with Big Ridge Gold Corp.), an equity interest in Treasury Metals Inc., and a portfolio of 21 gold royalties.

First Mining was established in 2015 by Mr. Keith Neumeyer, founding President and CEO of First Majestic Silver Corp.

ON BEHALF OF FIRST MINING GOLD CORP.

Daniel W. WiltonChief Executive Officer and Director

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "plans", "projects", "intends", "estimates", "envisages", "potential", "possible", "strategy", "goals", "opportunities", "objectives", or variations thereof or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of these terms and similar expressions.

Forward-looking statements in this news release relate to future events or future performance and reflect current estimates, predictions, expectations or beliefs regarding future events. All forward-looking statements are based on First Mining's or its consultants' current beliefs as well as various assumptions made by them and information currently available to them. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections on the date the statements are made and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the respective parties, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Such factors include, without limitation the Company's business, operations and financial condition potentially being materially adversely affected by the outbreak of epidemics, pandemics or other health crises, such as COVID-19, and by reactions by government and private actors to such outbreaks; risks to employee health and safety as a result of the outbreak of epidemics, pandemics or other health crises, such as COVID-19, that may result in a slowdown or temporary suspension of operations at some or all of the Company's mineral properties as well as its head office; fluctuations in the spot and forward price of gold, silver, base metals or certain other commodities; fluctuations in the currency markets (such as the Canadian dollar versus the U.S. dollar); changes in national and local government, legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments; 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 and flooding); the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on mining; employee relations; relationships with and claims by local communities, indigenous populations and other stakeholders; availability and increasing costs associated with mining inputs and labour; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development; title to properties.; and the additional risks described in the Company's Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2021 filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities under the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com, and in the Company's Annual Report on Form 40-F filed with the SEC on EDGAR.

First Mining cautions that the foregoing list of factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive. When relying on our forward-looking statements to make decisions with respect to First Mining, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. First Mining does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by the Company or on our behalf, except as required by law.

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SOURCE First Mining Gold Corp.
Greenfield to bring nearly two decades of leadership experience within the commercial real estate and financial services sectors to IDB.

NEW YORK, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- IDB Bank, a New York-based private and commercial bank, announced the appointment of Laura Greenfield as its new Senior Vice President and Head of New York Commercial Real Estate (CRE). In this role, she will lead balance sheet CRE lending in the New York Metropolitan Area, overseeing loan originations, asset management, operations and deposit gathering. Greenfield will report directly to Lissa Baum, IDB Bank's Executive Vice President and Head of Commercial Banking.

"We are very pleased to welcome Laura to our team," said Baum. "She is not only a seasoned commercial real estate executive, but an experienced lending leader with proven success in driving relationship-based practices to nurture the client lifecycle. We are confident that her unique experience and deep industry knowledge within the region will play a critical role as we continue to advance IDB Bank's long-term growth strategy and deepen our market position across the New York Metropolitan area."

Greenfield has nearly two decades of experience within both the CRE and financial services industries, most recently serving as the Executive Vice President and Market Manager for the New York/New Jersey commercial real estate lending group at People's United Bank, N.A., which was recently acquired by M&T Bank. Prior to joining People's United Bank in 2016, Laura was a vice president and team leader in the New York City commercial real estate lending group at M&T Bank.

Laura is a graduate of The George Washington University, where she received a Bachelor's of Business Administration. A committed community leader, she serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the UJA-Federation of New York.

About Israel Discount Bank of New York ("IDBNY" or "IDB Bank") IDB Bank is a New-York State-chartered commercial bank, a member of the FDIC, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Israel Discount Bank LTD., one of Israel's leading Banks. In addition to its Manhattan headquarters and branch offices in Brooklyn, N.Y, Staten Island, N.Y and Short Hills, N.J, the Bank maintains other full-service branches in South Florida and Southern California. The Bank provides a complete range of private banking and commercial banking services to U.S and international clients.

For 70 years IDB Bank has built its business by fostering deep relationships with its clients, rapid decision-making, and the ability to develop custom-tailored solutions for both its domestic and international clientele. To learn more about IDB Bank visit www.idbny.com

IDB Bank is a registered service mark of Israel Discount Bank of New York. MEMBER FDIC.

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Program toasts the achievements of Latinas revolutionizing the tech industry and uplifting their communities in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Latinas in Tech, a non-profit organization with the aim to connect, support, and empower Hispanic women working in technology, is entering the metaverse in partnership with Korbel California Champagne to present Luminarias, a virtual art exhibition spotlighting 30 Latina changemakers in the STEM industries. Ranging from corporate executives to digital creators, the honorees will be represented as individual NFT portraits and featured in a fully-immersive VR gallery. For more information, visit here.

Designed by award-winning illustrator and digital artist Lucia Diaz, each Luminarias portrait may be purchased as a charity NFT, with all proceeds donated to Latinas in Tech. Bidding will begin at 0.030 Ethereum (ETH) or $50 USD on OpenSea. Launching September 15 and open throughout Hispanic Heritage Month, the metaverse exhibition will be accessible via VR headset, computer, tablet, or smartphone.

While women represent 28.8% of the U.S. tech workforce, Hispanic women only make up 2%, according to a recent study. This notable disparity, as well as the highly-publicized Latina wage gap, have prompted community and professional leaders to advocate for more Latinas building careers in STEM. Empowering and connecting Hispanic women since 2014, Latinas in Tech works hand in hand with top technology companies to create safe spaces for learning, mentorship, and recruitment.

"Luminarias shines a light on some of the extraordinary Hispanic women who are illuminating career paths for Latinas in STEM," said Rocio van Nierop, Co-Founder and CEO of Latinas in Tech." Latinas in Tech is incredibly proud to partner with Korbel to raise a toast to these pioneers and role models who are making tremendous contributions to their industries and our community as a whole."

The first class of Luminarias, presented by Latinas in Tech x Korbel, are:

Beatriz Acevedo , CEO and Co-Founder at SUMA Wealth

, CEO and Co-Founder at SUMA Wealth Julie Acosta , Senior Web Analytics Manager at AutoZone

, Senior Web Analytics Manager at AutoZone Cecilia Ambros , Director of Research, Data Sciences at Compass

, Director of Research, Data Sciences at Compass Deborah Berebichez , Lead Scientist in Microelectronics and Quantum Computing at VTT

, Lead Scientist in Microelectronics and Quantum Computing at VTT Luz Bratcher , Founder at Golden Repair

, Founder at Golden Repair Ana Bretschneider , Director of Sponsorship and Program Operations at Latinas in Tech

, Director of Sponsorship and Program Operations at Latinas in Tech Diana Centeno-Gomez , Chief, Smart Sensing and Electronics Systems Branch at NASA Glenn Research Center

, Chief, Smart Sensing and Electronics Systems Branch at NASA Glenn Research Center Melissa Cintron-Munoz , Events Producer at Meta

, Events Producer at Meta Priscila Cordero , Principle Product Marketing Manager at Amazon Luna

, Principle Product Marketing Manager at Amazon Luna Cecilia Corral , Co-Founder and Vice President of Product at CareMessage

, Co-Founder and Vice President of Product at CareMessage Claudia Cruz , Director, Internships and Experiential Learning at University of Nevada, Reno

, Director, Internships and Experiential Learning at University of Nevada, Reno Sarahi Espinoza Salamanca , CEO and Founder at DREAMers Roadmap

, CEO and Founder at DREAMers Roadmap Adriana Gil Miner , Chief Marketing Officer at Iterable

, Chief Marketing Officer at Iterable Veronica Gilliard , Deputy Director of Platform Services at the California Department of Technology

, Deputy Director of Platform Services at the California Department of Technology Michelle Heng , CEO and Co-Founder at Everlaunch

, CEO and Co-Founder at Everlaunch Catalina Laverde , Engineering Manager at Spotify

, Engineering Manager at Spotify Michelle LeClerc , Creative Director at LeClerc

, Creative Director at LeClerc Heather Martinez , Senior Counsel at Uber

, Senior Counsel at Uber Mariana Matus , CEO and Co-founder at Biobot Analytics

, CEO and Co-founder at Biobot Analytics Cynthia Maxwell , Director of Engineering, Animation Studio Technology at Netflix

, Director of Engineering, Animation Studio Technology at Netflix Hady Mendez , Director of Equality at Slack

, Director of Equality at Slack Alejandra Meza , Head of Product Design at Huckleberry Labs

, Head of Product Design at Huckleberry Labs Lynette Midy , Senior Director Of Engineering at SpotHero

, Senior Director Of Engineering at SpotHero Elaine Montilla , Chief Technology Officer for US School Assessment at Pearson

, Chief Technology Officer for US School Assessment at Pearson Shannon Morales , CEO and Founder at Tribaja

, CEO and Founder at Tribaja Sandra Mosquera , Vice President and Product Manager at JP Morgan Chase

, Vice President and Product Manager at JP Morgan Chase Maria Rubio , UX Lead at Keybank

, UX Lead at Keybank Monica SanMiguel , Head of Business at Enova International

, Head of Business at Enova International Diana Toscas , Director of Engineering, Developer Experience at PayPal

, Director of Engineering, Developer Experience at PayPal Daniela Veloz, Senior Software Engineer at Expedia

Hosted on the Spatial metaverse platform, the Luminarias exhibition was inspired by the career journeys of its honorees. Visitors are invited to navigate a short maze to access their ultimate destination: the Luminarias Gallery. A sprawling two-level venue, the custom-built space features the NFT collection on its ground floor and a sun-drenched gathering lounge on its rooftop. Visitors can enjoy the scenic view from the top, along with a closing remark from the Luminarias spanning the sky. To celebrate its grand opening, Latinas in Tech and Korbel will host an exclusive launch event at the gallery on September 15. Click here for more details.

"Luminarias is a celebration of legacy, excellence, and innovation," said Gary Heck, Korbel President and Owner. "For this year's Hispanic Heritage Month, we not only wanted to recognize the historic contributions of the community but also showcase how they are also helping to shape our future. Korbel is honored to partner with Latinas in Tech for our very first entry into the metaverse that's both culturally-led and purpose-driven."

"I'm thrilled to be part of such a timely and important conversation happening within the Hispanic community," said Lucia Diaz, who has previously collaborated with global luxury fashion and beauty brands. "For this NFT collection, my intention was to portray each of the Luminarias as relatable iconoclasts that were both inspirational and aspirational. I want guests coming out of this exhibition to feel like anything is possible, especially in the age of the Web3 and the metaverse."

About Latinas in TechLatinas in Tech is a non-profit with humble origins. What started as two friends in need of career support is now a global community of almost 20,000 Latinx women. Our group began in Silicon Valley in 2014 and has since then expanded to 20 additional cities with a local footprint around the world. Our mission is ambitious, just like our members: we seek to reshape the tech industry so that Latinx women are not only well-represented but also thriving in the technology ecosystem. For more information or to donate to our non-profit, please visit www.latinasintech.org.

About Korbel California Champagne Established in 1882 in Sonoma County's Russian River Valley, Korbel Champagne Cellars produces the United States' most popular methode champenoise champagne. But the true measure of Korbel's success during its 140 years can be seen in the impact it's had on American consumers and its presence at various celebrations throughout the years. Owned and managed by the Heck family since 1954, Korbel currently makes eleven California champagnes and a limited amount of still wine. In a separate facility, Korbel also produces one of the country's most respected brandies.

For downloadable press information, click here.

Celebrate responsibly.

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SOURCE Latinas in Tech
ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In light of evolving technology and advancements in telehealth, the American Physical Therapy Association has launched the APTA Digital Health Transparency Campaign to ensure that licensed physical therapists remain directly involved in the provision of care no matter the delivery system.

While APTA recognizes and supports the potential for technology to augment physical therapist practice, the reality is that technology alone cannot be called physical therapy. The campaign seeks to encourage leaders in the field of physical therapy and digital health care to pledge their commitment to transparency. Nine leading companies have already agreed to make the commitment and the list is growing.

APTA maintains that physical therapy, whether provided in person or virtually, is performed or directed solely by licensed physical therapists. The Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy agrees that "the use of the phrase 'physical therapy' is reserved for use by licensees to ensure that patients understand with whom they are receiving physical therapy services." And several jurisdictions expressly prohibit advertising the provision of physical therapist services where a physical therapist doesn't provide or directly supervise the care provided.

APTA is asking companies that provide digital health to make the following commitment:

"Digital 'physical therapy' services are performed or directed only by licensed physical therapists in accordance with all regulations and APTA's Standards of Practice for Physical Therapy.

Physical therapist examination, evaluation, diagnosis, development of a management plan, and intervention shall be represented and reimbursed as "physical therapy" only when performed by a physical therapist or when selected interventions are performed by a physical therapist assistant under the direction and supervision of a physical therapist."

In a recent statement, APTA President Roger Herr, PT, MPA, asserted that "Physical therapist treatment and technology can and should coexist with the health and experience of the consumer in mind." He went on to say, "APTA stands ready to collaborate with digital platforms and partners to ensure these care models are consistent with existing laws and regulations, uphold consumer protections, and advance quality practice provided by licensed health professionals in accordance with their professional obligations and state-defined scope of practice."

APTA will continue to promote consumer transparency and encourage other companies to commit to this pledge.

The American Physical Therapy Association represents 100,000 physical therapists, physical therapist assistants, and students of physical therapy nationwide. Visit apta.org to learn more.

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SOURCE American Physical Therapy Association
Spark Capital Joins Lux, Kleiner Perkins, Data Collective, and Future Shape; Manufacturing Executive Victoria Holt and Spark Partner Santo Politi Join Lumafield Board of Directors

CHICAGO, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- IMTS Chicago, East Hall, Floor 3, Booth #135828  Lumafield, a pioneering developer of accessible X-ray CT technology, today announced it has closed a $35M Series B funding round from new and existing investors, achieved a major new AI-driven performance breakthrough, and appointed two prominent executives to its board of directors.

The company has raised a total of $67.5M to date, including a combined $32.5M in its Seed and Series A funding rounds. Spark Capital led the Series B round, which also included participation from existing investors Lux Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Data Collective, and Future Shape.

Lumafield also announced the appointment of Victoria Holt and Santo Politi to the company's Board of Directors. Ms. Holt was previously CEO of Protolabs and is a member of the boards of directors of Waste Management, A.O. Smith, and Piper Sandler. Mr. Politi is Founder and General Partner of Spark Capital, where his investments have included Oculus, Twitter, Wayfair, and Plaid.

Faster, AI-driven scans bring CT to the factory floor

When Lumafield emerged from stealth in April 2022, it offered the world's first accessible industrial X-ray CT platform. Lumafield's Neptune industrial CT scanner is an order of magnitude less expensive than legacy systems, and it brought this powerful technology to engineering teams that had never been able to afford industrial CT before.

Now Lumafield has made its Neptune scanner more than 300X faster, allowing it to scale from one-off scans in product development labs all the way to serial inspection in high-volume manufacturing operations.

Behind the speed increase is a significant development in artificial intelligence. CT scanners work by capturing a series of two-dimensional X-ray images from different angles, then reconstructing them into a 3D model using software.

Lumafield's AI allows the company's reconstruction process to achieve the same high-quality results with fewer two-dimensional X-ray images, reducing the time required to run a scan. New improvements in Lumafield's software also make it possible to skip certain steps in the reconstruction process before performing automated analysis, which cuts processing time.

As a result, scans that previously took several hours can now run in a minute or less, finally making industrial CT a practical technology for quality assurance on factory floors. Combined with factory automation systems, Lumafield's scanner and software can inspect products at high volume, automatically flagging problems such as dimensional inaccuracies and the presence of pores and cracks.

"Industrial CT has been out of reach for most production linesuntil now," said Eduardo Torrealba, Lumafield Co-Founder and CEO. "With these speed improvements and Lumafield's low price point, it's now possible to implement 100% inspection with CT, catching invisible issues before they become costly problems."

A demo of Lumafield's rapid scanning technology is available this week at IMTS in Chicago. Visit Lumafield in the East Hall, Floor 3 at booth #135828 to experience the Neptune scanner and Voyager analysis software firsthand.

Lumafield is hiring for a wide variety of roles; to see current job openings, visit careers.lumafield.com.

Quotes

"The manufacturing world is changing dramatically," said new Lumafield board member Victoria Holt. "Manufacturers are confronted with an increasingly competitive marketplace, radical shifts in supply chains, and ever-higher customer expectations. My experience leading Protolabs gives me an appreciation for the positive impact technology can have on manufacturing. Lumafield offers a technology, a team, and a perspective that promise to reshape the way products are made. I'm very excited to work with Lumafield to realize its vision."

"At Spark, we look for entrepreneurs who have the souls of artists," said Santo Politi, Co-Founder and General Partner at Spark Capital, who led Lumafield's Series B fundraising round and joined its board. "The Lumafield team has deep technical expertise, a clear understanding of how their technology will change the manufacturing world, and a drive to reveal the hidden beauty inside the world around us."

"Lumafield has been fortunate to have some of the world's leading investors back our vision of 'CT ubiquity.' Thanks to their support, we've been able to help engineers change the way they work on everything from cosmetics packaging to bike parts," said Eduardo Torrealba, Co-Founder and CEO of Lumafield. "We're honored by this vote of confidence from Santo and Victoria, as well as our Seed, Series A, and Series B investors. We're excited to move into our next phase of supercharged growth."

About Lumafield

Lumafield is a startup based in Cambridge, Mass., that has developed the world's first accessible X-Ray CT scanner for engineers. Lumafield's easy-to-use scanner and cloud-based analysis software give engineers the ability to see their work clearly, inside and out. Lumafield's industrial CT platform starts at less than $3,000 per month and scales from product development labs to high-volume manufacturing operations.

By offering unprecedented visibility into products, as well as AI-driven tools that highlight problems and generate quantitative data, Lumafield promises to revolutionize the way complex products are created, manufactured, and used across industries. Learn more and explore interactive demos at www.lumafield.com.

Lumafield is a trademark of Lumafield, Inc. All other trademarks and registered trademarks previously cited are hereby recognized and acknowledged.

For further media information about Lumafield, please contact company PR Counsel Jonathan Hirshon at [email protected].

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SOURCE Lumafield
WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA will host a briefing at 11:30 a.m. EDT (8:30 a.m. PDT) on Thursday, Sept. 15, at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California to provide highlights from the first year and a half of the Perseverance rover's exploration of Mars.

The rover landed in Mars' Jezero Crater in February 2021 and is collecting samples of rock and other materials from the Martian surface. NASA's Perseverance is investigating the sediment-rich ancient river delta in the Red Planet's Jezero Crater.

The briefing will livestream on NASA Television, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, as well as the agency's app. Watch on the agency's website at:

https://www.nasa.gov/live

Participants will include:

Lori Glaze, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division, NASA Headquarters

Laurie Leshin, JPL director

Art Thompson, Perseverance project manager, JPL

Ken Farley, Perseverance project scientist, Caltech

Sunanda Sharma, Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals scientist, JPL

David Shuster, Perseverance returned sample scientist, University of California, Berkeley

Members of the U.S. media interested in covering the event in person at JPL must arrange access in advance by emailing Rexana Vizza at: [email protected] no later than 7 p.m. EDT (4 p.m. PDT) on Tuesday, Sept. 13. Foreign media outlets must RSVP by 7 p.m. EDT (4 p.m. PDT) on Monday, Sept. 12. Valid media credentials are required for on-site access. The agency's media accreditation policy is available online.

To ask questions by phone, members of the media need to RSVP no later than two hours before the start of the event on Thursday, Sept. 15. Questions can be asked on social media during the briefing using #AskNASA.

Perseverance marks the first step in the Mars Sample Return campaign, which would return scientifically-promising samples to Earth for further study using the most sophisticated instruments around the world. These samples collected by Perseverance during its exploration of an ancient river delta are thought to be the best opportunity to reveal the early evolution of Mars, including the potential for life.

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SOURCE NASA
The combination of NT-I7 plus pembrolizumab enhances infiltration of PD-1+ T cells

ROCKVILLE, Md., Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- NeoImmuneTech, Inc. (NIT), a T cell-focused therapeutics company, presented data that suggests that NT-I7 plus pembrolizumab combination treatment enhances infiltration of PD-1+ T cells in cold tumors, at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Paris, France, September 9-13, 2022.

While initial results from the phase 2a study NIT-110 had showed that subjects responding to NT-I7 plus pembrolizumab had enhanced lymphocyte infiltration, NeoImmuneTech conducted a new biomarker analysis of the immune-associated changes in the tumor microenvironment (TME) after NT-I7 plus pembrolizumab. The overall goal was to continue to understand how the combination of the long-acting human IL-7 and a checkpoint inhibitor (CPI) can induce a stronger immune response, since CPIs alone are usually considered ineffective in cold tumors with low T cell infiltration.

New data presented in a poster[1] at ESMO Congress 2022 suggest that the combination of NT-I7 and pembrolizumab induces infiltration of CD8 T cells into the tumor microenvironment in more than 80% of analyzed samples. The infiltration of CD8 T cells showed an increase of over 5-fold in over 50% of on-treatment samples after only one dose of NT-I7. Treatment with NT-I7 and pembrolizumab increased the immunogenicity of the TME. The analysis also revealed that treatment-induced reduction of the tumor volume was associated with the magnitude of CD8 T cell infiltration.

Dr. Se Hwan Yang, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of NeoImmuneTech said: "We continue to gather evidence to demonstrate that the combination of NT-I7 and pembrolizumab has promising clinical efficacy in very cold and immunosuppressive indications. Our latest data presented at ESMO indicate that the enhanced tumor-specific CD8 T cell infiltration into the tumor microenvironment may trigger enhanced clinical efficacy. This represents an encouraging path to potentially provide one day more therapeutic options to patients with cold tumors where CPIs are usually ineffective."

About NT-I7 (efineptakin alfa) (rhIL-7-hyFc)NT-I7 (efineptakin alfa) is the only clinical-stage long-acting human IL-7 and is being developed in oncologic and immunologic indications, where T cell amplification and increased functionality may provide clinical benefit. IL-7 is a fundamental cytokine for naive and memory T cell development and sustaining immune response to chronic antigens (as in cancer) or foreign antigens (as in infectious diseases). NT-I7 exhibits favorable PK/PD and safety profiles, making it an ideal combination partner. NT-I7 is being studied in multiple clinical trials in solid tumors and as vaccine adjuvant. Studies are being planned for testing in hematologic malignancies, additional solid tumors and other immunology-focused indications.

About NeoImmuneTech, Inc.NeoImmuneTech, Inc. (NIT) is a clinical-stage T cell-focused biopharmaceutical company dedicated to expanding the horizon of immuno-oncology and enhancing immunity to infectious diseases. NIT is led by the scientific founder and inventor of NT-I7 (efineptakin alfa) and has a strong executive team with rich industry experience. NIT is expanding rapidly in personnel and operations, as well as partnering with industry and academic leaders to investigate NT-I7 as monotherapy and in combination with various immunotherapeutics. For more information, please visit www.neoimmunetech.com.

Forward-looking StatementsThe statements contained herein may contain certain forward-looking statements relating to NeoImmuneTech, Inc. (the "Company") that are based on its beliefs and expectations about the future. These forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions about the future, some of which are beyond the Company's control and are not a guarantee of future performance or developments. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the relevant forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that arise after the date of these documents. Accordingly, you should not place reliance on any forward-looking information or statements contained herein.

Some of the data contained in these documents were obtained from various external sources, and the Company has not independently verified such data. Accordingly, the Company makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of the data, and such data involves risks and uncertainties and is subject to change based on various factors.

[1] Aung Naing - NT-I7 plus pembrolizumab combination treatment enhances infiltration of PD-1+ T cells and provides a more immunogenic tumor microenvironment. Biomarker data from the NIT-110 Study.

Poster Number: 1674P, ESMO Congress 2022

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SOURCE The NeoImmuneTech, Inc
WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- IPO Education Foundation (IPOEF) will award its 2022 IP Champion honor to Dr. Gary K. Michelson, a spiral surgeon, inventor, and founder of a network of foundations. The IP Champion award recognizes extraordinary leadership in advocating for the value of intellectual property to stimulate the progress of innovation.

Dr. Gary Michelson wins IPOEF's IP Champion award for leadership in advocating for the value of intellectual property.

A holder of more than 950 patents, Dr. Michelson has long championed a strong patent system and the value of IP protections. In 2016, he established the Michelson Institute for Intellectual Property (Michelson IP) at his education nonprofit the Michelson 20MM Foundation, providing free intellectual property educational resources for inventors and entrepreneurs, with a strong focus on underrepresented communities.

Michelson IP produces various free high-quality IP resources including an interactive digital text and introductory college textbook that makes patents, copyright, and trademarks understandable for students and non-lawyers. Michelson IP also developed an animated video series that breaks down the content into digestible 3-4 minute videos, and a comprehensive online course available at a global scale on the Udemy platform. More than 20,000 students worldwide have taken the course since it was introduced. Nearly 400 institutions have embedded Michelson IP's resources into their curricula.

In 2021, Michelson IP also partnered with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to launch the HBCU IP Futures Collaborative, bringing IP curricula, resources, and grants to participating institutions. This year, one HBCU student who received IP education through the Collaborative went on to invent a fast food automation machine and file for a patent with the USPTO, which is currently reviewing the application.

Dr. Michelson will be honored for his IP education advocacy with the IP Champion Award at the 2022 IPOEF Awards on December 7 at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. For tickets and information, visit IPOEF.org.

About IPO Education Foundation

Started in 2000, Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation is a non-profit organization devoted to educational and charitable activities designed to teach about the value of intellectual property rights and encourage innovation. The Foundation is committed to promoting an understanding and respect of intellectual property rights and their value for society. To learn more visit www.ipoef.org. IPO Education Foundation is a subsidiary of Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO), established in 1972, a trade association for owners of patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets.

Contact: Nyree C. Berry202.507.4514 | [email protected]

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SOURCE Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation
TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Sailfish Royalty Corp. (TSXV: FISH) (OTCQX: SROYF) (the "Company" or "Sailfish") is pleased to announce the appointment of Paolo Lostritto as Chief Executive Officer and Director of the Company.

Mr. Lostritto joined Sailfish in March 2021 as Vice President of Corporate Development. Prior to this, Mr. Lostritto also helped grow the Company as a banker, including assisting with the Company's purchase of the royalty held on the Tocantinzinho gold project located in northern Brazil in 2017.

Paolo Lostritto states that, "I am honoured to be leading Sailfish and working closely with the existing team who have made great strides to get the Company to where it is today. Sailfish has a solid balance sheet, is generating cash flow, is paying dividends and has potential for significant upside through royalty interests on the Spring Valley gold project in in Pershing County, Nevada. In addition, we have tremendous support from the Company's controlling shareholder, which we believe will be useful in navigating the upcoming consolidation phase expected in the precious metals royalty sector."

Mr. Lostritto has been selected to replace Cesar Gonzalez, who has stepped down from his role as Chief Executive Officer and Director of the Company to focus on his role as Executive Chairman of Bonterra Resources Inc. Mr. Gonzalez will continue to assist and provide strategic advice to the Company as a consultant.

Mr. Gonzalez co-founded Sailfish in 2014 with Akiba Leisman, Executive Chairman of the Company. Mr. Gonzalez became the CEO in October 2020 and has played an integral role in growing the Company from a private subsidiary of a predecessor of Mako Mining Corp., into a publicly traded precious metals royalty company with cash flow and paying a dividend. The Company thanks Mr. Gonzalez for his service as CEO and Director and is pleased that he will continue to provide strategic advice to the Company as a consultant.

Cesar Gonzalez states that, "it is exciting to see Sailfish continue to mature as a public company with the appointment of Paolo as a dedicated CEO. I look forward to working with Paolo and the rest of the Sailfish team as a consultant to continue growing the Company."

Paolo Lostritto Bio

Mr. Lostritto has an extensive background in mining capital markets and working with companies across the globe since 1997. Paolo has helped assess different companies/projects and helped finance them as they advanced through exploration, development, and production. Some of the companies where Paolo was involved early include: Kirkland Lake Gold, Novagold and Lake Shore Gold in 2004; Romarco Minerals in 2006; Victoria Gold and Volta Resources in 2009.

Mr. Lostritto is currently serving as the Chairman of Signature Resources Ltd., which is focused on high grade gold exploration in Ontario. Over his career, Mr. Lostritto was a Director of the Mining Equity Research at National Bank Financial and worked in equity research at Wellington West, Scotia Capital and TD Securities. He served as an Independent Director at Savary Gold Corp. which was sold to SEMAFO in 2019.

Mr. Lostritto holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Geological and Mineral Engineering in Rock Mechanics from the University of Toronto and he is a registered Professional Engineer in the Province of Ontario.

About Sailfish

Sailfish is a precious metals royalty and streaming company. Within Sailfish's portfolio are two main assets in the Americas: a gold stream equivalent to a 3% NSR on the San Albino gold mine (~3.5 sq. km) and a 2% NSR on the rest of the area (~134.5 sq. km) surrounding San Albino in northern Nicaragua; and an up to 3% NSR on the Spring Valley gold project in Pershing County, Nevada.

Sailfish is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "FISH" and on the OTCQX under the symbol "SROYF". Please visit the Company's website at www.sailfishroyalty.com for additional information.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as the term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

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SOURCE Sailfish Royalty Corp.
Apple joins Yahoo, Google, Fastmail, and Valimail to extend the BIMI standard to hundreds of millions more inboxes globally.

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Valimail, the global leader in zero-trust, authentication-based solutions for email, welcomes Apple's support of Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI)  a vendor-neutral standards body and global effort created to enhance security and user experience in the email ecosystem  spearheaded by major ISPs and Valimail.

Apple has included BIMI in its iOS 16 and macOS Ventura releases this fall. The company's estimated 850 million email users  58.4% of desktop client market share  will benefit from stronger brand protection and amplification.

Developed by the AuthIndicators Working Group, BIMI enables brands to deliver validated logos alongside validated email messages to billions of inboxes worldwide, increasing customer engagement with those messages and boosts brand trust.

Email veteran Josh Aberant and Alexander Garcia-Tobar, CEO of Valimail, co-founded the AuthIndicators Working Group in 2015. Valimail remains a committed leader of the group, working to strengthen email authentication and brand trust for the entire ecosystem, not just its own customers.

Apple's implementation, like Google's and Fastmail's, requires a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC), to ensure that the displayed logo is legitimate and belongs to the brand sending the email. Brands can now ensure their logos are accurately displayed in all corporate email while also reducing the risk of logo abuse or fraud by bad actors. With BIMI, brands can control and manage their logos when sending emails to their employees, partners, and customers.

"I applaud Apple for adopting the BIMI standard with VMC, which shows the company's continued commitment to security and excellent user experiences," said Seth Blank, CTO at Valimail and Chair of the AuthIndicators (BIMI) Working Group.

To take advantage of BIMI, companies must be using strong authentication, which requires proper implementation of Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance (DMARC) at enforcement. DMARC ensures proper validation of sender identity. With 89% of phishing attacks beginning with sender identity fraud, DMARC offers a critical safeguard against cyber criminals from sending fraudulent mail.

Valimail understands the challenges inherent in properly authenticating email. According to the company's research, while DMARC adoption has increased in the past 5 years, fewer than 10.8% of DMARC implementations ever successfully reach enforcement. Businesses and organizations using DMARC enhance their security and reduce business risk.

"Apple's support for BIMI is critical for the growth of the ecosystem. With their participation, hundreds of millions of more inboxes will reap the benefits of enhanced security and a better customer experience which the BIMI standard provides," Blank noted.

Earlier this summer, Apple released the second developer beta of iOS 16, which includes support of the BIMI standard. With today's general release of the updated operating system, the BIMI standard now protects all Apple mail users.

With Yahoo, AOL, Gmail, and now Apple implementing BIMI, the email ecosystem is receiving yet another boost to its coverage and logo display functionality. Apple's support will increase the incentive for other mailbox providers  including Microsoft Outlook, Tencent and Netease  to also implement BIMI.

For companies seeking to experience the full power of BIMI, please visit www.valimail.com

About Valimail:Valimail, the global leader in zero-trust email authentication security, invented hosted DMARC in 2015 and DMARC-as-a-service in 2021. The company's full line of cloud-native solutions authenticates sender identity to stop phishing, protect brands, and ensure compliance. From neighborhood shops to some of the world's largest brands, many organizations use these solutions to secure their emails. Valimail holds the most robust portfolio of patents that unlock DMARC for businesses at scale and is the only DMARC solution to earn FedRAMP certification. The premier DMARC partner for Microsoft 365 environments, Valimail also holds leadership positions on every key industry standards body, driving today's email authentication policies and tomorrow's cybersecurity advancements for everyone. For more information, visit www.valimail.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:BLASTmedia For ValimailAbby Lewis[email protected]

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SOURCE Valimail
Latest: Venture capital arms under 2 leading Thai banks, Kasikornbank PCL (SET: KBANK) and Bank of Ayudhya PCL (SET: BAY) participate in the funding round to support the innovation of Decentralized Finance (DeFi).

BANGKOK, Sept. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Forward, a Thai digital asset and blockchain startup focusing on protocol development for decentralized derivative exchange and DeFi platform, has successfully closed its USD 5 million seed round within just 6 months of fundraising, despite severe economic uncertainty and high volatility in the digital asset landscape.

The round was led by RPVAF-1, a global VC fund under Primestreet Capital, with participation from

Beacon Venture Capital from Kasikornbank;

KASIKORN X from Kasikornbank;

Krungsri Finnovate from Bank of Ayudhya, a member of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG); and together with Ratanakorn Technology Group, GBV Capital and Varys Capital who have confirmed their investments earlier in this round.

Chanon Charatsuttikul, Co-founder and CEO of Forward, revealed that Forward is the world's first DeFi project to receive investments from global funds and two major Thai banks. "I believe that there is hope for Thailand to become a center of innovation and technology. We have investors who are ready to support new talents. The closing of this seed round, for me, is the beginning of a big challenge for the team to maximize our potential and grow the organization, and help make Thailand stand out as a country of innovation, just like western countries.

"The majority of trading volume occurs at Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, and it mainly comes from derivative products. The trading volume of derivative products is approximately 3 times larger than the spot volume and it is still growing. Thus, Forward is focusing on developing a decentralized derivative platform, which is non-custodial with a system that prohibits transactions from sanctioned countries and addresses. We have a strong team backed by PhDs working day and night to develop a newly invented protocol, called the Automated Position Hedger (APH), which is unlike anything seen before. In addition, we always take it very seriously in terms of legal issues, accounting standards, and the safety of the investors' assets," Chanon added.

Asst. Prof. Dr. Udomsak Rakwongwan, Co-founder and Advisor, added that "We aim to develop Forward to be a 'One Stop Service' protocol, solving limitation and pain points in DeFi economy. It will be a secure and easy-to-use platform where users can earn sustainable investment returns. This means that the return generated to investors is a result of a solid and sustainable business model that was carefully designed for long-term operation. Our user-friendly interface will reduce the barrier to onboard new users to the blockchain space. For every single line of our coding, smart contract technical auditing is required and it will be performed by at least 2 trusted auditors."

Supavat Nam Cholvanich, Co-founder and Partner of PrimeStreet Capital, the lead investor of this round, said: "With our finance background, we have a good interest in financial-related blockchain technology. Digital asset is a high volatility landscape, and we highly emphasize the importance of safety and sustainability of the protocol. Our team focus deeply on the tightness of all operating logic and, at the same time, look for a platform with meaningful enhanced features that has the potential to stand out and elevate DeFi ecosystem. We believe Forward is well set up and its DeFi platform should easily navigate through market volatility and grow sustainably in the digital asset world."

About Forward

Forward is a digital asset and blockchain startup, founded by a group of developers and tech researchers. The founders' prior success was the launch of a well-known regulated crypto exchange in Thailand. Forward is currently developing a newly invented protocol for decentralized derivative trading, where short and long positions are matched against each other using an advanced protocol named Automated Position Hedger (APH). Forward DDEX acts as a counterparty to instantly match users' long and short perpetual Futures orders. As a result, Forward does not have limit order books and does not require market makers. The risk of the platform acting as a users' counter-party is completely hedged using the tokens in the lending and borrowing pools.

About Primestreet Capital

Primestreet Capital is a Southeast Asia-based global fund management company with a current AUM of USD150 million. The firm manages three flagship funds, including real estate PE, growth PE, and global VC. The RPVAF-1, its global VC fund, has invested in several impact technology companies around the globe.

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SOURCE Forward
Transaction Provides Cash Liquidity for Watermark Lodging Trust Stockholders

CHICAGO, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Watermark Lodging Trust, Inc. ("Watermark," "WLT" or the "Company") today announced that, at a Special Meeting of Stockholders, the proposed acquisition of WLT by private real estate funds managed by Brookfield was approved by its stockholders. Under the terms of the previously announced merger transaction, WLT common stockholders will receive cash consideration of $6.768 per Class A share and $6.699 per Class T share. The transaction is anticipated to close on or about October 21, 2022; however, closing remains subject to the terms and conditions of the merger agreement and there can be no assurance as to the exact closing date.

"I would like to thank our stockholders for their support of this transaction and the entire Watermark team for their hard work and commitment throughout this process," said Michael Medzigian, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Watermark. "With this critical step now accomplished, we look forward to completing the transaction with Brookfield and delivering cash liquidity to our stockholders."

The final voting results will be reported in a Form 8-K to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission after certification by Watermark's inspector of election.

Watermark Lodging Trust, Inc.

Watermark Lodging Trust, Inc. is a publicly registered, self-managed, non-traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that invests in, manages and seeks to enhance the value of interests in lodging and lodging-related properties. Over the past decade, Watermark and its predecessor companies (Carey Watermark Investors Inc., Carey Watermark Investors 2 Inc. and Watermark Capital Partners, LLC) have been among the largest and most active investors in the lodging industry creating a portfolio of high-quality assets in high barrier to entry and growth markets. www.watermarklodging.com

Forward-Looking Statements

The forward-looking statements contained in this communication, including statements regarding the proposed merger transaction and the timing and benefits of such transaction, are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Although the Company believes the expectations reflected in any forward-looking statements contained herein are based on reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that such expectations will be achieved. Forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and describe future plans, strategies and expectations of the Company, are generally identifiable by use of the words "believe," "expect," "intend," "anticipate," "estimate," "project," or other similar expressions. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from future results, performance or achievements projected or contemplated in the forward-looking statements. Some of the factors that may affect outcomes and results include, but are not limited to: (i) risks associated with the Company's ability to obtain the stockholder approval required to consummate the merger and the timing of the closing of the merger, including the risks that a condition to closing would not be satisfied within the expected timeframe or at all or that the closing of the merger will not occur, (ii) the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against the parties and others related to the merger agreement, (iii) unanticipated difficulties or expenditures relating to the transaction, the response of business partners and competitors to the announcement of the transaction, and/or potential difficulties in employee retention as a result of the announcement and pendency of the transaction, (iv) the possible failure of the Company to maintain its qualification as a REIT, and (v) those additional risks and factors discussed in reports filed with the SEC by the Company from time to time, including those discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K/A, as updated by subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other reports filed with the SEC. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Investors should not place undue reliance upon forward-looking statements.

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SOURCE Watermark Lodging Trust
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

Form 6-K

REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER PURSUANT TO RULE 13A-16 OR 15D-16

UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

September, 2022

Commission File Number 1-15182

DR. REDDYS LABORATORIES LIMITED

(Translation of registrants name into English)

8-2-337, Road No. 3, Banjara Hills

Hyderabad, Telangana 500 034, India

+91-40-49002900

(Address of principal executive office)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.

Form 20-F x Form 40-F 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1): ______

Note: Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1) only permits the submission in paper of a Form 6-K if submitted solely to provide an attached annual report to security holders.

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7): ______

Note: Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7) only permits the submission in paper of a Form 6-K if submitted to furnish a report or other document that the registrant foreign private issuer must furnish and make public under the laws of the jurisdiction in which the registrant is incorporated, domiciled or legally organized (the registrants home country), or under the rules of the home country exchange on which the registrants securities are traded, as long as the report or other document is not a press release, is not required to be and has not been distributed to the registrants security holders, and, if discussing a material event, has already been the subject of a Form 6-K submission or other Commission filing on EDGAR.

Indicate by check mark whether by furnishing the information contained in this Form, the registrant is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Yes  No x

If Yes is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to registrant in connection with Rule 12g3-2(b): 82-________.

EXHIBITS

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

DR. REDDYS LABORATORIES LIMITED

(Registrant) Date: September 10, 2022 By: /s/ K Randhir Singh Name: K Randhir Singh Title: Company Secretary

ATTACHMENTS / EXHIBITS

EXHIBIT 99.2
Two former employees of a private company that manages military family housing will avoid jail time after pleading guilty to federal charges in a scheme to collect unearned financial bonuses from the Air Force, according to court records.

Stacy Cabrera, 49, of Converse, Texas, was sentenced Thursday to two years of probation for pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy, according to records from the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C. Rick Cunefare, 63, of Glendale, Ariz., also was sentenced Thursday to two years of probation and a $5,000 fine for pleading guilty to major fraud against the United States. The Justice Department announced plea agreements with the two in June 2021.

Both worked for Balfour Beatty Communities, a private company that pleaded guilty to fraud charges in December and was sentenced to pay $65 million in restitution to the military and criminal fines. It still holds contracts with the military to manage housing at 55 Air Force, Navy and Army bases across the country.

The company and the employees admitted to altering maintenance work orders to receive financial bonuses from the military.

The incidents occurred from 2013 to 2016 while Cabrera was the community manager at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, and Cunefare was a regional manager who directly supervised community managers for military family housing at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, Travis and Vandenberg Air Force bases in California, Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma, and Fairchild Air Force Base in Washington state, according to court documents.

Their actions brought Balfour Beatty about $3.5 million in bonus money that it did not earn, according to the Justice Department.

In an open letter to the court, Cabrera described how she was asked by the corporate office on several occasions to change the completion times and/or dates on work orders to make certain the company reached quarterly goals.

I didnt recognize I was doing anything illegal, immoral, or unethical. I was following orders, she wrote. I realize now that just because my actions werent committed with malice intent, it doesnt mean I havent done anything wrong. I am deeply sorry that I did not use better judgment to do what was right instead of what I was told.

Balfour Beatty has continued to face scrutiny since it and its employees pleaded guilty to criminal charges last year. A Senate investigation released in April found the company has continued with similar actions this year at Fort Gordon, Ga. Their mishandling of maintenance requests threatened the health and safety of families, according to the Senate report from the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which is part of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Based on those findings, the Army launched its own investigation into Balfour Beattys management of the Georgia base, which is still ongoing. Balfour Beatty said Monday in a statement that the company has taken significant steps since 2019 to improve operations and increase oversight, including in its ethics and compliance training programs for all employees. It implemented an operations assurance plan as a safeguard for ongoing compliance with internal policies and procedures.

Our primary focus is providing our service members and their families with safe, quality homes supported by prompt and effective customer service and maintenance support. We remain dedicated to working with residents, military housing advocacy groups, and our partners in Congress and the [Defense Department] to deliver on our commitments for the long term, according to the statement.
(Tribune News Service)  A military transport plane made an unplanned landing at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut on Monday morning after one of its four engines failed during a training flight, authorities said.

The C-130 Hercules, a Connecticut Air National Guard plane based at Bradley Airport in Windsor Locks, reported engine trouble just after 11 a.m., according to Maj. Dave Pytlik, the National Guards public affairs officer.

The plane returned safely to base out of an abundance of caution, he said. No one was injured.

Its a military aircraft and it can fly with an engine out, Pytlik said. But the prudent thing to do is return to base.

IAFF Local S-15, the union representing state firefighters at Bradley Airport, said the Number 4 engine had gone out during the flight. Pytlik said the engine had experienced a mechanical issue.

2022 Advance Local Media LLC.

Visit masslive.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea  A childrens playground was shut down and other areas of this air base are being cordoned off after traces of lead-based paint were discovered earlier this month, according to the 51st Fighter Wing.

The playground at the Jirisan Tower residential complex was closed Friday out of an abundance of caution after a small amount of lead-based paint was discovered on the slide last week, 51st Fighter Wing commander Col. Joshua Wood said Monday during a town hall at the Osan officers club.

I can tell you our team very much cares," Wood said. We care about your safety, and we care about providing as high quality of living exceptions and experiences as we possibly can.

Not much of the Jirisan Towers playground was left after the slides were removed, so it was entirely closed, Wood said.

Lead-based paint was also found on the crossbar of a swing set at the playground near the Hallasan Tower residential complex, a short walk from Jirisan Tower. The swings were removed; however, children are still allowed to visit the playground.

A "thorough" lead-based paint inspection on all the family housing areas in Osan was initiated in March by U.S. Forces Korea, Wood said.

Engineers were unclear how many coats of paint covered some of the affected objects and did not recommend removing it, according to Wood.

Plans are being developed to replace all five of Osans aging playgrounds, said Lt. Col. Brian Low, the 51st Civil Engineer Squadron commander.

We will phase it in such a way that we dont take everything down, Low said at the town hall.

Other objects containing lead-based paint near family residences are also being addressed, Wood and Low said. Utility areas inaccessible to residents and the top of a fire hydrant contained the toxic paint and are being cordoned off until engineers can safely deal with the issue.

Space Force spouse Katrelle Simmons-Green said she was concerned with the news of lead-based paint on the base, but that Wood and Lows plans assuaged her worries, she told Stars and Stripes after the town hall. She, her husband and their two daughters moved to Osan from Colorado in August.

I definitely feel more at ease with whats going on, Simmons-Green said. To hear that they immediately took things down, had a town hall  I felt that that was very helpful. Had that not have happened, I would have a lot of concerns.

For the past five years, the South Korean government has limited the use of lead-based paint out of health concerns, Wood said.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warns on its website that paint containing lead in and around your home can be dangerous if not managed properly.

The U.S. banned use of lead-based paint by consumers in 1978; homes that were constructed before then are more likely to contain the substance, according to the EPA. The agency warns that lead paint poisoning among children can lead to lower intelligence, learning disabilities and behavioral issues."
A soldier in the U.S. Army wrote on Instagram that he joined the military for combat experience so Im more proficient in killing Black people, investigators say.

Killian Mackeithan Ryan also had five Instagram accounts that were in contact with others associated with racially motivated extremism, according to court records.

Ryans alleged social media activity is documented in a case filed late last month in U.S. District Court in North Carolina that accuses him of providing false information on a security clearance form to serve at Fort Bragg.

The case was first reported by Rolling Stone and comes at a time when the U.S. military is trying to purge its ranks of extremists and white supremacists.

For example, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin directed commanding officers last year to institute a one-day stand-down to address extremism. The military also updated its social media policy where liking and reposting certain content could result in disciplinary action.

And just this month, the names of more than 100 current military members appeared on the leaked membership rolls of a far-right extremist group thats accused of playing a key role in last years insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Ryan is accused of claiming on the security clearance form that he wasnt in contact with his biological father for more than 10 years, according to court records. He also said that his biological father wasnt listed on his birth certificate.

Ryans biological father is a convicted felon with a criminal history in Washington state and California for drug violations and auto theft, according to court records.

Ryan was investigated by a police officer in Fayetteville, N.C., who works as part of the FBIs Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Ryan served in the regular Army at Fort Bragg until his arrest by the FBI on Aug. 26 and was separated for serious misconduct, U.S. Army officials said in a statement.

The statement did not elaborate on what the misconduct was. Ryan was also charged with driving under the influence at Fort Bragg in July, according to court documents.

The Army said the FBI informed it earlier this year that Ryan was under investigation.

The U.S. Army does not tolerate racism, extremism or hatred in our ranks, its statement said.

Ryan served as a fire support specialist, which is someone who gathers intelligence on enemy targets for artillery forces. The Army said he had no deployments.

For one of his Instagram accounts, Ryan used an email that contained the name naziace1488, according to court records.

According to the Anti-Defamation League, 1488 is a combination of numeric symbols that are popular among white supremacists.

The first is the number 14, which is shorthand for a 14-word slogan about the future for white children, the ADL said. The second is 88, which stands for Heil Hitler because H is the 8th letter of the alphabet, the ADL said.

Ryan was in touch with his biological father through Instagram, court records stated. His father also posted a photo of the two at Ryans high school graduation in 2019.

Legal experts say that Ryan could have jeopardized his security clearance if he listed recent contact with his biological father.

Theyre looking at the potential for you to be compromised in any way because of your personal situation, said Colby Vokey, a military criminal defense lawyer.

Ryan would have needed clearance to work with intelligence on enemy positions as well as information about U.S. weapons systems, Vokey added.

Phillip Stackhouse, another military criminal defense lawyer, said prosecuting someone for providing false information on a security clearance form is not routine in his experience. Many people often just have their clearance revoked without being charged.

Maybe theyre going to make an example of him, Stackhouse said of Ryan. Maybe its to apply pressure on him to cooperate in some other investigation.

Ryans federal public defender, James E. Todd , Jr., did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment.
BALTIMORE (Tribune News Service)  A Danish training ship hit the moored USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul on Sunday morning in the Inner Harbor, according to a statement from the U.S. Navy.

No U.S. Navy personnel were injured and there was no serious damage to the Navy ship, a U.S. Navy spokesperson said in a statement. The USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul was docked on the port side of the west wall in the Inner Harbor at 11:17 a.m. Sunday when the Danmark crashed into it during Maryland Fleet Week.

A representative from Sail Baltimore, which brings visiting vessels to the harbor to showcase different cultures and maritime history, referred questions about damage to the Danmark to the U.S. Navy.

Ships began arriving for Fleet Week on Sept. 7, a weeklong event that brings military vessels from around the world to Baltimore, along with planes and other aircraft.

The USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul, also known as LCS 21, is a littoral combat ship, designed for fighting in regions along a shore. The Freedom class of littoral combat ships were built by Lockheed Martin in Wisconsin.

Other ships in Baltimores harbor for Fleet Week include the USS Carter Hall, USNS Newport, Canadian Royal Navy HMCS Moncton, and U.S. Coast Guard Cutter James Rankin, according to a U.S. Navy news release. This is the third year Baltimore has hosted Fleet Week.

The Danmark, a three-masted sailing ship, has a long history of visiting Baltimore. The Danmark first arrived in New York for the Worlds Fair before heading to Baltimore a month later, the Sun reported on Oct. 21, 1939. Once docked in the harbor, the ship was opened to curious Baltimore visitors, including a group of Sea Girl Scouts, while the Danish cadets went on sightseeing tours.

Germany invaded Denmark while the Danmark was in Florida, leaving the training ship stuck abroad. The ships captain turned it over to the United States for Coast Guard training during World War II.

2022 The Baltimore Sun.

Visit at baltimoresun.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan  The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan steamed out of Tokyo Bay with its strike group on Monday to continue its annual Indo-Pacific patrol.

The Ronald Reagan's departure came three weeks after the carrier and its strike group returned to Yokosuka for maintenance and resupply, the ships staff said in a Monday news release. The strike group includes the guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville and the guided-missile destroyers USS Benfold and USS Barry, all homeported at Yokosuka.

Ronald Reagan is quickly back at sea thanks to the efforts of the ships sailors and the outstanding work from maintenance teams ashore, the carriers skipper, Capt. Fred Goldhammer, said in the news release. Our completion of scheduled maintenance ensures we remain ready and agile to respond at a moments notice.

The strike group is expected to continue working with allies and partners, promote adherence to a rules-based international order, as well as maintain presence and flexibility, according to Task Force 70 spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Joseph Keiley. No additional details on upcoming operations were available, he told Stars and Stripes by email Monday.

The Ronald Reagan departed Yokosuka for the first half of its deployment in May, followed immediately by exercises alongside the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and later with the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, visiting the region from its homeport in San Diego.

The Ronald Reagan also made several port visits in its first three months, including Guam and Changi Naval Base in Singapore.

The strike group was scheduled to return to Yokosuka earlier in August, but the visit was delayed after the Defense Department ordered it to remain near the South China and Philippine seas in response to extensive drills by the Chinese navy and air force around Taiwan.

The weeklong drills, which concluded Aug. 11, were Beijings response to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosis visit to Taipei on Aug. 3.
NAPLES, Italy  A multinational naval exercise focused on crisis response started this week in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, bringing warships from 12 NATO countries into an area with a sizable Russian naval presence.

The Dynamic Mariner exercise led by NATO Allied Maritime Command, or MARCOM, began Sunday near Turkeys Aksaz Naval Base on the southeast coast of the Aegean Sea, the alliance announced in a statement Monday.

The exercise, in conjunction with Turkeys Mavi-Balina exercise, includes 50 surface ships, five submarines and five patrol planes and helicopters from the United States, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain and Turkey.

It wasnt clear how many U.S. ships and personnel were involved, but Standing NATO Maritime Group 2, led by flagship destroyer USS Forrest Sherman, is participating.

Another standing NATO naval forces command and 1,500 personnel also will participate, the statement said.

The exercise includes more assets than ever before, said French navy Vice Adm. Didier Piaton, MARCOM deputy commander.

We continue to work closely with Turkey and other allies and partners to deter aggression and defend the alliance, Piaton said in the statement.

Dynamic Mariner comes as NATO forces keep a watchful eye on Russian ship movement, which has been part of the Kremlins buildup in the eastern Mediterranean for its war on Ukraine.

The Northern Fleet flagship Marshal Ustinov, a cruiser, left the region on Aug. 24, transiting the Strait of Gibraltar into the Atlantic Ocean with Navy destroyers USS Cole and USS Bainbridge closely watching, USNI News reported at the time.

NATO maritime forces tracked Marshal Ustinov and two other Russian warships as they passed by the United Kingdom and, later, into the Celtic and North seas, the alliance announced Sept. 7.

NATO forces did not see any aggressive behavior from the Russian ships, but the alliance and its allies remain vigilant and continuously adapt to changing tactical situations, the statement said.

That announcement followed a Sept. 2 Naval News report about the presence of an unknown Russian attack or cruise missile submarine near Sicily.

The Italian Defense Ministry said it was aware of Russian ships in the Mediterranean and that the submarine in question was transiting in international waters, the Italian news source Lasiciliaweb.it reported Sept. 4.

In the days leading up to the war, Russia massed several warships, including the Marshal Ustinov, in the eastern Mediterranean, a move seen by experts as an attempt to deter NATO.

There are about 13 Russian navy vessels, including two Kilo-class submarines, in the region, not including the Black Sea Fleet. Most are at port in Tartus, Syria, according to open-source intelligence analysts.

Dynamic Mariner-Mavi Balina will include training in surface, air, anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, as well as mine countermeasures and amphibious, hybrid and force protection operations, according to the statement.

The exercises end Sept. 22.
This article first appeared in the Stars and Stripes Mideast edition, Jan. 5, 2007. It is republished unedited in its original form.

DIRE DAWA, Ethiopia  The Ethiopian army trainees crept slowly through the thorn-studded East African brush, clutching well-worn Kalashnikov rifles. Somewhere in this rocky landscape a simulated ambush awaited them.

"Tell 'em their heads need to be on a swivel," U.S. Army Sgt. Robert Conley yelled to the squad's Ethiopian interpreter.

"What?" said the interpreter, scrunching his face into a question mark.

"A SWIVEL!" yelled Conley, 27, of Assaria, Kan.

"I need to tell them what?" said the interpreter, looking even more confused.

Conley, who has been training Ethiopian troops in basic infantry tactics here for the Combined Joint Task Force  Horn of Africa, raised his hand as if animating a sock puppet and rotated his wrist from side to side.

"You know  a swivel," Conley said.

The interpreter looked on in silence.

"Tell 'em they need to be looking around," Conley said at last.

Language barriers notwithstanding, U.S. military trainers at the sprawling Ethiopian Training Academy in Hurso say they've been pleasantly surprised by how rapidly Ethiopian troops have taken to their instruction.

Soldiers with the 1st Infantry Division's 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment and the Guam Army National Guard are training soldiers in basic infantry tactics, noncommissioned officer skills and officer logistics.

The so-called military-to-military training is part of a larger U.S. effort aimed at preventing Islamist militants from gaining a foothold in a region that has been plagued by poverty, armed conflict, drought and famine.

The training has taken on added urgency recently, with the Ethiopian military's battle against Muslim militants in Somalia, and the ongoing threat of war with its breakaway rival, Eritrea.

"They're willing to learn and we're willing to teach," said Sgt. 1st Class Bill Flippo, 27, of Winfield, Kan., another 1st Infantry Division soldier.

To be sure, Ethiopia has shown a historic eagerness to learn from many militaries, not just America's, and the story of its defense forces is the story of shifting global alliances.

More than a decade before the U.S. government identified Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti as allies in the global war on terrorism, the Ethiopian military took aid and instruction from the former Soviet Union, Cuba, North Korea, Yemen and a number of Eastern Bloc nations.

Yet Ethiopia's Cold War alliances were not always with the communists. At the very outset of the conflict, Ethiopia played host to thousands of U.S. military personnel who helped train and equip the East African nation's military and operated one of the world's largest radio relay and communications monitoring stations in the world.

The relationship between Ethiopia and the U.S. military began in 1953, when the two nations signed a defense pact that allowed the U.S. to operate the Kagnew Communications Station in Asmara, now the capitol of Eritrea.

For much of its 24 years of operation, the Kagnew Station hosted some 4,000 U.S. military personnel  more than double the size of the current Djibouti-based Horn of Africa task force.

Among other things, Kagnew relayed communications from Washington to U.S. troops during the Korean War and eavesdropped on Soviet Union outposts in the region during the Cold War.

The U.S. military also conducted extensive mapping of the nation and operated small training camps near the Sudanese border, instructing and equipping more than 20,000 Ethiopian military personnel.

By 1974 the U.S. government had supplied hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of aid and military equipment to Ethiopia.

However, the relationship between the two allies had begun to cool.

Advancements in satellite technology were eroding the importance of Kagnew Station, and the ouster of Ethiopia's Emperor Haile Selassie by a group of Ethiopian soldiers known as the Derg, or "committee," touched off a bloody purge in which thousands of Ethiopians were killed or tortured.

The Derg, a number of whom were trained by the U.S. military either in Ethiopia or in the U.S., adopted a communist form of government and turned to the Soviet Union, Cuba and other communist nations for military backing, equipment and training.

The regime then broke ties with the U.S. in 1977 and ordered all U.S. military personnel to leave the country.

The move triggered a peculiar Cold War flip-flop of allegiances.

While the Soviet Union had backed Somalia, a longtime foe of Ethiopia, and the U.S. had backed Ethiopia for decades, the two superpowers quickly re-arranged their backing, with the U.S. offering its support for Somalia and the Soviet Union turning to Ethiopia.

By the late 1980s however, the Derg began to crumble with the fall of communism and growing insurgencies throughout Ethiopia, droughts and famine. In the wake of its collapse, Ethiopia's transitional government pledged that it would form a multi party democracy, while Eritrea became independent by 1993.

Today, the Ethiopian National Defense Forces consist of roughly 200,000 personnel, making it one of the largest militaries in Africa, and, in the eyes of U.S. policymakers, a force for stability.

Even so, reminders of Ethiopia's shifting military ties can still be found on military bases like the one in Hurso.

In the tiny, fenced compound where U.S. military trainers live and teach, a weathered concrete monument bearing Ethiopia's national colors and a communist hammer and sickle stands behind a row of Soviet-constructed block houses that now serve as classrooms.

"That's pretty old," a Guam Army National Guardsmen said of the monument recently. "Everybody likes to get a picture of that."

Read more of Monte Morins 2006 and 2007 Ethiopia articles:

US trainers prepare Ethiopians to fight

Reporters notebook: Beef for birds, nuts for monkeys
Chinas economy is in trouble. The juggernaut that once looked bound for global domination is slowing down  and not only in the short run.

The Chinese economys projected growth this year has slowed to about 3%, missing the governments target of 5.5% by an embarrassingly wide margin.

After decades of galloping expansion, that would be the second-worst performance in more than 40 years. Only 2020, with its COVID-induced recession, was worse.

Unemployment among young workers has ballooned to 20%. Fuel prices are rising thanks to Russias war in Ukraine. The overbuilt housing industry is teetering. And President Xi Jinpings draconian COVID Zero lockdowns have created havoc, most recently in technology-heavy Chengdu (population 21 million).

Remember when Americans fretted about China overtaking the United States to claim the title of worlds largest economy? That date has been postponed to 2033 or later, and a few economists suggest it might not happen at all.

Some of those problems may be short term, driven by a slowing global economy and Xis refusal to import foreign COVID-19 vaccines.

But China also faces long-term challenges that wont go away, beginning with an onrushing demographic decline.

The United Nations projects that Chinas population will shrink roughly 40% by the end of the century, from 1.4 billion to a mere 800 million or so. Some demographers say the decline will be steeper; either way, India will soon take over as No. 1.

The population decline stems from a low birthrate, which also means Chinas population is aging and its workforce shrinking. By 2050, more than a quarter of the population will be older than 65, Australias Lowy Institute projects. Lowy expects Chinas growth rate to slow to an average of less than 3% over the next three decades as a result.

China-watchers agree on those doleful forecasts. They disagree, though, on what that means for the countrys future and for U.S. policy. How does a rising superpower react when the foundations of its strength appear to be eroding?

Two foreign policy scholars, Hal Brands of Johns Hopkins and Michael Beckley of Tufts, have offered a frightening thesis: Chinas leaders know their power is about to diminish, and that will make them more likely to take risks in the short run  to invade Taiwan, for example.

China is losing confidence that time is on its side, they write in a recent book, Danger Zone: The Coming Conflict With China.

China will have strong incentives to use force against its neighbors  even at risk of war with the United States, they warn. The moment of maximum danger, they suggest, is this decade: the 2020s.

A chorus of other China scholars have disagreed.

First, they note, theres no evidence that Xi or other leaders believe their power is declining; they continue to predict the rise of China and the decline of the West.

Even if Chinas economy slows down, it will be growing  still the second-largest in the world.

Countries can muddle along with a great deal of poor economic performance and still be a major force in international politics, noted Aaron L. Friedberg of Princeton, author of Getting China Wrong.

Besides, Xi and other Chinese leaders have a strategy for solving their economic challenge, he argued. They see advances in technology as the key to solving all their problems, he told me. Thats how they plan to achieve higher productivity and reasonably high economic growth.

We have to do more  to slow down Chinas technological development, he said, beginning with tighter controls on the export to Beijing of U.S. and other Western technology.

A rosier scenario, Friedberg and others noted, is that a slowing economy could induce Chinas leaders to devote less spending to military strength and more to improving the lives of the Chinese people.

We should not assume that a weaker China would be aggressive, Bonnie S. Glaser of the German Marshall Fund argued. China could turn inward. Maybe China isnt as intent on unification with Taiwan as it is on internal stability.

So the 21st century may not be Chinese after all. Chinas rise to global power is neither inevitable nor foreordained.

But even an aging China with a slow-growing economy will be a powerful commercial, technological and military competitor. At least until the end of Xis third term in 2027, its leaders will still be ambitious, still bent on absorbing Taiwan, still intent on supplanting the United States as the dominant power in Asia.

Chinas challenge is changing its shape, but it isnt going away.

Doyle McManus is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times.
NAIROBI, Kenya  The Tigray forces battling Ethiopian troops say they're willing to abide by an immediate cessation of hostilities and participate in a peace process led by the African Union, a significant shift to which Ethiopia's government has not yet responded.

The conflict in northern Ethiopia's Tigray region has killed an estimated tens of thousands of people and left millions without basic services for well over a year after fighting erupted in late 2020.

The Tigray authorities' statement Sunday night came after new pressure by the United States and others following the renewal of fighting last month that shattered months of relative calm. Witnesses have described heavy fighting along the region's borders.

The Tigray authorities had criticized AU mediation efforts under special envoy Olesegun Obasanjo, and their new statement makes clear they expect "mutually acceptable mediators" along with international observers and experts to guide the process.

The Ethiopian government has said it was ready for talks anywhere at any time and without preconditions. Tigray authorities had demanded the resumption of basic services and the removal of hostile forces from neighboring Eritrea, among other things.

The recent fighting has triggered new diplomatic activity behind the scenes. The U.S. has played a leading role in mediating between the two sides, according to two diplomatic sources in Addis Ababa, who also said talks were expected in Djibouti. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

The U.S., AU, United Nations and European Union welcomed the Tigray authorities' new statement, and the U.S. called on Eritrea and unnamed "others" to stop fueling the conflict.

The AU statement notably referred to the "regional government of Tigray," while Ethiopia's government last year designated the Tigray authorities and their forces as a terrorist organization. The EU statement by foreign policy chief Josep Borrell also referred to the regional government and said "this opportunity should be seized by all. Now."

The renewed fighting has again cut off deliveries to Tigray of humanitarian aid, which had revived in a limited way during the lull in fighting earlier this year. Aid deliveries also have been suspended to parts of the neighboring Amhara region affected by the fighting.

An aid worker told The Associated Press on Friday there has been heavy fighting on "seven or eight fronts" along Tigray's borders. A second aid worker said Eritrean troops had shelled the Tigray towns of Adigrat and Sheraro and had launched attacks against Tigray forces' positions in several places.

The second aid worker said several thousand people displaced by the fighting around Sheraro arrived in the city of Shire last week. They also said a bridge linking Shire to the Amhara region has been destroyed. The bridge was blown up last year and later repaired.
The U.S. military is delivering tons of humanitarian aid to Pakistan as the country grapples with historic and deadly floods.

A team of American troops deployed to Sukkur Airport in central Pakistan has so far unloaded 600,000 pounds of relief supplies, said Col. Isaac Adams, chief of the Air Mobility Division at the Air Forces 609th Air Operations Center, which is based in Qatar.

Their efforts are making a difference in the lives of tens of thousands of Pakistanis by providing quality, sustained support to our partner in their time of need, Adams told Stars and Stripes on Sunday.

As much as a third of Pakistan is underwater because of nearly continuous monsoon rains. That has led to flash floods and landslides, which have killed about 1,400 people and affected some 33 million others, the latest United Nations situation report issued Friday said.

Samantha Power, head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, visited Pakistan on Thursday and Friday and announced $20 million in additional humanitarian assistance on top of the $30 million already pledged.

U.S. Central Command began flying supplies from USAIDs Dubai warehouse to Pakistan on Friday, said a statement by the federal aid agency, which is leading the effort.

As of Sunday night, the Air Force had flown eight missions to Pakistan with C-17s and a C-130, Adams said.

The flights are coming into Pakistan from Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates and Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, multiple Air Force officials said.

About a dozen Air Force and Navy personnel are on the ground in Pakistan unloading the cargo aircraft, Adams said, adding that other service members are helping from Central Command locations in the U.S. and Middle East.

Senior Airman Hunter Evans, one of the troops in Pakistan, arrived Friday from Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait. The signs of devastation are everywhere, Evans said by phone Sunday.

If you step off the flight line, youll sink into the mud, Evans said. Youll see all around us, every dip in the land, theres water.

Sukkur Airport is in Sindh province, an area with over 1.52 million houses damaged or destroyed by floods, which is about 88% of the nationwide total, the U.N. situation report said.

Planning for the operation began in early September, when military officials began assessing Sukkur Airports safety, said Maj. Benjamin Leung, a logistics officer with U.S. Air Forces Central.

An advance team of Navy personnel traveled to Sukkur and found an airfield thats not really lined up to be a cargo airfield but could be adapted for use by Air Force cargo jets, Leung said.

Anytime you have massive flooding, were always worried about the airfield and the infrastructures ability to support the aircraft, Leung said. In the unknown of going to a different airfield, our team showed up and they were very adaptable.

Planners used lessons from the military evacuation from Afghanistan last year to coordinate the aid deliveries with the U.S. State Department, he said.
China confirmed that Xi Jinping plans to travel to Central Asia this week, in what would be the president's first trip abroad since the pandemic hit more than two years ago.

Xi will visit Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan from Wednesday to Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement Monday, confirming earlier reports from those countries. Uzbekistan is hosting the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, which will give Xi a chance to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in person for the first time since Moscow began its invasion of Ukraine in February.

The trip marks Xi's return to the world stage spotlight after being the only Group of 20 leader to avoid traveling outside his country since the world's first COVID lockdown began in January 2020. Besides a visit to the Chinese territory of Hong Kong in July, Xi will have gone without leaving his country's strict COVID zero regime for some 970 days.

The Central Asian tour comes barely a month ahead of the twice-in-a-decade party congress, where the Chinese leader is expected to take a precedent-breaking third term. Xi launched the global trade-and-infrastructure plan that would become the Belt and Road Initiative in Kazakhstan nine years ago and may be seeking to use the trip to burnish his foreign policy credentials.

The SCO summit is also an opportunity to connect with a grouping of countries seen as the region's answer to Western-led alliances, at a time when China's relations with the U.S. have become increasingly frayed. Tensions have been high following House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taipei last month, with China launching unprecedented military exercises around the democratically ruled island that Beijing considers part of its territory.

Kazakhstan holds some 40% of the world's known uranium reserves, an increasingly important resource as developed countries turn to atomic energy as a longer-term source of power. It also borders Xinjiang, where Beijing has been accused of aggressive policies to suppress its ethnic minority populations, including millions of mostly Muslim Uyghurs.

In January, Xi said he firmly opposed forces that undermined Kazakhstan's stability, after mass protests over spikes in fuel prices.
ZALIZNYCHNE, Ukraine  In the end, the Russians fled any way they could on Friday, on stolen bicycles, disguised as locals, abandoned by their units. Hours after Ukrainian soldiers poured into the area, hundreds of Russian soldiers encamped in this village were gone, leaving behind stunned residents to face the ruins of 28 weeks of occupation.

"They just dropped rifles on the ground," Olena Matvienko said Sunday as she stood, still disoriented, in a village littered with ammo crates and torched vehicles, including a Russian tank loaded on a flatbed. The first investigators from Kharkiv had just pulled in to collect the bodies of civilians shot by Russians, some that have been lying exposed for months.

"I can't believe that we went through something like this in the 21st century," Matvienko said, tears welling.

The hasty flight of Russians from the village was part of a stunning new reality that took the world by surprise over the weekend: The invaders of February are on the run in some parts of Ukraine they seized early in the conflict.

On Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that Russian forces had retreated from the Balakliia and Izyum area in the Kharkiv region, saying a decision was taken to "regroup."

On Sunday, Ukraine's commander in chief, Valery Zaluzhny, said Ukrainian forces had retaken more than 1,864 miles of territory, a claim that could not be independently verified, adding that they were advancing from the east, south and north.

"Ukrainian forces have penetrated Russian lines to a depth of up to 70 kilometers in some places," reported the Institute for the Study of War, which closely tracks the conflict. They have captured more territory in the past five days "than Russian forces have captured in all their operations since April," its campaign assessment posted Sunday said.

The apparent collapse of the Russian forces has caused shock waves in Moscow. The leader of the Chechen republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, who sent his own fighters to Ukraine, said if there are not immediate changes in Russia's conduct of the invasion, "he would have to contact the leadership of the country to explain to them the real situation on the ground."

The Russian Defense Ministry's own daily briefing Sunday featured a map showing Russians retreating behind the Oskil river on the outskirts of the Kherson region.

Evidence of the Ukrainian gains continued to emerge Sunday, with images of Ukrainian soldiers raising a flag in central Izyum, after it was abandoned by Russian forces, and similar images from other towns and villages such as Kindrashivka, Chkalovske and Velyki Komyshuvakha.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declined to elaborate on his army's next moves, except to say in a CNN interview, "We will not be standing still. We will be slowly, gradually moving forward."

Ukrainians emerged into the string of just-liberated villages southeast of Kharkiv hailing the end of their ordeal, and wondering whether it is truly over. "Only God knows if they will be back," said Tamara Kozinska, 75, whose husband was killed by a mortar blast soon after the Russians arrived.

It is not over by any means, military experts warned. Russia still holds about a fifth of Ukraine and continued heavy shelling over the weekend across several regions. And nothing guarantees that Ukraine can keep recaptured areas secure. "A counteroffensive liberates territory and after that you have to control it and be ready to defend it," Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov cautioned in an interview with the Financial Times.

But as Ukrainian soldiers continued Sunday to sweep deeper into territory that had been held by Russia, more of them were willing to see the campaign as a possible turning point.

In Zaliznychne, a tiny agricultural village 37 miles east of Kharkiv, residents were feeling their way back to normality Sunday, sleeping in bedrooms rather than basements for first the first time in months and trying to make contact with family on the outside.

Kozinska hasn't seen her daughter since February  even though she lives 12 miles away  but had just received word that she will come to pick her up as soon as officials open access to the village, just as the weather turns cold.

"I have been so scared about winter," said the woman with lung problems, clutching a just-distributed paper giving her a number to call if she finds a land mine. "We have no power and it's hard for me to collect firewood."

The first Russian soldiers who set up in the village, turning the sawmill into their base and launching rocket attacks at Ukrainian troops in the next town, had at first not harassed the residents, she said. When they shot pigs on an abandoned farm, they sometimes let residents butcher some of the meat.

But as the occupation ground on, with the Russians rotating out every month, the troops became more aggressive. One of them asked to borrow Kozinska's phone.

"I gave it to him so he could call his mother, but he took my SIM card," she said.

One of the medics treated Halyna Noskova's back after she was hit by mortar shrapnel in her front yard in June. Her 87-year mother pulled out the metal shard. "It was still hot," she said. The Russian bandaged her up.

"They helped me, but I'm glad we are liberated," said Noskova, 66.

The residents, all of whom are Russian speaking in this region adjacent to the Russian border, described treatment generally more humane than that experienced by occupied communities farther to the west. The discovery of more than 450 bodies in Bucha, near Kyiv  many showing signs of torture  set off international outrage over atrocities.

"They were not monsters, they were kids," said Matvienko, who once asked Russian troops to move the tank they parked in front of her house. "I asked what they wanted from us and they said, 'We can either be here or we can be in jail.' "

Others told the villagers they weren't there to fight Ukraine, but to "protect us from America."

The Russians' biggest rule for residents was to get inside by 6 p.m. and stay there, quiet and in the dark, several said. Violating that order could be fatal, as two men on the street learned early on. The friends were drinking and had a light on, said Maria Grygorova, who lives in the attached house next door. The next morning she found them on the floor.

"Konstiantyn had two bullet holes in his head," she said.

She and two friends buried them in the side yard. The same two friends dug them up Sunday, with Ukrainian war crimes investigators looking on.

The team from Kharkiv collected two other bodies during their visit, including a security guard whose remains have been rotting on the floor of a gravel elevator at an asphalt plant for months, even as the Russians used it as a sniper tower. One investigator vomited over a guardrail repeatedly as officers collected the remains.

"We're here looking into war crimes," said Serhii Bolvinov, chief investigator of the Kharkiv Regional Police, as his crew waited on demining techs to clear one area of explosives before they could recover some of the bodies.

The residents were scared of the Russians, several village residents said. But they almost pitied them in their scramble to escape the recent Ukrainian onslaught.

Half of the soldiers fled in their vehicles in the first hours of the offensive, they said. Those stranded grew desperate. Some residents overheard their radio pleas to unit commanders for someone to come get them.

"They said, 'You're on your own,' " Matvienko recounted. "They came into our houses to take clothes so the drones wouldn't see them in uniforms. They took our bicycles. Two of them pointed guns at my ex-husband until he handed them his car keys."

Buoyant Ukrainian officials said they would no longer negotiate a peace deal that would let Russia keep an occupying presence in any territory, even in Crimea and part of the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions controlled by Russia or Russian-backed separatists for years.

"The point of no return has passed," Reznikov, the defense minister, said at the Yalta European Strategy summit in Kyiv on Saturday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday seemed to backtrack on his previous assertion that the time wasn't right for peace negotiations, as Russia was preparing to stage a round of sham referendums meant to annex occupied territories.

"We are not against the talks; we are not refusing the talks," Lavrov said on the state TV program, "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin." Rather, "Those who refuse should understand that the longer they delay this process, the more difficult it will be to negotiate."

The Washington Post's Robyn Dixon reported from Riga, Latvia. Mary Ilyushina in Riga and The Washington Post's Isabelle Khurshudyan in Kyiv contributed to this report.
BERLIN  German Chancellor Olaf Scholz made clear Monday that he doesn't expect an agreement with Iran in the immediate future to restore Tehran's tattered nuclear deal with world powers, though he said there's no reason for Iran not to sign up and European countries would remain patient.

Scholz spoke after meeting in Berlin with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who insisted that restoring the 2015 agreement would be a critical mistake. Germany, along with France, Britain, Russia and China, is still a party to the deal and involved in talks on its revival that have dragged on for over a year.

The European countries have made proposals, and there is no reason now for Iran not to agree to these proposals, but we have to take note of the fact that this isn't the case, so it certainly won't happen soon, although it looked for a while like it would," Scholz said. We remain patient, but we also remain clear: Iran must be prevented from being able to deploy nuclear weapons.

The German leader said that a functioning international agreement to limit and monitor the Iranian nuclear program is the right way" to do that.

But Lapid said that it is time to move past the failed negotiations with Iran, which he said can't and won't achieve the goal of stopping Iran getting a nuclear weapon. His office said he also shared intelligence with the German government.

"Removing sanctions and pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into Iran will bring waves of terrorism, not only to the Middle East, but also across Europe," Lapid said.

Israel, which encouraged the U.S. to withdraw from the nuclear deal in 2018, has opposed a renewed agreement between Iran and the world powers. It says lifting sanctions will allow Iran to funnel billions of dollars to hostile militant groups and says an improved deal must also address Irans regional military activities and support for hostile groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and other militias in Syria.

Speaking Monday at the Jerusalem Post Conference in New York, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Iran has built at least 10 facilities for mid- and long-range, precise missiles and weapons in neighboring Syria, including one reportedly targeted by Israel in a recent airstrike.

Gantz said that Iran has produced more and more advanced centrifuges  including at underground facilities where activities are prohibited and called for Iran to be held accountable. His remarks couldn't be independently verified.

The United States unilaterally pulled out of the nuclear accord in 2018 under then President Donald Trump and reimposed sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to start backing away from the deals terms.

Iran earlier this month responded to a final draft of a roadmap for parties to return to the tattered nuclear deal and bring the U.S. back on board.

A probe by the International Atomic Energy Agency into man-made uranium particles found at three undeclared sites in the country has become a key sticking point in the talks for renewing the agreement.

Irans hard-line president, Ebrahim Raisi, has said that the IAEA investigation into the issue must be halted in order for the 2015 deal to be renewed.

The IAEA, the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, has for years sought answers from Iran to its questions about the particles. U.S. intelligence agencies, Western nations and the IAEA have said Iran ran an organized nuclear weapons program until 2003. Iran long has denied ever seeking nuclear weapons.

Germany, France and Britain said in a statement at the weekend that Iran must fully and, without delay, cooperate in good faith with the IAEA.

IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said at the agency's Vienna headquarters that he hopes Iran will start cooperating as soon as possible.

We are ready; we want this to happen, he said. We are not in the business of aggravating or creating situations. We just want this issue to be clarified, so I really hope that they will start looking into this issue in a different way."

Asked whether he expects to face political pressure from various sides on the issue, Grossi replied that political pressure is always there; the thing is what I do with that pressure. He added that Iran appears to be pushing their national interest in the way they see it.
PODGORICA, Montenegro  At the government headquarters in NATO-member Montenegro, the computers are unplugged, the internet is switched off and the state's main websites are down. The blackout comes amid a massive cyberattack against the small Balkan state which officials say bears the hallmark of pro-Russian hackers and its security services.

The coordinated attack that started around Aug. 20 crippled online government information platforms and put Montenegro's essential infrastructure, including banking, water and electricity power systems, at high risk.

The attack, described by experts as unprecedented in its intensity and the longest in the tiny nation's recent history, capped a string of cyberattacks since Russia invaded Ukraine in which hackers targeted Montenegro and other European nations, most of them NATO members.

Sitting at his desk in Montenegro's capital, Podgorica, in front of a blackened PC screen, Defense Minister Rasko Konjevic said government officials were advised by cyber experts, including a team of FBI investigators that was dispatched to the Balkan state, to go offline for security reasons.

"We have been faced with serious challenges related to the cyberattack for about 20 days, and the entire state system, the system of state administration, and the system of services to citizens are functioning at a rather restrictive level," Konjevic told The Associated Press.

He said experts from several countries are trying to help restore the Montenegro government's computer system and find proof of who is behind the attack.

Montenegro officials said the attack that crippled the government's digital infrastructure was likely carried out by a Russian-speaking ransomware gang that generally operates without Kremlin interference as long as it doesn't target Russian allies. The gang, called Cuba ransomware, claimed responsibility for at least part of the Montenegro cyberattack, in which it created a special virus for the attack called Zerodate.

Montenegro's Agency for National Security blamed the attack squarely on Russia.

Russia has a strong motive for such an attack because Montenegro, which it once considered a strong ally, joined NATO in 2017 despite the Kremlin's opposition. It has also joined Western sanctions against Moscow over the Ukraine invasion, which led Moscow to brand Montenegro an "enemy state" along with several other countries that joined the embargo.

"In such attacks, there are usually organizations that are a mask for state intelligence services," Konjevic said, adding that the defense ministry's NATO-related data is protected "in a special way" while the other possible leaks "are being investigated."

The cyberattack comes amid an apparent attempt by Moscow to destabilize the Balkan region that was at war in the 1990s through the Kremlin's Balkan ally Serbia, and thus at least partly shift the world's attention from the war in Ukraine.

Montenegro, which split from much larger Serbia in 2006, is currently run by an interim government that has lost parliamentary support because of Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic 's shady deals with the influential Serbian Orthodox Church without the consent of the whole coalition that supported the government.

Montengro's roughly 620,000 people are deeply split between those who want the country to restore its close ties to Serbia and Russia and those who want it to continue on its path of the European Union membership.

"A real war is being waged in Ukraine, with bombs, a war of conquest by Russia," political analyst Zlatko Vujovic said. "Something similar is happening in Montenegro. There are no bombs, but there is a huge tension, a huge hybrid conflict in which the interests of Russia and its and Serbian intelligence services are interconnected."

Other Eastern European states deemed enemies of Russia have also faced cyberattacks, mostly nuisance-level denial-of-service campaigns that render websites unreachable by flooding them with junk data but don't damage them. Targets have included networks in Moldova, Slovenia, Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Albania.

Last week, Albania severed diplomatic relations with Iran and kicked out its diplomats after a cyberattack in July that it blamed on the Islamic Republic.

"Montenegro remains a target within both the public and private sector, as well as many other countries in that region," said Patrick Flynn, head of the advanced programs group at Trellix, a U.S.-based cybersecurity company. "We have observed a blend of historically based nation state actors and well-known ransomware groups."

"This recent focus on NATO member countries reinforces the need for hyper vigilance within key businesses as well as government (and) critical infrastructure cyber security environments," he said in an email to the AP.

AP writer Predrag Milic contributed.
BERLIN  The German government said Monday that it can't stop a shipment of Russian uranium destined for French nuclear plants from being processed at a site in Germany because atomic fuel isn't covered by European Union sanctions on Russia.

Environmentalists have called on Germany and the Netherlands to block a shipment of uranium aboard the Russian ship Mikhail Dudin  currently docked in the French port of Dunkirk  from being transported to a processing plant in Lingen, close to the German-Dutch border.

"We have no legal grounds to prevent the transport of uranium from Russia, because the sanctions imposed by the EU due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine exempt the import of nuclear fuel ... to the EU from import bans," said a spokesman for Germany's Environment Ministry, Andreas Kuebler.

Safety requirements for the shipment had been examined and found to meet requirements, meaning German authorities had to approve it, he added.

"You can imagine that we view such uranium shipments very critically due to the Russian invasion, but also because of Germany's exit from nuclear in general," Kuebler told reporters in Berlin, noting that the government has worked to close the processing plant in Lingen and a second in nearby Gronau.

The plant in Lingen is operated by Framatome, which is majority-owned by French utility giant EDF.

Environmental groups including the Russian organization Ecodefense urged European countries to end all uranium procurement from Russia, and cited the British government's recent decision to block the Mikhail Dudin from offloading nuclear waste near Liverpool for processing there.

A handful of anti-nuclear activists staged a protest near the processing plants Monday, with placards carrying slogans such as "No money for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's war."

Government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann said Germany continually reviews whether sanctions need to be expanded, but declined to say whether there were concrete plans to get the EU to block nuclear fuel imports.

Environment Ministry spokesman Kuebler noted that Russia is not the only supplier of uranium.

"Canada would be another possibility, for example," he said.

EDF, which manages all of France's nuclear power plants, didn't directly respond to questions about the latest shipment. But in a statement the company said its uranium supplies were "guaranteed by long-term contracts for periods of up to 20 years, with a policy of diversification in terms of sources and suppliers."

The French government, which has a majority stake in EDF, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

France is heavily dependent on nuclear power for its electricity needs, while Germany is planning to shut down its last three reactors this year and until recently relied strongly on imports of Russian gas.

Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed to this report.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska  Joseph Hazelwood, the captain of the Exxon Valdez oil tanker that ran aground more than three decades ago in Alaska, causing one of the worst oil spills in U.S. history, has died, the New York Times reported. He was 75.

He died in July after struggling with COVID-19 and cancer, his nephew Sam Hazelwood told the newspaper for a story reported Friday. Hazelwood's family members and business associates did not respond to The Associated Press for comment.

The Exxon Valdez, a 987-foot tanker, grounded on Alaska's Bligh Reef at 12:04 a.m. on March 24, 1989, spewing nearly 11 million gallons of oil into the rich fishing waters of Prince William Sound. Currents and storms carried the crude over 1,200 miles of Alaska coastline.

The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council estimates the spill killed a quarter million seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles, up to 22 killer whales and billions of fish eggs. It took years for the fish numbers to rebound following the spill, and oil can still be found under the surface of some beaches in Prince William Sound.

The grounding, along with other oil spills in 1989 and 1990, prompted passage of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, which strengthened how the U.S. government responds to oil spills. Exxon Valdez was surpassed as the nation's worst oil spill when Deepwater Horizon exploded in 2010, releasing 168 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

An Anchorage jury awarded nearly 33,000 plaintiffs affected by the Alaska spill $5 billion in punitive damages in 1994, but that amount was cut in half by other courts on appeals by Exxon. In 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court cut the punitive damages to $507.5 million.

Hazelwood, whom prosecutors accused of being drunk when the tanker grounded, was the only crew member criminally charged after the spill. He had left a third mate in control of the ship while he went below to do paperwork. Hazelwood was accused of one felony, criminal mischief, and three misdemeanors  reckless endangerment, operating a vessel while intoxicated and negligent discharge of oil.

During his 1990 Anchorage trial, witnesses reported he drank vodka at a Valdez bar before the ship sailed but how much he drank and at what hour were in dispute. No witnesses described Hazelwood as appearing drunk, staggering or slurring his words. Crew members called him cool, calm and in command before and after the grounding, according to Associated Press coverage of the trial.

His blood-alcohol reading was .061, but he wasn't tested until about 10 hours after the tanker grounded. In most states, the legal limit is .08 percent.

The jury ultimately found Hazelwood guilty of negligent discharge of oil into state waters and acquitted him of the other charges. He was sentenced to spend 1,000 hours in community service and ordered to pay $50,000 in restitution.

During his sentencing, then-Superior Court Judge Karl Johnstone said he was disappointed Hazelwood had not publicly apologized for his role in the disaster.

"I'm sure deep down, he is very shameful," Johnstone said.

In June 1999, Hazelwood, of Huntington, N.Y., spoke to the New York Times as he prepared to leave for Anchorage to complete his community service.

"As master of the vessel, I accept responsibility for the vessel and the actions of my subordinates," he told the newspaper. "I've never tried to avoid that. I'm not some remorseless oaf."

He then noted that he was convicted of a low-level misdemeanor. "There's no lower crime in the state of Alaska. The judge had to come up with a sentence. I can understand it. I don't have to agree with it," Hazelwood told the Times.

However, a decade later, he issued the apology that Judge Johnstone wanted to hear.

Hazelwood took responsibility in the book, "The Spill: Personal Stories from the Exxon Valdez Disaster," by Sharon Bushell and Stan Jones.

"Occasionally people have called me a scapegoat, but I've never felt comfortable with that term when applied to me in regard to the oil spill," he says. "I was captain of a ship that ran aground and caused a horrendous amount of damage. I've got to be responsible for that. There's no way around it."

Following the spill, he worked at a New York law firm as a paralegal and also was an instructor at a maritime college.

Hazelwood is survived by his wife, Suzanne; a daughter, Alison; two grandsons, and a brother, Joshua, the Times reported.
Dozens of Korean War veterans gathered at a hotel in Arlington, Va., on Saturday for their first reunion since the pandemic hit two years ago, commemorating shared memories of fighting against Chinese troops on the snowy hills of North Korea in 1950.

These veterans  many of them in their 90s  showed up from across the country with cheek-to-cheek smiles, not knowing whether this year's gathering would be their last. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David H. Berger and Washington Spirit owner Michele Kang, who contributed $100,000 of her own money to cover the veterans' travel costs, also were there.

The group calls itself the Chosin Few, named after the 1950 Battle of Chosin. The 1st Marine Division, several Army units, and their British and South Korean allies were surrounded by a Chinese force that outnumbered them 8 to 1. The U.S.-led force fought their way out of the encirclement.

Behind the reunion's festivities, the veterans struggled to hide a muted sense of frustration, borne of the perception that their military service is appreciated more overseas than at home by fellow Americans. To these men, the 1950-53 Korean War remains America's "forgotten war."

Raymond Miller, 93, said he began talking about the war only two decades ago, when he discovered U.S. history textbooks barely mentioned the conflict. Tears welled up as he reminisced about how South Korean citizens had thanked him when he returned to Korea in 2007 for the first time since the war.

"They have a special place in my heart," he said.

At 1 p.m., Miller and his comrades toured the newly expanded Korean War Memorial in D.C. There, they ran into two South Korean women, who asked the men who they were. When they learned they were Americans who had fought in Korea, they bowed and held their hands, as if to make sure their heroes were real.

Before a dinner banquet, retired Marine Col. Warren Wiedhahn addressed the gathered veterans, saying that when he returned to Korea for the first time after the war in the early 1970s he saw a sign that read "We will never forget." He had no idea what that meant. He found out later that the South Koreans were trying to say thanks to U.S. and other foreign veterans.

Berger, who spoke to the veterans after Wiedhahn, said that "you are never forgotten." Of the four pictures that hang in his office, he said, three depict the Marines fighting in Korea.

Before the Marines toasted and danced their evening away, remembrances popped up during conversations.

Juan Balleza, a 90-year-old Marine infantryman, choked up when asked about the Battle of Chosin. A Catholic, Balleza carried a Bible in his left chest pocket and prayed every night. "I asked God to forgive me for the Chinese I had killed that day, and for those that I would kill the next day, knowing that they all had mothers at home who wanted them to come back," the Mexican American said. "Just like my mama."

John Y. Lee is a 93-year-old Korean American who was a first lieutenant in the South Korean army at the time and was attached to the U.S. 1st Marine Division headquarters as an intelligence officer. He said he still sees dying Chinese soldiers in his nightmares, looking up at him, as if asking for him to save them.

Wiedhahn said he remembers the body of a girl who looked to be about 3 years old during the Battle of Chosin. She was lying in the ice and snow by the side of the road, he said.

"I will never forget her. We prayed for her soul as we fought our way out," he said. "I still pray for her."

Nancy Weigle, whose father, Gerald F. Weigle, had served as a corpsman with the Marines, said her father would obsess over his children's footwear and winter gear - perhaps because he saw so many of his Marines suffer from frostbite and freeze to death in the 20-below weather of North Korea's mountains. He died in 2018.

The Korean War appears to be better remembered in China, America's main adversary during the Korean War, said Jiyul Kim, a retired Army colonel who teaches history at Oberlin College in Ohio.

In Chinese schools, children learn about the Korean War with a prominence matching lessons on Bunker Hill or Gettysburg in America, Kim said. In the United States, the war isn't necessarily forgotten, he said, as much as largely ignored.

Also ignored has been the war's significance on race relations within the armed forces, historians say. Although President Harry S. Truman had ordered the U.S. military to desegregate in 1948, many units remained all-White or all-Black in 1950. Only as the war progressed did the U.S. military truly embark on integration, they say.

"The Korean War starts with a segregated Army. Black people are in segregated units with White officers," said Adrian R. Lewis, a professor of military history at the University of Kansas. Some local Koreans were recruited and integrated into all-White units before African Americans because the Army in the first weeks of the war was dangerously short of personnel, Lewis said.

Joe H. Ager, a 93-year-old Army soldier who fought at Chosin, was one of the few Black veterans at the reunion. He was a member of an all-Black infantry company when he landed in Korea in October 1950. His eyes turned red with emotion as he talked about the war.

"We did our part, too," he said.
Up to 40 stretchers an hour were coming off medevac flights  infantrymen, Marines, downed chopper crews injured in a North Vietnamese offensive in late 1968.

Ronald Glasser wanted to help, but he hadn't been in an operating room since medical school. The 29-year-old doctor had been drafted, given the rank of captain and assigned to the small pediatrics unit at a military hospital in Zama, Japan. His job was to treat the children of U.S. military families based in the area.

He met his colonel on a stairwell. Medical teams were struggling with the sheer numbers of casualties. Glasser explained that he may be a bit rusty as a surgeon.

"That's okay, captain," the colonel said, Glasser recalled, "we'll give you the little wounds."

Glasser scrubbed up. And, without knowing it at the time, he was about to begin a journey into the private suffering of war wounded and the toll on those who try  and sometimes fail  to keep them alive. His 1971 book, "365 Days," became part of the canon of firsthand accounts from the Vietnam War for its unblinking narrative on what he witnessed amid the young men whose lives were riven by horrific injuries and mental trauma, and captured at times the violent attitude of many service personnel to the land they were supposed to be fighting for.

"It's not political," said Glasser, who died Aug. 26 at a veterans' hospital in Minneapolis, at 83. "It's just the way it was."

Glasser said he didn't intend to write about his experiences in the military, three years after getting his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University. He opposed the war. He thought he would just ride out his time with the U.S. Army Medical Corps at the hospital in Zama, one of four U.S. field hospitals in Japan's farm belt southwest of Tokyo.

He was stunned, however, at the scope of the grievously injured or mortally wounded arriving from Vietnam. Between 6,000 and 8,000 service members a month were airlifted from battle sites, mine fields and ambush attacks. "I soon realized," he wrote, "that the troopers they were pulling off those medevac choppers were only children themselves"  not much older than his pediatric patients back home.

His book, whose title refers to the year-long tour of duty in Vietnam, mixes the raw pain and fear of the wounded with Glasser's physician's eye for how their bodies were torn apart. Many reviewers took note of Glasser's lean and observational style, placing "365 Days" alongside some of the most searing and honest narratives of war's human cost.

Glasser dedicated the book to Stephen Crane, whose "The Red Badge of Courage" vividly portrays the Civil War battlegrounds.

Michael G. Michaelson, a physician and editor, wrote in a New York Times review, "What is remarkable and even noble about this book is not something new, but some thing old and nearly forgotten: a compassion, that is not restricted by doctrine or polemic but that can encompass the agonies of a Vietnamese peasant or an American career officer; a sensibility that knows not only the murdered  but the murderers."

Nevertheless, some public and school libraries did not keep it in their stacks because of the soldiers' use of profanity  a move that Glasser's defenders found myopic given the fierce antiwar protests and the daily body counts on the evening news. The book also was a finalist for the National Book Award.

"They couldn't say 'golly gee,' and they didn't," Glasser testified at a 1981 federal court hearing in Bangor, Maine, after a school banned the book. "It wasn't enough. [The words] showed their anguish. They don't go home and use that language. They were desperate."

Outside the courthouse, veterans in full combat gear marched in support of the book. (The court in January 1982 ordered the school to return it to the library.)

"In the beginning I talked to the kids just to have something to say and to get them talking. Later I came to realize they were all saying the same things  without quite saying them," he wrote.

"They were worried, every one of them, not about the big things, not about survival, but about how they would explain away their lost legs or the weakness in their right arms," he continued. "Would they embarrass their families?  Would anybody love them when they got back?"

He also wrote in harrowing detail about the injuries  legs shredded, faces burned, fingers mangled  as well as the men who didn't make it.

On one soldier badly injured by a mine blast: "There was not enough skin to close his surgical wounds completely, so his stumps were left open.  Despite antibiotics, his wounds became infected. The fourth night in the ward he tried to kill himself.  On the seventh day his fever hit 106 degrees Fahrenheit; he became unconscious, and seven days following his injuries he expired."

Ronald Joel Glasser was born in Chicago on May 31, 1939, to parents who owned a delicatessen. He graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a bachelor's degree in 1961 and stayed at the university to get a medical degree in 1965, later specializing in pediatric nephrology during a fellowship at the University of Minnesota.

He finished "365 Days" after returning from a two-year deployment at the military hospital. "As for me," he wrote, "my wish is not that I had never been in the Army, but that this book could never have been written."

Glasser wrote other books while working in pediatrics, first as a professor at the University of Minnesota and then in private practice until his retirement in 2016.

"Ward 402" (1973) and "The Body Is the Hero" (1976) analyze limitations in modern medical training to holistically treat patients; the novel "Another War, Another Peace" (1985) follows a doctor during the Vietnam War. In "Broken Bodies, Shattered Minds" (2011), Dr. Glasser looked at the history and advances of military medicine, also advocating for better understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, among veterans.

At the time, he said PTSD research was particularly important as troops in Afghanistan increasingly faced blasts from improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. "The one great success of medicine in Afghanistan is the realization, and the connection, between traumatic brain injuries, concussive injuries, and PTSD," he told NPR's "All Things Considered."

His 10-year marriage to Janis Amatuzio ended in divorce in 1992. In 2008, he married Joy Itman, who confirmed his death from complications related to dementia. They divorced in 2018, but she remained effectively "his wife and partner," she said.

Survivors include three stepchildren from his second marriage, Rachel, Benjamin and Aaron Silberman.

In "365 Days" Glasser was repeatedly struck by how young conscripts would obey orders and do their duty in the field even though some were deeply against the war. All were just counting the days.

"Strange war," he wrote. "Going for something they didn't believe in or for that matter didn't care about, just to make it 365 days and be done with it."
The force said a member was taken to hospital with facial injuries after they were allegedly assaulted while responding to a public order incident inside the stadium at the Croke Park gig on Saturday.

Country music star Garth Brooks during his first night of a series of concerts at Croke Park, Dublin. PA   PA

Garth Brooks on stage pictured this evening at Croke Park, Dublin for the first in a series of Garth Brooks concerts to take place in the Capital...Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin   Colin Keegan

A man is due in court this morning for allegedly breaking a gardas nose at Garth Brooks gig in Croke Park on Saturday.

An Garda Siochana said a member was taken to hospital with facial injuries after they were allegedly assaulted while responding to a public order incident inside the stadium at the Croke Park gig on Saturday.

A man in his late 20s has been charged in connection with the alleged assault on the officer and is due in court today. It is understood the gardas nose was broken in the isolated incident.

Country music star Garth Brooks during his first night of a series of concerts at Croke Park, Dublin. PA   PA

"In the course of responding to an isolated public order incident at an event in Croke Park on Saturday, September 10, 2022, a Garda member sustained a facial injury while assisting stewards. His injures required hospital treatment," a garda spokesperson said.

"A man in his late 20s was arrested at the scene and taken to Store Street Garda Station. He is expected to appear before Dublin District Court on Monday, September 12, charged in connection with the incident. Investigations are ongoing."

Tens of thousands of music fans flooded into GAA headquarters across Friday, Saturday and Sunday to see the country music legend perform, with two more concerts taking place this Friday and Saturday to complete the five-night run.
The last time Daniel Curran was at court, he smiled as he walked free after being handed 200 hours community service for sexually abusing a boy

Daniel Curran appeared at Downpatrick Magistrates Court last week charged with breaching his lifelong SOPO on August 12 this year.

Its alleged the 72-year-old, from Bryansford Avenue in Newcastle, breached the order by loitering at Tullymore National Activity Centre without permission of his designated risk manager.

Following a brief hearing District Judge Amanda Brady adjourned the case to September 22.

The last time Curran was at court, he smiled as he walked free after being handed a 200 hour community service order for sexually abusing a boy more than 20 years ago.

Curran indecently assaulted the 12-year-old during an overnight stay at his family cottage in Tyrella, Co Down. Downpatrick Crown Court heard the victim did not make any complaint to the police until 2015 and when he was questioned about the allegations, Curran told cops he was a hopeless alcoholic at the time and couldnt specifically remember the victim being at the cottage.

The pervert did however admit that he had deepest regrets for the numerous bouts of sexual activity that he indulged in at that time but that he had not had a drink since July 1994.

Sentencing Curran in September 2018, Judge Piers Grant said: It was your typical modus operandi to take young boys to this remote cottage where you would abuse them sexually.

Judge Grant warned the sexual predator if any further offences came to light, the order was no indication that you will not receive a custodial sentence for them.

He told the disgraced ex-priest, who was then facing sex abuse charges for the sixth time, his offending was a gross breach of position and trust on your part.

At an earlier hearing Curran pleaded guilty to a single of indecently assaulting a male child on a date unknown between January 2 and 6, 1991. A registered sex offender since 1995, Curran has received 15 years of jail sentences  both immediate and suspended  for similar offences in 1977, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1990 and 1991.
If his application is successful, it would likely lead to his release from jail without having to purge his contempt of court

The High Court is to hear a challenge by Enoch Burke to a schools decision to suspend him following incidents in which he voiced opposition to transgenderism.

If his application is successful, it would likely lead to his release from jail without having to purge his contempt of court.

The matter could be heard as early as Wednesday after an application was made by the schoolteacher today.

Mr Burke has spent the past week in Mountjoy Prison for breaching temporary orders prohibiting him from attending, and attempting to teach pupils, at Wilsons Hospital School in Multyfarnham, Co Westmeath.

The orders were secured by the board of management of the Church of Ireland diocesan school on August 31 after Mr Burke continued to show up for work despite being suspended on full pay on August 24 pending the outcome of a disciplinary process.

The teacher, who is from a well-known family of evangelical Christians, clashed with the schools principal after she made a request to staff last May to address a transgender child by a new name and to use the pronoun they instead of he.

Mr Burke refused to do so on religious grounds, even though the child was not one of his pupils, and publicly requested the withdrawal of the demand on a number of occasions.

In a counterclaim against the school, Mr Burke sought various injunctions and declarations, which would have prohibited the board of management from continuing its disciplinary process against him.

Mr Justice Conor Dignam ordered that Mr Burke be brought to the court from Mountjoy after being informed of an urgent counterclaim by the teachers brother Isaac.

Mr Burke said that if he were successful in overturning the suspension, there would be no basis for the court order directing him to stay away from the school.

The effect would be to vacate the order, effectively freeing me from Mountjoy, he said.

I would be back in the classroom tomorrow.

Mr Burke sought four injunctions from the court.

The first was to restrain the board of management from holding a disciplinary meeting, which was scheduled to take place at a hotel in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, on Wednesday.

The second was an injunction restraining the board form putting him on, or continuing, his administrative leave.

The third injunction he sought was against the disciplinary process, while a fourth injunction he sought would restrain the school from dismissing him.

Mr Burke also sought declarations his suspension was in breach of his constitutional rights and unlawful, unjust and unfair.

Mr Justice Dignam adjourned consideration of the second injunction sought by Mr Burke, where he is seeking to restrain the board from continuing his administrative leave, until Wednesday.

He said this would allow the board of management time to file a response.

It will be a matter for the judge sitting on Wednesday to decide whether to hear it then or to set a date for a hearing, Mr Justice Dignam said.

The judge said it was not necessary for the court to deal with the other three injunctions sought by Mr Burke after the school gave an undertaking in respect of the disciplinary process.

Rosemary Mallon, counsel for the schools board of management, told the court the disciplinary meeting had been postponed indefinitely in light of Mr Burke clearly stating he had no intention of purging his contempt to be released from prison.

The barrister said no further meeting would be scheduled without giving Mr Burke at least three days notice.

After asking for and receiving clarity on the judges decision, Mr Burke said: It is regrettable I am going back to prison. It is wrong.

There is something you cant force a man to do and that is to violate his conscience.

Mr Burke was then returned to Mountjoy and will be brought to the court again on Wednesday afternoon.

As part of his challenge, Mr Burke is seeking a declaration that a report by school principal Niamh McShane, which led to his suspension by the board, led to prejudicial conclusions being reached about him without him being given a right of reply.

He contends that, because of this, his suspension was in breach of fair procedures and natural justice.

Mr Burke has also claimed the suspension was in breach of Department of Educations rules.
The holy-man intervened as one of the fighters was being punched and kicked in the back on the ground

A monk wearing a traditional hooded cowl bravely stepped in to break up a violent row this weekend at an estate in Limerick city.

The holy-man intervened as one of the fighters ended up on the ground and was being punched and kicked in the back.

Video footage of the fight in broad daylight last Saturday in Moyross has been shared widely on social media.

Two men can be seen exchanging punches on a green area with one man eventually falling to the ground as number of people look on.

Its fair go, is heard being shouted as one man is told: let them at it.

As he struggles to get to his feet, the man on the ground is punched and kicked by his opponent who is suddenly caught the arm by the bearded monk and shepherded away.

Gardai said there were no reported incidents in the area that evening, according to the Limerick leader.

The monk is one of the Community of Franciscan Friars of the Renewal who live in a house at Delmege Park.

The Order is also based in the Bronx and Harlem in New York and in London, Honduras and Albuquerque.

They first set up their friary in Moyross in 2007 at a time when the estate had seen a lot of gang-related violence.

They moved to Moyross after an invitation from former Bishop of Limerick, Donal Murray.

Life in the state has improved since 2007 which also seen a regeneration programme as part of a plan to improve the quality of life for residents.

Moyross was the monks first Irish friary, but they have since set up a mission in Derry and regularly take part in community activities.
Ian Hogan who once claimed he bought a mouthful of gold teeth to keep his wealth from police has been jailed for for a savage rape and the imprisonment of a woman.

A self-professed gangland hardman who claimed he bought a mouthful of gold teeth to keep his wealth from police has been jailed for 13 years for a savage rape and the imprisonment of a woman.

Ian Hogan, also known as Ian Flannery, who comes from Limerick, previously boasted about his prowess with women on a lengthy podcast claiming to have lots of children with partners in different countries.

However, a court has now found that far from being a charmer, Hogan is a violent rapist who has been issued with a restraining order until 2077.

Hogan was arrested last year in Coventry and remanded in custody due to the seriousness of the allegations made against him by a woman he knew. After a trial at Warwick Crown Court, the 30-year-old, of Culworth Court, was found guilty of numerous offences and sentenced to 13 years in jail this week.

The court heard that following an argument in February of last year she tried to leave his home. However, he launched a brutal attack on her, punched her to the ground and pulled her around the floor by her hair.

He told to go to sleep in a bedroom but followed her and began a lengthy sexual assault only letting her go the following morning.

Hogan likes to boast about his gold teeth

When she went to police the woman revealed that he had previously attacked her on two occasions and detailed in a statement how he had raped, assaulted and terrorised her.

When he was arrested he denied all the allegations but has been in prison ever since. This week investigating officer DC Paul Ballard said: I do not underestimate the trauma this woman went through. I can only commend her bravery in seeing it through to put Hogan behind bars.

Hogan presented himself as a major gangland figure when he appeared on a YouTube channel, saying that his teeth had made him famous.

Claiming that his underworld nickname was King Irish he boasted about extorting money from drug dealers and being part of a crew who have been at war with Big Fat Gypsy Wedding star Paddy Doherty.

In a string of interviews, many on KRM TV, which often reached 250,000 viewers, he sported an ankle bracelet and spoke frankly about his criminal career, describing himself as an enforcer.

Under the guise of Ian Flannery he described how he moved to the UK from Limerick when he was 18 and flashed a mouthful of gold teeth.

My original teeth got screwed out and these got screwed into my head, he told KRM TV podcast. Why? Cos I had too much finances at that time. I had too many Rolexes and too many silly things about me, so we stuck as much in me head as we could so the Crown Prosecution couldnt take any more off me.

How the Sunday World revealed his lies

In and out of prison he said he set himself up with Birmingham gangsters and started to build up his life and wear Valentino runners.

During the course of the interview he said he got into extortion business and approached drug dealers.

However, a series of YouTubers have since rounded on him and said that he was making up his criminal lifestyle and telling porkies about the company he kept.

A number of anonymous female victims have also contacted online interviewers and claimed that he had assaulted them during nights out.

Despite claiming that he is the only man in England convicted of extorting drug dealers without a firearm, there is no proof of the claims.

However, he has now been outed as nothing more than a rapist and a bully to women and has become the subject of ridicule online.

In one video he is recorded saying: I didnt always wake up with kilos around my neck, I didnt always wake up with Rolexes on my wrist, I didnt always wear Burberry Monday to Friday. This is the reason everyone is trying to get in touch with me, he says. But a voiceover suggests that he is a fraud and wears eBay jewellery and fake watches.

Hogan has tried desperately to become an on-line gangster sensation, making claims about his importance in the underworld.

He has been photographed with the Joyce family who have been having online banter with TV star Doherty.
Enoch Burke from Castlebar, Co Mayo is of one of ten siblings, all named after religious figures from the Bible

Isaac Burke, brother of Enoch Burke, outside Wilson's Hospital School in Co Westmeath after Enoch was arrested

Enoch Burke from Castlebar, Co Mayo is of one of ten siblings, all named after religious figures from the Bible.

His siblings are Ammi; Elijah; Esther; Isaac; Jemima; Josiah; Keren; Kezia and Simeon.

His father Sean is an electrician while his mother Martina is a qualified teacher who home-schooled all ten of her children.

She runs the Burke Christian School.

The family have found themselves at the centre of a number of newsworthy events in recent years.

Isaac Burke, brother of Enoch Burke, outside Wilson's Hospital School in Co Westmeath after Enoch was arrested

Martina, Josiah and Jemima were removed from Swinford courthouse in April of this year after they loudly protested a coroners verdict of natural causes in the case of the death of 17-year-old Sally Maz.

Also, in April, Ammi Burkes claim for unfair dismissal against law firm Arthur Cox was rejected.

The Work Relations Committee threw out her claim after her summons request for additional witnesses and repeated interruptions by her mother prevented the hearing from proceeding for more than five hours on Friday.

Ms Burke also demanded that senior counsel for the defence withdraw his remark that the Burke family was like a travelling circus  calling it highly defamatory.

Last year, Enochs brother Elijah Burke successfully challenged Education Minister Norma Foleys refusal to grant him calculated grade as his teacher, his mother, would have been the one to award him his grades.

Enoch Burke's father Sean leaving the High Court

In May of 2020, Jemima Burke, a journalism graduate, was asked to leave a Department of Health press conference after questioning former Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan on the circumstances of the death of Sally Maz.

She had gained access to the conference by claiming to be a journalist with The Western News  a Galway based newspaper that ceased publication in 1926.

In 2014, Enoch, Ammi, Isaac and Kezia Burke were banned for life from membership of societies at NUI Galway.

They claimed victimisation on religious grounds.

The University Society Co-ordination Group countered that the siblings had distributed leaflets using the college logo including ones against gay marriage that connected it to paedophilia and incest.

A court case held in November last year concluded with Judge Raymond Groake finding the sanction was within the rules and errors in procedure by the college did not constitute discrimination on religious grounds.
Despite leaving estates valued at a combined 300k, none of the three left behind a will that might have offered an explanation

Three brothers who died in a gruesome murder suicide have taken the secret of what sparked the tragedy to their graves.

Despite leaving estates valued at a combined 300,000, none of the three left behind a will that might have explained the reason Johnny Hennessy took an axe to older brothers Paddy and Willie at Curraghgorm, Mitchelstown on February 25th of 2021.

Later that same night, Johnny took his own life in a nearby river.

The deaths of the three brothers, collectively known as the Saints, at an isolated farmyard outside Mitchelstown 18 months ago has continued to baffle gardai.

But any hope that a clue as to the motive for the brual killings might be contained in their wills were dashed this week  almost a year after gardai told their inquest no clear reason had been found for the killings.

Probate documents obtained by the Sunday World showed the brothers, who ran a firewood business, left combined estates amounting to 307,805.

The documents show that William Hennessy (66), the oldest of the brothers, left an estate valued at 49,660.

He died intestate leaving no will behind him.

The probate documents note he was a single man who had never married or entered into a civil partnership estate and who died without issue or parents.

Letters of administration for the estate were granted to his sister Breda.

Slain Paddy or Patrick Hennessy (60) was the most prosperous of the three siblings leaving an estate valued at 198,120.

Probate documents again show that Paddy died intestate or without a will.

He was survived by his spouse Stephanie Hennessy but the documents note she had duly renounced her rights by deed of separation.

Letters of administration for the estate were granted to Elaine Hennessy  Paddys daughter.

Sibling killer Johnny (59), the youngest of the three, left an estate valued at 59,716.

Again, the documents note he died intestate.

Gardai at the scene of the brutal killings

Johnny is described in the documents as a single person who had never married or entered civil partnership and who had died without issue (children) or parents.

Accordingly, letters for the administration of his estate were again granted to his sister Breda.

Coroner Dr Michael Kennedy staged an inquest in November 2021 into the triple tragedy.

He confirmed verdicts that Willie and Paddy Hennessy were unlawfully killed while Johnny Hennessy took his own life.

Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster Bolster conducted post-mortems on Willie and Paddy at Cork University Hospital (CUH) on February 26.

Willie Hennessy died from blunt force trauma to the head with a severe brain injury as a result of multiple blows from a blunt weapon (axe).

He also suffered fractures to his skull, jaw, face and vertebrae.

Possible defence-type wounds were found on his hands and arms.

Paddy Hennessy also died from blunt force trauma to the head and a severe brain injury caused by multiple blows from an axe.

Paddy Hennessy also suffered fractured ribs after suffering a blow to the chest.

He had no defence injuries.

Johnny Hennessy

Dr Bolster conducted a post-mortem on Johnny Hennessy on February 27 and ruled he died from cardio-respiratory failure as a result of drowning.

Minor injuries to his hands were consistent with a body recovered from the water.

Supt Padraic Powell told the inquest gardai conducted a major investigation into the tragedy which included taking 169 statements, analysing data from five phones, studying hours of CCTV security camera footage and conducting extensive forensic tests.

However, they were unable to establish a clear motive for the fatal attack.

"For an unknown reason, Johnny Hennessy killed his two brothers on February 25. Johnny Hennessy then took his own life," Supt Powell said.

One neighbour, John McGrath, noted friction between Paddy and Johnny Hennessy  with Johnny apparently unwilling to return customers from the family firewood business to Paddy when the older brother returned to work after recovering from a stroke.

"There was a small bit of friction between Johnny and Paddy," he said.

Mr McGrath said that Willie told him Johnny didn't want to return firewood block customers to Paddy when he returned to work after the stroke and wanted to resume his local timber round.

The inquest also heard that when gardai found the spot where Johnny Hennessy entered the River Funshion, his false teeth, cigarettes, car keys and a plastic bottle had been carefully placed on the riverbank.

There were also indications he had sat by the riverbank for a period before entering the water.

Mr Hennessy took his life at the same spot where his older brother, Jerry, had taken his own life less than a decade before.

Paddy Hennessy's son, Paudie, had also taken his own life a number of years before.

The inquest heard that Johnny rang his sister, Breda OReilly, in a very distressed condition on the evening of February 25.

Her husband, Ned, took the phone and, after declining to attend the Curraghgorm property because of the Covid-19 5km travel restriction, asked Johnny whether he should contact gardai for help?

Johnny agreed and Ned rang Mitchelstown Gardai.

Garda Tracey Howard said she received a phone call from Mr O'Reilly and rang Johnny Hennessy's number.

She said he was calm and collected on the phone and did not want gardai to call.

There was no sound of noise or a disturbance in the background.

"He cracked a joke to say that at their age they should know better," she said.

Elaine Hennessy, Paddy's daughter, became worried about her father when he failed to return home and at 11pm decided to call to the farmyard to see if everything was alright.

There was no answer to any of the three brothers' phones.

She travelled to Curraghgorm with her mother, Stephanie.

As they drove into the farmyard, the headlights of the car highlighted a body on the ground.

"Mam said that's a body  I could see it too. I knew it was Dad because I recognised his clothes. I could see it covered in blood."

Both women immediately called gardai and locked the car doors amid concerns for their safety.

"I knew he was dead. It looked gruesome."

Paddy's body was found in a farmyard with multiple head injuries while his brother Willie's body was found in a nearby shed, also with severe head injuries.

Both had to be formally identified from dental records.

Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster said both men would have died quickly from multiple severe blows from a 3.5kg timber axe.

The brothers had run a successful firewood business from the isolated farmyard outside Mitchelstown  supplying timber across north Cork.

They lived a spartan life but were always together and had no history of disputes.

Paddy Hennessy's partner, Kitty Russell, said they all got on well together.

After killing his brothers, Johnny Hennessy apparently drove his Toyota Corolla van the short 4km distance to Killacluig Church from Curraghgorm where he parked and walked over several fields.

His body was recovered shortly before lunch on February 26 from the River Funshion following a major garda search operation, including the use of the garda helicopter.
Brave victim Majellas mother had beaten her and called her a pr**k-teaser" when she told her about the rapes

The target of his deprived sex attacks branded his release as disgusting, telling the Sunday World how Crowe had destroyed my life.

Majella Cahill who bravely waived her right to anonymity at his 2015 trial said: It is very disturbing to think hes out there.

I wasnt aware he was due out - Im disgusted to be honest. The man should have done life in prison for what he did to me.

I wish he had rotted in there.

Predators like that they dont know what evil is. He'll just get back out and go for a meal for himself. Because he didnt continue to rape anyone else hes free to go.

Im sorry, he destroyed my life. He can never tell me he is sorry for what he did. If he had a guilty conscience he would have walked into the police, but he didnt.

Majella Cahill waived her right to anonymity

Crowe had taken advantage of the vulnerable young girl who suffered neglect at her Galway home where she was also sexually abused by her grandfather.

I was raped constantly, every day by these men. I had a mother who just went out drinking and partying and not given a damn she had six daughters inside the house.

I had four predators, not just him. The abuse and the facts that were there, he didnt deny and then he tried to apologise to me. Had he not done enough damage?

He could have done his apologies years ago when I first came out with it.

Why did he have to go and rape me and beat me? I didnt give him no come on, I didnt ask for any of it.

It emerged during Crowes trial how Majellas mother had beaten her and called her a pr**k-teaser" when she told her about the rapes.

After coming forward about the sexual abuse Majella said she became the target of online abuse which forced her to leave Ireland.

I had to leave my home, I had to leave everything in Ireland. I had to come over here and start all over again. I was scandalised all over Facebook, accused of raping my own children and everything.

I put up a scan picture of my daughter, I was only pregnant five months  I had comments they were going to burn me out of it that I was only a skanky dirty whore, that I was going in raping my children at night time, I was a sex crazed woman.

I went onto the steps of the court and thought if I do this people will believe me - it got worse for me from there.

Theres a lot to the story, it is not just Henry Crowe.

Our man Eamon Dillon confronts Crowe as he leaves prison

Even now, Majella admits it is a daily struggle to deal with what she was put through as a child and his ten-year sentence gave her little satisfaction.

There wasnt any - even thinking about it turns my stomach. Every day I look in the mirror and think my god you are an ugly bitch, maybe you gave an eye or gave him a wink or something. Theres no satisfaction there.

Crowe got a ten-year prison sentence in 2015 after a trial at the Central Criminal Court where he pleaded guilty to five sample charges of rape.

The offences happened on dates between November 23, 1988 and December 31, 1992 when Majella was aged between 11 and 15 years old at the time.

In her victim impact report it was heard that she waived her right to anonymity so that Crowe could be named.

Judge Paul Carney declared Crowe a sex offender and said he was taking into account the gross breach of trust, the victims age and the number of offences when passing sentence.

He also took into account that Crowe took advantage of his victims dysfunctional family situation and violated her while she was being abused by other family members.

It was also ordered Crowe undergo 18 months post release supervision and stay away from Ms Cahill on his release from prison.

At a previous sentence hearing, Majella Cahill had begun reading her victim impact statement but became overwhelmed and a garda read the rest of it into the record.

In it she outlined how she was neglected as a child by her mother.

As a three-year-old she went to live with her fathers parents before returning to live in Galway with her mothers parents when she was seven years old.

She said her grandfather, who had since died, sexually abused her in that house.

When she was 11 years old Crowe started a relationship with her mother and he began to rape her on a daily basis after initially being nice to her.

Describing her horrible and disgusting childhood, Majella stated: We were left on our own, hungry and dirty. I was neglected by my mother.

She said social services were involved with the family but her mother would clean and feed us when she knew they were visiting.

When she first told her mother about Crowe raping her, she called the child a pr**k teaser and said that Ms Cahill had wanted Crowe for herself.

She always claimed I was lying. She started beating me when I told her about the abuse.

Ms Cahill said she later became unruly and would get into trouble with the local gardai. She said when Crowe raped her he would start by accusing her of being bold or robbing.

He became a monster in my mind, Ms Cahill said before she described once being raped while her mother was pregnant with Crowes child.

I will have to live with this for the rest of my life, she stated.
More than 130 newly arrived asylum seekers could not be offered accommodation due to a lack of spaces with several having to sleep rough on the streets

It emerged this week that more than 130 newly arrived asylum seekers could not be offered accommodation for a number of days due to a lack of spaces with several having to sleep rough on the streets.

Last Monday, a group of asylum seekers, many of whom had just arrived into Ireland, tried to sleep outside the offices of the International Protection Organisation, who process applications for asylum seekers, on Mount Street in Dublin because there was no accommodation available anywhere for them but they said they were moved on by security.

As well as new arrivals, asylum seekers who have been here for a number of years have also found themselves sleeping rough due to a shortage of accommodation.

Michel Konou, who arrived in Ireland claiming asylum from Cameroon in 2019, told the Sunday World how he has been homeless since August 5 and authorities have not been able to accommodate him.

He has been staying in various accommodation centres and hotels since arriving in Ireland and most recently had been staying with a friend in Cork on a temporary basis but had to move out on August 5 as his friend had family coming over to live with him and didnt have space.

As a result, Michel has been sleeping rough in Cork and Dublin for over a month as he waited to hear back on accommodation.

Right now, Im ready to go into a tent. Ill take anything.

I was on the streets in Cork. I was sleeping in Fitzgerald Park on a bench. I had back pain. I didnt know Id be there for a month. I was expecting something every day but it became a long month. I decided to come to Dublin last Monday. My hopes were just gone.

He has been in constant contact with International Protection Accommodation Services who source accommodation for asylum seekers but they havent been able to find anything for him.

MIchel said he is struggling living on the streets.

I have fungus on my feet because of being homeless. You never take your shoes off and with the damp it causes problems so its difficult. Right now, being homeless means a lot of things. People look at you in a certain way, youre vulnerable. People see you walking around with all these bags. You look like food [a target for robbery].

Michel recently started a job working in a call centre and was able to work remotely in the job from his friends house in Cork while he was staying there. He had been trying to find his own accommodation in Cork while temporarily staying with his friend but he said it was impossible to find anywhere within his budget by the time he had to leave his friends place.

He then turned to IPAS who havent been able to find him a place anywhere due to shortages.

Their correspondence was basically saying were sorry we cant do anything for now but well do it as soon as we can. There is a situation with the Ukrainians. I understand, Im even proud that Ireland stands up for Europe especially with Brexit and everything. There is a sense of European unity that shows solidarity with the Ukrainians. But at the moment it feels like people like me are being forgotten.

Michel talks to our reporter about his predicament

He said he was shocked that Ireland has found itself in a position where asylum seekers are being forced to sleep on the streets.

You cant drop other people in the streets for one month. I would have waited two weeks and just deal with it but were over a month now.

Michel cant currently work remotely due to his homelessness but his new workplace have said he can work from their Dublin office once he finds accommodation. His intention once he gets back to work is to find his own place and pay his own rent.

I know I have work waiting for me. Yesterday I sent my employer an update because hes asking. Hes been really good supporting me.

I was to be able to work for money. Its a circle, if you dont have money you depend on this IPAS system. The basic thing is not to depend on it. If you dont have money you depend on it and if you want to have money you have to work. My solution is to find a way to work even if it means sleeping in a tent and going to work.

He said his days now consist of going to charity services for food, visiting the IPO office on Mount Street for any updates and then either sleeping rough or trying to get money together for a hostel.

I think the government had a choice to make. I feel the pressure on the government for the good theyre doing taking in all these refugees. Yesterday I met a Ukrainian. He was nice. He was here for 15 minutes before he was sent to his accommodation in Citywest. Theyre nice people and I understand totally but the system is failing.

He said some of the people who have recently arrived were shocked to find there were no places for them anywhere.

I have the advantage of speaking English and Im used to the system. I know some people come from Afghanistan and Syria and all this is just too much. Some people wanted to sleep here on Monday night and they brought security and told them to leave.

I remember when I came in 2019 and if they told me there was no accommodation I dont even think Id have put in an application in.

He said he has no issuers with Ukrainian people being given accommodation.

Its not us talking bad about refugees from Ukraine. Its really okay theyre sorted but what about us?
The Fianna Fail TD was forced to resign as a junior minister over his failure to properly declare his property portfolio

The Fianna Fail TD also said he is still prepared to answer more questions on his rental properties and business dealings. The Opposition has called for a Dail debate on Mr Troys properties.

The Longford-Westmeath TD also finally addressed questions relating to his participation in the Rent-a-Room scheme which allows homeowners claim up 14,000 a year in rent tax free if they have a tenant in their own home.

Mr Troy refused to answer any questions on the scheme at the height of the controversy surrounding his Dail declaration of members interests.

However, speaking ahead of the Fianna Fail think-in at the Mullingar Park Hotel, Mr Troy said he advertised a room in his own home and said he was living in the house for the entirety of the time he had a tenant in place.

In a statement released last month, he said he participated in a Rent-a-Room scheme in 2019 in his private dwelling house.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin and party colleagues, including Robert Troy (glasses) pictured at the Fianna Fail parliamentary party think-in at the Mullingar Park Hotel. Picture: Damien Eagers

In Mullingar today, he said he had taken direct action by stepping down over what he described as unintentional errors.

The former minister arrived at the hotel in his constituency of Longford-Westmeath in Taoiseach Micheal Martins State car. Before arriving, The Taoiseach and Mr Troy attended the opening of a housing development in the area.

Mr Troy said the think-in has a very serious agenda on the cards.

We're looking at and focused on dealing with the challenges faced by so many of our citizens right across the land and I think that's the focus of the next two days, he said.

For my own part, I dealt with the unintentional errors that I made. I issued a fulsome apology, and I do so again today. I've taken a direct decision in that regard in terms of stepping down as a minister but, today, it's not about that.

"Today and tomorrow is about focusing on the issues that are affecting the people who have given us the honour to represent them in Government where you run the next election.

Mr Martin was asked about details of a Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) report on a complaint from sacked Agriculture Minister Barry Cowen which appeared in the Irish Mail on Sunday.

The newspaper reported that the GSOC report found Mr Cowen did not seek to evade a Garda checkpoint when he was stopped for being over the alcohol limit while driving.

The Taoiseach said every member of the parliamentary party will have the opportunity to be appointed to Cabinet in the fullness of time. However, he said he was limited in the number of seats at his disposal as he was in a coalition government.

The Taoiseach also criticised members of his own party for navel gazing and claiming the party does not have its own identity.

I'm about making a difference for the betterment of people and what people want is the party to be focused on the issues that matter to people, the Taoiseach said. People out there are not that impressed with excessive navel gazing or excessive internal analysing and so on, they're not impressed by them. They want their politicians to focus on the issues that matter to them.
The children died from the injuries they sustained when the car they were travelling in with their mother, Lynn Egar, was discovered in flames on a remote road on the outskirts of Multyfarnham at around 4pm last Friday.

A toy digger is left at the scene of the fire on the outskirts of Multyfarnham, Co Westmeath

A teddy bear is left at the scene of the car fire in Westmeath which claimed the lives of the young siblings last Friday   Conor Feehan

A table of remembrance at St Cremin's National School in Multyfarnham, where Thelma was in senior infants   Conor Feehan

Michael (2) and Thelma (5) who died following the car fire in Multyfarnham in Co Westmeath

A criminal investigation is under way into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of two children during a car fire in Co Westmeath, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has confirmed.

Speaking in Galway today, Mr Harris said the deaths of Michael (2) and Thelma (5), who died in the car fire last Friday, are being treated as suspicious.

The children died from the injuries they sustained when the car they were travelling in with their mother, Lynn Egar, was discovered in flames on a remote road on the outskirts of Multyfarnham at around 4pm last Friday.

Commissioner Harris added that An Garda Siochana is seeking the publics assistance with the investigation, and is calling for any information from those in the area of Multyfarnham from 3pm to 3.30pm on September 9.

They are especially keen to view any dash cam footage captured by passing motorists at the time.

The childrens mother Lynn Egar, who was pulled from the car by a passer-by, remains in hospital with what is believed to be non-life-threatening injuries.

Gardai are continuing to investigate all the circumstances surrounding the fire and have finished a forensic search at the scene of the blaze and also at the remote farmhouse 12km away outside the town of Rathowen where the family lived.

A candlelight vigil took place in Multyfarnham last night attended by hundreds of people who turned out to remember the little brother and sister.

The gathering met at the Children of Lir Montessori and Preschool where Michael had just begun attending this month, before walking to St Cremins National School where Thelma was a senior infants pupil.

In a statement today, staff and children at the Children of Lir pre-school expressed their sincere sympathy to the family at the tragic loss of Thelma and Michael.

It added: Thelma had attended our ECCE scheme and she was a beautiful, happy and fun-loving little girl who will be sadly missed by us all. We will miss her dearly.

Meanwhile, the primary school where Thelma was attending has set up a remembrance table at its door today in honour of the innocent victims of the fire.

The local community make their way through Multyfarnham for a vigil for Lynn Egar's children Thelma (5) and Michael (2). Photo: Caroline Quinn

The gathering met at the Children of Lir Montessori and Pre-school where Michael had just begun attending this month, before walking to St Cremins National School where Thelma was a senior infants pupil.

At the school this morning, the principal and staff set up a table of remembrance with candles surrounding photographs of Michael and Thelma. Well-wishers left messages of sympathy along with teddy bears and other tributes to the children.

In a statement, principal Karl Dermody said they were devastated to learn of the sudden death of a beloved member of its school community.

A table of remembrance at St Cremin's National School in Multyfarnham, where Thelma was in senior infants   Conor Feehan

Thelma will be remembered by classmates and teachers as a warm, happy, and vibrant member of St Cremins National School, Mr Dermody said.

We offer our sincere condolences to friends and family members as they come to terms with this tragic loss of life.

As a school, our priority will be to take every step to ensure that the needs of our pupils and their families are met, at this challenging time.

We will provide support to pupils and school staff to help them deal with this tragedy. Psychologists from the National Educational Psychological Services have been with us in our school supporting staff and parents.

A teddy bear is left at the scene of the car fire in Westmeath which claimed the lives of the young siblings last Friday   Conor Feehan

At the scene of the fire on the remote road outside the town, a growing number of teddy bears, toys, flowers and candles have been placed by locals.

Local Franciscan priest Fr John OBrien said there is deep sadness like a cloud hanging over the community.

Theres that feeling of being dazed, confused until we say how do we come to terms with this? he told RTE Radio Ones Morning Ireland. The sense of unreality that we have to face a terrible tragedy. The sense of unreality: did it really happen and, all of a sudden, we realise yes it did. The two little kids are dead.

"So, theres an overwhelming feeling of sadness, disbelief and not being able to find words yet to put on it.

A toy digger is left at the scene of the fire on the outskirts of Multyfarnham, Co Westmeath

The other thing people are doing at the moment is just meeting informally. Mothers are talking about it and theyre worried about their kids going to school tomorrow, how theyre going to face the news.

"Its going to be hard on the teachers and very hard on the little ones who are going to face this terrible sense of grief and loss. Thats really where the healing begins."

He added: We dont have any magic wand to wave that will take away the tears, we just have to sit and be with somebody and if there are tears, let them flow. Its a lonely time for everybody.

Fr OBrien said he was driving home on Friday evening when a garda car passed by him and he knew from the speed that something was up.

Then, the next day, there were helicopters flying, people coming and going, roads closed off, guards everywhere in the fields. You felt like, from a very quiet place, all of a sudden it was a deeply tragic place, a deeply lonely place too.

Fr OBrien added that he spoke to a woman whose son was a friend of one of the deceased children and she asked: How are we going to tell him this, how are we going to help him through it?

Because its going to be very hard for a five-year-old to take this on board. As an adult we find it hard, but as a little child the sense of loss can be devastating.

Shes not the only mother [who feels this way]  she represents many mothers at the moment.
Passengers should apply to exercise their rights through the aerlingus.com website, but if they are unhappy with the outcome, they can take matters further through an independent arbitration process.

Aer Lingus passengers who are still waiting to get a flight to their chosen destination are entitled to out of pocket expenses and but the compensation situation can be pretty fluid, a travel expert has said.

A technical issue with Aer Linguss check-in system on Saturday led to the cancellation of more than 50 flights, with several thousand travellers impacted as a result.

Air And Travel Magazine editor Eoghan Corry said usually the airline would take command and secure replacement flights and hotel rooms for impacted passengers if needed, but in many cases, Aer Lingus was unable to do this over the weekend.

The precedent for this, is that passengers who have made their own way home will be compensated for out-of-pocket expenses, he said.

So, people who have booked their own flight, get on board, come home, find your own way back and then chase Aer Lingus for the out-of-pocket expenses.

Passengers should apply to exercise their rights through the aerlingus.com website, but if they are unhappy with the outcome, they can take matters further through an independent arbitration process.

Mr Corry said he expected the process of securing compensation to be pretty straightforward, however he added: If it runs into trouble there is an arbitration process run by the flightrights.ie website  that is an officially appointed website. That should be the first stop for people who have difficulty getting their out-of-pocket expenses compensated.

Stock image   PA

Out of pocket will mean as long as theyre stranded. It is Aer Lingus responsibility. They are contracted to bring you home.

Speaking RTEs Morning Ireland, Mr Corry said Aer Lingus is adding capacity to a number of routes to facilitate impacted passengers. It comes as people who are stranded in Bulgaria have been told that there will be no flights until Thursday.

Aer Lingus are talking about using their transatlantic aircraft, that would be their larger airbus 330 which has much more capacity, to get out to Bulgaria and to some of the other destinations to get people back, he added.

Theyre not officially running rescue flights, going out empty to bring people home, but they are increasing capacity where they can, and they also have been dealing with other airlines.

There is a question of if youve booked with an alternative carrier will you get compensated? I expect Aer Lingus to hum and haw a little bit about that but certainly the precedent under consumer law is that customers are entitled to book with a competitor airline.

Speaking on the same programme, Cavan resident Deirdre Mulhern said she and her wife have been stuck in Rome since Saturday and they have booked a new flight home.

After waiting at Fiumicino Airport for four hours, she said they were informed, just as their flight was scheduled to leave, that it would not be going ahead. Ms Mulhern said there were no Aer Lingus representatives on the ground, but two Fiumicino representatives said Aer Lingus had arranged a hotel for them.

We were on the phone for two hours and 18 minutes last night, we couldnt get through to anybody, she said.

"We were eventually able to book ourselves on a flight for Tuesday morning. So, I then applied for a refund online with Aer Lingus for the flight that didnt happen, but I received an email this morning at seven minutes past five saying they had rebooked us for a flight on Thursday, which is just too far away.

Passengers form long queues at Dublin Airport. Photo: Frank McGrath

She added: I havent had any contact with them since, Ive sent several emails, been messaging their social media outlets and havent been able to contact them on the phone just to even let them know do I go ahead and cancel their flight on Thursday or what do I do?

The problem here with most people on the ground is the lack of presence and the lack of contact to reassure people of whats happening and that they were going to be looked after.

Under EU regulations, if a flight is cancelled for any reason, and regardless of when the passenger is notified, the airline must offer the choice between:

1) Re-routing as soon as possible, subject to availability, free of charge. 2) Re-routing at a later date. 3) A full refund within seven days.

If a flight is cancelled and a passenger chooses to be re-routed as soon as possible, then they are entitled to meals and refreshments, hotel accommodation and transfers between the airport and hotel as required. If the airline does not provide these, and the passenger ends up paying themselves, the should keep the receipts as they are entitled to a reimbursement of reasonable expenses.

Financial compensation depends on the flight length and the reason for the cancellation. It differs to care and assistance obligations, and generally ranges from 250 (short-haul, less than 1,500km) to 600 (long-haul, over 3,500km).
He is the first king to step foot in the province for almost 80 years.

Flowers and tributes are pictured outside of Hillsborough Castle, south west of Belfast on September 9, 2022 Photo by PAUL FAITH/AFP via Getty Images)   AFP via Getty Images

King Charles III is set to make his first official visit to Northern Ireland this coming week, the first king to step foot in the province for almost 80 years.

The visit follows the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday, with the new king set to have a number of engagements across the province as part of the period of mourning and his ascension to the throne.

The centre of much of the visit will be the monarchs official residence at Hillsborough Castle in Royal Hillsborough, with a number of ceremonial events planned.

When King Charles III will arrive:

The King and Queen consort will fly to Belfast and travel to Hillsborough Castle on Tuesday. It is expected the royal couple will arrive in the early part of the afternoon to begin a number of engagements.

Flowers and tributes are pictured outside of Hillsborough Castle, south west of Belfast on September 9, 2022 Photo by PAUL FAITH/AFP via Getty Images)   AFP via Getty Images

What events will take place:

The King and Queen consort will view an exhibition on the late Queens long association with Northern Ireland which is taking place at Hillsborough Castle.

While there, they will also meet with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and Stormont party leaders.

At 1.20pm, he will receive a message of condolence led by the Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

After a short reception at Hillsborough, the King and Queen will travel to St Annes Cathedral for a service of reflection, where they will be joined by Prime Minister Liz Truss.

Before the service, the King will meet leaders from all the major faiths in Northern Ireland.

The King and Queen consort will then leave Belfast for London.

King Charles appears to lose patience with aide during proclamation ceremony

Can you visit Hillsborough Castle?

While no official arrangements or guidance has yet been issued for Tuesdays visit, the public are being advised not to travel to Hillsborough Castle on Sunday for other engagements taking place.

Visitors have been warned of restrictions around Hillsborough Castle during the period of official mourning and this is likely to be the case on Tuesday.

Parking is already restricted and a one-way system is now in operation in the village.

In a statement on Sunday ahead of the Proclamation ceremony, the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) said: Following The Proclamation Ceremony, the public are now welcome to travel to the area in front of Hillsborough Castle to pay their respects to HM Queen Elizabeth II. There is no parking for non-residents, please use the shuttle bus service from the Eikon Centre.

When access is allowed into the area again, Translink has confirmed there will be a number of special transport arrangements in place, including a free and frequent shuttle bus service will be in operation from the Eikon Centre Park & Ride facility to Hillsborough Castle operating from 10am  8pm.

A free shuttle bus will also operate between Lisburn Train Station and the Eikon Centre from 10am  8pm connecting passengers with the onward shuttle service to Royal Hillsborough.

Both of these shuttle bus services will operate during the Period of Mourning until further notice.
Hotel room sex attacker got the head punched off him at march for UVF murderer Brian Robinson

A pervert butcher was left nursing a busted face after being beaten up at a loyalist march in honour of a UVF killer shot dead by undercover soldiers.

Stephen Mooney was pictured walking along the Shankill Road in Belfast with a bloody gash over his eye following a confrontation with a furious local.

Despite being hated in the area, the sex offender foolishly showed up at last weekends Brian Robinson commemoration parade.

Onlookers said he got the head punched off him and was ordered off the road.

As a clearly dazed Mooney was walking along the Shankill phoning a friend for help, he was taunted by passers-by.

One motorist was recorded shouting sex offender at the injured 46-year-old and laughing. A video of the incident has been widely shared on social media.

Mooney must have a death wish showing up at the Brian Robinson parade because the place was coming down with UVF members, a source said.

He got a couple of digs to the head and was told to clear off. He appeared to be drunk, so that might explain his bravado.

Mooney can count himself lucky because things could have turned out much worse for him  he was fortunate to get away with just a cut above the eye.

The Brian Robinson Memorial Parade last weekend

The shamed businessman was convicted in 2018 of carrying out a sex attack on a woman at a hotel in Belfast city centre. The pervert was fined 750 and ordered to pay his victim 1,000 compensation.

She had been celebrating her 40th birthday with friends when he invited her to his room for what she thought was a group party.

On arrival, Mooney was the only one there, so she asked him to phone her mum, who was also at the hotel.

But he pushed her onto the bed, straddled her and started to kiss her neck.

The terrified woman later told police: He was rubbing both his hands all over my hips and waist. I thought I was going to be raped.

I was saying, Get off me. Eventually, Stephen was off me and Im not sure if it was me pushing him off or he got off. My instant thought was to get out of the room. I was terrified.

The sex attack victim tried to flee, but the hotel room door was locked and Mooney pounced on her again from behind.

She later told the police: He walked me back towards the bed and started to kiss my neck again and was rubbing his hands all over me.

All I could think of was how to get away from him.

Stephen Mooney

The frightened woman pushed Mooney off a second time and again ran to the hotel room door, trying to force the lock. The predator then opened it and she fled downstairs.

Later that night, Mooney rang her repeatedly, eventually sending a text when she refused to answer. She later replied to the message, writing, Stop ringing me, youre sick, to which he answered, lol.

His victim also revealed that following the attack she ended up scrubbing herself in the shower.

When Mooney was convicted, his family butchers shop on the Shankill was vandalised and graffiti appeared branding him scum and a sex offender.

Although originally from the area, he has been living in the Stormont district of east Belfast for some time.

The annual Brian Robinson parade which the pervert showed up at last weekend drew thousands of loyalists and more than 50 bands onto the Shankill Road.

The UVF assassin was killed by undercover soldiers on the Crumlin Road in September 1989, minutes after they witnessed him murdering Catholic Paddy McKenna at the Ardoyne shops.

Loyalists believe he was killed to take the pressure off the government over republican shoot-to-kill allegations.
Adair also said he believed the Queen was aware of his existence as a Director of Terrorism: She knew who I was

Ex-terror chief Johnny Adair admits he shed a tear on hearing of the death of the Queen

And the deposed Ulster Freedom Fighters Brigadier also said he firmly believed Queen Elizabeth II was aware of his existence as a Director of Terrorism in Ulster.

And he is firmly convinced that over the years, the deceased Monarch had been fully briefed on the role he played in the UFFs terror was in support of Northern Irelands link with the United Kingdom.

Ive no doubt about that, he said. The Queen took a great interest in Northern Ireland and she knew who was who.

I dont mind admitting it though, my eyes filled with tears when I heard the news that she had died. It never thought it would affect me like that, but it did.

And I was only saying this earlier in conversation with friends. I honestly believe the Queen had been briefed all about C Coy on the Shankill Road.

It stands to reason, because the Queen received regular updates about what was happening in Northern Ireland and who was making it happen.

The Queen, the Royal Family and the Monarchy, along with Northern Irelands link with the United Kingdom, were central to what we were doing. Our raison detre was to maintain these links. Thats why we did what we did.

She was a highly intelligent woman, who took a great interest in her countrys affairs, so when you think about it, why wouldnt the Queen know who I was? insisted the former UFF boss.

But he added: Did that mean she supported what I was doing? The answer is absolutely not!

Queen Elizabeth II   PA

Speaking from his home on Scotlands Ayrshire coast, Adair (58) set aside his tough-guy image to reveal a softer side, as he spoke of his admiration for the Monarch who passed away this week.

I have to admit, I was moved when I got the news. Queen Elizabeth was on the Throne of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland every day of my life.

And he added: Apart from anything else, she was an incredible human being who was absolutely dedicated to duty. Of course, I held her in the highest regard.

Queen Elizabeth II had already been on British Throne for 10 years when Johnny Adair was born in his parents home in Fleming Street off Belfasts Old Lodge Road on Sunday October 27 1963.

Johnny - as the new baby was to be known - was his mum Mabels seventh child and her second son. In time, he would bring the Shankill Road women her greatest joy, as well as greatest heartache.

But Mabel Adair had one disappointment that day though, which of course, paled into insignificance when it was compared to the birth of her new baby boy:

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, was due in Belfast the following day, where she would cut the tape of a new International Airport at Aldergrove, 20 miles north of Belfast.

It had been Mabel Adairs intention to take a trip into town to catch a glimpse of the Royal visitor later that day. But labour pains heralding the arrival of her future infamous son put paid to her plans.

But like every other family living in loyalist areas of Belfast, a picture of a young Queen Elizabeth adorned the wall of the Adairs living room.

And Johnny Adair remembers well, the care his mother took in making sure its glass cover was always clean and polished.

We werent the only ones. Every house I went into as a youngster had a picture of Queen Elizabeth on the wall.

It was a permanent reminder that we were British. And it was a manifestation of the love we had for the Queen and the Royal Family. said Adair.

Johnny Adair also went into detail about how support for the Monarchy played a big part in his interpretation of loyalism.

The UVF represented an older form of loyalism. Its motto was For God and Ulster.

 But I have to be honest and say, God didnt play a big part in our thinking. I mean how could it? How could anyone say, God supported these things? They couldnt.

But its a definite fact that the Royal Family represented our British links. I my time on the Shankill, I gave the go-ahead for two murals.

One was to commemorate Queen Elizabeth and the other one was to Princess Diana. And thats because I knew how much they meant to the ordinary people. said Adair.

And he added: But its important to state, no one in the Royal Family would have agreed with our methods. Thats fanciful.

To be honest, the Queen melted peoples hearts. I mean if you gauge opinion on things like Facebook, youll see both sides of the divide in Northern Ireland had admiration for the Queen. And its clear Catholic people sympathised with Protestant people over her death.

She was a thoroughly decent human being who never put a foot wrong. Many of us have lost our parents and grandparents, but the Queen was like a grandparent to the whole nation,

She wasnt like a politician who you could like and then dislike. he said.

Despite being a strong supporter of the Monarchy, Johnny Adair wasnt uncritical of past management decisions which showed the Queen and her family in a bad light.

The only time I remember any criticism towards the Queen was 25 years ago when Diana died.

The Queen stayed on at Balmoral in Scotland, when really her people wanted her in London. At that time we got a bit upset. That is the only time I could say there was something negative about her reign as Queen.

Other than that, she never put a foot wrong and I find it very sad that she is gone. said Johnny Adair with sincere sadness in the tone of his voice. And he added: One thing you cant say about Queen Elizabeth, but you can say it about plenty of todays so-called loyalist leaders. And that is, you cant say the Queen didnt have a loyalist bone in her body!

The former C Coy terror boss also revealed his recently deceased friend and former Ulster Freedom Fighters right hand man, Sam Skelly McCrory was also a strong affection for the Monarchy, the Royal family and the Queen in particular.

Big Skelly loved the Queen every bit as much as me. But I always remember him joking one day about whether hed be eligible for a knighthood. He was with friends and he imagined a scenario where the Queen put me in charge of knighthoods. He said, hed be afraid to kneel down in front of me with a sword in my hand, in case I chopped his head off!

hjordan.media@btinternet.com
Ukrainian soldiers in Kharkiv said they had seen Russian commanders literally running away and soldiers changing into civilian clothes to escape Ukraines surprise offensive.

A Ukrainian soldier passes by a Russian tank damaged in a battle in a just freed territory on the road to Balakleya in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. (AP Photo)   AP/PA Images

Russian troops were forced to abandon their positions around the entire northern region of Kharkiv back into Russia, its defence ministry admitted, a retreat that analysts described as a shock rout and a possible turning point in the war.

Ukrainian soldiers in Kharkiv said they had seen Russian commanders literally running away and soldiers changing into civilian clothes to escape Ukraines surprise offensive.

The impressive Ukrainian attack has recaptured dozens of villages and towns, some north of Kharkiv on the border with Russia, in what appears to be a near-total collapse of Russias front in the northeastern region.

Analysts said all of Russias forces were now fleeing the Kharkiv region and even pro-Russia military bloggers admitted the Russian front had collapsed in the area.

Ukraines defence ministry said around 1,158sq km had been recaptured.

Our forces entered Kupiansk. The liberation of Kupiansk and Izyum districts of Kharkiv region are ongoing, it said.

Several Ukrainian cities reported power outages last night, with Ukrainian bloggers and social media users reporting Russian missile attacks.

They said these were revenge strikes after the collapse of Russias army around Kharkiv. Russian channels on Telegram said at least two power stations in Kremenchuk and Kharkiv were struck by precision rockets last night.

Ukrainian State Emergency Service firefighters put out the fire after a Russian rocket attack hit an electric power station in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. AP Photo/Kostiantyn Liberov)   AP/PA Images

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted: A total blackout in the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, a partial one in the Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions. RF terrorists remain terrorists and attack critical infrastructure. No military facilities, the goal is to deprive people of light & heat. #Russia IsATerroristState.

The governor of the eastern Kharkiv region said Russian attacks on critical infrastructure had disrupted electricity and water supplies, while the head of the Dnipropetrovsk region claimed Moscows forces had hit energy infrastructure in retaliation for defeat on the battlefield.

Kupiansk and Izyum have been heavily fought over and their capture by Russia was heavily celebrated by the Kremlin earlier in the war.

They are also seen as vital hubs to resupply Russian forces in Donbas.

A video from Izyum shows five soldiers standing on the roof of a destroyed government building firing rounds into the air, waving the Ukrainian flag and shouting Glory to Ukraine!

Various videos show Ukrainian soldiers being warmly welcomed by Kharkiv locals with hot meals, flowers and hugs.

Amid the progress of Ukrainian forces, Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said yesterday that Russia would be prepared to sit down for peace talks. Even the Russian ministry of defence has admitted that it can no longer hang on to territory around Kharkiv.

Ukrainian soldiers walk past a position abandoned by the Russians during the counter-offensive operation in Kharkiv region, Ukraine. Photo: Handout/Reuters   via REUTERS

During its daily video briefing by Lt Gen Igor Konashenkov, the Russian defence ministry spokesman, a map flashed up showing that the Russian defence ministry now considered only a slither of land to the east of the Oskil River to be under its control.

Lt Gen Konashenkov has been mocked by pro-Ukraine social media users. Russian military bloggers, meanwhile, are becoming increasingly frustrated with the Kremlins strategies.

Not to say a word about the realities of what is happening around Kharkiv, means to betray those who fought there and are still fighting, the pro-Russia blogger Military Informant told his 462,000 subscribers.

The scale of the Russian defeat around Kharkiv is only just emerging but videos and photos uploaded online show dozens and dozens of abandoned tanks and other equipment. Body armour and rifles, rations and clothes were also discarded by the fleeing Russian army.

Western analysts confirmed that Ukrainian forces looked to have captured most of the Kharkiv region.

It seems now confirmed there is a general Russian withdrawal from Kharkiv Oblast, said James Rushton, a British defence analyst based in Ukraine.

The US-based Institute for the Study of War was blunt with its assessment of how Russian forces had performed. The Ukrainian counteroffensive in Kharkiv Oblast is routing Russian forces and collapsing Russias northern Donbas axis, it said. Russian forces are not conducting a controlled withdrawal. ( Telegraph Media Group Ltd 2022)
Diaz submitted Tony Ferguson in the main event of UFC 279 on Saturday in what was the final fight on the 37-year-olds UFC contract

Conor McGregor has paid tribute to Nate Diaz after the Americans final fight in the UFC, promising that a trilogy bout between the old rivals will happen.

Diaz submitted Tony Ferguson in the main event of UFC 279 on Saturday (10 September) in what was the final fight on the 37-year-olds UFC contract.

In his post-fight interview at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Diaz said: I wanna get out [of] the UFC for a minute and show all these other fighters how to own up another sport. Then Im gonna be right back here to get a motherf*****g UFC title.

McGregor traded wins with Diaz in 2016, and many fans have long wished to see the pair square off again.

Ahead of Diazs victory over compatriot Ferguson, McGregor tweeted on Saturday: Congrats Nate Diaz on making it to the end of his contractual obligations with the UFC, and as a bonafide superstar goer.

An incredible feat. Fair play. Our trilogy will happen.

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After winning the UFC featherweight title in December 2015, McGregor sought to become the companys first dual-weight champion by challenging then-lightweight title holder Rafael dos Anjos in March 2016. However, an injury saw Dos Anjos replaced by Diaz, who took on McGregor at welterweight.

Diaz submitted the Irishman in the second round, leading to a rematch between the pair five months later. McGregor, 34, won that fight via majority decision, before dethroning Dos Anjos successor Eddie Alvarez as lightweight champion in November 2016.

McGregor has fought just five times in six years since his rematch with Diaz, winning twice  including his victory over Alvarez. The Irishman last competed in July 2021, suffering a broken leg in his second straight defeat by Dustin Poirier.

Meanwhile, Diaz has fought just four times since his second clash with McGregor, going 2-2 across those bouts.

McGregor is expected back in the Octagon in early 2023.
The twin brothers, whose real names are John and Edward Grimes, published a series of tweets criticising the British monarchy following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday.

Former Coronation Street star Charlie Lawson has hit back at Jedward after they demanded King Charles to hand back the six counties of Northern Ireland in a series of tweets.

The twin brothers, whose real names are John and Edward Grimes, published a series of tweets criticising the British monarchy following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday.

On Saturday, they wrote: Abolish the monarchy and give the people real democracy!

They then added: King Charles should hand back the six Irish counties on his visit to Northern Ireland - No war! Just words! Its time.

And Enniskillen native Charlie had some choice words for the X Factor stars, responding with: Shut up ypair of tw*ts!!

The soap favourite, who is best known for playing Jim McDonald on Coronation Street, hit out at the Dubliners again on Sunday after they posted a tweet criticising the backlash they received about their anti-monarchist posts.

Jedward wrote: People in denial about Britains Imperialist past need to get a grip. Change is hard when your education is a censored version of history.

And Charlie replied on Monday: Oh, shut up!

The 62-year-old's replies sparked a flood of messages of support for both parties, with one person telling the Corrie star: I dont like much of what you say Charlie but this was on point.

Others sided with Jedward and were unimpressed with Charlies juvenile remarks, dubbing him a snowflake.

What age are you Charlie? Name calling on social media? Oh, your words really hurt... wise up and act your age! one commenter wrote.

Jedward got over 21k likes so theyre not alone in their opinion lol, another added.

Charlie was invited to light an Eleventh Night bonfire in Co Fermanagh this year ahead of the annual Twelfth of July celebrations in Northern Ireland.

He also recently made appearances on right-wing channel GB News presenting live coverage of the Orange Order marches alongside former DUP leader Arlene Foster.
Weather Eye

with John Maunder

The chart below shows that since 1979, when reliable satellite observations became available, there has been an overall small warming trend in the average tropospheric temperatures, apart from, at times, milder temperatures since about 1999, but with three significant warm periods associated with the El Nino events in 1998 , 2015-16, and 2019.

The latest global average temperatures of the troposphere updated to August 2022 - observed from US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellites  are computed by the University of Alabama at Huntsville in the United States. The data shows variations from the 30 year period 1981-2010.

Since 1979, NOAA satellites have been carrying instruments which measure the natural microwave thermal emissions from oxygen in the atmosphere.

The intensity of the signals these microwave radiometers measure at different microwave frequencies is directly proportional to the temperature of different, deep layers of the atmosphere.

Every month, researchers at the University of Alabama (Dr John Christy and Dr Roy Spencer) update global temperature datasets that represent the piecing together of the temperature data from a total of fourteen instruments flying on different satellites over the years.

The graph above represents the latest update; updates are usually made within the first week of every month. Contrary to some reports, the satellite measurements are not calibrated in any way with the global surface-based thermometer records of temperature.

They instead use their own on-board precision redundant platinum resistance thermometers calibrated to a laboratory reference standard before launch.

The troposphere is the lowest layer of Earth's atmosphere.

It contains approximately 75 per cent of the atmosphere's mass and 99 per cent of its water vapour and aerosols.

The average depth of the troposphere is about 17km in the middle latitudes.

The latest data for August 2022 is +0.28 degrees C.

For further information on a range of weather and climate matters see my recent book Fifteen shades of climate... the fall of the weather dice and the butterfly effect. available from Amazon.
Who wouldn't want a stainless steel tube slide in their house?

Its a playful house in Mount Maunganui that catches our eye in the Bay of Plenty & Central Plateau Master Builders Awards for 2022.

The house was built Calley Homes, which also took out the Supreme House of the Year Award with another stunning home in Welcome Bay, Tauranga.

But first, the playful house, which won the Gerrand Flooring Lifestyle Award and a Gold Award. The awards judges praised the way the house reflects the playful personality of its artist owner, whose brief was Lemon, Lime and Raspberry Fun.

The slide house in Mount Maunganui, built by Calley Homes, also features colourful stained glass windows and murals along the fences. Photo: Supplied.

And its the huge, stainless steel tube slide that pops outside the house that intrigues. It leads from the top of the stairs on the first floor to the living area below.

But, the creativity doesnt stop there: Colour-stained glass windows, bright tiles, unique feature walls and handmade lightshades create a charismatic interior style, the judges note.

The awards judges said the house reflects the colourful personalities of the owners. Photo: Supplied

The playful exuberance is continued to the exterior, with a two-storey wall that features a painted reflection of the pohutukawa trees that line the street. And the front fence is covered in art from the local community.

Calley Homes says resource consent conditions mean the ome sits above the floodplains on a timber piled subfloor. This ensures the home can withstand coastal inundation surges and, in the case of a large-scale natural hazard, can be relocated entirely (in fact there are no permanent structures on the site), thereby ultimately improving the life cycle of the home far beyond New Zealand standards.

You enter the slide at the top of the stairs (top right) and it spits you out in the family living room (below right and left). Photo: Supplied

Calley Homes Supreme House of the Year  a modern, black adobe-clad home  also won the award for best home over $1 million, the Resene New Home $2 million - $4 million category, and a Gold Award.

Special features highlighted by the judges include the striking black cladding, large pivot doors, and a superb timber ceiling. They also praised the impressively large built-in bookcase, the media room, and kitchen with a scullery.

Calley Homes won the Master Builders Bay of Plenty & Central Plateau Supreme House of the Year award with this modern, black adobe-clad home in Tauranga. Photo: Supplied.

The timber ceiling and black weatherboards in the Supreme House of the Year flow seamlessly between the inside and out. Photo: Supplied.

This was helped by early client engagement with the builder and architect, resulting in a coordinated and impressive outcome.

David Reid Homes Taupo won the Bay of Plenty & Central Plateau Supreme House of the Year Under $1 million, Volume/Group Housing New Home $500K - $750K category, and a Gold Award for a home in Wharewaka, Taupo

Urbo Homes won the Bay of Plenty & Central Plateau Supreme Renovation of the Year for a historic, 100-year-old fishing cottage on Lake Rotoiti, Rotorua.

The project also won the Renovation up to $750,000 category, and a Gold Award.

Urbo Homes won the region's Supreme Renovation of the Year for the renovation of a historic, 100-year-old fishing cottage on Lake Rotoiti, Rotorua. Photo: Supplied

The judges praised the way the renovation preserves the original character of the old hunting and fishing lodge: The home has been in the family for many generations, and to preserve it for future generations, all facilities have been updated to a very high standard. This includes modernised insulation, cladding, a new kitchen, and master bedroom with ensuite.

A fun feature is the retention of the dart hole-covered door and wall surrounding the old dart board. This serves as a reminder to those who have missed in the past.

The wall beside the dartboard was left with all its dart holes intact to preserve part of the cottage's history. Photo: Supplied/Stuff.

Gudsell Designer Homes won the Bunnings Renovation $750,000 - $1.5 million category, and a Gold Award for a home in Mt Maunganui, Tauranga

Fairbairn Builders won the Renovation over $1.5 million category, and a Gold Award for a home in Mt Maunganui, Tauranga that was finely crafted with aluminium cladding.

Louvred roofing protects the comfortable outdoor living space on the upper floor, while a lovely kitchen with a secret scullery connects to alfresco dining with views over the beach community and pohutukawa trees below.

A full list of winners can be viewed on the Master Builders House of the Year site.

This is the Mount Maunganui home by Fairbairn Builders - winner of the Renovation over $1.5 million category, and a Gold Award. Photo: Supplied.

Colleen Hawkes/Stuff
Inspector Will Loughrin stood on the black sand of a remote Waikato beach peering at a ute abandoned below the tideline.

It was a blustery day, a year ago, when the grey Toyota Hilux was found facing into the waves. With a nod to convention, the keys were under the drivers side mat.

The Waikato west area commander was one of the first at the desolate Kiritehere Beach on September 11, called to action because Thomas Phillips and his three children were missing.

Little did he know  a year later he would still be looking.

The coastal community rejoiced after the missing father, children Jayda, Maverick, and Ember re-appeared at the family farm safe and well.

Loughrin was sitting in his Huntly office when the phone rang. He was overcome with relief.

The family had spent 17 days in Marokopas dense bush, but werent found despite an intensive police-led land, sea and air search.

But less than three months later, Phillips and the children were gone. Again.

The missing Phillips children. Photo: Stuff.

He left the family home in December, and didnt reappear for Christmas or for his court appearance  on a charge of wasting police time and resources after the first search.

That indicated to us that hes intentionally left and has chosen to evade police.

Hes planned this. He has gone off the grid completely, and hes had support.

It was disappointing, Loughrin says. But nothing surprises him any more.

Straight away my heart went out to everybody involved and obviously knew that we had to resolve this and do everything we could, but it's proven to be quite complex.

Police found his ute in late January. It was left parked on Mangatoa Road near the Mangatoa Track, but officers searched the area and found no signs of the family.

Then Phillips returned to a family member's home in the middle of the night to take supplies in February.

He did not have the children with him, but reassured family they were well.

That was the last time he was seen.

Im always worried about the childrens wellbeing, Loughrin says. He calls their mother regularly, but says it's hard.

I sense that she probably thinks when Im ringing, maybe Im ringing with good news.

Instead, she's left disappointed. The children  now aged 9, 7, and 6  are still missing.

They have missed anniversaries, birthdays, and day-to-day interactions with the people who loved them.

"Thats upsetting, and I know it is for the team that is working really hard on this.

And I know the kids dont leave their mind when they are off duty, when you are doing other things  its really hard not to think of the children.

Loughrin wouldnt publicly comment about why Phillips' had fled, but said he was motivated to stay hidden and keep the children at his side.

There are a lot of complexities.

There is a matter before the family court that means the custody status of the children can not be discussed.

Officers first thought Phillips might have gone back into Marokopas bush, Loughrin says.

They have spent a lot of time understanding Phillips and his background, well-aware that he's an experienced bushman and comfortable living off the grid.

They searched properties, the bush, and engaged with the community  but found nothing.

What we were hearing is there have been no sightings in recent times of Tom, of the children, or even indicating that someone has left something behind, which you may see in the bush environment.

Thats why we came out to the public recently saying we need New Zealand to be our eyes and ears  because there is that possibility that Tom has left the area, and he could be in the north or South Island.

They are now receiving information from across the country  which was all being followed up, he says.

But children grow quickly, and will look different. It's likely Phillips haa also grown a beard.

We just keep urging New Zealanders across the country that if something doesnt look right, or someones story about how theyve come to be there with three kids doesn't add up, and they have a similar appearance to Tom and the kids, then we need to hear about it.

The children will likely not be attending school.

But also if the public suspect that someone could be helping Tom then we would like to know.

We strongly believe that Tom has been getting assistance from the very beginning.

If he could say something to Phillips, it would be to do the right thing.

To think about his parents, they are suffering big time, they just want to see him and the children safe and well.

It was not about the court case, or a matter before the family court. That was something to be dealt with later, Loughrin says.

We want to resolve this and bring the kids home safely.

-Rachel Moore/Stuff.
Tauranga Te Papa Rotary club are gearing up for their 'cash or cans' fundraiser tomorrow, where they are asking members of the public to donate towards helping struggling Tauranga families with the cost of living.

Volunteers will be at their stall in Countdown Fraser Cove to collect donations from 10am to 6pm tomorrow, September 13.

Tauranga Te Papa Rotary Club member Simon Ellis says initiatives like these are "part of what Rotary is all about".

"Foodbanks are in huge need of support at the moment, so about three or four times a year we run this with our club volunteers. All donated food items and proceeds will be going towards Tauranga Foodbank," says Simon.

"We ask people to donate a can of food, a box of weet-bix or other item that is non-perishable and nutritious.

"We'll be outside the supermarket, if people would like to donate they can go in and buy a surplus non-perishable food item to drop into us on the way out and we'll donate it straight to the foodbank.

Simon adds eftpos will also be available for people to donate money towards Tauranga Foodbank.

When asked about the cost of living crisis impacting the significance of the fundraiser, Simon says this type of fundraiser is "always important".

"It's important all the time, but the need at the moment is quite high. Voluntary organisations such as Tauranga Foodbank and many others are most probably under lots of pressure.

"If we can get people to get stuck in and help out, that would be awesome and hopefully will alleviate some of that pressure."

For more information on Tauranga Te Papa Rotary Club, visit https://taurangatepaparotary.club/.
Emergency services are responding to a serious crash on State Highway 41 near Tokaanu, north of Turangi.

Police say that the single vehicle crash was reported just before 3.30pm.

"The vehicle has gone off the road down a bank," says a police spokesperson.

"The occupants are not seriously injured but remain trapped in the vehicle."

Motorists are advised to avoid the area as the road will be closed while the occupants are removed.

At the scene?

Phone 0800 SUNLIVE or email newsroom@thesun.co.nz
A group of migrants who have been helping an investigation into immigration fraud may soon be forced to leave the country.

The group were some of the 50 Chinese construction workers who claimed a New Zealand-based recruiter had misled them about their pay and working rights.

Last year an arrest warrant was issued for Li Wenshan, also known as Peter Li, who fled New Zealand before charges were laid.

Li still faced charges for immigration fraud.

Meanwhile two other people associated with Li face a trial in December this year.

Ten workers are expected to give evidence in court, claiming they were duped.

But last week, the workers were told by Immigration authorities that they would be expected to leave the country within a month of the trial ending.

Green Party immigration spokesman Ricardo March said the treatment of this group undermined efforts to combat migrant exploitation.

"These workers are not pieces of evidence, they are human beings, and so to put them in a situation where they are treated as expendable once they're not deemed useful to provide evidence is unjust," says March.

"And, actually [it] will undermine the government's intent to create a supportive environment , where workers are able to come forward and participate in processes to hold employers to account."

March called for the immigration minister to intervene, and to send a strong message that workers holding employers to account would be supported.

One of the men due to give evidence in court, 50-year-old carpenter Sheng Canhong, felt he had been punished for doing the right thing.

"The New Zealand government doesn't like people who speak up and affect New Zealand's reputation. Such people are not welcome here," says Sheng.

Sheng arrived on a work visa in 2018, but was left with no work for the initial months, and was consequently moved to a limited visa to assist with the investigation.

"Because of the work situation, we had no option but to speak up. Think about it, we were in Tauranga for three months without work, we had to pay for food and accommodation, where do we get that money?

"When I came here I only had $200. So I owed people money for the living costs, and could only pay back later when I found work," says Sheng.

The ten workers had also missed out on the chance to apply for one-off residency.

Many of them had tried to move back onto work visas, but their applications failed despite having full time jobs, and they struggled to understand why.

Unite Union director Mike Treen who has assisted the men since 2019 is also calling for a pathway to residency for this group.

"We ought to be giving them something to compensate them for the hurt, humiliation and exploitation that they've suffered while they're here,"says Mike.

Mike says the system of temporary visas had fuelled migrant exploitation and needed to change.

"Immigration New Zealand [INZ] created a system of migrant labour exploitation, and they throw out the people who have helped expose it," says Mike.

"Ten per cent of workers in New Zealand were on temporary visas, 30 to 40 per cent of workers in construction and hospitality and agriculture and horticulture were on temporary visas."

INZ referred RNZ to the minister for comment on the workers' situation.

Minister Michael Wood says due to legal and privacy reasons he's unable to comment on the circumstances of the workers and the case.

Meanwhile, Li Wenshan is still on the loose and it's uncertain when he will make an appearance in court.

INZ declined to answer questions on whether they're looking to extradite Li.

An INZ spokesperson says for legal and privacy reasons, they will not make further comment on Li.

Lucy Xia/RNZ
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Press Release

September 12, 2022 Senators mourn death of a Queen The Senate today adopted a resolution expressing its profound sympathy and sincere condolences on the passing of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Queen died peacefully at her Scottish estate on September 8, 2022 at the age of 96. Senate President Juan Miguel "Migz" F. Zubiri, who introduced and sponsored Senate Resolution 198, said the Queen's most enduring quality was her duty to her people. He said the Queen lived in grace and dignity and was a constant figure of stability for her people. "She ushered in a golden age of the monarchy. Her unflappable leadership was instrumental in uplifting national morale even in times of socio-economic and political upheaval, Zubiri said. "In her seven decades as a monarch, she oversaw the strengthening of their foreign affairs, including bilateral relations between the UK and the Philippines, particularly with peace and development, disaster relief and management, trade investments and climate action and health, he added. The resolution was also introduced and co-sponsored by President Pro-Tempore Loren Legarda, Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III and Senators Sonny Angara, Nancy Binay, Alan Peter "Companero" Cayetano, Pia Cayetano, Ronal "Bato" Dela Rosa, Joseph Victor "JV" Ejercito, Francis "Chiz" Escudero, Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada, Win Gatchalian, Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go, Risa Hontiveros, Manuel. "Lito" Lapid, Imee Marcos, Robinhood Padilla, Grace Poe, Ramon Bong Revilla Jr., Francis Tolentino, Raffy Tulfo, Cynthia Villar and Mark Villar. "We join hundreds of thousands of Filipino overseas workers in the United Kingdom today who are mourning the loss of the Queen of England and Great Britain under whose leadership they were able to enter in the UK to create a better life for themselves and their families back home," Zubiri said. According to the resolution, the passing away of Queen Elizabeth II, an outstanding world leader, would always be remembered by the Filipinos for her invaluable support and contribution to the Philippines. The resolution stated that the diplomatic relations between the Philippines and the United Kingdom was established in July 4, 1946, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II's father, King George IV. Both governments worked to foster stronger political, economic and cultural ties. Among the earliest agreements entered into by the Philippines and the United Kingdom (UK) during Queen Elizabeth's reign were the Agreement on Air Services, relating to designation of routes and the Philippine-United Kingdom Agreement on Air Services Between and Beyond their Territories. Both agreements were entered into on January 31, 1955. The resolution said that over the years, an increased in the volume of trade and investments between the Philippines and Britain was noted, which included the hiring of thousands of Filipino nurses who formed an essential part of the United Kingdom National Health Service. The UK had also remained a vital partner in the Mindanao peace process, being an active founding member of the International Contact Group that provided advice to both the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front panels, the resolution said. Last year, the UK donated 415,040 and 3191,040 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines in August and November respectively. According to the resolution, UK also gave 77,000,000 pounds of humanitarian aid after Super Typhoon Yolanda devastated the country, making it the largest single donor. In addition, the British public donated 85,000.000 through the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) appeal. "The Philippines and the UK also share strong ties in education and both have manifested convergent interest in global and regional matters, particularly in counter-terrorism, interfaith work, climate change, disaster management and a strong adherence to the promotion of human rights and the rule of law," the resolution said. Queen Elizabeth II succeeded her father King George IV at the age 25, and reigned for 70 years, the longest-reigning monarch. She was succeeded by her son, King Charles.
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Big quote: The Federal Trade Commission asked for opinions about data economy and commercial surveillance, and former US ambassador Karen Kornbluh described the situation with grave and unambiguous words.

The Federal Trade Commission recently hosted a public forum on Commercial Surveillance and Lax Data Security Practices, an online-only event where experts and industry insiders could make their voices heard. Among the most disapproving positions, Karen Kornbluh had some scathing words to say about the modern "data driven" economy and its consequences on security.

A former US Ambassador at the OECD during Barack Obama's presidency, Kornbluh is an expert on communications policy and international trade and is currently serving as Director of the Digital Innovation and Democracy Initiative at the German Marshall Fund think tank for transatlantic cooperation. During the FTC hearing, Kornbluh slammed overabundant data tracking and collecting as a real threat to United States' national security.

According to Kornbluh, there is a loophole in the proliferation of consumer data as a huge trove of information about American citizens is already floating around the Internet; there is a $12 billion surveillance-for-hire industry profiting on information about current or former military personnel including web searches, family members, home addresses and even GPS coordinates, while the US National Counterintelligence and Security Center has already raised an alarm about China's collection of genomic and other healthcare data.

In Kornbluh's words, data driven economy and big tech companies are making the job of China and other US adversaries "easier." As the recent Supreme Court decision on Roe vs. Wade shows, the diplomat stated, it's now clear that this personal data floating around about vulnerable people poses a real and even physical danger. The FTC should strictly regulate so-called dark patterns and other deceptive online practices, while allowing parents to delete their children's data to "reset the algorithm" that feed the content machine.

Furthermore, the FTC should oblige corporations to perform due diligence before selling or sharing personal data they collect, while the receiving companies should have legal responsibilities for feeding the aforementioned data to cybercriminals. Private lives should not be criminalized anymore, Kornbluh concluded, as sensitive information (such online search for an abortion clinic) should be deleted promptly by Google and other Internet companies.

Kornbluh position seems to be in line with recent FTC moves against sensitive data abuse and White House plans for future reforms. Other participants in the public forum also expressed their concerns about what can be described as an unfolding "data privacy crisis," in the words of Caitriona Fitzgerald, deputy director at the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC).
University of Minnesota Twin Cities' engineering and medical teams have created a 3D-printed medical device that can provide real-time feedback to link light exposure to disease flare-ups when placed directly on the skin, according to Interesting Engineering.

(Photo : JAVIER TORRES/AFP via Getty Images)

Chilean activist for the right to a dignified death, Cecilia Heyder, who suffers from metastatic cancer, lupus and a blood disorder, walks in Santiago, on April 22, 2021. - Heyder hopes for the Senate to approve in the coming days a bill on euthanasia and dignified death, which was already approved by the Chamber of Deputies.

The device could help patients with lupus and other light-sensitive disorders by providing them access to more individualized treatments and knowledge of what causes their symptoms.

According to the Lupus Foundation of America, about 1.5 million Americans, and at least five million people worldwide, have a form of lupus. Most patients have light-sensitive, with 40 to 70 percent of them reporting that exposure to natural or artificial light indoors worsens their condition.

Also Read: Scientists Are 3D Printing Insects and Mixing Them With Vegetables To Help Solve Food Crisis

The 3D-Printing

3D-printing of wearable devices developed by the University of Minnesota mechanical engineering professor Michael McAlpine and his team. They created a 3D-printed device with a flexible UV-visible light detector that may be placed on the skin. It is then connected with a specially designed portable console to track and link symptoms to light exposure continually.

The research team has gotten the go-signal to start using humans as test subjects for the device. Therefore, they will start enrolling individuals for the study soon.

In certain medical conditions, the human body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue, leading to inflammation and pain. Lupus, which causes the immune system to attack the joints, skin, and other organs, is one of these conditions. As a result, patients with lupus can experience spinal inflammation, skin rashes, and severe joint pain.

Medical devices like the 3D-printed device developed at the University of Minnesota can help lupus patients track their disease flare-ups and control the disease. The new medical device has a thin band, much like a wristwatch, with a skin patch that measures light exposure to the patient's skin. It then processes the light information and sends it to the portable console for real-time assessment.

By connecting the device to the console, patients will be able to understand how different activities and environments affect their condition.

The device is designed with a UV-visible light detector that measures light exposure to the patient's skin. This detector is placed on the skin, directly above the joint or area where the patient feels pain.

The light detector relays this information to a portable console, which the patient can carry wherever they go. The console has a simple interface that reports the total hours of light exposure and the intensity of light to the patient in the form of a graph. This enables patients to monitor their condition and get a better indication of when they should stay in the shade, seek shelter, or avoid bright light. This goes a long way towards improving the quality of life of a patient.

Related Article: 3D Printing Produces Lab-Grown Wagyu Steak in a New Study

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The People's Liberation Army of China has been flying drones across Taiwan's median line, which Taiwanese soldiers confirmed. This was the first time that Chinese UAVs were known to cross the lines that divide the country's strait, as per reports by South China Morning Post.

(Photo : HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)

A Chinese military helicopter flies past Pingtan island, one of mainland China's closest point from Taiwan, in Fujian province on August 4, 2022, ahead of massive military drills off Taiwan following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to the self-ruled island.

As per the defense ministry of Taiwan, 45 PLA aircraft have been seen flying around the country, and 25 of them have crossed the median line. One of them was a BT-100 unmanned aerial vehicle.

Last Monday, Taiwan Military downed a civilian drone that flew in one of the restricted islands in the country as a warning. It was nearby Shiyu, which is a few kilometers away from mainland China. This move from Taiwan was unusual and not expected as the country has been restrained in pushing back against the opponent.

The New York Times reported that after the incident, the military of Taiwan implemented drone jammers that disrupt signals of incoming drones to the bases in the Kinmen and Matsu Islands. Soldiers from these areas have sent soldiers to Shiyu as per Maj. Gen. Chang Jung-Shun of the Kinmen Defense Command.

How did it start?

United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan on August 2 and 3, which created tensions between the two countries, as reported by BBC. As a response to this, large-scale military exercises against Taiwan have been regulated by Beijing.

Along with Taiwan's main ally, which is the United States, Australia, and Japan express disapproval regarding China's acts. In fact, Japan has also been experiencing missiles that are landing in their economic zone.

Also Read: Taiwan's Military Fires at Chinese Drones Flying Over the Island's Outpost

A source from PLA stated via South China Morning Post that "The PLA used to send UAVs to perform reconnaissance tasks in sensitive areas of the sky before sending fighter jets for special missions, but the Taiwanese military wasn't aware of it until recently."

Taiwan and its Upgraded Defenses

The United States has recently approved the sale of weapons worth $1.1 billion to Taiwan following the incident of Chinese fighter jets crossing the media line of Taiwan Strait last month, as reported by Al Jazeera. The weapons include anti-ship missiles and surveillance radar.

An announcement from Taiwan has recently been released that states the annual military budget of the country will be increased to 13.9% compared to last year, which cost $19.9 billion. New fighter jets are expected to be purchased within the budget.

Meanwhile, China announced a $229 billion military budget for this year. The Director of Asia Engagement for Defense Priorities Lyle Goldstein stated that "It is clear that drones would have a very large role in any Chinese campaign to conquer Taiwan. China has made enormous efforts to integrate drone technology into all parts of the People's Liberation Army, as well as related services like the People's Armed Police and the Coast Guard."

Related Article: China to Visit the Moon Thrice in the Next Decade, Sets to Become 'Better Than' NASA Lunar Explorations





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Microsoft is trying to improve its Teams by planning a few new features to add to the platform. One of their plans is to show users the search results within context through thread navigation regarding a queried item.

Microsoft Teams is Working on a Better Way for Users to Search for Conversations

As Microsoft Teams has become an important tool for work, searching for certain text within a conversation can be problematic. When searching for something, instead of being given the whole thread, users are only given a specific message.

Microsoft has finally noticed this gap and is planning to do something about it with certain changes to its search results. When the update launches, users will be able to view full conversations instead of specific parts.

New Update Could Come in October but has Not Yet Been Confirmed

According to the story by Business-Standard, this means that Microsoft Teams could soon show results in context for users to get a better experience. The good news is that the feature might not take that long to arrive.

In an article by Windows Central, it was noted that the new option could become available as early as October for Teams on both Windows and Mac. The article clarified, however, that October "is not a firm date."

What Microsoft Teams Shows When Trying to Look for a Message

With no specific timeframe confirmed, users will have to prepare just in case Microsoft Teams will take longer to launch the update.

As of press time, when users try to look for text, Teams will take them to a view of their message "and any directly connected thread. The report, however, says that it is completely out of context.

Microsoft is Already Aware of What the Search Results Show

This means that despite users trying to search for something, they will not be able to find what they are really looking for. Clicking on the search result will not take users to where the chat happened within a channel or conversation.

Microsoft wants to change this and potentially make it easier for users to find the particular texts they are looking for within context. Originally posted on the Microsoft 365 roadmap and shared on the Hands On Tek site, the company shared what happens when they try to search for a chat message in teams.

Read Also: Google Fi to Add More 5G for Android Smartphones, Expanding to 26 More Countries for the Service

Company Knows that Users Only Get to View the Selected Message Instead of the Entire Chat

As per the statement, Microsoft noted that when users try to look for a chat message within Teams and when they click on a message result, they will then be taken to a "view that contains only the selected message, rather than the entire chat thread."

The results can be problematic, especially if users are trying to search for important details within their conversations and only remember a specific keyword. With the potential changes, users will finally be able to view the whole thread instead of just the message itself.

Related Article: How To Downgrade iOS 16 to iOS 15 Without Data Loss: Most Trusted Ways Including iToolab FixGo's Software Solutions

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Xbox is finally opening up its "Elite Controller" and "Complete Component Pack" for pre-orders. Gamers will finally be getting the long-awaited upgraded accessories for the newer Xbox consoles.

Microsoft is Stretching Its Design Lab Offerings to Include the Xbox Elite Controller

According to the story by Comic Book, Microsoft has just dropped the news that they will be giving access to a highly-requested feature for the controllers of both the Xbox One and the Xbox Series X.

Ever since the birth of Design Lab by Microsoft a few years ago, fans have been asking for the program to extend further into customizable versions of the popular controller, the Xbox Elite. Design Labs reportedly allowed users to design their own Xbox controller but fans might have not been contented with just the basics.

Company Announces Users Will be Able to Create a Customized Version of the Elite Wireless Controller Series 2

After a long period of fans asking Microsoft to do this, it seemed like the company would never take action until recently. Microsoft has officially announced that they will be giving fans what they have long been requesting.

The Xbox Design Lab will officially start the process of opening up its Elite controllers to customization starting the holiday season. Fans will finally be able to create their very own customized versions of the Elite Wireless Controller Series 2.

Visuals of What the Elite Controllers Could Look Like are Uploaded to Twitter

This opens the controller up to a wide range of color schemes that extend past just the black and white models that the company initially made available. Microsoft has teased a video of what the Elite controllers could look like in a post on Twitter.

Unleash your best game 



Pre-order the new Elite Controller and Complete Component Pack today: https://t.co/fe74jhgmwE pic.twitter.com/PJx692LuuY  Xbox (@Xbox) September 7, 2022

Xbox Design Lab Launched in 2016 and Now Offers Customization for the Elite Wireless Controller Series 2

In a write-up on the official Xbox website, Microsoft reportedly revealed that fans have been asking them to include the Elite controllers ever since the debut of the Xbox Design Lab in 2016. Fans wanted to have the ability to further personalize the controller to have a "premium experience."

The company announced that it will finally be opening up this option come the holidays. Fans will finally be able to customize the Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 with the help of the Xbox Design Lab.

Read Also: Xbox Game Pass October 2022 Games Confirmed | 'Persona 5: Royal', 'Gunfire Reborn', and More

Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 Core and Complete Component Pack Prices

The company announced that they are excited to bring even more choices to "gamers around the world and can't wait to see how fans reimagine what it is to be Elite." So far, the known price of the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 CORE is $129.99 and the Complete Component Pack will be $59.99.

Players will be able to customize their controllers to better fit their preferred gaming style with different interchangeable thumbsticks, shapes, and D-pads. The package will reportedly include a carrying case, charging dock, and eve a USB-C cable.

Related Article: Xbox's New Menu Starts its Testing Phase Ahead of 2023 Release

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A groundbreaking Pentagon initiative to create networks of air, surface, and underwater drones for patrolling vast areas while integrating their surveillance with artificial intelligence was brought to light by Iran's recent seizure of unmanned US Navy vessels, according to a report by AFP.

Unmanned Surface Vessels

The one-year-old initiative employs a large number of unmanned surface vessels (USVs) to collect data and photographs in the waters of the Arabian Peninsula before beaming them back to processing facilities in the Gulf.

The program functioned smoothly until two events on Aug. 29-30 and Sept. 1, when Iranian soldiers attempted to seize three seven-meter Saildrone Explorer USVs.

In the first incident, a US Navy Patrol boat and helicopter quickly responded to the scene when an Iranian ship from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps attached a line to a Saildrone in the Gulf and started dragging it away.

An Iranian destroyer captured two Saildrones in the second incident in the Red Sea and hoisted them aboard.

The Iranians were eventually convinced to surrender the following day after two US Navy destroyers and helicopters swiftly landed, but only after removing their cameras, according to the US military.

The USVs were seized to avert possible accidents, according to the Iranians, who claimed they were in international shipping channels. The US Navy claimed that the USVs were unarmed and operating outside of commerce routes.

The head of the US Naval Forces Central Command, Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, described the Iranian actions as "flagrant, unwarranted, and inconsistent with the behavior of a professional maritime force."

Read also: US Navy's E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Will Serve as a Game-Changing 'Digital Quarterback' Aircraft for Military Missions

Sea Drones and AI

To incorporate unmanned systems and artificial intelligence into operations in the Middle East, the US 5th Fleet's Task Force 59, stationed in Bahrain, was established last year.

Unmanned surface boats are considerably more recent and crucial for the future than airborne and underwater drones, according to Commander Tim Hawkins, spokesman for the Fifth Fleet, who spoke to AFP.

The US Navy and regional allies have been deploying both sluggish USVs like Saildrones and battery-powered speedboats like the Mantas T-12 since last year.

The Saildrones have solar panels and sail wings and may spend up to a year at sea while relaying data by satellite, and carry numerous sensors and cameras.

Related Article: US Navy Straps Cameras on Dolphins, And The Footage Is Cute and Hilarious!

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Is there life on Mars? Is there something more beyond the solar system? We might be able to answer these questions after 25 years, according to a researcher and reported first by Space.com.

Astrophysicist Sasha Quantz said this at the recent launch of the university's new Center for the Origin and Prevalence of Life. She works at the federal technological center ETH Zurich in Switzerland.

Technological Initiatives

At a news conference on Sept. 2, Quantz gave an overview of the technological initiatives that are now under development and could help scientists find an answer to the age-old question of whether or not we are alone in the cosmos.

Quantz noted during the briefing that in 1995, Nobel Prize laureate Didier Queloz identified the first planet outside our solar system, and today, over 5,000 exoplanets have been discovered, and astronomers are finding more of them regularly.

Since astronomers believe that every one of the over 100 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy has at least one companion planet, there are still a great number of undiscovered exoplanets waiting to be found, as noted by Space.com.

There are a huge number of exoplanets created. As a result, many of which, according to Quantz, are similar to Earth and are located at a distance from their host stars that is conducive to the development of life, including the existence of liquid water.

But Quantz said it is still unknown if these terrestrial planets have atmospheres. She highlighted the need for an observational approach allowing astronomers to capture pictures of these planets.

Read also: NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Will Let You Name 20 Exoplanets- Find Out How!

Is Webb Powerful Enough to Detect Life on Exoplanets?

The briefing was held only one day after the James Webb Space Telescope team published the first direct photograph of an exoplanet orbiting a far-off star.

This is the enormous gas giant HIP 65426 b, a planet 100 sun-Earth distances from its parent star that is 12 times the size of Jupiter.

Though Webb is the most powerful telescope ever sent into space, Quantz warns that it is not nearly powerful enough to view the much smaller, Earth-like planets that orbit their stars at closer ranges where liquid water may be present.

"The HIP 65426 system is a very special system. It's a gas giant planet orbiting very far from the star. This is what Webb can do in terms of taking pictures of planets. We will not be able to get to the small planets. Webb is not powerful enough to do that," Quantz said in a statement.

Other instruments are already being created to compensate for this weakness in the James Webb Space Telescope's capabilities.

The mid-infrared ELT imager and spectrograph (METIS), a pioneering instrument for the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), is being developed by Quantz and his colleagues.

ELT, which is now being constructed by the European Southern Observatory in Chile, will have a 130-foot-wide (40-meter) mirror when it is finished, making it the largest optical telescope in the world and could help in the discovery of life beyond the solar system in the future.

Related Article: Astronomers Could Obtain Clearer Images of Earth-Like Worlds Using the Sun

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All UK-based Apple stores are reportedly shutting down in the meantime as part of the national mourning of the country. The Cupertino giant will pay respect to the state funeral of the late Queen Elizabeth II, which is scheduled for next Monday, Sept. 19.

UK Apple Stores Will Be Closed Soon

(Photo : Ming Yeung/Getty Images)

UK Apple Stores to Stop Operations For the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II

According to a report by Macrumors, the tech firm has informed a UK-based staff that operations in the country will be temporarily halted next week to pave the way for the passing of the Majesty.

The same person said that the Queen's coffin would be transported to London on Wednesday, Sept. 14. Some locations will reportedly have "reduced working capacities" during that time.

Apple has previously paid tribute to the contributions of the Queen in history. In the wake of her death, the iPhone maker has written a special message on its website: "In Memoriam. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. 1926 - 2022."

Although Apple came up with its decision to close its stores on Sept. 19, it should be noted that it's up to the individual businesses if they will continue the operations or close down their physical stores for a moment.

Nevertheless, the government still issued a statement that suggests that employers should be "sensitive" to the requests of their staff when the time comes.

"The government cannot interfere in existing contractual arrangements between employers and workers. However, we would expect that many workers will be able to take the day off on the bank holiday. We also expect employers to respond sensitively to requests from workers who wish to take the day of the funeral off work."

Bank Holidays in the UK

Per an article from 9to5Mac, the UK usually has eight bank holidays yearly. This type of holiday lasts for a day, and this is considered a national holiday.

Normally, it won't go beyond eight holidays, but the government could issue an additional holiday, like in the case of the passing of royal blood.

Some staff could take advantage of this occasion by taking extra leave. They are also entitled to payment during holidays.

Retail firms sometimes have different content on their contracts with their employees. They may require their workers to work during the period with or without extra pay.

Related Article: Apple Commemorates the Life of Queen Elizabeth II in the Wake of Her Death

More About Queen Elizabeth II

Last week, Tech Times reported a piece of interesting news about the Majesty's interest in gaming. According to the tech site, the late Queen loves playing "Wii Sports" so much.

Kate Middleton received the Nintendo Wii console as a present from Prince William. Queen Elizabeth saw the two of them playing and immediately became interested in it, that's why she joined them.

Outside the gaming industry, the Queen Elizabeth II NFTs appeared on OpenSEa a few hours after the world learned about her demise.

Many investors took advantage of this hype and they flooded the crypto marketplace with portraits of one of the UK's most important figures.

Read Also: Apple to Soon Introduce 'Subscription Services' For All Devices This or Next Year-What Can You Get From It?

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The vice-president of Paraguay, Hugo Velazquez, resigned Friday after the U.S. listed him for alleged corruption, which unleashed a scandal in the South American country.

In addition, he also abandoned the presidential pre-candidacy of the ruling Colorado Party, to which he was heading with a view to the Paraguayan general elections to be held next year. "I am resigning because I have to prove my innocence," he said during an interview with ABC Cardinal radio, in which he confirmed that his departure from the Government will be made official next week.

The resignation took place minutes after the U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, denounced that Velazquez and the legal advisor of the binational entity Yacyreta (EBY), Juan Carlos Duarte, are being investigated for their alleged participation in "significant acts of corruption."

According to the indictment, Duarte, "a close personal and professional collaborator of Vice President Velazquez," allegedly offered "a bribe to a Paraguayan public official to obstruct an investigation that threatened the Vice President and his financial interests." In response, Velazquez said he is innocent and assured that he is completely unaware of the court case.

"I don't have the faintest idea because I am not investigated in any file, I have no idea of the accusation, I never sent to offer anything in any file that I don't even know," said Velazquez said. However, he recognized that if the U.S. defines him as "significantly corrupt," he has no chance to remain in the Government and much less to be a presidential candidate and aspire to win the elections.

"How would he have the moral authority to remain in a team that works for causes and principles?" he questioned. Velazquez regretted, on the other hand, that Washington had included in the list his three children and his wife, Lourdes Samaniego, who is also deputy attorney general, a position she will also have to resign to face the complaint.

He also warned that he had to take care of the relationship between the governments of Paraguay and the U.S. "I have always considered myself an ally of the Americans; I will seek access to the documents so that I can defend myself," he anticipated.

President Mario Abdo Benitez, for his part, celebrated the resignation, considering that Velazquez showed a mature attitude by prioritizing "the interests and credibility" of the nation.

Due to the political commotion, he said he would announce the name of his new Vice-President during the weekend
5 movies (that have succeeded in theaters) and you can see in Movistar Plus +
Nowhere else in Switzerland can radioactive waste be stored as well as at the German border, say experts. Couldn't the German nuclear waste also be disposed of there?

According to Swiss experts, the planned location for the Swiss nuclear waste repository near the border to Baden-Wurttemberg is the safest place for radioactive waste.

The Nordlich Lagern region, not far from the German municipality of Hohentengen, is the best choice among the three sites examined for purely geological reasons, said Matthias Braun, head of the National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste (Nagra), on Monday in Bern.

"It's a clear decision.

The geology has spoken.

The necessary rock layer of Opalinus Clay is there deepest under the earth's surface, the layer is thickest and the possible area for the planned repository is largest.

In Nordlich Lagern, traces of the oldest water were found in the rock layer: 175 million years old.

That gives him the confidence to make long-term forecasts, Braun said.

"The rock is very dense, binds radioactive materials like a magnet, and should it break, it heals itself."

The packing station for the fuel elements is to be built at the current interim storage facility in Wurenlingen, not far from Waldshut-Tiengen in Germany, because there are already buildings there.

They just need to be expanded.

The fuel rods, which are around 3.5 to 4.5 meters long and weigh around two kilograms and have a diameter of a good one centimetre, are to be packed there.

About one hundred to almost three hundred fuel rods are bundled with spacers to form one fuel element each.

The Federal Office of Energy and the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (Ensi) want to examine Nagra's proposals in the approval process.

In addition to four Swiss professors, four German professors are also represented in the expert group for deep geological repositories at Ensi.

The radioactive waste from nuclear power plants, industry and research is to be buried hundreds of meters deep in the repository.

The Federal Office emphasized that the approval had not yet been decided.

In the most favorable case, construction could begin in 2031 and storage in 2050.

The German communities reacted to the decisions with skepticism.

They want to check carefully whether Nagra's justifications are plausible, especially since the Nordlich Lagern site was deferred as a second choice in 2015.

According to Braun, uncertainty factors were decisive at the time because the Opalinus Clay layer was so deep there.

However, further tests would have proved them wrong: "It turned out that the strength of the rock is about twice as good as it was assessed in the cautious scenario at the time," he said.

The Swiss answer the question of whether the German radioactive waste could not also be disposed of in the repository so close to the German border with a clear no.

"It is a recognized principle that each country must dispose of its own waste at its own facility," said Roman Mayer, Deputy Director of the Federal Office of Energy.

The surrounding communities should receive compensation payments, confirmed Monika Stauffer, head of the radioactive waste section at the Federal Office of Energy.

"The compensation negotiations will be challenging," she said.

The money should be used for regional development.

Who gets how much money has to be negotiated.

In a non-binding cost scenario, 800 million francs (822 million euros) were planned for this.

As a general framework for the repository, Ensi has stipulated that the radiation may not exceed 0.1 millisievert per year, said Felix Altorfer, head of the waste management supervisory area.

According to the data available so far, Ensi only expects a maximum of 0.001 millisievert of radiation for the planned camp.

In the German Radiation Protection Act, the limit value for the effective dose to protect individuals is set at 1 millisievert per year.

The Swiss nuclear power plant operators estimated the cost of radioactive waste disposal at CHF 18.2 billion last year.

You already pay into a fund to cover the costs.
Across three days, the 2022 Melbourne Writers Festival offered up discussions, debates and deep dives into the role of art in society, into politics, and into the craft of writing.

Even the most committed of audience members, however, could not have made it to every single event. So, with the weekend behind us, here are some of the big ideas and questions we were left to mull over.

Author Ottessa Moshfegh

Why are we disgusted when fiction represents things that happen in real life?

In an event centred on her new book, Lapvona, author Ottessa Moshfegh addressed the criticism her work often receives for being unflinching about bodily functions. Are we still so shocked that a character uses a toilet? Its such a part of being alive, I like pushing it so the uptight people will be like oh, Im being uptight.  she reflected over video link to appreciative laughter. Her novels dont shy away from violence or the darker side of human nature either, something she again is often criticised for. Its a somewhat hypocritical stance she suggests: The same incredibly horrifying stuff is happening on the daily in real life, but we arent discussing how disgusted it makes us.

Sometimes its impossible to leave your beliefs and values at the door

Do commentators need to be apolitical in order to properly explore an issue? In Writing Wrongs, a panel discussion with formerly imprisoned academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert and academic Michelle Aung Thin, journalist and author Louisa Lim recalled a time she went to conduct an interview with pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong. The group was responsible for producing huge, eight-storey-high protest banners which would be hung on prominent landmarks. When she went to speak to them, however, she found herself compelled to join in. As a journalist, she was concerned about including this scene in her book, Indelible City, but ended up including it, the personal touch ultimately enhancing the research and reportage.
Bingwa is the first openly gay person and woman of colour to win the prestigious Heath Ledger Scholarship and she is committed to telling more of the progressive queer stories she explored in her series Little Sista , which won the 2017 LGBT Toronto Film Festival.

Its really hard to say goodbye so soon to a character Ive loved so much, says Bingwa from South Africa, where she is filming another soon-to-be-announced series. The Kings [creators Robert and Michelle King] have written a very satisfying ending for Carmen, and we get to find out so much more about her, which is great.

The Perth-raised recipient of the 2018 Heath Ledger Scholarship, awarded in LA to emerging Australian actors, was just starting to peel back the layers of her on-screen alter ego, the enigmatic, obsessively driven first-year law associate Carmen Moyo.

If the end of groundbreaking US legal drama The Good Fight has come too soon for fans of its subversive ripped-from-the-headlines plots, spare a thought for Zimbabwean-Australian actor Charmaine Bingwa.

Its important for me to tell any minority stories, says Bingwa. So whether it be as a person of colour, or as a person of colour from a different country, but also to tell queer stories. Given a platform as a queer person, I think its incumbent on you to do that. Were finally starting to expand what queer stories are. When I was coming up, I was one of the reviewing members of the Sydney Mardi Gras film festival, Queer Screen, and I loved seeing the evolution from the tragic coming-out story to just living and thriving.

As an Australian in Hollywood, Bingwa feels she is riding on the shoulders of legends, like your Naomis, your Nicoles, your Russells, and obviously Heath. When she first moved to LA, Bingwa spoke exclusively in standard American for seven months, even during phone calls home to her mum. Since then, she has learnt to speak Spanish for The Good Fight and has mastered a Rwandan accent for 2021 genocide film Trees of Peace.

For upcoming Will Smith movie Emancipation, Bingwa immersed herself in the role of a slave during the American Civil War. Directed by Antoine Fuqua (The Terminal List), the film tells the true story of Whipped Peter, a man who fled slavery, a photograph of his scarred back pivotal evidence of the brutality of the South.

Its such a profound story and we filmed in an actual plantation, Bingwa says. I dont think Ive ever researched something so thoroughly in my life. I really wanted to hear the stories from our peoples mouths. So I listened to well over 120 hours of enslaved narratives, which is quite a lot on the soul, to listen to how people suffered. But I went as deep as I possibly could for this project. Its so important to me, and, I think, to everyone.
The real issue is whether we can separate the admiration many had for the Queen from the institution she represented. The legacy of colonial history in Australia is complex and there are many unresolved issues after Her Majestys passing, particularly the recognition of First Nations sovereignty.

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When Captain Cook set off to take possession of this continent, he was ordered by the British Admiralty to seek the consent of the Natives. However, Cook did not attempt to make treaty or seek consent. Instead, he claimed the east coast on what has always been known as the traditional lands and waters of the Kaurareg people in the Torres Strait Islands.

It is well-documented that the Queen formally met with many First Nations people. It is not lost on us that the many times she was welcomed into our communities she was met with demands to address the monarchys outstanding issues with Indigenous peoples  yet so many of the issues remain unresolved. For much of her reign, it appeared she could have done more in exercising her power to right the wrongs of colonial history.

The Australian people have always been ahead of politicians when it comes to big law reform. We only have to observe how the First Nations mobilised to argue the case for a referendum on a Voice to Parliament. There is no rule that suggests we should delay conversations of public importance because the government decides to suspend parliament for 15 days, as it has to honour the Queen.
Serious concerns have been raised about the adequacy of the NSW police force investigation in the days immediately after the disappearance of fraudster Melissa Caddick, an inquest has heard, including a senior officers belief Caddicks husband Anthony Koletti likely killed her.

Louise Coleman, junior counsel assisting the coroner, said, that even amongst the officers involved in the investigation, there were concerns as to some of the steps taken and not taken, particularly soon after Ms Caddick was first reported missing.

Anthony Koletti arrives at the coronial inquest into the presumed death of his wife Melissa Caddick. Credit:Nick Moir

Coleman said it wasnt until last Friday at 8pm that the coroner received a document from the police which suggested, among other things, that one senior officer was of the view that Koletti had likely killed the deceased.

However, another officer stated that there was no evidence to suggest that Koletti had any involvement in his wifes disappearance.
True story: at our Cremorne Old Girls 80th birthday gathering, which I wrote about recently, we had fun sharing our thoughts on which three people wed want at a dinner party. George Clooney was the man of the moment there, but when it came to my turn, I managed to resist him in favour of one of our old friends who was missing in action, Ronnie Kahn of OzHarvest  and whom, not being a monarchist, I proposed should be Australias first president.

And so, why on earth was my third choice Queen Elizabeth II? As I explained, with her reputation for wit (in no small measure backed up by her recent encounter with Paddington Bear), I felt that after a couple of glasses of a good wine, she could be a fount of incisive observations about her lived-in history. Who else had known so many British prime ministers and world leaders about whom we could get the first-hand low-down.

Anne Ring, aged about seven, with younger sister Susette. Credit:Bandi Wise (the girls father)

And, as a matter of fact, in my childhood I had been a committed royalist from the time I arrived in Australia at the age of seven (from China, where Id been born of Hungarian parents, but thats a whole other story), and found that my newfound friends all had scrapbooks bulging with photographs of the British royals. In no time, thanks to The Australian Womens Weekly and the other magazines featuring the young Princess Elizabeth and her family, I too had scrapbooks growing like Topsy.

For me, too, like so many excited school children around Australia, 1954 brought the thrill of coming face to face with her. As part of her visit, she had come all the way across the Blue Mountains, and in her open car she went past our assembled classes in Lithgow Oval, slowly enough for me to capture her with my box camera. That was a treasured photograph until I managed to lose it during one of our many moves.
The blue and silver red-rimmed object was sighted yesterday morning and has been seen several times this week.

Brian Perry, 15, and his mother, Kathleen, hold a drawing Brian made of the object. Credit:The Age Archives

A strange, brilliantly coloured object in the South Gippsland sky is terrifying animals and scaring local people.

First published in The Age on September 14, 1972

The RAAF has classified it unexplainable.

Senior Sergeant Ron Tanian, of Traralgon police, said: I have never seen anything like it.

Sergeant Tanian said he saw the object as a silver ball in the sky again yesterday morning.

Another Traralgon policeman, Constable Neil Davey, said the object changed from a blue and red colour to a silver circular shape and moved away as dawn approached.

Residents who have seen the UFO say it hovers for a time, then shoots away with frightening speed and effect.
Looking back on it, the well-received Andrews government pledge in 2018 to improve train services to Melbournes western suburbs and beyond was a little thin on detail.

The announcements rhetoric was impressive, identifying as it did a strong business case for the project, one of several mega-buck infrastructure developments promised in the lead-up to the last election.

Albion station in Sunshine. Credit:Wayne Taylor

The growth of Melbournes western suburbs, and the popularity of Geelong and Ballarat as commuter hubs, means our network needs more than just an upgrade: it needs redrawing, the release said, just a month out from Daniel Andrews landslide election victory.

The centrepiece was to be two new electrified metro lines, to Melton and Wyndham Vale, to relieve pressure on often-overcrowded V-Line services. So far, so necessary. But then things got a little woolly.
Not reassuring

John Howard, a staunch monarchist who sabotaged the republic referendum, found the late Queen a reassuring presence (Comment, 10/9). The Queen may have been well read and informed and dedicated to her role and I admired her for the way she carried out her duties, but how was she reassuring? She could not influence Australian politics, she could not intervene if something went astray in our body politic. In fact she could no more influence or have practical impact than any other celebrity, which if taking the current emotion out of the discussion, is all she really was.

The simple fact is she was a woman who, by accident of birth, became the head of state of England and a host of other countries including Australia. It matters little that she held a stated affection for Australia and visited here many times. The fact remains she was not an Australian citizen and the least this country deserves is an Australian citizen to be our head of state.

Ross Hudson,

Mount Martha

Nostalgias lens

Such an outpouring of nostalgia for the demise of the Queen. My own view would be that she would be vastly amused by the retrospective view of her long reign. I think she always showed herself to be very much aware of todays world in her demeanour. Looking at the media coverage which I have seen, it seems to be so backward looking in the service of nostalgia.

Its almost embarrassing to be made aware of the degree of forelock tugging and cultural cringe that was endemic at the time. Its a time that is long past and we are well rid of these prejudices and attitudes of so long ago.

Her long reign embraced a huge cultural change of attitudes in many areas of which she was no doubt aware. Its now very easy to use her death for many to bring up all those political issues during her time which were controversial at the time. Any politicisation of her death should be greatly regretted.

John Paine, Kew East

A joyous ride

As a young lad of 12 I was excited to hear the Queen was visiting the Yarra Valley (1954) to stay at Warburton. I set all our gates open and prepared my route on our property that ran alongside the train tracks.

I saddled Norrie (my horse) and waited. Upon the train meeting our place I galloped the full length of our boundary 200 metres, waving to the Queen. She came out onto the carriage observation deck and waved back.

Reflecting upon this, I hope she enjoyed my jubilation and horsemanship. It was a joyous event.

Neil Stoney, Woori Yallock

No points for AFLW

Im no monarchist. And I love my AFL. Indeed our family have pored over the AFLW fixtures to decide which games well go to this season, as well as tuning in to watch every game of the opening. But the decision to not honour the Queen at the weekends games has left a bad taste in my mouth. In fact it has made me question our support of this season if this is what inclusion looks like. Its not too late AFLW to admit you made a mistake.

Andrew Laird,

Malvern

Flaws in the Loop

Western suburbs residents are justified in their anger over inadequate spending on public transport in their suburbs (Trains in outer west not on track, 12/9).

The Suburban Rail Loop is Victorias largest infrastructure project and is set to cost a generations worth of spending.

Forecast patronage rates are flawed. One expert on the matter states, Despite going nowhere near the densely populated centre of Melbourne, the Suburban Rail Loop Authority [government agency tasked with planning and delivering the project] predicts that the SRL in 2056 on a single line will carry almost as many passengers as the entire network does now.

If this forecast were to materialise it would make Melbourne an extraordinarily unusual city  possibly the only city in the world with a rail network whose busiest line goes nowhere near its centre or most densely populated area.

The federal government has not committed as much money to SRL as was anticipated. The state government refuses to explain where the shortfall in funding will come from. With the Loop costing so much and benefiting so few, many Victorians will be left worse off.

Yvonne Bowyer,

Surrey Hills
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Governor-General David Hurley have been cleared to fly on the governments VIP jet to attend Queen Elizabeth IIs funeral, even as world leaders were formally requested to take commercial flights to London.

Albanese, Hurley and Australias acting United Kingdom high commissioner Lynette Wood have secured invitations to the funeral, despite a warning from the UK government to other nations that only one senior representative per country and their partner can attend given limited capacity and overwhelming demand.

As a Commonwealth realm, the one representative limit did not apply to Australia.

The funeral will be held on Monday night Australian time at Westminster Abbey, which has a capacity of 2000 people, representing only a fraction of the many heads of state, diplomats and other dignitaries who are eager to pay their respects to the late monarch.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has acknowledged traditions can sometimes be inconvenient in light of the disruption to parliament due to the mourning for Queen Elizabeth II, as retailers said next weeks public holiday would create an unexpected loss of trade.

Opposition frontbench senator Simon Birmingham raised the prospect of rethinking how such occasions were commemorated in future as Albanese assured the public the four sitting days missed due to the official observance of the Queens death would be made up before the October 25 federal budget.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says traditions can sometimes be inconvenient but are one of the things that bind us together. Credit:James Brickwood

Tradition, I know, sometimes can be inconvenient. But traditions are important. Traditions and protocols are one of the things that bind us together. And I do think that the 22nd September can be a moment that brings our nation together, Albanese told ABC television on Monday morning, adding that Opposition Leader Peter Dutton had added his support for the national day of mourning.

This is something that is above politics. This is about a nation giving thanks.
London: Crowds of people are descending on Buckingham Palace to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II.

On Sunday, mourners carrying fresh bouquets flocked to the palace gates to lay them  but the scene did not resemble the sea of flowers left after Princess Dianas death because they are being regularly cleared away.

A sea of flowers outside Kensington Palace in September 1997 following Dianas death. Credit:Alamy

Palace officials are moving floral arrangements placed at Buckingham Palace to nearby Green Park, where people are encouraged to leave their tributes.

Young families with small children atop shoulders, couples of all ages, and young professionals accompanied by cavoodle-types on leads spent their Sunday traversing the crowded paths of St James Park to pay tribute to the only reigning monarch most have ever known.
Loading Without water or without you? Without you. Without food or without you? Without you. Cold, hunger, darkness and thirst  for us are not as scary and deadly as your friendship and brotherhood, Zelensky said in a reference to the Russian view of Ukrainians culture. But history will put everything in its place. And we will [exist] with gas, lights, water and food ... and WITHOUT you!

Zelensky has described Ukraines offensive in the north-east as a potential breakthrough in the six-month-old war, and said the winter could see further territorial gains if Kyiv received more powerful weapons from the West. In the worst defeat for Moscows forces since they were repelled from the outskirts of the capital Kyiv in March, thousands of Russian soldiers left behind ammunition and equipment as they fled the city of Izium, which they had used as a logistics hub. Ukraines advance against Russia. Credit:Nine/ Institute for the Study of War Ukraines chief commander, General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, said the armed forces had regained control of more than 3000 square kilometres since the start of this month. Moscows almost total silence on the defeat  or any explanation for what had taken place in north-eastern Ukraine  provoked significant anger among some pro-war commentators and Russian nationalists on social media. Some called on Sunday for President Vladimir Putin to make immediate changes to ensure ultimate victory in the war.

The US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, also denounced Russias strikes on the power and water supplies. Russias apparent response to Ukraine liberating cities and villages in the east: sending missiles to attempt to destroy critical civilian infrastructure, Brink tweeted. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraines Volodymyr Zelensky. Credit:AP, Bloomberg Moscow denies its forces deliberately target civilians. They are unable to reconcile themselves to defeats on the battlefield, Dnipropetrovsk Governor Valentyn Reznichenko wrote on Telegram.

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the presidents office, posted an image on Telegram of electrical infrastructure on fire but added power had been restored in some regions. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov described Sundays attacks as cynical revenge for the success of Ukrainian troops at the front, particularly in Kharkiv. Ukraines gains are important politically for Zelensky as he seeks to keep Europe united behind Ukraine  supplying weapons and money  even as an energy crisis looms this winter following cuts in Russian gas supplies to European customers. Zelensky said Ukrainian forces would continue to advance. Rubble in central Kharkiv, pictured last week. Credit:AP

We will not be standing still, he said in a CNN interview recorded in Kyiv on Friday. We will be slowly, gradually moving forward. Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Ukraine needed to secure retaken territory against a possible Russian counterattack on stretched Ukrainian supply lines. He told the Financial Times that Ukrainian forces could be encircled by fresh Russian troops if they advanced too far. But he said the offensive had gone far better than expected, describing it as a snowball rolling down a hill. Its a sign that Russia can be defeated, he said.

Kyiv-based military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said the gains could bring a further push into Luhansk region, whose capture Russia claimed at the beginning of July. If you look at the map, it is logical to assume that the offensive will develop in the direction of Svatove - Starobelsk, and Sievierodonetsk - Lysychansk, he said. The head of Russias administration in Kharkiv told residents to evacuate the province and flee to Russia, TASS reported on Saturday. Witnesses described traffic jams with people leaving Russian-held territory. Leonid Pasechnik, the head of the Luhansk Peoples Republic, was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying that Ukrainian forces were attempting to penetrate that region, which has been held by Russian forces since July. Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups have not stopped their attempts to infiltrate the territory of the republic for the purpose of provocation and intimidating our citizens, he said, adding that there had been no retreat from positions held by the republic.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Edinburgh: To near-silence the Queens coffin journeyed up the Royal Mile. Four siblings, united in grief, walked slowly behind, their faces drawn and grim. Tens of thousands mourners solemnly watched as King Charles III, dressed in ceremonial military uniform, carried a baton presented to him by the late Queen when he became field marshal a decade ago. Beside him strolled sister Anne, the Princess Royal, along with Andrew, the Duke of York and Edward, the Earl of Wessex. The Queens four children followed the procession from Holyroodhouse to St Giles Catherdal. Credit:Getty The largest crowds seen since the 96-year-old monarch died last Thursday gathered along the Edinburgh high street and at St Giles Cathedral, where thousands more mourners will file past the late Queens coffin for nearly 24 hours. The monarch and his siblings later returned to the cathedral to stage a vigil to their late mother. They stood, heads bowed with their backs facing the coffin, as mourners walked past. It has only been performed once  at the funeral of the Queen Mother in 2002  since it was first carried out in 1936, when King Edward VIII and his brothers Albert, Henry and George stood by the coffin of their late father, King George V. Some, including Allison Evans from Derbyshire, who was in a wheelchair, joined the line at 7am  almost 12 hours before they were allowed in. The queue for entry stretched more than a kilometre, from the historic cathedral to the citys Meadows park.

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As the procession neared the cathedral earlier in the day a sea of hands holding phones in the air tried to capture the moment, while a barking dog momentarily put the police horses on edge. A man yelled God Save the King as the coffin passed the Canons Gait pub. Such was the crowds focus, former British prime minister Gordon Brown walked past without anyone raising an eyebrow. At St Giles the coffin, draped with the Royal Standard in Scotland and dressed with a wreath of flowers, was placed on a wooden catafalque  a raised platform  for a service celebrating Elizabeth IIs life and her connection to the country. Allison Evans was the first to join the line to inspect the Queens coffin. Credit:AP The Reverend Calum MacLeod welcomed the royal family, representatives of our nations life, and people whose lives were touched by the Queen in so many unforgettable ways. And so we gather to bid Scotlands farewell to our late monarch, whose life of service to the nation and the world we celebrate. And whose love for Scotland was legendary.

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Only the Duke of York did not wear a military uniform after his fall from grace. Andrew was obliged to end his public duties in 2019 in the aftermath of a disastrous BBC interview about his friendship with the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. One man in the crowd was taken away by police when he yelled youre a sick old man during the procession. The music at the service incorporated European, Anglican and Scottish material and was drawn from composers such as Bach, Purcell and Tallis. The psalms chosen were among the favourites of the Queen, which her family had often sung at Crathie Kirk in Balmoral. Tens of thousands turned up to watch the procession of the Queens coffin. Credit:Getty Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish first minister and a fierce advocate for independence, read Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 from the lectern. There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens, she said. The choir followed with William Byrds The Souls of the Righteous Are in the Hand of God. Psalm 23  often sung at wedding and funeral services in Scotland  was performed to the tune of Crimond. It was sung at then Princess Elizabeths marriage to Prince Philip in 1947.

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Camilla, the Queen Consort, wore a diamond thistle brooch  a nod to Scotlands national flower  in a poignant tribute to her late mother-in-law. Giving the homily, the Right Reverend Dr Iain Greenshields told the congregation the Queen was determined to see her work as a form of service to others, and she maintained that until the end of her life. People who were in her company always felt that they were being listened to carefully and attentively and with compassion, he said. She possessed a sharp, intelligent mind with amazing recall, a kindly heart and a gentle sense of humour. She understood the breadth of world affairs and also cared about what happened to all of her people. And although sometimes buffeted by events around her, she continued resolutely and cheerfully to fulfil her responsibilities. And so today we give thanks not only for the length of her reign but for the qualities she displayed so steadfastly.

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Registered nurses and supporters stand in a picket line and wave to cars as they drive by outside St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Mass., on February 24, 2021. (Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)

15,000 Union Nurses in Minnesota Begin Strike, Citing Low Wages, Understaffing

About 15,000 union nurses at 15 hospitals across seven different health systems in Minnesota have walked off the job, protesting understaffing and overwork in whats believed to be the biggest strike of private-sector nurses in U.S. history.

The Minnesota Nurses Association strike, slated to last three days, began at 7 a.m. on Sept. 12. The groups membership voted last month to authorize a strike.

Nurses in the Minneapolis and Duluth areas are complaining about low pay, a dearth of resources, and the inability to care for patients properly, such as running wards without lead nurses, and poor shift-scheduling practices.

I cant give my patients the care they deserve, said Chris Rubesch, the vice president of the Minnesota Nurses Association and a nurse at Essentia Health in Duluth, according to The Washington Post. Call lights go unanswered. Patients should only be waiting for a few seconds or minutes if theyve soiled themselves or their oxygen came unplugged or they need to go to the bathroom, but that can take 10 minutes or more. Those are things that cant wait.

At a Sept. 1 news conference, Minnesota Nurses Association President Mary Turner said, Our health care and our profession are in crisis.

Everywhere in Minnesota, nurses have watched CEOs with million-dollar salaries understaff our units, pushing us to do more with less, even before the pandemic hit, she said, adding that a three-day walkout may not be enough.

Brianna Hnath, an intensive care nurse at North Memorial, said during the news conference that patients were waiting for 14 hours to be seen in the emergency room.

If things continue on as they are, this will be the new normal.

Nurses at Hennepin Healthcare and Regions Hospital wont be striking. Hennepin Healthcare is a public, county hospital, and nurses arent allowed to strike, while Regions is not unionized.

Besides higher pay, nurses are demanding sick and parental leaves.

Response From Hospitals

While negotiations have been continuing since March, the union decided to proceed with the strike because of the hospitals offer of about 10 percent wage increases over three years. The union had asked initially for a 37 percent boost, before settling on 30 percent.

A spokesperson for the Twin Cities Hospitals Group called the request unreasonable, unrealistic, and unaffordable, according to the Minnesota Reformer.

Hospital administrations have hired replacement staff and traveling nurses to keep operations running and bring minimal disruption to patient care.

Nurses have steadfastly refused to go to mediation, Paul Omodt, a spokesman for the Twin Cities Hospital Group, which represents four hospital systems, told The Washington Post. Their choice is to strike. This strike is on the nurses.

Conny Bergerson, a spokeswoman for Allina Health, told the newspaper, Rushing to a strike before exhausting all options, such as engaging a neutral federal mediator, does not benefit our employees, patients, or the communities we serve.

Jill Ostrem, the president of Allina Healths Mercy and United hospitals, told Fox that her hospitals have been preparing for the strike.

We work with our staffing agency, and they source nurses from all over the country with experience, talent, and skill. Theyre reviewed, vetted, and they all come through and have a Minnesota license, she said.

Around 2,000 traveling nurses have been recruited to substitute at four health systems associated with the Twin Cities Hospitals Group.

The average nurse in Minnesota earns $39.40 an hour, or about $82,000 a year.

The hospitals (and health systems) that have been affected include Riverside, Southdale, St. Josephs, and St. Johns (M Health Fairview); St. Marys Duluth and St. Marys Superior (Essentia Health); Methodist (HealthPartners); Abbott Northwestern, Mercy, United, and Unity (Allina Health); Childrens Minneapolis and Childrens St. Paul (Childrens Hospitals); North Memorial (North Memorial); and St. Lukes (St. Lukes).

Officials of the nurses association didnt respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.
3 Dead in Afghanistan After Taliban Crashes US Black Hawk Helicopter Left Behind During Withdrawal

Three people have died in Afghanistans capital city of Kabul after the Taliban crashed a Black Hawk helicopter left behind by U.S. troops who withdrew from the country in 2021.

The Talibans defense ministry confirmed the crash, which happened during a Taliban training exercise, in a statement on Sept. 10.

An American Black Hawk helicopter, which was flown  for training, crashed due to a technical problem inside the campus of the National Defence [sic] University, said Ministry of Defense spokesperson Enaytullah Khowrazmi. The spokesperson also confirmed that five people were injured during the crash.

Video footage of the incident was also shared online by Afghan journalist Bilal Sarwary and shows the helicopter swirling around in the air above the campus before appearing to lose control and plummeting to the ground as people look on.

Sarwary said that the Taliban had ordered U.S. trained pilots who remained in Afghanistan after the withdrawal to train new recruits in a pilot-training scheme.

They have since lost several helicopters in training flights. Each of these helicopters costs $3035 millions [sic] and takes manufacturers years to deliver, Sarwary wrote on Twitter.

The Taliban took command of some U.S.-made aircraft after they took control of the country when American troops withdrew in August 2021, although it is unclear how many of the aircraft are operational.

U.S forces damaged some military equipment as they left the country to prevent Taliban soldiers from taking control of them, while Afghan forces flew some helicopters to central Asian nations.

However, video footage and photos soon emerged of Taliban members holding American weaponry such as M4 carbines and M16 rifles as opposed to AK-47s or AKMs, surrounding Black Hawk helicopters.

Poorly Planned and Executed

President Joe Biden has faced criticism over the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, which also saw 13 U.S. service members killed during a suicide bombing attack at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul as they helped to screen people who were racing to leave the country.

The ISIS terrorist group later claimed responsibility for the attack, which also killed more than 160 Afghans. The service members were later posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.

At the time of the withdrawal, top Republican lawmakers demanded to know how the U.S. Department of Defense planned to prevent the billions of dollars worth of U.S. weapons from falling into the hands of the Taliban.

As a direct result of the Biden Administrations poorly planned and executed U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Taliban is now armed with a significant arsenal of U.S.-made weaponry. Worse, it would appear the Biden Administration has no clue what or how many weapon platforms are now owned and operated by the Taliban, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the top Republican on the committee, and Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.), the ranking member on the National Security subcommittee, wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

The lawmakers went on to raise concerns over whether the Taliban would use the U.S. weapons left behind in the country to attack America or its allies or sell such weapons to foreign adversaries such as China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea.

They also cited concerns over the Talibans seizure of biometric devices that they said could aid the extremist group in their attempts to identify and, eventually, persecute Afghans that assisted in the U.S. mission, noting that such equipment contains data such as iris scans, fingerprints, and biographical information and that it is likely this information will be used to attack U.S. allies.

The White House has previously admitted that a fair amount of U.S. defense materials had fallen into the Talibans hands, with Bidens National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan telling reporters at a press conference in 2021 that it was highly unlikely that the Taliban would readily hand it over to us at the airport.

The Epoch Times has contacted the Department of Defense for comment.

Masooma Haq and Reuters contributed to this report.
Team leader for housebound vaccinations, Julie Fletcher says goodbye after administering a dose of AstraZeneca/Oxford Covid-19 vaccine to housebound patient Gillian Marriott at her home in Hasland, near Chesterfield, central England on April 14, 2021. (OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)

Age Most Important Factor in Post COVID-19 Vaccination Deaths: Study

Age is the most important risk factor associated with deaths in individuals who have received COVID-19 booster shots, a new study has found.

The study was published on Sept. 8 in Jama Network Open, a monthly medical journal published by the American Medical Association, and is titled: Evaluation of Risk Factors for Postbooster Omicron COVID-19 Deaths in England.

Researchers from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), Public Health Scotland, the University of Strathclyde, and the University of Edinburgh conducted the study.

They noted that it has become critical to identify risk factors associated with COVID-19 death in individuals who have completed primary vaccination and received a messenger RNA (mRNA) booster dose, due to the emergence of the Omicron variant.

Existing evidence is based on people who have received 1 or 2 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine and were infected by the Alpha or Delta variant, researchers wrote. Understanding which groups are at increased risk of COVID-19 death after receiving a booster is crucial for the prioritization of further booster doses and access to COVID-19 therapeutics.

Researchers said they used data from the ONS Public Health Data Asset for the study, which is a population-level linked data set combining the 2011 Census of England and Wales and electronic health records covering 80 percent of the population of England.

The study population covered 19,473,570 UK residents aged 18 to 100 who had completed both doses of their primary COVID vaccination schedule as well as an mRNA booster shot 14 days or more prior to Dec. 31, 2021.

Researchers monitored the time to death involving COVID-19 among the study population that occurred between Jan. 1 and March 16 this year.

COVID-19 Greater Hazard for Elderly, Men

They found that there were 4,781 (0.02 percent) deaths involving COVID-19 and 58,020 (0.3 percent) deaths from other causes during the study period, with the median age of those who died from COVID-19-related deaths averaging 83.3.

Compared with a 50-year-old, the hazard ratio or HR for an 80-year-old individual was 31.3 percent, the authors said, noting that age was the most important characteristic associated with the risk of post booster COVID-19 death.

Women were also at lower risk of COVID-19 deaths than men, the study found, with an HR of 0.52 percent; while there was an increased risk of COVID-19 death associated with living in a care home or in less wealthy neighborhoods.

When it comes to the risk of COVID-19 death and ethnicity, the authors said they found no association between the two, except for those of Indian background, who were at slightly elevated risk compared with White individuals.

Most of the QCovid risk groups were associated with an increased HR of post booster breakthrough death, except for congenital heart disease, asthma, and prior fracture, the authors wrote of their modelling they called QCovid. Risk was particularly elevated for people with severe combined immunodeficiency (HR, 6.2; 95 percent CI, 3.3-11.5). There were several conditions associated with HRs of greater than 3, including cancer of blood or bone marrow and dementia.

The authors of the study noted that their results were limited due to the fact that they only included data for the UK population that were listed in the 2011 Census of England and Wales.

The association between the QCovid risk groups and the risk of death were stronger in people who had received a booster and were infected by the Omicron variant compared with evidence from the Alpha and Delta period in doubly vaccinated individuals, researchers wrote. The subpopulations with the highest risk should be considered a priority for COVID-19 therapeutics and further booster doses.

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 70.7 percent of the population aged 65 and over in the United States have received their first COVID-19 vaccine booster dose, while 41.5 percent have received their second booster shot.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci testifies during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health, and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 17, 2022. (Shawn Thew/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

Anthony Fauci: From AIDS to COVID-19, a Pharma Love Story

Commentary

After forty-eight years of leading the U.S. governments responses to infectious diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci recently announced his plans to retire at the end of the year. His story warrants a closer look for what it tells us about American politics, business, and health care.

For decades before his recent fame, Fauci has been a medical researcher credited with important new understandings of the human immune response, particularly in HIV and AIDS. He also helped develop therapies for several previously fatal diseases, including a treatment of vasculitis which turned a 98 percent mortality rate into a 93 percent survival rate.

For most of his career, he has been the worlds most-cited researcher on AIDS and infectious diseases. He has received many awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Ironically, Fauci has also presided over a decades-long decline in the overall health of American citizens. During his time in public health, a great number of chronic illnesses have become commonplace. Food allergies, autoimmune diseases, and cancer now affect more than half of American children. Autism, once rare, now affects 1 in 44 children.

A Lifetime in Public Health

Anthony Fauci was born in Brooklyn in 1940, the son of a pharmacist. Pharmacy was the family business, and both his mother and sister worked in his fathers shop beneath their apartment. As a young man, Fauci studied medicine at Cornell University, graduating first in his class. After his residency in 1966, he took a research job at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and he has worked for the U.S. government ever since.

In his five decades in public health, Fauci has advised every President since Ronald Reagan. Since 1984 he has been the head of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Disease (NIAID), one of 27 institutes within the NIH, given the mission of researching and preventing infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases.

For many Americans, Fauci has been the trusted face of the U.S. government response to the pandemic. It was his confident explanations, both to the public and to policymakers, which led to the use of lockdowns, business closures, masking, and vaccines as the response to the virus.

His many critics see a different Anthony Faucia bureaucrat who seems to have made a career of putting politics and corporate profits above public health.

Dr. Fauci has shaped the American medical world, said Mary Holland, President of Childrens Health Defense, in an interview with The Epoch Times. Hes moved American health institutions, NIH in particular, to a very intertwined relationship with the pharmaceutical industry.

Hollands nonprofit organization, chaired by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has been a prominent critic of Dr. Faucis policiesparticularly the mass vaccination of American citizens.

Censorship and Control

Dr. Fauci and his NIAID have played a very dark role in COVID, Holland said. The level of propaganda we have lived through in the last two years is unprecedented in my lifetime. I lived in the Soviet Union after law school, fighting for human rights and working against government propaganda and censorship. And now we are living through that in the United States.

According to Holland, Fauci is the key player in the U.S. governments efforts to control all information relating to the pandemic and the virus. The documents are coming out that show that the government has been censoring us, suppressing factual information that relate to this virus and the pandemic.

Even criticism of Fauci has been censored, says Holland. Robert Kennedys new book, The Real Anthony Fauci has been suppressed at every turn, she said. The 2021 book takes a hard look at Faucis career and his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Kennedy has found it almost impossible to promote his book.

No major publication in the country would review the book, said Holland. The New York Times would not include it on their bestseller list, and he [Kennedy] was not invited on any major media platform, except for Tucker Carlson and The Epoch Times. The level of censorship has been astonishing.

Kennedy isnt the only one censored. For two years, mainstream media outlets have ignored the scientists who have questioned Faucis views. These scientists have seen their ideas rejected (or later retracted) by medical journals, denounced by government officials, and censored by social media platforms.

Fauci has been candid about his suppression of dissent. Attacks on me, quite frankly, are attacks on science, Fauci told CNBC in a June 2021 interview.

In May, the attorneys general for Missouri and Louisiana filed a lawsuit against President Joe Biden and other White House officials, accusing them of violating the First Amendment by colluding with social media giants to suppress information about the pandemic. According to recently released court documents, the Biden administration worked so closely with social media that Facebook head Mark Zuckerberg gave Fauci his personal phone number when the crackdown on COVID-19 information began.

But why this need for control? What information needed to be covered up? According to Holland, its the role that Fauci may have played in creating, and prolonging, this pandemic.

By all appearances they have tried to cover up their role in funding lethal gain of function research in China, said Holland. They have also suppressed the use of lifesaving early treatments like ivermectin and hydroxycholoroquine, and they have suppressed valuable research into preventive measures that could have saved countless lives.

The result, says Holland and other critics, is a dark period in American history.

Faucis Pandemic?

Starting in early 2020, Americans faced unprecedented government intrusion in their lives. Business and school closures, lockdowns, mask mandatesand the man behind these government policies has been Anthony Fauci. In countless interviews and press conferences, Fauci positioned himself as the one true source of correct COVID-19 information and guidance.

Emergency orders at the federal, state, and local levels were based on Faucis opinions. Fauci himself took credit for the policy of lockdowns, saying in October 2020, I recommended to the president that we shut the country down. That was a very difficult decision because I knew it would have very serious economic consequences.

Anthony Fauci is clearly at the very center of all things COVID, Holland said. And he has been in charge of controlling the information about the pandemic.

From the very beginning, when many scientists were pointing to a lab origin for this virus, said Holland, Anthony Fauci put a stop to that important debate. Despite the discovery of NIAIDs funding of gain-of-function research on coronaviruses at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Fauci continues to say that the virus likely has a natural origin.

A similar thing happened with scientific opposition to Faucis policies. The Great Barrington Declaration, written in October 2020 and signed by over 60,000 doctors and scientists, opposed lockdowns and advocated a new policy of protecting only the most vulnerable populations while allowing the rest to live freely and develop natural immunity.

Fauci called the Declaration ridiculous and very dangerous, and led a campaign to attack the authors and signatories, instead of their ideas.

It has been remarkable, Holland said, to see one of the most influential figures in American life purposely suppressing truthful informationabout a lab leak, about scientists who said there should be no lockdowns, about the value of masks and the risks of vaccines.

In the COVID response we saw extraordinary corruption, said Holland. The origin of the virus was covered up. Important treatments were suppressed. And vaccines were authorized, and mandated, on inadequate science.

Suppression of Cures

One of the most astonishing aspects of Faucis leadership during the pandemic has been his strong opposition to any potential treatment. In two years, neither Fauci nor any U.S. government agency has published a single treatment protocol for COVID-19 patients.

In contrast, China had a treatment protocol online by mid-March of 2020. The result of an organized collection of data from hundreds of hospitals treating thousands of patients, the Chinese protocol included simple solutions like saline nasal lavage and antiseptic mouthwash to reduce viral loads, and cheap drugs like zinc, Pepcid, chloroquine, and antibiotics.

As of this writing, the United States still has no official treatment protocol. And no protocols have been proposed by any major American university or research hospital. Yet every American doctor who has tried to publish one has been quickly censored and ridiculed.

Dr. Peter McCullough knows this firsthand. The author of the protocol that became the most downloaded medical paper of 2020, McCullough was among the first American doctors to develop, test, and publish a successful treatment protocol, resulting in an 85 percent reduction in hospitalizations and death among his patients.

A medical doctor and author of over 600 peer-reviewed research articles, McCullough at first had no thought of developing his own treatment plan. But he soon became alarmed at the governments failure to provide treatment advice to Americas doctors.

By May 2020, McCullough began taking action. He quickly set up a network of doctors to share information about effective treatmentssomething Fauci never did.

For his efforts, he found himself sued by Baylor University, had his Wikipedia page re-written to label him a source of COVID misinformation, and had his reputation attacked in print and online. All while major medical institutions did nothing to find a treatment.

They didnt even try, McCullough is quoted as saying in The Real Anthony Fauci. Harvard, John Hopkins, Duke, you name it. There wasnt an ounce of original research coming out of America to fight COVIDother than vaccines.

Across the country, Dr. Pierre Kory was fighting the same battle. The co-founder of the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC), Kory and a team of doctors were quickly developing their own protocol and putting it online. Like McCullough, Kory had discovered the effectiveness of ivermectin, hydroxycholoroquine, and a number of other inexpensive and easily available drugs.

Kory testified twice to the U.S. Senate explaining the success of his treatment protocol. He also submitted a formal paper to the NIH, which quickly dismissed the results as insufficient data lacking proper clinical trials. Another research paper explaining the protocol was retracted by the journal Frontiers in Pharmacology due to unsupported claims.

The efficacy of some of these drugs is almost miraculous. We could have stopped the pandemic in its tracks in the Spring of 2020, said Kory. Yet Dr. Fauci refused to promote any of these interventions. Its not just that he made no effort to find effective off-the-shelf cureshe aggressively suppressed them.

You had Birx, Fauci, and Redfield doing press conferences every day, Kory said in an interview. And not one of them ever treated a COVID patient or worked in an emergency room or ICU. They knew nothing.

Dr. Faucis suppression of early treatments, said Kory, will go down in history as having caused the death of half a million Americans.

But why would Anthony Fauci suppress effective treatments? Why attack doctors trying to find a solution? According to Robert Kennedy, it might be because safe and effective treatments for COVID-19 would make the new vaccines unnecessary.

Successful treatments arent just a marketing challenge for the vaccine manufacturerstheyre a legal obstacle, too. Once a successful treatment for COVID-19 is established, it becomes much less likely that the FDA will grant Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to new vaccines and new drugs. Under federal law, there must be no approved alternative way of treating or preventing a disease before authorizing an EUA.

The EUA under which the experimental vaccines were given to millions of Americans would never have been granted if COVID-19 was known to be an easily treatable disease.

In The Real Anthony Fauci, Robert Kennedy writes, His bizarre and inexplicable actions give credence to the suspicions held by many Americans that Dr. Fauci is working to prolong the epidemic in order to impose expensive patented drugs and vaccines on a captive population.

AIDS

COVID-19 isnt the first time that Anthony Fauci has been accused of using public policy to benefit big pharma corporations. Forty years ago, at the height of the AIDS crisis in America, many AIDS activists called Anthony Fauci a sellout to the drug companies.

You are responsible for all government funded AIDS treatment research, said activist Larry Kramer in an open letter to Fauci in the San Francsico Examiner in 1988. You are part of a government bureaucracy that values thriving pharmaceutical company entrepreneurism over the health of people with HIV.

Kramers criticism: instead of focusing on improving patients health, Faucis only answer to AIDS was the development of new drugs. How long will it take you to start focusing on the immune system, how to boost it and how to prevent the opportunistic infections that are killing people with AIDS? Still, you give your blessing to clinical trials of highly profitable toxins

You are a pill-pushing pimp that cooperates with drug companies in forcing dangerous concoctions down the throats of a desperate community, wrote Kramer. AIDS drugs are not sold to help people, they are sold to make a profit.

Conflicts of Interest

Despite the criticism Fauci endured, the AIDS crisis produced the most important opportunity of his career: using NIAID to develop, and profit from, new drugs. His collaboration with pharmaceutical companies quickly grew into a billion-dollar business.

The 1980 Bayh-Dole Act allowed NIAID and government scientists like Fauci to directly profit from drug development. Under the law, NIAID was now allowed to file patents on the new drugs that their research was creating, and then license those drug patents back to pharmaceutical companies. Individual government scientists could also put their names on patents and collect royalties.

This created a new income stream for Anthony Fauci: royalties on the sales of all drugs developed through NIAID-funded research. Drug development very quickly became the focus of Faucis NIAID, and millions of dollars in royalties started to pour in.

According to a 2006 investigation by the Associated Press, NIH and NIAID were concealing millions of dollars in royalties paid not just to the agencies, but to individual officials including Fauci, with little regard for the ethical and legal conflicts of interest. This information was not made public until the Associated Press obtained the information under the Freedom of Information Act.

In early 2022, OpenTheBooks.com, a government watchdog nonprofit, reported over 22,0000 royalty payments totaling nearly $134 million in royalty payments from pharma companies to the NIH and directly to over 1,600 NIH scientists. These payments occurred between 2009 and 2014. Data from 2015 onward is not yet available.

As a co-owner of drug and vaccine patents, Fauci himself receives royalty payments, including from the development of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. The amount of these payments has not been made public.

It is perhaps no coincidence then, that the Biden administrations COVID-19 plan, The Path out of the Pandemic, consists of only one strategy: more government vaccination mandates.

Think about it, said Childrens Health Defense president Mary Holland. NIAID is a joint venture partner with Moderna! How can the government be a joint venture partner with a for-profit corporation? And then set public policy to force the use of that product? The conflict of interest is astounding.

Experiments in New York

Drug development for AIDS created a little-known episode in Faucis career. Starting in 1985, the NIAID provided funding for clinical drug trials on HIV-positive children, studies which included children in the New York foster care system.

According to a 2009 report by the Vera Institute of Justice, 25 of the children involved in these experiments died, though there is no evidence that they died as a direct result of the experiments.

NIAID under Fauci exploited the most vulnerable in our society to develop new drugs, said Holland. These were poor children, without parents, many of whom were already very sick. Episodes like this, make one genuinely recall other medical atrocities in history, experiments conducted on vulnerable people without proper informed consent.

Experiments in Africa

Experimentation on humans has been a key part of Faucis role in new drug and vaccine development, especially in Africa in the search for a solution to AIDS.

Since the mid-1990s Fauci has been the chief promoter of the quest for an HIV vaccine. Under Faucis advice, every American president since Clinton has pledged billions of taxpayer dollars to this projectforeign aid diverted away from food and infrastructure to vaccine manufacturers and their research projects, in the name of eradicating AIDS in Africa.

In early 2000, Fauci and Bill Gates formed a unique partnership to control this flow of money. By leveraging the research funding available through Faucis NIAID, Bill Gates celebrity philanthropy, the tragedy of AIDS, and the massive wealth of pharmaceutical companies, Fauci and Gates acquired tremendous influence over health policy around the world.

This Fauci-Gates partnership is detailed in a 2008 report in the Journal of European Molecular Biology, provocatively titled The Gates Foundation: How Sixty Billion Dollars and One Famous Person Can Affect Spending and Research Focus of Public Agencies.

As many human rights organizations have pointed out, Fauci and Gates have spent decades profiting from the use of Africans as test subjects for experimental drugs that often do great harm. And there still is no vaccine for HIV.

Faucis COVID Failure

Fauci and Gates havent done any better in their battle against COVID-19. With near-total control of American public health policies, Fauci presided over one of the highest pandemic death rates in the world. In 2020, the United States suffered 15 percent of the worlds COVID-19 deathsin a country with just 4 percent of the worlds population.

Despite lockdowns, social distancing, masks, and vaccines, as of July 2022, the total COVID-19 mortality rate in the U.S. was 3,099 deaths/million, the 15th highest mortality rate in the world.

For comparison, the total COVID-19 mortality rate in Japan is just 250 deaths/million. Venezuela, 202 deaths/million. The Philippines, 553 deaths/million. Sweden, which never locked down, never mandated masks, and never forced vaccinations, has a mortality rate of 1,849 COVID-19 deaths/million, 40 percent lower than the United States.

According to a June study in the British Medical Journal, average life expectancy in the United States plummeted in 2020, dropping by 1.9 yearsa rate 8.5 times greater than the average drop in other developed nations.

Dr. Faucis remedies, writes Robert Kennedy, were often more lethal than the disease they pretend to treat. His COVID prescriptions were no exception. With his narrow focus on the solution of mass vaccination, Dr. Fauci seems to have never considered that his unprecedented quarantine of the healthy would kill far more people than COVID, obliterate the global economy, plunge millions into poverty and bankruptcy, and grievously wound constitutional democracy globally.

After two years of failed interventions, Fauci says he would have done things differently. In an interview with The Hill in July, he said his biggest mistake was not enacting even harsher measures. If I knew in 2020 what I know now, said Fauci. There would have been much, much more stringent restrictions in the sense of very, very heavy encouragement of people to wear masks, physical distancing, what have you.

To this, Mary Holland of Childrens Health Defense had a simple reply: We cannot have one person run a whole area of public health for the country for close to 50 years. This is not the way to run health care in a democratic country.

Faucis office and the NIAID were reached for comment.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Conservatives are unimpressed with the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investment movement. (Deemerwha studio/Shutterstock)

At NatCon, a PopulistLibertarian Clash on ESG Investment

'Do any of you guys consider the United States to be anything but a vehicle for making money?'

It comes as no surprise that the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investment movement was a topic at the third National Conservatism Conference in greater Miami.

Experts on a Sept. 11 ESG panel wondered aloud whether the letters actually stand for evil, stupidity, and grift.

Its probably all three, by the way, said Justin Danhof of Strive Asset Management, an ESG alternative led by Vivek Ramaswamy.

Yet, a more surprising question from a well-known audience member drew out real tensions in the room between national populists and more libertarian voices.

Do any of you guys consider the United States to be anything but a vehicle for making money? asked audience member Amanda Milius, director of The Plot Against the President.

Amanda Milius, director of The Plot Against the President and former State Department official. (Courtesy of Amanda Milius)

She questioned whether the United States actually has a free market, saying that conservative movies such as her own face an uphill battle to secure funding, despite the large audience for them.

One of Miliuss apparent targets, businessman Andy Puzder, said he was certainly supportive of more patriotic and moral movies.

Yet, he said voters could change things by electing politicians who will alter the legal landscapefor example, by approving more aggressive disclosure requirements aimed at revealing when products or components are made in China.

When you get to what American companies should be doing or shouldnt be doing, you vote with every dollar that you spend, said Puzder, the former chief executive of CKE Restaurants.

Theo Wold, a former staffer in the Trump administrations Office of Innovation, said corporate America undercuts efforts to force transparency through their influence over the political process.

The idea that consumers demandconsumers dont even know. They dont even have the information, and its corporate America that centrally deprives them of that knowledge, Wold said.

Milius and Wold worked together in the Trump administration.

National Populists Say Neutrality Has Failed

In a follow-up interview with The Epoch Times, Milius said the conservative movement has been too willing to espouse neutrality in the face of every new cultural onslaught.

Hows that been working for 40 years? she asked.

During the earlier panel discussion, Danhof suggested that a neutral marketplace is the goal, at least for Strive.

Puzder also placed a premium on neutrality.

He drew attention to his company 2ndVotes new exchange-traded fund, Shareholders First. It only sinks money into companies that are rated politically neutral on a six-point scale.

Wold challenged the idea of neutrality, suggesting that it allowed the private sector to benefit from conditions that ultimately undermined the countrys cohesion.

So-called neutral corporations privatize the profits from low-wage labor while socializing the costslow-wage labor and higher profits for me; expanding and expansive social programs and an increasingly unrecognizable country for you, he said.

Wold elaborated on his concerns with the more libertarian response to ESG in a separate follow-up interview with The Epoch Times.

He voiced strong support for action by state legislatures, such as the laws targeting energy industry boycotters in Texas and West Virginia.

In Wolds view, any attempt to return to neutrality reflects the hardheadedness of the Republican Party when faced with woke, globalist corporations.

He said Disney has been simultaneously pushing leftist ideology in the United States while complying with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) diktats when doing business in China.

Disney filmed portions of its live-action Mulan movie in Xinjiang, where high-tech surveillance technology has helped Beijing oppress the minority Uyghur population.

Wold is pessimistic about the possibility of federal solutions, at least for now. In fact, he believes that conservative states should learn to live apart from the rest of the country.

He sees grassroots momentum building against ESG. His neighbors in Idaho are aware of it and are taking steps to align their investments with their values.

The next step is for state elected officials to fill the gap, Wold said. The constituency is there.
South Africa: Building new social compact a work in progress, says Nxesi

Employment and Labour Minister, Thulas Nxesi, says finding a new social compact is a work in progress, as the country grapples with the burden of socio-economic challenges and the rapid changes taking place in the workplace post COVID-19.

We do need to engage with some speed on the difficult issues such as labour law reform, the Employment Services Amendment Bill and migration policy.

This is still a work in progress. It has not been easy. But we can take comfort from the fact that parties are engaging and have committed to finding each other, Nxesi said.

The Minister was delivering the opening address at the 27th National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) Annual National Summit held on Friday.

The summit was attended by representatives of government, organised business, community and labour.

Nxesi said the persistent high unemployment rate remains South Africas number one priority. He appealed to all social partners to continue to engage, to find areas of collaboration, to build on these, and to seek to commit their constituencies.

While we are working on this societal social compact, we must keep in mind, that at a concrete level, there are many actually existing other social compacts in South Africa that we need to recognise and support.

Nedlac must be at the forefront of growing the practice of social compacting as a way of working. We are witnessing this already starting to take place. Over time, we see the role of Nedlac evolving as being the apex of social compacting - supporting and collaborating with other sectors, provinces or local social compacts, he said.

Community Constituency Overall Convener, Thulani Tshefuta, said social compacting among constituencies is not about pleasing each other, but dealing with socio-economic issues facing the country.

Organised Labour Overall Convenor, Bheki Ntshalintshali, cautioned that the country must take urgent action to mitigate unemployment.

Future of work

Reflecting on the ever evolving workplace and jobs of the future, Nxesi said there must be a focus on sustainability, just transitions from the old to the new, technological changes and the reorganisation of work.

He reiterated his support of the International Labour Organizations Global Commission on the Future of Work report, which calls for a human-centred agenda for the future of work, by placing people and the work they do at the centre of economic and social policy, and business practice.

The report calls for a human-centred agenda that is forward-looking and focuses on developing the human capabilities needed to thrive in carbon-neutral, digital age economies.

The ILO report further calls on stakeholders to take responsibility for building a just and equitable future of work.

I think we would have to say that recent events, particularly the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, have speeded up these trends and point to the need for research that is focused on solutions.

Most obviously, we now have the widespread work from home phenomenon. We still await findings on the long-term effects of this, although I know it has led to major reprioritisation in government and private sector budgets, Nxesi said.

He said after the country had emerged from the worst of the pandemic and sought to rebuild, Nedlac also brought social partners together with government to develop the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Programme.

The ERRP has since developed around a series of work streams, especially on energy, transport and logistics, and small medium and micro enterprises.

Nxesi said Nedlac needs to be proactive leading on the major challenges, and it should be agile and contemporary in taking up topical issues such as the cost of living and energy.

He cautioned that Nedlac should not allow itself to turn itself into a bargaining forum when there are existing bargaining forums.

Reimaging

Organised Business Convenor and Business Unity South Africa (Busa) Chief Executive, Cas Coovadia, said there is a critical need to relook Nedlac.

Coovadia said Nedlac needs to revisit its mandate and ask itself if it is still fit for purpose. He said the institution has historically played a constructive role in dealing with socio-economic challenges, including COVID-19.

The question we need to ask is whether we are representative and is our mandate enough. It is, however, encouraging that these are issues we are discussing at governing structures, Coovadia said.

According to the Employment and Labour Department, the Nedlac Annual Summit provides a platform to reflect and discuss policy responses.

Nedlac is the vehicle by which government, labour, business and community organisations seek to cooperate -- through problem-solving and negotiation -- on economic, labour and development issues, and related challenges facing the country, the department said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2022-09-12. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Press Release

September 12, 2022 SENATOR FRANCIS TOLENTINO

SPONSORSHIP SPEECH

COMMITTEE REPORT NO. 3

FIASCO BEHIND SUGAR ORDER NO. 4 Mr. President, my dear colleagues, I stand before you here today upon instructions of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, having considered the privilege speech of the Honorable Senate President last Aug 15, 2022, and after conducting several public hearings, I have the honor to report the findings thereof. Mr. President, I present herewith today, with strong belief in the findings and conclusions of the Blue Ribbon Committee Report No. 3 on the sugar fiasco surrounding the issuance of Sugar Order No. 4. in coordination with the Senate Committee on Agriculture headed by the honorable Senator Cynthia Villar. With a sense of urgency, the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee commenced its investigation on August 23, 2022, and within 17 days ending 08 September 2022, your committee was able to complete the hearings as well as complete the committee report. Mr. President, we invited all the SRA board members, all the personalities involved, and we even issued a subpoena to no less than the Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez. Mr. President, gusto ko pong pasalamatan muna -I would like to express my gratitude to all the members of the Committee in devoting their precious time to shed light to the facts surrounding this issue, including the members of the minority. Napaka sipag po nila. I thank not only the Committee members, all our colleagues, the staff, the members of the Blue Ribbon Committee, those from the executive branch, and most especially the participation of the sovereign people. Sa mga kababayan nating sumubaybay sa tatlong hearing patungkol sa isyung ito, ang mga nagkomento sa mga social media pages at nagpahayag ng kanilang opinyon at mga haka-haka -- maraming pong salamat! This is the height of public participation. At sinabi ko po sainyo na lahat ng ito ay aming pagninilayan. Again, Mr. President, modesty aside, for the first time in the history of this Blue Ribbon Committee, a comprehensive 75-paged report was released after only 3 thorough yet efficient full-blown hearings. Again within 17 days, this report - which we will be providing to all our dear colleagues -- outlines the findings of the Committee based on evidence duly presented and weighed according to factual standards. Mr. President, hiniling po saatin noon ng minorya, and I am correct. Pag tama ang ginawa ng Blue Ribbon Committee, we restore not just the integrity of the Senate but the integrity of the senate likewise. In its stand to protect the integrity of the Senate and its constitutional power to extract information during the conduct of investigations in aid of legislation, the Blue Ribbon Committee, as I have mentioned before, even issued a subpoena against the Executive Secretary to compel his presence and find out the truth as to the facts and circumstances leading to the issuance of the subject Sugar Order No. 4. Mr. President, In the conduct of our queries, we made sure that politicization of issues are dispensed with. The honorable members of the Blue Ribbon Committee can attest to this. Instead, we focused our energies and resources on the issue at hand - whether there was really a real need to import sugar. If there was none, who authorized the importation to the detriment of the Philippine sugar industry? Alam niyo po, sa isyung ito ay makikita ang kahalagahan ng epekto ng lahat ng polisiya na inilalatag ng pamahalaan, na nilatag ng ating mga mambabatas para sa maayos at mahusay na implementasyon ng mga nasa ehekutibo. Mr. President, sa simula palang, nung nire-organize po ang Blue Ribbon Committee, your Chairman has laid down the following principles that will guide the committee in its investigations.: 1. One, A Road Map will be made for purposes of hearing a known duration with a defined direction. Unending hearings will not be allowed. Ayaw po maniwala nung iba, but we did that with the help of all our colleagues including the minority. 2. Investigation will not evolve into a political circus. It will not be a witch hunt or a fishing expedition; 3. Resource persons will be respected; 4. Moral certitude will be the standard of proof; and finally, 5. The Committee will protect the people, the fountain of power. Mr. President, sa simula ng pag laganap ng asukal sa ating bansa, and this was around the 1800s, I have read in one of the late nights I was studying the Sugar Industry that the British - just an hour ago we were watching a ceremony within the British parliament after the death of Queen Elizabeth. During the 1800s, a British Vice-Consul in the name of Nicholas Loney was at the forefront of the birth of the sugar industry in the Philippines. It was said that he pushed for easy installment of crop loans given to sugar planters first in Iloilo City, which after seeing the prominence in the sugar farming, expanded the grant of crop loans to farmers in Negros. History accounted for Loney's assistance in the acquisition by our local farmers of machineries and farming technologies during that time. Because of this, Mr. President, Visayas' main product then was raw sugar destined for the United States, England, and Australia. My dear colleagues, what I am leading to here is this: one person's prioritization of granting favorable loans to planters of a certain crop yielded the birth of an entire industry, the birth of the Filipino's sweet tooth, the reason why we dip suman in sugar, why we love panghimagas, and have our own version of sweet spaghetti, Mr. President. Mr. President, for the same reason, an improper policy or order - most especially one issued without the proper authority nor extensive study as support and justification - can greatly impact hundreds of thousands of local farmers. Ang sinabi niyo nga po, Mr. President, 800,000 farmers ang apektado. This, to the detriment of not just the sugar industry but the lives of our local farmers themselves, their wife, their children, and their future. It is ironic, Mr. President, that we have farmers without food. As I have mentioned a while ago, Mr. President, guided by the principles, which we laid out during that August 17 organizational hearing and after 3 extensive hearings, Mr. President, your Committee recommends the following measures: 1. First, on the need for more transparency and accountability. 2. We likewise propose to expand the SRA Board by adding members to represent key sectors. 3. Finally, the Committee recommends full funding of the SIDA Law of 2005. Ito rin po siguro ang gusto ni Senator Cynthia Villar. On the side of Accountability, Mr. President, your Committee recommends the filing of the following charges: 1. Violation of Section 3(a) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA No. 3019) 2. Violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA No. 3019) 3. Violation of Article 177 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended. 4. Violation of the provisions of RA No. 10845, otherwise known as the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016. 5. Administrative cases of Serious Dishonesty, Gross Neglect of Duty, Grave Misconduct, Conduct Prejudicial to the Best Interest of the Service, and Gross insubordination under Sections 50 (A)(1-3) and (B)(9-10) of the 2017 Rules on Administrative Cases in the Civil Service against the following: former SRA Administrator Hermeneglido Serafica, Atty, Ramon B. Beltran, Mr. Aurelio Gerardo Valderrama Jr., former SRA Board members, and against Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian. Mr. President, let me end my speech, Mr. President, by stating that the aim of the Blue Ribbon Committee is to search for the truth and nothing but the truth. An inquiry in aid of legislation of Congress is not a fishing expedition or a witch hunt with no end in sight, rather it is the responsible and judicious exercise of a constitutional power granted by the people to whom sovereignty resides. Thank you, Mr. President.
Minister for Home Affairs Clare ONeil during the Jobs and Skills Summit in Canberra, Australia, on Sept. 2, 2022. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)

Australian Government Considers Abolishing Immigration Program for Wealthy Foreigners

The Australian government is considering scrapping an immigration program for international investors with high net worth as it reviews the countrys migration system.

Under the significant investor visa (SIV), foreign investors can considerably shorten their visa processing time with a minimum investment of $5 million (US$3.4 million).

This visa allows applicants to live and carry out investment activities in Australia for five years. After that, they can apply to stay in the country permanently.

The Gillard government introduced the program in 2012 to attract high-net-worth individuals to contribute their capital and entrepreneurial skills to Australia.

People walk through a quiet shopping area in the central business district in Sydney, Australia, on June 28, 2021. (Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images)

Data from the Department of Home Affairs showed that as of June 30, 2020, 2349 SIV visas had been granted since the programs inception, with Chinese investors accounting for 84.9 percent of the processed visa. Additionally, the scheme attracted around $11.8 billion of complying investments.

Nevertheless, federal Home Affairs Minister Clare ONeil said the scheme had created problems for the immigration system.

Most Australians would be pretty offended by the idea weve got a visa category here where effectively you can buy your way into the country, she told Sky News.

The minister also said that as most successful applicants arrived in Australia to settle down and retire, they generally ended up being a burden to the countrys budget.

Changes to Australias Migration System

Following the changes announced in the recent jobs and skills summit in Canberra, the government halved the schemes numbers for the 2022-2023 financial year.

However, ONeil said the program could be abolished after the government completed the immigration system review by the end of February 2023.

Its a visa program that I think isnt adding value to the country, and its something that we will be looking at, she said.

At the moment, I cant see a lot of reasons to maintain it as part of our program.

Apart from the changes to the SIV program, the Albanese government also increased the skilled migration cap from 160,000 to 195,000 places in the 2022-2023 financial year to tackle Australias labour shortage.

At the same time, the government has directed the immigration department to prioritise processing the visas of those who are outside Australia.

Its not going to help our nurses in this country who are overworked at the moment to have a nurse on a temporary visa come onto a permanent one, ONeil said.

While the federal government has not considered removing the genuine temporary entry requirement for student visas, ONeil hinted at a more simplified visa system.

Were going to do a very extensive review of that system and really question whether this very complex visa set of categories  is the right way to run the immigration system, she said.

And Ill give you a clue. Its absolutely not.

The minister also pledged to solve a backlog of over 100,000 temporary visa holders, including asylum seekers and refugees. However, she admitted the process could take years.
Biden Signs Executive Order to Boost Biotech to Counter China Threat

President Joe Biden has signed an executive order meant to boost biotech production and research in the United States, with a senior administration official saying that the presidential action was prompted, in part, by aggressive investment in the sector by China, posing a risk to U.S. competitiveness.

The White House announced on Sept. 12 that Biden signed the order that will launch the National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative (NBBI) and the measure seeks to ensure we can make in the United States all that we invent in the United States.

The initiative intends to encourage biomanufacturing in pharmaceuticals as well as in other industries, such as agriculture, plastics, and energy, the White House stated.

It comes as other countries, including China, are investing heavily in biotech as they try to become the worlds resource for biotechnology products and solutions.

We Risk Falling Behind

The United States has relied too heavily on foreign materials and bioproduction, and our past off-shoring of critical industries, including biotechnology, threatens our ability to access materials like important chemicals and active pharmaceutical ingredients, the statement reads.

The White House, citing industry analyses, estimated that bioengineering could account for more than a third of global output of manufacturing industries by the end of the decade. This represents nearly $30 trillion in terms of value.

The initiative will drive advances in biomanufacturing that substitute fragile supply chains from abroad with strong chains at home, anchored by well-paying jobs in communities all across America, the White House stated.

The measure will seek to grow domestic biomanufacturing capacity, expand market opportunities for bio-based products, enhance research and development, and streamline regulations for biotech products.

A senior Biden administration official told reporters on a Sept. 11 briefing call that while the United States leads the world in biotech innovation, the country risks being displaced by foreign competitors.

We risk falling behind, as we did in the semiconductor sector and then the advanced telecommunications sector, unless we translate biotechnology innovation into economic and societal benefits for all Americans, the official said.

Other countries, including and especially China, are aggressively investing in this sector, which poses risk to U.S. leadership and competitiveness unless we take the kinds of actions that we are with this executive order.

China dominates global production of active pharmaceutical ingredients for generic drugs, a state of affairs that U.S. lawmakers have flagged as a national security risk.

The senior official wouldnt say how much funding will be earmarked for the initiative, with Biden to provide more details at a summit on the NBBI on Sept. 14. During the summit, Cabinet agencies will announce a broad range of new biotech and biomanufacturing investments and resources, the White House stated.

By responsibly harnessing the full potential of biotechnology and biomanufacturing, we will be able to realize the potential of biology that can make almost anything that we use in our day-to-day lives, from medicines to fuels to plastics, and continue to drive U.S. innovation into economic and societal success, the White House stated.

The White House stated that biomanufacturing processes can program microbes to make specialty chemicals and compounds, and can be used to make alternatives to oil-based chemicals, plastics, and textiles.
Former President Donald Trump has made several calls on his platform Truth Social recently for new elections to be held or the overturning of the 2020 election, given allegations of interference by the intelligence community. These calls were echoed by his former aide, Steve Bannon, who also floated the idea of a contingent election.

Just days following their statements, President Joe Biden gave a public speech where he condemned Trump and the MAGA Republicans. Biden said there are people who sought to overturn an election, and said his speech would address the power we have in our own hand to meet these threats. Soon after, Bannon was arrested in New York State, and he also claimed 35 Trump aides had also been raided within the same timeframe.

In this live Q&A with Crossroads host Joshua Philipp, well discuss these stories and others, and answer questions from the audience.

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A camera being used during facial recognition trials at New Scotland Yard in London in January 2020 (PA)

Campaigners Urge new Head of Metropolitan Police to Scrap Facial Recognition Technology

On his first day in the job the new Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Mark Rowley, has received a letter from 14 campaign groups urging him to stop using facial recognition technology in London.

Facial recognition software was first trialled in London in 2018, when Cressida Dick was commissioner, and has become increasingly popular as a law enforcement trial.

The Met began operational use of Live Facial Recognition in 2020 and in January this year, during an LFR exercise in central London arrested four menincluding a 32-year-old wanted on an extradition warrant in relation to drugs offences and a serious assault.

But Liberty, Big Brother Watch, Black Lives Matter UK, and 11 other groups wrote an open letter to Rowley demanding to an end to what they say is privacy-eroding, inaccurate and wasteful technology.

Sir Mark Rowley takes an oath to King Charles III at New Scotland Yard in central London on Sep. 12, 2022 (PA).

The letter says: During observations at deployments, Big Brother Watch has witnessed multiple false positive matches, which have led to innocent individuals being forced to prove their identity to police officers. If the use of this technology becomes more widespread, these incidents will become commonplace, resulting in further injustices and increased public mistrust of the Met.

They claim 87 percent of the alerts generated by LFR are misidentifications, and they said examples included a French exchange student who had only just arrived in the country.

The Met, which uses a different formula for calculating misidentifications, says false alerts account for less than 0.08 percent of cases.

Orwellian Technology Is Useless and Highly Invasive

Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch, said: Public trust in the police has collapsed in the capital and is being further damaged by the Mets repeated use of Orwellian facial recognition technology which is both useless and highly invasive.

She said: These Minority Report-style cameras have done absolutely nothing to reduce high rates of violent crime but risk putting our police on a par with those in surveillance states like China and Russia. They have no place in a democracy.

The row over facial recognition comes as the BBC airs the second series of a critically-acclaimed television drama, The Capture, which predicts a dystopian future where CCTV cameras can be hacked by the security services and hostile countries, like China, to cover up crimes or frame people with false evidence based on facial recognition and voice recognition software.

David Campbell Bannerman, a former Conservative MEP for the East of England, wrote on Twitter: The premise on this BBC drama The Capture is scarily feasible: the manipulation of data such as CCTV images to removeor addparticipants, and even false TV interviews from reconstructed film; under what the drama calls correction. Facial recognition is already in play.

On its website, the Metropolitan Police says: LFR is not a ubiquitous tool that uses lots of CCTV cameras from across London to track every persons movements. It is a carefully deployed overt policing tactic to help locate a limited number of people the police need to find in order to keep London safe.

A Met spokeswoman told PA work was continuing to see if the algorithm the force used was less accurate for certain groups of people.

PA Media contributed to this report.
A stamp, a coin, and a bank note are displayed in front of a portrait of the Queen, commemorating the reign of Queen Elizabeth II at Rideau Hall, the official residence of the Governor General, in Ottawa on Sept. 9, 2015. (The Canadian Press/Fred Chartrand)

Canadas Currency, Stamps Among Nationwide Changes Following Queens Death

Queen Elizabeth IIs likeness will continue to grace Canadian coins, bank notes, and stamps for some time, but will eventually be phased out to introduce replacements bearing the image of Canadas new monarch, King Charles III, according to federal institutions.

The Royal Canadian Mint says Canadas coins, all of which carry a side profile of Queen Elizabeth II, will remain legal tender and will not be taken out of circulation any time soon.

A change in Monarch does not require the replacement of circulation coins, the Mint said in a statement. Therefore, Canadians consumers and businesses can continue using all coins currently in circulation.

Alex Reeves, the Crown corporations senior manager of public affairs, told The Epoch Times that the Mint is unaware of the governments timetable for re-designing Canadas coins to bear the image of King Charles III on the obverse (heads) side.

The Government of Canada has exclusive jurisdiction over that matter, Reeves said. As the Mints role is limited to manufacturing and distributing Canadas circulation coinage, we will abide by their decision and timetable.

Reeves added that although the Mint cannot give a timeline for the new coins, it will be ready to produce these new coins when asked.

Canadas $20 bills will also continue bearing the likeness of Queen Elizabeth II for the foreseeable future, according to the Bank of Canada.

The current polymer $20 bank note is intended to circulate for years to come, the central bank said in a Sept. 12 email to The Epoch Times. There is no legislative requirement to change the design within a prescribed period when the Monarch changes.

The bank also noted that Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will be responsible for approving the form and material of any new bank note, including the portrait subject, in accordance with the Bank of Canada Act.

Canadas stamps also must be updated to feature Charles III, but Canada Post has released no official details as to how it will go about carrying this out.

We have a National Stamp Advisory Committee that evaluates and determines elements of stamp issues, Canada Post told The Canadian Press. These elements are only disclosed once the stamp is announced publicly.

Earlier this year, Canada Post released a special stamp commemorating the 70-year reign and platinum jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

More than 70 stamps have honoured Her Majesty since her reign began on February 6, 1952, said Canada Post in a Feb. 6 news release.

Changes will also be required for the inside cover of Canadian passports to reference the Kings authority rather than the Queens. Each passport currently reads on its first page: The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada requests, in the name of Her Majesty the Queen, all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely, without delay or hindrance, and to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during the Platinum Jubilee Pageant in London, England, on June 5, 2022. (Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

Government Proceedings

The Queens death will also cause changes in certain parliamentary and court proceedings.

For one, Canadas royal anthem, which has been God Save the Queen since Elizabeth assumed the throne in 1952, will now change to God Save the King. The anthem is always sung when Royal Family members are present at any Canadian events and also when the Governor General and lieutenant generals are saluted at the opening of each session of provincial and federal parliament.

The Court of Queens Benchwhich was the title of the superior trial court in Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and New Brunswickhas now been officially changed to the Court of Kings Bench. The Monarchy is the chief legal executor of Canada, although in practice judicial powers are held by federal and provincial jurisdictions.

Furthermore, portraits of Queen Elizabeth II hanging in certain government institutions across Canadasuch as courtrooms and legislative buildingswill now be replaced with images of Charles III.

Protocol states that Her Majestys portrait should remain up until the day after the funeral. It is then removed and replaced with the portrait of the new Sovereign, when it becomes available, reads a Heritage Canada webpage titled Transition of the Crownwhat it means for Canadians.

The government did not specify how long this process would take, but it did say that it may take some time.

In addition, the commencement of Canadas 45th Parliament will be delayed by one day due to a scheduling conflict with the Queens funeral on Sept. 19. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Governor General Mary Simon will attend the funeral in London along with Ralph Goodale, Canadas High Commissioner in the United Kingdom.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
College COVID-19 Booster Mandates Cause More Harm Than Good: Risk-Benefit Estimate

Forcing all young students to get COVID-19 vaccine boosters will cause more harm than benefit, according to a new risk-benefit analysis.

Some 22,000 to 30,000 adults aged 18 to 29 who have never been infected with COVID-19 must be vaccinated with a messenger RNA (mRNA) booster to prevent a single COVID-19 hospitalization, researchers estimated after crunching numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other sources. The Pfizer and Moderna shots are built on mRNA technology.

For one prevented hospitalization, the researchers estimated there would be 18 to 98 serious adverse events, including 1.7 to 3 cases of heart inflammation in young males.

The vast majority of cases of heart inflammation, or myocarditis, require hospital care.

The risk-benefit is even worse because many young people have recovered from COVID-19, giving them a protection widely known as natural immunity, the researchers said.

And the really important thing is, this doesnt factor in the actual real-world condition, which is that most of these young people have already had COVID, Kevin Bardosh, an affiliate assistant professor at the University of Washington who studies public health and co-author of the study, told The Epoch Times. This estimate is based on an uninfected population. So, actually, the risk-benefit assessment is drastically less favorable.

The research was published online before peer review.

Dr. Andrew Bostom, a former professor of medicine at Brown University who was not involved with the study, told The Epoch Times that the research raises grave questions about college vaccine mandates and really suggests that they should be abandoned altogether.

As of May, over 1,000 U.S. colleges and universities required COVID-19 vaccines and some 300 required boosters, according to the new paper. Multiple schools have said they plan to require the newly authorized updated boosters, even though there is no human safety or efficacy data.

CDC, Trial Data

Bardosh and his co-authors, including Dr. Stefan Baral, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, and Dr. Tracy Heg of the Florida Department of Health, used data from the from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), studies, and vaccine trials to figure out the risk-benefit estimates.

The group factored in the CDCs pre-authorization estimate of 1 in 306 serious adverse events after Pfizers booster and how 3 of 12 serious adverse events in Pfizers booster trial were attributed to the vaccine. Moderna claimed none of the events in its trial were linked to the vaccine, so Moderna wasnt included in the serious adverse event estimate.

Serious adverse events are an event that leads to death, inpatient hospitalization or prolonging a hospitalization, persistent or significant disability, or other serious issues.

The group also used a rate of one case of post-booster myocarditis for every 7,000 mRNA boosters administered to males aged 18 to 29, based on a study that analyzed electronic health care records. CDC active surveillance data peg the number as lower, at one in 14,200 after a Moderna booster and one in 21,000 after a Pfizer booster.

To estimate the number of boosters needed to prevent a hospitalization, the researchers took the CDC estimate9,000 Pfizer boosters for adults aged 18 to 29, or 12,000 Moderna boosters for the populationfrom before the Omicron virus variant emerged in late 2021 and updated it to account for Omicrons reduced severity.

Limitations of the estimate include potentially inaccurate reporting from the trials and the CDC. The researchers called for large, controlled trials on booster doses, especially for younger populations, particularly in light of how universities have failed to report post-vaccination adverse events.

Unethical

To be ethical, a public health policy must be expected to produce benefits that outweigh harms, the researchers said. For vaccine mandates, harms include side effects, restricting students liberty, wasting resources, and heightening distrust.

Given the data currently available on waning vaccine effectiveness, increasing natural immunity, and rates of heart disease after vaccination, colleges should immediately rescind mandates for boosters and the primary series of the vaccines, the researchers said.

They noted that schools in many European countries never implemented mandates, and that some nations have begun rolling back vaccines for youth.

Schools that imposed mandates should have performed risk-benefit analyses and updated them as new data emerged, Bardosh said.

They have a responsibility to do what we did, basically. Because they havent done that its just unethical to mandate the product, he said. Its negligent.

The CDC, Pfizer, and Moderna did not respond to requests for comment.
Colorado Police Officer Killed, Suspect in Custody

ARVADA, Colo.A police officer in the Colorado city of Arvada was killed during a shooting as officers were trying to break up a large family disturbance, the Arvada Police Department said Sunday.

The suspect and another person injured in the shooting early Sunday were hospitalized and expected to survive, police said.

Officer Dillon Michael Vakoff, 27, and another officer were trying to separate several belligerent and uncooperative individuals when the suspect shot a female victim, police said in a statement. The officers and the suspect exchanged gunfire.

Vakoff was declared dead at a hospital.

Vakoff was a staff sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, where he served for six years, before joining the Arvada Police Department in 2019. He was training to be a SWAT officer, police said in a statement. Vakoff graduated from high school in Arvada in 2012.

This is a tragic loss to this community, to this department, but most significantly to his family and loved ones, the police department said in a social media post. His service and sacrifice will never be forgotten.
Newmarch House resident Patricia Shea looks at her son out of her window through the fence at Newmarch House on April 29 in Sydney, Australia. (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

COVID-19 Aged Care Deaths Not Being Scrutinised: MP

The federal government should be scrutinised more over the rising number of COVID-19 deaths in aged care, an independent MP says.

More than 3000 Australians have died with COVID-19 in aged care facilities this year, which is almost triple the number of deaths in the first two years of the pandemic.

The aged care death toll has also risen by 36 percent since Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was elected in May, the Sydney Morning Herald reported on Sunday.

The federal government should be facing more questions about the spike, Independent MP Rebekha Sharkie said.

If we look back at the last parliament, there were questions asked every day of the aged care minister, Sharkie told the ABC on Sunday.

While we havent sat many weeks this year, were just not seeing the scrutiny.

I think that its imperative upon every member of parliament, including myself, to hold the government to account with respect to this.

There are 278 aged care centres currently managing COVID-19 outbreaks across the country, according to the latest federal health department data.

Some 1243 residents have COVID-19, while 381 aged care workers are infected with the virus.

The government should tell the public how centres are being supported through repeated COVID-19 outbreaks and what is being done around ventilation and staffing numbers, Ms Sharkie said.

COVID has not ended. The pandemic is still with us, she said.

Its deeply concerning, deeply disturbing, that weve lost 3000 people this year in aged care facilities.

If that was last year, it would have been on the front of every newspaper, every day.

One of the first acts of the Albanese Government was instituting a winter plan to manage the aged care sectors response to COVID-19, Aged Care Minister Annika Wells said.

The plan, alongside continued access to antiviral treatments and vaccination, has dropped the case fatality rate in aged care from 33 per cent in 2020 to 3.5 per cent this year, Ms Wells said.

Every death in Australia due to COVID-19, including the deaths of older Australians in residential aged care, is a tragedy, the minister told AAP in a statement on Sunday.

Weve left no stone unturned in managing the response to COVID-19 in aged care.

We have extended the ADFs role in aged care until the end of September and have a surge workforce that provided 1704 shifts last week.
However, the fact that hot lots are being released in a coordinated fashion suggests vaccine makers may in fact be doing intentional lethal-dose testing on the public, and that these bad batches are not merely the result of intermittently poor manufacturing

The bad batch phenomenon may also be indicative of quality problems. Independent investigations have revealed that some lots of the shots are associated with very severe side effects and death, whereas other lots have very few or no adverse events associated with their use

Fragmented RNA could potentially also be hazardous to health by generating incomplete spike proteins. While we do not know if incomplete spike proteins are dangerous, its possible they might contribute to cellular stress

For an effective mRNA product, the mRNA integrity needs to be 100%, meaning all the RNA must be intact. Considering how ineffective the jabs are, it seems fair to question whether lack of mRNA integrity might be to blame

The reason health officials dont want individual vaccine vials examined by independent scientists is because the vials are all different  and the mRNA in the shots is not intact

Independent investigations have revealed that some lots of COVID-19 shots are associated with very severe side effects and death, whereas other lots have very few or no adverse events associated with their use.

A 14-minute video (above) that has been overlooked for nearly two years has now resurfaced, exposing stunning information about the COVID-19 jabs and why health officials dont want individual vaccine vials examined by independent scientists.

The reason, it turns out, is because the vials are all different  and the mRNA in the shots is not intact. Both of these pose potentially serious problems. In an August 31, 2022, Substack article, Steve Kirsch explains:1

Even if you are getting 100% intact mRNA which would be really rare, youre still not getting anything that resembles the virus. So the efficacy as far as PROTECTING you will be next to nothing.

However, what it will do very effectively, if you got reasonably intact mRNA, is to cause you significant harm. You are playing a game of chance with your immune system and what is in the bottle.

The video notes that members of the European Parliament were only allowed to read the contracts with the drug makers after theyd been heavily redacted. Why the heavy-handed secrecy, even toward legislators?

Leaked Documents Reveal Serious Quality Issues

The finding that the mRNA in the shots was of questionable quality was revealed in a BMJ feature investigation article2 published in March 2021. As explained by the author, journalist Serena Tinari, cyber attackers retrieved more than 40 megabytes of Pfizer COVID jab data from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in December 2020.

The hacked data was subsequently sent to journalists and academics worldwide. It was also published on the dark web. Some of the documents show European regulators had significant concerns over the lack of intact mRNA in the commercial batches sampled.

Compared to the clinical batches, i.e., the shots used in the clinical trial, 55% to 78% of the commercial shots had a significant difference in % RNA integrity/truncated species.

In one email, dated November 23, 2020, a high-ranking EMA official noted that the commercial batches failed to meet expected specifications, and that the implications of this RNA integrity loss were unclear. In response to the findings, the EMA sent a list of questions and concerns to Pfizer.

While we do not know if and how the EMAs concerns were actually addressed and corrected, the EMA authorized Pfizers COVID jab December 21, 2020. According to its public assessment report, the quality of this medicinal product, submitted in the emergency context of the current (COVID-19) pandemic, is considered to be sufficiently consistent and acceptable.

Similarly, Health Canada told The BMJ that changes were made in their processes to ensure that the integrity was improved and brought in line with what was seen for clinical trial batches. The EMA further tried to deflect concern by claiming some of the leaked documents had been doctored. As reported by The BMJ:3

EMA says the leaked information was partially doctored, explaining in a statement that whilst individual emails are authentic, data from different users were selected and aggregated, screenshots from multiple folders and mailboxes have been created, and additional titles were added by the perpetrators.

Intact mRNA Is Essential to Its Effectiveness

Curiously, when The BMJ asked Pfizer, Moderna, CureVac and several regulators to specify the percentage of mRNA integrity considered acceptable, none replied with specifics.

Even a minor degradation reaction, anywhere along a mRNA strand, can severely slow or stop proper translation performance of that strand and thus result in the incomplete expression of the target antigen. ~ Daan J.A. Crommelin, Professor of Biopharmaceutics

According to the British Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, the FDA and Health Canada, the specification limit on RNA integrity is commercially confidential. What we do know  and the EMA has acknowledged  is that intact mRNA is essential for efficacy. As noted by The BMJ:4

 the documents offer the broader medical community a chance to reflect on the complexities of quality assurance for novel mRNA vaccines, which include everything from the quantification and integrity of mRNA and carrier lipids to measuring the distribution of particle sizes and encapsulation efficiency.

Of particular concern is RNA instability, one of the most important variables relevant to all mRNA vaccines that has thus far received scant attention in the clinical community 

RNA instability is one of the biggest hurdles for researchers developing nucleic acid based vaccines. It is the primary reason for the technologys stringent cold chain requirements and has been addressed by encapsulating the mRNA in lipid nanoparticles.

The complete, intact mRNA molecule is essential to its potency as a vaccine, professor of biopharmaceutics Daan J.A. Crommelin and colleagues wrote in a review article in The Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences late last year.

Even a minor degradation reaction, anywhere along a mRNA strand, can severely slow or stop proper translation performance of that strand and thus result in the incomplete expression of the target antigen.

For an effective product, mRNA integrity needs to be 100%. Considering how ineffective the jabs are, it seems fair to question whether lack of mRNA integrity might be to blame. We also do not know whether nonintact mRNA might be harmful.

As noted by Kirsch,5 Unstable mRNA means the spike protein  cold collapse, making the whole process useless to support immunity, but still dangerous in terms of damage to cells. So, you get all the risk and no benefit.

While our public health agencies claim fragmented RNA poses no health risk, just how do they know that? The leaked documents revealed they specifically did not have an answer to that question, and no research into the matter has been published, that Im aware of.

Fragmented RNA May Produce Incomplete Spike Proteins

In May 2021, Stephanie Seneff, Ph.D., a senior research scientist at MIT for over five decades, published an excellent paper6 in which she highlighted several potential dangers of the COVID jabs, including the unknown hazard of injecting fragmented RNA. That same month, I interviewed her about her concerns. You can find that interview in COVID Vaccines May Bring Avalanche of Neurological Disease. In her paper, Seneff noted:7

The EMA Public Assessment Report  describes in detail a review of the [Pfizer] manufacturing process  One concerning revelation is the presence of fragmented species of RNA in the injection solution. These are RNA fragments resulting from early termination of the process of transcription from the DNA template.

These fragments, if translated by the cell following injection, would generate incomplete spike proteins, again resulting in altered and unpredictable three-dimensional structure and a physiological impact that is at best neutral and at worst detrimental to cellular functioning.

There were considerably more of these fragmented forms of RNA found in the commercially manufactured products than in the products used in clinical trials. The latter were produced via a much more tightly controlled manufacturing process 

While we are not asserting that non-spike proteins generated from fragmented RNA would be misfolded or otherwise pathological, we believe they would at least contribute to the cellular stress that promotes prion-associated conformational changes in the spike protein that is present.

Kirsch points out that the EMA also expressed concern over visible particles in the vials, which The BMJ did not follow up on. Is it still a problem? Kirsch asks. Thats a good question, and the answer is probably yes.

But even worse is that we have absolutely no idea what these incomplete spike proteins are doing, none, zero, nada. It has never been directly examined. For that matter efforts to evaluate, and complications of the jab, have been consciously suppressed as have following simple metrics such as increases in all-cause mortality.

Deaths Dismissed and Side Effects Misclassified

The leaked EMA documents also showed that Pfizer dismissed all deaths in its trial as unrelated to the vaccine, even though no proper investigation was ever conducted. We now have additional evidence of this  just like the court-ordered FOIA documents showed what Pfizer did in their U.S. trials. At least they are consistent in implementing their fraud.

As reported by Childrens Health Defense (CHD) back in June 2022, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) documents, released by court-order, reveal Pfizer classified nearly all severe reactions in its trials as unrelated to the shot, even in cases where the health problems in question are extremely difficult to dismiss as anything other than a direct effect of the shot:8

The latest release by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine documents9 reveals numerous instances of participants who sustained severe adverse events during Phase 3 trials. Some of these participants withdrew from the trials, some were dropped and some died 

The CRFs [case report forms] included in this months documents contain often vague explanations of the specific symptoms experienced by the trial participants. They also reveal a trend of classifying almost all adverse events  and in particular severe adverse events (SAEs)  as being not related to the vaccine 

The many serious adverse events  and several deaths  recorded during the Phase 3 trials are also apparent in a separate, massive document10 exceeding 2,500 pages, cataloging such adverse events.

This document lists a wide range of adverse events suffered by trial participants classified as toxicity level 4  the highest and most serious such level. However, not one of the level 4 (most severe) adverse events listed in this particular document is classified as being related to the vaccination.

As just one example,11 a teenage girl got the shot September 11, 2020, and in mid-November 2020 was diagnosed with right lower extremity deep vein thrombosis, which we now know is a potential side effect of the jab. According to the CFR, her condition was due to a bone fracture that occurred before the date of her injection  a determination that seems questionable at best.

Whats the Cause Behind the Bad Batch Phenomenon?

The bad batch phenomenon may also be indicative of quality problems. Independent investigations have revealed that some lots of the shots are associated with very severe side effects and death, whereas other lots have very few or no adverse events associated with their use.

According to howbadismybatch.com, a site that matches up vaccine lot codes with reports in the VAERS system, approximately 5% of the lots are responsible for 90% of all adverse reactions. Some of these batches have 50 times the number of deaths and disabilities associated with them, compared to other lots.12

Another website that basically does the same thing is TheEagles VAERS Dashboard. A video explaining how to use the dashboard can be found on Bitchute.13

However, an even deeper dive into this data suggests random quality issues are not the problem. In the video above, Reiner Fuellmich, cofounder of the German Corona Investigative Committee, and Dr. Wolfgang Wodarg, a former member of the German parliament, discuss this smoking gun evidence.

According to Fuellmich and Wodarg, the lot-dependent data suggests vaccine makers may be conducting secret experiments within the larger public trial. In other words, they appear to be doing lethal-dose testing on the public. The tipoff that these hot batches are not caused by intermittent poor manufacturing is the fact that theyre being released in a coordinated fashion.

Wodarg argues that the evidence for this is very clear from the data. Basically, the vaccine manufacturers are coordinating their lethal-dose experiments so that theyre not all releasing their most toxic lots at the same time, or in the same areas. This avoids detection through clustering.

New Boosters Will Not Undergo Additional Testing

Considering the multitude of open questions surrounding the safety of the original COVID shots, the fact that new, reformulated boosters will not require any additional testing whatsoever is beyond disturbing.

In the Friday Roundtable video above, Dr. Meryl Nass, Toby Rogers, Ph.D., Aimee Villella McBride, Polly Tommey and Brian Hooker, Ph.D., discuss the FDAs decision to allow vaccine makers to reformulate their COVID shots without additional testing, in perpetuity.

As noted by Rogers, Pfizers bivalent booster against Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5 was tested on a total of eight mice, and only to check antibody levels. Moderna also used mice to ascertain antibody responses, but have not disclosed the number of mice used.

Thats the extent to which these shots were tested. The original COVID jabs are the most dangerous drugs ever released to the public, and these newer boosters may turn out to be even worse.

As explained by Rogers, the shots imprint your immune system to respond only to the antigen in the shot, while simultaneously impairing your immune system so that its less capable of protecting you against other pathogens. Another term for this process is original antigenic sin. It essentially explains why those are jabbed are getting infected and sicker than those who avoided the jabs.

Rogers predicts well be faced with a winter of severe illness and death among those who have gotten the jabs. All the rest of us can do is stand back, avoid the shots at all cost and let the mainstream system self-destruct. Hopefully, hes correct in his other prediction, which is that the vast majority of Americans will reject these boosters.

Originally published September 12, 2022 on Mercola.com
Signage is seen at the U.S. Department of Justice headquarters in Washington on Aug. 29, 2020. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

DOJ Official Who Exposed Themselves, Sexually Assaulted Civilian Wont Be Prosecuted: IG

The Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector Generals Office wont prosecute an assistant U.S. attorney who engaged in sexual misconduct with a civilian on a date.

The office stated (pdf) on Sept. 12 that an investigation had determined the unnamed assistant U.S. attorney exposed themselves in a public place and then sexually assaulted a civilian while on a date, which it noted was in violation of state law and federal regulations governing off-duty conduct.

After an investigation, the office also found that the assistant U.S. attorney lacked candor in discussing the incident with investigators.

Criminal prosecution of the [assistant U.S. attorney] was declined, the report reads.

The name of the assistant U.S. attorney wasnt disclosed, and its unclear if the person still works as an assistant U.S. attorney.

The Inspector Generals Office noted that it sent the Executive Office for the U.S. Attorneys and DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility its report. Assistant U.S. attorneys work for the various U.S. attorneys offices, which prosecute federal crimes around the country.

Unless otherwise noted, the [Inspector Generals Office] applies the preponderance of the evidence standard in determining whether Department of Justice personnel have committed misconduct, the Inspector Generals Office stated.

Another Incident

Also on Sept. 12, the DOJ Inspector Generals Office released a separate report stating that an unidentified assistant U.S. attorney (AUSA) abused their position after being stopped by police while intoxicated.

The OIG [Office of Inspector General] investigation found that the AUSA had engaged in misuse of position when referring to the AUSAs title in an attempt to influence local police officers during a traffic stop, the report (pdf) reads. The OIG investigation also found that the AUSA engaged in conduct that was prejudicial to the government, including ignoring instructions, cursing at officers, and kicking the door of the patrol vehicle, in violation of federal ethics regulations.

The investigation also found that the assistant U.S. attorney had been driving a personal vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, according to the report.

After completing the investigation, the office handed its report to the Office of Professional Responsibility for appropriate action, the report states.

In recent weeks, both the DOJ and FBI have come under scrutiny following the Aug. 8 raid targeting former President Donald Trumps residence. Trumps team and Republicans say the raid was politically motivated and designed to harm Trumps 2024 presidential aspirations.

Currently, the DOJ and Trumps lawyers are embroiled in a legal battle over whether a special master should be appointed to review documents seized during the FBI raid. Trumps team urged a Florida judge on Sept. 12 to block a DOJ request to continue to review the documents.

Officials for the DOJs Office of Public Affairs didnt respond to a request for comment by press time.
A voter casts her ballot with her child at a polling station at Rose Hill Elementary School during the midterm primary election on June 21, 2022, in Alexandria, Virginia. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Election Experts Predict Large Gains for GOP in Midterms

News Analysis

While Democrats enjoyed a summer bounce in generic congressional preference surveys, several key indicators point to the Democratic Party sustaining considerable losses in House, Senate, and gubernatorial races in November, similar to results of the 1994 midterms during Bill Clintons presidency, election experts told The Epoch Times.

In 1994, the Democrats lost 54 U.S. House seats to the Republicans, culminating in the election of Newt Gingrich to the House speakership, along with the Republican pickup of eight U.S. Senate seats and the gain of 10 gubernatorial seats for the GOP.

Looking at the aggregate number of people who have cast a ballot in each major party primary, we see a clear turnout advantage for the Republicans, compared to the 2018 midterm election, with Republicans up just under 48 percent in primary turnout nationally, while the Democrats are down just over 18 percent, private pollster Jim Ellis of Ellis Insight told The Epoch Times.

Enthusiasm Gap

The turnout numbers highlight an important enthusiasm gap that could again leave the public media pollstersas opposed to private campaign pollsterswith egg on their faces in November, according to experts interviewed by The Epoch Times.

The numbers, they seem pretty accurate from being on the ground, said Conor Maguire, a principal and managing director at WPA Intelligence, a polling firm that specializes in electing conservatives.

In the primaries where WPA participated, they saw massive turnout by GOP voters, he said. Maguire also noted an additional indication of the trend away from Democrats in 2022.

We saw 20-25 percent of the Republican primary voters had never even voted in a Republican primary before they had come out for the first time this year, Maguire told The Epoch Times.

According to Maguire, WPA, unlike many of the public media polls, does surveys that help inform candidates how to win races, and contain a lot less ideological bias than widely distributed media polling.

It doesnt behoove us to give our candidates a rosy picture of the situation. Thats not how we win, Maguire said, noting that if candidates are down by 5 points, they need to know about it.

Trump Still Net Negative with Undecideds

A recent analysis of 40,000 swing voters active on social media shared exclusively with The Epoch Times indicates that former President Donald Trump is struggling for support among undecided voters. Only 14 percent of those surveyed view Trump in a positive light, while 37 percent view him as negative and 49 percent view him neutrally, with a net negative rating of 23 percent, social media research firm Impact Social noted.

That compares unfavorably to Floridas Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, a possible challenger to Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.

Undecided social media users gave DeSantis a net positive rating of 2 percent, with 33 percent viewing the Florida governor as positive, 31 percent negative, and 36 percent neutral, according to Impact Socials analytics.

However, conservatives, in general, seem to be doing well as part of a longer realignment in American politics, the campaign experts say.

While the 2022 midterm elections may be shaping up to be a victory for Republicans, conservatives must still act as though they are behind, cautioned Lilian Rodriguez Baz, chief legal counsel for Ready for Ron PAC, a group thats trying to get DeSantis to run for president.

The midterms only mark the beginning of the fight for a return to the America First agenda.

Still, Trump has marked an important point of departure for the GOP with minorities, which should benefit the party overall, one campaign strategist said.

I think Trump gave blacks and Hispanics and Asians a lot of reason to think about the Republican Party as a reliable alternative to Democrats, who have taken minorities for granted for years, said Tony Marsh of Savannah Communications.

Marsh helped Virginias Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin with minority outreach last fall as the GOP swept statewide elections in Virginia.

In that regard, Youngkin ended up getting almost 17 percent of the male black vote, which was impressive. If we can do the same thing among females, and I think we can, particularly on the issues of faith and abortion and education, it will be tough for Democrats to win elections, he said.

Turnout Shows Conservatives Energized, Polls Biased

The turnout numbers already serve as a proxy for the enthusiasm of the voters this year, the experts said. As such, they indicate the Democrats might in trouble.

The turnout numbers shared by Ellis, the private pollster, might be skewed just a bit because they include primaries where Democrats didnt have competitive races at the top of the ticket, but in general, they are an accurate reflection ahead of the midterms, according to Dick Morris, an author and independent pollster.

But even excepting for that, the difference in turnout in favor of the GOP is extraordinary, something like a 4-to-1 advantage, Morris said.

Morris said that two things are making the Democrats appear more competitive than they really are. Both are structural biases in the way polling is done.

The first bias is political.

Sometimes, some of these polls are really built with the [ideological] end goal in mind, said WPAs Maguire, warning that media polls are often as much about clickbait as they are about measuring the political horseraces in elections.

The second bias, said Morris, is mathematical and fails to account for relative party voter turnout.

Thats one reason why national media pollsters have consistently underrated Trump.

While the 2016 election is the most egregious example of getting turnout wrong, with pollsters claiming even on Election Day that then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton had a 90 percent chance of beating Trump for the presidency, the 2020 election polls werent much better.

With less than a month to go before the 2020 election, an ABC News/Washington Post poll said that Joe Biden enjoyed a 12-percentage-point lead over Trump in an election that was ultimately decided officially by 4 points.

The premium is on getting people to participate, and not on the quality of data, Morris said about most media polls these days.

Pollsters are doing most polls online, which brings in a lot of tech-oriented people who have a bias to vote Democratic, Morris said.

Also pollsters are providing financial incentives, which gives people rewards like the 1,000th person to participate wins a free trip to Hawaii, he added.

So some of these polls have the same people participating over and over.

Key States to Watch

Ellis said that there are key states to watch in the midterms based on turnout data.

Alaska, where we will see a rerun of the congressional race that drove primary turnout for both sides; Arizona, where each major party saw significant increases from 2018 (Republicans: 26.9 percent; Democrats: 17.9 percent); Georgia, where Republicans were up almost 110 percent while the Democratic increase was 29 percent; Kansas (Democrats up 76.8 percent, Republicans: 42.2 percent); Oregon (both parties up: Democrats: 25.6 percent; Republicans: 19.9 percent); and Pennsylvania, where the GOP turnout factor was up 92 percent and Democrats 58 percent higher in comparison to their 2018 performance.

Nevada should be worrisome for Democrats, Ellis said, with the Republican turnout up 26 percent and Democratic turnout down 20 percent over 2018.

Other states to watch are Ohio, where Republicans were up 28 percent in primary turnout and Democrats were down 26 percent despite having a competitive gubernatorial election, and Wisconsin where Republicans were up 56 percent in turnout while Democrats were down 7 percent, he added.

Data shared with The Epoch Times by Morris from pollster John Jordan also highlighted some states where U.S. Senate races may be more competitive than some people think.

Colorado, Connecticut More Competitive

In Colorado, only 44.1 percent of likely voters said that they think incumbent Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet deserves to be reelected, with just 33.8 percent saying theyd definitely vote for Bennet on Election Day. Of the sample, only 40 percent approve of the job being done by President Biden, after 55 percent of the Rocky Mountain state voted for Biden in the 2020 presidential general election.

Bennet is being opposed by Republican newcomer Joe ODea.

Colorado, in particular, demonstrates why its dangerous to read too much into the top-line results right now.

A recent poll by Public Policy Polling, one of the higher-rated Democratic media polls, showed Bennet up 46 percent to ODeas 35 percent, the Denver Post reported on Sept. 10 before it highlighted the problems with the data.

But, notably, [the poll] doesnt filter by likely voters and 11% of respondents said they either didnt vote or voted third-party in the 2020 presidential election. The 2020 general election set a record for voter turnout, with nearly 87% of active voters casting ballots. Only about 2.5% of votes for president were for third-party candidates.

Instead, the newspaper recommended a poll cited by the Washington Examiner that surveyed just likely voters and found the campaign to be a dead heat.

In Connecticut, the story also isnt boding well for the Democrats.

Of likely voters surveyed in the Nutmeg State in a poll by John Jordan in late July, 41.4 percent think that Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal should be returned to the Senate, with 47.2 percent saying its time to pick someone new. Only 43.4 percent of likely voters polled in the state approve of the presidents job performance after Biden got 59 percent of Connecticuts presidential vote in the 2020 general election campaign.

Blumenthal is being challenged by the GOPs Leora Levy, a Cuban American businesswoman.

Actual Votes Favor GOP

While the outlook for Biden in both Colorado and Connecticut may look less than ideal, the voters surveyed in the Jordan polls still prefer Biden over Trump, which explains why the Democrats are putting added emphasis on Trump on the campaign trail, according to Marsh.

I think Trump missed some opportunities as president to take credit for things that he legitimately deserved credit for, because he let his personality get in the way, Marsh said, adding that Trump sometimes falls into traps that his enemies set for him.

And the Democrats and their media allies then are only too happy to continue to represent polls that make it appear as if the things the Democrats do on the election trail actually work, Maguire said.

So much of it today is to get clicks, is to get people to read a story or to engage something to make a statement or to draw positive attention, to the Democrats, Maguire said of public polling, even though the polls may not be an accurate depiction of what is really going on.

There is one last distinction between polls and primaries that ought to worry Democrats who are anxious about the midterms, Ellis says.

While polling is an important informational tool based upon sampling, probability, and current factors, the primary turnout figures represent actual votes, he said.

And, thus far, the actual votes are favoring the GOP.

Officials at the Democratic National Committee didnt respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.
EXCLUSIVE: 40 Percent of Americans Believe CCP Considers Itself at War With US: Poll

An increasing number of Americans believe that Chinas communist regime considers itself to be at war with the United States, according to the results of a new national survey shared exclusively with The Epoch Times ahead of its public release on Sept. 12.

Some 40 percent of likely U.S. voters said they think the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which rules China as a single-party state, considers itself to be at war with the United States. Less than 26 percent said the CCP doesnt consider itself at war with the United States, while more than 34 percent were unsure.

The survey, conducted by nonprofit Convention of States Action and polling company Trafalgar Group from Sept. 2 to Sept. 5, polled more than 1,000 likely midterm voters across the political spectrum. The poll had a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.

Notably, the polling also revealed a stark partisan divide in opinion about the seriousness of the CCP threat.

Slightly less than 60 percent of Republicans believed that the CCP considers itself to be at war with the United States, while less than 24 percent of Democrats said the same.

Regardless of affiliation, however, more Americans were unsure of the veracity of the claim than were confident that its untrue.

Regarding the U.S. response to the perceived threat, 67 percent of all respondents said they dont believe the U.S. government considers itself to be at war with China.

In all, less than 9 percent believed that the United States considers itself to be at war with China, although Democrats were more than twice as likely to believe such a thing as Republicans.

These are stunning results, Mark Meckler, president of the Convention of States Action, said in a statement to The Epoch Times. Americans clearly see that the Chinese Communist Party considers itself at war with the United States, and yet they acknowledge that the U.S. government doesnt appear to have a clue this is the case.

Congressional Republicans have long lambasted the Biden administration for a perceived failure to adequately respond to CCP aggression. The results of the survey appear to suggest that many Americans are at least sympathetic to the view that U.S. leadership isnt meeting the regimes provocations in kind.

Over the past decade, the CCP has led a widespread effort to undermine U.S. institutions. That campaign has included a plot to attack a U.S. Army veteran running for office, the arson of sculptures critical of the regime, and the stalking and intimidation of a U.S. Olympian whose father had spoken out against the regime.

The CCP also has conducted mass espionage in the United States, stealing technology, research, and intellectual property in order to supercharge its economic and military development.

Some experts believe that the CCP is at war with the United States because of the regimes doctrine of unrestricted warfare, through which it aims to achieve military objectives through the use of law, psychology, and economic coercion. As such, the regimes rampant espionage campaigns might be considered part of the regimes wider effort to undermine and replace the liberal international system with a more China-friendly system.

This is not a left-right issue; its not a Republican-Democrat issue, Meckler said. Its a survival issue for America and the free world.
Fentanyl-Laced Pills Killing Teens as Pill-Popping Culture Fuels Crisis

It only takes a quick scroll through the Facebook group Lost Voices of Fentanyl to see the wake of devastation that illicit fentanyl is leaving behind.

The public group, which has more than 19,000 members and grows daily, is full of the faces of lost loved ones and grieving family members trying to contend with the pain.

If thats not enough, parents are trying to understand autopsy and toxicology reports, figuring out how to obtain a copy of a 911 call, and seeking advice on how to ensure that drug dealers receive justice.

Americas pill-popping culture has fueled the crisis thats killing more than 100,000 people a year.

Many children are dying after taking a pill that they think is a prescription painkiller such as OxyContin or Percocet. Others think theyre taking the prescription drug Adderall.

When these kids are buying Xanax, they think, Well, its no big deal. Mom and Dad get it prescribed, whats the big deal? said April Babcock, who started Lost Voices of Fentanyl in 2020.

In reality, America is flooded with lookalike pills that contain deadly doses of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that was originally developed as a painkiller and anesthetic. Its 50 to 100 times more potent than heroin, and just 2 milligrams can be fatal.

Grieving family members say fentanyl isnt a drugits a poison. And Mexican drug cartels are bringing it into the country via the U.S.Mexico border.

Babcock said the term overdose is obsolete in the case of illicit drugs.

The term overdose means theres a safe dose to take, and you took too much. Theres no safe dose of illicit fentanyl, she said.

Babcocks son Austen died in 2019 after he bought some cocaine, not knowing it was laced with fentanyl.

Thats a deception. [He] didnt die from cocaine. He died from fentanyl, and there is no safe dose, she said.

When you go out and you buy a Xanax or you buy an Adderall or anything, but youre dying from fentanyl, thats a deception. These kids are being deceived. And theyre being poisoned to death.

Babcock originally created the Facebook page for a rally she held at the Chinese Embassy in Washington last year. She wanted to raise awareness that the precursors and analogs to fentanyl were being shipped from China to the cartels in Mexico, where they were subsequently pressed into counterfeit pills or mixed into heroin, cocaine, and even marijuana.

In August 2019, the Mexican navy intercepted a 25-ton shipload of fentanyl originating from China and bound for Culiacan, Sinaloathe home base of the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico.

Fentanyl also is an extremely lucrative drug. One kilogram of fentanyl costs about $5,000 in China. If the cartels take that kilogram into their labs and cut it with other drugs or press it into pills, they can make $2 million or more by then selling it on American streets.

While scientists measure fentanyl by the microgram for hospital use, drug dealers and cartel members arent as precise.

You might have a fake Percocet thats got enough fentanyl in it to kill 40 people. Then, you might get another fake Percocet that has no fentanyl in it at all, Babcock said.

The parents in my group with dead kids that are young, so many of their [children] bought their drug on Snapchat. Its a fake pill, and theyre finding their kids dead in their bedrooms. Thats not normal.

Babcock said Americas youth are being targeted through social media and the colorful candy-like pills laced with fentanyl.

It actually breaks my heart because I know, today, 300 other parents are going to be me. And thats really why I do everything I dobecause I cant bring my son back. My goal is to save another family from going through this, she said.

Its bad enough when you have people dying that have a substance use disorderthats a nightmare on its ownbut now we have an entirely new demographic of people that are dying. These are first-time and experimental users, and even occasional users, because, lets get real, people occasionally use drugs who arent drug addicts.

Im not saying its right to use drugsall Im saying is now people are instantly dying.

Rallying for Awareness

On Sept. 17, Babcock is hoping hundreds of people will join her rally in front of the White House. Shes calling on the federal government for an awareness campaign around fentanyl as broad as it was for COVID-19.

Were almost 10 years deep into this crisis. Wheres the public awareness campaign? Within three months of COVID, every single American 3 years old and up knew social distance, wash your hands, wear a mask,' she said.

We want it on every news [channel]. They had a ticker up there for COVID. Why cant they put a ticker up there for fentanyl deaths? Because its the leading cause of death in young Americans aged 18 to 45.

During 2020, major news networks pinned a ticker on their screens that displayed the total number of cases and deaths in which COVID-19 was reported as a factor.

I shouldnt have to be holding a rally in front of the White House. I should be able to memorialize my child and have memorial events, Babcock said.

But shes determined to warn the public about fentanyl.

From what Im hearing, the life expectancy of someone addicted to illicit fentanyl is about three years, she said.

I tell people its not a matter of if you will die. Its only a matter of when you will die. If you use anything in this day and age, its only a matter of when. Its Russian roulette.

For Help

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline

1-800-662-HELP (4357)

Samhsa.gov
PG-13 | 1h 54min | Drama, Family | 02 September 2022 (USA)

Ive been a professional movie critic since 1995, but it took just over 15 years to figure out why I disagreed so often (about 40 percent of the time) with my peers. I loved many things they hated and vice versa.

In 2011 I received about a dozen emails from readers of the daily paper I wrote for at the time regarding my review for the critically-acclaimed Margaret, a naval-gazing art film that I still consider to be the worst movie of the 2010s. Half the letters thanked me for saving them 2 and a half hours of their lives; the other half were from people who ignored my warnings and regretted it.

My point here is that I tend to side more often with mainstream audiences than so-called informed critics, and theres no recent movie more evident of this chasm than Gigi & Nate. As of this writing, its critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes is 14 percent but the audience rating is 94 percent.

Not Top 10or 25

That said, this movie wont make my 2022 Top 10 list (or Top 25 for that matter), but it is nowhere near the train wreck the elitist critics are claiming it to be. Gigi & Nate wont win any awards, but it is something that will make you feel better about your fellow man.

Things get underway when Nate (Charlie Rowe, think a cross between Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Broderick) dives from a high peak into a North Carolina lake. As the day progress he begins to become increasingly disoriented and by late afternoon, he develops a migraine headache and the use of his limbs.

Charlie Rowe as wheelchair-bound Nate Gibson holds his service monkey Gigi as he speaks with Marcia Gay Harden as his mother Claire Gibson in Gigi & Nate.(Roadside Attractions)

As it turns out, the impact of the dive forced germ-riddled water into his ears and nose, and Nate is soon diagnosed with meningitis. He will never walk again but, luckily, he is able to escape any permanent mental disorder, which turns out to be a double-edged sword. Over the next four years, Nate (understandably) becomes ever more depressed and even contemplates ending it all.

In order to accommodate Nate, his parents sell their home, move to Nashville, and set him up in a converted green house. He begins physical therapy, and starts to paint (with a brush he holds with his teeth), but its a lonely existence.

Getting to Know You

Enter Gigi, a Capuchin monkey trained as a support animal, and Nates outlook and attitude take an immediate uptick. Wisely taking their time with the getting to know you phase of the story, screenwriter David Hudgins and director Nick Hamm make it clear that the bond between Gigi and Nate wont take place overnight, which greatly increases the narratives believability. Once Gigi gets comfortable and drops her guard, she and Nate become inseparable.

Up until this point, the closest the filmmakers have gotten to including anything resembling a villain is by painting Nates father, Dan (Jim Belushi, overdoing it), as an impatient, hotheaded wet blanket who frequently butts heads with his selfless wife Claire (Marcia Gay Harden) over the costs associated with Nates care. Nicks older sister Katy (Josephine Langford) is also not as empathetic as she could be during this stretch.

Its refreshing to see a movie where not every member of a family is perfect, and their faults are not softened or glossed over. Show me a perfect family, and Ill show you the same one with multiple bleeding ulcers and nervous breakdowns in their future.

With Nate and Gigi getting along like peas and carrots, theres not much more narrative ground to cover and were still only about an hour into the film. This is the point where the filmmakers do a whiplash-inducing 180, and overcorrect to such a degree, they effectively end the movie and start another.

The Karen

While at a grocery store, Nate and Claire are confronted by Chloe Gaines (Welker White), a complete Karen who admonishes them for allowing a monkey in the store. Its dangerous and a health risk, she says before exiting in a huff.

The family is visited by a police officer at their home who is clearly on their side and the problem goes away, that is, until video shot at a frat party attended by Nate and Gigi goes viral. Nobody gives Gigi alcohol and she doesnt attack anyone. The most dangerous thing she does is dance on a table.

Charlie Rowe as Nate Gibson takes a service money named Gigi in his road to a better life in Gigi & Nate. (Roadside Attractions)

This gives Chloe, the head of a militant, PETA-like organization, all the ammunition she needs to begin legal proceedings to separate Nate and Gigi. Its a kind of clever reworking of the Elvira Gulch, Dorothy Gale, and Toto scenario from the opening act of The Wizard of Oz.

However, changing feel good to contentious courtroom and radical cause themes wasnt the best storytelling move, and it is this awkward tonal shift in mood which obviously bothered some other critics to such a degree that they metaphorically tossed the baby out with the bath water.

Great Twists

To their immense credit, Hamm and Hudgins utilize the final 20 minutes quite well by tossing in two unexpected and thoroughly unpredictable twists.

Gigi & Nate wont change the world, but it will give (most of) you the warm and fuzzies. Sometimes thats all you need to take away from a movie.

Promotional ad about a wheelchair-bound Nate Gibson who gets the help he needs from a Capushin money in Gigi & Nate.(Roadside Attractions)

Gigi & Nate

Director: Nick Hamm

Stars: Charlie Rowe, Marcia Gay Harden, Jim Belushi, Josephine Langford, Welker White

Running Time: 1 hour, 54 minutes

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Release Date: Sept. 2, 2022

Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Australian citizens and visa holders prepare to board the Royal Australian Air Force C-17A Globemaster III aircraft, as Australian Army infantry personnel provide security and assist with cargo, at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan August 22, 2021. (SGT Glen McCarthy/ Australia's Department of Defence/Handout via Reuters)

Former Special Forces Sues Australian Public Broadcaster Over War Crime Allegations

Former special forces operative Heston Russell has filed a lawsuit against the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and journalistsJoshua Robertson and Mark Willacyover articles alleging he was involved in committing war crimes while on deployment in Afghanistan.

In a statement of claim filed with the Federal Court of Australia, Russells lawyers pointed to a November article published on the ABCs website that alleged he was suspected of committing war crimes by the Department of Defence and Office of the Special Investigator.

The article cited a former U.S. Marines helicopter crew chief that Russell said pinned responsibility on him for the killing of hogtied prisoner in Helmand Province in July 2012 because there was no room for him on the aircraft. A claim the ABC has denied.

The article was linked to an earlier piece in October that featured allegations from the U.S. Marines chiefa door gunner providing aerial cover for Australian soldiers.

Profile photo of Heston Russell, leader of the Australian Values Party, a veteran affairs advocate and former special forces operative. (Supplied)

By reason of the publication and republication of the November Article and Linked Article, Russell has been gravely injured in his character, his personal reputation, and his professional reputation as a former member of the armed forces and has suffered and will continue to suffer substantial hurt, distress and embarrassment, according to the statement of claim (pdf).

In response, the public broadcaster issued a statement to The Epoch Times saying, The ABC will defend its journalism on this important issue of public interest.

Russell also claimed he was not given an opportunity to respond to the allegations in the article by ABC.

In an editors note at the bottom of the article from November, the ABC stated that the story was amended on Jan. 19, 2022, to reflect Russells denial of any allegation.

Ongoing War Crimes Investigations

One of the journalists subject to the lawsuit, Mark Willacy, was awarded the Gold Walkley in 2020 for his work on alleged war crimes by Australian special forces.

His work also came amid the release of the Brereton Report into the alleged actions of Australian Defence Force personnel in Afghanistan, finding soldiers were responsible for the killing of 39 civilians or prisoners.

Former soldier and recently elected MP Keith Wolahan told Parliament on Sept. 5 that Australia needed to preference truth-telling over myth-making.

From the allegations in the Brereton Report to the fall of Kabul, we have a duty to face up to all that happened. Twenty-one years later, we can fairly ask: how did we reorder the world around us?

If we answer that question with humility, then we will recognise the limits of military power alone. If we answer that question with honesty, then we will have demonstrated that ours is an open and accountable democracy. That is something worth fighting for.
The Russian freighter "Ap Jadran" is unloaded from its hard coal cargo at the Baltic Sea harbor of Rostock, Germany, on Aug. 5, 2022. (Andreas Rinke/Reuters)

Germany Paying Billions for Russian Imports: Statistical Office

BERLINGermany imported goods from Russia valued at 2.9 billion euros ($2.95 billion) in July, according to data released on Monday, as elevated energy costs frustrated German efforts to wind down trade with Russia.

The value of German imports from Russia rose by 10.2 percent compared to July 2021, the Federal Statistical Office said.

The office attributed the surge mainly to higher prices, particularly in the energy sector, as cuts to Russian gas deliveries drive up energy bills for households and businesses in Europes largest economy.

In July, Germany imported crude oil and natural gas from Russia worth 1.4 billion euros, representing a 1.6 percent increase on the previous year, the office reported.

Imports of Russian coke and petroleum products were valued at 0.5 billion euros, up 72.5 percent, and imported Russian coal more than doubled in value to 0.3 billion euros.

While the value of imports from Russia rose, Germany was able to reduce the overall volume of goods imported from that country in July by 45.8 percent, the data showed.

Meanwhile, German exports to Russia fell by 56.8 percent in terms of value as Germany ramped up its export business with the United States and its neighbors France and the Netherlands.

($1 = 0.9831 euros)
Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., on Sept. 3, 2022. (Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images)

Getting Trump Supersedes Precedents and the Law

Commentary

U.S. presidents are members of an elite club. As leaders of the free world during their stints in the Oval Office, they are expected to uphold Western alliances and traditions, support and defend the U.S. Constitution, fairly execute the laws of the land, administer the federal bureaucracy (as head of the executive branch of the U.S. government), conduct foreign policy and international affairs, and other important tasks.

Various unwritten rulesessentially protocols, customs, and courtesieshave historically governed how members of the club are supposed to interact with each other in public. Call it presidential etiquette, if you will:

Act collegially in public settings.

Dont speak ill of members of the club.

Dont get into policy debates in public.

Uphold traditions, such as executive privilege.

Dont raid the homes of other club members.

Well, that last item probably isnt on the unwritten list. But one would have thought that there would have been no need to place it on a list of this kind in the first place!

The American left railed for the last six years about former President Donald Trumps supposed meanness and lack of grace and decorum (see here, here, and here). Perhaps the Democrat-media complex was not used to a Republican president who actually gave as good as he got (or better) in the relentless political wars that dominate discourse among the U.S. political class these days. They smiled approvingly at George W. Bushs ever-willing efforts to turn the other cheek when attacked politically. In contrast, they fumed and ground their teeth at Trumps mean tweets that exposed their lies and hypocrisies. Perhaps this is the core of Trump derangement syndrometheir inability to accept reality while swallowing their gaslighting, propaganda, and fabrications about Trump when he routinely exposed their lies on Twitter.

And this, perhaps, serves as a key motivating factor in the Democrats ceaseless attempts to get Trump by whatever means possible: impeachment (times two), forced resignation (pick your poison: Trump empire financial irregularities, tax code violations, the emoluments clause, Stormy Daniels, etc.), and now speculative indictments inferred by the Democrat-media complex surrounding the raid on his Mar-a-Lago home (again, pick your poison: nuclear secrets, illegal possession of highly classified documents, espionage), as well as the supposedly forthcoming indictment of Trump associated with the Democrats star chamber investigation of the Jan. 6 protest.

A local law enforcement officer 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)

But the criticism of Trump within the club has been bipartisan. George W. Bush got into the act in October 2019 when, as reported here, he deliver[ed] a searing rebuke of Trumpism, arguing that bigotry seems emboldened today, and weve seen nationalism distorted into nativism.' Barack Obama couldnt have said it better, but at least Bushunlike Obamadid not mention Trump by name in keeping with presidential protocols, decorum, and traditions.

To one extent, these bipartisan attacks on Trump are no surprise, as Trump is not a career politician, as are other members of the club. Nor is Trump tainted by the corruption of the Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Biden families. In fact, he is viewed as a direct threat, especially when he touched on the third rail of corruption when he expressed a desire to clean up corruption in Ukraine (a honey pot for corrupt dealings among the U.S. political class; and here).

Thus, it was perhaps inevitable that President Joe Biden would openly violate longstanding presidential protocols to get Trump. Here are three examples.

Executive Privilege

Bidens first break with executive privilege protocols occurred last October, as reported here: Biden said that he will waive the privilege and direct the National Archives to produce to congressional investigators record pertaining to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol [sic]. As those records predated his inauguration, the privilege was not his to waive, yet he did so to help congressional Democrats get Trump.

Biden repeated his performance in February 2022 as he waived Peter Navarros executive privilege claim to shield documents from the J6 committee.

Trumps executive privilege was violated again to precipitate the raid on his Mar-a-Lago home. Biden empowered the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to waive any claims to executive privilege that Trump might assert in blocking access to any (and apparently all) documents at his home.

As Alan Dershowitz stated on Aug. 23, [T]he idea that a sitting president can somehow waive the executive privilege of a previous president really wrecks the executive privilege, which is implicit in Article Two of the Constitution. You cant have a privilege, which then your political opponent can waive.

The Raid

The FBI executed a sealed search warrant on Aug. 8 to search Trumps Florida home for what press reports referred to as his retention and possession of unauthorized documents. Several former federal law enforcement personnel condemned the raid on a former presidents home as completely unprecedented and as much a political attack as a legal one. For example, Michael Tabman, a former FBI special agent-in-charge, stated that the raid was unprecedentedespecially for a non-sitting commander-in-chief and one who has indicated he might run again.

And then there are the shifting sands of reasons for the raid, as noted above, that follow the pattern of FBI/Justice Department leaks to the media associated with the FBIs Crossfire Hurricane get Trump operation.

Documents seized during the Aug. 8 raid by the FBI of former President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla, in a photo released on Aug. 30, 2022. (FBI via The Epoch Times)

Judd Garrett summarized the real purpose of the raid: This raid and all of the other attacks on Trump and his associates are not about the rule of law nor are they about protecting democracy; they are the exact opposite, a blatant attempt to circumvent the rule of law and thwart democracy. In short, get Trump at any costprotocols and precedence be damned.

The Speech

On Sept. 1, Biden attacked Trump by name in one of the most divisive presidential speeches in American history. Some have characterized the speech as a Declaration of War in demonic terms on the roughly half of the electorate who voted for [Trump].

How else could these words spoken by Biden be characterized: Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic?

Biden was hardly the first to break protocol in attacking Trump and his 75 million supporters during his Leni Riefenstahl speech at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Biden may have followed in the footsteps of Obama, who went public in a scathing attack on Trump in September 2018 (video here). The 10 elements of Obamas attack during that speech are summarized here. In fact, before Obama, one would be hard-pressed to identify a previous outburst by a member of the club against another.

Meanwhile, club members George W. Bush and Bill Clinton have remained silent about Bidens disgraceful speech.

Concluding Thoughts

A former U.S. president has never had his executive privilege claims waived by a sitting U.S. president. A former U.S. president has never had his home raided at the instigation of a sitting president. A former U.S. president has never been attacked by name, and his followers impugned as threats to democracy by a sitting U.S. president. So much for the unwritten presidential protocols of the club. Anything goes in service of the Democrats efforts to get Trump.

Will turnabout be fair play with an America First Republican in the Oval Office in the future?

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
GOP Senators Led by Lindsey Graham Speak Out Against Trumps Promise of Pardons for Jan. 6 Defendants

A group of GOP senators led by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) expressed opposition to a suggestion by former President Donald Trump that he would pardon Jan. 6 defendants if he returned to the Oval Office in 2025.

Trump has on several occasions decried the treatment of Jan. 6 defendants and hinted at the possibility of a presidential pardon.

During a Sept. 1 appearance on the show of Wendy Bell, a conservative radio host, Trump said he would both pardon and apologize to his supporters who had faced legal action in the aftermath of Jan. 6.

I mean full pardons with an apology to many, Trump said.

Several members of his party, however, have expressed opposition to the proposal.

In a Sept. 12 report by The Hill, Graham said that pardons for Jan. 6 defendants are a bad idea.

Pardons are given to people who admit misconduct, rehabilitate themselves. Theyre not supposed to be used for other purposes, Graham argued.

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), a Trump ally, agreed.

I dont think potential candidates should hold pardons out as a promise, said Cramer to The Hill. Its somewhat problematic for me on a moral level and an ethical levelsort of like promising other giveaways to particular individuals. I prefer avoiding those kinds of things.

If he were elected, he would have a constitutional ability to do it, Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said of potential pardons. I would disagree with it. I think there was insurrection and I think these folks need to be punished.

I was there. This was truly violent. People were injured, people were killed. I have very little mercy for the individuals that were involved in that activity that day, Rounds told The Hill.

The only people that get pardoned are people who are charged with crimes. If they were charged with crimes, they ought to be prosecuted like everybody else, Senate Republican Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) told The Hill. The rule of law applies. If people broke laws, they need to be held accountable.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) has also come out against the proposal.

The Jan. 6 riot was an attack on the temple of democracy, and the people who violated the law, attacked our law enforcement and besmirched our nations Capitol should be prosecuted according to the law, and certainly should not be pardoned, Romney said in The Hills report. Its a grossly inappropriate comment to make.

Though Trump remains an influential force among Senate Republicans, many GOP senators have been largely tight-lipped about the Jan. 6 Stop the Steal rally.

Trump has feuded publicly with a handful of Senate Republicansmost notably with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)but most have been anxious to avoid striking too critical a tone against the former president because of his continued influence in the party.

Concern About Jan. 6 Defendants

Trumps comments musing on pardoning several Jan. 6 defendants fit into a larger debate over the treatment of these detainees.

In an interview with The Epoch Times, Cynthia Hughes, founder of the Jan. 6 defendant advocacy group Patriot Freedom Project, discussed the despicable conditions that have been faced by her nephew, a nonviolent offender arrested in the DOJ roundup of Jan. 6 defendants after the rally.

After entering the D.C. jail in January 2021, Hughess nephew, Tim Hale-Cusanelli, and other Jan. 6 defendants were held in solitary confinement and only allowed outside of their cells one hour per day, Hughes said.

Defendants still dont get to go outside, they dont get to see the sun, she added. I anticipate many will have serious health issues.

If you have a medical problem, youre not seeing a doctor, she continued. Tim has had two very significant ear infections, so bad that it caused bleeding from the ear, and he never got to see a doctor. He got to see a nurse practitioner, and they flushed his ear out with peroxide and gave him some penicillin.

Hes got significant hearing loss in both of his ears right now, Hughes added.

Hughes described other conditions faced by detainees as well.

Until very recently, Hughes said, detainees who met with their lawyers were confined to solitary confinement for two weeks, purportedly on grounds of COVID. However, she believes the measure was more intended to be punitive than anything.

Detainees have faced other indignities as well: Lots of strip search, their cells get raided, theyre mocked, theyre spoken down to, you cant mail packages [to detainees].

She added, I think the biggest thing of all that people should know: theyre denied religious services.

Pardon Has Some GOP Supporters

Against prominent voices like Graham and Romney, who oppose a pardon, not every Republican in the Senate has been so quick to dismiss the suggestion.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), one of Trumps most consistent allies in the upper chamber, said that he would conditionally support some Jan. 6 pardons to counter the Department of Justices (DOJ) wide-reaching prosecutorial push against Jan. 6 participants.

Lets see which ones he would choose to do, Hawley said in The Hill report. Theres no question it has been a massive prosecutorial effort.

Hawley continued, citing concerns over the wide net cast by the DOJ since the federal government began rounding up Jan. 6 participants in 2021.

I think that the folks who committed crimes, particularly violent crimes, on that day ought to be prosecuted, Hawley opined. I think the question becomes, are there people whove been caught up in this drag net who, for instance, didnt know that they were trespassing?

Theres a lot of concern about, frankly, the double standard at [the Department of Justice] going after people who may have at most trespassed on federal property and not even known they did it versus folks who have, in [Black Lives Matter] riots, committed violent crimes and not been prosecuted, he said. There absolutely is undeniably a double standard.

Violent Versus Nonviolent Protesters

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who joined Hawley in January 2021 in objecting to the certification of electoral slates from contested battleground states, expressed the same sentiments to The Hill, drawing a distinction between those who perpetrated violence that day and those who were peaceful. People from both camps have been pulled into DOJ custody since 2021.

I think there is a stark difference between acts of violence and peaceful protest. Acts of violence are unacceptable from any political perspective. Peaceful protest is protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution, Cruz said.

The DOJ turns a blind eye to the violence of rioters and looters who destroyed businesses and set fire to American cities in 2020, but the agency eagerly targets those who dare to speak out on the other side, he said.

This past week it got so bad that Joe Biden, bathed in red light, decreed that half the nation are fascists because they dare to disagree with his socialist policies, Cruz said. What DOJ is doing, targeting the political enemies of the White House, is corrupt and incredibly harmful.

Many GOP members in the Housemost notably Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), and Louie Gohmert (R-Texas)have worked to bring attention to the treatment Jan. 6 defendants face.

Several Republicans in the House who have advocated for these defendants have distinguished nonviolent from violent offenders. Because the protestors technically were not legally permitted to enter the Capitol, many of those arrested were charged only with trespassing.

Trumps comments on potential pardons do not make clear whether he would grant a blanket pardon or targeted pardons that would hinge on the nature of the crimes the defendants were charged with. In their comments, Hawley and Cruz seemed to suggest that they favored, or at least did not necessarily oppose, pardons for nonviolent offenders.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (C) announced the 2022 Florida Python Challenge on June 16, 2022. (Screenshot The Florida Channel via The Epoch Times)

Gov. DeSantis Activates National Guard at Florida State Prisons

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has activated the state National Guard in a bid to aid corrections officers amid staffing issues at prisons.

The Department of Corrections is authorized to employ over 20,000 correctional and correctional probation officers, almost a quarter of all state employees, the governors order states, noting that theres currently a severe shortage of officers that threatens the safety of inmates, officers, and the public.

The states corrections agency said that National Guard members will be deployed as a supplemental measure to security posts at some institutions. They will be supervised by respective prison wardens or similar staff, the agency said.

We think, as we continue to hire and reduce the stress on the compounds, the existing officers are going to want to stay because theyre not going to work that amount of overtime theyre currently working, Department of Corrections Chief Financial Officer Mark Tallent told WPTV. Theyre going to have a better family life, be able to get out of the institution more. We definitely think were trending in the right direction.

The Guard members wont be expected to directly supervise inmates, according to DeSantiss order.

Members of the Guard have the training and capability to assist Floridas correctional officers with certain duties, such as manning guard towers, perimeter patrols, and control stations, which will allow the correctional officers to concentrate on directly supervising and caring for inmates, the Republican governors order reads.

Financial Incentives

Earlier this year, DeSantis approved a pay increase to recruit and retrain current corrections officers.

Florida National Guard Lt. Col. Peter Jennison told the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper that he expects all the Guard members who are assigned would volunteer for the prison assignments.

Tallent said that as many as 300 National Guard members would be deployed.

We think well be able to right-size ourselves by the end of the fiscal year, he said.

Democrats in the state Legislature expressed concerns about DeSantiss order. A leader within the Florida Democratic caucus said the Legislature has ignored funding of the Department of Corrections for years.

Florida has ignored this agency and ignored this problem, and underfunded this agency for years, Democrat House Minority Leader-designate Rep. Fentrice Driskell said on Sept. 9. Now, it looks like the governor wants to activate the Florida National Guard, which will take people away from their homes, their families, and their jobs.

Nonetheless, members of the Joint Legislative Budget Commission voted on Sept. 9 to approve sending Florida National Guard members to the prisons. The GOP and most Democrats supported the plan, with Sen. Audrey Gibson and Rep. Ramon Alexander opposing it.

Shortly after the vote, DeSantis activated the Guard via executive order, local media reported.
Green Party MP for Kitchener Centre Mike Morrice rises in the House of Commons, November 29, 2021 in Ottawa.(The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld)

Green Party MPs Threaten to Leave, Sit as Independents If Leadership Race Suspended

The two Green Party MPs have threatened to leave the party and sit as Independents if the leadership race is suspended, according to an internal email obtained by The Canadian Press.

Elizabeth May and Mike Morrice are raising concerns over the ongoing turmoil and conflict within the party.

An email sent to party brass from Morrices office Friday says suspending the race or carrying out proposed plans to close its office space would cause irreversible damage, adding that the Greens are at a crossroads.

Late last week, party president Lorraine Rekmans resigned in a letter that told members, there is no vision for a better future.

Morrice and four of the six leadership candidates recently issued a joint statement to condemn the misgendering of interim leader Amita Kuttnerwho is transgender and nonbinaryin a party Zoom event, though they commended Rekmans for an immediate apology.

The Greens launched a leadership contest this summer to find a replacement for Annamie Paul, who resigned after a disappointing showing in the 2021 election.
Men in white T-shirts and face masks attack anti-extradition bill demonstrators and reporters at a train station in Hong Kong, on July 21, 2019, in this still image obtained from a social media live video. (Courtesy of Stand News/Social Media via Reuters)

HK Judge Lenient With Triad Member Convicted in Violent Yuen Long Attack

Netizens: 'Hong Kong judiciary is a joke'

It has been more than three years since the July 21 attack on the Yuen Long Station platform in Hong Kong in 2019. Seven people, including gang leader Ng Wai-nam, better known to his peers as Fei Tin Nam, were earlier convicted of rioting. Another defendant, Ching Wai-ming, was convicted of rioting by the District Court and the case was then moved to West Kowloon Law Courts, for a follow-up hearing on Sept. 7.

The presiding judge believed that this man in white (Ching) did make an agreement to hurt people that night, but what he did was just a small punishment to prevent them [the victims] from their future bigger fall. He thought this was different from the usual gangland warfare episodes of hiring hitmen for some vicious intention that have occurred before.

Based on this premise, the court decided that the charge of conspiracy to wound with intent could not be established. Instead, Ching was convicted of conspiracy to wound, which carries a lighter penalty and shorter maximum sentence.

Netizens slammed the ruling as absurd and mocked the Hong Kongs judiciary for being a laughingstock. They questioned the judges implicit boasting of violence as an encouragement to settle disputes through private duels. The judges assertion that the defendants behaviour by indiscriminately beating anyone in sight is something positive and indeed helping the victims in their future endeavours is utterly untenable.

After the verdict, Ching Wai-ming, 63, was remanded in custody and will return to court on Oct. 27 to plead for leniency and await sentencing. The prosecution revealed that Ching had 12 prior criminal records involving triad activities and violence.

Including Ching, a total of eight people clad in white have been convicted so far. Section 17 of the Offences against the Person Ordinance conspiracy to wound with intent (Wound 17) carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. When tried in the District Court the maximum penalty is seven years imprisonment. Section 19 (Wound 19) for conspiracy to wound, however, carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison.

Deputy District Judge Newman Wong Hing-wai pointed out that according to the video footage entered as evidence, he judged the situation at the Yuen Long Station concourse and platform from 10:40 to 11:14 on that night (July 21, 2019) to be consistent with the description provided by the prosecution.

In the beginning, at least 10 men in white clothing entered Yuen Long Station with canes and sticks to attack several men in black clothes. After the attack, the men dressed in white left Yuen Long Station.

Some while later, a swarm of white-clothed men entered Yuen Long Station again, mostly holding wooden sticks and red flags, and then scolded the black-clothed men inside the gate, threw objects at them, slapped the gate, and beat the black-clothed men with sticks.

Afterwards, hundreds of men in white walked onto the platform with weapons, and chased, beat, and intimidated the passengers on the train.

The attack continued until the train left the platform. The judge ruled that the people in white gathered at Fung Yau Street on the night of July 21 and set out for Yuen Long Station, and affirmed that the people in white participated in the riot at Yuen Long Station. Their actions included attacking the black-clothed men and their companions, yelling, throwing objects at them, and slapping facilities, which violated social peace in public.

The judge pointed out that when the defendant entered Yuen Long Station for the first time, he and 5 to 8 other people attacked a man in grey. He did that with his bare hands and a cane, then slowly walked away looking smug.

The judge pointed out that when one witness was attacked in the passageway inside Yuen Long Station, the defendant also joined that battalion to attack him. Afterwards, more people in white arrived at the scene, and the defendant repeatedly waved at the newcomers to get more of his people to the platform.

The judge ruled that the defendant had participated in the riot at Yuen Long Station that day, attacked others many times, and encouraged other men in white to set off towards the platform, so he was convicted of rioting.

Judge: Small Punishment as a Good Warning

However, regarding the defendants other charge, conspiracy to wound with intent (Wound 17), Justice Wong said he believed that Ching had agreed to use force and physically harm the men in black and their companions but on the point of whether they conspired to do that and cause serious bodily injury to the victims, he had reservations about making that conclusion.

The judge believed that the attackers intention was to prevent the black-clothed men from going to Yuen Long and to use force to intimidate the other party. Such small punishment as a good warning may have achieved the purpose, which is different from the general gangland triad revenge of hiring a knifeman to hurt someone.

Although some witnesses pointed to a man in white sharpening a stick, the judge believed it was just an isolated incident. The judge said that the defendant did not hold a weapon when he first entered the station, and later just used a cane to attack, and the witnesses, in this case, were not the most seriously injured.

He also pointed out that if the prosecution wanted to prove that someone was seriously injured, it should give evidence of that. Based on this, the more serious charge of conspiracy to wound with intent could not be established, and the defendant was convicted of conspiracy to wound instead.

Upon hearing the verdict, netizens criticized the ruling as absurd and said Hong Kongs judiciary has become a laughingstock. They even questioned the judges implicit boasting about using violence to settle private disputes. Since there were no lethal weapons involved, should the defendant be awarded a good citizen medal for his solemn act?

Data shows that, more than three years after the Yuen Long attack, the Hong Kong police have arrested a total of 66 people, including 51 who dressed in white and 15 others. Among them, 10 people in white were charged, and eight people including Ching Wai-ming have been convicted to date. Of the eight non-white-clad who were charged, seven plan to plead not guilty. The remaining person will be re-tried in the District Court later.
'God gives his biggest warriors the hardest battles,' says the bride

Holding firm to their faith, a God-loving couple not only honored their predestined connection to be a husband and wife but also overcame one of the toughest hardships of their life, together. The groom, who was battling cancer of the brain and spine, was declared cancer-free in Augustjust about four months after marrying his high school sweetheart in a hospital.

Hairstylist Madison Stroup, 24, and life insurance agent Zach Stroup, 26, live outside of Fort Collins, Colorado, where both were born and raised. But their wedding day was not the event they always envisioned. When Zach was first diagnosed with aggressive stage 4 cancer in 2020, non-Hodgkins lymphoma in his liver and lungs, the couple were beyond shocked.

I wasnt scared, Zach told The Epoch Times, I was just super angry because I felt like I had done everything right, health-wise. Madison was sitting there bawling her eyes out, and there was just nothing I could do about it but prepare myself for the fight to come.

Madison added: I dont think I personally could have done it without having faith, trying to send my worries somewhere else, and trying to trust that God isnt going to give us anything we cant handle. I always told Zach, every day, God gives his biggest warriors the hardest battles.

Faith has played a huge role in both of our lives, and it will continue to be that way. That is the stepping stone in our marriage as well.

(Courtesy of Madison Stroup)

(Courtesy of Madison Stroup)

(Courtesy of Madison Stroup)

I Knew He Was a Fighter

Zach went into remission in March of 2021 and the couple got engaged, but their fight wasnt over. Later that year, Zach developed a tumor on his spinal cord, and in March 2022, after five rounds of chemotherapy, an MRI revealed that the treatment had stopped working. The cancer had spread to Zachs brain.

Madison said: I felt like my worst nightmare was coming true. All of the worst thoughts were going through my head, thinking how am I going to do this life without him? But I knew he was a fighter.

The couple had already postponed two wedding dates, owing to Zachs cancer battle, in January and May of 2022, but Zach was still hospitalized.

We really, really didnt want to miss out on any opportunities, she said. I am so in love with Zach and my dream was to marry him; I didnt want anything to happen and for us to have regrets, and miss out on the opportunity of being able to share our love under God.

Our social worker was trying to bring some light into our lives because we were just so defeated. [She] brought up the idea, Why dont we have a wedding for you here? Zach and I looked at each other and we were like, Yeah, lets do it, why not?

(Courtesy of Madison Stroup)

Within 48 hours, nurses and social workers had rallied together, ordering a cake, decorations, and a bouquet for the bride for the April 15 ceremony. Madisons parents collected hers and Zachs wedding outfits, and Madisons father, Chris, came to the hospital to help the groom get ready.

Zach said: He even brought me his dress shoes to wear, helping me out in the bathroom, shaving, and getting myself looking good enough to get married. I was just super excited and relieved that I actually made it to that point.

The Wedding

Madison remembers getting ready in the bone marrow transplant ward with her mother and the nurses, one floor beneath her husband-to-be, who was in the oncology ward.

One of the charge nurses came in on her day off and did my hair and makeup, she said. My dress wasnt hemmed yet, because we had postponed our wedding, so she took a whole bunch of safety pins and pinned my dress. I remember going up to the fourth floor  my dads standing there. Of course, hes crying; Im crying. Then all the other patients are standing outside of their rooms watching us get married. I start walking down this long hospital hallway, and I see all of these nurses and doctors. They all had their cameras out, and they were dressed up.

Madison turned the corner to see Zach in his wheelchair, hooked up to his chemo treatment and a pain pump. But what she remembers best is the smile on his face.

I knew that he was fighting so hard to just be there, she said. Being able to get married to him that day was the best day of my life. Even though it wasnt the wedding that we initially thought, it really couldnt have been any better.

(Courtesy of Madison Stroup)

(Courtesy of Madison Stroup)

God Is Real

Zach and Madison met in a high school catering class in 2015. Graduating the year before Madison, Zach took a chance and messaged her on social media. We just fell in love so quickly, Zach reflected. Its just been perfect ever since; shes all that I could ever ask for in a wife and as a soul mate.

Madison said Zach was always a healthy person and never got sick. So when he began losing weight, complaining of achy joints, and had more frequent visits to the bathroom in February 2020, she took notice. Zach was diagnosed with Crohns disease two months later and expected to feel better with medication, but his weight loss persisted alongside night fevers and itchy skin.

She said: We took him to the hospital thinking that maybe he was just having a really bad Crohns flare up. They did a CT scan, and about 10 minutes later, the doctor walked in and looked like he had seen a ghost. Cancer never crossed our minds.

The couple have leaned on faith and family since the beginning of Zachs cancer battle.

He said: I remember back in February and March, when I was doing physical therapy every day, that was definitely the hardest time because I was the weakest then, the most immobile. Id always pray like really late at night. And whenever I prayed, I always lost all my anxiety. I almost felt calm and I was actually able to go to sleep.

Thats my testimony; it guides me to believe that God is real.

(Courtesy of Madison Stroup)

The Battle With Cancer

After Zachs initial bone marrow biopsy, PET scan, and lumbar puncture, he started treatments right away. He soldiered through six rounds of intense chemotherapy, but, contrary to doctors predictions, he started feeling worse. He dropped from 240 pounds to around 165 pounds, and by September 2021, a tingling in his feet started shooting up the back of his legs.

Madison, who was researching Zachs type of cancer, worried that he had a problem with his central nervous system. Zachs oncologist suspected peripheral neuropathy from his chemotherapy treatment, but one day in November 2021, Zach woke up numb from the waist down. He walked into an MRI appointment, but by the time the scan was over, he was completely paralyzed.

He was transferred into the care of blood cancer specialists at Presbyterian St. Lukes in Denver.

We didnt really have much time to think because two doctors, a PA, and five nurses come rushing in and started doing lumbar punctures, bone marrow biopsies, PICC (Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter) line placements, and blood work, Madison said. The neurosurgeon said they had found a tumor in Zachs spinal cord. They needed to operate right away, or he risked being paralyzed permanently.

(Courtesy of Madison Stroup)

Zach pulled through surgery, and shifted his focus to working on the impaired mobility on the right side of his body. In the hospital for further chemo between January and March, he had to learn how to write, tie his shoes, brush his teeth, and go to the bathroom by himself all over again. He also suffered infections, sepsis, and a punctured lung.

Then, an emergency surgery for his perforated colon put his life on the line once again.

His colon had a hole in it and was leaking into his body, Madison explained. From what we were told, perforations of the bowel have about a 40 percent mortality rate.

I remember asking the nurse, Is Zach going to die tonight? She grabbed me and told me, We are going to do everything we possibly can to prevent that from happening  you need to not give up on your husband, because hes not going to give up on you. I took that seriously.

Zach rings the bell after being declared cancer-free. (Courtesy of Madison Stroup)

The colorectal surgeon claimed Zachs successful surgery was a true miracle. Zach was left with a feeding tube and ileostomy bag, reminders of his ongoing battle.

Then, on June 6, Zach was approved for a bone marrow transplant. It worked. And he was declared cancer-free on Aug. 16.

God on My Side

Madison, who had been praying for Zachs recovery every single night, shared that when they got the news that the lesion in Zachs brain was completely gone, and that the lesion that was in his spinal cord was now merely some residual scar tissue, she almost didnt believe it.

It was really hard for me to comprehend that chemotherapy and hospital visits were over with. We finally were at the light at the end of the tunnel; it was the most amazing thing, Madison said.

Zach said: I had so many different obstacles against me throughout the past five months where I probably should have passed away. But I persevered through all those, and I really felt like I had God on my side. When the doctor came in and told us that I was cancer-free, I felt like we finally received something positive. I knew I still had a lot to go, because Im still in the process of recovering and trying to walk again, but that was one huge step to becoming normal again.

What keeps Zach strong is the unconditional love of his wife, and the future theyll now be able to share together.

I knew that once I get through all this, we live our lives happy, just everything that we ever wanted, he said. It was hard, but I kept looking forward to the end goal.

Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Inspired newsletter at TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter
A bus carrying illegal immigrants sent from Texas arrives at Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York on Aug. 10, 2022. (Yuki Iwamura/AFP via Getty Images)

Illegal Immigrants Bussed to Chicago Now Being Sent to Other Illinois Communities

Asylum seekers illegally crossing the border into Texas and then bussed to Chicago are now being sent out to other communities.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott started bussing migrants to Washington, New York, and then Chicago to protest the Biden administrations immigration policies. As of last week, Texas has sent more than 300 illegal immigrants to Chicago and thousands to New York and Washington.

A majority of the illegal immigrants bussed to Illinois reportedly are from Venezuela, a country experiencing an economic crisis that has resulted in millions fleeing their homeland.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser has declared a public health emergency in response to the continued arrival of illegal immigrants.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who has declared a COVID-19 public health emergency every month since the pandemic began and recently issued another public health emergency for monkeypox, has not said whether the incoming illegal immigrants will prompt another such response.

We are going to make sure they have a place to live, we are going to make sure they are able to get fed and get health care, Pritzker said.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has repeatedly clashed with Abbott over his bussing initiative. Adams sent a delegation to the southern border with Mexico this week on a fact-finding mission. Abbott had invited the mayors of the three sanctuary cities to the border to see firsthand what Texas is dealing with. Abbott blames President Joe Biden and his lax border policies for the influx of foreign nationals entering the country since January 2021.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has been highly critical of Abbott for not providing her with advance notice that they were arriving.

Do the right thing and collaborate and cooperate, instead of us having to guess whether theyre coming or not coming, how many and what are their needs, Lightfoot said. That is insanity that doesnt have to happen.

A busload of illegal immigrants were sent from a shelter in Chicago to a hotel in the southwest suburb of Burr Ridge Thursday. Mayor Gary Grasso said he nor any village officials were consulted or contacted about the decisions to send refugees to his community.

On Thursday, the Greater Chicago Food Depository delivered a pallet of food for the refugees. They are expected to live at the hotel until they find housing and employment.

Burr Ridge officials note that earlier this year, the village hosted asylum seekers from Afghanistan, who have now found permanent housing and employment.

Pritzkers opponent in the November election, Sen. Darren Bailey, issued a statement on the refugee situation.

The failures lie with J.B. Pritzker and his pal Joe Biden, who has created a crisis at the border. Pritzker should demand that Biden secure the border and in the meantime, provide the resources to care for these people. If J.B. wont do that, he should put them in one of his Hyatts on his own dime.

Pritzker is a billionaire heir to the Hyatt Hotel chain.
Judge Set to Hear Trump and DOJ Picks for Special Master

A quick review of four people selected for being an independent arbiter

Former President Donald Trump and the Justice Department (DOJ) have each submitted two candidates to serve as an independent special master to review documents the FBI seized from the former presidents Mar-a-Lago residence last month.

The four candidates for the position were revealed on Sept. 9 in an eight-page filing (pdf) with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. According to the court filing, Trumps legal team and the DOJ will advise the Court about their respective positions on the other partys proposed candidates on Sept. 12.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon on Sept. 5 granted Trumps request to have a special master independently review seized documents that may be protected by attorney-client or executive privilege. Days later, The DOJ filed an appeal against the judges order, arguing that doing so would place irreparable harm to U.S. national security.

Aside from the question of who will serve as special master, Trumps legal team and the DOJ are apart on the scope of duties the individual would have. Lawyers for Trump want the special master to review all seized materials, including documents with classification markings, but the DOJ said it does not believe the individual should be permitted to review any classified records or consider potential claims of executive privilege.

The four candidates that Trump and the DOJ have proposed as potential special masters are as follows.

Trumps Choices

The first of two Trumps choices is Raymond J. Dearie, who began his federal judicial service in 1986, the year he was nominated by then-President Ronald Regan and confirmed by the Senate to be a U.S. district judge for the Eastern District of New York.

Beginning in 2007, he became the courts chief judge, a position he held until 2011. That year, he also assumed senior status on the court, allowing him to handle a reduced caseload in a semi-retired state.

From 1982 to 1986, Dearie served as a U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

Later, Dearie served on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) from 2012 to 2019. The FISA court reviews applications submitted by the U.S. government for approval of electronic surveillance, physical research, and other activities for foreign intelligence purposes.

Trumps second pick is Paul Huck Jr., who is the founder of the Huck Law firm and former partner at the multinational law firm Jones Day, according to the court filing.

Previously, Huck served as Florida deputy attorney general from 2003 to 2007, during the time when Charlie Crist was the states attorney general. At that time, he was involved in overseeing the prosecution of cases involving health care, telecommunications, and pharmaceutical industries, according to his webpage on The Federalist Society.

From 2007 to 2008, Huck served as general counsel to Crist, a Republican at the time and the governor of Florida. During the two-year span, he was the top legal advisor to Crist on constitutional, legislative, and statutory issues involving the executive branch.

In 2020, after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, Hucks wife, Barbara Lagoa, was on Trumps list of potential Supreme Court nominees.

DOJs Choices

The DOJ chose Barbara S. Jones, a retired federal judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. She was nominated to the post by then-President Bill Clinton in 1995.

As a U.S. judge from 1995 until 2012 Jones presided over a wide range of cases, including accounting and securities fraud, antitrust, fraud and corruption, labor racketeering, and terrorism.

She retired in 2013 after 17 years on the bench. Currently, she is a partner for Bracewell LLP, where she focuses on corporate monitorships, compliance issues, internal investigations and arbitrations, and mediations, according to her webpage with the law firm.

Before becoming a judge, she was the first assistant to Robert Morgenthau, then-district attorney of New York County, for several years.

In 2018, Jones was a special master to review documents seized from Michael Cohen, Trumps former attorney. In 2021, she took on the same role to review materials seized for two different casesformer New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and Project Veritas.

Thomas Griffith, who is the DOJs other pick, served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 2005 to 2020, after he was nominated to the position by then-President George W. Bush.

Before his judicial career, Griffith served as legal counsel for the Senate from 1995 to 1999. For the next five years, he was general counsel to Brigham Young University in Utah.

In April 2021, President Joe Biden appointed Griffith to a presidential commission tasked with exploring reforms to the Supreme Court. At the time, the creation of the commission drew criticism from GOP lawmakers, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) saying it was a direct assault on our nations independent judiciary.

Currently, Griffith is a special counsel at Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP and a lecturer of law at Harvard University.
The Big Buddha at Ngong Ping, Lantau Island, in Hong Kong, is shown in this undated file photo. (Melanie Sun/The Epoch Times)

Kyrgyzstans Ancient Buddhist Temple Will Be Opened to the Public

The unearthed remnants of an ancient Buddhist temple in Kyrgyzstan will be opened to the public in mid-September as part of UNESCOs Krasnaya Rechka world heritage site, according to reports.

The ancient Buddhist temple, which was built over 1,000 years ago, was the second temple discovered near the northern part of Krasnaya Rechka (City of Nevaket) in 2010.

Valery Kolchenko, a local archaeologist, told Radio Free Europe that the temple is the only remaining site made entirely of clay. It housed a 36-foot statue of a Buddha in nirvana, parts of which were placed in a Russian heritage museum in St. Petersburg.

All of our medieval archaeological sites are made of clay. We dont have stone ones; we practically dont have brick ones, with rare exceptions. Its all made of clay, Kolchenko said.

Kolchenko said the statue was built from brick with clay smeared on top to form the shape of his clothes, hands, and head. But he noted that the Buddha statue could not be seen in its entirety.

A Buddhist couldnt even see him in his entirety because the walls wouldnt allow it. Only a part of the face, arms, and legs could be seen. But even to touch this was to acquire some form of sanctity, he said.

The ancient temple was rehabilitated as part of a collaboration initiative between UNESCO and the European Union, and it was located along the Silk Road at the Changan-Tianshan corridor.

According to UNESCOs world heritage website, the corridor stretches 5,000 kilometers (3,106 miles) from Chinas Changan to the Zhetysu region in Kazakhstan. It includes 33 recognized sites, eight of which are in Kazakhstan, 22 in China, and three in Kyrgyzstan.

The three recognized sites in Kyrgyzstan are the City of Suyabwhere the ancient site of Ak-Beshim is locatedthe City of Balasaun, and the City of Nevaket, which hosts the Krasnaya Rechka village.
A syringe is prepared with COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination clinic in Montreal, on March 15, 2021. (The Canadian Press/Paul Chiasson)

Low Uptake of COVID-19 Vaccine Among Pregnant Women: NACI Report

Expectant mothers appear more hesitant to receive COVID-19 shots than the general population, as unpublished data show that vaccination rates for this group are much lower than the national average, says a report by the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI).

The uptake of Covid-19 vaccine has been lower among pregnant people compared to non-pregnant people in Canada, said the report, titled Updated Guidance On Covid-19 Vaccines For Individuals Who Are Pregnant Or Breastfeeding, published on Sept. 9, and first reported by Blacklocks Reporter.

Preliminary unpublished evidence in Ontario indicates that primary series vaccine coverage among pregnant people (71%) was 16 percentage points lower than in the general female population of reproductive age in Ontario by the end of 2021.

NACI has been recommending pregnant women get vaccinated against COVID-19 since May 2021. The report says that since the advisory committee began studying the vaccines for pregnant women additional evidence has accumulated further supporting the safety of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines in pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Pregnant persons vaccinated with an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy experience the same rates of expected local and systemic adverse events as non-pregnant persons, the committee wrote.

Vaccination during pregnancy does not increase risk for miscarriage, stillbirth, low birth weight, preterm birth, NICU [neonatal intensive care unit] admission, or other adverse pregnancy/birth outcomes.

NACI said in the report that their advice and recommendations were based upon the best current available scientific knowledge.

In an update by the Public Health Agency of Canada on Sept. 2, adverse events caused by COVID vaccination show five fetal growth restrictions and 85 spontaneous abortions as of Aug. 19 for all brands of COVID-19 vaccines. The data were excluded from a total of 370 deaths reported following vaccination.

The Pfizer-BioNTech product is associated with all five fetal growth restrictions and 64 spontaneous abortions. It is by far the most administered COVID-19 injection in Canada, with over 66 percent of total doses, as of Aug. 14.

Pfizer Halts Clinical Trial on Pregnant Women

An internal Pfizer email thread that was recently disclosed as evidence in a court case challenging the governments COVID-19 vaccine mandate for travellers, said the drug companys clinical trials on pregnant women have been discontinued.

The study enrolment was stopped with incomplete numbers because recruitment was slow and it became unreasonable/inappropriate to randomise pregnant women to placebo given the amount of observational evidence that the vaccine is safe and effective, coupled with increasing number of technical committees supporting immunization of pregnant women, said Jelena Vojicic, vaccines medical lead at Pfizer Canada, in an April 4 email.

Vojicic was responding to Dr. Eliana Castillo, a professor of medicine at the University of Calgary, asking why Pfizer had stopped enrolling subjects for its pregnancy trial, and if enrolment was complete.

Pfizer and BioNTech had announced via a press release on Feb. 18, 2021, that the first participant in its global trial had been dosed to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of their BNT162b2 vaccine in pregnant women.

No subsequent press release on the trial was ever published.

The Epoch Times contacted Pfizer Canada to confirm the termination of the trial and the associated rationale but didnt hear back.

The Epoch Times also reached out to Health Canada to find out if Pfizer had told the agency it was not pursuing its clinical trial on pregnant women and if this was a concern for them. An unidentified spokesperson deferred comment to Pfizer.

Noe Chartier contributed to this report.
Last week, I helped Mary Ann, a 70-year-old newlywed, solve a vexing problem in a home she and her husband bought. In just 15 minutes, using my transcribed phone call service, I saved them perhaps $5,000. I shared a time-tested way they could match the stain on a wood-paneled room.

Their problem was sun damage to the walls of a wood-paneled room. Framed pictures, diplomas and certificates had shielded some areas of the paneling from the sun, which were revealed once the original owner moved out.

Some wood species  cherry, for example  are photo reactive. Some clear wood finishes, especially oil-based ones, also change color in response to sunlight or even artificial light. Sunlight is the most destructive, as some of the invisible ultraviolet (UV) rays contain destructive photons that crash into furniture, carpets, wood paneling, etc., wreaking havoc on a microscopic level.

This is why the original copies of the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence are in a dimly lit hall in the National Archives Building in Washington D.C. No doubt the protective glass that covers them also has some sort of special coating to prevent photons from reaching the ink and paper.

Now, back to the newlyweds wood paneling problem. Fortunately, I had firsthand experience making light-colored areas on woodwork disappear. Many years ago, while completing a very difficult remodeling job for my only customer-from-hell, my painters hadnt perfectly matched the new wood trim in a giant room addition I had built. The trim was missing a slight amount of red pigment, and the owner insisted I strip all the trim and solid-wood doors and start over.

Knowing there had to be another way, I slept on it. In the middle of the night, a voice in a dream said: Silly, all you have to do is add some red pigment to the clear urethane. Its no different from putting a transparent piece of colored film in front of a camera lens to change the color of what the eye is seeing.

I woke up, went to the paint store and had a quart of urethane tinted with a small amount of red pigment. My guardian angel must have been helping the employee while he squirted in the few drops of colored liquid because it turned out to be the perfect amount. What luck to get it right the first time!

When I put a coat of this colored urethane on the woodwork, as well as a scrap we had stained, it was a perfect match.

Heres what I shared with Mary Ann. Step one is to carefully clean the existing wood paneling. I recommended using a mild liquid dish soap and water. Its mission-critical that the sponge is just damp and that no water runs down the paneling to get behind any pieces of wood trim. The excess water can cause swelling and irreparable damage to the paneling.

Once the paneling is clean, I then suggested that she very lightly sand the light areas on the paneling with extra- or super-fine sandpaper to just scuff up the existing clear coating. This would allow the new tinted urethane to get a better grip on the surface.

Mary Ann has a huge advantage that I didnt have all those years ago. She can take a high-resolution photo of the wall with her phone and show it to the paint store manager. I told her to only deal with the manager, as she/he would have the best chance of getting a match the first time.

Since Mary Ann doesnt have a scrap of trim like I had to experiment with, I told her that she should just put a single drop of the tinted urethane on the wall. See how close the color is. If its way off, take a photo to show the paint store employee so the next matching attempt will hopefully get it right. Once the photo is taken, then wipe off the tinted urethane.

In the event the paint store is unable to get a perfect match, I told Mary Ann she could solve the problem by bringing in a pro. She lives in a suburb of Tulsa, Oklahoma, fortunately. This means theres at least one high-end furniture store that sells the finest furniture one can buy.

These stores employ expert wood-repair craftsmen. If not employees, these talented people are individual jobbers. They routinely repair scratched, gouged or damaged furniture. Ive had to use these talented people to make repairs on custom wood built-in cabinets in the past. They possess powerful skills as well as a magic toolkit that allows them to fill in scratches and match stain colors and wood grain to restore finishes to like-new condition.

It would be childs play for an expert like this to match the lighter areas on the wall paneling. Once again, you find these people when you visit the furniture store and chat up the manager or owner. Bring photos that show what needs to be fixed.

Id also like to see your before and after photos. Be sure to send them to me via the Ask Tim page at AsktheBuilder.com!

Subscribe to Tims FREE newsletter at AsktheBuilder.com. Tim now does livestreaming video M-F at 4 PM Eastern Time at youtube.com/askthebuilder.

2022 Tim Carter. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) answers questions during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on July 29, 2022. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

McCarthy Voices Real Concern Over Bidens Foreign Policies

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) criticized President Joe Bidens foreign policies in the wake of the 21st anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks that killed almost 3,000 people, urging for a firm stand for freedom, not fear.

If you want to know about 21 years ago today, youve got to pay attention to what is happening now, McCarthy told Fox News Sunday Morning Futures, underscoring approaches under Biden that endangered the country, including the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Russia-Ukraine war, and reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Now I have a real concern with the aggression of China, Russia now into Ukraine. Even on our southern borders, cartels [are] becoming stronger by the day, McCarthy said during the show on Sept. 11. But now we have an administration that is negotiating with the regime in Iran. When we had such progress with the Abraham Accords, to reverse that is wrong. And that is a real concern of what will happen in the future.

Bidens proposal to renew the nuclear deal has raised grave concerns among many Arabs, fearing that the money under the agreement would allow Irans mullahs to promote more terrorism and violence and expand Tehrans terrorist proxies in the Middle East.

The Obama-era nuclear dealunder which Tehran agreed to dismantle much of its nuclear program in exchange for billions of dollars worth of sanctions reliefwas unilaterally abandoned by former President Donald Trump in 2018, given that America will not be held hostage to nuclear blackmail.

U.S. President Donald Trump signs a document reinstating sanctions against Iran after announcing the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear deal in the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House in Washington on May 8, 2018. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

Foreign policy matters, McCarthy said during the show, as he condemned Bidens handling of Afghanistan as a botched action. He previously rebuked Biden for failing the trust and confidence of the American people for his handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal, as 13 U.S. service members and dozens of Afghan civilians were killed outside the Kabul airport.

Why did we close Bagrams base? Why did we allow those prisoners to get out? Why would we even close in the summer and withdraw? Why would we withdraw without bringing out all the Americans first? All of these decisions should actually be investigated, so they dont get repeated, McCarthy said.

9/11: Never Forget

This year, the congressman encouraged the nation to make never forget a 365-day commitment to commemorate the deadliest terrorist attack in history, according to a Sep. 11 statement.

21 years ago, terrorists attacked the American way of life. But we did not yield to terrorism; we united against it. We did not give in to fear; we chose to live in freedom. Today, we recognize the heroes and survivors. We swore we would never forget, and we havent.  Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) September 11, 2022

As a nation, we did not yield to terrorism; we united against it. We did not give in to fear; we chose to live in freedom. We did not back down; we emerged more determined than ever before. We swore we would never forget, and we havent, he said.

Rather than uniting the country, the GOP leader said Biden has divided us further. We are more divided today than we were on his inauguration day.

White House officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis addresses the media in Miami, in April 2022. (Courtesy of the Florida Governor's Office)

Miami-Dade Parents Are Waking Up, But Are Not Woke: Watchdog Group

PUNTA GORDA, Fla.Parents of students in Miami-Dade County made one thing clear to school officials this weekthey are waking up and not woke, said the leader of a citizen watchdog group.

And its just more evidence that parents and guardians across America are actively taking steps toward regaining their rights in education, Alex Serrano, president of the areas chapter of County Citizens Defending Freedom-USA, told The Epoch Times.

On Sept. 7, parents packed the chambers of the Miami-Dade School Board and spoke for more than eight hours about a proposal to recognize October as LGBT History Month.

In response to the outcry, and out of concern that the proposal would run afoul of Floridas new Parental Rights in Education law, the board voted 8-1 not to recognize LGBT History Month.

A view of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington on March 4, 2022. (Leah Millis/Reuters)

Miami-Dade County Public Schools is the nations fourth largest school system and serves nearly 332,000 students.

In addition to other activities, the proposal suggested the possibility of providing resources for teachers in 12th Grade social studies to teach about important landmark civil rights cases.

Those would have included the Supreme Courts 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling that recognized same-sex marriage, and Bostock v. Clayton County, a case that protects employees from being fired for being gay or transgender.

The plan to focus for a month on LGBT concerns may have moved forward if parents hadnt shown up to voice their concerns, Serrano said. At the Sept. 7 meeting, a parade of parents told the board they wanted topics of sex, sexual orientation, and gender addressed at home, not taught by teachers.

And parents objections largely were driven by culture, Serrano said, noting that Miami-Dade historically has been predominantly Hispanic.

That community does have more conservative values in terms of family valuesin terms of being more conservative in relation to these types of subjects, he said. Hispanic families prefer to deal with that at home.

The values of the Hispanic community have never left their conservative roots, despite voter rolls that seem to indicate an alignment with Democratic Party values, he said.

I would say that the shift is that the [Hispanic] community is finally becoming more aware of what is going on, Serrano said.

If you look at the voter registrations historically, it may be and look blue, but if you look at the values of the community it is predominantly Hispanic, and Hispanics have more conservative values.

At the school board meeting on Sept. 7, Serrano told board members they would be in violation of many of the state statutes if they set aside October to honor LGBT history.

We identified a potential breach when we saw the agenda item come through, Serrano said.

After viewing item H-11, Serrano sounded the alarm through CCDF-USA, sending out an email call to action. Parents mobilized.

Serrano said the agenda item was lacking in legal sufficiency as it related to age-appropriate instructional materials and encroached on parental rights and was not suitable to students needs as provided for by Florida statutes.

We had roughly 10,500 engagements, Serrano said. So that gave us data that we could use, which I used in my commentsthe values of the community dont align with this item.

A local resident receives food from the Miami-Dade County Public Schools in Miami Beach, Florida on April 19, 2020. (Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

For more than eight hours, parents, teachers, and students spoke on the issue. About 90 percent opposed LGBT History Month.

The lone school board member in favor of the proposal was Lucia Baez-Geller whose term does not end until 2024.

There is an election year and the anti-LGBT rhetoric is a tool used by some to spread misinformation, Baez-Geller said after the vote. This is just plain disinformation.

Setting aside October to honor LGBT accomplishments would recognize the dignity and the respect for each other and would not indoctrinate students, she said.

It does not force an agenda on students, Baez-Geller said. And, as was stated incorrectly, this item does not take away parental choice.

A chorus of groans arose from the audience.

Her proposal would have directed school leaders to explore the feasibility of leading lessons about the Supreme Court cases. The proposal clearly outlined that any move must fall in line with state curriculum standards, and all applicable state and federal law, Baez-Geller said.

She also said that students would have been able to opt out of the lessons.

Serrano countered that the language of the initiative was ambiguous and did not answer a plethora of questions that had gone unanswered.

It didnt include any access to what materials might be posted in the hallways or at the entrances of schools, he said.

It didnt include any sort of language referring to opting out of it. And how would you opt out of something that youd essentially have to remove your child from school for an entire month?

Serrano asked if the opt-out was an excused or unexcused absence.

More importantly, youre directly impacting their access to foundational learning, which is the primary premise of education, he said. We saw that the agenda item was open to all sort of scrutiny in terms of the various statutes.

School board meeting attendee, Jordan Toast agreed, and said he was concerned about the current and future state of the education system.

Toast spoke at the meeting, identifying himself as a Miami native and gay man. He said he understood the importance of a healthy and balanced educationand diversity of thought.

What is happening right now is no longer acceptanceits indoctrination, Toast said, as audience members cheered and clapped.

The children deserve an education that will develop them, give them a platform for critical thinking and problem-solving. We are moving in a direction that will create entitled, confused, depressed, and potentially dangerous adults.

Parents need to be in 100 percent control of their childs development and education, Toast told the board. He said the education system has been hijacked by agenda-pushers disguised as social justice warriors.

About 100 protesters marched with signs representing a range of issues, from abortion access to concerns about LGBT issues, outside the Student Action Summit in Tampa, Fla., on July 23, 2022. (Natasha Holt/The Epoch Times)

Some who spoke against the measure said it went against their religious beliefs. Others said it would further indoctrination and sexual abuse of children.

Still, others agreed it was a good idea. Student adviser to the school board Andrea Pita Mendez said that after weeks of speaking to students, to teachers and others, she hoped the board would pass the initiative.

Our students want this to pass, said Mendez. LGBT history plays an important role in U.S. history.

I heard many of you speak of the fact that in your generations this wasnt seen, this wasnt heardyou grew up in a very different time than we are.

The nation is highly polarized, she said. But we are the ones that sit in those classrooms, that embrace diversity and inclusivity because we do love each other, and we do support each other, and we do want to see each other go very far in the world.

School board member Christi Fraga was alone in voting against the measure last year. She opposes setting aside a month to honor LGBT history because it creates a hostile environment, she said.

If we are going to allow the teachers to decide what will be taught in classrooms during this time, that concerns me, Fraga said during the meeting.

Last year, school board members passed a similar resolution 7-1 recognizing LGBT History Month.

Their rejection of the measure this year would be on solid legal footing, their attorney advised.

I do believe this is in direct violation of our parental rights bill, Fraga said. If not so directly, in [the] spirit it is. Because this is saying a full endorsement in the entire district of this month, that includes kindergarten through 12th Grade.

In March, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law the bill that became known by opponents as the Dont Say Gay Bill.

The bill prohibits teachers from leading classroom instruction on gender identity or sexual orientation for students in kindergarten through third grade. It bans such lessons for older students unless they are age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate.

DeSantis has repeatedly said that parents, not teachers, should be speaking with children about sexual orientation and gender identity.
People come in and out of Middletown Gun Show at Orange County Fairgrounds in Middletown, New York on September 20, 2022. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times)

Middletown Gun Show Vendors See Sales Dip Following New Gun Laws

Hardly a week had passed since New Yorks new gun laws went into effect when Middletown Gun Show vendor Dom Dimare started to feel the impact on his business.

Sales on both semiautomatic rifles and ammunition have dropped, Dimare told The Epoch Times during a weekend gun show in the city of Middletown on Sept. 10.

Dimare is a trainer with Master Arms, a gun dealer based in Sloatsburg, New York.

He said the new gun laws were to blame. Under the laws, people must apply for a semiautomatic rifle license before purchasing such a rifle, and ammunition sellers must keep a detailed record of every purchase.

If you are a competitive shooter, you can easily go through a thousand rounds in a week, Dimare said. People are worried that if they buy a lot of ammo, the government might investigate their records.

The records that ammunition sellers must keep include every buyers name, age, job, and address, as well as every transactions amount, caliber, and manufacturers name.

Starting July 15, 2023, sellers that fall short of recordkeeping can be fined $500 on the first offense and found guilty of a Class B misdemeanor on the second offense.

Another ammunition seller told The Epoch Times that he lost around 20 sales on the morning of Sept. 10 simply because people refused to provide personal information.

The seller declined to disclose his name.

Many told me, You know what? Well just go buy in Pennsylvania. They dont ask for our drivers licenses for ammo, the seller said.

After being in the gun show business for two decades, the seller plans to quit later this year and become a police officer in Virginia next year.

You saw the writing on the wall. Im phasing out. I am done with the whole thing, the seller said.

Peter Van Voast, who has helped the seller at gun shows for years, told The Epoch Times that the traffic at this years Middletown Gun Show was probably only a third of that of past years.

The laws are an impediment to our business, Voast said.

Another firearm seller based in Stamford, New York, told The Epoch Times that he hadnt sold a single semiautomatic rifle on the morning of Sept. 10.

So far, I havent met a single person who has a semiautomatic license at the gun show, the seller said.

The seller declined to disclose his name.

Under the new laws, people must be at least 21 years old and have a semiautomatic rifle license before being able to legally purchase a semiautomatic rifle in New York. The license is only required for those who bought a semiautomatic rifle after Sept. 4.

People can apply for the license to the licensing officer in their cities or counties. Those with a handgun license can simply have their licenses amended to include semiautomatic rifles.

Anyone of legal hunting age can still borrow a legal semiautomatic rifle for hunting.

New York legislature passed a slew of restrictive gun laws in July, weeks after the states century-old concealed carry law was ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Middletown Gun Show is one of the largest gun and knife shows in the Hudson Valley. The next show will take place at the citys Orange County Fairgrounds on Nov. 5 and 6.
Four visitors to Mount Rushmore gaze at the national monument in Keystone, S.D., on Sept. 7, 2022. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

Millions Continue Flocking to Mount Rushmore in Spite of Cancel Culture

KEYSTONE, S.D.A soft wind blew across the Grand View Terrace of Mount Rushmore National Memorial and a shiver ran up my spine.

For millions of Americans visiting for the first time, like me, this is hallowed groundliberty and sacrifice carved into the timeless mountain.

It gives you a tingle, said Doug Alford of Texas, waxing proudly on the observation deck 150 feet below the monument.

Im inspired by what people used to do. This [monument] is as impressive as skyscrapers they built in the 20s.

Mount Rushmore as seen from below on a trail leading up to the base of the monument in Keystone, S.D., on Sept. 7, 2022. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

As we continued gazing at the tall sculpture, marveling at the extraordinary talent and engineering that went into building it, Alford lamented that the country he once knew is no longer the same.

Today, the people seem ready to go to war over culture and politics. We see the great American spirit fading into the ether of history across a national divide that grows wider by the day.

The United States glory daysthose days are gone, Alford said.

But Mount Rushmore abides.

A ghostly glow envelops Mount Rushmore during a nighttime program on Sept. 7, 2022, in Keystone, S.D. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

On the eve of the 21st anniversary of the terror attacks of Sept. 11, an estimated 2,500 people visited Mount Rushmore to see the four greatest U.S. presidentsGeorge Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincolnmemorialized in granite.

The larger-than-life figures soar above the green spires of ponderosa pine and arid, rocky landscape, where hawks and eagles fly.

Its amazing, Alfords wife, Cindy, said. Ive seen it on TV, but its pretty cool to see it upfront.

Sculptor Gutzon Borglum, Mount Rushmores creator, had envisioned a lasting monument that would speak to the ages.

Let us place there, carved high, as close to heaven as we can, the words of our leaders, their faces, to show posterity what manner of men they were, he proclaimed. Then breathe a prayer that these records will endure until the wind and the rain alone shall wear them away.

Monumental Project

Work on the monument took 14 years, from 1927 to 1941, when Borglum died. The project would cost around $1 million to complete and $56 million to renovate in the 1990s. It took around 400 workers to build the monument, blasting 450,000 tons of rock from the mountain.

Borglum selected the four presidents to enshrine Mount Rushmore for their pivotal roles in American history.

George Washington, the first U.S. president, commanded the Continental Army to defeat the British Empire and win Americas freedom.

Thomas Jefferson, the third president, was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence.

Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president, pushed for the construction of the Panama Canal that connected the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. He fought the big monopolies and set aside millions of acres of conservation land through the National Park System.

A bust of Mount Rushmore sculptor Gutzon Borglum stands near his former studio at Mount Rushmore National Park in Keystone, S.D., on Sept. 7, 2022. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president, led the nation through the Civil War, the bloodiest period in U.S. history, and preserved the union.

Patriotism for Hope and Freedom

Every year, nearly 3 million people visit Mount Rushmoreabout 2,000 every dayout of curiosity or patriotism. Many see the monument as an anchor of hope and freedom in a world lapsing into tyranny.

The Alfords said they drove from Texas to the Black Hills of South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore and feel its inspiration.

It was a trip that was long in the making.

Doug and Cindy Alford of Texas near Mount Rushmore in Keystone, S.D., on Sept. 7, 2022. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

Its amazing what you could do back then when you got behind something, Doug Alford told The Epoch Times, citing Borglums artistic vision. This is when people cared about the country.

I remember how much pride the country used to have. Now, theres no national prideall destroyed.

During the summer riots of 2020, following the death of George Floyd, adherents of the new cancel culture ran around defacing and pulling down statues of U.S. figures they considered racist.

Cancel culture soon began focusing on statues of the Founding Fathers, claiming that they, too, were symbols of slavery, and brought them down.

Leftist Iconoclasm

Amid the social turmoil, Mount Rushmore would also become a target of calls for removal. Due to environmental concerns, annual fireworks displays havent taken place here since 2009.

Jim Denker and his wife, Kate, said they came from New Jersey to see Mount Rushmore for the first time now that they are both retired.

It brings back the glory of the United States. Its very specialspectacular, Jim Denker said.

People way back then had respect for that. Its changing now. Here, you see people, and their eyes light up because of this crazy situation.

The couple acknowledges that they missed out on a lot of things in America during their working years. They wanted to pay their respects at Mount Rushmore in 2022 because the glory of America is what its all about, Jim Denker told The Epoch Times.

A bust of George Washington, which sculptor Gutzon Borglum used to create the Mount Rushmore sculpture, remains intact in the artists studio in Keystone, S.D., on Sept. 7, 2022. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

Its been a dream to come here. Ive been a flight attendant for 30 years and never made it here, Kate Denker said. I never made it here until today. Im going to be 70 in a couple of months andfinally. Ive been around the world, and I havent been here. Shame on me.

Alan and Karen Patrick of Washington said theyve been visiting the monument regularly since 1999.

Each time, they get goosebumps when they see it.

Its very impressivebeautiful, Alan Patrick said. I think its a great time to see it. I dont want to see it go down.

Always Wanted to See It

Its somebodys piece of art. Its history, Karen Patrick said.

Im just sucking it all in, said a man from Louisiana. Its massiveincredible that they built that, how they built that.

As a first-time visitor from Kansas, Jeff Dohrman said he couldnt help but feel patriotic seeing the four presidents cast in granite.

It makes you think of history and what the United States is going through. Ive always wanted to see it. This was one of the main things.

His wife, Denise, said Mount Rushmore was on her bucket list of things to see.

Kate and Jim Denker of New Jersey made their first visit to Mount Rushmore in Keystone, S.D., after years of waiting, on Sept. 7, 2022. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

Its pretty amazing, she said of Mount Rushmore. All the wokeism thats going on  I think more people need to understand the country.

Its just the love of your country. We have too many old people now running our country. We need new bloodyoung blood.

Visiting for the first time, Peter Libby from Maine set up his digital camera and tripod on the Avenue of Flags to get the best possible shot of Mount Rushmore in the fading sunlight.

They were the true pioneersand now all four are here.
Researchers have developed a new technology that permits the growth of fallopian tubes and uterine tissue, offering a better approach to female reproductive repair surgery and hope for women born with reproductive abnormalities to obtain a normal functioning reproductive system.(Shutterstock image)

New Tech May Create Pathway For Women Suffering From Congential Reproductive Issues

Researchers have developed a new technology that permits the growth of fallopian tubes and uterine tissue, offering a better approach to female reproductive repair surgery and hope for women born with reproductive abnormalities to obtain a normal functioning reproductive system.

Unfortunately, some women are born with missing or malfunctioning reproductive organs; this occurs because of irregularities in the growth and fusion of their Mullerian ducts, the process which produces the female reproductive tract.

Mullerian ducts are a set of simple and uniform tubes that, during the first few months of gestational development in female babiesaround the fourth to 12th week in the pregnancyfuse to form the complex reproductive organs we normally refer to as a uterus.

At present, the University of Newcastle notes there are up to 80,000 female reproductive repair surgeries recorded to have been performed every year in the United States alone.

Co-author of the study, Prof. Pradeep Tanwar, the Director of the Global Centre for Gynaecological Diseases at the University of Newcastle and a researcher at the Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI), said that there are several reproductive abnormalities that can occur during this crucial period of development. He also noted that there is a need to improve treatments for such abnormalities in order to achieve a better quality of life for women with these congenital abnormalities.

Our study has laid the foundation for growing patients own cells and using them for regenerative surgeries to reduce future complications and improve the quality of life for these patients, he said in a Newcastle University media release.

How the Researchers Grow the Tissue

To generate the natural tissue, the team of researchers used stem cells gathered from the fallopian tubes and uterine tissue, to derive tiny, self-organising, and three-dimensional tissue cultures, called organoids.

In an email to The Epoch Times, Tanwar said that self-organisation refers to the process by which individuals organize their communal behaviour, through interacting amongst themselves to create global order. It is self-organisation because the individuals act amongst themselves rather than being influenced by external instruction or intervention.

Self-organizing means cells of organoids arrange themselves without external inputs/interventions, he said.

In growing these organoids, the researchers drew inspiration from their study of fetal developments key stages, replicating the growth and fusion of the Mullerian ducts.

To generate the natural tissue, the team of researchers used stem cells gathered from the fallopian tubes and uterine tissue to derive tiny, self-organising, and three-dimensional tissue cultures, called organoids. A researcher prepares stem cells in Madison, Wisconsin, on March 10, 2009. (Darren Hauck/Getty Images)

Stem cells have been used in medicine for more than fifty years, with the most common stem cell procedure currently being bone marrow transplantsalso known as hematopoietic stem cell transplantsused to treat patients with blood cancers such as leukemia and blood disorders such as sickle cell disease and thalassemia.

More recently, skin grown from stem cells has been used to treat extensive burns, and stem cells from fat (adipose tissue) have been used as tissue fillers.

Discovering the Regenerative Power of the Organoids

The researchers developed scaffolds using tissue collected from adult humans and found that when the lab-made organoids were transplanted onto the scaffold, the tissue could be regenerated outside of the body.

Organoids are used spherical in shape and need scaffolds to gain the native tissue shape and size. Therefore, scaffolds need to be prepared to provide support and shape to the organoids, Tanwar said.

Scaffolds could be derived from synthetic and natural biomaterials.

The discovery that these organoids can allow patients to grow their own cells could have a significant effect on the way reconstructive surgeries are performed for people with reproductive abnormalities.

These patients have small remnant tissues that can be collected as small biopsies then expanded in the lab, and then used for patients surgical treatment, Tanwar said.

Tanwar said that this treatment might not be the right approach for repairing scarring of the reproductive tract that is caused by conditions such as endometriosis or PCOS.

Tube scaring is probably a different issue altogether and might require a different approach.

Reproductive Abnormalities

Another discovery of this study is the role that a group of proteins called WNT have in reproductive system development. The researchers found that such proteins are responsible for malformed reproductive systems; if there are alterations in WNT proteins, reproductive abnormalities develop.

The study showed that if during the first weeks of pregnancy, when the Mullerian ducts form, the growth environment is without WNT proteins, the ducts will not develop normally.

The researchers also found that the absence of such proteins inhibits the regenerative ability of human fetal organoids.

Alterations in WNT proteins characterise a genetic disorder called Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome (MRKH), which affects one in every 4,500 women.

MRKH is only one of the conditions that can bring about reproductive abnormalities that result in health complications, which require surgical repair in later life.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks to media at a press conference ahead of a nationwide lockdown at Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand, on March 25, 2020. (Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

New Zealand Scraps Nearly All COVID-19 Restrictions, Including Mask and Vaccination Mandates

New Zealand will be retiring its COVID-19 traffic light system and significantly scaling down COVID restrictions from Sept. 13 so Kiwis could move forward with certainty, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced.

Its time to safely turn the page on our COVID-19 management and live without the extraordinary measures we have previously used, Ardern said, calling it a milestone.

With the abolishment of the traffic light COVID protection framework, mask mandates will be lifted in all areas except in health care and aged care settings.

Household contacts will no longer need to isolate, while people testing positive for COVID-19 will continue to be required to isolate for seven days.

All government vaccine mandates will end on Sept. 26, and all vaccination requirements for incoming travellers and aircrew will also be removed.

After restrictions are lifted, it will be up to the employers discretion whether they will require workers to wear masks or get vaccinated for COVID-19.

In short, we now move on to a simple two requirements system of masks in healthcare settings and seven days isolation for positive cases only, Ardern said.

The COVID-19 protection framework, or traffic light system, set out the rules for different traffic light settings, where red was the highest alert setting, and green meant no restrictions. At the time of removal, New Zealand was at orange.

The government also confirmed that COVID leave payments will continue.

COVID-19 Minister Ayesha Verrall also announced the purchase of an additional 40,000 anti-viral medicine courses, expected to arrive in New Zealand within days.

So now, anyone over the age of 65, and Maori and Pacific people over the age of 50, or anyone who meets Pharmac requirements, can access the treatment in the early stages of contracting the virus.

This means more than double the number of New Zealanders will be able to access these medicines if they need them than previously, Verrall said.

Decision Welcomed Across the Board

Retail NZ welcomed the move to return New Zealand to a sense of normality.

After over two years of being at the forefront of COVID-19 rules, alert level changes, low foot traffic, and nonsensical mask rules, retailers across New Zealand will be pleased with todays revised approach, Retail NZ Chief Executive Greg Harford said.

The revision today largely brings New Zealand in line with most of the rest of the world.

But Harford encouraged the government to further revise the isolation period down to between three to five days.

ACT party agreed with the idea, with ACT Leader David Seymour noting that New Zealand had among the strictest isolation rules in the world.

Keeping people locked in their houses longer than is necessary imposes real costs to them and the economy without improving our COVID-19 response, he said.

New Zealand is holding on to a long COVID hangover. It turns out an abundance of caution is an abundance of cost for New Zealanders.
Former President Donald Trumps lawyers on Monday urged a federal judge to reject the Department of Justices bid to keep reviewing documents that were taken during the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago.

A prominent attorney says three of her clients, all Trump allies, have been served with search warrants or subpoenas. This suggests the FBI may soon search the homes of some Trump supporters.

Major credit card companies have agreed to adopt a new categorization for purchases made at gun stores. The bank pushing for it says itll help prevent shootings, while critics fear it stems from a bias against law-abiding gun owners.

Chicagos mayor said she welcomes illegal immigrants bused from Texas, but then she sent them to a different city.

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The exterior of Gibson's Bakery in Oberlin, Ohio, in September 2021. (Google Maps/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

Oberlin College to Pay Family Bakery $36.6 Million in Damages Over False Racism Accusations

Following a failed appeal, Ohios Oberlin College is finally set to pay $36.6 million in damages that the courts have awarded to a local bakery in a defamation case.

In a Sept. 9 statement, Oberlin announced that it had initiated payments to Gibsons Bakery, a 137-year-old, fifth-generation family business that was wrongfully accused of racial profiling after a shoplifting incident involving black students.

In April, an Ohio appeals court upheld a jurys finding that the college, in its handling of student protests over the 2016 incident, committed libel, slander, and interference with business relationships against the bakery. On Aug. 30, the Ohio Supreme Court decided to not hear Oberlins final appeal, bringing an end to the long-running legal battle.

We are disappointed by the Courts decision. However, this does not diminish our respect for the law and the integrity of our legal system, Oberlin officials said. This matter has been painful for everyone. We hope that the end of the litigation will begin the healing of our entire community.

We value our relationship with the City of Oberlin, and we look forward to continuing our support of and partnership with local businesses as we work together to help our city thrive.

The statement didnt include an apology to the Gibsons, whose business was pushed to the brink amid protests and harassment.

The Incident

In November 2016, store clerk Allyn D. Gibson caught a black Oberlin student stealing wine bottles from the store. The confrontation between the clerk and the student, joined by his two black peers, soon escalated into a fight. When the police arrived at the scene, they found the clerk lying on the ground, while the three Oberlin students punched and kicked him.

The students pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in 2017 and acknowledged in court that the clerks actions werent racially motivated. But that didnt stop Oberlin officials and students from organizing demonstrations outside the bakery, during which protesters demanded that customers shop elsewhere.

According to court filings, Oberlins Dean of Students, Meredith Raimondo, along with other staff, were involved in the distribution of flyers that were handed out at the protests. The flyers, titled DONT BUY, urged a boycott of the bakery, asserting that it was a RACIST establishment with a LONG ACCOUNT OF RACIAL PROFILING and DISCRIMINATION. The colleges supplier of food for its dining halls was also told by Raimondo to halt ordering from Gibsons.

The Lawsuit

The Gibsons sued Oberlin in 2017, alleging significant financial and emotional damages caused by the colleges actions, including repeated vandalism, property damage, and harassment over the months following the shoplifting incident. In June 2019, a Lorain County jury found that Oberlin acted inappropriately toward the bakery, a decision the college appealed.

Oberlin argued that the flyer contained only opinions that the Gibsons were racists, which would have been protected by the First Amendment. Ohios 9th District Court of Appeals dismissed the argument, stating that the flyer included much more than just opinions.

Given the publics lack of knowledge of what had happened at the bakery and the ongoing tension on campus about racial injustice, these statements would convey to a reasonable reader that the arrest and alleged assault at the bakery were racially motivated, that the Gibsons had a verifiable history of racially profiling shoplifters on that basis for years, and that those facts were a reason to boycott the bakery, a panel of three judges wrote.

Owen Rarric, an attorney for the Gibsons, welcomed the outcome.

We are happy to hear that full payment on the judgment is forthcoming, allowing the 137-year-old Gibsons Bakery to move forward continuing to serve its community. David Gibson was always hopeful that the family bakerys relationship with Oberlin College could one day be restored, Rarric said in a statement.

Two of the cases leading plaintiffs didnt live to see the victory. David Gibson, the bakerys owner, died in 2019 of pancreatic cancer. Allyn W. Gibson, father to David and grandfather to Allyn D. Gibson, passed away this February at the age of 93.

After the 2019 court victory, Allyn W. Gibson said he hoped that people understood that his family had nothing against Oberlin students.

I have been here my whole life, and I love the students and the energy they bring to our community, and people who know me know I always love being with them, the family patriarch told conservative news site Legal Insurrection, which has been backing the Gibsons since 2016.

Students can be great people or they can be bad, just like all of us can be, but they need guidance at that age, and they werent getting it when this all started.
Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki speaks to the media after a meeting with Japan's then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Abe's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, on March 1, 2019. (Kimimasa Mayama/Pool via Reuters/File Photo)

Okinawa Re-Elects Governor Who Wants Less US Military Presence on Island

Voters in Japans Okinawa re-elected Denny Tamaki as governor on Sunday, public broadcaster NHK and other media said, backing an independent candidate who wants a smaller U.S. military footprint on the chain of islands near Taiwan.

Okinawa prefecture is far closer to Taiwan than to Tokyo, putting it front and centre to growing tension in the region.

China this summer launched five missiles into the sea close to Okinawa, and within Japans exclusive economic zone, during military exercises after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own.

The son of a U.S. Marine and a Japanese mother, he was first elected as governor four years ago when he campaigned against U.S. military presence. This time, he focused more on the economy, after the pandemic battered Okinawas tourism industry.

Tamaki enjoyed support from a coalition of opposition parties.

He told cheering supporters that he would continue to work to bolster the social safety net for the poor, although he did not skirt the contentious issue of U.S. military bases.

I have not wavered one millimetre, nor will I, in my efforts to resolve the base issue and I will continue to share my thoughts with the people of the prefecture and seek a solution from the government, he said.

His victory represents the challenges faced by national leaders in Tokyo working to counter aggression from Chinas communist party.

The U.S. military is a hot-button issue in Okinawa, which saw some of the bloodiest fighting in World War Two and has long resented the burden of hosting the majority of U.S. troops in Japan on facilities that take up 5 percent of Okinawas land.

Candidates backed by the LDP won four other recent mayoral elections in Okinawa, which some said may have signaled a potential shift of sentiment on the issue.

I think the Taiwan situation may be having a bit of an impact even in Okinawa, Hino said.

But Tamaki has held on.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishidas ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has for many years pushed for increased defence spending to counter China.

The LDP had backed Atsushi Sakima, a former mayor. Tamaki defeated him in 2018 by 396,632 votes to 316,458, partly by calling for the large Futenma U.S. air base to be moved outside the prefecture.

Sakima favoured the central governments plan to move the base from a crowded urban area to Okinawas more remote Henoko district, while a third candidate, former national lawmaker Mikio Shimoji, wants it re-purposed as a shared military and commercial airport.

Tokyos plan seems to remains unpopular among islanders, as polls showed that 55 percent of Okinawa voters opposed moving the Futenma base to Henoko.

Reuters contributed to this report.
New York State Utility Sees Winter Heating Costs up 44 Percent for Gas, 28 Percent for Electricity

Orange & Rockland, a major utility company serving southeastern New York and northern New Jersey, forecasts substantial rate hikes for natural gas and electricity in the coming winter.

Natural gas will likely cost 44 percent more than the past year; electricity, whose generation in the state of New York heavily relies on natural gas, will likely cost 28.8 percent more, according to an Epoch Times interview with company spokesperson Mike Donovan.

The rate hikes are caused by the increased market cost of natural gas, driven by multiple forces including the pandemic, inflation, and the Ukraine war, Donovan said.

Orange & Rockland (O&R) buys natural gas and electricity on the wholesale markets. It does not set supply costs, nor does it make a profit on the supply.

Under the current forecasts, an average O&R customer will spend $337 on natural gas heating and $174 on electricity every month between November 2022 and March 2023.

About 300,000 customers rely on O&R for electricity. A total of 130,000 customers across New York use its natural gas services.

In the past year, O&R also predicted a lower hike in winter utility rates: 17.8 percent for natural gas and 17.3 percent for electricity.

Donovan said in the past, the company usually released winter bill forecasts in November. But due to the significant rate hikes forecasted this year, O&R decided to announce early so customers can prepare accordingly.

In a recent public notice, O&R advises customers to find ways to use energy more efficiently.

Common energy-saving tips include setting thermostats at the lowest temperature at which residents are comfortable, making sure heating vents are not blocked by furniture or carpeting, insulating hot-water pipes and warm-air ducts that pass through unheated areas, using darker windows shades that absorb and release solar energy in winters, and replacing conventional light bulbs with more efficient LED bulbs.

For customers having difficulty paying bills, O&R offers to spread out payments throughout the year to even out highs and lows.

The federally funded Home Energy Assistance Program also helps eligible consumers pay utility bills for each heating season.

For eligible customers with past-due balances for months before May 2022, O&R offers credits under the New York State Electric and Gas Bill Relief Program.

O&R warns the rates could jump even higher if interstate gas transmission companies experience more disruptions than expected. The company monitors the market daily.

O&R is a regulated utility subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, one of the nations largest investor-owned energy companies.

Over the past 20 years, New York state has become increasingly dependent on natural gas for electricity generation, tightening the link between gas prices and electricity prices.

In 2000, less than 50 percent of electricity in the state was generated by natural gas. Twenty years later, that number rose to above 60 percent, according to a September energy price report by New York Independent System Operator (NYISO.)

A major driver of the shift is the states green energy agenda, which gradually pushed coal and oil out of electricity-generating plants. The state is currently under a mandate to achieve a 100 percent green grid by 2025.

In downstate New York, the reliance on natural gas for electricity generation is much heavier than the states average, partly due to the closure of a major nuclear plant in the region, according to a June report by NYISO.
An earthquake damaged road near Mendi in Papua New Guinea's highlands region on Feb. 27, 2018 after a 7.5-magnitude earthquake. (Melvin Levongo/AFP via Getty Images)

Papua New Guinea Struck by Magnitude 7.6 Earthquake, at Least 5 Dead

A magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck eastern Papua New Guinea (PNG) at 9:46 a.m. local time on Sept. 11, killing at least five people and damaging property.

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), normal faulting occurred at a depth of approximately 90 kilometres (56 miles) beneath eastern PNG, near the northern edge of the Australian plate.

A local member of parliament Kessy Sawang told AFP that at least two people had died in remote villages, while Koranga Alluvial Mining said three miners had been buried alive.

The United Nations Country Team in PNG (UNCT PNG) said at least four deaths were due to being buried in landslides.

Around 480 kilometres south in Port Moresby, the nations capital, moderate to severe shaking was felt for over a minute.

PNG Prime Minister James Marape told people to be cautious following the massive earthquake but expected less damage compared to the 2018 earthquake that killed an estimated 150 people.

National and provincial disaster agencies, as well as leaders, have been asked to assess the damage and injuries to people and attend to these as soon as possible, Marape said.

However, the full extent of the damage and number of casualties is still unclear.

The earthquake epicentre struck near remote towns, where there are limited communications and few paved roads.

UNCT PNG reported injuries from falling structures or debris, with some damage to health centres, homes, roads, and highways.

Videos and photos on social media show roads splitting, while others show large cracks appearing in buildings.

A tsunami warning was issued by USGS, but was shortly lifted after the threat had passed.

Ring of Fire

PNG experiences high levels of seismic activity due to its location on the Pacific ring of fire.

In the last 50 years, 78 earthquakes of magnitude six or higher have occurred within 250 kilometres of the latest event.

According to USGS, at the location of the earthquake, the Australian plate is moving towards the Pacific plate at a velocity of about 100 millimetres per year (4 inches).

Earthquakes in this geographical region are generally associated with the large-scale convergence of these two major plates and with the complex interactions of several associated microplates, it said.
What the public still wants more than anything from reporters is accuracy and objectivity. (Shutterstock)

Peter Menzies: The Public Has Lost Faith in Legacy Medias Ability to Be Objective

Commentary

Long at the core of journalism, the idea that reporters must be seen to conduct their work objectively is under siege. And it is losing.

The verbal trebuchets of social justice warriors chased Bari Weiss from the New York Times. National Post staff rebelled after Rex Murphys column questioning institutional racism was published. The Washington Post battled reporters over social media activism. National Public Radio news staff won the right to join demonstrations. Wendy Mesley mentioned a book title out loud at the CBC and a 40-year career was demolished.

And now, even the walls of the Globe and Mail have been breached.

As Globe public editor Sylvia Stead put it in her June 25 column, Expecting objectivity of individual journalists is not the right measure, noting she was part of the committee of Globe editors and reporters who reviewed and recommended the changes to the Editorial Code of Conduct.

While the principles are rarely changed, this time one reference to objectivity was changed to fairness and transparency,' she wrote.

And there it was, with the stroke of a pen: gone.

This coincides with and perhaps is part of a broader trend of elites and institutions increasingly doing what they please without regard to public opinion. The Globes shift occurred as another Canadian institution was taking a similarly derniere mode approach to maintaining public trust.

Namely, the Supreme Court of Canada and the remarks by its chief justice concerning this winters Freedom Convoy protests in Ottawa. What we have seen  is the beginning of anarchy where some people have decided to take other citizens hostage, to take the law into their own hands, the Right Honourable Richard Wagner publicly concluded in Montreals Le Devoir.

Complaints were filed, but were brushed aside by the Canadian Judicial Councilof which Wagner is chair. This, despite its own principles stating, Judges should avoid using words or conduct, in and out of court, that might give rise to a reasonable perception of bias.

Bruce Pardy, a law professor at Queens University, is one of the lawyers who complained about Wagner. He also has a theory on why the chief justice fails to see the issue.

Referencing the work of legal scholar Wanjiru Njoya in the Journal of Free Black Thought, Pardy suggests that the range of what is considered reasonable has been narrowed to progressive ideals alone.  Through a progressive lens, in other words, impartiality means having an open mind to all reasonable perspectivesbut only progressive perspectives are reasonable.

Perhaps, but no longer knowing whom to believe, the public has chosen to believe no one. Around two thirds of Canadians believe journalists and reporters (61 percent) and business leaders (60 percent) are purposely trying to mislead them, with government not far behind (58 percent), states the 2022 Trust Barometer for Canada by Edelman, an international communications company that studies and reports annually on public trust around the world.

The mistrust level for reporters, Edelman found, was up by 12 points year-over-year.

What the public still wants more than anything from reporters is accuracy and objectivity. According to the American Press Institute, 87 percent want the media to verify and get the facts right, 78 percent want it to be fair to all sides, 68 percent want it to be neutral, and 61 percent want it to provide diverse points of view.

News consumers dont expect reporters to be bereft of personal beliefs. They just dont want to hear them or have them distort the news, no matter how much journalists seem to have forgotten that the concept of objectivity was not intended to insist or pretend that individual journalists be without biases. Quite the opposite: It was developed and imposed in recognition of the fact that they are unavoidably riddled with them.

It was a 42-page study by Walter Lippmann and Charles Merz, titled A Test of the News and published in the New Republic in 1920, that formed the foundation for the push for objectivity.

Reviewing the New York Times coverage of the Russian Revolution, Lippmann and Merzs study concluded that the reporting was often not remotely based on facts but determined by the hopes of the men who made up the news organizations.

The main censor and the main propagandist, they concluded, was the hope and fear in the minds of reporters and editors. And so did the quest begin for disciplines which would restrain the all-too human traits of bias and corruptibility.

Traditional news media are under siege largely because the public has lost faith in their ability to be good at the objective practice of their craft and see them as putting their own crusades ahead of the public interest. They are diminished because too many of their names are better known than their work. And they are increasingly under attack because too many have forgotten that journalism isnt about them, the pursuit of their causes, and what they think. Its about us.

A longer version of this commentary first appeared at C2CJournal.ca

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) speaks to reporters in Washington on May 4, 2022. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Rick Scott, Ron DeSantis Warn of Chinas Economic Threat

Scott opposes purchase of Chinese goods, while DeSantis argues US economy should serve the nation

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Floridas Gov. Ron DeSantis have warned of the danger of economic dependence on China at the National Conservatism Conference in greater Miami.

We should never buy a product that comes in a box thats made in China. If we do, send it back, Scott said.

Scott made the comments during a Sept. 11 interview with EpochTVs Jan Jekielek.

Jekielek pointed out that a large percentage of products sold in America are manufactured in China, making it difficult for people to avoid purchasing Chinese goods entirely.

The Epoch Times has reached out to Scott to see if he has taken any personal steps to stop buying goods from China.

Concern over China has been a major theme during the conference.

An entire panel was dedicated to The Challenge of China, during which experts Elbridge Colby, David Goldman, and Gen. Robert Spalding debated the right approach to an ascendant and aggressive Middle Kingdom.

Scott and Jekielek also commented on the anniversary of 9/11. Scott reflected an enduring lesson from the attack: the United States has enemies.

Theres people that hate this country around the world, and weve got to start standing up for this country, Scott said.

He later recited a laundry list of anti-American countries: Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, North Korea, and the Peoples Republic of China.

Scott questioned the admissions of refugees from Afghanistan who were not all fully vetted, in line with the conclusion of a recent report from the Department of Homeland Securitys Inspector General.

Weve got to be way more careful about making sure we dont have another terrorist attack in this country, he added.

During a lengthy keynote address on Sept. 11, DeSantis elaborated on the harmful effects of admitting China to the World Trade Organization and granting it most favored nation status.

He argued that the corporatism of establishment Republicans helped fuel that countrys rise at the expense of the American people.

Corporatism is not the same as free enterprise. I think too many Republicans have used limited government to basically mean whatever is best for corporate America, he said.

The United States is a nation that has an economy, not the other way around, and our economy should be geared towards helping our own people.

COVID-19, he said, revealed the economic and geopolitical risks of entanglement with China.

DeSantis also discussed his response to that crisis, which distinguished him from many Democrats and Republicans alike.

It is said that our federalist system creates laboratories of democracy, where different states can approach things in different ways. But I dont think weve ever seen such sharp contrasts between different governing philosophies as we have in the last few years, he said.

DeSantis explained his decision to go a different way than some other governors with an overlooked quotation from President Dwight Eisenhower.

While many know Eisenhowers warning about a military-industrial complex, he also warned that the countrys policy-making could end up dominated by a scientific-technological elite.

DeSantis pointed out that Florida has gained in both population and adjusted gross income since COVID-19. Republican voter registration has also surged in the state.

Meanwhile, he said, California has started losing people.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping (R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin during the welcoming ceremony on the final day of the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing on April 27, 2019. (Valery Sharifulin/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)

Russia Claims China Supports Invasion of Ukraine Ahead of Xi-Putin Meeting

The Russian leadership is touting its support from Beijing this week, as leaders from the two nations prepare to meet in person for the first time since February.

The Russian Parliament said that the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) third-in-command, Li Zhanshu, explicitly approved of the war in Ukraine and assured Russia of Chinese support for the conflict.

China understands and supports Russia on issues that represent its vital interests, in particular on the situation in Ukraine, Li said, according to the State Duma.

The quote was not corroborated in Chinas statement of the event, which did not mention Ukraine.

CCP leader Xi Jinping is scheduled to meet face-to-face with Russias Vladimir Putin later this week during a regional summit in Uzbekistan.

The last time the two leaders met was in February at the onset of the Beijing Olympics. At that time, the two leaders declared a partnership with no limits.

It will also be the first time Xi has left China in more than two years.

The meeting will likely give Xi the opportunity to solidify his personal importance ahead of the 20th Party Congress in October, during which he is widely expected to cement a historic third term in office. Likewise, it will allow both leaders to demonstrate their mutual interest: opposition to the United States.

Russias poor military performance in Ukraine has placed China in the international spotlight, as the CCP has consistently defended Russias behavior and refused to acknowledge international sanctions against the Kremlin as legitimate. The Russian war effort hit a new low last week as Russian armed forces were forced to abandon the key city of Izium.

Those circumstances, and the lack of acknowledgment of Lis comments by the CCP, raise the question of whether Moscow is attempting to use Lis alleged words to play up ties between Russia and China ahead of the meeting.

On the Ukrainian issue, we see how [the United States and NATO] have put Russia in an impossible situation, Li said, according to the Duma. And in this case, Russia made an important choice and responded firmly.

We fully understand the necessity of all the measures taken by Russia aimed at protecting its key interests, we are providing our assistance.

If true, the comments would mark the first time a Chinese official publicly endorsed the necessity of Russias invasion or admitted that Beijing was providing assistance for Russia in Ukraine.

Beijing has firmly refused to condemn Russias invasion of Ukraine and has censored those who refer to the conflict as a war.

According to the official Xinhua News Agency, Li expressed Chinas willingness to continue to work with Russia to firmly support each other on issues concerning each others core interests and major concerns.
Significant Proof Air Force Has Discriminated Against Troops Seeking Religious Exemptions to Vaccine Mandate: Court

Air Force members seeking religious exemptions from the U.S. militarys COVID-19 vaccine mandate have provided significant proof that the service branch has discriminated against them, a federal appeals court ruled on Sept. 12.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit said in its decision that plaintiffs had to provide significant proof that the Air Force had a policy to deny all requests for religious exemptions, and all indications are that they have.

To establish a general policy  the plaintiffs need not show that the Department rejects 100% of requests for religious exemptions. And the Departments own statistics show that, as of May 23, 2022, it had rejected more than 99% of them, U.S. Circuit Judge Raymond Kethledge, a George W. Bush appointee, wrote in the 11-page order.

That the Department has granted only a comparative handful of religious exemptions, while granting thousands of medical and administrative ones, is itself at this stage of the case significant proof of discrimination.

Kethledge was joined by Circuit Judges Eric Murphy and John K. Bush, both Trump appointees.

A U.S. district court in July blocked the mandate for thousands of Air Force members who remain unvaccinated and have had their religious exemptions denied or not acted upon. In response, the government asked for an emergency stay. When that was denied, the government went to the appeals court, arguing that the ruling was wrong.

Plaintiffs

The plaintiffs are all members who sought religious exemptions and were deemed by chaplains to hold sincere religious beliefs, although the military still rejected many of their requests. The others havent received final decisions but expect to be rejected, based on the treatment of like-minded airmen.

The group has said that evidence shows the military systemically denied requests for religious exemptions, denying federal law and the U.S. Constitution.

This order by the Court of Appeals affirms that the Department of Defense and the Air Force violated religious free exercise rights of service members which is protected under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the First Amendment, Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, which is representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement.

This is a great victory for religious freedom, especially for these Air Force service members who love God and love America. These mandates will continue to crumble one by one in the courts.

The latest ruling upholds U.S. District Court Judge Matthew McFarlands Aug. 19 order, which rejected the militarys request for an emergency stay and extended through the duration of the legal battle the preliminary injunction against taking punitive action against the estimated more than 12,000 Air Force members who want religious exemptions.

The court did expedite the Air Forces appeal of the class-wide preliminary injunction, directing the department to file its first brief within two weeks, plaintiffs to file within two weeks after that, and the Air Force to reply to that response within seven days. Oral arguments are scheduled for Oct. 19; a decision is expected in November.
An aerial view of Erakor island and the coastline of Port Vila, Vanuatu on Dec. 7, 2019. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Strategically Located Vanuatu Heads for the Polls After Court Upholds Parliaments Dissolution

The Pacific nation of Vanuatu will go to the polls next month after the Parliament was dissolved so that Prime Minister Bob Loughman could avoid a no-confidence vote.

Loughman has faced pressure for months after attempting to change the Constitution to extend his governments term limit, the move also comes amid an ongoing influence push by Beijing in the region.

On Aug. 18, Vanuatu President Nikenike Vurobaravu signed the notice to dissolve Parliamentthe next elections were due in 2024. Opposition MPs challenged the move in the countrys Supreme Court, saying the advice received by the president from the Council of Ministers was invalid and unconstitutional.

On Sept. 8, the Court handed down its judgement affirming the dissolution and for elections to go ahead.

In its reasoning, the Court cited an earlier case saying the right of MPs to express an unfavourable opinion on the governments leadership did not take precedence over advice from the Council of Ministers that the Parliament should be dissolved.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L) waves as he meets with Vanuatu Prime Minister Bob Loughman Weibur in the capital city Port Vila on June 1, 2022. (Ginny Stein/AFP via Getty Images)

We are of the view that the right of the people of Vanuatu to democratically express their view in the election of a new Parliament must be accorded priority, said Chief Justice Vincent Lunabek in his judgment.

The judge also said there was insufficient evidence to support the unlawfulness and unconstitutionality of the advice from the Council.

A spokesperson for the prime minister, Fred Vurobaravu, welcomed the ruling.

The government believes that the best option [going] forward is to reset through the snap elections, he said in comments obtained by AFP, noting there would be no guarantee for stability had the opposition won the case.

The former leader of the opposition Ralph Regenvanu is considering appealing the ruling.

We wanted a different decision as we hoped to squash the dissolution and go back to Parliament to finish the work still left, but the Court has upheld the dissolution and we will respect it, he said.

We are worried about the precedent  We will wait to thoroughly study the written judgement and see if we want to appeal the decision or just proceed with the snap elections.

Beijing Capitalising on South Pacific Instability

In June, Prime Minister Loughman attempted to extend term limits from four to five years and allow foreign nationals to hold officethere is a large population of Chinese nationals in the region.

However, the prime minister was forced to shelve the constitutional amendments after opposing MPs simply did not turn up, leaving Parliament with only 31 of 52 MPs, which forced the session to be cancelled. A quorum of 34 MPs is required for Parliament to proceed.

The incident is the latest episode in the ongoing geopolitical tug-of-war in the South Pacific region that has seen Beijing-linked MPs or political leaders put increasing strain on the democratic institutions in their country.

For Beijing, interest in the region emanates not so much from economic opportunities but strategic possibilities, including potential militarisation of the area, as well as a chance to further isolate Taiwan from its few remaining official diplomatic partners.

On Sept. 2, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted two naturalised citizens of the Marshall Islands for overt bribery of MPs for their support of a plan to create a semi-autonomous zone within the Pacific country.

The zone was slated to provide economic opportunities but was opposed by then-President Hilda Heine over money-laundering concerns and because it could become a backdoor for China to exert control over the country.

Later that week, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare managed to successfully delay the countrys national elections until 2024, while Kiribati President Taneti Maamau suspended three judges from its Court of Appeal, effectively removing another layer of its judiciary.
In an unrelated case, a Harris County Sheriff vehicle in Harris County, Texas, in May 2022. (Google Maps/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

Teen Kills Attempted Invaders, Defends Home in Texas

A teenager in Channelview, Texas, shot and killed two attempted home invaders on Friday with a shotgun, the police said.

Deputies with the Harris County Sheriffs Office were called to the 16000 block of First Street in Channelview at around 10:40 p.m. on Sept. 9 and found two adult males dead from gunshot wounds.

Investigators determined that those two persons were attempted home invaders and were later killed by a teenage occupant of the property.

There was another suspect who escaped the scene in an unidentified dark-colored 4-door sedan after the shooting, the sheriffs office said.

All three suspects were armed and wearing masks during the botched home invasion.

No others were injured in the event, police said.

There appeared to be another suspectbesides the three identified by the policewho was involved in the attempted home invasion, according to surveillance footage obtained by ABC 13.

The incident happened when no adult male was home, the Harris County Sheriffs Office said in a statement.

There was one woman, one 12-year-old male, and two 17-year-old males at home when two suspects were trying to enter the property forcefully.

One of the 17-year-old male occupants retrieved a shotgun and discharged it several times striking the two victims, the Sheriff wrote in the justifiable homicide record.

This case was sent to the Harris County District Attorneys Office which decided to present it before a grand jury.

The Epoch Times reached out to the district attorneys office for comments.

One-Third of Gun Owners Used Firearms Defensively: Survey

Texas Penal Code allows a person to use deadly force to defend themselves or others, which is commonly known as the stand your ground law. It also permits deadly force can be employed to protect property, also known as castle doctrine.

According to a national firearms survey (pdf) conducted by Georgetown University professor William English in 2021, about a third of gun owners, 31.1 percent, have used a firearm to defend themselves or their property, often on more than one occasion.

The survey estimates that guns are used defensively by firearms owners in approximately 1.67 million incidents each year.

However, in the vast majority of defensive gun uses, no shots were fired.

About 18.1 percent of the gun owners in the survey said they fired the gun. Over 50 percent of the time, gun owners say they showed the gun. In the rest of the cases, the gun owners just told people they were armed.
The Chinese Communist Party Is at War With America

Commentary

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is at war with the United States, although the bulk of our political and military leadership doesnt see it. According to retired U.S. Brig. Gen. Robert Spalding, thats because theyre not trained to understand how the CCP has combined its economic, military, diplomatic, technological, and communications capabilities to wage unrestricted warfare against us, its principal enemy.

I spoke with Spalding for the latest episode of EpochTVs Over the Target Live about why its so difficult to understand the nature and magnitude of the CCP threat.

I had to educate myself to see these patterns, because its a completely different way of thinking, and our brains are not encoded to understand political warfare to the level that the Chinese Communist Party and the Peoples Liberation Army are. Thats how theyre taught. I was taught a different type of warfare, said the retired Air Force officer who flew B-2 stealth bombers.

Studying CCP political warfare, Spalding said, required him to understand a new context for warfare that really had more to do with emotions and psychology, and control of the narrative.

Spalding served as the military attache in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing at the beginning of Donald Trumps presidential term and later moved to the White House, where he was senior director for strategic planning. After leaving the administration in 2018, he resolved to educate Americans about the CCPs war against the West and expose the main blueprint for Chinas efforts to unseat America as the worlds economic, political, and ideological leader.

According to Spalding, the crucial doctrine is outlined in a 1999 booklet written by two Peoples Liberation Army colonels, Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui, called Unrestricted Warfare. In Spaldings recently published book, War Without Rules, he deciphers the difficult, dense, and often meandering CCP text that appears to have determined the course of the Beijing regimes relentless campaigns against the United States using every instrument at its disposal.

The colonels formulated their strategy, Spalding explains, in response to the 1996 crisis in the Taiwan Strait.

The time period was when [President Bill] Clinton sent in two aircraft carriers into the Taiwan Strait because the Chinese Communist Party was lobbing missiles into the strait, and Clinton wanted them to knock it off, Spalding told Over the Target Live.

Because the Chinese were faced with an incredible war machine, the colonels were tasked with thinking how they come up with a doctrine for dealing with a very powerful United States.

The crucial lesson that they drew was to avoid direct military conflict with the United States. Instead, the CCP drew on instruments made available by the United States and other Western democracies, such as trade and economic relations, and international institutions that they could turn to their advantage. The colonels saw that globalization and the vast information platform provided by the internet would further the CCPs brand of warfare.

As Spalding writes in War Without Rules, unrestricted warfare uses all means, including armed force or non-armed force, military and non-military, and lethal and non-lethal means to compel the enemy to accept ones interest. The only rule in unrestricted warfare, writes Spalding, is that there are no rules.

To date, the CCPs most successful campaign is its use of COVID-19. In War Without Rules, Spalding distinguishes between speculation that the Chinese had designed COVID-19 in a lab as a bioweapon and the less extreme but proven case: that the CCP took advantage of a surprise crisis to advance its own interests and hurt its adversaries.

If you understand the nature of unrestricted warfare, Spalding said in his interview with Over The Target Live, you can see what theyre doing with the coronavirus. Its not about the virus, its about the fear that they were able to engender because the virus existed.  And because of their connection to the West, they were able to use those connections to help pipe the fear [into Western societies].

To spread fear, the CCP used institutions such as the World Health Organization (WHO), whose director, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, is reportedly influenced by the CCP. When China first locked down, Spalding said, the WHO said this is unprecedented. This is not part of our pandemic protocol.

And then the organizations messaging changed course, seemingly directed by its relationship with the CCP. The WHO, Spalding said, later claimed that lockdowns stopped the virus in its tracks. And so this encouraged the rest of the free world to basically embrace lockdowns.

Another institution Spalding cites is Imperial College London, which developed the predictive models that radically overstated the dangers of COVID-19 and then produced studies praising CCP lockdowns. Through various CCP outfits, Spalding said, Beijing had been paying tens of millions of dollars to the Imperial College of London. Xi Jinping himself visited Imperial College of London in 2015.

Using Western institutions as instruments of political warfare to spread fear, the CCP shaped decisions that would ultimately destroy economies, communities, families, and lives. Moreover, the tactics employed by Western officialslockdowns, widespread press and social media censorship of medical opinion that challenged official COVID narratives, and forced vaccine injectionsviolated freedoms that are the bedrock of Western societies.

And that was precisely the point of the CCPs political warfare campaignto undermine the Wests status as the defender of freedom. Beijing, according to Spalding, is at war with democratic principles.

They see  the idea of freedom as an existential threat to the Chinese Communist Party, he said. Theyre constantly concerned that their population may become awakened to these principles of freedom that are out there. And so they do everything in their power to make sure that theyre sealed off from the West. But the real way to ensure their long-term survival is to ensure the West doesnt exist as a democracy.

How do the United States and other Western democracies protect their own principles and peoples against a totalitarian regime that uses any instrument at its disposalincluding ones weve developed for peaceful purposesto lay siege to us?

The problem is further complicated by the fact that much of the Western ruling class has been compromised by the CCPs unrestricted warfare against us orworse yetare willing collaborators in that campaign.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
The Experts Still Pushing Coerced Jabs

Commentary

Medical ethics is about protecting society from medical malfeasance and the self-interest of the humans whom we trust to manage health. Its therefore disturbing when prominent people, in a prominent journal, tear up the concept of medical ethics and human rights norms.

Its worse when they ignore broad swaths of evidence and misrepresent their own sources to do so.

On July 8, The Lancet published the Viewpoint article Effectiveness of Vaccination Mandates in Improving Uptake of COVID-19 Vaccines in the USA. The article, which acknowledges the controversial nature of vaccine mandates, primarily concludes that coercing people to take a medical product, and reducing options for refusal, increases product uptake.

It further concludes that the best way to implement such mandates is for employers and educational institutions to threaten job security and the right to education.

The use of coercion goes against the established ethics and morals of public health and could be argued to be anti-health. In this case, the article justifies it by stating that the current evidence regarding the safety of COVID-19 vaccines in adults is sufficient to support mandates. However, it offers scant evidence to back this assertion and ignores all evidence to the contrary. They apparently consider the ability to work and support a family or to gain a formal education as something that is to be granted or taken away, not a human right.

The Lancet was once a credible journal with a rigorous policy of peer review. However, in this article, it appears to have dropped its former standards, promoting medical fascism (coercion, threat, and division to achieve compliance with authority) without insisting on a rigorous evidence base to justify such an approach. This suggests an attempt to normalize such approaches in mainstream public health.

Past experience has shown us where fascism behind a facade of public health can lead. The sterilization campaigns aimed at colored and low-income populations of the U.S. eugenics era, and the extensions of similar programs under Nazism in 1930s and 1940s Europe relied heavily on the normalization of such approaches.

Leading public health voices from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and other institutions championed a public health approach of sanitizing populations rather than environments, encouraging the idea of a tiered society where health experts determine the rights and medical management of those deemed less worthy.

Avoiding the Discomfort of Evidence

The authors of this Lancet paper, ranging from academics and medical consultants to the daughter of a prominent politician, attempt to rewrite human rights in medicine as if precedent never existed. Their argument for coercion in mass vaccination recognizes that vaccine mandates, whether issued by governments, employers, or schools, all involve a loss of rights. No serious attempt is made to provide a medical justification for mass vaccination with a non-transmission-blocking vaccine.

The paper focuses on the premise that coercion, commonly considered a form of force, makes humans do things they wouldnt otherwise do. Banning fellow humans from making their own health choices on pain of loss of normal participation in society has an impact on increasing vaccine uptake. This is hardly a revelation to any thinking human, but clearly important enough to justify publication in The Lancet.

The article links to evidence of vaccine mandates used for state school entry that show higher compliance when the right of religious and personal belief exemption is removed, or where onerous requirements for exemptions are put in place. Leaving ethical questions aside, the obvious lack of similarity between the authors predicate childhood vaccinations that block transmission and COVID-19 vaccines that have minimal impact on transmission, and may even promote it, is ignored. The one mandated adult vaccine predicate referenced in the article, the influenza vaccine, provides only a 2.5 percent reduction in pneumonia when the [mandated] vaccine was well matched to circulating strains in the reference cited.

When raising the firing of unvaccinated workers, the authors seem comfortable with the approach but coy in admitting its consequences. Their admission that a few large US employers have terminated hundreds of workers for non-compliance references an article in Money magazine that actually paints a bleaker picture, characterizing it as a great resignation.

The authors will also have been aware of mass layoffs by large employers such as New York City (more than 9,000 fired or placed on leave), the Department of Defense (which fired 3,400), Kaiser Permanente (laid off 2,200), and the tens of thousands of staff lost from the UK care home sector. Extrapolated across countries and society to actually provide credible data may have been too uncomfortable for the authors and Lancet editors.

High efficacy and safety are obvious (though on their own, insufficient) prerequisites for any mandated product. This entire area of safety is dealt with by stating, The current evidence regarding the safety of COVID-19 vaccines in adults is sufficient to support mandates, supported by a single study comparing vaccinated individuals one to three weeks and three to six weeks post-vaccination, revealing low levels of myocardial infarction, appendicitis, and stroke.

The claim that widespread administration in adults has quickly generated a large evidence base supporting the vaccines safety, including evidence from active-surveillance studies suggests that both the authors and The Lancet are unaware of the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System and Eudravigilance databases set up for exactly this purpose. No mention is made of growing data on myocarditis, menstrual irregularities, or the excess all-cause mortality and severe outcomes in vaccinated groups in the Pfizer randomized control trials on which the FDA emergency registration was based. Were The Lancets reviewers unaware of these sources?

The sole reference to vaccine efficacy discusses COVID-19 ventilated patient outcomes. It ignores the period to 14 days post-previous dose that Pfizer acknowledges can be associated with immune suppression. Fenton et al. have noted that classifying a vaccinated person as unvaccinated in the first 14 days post-injection has profound impacts on vaccine effectiveness data.

Ignoring the Awkwardness of Reality

Post-infection immunity in the unvaccinated is a threat to arguments for mandates. The authors disingenuously state: Evidence suggests that the immunity produced by natural infection varies by individual, and that people with previous infection benefit from vaccination. New variants further undercut the case for adequacy of previous infection.

Two references are used here: one from a study in Qatar and the other a study from Kentucky. The Qatar study finds that the protection of previous infection against hospitalization or death caused by reinfection appeared to be robust, regardless of variant, while the Kentucky study found that COVID reinfection was reduced by vaccination over a two-month period in the months soon after vaccination, prior to the waning and then reversal of this protection, as demonstrated in studies of longer duration elsewhere.

The vast breadth of evidence on the relative effectiveness of post-infection immunity is ignored. Either the authors failed to read their references and are unaware of waning and of the vast literature on post-infection immunity, or they dont consider demonstration of efficacy important for coerced medical treatments.

In a previous era, or in a previously credible medical journal, an argument for coercion to support a medical procedure would have required very high standards of evidence of efficacy and safety. It is arguing for the abrogation of fundamental principles such as informed consent that are at the core of modern medical ethics. Failure to address well-known contrary data should prevent an article from even reaching the peer-review stage.

Degrading Public Health Degrades Society

We are left with a paper stating that coercion is a good path to increase compliance for a product that doesnt reduce community infection risk and has potentially serious side effects. Ignoring both of these aspects of COVID-19 vaccines is a poor approach to justifying mass vaccination. The sole nod to any human rights concernSome objectors argue mandates represent undue encroachment on individual libertyis an interesting way to characterize removal of the rights to income, education, and the ability to socialize with others.

Although all these rights are recognized under the Universal Declaration for Human Rights, the authors and The Lancet consider them insufficiently serious to dwell upon.

Public health has been down this road before. We have seen the path society takes when basic public health principles are subverted to achieve an aim that some perceive as good. We have also seen how most health professionals will comply to the actions involved, however horrific. Theres no reason to believe that this round of medical fascism will end differently.

We rely on medical journals such as The Lancet to apply at least the same standards to the purveyors of such doctrines as they do to others, and to demand a rational and honest evidence base. Anything less would raise legitimate questions as to the role the journal is taking in promoting these doctrines, and their place in a free, evidence-based, and rights-respecting society.

From the Brownstone Institute

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

David Bell Follow David Bell, senior scholar at the Brownstone Institute, is a U.S.-based public health physician. After working in internal medicine and public health in Australia and the UK, he worked in the World Health Organization as program head for malaria and febrile diseases at the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics in Geneva, and as director of global health technologies at Intellectual Ventures Global Good Fund in Bellevue, Wash. He consults on biotech and global health.
The Government Is Not Our Friend: Founder of True the Vote Discusses Being Targeted by FBI, IRS

Years before the FBI raid on President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago home, Catherine Engelbrecht, founder of election monitoring organization True the Vote, already understood that federal agencies were being weaponized against political foes.

During President Barack Obamas administration, her personal, business, and nonprofit dealings suddenly became of intense interest to the federal government. She endured more than 15 instances of audits or inquiries from the FBI, IRS, Environmental Protection Agency, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Engelbrecht said seeing Trumps home raided made her sick. It reminded her of her own experience and offered proof that more than a decade after her dealings with federal law enforcement began, the United States is moving toward communism.

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. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Getty Images)

It was a nauseatingly clarifying moment, Engelbrecht told The Epoch Times. Like, just in case you thought it was enough to cheat him out of an electionNo. They want him gone. They want him indicted.

It galvanized her resolve to continue speaking about election integrity.

It was clarifying in its clear weaponization, and a stark reminder of what were facing, Engelbrecht said of the raid. We cannot allow this to continue, or children do not have a chance.

They Needed to Kneecap Us

Engelbrecht became interested in election integrity after she volunteered to work the polls in Texas in 2009 and noticed procedural problems she felt should be addressed. She started True the Vote, which grew into a national election integrity movement. True the Vote is the investigative group behind the documentary 2,000 Mules, but it was started well before the 2020 election.

Engelbrecht says True the Vote was the first national election watchdog group. She had another group, King Street Patriots, a Tea Party organization she founded in Texas.

Her troubles began in 2010 after she applied for tax exempt status for her nonprofit organizations. Engelbrecht had to file a lawsuit and deal with intimidating federal agencies for more than three years before her application was finally approved.

We were being targeted before it was part of the American awareness that this is happening, so it was very surreal to have agency after agency show up, the FBI being the first of ultimately five agencies, Engelbrecht said.

She had been holding weekly public meetings and the FBI wanted to see a list of attendees. She later learned it was the FBIs domestic terrorism unit that had been visiting her.

In 2011, her personal and business taxes were audited by the IRS for the first time, each audit going back many years. In 2012 her business was inspected by OSHA when she was not present. The agency said it found nothing serious or significant in its report, but still fined the business $20,000. In 2012 and again in 2013, the ATF audited her family business.

How does this happen, when we shouldnt have been on anybodys radar, Engelbrecht said. I look back now and I understand exactly what they were trying to do. They were trying to take out what they perceived to be opposing political voices. Back then there was no other nationally focused election integrity organization. They needed to kneecap us hard, before we began to gain momentum. And they did.

Different After Obama

In a 2014 hearing about the IRS targeting conservative groups, Engelbrecht gave congressional testimony about her experiences. She repeated some of that testimony during the 2015 confirmation hearing of Loretta Lynch for attorney general.

True the Vote Founder Catherine Engelbrecht testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan. 29, 2015. (Screenshot/CSPAN)

All of these incursions into my affairs began after filing applications for tax exemption, there is no other remarkable event. There is no other reason to explain how, for decades I went unnoticed, but now I find myself on the receiving end of interagency coordination into and against all facets of my life, both personal and private, she testified. These events were occurring while the IRS was subjecting me to multiple rounds of abusive inquiries, with requests to provide every Facebook and Twitter Ive ever posted, questions about my political aspirations, and demands to know the names of groups that Ive spoken with, the content of what I said, and everywhere I intended to speak in the coming year. The answer to these sorts of questions are not of interest to the typical IRS analyst. But they are certainly of interest to a political machine that will put its own survival against the civil liberties. This government attacked me because of my political beliefs, but I refuse to be cast as a victim.

She called it a coordinated effort to exert the weight of the federal government to intimidate her.

There was a time when citizens getting responsibly involved in supporting civic engagement would be a good thing. That would be a thing we should aspire to, and tell our kids they should to, Engelbrecht said. Instead, its being used as a weapon to silence people. Its never been the same since the Obama administration. They put in motion a series of targeting that continues.

Its government as a weapon, she says.

I have steeled myself with the acceptance that yes, everything we do is being watchedthat privacy is an illusionand that the government is not our friend, she said. The government in its current construct is not our friend.
The Possible Victory of Ukraine

Commentary

The UkraineRussian war, which has been an unending source of surprises since it was impetuously launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin in February, has taken another decisive turn as the long-awaited Ukrainian counteroffensive has severely defeated overexposed Russian forces.

Although the Kremlin and the Russian Defense Ministry have been comparatively silent, the very active and opinionated Russian military blogging community, supplemented by a great many intercepted signals between Russian field officers, presents a picture bordering on a Russian debacle.

It now appears that the authentic Ukrainian counterattack in the south, designed to ensure that Russia didnt succeed in cutting Ukraine off from the world by occupying its entire Black Sea coastline, was in some measure a decoy operation to induce the Russians to transfer reinforcements from the eastern Donbas region to support their offensive along the Black Sea coast. It seems that substantial forces were redeployed to the south, and a very well-planned and swift offensive propelled by the latest NATO equipment came as a complete surprise in the east and has shattered many Russian units and seized immense quantities of munitions, military vehicles, and many Russian prisoners of war.

Ethnic Russians are the majority in eastern Ukraine and are presumably somewhat less offended by the Russian military assault on Ukraine than the 85 percent majority of Ukrainians who are not of Russian ancestry. Russian military units had been largely stripped of artillery and their ranks thinned, leaving the flanks of many units unprotected. The Ukrainians exploited this condition, and the Russian defenses are widely claimed to have buckled. Theres ample evidence that the Russian invasion army is suffering from poor morale, poor training and command decisions, an obsolete, distant, command structure, and a general lack of familiarity with the requirements of intense ground combat thats understandable in an army that hasnt engaged in a serious conventional war since the arrival of Stalins Red Army in Berlin in May 1945.

Its more obvious every week how serious an error Putin made when he plunged into Ukraine in February with only 150,000 combat soldiers assigned the mission of reintegrating into Russia the disheveled nation of Ukraine, of somewhat more than 40 million people. He was undertaking a military operation as great as that of Hitlers offensive in the West in May 1940 that the German army for that operation had more than 10 times as many combat soldiers, and the German Wehrmacht had been trained to an almost perfect state of competence and was commanded by legendarily capable generals, including Erich von Manstein, Erwin Rommel, and Heinz Guderian. The defenders had no significant resupply in the course of whats known to history as the Battle of France, and the Germans had heavy air superiority, other than over the English Channel during the evacuation of 338,000 Allied soldiers from Dunkirk.

None of this bears any comparison to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which as all the world has noticed, was based on the mistaken supposition that there would be no serious resistance, that millions of Ukrainians were longing to be regathered into the jurisdiction of the Kremlin, and presumably that there would be a tepid and pusillanimous response from the West. Of course, all of these suppositions were horribly wrong.

Ukraine, which has never in its history really been a distinct country, having been composed of successive occupations of its territory by Lithuanians, Poles, Russians, and medieval Tatars, has now made for itself a heroic tradition, a gallant war of independence of the kind that will furnish it an authentic mythos that can sustain and inspire a patriotic tradition for a new nation, even one created by an ancient people.

Its true, as has been pointed at by a number of commentators, that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is far from a perfect democrat, has seized dictatorial powers that customarily are asserted by a government at war, and that he was not popular within his country prior to the outbreak of war. Its also true that his background as a successful professional comedian is, to say the least, unusual for a successful war leader. None of that has the slightest relevance now. He has been a brilliant galvanizer of Ukrainian national determination, and an extremely skillful solicitor of assistance from the international community.

On the other side, the Russian Internet community of military commentators is extremely reproachful of Putin and his defense minister Sergei Shoigu, and of the Russian general staff and command generally. The Ukrainians loudly advertise that Russian prisoners of war will be very respectfully treated, and the Russian desertion rates imply that many find that a more alluring way-station in their lives than the assignment to try to resist the very well-armed and ferociously motivated Ukrainian defense of a homeland that was supposed to rejoice at the arrival of Russian liberators seven months ago.

The Russians appear to have taken approximately 80,000 casualties, the equivalent of about 200,000 casualties in the United States, with absolutely nothing to show for it. And as Russia, with a GDP smaller than Canadas, is footing the bill for all of this against Ukraine, almost all of whose costs of equipment and munitions are an outright gift from NATO, 70 percent of that from the United States, this war is becoming extremely onerous for Russia. The only way for them actually to win a serious victory will be a general mobilization and a patriotic epic on the scale of the repulse of Napoleon and of Hitler: a regime of sacrifice that the Russian masses are little disposed to sustain and the current discredited leadership lacks the moral authority to impose.

Its certainly time that sniping media commentators, such as the normally reasonably sensible Tucker Carlson of Fox News, stopped comparing American military assistance with the endless combat roles of Americans in the Middle East, and praising Russia. This assistance generates no American casualties, and if Russia had succeeded in re-occupying Ukraine, it would have substantially undone the democratic worlds victory in the Cold War, and it would have convinced much of the world that the United States and the free world in general, were in irreversible decline. It would also have been tremendously demoralizing to Western Europe, and although Ukraine isnt a member of NATO, it would probably have sounded the death knell of that alliance.

After a defeatist start, this could be the first large-scale success of the Biden administration. But its ambition shouldnt be a bone-crushing humiliation for Russia; it should work toward an honest referendum in the Russian-speaking areas of Ukraine, including Crimea, to determine if any of them wish to join Russia voluntarily, and an emergent Ukraine that should have eventual access to the European Union, and though not a member of NATO, a country whose borders are solemnly and believably guaranteed by NATO and by Russia.

This is potentially and imminently the greatest advance for the forces of democracy since the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the collapse of international communism 30 years ago. Isolationist media shouldnt dare to heckle and impugn such courage in the cause of freedom, and of the strategic security of the West.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Donald Trump arrives at Trump Tower in N.Y. on Aug. 9, 2022, the day after FBI agents raided his Mar-a-Lago Palm Beach home, in Fla. (David 'Dee' Delgado/Reuters)

Trump Scored Big Win With Ruling on Special Master in FBI Case: Former Prosecutor

Former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy said former President Donald Trumps team scored a major victory last week when a U.S. judge approved his request for a special master to review documents taken by the FBI from his Florida home last month.

Its a big win for the Trump team and a potentially explosive ruling if it holds. I would imagine its important enough that the government will appeal this immediately, McCarthy told Fox News on Monday morning.

Late last month, following the Aug. 8 raid on the Mar-a-Lago resort, Trumps attorneys filed a petition with Florida Judge Aileen Cannon to obtain a special masteror a neutral third partyto review the documents that were taken by FBI agents. Cannon sided with Trumps team in her order, noting the unprecedented nature of the FBI targeting a former presidents home, while adding that she has concerns regarding government leaks about the case to the media.

Lawyers for the Department of Justice (DOJ) wrote in a separate filing they are planning to appeal Cannons order with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Among other claims, DOJ prosecutors said a special master will slow down their investigation of Trump and argued that an agency filter team has already reviewed the documents that were taken.

In a nutshell, what happened here is the Justice Department assumed that Trump only had attorney-client privilege, that he did not have executive privilege, McCarthy told Fox, or at least to the limited extent that as a former president he maintains executive privilege, it cant be asserted against the executive branch itself.

He May Have Executive Privilege

He added that if it turned out the documents fall under that privilege, it could taint the prosecutors who reviewed them and it could also taint their investigation because they are now conducting an investigation.

They got these documents two weeks ago, and they have had these documents, the prosecution team has, for about a week. So they have been merrily conducting their investigation with the agents assuming all the documents were appropriate for the investigation. Now the judge is saying hold everything, he may have executive privilege, McCarthy concluded.

A property receipt and warrant unsealed by a separate U.S. magistrate judge, Bruce Reinhart, show the DOJ is investigating Trump on possible obstruction of justice and Espionage Act-related charges. A heavily redacted affidavit unsealed last month revealed prosecutors said they had probable cause to believe that classified materials were being stored at Mar-a-Lago.

But Trump has publicly denied those claims and indicated that he declassified some of those materials. Among other things, the FBI also took personal records, medical files, tax returns, and passports during the raid, Trump has said.
Former President Donald Trump (Left) at CPAC in Dallas, Texas, on Aug. 6, 2022, and the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., on Feb. 11, 2022. (Brandon Bell, Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Trump Team Accuses DOJ of Inciting Chaos by Blocking Special Master

Former President Donald Trumps legal team accused the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday of blocking an attempt towards restoring order from chaos by arguing against the appointment of an independent arbiter.

The very purpose of a special master is to serve as a neutral third party, with appropriate authorization, reviewing documents to facilitate resolution of the parties disagreements, Trump lawyer Chris Kise wrote in a filing, asking the court to keep blocking DOJ access to records that were taken by FBI agents from his Mar-a-Lago last month.

In opposing any neutral review of the seized materials, the Government seeks to block a reasonable first step towards restoring order from chaos and increasing public confidence in the integrity of the process, the filing continued (pdf), adding, A special master is not an agent for either President Trump or the Government.

The Justice Department had asked the judge, Aileen Cannon, to lift a hold on the review and said it would contest the ruling to a federal appeals court. The department said its investigation risked being harmed beyond repair if that order remained in place, noting that confusion about its scope and meaning had already led the intelligence community to pause a separate risk assessment it was doing.

Proposed Candidates

In the meantime, both sides on Friday night each proposed different names of candidates who could serve in the role of a special master, though they disagreed on the exact scope of duties the person should have. Cannon has said the yet-to-be-named arbiter would be tasked with reviewing the documents and weeding out from the investigation any that could be covered by claims of either executive privilege or attorney-client privilege.

Cannon last week granted the Trump teams request for the appointment of an independent arbiter, also known as a special master, to review the seized records and prohibited for now the department from examining the documents for investigative purposes.

In Mondays filing, Kise agreed with the decisiondescribing it as warrantedso that all seized materials may be appropriately reviewed and categorized.

The Justice Department has said Trump, as former commander-in-chief, had no right to hold onto the presidential documents. And the criminal statutes that the department has used as the basis of its investigation, including one criminalizing the willful retention of national defense information, do not actually require that the records be classified.

The agency said that more than 100 documents that allegedly had classified markings were taken from Mar-a-Lago on Aug. 8. A photograph that appeared to show the documents were included in a court filing last month, which was panned by Trump in a recent interview as a set up.

The Epoch Times has contacted the DOJ for comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Former President Donald Trump (Left) at CPAC in Dallas, Texas, on Aug. 6, 2022, and the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., on Feb. 11, 2022. (Brandon Bell, Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Trump Team Opposes DOJs Mar-a-Lago Special Master Candidates

Former President Donald Trumps lawyers on Monday filed a motion objecting to special master candidates proposed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to review documents taken by FBI agents from Mar-a-Lago.

Trumps attorneys, in a three-page filing (pdf), asked for permission to specifically express our objections to the Governments nominees only at such time that the Court specifies a desire to obtain and consider that information.

There are specific reasons why those nominees are not preferred for service as Special Master in this case, the lawyers stated, saying that it will not provide a reason for why they oppose the DOJs special master candidates.

The reason why, the filing added, is because it is more respectful to the candidates to not include their reasons from a public, and likely to be widely circulated, pleading.

As the Courts Order required a list of proposed Special Master candidates but did not specify whether that is to include specific advocacy as to why certain nominees are or are not suitable to serve as Special Master, Plaintiff has construed that Order in a limited fashion, the filing stated.

If the court demands it, Trumps team would be willing to provide our specific rationale for supporting our nominees if and when the Court so orders, the filing added.

Special Master Picks

The DOJ named retired federal judges Barbara Jones and Thomas Griffith as potential candidates for the special master role. Griffith served as a judge on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia, and Jones is a former federal prosecutor who served as a special master in other recent high-profile matters.

As for Trump, his team suggested Paul Huck Jr., a contributor to the conservative legal organization the Federalist Society, and retired Judge Raymond Dearie, who served as a federal judge in New York since 1986.

The DOJ has not yet issued a response to Trumps proposed candidates and also hasnt issued a rebuttal to the latest motion that was filed Monday.

Earlier, Trumps attorneys urged a federal judge to reject the Justice Departments bid to continue to review documents as part of its investigation.

Last week, Judge Aileen Cannon sided with Trump and ordered a special master to review the documents. At the same time, she partially blocked the DOJ from reviewing the seized documents, although she wrote that the 17-agency Intelligence Community assessment of the materials could continue.

In what at its core is a document storage dispute that has spiraled out of control, the Government wrongfully seeks to criminalize the possession by the 45th President of his own Presidential and personal records, Trumps team wrote in that filing (pdf).

Whats more, the lawyers argued that Mar-a-Lago is a secure locationstaffed by U.S. Secret Service memberssuitable for storing the documents.

The sprawling Florida resort was utilized regularly to conduct the official business of the United States during the Trump Presidency, which to this day is monitored by the United States Secret Service, they wrote Monday.

When FBI agents arrived in August, they took 11 sets of allegedly classified documents, including some that were marked top secret, according to government-submitted court documents. They also found empty folders that had classified markings.
Firefighters work at a site of a thermal power plant damaged by a missile strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Sept. 11, 2022. (Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via Reuters)

Ukraine Accuses Russia of Attacking Power Grid, Causing Blackouts

KYIV/KHARKIV, UkraineUkraine accused Russian forces of attacking civilian infrastructure in response to a weekend offensive by Ukrainian troops.

Ukrainian officials said the targets of the retaliatory attacks included water facilities and a thermal power station in Kharkiv, and that they caused widespread blackouts.

No military facilities, the goal is to deprive people of light & heat, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Twitter late on Sunday.

Zelenskyy said that Russian attacks caused a total blackout in the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, and partial blackouts in the Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, and Sumy regions.

Moscow denies its forces deliberately target civilians.

Zelenskyy has described Ukraines offensive in the northeast as a potential breakthrough in the six-month-old war, and said the winter could see further territorial gains if Kyiv received more powerful weapons.

Russias Defense Ministry announced Saturday that it was pulling back troops from two areas in the Kharkiv region.

Ukraines chief commander, General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, said the armed forces had regained control of more than 3,000 square kilometers (1,158 square miles) since the start of this month.

Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Ukraine needed to secure retaken territory against a possible Russian counterattack on stretched Ukrainian supply lines. He told the Financial Times that Ukrainian forces could be encircled by fresh Russian troops if they advanced too far.

But he said the offensive had gone far better than expected.

Nuclear Reactor Shuts Down

As the war entered its 200th day, Ukraine on Sunday shut down the last operating reactor at Europes biggest nuclear power plant to guard against a catastrophe.

Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of shelling around the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia plant, risking a release of radiation.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said a backup power line to the plant had been restored, providing the external electricity it needed to carry out the shutdown while defending against the risk of a meltdown.

French President Emmanuel Macron told Putin in a phone call on Sunday that the plants occupation by Russian troops is the reason why its security is compromised, the French presidency said. Putin blamed Ukrainian forces, according to a Kremlin statement.
Outgoing U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet gives a final press conference at the United Nations offices in Geneva on Aug. 25, 2022. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)

UN Report on Human Rights Abuses in Xinjiang Is a Clarion Call to Action

Commentary

On Aug. 31, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released a highly anticipated report on the ongoing human rights violations and abuses targeting Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities in Xinjiang, China.

Released within the final minutes of Michelle Bachelets term as U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, the report concludes, that, in Xinjiang, serious human rights violations have been committed.

Although the OHCHR regrettably stopped short of determining that the Chinese Communist Partys targeting of millions is genocide, and even permitted the Party to water down some of the language, the report is a consequential step forward toward advancing freedom in Xinjiang.

According to the report, the Chinese Communist Partys arbitrary and discriminatory detention placed in the context of its restrictions and deprivation more generally of fundamental rights could amount to international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity.

Further, the report determined that the allegations of detainees being subjected to torture, adverse conditions, forced medical treatments, and sexual and gender-based violence are credible.

These findings are not novel, as journalists, researchers, activists, survivors, and governments have bravely and systematically uncovered evidence leading to similar and even more dire conclusions.

However, what makes this report significant is that it was released.

Consider the Chinese Communist Partys diligent and determined efforts to increase its influence at the United Nations.

For example, recall that in the summer of 2019, in response to more than 20 countries issuing a joint statement of concern over the Partys targeting of Uyghurs, U.N. ambassadors from nearly 40 countries signed a letter defending the Partys actions in Xinjiang and its human rights achievements.

Additionally, in November 2021, a whistleblower was fired after revealing that the OHCHR was sharing the names of dissidentsincluding Uyghurswith the Communist Chinese regime.

Despite the Chinese Communist Partys best efforts to maneuver, intimidate, and propagandize in hopes that the international community would ignore its ongoing atrocities, the evidence and facts have become so overwhelmingly clear that the U.N.s leading body on human rights was forced to take a position.

Even though the report is not perfect, as Adrian Zenz, senior fellow in China studies at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, said, [I]t will provide a strong and authoritative basis going forward for holding Beijing accountable.

Ultimately, the release of the U.N. report on Xinjiang makes it impossible to ignore or excuse the ongoing abuses perpetrated by the Party in Xinjiang.

As American Foreign Policy Council Fellow Michael Sobolik, said, The UN has finally published its long-anticipated report, but white papers and multilateral investigations will not stop a genocide. Governments around the world need to step up and hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable, and the United States must lead that effort.

Over the past two years, the U.S. Congress has passed two significant bipartisan laws, the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act (2020) and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (2021).

These two laws give the United States the necessary tools for eliminating goods produced by forced labor in Xinjiang from Americas supply chains and for holding Chinese officials accountable.

But, as columnist Josh Rogin recently reported in The Washington Post, the Biden administration hasnt enforced the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act, leading to frustration in Congress. Under this law, the president is to identify and impose sanctions on Chinese officials engaged in the targeting of Uyghurs and their families.

Additionally, Rogin reported that the implementation of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Actwhich requires that importers prove that goods coming from Xinjiang are not made with forced laborhas been spotty. He pointed out that in the Washington metropolitan area, for example, grocery shoppers can purchase red dates from Xinjiang that are produced by a state-run paramilitary organization and are prohibited under the law.

The United States must enforce the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and encourage our allies and partners to adopt similar legislation.

It is overwhelmingly clear that the horrific plight of the Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities in Xinjiang cannot be ignored.

The report released by the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on Aug. 31 should be regarded as a clarion call to action for countries around the world to hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable for its egregious human rights violations and abuses.

From Gingrich360.com

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attend the IndoPacific Economic Framework for Prosperity with other regional leaders via video link at the Izumi Garden Gallery in Tokyo on May 23, 2022. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

US, Indo-Pacific Nations Launch Negotiations on Economic Framework

The United States and 13 nations on Sept. 9 concluded the first round of in-person meetings for the IndoPacific Economic Framework (IPEF) with a consensus on ministerial statements for four key pillars.

The U.S. Commerce Department said the 14 IPEF member nations, which represent more than 40 percent of the global economy, will focus on the pillars of trade, supply chain resilience, clean energy, and fair economy.

The talks in Los Angeles included ministers from Australia, Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the Biden administration launched the IPEF in May to develop a modern economic arrangement that will protect labor rights, combat climate change, and build resilient supply chains.

After several days of intensive discussions, we have made real progress toward that goal. And the ministerial statements demonstrate our innovation and ambition, Tai said in her closing speech.

Our intention now is to move towards negotiations with our partners on each pillar, with the first round of discussions taking place after this ministerial.

The IPEF will not include tariff cuts that are the bedrock of traditional free trade deals, but the talks are part of a U.S. effort to reengage economically with countries in Asia.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who was also present at the meeting, said that a second ministerial IPEF meeting is expected to take place early in 2023, though she didnt provide a specific date.

India Opts Out of Trade Pillar

Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that India will join three pillars of the framework focusing on supply chains, tax and anti-corruption, and clean energy, but will opt out of the trade pillar for now.

On one pillar, which deals primarily with trade, the contours of the frameworkparticularly on commitments required on the environment, labor, digital trade, and public procurementare still emerging, Goyal said in a statement.

We have to see what benefits member countries will derive and whether any conditionalities on aspects like the environment may discriminate against developing countries who have the imperative to provide low cost and affordable energy to meet the needs of our growing economy.

The U.S.-led IPEF is supposed to fill the void left after the United States withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

President Joe Biden said in May that the initiative will focus on matters related to ensuring economic competitiveness in the 21st century.

Naveen Athrappully and Reuters contributed to this report.
Vale Queen Elizabeth II

Commentary

The Queen is dead. Long live the King.

These are the words that must be uttered upon the death of a sovereign. They establish the practice that there is no break in the sovereign power, which passes immediately to the heir upon death, along with the guardianship of our constitutional form of democratic government.

It is with great sadness that we acknowledge the passing of Queen Elizabeth II at 96 years of age. The second Elizabethan era has finished and the reign of King Charles III has begun.

The standard for Queen Elizabeths 70 year reign, the longest of any monarch, was set on her 21st birthday, April 21, 1947, when then Princess Elizabeth was with her parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother) and younger sister (Princess Margaret) on a tour of South Africa.

In a speech broadcast via radio from Cape Town, the princess dedicated her life to the service of her country and all her peoples with these words: I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.

The Queen remained faithful throughout her life to that solemn pledge given five years before she ascended the throne suddenly at the age of 25. Her reign saw 15 British prime ministers, 16 Australian prime ministers, 14 U.S. presidents, and she served as head of state to 14 nations in the Commonwealth. It is unlikely any of us will ever see anything as enduring.

Princess Elizabeth makes her first broadcast, accompanied by her younger sister Princess Margaret Rose in London, on Oct. 12, 1940. (Getty Images)

A Life of Duty

As former Prime Minister Tony Abbott wrote in his tribute:

We have lost an exemplar of duty, honour, and faithfulness but deep thanks for her life should mingle with numbness and sadness at this loss.

Nine tenths of the worlds people have known no other Queen. We can but hope the world might see her like again but none of us ever will.

It is so typical of this remarkable woman that she was discharging her duty till her last day on this earth.

Just like her great-grandmother Queen Victorias reign, Queen Elizabeths was one of constant change. Throughout it, Queen Elizabeth acknowledged that change and kept consistent with public expectations.

As one example, her decision in 1992 to pay income tax against the wishes of her then prime minister, John Major. That year, the 40th of her reign, was one the Queen herself described as her Annus Horribilis, following the scandals that surrounded her childrenthe ending of the marriages of Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Charles, and the devastating fire at Windsor Castle.

In the speech in which she used those words, given at a reception hosted by the City of London, the Queen accepted criticism but argued that it should be tempered with gentleness, good humour, and understanding. The Queen had moral foresight, great responsibility, but was able to correctly understand the public mood and never indulged in political-style pandering or interference.

Therein lies another lesson from the Queens leadership: that the crown should always be above politics. It is the great strength of our constitutional monarchy. We dispense with it at our peril.

How Will Charles Fare as Monarch

And so we look to King Charles III. Just as there were comparisons made between Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Victoria, comparisons may also be made between Charles and Queen Victorias son, Edward VII. Edward VII, while Prince of Wales, was not immune from scandal. Feckless, a notorious womaniser and gambler, it was long thought he was not fit to be king. Indeed, Queen Victoria kept him away from many official duties.

However, upon ascending the throne, he proved to be an able monarch, playing a part in the reorganisation of the British Navy, fostering good relations with European countries, especially France. Called the Edwardian era, his reign saw many changes in technology and society, including the first flight by the Wright brothers in 1903 and the introduction of the age pension in 1909.

Time will tell whether Charles will resist the recent temptations he has displayed to indulge in political affairs.

For now, we honour the life of Queen Elizabeth II, the oldest, longest serving, and most revered monarch of modern times. We give our grateful thanks for her life of unstinting duty and service.

God Save The Queen!

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Taliban fighters celebrate one year since they seized the Afghan capital, Kabul, in front of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 15, 2022. (Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo)

We Did That: Afghanistan a Year After the US Surrender

Afghanistan is a terror state, al-Qaeda is thriving

Originally published by Gatestone Institute

Commentary

July 31st 2022. Kabul, Afghanistan. Ayman al-Zawahiri is killed by an American drone strike. His death is described as a victory against Islamic terrorism and a success for the Biden administration. Zawahiri was an Islamic terrorist, head of al-Qaeda; his death was good news. Americas intelligence services showed they still could obtain precise intelligence in hostile countries and strike enemies of the United States wherever they are. Was the elimination of Zawahiri, however, really a victory against Islamic terrorism?

The U.S. military took out Osama bin Laden, founder of al-Qaeda, in 2011 raid in Pakistan, and brought back to the United States many documents to analyze the operational capacity of the terrorist organization and its various plans for attacks, many of which, thanks to that information, may have been thwarted.

Zawahiri, however, was killed by a missile launched from a drone; no documents were seized. Islamic terrorist organizations communicate little secret information, if at all, by electronic means, so physical documents are valuable to see what they are up to. The abandonment of Afghanistan a year ago, however, created conditions that make commando raids such as the one on bin Laden arguably impossible. Potentially useful documents remained in Kabul.

Worse, Zawahiris presence in Kabul further reveals the dire consequences of the U.S. surrender. When the United States surrendered, Kabul again became again a city where terrorist leaders could live and feel safe. The Taliban regime probably did not simply ignore the presence of Zawahiri; it may well have protected him.

In addition, that Zawahiri could live in a house belonging to a top aide to Sirajuddin Haqqanithe leader of the Haqqani network and acting interior minister of the Taliban regimein an elegant district, not far from the U.S. embassy that American diplomats had to leave in a hurry, says quite a lot. The Haqqani networkan ultra-violent terrorist group that had been independent before joining the Talibanenjoys a close relationship and shared ideology with al-Qaedas leaders. The Haqqani network appears to have a predominant weight in the Taliban government, which today is even closer to al-Qaeda than the Taliban government of 2001.

While in Kabul, Zawahiri was doubtless in contact with other members of both the al-Qaeda and Haqqani networks. The result is that Kabul is once again a relatively safe haven for al-Qaeda.

Afghanistan, in fact, appears ruled by people who have ties to al-Qaeda. What becomes problematic is that the declared goal of Islamic terrorists is to spread Islam, an ambition that unfortunately includes attacking the West. It is therefore impossible to think that the members of al-Qaeda in Kabul have given up these dreams and no longer contemplate mass murder or the Wests destruction. It is also impossible to imagine that the Afghan government knew nothing about any of this.

What took place in August 2021 shows that even while the American military was carrying out evacuations at Kabul Airport, the city was already under the control of the Haqqani network and other Islamic terrorists. Thirteen American service members, 11 of them Marines, paid with their lives. The situation since then has only worsened; the United States leaving the Taliban billions of dollars worth of sophisticated weapons and military vehicles also has not helped. Afghanistan today shows all the features of being a terrorist state.

On Aug. 16, 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden, in a seeming attempt to justify his decision to abandon Afghanistan, declared that the United States had come to Afghanistan to make sure al Qaeda could not use Afghanistan as a base from which to attack us again. We did that, he said. A year later, however, Afghanistan is in the hands of a government close to al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda is once again firmly established in Afghanistan and again able to use it as a base from which to organize attacks against the United States.

Worse, the elimination of Zawahiri is probably not even a major blow to the terrorist organization he led. Al-Qaeda is not really a structured organization. It operates, rather, as an informal network whose different branches act autonomously. The leaders can give directives and organize major attacks, but the branches of the organization also manage and carry out their own actions.

Al-Qaeda has branches almost everywhere Islam is present. Once powerful in Yemen, al-Qaeda has now weakened there; but in the Islamic Maghreb and in sub-Saharan Africa, al-Qaeda is still extremely active. It plays a major role in destabilizing Mali, Chad, Burkina Faso, and southern Algeria.

Al-Shabaab as well has carried out countless attacks in Somalia (here, here and here). Al-Shabaab attacked Kenya in 2020 and Ethiopia in 2022. In addition, Al-Shabaab collects large amounts of money through extortion and plays a major role in funding al-Qaedas leadership.

Zawahiri had taken over the role of bin Laden, who had served mainly as a guide and a mentor. Zawahiris legitimacy came from his having been at bin Ladens side from the beginning. He had, however, never shown any particular skill. During his leadership, however, there was no major terrorist attack against the West. He released a few recordings, but often gave no sign of life for months at a time. Analysts sometimes speculated that he was dead.

Other men also at bin Ladens side from the beginning may prove even more harmful than Zawahiri. Before Zawahiri was chosen, for instance, Saif al-Adel, a former Egyptian Special Forces officer, was appointed its provisional caretaker. His name is often cited as that of the probable next leader of al-Qaeda. Al-Adel played a major role in several attacks, including the bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998. In 2004, he published online a terrorism manual called The Base of the Vanguard, detailing how to infiltrate and organize attacks in enemy countries.

Al-Adel has lived for years in Iran, a circumstance that has been presented as an obstacle to the possibility of his succeeding Zawahiri. Affiliates of al-Qaeda seem to have questioned orders coming from him because of his location in Iran. The reality, however, could be far different.

Although tensions exist between the Taliban regime in Kabul and the mullahs regime in Iran, all available data show that Iran still plays a major role in al-Qaeda. In addition to al-Qaedas having a new base in Afghanistan, the terrorist group also appears to have had, for years, a significant base in Iran.

In January 2021, then U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Iran has become the new home base of al-Qaeda:

Tehran has allowed al-Qaida to fundraise, to freely communicate with al-Qaida members around the world, and to perform many other functions that were previously directed from Afghanistan or Pakistan . As a result of this assistance, al-Qaida has centralized its leadership inside of Tehran  al-Qaeda today is operating under the hard shell of the Iranian regimes protection.

Many of the sanctions that President Donald J. Trump imposed on Iran considerably hampered the ability of the mullahs to finance the Islamic terrorist groups they had previously supported. By lifting many of these sanctions, the Biden administration has re-empowered the mullahs to finance the Islamic groups they have funded in the recent past. Al-Qaeda is clearly one of them.

After the death of Zawahiri, the Biden administration issued a press release blaming the Taliban for having allowed Afghan territory to be used by terrorists to threaten the security of other countries. Did members of the Biden administration actually expect anything else from the Taliban and the Haqqani network?

The Biden administration also blamed the Taliban for not respecting the Doha agreement, a peace deal between the United States and the Taliban stipulating that the U.S. would withdraw from Afghanistan if the Taliban negotiated a peace agreement with the Afghan government and prevented terrorist groups from gaining a foothold in Afghanistan. Did the Biden administration honestly expect ruthless terrorists to honor the agreement without the U.S. showing at least a little determination to use force if necessary?

Over the past year, the Biden administration has sent hundreds of millions of dollars to Afghanistan, supposedly for humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people. How could one not know, however, that most of the funds were embezzled by the Taliban and used to finance the Taliban regime and its terrorist activities?

The Biden administration almost never talks about Iran financing Islamic terrorism and never mentions that the lifting sanctions on the regime has contributed to financing the very terrorist organizations that the United States claims to be fighting.

Robert Malley, U.S. Special Representative for Iran, continues to negotiate with the Iranian regime. Worse: Malley is not even the one doing the negotiating. Negotiating with Iran on behalf of America isRussia! The Americans are not even allowed in the room.

Moreover, all this is taking place while the United States is half-heartedly helping Ukraine to defend itself against a ruthless Russian scorched earth onslaught. Malley nonetheless persists in separating the Biden administrations desire to sign a new disastrous nuclear deal from the Iranian regimes terrorist activities.

A year after the Biden administration abandoned Afghanistan to the Taliban and the Haqqani network, Afghanistan is back to being a terrorist state. It hosts and supports al-Qaeda while giving it the opportunity to organize terrorist attacks from Afghan soil.

The United States, for its part, not only ran from Afghanistan a year ago, it also ran from its last watchtower in Central-South Asia, and, by not even leaving a small residual force as strongly advised, abandoned countless people to be slaughtered and enabled the country to be plunged into economic collapse, chaos, and starvation. A recent report indicates that 78,000 Afghans who worked for the American government and applied for special visas were left behind in August 2021. The Biden administration even abandoned Americans. Thousands of Americans and green card holders have been condemned to live under constant threat. In addition, it turns out that 75 percent of Afghans airlifted from Kabul were not even American citizens, green card holders, or Afghan Special Immigrant Visa holders.

Iran, on the other hand, has been significantly strengthened. It supports al-Qaeda and now serenely threatens the United States. On Aug. 1, the mullahs sent a message saying that Iran is building nuclear warheads that could turn New York into hellish ruins. The United States recently arrested an Iranian operative, accused of having plotted to assassinate former National Security Adviser John Bolton and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in addition to a separate plot to kidnap an Iranian-American journalist, Masih Alinejad. All the same, Irans President Ebrahim Raisi plans to travel to New York for the U.N. General Assembly this month.

On Aug. 12, in Chautauqua, New York, the Indian-born author Salman Rushdie was the victim of an assassination attempt by a young American Shiite Muslim of Lebanese origin. The hand of the man who tore the neck of Gods enemy must be kissed, gushed Irans leading newspaper, Kayhan, whose editor-in-chief is appointed by Irans Supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

On July 19, 2022, the United Nations released a report saying that the international context is favorable to Al-Qaida, which intends to be recognized again as the leader of global jihad.

Aug. 15, 2022 saw the first anniversary of the takeover of the presidential palace in Kabul by the Taliban. It was a dismal anniversary. What happened in the past year throughout the country were countless atrocities committed by the Taliban.

Bidens words a year agoWe did that.fittingly describes all of this.

Its a year later, U.S. four-star General Jack Keane recalled, and its still hard to fathom what we actually did here.

The president made a huge strategic error, in my judgment, in declaring an unconditional withdrawal with a date certain in Afghanistan, which turned out to be an unconditional surrender. And now we have the Taliban in charge doing what they were doing twenty plus years ago and that is providing sanctuary to al-Qaida . What a debacle this decision has created. Its an accelerant for our adversaries, as we can see  Russia and Ukraine, China and Taiwan and the mischief that the Iranians are up to in the Middle East . Its a sad situation.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Firefighter Davis Sommer lights a backfire to burn off vegetation while battling the Mosquito Fire in the Volcanoville community of El Dorado County, Calif., on Sept. 9, 2022. (Noah Berger/AP Photo)

Weather Helping, but Threat From Western Fires Persists

FORESTHILL, Calif.Firefighters made progress against a huge Northern California wildfire that was still growing and threatening thousands of mountain homes on Sunday, while crews also battled major blazes that blanketed large swaths of Oregon and Washington in smoke.

The Mosquito Fire in foothills east of Sacramento spread to nearly 65 square miles with 10 percent containment, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.

Cooler temperatures and higher humidity assisted with moderating some fire activity, but higher winds allowed the flames to push to the north and northeast, according to a Cal Fire incident report Sunday.

More than 5,800 structures in Placer and El Dorado counties were under threat and some 11,000 residents of communities including Foresthill and Georgetown were under evacuation orders.

Pacific Gas & Electric firefighter Dave Ronco sprays retardant on a utility pole to protect infrastructure as the Mosquito Fire burns near Volcanoville in El Dorado County, Calif., on Sept. 9, 2022. (Noah Berger/AP Photo)

In Southern California, cooler temperatures and rain brought respite to firefighters battling the massive Fairview Fire about 75 miles southeast of Los Angeles after sweltering heat last week.

The 44-square-mile blaze was 45 percent contained Sunday. The fire has destroyed at least 30 homes and other structures in Riverside County. Two people died while fleeing flames last Monday.

A helicopter assisting with operations in the Fairview Fire crashed in a residential backyard while attempting to land at a local airport Saturday afternoon, fire officials said. Injuries to the pilot and two others were not critical.

Flames grow next to a fire engine as the Fairview Fire burns near Hemet, Calif., on Sept. 7, 2022. (David Swanson/Reuters)

The southern part of the state welcomed the cooler weekend weather as a tropical storm veered off the Pacific Coast and faded, helping put an end to blistering temperatures that nearly overwhelmed the states electrical grid.

Thunderstorms and the risk of flooding persisted in mountainous areas of greater Los Angeles on Sunday. But after Hurricane Kay made landfall in Mexico last week it quickly was downgraded and weakened further until it largely disappeared, forecasters said.

To the north, remnants of Kay caused flooding Saturday that stranded about 40 vehicles and closed a stretch of State Route 190 in Death Valley National Park. The park was still cleaning up from floods five weeks ago that closed many key roads.

In Washington state, fire officials were scrambling to secure resources in the battle against a blaze sparked Saturday in the remote Stevens Pass area that sent hikers fleeing and forced evacuations of mountain communities. There was no containment Sunday of the Bolt Creek Fire, which had scorched nearly 12 square miles of forestland about an hour and a half east of Seattle.

The fire will continue to advance in areas that will be unstaffed. With limited resources, only point protection will be in place while resources continue to mobilize to the fire, said a Sunday morning incident report.

Californias Mosquito Fire has covered a large portion of the Northern Sierra region with smoke. California health officials urged people in affected areas to stay indoors where possible. Organizers of the Tour de Tahoe canceled the annual 72-mile bicycle ride scheduled Sunday around Lake Tahoe because of the heavy smoke from the blazemore than 50 miles away. Last years ride was canceled because of smoke from another big fire south of Tahoe.

The Mosquito Fires cause remained under investigation. Pacific Gas & Electric said unspecified electrical activity occurred close in time to the report of the fire on Tuesday.

Firefighter Trapper Gephart of Alaskas Pioneer Peak Interagency Hotshot crew takes a drink while battling the Mosquito Fire in the Volcanoville community of El Dorado County, Calif., on Sept. 9, 2022. (Noah Berger/AP Photo)

Sprawling areas of western Oregon choked by thick smoke from the fires in recent days were expected to see improved air quality on Sunday thanks to a returning onshore flow, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.

South of Portland, more than 3,000 residents were under new evacuation orders because of the 134-square-mile Cedar Creek Fire, which has burned for over a month across Lane and Deschutes counties. Firefighters were protecting remote homes in Oakridge, Westfir and surrounding mountain communities.

According to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center, this weekend there were more than 400 square miles of active, uncontained fires and nearly 5,000 people on the ground fighting them in the two northwestern states.
Why Are the Liberal Rich Destroying Americas Greatest Cities?

Commentary

Two powerful new articlesThe Fall of Los Angeles by Joel Kotkin and NYCs Trinity School bares its unholy leftist hate by Miranda Devineillustrate in different ways what most of us have known for some time.

Americas two greatest cities are in drastic decline.

That people are moving out of them is hardly surprising. The real surprise may be that everybody hasnt left. And Im not just talking about the obviouspervasive homelessness, garbage everywhere, the near-complete lack of public safety, and growing crime approaching dystopia.

Im talking about something even more obvious and repellentthe rich, often mega-rich, liberals and progressives who run these cities dont care if theyre run into the ground as long as they look good to themselves and their cronies and no one intrudes on or interrupts their lavish lifestyles.

Like an entire social class of modern Neros, they continue espousing the same policies while their two Romes burn. Whats wrong? Why do they never change? Is it just endless virtue signaling? Dont you run out of that? How many Teslas can you buy?

Kotkin wrote of Los Angeles: Worse still, conditions in LA today are bordering on the medieval. Anyone visiting some of the most famous districts of urban Los Angelesnotably downtown, Hollywood, and Venice Beachsees clear signs of destitution, including sprawling homeless encampments, vast numbers of people living in vehicles and rampant crime. Last year, a UN official compared conditions on LAs Skid Row, a poor downtown [neighborhood], to those of Syrian refugee camps. Smash-and-grab thefts at local 7-Elevens and the persistent theft of goods from railyards suggest this is a city that has lost control to the modern version of lawless highwaymen.

Devine wrote of something more specific but frighteningly indicative of an accepted mindset in her citys high-minded liberal society: its horrifying bigotry toward conservative white boys, actually wishing they would all be killed. This desire was expressed by one of the teachers at a fancy $61,000 per annum New York private school. Devine highlighted the schools reluctance to own up to the evil inherent in that view, preferring to blame the messenger (Project Veritas).

She goes to the heart of the peril from this kind of talk:

They should remember the prophetic words of German pastor Martin Niemoller, an opponent of Adolf Hitler who survived the Dachau concentration camp:

First they came for the communists and I didnt speak out because I wasnt a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists and I didnt speak out because I wasnt a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews and I didnt speak out because I wasnt a Jew.

Then they came for me. And there was no one left to speak out for me.

Does this small private school situation justify Devines rhetoric? The answer is yes, because the state of our culture resembles nothing more than Germanys Weimar Republic. Los Angeles and New York being in drastic decline is a clear indication of that.

But back to my original question of why the liberal rich stand by and let this happen, weirdly, in some senses, encouraging it while living as most of them do in some kind of cordon sanitaire, with the most wealthy having their own security to protect them.

Why, for example, do large portions of L.A.s mostly affluent homosexual community so adamantly back Karen Bass for mayor in the current race when Bass was, until very recently when the optics started to look terrible, a well-known cheerleader for Fidel Castro? Dont they know Castro built concentration camps for gays? Is this a cognitive disorder? Virtue-signaling gone berserk? Hypocrisy gone berserk?

And its not just the gay community. Its all of largely white West Los Angeles lined up behind a woman with a solidly pro-totalitarian background. (The other day, she reported that she was robbed of two gunsand nothing elsein her house, although she votes against gun rights every time. Go figure.)

No, theres something more going on here than mere virtue-signaling (although theres plenty of that). Thats a symptom of a deeper disease.

A few years back (2016), I published the book I Know Best: How Moral Narcissism Is Destroying Our Republic, If It Hasnt Already. In it, I posited that theres a kind of mental illness in our culturea moral narcissismleading people to separate what they say they want from the actual results ensuing from what they say. The latter is of little importance and to be disregarded, as long as you say the approved thing initially.

While Im proud of the book, I underestimated what I wrote then. Moral narcissism is now a full-blown disease in the United States and throughout the world thats more dangerous and harder to cure than COVID-19. Its both a mental and spiritual illness. And its highly communicable, being taught as knowledge or wisdom in virtually all our schools.

Many things have contributed to the increased prevalence of this disease, including conformity, fear, and greed.

We live in a world of people who proclaim themselves to be good while doing bad, inadvertently or not. The extreme version of this is people like Fidel Castro, but the local versions may ultimately be more insidious because theyre less obviously recognizeduntil we see our greatest cities in this extraordinary state of decline.

And if youre not living in one of those cities, dont be smug. This decline, like moral narcissism, is communicable. It already has beenall over the place.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Police guard the exit of the Blue Parrot nightclub in Playa del Carmen, Mexico on Jan. 16, 2017. (AP Photo)

Why Some Latin Americans Are Fed Up With Gringos Living in Their Countries

The subject of U.S. citizens receiving a less-than-warm welcome in neighboring countries isnt a new one.

When John Woodhouse Audubon, son of the famous naturalist and painter John James Audubon, arrived at Cerro Gordo in Northern Mexico in 1849, he was all but run out of town.

In his travel diary, Audubon wrote that he and his companions were hooted and shouted at while being called gringos.

Arriving on the heels of the MexicanAmerican War, such behavior wasnt unanticipated.

Foreigners are drawn to Buenos Aires, Argentina, because of its European-influenced cuisine, architecture, and culture with an affordable price tag. Photo taken on Aug. 4, 2022. (Autumn Spredemann/The Epoch Times)

Nationals from the United States and other countries move to the more economically challenged parts of the Americas for a variety of reasons. However, across the board, people have expressed wanting a more affordable, slower pace of life.

Today, the term gringo has become more versatile, and for the most part, locals say it with less vitriol. In most of Latin America, the word gringo has become nearly interchangeable with foreigner.

However, some U.S. nationals and other foreigners living in the region are experiencing darker shades of what Audubon described back in 1849. Theyre becoming the targets of crime, racist commentary, or even assaults.

Such incidents are manifestations of an undercurrent of anti-foreign and anti-U.S. sentiment in some of the regions colorful cities. Much of that stems from a surge in expatriate (expat) arrivals from Western countries who havent come to sip tropical drinks at a luxury resort, but to live.

The international relocation company Where Can I Live has recorded a 193 percent spike in traffic by U.S. residents since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June.

Politics aside, U.S. citizens have been broadening their footprint in other countries for the past two decades, especially in the Americas.

Among the top choices for resettlement are Mexico, Ecuador, Argentina, Costa Rica, Panama, and Uruguay.

Making the Area More Expensive

While the government lacks a formal tracking system for citizens living abroad, a recent estimate from the U.S. State Department puts the figure at nearly 9 million. Thats almost double the approximation from 2018, which was 4.8 million.

In Mexico, there are nearly 800,000 U.S. expats living as residents. Ecuador has an estimated 10,000 U.S. nationals as residents, while another 60,000 live in Argentina. Upwards of 30,000 U.S. expats also live in Panama.

Thats a lot of gringos showing up in countries that, in many cases, lack basic infrastructure and endure high levels of poverty.

And money is at the root of the problem.

Rey Empera, a Nicaraguan living in Ecuador, says that while shes not against foreign immigration to her country, it causes problems when many expats move to the same city or village.

She told The Epoch Times that foreigners inundating the seaside town of San Juan del Sur in Nicaragua is making the area more expensive.

If a local wants to buy land to put a business, its no longer worth the same as before, Empera said.

Higher land prices in the wake of so many expats arriving to live in her country meant resentment was a predictable outcome.

She noted that the only ones who can afford to buy land and operate businesses in San Juan del Sur these days are from the United States.

Like Empera, many Latin American locals have pointed to gentrification as the underlying cause of the new wave of anti-gringo resentment pulsating in the region.

Its certainly not a problem everywhere, but a common thread has emerged.

Many of the expats reporting issues of racism and criminal targeting live in places that were already considered expensive by locals. Capital cities, popular resort towns, and places subject to prior land conflicts are hot spots for anti-foreign sentiment.

Tulum in Quintana Roo, Mexico, is a popular spot for foreigners and digital nomads to work and live. Photo taken on Dec. 31, 2021. (Autumn Spredemann/The Epoch Times)

Texas native Miguel Firz told The Epoch Times he was the victim of a violent incident after being robbed by locals where he lives in the state of Jalisco, Mexico. A group of five locals beat Firz while threatening to cut him with a knife for trying to reclaim objects he said they stole from his home.

Once the police arrived, Firz was astounded that his attackers were let go and he was arrested instead.

I now have charges against me, Firz said. Thieving isnt a shameful endeavor if the person youre stealing from is either rich, foreign, or both.

And though hes suffered robbery and discrimination while living in Mexico, Firz claimed Costa Rica was worse for him.

He declined to elaborate about his experiences in Costa Rica, other than saying, You cant have any relationship with a Tico [Costa Rican] without them gaining financially from you.

For others, the appearance of racist attitudes has been more subtle.

One U.S. expat, who preferred to be identified as Jennifer due to the small size of the town where she lives in Quintana Roo, Mexico, told The Epoch Times that hostility toward foreigners often manifests in casual conversation.

While dating a Mexican local, Jennifer recalled a taxi ride across town earlier this year, when the driver told her boyfriendright in front of herYou shouldnt be with her. You need to find a nice Mexican girl.

Jennifer wrote off the comments as just some racist old guy from another generation, but it definitely stuck with her. It also highlighted, for the first time since she arrived, that not everyone was thrilled at the idea of gringos dating locals.

A Slice of Paradise

Jim, a U.S. expat and former military service member, came to Ecuador 10 years ago to buy his own little piece of naturalist heaven. He asked to use a pseudonym to avoid retaliattion from locals.

Renowned for its stunning landscapes and affordable real estate, Ecuador has been a top choice for savvy international buyers for nearly a decade. Jim runs his own bakery near the town of Portoviejo. He also spent time living in Salinas, where foreigners are quickly snatching up oceanfront properties.

Because of high rates of poverty and drug trafficking in the coastal cities, theres also a lot of crime.

More than likely, at some point, Ill be assassinated in Ecuador, Jim told The Epoch Times.

Speaking out against institutionalized corruption in a place such as Ecuador can be dangerous.

Jim knows this, but he refuses to back down because Ecuadorians are afraid to push too hard on the subject. But Ecuador is his home now, so he feels the need to speak out against criminal dealings within the country.

I love my land. I have my farm, I even have monkeys, he said.

Jim has been developing an eco-lodge on his land so he can share its wild beauty with guests, but the project has been full of unpleasant clashes with locals.

Neighbors come onto my property to steal fruit, I have it on camera. We argue, of course. They feel like its allowed, like theyre entitled to take whats yours when youre a gringo.

He also explained that after paying an electrician thousands of dollars to wire his property, the worker still refuses to complete the job. Jim originally hired a lawyer to put together the contract with the electrician, but owing to a lack of fluency in the language, the contract ended up being useless in court.

Jim noted that locals take advantage when youre not good at the language.

He says cultural clashes are also part of the problem, and gringos are willing to pay two or three times the local price for things such as rent and eating out at restaurants. It creates a culture of preference for doing business with foreigners, and sends the message that all expats are rich so they can afford to lose money.

When you [expats] take that North American mentality, giving away all that free stuff, youre not helping them, Jim said. You want to be generous, thats our way, but youre also causing a problem in a culture that isnt yours.

Not-So-Welcome Wagon

For some foreigners living in the region, being mistaken for an American also can cause trouble.

Candice Williams recalls walking down a street in her neighborhood when a local woman walking toward her, for no reason, took one look at her fair complexion and called her an American [expletive].

Not sure what to do, Williams, who is a South African native living and working in Quito, Ecuadors vibrant and fast-paced capital, kept walking.

It was strange, Id never met this woman in my life.

Her sister endured a similar, but more violent encounter around the same time. A different local woman ran at Williamss sister while out in public, knocking her to the ground without provocation or apparent reason.

Williams said her sister fell so hard that she needed medical attention for bruised ribs after the attack.

She also recounted a time while out at a bar that an Ecuadorian man told her she needed to go back to America.

She politely explained to the man that shes actually from South Africa, to which the man replied, Oh, so youre a colonizer then?

Theres noticeable racism [here], Williams said.

Farther south, Kristian George is an Australian who moved to Bolivian wine country after attempting to buy a hostel in Argentina. He told The Epoch Times theres definitely an anti-West sentiment thats noticeable in the country.

George also noted a prevailing mentality within certain social classes that foreigners come to take everything and take advantage of everybody.

Kristian George in the mountains in Chuquisaca Department, Bolivia, on Sept. 12, 2022. (Courtesy of Kristian George)

He described clashes with his neighbors, whove told him to go back to his own country on more than one occasion.

Recently, someone broke onto his property and stole his passports, both Australian and Bolivian. Shortly after, the thief reached out to George and offered to sell him back his identification.

Despite the challenges hes faced with occasional racism and criminal targeting, George maintains the vast majority of his encounters with locals while living in Bolivia have been wonderful.

Its a sentiment echoed by Jim, Williams, and Jennifer. The anti-foreign sentiment exists, but its not enough to make them pack their bags and leave.

The lower cost of living in many of Latin Americas cities continues to be a draw for digital nomads and those looking to put down permanent roots alike.
Crowds watch as the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped with the Royal Standard of Scotland, passes Mercat Cross in Edinburgh, Scotland, on Sept. 11, 2022. (Ian Forsyth/PA Media)

Why the Passing of Queen Elizabeth II Affects Global Stability

Commentary

The great conflict within societiesmostly Western societieshas reached a new phase. It is now, perhaps, defined as strident authoritarianism versus nationalism, and it received a major impetus with the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.

Her passing meant that a great figure of stability was removed from many societies around the world, and there would be a rush to fill the gap with more temporal power.

It was not merely in Britain and its Commonwealth that the queen radiated stability. The United Kingdom, even when it was submerged within the European Union, still represented a calm, core competency that was a critical underpinning to alliancesand even to the United States sense of itselfand to a global sense of the era.

The absence of the queen means that the era has passed. Our time since World War II was defined by more than the Cold War. It was the Second Elizabethan Age, which was characterized by an intimate silence and the last vestiges of nobility that linked her ancient crown with the world.

A surge of unpleasantness and demand for a new order will occur unless, or until, King Charles III can begin to fill the void and express inter-generational continuity. This continuity will not just be for the United Kingdomwhere the king will have the easiest time of itbut particularly in the dominions and realms, such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the Pacific, and the Caribbean states.

Queen Elizabeth had worked assiduously through seven decades of surprises and crises to build her prestige and unassailable dignity. Such prestige and reverence cannot be achieved overnight, nor was it achieved rapidly by the late queen, even though she inherited, in 1952, a throne that enjoyed great popularity and iconic global respect.

Queen Elizabeth ll smiles amongst Australian flags being waved by the crowd after the Commonwealth Day Service in Sydney, Australia, on March 13, 2006. (Rob Griffith-Pool/Getty Images)

Her legend was built on silence, calmness, and impenetrable and enigmatic neutrality as a beacon of leadership. So what can King Charles do but maintain his calm, even as the authoritarian political elements bay, particularly in Australia, for a turn toward republicanism?

The real difference between monarchies and republics is their prioritization between the long-term values of monarchies and the more immediate and material thinking of most republics. Historically, this has been the hallmark differential between right and left; urban and rural; nationalist and globalist. The COVID-19 crisis of 2020-2021 provided a breakpoint that saw opportunistic power grabs by some political figures, particularly within advanced Western societies. The turn toward authoritarianism in elected governments, however, began to produce visible, or foreseeable, pushback.

Now follows a period of introspection and turmoil, both for political figures and for societies. In a sense, it means that battle lines are being drawn. The republican movement will unfurl its banners, once again, particularly in Australia, where the new government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has already named a minister for the republic. It will also see a rise in republicanism in such places as Jamaica, particularly following the decision by Grenada just before the queens passing to become a republic.

Republicanism does not necessarily mean an abandonment of long-term or underlying moralities and principles. The United States created something above politicsthe U.S. Constitutionwhich lasted well for over two centuries. It represented the crown of America: something of its enduring values that united all its citizens.

But much of republicanism is the short-term material gratification of desires, whether for political power or the improvement of ones physical life. That is not to say that monarchies, which focus on the sense of belonging and identity, do not equally hope to fill the bellies of their societies and offer individual prestige as a reward for loyalty and service. However, the republican-monarchy divide is about the balance that each represents between the short and long termbetween the external gratification of material reflections of identity through possessions and the internal gratification of identity security of mind and soul.

What, then, can King Charles do to fly his banner with the strange device, Excelsior? Can he be more visible in the contested realms, such as the separate kingdoms of Australia and New Zealand, the Pacific Islands, or the Caribbean? That would seem a fundamental first step.

That Queen Elizabeth did her best to ensure a continuity of transition was evident. She secured a vote at the Perth CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) in Perth, Western Australia, in 2011, that Charles would succeed her as head of the Commonwealth. She ensured there would be no debate after her death on the status of Charles wife, Camilla, who would be secure in the rank of queen consort to King Charles III.

That was a rank she did not confer even on her husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who, it was known, had wished to be named king consort to the sovereign. She had her reasons. But she sought to leave the best possible situation for King Charles. It remains to be seen whether that would be enough, given the forces outside her control: the forces of restive politiciansnot restive populations so muchwho want to seize power beyond that allowed by their existing social contract.

King Charles will be the decisive figure in unifying the prestige of the British Armed Forces and even the armed forces of the Commonwealth realms. He had served in the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy and has strong links to many British and Commonwealth regiments; he should be a natural fit to rally the loyalty of the Armed Forces and galvanize their sense of prestige and purpose.

King Charles III delivers his address to the nation and the Commonwealth from Buckingham Palace, London, on Sept. 9, 2022, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Sept. 8. (Yui Mok/Pool via Reuters)

Britains allies should hope it will be so.

Domestically, within the United Kingdom, Charles must follow his mothers example of truly representing each of the component elements of the United Kingdom. That she chose to pass away in Scotland (because she had that choice; she could have remained at the end in Windsor, in England) showed a commitment to Scotland. She even wore her Scottish plaid for her last official duty, two days before her passing, to ask Elizabeth Truss to form a new UK government.

That the great powers of the world are assessing the passing of the crown is undoubted. China senses opportunity as the queens shadowor lightno longer casts over the Indo-Pacific. Charles, so personally familiar with each of the Commonwealth territories, will need to show his interest thereand soon.

But even Russiapresently at war with the United Kingdom over the Ukraine issuehas sought to see the queens passing as an opportunity to show an underlying sense of respect for the crown. Russian President Vladimir Putins tribute to the queen was unambiguously warm and showed the possibility of reconciliation between Moscow and the West. That is less surprising than it might seem: Putin has shown apparent affection for monarchical governance and helped resuscitate the prestige of Russias own martyred Tsar and Imperial family.

He noted that the queen rightfully enjoyed the love and respect of her subjects, as well as authority on the world stage. To King Charles, he said: I wish you courage and resilience in the face of this difficult, irreparable loss. May I ask you to pass on sincere condolences and support to members of the royal family and the entire people of Great Britain.

So it is a new age.

It may become the age of Charles IIIthe new Carolean Ageeven as the adoption of the throne name of Charles signified the new kings link to the ancient Stuart kings of England and Scotland, something not wasted on the Scots as they debate whether their authoritarian first minister of Scotland should be allowed to push them into secession from the United Kingdom.

Still, the battle lines have been drawn between material republicanismoften, but not necessarily, socialist in inclinationand identity-security monarchism, usually, but not always, conservative in orientation.

But let me say, in closing: God Bless Queen Elizabeth, and God Save King Charles.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally Casper, Wyo., on May 28, 2022. (Chet Strange/Getty Images)

Woman Accused of Threatening Judge Overseeing Trump Records Case

A Texas woman is facing federal charges after allegedly threatening the judge overseeing the legal battle over records that were seized by the FBI last month from former President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago home.

Tiffani Gish of Texas left three threatening voicemails on Sept. 1 with the chamber of U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, an FBI agent said in court documents.

Donald Trump has been  marked for assassination, Gish said in one of the calls, according to the documents. Im going to [expletive] have you shot myself, she allegedly said in another, adding, Ive already ordered snipers and a bomb to your [expletive] house.

In a third call, Gish is accused of telling Cannon, Im going to take my [expletive] to [expletive] Florida and Im going to personally throw a bullet to your [expletive] head in front of your kids.

Gish claimed the judge was obstructing justice, according to partial transcripts of the calls provided by the FBI to the federal court in Houston.

In several calls, she identified herself using the pseudonym Evelyn Salt, a character in the movie Salt. An investigation of the calls, assisted by the U.S. Secret Service, identified Gish as the caller.

Gish has previously made threats against Trump, according to the court documents.

When U.S. Marshals approached Gishs home on Sept. 4, she refused to allow agents in and spoke with them through a window. After some time, she invited agents inside. Overall, she spoke with them for approximately 45 minutes.

Gish admitted to leaving the voicemails and operating a Facebook page on which the threats against Trump were made, the FBI agent said.

Gish was charged with influencing a federal official by threat and interstate communications with a threat to kidnap or injure.

Gish faces up to 11 years in prison if convicted.

A public defender representing the defendant declined to comment. It is our offices policy that attorneys are not permitted to speak with the media, Heather Hughes, the lawyer, told The Epoch Times via email.

Gish was ordered detained, pending trial on Sept. 9. U.S. Magistrate Judge Peter Bray entered the order, finding that the weight of evidence against Gish is strong and that she has a history of criminal acts and violence.

He said the defendant appears to suffer from severe mental impairments with symptoms including paranoia and delusions. Gishs mother has said that she is in fear of her daughter and that her daughter has been violent against her in the past, the judge said.

Unfortunately, given her mental problems, Gish has no self-control and is not likely to follow this courts orders, Bray said. The court believes she will continue making online threats, will not show up for court, and will not follow the supervising officers instructions.

He also said that Gishs criminal history includes assaulting law enforcement officers.
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DARIEN  Actor and best-selling author Jenny Mollen has used her struggle with mental health issues in her comedy and her writing.

Now shes bringing that same understanding wit to Darien.

Mollen will be the keynote speaker at The Center for HOPEs 40th anniversary annual luncheon on Sept. 15.

Known for sharing hilarious and unfiltered stories in her New York Times bestselling books, Mollen has been candid about her own struggles with depression and eating disorders.

She is the author of two essay collections, a novel and a new cookbook Dictator Lunches. Previously dubbed one of the funniest women on Instagram and Twitter, she frequently shares stories about her life and family with her half million followers.

She has appeared in numerous film and television projects, notably as a guest actor in Chicago Fire, Girls and Angel. Her most recent credits include the 2016 film Amateur Night alongside her husband Jason Biggs and the series I Like You Just the Way I Am, based on her book of the same name.

Mollen is an advocate for mental health counseling and has been candid about her own struggles with depression and eating disorders.

She said she was drawn to the Center for HOPE because of the wide range of resources available, calling programs provided by the Center a gift to a community to have that kind of support.

Five years ago, Mollens brother was hospitalized with an infected atrial myxoma, a rare non-cancerous tumor on his heart. She credits therapy for helping support her brother and her family through the life-altering experience.

When something tragic or traumatic happens, its not just happening to that person  its really happening to the entire family, Mollen said. If it werent for therapy, I dont know that we would have been able to get through the way we did.

Founded in Darien in 1982, the Center for HOPE provides counseling and support services for people coping with illness, grief or loss. The organization merged with Greenwich-based Family Centers in 2005.

It's a wonderful milestone, Family Centers CEO Bob Arnold said. I think it's worth celebrating that we have this resource here in Fairfield County, and that it's benefiting so many people.

Arnold praised the funny and humorous Mollen for sharing her experiences with guests at the luncheon.

You can look at people who are moving forward with their lives, are successful, present a really positive image and, yet, they too have had to work through difficult issues, he said. The extent to which we share that with each other, I think its both comforting and inspiring.

The Center for HOPE will also present the Spirit of Resiliency Award to interior designer Amanda Lindroth.

Proceeds from the luncheon, which begins at 11:30 a.m. at the Wee Burn Beach Club in Rowayton, will benefit the Center for HOPE and The Den for Grieving Kids, programs offering bereavement and critical illness support.

Tickets are available at the Family Centers website for $125. A copy of Mollens debut novel City of Stars is included with admission.
AP

LONDON (AP)  The European Medicines Agency has recommended the authorization of a tweaked booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine that includes protection against two of the latest versions of omicron, as countries look to bolster their immunization programs ahead of winter.

The EU regulator said Monday that laboratory studies suggest the combination vaccine  which targets both the original COVID-19 virus as well as the omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5  should trigger an effective immune response. The vaccine is expected to be as safe as the original version, but the agency will continue to track its rollout globally since the data is limited.
Days after M&T Bank transitioned former Peoples United Bank customers onto its systems some people were still struggling to gain access to their accounts, in part due to a technical issue resulting from the use of special characters in account names.

The New York-based bank, which acquired Peoples earlier this year in an $8.3 billion purchase, informed customers this summer in letters and emails about the switch, which included a Labor Day weekend period where customers would not have access to online or mobile banking as the company converted Peoples accounts.

But since Tuesday, some people still have been unable to access their accounts online, even after following the steps outlined in the numerous communications from M&T.

Michael Purcaro, Vernons town administrator, contacted the bank on Tuesday after receiving error messages when he attempted to log in to his personal online banking account. He wasnt able to get hold of a customer service employee until that night, he said.

They said, We see whats wrong with your account. You and many others who had a special character in your username are having problems just like youre having and we dont know how to fix it, and we dont know when its going to be fixed, Purcaro said.

On Thursday, he said he visited an M&T branch in Ellington, where a bank teller told him that M&T was unsure when it would fix the issue. He said he allowed the bank to re-enroll him as a new customer, deleting his transaction history and statements with Peoples.

The bank had also posted a link on social media that explains how to access accounts, but only if customers didnt have a special character in their account name.

Max Reiss, an M&T spokesperson, acknowledged the problem with the special characters but said the issue was resolved as of Friday.

Our digital team was able to kind of go into our system and kind of recalibrate what was an acceptable special character, Reiss said. Its a different login system than the one Peoples customers used with different coding.

Even so, Reiss said that its distinctly possible that some customers would need to create a new profile.

The transition this week has led to long call wait times for customers, which Mike Keegan, M&T Banks executive vice president and head of community banking, called unacceptable.

Its not the customer service level we want to have or will have, but were getting there, Keegan said earlier this week. Its just unprecedented volume because change is happening and people want to make sure that they're comfortable with whats going on.

An online thread posted on Tuesday about service restoration had generated more than 800 comments from customers.

Earlier in the week, Keegan had said over 40 percent of Peoples customers have accessed their new M&T accounts online. He said some customers tried logging into accounts multiple times, causing them to be restricted. Other customers described issues with new credit and debit cards, he said, but those cases have included a customer mistakenly using an old credit card and another providing an outdated address for a new debit card.
Charles Bolinger/Intelligencer

Construction crews have been busy putting together the Metro East's first Hawaiian Bros location, at 2386 Troy Road.

The location will feature a single drive-through lane. The closest existing locations are in the Chicago area with others in the Kansas City metro area.
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WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP)  New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Monday that her government will not pursue any moves to change the country into a republic following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Ardern said she thought New Zealand will eventually become a republic, and it would probably happen within her lifetime, but that there were more pressing issues for her government.

The remarks were her first about the New Zealand republic debate since the queen's death, and reflect previous comments she has made on the issue. Ardern has also previously expressed her support for the country eventually becoming a republic.

Under the current system, the British monarch is New Zealand's head of state, represented in New Zealand by a governor-general. The governor-general's role these days is considered primarily ceremonial.

Still, many people argue that New Zealand won't fully step out from the shadows of its colonialist past and become a truly independent nation until it becomes a republic.

There's been a debate, probably for a number of years, Ardern said. "It's just the pace, and how widely that debate is occurring. I've made my view plain many times. I do believe that is where New Zealand will head, in time. I believe it is likely to occur in my lifetime.

But I don't see it as a short-term measure or anything that is on the agenda any time soon, Ardern said.

She said that becoming a republic was not something her government planned to discuss at any point.

As I say, in large part actually because I've never sensed the urgency, Ardern said. There are so many challenges we face. This is a large, significant debate. I don't think it's one that would or should occur quickly."

The death of Elizabeth and ascension of King Charles III to the throne has revived the republic debate in many countries around the world.

Charles became the head of state not only in the United Kingdom and New Zealand but also in 13 other countries, including Canada, Jamaica and Australia.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese started laying the groundwork for an Australian republic after he was elected in May. But he said Sunday that now is not the time for a change but rather for paying tribute to Elizabeth. He previously said that holding a referendum on becoming a republic is not a priority of his first term in government.

Many people in New Zealand have speculated in the past that the republic debate would gather momentum only after the death of Elizabeth, given how beloved she was by so many.

Ardern said she didn't link the two events. I've never attached it in that way, she said.

Elizabeth's image features on many of New Zealands coins and banknotes. prompting the nation's central bank to advise people the currency depicting her remains legal tender following her death.

Ardern also announced Monday that New Zealand will mark the death of Elizabeth with a public holiday on Sept. 26. The nation will hold a state memorial service on that day in the capital, Wellington.

Ardern said Elizabeth was an extraordinary person and many New Zealanders would appreciate the opportunity to mark her death and celebrate her life.

As New Zealands queen and much-loved sovereign for over 70 years, it is appropriate that we mark her life of dedicated public service with a state memorial service and a one-off public holiday, Ardern said.

Ardern said she will leave this week for Britain to attend Elizabeths funeral.
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NEW YORK (AP)  Three children were found dead on the beach near Brooklyn's famed Coney Island boardwalk early Monday and police believe they may have been drowned by their mother.

The bodies of the children, identified by police as Zachary Merdy, 7; Lilana Merdy, 4, and 3-month-old Oliver Bondarev, were found after a nearly three-hour search that began at 1:40 a.m. when a relative called police, worried the woman intended to harm her children.

The mother, identified by family members as 30-year-old Erin Merdy, was found 90 minutes later, barefoot and soaking wet, 2 miles (3 kilometers) down the boardwalk from the section of Coney Island where she lived.

Detectives were trying to question Merdy at the local police precinct house.

So far, shes not said anything, said New York Police Department Chief of Department Kenneth Corey.

The search for the children intensified after the mother was found alone. Police sent in a helicopter and marine units. The children were found at the water's edge shortly after 4:30 a.m. on a quiet section of beach about 13 blocks from the stadium where the Brooklyn Cyclones minor league baseball team plays.

Efforts to revive the children at a nearby hospital failed, Corey said.

Merdy's mother, Jacqueline Scott, 56, told the Daily News that her daughter was a loving mother but had been having a rough time recently.

She might have been going through postpartum depression, Scott told the newspaper. She was a good mother.

Scott said she tried to talk to her daughter Sunday.

I reached out to her yesterday and she said she was doing laundry and I said I wanted to speak to the kids, Scott said. I tried to call her twice on the phone after that and there was no answer.

The children's bodies were found three blocks from Merdys apartment building, where police had first gone when the search began. Corey said officers had canvassed the beach and the boardwalk, searched neighborhood streets and checked the local hospital in the hunt for the children before the mother was found on the boardwalk.

As they continued to search the area, police found a shoe in the water and bagged it as evidence.

A security supervisor for Merdy's building said the family had moved in less than a year ago. Corey said the mother had not been reported to authorities previously for abusing or neglecting her children.

A decision hadnt been made about what criminal charges Merdy might face.

_______

Associated Press writer Michael R. Sisak contributed to this report.

___

This version corrects the gender of the infant to male, not female, as police official had erroneously reported.
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MADRID (AP)  Protesters including brothel owners and sex workers demonstrated Monday in front of the Spanish Parliament over a bill that would penalize prostitution customers and sex club owners or pimps with sentences up to 4 years in prison.

The bill backed by the ruling left-wing PSOE party proposes broadening the definition of pimping, not making the exploitation of a prostitute necessary but a mere trade relation. For the first time in Spain, it would also penalize customers.

Demonstrators wore face masks and used bright red umbrellas to conceal their identities.

We ask the socialist party to withdraw the bill, that implies an actual abolition of prostitution and condemns us to work underground, said Susana Pastor, the president of the Platform against Abolition. She owns an apartment in Valencia where women rent rooms to offer sexual services.

I came here today to protect my job, said one demonstrator, Sandra, a single mother who has done sex work for 12 years.

But the new sex worker union Otras didn't back Monday's protest because sex club owners arranged it.

They don't look after sex workers rights at all," Otras secretary general Concha Borrell told The Associated Press.

Borrell demands legal contracts for sex workers and estimates there are around 200,000 in Spain.

Other groups, including some feminists, oppose normalizing prostitution as a regulated trade.

Charo Carracedo, lawyer and president of PAP, which advocates for the full abolition of prostitution, told the AP that the new bill is a huge step for the country but should come with provisions to give vulnerable women better access to jobs or subsidies.

Its essential to offer alternatives to prostitution survivors,Carracedo said.

Both Otras and the sex business owners deny the government's data that says 90% of the sex work in Spain is forced. Police say 491 victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation were rescued in Spain in 2021.

On a European level, the European Parliament estimates there are up to 180,000 trafficking victims exploited in prostitution and the industry generates 10.8 billion euros ($10.9 billion) a year in the bloc.

Spain is considered to have one of the laxest legal frameworks for prostitution in Europe, only punishing when exploitation or abuse can be proven. The proposed bill would punish both clients and enablers. It still needs to pass through parliament.

Spain has also recently forbidden ads for prostitution.
A Nigerian popular multiple award-winning film maker, IDEH CHUKWUMA INNOCENT widely known as One Soul, has in a recent video revealed how his cooking caused pandemonium in U.S where people were running about for safety.

He said he was cooking Jollof rice and also frying chicken, so everything was smoky and as a result of that the alarm triggered on and everyone was running for safety.

However, he said the fire fighters were around to put off the fire, now he didnt know what to tell them, so he had to join everyone downstairs.
The Nigeria Secret Police otherwise known as the Department of State Services (DSS) has cautioned Kaduna-based cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi over his overzealous comments on the arrest and investigation of Tukur Mamu who is being detained over security matters.

At the weekend, Sheikh Gumi, had urged the secret service agency to either release Mr Mamu or charge him to court, claiming that the suspect was arrested for assisting families of Kaduna train hostages to secure the release of their loved ones from kidnappers.

Mr Mamu was arrested at the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano after his arrival from Cairo, Egypt to answer some critical questions over some security matters.

In a statement on Sunday by its spokesperson Peter Afunanya, the DSS said, The Department of State Services (DSS) has followed, with keen observation, overzealous comments by sections of the public in view of issues relating to the arrest and investigation of Tukur Mamu.

The Service wishes that it is not distracted with some of the skewed narratives pervading the media space. Instead, it requests to be left alone to concentrate on the ongoing investigations, the outcomes of which have remained mind-boggling.

Meanwhile, the Service will cease further comments on the subject matter since the court will determine its course. Consequently, the public is hereby enjoined to desist from making unguarded utterances and await the court proceedings.

Mr. Mamu, the publisher of Desert Herald newspaper, was Kaduna bound train hostage negotiator, and chief of staff to Sheikh Gumi.

He was arrested in Cairo, Egypt on Tuesday on his way to Saudi Arabia and deported to Nigeria on Wednesday.

Mr. Mamu came to the limelight after ISWAP terrorists launched an attack on a train in Kaduna, killing nine persons, injuring 28 others, and kidnapping 63 passengers on March 28, 2022. Two passengers were released some days after the attack.

The publisher facilitated the release of 11 passengers on June 11.

He later said he pulled out of the negotiation between the terrorists and security agencies, over the latters alleged insincerity.

However, even after his withdrawal from the negotiation, Mamu continued to play backend roles, which included negotiating ransom on behalf of the hostages families and hosting the freed passengers in his office before reuniting them with their families.
The Department of State Services (DSS) has described the outcome of its investigation on Tukur Mamu, publisher of Desert Herald, as staggering.

Mamu was arrested at the Kano International Airport, after he returned from Egypt where he had been detained on his way to Saudi Arabia for lesser hajj.

Mamu, an aide to Ahmad Gumi, a popular Islamic cleric, has been involved in negotiations for the release of persons abducted during an attack on a train in Kaduna, in March 2022.

Commenting on his arrest, Gumi declared that detaining Mamu is an act of terrorism and that the DSS should either charge him to court or release him.

Reacting in a statement on Sunday, Peter Afunaya, DSS spokesperson, said the security agency would not be distracted by skewed utterances.

Afunaya asked the public to wait for the commencement of court proceedings.

The Department of State Services (DSS) has followed, with keen observation, overzealous comments by sections of the public in view of issues relating to the arrest and investigation of Tukur Mamu, he said.

The service wishes that it is not distracted with some of the skewed narratives pervading the media space.

Instead, it requests to be left alone to concentrate on the ongoing investigations, the outcomes of which have remained mind-boggling.

Meanwhile, the service will cease further comments on the subject matter since the court will determine its course.

Consequently, the public is hereby enjoined to desist from making unguarded utterances and await the court proceedings.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities has expressed readiness to mobilised Senior Advocates of Nigeria and Professors of Law who are its members to defend the union before the National Industrial Court today.

Recall that the Federal Government instituted a case at the National Industrial Court against ASUU over its prolonged ongoing strike which started on February 14, 2022.

The hearing of the case commences on Monday (today).

A member of the unions National Executive Council who preferred anonymity said the union would make use of its members who are senior lawyers.

The president is meant to address this but we will be in court on Monday (today); we have members who are Senior Advocates and Professors of Law, they will be defending the union pro-bono, the source said.

Also speaking with our correspondent, the unions National Vice-President, Dr Chris Piwuna, confirmed that members would be in court for the hearing.

We will be in court tomorrow (Monday) morning. Earlier, we met with the Minister of Education but we are ready for anything. That is the nature of the struggle, he said.

The chairman, ASUU of the Federal University of Minna, Dr Gbolahan Bolarin, who spoke to the Punch, said, We are in receipt of the letter and we will be in court tomorrow (Monday). We are, however, shocked at the decision of the Minister of Labour, Chris Ngige.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, asked the court to give the case an accelerated hearing to quickly bring the strike to an end.

The demands of the union include; the release of the revitalisation fund for universities, release of earned allowances for university lecturers, deployment of the University Transparency Accountability System for the payment of salaries and allowances of lecturers, release of the white paper report of the visitation panels to universities and the renegotiation of the ASUU-FGN 2009 agreement.
Today

A mix of clouds and sun. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 73F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight

Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. Low 47F. Winds light and variable.

Tomorrow

Sunny. High near 80F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph.




In a ceremony marking Peruvian Family Day, the Head of State called on the Legislative Branch to approve initiatives in the areas of education, health, and citizen security, since this contributes to providing well-being to families.





"The country needs to know that I will be the first to address the new Chair (of Parliament) to sit down, talk, and look closely at the great family and Peruvian people, in order to create these laws," he said.





On the other hand, the top official pointed out that the Government will continue to explore the country in a bid to identify those families who have no voice, since the State is responsible for providing them with the care they need.





"I want to covey my greetings to families in the most remote areas of the country, to Quechua families, Aymara families, the Konibos, the Shipibos, the Awajun, as well as those who enjoy comforts (...)," Mr. Castillo stated.





"Let's embark on a journey; a journey of solidarity and commitment to the most disadvantaged families in the country," he added.





The ceremony took place at the Government Palace's Courtyard of Honor in Lima on Sunday afternoon. The event also featured Women and Vulnerable Populations Minister Claudia Davila.





Furthermore, the Head of State was accompanied by Peruvian First Lady Lilia Paredes and their two minor children.





Peruvian Family Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of September and was established by Decree-Law No. 23466, on September 16, 1982.





(EMD) MRCA/FHG/RMB

The President of the Republic Pedro Castillo on Sunday expressed his willingness to work with the next head of Congress who will be elected on September 12 and called for ending confrontation between the two branches of the Peruvian State.Publicado: 11/9/2022
Bill Gouveia is a local columnist and longtime local official. He can be emailed at billsinsidelook@gmail.com and followed on Twitter at @Billinsidelook.
The writer is pastor of The Evangelical Congregational Church of Easton.
ARVADA, Colo. (AP)  Authorities have arrested a suburban Denver man on suspicion of first degree murder and other charges in the death of a 27-year-old police officer who was fatally shot while trying to break up a large family disturbance over the weekend.

Sonny Thomas Almanza, 31, of Arvada, was arrested by police late Sunday in connection with the shooting death of Arvada Officer Dillon Vakoff, police said in a statement released Monday.

Vakoff died at a hospital Sunday after being shot while he and another officer responded to the disturbance that spilled into a street outside a housing complex. He was the second Arvada police officer to be killed in the line of duty in two years.

Almanza was taken into custody at a hospital where he is recuperating from injuries sustained while exchanging gunfire with Vakoff and another officer early Sunday. He will be transferred to Jefferson County Jail when he is released from the hospital, the Arvada department said.

Vakoff and his fellow officer had been dispatched to check on the well-being of two minor children when they encountered the disturbance, police said. A suspect opened fire, wounding a woman, at which point the officers returned fire, Police Chief Link Strate said at a news conference Sunday. The suspect then fired at Vakoff, Strate said.

The suspect was wounded by the officers and taken to a local hospital. The woman allegedly wounded by the suspect also was hospitalized and was expected to recover, police said.

Almanza was arrested for investigation of first-degree murder, possession of a weapon by a previous offender, and two misdemeanor counts of child abuse, among other charges, police said. The department released no other details, saying its investigation was ongoing.

Court records show Almanza pleaded guilty in 2008 to a felony charge of assault with a deadly weapon resulting in serious bodily injury in neighboring Adams County. He was sentenced to six years in youth prison in lieu of a 15-year adult prison sentence that was suspended.

Vakoff was the second officer to be slain in the line of duty in as many years in Arvada, a city located 7 miles (11 kilometers) northwest of downtown Denver. In 2021, Officer Gordon Beasley, 40, was shot and killed in an ambush by a gunman wielding an AR-style rifle in downtown Arvada.

Residents stunned by Vakoff's slaying adorned a police car parked outside Arvada City Hall with flowers, and the city lit a historic downtown water tower in blue overnight. Condolence messages came in from state police agencies and public officials, including Gov. Jared Polis.

Vakoff was a staff sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, where he served for six years, before joining the Arvada Police Department in 2019. He was training to be a SWAT officer, police said in a statement. Vakoff graduated from high school in Arvada in 2012.

This is a tragic loss to this community, to this department, but most significantly to his family and loved ones, Strate said Sunday. His service and sacrifice will never be forgotten.
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INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  An Indiana judge wont hear arguments until next week on a lawsuit seeking to block the states abortion ban, leaving that new law set to take effect on Thursday.

The special judge overseeing the case issued an order Monday setting a court hearing for Sept. 19, which is four days after the bans effective date.

Indianas Republican-dominated Legislature approved the tighter abortion restrictions during a two-week special legislative session that ended Aug. 5, making it the first state to do so since the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated federal abortion protections by overturning Roe v. Wade in June.

Indiana abortion clinic operators filed the lawsuit Aug. 31, saying the ban, which includes limited exceptions, strips away the fundamental rights of people seeking abortion care in violation of the Indiana Constitution.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, which is representing the clinics, asked the judge Monday to issue an order before Thursday to temporarily prevent enforcement of the law. It argued that allowing the law to take effect will prohibit the overwhelming majority of abortions in Indiana and, as such, will have a devastating and irreparable impact on the plaintiffs and, more importantly, their patients and clients.

The lawsuit was filed in southern Indianas Monroe County, which includes the liberal-leaning city of Bloomington and Indiana Universitys main campus, but two elected Democratic judges from that county declined to handle the case without stating any reasons.

Judge Kelsey Hanlon, a Republican from neighboring Owen County, accepted appointment as special judge last week. Hanlon, who was first elected as a judge in 2014, was among three finalists that the state Judicial Nominating Commission selected in July for GOP Gov. Eric Holcomb to consider for appointment to the state appeals court.

No court action had yet taken place as of Monday on a separate lawsuit filed Thursday in Marion County arguing the ban is at odds with the states religious freedom law, which Republicans enacted seven years ago.

The Indiana ban includes exceptions allowing abortions in cases of rape and incest, before 10 weeks post-fertilization; to protect the life and physical health of the mother; and if a fetus is diagnosed with a lethal anomaly.

The new law also prohibits abortion clinics from providing any abortion care, leaving such services solely to hospitals or outpatient surgical centers owned by hospitals.

Planned Parenthood, which operates four of Indianas seven licensed abortion clinics, has said it planned to keep those sites open for other medical services, while those operated by other providers faced possible closure.

The lawsuit argues the ban would violate the state constitution by infringing on Hoosiers right to privacy, violate Indianas guarantee of equal privileges and immunities, and includes unconstitutionally vague language.

The question of whether the Indiana Constitution protects abortion rights is undecided.

A state appeals court decision in 2004 said privacy was a core value under the state constitution that extended to all residents, including women seeking an abortion. But the Indiana Supreme Court later upheld a law mandating an 18-hour waiting period before a woman could undergo an abortion while not deciding whether the state constitution included a right to privacy or abortion.

The state attorney generals office hasnt yet filed a response to the lawsuit in court, but Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita said in a statement that The text, history, and structure of our Constitution excludes any serious argument that abortion is a fundamental right in our state.
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New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Delaware will host the final multistate primary elections of the 2022 midterm season Tuesday, with contests to select candidates for governor, U.S. Senate and the U.S. House.

Because of their late primaries, the winners of Tuesday's races will have a mere eight weeks to win over voters ahead of the Nov. 8 general election. Delaware's primary will feature just one contested statewide race  the Democratic primary for auditor.

As in earlier contests in other states, former President Donald Trump's shadow looms large over some key races to be decided Tuesday, particularly in New Hampshire.

What to watch:

SUNUNU SEEKS A FOURTH TERM AS NEW HAMPSHIRE GOVERNOR

Until late last year, New Hampshire's Republican Gov. Chris Sununu was widely expected to run for the U.S. Senate, taking on Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan. Instead, he opted to seek a fourth two-year term as governor, dealing a major blow to Republicans who had hoped he could help them retake control of the Senate.

Although he faced intense pressure to run for the Senate, Sununu insists he can have a bigger and more direct impact as governor than as a senator. And despite efforts by Trump's former campaign manager to recruit a challenger, none of the other five Republicans on the ballot Tuesday poses a serious threat.

Democratic state Sen. Tom Sherman is running unopposed for his party's nomination for governor.

REPUBLICANS' SCRAMBLE FOR U.S. SENATE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

With Sununu out of the running, a crowd of 11 candidates stepped forward to seek the GOP Senate nomination, including state Senate President Chuck Morse, former Londonderry town manager Kevin Smith and cryptocurrency entrepreneur Bruce Fenton. But retired Army Brig. Gen. Donald Bolduc, who lost the GOP primary for New Hampshire's other Senate seat in 2020, quickly emerged as the front-runner via dogged grassroots campaigning to compensate for his lack of cash.

That has made establishment Republicans nervous, with Sununu calling Bolduc not a serious candidate and a conspiracy theorist. Sununu issued a last-minute endorsement for Morse.

Democratic groups, meanwhile, have put up ads promoting Bolduc, hoping he'll be an easy opponent for Hassan in November.

Hassan, seeking a second term in the battleground state, faces two virtually unknown challengers on the Democratic side. Although Democrats hold all four of New Hampshires congressional seats, Republicans control the state Legislature, and Hassans 2016 win was a narrow one.

GOP EYES 2 CONGRESSIONAL SEATS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

Many expected major changes in New Hampshire's two congressional districts thanks to the once-a-decade redistricting process, but that didn't happen. Earlier this year, the Republican-controlled Legislature redrew the states two districts to give the GOP an advantage in the 1st District. But Sununu vetoed the plans, and the maps were updated by the courts instead with only minor changes.

Still, Republicans are bullish about their chances in New Hampshire and are eagerly eyeing both Democratic-held seats as potential pickups in November.

New Hampshire's 1st District flipped five times in seven elections before Democrat Chris Pappas won his first term in 2018. He faces no primary opponent this year, while more than 10 Republicans are competing for a chance to challenge him.

The field includes a number of candidates with ties to Trump: Matt Mowers, the district's 2020 Republican nominee and a former Trump State Department adviser; Karoline Leavitt, a former assistant press secretary in the Trump White House; and former TV broadcaster Gail Huff Brown, who is married to Scott Brown, a former U.S. senator from Massachusetts and the Trump administration ambassador to New Zealand. While Trump hasn't endorsed in the race, the candidates haven't been shy about emphasizing their connections to him.

In the second district, Democratic Rep. Annie Kuster faces no primary challenge as she seeks a sixth term. Seven Republicans are vying for their partys nomination to challenge her, including pro-Trump candidate Bob Burns, a former county treasurer who runs a pharmaceutical safety company; the more moderate George Hansel, mayor of Keene; and Lily Tang Williams, who grew up in China and is a former libertarian U.S. Senate candidate in Colorado.

TOUGH DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY FOR RHODE ISLAND GOVERNOR

Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee is trying to fend off four Democratic challengers as he seeks his first full term in office. McKee, the former lieutenant governor, became governor a year and a half ago when then-Gov. Gina Raimondo was tapped to be the U.S. commerce secretary in the Biden administration.

McKee is expected to be in a close contest against Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea. Both were first elected to statewide office in 2014 and maintain a base of support and name recognition among voters.

Also running in the Democratic primary: Helena Foulkes, a former CVS Health executive who has proved to be an adept fundraiser and is spending heavily on the race in her first bid for public office; former Rhode Island secretary of state and progressive candidate Matt Brown; and community activist Dr. Luis Daniel Munoz.

McKee is hoping his stewardship during the COVID-19 pandemic  and his 94-year-old mother  will earn him the Democratic nomination.

Willa McKee is a star of her son's first television ad, titled motha because that's how she pronounces mother. The two are playing cards as the governor talks about helping the economy, eliminating the states car tax, creating affordable housing and passing gun safety laws to keep families safe.

Not bad for a year and a half, the governor says.

He laughs as his mother replies, Not bad for a governor that lives with his motha.

A RHODE ISLAND CONGRESSIONAL SEAT RIPE FOR FLIPPING?

The 2nd Congressional District seat has been held by Democrats for more than three decades in a state traditionally dominated by the party. National Republican leaders think now is their best chance to flip it.

U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin, who has represented the district since 2001, announced his retirement in January. The state's Democratic treasurer, Seth Magaziner, had been running for governor but switched races after Langevin's announcement to try to keep the seat in Democratic control.

Magaziner, who is considered the front-runner and has been endorsed by Langevin, faces a crowded Democratic field, including Joy Fox, a former top aide to Langevin; former Biden administration official Sarah Morgenthau; Omar Bah, executive director of The Refugee Dream Center in Providence; and former state lawmakers David Segal and Spencer Dickinson.

A popular former Rhode Island mayor, Allan Fung, is running unopposed for the Republican nomination after two rivals dropped out of the race. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy visited Rhode Island in August to raise money for Fung.

___

Follow AP for full coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ap_politics.
The head of the State Security Service says that the relevant services are doing everything to "filter out unwanted guests" at the border."Russian tourists came in 2018 and 2019. In 2019, there were exactly twice as many entries in the reporting period, and neither sabotage nor terrorist act occurred. Our services, together with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other structures, try to filter out unwanted visitors as much as possible, you will not be allowed to see in public space citizens of other countries detained at the border or expelled from it, who were noticed in harmful actions or there were reasonable suspicions. So keep calm.There are zero statistics of crime, from incoming tourists, so keep calm, don't panic. If someone wants to send agents, it doesn't need to bring in 900 thousand visitors, it needs to bring in 500-200-100 people. There is no way that 1,000 or 2,000 agents will be allowed into the country," he said.Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili met Wolfram Senger-Weiss, Chief Executive Officer of the large Austrian transport and logistics company Gebrueder Weiss, the information was released by the Government Administration.The discussion at the meeting touched on the favorable investment environment in Georgia and the ongoing and planned investment projects of the company.The potential of Georgia in the direction of logistics and transport and the growing interest of foreign investors in this field were emphasized.It was noted that one of the main decision-making factors for business is the predictability of the environment, and in this regard, Georgia is a reliable and stable business partner.Gebrueder Weiss is a large Austrian transport and logistics company with investments in 35 countries around the world.The President of Georgia met with representatives of the local government in Mestia. At the meeting, they talked about the importance of sustainable development and infrastructure projects in Svaneti for the growth and development of tourism. Among the infrastructural projects, the road connecting Ushguli and Lentekhi was highlighted."During the meeting, the parties discussed the uniqueness of the Svan language and its historical status among the Georgian languages. As it is known, a few months ago the President of Georgia came out with the initiative of teaching Svani language in schools. At the meeting, Svaneti received an invitation to participate in the regional week in the Orbelian Palace.Holding the regional week in the Orbelian palace is the initiative of the president, the purpose of which is to introduce and show the advantages of local culture and economy to the capital city and the general public," said the information released by the presidential administration.
In a tweet on Sunday evening, Minsa stated that cases were reported in Metropolitan Lima (1,534), Lima Provinces (19), Callao (123), La Libertad (100), Arequipa (75), Ucayali (14), Cusco (11), Piura (8), Ica (9) Lambayeque (9), Ancash (6), Tacna (6), Loreto (7), San Martin (4), Junin (3), Huanuco (3), Cajamarca (2), Madre de Dios (1), and Puno (1).

Minsa reported 1,424 hospital discharges. Besides, all patients received medical care and are being monitored, as contacts are identified.

The ministry encouraged the population to call line 113, extension 6, or go to the nearest health facility in case they have symptoms like rashes or skin lesions.

What is monkeypox?

Monkeypox is a rare disease caused by a virus transmitted to humans from animals. Monkeypox symptoms are similar to smallpox symptoms, but milder.

Transmission

Animal-to-person transmission occurs through direct contact with the blood, bodily fluids, or cutaneous or mucosal lesions of infected wild animals such as rodents and primates from Africa.

Human-to-human transmission can result from close contact with respiratory secretions, skin lesions of an infected person or recently contaminated objects.

How to avoid infection

- Avoid contact.

- Wash your hands.

- Wear a facemask.

- Isolate yourself if you have symptoms.

?? El Ministerio de Salud informa que 1424 personas han sido dadas de alta por #ViruelaDelMono y se han detectado 41 casos nuevos. Todos vienen recibiendo asistencia medica y se viene realizando seguimiento a sus contactos. pic.twitter.com/2EEqnGiZeE
Ladbrokes owner Entain is being investigated by Australian regulators for potentially failing to adhere to rules to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.

The FTSE 100 giant was slapped with a record 17million fine in the UK last month for social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures.

Now the Australian financial crimes regulator has launched an investigation focusing on whether Entain has complied with its obligations under the country's anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing rules.

Probe: Entain said the investigation covers the period between July 2016 and June 2020

It said it decided to launch the investigation after an 'extensive supervisory campaign that assessed entities within the corporate bookmakers sector', although it did not provide further details.

Entain said it was cooperating with the investigation, which covers the period between July 2016 and June 2020.

The news did not affect Entain shares, which rose more than 1 per cent to 12.31 in morning trade on Monday.

The probe comes less than a month after Entain was fined 17million by the UK's gambling regulator for 'completely unacceptable' failures in preventing money laundering and problem gambling.

The Gambling Commission also warned the group it could lose its licence to operate if 'further serious breaches' were repeated.

The 'serious' failures included conducting just one chat interaction with an online customer who spent extended periods gambling overnight during an 18-month period in which they deposited 230,845.

Entain's Ladbrokes and Coral businesses were hit with another 5.9million fine in 2019 for the same reasons, just before the group was bought by GVC and renamed Entain in 2020.

Last month the betting giant announced it would pay out 100million to investors this year.

It 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 was the first time since the onset of Covid-19 that the gambling group has paid a dividend.

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.
After rushing into action in their first 48 hours in office, the Liz Truss economic and business teams have been granted some thinking time by the nation's days of mourning.

Among the conundrums is what Jacob Rees-Mogg will do at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). He is off to a flying start with an energy strategy. But the complicated stuff around support for big power companies is unresolved.

As for the package for smaller enterprises, all we know is that the Prime Minister wants to keep local pubs safe. The delay in deciding the funding available is probably fine with pubs busy in the coming days as toasts to Queen Elizabeth II's life are made.

Fresh start: Jacob Rees-Mogg comes to the job of Business Secretary with commercial experience from his fund management firm Somerset Capital Management

Rees-Mogg comes to the job with commercial experience from his fund management firm Somerset Capital Management.

It would be best if the BEIS boss was a clean skin without any financial arrangements which could be questioned. High up the list for the new incumbent on Victoria Street ought to be overseas takeovers.

In Rees-Mogg's previous job of making Brexit work one imagines he was all for them. Inward investment post-Brexit lifts confidence, helps the capital account of the balance of payments and speaks to Tory values of red in tooth and claw capitalism.

But there are dangers. The degrading of Britain's aerospace and defence sectors has seen companies ranging from submarine sonar maker Ultra Electronics to aerospace firm Meggitt fall into private equity and American ownership respectively.

Rees-Mogg's predecessor Kwasi Kwarteng talked a good game about scrutinising such deals. But in the end, the BEIS has been a participant in getting deals done. It has negotiated outcomes on R&D, headquarters, employment and security, which history shows are hard to enforce.

Rees-Mogg, despite Somerset's involvement in Russian investment, opposes UK technology falling into Beijing's hands.

A serial chairman of FTSE companies sold to foreigners told me recently that Britain has to beware China's malign goals. Beijing's objective in putting investment cash into Western economies is to export the know-how, R&D and patents to China.

Before leaving for the Treasury, Kwarteng referred the proposed takeover of semi-conductor pioneer Newport Wafer Fab by Nexperia  a Dutch subsidiary of Chinese company Wingtech  to a probe under the UK National Investment & Security Act.

There will be other big decisions. The proposed merger of satellite pioneer Inmarsat and its American rival Viasat is all but done. Not much has been said as to the wisdom of letting a company  with valuable communications and tracking tech  from falling into a 'friendly' foreign hands.

Once it is out of British orbit, decisions about future investment are more likely to be taken in the 'national interest' of an overseas power.

An early future test could be the 8.5billion bid by French electrical giant Schneider for its minority interest in UK software group Aveva, founded in Cambridge in 1967.

The deal would see the FTSE lose yet another tech stock. Just as worrying, Schneider has a joint venture with China, raising questions as to the safety of proprietary software.
Outsourcing giant Serco's CEO Rupert Soames will stand down as chief executive at the end of this year.

Soames, 63, whose grandfather was Sir Winston Churchill, told investors on Monday that it was 'now time for me to outsource myself,' having overseen a successful transformation of the company since taking charge in 2014.

The businessman will be replaced by Mark Irwin, who currently runs Serco's UK & Europe arm, having previously led its Asia-Pacific operations between 2014 and 2020. Soames will remain an advisor until September next year.

Leaving: Soames, 63, told investors that it was 'now time for me to outsource myself,' having overseen a successful transformation of the company since taking charge in 2014

When Soames joined Serco, the group's reputation had been significantly sullied by a scandal involving overcharging the UK Government tens of millions of pounds for an electronic tagging contract.

In his first year in charge, the firm plunged to a 632million trading loss after issuing numerous profit warnings and saw the departure of both its chairman and chief financial officer.

As part of a turnaround, Soames slashed costs and sold off divisions, including its troubled Indian-based customer services operation, and reoriented its focus away from private sector work and towards public sector contracts.

These measures paid off, with the Hampshire-based business achieving its first annual revenue growth in six years, helped by expanding into North America and Asia, and paid out its first dividend in five years.

The coronavirus pandemic provided an even greater boost for Serco, which ran around one-fifth of testing sites in England and Northern Ireland and provided call handlers for the much-maligned NHS Test and Trace scheme.

It has come under major criticism for making high profits and paying dividends to shareholders during the pandemic, while Soames received backlash for earning a compensation package of 4.9million in 2020.

Revenues have slowed as Covid-related work from the government has been wound down, but the group has still managed to win big contracts, particularly in the defence, immigration and criminal justice sectors.

Deals recently won by the company include one worth $334million from the US Navy for work on submarines and a 300million contract to run the new HMP Fosse Way prison in Leicestershire.

Alongside these deals, it manages the Caledonian Sleeper train, London's Santander cycle hire scheme and the Yarl's Wood immigration removal centre.

Chairman John Rishton said Soames had made Serco' unrecognisable' from the business that he joined eight years ago.

'Under his leadership, the business was stabilised, a clear strategy developed and executed, which has resulted in the strong and successful business it is today. Rupert should be really proud of what he has achieved.'

News of Soames's departure sent Serco Group shares down 6.8 per cent to 1.68 On Monday, making the firm the second-worst performer on the FTSE 250 Index behind Aston Martin Lagonda. Their value has still grown by around 57 per cent in the past five years.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, remarked: 'While the share price may still only be a fraction of its pre-tagging scandal days, the business has returned to notably better health.

'Its reputation has improved, debt is forecast to come down, and profit is expected to go up, which means Soames can exit knowing he has made a difference.'
"We have already demonstrated it in the Patriot Operation. We will not allow terrorism to rise in the country," the Head of State said in the ceremony that commemorated the Defenders of Democracy Day.

At the event, he highlighted his commitment to cope with the absence of the State and fight criminal groups that force people to live in captivity, backwardness, inequality, and insecurity.

Additionally, Mr. Castillo urged Peruvians to remain united to overcome challenges and threats such as poverty, as well as existing health and education gaps.

In his speech, he remarked that his administration firmly believes that the development of a nation is the result of the efforts and unity of its inhabitants.

"There is no progress without peace and security," the dignitary pointed out.

#AHORA | Presidente @PedroCastilloTe lidera ceremonia por el Dia de los Defensores de la Democracia, junto al Premier @AnibalTorresV, titular del @MininterPeru, Comandante General de la Policia Nacional del Peru y altos mandos de la @PoliciaPeru en el frontis de sede de DIRCOTE. pic.twitter.com/KNFzFEYcN3
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS. The first sitting of parliament after the summer recess began on September 12.

45 items are included in the agenda of the sitting.

The two opposition factions  Hayastan and Pativ Unem  continue to boycott the parliament session.
ALBANY - The Port of Albany says in a new legal filing that the group of Glenmont residents that have sued to stop the port's planned $350 million wind turbine tower manufacturing plant on the Hudson River should have their lawsuit dismissed because they failed to participate in the town of Bethlehem's site plan approval process.

The residents, represented by Albany attorney Chris Dempf, claimed in their lawsuit challenging the legality of the decisions by the Bethlehem Zoning and Planning boards that the port and the town failed to provide written notifications to residents in Glenmont who live near the project, planned for a piece of shoreline called Beacon Island.

The residents have asserted at public meetings that the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced all town meetings online, only made it harder to participate in the approval process - especially since they say they were not aware that the port project was being considered by the Zoning and Planning boards.

The port says in its response to the residents' lawsuit that both the Planning and Zoning boards provided ample notice on the town website and in legal notices published in local newspapers. The state Department of Environmental Conservation, which is currently reviewing permit applications for the port, also posted notices online.

"Despite having ample opportunity and notice to do so, petitioners did not submit a single written or oral comment to the Planning Board or (the Zoning Board of Appeals) raising any of the specific challenges they now bring before this court prior to the completion of the

(state environmental review) process or approval of the projects site plan and area variances," the port's answer to the lawsuit states.

The town of Bethlehem spent several years reviewing the port's project, before and during the pandemic.

The Glenmont residents' lawsuit is known as an Article 78 action that asks a judge overturn decisions made by the Bethlehem Planning and Zoning boards. Successful Article 78 lawsuits are rare, as judges usually side with the government.

The residents filed the lawsuit after the port clear-cut the entire 82-acre Beacon Island site, which is located just south of the port's Albany location. The land in is in the town of Bethlehem and is located in an area zoned for industrial use.

A nearby power plant dumped two million tons on coal fly-ash on Beacon Island, which is a man-made landfill, back in the 1960s and 70s. The Glenmont residents say that the tree-cutting let fly-ash dust, which can be toxic, into the air, endangering the health of residents for miles around. Both the port and the town have denied that any fly-ash was sent into the air.

The Article 78 was filed in state Supreme Court in Albany. Justice James Ferreira is reviewing the petition.
On Aug. 28 in the Sullivan County town of Bethel, Nasrin Amin, 21, jumped into the water at White Lake despite not knowing how to swim.

Amin, who was on vacation with her family from Long Island, was trying to save her younger brother, Basir, and her brother-in-law, Afrid, whod gone under the surface at about 2 p.m. Both men were pronounced dead that day.

Nas  that was what she preferred to be called, according to her older brother, Faruque Amin  was placed on life support and eventually transported to Bellevue Hospital in New York City. She never woke up, and died on the morning of Sept. 10, according to the family.

Doctors declared Amin brain dead on Sept. 8, and her heart stopped at 3:25 a.m. on Sept. 10, according to updates posted to a GoFundMe page to support the Amin family. A funeral prayer ceremony was held that evening at the Jamaica Muslim Center, and Amin was buried at Washington Memorial Park on Long Island on Monday morning.

Nasrin was an amazing person who had the most kind heart, Faruque Amin said in an interview with the Times Union. She wanted to be a nurse and help people in any way she could. Her passion for helping others was unparalleled.

In response to the tragedy, the Amin family is creating a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, the Amin Foundation, that will raise funds for water safety education, swimming lessons and training and equipment for emergency response teams, Faruque Amin said.

The Amin family is originally from Bangladesh, where a lack of water safety and swimming education is rampant in the desi community, Ahmed said. Fatal drownings were up 67 percent in New York this summer, and in the U.S., people of color  especially young people  drown at disproportionately higher rates, according to the CDC.

The Amin family wishes to do whatever is in their power to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future and save other families from the heartache they have had to endure, said Forhad Ahmed, a family member.

The family is continuing to raise money via GoFundMe to help pay for hospital and funeral expenses.

At the time of her death, she chose to be with Basir, Faruque Amin said. Basir was her best friend, and they never left each others side.
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Nina Srinivasan Rathbun, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

(THE CONVERSATION) Irans standoff with the United States over its potential nuclear weapons program is unlikely to ease anytime soon.

The U.S. and Iran launched talks in 2021 to renew a now-defunct political deal that would curb Irans nuclear program.

But the window for Iran and the U.S. to rejoin and return to compliance of the lapsed 2015 nuclear deal, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, is quickly closing. China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the U.S. all agreed to the plan with Iran in 2015. The U.S. pulled out of the deal in 2018, effectively derailing it.

But U.S. officials told Israels Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Sept. 7, 2022, that despite ongoing talks in Vienna, it was unlikely the group of countries would sign a deal anytime soon.

European Union Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell previously emphasized on Sept. 5, 2022, that efforts to reach a new agreement are in danger due to recent divergences between the U.S. and Iranian positions.

I have worked and researched nuclear nonproliferation and U.S. national security for two decades. When diplomacy fails to prevent nuclear proliferation, particularly by a state like Iran that engages in malicious acts throughout the region, everyone in the world is less safe.

US and Iran reach a deal  temporarily

The U.S. and its allies have been concerned about Irans possible pursuit of nuclear weapons since intelligence uncovered its covert nuclear program, suspended since 2003. Irans possession of nuclear weapons would undermine U.S. and its allies security and destabilize the Middle East, likely encouraging more Middle Eastern countries to try to develop the weapons themselves.

After decades of disagreement, the U.S. and Iran signed a deal in 2015 that halted Irans development of nuclear technology and stockpiling of nuclear material in exchange for lifting multiple international economic sanctions placed on Iran.

This was significant because it lengthened the amount of time it would take Iran to stockpile the nuclear material to build a nuclear bomb to over a year. It halted Irans development of more advanced enrichment capabilities.

It also gave the International Atomic Energy Agency, a nuclear watchdog organization that is part of the United Nations, more oversight over Iranian nuclear activity, letting U.N. inspectors regularly observe all of Irans nuclear sites.

But the deal fell through in 2018 when the U.S. withdrew from the agreement under former President Donald Trump and reimposed hundreds of economic sanctions on Iran.

Iran waited until 2019 before it officially broke the 2015 agreement by enriching uranium enrichment above the permitted 3.67% purity levels set by the deal. This alone did not substantially rule out eventually returning to the 2015 agreement.

Since then, however, Iran has developed its nuclear technology  but has not developed actual nuclear bombs.

Returning to the 2015 deal

If Iran rejoined a nuclear agreement with the U.S., it would need to export its stockpile of enriched uranium, allow the U.N. nuclear watchdogs to oversee all of its nuclear facilities and stop research into nuclear weapons.

It is extremely difficult to return to a diplomatic agreement in which one side has to make additional concessions and return to a previous status quo.

When I worked in multilateral nuclear diplomacy for the U.S. State Department, we saw talks fail regarding North Koreas nuclear weapons program in 2009, after six years of on-and-off progress.

Unfortunately, Iran seems to be on a similar path.

In April 2021, an explosion that caused a blackout occurred in Irans Natanz uranium enrichment facilities. Iran then began enriching uranium to its highest level of purity ever documented, above 60%  a level that is very close to what is required to get weapons-grade uranium.

Irans decision over the past few years to reduce access to the International Atomic Energy Agencys monitoring equipment and to begin research into uranium metals, necessary for weaponization, also moved it further away from the possibility of returning to the 2015 deal.

Iran today

Iran currently has the technical ability to produce a nuclear bomb within a few weeks, though not the weaponization knowledge necessary to build it. A different kind of technology is needed to actually design and manufacture a bomb, which may take Iran about two years to develop.

Irans technical ability to develop a nuclear weapon reduces the value for the U.S. government of returning to the 2015 deal since Irans knowledge cannot be put back into Pandoras box.

A return to the agreement, however, could help the U.S. and Iran step back from the edge, build trust and perhaps develop better political relations. Both sides would benefit from this stabilization: Iran economically from being reintegrated into the international system, and the U.S. from a verifiable lengthening of the time it would take Iran to break out.

None of this is guaranteed.

While both sides expressed support for a return to the 2015 deal in early 2021, and continue to do so, there remain a number of sticking points that prevent progress.

Priorities for Iran include the U.S. removing the Iranian paramilitary group Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps from its list of foreign terrorist organizations and getting a guarantee that no future U.S. president would renege on the renewed nuclear deal.

The main issues for the U.S. center around the American hostages currently held in Iran and the desire to lengthen the time it would take Iran to stockpile material for a nuclear bomb.

The European Unions final text for the proposed agreement from August 2022 presents a last-ditch attempt to map out a return to the advantages of the nuclear deal.

Unless Iran accepts European reassurances, a deal seems increasingly unlikely. Unfortunately, Iran is then likely to increase its nuclear capabilities toward weaponization and further undermine the International Atomic Energy Agencys monitoring of its program. Such escalations would precipitate increasingly confrontational responses, making any new agreement extremely unlikely, while heightening tensions and increasing the possibility of regional conflict.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/iran-and-the-us-appear-unlikely-to-reach-a-new-nuclear-deal-leaving-everyone-more-unsafe-190100.
GALWAY  A man identified as the president of the Galway Volunteer Fire Company died in a motorcycle crash on Saturday evening, according to the Saratoga County Sheriff's Office.

Chad M. Jazwinski, 46, was riding westbound on Route 29 when, deputies said, he struck an eastbound vehicle on Route 29. Deputies said the other vehicle was turning left into a parking lot adjacent to Benzal Road when the crash happened at about 8 p.m.
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A custody dispute between two families that erupted into the massacre of eight people in rural southern Ohio started with a plan to kill just one of them, a young mother refusing to give up her daughter, a prosecutor said Monday.

But just months before the killings in 2016, the family behind the plot decided to kill everyone who could point the finger at them, the prosecutor said during opening statements of the first trial in the slayings.

Now six years later, George Wagner IV faces the death penalty if hes convicted in the slayings of the Rhoden family near Piketon.

His younger brother, Jake Wagner, last year pleaded guilty to shooting five of the victims, and is expected to testify against his brother as part of a deal with prosecutors that spared him from being sentenced to death.

Their mother, Angela Wagner, also pleaded guilty to helping plan the slayings, and is also expected to testify. Jake and Georges father, George Billy Wagner III, has pleaded not guilty. He likely wont go on trial until next year.

Special prosecutor Angela Canepa did not accuse George Wagner, 30, of shooting anyone in April 2016, but she said he took part in planning, carrying out and covering up one of the most heinous crimes in Ohio history.

He was with his brother and father when they drove to three separate locations where all eight were killed, went inside with the pair and helped his brother move two of the bodies, Canepa said.

Some of the victims were treated as collateral damage by the Wagners, Canepa said.

They knew that there might be other people there and agreed they would need to be killed too, she said. People they had no issue with, they were willing to kill them indiscriminately.

Defense attorney Richard Nash said George Wagner is not like the rest of his family and had nothing to do with the killings.

There are certain things in this life we cant control. One of those is your family name, Nash said. George cannot help hes a Wagner. That does not make him a murderer.

He said Jake Wagner will testify that his brother didnt take part in the planning, didnt destroy evidence and didnt shoot anyone. Everyone had a motive in this case except George, Nash said.

Authorities say the shootings of seven adults and a teenage boy stemmed from a dispute over a young girl that Jake Wagner had with one of the victims, 19-year-old Hannah Rhoden.

The two families had been close for years, but Canepa described the Wagners as being obsessed with gaining control over the girl.

The family had pressured Hannah Rhoden to sign away custody, but she vowed in a Facebook message sent four months before the massacre that they will have to kill me first, Canepa said.

Jake Wagner told investigators he first pushed back against his parents when they talked about killing Hannah Rhoden but later relented, the special prosecutor said. They eventually settled on killing four of the family members because they believed the girl was being raised around people who were dangerous, Canepa said.

The Wagners spent three months planning the massacre, buying masks, ammunition and a device to jam phone signals, Canepa said. The two brothers even dyed their hair in the week leading up to the killings, she said.

Several discoveries, Canepa said, led investigators to the Wagners including a shell casing found outside the Wagners home that matched one from a gun that killed five of the victims.

Those killed also were 40-year-old Christopher Rhoden Sr.; his ex-wife, 37-year-old Dana Rhoden; their three children, 20-year-old Clarence Frankie Rhoden, 16-year-old Christopher Jr., and Hanna; Clarence Rhodens fiancee, 20-year-old Hannah Gilley; Christopher Rhoden Sr.s brother, 44-year-old Kenneth Rhoden; and a cousin, 38-year-old Gary Rhoden.

Jake Wagner told investigators he fired the first shot the night of the killings, but it was his father who killed the first of the eight, Chris Rhoden Sr., according to Canepa.

The special prosecutor said that Jake Wagner told investigators that his father then cried out I just shot my best friend.
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UPDATE: Board of Regents approves new private school regulations

ALBANY  In a decision sure to lead to a legal confrontation with New York's ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools, a state Board of Regents committee unanimously voted Monday to require all private schools teach classes in English and ensure all students study math, science, history and English.

The decision would require a sea change in how yeshivas and other private schools teach high school classes. About a hundred ultra-Orthodox Jews gathered outside the state Education Department Monday morning, promising to ignore the new rules.

The full Board of Regents will vote on the regulations Tuesday. If approved, the rules, which would also require teachers demonstrate competence in the subjects they teach, would go into effect Sept. 28, though schools would have until June 2025 to comply.

The committee's action sets in motion changes that will be sweeping for pockets of private schools around the state. In the Capital Region, few schools are likely to be affected by the rules, which will enforce a long-standing requirement for private schools to provide an education that is substantially equivalent to that offered in public schools.

The rules would upend how high school is currently taught to boys in many yeshivas. In those schools, boys study only the Talmud, a collection of thousands of analytical pieces about the Torah. Boys learn critical thinking as they evaluate the works in the sacred text  but they do not study math, science, history and English as their public school counterparts do throughout high school. At yeshivas, courses are frequently taught in Yiddish.

Members of the ultra-Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish communities have objected strenuously, saying the rules would destroy the nature of their schools. Jewish leaders on Monday vowed to take the matter the court, following the lead of the Amish, who won a Supreme Court case on educational freedom on religious grounds in 1972.

The Amish argued that modern high school programs were contrary to their religion and way of life, and that exposing their children to such programs would lead to censure within the church community, could hurt the chances of the communitys survival and endanger their hope of salvation after death. Thus, they said, they could not have free exercise of religion and be forced to send their children to such schools.

The Supreme Court agreed, ruling the values and programs of the modern secondary school are in sharp conflict with the fundamental mode of life mandated by the Amish religion.

Jewish leaders said they could make the same arguments as the Amish. They acknowledged that boys in the ultra-Orthodox schools often do not learn to read, write and speak English fluently, do not study much or any science and history and do not learn advanced math. But, they said, such skills are not necessary, while studying religious texts helps prepare them for life in their community.

However, the Supreme Court decision was narrowly focused on whether school could end at eighth grade, not whether secular education had to be provided at all. The court said the Amish were providing enough of an acceptable education that Wisconsin, the state where the case originated, could not prove that adding more years of schooling would make a significant difference.

Naftuli Moster, who graduated from a Hasidic yeshiva that did not even teach about the Holocaust, said he believed the Amish case would not help the ultra-Orthodox get an exemption from educational standards.

"The challenge was never about elementary and middle school, it was only limited to high school," Moster said after attending Monday's meeting.

He said he's has made it his life's work to spread the news about how little is taught in schools like the one he attended until age 20. He learned no science or history and little English and math, he said. He learned about historical events in which Jews fought for their freedom only when he was an adult, working outside the community.

"You would think we should have the most enriching Jewish history classes and we didnt. Let alone any history about slavery in America and how it was abolished, women's rights, the civil rights movement," he said.

He described high school as "sitting in a building learning nothing."

In the Amish court case, the Supreme Courrt noted that the Amish do not accept welfare. Many families in the ultra-Orthodox communities in New York state accept food stamps and other government assistance, but leaders argued that most of their children become self-supporting.

Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro of Queens led the group of rabbis protesting Monday.

There is a viable, working community, he said. The fact that theyre failing math is not indicative of a problem.

A New York Times investigation, published Sunday, cited state test results in which many Jewish schools students failed. But Shapiro said that was not the full story.

In public school, Shapiro said, certain assumptions are made about a child who fails state math tests.

If you fail math, it paints a picture of a kid not going to school, sitting in a corner, drinking, he said.

But in the ultra-Orthodox communities, he said, students get up before sunrise and study complex religious arguments all day, learning collaboration skills, discipline, critical thinking skills.

There are alternate factors that offset the lack of these skills, he said of the educational core competencies required by the state Education Department.

At the Board of Regents meeting, state officials said there was no wiggle room on a basic education.

All children means all children, State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa said.

Board members did not debate or criticize any part of the proposed regulations.

The rules are fair, said Regent James Cottrell.

This has been an open issue since I came on the Board of Regents, he added.

The state Education Department expects legal challenge, Deputy Commissioner Jim Baldwin said.

We have done very careful legal research on this, Baldwin said. The regulation is well within the existing law.

All private schools would have to prove they are providing an education that is substantially equivalent to public schools. One way would be to have the students take state tests. Another way would be to pass a review from the local public school district. Other options include getting accredited or using a state or federally approved curriculum.

Eventually, if no improvement is made, the state could stop recognizing the school, at which point students would be required to attend some other school through age 16.

For parents, the stakes would be high. If parents sent their children to an unrecognized school, violating the compulsory education law, they could be fined or even jailed.

The Amish already work informally with local school officials, who have ensured they provide a substantially equivalent education, Baldwin said.
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Ministry of Defense is denying accusations by Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense on opening fire at the border Sunday evening.

The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense is again spreading disinformation. The Armed Forces of Armenia did not open fire in the evening of September 11 at Azerbaijani positions in the eastern section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani borderline. The situation at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border is relatively stable and is under the full control of the detachments of the Armed Forces of Armenia, the Armenian Ministry of Defense said.
LAKE GEORGE  After decades of debate, the some 680 registered voters of the village will decide on Tuesday if the popular tourist destination will remain intact as an autonomous municipality - or be absorbed into the town of Lake George government.

Mayor Robert Blais said he expects most will reject dissolution because he thinks residents appreciate the village.

The voters appreciate the services. They appreciate what we do for the local economy, said Blais, who has been the mayor of Lake George for a historic 52 years. The village does all the big events, Americade, the (Adirondack National) Car Show. They believe as I do, if it aint broke dont fix it.

Dissolution, which is encouraged by the state, has not always proved popular. Villages such as Victory in Saratoga County, Greenwich in Washington County and Highland Falls in Ulster County rejected dissolving their villages, mainly for fear that services would be diminished under a town government that never had to provide them before. But according to the state Department of State website, 33 villages in the state have dissolved since 1990.

Discussion over dissolution in Lake George started in the early 1990s, Blais said. It was considered again in 1998 and once more in 2008. Each time, Blais said, constituents came to village meetings saying dont waste our time and money on a vote. We dont want the village to dissolve.

This time was different. Village voters signed and submitted a petition in May forcing a referendum on dissolution. With the busy summer season ahead, Blais said the village hired a consultant, LaBarge Group, at a cost of $27,500, to review and distribute information on what would happen with taxes and services, as well as the village debt and its reserves.

According to the report prepared by LaBarge Group, village taxpayers could see between a 28 to 33 percent reduction in village taxes depending on a promised state tax credit that comes with village dissolution. However, Blais emphasized that the tax credit, which he said is now about $450,000 a year, is not guaranteed as nothing is forever. You cant count on that. And he said nothing is guaranteed by the town.

He said the only thing guaranteed is the village, founded in 1902 and the size of .6-square miles, would be gone.

The town of Salem learned that when its village dissolved in Washington County in 2016. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Supervisor Evera Sue Clary said the state reduced their promised $134,000 by 20 percent. The state then returned about 15 percent of the money, but in a different fiscal year.

Its a guessing game, Clary said. The check will come in November. We dont know what we will get. It doesnt make you feel comfortable about budgeting expected revenue. We are not rich areas, every dime counts.

Meanwhile, Clary said the town is still dealing with the dissolution fallout. Early on, it was hit with a workmans compensation bill it was not expecting. Then it discovered it was responsible for clearing and maintaining the sidewalks, something that the town never did before. She also said the town is still discovering what ordinances it should be enforcing. For example, a resident came to the town and wanted to know about a leash law that is left over from village governance.

Still, Clary said, she thinks the outcome has been good because "we are saving money and saving taxes."

More Information Dissolution vote

12 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 13

Village Hall, 26 Old Post Road, Lake George See More Collapse

Blais said dissolution is worthwhile for communities like Salem, which had trouble attracting candidates to run for office and volunteers to sit on the Planning and Zoning boards. Lake George, on the other hand, thrives with 3 million visitors a year that generates $2 billion in economic activity.

"It doesnt make sense (for Lake George) because the dissolution process in the state of New York was to eliminate small villages that were having difficulty in providing services, that had no growth in their assessment, in other words, that were stagnant," Blais said. "That is what dissolution was made for.

Blais said the village has a $7.5 million annual budget and merging with the town "is extremely complicated."

For example, even though the village is dissolved, its former residents would still be responsible for its remaining $9 million debt, thus it would be put into new taxed sewer and fire districts.

That all stays with the people in the village, Blais said.

Village taxpayers also have to continue to pay a town tax and an EMS tax. LaBarge estimated the village rates would go down, from the current $7.45 to between $5.28 to $4.93 per $1,000 assessed valuation. But that would only be the case if the state provided the promised tax relief in perpetuity.

The town will also be responsible for running and maintaining the new wastewater treatment plant, as well as the village fire department (which is also owned and managed by the village), a concerning change to some, he said.

Blais said merging is not necessary as the village and town "are a model of shared services." The village provides water, sewer, fire and beautification for the town, and the town takes care of the beaches. The two governments also share the assessor, the court, a planning department and a code enforcer. The village takes care of its roads, and the town theirs.

Finally, Blais said, if residents vote for dissolution, the town will have to hire an event coordinator at $50,000 a year to plan annual events like the upcoming Oktoberfest, something Blais does as part of his job as mayor. He said his pay is $40,000 a year.

Meanwhile, Lake George Town Supervisor Dennis Dickinson said hes ambivalent about dissolution" because they have "already done a lot to consolidate.

I dont see (two municipalities) as a problem," Dickinson said. "They should let us keep going with our consolidation.

He also said he would be surprised if it passed.

There is a certain aura about being from a place, Dickinson said. I dont think people want it to dissolve.

Note: This story was updated Tuesday morning to identify Highland Falls as the Ulster County village that rejected dissolution.
Last November, Albany residents voted to give the Community Police Review Board a bigger role in holding law enforcement accountable. Now the board says it needs more money to do that job.

Previously, the panel could only review the Albany Police Department's internal probes  a limitation that left the board boxed in by the same people it was trying to oversee. And the board could not even begin to work until police completed their own probe, which could take months or years.

In its expanded role, the review board has the ability to conduct its own investigations. The catch? The volunteer panel, with just one full-time employee, says it does not have enough money to hire investigators.

Having the power to hire investigators is meaningless without the budget to actually do it. And the panels ability to conduct its own research is essential to the goals of its expanded mission: boosting its independence and speeding up the process of accountability. Better funding is a reasonable ask.

Were more hesitant, however, about the boards other requests, which would expand its mission and its powers. Among other changes, theyd like increased investigative powers and final say on what information should be kept confidential, and they want any police employee who doesn't cooperate with their investigations to be charged with misconduct.

Its been less than a year since voters defined the panels powers. It seems premature to expand the mission before it has had adequate funding to meet the current mandate, especially since its members say a lack of investigators has already left them with a backlog of cases.

It may be that the community will benefit from a more powerful police review board  especially if it turns out that a lack of money isnt all thats impeding the panels work. But lets gather more data first.

Market forces at work

A parcel of land on Saratoga Springs west side has been eyed for a luxury development. The first step: removing the 20 or so previous occupants, who were using the site for a tent encampment.

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Thats the landowners right, of course, though its hard not to wince at the image of sweeping homeless people out of the way so you can start building a residential complex with a saltwater swimming pool and outdoor pizza ovens. Its yet another snapshot of a situation many Saratogians seem to want to ignore: the citys affordable-housing crisis.

To be sure, that crisis is not limited to the Spa City. But Saratoga County had the second-highest growth rate for new housing construction of any county in the state, according to census data. It also has one of the widest income gaps in the country  and residents whove repeatedly balked at adding low-income housing. Its the responsibility of city and county leaders to manage those development pressures in a way that meets the communitys needs.

And though theyve made some progress  such as the opening of the 63-unit Promenade Apartments last summer  these efforts must be scaled up, with inclusionary zoning or more rigorous development mandates for affordable units.

Affordable housing makes communities stronger, healthier and more stable. But if appeals for equity dont move the NIMBY crowd, maybe finding their favorite restaurant or spa closed for lack of workers will.
ALBANY  At its first meeting on Monday, the states new ethics commission voted to appoint Frederick A. Davie as its interim chair.

Davie, who was appointed to the Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government by Gov. Kathy Hochul, was unanimously elected to the interim position by seven commissioners already seated on the panel.

Under the rules governing New Yorks prior ethics body, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, the governor had the power to appoint the chair  one aspect of the 2011 law creating JCOPE that was viewed by critics as giving the executive branch too much influence.

Now, the commissioners on the new panel have the power to appoint the chair to a two-year term. On Monday, they chose to continue having an appointee of the governor leading the body, at least on a temporary basis.

Four of 11 seats on the commission remain vacant; the transition slowed by a new process in which commissioners are confirmed or rejected by a panel deans from New York's 15 accredited law schools.

Three out of 10 nominees were rejected earlier this month by the law school deans, and four appointments still must go through the vetting process. Hochul has not announced her third and final nominee to the panel.

"I emphasize that we all do recognize that it is an interim period," Davie said following his selection on Monday. "This allows us some space to do the work of the commission and to have a point person."

As the new commission begins its work, questions remain about potential flaws in the April law creating it and how that could undermine the transition.

The law was drafted behind closed doors by Hochul and Democrats who control the Legislature, and gave little contemplation to a drawn-out transition period between New Yorks prior ethics agency and its new one. Still, a transition is occurring.

The law creating "CELG" allowed for commissioners to vote to appoint a chair to a two-year term, but nothing in the law specifically authorized appointing a temporary chair.

The commissioners also voted to make JCOPEs former executive director, Sanford Berland, the "interim" executive director of the new body  and to give him authority to take action between commission meetings.

Yet in the April law creating the new ethics body did not consider the appointment of an interim leader.

JCOPE went out of existence on July 8. Over the past two months, many former JCOPE employees have continued to work for the new ethics body  and be paid by the new entity  including Berland.

The law creating the new ethics body, however, says that only the new commission has the power to transfer former JCOPE employees to employment at the new body. Until the meeting on Monday, no new ethics commission had been seated, and there had been no opportunity for the commissioners to make such a transfer.

That had left former JCOPE employees in limbo: Theyve been getting paid, but its been unclear whether they retained any formal authority to take action.

"I think there was a sloppy drafting in the law," said John Kaehny, executive director of the government reform group Reinvent Albany. "A strict reading of the law suggests that there was no provision for staff to continue to collect salaries. They needed to be rehired and reappointed."

On Monday, the new ethics commissioners voted during the meeting's public session to approve a "staffing plan" submitted by Berland. But the vote did not appear to be a formal transfer of old JCOPE employees to status as employees of the new body.

Over the past two months, the payroll of the Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government has been certified by an employee of the state Office of General Services.

Asked under what legal authority the payroll was being certified, OGS referred comment to Hochuls office.

A Hochul spokesman, Avi Small, said the legislation in April "was written to allow for staffing continuity between the end of the former commission and the establishment of the new commission."

"During the transition period, staff were able to process financial disclosure statements, lobbying filings and other functions that were not dependent on the presence of commissioners," Small said. "The new commission is scheduled to meet today and has discretion to make staffing decisions."

But Small did not answer questions about the specific legislative language allowing the employees to be paid without a vote by commissioners to transfer them  or what provisions allowed them to exercise the authority that Small described.

Kaehny said the states new ethics commissioners need to be "incredibly mindful" to follow the letter of the law and "need to be completely explicit" in explaining how they are doing that.

"The lack of clarity about that type of information is what led to the (Andrew) Cuomo book deal  and his being able to get off the hook," Kaehny said, referring to the 2020 approval of the former governor's book by JCOPE staff. "The new ethics commission needs to learn from that."

Davie, the interim chairman, serves as senior strategic advisor to the president at Union Theological Seminary and holds several external leadership roles related to public policy and social issues, including with the Racial Justice/Charter Reform Commission of New York City, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board.

Hochul gets three appointees on the 11-person panel, the most of any single elected official. Still, under the new law, the governor appoints a significantly smaller proportion of commissioners than had been the case for JCOPE.
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ALBANY  Over the last two decades, the agricultural industry and organized labor have fought battles over the rights of farm workers in New York. The latest skirmish  whether laborers should be entitled to overtime after a 40-hour work week  appears to be nearing its end.

By Oct. 21, state labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon is supposed to decide if she agrees with a wage board's recommendation to bring farm workers in line with overtime rules that govern nearly all other labor sectors. The remaining question is whether Reardon and the Hochul administration will wholly endorse the position of organized labor in the final days of the general election cycle.

The decision is viewed as monumental from both sides. The labor industry sees it as a potential major win for workers rights; the agricultural industry views it as a significant blow to the sustainability of New York's $5.7 billion enterprise comprised of 33,000 farms across 6.9 million acres.

In the days since the state's Farm Laborers Wage Board recently issued its report calling for the lowered overtime threshold, a recommendation that was nearly three years in the making, the agricultural industry, bolstered by top Republicans, have waged their final effort to defend the current rules.

Today's rules were set in place after the Legislature, with its newly minted Democratic supermajority, voted in favor of the Farm Laborers Fair Labor Practices Act of 2019. It created the first set of overtime rules for farm workers, but set the threshold to earn time-and-a-half at 60 hours per week. The measure would set a floor for the overtime threshold with the possibility of lowering it after the wage board studied the issue.

Last week the board recommended creating a 40-hour threshold for overtime phased in over a decade with the support of a tax credit that would cover the costs of overtime for farm owners, on a six-month rolling basis.

The measure is supported uniformly by organized labor, backed by the state's AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento and Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union President Stuart Applebaum. The retail union is helping farm laborers organize their own local unions, a right that they earned in the 2019 legislation.

"AFL-CIO took the entire labor movement into this battle," Cilento said in an interview. "This is not about what transpired over the last year or so, this is about the labor movement putting everything we had to put into this and everything we could put into it, keeping in mind that these were not our members, no one was paying us dues. We did this because this was the right thing to do."

Cilento's predecessor, Denis M. Hughes, sat on the wage board alongside Brenda McDuffie, former president and CEO of the Buffalo Urban League, and David Fisher, the current New York Farm Bureau President.

Fisher came out immediately after the decision, in a call hosted by the bureau's politically adjacent Grow NY Farms coalition, to bash the report his colleagues on the board had just issued, which he said was based on "cherry-picked data" from "inflammatory opinions."

"It makes a number of conclusions that are based on nothing more than opinion, not facts, and puts weight behind derogatory charges about the industry, even though the report says there was no findings of racial injustice on farms," Fisher said in his remarks before the board.

Absent from the fight is a unified front from Democratic leadership. Gov. Kathy Hochul has avoided coming out in full support of the issue, despite her alliances with labor groups.

"Gov. Hochul is committed to fair and reasonable approach on this issue, which is why she launched a statewide listening tour to hear from farmers and farm workers about the challenges they face," administration spokesman Justin Henry said in a statement. "We look forward to hearing from members of this community while we await a final decision from the Department of Labor.

The offices of Senate Majority Leader Andrew Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie declined to comment.

And the members of the Democratic conference, outside of its labor leaders, have generally been quiet. Neither of the Democratic agricultural chairs, state Sen. Michelle Hinchey and Assemblywoman Donna A. Lupardo, came out forcefully in support of the recommendation by the wage board.

Lupardo called for federal action to even the playing field on farm labor rights and immigration reform, which advocates note is tied to the issue.

"While I strongly believe that farm workers deserve to be paid wages similar to other workers, a failure to address systemic changes will present insurmountable challenges for many of our farms," Lupardo said in a statement released the evening of the wage board's recommendation.

Hinchey, in a statement to the Times Union, emphasized the need for the tax credit she helped to push through into the state budget this past year to cover the potential cost of a lowered overtime threshold.

"I am committed to making it as easy as possible for this money to get out the door and into the hands of New York farmers," Hinchey said.

She also said federal action is necessary for an adequate response. Hinchey did not come out and directly support the decision, but rather focused on the need to back farmers so they can continue a business that supports access to local food.

"We know that due to the ongoing climate crisis, New York state is set to become the breadbasket of the country once again, making the protection of our farmland and our farm businesses paramount for the future," Hinchey said.

Districts like Hinchey's include a significant portion of agricultural land. Her district became marginally more Democratic leaning following redistricting this year.

The demographics for farm workers and farm owners pose their own dynamics. Less than 2 percent of the 58,000-plus farm owners in New York are people of color, according to federal data.

Republican officials, including legislative minority leaders Sen. Rob Ortt and Assemblyman Will Barclay, and GOP gubernatorial nominee U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, have come out forcefully against lowering the overtime threshold.

About a fifth of the 55,000 farm workers, who have generally been backed by Democrats, are on migrant visas, according to state and federal data. Some workers come to the country for work during the agricultural season and return to their home countries during the non-growing season, oftentimes making them less a factor in electoral politics.

"If somebody wants to call themselves a Democrat, they need to be in support of the rights of farm workers to be treated fairly," Applebaum, head of the retail group, said in an interview.

Cilento said he is "disappointed" that Democrats are not unified in support of agricultural workers, but is focused on seeing their endeavor come to fruition.

State Sen. Jessica Ramos, D-Queens, who was the sponsor of the Farm Fair Labor Practices Act, said she is "elated" by the "final act of this Wage Board," with the work of the legislation "realizing the dream of these essential workers."
The Queens coffin will make a poignant journey to Buckingham Palace on Tuesday while the King will travel to Northern Ireland for the first time as monarch.

Thousands of members of the public moved solemnly past the oak coffin through the night as it stood on public view for 24 hours at St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh.

Charles, on his Operation Spring Tide tour around the UK with the Queen Consort, will leave Scotland and head to Belfast before returning to London in the evening.

Members of the public are already queueing for the Queens lying in state at Westminster Hall, which opens on Wednesday, and thousands are still placing floral tributes in Green Park.

Mourners have been asked by Royal Parks not to leave marmalade sandwiches  a nod to the Queens comedy sketch with Paddington Bear  for fear of a negative effect on wildlife.

At 6pm, the Queen will depart Scotland for the last time.

Her coffin will be flown from Edinburgh Airport to London on an RAF Globemaster C-17 flight, accompanied by her daughter the Princess Royal.

The King will be joined by Camilla as he receives his mothers coffin at Buckingham Palace, where she spent so many of her decades as sovereign.

The Prince and Princess of Wales will also be at the Palace.

A guard of honour formed of three officers and 96 soldiers from The Kings Guard will be mounted in the Quadrangle.

Military commands, usually shouted, will be given as quietly as possible in honour of the solemn occasion.

The coffin will be carried by a bearer party to the Bow Room where a sovereigns piper will play a lament.

It will remain in the Bow Room overnight before a procession on Wednesday to Westminster Hall for the start of the lying in state.

The Kings visit to Northern Ireland earlier in the day comes ahead of a trip to Wales later in the week.

After touching down in Belfast, Charles and Camilla are to travel to Hillsborough Castle in Co Down, the royal residence in Northern Ireland, for several engagements.

They will hold a private audience with the new Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris, as well as meeting representatives of political parties in the region.

The couple will then receive a message of condolence on behalf of the people of Northern Ireland from the speaker of the Stormont Assembly Alex Maskey.

They will then go to a reception at the castle, hosted by Mr Heaton-Harris, which some members of the public will also attend.

Charles and Camilla will then travel to St Annes Cathedral in Belfast where they will attend a service of reflection for the life of the Queen.

The new monarch will also meet leaders from all the major faiths in Northern Ireland.

Before leaving, Charles and Camilla will undertake a walkabout at Writers Square.

Although the square will be closed to the public, people are being invited to line the route to Hillsborough Castle and the route to the cathedral.

The royal couple will travel along Main Street and Lisburn Street in Hillsborough before heading to Belfast along Wellington Place, Donegall Square North, Chichester Street and Victoria Street.

Irish President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina, Taoiseach Micheal Martin and Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney are due to attend the memorial service at St Annes Cathedral.

Both Houses of Parliament gathered at Westminster Hall in London on Monday to express their condolences to the new monarch, and Charles promised faithfully to follow the example set by his mother.

Later, the King led the royal family in a procession behind the Queens coffin in Edinburgh as it was taken from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral.
"Youre not alone." Thats the message to the family of Const. Andrew Hong from Brenda Orr, the widow of OPP Const. David Mounsey, who was killed in the line of duty in November 2006 near Wingham, Ont.
The US has allocated $2 million for demining in the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict zone, as news.am informs, the State Department announced.

September 12, 2022, 09:09 US allocates $2M for demining in Karabakh conflict zone

STEPANAKERT, SEPTEMBER 12, ARTSAKHPRESS: To promote regional peace and cooperation, the United States is pleased to announce $2,000,000 for humanitarian demining operations in areas affected by the fall 2020 intensive fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces in the South Caucasus. Landmines and unexploded ordnance across the conflict zone continue to kill and maim civilians, block economic development, and impede the safe return of displaced communities, reads a State Department media note.

Building on the $500,000 announced in November 2021, new U.S. funding will continue to strengthen the technical capacity of demining organizations to clear deadly landmines and unexploded ordnance. These efforts play a critical role bolstering human security and enabling displaced communities to return to their homes and rebuild their lives safely, the media note added, in particular.
The official Canadian portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was taken at Windsor Castle in March 2019. Her Majesty is wearing her Canadian insignia as Sovereign of the Order of Canada and the Order of Military Merit. - Government of Canada photo
Greeces prime minister says that he cannot imagine that tensions with neighboring NATO ally Turkey could ever escalate into armed conflict, AP reported.

September 12, 2022, 12:32 Greece PM does not believe in possibility of war with Turkey

STEPANAKERT, SEPTEMBER 12, ARTSAKHPRESS: Asked by AP whether a recent escalation in rhetoric from Turkey, led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, could be the prelude to an armed conflict, Kyriakos Mitsotakis replied negatively.

I dont believe this will ever happen. And if, God forbid, it happened, Turkey would receive an absolutely devastating response. And I think they know it very well. Turkey knows the competence of the Greek [armed] forces, he said.

Erdogan has accused Greece of occupying supposedly demilitarized islands in the Aegean Sea and has threatened that Turkey would take action.

Mitsotakis added that, despite Erdogans unacceptable comments, he was still open to dialogue and a meeting with him.
The goals of Russias special military operation in Ukraine set by President Vladimir Putin will be achieved, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council and leader of the ruling United Russia party Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday, summing up the results on the election campaign, TASS reports.

September 12, 2022, 12:06 Goals of special operation in Ukraine set by President will be achieved: Medvedev

STEPANAKERT, SEPTEMBER 12, ARTSAKHPRESS: "The goals set by the president of our country and the supreme commander-in-chief will be achieved in this operation," he said. "The support our party received during these elections is the best guarantee that we will do everything as necessary."

According to Medvedev, United Russia has joined the campaign of assistance to those affected by "the actions of the Kiev regime." "We have been doing it at all levels and people see it. It is impossible not to see. Maybe, let us be frank, it was the strongest aspect of our election campaign," he added.
A parent is raising concerns about what she says are health and safety problems at Malick Se
On Sunday afternoon, the enemy fired 11 cruise missiles at a number of regions of Ukraine. Seven of them were downed over Dnipropetrovsk region alone.

Thats according to Air Force Command "East," Ukrinform reports.

"On Sunday afternoon, the enemy launched a missile attack on the zone of responsibility of our command. In total, the enemy fired 11 cruise missiles. Units of Air Force Command East shot down seven missiles over Dnipropetrovsk region," the statement reads.

Read also: Part of Pavlohrad in blackout following Russian missile strike

It is added that five of them were Kh-101s, and another two  Kalibr missiles. Two more missiles were downed over Poltava region.

As reported earlier, power outages were confirmed in several regions due to the missile strikes.
The world is impressed with the actions of Ukrainian soldiers in the north, south and east of Ukraine, whereas the enemy is panicking.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this in a nightly video address on Sunday, September 11, Ukrinform reports.

Fellow Ukrainians!

Today is 200 days of our resistance. Our struggle. Our peoples war. For freedom, for independence, for the right to be. In these 200 days, we have achieved a lot, but the most important, and therefore the most difficult, is ahead. And I want to dedicate this address to those who are ahead. Who are having the hardest time now, as they are doing the most important thing.

These are all defenders of Ukraine. All those who have been courageously standing for 200 days, being the exact reason why Ukraine stands. Strong, and that is why we are free. Unbreakable, and that is why we are independent. Our fighters, who heroically restrained the enemy, and now they do not restrain themselves. And they drive the occupiers out in the north, south and east. In all directions, but moving in only one direction - forward and towards victory.

200 days of Ukrainian resistance. Almost 5 thousand hours. Almost 300 thousand minutes. Almost 20 million seconds. And just as many reasons to say "thank you" today to everyone who made this possible. Millions of times. Without any "almost". To say that we believe in them, believe in their victory. Without any "almost".

These are all our warriors of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Ground troops, our infantry. You know better than anyone else: there is little romance in war and a lot of hard work. These days, it is courageously and selflessly performed by our separate mechanized brigades. The 92nd  named after Kish otaman Ivan Sirko. The 54th  named after Hetman Ivan Mazepa. The 14th  named after Prince Roman the Great. The 60th Inhulets separate infantry brigade. Step by step in the Kharkiv region, Kherson region, Donbas, with weapons, shovels, hands, teeth  you are "gnawing away" every meter, every frontier, every city and village of ours.

These are our tank troops. Those who forge the future victory in iron gloves. And today, on the day of the professional holiday, as well. These are the 3rd, 4th, 5th separate tank brigades, tank regiments and battalions, tank companies within the airborne assault troops, the 17th separate Kryvyi Rih tank brigade named after Kostiantyn Pestushko. And especially - the 1st separate tank Siversk brigade. I sincerely congratulate all of you and everyone involved on Tanker's Day.

These are our missile troops and artillery. You are rightfully called the "gods of war". You send the occupiers to the divine trial. You send the demons back to hell. Today, the 406th separate artillery brigade named after brigadier-general Oleksiy Almazov is doing this with special fervor and spark in their eyes. We are grateful to its fighters and in general to everyone whom we warmly call "our arta".

How would one describe your jewelry work in two words? Accurate and loud. We thank you for every "accurate" and every "loud". For all destroyed enemy convoys, warehouses, bases and headquarters. Important crossings and bridges. Where your efforts cause fire and where the enemy violated the rules of fire safety. People online wish you accurate calculations and new hits, and they address the occupiers in a language they understand: "Stop smoking everywhere. Smoke where there hasnt been a hit yet".

These are our Air Forces. Bombing, assault, fighter, reconnaissance, military transport aviation. Defending Ukraine you are always on top.

These are our Airborne Assault Troops. You are always the first! Because it is no one but you! These slogans are not just words. The enemy has been aware of this for eight years and 200 days. And today, the occupiers especially feel the strength and power of the 79th airborne assault brigade, the 25th and 80th airborne brigades. In particular, in the Kharkiv region, which you are successfully liberating from the enemies. And in the Donetsk region, where you are successfully repelling the enemy.

We are sure: in both areas there will be one finale - your victory. For this, one doesnt need to read forecasts, it is enough to read your oath. You are the paratroopers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. You will never accept defeat. You will never retreat in the face of difficulties. You will never leave your brothers-in-arms in danger. You are always ready to destroy the enemies of Ukraine in battle. You are the paratroopers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine!

These are our Naval Forces. You proved that it doesn't matter what fleet the enemy has, what flagship he has, when Neptune is on your side. Guards of native shores. Missile boats, artillery, minesweeping and landing craft, naval aviation, naval artillery and, of course, marines. And I especially want to note the 503rd separate battalion of the marines. On your chevrons there is an inscription: "If this is an offensive, this is us." In our hearts there are words: if this is you, this is success and victory.

These are the air defense troops of Ukraine. Anti-aircraft missile troops, radio engineering troops, air defense of the Ground and Naval Forces. You hear an air raid alert differently than most. Most descend into shelter. You direct your gaze upwards to destroy enemy missiles, aircraft, helicopters and drones.

This is our intelligence. For obvious reasons, very few people know your names, your faces. Your operations are not usually written about in the news, but they will definitely be written about in military science textbooks. Your successes are often quiet and imperceptible to our people, but always painful and tangible to our enemy.

These days, intelligence officers are especially showing themselves. The 131st separate reconnaissance battalion of military intelligence of Ukraine. Those who are always ahead. I thank you, I thank all the units of the Main Intelligence Directorate and all our intelligence officers, thanks to whom we always see, always hear, always know, always act. And we will definitely win.

These are our special forces, Special Operations Forces. Those who attack. Those who prevail not in quantity, but in quality. Those who have a special power to fight on the edge of possible and impossible.

These are the territorial defense forces. And we especially note the fighters of the separate 115th and 117th territorial defense brigades.

These are medical troops that save the lives of our warriors. These are military clergy, chaplains who pray for the lives of our warriors. These are our engineers, communications officers, cyber army.

These are those who have been defending and serving the state side by side with the Armed Forces of Ukraine for eight years, for 200 days and right now. I thank all the warriors of the National Guard, its special forces, in particular the 15th Sloviansk regiment. I am thankful to all our border guards. To the officers and employees of the Security Service of Ukraine, the National Police, the State Emergency Service, our firefighters, rescuers, sappers. And altogether - to all our warriors, defenders, the best sons and daughters of Ukraine who are liberating its north, south and east today.

To everyone who in 200 days destroyed more than 2,000 enemy tanks, 4,500 armored combat vehicles, more than 1,000 enemy artillery systems, 250 aircraft and 200 helicopters, almost 1,000 drones, 15 ships and boats, thousands of other enemy equipment units.

Liberated hundreds of our towns and villages. Who broke the plans of the enemy, because they did not break themselves. All those who held the defense and defended Kyiv. Saved our capital, and thus preserved our faith in our victory.

All those who strengthened and multiplied it by protecting Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro. Everyone who defended Mariupol and Azovstal. Liberated the Kyiv region, Zhytomyr region, Chernihiv region, Sumy region. Bucha, Irpin, Borodyanka, Vorzel, Hostomel, Makariv. Okhtyrka, Sumy. And now - Balakliya, Izyum, Kupyansk.

All those who liberated, liberate and will liberate all temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. Bring back the Ukrainian flag to Kherson, Berdyansk, Melitopol, Luhansk, Horlivka, Yenakijeve, Mariupol and Donetsk, Yalta, Dzhankoy, Kerch, Yevpatoriya, Simferopol. Who have been working 200% all these 200 days.

The enemies said that they got lost, that they were going to an exercise. You taught them a lot. The ability to quickly get dressed and get out of our land, and the understanding that, by abandoning equipment and weapons, it can be done much faster and easier.

Many of them have forever learned that it is correct to say not "on Ukraine" but "in Ukraine". I am talking about all those who set foot on our land and stayed in it. Many will forever remember what awaits all uninvited guests in Ukraine. Our warriors.

Today, everyone sees and notes your actions in the north, south and east of Ukraine. The world is impressed. The enemy is panicking. Ukraine is proud of you, believes in you, prays for you, and is waiting for you.

The path to victory is a difficult one. But we are sure: you are capable of it. You will reach our border, all its sections. You will see our frontiers and the enemies backs. You will see the shining of the eyes of our people and of the occupiers heels. They will call it "goodwill gestures". We'll call it a victory.

We believe in you, in those who have been doing their job, risking their lives, defending their country for all these 200 days at -15C or +35C, at 2 am or 6 am, on an ordinary Monday or on Independence Day, despite fatigue, tension and danger.

All who were definitely ready. Who do not pay attention to rumors and gossip. Who do not read fakes on the Internet, but write the history in real life. The history of independence. The history of victory. The history of Ukraine. Our warriors, our fighters, our defenders. For us, you are definitely the first army of the world.

Glory to you!

Glory to Ukraine!
Members of the Bundestag have called on the German government to immediately support Ukraine and provide more weapons to the country, including Marder infantry fighting vehicles and Leopard 2 tanks.

That's according to the Deutsche Welle news agency, Ukrinform reports.

The head of the foreign affairs committee, Michael Roth from Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD), said the West as a whole should do its best to help Ukraine achieve victory.

"In this new phase of the war, Ukraine needs weapons that will enable it to liberate territories occupied by Russia and keep them permanently under its control. The West, in particular, the US, Germany, France and Poland, should quickly coordinate closely here and adapt its deliveries to the new situation," Roth told the Funke media group.

He said it seemed increasingly realistic "that Ukraine can win this war, and do so as a free, democratic country while preserving its territorial integrity."

The head of the defense committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann from the business-focused Free Democrats (FDP), told the German dpa news agency that Germany had an obligation to help preserve democracy.

"Germany must immediately play its part in Ukraine's successes and supply protected vehicles  the Marder infantry fighting vehicle and the Leopard 2 main battle tank," she said on Sunday.
On September 11, 2022, a total of 40 substations of different voltage levels were left without electricity due to Russias mass attack on the territory of Ukraine. Four power engineers were killed.

The relevant statement was made by Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko on Facebook, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

One of the most massive attacks on energy infrastructure took place yesterday. Zmiivska Thermal Power Plant (TPP) and three high-voltage substations were shelled; 40 substations of different voltage levels were left without power; two 750-kilowatt and five 330-kilowatt overhead lines were disconnected, Galushchenko wrote.

This morning electricity supply services have been fully restored in Poltava Region and Donetsk Region. Meanwhile, 1,700 household consumers are still left without electricity in Sumy Region, about 3,000  in Dnipropetrovsk Region and 12,000  in Kharkiv Region.

According to the preliminary data, four power engineers were killed and three more injured.

mk
The Ikaria Angel bulker, chartered by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), has checked at the port of Chornomorsk to load 30,000 tonnes of wheat. The vessel will head off for Ethiopia.

Thats according to the Ministry of Infrastructure, Ukrinform reports.

"We realize Ukraine's global food responsibility to the world, especially to those countries in Africa and Asia that are faced with humanitarian disaster. For us, the fastest and most efficient process of receiving, loading, and sending these ships is an undisputed priority," said Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov.

According to the officials, two vessels chartered by the World Food Programme have already been dispatched since the start of the Initiative, carrying more than 60,000 tonnes of Ukrainian wheat for the residents of Yemen and Ethiopia.

Kubrakov added that partners would additionally purchase another 190,000 tonnes of grain for further export to countries suffering from food shortages.

As reported, in accordance with the agreement signed on July 22 by Ukraine, Turkey, Russia, and the UN, three Ukrainian ports were unblocked for the transportation of grain intended for export.

Since the departure of the first ship carrying Ukrainian food under the said initiative, 2.78 million tonnes of agricultural products have been exported. In total, 122 ships left Ukrainian ports, loaded with agricultural products, destined for Asia, Europe, and Africa.
French President Emmanuel Macron plans to speak with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, over the phone again on the situation at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in the coming days, the Elysee Palace said on Sunday, TASS reports.

September 12, 2022, 14:33 Macron to Speak with Putin Again on Situation at ZNPP Within Days: Elysee Palace

STEPANAKERT, SEPTEMBER 12, ARTSAKHPRESS: "The president will speak with President Putin again in the coming days to reach accord on issues of ensuring security at the Zaporozhye NPP," the presidential office said, adding that Macron "will stay in contact with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi."

According to the Elysee Palace, Macron stressed the necessity to guarantee the Zapaorozhye NPPs security and noted that "Russias presence underlies the risks the nuclear power plant is facing." "The French president called for the withdrawal of Russian heavy and other weapons, as well as for the implementation of the IAEA recommendations on ensuring the facilitys security," it said.

Apart from that, the French leader called for the soonest end of the Russian operation and beginning of talks on "restoring Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has visited the residence of the Ambassador of Great Britain to Ukraine and honored the memory of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

The relevant statement was made by the Office of the President of Ukraine, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

The President of Ukraine left a note in the book of mourning and laid flowers in the territory of the residence. Zelensky expressed his sincere condolences on behalf of the Ukrainian people to the United Kingdom and the countries of the Commonwealth.

On behalf of the people of Ukraine and myself, I express sincere condolences over the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Ukrainian women and men share this great loss. We mourn with the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth of Nations and all subjects of the British Crown. The memory of Her Majesty and her selfless service to her people will forever remain in the history of mankind, the President of Ukraine wrote in the book of mourning.

Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak also took part in the ceremony honoring the memory of Queen Elizabeth II.

In addition, President Zelensky talked with the representatives of the Embassy of Great Britain in Ukraine.

A reminder that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II died at the age of 96 on September 8, 2022.

Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine

mk
EU countries that are calling for dialogue with Russia are breaking European unity.

This was stated in an interview with PAP by the Deputy Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Marcin Przydacz, Ukrinform reports.

"We (Poland) believe that deterring Russia is in the interests of all of Europe, and those demanding dialogue with Russia are breaking European unity today," Przydacz said.

He added that these countries should realize that their insistence on dialogue with Russia and pressure to reach an agreement was also pursued during the times of the so-called "Normandy format" of talks, which included Germany and France.

"We all know what this format has led to: it has not led to sustainable peace. On February 24, Russia, with which the Normandy format still sought to have a discussion, simply launched missiles toward Kyiv and attacked the independent Ukrainian state," the Polish senior diplomat emphasized.

He criticized the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, for his sharp statements against the countries of Central Europe regarding their activity in the eastern direction. According to the diplomat, Macron's words about "warmongering" can be interpreted in different ways, but it was a nervous reaction to the EU's Eastern policy. Przydacz noted that the French president probably wanted to say that Poland and other Central European countries should not dominate or impose Eastern policy on the entire European Union, but that it should be shaped by Paris together with Berlin. At the same time, he expressed his belief that, if Poland and other Central European countries were not effective and did not know how to convince the rest of the EU, then Macron would not have criticized Warsaw.

Since February 24, Russia has been waging a full-scale war against Ukraine.

Photo: MSZ
The Bulgarian embassy in Kyiv has resumed operations as of September 12.

Thats according to the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry, cited by The Sofia Globe, Ukrinform reports.

The ministry describes the step as a further sign of the strong Bulgarian support for Ukraine.

Our country, which continues to provide all possible assistance to Ukraine, including its citizens displaced by the war, categorically condemns Russian military aggression and supports the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, including territorial waters, reads the statement.

The embassy will be headed by a charge daffaires, employing a limited staff, according to the report.

Part of consular services will be resumed by a reduced team.

The full spectrum of such services will be provided in full after the communication channels with Bulgaria are completely restored, the foreign ministry said.

As Ukrinform reported, early June, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said 50 embassies had resumed full-fledged operations in the capital of Ukraine. The leader noted that credentials from foreign ambassadors would now be accepted in the St Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv.

Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria
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Published September 12, 2022

MONROE, LA - Judges of the Second Circuit Court of Appeal will hear oral arguments in Brown Auditorium on the campus of University of Louisiana at Monroe on Tuesday, September 20, 2022. Hearing oral argument will be panels consisting of Chief Judge D. Milton Moore, III (Monroe), Judge Shonda Stone (Shreveport), Judge James Jimbo Stephens (Baskin), Judge Jeff Thompson (Benton), Judge Jeff Robinson (Ruston), and Judge Marcus Hunter (Monroe). Argument will convene at 9:00 a.m., and the judges will hear five civil appeals.

Court is open to the public, and area college and high school students have been invited to attend. Three arguments will be heard in the morning session from 9:00 a.m. to noon and the afternoon session will begin at 1:30 p.m. The public is welcome to come and go quietly at any time. All attendees will be subject to a security check. No backpacks or purses will be allowed inside the auditorium.

Chief Judge Moore and Dr. Ronald Berry, ULM President, have spearheaded this event, the third of its kind at ULM. We want to provide area citizens and students an opportunity to witness firsthand the variety and complexity of the courts caseload, said Judge Moore. In addition to seeing the appellate process in action, students and other observers will have a rare opportunity to interact with counsel and members of the court by asking questions after each argument.

Appellate argument is not the familiar trial experience, explained Judge Moore. The appellate court does not receive evidence or hear witnesses testify. Every matter that comes before the Second Circuit has already gone through a trial proceeding, resulting in a civil judgment or a criminal conviction, he added. Oral argument distills the legal issues that arise from the facts adduced at trial.

The courts stop at ULM is part of its Riding the Circuit initiative, an effort by the judges of the court to educate and inform students and the general public about the work of the Second Circuit Court of Appeal. The court last rode the circuit to ULM in September 2010.

One of five appellate courts in the state, the Second Circuit is located in Shreveport and comprises nine judges who are elected from three election districts in the states 20 northernmost parishes. Riding the Circuit is also an opportunity for the court to travel to the local attorneys instead of vice versa as a gesture of appreciation for the fine work of the members of the local and area bar associations.
Controversial senator Pauline Hanson has lashed out at her political opponents in an ugly spat in the wake of the Queens's death on Friday.

A number of the Greens called for the country to move towards becoming a republic and made a note of not publicly mourning the monarch's passing.

"I cannot mourn the leader of a racist empire built on stolen lives, land and wealth of colonised peoples," tweeted NSW senator Mehreen Faruqi, deputy leader of the Greens.

"We are reminded of the urgency of Treaty with First Nations, justice & reparations for British colonies & becoming a republic."

The Senators' public spat could foreshadow another ugly debate ahead for Australia in the wake of the Queen's death. Source: AAP

Her sentiment echoed that of Greens leader Adam Bandt. While far less incendiary, he took the opportunity to offer condolences while also calling for an Australian Republic.

"Now Australia must move forward. We need Treaty with First Nations people, and we need to become a Republic," he said.

But Pauline Hanson, who had earlier posted a heartfelt tribute to Her Majesty, did not hold back in admonishing her Greens colleague.

"Your attitude appalls and disgusts me. When you immigrated to Australia you took every advantage of this country. You took citizenship, bought multiple homes, and a job in a parliament. Its clear you're not happy, so pack your bags and piss off back to Pakistan," she publicly responded to Ms Faruqi on social media.

The vicious message drew a heated and mixed response from Aussies on social media with some labelling Ms Hanson "racist" and "shameless" while others rallied behind her, highlighting the potentially divisive debate that could lie ahead if Australia again looks to sever formal colonial ties with Britain.

Will Australia become a republic?

Republicans believe the Queen's passing will reignite a campaign to achieve Australia's constitutional independence.

Story continues

Those in Australia eager to see us sever such formal ties have long acknowledged the personal popularity enjoyed by Elizabeth II but it's a different story when it coms to King Charles III.

Royalists, like former prime minister Tony Abbott, believe another push towards a republic will meet the same fate as it suffered in the 1999 referendum when it was not only defeated overall (45-55 per cent in rounded figures) but failed to garner majority support in any state. Only the ACT differed, with 63 per cent in favour.

The republican campaign, led back then by future Liberal prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, was hamstrung by disagreements over which model should be proposed and opposition by John Howard, described by Mr Turnbull as "the prime minister who broke a nation's heart".

Australian Republican Movement Chief Malcolm Turnbull looked confident in 1999. Source: AAP

The Australian Republic Movement's current leadership believes the Queen's death changes things.

With the right conditions - including a more acceptable model and backing from The Lodge - Australia could hold another referendum and be a republic within two years, they say.

"A phenomenal number of people have said to me over the years, 'I'm absolutely with you, but not until the Queen passes away'. And I expect now there will be a surge of interest, of membership, of donations," chair Peter FitzSimons said.

"With the greatest respect to Charles III - and I mean that; I have nothing against him personally - he does not enjoy the same deep wellspring of affection and loyalty that Her Majesty did.

"It's 230-odd years since colonisation and over 120 years since federation. It has to be time we run our own show beneath the Southern Cross," Mr FitzSimons said.

Polls generally have shown support for a republic steadily ebbing since a peak in December 1999  when 57 per cent of Australians were in favour  immediately after the failed referendum.

Some commentators say the republican cause was not helped by former US president Donald Trump, who did little to make a presidential system appealing for many Australians.

Mr FitzSimons said the Ipsos poll was an outlier, pointing to a YouGov poll in 2020 that found 62 per cent of Australians wanted their head of state to be an Australian.

with AAP

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.
A car drives past a destroyed armored vehicle in Balakliya, Kharkiv region (AFP via Getty Images)

Russia has pulled back troops in two key areas of the eastern area of Kharkiv where a Ukrainian counter-offensive has made significant gains.

The news could become the biggest battlefield success for Ukrainian forces since they thwarted a Russian attempt to seize the capital, Kyiv, at the start of the war.

The Russian army in these days is demonstrating the best that it can do  showing its back," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video released by his office Saturday night.

And, of course, its a good decision for them to run."

Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said troops would be regrouped from the Balakliya and Izyum areas to the eastern Donetsk region.

Izyum was a major base for Russian forces in the Kharkiv region, and earlier this week social media videos showed residents of Balakliya joyfully cheering as Ukrainian troops moved in.

Mr Konashenkov claimed the Russian move was being made "in order to achieve the stated goals of Russias unprovoked war, which it insists on calling a liberation effort.

The claim of a withdrawal to concentrate on Donetsk is similar to the justification Russia gave for pulling back its forces from the Kyiv earlier this year.

Earlier Saturday, Ukrainian officials claimed major gains in the Kharkiv region, saying their troops had cut off vital supplies to Izyum.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleh Nikolenko also suggested Ukraines troops had retaken Kupiansk, a town along the main supply route to Izyum, long a focus on the Russian front line.

The Ukrainian Security Service posted a message hours later saying troops were in Kupiansk, further suggesting it had been seized.

British officials said Saturday that it believed Ukrainian troops had advanced as much as 30 miles south of Kharkiv, and described Russian forces around Izyum as "increasingly isolated."

Russian forces were likely taken by surprise. The sector was only lightly held and Ukrainian units have captured or surrounded several towns," the Ministry of Defence said.
September 12 2022

7N Architects have submitted an updated planning application for four residential plots in The City of Edinburgh Councils flagship regeneration project at Fountainbridge, in partnership with Cruden Homes East (Ltd) and Buccleuch Property.

The submission of more detailed information forms part of the pre-development agreement between the Council and the development partners to regenerate the canalside site as a 'vibrant, liveable, neighbourhood' providing 464 new homes, including 40% affordable homes, a community growing space and new civic spaces.

Nicholas Taggart, project leader at 7N, said: Its been a long road since the original community workshops that 7N facilitated in 2013, but we are excited that the communitys vision has taken the next crucial step towards being delivered.

Providing greater clarity on the final massing of the project, as well as materials, public realm and access, the application builds on a 2019 submission to adopt current thinking for the major development site.

Landscape architects Raeburn Farquhar Bowen have developed a largely car-free environment, with the bulk of limited parking located on a basement level below a landscaped deck.
Nairobi, Sept 12 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Sep, 2022 ) :The international community on Monday urged warring sides in Ethiopia to seize the moment for peace after Tigrayan rebels said they were ready for talks led by the African Union to end almost two years of brutal warfare.

There has been a flurry of diplomatic efforts to push for negotiations after fighting flared in northern Ethiopia in late August for the first time in several months, torpedoing a humanitarian truce and cutting off aid deliveries to war-stricken Tigray.

Tigrayan authorities said Sunday they were "prepared to participate in a robust peace process under the auspices of the African Union," after previously rejecting AU mediation and saying they wanted Kenya to lead any talks.

"We are ready to abide by an immediate and mutually agreed cessation of hostilities," Tigray's regional government said in a statement coinciding with Ethiopia's new year.

The government has not formally commented on the Tigrayan stance but has previously said it was ready for unconditional talks "anytime, anywhere," brokered by the AU, which is headquartered in Addis Ababa.

The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) had until now vehemently opposed the role of the AU's Horn of Africa envoy Olusegun Obasanjo, protesting his "proximity" to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Untold numbers of civilians have been killed since the war erupted in Africa's second most populous country in November 2020, and the fighting has left millions of people across northern Ethiopia in need of emergency aid.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged "the parties to seize this opportunity for peace and to take steps to end the violence definitively and opt for dialogue".

AU Commission chief Moussa Faki Mahamat also welcomed the development as a "unique opportunity towards the restoration of peace" and urged "both parties to urgently work towards an immediate ceasefire, engage in direct talks".

Similar messages were issued by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

"We call on the country's leaders to put Ethiopia on a path that ends the suffering and achieves a lasting peace," Blinken said in a statement.

Ethiopia's international partners were ready to support the peace process, he said, but added: "Eritrea and others should cease fuelling the conflict.

" Fighting has raged on several fronts in northern Ethiopia since hostilities resumed on August 24, with both sides accusing the other of firing first and breaking a March truce.

The TPLF also accused Ethiopia and neighbouring Eritrea -- whose forces were involved in the early phase of the war -- of having launched a massive joint offensive on Tigray on September 1.

Access to northern Ethiopia is severely restricted and it is not possible to verify what is happening on the ground.

The Tigray statement made no mention of preconditions for talks, although it said the Tigrayans expected a "credible" peace process with "mutually acceptable" mediators as well as international observers.

TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael last week proposed a conditional truce calling for "unfettered humanitarian access" and the restoration of essential services in Tigray, whose six million people are suffering food shortages and a lack of electricity, communications and banking services.

In a letter to Guterres, he also called for the withdrawal of Eritrean forces from across Ethiopia, and for troops to pull out of western Tigray, a disputed region claimed by both Tigrayans and Amharas, the country's second-largest ethnic group.

Debretsion had disclosed last month that two rounds of confidential face-to-face meetings had taken place between top civilian and military officials, the first acknowledgement by either side of direct contacts.

Sunday's statement said a negotiating team including TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda and General Tsadkan Gebretensae, a former Ethiopian army chief now in Tigray's central military command, was "ready to be deployed without delay".

The March truce had allowed humanitarian convoys to travel to Tigray's capital Mekele for the first time since mid-December.

But the United Nations said last week that the renewed fighting had forced a halt to aid deliveries to Tigray, both by road and air.

Abiy, a Nobel Peace laureate, sent troops into Tigray in November 2020 to topple the TPLF in response to what he said were attacks by the group on Federal army camps.

But the TPLF recaptured most of Tigray in a surprise comeback in June 2021.

It then expanded into the neighbouring regions of Afar and Amhara before the fighting reached a stalemate.
(@FahadShabbir)

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday rejected the reply of former chief judge Gilgit Baltistan Rana Shamim and instructed him to file a new one on next hearing in a contempt of court case against him Earlier, former Chief Judge Gilgit-Baltistan Rana Shamim submitted an affidavit in which he withdrew his statement about the current judge of IHC

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Sep, 2022 ) :The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday rejected the reply of former chief judge Gilgit Baltistan Rana Shamim and instructed him to file a new one on next hearing in a contempt of court case against him Earlier, former Chief Judge Gilgit-Baltistan Rana Shamim submitted an affidavit in which he withdrew his statement about the current judge of IHC.

He said that it was a three year old incident and the statement was his misunderstanding as he was 72.

He further admitted that no serving judge of this court was involved in this dispute thus he apologized unconditionally to all serving judges of this court for his misunderstanding.

Rana Shamim said that he was leaving himself at the mercy of the court and requested it to end contempt of court proceeding against him while accepting his apology.

Shamim's Lawyer Latif Afridi said that they had accepted the contents of the affidavit but the name of the IHC judge was mentioned mistakenly.

Chief Justice Athar Minallah remarked that the accused had claimed that the IHC's judges could be compromised and now he had to prove his allegation.

The new answer had made the matter more complex, he noted.

The chief justice remarked that if someone apologized in contempt case and also reflected it with his conduct then the court didn't consider continuing proceeding as it had no ego.

The court said that no one could influence it even if he was a chief justice. Standing with the affidavit and apology at same time couldn't stay together, Justice Minallah said.

The chief justice said that if he was standing with his affidavit then he should hold us as accountable with proving allegations. The lawyer said that his client was under mental stress at the time when the affidavit was written due to the deaths in family.

The chief justice said that the truth should be exposed whatever it was, adding that a serious allegation was leveled against this court which couldn't be ignored.

He said that Rana Shamim shouldn't accept any pressure of this court. The court granted him one more opportunity to submit his answer after detailed consideration.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Sep, 2022 ) :President Dr Arif Alvi on Monday conferred Nishan-e-Imtiaz (military) on Chief of Royal Malaysian Navy Admiral Tan Sri Mohd Reza bin Mohd Sany at a special investiture ceremony held here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr.

The president adorned the Malaysian Naval Chief with the prestigious award in recognition of his valuable contribution to strengthening the defence ties between the two countries.

The ceremony commenced with the national anthem and the recitation of verses from the Holy Quran, and was attended by senior officers of the Pakistan and Malaysian navies.
Federal Minister for Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman warned about the worsening situation in Sindh and apprised that River Indus at Kotri Barrage was in high flood with an in-flow of more than 600,000 cusecs of flood water, posing a serious threat to the surrounding regions

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Sep, 2022 ) :Federal Minister for Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman warned about the worsening situation in Sindh and apprised that River Indus at Kotri Barrage was in high flood with an in-flow of more than 600,000 cusecs of flood water, posing a serious threat to the surrounding regions.

She further highlighted that rain forecasts had predicted monsoon stretching into September all over the country, while also fearing that Sindh would also receive rainfall which could prove detrimental to the relief and rescue operations in the area.

Discussing the looming health crisis, the federal minister said, "Floods have brought with it the menace of water-borne diseases such as dengue and cholera. Karachi is seeing an outbreak of dengue as hundreds and thousands of patients are reporting daily at government and private hospitals. The dengue cases this year are 50 percent higher than last year. With 584,246 people in camps throughout the country, health crisis could wreak havoc if it will go unchecked. According to CM Sindh, clearing the water might take up to 3 to 6 months. Manchar Lake has been overflowing since early September, causing inundation of several hundred villages and more than 100,000 people, located in the path of the flood, are affected and have been asked to evacuate. We are expediting our efforts to provide medicines and medics to the 81 calamity-hit flood affected districts of the country. However, these are still very initial estimates as new data is coming up on the ground. " Food insecurity is another impending crisis created due to floods.

The minister stated: "70% of the onion crop along with rice and maize have been completely destroyed in the country. Nearly 2 million acres of crops and orchards have been hit, according to the United Nations.

Right now, urgent relief in the form of food, tents and medicines is being provided by NDMA and PDMAs but we need more resources to meet the needs on ground.

The death toll has reached 1,422 in number. Sindh saw the highest number of deaths, 594 in total, and has a huge number of people confined in camps." Highlighting the economic losses suffered due to the floods, Minister Rehman remarked, "Pakistan has incurred a total agricultural loss, damage to infrastructure including 6579 km of roads, 246 bridges and railway infrastructure. 485, 922 houses have been completely damaged in Sindh; the highest number of houses damaged in any province. Estimates will all have to be revised when the actual scale of the damage is clear. The looming threat of flood down the Kotri Barrage is still at large. Rain forecasts have predicted monsoon stretching into September in Sindh. That could pose a huge challenge in the existing crisis situation. We are faced with a humanitarian disaster of epic proportions."Minister Rehman further remarked, "We appreciate the UNSG coming here and making an unequivocal plea for humanitarian assistance to Pakistan. It is unfortunate that all over social media and other public platforms the opposition is actively exhorting all international supporters to not give aid or support via anyone but their own PTI sources. Such active promotion of public disunity in Pakistan's worse hour of need and crisis is a shocking expose of the thinking behind the divisive politics being promoted. We, meanwhile, welcome all support and assistance to the destitute and homeless victims of this great flood, irrespective of cast, colour or political creed. Every Pakistani in need has a right to assistance. We would never stand in the way of that, for burnishing our own political brand."
(@FahadShabbir)

WASHINGTON September 12 (Sputnik) - About 15 (UrduPoint news / Sputnik - 13th September, 2022) About 15,000 nurses represented by the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) went on three-day strike beginning Monday in what is described as the largest strike of private-sector nurses in American history.

"Today's announcement follows a vote last month by the 15,000 nurse members to authorize a strike. That vote passed with overwhelming support, well beyond the two-thirds majority required," union leaders said in a press release. "Since that strike vote, nurses have met for additional negotiations with hospital executives who have continued to refuse solutions to short-staffing, retention and better patient care. Following the vote by Twin Cities and Twin Port nurses, nurses at Moose Lake also voted to authorize a strike and will join other nurses in striking on September 12.

"

Union leaders said corporate healthcare policies at the hospitals they work have resulted in understaffed and overworked nurses, with patients getting hefty bills while hospital services have been pared down and local hospitals are closed. Meanwhile, hospital executives take home "million-dollar paychecks," the union said.

The nurses are outraged that hospital CEOs, with multi-million-dollar salaries, have refused to negotiate with them over solutions to the crises, the association noted.

MNA said the strike follows months of fruitless negotiations with nurses trying to secure higher staffing levels and 30% wage increases over the next three years. Hospital execs offered 10-12% increases over three years and made clear that they didn't have the money to offer more.
TOKYO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th September, 2022) The public distrust in Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's government increased to record 47% and for the first time surpassed approval rating, according to a poll released by the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun.

The survey showed that 41% of respondents voted in support of the government, while 47% spoke against it. This is a significant regression since August, when the level of public distrust had reached record 39% since the creation of Kishida's cabinet.

Respondents expressed disagreement with the government policy in several areas, including the unpopular decision to hold a state funeral for former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe assassinated in July.

People also expressed discontent in connection with the revealed ties between some politicians from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the scandalous religious organization Unification Church. In addition, only 21% found government's measures against rising prices to be effective, while 67% did not commend them.

Prices are expected to rise for about 8,000 items during autumn, with over 6,000 of them in October. In total, prices will rise for 20,000 products in 2022, with an average price increase of 14%, according to the Japanese research center Teikoku Databank.

The survey was conducted on September 10-11 through random telephone conversations among 1,462 people over the age of 18.
ANKARA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th September, 2022) Turkey's Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader and open supporter of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan President Devlet Bahceli said on Monday that the country's opposition cannot announce its candidate for the upcoming election without the approval of US President Joe Biden.

"They (the opposition) cannot say 'It is our candidate!' without Biden's approval. They cannot nominate a candidate without kissing the hands and feet of Turkey's enemies... However, our decision is clear. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a man of strong will and a man of the nation, should be reelected," Bahceli was quoted as saying by Turkish news agency Aksam.

In late February, leaders of six Turkish opposition parties, namely CHP, the Democracy and Progress Party, the Democrat Party, the Future Party, the Good Party, and the Felicity Party, signed a joint declaration outlining their plan to restore parliamentary system and strip the powers of the president should they win the elections. Part of the plan entails the overhaul of the existing presidential system, which came into effect in 2018 with Erdogan's backing.

The 2023 Turkish general election will be held on June 18, 2023.
Four bodies of civilians with "signs of torture" have been found in a village retaken from Russian forces in a key eastern region, Ukrainian authorities said on Monday

Kyiv, Ukraine, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Sep, 2022 ) :Four bodies of civilians with "signs of torture" have been found in a village retaken from Russian forces in a key eastern region, Ukrainian authorities said on Monday.

Ukraine has recently claimed sweeping successes in its lightning counter-offensive in Kharkiv region, which saw dozens of settlements and more than 2,000 square kilometres retaken.

The regional prosecutor's office said that after the village of Zaliznychne was recaptured, residents reported Russian troops had killed fellow villagers.

"On September 11, law enforcement officers discovered four bodies. All of them show signs of torture," the prosecutors said on social media.

"Three of them were buried near private houses, the other one was found on the territory of the asphalt factory," the prosecutors reported on Facebook.

The statement added that according to the preliminary investigation, the civilians were killed by Russian troops when they occupied the village.

The prosecutors said the bodies have been handed over for forensic examination and an investigation has been launched "into the fact of violation of the laws and customs of war, combined with intentional murder".

Human rights watchdog Amnesty International in a statement urged Ukrainian authorities to "prioritise securing evidence" of war crimes allegedly committed by Russian forces.

"Gathering such evidence is extremely resource-intensive," said Marie Struthers, Amnesty International's director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, calling on the international community "to provide resources that will assist Ukraine's efforts".

On Friday, AFP journalists witnessed Ukrainian officials exhuming two bodies in another recaptured village in the region, Grakove, as part of an investigation into a possible war crime.

Ukraine has accused Russian forces of a string of war crimes in Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv it recaptured in March when Moscow pulled back its troops after a failed bid to capture the capital.
There will be no referendum in 2023 on a new legal status for New Caledonia, France's overseas territory, French Minister Delegate for Overseas Territories Jean-Francois Carenco said on Monday

PARIS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th September, 2022) There will be no referendum in 2023 on a new legal status for New Caledonia, France's overseas territory, French Minister Delegate for Overseas Territories Jean-Francois Carenco said on Monday.

"No, there will be no referendum in July-September 2023," Carenco was quoted by Mediapart newspaper.

Carenco contradicted the statements of his predecessor, Sebastien Lecornu, who promised to elaborate a new statute for New Caledonia and then put it to a vote there.

New Caledonia's pro-independence parties do not recognize the results of the independence referendum, which was held on December 12, 2021 and had a low turnout due to the boycott of independence supporters.

According to the Noumea agreement of 1998 on the archipelago's decolonization, three independence referendums have to take place.

At the third and final referendum on the independence of New Caledonia, some 96.5% voted against its independence from France, while 3.5% spoke in favor of secession. The turnout was only 43.9%, which was caused by the boycott, announced by local nationalists due to the outbreak of coronavirus. French authorities refused to postpone the vote.

The first referendum on independence was held in November 2018, and 56.7% voted for remaining a French territory. The second vote took place in October 2020, when 53.3% of citizens said they would not like to separate from France.

New Caledonia, the archipelago in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, became a part of France in 1853. Now, the area has a special administrative status and population of 270,000.
By Tom Balmforth

ZOLOCHIV, Ukraine (Reuters) -Ukrainian forces swept deeper into territory seized from fleeing Russian troops on Monday and joyful residents returned to former frontline villages, while Moscow's shells rained down on Kharkiv, setting off fires across the region's main city.

Ukraine's general staff said its soldiers had recaptured more than 20 towns and villages in just the past day. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine's troops had retaken 6,000 square kilometers (2,400 square miles) of Russian-held land since the start of the month, twice the figure given just a day earlier.

In the south, Ukrainian troops repelled attempted Russian advances in two important areas of the Donetsk region - the city of Bakhmut and Maiorsk, near the coal-producing town of Horlivka, the general staff said in an evening update.

"People are crying, people are joyful, of course. How could they not be joyful!" said retired English teacher Zoya, 76, in the now-quiet village of Zolochiv, north of Kharkiv and 18 km (10 miles) from the Russian frontier, weeping as she described the months she had spent sheltering in the cellar.

Nastya, 28, had fled the village in April but returned last week after news of Ukrainian advances. "I think everyone's in a great (mood). It's all over now. At least we hope it's all over," she said, queuing for groceries with two small children.

Vitaly Ganchev, the Russian-installed head of Moscow's occupation administration in what remained of Russian-held territory in the Kharkiv region, acknowledged that Ukrainian forces had broken through to the frontier.

The territory Zelenskiy said has been recaptured is a sliver of Ukraine's overall land mass of around 600,000 square km. It is approximately equivalent to the combined area of the West Bank and Gaza.

Russia has taken control of around a fifth of Ukraine since its troops invaded on Feb. 24.

'EMERGENCY DEFENSIVE ACTIONS'

Story continues

President Vladimir Putin and his senior officials have been silent in the face of Russian forces' worst defeat since the war's early weeks, when they were repelled from the outskirts of Kyiv.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov side-stepped a reporter's question of whether Putin still had confidence in the military leadership.

"The special military operation continues. And it will continue until the goals that were originally set are achieved," Peskov said.

Putin was later shown on state TV chairing a meeting on the economy at which he said Russia was holding up well in the face of Western sanctions.

"The economic blitzkrieg tactics, the onslaught they were counting on, did not work," he said.

After days of avoiding the subject, Russia's defence ministry acknowledged on Saturday it had abandoned its main stronghold in the northeast, Izium and neighbouring Balakliia, calling it a pre-planned "regrouping".

As thousands of Russian troops pulled back, leaving behind ammunition and equipment, Russia fired missiles at power stations on Sunday causing blackouts in the Kharkiv and adjacent Poltava and Sumy regions.

Ukraine denounced the strikes as retaliation against civilian targets for Russia's military setbacks.

On Monday, Russian strikes again disrupted power and water supply in Kharkiv itself, killing at least one person, its mayor said.

Throughout the day, shelling of residential areas and infrastructure sparked fires in the city, regional emergency services said on Facebook.

"As a result of shelling five fires have broken out. Administrative buildings and construction sites caught fire as did a number of vehicles," they said, adding that the largest fire was in an apartment building, with about 100 firefighters on site.

Moscow, which denies targeting civilians, did not comment, while the White House condemned the strikes and pledged its continued support for Kyiv.

A senior U.S. military official said many retreating Russian troops had exited Ukraine. Britain's ministry of defence said Russia had probably ordered a withdrawal from all of the Kharkiv region west of the Oskil River. That means abandoning the sole railway line that had sustained Russian operations in the northeast.

Kyiv, whose troops reached the river when they seized the railway hub city of Kupiansk on Saturday, suggested the Russians were falling even further back.

The Ukrainian general staff said Russian troops had abandoned Svatove in Luhansk province, a town some 20 km (12 miles) east of the Oskil. Reuters could not confirm the situation there.

Britain said Moscow also was struggling to bring reserves to the south, where Ukraine is attempting to isolate thousands of Russian soldiers on the west bank of the Dnipro River, forcing most Russian forces to focus on "emergency defensive actions."

A spokesperson for Ukraine's southern command said its forces had recaptured 500 square km of territory in the south. The situation there could not be independently confirmed.

Further Russian retreats could soon put Ukrainian forces in position to attack territory Russia and its local proxies have held since 2014. Denis Pushilin, leader of the pro-Russian separatist administration in Donetsk province, acknowledged pressure from multiple directions.

"At the very least, we have stopped the enemy at Lyman," he said in a post on Telegram overnight, referring to a frontline city east of Izium. He also described fighting at Bakhmut and Vuhledar further south.

Russian broadcasters have alluded to the setbacks but struggled to explain them, with commentators demanding a redoubled war effort.

"We must win the war in Ukraine! We must liquidate the Nazi regime!" one commentator said on a panel show on NTV television.

"And how many years is that supposed to take?" replied another. "So my 10-year-old children will get a chance to fight?"

(Reporting by Reuters reporters; Writing by Peter Graff, Tomasz Janowski and Rami Ayyub; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel, Hugh Lawson and Bill Berkrot)
SIMFEROPOL (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th September, 2022) There are still experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) present at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP), Vladimir Rogov, a member of the main council of the Zaporizhzhia regional military-civil administration, confirmed to Sputnik.

"Two representatives of the IAEA remain at the Zaporizhzhia NPP. We have not received any information about any changes in their plans or schedule of stay at the nuclear power plant," Rogov said.

On Sunday, the Zaporizhzhia regional authorities said that the last operating power unit at the ZNPP was shut down amid continuing shelling by Ukrainian troops.

This was done to prevent a potential emergency situation that could be caused by shifting operation modes of the turbines and reactors due to shell-damaged power lines and other infrastructure.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said on Sunday that he was negotiating a safe zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

On Saturday, Rogov told Sputnik that the Kiev authorities had unilaterally stopped accepting electricity from the ZNPP.
WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th September, 2022) Authorities in Eagle Pass, a small town in Texas on the border with Mexico, have requested refrigerators to store the bodies of drowned migrants as local morgues are already overcrowded, Fox news reported on Monday, citing firefighters.

"There are so many bodies being recovered that the morticians are asking for assistance. I have never seen so many drownings like we're seeing right now," Eagle Pass Fire Department Chief Manuel Mello III, told the broadcaster.

With the surge in the number of illegal migrants who drowned while trying to cross the Rio Grande River at the border with Mexico, the morgues and funeral homes in Eagle Pass have become overcrowded, according to Mello.

There are only four ambulances and two reserve trucks in the small town, he said.

"But those four trucks, they get overwhelmed every single day," Mello added.

The agency's chief noted that his department typically receives 7,000 emergency calls a year, but the service received 8,500 calls in 2021 and is expected to reach the same figure this year.

The Rio Grande starts in the US state of Colorado, flows south through New Mexico and goes into the Gulf of Mexico, forming a natural boundary between the US state of Texas and Mexico.

Well over 2 million migrants have entered the United States illegally via the US southern border since October, breaking last year's record set under the Biden administration's watch. The influx has severely strained local, state and Federal resources trying to handle the situation.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

ANKARA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th September, 2022) Nine foreign citizens suspected of having links to the Islamic State terrorist organization (IS, banned in Russia) were apprehended in the Turkish capital during an operation, the CNN Turk broadcaster reported on Monday.

The suspects maintained contacts with IS members in conflict zones, the report said.

The search for one other person connected with the case continues, according to the broadcaster.

The IS became globally known in 2014, when it declared itself a worldwide caliphate and conducted terrorist attacks in Iraq, Syria and Turkey. Ankara launched counterterrorist operations at home and abroad against the terrorist group.
Hispanic Heritage Month is recognized in the U.S. each year from Sept. 15-Oct. 15 as an opportunity to celebrate the achievements and contributions of Hispanic Americans who have positively influenced and enriched our communities and nation.

At USF, this years celebration will kick off on Sept. 15 with a community luncheon at the Marshall Student Center followed by a series of events scheduled throughout the month. In particular, the week of Oct. 3-6 will highlight the accomplishments, contributions and justice-engaged work of Latino influencers as activists, poets, performers and educators.

The events are an opportunity to pay tribute to a community with deep ties to the formation of the university.

The book, University of South Florida: The First Fifty Years, 1956-2006, documents the vision of USF founder Sam Gibbons that the university serve, among others, the children of Tampas wartime shipyard workers, as well as the descendants of the immigrant cigar workers who decades earlier launched the city as Floridas industrial hub.

As the book describes, attending the Tampa campus groundbreaking in 1958 was Tampa Mayor Nick Nuccio, himself the son of immigrants, who spoke of the aspirations of the growing city and its ethnically diverse residents.

Nuccios nephew Dick Puglisi, who became director of the USF College of Educations Gus A. Stavros Center, was also at the ceremony and in the book describes what USF meant to Tampas Cuban, Spanish and Italian immigrants. It was an exciting period. So many of us were raised in Ybor City from immigrant families and did not have the financial resources to even think about going away to college. If USF had not been available, I would hate to think of the limited opportunities in our lives.

From USFs founding among the diverse communities in and around Tampa Bay, its support of Hispanic, Latinx/a/o students continues today with its commitment to provide greater access to higher education for underrepresented students. Throughout the past 20-plus years, enrollment at USF among Hispanic undergraduate students has almost tripled, and the university continues its work to achieve federal designation as a Hispanic-Serving Institution.

University commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion

USFs dedication to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)  including its Hispanic American, Latinx/a/o community  is a core commitment in USFs strategic plan, which provides clear direction in its goals to recruit and retain staff, enhance academic programming, support research and foster a dynamic work environment.

Among those advising USF leadership on the universitys DEI initiatives is the Status of Latinos (SOL). The organization is known universitywide for hosting the annual Hispanic Heritage Celebration Awards, which recognize students, faculty, staff and community leaders who contribute to the Latinx community through academic research and/or community service. Registration is open for this years awards, which are scheduled for Oct. 6, and will feature SOL scholarship recipients and the Hispanic heritage poster competition participants.

A first-ever, university-wide association is providing another source of support and advocacy for USFs Latinx/a/o faculty and staff. The Alianza Latina Faculty and Staff Association  a grassroots effort  is focused on fostering community, representation and advocacy for USF faculty and staff who identify as Latinx/a/o, Latin American or Hispanic.

Since their initial general body meeting in October 2021, the Alianza board has met with more than 100 faculty and staff, opened new avenues of communication with university leadership and participated in numerous diversity, equity and inclusion-related task forces and committees. The organization has also engaged with community leaders to begin collaboratively addressing issues of common concern within the community.

Our primary takeaway from our meetings and discussions is that important work remains to be done to effectively support USFs Latinx/a/o community, and in particular, the faculty and staff we represent and serve, said Monica Lee Miranda, director of the Center for Student Involvement and inaugural president of Alianza Latina. We are excited to move forward with our most critical and immediate goals to 1) create viable and active channels of communication and 2) advocate for faculty and staff equity and representation as it relates to salary, position, treatment, recruitment and retention. We look forward to doing so in partnership with our peer organizations and communities across USF, and with the invaluable and continued support from USF leadership, particularly the presidents office and the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Support for student success

Also announced in October 2021, was the formation of the 15-member Advancing Latino Access and Success (ALAS) Task Force. With a membership of leaders from across USF and Tampa Bay, ALAS is focused on student success and building strategies to increase enrollment and degree completion rates while identifying challenges and opportunities unique to Latino students.

Co-chairing the task force are Valeria Garcia, associate vice president for the Office of Decision Support, and Elizabeth Hordge-Freeman, interim associate vice provost for faculty recruitment, retention and engagement.

Supporting the success of Hispanic/Latinx/a/o students is also a priority for the Office of Multicultural Affairs, which has worked to formalize a space that affirms and celebrates the heritage and accomplishments of the Hispanic/Latinx/a/o community and provides programs, events and initiatives to strengthen community.

Neudy Carolina Nunez was named director of the office in 2021 and shares that her cultural upbringing as a Venezuelan-Dominican Latina has greatly shaped her work at USF and her desire to positively influence the lives of other Latinx/a/o students.

The unique challenges that first-generation Latina students face are often not apparent but emerge through a series of conversations that develop over time as our rapport increases and mutual trust and respect are created, Nunez said. It has been a privilege for me to build so many close relationships with Latinx students at USF as a result of my role as the director of OMA.

Latino Scholarship Program and engaged alumni

For first-generation Latinx students such as Valentina Arcila, USFs Latino Scholarship Program has supported a pathway to pursue academic and career aspirations by providing financial support, mentoring and professional development.

The program also fosters a connection to community, something that was particularly important when the pandemic paused in-person activities.

I was so grateful for the virtual workshops offered by the Foundation Scholarship Office for Latino scholarship recipients because I was still able to engage with fellow students and learn valuable professional skills, Arcila said. All my classes became 100% virtual, so these virtual workshops helped me stay motivated and engaged during those troubling times.

Created in 1992 by the Latin Community Advisory Committee, the program celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2021 having enriched the lives of more than 600 scholars. The committee, led by the late Dr. Braulio Alonso, established LSP with the late Adela Gonzmart, Dr. Adrienne Garcia, and the late Dr. Remember Maceo-Gomez.

Adelas son, Richard Gonzmart, the fourth-generation co-owner of the historic Columbia Restaurant, established the Adela and Cesar Gonzmart Endowed Memorial Scholarship in 2002 and to mark the Columbias 100th anniversary in 2005, created the Columbia Centenario Award. The two scholarships total more than $300,000. He created the Richard and Melanie Gonzmart Latino Scholarships in 2017, totaling another $300,000.

In addition to financial support, a long list of LSP alumni and supporters inspire the next generation of USF students with their outstanding contributions to community.

Among them are Grace Maseda Sainz (MS 14) and Anthony Perez (MBA 12) who will be honored in October as the 2022 Hispanic Woman and Man of the Year by Tampa Hispanic Heritage. The lifetime achievement award honors Hispanics who have contributed significantly to the success of Tampa Bay and improved the quality of life for Hispanics.

Maseda Sainz is an incoming board member for the USF Foundation and a vice president at Helios Education Foundation, which is a longtime supporter of USFs commitment to student success for underrepresented populations. Perez is the founder of the non-profit organization, Covered Hearts.

In addition to their support of LSP, both have led USFs Latin Community Advisory Council  Perez is the current chair  and have chaired the Mayor's Hispanic Advisory Council, a group of Hispanic citizens appointed by the Tampa mayor who serve as a liaison between the city government and the Hispanic community. The advisory council also supports LSP and maintains a strong partnership with USF and a shared focus on issues of importance to the Hispanic community.

In 2005, Jose Valiente (73) was recognized as Tampas Hispanic Man of the Year. Valiente, who fled Cuba with his family in 1962, has been a member of the Latin Community Advisory Committee for 31 years. He and his wife Lourdes have also been donors to the Latino Scholarship Program, sponsoring seven students. Today, he leads the USF Foundation Board of Directors.

Hispanic and Latino faculty achievements

USFs accomplished faculty include those of Hispanic and Latinx/a/o descent who are engaged in high-profile research.

Beatriz Padilla, associate professor of sociology in the College of Arts and Sciences and founding member of Alianza, has been working with Latinx/a/o students, including Afro-Latinx students, on research to map the ethnic and racial experiences of Latinx/a/o students, faculty and staff in higher education. Her research differentiates between people who were socialized and grew up in Latin America and then came to the U.S. and those who grew up in the U.S.

The topic has personal importance to Padilla, who was born in Argentina and came to the U.S. to pursue her graduate degrees in public policy and sociology.

Socialization of what you bring from your country of origin has an impact on how people integrate and incorporate into academia, Padilla said. The ethnic and racial identities that people bring and how that translates or not into U.S. ethnic and racial identities  all of these issues play a role.

Padilla directs the Institute for the Study of Latin American and the Caribbean (ISLAC), USFs interdisciplinary center of excellence focused on distinguished scholarship, teaching and outreach to improve life across Latin America, the Caribbean and among Latinx/a/o populations in the U.S. In addition to being a research institute, ISLAC offers academic graduate programs

ISLAC-affiliated faculty are at the forefront of projects that foster global understanding, address global issues, and prepare for an increasingly globalized world.

Among them is Elizabeth Aranda, professor of sociology, whose research focuses on migrants emotional well-being and how they adapt to challenges posed by racial and ethnic inequalities, legal status and other challenges associated with adaptation in a new place.

Aranda also directs the (Im)migrant Well-Being Research Center in the College of Arts and Sciences, a reflection of USFs investment in Latinx/a/o faculty and their research. In February 2023 the university will host the Conference on (Im)migrant Well-Being, bringing together interdisciplinary scholars and community partners to examine research and policy focused on immigrant well-being.

Several ISLAC-affiliated faculty were also central to an effort led by the USF College of Public Health to combat misinformation about COVID-19 among the regions Spanish-speaking communities. Salud Latina USF is a public health initiative that aims to address disparities among Latinx/a/o populations in Tampa Bay and across the U.S. and world. Its main pillars are: Latino student mentoring, research, community outreach and education and scholarly activities. Salud Latina USF offers monthly webinars to provide trusted information to Spanish speaking communities in the U.S. and Latin America. It started webinars to address misinformation around COVID-19, and has expanded to cover a wide range of public health topics, such as domestic violence, infectious and chronic disease, health disparities and social conditions, such as migration.
An international theater company known for its combination of music, dance and slapstick will visit Wells College in Aurora for a performance on Wednesday, Sept. 14.

The Bread and Puppet Theater will perform from 6 to 7:30 that evening next to the college's boathouse on Cayuga Lake, on Main Street in the village.

Admission is free and open to the public, and both arriving early and bringing blankets for seating is encouraged.

The company will also sell books, posters and more from the Bread and Puppet Press, and serve its custom sourdough rye bread with aioli at the performance.

"Believing that theater is a basic necessity like bread, the company frequently brings its work to the streets for those who may not otherwise go to the theater," Wells said in a news release. "The companys shows are political and spectacular, with puppets often on stilts, wearing huge masks with expressive faces, singing, dancing and playing music."

Bread and Puppet was founded in 1963 on the Lower East Side of New York City by Peter Schumann, and has been based in Vermont since the early 1970s. The nonprofit company, one of the oldest in the country, has won the Erasmus Prize of Amsterdam, four Obies and several other awards, and regularly tours internationally and across the U.S.

The performance is part of the college's Arts & Lecture Series, in partnership with the sustainability, visual arts and theater programs at Wells.

For more information, visit wells.edu or breadandpuppet.org.
Mombasas Governor-elect, in Kenya, has declared that under his administration, there will be no more taxes on Churches paid to the county government.

CISA  Mombasa, Kenya.

Mombasa County Governor-Elect, Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir has said that his first executive order after being sworn into office would be to waive any levies related to Churches. He spoke during Mass at the Holy Ghost Cathedral in Mombasa recently.

No more taxes on Churches

The Governor-elect who will be sworn into office on September 15 alongside Francis Thoya, his deputy, declared that under his administration, there will be no more taxes on Churches paid to the county government.

During the occasion, governor-elect Shariff Nassir requested the local ordinary for the Catholic Diocese of Mombasa, Most Rev Martin Kivuva Musonde to accompany him during his tenure as governor.

"I believe that you will be side by side with me, not just during the swearing-in ceremony but you will be there to guide me as well for my tenure for the next five years," he said amidst cheerful claps from the congregation.

A time to deliver on promises

The former Mvita constituency Member of National Assembly (MP), moreover, thanked residents of the county for allowing him the opportunity to serve them conveying that, Now is our time to be able to deliver on the promises

The first-time governor-elect also urged Archbishop Kivuva to utilise the office of the governor during the 100-year celebrations of the existence of the Holy Ghost Cathedral.

"It will be in history. That will never be erased. During the 100-year celebration, I hope I will be invited. Im hoping you will use my office to the utmost. If it is to ensure the visitors travel herewhatever, let my office facilitate all that, Abdulswamad promised.
As Pope Francis prepares to embark on his Apostolic Journey to Kazakhstan, we offer an overview of the Catholic Church in the Central Asian nation.

By Lisa Zengarini

The origins of the Catholic Church in Kazakhstan can be traced back to the 13th century. In 1253, the King of France, St. Louis, sent some missionaries to this territory directed to Mongolia.

Then, 25 years later, in 1278, Pope Nicholas III entrusted the entire mission in the Central Asian region to the Franciscan Order. In the first half of 14th century, the Franciscan friars built a small convent and a cathedral in the city of Almalyk.

In that time, Pope John XXII sent a letter to the Chagatai Khan, the second son of Genghis Khan, to thank him for the kindness shown to Christians in his kingdom. However, in 1340, persecutions began, and there were no records of the presence of Christians in the region until the mid-nineteenth century, when the Kazakh territory was under the rule of the Russian Empire.

Kazakh Catholic Church in 20th century

Roman Catholics began to arrive in Kazakhstan in the early twentieth century.

They were soldiers of the Russian army, or exiles, deportees, prisoners of war, settlers and refugees. Many Catholic refugees and prisoners of war arrived during the First World War.

In 1917, the parish of Pietropavlovsk numbered some 5,000 faithful, while the parish of Kustanai counted more than 6,000. Other Catholics of various nationalities arrived as deportees during the seven decades of the Soviet regime.

The dissolution of the Soviet Union and the subsequent independence of Kazakhstan in 1991 was a turning point also for the small Kazakh Catholic Church.

The first milestone of this development was the establishment of diplomatic relations between the former Soviet Republic and the Holy See, on 17 October 1992, followed, on 24 September 1998, by the signing of an important Agreement on mutual relations by which the Kazakh government granted the Catholic Church freedom of worship, of speech through media, and to carry out its pastoral and social activities with no restrictions; to establish, organize, and direct educational institutions; and full access to prisons and health facilities to provide spiritual assistance.

Ongoing interreligious dialogue after end of Soviet Union

These two events marked the beginning of an ongoing fruitful collaboration between the Catholic Church and the Kazakh authorities, in particular in the field of interreligious dialogue.

This is testified by the three official visits to the Vatican by former President Nursultan Nazarbayev (which took place in 1998 for the signing of the Agreement on mutual relations with the Holy See, in 2003 and 2009), but, most importantly, by the Apostolic Journey of Pope St. John Paul II on 22-25 September 2001, which was the first visit by a Roman Catholic pontiff to a Central Asian country.

The motto chosen for the Journey was: "Love one another, aimed at underlining the peaceful coexistence of Kazakhstans many ethnic and religious communities.

These aspects were underscored several times by John Paul II during his three-day stay. Meeting young people at the Eurasia University of Astana on 23 September, the Polish Pope described Kazakhstan as a land of encounter, exchange and newness; a land which stirs in everyone the desire for new discoveries and makes it possible to experience difference not as a threat but as an enrichment.

This same desire to promote the values of coexistence and dialogue between peoples and faiths, as opposed to attempts to exploit religion for political ends, inspired the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, which was first launched in 2003 in Astana (now Nur-Sultan) by former President Nazarbayev, in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States, and following the spirit of Assisi, the interreligious meetings for peace held in the home town of St. Francis and convened for the first time by St. John Paul II in 1986

Since then, the meetings have been held every three years in the Kazakh capital  the last of which took place in 2018 on the theme "Religious leaders for a safe world"  with the participation of a Vatican delegation. This has further contributed to reinforce the collaboration between Kazakhstan and the Holy See for promoting interreligious dialogue.

Deepening dialogue

The Holy Sees contribution to dialogue between faiths was officially recognized by Kazakhstan on 6 February 2013, when a Kazakh delegation, led by the President of the Senate visiting the Vatican on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the "Inter-religious Congress", conferred a special award to Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran and Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, and to Monsignor Khaled Akasheh, Official of the then Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.

This consonance of values was further confirmed in 2017 on the occasion of the International Exhibition of Astana (known as Expo 2017) which was held from 9 June - 10 September that year on the theme "Future Energy. The Holy See participated in the event with a Pavilion themed "Energy for the Common Good - Taking Care of our Common Home".

On the National Day of the Holy See at Expo 2017, on 2 September, Pope Francis sent a message, in which he recalled the growth of dialogue and cooperation between religions that has taken place in Kazakhstan, a land characterized by rich ethnic, cultural and spiritual traditions.

Cardinal Peter K.A. Turkson, then Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, participated in several Expo 2017 events, including an inter-religious conference at the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation.

The good existing relations between the Holy See and the Kazakhstan received a further boost in October 2020, when the now Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue and the Kazakh Center for the Development of Interfaith and Inter-civil Dialogue 'Nursultan Nazarbayev "(NJSC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the aim of pathing the way to "new opportunities and more promising ways to implement common projects, to promote respect and knowledge among the representatives of the various religions."

The open religious policies of former President Nazarbayev's, though within the framework of stricter controls over religious activities introduced in 2011 to prevent religious radicalization, have also been pursued by his successor Kassym Zhomar Tokayev.

Church activities

In this context, the Church in Kazakhstan has been able to continue carrying out its activities as established by the 1998 agreement. This includes its charitable work conducted by Caritas Kazakhstan, which since 1997 has been on the frontline in assisting the poor and the most vulnerable.

Today, the Catholic charitys initiatives include various social services throughout the country; the management of some orphanages, and assistance to AIDS patients.

A small minority

The Catholic Church accounts for about 1% of Kazakhstan's 19 million inhabitants, 70% of whom are Muslims, while 26% are Christians, mostly Russian Orthodox.

Under the Soviet regime, the Catholic population in Kazakhstan was made up of different ethnic groups, especially former deportees, but since independence many of them returned to their respective countries of origin and emigration continues today, due to the economic situation.

The Catholic faithful in the country are distributed in 4 dioceses: the Archdiocese of Mary Most Holy in Astana (now Nur-Sultan), the Diocese of the Holy Trinity in Almaty, the Diocese of Karaganda and the Apostolic Administration of Atyrau, for a total of 70 parishes, and are assisted by some 90 priests.

Bishops' Conference of Central Asia

In Septembe 2021, the Church marked a new important milestone, not only from an organizational point of view, with the establishment of the Bishops' Conference of Central Asia (CEVAC), which brings together the Churches of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia and Afghanistan.

The new transnational episcopal conference met for the first time on 26-30 April 2022, and appointed as its first president Bishop Jose Luis Mumbiela Sierra of Almaty.

Bishop Jerzy Maculewicz, Apostolic Administrator of Uzbekistan, and Bishop Evgeny Zinkovsky, Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Karaganda, were appointed vice president and secretary, respectively.
Didar Temenov, Director of the Department of Multilateral Cooperation, at Kazakhstan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, offers a look at the 7th Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, in which Pope Francis will take part, saying "religious leaders have the authority to help solve world's conflicts."

By Deborah Castellano Lubov -- Kazakhstan

Pope Francis travels to Kazakhstan on Tuesday for the 7th Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions being held in the Kazakh capital of Nur-Sultan on 14-15 September. The event will feature discussions to promote peace and concrete commitments on the part of religious leaders from around the globe, including the Grand Imam of Al Azhar, Ahmed Al Tayeb, and representatives from the Russian Orthodox Church.

The Congress came to life in 2003 in the wake of the tragic September 11th attacks on the United States, and following Pope St. John Paul II's second 'Spirit of Assisi' meeting in 2002.

In an interview with Vatican News, Kazakhstan's Director of the Department of Multilateral Cooperation of the Ministry of Affairs, Didar Temenov, offers a glimpse of the importance of this event, which this year focuses on the role of religious leaders in a post-pandemic world.

Listen to the interview:

Mission of the Congress

"The mission of the Congress is to further strengthen inter-confessional and inter-ethnic harmony around the world, especially at these very challenging times," he says.

"The world is going through great trials at the moment, and at this time it is very important for religious leaders to make their great contribution to promotion of dialogue between religions among nations at our difficult moment," he recognizes.

Religion, Mr. Temenov highlights, plays "a very important role in the lives of billions of people," though sometimes "political disagreements include religious elements."

"Religious leaders have great influence and authority in order to help solve conflicts in the world, but the most important thing is the promotion of dialogue between different religions, as well as between countries," he says. "And in this connection, the role of this Congress is aimed at strengthening inter-confessional, inter-ethnic harmony throughout the world."

Kazakhstan

Mr. Temenov expressed his hopes that the Congress might help "the world come closer to greater understanding and dialogue."

The Congress' history

The history of the Congress dates back to 2003, when the then-President of Kazakhstan, Nur-Sultan Nazarbayev, hosted the first one "in a direct response to the rise of religious tensions and extremism following the 9/11 tragic events in the United States."

We believe that it was a critical moment to create opportunity for the religious leaders to work together to prevent religion being used to divide people, communities and nations.

Six Congresses of religious of world and traditional religions have been held, and Mr. Temenov says his country looks forward to hosting the 7th Congress.

"It will be one of the largest Congresses compared to the previous ones," he says. "Just to give you statistics that almost 20 years ago, when the first Congress was created, it was attended by 17 delegations."

Welcoming Pope Francis

Not only is this year's Congress expected to welcome some 100 participants from 50 countries, it will mark the greatest number in the number of participants, as well as the quality of its distinguished delegations, Mr. Temenov says.

Of course, this includes Pope Francis, whom we are very much looking forward to host.

While numerous religions will be represented, other participants will include the Grand Imam of Al Azhar, Ahmed Al Tayyeb; Metropolitan Antonij of Volokolamsk, head of the Department for External Relations of the Patriarchate of Moscow; Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel David Lau; and Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel Yitzhak Yosef; and Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem.

The Congress Secretariat, along with several permanent representatives of the world's religions, he informs, decides on the participants, noting they traditionally invite the most renowned and recognized clergy from around the world.



Religion's role in addressing acute questions

Mr. Temenov says the Congress wishes to send a unique message of peace to a world where religious fundamentalism is on the rise.



He notes that recent years have witnessed the world "experiencing multiple crises, including conflicts, pandemics, and natural disasters."

We believe that during this very, very difficult time, religion should be a cornerstone for the society and can help us. It can help us guide through difficult times.

Therefore, he insists, "it is very important that religious leaders play an important role in spiritual and social development, but also address questions which are very acute at the moment."

Commitment to a collective resolution

Kazakhstan, says Mr. Temenov, is hoping to promote a peaceful and decent life for people all over the planet.

Pope Francis in Iraq

"We believe that the Congress will contribute to the development of global interreligious dialogue in the name of peace and stability. And through this commitment to a collective resolution of international disputes, the Congress will contribute to the development of mutual understanding between Eastern and Western civilizations."

The Congress is expected to produce a final document, signed by participants.

"We are planning to adopt the declaration of the Congress, and we hope that all the important messages the leaders would like to send to the people of the world will be included."

Currently, he notes, the text of the declaration is in its final stage of consideration by the delegations.

The declaration will be read during the last day of Pope Francis' visit to Nur-Sultan, at which time he will deliver concluding remarks for the Congress.

Pope Francis' commitment to interreligious dialogue and friendship

Interreligious dialogue has always been very close to Pope Francis' heart, as evidenced by his Document on Human Fraternity, signed in Abu Dhabi, and his subsequent encyclical on the topic in Fratelli tutti.

The Pope has also participated in the Community of Sant'Egidio's Prayer for Peace encounters, in Assisi and Rome, in hopes of keeping alive the 'Spirit of Assisi' among interfaith leaders.

Pope Francis has personally taken part in various interfaith moments, and has always kept friendships with other faith leaders, even dating back to his friendship with Rabbi Abraham Skorka of Buenos Aires.
As Pope Francis prepares to take part in an interfaith congress in Kazakhstan, Professor Azza Karam, Secretary General of Religions for Peace, says the Pope can help religious leaders map out ways of resolving and avoiding conflicts.

By Devin Watkins

Pope Francis is a faith leader whom many others, even outside the Catholic community, tend to listen to and respect very highly.

The Secretary General of Religions for Peace, Prof. Azza Karam, offered that insight into the Popes footprint in interreligious dialogue.

Prof. Karam spoke to Vatican News ahead of Pope Francis Apostolic Journey to Kazakhstan, on 13-15 September, which will see him participate in the 7th Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in Nur-Sultan.

Nearly 100 delegations are expected to attend from 60 nations, representing Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Shintoism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, and other religions.

Pope a spokesperson for peace

Pope Francis will join religious leaders in seeking to plot a course for humanitys renewal in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, amidst numerous wars and conflicts across the globe.

Pope Francis has positioned himself by virtue of his speech and what he symbolizes to be, in some respects, the spokesperson of what peace should look like in people's ordinary lives, but also on the level of government.

Prof. Karam said the Popes various encyclicals and desire for interfaith fraternity have spoken very powerfully about how to embody peace and protection of the environment.

His Apostolic Visits have offered a concrete expression of closeness to people who are suffering, she added, pointing to his nearness to refugees and internally displaced peoples.

He is seen as a religious leader who articulates the moral responsibilities and even clarifies what needs to be done in order to heal communities and to prevent conflict, said Prof. Karam. So, his role will continue to be to map out the how and why of resolving and avoiding conflicts, including of living more peacefully with ourselves as people of faith.

Listen to the full interview

Healing occurs when religions work together

The Congress in Nur-Sultan offers a unique chance for religious leaders to combine their efforts in promoting peace, since no single leader or institutions can do all the work of peace on their own, according to Prof. Karam.

The reason why this Congress is valuableand why the work of Religions for Peace over the past 50 years is incomparableis that we need to work together. Religious institutions, religious leaders, and faith communities have to work together. The together part is where the magic happens and where the healing actually can take place.

Normalizing interreligious dialogue

Prof. Karam was invited by the Kazakh government to attend the Congress because her organization represents religious leaders in over 90 countries.

She expressed her hopes that the event will help regularize and normalize more frequent encounters between religious and faith leaders, in order to develop a common discourse of collaboration and joint action for peace.

She compared the Congress to a religious version of the United Nations General Assembly, which provides a forum for governments to meet and advance the common good.

Speaking together for the sake of peace

Religions for Peace, which Prof. Karam heads up, coordinates nearly 100 interreligious councils in as many countries to promote peace and help their local communities, something she believes should happen at a more global level.

The whole point of this Congress, as with many other gatherings of religious leaders, is to induce, to infuse, to encourage, and to facilitate faith communities coming together, to serve together and to speak together for the sake of peace.

Picking up the analogy of the UN General Assembly, Prof. Karam noted that the international forum sometimes fails to prevent conflict but that its failure never keeps it from continuing to try and promote dialogue.

In the same way, religious communities and leaders must continue to talk to one another, since they are larger and far more influential than governments are.
At the Sunday Angelus, Pope Francis remembers the Italian Comboni Missionary sister killed in Mozambique on Tuesday, and offered special greetings to Ethiopians, marking their traditional New Year on Sunday.

By Vatican News staff reporter

Speaking after imparting his apostolic blessing at Sunday's Angelus, Pope Francis remembered in his thoughts and prayers Sister Maria de Coppi, a Comboni Missionary, who was killed last week in Chipene, Mozambique.

The Pope recalled her witness in Mozambique, "where she served with love for nearly sixty years."

He prayed that "her witness may give strength and courage to Christians and to all the people of Mozambique."

Read also 10/09/2022 As Ethiopia celebrates a New Year, Cardinal Berhaneyesus prays for peace and reconciliation Ethiopians this Sunday celebrate the first day of the New Year 2015, according to their unique calendar.

New Year greetings for Ethiopia



The Pope then offered his special greetings to "the dear people of Ethiopia," who celebrate their traditional New Year on Sunday, according to their unique calendar.

He assured all Ethiopians of his prayers and best wishes, imploring "the gift of peace and reconciliation."


On the eve of Pope Francis' Apostolic Journey to Kazakhstan, the Vatican Secretary of State looks at the war in Ukraine with hopes that the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, which the Pope will attend, might become an opportunity for encounter and dialogue, and underscores the fruitful diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Kazakhstan.

By Massimiliano Menichetti

Everything is ready on the eve of Pope Francis' 38th Apostolic Journey outside Italy. The destination is Kazakhstan and participation in the VII Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. The international background of the event includes the ongoing, tragic war in Ukraine and many other conflicts around the world.

Once again, Pope Francis at Sunday's Angelus in St. Peters Square asked for everyone to continue praying the people suffering from the war in Ukraine. He also thanked those involved in the journey's preparations who have made possible this trip to the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, where the focus will be on the capital, Nur-Sultan.

The predominantly Muslim country is home to a small Catholic community that awaits the arrival of the Pope with hope. The busy program is condensed into three days with five addresses he will give.

Ahead of the Pope's departure on Tuesday, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin sat down with Vatican Media to explore various themes of the Journey.

Q: Cardinal Parolin, how would you describe the purpose of this visit?



Read also 12/09/2022 A glimpse of the 7th Congress of Leaders of World & Traditional Religions Didar Temenov, Director of the Department of Multilateral Cooperation, at Kazakhstan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, offers a look at the 7th Congress of Leaders of World and ...



The Holy Father Francis is traveling to Kazakhstan, on 13-15 September, to participate in the 7th Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, at the invitation of the President of the Republic Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. The event will be attended by a number of religious leaders from various parts of the world.

From its beginnings, the Congress has taken as its model the Day of Prayer for World Peace, convened in Assisi by Pope St. John Paul II on 24 January 2002, to reaffirm the positive contribution of different religious traditions to dialogue, harmony and concord among peoples. The motto of the papal journey reflects this theme, "Messengers of Peace and Unity," as does the logo, which features a dove with an olive branch. The paths of the papal visit are clear.

I would also like to note that the draft Final Declaration of the Congress gives special emphasis to the document on " Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together ," signed by Pope Francis and Dr. Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, in Abu Dhabi on 4 February 2019.

Q: Peace and unity are emphasized in the motto of the journey; peace is also at the center of the work of the Congress. Yet, in the heart of Europe, the war in Ukraine continues, as well as conflicts in many other areas of the world. Many speak of the inevitability of war, but are there really no other ways forward?

War is never an inescapable event. It has its roots in the heart of the human person, driven by vainglory, pride, arrogance and greed, as the Church Fathers used to say. Such a heart is a hardened heart, unable to open up to others.

War can be avoided by stepping back, laying down accusations and threats, causes of mutual distrust. Unfortunately, these days the ability to listen and efforts to understand the logic of those who think differently from us has decreased at all levels.

I hope, therefore, that the upcoming Congress in Kazakhstan will become an opportunity for encounter and dialogue. Quoting Pope Pius XII, it is good to be reminded that honorable success is never precluded when we discuss with good will and with respect for each other's rights.

Read also 12/09/2022 Popes presence in Kazakhstan to help map way out of conflicts As Pope Francis prepares to take part in an interfaith congress in Kazakhstan, Professor Azza Karam, Secretary General of Religions for Peace, says the Pope can help religious ...



Q: How would you describe the three decades of diplomatic relations between Kazakhstan and the Holy See?

The diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the Republic of Kazakhstan could be characterized with two words: frequent and fruitful. Suffice it to mention that the Holy See has always actively participated at all of the Congresses, and has been represented by a high-level Delegation, led by a Cardinal and this time by the Holy Father himself.

Kazakhstan was the first Central Asian country to sign a Bilateral Agreement with the Holy See in 1998. It was also the first Central Asian country to be visited by Pope St. John Paul II in September 2001. The Holy See and Kazakhstan continue to work together. This is shown by the fact that during the recent visit to the Vatican by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H.E. Mukhtar Tileuberdi, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the University Medical Center of Kazakhstan and the Bambino Gesu Children's Hospital; also a Memorandum of Understanding between the R.B. Suleimenov Institute of Oriental Studies and the Vatican Library and Archives.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations. On this occasion and in conjunction with Pope Francis' visit, we are hoping to sign a Supplementary Agreement on the issuance of visas and residence permits to foreign missionaries serving in Kazakhstan.

Read also 12/09/2022 Overview of Church in Kazakhstan for Popes visit As Pope Francis prepares to embark on his Apostolic Journey to Kazakhstan, we offer an overview of the Catholic Church in the Central Asian nation.



Q: The small local Catholic Church finds itself immersed in a context of eighteen officially registered religions, and is speaking of this time as a historic visit. The Pope brings hope. This has been a land of martyrdom and is still a frontier where the challenge of coexistence is being lived out. How would you describe those hopes today?

The papal visit to Kazakhstan also includes moments dedicated to the local Catholic community, such as the celebration of Mass in the Expo Square and the meeting with the bishops, clergy, consecrated persons, seminarians and pastoral workers, which will be held at the Mother of God of Perpetual Help Cathedral in Nur-Sultan.

The Catholic Church is highly valued and represents a small but significant reality, within an extremely diverse religious-cultural landscape. The local Church will certainly feel encouraged by the Pope's presence and encouragement to renew itself in faith, hope and charity.

It will continue its mission of giving witness, also following the examples of so many witnesses to the faith in previous years, such as Blessed Fr. Wadysaw Bukowinski, Blessed Fr. Alexis Zaryckyj and Blessed Bishop Mykyta Budka. They can contribute together with other religious groups to build a united, harmonious and peaceful society.


An Emirati court ruled on Monday that a British man suspected of masterminding a $1.7 billion tax scheme cannot be extradited to Denmark to face charges.

The decision in the high-profile case grants the hedge fund trader, Sanjay Shah, a victory against Danish authorities who sought him for his role in one of the countrys largest-ever fraud cases. Mondays court ruling, delivered after a closed-door hearing and without explanation, can be appealed by prosecutors.

The elaborate scheme, which ran for three years beginning in 2012, allegedly involved foreign businesses pretending to own shares in Danish companies and claiming tax refunds for which they were not eligible.

Of course we will try to get him [out] on bail now immediately, Shahs lawyer, Ali al-Zarooni, told The Associated Press at court.

The 52-year-old financier has maintained his innocence in past interviews with journalists but never appeared in Denmark to answer accusations. Al-Zarooni had contested the extradition, arguing that Denmark had breached" the rules of international extradition treaties in unspecified ways.

Shahs lifestyle on Dubais luxurious palm-shaped island over the past few years had sparked outrage in Denmark. After the countries signed an extradition treaty, Dubai police arrested Shah in June.

During his time in Dubai, the hedge fund manager ran a center for autistic children that shut down in 2020 as Denmark tried to extradite him. He also oversaw a British-based charity, Autism Rocks, which raised funds through concerts and performances.

His arrest comes as pressure grows on Dubai, the regions financial hub, over its alleged weaknesses in combating illicit finance. The UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms, has long invited the wealthy, including disgraced public figures, to invest in the country without questioning where they made their money.

In recent months, however, the UAE has arrested several suspects wanted for major crimes, including two of the Gupta brothers from South Africa, accused of facilitating vast public corruption and draining state resources with former President Jacob Zuma.
Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights, Nada al-Nashif highlighted the growing desperation of millions of people trapped in a never-ending cycle of human rights violations, violence, and political instability in dozens of countries around the world.

She addressed the worsening situation in numerous countries in Africa, including Burkina Faso, Burundi, the Central African Republic, and Mali. She offered a rare glimmer of hope regarding the nearly two-year old conflict in northern Ethiopias Tigray province.

Following the recent resumption of hostilities in northern Ethiopia, I am encouraged by the announcement yesterday by authorities in Tigray of their readiness to abide by an immediate cessation of hostilities and to participate in a robust peace process under the auspices of the African Union. I urge the parties to take immediate steps to end the violence once and for all, and to opt for constructive and genuine dialogue, she said.

She dwelled at length on the unbearable levels of violence and human rights abuses by heavily armed gangs in Haiti. She called on the international community to help contain the scourge of violence in that country.

However, she made only passing reference to Chinas incarceration of more than a million Uyghur and other Muslim minorities in so-called vocational centers. This is despite growing demands by human rights activists for a special debate on this issue at the Council.

On 31 August, my Office published its assessment of human rights concerns in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, with recommendations to the Government and other stakeholders, she said.

Acting High Commissioner, al-Nashif, was more robust in her criticism of Russias actions aimed at quelling domestic opposition to its war in Ukraine.

In the Russian Federation, the intimidation, restrictive measures and sanctions against people voicing opposition to the war in Ukraine undermine the exercise of constitutionally guaranteed fundamental freedoms Pressures against journalists, blocking of internet resources and other forms of censorship are incompatible with media pluralism and violate the right to access of information, she said.

Al-Nashif said the war in Ukraine continues and the suffering of the civilian population continues. She noted the serious socio-economic consequences of the war also persist. This, she said, has resulted in severe fuel shortages and threats to food security in some of the worlds poorest countries.

She added the devastation caused by the war in Ukraine will be discussed later in the session.
In Cameroon, officials say weeks of flooding along its northern borders with Chad and Nigeria have swept away entire villages, leaving thousands of people homeless. Aid efforts are underway with many schools, mosques and churches providing temporary shelter.



Heavy rains fall in Mokolo, a business and agricultural district on Cameroons northern border with Nigeria. Cameroon officials describe Mokolo, which is also the capital of the Mayo Tsanaga administrative unit, as the breadbasket of Cameroons northern border with Chad and Nigeria.



Haman Adama is the spokesperson for people displaced by floods in Mayo Tsanaga administrative unit in Cameroons northern border with Chad and Nigeria. He says hunger looms in Cameroons northern border with Chad and Nigeria after floods in August and September destroyed sorghum plantations in Mayo Tsanaga and neighboring Mayo Danay, Mayo Sava and Diamare administrative units.

She says the impacts of the ongoing floods will be felt up to March 2023, if heavy rains continue to make it impossible for farmers to return to their plantations for the new planting season that begins in October.



Adama said several thousand civilians are seeking refuge in schools, hospitals, churches and mosques in towns and villages not threatened by floods.



Aid groups and humanitarian agencies are providing food and medical supplies to civilians who have lost their houses, plantations and animals to the flooding. But aid workers say they are unable to meet the growing needs of displaced civilians.

The government says the heavy floods are in part caused by seasonal rains and waters from the nearby Lakes Chad and Maga.



Cameroon says a regional approach with Chad and Nigeria is needed to reduce the damage caused by floods.



Christophe Bring is the head of department for studies and projects at Cameroons environment ministry.



Bring says during Africa Climate Week in Libreville, Gabon from August 29 to September 2 African nations, the African Union and the United Nations made commitments to foster a common African regional climate action. Bring spoke via the messaging app WhatsApp from Cameroons capital Yaounde.



Bring says during the climate week, African states identified causes of changes in regional climate patterns, proposed sustainable responses and prepared a common strategy to reduce the effects of climate change. He says Africas position will be presented to the world during the United Nations climate change conference known as COP 27 that will be taking place in Egypt in November.



Bring said the ongoing floods in northern Cameroon are caused by heavy rainfall resulting from tropical weather disruptions, deforestation and improper agricultural practices. He said thousands of families have gone homeless because they constructed houses and settlements in flood plains.



Cameroon officials say the northern border area with Chad and Nigeria hosts about 550,000 IDPs and about 70,000 Nigerian refugees.



Some of the displaced persons include civilians who fled conflicts over water between cattle ranchers and fishermen.
Members of the Onondaga County Sheriffs Office Pistol License Unit will assist Onondaga County-issued pistol license holders at the upcoming Syracuse Gun Show.

According to a press release Monday, the sheriffs office will process amendments to acquire/dispose handguns. Onondaga County pistol license holders who still maintain a paper license or have a blue overlay plastic card will not be able to process amendments at the event, that will require an appointment after the show.

All other services need to be addressed as always via the Pistol License Unit  visit the Onondaga County Sheriffs Office website at sheriff.ongov.net/pistol-license-unit/

The Syracuse Gun Show will be held at the New York State Fairgrounds Center of Progress building from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17 and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 18. The show is hosted by New York State Arms Collectors Association of New York and is the biggest show in the state.

General show admission is $8, children 12 and under are free with an adult and senior admission is $6.
Ukraine and Russia have expressed interest in a proposal put forward by the U.N. nuclear watchdog to create a protection zone around the Russia-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, its chief Rafael Grossi said.

Both countries are engaging with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and asking many questions about the idea, which is aimed at preventing military activities, such as shelling that has damaged the plant's power lines and jeopardized its security, Grossi told a news conference in Vienna on September 12.

Russia seized control of the nuclear power plant shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his country's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on February 24.



Grossi's comments come a day after Enerhoatom, the Ukrainian state enterprise that is responsible for the plant, said its last working reactor had been shut down as a safety precaution.



The IAEA said a backup power line to the plant had been restored, providing the external electricity it needed to carry out the shutdown while defending against the risk of a meltdown.



On September 7, Ukrainian authorities urged residents in areas around the plant controlled by invading Russian forces to evacuate for their own safety.



French President Emmanuel Macron told Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call on September 11 that the plant's occupation by Russian troops was the reason why its security has been compromised, the French presidency said. Putin blamed Ukrainian forces, according to a Kremlin statement.



Fighting around the plant, Europe's largest nuclear station, has raised fears of a potential nuclear disaster.



Russia has accused Ukraine of attempting to recapture the plant by force, allegations Kyiv denies.



Ukraine and the West accuse Russia of deploying heavy weaponry at the site, knowing that Ukraine likely would not fire on it. Moscow denies those allegations but has resisted efforts to demilitarize the area in order to avert an environmental catastrophe.

Information from AFP, AP, and Reuters was used in this report.


Iran expressed a readiness Monday to cooperate with the U.N.s nuclear watchdog, saying that while the country does have obligations, it also has rights.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani told reporters that Iran "expects constructive actions" from the International Atomic Energy Agency and its governing board.

The board begins meetings Monday on a range of worldwide nuclear issues, including concerns about Irans program.

The IAEA has pushed Iran to provide credible answers about the presence of man-made uranium particles found at three undeclared sites in the country.

"What we've seen over the last week or so in Iran's response to the proposal put forward by the European Union is clearly a step backwards and makes the prospects for an agreement in the near term  I would say  unlikely," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday during a press conference in Mexico City.

"Iran seems either unwilling or unable to do what is necessary to reach an agreement, and they continue to try to introduce extraneous issues to the negotiation that make an agreement less likely," Blinken added.

Iran has sought an end to the probe as part of talks to revive the 2015 international agreement that gave the country sanctions relief in exchange for limitations on its nuclear activity amid concerns it was working to develop nuclear weapons.

Britain, France and Germany issued a joint statement Saturday expressing "serious doubts" about Iran's seriousness in the nuclear deal negotiations.

Kanaani on Monday called the statement "unconstructive."

The United States withdrew from the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, in 2018 with President Donald Trump saying the agreement was too favorable toward Iran. Trump imposed new sanctions, and Iran responded by taking incremental steps away from its commitments under the deal, including enriching uranium to a higher level, holding larger stockpiles of enriched material and installing more advanced centrifuges.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
Britain's King Charles III will fly to Edinburgh to join his siblings Monday when the coffin of his mother Queen Elizabeth II is taken in a solemn procession from one of her Scottish palaces to the city's historic St. Giles cathedral.

The new monarch will also join senior royals for a vigil at the church where the coffin will lie at rest before being flown to London Tuesday.

Since Elizabeth's death at age 96 at Balmoral Castle, her Scottish holiday home, a carefully choreographed series of plans to mourn Britain's monarch of 70 years has been put into operation.

On Sunday, her oak coffin, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland with a wreath on top, was taken by hearse on a six-hour journey from Balmoral through the picturesque Scottish countryside, villages, small towns and cities to Edinburgh.

'I just thought shed live forever'

Tens of thousands of well-wishers lined the roads to pay their respects, while huge crowds, some in tears, gathered in Edinburgh to greet the cortege.

"Its just very sad," said Rachel Lindsay, 24. "I dont think we expected it to ever happen. I just thought shed live forever. I didnt think it was real until I saw it."

Before setting off for Scotland, Charles, 73, who automatically became king of the United Kingdom and 14 other realms including: Australia, Canada, Jamaica, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, will travel to the British parliament for another traditional ceremony.

At Westminster Hall, lawmakers from both the House of Commons and the upper House of Lords will express their condolences for the death of his mother, and the new king will deliver a response.

He will then fly to Edinburgh with his wife Camilla, the Queen Consort, to join his sister Anne, and brothers Andrew and Edward.

The queen's children will then walk in a procession behind the hearse as the coffin of their mother is taken to St Giles' Cathedral, flanked by soldiers.

Crown of Scotland

When it arrives at the church, the Duke of Hamilton and Brandon, the premier Scottish peer, will place the Crown of Scotland on the coffin.

After a service, the coffin will rest at the cathedral for 24 hours to allow people to pay their respects. A continuous vigil will be mounted by soldiers from the Royal Company of Archers - the sovereign's 'Bodyguard in Scotland.'

Charles, who will also visit the Scottish parliament and meet Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, will later mount a vigil at 7.20 p.m. (1820 GMT) along with other royals.

On Tuesday, the coffin will be flown to London where on Wednesday it will begin a period of lying in state on a raised platform called a catafalque at Westminster Hall. It will remain there until her funeral which is scheduled for Monday, September 19.

It will be guarded constantly by soldiers or by Yeoman Warders - known as beefeaters - from the Tower of London.

Members of the public will be allowed to process past the coffin, which will be covered by the Royal Standard with the sovereign's Orb and Scepter placed on top, for 24 hours a day until 6.30 a.m. (0530 GMT) on Sept. 19.

"Those wishing to attend will be required to queue for many hours, possibly overnight," the government said in a statement. "Large crowds are expected and people are encouraged to check ahead, plan accordingly and be prepared for long wait times."

Meanwhile thousands of people are continuing to gather at royal palaces across Britain, bringing bouquets of flowers. In Green Park near London's Buckingham Palace, where some of the tributes are being taken, long lines of bouquets now snake around the park allowing mourners to read the tributes.

Other well-wishers have attached their messages of condolence to trees.

Britain last saw such a display of public mourning in 1997 following the death of Charles's first wife, Princess Diana, after she was killed in a car crash in Paris.

"It reminds me of Diana 25 years ago," Helen Soo, 59, said. "I was much younger in those days; I slept overnight in Hyde Park, and this is multiplied by 100 probably."
Pakistan is grappling with food shortages after deadly floods left the impoverished countrys agriculture belt underwater, the prime minister told the Turkish president by phone, as authorities scaled up efforts Monday to deliver food, tents and other items.

Shahbaz Sharif spoke to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan overnight to thank Turkey for dispatching food, tents and medicine by 12 military aircraft, four trains and Turkish Red Crescent trucks.

A government statement said Sharif briefed Erdogan about the governments relief activities and sought assistance from Turkey in overcoming the food shortage. Sharif also sought help from Turkey on reconstruction work in the flood-hit areas.

More than 660,000 people, including women and children, are living at relief camps and in makeshift homes after floods damaged their homes across the country and forced them to move to safer places. Pakistan, the countrys military, U.N. agencies and local charities are providing food to these flood victims.

Pakistan heavily relies on its agriculture and occasionally exports its surplus wheat to Afghanistan and other countries. Now it is in talks to import badly needed wheat and vegetables, including to people not directly affected by floods.

Meanwhile, the price of vegetables and other food has started increasing.

Until last week, floodwater was covering around a third of Pakistan, including the countrys agriculture belt in eastern Punjab and southern Sundh provinces which are the main food basket. Initially, Pakistan said the floods caused $10 billion in damages, but authorities say the damages are far greater than the initial estimates.

Thats forced Pakistan and the United Nations to urge the international community to send more help.

In response, U.N. agencies and various countries, including the United States, have sent more than 60 planeloads of aid. Since last week, Washington has sent three military planes to deliver food.

Three more U.S. military planes carrying aid were to land in Pakistans worst flood-hit southern Sindh province later Monday, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

Washington days ago set up a humanitarian air bridge to flood-ravaged Pakistan to deliver aid through 20 flights, which will arrive in Pakistan before September 16. The U.S. authorities also plan to distribute cash among needy people.

Last week, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during a visit to Pakistan traveled to flood-hit areas, where deluges from floods are still causing damage.

Guterres has called on the world to stop sleepwalking through the dangerous environmental crisis. He assured Sharif in a meeting with him that he will do his best to highlight the ordeal of Pakistanis facing floods.

Deluges from the rising Indus river and the Lake Manchar in the Sindh province were still posing threat to Dadu, a district in the south where rescuers using boats were evacuating villagers to safer places Monday. Light rain is expected in flood-hit areas this week, according to the Meteorological Department.
Somalia's military says an offensive in the central Hiran region has captured 20 villages that were occupied by the Islamist militant group al-Shabab.

A Somali National Army commander, Captain Mohamed Ibrahim Daud, told VOA by phone Monday that army troops backed by armed locals have killed more than 100 al-Shabab fighters and also "liberated" 20 villages from the al-Qaida-affiliated group.

He said the retaken villages include several key locations in Hiran region, including the small town of Fidow near Somalia's border with Ethiopia.

Daud said troops captured another 20 militants alive.

He acknowledged that the army received air support during the operations, without naming a country.

In a statement issued Sunday night, Somali Information Ministry said the operations were the first step in implementing the government's vision of fighting terrorism and getting rid of al-Shabab "all over the country."

"The Somali government is committed to remove al-Shabab as a threat to the Somali people," the statement said.

Abdulkarim Abdulle, a Mogadishu-based independent security analyst, told VOA via WhatsApp that local militias are determined to work with the security forces to eliminate al-Shabab in the regions.

He said the Macwisley  referring to local militia  is something that Somali government encouraged in the population, and they decided to liberate themselves from al-Shabab. Without them, Abdulle said, the operations could not succeed.

Al-Shabab did not comment on the government's claims, but said it carried out a series of bomb attacks in the Hiran region targeting Somali security forces.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud declared a "total war" against al-Shabab in August 2022, after the group staged a deadly hotel siege in the capital Mogadishu that killed 21 people and wounded more than 100 others.


Ukraine claimed Monday it had recaptured several more villages in the northeastern part of the country, pushing some Russian forces back to the border between the two countries.

After months of only incremental territorial gains and losses by Kyivs and Moscows forces, Ukrainian leaders exulted in the sudden advance since the beginning of September in the Kharkiv region.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address to the nation Monday that Ukrainian forces had retaken more than 6,000 square kilometers of territory since the offensive began this month.

The movement of our troops continues," he said.

The Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged over the weekend it was pulling back forces, saying they were regrouping them in the eastern Donetsk region.

Oleh Syniehubov, the Ukrainian governor of the northeastern Kharkiv region, said, "In some areas of the front, our defenders reached the state border with the Russian Federation," with Russian troops chaotically retreating.

"The Russians were here in the morning. Then at noon, they suddenly started shouting wildly and began to run away, charging off in tanks and armored vehicles," Dmytro Hrushchenko, a resident of recently liberated Zaliznychne, a small town near the eastern front line, told Sky News.

The general staff of the armed forces of Ukraine said Monday its troops had recaptured more than 20 settlements within the past day. The British Defense Ministry said that in recent days, Kyiv's forces had reclaimed territory at least the size of the London metropolitan area.

A senior U.S. military official said Monday that Ukrainians are making progress in their efforts to reclaim territory in the south and the east and said Russian forces around Kharkiv have ceded ground to Ukraine.

The official said the Russian pullback was indicative of morale issues among other factors and said Ukraine has presented Russian forces with multiple dilemmas. Many of the Russian forces who have ceded ground have moved across the border to Russia, according to the official.

Analysts say the war is likely to continue into 2023, but the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said Monday that "Ukraine has turned the tide of this war in its favor" through its effective use of Western-supplied weapons like the long-range HIMARS missile system and strategic battlefield maneuvers. "Kyiv will likely increasingly dictate the location and nature of the major fighting."

In Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials said power and water that had been cut off by Russia were restored to about 80% of the regions population.

On social media late Sunday, Zelenskyy taunted Russia, saying, "Do you still think you can intimidate, break us, force us to make concessions? Cold, hunger, darkness and thirst for us are not as scary and deadly as your 'friendship' and brotherhood.'

"We will be with gas, lights, water and food  and WITHOUT you!" he exclaimed.

In Russia, some complaints were voiced, even on state-controlled television, about the setbacks its forces were sustaining.

"People who convinced President [Vladimir] Putin that the operation will be fast and effective ... these people really set up all of us," Boris Nadezhdin, a former parliament member, said on an NTV television talk show. "We're now at the point here we have to understand that it's absolutely impossible to defeat Ukraine using these resources and colonial war methods."

But the wars death toll continued to mount, with Ukraine's presidential office reporting that at least four civilians were killed and 11 others wounded in a series of Russian attacks in nine regions of the country. Even in liberated Kharkiv, a police station in the citys center was hit by a missile, setting part of it on fire and killing one person, a regional police chief said.

Russia also shelled Nikopol across the Dnieper River from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, damaging several buildings there. The last operational reactor in that plant has been shut down to prevent a radiation leak.

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press.
Ukrainians are collecting donations for the country in many creative ways, and even the youngest are helping. Children from the deoccupied Kyiv region are selling homemade jewelry to raise funds for Ukraines armed forces. Anna Kosstutschenko has the story. Camera and production: Paviel Syhodolskiy
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Monday to repair relations between the two neighboring countries that have frayed over immigration and other issues.

We discussed shared efforts to address irregular migration in the Americas, including through humane border management policies and through expanding legal pathways, said Blinken during a press conference.

We addressed the root causes of migration, something that Mexico and the United States are collaborating on in ways that we've not seen before, added Blinken, who spoke alongside senior Mexican officials.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and Deputy Trade Representative Jayme White accompanied the top U.S. diplomat to Mexico City for high-level economic talks.

Mexico is consistently among the United States top three trading partners. Before the coronavirus pandemic, Mexico was the U.S.s second-largest export market in 2020.

U.S. officials say the influx of illegal immigrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border have created strains in the United States. In recent months, the state of Texas has sent thousands of migrants by bus to New York and Washington, saying the move was needed to relieve overwhelmed border communities.

The United States and Mexico are also at odds over energy policy. The U.S. has questioned the Mexican governments support for its own state-controlled energy companies, saying it violates a trade pact and restricts American firms ability to compete in Mexico.

On Monday, Lopez Obrador welcomed Washingtons tone over the disputes on Mexicos energy policy during a separate news conference.

There's a different tone. There's a respectful attitude, said the Mexican president. It's a reaffirmation of respect for our national sovereignty, he added, referring to a letter he said hed recently received from U.S. President Joe Biden.

Blinkens meeting with Lopez Obrador in Mexico City came two months after Biden met with his Mexican counterpart at the White House, where Biden said the two neighbors need to rebuild relations.

In June, Lopez Obrador boycotted the Summit of the Americas hosted by the U.S. because the talks excluded leaders from Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. The summit was aimed at promoting democracy and tackling issues including migration.

The State Department said Blinken and Lopez Obrador also discussed strengthening energy security and joint efforts to tackle the climate crisis through investments in electric vehicles, solar technologies, and semiconductors.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Raimondo said the United States and Mexico also identified areas of collaboration on supply chains, adding that she saw great potential for Mexico not just in manufacturing of semiconductors but also their testing, packaging and assembly.

"The best is yet to come," said Raimondo, who declared she was "thrilled" with progress the two sides had made on a range of issues, including bolstering energy security.

Still, while observing the two sides did not discuss the energy controversy "extensively," Raimondo said businesses wanted "predictability, fairness and transparency" in an apparent nod to companies' concerns about Mexico's policies.

Some information in this report came from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
Xi Jinping will leave China for the first time in more than two years for a trip this week to Central Asia where he will meet Russias Vladimir Putin, just a month before he is set to cement his place as the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong.

The trip, Xis first abroad since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, shows he is confident about both his grip on power as he heads for a third term in office and about his role as a world leader at a time of renewed great power friction.

Against a backdrop of Russias confrontation with the West over Ukraine, the crisis over Taiwan and a stuttering global economy, Xi is due on a state visit to Kazakhstan on Wednesday.

Chinas president will then meet Putin at the Shanghai Cooperation Organizations summit in the ancient Silk Road city of Samarkand in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and the Kremlin said. China confirmed the trip on Monday.

Putins foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, told reporters last week that the Russian president was expected to meet Xi at the summit. The Kremlin declined to give details on their talks.

The meeting will give Xi an opportunity to underscore his clout while Putin can demonstrate Russias tilt towards Asia; both leaders can show their opposition to the United States just as the West seeks to punish Russia for the Ukraine war.

It is all about Xi in my view: he wants to show just how confident he is domestically and to be seen as the international leader of nations opposed to Western hegemony, said George Magnus, author of Red Flags, a book about Xis challenges.

Privately I imagine Xi will be most anxious about how Putins war is going and indeed if Putin or Russia are in play at some point in the near future because China still needs an anti-western leadership in Moscow.

Russia suffered its worst defeat of the war last week, abandoning its main bastion in northeastern Ukraine.

The deepening no limits partnership between the rising superpower of China and the natural resources titan of Russia is a geopolitical development the West is watching with anxiety.

Once the senior partner in the global Communist hierarchy, Russia after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union is now a junior partner to a resurgent Communist China which is forecast to overtake the United States as the worlds biggest economy in the next decade.

Though historical contradictions abound in the partnership, there is no sign that Xi is ready to drop support for Putin in Russias most serious confrontation with the West since the height of the Cold War.

Instead, the two 69-year-old leaders are deepening ties. Trade soared by nearly a third between Russia and China in the first 7 months of 2022.

The visit shows that China is willing to not only continue business as usual with Russia but even show explicit support and accelerate the formation of a stronger China-Russia alignment, said Alexander Korolev, senior lecturer in politics and international relations at UNSW Sydney.

Beijing is reluctant to distance itself from Moscow even when facing serious reputational costs and the risks of becoming a target of secondary economic sanctions.

Xi supreme

Xi is widely expected to break with precedent at a Communist Party congress that starts on October 16 and secures his third five-year leadership term.

While Xi has met Putin in person 38 times since becoming China's president in 2013, he has yet to meet Joe Biden in person since the latter became U.S. President in 2021.

Xi last met Putin in February just weeks before the Russian president ordered the invasion of Ukraine which has left tens of thousands of people dead and sown chaos through the global economy.

At that meeting at the opening of the Winter Olympics, Xi and Putin declared their no limits partnership, backing each other over standoffs on Ukraine and Taiwan with a promise to collaborate more against the West.

China has refrained from condemning Russias operation against Ukraine or calling it an invasion in line with the Kremlin which casts the war as a special military operation.

The bigger message really isnt that Xi is supporting Putin, because its been pretty clear that Xi supports Putin, said Professor Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.

The bigger signal is that he, Xi Jinping, is going out of China for the first time since the pandemic in the run-up to the party congress. If there were going to be plottings against him this is when the plottings would happen. And hes clearly confident that the plottings are not going to take place because he is out of the country.

Xi, the son of a communist revolutionary, last left China in January 2020, before the world went into COVID lockdown.

Kremlin chief

After the West imposed on Moscow the most severe sanctions in modern history due to the war in Ukraine, Putin says Russia is turning towards Asia after centuries of looking to the West as the crucible of economic growth, technology and war.

Casting the West as a declining, U.S.-dominated coalition which aims to shackle - or even destroy  Russia, Putins worldview chimes with that of Xi, who presents China as an alternative to the U.S.-led, post-World War II order.

Putin aide Ushakov said the Xi-Putin meeting would be very important. He did not give further details.

As Europe seeks to turn away from Russian energy imports, Putin will seek to boost energy exports to China and Asia.

Putin said last week that a major gas export route to China via Mongolia had been agreed. Gazprom has for years been studying the possibility for a major new gas pipeline  the Power of Siberia 2  to travel through Mongolia taking Russian gas to China.

It will carry 50 billion cubic meters of gas per year, around a third of what Russia usually sells Europe  or equivalent to the Nord Stream 1 annual volumes.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which includes Russia, China, India, Pakistan and four Central Asian states, is due to admit Iran, one of Moscows key allies in the Middle East.
Ukrainian officials accused Russia of targeting Ukraines power system and other civilian infrastructure after Ukrainian forces made advances in a counteroffensive in the northeastern part of the country.

A total blackout in the Kharkiv & Donetsk regions, a partial one in the Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk & Sumy regions, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted late Sunday. No military facilities, the goal is to deprive people of light & heat.

Ukraine reclaims city

Ukraines forces claimed a number of successes in recent days in the Kharkiv region, including recapturing the city of Izyum that Russian troops had used as a key command and supply hub.

Ukraines military chief, Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said that Ukraine had reclaimed about 3,000 square kilometers from Moscows forces since the beginning of September. He said Ukrainian troops are now just 50 kilometers away from the border with Russia.

The battlefield advance marked the biggest Ukrainian success since early in the war when it thwarted a Russian attempt to seize the capital, Kyiv. Ukraines attack in the Kharkiv region seemed to surprise Moscow, which had moved many of its troops from the area to the south, where Kyiv had publicly announced a counteroffensive.

Russias Defense Ministry, in response to the Ukrainian gains, said Saturday the troops withdrawal from Izyum and other areas in the Kharkiv region was intended to strengthen Russian forces in the neighboring Donetsk region to the south.

But the retreat drew angry comments from Russian military bloggers and nationalist commentators, who characterized it as a major defeat and urged the Kremlin to bolster war efforts. They criticized Russian authorities for staging fireworks and other lavish festivities in Moscow that marked a city holiday Saturday.



In its assessment, Britains Defense Ministry said Ukrainian forces have continued to make significant gains in the Kharkiv region.

The agencys intelligence report, posted Sunday on Twitter, said, Russia has likely withdrawn units from the area, but fighting continues around the strategically important cities of Kupiansk and Izyum.

Western military analysts said if the advances are confirmed, it would put the Ukrainians in control of a main railway that Moscow has used to supply thousands of troops in eastern Ukraine.

Fighting in Donetsk

In other developments, a pro-Russia separatist leader was quoted as saying there also was fierce fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces in the Donetsk region.

Denis Pushilin said the situation in the town of Lyman was very difficult and there was fighting in a number of other localities, particularly in the northern part of the region.

Military analysts say Russia is believed to be sending reinforcements to the area, where it plans to launch new attacks against Ukrainian-controlled sections of Donetsk.

Some information in this report came from Reuters, Agence France-Presse and The Associated Press.
Tesla is hunting new grounds to establish its next lineup of mega factories - called gigafactories by the electric vehicle (EV) maker. And with demand for EVs on the rise in North America, Tesla could look at Canada as the newest home for its next plant and has already started hunting for possible locations. The interest is from both sides with the Canadian government also reportedly willing to engage in talks.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk had previously confirmed that he intends to establish over a dozen factories across the world with the eventual aim of selling a humungous 20 million EVs each year by 2030. It is an ambitious plan considering around 6.5 million EVs were sold globally by all car makers combined in 2021. Of this, Tesla had a big share at just under one million. But both interest and demand is rising rapidly and Tesla wants to be in a position to deliver in order to maintain its sizeable lead against rivals in the EV space.

While Musk has hinted at a plant in Canada, a minister in the Canadian government too has revealed that talks with Tesla are underway. Francois-Philippe Champagne, Canadas Industry and Innovation Minister, said he is talking to several automotive manufactures which includes Tesla.

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Speculation is rife that Tesla could eventually home in on a site close to cities like Montreal, Ontario or Quebec, all cities with over 2.5 lakh inhabitants. The population size of a city is crucial for Tesla in order to ensure workforce demands are met. This is perhaps why all of the company's six plants at present are located in or near big cities - Fremont, Shanghai, Houston, New York, Berlin and in Nevada, near city of Reno.

The future factories of Tesla could be located in other geographic areas which may include the UK, Indonesia and somewhere in south-east Asia. There were reports that Tesla was even looking at entering the Indian market but the Indian government has made it amply clear that units imported from China won't be seen too kindly and that Tesla needs to establish production facilities in the country to compete here.

(With inputs from Reuters)

First Published Date:
In order to halt Kievs counter-offensive, on 11 September at 8 p.m., the Russian army bombed the Kharkov CHPP-5 and Zmievskaya CHPP power plants located in the Kharkov region, as well as the Pavlograd CHPP-3 power stations in the Dniepropetrovsk region, and that of Kremenchug in the Poltava region.

The part of Ukraine under Kiev control is without any electricity. All trains are all at a standstill. The counter-offensive was stopped.
POMPANO BEACH, Fla.Swiss Navy parent company M.D. Science Lab celebrates Sexual Health Awareness Month this September by increasing its production schedules to better serve its customer-partners.



"September is usually when our sales see a significant rise every year and we knew the cause had to be something more than just children returning to school. With a visible increase in interest in intimate well-being and the celebration of September as Sexual Health Awareness Month since 2010, its looking like our annual September spike in sales may be something more," Said Briana Watkins, ACS, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for M.D. Science Lab.

The World Association for Sexual Health reminds us every September that sexual health is vital for our overall well-being. This year, the theme for the month is "Lets Talk Pleasure"recognizing the role of sexual pleasure in overall sexual health.

The American Sexual Health Association (ASHA) believes pleasure is a critical part of sexual health and rights, and advocates using September as an opportunity to evaluate your level of sexual health awareness and fill in any information gaps.

According to ASHA, sexual health is defined as "the ability to embrace and enjoy our sexuality throughout our lives" and the organization is encouraging people everywhere to celebrate September by taking steps towards achieving their own sexual health. This means more consumers will be looking to "Talk Pleasure" and experimenting with intimate products that cater to their sexual health needs and desires.

The Swiss Navy family of products includes items that can help provide better, more comfortable sexual activities. From supplements to support intimate goals to FDA-regulated personal lubricants, Swiss Navy focuses on offering consumers solutions and options that meet their unique preferences.

To learn more about Sexual Health Awareness Month, visit the World Association for Sexual Health.

For more information on Swiss Navy sexual health products, contact your sales representative or email [email protected]. To see the latest Swiss Navy product range, visit swissnavy.com.

For sales and marketing resources, visit the Swiss Navys B2B Resource Center at b2bswissnavy.com.

Retailers and their staff are encouraged to sign up for free online certification training to become a Certified Swiss Navy Expert at swissnavycertifiedexpert.com.
Italy drops emergency covid restrictions for schools.

More than seven million students will return to the classroom in Italy on Monday as schools begin to reopen across the country after the summer holidays.

The reopening date of Italy's schools varies according to the region, with most schools in Italy reopening this week.

On Monday schools reopen in Abruzzo, Basilicata, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lombardia (Milan), Piemonte (Turin), Veneto (Venice) and the automonous province of Trento.

Students in the Campania region around Naples return to the classroom on Tuesday while on Wednesday schools reopen in Calabria, Liguria, Marche, Molise, Puglia, Sardinia and Umbria.

On Thursday it will be the turn of the Lazio region around Rome as well as Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany.

Schools in the autonomous province of Bolzano already opened on 5 September while schools in Sicily and Valle d'Aosta don't reopen until 19 September.

Covid rules

A major novelty as the new academic year begins is the expiry of covid regulations that have dominated school life for the last couple of years.

Students will not be obliged to wear masks in the classroom and there will be an end to remote teaching or distance learning - known in Italy as 'didattica a distanza' (DAD) - in the event of a student in the class testing positive for covid.

There will be no more social distancing and school tours are also permitted to resume.

Teachers are advised to keep classrooms well ventilated by opening windows. FFP2 masks will only be required for "school staff and pupils who are at risk of developing severe forms of covid-19", according to a recent circular from the education ministry

In addition, unvaccinated teachers can finally return to teach in the classroom. Under last December's controversial vaccine mandate , teachers who refused to get vaccinated against covid were suspended without pay. On 1 April they were allowed to return to school but were not permitted to teach.
When you receive an invitation from an abuelita at a Mexican market to help her make tamales, the answer is: always YES. My July Flag Live column begins with corn seeds in Oaxaca Mexico, and now Chelsea (my farm friend and traveling companion) and I find ourselves in a small village an hour outside of Oaxaca City. From the moment we met Marita and tasted her homemade tamales, we were smittenby both. The tamale is a labor of love, even if you start with a bag of corn masa from the supermarket. Add the growing and processing of the corn for this steamed treasure of dough and filling wrapped in corn husks, and it becomes an act of love. Love of corn; a seed that holds a legacy of human ingenuity.

That morning we met Maritas daughter, Juanita, at the village square. She was carrying a colorful plastic pail you might take to the beach to build sandcastles, but it was full of plump, freshly nixtamalized corn kernels. Nixtamalization is an ancient process to remove the hull of the corn seed by boiling and soaking corn in an alkaline solution. Not only does this make the corn easier to grind, it also increases the flavor and aroma and reduces the risk of disease from fungi that colonize grain crops. Now the bucket of soft, swollen corn kernels are ready to grind into masa. This is a service available in most Mexican villages at the local tortillaria. We leave with our corn transformed to freshly ground corn masa. At our next stop the butcher adds freshly rendered fat directly into the pail, an essential binding ingredient for the corn masa.

Finally, we make our way to Maritas kitchen where the real work will ensue. This kitchen is designed for use with a concrete floor, refrigerators of varying sizes, and a big table in the center covered with a colorful plastic tablecloth. A low wall of adobe bricks connects it to the backyardanother hub of activityand woven grass thatch walls provide shade and airflow. Jesus beckons with a sacred heart and open arms on a calendar decoupaged with grains and plants. Before we begin, Marita serves us the chicken mole and black bean filling to sample in an enamel metal bowl decorated with painted flowers with a fresh tortilla to cradle it all. I love that we begin with nourishment, as we have a long day ahead of us.

There are no measuring cups or kitchen aids. They mix by muscle memory and with fluidity, as this is a weekly routine to feed their family and neighbors. Juanita shows us how to roll the masa on a tool unique to Mexicosomething like a tortilla press shaped like an ironing board. Then she ladles the two types of fillings; moleitself another day of preparation with grinding and fusing of countless nuts, seeds, chilies, spices with chickenand black beans expertly soaked, simmered and spiced. Lastly, a Hoja Santa leaf (translated holy leaf) with flavors of anise, eucalyptus and mint, is delicately laid on top. The sides of the corn masa are folded three ways and then wrapped in the corn husks, which were also obtained from the same cobs that yielded the corn.

The steps are demonstrated by Marita while she murmurs in a low, almost animal-like growl interspersed with fits of laughter as we attempt to decipher the details in our elementary Spanish. Then we attempt the same motions with klutzy movements, while Marita demonstrates the simple method of pressing the masa into the corn husk by hand with her fingertips.

At last we have a towering pot layered with tamales ready to steam. The fire pit has been primed and the coals are hot. Marita places a thorny branch on the lid she explains helps keep the crows away. Juanita shoos us away from cleanup duties as her mom beckons to us to sit down next to her to chat as they steam. Chelsea is no stranger to feeding people and looks at home in her apron. I remember the wood-fired pizzas she made for 40 apprentices on the U.C. Santa Cruz Farm with the homemade dough from various local grains she was testing. Both of us love to cook and eat, especially food we have grown. There is something magical that is infused when you begin with a seed and it ends up on your table, feeding friends and family. It is the ultimate gift.

After about an hour of swapping stories of the plants we grow and recipes, the tamales were ready. The finishing touch was to let them rest in a big plastic bowl beneath one of Maritas hand-embroidered flower towels. Now for the long anticipated moment; peeling back the soft, hot husks to taste love, earth, and literally seeds that made this nurturing and delicious comfort food. Juanita pours us all a short glass of mescal and we toast to the tamale and each other.

I returned from Oaxaca with seeds and ideas and one of Maritas special towels. The trip had literally been a feast of delicious food that filled my belly and ignited my hunger to grow real food and feed people.

At our farm in Rimrock under the harvest moon, the cicada orchestra reaches deafening crescendos as we sit down to eat a stack of homemade corn tortillas wrapped in Maritas colorful towel, with our neighbors, Belle and Bill. Bill, a passionate seed saver and educator, gave us his extra corn seedlings and we planted them along with the Oaxacan seeds this spring. After a summer of desert heat and sufficient monsoons, the field is glorious sight. Bill is beaming at the success of our collective corn patch, as the Cornville seeds he gave us, now four seasons selected and saved, are by far the most vigorous. The plants tower over us as we peel back the sheaths to find a variety of colorsburgundy, a deep blue black, a small pink, a creamy yellow and occasional blue kernels revealing the genes of generations of farmers and seed savers.

As I marvel at the beautiful varieties of corn growing at our Rimrock farm, I realize that no matter where these seeds physically came from, whats most important is that they come from the hearts of those committed to protecting the food and traditions of the cultures of our living Earth. Im honored to be a part of a community, near and far, of farmers, food lovers and seed savers on collective mission to love people and feed them.
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Russias recognition of Ukraines separatist Donetsk and Luhansk Peoples Republics was the precursor to President Vladimir Putins Feb. 24 invasion of the country, and seizing control of the territories has since become his primary goal. Large areas of the two eastern provinces, known collectively as the Donbas, have been effectively under Russian control since the Kremlin fomented and supported a separatist uprising in 2014. Now they are the main battlefield for Europes biggest armed conflict since World War II.

1. Whats the backdrop?

Donetsk and Luhansk came under the control of the Russian Empire in the mid-18th century, soon after the discovery of coal (the name Donbas is an abbreviation of Donetsk Coal Basin in Ukrainian). The coal attracted industry and Russian settlers from the mid-19th century, turning the region into Ukraines industrial heartland. With its substantial Russian-speaking population, the Donbas was a bedrock of support for Viktor Yanukovych, who became Ukraines president in 2010. The Donetsk-born Yanukovych was toppled in 2014 by street protests over his decision -- under pressure from Moscow -- to renege on signing a trade pact with the European Union.

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2. How did the trouble start?

Following Yanukovychs removal, which Russia saw as a Western-backed coup, Putin sent unbadged troops to annex Crimea, a peninsula jutting into the Black Sea from the Ukrainian mainland, in a semi-covert operation that faced minimal armed opposition. Backed by agents from Moscow, critics of the new pro-Western government in Kyiv tried to emulate that success by taking control in cities across the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine. But this time there was resistance. Clashes broke out and an armed conflict developed in the Donbas. Russia denies allegations that it fomented the protests. Its clear many in the region wanted stronger ties with Russia, though not that they wanted to join it or fight. One of the first commanders of the separatist forces, Igor Girkin, otherwise known as Strelkov, was a Russian citizen and reputed intelligence officer who had been involved in Moscows operation to seize Crimea.

3. How has the conflict unfolded?

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Mariupol, the second-largest city in the Donbas, was critical to Putins goal of securing a land bridge from Russia to Crimea and became a major focus of the war. During a three-month siege, Russian forces laid waste to its buildings and forced much of its pre-war population of almost 500,000 to flee. As the city fell in May, Russia concentrated on securing the entire Donbas, diverting troops from a failed attempt to take the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. Russian artillery pounded Ukrainian defenses before inching forward at the cost of high casualties on both sides. By July, Russia had taken all of Luhansk, but the advance stalled in neighboring Donetsk as longer range, US-supplied HIMARS rocket launchers enabled Ukraine to reach behind Russian lines and disrupt logistics. In September, Ukraine launched counteroffensives, recapturing a large swathe of territory east of the city of Kharkiv. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has pledged to take back all territories occupied since 2014, including the Donbas and Crimea.

4. Why is Russia focused on this area?

Putin has made clear since at least 2007 that he doesnt accept Europes post-Cold War, U.S.-dominated security architecture. He since tried to carve out a sphere of influence for Moscow in the former Soviet space, pushing back against efforts by Russias neighbors to join or associate with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or, later, the European Union. He tried instead to build Russian-led equivalents -- the Collective Security Treaty Organization and Eurasian Economic Union -- but without Ukraine, a fellow Slav nation of at least 41 million, they could amount to little. Russia saw control of Donetsk and Luhansk as a way of ensuring Ukraine would remain within its orbit, but when that failed Putin invaded.

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5. How valuable are the provinces?

The separatist territories are partly of value to Russia for the disruption they cause Ukraine, cutting key transport links and supply chains. The territories produce coal and are home to some substantial factories, but the economy has been largely destroyed, with the conflict leaving about 14,000 people dead in the period between 2014 and the start of Putins more recent invasion. Many more have died since, in particular during the siege of Mariupol, which was important as a manufacturing center and export hub for steel, coal and grain. One 2020 study estimated the cost of reconstructing the occupied territories at $21.7 billion, even before the widespread destruction caused by the 2022 invasion.

6. Why does the West care?

Putin is demanding a wholesale restructuring of Europes security order and has now altered the borders that emerged from the collapse of the former Soviet Union four times -- twice in Georgia and, after Crimea and the Donbas, twice in Ukraine. He has also forced a much closer union on the embattled leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, with the result that a major thrust of the 2022 invasion of Ukraine was conducted from his territory. Thats worrying for neighboring Poland and the Baltic states -- all NATO members. They have sanctioned Belarus, given Ukraine weapons and financial aid and opened their doors to millions fleeing the war.

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 A Bloomberg story on Ukraines counteroffensive in the Donbas.

 Related QuickTakes on the risks posed by fighting around Europes biggest nuclear power plant and why Ukrainian debt relief isnt matching its funding needs.

 An International Crisis Group study on Conflict in Ukraines Donbas.

 A report by the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies on the economic challenges and costs in the Donbas.

 A Washington Post article on the siege of Mariupol.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

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There were fireworks in Moscow as the Russian military retreated hastily from the key town of Izyum in Ukraines Kharkiv region on Sept. 10. The Russian capital wasnt actually celebrating the debacle: The display was part of its City Day festivities. But there could hardly be a better illustration of the Putin regimes utter unpreparedness for defeat. Its attempt to prosecute a war of invasion while keeping up the appearance of life going on as usual was doomed from the start  and the choices it faces now are stark.

In a matter of days, Ukraine pushed the Russian troops out of the Kharkiv Region. This may not look like a major victory in terms of territory regained  some 2,500 square kilometers, or a little more by now, out of the 125,000 square kilometers Russia held in Ukraine before this week. Yet Ukrainian and Western jubilation is justified.

The Kharkiv region has historically been ruthless to hubris. As Russian forces were routed there in the last few days, many commentators recalled the disastrous 1942 push by Marshal Semyon Timoshenko against a smaller German force in the area, which deftly moved to cut off Moscows forces off from the north. Some 250,000 Soviet troops were taken prisoner. The fiasco opened the path for Hitlers armies to reach Stalingrad, where they were only stopped at an enormous cost in human lives.

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The current Russian setback, too, is strategically significant. The loss of the Kharkiv positions turns the goal of encircling Ukrainian forces in the Donetsk region into a pipe dream: Russian troops can no longer press on from the north. The invading army retreated to avoid being blocked from supply lines and reinforcements. However, the Russians couldnt avoid damage to their already low morale.

Putins soldiers are digging in on the eastern bank of the river Oskil, but the defensive positions lack depth, just as they did around Izyum. The Russian forces  including those in areas held by Russian proxies since 2014  will be vulnerable to further Ukrainian counterattacks, which are expected now in both the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

These thrusts will seek to take advantage of what may prove to be Russias biggest mistake of the entire hubristic and fratricidal campaign. Since the retreat from Kyiv and northern Ukraine in April, the Russian command has used the fighting forces of the self-proclaimed Luhansk and Donetsk Peoples Republics as cannon fodder. By doing so, they have lost thousands of the only soldiers who had skin in Putins game: These fighting-age men were anti-Ukrainian by definition  and committed to combat as fiercely as Ukrainians themselves. Few Russian soldiers could match their determination. When Kyiv began its counterattack, the Luhansk and Donetsk fighters had been nearly eliminated by attrition.

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Indeed, the positions in the Kharkiv region were manned by Russias regular military, fighting for cash: They folded without putting up much of a fight when Ukrainians pushed hard enough.

Now, the Luhansk Peoples Republic, apart from frontline areas, is probably empty of manpower, tweeted Polish military analyst Konrad Muzyka, one of the most astute observers of the campaign. Fighting-age males were drafted in large numbers in the past few months, he said, meaning there are no men to fight in Luhansk.

To hold on to the bulk of the conquered territory, Russia urgently needs to shrink the front and bring in reserves. Its going to be hard to do either fast enough to counter Ukraines momentum. Even a general mobilization would now come too late to prevent further defeats. The Russian far right has insisted from the start it would be necessary to win the war.

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Now, even those locals who otherwise would have welcomed a Russian takeover will withhold their support. They will either lay low or aid Ukrainian guerillas. The loud assurances of many a Russian functionary since February that Russia is here for good ring hollow as the cars of fleeing collaborators line up on the border near Belgorod.

Further supplies of sophisticated Western weapons are now assured for Ukraine. Kyiv has proved its able to fight back and win, so theres no reason for NATO to doubt the efficiency of its aid.

In Russia, meanwhile, an angry and aggrieved extreme nationalist community is rapidly turning into a threat to the regime. Since the start of the invasion, its been the only one allowed relatively free expression because it is staunchly pro-war. The narrative dominant on the far right on Telegram channels is now full of indignation over the incompetence of the corrupt military and political leadership. They are propagating a backstabbers theory focused on leaders of the special military operation who arent ethnic Russians like Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who is from Tuva near Mongolia  or Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. Given the ultranationalists high support in Russias all-powerful law enforcement agencies, its conceivable that discontent may be brewing among the very forces on which Putin has relied to hold on to power.

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Its too early to predict a military rout for the entire Russian force in Ukraine, let alone a regime collapse. But suddenly, those are glimmers of possibility thanks to what is essentially a local Ukrainian success. This is a consequence of the most fundamental flaw in the thinking behind Putins Ukraine campaign  if there was any thinking done at all amid all the imperialist emotion. Russia never took its opponent seriously, never even considered Ukraine a viable entity. So it never contemplated the possibility of defeat.

No plans were made for pessimistic scenarios  and none seem to exist today. In a war, the side that isnt prepared for setbacks can come apart at the first signs of trouble; overconfidence and panic are opposite sides of the same coin. Russians went in without the will to win, but they were also not primed for the risk of losing. Any setback then becomes a catastrophic blow to national pride. This will rankle even if Russia manages to halt Ukraines current momentum. These factors could be the ingredients of a historic defeat.

More From Other Writers at Bloomberg Opinion:

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Ukraines Counteroffensive Shows Time Isnt on Putins Side: Leonid Bershidsky



China Is Winning the Post-Ukraine Game, at Russias Expense: Clara Ferreira Marques

 How the Ukraine Offensive Will Shift the Market Narrative: John Authers

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Leonid Bershidsky, formerly Bloomberg Opinions Europe columnist, is a member of the Bloomberg News Automation Team. He recently published Russian translations of George Orwells 1984 and Franz Kafkas The Trial.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

2022 Bloomberg L.P.

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Ukrainian forces have reconquered over 3,000 square kilometers of territory over the past week  more than all the territory Russia had added to its occupation in the six months since the start of the war. The Ukrainian flag is suddenly flying again over numerous towns and villages, and the offensives in both the northeast and the south are pushing the Russians back. Abandoned Russian tanks and trucks are littering the roads. Is this a pivotal moment in the war? What is Vladimir Putins next move?

At a tactical level, the results on the battlefield are important but not definitive. While the Ukrainians have moved swiftly to bloody Russias nose, the Russians can simply fall back into defensive positions, consolidate their forces, and defend their gains in Donbas and the vital land bridge to Crimea that runs through Mariupol. As the Russians shift from offense to defense, their military position will get stronger  in military parlance, defense is to offense as three is to one.

Operationally, these advances in the Kharkiv region are likewise important, but not yet creating a true tipping point in the war. The Ukrainians have demonstrated two vital attributes in the current offensive. The first is the ability to conduct offensive operations on a multipolar set of axes, simultaneously controlling significant combat movements in the north, east and south  something the Russians have failed to do. They have also demonstrated excellent combined-arms operations, meaning they have coordinated ground troops, artillery, tanks and close air support. Again, the Russian failures here are conspicuous.

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In a strategic and psychological sense, the reconquests will have a significant impact on Ukraine and its allies. First, they will allow Kyiv to claim the ability to eventually expel Russia from all Ukrainian lands, including Crimea. While the odds of fully implementing such an ambitious objective are long, the goal will be more credible in the wake of these operations. The successes will also encourage Europe to stay the course on Russian sanctions in the face of a potential recession and energy shortages this winter. And in the US, they will bolster the Biden administrations claims of a very successful strategy in checking Russian aggression.

But in Russia, they will move Putin closer to a series of more dramatic countermoves  all of which will make this already unstable situation even more dangerous.

The Russian president still has cards to play. Having now forced the Zaporizhzhia nuclear reactor into a cold shutdown (diminishing Ukrainian electricity by 20%), he will continue to use that important strategic terrain to launch attacks against the Ukrainians and defend the approaches to Crimea. More attacks to diminish critical infrastructure (electricity, gasoline, water, internet) may be coming. He could increase the efforts of the Russian air force to simply carpet-bomb Ukraine and demoralize the population  much as he did in Syria, virtually destroying city after city.

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Putin may decide its time to use chemical weapons (especially if he can create a false flag scenario and blame it on the US and Ukraine). Additionally, he could pull back from the agreement allowing grain shipments, so painfully worked out between Russia and Ukraine with Turkey and the International Maritime Organization of the UN.

His biggest problem is going to be manpower. Credible estimates of his losses, both killed and seriously wounded, are above 80,000. At some point soon, especially given reports of cratering morale among units in Ukraine, he may be forced to conscript more troops  a move that will be highly unpopular in Russia, where it is a crime to even call the conflict a war.

Although the Ukrainians should be proud of their operational skill, determination and combat prowess, their recent successes will  ironically  increase the potential for the war to expand. At the dark end of the spectrum, the use of tactical nuclear weapons  while highly unlikely  cannot be ruled out, and would probably bring NATO into the conflict with the creation of a no-fly zone.

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Our job in the West is to put the right weapons in the hands of the Ukrainians so that they can achieve the best results on the battlefield and the strongest position at the negotiating table, which is probably still months away. But the danger of a widening conflict is rising, and we will clearly have a dangerous autumn ahead of us.

More From Writers at Bloomberg Opinion:

 Putin and the Possibility of Defeat in Ukraine: Leonid Bershidsky

 How the Ukraine Offensive Will Shift the Market Narrative: John Authers

 Putin Will Love Europes Hot Autumn of Populist Protests: Andreas Kluth

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

James Stavridis is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A retired U.S. Navy admiral, former supreme allied commander of NATO, and dean emeritus of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, he is vice chairman of global affairs at the Carlyle Group. He is the author most recently of To Risk It All: Nine Conflicts and the Crucible of Decision.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

2022 Bloomberg L.P.

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The speculation started within days of Seth Rich being gunned down in what D.C. police believe was an attempted robbery near his townhouse in the Bloomingdale neighborhood of Northwest Washington.

Some on the Internet wondered if Rich was killed because of his work as a staffer with the Democratic National Committee, even suggesting he had handed WikiLeaks the 20,000 emails that embarrassed the DNC and forced the ouster of its chairwoman. Others suggested he was helping the FBI expose wrongdoing in the presidential election, and that made him a target.

On Tuesday, WikiLeaks shoved those conspiracy theories into the mainstream when it announced on Twitter a $20,000 reward for information leading to a conviction in Richs killing on July 10 in the 2100 block of Flagler Place NW. It adds to a $25,000 reward offered by D.C. police, customary in all District homicides.

[DNC staffer killed in apparent robbery in Northwest Washington]

Richs father, Joel I. Rich, said he was offended by what he termed bizarre reports that are circulating on Internet discussion and message boards. Rich and his wife, Mary Ann, who live in Nebraska where their son grew up, visited the location of the shooting last week and appealed for help in finding the killer.

Seth Rich was shot and killed July 10, 2016 in Washington, DC. (Family Photo) (N/A/Family Photo)

On Tuesday, Joel Rich said that the WikiLeaks reward seemed to legitimize the rumor mill. I dont think I want to comment, he said at first, then added, I hope the additional money helps find out who did this. But, he said, I dont want to play WikiLeaks game.

Assistant D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham said that at this time we dont have any information to suggest a connection between Richs killing and the WikiLeaks data or other theories raised online.

Newsham also said, We are very pleased if anyone is going to assist us with the giving of reward money.

[Hundreds attend vigil for slain DNC staffer]

Rich was shot twice in the back as he walked to his townhouse about 4:20 a.m. Nothing was taken, but police have said attempted robbery is their leading theory for a motive, noting a spike in robberies in the neighborhood in the preceding weeks. WikiLeaks released the trove of emails later that month, on July 22.

Rich, 27, had worked for the DNC for two years and helped develop a computer program to make it easier for people to find polling places on Election Day. After his death, the DNCs then-chairwoman, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.), attended a vigil for Rich in front of his home, and Hillary Clinton, before she was nominated in her run for president, evoked his name during a speech in which she advocated for limiting the availability of guns.

A spokesman for the DNC did not comment on WikiLeaks or the speculation about Rich. Wasserman Schultz, who was ousted as DNC chair after the embarrassing emails became public on July 22, did not respond to questions given to her spokesman. An official with Clintons campaign and some cybersecurity experts have said Russia may be behind the email hack.

Seth Rich came to D.C. to pursue a career in politics and most recently worked at the Democratic National Committee. Rich was shot dead in his Northwest Washington neighborhood on July 10. Here is what's known about the murder. (Claritza Jimenez/The Washington Post)

[Parents of slain man appeal for help finding killer]

The editor of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, said in a statement issued through an intermediary that he would not confirm or deny whether Rich or any person was a source for the organization, which over the years has obtained and released massive amounts of internal emails and other documents from the military, the State Department and other agencies. The statement says that policy also covers alleged sources who were deceased.

We treat threats towards any suspected WikiLeaks sources with extreme gravity, the statement says. This should not be taken to imply that Seth Rich was a source to WikiLeaks or that his murder is connected to our publications. We hope our efforts will contribute to the familys calls for information and to the separate reward issued by police. We have a history of obtaining information that has significantly contributed to many legal proceedings, including successful prosecutions.
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BERLIN  German Chancellor Olaf Scholz made clear Monday that he doesnt expect an agreement with Iran in the immediate future to restore Tehrans tattered nuclear deal with world powers, though he said theres no reason for Iran not to sign up and European countries would remain patient. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight Scholz spoke after meeting in Berlin with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who insisted that restoring the 2015 agreement would be a critical mistake. Germany, along with France, Britain, Russia and China, is still a party to the deal and involved in talks on its revival that have dragged on for over a year.

The European countries have made proposals, and there is no reason now for Iran not to agree to these proposals, but we have to take note of the fact that this isnt the case, so it certainly wont happen soon, although it looked for a while like it would, Scholz said. We remain patient, but we also remain clear: Iran must be prevented from being able to deploy nuclear weapons.

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The German leader said that a functioning international agreement to limit and monitor the Iranian nuclear program is the right way to do that.

But Lapid said that it is time to move past the failed negotiations with Iran, which he said cant and wont achieve the goal of stopping Iran getting a nuclear weapon. His office said he also shared intelligence with the German government.

Removing sanctions and pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into Iran will bring waves of terrorism, not only to the Middle East, but also across Europe, Lapid said.

Israel, which encouraged the U.S. to withdraw from the nuclear deal in 2018, has opposed a renewed agreement between Iran and the world powers. It says lifting sanctions will allow Iran to funnel billions of dollars to hostile militant groups and says an improved deal must also address Irans regional military activities and support for hostile groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and other militias in Syria.

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Speaking Monday at the Jerusalem Post Conference in New York, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Iran has built at least 10 facilities for mid- and long-range, precise missiles and weapons in neighboring Syria, including one reportedly targeted by Israel in a recent airstrike.

Gantz said that Iran has produced more and more advanced centrifuges  including at underground facilities where activities are prohibited and called for Iran to be held accountable. His remarks couldnt be independently verified.

The United States unilaterally pulled out of the nuclear accord in 2018 under then President Donald Trump and reimposed sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to start backing away from the deals terms.

Iran earlier this month responded to a final draft of a roadmap for parties to return to the tattered nuclear deal and bring the U.S. back on board.

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A probe by the International Atomic Energy Agency into man-made uranium particles found at three undeclared sites in the country has become a key sticking point in the talks for renewing the agreement.

Irans hard-line president, Ebrahim Raisi, has said that the IAEA investigation into the issue must be halted in order for the 2015 deal to be renewed.

The IAEA, the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, has for years sought answers from Iran to its questions about the particles. U.S. intelligence agencies, Western nations and the IAEA have said Iran ran an organized nuclear weapons program until 2003. Iran long has denied ever seeking nuclear weapons.

Germany, France and Britain said in a statement at the weekend that Iran must fully and, without delay, cooperate in good faith with the IAEA.

IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said at the agencys Vienna headquarters that he hopes Iran will start cooperating as soon as possible.

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We are ready; we want this to happen, he said. We are not in the business of aggravating or creating situations. We just want this issue to be clarified, so I really hope that they will start looking into this issue in a different way.

Asked whether he expects to face political pressure from various sides on the issue, Grossi replied that political pressure is always there; the thing is what I do with that pressure. He added that Iran appears to be pushing their national interest in the way they see it.

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BELGRADE, Serbia  Thousands of opponents of a pan-European LGBTQ event planned for this week in Belgrade marched through the Serbian capital on Sunday despite an announced ban of Europes largest annual gay gathering. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight The procession called by the conservative Serbian Orthodox Church and led by its clergy included anti-Western slogans as well as Russian flags and portraits of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

After the march, Serbian Patriarch Porfirije held prayers at the main Saint Sava temple in Belgrade, saying evil forces want to desecrate the purity of the family by imposing anti-God and unnatural unions as a substitute for marriage and family.

Organizers of the EuroPride  which includes a week of events and a Pride march in Belgrade on Sept. 17  have said they will ignore the police ban and hold the LGBTQ festivities.

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Members of the European Pride Organizers Association chose Serbias capital three years ago to host the annual event, hoping it would represent a major breakthrough for a Slavic country that is traditionally conservative and under strong influence from the Orthodox Church.

Serbia is formally seeking European Union membership, but has for years been moving closer to Russias political orbit. The Balkan country has voted for U.N. resolutions condemning Russias invasion of Ukraine, but has refused to join Western sanctions against Moscow.

Serbias populist President Aleksandar Vucic, who has announced the ban, said Serbias police cannot cope with possible riots by right-wing groups against the Pride march amid a crisis over Serbias breakaway province of Kosovo as well as the energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine.

Serbias rights groups have urged supporters to join the Pride march as part of struggle for democracy that they say is under threat in Serbia from Vucics autocratic regime.

Several EU officials have said they will join the LGBTQ events, while those calling on the Serbian government to reverse the announced ban include U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken.

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MEXICO CITY  The death toll in a bus crash in northern Mexico has risen to 20, as questions emerge about whether a double-tanker fuel truck may have caused the accident. The state government of Hidalgo, where eight of the victims were from, said late Saturday the crash also killed 11 people from the Gulf coast state of Veracruz. It wasnt immediately known where the 20th person killed was from.

While there had been some concern the victims were a contingent of migrant laborers, Hidalgo said the bus simply picked up anyone who flagged it down along its route to the northern city of Monterrey.

The bus collided with a tanker truck carrying fuel and in the northern border state of Tamaulipas.

State prosecutors said in a statement that the crash may have occurred because one of the fuel tanks came loose.

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The collision left both vehicles completely burned. Police photos showed the bus was reduced to a tangle of smoking, charred metal.

The driver of the fuel truck apparently survived and is under investigation. The bus had apparently set out from the central state of Hidalgo and was headed to Monterrey.

The semi-truck was towing two tank trailers in tandem. Such double-container freight trucks have been involved in numerous deadly crashes in the past.

Because weight restrictions and safety inspections in Mexico are lax, there have been calls in the past to ban the extremely heavy and unwieldy trucks.

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KHARKIV, Ukraine  Ukrainian troops expanded their territorial gains Monday, pushing all the way to the countrys northeastern border in places, and claimed to have captured a record number of Russian soldiers as part of the lightning advance that forced Moscow to make a hasty retreat. We're following changes at the palace after the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. Get the Post Elizabeth newsletter for updates. ArrowRight A spokesman for Ukrainian military intelligence said Russian troops were surrendering en masse as they understand the hopelessness of their situation. A Ukrainian presidential adviser said there were so many POWs that the country was running out of space to accommodate them.

Blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flags fluttered over newly liberated towns across a wide swath of reclaimed land. The Ukrainian military said it had freed more than 20 settlements in 24 hours. In recent days, Kyivs forces have captured territory at least twice the size of greater London, according to the British Defense Ministry.

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After months of little discernible movement on the battlefield, the momentum has lifted Ukrainian morale and provoked rare public criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putins war.

In some areas of the front, our defenders reached the state border with the Russian Federation, said Oleh Syniehubov, governor of the northeastern Kharkiv region.

The counteroffensive left the Kremlin struggling for a response to its largest military defeat in Ukraine since Russian forces pulled back from areas near Kyiv after a botched attempt to capture the capital early in the invasion.

The Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged the setback in a map that showed its troops pressed back along a narrow patch of land on the border with Russia  a tacit admission of big Ukrainian gains.

Reports of chaos abounded as Russian troops pulled out.

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The Russians were here in the morning. Then at noon, they suddenly started shouting wildly and began to run away, charging off in tanks and armored vehicles, Dmytro Hrushchenko, a resident of recently liberated Zaliznychne, a small town near the eastern front line, told Sky News.

Video taken by the Ukrainian military showed soldiers raising the Ukrainian flag over battle-damaged buildings. In one scene, a fighter wiped his boots on a Russian flag on the ground. Other videos showed Ukrainians inspecting the wreckage of Russian military vehicles, including tanks.

In his evening address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his forces have liberated more than 6,000 square kilometers (2,300 square miles) in the east and the south since the beginning of September.

Now Ukrainian teams are disarming land mines and other unexploded weapons in the recaptured areas and searching for any remaining Russian troops, officials said.

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It was not yet clear if the Ukrainian blitz could signal a turning point in the war. Momentum has switched back and forth before, but rarely with such a big and sudden swing.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovich did not specify the number of Russian prisoners but said the POWs would be exchanged for Ukrainian service members held by Moscow. Military intelligence spokesman Andrey Yusov said the captured troops included significant numbers of Russian officers.

Ukraines deputy interior minister accused fleeing Russian forces of burning official documents and concealing bodies in an attempt to cover up rights violations in the areas they controlled until last week.

The mood was jubilant across the country.

In Kharkiv, Ukraines second-largest city and the capital of the region where the gains have been made, authorities hailed that power and water had been restored to about 80% of the regions population following Russian attacks on infrastructure that knocked out electricity in many places across Ukraine.

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You are heroes!!! Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov wrote on Telegram, referring to crews who restored utilities in Ukraines second-biggest city. Thanks to everyone who did everything possible on this most difficult night for Kharkiv to normalize the life of the city as soon as possible.

Meanwhile in Russia, signs of disarray emerged as Russian military bloggers and other commentators chastised the Kremlin for failing to mobilize more forces and take stronger action against Ukraine.

Russia has continuously stopped short of calling its invasion a war, instead describing it as a special military operation and relying on on a limited contingent of volunteers instead of a mass mobilization that could spur civil discontent and protest.

Ramzan Kadyrov, the Moscow-backed leader of the Russian region of Chechnya, publicly criticized the Russian Defense Ministry for what he called mistakes that made the Ukrainian blitz possible.

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Even more notable, such criticism seeped onto state-controlled Russian TV.

People who convinced President Putin that the operation will be fast and effective ... these people really set up all of us, Boris Nadezhdin, a former parliament member, said on a talk show on NTV television. Were now at the point where we have to understand that its absolutely impossible to defeat Ukraine using these resources and colonial war methods.

Some in Russia blamed Western weapons and fighters for the losses.

Its not Ukraine that attacked Izium, but NATO, read a headline in the state-supported Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, referring to one of the areas where Russia said it has withdrawn troops.

Elsewhere, residents of a Russian village just across the border from Ukraine were evacuated after shelling by Ukrainian troops killed one person, according to Russias Tass news agency.

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The report cited the head of the local administration in Logachevka, who said Ukrainian troops opened fire at a border checkpoint.

Pro-Kremlin separatists reported that Ukrainian troops were approaching the town of Lyman, a rail hub captured by Russia in late May that offers access to bridges over the nearby Siversky Donets river.

Denis Pushilin, head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk Peoples Republic, acknowledged that the situation was difficult.

Even amid Ukraines ebullience, the casualties kept mounting. Ukraines presidential office said Monday that at least four civilians were killed and 11 others wounded in a series of Russian attacks in nine regions of the country. The U.N. Human Rights Office said last week that 5,767 civilians have been killed so far.

Among Mondays attacks were strikes on residential areas in Kharkiv that killed at least one civilian and set multiple fires, local officials said.

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In a reminder of the wars toll, a council member in Izium accused enemy forces of killing civilians and committing other atrocities. Maksym Strelnikov told reporters Monday in an online briefing that hundreds of people had died during the fighting and after Russia seized the town in March.

Many died from shelling and could not get a proper burial, he said. His claims could not be immediately verified, but similar scenes have played out in other places captured by Russian forces.

The Ukrainian military also claimed to have found more evidence of human rights violations by Russian occupiers. It did not elaborate.

Izium was a major base for Russian forces in the Kharkiv region. The first Ukrainian flag was raised over the city on Saturday, according to Strelnikov. Residents, some wrapped in the countrys flag, greeted Ukrainian forces and offered them food.

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Ukraine said the Russians continued shelling Nikopol across the Dnieper River from the Zaporizhzhia power plant, damaging several buildings there and leaving Europe's largest nuclear facility in a precarious position. The last operational reactor in that plant has been shut down in a bid to prevent a radiation disaster as fighting raged nearby.

The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said Monday that Kyiv will likely increasingly dictate the location and nature of the major fighting.

The British Defense Ministry said the retreat would likely further deteriorate the trust Russian forces have in their commanders and put Moscows troops on the back foot.

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Arhirova reported from Kyiv.

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Follow AP war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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The United States should review and reflect on its invasion of Afghanistan on controversial 9/11 grounds as the 21st anniversary of the incident is marked, analysts say.

Amina Khan, director of the Centre for Afghanistan, Middle East and Africa at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad, said as Sunday marks the 21st anniversary of the incident of 9/11, "we have more questions than answers" throughout these two decades, particularly on the policies that were enforced after the events.

"It is a time for introspection by the international community and more so by America as well as a time for going to retrospect regarding certain policies that were taken, particularly in terms of Afghanistan," she added.

Taliban authorities have always denied accusations of the US' official account of Sept 11, 2001. Abdul Qahar Balkhi, a spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, recently stressed that the allegation of a Taliban-backed terrorist attack on the US circulated all these years was "very, very wrong".

"There is nothing of terrorism tied to this government or the Afghan people," he was quoted in a recent interview by CGTN. "To label an entire people as terrorists is one of the biggest injustices in the history of mankind."

Khan said poor intelligence and lack of knowledge played a major role in US' "propaganda and fake news used by elements within Washington to justify their actions after 9/11".

"This in fact gave Washington a blank check to do whatever it wanted under the premise of protecting itself from terrorism  picking anyone up, torturing them and keeping them at Guantanamo for years and years without any evidence," she said.

What is proven is that the 9/11 event was used as a pretext for the US-led NATO to enter Middle East and Afghanistan because it was viable to their domestic audience, and that the ensuing wars resulted in heavy tolls of human lives.

"When it comes to Afghanistan, it was very questionable because the Taliban who were in power were not in fact a part of the group that supposedly attacked America at 9/11," Khan said. "So the pretext was not there, but unfortunately they created such a good pretext because they used terrorism to their advantage."

Imtiaz Gul, executive director of the Center for Research and Security Studies in Pakistan, said apart from geopolitical control, one of the US' objectives was probably to lock cheap oil deals as war reparations.

"Very clearly, regardless of who planned all these attacks, the 9/11 terrorist attacks did provide (George W.) Bush and Dick Cheney with an opportunity to launch offensives in Afghanistan, and from there move to Iraq and then Libya, where the United States locked cheap oil deals for the next two decades," he said.

"So this is what they've got, and this is what they are benefiting from at the moment, while as long as they can import they're largely not touching their own oil and gas reserves. So why not?"

Time for retrospection

Khan also said the events following the Sept 11 attack just showed that "it's a time for retrospection and revisit policies that are fundamentally flawed in every sense", and learn from the fact that "military operations are never the solution".

She drew attention to the fact that terrorism has not been wiped out from the international community. Initially, terrorist groups were limited to a particular region or geography. But now after two decades, there are more terrorist groups that have transnational networks and are cooperating with one another.

"The world has certainly not become safer, and if anything I think it's become more complex," she said.

Tom Plate, a professor and distinguished scholar of Asian and Pacific studies at Loyola Marymount University, said all wise countries will avoid the military option for perceived problems that are primarily political ones.

The withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan "after 20 dreary years of tragic fighting did not come a day too soon, but the rush to the exit runway was unseemly and undignified and only underlined the US failure", he added.




In the fashion world, its been a really long two years. Were finally out of our trackies and, less than two months before the peak party and racing season kicks off, consumers are understandably itching to buy new looks.

What can customers expect for spring when they visit each of the department stores? Well, according to experts, two entirely different offerings.

A model wearing a spring racing look from Myer at the Victoria Racing Clubs Fashions on the Field 60th anniversary gala dinner at Flemington Racecourse.

Whereas David Jones continues to position itself as a house of brands, including a stable of legacy labels such as Zimmermann and Camilla and Marc, as well as newer names such as Alemais, Myer is taking a more conservative path, seemingly preferring to dress middle Australia.

Queensland University of Technology Associate Professor in Fashion in the School of Design Alice Payne says Myer is clearly focused on functional, everyday fashion while David Jones chases top-tier customers. She says the difference is clear on the companies websites.
More than $1.5 trillion of assets in Australia are now being managed according to responsible investing principles, making up 43 per cent of the total market, as a rising number of investors use their positions as shareholders to agitate for change on ethical and sustainability issues.

The proportion of investment managers using corporate engagement to try and influence the behaviour of companies on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues has doubled in the past two years from 21 per cent in 2019, to 45 per cent last year. A total of $726 billion in assets was managed using this approach in 2021, compared to $471 billion in 2020.

Estelle Parker from the Responsible Investment the Association Australasia.

The Responsible Investment Association Australasias annual benchmark report, released on Monday, found there was $1.54 trillion in responsible investments in Australia in 2021, up from $1.28 trillion in 2020. It also found that 17 per cent of Australians held responsible investments in 2021 (up by 28 per cent from the previous year), driven largely by Gen Xers and Millennials.

The research reviewed the investment practices of 140 financial institutions over the course of 2021, identifying 74 of these as leaders in the field, including well-known brands such as AMP Capital, BetaShares, Fidelity, Janus Henderson, Pendal, Perpetual and UBS; and super funds Active Super, AustralianSuper, Aware Super, Cbus, HESTA and UniSuper.
Two young women who drowned in their car had managed to crack the glass in a window but could not break through it before the car was submerged.

Nidhi Lalji Hirani and Ruxmi Premji Vaghjiani, both 20 years old, died after the car they were driving to work in early on Sunday morning left the road and ploughed into a lake in Aveley.

Nidhi Lalji Hirani and Ruxmi Premji Vaghjiani died when their car ploughed into a lake.

The young women had arrived in Australia from Kenya in February, and were studying nursing in Perth.

They were living with Vaghjianis aunt and uncle, Manisha and KP Halai, and had left the home early on Sunday morning in a Toyota Corolla to go to work together. It is not known why their car veered off the road and into a nearby lake.
Later this month, diplomats from around the world will assemble in Bucharest, Romania. On September 29, the doors to one of the 1100 rooms within the enormous Palace of Parliament, built at the behest of the countrys former communist dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu, will close.

No one will be allowed in or out and voting for what a former US communications regulation chief has described as the most important election you have never heard of will begin.

Romanias Palace of Parliament is the worlds heaviest building and is so vast because it was intended to accommodate the countrys entire federal bureaucracy. Credit:AP

At stake is the position of secretary-general for the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a United Nations agency that already sets the standards for things like phone calls and radio frequencies and could, if authoritarian states get their way, do the same for the internet. Australia is among its 10 largest financial backers.

Its an election that will determine the future of cyberspace, wrote International Strategy Forum fellow Mercedes Page in a piece for the non-partisan Lowy Institute's Interpreter.
London: King Charles III has confessed to feeling the weight of history after becoming monarch and assured British MPs that he plans to follow his late mothers example of selfless duty.

In a short but elaborate ceremony held before boarding a private jet to inspect the Queens coffin lying-in-state in Edinburgh, the King gave a reply to MPs and Lords who have been paying tribute to the former sovereign in the days since her death last Thursday.

King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort, at Westminster Hall in London. Credit:Getty

Charles, accompanied by Camilla, Queen Consort, said that as he stood in the ancient Westminster Hall  built in 1097 by William the Conquerors son and the scene of many historic events including the trial of King Charles I  he could not escape the gravity of the moment.

I cannot help but feel the weight of history which surrounds us and reminds us of the vital parliamentary traditions to which members of both houses dedicate yourselves, with such personal commitment, for the betterment of us all, he said.




Sometimes there isn't a term sufficiently strong enough to accurately portray a depth of feeling. That is the case in English, where no term is strong enough to show the sense of anguish that the West is feeling with the incredibly rapid rise of China. There is a need to borrow from German the word "angst", a word far stronger than the English equivalent "anxiety".

The West has become used to be that part of the world that, as the top dog sets the world's agenda, and to which the rest of the world looks in awe. It views that as the natural order of things, as though divinely ordained, forgetting that such state has only been true for the past two centuries.

Throughout most of history, China, along with India, has been by far the dominant powers dwarfing all others. All aberrations eventually come to a natural end, but that these nations are rising to their usual place after a short interregnum still vexes and astonishes the West. Of course, both China and India were subject to the rapacious West, which through gunboat and "diplomacy" and other means, was able strip enormous wealth from each. That followed earlier Western colonial endeavors in South America and Asia, while being concurrent with the massive bleeding of wealth from Africa.

The world's two largest financial analysts PricewaterhouseCoopers and Standard and Poors project that China will soon surpass the United States to become the world's largest economy, with the US falling to third place behind India. Another non-Western Asian nation, Indonesia will rise to the fourth place. Though financial analysts know this, denial or ignorance is still common in the West. Already the economies of the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) outstrip those of the G7, the grouping of the largest Western nations, along with Japan. The gap between the two is projected to widen quickly in the next decades.

When such news breaks through the denial of much of the West the fear is palpable. That certainly is the case in Australia where the rise of China particularly has caused consternation often bordering on hysterical. Even an idea as fantastical as China about to invade Australia finds traction, twice as many Australians believe that Chinese forces will soon be at their door.

The West still likes to project itself as a bastion of righteousness, marked by "democracy" and "human rights", against what it calls an "authoritarianism" denying "liberty". In so doing it ignores its own failures in maintaining human rights for its own populace, along with those cases where it has aided or abetted the violation of human rights of others. "Human rights" has been defined by the West in a manner to suit itself, built around individual freedom and "liberty of conscience" without reference to communal rights such as the right to sustenance, housing, and security. The concept of freedom, however, must come hand in hand with the concept of responsibility and equality. That has been often missing in the West is most clearly seen by the assertion of individual rights at the expense of communal responsibility during the COVID-19 crisis.

Even in terms of individual liberty, the populace of the West's leading nation, the United States suffers from massive deprivation. The US has 0.655 percent (or 2.12 million) imprisoned, mostly from the poorer sectors of the society with a strong racial bias.

The West also likes to cast China as aggressor, while turning a blind eye to its own aggression, from the earliest colonial times through to a litany of invasions and coups of recent decades. The Tufts University "Military Interventions Project", analyzing US military aggression lists over 500 military actions since that nation's founding in 1776, with 60 percent of them occurring between 1950 and 2017. One third of these interventions took place after 1999. That China is perceived as an aggressive threat must stand as a classic case of "projection".

Despite this many in the West speak blithely of "the international rules-based order", equating it with the Western way of doing things, while perceiving China to be a dangerous destabilizing threat to this order.

At the end of the Cold War, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, many Western intellectuals, led by Francis Fukuyama, spoke of the "end of history" with the implicit assumption that the way of the "liberal West" had triumphed, no other system being conceivable. The astounding success of "socialism with Chinese characteristics" has clearly shown the hollow nature of such claims. Thrown from their comforting assumptions, many, including the intelligentsia, of the West have been left non-plussed.

Further, the confidence of the West has been dented by growing evidence of its failures. Those failures range from military losses in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, to diminishing trust by its populations in government institutions, and the alienation increasingly felt by many with rising economic inequality, along with societal breakdown.

Rather than being the "end of history" we are in Asia's rise experiencing the "return of history". Stripped of the final success, it was sure it had grasped, the West is suffering a deep angst, often projecting its own failures onto China. Such response is hardly productive nor healthy.

John Queripel is a Newcastle, Australia-based author, historian, and social commentator.
Talen Energy Supply is telling its bankruptcy judge that it will be acquiring more ownership in Colstrip Power Plant.

The Texas-based energy company, currently engaged in one of the years largest bankruptcies, disclosed an agreement Sept. 9, to acquire Puget Sound Energys 25% share in the coal-fired power plant. Talen has told the U.S. Southern District of Texas Bankruptcy Court that Puget is transferring the shares no later than the end of 2025 when Puget faces a Washington state deadline to stop serving customers coal power.

Talen filed for bankruptcy May 9, disclosing $4.5 billion in debt, which it has winnowed down by offering secured creditors an ownership stake. At the end of August, the company announced a 92-day period in which it would take offers to buy the company. Talen indicated it already has one cash offer for an undisclosed amount. The company's assets total $10 billion.

This is Puget's third attempt to sell its Colstrip interests. Two years ago, Puget attempted to sell its stake in Colstrip Unit 4 to power plant co-owners Talen and NorthWestern Energy for a dollar but withdrew the offer as regulatory analysts estimated the Puget customers would shoulder the deals true cost, estimated to be in the millions. During the 2019 Legislature, a different attempt involving the sale of Puget's Unit 4 stake to NorthWestern Energy came up short.

Puget is transferring its shares in Colstrip's two surviving units, about 370 megawatts of capacity, without charge. The Washington utility is retaining its ownership in Colstrip Transmission Line.

Although Talen is acquiring more power plant capacity, it remains the only Colstrip stakeholder without owned transmission capacity servicing the power plant. Lee Montana Newspapers asked Talen if it intended to use Colstrip power for a cryptocurrency mine or datacenter, something the company has done at a nuclear power power plant Berwick, Pennsylvania. Talen didn't speak directly to the question.

Building crypto mines adjacent to power plants is a common practice that avoids transmission expenses. The Hardin Generating Station, in southeast Montana owned by Beowulf is an example, though mining cryptocurrency is energy intensive and doing so with coal power has been a hard sell because of pollution issues.

Puget Sound Energy is Colstrip Power Plants oldest and largest stakeholder. In an email, PSE Vice President of Supply Ron Roberts said the company was grateful for the opportunity to be part of the Colstrip community since the 1970s.

PSE customers want clean energy and we are committed to providing it as we plan for our future in accordance with Washington laws and our aspirational Beyond Net Zero Carbon goal, Roberts said.

Puget emphasized that it continues to invest in Montana power, including its 330 megawatt share of the Clearwater Energy project and its 15-year contract for hydropower from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. In 2017, the company committed $10 million to the Colstrip community for transitioning to a post-coal era.

Puget will shoulder its share of Colstrip's cleanup costs. Talen tells the court it will cost $338 million to close the Colstrip units and remediate the area, plus additional funds to clean up decades of coal ash waste.

Colstrip is a 1,500-megawatt power plant with six owners, four of which do business in Washington and Oregon where coal power bans are on the horizon. Not all owners were pleased about the share transfer to Talen.

In an Aug. 30 hearing before Judge Marvin Isgur, Portland General Electric said it didnt support the plan and asked for 48 hours advanced notice before the deal was published so it could get out in front of the news.

Collectively, Colstrip owners Avista Corp. and Puget Sound Energy in Washington, and Portland General Electric and PacifiCorp in Oregon, hold a combined 70% ownership stake in the power plant, which is more than enough to determine spending on maintenance and operations. That budget clout became a point of concern for owners Talen and NorthWestern Energy in recent years as the Pacific Northwest utilities objected to power plant expenses that werent necessary to keep Colstrip running beyond 2025.

The Pacific Northwest owners, Puget included, also contended they had the votes necessary to shutter the power plant. That voting clout became politicized in 2021 when Montana Republican lawmakers and Gov. Greg Gianforte passed laws nullifying portions of the power plants private business contract and empowering the state attorney general to mandate maintenance at Colstrip. Those laws resulted in lawsuits still undecided, which led to court orders preventing the state from acting out its plans.

Pugets share transfer to Talen breaks that 70% voting block of Pacific Northwest owners. Although the shares wouldnt transfer until the end of 2025 at the latest, Talen indicates it will immediately have control of Pugets voting share on Colstrip matters concerning both Units 3 and 4.

Talen told the bankruptcy court it would run the power plant if doing so was economical. It was just two years ago that Colstrips Units 1 and 2 shut down after Talen announced that it was losing money on the units, of which it split ownership equally with Puget Sound Energy.

In its bankruptcy docket, Talen indicates it will stop burning coal at all of its "wholly-owned" coal-fired power plants, which doesn't include Colstrip.

The other owners of the power plant will have an opportunity to acquire Puget's shares under a first right-of-refusal provision in the power plant's ownership contract.
North Dakota Labor Commissioner Erica Thunder has resigned to take a new position in the state corrections system.

Gov. Doug Burgum on Sept. 2 announced her resignation, effective Sept. 30. Thunder had been labor commissioner, a governor's Cabinet member, since June 2019.

She has accepted the newly created role of director of diversity and cultural competency at the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

We are deeply grateful for Ericas outstanding service as labor commissioner, including progress made to streamline work, upgrade software systems, eliminate paper, and improve business processes, policies and procedures to provide better service to North Dakota citizens, Burgum said in a statement. While we will miss her on the Cabinet, were excited that she has accepted this impactful new position with DOCR, and we appreciate the highly capable team she has supported at the Department of Labor and Human Rights.

Thunder's new role "will include understanding and documenting pathways in which Native Americans and other minorities enter the criminal justice system and developing recommendations to address systemic problems, as well as developing, evaluating and identifying community resources on tribal lands," according to the governor's office.

"The position also involves leading the establishment and enhancement of culturally competent programs, services and activities; developing strategies to address overrepresentation and recidivism of minorities in the corrections system; and building productive relationships among the tribes, communities, minorities and the DOCR," the governor's statement said.

Thunder is an enrolled member of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation.

She is the sixth Cabinet member in the last 11 weeks to announce his or her departure. Some are retiring.

The labor commissioner position will be posted immediately.
CUMRU TWP., Pa.  The Cumru Township Planning Commission could make a big decision Monday night about a proposed distribution center that's sparked opposition near Flying Hills.

"We don't really feel that there should be a facility like this, that's located in a community of 3,500 people along a highway that is already dangerous," said Glenn Emery.

The $80 million, more than 700,000-square-foot Morgantown Logistics Center would be built on Route 10.

Among Emery's concerns are traffic because of vehicles coming and going. He said he would like PennDOT to do a traffic study on the surrounding area. He said the agency studied the location of the proposed project only once before, and that was for another company.

Emery said nearby residents have raised thousands of dollars and hired an attorney.

"I think that means the community is in support of this," Emery said. "We're going to need some more money. Let's face it, but we'll face that as it comes."

The Kansas City, Missouri-based developer, NorthPoint Development, held an open house in July, which the company said was to hear from the community about ways they can work together and be good partners.

According to the company, the project would create nearly 200 construction jobs and 300 more jobs once the distribution center is operational. It would also generate tax revenues of more than $237,000 once a tax abatement program runs out. The Berks County commissioners approved that program for the project in March.

The developer said the building would primarily be used for storage and consolidation of manufactured goods prior to distribution.

Emery said he and his neighbors have environmental concerns about the project as well as waivers he claimed NorthPoint is asking for. He added that he and his neighbors are not against distribution centers. He told 69 News that they do not feel this particular location would be good for such a facility.
Air Products & Chemicals Inc.'s industrial-gas joint venture in Saudi Arabia has acquired a similar business from Paris-based Air Liquide S.A. for an undisclosed price, expanding its operations in the kingdom and the Middle East.



Upper Macungie Township-based Air Products said its joint venture -- Abdullah Hashim Industrial Gases & Equipment -- acquired Air Liquide's Khafrah Industrial Gases, which is also in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The acquired business provides liquid bulk and specialty gases.



"We are proud to have Air Products as our partner in the Kingdom," Khalid Hashim, managing director of Abdullah Hasim (AHG), said in a joint statement. Air Products has been an investor in AHG for more than a decade, according to the statement.



"This acquisition, through AHG, supports our continued growth strategy for the region," said Hamid Sabzikari, Air Products' vice president and general manager for industrial gases in the Middle East, Egypt and Turkey.



The partnership between Air Products and AHG "has been reinforced through shared values," according to the statement.



In January, Air Products completed the acquisition of Air Liquide's industrial merchant-gases business in the United Arab Emirates.



Abdullah Hashim Industrial Gases makes industrial gases in Saudi Arabia. It was founded in the 1940s as a metalworking business and expanded into the gas business.



Air Products had 2021 sales of $10.3 billion. It operates in more than 50 countries and employs more than 20,000 people. Shares in the company are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol APD.



Shares were trading Monday at $261.86 at 1:31 p.m., up $4.89 or 1.9%. In the last 52 weeks they have traded in a range from $216.24 to $316.39. The company's market capitalization (shares outstanding times current price) is $58.1 billion.
S. WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. -Threats of a school shooting are what led to the closing of Parkland School District buildings last week, police and the district said Monday. The information comes five days after the initial threat last Wednesday night.

For some students and parents in the Parkland School District, it was a welcome day back in the buildings Monday morning.

"I was pleased because it's the beginning of the school year, so it's good to get some structure back," parent Jeremy Deyton told 69 News.

After a threat was reported last Wednesday night, parents and students finally learned what it was: South Whitehall Township Police in a statement Monday say an anonymous person threatened to "shoot people" at Orefield Middle School that Thursday.

"My initial concerns were the students' safety," Deyton said.

The threat closed the entire school district Thursday and forced it to go remote-only Friday.

Police say the reason it took five days to reveal what the threat was: "it was in the best interest of the criminal investigation to withhold specifics, so we did not jeopardize our efforts."

Police add they believe they're at the point where they can share some details.

"There was a specific timeframe provided in the threat and that has passed," a statement from police released Friday, said. "There have been no additional threats made at this time."

One Parkland School District parent tells 69 News he wished there had been more transparency earlier on. But some others were fine with the silence.

"Sometimes you don't want to be too transparent because people can make threats based on the information you give them," Deyton said.

School reopened Monday. The district, in its own statement to staff and families, said in part:

"We were all affected by the unsettling message that a threat was made in our community. We understand that the lack of information has been stressful."

"Honestly I think the school's doing a very excellent job on keeping everyone safe, making sure everyone's okay," Ayden Zalewski, a freshman at Parkland High School, said.

And while parents and students finally have these answers, another big one for officials still remains: who was the one that made the threat? That investigation is ongoing.

The police department says it will be making additional police resources available to help safeguard the schools.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the South Whitehall Township Police Department at 610-398-0337. Police also encourage students to use the Safe2Say app to report any tips and information. That's where police first learned of the threat.
LONDON (AP)  In his first visit to Britains Parliament as monarch, King Charles III spoke of feeling the weight of history which surrounds us and referenced his medieval predecessors as he pledged to follow in his late mother Queen Elizabeth IIs footsteps and uphold the principles of constitutional monarchy.

Charless speech to legislators on Monday is the latest historic event to take place in Westminster Hall, a vast 900-year-old building thats been at the heart of Britains history for a millennium.

The oldest building in Parliament, it was where Guy Fawkes and Charles I were tried, where kings and queens hosted magnificent medieval banquets, and where ceremonial addresses were presented to Queen Elizabeth II during her silver, golden and diamond jubilees. It is also where Elizabeths coffin will lie in state for public viewing from Wednesday.

A look at Westminster Halls centuries of history, and the rituals dictating the relationship between Britains monarchy and government:

WESTMINSTER HALL

First built in 1097, Westminster Hall is the oldest existing part of the medieval Palace of Westminster still surviving in its original form. Most of the present Houses of Parliament was built after a fire in 1834.

The hall, believed to be the largest in Europe in medieval times, was the site of lavish coronation feasts celebrating kings and queens from Richard I in the 12th century to Anne Boleyn in the 1500s.

Later the hall was used as law courts for numerous famous trials  including that of Charles I, who was tried there and convicted of high treason before he was beheaded in 1649.

In a bid to quell a growing power struggle between the crown and Parliament, Charles I attempted to arrest lawmakers in the House of Commons in 1642. That triggered the English Civil War, which ended with a temporary abolition of the monarchy and a decade of rule under Oliver Cromwell.

CROWN VS PARLIAMENT

The deposing and execution of Charles I spelt the beginnings of modern Britains system of constitutional monarchy. In the decades that followed, rules were laid down to ensure that the monarch serves as a nonpartisan head of state and he or she cannot make laws without the consent of a democratically elected Parliament.

British monarchs are still barred from entering the House of Commons to this day because of the actions of Charles I.

Every year, the monarch presides over the ceremonial state openings of Parliament in the unelected upper chamber, the House of Lords. During these annual events, an official known as Black Rod summons elected lawmakers from the House of Commons to the House of Lords to hear the monarchs speech, and traditionally the door of the Commons is slammed in Black Rods face  a symbol of the independence of the House of Commons.

As head of state, Charles III, like his predecessors, reigns but does not rule. Apart from appointing new prime ministers and the annual task of opening new sessions of Parliament, monarchs stay out of the political limelight and are constitutionally obliged to follow the governments advice.

Charles will, however, hold weekly audiences with Prime Minister Liz Truss, though what is discussed during such meetings is never made public.

Follow all AP stories on the death of Queen Elizabeth II and Britains royal family at https://apnews.com/hub/queen-elizabeth-ii
EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP)  As Queen Elizabeth II's four children walked silently behind, a hearse carried her flag-draped coffin Monday along a crowd-lined street in the Scottish capital to a cathedral, where a service of thanksgiving hailed the late monarch as a constant in all of our lives for over 70 years.

Four days after the 96-year-old queen died at Balmoral Castle in the Scottish Highlands, a military bagpiper played as her oak coffin, draped in the red-and-yellow Royal Standard of Scotland, was borne from the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh in a solemn procession.

King Charles III, dressed in army uniform, and his siblings Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward walked behind as the hearse traveled to St. Giles Cathedral, flanked by a bearer party of the Royal Regiment of Scotland and a detachment of the Royal Company of Archers, the king's ceremonial bodyguard in Scotland.

Inside the church, the coffin was placed on a wooden stand and topped with the golden Crown of Scotland, encrusted with 22 gems and 20 precious stones along with freshwater pearls from Scotlands rivers.

And so we gather, to bid Scotlands farewell to our late monarch, whose life of service to the nation and the world we celebrate. And whose love for Scotland was legendary, said the Rev. Calum MacLeod.

Because the queen died at her summer home of Balmoral, Scotland has been the focus of the worlds attention for the first part of Britains 10 days of national mourning. Large crowds have lined the route as her coffin journeyed from the castle to Edinburgh, underscoring the deep bond between the queen and Scotland. That bond persisted even as relations soured between the Conservative U.K. government in London and the pro-independence Scottish administration in Edinburgh.

Church of Scotland Moderator Iain Greenshields said most of us cannot recall a time when she was not our monarch.

Committed to the role she assumed in 1952 upon the death of her beloved father, she has been a constant in all of our lives for over 70 years, he said. She was determined to see her work as a form of service to others."

The coffin will remain at the cathedral until Tuesday so the public can pay their respects. Thousands of people lined the 0.7-mile (1 kilometer) route between palace and cathedral, some arriving hours early to catch a glimpse.

I just wanted to be here, just to show  last respects. I cannot believe she is dead, said Marilyn Mclear, a 70-year-old retired teacher. I know she was 96, but I just cannot believe the queens dead.

One man shouted at the passing hearse, while others called out: God save the king! But the procession was greeted mostly with a respectful silence under a blue sky flecked with clouds.

Charles and his siblings later stood in silent vigil at the church, lowering their heads as they stood at four sides of their mother's oak coffin alongside members of the Royal Company of Archers. As they performed the traditional vigil, members of the public filed past.

Charles, Anne and Edward all wore military uniforms, but Andrew did not. The Royal Navy veteran was stripped of his honorary military titles and was removed as a working royal over his friendship with the notorious U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Charles later donned a kilt as he visited the Scottish parliament, where he was greeted by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

The queen, like so many generations of our family before her, found in the hills of this land and in the hearts of its people a haven and a home, Charles told Scottish lawmakers.

Earlier, the queen's grandson, Prince Harry, hailed her as a guiding compass and praised her unwavering grace and dignity."

The government, meanwhile, announced the nation will observe a minute of silence on Sunday, the evening before the queen's funeral. The moment of reflection will take place at 8 p.m. (1900 GMT, 3 p.m. EDT).

Before flying to Scotland, Charles received condolences at Parliament on Monday and told lawmakers he would follow his late mothers example of selfless duty.

Hundreds of lawmakers crowded into the 1,000-year-old Westminster Hall for the service, rich in pageantry, in which Parliament offered its condolences to the king. A trumpet fanfare greeted him and Camilla, the Queen Consort.

Charles told the House of Commons and the House of Lords that he would follow his late mother in upholding the precious principles of constitutional governance that underpin the U.K.s political system.

As I stand before you today, I cannot help but feel the weight of history, which surrounds us and which reminds us of the vital parliamentary traditions to which members of both Houses dedicate yourselves, with such personal commitment, for the betterment of us all, Charles said.

The ceremony was held in Westminster Hall because monarchs are not allowed inside the House of Commons since King Charles I tried to enter and arrest lawmakers. That confrontation led to a civil war which ended with the king being beheaded in 1649.

In a personal tribute to his grandmother, Prince Harry said he cherished their times together from my earliest childhood memories with you, to meeting you for the first time as my Commander-in-Chief, to the first moment you met my darling wife and hugged your beloved great-grandchildren.

Amid acrimony in the House of Windsor, Harry quit as a senior royal and moved to the U.S. two years ago. On Saturday, there was a possible sign of a reconciliation as Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, joined his brother Prince William and sister-in-law Catherine, the Princess of Wales, in meeting mourners outside Windsor Castle.

Harrys statement alluded to the death of his grandfather, Prince Philip, last year: We too smile, knowing that you and grandpa are reunited now and both together in peace.

The queen's coffin will be flown Tuesday to London, where it will lie in state at the Houses of Parliament from Wednesday afternoon until the morning of her funeral on Sept. 19. U.S. President Joe Biden is among the world leaders and dignitaries planning to attend the service at Westminster Abbey.

Authorities already have issued rules for people wanting to pay their respects in London.

Vanessa Nathakumaran showed up more than two days early to stake out a place. I really, really want to be part of it, she said.

Judging by the size of the crowd in Edinburgh, the line behind Nathakumaran will be long.

Rosamund Allen, 67, came to Edinburgh from Rothbury in northern England to be part of history.

It was very moving. It was very quiet," she said. "I felt very sorry for the family itself to be on show. They are very brave to do that. And I really hope and pray that they get something out of today and have a chance to mourn themselves.

"They were very kind to allow us to be part of their sadness.

Corder and Lawless reported from London.

Follow AP stories on the death of Queen Elizabeth II and Britains royal family at https://apnews.com/hub/queen-elizabeth-ii
Volunteers are organizing in North Dakota to finish the harvest work started by a farmer found dead in his wheat field along with three other men in a case investigators describe as a murder-suicide. The Towner County Sheriffs Office on Wednesday identified the four found Monday as Douglas Dulmage, 56; Justin Bracken, 34; Richard Bracken, 64, all from Leeds and Robert Bracken, 59, of Cando. Officials say a .357 caliber revolver at the scene. Pat Traynor, a close friend of Dulmage said Dulmage owned the property and was shot in his combine while harvesting wheat in his field south of Cando.
President Joe Biden has formally accepted an invitation to attend the state funeral service for Queen Elizabeth II. The White House said Sunday that the president will be accompanied by First Lady Jill Biden. The service will be held Sept. 19. Earlier in the day, Biden remembered the words of comfort that the late British monarch had provided the United States following the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001. Quoting the queen, Biden said, grief is the price we pay for love. Biden spoke at the Pentagon as the nation marked the 21st anniversary of the attacks. He said the queens words remain as poignant as they did 21 years ago.
STOCKHOLM (AP)  A populist anti-immigration party has surged to become Sweden's second-largest political force after a national election dominated by fears of gang violence, which has given the once-safe Scandinavian country one of Europe's highest levels of gun violence.

Overall, a conservative opposition bloc including the anti-immigration party, the Sweden Democrats, had an extremely narrow lead over the incumbent center-left with 94% of the votes counted.

Analysts expect the final tally will confirm a conservative bloc win, but the election was so close that electoral officials said they would not have the final result until outstanding postal votes and votes from abroad are counted.

With eight parties contending for seats in the 349-member Riksdag, Swedens parliament, none can secure a majority of 175 seats, meaning that laws can only be passed with different parties working together. The parties campaigned under two general blocs, one conservative and the other a center-left group headed by Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, Swedens first female prime minister.

The not-yet-final count indicated that the conservative bloc would have 175 seats and the center-left would have 174.

It is extremely close. Things can change, but I doubt it, said Zeth Isaksson, a sociologist at Stockholm University, who added that votes from abroad are traditionally conservative. As it is now, it is more likely that the right side will win.

One certainty, however, is that the result marked a success for the right-wing populist Sweden Democrats, which won its best result since entering parliament in 2010. The party's founders in the 1980s had links to fascist and neo-Nazi movements but over the past two decades it has worked to move to the mainstream under its 43-year-old leader Jimmie Akesson.

Its transformation included changing its official logo from a torch to a flower and expelling the most radical members.

Those who support it like its tough vows to crack down on crime and strictly limit immigration, while opponents fear that its historic roots make it a threat to Sweden's democratic identity.

Mark Johnson, a 50-year-old Swedish finance worker, said while the party's strong showing was expected, it is still shocking for many Swedes because its hard to understand that we would be taking such an obvious turn to the right, to the far-right even.

The Sweden Democrats, which won 20.6% support in Sunday's vote, according to preliminary figures, up from 17.5% four years ago, gained on the rising fears of crime in largely immigrant neighborhoods.

This year so far there have been 273 shootings, 47 of them fatal, according to police statistics. Those shootings also wounded 74 people, including innocent bystanders.

Andersson's Social Democrats, who have been in power in Sweden since 2014, remain the largest party, even gaining slightly to take 30.5% of the vote Sunday, according to the incomplete results. Andersson said Sunday night it was obvious that the social democratic movement, which is based on ideals of creating an equal society and a strong welfare state, remains strong in Sweden.

The Sweden Democrats wants to be part of a government, but this is unlikely to happen because there are parties in the center-right bloc that oppose it, Isaksson said.

Richard Jomshof, the Sweden Democrats party secretary, said Monday: "It is clear that we must be able to discuss ministerial posts. It is clear that we must be able to talk about the position of prime minister, speaker of parliament and the presidium positions in the various Riksdag committees.

But a senior member of the center-right Liberals told Swedish radio Monday that it cannot allow the Sweden Democrats to be part of a government.

Still, if the right prevails, the Sweden Democrats will have very strong leverage" and will push for some of its issues, like tightening immigration laws, Isaksson said. He said a likely outcome could be for the Sweden Democrats to end up outside a government but as supporters of it.

In Germany, the far-right Alternative for Germany party congratulated the Sweden Democrats on their sensational success in the parliamentary elections. Frances far-right leader Marine Pen also tweeted her congratulations to the patriotic Swedish party, saying: Everywhere in Europe, people aspire to take their destiny back into their own hands!

Isaksson also ruled out a governing coalition combining the center-right Moderates, which have been leading the center-right bloc, and the Social Democrats. Such a coalition has not occurred since World War II.

The Moderates dropped to become Sweden's third-largest party and won 19% support, based on the incomplete vote tally. However, party leader Ulf Kristersson on Monday appeared to be the most likely candidate to be the next prime minister. He told his supporters that he stands ready to try to create a stable and effective government.

Andersson, a 55-year-old economist, became Swedens first female prime minister less than a year ago and led Swedens historic bid to join NATO following Russias invasion of Ukraine in February.

___ Olsen reported from Copenhagen, Denmark. Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  A rape victim whose DNA from her sexual assault case was used by San Francisco police to arrest her in an unrelated property crime on Monday filed a lawsuit against the city.

During a search of a San Francisco Police Department crime lab database, the woman's DNA was tied to a burglary in late 2021. Her DNA had been collected and stored in the system as part of a 2016 domestic violence and sexual assault case, then-District Attorney Chesa Boudin said in February in a shocking revelation that raised privacy concerns.

This is government overreach of the highest order, using the most unique and personal thing we have  our genetic code  without our knowledge to try and connect us to crime, the woman's attorney, Adante Pointer, said in a statement.

The revelation prompted a national outcry from advocates, law enforcement, legal experts and lawmakers. Advocates said the practice could affect victims willingness to come forward to law enforcement authorities.

Federal law already prohibits the inclusion of victims DNA in the national Combined DNA Index System. There is no corresponding law in California to prohibit local law enforcement databases from retaining victims profiles and searching them years later for entirely different purposes.

California lawmakers last month approved a bill that would prohibit using the DNA profiles collected by police from sexual assault survivors and other victims for any purpose other than aiding in identifying the perpetrator. Local law enforcement agencies would also be prohibited from retaining and then searching victim DNA to incriminate them in unrelated crimes under the legislation, which is pending before Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Boudin said the report was found among hundreds of pages of evidence against a woman who had been recently charged with a felony property crime. After learning the source of the DNA evidence, Boudin dropped the felony property crime charges against the woman.

The police department's crime lab stopped the practice shortly after receiving a complaint from the district attorneys office and formally changed its operating procedure to prevent the misuse of DNA collected from sexual assault victims, Police Chief Bill Scott said.

Scott said at a police commission meeting in March that he had discovered 17 crime victim profiles, 11 of them from rape kits, that were matched as potential suspects using a crime victims database during unrelated investigations. Scott said he believes the only person arrested was the woman who filed the lawsuit Monday.

The woman filed the lawsuit under the alias of Jane Doe to protect her privacy, Pointer said The Associated Press generally does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they choose to be named.

California allows local law enforcement crime labs to operate their own forensic databases that are separate from federal and state databases. The law also lets municipal labs perform forensic analysis, including DNA profiling, and use those databases  without regulation by the state or others.
It's been seven years since Kinky Boots first found its footing on British shores, with a sparkling West End run that lasted for a sturdy three years. Now this beloved musical, set in Northampton and based on the 2005 film of the same name, finally gets its professional regional premiere thanks to this exciting actor-musician co-production between the New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich and Queens Theatre, Hornchurch.

After his father unexpectedly passes, Charlie Price (Matt Corner) is left with his father's failing shoe factory, Price and Son. Just as he is questioning how to save the factory and protect the jobs of the people he grew up with, he meets Lola (Keanu Adolphus Johnson), a cabaret performer and drag queen who inspires Charlie's new niche market'. The pair soon form an unlikely partnership, as they work together to produce a range of high-heeled kinky' boots in a bid to save the business - and along the way the duo discover that they are not as different as they first think.

Given its previous incarnations and longevity, Kinky Boots is a strong title for both regional theatres to have sunk their teeth into. Avid fans of the show will take great joy in seeking the changes and fresh adaptation, while those discovering the show for the first time are sure to walk away won-over by the glitz, glamour and heart of this story.

The cast

 Mike Kwasniak

The production and its narrative stomp through at a steady pace and holds a lot of charm and charisma. What set and costume designer Amanda Stoodley has achieved for the compact scale is impressive, though at first glance the set seems a little dreary, and that there was room for a little more texture and vibrancy to it. However, video designer Daniel Denton creates background visuals that later lift and compliment the set  the finale set being the sure-fire winner. The costumes for Lola and the Angels are bright and fun, and of course the iconic postbox red latex boots are unforgettable!

Cyndi Lauper's score was performed brilliantly by the troupe of talented actor-musicians, honouring the essence of the original, whilst injecting a freshness into it. The musicians were often tucked to the back of the set, which felt a bit of a shame as New Wolsey audiences love their integration into the scenes and it probably would have helped flesh out the ensemble. This, indeed, was probably my main irk with the show, simply due to the fact at times the stage felt bare with the small number of performers, most notably in the factory scenes. We all have an imagination and the intentions of the direction and narrative remain clear, but there were a handful of moments where it just got a little lost.

Matt Corner's take on Charlie was clear-cut and strong, with a slightly awkward charm about him. His take on "Soul of a Man" was a stand-out, given his impressive vocals. Opposite was Keanu Adolphus Johnson as Lola, who gave brilliant performances with "Land of Lola" and "Not My Father's Son" and brought a humorous Essex twang and sass to the character - but at times it felt there could have been a sprinkle more of the sass and punch in the delivery. Aruhan Galieva supports as Lauren, and she brings another stand-out moment with her hilarious rendition of" The History of Wrong Guys" as well as a sharp chaotic wit. The four angels are all equally fabulous, and have clearly been inspired by the rise of Drag Race and pop culture of the last decade which provided an energetic lift to the show. The limited ensemble work hard.

Director Tim Jackson has done an excellent job of making all the appropriate amends needed for a regional premiere of Kinky Boots, and while there are moments that lack a little oomph, it eventually does tick all the boxes. By the end, it's easy to forget the perils of the outside world and get lost in the uplifting music and message of just freely being yourself. Rest assured, Kinky Boots is a fantastically feel-good time.
The school board in North Dakotas most populous city has reversed course on its decision to stop reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at its monthly meetings. The group decided to reconsider at a special meeting Thursday following complaints from conservative lawmakers and widespread bashing from citizens. Seven of the nine members of the Fargo Board of Education, including four newcomers who took office in June, had voted last week to cancel a previous board edict to recite the pledge that passed a couple of months before the election. The new board said the oath did not align with the districts diversity and inclusion code. All but one of the board members voted to reinstate the pledge, saying the controversy was a distraction to the district.
Two people were arrested on narcotic drug charges following a search warrant that was executed at a Wisconsin Dells motel room, where law enforcement found fentanyl and methamphetamine.

Cody L. Fry, 26, Baraboo, and Katelynn E. McDonald, 20, Wisconsin Dells have both been charged after the search warrant was executed.

Fry has been charged with possession with intent to distribute fentanyl (>10  50 gram) and maintaining a drug trafficking place. If convicted on the fentanyl charge, Fry faces a possible 15 years in prison, followed by up to 10 years of extended supervision.

Fry is also facing three felony bail jumping charges, possession of methamphetamine and misdemeanor possession of THC.

McDonald is facing charges of possession of narcotic drugs, possession of drug paraphernalia and felony bail jumping. If convicted of possession of narcotic drugs, McDonald faces 1 years in prison followed by up to two years of extended supervision.

Online records show Fry remains in custody on a $10,000 cash bond. McDonald is also in the custody at the Columbia County Jail on a $2,500 cash bond.

The Columbia County Sheriffs Office named a third suspect in a social media post, but online records do not show that person has been charged in Columbia County.

According to the criminal complaints filed on Sept. 7:

Columbia County Sheriffs officers observed suspicious activity outside a Fields Park Motel on Sept. 2. Officers allegedly saw traffic in and out of the motel room that was consistent with distributing controlled substances.

Two officers knocked on the door of the suspected room. The door was opened by a witness and immediately the officer reported smelling the odor of marijuana.

One of the officers began drafting a search warrant while the other officer checked the room for other people. The officer allegedly found Fry in the bathroom.

Fry allegedly told the officer the room smelled of marijuana because there was marijuana in one of his bags. Once the search warrant was granted officers searched the motel room. Law enforcement allegedly found 28.2 grams of fentanyl, 1.7 grams of marijuana and 1.9 grams of methamphetamine.

Officers found $2,090 on Fry along with documents that showed he was the renter of the motel room as of Sept. 1.

Along with the substances officers also found burnt tin foil and straws.

When McDonald first met with police outside the motel room, her speech was allegedly slurred and her eyelids droopy. The officer reported these are consistent with someone under the influence of an opioid.

She allegedly told police there was heroin in the hotel room and the burnt tin foil was used by her to smoke heroin.

Law enforcement officers spoke with McDonald again on Sept. 5. She allegedly told police the controlled substances found in her bag belonged to her.

McDonald is scheduled to be back in Columbia County Court on Sept. 14 for a preliminary hearing. Fry has a pre-trial conference in October.
The latest North Dakota coronavirus news: energy aid, food assistance and more.

Tribal wind

The Standing Rock Renewable Energy Authority is getting $725,000 in federal coronavirus aid for its wind farm project on the reservation.

The grant from the U.S. Department of Commerces Economic Development Administration is through the American Rescue Plans Indigenous Communities program.

The Economic Development Administration is committed to supporting tribal communities in their recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Alejandra Castillo said in a statement. This EDA investment will result in a stronger economy for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, encourage business development in clean energy, and create jobs for tribal members.

The tribe about two years ago announced plans for the $325 million Anpetu Wi Wind Farm. Anpetu Wi in Lakota means It is day or "morning light." About 60 turbines are slated to dot the Porcupine Hills, a badlands-esque part of Sioux County between Fort Yates and Porcupine.

SAGE Development Authority -- Standing Rock's public power authority -- announced last month that it's in the process of assessing environmental impacts of the project and doing cultural resource surveys. It also is gathering data such as wind speed through test towers. The tribe is raising money through various sources, including crowdfunding.

For more information, go to https://anpetuwi.com/.

Mobile food pantry

Trucks carrying fresh vegetables, bakery items and boxed goods will make stops in North Dakota this week.

Food through the Great Plains Food Bank Mobile Food Pantry is available at no cost to those in need. Scheduled stops are (all times are local):

Thursday

Napoleon, St. Phillip Neri Catholic Church, 401 Broadway, 9:45-10:30 a.m.

Wishek, 107 Centennial St. (near Lutheran church), 12-12:45 p.m.

Edgeley, Armory parking lot, 509 Second Ave., 2:30-3:15 p.m.

Oakes, alley behind Travel Inn, 401 Main Ave., 5-5:45 p.m.

For more information, go to https://bit.ly/3lkvv80.

Testing and vaccines

A comprehensive list of free public COVID-19 testing offered in North Dakota can be found at health.nd.gov/covidtesting. That site also lists where free at-home test kits are being offered.

People can go to https://www.ndvax.orgor https://bit.ly/3N3IMxb or call 866-207-2880 to see where COVID-19 vaccine is available near them.

County-level COVID-19 risks determined by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can be found at https://bit.ly/3Clifrq.

Guidance and resources for businesses are at https://bit.ly/3w0DpKj.

General information is at https://www.health.nd.gov/diseases-conditions/coronavirus and https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html.
Wrexham.com has invited Wrexham & Clwyd South Members of Parliament and Assembly Members to write a monthly article with updates on their work in their respective Parliaments and closer to home  you can find them all here.

In her column for September, Wrexhams MP Sarah Atherton writes

I submit an article for Wrexham.com at the same time every month, but Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II died the day I submitted this, and I wanted to say the following:

The loss of our Queen, who never showed anything but decency, humility, and kindness, has touched everybodys hearts and left a hole in families lives not only in the UK but across the world.

Few of us can remember a time without Her Majestys devoted and impartial service to the British people: Her Majestys strong sense of duty, integrity, and stability has been a beacon of light in all of our lives for 70 years.

Her Majesty visited Wrexham during every milestone of her Reign. Indeed, one of Her Majestys last duties was to sign the Letter Patent to make Wrexham a Platinum Jubilee city. Wrexham will be forever grateful to the Queen and the UK Government for recognising Wrexhams potential, ambition, and contribution to our United Kingdom.

But now, we turn to the bittersweet moment of embracing this period of change and saying the words that this country did not expect to hear just quite yet. God Save The King.

I was pleased to welcome the result of the Conservative Party Leadership contest and would like to congratulate Liz Truss on becoming the Partys new Leader, and our Prime Minster. I was also pleased to attend Number 10 to support Boris Johnson in his final speech.

There is no denying that he delivered as our Prime Minister. He steered the country through the pandemic, got Brexit done, and was steadfast in his support for Ukraine.

We now need a period of stability and a concentration on the priorities of my constituents; the rising cost of living, tackling immigration, continuing our support for the people of Ukraine, and making sure that devolution works for the people of Wrexham so that they can get access to timely healthcare and GP appointments.

As Liz Trusss former Parliamentary Private Secretary at the Foreign Office, I have seen her first-hand in action, and I am confident that she will tackle the challenges that lie ahead for Wrexham.

A recent visit to the Urgent Primary Care Centre (UPCC) at Wrexham Maelor Hospital with Ian Donnelly, Managing Director, showed that progress on plans to reduce wait times is finally being made.

The UPCC is designed to relieve the pressure on A&E by taking direct referrals from GPs, Pharmacists, and the 111 service.

In addition to this, I heard of plans to open Plas Gororau, an off-site unit that will move services from the Maelor and, in turn, relieve space within the hospital to enable the Emergency Department to work more efficiently.

Whilst healthcare provision in Wrexham has a long way to go, these are steps in the right direction. But with the Maelor recently being ranked the worst in Wales for the number of patients seen within the four-hour waiting time target, improvements cannot wait any longer.

Due to this, my health campaign continues where you can send the Welsh Government a strong message that we deserve better healthcare! Follow this link to give your say: https://www.sarahatherton.org.uk/healthcare-wrexham.

Over the summer recess, the main issue that constituents were raising with me on the doorstep was the rising cost of living. Whilst Parliament was in recess, I raised constituents concerns with the Chancellor during a briefing on the current economic situation and made sure that Wrexhams interests are at the heart of Government policy.

The UK Government has listened and is putting together a range of measures for our new Prime Minister Liz Truss and the new Government to consider.

In the meantime, I have created a cost-of-living section on my website, where you can find resources and support. Follow this link to see what you might be eligible for: https://www.sarahatherton.org.uk/cost-living.

It was a real pleasure to host my second Business Networking Event at Moneypenny in Wrexham, alongside a guest speaker from Wrexham Council. It was an excellent chance to meet new businesses and put businesses who do not know each other in touch.

During the event, we heard from businesses from across our new city and discussed how we can all harness the multitude of opportunities that are heading our way so that we can promote all that Wrexham has to offer on a national and global stage.

If any businesses would like to come along to a future event, please do not hesitate to email: sarah.atherton.mp@parliament.uk.

Lastly, if you are a resident in Wrexham and need my assistance with any local or national issues, please contact me by emailing sarah.atherton.mp@parliament.uk.
Monthly airline boardings at North Dakota's eight commercial service airports slipped below 2021 levels for the first time this year in July.

The airports in Bismarck, Fargo, Grand Forks, Minot, Devils Lake, Jamestown, Dickinson and Williston had a total of 89,865 passengers last month, down 3.3% from July of last year, according to the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission. Boardings were down 18.8% from July 2019, before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020.

North Dakotas airline passenger counts are following a national trend in which passenger growth over the last year has leveled to about 15% below prepandemic counts, according to the commission. It cited limited seat capacity and flights. There were an estimated 111,039 airline seats available for purchase within the state during July, a 16% decrease from July 2019.

Passenger demand remains high, however, with many flights full, and the average flight 80% full.

Airlines continue to communicate hardships that prevent them from adding additional seat capacity into the system," Commission Executive Director Kyle Wanner said. Passenger growth cannot occur when we dont have the additional flights or the seats to accommodate that growth. We hope to see additional capacity being added back into the North Dakota system as the airline industry continues to reprioritize the utilization of its fleet and works to improve its staffing issues."

July boardings were down compared to a year ago at all airports except Dickinson, Grand Forks and Williston. Bismarck's drop was less than half a percent, however. Dickinson saw an increase of 6.7%, while Williston saw a jump of 36.5%. The drop at Fargo's Hector International, the state's largest airport, was 7.3%.

All of the airports last month saw a drop from July 2019. Bismarck's drop was 23.3%, Dickinson's was 8.1%, and Williston's was 24.3%.

Year-to-date boardings through July were up 24.5% statewide over last year. Bismarck's increase was 19.2%, Dickinson's was 44.6% and Williston's was 60.7%.

Airport grants

The Federal Aviation Administration has awarded grants to two small western North Dakota airports through the federal infrastructure bill, according to U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.

The municipal airport authorities in Mott and Glen Ullin are getting $110,000 apiece.
Clwyd South Member joins North Wales Police patrol in Wrexham

The Clwyd South Member recently took part in a North Wales Police patrol in Wrexham.

Ken Skates MS was taken out by Sgt Nathan Harvey in the Wrexham Rural policing area, which includes large parts of his constituency.

The patrol included visits to Brymbo, Cefn Mawr, Coedpoeth, Johnstown, Penycae, Rhos and Ruabon, and Mr Skates said it was an eye-opening experience.

It was a really interesting morning, and it was great to get out with Nathan and get an idea of what our frontline officers are dealing with day to day in keeping the public safe, said Mr Skates.

We werent called to respond to anything serious, thankfully, but it was a really good opportunity to catch up and discuss some of the current issues officers are tackling in our area.

North Wales Police officers will be joining Mr Skates at his upcoming autumn surgeries and will be on hand to discuss any police matters constituents would like to raise.

The surgeries will take place at:

Plas Madoc Leisure Centre on Friday, September 23 (3pm-4pm)

Plas Pentwyn, Coedpoeth on Friday, October 7 (10am-11am)

Overton Village Hall on Friday, October 21 (3pm-4pm)

No appointments are necessary, but the surgeries are only for those who live in Clwyd South.
First Minister leads tributes to Queen during extraordinary session of the Senedd

The First Minister lead tributes to Her Majesty The Queen in the Senedd on Sunday  the first ever Welsh Parliament to pay tribute following the death of the Head of State.

The Llywydd (Presiding Officer) paid tribute to The Queen as she opened an extraordinary session of the Senedd.

The Rt Hon. Elin Jones MS said: We gather here today to pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II  a head of state for over 70 years.

Elizabeth II took office 47 Years before this Senedd was created.

Today, it falls to us to be the members of the first ever Welsh Parliament to pay tribute following the death of the head of state.

As in all Parliaments our views represent the diversity of views of the people we serve.

Our opinions differ on very many aspects of Welsh life.

Our views will differ on the institution of monarchy itself, but our views will differ little on the way Elizabeth ll executed her role over her lifetime of public service, how her wisdom and dedication to office was valued and how we mourn her sad loss and hold her family in our thoughts.

Elizabeth ll looked for what united people rather than what created division. We too can seek that unity today in our condolence.

Members talked about The Queens lifelong service to duty, and what she meant to the people of Wales.

First Minister Mark Drakeford said: We send our sincerest sympathies to the new King and his family. Our thoughts are with the new Prince and Princess of Wales.

We wish them every success in this new chapter in their lives of service.

In Welsh, there is a proverb: colli tad, colli cyngor; colli mam, colli angorto lose a father is to lose advice; to lose a mother is to lose an anchor.

We wish them strength to grieve in their loss, and we send them and their family our best wishes for the future.

In June, we spoke in this Chamber of the stresses of a life lived so unrelentingly in the public gaze, every moment captured, every remark dissected, every smile or frown a story. Now that story comes to an end; the life that gave rise to it stilled in the peace which that final sleep will bring to us all.

Now that story comes to an end. The life that gave rise to it stilled in the peace that that final sleep will bring to us all.

A Motion of Condolence agreed by MSs on Sunday will be read to His Majesty The King when he and Her Majesty The Queen Consort visit the Senedd on Friday.

The Royal Party will also meet with Members of the Senedd and Members of the Welsh Youth Parliament.

The motion states: That this Senedd expresses its deep sadness at the death of Her Majesty The Queen and offers its sincere condolences to His Majesty The King and other Members of the Royal Family.

We recognise Her Majestys enduring commitment to public service and duty, including her support for many Welsh charities and organisations, and her lifelong association with Wales and its people.

Clwyd South MS Ken Skates, said that grief and sadness can unite people through times of discord and bring people together.

He went on to say: To unite people is perhaps the most important duty that anyone in authority can fulfil, and nobody has done it better than the Queen.

The people of our country, the Commonwealth and beyond have lost a Queen who was the rock of stability in our often troubled existence, but to live in hearts we leave behind is not to die, and so, Her Majesty the Queen, her goodness and her kindness will go on living in hearts around the globe.

Earlier on Sunday the First Minister spoke to Royal Highness The Prince of Wales.

HRH thanked the First Minister for his fitting tribute, on behalf of the people of Wales, to Her Majesty The Queen.

Prince William expressed his and The Princess of Wales honour in being asked by His Majesty The King to serve the Welsh people. They will do so with humility and great respect. Kensington Palace said.

A statement issued by Kensington Palace following the Princes conversation with Mr Drakeford said: The Prince acknowledged his and the Princesss deep affection for Wales, having made their first family home in Anglesey including during the earliest months of Prince Georges life.

The Prince and Princess will spend the months and years ahead deepening their relationship with communities across Wales.

They want to do their part to support the aspirations of the Welsh people and to shine a spotlight on both the challenges and opportunities in front of them.

The Prince and Princess look forward to celebrating Wales proud history and traditions as well as a future that is full of promise.

They will seek to live up to the proud contribution that members of the Royal family have made in years past.

The Prince and Princess, look forward to travelling to Wales very soon, and to meeting the First Minister and other leaders at the earliest opportunity. The statement added.
Thai Restaurant plans for Bridge Street building

A disused building just outside of Wrexham town centre could soon be converted into a restaurant.

Plans submitted to Wrexham Council seek permission to turn 26-30 Burton Buildings, on Bridge Street, from a retail premises and into an eatery.

Previously the building housed a dog groomers business, however the applicants say that if granted the empty shop will be converted into a Thai restaurant.

The building, which was built in 1896 and is Grade II listed, is described as being in a poor state of repair which still requires some work.

If the plans are approved work will be undertaken to the first-floor shop is create an outlet to the rear of the building for

a cooking extraction unit.

Plans show a restaurant area will be located on the first floor and cellar, along with a potential bar area.

The cellar, which will be accessed down a spiral staircase, will also include toilet facilities.

Minimal work would be carried out to the exterior other than repairing damage and replacing rotten woodwork.

The applicants say that the objective is to restore the building to its former glory, using its original materials and having a positive impact on the area which has been left in disarray.

If the plans are given the go ahead the new Thai restaurant would create two full-time and two-part jobs.

Details submitted for consideration to the council state that the restaurant would open between 6pm and 10:30pm Monday-Friday. Opening hours on a Saturday would be 6pm  11pm and 6pm  10pm on Sundays and Bank Holidays.

The applicants say: It is believed that the conversion to a restaurant will have many benefits to the building and city alike.

By changing the premises to a restaurant will also bring the cellar into use which has its own history in itself and will be utilised by renovating the brickwork and preserving the mural on the wall.

The property will be renovated and preserved to high standard with minimal effect to the structure.

The application will be considered for approval by Wrexham Council at a later date.
We stand on the brink of a technological revolution that will fundamentally alter the way we live, work, and relate to one another. In its scale, scope, and complexity, the transformation will be unlike anything humankind has experienced before. We do not yet know just how it will unfold, but one thing is clear: the response to it must be integrated and comprehensive, involving all stakeholders of the global polity, from the public and private sectors to academia and civil society.

The First Industrial Revolution used water and steam power to mechanize production. The Second used electric power to create mass production. The Third used electronics and information technology to automate production. Now a Fourth Industrial Revolution is building on the Third, the digital revolution that has been occurring since the middle of the last century. It is characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres.

There are three reasons why todays transformations represent not merely a prolongation of the Third Industrial Revolution but rather the arrival of a Fourth and distinct one: velocity, scope, and systems impact. The speed of current breakthroughs has no historical precedent. When compared with previous industrial revolutions, the Fourth is evolving at an exponential rather than a linear pace. Moreover, it is disrupting almost every industry in every country. And the breadth and depth of these changes herald the transformation of entire systems of production, management, and governance.

The possibilities of billions of people connected by mobile devices, with unprecedented processing power, storage capacity, and access to knowledge, are unlimited. And these possibilities will be multiplied by emerging technology breakthroughs in fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics, the Internet of Things, autonomous vehicles, 3-D printing, nanotechnology, biotechnology, materials science, energy storage, and quantum computing.

Already, artificial intelligence is all around us, from self-driving cars and drones to virtual assistants and software that translate or invest. Impressive progress has been made in AI in recent years, driven by exponential increases in computing power and by the availability of vast amounts of data, from software used to discover new drugs to algorithms used to predict our cultural interests. Digital fabrication technologies, meanwhile, are interacting with the biological world on a daily basis. Engineers, designers, and architects are combining computational design, additive manufacturing, materials engineering, and synthetic biology to pioneer a symbiosis between microorganisms, our bodies, the products we consume, and even the buildings we inhabit.

Challenges and opportunities

Like the revolutions that preceded it, the Fourth Industrial Revolution has the potential to raise global income levels and improve the quality of life for populations around the world. To date, those who have gained the most from it have been consumers able to afford and access the digital world; technology has made possible new products and services that increase the efficiency and pleasure of our personal lives. Ordering a cab, booking a flight, buying a product, making a payment, listening to music, watching a film, or playing a gameany of these can now be done remotely.

In the future, technological innovation will also lead to a supply-side miracle, with long-term gains in efficiency and productivity. Transportation and communication costs will drop, logistics and global supply chains will become more effective, and the cost of trade will diminish, all of which will open new markets and drive economic growth.

At the same time, as the economists Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee have pointed out, the revolution could yield greater inequality, particularly in its potential to disrupt labor markets. As automation substitutes for labor across the entire economy, the net displacement of workers by machines might exacerbate the gap between returns to capital and returns to labor. On the other hand, it is also possible that the displacement of workers by technology will, in aggregate, result in a net increase in safe and rewarding jobs.

We cannot foresee at this point which scenario is likely to emerge, and history suggests that the outcome is likely to be some combination of the two. However, I am convinced of one thingthat in the future, talent, more than capital, will represent the critical factor of production. This will give rise to a job market increasingly segregated into low-skill/low-pay and high-skill/high-pay segments, which in turn will lead to an increase in social tensions.

In addition to being a key economic concern, inequality represents the greatest societal concern associated with the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The largest beneficiaries of innovation tend to be the providers of intellectual and physical capitalthe innovators, shareholders, and investorswhich explains the rising gap in wealth between those dependent on capital versus labor. Technology is therefore one of the main reasons why incomes have stagnated, or even decreased, for a majority of the population in high-income countries: the demand for highly skilled workers has increased while the demand for workers with less education and lower skills has decreased. The result is a job market with a strong demand at the high and low ends, but a hollowing out of the middle.

This helps explain why so many workers are disillusioned and fearful that their own real incomes and those of their children will continue to stagnate. It also helps explain why middle classes around the world are increasingly experiencing a pervasive sense of dissatisfaction and unfairness. A winner-takes-all economy that offers only limited access to the middle class is a recipe for democratic malaise and dereliction.

Discontent can also be fueled by the pervasiveness of digital technologies and the dynamics of information sharing typified by social media. More than 30 percent of the global population now uses social media platforms to connect, learn, and share information. In an ideal world, these interactions would provide an opportunity for cross-cultural understanding and cohesion. However, they can also create and propagate unrealistic expectations as to what constitutes success for an individual or a group, as well as offer opportunities for extreme ideas and ideologies to spread.

The impact on business

An underlying theme in my conversations with global CEOs and senior business executives is that the acceleration of innovation and the velocity of disruption are hard to comprehend or anticipate and that these drivers constitute a source of constant surprise, even for the best connected and most well informed. Indeed, across all industries, there is clear evidence that the technologies that underpin the Fourth Industrial Revolution are having a major impact on businesses.

On the supply side, many industries are seeing the introduction of new technologies that create entirely new ways of serving existing needs and significantly disrupt existing industry value chains. Disruption is also flowing from agile, innovative competitors who, thanks to access to global digital platforms for research, development, marketing, sales, and distribution, can oust well-established incumbents faster than ever by improving the quality, speed, or price at which value is delivered.

Major shifts on the demand side are also occurring, as growing transparency, consumer engagement, and new patterns of consumer behavior (increasingly built upon access to mobile networks and data) force companies to adapt the way they design, market, and deliver products and services.

A key trend is the development of technology-enabled platforms that combine both demand and supply to disrupt existing industry structures, such as those we see within the sharing or on demand economy. These technology platforms, rendered easy to use by the smartphone, convene people, assets, and datathus creating entirely new ways of consuming goods and services in the process. In addition, they lower the barriers for businesses and individuals to create wealth, altering the personal and professional environments of workers. These new platform businesses are rapidly multiplying into many new services, ranging from laundry to shopping, from chores to parking, from massages to travel.

On the whole, there are four main effects that the Fourth Industrial Revolution has on businesson customer expectations, on product enhancement, on collaborative innovation, and on organizational forms. Whether consumers or businesses, customers are increasingly at the epicenter of the economy, which is all about improving how customers are served. Physical products and services, moreover, can now be enhanced with digital capabilities that increase their value. New technologies make assets more durable and resilient, while data and analytics are transforming how they are maintained. A world of customer experiences, data-based services, and asset performance through analytics, meanwhile, requires new forms of collaboration, particularly given the speed at which innovation and disruption are taking place. And the emergence of global platforms and other new business models, finally, means that talent, culture, and organizational forms will have to be rethought.

Overall, the inexorable shift from simple digitization (the Third Industrial Revolution) to innovation based on combinations of technologies (the Fourth Industrial Revolution) is forcing companies to reexamine the way they do business. The bottom line, however, is the same: business leaders and senior executives need to understand their changing environment, challenge the assumptions of their operating teams, and relentlessly and continuously innovate.

The impact on government

As the physical, digital, and biological worlds continue to converge, new technologies and platforms will increasingly enable citizens to engage with governments, voice their opinions, coordinate their efforts, and even circumvent the supervision of public authorities. Simultaneously, governments will gain new technological powers to increase their control over populations, based on pervasive surveillance systems and the ability to control digital infrastructure. On the whole, however, governments will increasingly face pressure to change their current approach to public engagement and policymaking, as their central role of conducting policy diminishes owing to new sources of competition and the redistribution and decentralization of power that new technologies make possible.

Ultimately, the ability of government systems and public authorities to adapt will determine their survival. If they prove capable of embracing a world of disruptive change, subjecting their structures to the levels of transparency and efficiency that will enable them to maintain their competitive edge, they will endure. If they cannot evolve, they will face increasing trouble.

This will be particularly true in the realm of regulation. Current systems of public policy and decision-making evolved alongside the Second Industrial Revolution, when decision-makers had time to study a specific issue and develop the necessary response or appropriate regulatory framework. The whole process was designed to be linear and mechanistic, following a strict top down approach.

But such an approach is no longer feasible. Given the Fourth Industrial Revolutions rapid pace of change and broad impacts, legislators and regulators are being challenged to an unprecedented degree and for the most part are proving unable to cope.

How, then, can they preserve the interest of the consumers and the public at large while continuing to support innovation and technological development? By embracing agile governance, just as the private sector has increasingly adopted agile responses to software development and business operations more generally. This means regulators must continuously adapt to a new, fast-changing environment, reinventing themselves so they can truly understand what it is they are regulating. To do so, governments and regulatory agencies will need to collaborate closely with business and civil society.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution will also profoundly impact the nature of national and international security, affecting both the probability and the nature of conflict. The history of warfare and international security is the history of technological innovation, and today is no exception. Modern conflicts involving states are increasingly hybrid in nature, combining traditional battlefield techniques with elements previously associated with nonstate actors. The distinction between war and peace, combatant and noncombatant, and even violence and nonviolence (think cyberwarfare) is becoming uncomfortably blurry.

As this process takes place and new technologies such as autonomous or biological weapons become easier to use, individuals and small groups will increasingly join states in being capable of causing mass harm. This new vulnerability will lead to new fears. But at the same time, advances in technology will create the potential to reduce the scale or impact of violence, through the development of new modes of protection, for example, or greater precision in targeting.

The impact on people

The Fourth Industrial Revolution, finally, will change not only what we do but also who we are. It will affect our identity and all the issues associated with it: our sense of privacy, our notions of ownership, our consumption patterns, the time we devote to work and leisure, and how we develop our careers, cultivate our skills, meet people, and nurture relationships. It is already changing our health and leading to a quantified self, and sooner than we think it may lead to human augmentation. The list is endless because it is bound only by our imagination.

I am a great enthusiast and early adopter of technology, but sometimes I wonder whether the inexorable integration of technology in our lives could diminish some of our quintessential human capacities, such as compassion and cooperation. Our relationship with our smartphones is a case in point. Constant connection may deprive us of one of lifes most important assets: the time to pause, reflect, and engage in meaningful conversation.

One of the greatest individual challenges posed by new information technologies is privacy. We instinctively understand why it is so essential, yet the tracking and sharing of information about us is a crucial part of the new connectivity. Debates about fundamental issues such as the impact on our inner lives of the loss of control over our data will only intensify in the years ahead. Similarly, the revolutions occurring in biotechnology and AI, which are redefining what it means to be human by pushing back the current thresholds of life span, health, cognition, and capabilities, will compel us to redefine our moral and ethical boundaries.

Shaping the future

Neither technology nor the disruption that comes with it is an exogenous force over which humans have no control. All of us are responsible for guiding its evolution, in the decisions we make on a daily basis as citizens, consumers, and investors. We should thus grasp the opportunity and power we have to shape the Fourth Industrial Revolution and direct it toward a future that reflects our common objectives and values.

To do this, however, we must develop a comprehensive and globally shared view of how technology is affecting our lives and reshaping our economic, social, cultural, and human environments. There has never been a time of greater promise, or one of greater potential peril. Todays decision-makers, however, are too often trapped in traditional, linear thinking, or too absorbed by the multiple crises demanding their attention, to think strategically about the forces of disruption and innovation shaping our future.

In the end, it all comes down to people and values. We need to shape a future that works for all of us by putting people first and empowering them. In its most pessimistic, dehumanized form, the Fourth Industrial Revolution may indeed have the potential to robotize humanity and thus to deprive us of our heart and soul. But as a complement to the best parts of human naturecreativity, empathy, stewardshipit can also lift humanity into a new collective and moral consciousness based on a shared sense of destiny. It is incumbent on us all to make sure the latter prevails.

This article was first published in Foreign Affairs

Author: Klaus Schwab is Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum

Image: An Aeronavics drone sits in a paddock near the town of Raglan, New Zealand, July 6, 2015. REUTERS/Naomi Tajitsu
Workers at the Stellantis casting plant in Kokomo, Indiana, struck Saturday morning over contract issues. According to a brief announcement posted on the United Auto Workers main website, UAW Local 1166 is calling for management to repair, replace and maintain the HVAC systems (something the company promised to do years ago), address other health and safety issues, provide clean uniforms like it does for workers at other plants, and fix some work rules.

Workers at Kokomo Casting Plant (Source: FCA Media)

The 1,000 hourly workers at the Kokomo Casting Plant (KCP) produce parts for transmissions and other critical components for Stellantis vehicles. A prolonged strike at the plant, according to Stellantis the largest die cast facility in the world, would impact Stellantis operations in the US and internationally within days.

The UAW, however, has no intention of conducting such a struggle and plans to end the strike as soon as possible. The walkout is being carefully stage-managed by both the UAW International and local to dissipate mounting anger over intolerable working conditions in Kokomo and other plants.

Widely despised by workers, the UAW International is pointing to the strike as proof of its willingness to stand up for workers. UAW members have made Stellantis their profits, yet the company is indifferent to the working conditions that Local 1166 members must endure. Local 1166 is also the home local of Shawn Fain, a longtime UAW International rep who is being presented as the official opposition to UAW President Ray Curry.

In fact, Curry and Fain are just as indifferent to the conditions of rank-and-file autoworkers, having negotiated years of concessionary contracts, which abolished the eight-hour day, cut wages for new hires in half and sanctioned the horrific exploitation of temporary workers.

By calling the strike this weekend, when no production was scheduled, the UAW has ensured there will be no immediate impact to Stellantis operations. At the same time, the UAW has told other Kokomo-area Stellantis workers not to support the Kokomo Casting workers by joining their picket lines. Union officials at the much larger UAW Local 685 claim their nearly 7,000 members could not join the picket line because they work for the same company!

UAW officials have also called on Kokomo Casting workers to not hinder in any way the operation of the plant, including by blocking the entrance of contractors.

As in every other plant, there are plenty of reasons for casting workers to strike. Facebook posts by Kokomo-area Stellantis workers note the terrible conditions at Kokomo Casting, in particular, the abuse of temp workers. At the same time, workers expressed deep distrust of Curry, Fain and other UAW leaders.

One worker wrote, I worked as a TPT (temporary part-time) for 10 years and always paid dues never got nothing for it, I didnt even get the bonus or nothing that the full time employee got.

Anyway I got cancer and had to quit and while I was going thru my chemo and stuff they tried to hire me full time and I couldnt take it cause I was sick. This was back in 2011. So it hasnt changed. If I would have been full time or had some of the perks I might still have my job.

Another posted, Some people go through absolute hell to keep that job up standing on your feet 10 to 12 hours a day forced to work at midnights forced to work Saturdays. That environment can create a slew of health problems & God only knows the carcinogenic material that is getting stuck to their clothes and that theyre inhaling that could cause cancer down the line.

In 2018, a worker was horribly injured at KCP after a die fell on top of him. In previous years the plant had been subjected to numerous citations by state of Indiana safety officials over unsafe conditions at the plant. However, the UAW stonewalled releasing any information on the circumstances surrounding the injury of the worker, Eric Parsons, and took no measures to demand improved safety at the plant.

One worker at KCP wrote to the World Socialist Web Site Autoworker Newsletter at the time, Working on the dies in the machines at [the] casting plant there are lock out procedures you have to follow for your safety. Also in moving dies there are safety rules to follow. If any of these are changed it could or will kill you. I have seen two operators killed in machines while I worked there.

In 2018, workers at the nearby Stellantis Kokomo transmission plants voted overwhelmingly for strike authorization over an estimated 200 unresolved grievances, including for health and safety issues and the abuse of temporary workers, but the vote was ignored by UAW International and Local 685 officials.

Will Lehman, the Pennsylvania Mack Trucks worker and socialist candidate for UAW president, said, I fully support the Kokomo Casting workers and the fight for every worker to a safe workplace. But workers have learned from experience that the UAW will never lead a serious struggle against the corporations.

This is shown by the fact that the strike is being conducted on a weekend when no production is scheduled. UAW officials have instructed thousands of members in nearly all Stellantis plants not to show up at the picket line.

The UAW apparatus knows pressure is building, and it needs to carry out an occasional act of opposition to let the steam out. In the past, the UAW called one- or two-day Hollywood strikes, which had no impact on the companies.

When workers force the UAW to call strikes, the union officials dont set out to win them, but to wear workers down. More than four months ago, 1,000 CNH workers in Wisconsin and Iowa went on strike to win substantial raises and cost-of-living protection and the ending of tiers. The UAW has isolated their strike, imposed a news blackout and is forcing CNH workers and their families to survive on $400 a week in strike pay.

The purpose of a strike is to exert pain on the companies. For that, we have to unite all workersteachers, railroad workers, nurses, everyonetogether. Workers everywhere are willing to fight. But we need organization and direction. That is why my campaign supports the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees (IWA-RFC).

The WSWS Autoworker Newsletter encourages Kokomo Stellantis workers to register for a live discussion this Sunday at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time with Will Lehman, a Mack Trucks worker running for UAW president, who will address these questions. Lehman has placed at the center of his campaign the need for autoworkers to organize rank-and-file committees independent of the UAW bureaucracy to oversee workplace conditions.

The WSWS Autoworker Newsletter encourages Stellantis Kokomo area workers to contact us with information on conditions at your plant.
US government lawyers filed a motion Thursday before federal judge Aileen Cannon for a partial stay that would exempt about 100 documents marked classified and top secret from an injunction she handed down last week. Judge Cannons injunction prohibits federal prosecutors from using the fruits of the search warrant executed August 8 at former president Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort while a special master sorts through 33 boxes containing 11,000 pages of miscellaneous paperwork.

The motion for a partial stay was filed immediately after the government filed notice of its appeal of Cannons injunction to the Atlanta-based Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, one of the most conservative federal appeals courts in the country. Six of the courts 11 active judges were appointed by Trump.

The notice of appeal does not stop Cannons order from taking effect, and any ruling on the merits will take a minimum of several months, as issues need to be briefed and argued, and opinions drafted. In the meantime, however, the Eleventh Circuit can stay the order in whole or in part. The rules require that such requests for stays pending appeal first be made to the judge who issued the injunction.

Police stand outside an entrance to former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, Monday, August 8, 2022, in Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

The motion seeks only a partial stay because the government is, for the time being, conceding that a special master can identify documents seized by the FBI that are protected by attorney-client privilege or that should be returned to Trump. The government argues that those presidential records for which Trump claims executive privilege should be turned over to the National Archives with the rest of Trumps presidential papers, where there are federal statutes already in place to allow former presidents to protect certain papers from exposure.

Cannons injunction is not absolute. It explicitly carves out intelligence classification and national security assessments from its broader prohibition against the governments using materials seized at Mar-a-Lago for its criminal investigation. The governments motion for a partial stay argues that the potential damage to US intelligence and national security caused by Trumps illegal retention of the classified documents cannot be assessed fully and in a timely manner without the FBIs criminal investigation tools, including grand jury subpoenas, search warrants and witness interviews.

Because Cannons order allowed the national security risk assessment to continue, the government argued, the order reflects an implicit determination that no potential assertion of executive privilege by [Trump] could justify preventing the Executive Branch from conducting that review and assessment of the classified records, including use of the information by the government in an ongoing criminal investigation.

The government supported its motion with a sworn statement by Alan Kohler, assistant director of the FBIs Counterintelligence Division, that the national security assessment Cannon allowed to proceed has now been suspended because the same agents and supervisors are equally involved in the criminal investigation, and they would be in violation of her injunction if the national security assessment continued.

Cannon directed Trump to file his responsive papers by 10 a.m. Monday. The judge is expected to rule by Wednesday, as the government indicated that it will otherwise ask the Eleventh Circuit for a partial stay on Thursday, September 15.

This increasingly bitter, public dispute between the US intelligence communityrepresented by the government attorneys and the FBIand Trump is not rooted in concern for the democratic rights of the population to the presidential papers Trump removed at the end of his term, any more than it is a deep state vendetta against Trump. The governments legal papers, and the arguments being made in them, are focused on appealing to right-wing judges such as Cannon to protect the most important secrets of US imperialism, including the identities of covert agents and the capacities of signals intelligence from being compromised by the maverick former president.

While the contents of the 100 classified documents remain sealed, according to the Washington Post, at least one document described a foreign governments military defenses, including its nuclear capabilities. Trump has given no explanation for keeping the confidential documents and lying about their continued presence at Mar-a-Lago last June in response to an FBI subpoena.

Trumps possible motives include using the state secrets as leverage to prevent his own prosecution for fomenting the January 6, 2021 attempted coup or other crimes, or to exchange with foreign governments in return for personal favors. Regardless, the haphazard storage of the classified documents at Mar-a-Lago exposed them to theft or copying by anyone who could obtain access, including club guests and staff.

This unprecedented conflict within the highest levels of the ruling elite is unfolding against the explosive backdrop of the NATO-Russia war in Ukraine, intensifying tensions with China, a deepening financial crisis, a pandemic that has taken years off US life expectancy, one climate-related disaster after another, and, most importantly, a growing insurgency by the working class.

According to the government, the approximately 100 documents marked classified that the FBI seized from a storage room and Trumps office at Mar-a-Lago have already been segregated from the other seized records and are being maintained separately. The government asserts that because of their security classifications, by definition these records belong to the government, not Trump. Moreover, they cannot be the subject of attorney-client or executive privilege.

A classification review of these materials was in progress at the time of the Courts order but has not been completed, the government wrote in its stay motion. A classification review means that the original classification authority is asked to determine whether documents bearing classification markings are, in fact, properly classified--in other words, whether unauthorized disclosure reasonably could be expected to result in damage to the national security.

Asserting that the FBI agents engaged in the review of the classified documents cannot be bifurcated between national security and criminal investigators, FBI Assistant Counterintelligence Director Kohler explained, the FBI itself is part of the United States Intelligence Community (IC), and since the 9/11 attacks, the FBI has integrated its intelligence and law enforcement functions when it exercises its national security mission.

Kohler asserted in his sworn statement that Trumps possession of the classified documents may have already compromised intelligence, and the FBI would be responsible for taking some of the necessary steps to evaluate that risk. He continued: The same is true of the empty folders with classified banners that were among the seized materials in this case. The FBIs investigative authorities could be instrumental in determining what materials may once have been stored in these folders and whether they may have been lost or compromised.

Finally, Kohler pointed out that while other IC elements may have certain limited investigative authorities, the FBI is the only IC element with a full suite of authorities and tools to investigate and recover any improperly retained and stored classified information in the United States.

The government cited Nixon v. Administrator of General Services, a post-Watergate precedent in which the Supreme Court overruled Richard Nixons claim of executive privilege when he asserted it against the very Executive Branch in whose name the privilege is invoked. That is exactly what Trump is attempting here.

Based on its analysis, the government asked Cannon for a limited stay, pending appeal, to the extent the Order (1) enjoins the further review and use for criminal investigative purposes of records bearing classification markings and (2) requires the government to disclose those classified records to a special master.

In her injunction, Cannon ordered that the lawyers for Trump and the government confer and file a joint report proposing individuals to serve as the special master and the scope of the review. The report was filed Friday, the day after the governments motion for a partial stay.

The parties failed to agree on a special master or who should pay the expenses. The main substantive disagreement, however, was whether Trumps attorneys and the special master will have access to the documents marked confidential.

Consistent with its position on the partial stay, the government contends that the 100 confidential documents should remain separate, and not be provided to either Trump or the special master. According to the government, allowing a special master to review the classified material would cause the most immediate and serious harms to the government and the public, noting that those documents have already been moved to a secure facility, separate from the rest of the seized Trump papers.

In response, Trumps lawyers wrote, The governments position incorrectly presumes the outcomethat their separation of these documents is inviolable, and their stance wrongly assumes that if a document has a classification marking, it remains classified in perpetuity, a flagrant misstatement of the governments position.

Ignoring the reality that Trump lost the election and has been out of office for more than a year and a half, his lawyers argued, If any seized document is a Presidential record, Plaintiff [Trump] has an absolute right of access to it while access by others, including those in the executive branch, has specific limitations. Thus, President Trump (and/or his designee) cannot be denied access to those documents, which in this matter gives legal authorization to the Special Master to engage in first-hand review.

They add in a footnote, Plaintiff anticipates filing a deeper analysis of these issues in upcoming filings.

Justice Department lawyers filed a sealed report with Cannon explaining that they had already sorted through the documents, using a filter team to separate out more than 500 pages of documents potentially covered by attorney-client privilege. That arrangement was approved by the US magistrate judge who authorized the search warrant for Mar-a-Lago.

The government has asked that the filter report, but not the documents themselves, be unsealed. Numerous media outlets have joined the request, but for as yet unstated reasons, Trump is opposed.
The WSWS has endorsed Lehmans campaign. For more information, visit WillforUAWpresident.org.

Work at Caterpillar? Tell us what your working conditions are like, what you think of the UAW bureaucracy, and what you think workers should be fighting for.

Supporters of Will Lehman, candidate for president of the United Auto Workers union, campaigned at several Illinois factories owned by global construction maker Caterpillar over the weekend, speaking with workers about his call to bring power to the shop floor.

On Friday, Lehman, a second-tier Mack Trucks worker from Macungie, Pennsylvania, issued a letter to Caterpillar workers, explaining his campaign and urging them to form rank-and-file factory committees to link up with John Deere, CNH and autoworkers.

My campaign is not aimed at reforming the corrupt, pro-corporate UAW apparatus, Lehman wrote in the letter, but abolishing this apparatus and placing power in the hands of workers ourselves.

Caterpillar workers showing support for Lehmans campaign [Photo: WSWS]

Lehman continued, In the 1990s, the two strikes at Caterpillar, despite the immense determination and heroism of workers, were sabotaged and sold out by the UAW bureaucracy. The result was a historic decline in CAT workers living standards and working conditions. What followed was the wage and benefit tier system, frozen pay for senior workers, the loss of pensions and COLA, rising health care costs, and the closure of countless plants and widespread destruction of jobs.

Peoria, located in central Illinois, has long been associated with the global construction equipment giant, which maintained its headquarters in the city until 2017. While the area has suffered heavily from decades of deindustrialization and plant closures, there remains a large concentration of Caterpillars industrial operations, with thousands of workers at tractor assembly and engine works, a foundry, a global parts distribution center and other facilities.

A worker at the Caterpillar Mapleton Foundry, when asked what he thought workers needed, pointed to a leaflet with Lehmans letter to Caterpillar workers and said, Its basically everything hes got right here, from what I understand.

Like a number of senior workers, he said his wages have been virtually frozen since the 2000s. I havent liked it since 2005, because of the division they put in. Ive been topped out in my pay since 2007. I finally just got a 29 or 32 cent raise two or three weeks ago.

The two-tier wage system needs to go. Health premiums need to come down. I would really love to see COLA come back. Everybody thinks you make good money working here, but with the price of everything, it dont matter. We need to be treated a lot better.

Many workers at the Mapleton foundry spoke about the tragic and horrific death earlier this year of Steven Dierkes, who died after falling into a crucible with molten iron. I did not know Steven, but they know what happened, another worker said, referring to the company and the UAW. The feeling to me was they put him in a spot that needed to be filled even though he wasnt in great physical condition to do what they were telling him to do. From what weve gathered, as workers, theres a video of what happened because theres video of that area 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but we have not yet seen it.

He said that adequate safety has gone by the wayside as the company seeks to rapidly fill empty positions. They have people in this building who are still training, doing the training for other people. They bring people in by truckloads for Walk-In Wednesdays, and if they need employees then they need employees, but the thing is that theyre just not fitting people to the positions that they should be in.

The company, with the tacit support of the UAW, has sought to evade any admission of wrongdoing in creating the conditions which allowed Dierkes death to occur. Instead, they have sought to shift responsibilityand blamefor workplace safety or lack thereof entirely onto individual workers, with signs outside the foundry cynically declaring to workers that safety is in your hands and admonishing, Dont learn safety by accident.

A sign at the Caterpillar Mapleton foundry declaring safety is in your hands [Photo: WSWS]

Dierkes, however, was the second death in just six months at the facility. A maintenance worker said he performed CPR on the dying 50-year-old Scott Adams, a contractor who fell to his death at the foundry in December 2021.

Scott died two days before Christmas, the worker said. But he fell through the hole in the floor, where he stepped off the ladder and stepped on some plywood and fell to the pit. I did CPR on him. He was alive when we found him. I knew him, he worked for Schaefer Electric. And then I dont know what happened with Steven Dierkes death. It was horrible with both.

In addition to safety issues, the worker spoke out against the concessions the UAW has given up for decades at Caterpillar. Going into the contract next year, we need to get rid of the tiers, he said in agreement with Will Lehmans demands. I started up two-tier. Its BS. Equal pay for equal work. I would love to see the pensions come back too. Our COLA was negotiated away to keep retirees health insurance. That was a concession. Now retirees are playing $700 a month just to keep their health insurance? So retirees on a fixed income are still getting screwed. Were all going to be there if we dont fight for them too.

Im sure that the unions being paid off

Other Caterpillar workers denounced the years-long collusion between management and the UAW apparatus.

A worker with five years summed up his working conditions at the CAT plant in East Peoria. It sucks! Thats for both the management and the union. Both of them dont give a s***. The union is not with the workers.

Another worker said that he didnt feel that the UAW represented workers. Not with the amount of money theyre paid. This corporation makes billions of dollars a year and all the profits go back to the shareholders. We dont get paid enough and the union doesnt do anything about that. I can pay my bills and thats all. That two-tier wage is bull.

We pay into the UAW with our dues and we see how much comes out of our checks for them, and that BS, the other worker said. The problem is they have too much money, referring to the bureaucrats in control of the UAW. The higher up they go, the more money they have.

Both workers expressed interest in learning more about Lehmans campaign and call to bring power to the rank and file. Im sure that the unions being paid off. Money talks, the worker continued. The other worker chimed in, Its like if we go on strike the company will tell the union theyre going to give them a few extra dollars to tell us all to go back to work, and then the unions going to say we need to go back to work. The little guys always going to get the short end of the stick.

In order to have rich, you must have the poor

CAT workers also spoke out on broader social issues which Lehmans campaign is addressing, including the glaring inequality within capitalist society.

The biggest thing for me is equality, said Jessie, a CAT worker in East Peoria.

Speaking about the conditions facing temporary workers, he said, The supplemental thing was new to me. I dont think its fair that a person should have to work from anywhere from six months to two years for [Caterpillar] to determine if theyre good enough to work for the company.

After theyve been hired as full-time employees, he said, they have to wait another year to a year and a half before they can take a vacation. So youve got three years out of them with no vacation.

We live in a world where 1 percent of population is the rich, he concluded. In order to have rich, you must have the poor. If you dont have the poor, the rich dont exist. So best believe that that 1 percent is going to hold on to the riches by keeping you poor.
Japan and South Korea are working towards repairing bilateral relations after several years of disputes over trade and other issues. The move comes as both countries increasingly line up with US war plans against China and Russia. Washington views close cooperation between two of its major allies in the region as crucial.

U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Sung Kim, left, Japan Director-General for Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Takehiro Funakoshi, center, and South Korea Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Kim Gunn, Sept. 7, 2022, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko) [AP Photo]

Japans Vice Defense Minister for International Affairs Masami Oka and South Koreas Vice Defense Minister Sin Beom-cheol met on September 7 on the sidelines of the three-day Seoul Defense Dialogue, which began the previous day. It was the first time in six years the two sides have held in-person vice-ministerial level talks. Since coming to office in May, right-wing South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has made clear that his administration will work to strengthen cooperation with Tokyo.

Sin stated afterwards that the talks were held as both sides feel it is necessary to normalize defense cooperation between South Korea and Japan. He added: We agreed to continue cooperation and recognize the importance of South Korean, US, and Japanese security cooperation in order to respond to and contain the North Korean nuclear and missile threats.

While North Korean threats are the pretext, closer relations between Tokyo and Seoul come as Washington deepens its military preparations for war with China while stepping up its proxy war in Ukraine against Russia.

In Asia, the US has carried out a number of provocations over Taiwan, which is a part of China under the One China policy. Washington formally claims to adhere to the policy, but is increasingly challenging it, goading Beijing into taking forcible action to prevent the US from ensuring its strategic and economic domination over the island. This includes the Biden administrations recent approval of $1.1 billion in arms sales to the island.

Tokyo has likewise followed in Washingtons footsteps, conducting its own provocations. These include sending a delegation of lawmakers to Taiwan last month, only a few weeks after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosis visit to the island sharply raised tensions with Beijing. Seoul is lining up evermore explicitly with US and Japanese imperialism in their war drive against China.

Among the issues Oka and Sin discussed is an incident in December 2018 involving a South Korean naval vessel and a Japanese military patrol aircraft in the Sea of Japan, which is still an impediment to military cooperation. At the time, Tokyo accused the South Korean side of locking its fire-control radar onto the Japanese plane, considered one step before actually opening fire. Seoul accused the Japanese plane of conducting a threatening, low-altitude flyby of the vessel and denied locking onto the plane. Instead, Seoul stated the vessel was using a radar system not connected to the ships fire-control system to locate a North Korean fishing boat that had sent a distress signal.

The incident contributed to the deterioration of Tokyo and Seouls relationship, which continued to decline the following year as a result of trade disputes. The Moon Jae-in administration at the time also intended to allow a 2016 US-backed intelligence sharing pact with Japan, known as the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), to expire in November 2019, and only agreed to extend the agreement under pressure from Washington.

Despite speculation before the meeting, Oka and Sin reportedly did not discuss the normalization of the pact. Seoul, however, has stated that it intends to normalize GSOMIA with Tokyo, in the interest of a future-oriented relationship. A month after the new Yoon government took office, Foreign Minister Park Jin pledged during a June press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington, We want GSOMIA to be normalized as soon as possible together with the improvement of the Korea-Japan relationship.

Washington considers GSOMIA a key aspect of its war preparations and the operation of its regional anti-ballistic missile systems. The ability for Japan and South Korea to quickly share military intelligence during a conflict is crucial, especially given the fact that the US assumes control of the South Korean military in the event of war.

The US ballistic missile system includes the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery and AN/TPY-2 radar stationed in South Korea as well as two additional AN/TPY-2 radars stationed in Japan. The system is designed not to protect the populations of the two countries from supposed Chinese or North Korean threats, but to shield US bases from counterattacks in a US-instigated war. The THAAD battery in South Korea, given its placement, does not even have the range to cover Seoul, with its population of 10 million people.

On the same day as the talks were held in Seoul, US, Japanese, and South Korean officials held a trilateral meeting in Tokyo. The participants included Sung Kim, the US special envoy for North Korea, Takehiro Funakoshi, Japans director-general of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau at the Foreign Ministry, and South Koreas Kim Geon, special representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs. Funakoshi and South Koreas Kim both stated that their respective governments would work to improve relations.

The three accused North Korea of preparing to carry out a seventh nuclear test, a claim that they have all been making for months. They stated there would be resolute responses to a new test, though did not elaborate what this would entail. The US and its allies have boxed North Korea into a corner through long-standing and crippling sanctions on Pyongyang that have isolated the impoverished country from the world economy.

Last month the US and South Korea resumed large scale military exercises effectively ending a deal struck by Trump with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to suspend such war games in return for a halt to North Korean nuclear and long-range missile testing.

At last weeks talks, South Koreas Kim also talked about Seouls audacious economic plan for North Korea if Pyongyang demonstrates to Washingtons and Seouls satisfaction it has taken sufficient steps towards denuclearization. The purpose of Seouls offer, with the support of Washington, is to try and pull Pyongyang out of Beijings orbit, and neutralize the North prior to a conflict with China. However, in August, Kim Yo-jong, a leading figure in Pyongyangs Stalinist bureaucracy and the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, denounced Seouls offer as childish and repulsive.

Ultimately, the developing relationship between Tokyo and Seoul is another step towards a US-led war with China, whether instigated directly with Beijing over Taiwan or over North Korea and its nuclear and missile programs.
If there is a spate of films about Nazism and the Holocaust at present, it is not simply that artists and others remain determined to bring out the truth about one of the most terrible episodes in human history, worthy as that effort may be.

The new films are clearly a response as wellfully conscious or notto the rise and threat of the far right in Germany, the US and elsewhere. These works are as much a warning about the present and the future as they are an attempt to shed light on the past. To what extent they dig deeply enough into the traumatic phenomena, despite their undoubted sincerity and artistic seriousness, remains an issue.

Three MinutesA Lengthening (which opened recently in the US and Canada) is a moving tribute to a town and a population destroyed by fascist barbarism. As a child, David Kurtz emigrated from Poland with his family to the US. In 1938, now living in Brooklyn, he returned to Europe for a sightseeing trip and visited the place of his birth, Nasielsk, some 35 miles north of Warsaw, focusing on its Jewish community in particular. He bought a 16mm camera specifically for the European jaunt.

Three MinutesA Lengthening

In 2009, Kurtzs grandson, Glenn Kurtz, came upon old family films in his parents house in Florida and found the footage shot by his grandfather decades before. The younger Kurtz published a book based on this experience, Three Minutes in Poland: Discovering a Lost World in a 1938 Family Film.

The director of Three MinutesA Lengthening, Bianca Stigter, explains that some 80 years later, David Kurtzs ordinary pictures, most of them in colour, have become something extraordinary. They are the only moving images that remain of Nasielsk prior to the Second World War. Almost all the people we see were murdered in the Holocaust. Of the 3,000 Jewish inhabitants of the town in 1938, less than 100 were alive by the end of World War II.

Stigter explains that for this film essay I examined the footage in the fullest detail, to see what the celluloid would yield to viewers almost a century later. The footage is treated as an archaeological artefact to gain entrance to the past. The filmmakers document the effort, first of all, simply to identify the town and then to determine the identities, if possible, of any of those who were filmed.

After establishing the location, Nasielsk, remarkably, Glenn Kurtz was able (in 2012) to track down seven survivors from this lost town. One of them, Maurice Chandler, who appears in the 1938 footage as a 13-year-old boy, was living in Detroit.

Three Minutes, narrated by Helena Bonham Carter, also includes a harrowing first-hand account, hidden for the duration of the war, of the fate of Nasielsks Jewish population. In December 1939, they were rounded up in the town square and sent by train to Treblinka, where nearly all of them died. One Nasielsk inhabitant escaped to the Soviet Union, but upon returning at the end of the war, found no family members left alive.

Private Desert

Private Desert from Brazil (Aly Muritiba) is a drama that screened at this years San Francisco International Film Festival. It also opened in theaters recently in the US.

Antonio Saboia and Pedro Fasanaro in Private Desert

Daniel (Antonio Saboia) is a tough veteran policeman on administrative leave for violently assaulting a trainee, an incident that made national headlines in Brazil. He lives with his father, suffering from dementia, a former policeman. Daniel believes himself to be in love with Sara (Pedro Fasanaro), someone he has never met, only texted with, and who lives 1,500 miles away. He pursues Sara, who turns out to be Robson, a young man in a blonde wig and a dress. For Daniel, unsurprisingly, the discovery provokes a crisis.

Private Desert concerns itself with sexual oppression, by others and oneself.

The film, despite its undoubted sincerity, has self-serving and formulaic features. As soon as we realize that Sara is a young man, is there truly any doubt as to where this film is going? Isnt it probable that Daniels severe anger and frustration will be located, at least in part, in repressed desires?

The director Muritiba told Variety that when making this film it was clear to me I wanted to do a love story in a country that is fighting, torn between its own contradictions and led by a man like Bolsonaro. I thought if this love story could be lived and felt  by a policeman, who discovers that he can love, even for a day or a week, another man, then this could be a great success. A great success from which point of view?

One has the distinct impression that Donald Trump and his Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro figure prominently in this film. A certain portion of the artists, taken aback and overwhelmed by changes and processes they do not understand very well, are working backward from the fascistic leaders and drawing misguided conclusions about the population and its supposed shortcomings or neuroses. (See also Jane Campions The Power of the Dog.) According to this line of reasoning, social violence and reaction at the top are the inevitable expression of broader sexual and family dysfunction, including, especially, toxic masculinity.

The filmmakers forget that the consciousness of men depends on their being, and not vice versa. It is not Trumps psychologically damaged state or delirium (or Bolsonaros, or Bidens, for that matter) that has produced the current crisis-ridden state of affairs, but the current crisis-ridden state of affairs that has produced Trump, Bolsonaro and Biden and placed them at the head of society.
A local Democratic Party politician and lawyer Robert Telles has been arrested for the September 2 stabbing death of Jeff German, 69, a long-time investigative journalist for the Las Vegas Sun and the Las Vegas Review Journal.

Robert Telles booking photo.

Within the last year, German with the assistance of Telles subordinates at the public administrators office for Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, began writing a series of articles which exposed Telles as a bully who fostered a hostile work environment.

A particularly salacious article published in May of this year by German, featured secret video recorded by workers at the office, which only employed eight full-time workers, showing their boss engaging in apparent affair with a lower-level staffer.

As German continued to publish articles exposing Telles, who was elected in 2018 as the Clark County public administrator, Telles took to social media to denounce German as a bully who published lying smear pieces.

This past June, Telles top deputy, Rita Reid, defeated him in a three-person Democratic primary for his position as public administrator.

In a hearing held last week, prosecutors have alleged that Telles lashed out at German for his reporting, which he blamed for him losing the election and ruining his marriage.

The public administrator, while an elected position, is not a high-level post within local government. It is more akin to a bailiff for a probate court. Telles was responsible for securing the property of deceased persons until an executor or the family is located.

Typically, the public administrator, or employees of the office, will accompany police following the death of a person. If a coroner is unable to locate next of kin, the public administrators office will take an inventory of the valuables left behind by the deceased, such as cash, jewelry or credit cards found within a residence, and then lock up the property until a next of kin is located.

In the event families, an executor or next of kin are not located, or are unable to handle the affairs of the estate, the public administrators office could be appointed by a court to serve as administrator of the estate.

In a statement released after the arrest of Telles, Germans family wrote, Jeff was a loving and loyal brother, uncle and friend who devoted his life to exposing wrongdoing in Las Vegas and beyond. Were shocked, saddened and angry about his death. Jeff was committed to seeking justice for others and would appreciate the hard work by local police and journalists in pursuing his killer. We look forward to seeing justice done in this case. We also want to thank everyone for the outpouring of love, support and recognition for Jeff and his lifes work.

Germans body was found outside his home in Las Vegas on Saturday, September 3. Police have claimed that he suffered seven stab wounds to his throat and torso and defensive lacerations on his hands and arms.

Telles, 45, is currently incarcerated at the Clark County Detention Center. He is facing one charge of open murder with the use of a deadly weapon and in his first court appearance last Thursday, Judge Elana Lee Graham ruled that Telles will be held without bail as he awaits trial.

Prosecutors and police have claimed that Telles DNA was found at the crime scene and that Germans DNA was found underneath Telles fingernails, suggesting a struggle. Surveillance video taken outside Germans home around the time of the killing shows a man wearing a straw hat. At Telles residence police claim to have recovered a straw hat and a pair of bloody sneakers, both crudely ripped up in haste.

Telles was arrested due in large part to investigative work done by Germans colleagues at the Las Vegas Review Journal. Reporters at the paper, already aware of public threats German had received from Telles following his reporting, used a police description of a vehicle of interest and Google Maps to confirm a vehicle matching the police description was previously photographed in Telles driveway and in fact, registered to Telles wife.

Last Tuesday, after reporters at the paper confirmed the vehicle, a maroon GMC Yukon Denali with a sunroof, was located in Telles driveway, the reporters began a stakeout at Telles residence. During the stakeout, reporters photographed Telles attempting to clean out the vehicle hours after its description was released by police.

The next day, early Wednesday, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police executed a search warrant on the vehicle at Telles house. Later that same day, police returned to the residence to arrest Telles on murder charges.

Police claim that when they showed up to make the arrest for the murder of German, Telles barricaded himself inside his house, leading to an over hour-long standoff. After the police breached the residence, Telles was taken out of his house on a stretcher with bandages on his arms. Police claim Telles was injured due to self-inflicted wounds.

As an elected official, Telles will continue to draw his $120,000 salary while incarcerated, likely until January 2023 when his replacement assumes office.

German had spent the last 40 years of his life reporting on local corruption, murder, organized crime, mass shootings and various forms of social injustice in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the Democratic Party-dominated center of the gambling industry, dubbed Sin City, he did not lack for material for muckraking.

In January 2020, German published an expose on the deadly Alpine Motel Apartment fire which occurred the month prior and left six people dead and 13 injured. In his report German revealed that the Las Vegas fire department had not conducted an inspection of the property in over two years despite the fact that the facility had a recent history of failed inspections.

Two days after the fire ripped through the building, fire inspectors found 42 safety-code violations, from defective smoke alarms to the use of a steel bar on an exit door which prevented residents from exiting the burning building.
By all indications, Russia has suffered a catastrophic military defeat near Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine, located in the countrys northeast.

Ukrainian soldiers fire into Russian positions from anti-aircraft gun in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, early Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022. [AP Photo/Andrii Marienko]

In the course of six days, the Ukrainian military, armed and financed by the United States and NATO, has taken dozens of miles of territory. The Institute for the Study of War reports: Ukrainian forces have penetrated Russian lines to a depth of up to 70 kilometers in some places and captured over 3,000 square kilometers of territory in the past five days since September 6more territory than Russian forces have captured in all their operations since April.

Borrowing the methods of the Stalinist Soviet bureaucracy, the Kremlin is responding to this catastrophe with lies and evasions. The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that Russian forces are regrouping, a statement that is obviously false. It is impossible to deny that what is taking place is a rout and a massive military and political debacle.

The disaster in Kharkiv is the product of not only incompetent military leadership, but also, and more fundamentally, the bankrupt political strategy upon which Putin based his Special Operation.

Whatever the short term results of the defeats of the past week, the events continue the course of unending disasters produced by the Stalinist dissolution of the USSR and restoration of capitalism.

It will further intensify the crisis of the Russian regime, riven by factions that are arguing for a reckless escalation and those who are calling for concessions to be made to the US and NATO.

The Putin governments decision to invade Ukraine was a desperate and reactionary response to the intensifying pressure of the US and NATO on Russia. Putins strategy, to the extent there was one, was to create the circumstances for a favorable negotiation of terms with the United States and its NATO allies.

Putins entire strategy in waging the war is bound up with the social outlook of the Russian oligarchic bourgeoisie, whose primary concern is to retain for itself control over the mineral and energy resources that the imperialists wish to plunder.

Putin sought to make an agreement with US imperialism that the Russian oligarchy could live with. Speaking for Russias capitalist oligarchy, Putin is far more concerned with domestic social opposition.

The US and NATO have shown, however, that they are uninterested in negotiation. They view the complete subjugation of Russia, including its carve-up into multiple statelets, as a critical strategic goal. Time and time again, the Kremlin has underestimated the determination of the US and its European imperialist allies.

The rapid breakthrough by Ukrainian forces is the result of the massive escalation of the conflict by the United States and NATO. American paramilitary forces are on the ground, directly coordinating the offensive. Ukrainian missile strikes are directed by the US intelligence agencies, which designate targets.

Increasingly, the rifles borne by Ukrainian troops, the armor they wear and the vehicles that transport them are all NATO-standard weapons, paid for by the US and its European allies. Most importantly, Ukraine has been provided with the forces to strike dozens of miles behind Russian lines in the form of the HIMARS guided missile system and M777 long-range howitzer, as well as the HARM anti-radar missile and the Harpoon anti-ship missile. Ukrainian troops are backed by the NASAMS anti-aircraft system, the same system that guards the White House.

The American media no longer seeks to conceal the extent of direct US involvement in the war. In the words of The Hill, the US has become brazen in its intervention in the war. Over time, the administration has recognized that they can provide larger, more capable, longer-distance, heavier weapons to the Ukrainians and the Russians have not reacted, former US Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor told the newspaper.

The New York Times, ecstatic over the Ukrainian advance, wrote: Senior Ukrainian officials stepped up intelligence sharing with their American counterparts over the summer as they began to plan the counteroffensive that allowed them to make dramatic gains in the northeast in recent days, a shift that allowed the United States to provide better and more relevant information about Russian weaknesses.

The Times quoted Evelyn Farkas, a top Pentagon official for Ukraine and Russia in the Obama administration, as saying, These guys have been trained for eight years by [US] Special Ops. Theyve been taught about irregular warfare. Theyve been taught by our intelligence operators about deception and psychological operations.

To refer to the conflict as a proxy war is an understatement. The Ukrainian army has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the US military, which has armed, funded and trained it to the standards of the US Armed Forces.

The US-led offensive has resulted in a catastrophic loss of life, both for Ukrainian forces and for Russia, with reports of more than a thousand people dying per day in recent fighting.

The capitalist governments of the United States and Europe are absolutely determined to carry out their goal of subjugating Russia. The consequences, in terms of the lives of Ukrainians and Russians, along with the disastrous economic and social impact on workers throughout the world, amount to nothing in comparison to the geopolitical imperatives of the ruling class.

It is not ruled out that the Kremlin will conclude from this military catastrophe that it is necessary to wage a massive military escalation, which would itself only lead to an escalation by NATO. Paradoxically, the desperate efforts by the Kremlin to reach an accommodation with imperialism do not preclude a series of actions that could trigger a thermonuclear war.

In a letter to a Russian socialist published on the World Socialist Web Site on April 2, World Socialist Web Site International Editorial Board chairperson David North wrote:

What is surprising is that Putin and his military command appear not to have fully grasped the extent to which NATO had armed and trained Ukraines military. But this failure of their intelligence services is rooted in the Stalinist dissolution of the Soviet Union, which was based on wildly unrealistic, almost childishly naive, conceptions of the imperialist system. While repudiating all association with Marxism, the Kremlin retained its faith in the possibility of peaceful coexistence with its Western Partners. Putin, shortly before ordering the invasion, complained pathetically that Russia had been played by the West.

North concluded:

The defense of the Russian masses against imperialism cannot be undertaken on the basis of bourgeois nation-state geopolitics. Rather, the struggle against imperialism requires the rebirth of the proletarian strategy of world socialist revolution. The Russian working class must repudiate the entire criminal enterprise of capitalist restoration, which has led to disaster, and re-establish its political, social and intellectual connection with its great revolutionary Leninist-Trotskyist heritage.

Putin opened the Russian offensive against Ukraine with a condemnation of Vladimir Lenin. But for all Putins bluster, the world we inhabit today is the world Lenin described in his 1916 work, Imperialism, which demonstrated that war and colonial domination express the essential characteristics of the capitalist system.

The Stalinist bureaucracy dissolved the Soviet Union based on the false belief that imperialism was merely an invention of Lenin, and that a capitalist Russia could reach a modus vivendi with European and American imperialism. The ensuing three decades have shown, however, that this was a colossal delusion.

The central task is to mobilize the working class in opposition to imperialist war. This requires a break not only with all of the forces of the petty-bourgeois pseudo-left that defend the US/NATO war drive, but those who claim that Russian nationalism offers a solution to the catastrophe created by the dissolution of the USSR.

It is necessary to make a warning: The debacle suffered by the Russian military over the past week only presages a further and even more bloody escalation of the war. The imperialist powers smell blood in the water, and they will redouble their efforts to conquer and subjugate Russia.

Russias debacle will only further embolden the most reactionary forces within Ukrainian society, as well as the US war planners, to believe they can reproduce this success by triggering a war with China over Taiwan.

But this escalation will at the same time intensify the war on the populations of the United States and Europe, who will pay the cost of the war in the form of surging prices and falling living standards. Already, the war has triggered a collapse in workers living standards amid a staggering escalation of military budgets, as prices for natural gas have surged ten-fold in Europe.

The 20th century witnessed the most destructive wars in human history. In the 21st century, capitalism now threatens disasters on an even greater scale.

The only social force capable of stopping the imperialist war drive is the international working class. It must combine its economic demands in opposition to the surging cost of living with the struggle against war and the fight to unite the workers of Europe, Asia and the Americas in a common struggle against the capitalist system.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency Friday for the entire state, as the polio outbreak continues to widen. The detection of the virus that causes polio in a wastewater sample in Nassau County, on Long Island, at the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year appears to have been the tipping point.

According to state health officials, polio virus had been identified in 56 samples collected from wastewater in Rockland, Orange, and Sullivan counties, which extend northwest from New York City along the New Jersey and Pennsylvania border, as well as in the city itself, between May and August, and now Nassau in early September.

Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks at a subway in Manhattan on Tuesday, Apr. 12, 2022. [Photo by Marc A. Hermann / MTA / CC BY 4.0

About 50 of these samples were genetically linked to the polio case diagnosed in a young Jewish man from Rockland County in June who had never been vaccinated. The county is home to a large community of the Hasidic (ultra-orthodox), whose vaccination rates have been much lower than the general population.

The symptoms of the young man included fever, stiffness in his neck, and weakness in his legs. The virus usually spreads through contamination with virus-laden fecal material. In this case, the polio virus was detected in his stool.

Troubling, however, is that seven of the samples have not been linked to the Rockland County case, implying there has been far more undetected community spread than previously thought. In the case of the young man in Rockland, he was probably infected a week to three weeks prior to presenting with symptoms. He hadnt traveled abroad, but had attended a recent large gathering.

Polio was eliminated in the US back in 1979, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The last polio case in 2013 was in someone who caught the disease while traveling abroad. The current outbreak was caused by a vaccine-derived poliovirus, meaning someone who had been vaccinated with an attenuated poliovirus oral vaccine (the Sabin vaccine) had shed the virus, leading to community spread.

In the US, polio immunization is given by injection using an inactivated poliovirus vaccine (the Salk vaccine). Because it does not contain a live virus, there is no possibility of those vaccinated shedding the virus. On the other hand, the oral poliovirus vaccine, which has been a critical factor in eradicating the wild poliovirus around the world, induces immunity using a weakened live virus which under normal circumstances is not dangerous.

However, some people with immunodeficient disorders vaccinated with the oral poliovirus vaccine can possibly shed the live attenuated virus and cause outbreaks in places where vaccine coverage is low. This is precisely the concern being raised by health officials in New York.

As Governor Hochuls declaration notes, Routine vaccination rates against polio across all ages have decreased throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine hesitancy has increased. She added that the vaccination rate against polio among two-year-old children in New York is 78.96 percent and is significantly less than that in several counties and zip codes. In Rockland County, that figure is as low as 37 percent in one ZIP code.

The intent of an emergency declaration is to enlist state and federal resources that are otherwise unavailable or insufficient, for the purpose of bolstering the immunization drives, expanding the network of polio vaccine administrators with the addition of EMS workers, midwives, and pharmacists and authorize physicians and certified nurse practitioners to issue non-patient-specific standing orders for polio vaccines. It also places requirements on health systems to track and report data to the New York State Department of Health.

As State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett said, On polio, we simply cannot roll the dice. If you or your child are unvaccinated or not up to date with vaccination, the risk of paralytic disease is real. I urge New Yorkers to not accept any risk at all. Polio immunization is safe and effectiveprotecting nearly all people against disease who receive the recommended doses. Do not wait to vaccinate.

Indeed, the reemergence of polio after more than four decades of absence has sent a shudder throughout communities in the US, where there was a general assumption that this terrifying disease was relegated to the history books. Given that polio causes paralysis in only a small fraction of its victims, a single case of paralytic polio means there are hundreds of people infected who are spreading it to others unawares.

However, it isnt just the emergence of polio that has been so unsettling. Placing it in the context of the COVID pandemic that has killed almost 1.1 million Americans in the last three years and debilitated millions more, and now amidst an unprecedented monkeypox pandemic, the significance is profound.

This triple blow is not simply an unfortunate but random event. It is, in Marxian terms, a series of seeming accidents that express historical necessity. Both the emergence of new and the revival of old pandemics are the product of what Leon Trotsky called the death agony of capitalism. So too is the manifest inability of the ruling class to maintain a public health infrastructure capable of dealing with one such threat, let alone three at the same time.

Ample warnings were made by infectious disease experts about the possibility of a pandemic potential respiratory pathogen emerging long before the world had ever heard about a mysterious virus sickening residents in the large industrial city of Wuhan in China. The outbreaks of SARS-CoV-1 (2002-2004) and MERS (2012) were only dress rehearsals for nature.

And when the World Health Organization declared SARS-CoV-2 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, the response of the ruling classes around the world was not to adopt the most effective public health strategy to suppress the pandemic, but to seize upon the outbreak as an opportunity to siphon trillions in public monies into the coffers of the financial aristocracy.

An outbreak of monkeypox, which has infected more than 60,000 people across the globe, had been predicted for decades. The pandemic exploded on the back of the COVID pandemic after mitigation measures to contain SARS-CoV-2 were suddenly lifted, providing an opening for the virus to move out from the isolated areas in west-central Africa where it had been endemic. It obtained a foothold in social networks and rapidly spread to more than 60 countries. And now with schools reopening, the number of cases of pediatric monkeypox infections has begun to climb.

Had the available vaccines against monkeypox, including therapeutic and diagnostic resources been made available to assist these impoverished African countries over the last two decades, there wouldnt have been a monkeypox pandemic.

Inevitably, globalization and international commerce has given these once rare pathogens ample territory to exploit. That the current virus has beenup to nowfar less lethal than the historical experience with smallpox has only instilled federal public health institutions with even more apathy. The outcome could have been much worse if the Congo Basin version, known as Clade I, which is much deadlier, had been the clade to erupt suddenly.

However, three years of the COVID pandemic has brought health institutions across the US to the point of collapse. There is now an effort to blame nurses for medical errors caused by overwork and inadequate staffing, scapegoating workers for the crisis of a health care system constantly undermined by the drive for profit. This is one of the symptoms of capitalist rot affecting every aspect of society.

In the case of polio, both the science of the disease and the public health measures to fight it are well understood, and were demonstrated in practice more than 60 years ago. It is a measure of the headlong decay of capitalist society that this disease can now make a comeback, when it should have been eliminated, like smallpox, from the entire planet.

A reservoir of active polio infections remains in a handful of particularly impoverished countries, including Afghanistan and remote parts of Pakistan, as well as a few areas in Africa. But the real source of the danger lies in the decline in vaccination rates, particular in the United States, where the campaign by right-wing anti-vaxxers had significant impact even before the current campaign against any mitigation effort against COVID-19.

The vulnerability of the Hasidic communities in New York state, for example, has nothing to do with their version of Judaism. It relates to the pernicious efforts of anti-vaxxers to spread suspicion and fear of vaccination among isolated populations, both in remote rural areas and in certain populations in more urbanized areas.

Lack of public education on vaccinations, curriculum designed to teach children and youth on the history of public health and nature of diseases, funding of health care and public health commensurate with social equality, and the implementation of pandemic prevention systems that are coordinated internationally only function to make future pandemics inevitable despite the existence of ample resources and capacity to prevent and eradicate them.

Indeed, the declaration of emergency against polio is also a declaration of the utter failure of public health in the United States. It is also a measure of fear among the ruling elites that the facade they have been upholding is crumbling where they stand.
Many animals signal to each other vocally or by banging on things, but new research in a Ugandan rainforest shows that each chimpanzee pounds on tree roots with its own individual signature drum beat to send messages more than 1km away. Combined with their hooting and hollering, it sounds like free jazz to me. From the BBC News:

The scientists say that the signature rhythms allow them to send information over long distances, revealing who is where, and what they are doing[]

Lead researcher on this study, PhD student Vesta Eleuteri from the University of Vienna, described how some individuals have a more regular rhythm, like rock and blues drummers, while some have more variable rhythms, like jazz.

"I was surprised that I was able to recognise who was drumming after just a few weeks in the forest," she said. "But their drumming rhythms are so distinctive that it's easy to pick up on them."

Ms Eleuteri described one young male chimp, that researchers have named Tristan, as "the John Bonham (late Led Zeppelin drummer) of the forest".

"He makes these very long drumming bouts with lots of beats and you can tell them from far away, so you can just tell it's Tristan drumming."
The two-day event (7-8 September), entitled AfCFTA: Challenges and Opportunities, was jointly organized by the University of Mauritius, North-West University (South Africa), University of Tunis (Tunisia), University of Nairobi (Kenya), Universite dAbomey-Calavi (Benin), Cheikh Anta Diop University (Senegal), University of Rwanda, Cairo University (Egypt), National University of Lesotho, University of Yaounde 2 (Cameroon), Universite Mohammed V Rabat (Morocco) and Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia). In addition to many academics from universities in Africa and overseas, the programme featured also high-ranking officials from governments and regional organizations, such as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mauritius Alan Ganoo.

DDG Zhang's full remarks are below.

WCP African Regional Conference on AfCFTA: Challenges and Opportunities

Welcoming Address

Honourable Minister Mr Alan Ganoo, Minister of Land Transport and Light Rail and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Mauritius, Distinguished professors, WTO Chairs Holders, Members of the WCP Advisory Boards, Representatives of various WTO Chairs in Africa and WCP research and knowledge network, Representatives of the Donors community, invited guests and experts, ladies and gentlemen, good morning.

It is a great pleasure to join you for this WCP Virtual International Conference on International Trade and Investment with Special Theme on AfCFTA: Challenges and Opportunities.

I would like to start by thanking the organizers, all the African Chairs holders and your team, for the efforts to bring together academics from more than 13 African countries and come with such an impressive conference programme.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, the Chairs Programme is an important and integral part of WTO's biennial technical assistance plan. This Programme aims to promote global research on trade issues, build up interactive relationship between policy makers, research institutions and national stakeholders, and train new generations of trade experts who will provide strong expertise in evidence-based trade policy formulation and implementation.

The Programme supports developing and least developed countries' trade-related capacities by partnering with universities to provide tailor-made research which would be integrated into the policymaking processes. As such, I welcome this international Conference and I am particularly pleased to note that this conference is jointly organised by the 13 African Chairs. This represents 1/3rd off the total Chairs which compose this worldwide network. This is the first time since the WTO Chairs Programme exists that we have such a continental research initiative from the WCP knowledge network.

I would also like to reiterate my gratitude to our donors for their continuing support for the Programme  in particular Australia, Austria, France and Korea whose invaluable contributions and participation in the Chairs Programme have made this research, training and knowledge network an effective, inclusive and worldwide one.

This first ICITI 2022 tackles an important issue related to African continental trade integration and the role of trade to support inclusive growth. Since the Boosting Intra-African Trade initiative and the implementation of the AfCFTA, African countries have launched an important signal to the world: trade is a fundamental driver to growth, a key determinant to support economic transformation and shared prosperity. Both the AfCFTA and the WTO are important to help African countries achieving these goals.

As you may recall, WTO members successfully concluded the 12th Ministerial Conference in Geneva last June and agreed on a series of key trade initiatives. The conference recalled the critical role of the WTO in providing responses to global challenges and multiple crises such as food insecurity, the COVID-19 pandemic and future pandemics. An important result was certainly the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies which prohibits certain forms of fisheries subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing and addressees specifically the SDG 14.6. The MC12 package has important ramifications for the sustainability of the multilateral trading system, and I take this opportunity to also encourage Chairs to work on both the implementation of the MC12 outcomes and the unfinished agenda.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, as you know, the WTO African Group is composed of no less than 44 WTO Members and 9 WTO observers; and, it is important that the Members of the WTO African Group can also benefit from evidence-based applied research that could support and facilitate the resolution of trade issues and consensus on negotiating positions among the Group. It is equally important that the WTO African Chairs contribute to develop the technical capacities and support the generation of new trade experts.

This WCP African network is now composed by the University of Mauritius (Mauritius), North-West University (South Africa), University of Tunis (Tunisia), University of Nairobi (Kenya), Universite dAbomey-Calavi (Benin), Cheikh Anta Diop University (Senegal), University of Rwanda (Rwanda); Cairo University (Egypt), National University of Lesotho (Lesotho), University of Yaounde 2 (Cameroon), Universite Mohammed V Rabat (Morocco) and Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia). We are planning to launch new call for applications to select new additional Chairs and I encourage interested universities in Africa to consider applying to become a WTO Chair. Stay tuned.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, when I spoke at the official launch of the WTO Chair in Cameroon some months ago, I indicated in my opening remarks my expectation to see the WCP network serving as a catalyst and enabler to support regional research initiates and South-South partnerships, and to stimulate joint research initiatives such as those your conference is going to discuss thoroughly. I was not anticipating that the 13 African Chairs would get together so expeditiously and so methodically with a very detailed, comprehensive, well designed and ambitious research conference. Congratulations!

Indeed, the research agenda and conference programme you have designed aims to provide a forum not only for academics working on issues related to Africa, AfCFTA and developing countries in general, but also for policymakers from governments in the region who can discuss and deliberate on the implications, benefits, challenges and opportunities of the AfCFTA and how the AfCFTA could be a game changer for trade in Africa. We do believe at the WTO that a strong AfCFTA contributes to support the multilateral trading system.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, the various topics included in your conference programme provide great insights on interactions and complementarities between the WTO and the AfCFTA, its impact on economic development and the role of trade to support resilient recovery and better inclusion into the multilateral trading system. Topical issues of interest to the WTO are incorporated in the conference agenda, such as trade and climate change, intellectual property rights and TRIPS-waiver-related issues, trade and food security, trade and gender, SMSEs, digital economy, export diversification, market access, trade in services, trade disputes, to name just a few.

I am pleased to note that 34 research papers and 1 policy roundtable will structure this international conference. The conference is a good illustration on how the regional WTO Chairs network could also support policy makers and government officials dealing with the trade policy formulation and implementation in various regions. Let me also take this opportunity to thank the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and its African Trade Policy Centre for the strong support you have provided to support WTO African Chairs. We are looking forward to enhancing this partnership with regional economic commissions of the United Nations. I would also like to thank the AfCFTA Secretariat and the International Trade Centre for their participation in this dialogue. One important pillar of the WCP is dissemination and outreach events and I welcome such high-level policy dialogue which in return could contribute to generate new ideas and new research areas of interest.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is noteworthy that all African Chairs selected under the WCP third phase have planned to develop applied research and specific outreach events geared towards analysing the impacts of the AfCFTA on boosting internal and external African trade, but also providing legal and economic analyses on many areas related to the work of the WTO. The WTO Secretariat is closely monitoring the ongoing deliverables of those Chairs and encourages that relevant outcome could be shared with the Members in general.

What I consider particularly encouraging and enlightening is the Doctoral programmes school that the African Chairs are organizing. This is fully in line with the spirit of the WCP which is first and foremost a capacity building programme, and building the skills of next generation of trade experts is exactly what we want to achieve with this trade-related technical assistance project.

Indeed, 11 research projects from PhD students will be presented and I am looking forward to receiving the conclusions and recommendations of such promising research. I also invite the interested PhD students to consider spending some of their research time in the WTO Secretariat. Indeed, the WTO Support Programme for Doctoral Studies managed by the Knowledge Management Division under the leadership of Dr Zdouc aims to support the development of academic expertise on WTO issues in developing countries. We invite doctoral students from developing countries and least developed countries to conduct research at the WTO and provide students with mentoring in close collaboration with the students' academic supervisors.

The WTO is a knowledge-driven Organisation, and we count a lot of your innovation, creativity and expertise to generate knowledge and technical expertise to support the WTO membership.

I wish the event a great success. Thank you very much.
The New York Times reports that hailstones are having a banner year  which is not something to celebrate.

On Aug. 1, a team of scientists from Western University in London, Ontario, collected a giant hailstone while chasing a storm in Alberta, about 75 miles north of Calgary. The hailstone measured five inches across and weighed a little more than half a pound  The Canadian hailstone added to the list of regional records set in the past couple of years, including Alabama's in 2018 (5.38 inches long, 0.612 pounds), Colorado's in 2019 (4.83 inches, 0.53 pounds) and Africa's in 2020 (around seven inches long, weight unknown). Australia set a national record in 2020, then set it again in 2021. Texas' record was set in 2021. In 2018, a storm in Argentina produced stones so big that a new class of hail was introduced: gargantuan. Larger than a honeydew melon.

As the article notes, hail damage in the US caused a record-breaking $16.5 billion worth of damage in 2021; recently, in Catalonia, a child was even killed by a hailstorm.

Climate change is real, y'all. And it's horrifying.

The Hunt for Big Hail [Oliver Whang / The New York Times]

*Full disclosure: I also write for Wirecutter, which is part of the New York Times Company, which also owns and publishes The New York Times
In the US, almost all automobile speedometers go up to 160 mph even though very few cars can go that fast, not to mention it's almost twice the highest posted speed limit in the country. So why the 160 mph industry standard? From CNN:

Toyota spokesman Paul Hogard said the automaker wants speedometers to be easy to read, so there's value in placing the typical operating speed of American cars, 45 mph to 70 mph, he said, at the top of the speedometer, which is the easiest place on the speedometer for the driver to read. To do this  while maintaining a visually-appealing, symmetrical speedometer  requires a gauge that displays well past operating speeds, he said[]

Joan Claybrook, who served as administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration from 1977 to 1981 told CNN Business that she was "absolutely infuriated" by high-speed speedometers during her tenure.

So NHTSA issued a rule in 1979 that speedometers should not indicate speeds over 85 mph.
Despite being one of the most beloved characters in the history of Disney movies, I doubt there was a single fan of the original Lion King that thought, "you know, I wonder how Mufasa became lion king." However, in the current era of Disney, it doesn't matter if anyone asks for a sequel, prequel, or remake. Disney is going to make sure you consume as much content as they can generate for a single IP.

After the mixed reception of their live-action remake of The Lion King, one would think Disney would show some restraint, lest they further tarnish the memory of one of their most lucrative films. Unfortunately, modern Disney scoffs at the idea of letting a classic property go unmolested. In other words, prepare for a Lion King prequel about Mufasa's journey to the top of Pride rock. At this rate, Disney will green-light an Aladdin prequel about how he became an impoverished orphan.
A local foundation is spending $600,000 on a new initiative aimed at providing more community news to the Sarasota region through a collaborative effort with local news organizations.

The Community News Collaborative is a project of the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation in partnership with WUSF Public Media and will fund an editor and four multimedia reporters who will provide print, audio and video stories to participating news organizations in Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties, the foundation announced Monday.

The journalists will be employees of WUSF, the National Public Radio affiliate licensed to the University of South Florida, and will work from Sarasota. They will provide free content that can be used by about a dozen local news organizations that have been in talks to participate, including the Herald-Tribune.

The foundation said the effort is designed to help fill gaps as news organizations have come under financial pressure from changing business models and reduced staff over time.

Support for journalism: Herald-Tribune welcomes Report for America journalist to cover justice system

More: Season of Sharing: A commitment to community care

Journalism is the lifeblood of a functioning democracy and a civic-minded population, Barancik Foundation President and CEO Teri A. Hansen said in a prepared statement. Yet the economic environment faced by todays local media is challenging their ability every day to report on community stories. We aim to address that problem head on by adding new resources to cover important topics that affect our communities.

Teri A. Hansen, CEO and President of the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation

Foundation officials said while they will work with the collaborative, it will be an independent operation, run by a to-be-hired editor overseen by a board of advisors. They expect the journalists to cover a variety of topics that could include grassroots school coverage, the environment, social justice, underrepresented communities, affordable housing, and the regions non-profit community.

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Logo of the Community News Collaborative, funded by the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation

Jennifer Orsi, executive editor of the Herald-Tribune and Vice President/Content for Gannett newspapers in Florida and Georgia, welcomed additional sources of community news and information.

Communities are better when they have robust local news coverage, and thats what our staff of journalists at the Herald-Tribune works hard every day to provide, Orsi said. This wont change or replace the important reporting we do, but we look forward to working with the collaborative to provide our readers stories of interest to them that we aren't already covering.

The Herald-Tribune participated in talks with the Barancik Foundation and several other local news organizations as the collaborative was conceived. Orsi said she was glad the project had taken steps to ensure the independence of the journalism produced as well as oversight of editorial and ethical standards. News organizations still have to review and sign an agreement to participate in the collaborative.

More: 6 digital benefits of a Herald-Tribune subscription

Other local news organizations expected to participate are the Observer Media Group, Venice Gondolier/The Daily Sun, the Bradenton Herald, Tempo News, ABC 7 WWSB, WSLR, Solmart Media, Sarasota Magazine, Sarasota Scene Magazine and West Coast Woman, though others are able to join.

Logo of the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation of Sarasota

Foundation officials have said they do not intend to compete with local news organizations and will provide the content to be hosted on the websites and in the publications of participating organizations.

The project has been in the works for about three years, said Matt Sauer, collaboration and impact officer with the foundation, and a former executive editor of the Herald-Tribune. But now, with an agreement signed to house the team at the non-profit WUSF and insurance details finalized, they are ready to begin hiring. He said he hopes to have hires completed and community news flowing before the end of the year.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Barancik Foundation, WUSF announce new community journalism effort
Firefighters from the Tahoe Douglas Fire District mop up hot spots in the Lake Shastina Subdivion on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022. It was the day after the Mill Fire broke out in Weed and raced north toward this Northern California community near the Oregon border. Cal Fire crews were mopping up where the fire passed in Weed and Lake Shastina.

As cooler weather and cloudy skies moved into the North State on Sunday, firefighters continued to tighten their grip on fires in the region.

Five significant fires still burned in the region, burning a total of about 57,500 acres as of Sunday morning.

The total numbur of acres burned rose 1,073 acres from what was reported Saturday night. The percentage of containment on those blazes also rose from an average of about 63% to about 65% from Saturday to Sunday, according to fire officials.

After record-breaking high temperatures that reached 115 degrees last week in Redding, the high temperature Monday was expected to be in the low 90s with highs in the 80s for the rest of the week.

Here is a breakdown of acreage burned and percent containment on the five fires:

The Forward Fire near Manton in eastern Tehama County had burned about 160 acres and was 20% contained as of Sunday morning, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Forward Fire update: Blaze grows to 160 acres with 5% containment

There was no change in the size of the Forward Fire from Saturday to Sunday, but the percent of containment rose from 10% to 20%, Cal Fire said.

The Mountain Fire west of Mount Shasta in Siskiyou County was at 12,635 acres and 60% contained Sunday. The fire was 11,562 acres and 70% contained Saturday.

The Mill Fire, which burned in Weed in Siskiyou County, was 3,935 acres and 90% contained. The Mill Fire has not grown in size in at least a week.

A spot fire burns downwind from the Forward Fire that started Friday afternoon, Sept. 9, 2022, east of Manton.

The Coyote Fire in northeast Siskiyou County remained 297 acres, the same as Saturday. However, containment on the blaze grew from 60% Saturday to 65% Sunday.

The Six Rivers Lightning complex, burning in Humboldt and Trinity counties near Willow Creek, was 41,540 acres Sunday and 91% contained. The two fires that made up the complex were 89% contained Saturday and 91% contained Sunday.

The size of the complex did not grow from Saturday to Sunday, according to U.S. Forest Service officials.

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'Triple-dip' La Nina is on the way:Here's what it means for weather in the US

Damon Arthur is the Record Searchlights resources and environment reporter. He is part of a team of journalists who investigate wrongdoing and find the unheard voices to tell the stories of the North State. He welcomes story tips at 530-338-8834 by email at damon.arthur@redding.com and on Twitter at @damonarthur_RS. Help local journalism thrive by subscribing today!

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Cooler weather arrives in Northern California as wildfires burn
The importance of King Charles shouldn't be underestimated despite the fact that the monarch in the United Kingdom is largely ceremonial, former British Prime Minister David Cameron said in an interview with "CBS Evening News" anchor and managing editor Norah O'Donnell.

The interview comes as King Charles III takes the throne in the United Kingdom after the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. The queen's funeral is scheduled to be held on Sept. 19.

Cameron is one of 15 prime ministers who served during her 70-year reign. Just one week ago, Queen Elizabeth undertook one of her last official acts before her death: Accepting Boris Johnson's resignation and inviting incoming Prime Minister Liz Truss to form a government.

Queen Elizabeth had met weekly with each prime minister in what is called a "private audience." Cameron told O'Donnell that while he was in office from 2010 until 2016, he held practice audiences with Charles to prepare him for when he took the crown.

"He knew his mother couldn't last forever," Cameron said. "Although for those of us, you know, born since 1952, we've always had the queen. And it feels like a rock of our lives has disappeared. So, I think he knew one day he would take on the role. He's thought deeply about it. He wanted to get every part of it right."

Former British Prime Minister David Cameron / Credit: CBS News

O'Donnell asked what kind of real power the new king can have.

"In our system, the king now is the sovereign, but Parliament is sovereign," Cameron responded.

"So it is mostly ceremonial, but we shouldn't underestimate its importance in two ways," Cameron continued. "One is, I think that our system of constitutional monarchy and democracy has brought us great success and stability. The politicians down here can fight it out all they want. We have a unifying figure at the head."

"And the second thing I'd say and I feel this very deeply having watched Queen Elizabeth II in action is she was the world's greatest public servant, and one of the world's greatest diplomats," Cameron added. "Look at what she did to help bring Britain and Germany together after the war. Look at what she did to help with the transition to a non-racial South Africa. Look what she did when I was prime minister. Her visit to the Republic of Ireland and healing so many of the wounds in that relationship was remarkable only she could have done."

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Charles III: What changes might we see from Britain's new king?

When Queen Elizabeth took the throne, she was the head of state in 32 countries that made up the Commonwealth. Now that has been whittled down to 15 countries for which King Charles serves as head of state, and some have already revived debate about leaving the Commonwealth.

Cameron said it would be "their decision" if any of those remaining countries wish to leave. "But I think people can see, and they see this week, that having a constitutional monarchy where your head of state is above politics and a symbol of unity and a symbol of service and duty, and your politicians can fight out the issues underneath that. It's a good system," he continued. "It's served us well, and it's served others well, too."

On a lighter note, Cameron, having had so many private audiences with Queen Elizabeth, recalled that she had a "very good sense of humor"  and was a "phenomenally good driver."

Queen Elizabeth II was the longest-serving British monarch in history when she died last week at 96. On Monday, Britain's two houses of Parliament came together at London's Westminster Hall to express their condolences to King Charles and his wife, Camilla, the queen consort.

"Parliament is the living and breathing instrument of our democracy," the king told the gathered politicians. "While very young, her late majesty pledged herself to serve her country and her people and to maintain the precious principles of constitutional government which lie at the heart of our nation. This vow she kept with unsurpassed devotion. She set an example of selfless duty which, with God's help and your counsels, I am resolved faithfully to follow."

King Charles then flew to Edinburgh to escort his mother's coffin along with his three siblings, Princess Anne and Princes Andrew and Edward.

Rosie O'Donnell discusses starring in Showtime's "American Gigolo"

Rolling Stone magazine co-founder Jann Wenner on new memoir: "Like a Rolling Stone"

Justice Dept. says Trump nominee acceptable as "Special Master": CBS News Flash August 12, 2022
PORTSMOUTH  Leaders of last years inaugural BIPOC Fest in Portsmouth, a celebration of diversity and the Seacoasts Black and Indigenous people of color, are expanding and rebranding the event this fall.

Renamed the New England BIPOC Fest, about 30 food vendors, arts and culture organizations and nonprofits from around New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont are scheduled to participate.

The event was founded by David Vargas, owner of Vida Cantina in Portsmouth, where the festival is held, and Evan Mallett, owner of Black Trumpet Bistro in Portsmouth. and Vargas also owns Ore Nells Barbecue on Badgers Island in Kittery, Maine.

Joanna Kelley, right, assistant mayor of Portmsouth, and David Vargas, owner of Vida Cantina restaurant, are making plans Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022 to hold the New England BIPOC Fest on Sept. 25 at Vida Cantina.

Recalling last falls event in the parking lot of Vida Cantina, which had approximately 750 attendees, Vargas said an impassioned speech about the festival from event organizer Joanna Kelley, who is now Portsmouth's assistant mayor and also owns Cup of Joe Cafe and Bar, was one of the day's most memorable moments.

Children played games, music rang through the air, and a traditional Indonesian dance led to hundreds of people jumping on their feet in participation.

Its overwhelming and incredible at the same time, Vargas said of the event. Its beautiful.

When is the 2022 New England BIPOC Fest?

The New England BIPOC Fest, sponsored by Service Credit Union, will be held outside of Vida Cantina on Route 1 in Portsmouth on Sunday, Sept. 25 from noon to 6 p.m.

Admission to the event is free, though donations can be made upon entry.

What vendors, musical acts and organizations will be at the festival?

Kelley and Vargas are aiming to draw 1,000 people to this year's event, which will feature a mariachi band, reggae artists, Zumba by Marienela, DJ Skooch, and the Seacoast West African Dance and Drum group, in addition to other cultural dances and rituals.

Communities are made up of communities, said Kelley, adding the intention of the New England BIPOC Festival is to showcase the people who make up the Seacoast, as well as now spotlighting different cultural groups across New England.

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Vida Cantina owner David Vargas and Portsmouth Assistant Mayor Joanna Kelley, seen Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022, are getting ready for the New England BIPOC Fest to be held Sept. 25 at Vida Cantina.

Area eateries and restaurants scheduled to serve food and beverages at the festival include Roses Spring Rolls, Sassy Biscuit, Habibi and Southern Girl Bakery.

Organizations slated to participate include the James Beard Foundation, Occupy New Hampshire, the Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook-Abenaki People, Black Lives Matter Seacoast, Indigenous New Hampshire and more.

Its going to be packed, its going to be fun, Kelley said. Its a time to bring everyone together. Its not exclusionary.

Kelley: Most money raised given back to nonprofits

New England BIPOC Fest leaders have helped to raise $25,000 for the event this year, a large sum of which will be directed back into the festivals participating vendors, acts and organizations.

Each restaurant and act appearing at the New England BIPOC Fest will be paid a stipend and participating nonprofits will receive donations from the festivals leadership.

Kelley estimated 60% to 70% of money raised for the event is directed back to community groups and businesses. The donations and stipends distributed after last years event totaled about $8,000.

Joanna Kelley, assistant mayor of Portsmouth, and David Vargas, owner of Vida Cantina, are getting ready for the 2022 New England BIPOC Fest, seen together at the restaurant Wednesday, Sept. 7.

The money that comes in goes back out to the community. It goes directly to the nonprofits on the ground, Kelley said.

The festivals leaders are looking to establish it as a 501(c)(3) organization and are looking ahead to the future of the festival, with their sights set on moving it to the Bridge Street parking lot off downtown Portsmouth next year.

Festival committee member Marie Collins, a PhD student at the University of New Hampshire, feels that food and art serve as a conduit in bringing members of communities together.

I think it can be easy to fall into the trap of focusing on the divisive aspects of any community, she said. We want this celebration to be a reminder that diversity and variability are what give our community here on the Seacoast strength.

Information: newenglandbipocfest.com

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: New England BIPOC Fest 2022 in Portsmouth NH: What to know
PHOTO: AUBRIE PICK

As a child in Algeria, Warda Bouguettaya was often in the kitchen with her mother and grandmother, pestering them to let her pitch in. When she was a teenager, her mother finally gave in and began teaching Bouguettaya how to cook. The first dish she mastered was chocolate mousse. These days, Bouguettaya is still whipping up batches of it in her sun-dappled Detroit bakery, Warda Patisserie, where a silky chocolate-pear mousse is just one component of her multilayer pear and chocolate entremet, a stunning dessert that takes three days to make.

Bouguettaya was obsessed with food from an early age, but it took her several decades to finally open her dream bakery at age 38. As a young adult, she studied French literature at university and planned to become a journalist. It was only when Bouguettaya moved from Algeria to Detroit with her husband, Mohamed, for his job that cooking became front and center in her life. Bouguettaya could not work due to visa issues and longed for the meals that comforted her. "I would call my mom and just ask her, 'OK, Mom, what are you cooking today? And how'd you do that?'" Bouguettaya would then replicate the dishes for Mohamed's friends. Then she started to dream of a spot where she could cook professionally.

Meet all of Food & Wine's Best New Chefs 2022

At first she and Mohamed contemplated opening a small Algerian restaurant, as so few of them existed in the greater Detroit area. In 2005, the couple spotted a flyer for a daylong course on how to start your own food business. "My husband took the day off of work, and we went," Bouguettaya says with a grin. She put her plans on the back burner for a few years while raising two daughters but eventually started selling Algerian desserts at a farmers market, baking hundreds of pastries out of her tiny home kitchen.

Best New Chefs

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Mohamed then got an opportunity to work in Shanghai, and Bouguettaya again put her dream on pause. But this time, she took the opportunity to attend culinary school at Restaurant-Ecole Institut Paul Bocuse in Shanghai. "They had chefs coming from all around the world to teach," says Bouguettaya. "And they were using not only French ingredients but also Asian ingredients." When she returned to Detroit, Bouguettaya realized she didn't want to pick up the Algerian dessert business where she had left off. "I just wanted to do something that incorporated everything that's beautiful about Algeria, about French techniques, and also about Asia in general and Southeast Asia in particular."

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Read Warda Bouguettaya's Detroit City Guide

The pastry case at Warda Patisserie, which Bouguettaya opened at last in 2018, reflects that approach: French techniques, global flavors, and a soft spot for her Algerian roots. It's a repertoire unconstrained by borders: Puffy mascarpone clouds float atop delicate, glossy lemon tarts; spheres of choux pastry are stuffed with a makrut and strawberry cream; a slice of Russian honey cake proudly displays its layers the way a zebra shows its stripes. There are painstakingly laminated morning buns dusted in sugar and cinnamon; halvah- and chocolate-laced cookies; and stacks of torta, an Algerian specialty that features a tender, puff pastrylike crust wrapped around a savory filling that rotates seasonally (though you can usually find one brimming with garlicky sauteed greens and hunks of feta).

Bouguettaya and her team make upwards of two dozen types of pastry a day  filling tart shells, whipping together cheesecakes, creating fruity gelees  making every detail from scratch. The bakery is a warm and inviting space, bustling with eager customers of all ages. It may have taken Bouguettaya decades to get to this place, but it is the business of her dreams. She and her husband are the sole owners. "We had the vision of bringing people together from different cultures, celebrating the diversity in this country," says Bouguettaya. "We have no big investors, no mass production. It's a neighborhood pastry shop."

Warda Patisserie, 70 W Alexandrine St, Detroit, MI, warda-patisserie-midtown.square.site

Meet all of Food & Wine's Best New Chefs 2022: Warda Bouguettaya | Damarr Brown | Ana Castro | Calvin Eng | Tim Flores and Genie Kwon | Melissa Miranda | Justin Pichetrungsi | Emily Riddell | Rob Rubba | Caroline Schiff
Headshot of American historian Gwendolyn Midlo Hall

Gwendolyn Midlo Hall

Gwendolyn Midlo Hall, best known for creating a database of over 100,000 enslaved people who once lived in Louisiana, has died at age 93.

Hall's son Haywood said his mother died at his home in Guanajuato, Mexico, following the return of breast cancer and a stroke, according to the New York Times.

Whitney Plantation confirmed Hall's death in an Aug. 29 Facebook post celebrating the legacy their "beloved friend" left behind.

"We mourn the loss of Dr. Gwendolyn Midlo Hall," the plantation said of Hall, a "renowned historian of African culture." They later added, "Rest in power. We will miss you."

RELATED: Family Discovers New Va. Home Was a Plantation Where Their Ancestors Were Enslaved: 'Heart-Wrenching'

Born on June 27, 1929, Hall was the creator of the the Louisiana Slave Database, which features 107,000 entries documenting individuals enslaved in the state between 1719 and 1820, according to Whitney Plantation.

Hall identified these individuals via plantation lists, criminal cases and documents such as wills, marriage contracts, leases, death reports and more, per the plantation.

"The database has helped thousands of African Americans find ancestors, connect families, and trace cultural roots," they said.

Hall taught at both the University of New Orleans and Rutgers University, per Whitney Plantation. However, her impact on the realms of colonial and African American history came after her retirement.

After retiring from Rutgers in 1993, Hall used her time to build the searchable computer database, according to the Times. She spent seven years on the project.

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.

"I'm hoping this database will help smooth the path for others to make Africans concrete as human beings,'' she told the Times in 2000 after publishing her Databases for the Study of Afro-Louisiana History and Genealogy.

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"Someday, people will be asking this database questions that I can't even imagine right now," she added.

Hall was also known for her writing, and mostly authored books about African-American and Afro-Creole culture.

RELATED: Johns Hopkins University Reveals Founder, Once Thought to Be an Abolitionist, Enslaved People

One of her biggest works was Africans in Colonial Louisiana, which tackles "the development of Afro-Creole culture" in the region during the 18th century. The award-winning book "is considered the seminal book of Afro-Creole history," per the plantation. Tulane University history professor Lawrence Powell described the book as indispensable, according to NOLA.com.

"You cannot write the history of Louisiana or the South without reference to that book and the trails she blazed," Powell said, per the outlet. "It shows how [slaves] coexisted and created a culture across language barriers. It's a story of displaced people under pretty grueling conditions and how essential they were to the creation of New Orleans."

Whitney Plantation also highlighted the importance of Hall's works in its tribute to the late historian on Facebook.

"We are eternally grateful for Gwendolyn Midlo Hall's contributions to African American history and for her loving support of Whitney Plantation," the plantation said.
A/HRC/51/6

Distr.: General

6 September 2022

Original: English

Human Rights Council

Fifty-first session

12 September7 October 2022

Agenda items 2 et 10

Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner

for Human Rights and reports of the Office of

the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General

Technical assistance and capacity-building

Situation of human rights in Afghanistan

Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan

This first report submitted by the recently appointed Special Rapporteur reflects on developments since 15 August 2021, when the Taliban took power, including discrimination and violence against women, conflict related violations, restrictions of freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, economic, social and cultural rights, and administration of justice. The report also introduces the Special Rapporteurs vision and priorities for the mandate.

[ . . . ]

III. Background

12. On 15 August 2021, the Taliban took control of Kabul, after rapidly gaining control over many provincial capitals. Chaos ensued at Kabul International Airport during an international evacuation operation, which was attacked on 26 August, killing 183 people. On 29 August, a family of 10 including seven children were killed by a US airstrike. By 30 August 2021, international forces had withdrawn. On 6 September 2021, the Taliban captured Panjshir province, long a site of resistance to the Taliban, and declared complete territorial control over Afghanistan.

13. The Taliban declared the state of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the title used when the Taliban controlled the country between 1996 -2001. The Talibans Emirates is led by an Amir, also known as the Supreme Leader who has absolute authority over all matters - religious, political and military.

14. On 7 September 2021, the Taliban announced an all-male, predominantly Pashtun, caretaker cabinet and other key positions at the national and provincial levels. Appointees are Taliban affiliates, many of whom are on the UN Security Council (1276) and individual Member States sanctions lists. This administration is not recognised by the United Nations and as such is referred to as the de facto authority in this report.

15. Although the Taliban have repeatedly claimed that their administration is inclusive, it lacks gender, ethnic, religious, political and geographical diversity. The grand assembly of 4,500 religious scholars and clerics held in Kabul from 30 June to 2 July 2022, was a further missed opportunity to establish an inclusive political process. The all-male assembly was devoid of diversity and achieved little more than reaffirming support for the de facto authorities.

16. In March 2022, the de facto cabinet approved the establishment of the Repatriation and Connection Commission aimed at persuading senior figures to return to Afghanistan. While this scheme holds promise as a step towards reconciliation, factors discussed below, including extra-judicial executions and failure to uphold and amnesty announced on 17 August suggest it will not yield sufficient results in the absence of an inclusive and representative administration.

17. The de facto authorities have suspended the Constitution and dissolved independent oversight mechanisms and institutions including the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), both houses of Parliament, the Electoral Commission, and the Ministries of Womens Affairs (MoWA), Parliamentary Affairs and Peace.

18. Afghanistan is experiencing a complex economic crisis, with natural disasters exacerbating the humanitarian emergency that began prior to the Taliban takeover. Real GDP per capita declined 34 percent between end-2020 and end-2021. Afghanistan received enormous international support over two decades, driving human development gains from among the worst in the world to around the average for a country at its income level. After the Taliban takeover, the Afghan economy almost collapsed as international support halted. This was exacerbated by the now Taliban-controlled Central Bank of Afghanistan which has been cut off from the international banking system including access to the countrys foreign currency reserves.

IV. Application of international legal framework

19. The de facto authorities have effective control over the country and therefore are responsible for fulfilling the obligations emanating from the international human rights and humanitarian treaties to which Afghanistan is a party, regardless of whether there is recognition of a formal change of government.

20. In meetings with the Special Rapporteur, the de facto authorities acknowledged that, from their perspective, the great majority of international human rights norms are compatible with their understanding of Sharia and are committed to Afghanistans international obligations. The Special Rapporteur urged them to fully implement the human rights standards that Afghanistan has freely accepted, including International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR); International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR); Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination; Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); Convention of the Rights of the Child; and Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD); and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

V. Observations on the Human Rights Situation

A. Situation of women and girls human rights

21. The Special Rapporteur expresses grave concern about the staggering regression in women and girls enjoyment of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights since the Taliban took power. In no other country have women and girls so rapidly disappeared from all spheres of public life, nor are they as disadvantaged in every aspect of their lives. Despite this, women and girls remain at the forefront of efforts to maintain their rights and continue to call for accountability. One woman the Special Rapporteur met in Kabul said, Afghan women know what it means to be resilient and strong, we have endured pain and hardship for years during the conflict, we have buried our sons and daughters, but the pain and fear we feel today for ourselves and our daughters futures, while feeling forgotten by the international community, is a pain much worse.

22. The Special Rapporteur notes that women in Afghanistan have faced severe discrimination throughout history. Nonetheless, in the past two decades Afghanistan took important steps towards realising the human rights of women and girls. These include enshrining womens rights and gender equality in the 2004 Constitution and other laws, including the law on Elimination of Violence Against Women, ratifying CEDAW, and establishing the MoWA, the AIHRC, and specialized victim support services and accountability mechanisms for gender-based violence. Noteworthy progress was made in women and girls education, health and womens participation in public affairs. The Special Rapporteur is deeply concerned about the virtual erasure of women in all areas of public life. Women held parliamentary seats, ministerial and diplomatic posts and senior office including as judges and chairs of independent Commissions before the Taliban take over. None remain in these positions.

23. The de facto authorities assert that womens rights are protected under Sharia, however, measures taken thus far generates concern about what this means in practice for women and girls. The suspension of the 2004 Constitution and review of all laws throws womens legal status into question. The dissolution of specialized courts for women and the de facto authorities unwillingness to let female judges serve is adversely affecting womens access to justice.

24. The Special Rapporteur is deeply concerned about numerous evolving rules that are impacting on women and girls rights. Examples include the suspension of girls secondary education, mandatory hijab wearing, stipulating women stay home unless necessary, a ban on certain travel without a close male family member (a mahram), revoking female lawyers licences and demanding that women not wear coloured attire. Of particular concern is the decree that male family members are punishable for womens conduct, effectively erasing womens agency and prompting increased domestic abuse: The Taliban have affected even our normal, educated men, and changed their minds and behaviour, the Special Rapporteur heard. With the exception of one decree issued on 28 December 2021 (forbidding forced marriage, declaring widows have inheritance rights and the right to a dowry in a new marriage, and asserting the de facto courts will consider applications involving women), these directives violate the rights of women and girls. The increasing constraints on womens freedom of movement significantly impacts their ability to access healthcare and education, earn a living, seek protection and escape situations of violence. Cumulatively, these directives deeply impact the mental health of women and girls, creating a sense of hopelessness.

25. Notwithstanding these discriminatory measures, even in the face of threats, detention and violence, Afghan women continue non-violent protest and resistance; they need support. One woman the Special Rapporteur met in Kabul said We will keep our head high, we do not deserve to be imprisoned in our homes, without work or education, we will keep raising our voices until we are heard. We will keep fighting for our rights and dignity.

1. Education

26. Between 1996 - 2001 when the Taliban were in power, schools were closed to girls. Despite their pledge to allow all Afghan girls to return to school after 21 March 2022, they announced two days later that girls secondary schools would remain closed until policies and uniforms followed?principles of Islamic law and Afghan culture. The Special Rapporteur notes with grave concern that this prohibits girls from attending secondary schools. Girls secondary schools are closed in 24 of 34 provinces, forcing about 850,000 girls from school.

27. Tertiary education remains open for women, however there are reports women are not permitted to attend classes instructed by male educators, or with men, thereby reducing the educational opportunities significantly. Without girls graduating from secondary school, tertiary education is unlikely soon.

28. A young woman the Special Rapporteur met expressed her frustration, During the last months, I wake up with tears. I tell myself this is a nightmare because the future looks darker every day. I had dreams to study finance and open my own clothing business. I wanted to travel to many countries and learn from them and bring this knowledge back to Afghanistan. From one day to another, mine and my friends lives and dreams were hijacked. I want the international community to remember that without them, we, the girls of Afghanistan, can never win this battle, alone.

29. The Special Rapporteur stresses that legislation discriminating against individuals or groups on any prohibited ground, including sex, in the field of education violates article 10 of CEDAW and article 13 of the ICESCR, by which the de facto authorities are bound. Education, which must be of good quality for not only girls but also boys, is an indispensable means of realizing other human rights and has a life-long and multi-faceted impact on women and the whole society.

30. The Special Rapporteur is impressed by the determination of Afghan young women he met during his visit who made it clear that they were determined to continue studying despite the restrictions and the accompanying pressure to abide by conservative gender roles.

2. Child marriage

31. Child-rights organizations in Afghanistan have reported a sharp increase sharp in child marriage due to the worsening economic and humanitarian crisis and lack of educational and professional opportunities for girls. A group of younger women told the Special Rapporteur about the increased pressure to marry young, especially in female-headed households, as livelihood and education opportunities have evaporated. The Special Rapporteur was told that girls are being forced to marry Taliban as a safety measure for families.

[ . . . ]

Read the full Report here
In a piece for Post-Colonial Politics, cultural critic Mark Dery explores our now seemingly never-ending collective American horror story and what it's like to "live in a nation permanently on edge, a nation whose nervous system has been short-circuited by post-traumatic stress, a nation that knows it will be retraumatized tomorrow and the day after tomorrow and maybe for every tomorrow to come by the farcical awfulness of just about everything."

The massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas is a case in point. The mindless slaughter of 19 children and two adults by yet another mass shooter is the horror; the nauseatingly farcical part is the Groundhog Day repetition of such carnage268 such incidents, to date, in 2022 alone, depending on how one defines "mass shooting," 17 of them since the bloodbath in Texas. Their mind-reeling frequency, and the cognitive dissonance induced by having to feel shocked/not shocked, sick with fury/benumbed by cynicism all at once, all over again, all the time, gives us that trapped-in-the-funhouse-hall-of-mirrors feeling. The rote "thoughts and prayers" from Republican pols puppeteered by Wayne LaPierre's withered claw up their asses adds to the air of ghastly unreality. So does the headshaking about "partisan rancor" by "news analysts" whose scrupulous both-sides-ism requires them to feign amnesia about the GOP's craven fealty to the NRA and its refusal, for years, to pass even the most commonsense gun-control legislation.

What makes us feel as if reality itself is trolling us is learning that heavily armed officers forbore to rush the gunman, for an hour,while the slaughter of the innocents proceeded apace inside the school because "they could've been shot."

And that state troopers refused to act when distraught parents begged them to save their children but were all action when those same parents attempted to storm the school, pepper-spraying, tasing, handcuffing them.

Read the rest here.

Image: Big Brother, Watching You, in "1984" (1984, directed by Michael Radford)
A Utah school bus driver who told elementary students she'd "shoot them" if another one questioned her driving has led the district to condemn and investigate the incident.

"One more person says 'Where are we going?,' I'm going to shoot them," the driver is overheard saying in a video obtained and broadcast by FOX 13 News in Salt Lake City. "OK, now listen  I missed the stop; I'm trying to turn around. Do you understand? OK. Sit down and be quiet."

The comments were captured on video shot Friday by a Dry Creek Elementary School student aboard the bus and forwarded to the TV station by the student's parent, the station reported.

The Alpine School District, in Saratoga Springs, responded by placing the unidentified driver on administrative leave pending an investigation.

"We strongly condemn any threatening action or language directed toward others," the district says in a statement shared with PEOPLE. "We expect all employees to create safe and nurturing environments free of verbal or physical threats. Appropriate action will be taken to ensure this matter is addressed and not repeated."

school bus

Getty

RELATED: There's a School Bus Driver Shortage in the U.S. -- and One District is Offering $4,000 to Sign On

Also last week in Utah, a student filmed video of a separate incident involving a bus driver in the Tooele County School District, FOX 13 reported.

"The video footage shows the substitute driver making a wrong turn, and students alerting her of the error," a district spokesperson says in a statement obtained by PEOPLE. "Soon after, she becomes frustrated and begins to scream at the students that she is going to turn around and to 'shut up.'"

"It was apparent the students were trying to be helpful, and her response was not acceptable or conducive to our school district values," the spokesperson adds. "The substitute driver has since been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation into the incident."

Both incidents occurred as school districts from Alaska to Hawaii struggle to find and retain school bus drivers.

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One district, in Wayne, N.J., is trying to fill its openings as the new school year begins by offering a starting salary of $29 to $31 per hour with medical benefits for the first year, Superintendent Mark Toback told NJ.com.

"Finding bus drivers is a big issue here and elsewhere. In our case, we still need about 10 drivers to bring us to full capacity," Toback said, the outlet reported.

"We don't see the situation improving anytime soon," he added.

A July survey of school and district administrators nationwide by the EdWeek Research Center found that 86 percent said they lacked enough applicants to fill open bus driver positions, Education Week reported. And 79 percent said the number of applicants for those spots had dropped from the previous year.

The unmet need is an outgrowth of district hiring struggles during the pandemic, as jobs go unfilled across a variety of areas.

"A lot of times, people would choose driving a school bus as something to do in retirement," said Kim Powell, chief operations officer for Charlottesville City Schools, reported Virginia Public Media. "And with the pandemic, a lot of retirees reconsidered if that was the best type of work for them to be doing."

In Indiana, Washington Township Schools Superintendent Dr. Nikki Woodson sent a video to parents in an effort to explain the bus driver shortage, reported NBC station WTHR.

"Unfortunately, even after record high raises the past two years after incentive packages being offered after covering all training fees, after competitive wages and loyalty stipends, we are still unable to fill these positions," Woodson said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was surprised by former President Trumps continued praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin even after Moscow invaded Ukraine, given how much information Trump was privy to about the fellow world leader.

I believe he had enough time, plenty of time, to understand who Putin is, Zelensky told CNNs Fareed Zakaria in an interview aired Sunday.

I think he was sitting at such a high position where its not even possible not to recognize that [Putin] is the opponent in terms of values to your own people. He [Trump] has all the might of this country  intelligence, data  to create [a] psychological profile.

Zelensky said he was surprised at Trumps behavior even after the beginning, with a full-fledged invasion.

Probably he needed this to promote his domestic policy to show that hes ready to find understanding with the president of Russia, Zelensky speculated.

Ukraine in his eyes is too far away. But this war has no distances it could not cover, so I believe he needs to look at the situation without, as we say, pink glasses on, Zelensky said, per CNNs translation.

Trump lauded Putins military moves leading up to the invasion in February as genius and savvy, comments that drew ire even from some in his own party.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) refuted Trumps genius comments, and Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said his adulation of the Russian president aids our enemies.

After the invasion, Trump said he was surprised that Putin had gone through with the attack.

I thought he was negotiating when he sent his troops to the border. I thought he was negotiating, Trump told the Washington Examiner in an interview. I thought it was a tough way to negotiate but a smart way to negotiate.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Happy Monday, OnPolitics readers!

Donald Trump argued against allowing the Justice Department to review documents seized from Mar-a-Lago while a special master independently reviews the records, under a court filing Monday.

Trump's lawyers called the criminal investigation unprecedented and misguided.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon temporarily halted the investigation while the independent review is conducted. But she allowed the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to continue its security assessment of the documents.

In a separate filing Monday, Trumps lawyers objected to the governments two candidates for special master  without explaining the opposition in detail. Trumps lawyers argued that Cannon could hear their complaints privately.

The government is asking the court to choose one of two candidates:

Barbara Jones, a former federal judge in Manhattan, New York who served similar special master roles in the investigations of Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Michael Cohen.

Thomas Griffith, a retired federal appeals court judge for the District of Columbia Circuit.

It's Amy with today's top stories out of Washington.

This Army veteran's campaign is spending millions to unseat Marjorie Taylor Greene

On Jan. 7, 2021, Marcus Flowers resigned from his position as a federal government official and decided to run for a congressional seat in Georgia.

His opponent, Republican firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, unwittingly helped spur the decision through her unrelenting  and groundless  claims that widespread election fraud led to Joe Biden's victory over Donald Trump.

Greene first grew in notoriety due to her embrace of the conspiracist QAnon movement. She has since spent her first term without committee assignments, feuding with colleagues and refuting any ties to the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack. Greene's campaign did not respond to USA TODAY requests for an interview or comment.

An Army veteran with a background in intelligence and electronic warfare, Flowers says hes seen the chaos that extremism and disinformation can sow within countries and communities.

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The Big Lie that Marjorie Taylor Greene and others have been pushing for the last couple of years  that's not helping us, Flowers said, referring to the false election claims. That's not who we are here in Georgia.

If money is an indication, it appears Flowers' message resonates. Americans from around the country have poured millions into Flowers campaign.

Flowers and Greene have raised  and spent  more than $7 million each since the cycle began in January 2021, making the U.S. House race for Georgias 14th Congressional District the costliest this election cycle.

Real quick: stories you'll want to read

"Women are the reason we can win" Abortion-right worries could help Senate candidate John Fetterman and other battleground Democrats in midterms after the Supreme Court overturned Roe.

The queen and the presidents : Even when the visits didn't go as planned  and often, they didn't  Queen Elizabeth II's many interactions with U.S. presidents strengthened the important ties between Great Britain and her former colony.

Biden and leaders pay 9/11 tribute : President Joe Biden and other political leaders paid tribute Sunday to the fallen of 9/11, somberly marking the 21st anniversary of the deadliest terrorist attack in the nation's history.

LGBTQ exclusion at Jewish university: The Supreme Court on Friday sided with an Orthodox Jewish university in New York that refused to recognize an LGBTQ student group on campus. The court may have more to say.

Big races in New Hampshire, Delaware and Rhode Island to wrap up 2022 primaries

The 2022 primary season wraps up Tuesday with a variety of contests in three small states  most notably a Republican showdown in New Hampshire that could have a big impact on the entire U.S. Senate.

A pro-Donald Trump election denier and a more traditional Republican legislator are battling for the nomination to oppose Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., a potentially vulnerable Democratic incumbent.

The New Hampshire race involving retired Army Gen. Don Bolduc and state Sen. Chuck Morse highlights a final primary day that also includes statewide and legislative races in Delaware and Rhode Island. This is the last set of primaries before Election Day, Nov. 8.

With control of the U.S. Senate at stake, Republicans at one time saw New Hampshire as a chance to flip a Democratic seat. But Gov. Chris Sununu, a popular Republican, announced he would not run for the Senate, opening up the nomination to a less-well-known challenger.

What's at stake? The chamber is currently divided 50-50 between the parties, with Democrats in control because of Vice President Kamala Harris' tie-breaking vote. The next majority depends on results from a few closely contested states, including Georgia, Arizona, Ohio, Pennsylvania  and New Hampshire.

Want updates on the Royals' next move?  Our latest newsletter, Keep Calm and Carry On, answers all of your questions about the royal family and what's next following Queen Elizabeth's death. -- Amy

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 2022 Midterms: The costly race to unseat Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
Ukraine's stunning counteroffensive in its northeast likely marks a turning point in the war and has profound consequences for Russia's position going forward, according to military analysts.

The counteroffensive has seen Russia's frontline in the Kharkiv region collapse in less than a week, forcing thousands of its troops to retreat as Ukrainian troops have recaptured hundreds of square miles of territory, officials said.

The defeat not only removes Russia's ability to threaten Ukraine's second largest city, Kharkiv, but also likely ends Russia's ability to mount any major offensives in Ukraine again, the analysts said. It also will have a major knock-on effect on Russia's capacity to hold its positions on the other fronts around the country. It means in the long-run, the war now favors Ukraine, they said.

MORE: Ukraine recaptures swath of land in 'breakthrough' offensive

"Ukraine has turned the tide of this war in its favor," the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington D.C.-based think tank that tracks the war closely, wrote in an analysis. "Kyiv will likely increasingly dictate the location and nature of the major fighting, and Russia will find itself increasingly responding inadequately to growing Ukrainian physical and psychological pressure in successive military campaigns unless Moscow finds some way to regain the initiative."

PHOTO: A Ukrainian soldier helps a wounded fellow soldier on the road in the freed territory in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Monday, Sept. 12, 2022. (Kostiantyn Liberov/AP)

That does not mean the war will end soon, the ISW wroteRussia still occupies around a fifth of Ukraine's territory and is likely to continue into 2023, experts said.

The Ukrainian counteroffensive routed a Russian force that had been one pincer in an attempt to seize the whole of the Donbas region, Russian President Vladimir Putin's minimum declared objective for the war. Ukraine retook the strategic city of Izyum, which had been the headquarters for the Russian effort to advance in Donbas from the north.

MORE: Exclusive: Zelenskyy hints to David Muir of 'plural' Ukrainian counteroffensives against Russian forces

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Izyum's seizure means an end to the Russia's hopes of taking Donbas, the ISW and other analysts said. A second Russian offensive group trying to advance from the south onto the city of Bakhmut has now "lost any real operational significance," the ISW wrote.

PHOTO: Ukrainian military vehicles move on the road in the freed territory in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Monday, Sept. 12, 2022. (Kostiantyn Liberov/AP)

Russian forces were already overstretched as they tried to seize the Donbas region, which made them unable to significantly advance for months, and painfully defending against a Ukrainian counteroffensive in the south, the experts said.

Russia has been unable to replenish its forces because Putin has balked at ordering a full mobilization or putting the country on a war footing, fearing that could lead to domestic unrest that could threaten his rule, officials said. As a result, Russian forces are increasingly numerically inferior to Ukrainian in some areas.

The Russian-appointed head of the Kharkiv region claimed Monday that Russian troops had been outnumbered 8-to-1 during the Ukrainian offensive.

MORE: Exclusive: Zelenskyy tells David Muir 'Russians using Zaporizhzhia as nuclear weapon'

The rout of Russia's troops in the northeastthat saw them abandon dozens of tanks and vehiclesmeans it now must redeploy reserves that it does not have to stabilize the front there, experts said.

But moving some of Russia's troops already deployed on other areas of the front risks giving Ukraine a chance to repeat its Kharkiv offensive elsewhere, hitting places where Russia has thinned its lines, according to the ISW. One potentially vulnerable area is the city of Kherson and the area around it west of the Dniepr river where Ukraine has already made it extremely difficult for Russia to re-supply its forces.

Russia is reeling from the rout in the northeast, its troops' moral will be badly shaken. The risk for Moscow now is that the failure in the northeast could snowball elsewhere, triggering a domino effect as its forces panic and loses the will to fight, Konrad Muzyka, director of Rochan Consulting, told ABC News.

PHOTO: This handout photograph taken on Sept. 9, 2022 and released by the press-service of the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Sept. 11, 2022, shows Ukrainian soldiers loading an abandoned Russian military vehicle on a trailer. (General Staff of the Ukrainian A/AFP via Getty Images)

Without a mass mobilization, that is fraught with huge political risks at home, Russia has no hope of reversing the direction of the war, Muzyka said.

"It's a horrible position to be in and actually there are no good choices," he said. "They have to decide. The alternative is losing the war."

"As a consequence of the north eastern rout of their forces, the Russians now have very few (if any) good choices. Their positions in the east are compromised and require a substantial realignment of defensive lines and logistics," Mick Ryan, a retired Australian major general and fellow at Center for Strategic and International Studies, wrote on Twitter:

PHOTO: This handout photograph taken on Sept. 9, 2022 and released by the press-service of the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Sept. 11, 2022, shows abandoned Russian military equipment during the Ukrainian Army counter-offensive. (Photo by HANDOUT/General Staff of the Ukrainian A/AFP via Getty Images)

The grim outlook for Russia is shared by Russian nationalist military bloggers, who have large followings on social media and are often embedded with their forces there. The bloggers are the most vehement supporters of the war, but recently have written highly critical posts about the Russian leadership, furious at how the invasion has been conducted.

They have demanded the Kremlin call a full mobilization and put Russia on a war footing, warning it is the only way to reverse the direction of the war.

"Not to recognise that Russia is waging a war is the greatest stupidity," Yury Kotyenok, who posts under the account Voenkor Kotenok Z, wrote following the retreat in the northeast.

Recriminations over the disaster in northeast Ukraine also erupted unusually on a pro-Kremlin talk show on the channel NTV. Boris Nadezhdin, a politician, told his fellow guests Russia now faced a choice: "Either mobilization and full-scale war, or we get out."

PHOTO: Ukrainian service members ride on tanks during a counteroffensive operation, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, in this handout picture released Sept. 12, 2022. (Ukrainian Armed Forces via Reuters)

Ukraine's advance in northeast likely turning point in war: Military analysts say originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Fresh cheese wheels

ROSSandHELEN photoqraphers / Getty Images

Over 20 years ago, author Spencer Johnson sold 30 million copies of his blockbuster self-help book "Who Moved My Cheese?" The book was a simple-but-repetitive metaphor involving two maze-bound mice who had to change their behavior after  you guessed it  their cheese supply switches from one part of the maze to another.

Last week, the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published what could've been a standalone sequel to Johnson's bestseller, except theirs would've been called "We Seized Your Cheese." In a statement, the agency said that it discovered over 100 pounds of undeclared cheese in the backseat of a New Mexico woman's car.

The driver, who was only identified as "a female U.S. citizen," was traveling from Mexico into El Paso, Texas through the Paso Del Norte border crossing. She allegedly declared to the CBP officers that she was transporting 10 wheels of cheese that weighed around one kilogram (2.2 pounds) each. Those cheeses were located in the trunk of the vehicle, but officers noticed another 50 wheels of cheese in the backseat, underneath a blanket.

The cheese was all immediately confiscated and destroyed, and the woman was given a $1,000 civil penalty. She was then released and allowed to continue her drive into the United States. "Travelers can import cheese commensurate with personal consumption levels," CBP El Paso Port Director Ray Provencio said in a statement. "A few wheels would generally be fine but not 60. It was undeclared and that amount would be a commercial quantity and additional reporting requirements would apply."

According to the CBP's regulations, many imported cheeses can be "subject to quota restrictions" set by both that agency and the Department of Agriculture. In addition, all dairy products, including butter, cheese, cream, milk, and ice cream must adhere to the Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) requirements, as well as Food & Drug Administration (FDA) requirements. (Imports on a commercial scale  like 100-plus pounds of cheese  need additional documentation, including filing "Prior Notice" of the intended import, on top of registering with the FDA.)

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This kind of thing isn't limited to the United States. In August, an air traveler was fined AUD$2,664 ($1,846) after a sniffer dog in the Darwin, Australia airport smelled two egg and sausage McMuffins in the bottom of his backpack. The as-yet-unidentified man bought the two sandwiches  and a ham croissant  in Bali, Indonesia and didn't eat them during his flight.

When he landed in Australia, his uneaten breakfast was declared an undeclared biosecurity risk. The foods were confiscated, tested for foot and mouth disease, and then destroyed.

"This will be the most expensive Maccas meal this passenger ever has, this fine is twice the cost of an airfare to Bali, but I have no sympathy for people who choose to disobey Australia's strict biosecurity measures, and recent detections show you will be caught," Murray Watt, Australia's Minister of for Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry, said in a statement.

Although it's an expensive situation to find yourself in, at least those two travelers know exactly who moved their cheese (and their egg-and-cheese McMuffins).
PHOTO: ALEX LAU

There are few perfect croissants in the world, yet I found one in Philadelphia at Machine Shop, the boulangerie and bakery run by pastry chef Emily Riddell. As I sliced through the golden pastry at its most bulbous point, flaky shards flew in every direction, a hurricane of crisped dough shattering across the table. The cross section revealed dramatically spacious air pockets, with enough lift between the tender layers that one could almost mistake each bubble for a cozy studio apartment.

Riddell is a lamination savant, who can predict exactly how butter is going to react with flour at any given point. For evidence, just take a peek inside the pastry case that anchors the bakery, where a deeply savory shakshuka-inspired Danish laced with pepper jam gently coddles a soft-cooked egg, and a supremely flaky spicy-greens croissant is skirted with melted cheese  Riddell's vegetarian-friendly answer to a classic ham-and-cheese croissant. (Riddell herself is vegetarian.) There's the chewy, spicy ginger cookie crafted from three forms of ginger (ginger juice, ground ginger, and crystallized ginger) and a lemon tart made with a tangy white chocolatespiked cream, graced with a sharp swoop of torched Italian meringue. Behind the counter, the back shelf displays loaves of bouncy onion focaccia and generously seeded loaves of rye, in case you need a few more carbohydrates to take home.

Meet all of Food & Wine's Best New Chefs 2022

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Alex Lau

Riddell spent over a year planning out Machine Shop as she worked as a pastry chef at Barberet Bistro & Bakery in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, following stints working in California, for prolific restaurateur Stephen Starr, and at Philadelphia's (now-shuttered) legendary French restaurant Le Bec-Fin, where she pumped out desserts for five years. Machine Shop started in 2017 as a wholesale venture, with Riddell and her former business partner Katie Lynch baking hundreds of loaves of breads, cookies, and laminated pastries for about 40 restaurants. They operated out of a compact 720-square-foot space in a former classroom in the Bok Building, an old vocational high school that has been transformed into a home for artisans and entrepreneurs. (The bakery space used to be located in the school's machine shop, hence the name.)

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The partners' wholesale business was quickly gaining steam, but that came to a sudden halt in March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic set in. "I left on Saturday afternoon because I was off Sunday," recalls Riddell. "We had all of our orders when I left, and then we had zero by the time Sunday night rolled around." So they quickly pivoted the business, first to a delivery-only model and then to a pop-up serving the general public, the latter proving to be wildly popular.

Read Emily Riddell's Guide to Philadelphia

Best New Chefs

Alex Lau

Riddell has since moved Machine Shop into a charming but bare-bones industrial space on the Bok Building's first floor, which is nearly double the size of the original location. She turned to her favorite tattoo studio to do the branding for the bakery, and the striking minimalist wooden counter that anchors the room was designed by a furniture maker who happened to have his workshop right next to Machine Shop's former space. For now, the wholesale business is on pause as Riddell ramps up the offerings at the bakery  she has plans to launch a chocolate program next  while she also remains adamant about maintaining a four-day-a-week work schedule.

Before the pandemic, Machine Shop's wholesale business required working 363 days out of the year, says Riddell. "I would get calls at 2 a.m. because someone didn't show or something broke. The only people who should be getting calls at 2 a.m. are doctors because someone's life is on the line." She is determined not to re-create that system. "I want everyone to have a lifestyle that they're happy with," she says. "I don't think that work should take over your whole life. It's my passion, and it's what I spend all of my time doing  but that's my choice."

Machine Shop, 1901 S 9th St, Philadelphia, PA, machineshopphilly.com

Meet all of Food & Wine's Best New Chefs 2022: Warda Bouguettaya | Damarr Brown | Ana Castro | Calvin Eng | Tim Flores and Genie Kwon | Melissa Miranda | Justin Pichetrungsi | Emily Riddell | Rob Rubba | Caroline Schiff
Whats considered fashionable is often whittled down to the likes of France and Italy; Chanel and Gucci. After all, the global fashion capitals, dubbed the Big Four, include Paris, Milan, London and New York. Trends, however, extend a lot further than Europe and Eurocentric standards. Think Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo. These bustling cities are breeding grounds for fashion trends and subcultures. In fact, Tokyo is so rich in pop culture and style that Gwen Stefani named her backup dancers the Harajuku Girls (*cue Rich Girls*), and you can find hints of Harajuku fashion in the weird girl aesthetic made mainstream by the Hadid sisters.

You might not even realize the number of big names that hail from Japan and have made cosmic contributions to fashion around the globe. Rei Kawakubo and Junya Watanabe, the two trailblazers behind Comme des Garcons, put forward beautifully unconventional designs that transformed models into walking sculptures gliding down the runway. Kansai Yamamoto designed several of David Bowies eccentric, eye-grabbing costumes, and went on to dress Lady Gaga and Elton John. All of the sneakerheads will recognize Nigo, the creator of A Bathing Ape (BAPE) and Kenzos new artistic director. And of course, Issey Miyake, the avant-garde designer whose garments transcended barriers and shook the fashion world to think outside of the box. Those are just a few of the big-ticket names, though there are countless others. All of them pushed the envelope in terms of innovation and defined fashion in ways youd be pressed to find in other spaces.

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These high-profile fashion designers have made indelible marks on the world of fashion, and while their work isnt always the most accessible to the masses, youll still discover unparalleled and inspired fashion in the streets of Japan. Style is completely subjective, but whats not up for debate is the citys unique flair.

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Even in a small area such as Harajuku, the number of types of styles you encounter is truly endless. The most significant one and the one that I think most people overseas know Harajuku for is the Lolita fashion, explains Erika Kifune, a Tokyo-based content creator who interviews pedestrians about their outfits. Its Kawaii (meaning cute in Japanese) style dates all the way back to the 1980s and is best described as a mix of fairytale princess and the Victorian era in Europe. Nowadays, they also have a Gothic version of it, where the garments are black.

For Misuru, a content creator who is known for dressing in Harajuku style, this aesthetic also relies heavily on hair. I have a lot of wigs. I try to choose wigs according to the clothes I wear that day. Throw on vibrant garments and accessories that make you look like a doll, as well as an eye-catching wig to match, and youre ready to strut down the streets of Tokyo.

While Harajuku does play an important role in Japanese street style, its just one piece of the puzzle. A handful of brands are having a moment in Tokyo right now. Kifune says shoppers love Christian Dior so much that there are lines out the door in Ginza and Omotesando. Diors popularity in Japan has to do with its aesthetic matching the Kawaii elegant style Japanese women aspire to, she explains.

On the other end of the spectrum, Misuru says, In Tokyo, everyone buys clothes at SHEIN because its cheap and easy to get trendy items.

Zara, Dolls Kill, Bershka, Fait Par Foutch, Grace Continental and Mirror Palais are a few other personal favorite shopping destinations for both content creators.

From Dior to SHEIN, there are various ways to create an outfit, but to start, go with whats trending. It really depends on the location, says Kifune. In the Harajuku and Shibuya areas, baggy pants and sheer tops are popular. On the other hand, if you walk around Ginza, youd see that there are many women wearing long skirts with pastel colors, and men who wear suits. In general, though, youll find black on black in the streets, according to Kifune. Its not only an easy color to style, but it also represents the Japanese mind. As a culture, we like to blend in and be as minimalistic as possible.

Additionally, Misuru notes that Tokyo fashion is often inspired by K-pop, anime and Instagram. K-pop girl group Blackpink, in particular, has a great deal of influence over how young women dress, according to Misuru. A simple Google search will show you bedazzled garments and pop-punk finesse for their on-stage style, and baggy jeans, crop tops and luxurious purses for their street outfits.

Thats what is currently in vogue, but what about where Tokyo street style is headed? Comfortable clothes such as baggy pants and shirts are here to stay, says Kifune. She believes that because of the pandemic, People seem to now opt for more comfort and functionality. The content creator has also observed more deconstructed garments and thinks theyll continue to crop up. In Misurus perspective, The streets of Tokyo are now in fashion for the 90s. I feel that the trend is coming back in a slightly different way.

Now that you have a good idea of Tokyo street style and how to incorporate it into your wardrobe, its time to get shopping. Below, find 14 items that fall in line with the Japanese fashion trends that are influencing style around the world.

RELATED: The Trend You Should Try Based on Your City: Are You Y2K, Barbiecore or Coastal Grandmother?

Photo: Only Hearts.





Only Hearts Mesh Cardigan $84





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Mackenzie Scotts giving streak is still going strong. Last week, the billionaire and aggressive philanthropist casually donated two of her luxe Beverly Hills mansions to charitable causes over the summer.

The California Foundation has announced that the ex-wife of the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos donated two single family residences back in July with a combined estimated value of $55 million. The nonprofit has confirmed that 90 percent of the funds from the home sale will go towards creating affordable housing grants, with the remaining 10 percent allocated to establishing an immigrant integration program in Los Angeles.

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We applaud and are grateful to MacKenzie Scotts extraordinary philanthropic investment in Los Angeles. Her singular commitmenthere and across the countryto transformative philanthropy has already secured the long-term future of dozens of nonprofits. With the California Community Foundation, her generosity will support organizations struggling to solve some of our communitys most intractable issues, said CCF President & CEO Antonia Hernandez in a press statement.

The Beverly Hills properties, located near Coldwater Canyon Park on North Alpine Drive, were purchased by the former couple before their well-publicizedthe first house was acquired for $24.45 million in 2007 while they bought the second for $12.9 million in an off-market deal in 2017. The first home is a 12,000-square-foot Spanish-style villa with seven bedrooms, bathrooms, and a host of amenities, including a swimming pool and a six-car garage. The second is a 4,500-square-foot ranch-style property.

The first home is a Spanish-style villa spanning 12,000 square-feet. - Credit: DreamHomesMagazine

DreamHomesMagazine

This is the second time Scott has donated to the organization, giving the nonprofit $20 million last year to create the LA Arts Endowment Fund. Back in 2020, the philanthropist donated millions to historically Black universities and colleges and several nonprofits aimed at providing resources to marginalized communities following the divorce. As a result, Scott became one of the worlds wealthiest women after receiving a 4 percent stake in Amazon as a part of her settlement.

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Earlier this year, Scott shared in a blog post that her combined donations have totaled almost $3.9 billion across 465 nonprofits over the last nine months bringing the total to more than $12 billion.

Now, we just wish that more philanthropists would follow her lead.

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Ukraine forces continued to push forwards around Kharkiv, recapturing a wide swathe of territory, and even reaching the Russian border in the region, officials said Monday, as their dramatic advance continued.

In response, Russia attacked power stations and other critical infrastructure in Kharkiv, plunging thousands of people in cities and towns into darkness.

As the seven-month long war entered a seemingly critical phase, Ukraines president Volodymyr Zelensky said Moscows deliberate and cynical targeting of civilians - a charge always denied by Moscow - was an act of terrorism.

Do you still think you can intimidate, break us, force us to make concessions? Zelensky saikd. Cold, hunger, darkness and thirst for us are not as scary and deadly as your friendship and brotherhood.

He added: We will be with gas, lights, water and food, and without you!

Ihor Terekhov, the mayor of Kharkiv, accused Russia of shelling densely populated areas.

The impact of the rapid and dramatic advance by Ukrainian forces was also felt in Moscow, where there was rare criticism of the Russian military and political leaders, including President Vladimir Putin.

On the ground, blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flags fluttered over newly liberated towns in the northeast of the country with Kyiv claiming its troops had freed more than 20 settlements in 24 hours. Russia acknowledged it was abandoning Izium, its main stronghold in northeastern Ukraine.

In recent days, Kyivs forces have captured territory at least twice the size of greater London, according to British defence officials. Ukrainian forces outnumbered Russians by eight-to-one in the counter-attack, Moscow said.

After months of little discernible movement on the battlefield, the momentum has noticeably lifted Ukrainian morale.

In some areas of the front, our defenders reached the state border with the Russian Federation, said Oleh Syniehubov, governor of the northeastern Kharkiv region.

Over the weekend, Russia said troops would be pulled from areas in that region to regroup in the eastern region of Donetsk.

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There were reports of chaos as Russian troops abruptly pulled out.

The Russians were here in the morning. Then at noon, they suddenly started shouting wildly and began to run away, charging off in tanks and armored vehicles, Dmytro Hrushchenko, a resident of recently liberated Zaliznychne, said.

People are crying, people are joyful, of course. How could they not be joyful, said retired English teacher Zoya, 76, north of Kharkiv in the village of Zolochiv, weeping as she described the months she had spent sheltering.

Nastya, 28, had fled the village in April but returned last week after news of Ukrainian advances: I think everyones in a great mood! Its all over now. At least we hope its all over.

Video taken by the Ukrainian military showed soldiers raising the Ukrainian flag over battle-damaged buildings. In one scene, a fighter wiped his boots on a Russian flag on the ground.

Russian officials said it had stopped sending new units into Ukraine.

However, Moscows bombardment of Kharkiv ignited a massive fire at a power station on the western outskirts of the city, killing at least one person and leaving Ukraines second largest city without power.

Several areas were hit with widespread blackouts and cuts in water supply due to Russian attacks on infrastructure sites, the regions governor said.

The [Russian] occupiers have struck critical infrastructure in the city and region of Kharkiv, Synehubov wrote on Telegram.

The head of the eastern Sumy region, Dmytro Zhvytsky, said cuts to electricity and water supplies had impacted at least 135 towns and villages.

Ukraines gains caused political ripples in Moscow. Some Russian officials took the brave step of publicly calling for Vladimir Putins resignation. District councils in the leaders home city of St Petersburg were among those urging the country to oust the 69-year-old.

Deputies from the Smolninsky District issued a statement calling for him to be tried for treason. Dmitry Palyuga, one of the councillors, tweeted that the motion was supported by most of the districts deputies.

We believe that the decision made by President Putin to start the special military operation is detrimental to the security of Russia and its citizens, he said.

Criticism of Putin also aired on TV. In a rare show of defiance, Boris Nadezhdin, a former liberal politician, told a Gazprom-owned channel that Mr Putin had been misled into thinking Ukraine would capitulate if he invaded.

We are now at the point where we have to understand that its absolutely impossible to defeat Ukraine using those resources and colonial methods with which Russia is trying to wage war, he said.

Ramzan Kadyrov, the Moscow-backed leader of the Russian region of Chechnya, publicly criticised the Russian Defence Ministry for what he called mistakes that made the Ukrainian blitz possible.

The Kremlin though remained defiant, claiming it would achieve all of its aims in Ukraine, despite Ukraines military gains.

In Moscows first public comments since Ukraine forces successfully pushed back Russian forces in the Kharkiv region, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: The military operation continues, Peskov said. And it will continue until the goals that were originally set are achieved.

It is not yet clear if the Ukrainian blitz could signal a turning point in the war, although some analysts cautioned that fighting would likely go on for months.
A new glamping experience wants you to reflect on Tennessees verdant countrysideliterally.

Bolt Tree Farmhouse just unveiled five new mirrored cabins on a mountaintop outside Chattanooga that are designed to steep you in the natural surroundings. The luxurious campground, which is set across 55 acres on Whitwell Mountain, first opened in May 2020 with a range of luxe domes and tree houses that recently appeared on Netflixs The Worlds Most Amazing Vacation Rentals. The aptly named Mirror Cabins appear to be equally amazing.

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Designed by Estonia-based hotel group OOD, the striking structures feature a sturdy steel frame and glass walls that provide spectacular panoramic views of the rugged environment. The special glazing reflects 97 percent of UV rays to ensure the living quarters stay nice and cool. It also gives you complete privacy since its impossible to see inside the cabins while outside.

Cabins are framed from recyclable steel and glass. - Credit: Bolt Farm Treehouse

Bolt Farm Treehouse

Nature has this magical way of melting away stress, so its worth the hard work of anchoring these mirrored structures atop giant rock faces and next to waterfalls, campground owners Tori and Seth Bolt said in a press statement. The visually stunning architecture blends perfectly with nature, providing a fully immersive experience like no other.

The brands mantra live like kings and queens is apparent within the 200-square-foot interior of each cabin. You can expect a comfy bedroom with a queen-size bed, a bathroom with a rainfall shower, a well-equipped kitchenette and an in-room movie theater. The abodes come equipped with all the mod cons, too, including A/C, heated floors, high-speed Wi-Fi and a Bluetooth record player.

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Outside, each cabin has a private terrace that comes fitted with a hot tub, Adirondack chairs, a bistro table and a smokeless fire pit. Its the perfect place to take in that fresh mountain air.

Guests can chill by one of the fire pits or partake in activities like horseback riding. - Credit: Bolt Farm Treehouse

Bolt Farm Treehouse

Bolt Tree Farmhouse is about more than glitzy accommodation, though. While at the campground, adventurers can also opt to partake in a range of blood-pumping outdoor activities, including horseback riding, scenic hikes and ATV tours.

See you on the camping trail.

Rates for the cabins start at $475 per night.

Click here to see the Bolt Tree Farmhouse in photos.

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I was driving through Tombstone, Arizona recently and stumbled upon this spectaclethe Trump Store Tombstoneright on the edge of town. It's really no surprise that Tombstone would support such a storethere are Trump flags all over town, and the clientele who flock to Tombstone to wander its old timey Western streets and watch the reenactment of the shootout of the O.K. Corral also often sport MAGA hats. It's definitely a conservative town. And also a town that loves guns. In fact, Mayor Dusy Escapule, in 2017, declared Tombstone "America's Second Amendment City." The Washington Post explained:

"Tombstone became famous because of guns," Escapule, a fourth-generation Tombstone resident, told The Washington Post. "Guys carry guns every day." It seems fitting then that this town, already dubbed "Town Too Tough to Die," would earn another nickname involving weapons.  Last week, Escapule signed a proclamation declaring Tombstone "America's Second Amendment City," making the town, to Escapule's knowledge, the only one with such title. He said that he read the proclamation during a city council meeting attended by about 50 people on Jan. 10. Johnny Rowland, spokesman for Gun Owners of America, said the gun advocacy organization supports the proclamation, describing Arizona "the most gun-friendly state in America," the Sierra Vista Herald reported.

The bumper stickers on the trucks in the parking lot had slogans like "I lubricate my AR-15 with liberal tears" (I drive a Prius, a dead giveaway!) and I decided not to head inside and see what was on offer. But never fear, the good folks at the Trump Store Tombstone have social media where they show off the wide range of goods. Their tees are an eye-watering $29.99. You know you want an "ULTRAMAGA" shirt featuring a drawing of Donald Trump looking like Superman. Or how about one with a black and white image of Trump (but wearing a red tie) holding up his middle finger, with the caption "IMPEACH THIS"? Hats? Never fear, they've got a great selection. You can choose from a variety of winners: A pastel camouflage hat with the words "WOMEN FOR TRUMP"; a black hat with the words "JOE and the HOE GOTTA GO"; another black hat with the words, "I COULD SHIT A BETTER PRESIDENT"; a black hat with the giant letters "MAGA" embroidered in gold, along with a giant gold Donald Trump signature; the same hat but with "ULTRA MAGA" instead of "MAGA"; a red/white/blue flag-inspired hat with the words "TRUMP: MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN"; and another flag-inspired hat with the words "FINISH THE WALL".

The next time you're looking for something to wear for your patriotic attire, you know where to go!
KATERYNA TYSHCHENKO  SUNDAY, 11 SEPTEMBER 2022, 18:56

During a mop-up operation in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraines Special Operations Forces (SOF) have captured a Russian self-propelled gun, a tank and an unmanned aerial vehicle, and took a so-called "LNR" "policeman" prisoner ["LNR" stands for the self-proclaimed and Russian-backed Luhansk Peoples Republic  ed.].

Source: Special Operations Forces Command on Facebook

Details: A tactical group of one of the SOF units, together with a sniper unit of the Ukrainian Defence Forces, carried out mop-up operations in several towns and villages on the Kharkiv front.

In the course of the operations, the SOF found a 2S3 Akatsiya self-propelled gun and a tank, which they handed over to the Ukrainian Defence Forces. They also captured a so-called "LNR" "policeman"; after initial questioning, they handed him over to officers of the National Police.

Quote: "A Russian unmanned aerial vehicle alongside its ground control systems, antennas, and factory documentation became an important trophy. Orlan-10 is the most widely used UAV that the enemy deploys to detect Ukrainian positions and adjust artillery fire.

The captured [UAV] is particularly important because all of its key components and manuals have been retained. Thus, our signals intelligence and electronic warfare experts will be able to counter the Russian threat from the sky more effectively, and the enemy will suffer even greater losses."

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda!
BANGKOK (Reuters) -A Thai court sentenced a political activist to two years in prison on Monday for insulting the monarchy, her lawyer said, after the activist was judged to have dressed as Queen Suthida during a street protest the court ruled mocked the royal family.

It is a crime in Thailand to defame or insult the king, queen, heir or regent, with punishments of up to 15 years in prison under what are among the world's strictest "lese majeste" laws.

Jatuporn "New" Saeoueng, 25, was found guilty of intentionally mocking the monarchy by her actions during a Bangkok street protest in 2020, according to her lawyer Krisadang Nutcharat.

She is one of at least 210 activists who have been charged with royal insult in the last two years related to protests calling for reform of the powerful monarchy, according to legal aid group Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, which tracks such cases using police and court records. Reuters was not able to independently confirm those records.

The palace, which has repeatedly declined to comment on the protests, could not be reached for comment on Monday. Ruling monarch King Maha Vajiralongkorn in November 2020 said when asked by Britain's Channel 4 News about the protesters: "We love them all the same".

Jaturporn in October 2020 walked a red carpet at a protest wearing a traditional pink silk dress shaded under an umbrella held by an attendant, while protesters sat on the ground in a manner that Thai traditional culture demands in the presence of royalty.

Related video: Thailand's ban on protests sparks more protests in 2020

Many interpreted her protest display as portraying the queen, whom three-times divorced King Vajiralongkorn married days before his official 2019 coronation.

"Jatuporn has denied the charges all along and said she puts on traditional Thai dress normally," Krisadang said.

"But the court sees it as mockery and defamatory towards the monarchy," he said, adding that his client, who is transgender, would appeal the ruling. She was sentenced to serve in a women's prison.

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The court could not be reached for confirmation of the sentence. Thailand's courts typically do not publicise legal proceedings.

For decades, traditional culture in Thailand has revered the king. In 2020, political protests against military meddling in government morphed into criticism of King Vajiralongkorn, 70, who took the throne after the 2016 death of his widely respected father, who had reigned for 70 years.

The protesters contended that the military had justified repeated seizures of power - including army coups in 2006 and 2014 - as necessary to defend the monarchy. The government and military have denied that accusation.

The protesters also have criticized new powers King Vajiralongkorn assumed after he took the throne, including announcements in the official Royal Gazette giving him direct control of the vast wealth of the crown and at least two army units. The palace has not responded to those criticisms.

(Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um and Panarat Thepgumpanat; Editing by Kay Johnson and Jon Boyle)
Fontana dei Catecumeni in Piazza della Madonna dei Monti

Vito Arcomano / Alamy Stock Photo

An American tourist in Italy learned an expensive lesson this month: Be careful where you choose to sit to eat your gelato though the fact that it was after midnight and he was also drinking a beer probably didn't help.

The 55-year-old tourist was issued a 450 fine (about $455 at the current exchange rate) for sitting on the steps of the Fontana dei Catecumeni in Rome on September 3, according to The Guardian. During the day, the fountain is a popular tourist attraction, but at some point in the evening, it had reportedly been cordoned off to prevent anyone from sitting in the area; however, the tape had apparently been removed, leaving the clueless American wondering why the police were citing him for breaking what are known as the city's "urban decorum" rules.

"I didn't know the rules, I didn't know I couldn't sit down. I didn't understand what you were saying to me," the tourist stated, according to The Drinks Business. Even in Italy, ignorance is not an excuse for breaking the law, but the man may have been his own worst enemy. Reports stated that he ignored initial warnings from police to move before being issued the fine. He was also reportedly double-fisting his Italian ice cream with a beer and was out past most people's bedtime at nearly 1 a.m.

CNN reports that this American wasn't singled out: Local police told the news site they carried out more than 300 "decorum" checks over the same weekend, looking to enforce the laws that were updated in 2019 in part to deal with unruly tourists. And despite the fine, Roman authorities may have actually taken it a bit easy on the man: Apparently, police can also choose to ban people from certain areas for up to 48 hours for not following the rules.

Good luck enjoying the beauty of the fountain after that!
For a man who was very nearly lost from history  forcefully erased both during his time and long after hed passed away  Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges still managed to leave quite a footprint. Good luck choosing which of his many accomplishments to recognize first: his prodigious fencing talent, his exploits as the colonel of the first all-Black regiment in Europe, his incredible skill as a virtuoso violinist, the list goes on and on. In Stephen Williams Chevalier, its Bolognes awe-inspiring work as a composer  so talented that he was often referred to as the Black Mozart, an even funnier moniker considering the pair were contemporaries  that forms the center of

Born in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe in 1745, Bolognes life was complicated from the start: he was born the son of a wealthy planter and an enslaved teenager who served as his own maid, and though his father acknowledged him and even supported him, the younger Bologne was always doomed to be an outsider no matter where he was. As Williams film  only the directors second after his 1995 debut Soul Survivor and an enviable run of TV directing gigs  kicks off, our on-screen Joseph (played by the always-electric Kelvin Harrison Jr.) is busy beating back his outsider status with insane talent and a brash attitude to match.

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Hes also, quite hilariously, beating back a shellshocked Mozart, as the confident young composer jumps on stage during a concert to play alongside the revered composer. Needless to say, it does not go the way Mozart  who all but rolls his eyes at Josephs skin color, and then dismisses him as a dark stranger  expects, and Josephs performance is so riveting and wild that he walks away with an even bigger head and a pack of brand new fans. The film opens during a prelude to revolution, as a title card tells us, though thats winking at both whats happening in France in the decades leading up to the French Revolution and whats happening inside Joseph himself, a bonafide genius who was born at decidedly the wrong time in history.

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While Chevalier, written by Atlanta and What We Do in the Shadows scribe Stefani Robinson, bounces briefly back in time to witness young Josephs arrival in France (he is not warmly received at his fancy school, which only appears to push him more firmly in his pursuits), the bulk of the film chronicles a roughly eighteen-month period in which Joseph became Chevalier to Queen Marie Antoinette (an outstanding Lucy Boynton), threw his hat in the ring to lead the Paris Opera, wrote a (now-lost) opera to prove his salt, and fell disastrously in love with a woman he could never be with (Samara Weaving).

The real Bolognes life could fill three movies and still have plenty left over, and so while it absolutely makes sense that this initially energetic offering would try to fit his existence into a single movie-ready package, Chevalier begins to feel ever smaller as it ticks along. For such a big life  and such a big performance as the one Harrison ably turns in here  it feels nothing less than diminishing. Despite the films bold opening, Chevalier soon turns toward more traditional genre tropes, reducing Joseph Bologne to the kind of man who might be found in any kind of biopic, hardly the original and unmatched presence he clearly was in life and art. Perhaps thats a compliment, that even our most daring revolutionaries can someday be slipped inside a crowd-pleasing historical epic that do not require any existing knowledge of their subjects to appreciate and enjoy them.

And Chevalier, despite its steadily devolving storytelling, is enjoyable and worthy of appreciation. When Williams and Robinson loosen up the strings and allow the film to feel as original and free as Bologne was at the height of his creative powers  a battle! with Mozart! with dueling violins!  and refuse to be beholden to the usual narrative beats and expectations, Chevalier soars. So does Harrison, whose cocky take on the young star is funny, flinty, and entirely justified. It all looks and sounds marvelous too, as lush and lavish as one would hope to see in a film about a generational talent set in late-18th century France, thanks to Jess Halls sweeping cinematography, Karen Murphys detailed sets, Oliver Garcias confectionary costumes, and Kris Bowers fittingly epic score.

Few people are as deserving as the grand-scale biopic as Joseph Bologne, and even when its hitting false notes, Chevalier dazzles because of the untapped magic of its central character. One film could never be enough to encompass his legacy, so perhaps this one might serve as an introduction to one of the worlds great geniuses. Sit through for the final credits, which also offer end cards that provide a taste of what else Bologne did with his wild life, long after the movie-primed portions have come to an end, and the true-life opera kept playing on.

Grade: B

Chevalier premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. Searchlight Pictures will release it in theaters later this year.

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Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards apologized Sunday for homophobic comments he made during an Instagram story that has since been deleted.

In the story, which had been posted over the weekend, Edwards, 22, used homophobic slurs to describe a group of shirtless men who were standing next to a building. Edwards was apparently shooting the video from the driver's side of a car, with the window rolled down.

"What I said was immature, hurtful, and disrespectful, and Im incredibly sorry," Edwards wrote Sunday in a tweet posted to his verified account. "Its unacceptable for me or anyone to use that language in such a hurtful way, theres no excuse for it, at all. I was raised better than that!"

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What I said was immature, hurtful, and disrespectful, and Im incredibly sorry. Its unacceptable for me or anyone to use that language in such a hurtful way, theres no excuse for it, at all. I was raised better than that!  Anthony Edwards (@theantedwards_) September 11, 2022

Edwards was the No. 1 overall selection in the 2020 NBA draft. Over his two seasons in Minnesota, Edwards averaged 20.3 points per game on 42.9% shooting, with 4.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists.

"We are disappointed in the language and actions Anthony Edwards displayed on social media," Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said Monday in a statement issued by the team. "The Timberwolves are committed to being an inclusive and welcoming organization for all and apologize for the offense this has caused to so many."

Edwards is likely to face a fine from the league and possibly from the Timberwolves.

Western Conference: Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards can't believe the foul call during the first half against the Clippers.

In April 2021, the NBA fined Brooklyn Nets star forward Kevin Durant $50,000 after comedian Michael Rapaport posted a private social media exchange between him and Durant that revealed Durants use of personal insults, homophobic slurs and profanity. Durant later apologized.

The NBA had also previously fined Kobe Bryant and Rajon Rondo for similar uses of homophobic language.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards apologizes for using homophobic slur
Students, faculty and other academics are showing their support for Carnegie Mellon linguistics professor Uju Anya with letters to the university and petition.

The rallying behind Dr Anya comes in the wake of the university condemning her recent tweets, which wished an excruciating death upon Queen Elizabeth II.

On Thursday, Dr Anya, who teaches second language acquisition at the esteemed Pennsylvania university, tweeted in the runup to the announcement of the Queens passing: I heard the chief monarch of a thieving raping genocidal empire is finally dying. May her pain be excruciating,

When there was a backlash against her tweet, including criticism from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who quoted her original post, Dr Anya doubled down.

If anyone expects me to express anything but disdain for the monarch who supervised a government that sponsored the genocide that massacred and displaced half my family and the consequences of which those alive today are still trying to overcome, you can keep wishing upon a star, she tweeted.

Dr Anya, who describes herself on Twitter as an antiracist and feminist, was born in Nigeria to a Nigerian father and mother from Trinidad and Tobago. Both countries were colonised by the British.

Twitter removed her original tweet with a message that it violated company policy. Carnegie Mellon quickly took strides to distance itself from her comments.

We do not condone the offensive and objectionable messages posted by Uju Anya today on her personal social media account, the university tweeted last week.

Free expression is core to the mission of higher education, however, the views she shared absolutely do not represent the values of the institution, nor the standards of discourse we seek to foster.

Champions of free speech and academic discourse, however, have since come to the aid of Dr Anya.

The Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Friday that it had sent a letter to Carnegie Mellon President Farnam Jahanian urging the university not to sanction the professor.

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Professor Anyas criticism of Queen Elizabeth is clearly protected under the First Amendment standards to which the university commits. CMU promises faculty that it values free speech, and it cannot backtrack when facing criticism  no matter how strong, Sabrina Conza said in an emailed statement to the newspaper.

On Monday, students, faculty and other members of academia penned a letter with a corresponding petition to the university in support of Dr Anya.

We recognize her immensely impactful role on campus and believe firmly in her right to free speech and safety, it reads.

CMUs public condemnation of her tweet provides no institutional protection from violence and places her in a precarious position, ignoring a long history of institutional racism and colonialism. Rejecting calls for civility that are frequently leveraged against the marginalized to silence dissent, we express our solidarity with Dr Anya and reject the tone-policing of those with legitimate grievances.

The letter also takes aim at the universitys hasty response to the professors tweets last week.

We have seen the brief statement distancing the school from Dr. Anyas tweets, claiming she does not represent the schools values, the petition continues. We agree. Dr Anya certainly does not represent the values of Carnegie Mellon University. A university with unceded First Nations land and only nine Black tenured professors out of 477 cannot possibly share the same values as an African-Caribbean Black woman who is also an intersectional feminist, can it?

Given CMUs statement, one has to wonder, is the silencing of people of African and Caribbean descent in line with CMU values? Is the right to the full expression of emotions and speech reserved for Americans of a specific hue?

Neither Carnegie Mellon nor Dr Anya has returned requests for comment from The Independent.
Teacher shortages are real, but not for the reason you heard

Everywhere, it seems, the return to school has been shadowed by worries of a teacher shortage
Duct tape dress

Attendees of this year's Red into Black fundraiser for the Yakima Valley Museum on Oct. 27 will get an early look at Larissa Leon's award-winning "Stuck At Prom" Folklorico flower duct tape gown before the general public gets a peek.

Leon used 47 rolls of duct tape and spent 163 hours creating the dress, which is on loan from Shurtape Technologies, owner of contest sponsor Duck Brand duct tape. The Sunnyside High School graduate won a $10,000 scholarship for her design.

Her winning creation hasn't been displayed anywhere in the Yakima Valley, said Susan Duffin, director of development and board relations for the museum. Museum officials contacted Shurtape, which is loaning it to the museum for six months.

The dress arrived recently, shipped in a rectangular box about 4 feet tall, Duffin said.

"It was all wrapped in duct tape," she added.
Mezcal is to be sipped. It is savored so as to enjoy all the everything that comes with the fermentation of the agave cactus, in all its glorious varieties, into an elixir that shape-shifts in taste as it meanders from the hard palate to the soft, lazily through the throat and then even slower, with new flavors, down the gullet. That said, like all plant-based libations and elixirs, the taste is not necessarily acquired but, perhaps, coaxed and practiced.



All too often, mezcal is treated like its mainstreamed-fructose-adjacent cousin tequila, peddled in bars and liquor stores. These mixto tequilas have at least 51% blue agave sugar, with the remaining replaced by corn-based high fructose sugars. To be very clear, that's not to knock tequila, just a warning about the feelings the day after as related to the fermentation process of the chosen libation. Check out this clearinghouse for scientific research on tequila and mezcal.

Tequila is basically a type of mezcal, while using only blue agave, 100% or mixto. Mezcal is made from a variety of fermented agaves. Shooting mezcal like tequila deprives the drinker of something wonderful. As can shooting tequila like tequila. Fortunately, my first taste was in front of Church of Santo Domingo Guzman, in Oaxaca City, Oaxaca, in the early 1990s. Friends introduced me with a brewed batch shared from a repurposed glass bottle.

In the context of tequila markets recovering from the blight in the late 1990s that devastated the agave industry, mezcal is now big global business. Demand for both tequila and mezcal has attracted the eyes of the famous and wealthy. Yet my memory of crafted, small-batch casera (home-made) mezcal led me to Yuu Baal.



From the website: "Grupo Yuu Baal, S.A. de C.V., a 100% Mexican company, a social enterprise that highlights the traditions of the native Oaxacan producers of mezcal, that of which the complete process of production is artesenal impregnating in each of its products the mystical, the exotic, and the absolutely delightful taste that makes this majestic drink. Grupo Yuu Baal is made up of producers in San Juan del Rio, San Luis del Rio Tlacolula and Miahuatlan, Oaxaca. The quality of the 'magueys' begins in the earth and looking after it as well, this means that the complete cycle of production as is the planting, cutting, and distillation are done manually, all with absolute respect for our environment."

My favorite for sipping  for example, to help prepare the stomach for receiving a meal  is the Mezcal Joven Espadin. Fragrant and capacious in the pepper and fruit terpenes and, if one's palate insists, smooth and clear in taste for a blackberry mezcal, or with fresh cucumber, mint leaves and lime juice, with organic agave nectar. The Anejo is also not only for special occasions, yet the versatility of the Joven Espandin allows for experimenting. I am looking forward to trying the Mezcal Joven "Madrecuixe," a mezcal that "offers an unmistakable herbal aroma and taste. On the smell it accentuates intense notes of green vegetation and wet earth, with a mineral smell that is unparalleled and unforgettable." Salud.
Then-Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, along with Princess Beatrice, Princess Anne, Princess Royal, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, during Trooping The Colour, the Queen's annual birthday parade, on June 8, 2019, in London.
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The RSO app warns users about weather conditions, traffic, or increased water levels. It also provides first-aid advice, as well as instructions on how to act in the event of a natural disaster.

The Alarm112 app, on the other hand, is supposed to make it easier to notify authorities about an emergency.

Both apps are already available and can be installed on Android-based devices. However, they are not very popular  so far, they have some 100,000 and 10,000 downloads respectively. The new regulation intends to change that. Whether someone wants it or not, both apps will have to be installed. An "authorized retailer" is to be responsible for putting the apps on every single phone.

The bill also wants to do away with the Government Security Center. Instead, the Ministry of Interior and Administration intends to establish a "24-hour state duty service". Among other things, it is supposed to be responsible for coordinating the exchange of information on civil protection, alerting and notifying the population of possible threats, as well as implementing emergency procedures and exercises.

REKLAMA

In an interview with the Polish Press Agency, the deputy head of the ministry, Maciej Wasik, said that the apps are "an essential element of public security".

Mr. Wasik also added that every new phone already comes with various pre-installed apps "which can be launched or deleted". According to the deputy minister of interior, a social awareness campaign urging citizens to download the apps individually would be too costly. Wasik stressed that the apps are "unique and good enough that they should be on every phone" and, he added, "they dont come with any risks".

Admittedly, the Ministry of the Interior claims that it will be possible to delete the apps, while the project itself is supposed to be an implementation of EU requirements. The ministry does not specify, however, which requirements it is referring to, but it can be assumed that it is about the "European E112 Mobile Emergency Call Regulation", which came into force on March 17.

REKLAMA

The regulation does not require any apps to be installed on mobile phones, only that smartphones sold in the European Union must be compatible with the Galileo satellite positioning system, which enables better connectivity with the 112 emergency system. "European E112 Mobile Emergency Call Regulation" forces smartphone manufacturers to improve the accuracy of the system's operation. Perhaps the Polish Ministry of Interior assumes that linking phones to the government emergency alert system fulfills that EU requirement.

"A completely unnecessary solution"

According to Andrzej Kozowski, a cyber-security and disinformation expert associated with the Puaski Foundation, the bill could have a detrimental effect on privacy.

- After the Pegasus surveillance scandal and the utter failure of the ProteGO Safe app, the level of public trust in government apps is really low. People are afraid that such apps can be used to spy on them- Kozowski emphasizes.

REKLAMA

The expert also points out a non-obvious effect of the new law should it come into force.

- It may turn out that people will simply buy phones in Germany or other countries, or on the black market. In an era of widespread online shopping, there is no problem buying a device abroad without having to worry that the government has uploaded its spying tools on it- he explains.

According to Mr. Kozowski, the solution proposed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs is completely unnecessary, as the current government SMS notification system works perfectly. The introduction of an app to replace SMS notifications could also be a new form of digital exclusion.

- Many elderly people, who are most exposed to risks such as heat waves or hurricanes, for example, have smartphones but do not use any apps. For the 60- and 70-year-old generation, the phone is used primarily for calling and sending/receiving text messages. For these people, the current system is best. Introducing apps could result in digital exclusion- Kozowski explains.

Importing the Chinese surveillance model

It is also worth noting that the phrasing of the bill is rather broad and vague. For example, it lacks a definition of an authorized retailer, so it is unclear who exactly will be required to install the app on a smartphone. It is also unclear what will happen if the electronics retailer sells the device without the app. The draft also fails to provide key information on whether it will be possible to access the app's source code.

The question also arises as to why there is no cooperation with Google or Apple (Google Play stores, AppStore) when it comes to introducing the proposed solution. The example from Ukraine shows that the introduction of similar solutions (bombing alerts) in cooperation with a third party and discussing it with the public increases trust in the app and influences willingness to use it.

After an unsuccessful attempt at convincing people to use government apps  as was the case, for example, with the ProteGO Safe app, which was part of the governments pandemic response - the Polish government is reaching for authoritarian methods. The Interior Ministry's proposal raises concerns about attempts to implement a mass-surveillance system, much like the one in China.

The draft has just gone out for consultation.

***

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.
Breakfast is the new dinner, declares WeLoveBudapest! Meetings with friends, more intimate conversation, even rendezvous can be a breeze, with hearty, lazy dishes and cheeky fizzy drinks to kickstart the day they say.

15 Top Breakfast Venues in Budapest - Part 1



8. Gerloczy Cafe

Address: 1052 Budapest, Gerloczy utca 1.



The Gerloczy Cafe is a cosy, Parisian-style cafe, restaurant and boutique hotel in a downtown setting, near City Hall on Gerloczy utca. Although the building dates back to the 19th century, its only been operating in its current form for just over a decade.



The breakfast menu consists of classic dishes, you can try the hot and cold versions as well as the complete breakfast platters. There are special choices, too, or you can just dive into one of their hearty, energy-rich breakfasts.



Chia and granola are both good options, but the scrambled eggs with marrow resting on a garlic toast is a must. When open from spring, the terrace is a joy.



9. Kaptafa

Address: 1072 Budapest, Akacfa utca 3739.



Kaptafa is a real favourite on Akacfa utca, where you can linger in the morning, over brunch, and even in the evening, because after the sun goes down at weekends, drinking is accompanied by regular events. Returning to breakfast, unique delicacies are prepared in their small but practical kitchen, while a young, international crowd chat in the dining room and on the street terrace.



Personal favourites include the Mr. and Mrs. Molnar sandwiches and the breaded pickles, but it is also difficult to resist the grilled sandwiches and their own rendition of French toast. They wont look askance at you if you order a recovery beer or a Mimosa, were talking about an incredibly friendly little home from home.



10. Lisboa Pastry & Bakery

Address: 1075 Budapest, Hollo utca 12.



Lisboa brought the Portuguese way of life to downtown eating and drinking hub, the Gozsdu Udvar. This small but meaningful place opened three years ago to showcase the flavours of Lisbon but since then, international favourites have also been added to the offer, brought about by demand.



Pastries are typically nice and sweet (made with lots of egg yolk and sugar), which go great with morning coffee while giving a big boost to the day.



Their bagels are delicious, they also make doughnuts with light dough, and, in addition to the signature pastel de nata, theyve recently introduced an enchanting royal croissant, hiding poached eggs, bacon and hollandaise sauce.



11. Parisi Passage & Brasserie

Address: 1053 Budapest, Ferenciek tere 10.



You could hardly find a more elegant or sophisticated spot for breakfast than the Parisi Passage. Its a place for a real celebration on a memorable occasion.



A birthday, anniversary or graduation brunch here will be duly inspired by the motto, 'Breakfast is the New Dinner'. The kitchen, supervised by executive chef Lajos Lutz, works with outstanding dishes and flavours, mostly from small-batch ingredients.



Their specialities include various egg dishes, including one of the finest poached eggs in town, and desserts, for example, French toast or classic Belgian waffles. In addition to Mimosa cocktails, they also offer Italian peach Bellinis so that couples can clink glasses under the beautiful atrium.



12. Smuz Cafe

Address: 1055 Budapest, Kossuth Lajos ter 18.



When the floral fusion of Smuz and florists Viragneked.hu appeared at Kossuth ter in the early 2010s, it was still quite unusual for a cafe-breakfast room to have an additional function. However, the pleasant collaboration soon became a favourite of the many guests  would doesnt love gorgeous flowers all around in a nice cafe



Not to mention the other charming facts such as the delicious coffee specialties, the hearty breakfasts, the romantic atmosphere and the proximity of Parliament Breakfast is nice both inside and outside on the terrace, and their cakes are all delicious.



At Smuz, another unique feature is the colourful coffees you cant find at other breakfast outlets in Budapest. Your mum will love it if you take her here for breakfast, but its also a good choice for a friendly gathering or for couples.



13. Solid Budapest

Address: 1053 Budapest, Kiralyi Pal utca 4.



This rooftop outlet is the sister of Michelin-starred restaurant SALT Budapest, with corresponding sophistication, in all in all a lovely and savvy concept. SOLID operates as a wine bar from the afternoon until the evening, with a gourmet menu linked with SALT.



However, the guests at Hotel Rum in the same building, and guests from around the city, loved the idea of having breakfast on the rooftop so much, they kept this popular tradition, too.



So, the place has two profiles. Gourmet breakfasts can be ordered until noon, the offer includes Eggs Benedict variations, croques, pancakes, granolas and yoghurt bowls. But as SOLID is a wine bar as well, you can also choose between the elegant fizzy drinks.



14. Vaj

Address: 1085 Budapest, Jozsef korut 3032.



This is not just a bakery, but also a buzzing meeting spot, and youll probably fall in love with the place at the first sight sorry, bite. Hardly anyone who visits VAJ doesnt want to go back next time.



At this bakery on Rakoczi ter, you can indulge yourself with Danish pastries, special baked swirls, freshly and carefully prepared, huge and nourishing sandwiches (made by a sandwich specialist), and, of course, high-quality specialty coffee.



The bustling, young, international atmosphere feels one of those unique pastry places in Copenhagen. Its great to have a wake-up coffee in the bright, spacious interior. They start baking at 5am, then open up at 7am and you can pop in anytime until 8pm, choosing from their full selection.



This place should never disappoint  they are always prepared for the evening as well. Snacking during weekend brunches is also taken care of, you can sip Prosecco with your baked delicacy. There is also a secret  theyll soon introduce with their sourdough pizzas, and a new confectionery outlet will open near the original VAJ bakery. Heres looking forward to it.



15. Zileat

Address: 1013 Budapest, Dobrentei utca 22.

For anyone who always wanted to discover the narrowest building in Taban  the narrowest one in Budapest, in fact  then Zileat is the place, set up at Dobrentei utca 22 in the summer of 2021. The person who dreamt it up, Zilia Mocsari, opened a relaxed but showy and stylish brunch bistro, where both health-conscious and hang-it-all dishes go hand in hand in unison.



They are open every day of the week from 8.30am to 9pm (breakfast brunch available on request until 3pm) with classic egg dishes, bowls of cereals and delicious desserts.



The mood at Zileat would fit smoothly into any of feelgood twentysomething Netflix series currently running  the main characters would convene to discuss the issues of the day over Eggs Benedict and G&Ts.



Source: Welovebudapest.com
Vietjet has started two new routes connecting the "Pearl Island" Phu Quoc with the New Delhi Capital and Mumbai in India. The route connecting the Phu Quoc with Mumbai, inaugurated on September 08 with two return flights per week. The flight route connecting Phu Quoc with the capital New Delhi officially inaugurated from September 09 with three return flights per week. As per Vietjet, the flights have been started as a response to the rising demands of tourism, relaxation, cultural and economic exchanges between peoples of Vietnam - India.

With just more than 4 hours of a flight, passengers can fly directly to "Pearl Island" Phu Quoc or experience India with fares starting from only 668.000 VND on weekly attractive promotions. Phu Quoc owns a coastline with many beautiful beaches stretching from the North to the South of the island with a natural landscape, along with the development and planning of many luxury and world-class resorts, rich and diverse local products.

Vietjet is currently the airline operating the most routes between Vietnam and India with 17 direct routes connecting Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Phu Quoc with the five largest cities of the South Asian country including New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Bangalore.

Vietnam has officially exempted visas for passengers to come and stay in Phu Quoc for 30 days, at the same time Vietnamese tourists can also easily enter India with convenient and fast e-visa policy without Covid test.
Vinay Golikeri has been named Managing Director of India and neighbouring countries by Bacardi. According to the company, Golikeri will be responsible for leading commercial operations across the market for the company's portfolio of premium spirits, as well as ensuring the business's ongoing sustainable and profitable growth.

Golikeri will lead the Indian leadership in his new role. He will leave his position as Managing Director, Global Travel Retail (GTR) in Dubai. During his tenure, he was instrumental in transforming GTR into a strategic brand-building and commercial channel for the portfolio, delivering solid plans to build equity with emerging market travellers.

"India is a dynamic and rapidly changing market that is critical to our global growth," said Vijay Subramaniam, Regional President of Asia, the Middle East, and Global Travel Retail. "As we expand the Bacardi portfolio of premium brands, Vinay's agility in identifying growth opportunities in diverse environments, as well as his relentless focus on execution, will be critical in achieving our future ambitions."

Golikeri will report to Subramaniam from now on, succeeding Sanjit Randhawa, who held the position for about five years. Randhawa will now relocate to Dubai, UAE, to take on a new position. He will now serve as the Director of External Affairs, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, as well as Global Travel Retail. He is an industry veteran with extensive experience in external affairs in India and Southeast Asia, where he served on the boards of several organisations, including the International Spirits & Wines Association of India (ISWAI) and the Thai Alcohol Beverage Business Association (TABBA).

Both individuals will begin their new positions on January 1, 2023. The rum producer from Cuba entered the Indian market in 1998 and quickly gained popularity due to its white, dark, and flavoured rums.
Bhopal: Eight cheetahs will be brought to Madhya Pradesh's Kuno-Palpur National Park by helicopter on September 17 morning, a senior official said on Monday. Prime Minister Modi will release them into quarantine enclosures the same day as part of the cheetah reintroduction programme, he said. The cheetahs will be brought in a cargo flight from southern African country Namibia to Jaipur in Rajasthan and a helicopter will further bring them to Kuno-Palpur on September 17 morning, ahead of the PM's event, principal chief conservator of forest J S Chauhan told PTI.

Asked how many helicopters will be used to transport the cheetahs, Chauhan said it would depend on the type of aircraft deployed for the purpose. If a smaller aircraft is deployed, there will be two sorties to shift the felines from Jaipur to Kuno-Palpur, he said. This is being decided by the Centre and the Ministry of Defence, Chauhan said.

The PM will release the cheetahs into the enclosures the same day, he said.

We have set up six small quarantine enclosures as per the legal mandate required during the shifting of animals from one continent to another, the official said.

He said according to the protocol, the animals need to be quarantined for a month each before and after shifting from one continent to another. Asked about the age of the cheetahs to be reintroduced in the KNP, Chauhan said he does not have the information as officials at the Centre are having negotiations on this with the Namibian authorities.

The last cheetah died in the country in 1947 in the Korea district in present-day Chhattisgarh, which was earlier part of Madhya Pradesh, and the species was declared extinct from India in 1952. The 'African Cheetah Introduction Project in India' was conceived in 2009. A plan to introduce the big cat in the KNP by November last year had suffered a setback due to the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said.
It's been mostly empty and idle for four months, but one of Cattaraugus County's biggest manufacturing facilities is poised for a $56 million investment that could bring more than 200 jobs to Olean.

A New York City-based real estate investment and development firm  with secondary holdings in manufacturing and engineering  is teaming up with one of the leading steel fabricators in Europe in a joint venture to put its first major operation at the former Dresser-Rand Group plant.

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Cimolai-HY LLC, which is owned by Stephen Ross' Related Cos. and industrial steelmaker Cimolai SpA of Italy, is proposing to renovate and reopen the 88-acre industrial campus that operated continuously for more than 110 years as a manufacturer and employer in the Southern Tier.

That would restore production to the largely empty plant and its 13 buildings, after its closure by Siemens Energy in 2021 and early 2022 led to the loss of about 800 jobs. And it would entail a significant financial investment by two deep-pocketed companies in a largely rural community that needs it.

The proposal represents a turnaround for a facility that dates back to 1912 and was the county's biggest employer. It was owned and operated by Dresser-Rand until that firm was acquired by Siemens AG of Germany in 2015, and then Siemens spun off its entire energy business into a new company in 2020. Siemens Energy then announced plans in February 2021 to cut or move hundreds of jobs and close the plant amid declining oil and gas spending.

The campus consists of two industrial plants, one large and two small office buildings, and seven satellite buildings for storage and testing. All are empty, except for one office floor still occupied by Siemens.

Under plans disclosed in an application to the County of Cattaraugus Industrial Development Agency, Cimolai-HY would acquire the facility at 500 Paul Clark Drive from Siemens and then renovate it to fabricate structural steel for large infrastructure projects.

It would employ 246 workers within two years, earning an average salary of $61,335, but ranging from $54,080 to $180,000, with potential for more growth in the future, the company said.

The plant would serve an area extending from Boston to Chicago and south to Washington. And Cimolai would compete to offer New York-based engineering and manufacturing support to other green-energy projects.

In all, the two companies that own Cimolai-HY would spend $7.75 million to purchase the campus and its 947,093 square feet of building space, plus $1.5 million on the renovation and $34.3 million to purchase equipment. And they would spend $11.17 million on startup costs, plant commissioning and job training.

Siemens would continue to lease 43,910 square feet of office space in the large office building, known as the Technical Center, under a three-year lease through August 2025.

The project would be privately financed with corporate equity and debt of at least $10 million. But the companies are asking the CCIDA for a package of tax incentives, including $400,000 in sales tax breaks, $125,000 in mortgage-recording tax breaks, and a 20-year enhanced manufacturing facility property-tax break that would have the joint venture paying no property taxes for the first 15 years.

That assistance is needed to offset both the necessary renovations and the "extremely significant capital cost" for buying machinery and equipment, Cimolai said, citing the "retrofitting of a shuttered manufacturing facility that would be used for a significantly different type of production."

Additionally, local employees would require "significant re-training" both to get the plant operating and to improve efficiency so it can be competitive. And Cimolai claimed that the "anticipated labor costs for this facility are higher than in other markets that were evaluated."

Without the CCIDA help, it concluded, the project would not proceed  at least not there. "If the project does not move forward at the Olean site, other project sites will be considered and evaluated," Cimolai wrote, adding that it has been in contact with Empire State Development Corp., Gov. Kathy Hochul and U.S. Sen. Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y.

Cimolai said it was one of three potential buyers that were interested in acquiring the property from Siemens, but the other two intended to use it for data management or crypto-currency mining, "which would not lead to the same level of job creation" as Cimolai.

If approved, construction work would begin immediately, with initial occupancy by January 2023 and completion by July 2026.
New Delhi: A massive political row has erupted after Congress on Monday (September 12, 2022) took a dig at Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and posted a picture of Khaki shorts being burnt on its social media handle amid its ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra. In the picture posted, fire is seen burning an RSS dress and smoke is also rising from it.

The party took to Twitter and shared the graphics alsong with caption which read, "To free the country from shackles of hate and undo the damage done by BJP-RSS. Step by step, we will reach our goal. #BharatJodoYatra."

BJP's Sambit Patra reacted to the tweet and said, "It's not 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' but 'Bharat Todo' and 'Aag Lagao Yatra'. This is not the first time Congress Party has done so." "I want to ask Rahul Gandhi do you want violence in this country? Congress should take down this picture immediately.

Delhi | It's not 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' but 'Bharat Todo' and 'Aag Lagao Yatra'. This is not the first time Congress Party has done so. I want to ask Rahul Gandhi do you want violence in this country? Congress should take down this picture immediately: BJP's Sambit Patra pic.twitter.com/5nnK8y2GyW  ANI (@ANI) September 12, 2022

Meanwhile, Senior leader Jairam Ramesh on Monday said that a strong Congress is an important pillar of Opposition unity and its allies should understand that the party will not allow itself to be weakened. Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here, he said the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' has infused new energy in party organisation and claimed that the BJP is rattled by the response it is getting among the people.

Ramesh said the yatra is aimed at strengthening the Congress, which is important for Opposition unity.

"I am happy that after the Bharat Jodo Yatra, everybody has seen that the elephant has awakened, the elephant is moving forward and all parties are seeing what the Congress is doing," he said.

The Congress` Bharat Jodo Yatra continued on day 6 on Monday on its Kerala leg, which would last 19 days. During the fifth day of the `Bharat Jodo Yatra` campaign, party leader Rahul Gandhi visited a local resident`s house in Kerala.

Taking to Twitter, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi shared a picture with the local residents, in the photo caption he mentioned that he interacted with the people over a cup of tea.

His tweet read, "Today at Rathish`s house, there was a lot of talk over evening tea, and got a lot of love. Just like that every evening, every family gathers. Our India is also one family."

The 3,500-km march from Kanyakumari to Kashmir will be completed in 150 days and cover as many as 12 states. From Kerala, the Yatra will traverse through the state for the next 18 days, reaching Karnataka on September 30. It will be in Karnataka for 21 days before moving north. The Padyatra (march) will cover a distance of 25 km every day.

According to Congress, the `Bharat Jodo Yatra` is being held to combat the divisive politics of the BJP-led Centre and to awaken the people of the country to the dangers of economic inequalities, social polarisation, and political centralization.

(With agency inputs)
Hyderabad: Ending speculations, Telangana Rashtra Samithi President and Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Sunday said he would launch a national party following more discussions with a cross-section of society. Seeking to provide a national alternative to the dominant BJP and the Congress party, that are attempting a bounce back, the TRS supremo said it would reach a consensus on "alternative national agenda," by continuing discussions with various stakeholders. Rao made it clear that the launch of the party and formulation of policies would follow extended discussions with intellectuals, economists and experts from various fields.

Earlier on Sunday, former Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy called on Rao and discussions were on the contours of the proposed outfit.

The move takes forward Rao's "BJP-mukt Bharat" (BJP-free India) pitch and follows deliberations with several leaders belonging to parties other than the BJP and Congress.

An official release from Rao's office said that discussions preceded with a cross-section of society similar to initiatives ahead of the launch of the movement to seek a separate state of Telangana and such deliberations would continue.

"Very soon, the formation of a national party and formulation of its policies will take place," the release said.

Kumaraswamy welcomed KCR's proposed national party and hoped that the Telangana Chief Minister would play a key role in the country's politics, it further said.

'Bharat Rashtriya Samiti' (BRS), 'Ujwal Bharat Party' and 'Naya Bharat Party' were among the names that reportedly cropped up recently in the TRS circles for the proposed national outfit. However, there was no official confirmation.

Rao, who has been blaming the saffron party's government at the Centre for the "ills" plaguing the country, has been batting for a vibrant role for Telangana in national politics.

The BJP in Telangana has been working aggressively to take on the ruling TRS and the saffron party emerged as a force to reckon with in Hyderabad municipal polls. It also managed to win two Assembly bypolls (including Huzurabad) while the TRS won the other two. The BJP leaders have also been touring Telangana vigorously.

The TRS, in its Foundation Day event in April this year, adopted a resolution that the party should play "the key role in national politics" in the wider interest of the country as the BJP is exploiting "communal sentiments" for its political convenience.

Rao has in recent past met several non-BJP and non-Congress opposition leaders, including Nitish Kumar, Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray and Hemant Soren.

During such discussions, topics like BJP's alleged anti-people policies and bringing about a "qualitative change in the country" came up.

Recently the presidents of TRS district units called on Rao, also known as KCR, and nudged him to take the "national politics plunge" to put an end to BJP's "anti-people rule" at the Centre.

Kumaraswamy, in a tweet, said KCR expressed the need to build a "parallel political front" vis-a-vis national political parties.

The JD(S) leader assured to stand with him and wished good luck to the new front.

"Elderly Statesman Sri KCR said that he will take a plunge into national politics around 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections and before Vijayadashami festival," he said in another tweet.

Kumaraswamy and Rao discussed the development of Telangana and the role of regional parties in national politics. Also, the deliberation was on the key role that KCR should play in national politics in the present situation, the release from Rao's office said.

The JD(S) leader said the country urgently needed a senior leader like Rao, considering the "space for an alternative" in the current national politics, according to the release.

KCR apprised Kumaraswamy that there is "increasing pressure" on him to enter national politics and lead the country like he did for Telangana.

Both the leaders opined that the people have formed an opinion that the Congress is not a strong alternative to the BJP. The public have lost faith in the leadership of the grand old party, the release stated.
Jaipur: BJP and Congress continue to spar over Bharat Jodo Yatra and now Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has slammed the saffron party for targeting the Rahul Gandhi and doing politics over his T-shirt. Attacking the BJP, Gehlot on Monday claimed that Union Home Minister Amit Shah's muffler costs Rs 80,000 while saffron party leaders wear sunglasses worth Rs 2.5 lakh.

The Rajasthan Chief Minister said the ruling BJP is worried because the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' is getting an "extraordinary response" from people. "What problems do they have with the Bharat Jodo Yatra? They are talking about Rahul Gandhi's T-shirt while they themselves wear sunglasses of Rs 2.5 lakh and muffler of Rs 80,000. The price of the muffler which the Home Minister wears is Rs 80,000," Gehlot told reporters in Churu.

Rajasthan | Why is BJP concerned about the Bharatjodo Yatra? Do they have no work? Now they are commenting on a T-shirt. They (BJP) wear specs worth 2.5 lakhs, the Home Minister himself wears a muffler worth Rs 80 thousand. They're politicising a t-shirt now: CM Ashok Gehlot pic.twitter.com/0OIm5OnTj1  ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) September 12, 2022

"They (BJP) are doing politics on T-shirts," Gehlot added. The Rajasthan Congress veteran said the public response to the yatra was extraordinary and the BJP leaders were perturbed. "Prime minister, home minister and other leaders are leaving their work and attacking Rahul Gandhi," he said.

The war of words began after the BJP on Friday took a dig at Rahul Gandhi by suggesting that he was wearing a T-shirt costing over Rs 41,000 during the Bharat Jodo Yatra which started from Kanyakumari last week.

In response, Congress reminded the BJP of the Rs 10-lakh suit donned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the past.

As the war of words intensified, the Congress on Monday tweeted an image of Khaki shorts on fire on Twitter with a caption "to free the country from shackles of hate and undo the damage done by BJP-RSS...", triggering a political storm as the BJP and the RSS accused it of spreading "hatred and contempt" and calling it a "blatant instigation for violence".

Posting the image with '145 days more to go' tagline on its official handle, the Congress tweeted, "To free the country from shackles of hate and undo the damage done by BJP-RSS. Step by step, we will reach our goal" with a hashtag "Bharat Jodo Yatra".

The BJP lashed out at the Congress for its "promotion of violence and hatred" with its spokesperson Sambit Patra dubbing the yatra as "Bharat Todo Yatra" and "Aag Lagao Yatra".
New Delhi: Congress on Monday (September 12, 2022) took a dig at Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and posted a picture of Khaki shorts being burnt on its social media handle amid its ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra.

The party took to Twitter and shared the graphics alsong with caption which read, "To free the country from shackles of hate and undo the damage done by BJP-RSS. Step by step, we will reach our goal. #BharatJodoYatra."

To free the country from shackles of hate and undo the damage done by BJP-RSS.



#BharatJodoYatra pic.twitter.com/MuoDZuCHJ2  Congress (@INCIndia) September 12, 2022

Senior leader Jairam Ramesh on Monday said that a strong Congress is an important pillar of Opposition unity and its allies should understand that the party will not allow itself to be weakened. Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here, he said the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' has infused new energy in party organisation and claimed that the BJP is rattled by the response it is getting among the people.

Ramesh said the yatra is aimed at strengthening the Congress, which is important for Opposition unity.

"I am happy that after the Bharat Jodo Yatra, everybody has seen that the elephant has awakened, the elephant is moving forward and all parties are seeing what the Congress is doing," he said.
The Central Investigation Agency is desperate to trace the illegal properties of Partha Chatterjee. And therefore, the properties of Partha's 'close friends' are also under scanner. After the arrest of former state education minister Partha in the SSC recruitment-corruption case, the CBI found multiple plots of land in Ranaghat in Nadia in the name of Manas Das, elder brother of Professor Monalisa Das, who had emerged as Partha's 'close friend'. According to sources, investigators of the central agency raided the land revenue office of Ranaghat-2 block on Saturday. There, after going through various documents, they found several lands in the name of Monalisa's elder brother Manas Das in five places of Ranaghat 2 block - Baidyapur-1, Baidyapur-2, Anulia, Payradanga and Shyamnagar.

The registry office next to a cinema hall in Ranaghat was raided last Tuesday to find out whether Partha has any investment in those lands. The CBI has seized a total of eight documents from there. After this, the CBI raided again on Saturday. Besides the Land Revenue Department, the investigators also visited the Ranaghat ADSR (Directorate of Registration and Stamp Revenue) office. According to sources, some important documents, including computer hard disk have been seized from there. Among them, several land records have the name of Manas, as the owner. Sources also claim that the location of several lands in the name of Manas has been found next to the national highway in Begopara, Baidyapur.

The CBI started probing the affairs of another 'intimate friend' of the former minister only after a huge amount of cash was recovered from the house of model-actress Arpita Mukherjee. The name of Kazi Nazrul University's Bengali department professor, Monalisa, also came up from that source. This time, several properties were found in the name of Monalisa's elder brother. The CBI estimates that between 2016-21, Manas bought many properties in Ranaghat-1 and Ranaghat-2 blocks with Partha's money. According to sources, the local land dealers are also being contacted in this regard. How Manas became the owner of this huge property under the cover of social services is also being investigated.
Bihar Agriculture Minister Sudhakar Singh has termed officials and employees of his department "thieves", and quipped that this made him "a chief of thieves". "There are many thieves in my department and they are stealing money. As I am the in-charge of the department, I become their chief. There are many other chiefs above me. This government is old and its style of work is also old. It`s up to the duty of common people to alert the government," he said while addressing a gathering of farmers in Kaimur district on Sunday.

"If you burn effigies, I will realise that something is going wrong. But if you don`t do it, I believe that everything is okay," he said.

Singh, the son of RJD state President Jagadanand Singh and the MLA from Ramgarh in Kaimur, is holding the key portfolio in the Nitish Kumar government.
Gurdaspur (Punjab): A Pakistani drone was spotted near the International Border in Punjab's Gurdaspur early Monday morning. According to the information, the drone flew back towards the Pakistani side as the alert troops of the Border Security Force (BSF) fired several rounds at it. The drone was spotted near the International Border at around 5 am, in the area of BSF`s Rosa Post BOP 89 Bn in Gurdaspur, Punjab. However, a search operation by BSF and Police is underway. This was the third recent incident and the number of drones being sighted in Punjab, coming from Pakistan has seen a significant rise this year as compared to the Jammu sector.

According to BSF, till July this year total of 107 drones flying from across the border were spotted inside Indian territory, as compared to 97 drones spotted the whole of last year. As many as 97 drones coming from across the border were sighted by the BSF in 2021 along International Border (IB) including 64 such cases in Punjab, 31 in Jammu, and two drones were seen entering from the Line of Control (LOC) in Jammu. Till July 2022, as many as 107 drones were sighted along IB that including 14 in Jammu and 93 in the Punjab sector.

Also Read: Analysis: Slew of drone intrusions from Pak causes concern to Indian BSF

A senior BSF officer said that most of these drones have come from Pakistan and are used to deliver narcotics, weapons, explosives, and ammunition."There are teams with anti-drone guns deployed in borders. The patrolling parties keep watch on any suspicious aerial activity and often they recover narcotics substances and arms delivered from these drones," he said.In 2021, BSF shot down one drone in the Ferozpur sector while this year seven drones were shot down and a huge quantity of narcotics that was supposed to be delivered through drones was also recovered.
The Varanasi District Court today agreed that the arguments of the Hindu side have merit in the year-old Gyanvyapi Mosque case. With this, the court made it clear in its decision that the court would hear the petition of the Hindu side regarding the worship of Goddess Shringar Gauri. The Hindu side is projecting the court's decision as its victory, however, the case will still have to go through a long legal process.

In today's DNA, Zee News' Rohit Ranjan makes an analysis of the latest development in Gyanvyapi case.

Last year, on August 18, five women had sought the right to worship Goddess Maa Shringar Gauri, Lord Ganesha and Lord Hanuman idols - present in the Gyanvapi Masjid premises. They appealed to the court that they should be given the right to worship Hindu Gods and Goddess every day. Till now, Goddess Shringar Gauri used to be worshipped once a year.

In this case, the Muslim side, through its three arguments, had demanded the dismissal of the petition of the Hindu side. The Muslim side said that asking for the right to worship Shringar Gauri is a violation of these three laws:

1) Section 4 - of the Places of Worship Act 1991

Under this section, it has been said that till August 15, 1947, any religious place, whatever it is, will not be tampered with. The law also says that if there is any dispute regarding tampering with the nature of a religious place, then it will not be heard in the court.

2) Section 85 of the Waqf Act 1995

It states that- If there is any dispute regarding the Waqf land, then it will be heard in the Waqf Tribunal Court and not in the Civil Court. The mosque complex was said to be Waqf land.

3) UP Kashi Vishwanath Temple Act 1983

The law says that permission of the state government is required for the acquisition of new property on behalf of the Kashi Vishwanath temple. This argument was given because the petitioner was seeking permission for worship from the court.

All in all, the legal battle between the Hindu side and the Muslim side has formally begun in the Gyanvyapi case. Watch DNA to understand the issue in detail.
New Delhi: Feroze Gandhi, born in Mumbai on 12 September 1912m, was the husband of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and the father of Rajeev and Sanjay Gandhi. He was a freedom fighter, politician and journalist. After getting into the field of journalism, he understood the freedom of the press.

He was a backbencher who would prefer listening to talking, but when he spoke he made relevant observations. After six months of their marriage, Feroze Gandhi was arrested and imprisoned for a year in Allahabad`s Naini Central prison for his active participation in the Quit India movement. On his release, he became the editor of a newspaper.

Here is the life history, career, and interesting lesser-known facts, about Feroze Gandhi :

Life history- According to the available facts related to his life, Feroze Jahangir Gandhi was born on Sept 12, 1912. His father was Jehangir Faredoon Ghandy, who lived in Nauroji Natakwala Bhawan in Khetwadi Mohalla in Bombay, he was a marine engineer who was later promoted to a warrant engineer.

Feroze was the youngest of five children with two brothers and two sisters. After his father's death, Feroze and his mother moved to Allahabad, where he attended the Vidya Mandir High School and then graduated from the British-staffed Ewing Christian College. In 1935, he went to England to complete his education at the London School of Economics and obtained a BSc degree.

In 1933, Feroze had proposed to Indira, but she and her mother declined, claiming that she was too youngonly 16to accept. He became close with the Nehru family, particularly with Kamala Nehru, the mother of Indira. While in England, Indira and Feroze became more familiar with one another.

They wed in March 1942 in accordance with Hindu customs. Less than six months after getting married, the couple was arrested and imprisoned during the Quit India movement in August 1942.

Career- Feroze Gandhi had won the first general elections of independent India in 1952 and was an MP in the House. He became the Managing Director of The National Herald, a daily paper, established by his father-in-law there he served as a publisher of The Navjivan, a daily newspaper from Lucknow.

Feroze became a member of the provincial legislative assembly (1950-1952), and later a member of the Lok Sabha, the Lower House of Parliament, where he continued to challenge the government on a number of issues, and emerged as a parliamentarian well-respected on both sides of the bench. He kept testing the administration on different issues.

Lesser-Known facts about Feroze Gandhi-

1. He was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and changed his surname spelling from "Gandhy" to "Gandhi" after joining the freedom struggle.

2. He was imprisoned for 19 months with Lal Bahadur Shastri.

3. Feroze Gandhi initiated the Private Member's Bill for the protection of Freedom of the Press.

4. Feroze won independent India's first Election in 1952 from the Rae Bareli constituency in UP.

5. Former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was against his daughter Indira marrying Feroze Gandhi.

6. Feroze also initiated a number of nationalization drives, starting with the Life Insurance Corporation.

7. His wife Indira Nehru and elder son Rajiv were Prime Ministers of India.

8. Mahatma Gandhi adopted Feroze Khan and gave him his last name (family name/caste name) and the name of Feroze Khan was changed to Feroz Gandhi.

9. Feroze Gandhi died at the age of 47 on Sept 8, 1960, at the Willingdon Hospital after suffering a second heart attack.

10. In 1957, Feroze was re-elected from Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituency.
Ahmedabad: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Monday promised a monthly stipend for new lawyers in Gujarat and a strong mechanism for their protection if the AAP forms a government after polls, due in December this year. Interacting with a group of advocates in Ahmedabad, Kejriwal said he will study the Kerala government's scheme to pay a monthly stipend to young advocates and will come up with a scheme better than the southern state. He assured free electricity to the court chambers of lawyers in Gujarat on the lines of Delhi and said a "very liberal policy" has been framed in view of lawyers' demand for health and life insurance cover.

"I understood that till now, whatever we did for advocates in Delhi was the best. Just now I learnt that Kerala has gone ahead of me. I had no idea about the Kerala scheme (of paying a monthly stipend to young lawyers)," the Delhi chief minister said when a lawyer pointed out this in a town hall.

Kejriwal said he will also study the Kerala scheme. "I assure you that we will provide you with a better scheme than Kerala. We will also fulfil the demand for granting automatic stature of a notary to lawyers who completed 10 years of practice (in Gujarat)", the AAP leader said.

Kejriwal said lawyers' chambers are getting free electricity in Delhi. "I think Delhi is the only state where electricity for the court chambers of lawyers is free. They had two other demands namely life and health insurance cover, for which we have framed a very liberal policy," he said, adding that the total cost of providing health and life insurance cover to lawyers is Rs 40-50 crore for the Delhi government, "which is not a big amount for a government".

He promised the implementation of the Advocates' Protection Act in Gujarat if AAP comes to power. "As you say the draft is ready, we will strengthen it if required. The law will have to be strengthened along with the police machinery...We will bring a law for the protection of lawyers and a system. These things do not cost too much," he said.
Buffalo-based 22nd Century Group has eliminated the job of its president and chief operating officer, Michael Zercher.

The plant technology company said in a regulatory filing that Zercher's contract will end Sept. 30. Zercher, who is based outside the Philadelphia area, has been with 22nd Century Group since 2016 and has served as president and COO for more than three years.

22nd Century Group earlier this year acquired GVB Biopharma, in a deal worth around $55 million, as part of its push into CBD products. And the company has recently expanded distribution of its low-nicotine products, branded as VLN, into more markets.

"Despite the acquisition of GVB, we strive to be a lean, fully integrated organization," said Mei Kuo, a spokesperson. "Much of what Mike was focused on was the tobacco business and back office administration."

The company said Zercher's responsibilities will be absorbed by two other 22nd Century Group leaders. John Miller, who leads the tobacco business team, will assume the COO's duties, while James A. Mish, the CEO, will assume Zercher's back-office administrative duties.
Ahmedabad: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Monday readily accepted an auto-rickshaw driver's invitation for a dinner at his home in Ahmedabad. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), reacting to the development, took potshots at the Delhi Chief Minister and termed him an "actor". Kejriwal, who is on a two-day Gujarat visit as part of the AAP's campaign for the upcoming Assembly polls, addressed a gathering of auto-rickshaw drivers in Ahmedabad in the afternoon.

Also Read: Gujarat polls: AAP promises monthly stipend for new lawyers if won

After his address, an auto-rickshaw driver named Vikram Dantani, a resident of the city's Ghatlodia area, requested Kejriwal to have dinner at his home. "I am your fan. In a video I saw on social media, you went to have dinner at the home of an auto driver in Punjab. So, will you come to my home for dinner?" asked Dantani.

Kejriwal also got into a heated confrontation with a Gujarat Police officer who attempted to prevent the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party from riding in an auto-rickshaw due to security concerns. However, he continued on in an auto rickshaw and claimed he didn't require security from the Gujarat Police.

The Delhi CM immediately replied in the affirmative to the invitation. "Autowalas of Punjab and Gujarat love me. Should I come today evening? at 8 pm," said the AAP leader. Dantani agreed when Kejriwal urged him to pick him up from his hotel and take him to his house in his auto-rickshaw.

According to an AAP leader, the Delhi CM will travel from a five-star hotel on Sindhu Bhavan Road to Dantani's house in his auto-rickshaw for the 8 pm dinner. Gujarat AAP president Gopal Italia and the party's national joint general secretary, Isudan Gadhvi, will accompany Kejriwal.

Taking a jibe at Kejriwal, Gujarat Minister of State for Home and BJP leader Harsh Sanghvi, while replying to a video of that conversation, tweeted, "What an actor"!
New Delhi: The Varanasi court has rejected a plea from the Anjuman Islamia Masjid Committee questioning the legality of a lawsuit filed by five Hindu women demanding the right to pray inside the Gyanvapi mosque premises. Sohan Lal Arya, who is the petitioner of the Gyanvapi case quoted It's a win for the Hindu community. The next hearing is on Sep 22. It's a foundation stone for the Gyanvapi temple. Appeal to people to maintain peace

Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh | It's a win for the Hindu community. The next hearing is on Sep 22. It's a foundation stone for the Gyanvapi temple. Appeal to people to maintain peace: Sohan Lal Arya, petitioner in the #GyanvapiMosque case pic.twitter.com/ZfldKGamv0  ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) September 12, 2022

"The court rejected the Muslim side`s petition and said the suit is maintainable. The next hearing in the matter will be on September 22." remarked Hindu side's legal representative, Vishnu Shankar Jain. Along with him, Manju Vyas could be seen dancing and celebrating the court;s order on the Gyanvapi case. Manjus said "Bharat is happy today, my Hindu brothers & sisters should light diyas to celebrate"

Uttar Pradesh | The court rejected the Muslim side's petition and said the suit is maintainable. The next hearing of the case is on Sep 22: Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu side in the Gyanvapi mosque case pic.twitter.com/EYqF3nxRlT  ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) September 12, 2022

#WATCH | Varanasi, UP: "Bharat is happy today, my Hindu brothers & sisters should light diyas to celebrate," says petitioner from Hindu side Manju Vyas as she dances & celebrates the Gyanvapi Shringar Gauri verdict pic.twitter.com/hO7frpErNF  ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) September 12, 2022

A look at what led 'win fo Hindu side'

In the month of May, this case was moved to the Varanasi district court from the lower court where it was being heard up until the Supreme Court assigned it to the Varanasi district court. In a ruling, the Supreme Court mandated "Keeping the complexity and sensitivity of the matter in view, the civil suit before the civil judge in Varanasi shall be heard before a senior and experienced judicial officer of the UP judicial service."

In response to a plea by Hindu women who claimed that the Gyanvapi mosque complex contains idols of Hindu Gods and Goddesses, the Varanasi civil court ordered the filming of the Gyanvapi mosque a month prior to the Supreme Court's involvement in the matter.

The Varanasi court was subsequently given a report on the filming at the mosque under seal, but just hours later, the Hindu petitioners controversially made the information public. According to the report, a "Shivling" had been discovered in a mosque compound pond that was used for Muslim "wuzu," or purifying rituals, before prayers.

On this Sohan Lal Arya stated that "Shivling....Jiski Nandi pratiksha kar rahi thi... The moment things became clear the chants of 'Har Har Mahavdev' resonated in mosque premises."

#WATCH "Shivling....Jiski Nandi pratiksha kar rahi thi... The moment things became clear the chants of 'Har Har Mahavdev' resonated in mosque premises," claims Sohan Lal Arya, petitioner in Gyanvapi mosque case, who accompanied the Court commission on mosque survey in Varanasi pic.twitter.com/iWwubz4wPa May 16, 2022

The Gyanvapi mosque committee filed a lawsuit against this filming inside the historically significant mosque with the Supreme Court. The petitioners claimed that the filming violated the Places of Worship Act of 1991, which upholds the religious status of places of worship as of August 15, 1947.

(With Agency Inputs)
New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday met a wide spectrum of political leaders of Naga groups here and made it clear that the Modi government endeavours to have a peaceful and prosperous Northeast. After the meeting, a home ministry spokesperson said efforts of the central government have been to resolve many complicated issues that came up during the ongoing talks with Naga groups like NSCN-IM in such a way that there is all-round satisfaction after the parleys but cautioned against any kind of speculation about the negotiations.

The home minister met with a wide spectrum of the political leadership of Naga groups, led by Chief Minister of Nagaland Shri Neiphiu Rio, in New Delhi where many issues were discussed at the meeting, the spokesperson tweeted.

Talks over the Naga issues have been in progress for several years and it has always been the endeavour of the central government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi to have a peaceful and prosperous Northeast, the spokesperson said. Since negotiations are still ongoing and reporting on possible solutions to various issues during the negotiations would only be speculative, the spokesperson said.

The government of India had signed a framework agreement with the major Naga insurgent group NSCN-IM on August 3, 2015, in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to find a permanent solution. The framework agreement came after over 80 rounds of negotiations spanning 18 years, with the first breakthrough made in 1997 when the ceasefire agreement was sealed after decades of insurgency in Nagaland, which started soon after India's Independence in 1947.

However, the talks with the NSCN-IM are currently going nowhere as the group has been insisting on a separate Naga flag and constitution, a demand rejected by the central government. Separately, the government is also holding peace parleys with splinter groups of the NSCN after entering into ceasefire agreements. The groups which have entered into ceasefire agreements are NSCN-NK, NSCN-R, NSCN K-Khango and NSCN (K) Niki.
New Delhi: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that several states along the Indian peninsula in the Eastern, western and southern parts of the country are likely to receive heavy rainfall over the coming few days. According to IMDs latest bulletin, very heavy rainfall is likely over Gujarat and Maharashtra during the next five days. Heavy showers are also expected over West Bengal, Odisha, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for the next three days.

As per IMDs forecast, heavy to very heavy rainfall in Gangetic West Bengal till Tuesday morning owing to a depression that lay over south Odisha. On the other hand, weatherman warned of squally wind reaching speed of 40 to 50 kmph gusting to 60 kmph along and off West Bengal coast and asked fishermen not to venture into the Bay of Bengal till Tuesday.

Heavy rainfall is also very likely over coastal and north interior Karnataka, Kerala and Mahe during Sunday and Monday and in Telangana till Tuesday. The northeast part of India is also expected to receive heavy rainfall during the next three days.

Read IMDs rainfall prediction here:

Depression over south Chhattisgarh moved nearly northwestwards & lay over south Chhattisgarh and adjoining southeast Madhya Pradesh & Vidarbha about 95 km south-southeast of Gondia (Vidarbha) and 185 km southeast of Seoni (Madhya Pradesh). pic.twitter.com/PrHTKS2X8G  India Meteorological Department (@Indiametdept) September 12, 2022

- Isolated very heavy rainfall also likely over Gangetic West Bengal and Chhattisgarh on 11th & 12th; East Madhya Pradesh on 12th & 13th; West Madhya Pradesh during 13th -15th; Odisha, Marathwada and Saurashtra & Kutch on 11th; Gujarat Region during 12th -15th; and ghat areas of Madhya Maharashtra & Konkan & Goa during next 5 days.

- Isolated very heavy rainfall also likely over North Interior Karnataka and Telangana on 11th September, 2022.

- Isolated very heavy rainfall also likely over Assam & Meghalaya and Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram & Tripura on 11th September, 2022.

- Isolated very heavy rainfall also likely over Uttarakhand on 14th & 15 th and East Rajasthan on 15th September, 2022.

Rain in isolated pockets of Rajasthan

After the weakening monsoon in Rajasthan for the last few days, the monsoon re-activated on Saturday evening. Rain coupled with strong winds started in many parts of the state. Many places in Tonk, Alwar, Dausa, Sawai Madhopur, Kota, Baran, Bundi, Jhalawar, Udaipur, Dungarpur, Banswara, Chittorgarh districts recorded rain.

During this, there is a possibility of light to moderate rain in most parts of these divisions and heavy rain at some places. Met official also said that light to moderate rain is likely at isolated places in the districts of Jodhpur and Bikaner divisions of western Rajasthan.

Heavy rains in West Bengal

The Met department on Sunday forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall in Gangetic West Bengal till Tuesday morning owing to a depression that lay over south Odisha. Heavy to very heavy rain is likely to occur in the coastal districts of West Bengal and downpour in the interior districts in south Bengal, the weatherman said.

North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, East and West Midnapore and Howrah districts are among places likely to receive heavy to very heavy rain till Tuesday morning, the Met said. The city received intermittent showers amid an overcast sky since Sunday morning.

Rain lashes Odisha as depression forms over Bay of Bengal

With a well-marked low-pressure area over west-central and adjoining north-west Bay of Bengal intensifying into a depression, the IMD on Sunday forecast heavy rainfall across Odisha. Several parts of Odisha had already been witnessing rainfall activities since Saturday.

The weatherman has also issued an orange alert for heavy to very heavy rain in the districts of Nabarangpur, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Nuapada, Balangir, Sonepur, Boudh and Bargarh till 8.30 am of September 12. Similarly, it issued a yellow alert of heavy rainfall for Khurda, Cuttack, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Angul, Dhenkanal, Ganjam, Nayagarh, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Rayagada, Koraput, Gajapati, Deogarh and Puri.

(With agency inputs)
Karnataka 2nd PUC supplementary result 2022: The Department of Pre-University Education of Karnataka released the 2nd PUC results 2022 on September 12, 2022. The results for candidates who took the Karnataka Supplementary exam in 2022 can be seen on the official website, karresults.nic.in. Candidates must provide their registration number and topic combination in order to see the results.

The second PUC supplementary exam for Karnataka in 2022 was held from August 12 to August 25, 2022. The Class 12 Supplementary Exam in Karnataka was conducted over two sessions. The morning session took place between 10:15 and 1:30, and the afternoon session took place between 2:15 and 5:30.

Karnataka 2nd PUC supplementary result 2022: Here's how to check

Visit the official website --karresults.nic.in

On the appeared homepage, click on the result section

A new webpage would open

Click on the Karnataka 2nd PUC supplementary result 2022 link

A new login page would open

Enter your registration number and subject combination.

Karnataka 2nd PUC Result will be displayed on your screen

Download and take a printout for future references

Students who failed their second PUC exams showed up for the supplement exam in an effort to do better. Students must earn at least 35% of the possible points in order to pass the Class 12 test in Karnataka. On June 18, 2022, the 2nd PUC results for Karnataka were released. Sixty-one percent of students passed the test in total.
Jammu and Kashmir: Administration, as well as people associated with films, believe that it will project Kashmir in a positive way on a national and international platform and simultaneously will provide a big boost to tourism and the economy of Jammu and Kashmir. The state, which is called the heaven on Earth, used to be the favourite location for the Hindi Film Industry till the 1980s before the insurgency started. It is after 30 long years, that the Indian Film Industry is back in the Valley. The Jammu and Kashmir government has received more than 500 applications from filmmakers across the country for granting permission to shoot in the Valley. Over 150 permissions have been allowed by the Jammu Kashmir government till now.

Secretary Tourism Sarmad Hafeez, said "The film industry in the country has had a great romance with Jammu and Kashmir, most of the films in the past were shot there. It was only for a brief period that people started going out looking for locations which were as beautiful as they could not find in the country, they had to travel abroad to go and shoot. Jammu and Kashmir provide the finest locations for film shooting and recently the LG administration took an initiative and came out with a new film policy where many incentives are being given and a single window system is being provided. We have received a great response. Several films are being shot here, almost around 150 film units and shoots are going on. Not only from Bollywood but from the south and other platforms too. This has tremendous potential and it's going to benefit tourism in Jammu and Kashmir. It's a brand known all over the world. When we saw these locations in 1960 movies, I think today it is more beautiful and we have many other locations as well. We have added 75 untapped destinations which have tremendous beauty. I am sure these film people shooting here will open new avenues and greatly benefit tourism."

Under the new Film Policy, the Jammu and Kashmir government has put the permission system under Public Service Guarantee Act (PGSA). The JK administration must give permission to filmmakers within a stipulated time of 30 days. A single window system has also been put in place to make it easier for the producers. The filmmakers can apply for permission online.

The government is also providing these filmmakers with incentives to shoot at various locations across the Valley. The local filmmakers of the Valley are happy that Kashmir is progressing, and local artists will also get a chance to work on these projects.

Mushtaq Ali Khan's Local Filmmaker said "Being a Kashmiri Filmmaker, I am very excited to know that 150 Films have been cleared for shooting in Kashmir. Maybe at different places like Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Sonamarg, Srinagar city and Dal Lake or anywhere. It's a welcome step. I am very happy and thankful to LG Manoj Sinha, who was interested in making a new film policy and keeping some benefits for the filmmakers so that more and more filmmakers come to Kashmir. It will help in so many ways like tourism etc.

"I would be interested if these crews hire local people for these projects. I appeal to these Filmmakers to consider the local artists as well. Kashmir is unparalleled. The filmmakers get great support from the locals. We want Kashmir to progress." he said.

With the Indian Film Industry returning to the Kashmir Valley, First Multiplex is being thrown open in the Kashmir Valley this month. The theatres in the Valley were shut in the early 1990s and it is after a gap of three decades that a Multiplex is opened. It seems that Kashmir is returning to its earlier charm.

Tourism in the valley has seen a boom in the last two years and now the Film industry is returning to its favourite destination as well its seeming that Kashmir is having a big change.
Raipur: A dreaded Naxalite who was allegedly involved in the 2020 Minpa attack in which 17 security personnel were killed surrendered on Monday in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, a police official said. Dudhi Bheema, who was part of the outlawed group's "battalion no. 1", turned himself in before Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and police officials citing disappointment with the "inhuman" and "hollow" Maoist ideology, Sukma Superintendent of Police Sunil Sharma told PTI.

Also Read: BJP's Yuva Morcha leaders protests outside a resort in Raipur

"The Naxalite had come in contact with personnel belonging to CRPF's Range Field Team (RFT), which played a crucial role in convincing him to join the mainstream and lead a normal life. He is a native of the Chintagufa area of Sukma and was associated with the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) for the past seven years," the SP said.

"He was allegedly involved in the deadly Minpa attack in March 2020 in which 17 security personnel lost their lives. He carried a reward of Rs 8 lakh on his head. He was given Rs 10,000 as encouragement money and will be further provided assistance as per the surrender and rehabilitation policy," Sharma added.

According to police, "battalion no.1", which is headed by Naxalite Hidma, is the strongest military formation of the ultras in the Dandakaranya region, which covers parts of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Telangana and Maharashtra and the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday directed St Stephen's College to follow the admission policy formulated by Delhi University (DU) and accord 100 per cent weightage to the CUET 2022 score while granting admission to non-minority students in its undergraduate courses. A bench headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, however, held that DU "cannot insist upon a single merit list for admission of candidates belonging to Christian community regardless of denomination etc"

The bench, also comprising Justice Subramonium Prasad, said the fundamental right under Article 30(1) of the Constitution accorded to a minority institution cannot be accorded to non-minority admissions.

ALSO READ- DU Admission 2022: UG applications likely to begin today, check details

"Aided minority institutions must follow the norms and procedure of the said university. Protection under Article 30 (1) can be extended to the extent that it allows minority institutions to sub-classify the reservation accorded to minority community," the court said.

The court's order came on petitions by a law student and St Stephen's College with respect to the legality of admission procedure for admission of students against unreserved non-minority seats for UG courses.

"Consequently the communication issued by respondent no 1 (DU) is liable to be set aside to the extent that the petitioner college (St Stephen's) shall follow the directive that 100 per cent weightage must be given to CUET 2022 score for students of the non-minority category applying to UG courses. However, respondent 1 cannot insist upon single merit list for admission of candidates belonging to Christian community regardless of denomination, subsets etc)," the court ordered.

ALSO READ- JEE Advanced topper Shishir says he did not follow 10-12 hour study strategy

"The petitioner is, therefore, directed to follow the admission policy 2022 -2023 as formulated by respondent 1 to this extent. The petitioner college must withdraw its admission prospectus and issue of public notice," it ordered.

Law student Konika Poddar, in her public interest litigation, had sought a direction to the college to take admission on its 'unreserved seats' only based on marks received by students in the Common University Entrance Test (CUET).

St Stephen's College had challenged Delhi University (DU)'s letter asking it to withdraw its prospectus which gave 85 per cent weightage to CUET and 15 per cent weightage to college interview for admission to its unreserved seats in UG courses. The high court had earlier refused to stay for now the university's letter on withdrawal of the college prospectus for the academic year 2022-23.


New Delhi: All eight leaders of the Shanghai cooperation organization (SCO) will be attending the summit next week in person in Uzbekistan's cultural capital Samarkand. The Press Secretary of Uzbekistan's President, Sherzod Asadov in a Facebook post said that this will be the first in-person meeting of the SCO leaders since 2019 and will conclude the doubly landlocked central Asian country's chairmanship of the organization. In a picture posted along with the message, he listed out the name of all 8 leaders of the member states who will attend the summit in the country from September 15th to 16th.

The leaders include the host Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov, and Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahmon. The grouping, formed in 2001, is one of the largest groupings on the planet in terms of geographical size, population and GDP. Sherzod in the statement said, "The followings were at the core of Uzbekistan's chairmanship at SCO: - strengthening of economic ties and trade; promoting industrial and tech. cooperation; furthering broader connectivity; digital transformation and green economy; strengthening the international profile of SCO".

All in all, 15 leaders will be attending the mega summit, and include 8 member countries, 3 observer countries and 4 guests. The leaders of the observer countries include Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, and Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh. The leaders who have been invited as guests at the summit are Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Turkmenistan President Serdar Berdimuhamedow.

The summit is happening at a time of global geopolitical changes, including the Russia-Ukraine conflict and Taiwan strait crisis and provides ample opportunities for the leaders to also hold bilateral talks. It is not known right now if PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold talks or not but ahead of the summit announced the start of disengagement at Gogra-Hotsprings PP15 that is expected to be concluded by Monday, 12th September.

The Ministry of external affairs said, "It has been agreed that all temporary structures and other allied infrastructure created in the area by both sides will be dismantled and mutually verified. The landforms in the area will be restored to the pre-stand-off period by both sides."

India is expected to raise issues like Afghanistan, counter-terror, connectivity, and trade at the summit but a key outcome will be handing over the presidency of the grouping. Under its presidency, India will host the SCO summit next year.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the "International Dairy Federation World Dairy Summit" (IDF WDS-2022) today (September 12). The four-day long IDF WDS 2022 is being held from September 12 to September 15 and is being organised at India Expo Centre & Mart in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Around 1,500 participants from 50 countries are likely to participate in IDF WDS 2022.

It is a congregation of global and Indian dairy stakeholders including industry leaders, experts, farmers and policy planners centring around the theme of "Dairy for Nutrition and Livelihood".

According to Prime Minister's Office, the last such Summit was held in India in 1974.

"Driven by the vision of the Prime Minister, the government has taken multiple steps for the betterment of the dairy sector resulting in an increase of milk production by more than 44% in the last eight years. The success story of the Indian dairy industry, accounting for about 23% of global milk, producing around 210 million tonnes annually, and empowering more than 8 crore dairy farmers, will be showcased at the IDF WDS 2022. The summit will also help Indian dairy farmers to gain exposure about the global best practices," the PMO said in a statement.

Yogi Adityanath reviews preps for World Dairy Summit ahead of PM Modi's visit

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday reviewed preparations for the World Dairy Summit-2022.

"The chief minister did a thorough site inspection of the helipad, exhibition hall and the main venue of the auditorium. After that, while meeting with the police administration, Indian Dairy Federation and other officials concerned, he said it was a matter of pride for UP to be hosting the event," an official statement read.

"He said stakeholders from about 46 countries are participating in the event and a large number of foreign dignitaries will be participating, too, as he instructed officials to ensure that the visiting foreign guests be able to participate in the programme with ease," it added.

During the inspection, Adityanath was briefed about the programme by officials of Indian Dairy Federation and National Dairy Development Board, according to the statement.

Gautam Buddh Nagar District Magistrate Suhas L Y and Police Commissioner Alok Singh also apprised the chief minister of the preparations of the local administration and police, respectively, it added.

Noida Police issue traffic advisory in view of PM Modi's visit

In view of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Greater Noida, the police have issued a traffic advisory and said that various diversions on the Delhi-Greater Noida Expressway route have been placed.

Traffic going from Chilla Red Light to Greater Noida via Expressway will be able to go towards its destination via Golchakkar Chowk via Rajnigandha Cheek, Sector 37 from Sector 14A flyover, Noida Traffic Police said.

Traffic coming from Sector 37 to DND/Chilla, Sector 37 to Sector 18, Rajnigandha will be able to go to its destination by crossing the chowk, the advisory read.

(With agency inputs)
For years, Native Wholesale Supply was supplying millions of dollars in untaxed cigarettes to retailers across the state, allegedly avoiding paying state excise taxes.

On Monday, State Attorney General Letitia James announced the Cattaraugus County company will pay $50 million to settle a nine-year-old civil suit over the untaxed cigarettes.

The agreement involves Grand River Enterprises Six Nations, a cigarette manufacturer based near Hamilton, Ont., and Native Wholesale Supply, whose principal place of business is Perrysburg. Native Wholesale is responsible for paying the $50 million, while both companies are bound by the other terms of the agreement.

The state Attorney General's Office alleged Native Wholesale bought cigarettes and tobacco products from Grand River, imported them into New York, and distributed the cigarettes to retailers in the state.

"Native Wholesale was not licensed by New York to distribute or sell cigarettes," the Attorney General's Office said Monday. "Grand River knew that the cigarettes it sold to Native Wholesale would be sold into New York without going through a New York state licensed stamping agent for pre-payment of state taxes and would be neither stamped nor taxed as required by New York law."

In a statement, Native Wholesale said the settlement brings to an end the state's lawsuit "without any admission of wrongdoing or liability by (Native Wholesale) or (Grand River).

The lawsuit filed in 2013 said that from November 2011 through February 2013, Native Wholesale paid $47.3 million to Grand River, including for cigarettes, which in turn sold the products to on-reservation wholesalers for over $221 million.

In addition to the $50 million payment, the agreement with the state attorney general bars the two companies from selling unstamped cigarettes in New York state.

Grand River produces cigarettes under the Seneca, Couture, and Opal, brands. The state Attorney General's Office said Native Wholesale served as its primary distributor and wholesaler of cigarettes in New York state and that the two companies acted as a joint venture, a business relationship disputed by Native Wholesale.

The state Attorney General's Office said failing to pay state excise taxes hurts anti-smoking efforts and undercuts collection of state revenues.

"When state excise taxes are evaded, cigarette prices become artificially low, making them more attractive and accessible to young people," the state Attorney General's Office said. "Moreover, the sale of contraband cigarettes also reduces valuable tax revenue used to pay for essential state services and public infrastructure."

Native Wholesale's statement said that its $50 million payment is not a payment of back taxes.

"The settlement payments are to be paid solely by (Native Wholesale) and are not denominated as payment of back taxes," the company said. "They are payments that the parties agreed are payments of disputed claims payable under the trust set up in accordance with the Chapter 11 plan of reorganization."

Native Wholesale denied it was ever a wholesaler or distributor of Grand River.

"(Native Wholesale) and (Grand River) have at all times maintained and continue to maintain that the transactions at issue do not and did not violate any federal or New York State laws, particularly in view of well-established sovereign and treaty rights established with the federal government," Native Wholesale said.

The agreement brings to a conclusion a long-running case that began with a lawsuit filed over nine years ago. The state Attorney General's office said it was assisted by the state Department of Taxation and Finance and the Ontario Ministry of Finance.

Native Wholesale has faced lawsuits by different states where it operated, as well as from the federal government. In 2010, Native Wholesale pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and was sentenced in federal court in Seattle, agreeing to forfeit $1 million to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2011, complicating the legal challenges brought against the company.

Several states have sued Native Wholesale for various reasons, including alleged violation of cigarette-shipment laws and sale of cigarettes that do not meet fire-safety standards.
Madhya Pradesh: National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) Member Secretary S P Yadav said that the first batch of cheetahs is being brought from Namibia to Kuno National Park in Sheopur in Madhya Pradesh on September 17. NTCA Member Secretary S P Yadav in an exclusive interview with ANI said, "We are getting eight cheetahs out of which five are female and three are male at Kuno National Park, Sheopur, Madhya Pradesh." The Prime Minister will launch the cheetah reintroduction project on September 17 at MP`s Kuno National Park.

Yadav added, "this is a big and historic time and there is no other example like this in the entire world where it is being released and brought from one continent to another continent and all the international standards are being followed for this."

"As of now, our plan is to bring the cheetahs in the morning of September 17 and for this, we hired a chartered cargo plane. The cheetahs will come to Jaipur from Windhoek, Namibia`s capital and then by helicopter will come to Palpur Kuno National Park and then there will be a programme to release them, the helipad has also been built," SP Yadav told ANI.

"It will be a historic moment to bring cheetahs back to India. You know that in 1947-48, the last three cheetahs were hunted by the Maharaja of Korea in Chhattisgarh and the last cheetah was seen at the same time in 1952 the Government of India declared Cheetah extinct and since then we are restoring cheetahs after almost 75 years."

"Cheetahs will be brought in quarantine for the first 30 days, quarantine arrangements are made, their health and other parameters will be monitored and after that when it is found that they are completely healthy after testing them, they will be put in large enclosures" Yadav added.

Yadav further said that "Enclosure in 6 Sq. Kilometres have been made, and it has nine compartments, of which eight are for cheetah and when it will be left in the large enclosure after quarantine.

Monitoring will be done on whether Cheetah has adapted to the climate of the country or not and whether he is feeling comfortable or not and all these will be monitored very closely.

"NTCA Member Secretary said, "when it seems that Cheetah is completely adopted the atmosphere then we will release it in the open forests but before release, a radio collar has already been installed in each leopard and every leopard will be monitored 24 hours by the surveillance team."

"Every cheetah is to be monitored and there will be a team behind it, which change its duty in eight to eight hours. For the safety of cheetahs, we have formed a `Cheetah Mitra`, an awareness program has been run among the people so that people are aware of Cheetah.

All protocol for safety and security for Cheetah will be maintained," he added.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has been constituted under section 38 L (1) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the "Reintroduction of the Cheetah" project at the Kuno National Park in the Sheopur district of Madhya Pradesh on September 17.

PM Modi will also release cheetahs being brought from Africa into the state`s forests. The big cat species will be reintroduced in India after 70 years since being declared extinct in 1952.
New Delhi: A speeding SUV driven by a juvenile allegedly crushed a food delivery boy to death in Central Delhi`s Desh Bandhu Gupta Road, police said. According to information, the incident took place at around 11 on Friday night. The father of the accused juvenile said to be a class 9 student, is a millionaire businessman who was arrested in a cheating case around two months ago. "He was driving an MG Hector. A friend of the juvenile, a foreign national, was also with him at the time of the incident. The duo left the SUV at the crime scene and fled," the police said.

The victim identified as Rahul Kumar had been working with Swiggy, the online food ordering and delivery platform. The deceased was riding his bike along with his cousin Pawan Kumar. They were on their way to meet a friend when the accident took place. The police got a PCR call at around 1.20 a.m. on Saturday.

"Both were thrown off the bike after being hit by the speeding SUV. They were moved to the RML Hospital where Kumar succumbed to his injuries during treatment," the police said.

Also Read: Viral: Woman caught in middle of autorickshaw & car accident; watch her narrow escape

A case has been lodged under sections 279 and 337 of the IPC and later, more sections, including 304-A, were added to the FIR. Police gathered details of the car from the transport department and went to the owner`s home and apprehended the juvenile.

"The juvenile and his friend were returning after having dinner at a Connaught Place-based eatery when they hit the bike being ridden by the deceased. The SUV was seized," the police said.
Patna: As part of their efforts to unite the Opposition parties ahead of the 202 Lok Sabha polls, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav will meet Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi in Delhi soon. "Yes, once she comes back there will be a meeting. Both of them (RJD chief and Bihar CM) will go together (to meet her)", Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav said in Patna.

This came a day after noted election strategist Prashant Kishor said there is a need for a "credible face" and mass movement to seek people`s vote in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, and opined that meeting leaders of various political parties "would not make much of a difference".

Kishor said such meetings cannot be seen as Opposition unity or political development. He further said, "Those who don`t believe this need to wait and watch. It will certainly happen. I won`t comment on whatever someone says".

When asked about the promise Nitish gave about providing jobs for youth under various arrangements in the state, Tejashwi further asserted, "we would definitely fulfil the promise of providing 20 lakh jobs. We are in the government and this will happen."

Tejashwi Yadav reiterated that if all the Opposition parties unite then they will be successful in defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 general elections. "It is a good thing. It has been clearly said that if all of us are united, we will be successful (in defeating BJP)" Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav told media persons here when asked about CM Nitish Kumar`s recent meetings with Opposition leaders in Delhi.

Kishor`s remarks came on the backdrop of his former ally Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar`s visit to the national capital recently to meet Opposition leaders. Kishor, who was earlier given the post of national president in Nitish Kumar`s Janata Dal (United) and was later expelled from the party, said, "Such meetings and discussions taking place will not change the political situation on the ground. I do not have such an experience. He is more experienced than me. But I do not see the meeting of some leaders individually or collectively, holding discussions or press conferences, as an Opposition unity or a political development."

"Unless you create a people`s movement and generate a popular narrative, form a formidable entity, and a credible face that can make the public believe that he can be a better alternative to the BJP, only then they (people) will vote for you," he said.

Nitish Kumar had recently met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

This came days after Nitish Kumar broke the alliance with the BJP in August and formed the government with RJD in Bihar. Earlier Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had also visited Bihar and met Nitish Kumar, and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav as part of efforts toward forging opposition unity.
Raipur: BJPs parent organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) on Monday lashed out at Congress for posting a picture of a burning pair of RSS shorts on Twitter, triggering a bitter political row. Attacking the main opposition party, RSS Joint General Secretary Manmohan Vaidya said that the Congress wants to connect people through hatred while asserting that the Grand Old Partys earlier generations too harboured hatred and contempt for the Sangh.

Addressing a press conference after the conclusion of the three-day coordination meeting of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) here, Vaidya claimed there was "growing support" for Hindutva in the society.

"They (Congress) want to connect people through hatred. Can you unite India through hatred? They have harboured hatred and contempt for us for a long time. Their earlier generations (baap-dada) too tried to stop the RSS but we kept growing as we were supported by the people," he said.

#WATCH | Raipur | They want to connect people to hatred. They've harboured hatred for us for a long time now. Their father & grandfather tried to stop the RSS but the RSS did not stop & kept growing as we continued to get support from people: Dr M Vaidya, RSS on Congress tweet pic.twitter.com/ieelu1owSm  ANI (@ANI) September 12, 2022

The strong reactions from the RSS and the BJP came after the Congress tweeted a picture of a burning pair of khaki shorts - a part of the RSS uniform earlier, saying, "To free the country from shackles of hate and undo the damage done by BJP-RSS. Step by step, we will reach our goal" while referring to its Bharat Jodo Yatra.

To free the country from shackles of hate and undo the damage done by BJP-RSS.



Step by step, we will reach our goal.#BharatJodoYatra pic.twitter.com/MuoDZuCHJ2 September 12, 2022

As soon as the tweet went viral, BJP leaders hit out at Congress and demanded that the picture should be taken down immediately. South Bengaluru MP Tejashvi Surya was among the first ones to react to the post, who stated that the picture is symbolic of Congress politics.

This picture is symbolic of Congress politics - of lighting fires in the country.



Fires they lit in the past has burnt them in most of India.



The remaining embers in Rajasthan & Chattisgrah will also reduce to ashes very soon.



Save this tweet. https://t.co/28qbFvKkbI September 12, 2022

The ruling BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra asked Congress, "I want to ask Rahul Gandhi do you want violence in this country?" (sic). Lashing out at the Congress, Patra said, "It's not 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' but 'Bharat Todo' and 'Aag Lagao Yatra'. This is not the first time Congress Party has done so. I want to ask Rahul Gandhi do you want violence in this country? Congress should take down this picture immediately."
VARANASI: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has warned that the Varanasi district courts order in the Gyanvapi masjid case will have a destabilising effect and create problems in the country. The AIMI Hyderabad MP also compared the Varanasi courts order with the previous Supreme Court judgement in the Babri Masjid case.

A destabilising effect will start after this. We're going on the same path as that of the Babri masjid issue. When judgement on Babri Masjid was given, I warned everyone that this will create problems in the country as this judgement was given on the basis of faith, the AIMIM chief said.

A destabilising effect will start after this. We're going on the same path as that of the Babri masjid issue. When judgement on Babri Masjid was given, I warned everyone that this will create problems in the country as this judgement was given on the basis of faith: AIMIM chief https://t.co/aeZ7l6FUCI pic.twitter.com/niASIW8Qz6  ANI (@ANI) September 12, 2022

Asaduddin Owaisi also hoped that the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee will appeal against this order. I believe that after this order, the purpose of the Places of Worship Act 1991 will fail, the AIMIM MP said.

His reactions came shortly after the Varanasi district court rejected the plea questioning the maintainability of a petition seeking permission for daily worship of Hindu deities whose idols are located on an outer wall of the Gyanvapi mosque.

District Judge A K Vishvesh ordered that it would continue to hear the petition seeking the right to worship deities on the outer wall of the mosque complex located close to the Kashi Vishwanath temple. The court fixed September 22 as the next date of hearing in the case. Merajuddin Siddiqui, the advocate representing the Muslim side, said that they will move the Allahabad High Court against the judgement.

26-page verdict in Gyanvapi Case

The district judge delivered a 26-page order in 10 minutes in the presence of restricted 32 persons inside the courtroom, including lawyers of the two sides and plaintiffs, said an advocate who was present in the courtroom.

In the order, the judge said, "In view of the discussions and analysis, I have come to the conclusion that the suit of the plaintiffs is not barred by the Places of Worship (Special Provision) Act, 1991, The Waqf Act, 1995 and UP Sri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Act, 1983, and the application 35C filed by the defendant no. 4 (Anjuman Intezamia) is liable to be dismissed."

Gyanvapi-Shringar Gauri Dispute

Five women had filed the petition seeking permission for daily worship of Hindu deities whose idols are claimed to be located on an outer wall of the Gyanvapi mosque. The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee has said the Gyanvapi mosque is a Waqf property and questioned the maintainability of the plea.

The district judge had on August 24 reserved the order till September 12 in the communally sensitive matter. Vishnu Jain, an advocate representing the Hindu side, told reporters that the court rejected the application of the Muslim side.

"Their (Muslim side) plea regarding the Place of Worship Act was rejected by the court. The court said that the suit is maintainable, and the next hearing in the matter is on September 22," he said. As the news about the court order was spread, some people who had gathered outside the court here rejoiced the moment by distributing sweets.

On May 20, the Supreme Court transferred the civil suit filed by Hindu devotees on Gyanvapi mosque from civil judge (senior division) to district judge, Varanasi, saying looking at the complexities and sensitivity of the issue, it is better if a senior judicial officer having an experience of over 25-30 years handles this case.

In an important observation, the top court also said that the process to ascertain the religious character of a place of worship is not barred under the Places of Worship Act of 1991. A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud, Surya Kant, and P S Narasimha said it will be better if a district judge handles the case and made it clear that it is not casting any aspersion on the civil judge (senior division) who was earlier dealing with the suit.

The district administration had issued prohibitory order under Section 144 of CrPC in Varanasi on Sunday in view of the court order on a sensitive issue.

(With Agency inputs)
Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general sectary Abhishek Banerjees sister-in-law Maneka Gambhir appeared before Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday (September 12, 2022) at 12:30 am as the notice for her summons mentioned the same - 12-09-22 at 12:30 am in connection with coal case.

Gambhir arived at the ED office at 12:30 am along with her lawyer but the ED office was closed and there were no officials present. She left after waiting and no officials turned up.

West Bengal | TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee's sister-in-law Maneka Gambhir was summoned to ED office in Kolkata at 12.30 am last night in connection with coal smuggling case. However, upon reaching the office as per the time mentioned in the summon, the office was found to be closed. https://t.co/0kfWY2uvcg pic.twitter.com/KdxYvFaU6P  ANI (@ANI) September 12, 2022

Earlier, Maneka Gambhir was stopped by the ED at the Kolkata airport from flying abroad on Saturday evening and was handed over summons to join investigation in a money laundering case, official sources said.

Gambhir had reached the airport to take a flight to Bangkok departing around 9 PM. The sources said on Sunday that Gambhir was denied immigration clearance on the basis of a Look Out Circular (LOC) issued against her by the federal probe agency.

She was stopped by the immigration authorities and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was informed following which they reached the airport, spoke to her and denied her permission to travel, they said.
The ruling Trinamool Congress will move a motion in the assembly against the "hyperactive" drives by central agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate in West Bengal.

A short session of the assembly will be held from September 14 when the motion will be moved. Assembly Speaker Biman Bandopadhyay said on Monday that a proposal on the motion has already been submitted in the assembly.

"There will be a discussion in which members of both the treasury benches and the opposition will participate. An atmosphere of tension and fear is being created in the state. The central agencies` officials are reaching the residences of people at odd hours. There will be discussions on this matter," the Speaker said.

The decision to move the motion was taken at a working committee meeting of the assembly on Monday, which was attended by several ministers and MLAs of the ruling party, besides the Speaker and the deputy speaker, Asish Bandopadhyay. However, none of the BJP legislators, who are members of the working committee, were present at the meeting.

Emerging out of the meeting, parliamentary affairs and agriculture minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay said that the motion will come up for discussion on September 19.

He slammed the opposition members in the working committee for their absence from the Monday meeting. "We too had been on the opposition benches for a long time. There had been differences with the then Speaker of the assembly but despite that we attended the meetings convened by the Speaker. There are some practices in the democratic system which we should not ignore," he said.

Till the filing of this report, there was no reaction from the state unit of the BJP on this count.
New Delhi: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis has hit out at Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and said that his style of functioning was responsible for the "split" in his party. Fadnavis was referring to Eknath Shinde and 39 other Shiv Sena legislators revolting against party leadership, which had led to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra this year. Speaking at an event on Saturday (September 10, 2022), the senior BJP leader also said that only Uddhav Thackeray has to be blamed for the recent political turmoil in the state.

"Only Uddhav Thackeray is responsible for the political debacle and crisis in Maharashtra. His working style is responsible for the Shiva Sena's split. Around 30-40 MLAs left the MVA alliance and he had no idea about it," Fadnavis was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

ALSO READ | Shiv Sena fumes as Eknath Shinde shares stage with CJI Lalit, says 'democracy in danger'

"Uddhav Ji used to say in his speeches - 'You can try to bring down my government'. I said - 'One day your government will come down and you won't even realise it'. And that is exactly what happened," Fadnavis added.

It is notable that the BJP and Shiv Sena had contested the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls together. However, Sena then parted ways with the saffron party following differences over sharing the chief minister's post. Subsequently, the Uddhav-led party joined hands with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress to form the MVA government.

"Uddhav Thackeray made a mockery of the mandate. When we fought in alliance, at every gathering, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah said the CM will be from the BJP. Uddhav Ji was also on stage and clapped. But when aspirations exceed capabilities, people make decisions," Fadnavis said.

Uddhav Thackeray might be political opponent, but not 'enemy'

Devendra Fadnavis, however, stated that Uddhav Thackeray might be his political opponent, but they were not "enemies".

"I can talk to Uddhav Thackeray even now, but it may be a non-political conversation. All things should not be viewed from a political angle only," he said.

The former chief minister also trashed rumours of conspiracy at being given the deputy CM's post.

Trusting NCP leader Ajit Pawar 'biggest' political blunder

Devendra Fadnavis also admitted that believing senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar was his "biggest" political blunder, and said that in order to take revenge for the back-stabbing, it was important that one lives long.

After the 2019 Assembly election results, Fadnavis and Pawar had taken oath as the state chief minister and deputy CM, respectively, at a hush-hush ceremony held at the Raj Bhavan in November that year. However, their government lasted only nearly 80 hours after Ajit, Sharad Pawar's nephew quit.

"When such things happen, it is important that you live long enough to take revenge for such political back-stabbing," he said.

(With agency inputs)



ALSO READ | Ajit Pawar skips NCP's national convention, sparks rumours of rift in the party
Noida: With 319 lakh metric tonnes of annual milk production, Uttar Pradesh contributes 16 per cent of India's dairy production and is the top milk-producing state in the country, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Monday. He shared the figures during his speech at the inaugural session of the International Dairy Federation World Dairy Summit 2022, being held in Greater Noida. The summit, last held in India in 1974, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "UP is the largest state in India in terms of population. It also is top in the country in milk production, having 16 per cent of the country's dairy production.

"Today UP produces 319 lakh metric tonne per annum (MTPA) milk and is top in the country. This makes the organization of the World Dairy Summit in UP even more relevant," Adityanath said.

Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Parshottam Rupala, his deputy minister Sanjeev Balyan, and IDF president Piercristiano Brazzale, among others, were present during the address.

Adityanath noted that the theme of the Summit -- Dairy for Nutrition and Livelihood -- focuses on the income of farmers and animal keepers.

"Besides this, it focuses on job creation and nutrition also. These are relevant issues," he said.

Adityanath said a majority of people engaged in animal keeping comprises those who have taken it up as a traditional occupation.

"But when we link it with technology and modern approach, then it will help in increasing their income manifold. This is why India's traditional approach, where a large number of small and marginal farmers keep animals with the same importance with which they take up farming," he said.

"UP and India have become top milk producers because of these animal keepers and farmers," the chief minister said.

In the organised sector, Uttar Pradesh has 110 functional dairies and it includes those from the cooperative sector, he said.

There are also 8,600 milk committees through which more than four lakh members engaged in milk production are active in the state, he added.

"At present, Uttar Pradesh is working on a war footing to start new Greenfield dairy plants. These plants will become functional in the next one to two years. I would request the National Dairy Development Board to provide support to UP and also leverage the opportunities present in the state for the dairy sector. The UP government is ready to support it," he said.

He praised the Balinee Milk Producer company, which was set up in 2019 in Jhansi, by a women's self-help-group with over 41,000 members and now produces 1.35 lakh litres of milk daily from 795 villages in six districts of the Bundelkhand region.

"This women-led SHG now has an annual turnover of Rs 150 crore and net profit of Rs 13 crore. Balini Milk Producer is an exemplary model for a state like Uttar Pradesh," he apprised the gathering, consisting of Indian and global dairy industry stakeholders.

He said on similar lines, work is in progress to set up four more milk producers in various regions of the state and the state government is constantly making all efforts for it.

The UP government is working for investments in the state in the next five years in UP under the Nand Baba Milk Mission, he said.

"The state government has come up with a new policy which offers several incentives. The state government is ready to work on any exemplary model in the dairy sector within India or anywhere in the world," Adityanath said.

He said works to the tune of Rs 300 crore have been approved for UP under the Centre's Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Fund and the state government has also received a commendation letter from the Centre for the good work done in the sector.

He said a greenfield dairy plant is functional in Varanasi and a bio plant of 10,000 cubic metre capacity is in the offing there.

"UP has proposed a global investors' summit in January 2023 and under that, the state government has prepared a policy through which investments in the dairy sector will also be explored," the CM said, adding he was hopeful of good results.

On stray cattle, Adityanath said his government was working on that front, too and at present more than 6,600 cattle shelters are functional in the state.

"In these shelters, over 9 lakh cattle are kept in protection. Besides that more than 1.5 lakh cattle have been provided by the UP government to the animal keepers who are given financial aid to take care of the livestock," he said.

He said so far 84 lakh cattle have been vaccinated in the state under a Central government initiative started in 2019 by PM Modi, while 25 lakh cattle have been administered for brucellosis (a contagious disease in ruminants that also affects humans)
New Delhi: The heavy rain pouring in Jharkhand has helped reduce the overall rainfall deficit of the state. As per Abhishek Anand, Ranchi meteorological centre in charge, Jharkhand's overall rainfall deficit reduced from 27 per cent on Sunday to 25 per cent on Monday. The state has received 676.2 mm rainfall from June 1 to September 12 against the normal rainfall of 899.6 mm rainfall during the period

The India Meteorological Department says that Jharkhand's rain deficit this season has decreased to 25% as a result of the intense depression that has been sweeping over Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh for the past 24 hours.

There are no reports of flooding in any part of the state. The deep depression over south Chhattisgarh and adjoining southeast Madhya Pradesh has moved nearly northwestwards and weakened into a well-marked low-pressure area. So, Jharkhand is expected to get some relief from incessant rain after Tuesday afternoon," Ranchi meteorological centre in-charge

"However, rainfall will continue for at least next 48 hours due to formation of a trough line, he said. Bokaro, East Singhbhum, Khunti, Ramgarh, Ranchi, Saraikela-Kharaswan, and West Singhbhum are the seven districts in the state where rainfall has now achieved the standard category level for monsoon.

Seventeen other districts, however, still have rain shortfalls ranging from 24% to 66%. Pakur is facing the maximum rain shortfall at 66%, followed by Sahibganj at 62% and Godda at 55% rain shortfall, the IMD official said.

Farmers in Jharkhand are experiencing drought-like conditions as a result of the sparse rainfall in the first two monsoon months. The state experienced a 49% overall rainfall deficit from June 1 to July 31. The rainfall is likely to weaken after Tuesday afternoon but sporadic precipitation might continue till September 14 due to the impact of a trough line, a senior IMD official said.

Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Monday held a review meeting given the drought-like situation in the state. We discussed several issues, including declaring early season drought or later drought. We also discussed the action plan to tackle drought, as it is being witnessed every three or four years in Jharkhand, state Agriculture Minister Badal Patralekh said.

Patralekh said that Jharkhand faced droughts in 2014-15 and 2018-19. The same situation is being seen in 2022-23. According to Jharkhand Disaster Management Minister Banna Gupta, the meeting decided to drill 100,000 wells and 100,000 ponds in Jharkhand to combat droughts. Additionally, it was planned to introduce programmes between Rs 2,000 crore to Rs 2,500 crore to create jobs in communities.
Through a variety of schemes for nearly two years, Mollie McCann Poblocki stole from her employer, Pillar Real Estate Investors.

But the bulk of the money she took came when her direct supervisor was on leave to take care of a child who was battling cancer, the Lancaster company's owner told a judge Monday.

"For Mollie, a co-workers sick child was viewed as an opportunity," Michael Lorigo said.

McCann Poblocki, 50, of Orchard Park, was led from the courtroom in handcuffs after being sentenced to one to three years in prison.

Pillar Real Estate Investors was the fourth employer McCann Poblocki, formerly known as Mollie McCann Healy, had swindled since 2004.

In this case, she accomplished the theft through various means, according to Lorigo  insisting on cash payments from tenants; making tenants pay extra security deposits; having tenants pay her directly through apps such as Venmo and Zelle; and installing air conditioning units owned by Pillar in exchange for cash.

"It is incredible to think of the ways she managed to steal over such a short period of time," Lorigo said.

McCann Poblocki pleaded guilty in June to third-degree grand larceny for taking about $53,000 in company funds.

Her attorney, Giovanni Genovese, in the courtroom on Monday handed Lorigo a $53,000 restitution check.

Acting State Supreme Court Judge Debra L. Givens issued the sentence, a term she agreed to as part of an agreement made when McCann Poblocki entered her guilty plea, the judge said.

When given an opportunity to speak before the sentence was issued, McCann Poblocki declined to make a statement.

From a 30,000-foot view, she looked like a compassionate and caring person, Lorigo said in court. She showed "relatable vulnerability" and "pulls people towards her by expressing kindness," he said.

She made homemade lunches for the company's maintenance employees and drove tenants to the store.

The company didn't conduct a background check when they hired her, Lorigo has previously said.

Lorigo called her "skilled in engineering sympathy and empathy."

But the company's biggest mistake, Lorigo said, was the company giving her another chance, even after they learned of her "checkered past" and a company vice president spoke with her about it.

Her prior convictions go back 18 years.

McCann Poblocki was sentenced to 122 days in jail in 2016 after she admitted she used a credit card of the Hamburg car dealership she worked for to buy shoes and a watch.

In 2004, she was sentenced by a judge who called her a "sociopath" to three to six years in prison after admitting she wrote checks to herself and made unauthorized credit card purchases while working at a Southtowns medical practice, all to the tune of about $65,000. She was in a state work-release program less than a year later.

Authorities said she committed those thefts from the medical practice while she served weekends in jail for stealing about $16,000 in merchandise from a Hamburg jeweler where she used to work.
Greater Noida: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday (September 12, 2022) underlined the contribution of the female workforce in India's dairy sector and said that the women represent 70 per cent of the workforce in India's dairy sector and more than a third of dairy cooperatives' members are women.

Women are the real leaders of India's dairy sector... In 2014, India produced 146 million tonnes of milk. Now it has increased to 210 million tonnes. That means an increase of about 44 percent, said PM Narendra Modi.

Women are the real leaders of India's dairy sector... In 2014, India produced 146 million tonnes of milk. Now it has increased to 210 million tonnes. That means an increase of about 44 percent: PM Narendra Modi pic.twitter.com/FmI7QQDYM7  ANI (@ANI) September 12, 2022

PM Modi today inaugurated International Dairy Federation World Dairy Summit (IDF WDS) 2022. PM Modi also inspected an exhibition at India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh.

The prime minister also highlighted that the digital revolution witnessed in India has also reached the dairy sector. India's dairy sector is recognised for production by masses rather than mass production. Today 8cr families are getting employment from dairy sector. India has become the largest producer of dairy products in the world due to collective efforts of small-scale dairy farmers, PM Modi said.

While addressing the people at the event, PM Modi said the Centre along with states is making efforts to control Lumpy Skin Disease in cattle. Many states are grappling with Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) in cattle and the disease has emerged as a concern for the dairy sector.

"Our scientists have also prepared indigenous vaccine for Lumpy Skin Disease," Modi said addressing the International Dairy Federation World Dairy Summit (IDF WDS) 2022.

The four-day long IDF WDS 2022 is being held from September 12 to September 15 and is being organised at India Expo Centre & Mart in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. According to the statement, around 1,500 participants from 50 countries are likely to participate in IDF WDS 2022. According to Prime Minister's Office, the last such Summit was held in India in 1974.
Aurangabad: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday hit out at his detractors and said it was better to be dubbed as "agents" of PM Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who had nullified Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir, than being sympathetic to Yakub Memon, executed in 2015 for his role in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts.

Addressing a rally at Paithan in central Maharashtra's Aurangabad district, Shinde attacked the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction of the Shiv Sena by claiming it was better to be an "agent" of those people who were pursuing the dream of party founder Bal Thackeray.

The Shiv Sena faction led by its president Uddhav Thackeray and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been engaged in a war of words over the "beautification" of the grave of Memon in a cemetery in Mumbai.

The BJP, an ally of the Sena faction led by Shinde, has claimed the "beautification" of the grave of Memon happened during the tenure of the erstwhile Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government (November 2019-June 2022) and has sought an apology from the former CM.

"It should be checked during whose tenure the beautification of Yakub Memon's grave took place. It is being alleged we are working as agents of PM Modi and Amit Shah. It is better to be an agent of those people who pursued the dream of Balasaheb Thackeray and revoked Article 370 (which provided special status to J&K) than being an agent of Yakub Memon," Shinde said.

He rubbished an article in Shiv Sena's mouthpiece 'Saamana' about the BJP working to "finish Marathi people from Mumbai". "It is being alleged the BJP is using us to finish Marathis from Mumbai. 'Saamana', which printed this, must also publish an analysis on why Marathi-speaking people went out of Mumbai," the CM said.

The Sena had sought votes in the 2019 Assembly polls in alliance with the BJP and it was time to introspect who "cheated" the Hindutva ideology and electors, he added. After the 2019 Assembly elections, the Sena had snapped ties with its pre-poll ally BJP and joined hands with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to form the MVA government. Shinde, during his visit, offered prayers at the renowned Sant Eknath Temple in Paithan.
New Delhi: Actor Akshay Kumar, on Monday, mourned the demise of his favourite hairdresser Milan Jadhav on social media.

Taking to his Instagram handle, he shared a throwback picture with Milan from the sets of one of his films and penned a heartfelt note, which reads, "You stood out of the crowd with your funky hairstyles and infectious smile. Always ensured not even one hair of mine was out of place. The life of the set, my hairdresser for more than 15 years...Milan Jadhav. Still can`t believe you`ve left us...I will miss you Milano. Om shanti."

Meanwhile, on the work front, Akshay was last seen in `Cuttputli` alongside Rakul Preet Singh. He will be also seen in `Ram Setu` alongside Jacqueline Fernandez and Nushrratt Bharuccha, which is slated to release on the occasion of Diwali 2022.

Apart from that, he also has `Selfiee` alongside Emraan Hashmi, Nushrratt Bharuccha and Diana Penty in his kitty, which is all se to hit the theatres on February 24, 2023.
Gurugram: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday said that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) would probe Sonali Phogat`s death if the family is not satisfied with the Goa police`s investigation. While talking to mediapersons in Haryana, Khattar said, "We had asked for a CBI probe in writing but they`ve stated that first Goa would complete their own investigation and if the family is not satisfied with it, the investigation will be handed over to CBI."

Earlier today, a Khap Mahapanchayat was held in Hisar demanding a CBI inquiry into the death of Sonal Phogat. Amid the ongoing stir in Sonali Phogat`s death case, the police on Friday confirmed that the profile was being reviewed at senior levels and had said that a charge sheet will be filed on objective grounds.

"It is being reviewed at senior levels. We`re confident of filing a charge sheet on objective grounds after remand. Will ensure nothing is left out of the investigation," North Goa SP Shobit Saxena had said. He further stressed that the police of the western state has a zero-tolerance policy against illicit activities."

Goa police has zero tolerance towards illicit drug-related activities, had record seizures of illegal drugs in past few years. Action to be taken against those who supply, consume, stock or allow their premises to be used for drug consumption," he had added.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had stayed the demolition of Curlies restaurant in Goa soon after its demolition began on Friday on the subject to the condition that no commercial activities will take place there. This was the same restaurant in Goa where actor and BJP leader Sonali Phogat was allegedly drugged and was later declared dead. The demolition action against the restaurant began after its owner failed to get any respite from the National Green Tribunal (NGT). On Thursday, NGT had upheld the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority`s previous order to demolish the shack. The actor was pronounced dead on August 23 at the St Anthony Hospital in Anjuna, North Goa. A heavy police force has been deployed outside the Curlies restaurant. "We are providing police protection for the demolition. As per the order, it is being demolished," DYSP Jivba Dalvi had said.

Expressing dissatisfaction over the probe by the Goa Police into the death case of Sonali Phogat, her family will approach the Goa High Court demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the matter. Sonali Phogat`s family had met Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in connection with the case and had demanded a CBI probe. The Chief Minister had assured of the CBI investigation. However, being dissatisfied with the ongoing investigation, the family decided to go to Goa High Court with their demand. Speaking to ANI, Vikas Singh, Sonali Phogat`s nephew, who is also an advocate in his family said that they have written to Chief Justice of India UU Lalit for a CBI inquiry, and will approach the Goa High Court with a writ petition by Friday if they are not satisfied with the answer of the top court.

Earlier, Goa Police had said that Sonali Phogat was forcibly drugged by her two associates who were arrested after being named as accused in the case. Haryana Police detained a man after the family accused him of taking a laptop and mobile from the farmhouse of the deceased BJP leader. Haryana Police has recovered the items following which the questioning is underway. Sonali Phogat who rose to fame with her TikTok videos contested the 2019 Haryana election as a BJP candidate but lost to then Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi (he has since joined the BJP). She also appeared in the reality show Bigg Boss in 2020.
New Delhi: The economic offences wing (EOW) of Delhi Police will issue another summon to Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez after she requested to postpone the questioning scheduled on Monday. Delhi Police has summoned her to join the investigation in connection with the Rs 200 crore extortion case allegedly involving conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar.

A senior police officer has confirmed to ANI that Jacqueline has communicated to Delhi police via email that due to prior commitments, she won`t be able to join the investigation on September 12. The officer added that Jacqueline was summoned to join the investigation on September 12 at the EOW office at Mandir Marg around 11 am. "Now, we will issue a fresh summon to Jacqueline to join the investigation in the case. The dates of fresh summon will be decided soon," the officer added.

Enforcement Directorate (ED) has named Jacqueline in their chargesheet into the money laundering cases that involve Sukesh. ED chargesheet stated that Jacqueline knew about Sukesh involvement in criminal cases. Still, she chose to overlook his criminal past and despite of that she got indulged in financial transactions with him.

ED had registered a case of money laundering in the alleged scam over the FIR registered by the Delhi Police. ED had earlier stated that Fernandez`s statements were recorded on August 30 and October 20, 2021, where she admitted to having received gifts from Chandrashekar.

ED also said that Fernandez had used proceeds of crime and valuable gifts bought using it for herself and her family members in India and abroad and that this amounts to an offence of money laundering under section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002.

Sukesh Chandrashekhar, a native of Bengaluru in Karnataka, is currently lodged in a Delhi jail and faces over 10 criminal cases registered against him. Chandrashekhar has been accused of running an extortion racket worth Rs 200 crore when he was lodged in Rohini jail, from Aditi Singh, the wife of jailed former Ranbaxy owner Shivinder Singh, posing as officials from the union law ministry and the PMO, on the pretext of getting her husband out on bail.
New Delhi: Jacqueline Fernandez gets in trouble again as the Economic Offences Wing of Delhi Police issued another summon to her.

Delhi Police has summoned her to join the investigation in connection with the Rs 200 crore extortion case allegedly involving conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar. The actress requested the EOW to postpone the questioning on Monday, September 12, citing pre-scheduled shoots as a reason.

According to Indian Express, Special CP Ravindra Singh Yadav said, "Investigation is going on to ascertain all the links, (and whether) people involved in the main conspiracy and people who accepted gifts were aware of his background or not."

Also, he said that at least five people have been summoned, including actor Nora Fatehi for questioning in the case.

ED had registered a case of money laundering in the alleged scam over the FIR registered by the Delhi Police. ED had earlier stated that Fernandez`s statements were recorded on August 30 and October 20, 2021, where she admitted to having received gifts from Chandrashekar.

ED also said that Fernandez had used proceeds of crime and valuable gifts bought using it for herself and her family members in India and abroad and that this amounts to an offense of money laundering under section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002.

Sukesh Chandrashekhar, a native of Bengaluru in Karnataka, is currently lodged in a Delhi jail and faces over 10 criminal cases registered against him.
New Delhi: South Superstar Prabhas will be burning the effigy of `Ravana` at the famous Lav Kush Ramlila in Delhi this year.

Like every year, the Lav Kush Ramlila committee will be hosting hundreds and thousands of people during the exuberant festivities of Dussehra in Delhi from September 26. Known for curating one of the most innovative `Pandal` ideas, the committee is going to make Ayodhya`s Ram Mandir-themed pandal at Red Fort lawns this year. Prabhas will be gracing the event on Vijayadashami which falls on October 5 this year.

Speaking to ANI, Arjun Kumar, head of Lav Kush Ramlila committee, expressed his excitement about this year`s plans and said, "Since Prabhas is already playing the role of Lord Rama in the upcoming film Adipurush, who better than him to set the evilness of Raavan on fire this Dussehra!"He added, "Like always there are going to be three effigies - each of Raavan, Kumbh Karan, and Meghnaad, and Prabhas will shoot his arrow in the air to burn each of them off!"This year the effigies at the pandal are going to be 100 ft tall.

Earlier, actors like Ajay Devgn and John Abraham have been a part of the committee`s grand celebrations.

Talking about the festival calendar this year, the 10-day-long Dussehra festivities will begin on September 26 and will culminate on October 5.

Every year, Dussehra is celebrated to commemorate the triumph of good over evil as Lord Ram killed Ravana on this day.

In some regions, the celebration--also known as Vijayadashami--celebrates Goddess Durga`s triumph over the buffalo Demon Mahishasura.

Dussehra is observed on the day Dashami Tithi (tenth date) of the Shukla Paksha (bright fortnight) of the Ashwin month falls during the Aparahan Kaal.
New Delhi: Superstar Rajinikanth`s younger daughter Soundarya Rajinikanth and her husband Vishagan Vanangamudi have been blessed with a baby boy. On Sunday, Soundarya announced on social media. Taking to her social media handles, Soundarya Rajinikanth shared the news along with pictures.

Sharing the series of pictures, she wrote "With gods abundant grace and our parents blessings. Vishagan, Ved and I are thrilled to welcome Ved`s little brother. VEER RAJINIKANTH VANANGAMUDI today 11/9/22 #Veer #Blessed. thank you to our amazing doctors @sumana_manohar Dr.Srividya Seshadri @SeshadriSuresh3."

In the first picture, newborn baby Veer was seen holding her mother`s finger. In the next image, a happy family could be seen all smiles as they pose for a photoshoot. In the third picture, Soundarya flaunts her baby bump in the maternity shoot. And the last image, the mother-son duo was seen posing and Ved was seen looking at the baby bump.

As soon as the pictures were posted, the fans and industry friends chimed into the comment section. Abhishek Bachchan dropped a comment. He wrote, "Congratulations." Actor Sriya Reddy wrote, "@soundaryaarajni congrats my darling Mittu can`t wait to see him." One of the users wrote, "#VeerRajinikanth He`s gonna Grow & come to know that he`s one. Proud Grandson Who`s actually named his Proud Grandfather. CONGRATULATIONS Thalaivaa @rajinikanth."

With gods abundant grace and our parents blessings Vishagan,Ved and I are thrilled to welcome Veds little brother VEER RAJINIKANTH VANANGAMUDI today 11/9/22 #Veer #Blessed thank you to our amazing doctors @sumana_manohar Dr.Srividya Seshadri @SeshadriSuresh3 pic.twitter.com/a8tXbqmTxf September 11, 2022

Soundarya, the younger daughter of megastar Rajnikanth tied the knot with Vishagan Vanangamudi at the Leela Palace Hotel in Chennai in 2019. Soundarya`s first child from her second marriage to Vishagan. This is Soundarya and Vishagan`s second marriage. Rajinikanth`s younger daughter was earlier married to businessman R Ashwin, with whom she has a son Ved.

On the work front, the `Lingaa` actor has teamed up with filmmaker Nelson Dilipkumar for his project. The upcoming movie also includes stars like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Ramya Krishnan, Priyanka Arul Mohan, and Shiva Rajkumar. Meanwhile, Rajinikanth was last seen in `Annaatthe`, directed by Siva, which was released to mixed reviews for Diwali in 2021.
New Delhi: 7th Pay Commission Latest update-- The Central government employees who have been waiting for government's announcement Dearness Allowance (DA) hike for a very long time might hear some good news during the auspicious month of Navratri. Media reports have been constantly saying that the employees may hear the good news by this month itself, with a few reports particularly highlighting that the big announcement might be made during Navratri. The government has however not made any official announcement regarding the probable date as yet.

If latest media reports are to be believed, Dearness Allowance of the employees could by hiked by 4 percent. This means the total DA could reach upo 38 percent. The All-India CPI-IW for the month of June has hinted at a hike in DA this month. Along with the Dearness allowance hike, employees may also get arrears for the months of July and August.

The Dearness Allowance of central government employees is revised twice a year. The first is given from January to June, while the second comes from July to December.

The All-India CPI-IW for April, 2022 increased by 1.7 points and stood at 127.7 (one hundred twenty seven point seven). On 1-month percentage change, it increased by 1.35 per cent with respect to previous month compared to an increase of 0.42 per cent recorded between corresponding months a year ago, showed a Ministry of Labour & Employment data. As per latest ministry reports, the AICPI figures for May is at 129. Meanwhile, the AICP Index for the month of June is hinting at certainity that the DA would be higher. The AICPI figures for June is at 129.

The first increase in dearness allowance for the year 2022 was announced in March. In December 2021, the AICPI figure stood at 125.4. But, in January 2022, it declined by 0.3 points and fell to 125.1. The All-India CPI-IW for February, 2022 decreased by 0.1 points and stood at 125.0 (one hundred twenty five). On 1-month percentage change, it decreased by 0.08 per cent with respect to previous month compared to increase of 0.68 per cent recorded between corresponding months a year ago. For the month of March, there was a jump of 1 point. The AICPI index figures for March stood at 126.

It may be recalled that the Union Cabinet had on March 30 hiked Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) by 3 per cent to 34 per cent to compensate for the price rise, benefitting over 1.16 crore central government employees and pensioners.

The additional instalment is effective from January 1, 2022. The increase is in accordance with the accepted formula, which is based on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission.
New Delhi: A host of viral messages are separately doing the rounds in the social media regarding financial assistance by the Central Government to the needy. The messages being run by various youtube channel mention about government scheme, which in reality are non-existent.

One such fake message says that Under the government's 'Nari Shakti Yojana', SBI is giving a loan of Rs 25 lakh without guarantee and without interest to all the women of the country.

PIB has tweeted, "Some YouTube channels provide details related to various government schemes, which do not exist in actuality. Beware! Don't fall for content curated by fraudsters with malicious intent. Follow these simple steps to counter such content."

Some YouTube channels provide details related to various government schemes, which do not exist in actuality.



Beware! Don't fall for content curated by fraudsters with malicious intent.



Follow these simple steps to counter such content. #PIBFacTree pic.twitter.com/VWB0PIf2B8  PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) September 2, 2022

PIB from time to time advises that people should not click any such suspicious links being sent over as a viral message.

How to get messages fact-checked by PIB

If you get any such suspicious message, you can always know its authenticity and check if the news is for real or it is a fake news. For that, you need to send the message to https://factcheck.pib.gov.in. Alternatively you can send a WhatsApp message to +918799711259 for fact check. You can also send your message to pibfactcheck@gmail.com. The fact check information is also available on https://pib.gov.in.


The Angelica Civil War Re-enactment was supposed to return to the village in Allegany County this month, following a two-year hiatus because of Covid-19 restrictions.

But organizers announced last weekend that it's been canceled again.

They blamed New York's new gun laws which they interpret to mean that period re-enactors carrying muskets could be charged with a felony.

"Black powder weapons are not excepted from this ban. Possession of a firearm in public is now a felony," a message posted to the re-enactment group's Facebook page Sept. 4 said. "After obtaining a legal opinion, it was determined that we could not continue with holding the event this year. Participants could be subject to arrest."

But Gov. Kathy Hochul's office said that's not the case.

"Governor Hochul passed new public safety laws to protect New Yorkers and keep them safe from gun violence. These laws allow historical re-enactments to occur," Hochul spokesperson Avi Smalls said in an emailed statement.

The confusion has led to at least one other battle re-enactment  in Plattsburgh  being canceled while another at Fort Ticonderoga is proceeding as planned.

At the beginning of September, a new set of gun laws went into effect in New York. Among them are new restrictions on where guns can be carried. The legislation was passed this summer in an emergency session after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down New York's longstanding concealed carry law which required permit seekers to explain why they needed to be able to carry a firearm. Under the new laws, the state now prohibits handguns, shotguns and rifles in a wide list of "sensitive locations" which range from schools, government buildings and courts to parks, churches and sidewalks and other public areas where permitted events are taking place.

That's now considered an E level felony, the lowest level felony which technically can carry a sentence of up to four years in prison.

It's not entirely clear to re-enactment organizers if the new laws apply to events like the Civil War re-enactment in Angelica which commemorates the 136th New York Volunteer Infantry who fought at Gettysburg or the popular "Siege" held every July at Old Fort Niagara which re-creates a battle between British and French forces during the French and Indian War that took place right there in Youngstown.

Re-enactments are often weekendlong events that draw hundreds of re-enactors and thousands of spectators. The re-enactors wear period costumes and carry replicas of muskets and other historic artillery throughout the day. They generally don't use the actual antique weapons because those are too fragile. During demonstrations and re-creations of battles, they use blanks  never live ammunition  to the delight of crowds.

The new law spells out that the definition of rifles to include those that use "obsolete ammunition not commonly available in commercial trade, or that load through the muzzle and fire a single projectile with each discharge, or loading, including muzzle loading rifles, flintlock rifles and black powder rifles."

But it also has exceptions for antique weapons.

Following Angelica, organizers of the re-enactment for the 1814 Battle of Plattsburgh this weekend said some of their events will have to be canceled, according to WAMC Public Radio.

But Fort Ticonderoga is planning to go ahead with its re-enactment of the 1977 Brown's Raid on Sept. 17 and 18 as planned, said Beth Hill, the president and CEO of Fort Ticonderoga.

"Absolutely," she said. "Fort Ticonderoga is staying the course."

The new laws have "some unintended consequences," Hill said. But fort officials have been in contact with legislative representatives and "have a commitment that this will be cleared. .... It just needs to be clarified. We're going to move forward with all of our daily programs and special events."

Hochul's office said Thursday that the new laws allow for historical re-enactments and that the state "will work with legislators and local law enforcement to ensure these events can legally and safely proceed."

Bob Emerson, executive director of Old Fort Niagara which hosts four major re-enactments every summer, said he's worried.

There are no more battles planned for this year, so there's no need to make immediate changes, he said. "In the longer term, however, we are deeply concerned. We were surprised and shocked when we learned that the new gun law includes flintlocks and other muzzle-loading firearms," Emerson said.

State Sen. George Borrello (R-Sunset Bay), who has been a vocal critic of the new gun laws, said it's his understanding that replica weapons are among the kinds of firearms that are prohibited from newly designated sensitive locations.

"All it would take is a complaint by someone," Borrello said, for a re-enactor with a replica musket to face arrest. "These organizers don't want to put folks in jeopardy. That's what it comes to."

Old Fort Niagara has staged battle re-enactments since 1980 and has a solid safety record, Emerson said. He said the firearm activity is regulated by both the state Department of Labor and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

"Our events use only blanks and we invite only vetted participants. We observe strict safety rules and have been successfully staging these events safely and professionally for over 40 years," Emerson said. Live ammunition is banned from the events, he said. "It is all blank ammunition," he said.

The re-enactments are hugely popular and help teach the public about actual historic events. They're also critical to their budgets.

"We are heavily dependent on these events," Emerson said.

He hopes that the state can ensure that such events can continue in the future. Emerson said the fort's board is meeting Monday to consider a resolution on the issue.

"We're not trying to criticize. Just please understand what all of our sites are facing," Emerson said. "We hope that the New York State Legislature will amend this law when they return to the next legislative session."
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 September 12, 2022

L6FD2JS6WON2

EUUM7G33N2T8

HZFRYHCQVFR9

WXADBEOENR1W

QZ29JLENDSAM

V7FQAQFA1JTX

1UJD20PPN9RP

FFX6OC21IVYU

FFXVGG8NU4YB

(Also read: Shocking! Ex-Amazon Web Services engineer hacked data of 10 crore customers)

How to Redeem Garena Free Fire codes for today, September 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)
Minister of state for electronics and information technology (MeitY), Rajeev Chandrasekhar, on Thursday said that lack of safety on the internet is due to bots and unregulated use of algorithms, among other things.

Chandrasekhar, citing a Reuters report stating that Disney found substantial fake Twitter users in 2016, tweeted that "platforms which ignore their legal responsibilities of due diligence and permit illegal activities and misinformation were threats to safe and trusted internet".

The minister has been a vocal critic of Social Media sites that, according to him, do not comply with Indian rules and regulations.

The social media post on KOO and Twitter from a minister holds significance as it comes amid a legal battle between Twitter and the Central government.

Twitter, last month, had approached the Karnataka High Court, challenging the Centres orders to take down content under the new IT rules, saying it is an abuse of power by officials. The microblogging site has challenged a government order issued in June 2022, terming the blocking orders "overbroad and arbitrary", failed to provide notice to the originators of the content and was disproportionate in several cases.

Sources aware of the Twitter writ petition told PTI that several requests placed by the government are allegedly for action against political content that official handles of political parties have posted and the firm views blocking of such information as a violation of the freedom of speech guaranteed to citizen users of the platform.

On the same day, Chandrasekhar had said, without naming, that foreign firms can approach the courts, but they are not exempt from local laws."

"#TuesdayMusing In India,all including foreign Internet intermediaries/platforms have the right to court and judicial review. But equally ALL intermediary/platforms operating here,have unambiguous obligation to comply with our laws and rules. #Open #SafeTrusted #Accountable #Internet," the minister had Tweeted.

The central government has been at loggerheads with Twitter over its policy for a long time.

The government officials, including some of the senior ministers, have openly promoted the use of homegrown social media apps similar to Twitter, for example Koo - that has seen a massive rise in its user count in just 2 years because of itss alogorithm and vernacular language . The app now has over 45 million users, which is increasing everyday. Some of the most important offices and top ministers are active users of the app.
BEIJING: Xi Jinping will leave China for the first time in more than two years for a trip this week to Central Asia where he will meet Russia's Vladimir Putin, just a month before he is set to cement his place as the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong. The trip, Xi's first abroad since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, shows just how confident he is about his grip on power in China and just how perilous the global situation has become. Against a backdrop of Russia's confrontation with the West over Ukraine, the crisis over Taiwan and a stuttering global economy, Xi is due on a state visit to Kazakhstan on Wednesday.

China's president will then meet Putin at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's summit in the ancient Silk Road city of Samarkand in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and the Kremlin said.

Putin's foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, told reporters last week that the Russian president was expected to meet Xi at the summit. The Kremlin declined to give details on their talks. China has yet to confirm Xis travel plans.

The meeting will give Xi an opportunity to underscore his clout while Putin can demonstrate Russia's tilt towards Asia; both leaders can show their opposition to the United States just as the West seeks to punish Russia for the Ukraine war.

Russia suffered its worst defeat of the war last week, abandoning its main bastion in northeastern Ukraine.

The deepening "no limits" partnership between the rising superpower of China and the natural resources titan of Russia is one of the most intriguing geopolitical developments of recent years - and one the West is watching with anxiety.

Once the senior partner in the global Communist hierarchy, Russia after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union is now considered a junior partner of a resurgent Communist China which is forecast to overtake the United States as the world's biggest economy in the next decade.

Though historical contradictions abound in the partnership, there is no sign that Xi is ready to drop his support for Putin in Russia's most serious confrontation with the West since the height of the Cold War.

Instead, the two 69-year-old leaders are deepening ties. Trade soared by nearly a third between Russia and China in the first 7 months of 2022.

The visit "shows that China is willing to not only continue 'business as usual' with Russia but even show explicit support and accelerate the formation of a stronger China-Russia alignment," said Alexander Korolev, senior lecturer in politics and international relations at UNSW Sydney.

"Beijing is reluctant to distance itself from Moscow even when facing serious reputational costs and the risks of becoming a target of secondary economic sanctions."

Xi is widely expected to break with precedent at a Communist Party congress that starts on Oct. 16 and secure a third five-year leadership term.

While Xi has met Putin in person 38 times since becoming China's president in 2013, he has yet to meet Joe Biden in person since the latter became U.S. President in 2021.

Xi last met Putin in February just weeks before the Russian president ordered the invasion of Ukraine which has left tens of thousands of people dead and sown chaos through the global economy.

At that meeting at the opening of the Winter Olympics, Xi and Putin declared a "no limits" partnership, backing each other over standoffs on Ukraine and Taiwan with a promise to collaborate more against the West.

China has refrained from condemning Russia's operation against Ukraine or calling it an "invasion" in line with the Kremlin which casts the war as "a special military operation".

"The bigger message really isn't that Xi is supporting Putin, because it's been pretty clear that Xi supports Putin," said Professor Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.

"The bigger signal is that he, Xi Jinping, is going out of China for the first time since the pandemic in the run-up to the party congress. If there were going to be plottings against him this is when the plottings would happen. And he's clearly confident that the plottings are not going to take place because he is out of the country."

Xi, the son of a communist revolutionary, is poised to secure a historical third leadership term at the 20th Communist Party Congress beginning on Oct. 16. He last left China in January 2020, before the world went into COVID lockdown.

After the West imposed on Moscow the most severe sanctions in modern history due to the war in Ukraine, Putin says Russia is turning towards Asia after centuries of looking to the West as the crucible of economic growth, technology and war.

Casting the West as a declining, U.S.-dominated coalition that aims to shackle - or even destroy - Russia, Putin's worldview chimes with that of Xi, who presents China as an alternative to the U.S.-led, post-World War Two order.

Putin aide Ushakov said the Xi-Putin meeting would be "very important". He did not give further details.

As Europe seeks to turn away from Russian energy imports, Putin will seek to boost energy exports to China and Asia.

Putin said last week that a major gas export route to China via Mongolia had been agreed. Gazprom (GAZP.MM) has for years been studying the possibility of a major new gas pipeline - the Power of Siberia 2 - to travel through Mongolia taking Russian gas to China.

It will carry 50 billion cubic metres of gas per year, around a third of what Russia usually sells to Europe  or equivalent to the Nord Stream 1 annual volumes.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which includes Russia, China, India, Pakistan and four Central Asian states, is due to admit Iran, one of Moscow's key allies in the Middle East.
Kyiv: Russian attacks caused a total blackout in Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, and partial blackouts in the Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions, Reuters reported quoting Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Ukrainian officials accused retreating Russian forces of launching retaliatory attacks on civilian infrastructure, including a thermal power station in Kharkiv, that caused widespread blackouts, said the report citing authorities.

Russia attacked power stations and other infrastructure on Sunday, causing widespread outages across Ukraine as Kyiv's forces pressed a swift counteroffensive that has driven Moscow's troops from swaths of territory it had occupied in the northeast. The bombardment ignited a massive fire at a power station on Kharkiv's western outskirts and killed at least one person, said an AP report.

Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv appeared to be without power Sunday night. Cars drove through darkened streets, and the few pedestrians used flashlights or mobile phones to light their way. Separately, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the Russia-occupied south completely shut down in a bid to prevent a radiation disaster as fighting raged nearby.

Also read: BIG relief for Ukraine: Russia announces troop pullback from Kharkiv area

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced the "deliberate and cynical missile strikes" against civilian targets as acts of terrorism.

Kyiv's action in recent days to reclaim Russia-occupied areas in the Kharkiv region forced Moscow to withdraw its troops to prevent them from being surrounded, leaving behind significant numbers of weapons and munitions in a hasty flight as the war marked its 200th day on Sunday.

Also read: Ukraines nuclear plant offline after fire caused by Russian shelling

Ukraine's military chief, Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyy told AP that its forces had recaptured about 3,000 square kilometers (1,160 square miles) since the counteroffensive began in early September, adding that the Ukrainian troops are only 50 kilometers (about 30 miles) from the Russian border.

One battalion shared a video of Ukrainian forces in front of a municipal building in Hoptivka, a village just over a mile from the border and about 19 kilometers (12 miles) north of Kharkiv. Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said Ukrainian troops have reclaimed control of more than 40 settlements in the region.

In Sunday night's missile attacks by Russia, the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions seemed to bear the brunt. Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia and Sumy had only partially lost power, Zelenskyy said. Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov called the power outage "revenge by the Russian aggressor for the successes of our army at the front, in particular, in the Kharkiv region."

Ukrainian officials said Russia hit Kharkiv TEC-5, the country's second-biggest heat and power plant, and Zelenskyy posted video of the Kharkiv power plant on fire.

Zelenskyy, who remained defiant despite the attacks. added, "Do you still think you can intimidate, break us, force us to make concessions" ... Cold, hunger, darkness and thirst for us are not as scary and deadly as your `friendship and brotherhood.' But history will put everything in place. And we will be with gas, lights, water and food, and WITHOUT you!"

Later in the evening, some power had been restored in some regions. None of the outages were believed to be related to the shutdown of the reactors at the Zaporizhzhia plant. While most attention focused on the counteroffensive, Ukraine's nuclear energy operator said the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest, was reconnected to Ukraine's electricity grid, allowing engineers to shut down its last operational reactor to safeguard it amid the fighting.

The plant, one of the 10 biggest atomic power stations in the world, has been occupied by Russian forces since the early days of the war. Ukraine and Russia have traded blame for shelling around it.

Since a Sept 5 fire caused by shelling knocked the plant off transmission lines, the reactor was powering crucial safety equipment in so-called "island mode" an unreliable regime that left the plant increasingly vulnerable to a potential nuclear accident. The International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN Nuclear watchdog that has two experts at the site, welcomed the restoration of external power. But IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said he is "gravely concerned about the situation at the plant, which remains in danger as long as any shelling continues."

In a call on Sunday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron urged the withdrawal of Russian troops and weaponry from the plant in line with IAEA recommendations. The pullback of Moscow's forces in recent days marked the biggest battlefield success for Ukrainian forces since they thwarted a Russian attempt to seize Kyiv near the start of the war. The Kharkiv campaign seemed to take Moscow by surprise; it had relocated many of its troops from the region to the south in expectation of a counteroffensive there.

(With Reuters/AP Inputs)
Sydney: A secret letter written by Queen Elizabeth II is locked inside a vault in Sydney, and the interesting this is, that it cannot be opened for 63 years! The letter is inside a vault in a historic building in Sydney and was written by her in November 1986 and is addressed to the people of Sydney, said a 7NEWS Australia report, adding that nobody, not even the Queen`s personal staff, is aware of what the letter says as it is hidden inside a glass case in a secure location. One thing is sure, though: it can`t be opened until 2085.

Addressed to the Lord Mayor of Sydney, the Queen's instruction reads, "On a suitable day to be selected by you in the year 2085 AD, would you please open this envelope and convey to the citizens of Sydney my message to them." It is simply signed, "Elizabeth R." As head of state, Queen Elizabeth II visited Australia 16 times.

"From her famous first trip to Australia, the only reigning sovereign to ever visit, it was clear Her Majesty held a special place in her heart for Australia," Albanese said in a statement Friday, adding "Fifteen more tours before cheering crowds in every part of our country confirmed the special place she held in ours."

Also read: Queen Elizabeth IIs coffin reaches Edinburgh; crowd tearful

In 1999, Australia held a referendum on whether to remove the Queen as head of state, but it was reportedly defeated. Sydney`s iconic Opera House was lit on Friday with a tribute to the Queen. Neighbouring commonwealth country New Zealand on Sunday officially proclaimed King Charles III as its head of state in a televised ceremony, a CNN report said.

Also read: Queen Elizabeth II's death won't repair Prince William and Harry's strained relationship: Source

Notably, Australia too on Sunday proclaimed King Charles III as the head of state, the first new Monarch in 70 years.

Rules issued for those wanting to pay respects to the Queen

People wanting to pay their final respects to Queen Elizabeth II as she lies in state at the Houses of Parliament in London need to be prepared for a long wait and forget about trying to take a selfie with her coffin. The government has published guidelines for people wishing to file past the late queen's closed coffin as it lies in state at the Palace of Westminster from 5 pm (1600 GMT) Wednesday until 6:30 am (0530 GMT) on September 19. Thousands are expected to want to pay tribute to the only monarch that many in the United Kingdom have ever known.

The rules were made public a day after thousands of people lined roads and bridges Sunday as a hearse carried the queen's coffin across the Scottish countryside from her beloved Balmoral Castle to Edinburgh.

"If you wish to attend the Lying-in-State, please note that there will be a queue, which is expected to be very long. You will need to stand for many hours, possibly overnight, with very little opportunity to sit down as the queue will be continuously moving," the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said in its guidelines.

The closed coffin of the monarch who died Thursday at 96 will rest on a raised platform called a catafalque in Westminster Hall at the Houses of Parliament.

The ministry advises people to bring essentials for a potentially long wait exposed to whatever elements an early fall day in London can throw at them-an umbrella or sunscreen, a cell phone power bank and any needed medication. No food or liquids will be allowed past security screening at the Houses of Parliament. Nor will flowers or other tributes such as candles, toys or photographs.

A long list of prohibited items includes fireworks, smoke canisters, flares, whistles, laser devices and other items that could be used to cause a disturbance as well as any banners, placards, flags, advertising or marketing messages.

What's next for the UK as Queen Elizabeth II laid to rest

The death of Queen Elizabeth II set in motion a tightly choreographed series of ceremonial and constitutional steps, as Britain undergoes a period of national mourning and enters the reign of King Charles III. A long-established 10-day plan, code-named Operation London Bridge, covers arrangements for the queen's final journey to London and state funeral, according to an AP report.

Here is a look at what will happen in the coming days:

Sunday, Sept 11: The queen's oak coffin was carried from Balmoral Castle in Scotland by six gamekeepers from her estate and put into a seven-vehicle entourage. Then it was driven slowly to Edinburgh, passing through towns and villages in the Scottish countryside.

People paid their respects along the route, from lining rural roads to coming together in huge crowds in Edinburgh. It rests overnight at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in the Scottish capital.

- Charles was proclaimed king in other parts of the UK: Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

- In London, the new king hosted a reception for diplomats from the 14 other Commonwealth countries where he is king.

Also read: Queen Elizabeth II's final journey: Coffin departs Balmore Castle for funeral in Edinburgh

Monday, Sept 12: King Charles II and Camilla, the Queen Consort, will visit Parliament to receive condolences from the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The royal couple then fly to Edinburgh where they attend a service of remembrance for the queen, visit the Scottish Parliament and meet senior officials.

-The queen's coffin, accompanied by the king and queen consort, will travel to Edinburgh's St. Giles' Cathedral where it will stay for 24 hours so the public can pay their respects. Members of the royal family will hold a vigil by the coffin in the evening.

Tuesday Sept 13: The queen's coffin is taken by hearse to Edinburgh Airport. It will be flown by the Royal Air Force to London and taken to Buckingham Palace. The king and Camilla will visit Northern Ireland, where they meet politicians and faith leaders and attend a service of remembrance at St. Anne's Cathedral.

Wednesday, Sept 14: The coffin is transported from Buckingham Palace to Parliament on a gun carriage, with the king and other royals walking behind. It is placed in Parliament's medieval Westminster Hall, where the archbishop of Canterbury conducts a short service. The queen will then lie in state for four days, until the morning of her funeral. Members of the public will be able to pay their respects and troops will keep a round-the-clock vigil.

Friday, Sept 16: The King and Queen consort will visit Wales.

Monday, Sept 19: The queen's coffin will be taken from Westminster Hall to nearby Westminster Abbey for a state funeral that begins at 11 am. Leaders and dignitaries from around the world are expected to attend. The funeral marks the end of 10 days of national morning, and the day will be a public holiday across the UK.

(With ANI/AP Inputs)
Wellington: New Zealand removed most of its remaining COVID-19 restrictions Monday as the government signalled a return to normalcy for the first time since the pandemic began. People will no longer be required to wear masks in supermarkets, stores, busses or planes. The last remaining vaccine mandates - on health care workers - will end, and tourists will no longer need to be vaccinated in order to visit the country.

The government announced it was ditching its so-called COVID traffic light framework altogether and leaving in place just two main restrictions - that those who test positive for the virus isolate for seven days, and that people wear masks when visiting health care facilities like hospitals and aged-care homes.

The changes come as an Omicron variant outbreak wanes and the Southern Hemisphere winter ends. Case numbers in New Zealand are at the lowest point since February.

As we move forward with certainty, the removal of the COVID-19 Protection Framework will mean:

There are no mask wearing requirements, except in healthcare settings like hospitals, GPs and aged residential care facilities  New Zealand Labour (@nzlabour) September 12, 2022

All New Zealanders aged 65 and over, and Maori and Pacific peoples aged 50 and over will have automatic access to COVID anti-virals if they test positive



Find out more about these changes: https://t.co/UUSbdTdwXv  New Zealand Labour (@nzlabour) September 12, 2022

"The changes we've made today are significant. They mark a milestone in our response," said Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

"This is a time when finally, rather than feeling COVID dictates what happens to us, our lives, and our futures, we take control back."

She said the changes will help drive business activity, which is vital to the nation's economic recovery.

"This will be the first summer in three years when there won't be the question of: What if?" Ardern said.

The end to government restrictions won't stop individual workplaces or stores from imposing their own rules, although most people expect mask use to plummet as soon as the government restrictions end just before midnight Monday.

New Zealand enjoyed initial success in fighting the pandemic, managing to eliminate the virus entirely after closing its borders and carefully contact-tracing cases. But its approach changed as more transmissible variants proved impossible to stamp out.

As late as March, the country of 5 million had reported only 65 virus deaths. Since an omicron wave took hold, that number has risen to nearly 2,000. But that still remains low when compared with the death rates in many other countries.
Islamabad: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will embark on a visit to the United Kingdom on September 18, where he will likely attend the funeral of British Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away on Thursday evening after 70 years of reign, local media reported.

Before leaving for his trip to London on September 18, the Pakistani PM will visit Samarkand to attend the two-day Shanghai Cooperation Organisation scheduled on 15 and 16 September, ARY News reported citing sources.

Sharif will then return to Pakistan and then after two days will embark on a London visit, where he will attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. He will also hold meetings with the political leaders during the visit, ARY News reported. Later, on September 19, Shehbaz Sharif will travel to New York to address the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session on September 23.

"He will then return to Pakistan after his UNGA address," sources said.

Earlier, on Friday, President Arif Alvi and PM Shehbaz Sharif separately visited the British High Commission to offer condolences on the demise of Queen Elizabeth II, the Express Tribune reported. They met with British High Commissioner Christian Turner and expressed grief over the Queen`s death on behalf of the government and the people of Pakistan. The two leaders also recorded their remarks in the condolence book placed at the high commission.

"Her sad passing away marks an end of an era spanning over a period of seven decades, which was characterized by Her Majesty`s graceful service to the British people and the Commonwealth," President Alvi wrote in the condolence book.

"Her Majesty`s life was devoted to public service and she performed her duties with dignity. I will always cherish my memory of seeing her as a 12-year-old when she came to Pakistan in 1961," he further wrote.

"She was a symbol of poise, grace and dignity," Alvi added.

Prime Minister Shehbaz, wrote that besides her services for the public interest, the Queen remained a symbol of unity and brotherhood. It is pertinent to mention here that on August 25, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif cancelled his visit to London while considering the flood situation in the country.

According to details, the Prime Minister, while considering the flood situation in the country, cancelled his visit to London, where he planned to go to inquire about the health of Hamza Shehbaz`s daughter and his granddaughter who is undergoing treatment in London.

Earlier, Shehbaz Sharif intended to fly to London after his two-day official visit to Qatar, but he decided to travel back to Islamabad to review the ongoing rescue and relief operations in flood-hit areas.
New Delhi: The UK government on Monday (September 12, 2022) issued rules for the people wanting to pay their final respects to Queen Elizabeth II as she lies in state at the Houses of Parliament in London. The public will be able to file past the coffin 24 hours a day from 5 pm on Wednesday (September 14) until 6.30 am on the day of the funeral - September 19. As thousands of people are likely to pay tribute to the only monarch that many in the United Kingdom have ever known, the country's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport warned mourners of "overnight" queues.

"Those wishing to attend will be required to queue for many hours, possibly overnight. Large crowds are expected and people are encouraged to check ahead, plan accordingly and be prepared for long wait times," the ministry said.

ALSO READ | Journey of Queen Elizabeth II, from a young girl to UKs longest-serving monarch

"Large crowds are expected, and there are likely to be delays on public transport and road closures around the area," the ministry said.

Visitors will have to pass through airport-style security and can only bring one small bag with one zipper opening. Larger bags can be stowed at a special facility - but only if there is space available.

The UK government also advised people to bring essentials for a potentially long wait exposed to whatever elements an early fall day in London can throw at them - an umbrella or sunscreen, a cell phone power bank and any needed medication.

No food or liquids will be allowed past security screening at the Houses of Parliament, nor will flowers or other tributes such as candles, toys or photographs, the guidelines said.

"Please respect the dignity of this event and behave appropriately. You should remain silent while inside the Palace of Westminster," the advice said, adding that people must dress appropriately and turn off their mobile phones before going through security.

Mourners should not use mobile phones or other handheld devices in the security search area or within the Palace of Westminster.

"Bring or erect gazebos or tents. Light barbecues and fires," the guidelines read.

A long list of prohibited items includes fireworks, smoke canisters, flares, whistles, laser devices, and other items that could be used to cause a disturbance as well as any banners, placards, flags, advertising, or marketing messages.

Queen Elizabeth, Britain's figurehead and a towering presence on the world stage for seven decades, died at her home in Scotland on September 8 aged 96.

Click to check full guidance on attending Queen Elizabeth's Lying-in-State.
Washington: US President Joe Biden on Sunday paid tribute to the victims of the 9/11 terror attack by al-Qaeda terrorists, taking part in a remembrance event at the Pentagon, and delivered remarks to honour those killed.

"I know for all those of you who lost someone, 21 years is both a lifetime and no time at all," Biden said at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial in Arlington, Virginia.

"It`s good to remember. These memories help us heal, but they can also open up the hurt and take us back to that moment when the grief was so raw."

Biden in his remarks urged for national unity on the 21st anniversary of the September 11, 2002 attack. "I hope we`ll remember that in the midst of these dark days, we dug deep. We cared for each other. And we came together," Biden said, as rain fell on troops standing behind him.

"We honour the police officers and firefighters, the passengers on Flight 93, and the civilians and service members who all leapt into action. And, we honour the young men and women who joined the thousands of American troops who served around the world to protect our nation," Biden said.

"We will never forget, we will never give up," Biden said. "Our commitment to preventing another attack on the United States is without end."

The President talked about a message sent to the American people on September 11, 2001, from Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, who died Thursday, recalling that she "pointedly reminded us, quote, `Grief is the price we pay for love.`

Before the speech, Biden participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Pentagon, pausing briefly before a ceremonial wreath to touch it and then putting his hand over his heart. He was joined at the event by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

A total of 2,977 people lost their lives on this day, 21 years ago in a fatal terror attack. On September 11, 2001, the United States faced the deadliest terrorist attack in its history. More than 3,000 people were killed in the terror attacks. In a span of just 102 minutes, the twin towers of New York`s World Trade Center collapsed after planes hijacked by Al Qaeda operatives crashed into them.

On the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners scheduled to travel from the northeastern US to California. They seized control of the jets to use them as passenger-filled missiles.

The hijackers crashed the first two planes into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, and the third plane into the Pentagon (the headquarters of the American military) in Arlington, Virginia, and yet another one crashed in Pennsylvania before reaching its presumed target. The attacks claimed nearly 3,000 lives.

Passengers on United Airlines Flight 93 overcame the hijackers and the plane crashed in a field, preventing another target from being hit.

The first lady, Jill Biden, attended a ceremony in Pennsylvania on Sunday morning, while Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff attended one in New York City.

"We will never forget the 2,977 lives lost on 9/11. Today standing at Ground Zero, I am reminded of the impact this attack had on our nation and those who lost loved ones. Doug and I stand with you today and every day," US Vice President tweeted.

Harris attended an event at Ground Zero in Manhattan. She said that she stood with those lost at Ground Zero, Shanksville, and the Pentagon twenty-one years ago. The vice President was accompanied by her husband and second gentleman Doug Emhoff, Mayor Eric Adams and former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

"On this solemn day of remembrance, we honour those who lost their lives, as well as our first responders who risked everything in the face of grave terrorism. Today, we continue to honour their courage and strength," Harris said, adding, "My heart is with those who lost loved ones."

By a joint resolution approved December 18, 2001, US Congress had designated September 11 of each year as "Patriot Day," and by Public Law 111-13, approved April 21, 2009, the Congress has requested the observance of September 11 as an annually recognized "National Day of Service and Remembrance."

Last year, on September 10, US President Joe Biden proclaimed September 11 as Patriot and National Day of Service and Remembrance and noted that on this day, all government entities should display the US flag at half-staff.
Dominique Holloway waited two hours for her son Marcel to arrive home from School 89 on Tuesday, the first day of school. She's thankful that she and Marcel could connect by cellphone, or else she would have had no idea where he was, she said.

Holloway said the Buffalo Public Schools' transportation issues, a local example stemming from the nationwide shortage of bus drivers, were a continuation from last school year. And while she's hopeful things will get better, she already has taken matters into her own hands, picking up Marcel from the pre-K-8 school in the Delavan-Grider neighborhood the rest of the week.

"We can't have him get home at 7," Holloway said. "We still have dinner, homework, chores, baths ... "

Holloway was among the few dozen parents and kids who ventured out early Saturday for the B-District Community Day outside the Pratt Willert Community Center, where a backpack giveaway led by the City of Buffalo, Molina Healthcare and the Buffalo Police Department was complemented by free food, live music and tents with a dozen local health and community organizations.

Back to school is back to 2019, just with fewer buses and more security Another thing students and staff will notice is an intentional focus on the mental and emotional wellness of students.

Many parents and children at the event said they had not experienced problems through the first week of school, while others emphasized that patience has been required for transportation delays. Some thought delays could just be an ordinary byproduct of the first week of school.

Holloway attempted to call the bus terminal for updates, but the line is usually busy, she said. She learned the two-hour delay on Tuesday was due to a "hectic" afternoon at the school Marcel's bus went to first.

Debbie Lombardo, president of the Board of Block Clubs of Buffalo & Erie County, said her block of Bird Avenue by Herkimer Street has already felt the brunt of the bus driver shortage.

"My block alone has been terrible," she said, adding that the last bus run ended around 6 p.m., about two hours after the final bell. "That's a really long day for kids."

To solve bus driver shortage, BPS proposes altering school start times. Teachers want to know more. The district's aim is to adjust school start times, primarily for K-8 schools, to allow bus drivers enough time to complete two routes in the morning as opposed to the conventional one.

Lombardo said there has not yet been discussion in monthly board meetings about how block clubs could assist kids waiting for extended periods for buses to arrive in the morning, or coming home later in the evening, but it's a topic she plans to investigate further.

She said it's possible that some individual block clubs, among the more than 225 active in the city, have already taken steps to improve safety and vigilance.

The block club board president urged Buffalo Public Schools and First Student, the district's longtime transportation partner, to "go old school" by holding more community events and informational meetings to recruit drivers and aides. The lack of aides was of particular concern to Lombardo for security reasons. "If there's 40 or more students on a bus, and a situation happens, who's helping the bus driver?" she asked.

Travell Scales, who said his son will ride the school bus for the first time this week, pointed to the lingering impact of Covid-19  which saw many retiree bus drivers leave the role for health concerns, he said  as one reason why parents should not expect everything to be back to normal.

Buffalo continuing school safety improvements as local schools go back in session With the school year starting, students and parents can expect to see new signage designed to enhance safety around Buffalo's schools.

"We have to understand that things aren't going to be what they were," he said as his son pulled him toward a nearby tent. "Just as parents, we have to adjust, the administration has to adjust as well."

Scales said he is not worried about how his son will handle any busing issues, but he did not downplay the overall challenge.

"I understand it's a process, but also I have a good support system that most people don't," he said.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said Monday that she will not extend her Covid-19 emergency powers, ending an extraordinary ability to marshal state resources against the virus and facing a Republican opponent sharply critical of her pandemic performance.

The governor cited falling caseloads of Covid for her move ending a 2021 executive order that granted emergency powers for pandemic-related measures without legislative approval. She has wielded those powers to give hospitals more hiring leeway, relax licensing rules for health care personnel and allow more medical professionals to administer vaccines.

The Gothamist reported Monday that with executive orders granting the extraordinary powers ending, the administration now faces normal purchasing regulations requiring safeguards like competitive bidding review of contracts by the state comptroller.

Hochul: Masks now 'optional' on public transit, new boosters available Planes, trains, buses and transportation stations were among the last places in the state where masks were still required as part of the effort to limit the spread of Covid-19.

We're feeling comfortable that we can suspend them, Hochul said Monday of her emergency powers. We have been following the normal procurement rules for some time, but this allowed us some other extraordinary measures that we won't need right now.

One of her fiercest critics, State Senate Minority Leader Robert G. Ortt of North Tonawanda, cited no need for emergency powers almost two months ago, just as he did for former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.

She knows this is not true," he said on July 14. "Its just another desperate attempt at clinging onto unilateral power, like her predecessor before her.

On Monday, State Sen. Edward A. Rath III, R-Amherst, called the news "extremely welcome" but long overdue.

The cycle of excluding the Legislature from their elected positions went on for far too long. The time to end this was long past," he said in a statement. "Now the Legislature has much work to do in restoring the balance of power and working to earn back the trust of the public.

Hochul calls remote learning a 'mistake' that took heavy toll on working women Gov. Kathy Hochul said that remote learning during the pandemic was a "mistake" that especially affected working women.

Hochul's continued use of emergency powers has entered the statewide political debate as Hochul's opponent, Rep. Lee Zeldin of Suffolk County, has consistently criticized her monthly extensions.

Deja vu," he said in a July statement. "Every 30 days, Hochul unilaterally bypasses the Legislature & extends her self-claimed COVID emergency powers, which she has used to advance her rampant pay to play corruption & other abuses of power.

The Albany Times Union reported in July that suspension of normal contract rules helped rapid testing company Digital Gadgets secure $637 million in no-bid business since December. The newspaper also reported that family members of the company's top official donated $300,000 to Hochuls re-election campaign.
By Trend

Japanese companies are keen on investing in the industrial zones of Azerbaijan, the Industrial Zones Development Agency of Azerbaijan told Trend.

According to the agency, the Japanese business mission led by the President and CEO of ITOCHU Oil Exploration Co., Ltd. Takumi Hiraga visited the Sumgayit Chemical Industrial Park.

"The delegation got acquainted with tax and customs benefits, products manufactured in industrial zones, as well as with the possibilities of launching an enterprise. Moreover, Japanese companies expressed interest in investing in industrial zones, as well as in exports of industrial zone products," the agency said.
At least one difference has emerged between an Alden man set to be sentenced Monday for his role in the Capitol riot and four other Western New Yorkers already sentenced to the same misdemeanor charge.

Daniel Warmus hasn't apologized, prosecutors say.

"Warmus has yet to show any meaningful contrition for his conduct on Jan. 6, 2021," the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington said in a recent court filing.

The 38-year-old auto repair business owner was arrested in May 2021 after the FBI received a tip that he had been overheard in a dentist's office talking about breaching the Capitol building and smoking marijuana while inside the building. The tipster also told the FBI that Warmus had played a video he had taken at the Capitol while at the dentist's office.

Capitol surveillance footage revealed Warmus was among the first wave of rioters to breach the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and he spent some 16 minutes extensively video recording inside the building, including recording the screaming, pushing and pulling, and assaults by other rioters who ultimately overcame officers guarding a rotunda entryway, federal prosecutors say.

The prosecution has asked a federal judge in Washington to incarcerate Warmus for 30 days, with a sentence to include three years of probation, 60 hours of community service and $500 in restitution.

Warmus has pleaded guilty to parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building, a misdemeanor charge that none of the other local defendants was incarcerated for.

But the court filing cited several reasons that Warmus deserves to be incarcerated.

Prosecutors noted his "overly casual demeanor amidst the extreme circumstances" as thousands of people swarmed the Capitol with hundreds attacking and injuring police officers to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power to a newly elected president.

"Warmus knew that rioters were committing violence against police officers. He saw it," said Kathryn E. Fifield, a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, in court papers. "Warmus knew he wasnt supposed to be inside the Capitol. When a Capitol police officer tried to remove him from the rotunda, he jumped away, and continued meandering about the rotunda recording on his cellphone."

Fifield called his "indifference to violence and property destruction" an aggravating factor.

"The nature and circumstances of Warmuss offense are serious and establish the need for a sentence of incarceration in this matter," she said in her court filing.

The defense lawyers for Warmus have not filed a publicly available sentencing recommendation of their own, nor have they responded to the government's recommendation. The four other Western New Yorkers who were sentenced on the same charge all had sentencing recommendations or replies to the government's filing well before they were sentenced.

Capitol surveillance footage revealed Warmus recorded extensively while inside the Capitol, but a search of Warmus phone near the time of his arrest on May 18, 2021, revealed next to no content  photos or videos  from inside the Capitol, according to court papers. Within days of the riot, Warmus sent text messages to others indicating that he had either replaced his SIM card or gotten a new phone number.

Warmus recorded on his cellphone nearly the entire time that he was inside the Capitol, and he showed video to at least one person after Jan. 6, yet those photos or videos appear to no longer exist, according to prosecutors.

The government's court filing listed why it's pushing for incarceration:

Warmus was in the first wave of rioters to breach the Capitol on its west side, and was among the first rioters to reach the rotunda.

During his 15 minutes inside the Capitol, Warmus extensively recorded events, including the first breach of the east rotunda doors.

After witnessing and recording the first breach of the east rotunda doors, Warmus made a waving gesture toward the doors as if encouraging other rioters to assist in the breach.

Warmus evaded a Capitol police officers attempt to detain him, and Warmus remained in the building following this interaction with police.

Warmus appears to have deleted all Jan. 6 content from his cellphone.

While on pretrial release, Warmus has publicly posted videos of himself harassing police officers to the point of trying to break into police cruisers  and, more generally, Warmus has yet to show any meaningful contrition for his conduct on Jan. 6.

Video captured Warmus on the West Lawn, around 1:30 p.m., facing off with a line of Capitol police officers clad in riot gear as other rioters yelled, Oath breakers!

Warmus entered the Capitol through the Senate Wing Door at approximately 2:17 p.m., within five minutes of the initial breach. He was among the first rioters to reach the rotunda at 2:24 p.m.

At one point, he picked up an unknown black object that looks like a hat and put it on one of the statues in the rotunda, according to court papers. Warmus exited the rotunda around 2:28 p.m. and headed back to the Senate Wing Door, where he exited the building at around 2:33 p.m. In total, Warmus spent 16 minutes inside the Capitol.

The previous Capitol riot defendants from Western New York who entered guilty pleas  all sentenced to probation and all but one to home detention  expressed remorse during their court cases.

When Traci Sunstrum was sentenced on her misdemeanor Capitol riot charge in February, the 45-year-old Amherst resident told the judge that "I do realize my actions that day were wrong, and for that I do apologize to the court."

A father and son both expressed remorse for their actions on Jan. 6 before and during their sentencing hearings.

"I'm very remorseful for what I did," the son, William J. Sywak, a 28-year-old welder from Arcade, told the judge. "It's not right that so many police officers were injured."

The father, William M. Sywak, a 46-year-old unemployed carpenter from Hamburg, told the judge that "I've apologized in the past, and I will continue to apologize. I want everyone to know I'm truly sorry for disrespecting the nation's Capitol."

John J. Juran, a Getzville small business owner, expressed regret over his actions in a statement to probation officials who prepared his pre-sentence report before his February sentencing.

"I understand that my actions broke the law," he said in his note to them. "I also understand the seriousness of what occurred on Jan. 6. I am sorry for what I did. I regret that I entered the Capitol."
BERLIN (AP)  The German government said Monday that it can't stop a shipment of Russian uranium destined for French nuclear plants from being processed at a site in Germany because atomic fuel isn't covered by European Union sanctions on Russia.

Environmentalists have called on Germany and the Netherlands to block a shipment of uranium aboard the Russian ship Mikhail Dudin  currently docked in the French port of Dunkirk  from being transported to a processing plant in Lingen, close to the German-Dutch border.

We have no legal grounds to prevent the transport of uranium from Russia, because the sanctions imposed by the EU due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine exempt the import of nuclear fuel ... to the EU from import bans," said a spokesman for Germany's Environment Ministry, Andreas Kuebler.

Safety requirements for the shipment had been examined and found to meet requirements, meaning German authorities had to approve it, he added.

You can imagine that we view such uranium shipments very critically due to the Russian invasion, but also because of Germany's exit from nuclear in general, Kuebler told reporters in Berlin, noting that the government has worked to close the processing plant in Lingen and a second in nearby Gronau.

The plant in Lingen is operated by Framatome, which is majority-owned by French utility giant EDF.

Environmental groups including the Russian organization Ecodefense urged European countries to end all uranium procurement from Russia, and cited the British government's recent decision to block the Mikhail Dudin from offloading nuclear waste near Liverpool for processing there.

A handful of anti-nuclear activists staged a protest near the processing plants Monday, with placards carrying slogans such as No money for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's war.

Government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann said Germany continually reviews whether sanctions need to be expanded, but declined to say whether there were concrete plans to get the EU to block nuclear fuel imports.

Environment Ministry spokesman Kuebler noted that Russia is not the only supplier of uranium.

Canada would be another possibility, for example, he said.

EDF, which manages all of Frances nuclear power plants, didnt directly respond to questions about the latest shipment. But in a statement the company said its uranium supplies were "guaranteed by long-term contracts for periods of up to 20 years, with a policy of diversification in terms of sources and suppliers.

The French government, which has a majority stake in EDF, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

France is heavily dependent on nuclear power for its electricity needs, while Germany is planning to shut down its last three reactors this year and until recently relied strongly on imports of Russian gas.

Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed to this report.

Follow all AP stories on the impact of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.
Congress should create a Space Guard and the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station should get the work.

If the role is not created and the Reserve Station does not get that work, the chairman of the Niagara Military Affairs Council worries about the bases future. It is an understandable concern.

The Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station has been routinely in peril. Advocates and politicians have had to fight to ensure relevant work that would better solidify its status  and maintain jobs.

Now, a piece of work that focuses on the future of military operations  bringing a Space Force National Guard unit to the Falls  can dovetail into ongoing space operations and better solidify the future of the base.

First, Congress must agree that the Space Guard is necessary. The House needs no convincing, after approving in July a defense authorization bill calling for the creation of a Space Guard. Rep. Brian Higgins, a Buffalo Democrat, and Rep. Chris Jacobs, R-Orchard Park (at the time), voted for that measure.

The draft Senate Armed Services Committees version of the defense authorization bill deliberately excludes language creating a Space Guard. It does not help that the Biden administration opposes its creation. The Office of Management and Budget announced its opposition in a statement of administration policy a year ago, charging that a Space National Guard would create new government bureaucracy. It is a specious argument.

John Cooper, the chairman of the Niagara Military Affairs Council said, Space Force is the future. Many of its proponents state the program is key to protecting vital national interests and strengthening deterrence. It is also, Cooper said, important from the perspective of New York State, given There are only seven states and one territory that have this mission in the Air National Guard at this point, so we have our foot in the door for the future ...

The Air National Guards 107th Attack Wing, based in Niagara Falls, is already handling a space mission. As the unit flies unmanned aircraft, which provide immediate intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, its 222nd Command Control Squadron, which operates out of Rome, works with reconnaissance satellites.

The Air Reserve Station, with experience and expertise already in place, is working on the very technology at the heart of the Space Forces mission.

Retired Brig. Gen. J. Roy Robinson, president of the National Guard Association of the United States told The News that he believes a Space National Guard is necessary to enhancing Space Force. It can be accomplished at little cost, according to Robinson, with  just new uniforms and a few new signs. In addition, according to advocates, a Space Guard would give National Guard members performing space missions new purpose in the agency.

Such unlikely allies as Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat, have co-sponsored Space Guard legislation. Rubio said it would make the overall operation better and Feinstein said creating a separate Space Guard would retain many talented individuals who want to keep serving their country.

Theyre both right.

More important to this area is Coopers concern that without the Space Force National Guard, the Air Force could shift that Rome-based space operation out of state and out of the hands of the 107th, putting the base in jeopardy. It would be an unacceptable outcome for a Falls base that has fought hard over the years to remain relevant and in service to this country. The better outcome has the Rome unit expanding and the Niagara Falls base with a locally-based Space Force Guard unit.

  

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.
AirAsia changes name to Capital A as it grows beyond an airline

(Reuters) -Capital A Bhd, the parent of Malaysian budget airline AirAsia, said on Monday its Teleport cargo arm would add three Airbus SE A321 freighters to its fleet starting in the first quarter of 2023.

The freighters would be leased from BBAM Limited Partnership, Capital A said in a statement.

Teleport last year began operating its first freighter, a Boeing Co 737-800 based in Bangkok, as the parent company looked to diversify revenue and take advantage of a boom in e-commerce.

Francis Anthony, head of commercial cargo at Teleport, said the A321s would allow it to serve such key markets as China from Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.

A321 freighters are converted from passenger aircraft into dedicated cargo carriers.

BBAM last year ordered freighter conversions of at least 20 of A320s and A321s through to 2025 in a deal with Elbe Flugzeugwerke, a joint venture between Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd and Airbus.

(Reporting by Jamie Freed in Sydney; Editing by Tom Hogue and Bradley Perrett)
Late last month, Republican legislative leaders asked a Dane County court to dismiss a lawsuit against them that challenges Wisconsins 1849 abortion ban because, while they make the law, legislators dont enforce it.

On Monday, Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul said if the leaders dont drop their challenge, hell withdraw the lawsuit and refile it against three district attorneys instead, according to a letter Department of Justice attorneys sent to the GOP leaders lawyers.

Notably, two of the three district attorneys Kaul would sue instead  Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm and Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne  have signaled that they wouldnt enforce the near-complete abortion ban Kaul is challenging. The third, Sheboygan County District Attorney Joel Urmanski, has said he would enforce it. Each of the district attorneys has jurisdiction in counties where Planned Parenthood provided abortions before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

In June, Kaul and other plaintiffs asked a Dane County court to void the states 173-year-old abortion ban, which hasnt been enforced since the Roe v. Wade precedent established abortion as a constitutional right nationally. Kaul filed the case against Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester; Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg; and Senate President Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield.

Kaul said in his complaint that he needed to know whether the Legislature considers the law to be in effect because he advises and consults with agencies and officers charged with enforcing laws.

The pre-Roe law bans abortions from the time of conception with one exception: to save the mothers life. There are no exceptions for rape, incest or the health of the mother.

Kaul in his initial filing argued that a 1985 abortion law  which prohibits abortions only after fetal viability and includes an exception for saving a mothers life or health  conflicts with the earlier, near-complete prohibition.

Either it is lawful to provide a pre-viability abortion, or it is not, Kaul said in the complaint. Either it is lawful to provide an abortion to preserve the mothers health, or it is not.

In addition to saying the GOP legislators shouldnt be sued because they dont enforce the law, their attorneys in August said the Republican leaders are protected from legal action under a provision of the Wisconsin Constitution that states, [n]o member of the legislature shall be liable in any civil action, or criminal prosecution whatever, for words spoken in debate.

If you do not withdraw that argument, we will hold your clients to their position  that they should not be involved  throughout this and any related litigation on this abortion-law question, DOJ attorneys wrote in the Monday letter. Should your clients seek to intervene at any later point, we will object that your clients have waived any ability to be involved.

If the legislative leaders maintain their argument, Kaul would file the case against the district attorneys to keep the lawsuit from being unnecessarily delayed by protracted arguments about who the defendant should be, the letter states.

Spokespersons for the Republican leaders, as well as Ozanne, Chisholm and Urmanski, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In June, Chisholm pledged not to prosecute people who provide or support abortions, while Ozanne said he would use his discretion to prosecute only those crimes that keep our community safe and represent our collective values.

If the voters want a district attorney who prosecutes women for seeking an abortion or licensed providers who are acting in the best interest of their patients, they will need to elect someone else, said Ozanne, who will be up for reelection in 2024.

Bucking the other district attorneys in counties with abortion clinics, Urmanski told TMJ4 in June that he would enforce the states near-complete abortion ban.

The case is likely to end up at the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which has a 4-3 conservative majority. Its occasional swing voter, Justice Brian Hagedorn, once wrote Planned Parenthood was a wicked organization more committed to killing babies than to helping women and said Roe should be overturned. The court majority could flip next year with an election to replace retiring conservative Justice Patience Roggensack.
A pause in delivery of F-35 fighter jets to the U.S. government is not expected to delay deployment of the jets in Madison next year.

The Pentagon has temporarily halted deliveries after discovering that an alloy used in magnets for the $131 million jets came from China, according to a story first reported by Bloomberg.

A Pentagon spokesperson said the magnets do not transmit information or harm the integrity of the aircraft, but the F-35 program office stopped taking deliveries to ensure compliance with federal regulations.

Bill LaPlante, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, said Friday the defense department is analyzing the impact on security as well as safety for more than 840 aircraft already in service.

Right now, so far, it doesnt appear to be either of them but Im waiting for them to finish what theyre looking at and come to me, LaPlante said.

LaPlante said if there are no vulnerabilities identified the military should be able to begin replacing the part with alloy from another source and resume deliveries pretty soon.

While the timeline is uncertain, Capt. Leslie Westmont said the Wisconsin National Guard is still expecting the first of 20 jets that will replace aging F-16s to arrive at Truax Field in the spring.

In 2020, the Air Force selected the 115th Fighter Wing as one of the nations first National Guard units to fly the new jets despite community division and concerns about the impact of noise and pollution, especially on minority and low-income residents near the airport.

Opponents of the jets have filed two federal lawsuits over the basing decision. One was dismissed earlier this year, though the second is pending in a Washington D.C. court.

Truax Field is undergoing roughly $120 million worth of construction to accommodate the new planes, which have suffered multiple setbacks and cost overruns.

With a total price tag of more than $1.7 trillion, the F-35 is the Pentagons most expensive weapons program, according to the Government Accountability Office. This spring the GAO warned the Department of Defense is on track to receive a third of all planned F-35s before determining that the aircraft is ready for full production.

According to Bloomberg, F-35 subcontractor Honeywell International notified the planes manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, in late August that a fifth-tier subcontractor had provided alloy from the Peoples Republic of China for the magnet used in a component that provides electrical power for ground maintenance, starting the engines and emergency power.
The longtime head of UW-Madisons orthopedics department, whose payments from a medical device maker were the focus of federal probes and spurred more oversight of conflicts of interest, has resigned as chair after his boss denied his plan to start a surgery center largely owned by UW doctors.

Dr. Thomas Zdeblick stepped down as chair June 27 after Dr. Robert Golden, dean of the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, said he didnt approve of Zdeblicks plan in which he and other UW doctors would own 62% of a new ambulatory surgery center in the Madison area.

The university has a strong interest in maintaining public trust; this interest is not served by permitting UW physicians to leverage their university positions for personal gain in the manner proposed, Golden wrote to Zdeblick on June 24, according to letters the Wisconsin State Journal received last week in an open records request.

Golden also said the surgery center would deprive UW Health of potential revenue. Orthopedics is one of the health systems top revenue generators.

Zdeblick, who remains a UW orthopedics professor and director of the UW Spine Center, came under considerable public scrutiny a decade ago after a U.S. Senate investigation revealed he got $34 million over 15 years from Medtronic, mostly in royalties for devices he invented.

He had already been criticized for publishing positive articles about Medtronic products in a journal he edited without disclosing such payments. The developments helped lead to the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, which requires drug and medical device companies to report payments to doctors.

The situation also helped lead the UW medical school to require faculty to report specific amounts of outside income instead of ranges ending with more than $20,000.

Zdeblick  whose main devices, the Z Plate and the LT Cage, are used in spine surgery  defended his payments in a 2013 interview with the State Journal, saying he was paid well for good ideas that improved medical care.

They paid Bill Gates a lot of money for good ideas, said Zdeblick, who became orthopedics chair in 2000. They paid Steve Jobs a lot of money for good ideas ... Many patients come to me because I designed these things.

Surgery center plan

According to letters in June between Zdeblick and Golden, Zdeblick proposed the ambulatory surgery center as the only immediately viable solution to what he called UW Healths critical lack of operating room availability.

Zdeblick said he and other UW doctors would be members of an independent company, with Palm Coast, Florida-based SurgCenter Development a minority member. SurgCenter has more than 230 surgery centers, including five in Wisconsin.

The 7,000-square-foot facility, with two operating rooms, would be located within leased space in Dane County, wrote Zdeblick, who would be medical director. Patients would primarily be those whose insurance carriers insist upon an ambulatory surgery center for procedures, some of whom go to Sauk Prairie Healthcare in Prairie du Sac or Stoughton Hospital, he said.

Professional revenue would flow to UW Health and any potential conflicts of interest would be ethically managed, Zdeblick said.

Golden wrote that Zdeblick had explained in an earlier discussion that he would own 20% of the venture and other physicians would each own 5% to 10%. Golden said the plan may not move forward.

The doctors, by remaining UW employees, would benefit from UW Healths reputation, liability coverage and protections, and other resources, Golden said. That would violate state law and UW-Madison policies against using university positions for personal gain, he said.

Golden also said the center would directly compete with UW Healths business opportunities and interests.

Capacity concerns

In an interview, Zdeblick said some UW Health operating rooms arent being used because of inadequate anesthesiology staffing. He said that includes an OR at East Madison Hospital, which opened in 2015 with a focus on orthopedics. The 56-bed hospital is increasingly being used for other types of patients, Zdeblick said.

UW Health and UnityPoint Health-Meriter co-own the Madison Surgery Center, on Park Street, an ambulatory surgery center that provides several types of surgery, including in gynecology, ophthalmology and orthopedics. Zdeblick said it is not equipped for joint replacements and spine surgeries.

We dont have enough ORs for the number of patients we need to take care of, he said. I was trying to solve a problem.

Zdeblick, 65, said he will retire from UW at the end of the year and is no longer pursuing a surgery center. When asked if other UW doctors are still pursuing it, he said he wasnt sure.

In an email, Golden said there are intermittent issues with timely operating room access, as many health care organizations have also experienced, but at this point we do not have a systemic issue with getting patients in for needed operative care.

Golden named Dr. Tammy Scerpella interim chair of orthopedics.

Wisconsin has 75 ambulatory surgery centers, including five in Dane County, according to the state Department of Health Services.

In addition to the Madison Surgery Center, UW Health and UnityPoint Health-Meriter co-own Transformations Surgical Center, in Middleton, which does cosmetic and reconstructive surgery.

SSM Health owns ambulatory surgery centers on Regent Street and South Park Street. NovaMed Surgery Center, on Madisons West Side, is owned by Brentwood, Tennessee-based Surgical Partners and does eye surgeries.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Horseback riding with Ronald Reagan. Yachting with Bill Clinton. Sipping tea with Joe Biden.

Queen Elizabeth II, who died Thursday at age 96, had met every American president since Dwight Eisenhower, with the exception of Lyndon Johnson, who did not visit Britain during his presidency. Biden was the 13th and final U.S. president to meet the woman whose reign spanned seven decades.

Keep scrolling for a gallery of photos of U.S. presidents with Queen Elizabeth II

Every living former U.S. president  Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump  joined Biden in mourning her passing and sending condolences to her family.

Biden and first lady Jill Biden said the queen's legacy will loom large in the pages of British history, and in the story of our world.

Obama and his wife, Michelle, recalled the queen welcoming them, America's first Black president and first lady, to the world stage with open arms and extraordinary generosity.

Biden first met the queen in 1982 as a U.S. senator traveling in the U.K. with a delegation from Congress. He last saw her in 2021, several months after he became president, while attending a world leaders' summit in southwestern England.

She mingled with Group of Seven leaders at a reception that she and other royals hosted at an indoor rainforest. After the summit, the Bidens traveled to Windsor Castle, near London, at the queen's invitation for a private audience.

The queen was a 25-year-old princess when she came to Washington in 1951 and stayed with President Harry Truman and his family. She met Herbert Hoover in 1957, more than 20 years after he left office. Full story:

A look through the years:
Koh Young Highlighting Award-winning True3D Inspection Solutions at SMTA Guadalajara Expo Published: 12 September 2022 by Mike Buetow by Mike Buetow

Atlanta, Georgia  Koh Young Technology, the industry leader in True 3D measurement-based inspection solutions, will deliver live demonstrations of its award-winning inspection and measurement solutions during the live tradeshow at EXPO Guadalajara in Jalisco, Mexico during September 21-22, 2022. The following is just a glimpse into what Koh Young has in store for our visitors:

Solder Paste Inspection (SPI)

In 2002, we introduced the concept of 3D measurement-based solder paste inspection  and it revolutionized the inspection industry. Today, manufacturers recognize the value of the 3D measurement data and use the data to improve the print process, in turn, improving production yield and quality. Today, 3D SPI has become a standard requirement for SMT lines  it is no longer optional. The KY8030-3 is our SPI workhorse, and the most popular SPI solution in the electronics manufacturing market. With a patented dual-projection technology, we deliver trustworthy and repeatable measurement data, which manufacturers can use to reliably optimize the print process.

1. KY8030-3: Industrys Fastest True 3D SPI Solution with Integrated Auto-Repair Dispenser

Printing Process Optimization

The Koh Young Process Optimizer (KPO) solution is an AI-based automatic print process optimizer. This system improves the printer offset, as well as critical printer parameters like squeegee speed, print pressure, and separation speed. KPO performs an automated DOE to determine the optimum printing parameters for the best print quality. As a result, manufacturers can optimize the print process, without the need for a dedicated print process expert. Furthermore, KPO monitors and perfects parameters in real-time to guarantee quality despite environmental changes.

2. KPO Printer: Award-winning AI-powered print process control software

Automated Optical Inspection (AOI)

The Koh Young 3D AOI Zenith delivers perfect inspection performance with True 3D measurement technology. In the 2D inspection world, false calls and escapes are unavoidable. To solve this problem, we took a different approach. We based our solution on full 3D measurement technology, not 2D technology and its inherent shortcomings or 2D with some 3D capabilities bolted-on to help. At Koh Young, the Zenith measures all components in True 3D. We find the component body based on true 3D profilometric information. Using this approach, we provide trustworthy inspection results, regardless of component or board color variations. When our 3D measurement data meets artificial intelligence, we can deliver even more advantages to manufacturers.

3. Zenith Alpha: Best Value True 3D Automated Optical Inspection Solution

4. Zenith 2: Revolutionary True 3D AOI Delivering Incomparable Capabilities

Dispense Process Inspection (DPI)

The award-winning Neptune is the industrys first 3D optical measurement solution for transparent material inspection. Using Koh Young LIFT technology (Laser Interferometry for Fluid Tomography), the Neptune delivers non-destructive 3D inspection to precisely measure and inspect fluids  wet or dry. With its Machine- Learning algorithm, the Neptune accurately measures materials for coverage, thickness, and consistency with a user-defined threshold setting. It also identifies bubbles, cracks, and other defects in coating. It also measures underfill, epoxy, bonding, glue, potting, flux, and more to deliver an exact measurement of transparent and translucent materials.

5. Neptune C+: Award-winning True 3D In-Line Dispensing Process Inspection (DPI) Solution

Process Control Software

AI-powered KSMART solutions help automate process control, while focusing on data management, analysis, and optimization. It collects data from across the factory for defect detection, real-time optimization, enhanced decisions, and traceability to improve production, increase quality, and lower costs by eliminating variances, false calls, and escapes.

6. KSMART: Seamless Smart Factory Software Suite Turning Data into Insights

To learn more about how our solutions boost your quality, visit us at the SMTA Guadalajara Expo & Tech Forum during 21-22 September 2022 at the EXPO Guadalajara in Jalisco, Mexico. You can register to attend the in-person conference and exposition at https://smta.org/event/guadalajara2022expo#. If you cannot attend the show, you can still learn more about our best-in-class inspection solutions at our regional website www.kohyoungamerica.com.

About Koh Young Technology, Inc.

Established 20 years ago in 2002, Koh Young pioneered the market by launching the first 3D Solder Paste Inspection (SPI) system using a patented dual-projection Moire technology. Since then, it has become the global leader in 3D measurement-based SPI and Automated Optical Inspection (AOI) equipment for the electronics industry. Based on its True3D measurement-based inspection technology, Koh Young has developed innovative inspection solutions for challenges with machined parts, press-fit and through-hole pins, conformal coatings, dispensed materials, and semiconductor packages. Through its constant innovation, Koh Young has secured over 3,500 global customers, and maintains the dominant global market share in the SPI and AOI markets with over 20,000 machine installations. By adopting a user-centric R&D focus, it continues to use its core competencies to develop innovative solutions for new and existing markets. Its activities stem from the corporate headquarters in Korea to its global sales and support offices in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. These local offices ensure it stays close to the market, and more importantly, its growing customer base. Learn why so many electronics manufacturers trust Koh Young for reliable inspection for a smart factory at www.kohyoungamerica.com.
[Lecanto, Fla.]  Florida Department of Health in Citrus County (DOH-Citrus) reminds parents to buckle up your little ones during the U.S. Department of Transportations Child Passenger Safety Week, September 18-24, 2022.

Car crashes are the leading cause of death for children. In 2020, more than 90 Florida children between the ages of 0 and 14 lost their lives in motor vehicle accidents. Of those, three were from Citrus County.

Using properly installed car seats, for every trip in the car, is key to keeping children safe, says Carmen Hernandez, Community Health Program Administrator for DOH-Citrus. We know that car seat installation can be confusing. Thats why we offer car seat checks for parents, grandparents, and other caregivers.

In February, nine members of local agencies completed training that designates them as National Child Passenger Safety Technicians according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). This allows DOH-Citrus, along with its partner agencies, to check the installation of a childs car seat.

Safety checks are offered on an appointment-only basis and can be scheduled by calling 352-513-6016. You should allow at least 30 minutes for the appointment.

Having trouble finding an affordable car seat? DOH-Citrus may be able to help with low-cost or no-cost car seat options, for those who qualify. Contact Taylor Kirby at 352-513-6016 or email taylor.kirby@flhealth.govfor more information.

For more information about DOH-Citrus, go to www.citrus.floridahealth.govor follow us on Twitter at

@FLHealthCitrus.

About the Florida Department of Health

The department, nationally accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board, works to protect, promote and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county and community efforts.

Follow us on Facebook,Instagramand Twitter at @HealthyFla. For more information about the Florida Department of Health please visit www.FloridaHealth.gov.
By Azernews

By Sabina Mammadli

Iran, Azerbaijan, and Russia are determined to increase the potential of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), Spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry Nasser Kanaani said.

He made the remarks at a press conference in Tehran on September 12.

According to Kanaani, there is a clear and gratifying perspective regarding this corridor. He noted that in the economic aspect, the INSTC is profitable in terms of reducing both the time and costs of cargo transportation.

Further, he added that the three countries have agreed on accelerating the construction of the Rasht-Astara railway line within the International North-South Transport Corridor. The only part within the mentioned corridor that lacks a railway is the Rasht-Astara segment.

Last week, Russian and Iranian ministers arrived in Baku to attend a trilateral meeting of the Russian-Azerbaijani-Iran Working Group on the development of the North-South international transport corridor.

Within the framework of the meeting, the sides have signed the Baku Declaration on the development of the mentioned international transport corridor.

The foundation of the International North-South Transport Corridor was laid on the basis of an intergovernmental agreement signed between Russia, Iran, and India on September 12, 2000. In total, 13 countries have ratified the agreement, including Azerbaijan, India, Iran, Russia, Turkiye, etc.

The purpose of creating a corridor is to reduce the delivery time of cargo from India to Russia, as well as to northern and western Europe. The delivery time on the current route is more than 6 weeks, and it is expected to be reduced to 3 weeks via the North-South Transport Corridor.

The 175-km-long Qazvin-Rasht railway was officially put into operation on March 6, 2019, to connect Azerbaijani railways with the Iranian railway network within the corridor. In addition, the 167-km-long Rasht-Astara railway line must be built in Iran.
Childrens Lake in Boiling Springs closed to the public Monday, but the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission said it may be another few weeks before residents see heavy machinery arrive for construction work.

The commission gave its 10-day notice earlier this month of the closure for the project, which is expected to be completed by the summer/fall of 2023 and include extensive rehabilitation, construction of a new dam and retaining wall, and upgrade of the boat launch and fishing area.

The commission on Monday said the site is officially closed, though it will be up to the contractor  Mineral Point, Pennsylvania, construction company Charles J. Merlo Inc.  to install any temporary signage or fencing when construction starts. Due to the way contracts are handled in the commonwealth, the contractor will have ownership of the property during construction and will handle security instead of the Fish and Boat Commission.

The commission recommends residents and visitors change their plans and routines now to steer clear of the lake as the project gets underway.

In June 2016, after a sinkhole appeared near Bucher Hill Road, seepage and structural deficiencies were discovered in the existing dam at Childrens Lake, the Fish and Boat Commission said. The commission, South Middleton Township, private donors and local residents combined efforts to fund the early design work. In March 2018, Gov. Tom Wolf authorized the release of $2.4 million in capital budget funds to advance the project.

Project construction was projected late last year to begin this spring following the first day of trout season. It was placed on hold after contractor bids for the work came in over budget. In November 2021, agency representatives said the total project was expected to cost between $2.4 million and $2.9 million.

In June, Gov. Wolfs office released additional capital funds and construction was then announced to begin by this fall.
The number of English Language Learner students enrolled in the South Middleton School District has almost doubled since late spring.

There were about 55 ELL students enrolled in district schools in late May-early June, Superintendent James Estep told school board members in early August.

As of Friday, officials said there were 103 ELL students distributed almost uniformly among the four buildings. There were 28 students each at W.G. Rice and Iron Forge elementary schools, 25 at Yellow Breeches Middle School and 22 at Boiling Springs High School.

This contrasts with a building-by-building breakdown that Estep provided in early August to illustrate the need to double the number of ELL teachers in the lead-up to the current academic year.

Back then, there were 82 ELL students registered in the district: 19 at Rice, 28 at Iron Forge; 12 at Yellow Breeches and 23 students at the high school.

The board in early August gave Estep the go-ahead to advertise two ELL teacher positions to reinforce the two positions already hired and included in the 2022-23 budget.

Two weeks later, on Aug. 15, the board set aside the money for the openings Estep had advertised to head off the anticipated demand.

We have filled one position, Estep said Friday. We had interest in the second position, but that person elected to stay in their current teaching position. We have one open middle-level ELL position.

The search for the second English language instructor continues during a nationwide teacher shortage.

Its probably no more difficult than any other position right now, Estep said. We dont have the number of applicants that we used to have.

In early August, The Sentinel interviewed Truong Phuong, executive director of the International Service Center in Harrisburg. He provided background information on the influx of Bhutanese refugees coming into South Middleton Township. This influx is what prompted Estep to ask the school board to double the number of English language teachers.

Refugees from Bhutan were displaced by ethnic cleansing to camps in Nepal, Phuong said. With help from assistance programs, the first wave of Bhutanese refugees emigrated to the U.S. about 10 years ago and found that the Harrisburg area offered good jobs and the opportunity to eventually establish their own businesses, Phuong said. The Bhutanese set up a support network and a strong community within south-central Pennsylvania, he said.

Over the years, friends and relatives have encouraged other families to resettle from the refugee camps to the Harrisburg area, Phuong said. It appears that trend is catching on in South Middleton Township.

Its happening as parents are enrolling their kids and talking to my staff, Estep said in early August. Families were telling district personnel that more Bhutanese refugees plan to move to the township.
An Alameda County sheriffs deputy in California allegedly shot and killed a married couple in their home while family members were present.

Dublin Police Services responded to a double shooting at a home on Colebrook Lane, where they found 42-year-old Maria Tran and 57-year-old Benison Tran with gunshot wounds to their heads and necks on Sept. 7, according to reports.

Devin Williams Jr., a 24-year-old former officer at the Stockton Police Department and a current deputy with the Alameda County Sheriffs Office, allegedly fatally shot the couple and fled the scene. Nearly 11 hours later, he called the police and turned himself in.

Williams Jr. was taken into custody by the California Highway Patrol near the Central Valley city of Coalinga. He was charged with two counts of murder with special circumstances, according to the Alameda County District Attorneys Office.

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Lt. Ray Kelly, a spokesperson with the Alameda County Sheriffs Office, said there were four other relatives present in the residence during the shooting, including the couples 14-year-old son, who were all unharmed.

It's a great loss for our community and its even more disheartening to find out that it was one of our own that was the trigger-person behind this tragic incident, Dublin Police Chief Garrett Holmes said.

Maria Tran was a nurse who immigrated from Vietnam in 2004. Benison Tran had just retired last year as a civil engineer for the city of Santa Clara after nearly 29 years.

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We have learned that one of our beloved John George Psychiatric Hospital (JGPH) nurses, Maria Tran, was tragically killed early Wednesday morning. Our hearts go out to the family, friends, JGPH staff, and especially to those who worked closely with Maria. She was a brilliant and excellent nurse who cared deeply for those we serve, the John George Psychiatric Hospital said in a statement.

Story continues

The motive behind the shooting is still being investigated. In an interview with the defendants father, he said his son was in a dating relationship with Maria. In recent months, Maria formed a relationship with Williams Jr. based on their roles as nurse and law enforcement officer at the hospital, according to reports.

Williams Jr. is currently being held in a Santa Rita jail where he once worked while awaiting his arraignment.

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He grew up in a very affluent home, well-loved, graduated from college with honors, was really a remarkable young person. How we got here today, it will be part of our investigation and something were looking at, Kelly told The Record.

Our agency is in shock, he was also quoted as saying. This is not something we deal with. This is not what were about. We had no idea that this could happen.

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Featured Image via ABC 7 News
New Mexico Department of Game and Fish officers are seeking a missing tiger in Albuquerque. This photo is of the missing tiger as a cub. However, the tiger is estimated to now weigh 30-60 pounds.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  A tiger is still believed to be missing in New Mexico, the state Department of Game and Fish announced Saturday. Authorities believe the tiger was illegally being kept as a pet.

Department investigators believe the tiger  which is less than a year old and is believed to weigh between 30 and 60 pounds  is in New Mexico or a nearby state. Tigers, however, can grow up to 600 pounds, depending on the subspecies.

Conservation officers from NMDGF obtained search warrants for two Albuquerque residences on Aug. 12 and, with assistance from federal, state and local law enforcement, served both warrants in the citys south valley, the department stated in a news release.

A 26-year-old male inside one of the residences was taken into custody and New Mexico State Police began to clear the home. While doing so, they were advised of three large bags of marijuana drug paraphernalia, several rifles and a handgun. Officers also located a container of cash, according to a news release from the Albuquerque Police Department.

As NMDGF executed a search warrant regarding the purchase of the tiger, they located scales, a white powdery substance and a scale. They also found a five-gallon bag of marijuana in a crawl space in the attic. Officers also located more drugs, including cocaine, heroin, fentanyl and $40,000 in cash. Officers also found a 3-foot alligator they say was illegally possessed. The alligator has since been turned over to the ABQ BioPark.

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Exotic animals illegally held in captivity are often in very poor condition when conservation officers discover them due to a lack of proper care, according to NMDGF. The alligator and the missing tiger are both considered "Group 4" species, which means only zoos are permitted to possess them.

NMDGF is seeking the publics help to locate the missing tiger. Please call Operation Game Thief at 800-432-4263 if you have any information on the location of this tiger, or if you have information about other wildlife or exotic animals being illegally held by private individuals.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Tiger believed to be on the loose in New Mexico, officials say
Ohio State University regularly uses the definitive article "The" in front of its name, as seen here in the university seal embedded in the pavement at the east entrance to the Oval on the main campus in Columbus.

Ohio students don't need to look far for top-tier higher education programs, according to newly released rankings from U.S. News & World Report. The magazine's lists of best colleges include several in-state institutions, including Ohio State University, Case Western Reserve University, John Carroll University, Baldwin Wallace University, Cedarville University and Ohio Northern University.

Top college location in Ohio: UC tops Ohio State as No. 1, new report says

The lists were released Monday.

In the Midwest, John Carroll (located in the Cleveland suburb of University Heights) tied at No. 2 with Missouri's Truman State University for best regional university. Baldwin Wallace (located in the Cleveland suburb of Berea) and Otterbein University (in Westerville) were rated No. 8 and No. 9 in the same category. Otterbein tied with Augustana University (located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota) and Iowa's Dordt University.

Baldwin Wallace ranked at No. 4, tied with Minnesota's Augsburg University and Dordt University, for best undergraduate teaching among Midwestern universities. The College of Wooster followed behind at No. 13, tying with Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania.

Ohio Northern (located in Ada in northwest Ohio) tied at No. 4 with Missouri's College of the Ozarks for the best regional colleges in the Midwest. Marietta College followed behind at No. 9.

Marietta also scored high marks for best value schools coming in at No. 7 nationally. Ohio Northern and Hiram College were recognized in this category as well, clocking in at No. 2 and No. 3 respectively.

Case Western Reserve and Ohio State University tied with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Washington at No. 5 for best nursing programs nationally.

On the list of best Midwestern schools for veterans, Baldwin Wallace came in at No. 3 and Cedarville (in Greene County in west central Ohio) came in at No. 4.

Ohio's neighboring states also had several colleges and universities rank high in U.S. News & World Report's updated lists.

Story continues

Indiana schools listed in U.S. News & World Report's best colleges lists

Butler University topped the list of best universities in the Midwest region. The University of Evansville came in at No. 5 on that list. Butler also topped the regional Midwest list for best undergraduate teaching, and for best Midwestern schools for veterans.

A look at the updated facade of Clowes Memorial Hall on Butler University's campus Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2021.

Martin University in Indianapolis was ranked No. 1 among national liberal arts colleges with the most debt. About 94% of first-year students at the school receive federal loans, according to U.S. World & News Report, and the median graduate indebtedness of federal loans at Martin is $41,604.

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (near Terre Haute in Vigo County) was ranked No. 5 in the Midwest for the best value.

Vincennes University ranked No. 5 for least debt in the Midwest. About 54% of students receive federal student loans at the school, and the median graduate indebtedness of federal loans at Vincennes is $12,596. Taylor University (located in Upland) ranked No. 2 for the best regional colleges in the Midwest.

Kentucky schools listed in U.S. News & World Report's best college lists

Berea College ranked No. 1 for liberal arts colleges with the least debt nationally. About 10% of first-year students at the school receive federal student loans, and the median graduate indebtedness of federal loans is $3,700.

Michigan schools listed in U.S. News & World Report's best college lists

Andrews University In Berrien Springs topped the list for the most ethnically diverse campus. According to U.S. News & World Report, the university has a 77% diversity index.

Calvin University in Grand Rapids ranked No. 4 for best universities in the Midwest.

Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie and Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City tied at No. 1 for top public schools among regional colleges in the Midwest.

University of Michigan  Ann Arbor was ranked No. 3 for top public schools among national universities. It also ranked No. 3 for best nursing program nationally, and at No. 4 for best business program.

University of Michigan  Dearborn was ranked No. 5 for top public schools among regional universities in the Midwest.

Pennsylvania schools listed in U.S. News & World Report's best college lists

Carnegie Mellon University topped the list for best computer science program nationally, and came in at No. 5 (tied with New York University) for best business program. The Pittsburgh university also ranked at No. 4 for most international students, with 22% of its undergraduate students being international.

Swarthmore College in suburban Philadelphia was ranked No. 4 for best national liberal arts colleges and No. 5 nationally for liberal arts colleges with the best value. It also ranked No. 4 for most ethnically diverse among liberal arts colleges.

The University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia ranked No. 1 for best nursing program nationally, and for best business program.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: U.S. News & World Report's best colleges lists: Ohio schools
A new exhibit, "In Their Own Words: Celebrating the National Women and Media Collection," is on display at the State Historical Society of Missouri in Columbia.

The collection is celebrating its 35th anniversary with an exhibit featuring diaries, photos, letters, and interviews from the National Women and Media Collection, established at the State Historical Society in 1987. The 92-foot-long exhibit covers the history of women in journalism from the 1800s to the 1990s.

Interest in the National Women and Media Collection comes from all over the world. We have had research requests from as far away as Australia, said Elizabeth Engel, senior archivist for the State Historical Society and manager of the collection. By drawing attention to the anniversary with a large-scale display, we hope the collection will grow and be supported by the voices of additional women in the media today and in the future.

In Their Own Words showcases important female voices in media, such as Kay Mills, Jean Gaddy Wilson, Marjorie Paxson, Rose Nolen, Tad Bartimus, Christine Craft, Mary Paxton Keeley, Lucile Bluford, Dorothy Jurney and others. Visitors will learn of their struggles and triumphs in the media industry and how these journalists were able to navigate careers in a traditionally male-dominated profession.

The collection contains the records of media organizations and the professional and personal papers of notable women who worked as reporters, editors, publishers, press secretaries and other positions in the print and broadcast media industries.

Visitors can see the exhibit through Dec. 23, 2022, during regular visitor hours at the State Historical Society of Missouri. The exhibit is located on the second floor in the Wenneker Family Corridor Gallery, SHSMO Center for Missouri Studies, 605 Elm Street, Columbia.

Additional public events, related to the collections 35th anniversary, are posted on the Societys calendar at SHSMO.org.
While Ste. Genevieve is known for being historically French, with many events celebrating the French heritage including Jour de Fete and La Guianne, the city also has some German heritage. To celebrate, a group of citizens have formed a committee dedicated to showing off the German heritage, and are getting ready to throw an Oktoberfest for the city.

Saturday and Sunday, guests will be able to visit vendors on Main and Merchant streets, watch a parade of German vehicles, and participate in German games. German bands from around the area will be playing music, and the public will be able to join the German food competition if interested.

Saturday at 11 a.m. is the Volkswagen parade. The parade begins at the American Legion Hall at 2 Park Drive in Ste. Genevieve, and will move toward the downtown area. Cars participating in the parade may be displayed at the Lutheran Church parking lot once the parade has finished. Lineup begins at 10 a.m.

On both days of the weekend is the German food competition, with the days split among categories. All food must be made at home and brought to the competition completed, with an option for home kitchen entries and commercial kitchen entries.

Judges will be rating food based upon appearance, texture, taste, and authenticity, with prizes awarded to the top winner in each category.

Saturday's categories include schnitzel and spaetzle, as well as sausage and sauerkraut. Sunday's categories include bratwurst and a form of dessert, either German chocolate cake, Black Forest cake, or Strudel.

All participants must be registered by 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, and the cost to enter is $10 per category. Winners for Saturday will be announced on the main stage at 1:30 p.m., while winners on Sunday will be announced at 1 p.m. on the main stage.

The festival will also have a homebrew competition. All entries must be made at home and brought in completed and ready to enter.

Like the cooking competition, there are two categories for commercial kitchen entries and home kitchen entries, as well as judging on appearance, texture, taste, and authenticity.

Prizes are awarded to the top winner in each beer category, including Heifewisen, Dunkle, Pilsner, Kolsh, and open beer category in which each beer must be labeled as a specific type, and will be judged against the standard. All entries cost $10, and must be registered by Sunday at 11 a.m.

The winners will be announced on the main stage at 1 p.m.

Sunday features a wiener dog race, set to start at 1 p.m. The cost to race a dog is $10, and the dogs must be up to date on vaccinations as of the first of the month.

When registering online, owners are asked to include the dog weight and upload proof of the dog vaccinations. Oktoberfest also asks for two people to be on site per dog, one at the start of the race and one to catch the dog at the end. All participants must be registered by 11 a.m. on Sunday.

The festival will also feature German games, including a stein-holding contest, keg toss, and a German spelling bee. All games are free to play, and all participants must be signed up by Sept, 17 at 11:30 a.m. The bier stein-holding contest will have a 21 through 39 age group, and a 40 and older age group along with men's and womens brackets.

Anyone interested in any of the events can register online on the website, oktoberfestmo.wordpress.com underneath the Event Register tab.

Other weekend include the tapping of the kegs at 11:30 a.m., and the cruise in on the square at 5 p.m., both on Saturday.

The festival will have a celebration of German music featuring multiple German bands. The Waterloo German Band takes the main stage at 2 p.m. on Saturday at 6 p.m., and on Sunday, the Die Fluss Katzen German band takes the mainstage at 10 a.m. while the Ste. Genevieve German Band performs at 1:30 p.m.

More information can be found on Facebook under Ste. Genevieve Oktoberfest, or on the website oktoberfestmo.wordpress.com.
Her younger sisters fight with cancer made Tracy Selzer Burns of Bonne Terre realize there had to be a better way for families to get through the stress, the financial drain and the emotional costs that mount with every doctors appointment, every day of missed work, every day of suspense  is the cancer gone yet, will the surgery be successful, can I find a babysitter, how much gas will the car need

So now, the family of Carmen Selzer Higgins  a mother of three who is currently fighting ovarian cancer  is busy lining up fundraisers to help not only Carmen, 51, but other patients and families whose worlds are turned upside down by the disease that takes many forms.

The latest venture is a poker run, scheduled for Oct. 8, with the four-hour ride leaving from Bonneville Plaza at 10 a.m., breaking for lunch specials at noon at Pizza 101 South, RB's, Corner Pocket and Off Road Nutrition. Five cards will be dealt to each vehicle at the end of the ride, which winds up at Hubs Pub. Prizes will be given to the three best card hands.

All profits from the poker run will go to the non-profit Show Me Strong, a charity fund Carmens family created to help Missouri families fight cancer.

In March, my sister was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and at that time, we realized the impact it had on not only her, but our whole family, driving her back and forth to treatments and doctor visits and scans and we've made numerous ER visits, Tracy said. We missed work, we were stressed with worrying about her.

The family had sold some shirts to help out with co-pays and medicines, which Tracy said was a tremendous help. But we realized that you know, other families are going through this too, and we want to be able to help as many as possible.

Tracy said her daughter met with an accountant and decided the best option would be to open a charity fund that would include a board of directors to help account for every penny.

We will let them know who we want to help and why, and they'll issue the money to us to issue a grant to the patient.

And the grants can be issued for any kind of thing that might make a patients life  and their families lives  a little better, Tracy said.

Whether it's to help someone with their rent, help someone with gas cards to get back and forth to treatments, meal cards to stop and eat after treatments, if they're physically able  Or to be quite honest, even if they just need a weekend away to get to put this stress behind them for a couple of days, we would love to be able to do those kinds of things for them, she said.

Tracy said almost a dozen people reached out to her when they found out about the charity.

Of course, we haven't even had our first benefit yet, so I'm just taking names, taking stories, asking them what is their dire need.

And I tell them, it can be selfish, Tracy continued. I don't care if you need to get away but that's important to us. If you need your rent paid, or your electric bill paid, then that's important to us. You tell us what you need.

As enthusiastic as the family is about the Oct. 8 poker run, Tracy said, theyre trying to be realistic with their expectations.

We know with our first benefit, we can't help all 10 of those people on my list, but we can start with the three who need us the most, she said. And we've already decided that our first grant will of course go to my sister, because she is the reason why we started this.

More charitable events are planned for the coming months: a softball tournament, another poker run, and of course, the showmestrong.com website takes donations on a one-time basis or monthly, Tracy said.

My mom and I were out yesterday trying to get silent auction gifts, you know, and I hate asking people because I know every small business is suffering right now, she said. I really hate asking people but everyone's been so generous. They do what they can and it's just been a great help. I'm so appreciative, so appreciative.

Tracy said her goal, at the end of the day, is to help as many of people on her growing list as possible. She said the husband of a relative just died of cancer, leaving behind a wife and two young daughters and I still want to try to help his wife and children if we can.

There's just so many. It's just like, every time you turn around, someone has cancer and we're not just helping those with ovarian cancer, it doesn't matter the type of cancer you have, its a stress on your family, on your life and on your body.

Carmen got to ring the bell sounding her last chemo visit last Thursday, Tracy said, and I still tear up, because we also know that she's only in remission. And we know that this stuff's got a good chance of coming back.

And she'll fight it again, and we'll fight it with her.
Sen. Bill Eigel, R-Weldon Springs, engages in debate in the Missouri Senate (photo courtesy of Missouri Senate Communications).

Missouri Sen. Bill Eigel, a St. Charles County Republican who helped establish a faction of GOP senators that tied the legislature in procedural knots over the last two years, is exploring a run for governor.

Eigel announced his intentions to create an exploratory committee for a 2024 gubernatorial bid at a fundraiser on Saturday. He followed that up the next day with a Facebook ad.

We will have much more to share in the coming weeks as we set up an exploratory campaign committee and the infrastructure for a possible statewide campaign for governor of Missouri, Eigel wrote on Facebook.

He could not be immediately reached for comment Monday morning.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson is unable to run again in 2024 due to term limits, and the campaign to replace him as the GOP nominee was widely seen as a two-man race.

Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe has been actively running for the nomination for more than a year, racking up endorsements from a wide array of groups like the Missouri Fraternal Order of Police and the Missouri Cattlemens Association.

Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft is considering a run but has repeatedly said he has made no decision about his 2024 plans other than he wont seek a third term in his current office.

Eigels potential entrance into race adds a new layer of drama.

A founding member of the Senate conservative caucus, Eigel has been a key figure in the escalating war over the last two years with Republican leadership.

The tensions culminated this year with conservative caucus members used parliamentary maneuvers to gum up the Senate and, with their priorities failing to get traction, turned otherwise anodyne bills into vehicles for controversial amendments pertaining to transgender student athletes, critical race theory and vaccine mandates.

Ashcroft has not involved himself in the day-to-day drama of the Missouri Senate. But he has weighed in on various issues on the side of the conservative caucus  most notably, his support for the caucus push to redraw U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleavers Kansas City-based seat to make it more likely Republicans could capture it.

Meanwhile, Kehoe has occasionally drawn the ire of the conservative caucus due to the lieutenant governors role presiding over the Senate. In late 2021, for example, Eigel blasted Kehoe refusing to recognize a motion from a conservative caucus member that the lieutenant governor said violated the rules of the chamber.

The conservative caucus disbanded soon after the primaries, where candidates aligned with and supported by the conservative caucus won four competitive races for open seats. An incumbent who aligned with GOP leadership was also defeated.

The caucus called for peace in the Senate, but insisted that was only possible with new leadership.

Since entering the Senate in 2017, Eigels top legislative priority has been tax cuts. Hes championed numerous bills targeting income tax and property taxes, and has used his position on the Senate appropriations committee to criticize the growth of the state budget.

Fundraising

Should he choose to jump into the race for governor, Eigel would start out well behind potential rivals in campaign funding.

In his last campaign disclosure report, Kehoe reported raising $131,000, with $543,000 cash on hand. The political action committee supporting his candidacy, called American Dream PAC, reported $1.1 million cash on hand as of July 1.

Ashcroft reported raising $17,000 in his last quarterly report, with $543,000 cash on hand. The PAC supporting his candidacy, called Committee for Liberty, reported $972,000 cash on hand as of July 1.

Eigel, who is unable to run for his Senate seat again due to term limits, reported $121,000 cash on hand in his campaign committee as of July 1. The PAC supporting his candidacy, called Believe in Life and Liberty-BILL PAC, had $167,000 cash on hand as of July 1.

Since that report was filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission, however, BILL PAC has reported $143,000 is large donations, mostly from PACs and businesses connected to lobbyist Steve Tilley.

Tilley, a former Missouri lawmaker whose activities have drawn FBI attention over the years, was a major fundraiser for Parsons successful 2020 run. His clients and the constellation of PACs his lobbying firm operates have donated $95,000 so far this year to the political action committee supporting Parson.

Two of those PACs  Missouri Growth PAC and Missouri AG PAC  donated $10,000 apiece to Eigels BILL PAC last week.

For much of the year, Tilley has been raising money for Ashcrofts Committee for Liberty PAC. The law firm of Michael Ketchmark, a personal injury attorney from Leawood, Kansas, who is close to Tilley, cut a $250,000 check to support Ashcroft in March.

A company connected to Tilley called Perryville Investments also donated $10,000 to Ashcroft.
TORONTO  When a young, bespectacled Al Yankovic picked up an accordion, few  especially Al, himself  would have predicted the long-running show-business career that would follow. But can you imagine if they did? That every step of Yankovics way  the first Hawaiian shirt, the epiphany of riffing on My Sharona as My Bologna  carried the same portentous sense of fate that rings through most music biopics?

Its a funny enough idea that shortly before the raucous midnight Toronto International Film Festival premiere of Weird: The Al Yankovic Story  a nutty, authorized biopic that takes that concept and has as much fun with it as possible  Yankovic was still riffing. He was sitting alongside Daniel Radcliffe, who enthusiastically plays Yankovic in the movie, at a Toronto bar stocked with on-theme cocktails like Just Drink It.

Like, what if, Yankovic imagines, Weird had that much-memed moment in Baz Luhrmanns Elvis where Tom Hanks Tom Parker hears Presley on the radio for the first time, dramatically swings around and exclaims Hes white?!  only its Weird Al he hears and instead responds, Hes weird?!

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, written by Yankovic with director Eric Appel, does to Yankovics career pretty much what the 62-year-old comedian has been doing to pop songs for the past four decades. It distorts it through a funhouse mirror, turning Yankovics life into something that at its most absurd heights becomes its own parallel reality.

I never would have believed this would happen early in my life, and maybe even a year ago, said Yankovic. Thats one of the reasons why the movie is funny because it shouldnt exist. There are detractors that are saying: Why is Weird Al getting a biopic when there are a thousand names that should have gotten one before him? Well, thats kind of the point. Its not that I deserve it. The fact that I dont deserve it is why this exists.

Some, including Radcliffe, would quibble with that. Yankovic long ago outlasted many of the musicians hes parodied. Hes one of only five music acts to have a Top 40 hit in each of the past four decades. That ranks him among the likes of Madonna and Michael Jackson, who have, of course, each received the Weird Al treatment (Like a Surgeon, Eat It). The New York Times has called Yankovic a completely ridiculous national treasure.

I cant explain it, shrugged Yankovic. I guess its just sheer tenacity because I should have gone away decades ago.

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, which will be released Nov. 4 on Roku, is itself an unlikely movie that began as a gag. About a decade ago, Appel and Yankovic made a faux-trailer for a Yankovic biopic for Funny or Die. Yankovic would play it at his concerts and bat away questions from fans about when the movie would actually be released. But a string of music biopics  many of which played so elastically with the truth that Yankovic sensed they were ripe for parody  made the premise even more appealing. Appel and Yankovic worked on a script and reached out to Radcliffe.

My first reaction on hearing the idea of me as Al was, Wait, what? said Radcliffe. As soon as I started reading it, I was like, Oh, theres nothing else that Als biopic could have been but something that is inherently a parody of all musical biopics.

There are a few bits of autobiographic truth in Weird, but the movie quickly, as Radcliffe said, goes off the rails, wildly overinflating Yankovics trajectory and many of his encounters. Madonna (played by Evan Rachel Wood), desperate for the honor of a Yankovic parody, initiates a love affair with him, for instance.

The amount of people that have asked me about you and Madonna, sighed Radcliffe.

Yankovic notes that a door-to-door accordion salesman really did come to his familys house, as one does in the film. Its less true that Yankovics father abhorred the instrument as the devils squeezebox and violently pummeled the salesman.

That scene goes on for so long, Radcliffe said, shaking his head.

For the 33-year-old Radcliffe, the movie is in line with other eccentric, experimental films like 2016s Swiss Army Man that hes been drawn to since playing Harry Potter. A self-described Yankovic fan who listens to his polkas while working out, Radcliffe and Yankovic found themselves in many ways simpatico.

At some points in my life, I thought I needed to be stoic as an actor and stoic as a movie star, said Radcliffe. The success Ive had since Potter has been about whatever is weird about me, leaning into that. Thats the asset, actually, not to be avoided. And Al is like the model for that.

Radcliffe describes the rapid 18-day shoot of Weird as truly one of the best experiences Ive ever had on a set. Ahead of production, he dove into learning the accordion.

Nobody asked me to, by the way. It was entirely self-inflicted, said Radcliffe. I mean, if youre playing Al, what else am I doing? Youve got to make an honest attempt.

I cant tell you what a joy it was to wake up in the morning and get video of Dan playing My Bologna on the accordion, Yankovic said, earnestly.

My most common note was Please pump more, added Radcliffe.

Yankovic was in Toronto for only the evening with Colorado concerts the night before and the night after the premiere. Hes currently on The Unfortunate Return of the Ridiculously Self-Indulgent Ill-Advised Vanity Tour, which concludes this fall at Carnegie Hall. At his concerts, he now sees fans of his from the 1980s with their kids  and in some cases, their grandkids  which is a little scary.

The continued affection people have for Weird Al  a performer who represents roughly the diametric opposite of an image-conscious, out-of-reach pop star  seems to somehow still be expanding. At the Weird premiere in Toronto, Hawaiian shirts and curly wigs were out in force. On the last day of shooting, Radcliffe said, the whole cast and crew dressed up as Yankovic.

Reluctantly, Yankovic acknowledges theres something, in fact, very real about Weird Al.

My nickname Weird Al has been empowering for a lot of people, he said. When I took on that name professionally it was a college DJ in the 70s. It wasnt calculated, obviously. I wasnt thinking that I was going to be, like, a role model decades later. But a lot of people that feel like outcasts or freaks or outsiders or didnt belong in some way would sometimes look to me and go, Heres a guy thats owning his weirdness, and hes comfortable with it.
By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) are planning to sign a memorandum of understanding on technical support for the development of the energy sector, Azernews reports.

The remarks were made during a meeting between Azerbaijan's Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov and EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso.

During the meeting, they also discussed the financial support for the expansion of the Southern Gas Corridor and the priorities of multifaceted cooperation on green energy.

"We had fruitful discussions with @OdileRenaud on the financial support for the expansion of the SGC and the priorities for our multifaceted cooperation on #GreenEnergy. The Ministry and EBRD are planning to sign an MoU on technical support for the development of the energy sector," Parviz Shahbazov wrote on his official Twitter page.

Noting the development of cooperation with the EBRD within the priorities of the global energy agenda, the minister stressed the importance of the banks participation in the expansion of the Southern Gas Corridor.

He mentioned that the signing of the memorandum of understanding between Azerbaijan and the EU on strategic partnership in the energy sector formed the basis of the projects expansion. Parviz Shahbazov also underlined that more than 10 countries are interested in partnership with Azerbaijan in the natural gas supply.

Financial support for the SGC is necessary in order to extract rich natural gas resources and transport them in larger volumes to European countries. Financing the Southern Gas Corridor will contribute to the energy transit. This will prevent a return to coal, which is the result of the energy crisis with the supply of more natural gas. At the same time, SGC resource sources will be diversified in the example of hydrogen transportation, he said.

During the meeting, the bank's support for the development of the Garadagh Solar Power Plant and the Xizi-Absheron Wind Power Plant was highly appreciated. In this regard, the parties reviewed the progress of projects to support the holding of renewable energy auctions, the implementation of the necessary regulatory framework for small-scale renewable energy projects, and the activities of the Energy Regulatory Agency.

Furthermore, the steps to be taken within the cooperation on low-carbon solutions in the energy sector, on the Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership (E5P) were discussed. It was noted that the plans for the creation of larger production capacities in the field of renewable energy in Azerbaijan and the implementation of 6,000MW projects in the Caspian Sea at the initial stage actualize the improvement of the network, and this is one of the main conditions for the future development of the renewable energy sector.

In her turn, the EBRD president said that investment opportunities for cooperation in the listed areas will be evaluated, noting the banks readiness to support the strengthening of the network.

EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso arrived on a working visit to Azerbaijan on September 12. It is planned that in Baku, Odile Renaud-Basso will hold a number of meetings with representatives of the countrys state agencies, will sign an agreement on the banks second green city project in Azerbaijan, and inaugurate a joint project with AZPROMO aimed at boosting the countrys telecommunications, media, and technology sectors.

Established in 1991, EBRD invests in projects that contribute to the transition to an open market economy, as well as the development of private and business activities.

The bank is a leading investor in Azerbaijan. To date, the EBRD has invested over 3 billion ($3.5bn) in 181 projects in Azerbaijans economy.

The country has been cooperating with EBRD since 1992 to achieve further economic development. One of the main priorities of EBRD in Azerbaijan is to support the local corporate sector with direct financing. EBRD continues to pursue investments in energy projects, especially where there is a gap to improve efficiency and energy security.

Azerbaijan is the largest recipient of the EBRD funds in the Caucasus, as well as one of the largest recipients of this organizations funds in the CIS and Eastern Europe.
Whats known as a forever chemical, first found last year at concerning levels in the Spring Hollow reservoir west of Salem, has more recently been detected in the nearby Roanoke River.

The test results are an important development for the Western Virginia Water Authority, which is trying to figure out how a hazardous compound called GenX wound up in one of its key supplies of public water.

Im not glad we have it, but I am glad to see that we may be close to confirming where we are getting it, Roger Blankenship, the authoritys deputy chief operating officer for water quality, wrote in an Aug. 25 email to colleagues.

The discovery of GenX in the river also raises concerns for Salem, which draws its drinking water about 10.5 miles downstream from where the chemical was detected. To date, no contamination has been found at the citys intake, a spokesman said.

Last year, as part of a statewide study by the Virginia Department of Health, tests of Spring Hollow water found GenX, the trade name for hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid, at levels of 51 and 57 parts per trillion.

Later sampling by the water authority found almost three times that amount  139 parts per trillion  in the river at a location just upstream from where Roanoke River water is pumped into the Spring Hollow reservoir.

The Environmental Protection Agency warns that exposure to more than 10 parts per trillion of GenX in drinking water, over an extended time period, could cause health problems.

A health advisory was issued by the EPA in June, well after GenX was first detected in Spring Hollow. The advisory is not enforceable, and there are currently no federal regulations that govern forever chemicals.

More than 6,000 man-made compounds  officially called PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals, but better known as forever chemicals because they can last for generations  are believed to the present worldwide in air, water, soil and living organisms.

It is only in recent years that concerns about them have grown. Tests at Spring Hollow marked the first time they have been found in the authoritys water bodies, which serve about 69,000 customers in the Roanoke Valley.

Details of the authoritys investigation are contained in emails that the agency provided to The Roanoke Times last week in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

Weve finally found a significant source of the GenX, read a 6:39 a.m. email dated Aug. 25, shortly after authority officials first received the lab results of samples taken from the river the previous month.

The water authority quickly notified Salem. This would be particularly bad news for them, Scott Shirley, chief operating officer for water quality, wrote in a email later that morning.

We are very concerned when something like this is detected in any water source, especially one that is just upstream, city spokesman Mike Stevens said last week in response to questions from the newspaper.

Thankfully, we have not identified any sort of problem at our intake in Salem, he wrote in an email, saying the city had just received word from the Department of Health that no forever chemicals were found in water samples taken in July.

Additional monitoring is planned. At Spring Hollow, the authority has limited the amount of water distributed to its customers as a precautionary measure until more details are known. Other water bodies that tested negative for GenX, such as Carvins Cove, are being used.

GenX was first detected at Spring Hollow in 2020, at levels below EPAs health advisory guidelines at the time.

The chemical seemed to be appearing intermittently, and in declining levels, until the Heath Department tests in 2021 found it in concentrations in the 50 part per trillion range.

The GenX in Spring Hollow was the highest concentration of a forever chemical found in 45 public water sources that were part of the statewide tests, according to a 2021 Department of Health report to the General Assembly, which required the study in 2020.

Authorities believe the substance was diluted after being pumped into the 3.2-billion gallon reservoir, which would explain the higher numbers in samples taken from the Roanoke River.

Previous tests of river water had not revealed GenX. But now that the authority knows it is there, the search for a source has been narrowed.

The results seems to indicate that intermittent discharges of this compound are being introduced to the Roanoke River; therefore, additional water sampling investigations can be focused on possible sources along the North and South Forks of the Roanoke River and their tributary creeks, Sarah Baumgardner, a spokeswoman for the authority, wrote in an email.

The authority is confident that the source of GenX will eventually be found, she said, because it has limited uses in manufacturing. The compound is an intermediate product used most frequently in the manufacture of non-stick plastic.

According to the EPA, exposure to the chemical can cause complications to the liver, kidney and immune system, and may be linked to cancer.

However, the administrations health advisory is based on lifetime exposure to a chemical that is measured in tiny amounts. If expressed as a unit in time, one part per trillion would be approximately one second in 32,000 years, states a letter the authority sent to its customers last month.

The water authority is working with the Health Department and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality in its search for the origin of GenX.

There just are not that many facilities using this process in the upper reaches of the Roanoke River watershed that provide water to our pumping station, Baumgardner said.

A more remote possibility  but one that has not been ruled out  is that the chemical became airborne and was carried by the wind to the Spring Hollow area.

Tests are currently underway to further explore that theory.

Able to repel both oils and water, forever chemicals are widely used in industry and in common consumer products that need to resist heat, oil, stains, grease and water  including nonstick cook wear, waterproof clothing, fast food containers, upholstery and carpets.

But some of the same properties that make them so popular also mean that the chemicals can remain in the environment for almost as long as their name suggests.
Selfless service and a sense of community were key themes at a 9/11 remembrance ceremony in Lebanon on Sunday.

Gathered at the Circle of Flags in Lebanon to remember a day of tragic loss, first-responders, military veterans, young people and community members came together to reaffirm their commitment to remember what happened and how people stood up in the face of terrorism.

All of us, we all promised to never forget, said Donnell Cheek, who served with the Marine Corps. He watched the events of Sept. 11, 2001 unfold while he was on duty.

Lebanon Fire Chief Joseph Rodondi recalled the events of the fateful day 21 years ago, saying its up to those who remember to continue sharing the history so it does not fade in the minds of Americans.

The ceremony was part of a nationwide commemoration of the 9/11 attacks, with Lebanon among 70 communities selected for the second annual 9/11 Day Flag of Honor Across America Memorial.

Each site was charged with reading the names and brief bios of 50 people who died in the attacks. Flags of Honor listing the names were presented to each city as well.

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Lebanon Police Capt. Kim Hyde said the day was dedicated to remembering 2,983 people who died in the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and United Flights 175 and 93, and American Flights 11 and 77, as well as the six lives on Feb. 26, 1993 during the bombing of the World Trade Center.

The fallen included 343 firefighters and 61 police officers, Hyde said.

For all Americans, for all time, 9/11 will invoke a special meaning, said Lebanon Police Chief Frank Stevenson. A memory of a moment in our history when our world as we knew it changed forever.

The terror attacks that were meant to break the American spirit had the opposite effect, Stevenson said, drawing people together in the aftermath and inspiring acts of bravery and sacrifice.

The ceremony was held under a flag that was previously flown over the United Flight 93 crash site. It was one of four planes hijacked on Sept. 11, 2001. Passengers fought back and crashed the plane, fearing it would target the U.S. Capitol.

In the wake of the attacks, many heard the call to service and joined the nations armed forces to fight. To date, 2,455 U.S. service members have died in Afghanistan and 4,431 have died in Iraq, according to Lt. Col. Derrick Sorweide.

I sent American men and women home from Iraq with life-changing injuries and in caskets draped with our flag, Sorweide said. Those names, faces and places are not just in the news or on a monument for me  theyll be forever part of who I am.

Army Sgt. Gianluca Paparo spoke about the unity that comes from shared experiences, whether found digging through the rubble at Ground Zero, where professionals and volunteers scrambled together to help, or found on the battlefield afterwards as people of all walks lined up to serve.

All we have is each other, Paparo said. End of the day, all we can do as people is answer that call.
The Lebanon Police Department arrested a Lebanon man in connection to a Sunday, Sept. 11 shooting incident.

Officers arrested James Frank Newport, 33, on suspicion of assault, menacing, reckless endangering, unlawful use of a weapon and disorderly conduct charges.

The Linn County District Attorneys Office filed charges in two separate cases against Newport on Monday, Sept. 12.

Reports of gunfire

Local police and SWAT team members responded to the area of West Vine Street between South Main Street and South Second Street in Lebanon on Sunday at around 2:52 p.m.

A Lebanon PD news release said responding officers heard gunshots coming from inside a residence. Several bullets struck nearby buildings and a vehicle, according to the news release. Police later said it was not an active shooter situation, and there were no injuries.

After searching the residence, police found multiple firearms and ammunition, which they seized. Newport was the only person inside the house during the incident, according to Lebanon police, and multiple shots were fired inside the house with several exiting the residence.

Bullets were found at the scene Sunday, and a bullet hole was visible in the window of the Linn-Co Federal Credit Union.

Newport is accused of two counts of unlawful use of a weapon, two counts of recklessly endangering another person and a count of second-degree disorderly conduct.

He was arraigned in Linn County Circuit Court Monday, Sept. 12. During the hearing, prosecutor Conor McCahill alleged Newport almost hit two police officers with bullets from his pistol. It is unclear whether Newport was aiming at the officers or just shooting out of the house, McCahill said. Newport reportedly had at least 13 other firearms in the home.

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Court documents allege Newport created a substantial risk of injury to two victims as well as caused public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm by engaging in fighting or in violent, tumultuous or threatening behavior.

In a notice filed with the court Monday, the state issued its intent to seek an enhanced sentence should Newport be convicted. The notice based the enhanced sentence on the assertion that "the degree of loss or harm was significantly greater than typical for such offense."

The investigation is ongoing, and anyone with information is asked to contact Detective James Glover at 541-258-4326 or Lt. Taylor Jackson at 541-258-4357.

Another alleged incident

The prosecution also filed charges against Newport in connection to an alleged Thursday, Sept. 8 incident.

According to court documents, Newport caused physical injury to a victim in the presence of a minor who was living in the same house. The alleged crimes were an act of domestic violence and involved using or threatening to use a firearm against the victim, court documents said.

Newport is accused of fourth-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon and menacing in connection to the Sept. 8 incident.

Judge Michael Wynhausen appointed Edward Talmadge as Newport's defense attorney and set bail at $150,000. The next court hearing for both cases is scheduled for Oct. 3.
Local police, sheriffs office and SWAT team personnel responded to what community members describe as gunshots in Lebanon on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 11.

In an agency Facebook post, the Lebanon Police Department said the incident was not an active shooter situation. Details on what occurred were not immediately made available.

At around 3:27 p.m., LPD urged community members via its Facebook page to avoid the area of West Vine Street between South Main Street and South Second Street due to police activity.

Diana Anderson, who lives in the neighborhood where the incident occurred, said she heard what she believes were quite a few gunshots.

I was just a little concerned, she said.

Lebanon police, Oregon State Police, Linn County Sheriffs Office, Lebanon Fire District and the regional SWAT team responded.

In a 4:44 p.m. Facebook update, LPD said one subject had been detained and the situation did not involve an active shooter. However, police would stay on scene to secure the household. The agency told neighbors to stay indoors.

Shortly after, at around 5:25 p.m., Lebanon police said the area was safe and secure and one subject was in custody. No injuries were reported and the agency once again stated it was not an active shooter situation, despite bullets being found at the scene and witnesses saying they heard gunshots.

Police told Mid-Valley Media a press release with more information would come later.
Jayathi Y. Murthy began her role as President of Oregon State University on Friday, and in her 10 days since moving to Corvallis, shes already decided the city has some of the best pizza shes had.

The Indian food is also excellent, she added.

Murthys presidency was announced June 7 after a long hiring process. She previously served as the dean at UCLA Engineering and started the Women in Engineering at UCLA program to promote a sense of safety and belonging for women in the male-dominated field.

Similarly, OSU has the Society of Women Engineers, and Murthy said she plans to work with diversity officer Scott Vignos to continue increasing representation and building a respectful climate for women in engineering. She said the university, however, has already done a wonderful job in doing so.

This is very near and dear to my heart, she said.

So far, Murthy said, she does not miss anything about Los Angeles  the serene greenery is a welcome change from the chaos and traffic of Southern California.

The farmers market has got to be one of my favorite places Ive been to, she said. Such beautiful produce.  Ive been there twice already.

Murthy recalled her visit to Oregon when she was 21, while in a graduate program at Washington State University. She and her friends piled in a car and went to Crater Lake, a spot she has wanted to return to ever since.

I had just come to the U.S, Murthy said. Thats certainly a big part of it now  getting back to the outdoors.

She added that OSU has a large footprint across Oregon, and she plans to explore the universitys extension services in every region as a way to understand the state.

I'm going to be making the rounds both inside the university and outside to understand what the drivers are, what the issues are, what's working really well and what needs work, Murthy said. Nothing in a university of this scale can really happen without relationships and without collaboration.

Learning and connecting with students is the highest item on her agenda, she said. While the school year does not start until Sept. 21, she has already spoken with student leaders who came to campus early to prepare for their leadership roles.

I'm looking forward to understanding what their concerns are, what their needs are, Murthy said.

But before the school year starts, Murthy plans to check off one Oregon must-do: travel a few hours east this weekend for the Pendleton Round-Up.

I even bought a cowboy hat, she said.

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With lots of new ideas circling around in her mind, Murthy said she is ready to hit the ground running.

Were in this together, she said.

Related articles:
The foresters who oversee Oregons 15,000 acres of research woodlands are asking the public what changes it wants in the first update to the McDonald-Dunn management plan in 17 years.

Some people who hike in, live near or work on the forest said they fear the College of Forestry at Oregon State University will prioritize timber harvests so long as the school depends on revenue from felled trees to fund its operations.

They assert the school plans forest management behind closed doors and that the college doesnt follow the plan it published in 2005.

The research mission has been lost for a long, long time, said Doug Pollock, an activist and forest advocate.

Oregon State is years into drafting a guiding document for how, when and where the school permits research and commercial practices including clear-cutting trees in the more than 17-square-mile forest it owns and manages northwest of Corvallis.

Commenters got to speak to the process on Aug. 31 after reading about a community listening session in a university recreation publication.

At the start of the process, then-interim forestry dean Anthony Davis wrote in a 2019 memo that the school would fall back on information from the 2005 plan after foresters clear-cut a nearly 16-acre stand of old-growth Douglas firs.

The dean called the clear-cut, named the No Vacancy harvest, a mistake after critics of the harvest found trees were healthier and some nearly 200 years older than the school had claimed.

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This harvest identifies a serious shortcoming in the colleges current forest management practices, Davis wrote.

The school set aside 350 of the McDonald-Dunns 11,000 acres as reserves of mature trees, identifying any tree older than 160 years as significant in the 2005 plan.

That plan was informally suspended in 2009 with the Great Recession, according to Davis in the memo, but the 160-year age limit would be applied forest-wide while the school drafted a new management plan.

Davis and others at the school began naming members to a committee that will furnish the new plan.

The interim dean left in 2020 with the appointment of Tom DeLuca to his post, but the committee by June included 13 people affiliated with recreation, timber and conservation concerns.

Some at the Aug. 31 meeting said they want to see the school improve trails, signage, parking, transportation to and visibility of the forest in a bid to position McDonald-Dunn as a tourist destination.

Pollock was among commenters who pointed to No Vacancy while calling for the school to be more transparent about the planning process. He said he had been unable to comment directly to the forest plan committee.

There hasnt been a public input, Pollock said.

Others called on the school to manage timber harvests for a diversity of tree species and ages. Diverse forests are more immune to fire and disease, commenters said.

Suggestions at the listening session and two future listening sessions will be analyzed and included in a report to the plan committee, said Turner Odell, a project manager with Oregon Consensus.

The Portland State University-based program facilitates policy-making processes.

Stephanie Weber, an undergraduate student at the university, questioned how quickly a forest plan that calls for mixed-use management like recreation and timber can account for looming climate deadlines.

She tied the school process into a presidential executive order calling for land managers to preserve 30% of spaces within the U.S. by 2030.

There is urgency here. This plan goes to 3030, when were supposed to be meeting our 30-by-30 goal. Cutting old-growth goes against that goal, Weber said.

Odell acknowledged that warming climate was not considered in the 2005 plan.

But things have changed a lot since then, he said.
People across the country fall victim to scams each day. But have you ever wondered if certain people fall for certain kinds of fraud? Does location matter?

Today were going to be looking at the most often reported types of scams in Oregon and the Linn County area. The Federal Trade Commission offers an online database, which you can access at www.bit.ly/3BvLKIu. This database offers information on what kinds of frauds are running rampant through your community.

Knowing which scams con artists are heavily relying on in your area may help you to spot a fraud before youre out hundreds of dollars. It may even help you protect your friends and neighbors from getting scammed by a sly trickster. Spread the news.

Across the state

In 2022 so far, there have been 12,739 fraud reports submitted to the FTC from Oregon. These scams make up a total loss of $38.1 million with a median loss of $595.

The FTC emphasizes that the data the agency compiles is only made possible by citizens coming forward and reporting the frauds. It can't include what it doesn't know.

The top five types of frauds reported in Oregon are as follows:

Imposter scams Online shopping and negative reviews Prize, sweepstakes and lotteries Internet services Telephone and mobile services

Imposter scams occur when someone pretends to be someone theyre not in order to trick you to into paying them or giving up financial or personal information.

For example, a schemer may pose as a member of the FTC. These scams are often successful because nervous and responsible citizens will quickly agree to pay whatever fee a (supposed) federal organization is asking for.

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Linn County

The FTC database also breaks down fraud data by major metro areas. The data includes reports from Linn County, which the FTC describes as the Albany-Lebanon metro area.

The top five types of frauds reported for this area are:

Imposter scams Online shopping and negative reviews Prizes, sweepstakes and lotteries Business and job opportunities Telephone and mobile services

This data seems to follow the state-wide trends, although business and job opportunities crack the Top 5 list for the metro area. Unfortunately, the FTC does not track a metro area that includes Benton County.

The database also includes reports on identify theft-specific fraud. In the Albany-Lebanon metro area, there have been 98 identity theft reports this year to date.

The top five types of identity theft in the area are:

Credit card fraud Other identity theft Bank fraud Phone or utilities fraud Employment or tax-related fraud

There are plenty of schemers who want to con you out of your money. But knowing what scams your neighbors are falling for will help you stay vigilant when a fraudster tries to fool you.
EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP)  As Queen Elizabeth II's four children walked silently behind, a hearse carried her flag-draped coffin along a crowd-lined street in the Scottish capital on a solemn journey to a cathedral for a service of thanksgiving for her 70-year reign.

Four days after the 96-year-old monarch died at her beloved Balmoral Castle in the Scottish Highlands, a military bagpiper played as her oak coffin, draped in the royal standard, was borne from the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh and placed in a hearse.

Keep scrolling for a photo gallery from the procession

King Charles III, dressed in army uniform, and Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward walked behind as the hearse traveled to St. Giles Cathedral, flanked by a bearer party of the Royal Regiment of Scotland and a detachment of The Kings Body Guard in Scotland, the Royal Company of Archers.

Once inside St. Giles, the coffin was placed on a wooden stand, and the Duke of Hamilton and Brandon placed the Crown of Scotland on top. Even the crown is steeped in history  it was made in 1540 for Scottish King James V from an earlier version that was damaged. It is crafted from Scottish gold encrusted with 22 gems and 20 precious stones along with freshwater pearls from Scotlands rivers.

And so we gather to bid Scotlands farewell to our late monarch, whose life of service to the nation and the world we celebrate. And whose love for Scotland was legendary, said the Rev. Calum MacLeod.

The coffin will remain at the cathedral until Tuesday so members of the public can pay their respects. Full story here:

***
By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

Centuries-old Majlis-Uns literary circle is currently enjoying a remarkable revival in Azerbaijan's cultural center, Azernews reports.

Majlis-Uns is a literary circle that operated in the second half of the 19th century in the city of Shusha under the leadership of the poetess, daughter of the last Karabakh khan Khurshidbanu Natavan.

Initiated by poet Rahim bay Fen, the literary event was first held in 1864 in the house of poet Haji Abbas Agah.

In 1872, the event was headed by Khurshidbanu Natavan and gained wide popularity.

The literary circle attracted many poets and musicians from Karabakh and other parts of Azerbaijan.

Majlis-Uns promoted the works by such classics as Nizami Ganjavi, Khagani Shirvani, Fuzuli, Nasimi, Molla Panah Vagif, Vidadi, Seyid Azim Shirvani, etc.

The literary circle operated until the death of the poetess in 1897.

Calligraphic manuscripts of many poets, who took part in the event, are stored in the Baku Institute of Manuscripts.

This year Shusha has witnessed the revival of Majlis-Uns. The event was timed to the 190th anniversary of the poetess Khurshidbanu Natavan.

The participants in the event first got acquainted with the exhibition dedicated to the great poetess.

Flowers were laid at the busts of Khurshidbanu Natavan, Bulbul, and Uzeyir Hajibayli.

Azerbaijani Culture Minister Anar Karimov, Chairman of the Azerbaijani Union of Writers Anar Rzayev, Chairman of the Parliamentary Culture Committee Ganira Pashayeva, senior researcher at the Institute of Manuscripts, Ph.D. in Philology Ragub Karimov, poet and translator Salim Babullaoglu as well as representatives of Turkic-speaking countries took part in the event.

In his speech, Anar Karimov stressed that in accordance with the instructions of the country's leadership, large-scale construction work is being carried out in all areas in the territories liberated from the Armenian occupation.

He pointed out that the ministry focuses on projects to restore the cultural infrastructure and return culture to the historical Azerbaijani lands.

The minister drew attention to the fact that after the liberation of Azerbaijani territories, it was decided to establish the Majlis-Uns Public Union to preserve and promote this tradition of Karabakh literary assemblies.

The Union focuses on research and promotion of Karabakh's literary and cultural heritage.

Anar Karimov expressed his confidence that the union will contribute to the work of reviving Azerbaijani culture in the liberated lands and the upbringing of literary generations.

The rich art program was presented as part of the literary event. During the poetry hour, writers from Azerbaijan and other Turkic-speaking countries recited poems dedicated to Khurshidbanu Natavan. Majlis-Uns will remain in people's memories for a long time.
The Jordanian Telecommunications Regulatory Commission penned an agreement with operator Zain in preparation for the launch of 5G services, following similar deals with Orange and Umniah.

Jordan News reported, Minister of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship Ahmed Al-Hanandeh announced the deal was needed to bring the telecoms sector in Jordan up to standard to support the broader plans to modernise the economy and enable other sectors.

Al-Hanandeh did not state any details of the deal.

The minister also revealed that the telecoms sector invested around JOD1.86 billion (US$2.62 billion) into infrastructure, contributing to Jordan's economic development.

Chairman of TRC Board of Commissioners Bassam Al-Sarhan said 5G would require more massive investments to infrastructure. Data demand in the kingdom has steadily risen over the years which has spurred the government to launch measures to encourage growth in telecoms.

The government launched stimulus packages which extended telecom carrier licenses duration by 10 years and provided discounts for spectrum.
Africa Data Centres is back in the news again. This time the company that describes itself as the largest network of interconnected, carrier and cloud-neutral data centre facilities in Africa has joined forces with Nigeria's principle internet exchange point, IXPN.

The collaboration with IXPN facilitates reliable, secure, connected colocation and cloud migrations for local customers, say the partners.

Dr Angus Hay, Africa Data Centres Group Executive: IT & Partnerships, explains: "The partnership will enable Nigerian entities to migrate their systems into a world-class data centre with total confidence, knowing they will have access to a highly available, secure and connected ecosystem of strategic partners."

Effective cloud services cannot be implemented without stable internet access and robust, reliable data centres. This is the essence of the partnership between Africa Data Centres and IXPN  they bring internet peering to the table, and the data centre provider delivers the local ecosystem for customers.

IXPN, Nigeria's leading internet exchange provider, allows local content and service providers to connect directly for the exchange of local internet traffic rather than having their data travel long distances. IXPN is increasing the speed with which end users can access online resources by bringing the content closer to the customer, resulting in significant improvements in business efficiency.

IXPN Chief Executive Officer Muhammed Rudman says: "We are excited to partner with Africa Data Centres towards providing an additional point of presence to our members within the new Eko Atlantic City. Our partnership with Africa Data Centres provides our members with access to more peering facilities, particularly in Lagos, which will significantly improve connection performance, lower bandwidth costs, and lower latency for Nigerian internet traffic."
Help Me Grow of Northwest Florida has been awarded a $60,000 grant it will use to establish and support new Parent Cafes, in-person gatherings of parents in Jackson and other counties served by the organization.

The parents will be there to share with each other their challenges, their solutions to them, and generate ideas among themselves as they meet each time. Theres also a virtual-attendance option.

In a press release, the Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida describes this as an opportunity for Help Me Grow advance family engagement, with the parent-led and staff supported cafe sessions organized along some set themes that help keep the focus trained on furthering family resilience, social connections, support, knowledge and competence.

The grant was bestowed by the Help Me Grow National Center. The intent of the grant is to expand support to local parents and caregivers and to assist in outreach to families and local communities in: Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, and Washington counties, the release advised.

The grant will allow HMGNWF to train and partner with parents in the Parent Cafe program, it stated. Cafes will provide parents and caregivers a safe and welcoming space to connect and learn from each other. The program will train participants on best practices for helping children thrive and on how to support parent leadership.

We are absolutely thrilled that Help Me Grow Northwest Florida is the recipient of this funding opportunity, said Suzan Gage, Executive Director of the Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida. This grant will help families feel more comfortable having conversations that matter the most. We want families in Northwest Florida to know they are supported as their childs first and most important teacher.

The release went on to explain further. Parent Cafes will be centered on five factors: parent resilience, social connections, finding support in times of need, knowledge of parenting and child development, and social and emotional competence. Participants will be equipped with resources to then put into practice and train other parents with what they have learned.

For more information or to see how Help Me Grow Northwest Florida can help families, contact them at hmg@elcnwf.org.
A Florida Department of Health compliance officer issued a letter of commendation to Jackson County Fire Rescue Chief Charles Brunner on the first day of September, calling him a role model of excellence as an EMS provider in the state of Florida.

The letter followed a routine Compliance Monitoring site survey conducted on Aug. 23.

The compliance officer, Jennifer McMannus of the DOH Bureau of Emergency Medical Oversight, congratulated Brunner on outstanding results, wherein no deficiencies were found.

She also expressed gratitude to Brunners staff for their assistance in the survey process and for Brunners individual contributions.

The inspection for compliance checked the departments Advanced Life Support ambulances, medication supplies and their security, records storage, medical equipment on board, and much more. Across all four pages of the compliance survey, Brunners department passed muster on every line item.

The letter from McMannus was included in a report to Jackson County Commissioners that the board was expected to review in a Tuesday, Sept. 13, meeting scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. following a 5:30 p.m. public hearing on the countys proposed ad valorem tax rate for fiscal year 2022-23.
A 19-year-old man was injured Sunday during a firearm assault, according to the Dothan Police Department.

On Sunday, police officers responded to the 700 block of North Alice Street in Dothan for a a firearm assault with one victim. The male victim was shot in each upper leg and transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

According to police, the investigation is ongoing and at least one suspect is expected to be identified.
The cooperation between DTS Group and Cornwalls is expected to connect startups and entrepreneurs in Vietnam, help them transform and scale-up internationally.

Within the framework of cooperation, the event "Global Finance and Business Management" was held recently to provide more information about finance and corporate governance, opening opportunities for startup projects seeking new avenues in the international market.

The program is dedicated to C-level leaders (CEO, CMO, CTO...), and supported by Vietnam Financial Consultants Association (VFCA) with the presence of Greg McKean, representative of Queensland Government (Australia).

The signing ceremony of the strategic cooperation agreement between DTS Group and Cornwalls. Photo by DTS

Representatives from Cornwalls, one of Australia's oldest independent law firms, and more than 100 technology projects and businesses, also attended the event.

It was announced that DTS Group would open an investment fund in Australia to directly pour capital into potential businesses in a variety of sectors, with a focus on technology and digital transformation. At the same time, Cornwalls, with its own investment fund, Cornwalls Capital, could invest in businesses introduced by DTS Group.

Leon Truong, chairman of DTS group. Photo by DTS

Under the cooperation, the startup bootcamp, a 12-week program for entrepreneurs, is an opportunity for participants to develop creative thinking and breakthrough business ideas, building business plans to penetrate the Australia market. Joining this program, startups can raise capital from reputable investors and investment funds in Australia and Vietnam, with the support of Cornwalls Capital, DTS Capital and other investment bodies.

Addressing the event, Leon Truong, chairman of DTS group, said: "DTS group hopes that through the program, businesses and business leaders can gain more experience and skills as well as have the opportunity to connect, reach out and develop further."

According to a representative of DTS Group, with its experience and extensive network, DTS Group and Cornwalls will jointly provide Vietnam startups with the opportunity to receive capital support, not only from the Vietnam market but also from Australia, then scale up.

Long Giang Le, chairman of VFCA, said via association members, VFCA wishes to advise investors on projects to generate profit, efficiency, safety and also contribute to the development of the economy and society of the country.

Greg McKean - representative of Queensland Government - emphasized the program is not only attracting domestic units but also other international organizations, and leading industry experts.

Levent Shevki, CEO of Cornwalls. . Photo by DTS

"In Australia, an ecosystem is backed by federal and state governments. Not only Queensland, any state is ready to welcome and support startups in the field of technology and digital transformation," emphasized Levent Shevki, CEO of Cornwalls.

According to statistics, in 2022, Vietnam has more than 1,000 technology projects launched. However, many of these projects did not last long, in part due to the lack of qualified personnel to administer and manage finances.
Firefighters arrive at the An Phu karaoke parlor in Binh Duong Province on September 7 where a fire killed 32 on the previous night. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Tung

Ho Chi Minh City Chairman Phan Van Mai suggested the government boost the firefighting force with helicopters and robots to avoid serious disasters.

Localities of the southern key economic region should collaborate in firefighting and prevention and have their firefighters organize drills every year, Mai told an online national conference on fire fighting and prevention joined by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Monday.

The region comprises HCMC and seven provinces of Binh Phuoc, Tay Ninh, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Long An and Tien Giang, with nearly 22 million people that contribute 35% of the GDP, 46.1% of total budget revenue and 30% of total export turnover in the country.

He also proposed the government spends the state budget to equip firefighting forces with helicopters and robots to improve efficiency.

"If we neither work together nor well-equipped those forces, the damage caused by fires could be huge, especially for the southern key economic region," said Mai.

He also proposed listing firefighting among hazardous jobs subjected to preferential treatment.

The conference came almost a week after 32 people were killed when fire engulfed a karaoke parlor in Binh Duong Province bordering HCMC.

According to an official report at the meeting, between 2017 and 2021, more than 17,000 fires occurred in Vietnam, killing 433 and injuring 790 others, causing loss exceeding VND7 trillion and damaging more than 7,500 hectares of forests.

Deadly fires have been drawing public attention in the past month.

Most recently, a mother and her two preschool children were killed Saturday afternoon after a bedding factory in Hanoi caught fire.

On Aug. 1, three firefighters were killed trying to put off a fire at a karaoke parlor in Hanoi.

PM Chinh said at the meeting: "Such serious and heartbreaking cases are a warning sign showing the urgency that requires a new approach in responding to and preventing fire accidents to protect human lives and property."

He said that Vietnam is still in the process of development, with infrastructure projects and construction work appearing more and more while the demand for using energy and chemicals is also on the rise, posing high fire risks.

However, the PM said the people's awareness and habits of fire prevention are still limited while law enforcement and state management on fire prevention and fighting remains inadequate.
September 11, 2022 | 04:24 pm PT

"Transgender" might be a new term for many people in Vietnam, but there have always been people born in bodies whose sex does not align with their gender identity.

Transgender people make up around 0.3-0.5% of the world population, according to global approximates from numerous studies. In a world of 7.7 billion people, they account for over 30 million.

For decades, though, transgender people have stayed relatively invisible in most societies. They have remained an enigma of sorts for the laws of nation states, and have been typically grouped with other queer communities, describing them with terms tinged with discrimination and bias, without a definite, clear scientific basis.

Unlike homosexual people, transgender people know who they are and express who they are from very early on, making them prime targets for discrimination, isolation and even violence. Part of the adverse consequences they suffer is also reduced access to education and limited career choices. Many of them are akin to "outlaws", with no personal ID cards and the inability to have their true gender recognized, even after going through lengthy, dangerous surgeries.

When the National Assembly passed the Civil Code in 2015 and recognized the right for persons to change their gender, the transgender community broke out in tears of joy. They walked the streets and raised signs saying "Thank you National Assembly" as the entourage of parliamentarians passed by.

In 2016, the prime minister issued Directive 243, which requested the Ministry of Health to look into and build legal documents regarding gender changes within the 2016-2017 period. In 2021, another directive was issued, reiterating the mission but with a different timeline, from 2022-2024.

But until now, a draft for such a law is absent on the agenda. There are two obstacles to this: first, one needs to identify exactly who should be recognized as transgender, and second, one needs to decide if a law for a specific minority should be prioritized.

The draft proposes that a person does not need to have a complete transition to change their gender on legal documents. But some people believe there has to be stringent requirements for gender changes in order to prevent cases where people "misunderstand" who they are, or even "exploit" the law to evade certain responsibilities and enjoy certain benefits.

I understand these worries. But at the same time, I believe these worries hold no basis in reality, as regulations regarding hormone treatments, psychological assessments and other aspects of the issue are already arduous enough. Changing gender is far from a walk in the park.

The draft also proposes that transgender men, if they still retain their uteruses and get pregnant, be entitled to maternity benefits. There have been real-life cases where such a proposal can be relevant. In 2020, Minh Khang, a transgender man, and Minh Anh, a transgender woman, fell in love and decided to have a child together. Khang was the one who carried the baby as his uterus had not been removed yet at the time. His pregnancy was a success. Khang was the childs biological mother, as also the father.

In a conference I once participated in, someone said gender changes cannot be done so "half-heartedly". A man must be fully a man, and a woman must be fully a woman, they said. I told them that this idea has no basis, either in medical science or in our society.

Procedures for gender changes entail many different kinds of surgeries and treatments, for example those that involve the genitalia, those related to hormones, and those for cosmetic reasons. No matter how "comprehensive" a surgery might be, ones genetics and chromosomes cannot be changed. What does this mean? It means that all gender change surgeries deal with outside appearances only.

There are many non-transgender people out there with unique features: What about a man who loses a testicle after an accident? A woman with breasts lost to cancer? What about men with high-pitched voices and women with beards? All of their uniqueness cannot deprive them of the right to live and to be seen as a man or a woman. If we do not ask each other about our DNA or chromosomes in our daily conversations, why should we be bothered if a person has a penis or a vagina? Why should that be a factor for us to treat someone as the gender they identify with?

Changing one's gender is an entire process. There will be changes in many social, medical and legal aspects, but not all transgender people follow every step. Some may not want surgeries due to economic or health reasons, yet they want to be legally recognized as the gender that they are. And that desire is completely valid.

Tran That, former head of the department of administrative law, once said: "transgender people need to have their names returned to them." What he meant was that a transgender persons identity is theirs and theirs alone, and it is the governments job to acknowledge and protect it.

How many hormone shots have been taken in the shadow? How many people had to make their solo trips to Thailand so they could feel at home inside their own bodies? The problems for transgender people are not theirs alone. They affect their families, their friends, their co-workers and so many others in society. A law for transgender people would affect us all.

Acknowledging and protecting the rights of a minority group, no matter how small, would not only help them escape discrimination, but also let them achieve and live the life they deserve.

Without letting people express their real themselves, how can we make this world a better place?

*Luong The Huy is a social activist and director of iSEE, a non-profit working for the rights of minorities.
Foreign tourists take a boat tour along a river in the northern province of Ninh Binh. Photo by Shutterstock

Experts said Vietnam needs to boost tourism campaigns and improve human sources to attract more visitors from the Middle East, one of the world's highest spending regions.

Ha Van Sieu, deputy general director of Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, said at a conference late last week the Middle East is a large tourism market, including 17 countries with nearly 400 million people.

The region is home to the world's largest oil producers and Middle Easterners are among the world's biggest spenders, he added as cited by Vietnam News Agency.

According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Middle Eastern tourists spend 6.5 times more than the global average and 40% of individual tourists spend more than $10,000 per trip.

"The source of tourists from the Middle East has a lot of potential for development and we have also established a long-term economic cooperation relationship, but the number of Middle Eastern tourists to Vietnam remained disappointing," he added.

Only a few tens of thousands of tourists from the Middle East came to Vietnam before the pandemic and Vietnam still has a lot of room to further exploit this potential market, he said.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Qatar Tran Duc Hung said although Vietnam has a favorable geographical position and is home to a large number of Muslims, the number of tourists from Middle Eastern countries accounted for a small proportion.

"The reason is that information about Vietnam is still very limited in the Middle East," Hung said.

He said the tourism industry has not yet sped up promotion campaigns to approach the Middle East market while neighboring countries like Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand have been doing so.

He proposed Vietnamese tourism officials increase broadcasting videos introducing Vietnam on regional TV channels and invite travel bloggers or influencers to promote tourism in the Middle East region.

Bui Thi Ngoc Hieu, deputy director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, said the quality of human resources is extremely important.

"We need to offer training courses for tour guides so that they can better understand culture and cuisine of Middle Eastern countries and train guides who know Arabic language to serve guests in the best way," Hieu said.

In addition, experts also suggested Vietnam relax visa policies for Middle Eastern visitors.

The government has allowed quarantine-free entry and resumed its pre-pandemic visa exemption policy for 24 tourism markets from mid-March with a maximum stay of 15-30 days.

So far this year, the country has received 1.44 million foreign tourists, only 28% of the full-year target of five million.
From the very beginning, President Joe Biden has made it clear that he considers the fight against corruption, both global and domestic, to be a core national security interest and foreign policy priority for the United States.



That is because corruption destroys trust, undermines development, erodes confidence in democratic institutions, and hinders economic growth. Ultimately, it is the citizens who suffer the consequences as prices rise, fewer resources are invested in the public sector, and the environment is degraded.



That is why the White House released the first ever U.S. Strategy on Countering Corruption, which provides a blueprint for how the United States will respond to corruption and related crimes. To integrate and elevate the fight against corruption across all aspects of U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance, President Biden appointed Richard Nephew as the U.S. State Departments Coordinator on Global Anti-Corruption.



Speaking at a press briefing late last month [August 25, 2022], Coordinator Nephew said that the Strategy is organized in five mutually reinforcing pillars.

The first is modernizing, coordinating, and resourcing U.S. Government efforts to prevent corruption. Second is curbing illicit finance. The third, holding corrupt actors accountable. The fourth, preserving and strengthening the multilateral anti-corruption architecture. And fifth, improving diplomatic engagement and leveraging foreign assistance resources to achieve anti-corruption policy goals.



Cutting across the implementation of the anti-corruption strategy are several priorities that demand special attention.



First, Coordinator Nephew said, were working to develop more integrated approaches to our anti-corruption work.



Real progress is going to require a bundle of reforms and persistent effort by all parties to achieve results, informed by an understanding of what works in particular contexts and in particular countries.



Second, were working to galvanize action by the anti-corruption community and bolster implementation of anti-corruption commitments.



Third, the United States will continue to play a leadership role in the fight against corruption, and we will do so in partnership with many countries and organizations already dedicated to this cause.



Finally, the United States will look to strengthen our own internal regulations and legislation, [to see] what we can do to make sure our own best practices are fully up to snuff, said Coordinator Nephew.



Theres no silver bullet to solve corruption, he said. Were all in this together and we all have this challenge that were dealing with.
Azerbaijan has brought back another 12 citizens from Syria, Azernews reports, citing the Foreign Ministry.

On September 10, 2022, 12 citizens of the Azerbaijani Republic, who were held in the Amerna camp in the city of Jarablus of the Syrian Arab Republic, were repatriated to their homeland. Among the repatriates are a brother and sister, aged 7 and 10, who lost both parents, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said.

They were brought into the country as a result of phased and coordinated measures taken by the government of Azerbaijan, the press release said.

First, the location, identities, and belonging to the citizenship of Azerbaijan of persons subject to repatriation were determined. Then, on the basis of the agreement reached, their transit through the territory of the Republic of Turkiye was ensured.

In this regard, members of the working group responsible for the repatriation of Azerbaijani citizens from Iraq and Syria, representatives of the relevant state bodies, sent to the Republic of Turkiye, conducted a preliminary medical and psychological examination of the repatriates and provided them with the necessary assistance. Also, the embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the Republic of Turkiye provided the citizens of Azerbaijan with "Certificates of return to the Republic of Azerbaijan" and air tickets.

After the completion of the necessary procedures, the repatriates will be transferred to their families and guardians. The government of the Republic of Azerbaijan plans to take all necessary measures for their reintegration and rehabilitation.

In the implementation of repatriation, it is worth noting the joint and coordinated activities of the relevant state institutions of the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as the assistance provided by the Republic of Turkiye. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, taking this opportunity, expresses its gratitude to all relevant state institutions for effective and efficient cooperation in organizing this process.

The government of Azerbaijan continues to take the necessary measures to protect the rights and freedoms of citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan, who are in a difficult situation in foreign countries and need help, in accordance with national legislation and international treaties to which our country is a party, the Foreign Ministry said.
With overthrow of the regime of Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir in April 2019 came the hope of long-delayed justice for the people in Sudans western territory of Darfur. A 2003 uprising was met with extreme brutality by the government-aligned Janjaweed militia. Sudanese troops and police were also involved. As a result, some 300,000 people died and another 2.7 million were forced out of their homes.



Two years ago, the new government promised that Sudan will honor its commitments to deliver justice for the victims in Darfur, a promise that was delayed by a military takeover of the government last October.



Nonetheless, in April the International Criminal Court in The Hague put on trial former senior commander of the Janjaweed Ali Mohammed Ali Abd-al Rahman, better known as A li Kushayb. He is facing 31 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The on-going trial has been a long time coming, and victims of the Janjaweed militia are telling their stories and awaiting justice.



At the heart of the case against Abd-al Rahman is the testimony of dozens of witnesses, many of whom still live in Darfur, said Deputy U.S. Representative to the United Nations Richard Mills.



Over the last several months, many of these witnesses  many of them are survivors of violence  have traveled thousands of miles to The Hague to tell their stories in their own words.



Former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and others implicated in the commission of atrocities in Darfur have also been charged and are awaiting trial. Sudanese authorities have facilitated visits by the Prosecutor and his staff and taken other recent steps to provide some assistance to their investigations in Darfur, which is very welcome news, said Ambassador Mills. We strongly urge authorities to continue to comply with their [domestic and] international legal obligations  and cooperate with the ICC [to give justice to the Darfuris].



Sudanese authorities must continue to permit ICC teams to travel within the country and cooperate with requests for evidence and other information and assistance, including through unimpeded access to key witnesses and to facilitate an enhanced ICC field presence.



Those who are subject to arrest warrants by the ICC must face justice and be transferred to face trial, said Ambassador Mills. The United States will continue to stand by the Sudanese people in support of the ICCs efforts to advance accountability.
The United States is deeply concerned by the decision by the Hanoi Peoples High Court to uphold the nine-year prison sentence of renowned Vietnamese author and journalist Pham Doan Trang. As State Department Spokesperson Ned Price noted in a statement expressing concerns over the decision, Trang is recognized internationally for her work to advance human rights and good governance in Vietnam and was a 2022 winner of the Secretary of States International Women of Courage Award.



Trang was arrested in October 2020 and sentenced in December 2021 to nine years in prison under Article 117 of Vietnams Criminal Code, which criminalizes making, storing, distributing or disseminating information, documents and items against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. International human rights organizations have called Article 117 a tool to silence individuals who are critical of the government, whether they are journalists, writers, or citizens exercising their fundamental right to free expression.



The UN Working Group of Arbitrary Detention found Trangs detention to be arbitrary and in contravention of Vietnams international human rights commitments and obligations. The government held Trang in pre-trial custody for a year without allowing her access to a lawyer. In the nearly two years she has been detained, Trangs health has reportedly suffered.



Spokesperson Price said the United States urges Vietnam to ensure adequate medical care and to allow access to Trang to assess her medical condition.



In its most recent report on human rights conditions in Vietnam, the State Department cited NGOs that estimated as of August 2021, authorities held between 130 and 288 persons for political reasons. The State Department wrote, from January 1 to November 9, authorities detained 29 and convicted 27 persons who were exercising internationally recognized human rights, such as freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association.



Spokesperson Price said, Trangs continued detention is the latest instance in an alarming pattern of arrests and sentencing of individuals in Vietnam for peacefully expressing their opinions. We call on the Vietnamese government to release Trang and to allow all individuals in Vietnam to exercise their right to freedom of expression, without fear of retaliation, consistent with the human rights provisions in Vietnams constitution and Vietnams international obligations and commitments.


CHEYENNE, Wyo.  U.S. Gold Corp.s CK Gold Project has several points that should boost chances for permitting and financing to turn the project into a gold and copper mine, according to the companys chairman and co-founder, Luke Norman.

He said the project is very clean, offers the potential to become a water reservoir for the City of Cheyenne after mining ends, has the potential to become an aggregate operation in the future as another revenue source, and will provide royalty revenue to the state designated for education.

The State of Wyoming holds the mineral rights for the CK Gold Project site, and the state would receive a 5% royalty on production.

The gold and copper ore deposit begins at the surface, which Norman said is another good point because the first haul trucks coming from the new mine would be carrying ore, not waste rock.

That was key to the economic viability of the mine, he said.

The mine about 20 miles west of Cheyenne also would have economic benefits to the Cheyenne area and provide an estimated 150 to 200 permanent jobs. The company opened an office in the city in early 2021 and has been reaching out to the community.

Norman said the Martin Marietta aggregate operation a few miles south of CK is an example of what the CK Gold Project could do, because the waste rock is actually high-grade aggregate, but he said that we will jump one hurdle at a time.

Norman said permit applications would be filed with the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality at any time.

Keith Guille, outreach program manager for DEQ, said that once the applications are deemed acceptable, the agency will put out public notices that spell out what will be happening and how to comment.

One provision will be permitting through the Wyoming Industrial Siting Council, which looks at the impacts to communities around proposed projects that cost above $253.88 million, he said.

Kyle Wendtland, administrator of DEQs Land Quality Division, said his division will be involved when U.S. Gold files for a mining permit.

Plans call for open pit mining at the CK Gold Project site, crushing the ore, producing a concentrate through a flotation system on site and shipping the concentrate to a smelter, such as Rio Tintos Brigham Canyon Mine near Salt Lake City.

Its a very simple kind of mine, Norman said. Thats key. We wont have cyanide or smokestacks. We will be a very carbon-friendly operation.

Kevin Francis, vice president of exploration and technical services, said plans call for nine trucks a day to take the concentrate away in big, bulk bags.

He said the water will be squeezed out of the spent material so it can be used, and the dry, stacked tailings will be reclaimed for grazing.

When U.S. Gold formed, we were primarily focused as an exploration company in Nevada, said Norman, and the companys goal then was to explore the Keystone property in Eureka County. Now, the focus has shifted to the CK Gold Project, and he said no drilling is planned in Nevada this season.

U.S. Gold also owns the Maggie Creek exploration project on the Carlin Trend and the Challis exploration project in Idaho.

Initially, U.S. Gold looked at selling CK, then called Copper Canyon, to parlay that money for exploration at Keystone, he said, explaining that the company had concerns about the Copper King site being so close to the Curt Gowdy State Park recreation site and the deposits lower ore grades.

Norman said that George Bee, who once was a general manager at Goldstrike Mine in Nevada and is now the president and chief executive officer of U.S. Gold, was brought in to do a deep dive on the project, and he said youre crazy to let the asset go. It could be a real cash cow.

U.S. Gold then agreed to refocus on project development at Copper King and renamed the project CK Gold Project. Bee joined U.S. Gold in 2020 and really took the bull by the horns, beginning the prefeasibility study and confirmation drilling, Norman said.

Bee then quelled concerns about whether U.S. Gold could permit the project, Norman said.

Bee said in an interview in the Cheyenne office that he is very optimistic about the CK Gold Project.

We think this is not only a benefit to our stakeholders and the future of the company, but we think it will be a benefit to the community and a lasting impact on the infrastructure.

The company began talks with the Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities about the possibility of CKs open pit becoming a reservoir for the citys water system once mining ends.

I would say we are at least closely a potential and viable option, Norman said.

According to the Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities website, 70% of the citys water supply comes from the mountains west of the city, with the remainder coming from wells.

In the first part of the system, the Board of Public Utilities collects water from streams west of the Continental Divide and transports the water to the east side of the Continental Divide by a tunnel. Two reservoirs, Hog Park and Seminoe, store the water until needed for trade purposes.

Next, the system trades water from Hog Park Reservoir and from Seminoe Reservoir for water in the Rob Roy Reservoir. The trade exchanges water from the west side of the North Platte River Watershed for water on the east side, the website states.

Then, the system transports water from Rob Roy to the Granite Springs and Crystal reservoirs, and the water is piped by gravity down the Medicine Bow Mountains, across the Laramie River Valley and over the Laramie Mountains. Once over the top of the Laramie Mountains, the water flows by gravity to the Granite and Crystal reservoir.

Bee said U.S. Gold started baseline work in September of 2020, and we feel we understand the surface and subsurface water, fauna and flora and air quality and weve captured site meteorological data to verify data points we have around the property.

He said drilling in 2021 was completed successfully to supplement drilling done in 2020 to characterize hydrology and geotechnical characteristics.

We havent focused on any additional exploration at this point. Weve prioritized permitting and development of initial reserves, but we have results on a few holes that confirms that we have extensions to the mineral deposit at depth and south of the current deposit.

Norman became chairman of the U.S. Gold Board of Directors at the boards request, after originally being a founder of the company. He replaced Bee as chairman, and Bee said in May that Luke is a welcome addition to the board and provides outstanding capital markets experience at a time when CK Gold Project is rapidly advancing toward a shovel ready project.

Norman operated a consultancy company to the metals and mining industry, co-founded Gold Standard Ventures Corp., is chairman of Silver One Resources, which is exploring the historic Candelaria silver mine in Nevada, and is CEO of Leviathan Gold Ltd.

He said the U.S. Gold board still includes former U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who is running for the newly created second congressional seat in Montana and would need to resign if elected. Zinke joined the board in 2019.

I am very confident this will be a successful venture, said Norman, who stated back in May when he became chairman that he had invested millions of his own money into U.S. Gold.

Norman said, however, the pre-feasibility study for the project used gold at $1,625 per ounce and copper at $3.25 per pound, so changes in the price of those commodities could affect the project.

Historic underground mine workings at the CK Mining Project site would probably be mined through, Norman said. According to the history of the area, a shaft was sunk in the 1880s and a mill and smelter were built but only operated for a short time.

Later owners included Hecla Mining Co., which worked the property probably in the 1930s, and several companies drilled the property from the early days to present day. 
OAK RIDGE, Tenn.  Navarro Research and Engineering Inc., a woman-owned small business contractor to the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management, announced three Nevada schools have been awarded classroom funding through the companys new Community Commitment Grants Program.

The grants program, in its inaugural year, is specifically designed to support educational activities that promote learning related to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in communities near the Nevada National Security Site.

The three schools receiving funding for the 2022 calendar year are Carlin Combined School in Carlin, Lied STEM Academy in Las Vegas, and Manse Elementary School in Pahrump.

With the initial round of grants awarded, Navarro further announced that the next application period is now open for the 2023 Community Commitment Grants Program cycle. Educators are encouraged to apply.

As a woman in a STEM field myself, I am proud that our new grants program supports Secretary Granholms vision for the Department of Energy and its contractors to play a lead role in breaking down barriers to increase access to STEM-based curriculum nationwide, said Dr. Susana Navarro, President, CEO, and founder of Navarro. We know that when we get children of all backgrounds interested in STEM at a young age, they are much more likely to go on to participate in highly skilled, highly rewarding STEM careers as adults. I thank these three schools for their impressive applications, and I look forward to seeing the incredible things teachers will do with this funding in the classroom.

Robert Boehlecke, Program Manager for the DOE EM Nevada Program, noted that Navarros investment in local STEM education will help open the door to potential future career opportunities at the NNSS for local young people. Much of the work we do at the site is very technical in nature and requires specialized education, training, and skills to get the job done, said Boehlecke. I am grateful to Navarro for doing their part to foster the development of a talented next generation workforce that will be ready and able to support the Departments various missions here in Nevada and all across the nation.

Navarro selected the three 2022 grant recipients from a pool of 16 applications through a blind-scoring process that evaluated total benefit to student learning in the classroom. Each of the three schools proposed projects will be fully funded by Navarro this school year, for a total investment of nearly $14,000.

Carlin Combined School will use its awarded funding to purchase equipment and materials to enhance an existing program that brings Wonder Workshop robots into the classroom to teach computer coding through hands-on learning. Carlin has launched this unique program at the elementary school level with plans to evaluate the approach for broader application to the full K-12 student enrollment.

Carlin teachers Karleighn Goodale and Brande Johnson said, STEM is an integral part of our K-12 education at Carlin Combined School, and we are thrilled to add visual art as a part of our coding curriculum.

Navarro would like local schools to know that the application period for the 2023 Community Commitment Grants Program cycle is now open. Eligibility includes all public, private, and charter schools in the counties of Clark, Elko, Esmeralda, Lincoln, Nye, and White Pine in Nevada.

Grants are expected to be awarded in early 2023. Preference will be given to applications supporting clearly defined STEM-based activities. For additional instructions to complete a grant application, visit navarro-nc.com.
SNHU Summer 2022 Presidents List

MANCHESTER, N.H.  Southern New Hampshire University congratulates the following students on being named to the Summer 2022 Presidents List: Chelsea Tewell of Elko, Sheryl Young of Spring Creek and Jennifer Moulton of Spring Creek.

Full-time undergraduate students who have earned a minimum grade-point average of 3.7 and above for the reporting term are named to the Presidents List.

Southern New Hampshire University is a private, nonprofit institution with an 89-year history of educating traditional-aged students and working adults. Now serving more than 165,000 learners worldwide, SNHU offers approximately 200 accredited undergraduate, graduate and certificate programs, available online and on its 300-acre campus.

Local students graduate from EOU

LA GRANDE, Ore.  Eastern Oregon University awarded 717 degrees during the 2021-2022 academic year. EOU extends congratulations to the class of 2022 and takes great pride in the achievement of all alumni.

Kaitlyn Marie McLeod of Spring Creek received a Bachelor of Science in Physical Activity and Health. She was also named to the Spring 2022 Deans List.

Francisco Alvares Sosa of Wells received a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies

Eastern Oregon University provides high-quality liberal arts and professional programs with personalized support. As Oregons Rural University, EOU serves students at its main campus in La Grande, as well as online and at 11 regional centers across the state.

First-year students at Utah State

LOGAN, Utah  Utah State University is excited to welcome more than 4,500 first-year college students to campus as the university begins the fall 2022 semester.

Local students who were admitted and began college this fall are Philip Neff of Elko and Tye Fonger of Spring Creek.

Since its founding in 1888, Utah State University has evolved from a small-town college tucked away in the Northern Utah mountains to a thriving research university respected around the world. Students can choose from an array of academic and social opportunities at a university known throughout the world for its intellectual and technological leadership.

University of Wyoming Honor Roll

LARAMIE, Wyo.  The University of Wyoming listed students from Nevada on the 2022 spring semester Presidents Honor Roll, including Rylee Skadberg of Spring Creek.

The Presidents Honor Roll consists of regularly enrolled undergraduates who earned a 4.0 (A) grade-point average for the semester. To be eligible, students must have been enrolled for a minimum of 12 credit hours taken for letter grades.

The University of Wyoming provides quality undergraduate and graduate programs to 12,249 students from all 50 states and 88 countries. Established in 1886, UW is a nationally recognized research institution with accomplished faculty and world-class facilities.
Many large firms have shown their interest in Vietnam (Photo: VNA)

A delegation of 25 member companies of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) has paid a business trip to Vietnam to explore the countrys investment and business opportunities. ACMA groups 800 makers of auto parts and components that contribute more than 85% to the revenue of the Indian auto industry.

Yuvraj Kapuria, President of YBLF - a member of ACMA, said that ACMA wants to cooperate with businesses in the Vietnamese automobile industry to jointly explore new markets through all forms of cooperation.

Recently, Yerkin Tatishhev, founder and chairman of Kusto Group, also visited Vietnam after a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following a 10-day trip with many meetings with Vietnamese officials and businesspeople, Tatishhev plans to expand investment in Vietnam, after having invested more than 1 billion USD in 10 projects in Vietnam over the past 15 years. Kusto Groups two fields of interest are social housing and infrastructure projects.

Kusto Group is likely to invest up to hundreds of millions of USD in Vietnam in the near future if projects meet the group's criteria and business philosophy.

The southern province of Binh Duong was among the places Tatishhev visited to look for investment opportunities. A few days ago, Robert Wu, Chairman and CEO of Sharp Corporation (Japan), also paid a visit to this locality.

Foxconn plans to invest 300 million USD in Bac Giang. Illustrative image (Source: vneconomy.vn)

Wu said that his firm will continue to expand production and business facilities in the southern industrial hub. He noted that Vietnam's economy is expected to accelerate after the pandemic, while the Vietnamese government is also giving more incentives to foreign businesses.

SK Group, a company from the Republic of Korea (RoK) - has even bigger ambitions in the Vietnamese market.

During an online exchange with Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung and Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien in mid-August, Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, said the group is considering conditions to invest in hydrogen projects in the Mekong Delta and high-tech projects using clean energy in Vietnam.

As the second largest corporation in the RoK, SK Group has inked many large investment deals in Vietnam, including pouring 470 million USD to buy a 9.4% stake in Masan Group, 1 billion USD to get a 6% stake in Vingroup, and 340 million USD into TheCrownX. According to some sources, it is most likely that SK will inject capital into the Pharmacity drugstore network in Vietnam.

Deputy Director of the Department of Foreign Investment under the Ministry of Planning and Investment Nguyen Anh Tuan attributed the results to Vietnam's good control of the COVID-19 pandemic, its advantages in terms of human resources and domestic market, and the determination to improve the investment and business environment.

However, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said Vietnam needs to do more to tap FDI opportunities, including designing a proper response policy and preparing land, resources, personnel and infrastructure.

Vietnam moves to strongly integrate into intl labour market

Vietnam is striving to develop a modern and internationally integrated labour market, considering it a key to a strong connection with the global labour market and ensure the harmonisation of the domestic labour market, reported Vietnam News Agency.

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

After 35 years of the Doi moi (Renewal) process, Vietnam's labour market has witnessed a remarkable development in both scale and quality, deeply integrating into the international market.

Strong solutions to restructure the national economy, improve the business environment, attract investment and promote production and business in recent years have contributed to restructuring the labour force and increasing the number of labourers working in enterprises and production and business establishments.

Policies, programmes and measures to generate jobs have been implemented synchronously and effectively, ensuring the labour supply for the market.

From approximately 28 million people in 1986, Vietnams labour force has increased to more than 51 million by mid-2022. The percentage of trained labourers in 2015 was 49%, and rose to 67% in the first six months of this year.

The work of sending labourers to work abroad under contract has also produced a good performance. There are more than 600,000 Vietnamese employees working in 40 countries and territories worldwide with stable income, sending home 3.5 billion USD worth of remittances per year.

The number of guest workers has increased gradually through years, with an average growth of 10% per year.

According to Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung, the ministry has set out many tasks and solutions, focusing on strengthening communication work to affirm the transparency of the Vietnamese labour market, as well as its ability to supply human resources meeting requirements of enterprises.

Attention has also paid to evaluating the demand for human resources of foreign businesses investing in Vietnam, thus managing and developing the labour market towards flexibility, modernity and sustainability.

Minster Dung also underlined the need to perfect the system of policies and laws to synchronously develop elements of the labour market, improve the operational efficiency of the market's intermediary institutions.

Overseas Vietnamese children celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival

Overseas Vietnamese children in different countries have enjoyed a merry Mid-Autumn Festival with celebrations held in various forms, reported Vietnam News Agency.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Dang Minh Khoi presents lanterns to children at the Mid-Autumn Festival celebration on September 9. (Photo: VNA)

In Moscow, the trade union of the Vietnamese Embassy in Russia held a programme on September 9 for children of the embassy and other representative agencies staff members to celebrate the festival, which fell on September 10 this year.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Dang Minh Khoi presented rewards to the children with outstanding academic performance and gave an explanation of the Mid-Autumn Festivals significance.

He stressed that the Party and State always care for children, regardless of where they live. He also encouraged them to keep studying and making self-improvement to contribute to national development in the future.

The same day, a musical programme was held at the Moscow Trade Centre (also called Liublino Market), where a large number of Vietnamese people are working, to mark the festival. Children of the overseas Vietnamese were also presented with gifts on this occasion.

On September 10, students of the Tan Tien Khmer - Vietnam Primary School in Chbar Ampov district of Cambodias Phnom Penh capital also received Mid-Autumn Festival gifts.

The school has four facilities in Phnom Penh and provides teaching in the Khmer language to students from the preschool level to the fourth grade.

Meanwhile, Phat Tich Pagoda and the Vietnamese People Association in Vientiane held a festival celebration on September 10 with the participation of a large number of Vietnamese people and their children in the capital city of Laos.

A similar event was organised the same day by the liaison board of the Vietnamese community and the Vietnamese Embassy in Singapore. The ceremony attracted not only hundreds of Vietnamese families but also international friends like representatives of the Peoples Association of Singapore and the Japanese and Philippine people associations in Singapore.

Other celebrations were also held on September 10 by the Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia, the Vietnamese People Association in Malaysias Klang area, and the Vietnamese Embassy in the US.

Memorial house for Vietnamese volunteer soldiers launched in Cambodia

A 600-sqm memorial house where remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers dying in battle in Cambodia will be kept was inaugurated in the north-western province of Battambang on September 10, reported Vietnam News Agency.

The memorial house for Vietnamese volunteer soldiers dying in battle in Cambodia is inaugurated in the north-western provinceof Battambang on September 10. (Photo: VNA)

Starting two months ago, the facility's construction was funded by Metfone, the Cambodia-based affiliate of military-run telecom group Viettel, and MB Bank in Cambodia.

It forms part of activities to commemorate the 55th anniversary of the two countries diplomatic relations.

The projects launching ceremony was attended by Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia Nguyen Huy Tang and General Ek Som Oun, deputy commander of the Cambodian Royal Army and Commander of the Military Region 5.

Ambassador Tang expressed his thanks to Cambodian authorities and people for providing all possible conditions for the construction of the memorial house, a worship place to pay tribute to Vietnamese volunteer soldiers killed in Cambodia.

He expected the Cambodian side to continue supporting Vietnam in searching for and repatriating the soldiers.

General Ek Som Oun, for his part, showed his gratitude towards the Vietnamese Party, military and people for helping Cambodia topple the Pol Pot genocidal regime and revive the country./.
Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Dang Minh Khoi presents lanterns to children at the Mid-Autumn Festival celebration on September 9. (Photo: VNA)

In Moscow, the trade union of the Vietnamese Embassy in Russia held a programme on September 9 for children of the embassy and other representative agencies staff members to celebrate the festival, which fell on September 10 this year.



Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Dang Minh Khoi presented rewards to the children with outstanding academic performance and gave an explanation of the Mid-Autumn Festivals significance.



He stressed that the Party and State always care for children, regardless of where they live. He also encouraged them to keep studying and making self-improvement to contribute to national development in the future.



The same day, a musical programme was held at the Moscow Trade Centre (also called Liublino Market), where a large number of Vietnamese people are working, to mark the festival. Children of the overseas Vietnamese were also presented with gifts on this occasion.



On September 10, students of the Tan Tien Khmer - Vietnam Primary School in Chbar Ampov district of Cambodias Phnom Penh capital also received Mid-Autumn Festival gifts.



The school has four facilities in Phnom Penh and provides teaching in the Khmer language to students from the preschool level to the fourth grade.



Meanwhile, Phat Tich Pagoda and the Vietnamese People Association in Vientiane held a festival celebration on September 10 with the participation of a large number of Vietnamese people and their children in the capital city of Laos.



A similar event was organised the same day by the liaison board of the Vietnamese community and the Vietnamese Embassy in Singapore. The ceremony attracted not only hundreds of Vietnamese families but also international friends like representatives of the Peoples Association of Singapore and the Japanese and Philippine people associations in Singapore.



Other celebrations were also held on September 10 by the Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia, the Vietnamese People Association in Malaysias Klang area, and the Vietnamese Embassy in the US./.
After Vietnam and Cambodia set up diplomatic ties on June 24, 1967, their peoples stood side by side in the struggles for national liberation to secure historic victories in the spring of 1975. Vietnam later assisted the patriotic forces and people of Cambodia to topple the Pol Pot genocidal regime, with the triumph on January 7, 1979.



Building on cooperation achievements in history, under the motto of good neighbourliness, traditional friendship, and comprehensive, sustainable and long-term cooperation, bilateral relations have been unceasingly consolidated and developing in all fields over the past years, thereby generating practical benefits for the two peoples and actively contributing to peace, stability, and cooperation in the region and the world.



President of the Cambodian National Assembly Samdech Heng Samrin (Photo: VNA)

Political ties have been growing as seen in mutual visits, meetings, and discussions in various forms between the countries senior leaders, along with increasingly effective collaboration between their ministries, sectors, and localities.



A number of people-to-people diplomatic activities, especially in border provinces, have taken place, helping improve peoples understanding of the traditional solidarity, friendship, cooperation, and mutual assistance.



The two sides have also jointly organised many meaningful celebrations of the Vietnam - Cambodia Friendship Year 2022 and the 55th anniversary of the diplomatic relationship.



In 2021, bilateral trade rose 79.1% year on year to 9.54 billion USD. It stood at 7.08 billion USD in the first seven months of 2022, up 17.8% from a year earlier. Vietnam has 188 valid investment projects worth 2.8 billion USD in Cambodia at present, ranking first among investors from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and fifth among all foreign investors in this country.



Meanwhile, partnerships in defence, security, border safeguarding, education - training, science - technology, tourism, and people-to-people exchange have been further boosted. The number of Vietnamese tourists to Cambodia surpassed 46,300 in the first three months of this year, making Vietnam the biggest source of foreign visitors there.



Relations between the countries legislative bodies have also been growing in both bilateral and multilateral aspects. Under the cooperation agreement signed by the two parliaments in May 2019, the two sides have maintained high-level mutual visits; shared experience; and organised exchanges between the parliaments committees and the parliamentary friendship groups. They also agreed to enhance coordination to examine, promote, and supervise ministries, sectors, localities, and businesses implementation of signed agreements, thereby helping intensify the Vietnam - Cambodia comprehensive cooperation.



At many inter-parliamentary forums of the region and the world, NA delegations of the two countries have also increased discussing, consulting with each other, and coordinating their stances on many regional and international issues of common concern.



The coming visit by NA President Samdech Heng Samrin is an occasion for both sides to work out orientations and measures for bolstering parliamentary ties within bilateral and multilateral frameworks, exchange views on regional and international issues of common concern, and especially contribute to the success of the Vietnam - Cambodia Friendship Year amid the 55th anniversary of the diplomatic relationship./.
Ukraine may allow export of 100,000 tonnes of coal to Poland in Sept  PM

Ukraine will consider the possibility of opening a quota for the export of 100,000 tonnes of coal to Poland in September, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said.

"On behalf of the President of Ukraine, at the request of the Polish side, Ukraine is ready to consider the possibility of opening quotas for coal exports to Poland. We are talking about 100,000 tonnes in September, which are now critically needed by our Polish partners," he wrote on his Telegram channel.

Shmyhal said that coal reserves in the warehouses of Ukrainian power plants amount to almost 2 million tonnes, which is 2.5 times more than a year ago. "Therefore, we are ready to lend a shoulder of support to our Polish friends," he said.

The Prime Minister of Ukraine added that during the visit of his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki to Kyiv, the parties also discussed the restoration and commissioning of the Khmelnytsky NPP-Rzeszow power line.

"We planned to finish before December 14, but thanks to the acceleration of work, we can complete a week earlier. This will allow us to export an additional 1,000 MW to Poland. For our part, we ask Poland to assist in expanding export quotas within the framework of ENTSO-E," Shmyhal said.

According to him, Ukraine expects that by the end of 2022 the amount of available transmission capacity to Slovakia, Romania and Hungary will increase from 300 MW by another 200-300 MW, and to Poland - over 1,000 MW.
Nine more ships with 163,800 tonnes of food stuffs left the ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk and Pivdenny on Monday as part of the implementation of the Grain Initiative, the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine reported.

"They are sent to the countries of Asia and Europe. Since the launch of the first vessel with Ukrainian food, 2.78 million tonnes of food stuffs have been exported," the ministry said on Facebook.

According to it, today the ports of Big Odesa are planning to receive 13 vessels for loading with Ukrainian agricultural products. Currently, six vessels are moored at the berths of the ports of Odesa (two), Chornomorsk (one) and Pivdenny (three).

In total, 122 ships with agricultural products left Ukrainian ports, sending them to the countries of Asia, Europe and Africa, the Ministry of Infrastructure said.

As reported, on July 22 in Istanbul, with the participation of the UN, Ukraine, Turkey and Russia, two documents were signed on the creation of a corridor for the export of agricultural products from three Ukrainian ports  Chornomorsk, Odesa and Pivdenny.
South Africa: President Ramaphosa to hold talks with US President

President Cyril Ramaphosa will this week be travel to Washington following an invitation by United States President Joe Biden.

President Ramaphosa accepted the invitation delivered by US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, during his recent visit to South Africa.

President Ramaphosa will hold talks at the White House with President Biden on 16 September 2022.

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), Minister Naledi Pandor, said the Presidents visit to the US provides government an opportunity to strengthen bilateral relations through engagement and deepen multilateralism through the United Nations (UN), a primary vehicle through which the international community must confront the challenges facing the world.

The two leaders, according to Pandor, will discuss bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest, including trade and investment, climate change, food security, energy, and peace and security.

President Ramaphosa will reaffirm the importance of the strategic and mutually beneficial relations between South Africa and the United States, she said on Monday, adding that the First Citizen will emphasise the need for enhanced multilateralism and dialogue, through which the challenges facing humanity can be addressed.

These include the urgent need to stimulate economic recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pandor told media that President Ramaphosa and his delegation will also meet congressional leadership and veterans of the civil rights movements, who were instrumental in lobbying Americans against apartheid and remain loyal to the cause of anti-racism in both countries.

The US is a major export market for South Africa, a significant source of foreign direct investment (FDI), technology transfer, development assistance and tourism.

Trade and investment relations take place under the auspices of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which grants duty-free and quota-free access to the US market for value-added products, Pandor explained, adding that AGOA has created jobs in both countries.

Over the years, Pandor said the two-way trade between South Africa and the US has been on the surge.

The US is South Africas third largest trading partner after China and the European Union, with more than 600 American companies operating locally.

In 2021, the US ranked as the second largest destination for South Africas exports globally.

South African firms have also become significant foreign investors in the US, Pandor said.

Investments from South Africa into the US are also on the rise, with America accounting for 17.4% of total South African outward FDI to the world.

South Africas foreign policy remains inspired by its history. The country, working with others, strives for the attainment of a just, humane and equitable world,.

In conducting our international relations, we attach the utmost importance to promoting human rights, democracy, equitable justice and the rule of international law. The said principles place multilateral institutions, specifically the United Nations, at the centre of our foreign policy engagements and objectives, said Pandor.

United Nations General Assembly

The Minister also announced that South Africa will take part in the high-level segment of the annual United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York from 20 to 27 September 2022.

The meetings will take part under the theme, 'A watershed moment: Unlocking transformative solutions to interlocking challenges', and focus on development matters, specifically health, education and the broader implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

For the global South, the economic and socio-economic impact of COVID-19 has been disproportionately about recovery in the developed North, said Pandor.

Preceding the general debate, the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, will convene a summit on 'Transforming Education', while discussing several climate-related matters and the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

According to Pandor, the various engagements at UNGA will provide the country with an opportunity to highlight matters of national, regional and international importance.

South Africas participation in the general debate of the UNGA77 is a strategic opportunity for the promotion of our national and foreign policy objectives, as espoused in Chapter 7 of the National Development Plan, positioning South Africa in the world.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2022-09-12. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
By Trend

Shelling of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia is a blow to the peace process, Trend News Agency's Deputy Director, political expert Sahil Karimli told Yeni TV channel, Trend reports.

Karimli noted that a few days ago, the Azerbaijani state handed over five Armenian servicemen to Armenia, thus showing great humanism. The servicemen previously were brought to justice for committing war crimes in Azerbaijan after Armenia's signing of the act of surrender [trilateral statement between presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia and Armenias prime minister following the 2020 Second Karabakh War] and received appropriate punishment by a court decision.

"Azerbaijan again made a big concession to Armenia by returning these soldiers. This was also a great contribution to the peace process. Unfortunately, despite the outstretched hand of peace, Armenia intensively shells the territories of Azerbaijan. This means testing the patience of Azerbaijan, he said. Apparently, the leadership of Armenia forgets about the military power of Azerbaijan, not assuming that at any moment it can receive a crushing blow.

Undoubtedly, if military provocations continue, the enemy will be instantly destroyed. The leadership of Armenia must realize that the progress of the peace process, the signing of a peace treaty is inevitable. Sooner or later it will happen, and it will happen on the conditions put forward by Azerbaijan, Karimli said.

If the Armenian side believes that with these provocations it puts pressure on Azerbaijan and gains advantage at the negotiating table, then it better think again. Such non-constructive steps are useless and wont give any results," added Karimli.




President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said, addressing the Russian authorities, that "Ukraine would be with gas, electricity and water, but without you."

"Even through the impenetrable darkness, Ukraine and the civilized world clearly see these terrorist acts. Deliberate and cynical missile strikes on civilian critical infrastructure. No military facilities. Kharkiv and Donetsk regions are de-energized. In Zaporizhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy  partial power problems," he wrote on the Telegram channel on Sunday evening.

"Do you still think that we are one people? Do you still think that you can frighten us, break us, persuade us to make concessions? Didn't you really understand anything? Didn't understand who we are? What are we for? What are we talking about?" he wrote.

"Read my lips: Without gas or without you? Without you. Without light or without you? Without you. Without water or without you? Without you. Without food or without you? Without you. Cold, hunger, darkness and thirst  for us it is not so terrible and deadly as your friendship and brotherhood. But history will put everything in its place. And we will be with gas, electricity, water and food ... and WITHOUT you!" Zelensky said.
Air defense forces shoot down 7 out of 11 cruise missiles launched by enemy in Dnipropetrovsk region on Sunday

The Air Defense Forces shot down seven out of 11 cruise missiles launched by the enemy in Dnipropetrovsk region on Sunday, the Skhid Air Command reported on Facebook.

"On Sunday evening, the enemy launched a missile attack on the formation's area of responsibility. In total, the enemy used 11 cruise missiles. Skhid air command units shot down seven cruise missiles in Dnipropetrovsk region," the message says.

As noted, five of them are Kh-101, two are Kalibr.

Also, two more missiles were destroyed by Air Force units of Poltava region.
Yermak: Ukraine needs enough missile defense systems to protect itself, Europe from Russian missiles

Ukraine needs a sufficient number of anti-missile defense assets to protect itself and Europe from Russian missile strikes, Andriy Yermak, head of the President's Office, has aid.

"The Russians continue hitting Ukrainian critical infrastructure objects. It means that Russia is a terrorist state. But since Ukrainian and EU power grids are synchronized, Europeans may be affected, too. Hence, Ukraine needs enough anti-missile defenses to protect both ourselves and Europe," he said on Twitter on Sunday evening.

As reported, on Sunday evening, the Russian occupiers launched a missile attack on critical infrastructure in Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv and Poltava regions, as a result of which there was no electricity and water supply.
Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk expects that at the end of this year Ukraine will be ready to start the negotiation process on full membership in the European Union.

"I really hope that by the end of autumn both the parliament and all our subjects of the European integration process will fulfill their obligations. And I think, I really hope so, that at the end of the year Ukraine will be ready to start the negotiation process on full membership in the European Union. Further, of course, it will be, let's say, a long way, but this will already be the final starting point, where we see the successful completion of European integration in Ukraine," he said on the air of the national telethon on Sunday.

The speaker stressed that the Ukrainian parliament was at the stage of fulfilling almost all the requirements that the European Commission had put forward to Ukraine in order to maintain the status of a candidate member and an opportunity to start negotiations on full membership in the European Union.

"All the necessary bills have been developed: some have been adopted at the first reading, some  at the final one," Stefanchuk said.
Soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have liberated more than 20 settlements over the past day, the General Staff of Ukraine reports.

"In just the past 24 hours, the Defense Forces managed to oust the enemy from more than twenty settlements. They are being taken under full control and stabilization measures are being taken," the General Staff said in a morning report.

As noted, the fighters continue to liberate settlements from Russian invaders in Kharkiv and Donetsk regions.

"As previously reported, during the retreat, Russian troops hastily abandon their positions and run deep into the temporarily occupied territories or into the territory of the Russian Federation. This trend continues. So, over the past day, the invaders removed the property and vehicles stolen from local residents from the settlements of Velyky Burluk and Dvorichna of Kharkiv region," the report says.

It is also noted that in Luhansk region, the Russian military with their families left the city of Svatovo, leaving only the soldiers of the so-called "people's militia" from among the local residents.

At the same time, the Air Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine inflicted eight strikes, as a result of which a platoon stronghold, six areas of concentration of manpower and military equipment of the enemy, as well as one anti-aircraft missile system were hit.
This week, Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk will take part in a meeting of speakers of the G7 countries, which will discuss the issue of the global security system in the world.

"I think that everything will concern... the global security system in the world... This will be the main task not only on the Crimea Platform, but also at the meeting of the G7 speakers, which will be held this week, where I have the opportunity to represent Ukraine," the speaker said on the air of the national telethon on Sunday.
As a result of the daytime shelling of Kharkiv by the Russian occupation forces, all electric transport in the city was stopped, the press service of Kharkiv City Council reported.

As Oleksiy Bitner, press secretary of Kharkiv Metro, explained to an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent, passengers who were on trains at the time of the shutdown are taken to the nearest stations.

"Metro personnel have been instructed on how to act in such cases. All passengers who were on electric trains are taken to the nearest stations," Bitner said.

According to the press service of Kharkivoblenergo, the volume of blackouts in the city is at the level of Sunday evening, after enemy missile attacks on critical infrastructure facilities.

"The volume of blackout in Kharkiv is at the level of yesterday. There is no information about arrivals. The reasons for the blackout are being investigated. The power engineers are working," the press service of Kharkivoblenergo said.

Mayor Ihor Terekhov called the situation a repetition of yesterday's evening.

"The situation of yesterday evening is repeating itself. Due to the shelling, critical infrastructure facilities were disabled, as a result of which power went out in Kharkiv and water supply was cut off," Terekhov wrote on his Telegram channel.

"Power engineers, rescuers and utility workers are working to eliminate the consequences of shelling," he added.

As reported, on Sunday evening, two enemy cruise missiles hit the critical infrastructure of the region, as a result, settlements were left without electricity, and some of them also without water.

On Monday morning, Deputy Head of the President's Office of Ukraine Kyrylo Tymoshenko said that electricity supply in the region had been restored by 80%.

According to Kharkivoblenergo, as of 9:00, Novobavarsky and Osnoviansky districts of Kharkiv remained partially de-energized.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal announced the repeated imposition of sanctions on Serhiy Kurchenko, Pavlo Lebedev, Viktor Yanukovych and Oleg Deripaska by the government.

"We continue to deprive Russia and collaborators of assets on the territory of Ukraine and send them to strengthen our defense capability. At an extraordinary meeting, the government agreed on the purchase of war bonds by ARMA in the amount of UAH 152 million. These are funds that are on the accounts of the agency and frozen as part of the process of confiscation of Russian property in Ukraine and the property of Russian collaborators," Shmyhal wrote on the Telegram channel.

The government is again imposing sanctions against Kurchenko, Lebedev, Yanukovich and Deripaska as regards freezing their assets and assets in which they might have an interest, he said.

"This decision is needed in order to finally confiscate all their property on the territory of Ukraine in accordance with new legislation," Shmyhal said.

Shmyhal said that the freezing and confiscation of all assets of Russia and its citizens is taking place in accordance with clearly defined procedures and in accordance with the new legislation.

"We are systematically working to take away all the property and funds of Russia and send them to strengthen our army and our restoration," the prime minister said.
An obligatory response to attacks on Ukraine's critical infrastructure should be the supply of air defense and missile defense systems, according to Mykhailo Podoliak, adviser to the head of the Presidents Office.

Russia cannot fight on battlefield, so it fights against civilians. Terrorist attack on Kharkiv CHPP on September 11  not the last strike on crucial infrastructure and an attempt to deprive people of heat/light. Worlds mandatory response  air/rocket defense for Ukraine, he said on Twitter Monday.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky admits attempts in the future to reduce financial and military assistance to Ukraine.

"Reducing or blocking macro-financial assistance by one of the countries is an easy pushing step towards the fact that "something needs to be done, we cannot constantly give you money to support." And we will be pushed there," he said, speaking at the 17th annual meeting of the Yalta Economic Strategy (YES) in Kyiv.

The meeting was organized by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation.

"There will be a decrease in financial assistance. Our task is not to allow this, but it will occur. Ukraine, society and, above all, the authorities must accept this. Because we all will have to solve this crisis," he said.

He also allowed for a reduction in military support.

"There will be a reduction in weapons. Not because someone in Europe wants it. Our task is not to give this opportunity. The peoples should come to the rescue here. This is our roof and our walls," he said.

Speaking about Ukraine's partners, Zelensky named among them the Baltic countries, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Great Britain and "the United States, for which we will have to fight."

"This is the task for these three months," he said.
By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

Units of the Armenian armed forces and the Karabakh-based armed separatist groups have shelled Azerbaijani military positions in Gadabay, Lachin, and Kalbajar districts, Azernews reports, citing the Defense Ministry.

On the evening of September 11, units of the Armenian armed forces, using various calibers of arms, subjected to fire Azerbaijani military positions in Gadabays Novoivanovka and Lachin's Husulu villages from their positions in Jil village of Chambarak region and Khanazakh village of Gorus [Goris] region on the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border, the ministry said.

Furthermore, members of illegal Armenian armed groups, stationed in areas under the temporary control of the Russian peace-keeping contingent in Azerbaijan's Karabakh, subjected to fire the Azerbaijani army positions in Kalbajars Agqaya village.

Units of the Azerbaijani army took appropriate retaliatory measures to suppress the opposite side, the report added.

About 2,000 Russian peacekeepers have been deployed for five years in Karabakh under the trilateral cease-fire deal signed by Baku, Moscow, and Yerevan on November 10, 2020. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw all its troops from the Azerbaijani lands it had occupied since the early 1990s.

The trilateral ceasefire deal signed by the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders on November 10, 2020, ended the three-decade conflict over Azerbaijans Karabakh region which along with the seven adjacent regions came under the occupation of Armenian armed forces in the war in the early 1990s.

The deal also stipulated the return of Azerbaijan's Kalbajar, Aghdam and Lachin districts. Before the signing of the peace deal, Azerbaijan liberated 300 villages, settlements, city centers, and historic Shusha city that had been under Armenian occupation for about 30 years.

Armenia periodically shells Azerbaijani military positions on liberated territories. Since early September, Azerbaijani positions have multiple times come under Armenian fire. The previous truce violation was recorded on September 10-11 in the direction of Kalbajar and Lachin districts.

Earlier, Ilham Aliyev stated that peace would come to the Caucasus based on the five principles Baku has recently proposed for normalizing relations with Armenia.

To recap, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met for the fourth time in Brussels on August 31 under the auspices of EU Council President Charles Michel to look into ways of expediting preparations for drafting a peace deal.
Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak met with representatives of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, founded by human rights defender Irwin Kotler and discussed issues of support for Ukraine, the press service of the president reports.

The organization is a unique international consortium of parliamentarians, scholars, jurists, human rights defenders, representatives of NGOs and students united in the pursuit of justice.

Yermak briefed the meeting participants on the struggle of Ukrainians for the independence and territorial integrity of their state and the mechanisms that our country uses to support this struggle from the side of the world community.

Yermak briefed the meeting participants on the struggle of Ukrainians for the independence and territorial integrity of their state and the mechanisms that our country uses to support this struggle from the side of the world community.

The Head of the Office of the President highly appreciated the work of the Centre and the expert report "An Independent Legal Analysis of the Russian Federation's Breaches of the Genocide Convention in Ukraine and the Duty to Prevent" prepared by it.

"Russia is committing genocide in Ukraine against the Ukrainian nation, in particular by inciting it in the Russian mass media, carrying out the forced transfer of children and the killing of Ukrainians," Yermak said.

He expressed his conviction that the international community must condemn the genocide of Ukrainians and bring all those responsible to justice. Yermak emphasized the importance of recognizing Russia as a terrorist state, creating a tribunal to investigate the crime of aggression against Ukraine and crimes against prisoners of war.

The head of the President's Office also said that after the victory, important qualitative changes and development await our country, so world support will be extremely relevant.

In this regard, Chair of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre Jay Rosenzweig said that the donors of its foundation are interested in helping Ukraine, in particular, in the issue of reconstruction.

The head of the President's Office called for joining the UNITED24 global platform to help Ukraine and support the events that are taking place on the initiative of First Lady Olena Zelenska  participate in them personally and involve famous people.
The World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) supports the initiative of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to establish a nuclear safety and protection zone at Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), according to its website.

"WANO supports the IAEA on the urgent need to establish a nuclear safety and security protection zone at Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), and in its demand for cessation of all shelling in the entire area surrounding ZNPP. Action must also be taken to ensure that ZNPP workers can do their jobs safely and without interference, and that the safety of their families is maintained," WANO said on its website.

"Based on recent information from the IAEA, WANO remains extremely concerned about the situation at Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP)," it said.

As reported, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi issued a report after his visit to Zaporizhia NPP on September 1, in which he proposed the immediate creation of a nuclear safety and protection zone at the plant. After that, he repeatedly raised this issue, including at the UN Security Council, soon announcing the start of consultations on this matter.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking about the loyal position of the 45th U.S. President Donald Trump towards Russian leader Vladimir Putin, said that Trump should have looked at the Russian war in Ukraine without rose-colored glasses.

"It seems to me that he [Trump] should look at all this [Russia's war in Ukraine] from the point of view of a threat not only to Ukraine. Maybe we are far enough away for him, but there are no distances in war. It seems to me that he needs to look at this situation, let's say, without rosecolored spectacles," Zelensky said in an interview with Fareed Zakaria for CNN.

At the same time, he expressed confidence that Trump had enough time to understand who Putin really is.

"He held such a high position where it is impossible not to understand who is the value opponent of your people. It seems to me that when you have all the forces and intelligence data, then you have to figure out who the president of Russia is, what he wants, what he aspires to and how he goes there. And I do not know if he [Trump] needed for his domestic policy to show that he is ready to find mutual understanding with the president of Russia," Zelensky added.

Answering the question whether he is worried that financial assistance from the United States will decrease or stop if the Republicans gain control of the House of Representatives of Congress, Zelensky expressed hope that bipartisan support for Ukraine will remain in the future.

"I know and hear messages that representatives of the Republican Party, this may happen, will support Ukraine less. I want to believe that, after all, bipartisan support for Ukraine will remain. This is very important for us," he said.

At the same time, according to the head of state, Ukraine cannot give the world the opportunity to weaken its own support.

"We are at war. And let some politicians forgive me, but we cannot allow the world to weaken support for Ukraine, because then Russia will be able to win this fight. And this will be the tragedy of the 21st century. And if some political forces give signals regarding the weakening [of Ukraine] or the support of the Russian side in some areas  through business interests, etc., we will communicate. In this case, we will protect the money of ordinary people of the USA. They should know that their money is being spent to support the struggle for such values," he said.

At the same time, Zelensky thanked the current U.S. President Joseph Biden, the Administration of the American President and Congress for supporting Ukraine.
The Egyptian State Security Prosecution ordered on Wednesday the release of Ahmed El-Nagdy, a journalist at the Qatari-based Al-Jazeera TV channel, who was detained in 2020 on charges including spreading false news.
President Joe Biden headed to the United Kingdom on Saturday to pay his respects to Queen Elizabeth II at a time of transition in US-UK relations, as both a new royal and a new prime minister are settling in.
The tracking unit at the Egyptian Customs Authority (ECA) has disposed of 99 percent of abandoned and hazardous goods at ports since January 2020 to ensure health and safety.
Egypt launched an electronic link system to regulate Egyptian labour's entry into Libya and prevent human trafficking and illegal migration to Egypts western neighbour, said Egyptian Manpower Minister Mohamed Saafan on Monday.

The system will also facilitate the recruitment of Egyptian workers needed in the labour market of Libya, which is focusing on reconstruction after a decade of turmoil, Saafan said at a press conference organised with his Libyan counterpart Ali Al-Abad in Cairo.

The new mechanism will focus on the prevention of counterfeit, the illegal exploitation of labour importation, and human trafficking in Libya, he said.

Saafan added that Egyptian workers seeking jobs in Libya will only be allowed to travel to the country through the system.

The launch comes months after Egypt had announced in April the formation of a ministerial committee to examine the return of Egyptian workers to Libya, a major hub for Egyptian firms and workers before the 2011 uprisings.

Efforts for reviving bilateral business opportunities came after a top government delegation  comprising Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and 11 ministers  had arrived in Tripoli for talks on development in Libya.

The unprecedented visit is the result of Egypts keenness to resume its presence in the neighbouring country following recent developments. Libya elected an executive authority to rule the country until legislative elections, scheduled for this month, are held.

Until 2011, three million Egyptian labourers had been working in Libya, Madbouly had said during his Tripoli visit.



Violence since the uprising in the oil-rich country has scarred businesses and labour, yet efforts to push through with reconstruction continue through the recruitment of workers in neighbouring countries.

In September, Al-Abed announced the launch of the Wafid portal to regulate the flow of foreign labour into Libya.

In an interview with Al-Ahram in September, Al-Abed said the portal would help safeguard workers rights by documenting the exact number of workers in the country, their places of work, their specialisation, as well as whether they work for companies or individuals.

Libya is in need of one million Egyptian workers, he said, citing Egypts skilled workforce and high demand for Tripolis development projects.

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Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has ordered providing all the necessary facilities to expedite the implementation of the green energy projects implemented jointly with Australias Fortescue Future Industries (FFI).

El-Sisi made the remarks on Saturday as he received FFI Chairman Andrew Forrest, presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said in a statement.

El-Sisi highlighted the importance of benefiting from the Australian energy companys extensive expertise in green energy, as Egypt attaches importance to keeping pace with the international orientation toward maximising the use of renewable energy.

This also comes within the framework of the Egyptian national strategy to boost the supply of electricity generated from renewables in light of the states keenness to diversity the sources of electricity and benefit from the countrys natural resources.

Under its Integrated Sustainable Energy Strategy (ISES), Egypt aims to increase the supply of electricity generated from renewable sources to 42 percent by 2035.

The meeting followed up on cooperation between FFI and the Egyptian Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy in the field of green hydrogen and green ammonia, including a project to produce 9.2 GW of electricity from renewable energy, the spokesman said.

The meeting also followed up on localising industries related to generating power from wind turbines and solar cells, the spokesman added.

For his part, Forrest stressed FFIs keenness to cooperate with Egypt in the field of producing green energy and benefiting from green hydrogen as a source of clean energy.

Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mohamed Shaker, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El-Molla, and Moataz Kandil, regional director of FFI in the Middle East and North Africa, attended the meeting.

Cooperation with Scatec

Separately, El-Sisi also discussed cooperation with Norways renewable energy solutions provider Scatec in the renewable energy field in a meeting today with the companys CEO Terje Pilskog.

The meeting discussed establishing a project to generate 3 GW of electricity from wind within Egypts national strategy to generate clean energy, the spokesman said.

For his part, Pilskog stressed the importance Scatec attaches to cooperation with Egypt in renewable energy, especially in light of Egypts preparations to host the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in November.

This is in addition to the fact that Egypt is rich with renewable energy sources, represented in sun and wind, which qualifies the country to become one of the largest renewable energy producers worldwide and hence enhances its promising investment opportunities in this regard, Pilskog added.

Egypt has accelerated its plans for increasing reliance on clean energy and transition to green energy in cooperation with international partners, especially ahead of COP27, slated for 6-18 November in Sharm El-Sheikh city.

Green investments in Egypt will hit 50 percent of the total public investments by 2024/2025, up from 40 percent currently, El-Sisi said during the Egypt-International Cooperation Forum (Egypt-ICF) on Wednesday.

A June report by the US-based Global Energy Monitor (GEM) showed Egypt is at the top of the Arab regions countries in combined utility-scale solar and wind generation at 3.5 GW in total.

Egypt also aims in the coming years to reduce carbon emissions, promote the use of renewable energy sources, and use alternative energy forms including green hydrogen  as part of the National Climate Strategy 2050 announced by the government in May.

Egypt is pursuing green hydrogen and ammonia storage projects in cooperation with international partners amid the countrys plans to become a regional energy hub and its prioritisation of localising green hydrogen production.

Egypt seeks to attract foreign investments into green hydrogen production in order to also become a transit route for clean energy to Europe.

In cooperation with Scatec, Egypt is set to have its first green hydrogen plant with 100 MW capacity in the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) at a cost of $5 billion.

The project, expected to start production in 2025, will mainly export green ammonia to European and Asian markets, according to a statement by Scatec on 10 March.

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U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday toured Pakistan's flood-ravaged Sindh and Baluchistan provinces a day after saying the world is obligated to provide ``massive`` amounts of relief to the impoverished country.

Guterres was on the second day of a two-day visit to Pakistan, which has been devastated by months of heavy monsoon rains and flooding. At least 1,396 people have been killed, 12,728 injured and millions left homeless. The waters also destroyed road and communications infrastructure.

Guterres toured flood-affected areas of the district of Sukkur in southern Sindh province and Osta Mohammad in southwest Baluchistan province _ some of the worst affected areas of the country.

``Pakistan needs today massive financial support to overcome this crisis,'' he said. ``This is not a matter of generosity, this is a matter of justice.''

Miles of cotton and sugarcane crops, banana orchards and vegetable fields in the two provinces were submerged in floodwaters. Thousands of mud and brick homes caved in under the deluge leaving people homeless and sheltering in tents alongside damaged roads.

Guterres' comments came after he was briefed by chief minister of Sindh province Murad Ali Shah on the destruction in his province. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and some of his Cabinet members accompanied the U.N.'s top official during his visit.

Pakistan has suffered under extremely heavy monsoon rains which started early this year _ in mid-June. Experts have blamed global warming for the early start and the heavier than normal rains.

``Humanity has been waging war on nature and nature strikes back,'' Guterres said. ``We need to stop the madness which we played with nature.``

Guterres expressed solidarity with the Pakistani people and said the U.N. will use its limited resources to help and request that ``those who have the capacity to support Pakistan, do it now and do it massively.''

So far, U.N. agencies and several countries have sent nearly 60 planeloads of aid, and authorities say the United Arab Emirates has been one of the most generous contributors, sending 26 flights carrying aid for flood victims.

Since June, the heavy rains and floods have added a new level of grief to cash-strapped Pakistan and highlighted the disproportionate effect of climate change on impoverished populations.

Experts say Pakistan is responsible for only 0.4% of the world's historic emissions that are blamed for climate change. The U.S. is responsible for 21.5%, China for 16.5% and the European Union for 15%.

The U.N. chief also visited camps for displaced flood victims in Larkana district. Guterres was briefed there by officials about the situation and threat to the protected archeological sites of Mohenjo Daro - among the earliest ruins of human civilization.

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By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

This project is designed for a weekly round-up of Azernews' coverage of major events.

HIGHLIGHTS

Baku hands over five servicemen to Yerevan

Renowned photographer eyewitnesses cemeteries destroyed & looted by Armenians in Lachin

Azerbaijan relocates 12 more families to Zangilan's Aghali village

France delivers demining equipment to Azerbaijani Mine Action Agency

EBRD president to visit Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia ink Baku Declaration on North-South transport corridor

Shusha to host intl Karabakh business forum

Renowned jazz musicians to perform in Baku

Second Grape & Wine festival comes back to Samaxi

NATION

Baku hands over five servicemen to Yerevan

Azerbaijan has handed over five servicemen to Armenia. On September 8, guided by principles of humanism, Baku set free and sent back to Armenia five servicemen via the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border.

France delivers demining equipment to Azerbaijani Mine Action Agency

France has delivered demining equipment to the Azerbaijani Mine Action Agency (ANAMA).

Peace forced upon Pashinyan: Will he budge?

When President Aliyev shook hands with Prime Minister Pashinyan for the first time since the end of the Second Karabakh War and looked upon the beleaguered Armenian leader with a superior and condescendingly benevolent smile in Brussels on the final day of August, many were quick to interpret the ice-breaking propensity of the moment.

Renowned photographer eyewitnesses cemeteries destroyed & looted by Armenians in Lachin

Armenia has looted and desecrated over 900 Azerbaijani cemeteries across Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur. World-famous photographer Reza Deghati has recently traveled to Lachin city, which saw the de-occupation at the end of August, and filmed the state of cemeteries destroyed by Armenians there.

Famous foreign travelers visit mosque in Fuzuli, Azix cave & witness Armenian destructions

Famous foreign travelers visited a mosque in Mardinli village of Fuzuli District on the second day of their trip to Azerbaijans liberated territories. Travelers saw the remains of the destroyed mosque and were informed about the Armenian barbarism. They were told that Armenians kept livestock in mosques during the occupation and thus showed disrespect for Azerbaijan's cultural and spiritual values.

Azerbaijan relocates 12 more families to Zangilan's Aghali village

Another group of Azerbaijani citizens was resettled to Zangilans Aghali village on September 7, the State Committee for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons reports. According to the committee, another 12 families (63 people) resettled from the Zangilan refugee settlement in Masazir village of Absheron District, will now permanently live in the houses provided to them in a new village with modern infrastructure.

Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan eye interaction of women entrepreneurs

Azerbaijani Parliament Speaker Sahiba Gafarova and Chairwoman of the Uzbek Parliament Tanzila Narbayeva discussed the interaction of women entrepreneurs on September 7. The discussion took place within the framework of Gafarova's visit to Uzbekistan's Tashkent to attend the 14th Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament (14SWSP).

Descendant of historical Iravan ruler fascinated by Karabakh reconstruction pace

Iravan Khan's great-grandson Amir Ali Sardari Iravani has expressed his fascination with the pace of reconstruction underway in Karabakh. The historical heir has earlier visited liberated Fuzuli and Aghdam, where he got acquainted with the Armenian vandalism committed with regard to religious-historical monuments and cemeteries.

Azerbaijan-Austria: 30 years on path of friendship & cooperation

On February 20, Austria and Azerbaijan marked the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. Austria is one of the nations with which Azerbaijan has been developing strong ties as a trusted European partner. Official Baku attaches importance to Austrian support in the process of Euro-Atlantic integration and close cooperation with the European Union. As a country that plays an important role in the world economy and politics, the Federal Republic of Austria supports the expansion of cooperation with Azerbaijan in all sectors.

Baku, Spain eye multifaceted cooperation

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and his Spanish counterpart Jose Manuel Albares Bueno have discussed multifaceted cooperation between the two countries. In an expanded meeting on September 7 as part of Bayramov's official visit to Spain, the ministers emphasized the importance of strengthening the Azerbaijani-Spanish cooperation in a variety of areas, including economy, trade, high technologies, energy, science and education, tourism, culture, and others.

New US senior advisor for Caucasus negotiations to visit region soon

Philip Reeker, new Senior Adviser for Caucasus Negotiations of the US State Department, will visit the region soon. In conformity with Patel, Reeker will pay visits to the three South Caucasus states of Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan during his first tour to the region.

Azerbaijani defense chief mulls cooperation with foreign military leaders, defense company heads

Azerbaijani Defense Minister Col-Gen Zakir Hasanov discussed multifaceted cooperation with foreign military leaders, as well as defense company heads on the sideline of the 4th Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition ADEX-2022 at the Baku Expo Center on September 6.

Brussels-Moscow complementarity is close to bifurcation

At the outset, there was one chief and uncontested mediator, who brokered a ceasefire, saving a loser from utter calamity and letting a winner take enough to feel content. Indeed, on 10 November 2020, Russia found itself occupying a commanding height over the post-war scenery involving Azerbaijan and Armenia. Its clout as a peacekeeper was only slightly tempered by a Turkish factor, with the EU and the US throwing a bemused glance from a telescopic distance.

BUSINESS

EBRD president to visit Azerbaijan

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) President Odile Renaud-Basso will visit Azerbaijan on September 12. The EBRD president will visit the South Caucasus nations from September 12-16, starting her visit with Azerbaijan, then going to Georgia, and concluding her trip to Armenia.

Baku, Tokyo ink accord on joint crediting mechanism

Azerbaijan and Japan have reached an agreement on the Joint Credit Mechanism (JCM). In this regard, Azerbaijani Ecology and Natural Resources Minister Muxtar Babayev and Japanese Ambassador Junichi Wada signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation.

Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia ink Baku Declaration on North-South transport corridor

Azerbaijan, Iran, and Russia have signed the Baku Declaration on the development of the international transport corridor North-South. The document was signed by Azerbaijan's Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexandr Novak, and Iran's Roads and Urban Development Minister Rostam Ghasemi during the first trilateral meeting held in Baku on September 9.

Azerbaijan holds forum in Beijing to promote investment, trade opportunities

A forum Azerbaijan - Investment and Trade Opportunities was held in Beijing, China, within the framework of the China International Fair of Trade Services. The forum was organized with the support of Azerbaijans Economy Ministry, the Trade Representation of Azerbaijan in China, and the China International Economic Cooperation Association. Business people and representatives of relevant government agencies took part in the event.

Baku, Bucharest set to promote business ties

An Azerbaijani-Romanian business forum took place in Baku on September 9. The forum organized with the support of the Azerbaijani Economy Ministry, the Export and Investment Promotion Agency (AZPROMO), the Association of Women Entrepreneurship Development, and the Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry was attended by entrepreneurs and representatives of relevant government agencies from both countries.

Minister: Azerbaijan to export 600m cu. m. of gas to Bulgaria by late 2022

Azerbaijan will export about 600 million cubic meters of gas to Bulgaria by the end of 2022, Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov said. He made the remarks during the meeting with Bulgarian Economy and Industry Minister Nikola Stoyanov, who is on a visit to Azerbaijan.

Shusha to host intl Karabakh business forum

The international Karabakh business forum will be held in Azerbaijans Shusha on September 16. Representatives from countries of the Organization of Turkic States will attend the forum to discuss Karabakhs restoration, cooperation, investment, business, etc. The discussions within the forum will include consultations on construction, specifically green infrastructure, agriculture and food, renewable energy, light industry, tourism, mining, information, and communication technologies.

Azerbaijani-UAE diplomatic relations at 30: Baku, Abu Dhabi determined to boost & enhance ties

Throughout these years, the two countries have developed their relations in almost all sectors and formats. The high-level political dialogue that exists today between Azerbaijan and the UAE is accompanied by cooperation in economic, energy, transport, humanitarian and other sectors.

CULTURE

Sadigjan's house in Shusha to be restored-decree

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has decreed measures for the design and restoration Sadigjan's house in the city of Shusha. House of Sadigjan belonged to Azerbaijan's outstanding tar musician and composer Sadigjan. The 19th-century residential building is registered in the name of Sadigov Rahim, the grandson of the musician.

Biggest disco stars of '80s gather on Caspian coast

Some of the brightest disco stars have gathered on the Caspian coast for a disco night. The open-air festival took place at Sea Breeze Resort bringing together disco music stars, like Thomas Anders, Joy, Secret Service, Pupo, Boney M, Arabesque, and many others.

Renowned jazz musicians to perform in Baku

Renowned jazz musicians Melvin Travis and Mina Agossi will perform at the Heydar Aliyev Center on September 30. The concert will be held within Baku Jazz Festival scheduled for September 23-30. On this day, jazz lovers have a chance to enjoy the marvelous performance, fascinating rhythm, and incredible energy.

Second Grape & Wine festival comes back to Samaxi

Well-known for being a beautiful wine-growing corner of the country, Samaxi will host the 2nd Grape and Wine Festival on October 1-2. The festival will take place in Shamaxi's Meysari village with the joint organizational support of the State Tourism Agency, the Shamakhi District Executive Authority, and the Regional Development Public Union.

BTS shares story of Azerbaijani woman fighting for inclusivity

Bangtan Sonyeondan (BTS) has presented stories of change-makers within For Tomorrow - the Documentary project. The initiative was launched by Hyundai Motor Company and United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to share concrete solutions to local problems. The documentary tells the story of grassroots innovators striving to create a more sustainable future.

Culture minister receives Egyptian ambassador

Azerbaijani Culture Minister Anar Karimov has received Egyptian ambassador Hisham Mohamed Nagy Abdel Hamid to exchange views on the current state of cultural ties.

SPORTS

National GM ranks ten in FIDE rating

The International Chess Federation (FIDE) has announced its latest ratings for September. Azerbaijani grandmaster Shahriyar Mammadyarov came 10th in the FIDE ranking. The chess player scored 2,757 points. Another national grandmaster Teymur Rajabov is listed 15th (2,747 points).




Norway, which has replaced Russia as Europe's leading supplier of natural gas, said Monday it was "sceptical" about a gas price cap proposed by a majority of EU members.

"We approach discussions in an open spirit, but we are sceptical of a maximum gas price", Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said in a statement following a phone call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

"A maximum price does not change the fundamental issue that there is a gas shortage in Europe", he said.

European energy ministers who met Friday in Brussels said they were in favour of a series of measures aimed at combatting soaring gas and electricity prices, with some calling for a cap on the price of gas imports in the EU.

While the European Commission has proposed a price ceiling on gas imported from Russia, several member states, including Italy, called for a price ceiling on all gas bought by EU states, including liquified natural gas (LNG).

Non-EU member Norway, which has benefitted from soaring prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, has until now kept a low profile on the issue, preferring instead to leave it up to oil and gas companies to negotiate their own contracts.

The Scandinavian country recently replaced Russia as Europe's leading gas supplier, due to plunging Russian deliveries and an eight percent increase of its own deliveries.

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Egypts Minister of Interior Mahmoud Tawfik asserted on Monday the importance of developing security cooperation with Singapore and exchanging information on combating terrorism, organised crime, and cybercrime, the Ministry of Interior announced.

Tawfik was speaking during his meeting in Cairo on Monday with Singaporean Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean and his accompanying delegation currently visiting Egypt.



Meanwhile, the Singaporean minister hailed the stable security conditions in Egypt, thanks to the Egyptian Police's efforts.



He said that he looks forward to developing aspects of cooperation with the Egyptian interior ministry bodies and exchanging information about combatting terrorism to benefit from the ministry's distinguished, security expertise.

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A Cairo criminal court handed a death sentence on Sunday to a judge for murdering his wife, TV presenter Shaimaa Gamal, and his co-defendant after the approval of Grand Mufti Shawki Allam.

Both the husband Ayman Haggag and the second defendant Hussein El-Gharably were referred in July to the criminal court after the Egyptian Public Prosecution charged them with premeditated murder, which is punishable by the death penalty in Egypt.

Sunday's ruling can be appealed within 60 days before the Court of Cassation.

In mid-August, the court referred of the case to the grand mufti to inquire about the religious ruling.

Referral to the grand mufti is a necessary procedure before issuing a death sentence, according to Egyptian law, though the religious opinion of the mufti is non-binding.

Sheikh Shawky Allam is head of the Dar El-Ifta, which is Egypts official body responsible for issuing religious edicts for Sunni Muslims.

The crime initially came to light when the accomplice reported the murder to the prosecution and said that Haggag killed Gamal over disputes, according to a statement by the prosecution in June.

Haggag had initially reported that his wife had gone missing from a commercial complex in 6 October City in Giza.

However, the second defendant led the prosecution to the victims burial site after reporting the crime.

The prosecution charged Haggag after hearing the testimonies of 10 people and the confessions of the two defendants, according to a statement released on 7 July.

Haggag plotted to kill Gamal after she blackmailed him by demanding money in exchange for not revealing secrets, the prosecution said in the statement, without elaborating on the nature of these secrets.

On the day of the crime, the husband lured Gamal to a remote farm in Giza, where he struck her with the butt of a pistol and strangled her to death with a piece of cloth as El-Gharably held her.

They then put Gamal's body in a makeshift grave and doused her body with a corrosive liquid to make her unrecognisable, according to the prosecution's findings.

Forensic examination confirmed that the cause of death was strangulation, the prosecution said, adding that the DNA of the defendants was found on the cloth used to murder the victim.

Investigations also revealed that the mobile phones of both the victim and the defendants were in proximity of the same cell tower near the aforementioned farm.

However, during the first hearing in the case on 20 July, Haggag claimed that he killed Gamal in self-defence after she attacked him with a knife.

But, the prosecution dismissed Haggags claims in its charging document, which was published by Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper after the hearing.

The prosecution said that no knife was found at the crime scene and that Haggag made no claims of self-defence during his confession.

The prosecution added that El-Gharably's statement contradicts Haggags self-defence claim.

In late July, the Cairo Court of Appeals issued a media gag order on the case.

Gamal was known for her programme El-Moshagheba (The Troublemaker) on LTC TV satellite channel. She also worked for Al-Hadath Al-Youm satellite channel.

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A Cairo Economic Misdemeanors Court of Appeal accepted on Monday the appeal presented by sexual offender Ahmed Bassam Zaki against a three-years-prison sentence for sexually assaulting and harassing three minor girls in using social media acquitting him from those charges.

A Cairo Economic Misdemeanors Court of Appeal accepted on Monday the appeal presented by Ahmed Bassam Zaki against a three-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting and harassing three minor girls using social media.

Zaki was sentenced in December 2020 by the Economic Court to three years in prison for sexually assaulting minors, blackmailing them, and using means of communication and social media to deliberately harass them.

The university student was already sentenced to eight years in prison by Cairo Criminal Court on charges of sexually assaulting and blackmailing three girls in April 2021.

According to the Criminal Court ruling, between 2016 and 2020, Zaki sexually assaulted three girls in his car, at his house, and at the house of one of the victims.

The verdict can be appealed.

Zaki was a 21-years-old university student when he was arrested in July 2020. The Public Prosecution received a complaint from a woman against him in an incident that caused an uproar on social media.

In the complaint, first received by the National Council of Women (NCW), the woman accused Zaki of blackmailing her in November 2016 in an attempt to force her to have sex with him.

Egypts prosecution opened an investigation after the accusations, also raised by other women and girls against Zaki, went viral on social media in the summer of 2020.

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Egypts Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry met with Teo Chee Hean, Singapores senior minister and coordinating minister for national security, where he highlighted Egypts keenness on developing relations with Singapore in various fields, the Egyptian foreign ministry said on Monday.

According to the ministrys statement, Shoukry lauded the political, economic and cultural relations between the two countries.

The meeting tackled the most important topics on the international climate action agenda, including ongoing preparations for UN Climate Change Conference (COP27), which is set to be held 6-18 November in Sharm El-Sheikh.

Shoukry, who is also the president designate of COP27, said Egypt is looking forward to Singapores participation at the conference

The two sides exchanged views on the most important issues at the international level, as well as their impact on global economic stability and ways to achieve stability and security in many conflict areas.

Shoukry visited Singapore in March as a part of an Asian tour where he delivered a message to Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, on behalf of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, reflecting Egypts desire to strengthen bilateral relations between both countries.

Earlier on Monday, Hean met in Cairo with Minister of Interior Mohamed Tawfik where they discussed boosting security cooperation between the two countries.

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Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) Hassan Abdallah met in Cairo on Monday to review a raft of economic files, chief among which was the themes and topics to be discussed during an economic conference the government will hold soon pursuant to President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi's directives.

The conference is expected to explore a set of visions and proposals for shoring up all sectors of the national economy and dealing with current challenges.

Last Thursday, El-Sisi called on the government to organise an economic conference by the end of the month to discuss the latest developments and future of Egyptian economy.

Madbouly outlined preparations for the event, including ongoing coordination among relevant bodies to set an agenda that covers several topics and files of significant importance to the national economy, such as exports, industry and investment opportunities, Cabinet Spokesman Nader Saad said.

The prime minister highlighted the pivotal role played by the CBE to streamline investment-related measures that stimulate investors to embark on more projects in various sectors, especially the manufacturing, infrastructure and energy industries.

The meeting also touched on key fiscal policy indicators, as well as the recent measures taken by the government and CBE to weather the impact of the current global crises in a way that ensures full integration between the fiscal and monetary policies of both sides.

It also tackled the latest developments related to Cairo's ongoing talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in addition to the efforts exerted to secure the funds necessary for purchasing strategic commodities as per El-Sisi's directives.

In August, PM Madbouly stated that the ongoing talks with the IMF were in their final stage.

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Russia invaded neighbouring Ukraine on February 24, sparking the worst conflict in Europe in decades.

Thousands of civilians have been killed in the fighting, which has taken a new turn over the past week, as Ukrainian forces drive Russian forces from key eastern towns in a swift counter-offensive.

February: invasion

Russian President Vladimir Putin announces a "special military operation" on February 24.

He says this is to protect the Russian-speaking, self-declared separatist republics of Lugansk and Donetsk in the east of Ukraine, whose independence he has just recognised.

He says he wants to "de-Nazify" Ukraine, a former Soviet republic and demands a guarantee it will never join NATO.

A full-scale invasion starts, with air and missile strikes on several cities.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pledges to stay in the capital, Kyiv, to lead the resistance.

The West imposes unprecedented sanctions on Russia. The European Union and United States send weapons to Ukraine. The aid pledged by Washington rises into the billions.

March: advances in south but Kyiv holds

Russian troops attack Ukraine's south coast, seizing most of Kherson, a strategic region crucial for agriculture and close to the Russian-annexed Crimean Peninsula.

Moscow's forces seek to surround Kyiv and take Ukraine's second city Kharkiv in the northeast. They meet fierce resistance.

A month into the fighting, Russia withdraws from the Kyiv area and the north to focus on the eastern industrial Donbas region (Lugansk and Donetsk), partly held by separatists, along with the south.

April: war crimes revealed

On April 2 and 3, the corpses of dozens of civilians are discovered on the streets and in shallow graves in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, which Russian forces had occupied, sparking an international outcry.

Similar grisly discoveries follow in other northern towns and Kyiv suburbs.

May: Mariupol falls

Since the start of the war, Russia has besieged and relentlessly bombed the strategic southeastern port city of Mariupol, particularly its vast Azovstal steelworks.

Bodies pile up in cellars where residents hide out for weeks.

On May 21, Russia announces it is in full control of the city, after the Ukrainian troops that held out for weeks at Azovstal surrender.

Sweden and Finland apply to become members of NATO, fearing they could be future targets of Russian aggression.

June: Donbas battle rages

In June, all eyes are on the Donbas, where Russia harnesses its superior firepower to take the city of Severodonetsk after one of the bloodiest battles of the war.

Shortly after they take the neighbouring city of Lysychansk, as Ukraine pleads for more heavy weapons from the West.

July: grain unblocked, gas supplies cut

On July 22, Kyiv and Moscow sign a deal to resume grain exports from Ukraine, Europe's breadbasket, in a bid to relieve a global food crisis caused by Russia's blockade of the country's ports.

Ten days later, the first official shipment of grain since the invasion leaves Odessa with 26,000 tonnes of maize on board.

The breakthrough on grain, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, is overshadowed by the escalating gas dispute between Russia and Europe.

Russian energy giant Gazprom slashes its supply to Europe through the Nord Stream pipeline before turning off the tap altogether, prompting a spike in gas prices and fears of shortages this winter.

August: nuclear fears

In August, concerns mount over the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. Constant shelling of the area raises the spectre of a nuclear disaster.

UN inspectors arrive at Zaporizhzhia -- Europe's largest nuclear power plant -- on September 1 and call for a security zone to be set up around it.

As the US and EU step up their supplies of heavy weapons, Kyiv launches a major offensive to retake the city of Kherson in the south.

September: Lightning counter-offensive

On Sunday, Ukraine claims it has retaken more than 3,000 square kilometres (1,158 square miles) of terrain in a second, lightning counter-offensive around Kharkiv in the northeast which appeared to catch Russia off guard.

Kyiv says the area includes the key city of Izyum and accuses retreating Russian forces of targeting the electricity grid, causing massive power cuts in the east.

On Monday, the military says it has recaptured 20 more settlements in 24 hours.

The reaction in Moscow is muted but a map released by the defence ministry confirms a major withdrawal from the Kharkiv region.

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Egypt has recovered on Sunday two ancient Egyptian statues that were smuggled to Belgium, as the country continues intensive efforts to retrieve thousands of artefacts found in the unlawful possession of museums and individuals around the world.

The two pieces are a wooden, painted figurine statue of a standing man resting on a pedestal and awooden ushabti figurine.

The first piece dates back to the Old Kingdom (2686-2181 BC), the other to the Late Period (664-332 BC), a statement by the ministry read.

In 2016, the two pieces were seized by the Belgian authorities at an exhibition for selling antiquities afterinvestigations concluded the exhibition owner did not possess their ownership documents, the statement added.

The two pieces were handed over by Assistant Foreign Minister for Cultural Relations Omar Selim to the Repatriation Antiquities Department (RAD) at the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in the presence of General Supervisor of the RAD Shaaban Abdel-Gawad and a representative of the Ministry of Interior.

Egypt is set to repatriate 16 artefacts that were stolen and smuggled out of the country after they were recovered by the authorities in the United States as part of their investigations in a major case of international trafficking in Egyptian antiquities.

In June, New York prosecutors announced seizing five Egyptian artefacts worth more than $3 million from the Metropolitan Museum of Art as part of an investigation into international trafficking in Egyptian antiquities involving Jean-Luc Martinez, the former president of the Louvre, who was charged in May with complicity in fraud.

In recent years, Egypt toughened penalties for unlawful possession or smuggling of artefacts.

Last year, parliament amended the law on protecting antiquities to stipulate that those illegally possessing or selling antiquities face imprisonment and a fine of EGP 1 million to EGP 10 million.

Egypt has succeeded in recovering 5,000 artefacts from the US, 115 from France, and 36 from Spain in recent years.

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During a meeting in Cairo with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat, the president ordered expanding the use of high-speed terrestrial internet services by spreading the use of fibre-optic networks and building more mobile towers to improve services across the nation.

The president also issued directives to provide incentives for outstanding students of the Digital Egypt Cubs initiative in order to hone their skills in the information technology sector.

Talaat, for his part, spoke about the educational process at the Egypt University of Informatics and the executive position of the Knowledge City in the New Administrative Capital; El-Sisi has directed the speedy completion of the city at the highest technological level.

El-Sisi also ordered expanding the establishment of Creative Innovation Hubs to offer training activities in various governorates.
King Charles III was formally proclaimed as Britain's monarch and head of the Commonwealth Saturday, in a ceremony that traces its history back several hundred years.

Charles became king upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, on Thursday. She had been on the throne for 70 years. The royal family announced that her funeral would be Sept. 19 at Westminster Abbey in London.

 Pomp and Ceremony

Elizabeth's first son, Charles, was proclaimed king in a ceremony at St James's Palace in London, which was broadcast on television for the first time. Senior politicians, judges and officials -- including all six of Britain's living former prime ministers -- gathered for the "Accession Council" to formally recognize the new monarch.

Using language that drew on centuries of tradition, the clerk of the Privy Council Richard Tilbrook made the historic proclamation. "We... do now hereby, with one voice and consent of tongue and heart, publish and proclaim that the Prince Charles Philip Arthur George, is now, by the death of our late sovereign of happy memory, become our only lawful and rightful liege Lord Charles III."

"By the grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and of his other realms and territories, king, head of the Commonwealth, defender of the faith, to whom we do acknowledge all faith and obedience with humble affection, beseeching God by whom kings and queens do reign to bless His Majesty with long and happy years to reign over us. God save the King," Tilbrook said.
By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

Baku has dismissed as false Armenian media reports, alleging the ceasefire violation by the Azerbaijani troops in the direction of Girmizi Bazar in Azerbaijan's Khojavand District currently under Russian peacekeeper control, Azernews reports, citing the Defense Ministry.

The information spread in some Armenian mass media about the alleged opening of fire by units of the Azerbaijani army in the direction of Girmizi Bazar settlement of Khojavand District, resulting in damage to the civil infrastructure is false, wide of the mark, and does not reflect the truth. We categorically deny this information, the ministry stressed.

On the contrary, Armenia periodically shells Azerbaijani military positions on liberated territories. Since early September, Azerbaijani positions have multiple times come under Armenian fire. The latest truce violation was recorded on September 11 on the Azerbaijan-Armenia state border, as well as on the Azerbaijani territories temporarily controlled by the Russian peacekeepers.

On September 11, members of illegal Armenian armed groups, stationed in areas under the temporary control of the Russian peace-keeping contingent in Azerbaijan's Karabakh, subjected to fire Azerbaijani army positions in Kalbajars Agqaya village, the ministry reported earlier.

About 2,000 Russian peacekeepers have been deployed for five years in Karabakh under the trilateral cease-fire deal signed by Baku, Moscow, and Yerevan on November 10, 2020. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw all its troops from the Azerbaijani lands it had occupied since the early 1990s.

Earlier, Ilham Aliyev stated that peace would come to the Caucasus based on the five principles Baku has recently proposed for normalizing relations with Armenia.

To recap, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met for the fourth time in Brussels on August 31 under the auspices of EU Council President Charles Michel to look into ways of expediting preparations for drafting a peace deal.
Ukrainian forces advanced their counteroffensive in eastern Ukraine Sunday, looking to take advantage of Russian troop withdrawals from the northeastern Kharkiv region in a retreat that may have changed the course of the nearly seven-month conflict.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy derided the Russians in his nightly video address Saturday, saying, "The Russian army in these days is demonstrating the best that it can do -- showing its back."

On Sunday, he posted a video of Ukrainian soldiers hoisting the national flag over Chkalovsk, one of several towns they reclaimed from the Russians in the counteroffensive.

Ukraine's military chief, Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said that Ukraine had reclaimed about 3,000 square kilometers from Moscow's forces since the beginning of September. He said Ukrainian troops are now just 50 kilometers away from the border with Russia.

The battlefield advance marked the biggest Ukrainian success since early in the war when it thwarted a Russian attempt to seize the capital, Kyiv. Ukraine's attack in the Kharkiv region seemed to surprise Moscow, which had moved many of its troops from the area to the south, where Kyiv had publicly announced a counteroffensive.

Russia's Defense Ministry, in response to the Ukrainian gains, said Saturday the troops' withdrawal from Izyum and other areas in the Kharkiv region was intended to strengthen Russian forces in the neighboring Donetsk region to the south.

But the retreat drew angry comments from Russian military bloggers and nationalist commentators, who characterized it as a major defeat and urged the Kremlin to bolster war efforts. They criticized Russian authorities for staging fireworks and other lavish festivities in Moscow that marked a city holiday Saturday.

In its assessment, Britain's Defense Ministry said Ukrainian forces have continued to make significant gains in the Kharkiv region. The agency's intelligence report, posted Sunday on Twitter, said, "Russia has likely withdrawn units from the area, but fighting continues around the strategically important cities of Kupiansk and Izyum."

Western military analysts said if the advances are confirmed, it would put the Ukrainians in control of a main railway that Moscow has used to supply thousands of troops in eastern Ukraine.
KYODO NEWS - Sep 12, 2022 - 22:25 | World, All, Japan

South Korea is considering a meeting between President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in New York on the fringes of an upcoming U.N. General Assembly, a high-ranking South Korean government official said Monday.

Yoon has yet to hold official bilateral talks with Kishida since his presidential election win in March. There have been signs of a thaw in bilateral ties under the leadership of Yoon, who has called for a future-oriented approach to bilateral relations.

The official said a Yoon-Kishida meeting on the sidelines of the U.N. gathering would likely be casual.

The possible face-to-face meeting would come at a time when Japan and South Korea have been locked in a long-standing dispute over wartime labor compensation related to a South Korean Supreme Court ruling in 2018, and Seoul is looking for an alternative solution to avoid a diplomatic row.

Leaders of Japan and South Korea last held official bilateral talks in December 2019.

In June, Yoon and Kishida met for the first time in Madrid to attend a summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as its Asia-Pacific partner countries, but they only spoke briefly.

The two, however, joined trilateral talks with the United States on the sidelines of the NATO summit.

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers were cautious over summit talks between Kishida and Yoon, as they have pressed South Korea to present Japan with an acceptable solution to a dispute over court-ordered liquidations of some Japanese corporate assets.

South Korea's top court had ruled that groups of South Koreans were forced to work in Japan during its 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, ordering two Japanese companies to pay damages.

But the firms did not comply with the compensation order, as the Japanese government maintains that all claims stemming from its colonial rule were "completely and finally" settled under a bilateral agreement signed in 1965.

Plaintiffs in the cases then had part of the companies' assets in South Korea seized through the courts intending to liquidate them.

Japan-South Korea relations have been improving since sinking to their lowest point in years under the administration of Yoon's predecessor Moon Jae In, over wartime history issues.

After Yoon attends a state funeral for Queen Elizabeth II in London, he will fly to New York and then travel to Canada.
KYODO NEWS - Sep 12, 2022 - 20:41 | World, All, Japan

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Monday that Japan must not "obscure" its stance on the Taiwan issue, demanding that Tokyo respect the principle that Beijing is the sole legitimate government of China.

The remarks in a video message at a symposium held in Tokyo came as tensions have grown over Taiwan following a trip in early August by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the third-highest-ranking U.S. official, to the self-ruled democratic island, which China views as a breakaway province to be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary.

"Important matters of the principles related to the basis of the China-Japan relationship, such as history and Taiwan, must not be obscured not even slightly," Wang said in the video message at the event ahead of the 50th anniversary later this month of the normalization of ties between the two countries.

China and Taiwan have been governed separately since they split in 1949 due to a civil war. Japan cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan and established them with mainland China in 1972, recognizing Beijing as the sole legitimate government of China. Japan-Taiwan relations have been maintained on a nongovernmental basis.

China and Japan should put "the political consensus of not becoming a threat against each other" into action "based on strategic and long-term perspectives," Wang said in the message at the event hosted by the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo and the Japan Business Federation, the country's most influential business lobby better known as Keidanren.

The Chinese minister also indicated his wariness about Japan getting further involved in attempts by the United States to decouple its economy from China in industries deemed essential to national security, saying Tokyo and Beijing need to avoid "wrong ways such as decoupling and cutting supply chains."

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi also sent a video message to the event without making any specific reference to diplomatic concerns between the two countries.

Hayashi said it is a "common goal" for the two East Asian neighbors to build "constructive and stable" bilateral relations through voluntary efforts.

Wang and Hayashi had been set to hold a meeting, the first foreign ministerial meeting by the two nations since November 2020, in Phnom Penh in early August on the sidelines of an Asian foreign ministers' gathering.

But Wang canceled the talks at the last minute, citing criticism leveled at China by the Group of Seven industrialized nations, including Japan, over Beijing's response to Pelosi's trip.

Pelosi's visit prodded China to conduct large-scale, live-fire drills near the island, including firing ballistic missiles, some of which fell into Japan's exclusive economic zone.

Chinese Ambassador to Japan Kong Xuanyou and former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda also attended the symposium.
KYODO NEWS - Sep 12, 2022 - 17:28 | All, Japan

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday recommitted to taking the necessary steps to relocate a key U.S. base within Okinawa despite vocal opponent Denny Tamaki a day earlier winning a second term as governor of Japan's southernmost prefecture.

Kishida has expressed readiness to gain an understanding from local people of the importance of relocating the transfer of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, a senior ruling party lawmaker, who held talks with the premier, told reporters.

Liberal Democratic Party election chief Hiroshi Moriyama also quoted Kishida as saying his government will continue to move ahead with the relocation plan -- an agreement made by Tokyo and Washington in 1996.

Earlier in the day, Tamaki reiterated his campaign pledge to stop the construction of a new U.S. military facility in Okinawa, underscoring the deep rift between the central government and the prefecture over the plan.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a press conference that the relocation plan is the "only solution" to alleviate the burden on Okinawa, which hosts the bulk of U.S. bases in Japan, adding the central government will not budge on its position.

Opposition-backed Tamaki, meanwhile, told reporters a day after winning his second four-year term, "It is an undeniable fact that I was elected by the people who oppose" the relocation plan, meaning the "Okinawans' true feelings have not changed."

Tamaki scored more than half of the votes cast in Sunday's gubernatorial election, beating rival former Ginowan Mayor Atsushi Sakima, who was supported by the ruling coalition of Kishida's LDP and its junior partner Komeito.

Tamaki received 339,767 votes, or 50.8 percent, while Sakima collected 274,844, or 41.1 percent, and former lawmaker Mikio Shimoji gained 53,677, or 8.0 percent, according to official data.

Sakima ran on a platform of going ahead with relocating U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from the densely populated area within the city of Ginowan to the Henoko coastal area of Nago.

The central government has long claimed the transfer plan can both ensure deterrence under the long-standing Japan-U.S. security alliance, considered particularly vital amid China's rise, while removing the dangers posed by the Futenma base.

Tamaki has long said Okinawa bears an unreasonable burden by hosting around 70 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan. The prefecture was returned to Japan from U.S. control half a century ago.

Related coverage:

Anti-U.S. base incumbent Tamaki secures 2nd term as Okinawa governor

Japan grounds Ospreys after U.S. Air Force safety concerns

Q&A: Okinawa on 50th anniversary of reversion from U.S. rule
KYODO NEWS - Sep 12, 2022 - 22:15 | All, Japan, Coronavirus

Japan's health ministry on Monday approved the production and sale of vaccines against the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, with the government to send the shots to local municipalities from Sept. 19.

The additional inoculation, believed to be effective against the BA.5 subvariant of COVID-19 now prevalent in Japan, will initially be targeted toward the elderly and medical workers.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said he plans to expand from mid-October eligibility for the additional shots for everyone over the age of 12 who has received at least two vaccine doses.

The policy is part of wider preparations to provide over 1 million shots per day between October and November to curb the spread of infections during the winter period.

Currently, a booster shot can only be administered a minimum five months after the last vaccine dose. But as a panel of experts suggested that the interval period should be shortened, the health ministry will reach a conclusion by the end of October on whether to cut the time between vaccinations.

The Omicron boosters have properties derived from the BA.1 subvariant, as well as the original strain that spread early in the pandemic.

U.S. pharmaceutical firms Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. had each applied to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare to produce and sell their Omicron vaccines tailored for the highly transmissible variant.

Following the approval, Pzifer will supply 28 million shots to those aged 12 and over, while Moderna will provide 2 million doses for people over the age of 18.

According to health ministry documents, the boosters contain a higher amount of neutralizing antibodies that suppress the movement of the BA.1 subvariant in the body compared with the vaccine for the original virus and are also believed to be effective against BA.5 and other subvariants that could develop in the future.

Japan reported 52,918 new virus cases on Monday, roughly 15,000 fewer than the figure from the week before, reflecting a downtrend in new infections.

The Tokyo metropolitan government reported 5,654 new cases on Monday, while infections in neighboring Kanagawa and Saitama prefectures numbered 4,476 and 3,689, respectively.

New COVID-19 deaths reached 145 nationally.
BISHKEK, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov has declared Aug. 23 as the Day of Mourning to commemorate the nationals who died in a road accident in western Russia's Ulyanovsk region on Sunday.

"Dear compatriots, this tragedy is a great grief for all our people, in this regard, I declare Aug. 23 the Day of Mourning on the territory of Kyrgyzstan," Zhaparov said Monday.

Expressing condolences to the families and friends of those who were killed or injured in the accident, the president said assistance will be provided to the families and friends of the victims.

Sunday's road accident happened on the M-5 Ural highway in the Nikolaevsky district of the Ulyanovsk region of Russia.

According to preliminary information, a truck crashed into a parked minibus, causing the minibus to be sandwiched between two trucks, killing 16 people, 14 of whom were citizens of Kyrgyzstan. 
DAR ES SALAAM, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- The 5th Edition of the East African Community (EAC) Arts and Cultural Festival ended on a high note on Friday evening in the Burundian capital Bujumbura with different cultural performances from the bloc's member states, the EAC said in a statement on Saturday.

The statement said the seven-day festival attracted more than 2,000 participants from the EAC's seven member states of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Uganda.

The participants included performing artists, exhibitors, culture professionals and academicians, students, administrators, as well as civil society organizations, said the statement.

The festival featured a symposium of culture professionals and researchers to dialogue on selected sub-themes including adopting new regional languages in the EAC and the role of modern technologies in advancing arts and cultural expression.

Other themes were indigenous knowledge and traditional medicine, arts, industry and tourism, youth participation and employment and research, innovation and investment in arts and culture, said the statement.

Irene Isaka, the EAC secretariat director of social services, said the goal of the festival was to bring east Africans together to interact and share their common cultural heritage through art and culture in order to foster social cohesion and unity amongst the people of the region. 
DAR ES SALAAM, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Tanzania plans to build the first ever presidential museums in its capital Dodoma to promote understanding of the presidency, an official said on Sunday.

Christowaja Ntandu, the acting director for the Department of Antiquities in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, said the presidential museums will be used as repositories for the papers, records, and historical materials of the country's presidents

"The public and researchers will be able to access these preserved irreplaceable documents for the widest possible use," Ntandu told Xinhua in a telephone interview.

Preparations underway include architectural designs of the museums and collection of the country's presidents' documents and artifacts, said Ntandu.

She said the Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Pindi Chana, on Saturday, inspected preparations for the construction of the presidential museums in Chisichili area covering 20 hectares.

Chana said the construction of the presidential museums will add to the east African nation's list of tourist attractions.

Tanzania has been governed by six presidents since it gained independence. 
COLOMBO, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's Minister of Labor and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara said on Sunday that more than 200,000 Sri Lankans have left for foreign jobs in 2022 so far.

He said that these are the people who have registered with the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment, and some may have left without registering.

The minister said that remittance sent by expatriate workers to Sri Lanka reached 325 million U.S. dollars in August, an increase of 16.4 percent compared to July.

Around 330,000 people are expected to leave Sri Lanka for foreign jobs by the end of this year, the minister said.

The minister expressed gratitude to workers who have sent money through the banking system at a time when the country is facing a foreign exchange shortage. 
A model presents a creation during the 2022 edition of the International Festival of African Fashion and Modeling (FESMMA) in Cotonou, Benin, Sept. 10, 2022. The 2022 edition of the International Festival of African Fashion and Modeling (FESMMA) ended on Saturday evening. More than twenty designers took part in the event which is held in Cotonou, the economic capital of Benin for four days. (Photo by Seraphin Zounyekpe/Xinhua)

COTONOU, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- The 2022 edition of the International Festival of African Fashion and Modeling (FESMMA) ended on Saturday evening. More than twenty designers took part in the event which is held in Cotonou, the economic capital of Benin for four days.

The Togolese stylist Assiata Adeola won the trophy for the best African fashion designer on Saturday evening, after the big fashion show at the end of the festival.

"I am very happy to have won this competition for young African designers of the 14th edition of FESMMA. It reinforces the confidence I have for my work and it will allow me to target other challenges", she told Xinhua.

The 20-year-old Togolese stylist has used strands to create her collection called "Architecture".

"She has shown great ingenuity in the design of her collection, through which we note not only the originality of her work but also the professionalism", added John Medard Sedokoun, promoter of the event.

The Burkinabe Kindo Ba Faridatou, 25 years old, won the Top Model trophy.

"It's a great experience for me to have participated in this edition of the FESMMA which allowed me to win this trophy. This award will push me further in my dream of becoming a great model on a global scale", she said.

During the four-hour fashion show, models unveiled through their various parades the genius and creativity of African, Asian and French designers in the shaping of fabrics made on the continent.

Created in 2008, the FESMMA aims to promote African fashion and the creative genius of designers from the continent. 

A model presents a creation during the 2022 edition of the International Festival of African Fashion and Modeling (FESMMA) in Cotonou, Benin, Sept. 10, 2022. The 2022 edition of the International Festival of African Fashion and Modeling (FESMMA) ended on Saturday evening. More than twenty designers took part in the event which is held in Cotonou, the economic capital of Benin for four days. (Photo by Seraphin Zounyekpe/Xinhua)

A model presents a creation during the 2022 edition of the International Festival of African Fashion and Modeling (FESMMA) in Cotonou, Benin, Sept. 10, 2022. The 2022 edition of the International Festival of African Fashion and Modeling (FESMMA) ended on Saturday evening. More than twenty designers took part in the event which is held in Cotonou, the economic capital of Benin for four days. (Photo by Seraphin Zounyekpe/Xinhua)

A model presents a creation during the 2022 edition of the International Festival of African Fashion and Modeling (FESMMA) in Cotonou, Benin, Sept. 10, 2022. The 2022 edition of the International Festival of African Fashion and Modeling (FESMMA) ended on Saturday evening. More than twenty designers took part in the event which is held in Cotonou, the economic capital of Benin for four days. (Photo by Seraphin Zounyekpe/Xinhua)

A model presents a creation during the 2022 edition of the International Festival of African Fashion and Modeling (FESMMA) in Cotonou, Benin, Sept. 10, 2022. The 2022 edition of the International Festival of African Fashion and Modeling (FESMMA) ended on Saturday evening. More than twenty designers took part in the event which is held in Cotonou, the economic capital of Benin for four days. (Photo by Seraphin Zounyekpe/Xinhua)
By Trend

India and Malaysia last Friday marked 65 years of modern diplomatic relations at a commemorative event, [email protected], organized by the Consortium of Indian Industries in Malaysia (CIIM) and Malaysia India Business Council (MIBC) at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in Malaysia, Trend reports via ThePrint.

Our relations predate the 65 years of official bilateral relations, the relations between India and Malaysia and the people of India and Malaysia is not just a bilateral relation but a civilizational relation, Malaysias Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah said.

The relations between India and Malaysia had grown from Strategic Partnership in 2010 to an Enhanced Strategic Partnership in 2015, with new cooperation in cultural diplomacy, digital economy and agriculture commodity forthcoming, he said.

During my visit to New Delhi in June 2022, I met Indias External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar at the sidelines of the special ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers meeting and discussed possible new cooperation in various fields including cultural diplomacy as well as trade and investment, Malaysias Foreign Minister added.

Over 150 Indian companies have invested $3 billion in Malaysia in various sectors namely biotechnology, financial services, manufacturing, and the textile industry, he noted.

During the [email protected] event, Saifuddin urged Indian companies to expand their operations in Malaysia and make Malaysia their hub in ASEAN due to its strategic location and conducive business environment.

Meanwhile, B.N. Reddy, Indian High Commissioner to Malaysia, has confirmed the 65 years of vibrant ties between India and Malaysia. He said that the Indian diaspora community in Malaysia, the second largest in the world, is living proof of the bond of friendship between India and Malaysia.

The diplomat highlighted the success of the Melaka-Manipal Medical College in Malaysia which is producing close to 15,000 medical doctors in Malaysia to date. On the back of this success, he is looking forward to Indias first offshore campus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Malaysia.
Flowers are placed on a plate inscribed with the names of 9/11 victims at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York, the United States, on Sept. 11, 2022. Sunday marked the 21st anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua)

WASHINGTON, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Americans mourned the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks on the 21st anniversary of the world-changing event on Sunday.

Family members of some of those who lost their lives on that day -- along with U.S. government and military representatives -- gathered near the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C., in the morning.

They stood or sat in a steady rain as a military officer read off the names of 184 men and women who died 21 years ago when militants associated with the terrorist group al-Qaida hijacked a passenger plane and hit a corner of the Pentagon, with a single bell chimed after each name.

"Terror struck us on that brilliant blue morning," U.S. President Joe Biden said in his remarks. "The American story itself changed that day."

"We'll continue to monitor and disrupt those terrorist activities wherever we find them, wherever they exist. And we'll never hesitate to do what's necessary to defend the American people," he said.

When speaking of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, he said, "Twenty years after Afghanistan is over but our commitment to preventing another attack on the United States is without end."

Also on Sunday, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris attended a commemoration event at the National September 11th Memorial in New York City.

Biden's wife, Jill, also attended the Flight 93 National Memorial Observance in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

On Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaida militants hijacked four airplanes and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States. Two of the planes were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a third plane hit the Pentagon and the fourth plane crashed in a field in Shanksville. Almost 3,000 people were killed in the terrorist attacks. 

U.S. President Joe Biden participates in a ceremony marking the 21st anniversary of the 9/11 attacks at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, the United States, on Sept. 11, 2022. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

People attend a commemoration ceremony of the 21st anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in New York, the United States, on Sept. 11, 2022. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua)
Li Zhanshu, chairman of China's National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, meets with Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, Sept. 12, 2022. Li paid an official goodwill visit to Mongolia from Saturday to Monday, at the invitation of Chairman of Mongolia's State Great Hural (Parliament) Gombojav Zandanshatar. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)

ULAN BATOR, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Li Zhanshu, chairman of China's National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, paid an official goodwill visit to Mongolia from Saturday to Monday, at the invitation of Chairman of Mongolia's State Great Hural (Parliament) Gombojav Zandanshatar.

During his visit, Li met with Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh and Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene, and held talks with Zandanshatar.

When meeting with the Mongolian president, Li conveyed cordial greetings and best wishes from Chinese President Xi Jinping to Khurelsukh.

Li said that China and Mongolia are good neighbors that cannot be moved away or exchanged for gold, and that developing the good-neighborly friendship is in line with the fundamental and long-term interests of the two countries.

Under the strategic guidance of Xi and Mongolian leaders, the China-Mongolia comprehensive strategic partnership has been continuously lifted to higher levels, he said.

Since the onset of COVID-19, the two sides have joined hands to fight the epidemic and gifted one another with sheep and tea, which has become a much-told story attesting to their friendship, he said.

China, Li said, has always upheld the neighborhood policy of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness and has been actively developing its friendly cooperative relationship with Mongolia.

He expressed the hope that the two sides further deepen political mutual trust, continue to firmly support each other on the issues related to their core interests and major concerns, strengthen coordination and cooperation in international and regional affairs, and push forward multilateral and bilateral win-win cooperation.

Khurelsukh asked Li to convey his sincere greetings to President Xi, saying that Mongolia is sincerely glad about the historic achievements made in the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics under the leadership of President Xi and the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Noting that the Mongolia-China friendly cooperation is a model for the development of state-to-state relations, Khurelsukh expressed the hope that the two sides strengthen high-level exchanges, deepen political mutual trust, and expand exchanges and cooperation in various fields, so as to push bilateral relations to higher levels, and jointly promote the development of the two countries and the prosperity and stability of Asia.

The exchanges between the legislative bodies of the two countries are of great significance to deepening the good-neighborly friendship between Mongolia and China and enriching the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, he added.

When meeting with Oyun-Erdene, Li said that it is the common goal of China and Mongolia to develop the economy, improve people's livelihood and strengthen the country and enrich the people, adding that the two countries enjoy distinct economic complementarities and huge potential for cooperation.

China is willing to strengthen development strategic alignment and policy communication and coordination with Mongolia to further promote infrastructural connectivity and promote the process of regional integration, he said.

China stands ready to work with Mongolia on customs clearance at ports under the pandemic situation, implement existing cooperation projects, carry out green energy cooperation and expand trade exchanges to realize coordinated development and mutual benefit of the two countries, he added.

The two sides can also strengthen exchanges and cooperation between political parties and young people, as well as cultural exchanges, Li said.

For his part, Oyun-Erdene said that developing good-neighborly friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation with China is the primary goal of Mongolia's foreign policy, and China's rapid development is a great opportunity for Mongolia's development and revitalization.

Mongolia is willing to actively deepen cooperation in the fields of economy and trade, logistics, ports, resources and education, and promote the alignment between Mongolia's New Revival Policy and the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, he said.

During the talks with Zandanshatar, Li said that China and Mongolia should be good neighbors with frequent exchange of visits, good friends conducting mutually-beneficial cooperation, and partners in multilateral cooperation, so as to better benefit the two countries and their people.

The legislative bodies of the two countries should actively implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, strengthen the exchange of experience in state governance and legislative work, and provide legal safeguards for promoting bilateral cooperation in various fields, Li said.

In addition, he said that the two countries should strengthen coordination on multilateral occasions such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union and speak with one voice regarding upholding multilateralism and improving the global governance system from the perspective of legislative bodies.

For his part, Zandanshatar said that friendly exchanges between the legislative bodies of the two countries are an important part of bilateral relations. He expressed the hope that the two legislative bodies deepen exchanges between their special committees and friendship groups.

He noted that the State Great Hural (Parliament) of Mongolia is ready to make positive efforts to enhance political mutual trust between Mongolia and China, promote practical cooperation and deepen friendship between the people of the two countries.

Li briefed the Mongolian side about the upcoming 20th National Congress of the CPC.

The Mongolian side noted that it will firmly adhere to the one-China principle, actively support the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative proposed by President Xi, and is willing to make joint efforts with the Chinese side to push for new development of the Mongolia-China comprehensive strategic partnership.

The Mongolian side also wished the 20th National Congress of the CPC a success.

During his visit in Mongolia, Li also toured the "Mongolian nomadism" grassland and ecological areas. 

Li Zhanshu, chairman of China's National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, holds talks with Chairman of Mongolia's State Great Hural (Parliament) Gombojav Zandanshatar in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, Sept. 11, 2022. Li paid an official goodwill visit to Mongolia from Saturday to Monday, at the invitation of Zandanshatar. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)

Li Zhanshu, chairman of China's National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, meets with Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, Sept. 11, 2022. Li paid an official goodwill visit to Mongolia from Saturday to Monday, at the invitation of Chairman of Mongolia's State Great Hural (Parliament) Gombojav Zandanshatar. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)
AMMAN, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Jordan on Sunday warned against the noticeable decline in international support extended to refugees in the Middle East and the related UN institutions.

The Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi made the remarks at a meeting with UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Filippo Grandi in Amman, where he stressed the need for mobilizing joint action to provide a decent life for refugees and help host countries shoulder the burden of hosting them.

Safadi praised the solid partnership between Jordan and UNHCR to present necessary services to about 1.3 million Syrians residing in Jordan, of which only 10 percent live in refugee camps, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

He also underlined the role of UNHCR in supporting refugees and maintaining their cause on the international agenda.

The two sides agreed to intensify efforts to rally international support for refugees.

For his part, the UN official commended Jordan's role in hosting and providing Syrian refugees with needed health and education services.

Also on Sunday, Jordan's Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh discussed with Grandi the prospects of cooperation between Jordan and UN agencies providing humanitarian and relief services to Syrian refugees, the state-run Petra news agency reported.

King Abdullah II of Jordan received Grandi on Sunday and underlined the need for the international community to shoulder its responsibilities towards host countries, especially in light of challenges related to global food security, according to a statement by the Royal Hashemite Court. 
The file photo shows Samia Suluhu Hassan (L) being sworn in as Tanzanian president at the State House in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on March 19, 2021. (State House of Tanzania/Handout via Xinhua)

Tanzania plans to build the first ever presidential museums in its capital of Dodoma to promote understanding of the presidency.

DAR ES SALAAM, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Tanzania plans to build the first ever presidential museums in its capital of Dodoma to promote understanding of the presidency, an official said on Sunday.

Christowaja Ntandu, the acting director for the Department of Antiquities in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, said the presidential museums will be used as repositories for the papers, records, and historical materials of the country's presidents.

"The public and researchers will be able to access these preserved irreplaceable documents for the widest possible use," Ntandu told Xinhua in a telephone interview.

The file photo, taken on July 11, 2022, shows a historical building in downtown Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. (Photo by Herman Emmanuel/Xinhua)

Preparations underway include architectural designs of the museums and collection of the country's presidents' documents and artifacts, said Ntandu.



She said Pindi Chana, the minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, inspected preparations for the construction of the presidential museums in the Chisichili area covering 20 hectares on Saturday.

Chana said the construction of the presidential museums will add to the east African nation's list of tourist attractions.

Tanzania has been governed by six presidents since it gained independence.
Photo taken on Nov. 29, 2021 shows a meeting of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) Joint Commission in Vienna, Austria. Iran nuclear talks aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal resumed here on Monday after a hiatus of more than five months. (EU Delegation Vienna/Handout via Xinhua)

TEHRAN, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- The United States, in order to rejoin the Iranian nuclear deal, must prove it reliable and show that it abides by the international norms, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nassar Kanaani said Monday.

"The country, which unilaterally withdrew from the agreement signed in 2015, has hindered the achievement of an agreement based on joint interests ... has imposed illegal, unilateral and irrational sanctions (on Iran), and has no right to be a claimant and take a creditor's pose," Nassar Kanaani told reporters during his weekly press conference.



"The U.S. government needs to take a constructive approach to reaching an agreement," he noted.

In its recent response to the EU's proposal on restoring the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran has not raised any new issues or "any serious demands" that would hinder the achievement of a possible agreement, Kanaani said, calling the Western parties' pressures following Iran's response as "psychological warfare."





U.S. President Donald Trump displays a signed presidential memorandum at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on May 8, 2018. U.S. President Donald Trump said here on Tuesday that the United States will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, a landmark agreement signed in 2015. (Xinhua/Ting Shen)

The recent statement of the European troika of France, Germany and Britain about Iran's response to an EU nuclear proposal was "wrong" and "untimely," Kanaani said.

On Saturday, France, Germany and Britain said in a joint statement that Iran "has chosen not to seize this critical diplomatic opportunity" given by a recent EU-submitted "final set of texts" to rescue the JCPOA, voicing their "serious doubts as to Iran's intentions and commitment to a successful outcome on the JCPOA."

"An agreement is a two-way road, and it was expected that the negotiating parties would act constructively in this direction," Kanaani said.

It is regretful that the European troika, instead of responding positively to the "constructive" actions of Iran in the course of reaching an agreement and its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has been influenced by a country, which is not a member of any safeguards systems of the IAEA, the Iranian spokesman said, alluding to Israel's allegations against Iran's nuclear program.

Kanaani urged the IAEA to fulfill its duties professionally and avoid the impacts of pressures from third parties, particularly from Israel.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian meets with European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell in Tehran, Iran, on June 25, 2022. Iran and the European Union announced here on Saturday the resumption of international negotiations in Vienna in the coming days to revive the Iranian nuclear pact. (Iranian Foreign Ministry/Handout via Xinhua)

Iran signed the JCPOA with world major powers in July 2015, agreeing to curb its nuclear program in return for removing 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.

The talks on the JCPOA's revival began in April 2021 in Vienna but were suspended in March this year because of political differences between Tehran and Washington. The latest round of the nuclear talks was held in the Austrian capital in early August after a five-month hiatus.

On Aug. 8, the EU put forward its final text of the draft decision on reviving the JCPOA. Iran and the United States later indirectly exchanged views on the EU proposal.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that Iran's latest response has pushed the negotiations a step back. 


BEIJING, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has stressed efforts to ensure the implementation of policy measures to stabilize economic growth, employment and prices.

Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks at a special meeting after hearing reports from two working groups on work for stabilizing the economy. 
STOCKHOLM, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) --- Preliminary results of the 2022 Swedish parliamentary elections showed early Monday morning that the opposition blue bloc gained 49.7 percent of votes, narrowly heading in the race.

The blue bloc comprises the Moderate Party, the Christian Democrats, the Liberal Party and the Sweden Democrats.

The red bloc of the Social Democratic Party, the Left Party, the Green Party, and the Centre Party gained 48.8 percent of votes.

The top three biggest parties are the Social Democratic Party, the Sweden Democrats and the Moderate Party, with 30.5, 20.7 and 19 percent respectively.

With 92 percent of the votes counted, the blue bloc had gathered 176 parliamentary seats against 173 for the red bloc, putting the election results on a knife edge. There are 349 seats in the Swedish parliament and votes cast outside of Sweden would be counted later this week.

"As far as the government issue is concerned, there is a long way to go before any conclusions can be drawn," Swedish Television's political commentator Mats Knutson was quoted as saying.

Polling stations opened in Sweden on Sunday morning in a tight election of competing red and blue blocs. Preliminary statistics also show that 81.3 percent of the electorate participated in the current parliamentary elections, about 5 percent less than the last elections in 2018. 
CAIRO, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Hani Suweilam said on Sunday that Egypt is one of the world's most affected countries by climate change, Ahram Online news website reported.

The Egyptian minister made the remarks during the opening session of an environmental and development forum on Egypt's preparations to host the 27th session of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) that will be held in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh in November.

Egypt is suffering water scarcity, high temperature, erosion and saltwater intrusion into fresh water, the minister was quoted as saying.

The increases in population, unstable water shares (from rivers such as the Nile) and climate impacts have led to a shortage of water used for drinking, agricultural and industrial purposes in several countries, he added.

The minister also urged all countries to strengthen cooperation on dealing with extreme climate, stressing the need to place the water sector, food and agriculture on the global climate agenda.

Egypt is making great efforts in improving water management, which includes rehabilitating canals to better deliver water to farmers, Suweilam said, adding water is a key element in agriculture and food security.

The minister underlined the necessity of expanding water desalination projects, studying less costly and more efficient ways of reusing wastewater. 
TEHRAN, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman on Monday called the recent statement of the European troika of France, Germany and Britain about Iran's response to an EU nuclear proposal "wrong" and "untimely."

"This was a wrong, ill-considered measure at a wrong time, and it was caused by wrong calculations on the part of the European side," Nassar Kanaani told his weekly press briefing.

On Saturday, France, Germany and Britain said in a joint statement that Iran "has chosen not to seize this critical diplomatic opportunity" given by a recent EU-submitted "final set of texts" to rescue the Iranian nuclear pact, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), voicing their "serious doubts as to Iran's intentions and commitment to a successful outcome on the JCPOA."

"An agreement is a two-way road, and it was expected that the negotiating parties would act constructively in this direction," Kanaani said.

It is regretful that the European troika, instead of responding positively to the "constructive" actions of Iran in the course of reaching an agreement and its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has been influenced by a country, which is not a member of any safeguards systems of the IAEA, the Iranian spokesman said, alluding to Israel's allegations against Iran's nuclear program.

He also urged the IAEA to fulfill its duties professionally and avoid the impacts of pressures from third parties, particularly from Israel. 
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, presides over a special meeting in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 8, 2022. Li made remarks at the meeting after hearing reports from two working groups on work for stabilizing the economy.

Vice Premier Han Zheng, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, attended the meeting. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

BEIJING, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has stressed efforts to ensure the implementation of policy measures to stabilize economic growth, employment and prices.

Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks at a special meeting after hearing reports from two working groups on work for stabilizing the economy.

The working groups have been sent by the State Council to 16 provincial-level regions to supervise and provide services to the localities in resolving difficulties in policy implementation.

Vice Premier Han Zheng, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, attended the meeting.

The country has adopted a package of strong and effective policies for stabilizing the economy in a timely manner, Li said, stressing the need to ensure the solid implementation of the policies.

Noting that stabilizing the economy depends on market entities, Li urged efforts to help market entities tide over difficulties while expanding effective investment to create demand for the market entities and boost their confidence.

Efforts should be made to speed up the construction of key projects, and increase the quota of the policy-backed and development-oriented financial instruments based on the local needs, Li said.

The government will support people's essential housing needs as well as their needs for better housing, and make good use of the policy toolkit by adopting city-specific policies, Li said.

Li also stressed promoting the sustained and healthy development of the platform economy, adding that special loans will be used to support the platform enterprises.

The country will continue to roll out more phased policies to expand consumption and investment, Li said, urging local governments and relevant departments to come up with concrete measures. 

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, presides over a special meeting in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 8, 2022. Li made remarks at the meeting after hearing reports from two working groups on work for stabilizing the economy.

Vice Premier Han Zheng, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, attended the meeting. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, presides over a special meeting in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 8, 2022. Li made remarks at the meeting after hearing reports from two working groups on work for stabilizing the economy.

Vice Premier Han Zheng, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, attended the meeting. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)
By Trend

Tajikistan exported goods worth $95.8 million to Uzbekistan in the first half of 2022, which is more than a twofold increase, compared to the same period of 2021 ($45.1 million), Trend reports referring to the Customs Service of Tajikistan.

According to the customs, the main export goods of Tajikistan to Uzbekistan during the reporting period were:

- Cotton fiber ($17.3 million);

- Zinc ores and concentrates ($14.9 million);

- Electricity ($12.2 million);

- Aluminum ($10.6 million);

- Scrap and ferrous metals waste ($8.2 million).

Meanwhile, Tajik imports of goods from Uzbekistan from January through June 2022 increased by 9.4 percent compared to the same period of last year ($173.1 million) - up to $189.4 million.
VIENNA, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Monday reiterated concerns over the nuclear weapon material transfer involved in AUKUS, the trilateral pact between the United States, the United Kingdom (UK) and Australia, calling on the three countries to abandon it over nuclear proliferation risks.

Wang Qun, China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Vienna, made the remark after a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors decided by consensus to set up a formal agenda item on "Transfer of nuclear materials in the context of AUKUS and its safeguards in all aspects under the NPT (Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons)" at China's proposal.

This move "foiled certain countries' attempt to hijack the IAEA Board meeting," Wang said, adding that it was the fourth consecutive time that the AUKUS issue was included in the formal agenda of the agency's quarterly Board meeting, reflecting the international community's concerns over the transfer of nuclear weapon materials involved in the deal.

In September 2021, the U.S., the UK and Australia announced the establishment of AUKUS, under which the U.S. and the UK will assist Australia in acquiring nuclear-powered submarines.

Wang noted that the AUKUS-related nuclear material transfer is at its core an issue of nuclear proliferation.

"AUKUS goes beyond the existing international non-proliferation regime and the mandate of the IAEA Secretariat. The issue should not be handled by the three countries alone and must be handled by the IAEA member states," he said.

He added that China has always advocated discussion of the issue through an intergovernmental process and the previous discussions at the IAEA Board meetings have helped the international community and the agency's member states realize the severe negative impacts of AUKUS, especially its proliferation risks.

The Chinese envoy said the IAEA Secretariat has been providing a platform for the international community to discuss AUKUS in a fair and objective manner according to the Secretariat's mandate. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi has recently published a report on AUKUS, marking a right step in urging the three countries to fulfill their non-proliferation obligations.

However, the U.S., the UK and Australia have ignored the AUKUS-related discussions at the IAEA Board meetings and in relevant intergovernmental processes and tried to set up a separate agenda item on the issue, aiming to hijack the IAEA Secretariat to whitewash their proliferation activities and create divisions within the agency, Wang said.

He urged the IAEA to remain neutral and continue to provide the platform for addressing the proliferation risks of AUKUS, and called on the IAEA member states to focus on the illicit transfer of nuclear materials under AUKUS at the agency's ongoing Board meeting and seek solutions to safeguard the NPT.

He also urged the U.S., the UK and Australia to stop hindering the IAEA's performance of its duties and undermining the international order, multilateralism and world peace. 
by Mahmoud Fouly

CAIRO, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- The China Cultural Center in Cairo celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival on Saturday in a festive atmosphere climaxed with the Egyptian students' performance for a Chinese poetry recitation contest.

Celebrating family reunions and sights of the full moon, the Mid-Autumn Festival is marked on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, which falls on Sept. 10 this year.

During the evening, the center's yard was converted into a contest venue, where walls and trees decorated in red lighting brimmed it with a joyous mood.

Rivaling Egyptian students expressively interpreted their choice of Chinese poems against background videos themed on Chinese culture and created by respective contenders to elaborate stage effects.

Ten students were awarded prizes, and the top winner went to Nada Hosny, a student from the Al-Alsun Faculty at Suez Canal University in Ismailia province who performed on a poem written by late Chinese leader Mao Zedong.

"My ambition is to get a scholarship to travel to China and then study for a master's degree when I come back. I dream of becoming a Chinese-language teacher," Hosny told Xinhua.

Giving credit to her professors for her fluency in Chinese, Hosny said she decided to study Chinese because she "found that the Chinese language is one of the best for the job market."

Nada's professor Sheng Yusi, also goes by "Salma" in Arabic, told Xinhua during the event that she was very proud that her student made it top in the contest and felt that her efforts were rewarded.

"We teach foreign students the Chinese language and also convey the Chinese culture to them. We exchange our cultures," Salma said in fluent Arabic.

The ceremony was inaugurated by Zhang Tao, charge d'affaires of the Chinese embassy in Egypt, for inviting more "Egyptian friends" to learn about the Chinese culture and the Mid-Autumn Festival.

For his part, Yang Ronghao, cultural counselor of the Chinese embassy and director of the China Cultural Center in Cairo, said he was impressed by the improvement of the students' language skills and their understanding of Chinese poetry this year.

El-Hassan Ali, a student at the Confucius Institute at Cairo University, was among the six students who achieved third place.

"I participated in many China-related activities including this one marking the Mid-Autumn Festival. Through these activities, I've learned a lot about Chinese culture and made many Chinese friends," he said.

Chinese has become one of the most wanted languages among Egyptian learners, according to Hassan Ragab, dean of Al-Alsun Faculty at the Suez Canal University and director of Confucius Institute at the university.

"I believe this has to do with China's economic rise and cultural influence, the distinguished Egyptian-Chinese relations and the strategic ties between Egypt and China," Ragab told Xinhua. 
PHNOM PENH, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said here on Monday that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has been contributing to a sustainable and inclusive post-COVID-19 economic recovery.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) must "take full advantage of free trade agreements, especially the RCEP agreement, which is the largest free trade agreement in global history," he said in a speech at the opening ceremony of the 2022 ASEAN Leadership and Partnership Forum.

Hun Sen, the chair of ASEAN for 2022, said ASEAN must continue to promote economic integration and turn the bloc into an attractive and dynamic trade and investment hub by reducing tax and non-tax barriers.

He also officially announced the opening of the ASEAN Economic Club.

"The club will play a key role in promoting a more cohesive ASEAN economic integration through contribution in monitoring, evaluating and advising ... on the implementation of agreements reached by ASEAN leaders, particularly on free trade agreements, the RCEP agreement and other agreements related to the economic pillar," he said.

Cambodian Ministry of Commerce's undersecretary of state and spokesman Penn Sovicheat said the RCEP has further facilitated cross-border trade and investment flows, and created a huge market.

"RCEP is comprehensive, covering trade in goods, trade in services, investment, economic and technical cooperation, dispute settlement, e-commerce, competition, and intellectual property, among others," he told Xinhua. "This trade pact has promoted multilateralism and free trade and all participating countries will benefit from it in the long term."

Kin Phea, director-general of the International Relations Institute at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, said the RCEP is multilateral trade cooperation and its structure is truly meant to benefit all participating countries.

Phea said the RCEP "is instrumental in subverting creeping unilateralism because it pulls all bilateral free trade agreements into one economic sphere, under one blanket trade ruling."

Joseph Matthews, a senior professor at the BELTEI International University in Phnom Penh, said RCEP has been giving a big boost to regional and global economic recovery in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era.

"This mega-trade deal holds huge potential for all participating countries to boost their trade and investment ties and to quicken their economic recovery from the pandemic," he told Xinhua.

"Under the RCEP, all member countries will reap long-term benefits by integrating further into regional and global supply chains and creating new jobs for their respective peoples," Matthews said.

Entered into force in January 2022, the mega-regional trade pact comprises 15 Asia-Pacific countries including 10 ASEAN member states, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, and their five trading partners, namely China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. 
CANBERRA, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Crocodile farming and the native bush food industry will be key to growing the economy of Australia's Northern Territory (NT) under a new plan.

The NT government on Monday released the Top End Region Economic Growth Plan 2022-2030, outlining opportunities to help achieve the goal of a 40 billion Australian dollar (27.3 billion U.S. dollar) economy.

It features a strong focus on the agriculture, tourism, resources and energy growth possibilities in remote areas of the NT.

For the Tiwi Islands off the north coast of the NT it identified a planned crocodile hatchery, aquaculture and the buffalo industry as major opportunities.

"Tiwi Enterprises will construct and operate the hatchery, with the eventual aim, in year 2, to take in 2,100 eggs for incubation," the report said.

It said an aquaculture prospectus had been created to promote potential areas for aquaculture development of different species, including prawns, barramundi and oysters.

"Approximately 18,000 head of buffalo live on the Tiwi Islands. Feasibility planning is underway to develop the industry, including safari-style tourism, live buffalo exports and developing a meatworks that would service the local population and crocodile farm."

According to a report published by national science agency the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) in March, Australia has the potential to become a world-leading protein exporter.

It identified the export of non-traditional protein sources such as edible insects as a significant growth opportunity.

The NT report said such opportunities were being explored by some businesses.

"Initiatives include developing Kakadu plum orchards and exploring the commercialization of other bush foods found on country," it said.

NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said on Monday that with a focus on agribusiness, resources, tourism, energy transition, construction and civil works, the plan sets out a pathway to create local jobs, economic growth and attract private investment. 
PHNOM PENH, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen of Cambodia, the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for 2022, said here on Monday that bloc members must work together to address challenges to safeguard regional peace, stability and prosperity.

"In the context where geopolitical competition is heating up, ASEAN must act as a role model and work together to ensure regional peace, stability and prosperity by strengthening ASEAN unity and centrality and strictly adhering to partnerships and multilateral mechanisms to address challenges," he said in a speech at the opening ceremony of the 2022 ASEAN Leadership and Partnership Forum.

"Furthermore, ASEAN must also play a central role and serve as a platform for dialogues and cooperation, while reinforcing an open, transparent, inclusive, and rules-based regional architecture," he added.

The Cambodian leader said that as the ASEAN chair for 2022, Cambodia has worked actively in expanding and strengthening ASEAN's cooperation and partnership in various forms and fields, including socio-economy, trade and investment with friendly countries, development partners and international communities.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. 
FRANKFURT, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- One man was killed and another one was seriously injured in a shooting incident in Offenbach am Main in western Germany on Sunday evening, according to the regional police headquarters.

The victims were gunned down at around 8:18 p.m. local time (1816 GMT) in the downtown of the city, said a police spokesman of the police headquarters of Southeast Hesse, which is located in Offenbach am Main.

The suspected perpetrator is on the run. A large-scale manhunt with a police helicopter is underway, said the police. 
ANKARA, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Four Turkish soldiers were killed in a clash with militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, the Turkish defense ministry said Monday.

The clash took place on Sunday when Turkish security forces were conducting a search mission in a region where Turkiye was carrying out a cross-border operation, according to a ministry statement.

Two soldiers were killed and four others injured in the clash with PKK militants in the Operation Claw-Lock zone, but two of the four injured later died at the hospital.

Meanwhile, Vedat Aksac, who was a member of the PKK's "assassination team," and two other members of the group were killed in a Turkish operation in Khalifan, a town in the northern Iraqi province of Erbil, state-run TRT broadcaster reported Monday.

The Turkish intelligence service found out that Aksac had planned to travel to Turkish cities to carry out an attack, according to the TRT report.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the United States and the EU, has been rebelling against the Turkish government for more than three decades.

The Turkish forces frequently carry out ground operations, airstrikes and artillery bombardments against the group's positions in northern Iraq, especially the Qandil Mountains, the main base of the PKK.

In April, the Turkish army launched a new ground and air cross-border operation, dubbed Claw-Lock, against the PKK targets in the Metina, Zap and Avasin-Basyan regions of northern Iraq. 
ATHENS, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Greece will always seek to keep open channels of communication with Turkiye, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Sunday.

The prime minister made the remarks at a press conference during the 86th Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) in Thessaloniki, a port city in northern Greece.

Mitsotakis rejected "recent unacceptable statements" of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, adding that despite such remarks, he was "always available and open to a meeting with the Turkish leader," Greek national broadcaster ERT reported.

"I cannot imagine that there will be a conflict between Greece and Turkiye ... I do not believe that this will ever happen," Mitsotakis said.

During an event in Turkiye earlier this month, Erdogan accused Greece of "harassment" of Turkish fighter jets in the Aegean Sea and the eastern Mediterranean recently. Greece has rejected the claims.

Relations between the two countries have long been tense over a series of issues, including maritime and energy disputes in the Aegean and the Mediterranean Sea. 
Brazil: A supporter of right-wing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro stabbed a supporter of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the latest sign of escalating political tensions ahead of the upcoming election, officials said on Friday.

Violence erupted in the west-central state of Mato Grosso, after a dispute over voting for two candidates erupted. In an election climate with intense polarization, Bolsonaro is trailing Lula in the polls.

According to the police report of the incident, 24-year-old Rafael Silva de Oliveira stabbed 42-year-old Benedito Cardoso dos Santos to death. The accused was brought to the police station, where he was arrested after confessing.

Lula addressed the stabbing incident at Friday's press conference in Rio de Janeiro, saying that "there is an atmosphere of hatred in the election process that is completely unusual."

Police should investigate whether such incidents were "ordered, or directed, or if this is a political tactic," Lula said.

He did not provide any evidence to support his claim that the attacks were planned.

According to Juanita Goeberts Estrada, director of Human Rights Watch for the Americas, the assassination of Cardoso dos Santos should be strongly condemned by all candidates.

She also said that "Brazilians deserve peaceful elections and should be able to engage in political discussions without fear of violence or retaliation for their views."

There was no immediate response from the President's Office for comment inquiry.

A similar incident occurred in July when a federal prison guard shot and killed a local Lula Workers' Party official while shouting in support of Bolsonaro.

A Bolsonaro supporter, who suffered a head injury on Friday, claimed he was attacked by supporters of the Workers' Party while they waited for Lula to attend an evangelical meeting in the state city of So Goncalo.

Bolsonaro, who has long held prison terms against Lula and his left-wing allies, has stoked any electoral losses, including baseless allegations of electoral fraud and issues with Brazil's widely regarded electronic voting system.

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BEIJING: High-ranking representatives, political stalwarts and senior officials of the banned administration on Monday offered their final praise at the burial service of Hong Kong's longest-serving security boss Ambrose Lee Siu-Kwong.

Lee, who served as Secretary for Security from 2003 to 2012 and directed the response of the public authority to the highest point of exchange and to a catastrophic prisoner emergency that involved people visiting the Philippines, said on August 14. To kicked the bucket in his comfort, mature 73.

As indicated by the dedication book, he had been feeling unwell the night before his death, although his condition had improved prior to the mowing.

The two-day administration, which followed Christian customs, was held on Sundays and Mondays at the General Burial Service Parlor in Hung Hom. Among those visiting were CEO John Lee Ka-chiu and previous pioneers Leung Chun-ying and Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-Ngor.

Lee's previous government partners  Boss Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki, Leader Board Convenor Regina Ip Lau Suk-Yi, who served as Security Boss from 1998 to 2003, appointed Monetary Secretary Michael Wong Wai-lun, and current Security Secretary Chris Tang went on as Ping-kyung - Palbear. Many others laid wreaths.

Lee is created because of his better half, two children and four grandchildren. Their child, Glenn Lee Lam-yan, was a craftsman for the neighborhood telecaster TVB for more than twenty years.

In the commemoration booklet, which included family photos and drawings, a granddaughter said that Ambrose Lee was a good example of her as far as she could remember and her caddy on the green.

"My mom usually says that our proud dad keeps all our report cards, and we can't go into a fabulous family with a terrible report. I'll admit you probably went to heaven as a star student, " She wrote.

"I also believe that you will cheer for me when you one day have bright fathers looking at my graduation sheet!"

Another granddaughter reviewed how Lee would buy everything she wanted to eat and needed in any event, when she didn't burn huge amounts of cash on her clothes.

"You usually make a sincere effort to help me deal with my concerns at any point. Despite the fact that you don't say sweet words or tell me that you love me, I realize That you generally empower and nurture me," she said.

Brought into the world in 1948, Lee attended Kowloon Specialized School and moved on to the Electrical and Electronic Designing Division of the College of Hong Kong. Further examinations took him to Oxford College in England, Tsinghua College in Beijing and Harvard College in America.

He joined the Common Aid in 1974 as a movement officer and rose through positions to become associate chief in 1995 and representative chief two years after the fact. He served as the movement's observer from 1998 to 2002.

In 2002, Lee was named head of the Autonomous Commission Against Defiance and Tung Chi-hwa joined the organization the following year as Secretary of Security.

He dropped the IP, which came down after a riot of an expected portion of 1,000,000 individuals to fight over a proposed public safety regulation, forcing the public authority to drop the idea.

Lee was a security service during the biggest emergency to face public authority in more than 25 years, including a 2005 brawl by South Korean ranchers at the highest point of the World Exchange Association, which led police to some midtown areas. prompted to close.

In 2010, eight Hong Kong sightseers and their associates, a com, were killed in Manila after an 11-hour standoff between police and a frustrated previous officer who had commanded the gathering's traveling transport. The failed prisoner emergency seriously damaged relations between the Philippines and Hong Kong.

After stepping down as pastor, Li served as a delegate to the Congress of the Public Nation, China's top council, from 2013 to 2018 and often came across as genuinely new to questionable comments on current issues. .

In 2016, he portrayed youth associated with the Mong Kok rebellion, where an crackdown on unlicensed vendors on the Lunar New Year turned into an evening of mob brutality in the area, as "demons" who lost their souls.

China and Nepal's rail line must traverse mountains, geopolitical tensions, and enormous costs

Covid-19 tests have produced at least 5.4 million tonnes of greenhouse gases in china

Unmanned surface ships: the next step in the military conflict between China and the US?
Trend Industries FZC, a front-runner organisation partnering with clients in the field of specialised fabrication, has announced plans to invest AED25 million ($6.80 million) in the construction of a new production facility in the Hamriyah Free Zone (HFZA), UAE.

According to the companys new expansion strategy, Trend Industries will scale up its production capacity from 3,600 tonnes per year (tpy) to 8,400 tpy, which will further strengthen Sharjah's position as a global leader in steel fabrication.

This was announced during a ceremony held recently to sign a lease agreement between Hamriyah Free Zone Authority (HFZA) and Trend Industries.

Saud Salim Al Mazrouei, Director of the Hamriyah Free Zone Authority, and Neeraj K Sharma, CEO of Trend Industries, signed the partnership agreement in the presence of a number of senior officials from both entities. According to the agreement, the steel fabrication company would lease 323,000 sq ft of land to build its new factory.

Accompanied by a number of HFZAs officials, Al Mazrouei toured Trend Industries existing facility, which offers a comprehensive suite of fabrication and manufacturing services that includes a complete portfolio of managed solutions.

In addition to storage tanks, air receiver tanks, pressure vessels, heavy structure fabrication and installation, chiller plant skids, silos, skids for pressure silos, the facility also produces chemical skid fabrication, piping systems, crane and escalator beams, flatbed and container trailers, crane-mounted trailers for cargo bodies & blocks, tipper/water/diesel tank trailers, cesspit tanks, and frame trailers, among many more.

Al Mazrouei was briefed on the production processes and mechanisms adopted in accordance with the latest international standards. The production plant was founded in 2006 and now employs around 134 personnel including technicians.

Al Mazrouei expressed his appreciation for Trend Industries' decision and emphasized that HFZA would continue to promote investments in heavy industries, including steel fabrication, by offering a welcoming business environment and cutting-edge infrastructure that perfectly suits these industries and meets their needs, adding that HFZA's deep water port and inner harbor facilitate the import and export of goods and raw materials.

"More businesses are either growing in the free zone or basing their operations there, Al Mazrouei said. This is due to the effectiveness of our sophisticated systems, which guarantee the flow of raw materials on a regular basis and enable manufacturing facilities to run at full capacity, as well as the integrated logistical services that we provide, linking manufacturers with more than 3.5 billion customers around the world.

He underlined that the HFZA has grown into a significant partner, supporting the emirate's future goals of attracting further foreign direct investments to Sharjah. He also added that manufacturing is one of the sectors that the free zone is known for, which can effectively attract quality and sustainable investments to improve Sharjah's competitiveness and reputation locally and abroad.

For his part, Neeraj Sharma said that HFZA has significantly supported the company in accelerating its growth and achieving its vision of becoming a leading manufacturing company in the Middle East by expanding 3Ms  Men, Material, and Machinery.

"Thanks to HFZAs outstanding facilities as well as its strategic location in the midst of the Middle East and African markets, we have been able to establish our first production facility that incredibly satisfies the demands of our customers in the local, regional, and international markets," Sharma added.

"Through the new facility, we look forward to expanding our customer base, accessing new markets in Africa, the USA, Europe, and India, and branching out into new sectors like automobiles, oil & gas industry, in addition to the industries we are currently specialized in, such as construction and manufacturing industry," he clarified.--TradeArabia News Service
A group of loan shark victims clash with police during a demonstration, in Kathmandu, on Monday, September 12, 2022. Photo: Aryan Dhimal

Kathmandu, September 12

Kathmandu police have suppressed a protest organised by loan shark victims who have come to the capital from various districts in the southern plains demanding justice.

As the people started the demonstration in Kirtipur in southern Kathmandu today, the police baton-charged demonstrators to halt the event. The law enforcers also arrested around 60 demonstrators, according to a leader of the team.

Some protesters have also sustained injuries.

The demonstrators had a plan to march to Maitighar Mandala in central Kathmandu during the protest today. However, it has been foiled by the police.
Fortune Business Insights

According to Fortune Business Insights, the global Product Lifecycle Management Market Size is projected to reach USD 26.73 billion in 2026, at CAGR of 6.3% during forecast period [2022 - 2026]; Global Product Lifecycle Management Market to Witness Steep Growth, Driven by Increasing IoT and AI Integration

Pune, India, Sept. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to a published report by Fortune Business Insights, titled,  Product Life Cycle Management Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Deployment, By Industry Vertical, and Regional Forecast, 2022-2026, the global Product Lifecycle Management Market is expected to reach USD 26.73 Billion by 2026, thereby exhibiting a CAGR of 6.3 % during the forecast period. The report further states that the global market size was valued at USD 17.87 Billion in 2018. A rise in the flexibility of scale-up and scale-down infrastructure will also contribute to the growth of the global PLM market.

Industry Development:

In July 2021 , Centric Software launched an updated version of product lifecycle management (PLM) solution, as Centric 8 PLM, version 7.3. Centric 8 PLM is developed with advanced features to cater to end-users across sectors such as consumer goods, food & beverage, personal care and household, cosmetics, and other products.

In April 2021, InnovMetric launched PolyWorks Data Loop PLM Connectors. The PLM connectors are developed to connect product lifecycle management systems with PolyWorks smart 3D metrology digital network. These connectors are deployed across the manufacturing industry.





Sample Copy of the Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/product-life-cycle-management-market-100370





Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 2022 to 2026 Forecast Period 2022 to 2026 CAGR 6.3 % 2026 Value Projection USD 26.73 Billion Base Year 2018 Product Lifecycle Management Market Size in 2018 USD 17.87 Billion Historical Data for 2015 to 2017 No. of Pages 120 Segments covered By Deployment; Industry and Geogrphy PLM Market Growth Drivers Increasing Usage of Cloud-based Solutions to Boost Market Growth Evolution of connected devices and smart factories Market leaders such as Dassault Systemes and Siemens AG would focus on strengthening the market position with respect to providing PLM solutions.





Driving Factor:

Increasing Usage of Cloud-based Solutions to Boost Market Growth

Several core technologies are under evolution in todays world. Such technologies include machine learning, artificial intelligence, and blockchain. It is projected to fuel the global Product Life Cycle Management Market. Moreover, there is a rise in the implementation of cloud-based solutions in the PLM system, which is likely to boost market growth. Siemens AG, for instance, announced in August 2017, that it successfully acquired TASS International B. V., a software company, based in Netherlands.

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The main of this acquisition was to add automated driving solutions to the companys portfolio. As per Siemens, its PLM software portfolio provides a notable opportunity to TASS and its loyal consumers to propel the research and development of safety-critical operations in the field of connected and automated driving. The companys test and engineering services are meant to reach a much larger audience through its extended chains.

Dassault Systemes Renews Contract with Rockwell Collins to Strengthen its Position in the Market

Dassault Systemes, a software company, based in France, has announced that it has successfully renewed an agreement in June 2017 with Rockwell Collins, a multinational corporation company headquartered in Iowa. Rockwell is deploying Exalead and Enovia applications from Dassault to develop a PLM-friendly environment for its technology and engineering sectors across the globe. Rockwell is investing a huge sum in Dassaults technologies to enhance the partnership across manufacturing, research, and development processes, aid in managing its internal costs for critical systems, and streamline workflows.





Browse Complete Report Details with Table of Content and Figures:

https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/industry-reports/product-life-cycle-management-market-100370





Regional Insights:

 According to the report, North America emerged dominant in the global market in 2017. Furthermore, the region is expected to progress at a promising CAGR through the course of the forecast period. Nations such as the U. S. and Canada are exhibiting high demand for electronic computer-aided design (ECAD) and mechanical computer-aided design (MCAD). This is expected to boost the North America product lifecycle management market. The Asia Pacific market is likely to witness impressive growth. The aerospace and defense sectors in the region are likely to offer lucrative growth opportunities, exhibiting a rising in the adoption of product lifecycle software. This would further fuel the demand in the global market.

 Furthermore, the market is expected to gain from the introduction of cloud-based product lifecycle management software. Besides this, the rising demand from India and China will bode well for the overall market. Besides this, in Latin America and the Middle East and Africa market, organizations are updating their product lifecycle management systems to integrate new cloud-based software. This in response will facilitate the adoption of cloud-based product lifecycle management software and enable growth in the market.





PLM Market Segmentation:





































Segmentation By Deployment Cloud

On-Premises By Industry Discrete Industry Automotive Electronics Heavy Manufacturing Others (Aerospace and Defence, High Tech and Others)

Process Industry Oil & Gas Chemicals Healthcare Others (Pharmaceuticals, Petroleum and Others)

By Geography North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Middle East & Africa

Latin America





Competitive Landscape-

Market Players Adopt Innovative Strategies to Gain Competitive Advantage

The global product lifecycle management market is likely to gain from the advent of industrial internet of things. Therefore, as per Victorias state government, the global IIoT industry is foreseen to expand between 20 and 40% every year. The industry is further expected to value US$ 1 Bn by 2020. This is likely to enable growth in the global product lifecycle management market.

The global product lifecycle management market is expanding at a promising CAGR. The competition among the market players in increasing owing to the prevailing opportunities

Companies Profiled in Product Life Cycle Management Market Report:

Hewlett-Packard Company

BigLever Software

PTC Inc.

IBM Corporation

Siemens AG

Accenture PLC

Dassault Systems

Autodesk, Inc.

Oracle Corporation

IFS

SAP SE





Have Any Query? Speak to Analyst: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/product-life-cycle-management-market-100370





Major Points in TOC:

Introduction Definition, By Segment Research Approach Sources

Executive Summary

Market Dynamics Drivers, Restraints and Opportunities Emerging Trends

Key Insights Macro and Micro Economic Indicators Consolidated SWOT Analysis for Key Players PESTLE Analysis

Global Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast, 2016-2026 Key Findings / Summary Market Size Estimates and Forecasts  By Deployment (US$ Mn) On-Premise Cloud Market Size Estimates and Forecasts  By End-User (US$ Mn) Discrete Industry Automotive Electronics Heavy Manufacturing Others (Aerospace and Defense, High Tech and Others) Process Industry Oil & Gas Chemicals Healthcare Others (Pharmaceuticals, Petroleum and Others) Market Size Estimates and Forecasts  By Geography (US$ Mn) North America Europe Asia Pacific Middle East and Africa Latin America

North America Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast, 2016-2026 Key Findings / Summary Market Size Estimates and Forecasts  By Deployment (US$ Mn) On-Premise Cloud Market Size Estimates and Forecasts  By End-User (US$ Mn) Discrete Industry Automotive Electronics Heavy Manufacturing Others (Aerospace and Defense, High Tech and Others) Process Industry Oil & Gas Chemicals Healthcare Others (Pharmaceuticals, Petroleum and Others) Market Size Estimates and Forecasts  By Country (US$ Mn) United States Canada

Europe Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast, 2016-2026

TOC Continued!

FAQs:

How big is the PLM industry?

Product Life Cycle Management Market size stood at USD 16.76 Billion in 2018 is expected to reach USD 26.73 Billion by 2026, exhibiting a CAGR of 6.3% during 2019-2026.

How much will the global product life cycle management market be worth in the future?

The product life cycle market is estimated to reach US$ 26.73 Bn by the end of 2026.

About Us:

Fortune Business Insights offers expert corporate analysis and accurate data, helping organizations of all sizes make timely decisions. We tailor innovative solutions for our clients, assisting them to address challenges distinct to their businesses. Our goal is to empower our clients with holistic market intelligence, giving a granular overview of the market they are operating in.

Contact Us:

Fortune Business Insights Pvt. Ltd.

US :+1 424 253 0390

UK : +44 2071 939123

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Email: sales@fortunebusinessinsights.com




Kim, 51 (San Diego, Calif.) and Usman, 33 (Nigeria)

TLC Kim and Usman from 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After

Kim Menzies is risking it all for her romance with Usman "Sojaboy" Umar.

On Sunday night's episode of 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After, the reality star was getting ready to depart to Nigeria after her boyfriend Usman, 32, invited her to meet his family for the first time.

"Even though I have a 25-hour flight ahead of me, I am so excited because I know when I step off that plane I'm going to see my boyfriend Uthman aka Sojaboy," she said in a confessional.

Explaining the purpose of her travel, Kim, 50, shared, "This trip to Nigeria is to find out what our future holds because if we don't get Usman's mom's blessings, I really don't know what's going to happen with our relationship."

RELATED: 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After's Kim Plans Proposal to Usman  and a Second Wife So They Can Have Children

"I can't be his friend again either. I get engaged or I go home heartbroken and devastated, and I will never date again. And I swear I will not date again," she affirmed.

90 Day Fiance's Kim Admits She Put Relationship with Usman 'on the Line' and Vows Never to Date Again. TLC

TLC

While Kim bid her farewell to her mom, Kelly, in San Diego, her mom expressed concern about Kim's relationship with Usman in a confessional, saying, "I don't want to see her get hurt, I just don't."

"Sometimes you can't listen to your heart. You have got to listen to something in your head, but it's pretty much out of my hands, you can only be a mother for so long," she continued.

Her son Jamal later drove her to the airport, and while in the car, the two had a chat about Usman after Kim played her favorite song from the Nigerian musician.

Never miss a story  sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up to date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Kim talked about how she wanted Jamal to have his own relationship with Usman. However, Usman wasn't too much of a fan of the idea.

"Or we can just not," he said. "I just really do hope that you're not going to propose as soon as you get there."

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After dropping her mom off at the airport, Jamal shared his own opinion of his mom's relationship with Usman, noting their age differences.

"Uthman is a lot younger, so I feel what she wants versus what he wants will end up causing some serious issues. And I know my mom plans on proposing to Sojaboy, but we will see how that goes," he explained. "I have watched my mom get hurt a lot in the past. She falls head over heels for a guy and things move really fast. I don't want her to just kinda get caught up in Usman's words because I know he has a good way of talking."

"I wanted her to be happy, but I also wanted her to be smart," he added.

RELATED: 90 Day Fiance Recap: Sumit's Mother Says He's Uninvited to Her Funeral After Marrying Jenny

Kim appeared emotional to leave her son and admitted it was hard, but she felt very strongly about her decision to see Usman, saying, "my heart is pounding outside of my chest now."

In a confessional, she said, "Usman, I have [a] connection like no other man I've ever been with I never thought I would have to fly halfway across the world to find that, but I did."

"And our whole relationship is on the line right now because what happens if Usman's family doesn't approve of me I don't know, but I have a feeling they will see the love that he has for me, that is my hope," she shared.

In the previous episode, Kim shared her proposal plans with her friends Alyssa and Vanessa, who weren't sold on her romance with Usman. She also revealed that since she couldn't have a kid, Usman will need to get a second wife to have children with.

90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on TLC.
PHILADELPHIA, PA / ACCESSWIRE / September 12, 2022 / The following abrdn U.S. Closed-End Funds announced today that the closed end funds in the chart directly below will pay the distributions indicated on a per share basis on September 30, 2022 to all shareholders of record as of September 23, 2022 (ex-dividend date September 22, 2022).

Press Release

Ticker Exchange Fund Amount ACP NYSE abrdn Income Credit Strategies Fund $ 0.1000 AEF NYSE American abrdn Emerging Markets Equity Income Fund, Inc. $ 0.1000 AGD NYSE abrdn Global Dynamic Dividend Fund $ 0.0650 AOD NYSE abrdn Total Dynamic Dividend Fund $ 0.0575 ASGI NYSE abrdn Global Infrastructure Income Fund $ 0.1200 AWP NYSE abrdn Global Premier Properties Fund $ 0.0400 FAX NYSE American abrdn Asia-Pacific Income Fund, Inc. $ 0.0275 FCO NYSE American abrdn Global Income Fund, Inc. $ 0.0700

At the end of each calendar year, a Form 1099-DIV will be sent to shareholders, which will state the amount and composition of each fund's distributions and provide information with respect to their appropriate tax treatment for the prior calendar year. You should not draw any conclusions about any of these Funds' investment performance from the amount of the distributions.

MANAGED DISTRIBUTION POLICY FUNDS

ANNOUNCE DISTRIBUTION PAYMENT DETAILS

abrdn Global Infrastructure Income Fund ("ASGI")

abrdn Asia-Pacific Income Fund, Inc. ("FAX")

The above-noted abrdn U.S. Closed-End Funds (the "Funds" or individually the "Fund"), today announced that the Funds will pay the distributions noted in the chart above on September 30, 2022, on a per share basis to all shareholders of record as of September 23, 2022 (ex-dividend date September 22, 2022).

Each Fund has adopted a distribution policy to provide investors with a stable distribution out of current income, supplemented by realized capital gains and, to the extent necessary, paid-in capital in reliance on an exemptive order granted by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Under applicable U.S. tax rules, the amount and character of distributable income for each Fund's fiscal

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year can be finally determined only as of the end of the Fund's fiscal year. However, under Section 19 of

the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "1940 Act") and related rules, the Funds may be required to indicate to shareholders the estimated source of certain distributions to shareholders.

The following tables set forth the estimated amounts of the sources of the distributions for purposes of Section 19 of the 1940 Act and the rules adopted thereunder. The tables have been computed based on generally accepted accounting principles. The tables include estimated amounts and percentages for the current distributions to be paid as well as for the cumulative distributions paid relating to fiscal year to date, from the following sources: net investment income; net realized short-term capital gains; net realized long-term capital gains; and return of capital. The estimated compositions of the distributions may vary because the estimated composition may be impacted by future income, expenses and realized gains and losses on securities and currencies.

Each Fund's estimated sources of the current distributions to be paid and for its current fiscal year to date are as follows:

Estimated Amounts of Current Distribution per Share Fund Distribution Amount Net Investment Income Net Realized Short-Term Gains** Net Realized Long-Term Gains Return of Capital ASGI $0.1200 $0.0132 11% - - $0.1068 89% - - FAX $0.0275 $0.0149 54% - - - - $0.0126 46%

Estimated Amounts of Fiscal Year to Date Cumulative Distributions per Share Fund Fiscal Year* to Date Distribution Amount Net Investment Income Net Realized Short-Term Gains** Net Realized Long-Term Gains Return of Capital ASGI $1.3698 $0.1507 11% - - $1.2191 89% - - FAX $0.3025 $0.1634 54% - - - - $0.1391 46%

* ASGI has a 9/30 fiscal year end; FAX has a 10/31 fiscal year end.

**includes currency gains

Where the estimated amounts above show a portion of the distribution to be a "Return of Capital," it means that Fund estimates that it has distributed more than its income and capital gains; therefore, a portion of your distribution may be a return of capital. A return of capital may occur for example, when some or all of the money that you invested in a Fund is paid back to you. A return of capital distribution does not necessarily reflect the Fund's investment performance and should not be confused with "yield" or "income."

The amounts and sources of distributions reported in this notice are only estimates and are not being provided for tax reporting purposes. The final determination of the source of all distributions for the current year will only be made after year-end. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Fund's investment experience during the remainder of the fiscal year and may be subject to change based on tax regulations. After the end of each calendar year, a Form 1099-DIV will be sent to shareholders for the prior calendar year that will tell you how to report these distributions for federal income tax purposes.

The following table provides the Funds' total return performance based on net asset value (NAV) over various time periods compared to the Funds' annualized and cumulative distribution rates.

Fund Performance and Distribution Rate Information Fund Average Annual Total Return on NAV for the 5 Year Period Ending 08/31/2022 Current Fiscal Period's Annualized Distribution Rate on NAV Cumulative Total Return on NAV Cumulative Distribution Rate on NAV ASGI 8.68%3 6.55% 0.11% 5.98% FAX -1.80% 10.03% -18.34% 8.36%

1 Return data is net of all fund expenses and fees and assumes the reinvestment of all distributions reinvested at prices obtained under the Fund's dividend reinvestment plan.

2 Based on the Fund's NAV as of August 31, 2022.

3 The Fund launched within the past 5 years; the performance and distribution rate information presented reflects data from inception (July 29, 2020) through August 31, 2022.

4 The percentage shown does not include the Fund's annual distribution policy in place in 2021.

Shareholders should not draw any conclusions about a Fund's investment performance from the amount of the Fund's current distributions or from the terms of the distribution policy (the "Distribution Policy").

While NAV performance may be indicative of the Fund's investment performance, it does not measure the value of a shareholder's investment in the Fund. The value of a shareholder's investment in the Fund is determined by the Fund's market price, which is based on the supply and demand for the Fund's shares in the open market.

Pursuant to an exemptive order granted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Funds may distribute any long-term capital gains more frequently than the limits provided in Section 19(b) under the 1940 Act and Rule 19b-1 thereunder. Therefore, distributions paid by the Funds during the year may include net income, short-term capital gains, long-term capital gains and/or a return of capital. Net income dividends and short-term capital gain dividends, while generally taxable at ordinary income rates, may be eligible, to the extent of qualified dividend income earned by the Funds, to be taxed at a lower rate not to exceed the maximum rate applicable to your long-term capital gains. Distributions made in any calendar year in excess of investment company taxable income and net capital gain are treated as taxable ordinary dividends to the extent of undistributed earnings and profits, and then as a return of capital that reduces the adjusted basis in the shares held. To the extent return of capital distributions exceed the adjusted basis in the shares held,

Capital gain is recognized with a holding period based on the period the shares have been held at the date such amount is received.

The payment of distributions in accordance with the Distribution Policy may result in a decrease in the Fund's net assets. A decrease in the Fund's net assets may cause an increase in the Fund's annual operating expense ratio and a decrease in the Fund's market price per share to the extent the market price correlates closely to the Fund's net asset value per share. The Distribution Policy may also negatively affect the Fund's investment activities to the extent that the Fund is required to hold larger cash positions than it typically would hold or to the extent that the Fund must liquidate securities that it would not have sold, for the purpose of paying the distribution. Each Fund's Board has the right to amend, suspend or terminate the Distribution Policy at any time. The amendment, suspension or termination of the Distribution Policy may affect the Fund's market price per share. Investors should consult their tax advisor regarding federal, state and local tax considerations that may be applicable in their particular circumstances.

Circular 230 disclosure : To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the U.S. Treasury, we inform you that any U.S. tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein.

In the United States, abrdn is the marketing name for the following affiliated, registered investment advisers: abrdn Inc., Aberdeen Asset Managers Ltd., abrdn Australia Limited, abrdn Asia Limited, Aberdeen Capital Management, LLC, abrdn ETFs Advisors LLC and Aberdeen Standard Alternative Funds Limited.

Closed-end funds are traded on the secondary market through one of the stock exchanges. A Fund's investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that an investor's shares may be worth more or less than the original cost. Shares of closed-end funds may trade above (a premium) or below (a discount) the net asset value (NAV) of the fund's portfolio. There is no assurance that a Fund will achieve its investment objective. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

If you If you wish to receive this information electronically, please contact Investor.Relations@abrdn.com.

https://www.abrdn.com/en-us/cefinvestorcenter

For More Information Contact:

abrdn U.S. Closed-End Funds

Investor Relations

1-800-522-5465

Investor.Relations@abrdn.com

SOURCE: abrdn U.S. Closed-End Funds





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/715586/abrdn-US-Closed-End-Funds-Announce-Distribution-Payment-Details




MIAMI, September 12, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ardurra Group, Inc. (Ardurra) has acquired and merged with T-O Engineers, Inc (TOE), a 200- person, full-service engineering firm based in Boise, ID. The firm operates out of nine offices in Idaho, Washington, Utah and Wyoming. The firm focuses on the infrastructure market specifically aviation, transportation, Public Works and Water/Wastewater.

Ardurra Group is an Engineering News-Record Top 500 firm providing consulting and engineering services to public and private entities throughout the United States. TOE will serve as a platform for expansion in the aviation market and geographically in the Northwest region.

Ardurras President & CEO, Ernesto Aguilar, explained, "T-O Engineers share a joint vision in helping our clients achieve success, improve our communities, and provide opportunities for our employees. We are thrilled to welcome them to Team Ardurra!"

Bill Russell, President of T-O Engineers adds, "At T-O, our mission has been to help our clients achieve success while improving the communities in which we live and work. We are excited to bring Ardurras expertise to the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain Region to further this mission. Our vision is to be the choice for our employees, clients, and owners. Teaming with Ardurra allows us to fulfill this vision, without compromising our values. We believe Ardurra to be the perfect fit to expand our footprint through the country while continuing to serve our current clients and are excited about the future and the ability to add to the Ardurra team."

Christopher Lee, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at RTC Partners added "T-O has built a strong legacy and reputation in a number of valuable markets and geographies. We are delighted to have them join the Ardurra team at this juncture and feel that their experience and expertise in strategic areas such as aviation, transportation and municipal projects will not only enable new avenues of growth for the firm but also allow the overall business to provide more value to clients."

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Greenberg Traurig, LLP, acted as legal counsel on behalf of Ardurra.

Morrissey Goodale LLC initiated the transaction and advised T-O Engineers, Inc.

Ardurra Group, Inc. operates as a portfolio company of RTC Partners, LP. RTC Partners is a Miami-based private equity firm that partners with managers of middle market companies to unlock growth opportunities. Further information is available at www.rtcpartners.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220912005938/en/

Contacts

Ardurra Group, Inc.

Angela Bernace

abernace@ardurra.com

Website: www.ardurra.com
how to avoid paying taxes on a lawsuit settlement

Winning or settling your lawsuit can be exhilarating. After you've received the settlement money and paid attorney fees, most people assume that the rest is theirs to keep. However, some settlements are subject to taxes. And, unfortunately, many people don't realize it until tax time the following year, after much of the money has been spent. To avoid a nasty, unexpected tax bill, this article will show you how to reduce or eliminate the likelihood that you'll have to pay taxes on a lawsuit settlement. If you suddenly come into a large amount of money, work with a financial advisor to make the most wise of your windfall.

Factors Affecting a Lawsuit Settlement

how to avoid paying taxes on a lawsuit settlement

According to Internal Revenue Code Section 61, all payments from any source are considered gross income unless a specific exemption exists. When you win a settlement, it can be difficult to know whether or not your award is taxable without analyzing the details. This list highlights some of the common factors that determine taxability:

Physical injury or sickness: Settlements for physical injury or sickness where you've demonstrated "observable bodily harm" are not considered taxable by the IRS.

Emotional distress may be taxable : You'll owe taxes on awards for emotional distress unless the distress originated from the injury or sickness caused by the accident.

Medical expenses : Awards for medical expenses are not taxable as long as you didn't deduct related medical bills on the prior year's taxes. If you deducted them last year, then you'll pay taxes on that amount this year under the IRS "tax benefit rule."

Punitive damages are taxable : Some judgments and settlements include an award for punitive damages against the defendant. These damages can provide a substantial payout to the plaintiff. The entire punitive damages award is taxable, which can lead to hefty taxes.

Contingency fees may be taxable : If your settlement is non-taxable, legal fees won't affect your taxable income. Accident and personal injury cases, like a slip-and-fall or worker's compensation case, are excluded. However, for taxable settlements, you may owe taxes on the full settlement, even when the defendant pays your attorney directly.

Negotiate the amount of the 1099 income before you finalize the settlement : Before you sign the settlement agreement, define whether or not the defendant will issue a Form 1099 or not. If they plan to issue one, negotiate the 1099 income to be a smaller number than your actual settlement amount.

Allocate damages to reduce taxes : During settlement negotiations, you can negotiate to allocate a larger portion of the settlement to non-taxable award categories. For example, increase the award related to physical injuries and illness and decrease amounts related to emotional distress.

Capital gains instead of ordinary income : Depending on the nature of your claim, you may be able to treat a portion of your settlement as capital gains. If you've sued over damage to your home or business factory, you may be able to classify the settlement as capital gains. Alternatively, your settlement might qualify as a recovery of tax basis, which is not counted as income.

Spread payments over time to avoid higher taxes: Receiving a large taxable settlement can bump your income into higher tax brackets. By spreading your settlement payments over multiple years, you can reduce the income that is subject to the highest tax rates.

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Bottom Line

how to avoid paying taxes on a lawsuit settlement

When you receive a settlement, there are numerous factors regarding the litigation itself as well as the state you are in that determine whether or not you'll owe taxes on that amount. Because there are so many nuances, we recommend that you speak with an attorney and tax advisor to determine which rules apply to your specific situation. When you speak with these professionals, you may learn how to avoid paying taxes on a lawsuit settlement and keep more of the money for yourself.

Tips on Taxes

Receiving a settlement can be life-changing and a solid step towards addressing a bad situation. This money can set you financially for life if you can invest it wisely. A financial advisor can help you create a plan to grow your money wisely to meet your needs and goals. Finding a qualified financial advisor doesn't have to be hard. SmartAsset's free tool matches you with up to three financial advisors who serve your area, and you can interview your advisor matches at no cost to decide which one is right for you. If you're ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.

Paying taxes is an obligation for every investor, whether you invest full-time or as a supplement to your paycheck. However, it can be a challenge to forecast what those taxes will be. Our income tax calculator helps you estimate your taxes owed based on your income, location, filing status, and basic deductions.

Photo credit: iStock.com/zimmytws, iStock.com/mesut zengin, iStock.com/tzahiV

The post How to Avoid Paying Taxes on a Lawsuit Settlement appeared first on SmartAsset Blog.
Though deeply rooted in Bitcoins past, a court case beginning in Norway this week could have serious implications for the cryptocurrencys future, according to the plaintiffs supporters.

Hodlonaut, a pseudonymous bitcoiner who edits Bitcoin magazine Citadel21, filed the lawsuit against businessman Craig S. Wright, who has repeatedly claimed  but failed to prove  that he is the digital currencys pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto. The duo became entangled several years ago when Wright accused Hodlonaut of defamation for tweets calling Wright a "fraud" for claiming to be Nakamoto, starting a complex legal battle.

Hodlonaut is far from the only bitcoiner ensnared by Wright in court. Last year, for instance, Wright served claims against 16 Bitcoin developers, asking them to turn over funds to him that arent likely his. Developers argue that the threat of legal action from Wright is dissuading their peers from working on bitcoin (BTC), the original cryptocurrency, depriving its blockchain network of improvements needed to one day bring the crypto to the masses.

Hodlonauts ambitious aim is to reverse that trend by stopping  or at least slowing down  Wright's lawsuits.

"This community campaign aims to make sure my fight is brought to its successful conclusion, with court judgments that effectively put an end to any further bullying of bitcoiners, developers and companies," Hodlonaut said on Twitter.

Read more: Who Can Say Who Is Not Satoshi? Hodlonaut and Wright Go to Trial to Find Out

When CoinDesk reached out to Wright through a publicist, he responded that "Hodlonaut is the only bully here," because Hodlonaut is the one pursuing legal action this time around. (Hodlonaut filed the suit in Norway after Wrights attorneys sent him a legal notice in the U.K., and weeks after Wright placed a $5,000 bounty on Hodlonauts real identity.)

Hodlonaut's case has aroused widespread support in the bitcoin community, with his donation campaign raising nearly $1.5 million and thousands of users changing their profile pictures to his icon of an astronaut cat. In another show of support, CryptoCloaks, a company that prints a variety of bitcoin gear in 3D, is now selling a 3D-printed space-cat helmet in an effort to raise funds for Hodlonaut.

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Wright's claims

Wright's claim to be Bitcoins inventor is dubious. When he first came out saying he was Satoshi back in 2015, he said he could prove it with cryptography. But cryptographers shot that claim down. Security expert Dan Kaminsky called him the "world's first cryptographically provable con artist," and other experts echoed that analysis. Shortly after Wired published an article stating Wright was probably Satoshi, it wrote another article admitting he may be a hoaxer.

Since then, Wright has been caught lying on other occasions. In a parallel court case with the estate of his former business partner, Dave Kleiman, Wright claimed he was the owner of some particular bitcoin.

During the case, the actual owner of the coins  whoever they are  signed the following message: "Craig Steven Wright is a liar and a fraud. He doesn't have the keys used to sign this message." Only the owner of the coins can "sign" a message, which anyone can then verify with cryptography.

Read more: Craig Wright Called 'Fraud' in Message Signed With Bitcoin Addresses He Claims to Own

In another defamation case Wright waged against podcaster Peter McCormack, U.K. High Court Judge Martin Chamberlain ruled that Wright put forth "false evidence."

And though Wright initiated legal action in the U.K. against Hodlonaut, Hodlonaut later filed a suit against Wright in Norway as a shield, "claiming a declaratory judgment that my tweets were lawful, covered by truth and freedom of speech and that I am not liable to pay damages to Wright."

Consequences for Bitcoin

The wider concern for many Hodlonaut supporters is that the threat of legal action from Wright makes other bitcoiners (whether developers, journalists or companies) not want to work on the digital currency out of fear that they will be sued as well.

Former Bitcoin Core developer and cryptographer Greg Maxwell said in a Reddit thread: "His actions have contributed to at least four of some of the most prolific and longest standing developers discontinuing or substantially curtailing their involvement with Bitcoin."

Maxwell is one of the 16 developers targeted by Wright in the U.K., though a judge has since rejected Wrights claims, according to financial media outlet Blockworks.

Bitcoin Core developers work on the key software underpinning Bitcoin, churning out a variety of improvements (privacy, security, user experience, etc.) at the base layer of Bitcoin. The best-known recent example is Taproot, a change that will pave the way for substantial privacy improvements in Bitcoin.

By serving claims against these developers, Wright tangles them up in legal proceedings rather than allowing them to focus on the technology they want to improve. Further, it discourages other developers from getting involved.

Read more: Crypto Twitter Took Center Stage During the First Day of Hodlonaut vs. Craig Wright

"The deck is stacked enormously against [Hodlonaut] and Wright's other targets: Wright's laughable claims across multiple countries should have been possible to discharge in a summary judgment, limiting the legal costs to merely hundreds of thousands [of dollars] instead of millions  but since he has nothing to lose he'll tell whatever lies are required to keep the litigation going for as long as possible, Maxwell said.

And with Wright burying his opponents under a hundred of thousands of documents (a substantial percentage of which are forgeries), he easily can drive trial costs into the millions or tens of millions of dollars, Maxwell added.

Uphill battle

Supporters hope a Hodlonaut victory will impede Wright. That said, many Hodlonaut backers arent under any illusion that Hodlonaut's case will fully undermine Wright's legal strategy.

"Helping [Hodlonaut] continue his fight is merely necessary, it's not sufficient. It's unlikely that Wright will be stopped by even a complete victory by [Hodlonaut], only slowed by it," Maxwell said.

Against that backdrop, at least two legal funds have opened so developers don't have to figure out how to respond to Wright's (and others) litigation on their own. In January Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey opened a legal defense board to defend developers against legal action. Nonprofit OpenSats opened a similar fund last month.

But even with this legal aid, a Bitcoin developer who wished to remain anonymous told CoinDesk that the litigation can be draining.

"Despite the excellent legal representation that we developers have right now, the lawsuits still consume time and emotional energy, for some more, for some less, the anonymous developer said. Personally, I am not too much affected by the lawsuits, but I suspect for other developers it was one of many reasons to reduce or completely cut their involvement.

Even if battling with Wright is an uphill battle, Maxwell remains optimistic.

"Wright's fraud is an attack on Bitcoin, he said. Not a conjectural or hypothetical attack, but a real one that has already done significant damage. I'm confident that this is an attack Bitcoin will survive because I'm confident that when people will stand up to fight for it."
Person walks past a Bank of America sign in New York City

(Reuters) -Bank of America Corp on Monday named company veteran Mike Joo as its new head of global corporate and investment banking (GCIB) for North America, according to a memo seen by Reuters.

The newly created role will add to Joo's existing responsibilities as GCIB's chief operating officer (COO). Joo will report to GCIB president Matthew Koder.

"Mikes extensive experience across the firm will enable him to fully utilize the entire Bank of America platform, including the Market Presidents, to leverage our expansive network and capabilities to deepen and broaden client relationships," Koder said in the memo.

The contents of the memo were confirmed by a Bank of America spokesperson.

In the new role, Joo will work closely with business leaders across capital markets, corporate banking, investment banking, and global transaction services, Koder added.

Joo has previously served as the COO for global markets, head of global rates and currencies solutions, and head of Asia debt capital markets in his over 15-year stint at Bank of America.

The North Carolina-based bank will announce a new chief of staff for GCIB in the coming weeks, according to the memo. Bloomberg reported on Joo's new role earlier on Monday.

(Reporting by Mehnaz Yasmin in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Nick Zieminski)
TORONTO, Sept. 12, 2022 /CNW/ - CIBC today announced that following consultation with the community, it is donating $30,000 to the James Smith Cree Nation and $20,000 to the Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service Foundation (STARS), in response to the recent tragic events in James Smith Cree Nation and surrounding communities, including Weldon, Saskatchewan.

CIBC logo (CNW Group/CIBC)

Funds will support the immediate needs of the families directly impacted by these events in James Smith Cree Nation and STARS, an air ambulance service in Saskatchewan whose crews provided critical care to the injured while en route to hospitals throughout the province via helicopter.

"We stand united with our clients, team members and communities impacted by the devastating tragedy in James Smith Cree Nation. Our thoughts are with the families and friends who lost loved ones and those injured," said Stephen Forbes, Executive Vice-President, Purpose, Brand and Corporate Affairs.

About CIBC

CIBC is a leading North American financial institution with 13 million personal banking, business, public sector and institutional clients. Through the CIBC Foundation and the genuinely caring culture of Team CIBC, we are committed to helping people and our communities make their ambitions a reality. Learn more about our community impact. Ongoing news releases and more information about CIBC can be found at https://www.cibc.com/en/about-cibc/media-centre.html.

SOURCE CIBC

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/September2022/12/c1972.html
Orange

Press release

Paris, 12 September 2022

Changes to Orange's management team

Vincent Lecerf has been appointed Executive Vice President in charge of Human Resources for the Orange group, replacing Gervais Pellissier.

Stephane Vallois has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Orange Bank, replacing Paul de Leusse.

Beatrice Mandine, Executive Vice President of Communications, Brand and Engagement, will step down on 30 September. Her replacement will be announced in the coming weeks.

Jerome Barre, CEO of Orange Wholesale & International Networks will be replaced by Michael Trabbia who will take over the management of the entity on an interim basis, in addition to his current position as Chief Technology and Innovation Officer.

Vincent Lecerf will join the company on 17 October and will take up the position of Executive Vice President in charge of Human Resources for the Orange group from 1 December 2022. Since 2017, Vincent Lecerf has been Director of Human Resources at Imerys. He will succeed Gervais Pellissier who will continue to advise the executive management team. Gervais Pellissier will have left a significant mark on the Group having occupied several strategic positions within the executive management team. For more than 10 years, in his role as Delegate CEO, he accompanied the Groups European operations and its strategic development. In recent years, he has also launched an ambitious transformation plan and supported the Group in adapting working methods.

Stephane Vallois, currently Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Orange Bank, will succeed Paul de Leusse as Chief Executive Officer of the bank as of 1 October 2022. Paul de Leusse, who has overseen a shift to a value-based strategy, the development of the bank overseas and the positioning of its mobile application as best-in-market, will leave the Group. Orange Bank now has nearly 2 million customers in Europe. Orange Bank Africa, which was launched in Cote d'Ivoire in 2020, now has 800,000 customers. Stephane Vallois will be responsible for the continued development of Orange Bank in line with the dynamics expected in the future strategic plan.

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Beatrice Mandine will leave her position at the end of September after 15 years in the Groups Communications, Brand and Engagement team. She will be replaced in the next few weeks. Throughout this time, Beatrice Mandine has contributed to strengthening the Orange brand throughout the world and to establishing a responsible brand strategy, which today permeates the entire company, both internally and externally. She has also successfully integrated customer experience into the DNA of the brand and turned Orange into one of Frances most valued brands.

Orange's Wholesale & International Networks division will also evolve with the departure of its CEO, Jerome Barre, on 15 September 2022. He will be replaced on an interim basis by Michael Trabbia, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer of Orange, who will retain his current responsibilities. Since 1985, Jerome Barre has pursued a diversified career within the Group, in customer relations, marketing and relations with local authorities, accompanying the transformation of the Group. In 2016, he joined the Executive Committee as Group Human Resources Director before creating the Orange Wholesale & International Networks division in 2018. Today, this entity plays an essential role in strengthening the Groups leadership in infrastructure and networks.

Commenting on these appointments, Christel Heydemann, CEO of Orange, said: I am very happy with the appointments of both Vincent Lecerf, who also joins the Executive Committee, and of Stephane Vallois as CEO of Orange Bank. These changes within the management team reinforce the dynamic started several months ago to ensure our continued transformation and growth. I know I can count on their combined expertise to support the development of the company. I am also happy to be able to continue to count on the experience and expertise of Gervais Pellissier. And I would like to thank Michael Trabbia for his support during this interim period. Finally, I would like to express warm gratitude to Beatrice Mandine, Paul de Leusse and Jerome Barre who, throughout their careers at Orange, have had a profound impact on the Group.

About Orange

Orange is one of the worlds leading telecommunications operators with sales of 42.5 billion euros in 2021 and 137,000 employees worldwide at 30 June 2022, including 76,000 employees in France. The Group has a total customer base of 282 million customers worldwide at 30 June 2022, including 236 million mobile customers and 24 million fixed broadband customers. The Group is present in 26 countries. Orange is also a leading provider of global IT and telecommunication services to multinational companies under the brand Orange Business Services. In December 2019, the Group presented its "Engage 2025" strategic plan, which, guided by social and environmental accountability, aims to reinvent its operator model. While accelerating in growth areas and placing data and AI at the heart of its innovation model, the Group will be an attractive and responsible employer, adapted to emerging professions.

Orange is listed on Euronext Paris (symbol ORA) and on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol ORAN).

For more information on the internet and on your mobile: www.orange.com, www.orange-business.com and the Orange News app or to follow us on Twitter: @orangegrouppr.

Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in this material are trademarks of Orange or Orange Brand Services Limited.

Press contacts:

Sylvain Bruno; sylvain.bruno@orange.com; 06 86 17 88 89

Tom Wright; tom.wright@orange.com; 06 78 91 35 11

Attachment




The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC), the developer behind ultra-luxury tourism destination Amaala, has announced more than 300 contracts signed to date, worth in excess of SR6.62 billion ($1.7 billion).



More than 98 percent of the total contract value has been awarded to Saudi firms, highlighting the organizations commitment to strengthening the local economy. These include agreements for the design and build of state-of-the-art accommodation and facilities at the destination for future employees. An additional SR6.1 billion of contracts is currently out to tender, across 54 proposals.



Surpassing 300 contract awards underscores the scale of this project and the significant progress being made as we press ahead with activity on the ground to bring our destination to life. At Amaala, we are working to create a sustainable, purpose- and meaning-driven destination for the discerning traveller, and remain closely aligned with the goals of the Kingdoms Vision 2030, as we develop one of the top global tourism destinations of the future. I am delighted to be able to showcase the results achieved by our brilliant team and partners, said John Pagano, Group CEO of TRSDC.



Spanning over 4,155 square kilometres of pristine terrain and set within the Prince Mohammad bin Salman Natural Reserve, the first phase of Amaala is focused on the Triple Bay masterplan. Eight hotels and upwards of 1,200 hotel keys are set for completion in 2024.



Work is well underway on-site to progress the enabling infrastructure and groundwork required to develop the destination, with more than 2,400 staff already on site and 9.9 million manhours logged to date. This includes the successful completion of 11 km of roads ahead of schedule to better connect the site. The entrance for Triple Bay is under construction and expected to be completed by October 2022.



The first section of the Construction Village, a home to 5,000 construction workers, is now operational. An additional two sections are in progress to provide accommodation for a further 10,000 workers. Secondary infrastructure works are also in progress for the development of the first phase of Amaalas world-class accommodation at the Employee Village in Triple Bay, set to accommodate nearly 20,000 employees who will eventually operate the destination.



Construction on the destinations transport links has also commenced, with the airside infrastructure works for the destinations new airport progressing on schedule. The fast-track contract for the works was awarded to Rawabi BUTEC in 2020 and includes the development of the airports 3,150m runway, taxiways and aprons, alongside additional infrastructure.



Rawabi BUTEC Chairman, Abdulaziz AlTurki, said: This project is a cornerstone of Vision 2030, and it is an honour for Rawabi BUTEC to contribute to such a unique destination. We look forward to applying our sustainable design and construction know-how to ensure the safe and timely achievement of delivering the new airport, while preserving the exceptional surrounding environment.



In addition to key infrastructure construction, Amaala is breaking ground across its tourism offering. Bulk earthwork is in progress, with nearly 50 percent of the total fill quantity completed to date in key super plots. This includes the Amaala Yacht Club, the Red Sea Marine Life Institute, The Marina and the Wellness Core, as well as three of the first hotels.



Amaala aims to operate with a zero-carbon footprint. Like The Red Sea, the destination will be powered by renewable energy with no connection to the national grid and send zero waste to landfill.



From the rich natural capital that surrounds our site to the local communities, Amaalas masterplans are deeply grounded in maximizing positive environmental, economic, and cultural impacts. As we transform our regenerative commitments into concrete actions, the destination will undoubtedly be an important steppingstone to redefining tourism in the region and beyond, Pagano added.



Amaala is a core component of the Vision 2030 strategy to diversify the economy by enabling rapid growth in the tourism sector. Once complete in 2027, it will offer approximately 3,000 hotel rooms across 25 hotels as well as high-end retail establishments, fine dining, wellness, and recreational facilities.



The project is expected to create upwards of 50,000 new direct, indirect, and induced jobs for Saudis, as well as contribute upwards of 11 billion riyals to the countrys GDP once fully operational.



Our progress across infrastructure, groundworks, and key assets is testament to our unwavering ambition to champion tourism as a powerful force for good, remaining closely aligned with the goals of the Kingdoms Vision 2030 and Saudi Green Initiative. We are trailblazing regeneration at an unprecedented scale to create better conditions of life across the destination ethos, while catering to global demand for inclusive, non-extractive, and equitable experiences, concluded Pagano.  TradeArabia News Service
In the second quarter of 2022, 0.76% of mortgage applications (1 in 131) contained instances of fraud, down from the same period last year

Despite the decrease in overall mortgage fraud risk, both income and property types saw significant year-over-year risk gains

IRVINE, Calif., September 12, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CoreLogic, a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider, released its latest Mortgage Fraud Report. The report shows a 7.5% year-over-year decrease in fraud risk at the end of the second quarter of 2022, as measured by the CoreLogic Mortgage Application Fraud Risk Index. The decline in mid-2022 follows a large increase seen in the same period in 2021 and is partially due to the recalibration of CoreLogics scoring model in the first quarter of 2022. Since that update, higher risks were recorded during months in the second quarter, particularly for certain types of mortgage fraud.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220912005394/en/

Fraud Trends - National Index (Graphic: Business Wire)

In the second quarter of 2022, an estimated 0.76% of all mortgage applications contained fraud, about 1 in 131 applications. By comparison, in the second quarter of 2021, that estimate was 0.83%, or about 1 in 120 applications. Risks of income and property fraud posted the largest year-over-year increases in the second quarter, a respective 27.3% and 22.6%. This trend is perhaps not surprising, considering that purchase loans now account for more mortgage transactions than refinances, and that the former are more susceptible to fraudulent activity.

"Income fraud risk remains a top concern for lenders, but there is a rising focus on property value risk as home prices slow their growth and homes are taking longer to sell. CoreLogic data backs up those concerns, as our most predictive flags for both income and property frauds increased in the last year more than 20%," said Bridget Berg, principal, Industry & Fraud Solutions.

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Report Highlights:

Nationally, five of the six types of mortgage fraud types CoreLogic tracks showed increased risks since the second quarter of 2021. The exception was undisclosed real estate debt, which declined by 12%.

The top five states for fraud risk increases are Rhode Island, South Dakota, Kentucky, New York and Nebraska. Less-populous states are prone to volatile index values, as small groups of higher-risk loans are more likely to move the index. For instance, Rhode Islands 60% year-over-year fraud risk increase was in part due to a large share of government-backed loans, which have become riskier over the past year.

New York moved into the top position for mortgage application fraud risk, with Florida, Rhode Island, Nevada and Connecticut rounding out the top five.

National Mortgage Origination Fraud Index (Q3 2010  Q2 2022)

The CoreLogic Mortgage Fraud Report analyzes the collective level of loan application fraud risk experienced in the mortgage industry each quarter. CoreLogic develops the index based on residential mortgage loan applications processed by CoreLogic LoanSafe Fraud Manager, a predictive scoring technology. The report includes detailed data for six fraud type indicators that complement the national index: identity, income, occupancy, property, transaction and undisclosed real estate debt.

To view the full CoreLogic Mortgage Fraud Report, visit www.corelogic.com/mortgagefraudreport.

Methodology

Our comprehensive fraud risk analysis is based on a lender-driven mortgage fraud consortium and leading predictive-scoring technology.

The CoreLogic Mortgage Application Fraud Risk Index represents the collective level of fraud risk the mortgage industry is experiencing in each period, based on the share of loan applications with a high risk of fraud. The index is standardized to a baseline of 100 for the share of high-risk loan applications nationally in the third quarter of 2010.

The Fraud Type Indicators are based on specific CoreLogic LoanSafe Fraud Manager alerts. These alerts are compiled consistently for all CoreLogic Mortgage Fraud Consortium members. Indicator levels are based on the prevalence and predictive ability of the relevant alerts. An increase in the indicator correlates with increased risk of the corresponding fraud type.

Source: CoreLogic

The data provided is for use only by the primary recipient or the primary recipient's publication or broadcast. This data may not be re-sold, republished or licensed to any other source, including publications and sources owned by the primary recipient's parent company without prior written permission from CoreLogic. Any CoreLogic data used for publication or broadcast, in whole or in part, must be sourced as coming from CoreLogic, a data and analytics company. For use with broadcast or web content, the citation must directly accompany first reference of the data. If the data is illustrated with maps, charts, graphs or other visual elements, the CoreLogic logo must be included on screen or website. For questions, analysis or interpretation of the data contact Robin Wachner at newsmedia@corelogic.com. Data provided may not be modified without the prior written permission of CoreLogic. Do not use the data in any unlawful manner. This data is compiled from public records, contributory databases and proprietary analytics, and its accuracy is dependent upon these sources.

About CoreLogic

CoreLogic is a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider. The company's combined data from public, contributory and proprietary sources includes over 4.5 billion records spanning more than 50 years, providing detailed coverage of property, mortgages and other encumbrances, consumer credit, tenancy, location, hazard risk and related performance information. The markets CoreLogic serves include real estate and mortgage finance, insurance, capital markets, and the public sector. CoreLogic delivers value to clients through unique data, analytics, workflow technology, advisory and managed services. Clients rely on CoreLogic to help identify and manage growth opportunities, improve performance and mitigate risk. Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., CoreLogic operates in North America, Western Europe and Asia Pacific. For more information, please visit www.corelogic.com.

CORELOGIC, the CoreLogic logo, and LoanSafe Fraud Manager are trademarks of CoreLogic, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220912005394/en/

Contacts

Robin Wachner

CoreLogic Corporate Communications

newsmedia@corelogic.com
Despite an already strong run, Cronos Australia Limited (ASX:CAU) shares have been powering on, with a gain of 111% in the last thirty days. The last 30 days were the cherry on top of the stock's 385% gain in the last year, which is nothing short of spectacular.

After such a large jump in price, given close to half the companies in Australia have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") below 14x, you may consider Cronos Australia as a stock to avoid entirely with its 60.4x P/E ratio. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly elevated P/E.

Cronos Australia certainly has been doing a great job lately as it's been growing earnings at a really rapid pace. It seems that many are expecting the strong earnings performance to beat most other companies over the coming period, which has increased investors willingness to pay up for the stock. If not, then existing shareholders might be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.

Check out our latest analysis for Cronos Australia

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Although there are no analyst estimates available for Cronos Australia, take a look at this free data-rich visualisation to see how the company stacks up on earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What Are Growth Metrics Telling Us About The High P/E?

In order to justify its P/E ratio, Cronos Australia would need to produce outstanding growth well in excess of the market.

If we review the last year of earnings growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 253%. Still, EPS has barely risen at all from three years ago in total, which is not ideal. So it appears to us that the company has had a mixed result in terms of growing earnings over that time.

Weighing that recent medium-term earnings trajectory against the broader market's one-year forecast for expansion of 12% shows it's noticeably less attractive on an annualised basis.

In light of this, it's alarming that Cronos Australia's P/E sits above the majority of other companies. It seems most investors are ignoring the fairly limited recent growth rates and are hoping for a turnaround in the company's business prospects. Only the boldest would assume these prices are sustainable as a continuation of recent earnings trends is likely to weigh heavily on the share price eventually.

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The Bottom Line On Cronos Australia's P/E

Shares in Cronos Australia have built up some good momentum lately, which has really inflated its P/E. We'd say the price-to-earnings ratio's power isn't primarily as a valuation instrument but rather to gauge current investor sentiment and future expectations.

Our examination of Cronos Australia revealed its three-year earnings trends aren't impacting its high P/E anywhere near as much as we would have predicted, given they look worse than current market expectations. When we see weak earnings with slower than market growth, we suspect the share price is at risk of declining, sending the high P/E lower. Unless the recent medium-term conditions improve markedly, it's very challenging to accept these prices as being reasonable.

We don't want to rain on the parade too much, but we did also find 2 warning signs for Cronos Australia (1 is significant!) that you need to be mindful of.

You might be able to find a better investment than Cronos Australia. If you want a selection of possible candidates, check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a P/E below 20x (but have proven they can grow earnings).

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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ReportLinker

Major players in the digital holography market are RealView Imaging Ltd, Lyncee TEC SA, Phase Holographic Imaging AB, Geola Digital Uab, Leia Inc, Zebra Imaging Inc, Holoxica Ltd, Ovizio Imaging Systems, Eon Reality, Jasper Display Corporation, Digitos Technologie, MDH Hologram, Realfiction, MetroLaser, and Intelligent Imaging Innovations.

New York, Sept. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Digital Holography Global Market Report 2022" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06319235/?utm_source=GNW





The global digital holography market is expected to grow from $3.10 billion in 2021 to $3.77 billion in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.69%. The digital holography market is expected to grow to $7.64 billion in 2026 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.31%.



The digital holography market consists of sales of digital holography solutions and related services by entities (organizations, sole traders, and partnerships) that refers to hardware devices that operate on interferometric imaging techniques and consists of multidimensional sensing of holography that can be used to perform simultaneous imaging of multidimensional information that contains multiple wavelengths and polarization state of light. Digital holography is used to obtain a holographic image with three-dimensional images of incoherent light with a single shot exposure.



The main types of techniques used in digital holography include off-axis holography, and in-line (Gabor) holography.Off-axis holography allows retrieving the amplitude and the phase of a field pattern by measuring only one image with a digital camera.



The digital holography hardware and software are widely used by medical, commercial, aerospace and defense, automotive, consumer, and other industrial verticals.



North America was the largest region in the digital holography market in 2021.Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing region in the forecast period.



The regions covered in the digital holography market report are Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East and Africa.



The digital holography market research report is one of a series of new reports that provides digital holography market statistics, including digital holography industry global market size, regional shares, competitors with a digital holography market share, detailed digital holography market segments, market trends and opportunities, and any further data you may need to thrive in the digital holography industry. This digital holography market research report delivers a complete perspective of everything you need, with an in-depth analysis of the current and future scenarios of the industry.



The increasing use of digital holography microscopy for precise measurement is expected to propel the growth of the digital holography market.Digital holography is increasingly being used in engineering and science, due to its high accuracy and efficiency.



The companies operating in engineering, and nanoscience are investing in advanced technologies to attain measurement accuracy and precision, which is expected to boost the utilization of digital holography during the forecast period.According to the survey conducted by Deloitte in 2021, more than 76% of manufacturers reported increasing their investment in digital technology, which accounts for three times the rate in 2019.



Therefore, increasing use of digital holography microscopy for precise measurement is expected to boost demand for digital holography during the forecast period.



Strategic partnerships and collaborations are a key trend gaining popularity in the global digital holography market.The companies operating in the digital holography sector are focusing on developing new products with innovative technologies to meet industry demands and strengthen their business position.



For instance, in February 2022, ARHT Media Inc., a Canada-based developer of digital holography solutions partnered with WeWork, a New York-based provider of flexible workspace, to integrate ARHT media technology into WeWorks global events to expand their promotional reach.



In 2021, Golden Path Acquisition Corporation (Golden Path) a special purpose acquisition company has merged with MC Hologram Inc, a holographic technology research and development company.The merger is a stock-for-stock transaction and is intended to qualify as a tax-free reorganization.



According to the terms of the deal a newly formed subsidiary of Golden Path will be merged into MC Hologram and MC Hologram, being the surviving entity becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of Golden Path and Golden Path will be renamed as MicroCloud Hologram Inc.



The countries covered in the digital holography market report are Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, South Korea, UK, and USA.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06319235/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________

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CONTACT: Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001




NINGBO, China, Sept. 12, 2022 /CNW/ -- A report from NBGD:

On the evening of September 9, the drone show "Ningbo Lanterns Spreading Best Wishes Across the World" was performed at Ningbo's Laowaitan riverfront area. The event was jointly organized by the Publicity Department of the CPC Ningbo Municipal Committee, the Ningbo Radio and Television Group, and Jiangbei District.

630 Drones Perform Spectacular Light Show at Ningbo's Riverfront

Over the night sky of Laowaitan, 630 low-flying drones formed one image after another in a spectacular merge of modern technology and traditional culture. "Happy Mid-Autumn Festival" in both Chinese and English lit up the sky. Against the backdrop of the city's skyline, iconic global landmarks such as France's Eiffel Tower and the pyramids of Egypt appeared alongside Ningbo's own Tianyige Library and the cranes and container ships of Ningbo Zhoushan Port.

The drone show attracted a huge crowd. Citizens could not resist taking out their phones to snap one photo after another.

Ningbo Receives Holiday Messages from 18 Cities Across 5 Continents

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a time for Chinese communities across the world to connect and reconnect as we take in the beauty of the bright full moon. Ningbo received holiday messages from 18 cities across five continents, sent by business leaders, education workers, lawyers, artists, engineers, athletes, and students.

Ningbo communities across the world celebrated the festival through a variety of activities. Local children in Ningbo joined children from Ningbo families living in Hong Kong for a virtual cultural exchange event, sharing music and showcasing local delicacies. In Toronto, Canada, Ningbo expatriates honored their tradition by releasing floating lotus lanterns on a lake. At the Tamatave Confucius Institute in Madagascar established by Ningbo University, students and teachers took the opportunity to hold a Chinese zither performance and poetry recital, wearing traditional Hanfu robes.

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Mid-Autumn Festival, as one of the most important holidays of the Chinese people, is all about deepening bonds. The drone show over Laowaitan and the global Ningbo community's celebrations strengthened existing and new friendships through the sharing of Chinese culture. Ningbo, more globalized than ever before, is setting sail on a journey to embrace the world.

Cision

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SOURCE NBGD

Cision

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FORT STEELE, BC, Sept. 12, 2022 /CNW/ - Across the country, EHN Canada is synonymous with effective, evidence-based treatment for addiction and mental health disorders. And now they have added a unique new facility  unlike any other in Canada  to their growing network. Recovery Ranch (formerly Top of the World Ranch), nestled near the Rocky Mountains in picturesque Fort Steele, British Columbia, combines both nature and science for effective, long-lasting recovery.

Edgewood Health Network (CNW Group/EHN Canada)

This unique facility provides patients with treatment programs for drug and alcohol addiction and mental health disorders. Maintaining EHN Canada's tradition of clinical excellence, the program is provided by an inter-professional team of experienced, licenced, and regulated clinicians including medical staff and 24/7 nursing support. The facility includes a detox unit, amenities such as a sweat lodge, sauna, gym, and organic farm-to-table meals for patients. Recovery Ranch also offers treatment programs created with Canada's Indigenous communities in mind.

The log-cabin style structure at Recovery Ranch provides both the intimate backdrop for evidence-based group and individual therapy, as well as cozy residential quarters for the duration of patients' stays. And outside, paths, trails, Loon Lake, and, of course, the breathtaking mountain view offer the clarity only nature can provide.

The importance of tranquil surroundings during treatment cannot be stressed enough, says EHN Canada's Vice President of Western Canada, Dr. Christina Basedow.

"Perched within the mountains, in the Kootenays, this unique environment lends itself to a new way to do addiction treatment. From equine therapy to unique hiking trails, to outdoor recreation, this site has it all. It is rustic, warm, inviting, and you can truly shut off from the world. The environment, for many, is what allows them to connect with a new lifestyle  a lifestyle of recovery," she says.

And the term "Ranch" is not simply a name. Recovery Ranch has over 600 acres of property.

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Dr. Basedow explains, "The way the property is laid out creates unique opportunities for diversifying treatment. Staff and patients can rely on the environment coming together with gold-standard therapeutic modalities to create a unique type of clinical care."

For more information on Recovery Ranch, please visit https://ranchrecovery.com/

ABOUT RECOVERY RANCH

Recovery Ranch was created as a place where those seeking treatment for addiction and mental health disorders can heal. With 600 acres on our ranch property, which is surrounded by hundreds of thousands of acres of Crown land, the Ranch is a truly unique treatment centre amongst the EHN Canada network.

To find out more about Recovery Ranch, visit https://ranchrecovery.com/

ABOUT EHN CANADA

EHN Canada is the nation's largest network of industry-leading mental health, trauma, and addiction treatment facilities, each with a passion for providing quality treatment for Canadians. We are committed to both caring for our patients and supporting their loved ones. With over 100 years of collective experience, our inpatient, outpatient, and online programs are offered across the country, providing essential compassionate care to patients wherever they are.

For more information on EHN Canada's network of facilities, visit https://ehncanada.com/

SOURCE EHN Canada

Cision

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LBank, an Africa-focused cryptocurrency exchange, announced Monday that it has multiple growth-oriented projects and initiatives aimed at facilitating mass adoption of Web3 applications and cryptocurrency investments on the continent.

LBank Aims For Crypto Growth In Africa: LBank launched its Crypto Accelerator Program in partnership with Adanian Labs, a Kenya-based tech investment and accelerator lab.

Since the launch, LBank said it has helped onboard 17 new cryptocurrency projects, offering mentoring and guidance to incubating Web3 projects in Africa.

Blockchain can help Africa create an inclusive society and a robust economy  one that supports the highest standards of living. With the right projects and infrastructure in place, we can create a better economic system in which more people are employed and have better access to wealth-generating opportunities than ever before, LBank CEO Allen Wei told Benzinga.

The Background: The growth of LBank has been accelerated by a growing interest in the cryptocurrency space in Africa, as well as a number of initiatives recently rolled out by LBank and its partner ventures, according to the company.

By rolling out the Crypto Accelerator Program, LBank said it is helping to educate businesses, consumers, government entities and other parties on the benefits and value-added potential of new technologies and solutions.

Alongside the growth of LBank, its partner Adanian Labs said it has grown massively throughout Africa. The firm has established its presence in the most populous country in Africa, Nigeria, as well as other countries in the region, including Tanzania, Zambia and South Africa.

Adanian Labs aims to continue expansion into the Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal and the Ivory Coast.

With the goal of generating interest in technological exploration and innovation, LBank has arranged a series of monthly educational meetups across Africa called LBank and Adanian Crypto Days.

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The meetups will facilitate networking and partnerships in the African tech community, particularly in the Web 3 space.

Crypto Developments In Africa: Emurgo Africa, a subsidiary of Emurgo, is part of the official commercial division of the Cardano project and is an investor in LBanks and Adanian Labs initiatives.

By funding these enterprises, Emurgo is demonstrating its commitment to helping onboard users all across Africa onto Cardanos fast, flexible, and purpose-built blockchain.

Moreover, The Nigerian Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) is in talks with Binance to create a Virtual Free Zone in Nigeria, similar to the Digital Free Zone in Dubai. This may act as a catalyst for Web 3 innovation in the region.

LBanks Wei spoke about the importance of a Virtual Free Zone.

LBank believes that the recent announcement from NEPZA about the creation of Virtual Free Zone in Nigeria will provide a level playing field for all participants in the digital economy. It will also help to reduce the entry barriers that have prevented many Nigerians from participating in this growing sector," he said.

"LBank is already doing its bit through our global educational campaigns and the Crypto Accelerator Program."

See more from Benzinga

Don't miss real-time alerts on your stocks - join Benzinga Pro for free! Try the tool that will help you invest smarter, faster, and better.

 2022 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Sunday warned that gas prices may spike again this winter.

Yellen told CNNs Dana Bash on State of the Union that gas prices could rise due to the European Union largely halting Russian oil purchases this winter and banning provision of services that allow Russia to ship oil by tanker.

It is possible that that could cause a spike in oil prices, Yellen said.

But Yellen noted a western price cap proposal was designed to balance curbing Russian oil revenues helping fund its war in Ukraine, while maintaining some access to Russian oil to hold down global oil prices.

So I believe this is something that can be essential, she said. And its something that were trying to put in place to avoid a future spike in oil prices.

The Group of Seven nations, which includes the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom, agreed to a price cap on Russian oil earlier this month. The nations did not say exactly what the cap would be yet.

The move is designed to restrict Russian oil sales above a certain price. And if Russia moves to sell to friendlier nations, such as China or India, it will likely face higher service costs and competition from countries selling less expensive product.

Russia, the worlds third-largest oil producer, has threatened not to sell to countries that participate in the oil cap, which could further exacerbate a rise in global oil prices.

Moscow has also effectively shut down a major gas pipeline to European nations, claiming it needs repairs, which could further shake up the worlds energy sector.

After soaring to a national average of $5 per gallon earlier this year, gas prices have fallen to an average of $3.71 in the U.S., according to transportation organization AAA.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
CMI

Seattle, Sept. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to Coherent Market Insights, the global drug eluting balloon market is estimated to be valued at US$ 616.6 million in 2022 and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 8.3% during the forecast period (2022-2030).



Key Trends and Analysis of the Global Drug Eluting Balloon Market:

Major players operating in the market are focusing on getting approval for new products and launching new products in the market. For instance, in February 2021, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues to acknowledge a possible mortality risk with paclitaxel-coated balloons and stents intended to treat new or recurring atherosclerotic lesions in the femoropopliteal artery. A study of paclitaxel-coated stents and balloons used to treat peripheral artery disease in the legs found no evidence of harm associated with the devices, appearing to contradict an earlier mortality signal from a meta-analysis that FDA recommended physicians factor into treatment decisions. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) still monitoring safety signal with paclitaxel stents in PAD. The researchers noted several limitations to the new study, including a shorter follow-up time of 2.72 years than the meta-analysis, in which the mortality signal was most apparent in the fourth and fifth years. The findings were presented in February 2021, at the American College of Cardiologys virtual meeting and published in JAMA Internal Medicine. The SAFE-PAD researchers said the study is ongoing and will continue the safety evaluation of the devices until the median follow-up of all patients surpasses five years

Request Sample copy of this Report @ https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/2459

Key Market Takeaways:

The global drug eluting balloon market is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 8.3% during the forecast period due to the increasing geriatric population that is prone to cardiovascular diseases is expected to propel demand for angioplasty, which in turn is expected to boost the market growth. For instance, in May 2021, according to Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, 14.2% of adults aged 45 years and older reported having coronary heart disease (CHD), a stroke, or both. 9.6% adults aged 45 to 64 years reported being diagnosed with CHD, or a stroke, or both compared with 21.7% of adults aged 65 years and older. According to Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in India, in 201718, in the population older than 60 years, the prevalence of self-reported cardiovascular diseases was 45% in the richest monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) quintile and 27% in the poorest MPCE quintile.

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Among end user, hospitals and ambulatory service centers segment held a dominant position in the drug eluting balloon market in 2022, owing to high adoption rate of the devices in hospitals and ambulatory service centers.

Competitive Landscape:

Key players operating in the global drug eluting balloon market include Medtronic, Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD), Boston Scientific Corporation, Cook Medical, B. Braun Melsungen AG, Koninklijke Philips N.V., Opto Circuits (India) Limited, Terumo Corporation, Surmodics, Inc., and Biotronik

Buy-Now this Research Report @ https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/buy-now/2459

Market Segmentation:

Global Drug Eluting Balloon Market, By Product Type: Coronary Drug Eluting Balloon Peripheral Drug Eluting Balloon Others

Global Drug Eluting Balloon M arket, By End User: Hospitals CATH Laboratories Ambulatory Surgical Centres Others

Global Drug Eluting Balloon Market, By Region: North America By Country U.S. Canada Latin America By Country Brazil Mexico Argentina Rest of Latin America Europe By Country Germany U.K. France Italy Spain Russia Rest of Europe Asia Pacific By Country China India Japan Australia South Korea ASEAN Rest of Asia Pacific Middle East By Country GCC Israel Rest of Middle East Africa By Region/Country South Africa Central Africa North Africa



Related Market Intelligence Reports:

Ocular Implant Market, by Implant Type (Intraocular Lenses (IOL) (Aspheric IOLs, Toric IOLs, Multifocal IOLs, Anterior chamber IOLs, and others), Corneal Implants, Glaucoma Implants, Orbital Implants, Ocular prosthesis, and others), by Application (Glaucoma Surgery, Oculoplasty, Drug Delivery, Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD), Aesthetic purpose, and others), and by Region (North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa)- Size, Share, Outlook, and Opportunity Analysis, 2022  2030

Electroporation Instrument Market, by Product Type (Systems and Accessories (Electrodes, Cuvettes, Chambers, Kits, Others)), by Application (Protein Production, Drug Delivery, Biomedical Research, Gene Therapy, Ablation (Oncology, Cardiology, Others), Others), By Mode (In-Vitro/Clinical and In-Vivo), by End user (Biopharmaceutical, Companies, Hospitals, Research & Academic, Institutes, Others), and by Region (North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa) - Size, Share, Outlook, and Opportunity Analysis, 2022 - 2030

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Allied Market Research

Rise in the popularity of tattoos among people and the expansion in a number of tattoo studios drive the global tattoo accessories market. In 2020, the demand for tattooing rapidly decreased in the first two quarters due to closure of tattoo parlors closed, which also caused a steep reduction in sales of tattoo accessories. Based on region, Europe held the largest share in 2021, contributing to around one-third of the total tattoo accessories market share.

Portland, OR, Sept. 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to the report published by Allied Market Research, the global tattoo accessories market garnered $853.1 million in 2021, and is estimated to generate $1.5 billion by 2031, manifesting a CAGR of 6.2% from 2022 to 2031. The report provides an extensive analysis of changing market dynamics, major segments, value chain, competitive scenario, and regional landscape. This research offers a valuable guidance to leading players, investors, shareholders, and startups in devising strategies for the sustainable growth and gaining competitive edge in the market.

Download Sample Copy of Report @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/17253

Report coverage & details:

Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 20222031 Base Year 2021 Market Size in 2021 $853.1 million Market Size in 2031 $1.5 billion CAGR 6.2% No. of Pages in Report 204 Segments covered Product Type, Distribution Channel, and Region. Drivers Rise in the popularity of tattoos among people The expansion in a number of tattoo studios Changes in fashion trends Changed attitudes toward tattooing Opportunities Exposure to online fashion blogs, publications, videos, and other content Introduction of new software programmers like Gravit Designer, Xara Designer Pro X, Affinity Designer, and others. Restraints Restrictions, bans, and laws against tattooing

Covid-19 Scenario:

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the growth of the global tattoo accessories market, owing to implementation of global lockdown which resulted in the temporary closure of the majority of tattoo parlors.

In 2020, the demand for tattooing rapidly decreased in the first two quarters due to closure of tattoo parlors, which also caused a steep reduction in sales of tattoo accessories.

Owing to the imposition of lockdown, international border barrier, and short term imbalance in demand in many places, the companies that manufacture tattoo ink, tattoo needles, and other tattoo accessories had to shut down their operations.

However, during COVID-19 outbreak, e-commerce sales for tattoo accessories gained significant popularity.

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Get detailed COVID-19 impact analysis on the Tattoo Accessories Market: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-for-customization/17253?reqfor=covid

The research provides detailed segmentation of the global tattoo accessories market based on product type, distribution channel, and region. The report discusses segments and their sub-segments in detail with the help of tables and figures. Market players and investors can strategize according to the highest revenue-generating and fastest-growing segments mentioned in the report.

Based on product type, the needles and cartridges segment held the highest share in 2021, accounting for nearly one-third of the global tattoo accessories market, and is expected to continue its leadership status during the forecast period. However, the tattoo ink segment is expected to register the highest CAGR of 7.5% from 2022 to 2031.

Based on distribution channel, the hypermarkets/supermarkets segment accounted for the highest share in 2021, holding nearly two-fifths of the global tattoo accessories market, and is expected to continue its leadership status during the forecast period. However, the e-commerce segment is estimated to grow at the highest CAGR of 7.2% during the forecast period.

Based on region, Europe held the largest share in 2021, contributing to around one-third of the total tattoo accessories market share, and is projected to maintain its dominant share in terms of revenue in 2031. In addition, the Asia-Pacific region is expected to manifest the fastest CAGR of 7.5% during the forecast period. The research also analyzes regions including North America and LAMEA.

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Leading market players of the global tattoo accessories market analyzed in the research include Cheyenne - Professional Tattoo Equipment, Sabre Tattoo Supplies, Inkjecta International Pty Ltd., EZ Tattoo Supply, DRAGONHAWK, Technical Worldwide, Bishop Tattoo Supply Inc., Lauro Paolini Tattoo Supply, EIKON, and Infinite Irons.

The report provides a detailed analysis of these key players of the global tattoo accessories market. These players have adopted different strategies such as new product launches, collaborations, expansion, joint ventures, agreements, and others to increase their market share and maintain dominant shares in different regions. The report is valuable in highlighting business performance, operating segments, product portfolio, and strategic moves of market players to showcase the competitive scenario.

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We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Allied Market Research CEO Pawan Kumar is instrumental in inspiring and encouraging everyone associated with the company to maintain high quality of data and help clients in every way possible to achieve success. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.

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The Houston, TX-based oilfield services firm, Halliburton Company HAL, recently declared that it is no longer in charge of operations in Russia. The company has wound up the sale of its operations to a Russia-based management team comprising its former employees.

The management team, BurService LLC, is the new owner and operator of HALs former business and assets in Russia. BurService is independent of Halliburton.

In March, Halliburton suspended its operations in Russia in response to U.S. sanctions over Moscows military action in Ukraine and mentioned that it would further close down its operations in the country.

Although the terms of the sale were not disclosed, HALs Russian assets were valued at around $340 million prior to the exit.

Halliburton Company is one of the largest oilfield service providers in the world, offering a variety of equipment, maintenance, engineering and construction services to the energy, industrial and government sectors.

The company operates in more than 80 countries. Founded in 1919, Halliburton employs more than 40,000 people and operates under two main segments: Completion and Production, and Drilling and Evaluation.

Halliburton currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some top-ranked stocks from the energy space include Vista Oil & Gas VIST, Murphy USA MUSA and TotalEnergies TTE each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Vistas 2022 earnings is pegged at $2.40 per share, up 344% from the projected year-ago earnings of 54 cents.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for VISTs 2022 earnings has been revised 43.7% upward over the past 60 days.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Murphy USAs 2022 EPS (earnings per share) has been revised upward by about 40.7% over the past 60 days from $17.25 to $24.27.

MUSA beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in all the trailing four quarters, the average being 49%.

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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for TotalEnergies 2022 earnings is pegged at $13.83 per share, up about 107% from the year-ago earnings of $6.68.

TTE beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in all the trailing four quarters, the average being around 14.6%.



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There is significant opportunity for greater energy savings through the use of Universal Buildings in the Middle East, said CRTKL, a global architecture, planning and design firm.

Such buildings can increase resilience, drive sustainability and strengthen communities, said CRTKL in its latest findings on the use of Universal Buildings and their potential positive impact on enhancing sustainability and efficiency of communities, towns and cities.

Universal Buildings, also known as regenerative buildings, are hybridised, adaptive structures that can transition between residential, workplace, hospitality and senior living. They have common building systems and arrangements positioned to meet changing demands.

Uniquely flexible

Universal Buildings enable designers and architects to rethink the concept of the centre core office building, from the floor plates, MEP and columns to technology, the podium and parking structure. These types of buildings deliver some of the most resilient, cost-effective and sustainable solutions. They provide uniquely flexible platforms to adapt programme uses based on changing market needs and demands.

Universal Buildings can have a positive impact on driving greater sustainability. Building reuse almost always yields lower environmental impact than new construction when comparing buildings of similar size and functionality. The range of environmental savings from building reuse varies widely, based on building type, location and levels of energy efficiency. Savings from reuse are between 4 and 46% over new construction when comparing buildings with the same energy performance level.

Obada Adra, Associate Principal at CRTKL commented: From the column grid to carefully considered floor to floor heights, the Universal Building can shift between residential, office and social spaces easily. In the Middle East there is a clear direction towards greater sustainability of buildings, as well as efficiency and reduction of carbon emission as countries work towards Net Zero.

Embodied emissions

There are several building components that affect carbon emissions; two of the most important are embodied emissions and operation emissions. Most of the embodied carbon is in the structure followed by the envelope. It is possible to keep an existing structure and update the envelope so that operational carbon is reduced by an increased envelope performance.

Embodied emissions in buildings, which are mostly in the envelope and the structure can account to a large portion of emissions. In a Universal Building, these emissions stay in the structure, as new emissions are not generated to create new buildings.

Sustainability is at the heart of CRTKLs strategy, having been carbon neutral since 2020, as well as pledging to have all projects climate positive for operation by 2030 and extending to climate positive materials by 2040.

Repurposing car parks

Potential benefits of Universal Buildings include the ability to repurpose car parks into co-working areas, urban marketplaces, e-commerce support centres, fitness centres and retail areas. In high-density urban cities, parking garages often sit on valuable land that could generate a much greater return on investment if redeveloped to meet changing programme needs.

Ground-level parking spaces can be converted into shopping fronts and mid-level parking floors can transition into office, residential or hotel spaces. Parking structures can be reconfigured to include parks and green spaces to encourage wellness of communities.-- TradeArabia News Service
Acquisition of cloud-native payments technology firm to modernize infrastructure and create greater flexibility for the firms merchant acquiring capabilities globally

NEW YORK & NOIDA, India, September 12, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--J.P. Morgan (NYSE: JPM) announces today that it has signed an agreement to acquire Renovite Technologies, Inc. (Renovite), a leading cloud-native payments technology company.

The strategic acquisition of Renovite will help J.P. Morgan Payments build its next-generation merchant acquiring platform, bolster the firms payments modernization strategy and support its journey to the cloud. Upon closing of the transaction, Renovite will become part of J.P. Morgan Payments, which combines corporate treasury services, trade finance, card and merchant services capabilities at the firm, delivering an integrated payments experience to clients across the economy.

"We are excited to acquire Renovite and accelerate our roadmap for helping our clients stay at the cutting-edge of payments innovation. This acquisition will help us achieve our goal to develop the next-generation payments processing platform globally," said Max Neukirchen, Global Head of Payments & Commerce Solutions, J.P. Morgan.

Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Fremont, California, Renovite focuses on cloud-native technology. The company has built six proprietary, cloud-agnostic and payment token agnostic payments products to help their clients to optimize infrastructure, including switch, reconciliation, security, issuing, ATM and testing. Renovite also has a presence in India and the United Kingdom and has supplied services to J.P. Morgan since 2021.

"Renovites mission is to provide modernized infrastructure in the cloud with the latest technology, agility and in-depth knowledge of the payments landscape," said Viren Rana, CEO & founder, Renovite. "We are very proud of the team and the world-class payment technology that weve built and are excited to be part of J.P. Morgan Payments. This business is the natural home for our people and technology. We believe that the contemplated transaction will help us to realize our joint vision to deliver world-class payments capabilities globally through next-generation infrastructure for J.P. Morgan Payments clients."

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"Renovites cloud-native merchant acquiring capabilities are already helping us better serve our clients. As the Renovite platform integrates with J.P. Morgan Payments, merchant acquiring clients will be able to accept more methods of payments around the globe to help grow their business," said Mike Blandina, Global Head of Payments Technology, J.P. Morgan.

The acquisition of Renovite is further evidence of J.P. Morgan Payments commitment to global clients by continuing to deliver resiliency and optimized infrastructure. This acquisition complements the firms proposed strategic investment in Viva Wallet (subject to regulatory approvals) and the strategic partnership with Volkswagen Financial Services AG.

Final transaction execution is subject to customary closing conditions.

About J.P. Morgans Corporate & Investment Bank

J.P. Morgans Corporate & Investment Bank is a global leader across banking, markets and securities services. The worlds most important corporations, governments and institutions entrust us with their business in more than 100 countries. With $29 trillion of assets under custody and $722 billion in deposits, the Corporate & Investment Bank provides strategic advice, raises capital, manages risk and extends liquidity in markets around the world. Further information about J.P. Morgan is available at http://www.jpmorgan.com.

About Renovite Technologies, Inc.

Renovite was founded with the mission to develop and deliver the next generation of consumer payments solution for banks, processors, and merchants. Renovite recognizes that the aging payments infrastructure within many of the established payments providers is proving to be a costly and insurmountable barrier to the delivery of new innovative payments options. Renovite has developed an ultra-modern suite of payment solutions that can be easily integrated within legacy environments or as new platform deployments. These solutions are born from decades of experience in managing and delivering complex payments projects worldwide through a Continuous Delivery model. Renovite is headquartered in Fremont, California with offices in the UK and India.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220911005008/en/

Contacts

Richard Hillary

Tel.: +44 (0) 20 7742 2309

Email: richard.hillary@jpmorgan.com
DUBAI, UAE, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Dalma Capital announces today that John Porter has joined the firm to head its Investment Banking Advisory practice.

Dalma Capital Logo

Porter spent his over 25-year career at Morgan Stanley and Renaissance Capital, where he held multiple leadership roles including acting as Morgan Stanley's head of financing for the Middle East and Africa and establishing the Mumbai office for the Wall Street bank. He also acted as the Chief Business Officer of Renaissance Capital where he expanded the firms capabilities in Capital Raising, Capital Markets, Financial Advisory, IPO, and Emerging Markets.

At Dalma Capital, Porter will be leading an growing investment banking team as the firm continues to focus on large scale, international financing transactions across sectors.

Mishal Kanoo, Board Member and spokesperson for Dalma Capital, said: "Our investment banking practice is a strategic pillar for Dalma Capital and the group. This appointment will help Dalma leverage its global capabilities as Dubai increasingly becomes an investment banking hub."

About Dalma Capital:

Dalma Capital Management Limited is a global alternative investment management platform and advisor with strong capabilities in investment banking and asset management. Established in 2011 and headquartered in the Dubai International Finance Centre, Dalma Capital's has been one of the fastest growing independent financial services businesses in the DIFC. Dalma Capital is authorized and supervised by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (the "DFSA") under a prudential category 3c license.

About John Porter

John Porter worked at Morgan Stanley in London, New York and Asia between 1991 and 2008, holding various positions including Managing Director, Head of Financing for Middle East and Africa, Head of UK Capital Markets, Deputy Head of UK Investment Banking, Head of Africa. He set up Morgan Stanley's office in Mumbai under the supervision of Vikram Pundit, later CEO of Morgan Stanley and then Citigroup.

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John joined Renaissance Capital in 2008, subsequently moving to Moscow between 2008 and 2017. He ran the Financing Group leading over 100 closed transactions for the Firm over the period. Most recently held the title of Chief Business Officer. He also worked in multiple IPOs and secondary offerings such as Depa (DIFX) and Tabreed mandatory convertible, lasminute.com the first $1Bn of a pre revenue business on the LSE, Burbery and Carphone Warehouse on LSE, and Safaricom which remains the largest locally listed IPO out of Africa and the first "Fintech" capital markets story on the back of a nascent mPesa.

John is also a Board Member and treasurer of Harm Reduction International since 2021, a leading UK public health and healthcare policy NGO.

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GURUGRAM, India, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --

Economic Growth in Philippines

Ken_Research_Logo

Steady economic growth in Philippines serve as a catalyst for the increasing adoption of EVs in the country. Even though, the share of electric passenger cars was comparatively lower than that of e-tricycles and electric two wheelers in 2022 but in coming years, the demand for EV will witness massive surge supported by strong economic growth coupled with increasing domestic investment and rising per capita disposable income. GDP per capita in Philippines expanded with a CAGR of 3.2% in between 2017 and 2021.

Nickel Mining

Majority of EVs use lithium-ion batteries as of 2022, relying on a combination of minerals such as copper, nickel, lithium, manganese and cobalt. Therefore, the greater adaptability of EVs in will serve as a major determinant for the growth in demand for these minerals in coming years. Philippines had the fifth largest nickel reserves in the world, serving as the world's largest nickel ore supplier as of 2022. 370,000 metric tons of nickel was mined in Philippines in 2021, contributing significantly to country's overall mining sector and economic growth. Therefore, the enhancement of the country's nickel mining sector will result in improved export prospect of the mineral from Philippines, ultimately contributing to the surging global electric vehicle production.

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Reduction in Import Duty

In 2022, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) announced the proposal for scrapping of import duty on electric vehicles to accelerate the country's shift in adapting to environmental friendly transportation ecosystem. The proposal if implemented, will contribute in bringing down the cost for this mode of transportation that will encourage more people to avail e-vehicles than those run by fuel products in coming years, assisting the country in limiting carbon emissions. The proposal aims to adjust the tariff rate from 30% to 0% in order to populate the market with e-vehicles. The electric vehicles imported from ASEAN region already enjoys a zero-percent tariff rate as of 2022.

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Installation of Charging Stations

As of 2018, there were only 19 charging stations installed in Philippines, mostly concentrated in the mainland of Luzon. Government's push through their EVIDA legislation to install more charging stations at public locations such as parking spaces, will drive the demand for EVs in coming years.

Improvements in Battery Technology

Improvement in battery technology contributes in increasing the range and longevity of EVs. EVs that can cover more miles between charges are more practical for those with longer commutes. Coupled with that, advancement in technology will make two-wheeler EVs more affordable, positively impacting the furure demand for EVs.

Introduction of New EV Models

In the initial years of EV inception, there were an extremely limited number of makes and models to choose from, many of which could be cost prohibitive. As EVs become more common, many more styles and models of vehicles will become available, appealing to the wants and needs of a wider array of consumers.

The publication titled "Philippines Light Electric Vehicle Market Outlook to 2027: Driven by government initiative to develop the EV industry and increasing consumer preference towards limiting carbon footprint" provides a comprehensive analysis of the light electric vehicle industry by analyzing historical statistics and corresponding developments in the LEV market. The report covers various aspects including market size of two/three-wheeler, four-wheeler and consolidated LEV industry on the basis of revenue, average price & volume. Further the report covers insights on LEV market overview, ecosystem, operating model, different stages in LEV manufacturing process, value chain analysis, GDP per capita, urbanization rate, trends and developments, Porter 5 Forces Analysis, government initiatives and regulations, growth drivers, impact of COVID-19, risk factors governing the future outlook of industry, consumer demographics & preferences, and demand analysis on the basis of TAM, SAM and SOM. Insights on competitive landscape of two/three wheeler and four-wheeler brands have been covered in the report along with cross comparison between major players operating in the ecosystem on the basis of operational and financial parameters such as year of establishment, technology type, model, price, number of electric vehicles sold, market share on the basis of volume, EV range, battery type, battery capacity, company overview, geographical presence, dealerships, recent developments, business model, strengths, pain points, USP, collaboration, revenue streams, product portfolio, average price, operations, recent developments, revenue, sales, operating profit and global sales figure.

The report focuses on Philippines Light Electric Vehicle Market segmentation By Type of Two/Three-Wheeler EV (E-Trikes and E-Motorcycles); By Type of Four-Wheeler EV (Passenger Car and Light Commercial Vehicle); By Type of Four-Wheeler EV Technology (HEV, PHEV and BEV); By Price of Four-Wheeler EV (Less than PHP 2,000,000, PHP 2,000,000-4,000,000 and More than PHP 4,000,000); By Type of Four-Wheeler EV Battery (Nickel Metal Hydride Battery, Lithium-Ion Battery, Nickel Manganese and Cobalt Battery); By Four-Wheeler EV Battery Capacity (Less than 2 kWh, 2-20 kWh, 20-40 kWh and More than 40 kWh); By Four-Wheeler EV Brands (Toyota, Lexus, Nissan and BYD) and By Region (Ilocos, Central Luzon, National Capital Region, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Mimaropa, Mindanao Region, Caraga, Bikol Region, Caragan Valley and Cordillera Administrative Region). Philippines LEV Market report concludes with projections for the future of the industry on the basis of revenue volume & average price, industry speaks and analysts' take on the future highlighting the major opportunities.

Key Segments Covered in Philippines Light Electric Vehicles Industry

By Type of Two/Three Wheeler EV

E-Trikes

E-Motorcycles

By Type of Four-Wheeler EV

Passenger Car

Light Commercial Vehicle

By Type of Four-Wheeler EV Technology

HEV

PHEV

BEV

By Price of Four-Wheeler EV

Less than PHP 2,000,000

PHP 2,000,000-4,000,000

More than 4,000,000

By Type of Four-Wheeler EV Battery

Nickel Metal Hydride Battery

Lithium-Ion Battery

Nickel Manganese and Cobalt Battery

By Four-Wheeler EV Battery Capacity

Less than 2 kWh

2-20 kWh

20-40 kWh

More than 40 kWh

By Four-Wheeler EV Brands

Toyota

Lexus

Nissan

BYD

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By Region

Ilocos

Central Luzon

National Capital Region

Western Visayas

Central Visayas

Eastern Visayas

Mimaropa

Mindanao Region

Caraga

Bikol Region

Caragan Valley

Cordillera Administrative Region

Time Period Captured in the Report:-

Historical Period: 2017-2022

Forecast Period: 2023F-2027F

Philippines Light Electric Vehicle Market Players

Electric Two-Wheelers

NWOW

Inokim

Maeving

KYMCO

Motor Star

Electric Three-Wheelers

Bemac

Terra Motors

Tojo Motors

SunE

Electric Four-Wheelers

Toyota

Nissan

BYD

Lexus

BMW

Audi

Porsche

Jaguar

Key Topics Covered in the Report:-

Overview of Light Electric Vehicle Industry

Ecosystem of Light Electric Vehicle Industry

Value Chain Analysis of Light Electric Vehicle Industry

Operating Model of Light Electric Vehicle Industry

Market Size of Light Electric Vehicle Industry by Revenue, Volume, and Average Price

Market Segmentation of Light Electric Vehicle Industry (By Type of Two/Three Wheeler EV, By Type of Four-Wheeler EV, By Type of Four-Wheeler EV Technology, By Price of Four-Wheeler EV, By Type of Four-Wheeler EV Battery, By Four-Wheeler EV Battery Capacity, By Four-Wheeler EV Brands and By Region)

Issues and Challenges in Electric Vehicles Market

Trends and Developments, Porter's Five Forces Analysis, Growth Drivers, Government Regulations and Initiatives

Impact of COVID-19

Consumer Demographics and Consumer Preferences

Demand Drivers of LEV Market

Demand Analysis on the basis of TAM, SAM and SOM

Product Analysis of Major Four-Wheeler EV Brands (Toyota, Nissan, Lexus and BYD)

Competitive Landscape of the Four-Wheeler and Two/Three Wheeler Light Electric Vehicle Industry

Cross Comparison of Major Four-Wheeler LEV Players on the basis of Operational Parameters (Year of Establishment, Technology Type, Model, Price, Number of Electric Vehicles Sold, Market Share on the basis of Volume, EV Range, Battery Type, and Battery Capacity)

Cross Comparison of Major Four-Wheeler LEV Players on the basis of Financial Parameters (Revenue for 2021, Total Sales for 2021, Auto Parts' Exports for 2021, Procurement from Suppliers for 2021, Global Sales Volume for 2021, Revenue for 2021, Global Operating Profit for 2021, Global Revenue for 2021 and Net Profit Margin for 2021)

Company Profiles of Major Four-Wheeler LEV Players (Company Overview, Geographical Presence, Dealerships, Recent Developments, Business Model, Strengths, Pain Points, USP, Collaboration, Revenue Streams, Product Portfolio, Average Price, Operations and Recent developments)

Company Profiles of Major Two/Three-Wheeler LEV Players (Company Overview, Operations, Strenghts, Recent developments, Product Portfolio, Business Strategies and Pain Points)

Future Market Size of Light Electric Vehicle Industry by Revenue, Volume, and Average Price

Future Market Segmentation of Light Electric Vehicle Industry

Analyst Recommendations

Industry Speaks

For more information on the research report, refer to below link:-

Philippines Light Electric Vehicle Market Outlook

Related Reports:-

Malaysia Electric Vehicle Market Outlook to 2026: Driven by government initiatives along with the need to curb vehicular emissions, and increasing charging infrastructure

The electric vehicle market in Malaysia recorded a negative growth on the basis of revenue in between 2016 and 2021. The slowdown in growth is attributed to the lack of domestic manufacturers in the ecosystem, resulting in imports of these vehicles which ultimately, shoots up the price of EVs. Coupled with that, the advent of COVID-19 also impacted the EV market due to consumer's financial constraints and job losses. The electric vehicle market in Malaysia is heavily dependent on international manufacturers as national brands such as Proton and Perodua have not been able to establish its presence in the EV market as of 2021. However, consumers increasing awareness on environmental hazards along with favorable government initiatives such as income tax and sales tax exemptions for purchasing EVs will contribute in the growth of EV four-wheeler market in coming years. Malaysia wants to encourage people to adopt electric vehicles and other fuel-efficient vehicles. The electric vehicle market in Malaysia will witness rapid transformation with the advancement of solid-state battery technology which increases the efficiency of the battery performance. The Malaysian electric vehicle market is still in its early phases of development. The Malaysian government's EV rules and the continued introduction of new models contribute to the country's EV market growth.

UAE Electric Vehicle Charging Equipment Market Outlook To 2026: Driven By Government Support And Incentives With The Increasing Focus To Achieve Green And Sustainable Economy

UAE is the second largest automotive market in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) after Saudi Arabia owing to the growing population and high disposable income. The demand for vehicles in the country mainly originates from the construction, infrastructure, logistics, tourism, and public transport sectors have turned the emirate into a major exporter and re-exporter of vehicles. The transportation sector is one of the most significant contributors to CO2 emissions in UAE, second to the industrial sector. Incentives offered by the government, banks, and car dealers, has also led to the growth in the UAE's imports of EVs and increased environmental awareness among citizens. The Battery Electric Vehicles sales grew at a CAGR of ~49% during 2017 and 2021.

Indonesia Electric Vehicle Charging Equipment Market Outlook to 2026: Driven by influx of investment from abroad coupled with increasing focus on emission control

Indonesia is the fourth largest country in the world, with a population of nearly 250 million people. With fast economic growth and rapid urbanization in Indonesia, it is projected that more people will acquire a personal vehicle for mobility. The transportation sector is one of the most significant contributors to CO2 emissions in Indonesia, second to the industrial sector. In 2019, Presidential Regulation Number 55 Year 2019 regarding the Acceleration Program for Battery Electric Vehicles for Road Transportation was enacted. This regulation acts as the legal umbrella for Indonesian electric vehicle development and creates a domino effect for several ministries to start electric vehicle (EV) projects in Indonesia. The Battery Electric Vehicles sales grew at a CAGR of 719% during 2017 and 2021.

India EV Charging Equipment Market Outlook to FY'2026  Driven by Increasing Adoption of Electric Vehicles along with Implementation of FAME II Policy by Government

India, the world's 6th largest economy by nominal GDP and the 3rd largest by PPP, is characterized as a middle-income developing market economy. 2- and 3- Wheelers that account for close to 50% share dominate the Indian urban mobility modal share. EVs are slowly gaining traction with less than 2% of vehicles deployed as EVs in India. The charging infrastructure in India is currently quite under-developed with as many as 26 EVs per charger available in the country, compared to only 8 in China and 17 in the US. There are ~300 community charging stations in India, of which 22 were fast-charging points in 202. However, India EV Charging Equipment Market gained significant momentum after the implementation of the FAME India scheme. The Department of Heavy Industry (DHI) also planned to incentivize 1,000+ charging stations with 6,000+ chargers, which is the major growth driver for the market. Lack of Space, Infrastructure, and Manpower for Setting-Up along with High Initial Cost of Charging Equipment and Installation are the major challenges in India EV Charging Equipment Market.

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LONDON, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Metropolitan Gaming Limited (Metropolitan Gaming) today announced the sale of its interest in Emerald Resort and Casino to a consortium controlled by Tsogo Sun.

The sale will allow Metropolitan Gaming to focus on its core markets of the UK and Egypt, where it is committed to building the Metropolitan brand through acquisition and investment. Work is already underway on the refurbishment and rebranding of its Mayfair property which will reopen later this year.

Michael Silberling, CEO of Metropolitan Gaming, said, "Following the addition of the iconic Park Lane Club to our portfolio of casinos in the UK earlier this year, the sale of our interest in Emerald Resort and Casino reflects our focused strategy to invest in and develop the business within our primary markets.

"We want to thank all our employees at Emerald Resort and Casino past and present for their hard work, professionalism and loyalty, particularly during the global COVID-19 pandemic. We very much look forward to following their progress and successes over the years to come."

For additional press information, interviews or photography please contact:

Jackie Abraham M: 07719 940958 E: jabraham@metropolitangaming.com

About the Metropolitan Gaming Group

The Metropolitan Gaming Group is one of London's largest casino-entertainment companies and one of the UK's most diversified casino-entertainment providers. The Group currently operates 6 casino licences in London and 8 branded casinos throughout the UK, including

Park Lane Club London, Empire Casino, The Sportsman, Rendezvous Brighton, Manchester235, Alea Nottingham and Alea Glasgow. All tied to its industry-leading Met Card loyalty programme, Metropolitan Gaming Group focuses on offering a great experience to its guests through a unique combination of impeccable service, exceptional value and operational excellence. The Group also operates three casinos in the Middle East.

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SOURCE Metropolitan Gaming Limited
The logo of U.S. memory chip maker MicronTechnology is pictured at their booth at an industrial fair in Frankfurt

By Jane Lanhee Lee

(Reuters) - Micron Technology Inc, the biggest U.S. memory chip company, on Monday will break ground for a $15 billion factory in Boise, Idaho, and its chief executive told Reuters an announcement of another new U.S. plant will be coming soon.

We are in final stages of another high volume manufacturing site that is going to be announced in the coming weeks, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said.

Both plants will produce DRAM chips that are widely used in data centers, personal computers and other devices. Once operational, U.S. plants will account for 40% of Microns DRAM production volume globally, up from 10% today, Mehrotra said. The Boise factory will be operational in 2025, he said.

Micron said this will be the first new memory chip factory built in the United States in 20 years, and will create 2,000 Micron jobs by the end of the decade.

Since U.S. President Joe Biden signed the Chips and Science Act, which provides $52 billion to support home grown semiconductor manufacturing, a slew of companies have announced plans to make chips in the United States.

Intel Corp on Friday broke ground on a $20 billion factory in Ohio to build cutting edge processor chips.

While Micron once made chips in Boise where it got its start, volume manufacturing has moved away and it has big production centers in places like Japan, Taiwan and Singapore.

The company's core research and development operation has remained in Boise. Having manufacturing and R&D together will help accelerate the time to market, the CEO said.

Mehrotra said the U.S. investments do not represent a move away from Asian countries.

This is not about divesting from manufacturing in any other part of the world, or bringing back manufacturing. This is about increasing, he said.

To meet the growing demand for memory, we have to increase our production," he said, adding that the "Chips and Science bill enables it to be increased here in the U.S.

Micron has previously said it will be investing $150 billion through the decade, $40 billion of that in the United States. Mehrotra said that includes funds for research and development, the cost of which is increasing with advanced technologies.

(Reporting By Jane Lanhee Lee; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
A vast landscape of refuse and the community that survives by salvaging its waste is central to the plot in the debut feature from Nicaraguan writer-director Laura Baumeister.

Daughter of Rage, which world premiered at the Toronto Film Festival on Saturday, will also make its European premiere as part of the New Directors competition at the San Sebastian Film Festival later this month.

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The narrative follows 11-year-old Maria (Ara Alejandra Medal) and her mother, Lilibeth (Virginia Sevilla), who pick through a littered shore to ensure their survival. Lilibeth, forced to travel to town to settle debts, leaves Maria to fend for herself at a sweatshop where children sort garbage for resale. With newfound pal Tadeo by her side, Maria grapples with an uncertain future, dreaming up fantastic scenarios to cope with the abandonment that looms over her head like an eerily dark sky before a storm.

The film is inevitably heart-wrenching but brave, balancing its portrait of poverty and environmental decay with the arresting resilience of Maria herself. Each character plays into the solemn realities theyre dealt, leaving room for small acts of care between the cracks in the fortified walls theyve built-up to temper their disappointment.

The project marks an ambitious production between Laura and Rossana Baumeister and Bruna Haddads Nicaragua-based Felipa Films and Martha Orozco at Mexicos Marth Films alongside co-producers Halal, Heimafilm, Promenades Films, Caron Pictures, Dag Hoel Filmproduksjon and Nephilim Producciones. Its the first fiction feature shot by a female Nicaraguan-born director.

International sales are handled by Brussels-based Best Friend Forever, which launched at Cannes in 2019 with a focus on boarding groundbreaking arthouse cinema from emerging and established global talents. They currently represent Venice Orizzonti competitor To The North and Ale Abreus rousing animation feature Perlimps.

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Ahead of the films screening, Baumeister spoke with Variety about imagination, writing multi-faceted characters and what she hopes audiences will take away from the story.

How did your sociology background influence the story, to ensure a level of empathy?

Sociology has allowed me to approach the world with less prejudice, with an attitude of curiosity and a lot of observation. Its like a scientific method that tells you to bring your mind to change your mind. Observe, and observe, then after observing, try to process, but by slowing down the mind, first. Thats a method you learn. Ill be forever grateful to sociology for giving me that.

Fortunately I feel that its highly related to the work of directing actors. I start from the premise that all people are complex and deep with contradictions and an inner world. For me, its not so much that I make them complex but that I allow that complexity to come out.

We see Maria and the other children use their imaginations to cope with their situation. Can you speak to that mechanism in the film, why its an important tool to have when facing traumas inflicted by life?

When I faced the reality of the location, this giant landfill in Managua, I felt the need for the way the characters experience things not to be seen solely through the objective reality of poverty and their economic condition. I also wanted to give them something that we all have, imagination.

Imagination is a way of processing and altering reality to get ahead. That fits very well, obviously, in a child. Children still have a much more virgin world of imagination without much prejudice. Ive thought a lot about imagination as a tool for resilience.

Your film carried themes of extreme poverty, the dangers associated with being a woman living in this situation, a child. But you also include morsels of hope, play, faith. Can you speak to that underlying tone of positivity in the script?

I think we almost always see less privileged realities from the eyes of privilege. From that privilege, it seems terrible to us. There are many disadvantages and a void of opportunity. Yet, theres joy, an engine of survival that prevails in their day-to-day life.

It was something I discovered from the scouting and casting sessions in the community, which were long processes, almost three years. Solidarity, tenderness, fantasy, and dreams coexist with adversity, poverty, and violence. For me, that makes for a super interesting emotional landscape.

Just as the community stayed with you long after you visited, what would you love audiences to retain from the film long after theyve viewed it?

The creative drive, the drive of the imagination, its the pulse of fantasy, something that belongs to us all, beyond our social conditions. All human beings are multidimensional. The way that Maria can process the loss of her mother through fantasy, its a coping mechanism that can be applied to any adversity. Imagination is another layer of empowerment.

Laura Baumeister

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Click here to read the full article.
In a recent interview for "Influencers with Andy Serwer," Northrop Grumman CEO Kathy Warden made it clear which side the company has taken in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

"We're proud to be supporting the efforts of the Ukrainian people," Warden told Yahoo Finances editor-in-chief, Andy Serwer. "We are supplying arms to the Ukrainians, largely through the U.S. and European allies. And we do that through contracts that we have with those governments, not directly to the government of Ukraine."

Northrop Grumman  an aeronautics, defense, and cyberspace company  employs roughly 97,000 people and is headquartered in Virginia. The company builds weapons including warheads and hypersonic missiles in addition to space products such as the James Webb Space Telescope.

The company has recently struggled with supply chain issues, facing particular shortages on materials like microprocessors, connectors, and cables. These difficulties have hurt Northrops business and the companys total sales were $8.8 billion in the second quarter, below Wall Street expectations of $9.07 billion.

Ukrainian servicemen rest after return from the village of Udy, recently liberated by Ukrainian Armed Forces, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the town of Zolochiv, Kharkiv region, Ukraine September 12, 2022. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

"The supply-side challenges are real for our industry," Warden said. "And as we look at the pace of growth, it could be faster if we did not have those supply-side challenges."

Despite such challenges, Northrop Grumman has supplied Ukrainian troops with equipment including Bushmaster automatic cannons and midsized ammunition, according to reporting from the Financial Times. The outlet also reports that witnesses have seen the Northrops RQ-4 Global Hawk aircraft flying over the Ukrainian border. Ukraine is also drawing stockpiles of weapons produced by other defense companies such as Raytheon (RTX) and Lockheed Martin (LMT), according to reporting by Reuters.

Warden said that Northrop, which until recently bought Antares rocket engines from Russia through NASA, no longer relies on Russian supplies. Last month, the company announced that it would bring Antares production to the United States through a partnership with Austin, Texas-based Firefly Aerospace.

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And so now we, Northrop Grumman, no longer have any reliance on Russian supply, Warden remarked. That is a place that we wanted to be in working with the U.S. government but wanted to do it in a way that all parties were involved in a smooth transition. And that's what we were able to accomplish.

Northrop joins other companies that have stopped doing business with Russia. As of Sept. 12, more than 1,000 companies had revealed they were curtailing operations in Russia beyond the level mandated by international sanctions, according to research from Yale's Chief Executive Leadership Institute.

Dylan Croll is a reporter and researcher at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter at @CrollonPatrol.

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Since the first placement of TAAT in Speedee Mart in March 2022, the Company has employed new point-of-sale tactics in parallel with marketing activities for the Las Vegas market, which has led to sales of TAAT tripling across the Speedee Mart chain from July 2022 to August 2022

Photo 1

Earlier in 2022, TAAT was placed in all Speedee Mart locations in the Las Vegas area. Based on recent improvements to in-store activation strategies as well as localized marketing initiatives targeted towards adult smokers in Las Vegas, sales of TAAT have tripled across the Speedee Mart chain from July 2022 to August 2022.

LAS VEGAS and VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TAAT GLOBAL ALTERNATIVES INC. (CSE: TAAT) (OTCQX: TOBAF) (FRANKFURT: 2TP) (the Company or TAAT) is pleased to announce that sales of all TAAT varieties have increased by approximately 200% month-over-month across the Speedee Mart chain, the Companys anchor account for the Las Vegas market. In a press release dated March 2, 2022 , TAAT announced that it had landed a chain-wide placement with Speedee Mart, who has operated gas stations across the Las Vegas valley since 1995.



In addition to its lower price point and value proposition as a uniquely tobacco-free/nicotine-free offering, TAAT has organically cultivated a steadily growing user base of adult smokers in the Las Vegas market through its presence at prominent local events (e.g., First Fridays in the Arts District) as well as its expanding portfolio of retailers throughout the city, which has a population of over 640,0001 and in 2021 welcomed over 32 million tourist visitors2.

Earlier in 2022, TAAT was placed in all Speedee Mart locations in the Las Vegas area. Based on recent improvements to in-store activation strategies as well as localized marketing initiatives targeted towards adult smokers in Las Vegas, sales of TAAT have tripled across the Speedee Mart chain from July 2022 to August 2022.





Earlier in 2022, TAAT was placed in all Speedee Mart locations in the Las Vegas area. Based on recent improvements to in-store activation strategies as well as localized marketing initiatives targeted towards adult smokers in Las Vegas, sales of TAAT have tripled across the Speedee Mart chain from July 2022 to August 2022.

Readers using news aggregation services may be unable to view the media above. Please access SEDAR or the Investor Relations section of the Companys website for a version of this press release containing all published media.

TAAT Chief Executive Officer Michael Saxon commented, Weve made significant changes at TAAT since I became CEO just a couple of months ago. Although we can only share so much about our playbook for competitive reasons, something Ive been vocal about is the role of focus markets in our commercialization strategy. Selling new products, especially category creators, in the CPG and tobacco categories isnt as simple as just putting it on the shelf. There needs to be a concentrated effort between sales and marketing to make adult smokers aware that the product exists, create moments that generate trials of the product, and convert that interest into recurring purchases. Within the first weeks, we determined that Las Vegas, our home market, was to be our top priority market in 2022 and Speedee Mart has been a terrific partner. We are delighted that sales of TAAT have tripled across Speedee Mart from July to August, and we are excited to continue working with them to sustain this growth. We look forward to deploying this same approach in other priority markets like San Diego, Texas and others into 2023.

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Sources

1 - https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/lasvegascitynevada

2 - https://www.lvcva.com/research/visitor-statistics/

On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Company,

TAAT GLOBAL ALTERNATIVES INC.

Michael Saxon

Michael Saxon, CEO and Director

For further information, please contact:

TAAT Investor Relations

1-833-TAAT-USA (1-833-822-8872)

investor@taatglobal.com

THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE (CSE) HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OR ADEQUACY OF THIS RELEASE, NOR HAS OR DOES THE CSES REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER.

About TAAT Global Alternatives Inc.

TAAT develops, manufactures, and distributes alternative products in categories such as tobacco, hemp, kratom, and other emerging CPG segments. Its flagship product is a nicotine-free/tobacco-free combustible with a patent-pending base material formulation, sold in several thousand U.S. stores. With over CAD $80 million in overall gross revenue annually, TAATs facilities include an operations centre in Nevada, as well as a distribution centre and multiple convenience stores in Ohio.

For more information, please visit http://taatglobal.com .

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Often, but not always, forward-looking information and information can be identified by the use of words such as plans, expects or does not expect, is expected, estimates, intends, anticipates or does not anticipate, or believes, or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur, or be achieved. Forward-looking information in this news release includes statements regarding the anticipated performance of TAAT in the tobacco industry, in addition to the following: Potential outcomes based on increased sales of TAAT in Las Vegas Speedee Mart locations. The forward-looking information reflects managements current expectations based on information currently available and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking information. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed timeframes or at all. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include: (i) adverse market conditions; (ii) changes to the growth and size of the tobacco markets; (iii) changes to the regulatory landscape applicable to the Company's business; and (iv) other factors beyond the control of the Company. The Company operates in a rapidly evolving environment. New risk factors emerge from time to time, and it is impossible for the Companys management to predict all risk factors, nor can the Company assess the impact of all factors on Companys business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ from those contained in any forward-looking information. The forward-looking information included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

The statements in this news release have not been evaluated by Health Canada or the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. As each individual is different, the benefits, if any, of taking the Companys products will vary from person to person. No claims or guarantees can be made as to the effects of the Companys products on an individuals health and well-being. The Companys products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

This news release may contain trademarked names of third-party entities (or their respective offerings with trademarked names) typically in reference to (i) relationships had by the Company with such third-party entities as referred to in this release and/or (ii) client/vendor/service provider parties whose relationship with the Company is/are referred to in this release. All rights to such trademarks are reserved by their respective owners or licensees.

Statement Regarding Third-Party Investor Relations Firms

Disclosures relating to investor relations firms retained by TAAT Global Alternatives Inc. can be found under the Company's profile on http://sedar.com .




The G7 countries are seeking Indias support to enforce a price cap on Russian oil. But Moscow seems to be a step ahead.

Russia is now willing to provide petroleum to India at even lower rates than before, The Business Standard reported today.

Read more

In principle, the ask in return is that India should not support the G7 proposal. A decision on this issue will be taken later following talks with all the partners, the newspaper quoted a foreign ministry official as saying.

Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US constitute the G7. They are looking to choke Russias crude oil revenue streams used to fund the Ukraine war.

In June, Russia became Indias second-largest crude oil supplier after Iraq. India depends on imports to meet 85% of its petroleum needs.

Russias share in Indias oil imports bucket rose from a mere 1% in Februarybefore the Ukraine warto 18% by June 2022. India snapped up Russian oil as many countries stopped trading with that country and its oil prices fell.

Russias discount bonanza for India

In May, supplies from Russia were priced at $16 cheaper than the average Indian imported crude oil barrel of $110. In all, Russia has so far reduced $30 on every barrel of oil it sells to India.

This eventually compelled Iraq to cut its rate to $9 lower than a Russian oil barrel. Yet, in August, Russian crude oil cost $6 less than Indias average barrel of imported crude oil, Business Standard reported.

datawrapper-chart-YsCok

In any case, India has long felt the need for an alternative crude oil supply source to west Asia.



G7's push to impose a price cap

The G7 has proposed two price caps on Russian oil, one each for crude and refined petroleum products. While the one on crude comes into effect on Dec. 05, 2022, the other goes live on Feb. 05, 2023, when the European Union bans Russian oil products.



India has said it will consider all aspects before taking a decision on it.
LONDON, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Japan H. L. Limited, which operates Japan House London, has announced the appointment of Sam Thorne, Director of Nottingham Contemporary, as the new Director General and CEO of Japan House London. He starts on 17 October 2022.

Sam Thorne, New Director General and CEO of Japan House London (PRNewsfoto/Japan House London)

A unique and widely praised model, the Japan House project was set up with the vision of bringing cultural immersion to the high street, offering visitors the opportunity to encounter and be surprised by Japan in an accessible way.

Sam takes over from the founding Director General, Mike Houlihan, who steps down at the end of October after overseeing the development of Japan House London from initial concept to highly successful London cultural venue. Mike, with his wealth of experience in turning creative ideas into reality and building strong organizational foundations for cultural institutions around the world, has led the team at Japan House London to deliver 14 exhibitions and over 650 events, attracting a total of 1.2m visitors since opening in June 2018, with many more engaging, internationally, online. As an influential figure in the sphere of arts and culture, his ability to forge strong artistic, academic and business partnerships has allowed the organisation not only to cement its position in London's cultural fabric, but also to act as a catalyst for the development of meaningful relationships between Japan, the UK and Europe.

Mike said,

"I am privileged to have been part of this unique project over the past six years, taking Japan House London from just a concept in a tiny office to the vibrant, ground-breaking cultural venue that London enjoys today. Since opening in 2018, Japan House has quickly established itself as the premier space for the expression by Japan of its authentic cultures and stories. Despite the past two years of disruption caused by the pandemic, we have emerged even stronger with the creation of a whole new digital dimension in the form of Japan House London Online."

Story continues

Picking up the baton, newly appointed Sam Thorne has spent the last six years leading the team at Nottingham Contemporary, one of the UK's leading centres of contemporary art, with a pioneering programme of exhibitions, events, research, retail and food  all key elements of the experience at Japan House London. Nottingham Contemporary was shortlisted for the 2019 Museum of the Year, and Sam was named by Apollo Magazine as one of "40 Under 40" most influential global thinkers. Prior to joining Nottingham Contemporary, Sam was Artistic Director of Tate St Ives and Associate Editor of frieze magazine.

Working with a wide range of museums and galleries around the world, Sam has curated numerous solo shows with artists such as Paul Chan, Lara Favaretto and Wu Tsang, as well as thematic exhibitions on subjects ranging from spiritualism to ceramics. He was a co-founder of Open School East, the free-to-attend art school, and author of the book School (2017). He has taught and lectured widely, and is a regular contributor to a number of art publications.

Of his appointment, Sam said:

"I am thrilled to be joining Japan House London as Director General and CEO. On a personal note, I have a longstanding relationship with Japan and its cultures; I first visited as a child, with my Japanese-speaking mother, and since then have travelled extensively around the country. Along the way, I have developed collaborations and dialogues with Japanese artists, musicians and architects; while at the Tate, I curated an exhibition exploring the relationships between Japanese and British studio pottery. At a time when transnational dialogue and cultural exchange are more important than ever, I believe that JHL is ideally placed to help shape the dialogues and partnerships of the future. I look forward to working with the team to build on the brilliant work of the founding director, Mike Houlihan, to start this new chapter."

From its inception, the Japan House project has benefitted from the direction and oversight of eminent Japanese designer and President of Nippon Design Center, Hara Kenya, who commented:

"Director General Mike Houlihan's deep understanding of the significance of the Japan House project and of Japanese cultures, and his appropriate management based on this premise has developed Japan House London into a cultural destination that we would want to have in our own country. I sincerely hope that the new Director General will inherit this spirit and that Japan House London will continue to flourish as place of awakening to Japanese cultures."

About Japan House London

Japan House London is a cultural destination offering guests the opportunity to experience the best and latest from Japan. Located on London's Kensington High Street, the experience is an authentic encounter with Japan, engaging and surprising for even the most knowledgeable guests. Presenting the very best of Japanese art, design, gastronomy, innovation, and technology, it deepens the visitor's appreciation of all that Japan has to offer. Part of a global initiative, there are two other Japan Houses, one in Sao Paulo and the other in Los Angeles.

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Emirates has announced 3,000 new cabin crew recruits who are equipped with top-notch aviation first aid skills, after graduating from the airlines rigorous cabin crew training programme in a move to mark World First Aid Day this month.



The new joiners who undergo 8 weeks of intense ab-initio training in order to become world-class cabin crew. The ab-initio period includes a myriad of courses from security to service, safety and emergency to hospitality, and the critically important medical response training.



Emirates crew are trained to manage a range of situations on board, and this includes learning essential life-saving skills. Using a combination of practical, in-situ, classroom and online learning, new recruits are taught invaluable lessons which prepare them for life, and to save the lives of others.



The learning

Medical training is provided to new cabin crew on all aspects of first aid including dealing with a collapsed casualty who has fainted, managing choking, recognising and managing breathing difficulties like asthma and hyperventilation, sudden illnesses like chest pain, stroke, low blood sugar, allergic reactions, deep vein thrombosis, barotrauma, decompression illness, and substance misuse. Crew are also taught how to deal with injuries like fractures, burns, and amputations, as well as communicable diseases, the importance of infection control procedures, and on-board hygiene.



The new recruits are schooled in the life-saving skills of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), where they practice on patient simulation mannequins, and on how to use an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) machine properly. Using a specially designed medical mannequin, cabin crew also experience what its like to deliver a newborn baby on board, as well as managing death. All training is provided by certified aviation first aid instructors, in the world-class training facility - Emirates Cabin Crew Training Centre in Dubai.



Saving lives

In July 2022 alone, Emirates cabin crew saved two passengers from cardiac arrest on two different flights. A potentially fatal incident, cardiac arrest causes the heart to suddenly stop beating. The lack of blood flow to the brain and other organs can cause a person to lose consciousness, become disabled or die if not treated immediately.



Emirates cabin crew used a combination of CPR techniques and a defibrillator to save both passengers lives and kept them stable until they could receive medical attention from emergency services on the ground. Both passengers are now recovering well.



Support for cabin crew

When there is a medical incident on board, cabin crew are supported by the flight deck crew (Captain/Pilot and First Officer/co-pilot) and a team called Ground Medical Support. Ground Medical Support is a team based in Emirates Headquarters, who are available 24/7 by satellite communication to support and advise crew around the world on medical incidents on board.



From a psychological perspective, cabin crew also receive training on gaining consent to assist passengers, showing empathy to the sick and their families, staying calm, keeping the casualty informed at all stages and being present with the casualty until the situation improves. They also learn how to break difficult news when required. After any incident, the cabin crew are also provided with support for their own mental health, through Emirates Employee Assistance Programme, the Peer Support service, and Sehaty  Emirates employee wellbeing programme.



Cabin crew knowledge and skills are put to the test each year at a recurrent training, and crew are required to complete a 1.5-hour online course, 2-hour practical session for CPR, AED, severe bleeding, and severe allergy management, with assessments for each. The experienced crew also participate in a flight simulation exercise annually to ensure they are fully equipped to handle any medical incidents and their knowledge is regularly refreshed.



Putting First Aid into action

Flying with the worlds largest airline, Emirates cabin crew enjoy non-stop new adventures as they travel to over 150 cities across 85 countries. Many Emirates cabin crew describe the role as the best job in the world - not only because they deliver award-winning service at 40,000 feet and the unique lifestyle that comes with the job, but because they also discover their own heroic potential through life-saving skills and emergency management.



Having access to Emirates aviation first aid training helps new recruits develop their communication skills, initiative and leadership qualities, the ability to work effectively as a team, the focus to stay mentally strong and calm to work effectively under pressure, and  how to save and protect the lives of others.  TradeArabia News Service
CALGARY, AB / ACCESSWIRE / September 12, 2022 / Southern Energy Corp. ("Southern" or the "Company") (TSXV:SOU) (AIM:SOUC), a U.S.-focused, growth-oriented natural gas producer, announces that pursuant to the Company's Stock Option Plan and Share Award Incentive Plan, an aggregate of 4,000,000 stock options ("Options") to purchase common shares of the Company ("Common Shares") and 2,495,700 restricted share awards ("RSAs") were granted as part of Southern's overall compensation and employee retention progra

Southern Energy Corp., Monday, September 12, 2022, Press release picture

The Options expire in five years from the date of the grant and are exercisable at a price of CAD$1.01 per Common Share, being the closing market price on the TSXV on the day prior to this announcement. The Options vest as to one third on the grant date and one third on each of the first and second anniversaries of the grant date. The RSAs vest as to one third on each of the first, second and third anniversaries of the grant date. On the vesting dates of such RSAs, the holder is entitled to receive a cash payment or its equivalent in fully paid Common Shares, at the Company's discretion, equal to the closing market value per Common Share on the TSXV on the business day prior to such payment.

In aggregate, 2,230,000 of the Options and 914,800 of the RSAs were issued to directors and persons discharging managerial responsibilities ("PDMR") of the Company, as set out below:

PDMR Position Options Awarded RSAs Awarded Ian Atkinson President and CEO (Director) 550,000 234,400 Calvin Yau CFO 420,000 220,300 Gary McMurren COO 420,000 220,300 Paul Baay Non-Executive Director 105,000 29,975 Bruce Beynon Non-Executive Director 105,000 29,975 Michael Kohut Non-Executive Director 105,000 29,975 Tamara MacDonald Non-Executive Director 105,000 29,975 Andrew McCreath Non-Executive Director 105,000 29,975 Joseph Nally Non-Executive Director 105,000 29,975 Neil Smith Non-Executive Director 105,000 29,975 Steven Smith Non-Executive Director 105,000 29,975

For further information about Southern, please visit our website at www.southernenergycorp.com or contact:

Southern Energy Corp.

Ian Atkinson (President and CEO)

+1 587 287 5401

Calvin Yau (CFO)

+1 587 287 5402

Strand Hanson Limited - Nominated & Financial Adviser

James Spinney / James Bellman / Rob Patrick

+44 (0) 20 7409 3494

Canaccord Genuity - Joint Broker

Henry Fitzgerald-O'Connor / Gerel Bastin

+44 (0) 20 7523 8000

Hannam & Partners - Joint Broker

Samuel Merlin / Ernest Bell

+44 (0) 20 7907 8500

Camarco

James Crothers / Billy Clegg / Hugo Liddy

+44 (0) 20 3757 4980

About Southern Energy Corp.

Southern Energy Corp. is a natural gas exploration and production company. Southern has a primary focus on acquiring and developing conventional natural gas and light oil resources in the southeast Gulf States of Mississippi, Louisiana, and East Texas. Our management team has a long and successful history working together and have created significant shareholder value through accretive acquisitions, optimization of existing oil and natural gas fields and the utilization of re-development strategies utilizing horizontal drilling and multi-staged fracture completion techniques.

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.

PDMR NOTIFICATION FORMS

1 Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated a) Name Ian Atkinson

Calvin Yau

Gary McMurren

Paul Baay

Bruce Beynon

Michael Kohut

Tamara MacDonald

Andrew McCreath

Joseph Nally

Neil Smith

Steven Smith 2 Reason for the notification a) Position/status President and CEO (Director)

CFO

COO

Non-Executive Director

Non-Executive Director

Non-Executive Director

Non-Executive Director

Non-Executive Director

Non-Executive Director

Non-Executive Director

Non-Executive Director b) Initial notification/Amendment Initial notification 3 Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor a) Name Southern Energy Corp. b) LEI 213800R25GL7J3EBJ698 4 Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted a) Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument Options to acquire common shares in Southern Energy Corp. Identification code CA8428131059 b) Nature of the transaction Grant of share options c) Price(s) and volume(s) Southern Energy Corp., Monday, September 12, 2022, Press release picture d) Aggregated information N/A (single transaction for each individual) e) Date of the transaction 12 September 2022 f) Place of the transaction Outside of a trading venue

1 Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated a) Name Ian Atkinson

Calvin Yau

Gary McMurren

Paul Baay

Bruce Beynon

Michael Kohut

Tamara MacDonald

Andrew McCreath

Joseph Nally

Neil Smith

Steven Smith 2 Reason for the notification a) Position/status President and CEO (Director)

CFO

COO

Non-Executive Director

Non-Executive Director

Non-Executive Director

Non-Executive Director

Non-Executive Director

Non-Executive Director

Non-Executive Director

Non-Executive Director b) Initial notification/Amendment Initial notification 3 Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor a) Name Southern Energy Corp. b) LEI 213800R25GL7J3EBJ698 4 Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted a) Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument Restricted Share Awards to receive common shares in Southern Energy Corp. or equivalent cash payment, at Company's sole discretion on vesting dates Identification code CA8428131059 b) Nature of the transaction Grant of restricted share awards c) Price(s) and volume(s) Southern Energy Corp., Monday, September 12, 2022, Press release picture d) Aggregated information N/A (single transaction for each individual) e) Date of the transaction 12 September 2022 f) Place of the transaction Outside of a trading venue

SOURCE: Southern Energy Corp.





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(Revises arrival date of Cool Runner) Sept 12 (Reuters) - The following liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers are expected to arrive in Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands in the coming weeks. Estimated arrival dates, often revised by port authorities and AIS Live ship-tracking data on Refinitiv Eikon, are updated below. Some tankers heading for Belgium and Britain may be loading at the terminal. Those expected to load are indicated with an (L). Those likely to perform ship-to-ship transfers are indicated with (STS). Tankers that have docked are indicated with (A). For the Reuters LNG guide, click here: LNG TANKER CAPACITY in EXPECTED ARRIVAL FROM PORT cubic metres BRITAIN Maran Gas Ithaca 170,000 Sept. 11 (A) United States South Hook Barcelona Knutsen 170,000 Sept. 12 (A) N/A Dragon Maran Gas Delphi 157,000 Sept. 13 United States Dragon Golar Penguin 155,000 Sept. 13 United States Dragon Cool Runner 158,000 Sept. 17 United States South Hook Gaslog HongKong 174,000 Sept. 22 United States Isle of Grain Al Mafyar 261,000 Sept. 23^ Qatar South Hook BW Pavilion Leeara 162,000 Sept. 25 United States Isle of Grain BW Pavilionaranthera 171,000 Sept. 30 United States Isle of Grain Golar Glacier 162,000 Oct. 10 United States South Hook BELGIUM Al Mafyar 261,000 Sept. 20^ Qatar Zeebrugge Simaisma 143,000 Sept. 25 Qatar Zeebrugge Al Sheehaniya 206,000 Sept. 30 Qatar Zeebrugge NETHERLANDS Flex Ranger 174,000 Sept. 12 Egypt Gate Gaslog Wellington 174,000 Sept. 13 United States Gate Elisa Larus 174,000 Sept. 16 United States Gate SK Resolute 180,000 Sept. 21 United States Gate British Listener 174,000 Sept. 23 United States Gate Maria Energy 174,000 Sept. 23 United States Gate Sources: Ports, AIS Live ship tracking, Refinitiv Eikon data. (^) Partial unload (*) Arrival date estimated based on flows data (Reporting by Nina Chestney)
New Ideas for a Sustainable Future September 21, 2022, Geneva and online

GENEVA, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A unique collaboration of the United Nations, key researchers from Harvard University's Department of Economics, FootPrint Coalition, and the Think Tank Geneva Macro Labs rethinks the relation between nature and finance in a multi-stakeholder conference supported by ServiceNow.

(PRNewsfoto/Geneva Macro Labs)

Natural resources are a gamechanger in the fight against climate change. Mangroves, elephants, seagrass and other natural assets function as carbon sinks and contribute significantly to biodiversity. However, their contributions to stabilise our climate are not properly valued, causing ecological damage. Geneva Macro Labs (Gemlabs) and its partners devote a conference to finding innovative governance and financial solutions to protect their ecological services.

The collaboration between ILO, UNITAR, UNCDF and key researchers from Harvard University's Department of Economics, FootPrint Coalition, Gemlabs and the global software organization ServiceNow focuses on financial and governance mechanisms to value natural capital and to empower the local communities and the workforce to rethink their assets.

The multi-stakeholder event with high-level policymakers, business leaders, civil society and academics will address:

Natural reserves and protected areas

Environmental Taxation

Payment for eco-system services

Supply-chain management for protection

Financial solutions such as Decentralised Finance (DeFi), Social Climate Fund and Green bonds

Workforce adaptation to climate change

The keynotes will be delivered by Federico Bonaglia (Deputy Director of the OECD Development Centre) and Ralph Chami (International Monetary Fund, Rebalance Earth, Blue Green Future), followed by four in-depth panels with 15+ experts (Centre Scientifique de Monaco, UNCDF, UNFCCC Global Innovation Hub, Rebalance Earth, Cortes Solari Philanthropy, The Economist, UNEP Finance Initiative, UNDP, International Finance Corporation, TNFD, AgAu, Brazilian Development Bank, Clarity AI, Diplomatic World Institute, Green Digital Finance Alliance, and KPMG). Expert summaries and a post-conference solutions paper will secure the results.

Story continues

Gemlabs is a Geneva-based Think Tank focusing on reaching the Sustainable Development Goals. It is adopting collective intelligence and new technologies to find innovative solutions for a better and more sustainable future.

For more information, access and press material see the conference website.

Media Contact

Marianne Schorling/ Leonie Achtnich

Geneva Macro Labs

gemlabs@gemlabs.ch

+41 79 527 4185

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Cision

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SOURCE Geneva Macro Labs
vanguard digital advisor vs personal advisor

Over the past few years, robo-advisors have emerged as viable alternatives to human financial advisors. However, instead of seeing this dynamic as a threat, some companies wasted no time incorporating robo-advisors into their suite of services. Vanguard is a perfect example of this evolution. The company famous for its exchange-traded funds (ETFs) now offers clients the option between its Digital Advisor (robo-advisor) services and Personal Advisor Services (a blend of human and robo-advisor investing). So, heres a breakdown of Vanguard Digital Advisor and Personal Advisor so you can decide which matches your investing needs.

If youre more interested in a little of that human touch when it comes to financial advice, consider using SmartAssets free financial advisor matching service.

Overview of Vanguard Digital Advisor vs. Personal Advisor

Vanguard Digital Advisor is the companys robo-advisor. Unlike traditional financial advising services, a robo-advisor receives your financial information and uses an algorithm to invest your money. Vanguard Digital Advisor uses a range of its renowned exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to accomplish customers investing goals.

As a robo-advisor, Vanguard Digital Advisor is an example of putting your investments under passive management. This style reduces costs but limits flexibility. Typically, Vanguard Digital Advisor clients set up retirement funds under this service. However, brokerage accounts and IRAs are available with this service.

Vanguard Personal Advisor Services blends human financial advisors with digital advisors. With this service, youll meet with a human advisor and form an investment strategy tailored to your needs. Then, your advisor will oversee your account and use his or her expertise and Vanguards digital tools to drive your investments forward.

Vanguard Digital Advisor vs. Personal Advisor: Fees

Vanguard appeals to customers through minimal fees. However, its two advisor services have varying fees and requirements.

Story continues

Vanguard Digital Advisor Fees

Vanguard Digital Advisor charges a management fee of 0.20% of the total assets managed. The financial firm derives this figure from two associated costs: a net advisory fee of 0.15% and investment expense ratios of 0.05%. Upon paying those fees, the rest of the money your account earns is yours. Plus, Vanguard is currently running a promotion that waives advisory fees for the first 90 days.

Youll need at least $3,000 to deposit to open a Vanguard Digital Advisor account. However, holders of eligible 401(k) accounts only need $5 to get started.

While you dont have access to a human financial advisor with this account, you can contact customer support for free. In addition, Vanguard Digital Advisor doesnt make use of tax-loss harvesting. That said, Vanguard designs its ETFs to incur minimal tax expenses.

Vanguard Personal Advisor Fees

Vanguard Personal Advisor Services has more fees due to its human component. Since it provides in-depth, hands-on services to account holders, its service fee is 0.30% of assets managed. However, larger balances incrementally reduce fees in the following way:

Balances of $5 million to $10 million incur fees of 0.20% of assets managed.

Balances of $10 million to $25 million incur fees of 0.10% of assets managed.

Accounts over $25 million incur fees of 0.05% of assets managed.

In addition, this service has an average investment expense ratio of 0.06%. As a result, an account holder with $500,000 in assets would have $1,500 of management fees plus $300 for investment expense ratios for a total of $1,800 in fees.

Vanguard Personal Advisor has a more restrictive account minimum requirement of $50,000. This account type uses tax-loss harvesting to reduce tax expenses. Plus, its funds are generally tax efficient. Lastly, contacting a financial advisor or customer support agent is free.

Vanguard Digital Advisor vs. Personal Advisor: Services and Features

vanguard digital advisor vs personal advisor

Vanguard specializes in passively managed funds with minimal fees. As a result, its Digital Advisor and Personal Advisor Services accounts sport low fees and access to its signature ETFs. Plus, customers can access a plethora of financial education resources. Additionally, customer service is available at no charge from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET.

Each account type offers specific benefits as well. For example, Vanguard Digital Advisor customers can use financial planning, debt payoff and portfolio creation tools. Also, you can connect your non-Vanguard financial accounts to view all your finances in one place. This feature can help you better assess your financial wellness.

Vanguard checks Digital Advisor accounts daily to see if theyre on track and makes adjustments as needed. Digital Advisor can also manage multiple goals simultaneously in taxable and retirement accounts. It does so by moving money between funds and automatically adjusting allocations based on your time horizon.

Clients can hold brokerage accounts, IRAs (Roth, traditional and rollover) and 401(k)s with Digital Advisor. Unfortunately, Digital Advisor funds dont provide an option to invest in socially responsible portfolios.

Although it takes far more money to open a Vanguard Personal Advisor account, youll receive a more robust array of services, including the following:

An assigned human financial advisor you can communicate with at any time

A customized financial plan

Investment and portfolio guidance

Real-time updates on progress toward financial goals

Actively managed funds

Tax-loss harvesting

Factoring in retirement dynamics, like Social Security income and healthcare expenses

Access to socially responsible investments

Brokerage accounts, IRAs of all types and trusts

Customers with higher balances access additional benefits, such as trust services and a group of advisors to manage their funds.

Vanguard Digital Advisor vs. Personal Advisor: Online and Mobile Experience

Customers with all account types use Vanguards mobile app. It earns 4.7 stars on the Apple store and 2 stars on Google Play. Apple users laud the apps clean, intuitive interface, but Android customers experience challenges with their versions awkward, incomplete functionality.

Who Should Use Which?

Vanguard Digital Advisor serves clients who prefer passive investing. Rather than frantically opening your portfolio throughout the day and trying to make profitable trades, you generally set your investment goal and trust the process. Of course, you can check in any time, change goals or introduce new ones and learn more about investing through Vanguards educational resources.

Generally, Digital Advisor is for investors looking for inexpensive robo-advisor services that will automatically adjust your investments amongst select time-tested funds. The drawback is the $3,000 it takes to get started, as other robo-advisors dont have such a high requirement.

Vanguard Personal Advisor Services has a far more stringent minimum ($50,000), but customers get access to a human financial advisor and a host of other services. Investors who want to match a detailed financial plan with an involved, complex investment strategy will likely prefer Personal Advisor Services. It can meet the needs of many kinds of investors through a holistic suite of services, including tax-loss harvesting and options for ESG-rated funds.

Bottom Line

vanguard digital advisor vs personal advisor

Investment brokerages have made enormous efforts to meet customers various needs, and Vanguard is no exception. Clients who prefer minimal costs and automated investment services will feel comfortable with Vanguard Digital Advisor. On the other hand, investors with at least $50,000 and a preference for hands-on service will probably gravitate toward Vanguard Personal Advisor Services. Its combination of customizable investments, financial planning and low costs can help investors of all stripes receive healthy returns.

Investing Tips

If trying to navigate the world of robo-advisors, human investors and portfolios makes your head spin, youre not alone. Finding a qualified financial advisor doesnt have to be hard. SmartAssets free tool matches you with up to three financial advisors who serve your area and you can interview your advisor matches at no cost to decide which one is right for you. If youre ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.

Investing for retirement is essential, but it helps to have a plan first. So before you make a financial commitment with an investment firm, you may want to consider the retirement you want. Use this guide for retirement strategies for savers and spenders.

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(Bloomberg) -- The Financial Conduct Authority said the administrator of Neil Woodfords failed fund could face a penalty of up to 306 million ($358 million) over its collapse, a first indication of the likely findings from the UK regulators longrunning probe.

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The Financial Conduct Authority is likely to require Link Fund Solutions -- the entity that managed the Woodford fund -- to pay a financial penalty and/or consumer redress, the regulator said in a statement Monday, although it noted that the decision was not final and that LFS could challenge it.

The estimated redress payment reflects the regulators current view of Links failings in managing the liquidity of Woodfords Equity Income Fund. The regulator opened an investigation into the circumstances relating to the suspension in June 2019.

Link Fund Solutions was the fund administrator on the LF Woodford Equity Income Fund, which started to be liquidated nearly three years ago. Woodford froze the vehicle in mid-2019 because he couldnt meet clients withdrawal requests, trapping 3.7 billion of investor funds.

He was ousted as manager of the fund in October of that year, and announced he would shutter his investment firm, a stunning fall that counts as one of the most dramatic in Londons financial history. Subsequent asset sales have seen investors recoup some of their money but they are still about 1 billion out of pocket.

Link Administration Holdings said in a statement Tuesday that LFS does not agree with the FCAs view and will explore all options, including challenging any decision. Link Group considers that any liabilities relating to the Woodford Matters will be confined to LFS.

Story continues

Canadian Deal

The potential penalty could derail Toronto-based Dye & Durham Ltd. proposed acquisition of Australias Link Administration Holdings Ltd. The FCA said its approval of Dye & Durhams acquisition of Link is subject to a condition to commit to make funds available to meet any shortfall within the fund administrator to cover potential payments.

Dye & Durham is assessing the impact of that demand made by the FCA, according to its separate statement Monday. If it cant accept those terms, it said, then the companies might not be able to close the $1.7 billion deal, which had already been repriced lower after the sharp selloff in technology stocks.

The firm must now decide whether to proceed with the transaction at a higher effective purchase price, renegotiate with Link and revise the terms of its offer to account for the incremental liability, or walk away from the deal, BMO Capital Markets analyst Thanos Moschopoulos said in a note.

Shares in the Canadian company dropped 2% to C$14.43 in Toronto on Monday. Link shares fell by about a fifth on Tuesday in Sydney.

Read more: Dye & Durham Agrees to $1.7 Billion Deal For Australias Link

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If you ask little kids what they want to be when they grow up, many of them will answer a teacher.

Teaching is often the first career a child is introduced to and teachers are often the people who have the most influence on your life, said Dennis Keffer, director of Shenandoah Universitys extended and distance education program.

A lot of us move on to different career aspirations as we grow older, but sometimes that childhood goal continues to be a calling, even after weve gone the doctor, lawyer or engineer route.

Virginias career-switcher programan alternative route to teacher licensurecan get those people into a classroom within five months.

Mature teachers bring life experience into the classroom, said Keffer, who has spent 45 years in education as a teacher, administrator and program director. Ive had doctors and lawyers go through the program. People as old as 69 have gone through the program and gotten jobs in classrooms.

Virginias career-switcher program was developed initially for people exiting the military, but was opened up to everyone in the early 2000s as a teacher shortage began to loom, Keffer said.

Shenandoah University offers a career-switcher program in Fredericksburg, with classes meeting twice per week at James Monroe High School.

Anyone with a bachelors degree and three years of work experiencestay-at-home parenting countsis eligible to apply for the program after passing either a Praxis test or the Virginia Communication and Literacy assessment, Keffer said.

There are two phases to the program, Keffer said. The first consists of classroom instruction on foundations of education, curriculum and instruction, classroom management, human growth and development, technology, methods and special education, followed by a 40-hour practicum that includes 30 hours of teaching.

Upon completion of the first phasewhich through Shenandoah costs $4,995, including textbooks and materialsstudents are eligible for a Virginia career-switcher provisional license.

This license differs from a regular provisional license in that it is good for one year, can be renewed three times and goes dormant until the student is hired to a teaching position, Keffer said.

The student has successfully completed Phase 2 of the career-switcher program after he or she has taught for 160 days under contract with a Virginia public school district or accredited private school and attended four out of five professional development opportunities taught at Shenandoah.

The career switcher is then eligible for a 10-year renewable teaching license.

Keffer said 60 students went through Phase 1 of Shenadnoahs programwhich is offered in Winchester, Fredericksburg and Leesburglast year.

In prior years, there have been as many as 140 across the three locations, but enrollment is down, as it is in teacher preparation programs across the country.

Enrollment has been declining for over a decade, according to information reported by the states to the U.S. Department of Education as required by the Higher Education Act.

In Virginia, total enrollment in teacher prep programs has declined from 13,548 in academic year 200809 to 8,777 in 201920, according to the DOE.

Only two students are enrolled in Shenandoahs career switcher program at the Fredericksburg location this fall, Keffer said.

Id hate to see the program die here, he said.

Keffer said the career-switcher program allows prospective teachers to find out if the profession is for them quickly and without the investment of time and money that a traditional college teacher preparation program requires.

And teachers who go through the career switcher program often stay local, he said.

Very often, students are invested in the community, Keffer said. Their kids go to school here, they go to church here.

Keffer said that not only is teaching a great profession that deserves respect, but its a way to contribute to the greater good.

I had a hospital CEO go through the program, he said. He told me, Life has been good to me, and I want to give back. You can make a difference.

Old Dominion University, Regent University, Virginia Commonwealth University, and several community collegesthough not Germannaalso offer VDOE-certified career-switcher programs.
Spotsylvania School Board Chair Kirk Twigg on July 9 sent a letter to Jon Russell, then a special counsel at the Virginia Department of Education, informing him that Mark Taylor was the final candidate for the superintendent position.

The letter, which The Free LanceStar obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, is dated the day after the School Board met in a closed session to discuss the two finalists for the superintendent position.

The board took no public vote at that meeting to recommend Taylor, who formerly was the Spotsylvania County administrator and is a longtime friend of Twigg, for the position.

In the July 9 letter, Twigg wrote, The Spotsylvania School Board and Mr. Mark Taylor are all in agreement that he is the final candidate for the superintendent position.

We were assured by [Russells] office, GR Recruiting, and Mr. Taylor that all requirements have been met for Mr. Taylor to be placed on the Virginia state approved superintendents list.

Twigg sent the letter to Russell, who was hired by the School Board in August for the newly created position of manager of executive communications, as an email attachment.

The emaildated July 9 at 11:09 a.m. and sent from Twiggs personal email addresswas titled Confidential: Superintendent Letter Needed and reads, Per our discussion...please see attached.

Russell sent the letter on to Maggie Clemmons, VDOEs director of licensure and school leadership, on Monday, July 11.

Attached is a formal letter from Spotsylvania school district requesting their newly-selected superintendent be added to the BOE list for approval. I have copied Chairman Twigg on this email so you can correspond with him on any additional documentation you will need.

Chairman Twigg, Maggie Clemmons can get you going in the right direction on this process, Russell wrote in an email.

Clemmons responded, saying that her office would need to have a completed application on file to ensure the candidate meets all the conditions and requirements for licensure.

Clemmons asked Twigg to share whether an application packet had been submitted on the candidates behalf.

Twigg responded by saying that Taylor had not submitted an application and asking Clemmons to send one to him and to Taylor.

Taylors name was not included in the list of candidates to be granted licensure by the Board of Education at its Aug. 17 when the boards agenda was first published, but it was added a few days later to correct an oversight, VDOE spokesman Charles Pyle said.

The Board of Education on Aug. 17 pulled Taylors name from the list in order to gather more information from the school division about his application.

The School Board on Aug. 25 held its first public vote on whether to recommend Taylor as superintendent, approving his appointment in a 43 vote.

Taylor has no background in public education or educational leadership. He told The Free LanceStar in 2015 that his children were homeschooled.

In 2019, he left his position with Spotsylvania County to become administrator of Greene County, a smaller locality west of Orange.

Taylors name is included in the list of candidates to be granted licensure by the Board of Education at its Sept. 15 meeting.
Election officials preparing for the rapidly approaching midterm elections have one more headache: trying to combat misinformation that sows distrust about voting and results while fueling vitriol aimed at rank-and-file election workers.

Some states and counties are devoting more money or staff to a problem that has only grown more concerning since the 2020 presidential election and the false claims that it was marred by widespread fraud. A barrage of misinformation in some places has led election officials to complain that Facebook parent Meta, Twitter and other social media platforms aren't doing enough to help them tackle the problem.

Our voters are angry and confused. They simply dont know what to believe, Lisa Marra, elections director in Cochise County, Arizona, told a U.S. House committee last month. Weve got to repair this damage.

Many election offices are taking matters into their own hands, starting public outreach campaigns to provide accurate information about how elections are run and how ballots are cast and counted. That means traveling town halls in Arizona, Mythbuster Mondays in North Carolina and animated videos in Ohio emphasizing the accuracy of election results. Connecticut is hiring a dedicated election misinformation analyst.

Still, the task is daunting. Despite Oregon putting additional money into joining a national #TrustedInfo2022 campaign, misinformation continues to reach social media and force local election officials to respond, taking time from other duties.

Ben Morris, spokesperson for the Oregon secretary of state's office, cited three recent Facebook posts that Meta allowed to remain on Facebook despite his office providing evidence to them that they were false.

One alleged a candidate's name had been improperly censored from election fliers. Another falsely asserted that one party was purposefully denied access to a local elections office. Yet another claimed inaccurately that election workers in Multnomah County were being required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination.

Metas policies are too limited to address the misinformation we see at a state and local level, Morris said. Their policies cover big national issues, but false posts about a county clerk or a state law arent removed. When you realize this could be happening at Metas scale, its deeply concerning.

The disconnect may be that Facebook policies prioritize provably false claims that are timely, trending and consequential. All three posts Morris referenced were presumably too localized to have trended, though he contends they were still damaging.

They also were posted by candidates for office, a group that includes a growing number of election deniers and whose speech social media companies strive to protect.

Meta spokesperson Corey Chambliss said the policies exempt much of what politicians say online because of Facebooks fundamental belief in free expression, respect for the democratic process, and the belief that, especially in mature democracies with a free press, political speech is the most scrutinized speech there is.

But he said those protections are waived in cases of direct election interference or threats of violence or intimidation.

In Arizona's largest county, Maricopa, candidates shielded by those protections have liberally posted misinformation during this year's election cycle. That has prompted officials to aggressively condemn the false narratives themselves.

When a candidate for county supervisor encouraged supporters to steal ballot-marking pens given to them at polling places on Election Day during the states August primary, the county attorney, Rachel Mitchell, wrote warning her to stop. The candidate pushed false claims that the pens allow election workers to change peoples votes.

And when Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake made unsupported claims of potential fraud ahead of the primary, Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates told local reporters her claims were beyond irresponsible.

They never brought any specifics to us, said Gates, a fellow Republican.

He said he has been more vocal on social media and more available to traditional media than ever before this year, in an effort to tamp down false election claims before they get out of hand.

Gates and County Recorder Stephen Richer regularly respond directly to false Twitter posts with the facts. Richer said his department also emails Twitter when it sees a misleading narrative or threats against election workers gathering steam online, though it has disagreed with some of the platforms responses.

When debunked claims about the county deleting election data off a server in 2021 resurfaced at an activist-led election security forum three days before the states August primary, the presenters publicly identified two election workers they claimed were responsible and called their actions a crime. That prompted threats and harassment against the workers online, part of a disturbing trend affecting election offices across the country.

Richer said the county wrote to Twitter in hopes of muting the hate, but the platform didnt always agree that the content violated its policies.

Last month, Twitter activated enforcement of 2022 election integrity policies intended to enable healthy civic conversation on Twitter, while ensuring people have the context they need to make informed decisions about content they encounter. The company's efforts included unveiling state-specific pages with live election updates featuring tweets from election officials and local reporters. The platform didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
For Gov. Glenn Youngkin, the problem with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative is that its a market that sends the wrong signals to the wrong people.

He wants out.

And so Youngkin and Democratic legislators, along with environmentalists across the state, are drawing battle lines over the 11-state carbon market, in which power companies can buy or sell carbon dioxide credits. They can be buyers, if their CO2 emissions exceed a cap, or sellers, if they want to get some extra money for emitting less of the greenhouse gas than their cap.

Many Democratic lawmakers say a state law calls for Virginia's participation in RGGI and that only the legislature can remove Virginia from the compact. Youngkin says that law allowed Virginia to join RGGI, but did not mandate Virginia's participation.

The idea behind RGGI is that the price of those credits, along with the cost of buying allowances authorizing utilities to emit a limited amount of CO2, will affect decisions about using coal, oil and natural gas to spin the generators that make electricity - and emit CO2.

In the end, RGGI expects its market will move utilities toward generating power with sources that don't emit CO2.

But Youngkin, whose time at the multi-billion-dollar Carlyle Group saw the firm move into carbon-reducing investments in a major way, doesn't buy that argument.

Lets not have a hidden tax ... that was miss-sold and misrepresented as some sort of market-based incentive, because RGGI is not a market-based incentive, Youngkin said in an interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

In this case, the utility can decide but they dont have to worry about it because they can pass it right on to the consumer and the consumer Has. No. Choice, he said.

They have to buy power from the monopoly utility.

That was shaping up to a fairly big bill.

The State Corporation Commission last year agreed with Dominions view that it would spend some $168 million to buy RGGI credits and that in order to cover that cost the bill for a typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours a month should rise by $2.39.

We must recognize that utilities in this case are monopolies ... were told they had to buy these allowances and all they do is 100 percent pass 'em on to the consumer, who has no say in this, Youngkin said.

But Dominion this year asked, and the SCC agreed, to suspend the surcharge, noting that Virginia was on track to pull out of RGGI. Dominion said it could cover sums it had previously spent through base rates.

Youngkin said he wont renew Virginias contract with RGGI when it expires in December 2023.

Meanwhile, he wants the state Air Pollution Control Board to repeal 2020 amendments to its C02 trading regulations requiring utilities to buy CO2 allowances  that is, RGGI authorization to emit a limited amount of the greenhouse gas.

The board can do that because it is part of the executive branch that the governor leads, he said.

General Assembly Democrats beg to differ. In a letter to the air board last week, 61 of them said the agencys powers are limited because the General Assembly created the air board.

You only have the powers that the General Assembly grants you, the letter said.

The Democrats letter also cites the law that enables participation in RGGI  the Clean Energy and Community Flood Preparedness Act  adding, it is clear our intent for Virginia to participate in RGGI.

RGGI has generated $378 million to support low-income energy efficiency programs and flood protection in Virginia, the Democrats said.

Youngkin sees it differently:

The bill that was passed ... said that you could - it allowed you to go put this in place. It never mandated it," Youngkin said. "It allowed it, it never mandated it."

The bill says the director of the air board is hereby authorized to run the program to sell allowances that can be used in RGGIs trading system or something similar. It says the director shall seek to sell 100 percent of all allowances unless doing so would mean a net loss of benefit to consumers.

Youngkin said he reads that as allowing the air board to do away with the requirement that utilities buy the allowances, and then we get to - as a government, the General Assembly - to work and if we want to provide funding for flood resiliency, then lets go provide funding for flood resiliency.

"Lets not have a hidden tax that was, that was miss-sold and misrepresented.
Nebraska's unique one-house Unicameral Legislature. (Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner)

OMAHA  Seventeen of Nebraskas state senators have signed the first pledge pushed by Charles Herbsters new political action committee: to scrap the Legislatures unique system of electing committee chairs by secret ballot.

Republicans have sought that change for the nonpartisan body.

Historically, shielding votes for committee leadership process from public view has allowed senators in the majority party, Republicans, to select leaders from the minority party, Democrats, to lead committees.

If the vote were public, conservatives have argued, fewer Republican senators would risk the political price of supporting a Democrat to lead the Judiciary or Urban Affairs Committees, as happens now.

The list of senators signing onto the pledge from Herbsters Nebraska First PAC include three of his vocal supporters: Steve Halloran of Hastings, Steve Erdman of Bayard and Tom Brewer of Gordon.

Current state senators who signed the pledge to make committee votes public: Joni Albrecht, John Arch, Bruce Bostelman, Tom Brewer, Tom Briese, Rob Clements, Robert Dover, Steve Erdman, Suzanne Geist, Ben Hansen, Steve Halloran, Mike Hilgers, Mike Jacobson, Kathleen Kauth, Lou Ann Linehan, John Lowe and Dave Murman.

The list also includes four senators who supported Jim Pillen in the gubernatorial primary  Lou Ann Linehan of Omaha, Joni Albrecht of Thurston, Suzanne Geist of Lincoln and John Lowe of Kearney  as well as Speaker of the Legislature Mike Hilgers, who remained neutral during the primary. He is running for Nebraska attorney general.

Since losing the primary, Herbster has not endorsed Pillen, a hog producer and veterinarian who faces Democrat Carol Blood in the general election.

Herbster, who owns agribusinesses in several states, provided the seed money for the Nebraska First PAC.

Linehan said she and many of her colleagues support the change to public balloting on votes for committee chairs. The gubernatorial primary is over, she said, and Republicans are focused on the future.

This is the right policy, Linehan said. You should have to stand by your votes.

Local political scientists and longtime observers of the Legislature have argued that the push to remove secret balloting for committee chairs is not about transparency but is an attempt by the states dominant political party, the GOP, to assert partisan control of the body.

The 49-member Nebraska Legislature, unlike Congress or statehouses elsewhere, does not have a structure for partisan discipline to be enforced by a party whip.

Senators in political parties still exert pressure on their colleagues with speeches and statements, but the structure reduces the ability to punish senators who stray from the party line.

These are George Norris reforms that are critical to the operation of a one-house, nonpartisan Legislature, said Paul Landow, a political scientist at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. You cannot get along without them.

Eighteen candidates for the Legislature this November also signed onto Nebraska Firsts transparency pledge. All but one are Republicans.

The other is Tyler Cappel, a Libertarian running against State Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil in Legislative District 38. Murman also signed the pledge.

District 38 is one of four where both general election candidates signed the pledge. The others are District 40 in northern Nebraska, District 42 in the North Platte area and District 48 in the Panhandle.

PAC spokesman Rod Edwards said he plans to follow up with people hes not heard back from, including Democrats. The deadline to reply is Sept. 29, he said.

The first absentee ballots will be mailed to voters in early October. Edwards has said the group will let voters know who signed the pledge and who didnt.

Transparency in voting should be a nonpartisan issue, Edwards said. We believe voters support transparency and will support candidates who do, too.

One of the PACs main goals is to push legislative candidates farther to the right.

The PAC pulled back from its original goal to have senators and candidates sign a second pledge, to support a so-called constitutional carry bill, a measure that would allow Nebraskans to carry a concealed handgun without a state permit or background check.

Edwards said senators and others told the PAC they would need to see the bills language before signing onto a pledge. Brewer introduced a permitless carry bill during this years legislative session. It fell two votes short of passage.
South Africa: Deputy President to attend inauguration of Kenyas President-elect

Deputy President David Mabuza is headed to Nairobi, Kenya, to attend the inauguration of President-elect, William Samoei Ruto, which takes place on Tuesday, 13 September 2022.

According to a statement released on Monday, President-elect Ruto invited President Ramaphosa, who has since delegated the Deputy President to represent the government and people of South Africa at the inauguration.

South Africa and Kenya enjoy strong bilateral relations, which are mutually beneficial and underpinned by common values and principles, the statement read.

The Deputy Presidents Office said the inauguration follows the peacefully held national elections on 9 August 2022, where the incoming President received the majority of votes to become the fifth democratically elected President of Kenya.

Last month, President Ramaphosa offered his warm congratulations to President-elect Ruto.

A prosperous and united Kenya is an important prerequisite for and contributor to a prosperous and peaceful continent. We look forward to working with you in pursuit of the Africa we want, he said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2022-09-12. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Some 7 in 10 of UAE employers (70%) are planning to hire new employees next year.

Sales Executive (20%), Accountant (18%) and Administrative Assistant (16%) are the top roles that UAE employers are hiring for over the next three months, according to Bayt.com, a top Middle East job site, and YouGov, market research agency, who recently conducted the Middle East Job Index Survey, to measure the job availability and hiring trends in the UAE, and to provide an understanding of required skill sets and qualifications.

Interestingly, good communication skills in Arabic and English (51%) emerged as the top skill that employers look for in a candidate. Being a team player (42%), good leadership skills (34%) and ability to work under pressure (33%) follow.

Managerial experience

In terms of experience, 28% of respondents state that they are looking for candidates with managerial experience, while 27% are searching for those with sales and marketing experience and 29% want candidates with mid-level experience.

Further, Business Management (22%), Engineering (22%) and Commerce (19%) are the most sought-after academic qualifications amongst employers in the UAE.

Ola Haddad, Director of Human Resources at Bayt.com said: A large majority of Mena employers are looking to expand their workforce through a human-led approach. While professionals need to focus on honing skills in demand such as communication and collaboration, companies need to provide access routes for those who lack skills, take steps to strengthen the capabilities of skilled employees, and commit to constant upskilling.

Hiring trends in the UAE

The outlook looks promising for job seekers in the UAE, as 7 in 10 employers (70%) are planning to hire new employees next year.

50% of the companies that plan to hire in the next three months will be hiring for a maximum of five jobs, while 25% will be hiring for about 6 to 10 jobs.

Overall, Business Consultancy/ Business Management/ Management Consulting (84%) emerges as the top industry claiming to hire the most in the next one year across the Mena region. This is followed by Commerce/ Trade/ Retail (82%) and Consumer Goods/ FMCG (81%).

Industries attracting top talent

Advertising/ Marketing/ Public Relations (35%), Real Estate/ Construction/ Property Development (33%) and Banking/ Finance (31%) emerge as the industries that attract or retain top talent in the UAE. Overall, Real Estate/ Construction/ Property Development (37%) emerges as the main industry attracting the national talent while Advertising/ Marketing/ Public Relations is the main industry attracting fresh graduate (37%) as well as female talent (40%).

Zafar Shah, Research Director at YouGov said: There is a tremendous need for skilled workers in the private sector, as multinational companies continue to demonstrate a higher probability for hiring in the Mena region. At the same time, employers are looking for skills such as communication, teamwork and ability to work under pressure in order to build the teams needed to successfully deal with the challenges and opportunities of today and those yet to come.

Data for the Middle East Job Index Survey was collected online from June 9 to August 1, 2022. Results are based on a sample of 889 respondents from the following countries: UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Sudan among others.-- TradeArabia News Service
As the Wednesday morning sun rose over the tarmac at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs, just over a dozen airmen donning heavy-duty headphones bustled about the belly of a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft, preparing to load the airlifter with one of the nations most critical pieces of communication equipment.
Second-grader Maria Diaz is taught by teacher Katie Toler at Coperni 3 public K-7 charter school in Colorado Springs on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020. (Chancey Bush/ The Gazette)
In its ruling on Monday, the court decided there must be an "essential link" between the defendant and a past conviction, requiring both documentation and corroborating evidence that the person in the current case is the same person from the prior case.
Several events across the Pikes Peak region and Denver area this weekend will commemorate the 21st anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and pay homage to the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives.

"We remember the moment in history that forever changed our country and the world as we knew it. We mourn the innocent lives and all the brave first responders who we lost on that day and all those who sacrificed their lives to protect freedom since," Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said in a written statement issued Friday.

"We reflect how 21 years ago, in the face of challenge, Americans came together stronger than ever before and showed the world that freedom will not be taken and the American people will not be broken. Instead, in the face of violence, Americans became stronger and more united to fight terrorism," he said. "Today, as we remember the 21st anniversary of 9/11, let us honor and thank all the first responders who responded that day, and the military members who have bravely sacrificed to serve to combat terrorism to protect our freedom."

On Thursday, Polis joined Denver Mayor Michael Hancock at the University of Denver to host Colorado Remembers 9/11. The event featured a remembrance ceremony to honor those killed in the attacks. Former CIA Director John Brennan and former National Security Adviser and U.N. Ambassador John Bolton also participated in an educational forum discussing current issues affecting U.S. security and foreign policy.

On Sunday, the Manitou Incline will close from 6 to 9 a.m. for the seventh annual Firefighter Incline Climb to remember first responders who died in the attacks.

A 9/11 Commemoration Ceremony will take place from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. at the Pikes Peak Region Peace Officers' Memorial in Colorado Springs' Memorial Park. Mayor John Suthers, Colorado Springs Chief of Police Adrian Vasquez, Colorado Springs Fire Chief Randy Royal and police chaplain Gene Steinkirchner will attend.

At 9 a.m. Sunday in Woodland Park, American Legion Post 1980 and VFW Post 6051 will join the Teller County Sheriff's Office, Woodland Park Police Department and the Northeast Teller County Fire Department at Lions Park for a public 9/11 memorial ceremony. Lions Park is at the intersection of U.S. 24 and Colorado 67.

Also on Sunday, the 2022 Colorado 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb will take place at Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater, 18300 W. Alameda Parkway in Morrison. This ceremony also remembers the first responders who died in the attacks. Opening ceremonies begin at 8:46 a.m., with the climb scheduled to begin at 9:02 a.m. To register, visit 911stairclimb.com.

The 9/11 Heroes Run kicks off at 9 a.m. Sunday in Denver's Great Lawn Park, 101 Yosemite St. Runners, walkers and "ruckers" are welcome. Register online at travismanion.org/events/911-heroes-run/2022-denver-co.
Several events in the Pikes Peak region on Sunday commemorated the 21st anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and paid homage to the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives.

Early Sunday, firefighters from all across the country donned their gear and climbed the Manitou Incline in honor of the 343 firefighters who died saving lives in the chaotic hours after the deadliest terrorist attack ever on American soil.

It was an unseasonably chilly morning in Manitou Springs, and many of the local firefighters had just completed their shifts, but they wouldnt let the weather or their fatigue deter them from gearing up and climbing the more than 2,700 steps in honor of their fallen brethren.

This is just a small way to remember our brothers and sisters who died that day, as well as the many firefighters who have died in the line of duty in the years since 9/11, said Colorado Springs firefighter Jen Jones.

Its not an easy climb  especially with our gear  but those guys didnt have an easy climb (on Sept. 11, 2001) either. And I get to go home at the end of it.

Emma, 14, showed up shortly after 6 a.m. with about 10 of her fellow Explorers, a CSFD-affiliated group of aspiring firefighters between the ages of 14 and 20. Despite the fact that the 9/11 attacks happened before any of the Explorers were born, they said it was important for them to honor the sacrifice of the first responders who perished that day.

This is our way to remember them, Emma said.

In Colorado Springs, about 100 civic leaders, first responders, military personnel and veterans attended a somber commemoration ceremony at the Pikes Peak Region Peace Officers' Memorial in Memorial Park.

We do not come to celebrate death, said police chaplain Gene Steinkirchner during the opening prayer. We come to celebrate life.

Even 21 years after the attacks, most Americans who were alive at the time can remember exactly where they were, and what they were doing, when they learned about the terrorist attacks.

Mayor John Suthers, Chief of Police Adrian Vazquez, and Fire Chief Randy Royal shared those stories with the attendees.

Having been sworn in as U.S. Attorney for Colorado just a week before, Suthers was at Denver International Airport preparing to fly to Los Angeles for a meeting when the first tower was hit. After a second plane flew into the south tower, he received a message from U.S. Attorney John Ashcroft, telling him to forego his flight, return to his office, and await further instructions.

We all understood America was under attack, he said.

Vazquez, a narcotics officer at the time, was attending a training session in Pueblo when the news broke.

All of us stopped what we were doing and watched the TV in horror and disbelief, he said.

Royal said he was driving in to work when he heard about the initial attack on the radio.

I was hoping and praying that (the first plane) was an accident, he said. But by the time I got into my office and turned on the TV, the second plane hit. At that moment I knew it was not an accident, but a terrorist event.

City councilman Randy Helms was an Air Force Officer stationed at the Pentagon in 2001 and was in the building when a third plane crashed into the west side of the building on 9/11. He says what he remembers most is the heroism he saw that day, and in the days that followed.

Men and women, both military and civilian, ran to the destruction site to help those that were wounded and not able to help themselves, Helms said. We set up a command control center inside the building as it continued to burn.

Before Vazquez spoke, he asked for a moment of silence in honor of Arvada police officer Dillon Vakoff, who was killed in the line of duty early Sunday.

Vakoffs death was a grim reminder of the risks police officers, firefighters, and other first responders take every day, Vazquez said.

Here on our soil, first responders, with great passion, continue to show up every day to serve and protect our freedoms, the police chief said.

Vazquez, Royal and Suthers all said they were proud of the way Americans put their differences aside after the attacks and came together in a common cause.

Sadly, the national pride and unity we experienced after 9/11 is too seldom present in so many aspects of our nation today, Suthers said. We should not have to look to another national tragedy to restore that pride and unity. Rather, we should look to ourselves.
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Johnson Controls, a global leader for smart, healthy and sustainable buildings, will exhibit its wide range of next-generation solutions at the 22nd Water, Energy, Technology and Environment Exhibition (Wetex), hosted by the Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) at the Dubai World Trade Centre, between September 27 and 29.

As a key participant, Johnson Controls will highlight a broad range of energy solutions used in buildings, including OpenBlue Services for chiller performance, Metasys Building Automation System, as well as energy efficiency, air systems, fire suppression capabilities and more.

For almost 140 years, energy efficiency has been a hallmark for Johnson Controls. At Wetex, we aim to highlight our leading products, solutions and services that demonstrate not only innovation and efficiency, but also offer a holistic, integrated technology to make buildings, campuses and cities safer, smarter and more sustainable, said Mohammad Khalid, Johnson Controls Vice President and General Manager for Middle East and Africa.

Johnson Controls OpenBlue Net Zero Buildings is a complete suite of connected solutions providing a proven path to decarbonization and achieving renewable energy goals, whilst optimizing building performance. With 40% of global CO2 emissions that come from buildings, cutting-edge solutions such as OpenBlue Net Zero Buildings can help drive significant improvements in energy efficiency and corresponding carbon emissions.

At Wetex, visitors can experience Johnson Controls OpenBlue Services that drive chiller performance first-hand. Visitors can understand the benefits of planned, predictive and proactive maintenance, which can find and fix issues before they impact output and bottom lines. Chillers can consume as much as 40% of a buildings energy, as such, high efficiency levels are paramount to optimizing spaces. A Frost & Sullivan report indicated that managing a chiller with Johnson Controls OpenBlue Services lowers chiller equipment downtime by up to 50% and minimizes energy waste, which can be as high as 30% in unmanaged chiller plants.

Johnson Controls OpenBlue Services leverage tailored, AI-infused services such as remote diagnostics, predictive maintenance, compliance monitoring, advanced risk assessments, and more.

Participants and visitors can learn about Johnson Controls solutions through augmented reality and real-time analysis. For instance, OpenBlue Services, are equipped with AI-enabled predictive and remote diagnostics abilities, taking advantage of real-time data drawn from more than 200 data collection points on each piece of equipment. The data gathered is then compared to an equipment model, in this case, the 'perfect chiller,' created from Johnson Controls own statistical data, compiled over more than 20 years. In the case of temperature monitoring, an alert is generated if the system readings are off by as little as half a degree from the expected range. These insights allow the OpenBlue Chiller Experts to identify and address potentially critical system issues before they can cause a breakdown.

Participants visiting Johnson Controls exhibition can also test the updated version of Metasys, the companys industry-leading Building Automation System, which helps to improve system performance, saves energy, and keeps the data secure. Johnson Controls experts will provide deep insights on the companys energy storage products to better manage energy use, cut costs and ensure electrical back-up for a building, campus or business.

Another highlight will be Johnson Controls fire suppression solutions, which protect lives and assets through incident management, emergency lighting, gas detection and smoke detection among others.

With several leading sustainability initiatives, Dubai has been a frontrunner in tackling climate change. The Dubai Clean Energy Strategy, where Dubai aims to produce 75 per cent of its energy requirements from clean sources by 2050 is a testament to this ambition. In line with the same vision and aligning with the ambitious path of the Paris Climate Accord, the Johnson Controls adopted targets to reduce operational emissions (Scope 1 and 2) by 55%, helping the planet stay at or below 1.5 degrees C, and aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2040, ten years ahead of Paris. Johnson Controls offers the world`s largest portfolio of building technology and software as well as service solutions that advance sustainability and a greener future for our planet. As compared to 2017, Johnson Controls has achieved 41% reduction in GHG emissions and a 15% cut in energy intensity, helping to reduce its carbon footprint, delivering healthier indoor environments and lowering energy costs.

Wetex brings together some 45,000 visitors and is hosted annually under the directives of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai and under the patronage of HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy.--TradeArabia News Service
Britain's King Charles leaves after attending the presentation of addresses by both Houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall, inside the Palace of Westminster, following the death of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, in central London, Britain September 12, 2022. Ian Vogler/Pool via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: An American flag waves outside the U.S. Department of Justice Building in Washington, U.S., December 2, 2020. REUTERS/Tom Brenner/File Photo
Abu Dhabi Air Expo 2022 has confirmed that Sanad Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company and a global aerospace engineering and leasing solutions leader, will champion the UAE capitals credentials as a global aviation centre of excellence at this years Abu Dhabi Air Expo 2022.

With more than three decades experience in commercial aviation, engine MRO services and aviation leasing, Sanad, a trusted partner of global original engine manufacturers including Rolls-Royce, GE Aviation, and Pratt & Whitney, has partnered Abu Dhabi Air Expo 2022 to further enhance the events standing on the global aerospace map.

During the Expo, Sanad executives will join key panel discussions addressing critical industry topics, including MROs and Air Traffic Management & Airport Security.

With a name deriving from the Arabic word for support, Sanad supports its industry where and when it matters most, said Didier Mary, General Manager of Abu Dhabi Air Expo. As a globally renowned entity contributing to Abu Dhabis position as a leading global aerospace and aviation hub, were honored to have Sanad partner Abu Dhabi Air Expo as a key sponsor.

Now in its 10th year, the Expo has expanded from a business and general aviation focus to industry showcase supporting all elements of civil aviation, to bringing an entire cadre of sector-specific resources to Abu Dhabi.

Our involvement in this years Abu Dhabi Air Expo stems from our strong belief in Abu Dhabis growing contribution and influence on the global aviation landscape. Sanad has a long-standing history in forging meaningful international partnerships to provide airlines and OEMs with unmatched industrial services from Abu Dhabi. We look forward to accelerating Abu Dhabi Air Expos role as a global platform for forward-thinking dialogue, networking and business discussions that will further the sectors ongoing growth locally and globally, said Mansoor Janahi, Group CEO of Sanad.

Air Expo 2022 is a unique platform that brings together aviation and aerospace industry leaders and professionals with aviation enthusiasts, customers and students to network, exchange ideas and showcase the latest thinking, technology and equipment in general aviation. The 80,000 square metre exhibition is expected to attract 18,000 visitors and host more than 300 manufacturers and suppliers.

The three-day Air Expo event will feature the latest innovations in private jet aircraft, aircraft engines, helicopters, executive charter services, airport equipment and services, avionics systems, insurance and financing. Over 100 aircraft from ultra-light to heavy business jets will be on display for delegates seeking out a variety of aircraft and aviation-related services. This years event will include a new format that divides the exhibition into three main areas: aircraft hangar, chalets and outdoor static display. It will also feature a conference program providing industry thought leaders a forum to share the latest thinking on general aviation and aerospace developments.--TradeArabia News Service
A Colorado Springs-based nonprofit dedicated to helping families and individuals with special needs recently launched a local resource database including more than 400 organizations, allowing access to services including legal aid, education, counseling, therapy and more.

Professionals at Need Project Inc. spent more than a year building a list of hundreds of agencies, nonprofits and providers into its all-new Local Special Needs Resource Database, which officials are calling the most comprehensive directory of its kind in Colorado Springs.

"We used every (information gathering) method we could think of," said Bob West, founder of Need Project Inc. "We checked websites, we made phone calls to other organizations, we went to resource fairs and we reached out to parents to find out which organizations they knew about."

West, who has an adult son with cerebral palsy, said an information source like the Local Special Needs Resource Database would have been extremely helpful to him when his son was younger.

"If you're looking to find out about services that are out there for your family, it's extremely difficult in the special needs community to find those resources," he said. "For instance, respite care is a real struggle for parents, and there aren't a lot of organizations that do it. Having them know about them and where they are is such a key for them being successful as parents and as a family."

Some nonprofits will share a handful of resources on their website, but there hasn't been a single place to find them all  until now, West said.

The new website places virtually all the city's special needs resources right at the user's fingertips, according to West. Individuals can search by category or fine-tune their search by using a virtual map that will allow the user to find which resources are closest to their location.

"We've added Google searches, you can search by category, you can search by location, you can see a map, you can search by keyword," West said. "We've added a complete group of search capabilities that make this super easy  and the best thing is that it's all available for free on our website."

Families can also give a review after utilizing a service, which allows other users to decide which resources suits their needs best, officials said.

"There are a lot of families in the special needs community that are struggling to find what they need. Our goal is to be a trusted resource to help these families thrive," West said. "With this database, I feel we have delivered one of the key objectives of our mission."

To learn more, visit needproject.org.
John Bender, PE is a licensed professional engineer in six states with over 45 years of experience. Besides a career at Colorado Springs Utilities he's worked for three consultants and currently works on contract at Buckley Space Force Base.
Awash in well-being: The Broadmoor's Ranch at Emerald Valley | Such a Fine Sight to See
Attendees at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit's Bench & Bar Conference heard directly last week from two members of the nation's highest court, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, during the first such legal gathering since the onset of the pandemic.
"We are at a critical time for a democracy," Pam Anderson said. "We need to rebuild voter confidence in Colorado, and that starts with our secretary of state checking their partisanship at the door."
Federal judges and lawyers heard about the cascade of recent developments in legal interpretation during a three-day conference in Colorado Springs, with a heavy focus on the U.S. Supreme Court's sharp turn toward more conservative outcomes on major cultural issues.

Attendees at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit's Bench & Bar Conference heard directly last week from two members of the nation's highest court, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, during the first such legal gathering since the onset of the pandemic.

Although both men received friendly and non-combative lines of questioning from current judges on the 10th Circuit, Roberts volunteered his view that the justices' decisions in controversial cases should have no bearing on the Supreme Court's legitimacy.

"You dont want public opinion to be the guide of what the appropriate decision is," Roberts told an audience at The Broadmoor resort on Friday night. Gorsuch echoed a similar theme the prior day when, responding to the unprecedented leak of a draft opinion that POLITICO published in May, he called "improper efforts to influence judicial decision-making" a threat.

The remarks ignited a firestorm, with some commentators believing Roberts misrepresented the nature of critiques about the Supreme Court  which range from the composition of the court itself to the members' willingness to overrule longstanding precedents.

The conference for the 10th Circuit, which hears federal appeals at its courthouse in Denver arising from Colorado, Oklahoma, Utah, Kansas, New Mexico and Wyoming, brought together judges and attorneys to discuss the key legal shifts and speak candidly with each other about court operations. Judges Allison H. Eid of Colorado and Joel M. Carson III of New Mexico, both appointees of Donald Trump, organized the biennial gathering.

Here are a few of the major subjects discussed at the conference.

Debate over pro-Christian 'movement' at high court

Although speakers at the conference did not openly call into question the legitimacy of the Supreme Court, several panelists noted the rapid reversals on such topics as abortion and religious exercise the conservative-majority court has imposed in its prior term, plus the decline in public confidence.

"With the new court, we have had a number of radical developments  and I say that in the sense of extreme change  with a number of precedents," observed 10th Circuit Senior Judge Carlos F. Lucero of Colorado.

John Yoo, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, indicated the high court, more so than in the past, is looking to history and the Founding period to resolve 21st century disputes. He cautioned that lower court judges will be the ones seeking out the logical boundaries of that method.

"I think all of you are the ones who are gonna have to do it first. Youre going to have to take these new principles the court is developing from an originalist perspective and apply them to new facts," said Yoo, a former official in the George W. Bush administration who authored the "torture memos" legitimizing the use of torture on suspected terrorists.

Professor Jonathan Turley of The George Washington University Law School indicated he had little concern for Supreme Court justices voting to overrule their own precedents on constitutional questions. He also called it "grossly unfair" to suggest the justices act with a political mindset.

"We disregard precedent at great risk because it is the common sense of the ages," countered Lucero, who moderated the panel. "Not by one jurist or two jurists but by hundreds of jurists."

With the prior Supreme Court term resulting in the expansion of state aid to religious schools and the endorsement of prayer by public school employees at school events, University of Texas law Professor Elizabeth Sepper warned the agendas of conservative Christian groups that bring legal challenges before the nation's highest court are increasingly gaining favor.

"I think were seeing preferentialism for religion," Sepper said. "There clearly is a massive and  when I say well-funded, I mean to the tune of billions of dollars  Christian fundamentalist movement. Their aims are not to get accommodations that we would see minority groups get. Its not about accommodation. Its domination."

She raised the case of 303 Creative v. Elenis, a 10th Circuit decision the Supreme Court has agreed to hear this term, which implicates whether states may bind artists to comply with anti-discrimination laws. The pro-Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom is handling the court challenge to Colorado's LGBTQ protection law.

In response to a question, the panelists agreed Colorado's state constitutional prohibition on public aid to religious schools would likely be struck down if challenged under the Supreme Court's new precedent.

Escalating use of injunctions

Judges issue injunctions to direct defendants to act or refrain from acting in ways that implicate a plaintiff's rights. But beginning with the George W. Bush administration and escalating through subsequent presidencies, there was an increase in nationwide injunctions, in which judges blocked the federal government from implementing certain policies across the whole country.

Prominent examples in recent years included a federal judge in Washington blocking the Trump administration's ban on immigrants from designated Muslim-majority countries and a judge in Florida enjoining the Biden administration from mandating masks for air travel.

"I dont think one judge, whether they're a district judge, circuit judge or a Supreme Court justice, should have the ability to rule on these matters for all time and decide them for everyone," said Gregg Costa, an Obama appointee to the Texas-centered Fifth Circuit who recently stepped down as a judge there.

Costa and the other panelists agreed the need to have uniformity in the law weighed in favor of nationwide injunctions, as well as dissuading overly-aggressive regulation by governmental agencies that affects a wide swath of potential plaintiffs  who are perhaps unable to bring lawsuits on their own.

But Professor Samuel L. Bray of Notre Dame Law School, a critic of nationwide injunctions, added that while uniform application of federal law "is something we get in our legal system in the long run, we don't try to get it right away."

As a result of the increase in nationwide injunctions, a plaintiff need only convince one trial judge to issue such an order, despite multiple other judges or even higher-level circuit courts finding them to be without merit. The upshot is presidential administrations are increasingly likely to have their initiatives blocked in court.

"It really is an issue impacting everyone in terms of political viewpoints, frustrating the objectives of different administrations," said U.S. District Court Judge Holly L. Teeter of Kansas, who moderated the panel.

"The one tilt it has: Its anti-federal government," Costa added.

Costa suggested the use of three-judge panels to decide cases where a nationwide injunction is requested, an arrangement that used to govern challenges to the constitutionality of laws. He said that government officials, especially in Texas, will strategically file cases in areas where only a single favorable judge may hold court, increasing the likelihood of an injunction.

Bray suggested that in the near term, judges could simply restrain themselves from placing a nationwide blockade on policies from their positions on trial or circuit courts.

"If judges wont issue them, then they wont happen," he said.

Media and the Supreme Court

Broadcasting the substance of Supreme Court opinions on a few minutes' notice  and in competition with social media takes  has put traditional media outlets in a tough spot, journalists who cover the Supreme Court told the conference.

"A lot of us who are in the news business try as best we can to give a balanced and truthful account," said David Savage of The Los Angeles Times. "Increasingly, we dont have that kind of luxury anymore to be thoughtful and informed."

Henry Olsen, an opinion columnist for The Washington Post, cautioned the legitimacy of the Supreme Court will likely continue to be a subject of media debate as long as the justices handle politically-sensitive topics, and are seen as political actors.

The current nature of politics, combined with mischaracterizations or incomplete characterizations of the court's work, added Jan Crawford of CBS News, has contributed to the public's increasing dissatisfaction with the Supreme Court.

"It presents a serious problem not only to media but to our institutions. Its a grave threat to our democracy," she said.

'Make my life easier'

While speaking to attorneys about handling complex litigation in the trial courts, U.S. District Court Judges Daniel D. Domenico and Regina M. Rodriguez, both of Colorado, provided insight into how to be on best terms with the judge overseeing a case.

"Nothing frustrates me more and is a way to lose credibility with me than when I see lawyers in their filing or their arguments losing sight of their client's best interest and make something about winning a point over the other attorney," Domenico said. "The best way to represent your client is to help me understand the case and make my life easier."

Rodriguez, who is now in her second year on the bench, echoed that a judge's job is to "bring order to the chaos," and a lawyer who has a plan for his or her case and is willing to cooperate will gain credibility with the court.

"I need somebody to be an honest broker to help sort through this," she said.

The two judges also agreed that, in contrast to the appellate courts, oral arguments are not generally helpful in the trial court. Domenico said he is not comfortable deciding issues based solely on what lawyers tell him on their feet, and prefers to look at the written filings.

Domenico and Rodriguez also acknowledged the district court for Colorado is considering new requirements for litigants appealing the decisions of magistrate judges, who often get a first crack at the legal analysis of a case, to the lifetime-appointed district judges.

"With the number of motions we are getting and the filings we are getting," Rodriguez explained, "its challenging because I think people feel they have to file (an appeal) for whatever reason. But not all of them are grounded."

Interpreting tribal law

In relatively short time, the Supreme Court has clarified the criminal jurisdiction of Oklahoma over roughly one-third of its land mass in cases involving American Indians. By a 5-4 decision in 2020, the court ruled in McGirt v. Oklahoma that the area in question, including Tulsa, remained "Indian country" because Congress never disestablished tribal boundaries.

As a result, only the federal government or tribes had jurisdiction over certain criminal cases involving an American Indian.

The federal judiciary quickly requested additional judges to handle the increase in caseloads. But this year, in Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta, the court scaled back its directive by finding Oklahoma actually retained its jurisdiction to prosecute non-tribal defendants who commit crimes against American Indian victims. The majority concluded Oklahoma had a "has a strong sovereign interest" in pursuing criminal justice within its borders.

"I defy you to find any statute anywhere that Indian country is part of the state," Troy A. Eid, a former U.S. attorney for Colorado, told the 10th Circuit conference. He explained the Supreme Court has now called into question whether tribes retain their inherent sovereignty that states must accommodate, or whether states actually have primacy.

Kevin Washburn, dean of the University of Iowa's law school and a member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, countered that approximately one in three American Indian and Alaska Native women are raped. The Castro-Huerta decision would now ensure, in some instances, that state prosecutors could step in to pursue perpetrators.

"If theres another government that can help with these serious public safety crises in Indian country," he observed, "I don't see it as a disaster."

Benefits and pitfalls of affirmative consent

Aya Gruber, a professor at the University of Colorado's law school, said the legal system has struggled to hold those who commit sex crimes accountable while not criminalizing conduct that suggests a consensual encounter. She indicated she is skeptical of the notion of "affirmative consent," in which sex is consensual when there is mutual agreement, and not simply when either partner fails to object.

"If we narrow it down to only an enthusiastic yes, thats gonna render a whole lot of sex rape under the criminal law," she said.

Gruber elaborated that cultural norms have made speaking openly about sex difficult, and the "script" for getting consent depends on verbal and nonverbal cues. She noted the discussion of consent largely centers upon interactions between college students, even though sexual assaults are more common in other scenarios  including sex work.

Under affirmative consent, Gruber acknowledged that the mindset of the victim would no longer be put on trial and prosecutors, in theory, could filter out cases they do not believe to be "real rape." But she warned prosecutorial discretion for sex crimes, as it does in general, could have widely different consequences based on race or socioeconomic status.

The goal in creating a workable system for sex crimes should be "the most amount of justice with the least pain," she argued.
Virginia Tech made a big jump in the latest ranking of the nations top colleges by U.S. News & World Report, which was released Monday. The University of Virginia climbed one spot in the publications ranking of the top public schools in the country.

Virginia Tech moved up 13 spots, one of the biggest improvements in the country, from 75th last year to 62nd this year. The university reported a lower student-to-teacher ratio and performed well on a revamped ranking of the credentials of the schools faculty.

The University of Virginia ranked 25th among all schools, its same position as last year. UVa tied with New York University, the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and the University of Southern California.

Princeton University landed at No. 1, just as it did last year. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology ranked second, same as last year. Harvard University, which was tied for No. 2 last year, dropped one spot, tying at No. 3 with Stanford University and Yale University.

Since 1983, U.S. News has ranked the nations top colleges and its rankings often influence schools strategic plans.

In the ranking of top public schools, UVa moved up one spot from a year prior, tying for third with Michigan. UVa has set a goal of becoming the nations top public university by 2030. The University of California, Berkeley and the University of California, Los Angeles tied for No. 1.

Virginia Tech gained seven spots in the public school ranking, tying for 23rd with the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities and the University of Pittsburgh.

The College of William & Mary tied for 41st among all schools and 13th in the ranking of public schools. William & Mary dropped three spots in both lists.

George Mason placed 137th, James Madison University 151st and Virginia Commonwealth University 166th. In 2020, the last time U.S. News ranked the best graduate schools for fine arts, VCU placed fourth in the country.

While UVa has set a goal of becoming the nations top public school by 2030, the universitys understanding of what it means to the best is broader than one ranking, said Brian Coy, a spokesperson for UVa. Several other publications produce college rankings, but U.S. News list is the most cited.

All universities pay attention to rankings, but the vision and goals are what drive what we do and what we shouldnt do, Coy said.

Jim Ryan, president of UVa, believes college rankings will look different by 2030. The quality of their classroom and residential experience, how the school contributes to the students future success, how long it takes for students to graduate and how much debt they incur will take on greater importance, he predicted.

How well colleges are run, how ethical they are, how much economic growth they generate, how much return on investment they provide and how well they serve the public will all be factored, he said.

Steve Farmer, UVas vice provost for enrollment, told the universitys alumni magazine that the schools reputation will be enhanced by UVa focusing on its goals, not its number on a list.

The basic idea for me is that when were true to who we are, and we go about our work in a way thats both honorable and smart and caring, the rankings will take care of themselves, Farmer said.

Columbia, which placed 18th, did not fill out a statistical survey and was ranked on data from previous years and other sources. Last year, U.S. News pulled Columbia out of its ranking after a Columbia professor questioned the data the university had submitted.

In its ranking of liberal arts colleges, Washington & Lee was 11th, and the University of Richmond placed 18th. Hampden-Sydney College ranked 94th and Randolph-Macon College was 107th.

Among public liberal arts colleges, Virginia Military Institute placed fourth, and the University of Mary Washington was 11th.

Several liberal arts colleges in Virginia did not receive a numerical ranking but were placed in the group of schools ranked between No. 151 and 200: Sweet Briar College, UVa-Wise, Virginia Union University and Virginia Wesleyan University.

In the ranking of regional universities for the South, Christopher Newport University placed second, and Virginia State University was 37th.

In the ranking of top historically Black colleges and universities, Hampton University was sixth, Norfolk State University was 19th, Virginia State was 26th and Virginia Union was 43rd.

George Mason, Marymount University and VCU were recognized for their ethnic diversity. William & Mary ranked seventh for best undergraduate teaching.
Adipec, the world's largest energy industry conference and exhibition, will this year reinforce its position as the leading global forum for advancing a pragmatic and progressive energy transition.

Adipec 2022, which announced its conference agenda, will showcase industry action towards net-zero commitments and facilitate synergies between global policy makers and decision-makers, energy and business leaders, and innovators to support the development of a sustainable, affordable, and secure energy system.

The conference will be a platform to share insights on the latest global issues affecting energy markets, including geopolitical shifts, the evolving global economy, energy supply challenges and next generation energy solutions.

UAEs unique position

The event, from October 31 to November 3 at Adnec that takes place the week before COP27 in Egypt, leverages the UAEs unique position and status as a global hub for innovation to act as a gateway to new regions, technologies and solutions, and new business opportunities and ideas.

Tayba Al Hashemi, CEO of Adnoc Sour Gas and Chair of Adipec 2022 said: Adipec is helping advance a pragmatic and progressive global energy transition. It plays a powerful role supporting industry as they tackle the dual missions of delivering the worlds energy needs of today, while investing in the energy systems of the future. The 2022 agenda reflects the realities of the changing global energy and geopolitical landscapes, with the energy trilemma of balancing cost, sustainability, and security in sharp focus for populations and energy producers around the world.

"When the global industry gathers in Abu Dhabi for Adipec 2022, it will be just one week before COP27 in Egypt and one year before COP28 takes place in Abu Dhabi. Adipec will provide an important platform for industry to demonstrate the climate action, investment and innovation helping accelerate the transition and deliver decarbonisation. With input from global industry leaders and policymakers, leading innovators, and future talent, Adipec 2022 will continue to spark ingenuity and facilitate cooperation to help industry deliver more energy, with fewer emissions.

Five strategic themes

This year, Adipecs conference programme will focus on five strategic themes:

*The long-term impact of geopolitics on the global economy and energy industry

*The road to COP27 and COP28

*An industry transition: adapting to the new fundamentals of supply, low carbon and new energy solutions

*Innovation and the energy transition: pioneering a new era of technology development

*The new management agenda: future workforce and the leaders of tomorrow

Reinventing

Christopher Hudson, President of dmg events, organisers of Adipec 2022 added: To address ongoing structural shifts, industry challenges and market disruptions, energy companies have no choice but to reinvent themselves. Adipec 2022 will provide a vital platform for the industry to share critical insights, exchange knowledge and showcase action, as they transform in response to the profound changes taking place within the global energy system.

Adipec 2022 will see a greater diversity of attendees than ever before. Their fresh perspective and insights will inspire the creative and critical thinking required to identify and implement solutions to the complex challenges we face today.-- TradeArabia News Service
The name of the inmate who died has not been released, pending notification of family. The sheriff's office did not release any other details about the inmate, including why and for how long he had been jailed.
GREENSBORO  From the outside, the downtown Greensboro Cultural Center looks the same  a brick and glass building at Davie Street and Friendly Avenue.

Nor has it changed much in appearance on the inside.

The center still provides long-term homes to city arts programs and 17 nonprofit arts organizations such as the African American Atelier gallery, and performance-based Dance Project, North Carolina Folk Festival and Greensboro Opera for $1 a year.

But its workings and offerings have changed, thanks to Creative Greensboro.

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Ryan Deal arrived in November 2019 to oversee the citys Office of Arts and Culture  also known as Creative Greensboro. Since then, he has led efforts to involve more diverse artists and arts organizations in the cultural center and its arts, music and theater offerings.

He sought initiatives to support the reach of organizations led by and serving Black, indigenous and other people of color.

The citys 2018 Cultural Arts Plan and a new citizen Cultural Affairs Commission guide his work.

The cultural plan calls on us to think very differently about how the city provides support for artists and arts organizations in our community, Deal said.

On Monday, his office unveiled the results in its annual report for the 2021-22 fiscal year, which ended June 30.

During that year, Creative Greensboro worked with more than 449 individuals, organizations and community partners. Through the city, the agency provided cash and in-kind investments worth more than $1.1 million that supported and stimulated growth of the local creative economy, the report said.

Among its other actions:

Creative Greensboro has taken over management of the first-floor Van Dyke Performance Space.

The agency has designed and launched a new low-cost rental program for classroom and studio space and two new artist residency programs.

To date, the Neighborhoods Arts program has invested more than $150,000 in the Dudley Heights, Glenwood, Kings Forest and, mostly recently, Mill District and Random Woods neighborhoods.

Thanks to the cultural affairs commissions advocacy, the City Council awarded $400,000 for Creative Greensboro to make grants, and another $100,000 to support the neighborhood work.

A $3.5 million boost will support cultural center maintenance and improvements. Work should be underway before the end of the calendar year.

Deal describes the experience of overseeing the citys arts scene as interesting, challenging, rewarding  and a work in progress.

He arrived a few months before the COVID-19 pandemic devastated the creative economy worldwide.

COVID forced a slow down, and in some cases a shutdown, of our work, Deal said. The silver lining, if there is one, was the opportunity to use the time for building new opportunities and pathways for support.

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To that end, the citys cultural arts plan had called for a residency program. So Creative Greensboro created two programs that bring in new and diverse groups: Greensboro Residency for Original Works  called GROW  and Residency at the Hyers.

In 2021-22, the two programs hosted 13 artist residencies.

In the GROW space, artists can create original works and host community programs, performances and events  and get paid doing it.

The Residency at the Hyers offers rent-free use of the 88-seat black box theater named for the late Stephen Hyers, as well as technical and marketing support.

The residency provided $22,500 worth of in-kind space to programs such as Royal Expressions Contemporary Ballet and Actors of All Abilities, an inclusive theater company, the report said.

The Residency at the Hyers made building programming accessible and affordable for us, Princess Johnson of Royal Expressions Contemporary Ballet said in the report.

Weve always dreamed of running a show multiple times, Johnson said, but due to funding limits have never had this opportunity.

To further support equitable access, Creative Greensboro provided low-cost rental options to more than 150 individuals and organizations for programming. It did that through Creative Activation Partners and the Van Dyke Performance Space.

Creative Activation Partners rents studio and classroom space to artists or organizations offering arts and culture programming. Rental rates range from $6 to $12 per 90-minute reservation. Some artists only need space for an event or a day; others reserve space weekly.

Creative Greensboro also took over management of the Van Dyke Performance Space, a flexible theater with a sprung wooden dance floor.

The space was created in part with a $1 million gift from the late Jan Van Dyke, who founded Dance Project and the NC Dance Festival.

ArtsGreensboro, which works with nonprofit arts organizations, operated the space until Creative Greensboro took over.

Creative Greensboro has significantly increased the use of the space, hosting 101 performances and events with 42 partner organizations, the report said.

On Oct. 15, Grammy Award winner and two-time Tony Award nominee Eva Noblezada will be in concert there.

Josephus Thompson III, known professionally as Josephus, is among those locally who have used it for his monthly performance of The Poetry Cafe. There, poets, musicians and artists can share their work with the public.

That, Josephus said, has allowed The Poetry Cafe to expand its audience and the quality of the show, from lighting and presentation to the ability to book months in advance, which assists in marketing efforts.

Anne Morris and Lauren Joyner, executive directors of Dance Project, want to remind the public that Van Dyke wanted to establish a home venue designed for dance performance.

When Creative Greensboro took over the theater from ArtsGreensboro, we worked with all parties to understand the historical record of Jans intentions, as well as the work Dance Project and ArtsGreensboro did in planning dance programming for the space, they wrote in an emailed statement.

We hope, they added, that the Van Dyke Performance Space continues to be active, cared for and shared with the community, just as Jan intended, so that it can support all creatives in the city as well as elevate dance here in Greensboro and the region.
CORNELIUS  Its 3:39 p.m. and W.C. Wright fires up the engine of his red Ford F-600 and backs it up toward the front of the Alexander Farm Tenant House.

A pair of trees shade the century-old structure, tucked away in a corner of the 55-acre farm in Cornelius. A few steps away, cars whir by on the busy West Catawba Avenue. In the coming months, a Florida-based developer will begin work on a mixed-use project to bring senior living homes and commercial space to the property.

Before then, this house needs to be relocated.

On this recent afternoon, the 77-year-old Wright, stares down the old wooden house in the trucks side view mirror. Coke cans litter the front entrance. Inside, stacks of old furniture take up some of the floor space. Hornets occupy one end of the home. A can of Raid sits empty on the ground nearby.

At about 16 by 20 feet, the house weighs around 30,000 pounds, Wright guesses. Its mostly intact, save for some wooden sideboards falling apart. The tin roof still appears in good condition.

Wright, who calls himself a fifth-generation mover, has transported houses like this his whole life. He started with his first at age 12 in Polkton, the Anson County town where he lives. He enjoys the challenge each one presents.

You can do things right, Wright says, or you can do things haphazard.

This move on a recent Thursday was likely his last. Wright says hes ready to retire and none of his sons appears willing to take up the job full time in his place.

This is a good one to retire on, Wright says. I like antiques and Im glad to see people preserving old structures.

Few signs remain that the tenant house was once someones home, but the historic record shows it was.

Its one of the last surviving examples of a tenant farming house in Mecklenburg County, according to an architectural evaluation by an engineering consulting firm. After the Civil War, tenant farming, or sharecropping, emerged as a system where formerly enslaved people rented houses and land for farming from white landowners and turned profits back over to the landowner.

Not all sharecroppers were Black but a review of census records showed the families that lived in this home were, said local historian Dan Morrill.

The move of the home spares it from demolition and Morrills nonprofit, Preserve Mecklenburg, will hold a preservation easement. That document will protect the house in perpetuity from demolition or any big material changes, Morrill said.

But none of that was on Wright or his son Olivers mind. The pair had a house to move.

Hand me my gloves and we will commence picking it up one more time, Wright says to his son. You ready?

The house was already a few inches off the ground, thanks to the F-600 and a steel beam Wright used to hoist the structure up from the earth.

Wright instructs his son to grab a couple of mechanical jacks from their other, newer pickup parked nearby. One jack is placed by one end of the homes front entrance, another at the other end. Oliver starts pumping the jack to lift the house a few more inches off the ground.

Thats enough, son, Wright calls out.

The duo positions two sets of large wheels under two steel beams, which the house will sit on for the move across the property.

Wright drives the F-600 to the other side of the house. Using another steel beam and the trucks winch, Wright has created a mobile home of sorts. The beams take the place of the foundation. Wright explains he is moving the house on a three-point system to maintain the plane of the house so it doesnt twist or get stressed while moving over rough terrain.

By 5:30 p.m., Wright gets in his cab again and starts the truck up. He inches the rumbling Ford forward and the house is moving. Wright keeps the speedometer under 10 mph. Hes at the other end of the property in about two minutes, the house still intact.

From behind, the trucks appeared to be floating a few inches off the ground as it moved swiftly across the tall grass.

The final destination is under another shaded corner, this time under larger trees. The cars whirring by on West Catawba Avenue and Westmoreland Road will have a more full view of the historic building.

This kind of preservation work is hard, Morrill said that afternoon. He was there to get a look at the house being moved.

Ultimately, though, any community is better off when it has a sense of its history, Morrill said. By escaping the bulldozers, the tenant house can be used to teach people about Mecklenburgs history.

The exact plans for how the house will be used on the property are not yet clear. Once its on a new foundation, the building will be restored. Someday soon, people might be able to go up to it and look inside, maybe read about its history.

Its not what this was, Morrill said, but what its going to be.
WILMINGTON  If theres a home-away-from-home for Jeff Hogan, its Ballybunion, a seaside town in Ireland. Hes visited many times over the past decade or so, often with his father who eventually bought a home there.

On each visit, he goes to an ice cream shop called Sundaes not far from Ballybunion Beach.

The ice cream is so good, he said. And Id just have to go back the next year.

It became an annual tradition for him to ask owner Joanna McCarthy if he could open one of her ice cream shops in North Carolina. The UNC-Wilmington grad has owned many local businesses over the years, from accounting services to a grill in Carolina Beach.

He knew that this ice cream was something special.

But each time he asked, McCarthy said no. It took a few years for the Hogans (the businessman son and the neighborly father) to change her mind. Now, their partnership is growing to more locations in North Carolina.

To get it started, Hogan spent weeks training with McCarthy and learning her recipes. She, in turn, traveled North Carolina to source just the right ingredients that would best recreate the ice cream.

Its a little different than many American versions that have more air for a lighter texture. Celtic Creamery ice cream, in contrast, is thick, creamy and dense.

Hogan opened Celtic Creamery in 2018, around the time Hurricane Florence hit the North Carolina coast. It wasnt an easy start, but its already a well-reviewed coastal classic.

To some of McCarthys classic Irish flavors, theres also a seasonal menu and Southern flavors. A popular flavor is the Irish Butter Pecan, made with Kerrygold butter. The Mint To Be substitutes chocolate cookies for the usual chocolate chips. A bright, cocoa Red Velvet, though, does add chips for extra flavor and texture. For the holiday season, they bring out the peppermint.

Celtic Creamery also makes everything in house, from the whipped cream to the chocolate sauce to the mini doughnuts that serve as a base for some of their sundaes, like the Surfer Special.

Lately, that success is starting to expand in a new way as Hogan and McCarthy have started franchising the business. Three new locations are now open, including ones in Surf City, Hendersonville and Smithfield.

I think we both got so bored during the pandemic, we thought wed try it, Hogan said.

Hes also talking with possible franchise owners about potential locations in North Carolina.

But we are trying to go slow because we want to grow in the right way, he said.

Hogan and McCarthy are also ideal partners. She is the creative force behind the recipes, making sure the ice creams are flavored with European extracts and have the right amount of butterfat. The detail-oriented McCarthy is also the one to write operating manuals.

Hogans skills include trying to find the right people  to work behind the ice cream counter and those who may be able to open other successful locations.

One thing Ive noticed is that, say, at Hang 10 Grill, if you tell someone theres a 10-minute wait for a table they start to get mad, he said. But people will wait in a line around the corner for an ice cream.

Something about ice cream makes people smile.

Its the happiest business Ive ever owned.
"First, I sincerely apologize to the community for my poor decision. I had been downtown at a local restaurant/bar visiting with friends who I hadn't seen since before the Covid lockdowns. The next thing I knew, I was sitting in jail. It was indeed a wake-up call. Since the incident, I have duly remained sober and worked very hard to follow court orders. I do have to say I have first-hand hand knowledge and am up-to-date with our justice system now. And it's because of this that I have a much different view of its purpose, its strengths and weaknesses, and the complexity of the current situation our community faces. I thought very thoroughly about ending my campaign or not after this incident. I concluded that ending my campaign would be another bad decision. I spent one night in jail. However, I have spent more than two decades participating in community meetings, gatherings and on many boards. The lesson here is not to give up just because I stumbled and fell. I am well prepared to lose this election. It is most certainly a consequence of my actions. Should the voters choose to elect me, I will enter this office prepared to bring forth a list of proposals that I believe will improve our justice system and the safety of our community overall.
Carroll College said Monday that its more than 20-year streak as one of the best regional colleges in the West by U.S. News and World Reports "Best Colleges" ranking has continued this year.

We are particularly excited to have returned to the top of the leaderboard for value, said John Cech, president of Carroll College. By recognizing that we provide the best value in our 15-state region, it affirms what we have always believed, which is that Carroll College provides the best return for your educational investment.

For the previous 11 years, Carroll ranked first for "Best Regional College in the West." This year, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University took the No. 1 spot, and Carroll ranked second. Cech noted in his weekly Carroll update email on Monday that the "rocket scientists at Embry-Riddle should enjoy their victory lap" because Carroll is looking for that No. 1 spot again next year. Carroll did rank first in "Best Value College in the West."

According to Carrolls website, the private institution's 2022-2023 full-time tuition (12-plus credits) with room and board costs around $50,000 annually. However, after gift aid, that cost is cut in half to about $25,000 annually.

Accessibility is paramount to us. We do not want cost to be a barrier to higher education so we are proud to have put the resources in place to make Carroll an affordable choice, said Cech.

Almost all students, 99%, receive institutional aid. Carroll also has the lowest loan default range in Montana. The college attributed job placement after Carroll as a main reason for this, with students median earnings around $53,000 annually upon graduating.

Carroll also placed second regionally for "Best Colleges for Veterans," first for students in the top 25% of their high school graduating class, tied for first in first-year retention rate, second for graduate rate and third in alumni giving.

The "Best Colleges" ranking is an annual report of over 1,400 regionally accredited institutions based on 17 metrics of academic excellence such as retention, graduation rate, class size, student-faculty ratio, financial resources per student and more.

There are 266 colleges in the regional colleges category organized into four regions: North, South, Midwest and West. The West, which includes Carroll College, has 15 colleges.

The full rankings are on the U.S. News and World Report website.

While it is certainly nice to be recognized by one of the premiere sources for college rankings, what we are truly proud of year in and year out is the exceptional academic experience we provide, the dedicated and accomplished faculty and staff we employ, and the bright, compassionate students we graduate, said Cech. Nothing changes from year to year in how we strive to live our mission and instill knowledge and goodness in our students, and desire to make Carroll College the very best Catholic, liberal arts college in the west.
Sensory Pathways first entered Helena Public Schools in the fall of 2021 when a Bryant Elementary School teacher submitted the idea for the Helena Education Foundations (HEF) Great Ideas Grant.

The success of this Sensory Pathway led to the HEF exploring the idea of putting two Sensory Pathways, 22 total, in every Helena elementary school -- one pathway for kindergarten through second grade and one for third through fifth grade students.

(Sensory Pathways) help address situations (teachers and staff) were experiencing with kids having trouble focusing being back in school five days a week and various post variables of COVID emergence, said HEF Executive Director Lisa Cordingley.

Anyone can use the Sensory Pathways, or colorful markings on the floor that guide the participant through a series of movements. HEF notes the pathways were created with developmental growth in mind, designed to provide multi-stage tasks to help develop motor skills, balance, hand-eye coordination, and spatial awareness, as well as provide critical brain breaks to calm and refocus students throughout the school day.

One afternoon we sent out a text to all the (elementary) principals and said ... if HEF could find a way to buy Sensory Pathways for every school, would you want them?" said Cordingley. "And my phone just pinged and pinged and pinged and every single answer was 'Yes please.'

Cordingley shared some of the principals responses. Wynn Randall, the principal at Rossiter Elementary, texted, Thank you for all that you continue to do to ensure Helena students have what they need to be successful. Letitia (Tia) Wilkins, the principal at Warren Elementary, texted, So excited to share with staff and students. Thank you so very much!

Cordingley noted how HEF had to raise money for the Sensory Pathways since it was a special project and not part of the foundations regular programming. They started fundraising in early 2022, and in about two weeks, she said the Helena community had stepped forward with the needed funding to not only install the Sensory Pathways at a total combined cost of $30,000, but also to maintain them in the future.

All elementary schools had a say in the theme and location of their Sensory Pathways. Some schools chose to have one outside and one inside. By spring break, all of the Sensory Pathways had arrived and were starting to be installed. Each Sensory Pathway cost $5,000 or less, Cordingley said.

One of the office staff (at Four Georgians) asked if I was playing on (the Sensory Pathway). I said I have played on it, when no one is looking, said Cordingley.

The theme of the Sensory Pathway at Four Georgians Elementary School is pirates and the sea. It's one of the first things a person notices when they walk into the main office hall.

(The Sensory Pathway has seen) a lot of use, especially for helping kids regulate when theyre dysregulated and just having a calming place, said Tasha Obert, school counselor at Four Georgians. A lot of times we can be like, 'We have this really cool place to show you,' and it just snaps them out of it.

Obert noted how before the Sensory Pathway arrived, many of Four Georgians' staff were just utilizing the different floor square colors to entertain and help regulate students' emotions.

Ive used the Sensory Path with probably five kids just today, said Sean Morrison, principal admin at Four Georgians. If Im called and theres somebody worked up, and they need to take a deep breath and get their thoughts reset, we go through the sensory path.

Cordingley noted that the Sensory Pathways were given in honor of Jack and Penny Copps, who spent much of their lives advancing Helenas public education. Jack served as the superintendent of Helena Public Schools twice, most recently from 2016-2018. In this term, he guided the district through a successful bond effort that funded the building of three new elementary schools: Central, Jim Darcy and Bryant. Penny served from 1972-1980 as a Helena Public Schools trustee and chair.

Another new addition for the 2022-2023 school year to all of Helenas elementary schools are book vending machines.

As far as its function, it works just like a candy or pop machine except were dispensing books  Kids get tokens and stick them in like they would feed a coin machine, and they get a book, said Chelsey Davis, librarian and teacher at Four Georgians.

Davis said the book vending machines came from the districts Literacy Grant.

Each school can award the book tokens differently. At Four Georgians, the staff determined that everyone will get a book token on their birthday or half birthday as a present. The school might also use the tokens for reaching a reading goal, extra good behaviors, and more.

The Helena community can donate books to the elementary schools for them to put into the book vending machines for the students as well -- just drop them off at the front office.

Were continuing to fund it as much as we can, but we would love donations  It could be anything from a picture book for like a kindergartener or first grader all the way up to a good chapter book that might suit a fifth grader, said Davis.
The Montana Highway Patrol and state elected officials hosted members of the public in the Capitol Rotunda Sunday morning to commemorate the 21st anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., encouraged people to "thank, pray for and support those who are willing to run in when the rest of us our running out. They are the first responders. They are the law enforcement. ... They're there holding the front line away from your family."

Members of the Montana Highway Patrol Honor Guard stood at attention in front of the U.S. flag, saluting and kneeling in succession to 21 bell rings, followed by a somber rendition of taps by the group's trumpeter that echoed in the dome.

"To this day, I can still see images of death and destruction," Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen said. "But the way our nation came together in the days and weeks following was also remarkable."

Knudsen told those in attendance to "never forget" the sacrifices made. He noted how the country seemed to unify in the aftermath and called for a renewed unity.

"I pray it does not take another tragedy like the one we experienced 21 years ago for them to experience the same unity that we did that day," he said.

Lewis and Clark County Undersheriff Brent Colbert in a speech to the crowd thanked "first responders and veterans for their sacrifice and for their commitment to their jobs and their duties."

Helena Fire Chief Jon Campbell said on this time every year, his thoughts are often with the loved ones of those who lost their lives on 9/11.

Campbell said the lasting effects of that infamous day "cut deepest in those who continue to experience the absence and sorrow."

On Sept. 11, 2001, airline hijackings and suicide attacks were committed by 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda against targets in the United States that included the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon. A hijacked airliner crashed in Pennsylvania when passengers fought with terrorists to retake the plane.

Some 2,996 people died. It remains the deadliest terrorist attack in U.S. history.

Elsewhere in town, a Heroes of Helena event was held Sunday at the Albertsons store on North Montana Avenue in which fire trucks, law enforcement vehicles, emergency vehicles and first responder vehicles were on display. It included a color guard, demonstrations and food. First responders and other emergency personnel attended as well.

Eric Dowell, manager of Safeway and event organizer, said the event was put on as a salute to the heroes of 9/11 and as an opportunity for the public to come down and "shake the hand of a hero of Helena." He said the event was held at the Albertsons on North Montana Avenue because the parking lot is bigger than the Safeway store. He said several hundred people attended throughout the day.

Rosendale offered comments at the event as well as Helena Mayor Wilmot Collins. Sens. Steve Daines and Jon Tester sent remarks, Dowell said.

And Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton posted Sunday on Facebook that he, Sgt. Bob Kinyon, and Forest Service Law Enforcement Officer Kevin Arnold recently rode into Gates Park, Bob Marshall Wilderness, to raise a flag in honor of those who lost their lives or responded on 9/11. The flag was flown at the state Capitol in Helena especially for this tribute and Gov. Greg Gianforte signed the proclamation on July 7.

"We thank you for what you did, and we will do our best to never forget," Dutton said.

Staff Writer Phil Drake contributed to this story.
Americas economy boomed after World War II ended in mid-1945. GIs came home from the European and Pacific Theatres, got married, had children, attended or finished school, began careers and needed affordable places to live. Builders responded to the soaring demand for affordable housing; Helena was no exception.

In Helena, builder William (Bill) Avon Carson constructed the little Carson Addition just east of the State Capitol Complex. All Carson Addition homes were modest. Carson homes were priced between $11,000 and $13,000, met FHA standards and were approved under the GI Bill loan program for veterans.

The Carson Addition is bordered by Oakes Street to the west, Ninth Avenue to the north, Hannaford Street to the east and Sixth Avenue to the south. In the addition, all streets are numbered except for Silver Street. There is no Seventh Avenue or Tenth Avenue in the addition. Carson purposely curved Eighth and Oakes to slow traffic and make the area safer for children because those streets are closest to what once was Ray Bjork Elementary School. Nearby Carson Street (in front of the 1959 Governors Mansion) is named after Carson. He very likely named the street himself. Carson sold the property that the current Governors Mansion sits on to the state.

Carson Addition homes were economies of scale, very plain and almost boring. Unlike Helenas upper westside with historic, ornate and architecturally-rich homes, Carson homes had few architectural adornments. Most had right angle, corner bedroom windows, solid wood front doors with three graduated, stair step windows and a gabled roof in front. All had state-of-the-art (at the time) in-floor radiant heat with copper pipes embedded in concrete foundations. Early day double-paned metal windows were used throughout the homes; picture windows were featured in living rooms. Single-car, attached garages were included because most families only owned one car after WWII. With nearly the same sizes and only six different designs, labor costs were lower for the homes. About 45 of the 180 planned homes were built in the addition; the Sixth Avenue Mormon Church is now located on former lots. There were a few non-Carson constructed homes in the addition that were constructed when parts of wide lots were sold off. Plats show alleyways but there really was no room for them with the additions very shallow lots, some of which were as wide as 130 feet. Carson homes vary only slightly in size (968 to 1,429 square feet), with one bathroom and two or three bedrooms.

W.A. Carson was the first tract housing builder in Helena. Lewis and Clark County records document the Carson Addition as number 49 on the list of Helena additions. Carson debuted the little homes in 1950 with a Sunday afternoon open house. The addition had curbs, sidewalks and paved streets. Carson said, there was more sunshine, more Helena Valley views, and more mountain views, from the addition. And, nearby shopping arrived in 1959 as Helena grew eastward with the former Capital Hill Mall. Original covenants restricted boulevard tree planting to maintain the sunshine in the Carson Addition.

Bill Carsons birth certificate says he was born in Helena in 1914. However, his 1967 obituary says he was born in Butte but graduated from Helena High School. Sadly, Carson died of natural causes at the young age of 52. Carson had a significant impact on the growth and development of Helena. He was a fair board president and was involved in more than 40 Helena civic groups. Carson Construction had offices in Helena, Seattle, Los Angeles and Alaska. Carson began his work life in nearby York shoveling sand at the Golden Messenger gold mine. One of his next jobs was with Helena Fuel Company, which was owned by Arthur Cooper, actor Gary Coopers brother. By 1941, Carson was employed by Merrill Construction as a superintendent.

Carson obtained a contract with the federal government in the early 1960s to move 1,800 very cheaply framed homes from Washington to Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. A few of those homes remain on Van Orsdel Road in the Helena Valley today. Carson bought Helena Sand and Gravel in 1955 from George Jacoby, who had started mining gravel on the westside of town in 1928. Jacobys gravel, used for ready mix, was shipped to the then-under-construction Fort Peck Dam in the late 1930s. Mining at the Helena Sand and Gravel pit ceased in 1964 and a lake was born at the site. In 1981, the state of Montana purchased the land for recreational use at a place thats now called Spring Meadow Lake.

I recognized the Carson Addition as a tract when I saw it in 1970 after my first Capitol tour and considered the homes were very plain. Ironically, I have lived in a Carson home since 1984. Carson Addition homes are considered historic because they now are more than 50 years old. All homes over 50 years old are potentially historic according to the National Register of Historic Places if they have retained their original design, windows and building materials.

Fran Viereck is a retired state employee, has a B.A. from Carroll College and also graduated from the Montana Law Enforcement Academy. Viereck wrote this for the Lewis and Clark County Heritage Tourism Council, which provides the monthly "Nuggets From Helena" column for the Independent Record.
DECATUR  Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe will run for re-election in next year's municipal elections, she announced Monday.

"I really like the job, which is something I didn't expect," Moore Wolfe told the Herald & Review. "But, when you're in the middle of so many great things that are happening, you want to continue to see them through. And we've got a lot of great stuff that has been announced, some other stuff we're working on."

"I just don't feel like I'm done," she said.

Moore Wolfe was appointed the city's first female mayor in 2015 following the sudden death of Mayor Mike McElroy. She was subsequently elected in 2017, defeating challenger John Philips 53% to 47%, and reelected in 2019, besting Councilman David Horn and Jacob Jenkins with 49% in a three-way contest.

Moore Wolfe was first elected to the city council in 2009.

In addition to her role as mayor, Moore Wolfe is the executive director of philanthropy, advocacy and community relations at HSHS St. Marys Hospital.

A native of Mattoon, she moved to Decatur in 1986 when she started working at WAND-TV as the main anchor and was there for more than a decade.

She was president of the Decatur Chamber of Commerce for seven years, and also has served as regional manager of the Opportunities Returns program for the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

This background in government, economic development and healthcare "gives me a strong foundation to continue serving the people of Decatur in these unique times," Moore Wolfe said in a release announcing her campaign.

Under the city's council-manager form of government, the role of mayor is part-time with most of the day-to-day decision-making power ceded to an appointed city manager.

In Decatur, the mayor's vote holds equal weight to that of other council members. But, the mayor has historically served an important role as the symbolic leader of the city.

If Moore Wolfe is reelected, it would put her on course to become the longest-serving mayor in Decatur history. Former Mayor Jim Rupp served from 1967 to 1977 and former Mayor Gary K. Anderson served from 1983 to 1992.

She said her priorities in a new term will be neighborhood revitalization, supporting the Decatur Police Department in battling crime and recruiting new officers and continuing to grow the city's economy.

Though there have been several promising economic development announcements recently and a flood of federal COVID-19 relief dollars have allowed the city to make a larger dent in neighborhood revitalization, many challenges remain.

Decatur lost population again at the 2020 U.S. Census, bringing the city to 70,522, which is about 25% less than its peak in 1980. Crime also remains above pre-pandemic levels and blight continues to spread in the city core.

"We can't solve all of these problems overnight," Moore Wolfe said. "I mean, it happens when you watch a weekly TV show or a movie where everything is just wrapped up with a bow at the end. It took us a while to get into the state we're in  it's gonna take a lot of hard work to get out."

Moore Wolfe said that "we're on a real strong roll right now."

No challengers have announced candidacies yet. But Horn, a constant sparring partner of Moore Wolfe's whose council seat is not up until 2025, confirmed to Herald & Review that he is mulling a rematch against the incumbent in 2023.

"There is no official announcement to make, but I am giving serious consideration to running for mayor of Decatur," Horn said.

Horn acknowledged that "the city has seen a number of positive developments in recent months."

"These positive initiatives, however, are not reaching everyone and more work needs to be done so that everyone benefits from these good news stories that are coming out of Decatur," Horn said. "I believe that the individual who is mayor is going to be in the best position to assist everyone so that the city as a whole can thrive."

Horn said he expects to make a final decision by the end of September.

The municipal election will be held in April, though petitions for a place on the ballot have been circulating since August. Petitions must contain the signatures of 85 registered voters. The filing period is between Nov. 21 and Nov. 28.

In addition to the mayor's race, three at-large city council seats will be on the ballot next year. Councilwoman Lisa Gregory announced last week her intention to run for reelection. Councilman Dennis Cooper, appointed to replace former Councilman Rodney Walker last year, has previously indicated plans to run for a full term. Councilman Bill Faber has yet to announce his plans.
DECATUR  After a two-year hiatus caused by the COVID pandemic, Pride Fest is returning to Decatur this weekend.

Decatur Pride Fest will take place from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17, in Fairview Park.

Mark Schleeter, president of Decatur Illinois Pride, said he hopes to see more than 400 guests at the event, the number of guests who visited the last Decatur Pride in 2019.

We're pretty excited about this, Schleeter said. There seems to be a lot of interest.

The events kick off with an opening ceremony at 11 a.m., followed by a pets of pride contest and pet fashion show at 11:45 a.m. Pride Fest is also family friendly, Schleeter said, and will feature a drag queen story hour at 12:45 p.m. and a youth drag show at 1:30 p.m.

There will be live music and DJ performances on the main stage starting at 2:15 p.m., with the Voice of Pride singing competition starting at 5 p.m. The days main event, a drag show featuring performances by local drag queens, begins at 6:30 p.m. Food and retail vendors will also be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Schleeter said that for the local LGBTQ community, Pride Fest is more than just another event.

It helps the LGBTQ+ population to come out and take pride in who they are, he said. It's also important because a lot of the things are being done in other states to remove rights of LGBTQ persons, so it's a way of saying we're not going to stand for that.

Pride Fest is also an opportunity for all people to show support for the LGBTQ community, he said.

Decatur Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe made a proclamation declaring Sept. 17 Pride Day in Decatur and Pride Fest as the official celebration.

For more information, go to the Decatur Pride Facebook page.
A fellow Republicans legal reasoning 16 years ago affirming obstacles to equal rights for LGBTQ Virginians could complicate for Gov. Glenn Youngkin an unrelated matter that also makes him squeamish: protections for the environment.

In February 2006, Attorney General Bob McDonnell, who would be elected governor three years later, issued a legal opinion in which he said then-Gov. Tim Kaine, a Democrat, did not have the authority to put in place by executive order anti-discrimination safeguards for gay and lesbian state employees.

McDonnell said that because the Virginia legislature had not, by statute, designated sexual orientation as a protected class  as it had done with race, color, gender, religion, age and national origin  Kaine was altering state policy without the required consent of the General Assembly.

In 2020, Virginia  its government then fully controlled by Democrats  became the first Southern state to ban discrimination against LGBTQ people in employment, housing and public accommodation.

Kaine, whose order extended one put in place by his predecessor, fellow Democrat Mark Warner, ignored McDonnells findings. McDonnell prepared the opinion for a Republican delegate long hostile to gay rights, Bob Marshall of Prince William County, who would be defeated in 2017 by Democrat Danica Roem, the nations first openly trans state legislator.

But what does sex  the topic of a largely forgotten treatise by a former attorney general  have to do with the politically sexy issue of greenhouse gases and Virginias efforts to control them? The answer may come down to five words in parentheses in the first paragraph of the third page of McDonnells nine-page letter to Marshall.

First, however, keep in mind the noisy fight between Youngkin and Democratic legislators over his announced plan to pull Virginia by the end of 2023 from an 11-state consortium to control carbon emissions through an exchange under which members pledge to put caps on emissions and require millions of dollars in payments to exceed agreed levels.

That money is a defining  and often-overlooked  feature of the program, which generated for Virginia in its first year nearly $230 million, much of it to pay for the disruptive consequences of climate change, such as destructive floods that swept through Southwest Virginia, a Republican bulwark that Youngkin carried in 2021.

Youngkin says the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative is needlessly driving up electric rates for Virginians because utilities are passing along to customers the higher-than-expected costs of breaching emission restrictions. Citing industry estimates, Youngkin says those higher bills could cost customers $1 billion to $1.2 billion over the next four years.

His remedy: withdraw from the multistate compact. He signed an executive order the day he was sworn in this past January, directing the State Air Pollution Control Board to draft  and approve  an emergency rule under which Virginia would quit RGGI, which it joined in 2020, that year of one-party control when LGBTQ protections also became law.

Democrats  in the minority in the House of Delegates and who control the Virginia Senate by a single seat  say the only way Virginia can legally and constitutionally get out of the collective is the same way it got in: by a vote of the legislature. The Democrats slender Senate majority means Virginia would likely remain in RGGI, forcing Youngkins disputed go-it-alone approach.

Which brings us back to the McDonnell opinion on Kaine using executive authority to shield gay people from on-the-job discrimination.

McDonnell told Marshall that executive action intended to unilaterally circumvent or override policy established by the General Assembly need not be limited to a written order signed by the governor, as was the case with Kaine and Warner, both of whom were carrying out campaign promises to equal-rights advocates.

The attorney general wrote that, while the authority of the governor to issue executive orders is well established in the law and history of the commonwealth, the scope of that prerogative is limited. This is where McDonnells intriguing parenthetical language comes in.

A governor may not use an executive order to (or by any other means) exercise any of the legislative power that is vested solely in the General Assembly, McDonnell said. The governor may not legislate by executive order. This is the essence of the separation-of-powers doctrine.

In moving to extract Virginia from RGGI, Youngkin  unlike Donald Trump, when he pulled the United States from the Paris climate agreement  is not resorting to fiat. Instead, he is using  to borrow McDonnells words  other means, specifically, the governors control of the air board through the appointive process. The board has seven members, four of whom were installed by Youngkin, ensuring him a rubber stamp for his wishes.

Could McDonnells little words have a big impact on Youngkins ploy, perhaps extending to Democrats and the environmental lobby another weapon for thwarting the governor? That this could end up in court  a classic separation-of-powers dispute  would not come as surprise to either side.

Nate Benforado, a lawyer at the Southern Environmental Law Center, said the McDonnell findings are part of a long line of opinions that establish, under the Virginia Constitution, that the governor does not have the authority to ignore or circumvent the laws he disagrees with.

Hope Cupit, of Bedford, a Democratic appointee to the air board, has said she has an opinion from the attorney general  she hasnt said which one  that concludes the governor is powerless to remove Virginia from the compact. She wont release it  never mind that opinions are public records. The current attorney general, Republican Jason Miyares, is silent on it. And an environmental group is in court to force its release.

Could it be an opinion by Democrat Mark Herring, issued shortly before he left office in January, that says Youngkin, alone, cant yank Virginia from RGGI? Could it be the McDonnell opinion with its open-to-interpretation flourish?

But note: An attorney generals opinion carries the weight of law unless overridden by judicial edict, an act of the legislature  or another opinion by the states top lawyer.

And Miyares isnt talking about that possibility, either.
There is little more disabling to a resident than coming home to find the water shut off.

Unfortunately, many poor Virginians are facing that prospect as protections put in place to prevent shut-offs during COVID are now expiring.

To assist high-poverty families struggling with water and sewer bills post-COVID, the federal government in 2021 approved more than $1.1 billion for a program known as LIHWAP (Low Income Household Water Assistance Program). Each state received a share of these funds to help the poor bring their water and sewer bills up to date and avoid shut-off.

That money is being put to good use in most states. Here in Virginia, however, not a single cent has been distributed.

According to a fact sheet from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as of March 30, 41 states and more than 56 tribes had implemented their programs and started fund distribution.

In Virginia, however, the program still hasnt gotten off the ground.

The commonwealth received nearly $22.5 million in 2021 to get LIHWAP up and going, with $10 million of that money coming from the American Rescue Plan Act.

The states initial estimate was that the program would be operational by April. As of September, people still cant apply to access these funds.

U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Richmond, is equally frustrated. It is unacceptable that it has taken this long ... and I am closely following for updates on the expected implementation timeline.

The difference between having water tomorrow and not having water for many of our poorer residents lies in getting this program off the ground.

People shouldnt have to seek additional assistance from other organizations.

Those in need shouldnt have to do this. Not when the money is in place to ensure that water is flowing through the pipes in their homes tomorrow.
A Taylorsville man and a Statesville man were arrested on drug charges in Alexander County on Thursday.

Alexander County deputies seized approximately 20 grams of methamphetamine during a search of a home in the Ellendale community.

Tanner Parks McAlpin, 31, of Taylorsville, was arrested and charged with possession of firearm by felon, felony possession with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver methamphetamine, felony maintaining a dwelling for controlled substance, misdemeanor possession of marijuana and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia, the Alexander County Sheriffs Office said in a news release.

Michael Emery Goodenow, 45, of Statesville, was arrested and charged with misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia, the sheriffs office said.

On Thursday, the sheriffs office executed a search warrant at a home located on Sipe Road in the Ellendale community of Alexander County. This search warrant was the result of an ongoing narcotics investigation due to numerous complaints of possible drug activity within the community, the sheriffs office said. During the search, officers seized approximately 20 grams of methamphetamine, as well as drug paraphernalia, multiple firearms and ammunition.

McAlpin was placed under a $100,000 secured bond. Goodenow was placed under a $2,500 secured bond.

Newton woman arrested after car chase

A Newton woman was arrested in Alexander County on Wednesday after a police chase, the Alexander County Sheriffs Office said in a news release.

Emily Elizabeth King, 36, is charged with felony flee to elude arrest with motor vehicle, felony possession of stolen vehicle, felony assault on a law enforcement officer inflicting serious injury, resisting arrest and felony possession of controlled substance on jail premises. King had outstanding probation violations that were served and she was also charged with traffic violations by the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, the sheriffs office said.

On Wednesday afternoon, a state trooper pursued a white Kia sedan on Millersville Road after a report of a suspicious vehicle. A deputy picked up the chase on N.C. Highway 16 South near the intersection of Alspaugh Dam Road.

The vehicle failed to stop for blue lights and siren, the sheriffs office said. A chase continued northbound on N.C. Highway 16 South. The deputy notified other officers that the chase was headed toward the city limits at a high rate of speed. Taylorsville Police Department officers joined the chase at the intersection of Macedonia Church Road and N.C. Highway 16. Stop sticks were deployed by Taylorsville Police Department near the Iredell Family Care Center. All four tires of the vehicle were blown and the vehicle came to rest. Officers approached the vehicle. The driver refused to exit the vehicle and was forcibly removed. While placing the driver under arrest, the vehicle rolled over a Taylorsville police officers foot and caused injury.

The Taylorsville police officer who was injured was transported by Alexander County EMS to a local hospital. He is recovering at home. King is being held at the Alexander County Detention Center under a $110,500 secured bond.
An infectious disease doctor in Catawba County expects only a small number of monkeypox cases in the county.

Catawba County saw its first confirmed case of monkeypox, a viral disease spreading worldwide, on Sept. 1. No more cases have been reported, according to Catawba County Public Health.

The first case in North Carolina was confirmed in June. As of Monday, there about been about 400 confirmed cases in the state, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

Dr. Wheaton Williams, an infectious disease doctor with Catawba Valley Medical Center, said he expects to see more cases in Catawba County but not many.

I think the public should be reassured that monkeypox is not going to be a widespread outbreak like COVID-19, Williams said. Monkeypox transmission requires close contact with sick patients.

The virus spreads through direct contact with body fluids of people who have monkeypox. The virus is primarily affecting men who have sex with men. Some spread through household and close contact has happened, he said.

Williams has spent the past two and a half years treating COVID-19 patients alongside other infectious diseases. During his career, hes treated HIV, SARS, MERS, Zika, hantavirus and more. Monkeypox may soon be on the list.

Im not too surprised about another new outbreak, he said The emergence of new human infections is a natural occurrence resulting from the interaction between humans and our environment.

Williams said he has not cared for anyone with monkeypox yet but is preparing for the possibility. He is staying up to date on testing, medication and vaccination available for patients. The hospital and clinics are reaching out to high-risk patients to educate them about monkeypox and encourage them to get vaccinated, he said.

We need to educate the public about monkeypox so we can encourage patients with the disease to seek testing and follow the recommendations for isolation, Williams said. We should encourage at-risk patients to get vaccinated to help decrease the number of new cases.

The disease often presents with fever, exhaustion and some cold symptoms, followed by skin lesions. The incubation period is usually seven to 14 days, according to NCDHHS. People are infected from the start of symptoms until the lesions heal.
Adam McClamrock grew up watching anime, playing Pokemon and trading Yu-Gi-Oh! cards with his brother.

He remembers the first time he went to Time Tunnel Comics in Hickory, where they spent hours buying VHS tapes and growing their passion together.

I grew up in Time Tunnel, McClamrock said. All my life, I knew all the owners, I know the current owner of it. Ive known every employee theyve ever had, pretty much.

McClamrock turned his love of gaming into a career. His brother and he often talked about opening a gaming store together. After his brother tried and didnt succeed, McClamrock learned from his mistakes and set off to make a career of gaming.

McClamrock has opened, managed and worked at several gaming stores in the Catawba Valley area. All the while, he grew his collection.

McClamrock is always searching for the next find. If something is worth it, hes willing to spend his savings to own a prized item. An uncut sheet of playing cards set him back thousands, but the item appraised at $75,000, several times over what he paid, he said.

Ive almost bankrupt myself several times buying stuff just for the investment, he said.

In 2014, McClamrock started his own business, one month after marrying his wife Charlene. McClamrock started selling Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, a Japanese manga series that spawned a card game. He borrowed $700 from his mother to buy his first case of products. Hes been selling since.

In 2021, McClamrock decided to open his own store, The Otaku Hangout, off U.S. Highway 70 SW, in Hickory. With the support of his wife and brother, hes grown a gaming community.

McClamrock recently spoke about his hobby-turned-business. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What is your favorite aspect of gaming?

Its really just talking to people.  One thing thats lost in this day and age, and I say this as someone who plays on the computer, is weve lost some of the ability to sit down and just have a conversation with each other. If you pick up a deck of cards and you sit across from someone, it teaches you how to talk to anyone, whether you know them or not. It teaches social skills.

Theres something to be said about sitting across from someone and playing a game, playing a board game, learning a new set of rules and doing. Its fun, and I feel at younger ages it helps develop a well-balanced person.

Why do you enjoy collecting?

I enjoy the thrill of chasing down something that is rare or shouldnt exist but does. Or just opening (card) packs. Its the thrill of adding a new piece to the collection.

Why did you decide to open your own store?

Charlene said, Stop giving your knowledge to other people.

She told me it was enough. I had already proved I could do it. She said, Lets stop doing for other people. Because Id been doing it for so long, I had so much stuff. I had boxes in my office, boxes in the hall, on the dining room table, on the sofa. It came to a point where it was either: get a storage shed or open a store. So I thought if Im going to spend the money, I might as well get a store.

What was it like to open the store?

It was scary. It was a leap of faith.  The fear is still there. Everybody told us we were crazy to open during COVID. The distribution guys even laughed at me, they said, Why are you going to do this right now? Its been a hard journey. But its a labor of love. This is our little child.

Have you built a community through the store?

Thats the only way Ive succeeded. On day one when I opened, I had customers from all over who I knew from working in the industry. I had customers from when I was dealing stuff out of the back of my car. Instantly, I had customers Id met through all this time already in my store willing to support me. Ive gained customers, Ive gained friends. The core of my business is the people Ive met throughout the years.

The store is meant to be a spot for people to sit and enjoy things, meet like-minded people and have somewhere where they can find stuff that they can afford within their interests.
GREENSBORO  Susie the dog, who became the face of animal cruelty after being found beaten and burned as a puppy, and who later put her paw print to state legislation increasing the penalties for such cruel behavior, has died.

Because of the namesake Susie's Law, people convicted of animal cruelty can now serve jail time.

A movie, "Susie's Hope," was made about the life of the pit bull mix with the big brown eyes in 2013. A nonprofit also bears her name.

Through her perseverance, she won the 2010 Hero Dog Award from the American Humane Society and walked the red carpet at the 21st annual Lady in Red Gala to benefit the American Humane Association.

She often visited schools and hospitals.

"She was such an inspiration and will truly be missed," Stephanie Riley wrote on Facebook.

Donna Smith Lawrence, who adopted Susie and helped push for stronger animal cruelty laws, announced Susie's death on the Susie's Hope Facebook page, which is dedicated to helping other abused animals and is often written in Susie's voice.

"This is Susie. Today, I crossed over to The Rainbow Bridge," the passage reads. "I passed peacefully from my mom's loving embrace into God's. I am no longer in pain."

In January, doctors found a tumor on Susie's spine and her family was told that she would have maybe weeks to live.

She was given a similar diagnosis back in 2009, when she was found badly beaten and burned, and covered in maggots at a Greensboro park. Veterinarians who examined her at the Guilford Animal Shelter thought she had been in that condition for weeks. They discovered the puppy's jaw was broken and she had missing teeth. Burns covered over half of her body.

Donations from the public helped pay for the extensive veterinarian care and medicine the dog needed.

Lawrence, an animal lover who had been attacked by a pit bull 10 months earlier, was drawn to the abandoned puppy and helped nurture her back to life.

The man who abused her received six to eight months in prison on a charge of burning his girlfriend's personal property. He only received probation for the animal cruelty charge, angering the public.

Activists, including Susie's family, lobbied for stronger animal cruelty laws. In December 2010, Susie's Law  a felony  was signed into law by then-Gov. Bev. Perdue. It gives offenders up to eight months in jail for animal cruelty.

Susie spent a lot of time walking on the beach with her family. Her nonprofit  fueled by family, friends and other animal lovers  helped to find a lot of other animals home, Lawrence has said.
The author and her family own and operate a 570-cow Holstein and Jersey dairy near Berlin, Pa.

An empty barn often reflects the emotions of the farmers who once worked in it, symbolizing the closing of one of lifes chapters. A Pennsylvania farmer has taken those emotions and channeled them in a way that has touched the hearts of thousands who feel the same.

For Jeff Corle, who sold his Guernsey herd in early 2022 after struggling to make his microdairy and milk bottling business successful, seeing his barn empty triggered feelings of sadness and depression. But it also became the inspiration to write a song that has helped him work through those emotions and impacted many more people who felt the same.

Corle, who owns a fifth-generation family farm in Windber, recently wrote, recorded, and released his song Empty Barn, a ballad that echoes his feelings after he made the decision to sell his cows.

I wrote this song because I was heartbroken and depressed after the cows left, and it was my way to work through that, he said. I had no idea it would resonate with the farming community the way it has.

Music and milk

Corle has a long history of both farming and music. His mother gave him his first guitar when he was 10 years old, but he had no idea how to play it or even tune it. After tuning the bottom two strings, he wrote a song that he could play with just them.



After high school, it was a toss-up between music and farming, he said. The farm economy at the time was so bad that, after college, my parents actually encouraged me to leave the farm and play music. They thought anything had to be better than farming at the time.

He traveled to Nashville to try his hand at songwriting, working in Music City for more than a decade. He learned a lot, met a lot of people, and enjoyed a medium amount of success . . . but he didnt like being told what to write.

At that time, music success was based on what someone thought would sell records, and you had to write music that fit that image, he said. You made demo cassettes and had about 30 seconds for someone to listen to your song and make a decision. That wasnt for me.

His father asked him to return to the farm, but Corle said hed agree only if they could transition to an organic dairy operation. They shipped their first load of organic milk in 2008 and built the herd up to 50 cows. We did that for 12 years, and quite simply, I was burnt out, he said. When I sold that herd of cows, I thought I was cured of the milking cow disease, but it turned out I was only in remission  and it came back.

Corle decided to start milking cows again, but on a much smaller scale: three Guernseys. My grandparents bottled milk for 50 years, and I always had it in my heart to try bottling myself, he said.

In November 2020, he sold his first bottle of milk and expanded his herd to meet the rising demand as his market grew. We expanded to eight cows, then held a fundraiser so we could go to 12 cows and expand our equipment, he said, but the market didnt grow with us.

He found himself spending enormous amounts of time trying to make the business succeed. Farming, bottling, delivering, building an on-farm stand, selling at farmers markets, and promotion was taking all of his time and energy. I thought milking 12 cows and bottling a little milk would be a cakewalk, but it took more time than managing a 50-cow herd, he said. It was a lot of work as a one-man operation and I wasnt going to get any bigger. Input costs were skyrocketing, and I could see the writing was on the wall to do something different.



Healing by songwriting

Most of Corles promotion and marketing of his Pleasant View Dairy products came through social media. When he decided to bring the dairy to a close and sell his cows, his followers responded.

I had the best customers, just not enough of them, he said. I think they were sad and frustrated like I was.

After the cows were sold, Corle went into depression. After the truck left, it felt like something was ripped out of me with the finality of it, he said. This was a piece of my identity, and I was just heartbroken.

He turned to the guitar in his farmhouse studio to help him. The music had been on the back burner for a while  farming full-time and creating music dont necessarily go hand in hand, he said. And I had the idea that people wouldnt take a farmer seriously who was also a songwriter.

A friend in the music industry commented one day how lonely and empty the barn must feel. He said, you need to write a song called Empty Barn, and I was floored, Corle said.

He decided to let the idea percolate a bit before embarking on the songwriting. Going to bed that night, he was in the haze between asleep and awake when the first verse and the melody came to him. After battling with himself about whether he would remember it in the morning, he wrote the words down on a bedside notepad and recorded himself into his phone.

When I woke up the next morning, I thought I had dreamt the whole thing until I looked at my phone, he said. Songwriters say when a song idea comes to you fast and furious, those are the best ones. In 40 minutes, I had the entire song written.



What followed was indeed fast and furious. Corle recorded the song in his farmhouse studio and posted it for his social media followers to download for free. There were soon 1,000 downloads, all from followers sharing the post. This was happening to me on a personal level, he said. I had no idea so many people would relate to the words.

That response led to a trip to Nashville to book studio time. And that led to a group of professional studio musicians lending their talents to Empty Barn and creating the single, part of an album titled Farm Animal.

The album was recorded in May 2022, and Corle has been busy promoting his music independently ever since. In late July, the song was released to Spotifys streaming service and has been downloaded more than he ever dreamed and from all over the world.

Bigger connection

His most recent project with the song has also been fast and furious. He wanted to make a video that would resonate with other farmers. He put out a request for photos of barns, cows, and farm life.

The response was unbelievable, he said. We received hundreds of pictures and chose the ones that best fit the story. Its a story thats organic and authentic and hopefully cathartic for others as well.

The video was released on YouTube in August and quickly reached more than 35,000 views. People have reached out to me saying I had captured exactly how they felt, Corle said.

These days, much of his time is spent on promotion. Since his time in Nashville, he has learned a great deal about how to make music a full-time career.



Ive wanted to do this since I was small, but it always competed with farming, Corle said.

He is already at work on new material, crediting Empty Barn for creating this opportunity.

I believe 100% that I didnt write that song so much as channel it and capture all the emotions that were flowing through me, he said. That title was a gift from God; the song just wrote itself.
Vernon Alexis Russell, a well-respected attorney at law in Concord, won the Liberty Bell Award for 2022, according to a news release from the Cabarrus County Bar Association (CCBA).

Russell received the award for his 40-plus years of honorable legal service to his hometown of Concord. He now stands with other giants of the legal profession in the area, having been recognized for a lifetime of dedicated service.

He is a 1974 graduate of Concord High School, 1978 graduate of North Carolina Central University, and a 1981 graduate of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Law. He was licensed to practice law and admitted to the United States Federal District Court, Middle and Western Districts for North Carolina in 1981. He began his legal career with Legal Services of Cabarrus County, N.C., and is now the proprietor of Vernon A. Russell Attorney at Law, PLLC at 29 Church St. SE, Concord.

Attorney Russell is an accomplished civil and criminal trial litigator and has a reputation for handling problem cases. With the support of his exceptional staff, Sara Soto, Ana Rankin and Edith Russell, he has earned the respect of our rich diverse population. He has successfully handled many significant civil, plus felony and misdemeanor criminal matters, including capital and non-capital murder, felony sex offenses, and driving while impaired cases. He receives referrals from many respected lawyers and professionals.

CCBA said his advice is often sought from colleagues and other professionals, and he is a former member of the North Carolina State Bar Ethics Committee. He believes that his faith in God, together with legal scholarship, are his greatest assets. He prides himself on researching and understanding principals underlying legal concepts and opinions and effectively transforming that knowledge to power in his communications with judges, juries and witnesses.

Russell is one of the last old timers who conducts his own research, interviews witnesses on his own and prepares every angle that may come up in a trial. He is the consummate professional.

According to the CCBA, he knows we are our brothers keeper and has dedicated full commitment to his Concord, Cabarrus County, community. He was instrumental in the release of Ronnie Long, who was wrongfully convicted in Cabarrus County and spent 44 years in prison. He is also known for his stellar representation of a 23-year-old career public school teacher. The teacher was improperly charged with sex offenses against his female students. The case resulted in an acquittal.

The CCBA awards committee said Vernon Russell met the criteria for selecting a recipient of the Liberty Bell Award as follows:

1. He has promoted better understanding of the law by educating hundreds of clients during civil and criminal trial matters. He has also educated scores of other attorneys.

2. He has encouraged a greater respect for law and courts by remaining a stickler for precisely following the law and avoiding shortcuts. He has taught proper legal and ethical practices to other attorneys in continuing legal education seminars for many years.

3. He has stimulated a sense of civic responsibility by being that honest lawyer who will not bend the law for the sake of expediency.

4. He is active in his church. He also treats every person with great respect and dignity both in and out of his law practice.

5. He has contributed to good government and community by being the honest and steady man who places accuracy ahead of quick work for a quick buck.

His community involvement covers many areas of community life:

Barber-Scotia College (past board chair and legal counsel)

Cabarrus Community Corrections

Cabarrus County Foundation Board

Logan Daycare, Inc.

Cabarrus Bank and Trust (past board chairman)

Uwharrie Capital Corporation (current board chairman)

Cabarrus County Board of Health

Cabarrus County Blue Ribbon Committee

North Carolina and Cabarrus County Bar Association

North Carolina State Bar Disciplinary Committee

North Carolina Advocates for Justice (formerly North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers)

Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Phi Chi Chapter, Concord

Russell is a native of Concord, the son of Mary Love Russell and Samuel F. Russell Sr. He is a member of First Congregational United Church of Christ, where he serves in the Brotherhood Mens Fellowship and the Mens Choir. He has one brother, the Rev. S. Franklin Russell II, pastor of Meyers Tabernacle AME Zion in Charlotte. Vernon is married to the former Edith Bridges, and they make their home in Kannapolis.

The Cabarrus County Bar wishes to express its gratitude to Vernon for his many years of service to his clients, his community and to his fellow members of the legal profession. Above all else, Vernon made us proud to be fellow attorneys.
COMPANY NEWS: Laidlaw College, the largest interdenominational theological college in New Zealand, has announced that it has gone live with Tribal's student management system. Designed specifically for vocational education and training providers, ebs:VET is off-the-shelf student management system which uses knowledge, best practices, and powerful features from the enterprise version of ebs deployed in hundreds of educational institutions globally and is now set to transform Laidlaw College's staff and students' experience.

Implemented on schedule and over ten months, ebs:VET includes all core and statutory compliance modules to support Laidlaw College's student administration processes, as well as over 12 years of migrated data from the college's legacy system and business critical integrations. The college implementation also includes dedicated staff portal and student portal interfaces.

The ebs Student Portal will support students from application through to course selection and will provide visibility across key datasets such as student financials, results, document uploads, and communications. Students will have full visibility of their application stages and will be able to interact with this online to undertake functions such as online acceptance of offers.

The ebs Staff Portal will also allow key stakeholders within Laidlaw College to view student data within a fully responsive web portal, as well as supporting academic heads within the student applications process. Academic staff will be able to communicate with learners directly from the portal either individually or in groups.

Several integrations between ebs and other core systems have been delivered within the implementation including, Moodle, Public Trust, NSI, StudyLink, Library System, and the Finance System.

Laidlaw College CEO Dr Roshan Allpress says "We are committed to continually strengthening our systems and processes to support student experience, academic excellence, and the distinctive mission and ethos of Laidlaw. Tribal ebs offered us a solution that works across our diverse team and contexts, and will help us pursue our mission more effectively and efficiently."

The rapidly deployable ebs:VET suits the business process and workflow needs of a wide range of vocational education and training providers (from 250 EFTS upwards). It can be deployed and up and running in a matter of weeks.

Tribal New Zealand general manager Steve Exley says, "We're excited to welcome Laidlaw College into the ebs family. Laidlaw joins a growing community of ebs cloud users in Aotearoa (New Zealand) and we look forward to continuing work with the team at Laidlaw to extend out the capabilities of ebs in future project phases."

About Laidlaw College

Laidlaw College is a Category 1 NZQA accredited tertiary educational institution, with campuses in Auckland and Christchurch, a number of partners delivering Laidlaw programmes, and a strong distance learning cohort of students. It offers qualifications from certificate to postgraduate level to around 1,000 students. This year Laidlaw College celebrates its centenary  for 100 years the College has been equipping women and men to "renew their communities with a faith as intelligent as it is courageous."

About Tribal

Tribal Group is a pioneering world-leader of education software and services. Its portfolio includes Student Information Systems; a broad range of education services covering quality assurance, peer review, benchmarking and improvement; and student surveys. Working with higher education, further and tertiary education, schools, Government and State bodies, training providers and employers, in over 55 countries; Tribal Group's mission is to empower the world of education with products and services that underpin student success. Visit www.tribalgroup.com and @tribalgroup.
GUEST OPINION: The BlackCat/APLHV ransomware gang have continued their trend of targeting key critical infrastructure with their latest attack on Italys energy agency.

While it is yet to be confirmed whether cyber-physical systems were hit during this ransomware attack, with the number of targeted attacks on critical infrastructure organisations across the world, its vital that these devices are secured.

As part of their digitalisation processes, organisations continue to converge their IT and operational technology (OT) systems, ultimately, expanding their attack surface. Threat actors are then able to cause disruption to both cyber and operational resilience as malware moves laterally to other network domains.

To combat this, security teams must have full visibility across both their IT and OT systems as well as Extended IoT (XIoT) environment.

Once an organisation has a complete understanding of their overall cyber risk, security teams can then patch urgent vulnerabilities and secure critical devices.

Whats more, organisations can implement network segmentation with asset class network policies to restrict unnecessary connectivity, ultimately, limiting the lateral movement of malware and impact of such attacks.

With these procedures in place, organisations can stop a cyber incident becoming an operational crisis.
include_once "/home/jwreview/public_html/$theme/includes/sidebar.php"; ?> Barack Obama delivered remarks on the unveiling of his portrait at the White House Wednesday as staffers cheered his return. I sympathized with his plight. It's the first speech Obama made to White House staffers in fourteen years in which he couldn't open with a Biden joke to get the crowd on his side.

 Hillary Clinton sat for an interview with Norah O'Donnell of CBS News and Hillary pledged she will never run for president again. Hillary is out promoting her new reality series on Apple + that's called Gutsy. It's called Gutsy because ABC already has a series called How to Get Away with Murder.

 The DOJ reacted to the judge's ordering a Special Master to determine the relevancy of the seized documents at Mar-a-Lago by leaking their alleged contents to the media. The FBI never considered storming the Obama Presidential Library located in Southside Chicago. They knew they'd be outgunned.

 Congresswoman AOC told Esquire that the balance of powers in the Constitution prevent necessary societal changes. She said as a result she'll never become president, and she may not even live until October. AOC plays the victim so well, I'm surprised that she doesn't carry around her own body chalk.

 Buckingham Palace officials said Thursday that Queen Elizabeth's funeral will be held in ten or eleven days followed several months later by the coronation of Charles as the next monarch. I just can't believe they're going to make a man the Queen of England. This woke nonsense has gone too far.

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 Queen Elizabeth's death sent the world into tribute to the longest reigning monarch. Her family reacted in character Thursday. King Charles praised Queen Elizabeth as a loving mother and as a devoted Queen to the nation for seventy years and Meghan issued a statement saying, what about me?

 Queen Elizabeth died just a day after she met Conservative Party leader Liz Truss up at Balmoral Castle in Scotland and confirmed her as the new Prime Minister. Early in her career when Liz was a liberal Democrat she said she wanted to abolish the monarchy. But I didn't think she'd take it this far.

 British Prime Minister Liz Truss appeared outside Ten Downing Street Thursday to deliver news of the Queen's passing and to praise her legacy and to pass the torch on to King Charles. An important issue of state now faces her government. Such as, how are they going to get his ears to fit on the stamps?

 Buckingham Palace received messages of tribute to the Queen within hours of her death. George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Senator Mitch McConnell were especially eloquent in their tributes to her reign. Joe Biden had one gaffe voicing his tribute to the Queen, but he did pronounce Latifeh correctly.

 President Biden eulogized Queen Elizabeth in an elegant tribute for her contribution to the Special Relationship and Donald Trump praised her dignity, style and grace. Every vote counts. While the Queen's passing ends her seventy-year reign it does not disqualify her from voting for president in 2024.

 The New York Post reports Elizabeth's death triggered leftist bile on Twitter against Anglo-Saxons over the old British Empire that brought Protestantism, liberty, the English language, property rights and free speech to the world. Queen Elizabeth died at 96, which is nothing. Princess Diana died at 120.

(COMMENT, BELOW)
The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and the Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow.

include_once "/home/jwreview/public_html/$theme/includes/sidebar.php"; ?> Just after 6.30pm Thursday, Buckingham Palace announced:

That is how swiftly the transition happens: The Queen is dead; long live the King. So the man and woman who arrived at a Scottish castle as Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall will depart just hours later as "the King and the Queen Consort".

Just forty-eight hours ago, the Queen was pictured with her newest prime minister, having invited her to form "a government in my name". At the top of my show, I suggested that the postponement of the Privy Council at which her new ministers would have been sworn in was a serious and disturbing development. As it turned out, Her Majesty did not live long enough to swear in those privy counselors, and the government will now be conducted in somebody else's name.

I mean no disrespect to Her Australian Excellency, when I say that, were I to live till ninety-six, I'm not sure I'd wish to be spending my days discoursing on the ins and outs of public affairs in New South Wales on which subject I'd be expected to be up to speed in all its various nuances.

But that's the job: It's not "glamorous" like Meghan being photographed with Oprah, but it's what the Queen did, right until the end. She sent a message to her Canadian subjects following a mass murder in Saskatchewan, a part of Her Majesty's Dominions I doubt the Duchess of Sussex could pronounce or find on a map. But the Queen did it, day in, day out until, well after sundown, the last "red box" was read. She did it for seven decades through her twenties, thirties, fifties, eighties, and into her mid-nineties. She was a public figure  a "working Royal", in that somewhat crass phrase  for even longer, for the best part of ninety years. Three-quarters of a century ago, upon the occasion of her twenty-first birthday in 1947, Princess Elizabeth addressed "all the peoples of the British Commonwealth and Empire, wherever they live" from Cape Town:

There is a motto which has been borne by many of my ancestors - a noble motto, 'I serve'. Those words were an inspiration to many bygone heirs to the Throne when they made their knightly dedication as they came to manhood. I cannot do quite as they did. But through the inventions of science I can do what was not possible for any of them. I can make my solemn act of dedication with a whole Empire listening. I should like to make that dedication now. It is very simple. I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.

As princess and queen, Elizabeth II kept that promise to "our great imperial family" through turbulent times that have wholly transformed the world. Her Majesty was the longest-reigning monarch in British history, the world's second longest-reigning monarch (after the French king, Louis XIV), and the first real Head of the Commonwealth  a faintly absurd novelty that the Queen singlehandedly built into something real and consequential. She slogged on as her body wore out, and always rejected any notion that, like the Dutch and Spanish monarchs, she should take early retirement and enjoy her last years with the dogs and horses whose company she, entirely reasonably, preferred to most of her ministers.

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Not a lot survives from 1952. Harry Truman was in the White House, Joe Stalin was in the Kremlin, Chairman Mao had just taken over in China. The British Empire was still a phrase taken seriously: it was not yet a joke, a punchline, and then a hate crime. Truman, Stalin, Mao are all long gone, but, until today, the Queen endured. Most of her cousins in the other European monarchies did not. She was a survivor, and they weren't. Ours is not an age of kings, and those born to royalty have to be pretty nimble. In the end, said the late King Farouk, there will be just five kings, the four in a pack of cards and the King of England - or the Queen.

She first appeared on a banknote when she was an eight-year-old princess on the Canadian $20 bill of 1935. Eighty-seven years later, she's still on the Canadian $20 bill. And in between those two notes, she graced more stamps, more coins, and more banknotes of more countries than anybody in the history of the planet.

The picture of the Queen above is by my darling daughter, taken in Scotland a couple of years back and one I like very much. I was fortunate enough to meet Her Majesty a couple of times over the years, and I treasure those memories, not because I drool over celebs but because I take constitutional monarchy seriously as a system of government:

Is the monarchy anything to do with the unrivaled record of the Britannic inheritance? Working for the Free French in London during the war, Simone Weil found herself pondering why, among the European powers, only England had maintained 'a centuries-old tradition of liberty'. She was struck by the paradox of the Westminster system  that ultimate power is vested in one who cannot wield it in any practical sense.

Except that, by the mere fact of her existence, she diminishes the politicians.

The Queen is the only monarch the vast majority of her subjects around the Commonwealth have ever known. As one of them myself, I have never had any desire to live under any other sovereign, and, as many readers and viewers and listeners will know from my frequent references to Joseph Roth's great crepuscular novel of the Habsburg twilight Radetzky March, I view the future with great foreboding.

A decade ago, writing in the Australian Spectator on Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee, I concluded:

Despite all the chipping away, something endures, and so our octogenarian sovereign carries on, waving a white-gloved hand at young befuddled subjects who've never known any other monarch and couldn't reliably explain the point of her. As Joseph Roth wrote of the aged emperor, 'He allowed people their errors, and he believed less in the permanence of the world than did the wags who told jokes about him in his vast empire.' One day we will miss the Queen, and mourn the impermanence of the virtues she embodied. Vivat Regina.

"Vivat Regina" no more. G od save the King.

(COMMENT, BELOW)

Mark Steyn is an international bestselling author, a Top 41 recording artist, and a leading Canadian human rights activist. Among his books is "The Undocumented Mark Steyn: Don't Say You Weren't Warned". (Buy it at a 49% discount by clicking here or order in KINDLE edition at a 67% discount by clicking here. Sales help fund JWR)
SAN DIEGO  Its such a bizarre time for the Republican Party. At least, I think this is the Republican Party.

Who can be sure? The GOP has undergone a total makeover, and its unrecognizable. If you listen carefully to what Republicans are now saying about various issues  and then compare those words with what they said about those same issues a few years ago  your head will spin.

The party that used to be pro-immigrant, pro-free trade and pro-cop is now keeping out the first, restricting the second and condoning violence against the third. The party that used to lecture the rest of us about taking responsibility for our actions, not playing the victim and respecting the rule of law has basically given up on all three.

All the current lineup cares about is winning elections. This begins with the 11th Commandment: Thou shalt not upset the MAGA mob.

President Joe Biden did just that recently in his speech from Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Biden sought to draw the nations attention to the fact that MAGA Republicans  like the ones who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in the hopes of overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election  play by their own rules. What the rest of us consider fair, proper and legal doesnt interest them in the least.

Too much of whats happening in our country today is not normal, Biden said in his remarks. Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.

Thats the truth. And, as the saying goes, it hurts.

It definitely stung the reader who wrote to me the very next day with his assessment of the presidents comments.

Bidens speech was nasty and offensive, he wrote. Everything that Democrats say the Republicans are doing is what the Democrats are doing or planning to do  This is despicable and I know that you do not support this behavior.

Actually, I was fine with the speech. Democrats are usually the Republicans punching bag. It was nice to see a Democrat jab back.

That was the most demagogic, outrageous and divisive speech I have ever seen from an American president. Joe Biden essentially declared all those who oppose him and his agenda enemies of the republic. Truly shameful, tweeted conservative radio host and podcast host Ben Shapiro.

This is the same Ben Shapiro who  when liberals get offended by something  loves to tell them: Facts dont care about your feelings.

Now, heres a fact, Ben. No one cares that Biden hurt your feelings.

And conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt said that Bidens remarks were about promoting a fear of monsters under the bed.

As a Latino who lived through the Trump era, Im an expert on monsters. For Trump, the scariest ones included my Mexican grandfather. He wasnt a criminal, rapist or drug trafficker. Just a farmworker.

When I called out Trumps anti-Mexican demagoguery as racist, conservatives told me to get over it and stop being so sensitive.

Now that so much of the MAGA world is offended, and wounded, that Biden essentially called anyone who voted for Trump a traitor, you can guess my response.

Republicans dont know where they stand anymore. They now hold positions that they used to ridicule, and theyre ridiculing positions that they used to hold. What they once held dear, they now hold in contempt. They have no principles, no integrity, no honor. Theyre like elephants that wandered into the woods, and then couldnt find their way out.

Im not a Republican. Ive been mistaken for one, now and then, because I enjoy bashing Democrats. Yet I also delight in pummeling Republicans, which leads others to assume that Im a Democrat. Thats another story. Most of the time, I cant tell one party from the other.

That said, I have conservative leanings. I was raised in the reddest part of California: the farm country of the Central Valley. I grew up in the land of pickup trucks and gun racks, feed stores and fruit stands. So I have an affinity toward Republicans, especially Latino Republicans, who I will always defend against unfair attacks by racist white liberals.

Thus, I take no pleasure in the moral chaos sweeping across the Republican Party. The GOP is  at this moment  so erratic and so hypocritical, that it actually makes the Democratic Party look organized, consistent and principled by comparison.

And thats no small magic trick.
The state's trade association for hospitals is sounding the alarm over a reimbursement cut for telehealth services by Nebraska's largest health insurer.

Jeremy Nordquist, president of the Nebraska Hospital Association, said Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska's decision to cut reimbursement for telehealth visits by 50% as of July 1 is a huge concern that could drastically reduce the use of virtual care in the state if other insurers follow suit.

"It is a devastating cut, it's a shortsighted cut that will really put an end to telehealth in Nebraska if that's the direction payers are going to go," Nordquist said.

At this point, it's not clear if any other health insurers plan to follow suit.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska said in a statement that it is not the only carrier in the industry that is making reimbursement adjustments as the pandemic has eased.

But Nordquist said he's not heard of other insurers planning to reduce telehealth reimbursements yet.

"We've talked to a few other insurers right now who say they don't intend to cut, but we don't have a payment parity law in Nebraska to protect against that," he said.

Nordquist specifically mentioned United Healthcare as one insurer that told him it plans to continue reimbursing telehealth at the same rate as other care.

Medica said in a statement that it has been paying telehealth reimbursement at the same rate as in-person services since March 2020, "and has no current plans to change it."

In its statement, Blue Cross and Blue Shield noted that the use of telehealth has declined significantly since the early days of the pandemic, dropping about 30% each year.

"With the widespread availability of vaccines and the reduction in both the number and the severity of COVID-19 cases, the majority of people have returned to pre-pandemic levels of activity, including face-to-face interactions with their providers," the company said.

It also noted that even with the 50% cut, the rates it pays providers is the same as, or in some cases still more than, what it paid them before the pandemic.

While virtual visits are not as common now as they were during the early days of the pandemic, they are still much more common than they were before it.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield said it was still averaging about 9,000 such visits a month in the first half of this year, compared with 1,600 total in 2019.

Nebraska Medicine told the Journal Star last month that it had more than 100,000 telehealth visits in its 2022 fiscal year, compared with less than 4,000 in its 2018 and 2019 fiscal years combined. It currently does anywhere from 10% to 15% of its total provider visits virtually, said Dr. Leslie Eiland, an endocrinologist at Nebraska Medicine.

Virtual care is "what people want," Eiland said. "We wouldn't be offering it if no one was asking for it."

One of the big benefits of telehealth for Nebraska Medicine, she said, is serving patients who have to drive an hour or more to come to the hospital for appointments.

In her own practice with patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes, Eiland said she often offers a "hybrid" approach where patients alternate between in-person and virtual visits, which saves them time and money.

Telehealth has helped hospitals and providers grow and strengthen their reach in rural areas.

Bryan Health, for example, has more than doubled the number of pulmonary clinics it offers outside of Lincoln thanks to the expanded use of virtual visits.

Steve Goeser, president and CEO of Methodist Health System in Omaha, said the hospital system conducted various outreach efforts in western Iowa and eastern Nebraska during the pandemic, and that practice still continues.

"So it is disappointing to see policies in place that dissuade such a positive health care experience for those we serve," Goeser said.

Nordquist said it's rural health care that's likely to suffer the most if insurers cut what they pay for telehealth, but there are also other groups, such as people who live in urban areas but lack transportation and people with jobs who may have a hard time getting time off to attend medical appointments, who will lose as well.

"Really, telehealth is about convenience and getting access to care when they need it," he said.

Mike Dewerff, chief financial officer of Bryan Health, agreed.

He said telehealth is one solution to the problem of having to care for more patients with fewer providers, and creating disincentives to do so by lowering reimbursement, "runs contrary to everyones desire to expand patient access in a cost-effective way for patients."

"Despite Bryans investment and commitment to high-quality remote care, we believe this change will result in increased usage of already stressed urgent cares and emergency departments," Dewerff said in an emailed statement. "Most importantly, it will lead to less access and more costly choices for people seeking care."

There's a misperception among the public and even some insurers that telehealth costs less, which isn't the case, Nordquist said.

For hospitals and providers that already have brick-and-mortar facilities with fixed overhead, the savings from telehealth is in not having to use supplies such as gowns, gloves and masks.

But that savings is offset by things such as subscriptions to Zoom or other virtual platforms, and costs to buy and maintain hardware and software, he said.

That means that when reimbursement rates are cut as much as 50%, "there just won't be providers who can afford to do that," Nordquist said.

The best way to ensure insurers continue to provide adequate reimbursement for telehealth is to mandate it through legislation, Nordquist said.

Nebraska did that in 2021 for behavioral health through LB487, which requires reimbursements for behavioral telehealth to be the same as those for in-person visits. However, a companion bill that would have mandated payment parity for all telehealth visits did not advance.

The state also has a payment parity law that applies to Medicaid, which the Legislature adopted in 1999 when telehealth was virtually nonexistent.

And Medicare pays providers the same for telehealth visits as it does for in-person ones, although that is an administrative policy that could be changed at any time.

Nordquist said he has talked to a couple of senators about introducing a medical telehealth parity bill during the next legislative session and is confident one will be introduced. He said support for such a bill could be dependent somewhat on what happens in November's election.
As overdose deaths have risen sharply across the United States in the past decade  rising exponentially between 2015 and 2021, when the country topped 100,000 overdose deaths in a 12-month period for the first time  state and local leaders have increasingly turned to harm reduction efforts that have saved lives in other countries.

In Philadelphia, a nonprofit kicked off efforts in 2018 to open a safe-injection site  where people would be allowed to use illegal opioids under medical supervision to prevent fatal overdoses.

In Rhode Island, lawmakers greenlit a safe consumption pilot program last summer, becoming the first state to legalize such institutions.

And across the county, syringe service programs  which allow access to and disposal of sterile syringes  have been used to varying degrees for more than 30 years, debuting in the wake of the HIV epidemic of the 1980s.

"Those are illegal in Nebraska," said Patrick Habecker, an assistant professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln whose research focuses broadly on rural drug use.

There is an exception to the state statute that governs the delivery of drug paraphernalia  a phrase that encompasses syringes, pipes and the like  that prohibits the prosecution of pharmacists who sell needles for the prevention of the spread of infectious diseases. That exception could allow for pharmacies to operate a syringe program but does not expressly allow needles intended for drug use to be exchanged.

The statute's existence is among initial roadblocks in bringing efforts such as consumption sites or exchange programs to Lincoln, where 45 people died of drug overdoses in 2021, which followed 40 such deaths in 2020, according to police department data.

Last July, at the height of Lincoln's overdose crisis, local officials launched an awareness campaign, warning of a local drug supply poisoned by fentanyl and touting the availability of Narcan, an opioid overdose reversal drug that is now available for free at eight local pharmacies.

"We're always looking at avenues for harm reduction and what are best practices," said Pat Lopez, the Lincoln-Lancaster County health director. "And we're gonna look at everything that's available based on the data about what's happening in our community."

But as local overdoses have plateaued near last year's record numbers so far this year, Lopez said Lincoln's overdose prevention coalition  an informal group of 20 agencies, care providers and stakeholders  has focused on "systematic" early overdose education and prevention in a partnership with local schools.

And though developments like the local Narcan rollout and the state's so-called "Good Samaritan" law represent progress in Nebraska's larger conversation on harm reduction efforts, it's unclear if state or city leaders are exploring the often controversial but effective steps being taken elsewhere around the U.S.

"I wouldn't say that we're considering doing any of those things, but I wouldn't say that we would not consider any of that, based on what we're seeing in the community," Lopez said. "I think it's our responsibility to make the community aware of what's happening and what measures can be taken to address that.

"These are health issues, and we don't want to see them turned into political issues. We want to be able to address the health needs of our community."

Habecker, though, said the issues are inherently political, pointing to the statutory obstacles  moveable only with political will  that stand between Nebraska and harm reduction.

"That's pretty much what all of these (programs) are aiming to do," Habecker said of harm reduction efforts in play elsewhere. "They're not necessarily saying, 'How do we stop drug use?' They're saying, 'How do we stop people from dying from drug use?'

"And when you change that perspective, that's when people start looking at these options."

Habecker, who said he is not an advocate but would like to see fewer human lives lost as a result of drug use, pointed to individual drug testing strips and community drug supply tests as less controversial methods of harm reduction that are nonetheless not widely implemented in Nebraska.

"So there's a lot of things that can be done and people are trying," he said. "Not a lot of it here."

Testing strips, he said, would allow drug users to individually check samples of their supply  be it of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine or otherwise  for substances such as fentanyl, which contributed to five fatal overdoses in Lincoln last year.

And community supply tests would require organizations or government agencies to take samples of seized or volunteered drugs, test them and release summary reports to the public indicating what is and isn't present in the local drug supply, Habecker said.

The process  not currently practiced in Lincoln  used to be, said Topher Hansen, the CEO of CenterPointe, an addiction and mental health treatment nonprofit.

"Ages and ages and ages ago, we would go out and test drugs through the state labs and then try and tell people that gave us those (drugs) what it was so they could know about it," he said. "And if was like, 'Oh, my God, that's PCP not LSD,' then they would avoid eating that, or something. That's a harm reduction effort."

Hansen, who mentioned syringe exchange programs and safe consumption sites that have yielded positive results abroad, said leaders in Nebraska's addiction and substance use circles are beginning to have conversations about how to bring harm reduction initiatives to the state.

"But then we've got to change the laws in Nebraska to allow that," he said.

CenterPointe has applied for grant funding to bring a syringe and testing strip vending machine to Lincoln, he said. The nonprofit did not receive the grant.

Even if the grant had been awarded to CenterPointe, its existence would have violated state statute  a fact that Hansen said doesn't frustrate him, in part because he's used to it.

"It's sort of par for the course," he said. "When you're on the front edge of changing things, there often are hurdles, and sometimes there is an old way of thinking about this that generated laws or regulations or things like that.

"So it's not unusual that when you're in a changing environment that you run into some of that, and you have to modify the environment to then allow that change to occur."
Lincoln police are investigating at least two incidents of gunfire early Monday morning.

Investigator Scott Parker said at about 3 a.m. 911 callers reported gunfire in the Clinton neighborhood northwest of North 33rd and Holdrege streets, just west of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's East Campus.

Six minutes later, officers heard multiple gunshots in the area of North 51st Street and Madison Avenue, just north of Nebraska Wesleyan University. At the same time, 911 callers began reporting the sound of gunfire in the same general area.

Parker said police found several shell casings along Adams Avenue between North 48th and 56th streets. But none in the first incident. They found no one injured or any damage.

They are investigating to determine if the incidents are related.

He asked anyone with information to contact the Lincoln Police Department at 402-441-6000 or Crime Stoppers at 402-475-3600.


In a significant development, Varanasi District Judge AK Vishveshva on September 12 rejected the objections by the Anjuman Islamia Masajid to the suit filed by the Hindu plaintiffs.

TCN Staff Reporter

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VARANASI  Hindu side was celebrating and distributing sweets outside the Varanasi district court even before the pronouncement of the judgment on the maintainability of the suit filed by five Hindu women worshippers, seeking rights to worship Goddess Shringar Gauri in the Gyanvapi mosque compound around the year.

Flanked by Sohanlal Arya, a leader of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and husband of one of the petitioners Laxmi Devi, and a battery of their lawyers, the three other women petitioners were busy talking to the media in celebratory mode as if they were sure that the verdict would be in their favour only.

In a significant development on Monday, Varanasi District Judge AK Vishveshva rejected the objections under Order 7 Rule 11 by the Anjuman Islamia Masajid (the managing committee of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi) to the suit filed by the Hindu plaintiffs.

The court said the suit is not barred by The Places of Worship Act, 1991 or the Waqfs Act, 1936.

From the perusal of the above-mentioned provisions of the Act, it is clear that no bar has been imposed by the Act regarding a suit claiming the right to worship idols installed in the endowment within the premises of the temple, or outside. Therefore, defendant no. 4 failed to prove that the suit of the plaintiffs is barred by the UP Sri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Act, 1983, read the operative part of the judgment.

In view of the above discussions and analysis, I have come to the conclusion that the suit of the plaintiffs is not barred by the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 (Act no.42 of 1991), The Waqf Act 1995 (Act no.43 of 1995) and the U.P. Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Act, 1983 (Act no.29 of 1983) and the application 35C filed by the defendant no.4 is liable to be dismissed, ruled the district judge.

Foundation stone for the Gyanvapi temple

Arya described the verdict as a foundation stone for the Gyanvapi temple. Its not only a victory of the Hindu community but also a foundation stone for the Gyanvapi temple. The next hearing is on September 22. We appeal to people to maintain peace, he told reporters soon after the judgment was pronounced.

Advocate Vishnu Jain, who is representing the Hindu plaintiffs, said they will seek a survey of the mosque by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and carbon dating of the Shivling.

Lower court overturned HC decision

Reacting to the judgment, Syed Mohammad Yaseen, the general secretary of the mosque committee, said, In civil suit number 62 of 1936 (Din Mohammad and others Vs Secretary of State for India in Council and others), the then additional civil judge of Benares (on August 25, 1937) had declared that the mosque and the courtyard with the land underneath are Hanafi Muslim Waqf. The judgment was upheld by the Allahabad High Court in 1942.

How can a verdict of the high court be overturned by a lower court, he wondered.

He said the case will continue in the district court, and they will use all the judicial remedies available to them.

Advocate Akhlaque Ahmad, representing the mosque committee, said he and his team will review the 2,400-page judgment and then make a decision on the further course of action.

We had submitted before the court very strong evidence  the August 25, 1937 judgment of the Din Mohammad case and the gazette notification dated February 26, 1942, by which the Gyanvapi mosque was registered as a waqf property. The then civil judge had himself visited the mosque twice before delivering the verdict in civil suit number 62/1936. With the implementation of the Waqf Act, 1936, a survey was conducted across the country and a number was allotted to the properties under waqf  including the Gyanvapi mosque, he said.

What can be stronger evidence than the two documents we had brought on record in support of our pleas? asked the mosque panel lawyer.

Verdict will have destabilising effect

The verdict, as per Asaduddin Owaisi, chief of the All India Muslim Majlis Ittehadul Muslemeen (AIMIM), will fail the purpose of the Places of Worship Act 1991.

I believe that after this order, the purpose of the Places of Worship Act, 1991, will fail and have a destabilising effect, he said, adding that we are going on the same path as that of the Babri mosque issue. When the judgement on Babri Masjid was given, I warned everyone that this will create problems in the country as this judgement was given on the basis of faith.

He further hoped that the mosque committee would appeal against this order. There should be an appeal in the high court against this order, and I hope the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid will appeal against this order, he added.

Gyanvapi to meet Babri mosque fate

UP-based senior advocate Sarfraz Nazeer equated the decision with the Babri mosque case. Todays decision, in a way, can be seen in line with the decision to open the lock of Babri Masjid that paved the way for its demolition in December 1992, he said.

Section 4 of the Places of Worship Act, 1991 states that the religious character of a place of worship existing on August 15, 1947, shall continue to be the same as it existed on that day. It bars courts from entertaining cases regarding such places of worship.

The provision further states that such cases already pending in courts would stand abated.

Very cleverly, permission has been sought for the worship of Shringar Gauri near the western wall of the mosque. It is similar to the way permission for worship was first sought on the Ram Chabutra in front of the Babri Masjid. All this is happening just like it happened in the past in the Babri Masjid case, he added.

Background of the case

The plaintiffs have essentially sought year-long access to offer prayers of Goddess Shringar Gauri behind the western wall of the Gyanvapi mosque complex (located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple).

The Hindu worshippers had claimed that the present mosque premise was once a Hindu temple, which was demolished by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and thereafter the mosque was built.

On the other hand, the maintainability of the suit was challenged by the Anjuman Islamia Masajid (which managed the Gyanvapi mosque)  arguing that the Hindu worshippers suit is barred by the Places of Worship Act.

The mosque committee in its objection and application under Order 7 Rule 11 had argued that the suit is specifically barred by the Places of Worship Act.

Having heard the two parties at length, the district judge had reserved his judgment on August 24.

To provide a better context regarding the case, the Varanasi civil court preside over by Justice Ravi Kumar Diwakar (civil judge, senior division) had earlier appointed a survey commission to submit a report by visiting the mosque.

The court commissioners thereafter submitted their report in a sealed envelope on May 19. However, even before the submission of the survey report, the court of the civil judge  on a submission made by a court-appointed advocate commissioner that a Shivling had been found in the mosque premise during the survey  had ordered to seal the spot (wazukhana or place of ablution).

The district magistrate of Varanasi was ordered to seal the area where a cylinder black structure (purported Shivling) was allegedly discovered and bar entry of any individual in the area inside the mosque.

Meanwhile, a petition was filed by the mosque committee in the Supreme Court, challenging the survey order issued by the Varanasi civil court.

Hearing the plea on May 17, the apex court clarified that the order passed by the civil judge (senior division) to protect the place where the alleged Shivling is claimed to have been found during the survey will not restrict the right of Muslims to access the mosque to offer prayer and other religious activities.

Further on May 20, the top court transferred the suit filed by the Hindu devotees to the district court of Varanasi. The court had also ordered that the application filed by the mosque management committee before the trial court under Order 7 Rule 11 of the CPC for rejection of the suit filed by the Hindu worshippers shall be decided on priority by the district judge.

Meanwhile, it was also ordered that the interim order dated May 17 shall continue to be in place till the application is decided. With this, a Supreme Court bench comprising Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice Surya Kant and Justice PS Narasimha adjourned the matter to October 20.
Seventeen Republican members of the nonpartisan Legislature have signed onto a pledge to vote to end secret ballot selection of the Legislature's leadership positions by state senators in 2023.

One of them, Speaker of the Legislature Mike Hilgers of Lincoln, is positioned to be elected attorney general in November, and would be replaced by an appointee selected by Gov. Pete Ricketts before the governor leaves office in January.

A majority of the Legislature's 49 senators is required to enact the rule change, which would be expected to benefit Republicans who are candidates to chair legislative committees and fill other leadership positions in the nonpartisan Legislature.

Democrats now chair a number of committees, including Education, Judiciary and Urban Affairs.

The effort to seek public pledges now from senators and other legislative candidates is being led by the Nebraska First political action committee, a new PAC formed by former Republican gubernatorial candidate Charles Herbster of Falls City.

Who signed State senators who signed the pledge to make votes for legislative leadership roles public: Joni Albrecht, John Arch, Bruce Bostelman, Tom Brewer, Tom Briese, Rob Clements, Robert Dover, Steve Erdman, Suzanne Geist, Ben Hansen, Steve Halloran, Mike Hilgers, Mike Jacobson, Kathleen Kauth, Lou Ann Linehan, John Lowe and Dave Murman.

"Either our legislators support being transparent with their votes or they want to keep the back room deals that come with electing leadership by secret ballot," Nebraska First PAC Director Rod Edwards said Monday.

"We believe voters support transparency and will support candidates who do too," he said.

Members of Nebraska's nonpartisan Legislature will elect leadership, including the Speaker of the Legislature and committee chairpersons, by secret ballot on the opening day of the session under current rules.

In addition to incumbent senators who signed the pledge, 18 candidates for seats in the Legislature also pledged their support for the proposal.

Included were Lincoln legislative candidates Russ Barger (District 26) and Roy Christensen (District 28).

Sen. Suzanne Geist of Lincoln was among the incumbent senators who signed the pledge.
RACINE  Local education must expand and improve. That seemed to be the consensus at a community gathering Saturday.

Everyone agreed that change and progress are required to better serve area students, and a local group thinks a public charter school in Racine can help.

Ten community members and seven board members of the Racine Scholars Academy attended a 90-minute listening session Saturday at the Dr. John Bryant Community Center, 601 Caron Butler Drive. More listening sessions are expected to occur, dates to be determined.

Racine Scholars Academy is a proposed charter school that would serve students from pre-K through fifth grade.

Saturdays attendees believe more options are needed for public education, especially at the elementary level.

What we do early with children can impact the rest of their lives, said Pam Harris, a community member and educator.

Board members see the charter school as an important alternative to existing education models within the Racine Unified School District.

Its another quiver in the arrow, said Milt Thompson, Racine Scholars Academy board member and charter school developer.

Board members said parents must understand the power they have in shaping the future of their children and, by extension, the community.

We believe parents should  be empowered to find the best education for their child, Thompson said.

People on Saturday discussed the importance of helping students develop self-esteem at a young age, since that can impact their willingness to learn going forward.

If you have that, you have a well-rounded student  able to do great things, said Beverly Hicks, Racine Scholars Academy board member.

Trying again

In February 2021, the Racine Unified School Board voted 5-4 to not pursue a contract with Racine Scholars Academy. There are currently no charter schools affiliated with RUSD.

After the school board rejection, RSA considered going private. It applied for funding through the state Office of Educational Opportunity, according to Thompson. That process posed too many obstacles, however, so the group decided to again try to become part of Racine Unified.

Charter school board members hope to bring a proposal before the RUSD board in late October so that if the proposal is approved, Racine Scholars Academy can open in fall 2023.

Regarding a potential proposal from Racine Scholars Academy, Stacy Tapp, RUSD chief of communication and community engagement, wrote in an email that the school district is focused on implementing our long-range facilities master plan and will consider any proposals that come forward to determine whether they are in alignment with that plan.

Soliciting feedback

Before the RUSD board hears a proposal, RSA board members want to garner community input and support. On Saturday, attendees received information about the proposed Racine Scholars Academy, discussed data illustrating the student achievement gap at Racine Unified and shared ideas for improvement in public schools.

Racine Scholars Academy would be modeled after Lake Country Academy, a public charter school in Sheboygan about 90 minutes north of Racine. Its educational model can accelerate students and it can help students who are behind, Thompson said. This is an option that can help just about any student.

People in attendance Saturday seemed supportive of the charter school idea but said they want more information about the educational model. In response, RSA board members said they hope to provide group tours from Racine to Lake Country Academy next month so people can experience it firsthand.

Fabiola Diaz, a Racine-area parent, toured Lake Country Academy a few years ago and was impressed. She said pupils and teachers were on the same page regarding lessons, and Diaz saw confident students who were given the freedom to be their creative, spontaneous selves.

It just seemed like this harmonious vibe in the school, and I really liked it, Diaz told a reporter. It was something that Ive never seen before.

Diaz was not at Saturdays meeting but has two school-age children, and the tour made her intrigued with that educational environment.

If that is the model that is being followed (at Racine Scholars Academy), I feel like I will be interested for my kids to attend, Diaz said.

Even if her children do not ultimately attend the public charter school, assuming it opens, Diaz believes Racine Scholars Academy is a worthwhile effort.

I think its worth taking that step and seeing if it works, Diaz said. I dont think that it should be just one model followed. I think that different strategies are always better.

Reviewing data

People in attendance Saturday also reviewed data highlighting the racial achievement gap in RUSD. To show that issues existed before the pandemic, state figures from the 2018-19 school year were presented.

One example was that on state math assessments, 75% of Black RUSD students had below basic scores, 20% had basic scores and 4% had proficient scores. For Hispanic students, 57% had below basic scores, 28% had basic scores and 13% had proficient scores. For white students, 37% had below basic scores, 32% had basic scores and 26% had proficient scores.

Those numbers are very distressing, Thompson said. When you look at the achievement data, it screams that there has to be more approaches.

Several people voiced concern that the pandemic worsened those challenges and could negatively impact generations of students, which in turn impacts the community.

I see how important this is  and we all should pay attention to it, because its going to affect us all, said Mario Martinez, RSA board member.

Harris said the data was disheartening but needs to be widely shared so the public can work to address challenges.

What we have now is just not working, Harris said. Were doing our kids a disservice  I think if you keep it quiet, nothings going to change. Sometimes you need to rock the boat.

Ernest NiA, a local pastor, said community members wanting improvements need to make their voices heard by giving public comments during Racine Unified school board meetings.

The school board needs to see that parents and the public are outraged, NiA said.

Devin Anderson, RSA board president, agreed. He wants community members to comment on the changes they desire, including a public charter school. He hopes they tell the RUSD school board that we need to bring this program to the district.

At the same time, Racine Scholars Academy board members stressed the importance of critiquing Racine Unified without being overly antagonistic.

Our tone is not to say, The district stinks  and the district is worthless, Thompson said. Its, We need an alternative. We need different approaches.

RSA board members, who attended RUSD as students, believe in public education and want the school district to improve. They see the public charter school as one way to do that.

We owe our careers and our professional lives to the fact that we got an outstanding education from Racine Unified when we were growing up, Thompson said. I dont have an ax to grind against the district. I want to see the district return to its former glory.

At the conclusion of Saturdays meeting, everyone in attendance said one word about how they were feeling. Some were excited or thankful or encouraged. The most common response: hopeful.
UW Health nurses and administrators have reached a tentative agreement to avert a strike that was scheduled to start Tuesday, a source said Sunday.

Gov. Tony Evers hosted the parties at the governors mansion for hours of negotiation, where they reached a proposed deal, a source with knowledge of the discussions said.

Spokespeople for UW Health and the union trying to organize the nurses, SEIU Healthcare Wisconsin, would not confirm an agreement late Sunday afternoon.

On Sept. 3, UW Health nurses gave administrators an official notice of their plan to strike Sept. 13-16, saying they seek quality patient care, safe staffing and recognition of their union.

The 10-day notice, required by labor law, came after nurses said the previous week they voted to strike unless UW Health administrators agreed to recognize and bargain with their union, a request they have been making since December 2019.

Im striking to take a stand for quality patient care for my community and the well-being of frontline nurses, Amanda Klinge, a nurse in the orthopedic trauma unit at UW Health, said in a statement. When my nurse colleagues and I see potentially preventable patient care problems occur day after day because of extreme understaffing, it is damaging to our psyche and our very soul.

SEIU Healthcare Wisconsin has said UW nurses have been struggling with a dangerous crisis of understaffing, turnover, cuts, exhaustion and burnout, which has been aggravated by the pandemic and puts patient care at risk.

UW Health said the strike would be unpleasant for patients and for our staff but we will get through it. The organization said it was ensuring patient care is impacted as minimally as possible and a strike would do nothing to alter the legal uncertainties surrounding the health systems ability to collectively bargain.

Former Republican Gov. Scott Walkers signature legislation, Act 10, banned collective bargaining for most public workers except for cost-of-living pay increases. At the time, UW Hospital administrators said the law abolished unions at the hospital even though they didnt seek that action. In 2014, when a contract for about 2,000 nurses and therapists represented by SEIU expired, they lost the union.

In December 2019, shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic began, nurses announced they were restarting the union and asked the UW Hospital Board to voluntarily recognize it. The board and hospital leaders have repeatedly said the law doesnt allow them to recognize and bargain with the union.

Unlike other public employees affected by Act 10, UW Hospital workers are not state or municipal employees. When the hospital became a public authority separate from the university in 1996, it acquired its own special status. How Act 10 and other laws apply to that status has been the subject of various legal memos.

After two memos last year from the nonpartisan Wisconsin Legislative Council appeared to reach different conclusions, Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul in June said the hospital can contract with its employees and set their terms of employment through a voluntary collective bargaining process. Kauls nonbinding opinion came at the request of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

UW Health last week said: The Attorney General has said he believes we can, but by his own admission states that his opinion is not law and that only the courts or the legislature can provide a conclusive answer.

In January, SEIU Healthcare Wisconsin said it gave UW Health CEO Dr. Alan Kaplan more than 1,500 cards signed by nurses supporting a union. SEIU says 2,600 nurses at UW Hospital would be in the bargaining unit.
Every time I've gone to Istanbul to visit family, I stuffed my face with spicy kofte kebab and other meaty dishes. One of my fondest food memo
1. Yes. COVID isnt over. Killeen and Cove ISD had 851 cases combined in August alone.

2. Yes. Parents should always be able to track cases in the schools on a daily basis.

3. No. The state isnt requiring school districts to post the numbers; it isnt necessary.

4. No. COVID isnt surging, but if it does, the website dashboards could be reinstated.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say whether the information is needed with the low threat level.

Vote

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They're known at school as the group of parents who orchestrate everything from Halloween parties to book fairs, but a parent-teacher organization isn't just for the kids.

Parents join a PTO for all kinds of reasons. It has helped some revitalize career skills, share passions, find job opportunities, and assuage the middle-age friend desert, all while making sure the kids have fun.

"I thought it was important for my kids to see I thought they were important and that their education was important,"' said Judy Walters, 54, of central New Jersey, recalling her stay-at-home-mom days raising two little girls. "But really, I wanted to meet people and have a life."

The PTO was where Walters met some of the people she still considers best friends. "I got close to a number of my room-mom people, and I met a lot of parents who I wasn't close to but still really liked and enjoyed," she says.

PTO is a common acronym for the group of parents and teachers who work together to fundraise, plan activities and provide extra enrichment for students. The term can be used interchangeably with the Parent Teacher Association, a national nonprofit headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, or the PTC, or parent-teacher council.

As kids return to school this fall, you might see flyers or emails pleading for parents to get involved. PTOs play an important role as school boards face tough budget choices, particularly for "extras" non directly related to the curriculum.

Especially as schools and families emerge from pandemic lockdowns, people are looking for ways to connect. PTOs can provide that at a time in life when making new friends typically slows down because of work and family.

Sara Dean, 46, signed up for her school's PTA, nervous about assimilating into what she saw as an established group. But by spring, she was happy to have made new friends.

Dean hosts the podcast "The Shameless Mom Academy," which discusses women's empowerment, and balancing parenthood and work. She devoted an episode to what she learned from working as the PTA president at her child's school outside Seattle.

"The opportunities for bonding happen quicker," she said of working on the PTA. "There is more comradery and ease of building relationships that I wasn't expecting but that was a lovely experience."

She also didn't expect to pick up career-building skills.

Dean was used to working independently, as a writer and podcast host and producer. As PTA president, she was thrown into building teams, helping everyone get along, and finding resolutions to problems the school faced  skills that could easily translate into corporate America or the world of nonprofits.

"That's not why I signed up, but it's a benefit that is really cool," she said.

The same goes for Colleen Nolan, 46, of Newton, Massachusetts. The eight years she spent working various roles on an elementary school PTO led, she said, to two nonprofit board positions  at a city food bank and a neighborhood improvement group  and a paid, part-time position as a records keeper.

"I met people in the neighborhood and, over the years, they recognized me as someone who was a `doer,'" Nolan said. "People saw me as someone who could answer questions and they used me as a resource."

Many parents bring their passion projects to the PTO, said Andy Garlick, an elementary school principal in Needham, Massachusetts. These might include personal finance, diversity, or cultural customs from another country, for example. Parents bring what they know to the table.

"There's a lot of people who want to use the minimal free time they have to do good in their community," he said.

There are criticisms and jokes, of course. In the 2018 comedy "Bad Moms," Christina Applegate and Mila Kunis spar over who is the better PTA presidential candidate. And the Netflix series "Ginny & Georgia" shows a snooty mother from "Wellsbury, Massachusetts" arguing with an outsider from Texas about how to best raise money for the PTA.

In reality, wealthy neighborhoods tend to have far more parental involvement and fundraising power than areas without such affluence. This leads to more enrichment opportunities for students, and more educational necessities like books or tech gadgets. Some argue it compounds inequities in the U.S.

And PTO parents often spend their own money. Some organizations have dues and others don't, but many parent volunteers end up paying for projects and events.

Kimberly Rae Miller, 39, of Suffolk County, New York, joined the PTA to become more involved and was surprised to find how much money it required out of her own pocket.

But, she said, "If you have the time and financial resources to participate, it's a great way to have access to a part of your children's life that you don't always have access to."
PODGORICA, Montenegro  At the government headquarters in NATO-member Montenegro, the computers are unplugged, the internet is switched off and the state's main websites are down. The blackout comes amid a massive cyberattack against the small Balkan state which officials say bears the hallmark of pro-Russian hackers and its security services.

The coordinated attack that started around Aug. 20 crippled online government information platforms and put Montenegro's essential infrastructure, including banking, water and electricity power systems, at high risk.

The attack, described by experts as unprecedented in its intensity and the longest in the tiny nation's recent history, capped a string of cyberattacks since Russia invaded Ukraine in which hackers targeted Montenegro and other European nations, most of them NATO members.

Sitting at his desk in Montenegro's capital, Podgorica, in front of a blackened PC screen, Defense Minister Rasko Konjevic said government officials were advised by cyber experts, including a team of FBI investigators that was dispatched to the Balkan state, to go offline for security reasons.

"We have been faced with serious challenges related to the cyberattack for about 20 days, and the entire state system, the system of state administration, and the system of services to citizens are functioning at a rather restrictive level," Konjevic told The Associated Press.

He said experts from several countries are trying to help restore the Montenegro government's computer system and find proof of who is behind the attack.

Montenegro officials said the attack that crippled the government's digital infrastructure was likely carried out by a Russian-speaking ransomware gang that generally operates without Kremlin interference as long as it doesn't target Russian allies. The gang, called Cuba ransomware, claimed responsibility for at least part of the Montenegro cyberattack, in which it created a special virus for the attack called Zerodate.

Montenegro's Agency for National Security blamed the attack squarely on Russia.

Russia has a strong motive for such an attack because Montenegro, which it once considered a strong ally, joined NATO in 2017 despite the Kremlin's opposition. It has also joined Western sanctions against Moscow over the Ukraine invasion, which led Moscow to brand Montenegro an "enemy state" along with several other countries that joined the embargo.

"In such attacks, there are usually organizations that are a mask for state intelligence services," Konjevic said, adding that the defense ministry's NATO-related data is protected "in a special way" while the other possible leaks "are being investigated."

The cyberattack comes amid an apparent attempt by Moscow to destabilize the Balkan region that was at war in the 1990s through the Kremlin's Balkan ally Serbia, and thus at least partly shift the world's attention from the war in Ukraine.

Montenegro, which split from much larger Serbia in 2006, is currently run by an interim government that has lost parliamentary support because of Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic 's shady deals with the influential Serbian Orthodox Church without the consent of the whole coalition that supported the government.

Montengro's roughly 620,000 people are deeply split between those who want the country to restore its close ties to Serbia and Russia and those who want it to continue on its path of the European Union membership.

"A real war is being waged in Ukraine, with bombs, a war of conquest by Russia," political analyst Zlatko Vujovic said. "Something similar is happening in Montenegro. There are no bombs, but there is a huge tension, a huge hybrid conflict in which the interests of Russia and its and Serbian intelligence services are interconnected."

Other Eastern European states deemed enemies of Russia have also faced cyberattacks, mostly nuisance-level denial-of-service campaigns that render websites unreachable by flooding them with junk data but don't damage them. Targets have included networks in Moldova, Slovenia, Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Albania.

Last week, Albania severed diplomatic relations with Iran and kicked out its diplomats after a cyberattack in July that it blamed on the Islamic Republic.

"Montenegro remains a target within both the public and private sector, as well as many other countries in that region," said Patrick Flynn, head of the advanced programs group at Trellix, a U.S.-based cybersecurity company. "We have observed a blend of historically based nation state actors and well-known ransomware groups."

"This recent focus on NATO member countries reinforces the need for hyper vigilance within key businesses as well as government (and) critical infrastructure cyber security environments," he said in an email to the AP.
KEARNEY  A judge has found a man guilty of felony attempted first-degree sexual assault of a child in Kearney.

Anthony R. Searle, 46, pleaded no contest in Buffalo County District Court to the charge that involved a victim between the ages of 12 and 16. In exchange for his plea, deputy Buffalo County Attorney Melanie Young reduced one count from felony first-degree sexual assault of a child to attempted first-degree sexual assault and also dismissed two counts of felony first-degree sexual assault of a child.

The charges involve sexual penetration of the victim that happened between June 1, 2021, and Jan. 12. The victim is the same for all three counts.

Records say in exchange for his pleas Searle also agreed to testify in other ongoing court matters.

Records detailing the crime are sealed.

Judge Ryan Carson accepted Searles plea and ordered the Nebraska Probation Office to complete a presentence investigation report, including a sex offender evaluation and risk assessment. Findings of that report  including background information on a defendant, family and criminal history, employment and psychological and chemical dependency  will help the judge issue an appropriate sentence.

Searle will be sentenced in October.

Searles wife, Mandy, 43, faces three counts of aiding and abetting Searle in the incidents. She has denied the allegations, and her cases are pending in district court.
MINDEN  Nearly 400 pieces of history that have been stored away for decades can now be purchased via an online auction.

Harold Warp Pioneer Village in Minden is selling about 395 items in order to build capital for the museum.

Its nothing out of the museum. Its all excess that is in storage and has been in storage for 50 to 60 years, said Larry Wilcox, Harold Warp Pioneer Village Foundation Board President. We feel that is something that can be utilized by someone else.

For the past year, the foundation board has been working to revitalize the nonprofit museum. With upkeep for 28 buildings, the board aims to establish an endowment fund for Pioneer Village.

Museums have a hard time just going on entry fees. What we are looking to do is to get some things done and get some money put away to continue to operate during slow times, explained Wilcox.

Big Iron Auctions is hosting the online auction, and it will remain open until Thursday. A large variety of items are available, including an array of wagon wheels, buggies, horse-drawn carriages, Pioneer Village signs, tractors and cars.

One item, an 1876 Otto horizontal stroke 1 cylinder gas engine, currently has a bid of $226,250. The museum already has one of the engines on display.

Interest in items on the auction have come from across the nation, including Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Colorado and Florida. Wilcox has even spoke with someone in Australia interested in wooden wagon wheels.

As volunteers combed through the off-site storage buildings, they found a few items that were placed with current displays. Some items have been put back into storage and will be auctioned at a different time. Wilcox expects the museum has enough pieces in storage for two more auctions to be held at later dates.

Mr. Warp did a good job of putting things away and putting things in the museum. We feel there is something out there for somebody, Wilcox said.
The city of La Crosse is looking to purchase a commercial building at 811 Monitor St. for a developer to revitalize as affordable housing.

If approved, the project is anticipated to create more than 30 affordable housing units for the North Side.

The city is hoping to use $2.625 million of American Rescue Plan Act funds for the purchase, acquisition, improvement and operation of the building. According to a real estate listing, the property is listed at about $2.3 million. The citys Community Development Committee was set to vote on the purchase Tuesday afternoon.

Mayor Mitch Reynolds said this was an attempt to expedite the process as the need for affordable housing in La Crosse grows.

The city is not interested in becoming a landlord for anyone at this time, Reynolds said. But this is an opportunity for us to provide a space to create affordable housing and bridge financial gaps that exist for developers who otherwise would not get into the affordable housing market.

He said that by the city purchasing the property and building and being able to provide it to a developer, We can end up with the requirement that it be affordable housing and we can entice developers to come forward and create that for us.

The North Side building was originally built in 1978 and was previously used by Gundersen Health System and most recently as the headquarters for Marine Credit Union.

The two-story building is about 31,332 square feet, and the total lot size is 1.5 acres, with 100 parking stalls already on site.

Reynolds said the building has been kept in good shape by previous occupants and therefore could be repurposed.

Were really thinking that this is a great opportunity to move ahead with affordable housing very, very quickly, he said.

The La Crosse Common Council will need to give the final approval to purchase the building, and after that, a Request for Proposals (RFP) will be sent out to seek interest from developers. According to the city, depending on the bidding process, they expect construction could start as early as spring.

The city first began eyeing this property a few months ago, and originally, it was pursued as a possible property for bridge housing with La Crosse County. But that project stalled, Reynolds said, and the city decided that there was still use for the property.

Our staff pivoted and said lets just make this affordable housing, Reynolds said. We have the funds lets just plan on this being affordable housing.

This project is not in connection to planning thats been in the works on how to house people experiencing homelessness for the winter, and wont be shelter space or long-term housing for those experiencing homelessness.

If all goes as planned, this project would join other housing developments in the neighborhood, including 5th Ward Residences at 1231 Hagar St.

This story was updated to say the Community Development Meeting meets on Tuesday. The original version misstated the correct day.(tncms-asset)223d641a-2932-11ed-8e5e-fb4cb67e24ad[3](/tncms-asset)(tncms-asset)3be325ea-0d4d-11ed-9c33-9b2551dbce1a[4](/tncms-asset)(tncms-asset)eefae33c-0151-11ed-9af5-43e0f752c2b7[5](/tncms-asset)
Youre only as good as the company you keep. And for UW-La Crosse, that company has grown to nationally known major universities from the Big 10, Pac 10 and more.

US News & World Reports ranking of the Best Colleges for 2023 has promoted UW-L to its Top Public Schools Among National Universities category. The result: UW-L is the top-ranked comprehensive university in the UW System, outside the land-grant research campus, UW-Madison.

The change is due to the expansion of UW-Ls two doctoral programs  physical therapy and student affairs administration  and the uptick in the number graduates from those programs.

Were now considered among the national universities by US News & World Report, explains Assistant Vice Chancellor for Admissions & Recruitment Corey Sjoquist. This speaks highly of the fantastic work our faculty and staff continue to do day in and day out to create the best educational experience that focuses on student success.

Overall, UW-L was No. 124 on the list, tied with eight others such as Utah State, the University of North Dakota and California State University Fresno. Other UW campuses were UW-Madison, No. 10, while the survey listed UW-Milwaukee and UW-Oshkosh in the No. 169-227 range. For more than 20 years, UW-L was ranked the top campus in the state outside UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee in the regional category.

The magazines current rankings also listed UW-L among Top Performers on Social Mobility, identifying schools successfully assisting students from low-income families through college to graduation.

The rankings are a thorough examination of how more than 1,460 accredited, four-year schools compare on a set of up to 17 widely accepted indicators of excellence. Among the many factors weighed in determining the rankings, the key measures of quality are peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving. See complete listings at: www.usnews.com/colleges.

UW-L Chancellor Joe Gow says the promotion to the national universities category is commendable and points to the universitys continued progress.

This advancement into the national rankings is yet another indicator of the high-quality education our students experience at UW-L, says Gow. We have great word-of-mouth from current students and alumni who tell others about their UW-L experience, so these rankings share the value of a UW-L education to an even larger audience.

Other recent accolades for UW-L include:

Finance technology company SmartAsset listed UWL among the top 50 colleges in the U.S., underscoring commitment to affordability, high-quality academic programming and providing students with a strong return on their investment.

Military Friendly Schools survey placed UW-L in the Gold category among the most military friendly schools in the country for 2022-23, affirming UWLs services and support for student veterans and military family members.

LendEDU, a website that specializes in student loan information, found in 2021 that UW-L ranks among the top two campuses in Wisconsin and No. 153 nationally for minimizing student debt.

La Crosse was named the No. 4 best small college town by Preply, which considered factors related to wallet friendliness, social environment and economic opportunities.
Panel 4: The Art of Optimism: Using the Classical Principle to Change the World

Sept. 11, 2022 (EIRNS)Dennis Speed opened the closing panel of LaRouches centennial program with a discussion of how, over the last three-plus centuries, the culture of North America and the West has fluctuated up and down. He read a 1696 statement by leader in the American colonies Cotton Mather: We grow little. We dwindle away to nothing. He then showed a 1952 video of die-hard colonialist Lord Bertrand Russell, whom LaRouche had identified as the most evil person of the 20th century. In the interview on the occasion of his 80th birthday, Russell described conditions that, Empires disappear into dust, and calling Asia pessimistic.

Speed then returned to the late 17th and early 18th century to explain how the great mathematician, physicist, physical economist, philosopher, and political leader Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz had become the leader of a group of patriots, meaning dissenters from English Royalty, from Ireland, Scotland, and elsewhere. Leibniz he could have served as Prime Minister under Queen Anne, but on her death in 1714, George Ludwig of Hannover succeeded as King George I and cut all ties to Leibniz.

Nonetheless, Leibniz continued his development of a science of physical economy that ultimately was implemented by the United States. He was a total opponent of John Locke, who had been groomed by the Dutch monarchs of Britain, William and Mary, and is, to this day, believed by many Americans to be the brains behind the Declaration of Independence that was written more than 70 years after Lockes death. The leading item they seized upon was Lockes phrase, Life, Liberty, and Property, which is used in colonialist constitutions and later in the Confederacy. The signers, however, chose Leibnizs idea, Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, with the understanding that happiness is not personal pleasure, but a continuing and improving condition that characterizes mankinds development.

Megan Dobrodt followed with a presentation on harmony, based on Keplers understanding of the harmonics of the Solar System and its relation to the well-tempered musical scale. She explained how Kepler was able to demonstrate that planets had elliptical, not circular orbits, by measuring their angular motion. She explained that there was actually no mathematical operation that could be used to define the orbits in a linear way, but different fractional multiplications could establish varied approximations. It happens that the math of the orbits is the same as the math of musical scales, and that the same math adjustments used for the orbits are called tempering, when used musically.

Jacques Cheminade, the president of the French Solidarite et Progres political party, provided a whimsical discussion of optimism starting with reference to Lazare Carnots poem, Ode to Enthusiasm. He described enthusiasm as the most advanced form of optimism, and pointed to NATO, Liz Truss, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President Joe Biden, and Emmanuel Macron as exemplary of pessimism.

Youth organizer Anastasia Battle, Editor in Chief of Leonore magazine, closed the presentations by asking the listeners to think carefully about what they had heard and what they think must be done to aid them in developing their happiness and abilities.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche joined the panel for a closing discussion period. Her goal is to ensure that humanity is the immortal species. She pointed to the rising of developing sector and other nations to end colonialism (slavery) forever, a new spirit of Bandung, the Non-Aligned Movement, and to do it with Mahatma Gandhis non-violent methods.
EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR MONDAY SEPTEMBER 12, 2022

Schiller Institute Conference: How To Inspire Humanity To Survive the Greatest Crisis in World History

Sept. 11, 2022, 2022 (EIRNS)Todays EIR Daily Alert consists of reports on the Sept. 10-11 Schiller Institute international conference, How To Inspire Humanity To Survive the Greatest Crisis in World History: The four panels, two each day, are posted to the conference page, with the list of speakers underneath the player for each panel.

The transcript of Helga Zepp-LaRouches keynote address opening Panel 1 will be published in the Sept. 16 issue of EIR. She debunked the narrative of the democracies of the West against the nefarious dictatorships of Russia and Chinain reality, the situation is mirror-inverted. She discussed the fraud of a democracy with no free speech, no public debate, and death lists for dissidentswhat she called a digitalized Gestapo. She went on to discuss the legacy of her late husband, Lyndon LaRouche: The secret of LaRouches success is an unparalleled knowledge of Renaissance ideas in the Platonic tradition. Our enemy, the oligarchical class, needs to eliminate creativity and genius in order to defend its unilateral power over the world, blocking the emergence of sovereign nations cooperating on peace through development, such as the Belt and Road Initiative working through the BRICS nations. She asserted that the United States and Europe are collapsing because they prefer Malthus over LaRouche.

Jozef Miklosko, of Slovakia, who was Vice-Premier of the first post-Communist government in Czechoslovakia, bemoaned the failure of Europe to benefit from the collapse of Communism, pointing to the irony that at a moment that was pregnant with the promise of greater freedom, LaRouche was railroaded into prison. He was a hard fighter, but full of fun and tenderness, said Miklosko, who visited with LaRouche for the first time at the federal prison in Rochester, Minnesota. They became life-long friends ever since, and Miklosko expressed his pride in having fought for LaRouches parole from his unjust sentence.

Prof. Ding Yifan, Deputy Director, Research Institute of World Development, China Development Research Center, recalled how LaRouche introduced him to physical economy and the need for anti-entropic factors. He described how todays financial sector has an entropic policy. LaRouche taught him that Synarchists induce financial crises, which they exploit, but that it will also bring about their own demise. The financial crisis is coming home to roost. LaRouche, who taught that infrastructure development lays the foundation for healthy development, may be considered the precursor of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative, explained Ding.

Prof. Georgy Toloraya, Deputy Chairman of the Board, Russian National Committee on BRICS Research Department, reported that Russia had been eager to join the West-led new world order after the collapse of the Soviet Union, as an equal partner, but was denied that opportunity. Today, Russia is not fighting in Ukraine to gain territory or resourcesRussia has enough of both. This war is an existential struggle. The West is not fighting for democracy, but dominancerobbing the whole world for its own benefit.

Ray McGovern, former senior analyst of the CIA, and now a founding member of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), delivered a simple message: We can survive this crisis, which is similar to the one we survived in the 1930s, which erupted in Germany. The moral is: never give up.

Dr. Clifford Kiracofe, former senior staff member, U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and current president of the Washington Institute for Peace and Development, recalled the history of his association with Lyndon and Helga LaRouche as a stimulating intellectual atmosphere, amidst kind hospitality. He stated that the United Nations must be strengthened and put back at the core of the international system. He asserted that the Feb. 4 joint statement of Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin marked a new stage in the development of international relations, mentioning in this context multipolar organizations such as BRICS, SCO, ASEAN. Has Washington become a rogue state? Nancy Pelosis escapade in Taiwan occurred in the context of the U.S. proxy war against Russia. She sought to recruit Asian nations to the anti-China policy, but no one was biting. Similarly, Anthony Blinken was rebuffed in his anti-Chinese tour of Africa. The U.S. has made three grave and irreversible mistakes: the Vietnam war; post-Cold War hegemonism; and the Afghan war. The U.S. restarted the Cold Wartheir rationale was: If a unipolar world cant happen, well bring back the bipolar world. A multipolar world without the Wests rules-based order will not be allowed.

During the Q&A, Helga Zepp-LaRouche said, I would really regret to see Europe become a relic of a civilization that didnt make it. She continued, The countries that are applying the economic principles of my late husband are doing well, whereas those that follow Malthus are in complete collapse.

Moderator Dennis Speed introduced a very interesting discussion among the panel participants on the subject of Nemesis. Helga Zepp-LaRouche observed that there is a higher power, variously referred to as natural law, the Mandate of Heaven, etc. You cannot violate the higher order without that it comes back and haunts you with a vengeance. She then developed the example of Nemesis in Schillers poem, The Cranes of Ibykus. Cliff Kiracofe pointed out that the Nemesis concept is paired with Hubris, or arrogance; it is the antidote to Hubris. The Greek word Dike [] represent justice and fairness; the Feb. 4 joint statement of Xi and Putin reflects this. Ray McGovern added: Nice to have Nemesis on our side. He continued that Hubris is encapsulated by the notion that the U.S. and its territories are exceptional. This is what Blinken and Jake Sullivan learned in their Ivy League schools. McGovern then referenced Lenins What Is To Be Done? We dont want people to cave in like the Social Democrats did to Hitler. He provided a short report on how the Boy Scouts of America had invited George W. Bush, who cannot travel abroad for fear of arrest for war crimes, to address them in Raleigh, North Carolina. McGovern, who lives nearby, is preparing a welcoming committee in the hope it will deter his visit.

Mrs. Zepp-LaRouche said that our opponents are trying to preemptively criminalize protests for the upcoming hot autumn. She reminded the viewers of the lesson of 1989 in East Germany: When there are 10 people in the street, they can be arrested, but not when there are millions. This hot autumn can be avoided only by negotiating with Russia. There is still time to use the G20 meeting in Indonesia in November to put a new policy on the table. The new name for peace has to be development, she insisted, alluding to Populorum Progressio. Ray McGovern responded that whereas Russia and China appeal to the principles of the UN, the U.S. and its friends prefer the arbitrary rules-based order. The Russia-China entente is a deal-breaker. The UN today is sadly dominated by the U.S., which is why the IAEA team cannot even say the obvious, that Ukraine is shelling the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. Cliff Kiracofe provided a useful review of how the British dominate U.S. foreign policy, reminding that the CFR was created as an offshoot of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), and that the U.S. media are owned by the establishment which the CFR represents. Every last U.S. Senator voted for a resolution to declare Russia a terrorist state. If Diane Sare gets elected to the Senate, he said, it would break that foolish unanimity.

Ray McGovern presented his Noah Principle: no more awards for predicting rain, only awards for building arks.

Cliff Kiracofe made an important point, that we are not dealing with neo-Nazis in the government apparatus in Ukraine, but rather, actual Nazis, in an unbroken line of continuity from the collaborators with the Hitler regime. He also mentioned Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, whose grandfather edited a pro-Nazi newspaper during the Nazi occupation in this context, and called the Ukrainian CCD an American supported nexus of Nazi propaganda.

In the concluding remarks, Kiracofe mentioned Dostoevskys novel The Possessed, about a village taken over by demons and demonic ideas. Its an appropriate metaphor for the minds of the Western elites, who are possessed by demonic ideas. McGovern also lauded The Possessed, and added that in The Brothers Karamazov, the Grand Inquisitor is also an appropriate metaphor for what is going on now. Helga Zepp-LaRouche reminded the viewers that left and right are simply constructs which the enemy uses to divide and conquer. The Schiller Institute is not affected by partisan bias, because we are talking about principles. Lyndon LaRouche has been slandered more than Xi and Putin together, which means a lot. Please take seriously the ideas of LaRouche, they open up a whole new universe, and you will enjoy it.
The American space agency NASA is celebrating the longest mission in its history. The mission involves two spacecraft  Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. They launched in 1977.

NASA officials have said that when first launched, the Voyager mission was expected to last five years. But both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are still traveling and collecting valuable scientific data from the farthest reaches of space.

The two spacecraft launched within weeks of each other in the summer of 1977. Last week marked the 45th anniversary of the launch of Voyager 1, on September 5 of that year.

Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 were designed to explore Jupiter and Saturn. Both spacecraft successfully carried out studies of those planets.

Later, Voyager 2 completed the first-ever close observations of Uranus, in 1986, and Neptune, in 1989. The fly-by trips involving the four planets became known as the Voyager Grand Tour.

The two spacecraft then began a new mission to explore distant areas of space. In 2013, NASA announced that Voyager 1 had crossed over the border that divides our solar system from interstellar space.

The term interstellar means between stars. Scientists say interstellar space begins where the sun's continuous flow of particles and its magnetic field stop.

NASA said Voyager 2 first entered interstellar space in 2018. The spacecraft was more than 17.7 billion kilometers from the sun at the time. Both Voyagers are the only spacecraft so far to explore interstellar space.

The two explorers have studied how the interstellar medium interacts with the solar wind  the continuous flow of charged particles released by the sun. They have also provided data about the heliosphere, a kind of protective bubble around our solar system.

The heliosphere is created by the solar wind and is shaped and changed by interstellar conditions. The actual border of the solar system  the place where solar wind ends and interstellar space begins  is called the heliopause.

NASA says the Voyager spacecraft have provided researchers with new information about interstellar space. For example, they discovered that cosmic rays are about three times more intense outside the heliopause than deep inside the heliosphere.

Scientists have combined Voyager observations with data from newer missions to get a more complete picture of our sun and how the heliosphere interacts with interstellar space, NASA said.

Last year, scientists reported that Voyager 1 had recorded a humming noise linked to waves discovered in small amounts of gas found in the near-emptiness of interstellar space.

Nicola Fox is the director of the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington D.C. She said in a statement the Voyagers work has provided valuable information about the sun, as well as the suns influence throughout the whole solar system. Over the last 45 years, the Voyager missions have been integral in providing this knowledge and have helped change our understanding of the sun and its influence in ways no other spacecraft can, Fox added.

Each Voyager is powered by a thermoelectric power system containing plutonium. As the plutonium breaks down, the heat output drops and the Voyagers lose electricity. To make up for this, NASA said the team turned off all non-necessary systems and some once considered necessary. These include heaters that protect the still-operating instruments from the extreme cold of space.

But the space agency reports that all five of the instruments that had their heaters turned off since 2019 are still working. NASA scientists continue to wonder how the Voyagers continue to operate in temperatures which are far lower than they were designed for.

Linda Spilker is the Voyager missions deputy project scientist at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. She said that even after 45 continuous years of exploring space, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are still providing humanity with observations of uncharted territory.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from NASA, The Associated Press and Reuters.

Quiz - After 45 Years, Voyager Spacecraft Still Exploring Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

____________________________________________________

Words in This Story

mission  n. an important task, usually involving travel

bubble n. a ball of gas enclosed by another material

cosmic ray  n. high-energy particles that move through space at nearly the speed of light

integral  adj. very notable or important

thermoelectric  n. producing electricity by a difference of temperatures

uncharted  adj. completely new and not previously experienced before

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LEXINGTON  Jury selection took place on Monday in the case of a Lexington man charged with first degree murder in a July 21 drive-by shooting.

Francisco Hernandez-Corona, 19, is charged with first degree murder, a Class 1A felony with use of a firearm to commit a felony, a Class 1C felony.

Dawson County Attorney Elizabeth Waterman is prosecuting the case. Brian Davis of Cozad is representing the defendant. Dates for the jury trial have been set for Sept. 12 through Sept. 16.

A 14 person jury was selected on Monday morning, six women and eight men; two will be discharged as alternates before jury deliberations begin.

About 2 a.m. July 6, Lexington police officers, Dawson County Sheriffs deputies and Nebraska State Patrol troopers responded to an anonymous report of possible gun shots in the 800 block of West Ninth Street in Lexington, but did not find anything at that time, according to the Lexington Police Department.

Two blocks away, officers later located a Ford Explorer; Adalberto Saenz-Gonzalez, 19, and Hernandez-Corona were inside. According to court documents, both were allegedly intoxicated and in possession of alcohol. They were arrested on suspicion of being minors in possession. Both had iPhones that were taken later as evidence.

About 3:10 a.m., Medical Rescue was dispatched to 800 W. 9th St. for an unresponsive male lying on the ground with a single gunshot wound to the back of the head. Marcus Keyser, 23, was pronounced dead at that time.

Keysers iPhone was collected as evidence, according to court documents.

Officers found several bullet holes at the residence Keyser was found in front of, as well as the neighbors home. Two more bullet holes were found in a vehicle parked along West 9th, according to court records. No brass ammunition casings were located at the scene.

Police say security camera footage from Caseys showed Saenz-Gonzalez and Hernandez-Corona entering the North Adams Caseys General Store at 1:31 a.m.; Keyser entered the store at 1:33 a.m.

After an encounter with Hernandez-Corona, Keyser began to walk back to West 9th Street.

Lexington officers gave the mens iPhones to Investigator Dan Warrington with the Kearney Police Department, who has technology to perform forensic downloads of cellphone data.

Keysers cellphone had a health application that recorded his steps and distance traveled, as well as a time and date stamp associated with the information.

According to that data, after leaving Caseys, Keyser walked around 1,000 feet to West 9th Street, arriving at 1:44 a.m. After this, there was no health or phone activity.

Based on this information and the report of the gunshot at 1:47 a.m., it is believed Keyser was killed around this time.

When interviewed at the Dawson County Jail, Saenz-Gonzalez and Hernandez-Corona agreed to speak, saying they were together for several hours before they were arrested but denied any involvement in the shooting.

Location data from Saenz-Gonzalezs iPhone showed the phone at Caseys at 1:31 a.m., consistent with security video at Caseys. Around 1:36 a.m., the data places the phone traveling on the Adams Street overpass, then near Hernandez-Coronas residence on West Maple Street.

At 1:46 a.m., the data indicated the Saenz-Gonzalezs phone was at 9th and Ontario Street, where Keysers body was found.

After Saenz-Gonzalez and Hernandez-Corona were arrested for minors in possession, they were booked into the Dawson County Jail. Both posted $100 bail later on July 6 and were released. They were arrested again July 26.
A Nebraska woman who lost Medicaid coverage in the midst of cancer treatment is challenging the federal rule that required the state to cut her off.

Mary Shaw of Norfolk joined four plaintiffs from Connecticut and Delaware in a class action lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. They are seeking a temporary injunction to block the rule, which was issued in the waning days of President Donald Trump's administration and remains in place.

The suit alleges that, because of the rule, Medicaid benefits have been terminated to hundreds of thousands of people nationwide in violation of the Coronavirus Response Act of 2020.

The act provided additional federal Medicaid funding to states on the condition that they continue coverage for Medicaid patients throughout the COVID-19 public health emergency. The emergency was declared Jan. 27, 2020, and has been extended multiple times. It is expected to continue into next year.

The requirement to keep people on Medicaid during the ongoing crisis was adopted precisely because Congress recognized the severe threat, not just to individuals but to public health, from ending health insurance to vulnerable, low-income people, said Sheldon Toubman, litigation attorney at Disability Rights Connecticut, one of the groups behind the suit.

According to the lawsuit, Shaw originally qualified for Medicaid after Nebraska extended coverage to low-income single adults. The coverage, which began in October 2020, allowed her to see a dentist and get physical therapy so she could walk again following a previous hip surgery.

Medicaid also covered the beginning of treatment on her right shoulder for a recurrence of squamous cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer, in December 2021.

But, based on the "interim final" federal rule, Nebraska Medicaid officials terminated Shaw's full Medicaid coverage in January, the month she turned 65 and got on Medicare.

The rule, issued on Nov. 6, 2020, required states to reduce or eliminate Medicaid coverage for people who were deemed to have "minimum essential coverage" through special, limited Medicaid programs that help with some Medicare costs.

Shaw now qualifies for such a program. It pays her Medicare Part B premiums but does not cover co-pays and deductibles or health needs not included under Medicare.

Medicare is a federal health insurance program for people age 65 or older and some people with disabilities. Patients typically use supplemental insurance or Medicaid to help with out-of-pocket costs and to cover additional services. Medicaid is a state-federal program for low-income people.

As a result, the suit said, Shaw, who lives on about $1,252 per month in Social Security, has had to forgo medical care for her emphysema and for post-surgical care of her shoulder. She also has not sought treatment for an apparent new cancer on her leg because she cannot afford treatment.

"Between all of the services that are covered under Medicaid but not covered at all under Medicare and the doctor visits which are covered by Medicare but now require coinsurance that she cannot afford, the loss of Medicaid has been devastating to her," the lawsuit said.

Three Connecticut women filed the original case Aug. 3 in U.S. District Court in Connecticut. Shaw and a Delaware woman were added through an amended complaint, filed Aug. 26, along with the motion to pursue the case as a nationwide class action. A hearing on the request for temporary injunction is set for Sept. 27.

Nebraska Appleseed has been working with the groups representing the plaintiffs, which include Disability Rights Connecticut, Justice in Aging, The National Health Law Program and the law firm Stinson LLP.
Mary Anne Franks (University of Miami School of Law) & Danielle Keats Citron (University of Virginia School of Law) have posted Cyber Civil Rights in the Time of COVID-19 (Harvard Law Review Blog, May 14, 2020) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

The fight for civil rights in the United States has historically focused on equal access to physical spaces: schools, workplaces, lunch counters, hotels, voting booths. This emphasis is understandable, because these were the places where people learned, worked, socialized, and voted. Civil rights activists made clear that people who are excluded from, or exploited in, these spaces cannot fully participate in civic life. But as the role of technology in our daily lives has increased, it has become clear that civil rights protections are as necessary in virtual spaces as in physical ones. This reality has perhaps never been more apparent than today, as so many of our crucial activities shift online in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recommended.
Janine Young Kim (Chapman University, The Dale E. Fowler School of Law) has posted What is an Unreasonable Search? (Oregon Law Review, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

What is an unreasonable search? This brief historical study examines the 18th century meaning of reasonableness for insight into this question. This history does not provide a single or complete answer, and offers instead multiple possible meanings based on both long-standing common law rules and principles as well as the immediate experiences of the framing generation. From these, we can glean what Chief Justice Roberts calls some basic guideposts that can inform Fourth Amendment analysis and bring much-needed discipline and legitimacy to the modern jurisprudence of reasonableness. Some of these guideposts are particularly relevant today as the Supreme Court continues to enlarge the powers of the police while the criminal justice system deepens racial inequality. This article highlights four such guideposts that focus on concerns about abuse of power, the public good, inequality/bias, and absurdity in the historic struggle to constrain government intrusion into the peoples lives.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Peiter Mudge Zatko, the Twitter whistleblower who is warning of security flaws, privacy threats and lax controls at the social platform, will take his case to Congress on Tuesday.

Senators who will hear Zatkos testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee are alarmed by his Twitter allegations at a time of heightened concern over the safety of powerful tech platforms.

Its Zatkos second Capitol Hill appearance, and in some ways a 21st-century echo of his first. In 1998, he testified before a Senate panel along with fellow members of a hacker collective who warned about the security dangers of the then-emerging internet age.

Zatko, a respected cybersecurity expert, was Twitters head of security until he was fired early this year. He has brought the stunning allegations to Congress and federal regulators, asserting that the influential social platform misled regulators about its cyber defenses and efforts to control millions of spam or fake accounts.

Sen. Dick Durbin, the Illinois Democrat who chairs the panel, called Zatko's allegations serious business."

If it's anywhere along the lines that (he) suggested, I think it's a matter of grave personal-privacy concern," Durbin told reporters Monday. The question is whether information gathered by Twitter has been used for purposes which we're not aware of."

Zatko's accusations are also playing into billionaire tycoon Elon Musk's battle with Twitter. The Tesla CEO is trying to get out of his $44 billion bid to buy the company; Twitter has sued to force him to complete the deal. The Delaware judge overseeing that case ruled last week that Musk can include new evidence related to Zatkos allegations in the high-stakes trial set to start Oct. 17.

The allegation that Twitter engaged in deception in its handling of automated spam bot accounts is at the core of Musks attempt to back out of the Twitter deal.

At the same time, many of Zatkos claims are uncorroborated and appear to have little documentary support. In a statement, Twitter has called Zatkos description of events a false narrative.

Also on Tuesday, Twitters shareholders are scheduled to vote on the companys pending buyout by Musk. The vote is something of a formality given that the deal is on hold while the court case plays out. But if the measure passes as expected, it would also pave the way for a Musk takeover should Twitter prevail in court.

Zatko also filed complaints with the Justice Department, the Federal Trade Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Among his most serious accusations is that Twitter violated the terms of a 2011 FTC settlement by falsely claiming that it had put stronger measures in place to protect the security and privacy of its users.

The SEC is questioning Twitter about how it counts fake accounts on its platform. Twitter uses counts of its presumably real users to attract advertisers, whose payments make up about 90% of its revenue. The spam bots have no value to advertisers because theres no person behind them.

San Francisco-based Twitter has an estimated 238 million daily active users worldwide. The company says it removes 1 million spam accounts daily.

Zatkos 84-page complaint alleges that he found extreme, egregious deficiencies" on the platform, including issues with "user privacy, digital and physical security, and platform integrity/content moderation.

It accuses CEO Parag Agrawal and other senior executives and board members of making false and misleading statements to users and the FTC" about these issues. Twitter denies those claims and said that Zatko was fired in January for ineffective leadership and poor performance. Zatkos attorneys say the performance claim is false.

Twitter also hinted that Zatko's complaint might be designed to bolster Musk's legal fight with the company. Twitter called Zatkos complaint a false narrative that is riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies, and lacks important context."

News of Zatkos complaint surfaced on Aug. 23, almost two months before the Twitter-Musk trial is scheduled to begin. One of Zatkos attorneys has said hes never met Elon Musk. Doesnt know Elon Musk. They know people in common.

The company also says it has significantly tightened security since 2020.

Among Zatko's specific allegations:

 The company had such poor cybersecurity that it easily could have been exposed to outside attacks or attempts to siphon off its internal data.

The company lacked effective leadership, with its top executives practicing deliberate ignorance of pressing problems. Zatko described former CEO Jack Dorsey as extremely disengaged during the last months of his tenure, to the point where he wouldnt even speak during meetings on complex issues. Dorsey stepped down in November 2021.

That Twitter knowingly allowed the government of India to place its agents on the company payroll, where they had direct unsupervised access to highly sensitive data on users. It makes a parallel but less detailed accusation that Twitter took funding from unidentified Chinese entities who may have been enabled to access the identities and sensitive data of Chinese users who secretly use Twitter, which is officially banned in China.

The 51-year-old Zatko, better known by his hacker handle Mudge, first gained prominence in the 1990s. He was the best-known member of the Boston-based collective L0pht, which pioneered ethical hacking, embarrassing companies including Microsoft for poor security. His work raised awareness in the computing world that forced such major companies to take security seriously. He co-founded the consultancy @Stake, which was later acquired by Symantec.

Zatko later worked in senior positions at the Pentagons Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and Google. He joined Twitter at Dorseys urging in late 2020, the same year the company suffered an embarrassing security breach involving hackers who broke into the Twitter accounts of world leaders, celebrities and tech moguls, including Musk, in an attempt to scam their followers out of bitcoin.

AP technology writers Frank Bajak in Boston and Matt OBrien in Providence, Rhode Island, contributed to this report.

Follow Marcy Gordon at https://twitter.com/mgordonap
The youngest of three men charged while still in their teens with the fatal 2020 shooting of an 11-year-old girl will not see the outside of a prison until hes in his 50s, a Dane County judge ruled Monday.

Andre P. Brown, 18, pleaded guilty in May to first-degree reckless homicide and attempted homicide, both as a party to the crime, in the Aug. 11, 2020, shooting of Anisa Scott, who died from her injuries two days later. The girl had been riding in a Chevy Tahoe with tinted windows that morning on East Washington Avenue with her mothers boyfriend, Christopher Carthans, who was the intended target of the shooting.

Your 20s, 30s and 40s are really the best years of your life, Dane County Circuit Judge Julie Genovese told Brown. Anisas not going to have that chance. So I do believe that you need to give up the best part of your life for what you did.

In a brief statement before he was sentenced, Brown apologized for everything that happened that day.

And I apologize for what I put your family through and all the pain and grief you guys have been (through) because of me, he said. What happened that day was not supposed to happen and should have never happened.

Perion Carreon, 21, has also pleaded guilty in the case and is believed to have fired the shot that killed Scott, according to Browns attorney, Tim Kiefer. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 19. Brown also fired on the Tahoe from the stolen Kia Optima Carreon was driving, assistant district attorney Dan Hess said. The third defendant in the Kia, Jerry L. Ward Jr., 19, is scheduled to go on trial in November.

Hess said Brown and his co-defendants were hit men out to collect a bounty.

It was one of the most heinous crimes imaginable, he said, and it didnt matter who fired the fatal shot because all three intended to kill Carthans.

Through tears, Scotts mother, Ashley Rios, told the court Monday that the past two years have been the hardest, longest and most painful of her life.

My life has been forever changed, she said. A piece of me is missing forever and this is a pain I wish on no one.

She said she tries to stay positive and cherish the memories of her daughter, but its difficult.

Anisa would have started eighth grade last week, she said. We missed all the middle school drama (and) as she grew older, her first car, college, marriage, grandchildren  all of the life experiences that turn a girl into a woman.

Brown was originally charged with being a party to first-degree intentional homicide, but under a plea agreement the charge was reduced to reckless homicide. His sentence Monday consists of 25 years in prison for Scotts killing and 10 for the attempt on Carthans, followed by 25 years of supervision.

Juvenile record

At the time of the shooting, Brown, then 16, was on a GPS monitor and had juvenile cases pending against him in Dane and Milwaukee counties. A prosecutor said during Browns initial court appearance in 2020 that Brown had let the monitors battery run down before the shooting, then charged it afterward.

Under Browns plea agreement, Hess sought 40 years in prison and 10 years of supervision. Kiefer argued Monday for 15 years in prison, which would have seen Brown released at the age of 31, with credit for time served since his arrest.

He called Browns teacher from his time in jail as a character witness Monday. Christine Geier called Brown a wonderful young man to work with who was smart, pleasant and earned his high school diploma while his case made its way through the court.

According to the criminal complaint in the case, Carthans told police he was driving when he heard glass break and realized someone was shooting at him. He saw that Anisa was injured and continued driving while he called 911. He heard four more gunshots and then saw another car with the front-seat passenger firing through the passenger side window, the complaint states.

Carreon, Brown and Ward subsequently provided police with conflicting stories about who fired on the Tahoe.

Carreon told police Brown and Ward fired on the Tahoe two separate times in the space of a few minutes on East Washington Avenue, near Highway 30, the complaint says. But in an amended criminal complaint, filed when Ward was charged about a week after Carreon and Brown, Ward claimed that Carreon fired on the Tahoe both times. Ward has also maintained he was asleep in the back of the Optima when the gunfire started.

Carthans later told his federal probation agent he did not believe he was the target of the shooting but that it was a case of mistaken identity. Police, though, told the agent they doubted the story and said they believed Carthans knew he was a target and enlisted Anisa to travel with him to discourage anyone from shooting at him, according to court documents.

For violations of conditions of his federal supervision, a federal judge sentenced Carthans in September 2020 to 21 months in prison. He was released in February, federal prison records indicate.

Genovese has denied a motion by Wards attorney to dismiss the homicide charge against him. Hess said Ward had a gun on his lap and had helped another person in the car clear a gun that had jammed.
A suspect in connection with an incident involving a weapon at a residence on Madisons Far West Side on Sunday afternoon was no longer at large, police said.

The incident drew a large police presence, including the Madison Police Departments crime scene investigation unit, to the home at 6 Darien Circle. A fire truck and ambulance were present at the scene initially but left shortly after arriving. About five police cars and the forensic services unit remained at the scene Sunday night.

At about 3:19 p.m. a suspicious call came into the 911 call center, a supervisor said, but little other information was available. There was no active threat to the public in connection with the incident, police said.

About the same time, a 45-year-old Madison man was killed when he stepped into the path of an oncoming semitruck on Interstate 90, the State Patrol said.

Authorities said they could not confirm Sunday night whether the fatal crash and the weapons incident were connected.

The collision occurred at around 3:36 p.m. in the west lanes of Interstate 90 near mile marker 140.2, near Buckeye Road, when the 45-year-old man stopped his 2013 Honda CRV on the right shoulder and stepped into the path of an oncoming semi, State Patrol Sgt. Holtz said in a statement.

The semi driver, a 71-year-old woman from Spokane, Washington, was not injured.

The Madison Police Department confirmed the large police presence at the Darien Circle residence and said that a suspect in connection to the weapons incident was no longer at large. Sgt. Tyler Phillips said no further information about the incident was being released Sunday night, including the type of weapon involved.
The death of the queen (theres only one queen) might have come as a shock, as new British Prime Minister Liz Truss said, but it was certainly not a surprise.

When Elizabeth ascended the throne in 1952, the cry was Long live the Queen. That she did, with dignity and decency, all the way to 96. ... Having been the United Kingdoms monarch for 70 years, Elizabeth was the constant ever since Winston Churchill was prime minister and Harry Truman president.

Churchill led the government at Elizabeths request, just as Truss was asked to serve the other day, with seven decades of politicians in between. Of course, the prime minister is the leader of the largest party in the House of Commons, but the figurehead sovereign remains part of their constitution. Though British government isnt built on the foundation of a written document (apart from the Magna Carta), it does rest on powerful unwritten traditions that have given the U.K. stable government for centuries, no small thing.

In 1776, people around New York and in Boston and Philadelphia and down South rightly rebelled against England and won our independence, breaking with his majesty King Georges long train of abuses and usurpations. As happy as we are to have disposed of the divine right of kings and queens, the kings language and legal system, or pieces of them anyway, have well endured.

The monarchys real power has long faded. Elizabeths reign has been mainly a tourist attraction, not to mention a 100 million-per-year drain on the taxpayers. The lucky clan is peopled with decidedly mediocre individuals who were great for gossip sheets but not much else. But Elizabeth Windsor was no mediocrity. From the German Blitz of London to the tumultuous present, she led a life of duty and represented Britain well.

Will the House of Windsor and royalty survive her passing? For now, yes, though after 73 years of being Prince Charles, historys longest understudy, getting used to King Charles will take a while. Thats if it ever sticks.(tncms-asset)7e80bada-5fb1-11ea-8316-00163ec2aa77[0](/tncms-asset)
South Africa: Ban on movement of cattle lifted

Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister, Thoko Didiza, has taken the decision to lift the 21-day countrywide ban on the movement of cattle which was put in place to manage the spread of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).

Didiza said the decision follows the work done by the state veterinary services, private vets and animal health technicians over the past 21 days  as well as the cooperation of traditional leaders, communities and the police  in assisting in limiting the spread.

The Minister said it is encouraging that the Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Northern Cape provinces have not had a single case of FMD before or during the 21 days.

In Gauteng and North West, there have been suspect cases around quarantined farms and in Mpumalanga no new cases have been picked up in past week. In Limpopo, we will retain the disease management area in the protected zone and around.

In the Free State, our disease management area will cover those areas where no improvement has been observed, such as Marquad, Viljoen Skroon and Harrismith. In KwaZulu-Natal, the disease management area will be retained in KwaNongoma, Ulundi, KwaHlabisa, eHluhluwe and eMtubatuba, Didiza said.

In an effort to limit the negative effects of the disease as much as possible, the Minister has taken the decision to repeal the control measures relating to foot and mouth disease as prescribed in the Government Notice of 10 May 2022 and Government Notice of 18 August 2022, and allow movements under certain conditions in the rest of the country.

This excludes the new Disease Management Areas (DMA) in Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and Free State - further details describing the DMA is in the Gazette Notice.

All movements must be accompanied by owner declaration, recipient undertaking to isolate the animals for at least 28 days before introducing them into the main herd, and all stock theft documents, Didiza said.

She said the department will continue with surveillance and vaccination in the areas that still have active infections.

The Minister called on farmers and communities to observe the health protocols that have been put in place and refrain from the illegal movement of cattle or animals.

She reiterated the call for an improvement in primary animal healthcare and the strengthening of biosecurity measures by all farmers, including feedlots and auctioneers.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2022-09-12. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
MOSCOW  A northern Idaho farmer planted barley after a few years of raising Kentucky bluegrass. The barley seedlings grew to about 3 inches tall and then started to die.

The cause of the crop failure was apparent when the farmer checked the pH of his soil; it was 4.4, which is much too acidic for barley.

Growers throughout northern Idaho, especially those who plant barley, have reported similar experiences. University of Idaho Extension barley agronomist Jared Spackman and UI Extension cropping systems agronomist Kurt Schroeder suspect many fields in the region that have historically been suitable for grain production but have been trending acidic are finally getting too far out of balance.

In parts of eastern Idaho, where soil acidity is also becoming a problem, Spackman has started a study on applying sugar beet lime, a byproduct of the sugar extraction process, as a means of raising soil pH, thereby improving crop health and keeping weeds in check.

Agricultural lime is typically composed of calcium carbonate. The carbonate reacts with acid in soil to neutralize it, and the calcium can benefit crops deficient in the nutrient.

Lime supply is limited in northern Idaho, adding to the cost of application for farmers needing to raise their soil pH, such as the barley grower who contacted Spackman about his lost barley crop.

Hes running out of viable options for growing his rotation crops, Spackman said. Im sure its becoming a more and more widespread issue, especially farms that were taken out of a forested system rather than prairies.

Schroeder added, Lime application will be challenging due to the cost and landowner arrangements, but it will eventually be about the only solution.

A neutral soil has a pH reading of 7. Soil becomes more acidic as the number gets lower and more basic as it increases. At a low pH, microbial activity declines, interfering with nitrogen mineralization. Some nutrients will leach below the rooting zone at a low pH, and some will bind to minerals, making them unavailable to plants. Over time, soil pH may decline following nitrogen fertilizer applications, as nutrients are removed from the soil at harvest, and when excessive rainfall or irrigation leaches soil nutrients down the soil profile.

Soil acidification in northern Idaho has been documented since the 1980s. Schroeder has been studying the issue in the region for the past 12 years, dating back to when he worked for USDAs Agricultural Research Service in Pullman, Washington.

About eight years ago, shortly after Schroeder arrived in Idaho, he and Doug Finkelnburg, a UI Extension educator specializing in cropping systems, conducted a soil survey of northern Idaho. They found about 30 percent of soils sampled had a risk of aluminum toxicity due to low pH.

Schroeder screens wheat lines in his variety trials for tolerance to aluminum toxicity, and hes convinced growers who may not be aware of the acidity problem are already sacrificing wheat yields. Barley tends to be more sensitive than wheat to aluminum toxicity. Rather than addressing the pH problem, Schroeder has found many growers in the region have simply stopped planting barley.

Schroeder is now in the sixth year of a liming trial examining how lime rates of 0, 1, 2 and 3 tons per acre at four northern Idaho sites affect rotations with cereal and legume crops.

In addition to observing significant increases in soil pH and reductions in soluble aluminum, there has been an average yield increase of 14% and 19%, Schroeder said.

Schroeder hopes to publish some Extension papers on the long-term benefits of liming based on his data. Though northern Idaho lacks an ample supply of affordable lime, some growers in the region have gotten lime from a former Amalgamated Sugar plant in Moses Lake, Washington. The Nez Perce Tribe has also discussed the possibility of mining and crushing limestone to supply area farmers.

Spackman is in the initial year of his study, funded by the Idaho Wheat Commission. Its planned to last between three and five years. Last fall, he applied lime at rates of 0, 2, 4 and 6 tons per acre at three irrigated commercial sites in Ashton, where farmers were transitioning from seed potatoes to wheat. He also applied lime on a Swan Valley dryland field now planted in barley. Participating growers will manage their fields as they normally would.

Spackman has started gathering the first of many sets of soil samples to assess how his lime applications are changing soil pH. Hes taking samples at 2-inch increments down to a foot deep to monitor how pH varies by depth.

Most growers dont necessarily see the impact of lime application until the year after because it can be slow to react, Spackman said. Im interested in seeing how quickly the soil changes.

Farmers in the Ashton area haul in lime from Amalgamated Sugars Magic Valley processing operations. It would be extremely costly to haul lime from Magic Valley all the way to northern Idaho.

Casey Chumrau, former executive director of the Idaho Wheat Commission, said Northern Idaho wheat farmers have been mentioning the issue lately as a concern.

We always appreciate when the U of I researchers bring relevant topics for funding, and we know this is a growing issue across the state and its something we need to start finding creative solutions to resolve, Chumrau said.

Spackmans research should provide insight into how much each ton of lime can affect pH in various soil types, as well as how long the benefits may last. Research on Montana dryland farms showed lime applied at 2.5 tons per acre could raise a soil pH from 4.7 to 6.0 with an expected remediation time of 15 to 20 years. Results could be significantly different on an irrigated farm in Idaho. Furthermore, light-textured soils tend to need less lime to raise soil pH than heavier silt or clay loam soils.

Lime tends to move very little through the soil profile, and the more its mixed into the soil the faster it reacts. Spackman anticipates lime applications will also reduce weed pressure, either by stymying weed development or by contributing to healthy crops that outcompete weeds. Hell evaluate the weed response as part of his study.
Randy Stapilus just showed us that he has not done research on wind power. 21 bad reasons for wind power is just the start. If he had done any research on the points being brought out on the Facebook Stop Lava Ridge, maybe he could see the other side of the story. If he had attended the July Zoom meeting by BLM, he would have found out the the money promised by LS would not even pay for the road damage they will cause in Minidoka county.
If you have been wanting to pick up a new hobby or learn a new skill, Impulse Improv Classes has got you covered.
TODAYS WORD is pettish. Example: Journee enjoyed babysitting for the most part, but she avoided the pettish Johnson children.

SUNDAYS WORD was fractious. It means (typically of children) irritable and quarrelsome. Example: That committee never got much of anything done because its members were so fractious.

Blue Night

An event Saturday will raise money for the Benevolence Funds of the Henry County Sheriffs Office, Martinsville Sheriffs Office and Martinsville Police Department.

Its Back the Blue, a ride and cruise-in. The Ride to Back the Blue starts at 2:15 p.m. at Cross Point Church in Ridgeway. Opening ceremonies will be held at 3 p.m. at the Bassett Hwy 57 Cruise-In. The cruise-in will run through 7 p.m., with food trucks, vendors and a D.J. Typically, between 300 to 450 classic and modern cars and trucks are on display with total attendance of about 1,500 people.

Buildings

Uptown Martinsville practically has it all, in terms of styles of buildings. Most of its 119 buildings were built between 1920 and 1948 and are in styles including Greek Revival, Romanesque Revival, Classical Revival, Colonial Revival, Commercial, International and Art Deco.

On Sunday, uptown property investor Virginia King, who is a board member of the Martinsville-Henry County Historical Society, will present a program on the architecture and history of uptown Martinsville. The free lecture will be at 3 p.m. in the former county courthouse, present home of the society.

Cooking class

Anyone wanting to learn more about cooking can always check out some cookbooks from the Blue Ridge Regional Librarys vast collection of them  and lately, the library has been holding cooking classes now and then, too. Leandio Gravely has started a new series, At Home Baking Edition.

At 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Latoya Hodge, co-owner of 50 Shadez of Flavor, will teach how to make a banana pudding cheesecake, at the Martinsville branch. To register for the free class, call 276-403-5430.

Todays chuckle

Hunter had just received his drivers license. The whole family got in the car with him for his first drive, going to get ice cream to celebrate. The father sat in the backseat right behind the new driver.

I bet youre there to get a change of scenery after all those years of driving, said Hunter.

Nope, the father replied. Im going to sit here and kick the back of your seat like youve done me all these years.

SUNDAYS TRIVIA ANSWER: Rita Moreno, who portrayed the Puerto Rican Anita in West Side Story, was born in Puerto Rico and came to America as a child. She took her first dancing lessons in New York with Spanish dancer Paco Cansino, an uncle of Rita Hayworth.

TODAYS TRIVIA QUESTION: Rita Moreno won two Emmy Awards for performances on what television show?
Squirrels and the Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) have something in common: both collect acorns.

But while squirrels may sneakily steal from your bird feeder, the VDOF is being direct in asking something of you.

As outdoor temperatures begin to cool and we transition into fall, foresters and staff at the VDOF will be gathering and sorting this years acorn crop in preparation for the next generation of trees.

Every year, the VDOF collects donated acorns and other seeds from all over the state and plants them at the Augusta Nursery, where more than a dozen hardwood tree species get their start. The successful seedlings are then later sold to landowners in Virginia who typically use them to reforest open lands.

Homegrown acorns, nuts and seeds have proven to be much more likely to thrive in Virginias climate and become trees.

This area was fortunate and did not have a heavy frost during April. Morning frosts in April can sometimes kill oak flowers along with the flowers of many other mast producing species, said Kevin Keith, VDOF senior area forester for Henry and Patrick counties. Since a late frost did not occur, this area of Virginia has an abundant crop of chestnut oak and white oak acorns. The chestnut oak acorns have started dropping this week, and the white oak acorns will start to drop around the end of September.

If you would like to help collect acorns this year, know that there is a species list that is adjusted each year, and the deadline for donations is Oct. 14.

This year, VDOFs collection priorities are: Black Oak, Black Walnut, Chestnut Oak, Chinese Chestnut, Northern Red Oak, Pin Oak, Shumard Oak, Southern Red Oak, Swamp Chestnut Oak, Swamp White Oak, Water Oak, White Oak and Willow Oak.

We are happy to report record-setting seedling production numbers at VDOFs Augusta Nursery this year, said State Forester Rob Farrell in a release. Thanks to additional funding provided by the General Assembly, and collection efforts by everyone across the Commonwealth last fall, we will soon have approximately 3.7 million conifer, and 2.7 million hardwood seedlings available for purchase. This represents an increase of 63%, or almost 2.5 million seedlings. Please support these encouraging trends by collecting acorns and donating them so we can collectively grow the forests of tomorrow.

Each fall, Virginia is covered with acorns and folks wonder what to do with them, said Assistant Forestry Manager at the Augusta Nursery Josh McLaughlin in the release. Collecting acorns and donating them to VDOF is a huge help to us, presents a great activity for environmentalists of all ages and provides the perfect opportunity to learn more about Virginia trees. Our acorn crop varies from year to year, and you can help us ensure representation from all over the state.

You can drop off your collected acorns and nuts at any VDOF office location by Oct. 14. Locally, the Western Region Office is at 19 Arrowhead Circle in Spencer. Keith is the senior area forester and David Bryan is the forest technician for the area. The office phone is 276-957-1319.

The folks at the Augusta Nursery are also happy to provide additional information about this years collection and will even help identifying tree species. Contact them at 540-363-7000.

Tips to keep in mind:

Safety first. Stay away from roadways.

Do not collect on private property without permission.

Collection from yards, sidewalks, driveways, etc., is recommended, to ensure collection of a single species. (Forest collection makes it difficult to determine the tree of origin and may lead to mixing of acorn species.)

Do not collect damaged, cracked or dried out acorns/nuts.

Avoid sticks, leaves, gravel and debris, but acorn caps are okay. (When the caps remove easily it means the acorns are ready for harvest.)

Place in a breathable bag, such as paper (best), burlap or cloth. Do not use plastic bags.

Use a separate bag for each species.

Label the bag with the collection date and species if known (e.g.; willow oak). If youre not sure, include a few leaves from the tree to aid nursery staff with identification.

Dont allow acorns to freeze, heat up or dry out.

Place in a cool area until youre ready to drop them off at VDOF.
TAAG and aircraft manufacturer Boeing reached an agreement on the resolution of pending financial matters, the Angolan airline said on Sunday, without disclosing the amount and form of payment.

The agreement creates conditions for cooperation in the supply of aircraft in the future and updates some premises of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the parties, in line with TAAGs interests in obtaining a more favorable agreement and in accordance with the current context of the international commercial aviation market, the airline says in a statement.

The outstanding financial issues were generated mainly during the pandemic phase, which affected the activity of airlines globally and aggravated the debt with suppliers, says the TAAG.

At the end of 2021, TAAG had 15 Boeing 777 and Boeing 737 aircraft and has recently announced its intention to reinforce its fleet in the second half of 2023 with six new Airbus A220-type aircraft (under lease) in the long term perspective of the term.
At least three people have been killed and dozens injured after a mine dam collapsed, causing flooding and washing away homes in central South Africa, officials said Sunday.

Television footage showed a river of mud and water flowing from the mine into a nearby residential area, engulfing roads and sweeping away homes in Jagersfontein, a town about 100 km southwest of Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State province.

A mining dam collapsed and swept away houses and cars, provincial government spokesperson Palesa Chubisi said in a statement. Three bodies have since been recovered.

Forty people, including a pregnant woman, have been evacuated to local hospitals, four of them with broken limbs and the rest with bruises and hypothermia, Chubisi added.

According to the national power utility Eskom, Jagersfontein is also without power because one of its sub-stations has been engulfed by mud.

Due to the current situation in the Jagersfontein area and the inaccessibility of this station, it is impossible to estimate when supplies will be restored or to determine the extent of the damage, Eskom said in a statement.

Authorities were evacuating residents from the affected areas, where many homes were washed away, to nearby farms, while search and rescue operations continued on Sunday.

The extent of the damage and the cause of the disaster remained unclear.
Moroccan top general El Farouk Belkhir is attending in Israel an event on military innovation held by the Israeli Defense Forces.

BelKhir will take part in the event, dubbed Operational Innovation, along with 8 other chiefs of staff and delegations representing Finland, India, Poland, Italy, Czech Republic, Holland, Canada, Germany, United States, the UK, Greece, Cyprus, NATO and others.

Moroccan and Israeli defense officials have stepped up cooperation after the normalisation of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Last July, Israels army chief Aviv Kohavi visited Rabat and discussed with Moroccan Royal Armed Forces and the defense administration means to bolster ties.

Morocco is particularly interested in developing defense industries. In November 2021, the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding that established a solid security cooperation framework, formalizing defense relations between them. The MoU allows for increased cooperation in the fields of intelligence, industrial collaboration, military training and more.
A woman wearing mask passes by mannequin heads wearing masks in a hat shop in Beijing, Friday, Sept. 9, 2022. Credit: AP Photo/Ng Han Guan

Almost 500 students at China's premier college for broadcast journalists have been sent to a quarantine center after a handful of COVID-19 cases were detected in their dormitory.

The 488 students at Communication University of China, along with 19 teachers and five assistants, were transferred by bus beginning Friday night.

Quarantining anyone considered to have been in contact with someone who tested positive for the virus has been a pillar of China's strict "zero-COVID" policy. The quarantine centers include field hospitals as well as converted stadiums and exhibition centers that have been criticized for overcrowding, poor sanitation and spoiled food.

As of last week, approximately 65 million Chinese residents were under lockdown despite just 1,248 new cases of domestic transmission being reported on Sunday. Most of those were asymptomatic.

The lockdowns have sparked protests online and confrontations with health workers and police, and have exacted a major toll on the economy, affecting global supply chains for electronics and other products. The weekslong lockdown in China's biggest city of Shanghai over the summer prompted an exodus of migrant workers and foreign business people.

A security guard wearing mask directs traffic near art decor in Beijing, Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022. Credit: AP Photo/Ng Han Guan

A woman wearing a mask takes shelter from the sun in Beijing, Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022. Credit: AP Photo/Ng Han Guan

With the release of economic data this week, analysts will be looking for insights into how China's handling of the pandemic is impacting economic activity in the world's second-largest economy. Lockdowns have been accompanied by nearly daily testing, travel restrictions and the suspension of classes at all levels.

China has pursued the relentless enforcement of the policy, even as virtually every other country has sought to return to normal life with the help of vaccines and drugs to fight the virus.

"Zero COVID" is closely associated with President and Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, leading to accusations that the government has politicized a public health crisis. His administration has rejected statements from the World Health Organization that the policy is unsustainable, and has refused to approve foreign vaccines that are widely considered more effective than those produced by Chinese companies.

Xi, who has not traveled abroad since the start of the pandemic in early 2020, has taken control of all levers of power and struck a confrontational tone in foreign policy, while sidelining or imprisoning rivals. He has eliminated term limits on the presidency and is expected to receive a third five-year term as Communist leader at next month's party congress.

Explore further China locks down 65 million, discourages holiday travel

 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Significant improvement in progression free survival and response rate combined with reduced symptoms and better quality of life are reported as outcomes of a new treatment approach for patients with desmoid tumors, which are benign, but locally aggressive and invasive soft tissue tumors. By targeting the Notch pathway with the novel gamma secretase inhibitor nirogacestat, researchers from the DeFi trial have obtained positive results for the first time with this approach. The results are reported at the ESMO Congress 2022.

Desmoid tumors are rare, with an incidence of 35 cases per million people worldwide each year. Patients have an unpredictable disease course and, although not generally fatal, the soft tissue tumors can cause symptoms that greatly impair quality of life. "Due to local and aggressive growth, desmoid tumors can cause pain, disfigurement and functional problems that can be a real burden for patients," said lead author Bernd Kasper, Mannheim Cancer Center, Germany.

The DeFi study included 142 patients with progressive desmoid tumors who were recruited from 37 centers across the world. "This is the largest and most rigorous randomized controlled study ever carried out in this tumor type," reported Kasper. "Results showed a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival in patients randomized to nirogacestat compared to the placebo group, with a 71% lower risk of disease progression on average." The response rate was also much higher41% in the nirogacestat arm and only 8% in the placebo arm; nearly one in ten patients (7%) showed a complete response with the agent.

The study measured patient reported outcomes because of the major impact of desmoid tumors on quality of life. "We saw a statistically significant benefit in reduction of pain and symptom burden and improvement in physical and role functioning and in health-related quality of life, which was really impressive," noted Kasper. "In providing treatment we try to optimize local tumor control and reduce the symptom burden. But we have previously had no approved therapy for desmoid tumors. This study has the potential to lead to the first registration of a drug to treat patients with this disease."

"This is a unique study, very important in many aspects," said Jean-Yves Blay, Cancer Center of Lyon, France, who was not involved in the study. "The results show benefit for the first time with a novel treatment with a new mode of action in patients where treatment options are currently limited." The Notch signaling pathway is implicated in the development and progression of many tumor types.

"The findings are practice changing," added Blay. He predicted: "We are going to use nirogacestat as part of the treatment armamentarium for patients with desmoid tumors. But we will have to figure out how best to use it." Remaining questions include which patients should be offered this treatment, where it fits in relation to current approaches, how to identify responders and the optimal duration of treatment. DeFi included patients with progressing tumors but both Blay and Kasper said that nirogacestat could also be considered in patients with pain and impaired functioning.

"This was a very smart study: it demonstrated the feasibility of carrying out a large, placebo-controlled trialwhich is the highest quality clinical study to investigate the activity of an agentin a rare cancer by recruiting patients from a multinational group of reference centers and it demonstrated the importance of targeting the right patients with the right drug when designing clinical trials," Blay said.

"The trial included patients with volumetrically progressive disease, which provided a measurable way to select patients in need of treatment." He added, "The success of this study puts even more emphasis to the concept of having patients with rare cancers referred into reference centers, where clinical studies can be accomplished in record times with the potential to deliver new treatments to patients with orphan diseases." The number of cancer patients being referred to reference centers is increasing but could still be better in some regions, improving the outlook for patients with rare cancers.

Explore further Targeted treatment slows progression of rare connective tissue tumor

More information: BA2 'DeFi: a phase 3, randomized controlled trial of nirogacestat versus placebo for progressing desmoid tumours (DT)' will be presented by Bernd Kasper during Presidential Symposium 1 on Saturday, 10 September, 16:30 to 18:00 CEST in Paris Auditorium. Annals of Oncology, Volume 33 Supplement 7, September 2022
A single blood test that can screen for more than 50 cancers seems to work fairly well in the real world, a preliminary study reveals.

Researchers found that of over 6,600 apparently healthy people aged 50 and older, the blood test detected a possible cancer "signal" in roughly 1%. When those individuals had more extensive testing, cancer was confirmed in 38%.

Experts called the findings an "important first step" in seeing how the so-called multi-cancer early detection test could fit into real-world care.

"This is not ready for prime time," stressed study co-author Catherine Marinac, a researcher at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

But if further studies confirm the blood test's usefulness, she said, it could become a "game changer."

The findings come from a study called Pathfinder, which is being run at multiple medical institutions across the United States to evaluate the Galleri blood test. It's one of a number of blood tests being developed by various companiesall with the goal of providing "one-stop" screening for multiple cancers.

The Galleri test can screen for over 50 tumor types, including many that currently lack any routine screening test, such as pancreatic, liver and ovarian cancers.

But while that might sound like a panacea, there are pitfalls to any cancer screening. One is the risk of a false-positive result that leads to further, possibly invasive, testing only to find that no cancer is presentand all the anxiety and expense that could accompany that.

It's important, Marinac said, to study not only how well multi-cancer early detection tests perform, but what happens when they are part of real-world care.

And ultimately, she said, a screening test needs to save lives. It will take much more research to show whether cancers detected by these blood tests are less likely to be lethal.

The Galleri test is made by GRAIL, a California biotech company that is funding the Pathfinder study. Galleri and similar tests under development work on a basic premise: They look for biological "signals" that cancer may be present, such as bits of DNA shed by cancer cells into the bloodstream.

The blood tests can also predict where in the body the potential threat is located, so doctors can decide which follow-up testssuch as imaging, endoscopies or biopsiesshould be used.

The current findings are based on more than 6,600 adults aged 50 and up with no known cancer. Just over 1% tested positive on the Galleri test, and 38% of them were eventually diagnosed with cancer.

Of all patients with a positive blood test, more than 90% underwent more than one imaging test, while half had more than one invasive testthough many of those were performed in people who did turn out to have cancer.

The "diagnostic odyssey," Marinac said, was longer for people who were ultimately not diagnosed with cancer: In those cases, doctors were typically hesitant to stop the diagnostic work-up after initial tests showed no cancer.

So for those patients, the diagnostic "resolution" took a median of 79 daysmeaning half had a longer wait.

Importantly, the researchers found, when the blood test indicated no cancer was present, it was correct 99% of the time.

The results were presented Sunday at a meeting of the European Society for Medical Oncology in Paris. Studies released at meetings are generally considered preliminary until they are published in a peer-reviewed journal.

"This is very exciting technology," said Dr. Ruth Oratz, a medical oncologist at NYU Langone Perlmutter Cancer Center in New York City.

Oratz, who was not involved in the research, said it would be "fantastic" to screen for many cancers with a single blood draw. "But," she stressed, "we're not there yet."

Cancer screening is complex, Oratz noted. Depending on their risk factors, some people need to start screening sooner, or have more-frequent or different types of tests, for example.

It's not yet clear, Marinac said, who should be screened with any multi-cancer early detection test, how often they would need to be done, or whether frequency should vary depending on people's risk factors.

Both experts stressed that people should continue with existing screening tests for diseases like breast, cervical and colon cancers.

Talk to your doctor, Oratz said, about which screenings you should be getting.

At this point, no multi-cancer early detection test is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Galleri is available for doctors to order, as a "laboratory developed test"which the FDA has historically not regulated, according to the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

But patients would likely have to pay for the test, the institute says, and possibly any diagnostic tests used to follow up on a positive result.

Explore further New screening tool IDs 95% of stage 1 pancreatic cancer

More information: The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more on The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more on multi-cancer early detection tests.

Copyright  2022 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Frequency distribution of days from CNV induction until CNV evaluation, where >28 represents all time points beyond day 28 from CNV induction. Red columns represent studies evaluating CNV in vivo by all methods, and orange columns represent studies evaluating CNV in vivo only by fluorescein angiography. Dark blue columns represent studies evaluating CNV ex vivo by all methods, and light blue columns represent studies evaluating CNV ex vivo only by RPE/choroidal flatmount with or without FITC-dextran. Credit: Investigative Opthalmology & Visual Science (2022). DOI: 10.1167/iovs.63.9.11

In research on the eye disease AMD, the experimental animals used are often young male mice. This is not optimal for the development of new treatments, as the disease most often affects the elderlyand women.

The eye disease Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is the most frequent cause of vision loss and blindness among elderly people in the Western world.

The most aggressive form is so-called "wet AMD"a disease in which the formation of new blood vessels in the underlying choroid of the retina results in fluid and swelling in the eye.

In a new study from Aarhus University which has just been published in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science (IOVS), the authors have examined the past five years of studies in a model for the disease corresponding to 380 scientific articles. Research into the mechanisms behind the diseaseand thus the development of new treatment modalitiesis often based on laboratory animals, in which new blood vessels are artificially created in the retina, typically using lasers.

The review of the many studies shows an imbalance in the use of laboratory animals; researchers usually choose to use young, healthy male mice, even though they know that both the sex and the age of the mice play a role in the degree of vessel formation.

"It is predominantly young, healthy, male mice that are used for research on this type of vessel formation. This makes sense from an ethical, financial and time perspective, as mice are inexpensive compared with larger laboratory animals, and the studies can be carried out relatively quickly. The biological variation can also be limited. However, AMD is a disease that most frequently occurs in the elderly population, and the disease occurs just as frequently in womenperhaps even slightly more frequently, when you look at 'wet AMD'," says medical doctor and Ph.D. student Bjrn K. Fabian-Jessing, who is first author on the study.

Previous studies have shown a discrepancy between the treatment effects seen in animal studies and in clinical trials in humans.

"We are apparently seeing a 'translational gap', because research does not take place in the most relevant animal model. Greater biological variation could be achieved by, for example, using more female mice and/or older animals. This would probably boost the possibility of translating the research to clinical trialsand perhaps, ultimately, reduce the number of laboratory animals, as the results from the preclinical animal testing would in that case be easier to extrapolate," says Bjrn K. Fabian-Jessing.

Poor reporting

In addition to describing the animal models, the article also focuses on the degree of reporting.

"We can see that many studies fail to report important variables, such as how many mice have been used. This makes it difficult to compare studies and assess the value of the results. This is worrying, because it makes it impossible to reproduce the results, and this diminishes their reliability," says Bjrn K. Fabian-Jessing.

Call for better guidelines

Data in the area of the eye has not previously been collected and synthesized in this way.

"The new study calls for the development and updating of the guidelines for these animal models," says Bjrn K. Fabian-Jessing. He is backed up by Professor Thomas Corydon, who is also behind the study:

"The implementation of concrete guidelines will improve the quality, value and comparability of animal testing, which will naturally be of great benefit to the research, understanding and future treatment of eye diseases," says Thomas Corydon.

He encourages leading researchers in the area to draw up consensus-based guidelines, as has previously been done for preclinical research in other medical specialties.

"The implementation of higher methodological standards, greater biological variability within the animal models and a greater degree of relevant, detailed reporting will result in higher-quality research, which will be more directly comparable. In this way, the overall research field can work better in the same directionto the benefit of the patients, and perhaps with the help of less laboratory animals, as there will be fewer wasted experiments," says Thomas Corydon.

Explore further Animal testing illuminates Alzheimer's

More information: Bjrn K. Fabian-Jessing et al, Animal Models of Choroidal Neovascularization: A Systematic Review, Investigative Opthalmology & Visual Science (2022). Journal information: Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science Bjrn K. Fabian-Jessing et al, Animal Models of Choroidal Neovascularization: A Systematic Review,(2022). DOI: 10.1167/iovs.63.9.11
Severine Lannoy, Ph.D., postdoctoral scholar at the VCU Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics. Credit: Virginia Commonwealth University

A recent study led by researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University is shedding new light on how genetic and environmental factors influence the risk of suicidal thoughts in adolescents.

As one of the leading causes of death for teens in the United States, suicide is a major public health concern; however, the underlying factors that contribute to suicidal thoughts and behaviors in this population are not well understood.

Previous studies on adults have suggested that a person's risk of suicidal thoughts, plans and attempts are influenced by negative life events, family history and genetics, but there is limited research focusing on adolescents.

Through this study, published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, the research team gleaned new information about how an adolescent's genetic risk and exposure to stressful life events contribute to suicidal thoughts. These results could help clinicians, families, educators and community members better prevent suicidal thoughts and behaviors in teens.

Researchers from the VCU Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics analyzed clinical assessments and genetic data collected as part of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a long-term study led by the University of Bristol that surveyed children from infancy through to adulthood. They specifically evaluated both the participants' genetic risk for suicide attempts and their exposure to adverse life experiences between 16 and 17 years old. The team compared this data with surveys that documented whether participants harbored suicidal thoughts and feelings of hopelessness at age 17. Moreover, they examined how these effects vary according to biological sex.

Their research revealed that suicidal thoughts were associated with drug use, bullying and failure in both male and female participants. There was evidence that experiencing the death of a parent also increased the risk of suicidal thoughts in boys, while failure at school increased the risk of suicidal thoughts in girls. Additionally, the researchers found that, in female participants, using drugs while having a genetic predisposition for suicide further exacerbated the risk of suicidal thoughts.

The findings underscore the role that negative life events play in triggering suicidal thoughts during adolescence but also show that some experiences can have an especially adverse impact on girls that already have a high genetic risk for suicide.

Severine Lannoy, Ph.D., a postdoctoral scholar at the VCU Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics and corresponding author for the study, recently discussed her research and latest findings with VCU News.

Why are suicidal thoughts and behaviors so prevalent during adolescence?

Adolescence is characterized by many changes, such as the development of identity and the initiation of risk-taking. Additionally, at this point in life, a teen's ability to cope with stressful life events is still maturing. As such, negative life experiences may have a greater impact on young people and lead to suicidal thoughts and behaviors.

Were any of the results from your study surprising to you?

We know that drug use is one of the highest risk factors for suicidal thoughts and behaviors in adults, but I was surprised to see that this risk factor was already influential even in adolescence.

The study's findings also revealed that a few of the risk factors linked to suicidal thoughts differ between boys and girls. Why did you look into risk factor differences between sexes, and what do you think is behind your results?

We conducted sex-specific analyses because we know that the prevalence of suicidal thoughts and behaviors is different according to sex. We tend to see that girls have a higher risk of suicidal ideation, while there is a higher risk of suicide death in boys.

We indeed saw some differences between boys and girls in our analysis. For example, our results showed that, in girls, using drugs while having a high genetic risk for suicide increased the risk of suicidal thoughts, but we didn't see the same effect in boys. I think the reasons behind this discovery needs to be further explained, but it could be because girls tend to have a higher risk of suicidal ideation, which is what we were measuring in this study. If our focus were assessing the risk of suicide attempts and deaths, it's possible that genetics could be more of a contributing factor in boys.

How is this research helping get us closer to preventing suicidal behavior in teens?

A key part of suicide prevention is knowing what specific factors put adolescents at risk of going down this path. Our results suggest that monitoring the impact of certain negative life events during adolescence could help identify which teens are more vulnerable to developing suicidal thoughts and thus are more in need of intervention efforts.

I also think that it's important that this kind of preventative care extends beyond clinicians. Parents, family members, educators and other adults who are in an adolescent's life should be aware of the risk factors contributing to suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Prevention is really a team effort.

More information: Severine Lannoy et al, Suicidal ideation during adolescence: The roles of aggregate genetic liability for suicide attempts and negative life events in the past year, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (2022). Journal information: Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry Severine Lannoy et al, Suicidal ideation during adolescence: The roles of aggregate genetic liability for suicide attempts and negative life events in the past year,(2022). DOI: 10.1111/jcpp.13653
In the diagram, spores of the fungus Aspergillus fumigatus enter the lungs by the airways and grow within hours to contaminate the alveoli and impair breathing. Infection is fatal if it cannot be eliminated, as in immunocompromised patients. GAG is galactosaminogalactan, an integral component of the A. fumigatus biofilm matrix and a key virulence factor. Credit: Molecular Biology Laboratory/FCFRP-USP

Every day we inhale thousands of potentially pathogenic fungal spores, but our immune system simply eliminates them. However, in people with compromised immunity, such as transplant and cancer patients, as well as hospitalized patients in intensive care, the interaction between pathogen and host may be quite different.

Fungal infections that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic, reinforcing the action of SARS-CoV-2 around the world, are a case in point. Mortality reached 80% among severe COVID-19 patients infected with the fungus Aspergillus fumigatus, for example.

A review article by an international group of researchers analyzing SARS-CoV-2/fungus co-infections during the pandemic is published in Nature Microbiology, with warnings relevant to the present and to future pandemics.

"The key issue with fungi is that they're an extremely neglected public health problem with few treatment options. We're currently seeing more deaths caused by fungal diseases than malaria and tuberculosis together, so it's hardly surprising that fungal diseases have taken advantage of the fact that so many people have been hospitalized because of COVID-19," said Gustavo Henrique Goldman, a professor at the University of Sao Paulo's Ribeirao Preto School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (FCFRP-USP) in Brazil and one of the principal investigators for the study, which was supported by FAPESP.

Besides aspergillosis, the disease caused by fungi of the genus Aspergillus, co-infections concurrently with COVID-19 are caused by two other groups. Fungi of the order Mucorales are responsible for mucormycosis, which occurs mainly in India and Pakistan, while yeasts of the genus Candida cause candidiasis and are present practically the world over.

"COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis [CAPA] affects on average 10% of patients with acute respiratory insufficiency admitted to intensive care units. Patients with this co-infection are twice as likely to die as patients infected only by SARS-CoV-2," Martin Hoenigl, first author of the study, told Agencia FAPESP. Hoenigl is a professor at the University of California San Diego in La Jolla (U.S.) and at the University of Graz (Austria).

Gains and losses

According to the article, aspergillosis can remain confined to the upper airways for many days and can be contained with antifungals. Once it has invaded blood vessels in the lungs, however, mortality exceeds 80% even if a systemic antifungal therapy is administered.

Candidiasis occurs almost exclusively in patients in intensive care units and is not more frequent in COVID-19 patients than those hospitalized for other reasons. However, Candida auris, an emerging fungus, is a concern because it can colonize the skin. In addition, it appears to be the only fungus transmitted between people. The species is resistant to all known antifungals and, being present in a wide array of environments, can easily infect patients on mechanical ventilators or with catheters and other invasive life support equipment present in hospitals.

COVID-19-associated mucormycosis (CAM) is a severe problem, especially in India, where the number of cases doubled during the pandemic. News of this mycosis drew international attention in 2021 when more than 47,500 cases were notified in India in the period May-August alone. Classed as an epidemic by the Indian government at the time, it was mistakenly called "black fungus" because of the color of the tissue necrotized by the disease. Actual black fungi are part of a different group that is relatively distant from Mucorales and does not cause disease in humans.

In COVID-19 patients, mucormycosis often occurs in the region of the eyes and nose, and can reach the brain. The mortality rate is 14% in these cases, in which the two diseases occur together. Because mucormycosis causes necrosis, it may require surgery and end up disfiguring the patient. Patients who survive it may lose parts of their face and suffer from problems for the rest of their lives. If the lungs are affected, or the fungus spreads throughout the organism, mortality reaches 80%.

"The prevalence of this mycosis in India was 0.27% in patients hospitalized with COVID-19, although it frequently occurs in people outside hospitals, such as those treated at home with very high doses of systemic steroids, which are easily obtained by most Indians," Hoenigl said.

The use of steroids and other drugs that reduce immune system activity is one of the causes of the global rise in fungal infections. While the strategy was successful during the pandemic and the benefits surpassed the risks, the researchers warn that it is important to avoid abusive administration of immunosuppressant drugs.

As an alternative, some centers at high risk for aspergillosis successfully implemented antifungal prophylaxis during the pandemic by administering drugs before infection by these agents. However, because fungi are often resistant to most available medications and there are insufficient clinical studies to evaluate the strategy, it is not recommended at present.

"Immunosuppressants are a major advance in medicine. They prevent many deaths from cancer and autoimmune diseases, as well as playing a key role in organ transplants. However, a side-effect of their use has been a significant rise in the incidence of fungal infections," Goldman said. "Except for some heat-tolerant species, such as A. fumigatus, fungi normally can't tolerate mammalian body temperatures and are easily combated by our innate immunity. But when our immune system is too weak to fight off highly inflammatory diseases like COVID-19, they take the opportunity to attack us."

Novel medications

In addition, many fungi are adapting to higher temperatures as the global climate warms up, and this also makes humans more vulnerable. As a result, novel antifungal medications are urgently needed, experts agree. Currently there are only four classes of antifungals, compared with dozens of classes of antibacterials (antibiotics), for example.

Another problem is the difficulty of diagnosing fungal infections. Diagnostic tests are too expensive for most people in low- and middle-income countries, and test results may take too long to become available for the right treatment to be prescribed.

For example, a 100% certain diagnosis of aspergillosis requires a bronchoscopy, a type of exam considered highly risky during the COVID-19 pandemic and hence avoided as much as possible. The amount of fluid expelled from the patient during the procedure is more than sufficient to transmit SARS-CoV-2 to the medical team. Cases of aspergillosis are probably underestimated as a result.

"The good news is that several novel classes of antifungals have been developed and are currently in phase 2 and 3 clinical trials," Hoenigl said.

However, the researchers fear these novel drugs will not reach all those who need them. Cutting-edge treatments could remain confined to the rich countries, as the inequality of their availability is likely to continue.

"Against the backdrop of global warming with few available drugs, and diseases that weaken immunity while causing epidemics and pandemics, outbreaks of fungal infections are highly likely. We need more tools to control them and more scientists to study the different fungi and their action mechanisms," Goldman said.

Explore further Mechanism behind deadly fungal infection on top of influenza or COVID-19 deciphered

More information: Martin Hoenigl et al, COVID-19-associated fungal infections, Nature Microbiology (2022). Journal information: Nature Microbiology Martin Hoenigl et al, COVID-19-associated fungal infections,(2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41564-022-01172-2
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

A cross-sectional study of more than 25,000 adults has found that with increased screening, the prevalence of adrenal tumors in an unselected community population was 1.4%. The prevalence increased with age, from 0.2% in adults aged 18 to 25 up to 3.2% in adults older than 65 years of age. However, approximately 70% of identified tumors were nonfunctioning, meaning they did not make extra hormones, regardless of the participant's age. The findings are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

The detection rate of adrenal incidentaloma, or an incidentally found nodule not causing clinical symptoms, has increased as screening techniques have improved and become more common. However, most published literature on the prevalence of adrenal incidentalomas consists of retrospective surveys based on radiographic diagnosis in a medical record system, which might under- or overestimate the prevalence.

Researchers from the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China, conducted a cross-sectional study of 25,356 participants receiving annual health assessments between November 2020 and November 2021. The authors report that of all 25,356 participants, 351 persons were identified as having adrenal tumors. Of these, 337 participants with adrenal tumors were diagnosed with an adrenocortical adenoma and 14 were diagnosed with another benign nodule. No participants were diagnosed with having a malignant mass. The authors also report that of 212 participants who completed endocrine testing, 69.3% were diagnosed with a nonfunctioning adenoma, 18.9% with cortisol autonomy, 11.8% with primary aldosteronism, and no participants were diagnosed with pheochromocytoma.

An accompanying editorial from Mayo Clinic highlights how this research provides important insights into the prevalence of adrenal tumors and supports current recommendations for universal hormonal testing in any patient with an incidentally found adrenal tumor. However, the author cautions that the study is limited by the lack of hormonal testing in 37% of participants, particularly because persons who declined hormonal work-up were older and more likely to have hypertension. As such, both mild autonomous cortisol secretion and primary aldosteronism could have been more prevalent in this group.

Provided by American College of Physicians
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Recent studies offer a reminder that a big risk factor for Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman's health issues is something over which he has no control: his height.

Cardiologists have known for years that taller peoplesuch as the 6-foot-8 Fetterman, who is taller than all but a tiny fraction of adult menare at higher risk for an irregular heart rhythm called atrial fibrillation (A-fib). That heart condition in turn raises a person's risk of a stroke, like the one Fetterman suffered May 13.

Fetterman has said he has lingering speech and communication issues, and his health remains under scrutiny as he draws criticism from Republican opponent Mehmet Oz for not yet committing to proposed debates.

In 2020, a study from Penn Medicine researchers suggested that this link between height and A-fib is not just a coincidencethat being very tall actually may cause A-fib. The apparent reason is that taller people have larger, more elongated hearts, raising the risk of irregular function in a heart chamber called the left atrium.

And in a new study, researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center found that the risk from extreme height may be especially acute for women. On average, women at any given age are at one-third lower risk of developing A-fib than men. But when the researchers controlled for heightthat is, using statistical techniques to take height into accountit turned out that for a given height, women were nearly 40% more likely to develop the condition than men.

While that fact had not previously been documented, it makes sense, said senior study author Christine M. Albert, chair of cardiology at Cedars-Sinai's Smidt Heart Institute. Take a woman who is 6 feet 1 inches tall. She is on the extreme end of height for womenwell into the 99th percentilewhereas a man of that height is merely a bit on the tall side.

"If you take a tall woman who's the same height as a tall man, that's really tall," she said.

The finding, published in JAMA Cardiology, suggests that height should be used to help predict who is at risk for A-fib, along with other risk factors such as smoking and alcohol use, she said.

The good news is that while being very tall increases a person's risk of A-fib, which in turn raises the risk of stroke, people can take steps to reduce stroke risk.

One option is medications, including anticoagulant drugs that "thin" the blood, reducing the risk of an abnormal clot that can form in the heart and migrate to the brain (the definition of a stroke). A statement from Fetterman's physician suggests that he was not taking those drugs.

Being overweight also increases the risk of A-fib, and years ago, Fetterman weighed more than 400 pounds before embarking on a weight-loss program.

But there's nothing he could have done about his height. According to a graph in the Cedars-Sinai study, Fetterman's risk of developing A-fib was roughly twice that of a man who is 10 inches shorter (measuring 5-foot-10).

An adult U.S. man measuring 6 feet 3 inches is in the 99th percentile, meaning he is taller than 99% of his peers.

Fetterman is well beyond that.

Exactly how far is unclear, said Steve Wang, a statistics professor at Swarthmore College.

People of Fetterman's height are so unusual that they aren't included in standard growth tables. But using a formula derived from CDC statistics, and making certain assumptions, Wang estimated (very roughly) that Fetterman could be anywhere in the 99.95th to the 99.99th percentile.

If he's at the higher end of that range, he would be taller than all but 1 in about 7,000 adult U.S. men.

Recently, President Joe Biden put it in more everyday terms. At an Aug. 30 campaign event, he referred to Fetterman simply as "that big ol' boy."

Explore further Sex differences and AFib: New study flips conventional wisdom

2022 The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

While much attention has been given to protecting the mental health of employees in the workplace, such support has been historically lacking within the research community. Researchersespecially those working in intense areas such as domestic violence, rape, suicide, and substance usecan experience feelings of burnout, distress, outrage, and hopelessness. The problem is particularly acute in low- and middle-income countries where research staff may have limited access to mental health services.

In a new paper titled "Pyschosocial training and support guidelines for research staff," YSPH Assistant Professor Ashley Hagaman (senior author), and Ph.D. student Raquel Burgess (lead author), investigate existing mental health support for researchers and provide specific recommendations to better protect the emotional and mental well-being of research teams including faculty, research assistants, students, and staff. In association with September 410 as National Suicide Prevention Week, Hagaman, a professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, discussed the editorial, which has been published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization.

What motivated you to investigate existing mental health training and support for researchers?

Ashley Hagaman (A.H.): I work with collaborative international research teams on deeply sensitive and emotional topics, like suicide and intimate partner violence. I began to meet more colleagues that also did work in these spaces, especially in settings where our research staff have so much less access to health care (like Nepal, Pakistan, and South Africa)especially mental health careand really exploitative employment structures where they hop from research project to research project and have no consistent benefits or human resource protection.

We kept talking about all the strategies we had to try to provide our teams with better support, career advancement, and, frankly, ways to deal with all the heart-wrenching stories they listened to, and witnessed, day in and day outat all phases of research: during data collection, analysis, and paper writing. We decided that more was needed beyond us putting our heads together to piecemeal strategies. We wrote this paper to start that conversation globally.

Why is mental health training and support important for researchers?

A.H.: In public health, we value the development of evidence-based data on complex social issues, such as HIV and domestic violence. Thus, public health researchers, especially those that conduct qualitative research, are often exposed to distressing and traumatic information. This is particularly acute for research staff, who are often conducting the work of interviewing participants, transcribing, and engaging deeply with the data for the purposes of analysis.

Despite high levels of exposure to traumatic and distressing information, research staff do not have adequate support to manage the associated mental health risks. Research staff are often employed in transient roles, have poor access to health coverage and mental health counseling, and may have inadequate power to advocate for their needs. Similar to the ways that we attend to the mental health risks of those participating in research, we need to better consider how to manage the mental health risks of those conducting research.

What did you find in your investigation?

A.H.: We found that there aren't any easily accessible resources available to assist investigators in protecting the mental health of their staff, especially in complex international settings. Though there is some valuable literature documenting the mental health risks faced by research staff, the topic is not widely discussed overall.

We also found that there was some systematic evidence that conducting research on distressing topics leads to feelings of distress, shame, guilt, burnout, outrage, and hopelessness, and may be dealt with using negative coping strategies such as emotional numbing and substance abuse. Researching these things in a context with precarious and time-bound employment (like rural Nepal), and typically not being paid for writing manuscripts that accompany the research (as is often practiced in academia), makes these negative impacts even more profound.

Importantly, research staff in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) face even greater challenges. In addition to the risks discussed above, LMIC research staff face mental health risks associated with working in their own communities, a lack of mental health infrastructure to address mental health concerns, transient employment, demanding job requirements, few opportunities for advancement, and stunted career progression.

Ultimately, our publication makes concrete recommendations for principal investigators (and other research leaders) AND grant funding agencies, AND the institutions that support and are responsible for the research, to take more responsibility for the workers that are directly engaged in conducting the work. We hope these recommendations will become more refined and our paper provides an accompanying toolkit. Eventually, this should become a regular activity that is built into research operations, but we're still far away from that at the moment.

How did you conduct your investigation?

A.H.: We reviewed the literature on this topic and surveyed the resources provided by relevant professional associations (e.g., the American Public Health Association (APHA) and World Health Organization (WHO)) to determine what resources were already available to assist investigators in implementing mental health support for their research staff. We worked closely and conducted some qualitative inquiries with colleagues who conduct mental health research in LMICs to understand what supports they currently use to protect the mental health of their staff.

Most importantly, we integrated the perspectives and recommendations of our co-authorsprofessional researchers that live and work in LMICsto better understand what issues exist and which strategies could be employed to better protect the mental health of research staff in LMICs.

What recommendations did you provide for protecting and improving research staff mental health?

A.H.: In our published WHO Bulletin article, we provided several specific recommendations for each phase of the research process and indicated who was responsible (investigators, institutions, institutional review boards, funding agencies) for each respective recommendation.

For example, during the pre-preparation phase of the research project, we recommend that institutions provide training to investigators on what accessible mental health and support resources are available to their staff and, if none, how they can create these resources. We recommend that research leaders receive cultural and contextual training on how to effectively identify the mental health demands of their proposed research, how to engage in de-briefing with staff, and how to recognize and respond to distress.

In the preparation phase, we recommend that investigators work to communicate clearly to their prospective staff about the mental health risks of the research, obtain their informed consent, and identify any specific mental health needs or triggers. At the end of the research project, we recommend that investigators hold debriefing sessions with their staff to give them an opportunity to process their experiences and provide them with opportunities (authorship, conference presentations) to be recognized for their hard work. Additional recommendations can be found in our article.

How can these recommendations be implemented moving forward?

A.H.: We are grateful that we were able to develop a list of specific recommendations and we encourage investigators to begin implementing these recommendations in their ongoing projects. However, our list of recommendations is only the beginning of the conversation. We need renowned professional associations (like the APHA or the WHO) to fund the development of a comprehensive set of guidelines that can assist investigators in better protecting the mental health of their research staff.

Moreover, we call on ethical review bodies and funding agencies to consider the mental health risks faced by research staff and include these considerations as part of their project review, approval processes, and management strategies. There are much more complex issues that need to be tackled as well, like the exploitative research structures that a lot of our global health research perpetuates. We hope this is one small step, and we look forward to continuing to advocate for these changes alongside our colleagues.

More information: Raquel Burgess et al, Psychosocial training and support guidelines for research staff, Bulletin of the World Health Organization (2022). Journal information: Bulletin of the World Health Organization Raquel Burgess et al, Psychosocial training and support guidelines for research staff,(2022). DOI: 10.2471/BLT.21.287159
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

The last weekend of August, party promoter Jeremy Taylor hosted a dance at a Broad Street club in Philadelphia featuring tracks from Beyonce's latest album and cards telling guests where to get monkeypox vaccinations.

Protecting people from a new virus spreading rapidly over the summer was a priority for Taylor, who hosts events under the name JayLaTay. His dances draw many people who identify as Black and LGBTQa population in Philadelphia that's more likely to contract monkeypox, and less likely to be vaccinated against it.

Warnings about the virus transmitting through sustained physical contact didn't phase Taylor, who saw little risk that dancing at the venue beneath the Divine Lorraine would endanger guests.

"That type of casual contact, it's highly unlikely for people to transmit," Taylor said.

Evidence suggests Taylor is right.

The real risk comes from sex, according to increasing data on the outbreak that's primarily spreading among men who have sex with men. It remains unclear if semen is specifically playing a role in transmission. The Centers for Disease Control's online guidance continues to highlight physical contact as risky, or contact with objects that touched the skin lesions caused by monkeypox, Yet in an update to their online guidance posted Wednesday, the CDC stated transmission is "almost exclusively associated with sexual contact in the current outbreak."

"We just haven't seen a substantial number of people saying my only exposure is going to this shirtless sweaty dance party," said Jeffrey Klausner, a doctor and expert in sexually transmitted diseases at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine.

Steven Thrasher, a professor of journalism at Northwestern University's Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing, wrote an article last month in Scientific American arguing that monkeypox should be called a sexually transmitted infection.

In an interview, he questioned whether the CDC has been doing more harm than good with its messaging, noting that while contracting monkeypox through different types of extended physical contact is possible, the federal health organization's own data has found that 94% of cases were associated with sex or similarly intimate contact.

"It's very dangerous  to make people very afraid of activities that are very low risk," Thrasher said.

There has been concern that emphasizing the role of sex in transmission could ostracize men who have sex with men and encourage homophobia, since monkeypox has primarily spread within this population. Members of the LGBTQ community remember all too well how society initially dismissed the first people to contract HIV because that virus, like monkeypox, started spreading in the gay community.

Other experts say a frank acknowledgment of how the virus is transmitting would prevent unnecessary isolation for infected people and avoid panic that itself could lead to discrimination.

Some health guidance to date has resulted in people unnecessarily "freaking out about blankets and dorm rooms," Thrasher said.

The evidence for sexual transmission of monkeypox

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are broadly defined by the CDC as "diseases that are passed from one person to another through sexual contact." They are often spread through semen, though not exclusively. Some sex-related infections, like pubic lice known as crabs, HIV and syphilis can spread through other means.

Whether monkeypox is an STI is largely irrelevant to its treatment, said Michael LeVasseur, a Drexel epidemiologist and an HIV expert.

"It's splitting hairs," he said.

Prevention is a more complicated question. Calling monkeypox an STI could imply for some that condoms are effective at preventing spread, LeVasseur noted, but in fact transmission could still occur through contact with lesions elsewhere on a person's body.

A number of studies, many of them from the United Kingdom, point to sex being central to the spread of monkeypox. Two studies, including one with data from Europe, the United States, Central and South America and Australia, found 95% or more of cases appeared to stem from sexual contact.

An August study in the medical journal The Lancet found live monkeypox virus in semen, but it's not clear if that is causing infections.

Other researchers note there have been cases of household transmission that did not involve sex. Stuart Isaacs, dean of animal studies at University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine, said these cases argue against calling monkeypox an STI.

Still, he thinks the frequency of sex as a mode of transmission probably should be emphasized.

"The CDC lists contact first and sexual transmission second in their list," Isaacs said.

Behavior, not identity

More than half of gay men in America have three or fewer sex partners each year, said Klauser of USC. People in that range aren't very likely to contract monkeypox.

Those more at risk from monkeypox are men who regularly have multiple sex partnerssometimes three or more partners a week.

With a focus on sex, people can do a lot to reduce their risk. Klauser noted cases in the United Kingdom and Europe began dropping in August even though governments there weren't aggressively pushing vaccination.

"The only real explanation is people have changed their behavior," he said.

Thrasher, the expert who wrote about the need to identify monkeypox as an STI, would like to see health guidance that acknowledges the link between sex and monkeypox without stigmatizing those at risk of catching it.

"In the United States we've gotten so used to talking about LGBTQ people as an identity, it's become removed from the act of sex," he said. "Sex itself is an action, and this is the action where it's being seen."

This approach could also help people in Philadelphia to protect themselves amid poor vaccine access and limited supply. The slow rollout of tests and treatments for the virus, and poor access to vaccines, has resulted in racial disparities.

"The vaccine rollout process we have used has not reached the most marginalized, oppressed communities," said Elle Lett, who established Philly MPX Action with a small group of health professionals to do outreach to at risk communities.

Lett, a trans woman, agreed that health agencies should talk less about which groups are at risk, and focus more on what actions are risky, including sex.

Awareness of monkeypox is high in the local LGBTQ community, said Taylor, the party promoter who is himself gay. Since the outbreak began he's seen changing habits in the community of men who have sex with men.

Some have shrunk the circle of people they're having sex with, limiting intimacy to a group they know well.

And by the end of his recent dance party, many of the cards with information on monkeypox vaccines had been taken.

2022 The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported study results showing that the targeted therapy fruquintinib significantly improved overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with refractory metastatic colorectal cancer. Findings from the global FRESCO-2 trial were presented today at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2022.

The OS was 7.4 months with fruquintinib versus 4.8 months in the placebo arm, while the median PFS was 3.7 months with fruquintinib compared to 1.8 months in the placebo arm. These results represent a statistically significant improvement relative to controls.

"Patients with refractory metastatic colorectal cancer have very limited treatment possibilities and poor outcomes," said principal investigator Arvind Dasari, M.D., associate professor of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology. "These results are very encouraging and confirm that fruquintinib may be a novel treatment opportunity for patients who previously had no other options."

The randomized Phase III FRESCO-2 clinical trial was conducted at 153 sites in the United States, Europe, Japan and Australia. The double-blind study evaluated treatment with the novel oral therapy fruquintiniba small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor receptors (VEGFR)plus best supportive care compared to placebo plus best supportive care in heavily pre-treated patients with treatment-resistant metastatic colorectal cancer. The primary endpoint was OS.

According to the American Cancer Society, colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related death in men and in women, and the second most common cause of cancer death for men and women combined. Despite treatment advances, patients with metastatic colorectal cancer still have poor long-term survival rates. After patients progress through several lines of therapy, they typically live only four to five months. Therefore, there is a large need for treatment alternatives after current therapies are exhausted.

In the original Phase III FRESCO study, which led to the drug's approval in China in September 2018, fruquintinib given as third-line therapy or later improved median OS in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer compared with placebo (6.6 months versus 9.3 months). At that time, standard of care for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer in China differed from the U.S., the European Union and Japan.

In June 2020, the Food and Drug Administration granted fast track designation to fruquintinib for the treatment of some patients with previously treated colorectal cancer.

The FRESCO-2 trial randomized 691 patients with advanced refractory metastatic colorectal cancer. Patients were eligible for treatment if they had documented metastatic colorectal cancer and were previously treated either with chemotherapy, anti-VEGF therapy or immune checkpoint inhibitors (if their disease was microsatellite instability-high or mismatch-repair deficient). Patients had an ECOG performance status scale score of 0 or 1, measurable disease and expected survival of 12 weeks or more.

Patients received either fruquintinib or placebo daily for three weeks, followed by one week off, in 28-day cycles. Subsequent anti-cancer therapies were given to 29.4% in the fruquintinib arm and 34.3% in the placebo arm. The disease control rate was 55.5% for fruquintinib versus 16.1% for placebo.

Grade 3 or 4 treatment-related adverse events occurred in 62.7% of patients in the fruquintinib group and 50.4% in the placebo group. The most frequent events seen in those receiving fruquintinib were hypertension (13.6%), asthenia (7.7%) and hand-foot syndrome (6.4%).

"This study supports the meaningful survival improvement and manageable safety profile of fruquintinib," Dasari said." I am excited that this treatment could extend the lives of advanced colorectal cancer patients and preserve their quality of life."

The investigators will continue to review quality of life data from trial participants, as these patients have high tumor burden and residual side effects from multiple therapies that are known to reduce quality of life measures. Ongoing and future studies will explore additional fruquintinib treatment combinations for patients with colorectal cancer.

Explore further New drug for metastatic colorectal cancer enters phase 3 trial
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Headache is one of the world's most common health issues. Some 40 million Americans suffer from headaches, but that suffering is often misunderstood.

Because pain is subjective, it's hard for people who do not suffer headaches to appreciate the severity and the relentlessness. Plus, there's a stigma attached to headache complaints. But headaches, and migraine headaches in particular, reduce quality of life, prevent full participation in work and activities, and even alter mood. Migraine is the most common disabling brain disorder.

Headache specialists, such as internist Chantel Strachan, MD, are part of initiatives to educate more primary care physicians on headache and migraine. Strachan, who completed a fellowship in headache and facial pain, shared the basics with us.

What is a headache?

Headaches happen when an unknown mechanism activates nerves in your body that send pain signals to the brain. This mechanism is activated by a variety of factors including stress, sleep deprivation, hunger, alcohol, computer screens, and teeth grinding, to name a few.

A headache can be its own medical condition, and a headache can be a symptom of something else, including:

Dehydration

Medication side effect

Medication overuse

High blood pressure

Sinus congestion

Tumor

Migraine

Migraine is not the name of a type of headache. It's a neurological disease that causes recurrent, debilitating headaches and other symptoms, such as nausea and sensitivity to light and/or sound, and each episode can last for weeks.

How do I get rid of a headache?

The most common type of head pain is a tension headache, which can be caused by physical and emotional stress, anxiety, or head injury. Tension headaches are usually treatable with acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Advil).

Some people need stronger medication, such as Excedrin migraine or other over-the-counter drugs with added caffeine, and sometimes prescription medication.

Many people get relief from massage, acupuncture, and eating fresh, healthier foods.

When should I see a doctor about headaches?

If a headache does not go away within three days with any of these methods, contact your doctor. It may be a sign something more than a headache is going on.

When should I go to the ER with a headache?

If a headache is not responsive to over-the-counter medicationsand is so severe that it's an obstacle to any activity for a few hourscontact a doctor or go to the ER.

If you or someone around you has a headache, watch for other symptoms, such as vision changes, weakness on one side of face or body, confusion, or changes in walking.

If you notice any of these or other unusual or severe symptoms, contact a doctor immediately or go to an emergency room.

What is migraine?

Migraine is a neurological disease that causes a variety of symptoms, including headache. Migraine attacks happen when nerves in and near blood vessels are activated and send pain signals to your brain.

The cardinal symptoms of a migraine are intense throbbing headache, typically on one side of your head, and the following:

sensitivity to light and/or sound

blurry vision

dizziness

stomach upset, including nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite

Migraine phases

Migraine has four phases. Not every person who suffers migraine experiences all four phases, and each attack can be different. Some symptoms can occur across more than one phase.

Pre-monitory: Can be experienced up to seven days before head pain starts. Signs include cravings, irritability, and tiredness. Aura: About 17% of migraines include aura. The most common is visual, usually accompanied by weakness. Aura can last up to 60 minutes before head pain starts. Head pain: What most people associate with migraine is the third phase, which can include nausea, vomiting, and the need to lie down. Pain lasts for at least four hours. The longer you wait to treat migraine the longer it will last. Postdrome: After the headache, symptoms can still be intense, including feelings of confusion or brain fog, similar to a hangover.

The whole migraine attack process can take weeks.

In the past decade, after more was discovered about the biochemistry of migraines, new medications have become available for treatment and prevention of migraine. Many medications are directed at reducing the amount of CGRPcalcitonin gene-related peptidewhich has a role in pain in the brain and nervous system. Discuss with your doctor if these are good treatment options.

Should I go to a headache specialist or a neurologist if I suffer headaches?

If your headache doesn't warrant a trip straight to the emergency room (again, watch for unusual symptoms, such as changes in mobility), go to a primary care physician first, ideally someone who specializes in headache. A primary care physician can determine if something else is going on, such as high blood pressure, anemia, or depression. A primary care physician is trained to look at the big picture, not just focus on the headache.

Neurologists are great, and you may need one, but don't self-diagnose. Let another doctor refer you to the right specialist.

Headaches can be serious. If you are not getting the help you need, do not give up. More and more doctors are receiving training to provide support.

Explore further What do you know about headaches?
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

A new study published in Diabetologia finds that there is a widening gap in diabetes-related mortality between urban and rural areas in the U.S., and that reductions in mortality rates seen predominantly in urban areas have been mainly limited to female and older patients while outcomes in male and younger individuals worsened. The research was led by Dr. Mamas A. Mamas, of Keele University UK, and colleagues.

Diabetes is one of the most widespread chronic diseases and a leading cause of global mortality, estimated by the World Health Organization to result in more than 1.5 million deaths per year. While the diabetes-related mortality rate has decreased in high-income countries such as the U.S., this trend may not apply equally to all groups or across all regions.

Rural populations may have an increased risk of developing DM, and often have less access to healthcare and receive a lower quality of service provision than their counterparts in urban areas. Age and ethnic background also affect both the risk of developing DM and the likelihood of dying from the disease.

The authors analyzed 20 years of data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Wide-Ranging ONline Data for Epidemiologic Research (CDC WONDER) Multiple Cause of Death database which recorded the cause of death of every US resident who died in the period 1999-2019. Each death certificate recorded a single underlying cause with up to 20 additional factors, as well as demographic data such as age, sex and ethnicity, and deaths were grouped by county to calculate Age-Adjusted Mortality Rates (AAMRs) per 100,000 population for urban and rural areas.

Between 1999 and 2019 there were 1,572,536 deaths (80% in urban counties) where diabetes was given as the underlying cause and 5,025,745 deaths (again 80% in urban counties) with diabetes as a contributory factor.

The team found that the AAMR of diabetes patients was higher in rural areas across all age, sex, and ethnicity groups and over the 20-year period of the study there was no statistically significant change in the AAMR of diabetes as the underlying or contributing cause of death in rural areas.

By contrast, urban areas saw a significant decrease in the AAMR of diabetes as the underlying (17%) and contributing (14%) cause of death over the same time period. As a result, the urban-rural diabetes-related mortality gap has tripled in the U.S., rising from 2.0 to 6.8 deaths per 100,000 population for diabetes as the underlying cause, and from 6.8 to 24.3 deaths per 100,000 population for the disease as a contributing factor, with the main impact being felt by male patients and those under-55 years old.

In both urban and rural areas, AAMRs were higher in males and saw a significantly smaller decrease than in females leading to a widening of the male-female diabetes mortality gap. Among under-55s there was an increase in diabetes-associated AAMRs over the time period which was larger in rural (+59% underlying, +65% contributing) than urban (+15% underlying, +14% contributing) populations. This contrasted with the over-55s who experienced a decrease in AAMRs in urban (-21% underlying, -16% contributing) residents and no statistically significant change (-5% underlying, +4% contributing) in rural areas.

Ethnicity was also linked to mortality with American Indian and Black individuals having substantially higher diabetes-related AAMRs than Asian and White patients, and within each ethnic group, rural living was associated with higher mortality. For example, in rural areas, the mortality amongst Black patients remained similar between 1999 and 2019, whereas it decreased by 28% in urban areas. Diabetes-related AAMRs in 2019 were twice as high in Black patients compared to White patients, in both rural and urban settings.

The team note: "Our finding of an increasing gap in diabetes outcomes is in agreement with previous studies that reported greater improvements in blood pressure and cholesterol control for urban adults with diabetes than for those in rural areas over the last two decades." They add: "These differences remained significant even after multiple adjustments for ethnicity, education, poverty levels and clinical characteristics."

The observed increases in mortality among the under-55s may be linked to the increasing prevalence of type 2 diabetes, particularly in adolescents and young adults. Early-onset of the condition is typically more aggressive and has a higher rate of premature complications, and previous research has found that glucose control is worse in younger individuals with the disease. Since male patients are more likely to be diagnosed at an early age, this may explain the widening male-female mortality gap observed in both urban and rural populations.

The authors highlight that successful management of diabetes and the control or prevention of associated complications requires medical expertise that may be unavailable or difficult for rural populations to access. Patients in these communities are also less likely to have their primary care delivered by physicians, and they have been further impacted by the disproportionate closure of rural hospitals.

The urban-rural divide is inextricably linked to social determinants of health including education, economic resources, psychological stress and access to preventive healthcare. The authors say: "Healthcare equity, expansion of Medicaid, and telemedicine initiatives that extend access to specialty care may mitigate some of the ruralurban disparities in mortality. However, the ultimate solutions may lie in economic and policy interventions that broaden our focus from treating disease to preventing it."

They conclude: "A synchronized effort is required to improve cardiovascular health indices and healthcare access in rural areas and to decrease diabetes-related mortality."

Explore further Gap between death rates in rural and urban areas tripled during past two decades

More information: Ofer Kobo et al, Urbanrural disparities in diabetes-related mortality in the USA 19992019, Diabetologia (2022). Journal information: Diabetologia Ofer Kobo et al, Urbanrural disparities in diabetes-related mortality in the USA 19992019,(2022). DOI: 10.1007/s00125-022-05785-4
Dysregulated HDAC-related transcriptome precedes the Nnat+/-p-overgrowth. a, Venn diagram of differential gene expression analyses of islets transcriptome of 6 weeks old mice comparing between Nnat+/-p-Heavy, Nnat+/-p-Light morphs and WT littermates. b, GSEA results of HDAC-responsive gene sets between the Nnat+/-p-Light and Nnat+/-p-Heavy morphs, showing a specific enrichment in the latter. Solid and transparent colored dots, highlight either statistically significant or not significant enrichments, respectively (adjusted p-value cutoff < 0.05). Credit: Nature Metabolism (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s42255-022-00629-2

A team led by Van Andel Institute scientists has identified two distinct types of obesity with physiological and molecular differences that may have lifelong consequences for health, disease and response to medication.

The findings, published today in the journal Nature Metabolism, offer a more nuanced understanding of obesity than current definitions and may one day inform more precise ways to diagnose and treat obesity and associated metabolic disorders.

The study also reveals new details about the role of epigenetics and chance in health and provides insights into the link between insulin and obesity.

"Nearly 2 billion people worldwide are considered overweight and there are more than 600 million people with obesity, yet we have no framework for stratifying individuals according to their more precise disease etiologies," said J. Andrew Pospisilik, Ph.D., chair of Van Andel Institute's Department of Epigenetics and corresponding author of the study. "Using a purely data-driven approach, we see for the first time that there are at least two different metabolic subtypes of obesity, each with their own physiological and molecular features that influence health. Translating these findings into a clinically usable test could help doctors provide more precise care for patients."

Currently, obesity is diagnosed using body mass index (BMI), an index correlated to body fat that is generated by comparing weight in relation to height. It is an imperfect measure, Pospisilik says, because it doesn't account for underlying biological differences and can misrepresent an individual's health status.

Using a combination of laboratory studies in mouse models and deep analysis of data from TwinsUK, a pioneering research resource and study cohort developed in the United Kingdom, Pospisilik and his collaborators discovered four metabolic subtypes that influence individual body types: two prone to leanness and two prone to obesity.

One obesity subtype is characterized by greater fat mass while the other was characterized by both greater fat mass and lean muscle mass. Somewhat surprisingly, the team found that the second obesity type also was associated with increased inflammation, which can elevate the risk of certain cancers and other diseases. Both subtypes were observed across multiple study cohorts, including in children. These insights are an important step toward understanding how these different types impact disease risk and treatment response.

After the subtypes were identified in the human data, the team verified the results in mouse models. This approach allowed the scientists to compare individual mice that are genetically identical, raised in the same environment and fed the same amounts of food. The study revealed that the inflammatory subtype appears to result from epigenetic changes triggered by pure chance. They also found that there seems to be no middle groundthe genetically identical sibling mice either grew to a larger size or remained smaller, with no gradient between them. A similar pattern was seen in data from more than 150 human twin pairs, each of whom were virtually the same genetically.

"Our findings in the lab almost carbon copied the human twin data. We again saw two distinct subtypes of obesity, one of which appeared to be epigenetically 'triggerable,' and was marked by higher lean mass and higher fat, high inflammatory signals, high insulin levels, and a strong epigenetic signature," Pospisilik said.

Depending on the calculation and traits in question, only 30%50% of human trait outcomes can be linked to genetics or environmental influences. That means as much as half of who we are is governed by something else. This phenomenon is called unexplained phenotypic variation (UPV) and it offers both a challenge and untapped potential to scientists like Pospisilik and his collaborators.

The study indicates that the roots of UPV likely lie in epigenetics, the processes that govern when and to what extent the instructions in DNA are used. Epigenetic mechanisms are the reason that individuals with the same genetic instruction manual, such as twins, may grow to have different traits, such as eye color and hair color. Epigenetics also offer tantalizing targets for precision treatment.

"This unexplained variation is difficult to study but the payoff of a deeper understanding is immense," Pospisilik said. "Epigenetics can act like a light switch that flips genes 'on' or 'off,' which can promote health or, when things go wrong, disease. Accounting for UPV doesn't exist in precision medicine right now, but it looks like it could be half the puzzle. Today's findings underscore the power of recognizing these subtle differences between people to guide more precise ways to treat disease."

Pospisilik is hopeful that the team's findings will inform development of future precision medicine strategies and lead to a version of their method that may be used in doctors' offices to better understand individual patients' health and inform care.

Explore further Epigenetics drives weight differences between identical twins

More information: Andrew Pospisilik, Independent phenotypic plasticity axes define distinct obesity sub-types, Nature Metabolism (2022). Journal information: Nature Metabolism Andrew Pospisilik, Independent phenotypic plasticity axes define distinct obesity sub-types,(2022). DOI: 10.1038/s42255-022-00629-2
The online software. Credit: Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III (F.S.P.)

Scientists at the CNIC and Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro in Majadahonda have developed a software application that predicts the likelihood that a case of dilated cardiomyopathy is caused by a genetic mutation. The research was carried out in collaboration with hospitals in Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands. The findings, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, will allow physicians to adjust the treatment of dilated cardiomyopathy patients appropriately and to identify family members who have also inherited the disease. The software application is available online.

Dilated cardiomyopathy is the most frequent cause of heart failure in young people and the main indication for heart transplantation in the world. The disease is characterized by enlargement of the heart accompanied by a decline in its capacity to pump blood, and patients with this condition are at high risk of arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death.

In approximately 30% of patients with dilated cardiomyopathy, the disease arises as a consequence of a heritable genetic mutation. Knowing that a patient's disease has a genetic cause allows physicians to adjust treatment appropriately and to identify other family members who have also inherited the disease.

Nevertheless, in many places in the world, dilated cardiomyopathy patients do not undergo routine genetic screening due to the considerable cost of this procedure, which gives a positive result in only one in every three patients.

The new study was led by cardiologist Dr. Pablo Garcia-Pavia of Hospital Puerta de Hierro, who is also a research scientist at the CNIC and in the Spanish cardiovascular research network (CIBERCV). The study analyzed the clinical characteristics, electrocardiograms, and echocardiography data of a group of 1,015 dilated cardiomyopathy patients who underwent genetic screening at 20 Spanish hospitals.

The results identified five parameters that were more frequent in patients in whom the disease was caused by a genetic mutation.

The combined scoring of these five parameters in a software application, called the Madrid Genotype Score, allows the classification of patients according to the likelihood that their disease has an origin in a heritable genetic mutation. First author Dr. Luis Escobar explained that "among patients positive for most of these parameters, the disease was more likely to have a genetic cause, whereas among patients negative for the parameters or positive for only one or two, the probability was lower. A genetic cause was found in only 2% of patients negative for all five parameters."

The researcher team verified the predictive ability of the tool in an independent group of 1,097 dilated cardiomyopathy patients from Italy and the Netherlands.

Explore further Study finds higher risk in families of Black patients with inherited heart muscle disease

Provided by Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III (F.S.P.)
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Caregivers are particularly important during a public health crisis. Now, researchers from Japan have found that caregivers working in nursing homes experienced high levels of psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a study recently published in Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, researchers from the University of Tsukuba have revealed that caregivers working in nursing homes in Japan experienced high levels of stress during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as an increased risk of depression and anxiety.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, nursing homes have been particularly vulnerable to outbreaks of the virus. Caregivers working in such environments have been faced with the exceptional challenge of attempting to keep their clients safe while also protecting themselves from illness.

As a result, many health care workers have experienced psychological distress and concern regarding the potential deterioration of their mental health. However, little is known about the factors that have influenced mental health in this population, which the researchers at the University of Tsukuba aimed to address.

"The support needs of caregivers can vary according to a number of variables," says lead author Professor Tetsuaki Arai. "Because the COVID-19 pandemic has created a particularly challenging workplace environment for caregivers in nursing homes, we decided to examine the factors that have influenced mental health in these workers."

To do this, the researchers conducted a large-scale web-based survey of caregivers working in nursing homes in Ibaraki prefecture, Japan, during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to collecting demographic information, detailed workplace characteristics, and indices of prejudice and discrimination towards health care workers, they assessed depression and anxiety using a self-administered rating scale for hospital workers.

"The results were illuminating," explains senior author Dr. Takumi Takahashi. "We found symptoms of depression or anxiety in more than half of the participants."

Furthermore, the rate of anxiety was associated with specific occupation, and the risk of anxiety and depression in the workers increased when there were mental health problems among family members who also cared for the residents of the nursing home. Added to this, restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, such as limitations on travel and reduced support services, were related to increased neuropsychiatric symptoms in nursing home residents with dementia.

Additionally, patients with dementia have been found to have lower comprehension regarding safety initiatives such as social distancing and wearing of facemasks. These factors likely added to the burden of care for health care workers in nursing homes.

"Our findings indicate that caregivers in nursing homes did not receive adequate support despite the significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patient needs," says Professor Arai.

Thus, these survey results highlight the necessity of specialized support for health workers to adequately prepare them for times of high patient needs.

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

More information: Takumi Takahashi et al, Mental Health of Caregivers Working in Nursing Homes during the COVID-19 Pandemic, Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders (2022). Takumi Takahashi et al, Mental Health of Caregivers Working in Nursing Homes during the COVID-19 Pandemic,(2022). DOI: 10.1159/000524953
DETROIT (AP)  The chief justice of the Michigan Supreme Court said Monday she will step down by the end of 2022, an announcement that followed a major decision affecting abortion rights and more than two years of steering the state's judiciary through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bridget McCormack, a Democratic Party nominee, has been on the court since 2013 and still had six years left in her second term.

After a decade, the time has come for me to move on, to let others lead, and to build on a foundation of progress, McCormack, 56, said in a written statement.

She said she would resign no earlier than Nov. 22 and no later than Dec. 31. The timing will depend on the appointment of her successor. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she will pick a new justice, apparently no matter the results of the Nov. 8 election.

Whitmer, a Democrat seeking reelection, called McCormack a phenomenal public servant.

Election victories by McCormack and Justice Elizabeth Welch in 2020 put Democrats in the courts majority for the first time since 2010. Those wins came shortly after a Republican majority struck down Whitmer's sweeping authority to manage Michigan's response to the pandemic.

McCormack last week was in the 5-2 majority that put abortion rights on the November ballot. Republican members of a state elections board had rejected the proposed constitutional amendment over the spacing of words on the petition, which had attracted more than 750,000 signatures.

What a sad marker of the times, said McCormack, who called it a game of gotcha gone very bad.

Before her election in 2012, she was co-director of the Innocence Clinic at University of Michigan law school, working with students to exonerate wrongly convicted people.

Indeed, criminal law has been a specialty. In June, she wrote the court's unanimous opinion that indictments used to charge former Republican Gov. Rick Snyder and others in the Flint water investigation were invalid.

McCormack has been chief justice since 2019, a role that is decided by the courts seven members. In that job, she has left her mark across the state, especially during the pandemic, when courtrooms were closed and judges turned to video conferencing to handle cases.

The public suddenly could turn to the internet to watch cases in local courts. Video access is still available in many courts.

Before the pandemic, the state Supreme Court ordered all Michigan courts to allow visitors to carry laptops, tablets and phones. Some counties complained they would lose revenue if people could copy public documents with their devices. But McCormack said the change ensures the doors to our courts are open to all, especially poor people who had to stash a phone in bushes before entering some courts.

Justice Elizabeth Clement, a Republican, said McCormack has been independent and fair.

"In a world that has become increasing partisan and angry, she is a voice of reason, compassion and thoughtfulness, Clement said.

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MONDAY, Sept. 12, 2022 (HealthDay News)  New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has declared a state emergency after finding evidence of continued community spread of poliovirus.

Public health officials have detected the virus in a fourth county, Nassau in Long Island, which follows cases detected in Rockland, Orange and Sullivan counties.

That sample was linked genetically to the first Rockland County case, which suggests more community spread. The Nassau County case was found in a sample collected last month.

The emergency declaration will allow EMS workers, midwives and pharmacists to administer polio vaccines. Doctors can also issue standing orders for the vaccine.

"On polio, we simply cannot roll the dice," said state Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett in a statement on the latest sample. "If you or your child are unvaccinated or not up to date with vaccinations, the risk of paralytic disease is real. I urge New Yorkers to not accept any risk at all."

It is possible that hundreds of New Yorkers have had polio, without realizing it, because most people have no symptoms. However, they can still spread the virus while asymptomatic.

In the one confirmed polio case, the young man was not vaccinated, CBS News reported.

The state will focus vaccination efforts where they are most needed. Vaccination rates statewide are 79%, but lower in the affected counties of Rockland, Orange and Sullivan, state health official said.

More information

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

SOURCE: CBS News
MONDAY, Sept. 12, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- A frequently used screening test for autism creates a gender gap that could hinder diagnosis and treatment for women and girls, a new study suggests.

Researchers who study autism have been working to include more women and girls in their studies in recent years. Still, the majority of these studies consistently include few or no female participants, the report authors said.

Why? They found that a screening test often used to decide who can take part in autism studies seems to exclude a much higher percentage of women than men.

"I think the findings favor having a more inclusive approach and widening the lens to end up being less biased in terms of who participates in research," said senior study author John Gabrieli. He's a professor of brain and cognitive sciences at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"The more we understand autism in men and women and nonbinary individuals, the better services and more accurate diagnoses we can provide," Gabrieli said in a university news release.

Diagnosis of autism is made based on things like repetitive behaviors and trouble with language and social interactions. Screening tests can help doctors figure out what's wrong, but they are not required to use them.

But autism studies typically use a screening test called the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) to decide who can take part in the research. This test measures social interaction, communication and repetitive behaviors. It gives a numerical score in each category, and only people who get a certain score can be included in studies.

With this latest research, lead study author Anila D'Mello, a former MIT postdoc researcher who is now an assistant professor at the University of Texas Southwestern, started to notice the test seemed to have different effects on men's and women's participation in research.

To learn more about these differences, D'Mello used an MIT database of autistic adults who have said they want to take part in studies, to try to find more female participants. But when she went through the subjects, she found that only about half of the women in the database met the test cutoff scores, while 80% of the men did.

"We were really surprised at how many males we retained and how many females we lost to the ADOS [test]," D'Mello said in the release.

The researchers then looked at more than 40,000 adults who had been diagnosed with autism in six public datasets, to see if this was a more common occurrence.

They found that the ratio of male to female participants in datasets that required ADOS screening was around 8:1. In datasets that only required an observational diagnosis, the ratio was between 2:1 and 1:1.

The findings were published recently in the journal Autism Research.

"The way we think about it is that the field evolved perhaps an implicit bias in how autism is defined, and it was driven disproportionately by analysis of males, and recruitment of males, and so on," Gabrieli said. "So, the definition doesn't fit as well, on average, with the different expression of autism that seems to be more common in females."

"Many females might be missed altogether in terms of diagnoses, and then our study shows that in the research setting, what is already a small pool gets whittled down at a much larger rate than that of males," D'Mello said.

"The goal is that research should directly inform treatment, therapies, and public perception," D'Mello said. "If the research is saying that there aren't females with autism, or that the brain basis of autism only looks like the patterns established in males, then you're not really helping females as much as you could be, and you're not really getting at the truth of what the disorder might be."

More information

SOURCE: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, news release, Sept. 8, 2022

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A Missoula man is in custody after police arrested him on suspicion of attacking and attempting to sexually assault and kidnap a woman in downtown Missoula in August.

Cole L. Levine, 23, is charged with three felonies: attempted kidnapping, attempted sexual intercourse without consent and aggravated assault causing reasonable apprehension. He is also facing one misdemeanor charge: criminal destruction of or tampering with a communication device.

On Aug. 18, Missoula police got a call just after 2 a.m. reporting a woman was assaulted near West Broadway Street and Higgins Avenue. The caller said the suspect ran on foot, according to charging documents filed in Missoula County on Friday.

Police spoke with two witnesses. They recalled walking north on Ryman Street when they heard a womans voice scream out please help me, charging documents state. They described seeing a man attacking a woman in an alley.

One of the witnesses yelled at the suspect, who pushed the woman to the ground, took the survivors phone and started to run, charging documents allege. The witness said Levine was fast but they were able to get a physical description of him.

Levine dropped his phone in the alley during the alleged attack. One of the witnesses recovered it and gave it to officers.

When they reviewed the phone, police determined it belonged to Cole Larson Levine, a New Mexico resident. Law enforcement also noticed the phone received two texts from out-of-state numbers. One message inquired if the phones owner needed their services.

A detective determined the texts were from escort services.

Police got information reporting Levines mother was staying at a local hotel in Missoula. They found a note in the hotel file stating she was in town to get her son moved into the University of Montana, according to charging documents. When they spoke with her, she reportedly said her son recently lost a phone.

UM spokesperson Dave Kuntz said as of Monday afternoon, Levine was no longer a registered UM student.

Police contacted the survivor, who was interviewed on Aug. 25. The woman told investigators she was downtown on Aug. 17. She left one bar to head to the next when she encountered two men, one of which was Levine, at the 300 block of Ryman street.

She was approached by the suspect and said she remembered maybe seeing him at a bar earlier in the evening.

Levine started abruptly engaging with her verbally and then forced himself on her, she told detectives. As she resisted, Levine became more forceful and drug her from the sidewalk into the alley, charging documents state. He tried to persuade her to go with him  she declined multiple times. The survivor also reported he exposed his genitals to her.

She eventually ended up on the ground when Levine allegedly squeezed her neck with his hands. When she again declined his advances, he tightened his grip on her throat and she started having trouble breathing, charging documents state.

As she tried to run away and call 911, charging documents state Levine chased, grabbed and tripped her and took her phone. Levine's phone then fell onto the ground, she told police.

She stated at some point during the incident, the suspect touched her genital area, but did not penetrate it. It was obvious to her that his intent was to sexually assault her, charging documents read.

Missoula police got a tip on Friday that Levine was looking to flee the country, specifically to a country that doesnt have extradition with the United States. Levine was booked into the Missoula jail on Friday evening. He has not made an initial appearance in court yet.

The Missoula County Attorneys Office asked bail be set at $200,000.
Air quality in Missoula ranked among the worst in the U.S. on Monday, with wildfire smoke locally and from around the region inundating the Missoula and Bitterroot valleys.

The smoke-choked skies also represented the worst air quality in the area so far this year, but conditions could improve somewhat after Tuesday.

Around noon Monday, air in Hamilton registered 243 on the 500-point Air Quality Index, down from a high of 308 at 9 a.m. The noon measurement placed Bitterroot Valley air in the "very unhealthy" category, according to the U.S. Air Quality Index, meaning that it was a health risk to everyone. The morning's measurement of 308 crossed into the "hazardous" category indicating "health warning of emergency conditions: everyone is more likely to be affected." Hamilton's AQI values had been hovering around 170 on Sunday afternoon.

Air quality in Missoula was only slightly better. At noon Monday, air in town measured 169  solidly within the "unhealthy" category and relatively unchanged since about 6 p.m. Sunday. Air quality earlier Sunday was down into the less severe "unhealthy for sensitive groups" category.

"It's definitely the worst we've seen so far in our area, in Missoula and Ravalli counties," Sarah Coefield, an air quality specialist with Missoula City-County Health Department, said on Monday. "This is as bad as it's gotten all year."

Coefield said that people should stay indoors as much as possible when air is this unhealthy, and that people who go outside should wear a well-fitting N95 mask, which offers significantly more protection from smoke than a cloth or surgical mask. Indoors, it's "important for folks to be able to clean their air," whether it's through a HEPA filter in a closed room, or via a well-maintained ventilation system in larger public and commercial buildings.

The air quality caused Missoula County Public Schools to cancel outdoor competitions scheduled for Monday afternoon and many athletic practices were moved indoors as space was available. Additionally, recesses throughout the district were moved inside while the air quality is in the "unhealthy" category.

"We will continue monitoring air quality updates from the health department, and will expect to make decisions about practices and competitions as early in the day as possible going forward," said Tyler Christensen, the district's communications specialist.

Smoke from everywhere

The smoke clogging the region right now is from "everywhere," Coefield said.

Unlike other hazy periods in Missoula's relatively smoke-free summer before September, smoky air now is less a result of being situated immediately downwind of a large fire and more because atmospheric conditions are trapping local and regional smoke in valleys.

"Right now we're being impacted by really kind of a mixture," she said, "a mixture of smoke from throughout the region. People who are right next to an active burning fire can be really confident where their smoke is coming from."

That's the case in the Bitterroot, where the Trail Ridge fire east of Sula and a slew of fires pockmarking the Bitterroot Range and central Idaho have sent smoke spilling down into the valley. But there and around Missoula, some of the smoke is also from other fires burning across Washington, Oregon, northern California, Idaho and far-western Montana.

"Everything looks like a blur on the satellite, there's no real plume we can point to," Coefield said, describing a "blob of smoke" parked over the area.

A high-pressure ridge over the region is trapping that smoke in valleys, and a seasonal shift to cooler nights and shorter days is making smoke-trapping inversions more pronounced, according to Coefield and Travis Booth, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Missoula.

"With high pressure, you have a general subsiding of air," Booth said on Monday. "It tends to put a lid on things so there's not much mixing between the surface and the free atmosphere."

That means that smoke in the area "can't really go anywhere," Coefield said.

The sunlight-blocking smoke exacerbates a normal seasonal phenomenon of cool nights, short days and low sun angle, creating a positive-feedback cycle in which smoky conditions create longer, more robust inversions, which then trap more smoke and perpetuate a cycle of increasingly smoky conditions. Smoke allows long-wave radiation to leave the ground at night and travel up into the atmosphere, making for cool autumn nights, Booth said. But it blocks short-wave radiation from sunlight that helps heat surface air during the day and could break an inversion.

Some relief in sight

Western Montana had a brief respite from smoke on Friday and early Saturday, when an uncharacteristic "backdoor front" of cold air moved in from the east, over the Continental Divide, and pushed smoke back over Idaho to the west. But "it wasn't a strong enough push," Booth said, and cool, clear-skied Saturday morning soon gave way to thick smoke.

A different phenomenon could bring relief as soon as Tuesday evening. Coefield and Booth cited a flow of air from the west and southwest that could bump the high-pressure ridge eastward and facilitate some atmospheric mixing.

"It's not something that'll clean the valley out very well," Booth said, but midweek thunderstorms could create additional smoke-clearing air movement.

If the inversion-trapped smoke clears out Wednesday, Coefield said, "then our main issue will go back to being which fire are we downwind from and how active is that fire."

"The overhead winds are still going to be from the direction of all the active fires in Idaho and Oregon over the next couple days," she said, "so it really depends on what those fires do."

The good news long term, Coefield said, is that winter is on its way: "Winter is coming. The fall precipitation will get here eventually, the nights will get cold enough that the fires will slow down. It's bad, but it's not going to be bad forever."
PHOENIX (AP)  A New York woman has been sentenced to four months in prison for interfering with crew members aboard a flight from Dallas to Los Angeles last year that had to be diverted to Phoenix, according to federal prosecutors.

They said Kelly Pichardo and another first-class passenger engaged in intimidating behavior on the flight and both women had to be removed from the plane after it landed at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Feb. 24, 2021.

Authorities said the women each assaulted a passenger during the flight and used racial slurs when a male passenger asked them to stop.

Pichardo also allegedly spit at the man when he tried to record the altercation.

The case was investigated by the FBI and Phoenix police and the two women were indicted for disorderly conduct for verbally and physically assaulting other customers and flight crew members.

Prosecutors said Pichardo, a 32-year-old resident of the Bronx, has been ordered to pay nearly $9,200 restitution to American Airlines as a result of the altercation.

They say Pichardo also will serve three years of supervised release following her prison sentence.

The other female passenger involved in the incident has pleaded guilty and will be sentenced in November.
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK  Rain, then marble-sized hail pelted the silver surface of Slough Creek, water splashing into the cool mountain air.

I hid under two fir trees that had grown close together.

This was the second storm of the day, and Id already changed out of my wet clothes to dry ones that were now in danger of also getting soaked.

How long would this downpour last?

I eyed the nearby metal bear boxes, used to store food and coolers in campgrounds, as a possible dry spot to wait out the storm. What if the wind blew the doors shut and I was stuck? That would be embarrassing, or possibly fatal if the sun came out. A self-induced sweat box.

The nearby latrine was another possible dry spot, but who wants to hide in an outhouse? Better to get wet.

So I stood tall, with my back to the tree and camera sheltered under my jacket, letting the hail pellets bounce off my shoulders. My Achilles tendon, sore from an earlier hike, kept urging me to sit down, but then more of me would be exposed to the downpour. Better to ache.

It was hard to be happy for the much-needed moisture. I felt selfish for cursing the storm as thunder rumbled up the valley, amplified metallically by the surrounding granite cliffs.

The air was tainted with the campfire smell of wildfire smoke that drifted into the mountains overnight, providing a gauzy appearance to distant views and charring my throat as I hiked. Walking back to the car through a field, the sharp, welcome smell of freshly wetted sage greeted my nostrils.

Despite the storm and sore tendon, Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022, was another perfect day in the nations first national park.

Its hard to imagine what would constitute a bad day in Yellowstone, possibly a grizzly mauling or bison goring. But those are relatively rare, and often self-inflicted. For the most part, even on sub-zero cold winter days, Yellowstone is a wild wonder to behold, as unique, beautiful and ever-changing as a childs expressions.

For me, growing up with Yellowstone as a neighbor, the park is also an old friend. Ive played in, worked, lived in and visited the park for six decades. I even met my wife there.

The landscape and its inhabitants are always good to reconnect with, no matter how long weve been separated. Hello old mountain, in your gray, green and beige suit, I say to myself, thinking of the story Goodnight Moon I used to read and reread to my children. Good morning Lamar River, ever churning, your rushing hiss music for my spirit.

The days other music came from Yellowstones wildlife. A bugling, six-point bull elk stalked his harem around old Fort Yellowstones grounds, challenging megaphoned park rangers to herd curious tourist to safe distances. The elk bugle is unlike most other sounds in the wild, one my colleague said would sound like a banshee if you didnt know where it was coming from.

Down the road near the Wraith Falls trailhead, bunches of bison grazed as bellowing bulls paced among the females looking for mates. Bellow doesnt really do the bulls sound justice. Its closer to an African lions roar, deep and threatening, especially given the size of the bulls. One bull raked his horns threateningly on a pine tree, showing off for nearby females like a chiseled WWF wrestler before jumping into the ring.

The piercing cry of an osprey and then a hawk offered the days other pleasant melodies as they circled overhead.

Leaving the park I always feel physically exhausted  feet aching, lower back sore  but spiritually rejuvenated and light-hearted. Its a strange mixture, a Yellowstone yin and yang. I cant wait to return to discover what new things, and old, Yellowstone will reveal next.
The Days Inn & Suites on Burkemont Avenue in Morganton is now a SureStay Hotel by Best Western.

The SureStay Hotel by Best Western Morganton has opened its doors in Morganton and invites travelers to experience one of the newest hotel brands in the industry  theSureStay Hotel Group, comprised of four distinctive brands offering traditional and longer stay travelers comfort and value while away from home.

Located at 1100 Burkemont Ave., the hotel features 43 guest rooms, including two suites, each complete with a flat-screen television, mini fridge and microwave. The SureStay Hotel by Best Western Morganton also offers a 24-hour fitness center, guest laundry facilities, complimentary continental breakfast and free wireless internet.

The SureStay Hotel by Best Western Morganton will provide guests with a remarkable experience they can count on, and amenities that todays travelers have come to expect. SureStays service promise reflects the brand and the hotels commitment to providing quality service and value to its guests.

We are pleased to welcome the SureStay Hotel by Best Western Morganton to our rapidly growing portfolio of hotels across the country, said Rob Mentnech, managing director of SureStay Hotel Group. We believe guests will enjoy this propertys convenient location and that it will be an affordable, quality lodging option for travelers to this area for many years to come.

The SureStay Hotel by Best Western Morganton is just outside the Blue Ridge and Black Mountains off Interstate 40 and is only a short drive to downtown Morganton. It is ideal for outdoor enthusiasts, situated just 19 minutes away from Lake James and 25 minutes from South Mountains State Park, a great spot for hiking and mountain biking. The hotel is also conveniently near a variety of local breweries and wineries including Fonta Flora Brewery, Catawba Brewing Co. and Silver Fork Winery, as well as other top attractions like the Catawba River Greenway and the History Museum of Burke County.

SureStay has developed an award-winning reputation for its exceptional service, comfort and value, and we are proud to be among its newest hotels, said Brij Sanjariya, general manager of the SureStay Hotel by Best Western Morganton. Whether traveling for business or leisure, we know guests of our hotel will appreciate our complimentary amenities and we welcome them to be sure about their stay with us.

To view the hotel, its rooms and rates, visit https://bit.ly/3ew0RZg.

Reservations can be booked by calling 800-780-7234 or by visiting BestWestern.com.

Best Western Hotels & Resorts headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, is a privately held hotel brand within the BWH Hotel Group global network.

With 18 brands and approximately 4,500 hotels in over 100 countries and territories worldwide*, BWH Hotel Group suits the needs of developers and guests in every market. Brands include Best Western, Best Western Plus, Best Western Premie, Executive Residency by Best Western,Vib, GLo, Aiden, Sadie, BW Premier Collection and BW Signature Collection.

Through acquisition, WorldHotelsTM Luxury,WorldHotels Elite, WorldHotels Distinctive and WorldHotels Crafted collections are also offered. Completing the portfolio is SureStay, SureStay Plus,SureStay Collection and SureStay Studiofranchises. For more information visit www.bestwestern.com, www.bestwesterndevelopers.com, www.worldhotels.com andwww.surestay.com.
Fair president declares event a success

The 22nd annual Burke County Fair, which closed Saturday night with a record crowd, was pronounced successful by Johnny Clark, fair president.

Except for opening night last Tuesday, good weather prevailed all week, and the fair had good attendance every night.

We had the largest crowd Saturday night weve ever had since the beginning of the fair 22 years ago, and we had the largest take at the gate, Clark said. I want to thank all those who had exhibits and entries in the fair, to the many people who worked with us in putting on the fair and to the many citizens who took time out to come to the fair.

Addition planned for shopping center

Plans were announced today for a major addition to the Wes-Mor Shopping Center in Morganton to be occupied by Masons, a discount store which has locations throughout the southeastern U.S.

Sponsored by J.C. Faw of North Wilkesboro, who originated the Wes-Mor center in the western part of Morganton near the West Union crossroads, plans call for construction of a 50,000-square-foot addition to be leased to Masons Salisbury Inc., a subsidiary of the M.H. Fishman Company.

The addition will increase the total size of the Wes-Mor Shopping Center to 100,000-square-feet. The total cost of the project will cost more than $650,000. Details of the construction plans are expected to be revealed soon.

Officials break ground on rec center addition

Morganton Mayor Paul Cash shoveled the first spade of dirt as ground was broken Wednesday for the addition to the Mountain View Recreation Center in Morganton.

Construction will begin Monday and is expected to take nine months to complete. The 11,500-square-foot addition will include a gymtorium, two additional meeting rooms, more office space, new restroom facilities and will provide a new entrance and lobby to the building. Renovation to the current building will include making more office space and a conference room, improving the interior and painting.

The project will cost about $202,000, with two-thirds funded through a U.S. Housing and Urban Development Community Facilities Grant.

Three students finalists in scholarship competition

Three Burke County high school students have been named semifinalists in the 1973 National Merit Scholarship competition.

The students are Kathryn Elizabeth Shoemaker and David Beam, both seniors at Morganton High School, and Susan Elizabeth Wellman, a senior at Salem High School. Shoemaker is a member of the Anchor Club, National Honor Society, French Club and American Field Service chapter, and volunteers at the Western Carolina Center. She plans to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and major in sociology and psychology. Beam is president of the Latin Club and member of the Student Government Association and school newspaper staff. He hopes to obtain an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. Wellman is a member of the Beta, French, Library and Pep clubs and maintains a 4.0 grade-point average. She plans to attend college and major in biology.

The approximately 15,000 semifinalists in the competition are among the nations most academically talented high school students. They will compete for some 3,000 Merit Scholarships to be awarded in 1973.

Among us Morgantonians: J. Gordon Queen

Well, the Burke County Fair has come and went. So far as we can tell, the fair was a success. The fair is listed among 10 county fairs in North Carolina and is worthy of our support. There are many community fairs in the state, but not very many county fairs, so lets get behind the Burke County Fair and make it one of the very best in the state.

Jim Ingle, head of the Ingle Developments Inc., has a permit to build a new residence on Bethel Road. Jim tells us that 44 houses are being built on the subdivision, and plans are in the making for a total of 105 later. Wow! Wont that be a boon to the housing shortage in the city? Four or five new streets have been laid out in the subdivision. The area was out in the country only a few years ago, but now it is becoming a thriving section of this city, which behooves us to continue saying, Morganton will grow whether we like it or not.
One of the finest hotels in the world, One of the greatest social gatherings ever held in the Northwest.

The grand opening of the Montana Hotel in Anaconda on July 1, 1889 was praised loudly by the Butte Miner, which reported a thousand guests at the reception, banquet, and ball associated with the opening. Special trains were run from Butte and Helena to carry the revelers to Anaconda.

The women were dressed in European styles in bewildering variety, including Marie Antoinette and Pompadour fashion. For example, Mrs. Siegel was clad in an elegant costume of silver and white faille Francaise, with silver and steel passementerie, representative of the silver interests of Butte; decollete bodice and superb diamonds. And she was just one of 131 ladies whose dresses were described by the Miners correspondent.

But William Clarks Butte Miner newspaper did not mention that the grand new hotel was owned by Marcus Daly, and Dalys newspaper, the Anaconda Standard, didnt begin publication until the following September.

Technically, the hotel was owned by a corporation, the Montana Hotel Association. But Marcus Daly was its president and his friends William L. Hoge, banker and Anacondas first mayor, and W.M. Thornton, also a banker and Dalys partner in many ventures, were vice-president and secretary-treasurer, respectively.

Daly spent $200,000 on the building and $60,000 more on the furnishings, easily at least $8 million in todays dollars. The woodwork was red oak and imported mahogany, and the hotel was staffed by nearly 100 waiters, bellboys, chambermaids, kitchen workers, and others, but they rarely served many people during Dalys years. The lodging rate, $3.50 a night when miners in Butte and smeltermen in Anaconda could get a weeks room and board for $7, made the Montana Hotel the playground of the rich. Often enough, the 500-seat dining room catered only to Daly himself or Daly and a guest.

All 185 rooms had outside exposure, and many had their own fireplaces. The hotel boasted of its running water, steam heat, fire alarms, and electricity.

The huge lavish building, 120 feet square, was designed by Butte architect D. F. McDevitt, assisted by W.W. Boyington of Chicago. The hotel was electrified from the start and the open spaces all had sparkling chandeliers. Butte painter Charles Schatzlein did the general decorating and painting, but Daly commissioned an artist named Newcomb from New York to create a hardwood inlay in the barroom floor portraying Dalys favorite racehorse, Tammany. The thousand-piece execution cost $3,000.

The hotel was renamed the Marcus Daly Hotel in 1962 and closed in 1976, after which time the top two floors were removed. It is now owned by the Anaconda Restoration Association which has plans to restore it.
It may be hard to comprehend, but the historic flooding in June that wiped out roads, bridges and buildings in Yellowstone National Park, prompting its temporary closure, could have been even worse.

Floodwaters swept down Soda Butte Creek from tributaries in the Beartooth Mountains, gouging out boulders, trees and soil in a gushing torrent. Entering the park near the Northeast Entrance, the creek is one of the main arteries of the Lamar River, which joins the Yellowstone River roughly 11 miles downstream.

Had it not been for past reclamation work at historic mine and mill sites in the Cooke City area, the flood waters could have swept tons of heavy metals and acidic mine waters into the Lamar and Yellowstone rivers. That did occur, on a small scale, in June 1950 when the old McLaren Mill Sites tailings dam was partially breached in a series of rainstorms and floods.

What that tailings pond would have been like in 1950 was just a big soggy, solid jelly-like mass of fine-grained mine waste, and when the dam failed that stuff would have poured out of there in a really concentrated form, said Grant Meyer, who wrote his 1993 doctoral dissertation on Soda Butte Creeks mine tailings contamination.

The 1950 flood deposited a slurry of mine tailings and contaminated water up to 15 miles down the flood plain where it could be carried away by downpours like this years. Even though the 1950 flood was small, Meyer said the pollution impact was large. A five-mile segment of Soda Butte Creek was eventually added to Montanas list of impaired waters due to elevated levels of copper, iron, lead and manganese. Fish couldnt survive in the toxic water, parts of which glowed orange with oxidized iron deposits.

The reason Im emphasizing this is that this isnt something that just happened in the bad old days when we didnt have good environmental regulations, Meyer said. Its going on frequently all over the world, every year, including in the United States. There are failures of these mine waste impoundments that are still causing massive pollution.

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality estimates that 7,000 abandoned mines exist statewide.

Not every waterway has a coalition as vocal and strong as Yellowstone National Parks, Meyer noted.

It really took national attention for that (cleanup) to happen, he said.

Forest

More than two decades ago, MaryBeth Marks, a retired Custer Gallatin National Forest geologist, oversaw the New World Mining District reclamation project for the Forest Service. The $23 million venture sealed 27 mine adits, capped tailings piles and revegetated denuded mountainsides and roads. About 430,000 cubic yards of mine waste was removed. The mining district, located at elevations from 7,900 to 10,400 feet, covered 25,600 acres.

The work began in 1999 and continued through 2010 across a large area upstream from Soda Butte Creek.

One of the biggest things we did in the reclamation work, that certainly would be positive for any floods, was removing contaminated material from the landscape and consolidating it into a waste repository, in an area that was secure, Marks said. The intent of that repository was to be low maintenance, to be in an area not affected by stream erosion or other natural factors.

The other remediation the Forest Service oversaw was to regrade, revegetate and add clean cover soil at old mining areas, ensuring the new ground was stable and less subject to erosion, she added.

Mill site

Downstream from the forest work, just east of Cooke City, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality oversaw a $20 million project to remove almost 200,000 cubic yards of tailings from the 10-acre McLaren Mill site, treating a million gallons of tainted groundwater in the process. The work, which also included rebuilding sections of Miller and Soda Butte creeks, was completed in 2014.

Prior to that, the poorly constructed dam at the McLaren Mill site had leaked metals-laden water into Soda Butte Creek for decades, effectively wiping out most aquatic life immediately downstream. Due to the pollution that Meyer analyzed in his study, the creek was the only Clean Water Act-impaired stream entering Yellowstone National Park.

Bill Snoddy, Abandoned Mine Lands Section supervisor for DEQ, said he doesnt think the old dam would have survived this springs flood. Had the state work not been done, all of those tailings would have ended up sprawled across Yellowstone National Parks Lamar Valley, a popular place for tourists to watch bison, wolves and grizzly bears.

It would have been an ecological disaster of almost biblical proportions, Snoddy said. The work proactively saved Soda Butte Creek and the Lamar Valley from real serious problems. Imagine liquefying all those fines and washing them downstream. It would have been terrible.

Snoddy said thats why the Abandoned Mine Lands Section is around, to deal with such problems. As a result of the state and federal governments work in the Cooke City area, Soda Butte Creek was the first in Montana to be delisted from the impaired water bodies listing. Snoddy pointed to other projects cleaning up old coal mining waste in Belt and Roundup as other examples of the departments achievements.

The list of these successes go on and on, he added, pointing to elimination of coal seam fires and even a Butte homeowners loss of their backyard to a mine cave in as other examples. Without the AML program, none of that could have happened.

Environmental fight

Mike Clark, retired executive director of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, was on the front lines of the fight that eventually led to the mining clean-up. The battle began when Crown Butte Mining proposed reopening old mines in the area in the 1990s. Due to public opposition to having a mine operating so close to Yellowstone National Park, and on the edge of the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, the federal government signed an agreement to buy out Crown Butte in a deal that included the company paying to clean up the area.

My sense is those two separate incidents  the landfill on Henderson Mountain and the McLaren pit cleanup  probably prevented a disaster, Clark said.

Climate change is driving more unpredictable weather across the world, Clark noted, as evidenced by this summers deadly floods in Kentucky and Pakistan, along with extended drought across the West.

I think were going to see more incidents like this, he predicted.

A climate assessment for the Yellowstone region, released last year, forecasts more extreme climate events as the planet warms, including floods like the one that swept through Yellowstone.

Its very much getting worse, Kim Cobb, director of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, told the New York Times.

The Yellowstone flood was caused by an atmospheric river parking over mountains laden with late spring snow. Rain on snow caused quick, heavy runoff.

Snow

Conversely, the snow also protected higher elevations from erosion, said Annica Brown, a geologist with the Custer Gallatin National Forest. In inspecting the area around Cooke City in July, the only place that had been remediated where she saw flood damage was close to the old Great Republic lead smelter near Woody Creek. In 2005, contaminated soil was removed and the site recovered. Brown is also overseeing the long-term monitoring of revegetation projects in the area, as well as continued sampling of surface and ground water.

Erosion is the way of the world with these high mountains, Marks said. The key to solid reclamation work is to have stable landforms in place.

Last year Louisa Willcox, a Livingston conservationist, helped organize a gathering celebrating the 25th anniversary of the government buyout of Crown Butte Mining. The mine, if it had been authorized, would have included an 80-acre tailings pond to hold an estimated 5.5 million tons of waste. Because of the threats posed by the mine, in 1995 the World Heritage Committee designated Yellowstone "in danger."

Willcox said she toured the Cooke City area this summer and was impressed with how well the reclamation work had held up following the June flooding, noting wildflowers like columbine were sprouting where the old McLaren tailings pond once sat.

It was a good news story all around, she said.
MUSCATINE  Four Muscatine High School students have received national recognition from the College Board.

Kat Carver, Landon Castle and Shelby OBrien received the National Rural and Small Town Award (NRSTA), while Matthew Martinez received the National Hispanic Recognition Award (NHRA).

I was really happy to learn that I was getting (the NRSTA), Castle said.

It makes me feel good about myself, Martinez said. It also shows that Im capable of doing good academically.

I was a little surprised, OBrien admitted. I didnt expect to get a National Recognition Award, so it feels like a big accomplishment.

Other recognition awards that are available include the National African American Recognition Award and the National Indigenous Recognition Award. Through these programs, College Board hopes to recognize and award academic honors to students who may be underrepresented.

The program is eligible for students who have taken the PSAT/NMSQT, PSAT 10 or AP Exams and who have either scored in the top 10% on the PSAT/NMSQT or PSAT 10 or if they have scored a 3 or higher on two or more distinct AP Exams.

Although these awards do not come with a scholarship, all four students can put this academic honor in their college and scholarship applications as part of their high school achievements.

When asked about their post-secondary plans, Martinez said he hopes to figure out a plan soon. OBrien said she hoped to attend either the University of Iowa or Cornell College, while Castle plans on attending Iowa State University.
In a speech at Rice University, President John F. Kennedy declared: We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not b
Rain has appointed Wipro as its customer support service provider and will outsource its call centre operations to the company from 1 November 2022.

Call centre agents that Rain employs directly will be transferred to Wipro.

Wipro is a New York Stock Exchange-listed company headquartered in Bangalore, India.

Rain currently employs 150 people in Bryanston and 300 spread between offices in Johannesburg and Durban.

MyBroadband learned of the companys plans when several concerned staff members contacted us to express fears about the change.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the staff members said Rain operations chief Conrad Leigh informed them on Tuesday, 6 September that the call centre is being outsourced.

On Monday, the employees said they hadnt received documentation to explain what was happening and feared losing their jobs or having their salaries cut.

Even if they kept their jobs for now, the staff were worried that Wipro would eventually lay them off.

Rain has assured that these fears are unwarranted.

Our team will continue to be based here in South Africa. We have ensured job security for our staff, a spokesperson for the company told MyBroadband.

This new partnership gives us access to global expertise and will bring specialised skills to the Rain customer service team, they said.

As you are aware, customer service is extremely important to Rain, and we have been working hard to improve it over the years.

However, we recognise the value that specialised partners bring in ensuring that rain delivers on its goal to continuously improve its customer service.

Rain said it conducted a thorough tender process and is proud to announce a partnership with Wipro.

Wipro is a global IT and BPO company, which specialises in not just BPO but also technology support with over 30 global centres across the globe, 247000+ employees and over 1400 active clients, the spokesperson said.

Wipro has been in South Africa since 2010, is a BBBEE level 2 contributor, and works with many top South African companies across various industries.

One staff member told MyBroadband they wished Rain would offer them a voluntary retrenchment package, rather than face the uncertainty of what would happen a year after Wipros takeover of the call centre.

Rain said it is not retrenching as it ensured that all staff would keep their jobs.

News of Rains call centre outsourcing comes after staff accused the company last year of pressuring them to move from Johannesburg to Cape Town.

Rain acknowledged that staff members were given the opportunity to move to Cape Town but denied allegations that anyone was pressured.

It also said no Johannesburg staff members would lose their jobs.

MyBroadband asked Rain again if it planned to shut down its Johannesburg offices in light of the Wipro outsourcing, and it responded with a simple no.

Now read: Surprise result in peak mobile data speed breakdown
LOS ANGELES  As California grapples with drought, high heat and persistent wildfires, one state agency is turning to the beaver in its battle against climate change.

The large rodents, according to researchers, are resourceful engineers capable of increasing water storage and creating natural firebreaks with their dams.

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The state Department of Fish and Wildlife recently posted its first job listing for its new beaver restoration unit. The senior environmental scientist will help develop methods for "nature-based restoration solutions involving beavers" and artificial beaver dams.

The scientist will also help update the state's policies on beavers, which in recent decades have been deemed a nuisance rodent responsible for flooding farmlands.

But with streams and rivers heating up or evaporating and wildfires blazing across the state, California is willing to reconsider the beaver's role in the water cycle.

The Department of Fish and Wildlife is willing to bet at least $3 million over the next two years, with the creation of five new jobs meant to oversee a restoration program specifically for the North American beaver. The department did not respond to requests for comment about funding for the new positions, but in a budget proposal to the California Legislature, the agency called beavers an important keystone species that could be used to combat climate change.

"It might be odd, but beavers are an untapped, creative climate solving hero that helps prevent the loss of biodiversity facing California," the Department of Fish and Wildlife wrote in its May proposal.

New signs near Napa Creek celebrate Napa's urban beavers Thanks to a Leadership Napa Valley group, three new signs that provide facts and celebrate Napa's urban beavers can be seen near the Napa Creek footbridge between Coombs Street and Clinton Street.

Kate Lundquist, Water Institute co-director at the nonprofit Occidental Arts and Ecology Center in Sonoma County, called the state's commitment to this beaver program an important shift in how the Golden State views the animal.

"There's been a real watershed moment as we like to say, both literally and figuratively," Lundquist said, owing the quote to her colleagues in the beaver research community. "We feel really excited and hopeful and inspired, and ready to get muddy and start working with the beaver out there in the field, in our communities and wherever they are on the California landscape."

For years, Lundquist and other "beaver believers," as they call themselves, have petitioned the state to integrate beaver restoration into conservation strategies.

From the 1920s through the 1950s, California's Division of Fish and Game, the precursor to the Department of Fish and Wildlife, actively exported beavers to other parts of the state and country so they could build dams in eroded areas where beaver dams could help evenly distribute water.

The budget for the new program promises restoration and relocation efforts.

This opens the possibility for beavers to be reintroduced into watersheds where they once flourished. In places where a beaver population is a nuisance for farmland or fishing streams, it could allow researchers to explore alternatives to getting rid of the dams and beavers, which does not always guarantee that they won't come back, Lundquist said.

Alternative strategies are underused or simply not considered, said Lundquist, who added that landowners could save time and money they spend trying to unblock beaver dams.

In a 2020 study, researchers showed that beaver-dammed corridors were relatively unharmed by wildfires compared with other areas without beaver damming.

Emily Fairfax, study co-author and assistant professor of environmental science and resource management at Cal State Channel Islands, highlighted the difference between two corridors in a drone video posted on social media, which shows one landscape scarred by a recent wildfire in Northern California, while another section of the undeveloped land remains a lush wetland.

"The differences in burn severity, air temperature, humidity, and soil moisture between the beaver complex and the adjacent landscape were huge," Fairfax said.

Her findings show that beavers benefit streams and other wildlife, including fish.

Researchers and advocates understand that while the state is just dipping its toes into the water with the beavers, the new program from the Department Fish and Wildlife makes sense given the last few years of wildfires in California.

"It feels like the fires and drought have really pushed the issue," Fairfax said. "Now we see that people are willing to look at beavers. Because the state has spent so much funding on wildfire prevention measures and seen little results. Now they're asking, 'What haven't we tried?'"
According to information published by CGTN on September 5, 2022, the Turkish Barbaros class frigate Kemalreis docked in Israel's northern port city of Haifa, the first warship to dock in Israel for more than a decade.

Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link

Barbaros class frigate Kemalreis at Haifa port, Israel. (Picture source: Turkish Embassy of Tel Aviv)

TCG Kemalreis (F-247) is a Barbaros-class frigate of the Turkish Navy. Kemalreis was launched on 22 July 1998 by Golcuk Naval Shipyard in Kocaeli and commissioned on 8 June 2000.

Barbaros-class frigates were designed in Germany and are part of the MEKO group of modular warships, in this case the MEKO 200 design. Two ships were built in Germany and two in Turkey with German assistance. They are larger than the previous Yavuz-class frigates and are also faster due to using CODOG machinery rather than pure diesels.

The first two vessels (F-244 and F-245) are defined as the Barbaros class (MEKO 200 TN Track II-A) while the last two vessels (F-246 and F-247) are defined as the Salih Reis class (MEKO 200 TN Track II-B) by the Turkish Navy.

Salih Reis subclass ships are built with 8-cell Mk. 41 VLS and longer than Barbaros class vessels to accommodate 16-cell Mk. 41 VLS upgrade in the future while Barbaros-class vessels built with Mk.29 Sea Sparrow launchers that planned to be replaced by 8-cell Mk. 41 VLS.

Barbaros class vessels (F-244, F-245) have received an 8-cell Mk41 vertical launcher system (VLS) module, which replaced the obsolete Mk.29 Sea Sparrow launcher, while Salihreis class vessels (F-246, F-247) have received a second 8-cell Mk 41 VLS module which brings the total number of cells to 16. Additionally, the old AWS-9 3D air search radars in all 4 vessels has been replaced by modern Thales SMART-S Mk2 3D radars.

The mid-life modernization program projects to double the number of anti-ship missiles that vessel is equipped with while also replacing it by locally designed and produced Atmaca anti-ship missiles, substitution of the Oerlikon Sea Zenith CIWS systems with 1 Phalanx and 1 Aselsan Gokdeniz CIWS, change the existing TACTICOS combat management system with Havelsan "B-SYS Combat Management System" and adopt a 127mm main gun to the frigates.

Finally against asymmetric threats that the vessels may face 2x2 L/UMTAS launchers are planned to be integrated to the frigates.
Azerbaijan's unilateral actions are real threat to international peace, Deputy Minister says

Erdogan, Lapid to meet on sidelines of UN General Assembly in New York

Baku reports transfer of 32 Armenian soldier's bodies

Armenian village: There is no electricity in Sotk village for fifth day already

Over 30,000 people take part in protest against rising prices in Austria

MOD: No change on Armenian-Azerbaijani border as of 9pm

French MEP on torture of Armenian servicewoman: This is happening today and it is unacceptable

Statement of Stepanakert rally participants: Don't sign any document

Tokayev renames Kazakhstan's capital Astana and set 7-year presidential mandate

Erdogan says he will go to Karabakh and open airport with Aliyev

Charles Michel calls Aliyev

Armenia's deputy permanent representative to UN calls for end to ethnic cleansing campaign in Azerbaijan

Deceased soldier Narek Hayrapetyan was conscripted 3 months ago

White House: Relations between Russia and a number of its partners cannot be considered alliances

Erdogan announces completion of military operation on Armenian border

CSTO mission gets acquainted with consequences of Azerbaijani aggression in Armenia

Norat Ter-Grigoryants calls for martial law

Nancy Pelosi arrives in Yerevan

25,000 students, 6,000 children of Vayots Dzor, Gegharkunik and Syunik provinces dont attend school, kindergarten.

Nancy Pelosi: We will convey strong, ongoing support of US for lasting settlement to Karabakh conflict

Armenian Ombudsman: Gas pipeline and medical point damaged in Jermuk

Toivo Klaar on Azerbaijan attack on Armenia: Disturbing reports of crimes, violence targeting civilians

Azerbaijan announces new death toll due to own military aggression against Armenia

Armenia Investigative Committee chief: As of now we have 2 confirmed civilian casualties

Russia Orthodox Church ready to contribute to starting dialogue between Armenia, Azerbaijan spiritual leaders

Yerevan to host 9th Russia-Armenia interregional forum

CBN News: War in Ukraine, Russia oil shortfall spark Azerbaijan attack against world's first Christian country

Nancy Pelosi's Armenia visit agenda is announced

Karabakh President to deliver video message on September 19

Armenia ombudswoman visits some settlements recently targeted by Azerbaijan army (PHOTOS)

At least 14 dead in landslide caused by heavy rains in Nepal

CSTO stresses need to pacifically resolve Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan border situation

Representation at ECHR: Armenia petitioned to International Court of Justice

Armenia PM, European Council chief discuss matters on settlement of situation

Iran objects to any change of internationally-recognized borders in region, Raisi tells Erdogan

Armenia representation at ECHR: More than dozen Armenian soldiers captured due to Azerbaijan attack

Iran ambassador in Baku details Tehran position towards Armenia, Azerbaijan

Biden threatens Russia with consequences in case of using nuclear weapons in Ukraine

Ombudsperson publishes report on consequences of Azerbaijan recent military attack on Armenia

Azerbaijan embassy representative in US curses at Armenian women, tears protesters banner

Germany deputy chief of mission to Armenia is shocked by destruction he saw in Jermuk city by Azerbaijan (PHOTOS)

Rally being held in Stepanakert for 3rd day

No change, as of 9am, in situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

5 Syria soldiers killed after Israel missile attack on Damascus airport

Newspaper: Armenia PM's not attending Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit not clearly understood

Newspaper: Situation at Armenia border with Azerbaijan still very tense despite relative calm

White House not ruling out new sanctions on Russia

Armenia parliament speaker: Let Russia tell us if it is unable to do anything at this moment

U.S. State Department announces updated strategy for Arctic

Alen Simonyan: Armenia is dissatisfied with CSTO reaction to Azerbaijani aggression, we made conclusions

China imposes sanctions on heads of U.S. companies for supplying weapons to Taiwan

Alen Simonyan: Azerbaijan wants Armenia and Armenians not to exist

Alen Simonyan: Introduction of martial law may be perceived as act of aggression

Japanese PM says he is ready to meet with Kim Jong-un without preconditions

Speaker of Parliament: One or two adversary groups who penetrated territory of Armenia are under search

Ten people die in Italy due to heavy rains

CSTO members do not agree: Kyrgyzstan uses drones to attack Tajik targets

Today Armenia will apply to International Court of Justice

Russian Defense Ministry: No violations of ceasefire in Karabakh in Russian zone of responsibility during day

Turkey wants more Russian gas

Putin: Turkey will pay for quarter of Russian gas supplies in rubles

Defense Ministry: As of 9 p.m., situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border remains unchanged

Putin: Erdogan keeps offering to arrange meeting with Zelenskyy

Putin announces Russia's role in localization of Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict

Gas prices in Europe are getting down

Putin: Latest incident on border between Armenia and Azerbaijan has nothing to do with Karabakh

Poland signs $3 billion deal with South Korea to buy 48 FA-50 fighters

Aliyev: Events show that neither Baku nor Yerevan wants large-scale escalation

Scholz: German government ready to revise military export rules

Putin calls situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border tense

Putin briefs Aliyev on his talks with Pashinyan

Greece MFA welcomes Armenia-Azerabaijan ceasefire agreement

Digital technologies have no alternative: SAP signs cooperation agreement with Armenian Revytech (PHOTOS)

Mexican authorities arrest retired general in connection with kidnapping of 43 students

Putin and Aliyev's talks kick off

Orban calls the European Parliament's call to cut funding for Hungary 'boring joke'

Mourad Papazian and French Armenians hold rally in Paris against Azerbaijani aggression (PHOTOS)

Lebanese banks close all their offices after attacks by disgruntled depositors

Putin and Erdogan hold talks in Samarkand

Inflation in Eurozone hits another record 9.1%

Nancy Pelosi confirms reports on her upcoming visit to Armenia

State Department: Russia hoped to get military aid from China

At least 7,600 people from 3 Armenian regions leave their homes amid Azerbaijani aggression

World Bank: rising global interest rates may trigger recession in 2023

Secretary of Security Council of Armenia: Our expectations from CSTO are not justified

China hopes Yerevan and Baku will resolve their differences through political dialogue

EBRD President notes importance of road construction programs in Armenia

Lithuania MPs condemn Azerbaijan military attack against Armenia

Stepanakert rally continues for 2 days

Azerbaijan reports about death of 77 servicemen

German government tries to nationalize three major gas companies

CSTO mission receives operational information on situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

American journalist Lindsay Snell tweets about Azerbaijani atrocities

Development of private sector is our main focus and objective. Interview with EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso

UK retail sales fall, highlighting recession risk

Man arrested in Lebanon after bank robbery in attempt to access his own savings

Russia envoy: Armenia attaches special importance to CSTO mission

Athens: Turkish leadership made a choice that leaves no room for negotiation

Armenia army chief: 50-60 member group from Azerbaijan retreated to state border today

Armenia army chief: 10-12 member Azerbaijan army detachment is isolated on top of hill, under siege
A group of merchants of Petak shopping center of Yerevan were protesting in front of the main building of the government of Armenia Monday morning.

They demand to reopen the street running along their market in both directions, as their business suffers from its being closed in one directionand due to the fatal explosion on August 14 at the Surmalu shopping market across.

One of the protesters added that their strike continues for the third day already.

Later, two of the demonstrators were let inside the government building.

And after leaving the building, they informed that they had submitted their aforesaid demand in writing to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

"They told us that we will respond. We believe they will respond today. We are not stopping the strike, now we are going to Petak," they added.
Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan, serving the interests of Turkey and Azerbaijan, has agreed to virtually all their demands, except for the demand to provide the "Zangezur corridor." Seyran Ohanyan, leader of the opposition "Armenia" Faction in the National Assembly (NA) and former defense minister of Armenia, stated about this during Mondays joint discussionentitled "The Real Agenda of Armenia"by the two NA opposition factions.

"But we see that the region is shrinking, as precious time has been missed to rebuild the [Armenian] army and launch steps in the field of diplomacy.

As long as Armenia is represented by the symbol of defeat [i.e., Pashinyan], losses and risks will continue to increase. Pashinyan, for the sake of maintaining his own power, by playing between Brussels and Moscow, put Armenia in a difficult situationturning the country into a theater of geopolitical confrontations.

() the parliamentary majority, which is an appendage of the executive power, constantly strives to fail the discussions on security issues. (...). In such conditions, the legitimacy of the parliament is questioned.

Parallel to all this, the positions of Baku have strengthened, as no one takes account of a weak Armenia. On the contrary, an attempt is being made to meet Azerbaijan's demands at our expense.

We consider the presence of a new negotiator guided by national interests and conducting a policy of social consolidation to be an important precondition for getting out of this situation. That is, a change of power [in Armenia] is not an internal political, but a security issue. With the removal of the [incumbent] authorities, it will be possible to interrupt the destructive process of defeats and concessions.

The red lines are unchanged for us. Artsakh [(Nagorno-Karabakh)] must self-determine, the enclave situation is unacceptable, Artsakh must have a link to Armenia, which is the guarantor of Artsakh's security. The Karabakh issue cannot be resolved in a bilateral format, it is necessary to restore the mandate of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group and all the possibilities of the format. The fact that Artsakh should not be part of Azerbaijan and should remain Armenian stems from the Declaration of Independence of Armenia and the need to resolve security issues," Ohanyan added, in particular.
It is not a draft, it is a requirement of the law, according to which, if the permissible amount of dishonorable absences of MPs is exceeded, the matter is put on the agenda. Speaker of the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia, Alen Simonyan, told this to reporters at the NAand referring to the matter of stripping the opposition MPs of their parliamentary mandates.

"The [NA] session needs to conclude; we can talk about that in December. But I am sure that they will try to come () and ensure attendance in some way (...). At the end of the year, according to the data, the matter will enter the NA Council and a decision will be made," added the parliament speaker.

He noted that this problem comes from the rhetoric adopted by the opposition during the snap parliamentary elections last year, and later they also tried to bring a matter to the agenda, but it also failed.

"We have been constructive and have not stripped them of their mandates, although we could have sent the matter to the Constitutional Court. () [But] I am sure that next time our [ruling majority] faction [in the NA] will show a stricter attitude," Simonyan said, in particular.

However, he announced that they are ready to welcome the opposition lawmakers back to the NA Sessions Hall with applause.

"They have no alternative. They have appeared on the sidelines, and they have serious criticism and serious discussion inside. (...). If they do not return [to parliament] by the end of the year and the number of absences of specific [opposition] MPs exceeds the permissible limit, I am confident that the Constitutional Court will make the right decision that they will be replaced by those MPs who realize that the MP is there to work in the National Assembly," stated Alen Simonyan.

He added that the opposition is left alone in the street, they have no alternative, and therefore they should return to the legislature.
Despite all the predictions that existed both before and after the elections, that today's Armenian authorities cannot negotiate, the negotiation process continues, and the neighboring country is also talking about peace. Speaker of the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia, Alen Simonyan, told this to reporters at the NAand referring to the view that Azerbaijan is attempting to create legitimate grounds for another provocation.

"We will pursue the peace process. We find that we need to resolve security issues first; and they are resolved with the neighborsby establishing peace and having a strong army. We will advance in the direction of the army (). It has become obvious that there are big changes, and I can say that defense minister Papikyan is doing his job very successfully," added Simonyan.

He touched on Armenias relations with Azerbaijan, too.

"We have been able to maintain our position in terms of all the main issues until today. There are red lines for us, they are known to Azerbaijan, as well as to our society. We will stay within that logic and work," the Armenian parliament speaker noted.

He said that border tensions happen either before or after meetings between the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides.

"They happen in order to have some influence on the negotiations; it is already a famous signature [of Azerbaijan]. And now they are preparing for military exercises. Our perception is to monitor [them] carefully, to be ready every minute for any development. Let no one get the impression that we think that all issues have been resolved. We are always waiting that there may be any provocation by Azerbaijan," Simonyan added.

Referring to the "Zangezur corridor," the NA speaker said: "For Armenia, it is a 'red line' and is not subject to discussion. Armenia implements all the points that there are in the November 9 [2020 trilateral] statement. Azerbaijani citizens, cargo can be transported to Nakhichevan [via Armenia] in accordance with the laws of Armenia. [But] there can be no corridor wording.

Nevertheless, according to him, the negotiations with Azerbaijan continue, there is no deadlock in them, and the perceptions regarding the main issues are understandable.

"Azerbaijan will attempt to exert pressure in all possible places. And we have prevented, will prevent those pressures, and we will advance the interests of Armenia and Artsakh in all possible places," the Alen Simonyan noted.
The Armenian government plans to register the products with the national geographical indication. Minister of economy Vahan Kerobyan stated about this during Mondays parliamentary debates on the bill on amendments to the Law on Geographical Indications.

The minister recalled that products with geographical indication are sold all over the world at a premium, which shall guarantee products made according to the ancient traditions of a specific city, village or regionbut taking into account modern quality standards.

Currently, only one product with a national geographical indication is registered in Armeniathe Sevan trout. But other product manufacturers which are known in a specific region do not do this.

"First of all, they are poorly informed about what procedures they need to go through. Second, they do not form joint applications for registration. And that is why it is desirable for the government to be able to demonstrate the initiative," said Kerobyan.

Names indicating the Armenian origin of a product can also be registered without specifying its country or region.

The minister of economy urged to register the Armenian geographical indications in accordance with the international standards. In that case, according to him, mutual recognition of the above-mentioned indications will be possible with other countries.

Technical matters should also be resolved, as there are currently no clear requirements in Armenia for certification of products with geographical indication.

"The [aforesaid] bill aims to resolve these difficulties and make it easier for businesses to register these products," Kerobyan emphasized.
Former Armenian Ambassador to the Netherlands, diplomat Dzunik Aghajanyan told NEWS.am that no one can force the Armenians of Artsakh to agree to their expulsion from the homeland and to commit suicide, and this will be possible if the authorities agree to transfer Artsakh to Azerbaijan with an undefined status at the discretion of Baku. In this case, the expulsion of some Armenians from the homeland will be a matter of a few months.

"I do not know if the public is aware of this or not, but it is inevitable and will mean that the Armenian authorities are subjecting a part of the Armenian people to genocide with their own hands.

I do not agree with certain assessments of the authorities, because the state finds itself in a situation in which the West is accused of holding pro-Russian views, and Russia of holding pro-Western views, when the authorities are not pursuing a pro-Armenian policy. In this case, everyone can attribute all processes to their own discretion and interests.

If the authorities pursue a policy beneficial for Armenia and Artsakh, serving their political, economic, and security interests, no one but the enemy will be able to assess it as pro-state.

The priority issue is the threats and challenges to security and the Artsakh problem. But I haven't seen any drastic pro-Armenian steps being taken in this direction. We have faced serious problems in that sense," Aghajanyan said.

The state is not anybody's property, she said. The authorities come and go for a certain period of time and it is their duty to serve the state interests, not to treat the state as their own apartment and decide which room to rent or give as a property to someone.

"In this sense, both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution clearly define the circle. Any contract, especially a peace treaty, is years of work. These are not merely declared provisions, there are tremendous problems underneath them, and they must be thoroughly discussed, studied, and a document must be created on the basis of expert discussion, which can only be adopted with public support.

As a conflictologist, I do not remember any peace treaty being formulated and adopted by the authorities within a month and considered legal, legitimate, and acceptable to the people. From this point of view it is simply absurd. There can be no such thing. One does not surrender the territories of a country to anyone in the name of an unrealistic and intangible peace, especially given the threats made by the enemy. This is not peace, but slavery, deprivation of homeland and state. As a result, the authorities and the political units supporting them actually become participants of the Armenian genocide in their own right.

The opinion that Artsakh has never had and has no chance of recognition is absurd. Based on the document discussed in Key West, Artsakh was becoming part of Armenia.

As for the conflict, it is not solved without taking into account the people who are the subject of the conflict. In this case, the priority and decisive is the will of the people of Artsakh, which expressed it back in 1991, using the appropriate legal and legitimate grounds. The question of how the results of the self-determination actions will be recognized is a question of time. The question of how exactly it will be recognized is also to be determined by the people of Artsakh. This is the absolute truth," the former ambassador added.

The diplomat discerned in the Armenian authorities' behavior a desire to disorganize institutional and professional state structures.

"This process relates to the Foreign Ministry as well. These goals are clearly not in favor of the state. In any country it takes years to train personnel and their skills are priceless. Not taking advantage of their potential is a crime," Aghajanyan concluded.
The British Commonwealth of 56 nations may disintegrate after the accession of Charles III, Maggie Miller, the author of the Politico portal, expressed this opinion in an article.

She noted that after the death of Elizabeth II her son Charles not only inherited power in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, but also became the acting monarch in 14 independent states: Australia, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, Canada, New Zealand and others.

However, the reason why such a large commonwealth continued to exist may have been a sense of great loyalty to the Queen's personality, said Elizabeth Brough, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

Miller, the author of the article, stressed that Australia had appointed its first minister in 2022 to lead the transition to a republic. New Zealand's willingness to make New Zealand an independent country was also announced by its prime minister, Jacinda Ardern. The article points out that similar processes are taking place in other Commonwealth countries.

According to Sue Onslow, director of the Institute for Commonwealth Studies at the University of London, Charles III will still try to continue his mother's line of behavior.

"Charles will be another royal diplomat. But time will tell whether his far-flung dominions are ready to accept a new face in the same crown," she noted.
Grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and National Science Foundation, along with the Oral History Project, exemplify Emory Libraries commitment to equitable and transparent relationships in its research and community-building efforts.

The launch of these projects accelerates the librarys efforts to promote access and learning, equity and justice by documenting, preserving and making accessible diverse collections. Even as they are distinct in focus, each project is undertaken with humility and deference to the expertise of the communities served, creating online access to resources that are critically important for the advancement of research and education, says Jennifer Gunter King, director of the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library.

More equitable research for marginalized groups through digital access

A grant from the National Science Foundation to Emory and collaborating partners will help universities, museums and archives grapple with how to responsibly manage scientific collections created under unequal power dynamics.

The three-year, $498,050 grant  to be shared among Emory, New Jersey Institute of Technology (lead), University of Iowa and researchers at Fiocruz  is titled Digital Archives and Indigenous Afterlives of Scientific Objects. It will study of the effects of scholarly research carried out among Auwe-Xavante, an Indigenous community in central Brazil.

Lori Jahnke, anthropology librarian for Emory Libraries, and her colleagues at the collaborating institutions won the grant after years of preliminary work and planning. Jahnke is also affiliated with the Department of Anthropology in Emory College of Arts and Sciences  dual homes that feel entirely natural to her.

I am deeply invested in both worlds, having worked in libraries since I was an undergraduate and throughout my research and training. While I dont have time for fieldwork anymore, there are other ways for me to be active in my discipline, and this is one way. Being a subject librarian has made me a better anthropologist and staying active as a researcher also helps me support the anthropology department, she advises.

Auwe-Xavante have been welcoming researchers since the 1950s, and yet there is a vast corpus of published and archival material about them to which they do not have access. This grant, then, is an opportunity to bring those materials back together through digitization and for us to work collaboratively to build a repository that respects their interests, notes Jahnke.

Each institution and entity is there to provide the needed technical and cultural expertise. As Jahnke observes, We are embedded in our cultural systems and tend to take for granted that we are objective and have no bias. When you take a step back, you realize that is not the case.

Phased across three years, Digital Archives and Indigenous Afterlives of Scientific Objects will establish and test a methodology for collaborative, community-based work to document and understand subjects experience of scientific research and the afterlives of scientific objects that are produced. The project will help researchers reevaluate assumptions about data collection, their methodologies, intellectual property and knowledge production.

Jahnke credits the research of Kimberly Christen, director of the Center for Digital Scholarship and Curation at Washington State University, as foundational. The team will use Mukurtu, the platform Christen and her colleagues pioneered, which, says Jahnke, was developed to respect Indigenous concepts of knowledge sharing that dont always align with Western copyright laws and intellectual property.

An Auwe-Xavante oversight committee will govern the archives priorities and content as well as contribute a yearly project assessment.

They can discontinue the project at the end if it doesnt meet community needs. While we hope this doesnt happen, if you are serious about research and data sovereignty, you have to be okay with outcomes that dont suit your research agenda. That said, we think the partnerships built into this project make that unlikely, says Jahnke.

Indeed, she and the other collaborators are hopeful about what is to come. As the team gears up, Jahnke is about to hire a graduate assistant and anticipates visiting Brazil in the second half of the project.

I am interested to learn more about Auwe-Xavante perspectives on the scientific materials from their communities. The materials likely hold both value and risks that we dont anticipate. We hope that the work we do through this archive will create new and more equitable paths for future research, she says.

Broadening access to Black print culture

In 1998, James Danky and Maureen Hadys African American Newspapers and Periodicals: A National Bibliography heralded an enormous leap forward in access to Black print culture, containing the richest, most detailed record of 19th- and 20th-century African American life and thought. Now, a grant of $46,630 from the National Endowment for the Humanities to Emory Libraries makes it possible to create an online, searchable version of the bibliography as well as add new serials to it.

"The Wayfinder Project: Revealing Black Print Culture to a Linked World, 1830 marks a collaboration among the Rose Library, Emory Libraries and the Emory Center for Digital Scholarship.

There is no mystery as to why Emory should be entrusted with this grant. Given the Rose Librarys considerable collections in this area, we are excited and encouraged by this opportunity to contribute to this ever-expanding area of research, says Clint Fluker, curator of African American collections.

As the invocation of a linked world in the grant title indicates, the intent is to leverage current technology to ensure the widest possible access to these periodicals. Beyond the 6,500 entries in the Danky/Hady bibliography, the project will integrate data from open-source resources, such as Chronicling America, and proprietary databases, such as Readexs Early American Newspapers and Accessible Archives.

While great strides have been made in newspaper digitization, no centralized digital interface provides accurate information about titles and where to find them, says Erica Bruchko, librarian for African American history. The Wayfinder Project aims to create an interface that will address these challenges and greatly enhance researchers ability to discover and access these publications.

And it is not just the periodicals themselves: the project will create ever-widening avenues of scholarly exploration on the people, places and communities that created and used these materials.

Elizabeth Russey Roke, discovery and metadata archivist at the Rose Library, sees the process itself as being groundbreaking, saying, A focus on linked data represents a new chapter in discovery of library and archival collections.

A hub for university storytelling

The coordinator of the Oral History Program, Jonathan Coulis, is himself a convert to the methodology. While completing a masters degree in history and international development, Coulis was studying a period of military dictatorship in Latin America.

I first pursued traditional archival research only to realize that a military dictatorship would not put much effort into preserving archives. I turned to using first-person narratives and then pivoted to oral history, he says.

Choosing Emory for his PhD in modern Latin American history, Coulis was a Woodruff Fellow who, along with subject librarian Nidia Banuelos, pursued a library grant to pilot the Oral History project in fall 2017.

How we form who we are is based on how we interpret our memories and share them with the world  that always has fascinated me, says Coulis.

The project started by focusing on Emorys first-generation students. They wanted more agency to tell their stories, says Coulis, and it wasnt long before this project was already growing beyond first-gen students to other communities that, in a lot of ways, felt that their history hadnt been adequately documented, including Black, Latinx and LGBTQ+ students.

This series of interviews  Underrepresented Voices at Emory  naturally has built itself over time, says Coulis, as he and his staff knock on more doors to increase awareness. Coulis also taught a course on oral history in the history department.

The other current project is Stories during the Coronavirus Pandemic, and Coulis recalls speaking to students sheltering in place in India when the pandemic first began. If you pull this string of yarn from the Atlanta campus to wherever these lives are being led, it reflects on Emorys internationalism and its inclusiveness, Coulis says.

Emory Libraries has provided the support to continue both these projects into the future. We are committed to maintain our ongoing work year over year, adding chapters, and not just from the standpoint of building accessible collections. These stories, and the people sharing them, are important, says Coulis.

As the initiative matured from a project to a program, Coulis brought on undergraduate and graduate students who assist with the interviews. Like those on the other end of the microphones, these students also reap rewards from the experience.

They have used their training to apply for graduate programs, a postdoc, or a job in their field. A few have changed their career plans as a result, including one student who left history behind to take on linguistics, preferring to analyze the spoken word and narratives.

Some have turned to journalistic paths while others have stayed with their original courses of study but are grateful for having mastered interhumanistic skills and learning styles through work with us. It is great to see, notes Coulis.

Hint to seniors: Consider telling your story before graduating. People can have their story, with their own voice and image, included in the university archive for years to come. This is a material way to leave ones mark on the campus, says Coulis.

We said when we started, we care about your stories, and we will continue to demonstrate that.
Feature: Chicago celebrates traditional Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival in grand style

CHICAGO, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of people gathered in Chicago's Chinatown Saturday to celebrate the traditional Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival.

A make-shift platform rolled out performers from four to over 80 years old, who came from local communities, schools and professional groups to perform a lion dance, dragon dance, singing, traditional Chinese dance and Taichi.

Some 500 goodie bags were distributed to attendees at the scene, adding to the festive atmosphere.

"Our goal is to promote Asian culture in America," said Vivian Xu, founder of Asian American Culture Center, which organized the celebration. "Traditional holiday such as the Mid-Autumn Festival is a good opportunity to do so."

The celebration used to draw an estimated 30,000 people before the pandemic, Chris Huang, director of the cultural center, told Xinhua. He expects this year's attendees to be around 20,000.

"Chinatown is so vibrant and so rich in Chinese culture," Huang said. "We'd like to see people come to rejoice and celebrate family gatherings with us and walk away happily."

Embra Bolden, a 36-year-old karate amateur from Chicago, was at the festival with his fiance. He told Xinhua that they both love Chinese food and visit Chinatown to eat from time to time. They were pleasantly surprised by walking into the celebration that he described as "a good cultural exposure."

Shane Rivzi, 21, came especially for the celebration with a friend. The two were here last year and enjoyed the performances. They made a point to come back this year. "It's good to see more people this year," Rivzi said. "We loved the cultural experience."

Glenn Rhodes from Indiana came with his wife and two children. "We come to Chinatown for dinner and are delighted to see the celebration and performances."

The celebration in Chinatown was initially set to last six hours, but organizers extended the duration.

In addition to the celebration in Chinatown, the Field Museum and the Chinese-American Museum of Chicago, along with other organizers and sponsors, co-hosted a celebration at Set in Stone Gathering Space in the South Side of Chicago, with activities including Chinese folk dance, mooncake sampling, storytelling, lantern making, games and music. 
Exit polls show slim lead for Sweden's left bloc

Support for far-right parties has increased as a result of the surge in gang violence, which has spread to public spaces such as parks and shopping centres. Photo: AFP

Two exit polls gave Sweden's left-wing bloc led by Social Democratic Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson a slim lead in Sunday's general election, and also indicated a far-right surge.



The four left-wing parties were credited with 50.6 percent of voter support in an exit poll published on TV4 compared to 48 percent for the four parties on the right.



A second exit poll on public broadcaster SVT gave the left 49.8 percent and the right 49.2 percent.



Both polls, published after voting closed on Sunday, also suggested that the anti-immigration and nationalist Sweden Democrats could for the first time become the country's second-biggest party. They credited the party with 21.3 and 20.5 percent of votes respectively.



The election campaign has been dominated by rising gang shootings, immigration and integration issues, and soaring electricity prices.



If the exit polls are confirmed, the far-right surge would mean they overtook the traditional leaders of the right-wing bloc, the conservative Moderates, whose party leader Ulf Kristersson is challenging Andersson for the post of prime minister.



That would be a heavy blow to Kristersson, who orchestrated a major shift in Swedish politics by initiating exploratory talks in 2019 with the Sweden Democrats, long treated as "pariahs" by other political parties.



The two other small right-wing parties, the Christian Democrats and to a lesser extent the Liberals, later followed suit.



If the final results were to confirm the left bloc's lead, Prime Minister Andersson, a 55-year-old former finance minister, would try to build a government with the support of the small Left, Centre and Green parties.



The Social Democrats have governed Sweden since 2014.



Voter turnout was expected to be high, with more than 80 percent of the country's 7.8 million eligible voters expected to cast ballots.



Andersson, whose party has dominated Swedish politics since the 1930s, enjoys broad support among Swedes.



She consistently led Moderates leader Ulf Kristersson, her challenger for the post of prime minister, by a wide margin in opinion polls.



Yet pollsters also put the two blocs in an almost dead heat.



Both blocs are beset by internal divisions that could lead to lengthy negotiations to build a coalition government.



But for a number of reasons there is "pressure to have a united and effective government" in place quickly, said political scientist Katarina Barrling.



Sweden faces a looming economic crisis, is in the midst of a historic Nato application process and is due to take over the EU presidency in 2023.



The end of the Sweden Democrats' political isolation, and the prospect of it becoming the biggest right-wing party, is "an enormous shift in Swedish society", said Anders Lindberg, an editorialist at left-wing tabloid Aftonbladet.



Born out of a neo-Nazi movement at the end of the 1980s, the Sweden Democrats entered parliament in 2010 with 5.7 percent of votes. They won 17.5 percent in 2018.



The party's surge comes as Sweden struggles to combat escalating gang shootings attributed to battles over the sales of drugs and weapons.



The country now tops European statistics for firearm deaths.



While the violence was once contained to locations frequented by criminals, it has spread to public spaces such as parks and shopping centres, sparking concern among ordinary Swedes in a country long known as safe and peaceful. (AFP)
Xi to visit Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan this week

The state leader's last foreign trip was to Myanmar in January 2020. File photo: AFP

President Xi Jinping will visit Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan this week, the Foreign Ministry has announced.



The visit will coincide with a summit of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) in the Uzbek city of Sarmarkan and mark the state leader's first foreign trip since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in January 2020.



Xi will meet with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, a ministry statement said. His last trip outside of the mainland was on June 30 when he visited Hong Kong to mark the 25th anniversary of the city's return to Chinese sovereignty.



In recent months, speculation has been rife over which countries Xi would visit and when such visits might take place.



The SCO is a regional security bloc launched in 2001 to address radical Islam and other security concerns. The group initially consisted of China, Russia and four ex-Soviet Central Asian republics, before India and Pakistan joined in 2017. (Additional reporting from Reuters)
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 12 (ANI/NewsVoir): HDFC Life, one of India's leading life insurers has launched a term insurance plan Click2Protect Super, which enables customisation as per your protection needs and you only pay for the benefits / plan options that you have chosen. Click2Protect Super is a non-linked, non-participating, individual, pure risk premium/ savings life insurance plan that provides you with multiple flexibilities such as changing life cover, extending the policy term, getting coverage for accidental death and terminal illness, etc. thereby giving you a true sense of freedom like never before. The plan provides comprehensive financial protection to your family. You can choose a cover that fits your needs from three plan options - Life, Life Plus and Life Goal. Let us look at each of these options and the benefits they provide Life Option This provides you with life cover for the coverage term chosen, thereby securing the future of your loved ones. This smart plan option comes with an inbuilt-benefit of terminal illness cover and also allows you to increase the cover amount to ensure financial independence for your family in your absence. The key benefits of this option include - Option to choose increasing Death Benefit up to 200 per cent- Waiver of Premium on diagnosis of Critical Illness - Option to choose Additional Cover for Spouse- Return of Premium option- Option to get back the base premium paid at time of policy cancellation through Smart Exit Option- Acceleration of Death benefit on diagnosis of terminal illness till the age of 80 years- Waiver of Premium on Total and Permanent Disability - Option to receive Death Benefit in Instalments Life Plus Along with life cover, this option enhances your cover against accidental death and terminal illness, thereby providing comprehensive protection for life. The key benefits of this option include - Additional sum assured payable in case of accidental death during policy term- Waiver of Premium on diagnosis of Critical Illness - Option to choose Additional Cover for Spouse- Return of Premium option- Option to get back base premium paid at time of policy cancellation through Smart Exit Option- Provides Acceleration of Death benefit on diagnosis of terminal illnesses, till age 80 years- Waiver of Premium on Total and Permanent Disability (through WOP Disability option)- Option to receive Death Benefit in Instalments Life Goal This option ensures optimum coverage by offering the flexibility to vary your life cover for desired term thereby safeguarding your loved ones from any liabilities and/or expenses. The key benefits of this option include - Waiver of Premium on Total and Permanent Disability - Option to receive Death Benefit in Instalments Speaking on the product launch, Srinivasan Parthasarathy - Chief Actuary, HDFC Life said, "Term insurance is a must have for every individual. As a leading life insurer, we constantly endeavour to understand the ever-evolving needs of the Indian consumer. We aim to launch innovative products that offer a great amount of flexibility in the form of customisations. Such products are customer centric, designed to meet their specific needs and also ensure that customers only pay for what they have purchased. Click2Protect Super can be customised as per the customer's needs and this reflects in the premium as well. The three plan options of the product offer various benefits. We believe Click2Protect Super will be the new age financial safety net for customers who believe in living a life of pride." HDFC Life Insurance Company Limited ('HDFC Life' / 'Company') is a joint venture between HDFC Ltd., India's leading housing finance institution and abrdn (Mauritius Holdings) 2006 Limited, a global investment company. Established in 2000, HDFC Life is a leading, listed, long-term life insurance solutions provider in India, offering a range of individual and group insurance solutions that meet various customer needs such as Protection, Pension, Savings, Investment, Annuity and Health. As on June 30, 2022, the Company had 39 individual and 13 group products in its portfolio, along with 7 optional rider benefits, catering to a diverse range of customer needs. HDFC Life continues to benefit from its increased presence across the country having a wide reach with 383 branches and additional distribution touch-points through several new tie-ups and partnerships. The count of our distribution partnerships is over 300, comprising banks, NBFCs, MFIs, SFBs, brokers, new ecosystem partners amongst others. The Company has a strong base of financial consultants. For more information, please visit our website, www.hdfclife.com. You may also connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn. This story has been provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content in this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday embarked on a series of engagements in Germany to promote Punjab as a preferred investment destination and woo global investers into the state during the first day of his tour in the country. The Chief Minister was invited by CEO of Messe Munchen GmBH, Reinhard Pfeiffer, to attend DRINKTEC 2022, the world's leading trade fair for the food industry. During his one-on-one interactions with industry at the event, he extended a warm welcome to the global industrialists to attend the Progressive Punjab Investors' Summit scheduled for February 23-24, 2023. During the event, Mann held deliberations with the key companies like Zepplin, Buehler, Pro Minent, Donaldson, Igus, Cipriani Harrison Valves, Pentair and others about various technology solutions pertinent for Punjab's industry like oil seed processing machinery, industrial air filtration systems, purification technology, measurement of chemicals in water, tossing equipment for chemicals, conversion of biomass to energy, industrial water treatment and others. During the parleys, the Chief Minister showcased Punjab as a land of opportunities and asked the companies to invest in the state. He said Punjab has long been known as the food bowl of India and the food processing sector has significantly contributed to the progress of the state. "The state Government stands ready to fully support global industry in setting up their operations in Punjab." Describing Punjab as the most preferred destination for doing business, the Chief Minister said companies will be immensely benefitted by investing in the state. He said the complete communal harmony, peace and amity were mainly responsible for overall development and prosperity in the state. Mann urged the industrialists to make optimum use of this congenial atmosphere backed by excellent infrastructure, power, skilled human resources and best industrial and work culture to spread their business. Extending a red carpet welcome to the industrialists, the Chief Minister said the state government was always open for new ideas and innovations to boost up the industrial growth in Punjab. He envisioned that this visit will give a major boost to the process of industrialisation in the state. Mann said that the day is not far away when Punjab will emerge as the industrial hub of the country. Meanwhile, giving an affirmative response to the Chief Minister, the leading companies assured him massive investments in the state. --IANS vg/uk ( 396 Words) 2022-09-12-20:32:03 (IANS)
With the highly anticipated reunion of Prince William and Prince Harry along with their wives, due to Queen Elizabeth II's death, came an influx of analysis of how the royals interacted with each other. According to Fox News, due to a video doing rounds on the internet, netizens criticized the Prince of Wales, for his apparent lack of chivalry with wife Kate Middleton, whilst praising the Duke of Sussex for his treatment of wife Meghan Markle. In it, Prince Harry was seen ushering his wife to their shared car, attentively opening and closing the door for her, while the Prince and Princess of Wales separately entered the car. The two royal couples were departing the massive crowd outside of Windsor Castle gathered to pay their respects to the queen. Fox News reported that one Twitter user simply wrote, "Harry holds the car door open for his wife. Makes sure she's safe. Wills does not. Case closed." Drawing comparisons between William and his father, King Charles III, with Harry and his mother, the late Diana, another user wrote, "Harry is a gentleman. William however acts like his father." A third person added, "Harry is a true king and son of Diana. Look how he cares for his wife." As per Fox News, while the majority of users were critical of William, some users disagreed, with one writing, "Class act from William inviting his brother and SIL despite all the hurt caused and the lies." The queen died at her vacation home in Balmoral Castle, Scotland at age 96 on September 8. Following Queen Elizabeth II's death, her son King Charles III's acceded to the throne. This reunion of the royal siblings and their wives came a day after the king paid tribute to the queen and his sons in a pre-recorded speech, during which he confirmed that William and Kate would now be known as the Prince and Princess of Wales. (ANI)
The Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry, will not be wearing the military uniform for any of the ceremonial events following Queen Elizabeth II's death. According to E! News, he won't be permitted to wear the garments at any of the five traditional events leading up to the late monarch's funeral, including the final vigil scheduled to take place in Westminster Hall. The reason for this is that Harry, who stepped away from royal duties with his wife Meghan Markle in 2020, is a non-working member of the royal family. Rising to the rank of Captain and undertaking two tours in Afghanistan, Harry has spent 10 years in the Army and still continues to work with fellow servicemen, sponsoring support for wounded women and men. Though Harry has been barred from sporting the military gear, his uncle Prince Andrew, who also is a non-working member of the royal family, has been granted permission to wear his military uniform, however only at the final vigil. E! News has reported that the Duke of York, who was stripped of his military titles in January, has been allowed to wear the uniform as a "special mark of respect for the Queen at the final vigil." The Queen called for Andrew to return his military affiliations and royal patronages, one day after his lawyers failed to convince a U.S. judge to dismiss a civil lawsuit brought against him by Virginia Giuffre, who alleged that he sexually abused her when she was 17 years old. "The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen," read Buckingham Palace's statement released on January 13. However, for the sexual assault lawsuit, Andrew and Virginia reached an out-of-court settlement in February, as per E! News. (ANI)
Meanwhile, the Covid positivity rate of the capital city has marginally risen to 1.36 per cent. The number of active cases stands at 717 out of which 512 patients are being treated in home isolation.

With 149 patients recovering in the last 24 hours, the total number of recoveries has gone to 19,74,496, while Delhi's total caseload is 20,01,706 and the death toll in the city is now 26,493.

The number of Covid containment zones stands at 108.

A total of 10,052 new tests -- 7,126 RT-PCR and 2,926 Rapid Antigen - were conducted in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 4,00,75,944 while 31,435 vaccines were administered - 1,934 first doses, 5,371 second doses, and 24,130 precaution doses.

The total number of cumulative beneficiaries vaccinated so far stands at 3,68,28,244, according to the health bulletin.

--IANS avr/vd

( 173 Words)

2022-09-11-22:12:02 (IANS)
Kerala's Local Self-Government Minister, M.B. Rajesh will hold a high-level meeting on Monday to take urgent measures against the stray dog menace in the state. The state is witnessing spiralling stray dog attacks and the anti-rabies vaccine have found ineffective in some cases. The minister will be meeting top officials to find a solution to the issue. While there is a 2001 law that prevents killing of stray dogs, the government has an option for animal birth control and inoculation of stray dogs which is a limited option. It also wants to prevent any vigilante action against the stray dogs by the irritated locals as many cases of rabies-related deaths have been reported from various areas of the state. Four cases of rabies-related deaths due to suspected vaccine failure are also on the agenda for Monday's meeting. The state Health Department has already withdrawn one batch of anti-rabies vaccines from circulation and commenced an internal audit on the efficacy of cold chain storage facilities that protect the vaccine's potency. Talking to media persons at Kannur, Rajesh said: "There is a special drive to curb the stray dog menace and we need the support of voluntary organisations, local bodies, and animal rescue groups in this." The state has already proposed a license for pet dogs, and the Local Bodies Department has also taken measures to remove the garbage that has piled up in many areas of the state. Stray dog menace and the attacks of a pack of stray dogs on walkers, cyclists, and school-going children have been circulating in the social media accounts of Kerala giving the government a big headache. Rajesh also said that Animal Birth Control (ABC) centres will be opened in 152 local bodies of the state, in a bid to reduce the stray dog population in an incremental manner. --IANS aal/vd ( 319 Words) 2022-09-11-22:50:05 (IANS)
The Union Health Ministry will start a mega drive for voluntary blood donation 'Raktdan Amrit Mahotsav' from September 17 to October 1, which is National Voluntary Blood Donation Day. As per official source, the mega drive aims to collect 1.5 lakh unit of the blood on the first day of the drive on September 17, breaking the previous world record of highest blood donation in a single day. September 17 also coincides with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday. Currently, India has the capacity to store around 1.5 lakh units of blood. However, if the number of the people exceeds, then blood will not be taken but he/she will be given the participating certificate. The registrations have also begun for voluntary blood donation on the Aarogya Setu portal under the 'Raktdaan Amrit Mahotsav' which invites people to donate blood and be a part of Prime Minister's mission for humanity. The campaign is being launched to increase the awareness about the need of regular non-remunerated blood donation and to ensure availability, affordability and accessibility of blood and its components to all, an official said. Presently, there is a huge gap between demand and supply of the blood. As per 2021 statistics, the demand and supply ratio was 1.46 vs 1.25 crore units. The data of people registered for donating blood on Aarogya Setu App will be made accessible to blood banks or organisations conducting the drive through the e-RaktKosh web portal, the source said. The Nikshay Mitra initiative launched by the President on September 9 has seen total enrolment of 1,78,443 TB patients and 1667 Nikshay Mitras (donor) so far, the source added. He said that for the effective engagement of the community in eradicating TB, the Health Ministry was implementing the community support to TB patients - Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan. Nikshay Mitra (Donor) for this programme includes co-operative societies, corporates, elected representatives, individuals, institutions, non-governmental organisations, political parties and partners who can support by adopting the health facilities in state, district, block and peripheral health care facilities. The minimum duration for the support will be one year and the maximum will be three years. The Nikshay Mitra will provide nutritional support, diagnostic and the vocational support to the patients under the programme. --IANS avr/uk ( 391 Words) 2022-09-12-20:54:03 (IANS)
Former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday skipped the chance to speak at the NCP's national convention meeting despite being one of the top leaders in the party. He left midway in front of party supremo Sharad Pawar. Ajit Pawar left the stage just moments after party leader Jayant Patil was given the chance to speak before him which sparked rumours of a rift in the party. Although the Maharashtra leader later clarified that he did not speak in the meeting because it was a national-level meeting. NCP MP Praful Patel had announced on the stage that Ajit Pawar will speak before Sharad Pawar's concluding remark but the former deputy Chief Minister was missing from his seat. It was later on announced by Patel that Pawar had excused himself to go to the washroom and will come back for the speech in front of cadres who raised slogans in support of the former Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister. Meanwhile, NCP MP Supriya Sule was seen convincing Ajit Pawar to return for his speech on the stage. When Ajit Pawar entered the meeting venue, party veteran Sharad Pawar had already started his concluding remarks after which the former didn't get any chance to speak. In 2019, while Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress in Maharashtra were still discussing the alliance, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on November 23, 2019, took oath as CM with NCP leader Ajit Pawar as his deputy. The duo were sworn in at an early morning ceremony but the government lasted only 80 hours. Earlier on Saturday, Sharad Pawar was re-elected as the President of the National Congress Party (NCP) for the next four years. Sharing the information, the chief spokesperson of NCP, Mahesh Bharat Tapase said that Sharad Pawar unanimously was re-elected as the chief of the party. Notably, Pawar has been holding the office since 1999 when he founded the party with P.A. Sangma and Tariq Anwar after splitting from Indian National Congress. At present, the General Secretaries of the party are Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel.From NCP, Ajit Pawar is the current leader of the Opposition in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly. However, for the upcoming Lok Sabha election, Sharad Pawar has advocated the unity of Opposition parties. (ANI)
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan addressed a programme for Modi@20 in Indore on Sunday and lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the construction of Sardar Sarovar Dam. "PM Modi was then Gujarat Chief Minister while I was Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister. We both decided to bring out the hidden agenda of people who were against the dam. If PM Modi wouldn't have been the then CM of Gujarat, Sardar Sarovar Dam wouldn't have been there. He knew it was for the welfare of both the states," said Chouhan. He also highlighted that the dam had helped both the states flourish. "River Narmada is crucial both in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. Both states are flourishing due to it. Many people who were against the dam project on river Narmada created multiple hindrances," he added. Earlier on Friday, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan chaired a meeting with officials regarding complaints of irregularities in urea distribution in the Jabalpur division and ordered them to take strict action against those responsible. The Chief Minister chaired the meeting at his residence in Bhopal. Principal Secretary Agriculture, Principal Secretary Cooperative, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, MD of MarkFed along with Jabalpur Division Commissioner, Inspector General of Police and Collector attended the meeting. The officers of Jabalpur joined the meeting virtually. The meeting was held after complaints were received over irregularities in urea distribution in the Jabalpur division. There was a detailed review of urea distribution in the meeting. According to Chief Minister's office, after reviewing the distribution of urea, CM Chouhan gave necessary guidelines to the officers concerned. It is worth mentioning that about 800 tonnes of urea came out from Jabalpur for many districts but it did not reach them. "Immediately file an FIR and take strict action against those responsible," said the Chief Minister. He also directed the officers to arrest them and take strict action. (ANI)
The Army chief, who is a visit to Ladakh, was also briefed about the features and characteristics of the attack helicopter brought from the US.

Earlier on Friday, Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal V.R. Chaudhari along with his son Mihir V. Chaudhari, a Sqn Leader, flew a sortie on Rafale fighter jet as part of three aircraft combat training mission at Air Force Station Hasimara, the IAF said in a statement.

"The sortie flown by CAS and his son is a continuation of the finest traditions of the IAF and underlines the importance accorded to grooming and preparing our young leaders for the challenges of the future," the statement said.

--IANS akr/pgh

( 151 Words)

2022-09-11-23:26:01 (IANS)
Amid the stir over Sonali Phogat's death case, the late actor's last film will be released soon, said the makers on Monday. Phogat's last film has been titled 'Prerna'. Director/producer Naresh Dhanda, who plays the role of father-in-law in this film 'Prerna' opposite Phogat, highlighted that the project is a motivational film. "The Title of this movie is Prerna. Sonali Phogat madam had the lead role in this movie, actually, it's a motivational movie. It has been shown how Sonali Phogat's character Prerna explains to students that don't lose courage and hope in life, move forward always," Naresh Dhanda told ANI. Two days ago Sonali Phogat's daughter Yashodhara released the movie's poster. Dhanda also stressed that he wishes to shoot a song with the late actor's daughter and therefore the release dates will be announced soon. [{236e448d-4ba7-4785-92bf-5ba694cd0b44:intradmin/ANI-20220911204048.jpg}] "The movie is ready now, but I want to shoot a song with Yashodhara which you people can see at the end of the movie which is a tribute to Sonali Phogat. Because I want to pay tribute to Sonali Phogat through this song," he added. He also outlined his plans of making Phogat's biographical movie. "I must say her life had also become a film. The way she came from a village and later worked her way into Big Boss and TV and later into movies is commendable. She had faced her own set of challenges, her husband died under mysterious circumstances," he added. He also stressed that he will make the biography soon once the culprits come to the fore. "The film we will make on her life will be our next project once we get to know who is the murderer, The name of the movie will be in name of Sonali Phogat," he added. Earlier, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday said that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) would probe Sonali Phogat's death if the family is not satisfied with the Goa police's investigation. While talking to media persons in Haryana, Khattar said, "We had asked for a CBI probe in writing but they've stated that first Goa would complete their own investigation and if the family is not satisfied with it, the investigation will be handed over to CBI." Earlier on Sunday, a Khap Mahapanchayat was held in Hisar demanding a CBI inquiry into the death of Sonal Phogat. Amid the ongoing stir in Sonali Phogat's death case, the police on Friday confirmed that the profile was being reviewed at senior levels and had said that a charge sheet will be filed on objective grounds. "It is being reviewed at senior levels. We're confident of filing a charge sheet on objective grounds after remand. Will ensure nothing is left out of the investigation," North Goa SP Shobit Saxena had said. He further stressed that the police of the western state has a zero-tolerance policy against illicit activities. "Goa police has zero tolerance towards illicit drug-related activities, had record seizures of illegal drugs in past few years. Action to be taken against those who supply, consume, stock or allow their premises to be used for drug consumption," he had added. Sonali Phogat was declared dead at the St Anthony Hospital at Anjuna in North Goa on August 23. A post-mortem report revealed blunt force injury on her body, following which the Goa Police registered a murder case. Phogat who rose to fame with her TikTok videos contested the 2019 Haryana election as a BJP candidate but lost to then Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi (he has since joined the BJP). She also appeared in the reality show Bigg Boss in 2020. (ANI)
Assam Police on Monday arrested two more suspects with possible links with the banned terrorist outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) from Morigaon district. The suspected terrorists were identified as Musadik Hussain and Ikramul Islam. Ikramul is an Imam and was arrested in the Nagaon district. On the other hand, the state police arrested Hussain from the Moirabari area in the Morigaon district. Aparna N, Superintendent of Police of Morigaon district told ANI that both the arrested persons have links with the banned outfit. Last month, Morigaon district administrations demolished a madrassa at Moirabari after police busted a terror module on the premises of the religious educational institute. So far, the state administrations have demolished three madrassas across the state following the arrests of around 40 persons so far including the Imam and madrasa teachers on charges of being linked to terror outfits -- Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) and Al Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS). In addition, one more such educational institute was razed by locals themselves after a cleric associated with it was held for alleged anti-national activities. There were reports that some militants disguised as religious teachers had sneaked into the state and silently gone ahead with their subversive and anti-state activities. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that some madrassa managements were not running the institution but were running a terrorist hub. "I don't want to generalise (all madrassas), but we investigate and take appropriate action when a complaint of fundamentalism comes," Sarma had said. Recently, Chief Minister Sarma said in a press conference that, six Bangladeshi nationals who are members of Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) / Al-Qaeda Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), entered Assam in 2016-17 and Assam police had arrested one among them and five are still absconding. For better surveillance, Assam Chief Minister reiterated that Islamic teachers coming into the state will be closely monitored and moreover the state was developing a portal where their details will be captured. "We have laid down standard operating procedures. Locals must inform police if any religious teacher (Imam) coming outside of the state and are not known to them," Sarma told reporters. "Police will verify the person and then he can carry out his religious teaching in the Madrassas," he said, adding that Muslims of Assam have been cooperating with the government in this process. Assam currently doesn't have any government-run madrassas as they have recently been converted into regular schools. However, individual or privately-run madrassas continue to exist. (ANI)
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday said that he will write a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah requesting him to transfer the Sonali Phogat case to the Central Bureau of Investigation. CM Sawant in a statement to the media stated that after the request of Sonali's family members especially that of her daughter, the state will request Home Minister Amit Shah to hand over the probe in her case to the CBI. Further, he said that he trusts the Goa Police and they are carrying out their best efforts in the investigation but the state will request transferring Sonali Phogat's case to CBI because people demand it. Earlier on Sunday, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar said that the CBI would probe Sonali Phogat's death if the family is not satisfied with the Goa police's investigation. While talking to media persons in Haryana, Khattar said, "We had asked for a CBI probe in writing but they've stated that first Goa would complete their own investigation and if the family is not satisfied with it, the investigation will be handed over to CBI." Earlier today, a Khap Mahapanchayat was held in Hisar demanding a CBI inquiry into the death of Sonali Phogat. Amid the ongoing stir in Sonali Phogat's death case, the police on Friday confirmed that the profile was being reviewed at senior levels and had said that a charge sheet will be filed on objective grounds. "It is being reviewed at senior levels. We're confident of filing a charge sheet on objective grounds after remand. Will ensure nothing is left out of the investigation," North Goa SP Shobit Saxena had said. He further stressed that the police of the western state have a zero-tolerance policy against illicit activities. "Goa police has zero tolerance towards illicit drug-related activities, had recorded seizures of illegal drugs in past few years. Action to be taken against those who supply, consume, stock or allow their premises to be used for drug consumption," he had added. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court had stayed the demolition of Curlies restaurant in Goa soon after its demolition began on Friday subject to the condition that no commercial activities will take place there. This was the same restaurant in Goa where BJP leader Sonali Phogat was allegedly drugged and was later declared dead. The demolition action against the restaurant began after its owner failed to get any respite from the National Green Tribunal (NGT). NGT had upheld the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority's previous order to demolish the shack. Sonali was pronounced dead on August 23 at the St Anthony Hospital in Anjuna, North Goa. (ANI)
Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Sunday urges the citizens to get their pet dogs registered in view of increasing dog bite incidents. Under Section 399 of the Delhi Municipal Act 1957, it is mandatory to register all pet dogs with the municipal corporation. The section also gives power to the MCD to detain a dog found in a public place if a pet dog is not registered with the civic body. There is also a provision for fining the pet owner and even prosecution. A senior official of the Veterinary Department of MCD said, "the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act mandates registration of pet dogs with the civic body, but residents have remained reluctant to come forward to get their pets registered." ''We appeal to citizens to get their pet dogs registered at the earliest, otherwise, appropriate action can be taken as per the DMC Act. The rule applies even to those who have adopted stray dogs as pets,'' an MCD official said. The officials further added "the registration process helps in maintaining the exact count of pet dogs that are rabies virus vaccinated in different zones. It will help in tracing a missing pet with the help of a registration number that the dog will sport. The purpose of the exercise is to prepare a database of pet dog owners, control illegal practices like unregistered dog breeding, and monitor pet's vaccination schedules." In order to facilitate pet owners, the MCD is providing a Convenient and Hassle-free online facility for dog registration. Through the online system, an applicant can register for a dog license by providing the relevant details in the application form available on the MCD portal mcdonline.nic.in. The documents that needed to be submitted are an anti-rabies vaccination certificate, a photograph of the animal, residence proof and identity proof of the owner. (ANI)
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police on Monday issued fresh summons to actor Jacqueline Fernandez to appear on 14 September in connection with the Rs 200 crore money laundering case allegedly involving conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar. Delhi Police has postponed the questioning scheduled on Monday as the actress cited prior commitments and asked for a date after 15 days. However, Delhi Police didn't give her much time and asked her to join the investigation on Wednesday. This is the third occassion that summons have been issued to Fernandez by the police to join the investigation. A senior police officer confirmed to ANI that fresh summon were issued to Jacqueline asking her to appear on September 14 at the EOW office at Mandir Marg around 11 am. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has named Jacqueline in their chargesheet in money laundering cases that involve Sukesh. The ED chargesheet has claimed that Fernandez knew about Sukesh's involvement in criminal cases but she chose to overlook his criminal past and indulged in financial transactions with him.The ED had registered a case of money laundering in the alleged scam over the FIR registered by the Delhi Police. ED had earlier stated that Fernandez's statements were recorded on August 30 and October 20, 2021, where she admitted to having received gifts from Chandrashekar. ED also said that Fernandez had used proceeds of crime and valuable gifts bought using it for herself and her family members in India as well as abroad and that this amounts to an offence of money laundering under section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002. Sukesh Chandrashekhar, a native of Bengaluru in Karnataka, is currently lodged in a Delhi jail and facing over 10 criminal cases registered against him. Chandrashekhar has been accused of running an extortion racket to the tune of Rs 200 crore when he was lodged in Rohini jail. He allegedly extorted money from Aditi Singh, the wife of jailed former Ranbaxy owner Shivinder Singh, by posing as officials from the union law ministry and the PMO, on the pretext of getting her husband out on bail. (ANI)
According to MHA sources, the case will be taken over by CBI for further investigation.

On Sunday, a Khap Mahapanchayat was held in Hisar demanding a CBI inquiry into the death of Sonali Phogat. Following the demand for a CBI investigation, Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant on Monday said that the case would be handed over to CBI.

The family members of the deceased woman and the Haryana government had also made persistent demands in this regard.

Actor-politician Sonali Phogat - who hailed from Haryana - was found dead in Goa last month. Her family had immediately alleged foul play. Following allegations by her family the Goa Police had lodged a case of murder and arrested a couple of Phogat's associates.

Sonali Phogat, who rose to fame with her TikTok videos, contested the 2019 Haryana election as a BJP candidate but lost to then Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi (he has since joined the BJP). She also appeared in the reality show Bigg Boss in 2020. (ANI)
On the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday, the Union Health Ministry will start a mega drive for voluntary blood donation from September 17 to October 1 which is the national voluntary blood donation day, official sources told ANI. The Union Health Ministry has also launched the E-Rakt Kosh portal where donors can register for blood donation which will start from September 17 onwards. Another option is Arogya Setu App registration where donors can register. According to the official, India has enough capacity to store the blood units. It is expected that India may create a world record but it depends on the donations. "We are trying to motivate donors and create a database so that they can do repeat donations." said an official source 'The purpose behind the campaign launch is to increase awareness about the need for regular non - remunerated voluntary blood opportunities for social mobilization and social cohesiveness for the noble cause of blood donation. To ensure that blood/components (whole blood /packed red cells//plasma/platelets ) are available, accessible, affordable and safe," said the source. (ANI)
Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit in a press conference on Monday said that issues of drugs and illegal mining are two of the gravest concerns pertaining to the state of Punjab. "If you want to know Punjab, then you have to roam in Punjab. In the last 3 months, I have held 23 meetings in 23 districts. The drug issue come in front which comes from Pakistan. Pakistan cannot directly fight with India, so it is making India weak through drugs," said the Governor. "Unfortunately, few villagers living near the borders have also joined them. Most of the drugs are found in Amritsar and Tarn Taran in Punjab. We will hold a meeting with all the agencies and the Chief secretary on how to stop it," the Governor added. The Punjab Governor also talked about the illegal mining issue and called it a matter of highest concern. "Illegal mining issue is a matter of great concern which is happening in the border area. Because of this, the bunkers of the army are getting destroyed, which is a matter of greatest concern," said Purohit. "Strict action will be taken against whoever is behind it. He should be accused of treason. To stop these activities, we have talked to all the district officers and told them Civil Defense Committee should be created in every village," Purohit further added. The Punjab Governor also praised the Agnipath scheme saying, "Agnipath is a good platform for any young who is going towards drugs. Youth joining Agnipath will also get rid of unemployment. He will become a brave soldier, get money, and will also get away from drugs." "I have only one dream that whenever I go from here, people remember me as someone who had come to stop the drugs issue," the Punjab Governor said. (ANI)
RTHK: Report says more people trapped in slavery

Fifty million people around the world are trapped in forced labour or forced marriage, the UN said on Monday, warning that their ranks had swelled dramatically in recent years.

The United Nations had set a goal to eradicate all forms of modern slavery by 2030, but the number of people caught up in forced labour or forced marriage ballooned by 10 million between 2016 and 2021, according to a new report.

The study by the UN's agencies for labour and migration along with the Walk Free Foundation found that at the end of last year, 28 million people were in forced labour and 22 million living in a marriage they had been forced into.

That means nearly one out of every 150 people in the world are caught up in modern forms of slavery, the report said.

The Covid-19 pandemic, which worsened conditions and swelled debt levels for many workers, has heightened the risk, the report found.

Coupled with the effects of climate change and armed conflicts, it has contributed to "unprecedented disruption to employment and education, increases in extreme poverty and forced and unsafe migration", compounding the threat, it said.

"It is shocking that the situation of modern slavery is not improving," Guy Ryder, head of the International Labour Organization (ILO), said in a statement.

"Nothing can justify the persistence of this fundamental abuse of human rights."

It is a long-term problem, the report cautioned, with estimates indicating entrapment in forced labour can last years while forced marriage is often "a life sentence".

Women and children are by far the most vulnerable.

Children account for one out of five people in forced labour, with more than half of them stuck in commercial sexual exploitation, the report said.

Migrant workers are more than three times likely to be in forced labour than non-migrant adult workers, it showed.

"This report underscores the urgency of ensuring that all migration is safe, orderly, and regular," Antonio Vitorino, head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said in the statement.

Modern slavery is present in basically every country, with more than half of cases of forced labour and a quarter of forced marriages in upper-middle income or high-income countries.

"It would be a mistake to believe that forced labour is solely the problem of poor countries," Ryder told AFP.

The report found that the number of people -- mainly women and girls -- stuck in forced marriages had risen by a full 6.6 million since the last global estimates in 2016.

The number of people in forced labour swelled by 2.7 million over the same period.

The increase was driven entirely by more forced labour in the private economy, including forced commercial sexual exploitation.

But the report also said that 14 percent of those in forced labour were doing jobs imposed by state authorities, voicing concern about abuse of compulsory prison labour in many countries, including the United States.

It also pointed to grave concerns raised by the UN rights office about "credible accounts of forced labour under exceptionally harsh conditions" in North Korea. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2022-09-12. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Amid AAP allegations that a raid had been carried out at its office in Gujarat, Ahmedabad Police on Monday refuted them and said no such action has been carried out by the city police. "The news that the Aam Aadmi Party office has been raided by the police has come to light through social media. No such raids have been carried out by the city police," Ahmedabad Police said. AAP had alleged on Sunday that BJP was scared of its "growing popularity" in poll-bound Gujarat and " was getting its office raided". Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also alleged in a tweet that BJP has got perturbed by "the huge support" received by AAP. "After Delhi, raids are being carried out in Gujarat. Nothing was found in Delhi, nothing in Gujarat. We are honest and patriotic people," he said. He responded to a tweet by party leader Isudan Gadhvi which alleged that "police conducted a raid" on the party's Ahmedabad office soon after Kejriwal reached the city. (ANI)
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed before the Supreme Court by advocate Nalin Kohli seeking directions to the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) to collect data in a time-bound manner from all the state police organizations on the specific issue of investigations revealing a direct link between the viewing of pornographic material and crime of rape was withdrawn from the Supreme Court. The PIL was withdrawn after the advocate failed to convince the bench about the submission. The matter was heard by a bench led by Chief Justice of India UU Lalit with Justice Ravindra Bhat. During the hearing, Justice Bhat cited a US Court judgement on a plea seeking to ban the internet to certain sections of people to reduce porn. Justice Bhat quoted US Court, that it can't set the house on fire to roast a pig. During the hearing, the petitioner argued that India has the highest number of porn viewers to which the court observed that India also has the largest users of the internet and said that it is not the subject matter but where it is likely to lead to. The bench also remarked that the government has enough arsenal to block that offensive part. The petition had sought to direct authorities of all the state police organizations, to collect data in a time-bound manner on the specific issue of investigations to confirm a link between the viewing of pornographic material and crime of rape and also consider formulating an SOP by its police to include the aspect of viewing of pornographic material while investigating cases of rape and sexual assault and to make available such data from their respective police/investigation agencies to the BPRD. The Petitioner apprised the Court of an investigation by the Police in the State of Assam into the gruesome murder of a 6-year-old girl wherein it was revealed that the four perpetrators of the crime (including two minor boys between 8 and 11) were porn addicts. As a consequence of this, the Assam Police had issued guidelines to be followed by the investigating officer for collecting digital evidence while investigating offenses related to rape, molestation and other sexual offenses. The petitioner said he preferred the petition in light of the alarming increase in cases of sexual assault and rape against women and innocent children in various parts of the country. The petitioner said he feels responsible to raise this issue which may have significant and long-term implications in terms of preventing incidents of sexual abuse and violence against women and children. "It is not surprising that news articles, as well as police investigations on rape and murder, are increasingly pointing towards the existence of a link between watching pornographic content and/or sexually explicit content, particularly of a violent/non-consensual nature that appears to have acted as a stimulus for committing rape and/or sexual assault, and thereafter even murder, in an attempt to eliminate evidence, " the petitioner said. "Unfortunately, our newspapers on a daily basis are filled with extremely disturbing and distressing news of rape and sexual abuse against all age groups. The most appalling fact of such news is that many of the victims of such crimes are children including infants. This becomes a matter of even greater concern in an environment where sex education for appropriate sexual behaviour is not part of the education system and treated as socially inappropriate and even a taboo, " the petitioner further said. Studies have highlighted the link between pornographic viewing and sexual crimes against women and children, the petition said. (ANI)
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) delivered yet another blow to Janata Dal-United (JDU) as the Daman and Diu unit of Nitish Kumar's party merged with the saffron party on Monday. "15 out of 17 district panchayat members of JDU of Daman and Diu and the entire unit of state JDU joined the BJP today against Nitish Kumar's decision to leave the BJP which had given impetus to development in Bihar and to choose the 'Bahubali', corrupt and a dynastic party," BJP said in a tweet on Monday. Notably, a few days ago, a bulk of JDU MLAs in Arunachal Pradesh joined the saffron party and very recently 5 out of 7 MLAs from Manipur embraced the BJP. Five Janata Dal (United) MLAs merged with the ruling party BJP last week in the presence of BJP party president J.P Nadda. According to a statement from Manipur Legislative Assembly Secretariat, Kh. Joykishan Singh, Ngursanglur Sanate, Md Achab Uddin, Thangjam Arunkumar and LM Khaute merged with the ruling party BJP. "The Speaker of the Manipur Legislative Assembly is pleased to accept the merger of five JD(U) MLAs with the BJP under the tenth schedule of the Constitution," the Legislative Assembly Secretariat had then said. The Bharatiya Janata Party secured a majority of 32 seats in the 60-member state Assembly in the recently held Assembly elections, results of which were declared on March 10. On 25 August 2022, the lone JDU MLA from Arunachal Pradesh joined the saffron party in the presence of national president JP Nadda and Arunachal CM Pema Khandu. BJP stands at 49 out of 60 Assembly seats (MLA) with the merger of lone JDU MLA Techi Kaso with BJP. Out of 9 Corporators of JDU, 8 have joined BJP; now total BJP corporators is 18 out of 20. Further17 out of 18 Zilla Parishad Members (ZPM) of JDU joined BJP. Now out of 241 ZPM, BJP is with 206 ZPM. In addition, out of 119 Gram Panchayat Members (GPM) of JDU, more than 100 joined BJP and with this BJP GPM are around 6,530 out of 8,332 GPM. This comes at a time when Nitish Kumar met a few leaders in Patna and Delhi to garner support against the Modi-led NDA. Those aware of the development say that the BJP has decided to hit back at the JDU after what transpired in Bihar recently. Recently, Nitish Kumar had broken away from the BJP and formed a government with the RJD and other parties earlier this month. The Chief Minister and his deputy - RJD's Tejashwi Yadav - took oath on August 10. The Bihar Grand Alliance has a combined strength of 163. Its effective strength climbed to 164 after Independent MLA Sumit Kumar Singh extended its support to Nitish Kumar. (ANI)
According to police reports, Sukhpreet Kaur was travelling on a two-wheeler when she 'accidentally' fell from it at Fatehpur village near Amritsar.

She was rushed to the hospital where she breathed her last. Sukhpreet's last rites will be performed at her village Bhikhiwind on Tuesday.

In June this year, Sarabjit's sister, Dalbir Kaur, who had launched the 'Save Sarabjit' campaign to free her brother from Pakistan jail, had died following a heart attack.

Notably, Sarabjit Singh had crossed over to Pakistan in an inebriated condition in 1990. He was a resident of Bhikhiwind, a border village.

In Pakistan, he was sentenced to death for his alleged implication in a bomb blast case on a fake identity of Manjit Singh. The court had directed to hang Sarabjit Singh on April 1, 2008, but owing to international pressure, his execution was postponed indefinitely.

But as the luck would have it, Sarabjit Singh was attacked by his fellow jail inmates at a Lahore jail in 2013. He died at the Jinnah Hospital in Lahore on May 1, 2013.

--IANS robin/arm

( 210 Words)

2022-09-12-20:36:04 (IANS)
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a plea seeking analysis of a link between watching internet porn and sex crimes, including child abuse. A bench of Chief Justice U.U. Lalit and Justice S. Ravindra Bhat said child sex abuse is a crime by itself and police investigation into individual cases would show whether or not viewing of pornography had triggered the crime. It observed a judicial declaration from the apex court that porn on the Internet has led to child sex crimes would be like giving a go-ahead to online surveillance. "What you are advocating may be surveillance and collection of data," the bench told senior counsel and BJP leader Nalin Kohli, who was the petitioner-in-person. During the hearing, Justice Bhat cited a US Supreme Court verdict in connection with a question of banning the Internet to a certain class in order not to give them access to porn. He said one of the judges there observed 'We cannot set the house on fire to roast a pig'." The top court said the government has sufficient resources to deploy to ensure that criminal material is not uploaded on the Internet. The bench queried Kohli whether the court should intervene, if petitioner's final goal is that such material should not be uploaded, and added that this is a tiger and if it gets loose, the problem is at what point the court would control it. Kohli cited an incident in Assam where a direct link was found between pornography and sexual assault on a minor girl. To this, the bench said: "The issue of the link between viewing pornography and crime is individual case specific." The plea sought a direction to the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) to collect data in a time bound from all the state police organisations on the specific issue of investigations revealing a direct link between viewing of pornographic material and acts of rape. After hearing arguments, the top court declined to entertain the plea and Kohli withdrew the petition. --IANS ss/vd ( 364 Words) 2022-09-12-21:36:01 (IANS)
Petitioners in the hijab ban case on Monday told the Supreme Court that Karnataka High Court faulted by holding wearing of the headscarf is not an essential practice of Islam, contending that since the court had no expertise in the field, it should not have gone into the issue of whether hijab was an essential religious practice by interpreting the Quran. Senior advocate Yusuf Mucchala submitted before a bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia that human dignity is a constitutionally protected facet and scriptures say people have to observe modesty and wearing of the headscarf may be a personal marker in this context. He said interpreters and scholars may disagree, but if a woman thinks wearing hijab is right, then she should follow it. "It is not the job of the courts to say follow one and don't follow the other," he said. He added further that the Karnataka High Court used one interpretation of the Quran against another to give a finding on the essentiality of the hijab, which is objectionable. The bench replied that it had no option, as the petitioners claimed it to be essential religious practice. "What option does the high court have but to point it out? Now you say the high court cannot do this." Muchhala said it is only judicial wisdom to not touch a field in which the court has no expertise and the court should have stayed away from it. "When HC encountered the question, it should have said hands off, we cannot look into that," he said. He said whether hijab is a fundamental right or not is applicable here and the question here is not about religious denomination but an individual's fundamental rights. The apex court was hearing submissions on the fourth day against the Karnataka High Court's judgement of March 15 upholding ban on hijab in pre-university colleges. The high court found no infirmity in the state government's order that virtually banned the wearing of hijab by Muslim girls studying in pre-university colleges. The top court scheduled the matter for further hearing on September 14. --IANS ss/vd ( 369 Words) 2022-09-12-22:16:03 (IANS)
The Spring Dale School in Amritsar has received a bomb threat on social media, following which the school authorities have lodged a complaint with the police. The threat came four days after the DAV Public School got a similar threat, which later proved to be a prank made by three students of the school. A message uploaded on social media on Monday evening read that there would be a blast in Spring Dale School on September 16 . As the matter was reported to the police, heavy security arrangements have been made in and around the school. "It came to the notice of the school that a threatening message was in circulation in social media of similar nature as was circulated against another school in the city last week. Taking serious note of the social media message, the school authorities informed the police to ensure the safety and security of the students and staff of the school," read a statement issued by the school. It added, "The police authorities informed the school management that the situation is under control and safety and security of the school children will be ensured as an FIR has been lodged and the matter is being investigated." As per the management, the school will function on Tuesday as per the routine. --IANS robin/arm ( 230 Words) 2022-09-12-22:32:03 (IANS)
Let's pretend it's the Late Cretaceous, roughly 66 to 100 million years ago. We've got dinosaurs roaming the land and odd-looking early species of birds, although the shark as we know it is already swimming in the prehistoric oceans which cover 82% of Earth. Redwood trees and other conifers are making their debut, as are roses and flowering plants, and with them come bees, termites and ants. Most of all, it's warm, volcanically active and humid all over the place with not an ice sheet in sight. Except, according to a group of scientists from UC Santa Barbara, University of Oregon and University of Manitoba, icy conditions did exist in the region of the South Pole. "And it wasn't just a single-valley glacier," said UCSB geologist John Cottle, "it was probably multiple glaciers or a large ice sheet." Contrary to our widely held picture of the Late Cretaceous as "hot everywhere," he said, there's evidence that polar ice existed during that period, even at the height of global greenhouse conditions. The geologists' study is published in the journal Nature Communications. A Prehistoric Puzzle Fast-forward to today. Let's pretend we're in Antarctica. It's chilly, it's barren, and we're standing near a large grouping of exposed glassy rock along the Transantarctic Mountains, adjacent to the Ross Ice Shelf, called the Butcher Ridge Igneous Complex (BRIC). "I actually heard about these rocks when I was a grad student 20 or so years ago, and they're just really weird," Cottle said. Remote, even by today's Antarctic exploration standards, the BRIC is unusual because the rocks' composition and formation are uncharacteristic of nearby rock formations, with, among other things, large amounts of glass and layered alteration that indicates significant physical, chemical or environmental events that changed their mineral composition. Cottle got the chance to finally sample the BRIC on a recent expedition, and in the process of analyzing how it was formed, he and his team encountered an "unusually large amount of water." "So you have a really hot rock that interacts with water, and as it cools, incorporates it into the glass," he said. "If you look at the composition, then you can tell something about where that water came from. It can exist as hydroxyl, which tells you that it probably came from the magma, or it could be molecular, which means it is probably external." What they were expecting to see was that the alteration in the rock was caused by the water already in the magma as it cooled. What they found instead was a record of a climate process that was thought not to have existed at the time. In their spectroscopic analysis of the samples, the researchers determined that while some of the water indeed originated with magma as it plumed upward from Earth's interior, as the molten rock cooled into glass just beneath the Earth's surface, it also incorporated groundwater. "We determined that most of the water in these rocks is externally derived," Cottle said. "We then measured the oxygen and hydrogen isotopic composition of the water and it matches very well to the composition of Antarctic snow and ice." To lock in their result, Cottle and team also conducted argon-argon geochronology to date the rock and its alteration. "The problem is, these rocks are Jurassic, so about 183 million years old," he said. "So when you measure the alteration, what you don't know is when that happened." They were able to recover the age of the rock (Jurassic), but also found a younger age (Cretaceous). "So when these rocks cooled and were altered," he continued, "it also reset the argon isotope as well, and you can match the age of the alteration to the composition of the alteration." There are other, similar volcanic rocks roughly 700 km north of the BRIC that also have a Cretaceous alteration age, indicating that polar glaciation might have been regionally extensive in Antarctica during that time. "What we'd like to do is go to other places in Antarctica and see if we can determine the scale of the glaciation, if we recover the same results that we've already found," he said. Finding evidence of large ice sheets dating back to the Cretaceous might not alter our general picture of a hot and humid Earth at that time, Cottle said, "but we would have to think about the Cretaceous and Antarctica quite differently than we do now." Research in this study was also conducted by Demian A. Nelson (lead author) of UCSB, Ilya N. Bindeman at the University of Oregon and Alfredo Camacho at the University of Manitoba. (ANI)
Australia on Sunday proclaimed King Charles III as the head of state, the first new monarch in 70 years. The proclamation was made by Australia's Governor-General David Hurley at the nation's parliament in Canberra. A series of proclamation ceremonies will also take place across state parliaments in the country, reported CNN. A national day of remembrance will be held on September 22, after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has returned from Britain, where he will attend the Queen's funeral. A memorial service will also be held on that day, which has been declared a one-off public holiday. King Charles-III was proclaimed as the new monarch of England on Saturday after his mother Queen Elizabeth II passed away on Thursday. As head of state, Queen Elizabeth II visited Australia 16 times. "From her famous first trip to Australia, the only reigning sovereign to ever visit, it was clear Her Majesty held a special place in her heart for Australia," Albanese said in a statement Friday. "Fifteen more tours before cheering crowds in every part of our country confirmed the special place she held in ours," added Albanese. In 1999 Australia held a referendum on whether to remove the Queen as head of state, but it was defeated, reported CNN. On Friday, Sydney's iconic Opera House was lit up with a tribute to the Queen. Neighbouring commonwealth country New Zealand Sunday also officially proclaimed King Charles III as its head of state in a televised ceremony, reported CNN. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Queen Elizabeth served the people of New Zealand for 70 years with unwavering duty. "For the vast majority of New Zealanders, she is the only monarch we have known, and so upon her death, we enter a time of change," Ardern said. "King Charles has long had an affection for Aotearoa New Zealand and has consistently demonstrated his deep care for our nation," she added. "And so as one chapter closes, another begins." Meanwhile, the Canadian parliament will sit on Thursday to allow members to pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Twitter on Saturday, reported CNN. Trudeau added the Canadian Parliament will also delay its opening session by a day. "To accommodate Her Majesty's funeral, the session's opening will be delayed -- by one day -- to September 20," Trudeau said. Born on November 14, 1948, Charles was the first child of Elizabeth and Philip, then the princess and prince. At the age of 19, he formally became the Prince of Wales on July 1, 1969. He married Lady Diana Spencer on July 29, 1981, and became the first royal heir since 1660 to marry an English woman. In August 1996, Diana and Charles went their separate ways and got legally divorced. After Diana's demise in a car accident, Charles remarried Camilla Parker Bowles in April 2005. Soon, the couple got the royal title of Duke and Duchess of Cornwall. (ANI)
The much-publicised Ukrainian southern offensive was a disinformation campaign to distract Russia from the real one being prepared in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine's special forces have said, the media reported. Ukrainian forces are continuing to make unexpected, rapid advances in the north-east of the country, retaking more than a third of the occupied Kharkiv region in three days, The Guardian reported. Much of Ukraine's territorial gains were confirmed by Russia's defence ministry on Saturday. "(It) was a big special disinformation operation," said Taras Berezovets, a former national security adviser turned press officer for the Bohun brigade of Ukraine's special forces, The Guardian reported. "(Russia) thought it would be in the south and moved their equipment. Then, instead of the south, the offensive happened where they least expected, and this caused them to panic and flee." On August 29, Ukraine's southern command announced that the long-anticipated offensive in the Kherson region had begun. But soldiers on the Kherson frontline said at the time that they saw no evidence of said offensive or that the active battles taking place were a reaction to an attempted Russian offensive several days earlier. For the past two weeks, Ukrainian forces in the south took several villages -- no small feat given the reported strength of Russian positions and one which nevertheless resulted in injuries. But the gains were not remarkably different from the steady but limited progress Ukrainian forces had been making in the Kherson region over July and August. And yet, the capture of tiny Kherson villages, with populations of a few thousands, suddenly became big international news, The Guardian reported. Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for Ukraine's southern command, had insisted on a "regime of silence" and temporarily banned journalists from visiting the frontlines in Kherson. But Berezovets said the media stir around the southern offensive was a coordinated disinformation campaign by Ukraine, targeted at Russian forces, that had been building for several months, The Guardian reported. --IANS san/pgh ( 334 Words) 2022-09-11-22:38:02 (IANS)
Almost all major online shopping services in Afghanistan have shut down, with the two major online shopping services recently announcing to shut down their services due to the financial crisis in the country. Almost a year since the Taliban took over Afghanistan, the gap in legitimate governance power in the country took it into a total crisis. The sudden collapse of the Afghanistan administration has resulted in an economic crisis and financial issues in the country. According to Khaama Press, a well-known online shopping app, Click.af, with a six-year-old successful marketing experience announced its closure on Saturday evening. A message published on Click.af's Facebook page said they are no longer able to continue operations due to financial issues. "The precarious economic situation, the capital flight, and the stalling of the economic cycle led sales in the market to be severely affected, and Click.af is no exception," the application's operator/s stated in a Facebook note. The owner of the Click online store, Masih Stanekzai, said that he is not yet ready to express his feelings. "I'm not interested in giving a negative feeling about it," he said. "I hope the future is better in coming years so that businesses like Click.af could start again and flourish and become a success!", Stanekzai added. A day later, Baqal, another online shopping service with a 3-year-old background announced its closure due to financial hardships. A message published on Baqal's Facebook page said that it was a medium-sized investment which eventually collapsed as the citizens' purchasing power turned down and the local banks froze people's funds in the bank accounts due to the limitations applied by the Taliban on the banking sector, Khaama Press reported. Online shopping services in Afghanistan had facilitated and improved communications between customers and shopkeepers but this come as some other major online businesses including an online Taxi service called 'Bubar', Finest superstores online shopping portal and Hindukosh online shopping website were closed months after the collapse of the Afghanistan republic administration. Right after the Taliban took over in August 2021, the first two months were particularly difficult for many Afghan civilians. As Afghanistan continues to witness a debilitating rights situation, the UN body for humanitarian affairs expressed concerns over the grave condition pointing out that 25 million people in the country are living in poverty, media reports said. The human rights situation in the country has been exacerbated by a nationwide economic, financial and humanitarian crisis of unprecedented scale, however, the Taliban has repeatedly denied the reports of the violations of human rights, and called them baseless. As per a report by a global analytics firm, under the Taliban regime, Afghanistan ranked first among the list of unhappiest countries in terms of physical pain, mental stress, mental disorders triggered by poverty and unemployment, anxiety, and anger. Since Taliban took over authority in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of US forces, Afghans' emotional state reflected the instability and uncertainty as per the survey report. The Taliban dismantled the system to respond to gender-based violence, created new barriers to women accessing health care, blocked women's aid workers from doing their jobs, and attacked women's rights protesters. With the US troops' withdrawal from the country, large-scale violence has been unleashed creating political uncertainty in different parts of the country. At least 59 per cent of the population is now in need of humanitarian assistance - an increase of 6 million people compared with the beginning of 2021, according to UNAMA. (ANI)
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday met with the Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud in Jeddah and apprised him of the bilateral ties between the two countries. In a tweet, Jaishankar wrote, "Honoured to call on HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah this evening. Conveyed the warm greetings of PM @narendramodi. Apprised him of the progress in our bilateral relations. Thank him for sharing his vision of our ties." Earlier, in the day, Jaishankar met with the Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and co-chaired the Political, Security, Social and Cultural (PSSC) committee of the India-Saudi Partnership Council. "Warm and productive meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister HH Prince @FaisalbinFarhan this afternoon. Co-chaired the Political, Security, Social and Cultural Committee of the India-Saudi Partnership Council," Jaishankar tweeted. Jaishankar arrived on a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia starting Saturday, his first trip to the Kingdom as India's External Affairs Minister. "The two Ministers will undertake a comprehensive review of the entire bilateral relationship and will discuss the progress under the four Joint Working Groups of the PSSC Committee, namely Political & Consular; Legal and Security; Social and Cultural and Joint Committee on Defence Cooperation," the MEA had said earlier. The meetings of these Groups and Senior Officials (at the Secretary level) have been held over the past few months, the release added. "Both sides will also discuss regional and international issues of mutual interest including their cooperation at the United Nations, Group of Twenty (G20) and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)," the MEA said. During the visit, Jaishankar will also meet other Saudi dignitaries as well as the Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Nayef Falah Mubarak Al-Hajraf. Both sides will review the bilateral relations and discuss ways to enhance them. The minister will also interact with the Indian community in Saudi Arabia. India-Saudi Arabia relations have strengthened considerably over the past few years including in political, security, energy, trade, investment, health, food security, cultural and defence fields. The top leadership of both countries remained in close touch even during the Covid-19 pandemic. (ANI)
India and Malaysia last Friday marked 65 years of modern diplomatic relations at a commemorative event, "India-Malaysia@65", organised by the Consortium of Indian Industries in Malaysia (CIIM) and Malaysia India Business Council (MIBC) at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in Malaysia. At the event, Malaysia's Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah said, "Our relations predate the 65 years of official bilateral relations, the relations between India and Malaysia and the people of India and Malaysia is not just a bilateral relation but a civilisational relation." The Minister added that there has been significant progress in the two countries' bilateral relations and the civilisational relationship enjoyed by both countries made the relationship even more special. Malaysia and India first established official diplomatic relations in 1957 following the Federation of Malaya's independence and the end of colonial rule. About seven per cent (2.3 million people) out of Malaysia's population of 33 million are of Indian ancestry. Malaysia's Foreign Minister said in his speech that the relationship between India and Malaysia had grown from Strategic Partnership in 2010 to an Enhanced Strategic Partnership in 2015, with new cooperation in cultural diplomacy, digital economy and agro commodity forthcoming. Over the years, more than 20 bilateral agreements have been signed between the two nations who were both once under British colonial rule and are now full members of the Commonwealth of Nations. The more recent ones include an MoU on Cyber Security signed in 2015, an MoU on Cultural Exchange Programme (2015), a Revised Air Services Agreement (2017), an MoU between Malaysia Palm Oil Board (MPOB) and the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), India (2017), and MoU of Mutual Recognition of Educational Degrees and Certificates between AIU and MQA (2017). India and Malaysia signed a bilateral Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) covering goods, services and investments which came into effect in July 2011. Since then, bilateral trade between the two countries has also been growing steadily. Between 2015 and 2020, trade increased by over 30 per cent. Based on Malaysian government figures, a total of USD 16.66 billion worth of goods were exchanged in 2020 with India importing Malaysian products to the value of USD 10.8 billion that year. "During my visit to New Delhi in June 2022, I met my (counterpart) India's External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar at the sidelines of the special ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers' meeting and discussed possible new cooperation in various fields including cultural diplomacy as well as trade and investment," Saifuddin continued. He said that over 150 Indian companies have invested USD 3 billion in Malaysia in various sectors namely biotechnology, financial services, manufacturing, and the textile industry. India and Malaysia have had a mutually beneficial trading relationship for many years. Currently, Malaysia is the 13th largest trading partner for India, whereas India is among the top ten trading partners for Malaysia. India's major exports to Malaysia include mineral oils, mineral fuels, meat and edible meat offal, iron and steel, copper, organic chemicals, nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances, and electrical machinery and equipment. Flowing in the opposite direction, key goods imported from Malaysia to India comprise palm oil, mineral oils, mineral fuels, electrical machinery and equipment, animal or vegetable fats and oils, nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances, copper, wood, wood charcoal, aluminium, organic chemicals, iron and steel, and other chemical products. Malaysia ranks as the 26th largest foreign investor in India with FDI (foreign direct investment) flows of USD 1.12 billion during the period from April 2020 to September 2021. The actual figure is probably closer to USD 7 billion as most Malaysian investments are transacted through Mauritius-based entities. The largest investments from Malaysia are in telecommunications, the oil and gas industry, and roads and highways. On the other hand, Indian companies have invested over USD 2.62 billion in over 250 manufacturing projects including USD 1.37 billion by around 135 Indian companies resulting in the creation of more than 15,000 jobs in the manufacturing sector in 2020. Prominent Indian companies with a presence in Malaysia include TCS, HCL, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, Infosys, and Ramco Systems. As for tourism, there is a healthy exchange of visitors travelling between the two countries. India is one of the top market sources for Malaysia. During the last pre-COVID year, India contributed 735,309 arrivals in 2019, an increase of over 22.5 per cent compared with the previous year while more than 334,500 Malaysians visited India during the same period. During the "India-Malaysia@65" event, Saifuddin urged Indian companies to expand their operations in Malaysia and make Malaysia their hub in ASEAN due to its strategic location and conducive business environment. Also present at the event were the Indian High Commissioner to Malaysia, B.N. Reddy. In Reddy's speech, he commended the 65 years of vibrant ties between India and Malaysia. He said that the Indian diaspora community in Malaysia, the second largest in the world, is living proof of the bond of friendship between India and Malaysia. The diplomat highlighted the success of the Melaka-Manipal Medical College in Malaysia which is producing close to 15,000 medical doctors in Malaysia to date. On the back of this success, he is looking forward to India's first offshore campus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Malaysia. (ANI)
Indian Army Chief General Manoj Pande on Monday highlighted the importance of logistics in conflicts citing the Russia-Ukraine war as an example. Referring to the Russia-Ukraine war at Army Logistics Conference, he said, "While the war shows little signs of ebbing, there are important lessons for those concerned with national security. One such lesson that has emerged clearly is that pace, intensity and reach of military operations ride on strength, agility and capacity of logistic support." Army logistics, also known as military logistics, refers to the process of planning and confirming that the movement and maintenance of the armed forces are in due accordance with previous plans and procedures. It deals with procurement, maintenance, distribution and replacement of personnel and material. "Wars aren't fought between militaries alone; they remain a whole nation endeavour. Wars test national resilience and stretch the nation's resources and capacities. The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which has already passed the half-yr mark is an apt example," said the Army Chief. It is a fact that logistics is as vital to military success as daily food is to daily work. Moreover, there are many examples which prove that battles, campaigns, and even wars have been won or lost primarily because of logistics, he said. "Whilst military infrastructure will continue to meet the immediate and specific demands of armed forces, it is the civil-military fusion with the support of Indian industry that shall provide the bulwark for execution & sustenance of future operations," said Pande. The Army Chief also said that the quick steps taken by the US, the UK, Russia and, most recently, China in implementing efficient joint military-civil structures underline the urgency of the issue. The war between Russia and Ukraine entered a new phase after Kyiv dealt a big blow to Moscow's grip on parts of the east with a fast-moving offensive that saw Ukrainian troops enter the strategic city of Izium after six months of occupation. The reason for it can be ascribed to logistical support. "Weapons, weapons, weapons have been on our agenda since spring. I am grateful to partners who have answered our call: Ukraine's battlefield successes are our shared ones. Three agenda items now are schedule, schedule, and schedule. Prompt supplies bring victory and peace closer," tweeted Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh too underscored the vital importance of logistics at the Army Logistics Conference. "Logistics is a significant component of the domestic and international economy. Today India is the 5th largest economy in the world and we are moving towards a 5 trillion economy. Logistics review and reforms needed today as per 21st century," said Singh. He also stressed the Jointness between the three services. "The role of logistics in the defence sector is also very important. Jointness between the three services is a major dimension in the policy changes that have taken place in the Defence Ministry in the last three years," said the Defence Minister. (ANI)
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna will be visiting India from September 14-15 on her first official trip to India and her first bilateral visit in Asia. During her stay in New Delhi, Colonna will hold talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on September 14, on bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest, read the Ministry of External Affairs press release. As part of the visit, Colonna will travel to Mumbai for engagements with industry leaders and site visits on September 15. India and France have a longstanding strategic partnership, strengthened by regular high-level consultations and growing convergences in various areas. The French Foreign Minister's visit will pave the way for further strengthening the partnership across trade, defence, climate, migration and mobility, education and health sectors, added the release. India and France have traditionally had close and friendly relations. In 1998, the two countries entered into a Strategic Partnership which is emblematic of their convergence of views on a range of international issues apart from a close and growing bilateral relationship. The two countries have a burgeoning economic relationship. French businesses and industry have forged linkages with the Indian economy and contribute significantly to our goal to become an Atmanirbhar Bharat. There are over 1,000 French businesses in India in variegated sectors such as defence, ITES, consulting, engineering services, and heavy industry. France is the 7th largest foreign investor in India with a cumulative FDI stock of USD 9 billion from April 2, 2000, to December 2020, which represents 2 per cent of the total FDI inflows into India. Although India has a trade surplus, India-France bilateral trade remains far below potential. In the period April 2018-March 2019, India-France bilateral trade stood at 11.59 billion Euro, India's exports to France were valued at 6.23 billion Euro meanwhile, French exports to India stood at 5.35 billion Euro. The 18th Joint Economic Committee meeting, held virtually between the two countries on 27 November 2020, led to the signing of a bilateral 'Fast Track Mechanism' for investors. The first meetings were held on 16 February 2022 between E/I, Paris and the French Treasury and on 25 February 2022 between Secretary, DPIIT and the French Ambassador, in Paris and Delhi, respectively. Commerce and Industries Minister Piyush Goyal also held a virtual conference for French businesses in February 2021, whereby a dedicated desk was set up by Invest India for investor queries. In recent interactions at the EU level, India has sought an early harvest trade agreement, while working towards a comprehensive FTA. (ANI)
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between India and Madagascar for the training of diplomats, according to an official statement. During a special ceremony organized at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Madagascar Foreign Affairs Minister Richard Randriamandrato and Ambassador Abhay Kumar signed the MoU on Monday between the Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service and the Foreign Affairs Ministery of Madagascar. "The signing of this MOU today will go a long way in enhancing cooperation between our two countries in the crucial arena of training of diplomats. It will encourage exchange of information and content of training programmes for diplomats," Ambassador Abhay Kumar said in a statement. "The cooperation between India and Madagascar through this MOU is a step towards realising our common vision of SAGAR Security and Growth For All in the Region. I'm delighted that we have signed this MoU with Madagascar, a friend and Indian Ocean neighbour" he continued saying in the statement. While expressing satisfaction and delight at the signing of the MoU, Richard Randriamandrato said: "Today we have made another step forward and I am more than happy to express the full gratitude of my Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs...As you rightly said, what we signed today is a Memorandum of Understanding which means that we understand each other and that we are going to move forward. I am more than happy of course to know that my colleague, His Excellency Dr S. Jaishankar, shares the same vision as myself and the Government of Madagascar", the Minister added. As per the statement, the MoU comes into effect on the date of signing. (ANI)
Indian Ambassador to Ukraine Harsh Kumar Jain on Monday handed over 7,725 kilograms of humanitarian aid to Deputy Minister of Health Oleksii Yaremenko for the people of Ukraine. The 7,725 kilograms of aid comprised essential medicines and medical equipment. "Newly appointed Amb @IndiainUkraine Harsh Kumar Jain handed over 7,725 kg of humanitarian aid comprising of essential medicines and medical equipment to H.E Oleksii Yaremenko, Deputy Minister of Health of #Ukraine in-charge of Humanitarian Aid and EU Integration," India in Ukraine tweeted. India sent the first tranche of humanitarian assistance to Ukraine on March. Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, India has consistently called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and an end to the violence. India has called upon both sides to return to the path of diplomacy and dialogue, and also expressed its support for all diplomatic efforts to end the conflict. Meanwhile, India highlighted that the impact of the Ukraine conflict is not just limited to Europe, adding that it has exacerbated concerns over food, fertilizer and fuel security, especially in the developing countries. Assuring the Security Council, India's Permanent Representative at United Nations Ruchira Kamboj said that New Delhi will continue to work with the International Community to mitigate economic hardships resulting from the Ukraine conflict. She emphasized that the situation in Ukraine has not shown any significant improvement since the Council last discussed the conflict in Ukraine and its humanitarian consequences. The security situation remains serious, as do the humanitarian consequences. Reports of civilian killings in Bucha were deeply disturbing. India hoped that the international community will continue to respond positively to the call for humanitarian assistance. India has recently dispatched its twelfth consignment of humanitarian aid to Ukraine. This humanitarian aid and assistance is in keeping with the human-centric approach of the Indian Government. (ANI)
US Special Envoy for Afghan Women, Girls, and Human Rights in Afghanistan, Rina Amiri on Sunday condemned the Taliban's ban on girls' education and said that there is no justification for continuing this destructive policy in the country. Taking to Twitter, the envoy wrote "There is no justification for continuing this cruel & destructive policy. Not culture, not religion nor logistics," as she called the prohibition of girls from attending school past the sixth grade in Afghanistan "cynical politics", Khaama Press reported. According to the special envoy Amiri, the Taliban's "cruel" stance toward girls' education dashes the hopes and potential of young Afghan girls. Earlier on Saturday, Female students in Afghanistan's Paktia province protested against the closure of their school and marched in the area. "Girls protested in the streets in the centre of Paktia to protest the closing of their schools. Earlier, some girls' schools above grade 6 in the province had been reopened due to a decision by tribal elders and local educational officials, but the schools were closed again," reported Tolo News. As per Khaama Press, the province's schools reopened for girls after a decision by tribal chiefs and local education authorities but were closed again after just two weeks as the decision was taken without the Taliban's formal instructions. The Taliban's decision to ban female students above grade six from going to school has drawn widespread criticism at the national and international levels. Further, the Taliban regime which took over Kabul in August last year has curtailed women's rights and freedoms, with women largely excluded from the workforce due to the economic crisis and restrictions. Time and again, several human rights and education activists had urged world leaders to mount diplomatic pressure on the Taliban to reopen secondary schools for girls in the war-torn country. Taliban has imposed draconian restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression, association, assembly and movement for women and girls. As a result of this, women and girls in Afghanistan are facing a human rights crisis, deprived of the fundamental rights to non-discrimination, education, work, public participation and health. Afghan women are staring at a bleak future due to a number of restrictions imposed by the Taliban governing aspects of their lives within 10 months of Afghanistan's takeover. According to HRW, women and girls are blocked from accessing health care as well. Reports suggest that women and girls facing violence have no escape route. Allowing girls into schools and other educational institutes has been one of the main demands of the international community. The majority of countries have refused to formally recognize the Taliban amid worries over their treatment of girls and women and other human rights issues. Women are no longer allowed to travel unless accompanied by men related to them and are being curtailed from wearing make-up as well as their reproductive rights. (ANI)
Nepal House of Representatives Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota Chairman of the Standing Committee of China's NPC Li Zhanshu signed the agreement at an event held at the Federal Parliament Building in Kathmandu.

According to the agreement, both sides would exchange information on each other's legislative, supervisory and governance practices.

The MoU between the two parliaments (Federal Parliament of Nepal and National People's Congress (NPC) of the People's Republic of China) also mentions the Belt and Road Initiative, an ambitious project promoted by China.

According to the agreement, the two governments would accord priority and facilitate the promotion of mutual benefits and commitments between the two countries, including through the Belt and Road Initiative, the fifth point of the MoU read.

Similarly, both parties have agreed to strengthen cooperation under the framework of international and regional parliamentary organizations, including the Inter-Parliamentary Union, on matters of common interest.

Li's visit is happening ahead of the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in October, which will likely give another term extension to Chinese President Xi. It also comes ahead of the general and provincial elections scheduled to be held in Nepal on November 20. (ANI)
Objecting to the relief operation of the Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) government in flood-hit areas of Sindh province of Pakistan, opposition leader in Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh on Sunday accused the ruling party of mishandling funds allocated to support flood victims. Addressing a press conference in Sindh Assembly, he said, "Despite funding of billions of rupees, Johi-Dadu Main Nara Valley drain embankment could not be strengthened. Rice Canal, Hamal Lake and Manchhar Lake suffered breaches. Natural waterways like Puran Dhoro are blocked due to illegal encroachments. If the excess water of Manchhar Lake had been discharged without considering the constituency of Sindh chief minister earlier, heavy losses could have been decreased," reported Dawn. Due to devastating floods, diseases like dengue are spreading fast in flood-affected areas, he said. "Planeloads of relief goods are coming every day, but no one knows where they are going," said the opposition leader. "Bilawal Zardari is said to have collected Rs130 billion in just one hour, but in whose pocket these funds have gone as flood victims have not received a rupee from this amount," Dawn reported quoting Sheikh as he alleged the Murad Ali Shah-led Sindh government for miseries of flood victims. Sheikh also said that a number of humanitarian organisations have been working for the flood victims, but the Sindh government was seen nowhere while he accused Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon of misleading the people of Sindh through 'fake news'. Monsoon rains have submerged a third of Pakistan, claiming more than a thousand lives since June and unleashing powerful floods that have washed away swathes of vital crops and damaged or destroyed more than a million homes. Officials have blamed climate change, which is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather around the world. Around 888 health facilities have been damaged in the country, of which 180 are completely damaged, leaving millions of people lacking access to health care and medical treatment in many areas, as reported by Dawn. "According to a preliminary assessment conducted by WHO and humanitarian partners, the current level of devastation is much more severe than that caused by floods in Pakistan in previous years, including those that devastated the country in 2010," said Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO's Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean. "WHO has initiated an immediate response to treat the injured, provide life-saving supplies to health facilities, support mobile health teams, and prevent the spread of infectious diseases." (ANI)
Uyghur NGOs in Istanbul on Monday demonstrated near the Chinese Consulate in Sariyer district against China's 'Hunger Genocide' under the pretext of controlling the Covid-19 pandemic, while forcing a lockdown in areas of East Turkestan as a precaution against the surge in Covid-19 cases. According to local media reports, around 3,000-3,500 protestors including women and children gathered outside the Chinese Consulate in Sariyer district at around 11 am despite rain showers. The speakers at the protest included the President of East Turkestan National Assembly, Seyit Tumturk, Vice-Chairperson of Uyghur Religious Scholars, Mahmud Can, East Turkestan Federation leader, Mahmud Emin Damollah, activist lawyer Jevlan Shirmemmet, some educationists and journalists. They condemned the Chinese policy of hunger genocide in East Turkestan in the garb of efforts to control the Covid pandemic. Nearly 6-7 Uyghur NGOs came together in a show of solidarity toward their brothers, local media reports said. The NGOs also plan to have a press release on Wednesday in front of the Chinese Embassy and the UN office in Ankara. They also intend to address a letter to NATO which had intervened against the genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the past. Uyghur leaders like President of East Turkestan Education and Solidarity Association, Hidayetullah Oghuzhan, President of East Turkestan New Generation Movement, Abduselam Teklimakan, President of East Turkestan National Assembly, Seyit Tumturk, East Turkestan Federation leaders Mahmud Emin Damollah and Habibullah Koseini have been speaking out recently against the hunger genocide being committed against the Uyghur Muslims in East Turkestan. The issue is getting support from all sections and organisations related to the Uyghur cause. The videos and images published and circulated widely on social media and shared by Uyghur activists show Uyghurs who have been found dead due to hunger and disease in their homes where they were forcibly imprisoned. It also shows those who took their own lives as they could no longer withstand hunger and pain. They even include young children who are starving or have died due to hunger or high fever but did not get access to food or medicine, local media reported. Uyghur activists are accusing the Communist Party of China of now using this new way and pretext to exterminate the Uyghur race but so far no single foreign government or International organisation has done anything. Meanwhile, a huge prayer event took place in Kucucekmece Fatih Mosque, Istanbul on the evening of Saturday, where Muslims including Uyghurs prayed for their vulnerable and unprotected brothers and sisters who are facing the 'hunger genocide' in East Turkestan, the intensity of which has increased severely in the past days. Local organisations in Turkey are also supporting their Uyghur brothers in their fight against Chinese oppression. Ihsan Senocak, the founder of the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (IFAM) addressed a well-attended gathering in Samsung on Saturday in IFAM premises where he lamented '....why we are feeding the enemies of Allah and his messenger....is there no help for these Muslims, adding that 'East Turkestan will become a graveyard for China, media reports said. Appealing on social media Senocak said 'Where mosques were destroyed....where prayers were silenced...where children were raised as orphans....according to the Red Book of Mao...China which seals houses with iron is starving our brothers .....O Muslim! be the voice for your brother's pain.' A delegation of the East Turkestan New Generation Movement also met Mustafa Destici, the Chairman of the far-right Great Unity Party (Buyuk Birlik Partisi, BBP) and requested him to include the Chinese-inflicted 'hunger genocide' in East Turkestan in the party's agenda. (ANI)
Pakistan Police arrested a journalist for allegedly reporting on the plight of Pakistani Hindus trapped in the ongoing floods in Pakistan's Sindh province. These affected people later claimed that they were deprived of basic resources to survive the calamity, local media reported. Pakistan Police on Wednesday arrested journalist Nasrallah Gaddani and took him on 5-day remand for covering the story of Pakistani Hindus belonging to the Bhagri community in Sindh's Mirpur Mathelo. The journalist reported that the local administration had expelled the people of the Bhagri community from the flood relief camp for being Hindus, media reports said. A video of the coverage went viral on social media exposing the atrocities of the Pakistan government and authorities on Hindu minorities, which often claim that minorities in the federal country are safe and lead happy life. In the video, flood victims are seen crying and explaining their poor condition in the country after being denied basic resources including water, food and shelter amid the catastrophic natural disaster which has affected over 33 million people. The people of the Hindu Bhagri community, in the video, were seen narrating their terrible situation and the treatment of the local administration toward them. They said that the local administration had expelled them from the flood relief camps, telling them that they were not flood victims. A victim can be seen crying and saying, "We have been expelled for being Hindus. They have refused to provide us with even food and water. They think we are not victims of floods. Where shall we go now? How should our children survive?" "We are poor and lost our house to the flood. And local administration tells us that we are not flood victims. We have small children with us." "Where shall we go now? How do we survive without food and water?" another victim adds. The recent flood situation in Sindh province has only added to the plight of Hindus, who have already been facing adversity and severe institutional discrimination in Pakistan. In contrast, the Hindu community in Balochistan has come up with a gesture of humanity and religious harmony, by opening the doors of a temple to shelter flood-affected people. A tiny village of Jalal Khan in the Kachhi district of Balochistan has been cut off from the rest of the province due to the floods. The floods in the country have destroyed houses and left mass destruction in their wake, Dawn newspaper reported. Locals have opened the doors of the Baba Madhudas Mandir, as per the publication. The flash floods have badly impacted 80 districts of Pakistan and the death toll from floods in the country has reached nearly 1,200. The death toll from floods in Sindh surged to 621 as 12 more people died during the last 24 hours on Sunday. The water level in Manchar Lake, the nation's largest freshwater lake, is continuously rising. Rising floodwaters have washed away the first defence line of the city of over one million people, forcing the administration, backed by army troops, to strengthen the remaining embankments. Thousands of people have been lodged in tents or are waiting for shelter under open skies along the main highway that leads to Hyderabad. Either side of the highway could be seen inundated by floodwater for miles. Hundreds of citizens were seen leaving the city on mini-trucks, vans and rickshaws. Many others along with their livestock were also spotted trudging along the road under the baking sun, reported Geo News. Record monsoons and heavy floods in Pakistan have given rise to hunger and various illnesses which have affected 33 million people and are estimated to have caused USD 30 billion of damage. The experts believe that the situation would aggravate in the coming days as the flood affectees are forced to live under the sky depriving the required resources. Huge areas of the country are still underwater and hundreds of thousands of people have been forced from their homes. The agriculture sector faces the worst blow as the agriculture growth might remain zero or slide into negative against the envisaged target of 3.9 per cent for the current financial year 2022-23. Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said that around three to six months will be required to drain out rain and floodwater from submerged areas of Sindh province as the fFlooding and rainfall have destroyed thousands of houses in Sindh with around 1500 deaths. The people have lost livestock of around 50 billion rupees, he said. Over 1.2 million hectares of agricultural land have been damaged in Sindh whereas over 1.5 million houses have been destroyed by flood waters, according to a UN report. The Pakistan Meteorological Department said that it was the wettest August since records began in 1961. National rainfall was 243 per cent above average. In the province of Balochistan, it was +590 per cent and in Sindh +726 per cent, according to the monthly report. (ANI)
Lubbock police on Monday arrested 45-year-old Sammy Vidales, who they believed punched 59-year-old Rodolfo "Rudy" Zuniga. Zuniga was found dead Sunday at a home in Central Lubbock.

Lubbock police on Monday arrested a 45-year-old man they believed punched a 59-year-old man, who was found dead Sunday at a home in central Lubbock.

Police, assisted by the Texas Anti-Gang Center, arrested Sammy Vidales about 9:45 a.m. in the 2800 block of 37th Street, according to a police news release. He was booked into the Lubbock County Detention Center on a count of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury.

His charge stems from a Lubbock Metropolitan Special Crimes Unit investigation into the death of Rodolfo "Rudy" Zuniga at a home in the 2800 block of 37th Street.

Lubbock police initially responded to the residence for a report of a dead body.

Responding officers identified Zuniga's body and were told by his family that he went over the night before for a party and was found not breathing in the morning.

Family members told officers that Zuniga fell outside the house the day before and they brought him inside to "sleep it off," according to a probable cause affidavit. However, an independent witness told police he saw Zuniga fighting outside the home the night before, the affidavit states.

The witness said a blue Nissan pickup truck arrived at the house and a bearded man exited the vehicle and began arguing with an older man, identified as Zuniga, who was also in the truck.

The witness reportedly heard the bearded man tell Zuniga, "Since you want to fight, I got something for you," and went inside the house. The bearded man returned with another man, identified as Vidales, the affidavit states.

The witness said he saw the bearded man and Zuniga swinging at each other with Vidales trying to keep them apart.

However, the witness said he saw Vidales punch Zuniga in the face one time after the older man said something to him, the affidavit states. He said he didn't see Zuniga act aggressively toward Vidales before he was punched.

He said Vidales and the bearded man picked up Zuniga and carried him into the back seat of the pickup truck, which left the scene.

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Vidales spoke with investigators and denied hitting Zuniga. He said he didn't see any injuries on Zuniga when he came out of the house to stop the fight.

He said he and the bearded man took Zuniga to his apartment but didn't want to leave him there because he was drunk. So they brought Zuniga back to the house on 37th Street to sober up.

Vidales said he woke up and saw Zuniga wasn't breathing. He said Zuniga did not have any marks on his face and wasn't bleeding when he called 911.

The bearded man reportedly told police that he never went inside the house to fetch Vidales, saying Vidales went out on his own.

He said he never hit Zuniga since Vidales kept them apart. However, he said he believed Zuniga tripped over the driveway but said he didn't see him fall, the affidavit states.

Police officials said the investigation is ongoing and additional arrests are possible.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock police make arrest after man found dead in Central Lubbock
Two students were arrested after police say they brought knives into Fitchburg High School, prompting a large emergency response on Monday morning.

Officers responding to a report of a student in possession of a weapon on school grounds around 9:30 a.m. ordered a lockdown to allow for a sweep of the building, according to the Fitchburg Police Department.

A 17-year-old student armed with a pocket knife and a 16-year-old in possession of a kitchen knife were subsequently found in the schools library.

Both students, whose names have not been released because if their age, were arrested on a charge of carrying a dangerous weapon on school grounds.

The schools lockdown was lifted after police determined that there was no threat.

In a statement, Fitchburg Superintendent Robert M. Jokela said, School officials immediately addressed the report of the potential threat to the school community. Swift action was taken to ensure that all in the school are safe and the students will be given due process and face appropriate disciplinary proceedings related to the situation.

An investigation remains ongoing.

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If you've been on the lookout for a new Apple TV but don't want to break the bank, it's worth considering a solid deal on the most recent HD model. The 2021 Apple TV HD has hit an all-time low of $99 on Amazon. That's $50 off the regular price.

Buy Apple TV HD (2021) on Amazon - $99

While this isnt the cheapest streaming media player around, it does grant access to the Apple ecosystem on your TV. Youll be able to play Apple Arcade games, share content from iPhone to your TV via AirPlay, listen to Apple Music and use Apple Fitness+. Apple TV HD supports HomeKit as well, so you can get a live feed of compatible cameras and control certain smart home devices.

Of course, you'll be able to stream TV and movies using the device. Along with Apple TV+, you can access Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max and other services. Apple TV HD comes with a new Siri remote with a touch-enabled clickpad, the option to connect AirPods to listen privately and Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 surround sound support.

One thing Apple TV HD doesn't do, unfortunately, is stream video in 4K (the name might have given that away). For 4K streaming, take a look at the 2021 Apple TV 4K, which isn't too much more expensive at the minute. The 32GB model is $120 and the 64GB version is $140 , for savings of $60 on both models. We gave the most recent Apple TV 4K a score of 90 in our review . Given the fairly steep discounts, it's worth wondering if Apple is trying to clear out some stock just ahead of new Apple TV models hitting the market.

Buy Apple TV 4K 32GB (2021) at Amazon - $120 Buy Apple TV 4K 64GB (2021) at Amazon - $140
Florence Pugh, Margot Robbie and Leonardo DiCaprio have all given superb performances in bad films (Shutterstock/Warner/Marvel)

There is, its fair to say, nothing more important to the movies than actors.

The right performance can tip a film into the realm of greatness; a bad one can doom an otherwise promising project to mediocrity or ridicule.

What would There Will Be Blood be without Daniel Day-Lewis at its centre? Would The Godfather still sparkle without Al Pacino and Marlon Brando?

These are not questions anyone is keen to know the answer to. The best performances are irreplaceable; they are key to the very essence of cinema.

But what happens when one good performance isnt enough to save a film? When a terrific performance is wasted on a substandard story?

From Anthony Hopkins to Leonardo DiCaprio, many of the finest actors working today have lent their talents to inferior projects. Sometimes they simply phone it in, but other times, they manage to shine despite the material.

Heres The Independents list of 23 secretly brilliant performances in bad films...

Phillip Seymour Hoffman  Along Came Polly (2004)

The late, great Phillip Seymour Hoffman was that rarest of things; an actor who brought depth to even the flimsiest of roles, from The Hunger Games Plutarch Heavensby to Mission: Impossible IIIs villainous Owen Davian. The critically lambasted romcom Along Came Polly may be the best example of this, however, as Hoffman delivering a coruscating comic turn that stole not just a scene but the whole film from under Ben Stiller and Jennifer Anistons noses.

Margot Robbie  Suicide Squad (2016)

One of the worst blockbusters in living memory, David Ayers supervillain dirge Suicide Squad was met with unanimous damnation from the critical community. Reviews were also unanimous, however, in their praise for Margot Robbies performance, with the Australian star later reprising the role in two subsequent movies.

Tom Hanks  The Ladykillers (2004)

The Ladykillers is rightfully considered the nadir of the Coen brothers otherwise pretty miraculously consistent filmography. But thats not at all down to Tom Hanks, who compellingly reinvented a role so brilliantly inhabited by Alec Guinness in the classic Ealing original. Unctuous, erudite and deeply sinister, the felonious band leader is a far cry from any other character Hanks has tackled; he devours the Coens typically sardonic dialogue with a grin.

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A not-so-serious man: Tom Hanks as Professor Goldthwaite Higginson Dorr in The Ladykillers' (Buena Vista Pictures)

James McAvoy  Split (2016)

M Night Shyamalans pulpy multiple-personality horror Split had plenty of issues, but James McAvoys showstopper performance wasnt one of them. Playing, essentially, eight characters in one is a tough task to pull off, but McAvoy manages it with theatrical aplomb.

Kristen Stewart  American Ultra (2015)

Though Kristen Stewart has been in a few of the best films of the last 10 years, shes still had her fair share of misfires. The 2015 stoner-thriller American Ultra was inarguably a misfire, as she played the girlfriend and handler of Jesse Eisenbergs amnesiac government sleeper agent. Its a bad film that never lives up to its larger-than-life premise, but Stewart turns in some remarkably good work here.

Peter Dinklage  Pixels (2015)

Theres almost nothing good to say about this insipid Adam Sandler video game comedy from 2015. But what little there is exclusively concerns Game of Thrones Peter Dinklage, who turns in an incongruously funny performance as obnoxious video game champion Eddie "The Fireblaster" Plant.

Peter Dinklage in the insipid 2015 gamer comedy Pixels' (Sony)

Thomas Hayden Church  Spider-Man 3 (2007)

Probably the worst Spider-Man film to ever grace cinemas, Sam Raimis trilogy capper was a torrid mess of plotlines, too many villains and bad haircuts. The films only sincere pathos comes from Thomas Hayden Church, who manages to somehow survive the carnage with his head held high, playing the tragically fated Flint Marko, AKA Sandman.

John C Reilly  Kong: Skull Island (2017)

On paper, Kong: Skull Island should have been a blast. It had a solid cast (including Brie Larson, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L Jackson, and John Goodman), an intriguing premise (King Kong during the Vietnam War) and the 104ft ape we all know and love. But the film was a major disappointment. The only saving grace was John C Reilly, whose brief appearance as a WWII pilot stranded on Skull Island after his plane was shot down felt like it was from another film entirely.

Uma Thurman  Batman & Robin (1997)

Uma Thurman knew how to pitch her performance better than anyone else in this despised 1997 superhero flick. In the role of fern fatale Poison Ivy, Thurman gives a performance of enjoyable camp extremity. To quote Janet Maslin in her contemporaneous review for the New York Times: As played by Uma Thurman, Poison Ivy is perfect, flaunting great looks, a mocking attitude and madly flamboyant disguises. Like Mae West, she mixes true femininity with the winking womanliness of a drag queen.

Uma Thurman as Dr Pamela Isley, AKA Poison Ivy, in Batman & Robin' (Warner Bros)

Michelle Pfieffer  Grease 2 (1982)

The original Grease has not endured the ravages of time with a whole lot of grace, and its reviled 1982 sequel has fared even worse. Nevertheless, Grease 2 had one living, breathing redeeming quality: its 23-year-old newcomer star Michelle Pfieffer, whose charisma and talents survived the stink of the whole schlocky affair.

Alan Rickman  Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)

Kevin Costner may have failed to set Sherwood Forest alight with his role in the ropey Robin Hood adaptation Prince of Thieves, but the same cant be said for his co-star Alan Rickman. The Die Hard star gave an outstanding performance as the nefarious Sheriff of Nottingham. Was Rickman playing to type? Well, yes, but there was pretty much no one better at doing what he does here.

Martin Freeman  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

Forged in the afterglow of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Peter Jacksons Hobbit prequels were doomed to live in the shadow of their predecessors. But not many people were ready for quite how bad they were. Look past the dodgy CGI and over-egged plotting, however, and Martin Freeman was an inspired choice as a young Bilbo Baggins: no-one plays a genial, put-upon everyman (or should that be everyhobbit?) quite like him.

Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' (New Line Cinema)

Max von Sydow  Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011)

This skin-crawling 9/11 drama was criticised upon its release for being exploitative and trying to milk sentiment from real-life tragedy. Max Von Sydows performance was spared the knives, however, with the legendary Swedish actor giving a moving  and wordless  turn as an elderly renter. His efforts didnt go unacknowledged, and von Sydow was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

Phil Hartman  Jingle All the Way (1996)

Barring a few notable exceptions (such as The Simpsons and NewsRadio), the late Phil Hartman pretty much made a career out of radically outshining his co-stars. During his eight-year stint on Saturday Night Live, a low period for the shows reputation, Hartman was known as the glue. He didnt manage to hold all the cracks in the wretched holiday comedy Jingle All the Way together, but he was nonetheless an enjoyable, consistently funny presence, playing Arnold Schwarzeneggers smarmy neighbour.

Leonardo DiCaprio  The Great Gatsby (2013)

Baz Luhrmann was always an odd choice to adapt F Scott Fitzgeralds literary classic; his brand of cinema is one of bombast and flash. While Tobey Maguire was a pretty drab Nick Carraway, and the usually brilliant Carey Mulligan underwhelming as Daisy Buchannan, DiCaprio was perfectly cast as Gatsby, striking the right balance of insecurity, bluster and poignancy.

Boats against the current: DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby' (Warner Bros)

Anthony Hopkins  Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)

For an actor of the highest calibre, Anthony Hopkins has still been known to phone it in from time to time; when he receives a script, he reportedly marks certain pages with the letters NAR (No Acting Required). Hed have been forgiven for just dialling it in for this dismal Transformers sequel, but instead, hes unnecessarily compelling, playing a sagacious astronomer whos studied the history of Transformers.

Oscar Isaac  Sucker Punch (2011)

Even by director Zack Snyders own standards, Sucker Punch was something of a spiky, unpleasant misstep. The film, a fantasy about a woman who tries to escape a mental institution through a series of fantasy worlds, was savaged by critics. Oscar Isaac, not yet a name movie star, acquitted himself shockingly well, however, playing a despicable orderly at the facility.

Adam Driver  Star Wars: Episode IX  The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

Theres much to detest about the final film in the so-called Skywalker Saga, from the dialogue and the lazy fan pandering, to the way in which it all but abandoned story arcs previously given to characters like Finn (John Boyega) and Rose (Kelly Marie Tran). Though his masked villain, Kylo Ren, is rushed through a slipshod redemption-by-numbers story, Adam Driver doesnt stop turning in good work, however. The force was certainly weak with this one, but Driver emerged from the wreckage with his reputation utterly unscathed.

Adam Driver as Kylo Ren in The Rise of Skywalker' (LucasFilm)

Ewan McGregor  Star Wars: Episode III  Revenge of the Sith (2005)

Driver wasnt the only actor who valiantly struggled to provide a good performance in a thoroughly bad Star Wars film. Ewan McGregors work as Obi-Wan Kenobi came under scrutiny throughout the first two of George Lucass maligned prequels, but by the third, he had well and truly found his footing.

Michael K Williams  Assassins Creed (2016)

Even by the metric of video game adaptations, Assassins Creed was capital-b Bad. Usually bankable actors like Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard were histrionic and laughable here; the plot and characterisation almost defy belief. But in the midst of this is The Wires Michael K Williams, delivering a typically classy turn as a Haitian Assassin called Moussa.

Florence Pugh  Black Widow (2021)

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has lured a number of elite actors to its shores, from veterans like Robert Redford and Michael Keaton to younger stars like Michael B Jordan and Zendaya. In terms of up-and-comers, there are few better than Florence Pugh, who appeared as Yelena in the otherwise dreary 2021 blockbuster Black Widow. Pugh makes the films lead, Scarlett Johansson, pale in comparison, but the materials simply not up to snuff.

Matthew Lillard  Scooby Doo (2002)

Say what you will about the puerile 2002 movie adaptation of the classic kids cartoon Scooby-Doo, but you cant really fault the casting. Linda Cardellini, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr are all well-suited to the roles of Velma, Daphne and Fred respectively, but theyre not a patch on Matthew Lillard (Scream; Twin Peaks: The Return), whose big, swing-for-the-fences performance as the feckless slacker Shaggy Rogers is a masterclass in understanding the assignment.

Matthew Lillard as Shaggy Rogers in Scooby-Doo: The Movie' (Warner Bros)

Raul Julia  Street Fighter (1994)

The Addams Familys incomparable Raul Julia died tragically in 1994 at the age of 54, having suffered a stroke. While it may seem like a shame for his final major film to be as shoddy an effort as Street Fighter, Raul Julias performance in it is nothing short of a cult sensation. Playing the villainous M Bison, Julia is laugh-out-loud funny, a wonderful foil for a set of unworthy adversaries.
Reuters

Yeshiva University, ordered by a judge to formally recognize an LGBT student group even as the Jewish school in New York City argues that doing so would violate its religious values, on Friday announced that it has halted the activities of all its undergraduate student clubs as it plans its next steps. Yeshiva's announcement came two days after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to block New York state judge Lynn Kotler's June ruling that the university is subject to a city anti-discrimination law and must recognize the club called Y.U. Pride Alliance.
A Viking cruise ship collided with another vessel over the weekend, the cruise line said.

The Viking Kvasir  a 443-foot long ship that can accommodate 190 passengers and 50 crew members  collided with a cargo ship in heavy fog on Sunday morning, a Viking spokesperson told USA TODAY in an email. The incident took place near Wesel, Germany.

"There were no significant injuries among guests or crew," the spokesperson said. "The ship was cleared by authorities the evening of September 11 and has now continued its voyage without further delay."

Viking did not say whether passengers aboard the ship would be compensated following the collision.

Cruise lines change COVID-19 rules: Azamara and Silversea Cruises drop vaccine requirements following major lines

Expedition cruising in Alaska: How to see the wilder, less visited side of the 49th state

Viking Sky and Viking Sea Meet in Leknes, Norway

The incident is not the first of its kind for Viking. Twenty-eight were killed in a collision on the Danube River involving the Viking Sigyn ship in May 2019. Another Viking ship, Viking Freya, previously struck a bridge in southern Germany in 2016, killing two crew members, CBS News reported.

Viking launched its first river ship based in North America earlier this month, welcoming passengers aboard the Viking Mississippi in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on Sept. 3. The ship will sail itineraries on the Upper and Lower Mississippi River between St. Paul and New Orleans.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: A Viking cruise ship collided with a cargo vessel
Trong Nguyen / Shutterstock.com

Your Costco membership can be a ticket to major savings when used smartly; but, with so many offerings available, it's also easy to make money-wasting mistakes. This may mean overlooking certain savings or spending on items that just aren't worth it.

Find: 8 Items You Should Always Buy at Sam's Club

Learn: This Credit Score Mistake Could Be Costing Millions of Americans

GOBankingRates spoke to shopping experts about some common mistakes you may be making while shopping at Costco. Here's what they had to say.

mandritoiu / Shutterstock.com

Buying Select Items in Bulk

When you buy items in bulk, the per-unit price is typically less than when you buy them individually; but, in some cases, buying in bulk can ultimately lead to wasting money.

"Produce, bread, baked goods and other perishable items may be a great deal, but only if you actually plan to use them up before they go off," said Julie Ramhold, consumer analyst with DealNews.com. "If you don't have a plan for 3 pounds of fresh broccoli or enough people to eat 12 Danishes before they spoil, then you're better off shopping elsewhere for these kinds of things."

Take Our Poll: How Do You Typically Split the Restaurant Bill?

ARTYOORAN / Shutterstock.com

Assuming Everything Is a Good Deal

"While it's true that shopping in bulk is very often a good deal, you shouldn't just blindly assume that's always the case," Ramhold said. "Be sure to check unit prices of items before you buy something at Costco. In some cases, a sale at a big-box store one week might provide a better value than buying in bulk."

David Tonelson / Shutterstock.com

Skipping the Store Brand

Costco often has great deals on name-brand products, but you shouldn't skip out on Costco's store brand, Ramhold said.

"Hands down, Kirkland Signature is one of the most solid store brands out there, so if you aren't shopping these items, you're making a mistake," she said. "In some cases, they're name brands that are under the Kirkland Signature label because of agreements that Costco has made with the manufacturers; but, in other cases, these items are their own products. And in those cases, they're often better than the name-brand counterpart."

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ARTYOORAN / Shutterstock.com

Missing Out on Sales

"Costco has a lot of really great prices on items, but every month or so they have sales that offer up even better savings," Ramhold said. "By taking advantage of these and stocking up during the sales, you're maximizing your savings even more."

Costco's sales always include online-only deals; so, if you don't check the monthly Warehouse Savings on Costco.com, it's easy to miss out on these savings.

melissamn / Shutterstock.com

Skipping the Gift Card Section

Unless you're looking for a gift to give someone else, you probably skip over the gift card section -- but this section offers some of the best money-saving opportunities you can find at Costco.

"This is a category that many people often forget about when shopping at Costco," Ramhold said. "You'll pay less than the face value of the card; so, even if you aren't looking to gift them to people, it's still worth getting them yourself because it means stretching your dollar even further.

"They're available for restaurants and retailers, as well as for tickets for movies, concerts, theater shows and streaming services. Expect to save anywhere from $15 to $50 off the face value, depending on what you're shopping for and in what amount. A pack of four $25 gift cards to Grimaldi's (a $100 value) is $79.99, for example, while a pack of four $50 gift cards to Texas de Brazil (a $200 value) is $154.99."

ARTYOORAN / Shutterstock.com

Paying for Too Many Memberships

Costco allows its members to add an extra person each to their accounts as long as they are in the same household; so, if you're paying for two memberships, this can be a big waste of money.

"My boyfriend and I both had our own Costco memberships before we discovered this hack," said Laurice Wardini, founder of the shopping site ClothedUp. "If you have a parent or someone else with a Costco membership that might not be using their second spot, you can always ask if they can add you."

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 6 Costco Shopping Mistakes Experts Caution Against Making
As the 2022-2023 school year continues to get rolling, select high schools across the United States are unveiling a pilot Advanced Placement (AP) course in African American Studies.

This is the College Boards first new AP course offering since 2014, according to TIME, and it joins the various other classes that are offered through the AP program  including European History, English Literature and Composition, Psychology and United States History.

This allows high school students to potentially earn college credits in order to both get ahead and bump-up their GPA.

The College Board notably says that this new course is designed to offer high school students an inspiring, evidence-based introduction to African American Studies, according to CBS News.

You can tell there is a thirst [students] have to obtain this knowledge, Marlon Williams-Clark, a social studies instructor at Florida State University, said, CBS News reports. I think that this course will be the forerunner for other histories onmarginalized people.

Williams-Clark also added that we have to understand is that history is told from the perspective of the winner when he was asked about why courses like European History were offered with no Afrocentric counterpart.

Im very proud of the College Board for taking this step and the work that they have put in to create this course. It is really historic, but it is also something that is very much needed, he noted.

Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr., who directs the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University, noted that the curriculums coursework is rigorously vetted; he also pointed out that this AP African American Studies course is not the same as the controversial critical race theory (CRT) framework.

Nothing is more dramatic than having the College Board launch an AP course in a field  that signifies ultimate acceptance and ultimate academic legitimacy, Gates said, according to TIME. AP African American Studies is not CRT. Its not the 1619 Project. It is a mainstream, rigorously vetted, academic approach to a vibrant field of study.

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While the program is currently only available at 60 high schools, the plan is to have AP African American Studies offered at 200 schools by next year, according to CBS News.

By the 2024-2025 school year, any high school thats interested in offering the course should be able to do so, the outlet reports.

What do you think about the course, and would you have been interested in taking AP African American Studies back when you were in high school?
In the span of just three days, shootings across the city left six dead  the second-highest number of homicides to occur within just one weekend this year  and another person died in a crash allegedly caused by an intoxicated driver. Additionally, three people were nonfatally wounded by gunfire.

These latest homicides brings the total number this year to 121, just short of the 136 homicides Louisville had experienced by this time last year. Of this year's victims, 112 were fatally shot.

These six fatal shootings in a single weekend fall just shy of the seven homicides that happened during a March weekend  the city's most violent so far this year.

"It was a very rough weekend for the community and for LMPD," Maj. Matt Meagher with Louisville Metro Police said Monday afternoon.

Despite the six fatal shootings, he noted both fatal and nonfatal shootings are down this year compared to last year.

'We're stronger than this': How tornadoes & floods test Kentuckians' resolve, resiliency

How did this weekend's victims die?

One victim died Friday evening, three on Saturday and another three Sunday.

Two arrests were made in the fatal shootings as of Monday afternoon and the accused intoxicated driver also was arrested.

The first victim of the weekend was in West Buechel. Officers found 19-year-old Bryant Hawkins suffering from multiple gunshot wounds Friday just before 6 p.m. in the 4300 block of Newport Road.

No suspects have been identified, according to LMPD.

The next day, officers responded to an early morning crash on Algonquin Parkway.

Savannah Kaye Duckworth, 22, died after she was ejected from the backseat of a car after it crashed into a tree at about 2:30 a.m. Saturday. Her death is not being counted in the overall homicide count for the year.

Another passenger who was also in the backseat sustained life-threatening injuries, while the driver and front-seat passenger sustained non-life threatening injuries, according to police.

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Devyn Brock, 24, was driving fast and failed to negotiate a curve before going off the road and striking the tree, according to his arrest citation. Officers detected alcohol on his breath and Brock admitted he had been drinking, the citation states. A hospital toxicology report showed his blood alcohol level was .083  just over the legal limit of .08.

More news:Louisville police recover another body from Ohio River

He was charged with murder, operating a vehicle under the influence and assault in the first and fourth degrees. He was held at Louisville Metro Corrections on a $100,000 cash-only bond as of Monday morning.

About 12 hours after that fatal crash, officers found two people shot to death in the Russell neighborhood.

Police first found a man in the 400 block of South 26th Street at Cedar Street around 2:45 p.m., who was pronounced dead at the scene.

Minutes later, they were called to another shooting in the 2500 block of Cedar Street, where they found a fatally wounded woman.

The victims, who shared the same address, were identified as 26-year-old Lamont Smith and 24-year-old Alexis McCrary. Police believe the shootings were connected, though they say no suspects have been identified.

On Sunday, another three people were shot to death.

Officers responded to the area of 7th Street and Algonquin Parkway at about 12:30 a.m., where they found a man who'd been shot. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

A few hours later, LMPD announced 47-year-old Mark Owen was arrested and charged with murder, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon and tampering with physical evidence.

Owen was seen on video shooting the victim in the head, according to his arrest citation. He was held at Louisville Metro on a $250,000 cash-only bond as of Monday morning.

'It never used to be like this': 100 lost to Louisville homicides in 7 months of 2022

Later Sunday night, another two men were shot to death in separate shootings that happened a few hours apart and just two minutes away from one another.

Officers first responded to the 200 block of East Wampum Avenue at about 8 p.m. where they found a man who had been shot multiple times suffering on the front porch of a home. He was taken to the University of Louisville Hospital, where he later died from his injuries.

The following day, LMPD announced 51-year-old Laron E. Spalding was arrested and charged him with murder and possession of a handgun by a convicted felon.

Spalding was identified by multiple witnesses at the scene, who said after shooting the man that Spalding proceeded to hit him in the head multiple times with a gun, according to his arrest citation. He was found by officers near the scene, hiding in bushes.

Three hours later, at about 11 p.m., officers responded to South 3rd Street near Interstate 264 and found another man who'd been shot. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Although the two shootings happened near one another, LMPD does not believe they are connected, according to spokesperson Dwight Mitchell.

The victims of Sunday's shootings have not been identified.

For a third year in a row, Louisville's homicide count has hit triple digits.

"It never used to be like this  this stuff is so widespread," activist Christopher 2X said in July when the city surpassed 100 homicides.

Each of LMPD's eight divisions have investigated at least five homicides this year, though several have seen more than 15.

During a media conference, Maj. Meagher asked for the community to come forward with any information relating to these homicides.

"One of the things we ask for is the community engagement and involvement - when we have that, our clearance rates are higher," he said.

Contact reporter Krista Johnson at kjohnson3@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville homicides: 7 dead in single weekend, one of deadliest
A 47-year-old Akron man was shot Friday night during a confrontation with three males outside his home, Akron police report.

The man was sitting on his porch in the 800 block of Merton Avenue in the city's East Akron neighborhood when three males walked by, police said. The man and the three males exchanged words and one of the three fired multiple shots, hitting the man in his arm about 9:20 p.m.

The three males then ran off in a southerly direction, police said. The location for the shooting is in a residential neighborhood south of McKinley Avenue, north of Lovers Lane, and is west of South Arlington Street.

The man was taken to Summa Akron City Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, police said.

Detectives are asking the community for help in identifying the suspects.

Police are asking anyone with information to call detectives at 330-375-2490 or 330-375-2Tip; call the Summit County Crime Stoppers at 330-434-COPS; or text TIPSCO with tips to 274637. Callers can remain anonymous.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron man shot in arm after confrontation with 3 men
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones will go to trial for the second time this year to answer for the lies he spread claiming the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting never happened.

A month after a Texas jury hit the loud-mouthed Infowars host with a $45 million verdict in a related case, another trial will kick off this week in Connecticut, where a jury will determine how much money Jones will have to pay to multiple family members of those who died in the massacre. The trial will be held in Waterbury, Connecticut, a 20-minute drive from Newtown, where the shooting occurred.

A default judgment has already been entered against Jones, and the trial will only determine damages.

For years, Jones used his right-wing conspiracy outlets massive platform to spread the lie that the shooting that left 20 children and six adults dead never happened. The lies led to continued harassment of the families still mourning their dead children and parents.

At the center of their suffering was Jones, whose Infowars profits soared as he continued amplifying the lie over the years. But recently, Jones actions have caught up with him. Last year, Jones lost every defamationsuit brought against him by several Sandy Hook families after he routinely failed to provide court-ordered documents.

At the start of August, a jury in Austin, Texas  where Infowars is based  hit Jones with a more than $45 million verdict for the pain he caused Sandy Hook parents Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose 6-year-old son, Jesse, was killed in the shooting.

For years, Alex Jones and his conspiracy outlet Infowars amplified the lie that 20 kids and six adults weren't killed in the 2012 Newtown, Connecticut, shooting. (Photo: Illustration: HuffPost/ Photo: Reuters)

For years, Alex Jones and his conspiracy outlet Infowars amplified the lie that 20 kids and six adults weren't killed in the 2012 Newtown, Connecticut, shooting. (Photo: Illustration: HuffPost/ Photo: Reuters)

The August trial pulled back the curtain on Jones consistent unwillingness to stop spreading lies about the shooting even as others in his orbit  including an Infowars editor  begged him to stop. Jones also routinely gave airtime to Wolfgang Halbig, a 75-year-old extremist who continues to insist the shooting was a hoax.

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Jones lack of remorse was on full display when Neil Heslin testified on the stand about his dead son. Jones was absent from court that day, retreating to his Infowars studio to call the parent of the slain child slow and on the spectrum to his audience.

When Jones finally took the stand, the familys attorney, Mark Bankston, revealed to Jones that the conspiracists own legal team accidentally sent Bankston the contents of his cellphone.

Did you know 12 days ago your attorneys messed up and sent me an entire digital copy of your entire cellphone, with every text message youve sent for the past two years? Bankston asked Jones on the stand. And when informed did not take any steps to identify those texts as privileged?

Bankston revealed Jones phone had a text mentioning Sandy Hook, despite Jones previously testifying that he had turned over all of his texts related to the shooting.

You know what perjury is, right? Bankston asked him. The next day, a jury ruled Jones must pay $4.1 million in compensatory damages. The day after that, the jury ruled Jones must pay an additional $45 million in punitive damages.

Testimony in the Connecticut trial is expected to start Tuesday.

Erica Lafferty, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Jones, lost her mother in the shooting. Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung was the principal at Sandy Hook and died protecting the children she loved. Lafferty is now an advocate for gun violence prevention, and told HuffPost in June that she still hears her mothers encouraging words during difficult times.

Every time I feel like Im ready to give up, I hear her say, Kid, keep fighting, Lafferty said of her mom.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Related...
(Getty Images)

Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that Liverpool left-back Andy Robertson has suffered a knee injury which is set to keep the Scotland captain out for at least the next three weeks.

Speaking ahead of the midweek Champions League fixture against Ajax, the Reds boss acknowledged that Liverpool had to significantly improve on their recent form, particularly last weeks thrashing by Napoli.

However, that will be made somewhat more difficult by the ongoing number of injuries in the squad, with Robertson now added to that list after Joel Matip and Thiago Alcantara returned in Naples.

Hes [Robertson] out for at least until after the international break, Klopp told reporters.

Curtis [Jones] is not available, Fabio Carvalho trained yesterday normally and will be available.

That absence means Robertson will miss not only the Ajax game but also the Premier League games against Chelsea and, potentially, Brighton after the two-week international break.

During that time Scotland will place Ukraine twice and Republic of Ireland in their Nations League group, with Robertson unlikely to now be in the squad.

Kostas Tsimikas will feature instead of Robertson for Liverpool, while Arsenals Kieran Tierney is able to switch from the centre to the left for the national team.

Meanwhile, Klopp provided clarification on Naby Keita, who is another injury absentee - but was named by Guinea in their squad list for next week. Klopp, however, does not envisage the No8 travelling and revealed both he and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will be missing until next month.

No, I dont expect him [Keita] to go on international duty, he said.

The expected return date was somewhere in October, thats why we had to make the decision. With Ox its the same. Thats why the two boys are not in the Champions League squad, because after the expected return date, which can always differ a little bit, bit earlier, stuff like this, [it takes time to recover fully].

We had to make the decision now, last week, thats why we made the decision.
(Anna Kendrick/Twitter)

Anna Kendrick got stuck in an elevator at the Toronto International Film Festival over the weekend, and spent her time cracking jokes to fans on social media.

Right before the 37-year-old actor was supposed to attend the festival to promote her new film, Alice, Darling, she got stuck in an elevator with her entire team.

On Sunday (11 September), Kendrick posted clips of her and her crew members stuck in the lift.

Ah, the classic. Im behind schedule at this film festival because I had to be rescued from an elevator, excuse #TIFF22, she wrote in the caption.

In the video, the Pitch Perfect star jokes: This is why I shouldnt leave the house without at least like a little airplane-sized bottle because you never know when youre going to get stuck in an elevator.

Kendrick also joked about how she and her crew have to ration the limited food supply that we have.

Just vibing in the elevator We love it, she added.

Kendrick also documented the moments when firefighters from Toronto Fire Station 331 came to the aid of her and her team.

Ah, the classic Im behind schedule at this film festival because I had to be rescued from an elevator excuse #TIFF22 pic.twitter.com/0tfaBVDOoN  Anna Kendrick (@AnnaKendrick47) September 11, 2022

They sent down a ladder into the elevator through the ceiling hatch so that everyone could climb it.

This is why I should take the stairs next time.  Its all the food I ate last night, I knew it, Kendrick joked after looking at the ladder. I cant believe this is happening.  Are you f***ing kidding me?

The moment Kendrick started climbing the ladder and made her way out of the elevator shaft, she said: Its a good thing Im not wearing a short skirt today. The Lord said to me, choose the long skirt, Anna.

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She ended her video by sharing a few photographs with the responders.

The Portland-born actors new film Alice, Darling is based on the story of a young woman trapped in an abusive relationship, who becomes the unwitting participant of an intervention staged by her two closest friends.

Alice, Darling premiered at TIFF on Sunday night.
GOP Senate nominee Blake Masters told Fox News Digital on Sunday that Arizona voters are wondering why national Republicans are not investing more money into his race, even as polls show the contest narrowing.

Masters said during an interview at the National Conservatism Conference that while confident of victory in November, more "air cover" was needed in the form of outside ads and spending.

"It's not my place to ask, but I that's what I hear from the Arizona grassroots [is], 'Like, where's D.C.? Why aren't they investing, this race is very close,'" said Masters. "D.C. might be a few weeks behind, but I'm doing my job as a candidate."

Masters said the race had tightened up, with some polls showing him and Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly running neck-and-neck in the Grand Canyon State.

BLAKE MASTERS: DEMS DODGE TALKING ABOUT THEIR FAILURES, 'GIN UP OUTRAGE' ON ABORTION

"I think everyone's going to realize Arizona is both important and winnable," he said.

Masters' comments came when asked by Fox News Digital whether Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and national GOP groups were doing enough to push him to victory.

MCCONNELL MAKES GRIM PREDICTION ABOUT REPUBLICANS IN SENATE RACES, REFERENCES CANDIDATE QUALITY

The Senate Leadership Fund (SLF), a Super PAC closely aligned with McConnell, announced last month it was cutting nearly $8 million in ads that it reserved in Arizona throughout Election Day. The move cut nearly in half the sum the Super PAC planned to spend on the race.

SLF said its move was no indication about Masters's candidacy, but rather in response to the shifting midterm landscape. The Super PAC, in particular, is opting to pour money into Ohio and other states that are seen as must-wins for Republicans to take control of the majority.

"Were leaving the door wide open in Arizona, but we want to move additional resources to other offensive opportunities that have become increasingly competitive, as well as an unexpected expense in Ohio," said SLF president Steven Law. "We think the fundamentals of this election strongly favor Republicans, we see multiple paths to winning the majority, and we are going to invest heavily and strategically to achieve that goal."

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A source close to McConnell's orbit noted that SLF was still planning on spending $6 million between now and election day. They noted that another McConnell group, One Nation, has already spent over $5 million on the race. Senator McConnell met with Masters recently to reiterate his support and offered to do everything he can to help him win, a source close to Sen. McConnell told Fox News Digital.

As of July, Masters had raised $4.8 million to Kelly's more than $52 million. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

SLF's cut came less than a week after McConnell told an audience in his home state of Kentucky that the GOP's chances of retaking the Senate majority were more difficult than initially hoped.

"I think there's probably a greater likelihood the House flips than the Senate," said McConnell. "Senate races are just different, they're statewide. Candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome."

As of July, Masters had raised $4.8 million to Kelly's more than $52 million, according to Center for Responsive Politics. The figure does not account for outside spending from Super PACs and other groups backing the candidates.

"We want as much help as we can get," said Masters. "There's a David and Goliath type dynamic to this funding situation right now. "
OLHA HLUSHCHENKO  MONDAY, 12 SEPTEMBER 2022, 07:12

The Armed Forces of Ukraine have regained control over 20 towns and villages over the course of 11 September. They are undertaking measures to establish full control over those towns and villages and to stabilise the situation there.

Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, information as of 06:00 on 12 September

Quote: "There is an ongoing threat of further airstrikes and missile strikes on the territory of Ukraine. Over the course of the past 24 hours, the enemy carried out 18 missile strikes and 39 airstrikes on military and civilian targets in Ukraine.

More than 30 cities, towns and villages were affected, including Kramatorsk, Kostiantynivka, Dnipro, Pavlohrad, Velykomykhailivka. Russian forces committed another terrorist act, launching missiles on the Kharkiv Thermal Power Plant, which is the citys critical infrastructure facility. Several oblasts of Ukraine were left partially without power as a result of the strike."

Details: There were no significant changes on the Volyn and Polissia fronts.

On other fronts, the Russians continued to fire on military and civilian targets using tank guns, mortars, and tubed and rocket artillery:

On the Sivershchyna front : near Kindrativka (Sumy Oblast);

On the Kharkiv front : on areas in and around Kostiantynivka and Udy;

Russian forces did not attack any areas on the Sloviansk front ;

On the Kramatorsk front : areas in and around Tetianivka, Donetske, Raihorodok, Kryva Luka, Verkhnokamianske and Spirne;

On the Bakhmut front : areas in and around Vesele, Yakovlivka, Soledar, Bakhmutske, Bakhmut, Mykolaivka Druha, Zaitseve;

On the Avdiivka front : Karlivka, Vodiane, Pervomaiske, Krasnohorivka, Marinka and Novomykhailivka came under Russian fire;

On the Novopavlivka front : Russian forces fired on areas in and around Prechystivka, Velyki Novosilky, Bohoiavlenka, Neskuchne and Mykilske;

On the Zaporizhzhia front : near Novosilka, Vremivka, Novopil, Novoandriivka, Poltavka, Huliaipole and Zaliznychne;

On the Pivdennyi Buh front: the Russians fired on areas in and around Novovoznesenske, Bila Krynytsia, Osokorivka, Velyke Artakove, Sukhyi Stavok, Kostromka, Partyzanske, Bezimenne, Blahodativka, Ivanivka, Zarichne, Bilohirka and Myrne.

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The Ukrainian Defence Forces repelled Russian attacks near Maiorsk and Krasnohorivka. Fighting is still underway in the vicinity of Mykolaivka Druha and Zaitseve.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine are continuing to liberate Ukrainian cities, towns and villages in Donetsk and Kharkiv oblasts. As previously reported, Russian forces abandon their positions in haste and are fleeing further into the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine or to the Russian Federation. This pattern seems to continue to hold. For example, over the past 24 hours, Russian occupying forces took their looted goods and stolen cars and fled Velykyi Burluk and Dvorichna in Kharkiv Oblast.

In Luhansk Oblast, Russian military personnel and their families have left the city of Svatove, leaving behind only the rank-and-file personnel and the members of the so-called local "peoples militia".

Overall, the Ukrainian Defence forces were able to regain control over more than 20 cities, towns and villages on 11 September. They are undertaking measures to establish full control over those towns and villages and to stabilise the situation there.

Aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force carried out eight airstrikes, damaging a platoon's strong point, six areas where Russian military personnel and equipment were concentrated, and an anti-aircraft missile system.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces also destroyed a Russian Orlan-10 UAV, shot down one X-59 guided missile, four Kalibr naval cruise missiles, and five X-101 air-to-surface missiles. Russias personnel losses have yet to be confirmed.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda!








Associated Press

When a government document mysteriously appeared earlier this week in the highest profile case in the federal court system, it had the hallmarks of another explosive storyline in the Justice Departments investigation into classified records stored at former President Donald Trumps Florida estate. The document purported to be from the U.S. Treasury Department, claimed that the agency had seized sensitive documents related to last months search at Mar-a-Lago and included a warrant ordering CNN to preserve leaked tax records. The document remained late Thursday on the court docket, but it is a clear fabrication.
Its the best of both worlds for K-pop and Disney fans as actor Jason Earls of Hannah Montana attended Jackson Wangs meet-and-greet on Sunday.

The fan event was held at Fingerprints Music store in Long Beach, California, to promote his sophomore solo album MAGIC MAN, which was released on Sept. 9.

The album dropped alongside a music video for the track Blue. It also includes the previously released singles Cruel and Blow as well as tracks Wang debuted live such as Drive It Like You Stole It.

More from NextShark: Music teacher shares adorable dumpling song she grew up singing in Taiwan in viral TikTok video

Earls, who played Hannah Montanas brother Jackson Stewart on the Disney Channel show, and his wife Katie Drysen are both K-pop fans.

Last month, Drysen shared photos on her Instagram account of her attending the Head In The Clouds Festival, a music festival organized by 88rising that Wang performed at.

Story continues

More from NextShark: A collector is selling nearly every gaming console made in the last 50 years on eBay for $1 million

Got to meet @JacksonWang852  it was super fast and honestly I wish I remembered more of it but still had so much fun. Absolutely love his new album #MAGICMAN. I hope he is proud of himself because he definitely should be.  Katie Drysen (@ktacd247) September 12, 2022

More from NextShark: Fromis_9 opens up summer memories in new mini-album From Our Memento Box

Need to find out where the @JacksonWang852 signed poster will go but so excited to add #MAGICMAN to the collection  pic.twitter.com/TflMyzV2Bb  Katie Drysen (@ktacd247) September 12, 2022

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Katie Drysen (@ktacd247)

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Katie Drysen (@ktacd247)

Surprised social media users were quick to react after seeing Earls and Wang at the fansign.

Jason Earles (aka Hannah Montanas brother) waited in line to meet Jackson Wang at his meet & greet pic.twitter.com/MqL4WqN4sC  Jackson Wang Central (@chartsjackson) September 11, 2022

Not him holding Jacksons Magic Man album NDMDMFNR pic.twitter.com/pZXpsnQAPJ  Jackson Wang Central (@chartsjackson) September 11, 2022

Jackson Stewart meets Jackson Wang! pic.twitter.com/XALFAPkZZd  Jackson Wang Central (@chartsjackson) September 11, 2022

JASON EARLES WIFE IS A JACKY?!   Megan  (@wjesheon) September 11, 2022

JASON EARLES WAITING TO MEET JACKSON WANG  #JacksonWang pic.twitter.com/fouY73yp4j  sam (ia) (@jhopesbarbie) September 12, 2022

Earls and Drysen have also previously shown their love for K-pop boy group Stray Kids.

For those who dont know @Stray_Kids let me change your life. Heres Gods Menu. Watch it. Get Hyped! Become a Stay. Live your best life. https://t.co/LrvgI3JCrh  Jason Earles (@DukeofEarles) July 31, 2021

I have mad respect for a man named Bang Chan. Father of 7. Leader of Stray Kids.  Katie Drysen (@ktacd247) January 8, 2022

Besides his solo album, Wang and his GOT7 groupmates released their first project since leaving JYP Entertainment in May  a self-titled EP led by the title track Nanana."

Feature Image via E! Insider (left), Team Wang records (right)
A newly announced senior adviser to President Biden referred to a top Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official as his "friend" and took several phone calls from him between 2015 and 2016 while serving as the chairman for Hillary Clintons failed campaign, according to emails reviewed by Fox News Digital.

Biden announced earlier this month that he was appointing John Podesta to serve as his senior adviser to the president for clean energy innovation and implementation, saying his "deep roots in climate and clean energy policy" will help the administration "hit the ground running" on pushing forward these policies. In this new role, Podesta will oversee approximately $370 billion in climate spending.

Four days after Podesta left the White House as a counselor to President Obama in February 2015, his assistant, Eryn Sepp, informed him that he would be receiving a call on his "house line" from Tung Chee-hwa, who has been serving as a vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) since the early 2000s. The CPPCC is the "key mechanism for multi-party cooperation and political consultation" under the leadership of the CCP, according to the CPPCC website.

A few weeks later, Sepp and one of Tungs assistants exchanged emails to set up another call between Podesta and Tung in early March 2015, a month before Clinton would announce her candidacy.

John Podesta, founder and director of the Center for American Progress, speaks at the center's Ideas Conference on May 22, 2019. Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

HUNTER BIDEN SAID HE WOULD BE HAPPY TO INTRODUCE BUSINESS ASSOCIATES TO TOP CCP OFFICIAL

In June 2015, Podesta said he had another call with Tung and asked Melanie Hart, then-director of China policy at the Center for American Progress (CAP), the think tank Podesta founded, for an update on who they had requested meetings with in China because he said that Tung could "probably be helpful."

Hart, who is currently Biden's China policy coordinator for the Office of the Undersecretary of State, listed two CCP officials and said she "shared the three names above with [Tung's] team so they are in the loop. We are also working to confirm a good slot for a breakfast or lunch meeting with you and [Tung]." "CH" in the email refers to Tung Chee-hwa.

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In a September 2015 email to Alex Cherin, a partner at Englander Knabe & Allen, Podesta referred to Tung as his "friend from Hong Kong" whom he met with the week prior. Cherin's email communications with Podesta do not appear to be related to any of Podesta's emails regarding Tung or the China-U.S. Exchange Foundation (CUSEF), which Tung founded.

"Had dinner with him last Thursday," Podesta wrote.

Podesta and Tung also co-authored a paper for CAP in December 2013 that called for the strengthening of "major power relations" between the U.S. and China. In addition to Tung being a top official in the CPPCC, he also founded CUSEF, which has bankrolled several American universities, think tanks and nonprofit organizations, and has received increased scrutiny over the last few years for its activity with the CCPs "united front" system, the sprawling Chinese Communist Party apparatus that conducts influence operations abroad, the Washington Free Beacon reported. Tung continues to be listed as chairman of the foundation on the organizations website.

In May 2013, Tung and Podesta spoke at a luncheon hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), which included Chinas ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai.

"For the last four years though, Center for American Progress and China-U.S. Exchange Foundation have co-hosted a US.-China track II dialogue and we continue to host these dialogues on an annual basis," Podesta said. "I have the highest regard for C.H. Tung's tireless efforts to bring our two nations closer together. He is always looking ahead to anticipate emerging challenges in the U.S.-China relations and to figure out what he can do to make those challenges more manageable."

Later during the event, Podesta walked up to the mic to introduce Tung and said he wanted to join all the people in the room for thanking Tung for his "leadership," prompting Tung to later thank Podesta for his "inspirational talk."

Podesta also had multiple calls with Tung during the latter part of 2015 and early 2016, including calls in July, August, September, January and March, according to Wikileaks emails reviewed by Fox News Digital. The Daily Caller reported that Podesta is currently sitting on the "U.S.-China 2022 Steering Committee" of CUSEF and has penned at least three pieces on CUSEF's website.

The failed Hillary Clinton campaign chairman isnt the only Biden administration official with ties to Tung. Bidens staff secretary, Neera Tanden, who formerly served as the president and CEO of CAP before joining the Biden administration, was also tied to CUSEF.

During a 2014 CAP event in Washington, D.C., that featured Tung as a speaker, Tanden highlighted how it had "become clear" that China and the United States were "interdependent" and said since 2008 CAP and CUSEF have organized five track II dialogues. Tanden mentioned Tungs name twice during her opening remarks.

Later during the event, Tung praised CAP and said he was "delighted" to be back. He said it was in 2005 that he began exploring the "landscape in Washington" because he wanted to find a way to develop a relationship between the countries and found that CAPs position on China-U.S. relations was the most "progressive" of the DC-based think tanks.

"You were thinking ahead of the curve of most of your peers and I was really impressed and you may have not known things then, but I was trying to court you and your colleagues, trying to work together with you," Tung said. "Im delighted to be back at Center for American Progress."

He went on to say that the relationship between CAP and CUSEF has been "very, very fruitful" dialogue, adding that he is really excited that the dialogue is "reaching climax," referring to his appearance at the event and the high-level discussions they were having. He also alluded to Podesta without mentioning his name, saying, "We miss the other person who is the architect of all this, but hes now  Im afraid he has a better job to do, so hes not with us today," referring to his role in the White House.

When reached for comment on whether the White House was concerned about ties between CUSEF/Tung and some of the aforementioned officials in the Biden White House, a White House official told Fox News Digital that "White House employees are required to step down from outside positions and he will have a two year recusal under the Pledge from all of his previous affiliations." Fox News Digital followed up to clarify whether Podesta would still be allowed to communicate with Tung, but the White House did not respond.

A CAP spokesperson told Fox News Digital, "The Center for American Progress is an independent, nonpartisan policy institute that is dedicated to improving the lives of all Americans. At no point has CAP funded research with CUSEF. CAP has engaged in dialogues with a variety of stakeholders, even where and as we may disagree, to try to work toward better outcomes for our country, our world, and our shared climate concerns. CAP strongly supports greater transparency regarding foreign government funding sources across all think tanks. In fact, CAPs most recent China strategy calls for the Internal Revenue Service to incorporate foreign funding."

CUSEF didn't immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

Tungs CPPCC is a "central part" of Chinas united front system, which works to "co-opt and neutralize sources of potential opposition to the policies and authority of its ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)," according to a 2018 report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a U.S. government agency.

HUNTER BIDEN SAID HE WOULD BE HAPPY TO INTRODUCE BUSINESS ASSOCIATES TO TOP CCP OFFICIAL

The CPPCC is "designed to liaise with non-Communist Party members  and ultimately see them work with the CCP to advance its interests," The Diplomat reported last year.

Fox News Digital reported last week that Hunter Biden allegedly sat at the same table as Tung during a welcoming dinner hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in December 2013, which led to Hunters business associate, James Bulger, asking him if he could introduce Bohai Harvest RST (BHR) CEO Jonathan Li and BHR committee member, Andy Lu, to Tung.

President Biden and his son Hunter Biden, who has faced scrutiny for his Chinese business ties, leave Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Johns Island, South Carolina on Aug. 13, 2022. Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images

"It is my understanding that during the trip to Beijing that you made with your father, President Xi hosted a welcome dinner," Bulger wrote. "[A]t that dinner, you were seated right next to Mr Tung, therefore J and Andy believe it would be very helpful if you could please send a brief email to Mr Tung laying out that you are a partner and Board Member of BHR and that You would be grateful to Mr Tung if he could meet your local partners to discuss the Fund."

"Please let me know if you can introduce these two to Mr Tung by email it is very important to our BHR intiative [sic] at this moment," Bulger stressed.

Hunter responded that he was "happy" to fulfill the request but said he couldnt recall the names of the gentlemen who sat next to him at the dinner.

"Happy to do this," he wrote, "but I have no email address for Mr. Tung and he very well may have sat next to me but I don't recall the two gentlemen's names to my left and right. Regardless, I would suggest the team draft an email in Mandarin and English for my approval ASAP." None of the parties involved in the emails responded to previous requests for comment from Fox News Digital, so it is unclear if the introduction took place.
President Biden will not travel with a delegation to Queen Elizabeth IIs funeral, the White House confirmed Monday.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One that the United Kingdoms invitation to the United States government was only for the president and first lady.

Biden will not travel with a larger delegation as a result, though the United Kingdom could have extended separate invitations to other U.S. leaders.

Politico Europe reported, citing documents on the funeral arrangements, that each country was extended an invitation only for its head of state, plus one guest.

The White House typically sends full delegations of leaders to the funerals of foreign leaders. Multiple former presidents attended the funeral for former South African President Nelson Mandela in 2013.

Jean-Pierre said the White House received its invitation to the queens funeral on Saturday night, and Biden accepted on Sunday morning. He and first lady Jill Biden are scheduled to leave Washington, D.C., on Saturday for London.

The queens funeral, which will take place next Monday, is expected to be watched by millions and attended by foreign dignitaries from around the world. The queen died last week at age 96. Shed led the monarchy for 70 years.

The queens coffin will lie in state in Edinburgh and London to allow the public to pay their respects. The funeral will take place in Westminster Abbey.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The Biden administration on Monday proposed to strengthen certain safety regulations for offshore oil and gas drilling that were loosened under the Trump administration.

After the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill that killed 11 workers and released 134 million gallons of fuel into the Gulf of Mexico, the Obama administration implemented new safety regulations.

In 2019, the Trump administration revised those standards, making them more industry-friendly.

On Monday, the Interior Department indicated that it would further tweak the rules, although the new proposal does not appear to be identical to what was put forth during the Obama years.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland told reporters on Monday that she believes that the changes will improve conditions for offshore workers and the public.

She criticized the Trump administrations rollback of the Obama-era rule, saying that it was done to tip the balance of oversight of offshore activities back to the oil and gas industry.

Among the changes is the reinstatement of a requirement to send information on safety equipment failures to the federal government instead of to certain third parties that were permitted to collect data during the Trump years.

Under the new rule, inspections of such failures will also need to start sooner. Under the Trump administration, inspections needed to begin 120 days after a failure; they would now need to start in 90. Under the Obama rule, inspections had to be finished within 120 days.

The Biden administration estimates that the changes will cost between $2.2 million and $2.4 million over a 10-year period.

The move comes after the Environmental Protection Agency similarly reinstated safety standards for chemical plants that were also loosened under Trump.

It also comes after the Biden administration released an offshore drilling plan that could enable as many as 11 new opportunities to drill for oil and gas offshore.

Under that plan, its not clear whether the department will move ahead with that many leasee sales, saying it could also pursue fewer or no lease sales in the coming years.

This story was updated at 4:16 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Sep. 12MORGANTOWN  West Virginians awaiting student loan debt relief will be able to apply for that relief starting in early October.

In West Virginia, there are roughly 225, 800 borrowers with $7.3 billion in student loan debt. The average West Virginia student loan debt is $31, 690. And 50.3 % of West Virginia borrowers are under 35 according to StudentAid.gov.

The state median income is $48, 850, lower than the national average, so while exact numbers are not available now, it appears that a large number of those 225, 800 borrowers will be eligible for forgiveness. The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commissioner reports that the median income of degree holders  from two-year to doctorates  is under $125, 000.

Here is a look at how the program will work, what West Virginia's two U.S. senators think about the plan, and what it's expected to cost taxpayers.

The plan President Biden's plan is spelled out at StudentAid.gov.

It will offer relief of $10, 000 or, for those with Pell Grants, $20, 000. The income threshold is $125, 000 for individuals or married filing separately ; or $250, 000 for married filing jointly or head of household.

People seeking relief should go to StudentAid.gov to update their contact information or create an FSA ID if they don't have one. The Department of Education will send updates by email and text message.

You must apply for relief online ; the form will be available by early October. An exact date has not yet been announced. The deadline to apply is Dec. 31, 2023.

The Department of Education will determine eligibility. When you submit your application for debt relief, you'll see a page online confirming your form was submitted. You'll also get a confirmation email.

A parent who has taken out loans  including loans for their own studies or parent PLUS loans for their child  may qualify for debt relief if they meet the income eligibility criteria. If a parent also received a Pell Grant for their own studies, then the parent borrower may be eligible for up to $20, 000 in relief on their loans. Otherwise, the parent borrower may be eligible for up to $10, 000 in debt relief.

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However, a parent who carries a PLUS loan and has a child with a Pell Grant may only receive relief for their own debt, not the child's. If a dependent student received a Pell Grant, up to $20, 000 in debt relief will be applied to the student's loansnot to any loans their parent may have taken out.

The following types of federal student loans with an outstanding balance as of June 30, 2022, are eligible for relief: William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan ; subsidized loans ; unsubsidized loans ; parent PLUS loans ; graduate PLUS loans ; consolidation loans, as long as all of the underlying loans that were consolidated were first disbursed on or before June 30, 2022 ; Federal Family Education Loan Program loans held by the Department of Education (ED) or in default at a guaranty agency ; federal Perkins Loan Program loans held by ED ; defaulted loans (includes ED-held or commercially serviced subsidized Stafford, unsubsidized Stafford, parent PLUS, and graduate PLUS, and Perkins loans held by ED.

Private, non-federal loans are not eligible for debt relief. If you consolidated federal loans into a private loan, the consolidated private loan is not eligible for debt relief.

One-time student loan debt relief will not be subject to federal income taxes. State and local tax implications will vary. A recent report by the Tax Foundation (quoted in Forbes) erroneously reported that West Virginians would be subject to state taxes. The governor's office told The Dominion Post that the error was subsequently corrected and that residents obtaining relief won't be subject to state taxes.

Loan balances remaining after relief will be re-amortized, meaning ED will recalculate your monthly payment based on your new balance, potentially reducing your monthly payment. Your loan servicer will communicate your new payment amount to you.

Senators' comments The plan has faced strong opposition. Critics have said it's unfair to those who've paid their loans, saddles those who've paid and those who never took loans with debt they deserve ; will add to the national debt and stir more inflation, and is outside's the president's purview.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has done a U-turn on her opinion. She said in 2021: "People think that the president of the United States has the power for debt forgiveness. He does not. He can postpone. He can delay. But he does not have that power. That has to be an act of Congress."

Then in August she said she "didn't know ... what authority the president had to do this. And now clearly, it seems he has the authority to do this."

Both of West Virginia's senators oppose the plan. Sen. Joe Manchin told The Dominion Post, "I believe there are better ways to help West Virginians and Americans pay off their student loans that help them give back to our state and nation without adding to our national debt."

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito told The Dominion Post, "President Biden used authority he does not have to spend money we also do not have on a scheme that will not lower the overall cost of college for students across this country. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and frankly of the Senate, it is the height of arrogance that the Biden administration would attempt this type of action without Congressional consultation or action."

She previously said, "West Virginians are fair-minded people, and they want to help those in need, but President Biden's student loan transfer is far from fair, and would create additional financial burden for taxpayers struggling during a time when they are paying higher prices for things they can't live without."

The cost The Dominion Post asked Manchin and Capito what's the pay-for for Biden's plan  who covers the cost of the debt forgiveness.

Manchin didn't expand beyond his statement above. Capito said, "There isn't a pay-for. Also worth noting is that, ironically, just days after the Biden administration had been touting savings in their so-called Inflation Reduction Act, they have now spent those with this bailout."

The White House is reported saying the plan is fully paid for through deficit reduction that is already occurring. Bharat Ramamurti, deputy director of the National Economic Council, is cited in media reports saying "We're on track for $1.7 trillion in deficit reduction this year. That means, practically speaking, compared to the previous year, 1.7 trillion more dollars are coming into the Treasury than are going out. And we're using a portion of thata very small portion of itto provide relief to middle-class families, consistent with the president's plan."

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that the debt cancellation will eliminate $525 billion of federal student loan debt. It projects that the overall amount of outstanding federal student loan debt will return to $1.6 trillion, its current level, in 2028.

"The changes announced ... will likely cost more than double the amount saved through the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act, completely eliminating any disinflationary benefit from the bill."

The student debt cancellation and relief measures, the committee said, would cost around $500 billion over a decade and would boost inflation by 15 to 27 basis points over the next year.

"The student debt changes will increase inflation in three ways  by reducing the amount of income households use to pay down debt over the next year, by increasing household wealth, and by putting upward pressure on tuition costs.

"Debt cancellation may drive up tuition prices by creating the expectation of future debt cancellation, thereby increasing willingness to borrow among prospective students. Studies have shown that these effects can lead students and parents to be less sensitive to the cost of tuition, which could encourage colleges and universities to further hike tuition and fees."

The Penn Wharton Budget Model puts an even higher price tag on the plan. It looks at all three aspects of Biden's plan: the debt forgiveness described above ; the extension of the current loan forbearance through Dec. 31 ; and the new Income-Driven Repayment plan that will cap monthly payments, cover unpaid interest, raise the income cap and forgive loan balances after 10 years of payments instead of 20 for borrowers with original loan balances of $12, 000 or less.

The debt cancellation, Penn Wharton said, will cost up to $519 billion, with about 75 % of the benefit going to households making $88, 000 or less. The loan forbearance extension will cost another $16 billion.

The new IDR program would cost another $70 billion, Penn Wharton said. "However, depending on future IDR program details to be released and potential behavioral changes, total plan costs could exceed $1 trillion."

Tweet David Beard @dbeardtdp Email dbeard @dominionpost.com
Baby Dove is working to create a safe space for Black mothers.

According to a press release sent to AfroTech, Baby Dove has announced several new commitments that will improve maternal health outcomes.

The company is doubling down on its investment in the Black Birth Equity Fund, bringing the total to $500,000. The aim is for doula services to become more accessible for expectant Black mothers as they will have a chance to receive up to $1,300 through a one-time grant.

#DearDoula

Whats more, Baby Dove will team up with Chanel Porchia-Albert, Founder of Ancient Song Doula Services & Co-Creator of JustBirth Space, to launch #DearDoula.

The content series will provide helpful tips and recommendations to mothers across social media platforms and open the floor for questions surrounding pregnancy, labor and delivery, postpartum care, and baby care.

Opening Doors Of Opportunity

DearDoula offers an opportunity to bring forth information and education to a broader community that allows for more conversations to happen, to provide resources in under-resourced areas, but also put action behind the talk like the Dear Doula Series intersecting with the Black Birth Equity Fund. We are not just saying, Oh, heres a resource. You could have a doula, but also giving people the financial resources to be able to do that, Porchia-Albert told AfroTech.

She continued: Through the grants that are provided and offering grant services up to $1,300, it offers people the opportunity to get those doulas. So, youre not just learning about them, youre also accessing them, youre having an opportunity to center what it means for you to have a healthy pregnancy and have the resources that you need.

Black Maternal Health Conference

Porchia-Albert will continue to work closely with Baby Dove as she is also set to be a featured key speaker at the upcoming Black Maternal Health Conference in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 17-18. The conference will welcome topics targetting the maternal health gap.

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The Challenges Faced By Our Communities

Its really important to understand the impact that were all facing in Black, brown, and indigenous communities. The Black maternal health numbers, we are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications or experience a near miss, Porchia-Albert told AfroTech. Our Hispanic and our indigenous cousins find themselves in the same predicaments. Oftentimes we are living and reside in the same communities together. Were accessing the same resources. Were finding ourselves in spaces that are not necessarily affirming us. And when we start to bring in language barriers, as well as maybe folks who may be undocumented, at a different literacy level, all of the different intersections, its important for us to center a framework of doulas who are working from a community-based model and understanding the intersections of care, understanding how the impacts of how life and our cultural identity can impact how were able to or not access healthcare resources.
Jeff Bezos' rocket company, Blue Origin LLC, has faced its first launch failure. The launch of Blue Origin's New Shepherd rocket was promptly aborted after its takeoff in West Texas on Monday. There were no passengers aboard the rocket, only payloads.

The problem occurred as the rocket was traveling nearly 700 mph at an altitude of about 28,000 feet and the capsule catapulted off the rocket, CNBC reports. The rocket experienced a "booster failure" triggering the abort system and allowing the capsule to parachute to Earth.

The Federal Aviation Administration told CNN Business, "The anomaly that occurred triggered the capsule escape system," further explaining, "the capsule landed safely and the booster impacted within the designated hazard area."

While this flight had no passengers, a similar version of the same vehicle was used to take paying customers to the edge of space and back as recently as August. This was the ninth flight for this particular rocket.

The FAA will need to investigate whether any system or procedure relating to the failure risked public safety before the New Shepherd can fly again. "This is standard practice for all mishap investigations," the agency stated.

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Blue Origin suffered a mishap Monday during an uncrewed launch of its New Shepard capsule.

A rocket failure roughly a minute after liftoff forced the company to perform an emergency abort midflight, triggering the spacecraft's escape system. The capsule, which had no humans on board, was seen jettisoning from the booster during a livestream of the launch, before a series of parachutes were deployed.

Blue Origin officials confirmed the launch anomaly on Twitter, adding that the escape system "performed as designed."

It's not yet known what caused the rocket failure, but the company said it is looking into the issue. "More information to come as it is available," officials tweeted Monday.

The mission, known as NS-23, was carrying 36 payloads and experiments from various research institutions on an intended suborbital flight to the edge of space and back. The rocket lifted off at around 10:36 a.m. EDT from Blue Origin's dedicated launch site in West Texas, near Van Horn.

The company, founded by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, conducts cargo-only missions as well as space tourism flights using its New Shepard capsule and rocket.

Image: Blue Origin (Blue Origin via AP)

Monday's launch marked the 23rd flight of New Shepard. Both the capsule and booster are reusable, but it's not yet known if the rocket survived intact.

Blue Origin has conducted six suborbital missions to date with humans on board. Its first crewed flight, in July 2021, carried Bezos and three other passengers to the edge of space. Blue Origin's most recent space tourism flight occurred Aug. 4, but Monday's launch was the first cargo-only mission for the company since last year.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
(Bloomberg) -- Brazils President Jair Bolsonaro is extending an international trip to attend Queen Elizabeth IIs funeral in London as he seeks to boost his re-election campaign by projecting the image of an influential, well-connected global leader.

Most Read from Bloomberg

While many heads of state and their representatives will attend the Queens funeral, the right-wing leader will be traveling less than two weeks before the first round of elections in Brazil, where he faces an uphill battle against former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the front-runner in the race.

Bolsonaro was already scheduled to fly to New York to deliver the opening speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 20, in what had been designed to be a quick trip to avoid a major disruption to his campaign schedule in Brazil. The plan has now been amended to include a stopover in London on Sept. 19, the president told supporters on Monday.

In June, he nearly skipped the Summit of the Americas sponsored by President Joe Biden in Los Angeles, alleging he needed to focus on his re-election campaign. He later changed his mind after being personally invited by a special envoy from the White House and offered a bilateral meeting with the US president.

At the UN General Assembly, Bolsonaro will try to show the accomplishments of his government, rejecting the image of global pariah that came to haunt Brazil due to mounting international criticism over his environmental policies.

Read More: Brazil Presidential Race Unchanged by Sept. 7 Rallies, Poll Shows

Seizing the Opportunity

When Queen Elizabeth IIs death was announced last week, causing a global wave of commotion, the social media-savvy president was quick to offer his condolences on Twitter. He also decreed three days of mourning in Brazil -- an honor given to only a handful of people during his administration, including former Vice President Marco Maciel, and Japans Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

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On Monday, Bolsonaro and First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro visited the UK embassy in Brasilia to sign a book of condolences in honor of the Queen.

Bolsonaro wants to add symbolic political capital to his campaign, said Deysi Cioccari, a political science professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Sao Paulo. He intends to show an image of power and influence he never had during his government.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

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U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Saturday said it would deactivate a West Texas border patrol account that retweeted far-right posts from Stephen Miller, who was a key architect of former President Trumps immigration policy as a senior White House adviser.

CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus said the retweeted content was removed and the Office of Professional Responsibility was investigating the situation.

Totally unacceptable and disappointing that any CBP Twitter account was used to R/T offensive, unauthorized content, Magnus tweeted. This must not happen again.

The CBP Twitter account retweeted two posts from Miller over the weekend, according to screenshots shared on Twitter, including one in which Miller ranted against perceived criminals.

Violent criminals lay waste to our communities undisturbed while the immense power of the state is arrayed against those whose only crime is dissent, Miller wrote. The law has been turned from a shield to protect the innocent into a sword to conquer them.

In another post retweeted by CBP West Texas, Miller took aim at the media, saying its greatest power is its ability to frame what is a dire national crisis (eg cops are racist summer 20) and what is not.

Bidens eradication of our border means we are no longer a Republic  hes ended nearly 250 years of constitutional government. The media is silent, Miller tweeted.

The immigration policies Miller helped shape under Trump were criticized as being blatantly racist and based on fear-mongering. He reportedly helped craft Trumps travel ban, which targeted Muslim countries; the 450-mile long steel bollard wall on the Mexican border; and the family separation policy.

A separate statement from CBP, shared by Magnus on Saturday, said the retweets of the CBP West Texas account do not reflect the agencys views on immigration.

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The tweets do not reflect the values of this administration and our work to rebuild a humane, orderly, and secure immigration system, the statement reads.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) subpoenaed Miller last week in connection to its investigation into Trumps alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
SAO PAULO (AP)  Antonio Luis Durao is a member of a small minority in Brazil: He's an undecided voter with mere weeks until presidential elections.

Had the vote taken place a year ago, the 61-year-old fruit farmer would have supported Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the leftist former president who governed between 2003 and 2010. During that period, da Silva's government granted Durao some rights to farm a 26-hectare (64-acre) piece of land in Porangatu in the heartland state of Goias.

But last month, Durao finally received a title for that same plot, giving him full ownership  with the right to sell  though after 10 years. It also will allow him to apply for a loan from a state-run bank, and he hopes to finance a tractor. He's also considering rewarding incumbent Jair Bolsonaro with his vote.

I got in here during the Lula years, and I'm grateful, but there was nothing in place. I think this document will make things better for me now," he told The Associated Press in a phone interview. One gave me access 14 years ago, and the other is opening my path to the future.

Durao's grant is part of the president's Title Brazil program, which aims to give ownership rights to some 340,000 people who now live on lands that are either state owned or were privately held but unused. The far-right leader, who is trailing in the polls, is also hoping it will help boost his odds of reelection.

Bolsonaro has often touted the program as a means of settling old disputes, creating legal certainty and weakening the leftist Landless Workers Movement, a key ally of da Silva's that has long staged occupations of what it considers vacant or unused lands  though there have been far fewer seizures in recent years.

It's a partial, free-market approach to land reform in a vast nation that since colonial times has seen great inequalities in the distribution of land, with a few farmers and corporations holding enormous expanses while millions toil on small plots to which they hold little if any legal claim.

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Title Brazil proceedings usually start with rural mayors who reach out to the federal government on behalf of local farmers. Local officials and farmers sit on regional commissions to evaluate the claims. Only those who had already registered for earlier land reform programs are eligible.

The governments National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform says 733 of Brazil's more than 5,500 municipalities so far have reached agreements to work with the land titles program, though many have yet to distribute any new titles. The AP reached out to 17 municipalities listed by Incra as participants of the program, but only two had the program up and running and offered contacts of beneficiaries.

Bolsonaros adversaries claim that the program is a gimmick that will fade as soon as the election is over. While it was announced shortly after he took office in 2019, most of the activity appears to have come in recent months.

They also note that full ownership won't come until a final review in 10 years  and question whether it will solve the problem of unequal land distribution. saying the small plots are likely to wind up being sold to big landholders eventually.

These are provisional land titles," said Alexandre Conceicao, one of the leaders of the Landless Workers Movement. He said the administration "wants to destabilize any attempts to lead a land reform in Brazil, now and in the future.

The president argues his opponents challenge the policy because they fear it will weaken the Landless Workers Movement that he labels as a terrorist organization. Bolsonaro is a staunch agribusiness advocate and frequently invokes individuals' right to own property.

With the (land) title, you have access to credit, you increase the value of your property, you become real citizens, Bolsonaro told a crowd in April in Goias state. You are no longer in the hands of those who used you as a body of troops to invade property.

A Datafolha poll on Sept. 1 found that 46% of rural respondents intended to vote for da Silva, while 33% were on the presidents side. Four years ago, going into a runoff against leftist Fernando Haddad, Bolsonaro had 36% in the same poll versus 24% for his opponent. The margin of error in both polls was two percentage points.

Rodrigo Sa Motta, a history professor at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, said the governments policy helps provide access to credit, but it doesn't move the ball forward in land regularization and distribution, which is the essence of land reform. That's because so far it does not expand land distribution to poor farmers, but only broadens the legal rights of people who already occupy small farms.

It is more of rhetoric to say they are doing something, that the administration isn't standing still, he added.

Brazils Landless Workers Movement says about 90,000 families are still seeking lands to grow crops, and very few of those will gain anything from Title Brazil.

But the program is showing signs of resonating with rural voters.

Another beneficiary told the AP she waited for years before finally receiving rights to farm a piece of land during the administration of Dilma Rousseff, da Silvas ally and successor. She's receiving a title under Bolsonaro  and plans to vote for him, though she spoke on condition of anonymity, because she believes her family would not support her views.

I dont like much of what Bolsonaro did, I dont like the way he expresses himself, but it is true that I see a better future for me and my family because of his support to agriculture, she said by phone. I think it is important to be grateful.
(Reuters) - Britain's defence ministry said on Monday that Russia has likely ordered the withdrawal of its troops from the entirety of occupied Kharkiv Oblast west of the Oskil River.

The UK defence ministry said in a regular update that Ukraine has recaptured territory at least twice the size of Greater London. (https://bit.ly/3xfp2lf)

UK said in a tweet "The rapid Ukrainian successes have significant implications for Russia's overall operational design".

(Reporting by Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat in Bengaluru; Editing by Kim Coghill)
By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) -The brother of a former Coinbase Global Inc product manager pleaded guilty on Monday to a wire fraud conspiracy charge, in what U.S. prosecutors have called the first insider trading case involving cryptocurrency.

Nikhil Wahi, 26, admitted during a virtual court hearing before U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska in Manhattan that he made trades based on confidential Coinbase information.

Prosecutors say Ishan Wahi, the former product manager, shared confidential information with his brother and their friend Sameer Ramani about new digital assets Coinbase was planning to let users trade.

Nikhil Wahi and Ramani then allegedly used ethereum blockchain wallets to acquire the assets and traded at least 14 times before Coinbase announcements in June 2021 and April 2022.

Those announcements typically caused the assets to rise in value and generated at least $1.5 million in gains, prosecutors said.

"I knew that it was wrong to receive Coinbase's confidential information and make trades based on that confidential information," Nikhil Wahi told the judge.

He said he understood that his guilty plea meant he would eventually be deported from the United States and "lose everything that I have worked for."

Nikhil Wahi had pleaded guilty last month, but changed his plea through an agreement with prosecutors. His sentencing will be in December.

Ishan Wahi has pleaded not guilty and is next scheduled to appear in court on March 22. Ramani, who was also charged, is at large.

Coinbase, which said it shared with prosecutors its findings from an internal probe into the trading, is one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Mark Porter)
While natural gas prices have rallied to multi-year highs thanks in large part to the energy crisis unfolding in Europe, many Canadian producers have not benefited nearly as much as global peers due to an unfortunate combination of pipeline restrictions and record-high production. REUTERS/Todd Korol

Shares of Canada's largest natural gas producer climbed on Monday as Tourmaline Oil (TOU.TO) called for 28 per cent more cash flow next year, thanks to rising prices at several sales hubs.

The Calgary-based company boosted its 2023 cash flow guidance to $6.58 billion, up from $5.14 billion, pointing to strong prices in the Northeast Asia and western United States markets. In a news release on Monday, the company also lowered its third-quarter production estimate slightly, due to pipeline maintenance.

Toronto-listed shares climbed 2.56 per cent to $79.78 as at 12:13 p.m. ET on Monday, adding to a more than 90 per cent increase so far this year.

While natural gas prices have rallied to multi-year highs, thanks in large part to the energy crisis unfolding in Europe, many Canadian producers have not benefited nearly as much as global peers due to an unfortunate combination of pipeline restrictions and record-high production.

Scotiabank analyst Cameron Bean calls Tourmaline's natural gas marketing mix "best in class" in a note to clients on Monday, given the company's access to premium sales hubs.

Tourmaline says its 2023 average production is expected to remain unchanged at 545,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The company adds that will include 2.5 billion cubic feet a day of natural gas and 126,000 barrels of oil, condensate and natural gas liquids.

For the third quarter, Tourmaline expects production to hit 480,000 to 485,000 barrels a day, down 1.5 per cent from its previous guidance. The company says this is due to Alberta-British Columbia pipeline maintenance, and a related price collapse in the second half of August, which forced Tourmaline to shut in around 100 million cubic feet per day of existing production.

Jeff Lagerquist is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jefflagerquist.

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A familys surveillance camera recorded a home caretaker pushing a 91-year-old Alzheimers patient off a chair and dragging her across the room in Massachusetts, prosecutors say.

Now the health aide is facing two charges of assault and battery on an elder by a caretaker, according to Attorney General Maura Healeys office.

The charges against Rodette Robinson, 53, of Springfield come nine months after the patients family reported the physical abuse to the health aides employer in November, a Sept. 12 news release from the office says. At the time, Robinson held a Certified Nursing Assistant license.

The familys surveillance camera footage captured Robinson shaking and pushing the patient off a recliner chair before dragging the woman across the floor and into a bathroom aggressively, according to Healeys office.

The patients left arm and body were bruised as a result, the release says.

Robinson was fired by the home health agency after the familys report, according to the release, which did not name the agency.

This employer reported Robinson to the states Nurse Aide Registry and the Department of Public Health, and the department suspended her CNA license afterward, the release says.

Attorney contact information for Robinson was not immediately available.

McClatchy News contacted the attorney generals office about the status of Robinsons CNA license as of Sept. 12.

Springfield is about 90 miles west of Boston.

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Casper Ruud with the runner-up plate in New York (Reuters)

Casper Ruud fell short in his bid to lift the US Open trophy on Sunday after losing 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(1), 6-3 to Carlos Alcaraz but the Norwegian said the tournament had helped cement his belief he will win a grand slam one day  as long as he avoids a Spaniard in the final.

Ruud was unable to match Spanish teen Alcarazs firepower at Arthur Ashe Stadium, the defeat coming months after he fell to another Spaniard, Rafa Nadal, at the French Open in his first grand slam final.

In Roland Garros, (it) was hard for me to believe that I could beat Rafa, Ruud, who rises to No 2 in the world from seventh spot, told reporters.

Today was not easier, but I believed it more. I think these two tournaments have sort of made my self-belief to win a grand slam grow. I guess I hope I dont play a Spanish player if I ever reach another slam final. They know what theyre doing in the slam finals.

Known for his claycourt prowess, Ruud enjoyed a superb 2022 that saw him collect titles at Gstaad, Geneva and Buenos Aires. He showed he could be just as effective on New Yorks hard courts, beating 13th seed Matteo Berrettini in the quarter-finals and Russian Karen Khachanov in the semis.

Ruud said Alcaraz, who also beat him at the Miami final, was a hard nut to crack.

I still thought I was the underdog in a way, the 23-year-old told reporters. But it was more fun for me today. I didnt need to play the biggest idol of my life on the biggest match of my life. It was sort of easier for me to believe that I could win.
(Bloomberg) -- Cheniere Energy Inc. boosted its full-year 2022 profit forecast beyond analysts expectations as the largest US exporter of liquefied natural gas said some shipments will depart sooner than anticipated. The shares rose.

Most Read from Bloomberg

One measure of earnings is now seen at a midpoint of about $11.3 billion this year, up from $10.1 billion previously, the company said in a statement on Monday. Cash flow probably will be $1.2 billion higher than forecast at a midpoint of $8.4 billion.

Cheniere has benefited from booming overseas gas demand as European buyers seek replacements for supplies from Russia, which has restricted flows amid an increasingly bitter geopolitical standoff over its invasion of Ukraine.

Shares of Cheniere rose 3.1% at 5:07 p.m. in New York.

Cheniere, which has reached a final investment decision on its Corpus Christi Stage 3 Liquefaction Project in Texas, is now expecting to generate over $20 billion in cash through 2026, the company said.

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CHICAGO  Three teenagers suffered gunshot wounds in two separate attacks early Monday in Chicago, according to investigators. Two teens also were wounded in unrelated shootings Sunday afternoon, meaning five teenagers  four of them juveniles  suffered gunshot wounds in a roughly 14-hour period.

Two of the teens, 14 and 18, were in good condition after being shot around 1 a.m. while walking on a sidewalk in the 7000 block of South Normal Avenue in Englewood, police said. Someone from inside an approaching black SUV opened fire, striking both the boy and man.

Paramedics took the two teens to University of Chicago Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the left foot and right leg, respectively.

A third teen, 15, was dropped off at Loretto Hospital on the citys West Side around 3:50 a.m. after suffering a gunshot wound to the right leg. The boy later was transferred to Stroger Hospital, where he had been listed in fair condition.

Police said they dont yet have specific details about the attack that left the 15-year-old injured, but a police spokesperson said investigators do not believe the 15-year-old was injured at the same time as the other teens and police are treating the two attacks as separate cases.

No one had been arrested in connection with either shooting as of Monday morning and both attacks remain under investigation by detectives.

The shootings came less than a day after two unrelated shootings Sunday afternoon that left two other teens wounded.

Authorities were called to a scene where a 14-year-old girl had been shot in the face in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood around 4:50 p.m. Sunday, police said.

About two hours earlier, a 13-year-old boy was shot while allegedly trying to steal a car in the Bronzeville neighborhood around 2:35 p.m. Sunday afternoon, according to police.


China is reportedly facing a collective response from member states of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) after the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) concluded that Beijing has committed serious human rights violations against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang.

The violations, which are seen as potential crimes against humanity, are detailed in a long-awaited report released on Aug. 31. Diplomats from three countries and a rights expert previously accused China of working to block its publication.

Based on a rigorous review of documents available to the OHCHR, the 48-page assessment sheds light on allegations regarding Chinas imprisonment and mistreatment of Uyghurs in so-called Vocational Education and Training Centers, regulation of religious expression, invasive surveillance practices, forced birth control and forced labor policies. Such claims are not entirely new, having been exposed by other entities in recent years, including a hacking of Xinjiang police documents.

In response to the report, multiple countries in the 47-member HRC have been considering taking action against China, according to Reuters. The debate reportedly intensified as the council began a new term on Monday.

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If the majority decide it is not worth acting after the violations denounced in the [China] report, it would mean that the universalist vision of human rights is at stake and the legal order would be weakened, one Western diplomat told Reuters.

Another warned, There's a cost of inaction, a cost of action and a cost of a failed attempt to act.

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China, for its part, has consistently rejected allegations of human rights abuses. Hours after the latest report was published, its Geneva envoy described the paper as a completely politicized document that disregards facts, and reveals explicitly the attempt of some Western countries and anti-China forces to use human rights as a political tool.

The HRC session, which lasts until Oct. 4, currently does not include Xinjiang in the agenda. This means one of its 47 member states must propose its discussion.

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Featured Image via Xinjiang Police Files / ABC News Australia (left) and BBC News (right)
Photo: The Canadian Press A view of Montenegro's government building in Podgorica, Montenegro, Monday, Sept. 12, 2022.

At the government headquarters in NATO-member Montenegro, the computers are unplugged, the internet is switched off and the state's main websites are down. The blackout comes amid a massive cyberattack against the small Balkan state which officials say bears the hallmark of pro-Russian hackers and its security services.

The coordinated attack that started around Aug. 20 crippled online government information platforms and put Montenegro's essential infrastructure, including banking, water and electricity power systems, at high risk.

The attack, described by experts as unprecedented in its intensity and the longest in the tiny nations recent history, capped a string of cyberattacks since Russia invaded Ukraine in which hackers targeted Montenegro and other European nations, most of them NATO members.

Sitting at his desk in Montenegros capital, Podgorica, in front of a blackened PC screen, Defense Minister Rasko Konjevic said government officials were advised by cyber experts, including a team of FBI investigators that was dispatched to the Balkan state, to go offline for security reasons.

We have been faced with serious challenges related to the cyberattack for about 20 days, and the entire state system, the system of state administration, and the system of services to citizens are functioning at a rather restrictive level, Konjevic told The Associated Press.

He said experts from several countries are trying to help restore the Montenegro government's computer system and find proof of who is behind the attack.

Montenegro officials said the attack that crippled the governments digital infrastructure was likely carried out by a Russian-speaking ransomware gang that generally operates without Kremlin interference as long as it doesnt target Russian allies. The gang, called Cuba ransomware, claimed responsibility for at least part of the Montenegro cyberattack, in which it created a special virus for the attack called Zerodate.

Montenegros Agency for National Security blamed the attack squarely on Russia.

Russia has a strong motive for such an attack because Montenegro, which it once considered a strong ally, joined NATO in 2017 despite the Kremlin's opposition. It has also joined Western sanctions against Moscow over the Ukraine invasion, which led Moscow to brand Montenegro an enemy state along with several other countries that joined the embargo.

In such attacks, there are usually organizations that are a mask for state intelligence services, Konjevic said, adding that the defense ministry's NATO-related data is protected in a special way while the other possible leaks are being investigated.

The cyberattack comes amid an apparent attempt by Moscow to destabilize the Balkan region that was at war in the 1990s through the Kremlin's Balkan ally Serbia, and thus at least partly shift the world's attention from the war in Ukraine.

Montenegro, which split from much larger Serbia in 2006, is currently run by an interim government that has lost parliamentary support because of Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic s shady deals with the influential Serbian Orthodox Church without the consent of the whole coalition that supported the government.

Montengro's roughly 620,000 people are deeply split between those who want the country to restore its close ties to Serbia and Russia and those who want it to continue on its path of the European Union membership.

A real war is being waged in Ukraine, with bombs, a war of conquest by Russia, political analyst Zlatko Vujovic said. Something similar is happening in Montenegro. There are no bombs, but there is a huge tension, a huge hybrid conflict in which the interests of Russia and its and Serbian intelligence services are interconnected.

Other Eastern European states deemed enemies of Russia have also faced cyberattacks, mostly nuisance-level denial-of-service campaigns that render websites unreachable by flooding them with junk data but dont damage them. Targets have included networks in Moldova, Slovenia, Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Albania.

Last week, Albania severed diplomatic relations with Iran and kicked out its diplomats after a cyberattack in July that it blamed on the Islamic Republic.

Montenegro remains a target within both the public and private sector, as well as many other countries in that region," said Patrick Flynn, head of the advanced programs group at Trellix, a U.S.-based cybersecurity company. We have observed a blend of historically based nation state actors and well-known ransomware groups."

This recent focus on NATO member countries reinforces the need for hyper vigilance within key businesses as well as government (and) critical infrastructure cyber security environments, he said in an email to the AP.
A Chinese influencer who shared a video of himself eating a live wasp was banned from Douyin, shortly before his second attempt at the dangerous stunt.

Wang Chan was banned from Douyin on Sept. 4after he uploaded the wasp-eating video. He had over 560,000 followers on the platform.

Wang is well known on Chinese social media for pulling dangerous stunts such as poking wasp nests without protective clothing.

In addition, he begins his videos with the Chinese proverb, I dont know what to do after eating, a phrase used to disapprove of those performing silly acts.

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The video, which was filmed on Sept. 2, showed Wang eating a live wasp with a pair of chopsticks. He expressed that he was a little afraid shortly before eating the insect. The video included the hashtag, Influencer who performed wasp eating left with sausage lips.

After swallowing the live wasp, Wang began to suffer from extremely swollen lips and eyes. Wang had difficulty swallowing while trying to eat congee and went to the hospital shortly after for treatment.

The influencer claimed the video attracted 100,000 viewers and he planned on repeating the wasp-eating stunt last Sunday. His Douyin account, however, was banned right before the second attempt.

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Online users heavily criticized Wang for his stunts.

Its not cruel, its stupid, one user commented.

This is really desperate, another user wrote.

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The video, shared by Wuxi TV, garnered 3,084 likes and 9986 comments since it was first uploaded on Sept. 4.

Featured Image via Douyin

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Associated Press

Carey Wooten spent nearly seven weeks hunting for safe drinking water for herself, her two children and three dogs after clocking out each day as a Taco Bell manager, so Gov. Tate Reeves' announcement that the water is clean again in Mississippi's capital came as welcome news. While the state plans to stop handing out free bottled water at sites around the city Saturday night, the city said water pressure still hasnt been fully restored, and state health officials said lead in some pipes remains so worrisome that pregnant women and young children should still use bottled water. Wooten said Friday that the liquid flowing into her kitchen sink still smells like sewage, but not as bad as before, and she's glad she won't have to run to distribution sites before their bottled water supplies run out each day.
The city of Clermont is proposing raising its property taxes by 30%.

The citys current millage rate is 4.2. At first, City Council proposed raising that rate to 5.75, which would have been a 48% increase. But last week, they decided to cap the rate at 5.5.

The city has been kicking the can down the road, City Manager Brian Bulthuis said.

Bulthuis said now if the rate isnt raised, factoring in increasing personnel costs for fire and police services, the city may have to cut other services.

Read: Man charged in connection with Clermont double homicide

But homeowners and business owners say with cost of living expenses on the rise, now is not the time for a tax increase.

A downtown business owner said this will impact everyone, as landlords will pass the increases on to tenants, which will make it difficult for businesses to maintain employees.

Homeowner Kimmie Alexander said she understands that it could be necessary if there hasnt been an increase the past seven years, but she said she knows its tough to do it now.

Read: CDC warns against enterovirus D68: What is it and what are the symptoms?

Show me what youre doing with these dollars that were giving now instead of putting food on the table, Alexander said.

The final vote on the budget and millage rate is set for a meeting next week.

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KingCharlesLizTruss

King Charles III greets Britain's Prime Minister Liz Truss during their first meeting at Buckingham Palace in London on September 9, 2022. Credit - Yui MokAFP/Getty Images

For more than half a century, the late Queens son Prince Charlesnow King Charles IIIhas beaten the environmental drum with increasing intensity. In his early twenties, he gave prescient speeches on pollution. In his middle age, he founded high profile sustainability initiatives. And in January, at age 73, he issued his most stark call for radical climate action by business and government. The world is on the brink, he wrote in an essay. And we need the mobilizing urgency of a war-like footing if we are to win.

Those positions could put King Charles III at odds with the government he now serves. Just two days before Charles became King, the U.K. also got a new Prime Minister: Liz Truss. Hailing from the rightwing of the Conservative Party, she was chosen by its members to replace Boris Johnson. Truss has regularly expressed doubt about the U.K.s renewable energy policies and pledged to ramp up fossil fuel investment. And, most worryingly for environmentalists, she has appointed an energy secretary who has questioned whether climate change is caused by human activity and whether the world should even try to prevent further global warming.

Public clashes between the King and the Prime Minister, though, are very unlikely. While the pair will hold weekly private meetings to discuss government business, the British monarch is a mostly ceremonial role. The King is expected to remain above politics, and strictly avoid sharing his opinions. Queen Elizabeth II was famously successful in that respect, almost never letting slip her view of national or global events during her 70-year reign.

Prince Charle meets Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Amor Mottley ahead of their bilateral meeting during the COP26 summit in Glasgow on November 1, 2021. Jane Barlow Getty Images

Many expect Charles, an unusually outspoken royal as Prince, to have a tougher time keeping silentespecially when it comes to the climate. He may, advocates hope, find subtle ways to further the environmental agenda, within the confines of his royal role, or to frame the fate of the planet as an issue beyond politics.

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Were in a situation where the level of threat is far greater than its ever been due to the slow pace of the change, says Ed Matthew, campaigns director at European climate think tank E3G. As our sovereign it is surely part of his duty to help ensure that the U.K. is protected from future threats.

A Climate King

Environmentalism was the cornerstone of Charles public identity as Prince of Wales. Starting in the 1970s, he gave speeches highlighting air pollution, plastic waste, oil spills, and industrial agriculture, and convened meetings with world leaders to discuss those threats. He founded a charity focused on making the financial world more sustainable in 2004, and another in 2010, dedicated to regenerative farming. In interviews, the Prince often touted his personal efforts to lead an eco-friendly lifeincluding limiting his meat consumption and, famously, powering his Aston Martin with waste from wine and cheese-making. Such attitudes, expressed long before green issues became part of mainstream public discourse, have sometimes been seen as eccentric in the British press. I was considered rather dotty, to say the least, he said in 2020 of his early campaigning.

Prince Charles on a visit to a rainforest in Cameroon to raise awareness of deforestation in 1990. Tim Graham Getty Images

Some activists, however, say there are major holes in the Kings environmental philosophy. He continues to use highly polluting private jets, for example. And in a 2010 speech at Oxford University, he cast population growth in Africa and other developing regions as a monumental challenge for the planetan idea repeated by his son Prince William last year. Given that people living in Africa make a tiny contribution to greenhouse gas emissions compared to residents of countries like the U.K., these kinds of overpopulation arguments arguably carry racist undertones.

Still, British political analysts say that Charles has been hugely helpful for the environmental cause in the U.K. He is part of the royal family, an institution revered by U.K. conservatives. As a result, he has helped climate action to achieve greater bipartisan acceptance than in the U.S., says Craig Prescott, a constitutional law expert and lecturer at Bangor University. He created a space for it to become part of our discourse in a much easier way. It hasnt been as controversial as it might have been.

The U.K. Governments Record

If King Charles III is a climate King, as some environmental news outlets have optimistically labeled him, Liz Truss is definitely not a climate Prime Minister. Commentators say she has shown strikingly little interest in the issue during her 12 years in parliament, despite serving as environment secretary from 2014 to 2016. Truss has promised to double down on the U.K.s existing 2050 net-zero emissions goal. But campaigners have serious doubts about her commitment to the drastic actions needed to reach it. The U.K.s green party dubbed her a disaster for the climate.

While campaigning for Conservative Party leadership this summer, Truss expressed concern about solar panels filling the countrys fieldsthey occupy 0.1% of U.K. land massand promised to scrap green taxes on energy bills.

In her first week as Prime Minister, Truss announced a plan to overturn the U.K.s ban on fracking, which carries risks to both local landscapes and the national effort to decarbonize. She then chose Jacob Rees Mogg, one of the few climate skeptic lawmakers in mainstream British politics, to lead the energy ministry. Mogg immediately said he would solve the U.K.s energy price crisis by facilitating new domestic fossil fuel projects to extract every last cubic inch of gas from the U.K.s North Sea reserves. Energy experts say that strategy will have no impact on prices because of the multi-year lead times to get such projects off the ground, and the U.K.s exposure to the global energy market.

Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales planting a tree in Chester, England, May 1988. Diana is wearing a suit by Arabella Pollen. Terry Fincher/Princess Diana ArchiveGetty Images

The Kings Limited Role

King Charles III will almost certainly not attempt to block any of Truss individual environment-related policies. Under the U.K.s constitutional monarchy, the King or Queen is bound to act on the wishes of the government, Prescott says. The monarch must give royal assent to every piece of legislation passed by parliament, but it would be unthinkable, in modern times, for them to refuse that assent.

Even the kind of campaigning Charles did as Princeurging climate action without advocating specific government policieswould likely be controversial now that he is King.

Charles made clear that he is aware of the strictures of his new role in his first speech as monarch on Saturday. It will no longer be possible for me to give so much of my time and energies to the charities and issues for which I care so deeply, he said.

Instead, he hinted that he hopes Prince William, on taking up Charles old title as Prince of Wales, will also take up his campaigning role, to continue to inspire and lead our national conversations, helping to bring the marginal to the center ground where vital help can be given. Prince William has already staked his interest in climate change in recent years: in 2020 he founded a climate innovation prize and in 2021 he criticized private space exploration as a waste of resources that could instead be used to repair this planet.

Space for Influence

That said, there are two key areas where King Charles III may use his role to fight for the climate. First, he will play a key diplomatic role. Since few business and government leaders will refuse an invitation to Buckingham Palace, he will be able to conveneas he has already done as Princepowerful players in the energy transition. He will also play a key role in the hosting of state visits for foreign leaders. In theory, that gives him the opportunity to at least try to find common ground on the environment in conversation with foreign dignitaries.

Second, he will hold weekly meetings with Trussaudiences that function like company briefings for a board chairman, Prescott says. Truss will inform him of the day-to-day business of her government and its performance. Though he doesnt have any control over the country, the King may raise questions about its long-term strategy. By all accounts, what the Queen did was sometimes test and probe what the Prime Minister was saying or what the government policy was, says Prescott, rather than saying I disagree or I think thats wrong.

Matthew, of E3G, says there is space for influence even as Charles toes that line of neutrality. It would be within his rights that he would ask questions of Liz Truss, about whether she thinks that her policies are going to address the long term threats facing the U.K.to remind her of that responsibilitywithout telling her what policy she must or must not support.

The King, then, may be a small silver lining on the U.K.s climate horizon, Matthew says. He is more educated about these issues than almost any living politician. I think that makes us incredibly lucky to have him.
When Rep. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.) made plans to travel to military bases in Italy last month, the Defense Department called ahead to make sure his power wheelchair would be permitted on the flight.

But Langevin, who is a quadriplegic, never made it past the check-in counter.

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When airline staff learned that his wheelchair used lithium-ion batteries - a lighter-weight, more durable type of battery - they refused to let him bring it on the flight. Although federal and international aviation officials have ruled that the batteries can be transported safely, Lufthansa employees at Boston Logan International Airport wrongly cited safety concerns that the battery could overheat and catch on fire.

The congressman is among a growing number of people with disabilities who use mobility devices powered by lithium ion batteries. The new battery is a boon to people who use power wheelchairs and other mobility devices because the lightweight and high-energy capacity means customers can more easily transport their chairs, and often go farther on a single charge and with more time between charges.

But people with disabilities say flying with a wheelchair powered by the new battery can be unpredictable. They say airlines often impose additional restrictions on the batteries, and individual employees sometimes enforce rules incorrectly and inconsistently. Travelers have shared stories of stressful arguments with airline workers, embarrassment in front of other passengers and, like Langevin, being forced to cancel plans.

"I'm angry, and I find it outrageous that they can just make up their own rules and basically ignore what's been approved by the [Federal Aviation Administration]," Langevin said.

In addition to showing airline employees a letter from his wheelchair's manufacturer stating that the chair met federal and international aviation safety requirements, Langevin also put the wheelchair's inventor on the phone with a supervisor to explain why the chair was safe, he said. He still wasn't allowed on the flight.

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This was the second time this year he was stopped from boarding a flight because of his wheelchair battery, he said.

Christina Semmel, a Lufthansa spokesperson, said the company was "regretful" over the error.

"At times, there have been challenges when it comes to customers traveling with lithium batteries, as there are complex and detailed rules and regulations related to this," she wrote in an emailed statement. "We apologize for the error made due to the misinterpretation of the technical guidelines."

She added that Lufthansa employees will be undergoing a "comprehensive review" of guidelines around lithium batteries to prevent similar incidents.

In the end, Langevin was able to book a new flight for later that day after a staff member brought him an older wheelchair from his home in Rhode Island. But most people probably don't have that option, especially if they're hours from home, he said.

Carlos Araujo, 59, of San Clemente, Calif., was looking forward to going to Cancun in the spring with his wife to celebrate their 31st anniversary. Though Araujo has multiple sclerosis, his foldable, lightweight wheelchair would allow him to tour famous Mayan ruins such as Chichen Itza alongside his wife, and could easily be lifted and stored in the trunk of most vehicles, he said.

Before his flight from Tijuana, Araujo contacted Volaris, the Mexican airline, and received emails assuring that he would be allowed to check his wheelchair, per airline policy.

Yet, when Araujo arrived at the airport, Volaris employees refused, even after he shared the email from the customer service staff and a letter from the manufacturer showing that the chair met federal and international aviation standards. After four hours of arguing with staff, Araujo missed his flight.

"It was hell that day," he said. "I was so kind of despondent and in shock, I didn't know what to say the rest of the afternoon."

The couple booked a different flight to Cancun with American Airlines and eventually got their money back from Volaris, but they missed the first three days of their vacation and incurred nearly $200 in extra costs.

Volaris did not respond to a request for comment.

It's unclear how common it is for passengers to experience issues with lithium batteries, but in 2018, the most recent year data are available, passengers filed 310 disability-related complaints with the Transportation Department about air carriers refusing to let them board. Of those, 44 were marked as related to paraplegics, quadriplegics, other types of wheelchair users and other assistive-device users.

Some wheelchair users say they always feel anxiety about whether they'll be allowed to fly. Tracey Mendenhall Porreca, 58, of Delta Junction, Alaska, said she has argued with airline workers about whether her wheelchair is safe to be on a plane.

Three years ago, Mendenhall Porreca said a gate agent initially stopped her from boarding an American Airlines flight on the way back from Chattanooga, Tenn., even though she had flown there with the same airline.

"I understand why these rules are in place. My frustration comes from the lack of education and the lack of training, especially on the part of the airlines," she said.

American Airlines said it updated its lithium battery procedures for mobility devices in 2021, and its policies are fully aligned with FAA regulations.

Aviation rules require that batteries attached to wheelchairs in the cargo hold be protected with a case or covering. Under certain conditions, batteries may need to be removed and placed in carry-on luggage, as long as they are under a specified energy limit.

The industry is developing more specific, uniform regulations to evaluate lithium ion battery powered devices, said Bill Ammer, a wheelchair test consultant for manufacturers.

Solving the problem represents a significant quality-of-life issue for people who use power wheelchairs.

Wheelchairs have been getting heavier, in part because manufacturers use cheaper lead acid batteries, which can weigh 100 pounds or more, about twice as much as lithium batteries, said Rory Cooper, founder and director of the human engineering research laboratories at the University of Pittsburgh, which tests and designs mobility devices for different manufacturers. Some wheelchairs now weigh more than 400 pounds, which can make it difficult to put the chair in a car or onto some wheelchair lifts.

Even though the lithium-battery-powered devices cost about three times more and often aren't covered by insurance, consumer demand for them is growing and expected to keep rising, said Brad Peterson, vice president of sales for Amylior, a Canadian-based maker of power wheelchairs.

Anna Ward, 25, of Cambridge, England, switched to a wheelchair with a lithium-ion battery because her old one was bulky and weighed about 182 pounds. Her new chair folds up and weighs about 55 pounds.

She booked a flight with Ryanair from London to Milan in July, checked their wheelchair policy and emailed customer service to confirm that she could bring a spare battery on the flight.

But when she tried to get on the plane, special-assistance employees with ABM, a third-party contractor, refused to let her board.

Ward showed the email confirmation from Ryanair's customer service team but said the employees only relented once she threatened legal action. The flight was delayed by an hour as a result.

"I get on the plane and literally someone goes, 'Oh, that's why we're late,' and I just sat there, crying," she said. "This has been the most humiliating journey of my life," she added.

Ryanair issued a response statement saying, "We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to this passenger as a result of ABM's cursory oversight and are working with them to ensure this error does not recur." ABM and London Stansted Airport, which has a contract with ABM, apologized for the incident and said they are conducting "extensive retraining" for staff.

Langevin, along with other disability advocates, has been calling for stronger protections for passengers. Legislation giving passengers the right to sue airlines if they feel their rights are violated has stalled.

"It seems like it's only a matter of time until these types of wheelchairs become the standard, meaning that situations like these will become ever more frequent," Langevin said.

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A Conway, New Hampshire man was arrested on charges including sexual assault and manufacturing child sex abuse images Monday, according to the Carroll County District Attorneys office.

According to the DAs office, Matthew Lautenschlager, 29, is facing one felony count of aggravated felonious sexual assault, one felony count of manufacturing child sexual abuse images and seven counts of certain prohibited uses of computer services.

According to the DAs office, Lautenschlagers arrest came after a months-long investigation. Detectives from the Conway Police Department, alongside the New Hampshire State Police Special Investigation unit, probed Lautenschlagers social media.

Lautenschlager is due back in court on Tuesday, September 13.

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Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty

The novel coronavirus, like all viruses, mutates and evolves. Fast. Variant after variant. Subvariants between the variants.

The virus is active. But our efforts to contain it are reactive. Thirty-four months into the COVID-19 pandemic, we still havent figured out a way to get ahead of the virusand offer people immunity that endures even as the virus evolves.

That has to change, experts told The Daily Beast. And there are a lot of ways it could change, if we can focus our resources.

Broadly effective nasal vaccines that offer long-term immunity. Universal vaccines that should work against present and future variants. Or, at least, faster ways of rolling out new boosters.

But even the best new medicine is useless if people wont take it. The publics willingness to get vaccinated, rather than the availability of some new and better vaccine, could be the main reason we continue lagging behind the virus.

Yet Another Curveball in the COVID Mutation Nightmare

How do we break out of the Groundhog Day loop? University of Nebraska Medical Center infectious-disease expert James Lawler asked, referencing the 1993 Bill Murray comedy about a man trapped in one endlessly-repeating day. I am not sure we will do that quickly.

The novel coronavirus has steadily mutated since first leaping from animals to people in China back in late 2019. A year later, the early forms of the virus gave way to a more severe variant, Delta, which in turn was replaced by the more-contagious Omicron variant and its succession of subvariantsBA.1, BA.2, BA.4 and BA.5starting last fall.

All of the major variants and subvariants feature changes on the spike protein, the part of the virus that helps it grab onto and infect our cells. Lately, more and more mutations are showing up on other parts of the virus, as well.

Yes, more than two-thirds of the worlds 7.8 billion people have been at least partially vaccinated. Billions have fresh natural antibodies from recent infection. This wall of immunity has prevented the worst outcomes. Hospitalizations and deaths are down from their most recent peak in February.

Story continues

But theres no sign the SARS-CoV-2 virus is slowing down. New variants are coming as mutations pile up. Anticipating a future where COVID is more or less a permanent problem, health officials all over the world are trying to come up with strategies not for defeating the virus, but managing it.

U.S. President Joe Biden is beginning to frame COVID as an annual problem, like the flu. On Tuesday, Biden encouraged Americans to get the new messenger-RNAs boosters that vaccine-makers Pfizer and Moderna tailored for Omicron and its subvariants.

More variant-specific boosters could follow, Biden announced. As the virus continues to change, we will now be able to update our vaccines annually to target the dominant variant, he said. Just like your annual flu shot, you should get it sometime between Labor Day and Halloween.

But theres a problem with an annual approach to COVID mutations. Antibodies from even the best mRNA vaccines tend to fade after around four months. If youre getting boosted just once a year, you could be under-protected for up to eight months at a time.

Maybe. The fact is, we dont know for sure how welland for how longthe new boosters will work. We still need this information to know if thats a viable strategy, Peter Hotez, an expert in vaccine development at Baylor College, told The Daily Beast.

Equally problematic, health officials and the pharmaceutical industry are currently chasing variantsformulating new boosters based on whichever form of the virus is dominant at the time. But it takes months to reformulate the vaccines, get authorization from health officials in each of nearly 200 countries, then manufacture and distribute doses.

Were moving slower than the virus. A new variant might evolve in the span of just a few months. But it took nearly a year to get an Omicron-specific booster to market. Theres a risk some new variant might have so many mutations that it evades the antibodies from a vaccine designed for the previous variant. In that case, the annual approach to boosting could result in an even longer gap in protection.

There are a number of ways to catch up with the virus, experts told The Daily Beast. Industry could formulate new boosters at a quicker paceand government regulators could approve them faster.

Another approach is a vaccine you inhale instead of inject. A nasal vaccine could spur a broader and more lasting immune response, by targeting the parts of the bodythe nose and throatwhere SARS-CoV-2 prefers to lodge before spreading to the lungs and other organs.

Theres also the prospect of a universal pan-coronavirus vaccine thats designed to induce immunity against SARS-CoV-2 and related coronaviruses, of which there are dozens.

These universal antibodies might be slightly less effective than antibodies for just one virus, but that somewhat reduced immunity should hold up even as a particular virus mutates into a radically different form. Any potent set of antibodies that can neutralize an RNA virus like CoV-2 can select for escape mutants, Barton Haynes, an immunologist with Duke Universitys Human Vaccine Institute who is working on one universal jab, told The Daily Beast.

There are several nasal vaccines in development, including one at the University of Iowaand around a dozen major universal vaccines in development, too. The two leading efforts are at the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations in Norway and the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

But all of those efforts depend in part on government support. And the country with the deepest pockets, the United States, is closing the purse strings after years of generous support for COVID research.

Faster booster rollouts would also depend on government fundingas well as major reforms to the authorization processes in the countries whose regulators tend to lead the way. Again that means the United States, a country not necessarily known for its regulatory efficiency.

But theres an even bigger obstacle. Vaccine and booster uptake has plateaued all over the world as the pandemic grinds toward its fourth year and fatigue sets in. In the U.S., just a quarter of people ages 50 to 64 got the first two boosters. Even if industry rolled out a fresh booster every few months and regulators swiftly approved it, would enough people get jabbed fast enough to slow the viruss transmission?

How a Major COVID Relapse Could Soon Hit Americaand the World

Lawler said hes skeptical. The issue is that we will likely have very poor uptake of the new vaccines. Every booster dose has had diminishing uptake.

Government messaging might help, but that too depends on funding thats becoming scarcer. We need an advocacy program to get people to accept annual or regular boosters, but so far thats not happening, Hotez said.

So the world is settling into an annual approach to COVID, but without the tools to make sure an annual strategy works. Thats not necessarily a huge problem right now, as billions of people still have antibodies from past infection.

But as those antibodies fade, well face a choice. Induce antibodies with better and faster vaccines, or endure another huge wave of infections.

The alternativepretending COVID is just going to go awayis naive. I am truly puzzled at the widely-held assumption that the pandemic future is bright, Lawler said. This repeats the exact same errors in foresight we collectively exhibited for the past two years. I suppose I should have learned by now that we dont learn.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Sep. 11NASH, N.D.  Crews spent more than five hours at a fire of a former northeast North Dakota school building in the early hours of Sunday, Sept. 11.

The Grafton Volunteer Fire Department responded around 12:37 a.m. Sunday to a structure fire at the former Nash School in Nash, North Dakota. According to a Facebook post from the department, 13 members of GVFD responded and were on scene for five-and-a-half hours.

Other responding agencies included Hoople Fire Department, St. Thomas Fire Department, Valley Ambulance Rescue Service, Walsh County Sheriff's Office, North Dakota Game and Fish Department, Walsh Rural Water District and Nodak Rural Electric Cooperative.

The scene continues to be monitored for rekindling, the department said.

The cause of the fire is undetermined.

The Nash school closed after the 2008-2009 school year, according to Herald archives. It had been around since 1957. The school closed due to dwindling attendance.

Nash is an unincorporated community about 8 miles northwest of Grafton. The town is about 49 miles northwest of Grand Forks.
Photo: BCWS

UPDATE 4:50 p.m.

An aggressive and out-out-control wildfire is burning just eight kilometres outside the community of Hudson's Hope, while the BC Wildfire Service says crews work hard to build a control line between the blaze and the community.

More than 1,000 people are on evacuation order in the province, many of whom were forced out by the fire bearing down on Hudson's Hope.

The 287-square-kilometre fire is also just four kilometres away from the W.A.C. Bennett Dam on the Peace River, a key power generator for the Crown utility BC Hydro.

Fires west and east of Hope have also prompted evacuation orders and alerts, as well as the closure of the eastbound lanes of Highway 1.

The BC Wildfire Service says it expects increased fire behaviour this week as sun and warm temperatures continue.

Metro Vancouver's regional district continued its air quality advisory Monday as smoke from wildfires in B.C. and Washington state blankets the Lower Mainland.

The regional district says air quality in some areas of the Lower Mainland are expected to degrade further as other areas improve, while a clearing trend is expected to start near the coast and move inland by Tuesday.

"Smoke concentrations may vary widely across the region as winds and temperatures change, and as wildfire behaviour changes," Metro Vancouver says in a statement.

Environment Canada is maintaining air quality statements for areas from the Peace River in the northeast to the Cariboo in central B.C., and the entire lower third of the province.

The Canadian Press

ORIGINAL 11 a.m.

The Battleship Mountain wildfire near Hudsons Hope has grown to 28,000 hectares and more aggressive fire behaviour is expected over the coming days.

BC Wildfire Service says ignition operations on Sunday were successful, allowing crews to better reinforce containment lines and gain a defensive advantage by removing fuel between control lines and free burning edge of the wildfire.

Sixty firefighters are working the fire during the day along with 64 structure protection personnel, according to the wildfire service. Another 21 firefighters and six structure protection personnel are working night operations.

Hudsons Hope and surrounding rural areas remains under evacuation order.

According to Emergency Management B.C., there were 1,046 people impacted by the order as of Sunday night. There were 310 receiving ESS and accommodations in Fort St. John, according to EMBC.

Hudson's Hope Mayor Dave Heiberg told Alaska Highway News the fire was watched "very closely" throughout the day Saturday before the evacuation was ordered.

The wildfire advanced up to 10 kilometres in some areas under sustained 30-kilometre winds and low relative humidity, wildfire officials said.

"Theyve been watching this thing move around in various ways under various circumstances for some time. The last little bit, because of the dry circumstances and the wind directions, that southwest wind not being favourable at all, the fires been growing," Heiberg said Sunday.

"They were very busy around supper time and into the evening last night getting that message out to folks so that they could get ready to get out of there," he added of the evacuation orders.

"Fort St. John has been absolutely spectacular from what Ive been experienced and seen in looking after people from Hudsons Hope."

In an update Sunday, the City of Fort St. John said enough hotel rooms had been secured for evacuees.

The ESS reception centre is open today from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 to 6 p.m.for residents still needing to register.
(Bloomberg) -- The Blockchain Association, a prominent crypto trade group with members that include stablecoin issuer Circle and exchanges Crypto.com and Kraken, is launching its own political action committee. The move represents another attempt from an industry under pressure to push US politics in a more crypto-friendly direction.

Most Read from Bloomberg

As the sector has grown so to has its political spending, with millions of crypto-backed dollars going into candidates coffers ahead of Novembers congressional elections. Donors from the industry have given $72.8 million to federal candidates and committees from January 2021 through July, a Bloomberg analysis of Federal Election Commission records shows. That total surpasses the $70.6 million given by the oil and gas industry, the $55.4 million given by the transportation sector and the $25.4 million given by the defense companies over the same period.

There are a lot of different avenues to being effective in Washington, but relationships are a key part of that, Kristin Smith, the executive director of the Blockchain Association told Bloomberg in an interview. Political giving is a key part of relationships.

Smith said shes hopeful the new committee, called BA PAC, will be able to parlay the existing relationships of the nearly 100 member companies of the Blockchain Association into its fundraising efforts. Over the next several months, the PAC will be reaching out to those companies to ask for permission to solicit donations from their employees. Then, the PAC board of directors will determine the best strategy for distributing any funds it receives.

Julie Stitzel, vice president of public policy at the Digital Currency Group, is the chairwoman of the PAC board. Directors include: Smith; Jonathan Jachym, global head of policy at Kraken; John McCarthy, general counsel at Wicklow Capital Inc.; Ryan Selkis, founder and CEO of Messari Inc.; and Seth Hertlein, global head of policy at Ledger SAS.

Story continues

Given that the upcoming midterm elections are just two months away, the PAC is focused on the next cycle, which will include the presidential election, in 2024.

Read more: Crypto Donors Poured Money Into Politics in May Despite Downturn

BA PAC joins a growing number of committees that include supers PACs backed by some of the industrys most-influential names, such as Sam Bankman-Fried, the CEO of crypto trading juggernaut FTX. Bankman-Fried and his co-chief executive Ryan Salame have been the two largest donors from the sector, giving $41.1 million and $18.4 million, respectively.

Bankman-Fried has used a super PAC known as Protect Our Future, which is currently focused on candidates with plans for preparing for the next pandemic, for a big chunk of his spending.

Read more: Cryptos Bankman-Fried Gave $16 Million to Super PACs in April

By contrast, the mission of BA PAC will be to support pro-crypto candidates across the political spectrum, according to a statement provided to Bloomberg. Smith said the hope is to donate roughly 50% of the committees funds to Democrats and 50% to Republicans. The PAC will help bolster the associations existing advocacy and lobbying efforts in Washington, she said.

Smith herself is an active donor having contributed more than $160,000 this election cycle. That total includes $50,000 given to Republican Congressman Tom Emmers joint fundraising committee -- $45,000 of which was distributed to the National Republican Congressional Committee and $5,000 of which went to Emmers leadership PAC.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2022 Bloomberg L.P.
A Cudahy woman has been sentenced in the 2021 stabbing death of a West Allis man.

Rebecca Pekrul, 30, was sentenced Sept. 8 to eight years in prison and eight years extended supervision in the killing of 35-year-old Matthew Newkirk of West Allis, online court records show.

Pekrul was charged in February 2021 with first-degree reckless homicide with use of a dangerous weapon.

On May 31, she pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree reckless homicide.

The crime occurred early Feb. 18, 2021, at an apartment building in the 1700 block of South 116th Street in West Allis.

According to police and the criminal complaint, Pekrul's sister told police she was at her apartment with Pekrul, who was intoxicated, and invited Newkirk over.

When Newkirk was there, Pekrul's sister said Pekrul was attempting to "push his buttons"; she also said Pekrul became aggressive toward her and at one point slapped her forcefully in the face.

The argument escalated when Newkirk told Pekrul not to touch her sister. Pekrul's sister said she turned to leave and saw Pekrul grab a large knife from the kitchen and stab Newkirk.

Attempts by police and others to render first aid were unsuccessful.

An autopsy by the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office determined Newkirk died from multiple stab wounds to the chest and arm.

The conditions of Pekrul's extended supervision include participating in alcohol and drug assessment, maintaining absolute sobriety, maintaining employment, having no contact with Newkirk's family and paying $2,000 in restitution.

Contact Bob Dohr at 262-361-9140 or bob.dohr@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BobDohr1.

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: Cudahy woman sentenced in stabbing death of West Allis man
PRAGUE (Reuters) - Former Czech prime minister Andrej Babis stood trial on Monday over fraud accusations connected to a 2 million euro ($2 million) European Union subsidy that have marred his political career for the past five years.

Prosecutors allege that Babis, owner of a chemicals, farming, food and media empire, now held in a trust, illegally tapped the subsidy to build a conference centre near Prague before he formed his anti-establishment ANO party in 2011.

Babis has denied any wrongdoing and has repeatedly said the case against him is political.

"I am glad all will see this, my arguments against this untrue charge," Babis said as he entered the court building, according to Czech Television footage.

"It was of course politically motivated criminal investigation."

Babis, 68, is a potential presidential hopeful in an election early next year and still heads parliament's biggest party even though he sits in opposition after five parties combined in an election last year to oust him form government.

Babis may face a jail term if found guilty, although prosecutors asked for a suspended sentence and a fine. The trial is expected to last into at least mid-October, and any verdict is subject to appeals.

The allegation against Babis, the country's fifth-richest person on Forbes 2021 list, says he had hidden the ownership of the conference centre and hotel so it would qualify for EU funding meant only for small businesses.

Apart from the criminal charges, Babis was also separately found to be in conflict of interest by the European Commission as his Agrofert business group, which employs over 30,000 people and is among the biggest in the country - tapped large development subsidies while he was in power. He had denied any wrongdoing.

The Czech government withdrew some of the subsidies as the Commission said it would not reimburse them.

The opening of the trial comes ahead of a presidential election due in early 2023, where Babis is expected to be a strong candidate, although he has not declared yet that he will run. The office would shield him from prosecution during the five-year term.

Story continues

Babis served as prime minister in 2017-2021, and as finance minister in 2014-2017.

Babis has also been investigated by French prosecutors over the purchase of property in the France via offshore firms, according to the Le Monde newspaper. He has denied wrongdoing in that purchase.

($1 = 0.9949 euros)

(Reporting by Robert Muller, Editing by Jason Hovet, Jan Lopatka and Alison Williams)
An Illinois mother called 911 after finding her children and estranged husband unconscious inside his home, according to police.

They succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning, the Inverness Police Department says, and investigators say they dont believe it was an accident.

Responding to an unknown problem, officers arrived at the home around 4:20 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 11, according to a release from the department.

The mother had come by the house, in the 2200 block of Palatine Road, because something was off: her husbands scheduled visitation period with their kids was over, but he hadnt returned them to her, the release said.

Officers found the dad, 41-year-old Woo Chang, dead at the scene, along with his 10-year-old son, Austin.

Their 6-year-old daughter survived and was taken to an area hospital for treatment.

Police did not comment on her condition.

The father and children appeared to have suffered carbon monoxide poisoning, caused by a generator inside the home, the release said.

All signs are indicating that it was intentional, an Inverness police officer told McClatchy News.

Police did not say what could have motivated the poisoning.

The investigation is ongoing.

Inverness is a suburb of Chicago, 38 miles northwest of the citys downtown.

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Family of four, all wielding knives, stab each other in wild fight, Texas cops say

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Arguing brothers pull out guns and shoot each other, Texas cops say. One was killed
Ohio Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted and local leaders have announced a project that hopes to expand the access to high speed internet in Dayton.

The state of Ohio and BroadbandOhio has provided $250,000 in funding to be used to provide high speed internet to three community recreation centers in the city, according to a release.

The three community recreation centers selected are Greater Dayton Recreation Center, the Lohrey Recreation Center, and the Northwest Recreation Center. All are open to the public and free to enter.

Dayton City Commissioner Matt Joseph previously said that almost half of the people in the city do not have access to high speed internet.

>> RELATED: City commissioners plan to use federal funds to improve internet access in Dayton neighborhoods

A little more than 40 percent of people in the city dont have access to broadband speed internet, theyre using dial up, Joseph said.

This project hopes to allow the City of Dayton Department of Recreation to offer visitors Wi-Fi access to use their own electronic devices, create education resources for students using laptops and provide educational support for afterschool and summer camp programming.

You cannot be a part of the modern economy without access to high-speed internet, Husted said in a release. This administration has continued to close the digital divide in Ohios rural and suburban areas, and here in our urban areas. This project will give people in the community a place to go to access online services for completing job applications, finishing homework, or taking classes.

Additional information about the initiative can be found here.








Dan Goldman addresses supporters after declaring victory in his congressional primary on Aug. 23. He won his race in a heavily Democratic New York district with help from Hasidic Jewish voters. (Photo: Craig Ruttle/Associated Press)

Dan Goldman addresses supporters after declaring victory in his congressional primary on Aug. 23. He won his race in a heavily Democratic New York district with help from Hasidic Jewish voters. (Photo: Craig Ruttle/Associated Press)

NEW YORK  Democratic congressional nominee Dan Goldman called the findings of a New York Times report on the dearth of secular education in Hasidic Jewish schools very concerning and troubling but criticized some of the reports characterizations of those schools.

The Times report, which came out Sunday and was the result of a yearlong investigation, reported, among other things, that 99% of Hasidic boys in schools that took New Yorks standardized tests received failing grades in 2019 and that many young men graduate without proficiency in English.

The allegations are very concerning, Goldman told HuffPost in a Monday interview.

For all of us who respect diversity of religion, we need to recognize that [Hasidic Jews] may view their educational prerogatives to be different than the average secular person, added Goldman, a former federal prosecutor who led House Democrats impeachment of then-President Donald Trump in 2019. But that being said, they need to make sure that theyre providing the basic secular education in addition to their religious education, even if they are going to focus more on the religious education.

Goldmans remarks were notable because he narrowly won the Democratic primary in New Yorks new 10th Congressional District on Aug. 23 thanks in significant part to the support of the Hasidic Jewish community in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Borough Park. New York state Assembly member Simcha Eichenstein (D), a key Goldman backer and the states only Hasidic lawmaker, blasted the Times report as a pitiful rehash of cherry-picked data and inaccuracies.

Goldman, who is all but assured a general election win in the heavily Democratic district, also spoke of what he sees as flaws in the Times story.

Story continues

But  I also think that the story did not put in context the centrality of yeshiva education to the culture, community, rituals, traditions and religion of this community, he continued, using the Hebrew term for Orthodox Jewish schools. And I know because of my own wifes experience in yeshiva education that there is a lot more to religious education than Scripture. It significantly increases logical and analytical thinking and that theres a lot of value in terms of more traditional notions of learning.

Goldman noted that the New York State Education Department is in the process of clarifying in greater detail how a state law requiring private schools to provide a secular education that is at least substantially equivalent to what is provided by public schools should be applied in practice. The Board of Regents, which runs the state agency, is set to announce its interpretation of the law on Tuesday.

These yeshivas are going to have to either pass the regents exams or pass assessments that show that theyre providing [a secular education], and so, in many ways, the [state education departments] regulations will address this issue, he said.

The story did not put in context the centrality of yeshiva education to the culture, community, rituals, traditions and religion of this community.Dan Goldman, Democratic congressional nominee

Goldman also said he awaits the conclusion of an investigation of Hasidic schools that the New York City Department of Education began in 2015 and paused during the COVID-19 pandemic. New York Mayor Eric Adams office told the Times that the city has resumed its investigation. The citys interim report on the schools in 2019 found that just two out of the 28 schools it examined were in full compliance with the states law requiring private schools to provide an adequate secular education.

One of the things that wasnt clear to me from this article was to what degree did the Times get access to the schools, currently? Goldman said. But I do think that the citys investigation has gotten that access. So that will give us even more information.

HuffPost also asked Goldman for his reaction to the Times finding that corporal punishment is common in Hasidic schools.

Corporal punishment has no place in any educational institution in this country, he said.

The most committed proponents of reform in Hasidic schools go considerably further than Goldman. Whereas Goldman trusts state and city agencies to rectify the problem, these hardcore reformers, most of them people who have left the Hasidic Jewish community, doubt the governments sincerity, faulting the city and the state for repeatedly narrowing the scope of their investigations into Hasidic schools and delaying the rollout of regulations.

With his comments, Goldman has nonetheless gone further than many other prominent Democrats with large Hasidic Jewish constituencies. Neither Adams nor New York Gov. Kathy Hochul expressed concern about the Times findings when asked about it by reporters on Monday.

Historically, elected officials in New York state have been wary of crossing Hasidic community leaders, who exercise political influence by marshaling community members to vote as a bloc, and place a high premium on sheltering schools from stricter government oversight.

Unlike members of liberal Jewish denominations and modern Orthodox Jews, who seek to integrate their strict religious practices into contemporary life, Hasidic Jews strive to insulate themselves from secular influences as much as possible. The Hasidic Jewish communitys investment in gender-separate schools that instill deep religious knowledge and piety, while keeping out much of the outside world, are a source of pride for the community.

The true viewpoint of the tens of thousands of parents who send their children to Hasidic schools is represented, in part, by the recent historic 350,000 letters during the states public comment period, the vast majority ... pleading for no interference with the yeshiva educational system for which they pay and value, Agudath Israel of America, an Orthodox Jewish umbrella group, said in a statement reacting to what it called the Times attack on the Hasidic community. Could the New York Times not speak to one of those parents?

The organization also noted the low rates of crime, drug abuse and suicide in the Hasidic Jewish community, and contended that the Times exaggerated the extent of poverty in the community.

Our communities are focused on pursuits of knowledge, family values, kindness, and service to G-d and to others, Agudath Israel of America said in its statement. We await, in vain, for a New York Times article on that.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Related...
Social media users claim former US president Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that Queen Elizabeth II secretly knighted him before her death. This is false; the purported screenshot from Trump's platform is fake, his spokesperson confirmed, and research shows that no authentic live or archived versions of such a post exist.

"I never told anybody but she knighted me in private," says the text in what appears to be a screenshot of a Trump post on Truth Social, the social media platform he launched in February 2022.

The image circulated widely after Queen Elizabeth II died at the age of 96 on September 8.

Screenshot of a tweet taken September 11, 2022

Posts sharing the claim received more than 10,000 interactions on Facebook and Instagram, according to CrowdTangle, a social media insights tool. "Sir Donald" trended on Twitter after similar posts shared the image and quote.

But the Truth Social post is fake; it does not appear in live or archived versions of Trump's Truth Social feed.

"This is not real," Trump spokesperson Liz Harrington said in an email to AFP.

The former president did publish a statement on Truth Social in which he expressed "sincere condolences" to the royal family. Trump also shared photos of himself and the queen.

But AFP found no evidence that Trump posted about an honorary knighthood, which the queen did confer to a handful of former US presidents, including George HW Bush and Ronald Reagan.

The fake Truth Social post is not the only piece of misinformation about Trump's relationship with the queen that circulated online after her death.

An image shared widely across Telegram and Facebook appears to show the late monarch wearing a blue sash that says, "Trump won," in what seems to be an attempt to give credence to the false claim that he beat Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

"THE QUEEN KNOWS!!!" says a September 8 Telegram post, which accumulated more than 240,000 views.

But the image has been digitally altered. The original photo, taken during Trump's June 2019 visit to Buckingham Palace in London, shows the queen wearing a blue sash without accompanying text.

Story continues

Screenshot of a Telegram post taken September 12, 2022

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and former US president Donald Trump pose for a photograph ahead of a State Banquet in the ballroom at Buckingham Palace in London on June 3, 2019 ( POOL / Alastair Grant)

AFP has fact-checked other misinformation about the queen's death here.
Heavy rain in southern California caused mudslides and flash flooding, trapping dozens of people.

Mudslides fell onto a road around Lake Hughes, a rural area in northern Los Angeles County. A total of 24 vehicles got stuck as a result, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

The storm, which dropped about three-quarters of an inch (two centimetres) of rain on Sunday night, is made up of remnants of Hurricane Kay, which formed off the Pacific coast of Mexico and headed north.

No major injuries or missing people have been reported.

The LA County Fire Department responded to the scene to rescue people. They report using night vision technology in helicopters to rescue eight adults and six children.

In total, 53 people have been accounted for, according to NWS. On Monday, crews were working to clear the roads, some of which remained closed and covered in mud.

The area was under a flash flood warning as the storms pushed through, but the risk isnt over yet.

LANDSLIDE- MUDFLOW | BN 11 | 20120 PINE CANyON RD USFS btw SHAFFER RD & BLAISDELL MTWY #PINEIC | At 7:41 p.m. #LACoFD units arrived to help with multiple cars stuck in mud & debris flow.The incident is still active. Red Cross has been notified along with Public Works#PINEIC pic.twitter.com/IvBa0jI4FV  L.A. County Fire Department (@LACoFDPIO) September 12, 2022

More thunderstorms and intense rainfall are possible again on Tuesday, the NWS office in Los Angeles warns, with additional flood and mudslide risk, especially below areas that have recently burned in wildfires.

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Wildfires, by removing vegetation and hardening the soil, can create dangerous flash flood, mudslide and erosion conditions as heavy rain hits a burn scar.

Most of northern Los Angeles County, as well as parts of Ventura and San Bernardino counties, are under a Flood Watch until 10 PM local time on Monday. More than one inch of rain per hour is possible in some areas.

NIGHT MUD/DEBRIS FLOW RESCUES 9/11/22 Two @LACoFireAirOps Firehawk helicopters used night vision technology to rescue 8 adults and 6 children from five different sites spread across several miles of the flooded Pine Canyon Road in Lake Hughes following a slow moving thunderstorm. pic.twitter.com/ZglmUPWNHE  LACoFireAirOps (@LACoFireAirOps) September 12, 2022

Storms derived from Hurricane Kay also closed roads in Death Valley as rainfall caused floods, the National Parks Service reports. One tour bus got stuck in the sand.

The storm strengthened to a Category 2 hurricane last week before hitting Mexicos Baja California peninsula and dissipating into post-tropical storms, bringing heavy rain to parts of California and Arizona.
On Sept. 4 came tragic news of a massacre in a Saskatchewan Indigenous community10 people knifed to death and 18 badly injured, with two brothers on the run.

The manhunt ensued, with one brother found dead while the other, Myles Sanderson, finally arrested on Sept. 7 just 60 miles from the murder scene.

News soon emerged of his unexplained death in police custody, as it became even more evident that drastic changes are required in the Canadian justice system. The 32 year-old man was on parole with 59 convictions for violent crimes and drug offences, etc; having been involved with heavy-duty drugs from a very early age. A tragic life of doing drugs, committing violent crimes, getting convicted, serving time, being freed and then beginning the cycle over again.

He is only one of far too many with drug addiction and mental health issues for whom the jail cell has had a revolving door, since the deinstitutionalization experiment began in the 1960s and 1970s. The experiment simply doesnt work, with Canada only one of many countries where societies are crumbling as a result.

Health professionals far wiser than me have echoed my repeated suggestions for modern secure medical centres, where addicts and those with mental health issues often going hand-in-hand with homelessnessare treated and detained until they are cured.

Such changes will be expensive, but money is found for many other government projects. In fact, the (current federal government) has spent at an unprecedented rate since taking power in 2015. In just seven years, it has doubled the national debt incurred since the federation known as the Dominion of Canada was founded in 1867.

Outrage and sadness surrounding the Saskatchewan massacre slipped onto the back-burner on Sept. 8, when the world learned of the death of Queen Elizabeth II in Scotland.

The second Elizabethan Age ended as the third Carolean Age commenced with King Charles III. Global news media have gone into overdrive with accolades of the monarchs 70 years of dedication and devotion, but suffice to add how lucky the Queen was to have been in comparatively good health and in control of her mental faculties at age 96.

Only two days before her death, she met with two British Prime Ministers to perform constitutional duties. So many of us have witnessed loved ones in deteriorating health of body and mind, experiencing debilitating illnesses leading to painful and agonizing deaths at much younger ages. The week ended on a somewhat brighter note with an acceptance speech that was second to none of the many witnessed in my lifetime of following politics at every level, from municipal, provincial, federal and international.

The perfectly-balanced speech came after the new leader of the Conservative Party Of Canada, Pierre Poilievre, won a blow-out victory on Sept. 10.

Anaida Poilievre became an instant celebrity with her introduction of her husband and herself as a vibrant, vivacious Venezuelan immigrant from Caracas. Both of their life experiences are inspiring, and in such contrast to the elitists who form Canadas Liberal government.

On the very day the new monarch was proclaimed in England, Canadians got their first glance of King Pierre and his Caribbean Queen.

Bernie Smith
E-PASS will follow Sunpass with its new discount program that was approved Thursday.

The Central Florida Expressway Authority announced it will launch the E-PASS Volume Savings Program.

This will increase toll discounts for customers on all CFX-owned expressways starting this month.

Read: Orlando police enforce road safety, protect pedestrians and cyclists

Depending on how much you use your E-PASS transponder, you can save up to 25% on Central Florida tolls each month.

Toll transactions made on or after Sept. 1 will be counted toward the program.

Read: Troopers investigate deadly head-on collision in Volusia County, road shut down

The action of the board today will put additional savings back into the pockets of area residents, while still prioritizing essential roadway investments, said Sean Parks, CFX board chair and Lake County commissioner.

This loyalty discount program does not require monthly or transaction fees to participate.

Read: Red Cross helps install smoke detectors in Orange County neighborhood

Customers will be automatically enrolled and savings will be credited to their accounts at the end of the month starting in October.

The program replaces the E-PASS Customer Loyalty Discount Program.

Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
When the Danish husband-and-wife design duo Rolf and Mette Hay first moved in together a little more than two decades ago, one of the first things they bought was an Eames lounge chair. We had a few lamps, a bed, but in that [Copenhagen] apartment this chair was the centerpiece, Mette recalls. And it still is. Its a piece you never get rid of.

Over the years, as they built their company, Hay, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, theyve amassed more Eames pieces: side tables, a leg splint, and, most recently, their own emerald version of the molded-plywood lounge chair. Its one of eight Eames classics that Hay has reimagined in new colors and materials.

Everything starts with Ray and Charles, says Rolf, who has studied the couples oeuvre in great detail. Like the famous American pair, he and Mette have built a brand that is rigorous yet playful and accessible. Their hit recycled-plastic storage bins start at just $9.

Photo: Jake Stangel

But how to revise pieces that are, by historys telling, perfect? The Eamesian way, of course. I learned from the Eameses that new technology or new materials can be very inspiring starting points, explains Rolf. Hay worked with sister company Herman Miller to update the seat of the Eames molded-plastic shell chair using postindustrial recycled plastic and adapt other designs for the outdoors. Two tables are now topped with cast glass, while wire chairs have been powder-coated and can be outfitted with weatherproof cushions.

Hays practical revisions also reveal a touch of fun, whether in the case of the cast-glass orbs that transform the Hang-It-All rack, or fresh new colors like toffee, pale yellow, and powder pink. Several hues are extracted from a 1950s Alexander Girard textile that will be reissued by Maharam for the occasion.

When Ben Watson, president of Herman Miller, considers the history of his 117-year-old American furniture brand, which acquired Knoll in 2021, he immediately thinks of the California sunshine that the Eameses delivered. They gave optimism to what design could do, he explains. If anyone

can carry that torch into the 21st century, its Hay. Copenhagen sunshine, it turns out, delivers similar results. hermanmiller.com

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Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

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EAST LANSING  One person is expected to recover after being shot early Sunday morning in downtown East Lansing, police said in a news release.

"At this time, there does not appear to be an active threat to the public," the East Lansing Police release said.

Police were dispatched at approximately 1:30 a.m after reports of multiple gunshots in the 300 block of M.A.C. Avenue, according to the release.

Police found one person with non-life-threatening injuries. First responders transported the individual to a local hospital for medical treatment. Police did not specify the age or gender of the person who was wounded.

Officers recovered 31 bullet casings at the scene, which they believe were fired by three separate guns, according to the release.

This is a very serious, unacceptable incident that ELPD is actively investigating, Capt. Chad Pride said. We will leave no stone unturned in uncovering what occurred and identifying the individuals involved.

The Michigan State University campus community was notified to shots fired at 2:08 a.m. by an MSU Alert. The block where the shooting occurred includes multiple restaurants and other businesses.

Police ask anyone with information regarding the incident to contact Detective Sgt. Tony Fuller at 517-319-6876.

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

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Shooting in downtown East Lansing leaves one person wounded
By Alexandra Valencia

QUITO (Reuters) - President Guillermo Lasso said on Monday he will ask Ecuadoreans to approve a reduction in the number of lawmakers, allow the military to support police work to fight drug trafficking and back efforts to protect water sources in a referendum vote.

Lasso, a conservative ex-banker who took office in May 2021, has struggled to tamp down on increasing violence which his government blames on drug traffickers, while facing fierce political opposition and street protests against his policies.

"I ask you to use your democratic power through a citizen consultation which will confront problems that Ecuador has not been able to solve in the past," Lasso said at an event in Quito.

As approval of the eight-question referendum would require changes be made to the country's constitution, the constitutional court must approve the referendum before a date for the vote can be set.

Among the proposals is one to allow Ecuadoreans accused of drug trafficking and organized crime offenses in other countries to be extradited.

Also on the table is allowing the armed forces to join the police in operations to maintain public order within the country.

Lasso is also asking voters to reduce the number of seats in the national assembly from the current 137, depending on population figures in each province.

"We're lacking less quantity and much more quality in lawmakers," he said. "We'll ask if you agree to reduce the number of lawmakers to around 100."

Lasso has an antagonistic relationship with the assembly, where lawmakers have rejected his economic and security measures. Some called for his ouster during June anti-government protests by indigenous groups.

Lawmakers from the assembly, which is on recess until the end of the month, did not immediately comment on the referendum proposal.

The referendum will also ask citizens to approve the creation of a water protection system and compensation for people, communities and ethnic groups who aid nature conservation.

(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is to visit Qatar on Tuesday for the first time since a four-year rift between Cairo and Doha, the royal palace announced.

The Qatari palace said on Twitter that Sisi would meet with the energy-rich Gulf state's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, on a visit which the official news agency QNA described as marking "a new era in relations" between the two Arab countries.

The emir visited Cairo in June, when Qatari investments in cash-strapped Egypt were on the agenda, as well as cooperation in the energy and agriculture sectors.

In late March, Cairo said Qatar planned to invest five billion dollars in Egypt, while hydrocarbon giant QatarEnergy announced an agreement with US major ExxonMobil to acquire a 40-percent stake in a gas exploration block off Egypt in the Mediterranean.

Cairo had joined Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies, the UAE and Bahrain, in cutting ties with Doha in June 2017 over its support for the Muslim Brotherhood and alleged soft line on Iran.

Their blockade of Qatar was lifted in January 2021.

pel/hc/dwo
A new set of bowls and spoons that use electric currents to make food taste saltier is close to commercialization and set to release sometime in 2023.

Developers at Meiji University in Tokyo and Kirin Holdings have created bowls and spoons that can enhance salty flavors in food. The researchers previously developed chopsticks in April that use the same technology for stimulating the taste of salt.

We have developed a unique current waveform that enhances the current, and we have developed a spoon- and bowl-shaped Elexolt device equipped with this technology, Kirin Holdings stated on Wednesday.

Due to the chopsticks slender form, however, users had to strap the battery to their wrist.

More from NextShark: Legendary Edo period book on ninja arts discovered in a 'ninja village' in Japan

The new dinnerware uses attachable batteries to generate a weak, non-harmful electric current, a waveform of which passes from the surface of the utensil to the food. The ions bunch together and simulate the taste of salt as part of what the researchers are calling "Electric taste sensation" technology.

The products can purportedly make food taste 1.5 times saltier. In comparison, the chopstick prototypes held a 30 percent increase in produced salty flavors.

More from NextShark: Japan dismisses South Korea complaint over new textbooks that distort historical, territorial facts

The bowls and spoons will include four power levels for salt intensity.

Developers created the products in hope of reducing salt intake in dishes such as miso soup and ramen.

Its hard to put up with delicious food. We want to tackle the social issue of eating too much salt, a lead developer at Kirin Holdings stated per Yomiuri Shimbun.

More from NextShark: Japanese household that accidentally received $360,000 COVID subsidy says it cant be returned

Kirin Holdings stated that the electric utensils will be called Ereiksoruto in Japanese and will be available to purchase sometime in 2023. An English name for the products has not yet been revealed.

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Featured Image via ANNnewsCH

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A wild elephant was captured on surveillance footage killing a Buddhist monk in eastern Thailand.

Phra Prachon Suksingh, 66, was trampled to death by a wild elephant in Chanthaburi province at around 9:20 p.m. local time on Saturday.

Another Buddhist monk at the Wat Santiranaram temple discovered Suksinghs body outside on the temple grounds at 5 a.m. the next morning.

Nobody had seen Monk Jaron during the morning ritual, temple caretaker Wasan Meesapan told The Sun. The next we saw of him was when his body was found. He was already dead.

More from NextShark: Asian Americans Are Becoming More Unemployed Than White Workers, According to Labor Department

Staff confirmed that an elephant was responsible for the monks death after reviewing surveillance footage and finding footprints at the scene.

Another monk said he heard the temples dogs barking at the time of the incident. He suspects that Suksingh had gone outside to check on the dogs when he was attacked by the elephant.

The monk was dead when police and ambulance staff arrived. There was no chance to save him, Kaeng Hang Maeo Police Station officers reported.

More from NextShark: Hong Kong Police Tackle and Arrest 12-Year-Old Girl for Running Suspiciously

The wild elephant, who lives at the nearby Khao Chamao-Khao Wong National Park, is estimated to be about 7 to 10 years old with tusks that are about 50 cm long. There have recently been three or four elephants walking through the temple grounds, according to the monks.

Wildlife rangers have reportedly been deployed in the area to keep elephants away from villages.

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Featured Image via GMM25Thailand

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Malaysian Mom Makes $4,400 Playing 'PUBG', Encourages Kids to Live Their Dreams
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP)  The Tigray forces battling Ethiopian troops say theyre willing to abide by an immediate cessation of hostilities and participate in a peace process led by the African Union, a significant shift to which the government has not yet responded.

The conflict in northern Ethiopias Tigray region has killed an estimated tens of thousands of people and left millions without basic services for well over a year after fighting erupted in late 2020.

The Tigray authorities statement Sunday night came after new pressure by the United States and others following the renewal of fighting last month that shattered months of relative calm.

The Tigray authorities had criticized AU mediation efforts under special envoy Olesegun Obasanjo, and their new statement makes clear they expect mutually acceptable mediators along with international observers and experts to guide the process.

The Ethiopian government has said it was ready for talks anywhere at any time and without preconditions. Tigray authorities had demanded the resumption of basic services and the removal of hostile forces from neighboring Eritrea, among other things.

The U.S., AU and United Nations welcomed the Tigray authorities new statement, and the U.S. called on Eritrea and unnamed others to stop fueling the conflict.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin has said EU chief Brexit negotiator Maros Sefcovic has demonstrated his desire to be solution-driven when it comes to the Northern Ireland Protocol (Niall Carson/PA) (PA Wire)

Irelands premier has said the EUs chief Brexit negotiator has demonstrated his desire to be solution-driven when it comes to the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin made his remarks on Monday in response to Maros Sefcovics suggestion that physical checks on goods travelling across the Irish Sea could be cut to a couple of lorries a day.

Mr Sefcovic told the Financial Times that Brussels stands ready to work in an open and constructive way with Britain following a statement from new Prime Minister Liz Truss on the prospect of a negotiated settlement on the protocol.

He argued that the trade border would be invisible under the EUs plans, with goods processed remotely while making their way to Northern Ireland, as long as the UK provides real-time data on their movements.

It comes as the UK and EU have been embroiled in a row over Britains proposals to override parts of the controversial post-Brexit treaty, as it seeks to reduce trade barriers with the region.

Speaking at Fianna Fails parliamentary think-in in Mullingar in County Westmeath, Mr Martin said: What Maros Sefcovic is demonstrating is his flexibility, his desire to be solution-driven, and what youre witnessing this morning is further solutions, proposed ideas around resolving the protocol issue.

I spoke with the British PM late last week. It was a preliminary discussion. We will meet again on these issues.

I do believe genuinely theres a view  that we should do everything we can to resolve this issue.

He added that the European Union and the UK really should sort this out so that we can focus on the bigger issues geopolitically that are facing the European Union and UK, who are good partners on these more fundamental issues.

On Wednesday, Ms Truss said her preference is for a negotiated solution to the dispute.

But she said such a resolution would have to deliver all of the things we set out in the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, which is currently making its way through Parliament.

The legislation would allow ministers to unilaterally scrap the arrangements the UK signed up to as part of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.
By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union wants to enact tougher rules for media groups seeking to acquire smaller rivals on whether their deals ensure media pluralism and safeguard editorial independence, according to draft EU rules seen by Reuters.

The Media Freedom Act (MFA), which the European Commission will present later this week, comes during concerns about media freedom in Poland, Hungary and Slovenia. The EU is also worried about the allocation of some countries' state advertising to pro-government outlets to influence the media.

The rules will apply to TV and radio broadcasters, on-demand audiovisual media services, press publications and very large online platforms and providers of video-sharing platforms.

They will need to be thrashed out with EU countries and lawmakers before they can become law in a process likely to take a year or more.

The concerns around media freedoms have grown ahead of European Parliament elections in 2024.

"It should be considered whether other media outlets, providing different and alternative content, would still coexist in the given market(s) after the media market concentration in question," the document said. Editorial independence safeguards should consider undue interference by owners, management or governance structures, it added.

The proposed rules also require regulators to examine whether the merging companies would remain economically sustainable if there was no deal.

The EU executive and a new European Board for Media Services can offer their opinions on whether the two criteria have been met.

State advertising to media service providers should be transparent and non-discriminatory, the document said.

The proposed rules set out the right of journalists and media service providers not to be detained, sanctioned, subjected to surveillance or search and seizure by EU governments and regulatory bodies.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Josie Kao)
Illinois childrens hospitals are seeing a surge of kids with respiratory illnesses, leaving some hunting for beds.

Its skyrocketed since school started, said Dr. John Cunningham, physician-in-chief at University of Chicago Medicine Comer Childrens Hospital, of the number of families seeking care at Comer. This is the most challenging period weve experienced since March 2020.

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Its not unusual for childrens hospitals to see surges of sick kids each winter, as illnesses such as the flu and RSV, respiratory syncytial virus, spread. But its rarer to get a big influx of children with respiratory illnesses in August and September, and, at some hospitals, its posing a particular challenge this year because of staffing shortages.

Many of the kids have enterovirus, which can be an upper respiratory or gastrointestinal infection, or rhinovirus, which is a type of enterovirus that affects the upper respiratory tract, Cunningham said. Most children who catch the illnesses dont get very sick and recover at home, experiencing cold-like symptoms. But some, including children with asthma, can become short of breath and have low oxygen levels, requiring hospitalization.

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Last week, a state health official sent a note to leaders of hospital groups in Illinois about the surge in hospitalizations among kids, saying, Most (pediatric intensive care units) in our state are already at or near full capacity, making interfacility transfers more difficult.

The official, Ashley Thoele, deputy chief operating officer at the state health department, said that more kids are being admitted to hospitals, and the situation is further compounded by workforce shortages at some hospitals.

Comer is now seeing about 50% more kids than usual coming through its emergency department each day  a spike that doesnt usually happen until winter, Cunningham said. Many of the children admitted to Comer are staying for about two to four days, with a small number also needing treatment for infections and a very small number needing to be put on ventilators, he said.

Kids with asthma are at higher risk of experiencing shortness of breath and low oxygen when they get the illnesses, and the incidence of asthma among kids on the South Side, where Comer is located, is high.

Comer is also seeing an explosion in the number of requests from other hospitals to transfer sick children to Comer. Many community hospitals have closed their pediatric inpatient units in recent years, meaning they may try to transfer sick children elsewhere when they need hospitalization.

Last year at this time, Comer was getting about 63 requests a week from other hospitals to transfer children there, said Jeff Murphy, vice president of womens, childrens, and emergency services at University of Chicago Medicine. Last week, it got 139. Over the last couple weeks, Comer has had to say no to about 20% of those requests, he said, because it already has so many patients.

Sometimes community hospitals say they have already tried four or five other hospitals before calling Comer, Murphy said.

Its not that they dont want to take them, Cunningham said. Were all coping with trying to find space for each of these children.

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Justeene Bonsol, 2, of Joliet, is examined by Dr. Hollis Redmon at Advocate Children's Medical Group Pediatrics in Naperville on Sept. 9, 2022. (Mike Mantucca/for the Chicago Tribune)

In recent weeks, Advocate Childrens Hospital has had to transfer some intensive care unit patients to other hospitals, and, sometimes, it has taken those patients from other facilities, said Dr. Frank Belmonte, chief medical officer at Advocate Childrens Hospital, which has campuses in Park Ridge and Oak Lawn.

We didnt anticipate this, Belmonte said. This summers been a pretty typical summer and then all of sudden, in the last two weeks, tons of kids with respiratory illness are coming into the ER.

Doctors arent totally sure whats causing the spike. Its possible many young kids are getting very ill now because they havent been exposed to the illnesses before because of isolation during COVID-19, or these may just be particularly nasty strains of the sicknesses, Cunningham said.

Theres a particular strain thats been causing problems in even numbered years for the last decade or so, with the exception of 2020 because everyone was so isolated, Comer doctors say.

Chicago childrens hospitals also saw an unusually high number of kids last year around this time, but many of those cases were RSV, which hit earlier than usual last year.

This year, widespread staffing shortages have made it tough to find space, Belmonte said. Though hospitals may have enough physical beds for kids, if they dont have enough nurses and other staff, they cant necessarily fill all those beds. Staffing shortages are plaguing many industries, including health care, which saw many workers quit because of burnout from working through the pandemic.

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Were all recruiting for nursing and techs and all the other pieces that keep the puzzle together, Belmonte said. In childrens hospitals, the skill set is so specific, so the labor pool is much smaller to pull from.

Advocate has some nurses work across multiple departments and has been trying to be creative in its recruitment strategies, he said. Comer has been able to maintain full staffing, Murphy said, thanks to a recruitment initiative in November, as well as deciding to hire more nurses with associates degrees rather than just bachelors degrees, he said.

Cunningham said he expects to continue seeing children with the viruses through the fall and winter. Those cases may be on top of the kids who stream into the hospital for illnesses typically seen in the winter, such as RSV and the flu.

It may be a rough flu season this year. U.S. doctors typically look to Australia, which experiences its flu season earlier than the U.S., to see what the U.S. might expect. Australia had a bad flu season this year, and, on top of that, most people in the U.S. are no longer masking and taking the types of precautions that may have blunted other recent flu seasons.

Thats why its crucial kids be vaccinated against the flu and COVID-19 this year, Cunningham said.

As many children as possible should be vaccinated against influenza, Cunningham said. Thats really very, very important this winter.
Ukraine has been a very effective proving ground for the use of contemporary information technology in war, from satellite dishes to smartphone apps, Eric Schmidt, the former Google chief executive, said Monday.

Schmidt, now a US government consultant on artificial intelligence, told reporters after a 36-hour visit to the country that the civilian tech sector has been crucial to Kyiv's defense.

The proof came the day after Russian troops invaded on February 24.

After a long stall, Ukraine's legislature came together to agree on a crucial step to protect all the government's data from Russian hackers and strikes.

"In one day, they had a meeting of the parliament and changed that law... they moved all their data from government servers in Kyiv to the cloud," Schmidt said.

"The war gave everybody a political excuse to do the right thing," he said.

The second crucial move came with US tech billionaire Elon Musk's donation of access to his Starlink satellite-based broadband system, effectively insulating both the public and Ukrainian military from a Russian assault on telecommunications.

Musk and donors sent in some 20,000 ground terminals with small dish antennas that allowed everyday transmissions as well as helping fighters with targeting data. That stymied a key goal of the Russian attackers.

"Elon Musk is genuinely a hero here," said Schmidt. "This allowed the strategy of shutting down the internet by the opposition to fail."

- Field intelligence from citizen apps -

Two apps meanwhile got citizens directly involved, Schmidt said.

A function called "E-Enemy" was added to the popular Diia app used for government services that permitted people to report things such as damage from shelling, or Russian troop sightings.

And an encrypted Swiss chat service called Threema allowed users to send such data to the military without exposing their identities.

The military would get thousands of such reports every day, said Schmidt, and filter them with artificial intelligence programs.

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"They would whittle them down to targets using computer intelligence and human intelligence and eventually go after them," he said.

"So if you think about that, here's what they had: they had an internet that stayed up, they had their government data protected," and a way for citizens to give them intelligence information, he said.

Ukraine, long an incubator for programming as well as illegal hacking skills, has a deep IT workforce that has been able to launch cyberattacks against the Russia, breaking into their communications.

The country has also skillfully used biometric and facial recognition techniques to identify Russian troops involved in atrocities, such as the massacre in Bucha early in the war.

In addition, Ukrainian programmers have been skilled in making drones useful in the war.

"I can just report that based on my small amount of data, the Ukrainian tech industry really did make a contribution to the front," said Schmidt.

sl/pmh/wd
WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden wont be taking a delegation with him when he travels to London for the state funeral for Queen Elizabeth II, making it unlikely that ex-presidents like Barack Obama and Donald Trump will go.

The White House announced Sunday that Biden had accepted an invitation to attend the funeral. But the invitation was for the president and the first lady only, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday.

What we know about invites to Queen Elizabeth's funeral

Buckingham Palace didnt grant Biden permission to bring a U.S. delegation with him to the ceremony next Monday at Westminster Abbey.

Since the invitation from the palace was for President Biden and Jill Biden, former U.S. presidents would be able to attend only if they got their own invitations. Former President Jimmy Carter did not get an invitation, his office said. Spokespeople for Obama, Trump, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton did not comment.

Westminster Abbey is expected to be full for the funeral, so attendance by foreign leaders will be limited to one representative from each country and their partner, according to Foreign Office documents obtained by Politico. The Foreign Office did not respond to a request from USA TODAY for comment.

Who is expected to attend Queen Elizabeth's funeral?

Presidents, prime ministers, and kings and queens from all over the world are expected to be in London for Queen Elizabeths state funeral Sept. 19 in Westminster Abbey, the same church where her official coronation took place in 1953.

'Used beans' and 'The Talking Hat': Queen Elizabeth's visits with presidents didn't always go as planned

Have former presidents traveled to high-profile overseas funerals before?

In the past, presidents have invited their predecessors to accompany them to high-profile funerals.

President George W. Bush attended Pope John Paul IIs funeral with two former presidents  his father, George H.W. Bush; and Bill Clinton. Barack Obama brought George W. Bush with him on Air Force One to Nelson Mandela's funeral, while Clinton and Jimmy Carter traveled to the service separately.

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Other presidents have tapped their predecessors to attend state funerals when they couldnt go themselves.

President Theodore Roosevelt attended the state funeral of Britains King Edward VII in London in 1910 at the request of his successor, William Howard Taft. Roosevelt, dressed in a suit, top hat and coat thrown over his arm, marched in the funeral procession.

Roosevelt was popular in Britain and was viewed as the equivalent of European royalty, so it made sense that Taft would choose him to represent the United States, said Jeffrey Engel, director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will attend Queen Elizabeth II's state funeral in London on Sept. 19.

What experts say about the situation

"It's well within the British government's right to place limits on delegation sizes," said Lewis Lukens, who served served as deputy chief of mission of the U.S. Embassy in London from 2016-2019.

British authorities don't try to determine who gets invited to an event such as a royal funeral, "they let the countries decide who (participates)," Lukens said.

If, for example, Biden and the first lady had not been able to attend and the U.S. decided to send Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Douglas Emhoff, the "Brits would be OK with that," Lukens said.

In some cases, the British government might make an exception and allow the U.S. to bring a larger delegation because of the special relationship between the two longtime allies. But not in this case because of high demand for seats, Lukens said.

Even if Biden had been allowed to bring ex-presidents with him, Trump probably would not have been invited, political analysts said.

The animosity between the two men is so poisonous  Trump still refuses to accept the results of the 2020 election, while Biden accused Trump and MAGA Republicans in a prime-time address of threatening the very foundations of democracy  that its unfathomable that Biden would ask Trump to join him at the queens funeral, political analysts said.

"Trump never so much as acknowledged Bidens win in 2020, and for all sorts of well-documented and well-understood reasons, Trump represents a distinct threat to our own democracy," said William Howell, a political scientist at the University of Chicagos Harris School of Public Policy. "The honorable thing, right now, is not to bring Trump back into the fold."

Former presidents have historically been called on to represent the country at such events as a way to demonstrate American friendship, goodwill and respect, Engel said. Trump, however, is different, Engel said, noting the former U.S. president's unpopularity with the British public.

Just 32% of people in the U.K. expressed confidence that Trump would do the right thing regarding world affairs in a Pew Research Center survey in January 2020.

Politics aside, theres an even more practical reason for Trump to stay away from the queen's funeral, Engel said. One shouldn't do anything that's going to overshadow the person who died, he said. And the (queens) funeral is not about the American presidents or American politics. The funeral is about honoring the longest-serving sovereign in British history. If Trump were to go, that's all we will be talking about.

Want to know more? Here's what you missed

Queen's funeral: Live updates: Queen Elizabeth II's coffin at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh for memorial service

End of an era: Queen Elizabeth II dies at 96; King Charles III takes the throne

Contributing: Kim Hjelmgaard

Michael Collins covers the White House. Follow him on Twitter @mcollinsNEWS.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why Queen Elizabeth's funeral won't be attended by former presidents
The shooter's daughter said he fell down a QAnon rabbit hole after Trump lost the 2020 election. Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

A father who allegedly fell down a QAnon hole fatally shot his wife, and injured his daughter.

The man was killed by police in a shootout after he fired a shotgun at them.

Another one of his daughter detailed his conspiracy theory radicalization in a Reddit post.

A Michigan man who allegedly became absorbed in QAnon and other far-right conspiracy theories reportedly fatally shot his wife and also shot one of his daughters. Police shot and killed the 53-year-old man after he left his house and began allegedly firing a shotgun at police officers, according to a statement from the Oakland County, Michigan Sheriff's office.

Police were alerted of the incident after the injured daughter, Rachel Lanis, dialed 911 just after 4am on Sunday and said her father Igor Lanis had shot her, according to the statement from the sheriff's office.

Rebecca Lanis, another daughter who was not at the house during the shooting, wrote a Reddit post about the incident on r/QAnonCasualties, a hub for people to discuss family members and friends who have fallen down the QAnon rabbit hole. (QAnon refers to a web of baseless conspiracy theories that began with the false claim that former President Donald Trump was crusading against a global cabal of deep state human traffickers.)

In the post  published on the day of the shooting and titled "My Qdad snapped and killed my family this morning."  Rebecca described how her dad began reading conspiracy theories about QAnon, vaccines, and election rigging after Trump lost the 2020 election. She wrote that it kept getting worse, and "he verbally snapped at us a few times" though there was never any physical harm.

In a series of comments, Rebecca described how she "slowly started distancing" herself from her father as he "would spend all day and night reading stuff on his phone and laptop and would get really pissy over the smallest things," she wrote. "His carefree and fun persona was gone. He started talking about 5g and emfs being bad, and modern medicine being a sham."

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Despite the warning signs, she wrote, "Sadly, my sister and mother were too loving to believe that he could actually lash out like this."

In the main post, she described how the incident allegedly unfolded.

"At around 4 AM on September 11, he had an argument with my mother and he decided to take our guns and shoot her, my dog and my sister," Rebecca wrote. "My mother succumbed to her wounds and my sister is in the hospital right now."

The statement from the Oakland County Sheriff's Office states that a 25-year-old female victim in the shooting received emergency surgery and that her condition was upgraded to stable. It states that a 56-year-old woman was shot multiple times in the back and killed while apparently attempting to flee the shooting, and that the family dog was also shot multiple times and killed.

Rebecca wrote in the Reddit post that she was "shocked" and was currently staying with her grandparents.

"Fuck you, Qanon," she wrote. "I hope the FBI tightens its grip on you and that your lackies rot in prison (and hell) for poisoning so many people."

QAnon adherents have been tied to multiple violent acts before, including a man from California who took his two children to Mexico and fatally shot them with a spear fishing gun after he fell deep into the baseless conspiracy theory movement and reportedly believed his children had serpent DNA.

Read the original article on Insider
As children in Brevard County, Florida, shopped for notebooks and pencils for the upcoming school year, Sheriff Wayne Ivey geared up to  as he called it  win the battle.

Just two days before students returned to classes at the coastal district east of Orlando, Ivey announced on YouTube plans to equip his team of school-based deputies with collapsible rifles strapped to their chests. The move was a direct response to the mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, which resulted in the deaths of 19 children and two teachers and brought a tragic end to the last school year. Now, as students file back into classrooms across the country, this back-to-school season has come with a heightened focus on school security, with districts increasing the presence of police, installing new technology like panic buttons and, in one district, bringing in a gun-detecting dog.

Ivey took the back-to-school security rush further than most, arguing in the video that if you do not meet violence with violence, you will be violently killed.

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To help campus cops fight back against any would-be gunmen, Ivey announced that his department had ordered 42 SUB2000 rifles with collapsible stocks. Kel-Tec, a Brevard County-based firearm manufacturer, says the chameleon-like semi-automatic 9mm rifle picks up where handguns leave off, utilizing a folding carbine with more pistol magazine options than a cat has lives. The weapons retail for about $600 each.

Sun Tzu says in The Art of War that every battle is won or lost before it is ever fought, said Ivey, a self-described Constitutional Sheriff, a group of extremist law enforcement officers with ties to far-right militia groups. What Sun Tzu meant was that you must outsmart, out strategize, outtrain and out prepare your opponent long before the battle is ever fought.

Mass school shootings have long motivated efforts to bolster the ranks of campus cops and school security, yet as the tragedies continue unabated, theres little evidence to suggest the strategies are effective in mitigating or preventing bloodshed. Ben Fisher, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin whose research focuses on the intersection of education and criminal justice, questioned the efficacy of rifle-toting school resource officers and other school-hardening measures.

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It seems to me like yet another overreaction to the issue of gun violence in schools, one that feels like putting a Band-Aid on a problem that keeps happening rather than addressing the source, Fisher said.

In Uvalde, a close-knit, predominantly Hispanic town still reeling from the May rampage, students returned last week to buildings with 8-foot non-scalable perimeter fences, new surveillance cameras and upgraded doors and locks after the security apparatus at Robb Elementary School was criticized for a fatal collapse at multiple levels. Meanwhile, the state Department of Public Safety stationed more than 30 officers in Uvalde schools at the districts request.

The changes come after a legislative investigation into the Uvalde shooting found systemic failures and egregious poor decision making, including a culture where doors were routinely left unlocked and a disorganized, chaotic police response. In total, 376 law enforcement officers from the local, state and federal levels  many of them heavily armed  descended on the campus but failed to subdue the gunman for more than an hour, a delay that may have cost lives. Last month, the Uvalde school board fired Pete Arredondo, the disgraced chief of the districts tiny police force, and officials began to conduct intruder detection audits at every district across Texas. Last week, state officials announced an investigation into the actions of five Texas Department of Public Safety officers who responded to the shooting, two of whom have been suspended.

The school security rush this summer stretched across every corner of the country. In Ohio, lawmakers passed a policy that allows teachers to carry guns in class after just 24 hours of training. In Marion County, Florida, the sheriffs office adopted K-9 Alibi  a German short-haired pointer that was trained to sniff out firearms and ammunition on campuses. At Americas largest school district, in New York City, officials last week announced plans to accelerate the hiring and training of additional unarmed school safety agents and enhance emergency preparedness training for school leaders. It also conducted audits of 1,400 campuses, identifying some 1,300 issues with security features like door locks, panic buttons and public address systems, pledging all would be fixed when schools opened Sept. 8.

In late June, President Joe Biden signed into law the nations first new gun control measures in 30 years, which include an additional $300 million in federal grants for campus security while also allocating more money for student mental health services.

Meanwhile, Ivey said the in-your-face weaponry being deployed in Brevard County Schools was meant to send a message, offering a tactical appearance that clearly signifies that we mean business.

Yet, the rifles were nowhere to be found on students first day of school on Aug. 10. Activists with the local group Families for Safe Schools surveyed parents from across the county about whether theyd seen school-based officers with the new rifles and so far its been a resounding no, said Jabari Hosey, the groups president and a father of three elementary school-aged children in the district.

Its just a joke, said Hosey, who favors armed police in schools but believes the move to equip them with rifles is a step too far. He put the cart before the horse. Apparently they dont have all of the equipment they need.

In an interview, sheriffs office spokesperson Tod Goodyear acknowledged the rifles hadnt yet been implemented but will probably roll out in stages.

It may have been announced out a little bit before everything was really ready, said Goodyear, who blamed the delay partly on the need to train deputies on how to use the weapons. All of the rifles werent produced and all of that, so that may be a little bit of the holdup.

Willie J. Allen Jr./The Washington Post; Getty Images

Do something

The rush to harden schools post-Uvalde is, in many ways, the continuation of a decades-long trend. Mass school shootings  which are devastating but statistically rare  have consistently prompted increases in school-based police and security infrastructure.

School security and policing measures generally see widespread support from the public. A recent poll by the education nonprofit PDK International found a resounding 80% of adults favor the presence of armed police in schools, including 94% of Republicans and 70% of Democrats.

Whether such efforts make kids safer, however, remains a contentious debate. Existing research does not, as a whole, yield support for school policing as an effective strategy to improve safety and security, the National Institute of Justice, the Department of Justices research arm, concluded in a February report. Similarly, theres a dearth of research to suggest that school hardening efforts have made schools safer, according to an in-depth report of security technology by researchers at Johns Hopkins University. As the tragedies generate headlines and fierce political debates, local education officials often face significant pressure to act  often on quick timelines.

If horrific enough, these incidents can lead to increases in funding with a short spending window, the Johns Hopkins report notes. This curbs the ability of districts to conduct even limited evaluation and frequently results in the purchase of technology to demonstrate a strong commitment to doing something.

The school security industry was valued at $3.1 billion in 2021 with business growth largely dependent on the frequency and severity of mass school shootings, according to a recent report by the market research firm Omdia.

While armed police have become a regular presence in U.S. schools, officers are generally equipped with pistols, a reality their proponents argue leaves campus cops at a tactical disadvantage during active shootings. That has led to a push, in Brevard County and elsewhere, to fight firepower with firepower. Leading supporters of school-based police say the development is necessary to ensure officers arent out-gunned, but critics say its the latest escalation of school militarization and could put students at greater risk of harm.

The collapsible stock on the rifles being deployed in Brevard County schools puts the deputies on par with what were facing, without being overly cumbersome, sheriff spokesperson Goodyear said. Goodyear went a step further in contemplating the everyday drawbacks to arming school police with heavy weaponry, including AR-15s, the assault-style rifle favored by many mass shooters.

Unless you go down to a submachine gun, maybe you could carry that, but then now youre talking about putting an automatic rifle into somebodys hands, Goodyear said. But with an AR-15 or along those lines of that type of weapon, its a fairly large weapon and the only way you can carry it is on a sling over your shoulder. Its not practical, your hands arent free, its going to get in the way.

In Madison County, North Carolina, the sheriff found a compromise, announcing plans in August to store AR-15 rifles in safes at each of the countys six campuses  a move that gun control advocates have called absolute insanity. But Sheriff Buddy Harwood said the semi-automatic rifles were critical to keep kids safe.

Having just a deputy armed with a handgun isnt enough to stop these animals, Harwood said in a Facebook video. With the AR-15s, my school resource officers will not have to wait, retreat or have to leave the situation to get the weaponry to deal with the threat.

The approaches in Brevard and Madison counties each have pros and cons, said Mo Canady, executive director of the Alabama-based National Association of School Resource Officers.

Im not sure that, as a society, were generally ready to see law enforcement officers on a consistent basis walking around with a long gun strapped onto one shoulder while patrolling school hallways, he said. Storing rifles in safes gives school-based police additional weaponry during an active shooting  but only if they have a chance to retrieve them. While he opposes giving school-based officers an overly militaristic look, he said a collapsible rifle like the Kel-Tec could be a happy medium if its not something thats sticking out there obvious all of the time.

But he said that rifles, which are generally more accurate than pistols, could grow more common as schools continue to be confronted by heavily armed gunmen.

If you have to take a shot in a school environment, he said, youd darn well better hit your target.

The Kel-Tec SUB2000 features a collapsible stock, making it easier to carry and to conceal than most rifles. (Kel-Tec)

A militarized vibe

Kel-Tec markets its collapsible SUB2000 rifle for its convenience, noting on the company website that it tucks away nicely in situations where space is limited, but its quick to deploy in situations where time is of the essence.

But the same features that could make it an attractive option for school-based police could be exploited by mass shooters. In fact, the weapon has already made an appearance at multiple crime scenes. After a gunman opened fire on an Independence Day parade in Highland Park, Illinois with an AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle, authorities found the suspect also had a SUB2000 stashed in his car. Last year, a student at Daytonas Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University  just 60 miles north of the Kel-Tec headquarters in Cocoa  was arrested and accused of plotting to enact a Columbine on campus. When police stopped the suspect outside his apartment, he reportedly had a SUB2000 concealed in his backpack that hed recently purchased on Facebook Marketplace.

Kel-Tec executives didnt respond to requests for comment.

Jabari poses for a selfie with his family, including Nicole, Jalani, Nyah and Josiah. (Families for Safe Schools)

Hosey, of the Brevard Families for Safe Schools group, said he generally supports school-based police, but he and other parents were caught off guard when the sheriff announced the new Kel-Tecs.

It gave us a militarized vibe, he said, and could lead students to fear their school resource officers because people often associate heavily armed police officers with active-shooter situations. What we dont want is kids to see this and assume that theyre in danger and that theres an imminent threat.

When asked about the presence of rifles in Brevard County schools, district spokesperson Russell Bruhn said in an email that the sheriffs office is our security expert, and declined to comment further.

School-based police have long been positioned as members of school communities who foster positive relationships with students. But having a rifle so visibly present on deputies chests sends messages about aggression and the potential for violence when we know that violence in schools, especially with guns, is exceedingly rare, said Fisher of the University of Wisconsin.

In fact, theres a lack of research to suggest that a school shooting was particularly fatal because campus police lacked military weaponry, said attorney Miriam Rollin, a director at the National Center for Youth Law. Despite the police failures in Uvalde, she said the push to arm school-based officers with rifles is just the latest escalation in campus hardening and isnt a far leap from tanks going down school hallways.

Generally with an arms race, nobody wins, Rollin said. I have to say, this is no exception.
Former President Donald Trump Spencer Platt/Getty Images

A Texas woman was charged for threatening US Judge Aileen Cannon.

Cannon, a Trump-nominated federal judge, is presiding over the Mar-a-Lago classified document case.

Cannon recently granted Trump's request for there to be an independent review of the records the FBI seized.

The Justice Department pressed charges against a Texas woman accused of issuing death threats against a federal judge who is presiding over the independent review of the government documents the FBI seized at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, some of which contained the highest classification markings.

Federal authorities said earlier this month that Tiffani Shea Gish left three threatening voicemails for Florida Judge Aileen Cannon. In one voicemail, she said to the judge, "I'm also Trump's hitman, so consider it a bullet to your head from Donald Trump himself."

In another voicemail, she said, "you're full of shit, and I'm going to fucking have you shot myself, I've already ordered snipers and a bomb to your fucking house."

In these voicemail messages, Gish referred to herself as "Evelyn Salt" and said she was in "charge of nuclear for the United States Government."

Federal authorities reported that after Cannon received these voicemail messages, she forwarded them to the US Marshals Service, which later contacted the US Secret Service about the matter, according to the complaint filed on September 6.

The DOJ is charging Gish with influencing a federal official by threat and interstate communications containing threats to injure an individual.

The charges against Gish come as Cannon, who was nominated by Trump, presides over a high-profile case on appointing a special master to independently review the governments documents the FBI seized at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort. Trump's attorneys and the Justice Department recently submitted their preferred nominees to review these records.

In August, federal authorities conducted a search at Trump's Florida residence and obtained 11 sets of classified records. The Justice Department said during the search they found 184 documents with classification markings in the boxes. Among these records, 25 were marked as top-secret, 92 were marked as secret, and 67 were marked as confidential, according to a redacted version of the affidavit.

The Justice Department did not respond to Insider's request for comment. Heather Michelle Hughes, an attorney representing Gish, also did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.

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INSIDER

"We want all of this to end as soon as possible," Putin said in reply to India's PM, who has dodged joining efforts to punish Russia over the war.
A New York woman has been sentenced to four months in prison and three years of supervised release after she pleaded guilty to interference with flight crew members.

Kelly Pichardo, 32, from the Bronx in New York City, was also ordered to pay American Airlines $9,123, according to the Arizona US Attorneys Office.

Pichardo and co-defendant Leeza Rodriguez engaged in unruly and intimidating behavior while traveling first class from Dallas, Texas to Los Angeles, California, prompting the plane to be diverted to Phoenix, Arizona, the Department of Justice said in a statement.

Kelly Pichardo (left) and Leeza Rodriguez (right) were convicted of assaulting a fellow plane passenger (Fox 10 Phoenix)

Rodriguez is set to be sentenced on 7 November after pleading guilty.

United States Attorney Gary Restaino said that there is a line between boorish behavior on an airplane and criminal activity, and the defendant clearly crossed it.

First class passengers are not immune from prosecution: defendants verbal and physical intimidation disrupted the travel of passengers and crew alike, he added.

The plane touched down at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on 24 February last year and the women were removed from the plane.

According to the authorities, Pichardo and Rodriguez each assaulted a passenger, using racial slurs when a man attempted to intervene and get them to stop, according to CBS News.

Pichardo is alleged to have spat at a man when he tried to record the altercation.

The FBI and Phoenix police investigated the incident.

Following the altercation last year, the airline said in a statement that while en route from Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) to Los Angeles (LAX), American Airlines flight 776 diverted to Phoenix (PHX) as a result of an in-flight customer altercation.

Upon arrival, the flight was met by local law enforcement who removed and arrested two individuals for verbally and physically assaulting other customers and flight crew members. Their behavior was disturbing and unacceptable, and they have been placed on the internal refuse list pending further investigation, the airline added.

Every airline has a ban list for internal use, which is different from the federal no-fly list.

Delta Airlines suggested last year that all airlines should share their internal lists after announcing that they have banned more than 1,600 passengers from their planes.
A Georgetown man who worked as a treasurer for a local church in Scott County has accepted a plea agreement in federal court after he was found to have stolen more than $500,000, according to court records.

Ralph Tackett allegedly stole $512,042 from the church and used the funds for his own personal benefit over the course of nearly four years, according to court documents. A charge was filed against him in federal court Monday, as well as a plea agreement which he had previously signed. Federal prosecutors indicated last month that they planned to charge him.

Tackett served as the treasurer for the church, and was in charge of their financial affairs including approving and processing payments, managing mortgage payments, depositing cash offerings, and overseeing the churchs bank accounts, according to court records.

Court documents state Tackett routinely transferred funds to an out-of-state individual, who made financial demands to him, in small amounts that totaled $325,000. The transactions spanned from December 2015 to July 2019. In addition, he transferred around $187,356 to pay his own personal credit card debts in increments of $1,000 or less.

He routinely issued church checks payable to his spouse without her knowledge and cashed and deposited them into his own personal and business accounts, according to court records.

Tackett transmitted some of the money through bank transfers with the churchs WesBanco checking account to his personal American Express credit card, according to court records.

Tackett would then allegedly create monthly reports for the church operating account and provide them to the pastor which contained material misrepresentations about the flow of money in and out of the account, according to court records. He also omitted material facts about the authorized transfers he made.

He faces a punishment of no more than 20 years in prison, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, and a term of supervised release of no more than three years.

Tacketts attorney was not immediately available for comment Monday afternoon.
Kenan-Flagler School MBA students leaving the McColl Building on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill. The B-school is being sued in federal court by a former Ph.D. student who alleges racial discrimination. UNC photo

From Chapel Hill, North Carolina: The University of North Carolina is facing allegations of racial discrimination as a former graduate student filed a federal lawsuit against UNCs Kenan-Flagler Business School claiming discrimination and retaliation, according to local news reports.

The attorney for the former student, Rose Brown, told local news station ABC11 that she was excelling in the Kenan-Flagler Ph.D. program and was praised for her work  until she spoke up about discrimination. This is not someone who failed and whos trying to blame race. This is someone who succeeded and was still kicked out. And that raises all kinds of question marks, attorney Artur Davis said.

UNC Kenan-Flagler is ranked No. 19 in the latest U.S. News & World Report ranking. Brown, who is Black, is a Kings Mountain, North Carolina native who was accepted and enrolled as a Ph.D. candidate at the school in March 2020, the only Black woman in the program at the time. In her civil suit, filed Tuesday (August 30), Brown said was forced out of the school one year later after she filed a complaint with the universitys Equal Opportunity Compliance Office complaining of a pattern of discriminatory and hostile treatment.

Read more here and here

Michigan State Broad College of Business Dean Sanjay Gupta resigned in August

Michigan State trustees hire legal counsel to investigate decision to oust Broad College dean

From East Lansing, Michigan: A Michigan State University trustee said the board has hired legal counsel to review a decision by MSU Provost Teresa Woodruff that led to Broad College of Business Dean Sanjay Gupta leaving the school in mid-August.

Board of Trustees Vice Chairman Dan Kelly said a three-sentence statement he released was on behalf of an overwhelming majority of the board members. He did not name other board members who supported his position.

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The removal of Sanjay Gupta as Dean of the Broad College of Business was implemented by the Provost of the University with the support of the President, Kelly wrote, contradicting the schools earlier assertion that Gupta resigned. The authority to remove a dean is vested in the Provost, and the propriety of that act is the responsibility of the President. The Board of Trustees is responsible for the oversight and governance of the University and has retained outside counsel to review the administrations decision in this matter.

Read more here and here

Yale gatekeepers share their best advice for applicants

From New Haven, Connecticut: In a recent panel for applicants, Yale assistant deans for admissions offered advice to applicants. Watch the recording; read on for the highlights.

The main thing is were looking to bring together a diverse class of students, and the way to stand out is by not trying to stand out, says Bruce DelMonico, assistant dean for admissions. Dont try and predict what were looking for because were looking for so many different things, and its not any one thing. Dont try and game it by thinking to yourself that you will stand a better chance if you present this profile or this background. Stick to who you are.

The key of being successful is emphasizing your strengths, what you will bring to the program. As a corollary to that, dont ignore your weaknesses. Everybody has strengths and weaknesses, and there is no such thing as a perfect candidate. A lot of times, the more successful applicants are ones that incorporate weaknesses into the application and help us understand how they have overcome them and maybe why that informs what you want to do as an MBA student.

Read more

DONT MISS $40 MILLION IN NEW FUNDING FOR SCHOLARSHIPS AT THIS TOP B-SCHOOL

The post Former Ph.D. Student Files Racial Discrimination Suit Against UNC Kenan-Flagler appeared first on Poets&Quants.
WASHINGTON  General Electric Aviation on Monday said it and the U.S. Air Force finished testing the firms second adaptive engine, which it hopes the military will adopt for the F-35 jet, and is ready to move into the engineering and manufacturing development phase.

In March, GE began testing the prototype XA100  its offering for the militarys Adaptive Engine Transition Program  at the Arnold Engineering Development Complex on Arnold Air Force Base in Tennessee. This was the second phase of testing for the engine, GE said, and was meant to more closely replicate flight conditions and more precisely measure results than the first phase of tests at GEs Evendale, Ohio, facility in 2021.

GE said in a release Monday that the completion of testing at the Arnold facility marks the final major milestone of the AETP contract it won in June 2016.

Pratt & Whitney, maker of the F-35s current F135 engine, received the other AETP contract. Pratt & Whitney calls its in-development engine the XA101.

This is the culmination of more than a decade of methodical risk reduction and testing GE has completed with the Air Force across three different adaptive cycle engine programs, David Tweedie, GEs vice president for advanced combat engine programs, said in the release. The engine performance data we gathered at AEDC continued to show the XA100s transformational capability, while also demonstrating a return on substantial Air Force and taxpayer investment.

We now stand ready to transition to an engineering and manufacturing development program and bring this engine to the field with the F-35 before the end of this decade.

The Defense Department is considering whether to replace the F-35As F135 engine with a new adaptive model, which uses advanced composites and new technologies such as a third stream of air to improve fuel efficiency, thrust, speed, range and heat management. It also includes an adaptive cycle that would allow the engine to adjust to the configuration that would give it the most thrust and efficiency for a given situation.

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The Air Force argues that adding more power and better heat management by adding an adaptive engine to the F-35A would help it handle upgrades in years to come.

However, the adaptive engine would also be expensive, with Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall estimating its development and production costs could reach $6 billion.

In a statement to Defense News, Pratt & Whitney said the testing process of its XA101 adaptive engine remains on track and on schedule.

Pratt & Whitney reiterated its position that its proposed block upgrade to the F135, which it calls the Enhanced Engine Package, or EEP, would be a better approach for the F-35 than the adaptive engine.

EEP delivers the fastest, most cost-efficient, lowest-risk path to fully enabled Block 4 capability for all F-35 operators, while saving taxpayers $40 billion in lifecycle costs and building upon a combat-tested architecture with more than 1 million flight hours of dependable operation, Pratt & Whitney said. A new engine will cost billions more, introduce unnecessary safety risks, damage alliances with key international partners and is late to need.

Pratt & Whitney said it is committed to continuing to develop adaptive engine technology, but sees it better suited for the sixth-generation Next Generation Air Dominance family of systems expected in the next decade.

Pratt & Whitney, GE, and three other firms received contracts from the Air Force last month to prototype adaptive engines for next-generation aircraft.

Tweedie said in a June interview that GE had built and tested two full-scale prototypes of the XA100. The initial prototype was first activated in December 2020 at GEs Evendale facility, and tests followed in early 2021.

The second prototype  the one that recently finished testing at Arnold  underwent its first phase of tests at Evendale from August to November 2021. Last falls tests focused on structural and mechanical testing, as well as some performance testing.

In June, Tweedie said the Arnold tests earlier in the spring and then this summer would produce more finetuned data for the engineering and manufacturing development phase, if the program were to take that step.

Kendall said Sept. 7 that the Defense Department needs to soon make a choice on whether to put an adaptive engine into the F-35A, and that he hopes a decision will come as part of the fiscal 2024 budget proposal next year.

I dont want to continue to spend money on an engine that were not going to develop and take into production, Kendall said at the Defense News Conference in Arlington, Virginia. We just need to make a decision, decide what to do and get on with it.
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II smiles while receiving Ignazio Cassis, the president of Switzerland, and his wife, Paola Cassis, during an audience at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England, on April 28, 2022. Queen Elizabeth II, Britains longest-reigning monarch and a rock of stability across much of a turbulent century, has died. She was 96. (Dominic Lipinski/Getty-AFP)

LONDON  The death of Queen Elizabeth II set in motion a tightly choreographed series of ceremonial and constitutional steps, as Britain undergoes a period of national mourning and enters the reign of King Charles III.

A long-established 10-day plan, code-named Operation London Bridge, covers arrangements for the queens final journey to London and state funeral. Here is a look at what will happen in the coming days:

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Monday, Sept. 12

 King Charles II and Camilla, the Queen Consort, visited Parliament to receive condolences from the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

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 The royal couple then flew to Edinburgh where they attended a service of remembrance for the queen, visit the Scottish Parliament and meet senior officials.

 The queens coffin, accompanied by the king and queen consort, traveled to Edinburghs St. Giles Cathedral where it will stay for 24 hours so the public can pay their respects. Members of the royal family held a vigil by the coffin in the evening.

Tuesday Sept. 13

 The queens coffin is taken by hearse to Edinburgh Airport. It will be flown by the Royal Air Force to London and taken to Buckingham Palace.

 The king and Camilla will visit Northern Ireland, where they meet politicians and faith leaders and attend a service of remembrance at St. Annes Cathedral.

Wednesday, Sept. 14

 The coffin is transported from Buckingham Palace to Parliament on a gun carriage, with the king and other royals walking behind.

 It is placed in Parliaments medieval Westminster Hall, where the archbishop of Canterbury conducts a short service. The queen will then lie in state for four days, until the morning of her funeral. Members of the public will be able to pay their respects and troops will keep a round-the-clock vigil.

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Friday, Sept. 16

 The king and queen consort will visit Wales.

Sunday, Sept. 18

 Britain holds a national moment of reflection with 1 minute of silence at 8.p.m. (1900 GMT, 3 p.m. EDT).

Monday, Sept. 19

 The queens coffin will be taken from Westminster Hall to nearby Westminster Abbey for a state funeral that begins at 11 a.m. Leaders and dignitaries from around the world are expected to attend.

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 The funeral marks the end of 10 days of national morning, and the day will be a public holiday across the U.K.
Sep. 12The Georgia Police K9 Foundation announced that K9 Onyx and K9 Sophie with the Austell Police Department are the latest K9s to each receive an AceK9 Heat Alarm System, with a value of $4,000.

The AceK9 Heat Alarm is a temperature monitoring system used in K9 vehicles that will send out SOS alerts if the inside temperature of the vehicle rises past a certain degree which is still regarded as safe, yet approaching unsafe conditions possibly due to air conditioner failure. The Heat Alarm System will automatically activate a Horn Honk, siren, light-bar activation, while simultaneously rolling down both back windows notifying anyone around.

K9 Onyx, a four-year-old German Shepherd, and K9 Sophie, a three-year-old Dutch Shepherd, serve and protect the people in Austell for the mere payment of a reward toy and praise from their handler. Onyx and Sophie love family time and meeting the citizens in the community. However, these K9s all time favorite activity is playing the game at work as dual purpose canines.

Georgia Police K9 Foundation is an all volunteer 501(c)3 non-profit, which helps raise awareness within the state and the local communities of the infinite contributions made by the Police K9s and how they save lives to make communities safe. The Foundation's goal is to protect as many of Georgia's four legged officers by providing them with safety equipment, such as, bulletproof vests, heat alarm systems and Naloxone or Narcan Kits in the event a K9 is directly exposed to any opioids during a search and seizure.

To date the Foundation has assisted over 4,000 K9s in the State of Georgia by providing necessities like: 150 K9 protection vests, 75 Heat Alarms, over 200 Narcan Kits, over 200 First Aid Kits, assisted over 200 retired K9s, and provided over 500 training equipment and seminars/trainings to numerous K9 teams across the State of Georgia.

For more information, visit GPK9F.org.
A Georgia woman confessed to lying about being a veteran and lying about her daughter having cancer.

Gabrielle Beutler pleaded guilty to charges of forgery, false representation of a veteran and child cruelty last week in Franklin County, Georgia, according to local media reports.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested Beutler, 31, in August after the Lavonia police department asked the GBI to investigate.

According to investigators, Beutler claimed to be a veteran who served in the Air Force in Afghanistan. She altered a discharge from active duty form to join the Lavonia Veterans of Foreign Wars office. The GBI said she also falsified documents to get Purple Heart license plates.

Lavonia Police Chief Bruce Carlisle told The Hartwell Sun newspaper that a VFW member brought information to police.

The VFW is totally a victim in this, Carlisle said. They were taken advantage of and preyed upon.

TRENDING STORIES:

Beutler also confessed to lying about her 9-year-old daughter having cancer, according to WYFF-4 in Greenville. Prosecutors and police said she shaved her daughters head and set up fake fundraisers.

The saddest thing about this is she had her own child convinced she was a cancer victim, Carlisle told WYFF. So far as to do check-ins on Facebook and social media at different cancer treatment facilities.

A GoFundMe page set up by Beutler has been taken down. One of the organizations that helped with one fundraiser said it is working to recover the money that was raised.

Once an entire list of her victims has be received, we will be appointed a victim advocate for possible restitutions. If you were apart of this ride and signed our registration form, please message us your name and address so we can add you to our report, From the Hart Events posted on Facebook. We are saddened and deeply hurt that we helped and trusted this person. And rest assured she will be brought to justice for this crime and the many others she has committed. Unfortunately we were all victims of her disturbed scam.

Story continues

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Beutler accepted a plea deal that sentenced her to two years in prison and 15 years of probation, according to WYFF.

A judge also ordered her to have a mental evaluation and pay restitution.

IN OTHER NEWS
Goldman Sachs will fire hundreds of employees this month in an attempt to lower its expenses, according to a report.

The New York-based bank has reintroduced its tradition of cutting between one and five per cent of its lowest performers each year as the volume of deals it performs has dropped, says CNBC.

The Wall Street bank, which has around 47,000 employees, had essentially paused the job cuts tradition during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Google is killing its Pixelbook laptop, according to an internal memo reported by The Verge. The company has also shut down the team that was working on the next generation of the device, which was reportedly far along in development.

The company apparently opted to shift resources away from the premium Chromebook in an effort to cut costs. Members of the Pixelbook team were reportedly moved to other roles at Google.

The move means Google is officially done making laptops after nearly a decade of experimenting with notebooks. In 2013, the company introduced the Chromebook Pixel  the first Google-made hardware to get Pixel branding  and refreshed it with a pricier model two years later. Google shifted strategies again in 2017 , when the first Pixelbook debuted as a high-end alternative to the typically low-cost Chromebooks. The 2-in-1 started at $999, and came with an optional Pixelbook Pen accessory.

In 2019, Google introduced the $649 Pixelbook Go as a more affordable, but still higher-end, Chromebook with Pixel branding. Though the Pixel-branded Chromebooks were meant to show off just how much was possible when Chrome OS was combined with more premium hardware, the devices never seemed to be as popular as the cheaper alternatives that have long dominated classrooms, particularly during the pandemic .

Google didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.
A man who graduated from a drug rehabilitation program and became a staff member there is accused of selling drugs to people in treatment at the facility, according to a North Carolina sheriffs office.

You cant make this stuff up, Robeson County Sheriff Burnis Wilkins said in a statement. To think we bent over backwards to assist a repeated convicted felon with his drug addiction only to watch him take advantage of the situation to conduct drug sales within a rehabilitation center is quite disturbing.

Deputies arrested the 51-year-old on Sept. 8 after receiving complaints that people undergoing treatment for drug addictions at the Robeson County facility were being targeted for drug sales by the staff member, the statement says. Deputies stopped him in a vehicle and found cocaine and drug paraphernalia.

He is charged with possession with intent to sale or deliver cocaine, maintaining a drug vehicle, felony conspiracy and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to the sheriffs office. Deputies also arrested a 28-year-old woman on charges of possession with intent to sale or deliver cocaine, felony conspiracy and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Both were brought to the Robeson County Detention Center and given bonds of $100,000.

Wilkins said in a statement that the man was taking advantage of vulnerable people for his own benefit.

The very people we are trying to help now have a supervisor swaying them towards continued drug use for his personal benefit, the statement says. We are thankful we were able to bring this to a quick conclusion and look forward to our day in court.

Robeson County is about 100 miles south of Raleigh.

Mom lied to get drugs for her and her kids, then resold them in Missouri, feds say

EMT replaced fentanyl with another liquid while working for ambulance service, feds say

Whats rainbow fentanyl? Drug that looks like candy seized in 18 states, feds say
Details from a video reviewed by authorities revealed Jin Shin, a business owner from Dallas, Texas, who was killed following a minor car crash last month, was surrounded by a group of eight people before the shooting.

The incident occurred on South University Drive in Fort Worth, Texas, on Aug. 15, when Shin, who was described by his friends and family as a pillar of the Asian community in Dallas, was shot following a car incident involving his Jeep and a sedan driven by a woman with two female passengers.

The two parties exited their vehicles to discuss what had happened, according to the arrest warrant obtained by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Soon after, another car pulled up behind Shins Jeep, a 2021 Chrysler 300, driven by a woman. Two men then got out of the car, one of whom was identified as the suspected shooter, 28-year-old Markynn Dmorous West.

More from NextShark: NYC man arrested after terrorizing Asian neighbors with slurs, physical threats for over a year

Two cars, an Infinity and a silver 2014 Ford Fusion, later pulled up to the scene with two more people. A total of eight people reportedly surrounded Shin during their confrontation.

At one point in their interaction, police said one man punched Shin in the back of his head, causing him to walk away from the group. Another member then pursued Shin.

After moving away from his Jeep, another member of the group went inside Shins car to get his keys. According to the affidavit, Shin tried to get back to his car but was stopped multiple times.

More from NextShark: Man wanted for skipping bill on Asian restaurant in New York

Shin managed to get something from his car through the passengers door, which was later discovered to be a handgun. The affidavit noted that Shin kept his gun pointed down.

West took out his own gun from the trunk of the Chrysler 300 and opened fire when Shin walked back to his car, causing him to retreat and be pursued by West. The suspected shooter raised his gun again and fired multiple shots at Shin.

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Shin reportedly ran east away from the group. He was later found dead by the police at a median away from the scene and out of the surveillance cameras view. According to the affidavit, Shin never fired his weapon during the incident.

More from NextShark: NYC career criminal arrested, charged with hate crime for slashing Asian woman

West was arrested on Wednesday and is currently in police custody on a $100,000 bond. An initial police report described the shooting as a justifiable homicide.

A GoFundMe was set up to help Shins family with expenses, such as funeral costs and legal fees. The crowdfunding effort has raised more than $85,000 as of this writing. "Any excess funds will be received by his surviving 14-year-old daughter," the GoFundMe post noted.

More from NextShark: Massachusetts man accused of tampering with young women's cars so he could offer them rides home

Featured Image via FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth
(Bloomberg) --

Hedge-fund trader Sanjay Shah, who was arrested in Dubai earlier this year, wont be extradited to Denmark to face charges in connection with a $1.9 billion cum-ex case.

A Dubai court ruled in favor of Shah on Monday, Bjoern Gercke, his German lawyer said without giving any more detail on the decision. Local media reported that Denmark lost on an administrative technicality.

Danish prosecutors have alleged that Shah was the mastermind behind a scam involving a global network of bankers, lawyers and agents who illegally sought refunds on dividend taxes they never paid, on stocks they never owned. Shah has consistently maintained his innocence.

Denmark and the United Arab Emirates signed an extradition deal in March, with Shahs handover being one of the main purposes. The Associated Press reported the decision earlier.

Denmark said it plans to appeal the courts decision if theres legal basis to do so, justice minister, Mattias Tesfaye, said, according to newswire Ritzau.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

2022 Bloomberg L.P.
To view past editions of The Hills 12:30 Report, click here: https://bit.ly/30ARS1U

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> A midday take on whats happening in politics and how to have a sense of humor about it.*

*Ha. Haha. Hahah. Sniff. Haha. Sniff. Habreaks down crying hysterically.

TALK OF THE MORNING

Slow 



It 

*dramatic pause*

Down  :

Via The New York Timess Alan Feuer and Charlie Savage, Lawyers for former President Donald J. Trump asked a federal judge on Monday to deny the Justice Departments request to immediately restart a key of part of its criminal investigation into his hoarding of sensitive government documents at his residence in Florida.

Read the 21-page filing from the NYT

What this means: [T]he former presidents legal team argued that seized records marked as classified should remain off limits to the F.B.I. and prosecutors. They asked the judge, Aileen M. Cannon, to maintain her order barring agents from using any of the materials taken from his estate, Mar-a-Lago, until a so-called special master has vetted all of them.

What we know, via The Hills Rebecca Beitsch

Maybe its because Im still in weekend mode, but this video of a little boy playing baseball is all I can think of.

Its Monday. Im Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and whats coming up. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here.

 The Jan. 6 investigation

That may not be how to win the optics game:

Former President Trump is getting pushback from Senate Republicans over his promise to pardon rioters of the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a strong ally of former President Trump in the Senate, told The Hills Alexander Bolton that pardoning Jan. 6 protesters is a bad idea.

Grahams reasoning: Pardons are given to people who admit misconduct, rehabilitate themselves. Theyre not supposed to be used for other purposes.

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Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) agrees: I dont think potential candidates should hold pardons out as a promise  Its somewhat problematic for me on a moral level and an ethical level  sort of like promising other giveaways to particular individuals.

And so does Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.): If he were elected, he would have a constitutional ability to do it  I would disagree with it. I think there was insurrection and I think these folks need to be punished  I was there. This was truly violent. People were injured, people were killed. I have very little mercy for the individuals that were involved in that activity that day.

What other Senate Republicans are saying  Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) seems more open to the idea

 On the campaign trail

Trump battle royale:



Two young, former Trump aides are competing in the congressional primary on Tuesday to take on incumbent Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) in November.

First up: Matt Mowers, a former Trump appointee in the State Department, has the endorsement of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), as well as Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley.

Running against a former Trump staffer: Karoline Leavitt, a 25-year-old former press aide in the Trump White House and in House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefaniks (R-N.Y.) congressional office, has endorsements from Stefanik, Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), as well as from Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Mike Lee (R-Utah).

Keep in mind: A number of other Republican candidates are running for this seat, including retired journalist Gail Huff Brown and state Rep. Tim Baxter.

What to expect, from The Hills Emily Brooks

SOME OF THE NAME-CALLING IN THE RACE:

The New York Timess Annie Karni writes, He calls her fake MAGA Karoline from the swamp. She calls him a Fauci foot soldier and a pharma bro. More on the race

Over the weekend

I reread this piece every year  and it is still just as powerful:



Author Garrett M. Graff published an oral history of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, told from the perspective of officials aboard Air Force One.

Excerpt from then-White House senior adviser Karl Rove: Andy and I are there with the president. The president gets this call from Cheneywe didnt know who it was at the time, we just knew the phone rang. He said yes, then there was a pause as he listened. Then another yes. You had an unreal sense of time that whole day. I dont know whether it was 10 seconds or two minutes. Then he said, You have my authorization. Then he listens for a while longer. He closes off the conversation. He turns to us and says that hes just authorized the shoot-down of hijacked airliners.

Excerpt from Dave Wilkinson, assistant agent-in-charge at the U.S. Secret Service: We didnt expect the breakdown of communications. Every kind of communication that day was challenged. Even the president talking to the Situation Room was challenged. The communications network did not hold up.

Read  Were the Only Plane in the Sky: Where was the president in the eight hours after the Sept. 11 attacks? The strange, harrowing journey of Air Force One, as told by the people who were on board.

HOW DID BIDEN MARK THE DAY?  WITH A CEREMONY AT THE PENTAGON:

President Biden spoke at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial in Arlington, Va., on Sunday.

A memorable and timely quote: Biden referenced a quote from the late Queen Elizabeth II, who died last week. Grief is the price we pay for love, Biden said, quoting the late queen.

More from the 9/11 memorial event on Sunday, via CNNs Nikki Carvajal, Jasmine Wright andKate Bennett

 In Congress

Start peddling before you hit the ground:

The House is returning to Washington, D.C., this week for a busy month before the November midterms.

^ Why I say month instead of months: The House is not expected to meet in October, so members can campaign.

A push thats gaining traction among lawmakers: A vote to ban lawmakers from trading stocks.

The Senate has a stacked month, as well: The Senate is working on a bill to protect same-sex marriage after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. And the Senate is working on a government funding bill that must be passed by Sept. 30 to avoid another government shutdown.

More on whats happening this week on Capitol Hill, via The Hills Mychael Schnell

 Latest with COVID

 THE COVID-19 NUMBERS

Cases to date: 94.9 million

Death toll: 1,044,461

Current hospitalizations: 28,826

Shots administered: 610 million

Fully vaccinated: 67.6 percent of Americans

CDC data here.

 Notable tweets

The next generation:

AP/Victoria Jones

ITV Newss Chris Ship tweeted, First time we have seen the King and Queen Consort, together with the Heir to the Throne, Prince William  the new Prince of Wales. Photo

IF YOURE CURIOUS ABOUT WHATS HAPPENING IN DC:

@bkovoDC tweeted footage of the memorial forming outside the British embassy in Washington, D.C. Video

 On tap

The House is out. The Senate is in. President Biden is in Boston. Vice President Harris is in Washington, D.C.

9 a.m. : Biden received his daily briefing.

9:40 a.m. : Biden left for Boston.

3 p.m. The Senate meets. Todays Senate agenda

5:30 p.m. : A confirmation vote and a cloture vote on two Senate nominations.

6 p.m. : Biden participates in a reception for the Democratic National Committee.

9:05 p.m. : Biden returns to the White House.

Sept. 19: The funeral for Queen Elizabeth II. Details

All times Eastern.

 What to watch

10:30 a.m. : White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre spoke with reporters aboard Air Force One. Listen

12:45 p.m. : Biden delivers remarks highlighting how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is already delivering tangible results for communities. Livestream

4 p.m. : Biden delivers remarks on the Cancer Moonshot. Livestream

5 p.m. : Harris meets with civil rights and reproductive rights leaders to discuss reproductive health care. Livestream



 In lighter news

Today is National Chocolate Milkshake Day.

And because you made it to Monday afternoon, here are two dogs with entirely different strategies for taking on the world.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Police are investigating a homicide late Sunday in south Kansas City.

Officers responded to the scene of a shooting just before 8:45 p.m. in the 7000 block of Jackson Avenue, Officer Donna Drake, a spokeswoman with the Kansas City Police Department, told media.

There, police found a victim inside a home suffering from gunshot wounds, Drake said. The victim, who has not yet been publicly identified, was declared dead at the scene.

Police are asking anyone with information on the killing to call police detectives at 816-234-5043 or the anonymous Crimestoppers TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).

No further information was immediately available.

This is the 117th homicide recorded in Kansas City this year, according to data tracked by The Star, which includes fatal shootings by police.
An evidence technician works the scene where police said a 13-year-old boy was shot in the leg while breaking into a Kia near the 3700 block of South Langley Avenue in Chicago on Sept. 11, 2022. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

A boy was shot in Bronzeville on Sunday afternoon after allegedly attempting to steal a car, police said.

At approximately 2:35 p.m., a 13-year-old boy broke into a Kia and was confronted by the cars 26-year-old owner, according to a Chicago Police Department notification.

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The car owner pulled out a handgun and fired shots at the 13-year-old, police said. The boy was shot in the leg and was taken to Comer Childrens Hospital.

An evidence technician takes a photo of a gun at the scene where police said a 13-year-old boy was shot in the leg while breaking into a Kia near the 3700 block of South Langley Avenue in Chicago on Sept. 11, 2022. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

The car owner was taken into custody for questioning, according to the notification.

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Police said they recovered weapons from both the teen and the 26-year-old man.

tatturner@chicagotribune.com
VALENTYNA ROMANENKO  MONDAY, 12 SEPTEMBER 2022, 16:09

Under pressure from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Russian occupiers in the Kharkiv region are loading Cargo 200 [dead bodies], with even those who have been injured being forced to fight and no adequate support.

Source: an occupier in an intercepted phone call posted by the Security Service of Ukraine

Details: The conversation between the occupier and his wife, recently intercepted by the Security Service of Ukraine, shows that the decisive actions of Ukrainian soldiers in the East have been devastating for the occupiers.

The Russians are running out of ammunition, have no air support, and have to fight on even if they are injured.

Through tears, the occupier complains that he is physically and mentally exhausted.

Quote: "We cant hold the defence, their weapons are superior to ours. We asked for air support, they told us to f**k off and hold the defence anyway

Weve got no ammunition, no weapons - weve got f**k-all. Each one of us has one f*cking ammo magazine left."

Details: The occupiers wife assures him that help will come sooner or later, but he replies in despair, "F**k knows when those planes will get here at all. Four of them were flying here but none of them made it, they were f**king shot down."

Members of the Security Service of Ukraine can promise that there will be further pressure on the occupiers  right up until the complete victory of Ukraine.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Become our patron, support our work!
Watch: Incredible moment Russian politician admits 'it's impossible' to defeat Ukraine on live TV

A Russian politician has claimed it is "absolutely impossible" for Russia to defeat Ukraine as Vladimir Putin's invasion approaches its seventh month.

Appearing on a TV politics programme on the state-owned NTV channel, former state Duma deputy Boris Nadezhdin said Russia's invasion of Ukraine was failing and suggested there should be "peace talks" .

His remarks came after major Russian losses which saw the Ukrainian army take back swathes of lost territory.

"We have to understand it's absolutely impossible to beat Ukraine using those resources and colonial war methods with which Russia is trying to wage war," said Nadezhdin.

Read more: World should prepare for the collapse of Russia, warns former US general

"Using contract soldiers, mercenaries, no mobilisation.

"A strong army is opposing the Russian Army, fully supported by the most powerful countries in the economic and technological sense, including European countries.

"I'm suggesting peace talks about stopping the war and moving on to deal with political issues."

Nadezhdin also suggested that Putin had been misled by his advisers, who he claimed had falsely told Putin the Ukrainians would welcome him.

Russian air strikes have devastated cities like Kharkiv. (Reuters)

Firefighters work at power plant damaged by a Russian missile strike, 11 September 2022. (Reuters)

Responding to the video, retired four star US Army general, Barry McCaffrey, described the exchange as remarkable.

"Incredible change of tone on Russian state TV," he said.

"Surprising implicit push back on Putins disaster in Ukraine."

Former NATO deputy secretary general, Alexander Vershbow, said: "Amazing this debate is now showing on #Russian State TV... Any chance Putin is watching?"

Read more: 'It would be a disaster' - Germanys biggest gas company refuses to rule out energy rationing

Ukraine claims to have regained over 3,000 square kilometres (1,158 sq miles) of land in recent days - one of its biggest victories since the war began.

In a defence update early on Monday morning, the British ministry of defence said "rapid Ukrainian successes have significant implications for Russia's overall operational design".

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"In the face of Ukrainian advances, Russia has likely ordered the withdrawal of its troops from the entirety of occupied Kharkiv Oblast west of the Oskil River," an intelligence update said.

Intelligence update from the British Ministry of Defence, 12 September 2022. (Ministry of Defence)

People stand on debris of a residential building destroyed by a strike, 11 September 2022. (Reuters)

"Isolated pockets of resistance remain in this sector, but since Wednesday, Ukraine has captured territory at least twice the size of Greater London."

According to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Russia subsequently launched retaliatory strikes on "critical infrastructure".

"A total blackout in the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, a partial one in the Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions," the Ukrainian president tweeted on Sunday night.

"Russian Federation terrorists remain terrorists and attack critical infrastructure.

"No military facilities, the goal is to deprive people of light and heat."

Responding to the Ukrainian advances, former army chief Lord Dannatt said the Russians have pretty much turned and fled from the Kharkiv area of Ukraine.

Read more: Russia says it would use nuclear weapons in emergency circumstances

We are witnessing some incredible scenes, he told Sky News.

Although the Ukrainians have made significant advances, theres a lot of their country still in Russian occupation. So theres a long way to go."

Ukraine's gains come as Putin weaponises gas supplies from Russia to Europe this winter in retaliation to support from the West for Ukraine.

Last week, Germany's biggest gas company refused to rule out energy rationing after Russia indefinitely halted gas flows via the key Nord Stream 1 pipeline.

Watch: Russia orders troops to withdraw from front line positions after shock Ukrainian advance
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  An Indiana judge wont hear arguments until next week on a lawsuit seeking to block the states abortion ban, leaving that new law set to take effect on Thursday.

The special judge overseeing the case issued an order Monday setting a court hearing for Sept. 19, which is four days after the bans effective date.

Indianas Republican-dominated Legislature approved the tighter abortion restrictions during a two-week special legislative session that ended Aug. 5, making it the first state to do so since the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated federal abortion protections by overturning Roe v. Wade in June.

Indiana abortion clinic operators filed the lawsuit Aug. 31, saying the ban, which includes limited exceptions, strips away the fundamental rights of people seeking abortion care in violation of the Indiana Constitution.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, which is representing the clinics, asked the judge Monday to issue an order before Thursday to temporarily prevent enforcement of the law. It argued that allowing the law to take effect will prohibit the overwhelming majority of abortions in Indiana and, as such, will have a devastating and irreparable impact on the plaintiffs and, more importantly, their patients and clients.

The lawsuit was filed in southern Indianas Monroe County, which includes the liberal-leaning city of Bloomington and Indiana Universitys main campus, but two elected Democratic judges from that county declined to handle the case without stating any reasons.

Judge Kelsey Hanlon, a Republican from neighboring Owen County, accepted appointment as special judge last week. Hanlon, who was first elected as a judge in 2014, was among three finalists that the state Judicial Nominating Commission selected in July for GOP Gov. Eric Holcomb to consider for appointment to the state appeals court.

No court action had yet taken place as of Monday on a separate lawsuit filed Thursday in Marion County arguing the ban is at odds with the states religious freedom law, which Republicans enacted seven years ago.

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The Indiana ban includes exceptions allowing abortions in cases of rape and incest, before 10 weeks post-fertilization; to protect the life and physical health of the mother; and if a fetus is diagnosed with a lethal anomaly.

The new law also prohibits abortion clinics from providing any abortion care, leaving such services solely to hospitals or outpatient surgical centers owned by hospitals.

Planned Parenthood, which operates four of Indianas seven licensed abortion clinics, has said it planned to keep those sites open for other medical services, while those operated by other providers faced possible closure.

The lawsuit argues the ban would violate the state constitution by infringing on Hoosiers right to privacy, violate Indianas guarantee of equal privileges and immunities, and includes unconstitutionally vague language.

The question of whether the Indiana Constitution protects abortion rights is undecided.

A state appeals court decision in 2004 said privacy was a core value under the state constitution that extended to all residents, including women seeking an abortion. But the Indiana Supreme Court later upheld a law mandating an 18-hour waiting period before a woman could undergo an abortion while not deciding whether the state constitution included a right to privacy or abortion.

The state attorney generals office hasnt yet filed a response to the lawsuit in court, but Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita said in a statement that The text, history, and structure of our Constitution excludes any serious argument that abortion is a fundamental right in our state.
EVANSVILLE  Gabriel Whitley, a conservative political activist and declared candidate for Evansville mayor, is being sued for defamation after reportedly calling a radio talk show host a pedophile.

A lawsuit was filed in Vanderburgh Superior Court on behalf of Robert Kendall, a political commentator at WIBC-FM in Indianapolis. The lawsuit names Whitley as the operator of a Facebook group titled Young Conservatives of Southern Indiana.

The lawsuit also names Spencer McDaniel and Young Conservatives of Southern Indiana.

McDaniel posted via Facebook that he was told Monday about the lawsuit. The post was shared on the Young Conservatives of Southern Indiana page.

"Gabriel Whitley had no part in this, I run the page but it was a joke and I take full responsibility for the joke," he stated. "We will win and all charges will be dropped."

The suit alleges the Young Conservatives of Southern Indiana Facebook page posted statements alleging Kendall was a pedophile.

"And Rob Kendall hates police too. Pedo Joe and Pedo Rob think alike," was posted in the comments of a Facebook post titled "Biden Peddles Hypocrisy on Funding Police."

Kendall's attorney sent a message to the Young Conservatives page, which allegedly received the response, "We are a satire page. Bring it on b****."

The Facebook page type is listed as satire/parody. Its description states, "We are a Conservative page to keep Hoosiers informed of what is happening in Indiana politics."

Whitley, 25, declared this summer he will run in the Republican primary for mayor of Evansville. The filing window for that election doesn't open until January, however. He has unsuccessfully sought a number of public offices in the Evansville area.

Young Conservatives of Indiana has posted critical memes of Vanderburgh County Republican Party chairman and Evansville Vanderburgh School Board candidate Mike Duckworth, U.S. Senate candidate Tom McDermott and EVSC school board member Amy Word.

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The lawsuit states parody and satire involves exaggeration or distortion and is the means by which the author clearly indicates that it is not a statement of fact, but instead a criticism or opinion.

"The satiric effect emerges only as the reader concludes by the very outrageousness of the words that the whole thing is a put-on," the lawsuit states.

Kendall's attorney, Abdul Hakim-Shabazz, argues the context of the post does not allow a reasonable reader to think the defendant's words were a "put on."

The Young Conservatives page posted a statement to Facebook last week addressing the potential of a lawsuit.

"Rob Kendall threatened to take legal actions against us over a joke. Dude talks mad s*** about everyone on his podcast. We are a satire conservative page and poke at everyone," they wrote. "We will not apologize for making a joke out of him. His lawyer who sent us a 3rd grade letter can kick rocks. 1st Amendment protests our jokes."

Kendall's attorney argued the First Amendment does not cover their comment. Rights under the First Amendment are not "absolute" when they have to be weighed against aspects like the individual's reputation.

"The Defendants' statements were defamatory per se because they imputed criminal conduct and misconduct on the part of the Plaintiff," the suit states.

In the lawsuit, Kendall's attorney states, "Plaintiff is not a pedophile, nor has he ever been accused, arrested, charged or convicted of any crimes against children."

They are asking for $50,000 in damages; punitive damages as the court deems proper; attorney fees and court costs; and other relief the court deems proper.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Rob Kendall sues Evansville mayor candidate Gabe Whitley for defamation
A horrifying video of an Indigenous woman being attacked by a mob of white people for not wearing a bra has gone viral on Twitter. The clip, shared and taken by the victim Laura Gagnon, shows the mob accosting her, and one suspect  who the police have yet to publicly identify  appears to strike her.

Yesterday evening I was attacked by a white woman who was upset I was wearing no bra, Gagnon shared in a tweet alongside a video of the incident. I utilized IG live to record her actions against me. I have never experienced a white mob chasing me and its the scariest thing thats ever happened to me in my life. Please be safe out there.

Yesterday evening I was attacked by a white woman who was upset I was wearing no bra. I utilized IG live to record her actions against me. I have never experienced a white mob chasing me and its the scariest thing thats ever happened to me in my life. Please be safe out there pic.twitter.com/8Fw2hsO5Iu  Laura Gagnon B.Coms, MA (@LauraGee77) September 8, 2022

The footage shows the incident, which occurred last Wednesday, begin with a verbal altercation between Gagnon and another woman. Two women then approach Gagnon as she questions why she, as an Indigenous woman, would be body-shamed on unceded Algonquin territory, the Ottawa Citizen reports.

Dont touch me b***h, she shouts as one of the women appears to physically assault her.

Things escalate as the mobsters realize Gagnon is filming. One woman is heard screaming, Stop filming. She appears to hit Gagnon again, this time knocking her down to the ground as more screaming ensues.

Gagnon struggles to get up and get her things, including her phone, which the mobsters had snatched from her. The video cuts and we see Gagnon in her car explaining what just happened.

Guys, Im being attacked right now, she says, breathless. And none of these people her voice trails off as the mobsters bang and knock on her doors. The woman who allegedly hit her is shown climbing on the hood of her car.

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This lady is attacking me right now, Gagnon says in the video. She later says that she believes the woman attacked her because she wasnt wearing a bra.

According to the Ottawa Citizen, police were called to the Billings Bridge area in Ottawa, Canada, where the incident occurred after reports of a collision. Investigators deemed Gagnon had been assaulted, charged the suspects and took them into custody. Later, they were released after being served a notice to appear in court.

Authorities are describing the incident as a verbal altercation that escalated into a physical altercation.

While appearing in court, the unnamed 37-year-old suspect is said to be charged with assault and mischief.

The Ottawa Police Service Hate and Bias Crime Unit has also reviewed the case, though no hate-crime-related charges have been filed.
The 2022 Emmy Awards have officially arrived, with an opportunity for all presenters and winners to bring home a bag full of luxurious goodies.

In June, the Television Academy Foundation announced that the 74th Emmy Awards Giving Suite is going to be produced by Karen Wood and Backstage Creations, a female-owned company that has worked backstage at the event for nine years.

At Los Angeles Microsoft Theater, presenters and winners will be able to choose from a variety of gifts in the Giving lounge. Celebrities will also be autographing different items that will be auctioned, with funds being put towards supporting the Television Academy Foundation.

According to the foundation, sponsors for the gift bag will make contributions to benefit the nonprofit, which provides career pathways and access to the television industry for students across the country.

While not all nominees will walk away with an award tonight, these gift bags will allow them to walk away with 22 different prizes.

As reported by E! News, celebrities at the Giving Suite will receive a trip to Four Seasons Nevis in the West Indies, Caribbean. The gift includes a three-night stay in an ocean view room, with some of the amenities including a massage and dinner for two.

Another vacation opportunity that the Emmys attendees will receive is a three-night stay at the RiverView Ranch Retreat & Western Adventures in Montana and a three-night stay at the Museum Hotel in Cappadocia, Turkey.

In addition to luxury vacations, Backstage Creations gift bags offer high-end skincare products, including the 5 Circle Skin Care cleanser by esthetician Denise Bell and a nighttime moisturiser by Aveeno.

The gift bag also features some canned drinks, such as So Beer, a non-alcoholic lager, and Mude, a naturally brewed functional sparkling beverage. Aside from refreshing beverages, another delicious treat in the bag is a half-pound bag of caramels by Dr Monkeys Deliciously Good Caramel.

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There are a few everyday essentials in the gift bag as well, including a hands-free umbrella holder by Huriia and stationery cards by Crane. When celebrities are in need of some rest and relaxation, they can turn to their gift bags for Crystal Hills Organics bath salts or Thera Can Triggers point massager.

The goodie bag also has the Lifetime Lineup game in it, which is fit for players who are eight-years-old and up, while celebrities will find two books, including The Artists Way, a self-help book by Mark Bryan & Company, and The Golden Girls Cookbook: Cheesecakes and Cocktails! in the gift bag.

The list of nominees who will be able to bring home this years gift bags include Colin Firth, Jodie Comer, Lily James, Jason Bateman, Reese Witherspoon, Zendaya, Selena Gomez, Steve Martin, Kaley Cuoco, and host Kenan Thompson.

Follow The Independents live Emmys 2022 coverage here.
PFAS have no business in drinking water. But properly handled, they are an integral part of producing semiconductors at facilities like Chandler's Intel plant.

A severe shortage in computer chips roiled the U.S. economy last year, costing auto manufacturers $210 billion in revenue alone as cars sat in lots waiting for chips to be installed.

Other sectors took hits, too, given that semiconductor are used in everything from computers, smartphones, consumer electronics to appliances and medical equipment.

Luckily for consumers, in response to the shortages, Intel has broken ground on two chip manufacturing plants in Arizona to help secure supply chains and prevent further disruptions. When all is said and done, Chandler will be home to six semiconductor production facilities, employing around 15,000 people.

The size and scope of these investments cannot be understated.

The growth experienced in Arizonas chip manufacturing facilities may be stifled, however, if Congress proceeds with heavy-handed bans for perfluoroalkyls (PFAS) under the PFAS Action Act.

We need PFAS to make semiconductors

Perfluoroalkyls, a grouping of 4,000-plus manmade chemicals, are a vital part of the semiconductor production process  primarily because of their chemical resistance and surface tension-lowering properties. This makes the chips durable and resistant to liquids and erosion.

The PFAS Action Act could seriously jeopardize chip manufacturing, and ultimately make the chip shortage much worse before it gets better. These chemicals are vital for the production of semiconductors, predominantly the use of coolant, and if Congress continues down the path of wanting to ban PFAS then consumers will be in a world of trouble.

What's at stake: Separate semiconductor bill could be an economic boon

We know that this is a predictable outcome of heavy-handed PFAS policy because it is exactly what we are seeing in Europe, where officials in Belgium paused production at a chemical plant in response to the tightening of environmental regulations.

Reporting done by Business Korea highlighted that semiconductor producers had only 30 to 90 days of coolant inventory left before they would encounter serious production problems.

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If Congress continues down the path it is on, it is naive to think that disruptions like this arent headed for the American market, with U.S. consumers bearing the brunt of the chaos.

Keep them out of water. Don't ban them outright

This isnt to say that PFAS producers should be able to operate without any regard for the environment and PFAS exposure. In fact, the opposite is true.

Regulating PFAS has to be done from the perspective of clean drinking water, as opposed to declaring all PFAS chemicals hazardous. Ensuring proper production standards to avoid dumping or leakage helps solve the problem of contaminated water, without resorting to an outright ban of PFAS.

For chip production, this is vital, given that there are no viable alternatives to using PFAS in the production process.

This is especially important in the context of everyday consumer products that rely on these chemicals in the manufacturing process. If production standards for PFAS are upheld, and enforced, we can tackle the clean drinking water issue while allowing for PFAS to be used where it presents little to no risk to consumers, like the production of semiconductors.

This is the balancing act that Congress has to consider when deciding what is next regarding PFAS. It needs to evaluate the emerging science on PFAS, evaluating not just hazard but, more importantly, the exposure levels that make PFAS risky for Americans and from where those exposures come.

PFAS Action Act could doom chip production

In December, the Australian National University published a study on PFAS. The findings provide some helpful insights into what anti-PFAS efforts should focus.

One of the key findings was that exposure to PFAS in affected communities almost entirely came from water and firefighting foam. PFAS contamination was a result of poor production practices, or criminal dumping, and when PFAS firefighting foam leeched into the ground.

Those who drink contaminated water, or eat locally grown food that is contaminated, are at the highest risk of PFAS-associated health problems. This suggests that poor production processes carry most of the risk, while the risks associated with consumer items and other PFAS applications are limited, like the use of PFAS in the production of semiconductors.

A clean drinking water approach to PFAS is entirely appropriate, but getting there cannot, and should not, result in outright production bans.

If Congress can narrow its sights on proper production processes, American consumers can avoid water contamination, without the chaos of an exacerbated semiconductor shortage and job losses in Arizona.

But if Congress proceeds with the PFAS Action Act, Intels investment in Chandler and its plans to boost domestic chip production may be destined to fail.

David Clement is the North American affairs manager with the Consumer Choice Center. Reach him at david@consumerchoicecenter.org.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Intel microchip production could stall over misguided PFAS bill
An investigation into a September 2020 incident found that three officers who shot a burglar were justified in their actions.

Around 8:30 p.m., on Sept. 25, 2020, numerous officers from the Pocatello Police Department and Idaho State Police converged on Jake Sheeler  the suspect in an armed burglary. During the incident, three officers fired a total of 15 rounds from varying distances. Five of those shots hit Sheeler, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down.

According to a lawsuit filed July 22, Sheeler was attempting to follow officers commands and surrender into their custody at the time of the shooting. The lawsuit alleges that Sheelers rights protecting him from excessive force were violated.

However, in an investigative report obtained by EastIdahoNews.com, Franklin County Prosecutor Vic Pearson found that the officers actions were justified.

Officers Bridget McArthur, Marisa Saldana and Cpl. Jeffrey Eldridge are named as defendants in the lawsuit. Police chief Roger Schei and the city of Pocatello are also named in the suit.

Pearson filed his nine-page report on Jan. 15, 2021, after a complete review of the investigation conducted by the East Idaho Critical Incident Task Force. The Bonneville County Sheriffs Office led the investigation and Pearson was asked to handle its examination by Bannock County Prosecutor Steven Herzog in order to avoid any potential conflict of interest.

In his report, Pearson lays out a timeline of the events. In some cases, the details of the investigation are the same as the claims made in the lawsuit. In others cases though, the two documents conflict.

The lawsuit describes how officers were told to search for a suspect who had stolen two firearms from an area home. They were given multiple descriptions of the suspect. Some officers were told to look for a man wearing a green hooded sweatshirt, while others were told to be on the lookout for a man in a maroon sweatshirt.

Pearsons report agrees with those details and expands upon them. It says Sheeler, who eventually pleaded guilty to the burglary and aggravated assault, was wearing a green hoodie. It also says video surveillance uncovered by officers during their search found that Sheeler changed into a maroon hoodie leading to a differing description.

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Officers believed Sheeler stole the maroon sweatshirt during the search.

The lawsuit claims that officers were told by multiple witnesses that Sheeler was no longer armed. As of 8:27 p.m., PPD officers knew or should have known the suspect was no longer in possession of a gun, the lawsuit claims.

However, in his report, Pearson says that some video provided by police showed that Sheeler was carrying one of the guns involved in the burglary  a Taurus Judge handgun. This led them to believe he was armed.

Pearsons report also disagrees with the lawsuits claim that Sheeler was attempting to follow commands given to him by multiple officers. Both documents provided the same details regarding those commands  for Sheeler to raise his hands, not move and to get on the ground.

The report, though, does not indicate whether those commands came at the same time contradicting each other and creating confusion, as the lawsuit says.

Officers did not identify themselves as police, the report says in agreement with the lawsuit. However, Pearson says in the report that the officers involved wore their navy blue Pocatello Police Department uniforms and should have been easily recognizable as police.

Finally, the lawsuit says that before he was shot, Sheeler was attempting to comply with the officers commands. His hands were raised, and he was slowly walking backward toward the officers, it says.

According to the report, though, Sheeler held one hand behind his back at waist level and told officers he was armed in the moments before the shots were fired.

(Officer) McArthur, Cpl. Eldridge and (officer) Saldanas fear of great bodily harm or death by Sheeler was reasonable, the report says in summation.

(Officer) McArthur, Cpl. Eldridge and (officer) Saldana were attempting to effect a lawful arrest of Sheeler and had probable cause to believe that Sheeler had committed several felony crimes, including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.  Moreover, officers had probable cause to believe that Sheeler was armed with a firearm when they contacted him.

As the lawsuit says, officers at the scene later discovered that Sheeler was, in fact, not armed after he was shot five times  once in the neck, once in the thigh, once below the left armpit and twice in the back. One of the bullets that hit Sheeler in the back left him paralyzed from the chest down, according to the lawsuit.

According to the report, the information provided by officers involved claimed that Sheeler was shot in the chest, not the back. One of the claims the lawsuit alleges is that details regarding the incident and provided to medical personnel and the task force by the defendants were a misrepresentation of the facts.

The lawsuit has requested just over $13.3 million in damages.

Sheeler reached a plea agreement regarding the burglary.

Per the agreement, he pleaded guilty to felony charges of aggravated assault, burglary and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. In exchange, four other felonies and a persistent violator enhancement were dismissed.

He was sentenced to seven years probation, with a prison term of five to 10 years suspended, and $1,756.50 in fees and fines.
A man reads an Iranian newspaper with a headline in Farsi that says, 'The night of the end of the JCPOA,' or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images

Irans standoff with the United States over its potential nuclear weapons program is unlikely to ease anytime soon.

The U.S. and Iran launched talks in 2021 to renew a now-defunct political deal that would curb Irans nuclear program.

But the window for Iran and the U.S. to rejoin and return to compliance of the lapsed 2015 nuclear deal, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, is quickly closing. China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the U.S. all agreed to the plan with Iran in 2015. The U.S. pulled out of the deal in 2018, effectively derailing it.

But U.S. officials told Israels Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Sept. 7, 2022, that despite ongoing talks in Vienna, it was unlikely the group of countries would sign a deal anytime soon.

European Union Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell previously emphasized on Sept. 5, 2022, that efforts to reach a new agreement are in danger due to recent divergences between the U.S. and Iranian positions.

I have worked and researched nuclear nonproliferation and U.S. national security for two decades. When diplomacy fails to prevent nuclear proliferation, particularly by a state like Iran that engages in malicious acts throughout the region, everyone in the world is less safe.

Irans chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani, waves in Vienna on Aug. 4, 2022. Alex Halada/AFP via Getty Images

US and Iran reach a deal  temporarily

The U.S. and its allies have been concerned about Irans possible pursuit of nuclear weapons since intelligence uncovered its covert nuclear program, suspended since 2003. Irans possession of nuclear weapons would undermine U.S. and its allies security and destabilize the Middle East, likely encouraging more Middle Eastern countries to try to develop the weapons themselves.

After decades of disagreement, the U.S. and Iran signed a deal in 2015 that halted Irans development of nuclear technology and stockpiling of nuclear material in exchange for lifting multiple international economic sanctions placed on Iran.

This was significant because it lengthened the amount of time it would take Iran to stockpile the nuclear material to build a nuclear bomb to over a year. It halted Irans development of more advanced enrichment capabilities.

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It also gave the International Atomic Energy Agency, a nuclear watchdog organization that is part of the United Nations, more oversight over Iranian nuclear activity, letting U.N. inspectors regularly observe all of Irans nuclear sites.

But the deal fell through in 2018 when the U.S. withdrew from the agreement under former President Donald Trump and reimposed hundreds of economic sanctions on Iran.

Iran waited until 2019 before it officially broke the 2015 agreement by enriching uranium enrichment above the permitted 3.67% purity levels set by the deal. This alone did not substantially rule out eventually returning to the 2015 agreement.

Since then, however, Iran has developed its nuclear technology  but has not developed actual nuclear bombs.

Returning to the 2015 deal

If Iran rejoined a nuclear agreement with the U.S., it would need to export its stockpile of enriched uranium, allow the U.N. nuclear watchdogs to oversee all of its nuclear facilities and stop research into nuclear weapons.

It is extremely difficult to return to a diplomatic agreement in which one side has to make additional concessions and return to a previous status quo.

When I worked in multilateral nuclear diplomacy for the U.S. State Department, we saw talks fail regarding North Koreas nuclear weapons program in 2009, after six years of on-and-off progress.

Unfortunately, Iran seems to be on a similar path.

In April 2021, an explosion that caused a blackout occurred in Irans Natanz uranium enrichment facilities. Iran then began enriching uranium to its highest level of purity ever documented, above 60%  a level that is very close to what is required to get weapons-grade uranium.

Irans decision over the past few years to reduce access to the International Atomic Energy Agencys monitoring equipment and to begin research into uranium metals, necessary for weaponization, also moved it further away from the possibility of returning to the 2015 deal.

Iran Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, left, welcomes Josep Borell, the European Unions foreign affairs and security representative, in Tehran in June 2022. Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images

Iran today

Iran currently has the technical ability to produce a nuclear bomb within a few weeks, though not the weaponization knowledge necessary to build it. A different kind of technology is needed to actually design and manufacture a bomb, which may take Iran about two years to develop.

Irans technical ability to develop a nuclear weapon reduces the value for the U.S. government of returning to the 2015 deal since Irans knowledge cannot be put back into Pandoras box.

A return to the agreement, however, could help the U.S. and Iran step back from the edge, build trust and perhaps develop better political relations. Both sides would benefit from this stabilization: Iran economically from being reintegrated into the international system, and the U.S. from a verifiable lengthening of the time it would take Iran to break out.

None of this is guaranteed.

While both sides expressed support for a return to the 2015 deal in early 2021, and continue to do so, there remain a number of sticking points that prevent progress.

Priorities for Iran include the U.S. removing the Iranian paramilitary group Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps from its list of foreign terrorist organizations and getting a guarantee that no future U.S. president would renege on the renewed nuclear deal.

The main issues for the U.S. center around the American hostages currently held in Iran and the desire to lengthen the time it would take Iran to stockpile material for a nuclear bomb.

The European Unions final text for the proposed agreement from August 2022 presents a last-ditch attempt to map out a return to the advantages of the nuclear deal.

Unless Iran accepts European reassurances, a deal seems increasingly unlikely. Unfortunately, Iran is then likely to increase its nuclear capabilities toward weaponization and further undermine the International Atomic Energy Agencys monitoring of its program. Such escalations would precipitate increasingly confrontational responses, making any new agreement extremely unlikely, while heightening tensions and increasing the possibility of regional conflict.

This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Nina Srinivasan Rathbun, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. If you found it interesting, you could subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

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Nina Srinivasan Rathbun 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.
Owning a music label is one thing, but owning one that rakes in the dough is another story.

Music is embedded in the DNA of Murder Inc. founder Irv Gotti. He went from being the man that was Jay-Zs first deejay, to the man calling the shots for one of the hottest labels in the industry during the 2000s. Thanks to heavy hitters like Ashanti, Ja Rule, and Lloyd, Gottis label was unstoppable  until it wasnt.

Taking Over The Industry

We were a huge label, not just in the United States of America, said Gotti during a previous interview with VladTV in 2019. What people need to realize is when we did that record, Im Real, with J Lo, that record was not just number one here, it was number one in every country in the planet earth.

He further explains how the energy from the record caused a domino effect for his label due to Jennifer Lopezs nod to Murder Inc.  despite not being on the label.

The J Lo Influence

All of that J Lo international energy transferred over to Murder Inc., Gotti recalled. And so when that happened, Ja and Ashanti benefited because we were selling like four-five million records in the states [with] another two or three outside the states.

A Cause For Celebration?

Gotti says the labels overall gross revenue totaled half a billion dollars, which for most people would be a means for a celebration. However, as for Gotti and Murder Inc., it put a target on the labels back.

Murder Inc.'s Run In With The Government

The government stopped me from making the money, Gotti said during the interview. When the government came in at that time, Murder Inc. was doing like over $100 million in billing for like two years in a row.

He further explained claimed that his 50/50 joint venture with Universal Music Group was about to allow him to pocket nearly $65 million out of the $150 million profit accrued due to the success of the business.

However, the government put a halt to him receiving those earnings due to the infamous raid led by federal agents and New York Police Department investigators on Jan. 3, 2003.

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Coming Out On Top

They was giving me a check for like $65 million, and thats why the government came in, Gotti claimed during the interview. It was a chess move to destroy me and take all of my money.

The label was hit with money laundering and conspiracy to money laundering charges.

How Is Irv Gotti Doing Today?

As previously reported by AfroTech, Gotti said he inked a $300 million deal with Iconoclast.

I raised $5 million for me to shoot my movie, and I used my music catalog as collateral. When I did that, it opened up a can of worms, he told Billboard. My good friend Zach Horowitz, who used to be the CFO for the Universal Music Group, called me and was like, Irv, are you interested in selling [your catalog]? My guy Walter Jordan was always telling me, Irv, youve got money there.

He continued: Then Zach said he knows Oliver Chastan, and hes the best and pays top dollar. We met and it was a love fest  Oliver felt my energy and the deal didnt take long, a couple months. Im a very spiritual person, and its God and my dad who passed away on Nov. 1 looking out for their boy. Its very surreal, but I would give every dollar of the $300 million to get my dad back. But hes with me and I feel his presence.
Restoration technician Carlos Nino of Puro Clean, brings bags of debris, drywall and carpet out from the basement of a home in the 4800 block of West Warner Avenue in Chicago, following heavy rains and flooding. The home had Category 3 water damage, the highest rating for hazardous contaminants. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

Torrential rains on Sunday blanketed parts of the Chicago area, leaving in its wake flooded roadways, submerged basements, overloaded sewers and water spewing in the air from maintenance holes in the street.

The total rainfall  up to nearly 5 inches  fell so fast and heavy at times that it was more akin to downpour rates seen in tropical storm systems, a National Weather Service meteorologist said.

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Sundays rain, which overwhelmed city infrastructure and damaged hundreds of homes, marked another extreme weather event that continues to raise concerns about the impact of climate change and our preparedness.

We are expecting to see more extreme events and heavy rain at times we havent had it before, like in the winter, said Aaron Packman, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Northwestern University. Our infrastructure was not really built for this.

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Water pouring from overpasses onto expressways and bursting geyser-like from breached maintenance hole covers were among the dramatic images circulating on social media after several inches of rain fell in a short span.

On Monday, Chicagoans began the cleanup, while some roadways remained wet and mud-caked. Chicago Public Schools said in a statement that it is assessing damage to some schools, most on the North or Northwest Side.

Anthony Perez cleans up fallen tree limbs in Albany Park on Sept. 12, 2022, following Sunday's heavy rain and flooding. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

In Albany Park, Anthony Perez scooped branches into a debris-filled truck bed at an intersection where, according to videos circulating on social media, a stream of water as high as an apartment building was launched from a sewer in the submerged street on Sunday.

Ive never seen this, said Perez, who landscapes for a nearby building. Its so bad.

Fast-falling rain

The Chicago area saw 2.5 to 4.5 inches of rainfall throughout the city and suburbs, with the North Side of experiencing much of the rainfall, said Todd Kluber, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

In Chicago, the West Ridge neighborhood cataloged the most with about 4.25 inches.Just under 2 inches were measured at OHare.

The rain fell especially fast, making it difficult for the ground to absorb it, Kluber said. Parts of the city saw rainfall at a rate of 6 to 8 inches per hour.

We get those rates up here, but its not as common, he said.

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For some Chicagoans, water flooded their homes, damaging basements and other parts of the residence.

At a Ravenswood coffee shop, ankle-deep water pooled up from a drain and through a back door, said Groundswell Coffee Roasters barista Michael Sprenger. The shop was closed by 9:30 a.m. Sunday, he said.

Holly Springers Lincoln Square basement was submerged in about 3 feet of water at one point during the storm.

You could see water coming in through the crack in the door, Springer said.

Then the water pushed the door open.

It came in a huge gush and pushed our shelving back, she said.

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Restoration technician Carlos Nino of Puro Clean, brings in equipment to a home in the 4800 block of West Warner Avenue in Chicago to clean up a water-damaged residence. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

She ran her nervous kids to a neighbors house. The water kept rising, stair by stair. Everything was in the wrong spot, including the floating beer fridge, Springer said.

The damage to her house and belongings will cost a lot of money, she said, but the worst part is the ruined heirlooms.

The things that you cant replace are old family photos, she said.

Ravenswood resident Maureen Ryan also saw her basement flood. The water seeped under the back door despite a weather-ready yard complete with trees, green space, permeable pavers and a just-cleaned drain.

So whats the solution? I think nobody has an answer to how do you keep water from coming indoors, she said.

As of Monday afternoon, more than 1,900 service requests were made following the flooding that began the previous day, city data showed.

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More than 1,570 calls were about flooded basements; another 327 were about streets underwater. Seven flooded viaducts were also reported.

A Tribune analysis showed the service requests were heavily concentrated on the North Side.

Cleanup crews were slammed with calls throughout Monday, while insurance companies faced mounting claims.

State Farm had received 640 water loss claims due to the storm as of Monday morning, 600 of which came from homeowners, according to a spokesperson. The highest concentration of claims came from Cook County, the insurance company said.

The company noted that most homeowner insurance policies dont cover flood damage, though homeowners can buy flood insurance through the FEMA-managed National Flood Insurance Program.

One company that does flood cleanup for homes reported that crews had been called to more than 500 homes in the last 36 hours. Another said crews would likely be working nonstop until Monday evening.

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Tim Lohse, co-owner of a PuroClean location in Chicago, said the company received more than 50 calls on Sunday and were experiencing the same volume on Monday. Lohse said the calls have mostly been for flooded basements, but they also have had service requests for roof leaks. Most of the calls have been from the North Side.

We usually end up with this type of thing once or twice a year, usually in the spring, Lohse said. The good news is power didnt go out. If power went out, it would have been more widespread.

It was 30 feet

The rapid flooding of city streets and the sewers that gushed water raised questions about the infrastructure and its ability to handle heavy rains. In particular, sewers that spewed massive spouts of water captured the attention of residents who filmed and posted videos to social media.

Jon Heupel was driving to buy a pump to handle the 8 inches of sewer backup flooding his Lincoln Square basement when he passed by Diversey River Bowl. All of a sudden, he saw water shooting into the air, cresting above the bowling alleys towering sign.

It was 30 feet, probably at least, Heupel said.

He, like many across the city, did the only thing he could do: film the natural spectacle and post the video online. The water had almost completely drained at home by the time he got back, though not before it soaked drywall and inundated a furnace.

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This is going to last for weeks, he said.

This morning at Lawrence and Ravenswood pic.twitter.com/cf22at05Ha  Kyna (@KJintheCity) September 11, 2022

The Chicago Department of Water Management, which maintains the sewer system, said in a statement that water temporarily pools on the streets because of inlet control valves that are meant to slow the amount of water rushing into the system during heavy rains. These catch basins serve to prevent backups in basements.

Water department spokeswoman Megan Vidis said in a statement that the agency has replaced and lined more than 700 miles of the system in the last decade to ensure peak efficiency but acknowledged Sundays rainfall was extreme.

Unprecedented rainfall events like the one last weekend which dumped approximately 4 inches of rain in two hours on parts of the city require time for the sewer system to process, Vidis wrote.

The Department of Water Management also said there were rare geyser effects spotted because of deep tunnel dropshafts that come with the air vents. Those vents spew out air during heavy storms, but sometimes intense rainfall traps the air and leads to the appearance of geysers.

The region has a tunnel and reservoir system to handle excess flows of water, improve water quality and protect Lake Michigan from backed-up sewers. The system, managed by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, is made up of 110 miles of tunnels and three reservoirs.

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An MWRD spokesperson said the McCook Reservoir along with its tunnel systems, which serve Chicago and 36 suburbs, was at 80% capacity as of Monday morning.

Reached Monday afternoon, Ald. Andre Vasquez, 40th, said the citys sewer system was overwhelmed. Intake restrictor valves, intended to slow down the amount of water going into city pipes to avoid basement backups worked, but led to street overflows that meant water made it into basements anyway.

Because it was holding the water up and the rain was coming down so quickly, it was getting higher than the curb and seeping into buildings, into basements, just from the street, Vasquez said.

Viaducts underneath the Metra tracks adjacent to Ravenswood Avenue were also flooded, local aldermen said.

Some vehicles were abandoned in other intersections where water was too high, Vasquez said, and some were still there after water and debris were cleared. Midway through the day I was driving around the ward with a rake to clear storm drains of leaves and muck, he said.

The Chicago area saw between 2.5 and 4.5 inches of rainfall, with the North Side of the city experiencing much of the rain. (Network Video Productions)

Nearby, Ald. Samantha Nugent in the 39th Ward said she donned her wellington boots Sunday and rode around the ward in a pickup truck to assess damage and help neighbors.

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It was one of the worst weather incidents Ive seen in the past four years, Nugent, a former chief of staff at Cook Countys then-Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, told the Tribune. I had several viaducts that were flooded, the 17th police district was responding, pulling motorists out of vehicles  multiple homeowners calling with flooded basements.

Nugent and Ald. Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez, 33rd, fielded calls from constituents with flooded basements, and encouraged those who might have to throw away damaged goods en masse to arrange special garbage pickups with their aldermanic office.

The storm says more about climate change than the state of the citys infrastructure, several aldermen said. The city should explore so-called smart sewers to monitor water flow and add native plants to parkways to help absorb more water, Vasquez said. Its going to require a lot of investment at the federal level, the amount of money were talking about, to reimagine and refine our sewer systems.

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What about ongoing water main replacement work, is that infrastructure thats supposed to be there for 10 years adequate to meet the increasing challenges in terms of climate change? Ald. Matt Martin, 47th, said. Permeability is such a huge, huge one: making sure were not only maintaining but expanding green spaces, our tree canopy.

A person steps over standing water near fallen tree limbs in Albany Park on Sept. 12, 2022, following Sunday's heavy rain and flooding. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

Rodriguez Sanchez agreed, saying Sundays weather highlighted the need for a Department of the Environment to help manage and mitigate future emergencies.

The citys 2022 climate action plan needs someone steering the wheel, Rodriguez Sanchez said. That needs to come from the Department of Environment, a department thats funded, resourced and operational.

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Packman, director of the Northwestern Center for Water Research, said we can continue to expect more intense storms due to climate change.

It can be difficult and expensive for cities to adapt old infrastructure, but Packman said efforts creating more green space, such as parks and rain gardens, to absorb water can make a small difference. A Chicago-based consortium also recently won a $25 million five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to study urban climate change in Chicago.

You build your infrastructure based on historical conditions and when things change, your infrastructure is not designed for this, he said.

Chicago Tribunes Tracy Swartz contributed.
Former Jerusalem mayor and current Israeli Member of Knesset Nir Barkat did not mince words about Iran in an interview with Fox News Digital.

Barkat warned that Iran's goal is to eliminate Israel.

"Iran is an Islamic regime that wants to wipe Israel off the map. We are perceived the small Satan, and, by the way, the United States is the 'large Satan.' We're in the same line," Barkat said. "And you don't negotiate any deal with someone who wants to wipe you off the map. There's no point in any deal."

Barkat explained that Iran poses dual threats to Israel. First is their nuclear aspiration.

MOSSAD CHIEF WARNS IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL WILL NOT GIVE TEHRAN IMMUNITY FROM ISRAELI ACTION

"They plan to create a bomb in order to use it," he claimed. "And we must stop them. They will use it if they have it."

The other threat is Iran's use of proxy groups that surround Israel with hundreds of rockets. The Jewish state has often been on the receiving end of barrages from groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon, which has led to wars against Israel's neighbor in the north.

Barkat warned that Israel will not tolerate either threat.

ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER SEES ENCOURAGING SIGNS THAT US AND EUROPE WILL NOT AGREE TO NEW IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL

"We have to make sure that Iran understands that if they try to gain nuclear power, we will stop them by force, and hopefully that will deter them. And if and when they use their proxies to attack Israel, it's not going to be the third Lebanese war, it will be the first Iran war, and we will attack Tehran."

Barkat did note, however, that first Israel would "have to align interests" with the United States and other Western nations.

"There is no better ally and partner Israel has in the world, which is the United States, and we have to work hard on this together," he said.

Barkat clarified that it is not his wish for Israel to go to war to Iran, but said it is imperative that it is ready to do so.

"Israel has to prepare itself for war with Iran, and the best way to not have a war is to plan on attacking if we need to," Barkat said. "So hopefully, our preparation and the alignment with the United States will deter Iran from their evil plan. However, if they're not, we will have to use force."

Barkat also noted that many moderate Arab countries in the Middle East are "threatened by Iran" and that there is some cooperation between them and Israel on that front.
The Italian Space Agencys Light Italian CubeSat for Imaging of Asteroid of LiciaCube in at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in 2021 (Nasa)

Nasas mission to change the course of an asteroid by hitting hard with a fast moving spacecraft drew nearer the moment of truth Monday, as the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (Dart) spacecraft released a small satellite that will witness Darts demise on 26 September.

The Dart spacecraft released the Light Italian CubeSat for Imaging of Asteroids, or LiciaCube, early Monday morning, ensuring the small satellite which road into deep space with Dart will survive the formers terminal run into an asteroid. The small, 31-pound cubesat contains two optical cameras that will record Darts mission from a distance.

@LICIACube e stata rilasciata dalla sonda @NASA #DARTMission alle 01:14 di lunedi 12, ha iniziato ad attivare i sistemi di bordo e ad operare in modo autonomo e nominale, trasmettendo i primi segnali sul suo stato di funzionamento ricevuti dal team Argotec pic.twitter.com/jZSK3nGC9v  Agenzia Spaziale ITA (@ASI_spazio) September 12, 2022

Seeing LiciaCube installed on DART was exciting because this mission breaks new ground for ASI and the whole Italian space sector, LiciaCube project manager for the Italian Space Agency, Simone Pirrotta, told Nasa in 2021. It will be the first Italian satellite ever to operate in deep space, requiring the training of a large and motivated national team that is now well qualified to tackle similar challenges in the future.

Dart is a spacecraft the size of a small car that was launched on 24 November 2021 on a mission to rendezvous with a system of near Earth asteroids, the larger, half-mile diameter Didymos, and its much smaller moonlet asteroid Dimorphos, which is only 525 feet in diameter.

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At 7.14pm EDT on Monday 26 September, Dart will slam into Dimorphos at around 14,000 miles per hour in an attempt to slightly alter the asteroids orbit around Didymos, a proof of concept mission to test whether a scaled up Dart spacecraft could deflect a larger asteroid that posed a hazard to Earth.

Neither Dimorphos or Didymos pose a threat to Earth now, nor will they following the Dart mission.

Nasa will broadcast the Dart impact live on the space agencys website, Nasa TV, and Nasas social media accounts on Youtube, Twitter and Facebook.

Some of that footage may come from Darts own on-board camera system, the Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical navigation system, which recently returned Darts first view of the asteroid pair from a distance of 20 million miles.

But LiciaCube will also provide footage very important to scientists and the Dart mission, particularly images of the cloud of material ejected from Dimorphos when Dart strikes the asteroid.

We are eager to obtain these unique in situ images," LiciaCube scientific coordinator from the National Institute for Astrophysics in Rome, Elisabetta Dotto, told Nasa. It will be so exciting to study, for the first time, the nature and structure of such weird objects as binary [near-Earth asteroids].
Editors note: This story is available as a result of a content partnership between WFTV and the Orlando Business Journal.

Popular fast-food restaurant chain Jack in the Box is headed to Florida with plans to make an Orlando market expansion an important part of its growth, a spokesperson on behalf of the chain told the Orlando Business Journal.

Read: New Winter Park bagel shop offering free bagels

The well-known restaurant brand will seek franchisees in the Orlando market, as well, as part of the push.

Based out of San Diego and with its greatest density of restaurants on the West Coast and in Texas, Jack in the Box is ready to expand its presence east of the Mississippi and make its entrance into Florida, the spokesperson explained, adding that the company has identified Orlando as a perfect next step for its growth.

Read: Crisp & Green will open first Central Florida restaurant next month

Click here to read the full story on the Orlando Business Journals website.
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - The daughter of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on Monday called for "proper" medical care for her jailed father, three weeks into a 12-year sentence he is serving for corruption.

Malaysia's top court on Aug. 23 rejected Najib's appeal to set aside his conviction on graft and money laundering charges in a case linked to a multibillion-dollar scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Najib, 69, who has also been fined nearly $50 million, has consistently denied wrongdoing and has applied for a royal pardon. He remains on trial in four other cases, each carrying jail terms and heavy financial penalties. [L4N30C0UY]

On Sept. 4, Najib was admitted to a Kuala Lumpur hospital for what an aide described as routine medical checks, but was able to attend a court hearing the next day.

His daughter, Nooryana Najwa, alleged in a social media post on Monday that doctors who saw Najib again on Sept. 10 prescribed a change in medication and discharged him back to the prison complex.

Najib's request to remain under observation in hospital was denied, she said. She did not specify whether his request was rejected by the Prison Department or the hospital.

The Prison Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"On humanitarian grounds, our family pleads with the prison authority, the hospital and government to do the right thing and allow for dad to receive proper medical care and observation," Nooryana said.

She added the ex-premier's blood pressure is "dangerously high" and that he has developed new stomach ulcers, a medical issue that she said has been recurring for more than 15 years.

Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, on Monday instructed the health ministry in a Twitter post to provide the "best treatment" for Najib.

Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said Najib was admitted as an elective case to ensure his good health, where doctors held two meetings with him and his family to discuss the test results.

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"They were also informed about the unanimous decision of the consulting experts that he be allowed to be discharged," he said in a statement.

The medicine prescribed is of the same type and Najib was healthy before being discharged, Noor Hisham said.

Media reported that Najib was in court on Monday morning for another corruption trial and would be taken to hospital in the afternoon.

(Reporting by Mei Mei Chu; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor)
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman addresses a crowd at Montgomery County Community College on Sunday, September 11, 2022. Charles Davis/Insider

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman addressed more than 3,000 people at a rally on Sunday.

The rally in Montgomery County focused on women and abortion rights.

It was the Democrat's second major rally since suffering a stroke in May.

BLUE BELL, Pennsylvania  It was a risky play, pitting a midterm election rally against the opening day of Philadelphia Eagles football. But the bet was that voters in this blue-leaning suburb would care more about abortion rights than Jalen Hurts' ability to hit receivers downfield.

"Thank you for missing the game today, for this," Annie Wu Henry, a campaign staffer for Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, told those who decided to spend their Sunday afternoon in a gymnasium listening to a Democrat talk about defending reproductive rights and abolishing the filibuster.

In the end, the Eagles' defense held on to a 38-35 victory in Detroit. And in Blue Bell, a capacity-breaching crowd came to hear Fetterman address supporters in the Philly suburbs for the first time since returning to the campaign trail last month after suffering a stroke in May.

In all, more than 3,000 people attended, the campaign said, some wearing their favorite player's jersey. Most were women. One anti-abortion activist, a man, also showed up, helping personify the theme of the day's event.

Chris Hoyler, a nurse practitioner who works in an emergency room in the city, said she's driven to vote this November by the threat Republican control over the Senate could have on abortion rights nationwide now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade. More than a dozen states have already banned the procedure.

"It's harming women  it's killing women  to not have the ability to get the medical care that they need, when they need it," Hoyler said as she waited in a line that snaked around Montgomery County Community College. "They're like dictators, trying to tell women how to live their lives. It's so energizing. And disgraceful."

The rally, which coincided with a Philadelphia Eagles game, attracted a largely female audience of more than 3,000 people. Charles Davis/Insider

Rally attendance does not necessarily equate to electoral success. Thousands also turned out to hear former President Donald Trump speak earlier this month outside Scranton with Fetterman's GOP rival, Dr. Mehmet Oz. But pollsters have also captured a shift in momentum since the June court decision turned just about every election into a referendum on choice: Democrats are now seen as likely to hold the Senate in a cycle that typically inflicts large losses on an incumbent president's party.

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"You know what? Don't piss women off," Dayle Steinberg, CEO of Planned Parenthood Southeastern PA, said in a speech at the rally. She received the loudest cheers when she talked of getting rid of the filibuster, which in theory would allow a slim Democratic majority to pass a federal law protecting abortion.

"We're seeing what abortion bans across the country are doing, and what they were actually designed to do," she said. "They're forcing women to become pregnant and give birth. Forced pregnancy is what we're working against."

Fetterman, running to replace retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, could help Democrats actually expand their majority in the upper chamber. If elected to serve there, he said Sunday, he would fight to codify abortion rights.

"You know what I would do if I were that 51st vote? Get rid of the filibuster," Fetterman said, referencing the Senate rule requiring 60 votes to pass most legislation. Mention of the rule drew almost as much ire from the crowd as the name of his opponent, Oz, who has fought off repeated attacks from the Fetterman camp over where he actually lives. A long-time resident of New Jersey, Oz last year moved in with his in-laws outside Philadelphia to run for Senate, although he has since been accused of returning to his NYC-area mansion to record a campaign video.

In return, the celebrity doctor's campaign has stepped up attacks on the health of Pennsylvania's lieutenant governor, who suffered a stroke just before winning the Democratic primary.

"If John Fetterman had ever eaten a vegetable in his life, then maybe he wouldn't have had a major stroke," Rachel Tripp, a spokesperson for Oz, told Insider last month.

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman promised to be the "51st vote" for abortion rights in the US Senate. Charles Davis/Insider

Sidelined until August, Fetterman  still suffering from auditory processing issues related to his health scare  on Sunday sought to make his recovery relatable. Speaking with apparent deliberation, occasionally halting to find the right word, the Senate candidate opened his 11-minute address with a question.

Who, he asked, has ever known someone who has faced a major health problem? Practically everyone, of course.

"I certainly have," Fetterman said. "And I hope  I truly hope for each and every one of you  you didn't have a doctor in your life making fun of it, making light of it, telling you that you're not fit to serve. But unfortunately, I do. I have a doctor in my life doing that."

That may be a smart way to deflect personal attacks in a state where nearly 50,000 people a year are hospitalized due to strokes and where heart disease is the leading killer. But for Lucy Thimme, a recent college graduate from nearby Chester County, her decision to attend Sunday's rally was all about policy and the prospect that Fetterman could be the Senator who helps deliver it.

"It's a chance to flip a Senate seat. And we can then have the possibility of passing bills and laws, for example, to safeguard people's rights to reproductive freedom," Thimme said.

As for her thoughts on his opponent, Dr. Oz: "Well, I suppose the obvious answer is he's from New Jersey."

Have a news tip? Email this reporter: cdavis@insider.com

Read the original article on Business Insider
Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman called himself John Fetterwoman in a pro-abortion speech Sunday, promising to get rid of the filibuster and to codify Roe v. Wade if he defeats Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz.

My name is John Fetterwoman! the Democrat said, lifting up a pink T-shirt with a Fetterwoman logo, receiving cheers from the crowd in Blue Bell, Pa.

Women are the reason we can win! Women are the reason we win! Fetterman said.

Fettermans comments come amid reports that more women are signing up to vote after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and could possibly affect the midterms.

Dont piss women off! he said. Should the right to abortion be made up to Dr. Oz? Or to a woman and a real doctor, to choose?

Oz believes abortion is murder. He said that, he said that. No exceptions, rape or incest, he added. If every abortion is a murder, that means Dr. Oz considers every woman who had to choose an abortion is a killer.

Last week, Oz clarified that he is pro-life but supports exceptions for rape, incest or if the life of the mother is at risk, according to Politico. Ozs website says he is 100% Pro-Life.

Fetterman addressed his health scare in his speech by mocking a video that Ozs campaign posted to social media in which the candidate appears to mispronounce the name of a prominent Pennsylvania grocery store chain.

I want to go to Wegmans, but Im actually in a Redners, but I would tell you that Im shopping in Wegners! Sometimes I push two words together, he said.

He also criticized Ozs comments about his stroke, saying he has a doctor in his life making fun of his health by telling him that hes not fit to serve.

Oz has blasted Fetterman for not agreeing to a debate due to his health.

What happens if a U.S. senator in an important state like Pennsylvania, is elected never having answered a legitimate question from a voter, from a newscaster in a non-taped setting, in a debate stage? What would that mean for future campaigns around he country? Oz said at a press conference.

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Lt. Gov. John Fetterman spoke to a crowd of over 3,000 Pennsylvanians at an abortion rally, even as the Senate candidate still hasn't finalized a debate schedule against Republican Mehmet Oz due to "auditory processing" issues.

Planned Parenthood held a "Women for Fetterman" rally in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Sunday for the Democrat in an apparent effort to influence more pro-choice women voters to support him this fall.

Fetterman, recently agreed to one mid- to late-October debate against Oz. The Democrat had previously been hesitant to confirm a debate schedule as he recovers from lasting auditory effects from his May stroke. If a debate does take place in October, it would be after the beginning of early voting, leaving many Pennsylvanians to cast their ballots without hearing the candidates square off against each other.

With no set time or location for the debate confirmed, Oz is continuing his push for a September faceoff prior to early voting, claiming that Fetterman is dodging debates on purpose.

DR. OZ CALLS FOR TRANSPARENCY FROM FETTERMAN AS EARLY VOTING APPROACHES: HE DOESNT WANT TO DEBATE ME'

"He doesn't have the interest of voters at hand. He's dodging, because he doesn't want to debate me." Oz told Fox News' Harris Faulkner Friday.

DEM SENATE CANDIDATE FETTERMAN PUSHED TO FREE MAN CONVICTED OF FATALLY SHOOTING, STABBING VICTIM

Joe Cavello, a spokesperson for Fetterman, defended the 9/11 Planned Parenthood event and pushed back on characterizations that Fetterman was dodging a debate.

"John held a rally at the same time as the Eagles season opener, and we still had over 3,000 people show up, that is what real enthusiasm and grassroots support looks like. Maybe you missed it, but John has now done several large rallies since returning to the campaign trail. John has been crystal clear that he is going to debate Oz and that the last lingering effect from the stroke is an issue with auditory processing," said Cavello in a statement Monday.

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Fetterman also spoke at a United Steel Workers of America Labor Day event with President Joe Biden, prior to accepting a debate against Oz. While Fetterman stressed that he does plan on debating Oz before they face off on the ballot this November, it is unknown when or if he will agree to an exact date and location for the matchup.

"Is it because he doesn't want to defend hiring two convicted murderers on his campaign? Or he doesn't want to be confronted about not paying his taxes 67 times? Or is he still lying about his health?" Brittany Yanick, spokesperson for Dr. Oz told Fox News Digital.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mehmet Oz held a rally in the Triton Hose Company in Tunkhanock, Pennsylvania, on Aug. 18, 2022. Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call

Several Democratic Party officials have recently expressed concerns over Fetterman's health and whether the GOP's focus on it will negatively affect his Senate chances this fall, according to a report from Reuters.

Last week, Fetterman's hometown newspaper the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote an editorial calling into question Fetterman's fitness for office.

"If Mr. Fetterman is not well enough to debate his opponent, that raises serious concerns about his ability to serve as a United States senator," the Post-Gazette editorial board wrote.

Fetterman and Oz are competing to fill the seat of retiring Sen. Pat Toomey this November.
John Green attends VidCon 2019 at Anaheim Convention Center on 13 July 2019 in Anaheim, California (Jerod Harris/Getty Images)

John Green, the author of best-selling books such as The Fault In Our Stars and Turtles All The Way Down, has spoken out against efforts to ban one of his novels in the school district where he was once a student.

The author discussed the situation in a TikTok video he shared on Sunday (11 September). The clip includes a screenshot of a report by News 13, a cable news channel based out of Orlando, Florida.

According to that news story, Alicia Farrant, a school board candidate in Orange County, Florida, recently highlighted two books she believes should be banned from school libraries.

One of them reportedly was Looking for Alaska, Greens 2005 debut, an award-winning coming-of-age novel set at a boarding school.

School libraries and book bans have been part of Farrants platform at least since October 2021, as reflected in videos she has shared on social media. In a post on 14 August 2022, she said she wanted books she deems sexually explicit or pornographic to be removed from school libraries. Some of the titles she has challenged include Trevor Noahs Born a Crime, Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe, and Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison.

Green was born in Indianapolis, Indiana but grew up in part in Orlando, Florida, where he attended school  in the same school district, he said, where Farrant is now a candidate.

You know whats weird? he said in his TikTok video. When one of the candidates for school board in the school district where you were once a student wants to ban your first novel from all schools and libraries in that school district. Its weird on a few levels. Like, for one thing: I know some of the people involved. I remember you from middle school.

Green added that he just [doesnt] think Looking for Alaska is pornography, and I think reading it that way is a little weird.

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So, yeah. Please dont ban my books in my hometown, he added. Its really upsetting for my mom. She has to deal with all these people talking to her on Facebook now.

The Independent has contacted Farrant for comment.

According to the nonprofit PEN America, the scale and force of book banning in local communities is escalating dramatically in the US. An index collated by the organization found 1,586 decisions to ban books in schools between 1 July 2021 to 31 March 2022.

Among the titles in the Index, there are common themes reflecting the recent backlash and ongoing debates surrounding the teaching and discussion of race and racism in American history, LGBTQ+ identities, and sexual education in schools, PEN America noted.

Of the titles in the Index, 467 contain protagonists or prominent secondary characters of color (41%), and 247 directly address issues of race and racism (22%); 379 titles (33%) explicitly address LGBTQ+ themes, or have protagonists or prominent secondary characters who are LGBTQ+; 283 titles contain sexual content of varying kinds (25%), including novels with sexual encounters as well as informational books about puberty, sex, or relationships. There are 184 titles (16%) that are history books or biographies. Another 107 titles have themes related to rights and activism (9%).

Looking for Alaska has long been a target of book bans in schools. The book was on the 10 Most Challenged Books list collated annually by the American Library Associations Office for Intellectual Freedom in 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2016.

Green previously shared his thoughts on the banning of Looking for Alaska in a YouTube video in 2016. The novel was adapted into a miniseries starring Charlie Plummer and Kristine Froseth released by Hulu in 2019.
matt bomer jonathan bailey

Youve got our attention, Showtime!

Twitter was on fire this weekend, as some pics of TV hunks Jonathan Bailey and Matt Bomer taking off their shirts and getting wet and wild in short shorts in Lake Ontario while filming scenes for their upcoming gay romance series for Showtime, Fellow Travelers.

In a series of photos, we see Bomer and Bailey, both taking their shirts off and roughhousing in the shallow water as waves splash around them. Bomer is in little green shorts, and Bailey is in blue.

In one photo we even see the two passionately kissing in the water. Each of them also take turns carrying each other, with Bomer hoisting Bailey over his shoulder and carrying him easily.

If you couldnt already guess it from the pics, the show will be very gay. Fellow Travelers, based on a novel of the same name, follows two very different men who meet under the shadow of McCarthy-era Washington, DC and fall in love.

Bailey (Bridgerton) will be playing Tim Laughlin in the series described as a love story and political thriller. Laughlin is a young Fordham University grad who is described as being earnest about his political and religious convictions and filled with optimism about the post-WWII future.

Bomer (Magic Mike XXL) plays Hawkins Fuller, a political insider who works behind-the-scenes and lives comfortably while avoiding emotional entanglements. Then, his life changes when he meets Tim, a young man brimming with idealism and religious faith.

Fellow Travelers will follow the two men as they begin a romance in a time when Joseph McCarthy had declared that he would root out all subversives and sexual deviants from U.S. politics. It will follow them over four decades, through the Vietnam War protests of the 1960s, the drug-fueled disco hedonism of the 1970s, and the AIDS crisis of the 1980s.

Oscar nominee Ron Nyswaner (Philadelphia) is writing the eight-episode limited series, and gay director Daniel Minihan (Deadwood) is executive producing and will direct the first two episodes.

RELATED | 11 Sexy Pics of Jonathan Bailey to Get Hyped for Bridgerton Season 3
Nicole Linton appears in court in Los Angeles on Aug. 8 for arraignment on murder charges stemming from a multi-vehicle collision in Windsor Hills. (Frederick M. Brown / Associated Press)

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ruled Monday that the nurse charged in the deadly Windsor Hills crash poses a threat to public safety and must continue to be held in jail as her case moves forward.

The decision issued by Judge Victoria Wilson came after Nicole Linton's attorneys argued that their client  who is charged with six counts of murder  should be moved to UCLA Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital, where they said she could be further evaluated for mental health issues and possible epilepsy.

But Wilson was unconvinced.

"She crashed into and set two cars on fire. She stole six innocent lives," said Wilson from the bench as Linton hung her head behind a glass partition in the courtroom.

In the gallery, family members of some of the victims of the deadly Aug. 4 crash at La Brea and Slauson avenues clapped and cheered the decision to keep Linton behind bars.

"She killed my grandsons and my daughter. Why would you even defend her?" one woman cried, leaving court as defense attorneys made their arguments.

Linton is accused of killing Asherey Ryan, 23; her nearly 1-year-old child, Alonzo Quintero; as well as Ryan's fetus. Ryan's boyfriend, Reynold Lester, also was killed in the fiery crash, as were friends Nathesia Lewis, 43, and Lynette Noble, 38, both of whom were in a separate vehicle.

Prosecutors revealed in court papers Friday that Linton was traveling 130 mph when she blew through a red light at the intersection and slammed into slow-moving traffic heading west on Slauson Avenue.

They argued that Linton could receive adequate medical and psychiatric care in jail, that she had a history of aggressive behavior and dangerous driving and that she could harm others if released. They also said there was no evidence to suggest that Linton suffered a loss of consciousness or epileptic seizure while driving.

"The suggestion that shes suffering a lack of consciousness, such as a seizure, while also maintaining control of a car moving 130 mph  defies logic," Deputy Dist. Atty. Antonella Nitorescu said.

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Defense attorneys disagreed.

"Ms. Linton is an ill individual and should be in a hospital," her attorney, Halim Dhanidina, said Monday. "That protects the public."

Though prosecutors did not dispute that Linton suffers from mental health issues, they said she decided not to take her prescribed medicine, which could have prevented a manic episode.

Linton had been off her medication since about 2019, she told California Highway Patrol officers following the crash, prosecutors said.

She said she stopped taking it because it made her "gain weight or become sick or depressed," the judge said.

Linton is set to be arraigned on the charges in her case Monday afternoon, her attorney said.

She faces up to 90 years to life in prison if convicted.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
A Chicago police officer works at the scene where a 14-year-old girl was shot in the face while she was inside a residential building in the 1200 block of West 81st Street on Sept. 11, 2022. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

Three teenagers suffered gunshot wounds in two separate attacks early Monday in Chicago, according to investigators. Two teens also were wounded in unrelated shootings Sunday afternoon, meaning five teenagers  four of them juveniles  suffered gunshot wounds in a roughly 14-hour period.

Two of the teens, 14 and 18, were in good condition after being shot around 1 a.m. while walking on a sidewalk in the 7000 block of South Normal Avenue in Englewood, police said. Someone from inside an approaching black SUV opened fire, striking both the boy and man.

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Paramedics took the two teens to University of Chicago Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the left foot and right leg, respectively.

A third teen, 15, was dropped off at Loretto Hospital on the citys West Side around 3:50 a.m. after suffering a gunshot wound to the right leg. The boy later was transferred to Stroger Hospital, where he had been listed in fair condition.

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An evidence marker sits next to a gun on the ground at the scene where a 13-year-old boy was shot in the leg. He allegedly was breaking into a Kia near the 3700 block of South Langley Avenue in Chicago on Sept. 11, 2022, police said. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

Police said they dont yet have specific details about the attack that left the 15-year-old injured, but a police spokesperson said investigators do not believe the 15-year-old was injured at the same time as the other teens and police are treating the two attacks as separate cases.

No one had been arrested in connection with either shooting as of Monday morning and both attacks remain under investigation by detectives.

The shootings came less than a day after two unrelated shootings Sunday afternoon that left two other teens wounded.

Authorities were called to a scene where a 14-year-old girl had been shot in the face in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood around 4:50 p.m. Sunday, police said.

About two hours earlier, a 13-year-old boy was shot while allegedly trying to steal a car in the Bronzeville neighborhood around 2:35 p.m. Sunday afternoon, according to police.

adperez@chicagotribune.com
The lives of four women will never be the same.

Kate del Castillo, Roselyn Sanchez, Sylvia Saenz and Jeimy Osorio star in the new Peacock series, Til Jail Do Us Part. The upcoming drama, out Sept. 15, released its first trailer on Sept. 12., which shows the wealthy womens husbands unexpectedly getting arrested for being linked to the same criminal organization.

Take it easy with him, OK, Sanchez yells as police detain her husband and slam him against the cop car at the beginning of the teaser.

Accustomed to a life of abundance, the four women reluctantly move in together as their previously carefree and luxurious lives are turned upside down. As they begin to get interrogated by detectives in hopes that they tell their husbands secrets, they have to get along to get by.

I think its time for us to become friends, del Castillos character says in the trailer, to which another one of the women answers, Friends? Really?

I dont think so, girl, Sanchez also quips.

The accompanying poster for the series, which consists of eight episodes, was also released. It shows the leading ladies all dolled up and sitting on a white couch, while the bloody arm of a mysterious man is seen underneath them.

Til Jail Do Us Part premieres Sept. 15 on Peacock. (Peacock)

Originally filmed in Spanish, Til Jail Do Us Part was dubbed in English by the four leads, elevating the viewing experience regardless of language preferences, the press release states.

The series is one of Peacocks upcoming original and acquired titles under its Tplus content brand from Telemundo

Til Jail Do Us Part premieres Sept. 15 on Peacock.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Photo credit: Xinhua News Agency - Getty Images

U.S. intelligence claims that Russia has agreed to purchase rockets and artillery shells from North Korea.

The report suggests that Russias heavy use of artillery is seriously cutting into its stockpile and it cannot sustain the war on its own much longer.

The purchase, along with shipments of low-tech drones from Iran, implies that Russia is running low on key weapons.

Russia is purchasing millions of artillery shells and rockets from North Korea, U.S. intelligence has concluded. Moscow, which is expending tens of thousands of shells a day in its invasion of Ukraine, has apparently run so low it is now set to buy them from the repressive regime. The invasion, well into its sixth month, has gone on much longer than Russia originally planned, and Russian forces are now running out of critical munitions.

The Washington Post, citing recently declassified U.S. intelligence, reports that Russia is buying millions of short-range rockets and artillery shells from North Korea. The Post quoted an unnamed U.S. official stating, We expect Russia could try to purchase additional North Korean military equipment going forward.

Photo credit: NurPhoto - Getty Images

The report does not mention what specific kind of munitions Russia is buying from North Korea, but its likely buying 122mm shells for its 2S1 122mm self-propelled howitzers , typically deployed at the battalion tactical group and brigade levels, and 152mm shells for its 2S19 MSTA-S 152mm self-propelled howitzers . The 2S1 has no equivalent in the NATO armies, but the 2S19 is similar to the American M109A7 Paladin and German Panzerhaubitze 2000 155mm self-propelled howitzers.

Russian military doctrine emphasizes heavy artillery bombardments of enemy forces to enable maneuver, suppressing enemy positions to enable armor and infantry attacks to succeed. According to Ukrainian military officials, Russian Ground Forces and Moscows proxy armies are firing 40,000 to 60,000 rockets and shells a day. Over the 201 days since the invasion started, that results in at least eight million and up to 12 million munitions expendedso far.

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Photo credit: Anadolu Agency - Getty Images

Russian leader Vladimir Putin and his generals originally believed that the invasion of Ukraine would take just three days. Russian paratroopers were originally tasked to secure Gostomel airport near Kyiv and quickly capture Ukraines capital city. This would have led to a collapse of Ukraines civilianand eventually militaryleadership and end organized resistance in the country. Instead, Ukrainian forces recaptured Gostomel, forced Russia to abandon its march on Kyiv, and recast the war as a long, hard war of attrition in the countrys east.

The war has now taken 198 days longer than originally projected, with no clear ending in sight. Russia is known to have prodigious stocks of ammunition, most of it dating back to the Cold War, but eight million artillery shells would put a dent in even the most prepared armies. Russia, unlike Western armies, also uses fewer precision-guided artillery shells, resulting in the need to saturate a target with many shells, when only a few precision shells would do.

Photo credit: STR - Getty Images

North Korea is one of the most heavily militarized countries in the world. Despite a population of just under 26 million, it has the worlds fourth largest military with 1.2 million personnel under arms. Artillery is a major part of the Korean Peoples Armys (KPA) firepower, and the KPA fields an estimated 20,500 artillery pieces , including 5,100 multiple rocket launchers, 4,400 self-propelled artillery, and 7,500 mortars. The KPA has considerable stocks of artillery shells and rockets to not only blast a route through the Demilitarized Zone but also bombard the South Korean capital of Seoul.

North Korea uses many of the same artillery calibers as Russia, especially 122 millimeter Grad rockets and 152mm howitzer shells. These are different calibers than U.S. and NATO artillery, which typically uses 227mm rockets and 155mm howitzers shells. North Korea came to adopt Russian calibers when it was a Cold War Russian client state and built up vast reserves of war equipment in the event of a second Korean War.

Photo credit: ED JONES - Getty Images

The North Korean artillery sale is a mixed bag. On one hand, it shows how desperate Russia is to keep its war machine running; not only must Russia be close to emptying out its reserves of artillery shells, its military industrial complex cannot keep the guns firing on its own. It also shows that countries like China, which also manufacture 152mm artillery shells, are not interested in crossing western sanctions against Russia and supplying it with arms. Finally, reducing North Koreas stockpile of artillery shells makes it vulnerable to supply shortages in a war of its own.



On the other hand, more artillery shells will prolong the war in Ukraine and make it more difficult for Ukrainian forces to take back their own country. North Korea, with an economy a third the size of Delawares, could steer the proceeds from the sale into what many consider their most dangerous weapons: nuclear weapons. These weapons are pointed at North Koreas enemies, particularly the United States.



Its unlikely that Russia buying weapons from North Korea, let alone Iran , was on anyones bingo card for 2022. Russias hungry war machine is pushing it to desperate measures. Moscow may have a surprise in store for it though: in 2010, after North Korea bombarded the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong , authorities discovered up to 25 percent of the rockets were duds. Thats a high failure rate for a fairly simple rocket.

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EDINBURGH, Scotland  Cannons boomed, ceremonial bodyguards brandishing longbows escorted the hearse, and all eyes were on the capital of Scotland  a country close to Queen Elizabeth II's heart, but also a place with its own often uneasy relationship to the crown.

The United Kingdom knows how to do pomp and ceremony. But on Monday, its 1,000-year-old royal family was at the center of a truly grand spectacle.

King Charles III led a royal procession behind the coffin of his mother as Britain's late, longest-serving monarch traveled up the narrow, cobbled street of Edinburgh's Royal Mile from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St. Giles Cathedral.

Image: King Charles III, Princess Anne, Princess Royal, and Prince Andrew, Duke of York walk behind the procession of Queen Elizabeth II's coffin, from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral, on the Royal Mile on Sept. 12, 2022, where Queen Elizabeth II will lie at rest. (Phil Noble / AFP - Getty Images)

Image: Members of the public gather to watch the procession of Queen Elizabeth II's coffin, from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral, on the Royal Mile on Sept. 12, 2022, where Queen Elizabeth II will lie at rest. (Andy Bucnanan / AFP - Getty Images)

The grand spectacle was playing out in the Scottish capital, rather than London, because the queen's relatively sudden, if not unexpected, death came last week at Balmoral Castle, her cherished residence in the Highlands.

The distinctly Scottish flavor of today and tomorrow shows how the United Kingdom has always been a union of distinct nations united by the crown, said Craig Prescott, an expert in constitutional law and the monarchy at Bangor University in Wales. Its natural given the queen has died in Scotland, that Scotland has the chance to have its own moment before the focus turns to London.

Years in the planning, this alternative playbook for Operation London Bridge means the queen's posthumous pageantry also reflects her own deep ties and affection for the country.

The queens mother, also called Elizabeth, came from a Scottish family, as did her first private tutor, Marion Crawford. The family has always taken summer vacations at Balmoral since Queen Victoria bought the estate in the 1850s.

Its 50,000 acres indulged the queen's love of the outdoors. Dressed in tweeds and headscarves, she enjoyed walking, stalking deer and fishing, sometimes with her husband, Prince Philip, often with her horses and corgi dogs in tow. Her grandsons Prince William, now the Prince of Wales, and Prince Harry were there in 1997 when they learned of the death of their mother, Princess Diana.

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Many locals saw the queen as a neighbor, often running into her at the Highland Games held there every year.

But some Scots see this royal relationship in a less favorable light, a facet of a London-based rule that has spent centuries fighting battles against them (the U.K. national anthem features a line about crushing "rebellious Scots"), and no longer works in their interests.

Scotland is far less royalist than England, with some polls putting support for the monarchy as low as 45%. Intertwined with that is the belief among some campaigners that King Charles IIIs ascension could boost the possibility of Scotland  and potentially Northern Ireland and even Wales  separating from the U.K. entirely.

The new king is generally less popular than the late queen, who had acted as a common anchor and source of shared pride between the four U.K. nations. Shorn of that cultural glue, some believe independence movements may gain a new impetus.

Image: King Charles III and Camilla, the Queen Consort, Princess Anne and Tim Laurence, and Prince Andrew follow the coffin as they enter the cathedral for a Service of Prayer and Reflection for the Life of Queen Elizabeth II at St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh on Sept. 12, 2022. (Jane Barlow / PA via AP)

Image: The Crown of Scotland sits atop the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II during a Service of Prayer and Reflection for her life at St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, Scotland on Sept. 12, 2022. (Jane Barlow / PA via AP)

It's a complicated picture.

Not all anti-monarchists support independence, and not all pro-independence activists want to ditch the monarchy.

John Swinney, Scotland's deputy leader and a member of the pro-independence Scottish National Party, told the BBC on Monday of the "deep and warm relationship" between Scotland and the queen.

Indeed the Royal Mile was crammed with mourners, tourists and casual observers just there for the spectacle.

More than an hour before Charles was due to arrive, crowds were already four or five deep against the barriers outside.

Traditional Scottish tunes wafted from surrounding gift shops.

Catherine Vost, 69, and Anne Tullo, 62, traveled from nearby Glasgow for the kings appearance.

Catherine Vost, 69, and Anne Tullo, 62, traveled from nearby Glashow and arrived more than two hours before the kings scheduled historic appearance, in Edinburgh, Scotland on Monday. (Alexander Smith / NBC News)

Were not moving now, weve got a good spot, Tullo, who works as a driving instructor, said as she guarded her place near the barrier in the bright midday sunshine.

Were here to pay our final farewell to our amazing queen, who we have loved and followed all our lives, Vost, a historian, added. Charles will be very warmly welcomed, too.

Millions more were watching at home, in Britain, the Commonwealth, the United States and beyond.

TV cameras were already trained on Charles in the morning as he addressed Parliament for the first time as king before heading north to Scotland.

He and Camilla, the Queen Consort, were welcomed by a 21-gun salute, a guard of honor and a military band playing the first verse of the national anthem  now tweaked to God Save the King."

He and other royals then visited the Holyroodhouse throne room, where the queen's coffin was being kept. It then began the solemn journey to the cathedral, with Charles leading some royals on foot while other family members followed in cars. A drumbeat of guns fired at one-minute intervals from Edinburgh Castle, which sits atop a plinth of volcanic rock overlooking the picturesque city.

The procession crawled its way to the cathedral, where the queen will lie at rest for 24 hours so the public has a first chance to pay its respects.

Many see this Scottish send-off as fitting.

The modern British sovereign was born from the union of two crowns," when James VI of Scotland became James I of England in 1603 after the death of Queen Elizabeth I, as Prescott at Bangor University points out.

Few doubt the late queen's love of the highlands was deeply and genuinely felt. But the roots of the monarchs Scottish identity are also rooted in dispute and controversy.

Some historians say that the tartan, Highland Games and other Scottish trappings were co-opted by the London-based monarch starting in the 1820s, an attempt win favor among restive Scots.

The late queen knew the importance of symbolism and set-piece events to preserve the enduring popularity and legitimacy of the sovereign itself.

One must be seen to be believed, she once said, famously. And Monday, the royals were certainly seen.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
King Charles III and other members of the royal family traveled behind Queen Elizabeth IIs coffin during a procession through Edinburgh, Scotland, on Monday.

The procession followed the late monarchs casket as it was moved from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St. Giles Cathedral, where a service of thanksgiving for Elizabeths life was scheduled to take place.

Charles and his siblings  Princess Anne, Prince Edward and Prince Andrew  followed their late mothers coffin on foot. Annes husband, Sir Tim Laurence, followed behind.

Image: Their Majesties King Charles III And The Queen Consort Attend The Ceremony Of The Keys (Peter Byrne / WPA Pool via Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Camilla, the queen consort, and Edwards wife, Sophie, Countess of Wessex, rode by car behind them, the palace said.

The Prince and Princess of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex did not appear to be part of the procession.

Elizabeths casket was draped by the royal standard in Scotland, which includes a red lion rampant against a yellow background, in addition to symbols of other parts of the United Kingdom.

The procession moved silently past crowds of people lining the streets leading toward the cathedral. The crowds were mostly silent also, though one person could be heard shouting, God bless the queen!

The queens coffin was dressed with a wreath of flowers, including white spray roses, white freesias and dried white heather from the Balmoral, the Scottish residence so favored by the queen over the years.

Queen coffin (Jon Super / AFP pool via Getty Images)

Earlier Monday morning, Charles made his first address to Britains Parliament as monarch, saying that his later mother set an example of selfless duty which, with Gods help and your counsels, I am resolved faithfully to follow.

About 900 members of Britains legislative body listened to the kings remarks delivered in Londons Westminster Hall, which was built in 1097 under King William II.

Queen coffin (Odd Andersen / AFP Pool via Getty Images)

I cannot help but feel the weight of history which surrounds us and which reminds us of the vital Parliamentary traditions to which members of both houses dedicate yourselves, with such personal commitment for the betterment of us all. Parliament is the living and breathing instrument of our democracy, the king said.

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That your traditions are ancient we see in the construction of this great hall and the reminders of medieval predecessors of the office to which I have been called," he added.

Several members of the royal family have shared touching tributes to Elizabeth following her death on Sept. 8 at 96.

Prince William, who is now next in line to the throne, honored his grandmother in a statement shared on the royal familys website.

She was by my side at my happiest moments. And she was by my side during the saddest days of my life, he wrote. I knew this day would come, but it will be some time before the reality of life without Grannie will truly feel real."

Prince Harry also honored the queen with a statement shared via his organization, Archewell.

Granny, while this final parting brings us great sadness, I am forever grateful for all of our first meetingsfrom my earliest childhood memories with you, to meeting you for the first time as my Commander-in-Chief, to the first moment you met my darling wife and hugged your beloved great-grandchildren, he wrote.

Harry also thanked his late grandmother for her infectious smile, writing, We, too, smile knowing that you and grandpa are reunited now, and both together in peace.

On Saturday, William and Harry appeared together publicly for the first time since the queens death. The brothers and their wives, the former Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle, walked together as they addressed crowds of mourners outside Windsor Castle.

Todays procession in Edinburgh is part of a 10-day schedule of events honoring the late queen. Her coffin will lie in rest at St. Giles Cathedral until Tuesday afternoon, allowing the people of Scotland to pay their respects.

Later in the week, the casket will be moved to London, where it will lie in state at Westminster Hall for four days, according to Buckingham Palace.

The queens funeral will be held Monday, Sept. 19, at 11 a.m. GMT.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Dmitriy Peskov

Withdrawing troops from the Zaporizhzhia NPP is not on the table, Peskov said.

He reiterated Russias claims that Ukraine is responsible for repeatedly shelling the station, despite these claims being provably false.

The last operational reactor at the ZNPP was shut down on Sept. 11. According to Ukraines nuclear operator Energoatom, it was done after repeated Russian attacks damaged the stations connection to the Ukrainian power grid.

Read also: Backup power line restored at occupied Zaporizhzhya NPP, says IAEA

NV

A delegation of 14 IAEA experts arrived at Russia-occupied ZNPP on Sep. 1. After spending several hours at the facility, part of the delegation departed. Two agency experts remain at the power plant, monitoring the situation. IAEA head Rafael Grossi later said the agency will have a permanent presence at ZNPP.

IAEA has presented its report on the situation on Sept. 6. The document suggests there is an acute need for temporary measures to ensure nuclear safety of ZNPP, including establishing a secure zone around the power plant.

Zaporizhzhia NPP is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, and has been occupied by Russian forces since March 4. Several ZNPP facilities have been damaged by Russian shelling, and the station's employees are captives of the occupying troops.

The Kremlin uses the facility as cover for its forces, as Ukraine cant return fire, for the risk of causing a nuclear calamity.

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Five days after a southwest Missouri judge signed an order to close Agape Boarding School and remove students over concerns they werent safe, he again delayed that action Monday.

Officials with the Missouri Attorney Generals Office and the Missouri Department of Social Services were prepared to present evidence at a hearing in the Cedar County Courthouse on why the embattled school should be shut down. Two former students and a DSS employee who investigated abuse at the school near Stockton were ready to take the stand.

But Judge David Munton refused to allow either former student to testify  one who was at the courthouse Monday and the other who was going to join via video conference. Munton then continued the hearing until Sept. 21 to allow Agapes attorney, John Schultz, of Kansas City, to depose the second teen who lives in California.

Schultz told Munton there was no proof that there is an immediate health and safety concern for students at the school. Allowing former students to testify, he said, was just a show for the media, not to illustrate current harm. He pointed to the fact that theres a bunch of media sitting here and questioned the AGs motive for wanting to interview past students.

Thats simply for publicity, Schultz said. And weve had enough bad publicity.

Justin Smith, chief of staff for the Missouri Attorney Generals Office, shot back:

The AG is here for the kids, not the press.

Several top officials with DSS and the Attorney Generals Office made the trip to Cedar County to push for the closure of Agape, which they thought was going to happen last week.

Now, its not clear when the judge will make any decisions on the school.

The office did everything possible to present evidence and witness testimony including that of victims of alleged abuse to prove the pattern of abuse at Agape Boarding School, said Chris Nuelle, press secretary for the Attorney Generals Office, who attended the hearing. The office still intends to present that case at the soonest possible opportunity, and has secured an agreement that allows DSS to continue around the clock monitoring of students at Agape Boarding School.

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Our fight to protect the students at Agape continues.

Missouri Attorney General spokesman Chris Nuelle speaks to reporters after a hearing Monday at the Cedar County Courthouse in Stockton.

Also at the hearing was Agape director Bryan Clemensen, who sat next to Schultz, and several others from the school.

The Attorney Generals Office and the Missouri Department of Social Services filed a petition in Cedar County Circuit Court on Wednesday asking for an injunction to immediately close Agape and remove students, citing concerns about their safety.

The petition stated that on Wednesday, DSS added a current Agape staff member to the states Central Registry after the agency found by a preponderance of evidence that the staffer had committed child abuse at Agape.

Munton signed the order to immediately close the school and remove students Wednesday evening. But by Thursday morning he put that on hold and sent Cedar County Sheriff James Jimbob McCrary to Agape to determine whether the staff member was still working there. Clemensen told McCrary that the staffer had been fired the previous day but still lived on the property.

New law used

A new Missouri law prohibits someone from working at a residential care facility if the person has a substantiated finding of child abuse or neglect or is placed on the Central Registry.

During Mondays hearing, Schultz said the terminated employee also no longer lives on Agape property.

Workers with the Childrens Division were inside Agape through the weekend to ensure the safety of the students. That was a plan worked out late last week between the child welfare agency and the judge.

On Friday afternoon, the AG and state child welfare leaders filed an amended complaint saying students must be removed from Agape because of a long pattern of abuse.

The complaint contained additional details that the AGs office said provided explicit evidence of systemic abuse of students that has gone on at Agape for years. Those new details also included allegations that Agape had provided incomplete information to the state in recent days.

The main entrance of Agape Boarding School on Monday in Stockton.

The AGs filing Friday also said that multiple people still working at the school are appealing their substantiated findings from DSS that they physically abused students. State law allows the staffers to keep working while they appeal the findings.

The Star has learned that Clemensen is one of those staffers notified by DSS that he had a substantiated report of abuse against him. Sources said that Scott Dumar, the schools longtime medical coordinator, also is among those appealing a substantiated DSS finding. Dumar is one of five staff members charged last year with physical abuse of students.

Early last week, The Star reported that DSS had confirmed 10 findings of physical abuse involving Agape staff. Those findings are final dispositions, and the workers involved have been placed on the states Central Registry and do not currently work at any boarding schools in Missouri, DSS officials said.

Those 10 represent the number of abuse findings, DSS said, not necessarily the number of people investigated. In other words, one person could have multiple findings.

On Friday, DSS officials confirmed to The Star that with the Agape employee who was added to the Central Registry on Wednesday, there are now 11 substantiated findings related to the Cedar County boys boarding school.

Officials with the AGs Office stated multiple times during Mondays hearing that having staff still at the school who DSS found hurt students shows a pattern of abuse that has existed at Agape for years. But the judge wanted current examples of abuse to show that irreparable harm exists today.

Im not planning on going way back in history, Munton said. Both he and Schultz questioned why the AGs office and DSS didnt file for an injunction last year if they thought kids health and safety were in danger then.

Smith, the chief of staff, reiterated that the attorney general and child welfare officials took action as soon as the new law would allow. And that was when the employee declined to appeal his DSS finding in the time set by law.

Then, the AGs office tried again to convince Munton of the importance of testimony from boys who had been at the school in the past.

While it was a hotline call that launched the investigation by the Missouri Highway Patrol in 2021, AG general counsel James Atkins said, the behavior has gone up to the present and the perpetrators will no doubt abuse in the future.

Schultz replied, saying the AGs office needs to stick with what is happening now, today. Not with what happened in 2021.  There is no abuse happening.

After a short break, Maddie Green, an assistant attorney general for special litigation, called on the former student who left Agape in July 2021 after being at the school for less than a year.

Green told Munton that the teen would testify to being abused at Agape by staff members who are still working at the school. Its to show a pattern of abuse.

Schultz objected to the teen testifying, saying he hadnt been at the school in more than a year.

I sustain the objection, Munton said. And Green told the teen that they had to move on to the next witness.

But Munton didnt allow that witness either.

The Star has investigated Agape and other boarding schools in southern Missouri since late summer 2020. Many men who attended the school in their youth said they were subjected to physical restraints, extreme workouts, long days of manual labor, and food and water withheld as punishment. And, they said, students endured constant berating and mind games, and some were physically and sexually abused by staff and other youth.

Prompted by stories of abuse at several unlicensed Christian boarding schools in Missouri, legislators successfully pushed for change in the state law to implement some oversight of the facilities. That law, which went into effect in July 2021, gives DSS, the attorney general or the local prosecuting attorney the authority to petition the court to close a facility if there is an immediate health or safety concern for the children.

Agape now has roughly 60 students, according to the AGs petition  about half the population the school had in early 2021 when the Highway Patrol and DSS launched an investigation into abuse allegations. That investigation led to low-level felony charges against five Agape staff members, accusing them of 13 counts of abusing students.

Local connections

Munton has come under sharp criticism since putting his Agape closure order on hold Thursday morning. He also is the judge who is handling 22 civil lawsuits filed by former students against Agape Baptist Church, which oversees the boarding school, in the past 19 months. Those lawsuits all allege abuse, many saying the school used torture and starvation as punishment.

Munton also is handling a recent lawsuit filed against Circle of Hope Girls Ranch and its former owners Boyd and Stephanie Householder, who face 99 felony counts of child abuse and neglect, including statutory sodomy, rape and physical abuse and neglect.

And Munton oversaw five other lawsuits filed by former students against Circle of Hope and the Householders that were settled last year.

A judge delayed action on closing Agape Boarding School in a hearing Monday at the Cedar County Courthouse in southwest Missouri.

Sending Sheriff McCrary to Agape last week to confirm whether the staffer still worked there only intensified the ire against the judge.

Thats because McCrary and his office have numerous connections to Agape  which is overseen by Agape Baptist Church. Several people with ties to the school work for the sheriffs office, including Deputy Robert Graves, who attended Agape as a student then worked at the school for years, including while he was a deputy. Until recently, he also served on the board of Agape Baptist Church.

Over the years, Graves has held several positions at Agape, including the schools resource officer. Hes handled reports of crimes on campus and also responded to some as a sheriffs deputy. And former students told The Star that on at least one occasion when Childrens Division workers came to the school to investigate a hotline call, Graves sat in on the interviews wearing his sheriffs uniform.

He also is the son-in-law of Agape founder James Clemensen, and Graves daughter, Deanna Smock, has been a dispatcher for the Sheriffs Office. Thursdays court docket shows that a D. Smock signed for the judges directive for McCrary to go to Agape. Deanna Smocks husband, Alex, has worked as a corrections officer at the Cedar County Jail, and her father-in-law, David Smock, was a longtime medical provider for Agape students. David Smock now is being held without bond in the Greene County Jail, facing 15 child sex abuse counts in Cedar and Greene counties.

Graves and another sheriffs deputy also have worked off-duty for Safe, Sound Secure Youth Ministries, a company that parents can hire to transport their children to Agape. That company is owned by Julio Sandoval, a former dean of students at Agape, who has occasionally worked at the jail.

Last month, a federal grand jury indicted Sandoval, accusing his transport company of violating a court order by taking a California teen to Agape in handcuffs and against his will.
By Geert De Clercq

PARIS (Reuters) - Legendary street and fashion photographer William Klein has died in Paris, aged 96, his son said in a statement to French news agency AFP on Monday.

Klein, a New York-born American who made his reputation shooting scenes of urban life in the world's biggest cities, studied painting with Fernand Leger but found fame as a photographer.

"Klein is one of those legendary photographers who made his own rules, like Man Ray," said Alain Genestar, head of French photography magazine Polka.

Klein, who won global recognition with his fashion photos for Vogue, was also a painter, graphic designer and documentary filmmaker with an ironic and sometimes acerbic look at his subjects, who always looked directly into his lens.

"People always look at the camera in his pictures, because he believed that people's eyes do not lie," Genestar said.

Klein lived most of his adult life in Paris, where his quirky photographs were adored by the 1960s avant-garde art world on the Left Bank.

He married a French woman and lived for decades in the same apartment by the Jardin du Luxembourg, but in a 2014 interview with The Guardian he said he never felt French.

"I'm at home with the French. Hanging out with Americans, for me, that sucks," he was quoted as saying.

"As a kid, I wanted to be part of the Lost Generation who came to France. Hang out at the Coupole with Picasso and Giacometti," he told the paper.

The New York International Center of Photography (ICP), where an retrospective on his work ended on Monday, said Klein's output had been prodigious, "from his wildly inventive photographic studies of New York, Rome, Moscow and Tokyo to bold and witty fashion photographs".

He also made celebrity portraits, documentary films about Muhammad Ali and Little Richard as well as fiction films about the beauty industry, imperialism and consumer culture, ICP said.

"Few have transformed as many fields of art and culture as William Klein," the exhibition's curator David Campany wrote on ICP's announcement of the exhibition.

(Reporting by Geert De Clercq; Editing by Josie Kao)
The Lexington-Fayette Human Rights Commission is suing Anderson Campus Rentals alleging they forced a woman to continue to pay rent after fleeing her apartment due to domestic violence in violation of a 2017 state law.

As part of its defense, Anderson Campus Rentals, which is part of Anderson Communities, is alleging the 2017 state law, the gives protections to tenants involved in domestic violence situations, is unconstitutional.

Anderson Communities is one of Lexingtons largest rental property owners and has multiple rental properties near the University of Kentucky.

The case could have ramifications for domestic violence victims across the state, housing advocates say.

Anderson Campus Rental Properties is making efforts to undo the recent bi-partisan domestic violence protections. If they are successful, it would create a situation where victims of domestic violence would be stuck in their lease and left in a place that could put their safety at risk, said Art Crosby, the executive director of Lexington Fair Housing Council, a nonprofit fair housing group.

Lawyers for Anderson say they were not properly notified under the 2017 law.

Far from discriminating against the plaintiff, a former resident, Anderson Campus Rental Properties simply acted on rules designed to ensure the safety of the premises and the terms of the lease, said Trip Redford, a lawyer for Anderson.

An EPO and what the law says

The woman involved in the lawsuit rented an apartment from Anderson Campus Rentals on Maxwelton Court near the University of Kentucky campus in 2019.

The Herald-Leader typically does not name victims of domestic violence and is concealing the womans identity to protect her privacy and safety.

In May 2020, Lexington police were called to the womans apartment due to a domestic violence incident involving a man. The courts later granted the woman a protection order, prohibiting the man from contacting her, according to the court filing.

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The woman provided the protective order to then-manager of the property Haley Boyd and the keys to the apartment. She needed to leave the apartment for her own safety, the court documents allege. Boyd is no longer employed by Anderson.

But the woman was told that she still had to pay the remaining months rent and there was not an early release from the lease. She had three months remaining on the one-year lease.

On or about July 9, 2020 (the woman) received an invoice from co-Defendant Ron Morton requesting that she pay $1,596.00 for the months of June, July and August, 2020, according to the lawsuit.

Morton works for Anderson Communities.

Morton continued to seek payment from the woman in July and August and threatened to turn her over to debt collectors, according to the complaint.

The woman filed the complaint with the Lexington-Fayette Human Rights Commission in December 2020. The commission, which is tasked with investigating fair housing complaints, investigated and issued a probable cause order against Anderson. Anderson choose to take the issue to court, according to court documents.

The Human Rights Commission argues in court documents that KRS 383.300 says the woman could terminate the lease because she had a protection order. Furthermore, the woman cannot be discriminated against because of her sex, according to Fair Housing laws. Moreover, Anderson continued to demand payment from the woman after she had filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission.

In court documents, Anderson Communities said KRS 383.300 says someone with a protection order has to provide that order to the landlord and give written notice 30 days prior to termination of the lease. The woman never gave written notice, they allege. She only gave verbal notice.

Anderson also alleges KRS 383.300 is unconstitutional for multiple reasons including a provision in the Kentucky Constitution that prohibits any law impairing the obligation of contracts.

The man reportedly involved in the domestic violence incident was not on the lease and did not live in the apartment, Anderson Communities argued.

The statute is overly broad, because it permits a tenant to invalidate a lease agreement even where the non-party against whom the tenant obtained the protective order does not also reside in the leased premises and where the tenant is not in any articulable danger from the party against whom the protective order was obtained, lawyers for Anderson Campus rentals wrote.

At the same time, the law also does little to protect domestic violence victims because it does nothing to protect the tenant during the 30-day time period between the required written notice and the date on which the tenant may unilaterally treat the contract as having been terminated, Anderson Campus Rentals wrote in court documents.

We believe the statute should be redrafted to remove these flaws, Redford said.

Because Anderson Communities is challenging the constitutionality of KRS 383.300, Attorney General David Camerons office has been notified. The attorney generals office represents the state when the constitutionality of a law is in question.

The court record indicates Camerons office has declined to intervene.

Lawyers for Anderson wrote in a court filings that they wanted to put on the record confirmation that the Attorney General does not wish to intervene and will merely monitor this case per the email received today, said a document filed in August.

An email to a spokesperson in Camerons office about the case was not immediately returned.

Anderson Communities has asked the case be dismissed. Fayette Circuit Court Judge Lucy VanMeter has not issued a ruling yet on the motion to dismiss.
Lexington police and other emergency response agencies have concluded an hours-long standoff that began Sunday afternoon.

According to police Lt. Paul Boyles, officers were attempting to make contact with a white male subject who had several outstanding warrants near the Ramada Inn on North Broadway near Interstate 75.

Officers observed the man  whose name has not yet been released  with a firearm, and attempted to make contact once again when the man fled to a wooded area nearby Exit 113 on the interstate.

Boyles stated officers then created a perimeter around the area to contain the search and attempted to capture the suspect. Because there was so much brush and the location close to the interstate, officers made the decision to call in the Emergency Response Unit and Crisis Negotiation Unit.

Nearby on and off ramps near the Paris Pike Exit were shut down for several hours while police tried to coax out the individual.

After five hours they were able to have the man surrender without incident, Boyles said.

There were no injuries reported to the suspect, or officers.

Boyles stated the man is facing new charges of a felon in possession of a handgun, and fleeing and evading police.
Hayward Police Department

An 8-year-old girl was lying dead in a bathtub for over a month before authorities found her body, it has been revealed.

Police released gruesome details over the brutal and senseless murder of Sophia Mason after the man suspected of the crime, 34-year-old Dhante Jackson, was arrested after six months on the run.

The gruesome discovery of Sophia Masons lifeless body happened on March 11 in Jacksons home in Merced, California, more than a month after she was initially listed as missing, but relatives told cops they had not been in contact with the girl since December.

Masons mother and Jacksons girlfriend, Samantha Johnson, was already in police custody on prior child abuse charges from 2021 at the time of the discovery and was subsequently charged with her murder, along with Jackson.

Jackson was nabbed in Newark, California, on Saturday after six months on the run, helped by several women to evade authorities, authorities said.

Dhante Jackson was arrested in Newark after being on the run for 6 months. He is facing murder and child abuse charges in the killing of 8-year-old Sophia Mason of Hayward @KPIXtv

@MercedPolice https://t.co/YMDplrhcso pic.twitter.com/OD0W42yVcg  Betty Yu (@BettyKPIX) September 11, 2022

At a press conference on Sunday, police said three women helped Jackson keep out of sight of officials as he moved between hideouts from Merced to the Bay Area, then to Southern California, only to return to the Bay Area.

Those women have since been charged with accessory to murder after the fact for providing money, shelter and transportation to Jackson.

Police named those women as San Jose resident Daberka Thompson, Merced resident Laronna Larkins, and Newark resident Mayra Gonzalez. Cops said Jackson was living Gonzalez at the time of the arrest.

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Merced Police Lt. Joe Perez described how Mason was subject to long term physical abuse by her mother and Jackson. She was also subjected to sexual abuse. He revealed how the little girl had been deceased at the residence for over a month and that she was forced to live in a shed in the backyard as well as a closet inside the home. CBS News revealed she had been found in the tub.

She was also malnourished, the coroner noted.

In my 20 years of law enforcement this case is the most disturbing and horrific Ive seen, Lt. Joe Perez said, his voice cracking.

To know what that poor little angel went through by the hands of pure evil breaks my heart. Most of us here standing are mothers and fathers and we cherish our children, well never understand how this could happen to a beautiful child who just wanted to be loved.

Our thoughts and our prayers go out to precious Sophia and her family as they continue to mourn, even though there is nothing we can do to bring Sophia back, I hope the arrest of Jackson will inch Sophias family closer to closure and ultimately get justice for Sophia.

State Attorney General Rob Bonta said Sunday those accused of her murder must pay a steep price for their abhorrent crimes. Let today serve as a reminder that when a horrendous crime like this is committed we will leave no stone unturned to secure justice.

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Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Anne Burke announced Monday she is retiring Nov. 30 after 16 years on the high court.

Illinois Appellate Justice Joy Cunningham was appointed by the Supreme Court to fill Burkes seat through December 2024. Cunningham, a Democrat, will become the second Black woman to serve on the state Supreme Court.

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The court also announced Monday that Justice Mary Jane Theis will succeed Burke as chief justice, taking over Oct. 26 for a three-year term.

Burke is a Democrat and her exit comes just ahead of the Nov. 8 election, when the Supreme Courts 4-3 Democratic majority faces a Republican challenge. It also comes as Burkes husband, longtime Chicago Ald. Edward Burke, 14th, awaits trial on federal corruption charges.

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Illinois Supreme Justice Anne Burke listens during oral arguments in a case in 2016 at Benedictine University in Lisle. (Anthony Souffle/Chicago Tribune)

I have been blessed to serve as a Supreme Court Justice for the past 16 years and have loved working with my staff, colleagues and judicial branch staff to serve the people of Illinois, Burke said in a statement. The past three years as chief justice have been a challenging time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but I am thrilled with the progress made by the Illinois courts.

Burke, 78, was appointed to the Supreme Court on July 6, 2006, after the retirement of Justice Mary Ann McMorrow, and was elected to the seat in 2008. Burke was retained for a second 10-year term in 2018 with 81% of the vote, and became the courts chief justice the following year.

Before her time on the high court, she spent a decade as a state appellate court justice. During her tenure on the appeals court, Burke served on a national review board appointed by U.S. Catholic bishops to investigate allegations of sexual abuse by clergy.

She also spent a short time in the 1990s working for then-Republican Gov. Jim Edgar as a special counsel for Child Welfare Services. Before that, she served under Edgar and his predecessor, GOP Gov. James Thompson, as a judge for the states Court of Claims, which hears claims of monetary damages by the public against state agencies.

As a young Chicago Park District employee in the late 1960s, Burke helped create and launch the Special Olympics. By the time she completed law school, Burke was 40 and a mother of four.

Burke has been no stranger to controversy during her tenure on the Supreme Court.

There were questions about her husbands longtime role leading judicial slating for the Cook County Democratic Party, an influential post in determining who gets seats on the bench. There were also questions about a political fundraiser for Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle that was held at Burkes home in 2018, but a state oversight board found that she did not violate judicial conduct rules.

A contribution made during that event is part of federal allegations facing Ald. Burke.

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Justice Burke played a key role in some major Supreme Court decisions.

In 2013, she wrote the opinion that allowed the states parental notification law for minors seeking abortions to go into effect after a nearly two-decade judicial hold. The law was repealed this year by Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Democratic-controlled legislature.

Burke, whose husband is a former Chicago police officer, also authored the courts 2014 opinion that allowed disgraced former Chicago police Cmdr. Jon Burge to keep his pension, despite his 2010 felony conviction for lying about the torture of police suspects.

More recently, Burke sided with the courts three Republican justices in 2019 to deny a request to order a resentencing for former Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke in the 2014 shooting death of Laquan McDonald. Van Dyke was sentenced to a little less than seven years in prison and was released earlier this year after serving more than three years.

Cunningham, who will take Burkes seat in December, is the second Black woman appointed to the state Supreme Court in its history, and the second this year.

In May, Republican Lisa Holder White of Decatur, then a justice on the states 4th Appellate District, became the first Black woman appointed to the high court. She was sworn in July 7 after the retirement of longtime Justice Rita Garman.

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Cunningham ran unsuccessfully for the Supreme Court in 2012, finishing second among four candidates in a Democratic primary won by Theis, who went on to win the general election by a nearly 50-point margin.

jgorner@chicagotribune.com

dpetrella@chicagotribune.com
EUROPEAN PRAVDA  SUNDAY, 11 SEPTEMBER 2022, 19:19

President of France Emmanuel Macron held a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the situation in Ukraine.

Source: announcement on the Kremlins website, cited by European Pravda

Details: The Kremlins announcement states that the presidents discussed the situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), which currently remains under the control of Russian occupying forces. Putin said that the power plant is being shelled by Ukrainian forces and added that he was in favour of "non-political coordination of the situation at the ZNPP with the IAEA" (International Atomic Energy Agency).

Macron and Putin also discussed the export of Ukrainian grain via the Ukrainian Black Sea ports. Putin reiterated his opinion that "grain has to be exported, first and foremost, to fulfil the needs of developing countries".

Update: The website of the President of France has not yet confirmed the fact of the phone call or shared any information about it.

According to the Kremlins announcement, Macron insisted on the need to ensure the security of the Zaporizhzhia NPP.

"He stressed that the Russian occupation [had] triggered a series of risks, which are now threatening the integrity of the Zaporizhzhia NPP. He asked Russian forces to withdraw heavy and light weapons and to adhere to the IAEA recommendations to ensure the security of the NPP," the announcement reads.

Regarding the export of Ukrainian grain, Macron emphasised that European sanctions do not apply to agricultural products or products that are used for agricultural purposes.

He further underscored that international partners, in particular Russia, bear a shared responsibility for ensuring that the most vulnerable countries continue to receive the food they need.

"He asked President Putin to ensure that the agreements Russia [had] reached with Ukraine and Turkey under the UNs supervision are fulfilled in such a way that the grain reaches those [countries] that need it the most," the announcement states.

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Background: President Macron held a telephone conversation with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy on 10 September. The presidents discussed the situation at the ZNPP.

Rafael Grossi, Director General of the IAEA, said that a safety zone around the ZNPP needs to be established immediately to prevent a nuclear accident.

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Prosecutors on Monday filed upgraded charges against Maiky Simeon, the Miami motorist accused of driving drunk when he killed five people in a one-way wreck on the Palmetto Expressway.

Simeon, during Mondays brief arraignment, pleaded not guilty to five counts of DUI manslaughter. Hes also charged with five counts of vehicular manslaughter.

He did not appear at Mondays court hearing, but pleaded not guilty through his attorney, Albert Levin. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Diana Vizcaino has ordered Simeon be held in jail without bail before trial.

The arraignment came five days after the Miami-Dade State Attorneys Office revealed that Simeons blood alcohol content level was nearly double the legal limit. A toxicology test on blood drawn at the hospital showed Simeons alcohol content level of .152, while the legal limit in Florida is .08.

It was on early on Aug. 20 when Simeons 2018 silver Infiniti Q50 drove up the off-ramp of the Palmetto, past oncoming cars, switched lanes and then plowed directly into a Honda driving westbound. Five young people inside, ages 18 to 25, all died. Simeon had to be extricated from his car and was airlifted to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

Those killed in the violent wreck: Giancarlo Arias, Daniella Marcano, Valeria Pena, Briana Pacalagua and Valeria Caceres.

Video surveillance, released by the state on Friday, shows the Infiniti driving the wrong way on the off-ramp, then hitting the Honda at full force. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the car was traveling at 80 miles per hour up until the impact.
A man blew up a car at a funeral in Washington, causing an immense fire, authorities said.

The suspect placed an explosive device in an attendees car during an Aug. 23 funeral service at Mountain View Cemetery, which is owned by the city of Auburn, the Auburn Police Department said Sept. 12 on Facebook. The fire caused by the explosion destroyed the car, along with nearby trees.

As city employees followed the suspects car, the passenger shot several rounds at them, Auburn police said.

The passenger, who is also accused of placing the bomb, is still outstanding, police said.

The vehicle was described as a black Acura RL, with no license plates, according to police.

Anyone who recognizes the car is asked to contact police at 253-288-7403.

Auburn is about 14 miles northeast of Tacoma.

Man arrested with five pipe bombs during Northern California traffic stop, cops say

Man admits to blowing up ATMs in Overland Park businesses as part of attempted robbery

Pipe bomb found on patient rushed into emergency room, California police say
An Atlanta-area man is accused of fatally shooting his ex-wife and her boyfriend during a custody exchange, according to Georgia authorities.

The deadly incident unfolded around 6:15 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 11, at a home in Covington, local outlets reported, citing the Newton County Sheriffs Office.

A man and a woman were there to drop off the womans 15-year-old daughter, who deputies said did not want to get out and go with her father, identified as Marquez Smith, according to WXIA.

Thats when deputies said Smith went inside his home and returned with a gun before shooting the mother of his child and her boyfriend, WSB-TV reported. The couple attempted to drive away but crashed about two houses down, according to the station.

Relatives said the couples 7-month-old child was also in the car at the time, according to WAGA.

McClatchy News reached out to the Newton County Sheriffs Office on Monday, Sept. 12, and was awaiting a response.

The woman died in an ambulance on the way to a hospital, and her boyfriend died at the scene, WXIA reported, citing deputies.

Smith initially took off in his car but later turned himself in to the sheriffs office on Monday, Sept. 12, according to the news station. He was booked on multiple charges including murder, aggravated assault and second-degree cruelty to children, online records show.

He remains in the Newton County Jail without bond.

Covington is about 35 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta.

Dad pleads guilty to running wife over with kid in SUV. Hell spend 20 years in prison

Wedding reception goes horribly wrong when attendees start fighting, Florida cops say

16-year-old sister dials 911 as brother stabs family to death, Arizona sheriff says
Married at First Sight UK is back for a new series, with a new group of singletons betting on love as they tie the knot with complete strangers.

The dating show returned to E4 at the end of August, showing a new group of contestants as they met their future spouses for the first time on their wedding days.

The couples have now been through their wedding days and honeymoons and are settling into married life.

When the show reaches its conclusion, the married couples must choose whether they will stay together or go separate ways.

Here are the Married at First Sight UK couples...

Chanita and Jordan

Jordan and Chanita (Channel 4)

The first pair to couple up were Chanita, 29, and Jordan, who may be one of the best matched marriages of the series so far.

Jordan told Chanita she looked beautiful in her wedding dress and the pair bonded when Jordan opened up about the death of his grandma.

Fans called the pair the best couple ever as they enjoyed their honeymoon in Mauritius.

Social worker Chanita was in a 10-year relationship until two years ago and hopes to settle down and start a family with her new husband.

Jordan comes from Darlington and owns his own home, is close with his family and a good cook. However, Jordan isnt prepared to settle for the sake of it.

Whitney and Duka

Whitney and Duka (Channel 4)

Whitney, 31, and Duka, 31, met on their wedding day in the first episode and its safe to say it wasnt love at first sight for personal assistant Whitney.

She initially said that she was ready to do a runner, but the couple later connected when Whitney opened up about the recent death of her mother.

She later branded Duka fake and rolled her eyes whenever he spoke.

Whitney previously said that she wanted a man who was perfect and would tick all the right boxes for her.

Recruitment HR co-ordinator Duka, who moved to England from former Yugoslavia aged 10 without speaking any English, said he traditionally gets bored of the women who are attracted to him.

Thomas and Adrian

Thomas and Adrian (Channel 4)

From the moment Thomas, 31, and Adrian, 37, met and Thomas said he hadnt been expecting someone blonde who looked like Clare Balding, it was clear this couple might not be the perfect match.

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Adrians best friend Katie expressed her disapproval with the relationship, saying that she didnt want the digital designer to go on his honeymoon.

On the trip, the couple clashed, with Thomas storming off, saying: Im not f***ing talking to you.

Mental health care assistant Thomas loves being the centre of attention and says being described as nice is his worst nightmare.

Adrian wants a partner who can make him laugh and is adventurous and trustworthy.

April and George

George and April (Channel 4)

After April, 32, and George, 40, got married, they reached an early problem with their relationship as April told father-of-four George that she wasnt sure she wanted children.

Upon learning of his family, she said she would give George a chance. However, George later revealed that hed learnt April had kissed a girl in a hot tub as a dare while on their honeymoon.

Former Miss Great Britain April then broke down in tears after being accused of cheating.

The wedding dress designer said she wanted a partner who allowed her to be independent.

George, who has been divorced, said he was looking for someone to keep him on his toes.

Jess and Pjay

Pjay and Jess (Channel 4)

While Jess, 31, and Pjay initially appeared to have a good start to their relationship on their wedding day, Jess was left unimpressed by Pjays job as a stripper with the Dreamboys. However, Pjay vowed he would quit his job if it made her happy.

On their honeymoon, she admitted that she felt things were more friendly than romantic and rejected his offer of a massage.

However, the pair got closer when Jess broke down in tears as she opened up about an ex-partner cheating on her with a member of her family.

Youre a good person, everyday weve had here, everyday gets better, youre wonderful, Pjay told her.

Pjay had previously admitted that his partners had previously struggled to trust him due to his job.

Jess, who hails from Cambridgeshire, is a dental hygienist and has said that humour is the most important thing to her in a relationship.

Lara and Richie

Lara and Richie (Channel 4)

Lara, 49, and Richie, 52, got off to a not-great start on their wedding day after Richie admitted that hed never had a serious relationship and still lived with his parents.

When Lara told him that shed been married twice and had two sons, Richie said that this wasnt an easy thing to hear.

Canadian waitress Lara has said that she wants a love like her parents, who have been married for 51 years. She has been single for 12 years.

Richie previously worked in the music business as a songwriter before working as a sales advisor.

Kasia and Kwame

Kwame and Kasia (Channel 4)

Kasia, 36, and Kwame, 42, were coupled up by the shows experts and married at a stately home.

Things got off to a bad start after Kwame was accused of fatphobia as he commented that he usually goes for a more petite woman than Kasia.

Kwame then struggled to connect with his new in-laws and told Kasia that he wouldnt have sex with her on their wedding night.

Much to Kasias annoyance, he then joked that she should sleep on the sofa bed.

Kasia left school at 16 to have her first child (both her children are now adults) and she owns a body contouring clinic.

Business consultant and former Mr Ghana Kwame has been married and had kids before, but is now divorced and looking for love.

Zoe and Jenna

Jenna and Zoe (Channel 4)

The final couple to tie the knot were Zoe, 30, and Jenna, 32.

The pair, who make up the first same-sex partnership on the show, met when Jenna walked down the aisle and initially appeared to be attracted to each other.

However, they hit a stumbling block on their honeymoon in Iceland after arguing over Jenna, who runs a zero-waste shop, and her veganism.

Speaking before the series, Blackpool-based Jenna said that she hoped shed find her happily ever after on the show.

Self-proclaimed serial dater Zoe, meanwhile, said that she wanted to find someone to start a family and share her softer side with.
Concept art for Disney California Adventure's third Marvel attraction featuring King Thanos. Courtesy Disney Parks

A multiverse version of Thanos will be featured in an attraction at Disney's Avengers Campus.

King Thanos is meant to be a version of the villain if he beat the Avengers in the Marvel films.

Fans will team up with Avengers to fight King Thanos and other villains from the multiverse.

Thanos is coming to Disneyland! King Thanos to be exact.

Announced Sunday at Disney's D23 Expo, this variant of the Mad Titan from the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be introduced in a new attraction coming to Disney California Adventure's Avengers Campus in the near future.

"You're going to be able to battle alongside all the Avengers against all the foes from anywhere from every when that you could possibly imagine. And, you're going to meet a new villain, named King Thanos," Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige told the crowd at the Disney park, experiences, and products panel, which Insider attended.

This new version of Thanos has a white beard and crown. He was designed specifically for this attraction.

"This is the Thanos that won and the Avengers are not too happy about that and you have to help them," Feige said, referencing the events of "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Endgame" where the Mad Titan snapped away half of all living beings from existence in the universe. In "Endgame," Iron Man sacrificed his own life to eliminate Thanos.

King Thanos will be featured at Disney California Adventure. Courtesy Disney Parks

Concept art, created by Marvel Studios' head of visual development Ryan Meinerding, shown during the panel teased a number of the heroes fans will team up with to defeat King Thanos.

Daredevil, Ms. Marvel, the Mighty Thor, Captain Carter, and She-Hulk are among the heroes spotted in the artwork for the new attraction.

A new Avengers attraction has been teased for years

If you're a big Disney fan, you'll know that this attraction has been a long time coming.

At D23 Expo in 2019, current Disney CEO Bob Chapek teased an earlier iteration of the attraction that would allow fans to board the Avengers' Quinjet plane. At the time, Chapek said the ride would be part of the second phase of Avengers Campus that would send guests to Black Panther's home of Wakanda where they'd fight alongside the Avengers.

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avengers campus quinjet

Here's the concept art that was shown in 2019 for the future Quinjet attraction at Disney California Adventure.Disney Parks

That's no longer the case.

"Our creative teams have been talking about a third attraction from the beginning, here," Disney parks, experiences, and products chair Josh D'Amaro said to Feige on the D23 Expo stage, acknowledging how the ride concept for Disney's California Adventure evolved over time. "But when you filled us in on the multiverse, that sent us back to the drawing board for what this could mean to our land."

"Now, working with your team, Imagineers have come up with a concept this is entirely new," D'Amaro added.

No name or opening date was given for the upcoming attraction.

Read the original article on Insider
Before turning a gun on himself, 39-year-old Marcus Edward Milligan shot his three children and his wife of 14 years, according to the Cecil County, Maryland, Sheriff's Office, which confirmed the murder-suicide.

Milligan then called 911 operators and told dispatchers the children  ages 8 through 14  and his wife were dead. He also told them he was going to kill himself as soon as he hung up, police said.

Deputies arriving at the custom Colonial home, which is tucked away at the end of a cul-de-sac near Elk Mills, Maryland, found the bodies including one of the children inside a detached garage.

"Based on the evidence obtained, this incident is considered a murder-suicide investigation by the Cecil County Sheriffs Office," said Lt. Michael Holmes, a sheriffs office spokesperson.

Five people were killed in a home in Elk Mills, Md., on Sept. 9, 2022.

These are the latest details to emerge from Friday's grim scene, less than 3 miles from the Delaware state line.

The sheriffs office is not disclosing if a note was left behind and they have not established a motive.

"We are still investigating this aspect of the incident," Holmes said.

Milligan's Facebook account provided no indication there was trouble in the family of five. The social media account provided plenty of pictures of a smiling family, including one dated June 2021 in front of a wall sign saying "One time in Provo."

A search through public records found that Milligan had lived in Provo, Utah, in the early 2000s. The pictures show the family sporting clothing items from Brigham Young University, which is located in Provo.

There were also several images of a 3-year-old son, Conor, that Milligan and his wife lost to childhood cancer in 2019.

His last entry, a forested mountain, was on April 28.

Over the weekend, the sheriffs office identified other members of the family as:

Tara Devina Ricker Milligan, 37

Teresa Milligan, 14

Nora Milligan, 11

Finn Milligan, 8

Background:Officials identify victims in Friday's Cecil County home shooting as parents, 3 children

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Child killed:27-year-old Magnolia man charged with murder of his 3-month-old son

"Marcus Milligan and Tara Milligan were married and parents to the three children," Holmes said. "All of the deceased resided at the Hebron Court address."

The body of the 8-year-old boy was found inside the garage, while the other family members were found in various parts of the two-story house. A semi-automatic handgun and cellphone were found near Milligan.

On Friday, reporters from the region parked along Hebron Hill, a road adjected to Hebron Court where some had set up cameras to catch glimpses of investigators working near the Milligans' four-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bathroom home.

Police had cordoned off the acre the house sits on, using the family's backyard swing set to tie a portion of the yellow crime tape. A large trampoline sat in the center of the cordoned yard.

Holmes said the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore performed autopsies and confirmed the family died from gunshot wounds.

Contact Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299, eparra@delawareonline.com or Twitter @eparra3.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Maryland man shoots wife, 3 kids before killing himself, sheriff says
Sep. 12NORWAY  Authorities arrested a Massachusetts man in Norway on Monday on a warrant stemming from charges of kidnapping and sexual assault of a minor among other charges.

Investigators determined that John Bastian, 64, of Lynn, Massachusetts had fled that state and was believed to be in central Maine, according to Ryan Guay, senior inspector at the U.S. Marshals Service in the District of Maine.

Bastian was taken into custody on a fugitive from justice warrant pending his extradition to Massachusetts, where he faces charges of indecent assault and battery on a person with intellectual disability, kidnapping, enticement of a child under 16 and rape of a child with force.

U.S. Marshals Service Maine Violent Offender Task Force members from Maine and Massachusetts arrested Bastian at an address in Norway without incident Monday morning, Guay said.

The multi-state task force was assisted by the U.S. Marshals Service in the District of Massachusetts, Massachusetts State Police, and the Lynn Police Department, Guay said.

The task force is comprised of members of the U.S. Marshals Service, Maine State Police, Maine Department of Corrections, Biddeford Police Department and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Northampton, MA --News Direct-- KeyBank

Photo: Mattie Jones Hollowell; KeyBank CSR Officer for Northeast Ohio and Toledo Markets

KeyBank announced Mattie Jones Hollowell has been named Corporate Responsibility Officer for its Northeast Ohio and Toledo markets. Among other responsibilities, she is part of the enterprise wide corporate responsibility team that oversees implementation of KeyBanks National Community Benefits Plan. Since 2017, KeyBank has made more than $1 billion of investments in Northeast Ohio and Toledo through this plan, supporting small business and home lending in low- and-moderate income communities, affordable housing and community development projects, and philanthropic efforts.

Hollowell, who has more than two decades of experience in banking, has spent her entire career with KeyBank. Most recently, she served as a Compliance Officer in Risk Management on the Fair and Responsible Banking team, focused on protecting Keys assets by understanding and adhering to compliance guidelines. Prior to joining Risk Management, Hollowell was a Sales Support Manager in Keys Community Development department where she led a team of Service Officers across our footprint that drove the loan closing process and focused on protecting Keys assets by understanding and adhering to compliance guidelines.

We are delighted to welcome Mattie to our team and know she will a vital asset, given her extensive experience in community development and compliance, said Stacy Thompson, Senior Vice President and Corporate Responsibility and Community Engagement Director. We are impressed with Matties passion and dedication to community service and look forward to her support of KeyBanks robust community outreach efforts.

Active in the community, Hollowell serves as an Executive Board Member for Community Action Wayne/Medina; representing the City/Mayor of Brunswick, Ohio. In addition, she is an Advisory Group Member of National Development Councils CLIF program and sits on the Executive Board of Ohio Sister Circles Rising Star program in Cleveland.

Story continues

Learn more about KeyBank here

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from KeyBank on 3blmedia.com

View source version on newsdirect.com: https://newsdirect.com/news/mattie-jones-hollowell-named-as-keybank-corporate-responsibility-officer-for-northeast-ohio-and-toledo-markets-218356199
KHARKIV, Ukraine (Reuters) -Russian strikes killed at least one person, injured others and caused further disruption to power and water supplies on Monday in Ukraine's second city of Kharkiv, officials said, as Ukrainian forces made further advances in the region.

Ukraine's general staff said its soldiers had recaptured more than 20 towns and villages in just the past day from fleeing Russian troops as they press their counter-offensive in the northeast of the country.

A 37-year-old man died and six people including an 18-year-old girl were injured in the strikes, Kharkiv governor Oleh Synehubov said on Telegram.

"Last night's situation is being repeated. Due to the (Russian) strikes... power and water supplies have halted," said the city's mayor, Ihor Terekhov.

A Reuters correspondent said power had been restored at least in central Kharkiv by late afternoon but said loud explosions could again be heard a few km (miles) away.

Some passengers in a Kharkiv underground station waited outside for the metro to reopen, while others scrolled through their phones or tried to catch taxis or other forms of transport to get home.

"We were in the supermarket 'Rost' when we heard two explosions and the light went out," said Yuliia Bezsonova, a Kharkiv resident trying to contact her husband who had been travelling on the metro system.

Moscow denies deliberately striking civilian targets. It has not commented on the reports of strikes on Kharkiv's infrastructure.

(Reporting by Max Hunder and Tom Balmforth; Writing by Gareth Jones; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
A cloud concert sung by youth from China and Germany was held on Saturday to celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

In the offline part of the concert, students from the local Burg Chinese Chorus sang via video link with their peers from several high school choirs in Chengdu, China.

They presented famous songs from both countries in Chinese and German and garnered warm applause from the audience.

Music is a language that crosses borders, Wu Ken, Chinese Ambassador to Germany, said at the event.

Wu said he hoped the students would continue to use their songs as a link to be explorers of Chinese and German cultures, promoters of friendship between the two countries and practitioners of cross-cultural understanding.

Speaking at the event, Olaf Millmann, organizing director of the Burg Chinese Chorus, said that the chorus has continued to build bridges through music which helps deepen the exchanges between young people from Germany and China.

He said he hoped that the chorus would continue to contribute to deepening the friendship between the two countries in the future.

Chorus member Ben Hanenberg said that participating in chorus activities and learning to sing Chinese songs had always been an essential part of his Chinese learning. He said he plans to study in China and looks forward to discovering the country.
Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather is asking the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation to launch an inquiry into Councilman James Mitchell, the DAs office confirmed.

The inquiry comes as Mitchell disputes his ownership stake in the uptown construction company RJ Leeper, which has multiple contracts with the city of Charlotte.

Upon Councilmember James Mitchell being administered the oath of public office, I have asked for the assistance of the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation to determine whether the status of Mr. Mitchells ownership stake in a firm that has a contractual relationship with the City of Charlotte can be confirmed -- and whether that purported business arrangement is inconsistent with N.C.G.S. s. 14-234 (a)(1), Merriweather said in a statement. As with any criminal inquiry, a request for an investigation is not -- in and of itself -- a confirmation of the existence of criminal wrongdoing. In the meantime, we will not comment further while we await findings from SBI.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: City attorney: Incoming councilman can be sworn in, may face criminal penalties

In response to the inquiry, Mitchell told Channel 9 he welcomes the investigation.

I look forward to the SBI inquiry and excited theyre doing it, Mitchell said. So lets pause and lets wait on the results.

State law bans elected officials from owning more than 10% of a company. RJ Leeper claims Mitchell no longer has an ownership stake in the company. Mitchell disputes that, saying he maintains his 25% ownership, but will sell to get under 10%.

In interviews last week, Mitchell declined to comment on the situation, saying it is a business issue. Mitchell previously told Channel 9 he is pursuing litigation.

Mitchell was sworn into office last week. Prior to the swearing in ceremony, City Attorney Patrick Baker told Charlotte City Council that Mitchell would be able to be sworn in, but may be subjected to criminal penalties if he owns as much of a construction company that he claims he does.

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I am not aware of any legal authority that would prevent the incoming councilmember from being sworn in at next weeks ceremony, Baker said. It is up to the councilmember to determine whether taking the oath could potentially subject him (to) the criminal penalty of GS 14-234. The city would not be a party to such an action.

WSOC SPECIAL SECTION: The Political Beat

RJ Leeper is currently involved with two city projects. Aviations TLE Project is being constructed by the Joint Venture Holder-Edison Foard-Leeper (HEFL). The total budget for the TLE Project, including design and construction, is approximately $6 million. To date, the project is about 50% complete in terms of dollars spent and paid for work in place and materials that have been procured and scheduled. According to a memo sent by Baker, Aviation does not have documentation that would show the ownership interests and delegation of responsibilities between the partners.

Charlotte Waters Mallard Creek facility project is being constructed by the Joint Venture of PC Construction and Leeper Construction. It includes one smaller contract for about $1 million, which is already in place and approved by Council in June 2021. But a larger contract for over $7 million, approved by Council on July 11, 2022, has not yet been signed, so that portion of project is not yet active, according to a memo sent by Baker. The bid document for the project lists RJ Leepers interest as 20% in the joint venture with PC Construction.

Channel 9 asked the DAs office if there was a request by someone that initiated the investigation or if the DA take it upon himself. They responded, we would decline to comment any further at this time.

(WATCH BELOW: City attorney: Incoming councilman can be sworn in, may face criminal penalties)
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Monday said his government would present a plan to the United Nations to end Russia's war in Ukraine, moments after criticizing the world body and calling for it to be reformed.

Lopez Obrador, who expounds on the virtues of a non-interventionist foreign policy, said his plan involves the creation of a "mediation committee" that includes Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Pope Francis.

Modi in May called for a ceasefire in Ukraine and peace talks between the Kyiv government and Russia, which invaded its neighbor on Feb. 24.

Under Lopez Obrador's plan, the mediators would immediately start talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to achieve "a truce of at least five years."

The plan was scant on other details, but Lopez Obrador told a regular news conference he will discuss it further in a speech celebrating Mexico's independence on Friday.

"I'm going to talk about world peace and I'm going to talk about Mexico's position on the war in Russia and Ukraine, and I am going to present a proposal to the United Nations to achieve peace," Lopez Obrador said.

The war has displaced millions, killed thousands of civilians and left cities, towns and villages in ruins.

The Mexican leader presented his idea of including U.N. chief Guterres in his peace plan days after he defiantly dismissed criticism of his security policy by domestic adversaries and the U.N. following a vote in Congress to give the Army control over the civilian-led National Guard.

On Monday, Lopez Obrador described the United Nations, along with the Washington-based Organization of American States, as "supposed defenders" of human rights, saying they cost too much, provided no results and needed to be reformed.

"And when I say they cost a lot: it's that they earn in dollars and barely break a sweat, they don't work and you have to pay them and it's as if they are untouchable, they feel like members of the world government."

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard is expected to present the peace plan at the U.N.'s annual General Assembly next week in New York.

(Reporting by Anthony Esposito, Raul Cortes and Brendan O'Boyle; Grant McCool)
Marc Short, chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, speaks with reporters at the White House, Friday, Nov. 8, 2019, in Washington. Patrick Semansky/Associated Press

Marc Short said the documents Trump had taken to Mar-a-Lago were "baffling."

He also said it appeared Trump's lawyers had lied to the Department of Justice.

Legal experts and former federal prosecutors have also mocked Trump's legal team.

Marc Short, the former chief of staff to former Vice President Mike Pence, criticized how lawyers for former President Donald Trump have acted in the investigation into documents held at Mar-a-Lago.

During an interview on Fox News' "Media Buzz" on Sunday, host Howard Kurtz mentioned Short had been critical of the raid on Mar-a-Lago and asked him if media coverage of it has been fair.

Instead of commenting on the media, Short explained he thinks the Department of Justice has an "extra burden of transparency in this case" due to the FBI's "politicized" actions related to the Russia investigation and the Steele dossier.

Short, who worked under Pence from 2019 to 2021, then expressed concern over documents held at Mar-a-Lago and pivoted, unprompted, to mock Trump's legal team.

"It's certainly baffling as to why a lot of those documents were at Mar-a-Lago. It doesn't seem like it's the most secure environment," he said. "And I think there's a question about why Trump's lawyers apparently were so misleading, potentially lying, in the affidavit, saying they returned all the information."

"There's a difference between playing a lawyer on TV and actually having good legal counsel, and I think that's one of the challenges they currently face," Short added.

Trump's legal team has come under fire in the weeks since the FBI conducted a court-authorized search at his Florida residence and club on August 8. Court records have suggested the lawyers had not been forthcoming with the Department of Justice as it spent more than a year trying to retrieve the documents before conducting the raid.

In June, lawyers for Trump told the Justice Department all classified materials had been returned, the New York Times reported, but the FBI found more during the search. The Times also reported Justice Department officials said they could not trust what Trump's lawyers tell them due to the former president withholding information from them and often changing his mind.

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Legal experts and former federal prosecutors have also mocked Trump's legal team.

"They appear to be either completely incompetent or out of their depth," former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti previously told Insider. "That's part of the reason why the former president has trouble finding lawyers: Because he demands that they file documents and take positions that have no legal support whatsoever."

The Times also reported on Saturday that lawyers for Trump often end up facing legal troubles of their own, with some lawyers joking that MAGA stands for "making attorneys get attorneys."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Milana Vayntrub revisited her abortion story during an appearance on Rachel Bilson's podcast Broad Ideas.

The actress, who was introduced to many as AT&T saleswoman "Lily Adams" in the media company's advertisements, joined Bilson and her co-host Olivia Allen to talk through both her career and her personal life. When discussing her activism and thoughts about the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Vayntrub spoke openly about getting an abortion at the age of 22.

"It was never even a thought that I was going to keep that child. There was no part of me that was like weighting the options," she said. "I was with my first boyfriend out of college, who's a great dude and I love and is still my good friend but was not going to be my forever person. I was working at a job that was not paying me enough to even live the life that I had at that moment, let alone take on the giant financial strain that a child is and I just never felt like it was my child."

She went on to further explain how she felt that there had been "a seed planted in me" and rather than feeling connected to the embryo, she thought of it as "a polyp that needed to be removed." Luckily, she had the support of her mother and her mother's health insurance to see a doctor who put her under anesthesia to perform the abortion.

"I was f***ing fine and I didn't think about it again. It was seriously like having a cyst removed and I was crampy for two weeks afterwards and I never thought about it," she said. "I don't think about it until I think about the women who are in that situation and don't have the option."

Vayntrub has written about her abortion experience in detail before when she penned a first-person piece for The Daily Beast in Feb. 2022, urging people to protect reproductive rights.

"This is not a drill, people. All of us with a uterus may soon be stripped of the constitutional right to an abortion. Forced pregnancy and birth sounds medievalas medieval as secret, unsafe abortions. And yet, here we are," she wrote at the time. "My life as I know it, and motherhood as I know it, was shaped by my right to make choices about my own body. In that way, my birth story is inseparable from my abortion story."

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She made this connection for a second time on the podcast sharing that her experience carrying and giving birth to her son in May 2020 wasn't "traumatizing" only because she had the ability to make choices that best suit her and her child.

"It was only possible for me to do and appreciate because I wanted my son. And all of it. The learning how to nurse, healing my body afterward, all of that I had so much patience for myself and for my baby because I really wanted him," she said. "And if I didnt, if I was forced to have the nausea and the vomiting and the pain and the everything, everything that comes with the incredibly difficult physical task of carrying a child, but I didn't want it, I would not only feel, I'm sure, resentful of my country, but also of my child. And what a way to bring somebody into the world."

While the support of family and friends meant a lot to her at 22, she maintains that allowing decisions to be made between a pregnant person and their doctor is most important.

"I think ultimately, we have to trust doctors. It doesn't matter what any of us think about that because we're not medical professionals," she said. "We have to trust doctors to make the right decisions for their patients and I don't think that the thing in there is a baby, I think it's a fetus and it is always just up to the mom."

If you or someone you know needs help obtaining an abortion or additional information and resources, visit abortionfunds.org or abortionfinder.org. You can also call or text the All Options hotline at 1-888-493-0092, which offers unconditional, judgment-free support for people in all of their decisions, feelings and experiences with pregnancy, parenting, abortion and adoption.

Wellness, parenting, body image and more: Get to know the who behind the hoo with Yahoo Life's newsletter. Sign up here.
Video of a fight in class shows why a mother is now afraid to send her son to middle school.

Channel 2s Tyisha Fernandes talked to Lindsay Jordan, who said her 13-year-old son keeps getting attacked at school and having to fight back.

The incident unfolded at Cousins Middle School in Covington.

We first showed you video of the fight on Channel 2 Action News at 5 p.m. on Monday.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Fernandes spoke to administrators, who said their goal is to deal with students who have disruptive behaviors before they start fighting with other students.

But Jordan said her son warned school leaders about the fight before it happened, and they didnt intervene.

My son went to an administrator to let them know that something was going to transpire between he and the other student, Jordan said. After that happened, they sent both students to class. I expected something to be done as far as one of the children being taken out of class.

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Jordan said her son was in four fights last year and two this year and that there are several fights ongoing at the school that involve other children.

These fights are getting worse and worse as they go along, Jordan said. Ive seen one student have a broken arm from a fight that ended up here, and its just to the point where, as a parent, Im concerned for him to go to school.

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Jordan said when shes talked to administrators about how to prevent any more violence, they dont take action.

Fernandes reached out to the Newton County School District. They sent the following statement:

Our goal is always to mitigate disruptive behaviors, such as fights before they happen, as safety is our priority. Once administrators are made aware of discipline incidents, these incidents are addressed.

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Teachers are supposed to call school police to break up fights. Jordan said that by the the time that happens, its usually too late.

It seems like things are getting pushed to the side, Jordan said.

IN OTHER NEWS:
Back to CBS News Radio.

Monica Rix is an award-winning journalist, who joined the CBS News Radio team in March 2021. She's an anchor and correspondent, based in New York City.

Rix joins CBS from Los Angeles, where she anchored and reported for KFI. Before that, she helped launch FOX News Headlines 24/7 for FOX News Radio and Sirium XM.

In 2016, she kicked off Fox's morning coverage of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando. She spent several days in Parkland, FL, covering the mass shooting there in 2018.

Rix has been recognized for her coverage of the Trayvon Martin shooting and the 'Black Lives Matter' movement in Orlando, as a reporter at WDBO. Throughout her career, she's also covered everything from devastating hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires to Hollywood sex scandals, California's marijuana legalization, protests and high-profile elections nationwide.

On Twitter: @MonicaRix

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In 2020, Black people protested George Floyd's death and made their voices heard at the ballot box in record numbers.

More than a year later, they have grown more pessimistic about sweeping change across the United States but remain steadfast in demanding reparations and police reform, polling shows.

About 45% of Black people in the nation said equality is not likely to happen, according to a Pew Research Center survey released on Aug. 30.

Yet nearly 9 in 10 Black adults want to see aspects of the courts and other parts of the criminal justice system reformed, the survey said.

And 77% of Black adults said descendants of people enslaved in the nation should receive compensation, though most respondents think they will not see it in their lifetimes.

Kamilah Moore, a reparational justice scholar and chair of California's reparations task force, said the survey's findings show the need for change.

"Black pessimism is kind of ingrained in us," she said. "I think rightfully so because of what we've had to endure in this country. But then there's also, and always has to be, that critical mass of Black folks who are like, 'Yeah, we're retaining that pessimism, but we're still going to move accordingly. We're still going to fight for our rights.'"

The wide-reaching survey conducted in October 2021 serves as a snapshot of Black attitudes on race, even as many rallying cries for voting rights and rethinking the criminal justice system have not come to fruition since Floyd's death.

'HORRORS AND HARMS': California says slavery legacy requires 'comprehensive reparations'

REPARATIONS: A woman enslaved by a major Harvard donor fought for reparations and won. Why her story still matters.

Kiana Cox, a research associate at Pew, said the wide range of topics discussed in the survey is part of a long history of debate among Black people on redressing inequality. In the past, she said, discussions on the best pathway forward have included the integrationist pulls of Martin Luther King Jr. compared with the more nationalist ideas of Malcolm X.

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"In every generation, in every era of Black history in the United States, there is this ongoing debate about what freedom looks like and how do we get there," said Cox.

Most Black people want reparations

Eighty-five percent of Black adults said slavery plays a role in the position of Black people in the nation, the survey said. Only 4% said slavery played no part in the current status of Black Americans. Black people in the Northeast were more likely to say the legacy of racism significantly impacts Black people compared to the South and the Midwest, the survey found.

People line up to speak during a California reparations task force meeting at Third Baptist Church in San Francisco, Wednesday, April 13, 2022.

The survey's findings come amid increased attention on reparations for the descendants of Black people enslaved in the nation. Recently, at the federal level, reparations advocates have pushed to pass H.R. 40, a bill first introduced in 1989 that would create a commission to study reparations.

Universities such as Brown in Rhode Island and Harvard in Massachusetts have instituted reparation plans to help address their roles in the enslavement of people of African descent.

Cities and states have also come up with reparation task forces or plans. California's reparations task force called for Black Americans to get reparations. The task force has meetings set for Sept. 23 and Sept. 24.

Asheville, North Carolina, has also approved reparations plans.

Many Black Americans have 'battle fatigue'

Black people were divided over how to advocate for change.

About 1 in 6 Black adults said Black voting is either "extremely" or "very effective" toward getting equality for Black people, the survey said. Black voters over the age of 65 and older were more likely to say voting is highly effective (77%), compared with Black adults between 18 and 29 (48%).

Nearly 1 in 4 Black people said ownership of every business in African American neighborhoods moves the needle toward racial equality, the survey said.

"Battle fatigue," is how Chris Lodgson described Black sentiment portrayed in the survey.

Hodgson, a lead organizer for Coalition for a Just and Equitable California  a group fighting for reparational justice, said Black people protested the deaths of Breonna Taylor and Floyd and intimately felt structural inequities.

'We went through a lot and nothing changed. Nothing changed for us," he said, adding that some Black people are "tired of fighting the illusion."

But when it comes to how reparations could be distributed, Lodgson said he wants Black people to think about the way wealth is gained.

"Wealth comes first then you get all that other stuff," he opined.

Of Black adults who support reparations, about 80% said it should come in the form of scholarships, while 77% said it should come in the form of financial assistance for starting or improving a business.

About 75% said funds should go to financial assistance for buying or remodeling a home, the survey said. And 69% said cash payments would be a beneficial form of reparations.

When asked who should pay for the benefits, respondents overwhelmingly said the federal government.

Shanzai Ikhlas, 18, of Raynham holds a sign with the words "I Can't Breathe," in Central Square in Bridgewater on Monday morning, June 1, 2020. The protest is held in response to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Moore, of California's reparations task force, said one state's reparations do not stop another form, noting that there are several components to reparations under international law. Other components of reparations can include restitution for stolen land or theft of intellectual property such as songs or inventions.

She said reparations also involve halting harm that is still being perpetrated.

Some Blacks want to defund or reform the police

The demand for a fairer, more equitable criminal justice system also remains strong among Black people.

Nearly 90% of Black adults said the criminal justice system needs widespread changes to be equitable for Americans of African descent. Roughly half of Black adults said the police, courts and judicial process should be completely rebuilt to ensure Black people are treated fairly.

Although many Black people want to see changes, the survey found a smaller share want police budgets slashed. Overall, about 40% want spending on police to stay the same. Meanwhile, 35% want to see it increase.

Of those who support decreased funding for police, they would like the money to be reallocated to social services, along with medical and mental health programs, the survey said.

Tiffany Cusaac-Smith covers race and history for USA TODAY. Click here for her latest stories. Follow her on Twitter @T_Cusaac.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Black people want reparations, feel pessimistic after George Floyd
Usually, when one insider buys stock, it might not be a monumental event. But when multiple insiders are buying like they did in the case of Maggie Beer Holdings Limited (ASX:MBH), that sends out a positive message to the company's shareholders.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

Check out our latest analysis for Maggie Beer Holdings

Maggie Beer Holdings Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Non-Executive Director Maggie Beer bought AU$180k worth of shares at a price of AU$0.45 per share. That means that even when the share price was higher than AU$0.31 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. It's very possible they regret the purchase, but it's more likely they are bullish about the company. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. Generally speaking, it catches our eye when insiders have purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid AU$578k for 1.35m shares. But insiders sold 150.00k shares worth AU$50k. Overall, Maggie Beer Holdings insiders were net buyers during the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

Maggie Beer Holdings is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.

Insiders At Maggie Beer Holdings Have Bought Stock Recently

At Maggie Beer Holdings,over the last quarter, we have observed quite a lot more insider buying than insider selling. In total, two insiders bought AU$160k worth of shares in that time. On the other hand, Independent Non-Executive Chairman of the Board Reginald Weine netted AU$50k by selling. We think insiders may be optimistic about the future, since insiders have been net buyers of shares.

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Insider Ownership

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Maggie Beer Holdings insiders own about AU$36m worth of shares. That equates to 33% of the company. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Maggie Beer Holdings Insiders?

It is good to see recent purchasing. And an analysis of the transactions over the last year also gives us confidence. When combined with notable insider ownership, these factors suggest Maggie Beer Holdings insiders are well aligned, and that they may think the share price is too low. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. In terms of investment risks, we've identified 1 warning sign with Maggie Beer Holdings and understanding it should be part of your investment process.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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Cubans and Chinese residents of the island celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival in Havana's Chinatown on Saturday.

In San Fan Con square, participants enjoyed Chinese table games, traditional painting and calligraphy exhibitions, martial arts demonstrations, musical performances, and massage sessions.

Marking the autumn harvest, the Mid-Autumn Festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, which falls on Saturday this year.

A competition focused on making traditional Chinese mooncakes, which symbolize family reunion, was also held at the popular plaza, which is decorated with red lanterns.

Chinese language student Camila Feliz, 23, told Xinhua that this was a good opportunity to learn more about Chinese culture and traditions.

"It is a good moment to express solidarity, support, and a sense of togetherness," she said. "This festival sends a strong message of peace."

"Since ancient times, the Chinese people have had a special relationship with the moon. We are having a lot of fun eating mooncakes," said Yorbelis Rosell, Cuban director of Confucius Institute in Havana.

Teresa Maria Li, director of the House of Chinese Arts and Traditions, said this celebration enhances the cultural and historical bonds between China and Cuba. "We are tasting a bit of China. This is one of the most important Chinese festivals and we are proud of being part of it," she said.

This was the first time that the festival was celebrated offline in Cuba since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.
UPDATE (09/12; 6:59 p.m.)  The Muscogee Creek Nation confirmed Monday evening that Ares Muse, the 2-year-old who disappeared in Okemah Monday morning, was found dead.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family with funeral expenses.

The Muscogee Creek Nation Lighthorse Police are searching for a missing child.

2-year-old Ares Muse was last seen in his Okemah home around 1:30 a.m. Monday morning.

He was last seen wearing black footie pajamas with orange and green dinosaurs.

Ares is three feet tall, weighs 35 pounds, has blonde/brown hair, and brown eyes.

If you see Ares, please call the Lighthorse police at 918-732-7800.

Deputy Chief Daniel Wind with Lighthorse police says the family told them they believe Ares opened a door and walked away while they were asleep.

Several law enforcement agencies at the local, county, state, and federal level are investigating.

This is a developing story.
Update: During an update on Monday, NASA announced that a 70-minute launch window will open Sept. 27 at 11:37 a.m., with a backup 109-minute launch window opening at 2:52 p.m. Oct. 2 for Artemis I.

Read our previous story below:

NASA is making headway toward its third Artemis I launch on the Space Coast.

Earlier this month, the agency scrubbed its second attempt because of a hydrogen leak.

NASA still needs to make sure those repairs worked, and the agency must also resolve an issue involving the certification of the SLS rockets flight termination system.

NASA teams have replaced the seals on the SLS rockets core stage that were associated with a liquid hydrogen leak that forced the scrub of the agencys second Artemis I launch attempt.

READ: Scrubbed Artemis I launch: Whats next?

Next up is a tanking demonstration to check the new seals under cryogenic, or super-cold, conditions. That could happen as early as the weekend.

NASA is still eyeing a third launch attempt for the first integrated flight of the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft before the end of the month.

But theres another hurdle.

TIMELINE: NASA scrubs launch of Artemis I due to technical issues with engine

Without a waiver, NASA will have to roll the SLS and Orion back to the Vehicle Assembly Building to rectify the rockets flight termination system by making sure the systems batteries are properly charged.

During an update on Monday, NASA announced that a 70-minute launch window will open Sept. 27 at 11:37 a.m., with a backup 109-minute launch window opening at 2:52 p.m. Oct. 2.

READ: Brevard County breaks ground on new emergency operations center

Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
OSLO, Norway  Crypto Twitter personality Hodlonaut and Craig Wright, the Australian computer scientist who has long claimed to be the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, will face off in an Oslo courtroom on Monday to settle a years-long legal dispute.

The 7-day trial seeks to determine whether a series of Hodlonauts tweets in March 2019  in which he wrote that Wrights claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto were false, and called him a fraud and a scammer  are protected by freedom of speech in Norway.

The suit, brought by Hodlonaut, is one of two concurrent lawsuits between the two men over the tweets. Wright has also sued Hodlonaut (known in real life as Magnus Granath, but more commonly known in the crypto sphere by his pseudonym) in the United Kingdom. If Hodlonaut emerges victorious in Norway, Wright would be unable to collect damages for libel in connection to the tweets in the U.K..

Hodlonaut is far from the only person to question Wrights claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto: Wright has been widely discredited, largely due to his refusal  or inability  to offer concrete proof that he is Satoshi.

Nor is Hodlonaut the first to face legal action for speaking out against Wright. Just last month, a verdict was reached in a similar libel suit brought by Wright against podcaster Peter McCormack, who called Wright a liar and a fraud in 2019.

Though a British court found that McCormacks statements caused serious harm to Wrights reputation, Wright was penalized for giving the judge deliberately false evidence  and awarded a single British pound in damages.

The suit against Craig Wright, explained

The trial in Norway, initiated by Hodlonaut, seeks a declaratory judgment (essentially a legally binding determination by a judge) that his tweets were protected by freedom of speech, as provided for in the Norwegian constitution.

If Hodlonaut wins his suit, it would prevent another, simultaneous libel suit initiated by Craig Wright against Hodlonaut in the United Kingdom from moving forward.

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Hodlonaut filed the Norwegian suit in May 2019, after receiving a legal notice from Wrights lawyers via Twitter two months earlier. The notice demanded that Hodlonaut delete all tweets and other online or other publications in which [he] alleged that [Wright] had fraudulently claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, as well as tweet a statement  written by Wrights lawyers  apologizing to Wright and accepting him as the creator of Bitcoin.

In April 2019, Wrights supporters placed a $5,000 bounty on Hodlonauts real-life identity, which was not known at the time. According to Hodlonaut, Wrights lawyers petitioned Twitter to disclose his identity, while bounty hunters and private investigators simultaneously worked to dox him.

By mid-May of that year, Hodlonaut was outed as Magnus Granath after a private investigator posing as a police officer convinced his employer to turn over his phone number and other personal information. (Note: CoinDesk takes doxxing very seriously. We weighed the benefits of using Hodlonauts real name in our coverage of this case, and ultimately decided that, because his name is a matter of public record in an ongoing litigation, it made sense to include it  and the details of how it was discovered  in our coverage).

Anticipating a suit by Wright, Hodlonaut filed his own participation for declaratory judgment three days after he was doxxed. Less than a month later, Hodlonauts fears were confirmed when Wrights legal team filed a libel suit against him in the U.K..

Over the convoluted course of the following two years, both Wright and Hodlonaut filed petitions to throw out each others suits, all of which were ultimately unsuccessful (and expensive).

Unintended consequences

The legal battle has also had unintended consequences outside of its impact on Wright and Hodlonauts lives  it also led to a wave of exchanges delisting BSV (Bitcoin Satoshis Vision), the native token of the fork of Bitcoin created by Wright.

After the bounty was placed on Hodlonauts identity, Binance CEO Changpeng CZ Zhao tweeted Craig Wright is not Satoshi. Anymore of this sh!t, we delist!

Craig Wright is not Satoshi.



Anymore of this sh!t, we delist! https://t.co/hrnt3fDACq  CZ  Binance (@cz_binance) April 12, 2019

Two days after his Twitter threat, CZ tweeted: Craig Wright is [a] fraudthe real Satoshi can digitally sign any message to prove it. This is as simple as breathing for him/her. And we have the pub[lic] key. Until then, everyone is Satoshi, except Craig Wright!

On April 15, 2019, three days after CZs initial threat, BSV was delisted from Binance.

The following day, Kraken announced it would follow suit in delisting BSV.

The team behind Bitcoin SV have engaged in behavior completely antithetical to everything we at Kraken and the wider crypto community stands for, the company wrote in a press announcement. It started with fraudulent claims, escalating to threats and legal action, with the BSV team suing a number of people speaking out against them. The threats made last week to individual members of the community were the last straw.

SLAPPing down critics

Wrights libel suit against Hodlonaut is widely considered to be a SLAPP suit (an acronym for strategic lawsuits against public participation) meant to intimidate and censor both Hodlonaut and future critics from publicly opposing Wright.

Financially backed by online gambling magnate Calvin Ayre, who claims to be a billionaire, Wright has the means to pursue litigation that is financially burdensome  and for many people, impossible  to defend against.

Ayre has spoken openly about this: In April 2019, he tweeted, No need to sue everyone, just waiting for a volunteer to bankrupt themselves trying to prove a negative and then letting Craig show the proof. Who will be this moron?

Wright has avoided similar suits against outspoken critics with deeper pockets, including Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin, who has openly and repeatedly called Wright a scammer.

The Bitcoin community has rallied around Hodlonaut, raising money for his legal defense through donations and auctions. At the time of publication, 70.7 bitcoins (worth around $1.5 million USD at press time) had been donated, along with $64,000 in fiat donations, from over 2,500 donors.

Though Wright has grounds to sue Hodlonaut in the United Kingdom  he has been a resident of London since 2015  a more cynical take on Wrights choice of venue is that he is much more likely to win a defamation suit there than he is in Norway or anywhere else.

Due to its strict libel laws that place the burden of proof on the defendant, rather than the claimant, the U.K. is famous for being the libel tourism capital of the world. Journalists and media personalities have historically been targeted by political leaders, companies and wealthy individuals.

With more money and without the burden of proving their critics wrong, the plaintiffs usually win  often resulting in substantial verdicts for the plaintiffs and, for the country, a chilling effect on the freedom of speech.

A history of litigation

Wrights twin defamation suits against Hodlonaut and McCormack are not his first foray into the courtroom.

His claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto have been followed by a string of lawsuits, where Wright is often the plaintiff and occasionally the defendant.

His penchant for suing Bitcoin developers (demanding, among other things, that they give him access to funds stolen in the infamous Mt. Gox hack) and groups that host the Bitcoin white paper online led Block founder and CEO Jack Dorsey to set up a non-profit legal defense fund earlier this year.

In 2020, the Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance (COPA) was created by Block and joined by other tech companies, including Meta, to pool patents and preserve the industrys open-source ethos.

In 2021, COPA filed a lawsuit against Wright over his attempts to copyright the Bitcoin white paper.

Last year, Wright also faced Ira Kleiman  the brother of Wrights friend Dave Kleiman  who sued him in a Miami court over the ownership of Satoshis bitcoins. While the jury found that Wright and Kleiman were not business partners, and that Wright did not owe his estate any bitcoins (which he has not been able to prove ownership of, anyway), he was ordered to pay $100 million in compensatory damages for conversion (a type of theft) of intellectual property.

When CoinDesk asked Vel Freedman, an attorney for the plaintiffs, how much of that $100 million Wright has so far paid to the Kleiman estate, 9 months after the verdict was issued, Freedman answered:
If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.

The widow of New York Citys accused "duck sauce killer" is alleging that he raped and beat her for years in a new plea to have weapons charges lodged against her dropped, reports say.

Glenn Hirsch, 51, allegedly shot himself to death on Aug. 5 while awaiting trial for the deadly shooting of Chinese food deliveryman Zhiwen Yan, allegedly over an ongoing dispute with the restaurant over duck sauce.

His once estranged wife and now widow, Dorothy Hirsch, alleged in new court filings Monday that she was subjected to years of beatings and rape and would not have dared stopped Glenn Hirsch from hiding a trove of weapons inside her apartment, New York Daily News reported.

"Glenns acts of brutality against Dorothy (before and during their marriage) included sadistic and violent sexual abuse, striking, cutting and menacing her with weapons, punching her, slapping her, threatening to kill her, extortion and contempt," Dorothy Hirschs lawyer, Mark Bederow, wrote.

NYC DUCK SAUCE KILLERS' NOTE CLAIMS INNOCENCE, CITES RIKERS ISLAND CONDITIONS AS REASON FOR SUICIDE

Glenn Hirsch is walked from the New York Police Department 112th Precinct station house on Thursday, June 2, 2022, in Queens, New York. Barry Williams/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Dorothy Hirsch said she lived separately from her husband when police executed a search warrant on her apartment and found eight guns stashed in a closet. Bederow wrote that despite prosecutors knowing that "Dorothy was a longtime victim of Glenns domestic violence," they green-lit her June arrest.

Glenn Hirschs record included 10 sealed arrests between 1991 and 2012, mostly relating to alleged violent attacks on his wife, involving one incident where he was accused of holding her captive in a motel room, pistol-whipping and raping her.
The city of Oakland, California, announced last week a plan that would make it among the first cities in the country to return land to Indigenous people.

The city council will conduct hearings and decide whether to grant an easement over five acres of land in a city-owned park to local Indigenous organizations: the Sogorea Te Land Trust, the East Bay Ohlone tribe and the Confederated Villages of Lisjan Nation.

The easement would allow the Sogorea Te Land Trust to immediately use the land, known as Sequoia Point, for public education, natural resource restoration, cultural practices and other future uses, the city said.

This agreement with the city of Oakland will restore our access to this important area, allowing a return of our sacred relationship with our ancestral lands in the Oakland hills, Corrina Gould, a co-founder of the Sogorea Te Land Trust and Lisjan Tribal Chairwoman, said in a statement. The easement allows us to begin to heal the land and heal the scars that have been created by colonization for the next seven generations.

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The Ohlone people, who belong to the Confederated Villages of Lisjan Nation, had inhabited Oakland and Northern California's East Bay area for thousands of years before their forcible removal by European settlers and their descendants starting in the 18th century, the city said in its statement.

The mayor's office and the Segorea Te' Land Trust announced the plans for Sequoia Point in a press conference last week.

Discussions for the land rematriation, as the Sogorea Te Land Trust calls it, began in 2018 between Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and Gould.

I hope the work we are doing in Oakland with the Sogorea Te Land Trust can serve as a model for other cities working to return Indigenous land to the Indigenous community we stole it from, Schaaf said in the citys statement.

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Schaaf also shared on Twitter that "Oakland, California will return land to the Indigenous community we stole it from."

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Oakland, California will return land to the Indigenous community we stole it from. Our Lisjan Ohlone neighbors chose Sequoia Point and the creek below in Joaquin Miller Park, and - pending City Council concurrence - they will have an easement for this land in perpetuity. pic.twitter.com/o5WKxBElCH  Libby Schaaf (@LibbySchaaf) September 12, 2022

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The Sogorea Te Land Trust said in a statement that it planned to create a ceremonial gathering place and structure on the land for Indigenous people and guests to come together.

The return of Sequoia Point is especially significant for the Lisjan Nation, which encompasses five Bay Area counties, because it isnt a federally-recognized tribe.

We have an unbroken tie to these lands, but we have no land base because we're not federally recognized, Gould told USA TODAY. As much as we have been here in the landscape for thousands of years, there are no places in the Bay Area that allow us to tell the story and to engage the land at the same time. 

A process that other cities can duplicate

The announcement in Oakland comes amid a Land Back movement across the country and the globe in which Indigenous peoples are demanding their land back from governments and property owners.

The movement in the United States is headed by NDN Collective, an Indigenous rights advocacy group that has prominently campaigned for the closure of Mount Rushmore and return of the federally-owned land to the Indigenous community.

Opinion: My great-grandfather carved Mount Rushmore on sacred land. Now is the time to remove it.

In 2019, the city of Eureka, California, roughly 275 miles north of Oakland, returned an island off its coast to the Wiyot people, nearly 160 years after the land was seized from the tribe and residents of Eureka massacred several of its members, the local paper Times-Standard reported.

Activists in Minneapolis, Minnesota are pushing for the return of some city parks to Indigenous control to provide housing for the unhoused native population. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told the Minnesota Reformer last year during his re-election campaign last year that he supported giving land back to the native community.

Eureka is believed to be the first city in the country to return land to Indigenous people. But the Wiyot Tribe is federally recognized, meaning the land was returned into a federal trust, Gould said.

The process is much different for non-federally recognized tribes, according to Gould, who hopes Oaklands land return can serve as a model for other cities looking to return land to unrecognized tribes throughout California.

The perpetual land easement that the city of Oakland is planning to grant to the Sogorea Te Land Trust is a brand new" development, Gould said. It gives non-property owners the right to use the property for designated purposes.

We really wanted to make it so that other cities could duplicate this process, Gould said. Theres hundreds of non-federally recognized tribes in California. Almost every single tribe that was brought into a mission is not federally-recognized  so thats many hundreds of thousands of people that are without a land base.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Oakland announces plan to return control of land to Indigenous tribe
Former President Barack Obama and Stephen Curry in 2019. Jeff Chiu/AP Images

Stephen Curry joked on a podcast in 2018 that the moon landing was fake.

Curry got a "stern" email from Former President Barack Obama saying that Curry's comments were irresponsible.

At Obama's behest, Curry took several actions to remedy the situation and to say he believed that humans had landed on moon.

Former US President Barack Obama had to teach Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry a lesson in influence.

According to Rolling Stone's Matt Sullivan, Obama scolded Curry in 2018 for joking on a podcast that the moon-landing was fake.

In 2018, on the "Wingin It" podcast with fellow NBA players Vince Carter, Kent Bazemore and Andre Iguodala, Curry asked if humans had ever been to the moon. When the other players expressed doubt, Curry agreed, saying, "I don't think so, either."

The comments prompted criticism, with NASA even releasing a statement, offering Curry evidence to prove humans had been to the moon.

Curry told Sullivan that he received a "stern" and "direct" email from Obama, admonishing the star point guard for being reckless with his platform. Obama said that man had, in fact, been to the moon and that Curry needed to do something to remedy the situation.

Curry ultimately released a statement saying he was joking. He also held a 15-minute, informational live session on Instagram with an astronaut. And Curry had custom-made, space-themed Under Armour sneakers, which he later auctioned off to support STEM programs in the Bay Area. They sold for over $58,000.

Former President Barack Obama and Stephen Curry are close friends. Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Images

Curry and Obama are close friends, so Curry took no offense to the seriousness of Obama's message.

According to Sullivan, Obama has even made jokes about top-secret material that presidents are privy to: While golfing, Obama joked to Curry, "You won't believe what the aliens look like."

Read the original article on Insider
An Oklahoma man has been charged with three felonies after allegedly breaking into a local gaming store and stealing thousands of dollars in Pokemon cards from a Missouri gaming store last year.

Nicholas Garrison, 24, is accused of forcing his way into Yeti Gaming in the 8900 block of Watson Road, Crestwood, on the night of Oct. 10, 2021. Police reportedly found evidence in his phone showing searches for Missouri directions, card stores near me and Yeti Gaming.

Inside, Garrison allegedly stole up to 270 Pokemon cards valued at $10 to $400 each, for a grand total of $12,250. Meanwhile, damages to the property  including shattered windows and display cases  amounted to over $2,000.

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Everything taken from us was Pokemon, all trading cards, Vince Krekeler, who runs the family-owned business, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch last fall. He said Pokemon has had a resurgence partly due to major anniversaries surrounding the Japanese franchise.

A DNA analysis of blood found in the store led authorities to Garrison in McPherson, Kansas, where he had been jailed on suspicion of burglaries. He reportedly admitted to breaking into the store and taking its merchandise because he needed money.

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I asked him why gaming cards, Lt. Kent Meier, who led the investigation, told KMOV. He said its easier than going into Home Depot and taking tools.

Garrison, who is originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma, has been charged with second-degree burglary, stealing $750 or more and first-degree property damage. Aside from Yeti Gaming, he is also accused of burglarizing other stores in the St. Louis County area.

Pokemon cards may seem like a trivial target, but there is nothing trivial about charges like burglary and felony theft, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell said. We will not tolerate smash-and-grab in St. Louis County.

Story continues

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Garrison has been dubbed the Pokemon Prowler for his alleged crimes. He is reportedly being held on a $50,000 bond.

Featured Image via Yeti Gaming

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Enlisted airmen, rejoice: You may be able to take your promotion test on a computer this year.

The Air Forces top enlisted leader, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne Bass, told Air Force Times in an exclusive interview Sept. 6 she wants to give a select group of airmen access to digital exams in a pilot program at the end of 2022.

That would give the service time to work out any kinks before a full rollout in 2023. A pilot would likely involve a subset of bases around the globe, where internet connectivity and access to electronics altogether can vary.

Enlisted airmen could soon take promotion tests online, leaders say

Things are never as easy as we plan, Bass said. How do we make sure that every airman  actually has access to a computer?

Troops have to pass the Weighted Airman Promotion System exam to be selected as a rising staff sergeant or technical sergeant. The paper test of 100 multiple-choice questions quizzes them on topics from military structure to personal growth.

Service officials and rank-and-file airmen alike have lamented that the Air Force still uses hard-copy tests  which take longer to grade and can get lost in the mail  instead of a more efficient digital version. The Air Force processes more than 120,000 of those tests each year.

For instance, a mail carrier with a contract to ship WAPS papers cross-country misplaced nearly 90 airmens finished answer sheets when moving them from Maryland and Arizona to Texas last year. Those staff sergeants were allowed to retake the test.

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But digital testing can have its own woes. If an eligible airman cant connect to the right network, or if the test itself is badly designed, peoples careers could suffer. The Air Force also needed to update its policies related to data security online, and to obtain enough funding to finish the project.

Asked how the Air Force can avoid the same access and design issues that have bedeviled programs like myEval, a new performance review system that was poorly introduced earlier this year, Bass answered: field testing.

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Rolling out new systems and IT platforms is not anything brand new to anybody, she said. We need to be a little bit more thoughtful  and ensure that our airmen have all the tools that they need.

Officials have been working on the blueprint for service-wide online WAPS testing for at least a year. Lt. Gen. Brian Kelly, the Air Forces former personnel chief, had wanted that plan in place by the end of 2021.

The fact that were not electronic testing, I think, makes all of us as senior leaders absolutely crazy, Kelly said in June 2021.
Oprah Winfrey is hopeful Queen Elizabeth II's passing will help to mend the Royal family's relationship. There has been extensive drama and tension with Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan Markle and the rest of the family. Harry and Meghan recently moved to the United States and stepped back from royal duties. With the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, the entire family is united again, with the press keeping a close eye on the dynamics between the royal family. However, King Charles III gave warm wishes to Harry and Meghan in his first speech addressed to the nation as the King of the United Kingdom.

WINFREY: Well, this is what I think, I think in all Families, you know, my father passed recently this summer and when all families come together for a common ceremony, the ritual of, you know, burying your dead, there's an opportunity for peacemaking and hopefully, there will be that.
ISLAMABAD (AP)  Pakistan is grappling with food shortages after deadly floods left the impoverished country's agriculture belt underwater, the prime minister told the Turkish president by phone, as authorities scaled up efforts Monday to deliver food, tents and other items.

Shahbaz Sharif spoke to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan overnight to thank Turkey for dispatching food, tents and medicine by 12 military aircraft, four trains and Turkish Red Crescent trucks. The International Rescue Committee estimated that the floods have damaged more than 3.6 million acres of crops in Pakistan.

A government statement said Sharif briefed Erdogan about the government's relief activities and sought assistance from Turkey in overcoming the food shortage." Sharif also sought help from Turkey on reconstruction work in the flood-hit areas.

More than 660,000 people, including women and children, are living at relief camps and in makeshift homes after floods damaged their homes across the country and forced them to move to safer places. Pakistan, the country's military, U.N. agencies and local charities are providing food to these flood victims.

Pakistan heavily relies on its agriculture and occasionally exports its surplus wheat to Afghanistan and other countries. Now it is in talks to import badly needed wheat and vegetables, including to people not directly affected by floods.

Meanwhile, the price of vegetables and other food has started increasing.

Until last week, floodwater was covering around a third of Pakistan, including the country's agriculture belt in eastern Punjab and southern Sundh provinces which are the main food basket. Initially, Pakistan said the floods caused $10 billion in damages, but authorities say the damages are far greater than the initial estimates.

That's forced Pakistan and the United Nations to urge the international community to send more help.

In response, U.N. agencies and various countries, including the United States, have sent more than 60 planeloads of aid. Since last week, Washington has sent three military planes to deliver food.

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Three more U.S. military planes carrying aid landed in Pakistan's worst flood-hit southern Sindh province Monday, according to a Foreign Ministry statement. So far ten such flights have arrived in the area.

Washington days ago set up a humanitarian air bridge to flood-ravaged Pakistan to deliver aid through 20 flights, which will arrive in Pakistan before September 16. The U.S. authorities also plan to distribute cash among needy people.

Last week, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during a visit to Pakistan traveled to flood-hit areas, where deluges from floods are still causing damage.

Guterres has called on the world to stop sleepwalking through the dangerous environmental crisis. He assured Sharif in a meeting with him that he will do his best to highlight the ordeal of Pakistanis facing floods.

Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said at a news conference Monday that Pakistani authorities and international aid agencies are assessing the flood damage that has affected 33 million people. He said the government would proceed with transparency in the distribution of aid.

Meanwhile, the IRC, a prominent international aid group, on Monday warned of mounting economic losses, likely leading to food shortages and an increase in violence against women. In a statement, the group said the floods destroyed over 3.6 million acres of crops in Pakistan.

The acute loss of farmland and agriculture is likely to be felt in the months and years ahead. It is vital that the humanitarian response remains fully funded in order to give the people of Pakistan the best chance of rebuilding their lives, said Shabnam Baloch, IRCs director in Pakistan.

She said so far the IRC has reached 29,000 women and girls with aid in flood-hit areas.

Deluges from the rising Indus river and the Lake Manchar in the Sindh province were still posing threat to Dadu, a district in the south where rescuers using boats were evacuating villagers to safer places Monday. Light rain is expected in flood-hit areas this week, according to the Meteorological Department.
You are here: Arts

Chinese-Americans and people of other ethnic groups in U.S. capital Washington D.C. gathered at the Chinese American Museum on Saturday to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.

They tasted mooncakes, a traditional pastry dedicated to the festival, as well as other Chinese cuisines, and sipped tea.

Young children enjoyed making craft lanterns, having their faces painted, and a story corner reading.

Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang tweeted on Saturday that the Mid-Autumn Festival is "a day for reunion."

"Let's celebrate it by admiring the moon and enjoying the mooncakes," Qin wrote. "Keep each other in our hearts, sharing joy though far apart."

The Mid-Autumn Festival was also celebrated by residents of many other places across the United States.

The festival, which falls on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, is one of the most important traditional holidays in China.
Phoenix police say that a man is dead after he attempted to run towards officers with a sword in his hand.

The man allegedly began using a sword to hit the gates of the Phoenix Police Department precinct on Sept. 10, according to FOX 10.

When police told the man to drop the sword, he refused, and began running towards officers. Police then fired shots at the suspect, who was later identified as Aaron Baughman, 40.

Baughman later died at a local hospital.

Baughman's father arrived at the scene and attempted to walk towards his son, but police told him to stop.

Police say that no officers were injured in the incident.
Kentucky State Police on Monday announced an arrest in the shooting deaths of three people in Paintsville last week.

Ronnie Pack, 21, of Paintsville was arrested on three charges of murder and one charge of first-degree wanton endangerment of a police officer, according to a news release and citation.

State police also identified the three victims as Paula Wells, 56; Richard Morman, 56; and Myrtle Pack, 36, all of Paintsville.

The shootings occurred on Sept. 9 at a residence on Depot Street. Police said the three victims were pronounced dead at the scene.

A suspect was identified the same day and taken to a hospital.

Police did not say in the news release or the citation what led to the shootings.

State police said in a separate release Monday that its Critical Incident Response Team had been asked to investigate a trooper-involved shooting in Johnson County that day.

That appeared to be part of the same incident involving the homicides. The release said a man was transported from the scene of the shooting for treatment of injuries.

Packs only prior criminal charge as an adult was in February 2020, when he was charged with alcohol intoxication in a public place at the University of Pikeville.

An officer said in a citation that when he went to investigate a report of an intoxicated man, university security officers said they found Pack, who was not a student, drunk in the administration building at 2:20 a.m.

The citation said Pack had slurred speech and appeared unsteady, and said he had drunk vodka.
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty

Vit Kogut, a 35-year-old theater director, was dragging on a cigarette as he walked around Moscow. He had spent most of the Ukraine war abroad and when he returned he could not recognize his citythe territory of art that was his world had been destroyed. The bombardment by the state sensors, including GRAD, a group of conservative and nationalist politicians named after a multiple rocket launcher, had compiled blacklists of artists who had spoken against the massacres in Ukraine and pushed leading theaters to cancel their shows by artists with anti-war positions.

The number of banned theater directors, filmmakers, playwrights and musicians had been growing by the day. I look around and I cannot find anything left of my favorite free theater, Kogut told The Daily Beast. There is not a single acute play left in the repertoires of Moscow theaters. The loyal state theaters salute the power and once again explore the Russian soul instead of social issues.

A Trial in Moscow Exposes Russias War on Artists

He sounded down. My theater, Perovo, demands to cut out all the sharpest, sarcastic lines from my play Land of Elza but I do not agree with the censored versionsif I did, I would be pledging loyalty to the states line, which I do not accept.

Russia has targeted its most popular authors who disagreed with the aggression and asked for peace. Last month, the GRAD commission at the Russian State Duma declared their role as to identify the mechanisms spreading foreign influence and anti-state activities in our theater, cinema, fine art and literature.

Sofia Kapkova, the founder of the Documentary Film Center said that Sept. 2 had been a painful turning point. The center was the place where thousands of film lovers could see the best international feature and documentary films. Intellectuals, artists, hipsters loved itthe center screened film five times a day, five days a week, and invited international directors for long and thoughtful discussions with their audiences.

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Last year the center presented the American Autumn Film Festival from early October till late December, playing the best American movies from 1970s, with support of the U.S. Embassy and Kapkovas Mart Foundation. On Sept. 2 we were supposed to start our new season but the city authorities shut down the center, which is a private company, Kapkova told The Daily Beast on the phone from New York. By one version, it was done for fire safety reasons, by the other they shut it down because I spoke against the war. It also looks like they are fighting against any Western influence in arts.

For 38-year-old Evdokia Moskvina, an award-winning filmmaker, the end of the center was also the end of an exciting era, a place where she had premieres and talked of her films, Occupation 1968, about a journey of old Russian generals from their hometown of Odesa to Prague, and Forbidden Children, in which Moskvina documented the sad lives of five Russian girls in the refugee camp of Al-Khol, whose parents were killed by ISIS.

The USSR did not have any documentary filmmakers and now authorities ban international documentary films. The development of cinematography in Russia, just when it started joining the international process of art development is frozen, Moskvina told The Daily Beast. It was the only center in Russia that showed so many of the worlds best documentary films. But Russia is fighting against the leading voices in arts.

Ever since Russian president Vladimir Putin sent the army to Ukraine on Feb. 24, dozens of Russias leading artists have been signing letters, petitions, and recording videos addressed to the Kremlin demanding an end to the war.

As a child of the World War II, I could not imagine even in my worst nightmare that Russian bombs would target Ukrainian cities, villages, force Kyiv residence into bomb shelters, make them flee from their own country, Lev Dodin, an acclaimed Russian theater director of the Maly Drama Theatre said.

Celebrated pianist Polina Osetinskaya, who played a concert at Carnegie Hall last October, posted on Facebook on the first day of the war: Horror, shame and disgust. My friends in Ukraine, Kyiv, Odesa, I have no words, I did not think I would ever live to see this.

On Sept. 2, Osetinskaya arrived to perform in St. Petersburg but found out that her performance had been cancelled. I have no idea who makes such decisions, out of the blue I was informed I would not be playing the Triple Concerto by Beethoven. Then more concerts were cancelled, Osetinskaya told The Daily Beast.

Beginning from the first day of the war, I posted on social media for Russia to stop the horror. I do not delete my posts, she added.

The Kremlin fired back at artists by shutting down Russias best contemporary theatre, Gogol Center, on July 1, then the Bolshoi cancelled ballets and operas by its directors without giving any reason, and finally, on Sept. 2, an avalanche of cancellations and bans began all across the country after Russia officially outlawed criticism of war.

I am a totally banned playwright in Russia. Forty-five theaters have cancelled my plays, Ivan Vyrypayev, one of the leading playwrights of Russian contemporary drama, told The Daily Beast. GRAD is a far-right group. They are building a nationalist culture, where the core is the Orthodox church and imperialism; they plan to spread the influence of the Russian world, all the way to the western part of Ukraine, banning every performance, every piece of art representing liberal values.

Vyrypayev is now in Poland. He stages his thoughtful plays with Polish, Belarusian, Russian, and Ukrainian actors.

As a student at the Russian Institute of Theater Arts, he made a deal with his master, Leonid Kheifets. We agreed that everything I ever create will be honest, he said. I keep my promise to my teacher.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Queen Elizabeth II's death on Thursday marked a historic change in titles and roles within the royal family as the newly-appointed King Charles III named his firstborn son, William, and wife Catherine the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Their amended names also come with adjusted appointments, and marked a "new era" for the palace as a royal expert exclusively told Fox News Digital that after more than seven decades under Her Majesty's rule, the family is wading into "unchartered territory."

"The way we have known William and Kate and Charles and Camilla, those are bygone days," Shannon Felton Spence, former British Public Affairs official, said. "It is a new era."

QUEEN ELIZABETH II'S COFFIN ARRIVES IN EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND

Queen Elizabeth II's death on Thursday marks a "new era" for the palace as roles change for Prince William and Kate (pictured in 2019,) along with King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla. Geoff Pugh

"William was supposed to join UNGA (United Nations General Assembly) in two weeks, but wont do that now," Spence noted. "They were also supposed to do another visit to the US this year, who knows if that happens."

William and Catherine, who were named the Prince and Princess of Wales by King Charles III on Friday, were previously known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

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"Regardless of the timing, they all have different roles now," Spence said. "The Cambridges have shifted up. The things they were working on yesterday, they are no longer working on, they have new [duties.]"

Queen Elizabeth II smiled while standing on the balcony at Buckingham Palace in June to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee. Max Mumby

Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, will remain the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, but their children will now receive royal titles as Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet as they become sixth and seventh in line for the throne.

Kate addressed a group of children outside of Windsor Castle on Saturday as she said her youngest son was grieving the loss of his great-grandmother.

"My little Louis, he's so sweet. He said: 'Mommy don't worry because she's now with great-grandpa,'" the princess told members of the public mourning at the castle, according to a viral TikTok video.

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"This just shows you just how special she was to everybody, all generations ... thank you for coming to pay your respects," Kate told the children as she addressed the large crowd of mourners for the queen.

Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince William, Prince of Wales, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex on the long Walk at Windsor Castle arrive to view flowers and tributes to Queen Elizabeth II. Chris Jackson

Prince Philip died in April 2021 at the age of 99. He and Queen Elizabeth had been married for 73 years.

In Friday's sovereign address, King Charles III said he was "proud" to give the titles to William and Catherine, and added they will "continue to inspire and lead our national conversations, helping to bring the marginal to the centre ground where vital help can be given."

He also added, "I want also to express my love for Harry and Meghan as they continue to build their lives overseas."
(Getty)

Queen Elizabeth II has died at the age of 96.

The monarch passed away peacefully in Balmoral Castle on Thursday 8 September. Her death comes almost a year and a half after the Duke of Edinburgh died on 9 April 2021.

Over the course of her reign, the Queen was the most powerful person in Britain, but she was also one of the most inspiring women in the world.

She was the UKs longest-serving monarch, recording 70 years on the throne, and despite hardly ever discussing womens rights, she had a watershed impact on empowering women everywhere throughout her reign.

The Queen was described by many as a feminist icon, including Olivia Colman, who played the monarch in the fourth season of The Crown.

The Oscar winner previously told Radio Times: [The Queen is] the ultimate feminist. Shes the breadwinner. Shes the one on our coins and banknotes.

In remembrance of the Queen, weve rounded up some of her best feminist moments.

When she took Saudi King Abdullah for a spin in her Land Rover

Queen Elizabeth II pictured driving her Range Rover to attend the annual Royal Windsor Horse Show in May 2019 (Getty Images)

In 2003, the Queen famously took Abdullah, who died in 2015, for a drive in her Land Rover when he came to visit her in Balmoral, Scotland.

The story was told in a memoir by British diplomat Sir Sherard Cowper-Cowles, who was Ambassador to Saudi Arabia at the time.

After lunch, the Queen had asked her royal guest whether he would like a tour of the estate, wrote Cowper-Coles.

Prompted by his foreign minister the urbane Prince Saud, an initially hesitant Abdullah had agreed. The royal Land Rovers were drawn up in front of the castle. As instructed, the Crown Prince climbed into the front seat of the front Land Rover, his interpreter in the seat behind.

To his surprise, the Queen climbed into the driving seat, turned the ignition and drove off.

The move was particularly significant considering women were not yet allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia, and, as Cowper-Coles writes, Abdullah was not used to being driven by a woman, let alone a Queen.

When she quietly oversaw the change in royal rules of succession to allow the eldest woman to accede to the throne

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In 2011, the Queen oversaw a major change to succession laws as agreed by the leaders of the 16 Commonwealth countries that meant sons and daughters of any future British monarch would have equal rights to the throne.

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Up until that point, the laws of succession dictated that the heir to the throne is always the first-born son of the monarch.

But according to the new rules, had the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had a daughter first, she would have taken precedence to the throne over her younger brothers. As it so happens, the couple had a boy first, Prince George.

When she became the first female member of the Royal Family to join the Armed Services full-time

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One of the reasons why the Queen was such a keen driver (she was regularly photographed behind the wheel) is because in 1945 during World War II, she drove trucks and learnt how to repair cars in the Womens Auxiliary Territorial Service.

The Queen learnt to drive in 1945 when she joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) as a Subaltern #HM90factshttps://t.co/bDQOVtfTIv  The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) March 18, 2016

She was the only living head of state to have served in the Second World War.

When she gave a brilliant speech at the centenary celebrations of the Womens Institute in 2015

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In June 2015, the Queen opened the 100th annual meeting of the Womens Institute (WI) at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

The monarch, who became a member of Sandringham WI in 1943, delivered an inspiring speech to more than 5,000 WI members to mark the occasion. In the speech, she highlighted some of the greatest achievements for women in the last 100 years.

There has been significant economic and social change since 1915, she said. Women have been granted the vote, British women have climbed Everest for the first time and the country has elected its first female prime minister.

She added: In the modern world, the opportunities for women to give something of value to society are greater than ever, because, through their own efforts, they now play a much greater part in all areas of public life.

In 2015 it continues to demonstrate that it can make a real difference to the lives of women of all ages and cultural backgrounds, in a spirit of friendship, cooperation and support.

Every time she stepped out with Prince Philip and he had to walk behind her

(Getty Images)

When the Duke of Edinburgh was still alive, you may have noticed that he almost always walked behind the Queen.

This is no coincidence. According to tradition, when the royal family is part of a procession, they enter and are seated in the order of precedence, which is the same as the line of succession to the throne.

This means that the Queen always walked in front, followed by Prince Philip, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, and then the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and so forth.

After Philips death in April 2021, the order of the procession now starts with the Queen, followed by Prince Charles and Camilla, then Prince William and Kate Middleton, and so on.

It might be out of obligation rather than choice, but its hard not to feel empowered every time we saw the Queen leading the royal family, both symbolically and literally.
Up until last year, Britains Queen Elizabeth was the picture of healthy longevity  she not only enjoyed an extremely long and active life, but made it to 96 without being afflicted by cancer, dementia or other health issues that can come with aging.

Queen Elizabeth was a life well lived, King Charles III said in an address to the nation after his mothers death on Sept. 8.

Decades of privilege obviously helped  the queen had servants and personal chefs to tend to her every need; access to the best health care and beautiful residences to relax in when she needed.

Queen Elizabeth II (Max Mumby/Indigo / Getty Images)

Genes also played a role: The queens mother lived to be 101, though her father died at 56.

But genes are only part of the picture, said Andrew Steele, a British scientist and author of the book Ageless: The New Science of Getting Older Without Getting Old.

For most of us, how long we live is probably less than 20% down to our genetics  meaning the other 80% is down to lifestyle and luck, Steele told TODAY.

Luck we obviously cant do much about, but theres a lot of lifestyle advice that can add years to our lives, and Queen Elizabeths habits probably contributed to her record-breaking stint on the throne.

Here are some of the late monarchs healthy longevity habits:

Regular exercise

The queen walked with her dogs, rode horses, hiked around the grounds of her estates and otherwise stayed active throughout her life and into her old age.

Probably the single best thing most of us can do for our health is regular exercise. Lots of studies show that older people who are more active live longer and healthier, Steele said.

We could all follow the queens example, as she was known to regularly walk her corgis until her final year.

He pointed to a recent study that found walking 10,000 steps a day could cut the risk of dementia in half.

Queen Walking At Windsor (Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)

A sense of purpose in life

Queen Elizabeths life was centered around duty and service to her nation. She was still performing official engagements well into her 90s, which may well have contributed to her lifespan, Steele said, but its harder to quantify these things precisely.

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President of Switzerland Meets Queen Elizabeth II (Dominic Lipinski / WPA pool via Getty Images)

A growing body of research suggests having a strong sense of purpose in life improves physical and mental health and enhances overall quality of life, the authors of a study published in 2019 in JAMA wrote.

When they followed 7,000 adults, they found those who scored higher on a questionnaire designed to measure purpose in life were less likely to die during the study period. Volunteering was one way people could improve their purpose in life, the study noted.

Meaningful work

This is related to the above habit. The queen never retired, but kept working into her old age. She loved her job, author Tina Brown wrote in The New York Times.

So much so that just two days before her death, the monarch met with and appointed Liz Truss as Britains new prime minister, beaming in photos even as she looked frail and infirm.

The never retire sentiment was echoed by Dr. Howard Tucker, the worlds oldest practicing doctor who turned 100 this summer.

I look upon retirement as the enemy of longevity, the Cleveland neurologist told TODAY. I think that to retire, one can face potential shriveling up and ending in a nursing home.

Residents of Okinawa, Japan  one of the worlds Blue Zones where people live extraordinarily long lives  dont have a word for retirement. Rather, they use ikigai  which translates as the reason you get out of bed in the morning. Work often satisfies that for us, experts told TODAY.

Animal companions

The queen famously loved her corgis, her furry four-legged canine companions. She owned dozens of dogs during her lifetime and four survived her. The monarch also adored horses.

Interacting with animals can decrease levels of cortisol, a stress-related hormone, and lower blood pressure, the National Institutes of Health noted. Studies have also found animals can reduce loneliness, increase feelings of social support and boost mood, the agency added.

Time spent in nature

The queen loved Balmoral, the 50,000-acre country estate in in the Scottish Highlands, where she spent most summers and died on Sept. 8. The woods, streams, rolling hills and valleys allowed her to hike, ride horses and picnic with her family.

Spending at least two hours a week outdoors in a natural setting is linked with good health and well-being, according to a study published in 2019.

Living near higher levels of greenness was linked with lower rates of premature death from all causes, suggesting green vegetation has a protective effect, another study found.

Turning to forest bathing  a type of therapy that involves walking through the woods, using your senses to connect with nature and staying in the present moment  can help relieve stress and boost mental health.

Strong social connections

Queen Elizabeth was married to Prince Philip for 73 years. She maintained a close relationship with her four children and their families. Her daily life included meetings with advisers, politicians, visiting dignitaries, cultural icons and ordinary citizens.

Her days were filled with people and social interactions until her death. Thats important because loneliness is a risk factor for all-cause mortality, a review of studies warned. Chronic loneliness has an impact on human biology, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy told MSNBC.

It puts us in a chronic stress state, which increases inflammation in our bodies, and elevates our risk of cardiovascular disease and other illnesses, he said.

But being connected and having strong social relationships decreases the risk of premature death, a meta-analysis found.

Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee 2022 - Platinum Pageant (Chris Jackson / Getty Images)

Tea, dark chocolate and alcohol in moderation

Queen Elizabeth always started her morning with a cup of Earl Grey tea and also had a daily afternoon tea.

Tea, especially green tea, is a rich source of flavonoids, bioactive compounds that can lessen oxidative stress, relieve inflammation and provide other health benefits, researchers noted.

Regular tea drinkers were less likely to develop atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease or die prematurely from any cause compared to others, they found.

The queen also loved dark chocolate, one of her former chefs said. The not-too-sweet treat is rich in powerful antioxidants that can help reduce inflammation and support heart health.

The late monarch's routine also included alcohol  she enjoyed a Dubonnet cocktail every night for around a half-century, British historian Andrew Roberts told TODAY. Last fall, doctors advised her to give up that part of her evening.

Though there are plenty of studies about the harmful effects of alcohol on health, modest drinking has also been associated with longevity, researchers have found.

A final note about genes:

The influence of genetics does become more important when it comes to lifespans into the 90s and particularly the 100s, Steele said. So the queen's son seems to be in a good position.

"King Charles, whose mother made it to 96 and father died last year at 99, may be looking forward to a decent reign in spite of only having started at 73," Steele noted.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Credit - Photo courtesy of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration

In late August, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued a warning to the public to look out for an alarming emerging trend: colorful pill and powder versions of the potent opioid fentanyl, known as rainbow fentanyl. This trend appears to be a new method used by drug cartels to sell highly addictive and potentially deadly fentanyl made to look like candy to children and young people, the agency said.

While fentanyl does threaten young peoples livesespecially if theyre not aware theyre taking itsome drug experts caution that focusing just on the rainbow version may obscure other equally dangerous types of the drug. Heres what to know about rainbow fentanyl, and how to protect yourself and your children.

The focus on rainbow fentanyl may be misleading

Illicitly manufactured fentanyl is very dangerous in any color, and some drug experts worry that theres too much focus on the risks posed by rainbow fentanyl. Kids are getting pills, and some of them are dying from them. This is absolutely a distraction, says Dean Shold, co-founder of the non-profit FentCheck, which provides fentanyl test strips and drug education.

Another issue is that the DEA hasnt revealed evidence that the colors are intended specifically to attract children. Fentanyl has come in colors for years, and some research has found that color is one of the ways drug users identify illicit drugs potency. Its actually keeping them safe, because they know what theyre getting for each color, says Jon E. Zibbell, a senior public health analyst at RTI International, a nonprofit research institute promoting science-based solutions for public-health issues.

If a substance is marketed as a prescription pill like oxycodone or Xanax, however, teens and other young people who use drugs may not realize they contain fentanyl, says Dr. Scott E. Hadland, a pediatrician and addiction specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. The illicit drug supply in the U.S. is very dangerous, in part because substances sold as one drug may contain a mixture of others, including dangerous substances like the animal tranquilizer xylazine and benzodiazepines. This randomness raises the odds of overdose because of the combined effects of drugs, as well as the possibility that a person could consume too strong of an opioid dose.

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Hadland worries that multi-colored fentanyl could make it more interesting or exciting to young people. But, he says, fentanyl is already everywhere in the market. I dont know that this is going to be some new thing that brings in teens to use who had not previously been using.

Kids are already at risk from fentanyl

Over the last few years, the number of annual overdose deaths among 14- to 18-year-olds in the U.S. has increased, rising from roughly 490 in 2019 to about 950 in 2020, according to an analysis published in JAMA in April. A growing share of teen overdose deaths involve fentanyl; the drug was involved in more than two-thirds of overdose deaths in 2021.

Its also more common for manufacturers to press fentanyl to look like prescription drugs, says Joseph Palamar, an associate professor at New York University Langone who studies drug-use epidemiology. For instance, many colored fentanyl pills are blue and pressed with the logo M30 to resemble the drug oxycodone. In a study published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence in May, Palamar and colleagues found that the portion of fentanyl seized in pill form rose from 13.8% in 2018 to 29.2% in 2021. Id warn [my children] that illegally obtained pills can contain fentanyl, and that exposure to even a small amount can be enough to kill someone, he says.

How to keep your kids safe

Its essential to store all drugs where young children cant reach them, says Palamar. Im not sure if manufacturers or dealers intend for these new pills to attract kids, but what worries me is that they can attract kids, says Palamar. What worries me is if a kids parent, sibling, or friend leaves one of these fentanyl pills around and then someonea kid or an adulteats it thinking its candy.

Keeping an open dialogue with teens about the dangers of illicit drugs can help protect them, says Hadland. Teens should know that illegally obtained pills may contain fentanyl, and that even a small amount of fentanyl can be fatal, he says.

Parents should also consider keeping the opioid overdose reversal drug Narcan on hand, which can save someones life. I think of it like a fire extinguisher, says Hadland. Its the thing you always want to have in your home but never want to actually need to use.

Some teenagers use illicit drugs to cope with addiction or a mental-health disorder, and parents should watch for red flags, says Hadland. For instance, teens often use alcohol, marijuana, or nicotine before turning to riskier drugs; its especially concerning, he says, if a teen uses substances frequently. Other warning signs can include struggling in school and changes or deteriorations in their relationships. However, prevention is best, and making sure that children receive support for any mental-health problems is one of the best ways to safeguard against drug use.

I think conversations often are quite alarmist: Look at this new drug! Imagine if this were to make it into your community! says Hadland. We also need to remember that many of the young people who use these substances are struggling with mental-health problems or addiction that are going completely unaddressed. And we need to make sure were providing resources for that.
With a fuselage length of fewer than two meters, a flight time of four hours, and a maximum speed of 110 km per hour, the E25 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) played a vital role in extinguishing a forest fire in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality in August.

Intelligent UAVs are now being used in many scenarios, especially in complex environments, which can effectively reduce labor costs and improve work efficiency, said Zheng Wei, general manager of Chongqing Efly Technology Co., Ltd, E25's manufacturer.

Zheng said their UAVs have independent intellectual property rights, widely used in forest fire prevention, emergency rescue, security inspection, and others.

Fitted with a camera and tracking module, the UAV can send back high-definition videos in real-time, identify targeted objects, and perform object tracking.

According to Zheng, the UAVs were used for searching for potential ignition points and conducting fire detection and residual fire monitoring during the forest fire.

Meanwhile, they also sent the on-site inspection videos back to the command center through the 5G network in real-time, providing accurate data analysis and emergency treatment plans for fire prevention and fighting at the front line.

China is a key civil UAV industrial base globally and boasted over 12,000 companies engaged in the UAV industry at the end of 2021, according to the 5th China International Unmanned Aircraft System Expo held in August.

Recently, Chongqing's Liangjiang New Area received approval to build a national-level civil UAV test area. The city is seizing this opportunity to attract upstream and downstream UAV enterprises to design application scenarios such as UAVs in urban logistics.

"Chongqing has complex terrain with high mountains and steep slopes. It's difficult to transport fresh agricultural products with high added value in mountainous areas to cities by road. This provides opportunities for UAV cargo delivery," said Zhan Xiangdong, chairman of Chongqing Liangjiang Aviation and Aerospace Industry Investment Group Co., Ltd.

In the field of the UAV industry, Liangjiang New Area has gathered leading enterprises in sub-sectors such as Fonair UAS Technologies Co., Ltd. and Chongqing Efly Technology Co., Ltd., according to local authorities.

The area also has operation guarantee conditions like general aviation airports and flight service stations, forming a relatively complete industrial chain.

"In the future, we will support enterprises to carry out operations such as integrated application of satellite internet and long-range UAVs, and vertical take-off and landing of UAV for cargo delivery in high mountains and valleys," said Zhan.
STANISLAV POHORILOV  MONDAY, 12 SEPTEMBER, 2022, 20:40

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed the illegal mass deportation of Ukrainians to Russia organised by the occupiers during a meeting with the director general of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Antonio Vitorino.

Source: Press service of the Presidents office

Quote: "A separate topic during the negotiations was the illegal mass deportation of Ukrainians to Russia, in particular women, children as well as our defenders, and the system of filtration camps organised by the occupiers."

Details: Zelenskyy stressed that deportation is a gross violation of international humanitarian law and a war crime.

He also called on the IOM director general to put maximum pressure on Russia to put an end to this crime. "We are in favour of the International Organisation for Migration having more access to deported Ukrainians, especially to those territories where there are so-called filtration camps," the President said.

Background: In July, Zelenskyy reported that the Russian invaders deported the Russian Federation to 2 million residents of the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, including several hundred thousand children.

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Woman checking heating thermostat

Rich households will receive twice as much support aimed at reducing the cost of living than poorer households next year, a think tank has claimed.

The Resolution Foundation said if the government cuts National Insurance and limits energy bill rises, richer homes will get support worth 4,700 in 2023, compared to 2,200 for the poorest.

A typical household energy bill will be limited to 2,500 annually until 2024.

The think tank said "details and costings" were missing from the plan.

Support for the richest tenth of households will "far exceed the level of support for the poorest tenth of households despite the latter being most exposed to high energy bills", the Resolution Foundation, which focuses on low to middle income households, said.

The huge support scheme could cost up to 150bn, but Prime Minister Liz Truss has refused to put a figure on it, saying "extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures".

The Department for Business could not offer a comment when contacted by the BBC, due to the period of national mourning.

Under the government's Energy Price Guarantee, suppliers are limited in the amount that can be charged for each unit of energy.

For a typical household - one that uses 12,000 kWh (kilowatt hours) of gas a year, and 2,900 kWh of electricity a year - it means they will pay an average of 2,500 a year on their energy bill for the next two years.

Without this intervention, that annual bill would have been 3,549 a year. Last winter it was 1,277 a year.

The support with energy bills will be available for households in England, Scotland and Wales with equivalent assistance for Northern Ireland.

Torsten Bell, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation and former Labour adviser, said the government's support was "colossal" and "bold", but warned families should "still expect a tough winter ahead", but still said limiting bills was "absolutely the right thing to do in terms of providing support where it's needed."

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Household energy use graphic

The Resolution Foundation said the "near-universalist intervention" fitted with previous support offered in the form of a 150 council tax rebate and a 400 energy bill discount.

The think tank added that targeted help had also been provided for lower income households through the benefits system, but said tax cuts benefitting the richest half of households meant "the total package of government support now in place to support incomes in 2022-23 provides no more support to poorer than richer households".

Analysis box by Colletta Smith, Consumer affairs correspondent

The Energy Price Guarantee comes with an enormous price tag for the government. Although they won't state how much it may total, this report suggests it could be bigger than the banking bailout during the financial crisis. Think about that for a second.

Although welcomed as some action after a summer of stasis, there are plenty of organisations saying that this huge sum of money is flowing in the wrong direction.

Although most households had been facing the same huge price increase in October, those price rises do not affect everyone in the same way. Those with less money spend proportionately more of their income on energy, and are likely to have smaller properties to heat, which means they won't save as much with this guarantee, and will still struggle to pay bills at the current rate.

There will be what the government is calling a "fiscal event" this month, and the pressure is mounting on the government to provide more detail and more targeted help for the poorest households. Although this was the first announcement of Liz Truss's premiership, the scale and the repercussions mean that it is likely to be the economically defining one.

Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) recently described the support package as "very poorly targeted".

"Finding a way of targeting [support] to the many, many millions who really need it, without giving it to the many, many millions who don't, appears to be something that has stumped the Treasury and the government for finding a mechanism of achieving that," he said.

The state intervention will be funded by government borrowing, adding to the UK's already large debt pile. The total cost of the support will depend on the cost of energy on the international energy markets, which can be volatile.

Mr Johnson questioned: "Is it the best way of spending the money?

"I rather suspect it is an inevitable way in the short run if everybody who needs help is to get that help, but I do think it's incredibly important that the government thinks through and gets to a better or more targeted way of supporting us as we get through to next winter."

Ms Truss has rejected calls to extend a windfall tax on gas and oil company profits to pay for the package, after calls from the Labour party, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP to do so.

A windfall tax is a one-off tax imposed by a government on a company. The idea is to target firms that have benefitted from something they were not responsible for - in other words, a windfall.

Mr Bell said that by ruling out "any attempt" to fund the government's new support through further windfall taxes, "the welcome support today could have a nasty sting in terms of higher mortgage payments and higher taxes tomorrow".

A mini-Budget outlining how the government intends to pay for measures to tackle the cost-of-living crisis is set to take place this month.

Other plans include lifting the ban on fracking and new licences for North Sea oil and gas, to boost domestic energy supplies.
Officer Seara Burton and her K-9 partner, Brev, began duty together in April.

RICHMOND, Ind.  A week after Officer Seara Burton moved from an Ohio hospital to a local hospice facility, the man accused of shooting her Aug. 10 was jailed.

Burton's family and friends continue to spend time with her after her move from Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio, two days after she was taken off life support Sept. 1. Richmond Police Department shared among its daily Facebook updates about Burton that her K-9 partner, Brev, has occasionally visited her, as well.

Brev was also seen leading Burton's walk of honor through the hospital hallways lined by RPD officers and others when she was taken off life support. Her American flag-draped bed was wheeled to an operating room in anticipation she would donate organs. Instead, she has defied expectations for more than 11 days.

RPD's updates indicate the 28-year-old's condition remains unchanged. The department asks for continued prayers while also expressing thanks for the support shown Burton and her family.

Burton and Brev began patrolling together during April after completing their training at Vohne Liche Kennels in Denver, Ind. Brev had indicated positively to the presence of a narcotics odor in a scooter and been returned to the K-9 vehicle when Burton was shot in the head.

Phillip Matthew Lee, 47, is charged with three counts of Level 1 felony attempted murder for shooting Burton and firing at two other officers during the traffic stop related to a narcotics investigation. He is also charged with four other felonies regarding his possession of the handgun he used and three types of drugs found in his scooter.

RPD officers wounded Lee when returning fire Aug. 10, and he also received treatment at Miami Valley. In fact, Lee appeared by Zoom from his hospital bed for an Aug. 19 initial hearing with Circuit Court Judge April Drake regarding his charges.

Lee has now been released from the medical facility and lodged in Montgomery County, Ohio's jail. According to online jail records, Lee was booked at 1 p.m. Sept. 10 on the out-of-state charges and a parole infraction. He will need to be extradited to Wayne County.

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Two Montgomery County cases were filed Monday morning against Lee, both listed under the "fugitive" category. One lists Wayne County as the "demanding authority" and the other lists the Indiana Department of Correction. No court appearances were listed by noon for either case.

Lee, whose Wayne County bond is $1.5 million, is on parole from a four-year sentence following conviction for possession of a syringe. He was sentenced May 10, 2018, to one year for the Level 6 felony, but that sentence was enhanced by three years because Lee was found to be a habitual offender.

Indiana DOC online records show Lee remains under the New Castle Parole District's jurisdiction until June 6, 2023.

Lee also has previous felony convictions for possession of a narcotic drug, escape, burglary, possession of cocaine, possession of a controlled substance, attempted burglary, auto theft, resisting law enforcement, possession of marijuana, possession of a controlled substance and possession of paraphernalia, according to online case records. Lee also has previous misdemeanor convictions for resisting law enforcement, battery, possession of marijuana, perjury, driving without a license and leaving the scene of an accident.

This article originally appeared on Richmond Palladium-Item: Richmond man charged with shooting Officer Burton now jailed in Ohio
Here's a roundup of recent incidents and announcements from Ventura County agencies:

Body found near Simi landfill identified

Officials on Monday released the identity of a body found near a landfill site in Simi Valley last Thursday afternoon.

The Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office said the body was Henry Levine, 39. The cause and manner of his death remain pending.

Law enforcement learned of the body around 1 p.m. Thursday in the 2800 block of Madera Road.

Levine was described as homeless, according to the Medical Examiner's Office. An investigation by the Ventura County Sheriff's Office found no evidence of a crime regarding his death.

Crash, spill closes Moorpark highway

A crash caused a diesel spill along New Los Angeles Avenue in Moorpark on Monday afternoon, prompting the full closure of the roadway for cleanup.

The crash occurred at 12:04 p.m. along New Los Angeles Avenue, also known as Highway 118, and Maureen Lane, according to the Ventura County Fire Department.

The crash involved a vehicle and a semitrailer, authorities said. The semi's fuel tank leaked an unspecified amount of diesel fuel into the roadway, leading to a hazardous materials response.

Los Angeles Avenue was closed for at least two hours between Tierra Rejada Road and Moorpark Avenue. Ventura County Environmental Health responded to the spill as well as the California Highway Patrol and the Ventura County Sheriff's Office to assist with traffic.

Trucks blow through Maureen Ln red lights on 118(Los Angeles Ave) EVERY DAY. This lady was seconds away from a T bone and loosing her life. Traffic commission needs to change timing of lights before people die. @CHPMoorpark @MoorparkAcorn @CityofMoorpark @VENTURASHERIFF @moorpark pic.twitter.com/QA1iLng3X1  Trent Siggard (@TrentSiggard) September 12, 2022

Details emerge in Oak Park crash

Two 17-year-old girls were hospitalized after they were hit by a driver who ran a red light in Oak Park on Sunday night, according to California Highway Patrol.

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The crash was reported at 7:52 p.m. at the intersection of Kanan Road and Smoke Tree Avenue.

The two victims, both Oak Park residents who were described as suffering moderate injuries, were transported to Los Robles Regional Medical Center for treatment.

Through an investigation, CHP determined the crash happened when the driver of a 2005 Toyota Camry was travelling northbound on Kanan Avenue toward Smoke Tree Avenue.

The driver, a 71-year-old woman from Palmdale, was heading about 40 mph when she did not stop at the red light of the intersection, hitting the two girls as they were crossing the street. The driver was uninjured and remained at the scene after the crash, CHP said.

No arrests were made in the crash and alcohol and drugs are not believed to be factors. CHP issued a reminder to drivers to pay attention to their surroundings, and for pedestrians to look both ways before crossing the street.

Oxnard stabbing suspect arrested

The Oxnard Police Department arrested a 20-year-old man on Sunday after he was suspected of stabbing another man in the back.

The stabbing was reported at 2:30 p.m. in the 700 block of Forest Park Road.

The victim was found with multiple stab wounds to his back and was transported to Ventura County Medical Center for treatment. He is currently listed to be in stable condition, according to authorities.

Police spoke to witnesses of the stabbing and identified the suspect as a 20-year-old man from Venice. The suspect was spotted in a parking lot near the location of the stabbing and was detained without incident.

He was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and was booked into county jail with bail set at $30,000.

10 DUI arrests Saturday in Oxnard

Authorities arrested 10 drivers suspected of DUI during two checkpoints and increased patrols in Oxnard on Saturday night.

The Oxnard Police Department said the checkpoints went from 7 p.m. Saturday to 2 a.m. Sunday at the intersection Oxnard Boulevard and Second Street, as well as the intersection of Wooley Road and A Street.

Between the two checkpoints and the increased DUI patrol saturation, officers arrested 10 drivers suspected of DUI and issued 41 traffic citations.

The checkpoints were conducted by the Oxnard Police Department with assistance from the California Highway Patrol and CSU Channel Islands Police Department. State and federal funds paid for the checkpoints were provided by the California Office of Traffic Safety via the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

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: Crash, diesel spill closes New Los Angeles Avenue in Moorpark
As of 48 hours ago, a conservative estimate of the land Ukraines military had recaptured from Russian forces in the northeast region surrounding the city of Kharkiv was 2,500 square kilometers. On Monday, Ukraines Deputy Defense Minister asserted in a Facebook post that the stretch was closer to 6,000 square kilometers.

The abrupt turnaround is not the result of intense fighting but rather the absence of it. The Russians have simply run away, according to military sources in Kyiv, allowing the Ukrainians to roll in at their leisure.

According to an order handed down from Moscow to Russian forces in the area in and around Kharkiv, the withdrawal is simply a regrouping operation. That phrase is widely viewed as a euphemism for a defeat that has been increasingly difficult to disguise as details of Russias moves in recent days have been meticulously documented in the international press and on social media, including among hardline Russian nationalists and military analysts.

A Ukrainian soldier checks a Russian tank damaged in a battle in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine, Sept. 11. (AP)

In truth, there appears to have been nothing operational about this withdrawal. Russian soldiers fled on bicycles and in cars stolen at gunpoint from Ukrainian villagers, according to Ukrainian eyewitnesses interviewed by the Washington Post. They stripped off their uniforms and put on civilian clothes to evade Ukrainian reconnaissance drones, no doubt because some retreating forces were suffering heavy losses from Ukrainian firepower. There were also reports of trapped Russian soldiers who radioed to their commanding officers begging for rescue, which never came.

There is little dispute about how far Ukrainian troops have advanced in recent days, with both Ukrainian and Russian sources agreeing that the remnants of the Russian army in Kharkiv oblast have now been pushed back across the border into Russia. At least one pro-Russian Telegram channel suggested the Ukrainians even penetrated the border, allegedly dispatching a raiding party into Belgorod, the oblast directly north of Kharkiv, in armored vehicles before shooting up a settlement there, stealing several pieces of equipment, including mortars and automatic grenade launchers. (Yahoo News cannot independently verify this claim.)

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The sheer volume of Russian hardware left behind also attests to a lack of planning on Moscows part. Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs, quipped about the generosity of Russian lend lease of military equipment. One verified video posted on Sep. 11 shows two Russian tanks, a T-80BVM and a T-72B3, simply abandoned in Izyum, a central logistical hub for the invaders, in seemingly perfect condition. The T-80BVM, one of Russias most recent models of tank, only entered into service in 2017. A photograph of it circulated on Russian social media on Sep. 9; but two days later, as one online weapons tracker pointed out, the tank was in the exact same spot, suggesting it hadnt been operated at all before the Ukrainian blitzkrieg.

Even Ukrainian tractors  a much-memed symbol of the country's plucky resistance during the battle of Kyiv  have made cameo appearances in Kharkiv, hauling off a purloined Russian tank in one clip posted to social media.

Just from whats visually confirmed, the Ukrainians have taken enough armor off the Russians  tanks, combat vehicles and artillery  to be able to outfit multiple brigades, Joel Rayburn, a retired Army colonel and the former U.S. special envoy to Syria, told Yahoo News. So where Russias inventory ledger bleeds red, the Ukrainians got a whole lot blacker.

According to Jakub Janovsky, an open-source compiler of Russian equipment losses for the Oryx blog, Russia has lost around 400 pieces of heavy equipment in just the last seven days, including over 70 tanks and 200 other armored vehicles  almost all of it in Kharkiv Oblast. The haul appears to be large enough to potentially improve Ukrainian chances in future offensives.

One of those is already underway in Ukraines south in the Kherson region. This campaign, telegraphed for months by Kyiv, got underway two weeks ago. Analysts now argue that it was at least a partial deception to hoodwink the Russians: It resulted from a patient military buildup, excellent operational security, and, maybe most important, the diversion of some of the Russian armys most powerful units from Kharkiv Oblast itself, Phillips Payson OBrien, a professor of strategic studies at the University of St. Andrews, wrote in the Atlantic. Yet even here Ukraine says its making gradual progress despite the large Russian garrison on the west of the Dnipro River.

Ukrainian flag waves after the nation's army liberated the town of Balakliya on Sunday. (Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

On Monday, the Ukrainians once again struck the Antonovsky Bridge, the main road link across that waterway, reminding Russian troops there that one of their arteries of potential escape to the east is in the sights of Ukrainian artillery. Natalia Humenyuk, head of the press center of the South Operational Command, claimed Monday that Kyiv has liberated 500 square kilometers [about 190 square miles] of territory, killed more than 1,800 Russian soldiers and destroyed more than 500 vehicles and armored vehicles, 120 tanks, two jets, two helicopters and about 10 cruise missiles.

It is more difficult, however, to verify events in Kherson than in Kharkiv owing to an ongoing Ukrainian media blackout in the south. But the Biden administration remains bullish on Kyivs prospects for further battlefield victories. Asked today by a reporter if the offensive in Ukraine can be sustained, President Biden, with his back turned, gave a thumbs up.

One senior U.S. official characterized Russias loss in the east as stunning, and told Yahoo News: Ukrainian commanders have proven savvier and their forces more motivated than Russias overstretched and under-equipped units. It also proves that Western military hardware can tilt the battlefield in Ukraines favor, and eventually turn the tide of this war.

Ukrainian service members prepare to transport a Russian tank captured during a counteroffensive operation. (Press service of the commander in chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine/Handout via Reuters)

Already there are cracks showing in Russias matrix of propaganda. Commentators on state television are beginning to grudgingly accept a less optimistic version of how the war is progressing.

Were now at the point when we have to understand it is impossible to defeat Ukraine using [current] resources and colonial war methods, former State Duma Deputy Boris Nadezhdin acknowledged yesterday in an appearance on NTV.

Asked if by this he advocated mass mobilization in Russia in order to bolster ground forces in Ukraine, something Vladimir Putin has been reluctant to implement, Nadezhdin replied that, on the contrary, what he wanted was peace talks to end the war.
STANISLAV POHORILOV  MONDAY, 12 SEPTEMBER 2022, 19:17

According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Russian military command has suspended the dispatch of newly formed military units to the war in Ukraine.

Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook

Quote: "The current situation in the military theatre and distrust for the high command forced a large number of volunteers to flatly refuse the prospect of service in combat conditions."

Details: The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine says that the situation is affected by the information about the actual number of killed Russian soldiers, while the losses of private military companies and those mobilised from temporarily occupied territories are not taken into account.

Also, the situation with sending the troops in has been growing worse due to Russias general attitude towards its own wounded. In Russian hospitals, diagnoses and the nature of combat injuries are deliberately simplified, and no time is given for recovery in order to bring the servicemen back to the combat zone as soon as possible.

Background:

In late August, Vadym Skibitskyi, the representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, said Russia is increasing its mobilisation reserves and plans to mobilise about 90,000 military personnel.

At the same time, Andrey Klimov, Deputy Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, says there is no need for military mobilisation in Russia against the background of losses and defeats of the Russian Federation in Ukraine.

On 11 September, the Armed Forces of Ukraine killed nearly 300 Russian soldiers, destroyed one plane and one unmanned aerial vehicle. Russias losses in personnel will soon reach the number of 53,000.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda!
Ukraine's counteroffensive gained momentum, as Russia was forced to withdraw troops. Queen Elizabeth II's casket arrived at St. Giles' Cathedral. And this past year in television will be celebrated at the Primetime Emmys tonight.

 Hey! Julius Lasin and Laura Davis here. We're tag-teaming the news today! Let's get to it.

But first, the answer to a question on everyone's mind.  What happens to the queen's corgis!? No worries  they have a home! A representative for the Duke and Duchess of York said the couple will care for Queen Elizabeth's beloved dogs.

The Short List is a snappy USA TODAY news roundup. Subscribe to the newsletter here or text messages here.

Ukrainian forces break through to Russian border

"The world is impressed. The enemy is panicking," Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, lauding Ukraine's military efforts after a stunning offensive that gained momentum Monday, reclaiming several more northeastern villages and forcing the retreat of overwhelmed Russian troops from the region. Ukrainian forces outnumbered Russian troops 8 to 1, and had broken through to the Russian border, said Vitaly Ganchev, a Russian-installed official in the Kharkiv region. "The situation is becoming more difficult by the hour," he added. Kyivs sudden momentum comes after months of little movement, save Russia's small gains in the Donbas region. Ukraine's encouraging counteroffensive has lifted morale and provoked some rare public criticism of President Vladimir Putins war. More updates from Ukraine.

Photo gallery: Children caught up in chaos as Russia invades Ukraine.

As Ukrainian forces surge, how might Putin spin the war? A glorious, fantastic success! | Opinion

A Ukrainian soldier passes by a Russian tank damaged in a just freed territory in the Kharkiv region on Sept. 11, 2022.

Queen Elizabeth II's casket arrives at Scottish cathedral

Queen Elizabeth IIs casket arrived at St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh for a memorial service Monday. King Charles III and his three siblings marched behind their mothers casket in a procession along the Royal Mile in the historic heart of the Scottish capital. The queen's casket will remain at the cathedral before being flown to London on Tuesday. It will then be moved from Buckingham Palace on Wednesday to the Houses of Parliament to lie in state until a state funeral at Westminster Abbey on Sept. 19. More live updates.

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The Crown of Scotland sits atop the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II inside St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh on September 12, 2022, during a service of Thanksgiving for her life.

What everyone's talking about

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Many prisons don't have full AC. Climate change is making it 'torture.'

At least 44 U.S. states don't universally air condition their prisons, and inmates are getting sick and dying, according to a USA TODAY analysis. Quintero Jones was one of them. He died on a 98-degree day in Texas, and it felt hotter in his prison cell. While some things have changed in Texas prisons since then, advocates say it's not enough. USA TODAYs analysis found only one state  Tennessee  that said it fully air-conditioned all its prison facilities. With summer temperatures rising due to climate change, the problem is expected to only get worse. Keep reading.

Trump lawyers urge judge to keep blocking DOJ from seized records

While U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon works to name a special master for an independent review of the documents seized at Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump's lawyers have been brewing some arguments. In a court filing Monday, Trump's lawyers argued against allowing the Justice Department to review seized documents while a special master independently reviews them. And in a separate filing, Trumps lawyers objected to the governments two candidates for special master  without explaining the opposition in detail. Lawyers for Trump and the Justice Department submitted four names Friday of potential special masters, although they didnt agree on any. More updates.

Do Trump's attacks on the DOJ cross the line into illegal incitement?

Trump racketeering lawsuit against Hillary Clinton dismissed as 'political manifesto.'

Real quick

 What's the weather up to in your neck of the woods? Check your local forecast here.

Who will take home Emmys on 'TV's biggest night'?

The 74th Primetime Emmy Awards, hosted by "Saturday Night Live" stalwart Kenan Thompson, will take place Monday night in Los Angeles. Among the night's favorites are HBO dramas "Succession" and "The White Lotus," both with 20 nominations. Apple TV+ comedy "Ted Lasso" also received 20 nods this year, following seven wins during last year's show. This year's Primetime Emmys kick off at 8 p.m. EDT/5 p.m. PDT on NBC. It will also stream on Peacock. Red-carpet coverage will air on E! Everything you need to know about the show.

'More community than competition': Emmy nominees reflect ahead of Monday's awards show.

'Squid Game'? 'Abbott Elementary'? Who will (and who should) win at the 2022 Emmys.

The Emmy Awards, dubbed "TV's biggest night," happens tonight.

A break from the news

Laura L. Davis is an Audience Editor at USA TODAY. Send her an email at laura@usatoday.com or follow along with her adventures  and misadventures  on Twitter. Support quality journalism like this? Subscribe to USA TODAY here.

This is a compilation of stories from across the USA TODAY Network. Want this news roundup in your inbox every night? Subscribe to the newsletter here or text messages here.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ukraine war, Queen Elizabeth funeral plans, prison conditions, Donald Trump, Emmy Awards. It's Monday's news.
Suriyapong Thongsawang

Purchases of secondhand ice-class tankers rose to $1 billion in May to August, Bloomberg reported.

The increased demand is likely from Russian oil exporters, who will need long-distance ships to sail past Europe when sanctions kick in.

Europe is also expected to increase its demand for longer-distance ships as it seeks alternative supplies.

Russian oil exporters are scrambling to buy special tankers to sail around Europe once EU sanctions fully take effect this winter, Bloomberg reported.

Purchases of secondhand ice-class tankers rose to $1 billion in May to August of this year, according to data from the London-based shipbroker EA Gibson. That's around five times what was spent on secondhand ice-class ships last year, which was largely attributed to oil buyers from China and the United Arab Emirates.

Ice-class tankers are built for long-distance trips, which Russian oil exporters would need to take shipments past Europe to other terminals overseas.

Richard Matthews, EA Gibson's head of research, speculated that the increased demand was likely driven by companies who intend to export Russian oil after EU sanctions take effect, and are stocking up on ships that have the capacity to sail around Europe.

Increased competition and a shortage of the long-distance tankers not only results in higher prices, but more ship-to-ship transfers of oil cargo. That's a tactic already seen among Russian oil exporters, possibly to avoid western sanctions. A report from Nikkei Asia found 41 ship-to-ship transfers of Russian oil this year that eventually made way to Europe, compared to just one ship-to-ship transfer of Russian oil last year.

Europe is also expected to increase its demand for longer-distance ships, although for oil product tankers, which is in a different fleet. The continent has been ramping up purchases of Russian oil ahead of winter to build up energy stockpiles, but will need to find alternative supplies once sanctions kick in. That will hike demand for longer-distance ships to bring in oil from companies in India and Saudi Arabia, which is likely result in higher charter rates for European buyers as well.

Read the original article on Business Insider
ROMAN PETRENKO  MONDAY, 12 SEPTEMBER 2022, 12:09

Russian units in Kharkiv Oblast are looking for ways to reach out to Ukrainian units in order to negotiate a surrender, Operational Command Pivden (South) has reported.

Source: Natalia Humeniuk, head of the press centre of Operational Command Pivden (South), on the Espreso broadcast

Quote: "We continue to advance, and progress is quite convincing. This doesnt just affect the geographical withdrawal of enemy positions: it also has a psychological effect.

Enemy units which are starting to regroup are looking for ways to reach out to our units in order to conduct so-called negotiations about the possibility of laying down their arms and transitioning to the aegis of international humanitarian law."

Background: Analysts from the Institute for the Study of War say that defenders of Ukraine have rapidly retaken almost the whole territory of Kharkiv Oblast.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Become our patron, support our work!
A Yangtze finless porpoise is seen in Poyang Lake in Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, in 2018. [Photo/China Daily]

Agricultural and fishery administrations in Jiangxi province have rolled out measures to protect finless porpoises, which have faced dramatic changes in their living environment as Poyang Lake, China's largest freshwater lake, has entered the dry season 100 days early.



The speciesdubbed the "smiling angel" because its smooth, gray face appears to be fixed in a permanent grinis classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It now lives only along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

The number of the species had declined to 1,012 in 2017, with 457 living in Poyang Lake, according to Thepaper.cn.

However, as the water level fell to less than 12 meters in August, the lake entered this year's dry season the earliest since records began in 1951, and more than two months earlier than the average starting date between 2003 and 2021.

Severe drought has reduced the lake by 75 percent, according to the local agricultural department. The significant reduction of water has seriously affected the survival of the finless porpoise species.

Last weekend, a traveler to the northern shoreline of Poyang Lake in the city of Jiujiang posted a video showing the dead body of a finless porpoise on a dry riverbed.

It was the seventh finless porpoise found dead in the Poyang Lake area this year.

Zhou Wei, a science writer, was quoted by Beijing News as saying, "The reduction of water compresses the living space of the finless porpoises and forces them to swim to the deep water of the main channel of the lake.

"It will no doubt increase the risk of the finless porpoises hitting propellers (of boats) as their lives overlap with human activities. Extremely dry weather will also affect the reproduction of fish in the following year, which may result in a food shortage for the porpoises."

He added that the species gives birth in the spring and autumn, so now is a critical period for the porpoises to feed newborns. But the parents may not be able to provide a relatively safe habitat for the newborns, as the water level has fallen dramatically.

Wang Liang, who works for the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Jiangxi, said that the province has released a total of 200 million fish, shrimp and crabs into the waters for five consecutive years to enrich the food supply and maintain the local aquatic population.

Wang said that the province established a 6,800-hectare nature reserve in Poyang Lake, where the building of illegal docks has been severely punished and sewage has been treated effectively.

"More than 2,000 volunteers have been attracted by our finless porpoise protection work to set up 203 patrol teams to safeguard and rescue the species," he added.
FARMINGTON  New Mexico reported far fewer coronavirus cases in the week ending Sunday, adding 1,750 new cases. That's down 40.5% from the previous week's tally of 2,942 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

San Juan County reported 122 cases and zero deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 186 cases and four deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 47,054 cases and 823 deaths.

Across New Mexico, cases fell in 27 counties, with the best declines in Chaves County, with 50 cases from 369 a week earlier; in Bernalillo County, with 533 cases from 758; and in Dona Ana County, with 141 cases from 229.

>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases

Within New Mexico, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Hidalgo County with 262 cases per 100,000 per week; Quay County with 230; and Harding County with 160. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.

Adding the most new cases overall were Bernalillo County, with 533 cases; Santa Fe County, with 145 cases; and Sandoval County, with 142. Weekly case counts rose in four counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Quay, Mora and Taos counties.

In New Mexico, 14 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 70 people were reported dead.

More:10.5 million children were orphaned or lost a primary caregiver due to COVID, study finds

A total of 613,896 people in New Mexico have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 8,483 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 95,250,705 people have tested positive and 1,050,323 people have died.

New Mexico ranked 43rd among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States decreased 4.7% from the week before, with 507,209 cases reported. With 0.63% of the country's population, New Mexico had 0.35% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, three states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

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The Labor Day holiday may have altered how many people can get tested and when, and when governments report testing results and deaths. This will skew week-to-week comparisons.

>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States

New Mexico's COVID-19 hospital admissions staying flat

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Sept. 11. Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

Last week: 206

The week before that: 210

Four weeks ago: 415

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

Last week: 60,585

The week before that: 61,376

Four weeks ago: 69,436

More:Providers report dozens of errors giving Pfizer's COVID vaccine. Experts worry new boosters will fuel more

Hospitals in 16 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 22 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 19 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.

The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: San Juan County reported 122 additional COVID-19 cases last week
DUBAI (Reuters) - The Saudi Arabian General Prosecution has ordered the confiscation of 4 billion riyals ($1.06 billion) and a 25-year jail term for a criminal gang accused of money laundering, state television reported on Monday.

The gang was comprised of one Saudi citizen and five people with other Arab nationalities, state TV said.

($1 = 3.7573 riyals)

(Reporting by Moataz Mohamed; Writing by Nadine Awadalla; Editing by Catherine Evans)
A school bus driver in Utah is under investigation after allegedly threatening to shoot students.

The incident occurred Friday afternoon, according to video sent to Fox 13 by a parent of a child from Dry Creek Elementary School in Saratoga Springs, about 30 miles south of Salt Lake City.

The driver appears to melt down after being repeatedly told she made a wrong turn.

One more person says Where are we going, Im going to shoot them, the driver says over the intercome. OK, now listen  I missed the stop; Im trying to turn around. Do you understand? OK. Sit down and be quiet.

The Alpine School District told the station that the driver was placed on administrative leave.

The driver is also the subject of a criminal investigation and they are probing if she possessed a weapon, Saratoga Springs Police Lt. Zach Robinson told NBC News.

The bus on-board camera also recorded the incident, he said.

A year ago, in a separate incident, an Alpine School District bus driver was fired for displaying posters with different conservative memes.

The incident comes as a new school years begins and a nationwide school bus shortage continues.
By Diadie Ba

DAKAR (Reuters) - Senegal's security forces were called on Monday to secure a voting process in parliament and hold back rowdy opposition members of parliament (MP) who tried to disrupt the election of a new president of the national assembly.

The assembly was convening for the first time since a July election in which President Macky Sall's ruling coalition lost its comfortable majority, securing just two seats more than two allied opposition coalitions.

The new parliamentary session convened at 1000 GMT on Monday with the first order of business to elect the house's new leader. However, parties failed to reach an agreement on electoral procedure.

Heated arguments ensued all day and by late evening, tensions boiled.

Senegal's national television RTS, showed scuffles breaking, parliamentarians pushing and shoving one another as they crowded the floor of the assembly, while some threw plastic bottles.

"The opposition did not agree on the ballots and the manner of proceeding with the election," Senegal's national TV reported.

The police were later called in to secure the voting process and had to forcefully remove several lawmakers who tried to seize the ballot box.

Political tension has been on the rise in the West African nation seen as one of the region's most stable democracies. The tension is partly fuelled by Sall's refusal to state clearly whether he plans to run for a third mandate in 2024 in breach of term limits.

(Reporting by Diadie Ba; Writing by Bate Felix; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Monday it has charged cloud computing company VMware Inc with misleading investors by obscuring its financial performance.

The company was charged with misleading investors about its order backlog management practices, which the agency said enabled it to push revenue into future quarters by delaying product deliveries to customers, thereby concealing the company's slowing performance relative to its projections.

Without admitting or denying the findings in the SEC's order, VMware consented to a cease-and-desist order and will pay an $8 million penalty, the SEC said. VMware confirmed in a statement of its own that it reached a settlement with the SEC and agreed to pay the penalty without admitting or denying the SECs findings.

The SEC said it found that beginning in fiscal-year 2019, VMware began delaying the delivery of license keys on some sales orders until just after quarter-end so that it could recognize revenue from the corresponding license sales in the following quarter.

"VMware shifted tens of millions of dollars in revenue into future quarters, building a buffer in those periods and obscuring the companys financial performance as its business slowed relative to projections in fiscal year 2020," the SEC said.

"Although VMware publicly disclosed that its backlog was 'managed based upon multiple considerations,' it did not reveal to investors that it used the backlog to manage the timing of the companys revenue recognition," the regulator added.

In May, chipmaker Broadcom Inc said it will buy VMware in a $61 billion cash-and stock deal.

"The SEC Staff has confirmed that it does not intend to recommend enforcement action against any current or former VMware officers or other member of management in connection with the investigation, and this settlement concludes the matter," VMware said in its statement on Monday.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington and Ismail Shakil in OttawaEditing by Jonathan Oatis and Matthew Lewis)
By Humza Jilani and Andrew MacAskill

LONDON/EDINBURGH (Reuters) - Some shed tears or wore military uniforms and medals, others took selfies and video-called distant friends and relatives. All felt they were playing a small part in history.

Four days after the death of Queen Elizabeth, London and Edinburgh were the focus of pomp and ceremony mourning the passing of Britain's monarch of 70 years and marking the accession of her son, King Charles, to the throne.

In Edinburgh, where the queen's body was driven on Sunday after she died at her Scottish holiday home, Balmoral, last week, people of all ages, ethnicities and social classes turned out to pay their respects. The mood was sombre and, despite the huge crowd, quiet.

Many had arrived early on Monday to take their place along the Scottish capital's Royal Mile ahead of a solemn procession that took the queen's coffin to St Giles' Cathedral, where it will lie at rest before being taken to London on Tuesday.

"I just feel so privileged that we can watch this moment," said Carol Williams, 52, a primary teacher. "We are so lucky that we have this opportunity to pay our respects like this."

In central London, thousands more gathered in Green Park, close to the monarch's Buckingham Palace residence, where a spreading carpet of floral tributes has been laid.

Many people, particularly among the older generations, shed tears. Some wore black mourning clothes or had put on old military uniforms.

"I feel very emotional, I'm so surprised," said Helen Young, 78, from the village of Llangynidr, in south Wales. "I have so many friends back in Wales who are so royal-orientated, and they live back in Wales and I am here representing them."

Chris Maycroft, 67, from Dorset, in southern England, was wearing a military beret and a blazer with his service badges.

"I only just arrived, and this is pretty overwhelming to be honest," he said.

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"I'm an ex-serviceman, 50 years ago I made an oath of allegiance to her majesty, and I've come down to pay my respect. We've suddenly got a common purpose, don't we? To pay our respects. She was an amazing woman."

Many younger people, and overseas visitors, appeared more curious than upset, turning out to experience the occasion - and record it on their smart phones.

"This is history," said Zoey Chong from China. "I want to take the photo and the recording to my parents or to my future baby to tell them I came here. This is history and now I'm a part of it."

(Writing by Alex Richardson; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
Photograph: Michael Reynolds/EPA

The Democratic chair of the US Senate intelligence committee has demanded that a federal judge allows the committee to be briefed on the FBIs search of Mar-a-Lago and the potential damage caused by Donald Trump hoarding top secret documents at his private club.

Mark Warner, the US senator from Virginia, said that there was confusion over whether the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the FBI were allowed to brief the Senate committee on their review of classified documents held at the former presidents club-resort and residence in Palm Beach, Florida.

The FBI searched the property on 8 August, retrieving more than 100 classified documents.

Last week a Trump-appointed judge, Aileen Cannon of the federal district court for thesouthern district of Florida, sided with Trump and ordered a special master to oversee the documents. The DoJ is appealing the decision, but its criminal investigation of Trumps removal of state secrets from the White House has been halted by the courts action.

Warner told CNNs State of the Union on Sunday that clarification from the judge was urgently needed, and the mishandling of state secrets could have disastrous consequences.

Some of the documents involved human intelligence, and if that information got out people will die. If there were penetration of our signals intelligence, literally years of work could be destroyed.

Warner added that if information in the documents had been obtained from foreign intelligence services, then the willingness of our allies to share intelligence could be undermined.

Hillary Clinton, the former presidential candidate who lost to Trump in 2016, argued that he should be liable to criminal prosecution. She told CNN on Sunday: No one is above the law, no one should escape accountability  He is not the president and so I do think, just like any American, if there is any evidence, that should be pursued.

The White House has stayed aloof from the DoJs actions..

US vice-president Kamala Harris declined to answer in an NBC interview whether Trumps status as a possible presidential candidate in 2024 should be taken into account in the DoJs criminal investigation.

I wouldnt dare tell the Department of Justice what to do, she said. The president and our administration, unlike the previous administration, have been very, very careful to make sure there is no question about any kind of interference.

Pressed on whether it would be too divisive to prosecute a former president, Harris signaled that Trump should be held accountable, saying: Our country has gone through different periods of time where the unthinkable has happened, and where there has been a call for justice, and justice has been served people are going to demand justice, and they rightly do.
Senators are calling for a probe into the strange story of a woman who allegedly conned her way into the graces of Donald Trump and his Mar-a-Lago guests by fabricating her entire life story.

Last month, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project reported a story detailing the alleged actions of Inna Yashchyshyn, a Ukrainian-born woman who is being investigated by the FBI and who reportedly infiltrated the de-facto headquarters of the Republican Party on multiple occassions.

Federal agents believe that she has been posing as Anna de Rothschild, a fictitious socialite and heiress from the well-known European banking family. She allegedly used that fraudulent pedigree to charm her way into Mar-a-Lago, going so far as to pose for photos with the former president and Senator Lindsey Graham.

Beyond the obvious security breach allowing her access to the former president and at least one current senator, she was also visiting the resort at the same time that Mr Trump was storing highly-classified documents in the building.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the bizarre tale was just another example of what appears to be porous or even nonexistent security at Mar-a-Lago.

A woman going by the name Anna de Rothschild  allegedly an alias used by Ukrainian-born Inna Yashchyshyn  posing with former President Donald Trump and Senator Lindsey Graham at Mar-a-Lago (Pittsburgh Post Gazette/Organized Crime Corruption and Reporting Project)

Weeks before the paper published the story about Ms Yashchyshyn, the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago and recovered troves of classified government documents Mr Trumps team had removed from the White House. Many of the documents recovered are required by law to be viewed only in secure facilities, which does not include the Florida golf resort.

Mr Warner said he would be bringing the issue up with his contacts in the nations intelligence agencies.

I have regular contact with senior leadership [of the intelligence agencies], and I intend to raise this issue, he told the paper.

Senator Rob Wyden told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that any senatorial inquiries into the seizures at Mar-a-Lago should also include details about Ms Yashchyshyns visits.

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Its extraordinarily important. My sense is a briefing now needs to be done by multiple agencies. Its not just going to be one, he said.

Senator Bob Casey, who is a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told the paper that her ability to allegedly walk right into Mar-a-Lago was concerning.

One of the things our adversaries try to do every day of the week is infiltrate, either physically infiltrate or if someone was able to get into a building or into a setting where a public official is, or documents are, or a former public official, he said. Its a real concern.

Mr Rubio told the paper that he hadnt read the reporting on Ms Yashchyshyn yet, but said hes sure the senators will ask the appropriate questions about her and any possible links between her and the former presidents secret documents.
The first time he made the trip to Europe to take part in U.S. in Progress, an event dedicated to independent American filmmaking launched by Polands American Film Festival in 2011, L.A.-based director Pete Ohs admits he was very green. It was my first narrative feature[and I was] very much getting into this world of independent filmmaking, Ohs tells Variety.

U.S. in Progress, which this year takes place Nov. 9  11 in Wrocaw, Poland, presents a selection of roughly half a dozen American indie titles in the final stages of production to European sales agents, distributors and festival programmers.

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The event is often a crash course in the European market for directors like Ohs, who participated in 2016 with Everything Beautiful Is Far Away. For many its the first time that theyre exposed to film industry professionals on the continent, offering insight into an ecosystem of financing, production and distribution thats a world apart from how independent movies are made and sold in the U.S.

Perhaps more importantly, says Ohs, they have the chance to sit down with the sorts of industry players and decision-makers theyd rarely encounter at American indie showcases like South by Southwest, Sundance or Tribeca, where most filmmakers are at a remove from industry gatekeepers.

At those festivals, the conversations you have can be inspiring, but youre interacting with other dreamers[who are] trying to get their movie made, says Ohs. The conversations at U.S. in Progress, youre having conversations with people who are actually the business end of it. Their head is not in the clouds. Their head is in a spreadsheet. He laughs. Its an invaluable thing you dont get with those [American] festival interactions where youre not sitting down at a table and talking aboutwhat to do once your movies done.

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Director Pete Ohs pitching his feature film Jethica at U.S. in Progress.

Joseph Sackett, whose feature directorial debut, Homebody, won best first feature at Torontos Inside Out 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival this year after participating in U.S. in Progress, agrees.

It definitely gave me a sense of hope that there were a lot of sales agents out there, people who are interested. That there were opportunities [to find distribution], he says. It felt like we were being exposed to people that we otherwise wouldnt meet organically in the American indie scene.

Even for those who are ostensibly a part of it, the indie filmmaking scene in the U.S. can be hard to define. One need look no further than this years Independent Spirit Awards, whose top prize went to Maggie Gyllenhaal for her directorial debut The Lost Daughter, to recognize that the term indie filmmaking in the U.S. covers a wide and diverse terrain.

For every independent filmmaker like Ohs or Sackett theres an A-list celeb like Gyllenhaal, whose film stars Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley and Dakota Johnson and was acquired by Netflix, or an indie studio like A24, which made its name championing scrappy underdogs like Barry Jenkins best picture Oscar winner Moonlight, but last year floated a sale for upwards of $3 billion.

Then theres a director like Sean Baker, who broke out with a low-budget film about transgender sex workers shot on an iPhone (Tangerine). His latest feature, the Cannes premiere Red Rocket, which was picked up by A24, came with a $12 million price tag attached  a rounding error for a studio production, but pie in the sky for a struggling filmmaker in Brooklyn, Austin or L.A.

When filmmakers outside the U.S. look at it, they forget that there is very much a class system of indie filmmakers in America, and those of us that are below a certain line are getting no help whatsoever, says Geoff Marslett, a Colorado-based director and producer whose animated feature Quantum Cowboys participated in U.S. in Progress. Youre really having to just make the best film you can and quixotically hope someones going to care that you made it.

Using the Polish event as a springboard, Quantum Cowboys won the Audience Choice Award at the Champs Elysees Film Festival and Best Original Music at Annecy, and has continued a healthy festival run in Europe. Marslett has since encouraged Skinner Myers, whose last film The Sleeping Negro played at Slamdance, to submit his upcoming feature Before You Fade Away Into Nothing, which Marslett produced, to U.S. in Progress.

He credits the Polish event, and the American Film Festival that hosts it, for being an advocate on behalf of small U.S. films fighting to get noticed in a crowded market.

Youre honestly not really competing solely against independent films; youre competing againstthe worlds of A24, and all of these, essentially, studios that have filled up the slots at major festivals, which makes it harder for you to get your film distributed on a streaming service or even seen, he says. Thats the challenge now: how, as an independent filmmaker, can you collect some advocates so that your film can stand out a little bit in the market.

Geoff Marsletts Quantum Cowboys is an inter-dimensional search for redemption along infinite timelines.

For most American indie filmmakers, however, success is far from guaranteed overseas.

The biggest difficulty is just finding a place for them on the European market, says Xavier Henry-Rashid of sales agency Film Republic, who notes that independent filmmakers in Europe are generously backed by state-funded film bodies, as well as European Union initiatives like Creative Europes Media Program, which funds E.U. film, television and video game development, production, distribution and promotion.

[American independent films] are at a competitive disadvantage, seeing as how an equivalent European film will get distribution support and those wont. Theyre automatically at a loss, he continues. In distribution in Europe, a lot of distributors are asking for films specifically that have subsidiesand that makes it very difficult when releasing anything non-European. The cinemas dont get support, the distributors dont get support.

The exceptions among U.S. indies, he says, are breakout hits that arrive in Europe fresh off a successful run at premiere American fests. If it hits the Sundance competition, if it makes an impact in South by Southwest, then maybe its marketable for European distributors, he says. Otherwise, its almost not programmable.

That doesnt dim the hopes of filmmakers like Sackett, who was encouraged to meet producers and distributors during U.S. in Progress who wanted to hear more about his future plans. That was exciting, to feel like there were people who were interested not only in what I had done, but what I was going to do next, says the director, who hopes to begin shooting his next feature, the queer sci-fi romcom Cross-Pollination, in spring 2023.

The experience at U.S. in Progress opened up new pathways for Sackett to finance upcoming films. Though Homebody (pictured, top), which will get a limited release by Cinedigm this October in L.A. before heading to streaming service Fandor, was financed almost entirely with U.S. equity, producer Joy Jorgensens production house Killjoy is based in Berlin, allowing Sackett to access soft money in Germany and make it easier to find potential European co-production partners.

That possibility was never really on my radar before, he says. That was never part of the discussion in film school, or after, when it came to asking the question how you get a movie made.

Two estranged friends bond during a supernatural run-in with a stalker in Pete Ohs Jethica.

Four years after his first trip to U.S. in Progress, Ohs returned in 2020 with Jethica, a supernatural dramedy that Varietys Jessica Kiang described as a droll, oddly tender genre-melding indie after it premiered this year at South by Southwest. The film has since gone on to play festivals across the U.S. and Europe before heading to the Busan Film Festival next month.

Ohs credits the Polish event for boosting the films visibility at a crucial stage in its development, saying: Those little things add up. After going into U.S. in Progress wet behind the ears in 2016, the director approached it differently on his second go-around, where he won an award for color correction from the Polish post-production house Black Photon and signed on with the Brooklyn-based sales agent Visit Films.

I was older and wiser, he says. It is this experience where it helps you grow, as a person and as a filmmaker.

U.S. in Progress takes place Nov. 9  11 in Wrocaw, Poland. There is no entry fee to submit. Films can be submitted through the events website. The final deadline is Sept. 18.

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A registered sexual predator recently released from prison was seen talking to children near a Broward community center last week  and now detectives are seeking potential victims, according to authorities.

Frederick Thomas Muller, a Wilton Manors resident, has been charged with the sexual offender violations of failure to register as required and failure to renew information on drivers license within 48 hours, Broward County court records show. The 38-year-old man is being held in county jail as of Monday afternoon.

A witness alerted Broward Sheriffs Office deputies Thursday afternoon that a man appeared to be talking to children and attempting to lure them to him at Collins Community Center, located at 3800 Northeast Third Avenue in Oakland Park, BSO said Monday in a news release. The children he approached, investigators say, may have recently been dismissed from Oakland Park Elementary School, the agency noted.

Muller was later found and arrested just after 3 p.m. Thursday about a half mile from the community center, court records show.

In 2007, Muller was convicted of three counts of lewd and lascivious battery on a victim between the ages of 12 and 15, and he was sentenced to probation, according to county and Florida Department of Corrections records. He eventually violated the terms of his probation, and went to prison from March 2015 through June 27.

Detectives say no victims have come forward yet.

If anyone was victimized by Muller or has information about this incident, they are asked to contact BSO Detective Marlene Schnakenberg at 954-321-4789 or submit a tip anonymously by contacting Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS (8477), online at browardcrimestoppers.org or by calling **TIPS (8477) from any cellphone in the United States.